Live News From Spain As It Happens

STATE pensions in Spain have reached an average of €900 a month for the first time in history – although this includes every type of pension, not just those for retirement which tend to be higher than the rest.

Widows', widowers', orphans', family, and permanent sick pensions are covered.

In April, the Social Security office reported having paid out €8.45 billion in contributory pensions, 3% more than in the same month of 2015, and that the average per head sits at €900.50.

These vary by region, but represent an annual increase of 1.88%.

Widows' and widowers' pensions are now a typical €636.34 per month, and for permanent disability, €928.74 a month.

Orphans' pensions come in at €373.73 and family pensions at €524.68.

Retirees in Spain have always had a more generous monthly pay than in the UK, since the culture of private pension provision among Spanish society is very new and maximum contributions are considerably lower.

But for those who manage to pay off their mortgages before giving up work and who have paid into the pot for the full amount of time, their average monthly income of €1,038.93 is very much a living wage and a few cents higher than the typical full-time worker earns.

Most of the pension pot went to retirees in April, being a total of nearly €6bn or a year-on-year increase of 3.6%.

Widows' and widowers' pensions made up the bulk of what was left, at nearly €1.5bn, up by 1.2%.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ACTING president Mariano Rajoy's last-minute idea of ending the working day at 18.00 has been approved in Parliament, but it is not known when it will be put in place.

The move will include a 'time bank', whereby workers can store up extra hours to use for family or personal issues that require them to take time off, without eating into their holiday allowance.

With 140 votes in favour, 10 against and 98 abstaining, the first stage of the new working hours decree has gone through.

PP Senator, María del Mar Ángulo, pointed out that Spain has the third-longest working days in the European Union already, and with the extended lunch period spend more time away from home than practically any other country's employees.

Despite working more hours a day than 25 other EU countries, Spain is the least productive of them all.

The Senator cited research which shows the risk of stress, exhaustion and work-related accident and illness rises when employees spend long hours on the job, but productivity actually falls.

A shorter day 'offers health and quality of life' which will make staff more efficient and active when they are, in fact, at work.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TWO Spaniards have been killed and a third escaped unharmed after an explosion at an army barracks in Cape Verde.

The deceased are men aged 31 and 51 and said to be telecomms engineers working on a line fault near the Monte Txota base in Rui Vaz, inland from the country's capital of Praia on Santiago island.

According to the Capeverdian government, the attack was not related to drug-dealing or terrorism, but was likely to have been committed by a soldier 'for personal reasons', and that he had since gone to ground.

A car dumped near the site of the blast, containing eight Kalashnikovs and other firearms, was found.

Nine Capeverdians – eight soldiers and one civilian – were also killed in the attack at around noon local time (14.00hrs in mainland Spain) yesterday (Tuesday).

Reporters covering the blast say the country has been 'rocked' by the 11 deaths and 'people are very worried'.

“It's rare here for such things to happen,” one reporter said.

Crime in Cape Verde is statistically among the lowest in the world – even lower than in Spain, which is frequently hailed as Europe's safest nation.

Tourists are warned not to walk the streets of Praia at night and hotel receptionists will even escort them on foot to restaurants a few doors away, but this is largely due to the presence of a string of embassies in the coastal district which could be targeted by criminals.

Otherwise, Cape Verde is relatively problem-free and has not been touched by terrorism.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

KING Felipe has not nominated any candidate to form a government following his final round of meetings with party leaders yesterday (Tuesday) and Monday, which means unless enough groups strike a last-minute deal between now and Sunday night, a second general election is guaranteed.

PSOE (socialists) leader Pedro Sánchez (pictured right), formerly nominated by King Felipe VI (pictured left) but having failed to get Ciudadanos and Podemos to agree to work together, said: “I neither can, nor should, undergo another attempt at becoming invested as president.”

Acting president Mariano Rajoy, of the right-wing PP, said: “Luckily for Spain, a left-wing government has failed to take over the reins.”

Leftist independents Podemos, led by Pablo Iglesias, urged Sánchez to create a 'progress-driven coalition', but with the party's own 69 seats and the PSOE's 90, the total of 159 falls far short of a majority of 176 and the remaining groups would not vote in their favour.

Valencia-based left-wing party Compromís put forward the idea of a deal with Podemos and the PSOE, and Sánchez said he agreed with 27 points on the list but that three of the 30 'would need discussion and amendment'.

They included a minimum living income for everyone, measures to avoid home repossession, more resources for the elderly and disabled who need home care, measures against domestic violence, a 'multi-dimensional and complete' programme to wipe out poverty, a youth employment plan to stop the 'brain drain' of highly-qualified young adults forced to leave the country to find work, a reform of transparency laws, scrapping the so-called 'gagging law' which imposes five- or six-figure fines for unauthorised public demonstrations or photographing police officers, improving transparency in public works contracts, setting up an anti-corruption office and giving legal protection to whistleblowers, reforming the electoral system, scrapping top politicians' and bankers' revolving door employment, and removing politics from the running of the courts.

Restructuring the State deficit to prioritise social spending, reforming the education law and axing the restrictive labour reforms of 2010 and 2012, promoting equality in leading institutions, making healthcare publicly-run and available to everyone once again, setting up a new equality law for transsexual and LGB residents, climate change and energy laws, re-industrialising the economy, a fiscal reform to render tax contributions 'fairer', investing in better rail, sea, land and air links with Europe, and giving 'quality' farming a boost are also listed.

With Compromís being a Valencia-based party, high on the list was finance for the 17 autonomous regions in Spain, given that the Comunidad Valenciana has long suffered from an unfairly-low share of the pot.

Concerning Catalunya's drive for independence – although without mentioning this as such – Compromís proposes resolving the 'territorial crises' of the State 'from a democratic perspective' and 'pushing ahead with a federal model', whilst focusing on 'integration and democracy' within the European Union based upon a 'social, fair and empathic model' and 'more equitable wealth and resources distribution' between member States.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A GUARDIA Civil officer has been arrested after allegedly killing a driver with several shots to the head after they became involved in an argument following a motorway accident.

The accused, 31, has tested positive for cannabis.

He is stationed in Quintanar de la Orden (Toledo province) and was thought to be off when the victim, a 39-year-old Moroccan man, hit his car on the A-3 Madrid-Valencia motorway and drove off.

According to initial inquiries, the Guardia Civil officer's Opel Zafira was flung into the central reservation and spun round before hitting the Moroccan's BMW's nearside wing with its front end.

The officer set off in pursuit and caught up with the victim at kilometre 67, in the town of Fuentidueña de Tajo, at around 07.30hrs.

He got out of his damaged Opel, badly bruised and cut by the smash, and threatened the BMW driver through the window with his gun.

The Moroccan got out of his car and ran, but a shot to the head brought him down.

Next, the Guardia Civil officer fired another four shots directly at his head, and left him lying in the middle of the motorway just a few metres from his car.

The Judicial Police Homicide Group has confiscated the officer's gun and impounded both the vehicles, and tested the accused on site for alcohol and drugs.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LATEST reports from global recruitment agency ADECCO have listed the type of job vacancies likely to be most prolific in Spain this year – some of which do not require prior experience or where qualifications in the field are either not necessary or can be gained quickly.

Process engineers, to define and implement strategies for improving competitiveness in vehicle factories and supporting the design department, can earn around €35,000 to €38,000 a year – a very rare salary in Spain where a typical wage for even a qualified worker sits at around €1,000 a month for a 40-hour week.

But a degree or at least the equivalent of a BTEC HND or foundation degree in mechanical or electrical engineering, some experience in soldering or assembling vehicles and at least two years in production engineering, great communication skills, leadership, flexibility, self-confidence, self-discipline and being bilingual in English and Spanish are crucial, meaning the highly-demanded employees for this type of role are likely to be few.

Fewer aptitudes are needed for the oft-advertised role of warehouse storage handler, which involves packaging, drawing up inventories of stock, preparing orders and dispatching, but experience in the field and at least a basic qualification in stock-handling are needed, even though the salary is just €12,000 to €15,000 a year before tax.

Anyone with an engineering qualification and, ideally, experience, depending upon the level of the role, is likely to find a job very quickly and an eye-watering salary – up to €45,000 a year for management – especially in the renewable energy sector.

Industrial engineering jobs, for example, include mechatronics technicians, which combine mechanics, IT and electronics and can earn the applicant between €24,000 and €30,000 a year.

The same is also true for anyone with the equivalent of at least a HND in computing or IT engineering, since jobs for programmers or programming analysts are among the most-advertised – and experience after qualifying is not always needed.

A junior programmer will normally earn a gross wage of around €18,000 a year, rising to between €23,000 and €35,000 for senior programmers, who need at least three years' experience.

Anyone with a business or health sciences degree or the equivalent with some experience in sales, marketing, or anything health or pharmaceutics-related will be able to find product manager or market access technician jobs to apply for, with salaries for the former ranging from €25,000 to €55,000 and for the latter, from €45,000 to €70,000.

Media studies graduates, or those with the equivalent of the first two years of a degree in the subject, have long suffered from either unemployment or having to take jobs in fields totally different from the one they studied – but not any longer, says ADECCO's latest report.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH businesses are hoping to set up in Cuba as soon as possible following the thaw with the USA, and foreign affairs minister José Manuel García-Margallo is planning a visit.

A representative from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce is also expected to travel to Cuba, and the Naval training ship, the Juan Sebastián Elcano (pictured) will stop off in the port of La Habana.

Beer company Estrella Damm, bathroom fixtures manufacturer Roca, and various hotel chains are looking to set up on the island.

Spain's national government intends to strike a pact with Cuba, calling the debt of €375 million the former colony still has with it an 'investment' and not requiring it to be paid back.

Due to the political impasse with Spain having failed to form a government in the four months since the general election, neither the acting president nor King Felipe can pay an official visit to Cuba, but business and foreign relations heads want to get there as soon as they can. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FOREIGN residents are flocking back to Madrid for the first time since 2009 – the non-Spanish headcount has risen by nearly 6,000 in the past year.

As yet, the trend has not caught on in the rest of the country, but a rising number of expats in the capital could be a sign that new residents will soon be settling elsewhere in Spain.

A total of 388,120 expats live in Madrid now, compared to 382,450 at the beginning of 2015, representing a rise of 1.5%.

Economic recovery and existing migrants bringing their families to join them are largely behind the increase in the number of foreign residents, and the fact that more jobs tend to be available in the capital.

In other cases, foreigners who returned to their countries of origin with the onset of the crisis are now heading back to Spain.

Science institute CSIC says many of them went 'home' and found social and educational services were not up to the standards of those in Spain.

“What happened, for example, is that Moroccan citizens who had their children in school in Spain returned to Morocco and found enormous differences,” says sub-director of the Demographic Studies Centre (CED), Andreu Domingo.

Political instability in other countries has also led to a rise in foreign resident numbers in Madrid – Venezuelans have increased more than anyone, going up from 13,772 in January 2015 to 16,438 in January 2016, a hike of 20%.

One property consultant says they are tending to be rich Venezuelans who intend to settle in the Spanish capital and open new businesses – at least five property development projects are under way in the wealthy Salamanca district, funded by Venezuelan money.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CROWN Prince of Thailand Maha Vajiralongkorn and his wife made a swift stop-off at Valencia airport yesterday (Saturday) to visit the Lladró porcelain factory and stock up.

The Royal couple landed early in the evening with their entourage in their private jet, a Boeing 737, which they use frequently for State visits around the world, and were met on the runway by staff from the Thai embassy.

They were then taken in limousines to the Lladró factory in nearby Tavernes Blanques where they bought a number of figurines.

About three hours after landing in Manises airport, they were taken back there to board the aircraft for their onward journey, to a destination which has not been disclosed.

The Prince and Princess of Thailand's visit to the factory where the world-famous porcelain figurines are made exclusively comes at a difficult time for the firm, which is undergoing a 'restructure', according to the media.

Queen Sirikit, Prince Maha's mother, knows co-founder José Lladró personally as he visited her in Thailand – a major market for the porcelain creations - in 1996.

Whilst there, José Lladró was keen to find out what type of ornaments the Queen of Thailand liked best, asking her about her favourite colours and shapes.

The Queen replied that in her opinion, the most interesting aspect of Lladró porcelain was the techniques employed in creating them.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MALLORCA is the second-best island in Europe to visit on holiday and the sixth-best in the world, according to a survey on TripAdvisor.

The annual Travellers' Choice award for World's Best Island went to Maui in Hawaii, and Europe's Best Island to Santorini, in Greece, with Mallorca coming a close second.

Lengthy research into comments and ratings on TripAdvisor about hotels, restaurants, attractions and facilities over 12 months, with data concerning quality, price, ease of access and all other positive or negative aspects mentioned by site users gathered, was translated into a list of the best islands to visit.

Of these, 10 were in Spain, including the four Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.

Mallorca hotels were found to average €145 a night on average, dropping to €129 in spring and €144 in autumn, whilst rising to €154 in summer.

Menorca was praised for its 'splendid sunsets' and 'water the colour of a precious stone' which is 'a magnet for water-skiing, windsurfing and sailing fans', earning it seventh place in Spain, whilst Formentera, in eighth, was described as 'a tranquil little island, peaceful and with an overwhelming natural beauty which hits you when you arrive on the ferry'.

Ibiza was sixth in Spain, and lauded for its 160 kilometres of coastline and 50 beaches, as well as the historic quarters of Ibiza Town, a UNESCO heritage site.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PARLIAMENT has agreed to put the wheels in motion for 16- and 17-year-olds to be able to vote after a motion by the Catalunya Left Republicans (ERC) was approved by all bar the right-wing PP, centre-right Ciudadanos and the Basque nationalists PNV.

ERC recalled, in the motion, that youngsters aged 16 can legally marry, work, pay taxes, have consenting sexual relations and give their permission for medical treatment, including - despite the PP's efforts to the contrary - abortions.

But they are unable to decide who gets into power to spend the taxes they pay or alter the conditions through which they are employed, ERC pointed out.

In a State where 16-year-olds can be held criminally, civilly and fiscally liable, they cannot be denied the right to vote, says ERC spokesman Gabriel Rufián.

The socialists (PSOE), Podemos and the non-affiliated MPs all voted in favour - 174 in total - compared with 144 votes against and six who abstained, giving the motion a majority approval.

MP for ERC, María González Veracruz, pointed out that the arguments against teens of 16 and 17 voting - such as 'immaturity' and 'childishness', and the fact they are dependent, largely, on their parents or adult guardians - are the very ones that were used against women having the vote decades ago.

Podemos' MP Jaume Moya called for an end to the 'stereotypes' of 16-year-olds being 'likely to be influenced by propaganda or their parents' political preferences', and stressed that today's youth are 'much more aware' of current affairs, something they make patent in street protests and by 'building their culture of indignation'.

The PP was against the move, saying there was not enough time to make it workable within the current legislature, whilst Ciudadanos - albeit in favour of an electoral reform - said that within the European Union, Austria was the only country which allowed under-18s to vote.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A 26-YEAR-OLD Moroccan man has been arrested in Palma de Mallorca on suspicion of being closely linked to the so-called Islamic State, or DAESH.

His home in the Sont Gotleu neighbourhood was raided and drugs and computer equipment seized.
 
National Police inquiries reveal the accused was attempting to recruit Jihad terrorists via Facebook and Twitter, promoting fundamentalist attacks and arranging trips to Syria and Iraq for those who decided to sign up.
 
To a lesser extent, the suspect is believed to have been laying the foundations for planning bomb blasts in Spain and other parts of Europe.

Officers say the Moroccan 'maintained very close contacts with accredited terrorism leaders' based in Syria, working with them on the sending of Jihad recruits to the war-torn Middle Eastern country.
 
The suspect is said to have been a 'very real and direct threat' to national security.
 
Armed police and armour-plated vans with blacked-out windows surrounded the five-storey block at number 53 of the C/ Santa Florentina in the early hours of yesterday (Tuesday) morning, causing a sensation in the neighbourhood as at least 100 local people looked on.
 
It took five hours to inspect the flat and confiscate evidence.

MP for the Balearics, Teresa Palmer, has called for 'calm' among the population.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TENNIS star Rafa Nadal would 'not want to see Catalunya become independent' and says corrupt politicians should be removed from their seats.

Speaking at a press conference organised by Sabadell bank, Rafa, from Manacor - famous for its pearl factories - said he has close ties with the north-eastern region and would 'accept' its seceding from Spain, but would not be happy about it.

"I do sympathise with the pro-independence side; nobody could think I'm on the 'ultra-Spanish' side. I'm from Mallorca, and I speak the same language as Catalunya does," Nadal stated.

The Balearic Islands' three regional tongues - Mallorquín, Menorquín and Ibicuenco - take their roots from Catalán, and the interview with Rafa was conducted entirely in Mallorquín.

"I have two flats in Barcelona and I feel very close to Catalunya, but I don't understand why there's such a problem and so much confrontation.

"Everyone should be free to feel whatever they want; if I want something, it doesn't mean I hate those who are against it.

"For my part, as a Spaniard and a Balearic, I would not like Catalunya to be an independent nation. I want it to remain within the State, within Spanish territory, because I've always experienced it this way. I can't see and I wouldn't like it otherwise.

"I love Catalunya, Spain and the Balearics; I consider they are all one and the same and would like it to continue this way; but if the opposite happened, I'd accept it."

Inevitably, in a discussion on political issues and current affairs, Nadal was asked for his views on the corruption cases which have been reported and the high-ranking current and former politicians and tycoons being questioned.

"I see corruption in the same way as everyone does, I think it's equally as bad as anyone else would - even from my own position as someone whose life is going very well and who is far less frustrated than those who struggle to make it to the end of the month on a very tight salary," the sports star admitted.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

KING Felipe's sister Cristina de Borbón (pictured) may have been blackmailed by anti-corruption pressure group Manos Limpias ('clean hands') before it brought a private prosecution against her for her alleged role in her husband's tax fraud and public fund embezzlement case.

Described as a far-right crusader, Manos Limpias has been investigated recently for various similar cases involving demanding money in exchange for dropping prosecutions against high-profile companies and public figureheads.

According to the Infanta Cristina's solicitor, head of the group, Miguel Bernad, offered to scrap the law suit against the former Duchess of Palma if La Caixa and Sabadell banks paid him €3 million.

The Infanta declined, and has gone on to make history as the first Royal by blood to have appeared in the dock.

An ongoing case involving her husband Iñaki Urdangarín, who lost his title of Duke of Palma as a result, could see him and his business partner Diego Torres jailed for up to 20 years.

They set up a non-profit foundation to organise sports and entertainment events on behalf of the regional governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, but are believed to have inflated their invoices, laundering the surplus through companies with no known activity, and signing up family members and home cleaning staff as employees of these.

Bernad's arrest on Friday came at the same time as chairman of the banking consumer group AUSBANC, Luis Pineda, who is accused of the same offences of extortion as Bernad.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MADRID could be home to the highest tower block in the European Union if the developer behind the plan gets permission to go ahead.

The skyscraper would have 70 floors and be based in the Chamartín neighbourhood, near the station of the same name and towering above Madrid's current tallest block - the Torre de Cristal ('glass tower'), part of the pictured Cuatro Torres ('four towers') complex, which has 52 floors.

Developer Distrito Castellana Norte, or DCN, run by chief executive officer Antonio Béjar, wants to create a complex with six towers to 'recreate Madrid's skyscape' and put the Spanish capital on the map alongside other dynamic, modern European cities.

All paperwork and permits are in place, except planning permission from the city council, after 20 years of processing, Béjar reveals.

Distrito Castellana Norte is owned by the BBVA bank, which holds 75.5% of its shares, and building company San José, a 24.5% shareholder.

Its project would involve extending the north end of Madrid's main business boulevard, the Paseo de la Castellana, as far as the M-40 ringroad, by adding on 3.7 kilometres, and build a residential complex of just under 18,000 homes with various parks and gardens within it.

The housing estate would be 50% the size of Madrid's iconic Retiro Park, occupying well over 300 hectares.

Around 120,000 temporary jobs would be created in building the towers and the housing complex, and involve a €6 billion investment which would bring in €3.3bn to the city council in tax.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A PASSENGER'S complaint about a 'rip-off' sandwich at Ibiza airport has gone viral – two thin strips of ham and a few shreds of browning lettuce inside a slice of wholemeal bread cut in half cost an eye-watering €6.05.

Azilef Speers, who has been living on the island for several years, uploaded a picture of the sandwich after unfolding it on her Facebook site with the receipt laid next to it.

And this shows that as well as the overpriced sandwich with hardly anything in it, a can of Carlsberg lager cost her €3.35 – more than double and nearly three times the price it would be in most bars in Spain.

The decaffeinated white coffee at €1.70 is a little more expensive than it would be in most bars, but not over the top, and the small bag of crisps at €1.95 and the packet of nuts and raisins at €2 could be said to be a little overpriced, but the €6.05 no-frills sandwich and €3.35 can of lager have provoked shock responses on Facebook.

All these items together came to an incredible €15.05 – in a country where a filter coffee in a china cup with a very decent-sized home-made cake or pastry will easily give you change out of €3, and a sumptuous, filling, set-menu three-course lunch averages around €10 including dessert, a bread basket, and a glass of wine.

In fact, even in developing countries, Spain has a reputation as a country where you can eat well for €5, where even the most modest, family-run workmen's café can offer you superior, home-made grub for very little money, and where Michelin-starred restaurants are affordable on the average wage.

Although Ms Speers' Facebook post has provoked open mouths worldwide, it has sparked even more outrage in Spain where €15.05 will buy you a good-quality two- or three-course meal with wine at a very reasonable restaurant.

Azilef's comment with her photo read: “Ibiza airport rip-off: €6.05 for this utter rubbish. Made by Newrest Group Holding. What a damned cheek.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A PARLIAMENTARY debate on Tuesday this week will consider whether to reduce the minimum age for voting from 18 to 16.

Although none of the main political parties mentioned this in their electoral manifestos, the Catalunya Left Republicans (ERC) has proposed a motion to that effect and, if it is approved, will bring Spain in line with several other countries in Europe and beyond.

Norway, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, some States in Germany, and the Swiss canton of Glaris allow citizens of the country to vote in general elections and foreigners to vote in local and, where applicable, European Union elections, from age 16.

The UK was considering doing likewise for the Scottish referendum and also the forthcoming vote on whether or not Britain should leave or remain in the EU.

This motion in Spain is based upon a resolution approved in 2011 by the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly, which urged all member States to allow voting from age 16 so as to prevent European youth from being effectively 'cast out' when it came to making their voices heard on political issues.

ERC recalls that in Spain, 16-year-olds are able to work, marry with parental consent – or without, if they have no adult guardians – as well as pay taxes, give their consent to medical treatment including, despite the PP's efforts to prevent this, abortions, and to have consenting sexual relations.

The party also points out that the non-binding referendum, or opinion poll, held over Catalunya's possible independence on November 9 last year allowed everyone resident in or native of the region aged 16 or over to vote.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Spain's Rafael Nadal captured his ninth Monte-Carlo Masters crown on Sunday with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-0 victory of Frenchman Gael Monfils.

It was the 29-year-old's first Masters 1000 title for nearly two years and takes him back onto level-pegging with World No.1 Novak Djokovic with 28 ATP 1000 crowns apiece.

It's was Nadal's first victory in the principality since Djokovic ended his eight-year, 46-match winning streak in the 2013 final.

After two fiercely-contested sets, Nadal stepped up a gear to race through the final set, showing signs of his former clay-court glory.

Monfils, who has had his best start to the season ever, caused Nadal no end of trouble with his incredible defence and point-clinching shot-making.

But the Frenchman’s legs ultimately ran out in the decider as Nadal’s continued pounding from the baseline eventually took its toll. The Spaniard fell to his knees as he celebrated a longed-for victory after a trying 18 months on the ATP World Tour.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN AIR passenger register will be set up for everyone who catches a flight within the European Union in a bid to fight terrorism, after the majority of MEPs voted in favour.

The French government pushed particularly hard for the register to come into force, arguing that attacks committed in France last year were planned or prepared outside the country and that the lack of border control as a result of the Schengen zone meant they were able to move around freely – plus, France considers, secret services did not communicate efficiently enough, enabling the Jihad terrorists to cover their tracks.

Data about air travellers will be taken for the PNR register at the time of booking and passed onto national authorities, and will be processed by a Passenger Information Unit (PIU) which the EU now has to set up.

This information will be held for a maximum of five years, but after six months any data which allows passengers to be identified – such as name and address – will be deleted.

Each PIU will have a data protection officer responsible for ensuring laws safeguarding sensitive information are adhered to.

As well as national authorities, the data will be passed onto countries outside the EU where necessary, and the Europol and Interpol.

In principle, the PNR will apply to flights entering the EU from outside it, but may be extended to those within the Union or even within the same country if member States wish.

The Council of Europe and 27 member States – Denmark is exempt – will need to agree the move before it goes ahead, and if it does, each country will have just two years to put the PNR in place.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A SECOND World War film starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard will be partly filmed in the city of Las Palmas in Gran Canaria.

Allied, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is currently being shot in London and is due to move to the first of three locations in Las Palmas in the next few days.

One of these will be the Plaza de Cairasco.

Brad Pitt will play the part, Max Vatan, an Intelligence official on a mission who meets Marion Cotillard's character Marianne Beausejour, an enemy and fighter in the French Résistance.

They get together, but their relationship is threatened by the extreme pressures of the war.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FRESH election in Spain would cost the taxpayer €177 million, and acting justice minister Rafael Catalá has called for an 'across-the-board agreement' for any pre-polls campaigns, if it comes to this, to be cut short.

Elections have to be held 54 days after they are called, and the campaign runs for 15 days, but changing the electoral law could be very difficult with only an acting government in power.

PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez is not happy about reducing the 15-day campaign, saying it would 'rob citizens of their public debate' giving them time to weigh up the options and make an informed choice.

Otherwise, Catalá proposes cutting subsidies given to parties for their campaigns, which amount to around €47m.

Sánchez, and centre-right Ciudadanos' leader Albert Rivera, say they agree with this, because 'debate is free' but time is more important than money.

Logistics – even down to ballot slips, envelopes, plastic ballot boxes, and instruction manuals for those called up for poll station duty – come to €12.6m, which includes the standard €62.61 in 'expenses' paid to those manning the tables, a job they are conscripted to do and which is not optional.

With Spain on terrorist alert level 4 – one below the maximum of 5 – following the simultaneous attacks in Paris, Somalia and Kuwait in June, more National and Local Police and Guardia Civil officers than usual are required, and this, along with institutional, non-party-specific campaigns reminding everyone to go and vote, cost around €55.1m.

Postal voting, including the post office's own handling of ballots mailed in both directions, costs €48m, and technology and telecommunications to broadcast the vote count at different stages of the day cost around €12.8m.

Once contingencies and miscellaneous costs have been added – another €1.67m – the total, net of party subsidies, comes to €130.24m.

Town and city councils lend venues for political rallies and subsidise parties on a sliding scale according to their size and results, and after the elections, all parties which gain at least one seat in Parliament receive 81 cents a vote, and 32 cents for every vote in the Senate, plus €21,167.64 per seat gained.

This means that after the December 20 elections, the right-wing PP – in power since November 2011 and still the caretaking government – earned €17.4m; the socialists, or PSOE, €12.2m; left-wing independents Podemos, €9.44m, and Ciudadanos, for Parliament only as it did not win any representation in the Senate, €3.7m.

Authorities have calculated what this amount of €177.64m could be spent on if a second election did not have to be held.

Governments could increase spending on care for the elderly and disabled by 14%, as the amount spent on a general election equates to an entire month's budget for social services nationally – children and migrants in vulnerable situations, drug addicts in treatment or rehabilitation, and the elderly would benefit from this.

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FLIGHTS from Spain have been cancelled and others delayed thanks to an air-traffic controller strike at Brussels' Zaventem airport, where the DAESH terrorist blasts struck last month.

It is not known to what extent other European flights crossing Belgian air space are affected, but of the 50 or so grounded, a number are said to have been due to head for Madrid.

According to the airport's Twitter site: “If the Belgocontrol strike continues, we can expect more flight cancellations today.”

As yet, no flights have been diverted away from Zaventem airport – unlike after the March 22 attacks when those still in the air at the time were sent to Düsseldorf (Germany) or Lille (France).

Zaventum only reopened again on April 3 and is still not completely up and running, with around 225 flights landing and another 225 taking off daily.

Liège and Charleroi airports are not said to be affected.

The strike is not 'official' as it did not gain full support from union members, but it was agreed that those who wished to down tools would 'call in sick'.

Europe's branch of the Airport Council International (ACI) has expressed its fury over the strike.

Shutting Belgian air space over labour disputes just 10 days after it reopened fully following the March tragedy 'shows a total absence of any decency and respect' for the airport and carriers based there who 'are working hard to restore connections' after the terrorist attack, the ACI says.

“Considering what is at stake, this is causing intentional harm to the Belgians at a time when their country is united by grief,” storms an ACI spokesperson. 

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A TOUR group of senior citizens on a State pensioners' holiday have staged a protest in their hotel after they were dropped down a star category without explanation.

The 50 or so who had booked an Imserso – out-of-season State-subsidised holiday for pensioners – via the agency Mundiplan said they had been told at the last minute of a chance of hotel in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.

They found themselves in a two-star establishment which they had to enter via the back gates because there was not enough room for their coach to get through the main entrance.

And the lift gets stuck if more than two people travel in it, they complain, meaning they had to carry their own cases up the stairs – even though their trip is specifically aimed at the over-65s.

“The food is horrible, the bedrooms are horrible, and we don't want to be here,” said the group's spokeswoman Esther Ramírez.

“We've called the girl from the agency, who sounded very concerned and willing to help, but who has not given us any solution. We've been here nearly 24 hours and nobody's prepared to do anything, which is ruining our holidays.”

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FORMER manager of Banesto bank Mario Conde is in custody after around €13 million was found stashed in tax havens, thought to have been siphoned from the now-defunct entity and hidden from Spanish fiscal authorities.

Conde, 68 (pictured left), has been on parole for the last 11 years after being sentenced to 20 years in jail in the year 2000 for the 'Banesto Case', where he was found guilty of misappropriation of funds, forgery and fraud.

At the end of 1993, the Bank of Spain decided to carry out an audit on Banesto and discovered a €3 billion accounting fraud, or 500 billion pesetas as it was then, plus a 'hole' of more than €3.6bn (600 billion pesetas) in addition.

The amounts of cash found to have been leaked out of the entity when Conde was chairman reached over €26m.

Much of the money was never found again.

But this week, a probe into the repatriation of €13m from Switzerland, Luxembourg and the UK, part of which is thought to be from the Banesto money which vanished in the 1990s, has uncovered what appears to be a network of dormant companies abroad through which funds were regularly transferred to similar entities in Spain owned by others in cahoots with Conde. 

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SOCIALIST leader Pedro Sánchez admitted he only gave a flat 'no' to two out of 20 points of left-wing Podemos' programme – the composition of the new government, and the 'right to decide' for Catalunya over its independence – in the unsuccessful three-way meeting between the two parties and centre-right Ciudadanos.

“After careful analysis of all the paperwork that you have sent us, we saw that in some of the essential policies, we clearly coincide,” Sánchez wrote to Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias.

“These include education and health, the fight against corruption and democratic regeneration.”

Sánchez continued that there 'could be around 70% of the remaining points' which 'if they had been able to discuss', they may have reached an agreement on.

“We are only categorically against points 19 and 20, which affect the composition of the government and a referendum on independence,” he concluded.

He added that 'in light of this', it is 'difficult to support the idea that an agreement has not been possible because of the programme', and that this was 'a shame'.

Spokesman Antonio Hernando said the party was 'surprised' to hear Podemos had unilaterally broken off negotiations before receiving the socialists' response to their programme.

“Taking the deal with Ciudadanos into the equation, which we have already said coincides with 140 of Podemos' measures [the Ciudadanos deal covers 200 points], we believed it was possible to work on incorporating new policies for a government of change,” he says.

But Ciudadanos' leader Albert Rivera has flatly refused to change any part of its own deal, even though Podemos admitted it was prepared to bend slightly to try to accommodate the others.

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ONE in five Parkinson's sufferers in Spain is aged under 40, shock new statistics reveal – but if greater efforts were made to diagnose it earlier, quality of life could be dramatically improved and patients could live up to 40 years from the onset of their condition.

And researchers at Barcelona's Hospital Clínic have found a way of diagnosing the degenerative condition through a simple biopsy of a gland in the back of the mouth.

They tested the method on 21 patients with REM sleep disorders, as well as 24 Parkinson's patients already diagnosed and 26 people with neither problem.

The protein said to be behind the neuro-degenerative disorder, Alpha-Sinucleina, was found in 70% of confirmed Parkinson's sufferers and in 90% of REM sleep disorder patients, but in none of those with neither condition, said Hospital Clínic's neurology department.

Tomorrow (Monday) is World Parkinson's Day, and medics who treat people with the disease say the earliest signs are usually movement problems in one or more limbs, stiffness, slow movement, and jerkiness.

Typically, balance and coordination are affected first, but later symptoms can include a loss of sense of smell, REM sleep disorders and cognitive deterioration.

These can take years to appear, and the average Parkinson's sufferer will not tend to be diagnosed until up to five years after the onset of the first signs.

But by detecting Alpha-Sinucleina early on, medication can block the progress of the protein to the brain, or nervous system, preventing Parkinson's from developing further.

The Spanish Parkinson's Federation (FEP) says the disease is normally, incorrectly, associated with 'little old ladies and men who tremble all the time', but that up to 20% of sufferers are still in their 30s or even younger – and many more are still in early middle age.

“But there are patients who are neither elderly, nor do they tremble,” the FEP stresses.

Younger patients can suffer social rejection and end up becoming a recluse at home, the Federation warns.

“They live in a slow-moving world, right now when society as a whole lives in a world of 'right now',” says Dr María Jesús Delgado.

“It's a difficult disease to understand. Patients suffer insults and impatient reactions when they slow down and struggle to keep walking across a zebra crossing, or when they take ages to pay for their goods in a supermarket.”

For this reason, many are reluctant to leave the house, meaning they 'become invisible' and society is 'not aware of their problems' – a situation which can lead to mental health problems, such as depression, a frequent side-effect of neuro-degenerative conditions.

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A BRITISH toddler has drowned in a swimming pool in Torrevieja, southern Alicante province, whilst on holiday with his mother and grandmother.

The four-year-old is said to have fallen in the pool on the urbanisation Rocío del Mar, where the family had rented a villa.

According to initial information available, the two adults and the little boy's sister, aged six, were inside the property at the time, around 18.00hrs.

His mum and grandmother ran out into the street shouting for help when they saw the boy face-down, and two builders working opposite rushed to their aid.

They pulled the child straight out of the water and gave him mouth-to-mouth and CPR, having called an ambulance, which is said to have arrived within minutes and taken over trying to revive the infant.

But every effort to save him failed.

The stretch of the C/ Bajamar leading up to number 31 was shut to traffic for over an hour whilst paramedics tried to bring the boy round, and it was well after 19.00hrs that they left the area.

Sources close to the family say they have shut themselves in the villa and are not speaking to anyone aside from their nearest friends.

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MAJOR national firms in Spain have been named in the so-called 'Panamá Papers' as having stashed funds in dormant offshore companies, including Carceller – which owns the beer manufacturer Damm – the Meliá and Riu hotel groups and Martinón.

Carceller is alleged to have created a network of companies in the tiny South Pacific State of Niue and also in Samoa to help finance its operations in Spain.

Spanish tax authorities have been aware of some of these firms for over a decade, according to the Panamá leaks documents.

The National Court archived the case against Carceller five years ago, but it has just been reopened with the prosecution calling for 48-and-a-half years in prison for the owner and 14 years for his son.

So far, film director Pedro Almodóvar, Barça FC's Leo Messi, and King Felipe VI's aunt Pilar de Borbón have been named, but all three insist the companies they set up in tax havens were all above board.

The names revealed were all said to have been clients of the Panamá City-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, whose activities were revealed in the exposé by investigative journalists who sold the story to a German media group.

Spanish banks including Santander, Sabadell and the BBVA are said to have helped wealthy clients set up offshore companies, but again, they insist they did so within the law. 

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SPAIN'S first-ever 'charity speed camera' has been set up in the northern coastal region of Cantabria, where fines for breaking the limit will be used to support families suffering hardship.

Santa María de Cayón says 130 households in the town are struggling to afford to feed themselves and pay basic utilities such as water, electricity and rent or mortgage, and are having to rely on charities and the social services for their mere survival.

But from this week, they will benefit from speeding fines amassed through a camera set up in the town centre.

The speed trap is on one of Santa María de Cayón's busiest roads in order to slow drivers down in the section between the high school and primary school, which contains a very hazardous pedestrian crossing used four times a day by children. 

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RENT prices for properties across Spain are highest in Barcelona's central shopping street and lowest in a southern-Alicante suburban neighbourhood, according to research by Forbes magazine.

A flat on the Passeig de Gràcia (pictured left) in Spain's second-largest city comes in at a cool €29.58 per square metre every month, compared with €1.80 per square metre in Carrús, a neighbourhood in the large town of Elche just south of Alicante airport.

For a comfortable-sized three-bed apartment suitable for a small family, this works out at around €2,958 in the former compared with €180 per month in the latter.

For a small, one-bedroomed flat, the price still sits at about €1,479 on the Passeig de Gràcia, but around €90 a month in Carrús.

Property valuation experts at TecniTasa say renting a home on some of the most desirable, attractive and central streets in the cities of Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Cádiz, Marbella, A Coruña in Galicia, San Sebastián, Zaragoza in Aragón and Pamplona will practically never come in at below €1,500, reaching €3,000 to €4,500 for a large, spacious apartment.

But other than the Carrús suburb (pictured below right) in Elche, some neighbourhoods in the towns and cities of Alicante, Castellón, Huelva, Torrent (Valencia province), Málaga, Almería, Jaén, Granada and Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz province) have homes to rent which regularly cost a lot less than €200 a month, even for those of a good size and quality, and even drop into double figures in some cases.

The Passeig de Gràcia has knocked the stately C/ Serrano in Madrid off the top spot of the most expensive street to rent a home in Spain – in the latter, a 100-square-metre apartment, typically a three-bedroom type with room for a couple and one or two children, costs an average of €2,784 per month for its tenants.

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FOUR top-of-the-range cars stolen from their owners in Spain have been found – in Thailand.

Thanks to the Guardia Civil and Interpol, Thai authorities recovered five luxury cars in the port of Laem Chabang, not far from Bangkok.

Of these, four had been stolen in Barcelona and Madrid, and were on their way to Vietnam.

A criminal organisation made up of Bulgarian nations....

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CERVICAL cancer claims 800 women's lives in Spain every year – despite being one of the most preventable forms of the disease.

In 40% of cases, women do not find out they have cervical cancer until they are already at stage III or stage IV, which can mean a cure is less likely or even impossible.

The Association of Ovarian and Gynaecological Cancer Victims (ASACO) says if tumours in the cervix are found early on, treatment is far less invasive and has a very high chance of success.

Practically no symptoms are noticed by the sufferer until the cancer is at a very late stage, but given how slowly it develops, 'numerous opportunities' are available for early diagnosis and even prevention, says head of the Valencia Oncology Institute's (IVO's) Gynaecology Service, Dr Lucas Minig.

Simple signs such as a great deal of fluid, bleeding between periods or post-menopause, or heavier-than-usual periods may be experienced with advanced cervical cancer and be discovered when the woman is referred to a gynaecologist – but these symptoms cover a multitude of conditions which, in the huge majority of cases, are for very minor problems.

Of the 2,500 cases of cancer of the cervix, or neck of the womb, diagnosed every year in Spain, nearly a third of those women will die.

But Dr Minig stresses that this is nearly always unnecessary – women are called up for a smear test every two to three years from around the age of 21 to their mid- to late 60s, depending upon the individual health authority, and if they have experienced problems in the past, will be summoned more often.

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THE first-ever 'mega-truck' or 'road train' – made up of several lorry containers strung together – has hit the road in Spain.

A popular goods transport method in the USA and Australia, where vast swathes of uninhabited land, sparse rail travel outside of big cities and near-empty major highways make this one of the most efficient and cost-effective ways of shipping cargo over long distances, 'road trains' have only just been introduced into Europe.

Spain is highly divided over how useful or harmful 'mega-trucks' may be, given that the much busier motorways may not take the strain and, when sharing the highway with cars, could present a danger when motorists are in lorry-drivers' blind spot.

As yet, the 'road train' has only been piloted on Spain's roads – it travelled from the Sesé Group factory in Palau-Solità i Plegamans to the Seat motor manufacturer in Martorell, both in the province of Barcelona and 35 kilometres apart.

The vehicle measures 25.25 metres in length (about 82 feet) – similar to that of a tennis court – and can transport up to 60 tonnes.

Head of transport at Sesé Group, Federico Ballester says the main advantage of 'road trucks' is the increase in cargo capacity of up to 57% on 'traditional' lorries, and by combining several containers in one vehicle, emissions can be cut by up to 14% and logistics costs by 22%.

Catalunya regional government minister for land and sustainability, Josep Rull, even believes 'mega-trucks' would improve, rather than worsen, traffic safety – he did not elaborate further, but it is likely he was referring to the fact that fewer HGV lorries would be on the roads taking one load at a time.

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MASS redundancies and 450 branches closing have been announced by Banco Santander this week.

The financial entity run by Ana Botín, and which bought out the Abbey National in the UK in 2004, will shut 13% of its Spanish branches – mainly the smaller offices with between one and three employees.

Although the exact number of staff members to be made redundant this year has not been announced, based upon the number and size of branches set to go, this could be anything up to 1,350.

This said, some of them should be able to be redeployed in other, larger branches.

High regulatory costs are the main cause of the drastic move, which involves a full restructure of the national arm of the firm with 350 branches being expanded and modernised.

These offices will need extra staff in many cases.

Whether or not some of the workers will have to choose between redundancy or relocation is not clear, but Banco Santander stresses it does not plan to pull out of any of the 2,000 villages, towns and cities it is based in, meaning a number of employees facing redundancy may even get jobs in the same area.

The initial restructure plan, which is under discussion with staff unions at present, is expected to involve early retirement for those who cannot or do not wish to move and who are of the right age.

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ACTING president Mariano Rajoy has awoken from his apparent post-electoral stupor and begun to campaign hard for either the in-house votes or those of the public if Spain goes back to the polls in June: he has promised working days will end at 18.00hrs and the country will revert to GMT.

He has also pledged to create a 'time bank', whereby workers can build up a certain number of hours off, in a bid to balance professional and home life, and a 'quality kitemark' and tax breaks for employers who promote this, in the same lines as those who adopt good environmental practices.

The 'time bank' will mean parents can attend school meetings, care for sick children and other family-related issues which would normally require taking the day off as annual leave.

And Rajoy wants to increase paternity leave by 10 days for dads who are disabled, or whose children are, and a further 10 days for fathers with three or more children.

The earlier-finishing working hours will not include the public sector – where office staff normally finish at 15.00hrs or thereabouts, and emergency and medical services have to work around the clock – nor companies which, by definition, work at night, such as bars and nightclubs, or those which already have a shift system

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POLICE in Madrid are baffled at the discovery of a dead dolphin in the grounds of a stately home in the city – which is a three-hour drive from the nearest sea and has no water parks close by.

The sea creature was seen in the land belonging to what used to be a country house, or casa de campo, wound up in a wire netting which it appeared to have become trapped in.

Its body is in an advanced state of decomposition, says the Municipal Police force.

Officers cannot work out how the animal got there.

It was found by a local man who was out walking his dog in the casa de campo area, Madrid's main green area along with the Retiro Park and the site for the city zoo.

According to the man who found it, his dogs detected the smell and traced it to an area of the park close to the Boadilla del Monte road, and he contacted the current owner of the casa del campo who, in turn, rang the police.

Despite the zoo being nearby, police do not believe the dolphin could have escaped from there, since staff say none of their animals are missing.

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SPAIN is 'much closer' to forming a government at last following meetings between the PSOE and left-wing independents Podemos.

The latter's leader, Pablo Iglesias, has even said he would be prepared to not form part of the cabinet if it is he himself who is standing in the way.

Iglesias said he would be 'willing to give way' over some of his key proposals, including the fiscal reform, increase in public spending and relaxing the rules over the State deficit.

“We're prepared to talk about things and even accept proposals that we're not particularly enthusiastic about,” Podemos' leader reveals.

“When you negotiate in politics, you have to be prepared to give in a little. Our programme is a good starting point, in our view, but we're willing to make concessions – although it can't just be one party to the deal who does so; everyone has to.”

He presented PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez Castejón with a list of these concessions.

They include 'reducing the State debt at a greater pace' than Iglesias initially wanted; 'accepting a tax reform which is less distribution-based'; 'increase public spending by €60 billion rather than €90bn', and to scrap the 'most recent' labour reform – the one brought in by PP leader Mariano Rajoy's government, but not the previous one applied by the socialists when they were led by ex-president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

“I would agree not to be a member of the future cabinet if this would help create a 'Valencian-style' coalition,” Iglesias said, referring to the regional government in the eastern provinces which is made up of the PSOE, Podemos and the left-wing party Compromís.

But Iglesias does not envisage Podemos being part of a government which includes Ciudadanos – and Ciudadanos has already said it will not work with Podemos.

Podemos, however, is now ready to agree to three-way talks with Ciudadanos and the socialists.

Iglesias said his desire to allow a referendum on independence in Catalunya was 'no longer a red line', but that instead the best way forward would be to start talks between the regional socialist party and Podemos' Catalunya faction, En Comú Podem, to seek a solution to the 'territorial crisis' in the region.

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