Spanish News

Tourism figures for November saw a sharp increase here in Spain, the first month of growth since June. 4.7 million international tourists visited in November, 2.8% more than in the same month of 2018. The although still the largest individual group, the number of tourists from the UK continued to fall, down by 6.4%. However France, the USA, Ireland and the Netherlands all reported double digit percentage growth in numbers.

The Mossos d’Esquadra police force have confirmed that a serial sex offender who preyed on women in Spain has been detained in police custody. The 24-year-old man has been accused of committing multiple sexual assaults on women since the end of 2018 across the municipality of Lleida. The predator had targeted women in the street where he launched brazen assaultsin public and in several cases had even followed the women […]

In a blow to the Spanish separatist movement jailed Catalan leader Oriol Junqueras’ mandate as a European Union (EU) lawmaker is over. European Parliament president David Sassoli said decisions this month by Spain’s electoral board and Supreme Court blocking Junqueras from taking up his seat meant he had effectively ceased to be a legislator for the bloc from Jan. 3. Junqueras was sentenced to 13 years in prison in October […]

French police have thwarted an alleged plot to raid Fontainebleau palace near Paris. Five Spaniards and a man thought to be Chinese are in custody. They deny any involvement in the post-Christmas raid. Police believe the six were targeting Napoleon III's treasures from Empress Eugenie's Chinese Museum and are probing possible Chinese mafia links. Fontainebleau was targeted only four years ago. Some 20 priceless artefacts were taken and never recovered. […]

Former Catalan deputy regional premier Oriol Junqueras will not be released from prison to take up his seat as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). The criminal bench of the Spanish Supreme Court has informed the legislative body of the European Union that he is barred from office after being jailed. Junqueras is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence after being convicted of sedition and misuse of funds by […]

The new coalition government will include five members from the left-wing, anti-austerity Podemos party and three of its four deputy prime ministers will be women. Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias will be the deputy prime minister in charge of social rights and sustainable development. His fellow party heavyweight, and wife, Irene Montero becomes the minister of equality. Also from Podemos, Yolanda Díaz will be minister of employment; Alberto Garzón, Health minister […]

The Spanish coastguard reported rescuing approximately 200 migrants on Christmas Day – as attempts continue apace by thousands of desperate people. These can be added to the 150 who arrived last Friday via fifteen boats in the waters of the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Murcia and Alicante. The United Nation’s International Organisation for Migration said a reported 1,246 people died in 2019, making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Three men who are currently on remand have been accused of being members of a terrorist organisation, as part of the conclusions from the National Court’s investigation into the 2017 Barcelona terrorist attacks. The defendants were not accused of murder however, as those who carried out the attacks were all killed by police in the days after the attack or in an explosion the days before.