Live News From Spain As It Happens

A GYM which converts human movement into energy to power machines has opened in a Greater Madrid region town.

Mónica and Juan Ignacio are the brains behind the project Movewatts, along with a team of 11, who opened the gym in Alcobendas, say the treadmills, exercise bikes and spinning apparatus produce power when they are used, effectively fuelling themselves.

The gym is designed to be used even by people of reduced mobility and has physiotherapy rooms, psycho-motor rehabilitation unit, nutrition and dietician consultation areas, offering all-round fitness and care for all the family.

José Ignacio, a physiotherapist, says the energy produced by the gym machinery is re-used, but is not quite enough to fuel the entire building and all its functions – and 'storing' energy generated by people exercising in order to avoid buying power from outside is illegal – but the system dramatically cuts down the amount of traditional power needed to operate the business.

But those who create this energy can 'store' points from how much they generate, and receive discounts on gym services or on their monthly subscription fees.

As society is becoming more aware of the need to protect the future of the planet and the importance of non-polluting energy sources, this provides the perfect incentive for those who would otherwise fail to see through a personal commitment to go to a gym regularly.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TRAFFIC authorities in Spain are planning new regulations covering hoverboards, or electric skateboards – including speed limits.

The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) wants to keep hoverboards as a form of transport for which a licence is not needed, unlike motorbikes and cars, but says their users will still be subject to alcohol limits and drug bans, and will be tested in the same way as drivers.

They would also be restricted to 25 kilometres per hour.

These measures have come under discussion in light of the first pedestrian death caused by a hoverboard, this week in Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona province), when a 92-year-old lady walking along the pavement was mowed down by two young people riding one electric skateboard.

A rising number of incidents involving these 'vehicles' has been reported, including a recent case of a hoverboard being ridden at 70 kilometres per hour on the pavement alongside the Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona – faster than the speed limit for cars in the area.

DGT director-general Pere Navarro says local councils have been asking him to set legal regulations for hoverboards in light of their rapidly-increasing presence in cities.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S government may take disciplinary action against Ryanair for 'breaching employees' right to strike' based upon the airline's response to the cabin-crew shut-down on September 25 and 26.

According to the Spanish ministry of work and pensions, Ryanair sent emails and made phone calls to its cabin crew asking them to confirm whether they would be joining the strikes and demanding they continue to push sales on flights, which goes against the ministry of public works' 'minimum service during strike' requirements.

Also, the ministry claims Ryanair designated more shift workers for duties on September 28, during the third strike day, than it would in a normal week, meaning the strike's impact was minimal, which effectively prevents industrial action from working properly and defeating the object – procedures which are considered to counter staff's right to go on strike at all.

For that day's industrial action, workers drafted in on shifts to cover their striking colleagues were not given the requisite notice before their hours were changed.

The company 'hindered inspectors' checks' in connection with the strike, 'especially concerning taking statements from cabin crew and analysing working conditions and risk-prevention paperwork', according to the department of work inspectors, part of the ministry of work and pensions.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BRITISH prime minister Theresa May's Brexit deal has been approved by the remaining EU-27 after Spain lifted its veto following a series of new clauses covering Gibraltar.

Spanish president Pedro Sánchez says the country is now in a stronger position vis à vis the Rock, whilst members of the opposition in British Parliament – and even in Mrs May's own paty – have accused her of 'betrayal'.

European Union Brexit delegate Michel Barnier and European Council president Donald Tusk announced duing the presentation of Mrs May's deal that after the UK left the 'club', Gibraltar would 'not be included in the territorial scope' of any agreements made between the EU and Britain.

They also stated that any additional deal concerning Gibraltar and its economy would necessitate a 'prior agreement' from Spain.

Sánchez translated this as Spain being 'a fundamental pillar' of the Gibraltar-EU relationship, and pointed out that both the European Council and European Commission had supported Spain over issues relating to the Rock 'as never before'.

He added that during the 'basic negotiations' in the future, Spain and the EU would 'have to talk about joint sovereignty' and 'many other things' – undefined as yet – with Britain.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THREE cities in Spain are home to the top 'trending' neighbourhoods chosen by European tourists this autumn and winter – and, perhaps surprisingly, Madrid and Barcelona are not among them.

Always favourites for European city breaks, Spain's capital and its second largest city respectively win the most tourists beyond the country's coasts, and are highly-appreciated for their beautiful architecture, cleanliness, and the fact they are among the safest major metropolitan areas in Europe, if not the world.

But five districts in Valencia, Sevilla and Granada are where European travellers most enjoyed their trips to Spain, according to research by Airbnb.

Europe's number one and four and Spain's number three in Valencia

Top of the list comes Valencia's L'Olivereta (first picture), or 'district 7', which borders on the Campanar neighbourhood and the satellite town of Mislata to the north, the suburb of Patraix to the south, and is sandwiched between the Extramurs district and the town of Xirivella to the east and west respectively.

One of Valencia's most densely-populated districts, it is among the cheapest to buy property and Airbnb accommodation starts at €12 a night, never exceeding €50, and is relatively close to the centre – walkable, and just minutes on the metro.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NOW out on the shelves, this year's Michelin Guidehas awarded or renewed stars for 159 restaurants in Spain – many of which need little introduction, and others which are complete outsiders waiting to be discovered.

The annual foodies' bible for Spain and Portugal keeps celebrity chefs in the spotlight and helps planning for special occasions – but for everyday dining, most mere mortals would find this élite dining experience way beyond the reach of their pockets.

Or would they? If you take a trip to Galicia, make sure you pop into Restaurante Nova in the city of Ourense, where the set taster menu comes in at a mere €28; in fact, with your average local eatery costing between €15 and €20 a head for two courses plus wine, the gap between an ordinary social Saturday evening or a can't-be-bothered-to-cook night and a one-starred Michelin outlet is just a few euros.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S government is threatening to block the Brexit deal by voting against it when the European Council meets – and as all 27 countries are required to agree the withdrawal text, a Spanish veto alone would be enough to stop its being accepted.

Although reports earlier in the week showed president Pedro Sánchez and British prime minister Theresa May had shook hands on a deal covering Spain-Gibraltar relations post-Brexit – which included the latter being required to up tax on alcohol and fuel and increase the price of cigarettes – a clause in Mrs May's withdrawal text has since been flagged up, leading Spain to accuse the UK of 'stealth'.

Theresa May had said from the start she 'would not tolerate' Gibraltar, a British-owned enclave, benefiting from agreements drawn up within the EU unless Spain consented to them, which suggested the UK and Spain were finally singing from the same hymn sheet about the Rock, which has been British for 300 years but which the former right-wing Spanish government was determined to claim back.

Now, though, a detail in the withdrawal deal has been found which states that the Rock would be covered if any future trading system were to be set up between Britain and the EU.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S electricity was officially the cheapest in Europe yesterday (Thursday) – an unusual scenario as it is usually among the most expensive on the continent.

Rising prices for households and traders have led to the Spanish government's creating a battery of measures to bring costs down and protect vulnerable consumers from being left without power because they cannot afford to pay their bills.

But in the meantime, the price per megawatt per hour (MWh) dropped yesterday to the lowest in the European Union, at €65.90.

The price of the 'power pool' in Spain was well below the €84.10 per MWh seen in Germany, the €84.80 per MWh in Italy, France's €90.50 and the UK's €87.70.

This was largely due to a fall in renewable energy production across the continent due to a sudden drop in temperatures, with minus figures overnight being registered in several countries north of the Pyrénées – compared to Mediterranean and southern Spain's 13ºC at night – whilst Spain's wind and solar power production is now among the highest in Europe because of mild temperatures.

This situation will continue until the end of the week and probably over part of next week, according to experts.

Today (Friday) prices sit at €67.20 per MWh, compared with over €84 in Germany and Italy and more than €90 in France.

Spain's maximum, seen on September 19, was €75.93, has dropped considerably in the last two months.

Read morwe at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH scientists have invented a 'smart mattress' for babies which prevents and corrects skull deformities and can even reduce the risk of cot death.

The first baby mattress with a European medical kitemark and supervised by the Spanish Medicines Agency, the creation by 'BabyKeeper' is the brainchild of a team from the European Sleep Quality Institute (ESQI), all of whom are from Spain.

Among its latest-generation features, the mattress – which took five years of research to create – detects fever in infants and raises the alarm by changing colour, and also inhibits bacteria responsible for skin rashes.

Its structure is designed to reduce pressure on the back of the baby's head so as not to adversely alter the shape when the skull bones are still soft and pliable, and also moulds it into the correct position if deformities are already starting to appear.

The BabyKeeper mattress reduces the risk of cot death caused by re-inhalation of carbon dioxide by 72%, and caused by excess body heat by 48%, and caused by poor position, by 60%.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

INDITEX founder and Spain's richest man Amancio Ortega has just bought part of Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, USA, for a cool €645 million.

The 82-year-old tycoon from Galicia, whose clothing and interiors empire includes Zara, Zara Home, Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Massimo Dutti and Uterqüe, already had investments in property to the value of nearly €8.8 billion before purchasing a chunk of the building housing the online megastore's main office for US$740m.

The Troy Block, made up of two buildings joined together, is mostly owned by the USA Army Real Estate fund, and Ortega has bought a share in it via his own estate agency, Pontegadea Inmobiliaria.

Currently in the final stages of the transaction, if the sale completes as planned, it will be Pontegadea's largest purchase in the USA and its second-largest ever, after buying London's Adelphi building for €680m.

Last year, Pontegadea's turnover – mostly through rental income – totalled €385m, being a 13.6% increase on that of 2016.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A COLOUR scheme showing how nutritious or otherwise groceries on sale in Spanish supermarkets are will not be used for olive oil, since the algorithms used show it to be far less healthy than Coca-Cola Zero, and the same as tomato ketchup.

Whilst exceptionally high in fat, most of these are unsaturated and olive oil consumed in moderation helps lower 'bad' cholesterol and speed up the metabolism, meaning its calorie content is not the end of the story.

Eaten sparingly, olive oil is good for the heart, joints and circulation and is recommended as part of a healthy, Mediterranean-style diet.

But using the State health authority's soon-to-be-introduced 'Nutri-Score' system, which codes food and drink from A to E and a sliding colour scale from dark green to red – A and dark green being the healthiest and E and red being the least-nutritious – means sugar-free soft drinks come out as a B, or light green, whilst olive oil rates the same as tomato ketchup, as a D, or orange.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

YOU can't please everybody – as an advert for a research prize ceremony in Valencia has proven. In trying to show the public that Spain should be famous for its scientific discoveries, the Rei Jaume I Awards Foundation has managed to upset chefs and performing artists.

How? By posting billboards in bus shelters with the words 'flamenco' and 'paella' crossed out and announcing, “It's time to change the stereotypes about Spain.”

As if flamenco and paella were something to be ashamed about, say furious protesters.

Of course, they're not; many of Spain's colourful clichés are very real and often fabulous, but they're only a tiny part of what you find when you visit the country, and it all depends upon where you go. Polka-dot dresses are not likely to be found during Madrid rush hour, and the majority of the country doesn't have beaches or palm trees; and, in fact, for nearly three-quarters of the year, you won't get a tan when you visit, either.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

COULD there really be life on other planets, and would it resemble any known species on Earth...even the human race? Popular culture has been full of inventions of extraterrestrial creatures, from little green men with multiple eyes to white, pointy-faced Munch-style Scream faces, but almost 60 years on from the moon landings, we're still none the wiser.

Space scientists have been focusing mainly on Mars in recent years, but their Holy Grail could be closer to home: Barnard B, a 'Super-Earth' discovered just this week, is a mere six light years from our own planet and may well hold the key to the question we've been asking ourselves for decades: what does life elsewhere in the universe actually look like?

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A DEAL between Spain and the UK means workers on either side of the Gibraltar border will be able to continue to commute without any additional checks or obstacles, reveals Theresa May's government.

Part of the Brexit deal announced by the British prime minister this morning – which has led to four of her cabinet resigning and plunged the Conservative party into 'chaos', in the words of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – involves the result of negotiations with Spain over the Rock, where 96% of the population voted to remain in the European Union.

Employed and self-employed workers living in Spain and travelling to Gibraltar, or living on the Rock and commuting to mainland Spain will be able to continue to do so freely, according to the agreement between Mrs May and Spanish president Pedro Sánchez, and both groups will enjoy the same working rights as they do presently as members of the EU.

Bilateral procedures approved by May and Sánchez stipulate that Spain and the UK will exchange information every quarter about 'concerned citizens', a definition that includes 'cross-border workers in particular', and set up a coordination committee on labour issues.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Warnings have been issued by global media about a 'phishing' scam affecting Amazon customers in an attempt to hack their credit card and bank details.

Amazon Spain has flagged up this latest cyber-fraud and released a series of recommendations on its site.

Customers have reported receiving emails after purchasing, typically with a subject heading claiming: “Your order cannot be shipped.”

Once opened, the email – which appears very authentic – asks the reader to click on a link to resolve the delivery problem.

The link takes the customer to a page which looks exactly like Amazon's site and which asks the customer to confirm his or her name, address and credit or debit card details.

Amazon.es urges customers not to click on links or open attachments in any email purporting to be from the online store, and if it is too late, to visit the page on the Amazon site titled Proteger tu sistema ('Protect your account').

“Fraudulent emails which are not from Amazon usually contain a confirmation of an order you have not purchased, or data attached relating to confirmation of an order,” the site says.

They may also contain 'questions about your username, password or any other type of personal information' which may include DNI for Spanish nationals or NIE for foreign residents, card or bank account number, PIN codes or card security codes, name and surname or other information that may identify the customer, such as town or city of birth.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH households are bringing their Christmas shopping forward to November for the first time in consumer history, in order to take advantage of 'Black Friday' deals, according to financial consultants Deloitte.

Its Christmas Consumerism Study 2018 shows that festive shopping in November is now overtaking that which is carried out in December, an unprecedented situation in a country which, traditionally, does not even think about Christmas until it is a few days away.

'Festive fever' has changed considerably in the last decade or so, with supermarkets already stocking Christmas confectionary as early as mid-October whereas, at the beginning of the 21st century, no sign that the holiday season was imminent could be found until at least the middle of December.

And with 'Black Friday' having been imported from the USA in the last three years, two-thirds of Spanish respondents, or 33.1%, say they will be doing their Christmas shopping in November, with 11.3% buying the majority of their presents on November 23, when online and physical stores will slash their prices for 24 hours

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRESIDENT Pedro Sánchez has announced some of his plans for undoing the previous government's labour reform – including forced retirement and reducing the number of job contracts currently in use.

Staff will be required to clock in and clock out, but not to check up on them – the move is to ensure employers do not get any unpaid overtime out of them.

Contract types will be reduced to 'indefinite', 'temporary' and 'training or relief', for covering absences or as a lead-in to a new employee taking over from one about to retire.

Employees will be obliged, through their industries' collective working conditions agreements, to retire when they reach the cut-off age, in order to prevent those who are no longer able to give their best in full health being forced to carry on working, and to free up jobs for younger adults who need them.

Sánchez's 'Agenda of Change', as he calls it, will include an emergency youth employment plan, focusing on necessary work-based skills including competence in modern technology and in foreign languages.

The president has announced plans to push the newly-created Formación Profesional (FP) Dual, which allows school-leavers to combine paid work with their professional or vocational training.

Both an alternative to sixth form or a post-sixth form route, the FP system resembles the UK's BTEC structure, taking students from entry level, below GCSE, to the equivalent of a foundation degree or Higher National Certificate, being just one year off a full degree, but with a clear workplace-focused and vocational rather than academic slant.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LATEST home sales figures show a year-on-year rise as at September 2018 of nearly 10%, making this the sixth consecutive month of increases in property purchases.

According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), sales in September – the most recent data on record – rose by 9.7% compared with the same month in 2017, up by a comfortable 2.3 percentage points on August, when a year-on-year increase of 7.4% was reported.

In September alone, a total of 42,766 residential properties were bought and sold, the majority – 34,750 – being second-hand homes, whilst the remaining 8,016 were new builds.

Both new and used property purchases were up – the latter by 9.8% and the former by 9.6%.

A fall of 4.2% was seen in these transactions between August and September 2018, although this was less sharp than the reduction between August and September 2017, which was 6.2%.

Decreases in sales volumes are normal over the summer-autumn transition, although the fact the gap is closing is a sign of ongoing growth in the property market.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CHRISTOPHER Columbus' statue has been taken down from Los Angeles' Grand Park after 45 years after the city council decided his presence in the California metropolis was 'nothing to celebrate'.

Part of a wider motion that has replaced 'Discovery Day' on October 12 – celebrated in Spain as the 'National Festival' and formerly 'Hispanic Day' – with a new title, 'Indigenous People's Day', the decision to remove Columbus from the park is linked to his being held responsible for what would be considered today a mass genocide.

The statue of Cristóbal Colón, as was his untranslated name, 'rewrites a tainted chapter in history' which is 'charged with false romanticism about the expansion of European empires' and 'exploitation of natural resources and people', says former US secretary of trade and current local government member in Los Angeles, Hilda Solís.

Reactions in Spain have been mixed.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LIFE expectancy in Spain is already the highest in Europe and the fourth on earth, beaten only by Japan, Singapore and South Korea – the first country expected to break the 90 barrier within the next two decades – but Spaniards are predicted to become the longest-living on earth within the relatively near future.

Outstripping Japan and Singapore, who are on course to have an average life expectancy for men and women of 85.7 by the year 2040 – and possibly exceeding South Korea if its own figure shrinks or fails to grow as predicted – Spain could be the country where people live the longest, with a forecast average of 85.8 years, or 10-and-a-half weeks short of 86.

Exact breakdowns for men and women have not been given, although typically, men in Europe live three fewer years than women, so their life expectancy is likely to be around 84.3 years to women's 87.3 years.

Spaniards 'smoke more but live longer'

A recent article in The Times, which revealed that the UK's life expectancy is forecast to be 2.5 years lower than that of Spain in the year 2040, asked what Spain is 'doing right': “They drink, they smoke, so why are the Spanish living so long?” The report asks.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S wealthiest and poorest towns have been revealed, with similar results to the last study, in August 2016,, which put the Madrid 'celebrity belt' satellite town of Pozuelo de Alarcón as the richest in the country.

Home to footballers, actors, politicians and property tycoons, many of whom live in gated urbanisations – particularly the luxury complex known as La Finca (pictured), the most élite housing estate in the country – each resident in Pozuelo de Alarcón earns a gross average of €72,993 per year.

This is up from €70,298 in 2016, showing the town's inhabitants are not suffering the effects of wage cuts – and, in fact, according to tax office data, not a single person in Pozuelo is registered as unemployed.

Contrast this with the village of Zahínos (second picture) in the far-western land-locked region of Extremadura – sitting in the province of Badajoz just a few kilometres from the Portuguese border, its 2,819 inhabitants live off the coal industy and their gross average income per head is just €11,166 – below the tax threshold, meaning a monthly income of just €863.60 compared with Pozuelo's €4,136.20.

Top 10 wealthiest towns closest to Madrid and Barcelona...except Rocafort (Valencia)

Once again, the wealthiest towns in Spain are those within roughly a 40-kilometre radius of Barcelona and Madrid: Pozuelo is just 27 kilometres north-west of the city, whilst the second-richest town, Matadepera, is 31 kilometres outside of Barcelona with a gross annual per capita income of €54,113, taking over from Majadahonda, 32 kilometres to the north of Madrid, whose annual per-head income has gone down from €56,000 in 2016 to around €51,000 in 2018.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE FIRST of Spain's toll motorways to become free of charge will be the AP-1, starting on December 1 this year, confirms minister of public works José Luis Ábalos.

Once the toll franchise expires at the end of this month, the motorway between the cathedral city of Burgos in the centre-northern region of Castilla y León and the town of Armiñón in the Basque province of Álava – the capital of which is Vitoria-Gasteiz – will no longer carry a fee.

An idea originally floated by the previous national government, led by the right-wing PP until June, scrapping tolls on motorways was never a plan set in stone, although the then ministry of public works was seriously considering it.

Now, the left-wing socialist government which gained power in June has committed to following through with the promise, which will not only save money for regular travellers but also cut gridlocks and air pollution through small towns and on secondary roads, since lorries and cars will not have to use them to avoid the tolls.

The next two to go will be the AP-4 between Sevilla and Cádiz, and the AP-7 down the east coast.

Starting at the French border at the top of the province of Girona and continuing as far as Cartagena (Murcia), the AP-7 turns into the toll-free A-7 intermittently – between Sagunto, on the Valencia-Castellón province border, and Silla, just south of Valencia, then from San Juan in the south of Alicante province onwards, although if continuing from the latter south along the coast towards Murcia rather than inland towards the Costa del Sol, the AP-7 toll route continues as far as Cartagena.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THREE cheeses produced in Spain have been elected among the top 15 in the world out of nearly 3,500 others from more than 40 countries – and some of them are very affordable indeed.

The Madurat (pictured), created by Formatges Mas El Garet in Tona, Barcelona province came sixth in this year's World Cheese Awards – considered the Oscars of the cheese industry – which took place in Bergen, Norway.

It was beaten by the Norwegian brand Fanaost, and aged gouda made on the small livestock farm of Ostegarden – home to just 12 cows - which made the top slot.

The others which made it ahead of the Madurat from Spain were the Agour Pur Brébis AOP Ossau Iraty, from France; the Helfeit, Brun Geitost, Tinn tradisjøn, by Stordalen Gardsbruk in Norway; the Almnäs Tegel by Almnäs Brukal, Sweden; and the Italian Riserva del Fondatore by Caseificio Il Fiorino.

The Mas El Garet cheese beat Denmark's Lihmskov Grand Fromage; France's Taupinette Jousseaume; and Italy's Baffalo Blu by Caseificio Defendi Luigi and Caciocavallo Azienda by Agricola E Zootecnica Posticchia Sabelli.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HEALTHCARE professionals in Spain have been warned not to prescribe an everyday painkiller to tourists or anyone of northern European origin after research by a medical interpreter in the province of Alicante found that certain nationalities are at risk of fatal sepsis.

Metamizole, which retails as Nolotil, is taken regularly by Spaniards for mild to moderate pain and no known serious side-effects have ever been reported.

But the drug is banned in the UK, and a small number of mostly British, but also Scandinavian patients have developed life-threatening cases of a plunging white blood cell count, causing a dangerously-suppressed immune system.

Known as Agranulocytosis, the condition produces symptoms including fever, sore throat and stiffness, and leaves the patient extremely vulnerable to infection.

Pneumonia, urinary tract infection and septicaemia are common complications of Agranulocytosis and can appear and progress very rapidly, at times too rapidly to be treated in time to save the patient's life.

Cristina García, from Jávea, who works interpreting for English-speaking expatriates and holidaymakers at hospital and doctor appointments, decided to delve deeper after finding only British and Nordic DNA seem to present a deadly infection risk with Metamizole, and that Spanish patients were not apparently affected.

Now, the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Healthcare Products (AEMPS) has warned medics not to prescribe or recommend Nolotil to holidaymakers of any nationality, or to any members of the 'floating population', such as holiday-home owners visiting the area or the country, especially if they are middle-aged or elderly.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPEED limits on secondary roads will drop from 100 kilometres per hour to 90 from January as part of a battery of measures to cut crash deaths, which have been rising in number over the past four years.

Spain's General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), part of the ministry of public works and infrastructure, recalls that only around two in 10 fatal accidents happen on motorways, with the rest being on back roads, in built-up areas and on secondary highways or non-motorway trunk roads.

The vast majority are on 'B-roads', where speed limits vary but, where otherwise unstated, sit at 100 kilometres per hour.

New Year's Day will be a stay of grace, but from January 2 onwards, cars and motorbikes will have to stick to 90 kilometres per hour or less on 'B-roads', and vans, lorries, buses and coaches to 80 kilometres per hour.

At the moment, the limits are 100 for cars and motorbikes, 90 for buses and vans, 80 for lorries on roads with hard shoulders of at least 1.5 metres (4'11”) or at least dual carriageways, and then 90, 80 and 70 respectively on smaller, narrower roads.

The DGT says a 10-kilometre-per-hour drop will translate to a reduction in road deaths of 10%.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AMAZON packaging and delivery staff in Madrid have announced strikes affecting 'Black Friday', the December bank holiday, Christmas and the New Year as negotiations over their working conditions and pay have stalled.

Employees at the logistics centre in San Fernando de Henares have been in ongoing disputes with Amazon, through their unions, since March when the firm 'unilaterally imposed' a new and more restrictive working conditions collective agreement after the previous one expired.

The sector-wide agreement which came up for renewal and renegotiation in March included guaranteed pay increases, sick-pay top-ups so that employees off ill would still get their full wages, and more favourable overtime rates and job titles.

Spanish labour law dictates that new working conditions and salary rates cannot be implemented when they are worse than those currently in existence, without a majority vote in favour by employees and their unions.

And no further progress has been made since the San Fernando logistics centre – one of two of these in Spain – went on strike over 'Prime Day' in July.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A MAN who claims to be the illegitimate son of veteran crooner Julio Iglesias has summoned the singer's other children to provide a DNA sample in his quest to prove paternity.

Javier Sánchez Santos, from Valencia, put private detectives on his case and tissues used by the artist were 'rescued' from a waste-paper bin.

They showed a DNA match of 99.9% with Javier – the closest any test will ever show.

Osuna solicitors, acting for Javier, wrote to Iglesias giving him 10 days to agree to provide a voluntary sample of DNA, but the singer refused, saying the evidence gathered so far was not 'legitimate' as it had been obtained without permission.

According to Javier, Julio Iglesias had admitted to being his father back in 1992, and this was made official by a Valencia court ruling.

But a provincial and then Supreme Court verdict overturned this on appeal, stating that a verbal declaration without DNA as proof was not binding.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A MUM from Sevilla is searching for her 'guardian angel' who probably saved her six-week-old baby's life when she was rushing him to hospital.

Lolí Martín López says her son became gravely ill two weeks ago on Saturday and she jumped in the car with him to take him to A&E, fearing an ambulance would not reach her in time.

But she ran into a gridlock at the Tamarguillo roundabout in the Andalucía city at around 15.00.

Despite waving a scarf from her window, putting on her four-way hazard lights and hooting, calling for cars to let her past so she could continue towards the hospital, nobody moved.

Then, a man on a 125cc motorbike appeared out of the blue, pushed past and blocked the traffic so Lolí could get through.

He got off his bike and stood in the way of the other cars until the mum had managed to get to the front of the queue, 'putting his own life at risk', Lolí said.

Lolí got to Sevilla's Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in the nick of time and emergency doctors saved her 38-day-old baby's life.

Read mroe at thinkSPAIN.com

YELLOW ribbons have been draped across the Scottish city of Glasgow in support of Catalunya regional politicians who remain in custody, or in exile, for their role in staging the disputed independence referendum a year ago.

Glasgow's Catalán Defence Committee (CDC) tied yellow loops to three main bridges – the Albert, the Squinty and the Charing Cross – as well as on the Lobey Dosser statue's horse on Woodlands Road and the Duke of Wellington statue.

A yellow scarf had been wrapped around the Citizen Firefighter as a nod to Catalunya's fire brigade.

The CDC recalls that Scotland had been given the right to self-determination and permitted to vote on independence – which a slim majority rejected – yet those who staged a referendum in Catalunya ended up either in jail or having to flee the country to avoid arrest.

Scotland has long been supportive of Catalunya's prisoners and exiles because of its own history of a separatist movement, and authorities and members of the public overwhelmingly supported the region's ex-education minister, Clara Ponsatí, when she settled in Edinburgh to avoid arrest.

Catalunya's jailed politicians are facing a critical moment as the prosecution has called for 25 years in jail for each of them, and the main pro-secession parties have threatened to withdraw their support for national president Pedro Sánchez unless he intervenes, meaning he may be unable to sign off the 2019 budget.

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NUMEROUS current and ex-PP colleagues of former Spanish president Mariano Rajoy turned out in support for him today (Sunday) at the funeral of his father, Mariano Senior, who died on Thursday aged 97.

Former ministers for work, interior and education, Fátima Báñez, Juan Ignacio Zoido and Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, along with ex-deputy president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, and Javier Arenas and Fernando Martínez Maíllo attended the wake at the Santa María basilica in Pontevedra, Galicia, where Rajoy grew up and his family of origin lived.

Regional president of Galicia Alberto Núñez Feijóo and cabinet members Francisco Conde and Jesús Vázquez Almuíña – all PP members – plus opposition socialist leader for the north-western territory Gonzalo Caballero went along for the initial service at the San Mauro crematorium.

They all said they had gone along to support 'a friend going through a terrible time', but added that Mariano Junior (pictured, left) was 'bearing up well'.

The PP members said that 'even though' Mariano Rajoy Sobredo 'was very elderly and had not been well lately', it was 'always hard losing a parent' and ex-president Mariano Rajoy Brey was coping well under the circumstances.

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Spanish newspaper El Mundo has claimed that Lionel Messi seriously considered leaving Barcelona for Manchester City late last year, after Pep Guardiola made a move to attract the Argentinian star at City's president Khaldoon Al Mubarak's bidding.

It is reported that a move from Camp Nou to the Etihad Stadium would have netted Messi 250 million euros after tax over five years, with City paying the player's release fee of 250 million euros on top of that.

According to the report, the talks took place when the Catalan political crisis was at its peak and an independent Catalonia threatened to leave Barça out of the Spanish Liga. Talks allegedly took place between City CEO - and former Barça vice-president - Ferrán Soriano and Messi's father and agent, Jorge, who was to be paid an additional net sum of 50 million euros if he was able to convince his son to make the move to Manchester. City's total offer, including taxes, would have amounted to 755 million euros.

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Yesterday, Fundación Biodiversidad celebrated its 20th birthday. Spain's first and only public foundation with the aim of conserving the country's natural heritage and biodiversity, it is dedicated to the conservation of the natural environment, acting against climate change and promoting a green economy.

It started life in 1998 as the Institute of Environmental Studies and celebrated its 20th birthday in its new headquarters in Madrid - built using sustainable materials and to maximise energy efficiency - by highlighting its achievements and looking to the future.

Since its launch two decades ago, Fundación Biodiversidad has been involved in over 2000 individual projects and has led 11 major European multi-stakeholder programmes, which have brought in over 77€ million for biodiversity conservation in Spain. In total, the foundation has invested over 300€ million in the environment. It is currently coordinating the biggest ever European marine conservation project - LIFE Intemares - a 50€ million project that has managed to fulfil an international commitment to protect over 10% of a country's marine surface area - Spain's protected area now extends to 13%.

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Ryanair and Hungary's low cost airline Wizz Air will both be applying a new hand baggage policy as of Thursday November 1st in an attempt to reduce delays.

Ryanair will be making customers pay to take a wheelie bag (10kg maximum) with them, a service that has been free up until now. Priority-boarding customers will still be able to take on two free bags (one small carry-on and one wheelie bag). Priority boarding costs from 6€ each way. Importantly, Ryanair will only allow a maximum of 95 (out of 189 potential passengers per plane) to buy priority boarding. Once this is sold out, customers will have to check their bag in before security, at a cost of 16€-20€ return.

Similarly, from November 1st, all Wizz Air passengers will be entitled to bring one free carry-on bag up to a size of 40cm x 30cm x 20cm on board to be placed under the seat in front of them. Passengers who have purchased priority boarding will be permitted to bring an extra wheelie bag (maximum size 55cm x 40cm x 23 cm). Additionally, Wizz Air is introducing a new type of checked-in bag with a 10 kg allowance from 7€, besides the available 20 and 32 kg options.

The new rules, which Ryanair first announced at the end of August, are aimed at reducing delays and lowering the cost of checked-in luggage. Previously, all passengers could bring on board one standard-sized wheelie bag plus a small carry-on free of charge. But unless passengers had bought priority boarding (from 6€), the wheelie bag was tagged at the gate and put in the hold. Most travellers have been happy with this, but it has meant that as many as 120 bags have been left waiting on the tarmac to be loaded onto the plane. This has caused significant delays, with ground staff often not immediately available to load them.

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