Category Archives: Spain

‘It’s a dream’: exoskeleton allows boy with cerebral palsy to walk and play

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Boy, 12, takes Marsi Bionics-designed kit into Madrid school for first time

Given the day’s importance and the many long months he and his family had dreamed of it, Jorge would probably have preferred a special guest appearance by Tony Stark, Dr Bruce Banner or Marshall the fire pup from Paw Patrol. Or, better still, all three.

But in the end he had to make do with a surprise visit from Pedro Sánchez. At 12.45pm on Tuesday, surrounded by friends and teachers – and Spain’s prime minister – Jorge fulfilled the biggest ambition of his 12 years by standing up, walking over to his classmates, and playing with them.

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Spain tries again to end 10-day lorry strike over high fuel prices

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Government and hauliers to meet over dispute causing food shortages in supermarkets and restaurants

The Spanish government is meeting transport associations in a fresh attempt to end an enduring lorry strike over high fuel prices that has disrupted restaurant menus and led to food shortages in supermarkets.

The action, which began last week, comes as surging energy costs are exacerbated by Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and consumer prices rise to their highest level in more than three decades.

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Researchers in Valencia pinpoint unwritten rules of paella

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No fish or shellfish in Spain’s famous national dish says survey of 400 amateur chefs

Many crimes have been committed in the name of paella but now researchers in Valencia have laid down 10 commandments of what thou shall and shall not put in their national dish.

The ten permitted ingredients are: rice, water, olive oil, salt, saffron (or food colouring), tomato, flat green beans, lima beans, chicken and rabbit. No fish or shellfish. Ever.

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‘We must welcome them’: how Europe is helping Ukrainian refugees

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Unlike the UK, EU countries have offered open sanctuary to the millions fleeing Russia’s attack in biggest refugee crisis since second world war

Over the past few days, images of desperate Ukrainian families being turned away by officials have thrown the UK’s response to what has been termed the biggest refugee crisis since the second world war into stark contrast with its European neighbours.

So far the UK has refused to match the EU’s decision to offer Ukrainians open sanctuary, instead operating a limited family reunification and humanitarian sponsorship system.

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Spain’s far-right Vox breaks through into regional government

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People’s party’s deal with extremist rivals in Castilla y León called ‘pact of shame’ by Socialists

The far-right Vox party is set to form part of a regional Spanish government for the first time after cutting a deal to run the north-western autonomous community of Castilla y León with its bitter rivals in the conservative People’s party (PP).

The deal, which comes almost a month after the PP’s decision to call regional elections failed to produce the absolute majority it had hoped for, follows weeks of wrangling amid a PP leadership crisis.

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Roman boat that sank in Mediterranean 1,700 years ago gives up its treasures

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Finds from fourth-century wreck ‘perfectly preserved’ just 2m below the surface off one of Mallorca’s busiest beaches

One squally day or stormy night about 1,700 years ago, a boat carrying hundreds of amphorae of wine, olives, oil and garum – the fermented fish sauce that so delighted the ancient palate – came to grief during a stopover in Mallorca.

The merchant vessel, probably at anchor in the Bay of Palma while en route from south-west Spain to Italy, was quickly swallowed by the waves and buried in the sands of the shallow seabed.

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Spanish minister defends police accused of brutality at Melilla border

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Video of man being beaten by officers prompts outrage, but interior minister says use of force ‘proportionate’

Spain’s interior minister has defended the behaviour of police who were filmed beating and pepper-spraying a young sub-Saharan African man as he climbed over the border fence between Morocco and Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla, insisting the officers’ use of force was “proportionate”.

The video emerged last week as about 3,700 people tried to scale the six-metre (20ft) fence over two days. On Wednesday, an unprecedented 2,500 people tried to clamber over the border, of whom 491 succeeded. The following day, 1,200 people attempted to cross over, with 380 making it.

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European countries dominate half of Asian shark fin trade, report reveals

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Despite nearly a third of shark species nearing extinction, Spain supplied 51,000 tonnes of shark fins from 2003-20, says IFAW

European countries are selling so many shark fins to Asia that they dominate nearly half the trade, a study has found.

Shark populations continue to decline, driven by the global shark fin trade. Last year, scientists found a third of sharks and ray species have been overfished to near-extinction, jeopardising the health of entire ocean ecosystems and food security for many countries.

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‘Her blood … his hands’: what the papers say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

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Photograph of teacher bloodied by Russian attack on Ukraine dominates front pages as Putin sends his troops to war

The front pages in Britain and around the world are devoted to the shocking events in Ukraine, with graphic images of the destruction unleashed by Vladimir Putin.

A photograph of a woman with a bloodied and bandaged head in the wake of a Russian attack dominates the front of the Guardian with the headline “Putin invades”.

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Final piece of 17th-century tapestry stolen 42 years ago found by Spanish police

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Flemish work taken by notorious art thief ‘Erik the Belgian’ tracked down by officer doing academic research on art thefts

Spanish police have recovered the final piece of a 17th-century tapestry that was stolen 42 years ago by a notorious art thief.

The 4-metre by 6.5-metre tapestry, known as La apoteosis de las artes (The Apotheosis of the Arts), was one of six Flemish tapestries taken from the church of Santo Domingo in the town of Castrojeriz in northern Spain, in the early hours of 7 November 1980.

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Spain mourns worst fishing tragedy in 38 years after sinking of Villa de Pitanxo

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The Galicia-based trawler sank off Newfoundland with just three known survivors from the crew of 24

Spain was in mourning for its worst fishing tragedy in almost 40 years, as rescuers warned on Wednesday that it was unlikely they would find any more survivors from a ship that sank in rough seas off Newfoundland.

Search teams have so far confirmed 10 dead and rescued three survivors from a life raft, and the search continues for 11 others who remain unaccounted for.

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UK has been slower than some countries in giving Covid jabs to younger children

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Progress has been slower than in adults, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts

All nations of the UK will offer Covid-19 vaccines to all 5-11 year olds, with England, Northern Ireland and Scotland all joining Wales in offering the jabs to younger children on Wednesday.

Britain has been slower than some other countries in offering the shots to this age group. Many EU member states began offering vaccination to all children aged five to 11 in December, but progress has been patchy, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts.

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Seven dead and 17 missing as Spanish fishing boat sinks off Canada

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Three crew rescued from life raft as international mission combs icy seas for survivors

At least seven people have died and 14 are missing after a Spanish fishing boat sank in bitterly cold seas off the north-east coast of Canada early on Tuesday morning.

Spain’s maritime rescue service said an international operation was under way to locate the crew of the Villa de Pitanxo, a boat from the north-western Galicia region that went down 280 miles (450km) off the Newfoundland coast.

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The rumba radio station, the DJ … and 110,000 albums looking for a noisy new home

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The unique Gladys Palmera archive may cross the Atlantic from Madrid to secure a permanent base

On a hillside an hour from Madrid, not far from the sepulchral splendour of the Escorial monastery, with its royal tombs, imperial maps and sacred relics, lies another, rather less austere, treasure house.

The Gladys Palmera collection, kept in a sprawling, tropical-hued complex crammed with 1950s Mexican film posters and prowled by the odd decorative monkey and jaguar, is the largest private archive of Latin American music in the world.

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Culture wars rage as depopulated Spanish region goes to polls

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Ruling party may need help from rightwing Vox to hold on to power after snap election in Castilla y León

People in the Spanish region of Castilla y León vote on Sunday in a snap election that represents a massive gamble for the ruling conservative People’s party (PP). It could see a breakthrough by a new political platform campaigning on behalf of depopulated and underdeveloped parts of Spain.

The vote was called in December after the regional president, the PP’s Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, kicked his partners in the centre-right Citizens party out of the coalition government, claiming that he could no longer rely on their loyalty.

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Ghost village emerges in Spain as drought dries out reservoir – video

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A ghost village that has emerged after drought nearly emptied a dam on the Spanish-Portuguese border is drawing crowds of tourists. With the reservoir at 15% capacity, details of a life frozen in 1992, when the Aceredo village in Spain’s north-western Galicia region was flooded to create the Alto Lindoso reservoir, are being revealed once more

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How much does a Covid test cost around the world?

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As the UK Treasury pushes for free tests to be scrapped, here’s how charges look in other countries

In Australia, a federal scheme introduced at the end of January allows pensioners and concession card holders to access up to 10 free rapid antigen tests over three months through their chemist. But the scheme got off to a difficult start, with supply issues hampering attempts to procure the tests. In January the competition regulator raised concerns that rapid antigen tests often cost between A$20 and A$30 (£15-£20) per test and sometimes more than A$70 a test through smaller retail outlets, despite wholesale costs ranging from A$3.95 to A$11.45.

In Belgium the price of an antigen self-test sold in pharmacies is around €6-€8 (£5-£7), more expensive than in neighbouring countries, such as France and the Netherlands, although they are available in Belgian supermarkets for about €3. Prices have come down and are expected to fall further: one big pharmacy chain announced this week they had begun selling tests for €1.99. While a PCR test, which costs about €41, is free for people with symptoms, or may be reimbursed by health insurance, self-tests usually have to be funded by individuals. The Belgian consumer association Test-Achats/Test Aankoop estimated this week that a family of four could spend €250 a month on Covid tests, hand sanitiser and face masks.

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Ghost village emerges in Spain as drought empties reservoir

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Village of Aceredo in Galicia was flooded in 1992 to create Alto Lindoso reservoir

A ghost village that has emerged as drought has nearly emptied a dam on the Spanish-Portuguese border is drawing crowds of tourists with its eerie, grey ruins.

With the reservoir at 15% of its capacity, details of a life frozen in 1992, when the Aceredo village in Spain’s north-western Galicia region was flooded to create the Alto Lindoso reservoir, are being revealed once more.

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‘No sport has had such success in so short a time’: padel takes off in Italy

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When Covid stopped contact sports, Italians took to padel, a sport popular in Spain, similar to tennis with a dash of squash

At one of Italy’s darkest moments in the pandemic, the government introduced a list of draconian rules to halt the outbreak of Covid, including which sports Italians would be allowed to practise.

Among the activities the authorities considered safe were a few Italians barely knew. One was padel, a fast-paced racket sport popular in Spain, similar to tennis but with a dash of squash thrown in. For Italians, it was love at first smash.

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Amnesty granted to illegal Spanish strawberry farmers despite protests over damage to wetlands

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Andalucían decision to ‘regularise’ land near Doñana national park attacked by ecology groups

Rightwing MPs in southern Spain have ignored protests from the central government, the EU, Unesco and several ecological groups by voting to grant an amnesty to illegal strawberry farmers who have been tapping water from the aquifer that feeds one of Europe’s largest protected wetlands.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Andalucían regional parliament approved the proposal, which will “regularise” 1,461 hectares (3610 acres) of land near the Doñana national park, thereby allowing farmers who have sunk illegal wells and built illicit plantations on the land to legitimise their operations.

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