Live News From Spain As It Happens

PAYMENTS for goods or services in cash may not be more than €1,000 in the government's latest drive to fight against tax fraud.

At present, cash can be handed over up to €2,500 without penalty, but this means a high amount of IVA evasion – the most common type of fiscal fraud – is going undetected.

Real-time information about IVA declarations via mandatory technology for the 62,000 taxpayers who have to file their returns monthly rather than quarterly will also be launched next year.

Postponed IVA payments will also be tightened up on, and a concerted effort to claw back the tax which remained unpaid by those evaders who took advantage of the PP's 'fiscal amnesty' will be made.

Some 30,000 amnesty beneficiaries are still on file and Montoro has confirmed their tax obligations will not expire under the statute of limitations, meaning however long it takes to resolve their cases, they will not escape having to pay up.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TAXES will be applied to sugary soft drinks and will increase on cigarettes and alcohol, minister for the treasury Cristóbal Montoro has announced.

The State has to increase its tax income by between €7 billion and €8bn next year in order to meet its deficit target of 3.1% of the GDP by December 2017, but has promised – largely due to pressure from the opposition, which is in the majority – not to make cuts to funding in welfare programmes.

Fizzy drinks will now be taxed – which is also a move to cut consumption of sugary produce and reduce obesity, in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BARCELONA plans to control its urban pigeon population by feeding the birds contraceptives to avoid culling.

Around 85,000 pigeons roam around the city, but the birth control method is expected to be approved by the region's animal protection society.

After a full census is carried out between December and February, some 40 pigeon-food dispensers laced with contraceptive drugs will be set up around the metropolitan area.

This is expected to cut the pigeon population by 20% in the first year, and between 70% and 80% in four to five years.

Until now, pigeons had been captured and culled, causing an outcry among animal-lovers.

But the census and 'contraceptive food dispenser' scheme will be conducted by the veterinary department at Barcelona Autonomous University, a doctor from the Natural Sciences Museum, and the environment and public health department of the regional government, meaning it will be as humane as possible and will not mean any pigeons being killed.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CONSUMER organisation FACUA has denounced re-sales of Bruno Mars concert tickets at inflated prices via unauthorised websites whilst the official channels show up as being sold out.

The same practice was detected months ago with Bruce Springsteen and Red Hot Chilli Peppers concerts.

According to FACUA, the website Seatwave is selling tickets for Bruno Mars' gigs in Barcelona and Madrid at exceptionally high prices – and Seatwave is part of the same company as that which runs Ticketmaster, an official channel for major events held in Spain.

Ticketmaster's site claimed all entries for Bruno Mars were sold out, but a drop-down menu shows they are still available elsewhere and allows the customer to go onto Seatwave without leaving the original website.

Madrid city council's municipal consumer institute already has an inquiry open involving Ticketmaster for previous reports into increased-price ticket sales elsewhere.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TORRENTIAL rain, temperatures dropping to freezing and flash floods in the east of Spain have caused havoc over the last three days and already claimed one life after a woman's car became trapped in gushing water in the province of Barcelona.

She disappeared on Saturday night in Sant Llorenç d'Hortons, and her body was found on Monday in the river Anoia through Martorell.

The victim, 20, who has not been identified but is said to have lived in Sant Joan Despi, was attempting to cross a ford near the Can Ferraguet caravan park where she had been on her way to a birthday party after her in-car GPS sat-nav system led her to the stream in error.

A 19-year-old man travelling with her managed to get out of the car and clung onto the branches of an overhanging tree to save himself, but the young woman was washed away by the current when she tried to climb out of the vehicle.

The bumper of her car was found first, late on Saturday, eventually leading the search party (photograph to the right, taken by the Mossos d'Esquadra) to her body 48 hours later.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BARCELONA'S Sagrada Família cathedral is the most-recommended tourist attraction in Spain, according to a new map of Europe, north Africa and the Middle East drawn up by a cartographer on Reddit.

The map, now available on Google, collated the most common answers to the search engine question 'what to see in [country]', and shows each nation with its top monument or feature emblazoned across it.

Although Granada's Alhambra Palace is statistically the most-visited tourist site in Spain, the as-yet unfinished Sagrada Famílía cathedral, a unique piece of highly modern, avant garde architecture created by Antoni Gaudí – who was killed when he was hit by a bus outside his own greatest work, in 1926 – is the one most websites and question-and-answer fora advise visitors to Spain not to miss.

In fact, Barcelona and Granada, along with Madrid, are the areas foreign holidaymakers seeking city breaks rather than beaches and sunshine tend to visit.

Attractions for some other countries are fairly easy to guess – the Eiffel Tower, the Colisseum of Rome, the Acropolis of Athens, the Tower of London, the Kremlin, Neuschwanstein Castle in the Black Forest, Petra in Jordan, the Swiss Alpes and the Hagia Sofia church in Istanbul – but others are less familiar.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THREE main parties in Parliament will work on a replacement law for the unpopular schools reform brought in by former education minister, José Ignacio Wert.

The PSOE and Ciudadanos, along with the PP which is governing in minority, will set up a task force who will be given six months to draw up a report which will serve as the foundations of a new Basic Education Law, to substitute the LOMCE.

Meanwhile, the timescales for introducing the effects of the LOMCE to the classroom has been put on hold indefinitely in response to the vast majority of teachers, who say they do not have the resources or time to putting the reform in place, and disagree with its content in any case.

The taskforce team's report will be a diagnosis of Spain's education system with proposals and conclusions, taking into account the EU education regulations which set certain requirements to be met by the year 2020.

National and international experts, social, cultural, scientific and educational associations and unions will be consulted, and the aim is to create an 'education pact' with the full agreement of political parties of all colours so that the school system is not changed every time a new government gets into power.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

JUST hours before dying from a heart attack in a Madrid hotel, Valencia's ex-mayoress Rita Barberá (PP) sent a text message to a high-ranking official in the interior ministry asking for help after allegedly receiving death threats.

According to Spanish national daily broadsheet El Mundo, Rita's SMS message to the unnamed ministry figurehead read: “Just to remind you of the latest death-threat letter I've received. This time they've given me until December 1. Hope to see you a few days later, xxxx.”

This was just hours before her sister María José, staying with her in room 315 of the Hotel Villa Real, found Rita was not breathing.

El Mundo details Rita's last 37 hours, including her penultimate meal on Monday night – potato omelette and JB whisky via room service – and that on Tuesday she felt ill so she went to bed without having dinner.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S president Mariano Rajoy says the late Fidel Castro (pictured) was 'a figure of great historical significance' and that the Mediterranean country is 'especially united in grief' with the Cuban government over the leader's death because of his 'close links to Spain'.

“As a the child of Spaniards, [Fidel] was very close to and proud of his blood ties and cultural links to Spain,” Rajoy said in message to the Caribbean island government from his ministry of foreign affairs.

Rajoy also expressed his condolences to the Cuban government and authorities via Twitter.

Castro, who survived 600 attempts on his life between the start of his career as prime minister in 1959 and the end of his presidential reign in 2008, was last seen alive by anyone outside his closest family and friends on November 15, when he welcomed Vietnamese president Tran Dai Quang at his home in Cuba.

Fidel Castro's last public appearance was on August 13 for his 90^th birthday celebrations at the Karl Marx Theatre in La Habana.

Tributes have been pouring in from all over the globe, many of which have been criticised by those who disagreed with or fell foul of Castro's régime.

One which has attracted the most dissent was that of Irish president Michael D. Higgins, who wrote on his website: “Fidel Castro will be remembered as a giant among global leaders whose view was not only one of freedom for his people but for all of the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NATIONAL Police in Spain are hunting for 10 criminals on the run – one of whom is British – and have published their photos to enlist the public's help in tracking them down.

All of them are wanted for very serious crimes, and anyone who thinks they may have information possibly leading to their capture should email fugitivos@policia.es or call 91 582 41 36.

Among them is 25-year-old Gareth Bryan Edwards from Aylesham in Buckinghamshire, who fled the UK to escape sentence for various violent burglaries.

He is said to be 'a very dangerous person', probably armed and in possession of drugs.

One woman is among the escaped criminals – 32-year-old Hayet Boughanmi Ep Abbas, also known as Hayet Kaubisch, from Tunisia - who, along with a Moroccan male friend, stabbed a German man 53 times leaving him for dead.

Hayet could be in Andalucía or Catalunya, and may be pretending to be Moroccan.

Giuglielmo Cirillo, 27, from Mugnano, Naples, is a member of the Polverino Clan, a dangerous Italian mafia involved in drug-dealing, and may be in the Balearic Islands.

Rafal Czerwoniek, 46, from Poland, was sentenced in Germany for belonging to an international drugs racket, and may be living in the Canary Islands.

Ishak Merenvouri, 50, from Algeria but with Finnish nationality, is sought for a sexual assault on a five-year-old child in Helsinki, and may be living in the Canary Islands or Comunidad Valenciana.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

VALENCIA city has declared three days of mourning for its ex-mayoress Rita Barberá, who died in a Madrid hotel from a heart attack yesterday (Wednesday) morning.

Current mayor Joan Ribó, from the left-wing Compromís, says whether or not other politicians or residents agreed with the way she did things or not, Rita, 68, was an 'inescapable part of' the city's history.

The PP politician, who had been forced to resign from the party following her court summons over a bribery and corruption case, was the city leader during some of Valencia's major transformations.

Formula 1 Grand Prix came to Valencia under her auspices, as did the America's Cup, and the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences and opera house, the Palau de les Arts – designed by famous local architect Santiago Calatrava and compared favourably with the well-known Sydney landmark – was built during the 24 years Rita was in power in the city.

Her colleague in national government, María Dolores de Cospedal – now minister of defence – said Rita was 'an excellent politician' and 'an honest woman', whilst national president Mariano Rajoy said 'everyone in the PP was devastated', and was visibly holding back tears as he spoke to the nation after hearing of Rita's death.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A PHISHING scam involving emails purporting to be from Banco Santander has been uncovered, although as yet no victims have come forward.

The National Institute of Cyber-Security (INCIBE), based in the centre-northern city of León, says messages asking the recipient to click on a link to their internet banking site were being sent to clients, aimed at gaining fraudulent access to their accounts and then transferring money out of them.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PARLIAMENT has rejected a proposal to lower the voting age to 16, a motion put forward by the Catalunya Left Republicans (ERC).

Backed by the PSOE (socialists), Unidos Podemos and Catalunya-based independents PDECat, the idea was down-voted by the right-wing reigning PP, centre-right Ciudadanos, and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), with 173 against and 168 in favour.

MP for ERC Gabriel Rufián says allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local, regional and national elections would 'increase the level of democracy' Spain enjoys, whilst socialist spokesman Gregorio Cámara says the PSOE has been 'committed for some time' to letting younger adults vote, a move he says is 'consistent', 'fair' and 'possible'.

Although several left-wing parties backed each other over the motion, they could not refrain from criticising each other – Unidos Podemos spokeswoman Carolina Bescansa slammed the 'electoral engineering' of a system that allows the 'Big Two', the PP and PSOE, to take turns running the country.

Spain uses a similar format to the UK, which effectively favours the mainstream and more powerful parties since they need far fewer votes per Parliamentary seat than the minor outfits.

MP Beatriz Escudero, for the PP, says she 'appreciates the interest in winning the elections' on the part of those pushing for lowering the voting age, but says they have 'failed to notice' that the majority of eligible voters who do not bother to cast their ballot are, in fact, the youngest adults.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN ESTIMATED one million residents in Spain are thought to be 'gifted' or 'high achievers', but only 25,000 of these have had it confirmed, says a leading psychologist who works with high-IQ children and adults.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines 'gifted' adults as those with an IQ of over 130, and believes around 2% of the population of the planet falls into this category, although other sources describe the 'highly-intelligent' as persons whose IQ exceeds 140.

To join MENSA, candidates in Spain or the UK need to possess an IQ lying within the top 1% in either country.

Carmen Sanz Chacón (pictured), chairwoman of the World of the Gifted Foundation, is comfortably within this bracket, having an IQ of 168, but in her 16 years of working with others who share her 'affliction', she has found that the tag 'high achiever' is merely descriptive and has little to do with what a person of superior intelligence has actually done with his or her life.

Given how the gifted are often left out in the cold and are rarely given the type of early education they need, says Carmen, the relationship between grades achieved at school and actual intelligence is, in fact, somewhat inverted.

A significant number of high-IQ pupils suffer poor grades, fail exams, and leave school with few or no qualifications; exactly the opposite of what society would expect.

“In Spain, only 25,000 people have been identified as 'highly-intelligent' or 'gifted', but the rest – a total of around a million – do not know that they are,” explains Carmen.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

WOMEN on maternity leave should not be paying income tax on their benefit, says the High Court of Justice in Madrid – and the Treasury has been ordered to refund over €1.3 million.

This landmark verdict has come as a result of a woman who successfully sued the fiscal authorities for €3,135 she had paid in income tax, or IRPF, whilst on maternity leave, during which period she earnt a net €11,679.

This case is not new – three years ago, messages going viral online urged new mums to demand a tax refund as they should be exempt from IRPF, but the fiscal authorities issued a statement saying it was not true that women on maternity leave did not have to pay.

But some taxpayers did not think the explanation from the Treasury was sufficient and took their cases to the courts.

Until now, judges had always issued verdicts in favour of the tax office, but a woman from Madrid named Casilda – her surname has not been revealed – appealed to a higher court when she was not satisfied with the decision.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN 83-YEAR-OLD lady from Barcelona has just completed her 930^th sole parachute jump – and says she has no plans to give up her favourite sport for a long while yet.

Montse Mechó was 49 when she first leapt out of a plane, and at the time, tandem jumps had not yet been 'invented'.

This means that, unlike all other beginners who are bodily strapped to an instructor with at least one spare parachute, and who does all the work for the new skydiver, Montse had to go it alone – making the decision to jump from the open door of the aircraft and pulling her own parachute cord at the right moment.

Luckily, she was already used to challenging sports that require a fearless constitution; she had competed in the Spanish national swimming and trampolining finals, and went on to win both after her first few skydives.

Aged 80, she featured in a video advertisement for insurance company Aviva, which was subtitled in English.

Separated from her husband decades ago, Montse lives alone and struggles to survive on a pension of just €245 a month – and although just one parachute jump can cost nearly this much, she has become such an ambassador for her local drop zone that they let her do it for free.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AS IF Jamie Oliver's paella with chorizo was not enough to upset Valencia's culinary purists, the latest parody on the region's most famous dish – also invented in the UK – is banoffee paella.

And, in fact, the only connection it has to the original recipe is the paella pan it is cooked in – none of the ingredients of the traditional dish are included, not even rice.

A dubious creation by top baker Dominique Ansel, inventor of the 'cronut' – a cross-breed between a croissant and a doughnut – the banoffee 'paella' was made to celebrate the opening of his eponymous cake and pastry shop in London.

Even die-hard defenders of Valencian paella and its literally hundreds of varieties – none of which are desserts, nor include chorizo – would have trouble dissing the banoffee version after they had tried it, however.

Reports claim it is 'deliciously sticky', loaded with toffee cream, bananas, and butter with a crispy salted butter biscuit crumble topping designed to look a little bit like rice.

Ansel first put the banoffee paella on sale in his flagship bakery in New York to celebrate its fifth anniversary as a limited-edition dish 'until sold out', then launched in the new branch in the UK capital.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SKI resorts in Spain will start opening from this coming Saturday – even earlier than last year, which is hoped to make up for a drop in visitors over the 2015-2016 season.

A total of 4.74 million people hit the slopes last season, some 6.6% fewer than the previous year, thanks to a snow shortage in the first few weeks and poor weather on some of the slopes, especially those in Aragón where sleet, high winds and snowstorms left the pistes empty on the last few days of the season.

Income from skiers also fell, partly due to a concerted effort on the part of slope managers to keep prices down – the average visitor spent 9% less than the year before - €20.44 instead of €22.53.

Typically, hiring skis, poles and boots comes in at around €17, and a lift pass about €21, with insurance for equipment damage an extra €5 and medical cover €3.

Many ski slopes have private emergency health clinics on site, meaning a SIP card – valid for free healthcare in all State hospitals and GP surgeries in Spain – does not cover treatment at the resort, but a very small fee ensures skiers are covered.

As a result, skiing is relatively affordable in Spain for the infrequent visitor, or more regular participants who have their own equipment.

Some ski stations, including those managed by Aramón.es in Aragón, are already offering discounted lift passes for the entire season at around €360, a substantial saving for those who hit the slopes every weekend.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A 32-YEAR-OLD man set fire to 15 Telepizza delivery mopeds worth €30,000 as revenge after his girlfriend lost her job there.

Emergency services were called out in the early hours of the morning to the moped park at the branch of the fast-food chain in San Vicente del Raspeig, about 10 kilometres north of Alicante city.

They had to evacuate the block where the pizza restaurant is based.

An analysis of the fire damage after it was extinguished showed it was almost certainly intentional, and police and firefighters interviewed numerous witnesses.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SOCIAL services in Murcia have launched an inquiry after a couple went off to China leaving their 15-year-old son and his sister, eight, home alone.

Teachers at the little girl's school alerted authorities when they saw the child had not washed, was wearing dirty clothes which were wrong for the time of year, had headlice and had even cut her own hair.

When social workers went to the child's home, they found the property full of rubbish, with rotting remains of food scattered everywhere and dried excrement in the bath.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HOUSING market data so far for 2016 has been optimistic across the board from every source, pointing at a significant rise in sales and an increase – albeit tentative – in home values.

Figures for this year are only generally available up to September, but report a 13.3% year-on-year hike and a total of 391,126 residential properties being shifted in the 12 months prior.

Of these, eight in 10 were second-hand homes, up by 25%, whilst new builds are declining in popularity with figures down from last year by 2.3%.

As for housing values, quantity surveyors Tinsa reports an average rise of 2.9% until September, whilst Eurostat points at a 2.6% increase nationwide for the first two quarters of 2016.

But property values in Spain vary so vastly it is difficult to give concrete figures; homes in tourism belts and major cities continue to climb and sell rapidly, whilst those in smaller towns and inland areas remain stagnant and spend longer on the market.

Prices may be about to stagnate, however, says Felipe Rufino, who runs an online valuation calculator.

“As we have observed in our research on home prices, although in some towns the value hike has been somewhat steep, the general trend in the second half of 2016 is for a more contained and discreet price rise which appears to confirm a slowdown in the market; possibly because of the recent political stalemate,” Rufino says, referring to Spain's 11 months without a government.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH residents will spend an average of €682 on Christmas this year – the second-highest sum in Europe after the Danes, according to a survey by accountancy firm Deloitte.

Generally, the amount Spaniards intend to blow on the festive season this year is around 30% above the EU average – despite being in the bottom half for its income-living cost ratio.

And planned expenditure for yuletide 2017 is up 4% on that of 2016, the research shows.

The average European will spend €517, falling by 1% on last year's sum, meaning Spain's expected outpouring of cash is considerably higher.

Deloitte says this shows a more optimistic outlook, on the streets, about the country's economy and financial security – in fact, 74% of those interviewed in Spain believe it has improved since or, at least, is no worse than in, 2015, whilst 71% predict it will continue along these lines in 2017.

Compared with results of the same survey in November 2015, Deloitte reports a notable improvement: only 63% thought the nation's economic situation was better or at least as stable as a year previously, and just 66% expected the trend to continue in 2016.

Confidence among consumers appears to be rising in Spain, says Deloitte: two-thirds of respondents consider they have at least the same or even greater spending power this year than last, compared with 52% in the run-up to Christmas 2015.

And Spain is only just behind Europe's biggest festive spenders: Danish householders expect to blow around €689 on Christmas, just €7 more than in Spain.

Other countries above average in terms of planned expenditure were Italy, where respondents said they would spend around €614; Belgium (€592), and Germany (€529).

Some of the lowest planned Christmas expense was found in Greece, with a predicted €439 each; Portugal (€431); Russia (€348), and Poland (€328).

Part of the reason Spain's spending will be the second-highest in Europe is because, effectively, the country has two Christmases – presents are exchanged and families get together for meals on Christmas Eve night, and the Three Kings on the night of January 5 is another gift-giving session.

The 'Kings' used to be the main, or even the only, festive celebration in Spain, even until just five or 10 years ago, but the tradition of Santa Claus and December 24 and 25 has caught on.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

UTILITY board Gas Natural has pledged to review all supply cuts due to non-payment after an 81-year-old woman died in Reus (Tarragona province).

Rosa lived alone and could not make ends meet on her pension, leading to her electricity being cut off two months ago.

She used candles for lighting, and one of these set fire to her mattress when she was asleep, destroying her home and resulting in her death.

She had not been able to pay her rent for the last 10 months of her life, reports Reus town hall.

Her tragic plight has led to uproar nationwide as power providers continue to make multi-million profits whilst thousands of householders are living without electricity because they cannot afford their bills.

A protest was staged in Reus after Rosa P.V.'s death was announced by the Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca ('Mortgage Victims' Association', or PAH), with crowds chanting, “no more Rosas,” and “fuel poverty kills.”

They staged the demonstration outside the town hall, just a few metres from Rosa's flat above a row of designer boutiques and a sushi restaurant.

None of the 70-strong group knew Rosa personally and none of her family or friends attended.

According to the managing director of Gas Natural, “you can't blame utility boards for cases like this.”

Rosa's neighbours say they did not even know her, and never saw her.

“She was the lady from Flat B on the second floor,” said one resident in the three-storey block.

“We knew she was being attended to by social services, because one day they rang the wrong intercom.”

She was said to have been partially disabled and had lived mostly on her own, and had a 'dysfunctional family'.

Sometimes her adult granddaughter lived there, occasionally alone and other times with her boyfriend and his daughter, but Rosa had been living there on her own on the night of the fire, which broke out at 03.00 on Monday.

The council says it had not known her electricity had been cut off and that the utility firm had not let them know, 'as is their legal duty to do so'.

Although she had 'been using the social services since 2013', they were only aware that this department had been paying her water bill for the past year.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BRUSSELS has decided not to withhold funds from Spain as a sanction for the country's failure to meet its debt targets – just four months after the EU let it off a fine totalling 0.2% of the GDP for the same reason.

Although the fine, which would have been around €2 billion, was waived, Brussels was still intending to keep back 50% of EU funds from Spain until its national debt was reduced in accordance with European rules.

This would have deprived Spain of around €1.2bn in essential grants.

But the European Parliament urged Brussels not to retain the money, stressing that the Spanish government had taken 'sufficient measures' to try to repair the deficit.

Brussels has agreed, but warns that 'in the absence of major changes in economic policy', Spain is at risk of failing to comply with debt targets in 2017.

This stay of execution for Spain is likely to be only temporary, and purely due to the country's high unemployment and an already-struggling population unable to bear the burden of more taxes to cover fines or loss of funds.

Portugal has also been give the same lenient treatment, and will not be fined or lose out on funding because of its deficit.

In Spain's case, the national debt – 5% of the GDP and the highest it has been for over a century – is well above the target of 4.2% imposed by the EU.

This is largely aggravated by the fact that the GDP is reducing rather than the actual debt amount increasing, since high unemployment means less production per capita.

Economy minister Luis de Guindos stood up in European Parliament just over a week ago to fight Spain's corner, stressing that 'correction measures' approved would bring in an extra €10bn.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BARCELONA will have its own 'virtual currency' by next year, despite the Bank of Spain warning the move is 'ill-advised'.

From January 1, 2017, the town of Santa Coloma de Gramenet will accept its own local currency in 108 shops, restaurants and other business premises.

And the so-called 'social currency' will be in operation in the Eix Besòs cluster – the Nou Barris, Sant Andreu and Sant Martí neighbourhoods of Barcelona city – from the same date.

By the year 2019, the whole of the metropolitan area will accept the local money.

Physical coins and notes will not be minted, since payment is entirely electronic – via mobile phones and tablets – and Barcelona will be one of 4,000 cities worldwide to use its own currency.

Bristol, UK, was the flagship city for Europe.

Fernando Restoy of the Bank of Spain said last year that introducing a uniquely-municipal form of money was 'impossible and unacceptable' in response to Barcelona mayoress Ada Colau's election pledge.

The currency in Santa Coloma is not the same as the one that will be in circulation in Barcelona, and the town's mayoress Núria Parlon has called for residents to give it a name.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A SHOPPING centre in Navarra will carry out a 'Jihad terror drill' this week, just days after the anniversary of the Paris attacks which killed 130 people and of whom only one of the ISIS killers is still alive.

La Morea retail mall in Cordovilla will see 200 people attempting to act as calmly as possible and follow security workers' instructions in the early hours of the morning.

Centre bosses have warned they could 'make a lot of noise', and that sirens and alarms will be going off as well as the sound of fake shooting and explosions, probably for up to two hours.

The idea is to work out the best way to respond in the event of a Jihad terrorism attack – drama students will act as members of the public, whilst the Red Cross, Guardia Civil, Navarra's regional Foral Police, the Civil Protection squad and DYA criminal unit take up stations and practice how they would act if ISIS fighters opened fire on an enclosed area for real.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A SECOND-DIVISION football team player says he was forced to pay for private medical treatment after the State hospital he was taken to refused to speak to him in Spanish.

Vitolo, midfielder for CD Tenerife, broke his nose during a match against Girona FC and was taken to A&E at the Costa Brava capital's Doctor Josep Trueta hospital.

But he says the doctors and nurses would only speak to him in catalán, despite his protesting that, as he comes from the Canary Islands, he does not understand the regional language of the north-eastern territory.

Staff apparently reminded him that, in accordance with Catalunya's regional laws, they had the right to use 'their' language in all public and private spheres.

Yet although catalán is a co-official language in the region, the entire population of Catalunya speaks and understands Castilian Spanish, the national tongue of Spain, and for most of them, both Spanish and catalán are their native languages.

In the end, Vitolo says, he had to go to a private hospital because he could not understand the staff at the State-run centre.

Not all regions in Spain have a co-official language, but those which do are increasingly pushing it to the forefront.

In some areas, regional tongues co-exist with Spanish or are simply another option, but in others, they even come first.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A PATIENT from A Coruña (Galicia) has filed a formal complaint about his photo whilst in the operating theatre being used on cigarette packets without his permission.

The plaintiff, identified only by his initials of F.J.T.A., said his operation at Santiago de Compostela hospital was not even for a smoking-related condition – he was having a titanium plate fitted in his spine due to back problems.

According to the 54-year-old from Boiro (A Coruña), he noticed a picture of himself with an oxygen tube on the front of cigarette packets and loose rolling tobacco of 'several different brands' – but he had not realised before as he does not smoke.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HALF an hour of homework a night is more than enough, and should be based upon play and fun activity as far as possible as well as adapted to the individual pupil, the headmistress of 'the best school in the world' told Spanish teachers in Valencia this weekend.

Hanna Sarakorpi, of the Saunalahti School in Finland – ranked number one in the world in PISA tests – gave a talk at an education conference in Valencia right in the middle of Spain's first-ever 'homework strike', whereby parents have told teachers their kids will not do any extra-curricular work set for them at weekends.

Homework is important, Ms Sarakorpi stresses, because it enables parents to see first-hand how their children are managing in school and where their academic strengths and weaknesses lie.

“But we're talking about half an hour – a maximum of an hour – and every child is different with different abilities, so it's important that the teacher assigns the appropriate type of homework and that this is not excessively difficult for the pupil,” the Finnish headmistress told 200-plus teachers at the conference.

Parents and teachers work very closely together in Finland, meeting up several times a year on a one-to-one basis and devising active, tailor-made education plans together which are regularly reviewed.

“If we do give homework, it's always the bare minimum necessary and is tailored to improving the child's performance and giving the parents, when they supervise them, the chance to see what problems their youngsters are having and where they are doing best,” explains Ms Sarakorpi, who has been a head teacher for over 17 years and a classroom teacher for decades before then.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MOTHER of Manchester City's Manuel 'Nolito' Agudo, Rocío, says she lives as a squatter and begs outside a supermarket whilst her son earns €116,000 a week in the UK and does not give her a penny.

Nolito has not commented on the story, which has made international headline news in both countries.

Rocío Agudo, 46, has even spoken to British left-wing tabloid The Mirror, admitting she has been in prison, and is now 'trying to rebuild herself' after a lifetime of heroin addiction and working as a prostitute.

She now has no income, so she squats in an empty flat in the family's home town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz province) and begs outside a supermarket every day.

Nolito and his mother had a row a year ago via WhatsApp, Rocío said, and her son told her she 'had a black soul' ('una alma negra') and that she only ever contacted him when she wanted something.

He is said to have told her to steal food if she cannot eat, and told her in no uncertain terms 'where to go'.

Nolito has a brother, Jesús and sister, Candela, both aged six, who squat and beg with their mother.

Rocío says the player used to pay her rent on her apartment in Sanlúcar, but stopped doing so and she had to break into a repossessed flat and set up camp there illegally.

She said she had reproached her eldest son for hiring a cleaner for his flat in Manchester instead of getting her to do the job.

Clearly, the problems with Nolito and his mother date back long before – the 29-year-old has always considered his grandparents, Rocío's mum and dad, as his own parents.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Politicians have expressed their unease at King Felipe's upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, with Podemos condemning it outright and Ciudadanos demanding that the topic of human rights be raised.

Podemos parliamentary spokeswoman Irene Montero vehemently denounced Felipe VI's forthcoming coming visit to Saudi Arabia, saying that her party was "ashamed" that he would "have his photo taken with dictators". "We should all be ashamed that the King, who represents the image of our whole country, would have his photo taken with dictators," she said.

It is hoped that the King's trip to the Middle Eastern state this weekend will confirm a contract for the Spanish company Navantia to build five small warships for the Saudi armed forces, a contract that will guarantee work for the Ferrol shipyard in A Coruña and the San Fernando shipyard in Cadiz for the next five years.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LEFT-WING politicians in Spain say president Mariano Rajoy's comments about Donald Trump's winning the USA elections are 'regrettable', whilst European Parliamentary president Martin Schulz says future talks between Europe and the United States are likely to be 'very difficult'.

Rajoy, on Twitter, congratulated the billionaire tycoon this morning on winning the elections and expressed his interest in continuing to work with the world's most powerful country, which he called 'an indispensable partner'.

The PP leader then sent Trump a telegram to that effect, highlighting the 'vitality' of north American democracy and expressing his 'greatest consideration and esteem'.

“The people have made their voice heard, revealing, once again, the vitality of north American democracy,” said Rajoy in his message.

“Together we will continue to face up to the challenges and threats on the international scene.”

He mentioned that the TTIP, the controversial transatlantic trade agreement between the USA and Europe, was 'key' for Spain.

Rajoy added that he planned to work with the new US government to 'enrich relations with the EU'.

The telegram was the first major job of Rajoy's new foreign affairs minister, Alfonso Dastis.

Socialist president in Andalucía, Susana Díaz, says Trump's victory 'represents a threat to harmonious coexistence'.

“This challenge will require an ever stronger Europe with even greater social values,” Díaz said on Twitter.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FLIGHTS to the UK will restart from Granada airport from next year, and the first tickets went on sale today.

Low-cost carrier EasyJet will start operating routes between London Gatwick and Federico García Lorca airport, which serves Granada and Jaén and sits on the provinceial border, from February 4, 2017.

This will bring an estimated 20,000 British visitors to Granada over next year, the provincial tourist board estimates.

Flights will run three times weekly – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays – year-round, even in low season which is, in fact, when Granada city welcomes the most tourists.

EasyJet confirms it intends to look into opening up to 17 new routes from Granada-Jaén airport to several other European cities.

It has not confirmed which one, but says at least one will be in the UK.

Granada, meanwhile, is attemping to seduce British tourists to the city and wider province: for the first time ever, its authorities are manning a stand within the Andalucía pavilion at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, which concludes today.

According to representatives, the tourist board wants to show UK visitors that 'there is more to Granada than the Alhambra Palace'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A SPOOF campaign which became earnest when a national rice manufacturer took it up has won the day: from this month, all modern mobile phones will be able to produce a paella emoticon.

And a last-minute change to the emoticon 'dictionary' was made to ensure the paella symbol did not reflect a Jamie Oliver version with chorizo sausage – a recipe the British celebrity chef got so much backlash for that the UK ambassador for Spain, Simon Manly, had to get involved.

The new emoticon shows chicken legs, runner beans and butterbeans, relfecting the traditional format of Valencian paella.

Started by stand-up comedian Eugeni Alemany, the campaign was soon joined by the rice brand La Fallera and, together, they gave their quest so much publicity that it ended up convincing the main communcations platforms such as Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Samsung.

Using the hashtag #PaellaEmoji, the campaigners were given the thumbs-up in May and networks have gradually been introducing the new design into their systems.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

WHILE most of Spain is promoting itself as a top tourism destination at the World Travel Market (WTM) in London, representatives from the Castilla y León city of Salamanca have headed further north – to Durham University, in order to drum up more Spanish language students.

One of the three oldest colleges in the UK and second from top in the country for research, Durham University has been chosen as a cheaper and more effective alternative for Salamanca than the Language Show Live in London, which took place in May.

A stand titled, “Salamanca: City of Spanish,” opening tomorrow (Tuesday) and continuing on Wednesday, features two accredited Spanish-learning centres in the centre-northern metropolitan area which are offering scholarships for language students, Spanish teachers, and those involved in so-called 'train the trainer' courses.

Although the purest Spanish is said to be spoken in the city of Valladolid – also in Castilla y León – Salamanca is thought to be the centre of classical Spain and of language standardisation, being home to the country's oldest university.

In fact, Salamanca is often dubbed 'the Oxford of Spain', and the nation's main focus of language-learning.

Durham University is an ideal partner, to this end – it is 29^th in the world in arts and humanities research and teaching, according to the QS World University Subject Rankings 2016-2017, and for the second year running, its Faculty of Hispanic Studies has been named the second-best in the UK, behind that of Cambridge University and ahead of Oxford, according to the Complete University Guide 2017.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TODAY (Monday) sees the start of one of the planet's most prestigious and popular tourism trade fairs, the World Travel Market (WTM) in London -and representatives from most of Spain's regions will be there to try to drum up more business among British holidaymakers.

And British Premier League footballers Luke Chambers, Dean Austin, Alan Hutton, Stephen Clemence, Chris Hugton and referee Mark Clattenburg will be on the Marbella stand, along with agent Rob Segal and Argentine player Fede González.

The Costa del Sol town, jointly with its neighbour San Pedro Alcántara, will be marketing itself as an élite sporting destination – both in terms of players and spectators – promoting major sports events it hosts and its own superior facilities.

Golf, football, water sports and sailing, and excellent running circuits such as the seafront esplanade, will all be given plenty of airing at the three-day fair on board the Cutty Sark in Greenwich Dry Dock in the UK capital.

A not-to-be-missed event for authorities and traders in any part of the world that relies upon tourism for its income, the WTM runs until Wednesday, November 9 inclusive and will feature over 50,000 professionals from the industry, with more than 5,000 stands representing 182 countries.

Some 3,000 media representatives will be reporting on the fair, and top tour operators are a regular feature.

Tenerife's tourist board has planned meetings with agents from Thomas Cook, Jet2, FTI, Lastminute.com, Norwegian Airlines – which runs flights to London Gatwick from several Spanish airports – Explore Holidays, Travel Counsellors and Perfect Weddings Abroad, among others.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE twin brother of a two-year-old killed in an ETA car bomb blast says if he met the terrorist involved, he 'would go out for a coffee with him'.

Álex Moreno, the quieter of the twin boys, has suffered post-traumatic stress and 'survivor's guilt' all his life and, despite his young age at the time, clearly remembers being in the car with his dad and brother Fabio on the way to the swimming pool when an explosive device blew their vehicle to pieces in 1991.

“It's very traumatic; you don't forget,” admits Álex, 27, who says his family – despite suffering the worst loss any parent could imagine – 'has never felt any hatred'.

“I've never, ever seen hate in anyone in my family,” the surviving twin reflects.

The boys' dad was targeted because he is a Guardia Civil officer, and the boys suffered the collateral because the family lived in a police residence at the station in Erandio, Vizcaya province – of which the capital is Bilbao – in the Basque Country.

“After Fabio died, I didn't sleep well at all for years and suffered terrible nightmares,” admitted Álex.

“Whenever the anniversary of the attack came up, I used to wake up screaming in the night.”

The youngster even became mute for a number of years due to the emotional damage caused – but later, surprisingly, he found he 'embodied' the character of his late brother.

“Fabio was much more active and lively and bouncy than I was; I was much quieter. But after the attack, I eventually became more of a live wire and a bit naughtier and cheekier, as though I was taking on Fabio's personality – which was a bit strange.”

Clearly, the children's father was wracked with guilt.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CAR manufacturers in Spain say windscreen wipers should be replaced annually – and now is the right time of year to do so.

Accumulation of dust, flies and grease, which spread all over the windscreen when the wipers are first used, can end up scratching the glass and do not swish away the rain sufficiently, reducing visibility by between 20% and 30%.

The summer heat causes the rubber to dry out, crack and shrink, meaning there is little point replacing wipers at this time of year or in spring, says car parts maker Bosch, which supplies windscreen wipers for numerous makes and models of vehicles.

Bosch's head office in Spain says drivers should clean their wipers with a damp cloth or sponge, but no chemicals, before they set off if it looks likely they may need to be used, and to keep them working effectively, should place a strip of cardboard between them and the windscreen during periods of frost and ice, and never to use them on iced-up windows.

Whilst very rare on the Mediterranean and south coasts, frost, ice and snow are a frequent feature of winter inland and in the north, often to extreme levels rarely seen even in the UK – several feet of snow for several weeks in winter, and frosts and ice from early autumn are common in northern parts and at higher altitudes.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

INCITEMENT to hatred on social networks is not covered by the Constitutional right to 'freedom of speech', Spain's Supreme Court has found.

The case in question relates to a Facebook and Twitter user who made comments in support of ETA's 40-year reign of terror, but the definition of 'hate speech' has been found to cover death wishes against any public figurehead, racism, homophobia or 'Islamophobia'.

The accused in question, referring to Basque councillor Miguel Ángel Blanco, who was shot dead on live TV after being kidnapped by ETA in 1997, had written: “I don't feel sorry for Blanco, I feel sorry for families whose homes are repossessed by the banks.”

Behaviour 'of this tenor' does not 'deserve the coverage of fundamental rights', said a Supreme Court judge, and constitutes a 'criminal offence'.

“Terrorism constitutes the most serious breach of human rights of members of the community who suffer it,” the verdict reads.

“Objectively, the words used in this case constitute an attack on certain victims, and the lauding and encouragement of terrorism is something nobody can escape from.

“The explanations given subsequently by the author cannot remove this sentiment from them, because said explanations were not present in the message which was read by numerous recipients, who were unable to read these additional mitigating comments.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A 'PHISHING' scam involving links supposedly to Vodafone-ONO mobile phone bills has been uncovered by Spain's National Institute of Cyber Security (INCIBE).

Emails that appear to be from the network provider titled 'your bill' includes what looks like a link to a standard monthly invoice from the company, and gives the total amount and the date of issue.

Customers would normally then click on the link to enter the company website and download their bill in PDF format, as this is how most network providers now send invoices rather than in paper format by post.

But those who click on the link apparently from Vodafone-ONO will end up running a file that installs malware into their computer.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRESIDENT of Spain Mariano Rajoy has told King Felipe VI who will occupy the various positions within his cabinet, before making an announcement to the nation.

The PP leader's former right-hand woman, 'iron lady' María Dolores de Cospedal, has been placed at the head of the ministry of defence – mirroring the decision of Rajoy's predecessor, socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who was the first to nominate a woman for the job in Carme Chacón.

Former mayor of Sevilla Juan Ignacio Zoido is now interior minister, whilst Catalunya-born Dolors Montserrat takes over health, social services and equality.

Vice-president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, one of the PP government's most well-respected figureheads even among supporters of the opposition, will keep her role but also take over presidential affairs and territorial administration, giving her a greater range of responsibility.

Foreign affairs and cooperation, previously headed up by José Manuel García-Margallo, will go to Alfonso Dastis, and energy, tourism and digital agenda will be led by Álvaro Nadal.

Although the cabinet includes some new faces, many others will remain in their jobs.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A WOMAN who has been driving without a licence for 53 years has been sentenced to community service in the far north-western coastal town of Ferrol (Galicia).

María José F.B, 74, has never taken or passed a driving test, but has been getting behind the wheel almost daily since 1963 and says she 'has never had an accident' nor had any 'legal problems'.

Her more than half-century of never having been asked to show her driving licence ended recently when she had a minor bump on the Basanta roundabout on the FE-13 highway from Castilla, en route to the AP-9 motorway sliproad, heading in a southerly direction towards A Coruña.

The knock was not serious, only causing minor bodywork damage, but the man driving the car María José damaged was incensed and called the police to the scene.

Officers asked to see both drivers' car paperwork and licences as a matter of standard procedure, but the pensioner explained she did not have the latter as she had never taken a test.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A MASS of polar air heading for Spain means temperatures are set to drop by around 13ºC across the country from Saturday, putting an end to the long Indian summer which has seen beaches occupied in the first week of November.

High altitudes, especially in the north of the mainland, will even see snow.

Generalised rainfall is expected from Friday onwards, with the cold snap hitting the north and north-west first and gradually working its way down the country, meaning the Costas are likely to get a day's respite before the first taste of winter bites.

Weathermen from the State meteorological agency, AEMET, say the chilly front is currently hovering around the coast of Portugal, meaning the Canary Islands will not escape as the drop in temperature will wend its way south down the Atlantic.

The Mediterranean, traditionally one of the warmest parts of mainland Spain, will wave a tearful goodbye to the warmth and sunshine from the weekend, but the mercury will continue at levels somewhat higher than typically seen in early to mid-November, AEMET reveals.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A TOWN near Valencia will check DNA in dog 'deposits' not cleared up from the street to trace the owners and fine them – the latest in a series of increasingly-creative ways of combating the pet excrement problem faced in numerous municipalities.

All dog-owners in Mislata, just outside Valencia city, have until New Year's Eve to visit a vet in the town for a free-of-charge blood sample, which will be registered on the council's database.

Those who fail to do so will be fined €300.

Dogs must then wear a name tag given to them once the blood is taken.

Any excrement not cleared up will be tested by council technicians and a DNA match run on the database.

The owner's name and address will show up, and they will be sent a notice to pay a fine of €200.

With their dogs' genetic code logged on the town pet census, owners cannot hide from their responsibility to clean up after their pooches.

This scheme has been in place in other towns across the country, and works more as a deterrent – knowing they will definitely be caught and fined has caused owners to avoid shirking their duties and the amount earned in fines has not actually gone up much at all.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HOLIDAYMAKERS continue to flock to Spain in unprecedented numbers – and the Indian summer is proving a huge help for the tourism industry, with beaches still full up on parts of the east and south coast, a rare sight in November.

Up to and including September alone, a total of 60.3 million visitors had travelled to Spain – the equivalent of one-and-a-third of its population and a rise of 10.1% year-on-year.

And although July and August are peak holiday season in Spain, September alone saw a whopping 7.9 million foreign tourists arriving.

Of these, a total of two million – just over a quarter – were from the UK, which continues to be one of Spain's largest holidaymaker markets.

Reports from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) say British visitors were up 12.8% on last September 'despite Brexit', although it must be remembered that 'Brexit' has not happened yet and is unlikely to until at least early 2019.

Many package holidays will have been booked before the Brexit referendum and, results of this aside, Spain remains the safest short-haul sunshine destination and one of the cheapest, especially in September when the much higher school summer holiday prices no longer apply.

If this situation continues, even after Brexit happens and despite the weaker pound sterling, it is likely Spain will remain the most-affordable beach holiday spot – and British weather will still mean residents want to seek some sunshine for a week or two a year, whatever else they have to sacrifice financially.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AIR pollution in Madrid is once again leading the city council to drastic action and, although mayoress Manuela Carmena called off today's non-resident parking ban, similar measures are likely to be imposed in the near future.

Stopping traffic entering the metropolitan area is now becoming increasingly common, especially since, not quite a year ago, nitrogen dioxide levels in Madrid's urban hub nearly doubled the World Health Organisation (WHO)'s recommended safe limits.

When the thick cap of smog floating above the capital gets worse, Madrid bans cars from entering the urban nucleus within the M-30 motorway, the city's answer to the M25, but today's restrictions were withdrawn because of yesterday (Tuesday) being a national bank holiday and many workers having taken Monday off to go away for a long weekend, meaning the exodus was likely to return early this morning.

Sra Carmena's latest solution – which may only be temporary – is to only permit cars with even-numbered registration plates into the city on even-numbered days, and vice versa with odd-numbered registration plates and dates.

This could become complicated for visitors from outside the area who are unaware of the rules, especially if they are travelling in hired cars and are not sure of the registration number.

However, during the first few inner-M30 driving and parking bans, those who broke the rules unwittingly or otherwise and were handed fine notices were all let off from paying, with the shock of receiving these acting as a deterrent.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SIX nuclear plants in Spain are now in disuse but have not been properly shut down and dismantled, Greenpeace has alerted.

Taking down nuclear plants when their useful life ends and replacing them with renewable energy supplies would, as well as eradicating the health hazards they pose, create around 100,000 new jobs, says the charity's latest report.

Five provinces in Spain house nuclear reactors – these are based in Garoña and Miranda de Ebro (Burgos), L'Ametlla de Mar (Tarragona province), Gárgoles de Abajo (Guadalajara), Trujillo (Cáceres) and the Ayora-Cofrentes valley in the province of Valencia.

To raise awareness of their risks, Greenpeace staged a sponsored 'zombie fun-run' the day before Hallowe'en in each of these towns and villages, although the race for Ayora-Cofrentes was held in Valencia city.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com