Live News From Spain As It Happens

A SPANISH woman has become the first-ever female mayor of Paris city council after scooping up 54.5 per cent of the votes.

Anne Hidalgo, who was born in San Fernando in the province of Cádiz, southern Spain in 1954, wrote a heartfelt, 'thank you, Paris' on her Twitter account after learning of her landslide victory over conservative candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, former minister of ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and winner of the first round in the polls last week by just 1.24 per cent.

Not only has Mme Hidalgo made history as the first 'mayoress' and one of the few foreigners to be voted as city leader – according to a survey by Ifop/SAS broadcast on the channel i-Télé – but she will be able to continue the landmark socialist reign started by Bertrand Delanoë.

In 2001, M. Delanoë became the first left-wing politician in power at Paris city council in 130 years, and Mme Hidalgo has been his second-in-command until the recent elections, which the existing socialist mayor decided not to stand again for.

It was the support from the green party, the Écologistes, and from an overwhelming majority of votes from residents in Paris' 14^th arrondissement which clinched it for Hidalgo following elections in which abstention – at 38 per cent - and tactical voting featured heavily.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE average household will get a refund of 34 euros in their next bill for overpayment during the first quarter of this year as a result of the market price of energy being lower than the rate fixed by the central government in December.

This is based upon a consumption of 1.5 megawatts per hour (MWh) over three months, which would work out at 33.60 euros overpaid.

The cost of energy ended the first quarter of 2014 with an average price of 26.09 euros per MWh – 33.62 euros in January, 17.12 euros in February and 26.67 euros in March – considerably lower than the government's fixed price of 48.48 euros per MWh for the whole three-month period.

From now on, the electricity charging system will differ, with householders allowed to switch suppliers – although energy distribution in Spain is State-owned, various distributors act as 'agents' and can bring the price down in some cases.

Where a homeowner switches, they must be given a forecast for the whole year, with fixed rates per month, but if they decide to break their contract and return to the main supplier, Iberdrola, they will have to pay a penalty charge of a maximum of five per cent of the cost of energy pending supply.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE number of residents in Spain who cannot afford to keep their homes at the right temperature in winter or summer has gone up by 50 per cent since 2008, according to a report by the Association of Environmental Sciences (ACA).

One in three Spanish homes where one or more members of the household are on the dole is affected by so-called 'energy poverty', where there is not enough money coming in to keep warm in winter – a condition that causes around 7,000 premature deaths worldwide every year.

According to ACA's report, a household is considered to be in a situation of 'energy poverty' when either its occupants cannot afford enough energy for their 'domestic needs', or where an 'excessive' percentage of their income is used to pay their electricity bills.

Figures taken from the year 2012 show that the number of householders who have to pay more than 10 per cent of their income on electricity or other energy – such as gas or oil – went up by over a third in just two years, and affects over seven million people in the country.

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COURT action taken by ordinary citizens and small companies went down by 3.8 per cent in 2013, the first year in which litigation taxes were introduced.

Criminal action reduced by 2.1 per cent, but civil cases fell by 9.2 per cent and administration, public authority or financial claims – such as unpaid wages or invoices, contesting parking or traffic fines, and anything that would come under the UK small claims courts – reduced by 15.5 per cent.

An average of 183.2 court cases per 1,000 inhabitants, or 18.3 per cent, were filed last year, although in some regions the total was higher – Murcia, Valencia, Cantabria, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Madrid, and Andalucía, in that order, with the most being seen in Andalucía and accounting for 21.6 per cent.

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FINANCE minister Cristóbal Montoro has criticised the Catholic charity Cáritas for stating that 1.5 million households in Spain live in actual poverty.

Cáritas also announced recently that the country is the second-worst in the EU for child poverty, beaten only by Romania and that the number of people living below the breadline in Spain is currently 69.8 per cent higher than in 2007.

Montoro slammed these declarations, saying they are based upon 'anecdotal' evidence and 'statistical measures' and not on hard facts.

“Cáritas' frequent statements on the subject are purely statistical, and when one speaks in these terms, one is referring to an income threshold which makes Spain look worse than other countries with a much lower level of income per capita,” stated Montoro.

He also criticised Cáritas for 'mixing concepts' of poverty, especially in light of the charity's comments that the money the government intended to use to bail out struggling motorway toll companies could instead be used to eradicate poverty.

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SPANISH drivers are more likely to lean on their horns, swear at other motorists and 'undertake' on the right than anyone else in Europe, according to a survey by the VINCI Autoroutes Foundation.

The research involved asking drivers from the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Spain to reply honestly about their habits at the wheel.

Motorists from Spain admitted their three worst vices were 'beeping persistently at drivers who annoy them', in 63 per cent of cases, compared to the European average of 47 per cent; insulting other drivers, in 59 per cent of cases, compared to 56 per cent in Europe, and 'undertaking on the right' on 35 per cent of occasions, whereas the average for Europe is 28 per cent.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A BRITISH fugitive with an international arrest warrant over his head has been caught in Benidorm whilst sitting in a pavement café with two other people of the same nationality.

Identified only as P.T., the detainee is said to have held up a police van at gunpoint, helping two convicted prisoners escape.

He is wanted for illegal possession of firearms and joy-riding, among other offences including fraud and forgery, given that he was using a car and motorbike in the Benidorm area which had been stolen in the UK and bore fake registration numbers.

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MADRID-BARAJAS will soon be renamed Adolfo Suárez Airport in honour of the first president of Spain's post-dictatorship democracy who passed away on Sunday after suffering from Alzheimer's.

The idea came from current Spanish president Mariano Rajoy, and his minister for public works Ana Pastor agreed immediately.

She said Adolfo Suárez 'played a fundamental role in Spain's history', that his 'moral stature and patriotism' were what successfully brought the country through the transition to democracy after the death of General Franco, the dictator who had held the nation in the iron grip of fascism for more than 40 years.

“Adolfo Suárez's work was crucial to the nation's greatest achievement – the creation of the Spanish Constitution in 1978,” said Sra Pastor.

“Because of this, and in his memory, expressions of recognition and respect for his greatness, his efforts and his historic role as the first president of our democracy are not just important, but obligatory.”

Adolfo Suárez who, among his many major achievements managed to thwart a coup d'état when his successor Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo was sworn in after he resigned, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2003 aged 71, but his children say signs of it were beginning to appear in the 1990s.

Within less than two years, Suárez went from giving public speeches to not even remembering he had ever been president of Spain, let alone the first one elected by public vote in 1977.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ANNUAL tax returns can no longer be filled in by pen from this year – a move that will affect an estimated 35,000 people in Spain.

The tax collection agency, the Agencia Tributaria, is set to increase its timetable of pre-booked face-to-face appointments to help members of the public compile their declarations where they previously completed these manually.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN ICONIC skyscraper in Madrid has been sold to a Chinese tycoon after years of being left empty and in disuse.

The Edificio España, in the Plaza de España and at the top of the Gran Vía, is a tourist attraction due to its unusual shape and size and, until now, it has been owned by Banco Santander. Regional president of Madrid Ignacio González says multi-millionaire businessman Wang Jianli – who has so far invested in the UK and USA but wants to expand into Spain – is in the middle of closing the deal to buy the Edificio España.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

COMPANIES in the IBEX-35, Spain's main stock market indicator have gone from suffering losses of over 8.5 billion euros in 2012 to net profits in excess of 20 billion, according to figures released yesterday (Wednesday).

Construction firms and the State-run financial entity Bankia's negative results a year and a half ago meant the IBEX-35 appeared to be in a very poor shape, but the list of companies in the indicator are now largely new ones.

In 2013, telecommunications firm Jazztel replaced Bankia in the top 35 firms, electricity supply distributor Endesa and stainless-steel company Acerinox began to float their shares whilst renewable energy group Abengoa left the IBEX-35 and was substituted by Ebro Foods.

Bankia, however, returned to the IBEX-35 in December and is gradually shifting to private sector ownership with a total of 19 per cent of its share capital currently in foreign hands.

Results for 2013 have only just become public since, although firms in Spain normally present their results prior to February 28, high-street clothing and accessories giant Inditex has a different tax year and did not do so until yesterday, March 19.

The empire, owned by Spain's richest and Europe's second-wealthiest man Amancio Ortega, saw a dip in profits compared to its 2012 record of just over 16.7 billion, although still achieved net benefits of nearly 2.4 billion in 2013.

Despite plummeting profits, the Inditex chain, one of Spain's best-known multinationals, still leads the world market in high-street fashion ahead of giants such as the Swedish group H&M.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

VALENCIA'S famous Fallas fiesta marking the start of spring is over for another year as the hundreds of monuments throughout the region have been burnt to the ground.

Starting on March 16 – although a week earlier in Valencia city – the festival sees the unveiling of giant, colourful papier mâché statues which satirise current affairs and famous people, plus their smaller, children's versions, and involves partying until dawn, parades of falleras – girls in traditional Valencian costume – music, gunpowder banger displays at lunchtime known as mascletaes with the aim of making as much noise as possible, fireworks, and an offering of flowers to the Virgin Mary.

On March 19, Saint Joseph's Day or Día de San José – which is also Fathers' Day in Spain – the fallas, or monuments are burnt down in reverse order with the winning statue going up last.

One of the smaller figurines, or ninots on the main fallas and the children's ones will be saved from the flames after being chosen by the fallera mayor, or festival queen for each monument, and is referred to as a ninot indultat, or 'pardoned' statuette.

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THE greatest ever 'human avalanche' of would-be migrants climbing Melilla's border fence en masse has been reported in the last 24 hours, and an estimated 492 sub-Saharan Africans have managed to enter Spanish territory.

And this figure may even be higher, since a full headcount has not been carried out, according to police on both sides of the fence. 

This is the greatest-ever assault on the border of the Spanish-owned city-province of Melilla, on the northern Moroccan coast, since 2005 when hundreds of Africans stormed the three-metre-high fence and several were killed.

As yet no fatalities have been reported, and the immigrants were snapped by reporters with wide smiles and making victory and thumbs-up signs.

Most of them have come from war-torn Mali and took advantage of thick fog obscuring the view for border guards in the area between Mariguari and the river Nano.

Whooping and cheering, the Malians headed straight to the temporary foreigners' residence centre (CETI) in Melilla where they were given water and clothing, since many had shed their shirts and jackets en route. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AT LEAST 2,000 residents throughout Spain – mostly pensioners, expatriates and the disabled – have been swindled out of hundreds or thousands of euros a head by bogus gas men charging extortionate fees for unnecessary 'maintenance'.

A total of 60 gas inspection companies have been uncovered so far and 12 people arrested, mostly in Valencia and on the Costa Blanca, in Andalucía and the Balearic Islands but also in Madrid, Catalunya, Galicia, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León.

They would turn up on spec at people's houses – mostly those they felt would be a 'soft target' such as expats, the elderly or disabled – and said they were there to carry out the regular mandatory inspection on their gas bottle connections.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

OVER 400 people had to be evacuated when a forest fire broke out in the Costa Brava area and which, at the time of publication, is said to be still burning.

Already, the flames have wiped out 307 hectares of forest in Vall-Llobrega (Girona province) where hundreds of residents have been turfed out of their homes along with numerous others from neighbouring Calonge and Palamós.

Most of the evacuees – 400 according to the Civil Protection squad, but 450 according to the police – have been able to go back to their homes, although some remain in temporary makeshift accommodation.

The C-31 highway was also shut off to traffic for several hours on Sunday, emergency services report.

Hydroplanes have been drafted in from the ministry of agriculture and sent from the region of Aragón, as well as 62 fire engines.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BREAD suitable for wheat and gluten intolerant consumers has been developed by Spain's High Council of Scientific Investigations (CSIC).

Researchers used genetically-modified wheat flour crafted to reduce the content of proteins which cause gluten intolerance, known as glyadines, but say this does not affect nutritional properties, quality or flavour, which are the same as 'standard' bread.

'Transgenic' versions of wheat flour which compensate for the glyadine deficit in the modified ingredient mean the protein content of the grain is increased to match that of mainstream wheat bread – proteins which do not affect the gluten-intolerant – and which are rich in lysine, an essential amino-acid for humans which the body is unable to generate naturally.

Once the 'modified loaf' becomes mass-produced and sold, it will mean the seven per cent of the population of Spain who suffer from gluten intolerance will be able to eat bread which tastes like bread, something most of them complain lacks in current gluten-free versions.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S public national debt soared by 8.58 per cent in the last quarter of 2013, reaching 93.9 per cent of the GDP – the highest in the country's history.

Although this is below the limit imposed on Spain of 94.21 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, it is still the highest ever seen in the country and the majority of it was racked up by the central government.

Of the 960.64 billion euros owed as at the end of last year, a total of 836.13 billion corresponds with the central government – a total of 81.7 per cent of the GDP – compared to 73.9 per cent at the end of 2012.

In total, public debt at State level has gone up by nearly 10 per cent in a year, despite the PP government president Mariano Rajoy insisting that the economy is improving.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BRITISH multinational Vodafone is firming up the final details of a buy-out with shareholders of Spanish cable company ONO, which is rumoured to involve a price tag of 7.2 billion euros.

Part of the takeover bid will involve Vodafone paying off ONO's debts for another 3.33 billion euros, based upon figures for September 2013.

At present, no agreements have been reached as a few loose ends need to be tied up with ONO's shareholders.

ONO was due to present figures for its 2013 results yesterday (Friday) and, once a deal is reached, ONO's flotation on the Spanish stock market announced on Thursday will be held off.

The initial flotation was due to be a one-billion-euro share issue split between an offer of public sale and a public share subscription offer.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

POLICE in Valencia staged a protest today (Friday) in their underwear over lack of funding to replace their worn-out uniforms and dangerously-old vehicles, or 'deplorable conditions' in which they have to work.

Around 200 officers stood below the balcony of the city hall in boxer shorts at a time when Valencia is replete with tourists for its massive Fallas fiestas.

Their pistols are over 30 years old, their patrol cars are 'fit for the scrapyard' and their bullet-proof vests are so old and tattered that they barely provide them with protection against hardened armed criminals, putting officers' lives at risk.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE first-ever case of pneumonia in Spain and the second in the world caused by electronic or 'E-cigarettes' has been diagnosed in the north-western region of Galicia.

Pneumologists at A Coruña University Hospital say the patient is aged 50 and was smoking up to five cartridges a day – equivalent to about five packets of cigarettes.

They believe the condition is caused by vegetable-based glycerine, an essential ingredient for the nicotine in E-cigarettes to vaporise.

According to head of Bronchology at the hospital, Dr Carmen Montero, the patient had gone there for a completely different health problem but was tested when he was found to be suffering from a persistent and violent cough, fatigue and breathlessness.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A POPULAR Catalunya theme park is due to open a new area dedicated to the Ferrari Formula 1 Grand Prix racing team in tribute to home-grown twice-world champion Fernando Alonso. Port Aventura, in Tarragona, plans to set up Ferrari Land in 2016 at a cost of around 100 million euros, with activities, rides and attractions for all ages.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S first-ever organ sale racket has been uncovered by police after a wealthy Lebanese man travelled to the country to 'buy' a new liver.

The illegal organisation was convincing strapped-for-cash immigrants in Spain to part with their organs, or parts of them, for as much as 40,000 euros a time.

A leader of a charity working to support migrants reported the network after finding out about it on the internet, and the Lebanese man and four others were arrested.

Whilst in Spain, the patient, who is said to be very rich, paid for tests on nine potential live donors and for his own medical care, and – ironically – ended up receiving a donated part of a liver from his own son, who proved to be a match.

He then left the country but upon returning for a check-up at the private hospital in Manises (Valencia), was arrested at the airport for collaborating with the donor racket.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SCOTTISH and Catalunya natives have been urged 'not to support a Crimean referendum' by an MEP for the PP party.

Antonio López-Istúriz, secretary-general for the PP at European Parliamentary level, says if votes over whether the Crimea peninsula should remain in Ukraine or be handed over to Russia are invited internationally, the Ukrainians should be allowed to keep it.

And given the independence bids currently dividing the regions of Catalunya, north-eastern Spain and Scotland, UK, López-Istúriz has urged those who live in both not to support any plans for a referendum over Crimea's sovereignty as a political statement about their own secession desires.

"The Russians are not exactly great friends of - in the past, they have not been - respecting minority groups," the MEP believes.

"I recommend that the territorial integrity of Ukraine be respected, since it is a democratic State which does indeed respect minority groups, and I still have enormous respect for the situation in Crimea.

"This said, the possibility of a referendum has in fact been considered in Crimea due to the threat of Russian troops entering the peninsula - until this was mentioned, not even the Crimean Parliament had discussed a referendum.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

IRISH rock singer and social activist Bono has called for support for Spain's flagging economy and has asked EU leaders 'where the campaign is' to get 'people to go on holiday' to the country.

The U2 front man (pictured here with German chancellor Angela Merkel) stood up at the European Parliamentary PP conference in Dublin and asked, “where is the European family?

“Where is the pan-European campaign to encourage people to go to Spain on holiday, buy Spanish products and listen to Spanish music, to get U2 to launch an album of flamenco-style music?”

Bono stated that he was 'pro-Europe' but heavily criticised the fact Ireland – and indeed Spain, Greece and Portugal – have had to apply for bail-out funds from the EU 'so that the public can pay for the private sector's stupidity'.

“I'd say Ireland is coming out of the financial crisis despite, not because of, the Troika,” stated the singer.

“The Irish have bailed themselves out.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE European Central Bank (BCE) has decided to leave interest rates at 0.25 per cent – bad news for savers but a great relief for anyone with loans, mortgages or credit card balances.

Spanish mortgages have already gone down slightly this year with the Euribor dropping to 0.54 per cent, and the BCE says it has no intention of increasing rates of interest in the near future in a bid to increase the flow of credit in the Eurozone and help the collective economy recover.

Inflation in the Eurozone remained at 0.8 per cent in February, despite economists' predictions that it would fall, but their forecasts of 1.1 per cent inflation for this year and 1.3 per cent for next appear to be slightly too optimistic at present, according to current figures.

The BCE wants to bring inflation up to around 1.3 per cent, but to keep it below two per cent.

Whilst mortgage holders in Spain enjoyed a very slight decrease at the beginning of this year, expats in the country who still own property in the UK will see their home loan amounts unchanged and savers can expect the same return this year, since the Bank of England plans to maintain interest rates at the historic low of 0.5 per cent, which they have remained at consistently since the recession in Europe began to bite in March 2009.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MERCADONA'S founder and chairman says 2014 is set to be a 'rough year' for the popular supermarket chain and a second consecutive year when no new staff are taken on – despite 60 new stores due to be opened.

Juan Roig, said to be one of the top five richest people in Spain, has even hinted that the store may open on Sundays if it needs to increase its profits.

“We don't want to have to open, but if need be, we'll do so,” said Roig, who has always been against Mercadona shops trading on bank holidays.

But fierce competition in the grocery sector means the chain is beginning to feel the pinch – and customers have noticed a sudden proliferation of 'special offers' and reduced prices just a few months after all goods went up by an average of five to 10 per cent.

Mercadona is far from struggling in real terms, however – its turnover of 19.8 billion euros in 2013 meant net profits of 515 million.

And although staff numbers have been frozen at 74,000 – after taking on 10,500 new employees both in 2011 and 2012 – Roig says the firm is committed to ensuring that full-time workers do not earn less than 1,200 euros a month...

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PETROL and diesel prices have gone up again in Spain for the fourth week running, although they still cost less than this time last year and continue to be below average prices for the European Union's 28 member States and the Eurozone.

Typically, a litre of petrol now costs 1.407 euros and diesel, 1.342 euros, compared to 1.536 and 1.421 euros respectively in the EU-28 and 1.566 and 1.401 euros in the Eurozone.

Prices in Spain this week now mean that to fill up an average 50-litre tank with petrol will cost 26 cents more than last week, a total of 70.36 euros, or 2.10 euros more in diesel, at 69.10 euros.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A LONG-AWAITED branch of Ikea near Valencia will open its doors on June 17, and is set to be the second-largest of the Swedish flat-pack chain's stores in Spain.

It is currently under construction in the new industrial park in Alfafar, just a few kilometres from the city, thanks to an investment of over 60 million euros.

Measuring over 37,300 square metres and with 2,200 free parking spaces, the Ikea store in Alfafar will be the 16^th in Spain and a bonus to residents in the Valencia region and on the Costa Blanca who, until now, have had to travel to Murcia or even Madrid to shop for the brand's trademark modern, minimalist and cut-price furniture and household goods.

Around 500 people have been employed in building the centre – the outside of which is nearly finished, with just the interior to be refurbished – and 400 directly-linked jobs and 80 peripheral posts will be filled in time for the opening.

When Ikea announced it was recruiting on December 2 last year for 480 jobs, inviting applications from candidates of all ages and levels of experience, nearly 20,000 CVs uploaded on the first day crashed the server.

By the time the application deadline was up on January 5 this year, over 100,000 candidates had applied – a world record for Ikea's 303 stores around the globe. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH president Mariano Rajoy has pleaded for a 'peaceful political solution' to the crisis in the Ukraine.

During a meeting with Russian foreign affairs minister Sergei Lavrov in Madrid, Rajoy defended the 'integrity' of Ukrainian territory and urged Putin's government not to go in guns blazing.

The visit was already on the agenda for the Spanish head of State to discuss bilateral issues affecting both countries, and Lavrov is due to meet with Spain's foreign affairs minister José Manuel García-Margallo later today.

Head of diplomacy for the European Union, Catherine Ashton, spoke to Lavrov yesterday about the troubles in the Ukraine although their conversation was top-secret and no details have been revealed.

Ms Ashton would only say that she 'had an interesting talk' for about an hour with the Russian foreign office leader, a message she posted on her Twitter site.

On the Russian side, a similar Twitter message said: "Sergei Lavrov and Catherine Ashton exchanged points of view."

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

DRINKING beer could be good for your health – especially if you suffer from high blood pressure, according to Spanish medical investigators.

The Beer and Health Information Centre, working with the Spanish Association for High Blood Pressure and the Spanish League Against Hypertension concluded that the drink can, in moderation, be included as part of a low-salt diet for adults who need to bring their blood pressure down.

Provided it does not suppose any contraindications with hypertension medication – which patients should consult their doctors about – both 'traditional' and alcohol-free beer can actually be good for people with the condition, according to Dr José Antonio García Donaire from the Blood Pressure Unit at Madrid's Hospital Clínico San Carlos.

This is because beer is high in potassium, an essential nutrient for hypertension sufferers, and in the case of women increases 'good' cholesterol, known as HDL-c.

Why this does not have the same effect in men is not yet known, but research by the Spanish team has shown that those who drink beer in moderation – rather than in large quantities – tend to have a lower incidence of Mellitus diabetes and hypertension, have a lower body mass index (BMI, or height-weight ratio), and undertake more physical activity. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TIDAL waves of over 10 metres (32'6”) off the north coast of Spain have caused widespread destruction and torrential rain in the south has forced emergency services to evacuate an entire village.

Some 30 metres (97'6”) of the pier off the port in Cudillero, some 40 kilometres west of Oviedo (Asturias) have been ripped up and washed away, flooding the yacht marina.

Waves reached over the breakwater into the road along the seafront, forcing emergency services to cordon off the area to prevent members of the public from trying to get a closer look and putting their lives at risk.

Gale-force winds of over 110 kilometres per hour (66mph) and waves of nine metres (29'3”) in height have swept the coast of the province of A Coruña, in the north-western region of Galicia and pedestrians and cars have been banned from the seafront road.

Further down the coast in the province of Lugo, the A Pedra de Burela lighthouse was literally snapped in two by freak waves, and the remains of it have been likened to the Leaning Tower of Pisa due to its precarious position.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TIDAL waves of over 10 metres (32'6”) off the north coast of Spain have caused widespread destruction and torrential rain in the south has forced emergency services to evacuate an entire village.

Some 30 metres (97'6”) of the pier off the port in Cudillero, some 40 kilometres west of Oviedo (Asturias) have been ripped up and washed away, flooding the yacht marina.

Waves reached over the breakwater into the road along the seafront, forcing emergency services to cordon off the area to prevent members of the public from trying to get a closer look and putting their lives at risk.

Gale-force winds of over 110 kilometres per hour (66mph) and waves of nine metres (29'3”) in height have swept the coast of the province of A Coruña, in the north-western region of Galicia and pedestrians and cars have been banned from the seafront road.

Further down the coast in the province of Lugo, the A Pedra de Burela lighthouse was literally snapped in two by freak waves, and the remains of it have been likened to the Leaning Tower of Pisa due to its precarious position.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

'SANDWICH' families with up to three generations living under the same roof and mostly surviving thanks to the grandparents' pension, with their children, the parents – especially women – taking on more care responsibilities for dependent kids and the elderly is the gloomy picture of the demographic future of Spain, according to the Queen Sofía Centre for Adolescence and Youth in their report, The shadow of the financial crisis: Spanish society from 2018 onwards.

The Centre's panorama of society within five years is one of the youngest in the family either being on the dole or working sporadically on a self-employed basis, with the older members of the three-generation household continuing to vote for the traditional political parties in elections whilst the younger ones, having little faith in these, become more involved in pressure groups and protests, creating a generation of activists.

Unemployment will continue at above 20 per cent, with the average person's buying power being well below that seen prior to the financial crisis in 2007, and an 'inexorable debilitation' of the welfare state leading to a 'social configuration' similar to that of the USA with middle classes becoming fewer and farther between and the gap between rich and poor widening.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN and Italy are the top two European countries for finding a bargain when buying a second-hand car, according to a survey by the international association AutoScout24.

At present, the average price for a used car – bearing in mind the vast difference between a 12-year-old Ford Fiesta and a one-year-old Mercedes or BMW – is 12,600 euros, just 0.1 per cent higher than this time last year, says the report.

This slight increase is partly due to the decline in supply of used fleet cars – former company, courtesy or hire cars – and also due to long-term rental schemes which now work out cheaper than buying a car.

Last year, the second-hand vehicle market closed with a growth of 4.6 per cent and a total of 1.6 million cars sold, according to the European Price Observatory, published which by AutoScout24. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH, Italian and French drivers are the worst in Europe – it's official, according to research.

French motoring foundation Vinci Autoroutes and the Europe-wide market research firm IPSO surveyed 7,000 people in seven European countries, and 50 per cent believe Italians are the most dangerous drivers.

A total of 16 per cent felt Spaniards were the worst, and 14 per cent considered the French to be the most dangerous.

Swedish drivers were seen as the most responsible drivers, with 47 per cent naming them as the safest, followed by the Germans, who got 26 per cent of the votes, and the British, with 13 per cent.

Survey subjects were asked about their own dangerous habits, and it was found that 86 per cent regularly broke speed limits whilst 62 per cent failed to respect safety distances.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ABOUT 850 British nationals have lost hundreds of thousands of euros each thanks to so-called 'boiler-room' investments in Spain, as a result of which over 60 people have been arrested this week.

The total amount defrauded out of investors is said be in region of 18 million euros.

Most of the victims were pensioners and were targeted with 'very aggressive telesales techniques', convincing them to buy stockmarket-based investment products which did not exist.

London police chief Steve Head said 'hundreds of people's lives have been devastated' by the loss of their life's savings after being talked into 'investing', when in fact they were merely handing over their money to fraudsters.

Of the 50 people arrested in Málaga, Barcelona and Madrid – most of whom are non-Spanish – 11 have been remanded in custody 'indefinitely', 12 released without charges and one on bail, and the fate of the rest will be decided this coming week.

Spanish and British police worked closely together and with authorities in the USA and Serbia and say the arrests came after two years of investigations.

The victims are mainly British, but some are from the USA, and the callers who targeted them claimed to be brokers from an investment management firm based outside the UK – in order to avoid being asked about, or subject to the control of the Financial Services Authority in Britain which has to approve and license any financial services or investment management activity.

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PRESIDENT Mariano Rajoy's pledge to increase the personal allowance for income tax will save workers on the average salary a grand total of 49 euros a year, according to the fiscal authorities' technical service, GESTHA.

Rajoy has agreed that anyone earning 12,000 euros a year or less in gross figures will not have to pay income tax, something he says will cost the public coffers 19.7 million euros a year.

In practice, the new rule will only affect 402,000 people across Spain who earn between the current personal allowance of 11,121.19 euros a year – in force since 2010 - and the increased one of 12,000 euros per annum.

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