Category Archives: Spain

‘A vicious circle’: how the roof blew off Spain’s housing crisis

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Rents spiral and neighbourhoods lose charm as cities report tourist flat boom and surge in housing speculation

Ciutat Vella, the old city of Barcelona, was once quirky and mysterious.

Now it has become a parody of itself, a place from which the local population has been exiled in the interests of tourism and maturing investments. Doorways have sprouted combination key safes, a telltale sign of an apartment given over to tourist lets. A 100-year-old apothecary and shirtmaker that stood on La Rambla for two centuries have been replaced by shops selling flamenco dolls and ceramic bulls.

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‘Has the world gone mad? It has’: foreign reporters share a view of Trump from abroad

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Journalists from countries that have seen challenges to democracy give their view on the second Trump presidency

What is the view of US democracy from abroad, and what can Americans learn from other nations with a history of political tumult?

During his first term Donald Trump tested democratic norms by undermining trust in fair elections, encouraging political violence and demonizing the media and public servants. He has promised to be a dictator “on day one” of his second term.

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Spain proposes 100% tax on homes bought by non-EU residents

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Pedro Sánchez announces measure in response to anger over rising housing costs

Spain has announced plans to impose a tax of up to 100% on real estate bought by non-residents from countries outside the EU, such as the UK, in an aim to tackle the country’s housing crisis.

The measure was one of a dozen unveiled on Monday by the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, as the government seeks to quell mounting anger over housing costs that have soared far beyond the reach of many in Spain.

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‘It was extraordinary’: Spanish captain recalls rescue of woman who gave birth in dinghy

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Mother and newborn saved from inflatable boat off Canary Islands, on a route on which thousands have died

The call that would lead to one of the most poignant images of the humanitarian emergency in the deadly waters off the Canary Islands came at 4am.

In the early hours of Monday, the Las Palmas command centre of Spain’s maritime rescue service, Salvamento Marítimo, told Domingo Trujillo, the captain of the search-and-rescue vessel Talía, that a small inflatable boat, packed with people, was adrift 97 nautical miles (180km) off the coast of Lanzarote. Among those onboard, they added, was a woman who was due to give birth at any moment.

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Murder investigation in Spain after body of missing Belfast man found

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Family ‘heartbroken’ after discovery of body of John George, 37, who went missing in Alicante area in December

A murder investigation is under way in Spain after the body of a 37-year-old man from Northern Ireland was found three weeks after he went missing.

John George from Belfast, a father of two children, was in Spain for a short visit in December but the alarm was raised when he failed to board a flight home on 18 December.

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Baby born on crowded small boat crossing from Africa to Canary Islands

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The boy and his mother as well as dozens of others were rescued off the coast of Lanzarote, Spain

A baby boy has been born on a small, crowded boat carrying 60 people on the deadly Atlantic migration route from Africa to the Canary Islands.

The boat was spotted off the coast of Lanzarote on the feast of the Epiphany, the day when Spanish children receive presents from the Three Wise Men.

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Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez denounces Elon Musk at Franco anniversary event

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Sánchez accuses X owner of inciting hatred as country marks 50 years since start of its return to democracy

Pedro Sánchez has hit out at Elon Musk and his allies for “openly attacking our institutions, inciting hatred and openly calling for people to support the heirs of nazism”, saying the politics of division, disinformation and hatred risk ushering in a new age of authoritarianism.

Speaking in Madrid on Wednesday as Spain prepares to mark the 50th anniversary in November of the death of General Franco and the country’s subsequent return to democracy, the Spanish prime minister said hard-won, basic freedoms could not, and should not, be taken for granted.

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Barcelona to fine e-scooter users up to €500 for riding on pavements

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Council to crack down on antisocial behaviour linked to rapid rise of e-scooter riders in city

Anyone riding an electric scooter on the pavement or without a helmet in Barcelona faces a fine of up to €500 (£415) from 1 February as part of a crackdown on antisocial behaviour linked to the rapid rise of e-scooter use in the Mediterranean city.

In an urban landscape that is mostly flat, with more than 250km (155 miles) of cycle lanes, 2,500 hours of sunshine and barely 55 rainy days a year, electric scooters are a perfect fit. According to the city council’s figures, the number of people using e-scooters since the pandemic has risen four times faster than those choosing to travel by bicycle.

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DJ Alfredo, icon of Ibiza’s dance music scene, dies aged 71

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DJ whose anything-goes spirit had a huge influence on British club culture had suffered a stroke in 2021

DJ Alfredo, who had a significant influence on Ibiza becoming a global centre for dance music culture, has died aged 71.

Amnesia, the club where he held a residency during the 1980s, announced the news, writing on Instagram: “Thank you for the nights and beats we shared together. Your music and vision shaped the sound of Balearic Beat and the soul of Amnesia. So many memories were made through your energy, your legacy will live on our dancefloor forever. You will never be forgotten.”

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Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after explosion in engine room

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Two crew members from Ursa Major are missing and 14 have been rescued, Russian foreign ministry says

An engine room explosion sank a Russian cargo ship called Ursa Major in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria and two of its crew are missing, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

The vessel, built in 2009, was controlled by Oboronlogistika, a company that is part of the Russian defence ministry’s military construction operations, which had previously said it was en route to the Russian far-eastern port of Vladivostok with two giant port cranes lashed to its deck.

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Smartphones should carry health warning, Spanish government told

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Report by committee of experts also calls for doctors to ask about screen time during checkups

Smartphones sold in Spain should carry a label warning users about their potential health impacts, experts have told the Spanish government, in a report that calls for doctors to ask about screen time during checkups.

As Spain pushes forward with a draft law to limit children’s exposure to technology, the 50-member committee of experts has also called for minors to have limited exposure to digital devices until they are 13 to mitigate what they see as a public health problem.

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Spain introduces paid climate leave after deadly floods

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Government approves up to four days of paid leave so workers can avoid travelling during weather emergencies

Spain’s leftwing government has approved “paid climate leave” of up to four days to allow workers to avoid travelling during weather emergencies, a month after floods killed at least 224 people.

Several companies came under fire after the 29 October catastrophe for ordering employees to keep working despite a red alert issued by the national weather agency. The firms said the authorities failed to inform them sufficiently and sent telephone alerts too late during the European country’s deadliest floods in decades.

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Spain’s floods force some UK sellers to buy oranges from southern hemisphere

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British suppliers source from South Africa and South America as Spanish farmers struggle to harvest and ship

Some British retailers and wholesalers have been forced to switch to sourcing oranges from South Africa and South America early after last month’s catastrophic floods in eastern Spain left farmers struggling to harvest and ship their crops.

Companies in the UK have moved to buying fruit from the southern hemisphere several weeks earlier than in a typical year to prevent gaps emerging on supermarket shelves and amid fears over the quality of Spanish produce.

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Hungary invites Netanyahu to visit as world leaders split over ICC arrest warrant

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Viktor Orbán says he will not enforce ICC decision that requires court members to detain Israeli PM if he enters their country

Hungary’s illiberal prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said he will invite his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to visit in defiance of an international criminal court arrest warrant, as world leaders split over the ICC’s momentous decision.

The world’s highest criminal court issued warrants on Thursday for Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas commander Ibrahim al-Masri, commonly known as Mohammed Deif, who is believed to be dead, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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Prado show aims to highlight true colours of polychrome sculpture

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Madrid Exhibition intends to rescue the technique – coloured paint applied to statues – from centuries of indifference

In a darkened corner of the Prado, not far from an outsized crucifixion and a sculpture of a dead, recumbent Christ with eyes of glass, teeth of ivory and fingernails of horn, is another depiction of Jesus that is remarkable in its poignancy, its humanity and its history.

The tiny, painted terracotta scene, titled Los primeros pasos de Jesús (Jesus’s First Steps), is domestic rather than divine and shows a chubby, beaming infant ambling towards his equally beaming father. Its creator was the Spanish baroque artist Luisa Roldán who, despite becoming the first female sculptor to the royal court in 1692, is only now making her debut in the hallowed Madrid museum.

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US recognizes Edmundo González Urrutia as Venezuelan ‘president-elect’

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Antony Blinken makes statement months after President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won July contest

The US government has recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the “president-elect” of the South American country, months after President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won the July contest.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, recognized González in a post on X in which he also demanded “respect for the will” of Venezuelan voters.

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Almost half of Valencia’s flood victims were aged over 70, figures show

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Police reveal ages and genders of the 216 people who died in Valencia, along with eight other victims elsewhere in Spain

Almost half of the 216 people known to have died in the catastrophic floods that hit the eastern Spanish region of Valencia at the end of October were 70 or above, according to a police analysis.

Figures from the data integration centre set up after the disaster show that 131 of the victims were male, 85 were female and 104 were aged over 70, including 15 aged over 90.

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Schools closed and people evacuated as torrential rain returns in Spain

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Large parts of east and south under alerts as schools are shut and riverside neighbourhoods evacuated in Andalucía

Authorities in eastern and southern Spain have closed schools and begun evacuating some residents as the country is pounded by further torrential rains two weeks after the catastrophic floods that killed at least 215 people and unleashed a bitter political blame game.

On Wednesday morning, the state meteorological agency, Aemet, put large parts of eastern and southern Spain on amber alert and issued the highest level of warning for the provinces Tarragona in Catalonia and Málaga in Andalucía.

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Spanish police arrest ex-fraud chief after €20m found in walls of his house

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Investigation into country’s largest cocaine bust reveals cash in home of former head of anti-money laundering

Spain has arrested one of its top police officers after €20m (£17m) was found hidden in the walls of his house, as part of an investigation into the country’s largest-ever cocaine bust.

Óscar Sánchez Gil was until recently the head of the fraud and anti-money laundering division of Spain’s national police force in Madrid.

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Spain braces for new storms as flooding disaster’s political fallout continues

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King Felipe VI reportedly plans to revisit Valencia amid alerts for heavy rain, high waves and strong winds

People in flood-hit Spain stacked sandbags and braced for new storms on Tuesday as the political repercussions from last month’s deadly climate disaster rumbled on.

Amid fresh weather warnings, local media reported that King Felipe VI would soon return to the site of the flash floods, after he was pelted with mud and eggs on his first visit last week owing to local fury at the poor preparation and response of the authorities.

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