Live News From Spain As It Happens

CATALUNYA'S planned independence vote has been blocked by Spain's Constitutional Court, which says it goes against the country's Magna Carta.

Regional president Artur Mas (pictured) approved a law reform allowing a non-binding public 'consultation' to go ahead on November 9 after the central government banned him from holding a referendum – but judges at the highest court in Spain unanimously agreed both the legislation and the voting were illegal.

The Constitutional Court has been working around the clock after a crisis meeting with Spanish president Mariano Rajoy and his Council of Ministers yesterday (Monday) took place and an appeal against Mas' move lodged before close of business.

According to a spokesman for the 12 magistrates at the court, they moved quickly because they were 'conscious of the constitutional and political transcendency' of the issue, 'for Spanish society as a whole' as well as for the people of Catalunya.

Catalunya's regional Parliament has been given a fortnight to attend the court in person and to file any appeal against the decision they wish to make in relation to the law reform allowing the public consultation on independence to go ahead, and three weeks to do the same with regard to the magistrates' having blocked the actual consultation.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

QUEEN Letizia's dad and paternal aunt and grandmother are facing trial for allegedly masking assets to avoid paying a creditor.

María del Henar Ortiz Álvarez – known as Henar – was sued in her own name and that of her interior design company Henarmonía, S.C., for the sum of 22,600 euros by Sandra Ruiz, one of her creditors, in 2009.

She was also ordered to pay just under 6,800 euros in interest and legal costs, and required to present a list of assets to be embargoed by the court.

This was to include the property she, her brother Jesús Ortiz Álvarez, and their mother María del Carmen ('Menchu') Álvarez del Valle inherited from the latter's husband and the formers' father.

A judge believes the three worked together to keep the inheritance out of Henar's name.

Former DJ and reporter for Radio Asturias Menchu Álvarez (pictured) took over the property, which Jesús and Henar ceded to her, then took out an equity release mortgage on it.

Henar is then thought to have declared herself insolvent so as not to pay the creditor.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN EARTHQUAKE rocked the southern Costa Blanca this weekend, the national geographical institute has just revealed.

The epicentre was in the sea just off the coast of Pilar de la Horadada in the province of Alicante, close to the border with the region of Murcia, at exactly 12.16hrs midday.

But as it only measured 1.2 on the Richter scale, it did not cause any damage and very few people would have felt it.

Emergency services and the Local Police did not have to intervene.

The south of Alicante, Murcia and eastern Andalucía sit on fault lines, but earthquakes are rarely more than 2 or 3 on the Richter scale, which causes very minor damage if any, such as the odd ornament falling off a shelf or an occasional crack in a window.

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TODAY'S Europeans are a mix of genes from three populations of early humans, not two, according to a study jointly involving two Spanish universities.

The research, published in the magazine Nature, explains how it has always been assumed that modern-day Europeans are a combination of the hunter-gatherers and the earliest agricultural farmers.

But the Institute of Evolutive Biology at Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University, together with researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela in the north-western region of Galicia, have found that a third 'species' of human is included in the modern genetic makeup.

This is a race which as yet has not been named, but which extended across the north of Eurasia - what would now be the eastern Baltic states and Russia - arriving in central Europe later than the early land-farmers.

Agriculture and domestication of animals started in the Near East about 11,000 years ago, leading to sedentary land-farmers migrating across Europe and western Asia, eventually substituting the hunter-gatherer race.

Their population increased and they began to settle down, forming large cities and societies of varied and complex cultural features, says the paper.

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CATALUNYA'S regional president will sign a decree tomorrow (Saturday) allowing a 'public consultation' on independence to go ahead on November 9.

Artur Mas says this will take place at 10.00hrs in the presence of political parties in favour of the north-eastern region's secession being put to the vote, including chair of Parliament Núria de Gispert.

The president, who always refers to Catalunya as 'the country' when he speaks of it, insists he is not gunning for independence just yet, but merely wants to see what the views of the region's people are.

And Spanish head of State Mariano Rajoy will not allow this and refuses to compromise in any way.

Mas, faced with the possibility of a prison sentence of up to 15 years and a lifelong ban on working in politics if he went ahead with a referendum without permission - since he would be guilty of sedition, or mutiny - has amended a law providing for public participation in policy-making to allow residents in, and people originally from Catalunya but living elsewhere, to cast their ballots in a non-binding vote.

His formal signing of the decree will mean the central government's Council of Ministers calling an urgent meeting - either on Saturday itself with deputy president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría standing in for Rajoy, or on Sunday when the president himself gets back from his official visit to China where he is attempting to strengthen trade links and diplomatic relations with Asia's fastest-growing economy

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

VALENCIA has become the first city in Spain to use drones for detecting mosquito nests.

A small flying object with a built-in camera allows the council to seek out stagnant waters with mosquito larvae in areas difficult for humans to access, such as the rice fields in the Albufera wetlands, says the pest-control firm Lokímica which works for the local authority.

Rules for drone use are very strict, says local health department leader Lourdes Bernal.

They have to take stringent measures to ensure these do not affect residents' privacy, meaning they limit them to air-space above council-owned property only, always ensuring they are within sight, never more than half a kilometre from their operators, who are required to have a certain level of aeronautical training.

Unusually high September temperatures, combined with heavy rainfall in the last few days mean mosquitos are more prevalent than they normally would be in early autumn, so the city council intends to keep the drone in use until at least November.

The council has two anti-mosquito brigades working year-round, an extra three in summer, and an immediate-response team which heads out to the site of mosquitoes, rats or cockroaches within 48 hours of being contacted by residents affected.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SHOPPERS could save between 1,300 and 3,400 euros a year according to which supermarkets they visited and by always buying own-brand groceries, a study by a leading consumers' union reveals.

Catalunya rewmains the most expensive region for buying food and household goods, slightly above the Basque Country and its neighbour Navarra, whilst Murcia, Andalucía and Galicia are the cheapest.

Depending upon the supermarket chosen, shoppers could save between 10% and 25% on their grocery bill, according to the OCU.

This equates to around 1,311 euros a year, but it is possible to cut down by a further 1,015 euros by buying own-brand goods.

However, unbranded produce has generally gone up in price since the start of the financial crisis, whilst branded goods have gone down, says one of the researchers, Miguel Ángel Pascual.

Supermarket own brands have gone up by around 2.2% on average, although in practice by anything up to 10% or 20% for certain items, since the end of 2008.

Yet branded groceries have fallen in price by a typical 2.1%.

OCU spokeswoman Ileana Izverniceanu says this is worrying, since own-brand goods being so cheap provokes price wars among brand manufacturers, but this is no longer happening.

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SPAIN'S health ministry has reached an agreement with the drug company which manufactures the only known cure for Hepatitis C in order to be able to offer it to patients free of charge.

The drug Sofosbuvir, retailed under the brand name Sovaldi, has a 95% cure rate but the pharmaceutical corporation in Germany wanted to charge 60,000 euros for each course of the medication.

This meant is has been prohibitively expensive and Spain has been unable to provide it on the national health system, meaning doctors could not prescribe it to patients infected with Hepatitis C.

But minister Ana Mato (pictured) has managed to agree a price which would make it affordable for Spain's public funds, and expects the drug to be available on the health service by Wednesday next week, October 1.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), viral hepatitis is one of the most serious illnesses on the planet and claims around 1.4 million lives a year.

It is estimated that in Spain, as many as 75% of Hepatitis C sufferers do not know they have the disease.

Experts believe that at least half of all Hepatitis C sufferers will have liver cirrhosis by the year 2030.

Read more at thnkSPAIN.com

MINISTER of justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón has resigned after president Mariano Rajoy told him the abortion law reform was not going to go ahead.

He says this will be the end of his life in politics after 30 years at the front line, since he will also give up his seat in Parliament on the PP.

“I've always said this would be my last political role, and I've come to the end of a fascinating chapter in my life which has given me far more than I've given it,” the minister confessed.

“I've had the chance to try to transform the current situation, but was unable to make it reality, so my time in politics has now run out.”

Former mayor of Madrid, Ruiz-Gallardón is the first of Rajoy's PP government to leave his post, not counting ex-agricultural minister Miguel Arias-Cañete whom the president named as MEP for the party.

He criticised the decision to scrap the draft reform, stressing that the PP government had taken on a 'firm commitment' to going ahead with it when they came into power.

“That's what the PP's voters understood would happen,” says Ruiz-Gallardón.

'Retrograde' legislation 'more restrictive than 29 years ago'

Ruiz-Gallardón wanted block the right to have an abortion except in the first 12 weeks where the pregnancy was the result of a rape, or up to 22 weeks where the mother's life or health were in grave danger.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MINISTER of justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón has resigned after president Mariano Rajoy told him the abortion law reform was not going to go ahead.

He says this will be the end of his life in politics after 30 years at the front line, since he will also give up his seat in Parliament on the PP.

“I've always said this would be my last political role, and I've come to the end of a fascinating chapter in my life which has given me far more than I've given it,” the minister confessed.

“I've had the chance to try to transform the current situation, but was unable to make it reality, so my time in politics has now run out.”

Former mayor of Madrid, Ruiz-Gallardón is the first of Rajoy's PP government to leave his post, not counting ex-agricultural minister Miguel Arias-Cañete whom the president named as MEP for the party.

He criticised the decision to scrap the draft reform, stressing that the PP government had taken on a 'firm commitment' to going ahead with it when they came into power.

“That's what the PP's voters understood would happen,” says Ruiz-Gallardón.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AT LEAST every other woman in the European Union regularly avoids places or situations for fear of violence or sexual harrassment, according to a survey being examined by Valencia University.

The Human Rights Agency questioned 42,000 women aged 18 to 74 in all 28 member States and found that 53% give certain places a wide berth, or avoid certain 'ordinary' behaviour, so they do not suffer hassle or even harm.

Examples include deserted streets or going out after dark so as not to be raped or murdered, given bars or other premises – or wearing specific clothing - so as not to get unwanted and overbearing male attention.

Asked whether they had suffered sexual harrassment – verbal or physical – from the age of 15 upwards, 18% admitted they had, and one in 20 confessed they had been raped at least once.

But the question was framed: “How often have you been forced into sexual acts whilst restrained or physically harmed?”

To this end, says Valencia University's La Nau Cultural Centre, the number who have actually been raped may be a lot higher, since the question does not cover those who have not been subjected to violence or restraint – such as when unconscious, drunk or asleep, or under the influence of date-rape drugs.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

OVER half of all Spanish office workers have eyesight problems and a third have hearing troubles, a report by risk management firm FREMAP reveals.

Based upon annual health checks carried out in most workplaces, results showed 73% wear glasses – some all the time and some just for computer work or reading and 52% have poor eyesight, whilst 33% are at least slightly deaf even though in most cases, it does not affect their ability to hold a conversation.

A total of 54% were clinically overweight, although not necessarily obese – a percentage which rises to 62% in men, but accounts for fewer than a third of women.

The average male office worker weigh between 77 and 85 kilos (12st 1.5lb and l3st 5lb) and stands between 1.75m and 1.8m (5'9” and 5'11”) tall.

Female desk workers average between 1.6m and 1.65m (5'3” and 5'5”) and typically weigh 55 to 70 kilos (8st 9lb and 11st), the lower end of which is an ideal weight for this height or even slightly below it.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CATALUNYA'S regional government has approved a new law allowing 'public consultations', or non-binding referenda to be held.

President Artur Mas says this is not just to provide a legal instrument for the independence vote he intends to hold on November 9, but to allow the Generalitat and town councils to 'get the public to participate' in decision-making.

The law was approved almost unanimously, with 106 votes in favour and 28 against from the regional PP party and Ciutadans.

Both of these said the legislation was 'a trap' which would effectively make a binding independence vote legal, even though – in the opinion of the Spanish central government – it goes against the national Constitution.

And with the 'consultation law' now getting the green light, Catalunya could be in trouble with Rajoy's cabinet, since the vote would still be, in effect, a referendum in all but name.

Reporters from all over the world turned up to attend the regional Parliamentary meeting, since Catalunya's planned secession vote – which Rajoy and the rest of the PP intend to try to block – will be the second this year after Thursday's independence referendum in Scotland.

The PPC says there was no need to pass new regional legislation 'to help the public take an active part in political decisions', since there is already a law which makes this possible.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl was electrocuted yesterday (Saturday) by a fairground ride in the Sevilla area.

The youngster, who has not been named, collapsed after getting off an attraction known as 'The Saucepan', a roundabout which goes up and tilts, in the early hours of the morning in Maribáñez, a parish of the town of Los Palacios y Villafranca.

Medics rushed to the scene, where they found the child unconscious with no pulse, but all attempts to bring her round failed.

Another young girl who was on the same ride is said to be in observation in a Sevilla hospital.

A forensic examination on the girl confirmed she died from electrocution, despite MP Carmen Crespo having insisted earlier that she lost her life through 'natural causes'.

Guardia Civil officers spent the whole of Saturday quizzing the fairground organisers.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PARTICIPANTS in Spain in the famouse 'ice-bucket challenge' have so far raised 600,000 euros for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, otherwise known as Motor Neurone Disease) in just one month.

But many others nominated to take a freezing-cold drenching chose to donate to other charities instead.

This has proven particularly the case with expatriates, many of whom have handed over cash to cancer charities including the AECC, MABS and more local outfits such as Cancer Care Jávea on the Costa Blanca, which has pledged to invest a quarter of a million a year for four years in a pioneering pharmacogenomic research laboratory.

The English Cathedra of Modern Oncology Research (ECMOR) is based at the Marina Alta district hospital in Dénia (Alicante province), and it netted thousands of euros from a public soaking in nearby Jávea where the mayor tipped a bucket of water over a local shop-owner and several others who volunteered on the day.

SAN Sebastián's famous film festival has kicked off and US actor Denzel Washington has already scooped up a prize.

The Donostia Award was presented to the Training Day actor at the opening ceremony by his friend and The Equalizer director, Antoine Fuqua.

Always the 'hard nut', Washington – who has fleshed out characters such as Malcolm X and Hurricane Carter – is planning a remake of The Magnificient Seven, also directed by Fuqua.

He said the award would not have been possible without the 'great passion' of his fans.

Washington corrected his friend and colleague when Fuqua addressed the crowds at the evening show with buenos días, which translates as 'good morning'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CATALUNYA'S president is far from deflated at Scotland's having said 'no' to independence – he has praised the UK for giving Spain a 'lesson in democracy' by allowing them to vote.

Meanwhile, Spanish president Mariano Rajoy has congratulated Scotland for 'avoiding the serious consequences' of secession.

“We need everyone, and we're very happy that Scotland is staying with us and with the EU,” Rajoy stated this morning after the results of the referendum were made public.

“Scotland has chosen between segregation and integration, between isolation and openness, between stability and uncertainty, betweeen safety and certain risk.

“And they've chosen the most favourable option for everyone: for themselves, for the rest of the British citizens, and for Europe as a whole,” Rajoy states.

Independence from the United Kingdom is likely to have brought 'serious social, economic, institutional and political consequences' if the 'Yes' vote had flourished, Rajoy believes.

Spain's Secretary of State for the EU, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, says the 'No' vote having won out is 'great news for everyone who has spent decades working together on building Europe'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ANOTHER two patients diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease in Sabadell (Barcelona province) have died, health authorities report.

And the original 22 sufferers has risen to 28.

Two people were reported as having passed away on Wednesday, and 17 being treated in hospital whilst another three had been discharged.

Yesterday (Thursday), two patients aged 84 and 86 with serious pre-existing health conditions died in Sabadell's Parc Taulí hospital.

One other was discharged yesterday, but a further five patients – all men aged between 48 and 86 with serious or very serious pre-existing medical problems – were admitted to hospital.

Of the 20 still being treated, 14 are at the Parc Taulí (pictured), four in the Catalunya General Hospital and two in the Clínica del Vallès.

Health authorities believe the number of patients may continue to rise, since those detected to date caught the virus between September 12 and 16, and the incubation period is 10 days.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH airports have some of the worst and most expensive Wi-Fi services in Europe, a report has revealed.

Despite having some of the highest airline traffic on the continent, terminals in Spain only offer 15 minutes of free internet connections and, henceforth, charge 4.50 euros an hour for its use.

A survey by cheap flight website Skyscanner shows that 96% of European travellers believe all airports should provide free and unlimited Wi-Fi – as is the case in 46% of EU airports, including all those in Italy, as well as those in Russia.

And only a third of the 1,500 travellers interviewed would be prepared to pay for Wi-Fi, but up to a maximum of a euro per hour.

For the seven in 10 who consider internet connections in airports to be important, a third of them use it to contact family and friends, often to let them know about their whereabouts and travel delays, whilst three in 10 surf the net to while away the waiting time, 22% to check their emails, one in 10 to access social networks, and one in 20 because they have to continue working while they are waiting for their flights.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN OUTBREAK of Legionnaire's disease in Sabadell (Barcelona province) has left two dead and another 20 ill, 17 of whom are in hospital.

All patients caught the disease between September 5 and 14.

They are said to be 12 men and 10 women aged between 45 and 94 years of age.

Three have been discharged from hospital already, but two have lost their lives.

Regional health authorities in Catalunya do not believe the Legionnaire's has reached epidemic proportions, but is more likely to come from a source close to the patients' homes in a place they frequented regularly, since no cases have as yet been seen outside Sabadell.

The health service has been carrying out stringent investigations and taking samples from possible areas where the 22 affected people may have caught the disease, as well as disinfecting and thoroughly cleaning these places.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TOP cyclists have donated their prize money to the widow of a police officer killed in a crash 10 days ago whilst escorting them.

Eusebio García Flores, 41, who was currently based in Albacete, collided with a central reservation on the AS-228 between Trubia and Ventana port in the northern region of Asturias.

He was one of the team of Guardia Civil officers on motorbikes shadowing competitors in the Vuelta a España, Spain's answer to the Tour de France, who were completing the 16th stage between San Martín del Rey Aurelio and Somiedo at the time. 

Eusebio was air-lifted to hospital after spectators gave him first aid, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. 

He leaves behind a wife and three daughters. 

After Monday's La Farrapona stage in the province of Pontevedra, Galicia, winning competitors – both Spanish and foreign – decided to give their prize money to Eusebio's wife. 

Chairman of the Association of Professional Cyclists (ACP), José Luis de Santos, said the deceased was 'a person who gave his life working for riders' safety'. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A MASS exodus from a holding centre for illegal immigrants and provoked a a major search party across Valencia city. 

A total of 17 Algerians pushed their way out after knocking over a cleaning lady, but sevebn of them have been caught and taken back to the internment centre. 

Another two were caught later, and eight remain missing. 

Their escape is thought to have been planned, as they waited until the cleaning lady opened the door, then pushed her over and fled en bloc.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LONDON could get its own version of the famous Valencian tomato fight, the Tomatina.

Councillors from Buñol, a town to the east of Valencia city with 10,000 inhabitants which is renowned worldwide for its messy, fruity fiesta, have been in talks with the management of Hyde Park in the British capital.

Mayor Joaquín Masmano says meetings with the Spanish embassy's tourism department in London, Turespaña, have gone well and the huge green oasis in the city is expected to be the venue for a British Tomatina in July next year.

The first meeting with Royal Parks, which is in charged of Hyde Park, will be held in October.

Buñol's juicy fiesta first went global when it ended up on the front page of The New York Times in 1984, and since then has attracted tens of thousands of tourists from all over Europe – including the UK – and as far afield as the USA, Japan and even Australia.

Hollywood, Bollywood and even Russian tycoons paying over 6,000 euros for a VIP balcony seat to watch the tomato fight have since visited Buñol, and tourism bosses in South Korea want to hold their own version.

This year's festival brought some controversy with it, since Buñol town council started selling a limited number of tickets through a travel agency which earned commission from the operation.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A GROUP of twentysomethings has been fined for playing Ludo in a Málaga street at night – because the rolling of the dice was 'keeping the neighbours awake'.

The 101-euro sanction they have each been ordered to pay is also for 'drinking in the street' – although they were consuming Coca-Cola and fizzy pop rather than alcohol.

One of the group, Concha, 29, says they were all left incredulous when they were issued with three-figure fines just for playing a board game in the square.

They had started at around 23.00hrs, and the police came along at 02.00hrs saying they had received complaints of 'noise nuisance' caused by the dice rolling.

And Concha insists they were not even shouting or laughing, just talking quietly.

The group has been meeting in the same place for over 25 years – 'ever since we all started to walk' – and that it had never been a problem in the past.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN ESTIMATED total of 45,000 protesters gathered in Madrid last night to call for a bloodthirsty annual bull festival to be banned.

The Toro de la Vega takes place in Tordesillas (Valladolid province, north of Madrid) every September and involves live bulls being surrounded and stabbed with lances.

Demonstrators marched through the central C/ Colón, Madrid's main shopping street, as far as the PP government's headquarters, where they all symbolically broke a lance in half.

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A CONTROVERSIAL law effectively making abortion illegal in almost every circumstance has been shelved as the PP government fear it will damage their election chances.

Minister of justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón had originally stated that the law would be approved after the summer, and that this was definite and there was no going back.

When asked exactly when he expected to do so, the minister replied: "For me, summer ends at exactly the same time as when it ends for the Met office."

Officially, summer ends on September 21.

But lack of consensus within the party means the abortion reform is said to be on hold 'indefinitely'.

It had already been approved by the Prosecution Council, although with only eight votes in favour to four against - and those in favour even wanted to amend it so that women who had abortions outside the restrictions of the law would face prison.

The legislation reform would have repealed the law of 2010 which, for the first time, allowed a woman to terminate a pregnancy for any reason up to 14 weeks, and up to 22 weeks where the foetus would be deformed - and removed the need for parental consent for women aged 16 and 17 but under 18.

Returning Spain to the first-ever law legalising abortion in 1985 but in a far more restrictive format, the law text only allowed a termination in the event of the pregnancy being the result of a rape - and even then, only up to the 12th week - or where the mother's life or health was in serious danger.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CATALUNYA'S regional president could face 15 years in jail if he calls a referendum on independence illegally, according to the national judges' association.

Artur Mas could be accused of power-dealing, disobedience and even sedition if it is considered that a referendum - due to be held on November 9 - goes against the Spanish Constitution.

Spanish president Mariano Rajoy has already said he will not authorise the vote, and that it would flout the Magna Carta, meaning if Mas forges ahead with his plans he could be deemed to have committed a 'serious disobedience against the national government'.

This is punishable by up to 15 years behind bars, says the judges' association.

Mas would face the maximum sentence if he attempted to use the regional police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, to block any attempt to prevent the referendum on voting day.

This would be considered a 'siege' and he could be jailed for the full 15 years.

The most lenient punishment the regional president would get away with is being banned for anything from 7-10 years through to the rest of his life from holding office.

It would be up to the central government to press charges, and Rajoy has threatened to do so.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PUPILS in schools across the Comunidad Valenciana are set to go on strike on Thursday this coming week in protest over classroom temperatures of up to 37ºC with no air-conditioning.

Recent reports show that hardly any schools in the province of Alicante have air-conditioning units – even those built in the last three years.

A long-awaited new high school in Dénia (Alicante) opened this year and one in Pego a few kilometres away in 2011, but planners did not think to fit air-conditioning units.

Kids walked out of class on Thursday and Friday and staged protests in the streets, carrying signs reading, 'we can't learn in a sauna', 'my brain's melting' and 'these temperatures are insane'.

The region's pupils went back nearly two weeks early this year, on September 3, to 'bring schools in line with other European countries' – and since then have been suffering sweltering climates in class.

Schools throughout the region have moved classes into the playground because of the heat, whilst pupils turn up for class in swimwear and flip-flops with towels – partly in protest and partly for practical reasons.

Teachers have been handing out bottles of water and ice lollies, paid for out of their own pockets, and bringing in fans from home.

Children have even been rushed to A&E with heat-stroke, or had to be taken outside in the playground and doused in water.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LAST night's raging wildfire on the Montgó and Les Planes mountains between Dénia and Jávea continues to spread out of control despite every effort – flames flared up again in Jávea this morning at around 07.00hrs and are said to be spreading towards the port.

In Dénia, over 800 residents have been forced to flee their homes on the Lloma de Castanyar urbanisation and in the Las Rotas neighbourhood to the south end of town along the coast.

So far, only 63 of those have moved into the temporary camp in the sports centre, where over 200 rations of food, water and blankets have been brought in by the Red Cross.

In Jávea, many residents in the Creuat and La Plana urbanisations – mostly British residents – have chosen to grab their pets and an overnight bag and move out, whilst others have been evacuated.

Some who returned home last night have been forced out of their homes a second time.

At least 600 are thought to have either been evacuated or left their houses of their own volition in Jávea, and the numbers are climbing fast.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN ESTIMATED total of 7,000 people turned out in Tarragona yesterday (Thursday) to protest over the forthcoming independence referendum due to be held on November 9 to decide whether the region of Catalunya should become a separate country from Spain.

Thousands more gathered in Barcelona (pictured).

September 11 is Catalunya regional day, known as the Diada Catalana, and for the past two years has served as a giant demonstration in favour of the secession with a human chain formed last year reaching from the French border in the north of the province of Girona down to the south of Tarragona at the frontier with the region of Valencia.

In both cities, demonstrators carried a flag measuring over 50 metres in length – one half with two red and one yellow stripe, the Spanish national flag, and the other with multiple yellow and red stripes, being that of the region of Catalunya.

The demonstrations were supported by the regional branches of the PP party and Ciutadans, and whilst the regional socialists – the PSC – did not openly back the protest, they allowed their members to attend if they wished.

Leading politicians who joined in include head of the Catalunya PP, or PPC Alicia Sánchez-Camacho, former central government minister of defence Carme Chacón, head of UPyD for the region Ramon de Veciana, and Ciutadans leader Albert Rivera.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A RAGING inferno on the Montgó mountain between Dénia and Jávea (Alicante province) is spreading out of control in both directions, and has already led to entire urbanisations being evacuated.

It started at around 16.00hrs in the Cabo de San Antonio bay in Jávea, and the roads to the windmills above the cliffs have been closed.

On the other side of the mountain, the Las Rotas coast road in Dénia has been shut to traffic and all residents on the Lloma del Castanyar urbanisation and in the El Gerro tower area have been evacuated.

Several hundred evacuees have been given beds in the main hall of Dénia sports centre.

In Jávea, residents in the Creuat and La Plana areas are being evacuated from their homes, and some who live within 100 metres of the flames have chosen to leave of their own accord.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE national ombudsman and UNICEF have called for the financial pressure on parents to buy school textbooks to be 'reduced to the minimum'.

Soledad Becerríl, Spain's current ombudsman, stresses that in accordance with the Constitution all children have the right to a free education up to the end of compulsory schooling aged 16.

And yet, every September, mums and dads have to fork out literally hundreds of euros on school textbooks which are only used for one year.

With at least one textbook per school subject, meaning a minimum of 12 and costing upwards of 20 euros each – and now attracting top-rate IVA at 21% rather than, until two years ago, the bottom rate of 4% - parents who cannot find any type of job are often forced to choose between feeding their children or sending them to school with the correct set books.

Last September, the situation reached crisis point with numerous pupils turning up without books and having to either share those of their classmates, or miss out on a vital chunk of their lessons unless teachers had time to make stacks of photocopies.

Some children were reluctant to go to school because they felt silly and singled out for not having books.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN is waiting to hear whether the European Union will increase compensation for fruit farmers in light of the Russian embargo on exports.

Minister of agriculture Isabel García Tejerina – who replaced Miguel Arias-Cañete in the role when he became European Parliamentary candidate for the PP – has just returned from an extraordinary farmers' summit in Brussels involving her counterparts from all member States.

For the moment, the committee is in the process of compiling detailed reports on all sectors of fruit and vegetables in the EU, whilst Sra Tejerina presented Spain's policies on agriculture and pledged her support for more decisions to be made within Europe to soften the blow of Vladimir Putin's export blockade.

So far, the EU has agreed compensation for affected farmers in Spain of 125 million euros, but Sra Tejerina has asked for more, given that the industry is expected to have lost in region of 338 million due to being unable to continue selling its produce to Russia.

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AN UNIDENTIFIED fireball was seen soaring across the sky last night (Sunday) from several provinces in Spain.

It was visible for several seconds and changed colour constantly, leaving a long trail of smoke behind it before disintegrating.

Residents and holidaymakers across at least half of Spain from east to west – in the regions of Catalunya and Aragón in the north-east, Castilla-La Mancha and Castilla y León in the centre, Valencia in the east, Andalucía in the south, and Extremadura in the west – photographed and videoed what looked like a massive, multi-coloured meteorite.

According to the Spanish Meteorite Investigation Network, the fireball was travelling at speeds ranging from 11 to 73 kilometres a second, and may have been a particle of the 20-metre asteroid which came very close to the Earth yesterday.

These fiery particles rarely cause a meteorite when they penetrate the Earth's atmosphere, with only about 10 of the 500 or so a year detected impacting the planet.

The Investigation Network has 25 comet detector station which cover at least 95% of Spanish territory.

This photograph was taken by their station in Blanes (Girona province).

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WOMEN are gradually taking over men in Spanish sporting success, with household names like Mireia Belmonte, Duane da Rocha, Ruth Beitia (pictured left) and Carolina Marín now almost as famous as the likes of Rafa Nadal, Pau Gasol and Fernando Alonso.

In fact, of the 17 gold medals Spain took home from the London 2012 Olympics, 11 were won by ladies.

“Women were not paid much attention before in sports because, the truth is, we had fewer successes,” admits Duane da Rocha, who won the 200 metres backstroke at the recent European Games in Berlin.

“Not that this means we didn't put in the effort, of course, because we always won lots of fifth and sixth places.”

One of Spain's best athletes in history, Ruth Beitia says: “There's been a female explosion on the scene. We've freed ourselves up – and this is slightly connected to women's advancing roles in society, in everyday life. Sportswomen are gradually keeping up with men and giving them a run for their money.”

This said, Ruth admits: “Equality of sexes is more generalised in athletics than in other sports – elsewhere, the difference between men and women is more accentuated.”

“The sporting world used to be more sexist, but with the passage of time women have freed themselves up – and nowadays, we even choose to leave the country if the general results of our chosen sport are getting gradually worse at home,” reveals handball champion Nerea Pena (pictured below right).

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

POLICE are searching for a 15-year-old girl who went missing on Wednesday this week (September 3) from the Costa del Sol town of Vélez-Málaga.

Mónica Sofía Mendes was wearing denim shorts and a light-blue strappy top, is light-skinned and has long, straight, very dark hair, and does not wear glasses.

Her parents reported her missing on Wednesday evening when she did not return home, but have not ruled out the possibility that she may have run away of her own accord.

Mónica's details have been published on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

Anyone who believes they may have seen her should call the Guardia Civil or National Police on 091 or 062.

News report from thinkSPAIN

A GROUP of European Members of Parliament (MEPs) has been refused entry to the Gaza strip by the Israeli government over concerns that they supported the Palestinian Islamic front Hamas.

One of the MEPs was Pablo Iglesias, a 35-year-old politics lecturer from Madrid whose newly-formed independent party Podemos netted an unprecedented five seats in the European Parliamentary elections in May.

Iglesias – pictured (right) in Jerusalem with his fellow Podemos member Teresa Rodríguez – landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday with the other MEPs, all of whom are in the country to ensure humanitarian aid to Palestinians continues to arrive.

They want to investigate the consequences of the seven-week military offensive by Israel against the Gaza strip, and will talk to Palestinian leaders in Ramala as well as both Israeli and Palestinian civilians during their visit, which ends tomorrow (Sunday).

Iglesias said he and the other MEPs did not understand why they were being prevented from entering Gaza when their visit was for humanitarian purposes.

The Israeli government's foreign affairs ministry spokesman Emanuel Najshon said authorities in the country did not consider the MEPs' visit to be an 'official' one and that they were merely there out of support for the Hamas movement.

“We let official delegates and aid workers enter Gaza, but in practice, we consider the European group are there on a private visit – and after an armed conflict lasting two months, they would clearly be giving Hamas their support.

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FIVE-YEAR-OLD Ashya King's parents have been given the go-ahead to take their son to the Czech Republic for proton beam treatment to try to stop his stage-four brain tumour from reappearing.

Brett, 51, and Naghemeh, 45, remain bound by court decisions since the wardship order imposed by Portsmouth city council will not be lifted until the child arrives safely at the central European clinic.

But the British couple has not been charged with any offence and have been speaking face-to-face with a top cancer specialist flown from the UK to the Costa del Sol, where the family had planned to sell their holiday home to raise money for the treatment.

After three days in Madrid's Soto del Real prison whilst Ashya – who has to be fed through a tube, cannot speak and is partially paralysed – was in hospital 700 kilometres away in Málaga, the child's parents said they 'couldn't wait' to see him.

Naghemeh revealed she spent the whole time in the prison cell 'crying and praying', wanting to be there for her son and to turn him over in his sleep every 15 to 20 minutes as he was unable to do so himself, but felt helpless because there was nothing she could do being so far away.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BURKHA bans in Spain are 'totally unnecessary', says the chair of the Muslim Women's Association in the country, Hasar Famadi.

A potential blanket ban on the full-body covering worn by some female followers of Islam, which leaves only a thin strip for the eyes and the rest of the face, head, limbs and extremities concealed, was discussed this week by interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz.

The burkha has already been made illegal in public places in the city of Lleida, as well as other parts of Catalunya.

“This ban, I believe, would affect roughly three or four women in Spain,” states Sra Famadi.

“I practically never see women with their faces covered – behind this prohibition is pure Islamophobia.

“It's about creating social alarm, and making out Spain is invaded with women wearing the burkha, and that's not the case at all.

“There's no real conflict which justifies so much media attention.”

Hasar Famadi admits she does not like burkhas anyway, and never wears one.

“I don't think it's necessary to wear a burkha, and Islam does not specify that women should,” she stresses.

“Women wearing the burkha is purely a matter of how certain cultures choose to interpret Islam, but there's nothing in the Q'ran about it at all.

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DIPLOMATIC immunity for public figureheads in Spain is about to be heavily slashed, with the current 17,621 enjoying legal privileges falling to 22.

At present, politicians at State and regional level, judges and magistrates, prosecutors and other law-enforcers go straight to the Supreme Court when they are sued or accused of a crime, rather than having to go through the entire court hierarchy as ordinary citizens are obliged to do so.

The highest court in the land – except for the Constitutional Court, which only deals with interpretations of Spain's Magna Carta – requires far higher standards of evidence to convict a person appearing before it, meaning there is more chance that if a diplomatically-immune party is taken straight to the Supreme Court they will escape charges through lack of sufficient proof.

It also costs a vast amount of public funds to take a case to the Supreme Court, and cases are settled far more swiftly than when the local, provincial, regional and then national courts deal with them as the appeal process climbs the court ladder.

And the diplomatically-immune go straight to the Supreme Court for every charge against them, civil or criminal, right down to causing accidents through drunk driving.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PARENTS of a five-year-old British boy suffering from a brain tumour have been released from custody in Madrid after a European arrest warrant over them was lifted last night.

Brett and Naghemeh King, 51 and 45, were let out of the capital's Soto del Real prison and driven to Málaga where their son Ashya is being treated in hospital.

Mr King told reporters he was 'dying to see his son', and Mrs King was said to be 'extremely emotional'.

Even before the arrest warrant was withdrawn, however, prosecutors at Spain's National Court had requested the immediate release of Mr and Mrs King after determining that the child had been properly cared for between leaving the UK and being taken by authorities into Vélez-Málaga hospital.

The court found the parents' explanations to be 'credible'.

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A MAN who has racked up over 40,000 euros in motoring fines whilst driving his dead brother's car has finally been caught in Alcover (Tarragona province).

The accused, aged 60, is said to have lost all his points on his driving licence - which has expired anyway, seven years previously - and has accumulated over 200 fines for speeding and failing to pay toll fees on motorways.

Inquiries were launched when Catalunya's regional traffic department, the Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT) advised police that they were having trouble processing the fines because the owner of the car was shown as having passed away in 2012.

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SPAIN continues to be the world leader in organ transplants - for the 23rd year running.

Ahead of the USA and the whole of the European Union, the country has 35.3 donors per million inhabitants, and carried out 4,279 of these delicate and often life-saving operations last year.

Among those who have gone through this type of surgery, patient Juan Vicente del Álamo, from the northern region of La Rioja, is one of only two people in the world who has survived three heart transplants.

Juan Vicente's book, Ace of hearts, has been published and is due for release in October and, in it, he hopes to raise awareness of the importance of placing one's name on the donor register to help give life to others after one's own death.

According to the National Transplant Organisation, a total of 1,655 people donated their organs in 2013 including, in some cases, live donors.

Whilst the EU has 19.5 donors per million inhabitants - a long way behind the USA's 25.8 - Spain is ahead of the field by a long way.

In fact, 14% of all transplants in Europe are carried out in Spain, and 4% of all those in the world.

World Health Organisation (WHO) sources say a 115,000 of these operations were conducted in 2013, which is 10% of all those needed on the planet.

Spain 'fitted' 2,552 new kidneys, of which 15% were from live donors, plus 1,093 liver transplants, 249 heart transplants, 285 using lungs, 92 with pancreas and eight new intestines.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.COM

BARCLAYS Bank's operations in Spain have been bought out by La Caixa for the sum of 800 million euros.

Personal banking, asset management and corporate banking will be taken over by CaixaBank, which will acquire 550,000 of Barclays' customers, 270 branches and 2,400 employees.

Barclays Bank, S. A. U. will continue to have a presence in Spain, albeit a much smaller one,

and will focus on its investment banking and Barclaycard lines of business only.

As at June this year, Barclays in Spain had 18.4 billion euros in loans and mortgages held by customers, with 9.9 billion in deposit accounts and 4.9 billion euros' worth of assets under management – a total business portfolio of 33.2 billion euros.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NINE women and one man have died in domestic violence cases this month alone and 41 have lost their lives so far this year, chilling statistics reveal.

During the third quarter of 2013, police were receiving an average of 367 reports a year of abuse within relationships or by former partners.

Just this month, a woman of 49 survived being stabbed by her husband in Barcelona, as did a 32-year-old from Catadau (Valencia province), whilst a woman aged 38 was shot dead by her ex-boyfriend in Pontevedra in the north-western region of Galicia.

A 90-year-old man stabbed his wife, 87, in El Campello (Alicante province) and then killed himself by slitting his wrists, and a woman of 32 has become a living miracle after surviving two gunshots in the head from her boyfriend in Lugo, Galicia.

The most recent victim is a 45-year-old woman from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona province) stabbed by her husband, 48, said to be an alcoholic, who immediately shot himself dead afterwards.

Just the day before, a woman aged 48 was fatally stabbed in the chest by her 70-year-old partner in their Barcelona flat.

Only a very small minority of victims are men and a tiny percentage of attackers are women, meaning Spain continues to treat domestic violence as a gender issue and refers to it as 'sexist aggression'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN 18-YEAR-OLD man was electrocuted after urinating against a lamp post in Mallorca yesterday (Sunday).

He was said to be out partying and enjoying the annual summer fiestas in Bunyola, about halfway between Palma and Sóller inland from the west coast.

The youth - whose identity has not been revealed - answered the call of nature at the base of a street light whilst leaning against the lamp post, and suffered a fatal electric shock as a result.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com