Category Archives: Spain

Spanish football federation leaders demand resignation of Luis Rubiales

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Embattled president increasingly isolated following World Cup kiss after urgent meeting between chiefs

Spain’s football federation regional presidents have demanded that Luis Rubiales “immediately resign”, pulling support for the football chief days after the federation’s members heartily applauded his vow to stay on.

On Monday, more than a week after Rubiales grabbed forward Jenni Hermoso by the head and planted a kiss on her lips, the federation’s regional presidents were summoned to an “extraordinary and urgent” meeting in Madrid to assess the impact of the crisis.

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Mallorca: P&O ship with thousands of Britons onboard collides with tanker

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Cruise vessel’s mooring ropes snapped in high winds, which blew liner into nearby oil transport ship off coast of Palma

A P&O cruise ship carrying thousands of British holidaymakers has crashed into an oil tanker off the coast of Palma in Mallorca after it snapped its moorings.

The Britannia was blown by gales towards the other vessel on Sunday after a storm battered the island in the Balearics. P&O said a small number of people had sustained minor injuries.

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‘It’s over’: World Cup kiss becomes Spanish football’s #MeToo moment

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Jenni Hermoso receives ovation at Madrid match as hashtag #SeAcabo is embraced on social media in wake of Rubiales scandal

When Jenni Hermoso arrived in the stands, the standing ovation was thundering. On the field below, Atlético de Madrid and AC Milan were battling it out for the Women’s Cup, but the message – scrawled on posters, temporary tattoos and a metres-long banner unfurled by the players – was unanimous at the stadium in Madrid on Saturday night: “We’re with you, Jenni Hermoso.”

It was a hint of how the tumultuous events of the past week since La Roja’s dazzling World Cup win have supercharged the long-running battle for equality in women’s football. As the hashtag #SeAcabó, meaning “it’s over”, was embraced from Sevilla to Santander, it was clear that Spanish football’s #MeToo moment had arrived.

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Spanish football federation threatens to sue Jenni Hermoso over kiss ‘lies’

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Governing body says it will take ‘necessary legal action’ against female players protesting over Luis Rubiales kiss scandal

The Spanish football federation has threatened to sue Jenni Hermoso, the player at the centre of a row over its president’s conduct, for lying and defamation.

It has also threatened to sue the 79 women’s football players who signed a letter in which they refused to play for their country as long as Luis Rubiales remained in his post.

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Jenni Hermoso ‘did not consent’ to be kissed by Rubiales

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Spain forward rejects FA chief’s claims as ‘categorically false’ as the national women’s team refuses to play until he resigns

• ‘Ego above dignity’: Rubiales’ defiance over kiss shocks Spain

The Spain forward Jenni Hermoso has said she did not consent to be kissed by the Spanish football federation president, Luis Rubiales, as the women’s team announced that they would not play until he is removed.

Rubiales has faced fierce criticism for days, as well as a Fifa investigation, after he grabbed Hermoso by the head and kissed her on her lips during the Women’s World Cup final trophy presentation.

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‘Ego above dignity’: Luis Rubiales’ defiance over kiss shocks Spain

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Women’s and men’s players and clubs join politicians in condemning football chief’s refusal to resign

For a brief moment, it looked like it would be a victory for feminism. After days of uproar across Spain and around the world, media reports had suggested that Spain’s football chief, Luis Rubiales, would step down over the kiss he planted on forward Jenni Hermoso’s lips during the Women’s World Cup medal presentation on Sunday.

Yet instead of announcing his departure at an emergency meeting of the football federation on Friday, he left many Spaniards in shock by defiantly declaring “I will not resign” five times in a meandering speech that hit out at “false feminism” while also seeking to portray himself as a victim and recast the kiss as “a peck”.

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‘Social assassination’: defiant Rubiales refuses to resign over World Cup kiss

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  • Spanish FA chief vows to stay and says critics ‘trying to kill me’
  • 46-year-old faced fierce criticism for kissing Jennifer Hermoso

Luis Rubiales hit out at “false feminism” and a “social assassination” of his character as he vowed to stay on as head of Spain’s football federation (RFEF) amid fierce criticism and a Fifa investigation for kissing Spain’s Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the Women’s World Cup final trophy presentation.

In a passionate speech at an extraordinary general assembly of Spain’s football federation, the 46-year-old reiterated that he would not be forced out of his role by what he felt was a witch-hunt. “I will not resign,” he repeated five times to widespread applause. “I will fight this to the end.”

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Spanish football president in kissing row denies new misogyny allegations

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Tamara Ramos claims Luis Rubiales asked what colour her underwear was when they worked together

Spain’s football federation president Luis Rubiales was at the centre of new misogyny allegations on Wednesday, as he faces growing calls to be sacked for kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips after the country’s World Cup victory.

The country’s football federation (RFEF) chief, 46, has been widely condemned for planting a kiss on the lips of the footballer after her team’s 1-0 triumph over England in the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney on Sunday.

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Cape Verde boat survivors say some jumped out to try to reach land

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Some took parts of wooden seats for buoyancy after watching friends die on drifting vessel

Facing hunger, thirst and a rising number of deaths, some of the group of asylum seekers who were adrift for more than a month in the Atlantic resorted to breaking off chunks of the boat’s wooden seats in hopes of floating to land, a friend of three of the survivors has said.

More than 90 people are believed to have died before the rickety boat that had set off from Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal, was found off Cape Verde last week. Survivors said they left on 10 July aiming to reach Spain’s Canary Islands and spent weeks drifting at the mercy of powerful Atlantic trade winds.

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Spain’s conservative party leader proposed as PM despite no majority

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People’s party’s Alberto Feijóo is choice of king to succeed Pedro Sánchez but would only be able to form minority government

The leader of Spain’s conservative People’s party has been put forward to be prime minister, in a move that seems doomed to fail as he has not secured enough votes to command a majority.

In accordance with protocol, King Felipe VI proposed Alberto Feijóo for the investiture on Tuesday night on the grounds that his party won the most votes in last month’s general election, which produced a hung parliament.

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Barcelona community resource named world’s best new public library

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Gabriel García Márquez library in working-class district specialises in Latin American literature

A Barcelona library specialising in Latin American literature has been named the best new public library in the world by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions at its congress in Rotterdam.

The library, named after the Nobel-winning Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez, opened last year in the working-class neighbourhood of Sant Martí de Provençals.

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Zero-degree line at record height above Switzerland as heat and fire hit Europe

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Weather ballon climbs to 5,300 metres before temperature falls to 0C amid late summer heatwave

A Swiss weather balloon had to climb to an unprecedented 5,300 metres (17,400ft) before the temperature fell to 0C (32F), meteorologists have said, as a late summer heatwave and wildfires continue to pummel swathes of continental Europe.

A man was found dead in a blaze raging north of Athens on Monday as the Greek government warned of an “extreme” risk of fire across the country, while more than half of mainland France was placed under an amber heat alert.

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‘I’m so happy as a woman and as a Spaniard’: World Cup joy in Madrid

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Jubilation at victory over England will take a while to sink in – and there are hopes it will bring lasting change

By mid-afternoon on Sunday, the August-quiet, sun-fried streets around Madrid’s WiZink Center had begun to fill with red strips, dazed and happy faces, and the inevitable chorus of horns from the capital’s jubilant motorists. Spain had done it. But the fact they had done it was going to take a while to sink in.

Among the hundreds of people milling about outside the sporting arena and concert venue – where giant screens had shown the World Cup triumph of the Spanish women’s team to 6,000 people – were Laura Luengo, her wife, Tamara Rodríguez, and their young son, Álvaro.

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Tenerife wildfire ‘started deliberately’ as blazes in Greece force evacuations

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Canary Islands regional president opens inquiry into fire, while people flee from four Greek villages

An out-of-control wildfire on Tenerife that has forced thousands to flee was started deliberately, authorities have said, as four more villages in Greece were evacuated in the face of another advancing blaze and more than half of mainland France was on extreme heat alert.

As much of southern Europe continues to roast after July was named the world’s hottest month on record, the Canary Islands regional president, Fernando Clavijo, said on Sunday that police had confirmed the blaze raging on the Spanish island since Tuesday had been lit intentionally, and had opened three separate lines of inquiry.

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‘A win will change everything’… World Cup victory for Spain would kick out sexism, say fans

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If La Roja beat England, Spain’s apathetic media would finally have to take notice

Slicing sourdough on the stainless-steel counter of a London tapas restaurant, Ana Lorenzo hopes victory for La Roja will banish the sexism she says still stalks women’s football in Spain.

“It’s so sexist in Spain compared to here. The attitude to women’s football is many years behind. And despite doing so well, the women’s team hasn’t really gripped the media,” she says, shaking her head.

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‘I don’t know why our boobs are so frightening’: why musicians in Spain are going topless as a radical gesture

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Singer Eva Amaral this week created headlines by baring her chest at a festival, joining a string of other artists asserting this freedom in the name of defending women’s rights

In the middle of her performance at the Sonorama festival in the northern Spanish town of Aranda de Duero on Saturday, Eva Amaral was about to lead her band Amaral into her song Revolución when she took off her red sequin top and threw it on the floor.

“This is for Rocío, for Rigoberta, for Zahara, for Miren, for Bebe, for all of us,” she said, listing the names of fellow artists before uncovering her breasts. “Because no one can take away the dignity of our nakedness. The dignity of our fragility, of our strength. Because there are too many of us.” In a concert marking the Spanish band’s 25-year career, going topless was a way of defending women’s dignity and freedom to go nude, and “a very important moment”, Amaral later told El País.

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Cape Verde boat disaster: vessel drifted for month after alarm raised, says NGO

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Walking Borders said it told authorities in four countries on 20 July about vessel with more than 100 asylum seekers onboard

A Spanish NGO alerted authorities from four countries on 20 July about a boat carrying an estimated 130 asylum seekers that was found earlier this week with just 38 survivors and the bodies of seven dead people on board.

Relatives of those onboard said the large fishing vessel had left Fass Boye, a seaside town in Senegal on 10 July, and was heading for Spain’s Canary Islands. The boat was spotted on Monday about 150 nautical miles (277km ) north of the Cape Verdean island of Sal.

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Wildfires in Tenerife force thousands to evacuate or stay indoors

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Worst wildfires in the Canary Islands in at least 40 years drawing closer to the capital Santa Cruz

More than 7,500 people have been evacuated or ordered to stay indoors as the worst wildfire in at least four decades ravages the Canary island of Tenerife, burning through 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) of land and drawing closer to the capital, Santa Cruz.

Fernando Clavijo, the regional president of the Canaries, said more than 250 firefighters – backed by military emergency crews and 17 aircraft – were working to tackle the fire, which broke out in the north-east of the island on Tuesday and which currently has a 32km (20-mile) perimeter.

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At least 63 people feared dead after boat found off Cape Verde

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Fishing vessel with 100 asylum seekers was travelling from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands

More than 60 people are believed to have died after the boat they were travelling on from Senegal was found off Cape Verde, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Wednesday.

At least 63 asylum seekers are thought to have died, while the 38 survivors include four children between the ages of 12 and 16, an IOM spokesperson told AFP.

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Weather tracker: floods, storms and wildfires in Europe

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North of continent records unusually wet and windy summer conditions while Portugal and Spain battle flames

Floods struck northern and central Europe last week. Some areas of Slovenia recorded more than 200mm of rain in 12 hours on Thursday and Friday, causing extensive flooding across two-thirds of the country. Many buildings and roads were damaged, at an estimated cost of €500m (£432m), and six deaths were reported.

Storm Hans hit the Baltic region a few days later. Hans originated as an area of low pressure over eastern Europe, but quickly deepened as it travelled northwards towards the Baltic Sea. The low was unusually deep for a summer storm, and led to daily rainfall totals of 80 to 100mm in parts of southern Norway and Sweden earlier this week.

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