Live News From Spain As It Happens

SEVEN in 10 children in the Balearic Islands get their presents from the Three Kings – or Wise Men of the East – rather than from Santa Claus, a survey has revealed.

Only 24% of children look forward to Father Christmas' visit more than anything else over the festive season.

Other present-bearers unique to Spain's different regions bring gifts to 6% of Balearic kids who originate from other parts of the country.

The Caga Tío in Catalunya, the Olentzero in the Basque Country, the Angulery in Asturias, the Esteru in Cantabria and the Aplacador in Galicia are still alive and well in their home territory, as well as on the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera.

According to letters sent to the Three Kings, children definitely do not want to receive gifts of socks in 20% of cases; small electrical appliances in 25% of cases; sweets (19%); pyjamas (11%); money (9%); cosmetics (7%); costume jewellery (6%), and books or DVDs (2%).

Children say they are 'tired of getting the same things every year' and want 'original and personal' presents, a survey by DaWanda.es reveals.

The research also asked parents about how they think their children should spend the Christmas holidays.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

OLDER mothers and more frequent IVF mean multiple births have rocketed in number in the past 20 years in Spain, national statistics reveal.

In fact, the chances of carrying twins, triplets or even more babies at once are double the European average, largely because Spain has one of the highest ages for first-time motherhood.

This is due to a combination of the age of the mother, genetic makeup, and assisted fertility techniques, according to leading gynaecologist and obstetrician at Murcia's Quirónsalud Hospital, Dr Catalina de Paco.

Women over 30 have more probabilities of conceiving more than one child at a time, and Spanish first-time mothers are typically aged 30 to 33.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SOCIALIST leader Pedro Sánchez is due to hold a meeting with his MPs today (Sunday) to discuss possible coalition options following the split results of the elections exactly a week ago.

He wants to brainstorm the situation with some of the regional government leaders who have been most critical of the PSOE, or socialists, attempting to form a pact with left-wing independents Podemos.

These include Susana Díaz, president of Andalucía; Guillermo Fernández Vara, president of the land-locked western region of Extremadura, and of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page.

Susana Díaz has told Sánchez (pictured) in no uncertain terms that any pacts will be decided in the Federal Committee, which is due to meet tomorrow (Monday), but Sánchez wants to discuss potential routes to the president's seat ahead of this.

The PSOE leader is weighing up a possible leftist coalition, in which Podemos – with 69 seats – would be key, since the governing majority is 176 seats and the PSOE has 90.

But Sánchez is clear that he will not join forces with Podemos unless the latter backs down over its determination to allow Catalunya to hold its much-desired referendum on independence.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A CHURCH in Asturias has been painted in rainbow colours and turned into a skateboarding park.

The 103-year-old Santa Bárbara church in Llanera, near Oviedo has been disused since the end of the civil war when the neighbouring weapons factory shut down and its workers stopped going there for worship, and has been gradually crumbling to rack and ruin.

A local man, Ernesto Fernández Rey, considered acquiring the attractive Romanesque-style church to turn into a business, but decided this would not be viable in light of the economic crisis – but he and his friends, all keen skateboarders, clubbed together to raise money to build a ramp inside where they could practise when it rained.

“I wanted to set up a property services business, but instead I started the association Brigada Iglesia ['Church Brigade'] and we created the Kaos Temple,” says Fernández Rey.

An indoor skatepark turned out to be a godsend – literally, in this case – since it rains in Asturias for over six-and-a-half months of the year.

Gradually, the skatepark grew in size within the confines of the church.

Famous Madrid-born street artist Okuda San Miguel found a photo of it online, contacted the association and asked if he could decorate it.   Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

INDEPENDENT and minority parties on the Spanish political scene complain they need six or seven times as many votes to gain a seat as the much larger socialists (PSOE) and People's Party (PP).

Left-wing Podemos' leader Pablo Iglesias says the electoral system in Spain needs to be reformed 'now' to ensure it 'better reflects the realities of society', in contrast to one of the two main parties Iglesias refers to as the 'Caste' – the PP wants to change the rules so that the party with the most votes wins automatically, thus preventing those with fewer forming coalitions to enter into government.

Out of 350 seats, the winning party on Sunday, December 20 needed 176 to govern in a majority, but the one with the highest number of seats, the PP, earned just 123.

With just over 7.2 million votes, this means each seat was worth 58,595 ballots with the PP's name on them.

The PP's nearest rival, the left-wing PSOE, won 90 seats, each of which was worth 61,393 votes.

Podemos' votes, 3,177,210 in total, won them 42 seats – excluding those of other branches of the main party – or 75,648 votes per seat, whilst centre-right Ciudadanos' 3,496,301 votes won them 40 seats, or one seat per 87,408 votes.

United Left, or Izquierda Unida (IU) gained 921,955 votes and two seats, or 460,978 per seat.

Its leader, Alberto Garzón, says it is 'totally unfair' how 'some parties only need 60,000 votes per seat and others need well over 400,000'.

If IU needs nearly 461,000 votes per seat and the PP 58,595, this means if the latter earned only half the number of votes as United Left, it would have four seats to IU's one.

This is because of a system known as the D'hondt Law, which political studies experts say is far from ideal, but 'better than that of countries like the UK' where victory goes to the highest votes.

How does it work?

Each of Spain's 50 provinces, known in electoral language as 'circumscriptions' or constituencies, are automatically given two MPs out of the 350 in central government, whilst the Spanish-owned enclaves on the northern Moroccan coast – Ceuta and Melilla – get one each.

The remainder are shared out according to population numbers in different provinces, meaning Madrid and Barcelona have 36 and 31 respectively, whilst Soria, in centre-northern Castilla y León, only has the minimum of two.

Named after the 19th-century Belgian judge Victor D'Hondt, the law covering proportional distribution of votes and seats also applies in Ireland, France, Finland, Argentina, Japan, Israel, and naturally, Belgium.

For each constituency, calculation starts by excluding candidates who have not obtained at least 3% of the valid vote total, then the rest are placed in descending order starting with the one who gained the most.

They are then numbered 1, 2, 3, and so forth until the list for each province's MP quota is filled.

Those at the top need fewer votes to get a seat.

Example of distribution

If a province, or constituency has five MPs from a total of three parties and they have all earned at least 3% of the votes, they will be numbered one to five with number one being the MP with the most votes and five, the fewest.

The number of votes per party is then divided by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5......

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

EVEN if acting president Mariano Rajoy were to form a coalition with centre-right Ciudadanos, between the two they would only make up 163 seats out of the necessary 176, meaning the only possible option would be a huge 'Establishment' government made up of Spain's two largest parties which have dominated the scene for decades, the PSOE (socialists) and the PP.

Mathematically-speaking, a coalition between the PP, Ciudadanos and a combination of Catalunya's minority nationalist parties would give 180 seats, but politically, this is impossible because of the PP's radical opposition to the independence bid.

With Ciudadanos and the nationalist Basque party PNV and its Canary Island counterpart, Coalición Canaria, Rajoy would still be six seats short.

As for whether there is any likelihood of the PSOE joining forces with the PP, its leader Pedro Sánchez has always been against the idea.

“We don't want to form a coalition with them – we want to kick them out,” Sánchez, 43, said before the elections.

After the results, when asked, Sánchez said: “Plenty of discussions will be needed,” hinting that the giant coalition of 213 seats may not be out of the question.

If Rajoy does not achieve this, he will have to wait for the internal presidential vote where a simple majority is all that is needed for his to carry on leading the country.

He would need Ciudadanos to agree to vote him in, meaning with his own party's votes in favour he would have 163 – and then convince the socialists to abstain rather than voting against him.

If Ciudadanos does not agree to vote for Rajoy, he would need to persuade all 40 members of to abstain along with the socialists.

Could other parties oust Rajoy?

Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez may get himself into the presidential hotseat if he can convince Podemos, with their 69 seats, and Ciudadanos to team up with the PSOE.

In terms of political ideology, the three are relatively close and much more so than to the PP – but Ciudadanos' Albert Rivera said before the elections that he had no intention of supporting 'a coalition of losers'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

UNDECIDED but disillusioned, Spain's public – citizens only – will have to decide whether to place their future in the hands of the tried-and-tested who have disappointed them in the past, or the complete unknown quantity of independent or minority parties.

The right-wing PP, peppered with corruption scandals and responsible for high taxes, low wages and high job turnover, has nonetheless claimed credit for the economy returning to growth and a gradual improvement in its financial situation.

Yet the left-wing PSOE, or socialists, say the debt and unemployment is higher now than when they left it and pension pots halved, having been plundered by the PP, with the welfare state all but dismantled and education and healthcare struggling to cope.

Interviews with some business owners reveal 'things are definitely improving' and 'consumer confidence is growing', but with those who have been out of work for six or seven years – with only short-term, part-time jobs earning a pro-rata of the minimum full-time wage of €645 a month paint a very different picture.

Unemployment is down, they say, because after years of looking for jobs without even an interview, many have simply stopped re-registering every quarter with the dole office as they cannot see the point – and a record number of Spaniards, mostly the under-35s with no children but high qualifications and limited work experience through lack of opportunities – have emigrated to Germany, the UK and Scandinavia, among other countries, meaning they no longer show up on the dole register.

Tourism is rising rapidly, especially among foreign sunseekers, and house prices and sales are slowly climbing again – but many attribute this to improving economies in northern Europe producing more tourists and second-home buyers, combined with the instability in other traditional but once much cheaper beach destinations such as Turkey, Tunisia and Sharm El-Sheikh on Egypt's Sinai peninsula.

Until now, the PP has been winning in the polls, but Mariano Rajoy has the lowest rating of any leader.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Barcelona have clinched the Fifa Club World Cup for the third time with a comprehensive 3-0 victory over River Plate in Yokohama, Japan.

Messi fired home the opener just after the half-hour mark, and Suárez added a brace in the second half.

River Plate started brightly enough, but it was soon clear that the Argentinian side could not cope with Barca's front three once they were in full flow.

For their opener Neymar and Messi both had roles in the build-up before the Brazilian found his Argentine colleague to fire home the opener.

Suárez added a second from Busquets' excellent long ball and then headed home Neymar's excellent cross for his second.

It is Barça's fifth trophy of 2015 and, for the second time in his career, Lionel Messi has scored in all six club competitions in a year. Barça won the treble last season, and though Luis Enrique was rumoured to be on the verge of being sacked a this time last year, the club has since won five of the six trophies up for grabs in 2015. Only a Spanish Super Cup defeat by Athletic Bilbao denied them the chance to match the 2009 sextuple under Pep Guardiola.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FURTHER twist in the tale concerning president Mariano Rajoy's assault in the street last night has revealed he and his assailant are related. 
The accused – unnamed, because he is under 18, but pictured here with his face blurred – is said to be the son of Mrs Rajoy's cousin. 
According to reporters in Galicia, where the attack happened, the president's wife Elvira revealed her cousin, the suspect's mother, is a staunch PP supporter. 
And despite initial beliefs, Elvira's cousin's 17-year-old son is not a member of any other political organisation, radical, pro-independence or otherwise, and there was no apparent ideological motive behind his decision to punch Rajoy's face.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S president Mariano Rajoy has been attacked in a street whilst on a 'wandering' political rally.

A teenager punched him in the face and broke his glasses, having approached the PP leader on the pretext of taking a 'selfie' with him.

The accused, aged 17 and thought to be linked to various radical pro-independence groups, was immediately arrested.

Rajoy had been heading up the procession along a street in the city of Pontevedra, Galicia – his native region – when the bystander punched him and pushed him over, nearly knocking him to the ground.

With his glasses broken, the president had to complete his 'campaign walk' without them.

Public works and infrastructure minister Ana Pastor attempted to reassure everyone at the scene as she and others, party members and pedestrians alike, rushed to Rajoy's aid and helped him to his feet.

Sra Pastor insisted the show must go on, even if the president could not see very well.

He was found to be unharmed with only surface bruising, and did not need medical treatment. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A SPANISH hospital has removed a brain tumour from a patient who was conscious throughout the operation – and playing his saxophone.

Carlos Aguilera, 27, kept surgeons entertained with his music-making during his 12 hours in theatre, although this was not the aim of the exercise: by playing, doctors could see which parts of his brain were actively in use and could ensure they did not harm healthy parts when removing the lump.

The left-hand side of the brain is used for interpreting music, and playing an instrument – which Carlos does professionally in two bands – helps identify and signal the 'eloquent' areas of the brain tissue, such as the senses, motor functions, language and auditive cortex.

For parts of the operation, Carlos had to be heavily sedated with a local anaesthetic – such as the part where they cut his skull open and the actual tumour removal – but otherwise he only had a local anaesthetic for the parts being worked on.

“I've come back to life,” said the patient. “I was stuck in a bed two months ago.”

He was firstly given some sheet music to read on his saxophone, then asked to perform a piece of his choice.

Carlos opted for the jazz balad Misty, and later a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The operation was performed at Málaga General Hospital with the help of three neurosurgeons, two neuropsychologists, three neurophysiologists, an anaesthetist, five nurses, an auxiliary nurse and a porter.

Two weeks later, he was discharged and is said to be recovering well with physiotherapy and home care. 

Read, more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH Soprano Montserrat Caballé has been sentenced to six months in jail and a fine of just over a quarter of a million euros for tax fraud, which she has admited to.

The opera singer – best-known outside of her native country for her duet, Barcelona, with Freddie Mercury, which was the opening song for the Olympics in the north-eastern city – has reached a plea-bargaining agreement with the prosecution through her solicitor.

In exchange for pleading guilty to avoiding half a million euros in taxes in 2010 – which she has already refunded with interest – her jail term has been cut to six months and she will pay €72,202 to the tax authorities as compensation plus €254,231 as a fine, which is exactly half the amount of her unpaid tax.

This would have been 65%, the amount normally payable when tax evaders choose to pay off what they owed in order to gain a more lenient punishment.

Given that her sentence is less than two years and is for a first offence, under Spanish law she will not have to serve it unless and until she commits any other crime.

She will not be entitled to any tax breaks, public funds or financial benefits for the next 18 months.

Sra Caballé, 82, was allowed to testify from home rather than travelling to court, for health reasons, and her only words – spoken via video conference whilst sitting at her dining-room table in a coat and scarf – were, “yes, I agree,” when the prosecution read out details of their pact and asked whether she would confirm her acceptance.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

DESPITE all good intentions, the long-awaited 'cordial debate' between Spain's president Mariano Rajoy (PP) and his direct rival Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) turned into a slanging match and widened the gulf between the two main 'establishment' parties even further just five days before the general elections.

TV viewers were already sceptical when they learnt the details of the discussion, in four main themed 'blocks' and with 50% of talk time scheduled for each party to ensure fairness and an equal say for both parties – as yet, the PP and PSOE have rarely managed to hold a conversation without raised voices and especially relating to thorny issues such as unemployment and corruption.

Sánchez told Rajoy that a president 'needs to be a decent person' and that Rajoy 'was not one'.

Rajoy told Sánchez his remark was 'mean and contemptible' when Sánchez accused him of 'not being honest'.

“I don't regret a word,” Sánchez said afterwards. “I only said what millions of Spaniards are already thinking.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AT LEAST 25,000 drivers will be pulled over and breathalysed every day this Christmas in a new alcohol and drugs campaign launched by the Guardia Civil.

Traffic police have warned that the tests will take place at any time of the day and on any type of roads, without warning.

Drink-driving and drug-driving are behind at least a third of road crashes involving deaths, says the Guardia Civil, and an estimated 12 motorists in every 100 consume alcohol or illegal substances before getting behind the wheel.

Christmas, New Year and the Three Kings celebrations over the Epiphany and Twelfth Night, which involve several bank holidays and a high number of office parties and festive gatherings, mean this time of year is particularly high-risk.

Police will also be concentrating on those drivers they know are habitual drug and alcohol consumers.

This year alone, 84,000 drivers have tested positive, but this does not include those who have not been caught and only relates to figures produced by the Guardia Civil, not those compiled by the Local or Metropolitan Police forces. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LEADERS of Spain's main rival parties, the PP and PSOE will debate face to face today (Monday) over the four most vital issues for the country.

Starting with the most thorny subject for Spain, employment and the economy, existing president Mariano Rajoy (PP) and his direct opposite Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) will finish with issues relating to a 'globalised Spain', such as terrorism, defence policy and immigration.

The content of the two-way debate has been agreed by both parties, the right-wing PP and the left-wing socialists or PSOE, and the discussion will be opened by Sánchez and closed by Rajoy.

As well as economy and employment and the concluding 'Globalised Spain' rounds, the two direct rivals will discuss the welfare State, and institutional reforms.

The debate will be 'less corseted' and 'more open', 'less rigid' and 'more fluid' than previous televised discussions in the run-up to the general elections, says the PP.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A COLOMBIAN nurse working in Madrid has been arrested after it transpired he forcibly terminated over 150 pregnancies of female fighters with the rebel army in his home country.

Héctor Albeidis Arboleda Buitrago, 40, has been wanted by Interpol for forced abortions of FARC militants – some of them mere teenagers and some of whom died as a result of the non-consented procedure – because their pregnancy and eventual motherhood would have had negative consequences for their ability to fight, in the guerrillas' view.

Known within the FARC as El Enfermero, or 'The Nurse', Arboleda Buitrago has been taken into custody by the Guardia Civil in the Spanish capital and inquiries have been launched to find out whether he is a legal resident in Madrid.

If he is not, he will be deported immediately to Colombia, but the accused is likely to have to leave the country anyway since his native land has called for his extradition for trial.

According to the national director for public safety and the prosecution in Colombia, Luis González León, Arboleda carried out the abortions over a 15-year period, mostly in remote rural areas in the west and centre of the country.

The women who reported their ordeal describe it as 'absolute torture', both physically and emotionally, which left them with psychological scarring in many cases and serious injuries in others, which have led to gynaecological problems and infertility among many of them – and several of the victims died as a direct result of the unregulated practice.

Investigations have been ongoing for several months into sexual violence and violation of sexual freedoms perpetrated by the FARC, and revealed that female members of the rebel army relied upon their male colleagues to supply them with contraception.

If any of the women refused to abort and insisted on carrying their child, they were likely to face a death sentence – unless they were the wives or girlfriends of senior commanders, since these were offered greater privileges than those further down the hierarchy.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A survey of citizens' voting intentions carried out by A+M on behalf of 20minutos/Grupo Heraldo suggests that the PP will win the most seats in Madrid in December 20th's general elections, with Ciudadanos second, Podemos third and the PSOE down in fourth place.

According to the survey's results, the PP, led by Mariano Rajoy, would win 10-11 seats in Madrid, followed by Albert Rivera's Ciudadanos with 9; Podemos, led by Pablo Iglesias, would win 8; the PSOE, headed up by Pedro Sánchez, 6-7; Alberto Garzón's IU, 2.

Madrid, with 36 of the country's 350 electoral seats, is Spain's largest constituency and electoral lists in the city almost always include the main parties' leaders.

If this were to be the actual result, Eduardo Madina, who contested the leadership of the PSOE with Pedro Sánchez in July 2014  Pedro Sánchez, could lose his seat as he is number 7 on the socialist party's list. Two of Sánchez' recent signings would however retain their seats: Commander Zaida Cantero (number 6) and the ex-UPyD MP Irene Lozano (number 4).

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Spanish police have seized dozens of pallets made out of 1.4 tonnes of compressed cocaine that was made to look like wood and imported into Spain via the port of Valencia.

They also uncovered cocaine disguised as charcoal as part of the same shipment from Colombia to the Mediterranean city.

The shipments are linked to a large-scale smuggling ring operating between Latin American and Europe and police suspect that smugglers used a charcoal company in Spain as a front to import the cocaine.

The drugs were then extracted from pallets and charcoal, processed and distributed around Europe.

The authorities have arrested 12 people in Spain, Britain and Dubai, describing two of the Colombians arrested in Spain as expert chemists and drug manipulators, sent over to Spain to reverse the process used to disguise the cocaine and extract it again ready to sell on the streets.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S population has reduced by 90,000 in the last two years with more people dying or emigrating than being born and moving to the country.

Latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics show that the exodus is slowing down, with 0.06% of the nation's headcount having left or died in the first quarter of 2015, compared with 0.12% in the same period of 2014.

Foreign nationals in Spain are, on average, men aged between 25 and 39.

Last year saw 62,634 inhabitants leaving or dying, whilst this year so far, the headcount has dropped by 26,501.

A total of 164,606 people left the country for good between January 2014 and the second quarter of 2015, compared to 157,221 new immigrants, meaning a negative migration total.

As at the end of June this year, the population of Spain sat at 46,423,064, with the reduction of 26,501 between January and June inclusive remaining in keeping with the consistent fall in numbers seen since 2012.

Of all inhabitants, a total of 4,426,811 are foreign – having reduced in number by 0.6% because of 66,454 obtaining Spanish citizenship in the first six months of 2015, an increase of 1,042 on the previous year.

But if 'foreigners' are counted as 'anyone not born in Spain of Spanish parents', the reduction in non-Spaniards sits at 45,108 in the first six months of this year.

Also in that time, deaths exceeded births by 19,115, due to a falling birth rate rather than increasing death rate.

Spain's population has been declining for three consecutive years and the migration balance is now at its lowest ever, but the exodus has been considerably lower in the first two quarters this year than in the same period in 2013, which still holds the record after 141,895 more residents left than arrived.

An overall reduction in emigration from Spain of18.1% of the total population in six months, compared with the same period in 2014.

Of everyone who left the country between January and June 2015, a total of 50,844 were Spanish and, of these, 32,980 had been born in Spain, with the rest originally having been foreigners who obtained Spanish citizenship but then moved back to their country of birth, or to a third nation.

And of all those who moved to Spain to live, 23,078 were returning expats and 134,143 were foreign.

Concerning foreigners alone, this is the first time since 2009 that more immigrants than returners were recorded – the latter came to 113,762, meaning non-Spaniards who were not born in Spain have risen in number by 20,380 – a sure sign that expatriates are once again being attracted to the country and all it has to offer.

The highest national incoming group were Romanians, with 13,969 moving to Spain this year before the summer, followed by Moroccans who accounted for 12,125 and, for the first time ever, Italians, of whom 8,803 relocated to Spain in the first half of 2015.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ONLY a few hundred Volkswagen models in Spain are likely to have been affected by the emissions-rigging scam, according to the most recent research carried out by the firm's headquarters in Germany.

Practically all of the cars and vans thought to have been fitted with software designed to mask CO2 readings are within legal boundaries, and the actual emissions have been found to be the same as those displayed in testing.

A mere 36,000 cars worldwide produce emissions exceeding those displayed compared to the estimated 800,000 suspected at first, and in all cases, the difference is very small, says the Volkswagen Group head office.

This was only found in nine models – a Polo, a Scirocco, two Jetta, two Golf and two Passat types, and which in total make up 0.5% of Volkswagen's annual production.

The initial negative impact on profits of over €2 billion estimated has yet to be confirmed, but is unlikely to be anywhere near this high.

And the difference in displayed and real emissions is so minor that it falls within the legally-permitted deviation and the models in question do not have to be withdrawn from the market, Volkswagen says. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH police and Intelligence services have managed to stop another two Jihad terrorists in their tracks – one of whom is only 19.

Interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz says the two individuals arrested were 'in direct contact' with DAESH in the Middle East.

They were involved in promoting fundamentalist terrorism, seeking out and brainwashing new recruits, and convincing them to go to Syria and Iraq to train with DAESH.

Although no attacks are thought to have been planned, both the accused parties are said to have made threats against France and Spain.

One of them is a man of 32 from Mataró (Barcelona province) and the other is a woman aged 19 from Pájara in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands.

Both were in contact with DAESH in Syria and had sworn allegiance to the so-called Islamic State.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are all through to the Champions League last 16, but Gary Neville's Valencia side were defeated 2-0 by Lyon and now drop into the Europa League, where they could face Manchester United.

Afer Real Madrid's goalfest against Malmo on Tuesday night put them through, and Atlético de Madrid topped Group C with a 1-2 win over Benfica in the Estadio Da Luz, a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night was enough for Barcelona to reach the knock-out stage of the tournament.

Lionel Messi scored his 80th Champions League goal off a fine Ivan Rakitic pass in the 20th minute, but Javier Hernández equalised almost instantly to restore parity.

Despite having a host of chances to snatch that all important winner, the Bundesliga side could not find the net again, and, like Valencia, face the prospect of Europa League football, while Barça finish the group stages unbeaten for the first time in three seasons.

After his first match in charge, Gary Neville says Valencia's players had "heavy legs" as they were knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon, finishing a lowly third in Group H.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Real Madrid shook off weeks of criticism with a goalfest against Malmo at the Bernabéu on Tuesday night.

Cristiano Ronaldo netted four goals and became the first player to score 11 goals in the Champions League group stages as Real thrashed Malmo 8-0.

Karim Benzema got a hat-trick and Mateo Kovacic also made it onto the scoresheet as Real recorded their biggest ever win in the tournament.

Rafa Benítez's side were already guaranteed the top spot in Group A before the visit of the Swedish side, but the convincing result relieves some of the pressure that has been piling upon him in recent weeks.

It was, however, a nightmare end for Malmo boss Age Hareide in his final game in charge.

Real took the lead after just 12 minutes when Benzema capitalised on some good work by Ronaldo and Isco, and the Frenchman got his second just over ten minutes later.

Real continued to dominate their Swedish opposition, and Ronaldo added their third after 39 minutes when his free-kick left the Malmo goalie flailing.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

UNEMPLOYMENT figures in the Eurozone have fallen to their lowest since 2009, the worst year of the financial crisis, and Spain's own jobless numbers have dropped by 2% since then, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat.

As at the end of October – the most recent date for which figures are available – jobless numbers in the common currency area averaged 10.7%, falling to 9.3% in the EU-28 as a whole.

This is a decrease of 0.1% on the previous month for the Eurozone and remains the same for the rest of the EU.

For the Eurozone, this is the lowest level of unemployment since January 2012 and, for the EU overall, since September 2009.

At the same time last year, jobless numbers sat at 11.5% for the Eurozone and 10.1% for the EU.

The difference in real terms was 13,000 people since the previous month or 1.3 million in the past year for the common currency area, and 36,000 since September and 1.9 million since October 2014 for the 28 member States of the EU.

Spain continues, after Greece, to have the highest unemployment, standing at 21.6% in October – 2% lower than a year before, when it sat at 23.9%., meaning dole figures have reduced more in Spain than anywhere else in Europe.

Germany features the lowest level of unemployment at 4.5%, followed by the Czech Republic at 4.7%, and Malta at 5.1%.

Greece's last-known jobless numbers sat at 24.6%, the only one of the 27 member States with a worse record than Spain.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRO-BULLFIGHTING demonstrator has been fined for injuring an animal rights activist after throwing stones at the crowds during protests.

Atenea M. suffered minor head wounds, which nevertheless left lasting side-effects, after a stone thrown by Luis H., 33, hit her.

She was one of a crowd of protesters at the cruel Toro de la Vega 'festival' in the town of Tordesillas, Valladolid province in the centre-northern region of Castilla y León.

Activists have been clamouring for years for the 'show' – where members of the public on foot and horseback completely surround a bull and throw spears at it before leaving it to bleed to death from the lance wounds – to be banned, but the mayor refuses to do so and the townspeople fully support his view.

The accused was one of these supporters and lobbed pieces of rock at the anti-bullfight demonstrators in an attempt to drive them away.

He has to pay a daily fine of €2 for six months, or €365 in total, and faces a day in prison or carrying out community service for every two unpaid days' quotas.

The offender has also been ordered to compensate Atenea M. to the tune of €800, of which €500 are for the injuries themselves and the rest for the lasting effects of these and for her court costs.

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DIVORCE will be free of charge from today (Tuesday) as well as much quicker and easier in all Catholic countries, which include Spain.

The doctrine of Motu Proprio ('own reasons') has been brought into effect by Pope Francisco I in his capacity as Mitis Iudix Dominus Iesus (Lord Jesus Judge Clement).

This Church law introduces three new elements – agreement on both sides will no longer have to be legally declared; the Bishop is able to carry out divorces; and, most importantly, annulling marriage vows pronounced in the Catholic Church will no longer cost any money.

Around 400 divorce applications of unions sealed by the Church have been received by the Catholic family court, the Tribunal de la Rota, so far in 2015 – a figure very similar to last year, which saw a total of 416 divorce proceedings started and 488 marriages annulled under Catholic law.

In 70% of these cases, the marriage was declared null and void.

Dean of the Tribunal de la Rota, Carlos Morán, said the Motu Proprio doctrine was not aimed at 'encouraging' divorces, but at making the process easier on those who have already decided their marriage is beyond saving, and will break down barriers which have hitherto made it almost impossible for some couples to go their separate ways. 

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SPAIN has joined a Europol team working with Microsoft to fight a dangerous new computer virus which works its way through firewalls and steals financial information.

Other major companies have clubbed together through the European Centre against Cyber Crime (EC3) and Joint Action Cyber Crime Team (J-CAT)to combat the so-called Win32/Dorkbot, one of the most extensive IT bugs circulating.

Networks of IT 'robots', or 'botnets', of which Dorkbot is one, have affected over a million computer users all over the world, says Europol operations sub-director Wil van Gemert.

Dorkbot is a worm spread through malicious links sent through social networks, email, instant messaging or infected USB devices and, once a computer is infected via the back door, remote hackers can exploit the system by stealing online payment data, launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, and fill the computer with malware.

Once a hacker is able to get into a system by running a Dorkbot, he or she will be able to download and run files from given URLs, obtain log-in data and passwords through POP3, FTP, Firefox or Internet Explorer cached passwords and usernames, and redirect or block websites or domains such as security pages.

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A SPANISH ship which sank somewhere in the Atlantic in the 18^th century has been found off the coast of Colombia, according to the country's president Juan Manuel Santos.

The San José set off from Cartagena de Indias on the northern Colombian shores on June 7, 1708 loaded with treasures pillaged from the New World, captained by Admiral José Fernández de Santillán and heading for Spain.

Textiles, gold, silver and spices were among its lucrative cargo.

A crash with the British ship, The Expedition, captained by Charles Wagner led to a battle between the two and the Spanish galleon sank.

Numerous shipwreck-hunting companies have tried to convince the Colombian government to allow them to search for the San José in exchange for being allowed to keep the treasures on board.

The US firm Sea Search Armada claimed to have found the galleon in 1982, but lost its legal battle against Colombia 29 years later for possession of the precious cargo.

Colombia was being sued for US$17 billion, but won the case in 2011 and did not have to pay.

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Albert Rivera, Alberto Garzón, Pablo Iglesias, Mariano Rajoy and Pedro Sánchez began their frenetic17-day electoral campaigns yesterday, with meetings, messages, social network activity, speeches, debates, photos, etc. all designed to win the last indecisive voters over ahead of the December 20th deadline.

Current predictions suggest that these general elections will be the country's most closely fought since democracy was restored after Franco's dictatorship.

In line with tradition, the campaign began with the customary "poster hanging" in which the party leaders took to the streets to display electoral propaganda. The prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, asked for support for his party in the general elections, saying "the past" is their "guarantee" and that they have "known how to govern" at the "most difficult times". "The challenge is now the future", he emphasised, asking the 300 plus PP supporters gathered outside the party's headquarters for their "support, effort, eagerness and enthusiasm".

The prime minister took the opportunity to highlight the way his party's management had prevented Spain from needing to be "rescued", saying that the country owed that to the "determination and courage" of those who held the reins. "We told the Spanish people our measures would produce effective, positive results, and this is what we have achieved", he went added.

For his part, the secretary general of the PSOE, Pedro Sánchez, called for left-wing voters to put an end to Mariano Rajoy's "government of lies". At mass meeting at the Juan de la Cierva sports centre in Getafe (Madrid), Sánchez called on the 1,200 people present to vote for the PSOE "so that the majority wins" and changes can come. Sánchez assured his supporters that "change is possible, urgent and necessary in Spain". "We only need one more vote than the PP," he emphasised, adding that the PSOE is "the only left-wing party that can beat Rajoy's right-wingers and Ciudadanos".

The president of Ciudadanos and candidate for prime minister, Albert Rivera, told his supporters he felt proud to be leading "the only political project" that is "sparking interest" in Spain and "happy" to have "the right ideas at the right time in the right place". Just before midnight, Rivera began his campaign at a Madrid hotel, saying that this was the "most important" campaign in the past 35 years and that he was "fortunate" to have "the best project" and "the best team" made up of "men and women who really know what it means to work hard" and who were ready "to compete with the two old parties", the PP and the PSOE.

Podemos' candidate for prime minister, Pablo Iglesias, began his journey towards La Moncloa saying he could "feel a comeback in the air" and that "now is the time to win" and that he was convinced the people of Spain would give him their support on December 20th. Iglesias kicked off his electoral campaign in the village of Villaralbo in Zamora, saying this time people would choose between "the past and the future, between the old and the new". Choosing this village, with fewer than 2000 inhabitants, some 4km from the city of Zamora, is in line with Podemos' desire to show their support for rural communities so that "no village is invisible".

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville has been named as Valencia's new head coach.

The 40 year old told the press today that he was "absolutely thrilled to be given this opportunity by Valencia".

"Valencia are a huge football club of immense standing - and I know from my time as a player the passion and dedication of the Valencia fans," he added.

Neville has stepped down from his job as a commentator with Sky Sports, but will remain on the England coaching staff.

Club president Layhoon Chan said of Neville: "He is hugely respected in English football and it was his personal qualities which persuaded us that he was the right choice to lead Valencia until the end of the season." Chan and Neville will give a news conference on Thursday.

Neville's brother Phil, who joined the Spanish club as assistant manager in July, will stay on the coaching staff, assisting interim head coach Voro for Valencia's next two matches, away to third-tier side Barakaldo in the Copa Del Rey on Wednesday and at home to Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday.

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HOMEOWNERS and landowners in Pamplona (Navarra region) pay the lowest average asset tax or IBI per head in the country, whilst those in Lleida (Catalunya region) pay the highest.

A recent study by the national tax collection agency in Madrid of Spain's 52 provincial capital cities showed that the mean average in Pamplona (pictured) is €22.69 per year and in Lleida, €140.02.

These figures are in fact strongly skewed, since tax on a small plot of green-belt land may only be a single-figure sum, whilst on a villa with land may be several thousand – also, the figures are taken per head for every member of the population including children, rather than per property.

Also, some provincial capitals have not carried out a catastral, or basic land value review for years or even decades, meaning values are out of date.

Whilst it is the catastral or land registry – part of the ministry for the treasury – which calculates these values, town and city councils have the freedom to decide what percentage of this they will charge as tax within certain limits, normally ranging from 0.6% to 1.1%.

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A HOMEOWNER who was fed up with having to drive miles out of his way in the wrong direction to get into his roadside property repainted part of an unbroken white line so he could make a 'legal' left turn.

The accused, from Zafra in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura painted separate white segments alongside the line down the centre of the EX-103 regional highway which links the nearby village of Alcocer with the EX-221.

This meant he could cross the road directly rather than travelling down to the nearest roundabout and doubling back – or so he thought.

His fine of €1,440 – or €6 a day for eight months – is considerably higher than if he had been caught driving across a solid white centre line.

He has also been ordered to carry out 14 days' community service.

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SPAIN'S 55 food banks raced each other this weekend in a bid to hit their joint target of 21 million kilos of edibles by Sunday night.

Over 110,000 volunteers collected donated food in 10,100 supermarkets between Friday and Saturday throughout most of the country, and until Sunday night in Madrid.

The Spanish Federation of Food Banks sent out an appeal for everyone to donate, aiming to keep levels up to the 100 kilos per person per year dished out since the start of the financial crisis.

So far, the Federation has helped a million individuals who could not afford to feed themselves or their families because of redundancy.

Last year's food drive led to 18% of the annual amount given to residents in poverty being collected in just one weekend, although the two previous years saw the well running dry.

Only 75 and 86 kilos per person were collected in 2012 and 2013 respectively, meaning food banks were struggling to keep up with demand.

They aim to be able to reach a distribution level of 115 kilos per person per year, as recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), part of the United Nations.

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EIGHT human skulls have been found under the water off the Els Palangrers beach in Roses, Girona province.

A local resident out diving took photos of some of the bones off the Costa Brava shore and showed them to the police, but they did not believe him.

He went back out to sea and took some more, managing to capture all eight skulls on one shot, to prove it was not a hoax.

A diving team from the Mossos d'Esquadra – Catalunya's answer to the Guardia Civil – were due to go out yesterday (Monday) and today to investigate, and forensics are on the case.

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ACTOR Richard Gere visited Madrid this week to promote his new film, where he plays a homeless vagrant in New York, and was full of praise for the Spanish capital's mayoress Manuela Carmena.

Gere attended the pre-première showing of Invisibles with his new Spanish girlfriend, businesswoman Alejandra Silva, and invited 70 homeless people from the Rais Foundation based in Madrid.

After watching the film, they told Gere that what they had seen on screen was 'the gritty reality' of their own lives.

A far cry from his role as multi-millionaire tycoon in one of his earliest and best-remembered films, Pretty woman, Richard Gere talked to the audience about his part in Invisibles and spent practically the whole of his press conference attempting to raise awareness of homeless people's situation.

The film was produced by Gere himself, and took nearly a decade to bring to fruition.

Known for being a social activist with a strong humanitarian drive, Gere's passionate speech about the plight of those living on the street was punctuated with equally-strong praise for Madrid's mayoress, a left-wing ex-judge who has been fighting hard to prevent home repossessions and has even planned to replace the city's 'anti-tramp benches', which have arm-rests in the middle to prevent vagrants from sleeping on them.

“Repossessing someone's property and throwing them out of their home is amoral and immoral,” stated Gere emphatically.

“It's not even practical, because it costs much more money than it would by trying to reach a solution before it gets to that stage.”

Of Manuela Carmena, the actor said: “I've been told you have a very good mayor now who wants to solve these problems in the most humane and responsible way, using public funds in an intelligent manner. I applaud this mayor.”

He called for the public to 'think about' those without a home, and called upon society to 'pledge to try to improve things'.

“We can change the world, and we can do it together.”

Gere even joked about 'killing bank managers' who repossess homes.

The Hollywood veteran also had strong opinions on the air-strikes in Syria and Iraq by the west in a bid to wipe out the so-called Islamic State, or DAESH, and which have increased dramatically since the Friday 13^th killing spree in Paris.

“Revenge never helped anyone,” he stated. “I don't believe it has ever helped in any situation, in any way, or any of the parties involved. It might briefly make you feel better, but in the long run, it's no help.”

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Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar are the three players to make this year's shortlist for the Ballon d'Or, awarded to the footballer considered to be the best in the world.

All three shortlisted players play in Spain's La Liga. It is the eighth consecutive year that Real Madrid's Ronaldo and Barcelona's

Messi have been on the shortlist, but it is the first time that Brazil's Neymar, 23, has made the final three. Messi has scored 48 goals so far in 2015, despite being out of action through injury for two months.  Portugal captain Ronaldo, 30, has also scored 48 times for club and country, but Real Madrid are six points adrift of Barça in La Liga.

Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar have also been nominated among the 50 players to make the team of the year shortlist, and in addition, Messi has been shortlisted for the Puskas award for the year's best goal.

The winners will be announced at a gala in Zürich on January 11th.

Ronaldo has been named the world's best footballer for the past two years, ending Messi's four-year hold on an award which is regarded as the game's most prestigious individual accolade.

The three contenders were chosen from a 23-man list that also included Wales and Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale.

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Spain's National Markets & Competition Commission (CNMC) has fined Iberdrola €25 million for manipulating the electricity distribution market in 2013, conduct deemed by the authorities to be "very serious".

According to a press release issued today by the CNMC, the sanction against Iberdrola Generación relates to a policy aimed at increasing prices at hydroelectric plants on the banks of the Duero, the Sil and the Tajo rivers between November 30th and December 23rd 2013, just before electricity prices went through the roof.

In the weeks running up to the Cesur tender to set electricity prices for the first quarter of 2014, massive hikes were noticed in the distribution market. These price hikes made the tendering price go up 26 %, the equivalent to a 10 % rise in consumer electricity prices.

In response to this unusual situation, the CNMC suspended the tender and intervened to set consumer prices at reasonable levels.

The Commission underlined the fact that the electricity sector considers "any kind of fraudulent manipulation of electricity prices or attempt to alter supply figures" to be a serious infraction.

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Nuno Espirito Santo has resigned as coach of Valencia Football Club.

Salvador González, known as Voro, has been appointed as the interim head coach for the first team, supported by  former Manchester United defender Phil Neville, pending the appointment of a new head coach.

Voro, who made more than 200 appearances for Valencia as a player, has twice taken caretaker charge of the club before.

Nuno, the 41-year-old Portuguese coach, is leaving Valencia after just over one season in charge. Speaking in a news conference following his team's 1-0 defeat by Sevilla, Nuno said he had told club owner Peter Lim of his decision before Sunday's game.

"I have spoken with the owner, the president and we are all agreed that the situation is not good. It has been a source of immense pride to manage this team, but Valencia is a project for the present and the future and I don't want that to put the brakes on that," Nuno said. "I want Valencia to return to being one of the biggest clubs in Europe."

Valencia finished fourth in La Liga last year but have struggled this season, winning only five out of 13 games so far.

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