Category Archives: Spain

Protests over mass tourism could spread beyond Spain, says Unesco official

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Situation ‘out of balance’ as local people are priced out of housing and frustrated by hordes of selfie-seekers

Surging visitor numbers, soaring housing prices and the rise of selfie-seeking tourists have helped to create situations that are “totally out of balance”, a Unesco official has said, adding that a failure to address these issues could see the Spanish wave of protests against mass tourism extend across Europe.

In recent weeks tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Spain’s most popular destinations, calling for curbs on mass tourism and a rethink of a business model that they say has pushed up housing prices and driven local people out of cities.

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Police hunt for Puigdemont as pro-union MP takes Catalan presidency

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Pro-independence parties lose their grip on power as Salvador Illa elected, while police operation to find Carles Puigdemont continues

Catalan police have launched an operation to find and arrest Carles Puigdemont and set up roadblocks on routes to the French border after the fugitive former regional president returned to Spain for the first time in seven years to address a crowd of a few thousand in Barcelona before promptly disappearing.

Two officers in the Catalan regional police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, were arrested on Thursday in connection with Puigdemont’s escape, raising serious questions about the policing operation as the search brought Barcelona and the surrounding area to a standstill. One of those arrested is alleged to be the owner of the car in which the former Catalan president fled.

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Carles Puigdemont vows to return to Spain in headache for ruling coalition

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Fugitive Catalan separatist leader risks arrest if he keeps to his word on Thursday after seven years in exile

The fugitive Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont has said he will return to Spain on Thursday, risking likely arrest in a move that could destabilise the country’s ruling coalition.

Puigdemont, who has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium for seven years after organising an illegal independence referendum in Catalonia, has said that he will be at the Catalan parliament in Barcelona on Thursday as it swears in the region’s new leader.

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Oilfield slowdown exposes political volatility in Libya and beyond

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Apparent shutdown attempt shows potential for some leaders to use such threats to enforce personal agenda

The political complexities of Libya’s oil industry were highlighted at the weekend when allies of the warlord Khalifa Haftar were said to have tried to shut down a Spanish-operated oilfield in reprisal for an arrest warrant issued by Spain for his son over alleged weapons smuggling.

Saddam Haftar, a key military figure in his father’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), was detained at an airport in Naples, Italy, for an hour on Friday after his name appeared on a common EU database. Those close to Haftar say he was questioned by Italian officials in relation to Spanish allegations, but insist he was never arrested.

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Botched Spanish church makeover leaves cherubim looking startled

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Professional restorers want explanation for changes in Soria, which have been likened to ‘Monkey Christ’ work

Professional restorers in Spain are demanding explanations after a historic church in the north-eastern city of Soria was given a bold makeover that has left the building’s cherubim looking startled and local heritage lovers up in arms.

The attentions lavished on the Ermita de Nuestra Señora del Mirón, which was built in 1725 on the ruins of a romanesque and gothic church, have drawn comparisons to the infamous “Ecce Homo/Monkey Christ” restoration that made headlines around the world 12 years ago.

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Spanish PM files lawsuit against judge investigating his wife

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Pedro Sánchez taking legal action to prevent judiciary being used for ‘political motives’, spokesperson says

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has begun proceedings against the judge who is investigating his wife for alleged corruption and influence-peddling, accusing him of misusing his judicial office.

News of the proceedings emerged on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after Sánchez invoked his legal right not to testify in a case concerning the business activities of his wife, Begoña Gómez.

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France’s GDP gets €1bn lift from giant cruise ship as German economy shrinks

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Analyst says eurozone could have turned a corner as it avoids recession with 0.3% growth

The delivery of the world’s second-largest cruise ship lifted France’s economy in the second quarter, according to official data that also showed Germany heading into a recession.

Built in Saint-Nazaire for the cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean, the Utopia of the Seas added €1bn (£840m) to French economic output, helping to increase trade growth to 0.6% in the three months to the end of June and gross domestic product to 0.3%.

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Tanker carrying jet fuel for Israel must not dock in Gibraltar, say MPs

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Campaigners say overseas territory will be complicit in breach of international law if US vessel stops there

There is an overwhelming case for the UK to intervene to stop a US oil tanker carrying 300,000 barrels of jet fuel for use by Israel in Gaza from docking in Gibraltar, according to a letter from a cross-party group of MPs addressed to David Lammy, the UK foreign secretary.

Protests in Spain led by trade unionists and political activists have already resulted in the owners of the Overseas Santorini abandoning plans to dock in the Spanish port of Algeciras. According to Marine Traffic, the ship is now destined to reach Gibraltar at 3pm UK time on Tuesday.

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Extreme heat poses ‘real risk’ to Spain’s mass tourism industry

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Public health adviser says higher temperatures caused by climate crisis pose danger for visitors not used to them

The climate emergency poses a “real risk” to Spain’s traditional mass tourist model as rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves hit the country’s most popular coastal destinations, a senior public health adviser has warned.

Héctor Tejero, the head of health and climate change at Spain’s health ministry, said the increasingly apparent physical impacts of the climate emergency had already led the ministry to begin talks with the British embassy on how best to educate “vulnerable” tourists about coping with the heat.

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Deafening concerts have turned Madrid stadium into ‘torture-drome’, say residents

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People living next to Santiago Bernabéu venue say gigs – including those by Taylor Swift – are ruining their lives and are taking action

When Delphine de Pontevès opens the window of her first-floor flat in Madrid a little before 10pm on a Tuesday night, more spills into the living room than the unforgivingly hot night air.

The voices and shouts of the crowds below give way to cheers, then to bass-heavy beats and music that will last until midnight and further stretch the patience of those who, like De Pontevès, live next door to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.

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At least 150 people missing after boat capsizes off coast of Mauritania

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Boat full of people hoping to get to Europe overturns and at least 15 known to have died, UN migration agency says

At least 15 people have died and more than 150 are missing after a boat full of people hoping to make it to Europe capsized off the coast of Mauritania, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

About 300 people had boarded the long, wooden, fishing vessel in The Gambia, roughly 850 miles (1,350km) to the south, spending seven days at sea before the boat overturned on Monday, the agency said in a statement.

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Six feared dead and 14 rescued after fishing boat sinks off Falkland Islands

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Seven still missing as emergency teams scour south Atlantic after vessel experienced ‘uncontrolled flooding’

Fourteen fishermen stranded in lifeboats off the coast of the Falkland Islands have been saved in a dramatic rescue operation, but seven people remain missing and six others are believed dead.

Late on Tuesday, emergency teams were still scouring the choppy waters of the south Atlantic for survivors after the Argos Georgia, a Saint Helena-flagged fishing vessel experienced “uncontrolled flooding” on Monday evening.

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Spanish man sentenced to 18 years for letter bombs over Ukraine war

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Pompeyo González Pascual, 76, sent explosive packages to Spain’s prime minister and US and Ukrainian embassies

A Spanish court has sentenced a man to 18 years in prison over letter bombs sent to Spain’s prime minister and the US and Ukrainian embassies in 2022.

Pompeyo González Pascual, 76, who opposed western support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, was found guilty of terrorism and manufacturing explosives by Spain’s top criminal court, the audiencia nacional.

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Barcelona plans to raise tourist tax for cruise passengers visiting for few hours

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Move targeting those in city for less than 12 hours is latest measure from mayor to tackle effects of mass tourism

Barcelona’s mayor plans to raise the tourist tax for cruise passengers who visit the city for less than 12 hours as part of his continuing efforts to “tackle the consequences of mass tourism” in the Catalan capital.

Jaume Collboni, a member of the Catalan Socialist party, has announced a series of measures designed to reduce overtourism and improve the city’s housing situation since taking office last year.

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European heatwave forecast to hit peak as health warnings issued

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Tourists and residents swelter in heat as temperatures rise to 44C in Spain, with forest fires in Greece and Croatia

A fierce heatwave is continuing to roll across southern and central Europe, bringing temperatures of up to 44C (111.2F) to parts of Spain, sparking forest fires in Greece and Croatia, and prompting governments to urge people to take special care as the mercury rises.

In Spain, the state meteorological agency, Aemet, said temperatures on Friday could hit 40C across large parts of the country – and even 44C in areas of Andalucía – as the first heatwave of the summer hit. Aemet said the high temperatures, caused by a mass of “very hot, dry and dusty air” from North Africa, were expected to last until Saturday.

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Gibraltar’s government and FA criticise Spain players’ chants at Euro 2024 party

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  • Morata and Rodri said ‘Gibraltar is Spanish’
  • Government calls remarks ‘rancid’ and FA to involve Uefa

The Gibraltar government has ­criticised the “rancid remarks” ­members of Spain’s Euro ­2024-winning side made at a victory rally in central Madrid on Monday night. The territory’s football association is to make a formal complaint to Uefa over the matter.

The controversy, which follows Spain’s 2-1 victory against England in the final on Sunday, erupted after the Spain captain, Álvaro Morata, and the midfielder Rodri chanted “Gibraltar es español” [“Gibraltar is Spanish”] while on stage in front of a ­massive crowd in the Spanish ­capital’s Plaza de Cibeles.

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Jay Slater: body found in Tenerife is that of missing Briton, autopsy confirms

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Lancashire teenager disappeared after attending music festival on the island four weeks ago

An autopsy has confirmed that a body found by Spanish rescuers in Tenerife on Monday is that of the missing British teenager Jay Slater.

A court spokesperson has reportedly confirmed that fingerprints taken from the body matched those of the missing 19-year-old from Lancashire. He disappeared after attending a music festival four weeks ago and was last seen walking alone in a remote area in the north of the island, near the village of Masca.

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Irish glee as Sinn Féin leader congratulates Spain on Euros win over England

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For some it was harmless banter but others say Mary Lou McDonald’s post on X was an example of obnoxious trolling

It’s a venerable football equation: English defeat = Irish glee.

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, reflected this tradition when she posted “Olé, Olé, Olé” and celebrated Spain’s victory over England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin on Sunday. “Felicidades! Comhghairdeas to the champions of Europe,” she added, using the Irish word for congratulations.

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‘I’ve never seen owt like it’: England fans in Benidorm in high spirits before Euro final

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Supporters enjoy a ‘buzzing’ atmosphere and predict ‘carnage’ whatever the result in match against Spain

Anticipation had been building on Benidorm’s Calle Gerona, affectionately known as the strip, from early in the afternoon.

Some holidaymakers had travelled especially to the town in the hope of finding the ultimate party atmosphere in which to celebrate: Spain’s most British town.

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Starmer says England have ‘made country proud’ as fans arrive in Berlin for Euros final

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More than 50,000 England fans expected in German capital as men’s side hope to make history against Spain

Tens of thousands of England fans are arriving in Berlin as Gareth Southgate’s men’s team attempt to make history and beat Spain to win a first major tournament since 1966.

More than 50,000 England fans are expected to be in German capital for the final of the European championship, many of whom will be without tickets.

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