Respondents to survey for El País and SER also saw inflation as a bigger global threat than wars, energy, terrorism and climate change
22.6% of Spaniards have experienced “anxiety or depression” due to the rise in the cost of living, according to a new opinion poll conducted for El País and SER.
A further 57.7% feel discouragement or pessimism due to inflation.
Continue reading...Members of Pedro Sánchez’s party vote 87% in favour of proposal to form government backed by smaller parties
Members of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) have backed plans to secure another term as prime minister for the party’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, in return for granting a hugely controversial amnesty to people involved in the illegal and unilateral bid for Catalan independence six years ago.
Spain has been in the hands of Sánchez’s caretaker government since July’s inconclusive snap general election, in which the PSOE was narrowly beaten by the conservative People’s party (PP). Although the PP won the most seats, it fell short of a parliamentary majority and has proved unable to form a government, even with the support of the far-right Vox party and other, smaller political groupings.
Continue reading...Reanalysis of skeletal remains in Spain suggests conflicts took place about 5,000 years ago in neolithic period, say researchers
The earliest period of warfare in Europe might have occurred more than 1,000 years before what was previously thought to be the first large-scale conflict in the region, researchers have suggested.
Reanalysis of more than 300 sets of skeletal remains uncovered in Spain – radiocarbon dated to between 5,400 and 5,000 years ago – indicates that conflicts took place long before powerful states formed in the region.
Continue reading...Heir to throne pledges allegiance to constitution at congress in Madrid on her 18th birthday
Princess Leonor, the heir to the Spanish throne, has pledged her allegiance to the constitution in a ceremony that was boycotted by republican government ministers and Catalan and Basque nationalist MPs.
Leonor swore the oath in Spain’s congress as she turned 18 on Tuesday, and was accompanied by her parents, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, her sister, Sofía, and Spain’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. Her grandfather Juan Carlos, the self-exiled former king, was absent.
Continue reading...Remarks by rights chief come as civil society groups warn of a rise in antisemitism amid Israel-Hamas war
Antisemitism is a “deeply ingrained racism in European society” that poses an existential threat to the continent’s Jewish community and the fundamental aims of the European Union, an EU official has warned.
Michael O’Flaherty, the director of the bloc’s agency for fundamental rights, said it was worrying that only a third of the general population considered antisemitism a big problem, when there was no doubt “dramatic moments in our societies trigger antisemitic responses”.
Continue reading...Nobel prize-winning Peruvian author still plans to write an essay on Sartre that ‘will be the last thing I write’
Peru’s best-known living writer, the Nobel prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa, has announced that his seven-decade literary career is coming to an end and that his latest novel will be his last.
In a postscript to the new book, Le dedico mi silencio (I Give You My Silence), the 87-year-old novelist writes: “I think I’ve finished this book. I’d now like to write an essay on [Jean-Paul] Sartre, who was my teacher as a young man. It will be the last thing I write.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Poll shows young people willing to make big lifestyle changes but baulk at smaller gestures
They are willing to have smaller families, stop using cars and – albeit in smaller numbers – go vegan for the planet, but abandoning single-use plastics and growing a few more plants could be a step too far.
Across Europe, according to a seven-country survey, it seems young people are more willing than older generations to make big lifestyle changes that would help combat the climate crisis – but are less convinced by smaller gestures.
Continue reading...Poll of 6,752 people of African descent in 13 countries finds almost half have experienced discrimination
Racism is “pervasive and relentless” and on the rise in Europe, with nearly half of black people in member states surveyed by the EU reporting discrimination, from the verbal abuse of their children to being blocked by landlords from renting homes.
In every walk of life, from schools to the job market, housing and health, a survey by the EU’s rights agency of people of African descent found high levels of discrimination, with some of the worst results recorded in Austria and Germany, where far-right parties have been on the rise.
Continue reading...Thimbo Samb, based in Madrid, was reunited with his older brother who had made boat journey from Senegal
A Madrid-based actor who had travelled to the Canary Islands to report on the arrival of a near-record number of asylum seekers was reunited with his brother after finding out that he was among the thousands who have made the treacherous trip from Senegal to Spain in recent weeks.
Thimbo Samb and his team had arrived in the archipelago hoping to tell the story of the more than 23,000 asylum seekers who have turned up on its shores so far this year. But the Senegal-born actor’s trip took a different turn after he learned that his older brother was among the many who had recently set off on the risky route.
Continue reading...Juan de Pareja’s story sheds light on the role of slavery in creating the great works of Spain’s golden age
The portrait, showing a man of African descent gazing frankly towards the artist, set the art world abuzz when it was revealed by Diego Velázquez in 1650.
The painting cemented the artist’s stratospheric rise, but the spotlight has been recently cast on the extraordinary trajectory of the man who is the subject of the portrait, Juan de Pareja, who went from being enslaved in Velázquez’s studio for more than two decades to becoming a successful artist in his own right.
Continue reading...Bans on pro-Hamas celebrations and pro-Palestinian protests announced in several countries amid tensions
Officials across Europe are scrambling to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told parliament on Thursday that while thousands of people had rallied in support of Israel, the country had also seen “disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight”.
Continue reading...Footballer says becoming champions was ‘the only way that we had left to be heard, respected and valued’
The Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso has said Spain’s World Cup win was part of a “more human, more transcendent” battle for equality in her first public remarks since her team’s triumph was overshadowed by an unsolicited kiss.
The speech was made as part of an event in Mexico, where Hermoso plays for the football club Pachuca, and which featured a tribute to the world champion. The 33-year-old began by describing her emotions as she lifted the World Cup trophy alongside her teammates.
Continue reading...Heat is forecast to continue as authorities suspend classes on all islands and battle Tenerife blaze
Authorities on the Canary Islands have ordered the temporary closure of schools due to scorching temperatures on the archipelago that have set records and helped revive a huge wildfire on Tenerife.
The Spanish archipelago off the north-west coast of Africa typically experiences spring-like conditions all year, but temperatures have recently soared to about 38C (100F) in some parts.
Continue reading...Earlier announcement by Olivér Várhelyi had prompted surprise from member states including Ireland and Spain
The EU has been plunged into a diplomatic row after an announcement that it was to suspend “all payments” to Palestinians as a result of Hamas’s attacks on Israel led to clashes with several member states including Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.
After six hours scrambling for an explanation, the European Commission appeared to backpedal on an announcement made by the commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, saying: “There will be no suspension of payments.” But it muddied the waters by saying there were “no payments foreseen”.
Continue reading...Tens of thousands demonstrate in Spanish region’s capital as Pedro Sánchez weighs move in attempt to form government
Tens of thousands of people have joined conservative and far-right Spanish political leaders in Barcelona to protest against the Socialist party’s decision to consider an amnesty for those involved in the failed, unlawful and unilateral push for Catalan independence six years ago.
Sunday’s demonstration, organised by the anti-independence group Societat Civil Catalana, was called after Catalan separatist parties said they would only consider supporting a new, socialist-led government following July’s inconclusive general election if they were offered an amnesty in return.
Continue reading...A new exhibition chronicles the shifting lenses through which Spain’s Catholics saw the country’s Jewish population
The jet, horn, silver and coral amulets placed around the neck of a three-year-old boy in Tàrrega almost seven centuries ago offered no protection against the crowds who massacred him and hundreds of other Jews in the Catalan town in 1348.
Some of the other pieces in a new exhibition at Madrid’s Prado museum that looks at how images were used to shape and define relationships between Jews and Christians in medieval Spain may have been more effective in warding off the escalating antisemitic hatred.
Continue reading...Startup PLD Space says launch of Miura-1 is ‘just the beginning’ amid European drive to send satellites into orbit
Spanish company PLD Space launched its reusable Miura-1 rocket early on Saturday from a site in south-west Spain, carrying out Europe’s first fully private rocket launch and offering hope for its stalled space ambitions.
The startup’s test nighttime launch from Huelva came after two previous attempts were scrubbed. The Miura-1 rocket, named after a breed of fighting bull, is as tall as a three-storey building and has a 100kg (220-pound) cargo capacity. The launch carried a payload for test purposes but this would not be released, the company said.
Continue reading...Viktor Orbán used provocative language at summit, saying EU had gone ahead without his or Poland’s support
EU leaders have clashed again with Hungary after the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, insisted at a summit in Granada that it would not support proposed laws to deal with migration.
Poland also joined the protest, accusing Brussels of imposing a “diktat” on other member states regarding the proposed laws that would apply in the event of a sudden refugee crisis such as that of 2015, when more than 1 million people arrived in the EU from Syria and beyond.
Continue reading...Five-point plan seeks to tackle organised crime across Europe as well as criminals operating boats
The EU has joined forces with the UK and Albania to extend the fight against people smugglers across the wider continent, after forceful interventions by Giorgia Meloni and Rishi Sunak at a summit of 47 European leaders in Spain.
The plan was forged at the sidelines of the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Granada with the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and the leaders of France, the Netherlands and Albania – Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte and Edi Rama – joining the Italian and UK prime ministers.
Continue reading...Firefighters backed by water-dropping helicopters battle blaze that broke out in area of Spanish Canary island ravaged by fire in August
A wildfire raging on Spain’s holiday island of Tenerife amid unseasonably hot temperatures has forced the evacuation of about 3,000 people from their homes, local officials said.
Firefighters backed by six water-dropping helicopters were battling the blaze, which broke out on Wednesday afternoon in an area of steep ravines in the north-east of the island that was badly ravaged by a huge wildfire in August, the regional government of Tenerife said.
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