Category Archives: Spain

Money Heist writer returns to scene of the crime with prequel Berlin

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Latest project from screenwriter of Netflix’s most watched non-English-language series revisits its most enigmatic character

After a busy few years chronicling fatal Balearic excess in White Lines and crafting the pulpy trafficking drama Sky Rojo, the Spanish screenwriter and producer Álex Pina is returning to one of his most famous criminal creations.

La Casa de Papel, known in English as Money Heist, grew into a global TV phenomenon after Netflix picked it up from the Spanish network Antena 3 in late 2017. By 2020, Pina’s pacey, violent and stylish series about a gang of red-overalled, Salvador Dalí-masked robbers who target the royal mint and then the Bank of Spain had become the platform’s most watched non-English-language series.

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Spanish forward Jenni Hermoso gives evidence in court on Rubiales kiss

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Hermoso gives testimony as judge investigates former Spanish football federation president over kiss after World Cup win

The Spanish footballer Jenni Hermoso has given evidence to a judge investigating the kiss she received from the then president of the Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, after Spain’s win in the World Cup final last August.

Rubiales’ decision to take Hermoso’s head in his hands and kiss her on the lips caused an outcry and a national and international debate on sexism. It has also led to Rubiales being investigated for alleged sexual assault and coercion by a judge at Spain’s highest criminal court, the audiencia nacional.

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Colombia looks to recover billions in treasure from ‘holy grail of shipwrecks’

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But critics say the raising of the San José, sunk in battle with British ships in 1708, might damage the country’s cultural heritage

The Colombian government has announced that it will attempt to raise objects from the 1708 shipwreck of the galleon San José, which is believed to contain a cargo worth billions of dollars.

The 300-year-old wreck, often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks”, has been controversial, because it is both an archaeological and economic treasure.

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Gérard Depardieu accused of rape by Spanish journalist and author

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Ruth Baza, 51, said previous allegations against Depardieu provoked ‘flashes’ of memory of alleged 30-year-old assault

A Spanish journalist and author has filed a criminal complaint in Spain against Gérard Depardieu, claiming that the film star raped her nearly 30 years ago in Paris.

Ruth Baza, 51, told AFP she filed the complaint with Spanish police on Thursday, saying the alleged rape happened when she interviewed the actor in Paris on 12 October 1995, for the magazine Cinemania.

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Alex Batty back in UK six years after vanishing on holiday in Spain

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Teenager whose disappearance, aged 11, sparked an international police hunt, flies home after being found in France

Teenager Alex Batty has returned to the UK six years after disappearing while on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather, police said on Saturday.

Detectives told a press conference at Greater Manchester police HQ that the teenager, who was 11 when he went missing, met his step-grandfather at Toulouse airport earlier on Saturday before flying back to the UK.

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Alex Batty to return to UK six years after going missing during holiday

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Teenager believed to have been abducted by mother in 2017 was found in France earlier this week

Alex Batty, the British teenager who has been missing for six years, will return to the UK on Saturday afternoon.

The 17-year-old is expected to be reunited with his grandmother, Susan Caruana, his legal guardian, who has not seen her grandson since he disappeared in 2017.

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British boy missing since 2017 Spanish holiday found in France

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Alex Batty was 11 when allegedly abducted by mother and grandfather to give him ‘alternative lifestyle’

A British boy who has not been seen by his legal guardian since he went missing on a family holiday to Spain in 2017 has been found in France.

Alex Batty, from Oldham, was 11 and under the guardianship of his grandmother Susan Caruana when he was allegedly abducted by his mother, Melanie Batty, and grandfather, David Batty.

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Spanish cinema chain fined for banning customers who bring their own snacks

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Consumer rights group took action against Yelmo, which runs a nationwide cinema chain

Parents frazzled by entreaties for barrels of popcorn, otherwise law-abiding citizens sweating over the contraband sweets in their pockets, and anyone else sick of spending more on drinks and snacks than on cinema tickets can rest easy. If, that is, they live in certain parts of Spain.

The Basque Country’s consumer affairs department, Kontsumobide, has fined Yelmo, the huge Spanish cinema chain, €30,000 for refusing entry to customers who buy their food and drink outside its premises.

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Fossil fuel firms should volunteer to help vulnerable countries, says Spanish minister

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Co-leader of EU delegation at Cop28 says climate should be at centre of all financial and economic decisions

If fossil fuel companies are serious about tackling the climate crisis, they could contribute to funds for poor and vulnerable countries stricken by its effects, Spain’s environment minister has said.

Teresa Ribera, a co-leader of the EU delegation at the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, said: “Private corporates should be stepping into a different development model in vulnerable countries. We went through some language on that that was broadly supported by all [EU] member states, which is: why not just start by an invitation to the oil and gas companies to dedicate part of the profits to invest in sustainable development of the most vulnerable countries. And that’s on a voluntary basis [at first], because why not?”

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Spanish police investigate deaths of four migrants forced off speedboat

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Vessel was near Andalucían shore when passengers, believed to be from north Africa, were apparently pushed overboard

Spanish police have opened an inquiry after four people were killed as a result of being forced out of a moving speedboat into the sea just metres from the southern shores of Andalucía.

In a tactic the EU border agency has said is becoming increasingly common, the people who died on Wednesday were among 27 passengers apparently forced off the fast-moving vessel by its drivers near Camposoto beach in the province of Cádiz, officials said. Another eight were left near Sancti Petri beach.

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Israeli foreign minister accuses Irish taoiseach of legitimising terror over hostage statement

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Eli Cohen criticised Leo Varadkar’s description of nine-year-old Emily Hand as being ‘lost’, not ‘kidnapped’

The Israeli government has accused Ireland’s taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, of legitimising terror and losing his moral compass by saying a freed Irish-Israeli hostage had been “lost” as opposed to kidnapped.

Eli Cohen, Israel’s foreign minister, on Sunday summoned the Irish ambassador to the foreign ministry in Jerusalem for a formal reprimand over Varadkar’s response to the release of nine-year-old Emily Hand, who was reunited with her family after 50 days as a hostage in Gaza.

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‘They thought I had cancer’: painkiller banned in UK linked to Britons’ deaths in Spain

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Patients’ group says reactions to metamizole can cause sepsis and organ failure – and British and Irish people are at higher risk

A patients group representing several British victims has launched legal action against the Spanish government over claims it failed to safeguard people against the potentially fatal side effects of one of the country’s most popular painkillers, involved in a series of serious illnesses and deaths.

The drug metamizole, commonly sold in Spain under the brand name Nolotil, is banned in several countries, including Britain, the US, India and Australia. It can cause a condition known as agranulocytosis, which reduces white blood cells, increasing the risk of potentially fatal infection.

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Geert Wilders’ victory confirms upward trajectory of far right in Europe

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Dutch general election results show how populist and far-right parties are advancing into political mainstream

Geert Wilders’ shock victory in the Dutch general election confirms the upward trajectory of Europe’s populist and far-right parties, which – with the occasional setback – are continuing their steady march into the mainstream.

There is no guarantee that Wilders, whose anti-Islam Party for Freedom (PVV) won 37 seats in Wednesday’s ballot – more than twice its 2021 total – will be able to form a government with a majority in the Netherlands’ 150-seat parliament.

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Number of Palestinians killed is ‘truly unbearable’, says Spanish PM

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Pedro Sánchez says all civilians must be protected in Israel-Hamas war and reiterates call for two-state solution

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has urged Israel to rethink its offensive in Gaza, telling its president and prime minister the number of dead Palestinians is “truly unbearable”, and that the response to Hamas’s terrorist attacks last month cannot include “the deaths of innocent civilians, including thousands of children”.

Sánchez’s blunt pleas came during a visit to the Middle East with the Belgian prime minister, Alexander de Croo, during which he called for a peace conference and reiterated that the creation of a Palestinian state remained the best way to bring peace and security to the region.

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‘Your wife wants to see you’: 18th-century Spanish letters seized at sea by British published online

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Correspondence taken from 130 captured ships reveal details of the stories of seafarers and their families in the 1700s

A letter from a reproachful wife to the husband who seemingly abandoned her after travelling to the Americas, which remained unopened for nearly 300 years, is among thousands of papers from 18th-century Spanish ships captured by the British that are now being made available online.

Francisca Muñoz in Seville wrote to her husband, Miguel Atocha, in Mexico on 22 January 1747. The letter was among 100 others from Spanish women to their husbands detailing the emotional and economic challenges faced in their partners’ absences, and found on La Ninfa, a registered ship trading between Cádiz and Veracruz, Mexico that was captured by the notorious British privateer squadron known as the “Royal Family”.

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Three arrested over shooting of former rightwing politician in Madrid

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British woman said to be among those held after Alejo Vidal-Quadras was shot in the face on a busy street

Spanish police investigating the attempted killing of a former rightwing politician who was shot in the face on a busy Madrid street almost two weeks ago have arrested three people including a British woman, according to official sources.

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former leader of the conservative People’s party (PP) in Catalonia who joined the far-right Vox party in 2014, was attacked in the affluent Salamanca district of the Spanish capital at about 1.30pm local time (1230 GMT) on Thursday 9 November.

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Not possible to return asylum seekers who arrived from Russia, Finnish president says – Europe live

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Sauli Niinistö calls for close cooperation on border security during visit to Poland

Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, has congratulated Javier Milei and invited the new Argentinian far-right libertarian president to visit Israel to open an embassy in Jerusalem.

Milei has previously said he would move the location of Argentina’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “I don’t care if I’ll be criticized by world leaders. I truly believe that’s the right thing to do,” he said in a recent interview with the Times of Israel.

It’s obvious that Argentina needs a change. It was unacceptable that one of the most prosperous countries in the world should keep falling year after year into the same thing.

I wish the new government every success and I want them to know that they can count on Madrid, where we’ve worked to defend freedom from day one and where we’ve looked after so many Argentinians who have fled, terrified, from Peronism …

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Shakira strikes deal with Spanish prosecutors to avoid €14.5m tax fraud trial

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Colombian singer to pay €7.3m fine instead of risking prison sentence in deal that ends Barcelona trial

The Colombian pop star Shakira has reached a settlement with prosecutors to avoid a trial in Barcelona over charges she failed to pay €14.5m (£12.7m) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.

As part of the deal, she accepted the charges and a fine of 50% of the amount owed, more than €7.3m.

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Shakira due to go on trial in Spain over tax fraud claims

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Colombian singer is accused of defrauding authorities of €14.5m and could face jail if found guilty

Shakira, the Latin Grammy-winning singer, is due in court in Barcelona on Monday on charges of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of €14.5m (£12.7m).

The 46-year-old Colombian musician, who lives in Miami with her two children, could face up to eight years in jail and a €24m fine if found guilty.

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Pedro Sánchez is back … now Spain’s PM must make his daring gamble pay off

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The socialist leader’s pact with separatist activists has returned him to power for now, but it’s a strategy fraught with political uncertainty

At the end of an investiture debate that had been fraught, savage and bizarre, even by recent standards, the defeated leader of Spain’s conservative opposition offered his triumphant socialist rival a handshake. It was not accompanied by his warmest wishes.

“This was a mistake,” said Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the People’s party (PP), as he pressed the flesh with a smiling Pedro Sánchez on Thursday. “And you’re responsible for what you’ve just done.”

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