Live News From Spain As It Happens

EATING grapes is the third-most frequent cause of children under five choking, experts in Spain have warned ahead of the great New Year's Eve tradition involving the fruit.

According to the Spanish Otorhinolaryngology [ear, nose and throat] and Head and Neck Surgery Society (SEORL-CCC), the risk of fatal choking is even greater when small children consume grapes with pips and skin.

On New Year's Eve, it is custom to eat one grape on each of the 12 chimes as the clock strikes midnight to mark the start of the year to come – and, if children really must join in, they should be given peeled and seedless grapes, which frequently come in tins of 12 specifically for the purpose.

Medics say they will be on the alert on New Year's Eve as this is when they deal with more choking incidents than at any other time of year.

Nuts and balloons are the top two causes of choking, although any type of small fruit is a risk, says the SEORL-CCC's Dr Raimundo Gutiérrez Fonseca.

“Given the shape and texture of grapes, they can slip in the child's mouth, unchewed, and obstruct the respiratory system, preventing the child from breathing – a situation which, if it is not dealt with very quickly, can lead to death,” Dr Gutiérrez Fonseca explains.

“It is best not to give grapes to children under five – if they want to join in the New Year's Eve tradition, cut them up small, peel them and take out the seeds.”

Most fatal choking incidents occur in children under two, when their teeth are not developed, the throat and swallowing system is not yet properly formed, and the respiratory system becomes blocked more easily.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TWO people have drowned now that Storm Bruno has hit Spain, bringing winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour (62mph) and 25 centimetres (10 inches) of snow.

Waves of up to eight metres (26 feet) high have been seen off most of the mainland and Balearic coasts, and 15 of Spain's 17 regions – all bar the Canary Islands and the land-locked western Extremadura – are on 'yellow' or 'orange' weather alerts.

'Orange' warnings have been placed on Cantabria, Asturias, the Basque Country, Navarra, Aragón, Catalunya, Valencia, and Murcia, as well as the provinces of León and Palencia (Castilla y León), all of Galicia bar the province of Ourense, and the provinces of Almería, Huelva and Jaén (Andalucía).

Everywhere else except Extremadura and the Canaries is on 'yellow alert'.

A 42-year-old Spaniard windsurfing off the coast of Alcúdia, Mallorca, in the Corral d'en Pedrassa area drowned at around 11.30 this morning (Wednesday) – just 40 minutes after a 56-year-old man was blown off his balcony in Segur de Calafell (Tarragona province), landing on the interior patio and dying immediately from his injuries.

One plane has been cancelled today and four others forced to turn back to their airport of origin, whilst a further two were diverted to other terminals.

A Vueling flight leaving Barcelona's El Prat airport had to turn around and go back this morning, as did a Lufthansa aircraft heading for Spain from Munich, an Iberia flight and an Air Europa flight which had set off from Madrid, and an Air Nostrum regional craft which had taken off from Valencia – all of which were heading for Bilbao's La Paloma airport.

MURCIA will have its high-speed AVE rail link to Madrid in 2018, and the region's Corvera International Airport will be put into operation this coming year, Spanish president Mariano Rajoy announced today (Wednesday).

In a meeting with Murcia's regional president Fernando López Miras and accompanied by minister of public works Íñigo de la Serna, Rajoy confirmed that this spring, the first phase of the AVE line between Murcia city and Monforte del Cid in the south-west of the province of Alicante would be completed.

The full journey to Madrid from Murcia via AVE will be two-and-a-half hours, Rajoy explains.

He says the works are 'almost done', having cost just over €1.42 billion.

The line would go underground as it crosses the city, in response to popular demand – although those who do not agree with the move staged a protest outside the building during the meeting between the three politicians.

According to Rajoy, the AVE will connect with Cartagena, and with Lorca in the south of the region, close to the border with Andalucía and the province of Almería.

A COURT in Galicia has ruled that it is legal and acceptable for a parent to read his or her child's WhatsApp messages where the son or daughter is a minor.

A mother from the province of Pontevedra who shares custody of her nine-year-old daughter with the girl's father, her ex-husband, had filed a case against him after he read her messages and 'attempted to do so' with the child's older brother, who is also a minor, but who refused to give his dad his mobile phone PIN code.

The mother considered this a violation of privacy, but the court of first instance threw out the case and said no criminal offence had been committed.

She appealed to Pontevedra Provincial Court, which has ruled that the father's checking his children's WhatsApp messages was part of his duty to protect and educate them and bring them up.

NOW Storm Ana has blown over, Spain is about to be hit by Storm Bruno with torrential rain, wind and snow in the centre, south and north of the country and in mountainous areas.

Spain's second 'storm with a name' is currently lingering off the coast of Galicia and Cantabria, having arrived today (Christmas Day) and this powerful Atlantic front will bring cold and blustery weather to the rest of the mainland between Boxing Day and this coming Thursday (December 28).

Only the far south-east of the country is likely to escape, although snow is possible in these areas from altitudes of around 1,200 to 1,500 metres.

Storms and hail along the north coast and snow at altitudes above 700 metres are forecast for Wednesday, and above 1,000 in the centre of the country.

About 20 to 30 centimetres (eight to 12 inches) of snow is expected in the Pyrénées and across Cantabria and Asturias, or around five to 10 centimetres (two to four inches) in the central mountains and those of southern Aragón.

High winds will start from Boxing Day evening in the north-west and spread to the rest of the mainland by the early hours of Wednesday, reaching 100 to 110 kilometres per hour (62 to 68mph) in the north and 70 to 80 kilometres per hour (43.5 to 50mph) on the rest of the mainland and in the Balearic Islands.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A TEENAGE boy has lost his hand after playing with fireworks at his home in Jaén, Andalucía.

The 13-year-old was about to light a rocket on Christmas Day at 00.20 – given that in Spain, the main festive celebrations happen on the night of Christmas Eve – in the patio of his home on the C/ Murillo in the Peñamefecit neighbourhood of the city.

Although emergency services sent out an ambulance and the Local Police, they did not need to intervene as the child's parents took their son directly to hospital.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

KING Felipe VI's Christmas Eve speech contained clear references to Catalunya's political crisis, although without specifically mentioning the region.

Royalty are expected to be politically-neutral, meaning the Monarch would not have been able to make a direct condemnation of the independence movement, but in an unusual move, he did not hesitate to name Catalunya.

HRH Felipe said 2017 had been 'a difficult year for our life together' as a country, adding: “Spain is, today, a mature democracy where any citizen can think, defend and weigh up, freely and democratically, their opinions and their ideas; but cannot impose their own ideas on other people's rights.”

In the same vein, the King called for 'the principles and values of our social and democratic State and rule of law' to be 'respected and preserved', warning that 'once these basic principles are broken' the cohesion of the community 'firstly deteriorates and later becomes impossible'.

The Monarch conceded, however, that the path taken over the history of Spain's democracy 'has not always been the right one'.

OVERNIGHT stays in hotels have gone up by 2.8% this year, although fewer guests have been registered in Catalunya.

Travellers living in other parts of the country showed an increase in hotel stays of 3.5% in the first 11 months of 2017 compared with the same period in 2016, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

A total of 17.5 million people stayed in hotels, holiday apartments and other tourist accommodation between January and November inclusive, although in Catalunya, 2.19 million fewer visitors – a reduction of 6.2% - was recorded.

Non-residents in Spain, or foreign tourists, showed a 1.3% increase across the country.

For Catalunya, visitors from elsewhere in Spain declined by 4.1% whilst foreign tourists staying overnight dropped by 7.3%.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN earns less in IVA than any other country in Europe except for Ireland and Italy in relation to its GDP, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat.

Although IVA income has gone up from its historic low of 3.9% in 2009, one of the worst years of the financial crisis, it is still well below the EU average and has dropped from the 6.5% of the GDP recorded in 2015.

At 6.4%, Spain's earnings from value-added tax are greater than Italy's 6.1% and Ireland's 4.7%, but are lower than any other EU member State.

In 2016, the European Union average was 7% of the GDP across the 28 countries, although slightly lower in the Eurozone, at 6.8%.

But IVA earned by the State varies considerably by country across Europe, with some nations amassing over 10%.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THIS year's El Gordo Christmas lottery jackpot number is 71198 and has been won by players in around 20 towns, villages and cities in the provinces of Murcia, Valencia, Las Palmas, Cádiz, Lleida, Jaén, Huesca, Lugo, and in the regions of Cantabria, Madrid and the Canary Islands.

In accordance with tradition, the children's choir at the San Ildefonso school in Madrid 'sang' the winning numbers, with the jackpot combination announced by pupils Yousseff Salhi and Noelia Katiuska.

Lottery tickets are sold either as a whole, for €200, or as décimos or tenths of a ticket at €20 each.

Among the winners, a total of 160 factory workers in Esbelt de Manlleu (Barcelona province) have won €2.28 million between them after drawing the third-prize ticket, number 06914, worth €500,000 for a full one or €50,000 for a décimo.

The first prize is worth €4m for a ticket or €400,000 for a décimo.

Second prize has gone to tickets bearing the number 51244, worth €1.25m for a full one or €125,000 for a décimo.

Fourth-prize tickets are numbered 13378 and 61207, for €200,000 or €20,000 a décimo, and fifth-prize tickets, worth €60,000 or €6,000 a décimo, are numbers 58808, 05431, 37872, 18065, 03278, 00580, 24982, and 22253.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CENTRE-RIGHT Ciudadanos has won the regional elections in Catalunya, but the pro-independence parties combined have scooped up an outright majority, leaving the political situation in the north-eastern region hanging in the balance.

Ciudadanos, led by Inés Arrimadas, netted nearly 1.1 million votes and 37 seats out of the total of 135, compared with just 25 in the 2015 regional election.

Exiled president Carles Puigdemont's party, Junts per Catalunya ('Together for Catalunya', or JxCat) won 936,000 votes and 34 seats, whilst the Catalunya Left Republicans (ERC) came third with 32 seats.

These two parties ran as a coalition in 2015, winning 62 seats, meaning their combined total has now gone up to 66.

If they were to band together and form a coalition with the staunchly-separatist CUP, which has four seats and 192,000 votes, they would have 70 out of 135 and a combined outright majority.

The socialists, or PSC, is fourth with just under 600,000 votes and17 seats – one more than in 2015 - which their leader Miquel Iceta is disappointed with, saying: “We have not achieved our aim, even though our result has improved.”

The regional branch of left-wing Podemos, CatComú-Podem – which is not in favour of independence, but believes a democratic and legal referendum should be held at least on an advisory basis – won eight seats with 321,000 votes.

Finally, the right-wing PP – the same party as in national government – came last with just three seats and 182,000 votes.

PP leader in the region Xavier Albiol says: “This is a bad result, and we're worried about the future of Catalunya.”

Meanwhile, from Brussels, Puigdemont says: “The Republic of Catalunya has won out against the Monarch of 155,” referring to the Article of the Spanish Constitution which was triggered after the disputed independence referendum by the national government, forcing the election and taking control of the region for the first time in Spain's democratic history.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CATALUNYA residents will vote today (Thursday) in a regional election called by Spain's central government in response to the disputed independence referendum on October 1.

Standing for president are the now-ex leader Carles Puigdemont from the party Junts per Catalunya ('Together for Catalunya'), who is currently exiled in Belgium and knows he will be arrested immediately if he sets foot on Spanish soil again; Xavier Domènech of Catalunya En Comú; socialist leader Miquel Iceta; Ciudadanos' leader Inés Arrimadas, and PP boss Xavier García Albiol, among others.

Iceta's electoral campaign is focused entirely on reaching agreements between the different political parties at regional and State level in order to get Catalunya back on an even keel, whilst Sra Arrimadas has centred on education, health and the economy – and, naturally, the fact that the independence battle was 'illegal', or against Spain's Constitution.

If either get into power, no attempt at secession would get off the ground, as both parties disagree with the move.

Albiol speaks of 'stability' and 'legality', echoing the words of his counterpart in national government, Spain's president Mariano Rajoy.

Domènech's programme is the most left-wing and pro-social of all, whilst Puigdemont continues with his separatist ambitions and rails against the State's having triggered Article 155 of the Constitution, placing Catalunya under national government rule.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THIS winter will be warmer than usual after the driest autumn so far this century, according to the State meteorological agency, AEMET.

Temperatures in January, February and March will be on average between 1ºC and 3ºC higher than normal across the country, following on from the autumn with the third-lowest rainfall since 1965.

Only in 1978 and 1981 were the months of October and November drier than in 2017, AEMET says.

Winter officially starts in the northern hemisphere today (Thursday) at 17.28 exactly mainland Spain time (16.28 in the Canary Islands) when the sun sets on the shortest day of the year.

AEMET says 'no significant signs' of rainfall in the three months of winter – which will end on March 21 – have been noted as yet, although January is most likely to see wet weather if there is to be any, particularly in the western third of the mainland.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BREXIT could bring major opportunities for investment to Madrid, according to a report in British daily broadsheet The Guardian – as businesses and agencies leave the UK, they may be attracted to the Spanish capital as an alternative location.

Spain's rapid growth – among the fastest in the European Union – and the fact that Madrid is responsible for 20% of the GDP, plus the greater quality of life in the city compared with other EU capitals, and the country's almost-exclusive links with Latin America due to its historical and cultural ties mean London's loss could be Madrid's gain, The Guardian believes.

To help convince firms considering leaving Britain – particularly those in the financial services sector and within the City of London – the regional government has set up the hashtag #ThinkMadrid in which it draws attention to the lower taxes and a new plan known as an 'administrative motorway' to fast-track the setting up of companies opting for Spain's largest metropolitan area.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

EXILED president of Catalunya Carles Puigdemont does not call his mother now he is in Brussels, and his wife and sister say it is 'very hard' for him living abroad.

The now-ex regional leader, fired along with his government by the Spanish State over Catalunya's disputed independence referendum, fled to Belgium with four of his ministers and, although the international arrest warrant against them has been dropped – meaning they are safe from custody in the northern European country – they know that if they ever return to Spain, they will be immediately placed behind bars.

Puigdemont's mum Núria Casamajó told the French Sunday supplement Le Journal du Dimanche that her son has not called her since he has been in Brussels, but this is apparently unusual for them both and Sra Casamajó says 'she doesn't mind' and that it 'must be because he's doing things'.

Le Journal sent reporters to the town of Amer (Girona province), where Puigdemont was born and where his family of origin lives and runs a bakery.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRO-INDEPENDENCE activists have tied yellow ribbons to parts of European cities including London, Berlin and Milan – the colour now associated with support of Catalunya's secession from Spain and in tribute to the politicians who are currently in prison for their role in the disputed referendum.

One of the areas decorated with yellow loops is the Millennium Bridge in London, as shown in the picture above taken by the Catalunya News Agency (ACN), and also the Piazza XXV Aprile (April 25thSquare) plus Berlin's Leopold-Sedar-Senghor walkway.

They are the self-confessed work of the Committee for the Defence of the Republic [of Catalunya], or CDR, which says its aim is to 'drum up solidarity across Europe' for its cause.

Most European governments, including British prime minister Theresa May, have said they would not recognise Catalunya as a separate country and fully back the Spanish government's actions to prevent the independence move.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A NEW Bill of Law has been passed covering ownership and use of drones, and stipulates that a 'safety study' will be carried out on anyone who plans to fly them over people, residential hubs, at night, and through air space, before deciding whether the give them authorisation.

Flying drones through air space will require proper training and equipment, which must be accredited.

Until now, they have been banned near buildings, towns or groups of people in the open air, and also at night, but the new 'Royal Decree' – as a draft law is known in Spain – seeks to 'adapt regulations to the emerging growth' of drone use, which is 'closely linked to technological development and innovation'.

It replaces the 2014 law with a 'more flexible' text, according to the Council of Ministers.

Permission to fly drones in previously-forbidden areas must be granted by the State Air Safety Agency (AESA) and may only be carried out by professionals.

A series of limitations applies to those flying drones for purely recreational use, such as for taking bird's-eye view photographs for pleasure.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S president Mariano Rajoy has had to apologise to the city of León for upholding the UK as an example for being 'the cradle of parliamentarism and the rule of law'.

UNESCO historians have subtly corrected him by pointing out that it was the ancient Kingdom of León which is credited with being the seat of parliamentarism, of which the city of the same name was then capital.

Rajoy credited Britain with the honour during his recent meeting with its prime minister Theresa May at 10 Downing Street, in which he thanked the Conservative leader for her support of Spain over the Catalunya crisis and pledged that Brexit would not break the close links between the two countries.

In his speech at a press conference after the Downing Street meeting, Rajoy had said: “The UK is leaving the European Union, but it is not leaving Europe, and it is crucial to build a strategic alliance to help deal with common 21st-century challenges such as job creation, migration, climate change, development, cyber-security and terrorism.

“Britain's backing our handling of the Catalunya situation is particularly significant, since the UK is the cradle of parliamentarism and the rule of law.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

RYANAIR ground staff in Spain will be on strike from December 30 in protest over their working conditions and pay, their unions have announced.

Earlier this week, pilots of the low-cost airline in Ireland, Germany, Italy and Portugal announced strikes from December 20 onwards for the same reason.

According to the General Workers' Union (UGT), the Labourers' Commissions (CCOO), the USO and CGT, employees have presented 12 requests to company bosses, one of which is that the number of days worked per year does not exceed 214.

They also want their pay increased annually by 3% per year, retroactively for 2016 and 2017, as the General Ground Assistance for Passengers and Aircraft Employee Conditions Agreement – the third version in force – stipulates.

Additionally, they want their job contracts clarified and the rules governing them made clear.

Some of them are on temporary contracts, others are on what are known as 'fixed discontinuous', meaning they are laid off during quiet times and return to work during peak season, but are still technically employed by the firm when they are not working.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CATALUNYA regional police have been inspecting public buildings in the region to check they are not displaying yellow loops, the pro-independence sign, and ordering them to be taken down when they are found.

The Mossos d'Esquadra recall that in the run-up to any local, regional or national election, any symbols or messages biased towards one party or another cannot be shown in government-owned places, since these are supposed to be neutral and failure to be impartial is considered unfair electioneering.

Yellow loops have appeared all over Catalunya and are worn by separatist politicians and residents as a show of support for the high-ranking public figureheads currently in prison or under arrest warrants for their role in the 'banned' secession referendum on October 1, and for the regional government which was sacked en masse by the State.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A JUDGE investigating Catalunya's disputed independence referendum on behalf of the central government is said to be in a 'serious condition' in hospital, although the reason has not been revealed.

Juan Antonio Ramírez Sunyer, 70 (pictured), from Barcelona's Court of Instruction number 13, is behind several of the arrests on September 20 and 21 when separatists stormed the regional government buildings and tried to block the Guardia Civil from getting in, and also filed charges against 20 people – 14 of whom were later arrested.

Judge Sunyer issued search warrants for 41 premises and seized 9.8 million ballot papers.

Strangely, Sunyer's reportedly 'critical condition in hospital' has come within days of the death of Catalunya's senior regional prosecutor José María Romero de Tejada and less than a month after State general prosecutor José Manuel Maza passed away.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FORMER Catalunya regional president Carles Puigdemont says he is considering 'running the risk' of returning to Spain to be re-invested in the role if he wins the elections on December 21.

Puigdemont, currently in exile in Belgium along with four of his ministers, had his European arrest warrant lifted, but knows that if he sets foot on Spanish soil again, he will be immediately taken into custody.

He still intends to stand for the election and considers himself still to be Catalunya's president, despite the State having taken control of the region and fired its entire government.

The problem he faces is that if he wins the election, the formal investiture ceremony has to take place in the regional Parliament of Catalunya.

“It might be worth the risk,” Puigdemont reportedly said today (Wednesday).

“You cannot be invested as president in Brussels – nor in prison. You have to be free for, at the very least, the time it takes for the investiture to be completed. But for me, the people's votes carry more weight than handcuffs and iron bars.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

INDITEX fashion empire founder Amancio Ortega is still the richest person in Spain and his daughter Sandra Ortega is the second-wealthiest, according to the most recent Forbes list.

Chairman of supermarket chain Mercadona, Juan Roig, remains in third place with a total fortune of €4.8 billion – compared with the top two's €70bn and €6.5bn respectively.

His wife Hortensia Herrero, with assets totalling €2.6bn, is Spain's seventh-richest person and second-wealthiest woman.

Iberostar chairman Miguel Fluxà, from Palma de Mallorca, ranks fourth with €3.6bn, and head of transport infrastructure company Ferrovial, Rafael del Pino, concludes the top five with €2.9bn.

In total, the top five richest people in Spain have a combined fortune of €87.8bn, or 55.3% of the wealth of the entire population.

The Inditex chain – which owns Zara, among other clothing brands – remains comfortably ahead of its nearest rival in terms of its founders' fortunes, but Isak Andic, who created the global label Mango, joins the Ortegas in the top 10; his wealth of €2.3bn puts him joint ninth with Helena Revoredo, chairwoman of Prosegur and Spain's third-richest woman.

The remaining names in the Forbes top 10 are OHL's biggest shareholder Juan Miguel Villar Millar with €2.7bn (sixth) and owner of Cirsa, Manuel Lao, with €2.4bn (eighth).

Of the 100 wealthiest Spaniards, only 27 are female and their joint wealth comes to €24.5bn – just over a third of that of Amancio Ortega alone.

Catalunya is home to 22 of the richest Spaniards, with an aggregate wealth of €15bn, whilst 35 of them are based in Madrid and are worth €29bn put together.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NUMBERS of foreign residents choosing to take Spanish nationality have risen by nearly a third in the last two years, and anecdotal evidence hints that the figure may go up even more after Brexit at the end of March 2019.

As yet, British citizens do not figure in the top 11, since there is rarely any need for European Union nationals to acquire a Spanish passport – although an increasing number of Brits say they are considering doing so once the UK leaves the EU if their existing rights are not retained in full.

Moroccans were the most likely to obtain Spanish citizenship, based upon figures for the year 2016 – the most recent on record at present – which is unsurprising, given that two of Spain's provinces border by land onto the North African country.

They totalled 37,009, a long way ahead of any other national group.

Morocco's historical cultural ties with Spain make it inevitable that the country would be among the top for producing new Spanish nationals, and all the others in the 10 most frequent are either former colonies or, in the case of Brazil, at number nine with 3,427, an immediate neighbour of an ex-colony.

Bolivians were the second-largest national group to acquire citizenship in 2016, at 15,802, followed by Ecuador (15,255) and Colombia (14,299).

Although foreign resident statistics show that these three nationalities, once the most prolific in Spain, have dropped considerably in the last 10 years or so, it is likely this is due to high numbers of them 'becoming Spanish' rather than returning to their countries of origin.

The Dominican Republic is fifth, with 9,176 becoming Spanish, followed by Cuba (4,353), Argentina (3,716) Brazil, and Paraguay (3,358).

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CATALUNYA'S exiled president Carles Puigdemont says he has 'just one plan' for the forthcoming regional elections on December 21 – and that's to carry on being leader of the four north-eastern provinces.

Currently banned from leaving Belgium but released pending trial and free from an earlier extradition order, Puigdemont has made it clear he has no plans to return to Spain until he can be guaranteed a 'fair hearing' for forging ahead with the disputed independence referendum, but still wants to stand for the regional election called by the State government, which now has full control over Catalunya's affairs.

“I consider I am still president of Catalunya, because my regional Parliament has not kicked me out,” Puigdemont says.

“Unless the Parliamentary majority changes after the elections, I am still president, and that's the only plan there is.”

He was asked if he had a 'Plan B' for the vote due in 12 days' time.

“The Spanish political system needs to be responsible for solving the great contradiction it has created by allowing me to become invested as president and then arresting me for carrying out my role, and I trust that the 'Article 155 tripartite' [the PP, socialists and Ciudadanos] will respect the result of the December 21 election,” Puigdemont continued.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN has called for a three-year 'transitional period' post-Brexit to 'protect the half a million' Brits and Spaniards living in each others' countries.

Its government wants the transition to continue from 'Brexit day' in March 2019 until a new deal is in force, but with a deadline of three years for this to take place.

An in-house report drawn up by the Spanish government shows the results of analyses on bilateral effects of Brexit in terms of employment, trade, healthcare, tourism, justice and education, and cites the migration figures as 200,000 Spaniards living in the UK and 300,000 British nationals living in Spain.

The results will be discussed at the next Council of Europe meeting on December 14 and 15.

Foreign affairs minister Alfonso Dastis says he 'welcomes' recent developments on Brexit in which UK prime minister Theresa May has agreed to 'retain citizens' rights', settled on a sum payable to the EU in respect of Britain's liabilities, and a 'soft border' between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

But Dastis says Spain still has a series of objectives it needs to negotiate with the UK, which includes a request for all current agreements to remain in place until at least the end of the year 2020 so as not to affect Spaniards living in Britain or Brits living in Spain.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MUCH-NEEDED rainfall is on its way to Spain, with tomorrow (Saturday) expected to bring an Atlantic front with showers across the whole of the mainland lasting until at least Tuesday.

With the national drought reaching crisis proportions and reservoirs down to 36.5% of their capacity, the rain is long overdue and will be very welcome, although considerably more will be needed to take Spain's water supply off the critical list by next summer.

Showers will start in Galicia, Cantabria, the Ebro delta, the Pyrénées, the southern Aragonese mountains, Castilla y León and central Spain, then by Monday it will have spread to the rest of the mainland, the Balearic Islands and the city-province of Melilla on the northern African coast directly due south of Almería.

Sunday will bring locally-heavy downpours in Galicia and snow at high altitudes, above 600 metres, in the north.

By Tuesday, the rain may even reach as far south as the Canary Islands, currently one of Spain's driest regions.

More rain is expected in the far north on Wednesday, although may not extend beyond this, other than isolated showers on Friday on the Atlantic coasts, the Strait of Gibraltar and the Balearic Islands.

Atlantic areas could also see high winds.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

GREENPEACE'S latest report warns that a third of Spain's territory is at risk of becoming desert and up to 75% of the country's land is 'vulnerable'.

The paper, Drought: More than lack of rainfall says the effects of climate change in Spain are the 'most worrying and severe' on the continent.

At the time of the report, reservoirs were down to 37.3% of capacity after the driest spring since 1965 – with rainfall 23% below normal – and the least rain year-round in over 22 years.

But this week, it was reported that water levels had dropped once again, to 36.5%.

Reservoirs in Spain have lost 129 cubic hectometres (1.29 million litres) of water in less than a week, or around 0.2% of their capacity.

Rivers in particular risk include the Segura, through Alicante and Murcia, now only 13.5% full, and the Júcar, through Valencia and Castellón, at 24.9% full.

The Canada-based environmental charity says 'poor water management' and policies that 'have not worked to mitigate dry periods and desertification' are to blame almost as much as the lack of rainfall.

“Spain has lived and legislated as though it were a country with an endless supply of water,” Greenpeace states.

The Mediterranean and the Canary Islands are the most at-risk areas for desertification, and yet the former has historically seen spring and winter monsoons – known as a gota fría – keeping it green and its reservoirs topped up whilst the centre of the mainland rarely saw a drop.

But the last five or six years has seen the typical seasonal storms pass over the Mediterranean completely.

As far back as 2005, the Gallocanta Lagoon in the province of Zaragoza was already suffering the effects of drought, and by 2007 it was almost empty, whilst the Tablas de Daimiel wetlands (second picture) in the province of Ciudad Real, which has capacity for up to 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of its surface to be filled with water, was down to a quarter by November – 500 hectares, or 1,236 acres.

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MUSIC festival schedules for summer 2018 are starting to fill up, with The Killers being the first band to confirm their presence at Benicàssim's world-famous FIB International and at least four now a certainty for the Arenal Sound in neighbouring Burriana.

The Killers, led by Brandon Flowers, will bring their greatest hits along with new tracks from their latest studio album, Wonderful Wonderful, to the shores of Castellón between July 19 and 22, 2018 – although they will always be best known for their 2009 epic, Human, based on the Nietzsche quote, “are we human, or are we dancers?”

Early tickets for the full four days of Benicàssim International Festival (FIB) at a special reduced price of €110 have already gone on sale on the event's official website, although the cost will rise from December 14.

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SPAIN'S foreign minister Alfonso Dastis has warned that the USA's recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital could have worrying consequences.

Following on from US president Donald Trump's announcement last night (Wednesday) to this effect, which included plans to move the country's embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, Dastis said the issue was 'extremely sensitive' and should be 'resolved through negotiation'.

“The Statute of Jerusalem is a central issue which needs to be solved via dialogue – it's exceptionally delicate trying to alter it, and this is worrying us greatly,” Dastis admitted.

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PRO-INDEPENDENCE campaigners from Catalunya will stage a protest march in Brussels today (Thursday) calling for the release of four politicians who remain behind bars for their role in the disputed referendum on October 1.

Under the slogan Despierta Europa ('Wake up, Europe'), the march has been organised by the Catalunya National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, whose leaders, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart respectively, are currently in jail.

Catalunya's now-ex regional president Carles Puigdemont, as well as the four ministers he fled to Belgium with a month ago, will join the protest, which is expected to be made up of around 20,000 people.

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TODAY'S (Wednesday's) bank holiday marks the 39^th anniversary of the Spanish Constitution at one of its most challenged moments ever through the independence movement in Catalunya and calls for its reform from several sides.

Opposition PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez wants to rehash the Magna Carta to include a series of 'social and human rights', including the right to health – medical care accessible to everyone living in Spain and guarantees for those with disabilities or in a dependent situation.

Sánchez wants to enshrine in the Constitution matters such as the right to privacy, honour and personal image, such as the 'right to forget' in relation to the internet, new technology and social media, and also move from Spain being a non-confessional society to a secular State.

Protecting and improving equality between men and women, with equal chances of entering the workforce on a level playing field and salary, a Constitutional commitment to wiping out domestic violence, and committing to black and white current rights enjoyed by the transsexual community and also by lesbian, gay and bisexual residents, such as that of marriage and adoption which was made legal in the spring of 2005.

The right to housing and employment, the right to negotiation and improvements in rights linked to protecting the environment in the context of energy use and climate change are among the 21st-century needs not met by the text which was rubber-stamped on December 6, 1978, when Spain was in a very different place socially and politically.

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BARÇA'S Andrés Iniesta has overtaken pop legend Alejandro Sanz as the Spaniard with the most followers on Twitter, although the now-ex president of Catalunya, Carles Puigdemont, holds the record for the politician with the most mentions on the social media site in 2017.

Of the five Spaniards with the highest numbers of followers, FC Barcelona's Iniesta takes the top spot with 20.3 million – just under half the population of Spain, which is currently around 46.5 million.

Alejandro Sanz – famous for his two duets with Colombian pop-rocker and 'footballer's wife' Shakira – has 18.5 million followers, and Shakira's partner, Iniesta's team-mate Gerard Piqué, is third with 17 million.

World number one tennis star Rafa Nadal has 15.1 million, and dance-pop chart-topper Enrique Iglesias, son of crooner Julio, has netted 13.9 million.

These figures were released yesterday (Tuesday) as part of a global study of the popular social media platform which revealed that several records have been broken this year.

The most-retweeted message in history is Carter Wilkenson's #NuggsForCarter, which has even beaten Ellen DeGeneres' famous Oscars' selfie.

Wilkenson's post tagged the world-renowned US fast-food chain, Wendy's Burgers, and read: “Yo @Wendys how many retweets for a year of free chicken nuggets?”

Wendy's replied, “18 million,” and Wilkenson said: “Consider it done,” then set up the hashtag with the caption: “Help me please. A man needs his nuggs.”

Global records for the highest numbers of followers include American and Canadian singers Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, who have topped 100 million.

Iniesta, however, would need to double his number of followers to beat the Pope, who currently has 40 million.

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BRITISH prime minister Theresa May reiterated her support for her Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy today (Tuesday) over the Catalunya political crisis, and both said they hoped to see an agreement with the Brexit negotiations very soon.

Rajoy had travelled to London to meet Mrs May at 10 Downing Street, where they spent 90 minutes on a working lunch during which Brexit was, inevitably, a hot topic of conversation – but although they discussed bilateral relations between the UK and Spain, the contentious subject of Gibraltar's sovereignty was not mentioned.

Catalunya, equally as topical, was given plenty of air-time, since Mrs May has always stated categorically that she backs the Spanish government's 'defence of legality' in the face of the 'illegal' separatist movement, and that her Conservative government would refuse to recognise an independent State of Catalunya.

She reinforced this during today's meeting with the Spanish president, saying: “It is imperative that the law of the State should prevail and that the Spanish Constitution should be complied with.”

Rajoy thanked her for the UK's backing of 'the Spanish government and the people of Spain', adding: “Without respect for the rule of law, there can be no democracy, and what is happening now is a return to some of the worst past episodes in the history of humanity.”

The Spanish leader said in his press conference following the meeting that the relationship between Spain and the UK is 'as old as the history of the two countries' and rooted in 'a friendship' based on shared values of 'freedom, democracy, the separation of powers and the rule of law'.

He recalled that the UK is Spain's fourth-largest international customer and seventh-largest supplier, its main investment destination and that Spain 'is visited by more citizens from the UK than from any other country'.

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Spain's tourism minister has revealed that hotel bookings are up across the whole country for this week's long weekend, except in Catalonia, where a 13% drop in bookings has been recorded.

Hotels, country cottages and ski resorts are looking at a 64.3% occupancy rate this week, a 19.4% rise on occupancy for the same time last year, according to a survey carried out by Turespaña.

Current hotel bookings for the long weekend are at 56.1%, (compared with 47.2% for the same dates last year) which is expected to yield 66.4% occupancy.

Ski lodges and country houses are 52% booked out, compared with 31% and 30% respectively last year, with occupancy predicted to reach 65% and 58% in each case.

Tourism to inland areas suggests a 64% occupancy rate, 13 points up on last year, with coastal regions seeing a 7% rise to 67%.

The Canary Islands are the autonomous region with the highest predicted hotel occupancy rate (88%), followed by the Basque Country (80%), the Community of Madrid and La Rioja, each with 77%, and Andalucía, with 73%.

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An earthquake registering 4 on the Richter scale was recorded in Caudete (Albacete) this morning, forcing local authorities to evacuate around 1,600 pupils from local schools. The school buildings are now being checked out by specialists from the regional emergency services.

Pedro Antonio Ruiz Santos, member of parliament for Albacete, explained that classes had been cancelled for over a thousand primary and secondary school pupils at Caudete's four schools, and for another 500+ students at the Pintor Rafael Requena sixth form college.

Ruiz Santos, who went personally to Caudete to assess the earthquake damage for himself, said that in the end it had been "little more than a scare" as the epicentre was 12 km below the earth's surface, meaning that the quake had caused little surface damage, despite registering 4 on the Richter scale, "not insignificant", as he pointed out.

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Tuesday afternoon (December 5th) until midnight on Sunday (December 10th), the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) will be upping police presence on Spanish roads in view of the 6.7 million car journeys expected to be undertaken by people across the country over this week's Constitución and Inmaculada holidays.

According to the DGT, the largest volume of road traffic is expected early on Tuesday afternoon, especially on the exit roads from Spain's major cities towards mountain and coastal areas, as well as large volumes of traffic travelling to local leisure and shopping centres.

Most of the returning traffic is expected on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, with long tailbacks predicted on roads leading out of mountain and coastal areas in the afternoon and evening, and on the roads into the main cities. People travelling back on Sunday are advised to set off in the morning.

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The Spanish coach, Julen Lopetegui, said today that the group B in which Spain and Portugal were placed, is "without any doubt", the most difficult of them all for the World Cup in Russia.

"For me, without any doubt, we’ll play against the European champions, one of the best teams in the world," Lopetegui told journalists in the mixed zone at the end of the draw in the Kremlin Palace. 

Lopetegui stressed that the squad led by Fernando Santos has “experienced players" who are among the best in their positions, to which he added "has two very good emergent generations". 

He could not avoid referring to the star of Real Madrid and Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo, although he recalled that "he plays in a great team with great players".

 "All teams are more than a player, but obviously, Cristiano Ronaldo is a player known to all, one of the best players in history," he said. 

In relation to Morocco, he recalled that in the qualifying phase they eliminated Ivory Coast, one of the best African teams of recent years, and highlighted the "magnificent work" done by his coach, Hervé Renard. 

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Alhambra, the only Islamic medieval bath that has been preserved almost intact in the Western world, has new vaulted roofs after being subjected to a complex restoration that has allowed restorers to delve into the uses of this unique space, considered one of the jewels of the monument.

It was a problem with leaks and humidity that led the Board of the Alhambra and Generalife to undertake this process of restoration in the vaults and interior walls of the baths. The first phase has lasted two years and was presented today by the counsellor of Culture, Miguel Ángel Vázquez.

Located between the emblematic palaces of Comares and Los Leones, the Bath of Comares or Royal Bath, as it was later known due to the private use made of them by the Catholic Monarchs after the Reconquest of Granada, was built by Sultan Ismail I (1314 -1325) and then continued by Yusuf I (1333-1354).

An heir, from the point of view of its construction, of the Roman baths, it boasts among its rooms a unique area, which will be opened to the public, exceptionally, throughout the month of December.

This area is the Sala de las Camas, which as explained by Pedro Salmerón, architect of the Alhambra, was meant for "maximum relaxation" and where the sultan and his guests took off their clothes and reclined while, possibly, they listened to musicians playing.

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