Category Archives: Spain

Spanish climber, 84, injured in bid to be oldest to scale world’s 14 highest peaks

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Carlos Soria forced to abandon ascent of Nepal’s Dhaulagiri, one of two 8,000-metre summits he is still to conquer

An 84-year-old Spanish mountaineer has been forced to abandon his 15th attempt to reach the summit of Nepal’s Dhaulagiri – one of the two “8,000ers” he had left to climb to claim the title of the oldest climber to conquer the world’s 14 highest mountains.

A Sherpa fell on Carlos Soria, injuring his leg, a message posted on his behalf on his Twitter and Facebook accounts said.

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Spanish PM offers €2 cinema tickets for over-65s ahead of regional elections

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Pedro Sánchez announces subsidy as his Socialist party lags behind conservative opposition in polls

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a new scheme that will allow over-65s to go to the cinema every Tuesday for just €2 (£1.76) two weeks before the country heads to the polls for crucial regional and municipal elections.

The subsidy, announced during a campaign event in the central region of Castilla-La Mancha, comes a year after Sánchez’s minority coalition government introduced a youth culture voucher scheme that gives Spaniards turning 18 €400 to spend on books, records, digital subscriptions, festivals, concerts, plays, exhibitions and films.

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EU parliament report calls for tighter regulation of spyware

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Non-binding vote bans surveillance software after concluding Hungary and Poland used it to track journalists and opponents

The EU needs tighter regulation of the spyware industry, a European parliament special committee has said, after concluding that Hungary and Poland had used surveillance software to illegally monitor journalists, politicians and activists.

A special European parliament committee voted on Monday for a temporary ban on the sale, acquisition and use of spyware while the bloc draws up common EU standards based on international law. The moratorium would be lifted only on strict conditions, including independent investigations into the abuse of spyware in the EU.

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‘If you win: housewife’: Spanish women’s race sorry after winner given food processor

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  • Organisers of Carrera de la Mujer apologise after backlash
  • Spain’s secretary of state for equality offers criticism

The organizers of a women’s race in Spain has apologised after the winner was offered a food processor to take home, something that has sparked accusations of sexism.

The 7km Carrera de la Mujer issued a statement on Twitter saying it hadn’t considered the kitchen appliance – donated by a sponsor – would have sexist implications.

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Weather tracker: Vietnam and Laos set records for highest-ever temperatures

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Records for countries broken just weeks after temperature in Thailand rose above 45C for the first time

All-time temperature records were broken in Vietnam and Laos last week. On 6 May, Hoi Xuan in Vietnam reached a scorching 44.1C, breaking the previous record for the country of 43.4C, set in 2019. On the same day, Laos recorded its highest-ever temperature, , which reached 43.5C in Luang Prabang. These records were set just a few weeks after temperatures in Thailand rose above 45C for the first time.

A breakdown of the heat in south-east Asia is expected to occur in the next few days as a tropical disturbance is likely to develop nearby. Forecast models suggest that, over the coming days, the Bay of Bengal will have the perfect conditions for cyclogenesis to occur. By later this week, several factors, including enhanced vorticity and very high sea surface temperatures, will enhance the chance that a tropical storm will edge north-eastwards into parts of Myanmar. This will bring some strong winds and significant rainfall to south-east Asia, including the areas that have recently seen their temperature records broken.

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French left attacks ‘nauseating’ coronation but right gives praise

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Jean-Luc Mélenchon also criticises French TV coverage while National Rally MP hails ‘magnificent’ ceremony

Almost 9 million people watched King Charles’s coronation live on TV in France, where the pomp and ceremony sickened the radical left while impressing the far right.

As the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who is close to Charles, attended the service at Westminster Abbey, congratulating the monarchy who he said were “friends to France”, the French media’s massive focus on the event – with souvenir front pages and lengthy TV specials across different channels – caused high emotions across the polarised political landscape.

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‘We need to get out!’ How Gypsy families were driven out of Spanish town by mob

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Many of the 40 people forced to flee after a local stabbing are still traumatised by Andalucían town’s ‘blackest day’

Almost 10 months on, Ricardo García Carmona still shudders at the way he spoke to his mother when she appeared on his doorstep with an urgent warning a little after 9am on Sunday 17 July last year. “She said: ‘Let’s go! We need to get out!’”

A few hours earlier, his mother told him, a young doorman called Álvaro Soto had been stabbed to death after an argument at the pub where he worked in the small Andalucían town of Peal de Becerro. The alleged killers, like García Carmona’s family, were members of Peal’s Gypsy community, and his mother could not shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

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Many Europeans want climate action – but less so if it changes their lifestyle, shows poll

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Exclusive: YouGov survey in seven countries tested backing for government and individual action on crisis

Many Europeans are alarmed by the climate crisis and would willingly take personal steps and back government policies to help combat it, a survey suggests – but the more a measure would change their lifestyle, the less they support it.

The seven-country YouGov survey tested backing for state-level climate action, such as banning single-use plastics and scrapping fossil-fuel cars, and individual initiatives including buying only secondhand clothes and giving up meat and dairy products.

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‘The suit burns’: Madrid’s street performers suffer in record Spanish heat

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The country has recorded its hottest, driest April yet. For people working outdoors, it’s no joke

There are many better places to be in Spain than Madrid when recordbreaking temperatures bring summer’s ruthless heat in spring, prompting government health warnings, action plans from regional authorities and the familiar agonising wait for outdoor public pools to open.

There are also many better places to be in Madrid when the mercury nudges 30C (86F) than under a woolly hat inside a furry Sonic the Hedgehog costume in the elegant, shadeless air fryer that is the Spanish capital’s Plaza Mayor.

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More fruit and veg shortages to come as weather in UK and Spain hits crops

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Record heat in southern Europe and chilly start to British growing season spell more misery for shoppers

Shoppers have been warned they face more fruit and vegetable shortages, as temperatures in southern Spain soar to unprecedented levels while the UK growing season gets off to a late start because of cold, overcast weather.

Temperatures were expected to reach a new April record of 39C (102F) in parts of Andalucía on Friday amid a long-lasting drought that has affected the production of vegetables in Spain. Córdoba reached a record 38.8C on Thursday.

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‘Flambéed pizza’ leads to deadly fire at Madrid restaurant

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Restaurant employee and customer die and 12 people injured in blaze after decorations caught light

Two people died and 12 were injured in a fire apparently sparked when a waiter flambéed a pizza at a Madrid restaurant and accidentally set decorations ablaze.

One of the dead was a restaurant employee and the other a customer, said the city’s mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida. He said one person was in a critical condition in hospital and five others were seriously hurt.

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Spanish PM apologises for loophole in new sexual consent law

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Pedro Sánchez asks victims for forgiveness after change allows some offenders to reduce sentences

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has apologised to victims for a loophole in a landmark new law that was intended to toughen penalties for sexual crimes but has allowed some convicted offenders to reduce their sentences.

The legislation, popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law, came into effect last October. It overhauled the criminal code by making sexual consent – or lack of it – key in determining assault cases, in an effort to define all non-consensual sex as rape.

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‘A plague of locusts’: Barcelona battles port authorities to curb cruise tourists

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Councillors and residents hope to limit the number of daytrippers arriving by boat to preserve the city’s streets and character

The ships, at times dwarfing the average apartment building, begin lumbering into Barcelona while much of the city is still asleep. Stretching as long as five buses, some come to embark or disembark passengers, while others disgorge thousands of daytrippers keen to glimpse the city’s modernist architecture and stroll the narrow streets of the gothic quarter.

It’s a scene that plays out daily in Barcelona – much to the chagrin of some local officials. Last Monday, five cruise ships were slated to arrive; this Friday, on 14 April, eight are expected.

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Spanish minister Yolanda Díaz launches leftwing political party

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Communist brings together multiple groups under Sumar banner and aims to become country’s first female PM

A new political party has launched in Spain, composed of more than a dozen left-leaning groups and led by a lifelong communist who aims to become the country’s first female prime minister.

Yolanda Díaz, the deputy prime minister and minister of labour, has drastically changed Spain’s political landscape with the formation of the Sumar (Unite) party.

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Spain’s PM urges Beijing to discuss peace plan with Zelenskiy

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Pedro Sánchez encourages dialogue between Xi Jinping and Ukrainian president during China visit

Spain’s prime minister has said he conveyed concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to Xi Jinping, urging Beijing to discuss peace plans with Kyiv directly, during a visit to China aimed at boosting ties between the two countries.

Speaking to reporters on Friday from the Spanish embassy in Beijing, Pedro Sánchez said the talks with the Chinese president had “transmitted our concern at the illegal invasion of Ukraine”, as well as “encouraged Xi to talk to President Zelenskiy” to learn first-hand about the peace plan proposed by Kyiv.

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Abusive working conditions endemic in Spain’s strawberry farms, report claims

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UK supermarkets heavily reliant on strawberries from southern Spain, where workers allege they are regularly underpaid, have passports withheld and are forced to live in unsanitary shacks

Abusive conditions are endemic in parts of Spain’s fruit sector, a new report alleges, with workers telling the Guardian they have been regularly underpaid and forced to live in dilapidated shacks.

During the winter, at least 60% of strawberries eaten in the UK are likely to be from vast farms across the south-west Spanish province of Huelva. In 2020, the UK imported €310m (£272m) worth of the fruit from the Andalucia region, of which 91% is believed to be grown in Huelva.

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Early wildfire in Spain’s Valencia region forces 1,500 villagers to evacuate

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Emergency services say they have contained spread of blaze that has scorched more than 4,000 hectares

Spain’s first big wildfire of the year has scorched more than 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of forest and forced 1,500 people to leave their homes in the Valencia region.

Residents recounted fleeing their houses and leaving animals behind. “Bad – how am I supposed to feel? Your town is burning, your life is burning, Our animals were there and no one can tell us anything,” said Antonio Zarzoso, 24, who had to leave the village of Puebla de Arenoso.

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‘Like a vacuum cleaner running all day’: noisy nightlife making Spanish streets ‘uninhabitable’

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Tensions between residents and revellers have reached boiling point after loosening of serving restrictions during Covid

The sun has barely set when the music starts thumping on Madrid’s Calle Ponzano. As queues start to form outside the already heaving bars, the party spills out on to the pavement, leaving customers jostling for space with an ever-growing cacophony of smokers and passersby.

Lost in the fray is the brightly lettered message – pleading with punters to keep the noise down – from banners that flap from balconies above. It is a last ditch effort by those who have found themselves living on the frontline of a battle playing out across Spain as exhausted neighbours face off against raucous drinkers.

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Spanish PM to discuss Ukraine with Xi Jinping on visit to China

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Pedro Sánchez says he will tell Chinese leader it must be Ukrainians who ‘lay down conditions’ for any peace agreement

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, will visit China next week to meet President Xi Jinping, where he is expected to stress that it will be up to Ukraine to decide on the foundations of any peace agreement with Russia.

News of Sánchez’s visit emerged on Wednesday evening, as Xi – who is trying to position himself as a mediator in the war between Russia and Ukraine – wrapped up a symbolic, two-day trip to Moscow.

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Spanish government sees off no-confidence vote by far-right party

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Vox motion had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over botched sexual offences legislation

Spain’s Socialist-led minority government has comfortably seen off a no-confidence vote tabled by the far-right Vox party, as the country prepares for regional and municipal elections in two months’ time and a general election before the end of the year.

Although Vox’s motion, which was debated in congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, was never likely to attract support from other parties, Vox had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over the government’s botched sexual offences legislation – which has resulted in reduced prison terms for hundreds of convicted felons – and its overhaul of sedition legislation.

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