Live News From Spain As It Happens

THE forthcoming May Day bank holiday will see over 5.5 million cars on the roads and traffic jams are very likely on motorways between cities or en route to the coasts, warn authorities.
This Thursday, May 1 is a public holiday throughout Spain, and May 2 also is in Madrid – and in other parts of the country, many may take the Friday off work to enable them to go away for a long weekend.

Those living in land-locked cities, particularly the capital, are more likely to head for the coast, with the Valencia province seaside towns of Cullera and Gandia being among the most popular with travellers from Madrid.

This means motorways near cities and also the A-3 Madrid-Valencia highway and the A-7 coast road from France down to Málaga may suffer delays.

Additionally, the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province) takes place this weekend – May 2, 3 and 4 – meaning even further traffic jams are likely on the south coast.

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MINISTRY of Education sources have responded to the nation's collective outcry over funding cuts in schooling which have led to excessive class sizes, tens of thousands of teachers being made redundant and facilities and grants reduced. 

Secretary of State for Education Montserrat Gomendio says 'a great deal of money' was invested in schools in the 10 years prior to the PP government coming into power, but 'most of it went into increasing teachers' salaries'. 

This and increasing the number of teachers employed in order to reduce class sizes means investment has 'not translated to improving quality' in education, Sra Gomendio stated during a world conference on adult literacy and numeracy in Brasilia this week. 

The 'acquisition of competencies', or adult education, has 'stagnated' in Spain in the last 20 years, according to the Secretary of State, which is why the country produced some of the worst results in reading and maths among the 18-65 age-group in the recent Europe-wide PISA survey. 

Sra Gomendio said teachers were given pay rises 'without this being linked to performance', meaning they had 'no incentive' to continually develop their careers and seek better results. 

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YOUNG revellers on holiday in Magalluf (Mallorca) are falling victim to a 'free bar armband' scam – and British tourists appear to be the most-targeted.

Street vendors convince holidaymakers to buy an all-inclusive band for 20 euros, which means at any bar during their stay all drinks, including cocktails and shots, will cost just a euro each.

They have been touting on the streets of the Punta Ballena district, the main party capital in the Magalluf neighbourhood of the coastal town of Calvià.

Although the armbands are not entirely fake – a scheme was set up in Punta Ballena some time ago – practically none of the bars in the area continue to sign up to it, meaning the tourists can rarely find anywhere to drink for a euro a glass all night.

Bar-owners have reported the matter, since they say tourists feel 'defrauded' when they realise they have thrown their money away.

“If you pull the wool over the customer's eyes, frustration combined with a couple of drinks too many can lead to episodes of violence against our waiters and bartenders,” said the owner of a music pub in Magalluf.

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FURTHER tension has broken out between the UK and Spain after a Guardia Civil officer alleged he was 'injured' by Gibraltar police after intercepting a boat carrying contraband cigarettes.

British authorities on the Rock say the Spanish police had 'committed yet another incursion' into Gibraltarian waters, and the UK embassy in Madrid has protested to the government in Spain.

In the meantime, the Spanish embassy in Britain has protested to the UK government.

The Spanish ministry of foreign affairs called a meeting yesterday (Friday) with the UK embassy after the Guardia Civil reported that their boat, the Sierra 3, had been 'crashed into' by Rock authorities whilst the former was carrying out 'monitoring and surveillance work' and 'fighting smuggling'.

They had seen a number of privately-owned yachts and speedboats in the waters off the west side Gibraltar, the part which London claims is British sea and Madrid claims is Spanish.

Three crew members on board the crafts tried to 'hide' 300 cartons of contraband cigarettes they had reportedly smuggled out of Gibraltar.

They reportedly refused to comply with the Guardia Civil's orders, saying they were in British waters and the Spanish police did not have any jurisdiction over them.

One of the Guardia Civil tried to climb into a boat to arrest the crew and sail it to the port of Algeciras (Cádiz).

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A RAGING inferno has broken out in the popular beach holiday town of Cullera (Valencia province) after the town council let off fireworks from the castle.

The procession up to the top of the mountain carrying an effigy of the Virgin ended in terror when a carcass of one of the fireworks ignited and the scrubland on the east and south sides of the hill went up like a tinderbox at around 23.30hrs last night (Saturday).

High winds caused the fire to spread out of control and within minutes, it had engulfed most of the mountain.

Firefighters from eight different brigades managed to bring the flames under control by around 01.00hrs, but at the time of publication, the blaze continues to burn.

It is dangerously close to the San Antonio neighbourhood of the old town, and it is thought that a number of residents had to be evacuated from their homes.

The regional government, the Generalitat Valenciana, had issued a level 3 or pre-emergency warning over the risk of forest fires yesterday morning, given the unseasonally-high temperatures, strong winds and the fact it has barely rained in the last few months.

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Nicolás Almagro recorded a 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory over Rafael Nadal at the Barcelona Open today, handing Nadal his first loss at the tournament since he made his debut as a 15 year old in 2003and lost to Alex Corretja.

It was Almagro's first victory over his compatriot in 11 meetings and sets up a semi-final meeting with unseeded Colombian, Santiago Giraldo, who was a set and 4-3 up against Philipp Kohlschreiber when the German retired on Friday evening.

Nadal won his 44th straight set at the clay-court event tournament by winning the first set 6-2. Recovering from a 1-3 deficit in the tie-break, sixth seed Almagro held his nerve to win the second set 7-6(5), the first set Nadal had lost in Barcelona since the 2008 final against David Ferrer.

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FORMER Barça FC trainer Tito Vilanova has finally lost his long battle with cancer. The club released an official statement this afternoon expressing the club's and fans' sadness at the death of the former manager:

"FC Barcelona is in immense mourning. Tito Vilanova has died at the age of 45. May he rest in peace," the statement from the Spanish club read.

"The club wishes to express its most heartfelt sympathy to his family, who are being joined in these moments of mourning by FC Barcelona members and fans all around the world, as well as the rest of the footballing and sporting world.

Vilanova had a tumour removed from his throat in November 2011 before suffering a relapse in December 2012. He underwent further surgery at the end of 2012 and then spent 10 weeks in New York having chemotherapy and radiotherapy, but he returned in March 2013 to see his side take the Spanish title in his sole season in charge.

Tributes have been paid from many football coaches, players and clubs, with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho saying Vilanova's death was "a sad day for football".

Lionel Messi, the star of Vilanova's Barcelona team, said on his Facebook page: "A person difficult to forget. I will always remember you. All my love to the family of Tito."

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AN INVESTIGATOR working on the Galicia train tragedy case claims the accident which killed 79 people would not have happened if the modern braking system – axed when the line was built to save money – had been used.

César Mariñas Dávila, one of the three consultant engineers employed by judge Luis Aláez to prepare a report on the fatal derailment of July 24 last year says the changes to the original plans for the high-speed Alvia line were the main cause of the crash.

From the train's departure station – Madrid's Atocha – through to just before the cathedral city of Santiago de Compostela, the line is fitted with the modern European-standard ERTMS braking system which automatically slows the train down if there is no reaction from the driver as the high-speed track changes to the regional line.

Speed limits drop from 220 kilometres per hour to 80 kilometres per hour when the fast-track line gives way to the regional link, which in the case of the connection from Madrid to the north-westernmost city of Ferrol on the Galicia coast, starts about 500 metres south of the village of Angrois, where the crash happened.

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EUROPE'S tallest residential block, the InTempo apartments in Benidorm, has finally been built and is looking for buyers.

Already, 120 flats have been bought off-plan out of the total of 269 in what the original architects described as 'the 21st-century cathedral of Benidorm', but it is currently in the hands of the SAREB, or 'bad bank', and the developers are in talks with possible investors to allow them to put the finishing touches on the building.

This will mean additional red tape for buyers, but those who opt for flats near the top of the skyscraper will have an unrivalled view, given that it is 200 metres tall with 47 storeys.

Although not the tallest building in Spain – the Caja Madrid Tower, Glass Tower (Torre de Cristal), S&V Tower and Space Tower (Torre Espacio) are all higher – the InTempo is the tallest residential building in the country, and in Europe.

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HEALTH minister Ana Mato wants to bring forward prime-time TV shows and news programmes but up to an hour so that they finish no later than 23.00hrs.

Research has shown that with football matches, series and news not starting until late at night and often finishing after midnight or even 01.00hrs on a working day, this – as well as late hours for employees – means people in Spain sleep far less than their northern European counterparts.

And these factors have been largely behind speculation over whether it would be better to put the clocks back an hour so that Spain sits in its correct geographical time zone – that of GMT, or BST in summer.

The first step towards helping Spaniards get to bed earlier is likely to involve TV shows – at present, prime-time slots are around 22.00hrs.

Sra Mato has met with the broadcasting board, UTECA, and the director-general for the department responsible for airing private TV channels.

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AN INFERNO near Valencia has led to two urbanisations and seven nursing homes being evacuated and numerous houses going up in flames.

Red Cross volunteers have set up 300 beds in the El Vedat sports centre in Torrent and the emergency and public safety building to house those who have had to flee their homes.

The fire broke out (Tuesday) at around noon in Torrent close to the Torres de Calicanto residential complex, and this and the urbanisation Santo Domingo in neighbouring Chiva, as well as 15 homes in the rural outskirts have been evacuated together with four nursing homes in Torrent and three in Chiva.

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ACTOR Antonio Banderas will play the part of cubist painter Pablo Picasso in a film about the bombing of Basque town Guernika during the Civil War.

Banderas, who was born in Málaga – like Picasso – and takes part in the Easter parades there every year says he has 'reached the time in his life' when he could get away with playing the artist.

“I once refused to play the part of Pablo Picasso, but I've got to a moment in my life where I understand him better, and I'm nearly the age he was when these incidents happened – in 1937, he was about 55 or 56, and I'm not far off,” said the Hollywood legend, who turns 54 this summer.

The film is 'a portrait of very harsh times, with the Spanish Civil War all around', explains Banderas.

“And then there's a commission from the Republic to paint a mural [pictured below right], which Picasso initially refuses to do, but then agrees following the bombing of Guernika.

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BENIDORM, Marbella, San Sebastián's iconic 'shell beach' and La Manga (Murcia) would disappear under water if the North Pole melted, environmentalists reveal.

A hard-hitting report by Greenpeace, Spain: Heading for extreme climate. Risks of not stopping global warming and the destruction of the Arctic shows how a large chunk of the country's coastline would be wiped off the face of the earth as the sea would come half a kilometre inland.

All this will have happened by the end of the 21^st century and, although few adults alive today are likely to see it, a baby born this year would be aged 86 by the time these four tourist hotspots ceased to exist.

And every time the sea-level rises by one centimetre as a result of global warming, a metre of beach disappears, Greenpeace reveals.

Spain's branch of Greenpeace, led by Pilar Marcos and Mario Rodríguez, have petitioned president Mariano Rajoy to avoid agreeing to any exploitation of the Arctic.

Rajoy's government has already considered the business opportunities for fishing and transport that the North Pole could present.

The environmental charity wants the Arctic to be left as a 'sanctuary', with no drilling for oil or gas and no fishing.

There is not much time left to make decisions in this respect, Greenpeace warns.

According to Marcos and Rodríguez, the Arctic is melting at twice the rate of the rest of the planet, and has lost enough ice in the last four years to cover mainland Spain three times over.

Rising temperatures caused by the poles melting would lead to a reduction in access to water – despite the sea reclaiming the land – leading to a greater demand for energy and a farming crisis, reducing food stocks, plus an increase in forest fires.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FIRE in a Gibraltar substation left the whole of the Rock without power all day Saturday and part of Sunday.

According to the Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP), the massive inferno broke out in the generator in Waterport in the North Mole district and caused a huge column of smoke which could be seen throughout the Rock and parts of the province of Cádiz.

Nobody was hurt nor had to be evacuated, but the RGP ordered residents in the area to shut their windows to prevent smoke getting in. 

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SPANISH taxi drivers are calling for a mobile phone application which puts ordinary motorists in touch with each other for paid lifts to be banned.

The 'App', known as Über, also provides a way for passengers to pay drivers online.

Effectively, it allows those offering illegal 'airport runs' and more local transport to get in touch with potential customers more quickly and efficiently.

Taxi firms throughout Spain say if the App, which comes from the USA, is not withdrawn, they will stage countrywide protest marches, claiming using ordinary motorists for a paid car-pooling service leaves the customer open to risks and could put 100,000 cabbies out of a job.

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COMPANIES struggling financially have no excuse not to pay employees' wages, nor to pay them late, the Supreme Court has ruled.Under Article 50 of the Workers' Statute, salaries are sacred and a firm may not use its own financial difficulties to accumulate months of non-payment to its staff.

A situation that has affected many workers in Spain since the start of the economic crisis – including, famously, employees of the now-defunct transatlantic carrier Air Comet, who protested in the street after they had been working for eight months with no pay – many companies have used the state of the country's economy as a pretext even when they could have paid staff on time, effectively financing themselves by delaying salaries.

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ACTOR Antonio Banderas has been showing off his native Málaga to former British PM Tony Blair during the Easter parades, an event the star never misses.

Banderas (pictured second from left), who is married to Melanie Griffith, is a flag-carrier for his Easter brotherhood and takes part in the processions every year, although on Good Friday he often watches them from a balcony instead.

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A 'SPEED camera' helicopter flying above Spain's roads over Easter week has already caught several drivers on film chatting on WhatsApp or using their Tablets at the wheel.

Footage has been shown of one driver who navigates on his Tablet with his left hand whilst steering with his right, and on several occasions uses both hands for surfing the web.

In total, he spends 36 seconds on his Tablet and 23 seconds with both hands on the steering wheel.

Another shows a driver reading a book at the wheel for 10 seconds, after which the car suddenly swerves to the right.

The Pegasus helicopters, of which there are six flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet (330 metres) – high enough that they cannot be seen by drivers – have also caught other motorists committing offences.

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TRAFFIC on toll roads in Spain has fallen to record lows – in fact, there has never been fewer cars on the motorways in the last 18 years.

The financial crisis, reducing the average inhabitant's income, combined with rising taxes and rocketing toll fees have all contributed to the quietest pay-to-use highways since 1996, according to traffic authority figures.

Toll roads bailed out by the State have seen the greatest fall in traffic volume which, as at the end of the first quarter of this year, stood at an average of 13,097 cars a day, having seen the worst month of March in nearly two decades.

Traffic on toll roads reached its peak in 2002 at 29,622 a day, although for the AP-7 motorway, which runs from the French border through to the Costa del Sol but is only tolled from Barcelona to the south of Alicante, the busiest year ever was 2007.

Little change in figures was seen until around 2010, when a gradual slowdown brought daily motor vehicle volume down to 24,354 a day, but the number of toll-road users has fallen steadily by around 3,000 a year since.

Now, the 13,097 average daily number of cars on these roads is lower than it was in the second half of 1996.

And the State toll road network has nearly doubled in size by then from 1,733 kilometres to 2,560 kilometres – meaning in real terms, drivers who use these motorways are at the lowest numbers ever.

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SIX airborne speed cameras will be flying over Spain's roads this Easter – too high in the sky to be detected by drivers, warn traffic authorities.

The helicopter Pegasus, which is fitted with a radar, has already caught 1,441 speeding drivers in the last year and a second one, Pegasus II is due to be released imminently.

Before Easter weekend is out, a further four Pegasus helicopters will be in the air, flying at an altitude of around 1,000 feet – about 330 metres – and taking detailed photos of cars travelling too fast.

The speed cameras fitted in the Pegasus helicopters are able to take clear snapshots of cars and detect whether or not they are breaking the limit at a distance of a kilometre.

Each craft has two cameras – one panoramic and one detailed and close-up – and drivers who want to avoid being spotted will have to travel at speeds of above 360 kilometres per hour (225mph).

Either that, or stick to the speed limit.

Spain's traffic authority, the DGT, wants to cut road deaths this Easter, a time when an estimated 12 million cars will be on the roads.

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THE taxpayer will never again have to fund bailing out struggling banks as they are currently having to do in Spain, thanks to a new EU ruling.

A meeting in European Parliament yesterday (Tuesday) led to the green light being given for a banking self-funding pot.

This 'insurance policy' aims to set up a common fund of at least 55 billion euros to cover the closure of ruined high-street banks, guaranteeing money held on deposit up to 100,000 euros.

The banks themselves will be obliged to make a set contribution, and have eight years to do so.

Where EU member States decide to opt out of the common fund, their banks will be required to set up their own buffer zone of one per cent of total deposits, within a maximum of 10 years.

Banks in all of the European Union's 28 member countries are obliged to have enough capital in reserve to guarantee that in the event of a sudden closure, it would be able to cover the deposit accounts of all customers, up to a maximum per person of 100,000 euros.

And all savers have the right to request their bank hands over their entire savings, up to a maximum of 100,000 euros, within seven days.

Taxes levied on banks will cover any future need to bail out financial institutions which are about to go under, rather than the EU supplying a loan which the nation needs to pay back through raising taxes and reducing public funding, as was the case when Spain applied for a bail-out credit in the sum of 100 million euros.

Shareholders and creditors will be the first to bear the brunt of any financial problems affecting banks in the future.

The three-pillar banking structure reform, part of which was created in 2013, was rushed through following the bail-out of Cyprus. 

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NOT one regional health authority out of Spain's 17 has applied the new rules about charging for drugs provided by hospital dispensaries which came into force six months ago.

In some cases, this is through a conscientious objection – particularly in socialist-governed regions where the party's leader has slammed the move as forcing the chronically-ill to 'pay up or die'.

But in other cases, this is because the cost of implementing the systems would far outweigh the money clawed back through charging for these drugs.

And those regions where their governments are in favour – including Castilla-La Mancha, run by Mariano Rajoy's second-in-command María Dolores de Cospedal – are waiting for others to be the first to apply the rules.

Catalunya, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Andalucía and Castilla y León have all presented appeals against the charges, and although Navarra has not, it has expressed its condemnation of the move.

All these regions say forcing patients to pay could put the lives and health of those affected in serious danger, and that it is an 'unfair' practice which breaks with the principle of healthcare being a universal right.

The drugs affected are those dispensed in hospital pharmacies since, due to their expense and the danger of those who do not need them getting hold of them, they are not available at high-street chemist shops.

They include injections, pills and patches for patients with HIV or AIDS, cancer in active treatment, rheumatoid arthritis, cataracts or glaucoma, hepatitis, or women undergoing fertility treatment.

Patients are expected to pay 10 per cent of the cost up to a maximum of 4.20 euros per box, but with many of these conditions requiring several different types of drug and high doses, this can add up and reach as much as 42 or even 84 euros a month – prohibitive for those on extended unemployment assistance of 426 euros monthly, or on a very small pension or part-time wage.

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NATIONAL Police say at least 1,600 people have been caught out by credit-card cloners who topped up their bank accounts using the State lottery website, www.loteriasyapuestos.es.

The accused parties, who hacked into Wi-Fi connections to avoid being traced, would add funds to their own online lottery ticket accounts with sums ranging from 90 to 180 euros, then move these to their bank accounts.

They are said to have driven three lorries with containers filled with top-of-the-range technology equipment worth 26,000 euros, bought with the proceeds of their online fraud, from Fuenlabrada (Madrid) to Lagos in Nigeria, via Amberes in Belgium.

Although the victims are said to be all over the world, a total of 262 of them are in Spain, say investigators.

A police probe began in October when National Police in Toledo received four separate reports of sums being taken from bank accounts using credit or debit cards without authorisation from the account-holder, and added to online 'virtual' lottery funds.

Further inquiries showed that the money was then moved to bank accounts which did not bear the victims' names, before being drawn out in cash.

Three people, including the ringleader, were arrested initially and three homes were raided in the towns of Illescas and Torrijos (Toledo province), from which a large haul of computer equipment and documents connected to the card-cloning exercises were seized.

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TRAFFIC authorities have launched a campaign against outside lane-hoggers ahead of Easter weekend, a time when up to 12 million cars are expected to hit the roads.

Starting last night (Saturday), the Easter holiday traffic is expected to be at its lightest since 2005, but has already claimed seven lives.

The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) is concentrating on monitoring minor roads, where over 70 per cent of serious accidents happen, with speed cameras and police checkpoints stationed throughout.

And to help keep accidents down, the DGT's leader María Seguí is calling for motorists to use the left lane – which is the outside lane in Spain and all bar 50 countries in the world – for overtaking only.

At times, up to 60 per cent of traffic is seen hogging the outside lane on motorways and, instead of helping them reach their destinations more quickly, actually makes them more susceptible to getting stuck in queues and increases the risk of having to brake suddenly or being clipped from behind.

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THE ongoing Nóos case involving the King and Queen's son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín should be concluded by the end of April, unless new information comes to light.

Judge José Castro has been working on the investigation into Urdangarín's alleged misappropriation of public funds – a total of around 5.9 million euros, together with his co-director of the Nóos Institute, Diego Torres – since the end of 2011.

Another 15 witnesses are due to testify this weekend and, unless they provide new facts to be investigated, the judge's final report should be ready just after Easter and the accused parties ready to sit in the dock.

Castro will also decide at this point whether the King and Queen's younger daughter, the Infanta Cristina, will be formally charged.

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YOGHURTS will now no longer carry a sell-by date, reveals the Spanish ministry of agriculture, food and the environment.

Instead, they will feature a 'recommended use-by' date, but not an expiry date, and the requirement for them to be sold within 28 days of manufacture in accordance with a law passed in 2003 will be lifted.

The ministry says this is to 'simplify' existing legislation and to 'bring it in line' with the 'modern realities of the market'.

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NEARLY a quarter of Spanish homes are occupied by just one person – a total of 4.4 million, latest census figures show.

And over a third of young people aged 25 to 34, who make up just under 6.4 million of Spain's population, still live with their parents, or have moved back in with them due to financial hardship – in some cases, with husbands, wives or partners and children, too.

The younger the age, the less likely they are to have left home – between the ages of 25 and 29, nearly half – 48.5 per cent – still lived with their parents, compared to 20.5 per cent of the 30 to 34 age-group.

Of those who had moved out of the family nest, the majority live with a partner.

Since the last census, the average number of people living in a residential property in Spain has gone down to 2.53, compared to 2.83 and the total number of households has risen by 133,6000.

The majority of homes have two occupants – couples, either cohabiting or married – who make up three in 10.

But the number of people living alone has gone up by five per cent since 2011, and more of these are women – 53.5 per cent of the total, compared to 46.5 per cent of single-occupancy homes inhabited by men.

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NEARLY a third of all homes in Spain have no buildings insurance, and almost one in 10 motorbikes and cars are uninsured, recent figures by an online broker show.

The number of vehicles without insurance, even compulsory third party cover, has gone up 35 per cent since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, now reaching 2.4 million or 8.8 per cent of the total.

This is highly illegal, since all drivers must have insurance to cover the costs of repairs and compensation for injury to anyone affected by an accident they cause.

The Spanish government's Insurance Compensation Consortium, or Consorcio, covers damage or injury caused by uninsured drivers in the same way as the UK's Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB), but the driver in question can be heavily fined.

And even before the crisis, over 7.5 million properties in Spain did not have buildings insurance to cover them for structural damage or total loss in the event of storm, flood, escape of water, subsidence, impact, fire or caused by theft or attempted theft.

This has now gone up to 8.5 million, or more than three in 10 homes.

An even larger number have no contents insurance, meaning they cannot claim for any of their possessions such as furniture or domestic appliances if they suffer damage, loss or theft by fortuitous incidents. 

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SPAIN is one of the world's highest-risk countries for deflation – and this phenomenon in the Eurozone as a whole is one of the main threats to the globe's economic health, claims the International Monetary Fund (FMI).

Head of World Economic Studies Thomas Helbling says Spain needs an 'in-house devaluation', so that prices in general fall 'in comparison with its fellow member States'.

“Let's not forget that Spain suffered what was probably the worst property market fall in Europe, and it takes a long while to recover from this,” Helbling announced this week.

Despite the European Commission having recently criticised president Mariano Rajoy's fiscal reforms for 'doing nothing to create jobs' and 'seriously aggravating poverty', Helbling stated: “The most important thing is for Spain to have the strength to carry on with its fiscal reforms.”

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A REFERENDUM on Catalunya's independence has been voted as 'illegal' in Spanish Parliament with 299 votes against compared to 47 in favour, all of these coming from nationalist parties in the north-eastern region and in the Basque Country, which has also long sought secession from Spain.

An overwhelming rejection of the planned referendum on November 9 came from the right-wing PP, currently in government, and the socialists (PSOE).

Any referendum on sovereignty, said president Mariano Rajoy, must be national rather than regional, meaning everyone in Spain would need to be given the chance to vote and not just residents of the autonomous community which seeks to become a separate country.

Stating that 'united we stand, divided we fall', Rajoy announced that independence for Catalunya would be an 'economic disaster for both the region and Spain as a whole, and that he could 'not imagine Spain without Catalunya, Catalunya without Spain, or Catalunya out of Europe'.

European Union leaders have warned the region, of which Barcelona is the capital, that if it separated from Spain and became the world's newest country, it would have to reapply for EU membership.

Rajoy challenged regional president of Catalunya, Artur Mas, to apply to change the Spanish Constitution in his favour to render a referendum legal.

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TWO British women have drowned off the south coast of Tenerife after being rescued from the sea, according to emergency services in Spain.

They have been identified as Dr Barathi Ravikumar, 39, from Bracebridge Heath in Lincolnshire and Dr Uma Ramalingam, 42, from Altrincham, Cheshire.

The women are said to have been on holiday with their husands and children in the Playa Paraíso area of the Las Americas resort in Adeje, with a third woman, and are all reported to be members of the same extended British family of Indian descent.

All five were standing on the rocks above Playa Paraíso when a sudden high wave swept them into the water, and it is thought Uma and Barathi died trying to save the children, aged 10 and 14.

Coastguard rescuers sent out a helicopter after receiving calls alerting of five people who had got themselves into difficulties in the water, two of whom were children.

In the meantime, however, other bathers managed to pull the children and two of the women out of the sea.

The third woman, who was further out from the shore, was air-lifted to dry land.

Dr Ravikumar and Dr Ramalingam showed no pulse or signs of breathing, and despite every effort by paramedics to revive them, they were pronounced dead at the scene.

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AIR-TRAFFIC controllers who went on strike despite the president of Spain calling a State of Emergency will be in the dock shortly along with their union leaders.

A total of 112 air-traffic control staff downed tools over working conditions and pay in early December 2010, leaving thousands of passengers stranded or delayed for hours if not days.

The then president, socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero called a State of Emergency to force them back to their seats, but they ignored this and carried on with the strike.

This led to Spanish air-space being closed.

Lawyers working on behalf of the air-traffic controllers called for the judges handling the case at 22 provincial courts to close it without charging the accused workers, stating that the closure of Spanish air-space was a 'unilateral' decision by the nation's airport governing body, AENA. 

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SPANISH school pupils aged 15 have 'poor' problem-solving skills, with the average teenager unable to work a vacuum cleaner or buy a train ticket.

Most were able to calculate the shortest route between two places on a map where the distance for each section was given in metres or kilometres and in minutes or hours, taking into account time of day, weather conditions and other factors, for three people who are setting off from different places.

They were able to successfully buy the cheapest public transport ticket, but had problems when it came to buying multiple tickets for the same journey in the event of problems such as missing a connection or having to pay a surcharge.

Also, many of them found it difficult to work an MP3 player, an automatic non-hand-held hoover, or the thermostat on an air-conditioning or heating unit.

When asked to design a table plan for a birthday party with certain requisites about who should sit together and who should not, the average 15-year-old was confused.

Concerning the automatic vacuum cleaner, students were asked to pinpoint the direction the apparatus would take if it encountered obstacles in its path, and answer a series of 'true or false' questions about adjusting the volume level and changing the song on an MP3 player.

They also had to buy a train ticket on an automatic touch-screen machine, which included choosing between the regional line or metro, the type of tariff, and whether or not the ticket was valid for one day or several.

Also, the teenagers had to follow the instructions for an air-conditioning and heating unit, and show whether they knew how these affected temperature and humidity and how to vary the controls.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A HOSPITAL in Valencia is the first in Spain to implant an artificial heart in a patient, and say he has now been discharged and is doing well.

Oddly, although he is alive and well, the patient has no pulse and never will again.

Vicente Sorribes, 51, was told by his consultant at La Fe Hospital's cardiology department that a transplant would not help him and that the only chance of saving his life would be to fit a 'mechanical heart'.

Before the five-hour operation, a pioneering procedure in Spain, Vicente was unable to walk, let alone climb stairs, and said he could not eat or lie down.

He was suffering from a rare congenital heart condition and, in his own words, was 'on death row with no hope of a reprieve'.

“The future was a short one, and a very bad one,” confesses Vicente, who says he is 'thrilled' with the result.

Dr José Anastasio Montero, the surgeon who led up the operating theatre team, said the artificial heart was the 'most advanced model' currently available and the last hope for Vicente.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

DOG-OWNERS who let their four-legged friends foul in public without picking it up face fines if they are caught by the town's 'pet detectives'.

Undercover officers wearing hidden cameras will patrol the streets of Colmenar Viejo (Madrid region) and take live footage of dogs doing their business – and if the walker does not clear up the mess, they will be fined up to 750 euros based upon the evidence.

Councillors say the clampdown on lazy dog-owners is 'nothing to do with clawing back cash' for public funds by increasing the number of fines it dishes out, but is in response to complaints by residents – including those who own dogs.

They are particularly concerned about people who fail to pick up after their pets in or near children's parks, since the parasites contained in dog-mess can cause infection or even blindness in humans.

To cover their backs legally, the council has posted signs around town warning dog-walkers that they are being watched, and have already sent professional actors dressed as detectives into the streets to explain to residents what will happen.

Some owners are 'too lazy' to clear up their dogs' business, say local authorities, whilst others find it 'disgusting' and prefer to leave it on the pavement.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

'SMOKING' or 'vaping' E-cigarettes in or near children's parks, schools or health centres will now attract a 600-euro fine.

Anywhere that prohibits the use of electronic or E-cigarettes should bear a sign to that effect and warning consumers that they will be sanctioned.

Public buildings, including council offices, libraries and community centres, all forms of public transport including airlines run by Spanish companies, and any education centre except in open spaces in universities or those with exclusively adult students are all no-go areas for people 'smoking' E-cigarettes, an action known as 'vaping' because these give off vapour rather than smoke.

Minor infractions will be sanctioned with 30-euro fines, but if the smoker is caught a third time, the fine will rise to 600 euros.

Businesses or individuals at their helm who permit illegal use of E-cigarettes, or set aside dedicated areas for them, will be hit with fines ranging from 601 to 10,000 euros.

The new law, which is now effective across Spain, prevents the use of E-cigarettes anywhere that traditional cigarettes are banned, with the exception – to date – of bars and restaurants under private ownership.

Doctors say that even though the only ingredient in E-cigarettes which is the same as in traditional cigarettes is nicotine, some of the other chemical compounds involved are also carcinogenic.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A TOTAL of 54 Spanish towns and cities will be the scene of massive demonstrations today (Thursday) calling for an end to funding cuts and an about-turn in Mariano Rajoy's policies.

Organised by three major unions – the CCOO, UGT and USO – and the pressure group known as the Social Summit, those leading this latest civil uprising say the European elections on May 25 should be 'a chance for reflection' which the EU 'needs urgently' in order to recover from the financial crisis.

All regions in Spain will take part in today's protests except for Catalunya, which will hold its own on Sunday, April 6.

In Madrid, the march will start in the Plaza de Cibeles, in front of the Bank of Spain, and end in the Puerta del Sol square, Madrid's direct centre and tourist hotspot.

UGT and CCOO leaders Cándido Méndez and Ignacio Toxo will not be present as originally planned, since they are said to be 'saving themselves' for a larger, similar demonstration in Brussels tomorrow (Friday).

This said, they have urged as many people as possible to take part in their nearest demonstration today, or Sunday if they live in Catalunya.

The union leaders are calling for the EU to invest two per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually for the next 10 years to kick-start those economies which have been hit the worst by austerity measures and funding cuts, a move they claim would help to create up to 11 million jobs. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FC Barcelona have been handed down a 14-month transfer ban by FIFA for breaking rules on signing international players under 18.

The club willnot be able to either buy or sell players until the summer of 2015 after the world governing body imposed a transfer ban for the next two windows.

They have also been fined 450,000 Swiss Francs (€370,000).

FIFA has also sanctioned the Spanish Football Federation for the same breaches and fined them 500,000 Swiss Francs (€410,000) and told the organisation to "regularise its regulatory framework and existing system concerning the international transfer of minors in football" within a year.

The ban will come as a bitter blow to Barcelona who were hoping to sign a new goalkeeper at the end of the season, when the long-serving Victor Valdés' contract comes to an end, and to sign a top-class replacement for veteran defender Carles Puyol.

The four-time European champions have been linked with Borussia Monchengladbach keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and agreed a deal to sign 17-year-old Croatia midfielder Alen Halilovic last week.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

YESTERDAY was the 75^th anniversary of the end of Spain's Civil War, a day known as Glory Saturday.

As was the case every night on National Radio in the central-Spanish cathedral city of Burgos, the headquarters of the rebel gang who opposed Spain's Second Republic, a trumpet flare was followed by the daily war announcement by actor-turned-DJ Fernando Fernández de Córdoba – but this time he told listeners that it would be the last one and that the 'victorious flags had returned'.

The famous Conquest of Catalunya, with the entry of the Moroccan Armed Forces to Barcelona at the orders of General Yagüe, spelled the end of the Republic and the overwhelming triumph of General Franco.

Fernández de Córdoba read out a statement corrected by Franco himself which said: “Today, now that the Red Army has been captured and disarmed, national troops have achieved their ultimate military goal. The war is over.”

This was signed by 'Generalísimo' Franco, or 'the Great General Franco', in Burgos and dated April 1, 1939.

Franco was addressed as 'Generalísimo' throughout his reign, and recently, a street in a village in the Greater Madrid region called C/ Generalísimo Franco was renamed as part of the Law of Historic Memory, which seeks to wipe out all traces of the dictator including renaming streets and taking down his statues. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TRAFFIC jams across Spain have fallen by nearly two-thirds since the start of the financial crisis as a result of fewer commuters and residents tightening their belts.

Hard-pressed members of society are tending to only go out in the car when strictly necessary, and many have been forced to sell their vehicles to cut costs and make ends meet.

Research by the Catalunya regional branch of the Royal Automobile Club (RACC) shows that gridlocks in and around Spain's major cities and built-up areas on the coast have reduced by 63 per cent since 2010.

The report calculated the number of hours per year that a driver spends in traffic jams in cities throughout Spain and the rest of Europe.

Bilbao is currently the most-congested city, with drivers wasting an average of two hours a month, or a full day every year, sitting in traffic queues.

Madrid was very close, with motorists spending 23 hours a year stuck in jams.

Barcelona comes fifth, having seen a 76 per cent reduction in time spent in gridlocks since 2010, this now only being one hour and 15 minutes a month, or 15 hours a year.

Traffic jams in Bilbao have gone down by 48 per cent, and the average across the country is a 63 per cent decline in road queues. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

DOCTORS in Spain have admitted they need to listen more to their patients and give more information about treatment and procedures, as well as respecting the patient's decision in relation to these.

A 'good practice guide' presented by the Medical College Organisation (OMC) highlights the importance of 'effective and compassionate communication' with patients and 'listening attentively' to what they have to say, 'taking their opinions into account', and responding 'honestly' to their questions.

Head of the OMC, Dr Juan José Rodríguez Sendín says effective listening is not something that can be learnt through techniques, or be taught at medical school, but is a skill acquired on the job.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

RAJOY'S fiscal reforms have made low-income households poorer than ever, says the European Commission – one of the governing bodies which ordered the Spanish president to make them in the first place.

As a result of 'adjustments' made to Spain's tax situation, including income tax (IRPF) and IVA – particularly since 2012 - those already struggling to make ends meet are now in dire financial straits.

At best, they are relying on their savings, in 15 per cent of cases, and on loans and credit cards in 10 per cent of households, just to cover basic necessities like utility bills, rent or mortgage and food.

Spain's bottom quartile earners have seen their income go down by 14 per cent a year since 2009, whilst the top quartile earners have barely lost 10 per cent of their income and in many cases, have in fact become richer.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NEW mums have petitioned Spain's Parliament for a law giving them the right to breast-feed their babies anywhere without fear of reprisal.

According to the campaign group Lactancia en Libertad ('freedom for breast-feeding'), many women are asked to leave bars, restaurants, shopping centres and other public places for 'inappropriate behaviour' when they feed their babies.

These places have included swimming pools, sports centres, libraries and even nursery schools.

The group wants to see Spain implement a law similar to those of the UK, USA and Australia where a mother's right to breast-feed her baby takes priority.

“It's not obscene behaviour, it's totally natural - it's just feeding a child, and we need a law which means we cannot be discriminated against just for feeding our sons and daughters,” said a spokeswoman for the group.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN AFRICAN dictator at the funeral of Spain's first freely-elected president after Franco's 40-year régime caused some discomfort yesterday (Monday).

Teodoro Obiang went to Adolfo Suárez's State funeral, despite the fact the Spanish president was in power when the former staged a coup d'état in Equatorial Guinea in 1979, and Suárez's attempts at intervening in the democratic process of the country in 1992 failed spectacularly.

Whenever a State funeral is held, the government automatically sends invitations to all countries with embassies or consulates in Spain, and the leaders of these nations then decide whether or not to attend.

The process is the same in all countries.

Equatorial Guinea has an embassy in Madrid, meaning an invite was issued in accordance with standard procedure.

Obiang was on his way to Brussels to attend three days' worth of official engagements, a fact which had already caused controversy – and chose to be present at Suárez's funeral.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com