Live News From Spain As It Happens

AN ANTI-CYCLONE described by weather bosses as ‘eternal’ continues in Spain with a second weekend of unusually-high temperatures forecast, even in areas that are traditionally uncomfortably freezing at this time of year.

Zaragoza, in central Aragón – a region where the thermometer barely reaches double figures in the daytime in late February and early March – the mercury could soar to up to 26ºC, says the State meteorological agency, AEMET.

In the provinces of Valencia, in the east, Lleida in the land-locked north-east and bordering the Pyrénées, and Vizcaya – the capital of which is Bilbao – in the Basque Country, temperatures of around 25ºC or 26ºC are predicted.

Girona, on Spain’s far north-eastern border, will be around 24ºC, as will Córdoba in the south, traditionally one of the country’s hottest provinces and where the mercury was originally forecast to rise to around 28ºC last weekend.

Today (Thursday), most of the mainland is enjoying sunny weather of around 18ºC – not quite beach temperatures, but enough not to bother with a coat.

Córdoba’s 28ºC did not materialise, but its 24.3ºC on Saturday broke all records and was 1ºC higher than the hottest February 23 documented, in 1990.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRESIDENT Pedro Sánchez will trigger a new raft of legal measures on Friday destined to safeguard Spain, its traders and British residents in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

With just four weeks and two days to go until the UK is set to leave the European Union, with or without a deal in place, the Spanish leader has announced a hefty law text with contingency plans is set to go live at the touch of a button.

In a Parliamentary speech in which he slammed the alt-right ahead of April’s general elections and the apparent rise of independent party Vox, Sánchez pointed out that it was far-right politics that had led to Brexit.

He said the referendum result was ‘hugely regrettable’ and was largely thanks to the campaign by alt-right independents UKIP.

“What has happened in the UK shows that the far right does not even need to get into power to change the political agenda of mainstream parties such as the British Conservatives, or to extrapolate their policies to other EU countries,” Sánchez lamented.

“All that’s needed is for them to inject their virus into other political formations, force their way into democracy like a Trojan, to shatter, in months, consensus that has taken decades to achieve.”

If the European Union agrees to extend the deadline for Brexit beyond March 29, Spain will not stand in its way, says Sánchez, but that he wants to know what Britain would intend to do with the extra time.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AS MANY as 4,000 villages in Spain have no local bank branch, and just 20% of these are served by a monthly or fortnightly ‘mobile bank’ open for three hours at a time.

And some of these villages are within striking distance of major cities – as long as inhabitants have access to a car.

The village of Canencia in the Greater Madrid region is home to fewer than 500 people, but its ageing population says it feels lost without a local branch where they can withdraw cash, pay bills and ask for advice.

Their nearest bank is 20 kilometres away, in the larger village of Buitrago de Lozoya.

Most of these villages has at least one cashpoint, but some of the very elderly are ‘too scared’ to use them, ‘in case they swallow their cards’, or ‘don’t understand them’, especially if they are from a generation which left school long before their teens and can barely read or write.

Also, in Canencia and some other villages, very few local shops, bars or cafés accept card payments – even though, by law, any single transaction of €30 or more must include this option.

Younger villagers say that, although most believe in the age of internet banking, direct debits, contactless and email or phone contact, high-street banks are unnecessary, an entire generation still pays its bills in cash over the counter at the bank and does not trust any other method.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

DISPOSABLE plastic has had its day in the European Union – by the year after next, heaps of everyday throwaway items that take up to 1,000 years to break down and disappear will be off the shelves in all 27 member States, including Spain.

Other types will be heavily restricted, and a third category will be the subject of prevention campaigns and recycling – although what can be recycled differs greatly depending upon where you are on the continent.

In Spain, all soft plastics, including cling film, crisp packets, packaging, carrier bags, and even wet-wipes can be dumped in the ‘yellow bin’ for sorting and re-use; the same container takes drinks cans, tins, and milk and juice cartons.

Yet in the UK, currently still the 28th member State, only hard plastics can be recycled – any kind of wrapper goes in landfill or is burnt, and the only way you can dispose of carrier bags without harming the environment is to return them to supermarkets; if they’ll take them.

Plastic plates, straws, cutlery, cups and bottles

Fiestas in Spain will have to undergo a massive change: plastic plates, cups, straws, cocktail-stirrers and cutlery, used three times daily by each of the peñas or festival ‘clubs’ for their open-air communal meals will be on the banned list by 2021.

At least, plastic cups, along with water bottles, will still be permitted, but at least 25% of them must be made with recycled plastic by 2025 and, by 2030, at least 30%.

Unless and until they disappear altogether, though, they can and should be dumped in the ‘yellow bin’.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BENIDORM Palace will greet its 16 millionth customer this year after 42 years and over 3,500 shows, says its owner Vicente Climent.

The huge cabaret venue and restaurant burst onto the tourism scene on July 12, 1977 with a show by a Brazilian ballet company, and Climent himself – who was 30 when the venue opened – took over after 13 years.

His first show commissioned was with Soviet dancer Rudolf Nureyef – a night Finestrat-born musician Climent (second picture) describes as ‘incredible’.

“Tickets sold out months before the show, and the keenest fans went along in the early morning to watch this world-class performer rehearsing,” Climent reveals.

With seating for 1,600 spectators per performance, and practically every single show being a sell-out, the current owner estimates that this summer, on the 42nd anniversary of Benidorm Palace, customer numbers will break the 16 million barrier.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

“EIGHT years old is the best age to start learning programming, because it means you can acquire knowledge of the most difficult aspects at a time in life when you’re most likely to absorb them,” advises robotics expert and video game builder Antonio García from Villanubla, Valladolid province.

And he should know, having been working in the field for five years and given his first TED talk three years ago at Valladolid University.

Wise words indeed from a child aged 11.

“Robotics is the future”

Not yet out of primary school, but already revolutionising classroom practices, Antonio says he has a project under development which will ‘eradicate air pollution’, but that he ‘needs more knowledge of physics, chemistry and a few other things’ before he can bring it to fruition.

To the outside observer, Antonio seems just an ordinary little boy, kicking a ball around on the park with other children from his class – he’s a keen football fan, but doesn’t want to be the next Ronaldo; his future lies in App creation and constructing interactive games – yet his astonishing gift, way ahead of the capabilities of many adults earning living in the same field, is entirely self-taught, and he’s been teaching his school friends, too.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FREAK hot spell rarely seen in February – the coldest month of Spain’s year – is on its way, with temperatures reaching almost 30ºC in parts during the day, according to the State meteorological agency, AEMET.

But early mornings will remain cold, meaning a difference of up to 25ºC between highs and lows on Saturday and Sunday this week.

Córdoba, traditionally one of Spain’s hottest mainland provinces due to its land-locked southern location, will experience temperatures that could reach 28ºC in the daytime, although at ‘commuter hour’ the mercury could plunge to 3ºC – a bizarre weather situation that could mean residents spend the day catching a tan and piling on the sunscreen, only to wrap up in thermals and extra quilts at night.

Sevilla and Jaén, two other inland Andalucía provinces which are also among the hottest in Spain in summer, will see temperatures of around 27ºC.

Land-locked provinces will be among the hottest – Guadalajara, Toledo, Cuenca, Albacete and Ciudad Real (Castilla-La Mancha), Ourense (Galicia), Álava, of which the capital is Vitoria (Basque Country), León, Valladolid, Burgos, Zamora, Palencia, Salamanca, Soria (Castilla y León), Teruel and Zaragoza (Aragón), Lleida (Catalunya), Badajoz (Extremadura) and Madrid will see the mercury shoot up to between 23ºC and 25ºC – an average of 20-24ºC higher during the day than at night.

The Canary Islands and the provinces of Granada (Andalucía), Pontevedra and Lugo (Galicia), Girona (Catalunya) and Vizcaya, of which the capital is Bilbao (Basque Country) are all expected to see temperatures ranging from around 22-24ºC.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Telefónica has just put its luxury airline up for sale for between US$21.9 million and US$22.9m (€19.3m to €20.2m).

Once the largest aircraft owner in the IBEX 35 – Spain’s list of the 35 biggest companies by share capital – with a total of four, it now only has two left, putting it behind clothing empire Inditex and supermarket chain Mercadona.

But once it has shifted its Gulfstream G550, bought in 2010, Telefónica will only have one aircraft left in its fleet.

The firm, based in Spain but operating globally – it owns the operator O2 in the UK – has always managed its fleet of executive aircraft via its subsidiary company Lotca Servicios Integrales, S.L.

Seven years ago, Telefónica launched a plan to cut its fleet by half in order to slash annual maintenance costs, which were payable to Gestair, and to reduce its balance-sheet losses by eliminating the yearly depreciation shown on paper as the planes aged.

Telefónica only plans to keep its Gulfstream G650, the newest of its models.

As the photographs – from the website Global Jet, which advertises Telefónica’s aircraft – show, the luxury plane has spacious seating for 18 passengers with sumptuous leather seats and cushions plus chaises longues, polished-wood bar units and plush carpets

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BY WORKING round the clock since the early hours of this morning (Monday), Cantabria firefighters have extinguished over half of the mass infernos reported in the northern coastal region in just one day.

At the time of publication, the initial 32 wildfires had reduced to 15, and the Armed Forces emergency response unit (UME) was able to send its 226 workers back to base.

Although no immediate danger is believed to be present, the 15 fires remain active and are being watched overnight in case of a flare-up.

Increased humidity and lower temperatures, as well as the wind changing direction, mean the risk to residential property is diminishing, the regional fire brigade reports.

Rain forecast in the area in the next couple of days is eagerly awaited, as this is likely to help in the extinguishing efforts.

So far, nobody has been evacuated, although vast swathes of woodland have been destroyed across the centre of Cantabria.

The 15 fires on land belonging to 11 towns and villages were found to have been started in 100 places, and it is believed the majority were the work of arsonists.

Guardia Civil officers caught a man aged around 35 in the Cabuérniga area, red-handed, with a cigarette lighter, and another aged 39 is under investigation in San Roque de Riomiera, although neither are said to be under arrest at present.

Cabuérniga is where one of the worst of the fires was based, with huge walls of flames stretching across open countryside, spreading perilously close to homes in the villages of Los Tojos and Saja.

Other blaze zones described as ‘challenging’ include Ramales de la Victoria and Pisueña.

Dry conditions and a south wind fanned the flames after the arsonists got to work, and up to 194 wildfires have been reported in Cantabria since Thursday.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TAKING Spanish nationality normally involves a language exam and a multiple-choice test on Constitution, culture and society to show ‘integration’, and both are relatively simple: only 15 correct answers out of a total of 25 are needed to pass the latter, and the former is set at level A2 – a good elementary or lower pre-intermediate standard, about the equivalent of GCSE-level Spanish.

But what about foreign nationals in Spain who cannot read or write?

The ministry of justice has announced a rethink of requirements for applicants who, through no fault of their own, would be incapable of taking the exams.

These may include residents who have only had minimal, or no schooling, and are illiterate, but who otherwise speak and understand Spanish; it also covers those who are very severely dyslexic and would not be able to cope with the written or reading comprehension elements.

Additionally, people with learning disabilities or other cognitive limitations, such as Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, would be fazed by written exams – as would the blind, whilst the deaf would struggle with the oral and listening elements of the language test.

Mindful of its legal and moral obligations to avoid discrimination against applicants on the grounds of disabilities, Spain has launched a public consultation to debate how those who are unable to take written tests would be able to show their level of the language and of their integration in Spanish society.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FRESH incident in the bilateral tug-of-war over Gibraltar sparked fury among the Rock’s government yesterday (Sunday) when Spanish Naval officers ordered British trade ships to leave the port.

Although Spain recognises – reluctantly – that the Rock of Gibraltar is under British rule, it continues to consider the waters off its coast to be Spanish, even though the United Nations dictates that the seas three miles from the shore belong to the same government as the land itself.

Spanish crafts have made incursions into British waters off Gibraltar in the past, making international headlines, and disputes over marine rights of way are relatively common.

This time, a military ship’s radio conversation with UK commercial boats reveals the former told the latter to ‘leave Spanish territorial waters’.

The British crew member is recorded as responding that the trade ships were ‘not adrift’, but anchored in the port, and asking the Spanish craft to ‘verify you are referring to our vessel’.

In reply, the Spanish crew repeated its order for the British vessels to leave, but the Gibraltarian port authority instructed them to stay put.

Gibraltar’s government rarely minces its words when disputes of this nature arise, and Sunday was no exception.

GENERAL elections aside, Spain’s role on the global political stage is set to be more crucial than ever in 2019 – and, especially in terms of its membership of the European Union, the country will be ‘very much in demand’.

This week, the Royal Elcano Institute presented its seventh annual report coordinated by political scientist Ignacio Molina, Spain in the world in 2019: Perspectives and challenges.

“Spain needs to accept that it is one of the largest countries in the EU and among those with the greatest diplomatic capacity, and will need to accept its responsibilities,” Molina writes.

“There is going to be a great demand for more and more of Spain.”

But what does this mean for Spain?

Firstly, according to the report, 2018 was a particularly turbulent political year within and outside Spain’s borders – in the case of the latter, with the Catalunya separatist issue ongoing, and having finally reached the trial stage in the Supreme Court, and also, the socialist government’s ‘Parliamentary weakness’, given its very slim majority of less than a quarter of seats, meaning it has been potentially held back by the ever-present possibility of its initiatives being voted down by the opposition and curtailing its ability to ‘take on a greater international presence.

But current president Pedro Sánchez and his foreign affairs minister, Catalunya-born Josep Borrell, ‘are showing a greater inclination than their predecessors towards diplomatic activism’, speaking out against world inequality, being more proactive – especially in the face of Brexit, Donald Trump and the refugee crisis, for which Spain has been upheld as an excellent example of cooperation – and refusing to be shrinking violets.

A TRANSSEXUAL teenager has won the battle to have his name printed on his national ID card after appealing a decision which claimed this was ‘not neutral enough’.

Gabriel Delgado Suárez, 15, from Calatayud (Zaragoza province) was born a girl but does not identify with his sex, and has considered himself a boy from very earliest childhood.

He has grown up as a transsexual male, is in treatment to ensure he develops as a man, and yet was not permitted to give himself a man’s name on his DNI card.

Yet his SIP, or health service card, shows his name as Gabriel, which he has been called for practically all of his life.

The Civil Registry denied him permission to change it, despite having permission from his mother, Pilar – still necessary for minors – saying ‘Gabriel’ was ‘not gender-neutral’ and was ‘unequivocally masculine’.

“But that’s the whole point,” said a frustrated Gabriel, who identifies entirely as male and not as ‘gender-neutral’ or ‘non-binary’.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

IF THE family of dictator General Franco does not give the government a decision on where his remains should be placed within the next two weeks, the State will decide on their behalf, says justice minister Dolores Delgado.

The fascist leader, who died in 1975 ending a nearly 40-year reign which started with the Civil War, is currently buried in the Valle de los Caídos (‘Valley of the Fallen’), a huge memorial site, cemetery and tourist attraction which houses the graves of not only victims of the late-1930s conflict, but also victims of the dictatorship itself.

Spain’s government, with the full backing of the European Union, considers that the body of a dictator lying next to those of his own victims is a situation that ‘has no place in a 21st-century democracy’, and passed a Royal Decree, or Bill of Law, allowing it to exhume Franco’s remains and move them to another graveyard.

His surviving family – now in its third generation following the relatively recent death of his daughter Carmen – were asked to state where they wished the body to be placed, but opted to appeal against the transfer.

This was unsuccessful, and they now have until March 1 to inform the government of their choice of location.

In the absence of this, the State will decide on March 2 where to put the dictator’s body.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRESIDENT Pedro Sánchez had announced a snap general election for Sunday, April 28, meaning Parliament will be dissolved on Tuesday, March 5 at the latest.

“I’m going to humbly ask for the trust of the Spanish people,” said the leader, who gained power on June 2 after a successful no-confidence vote against the then PP-led right-wing government, which had been at the helm since November 2011.

Lack of support for ‘the most socially-friendly budget ever’ proposed by the socialist, or PSOE government headed up by Sánchez has meant his hands are tied in terms of governing Spain this year, since it means the 2018 budget – already in place when he became president – will have to be carried over, curtailing spending on social welfare, education, employment and other crucial areas and putting paid to huge amounts of funding set aside for vital local and regional development plans.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A CLAIM by a firm in Bulgaria that the iconic Osborne bull in Spain is a breach of copyright has been thrown out by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – and sparked mirth among Spanish-speakers.

The plaintiff’s attempt to register its brand ‘Torro’ was rejected by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) because its similarity with the Spanish word for ‘bull’, toro, would ‘cause confusion among English speakers’.

Phonetically and visually, the EUIPO ruled, ‘Torro’ is the same as toro for the Anglo-Saxon world, although in practice this is not the case, since a double-R is ‘rolled’ and sounds very different to a single R.

The bull, known as the ‘Toro de Osborne’, is not just the stamp of the Spanish liqueur manufacturer, but also, unofficially, a flagship symbol of Spain – its exact shape is reproduced on mugs, ashtrays and other souvenir items across the country.

AIRLINES have overtaken high-speed rail for passengers travelling within Spain, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Over 2018, a total of 40.2 million residents and tourists took internal flights, an increase of 10% on 2017, whilst only half as many – 21.3 million – travelled by the fast-track AVE trains, which saw passenger growth of just 3.8% year on year.

Similar figures were seen in 2017 – national flight passengers increased by 8.1%, and AVE travellers by 3.7%.

In total, according to the INE, public transport links – buses, all types of trains, and airlines – within Spain’s borders rose by 3.1% on figures for 2017, with just over 4.9 billion passengers overall.

Urban transport, which covers buses and metro trains, saw a passenger rise of 2.7%, and inter-urban journeys, being coaches, rail and flights, increased by 3.6%.

Other than flights, the greatest rise was seen in metro passengers, at 4.6%, compared with 4.4% for other trains, 1.5% for round-town buses, 2.6% for inter-city coach links and 3.1% for ferries.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FORMER pilot of the aircraft which crashed in the Channel killing Cardiff FC player Emiliano Sala says he does not believe the tragedy was caused by a mechanical fault.

Eduardo Hernández Vidaurreta, 65, from the province of Burgos (Castilla y León) was captain of the Piper PA-46 Malibu registration number N264DB between 2012 and 2015, which he described as ‘a marvel’ to fly.

“I’d be very surprised to hear that the accident was caused by a mechanical fault,” says Hernández Vidaurreta.

A commercial pilot in Spain since 1976 and with a US flying licence from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) since 1989, Eduardo says the Piper Malibu was built in 1984 and was ‘used a lot’ at the flying school in Florida which it belonged to before it was brought to Spain seven years ago by one of Hernández’s friends, Roberto Sastre, who had bought it on the spur of the moment for around €500,000.

Hernández became Sastre’s ‘air chauffeur’, but only for recreational purposes, not as a job – mostly for weekends away nationally.

The plane clocked up fewer than 50 flying hours a year in the four years Sastre owned it and Hernández flew it, and ‘never gave him any problems’, said the latter.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRESIDENT Pedro Sánchez is considering calling a general election on April 14 as he has been unable to secure sufficient backing for his 2019 budget.

In trying to please the Catalunya regional parties – whose support he needs, due to his party’s only holding around a quarter of the seats in Parliament – Sánchez has angered those who are staunchly against the north-eastern territory’s independence drive.

A huge demonstration held in Madrid yesterday (Sunday), convened by the right-wing PP and centre-right Ciudadanos, called for early general elections, considering Sánchez and his cabinet to be ‘unelected’ due to their having gained power through a no-confidence vote against the PP last June.

If Sánchez does decide to proceed in calling the nation to the polls, he will have to dissolve Parliament in a week’s time – on Tuesday, February 19 – since this has to take place 54 days before the elections.

The date of the possible election is the 88th anniversary of the proclamation of Spain’s Second Republic, which was five years before the start of the Civil War, and will fall on Palm Sunday.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.COM

A REFORM of the controversial public safety legislation known colloquially as ‘the gagging law’ means taking photographs or videos of police officers only attracts a fine if the act of doing so puts them or other people at risk.

The law brought into force by the previous PP-led government meant filming or photographing police in the course of duty could lead to hefty fines, running into thousands of euros, on the grounds that it may compromise officers’ security.

These grounds have been successfully used to fine peaceful protesters, and Amnesty International warned Spain against its application since it meant in the event of police taking their authority too far – something they were accused of throughout the disputed independence referendum election day in Catalunya in October 2017 – victims would be unable to obtain proof and would be unlikely to achieve justice.

Cases of police officers ordering members of the public to delete pictures and videos, on pain of arrest, were not unknown.

Now, however, the new left-wing socialist government has stipulated that the officer in question must be able to demonstrate a clear risk to his or her personal safety or integrity, or that of his or her family.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LEGENDARY crooner Julio Iglesias has become the first Spaniard to win an honorary Grammy Award – and joins a list of timeless artists such as Elvis Presley and Freddy Mercury’s band Queen.

And ahead of his Lifetime Achievement Award due to be presented to him on Sunday, Julio – father of Miami-based pop sensation Enrique – has revealed some startling facts about himself.

Firstly, that he wanted to be a footballer, not a singer; secondly, that it was a car accident putting paid to his sporting career that led to his opting for a musical career.

Now 75 years old – and with a 15-year-old brother – Julio has added a Spanish name to the honorary Grammy line-up, which includes the late greats Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra, Nobel Literature Prize winner Bob Dylan, and Yendl star Barbra Streisand.

Julio Iglesias is the top-selling Latin artist in history, and in his more than 50 years on the music scene, has achieved more than any other Spanish singer, according to the Grammy organisation.

“Spanish music has never had such an international impact for so long, and nobody can boast such a huge discography,” the Grammy press release says.

The Madrid-born star, who was once married to half-Philippine model and presenter Isabel Preysler – mother of Enrique and now wife of Peruvian Nobel novelist Mario Vargas Llosa – was left lying on his back and with very few hopes of ever being able to walk again after a car crash in 1962, when he was just 20.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

IF YOU’RE planning to head abroad when you collect your pension and unsure where to set up home, we’d recommend you come to Spain – naturally. But you don’t need to listen to us; International Livingmagazine’s 2019 ‘Best Places to Retire’ Index has compiled data based upon the experiences of expats on all five continents with everything from the weather and food through to living costs, healthcare and level of bureaucracy, and has come to the conclusion that Spain is the second-best country in Europe to move to when you give up work, after Portugal.

And if you can’t decide between the two, you could always move to the provinces of Zamora or Salamanca (Castilla y León), the region of Extremadura or, if you prefer to be near a coast, the province of Huelva (Andalucía) or Pontevedra (Galicia), where you’ll be in Spain but right on the Portuguese border, so you can hop between countries.

That said, Spain is top choice if you want to avoid Atlantic winds, since more than half its coast is on the Mediterranean, which escapes the worst of the weather during travelling cold fronts due to its being enclosed.

International Living is a US-based magazine, so the winning countries in this year’s Index tend to be non-European as distance from home is a factor: Panamá comes out top, followed by Costa Rica, México and Ecuador, which may well be too far from the family for northern Europeans seeking a sunny retirement hotspot.

Malaysia, Colombia, Portugal, Perú and Thailand also come before Spain, but if it’s Europe you’re looking to move to, the Iberian peninsula countries are the best choices on the International Living list.

What’s so great about Spain, according to the USA?

Some of the reasons Spain comes second in Europe come as no surprise to most of our readers – such as the fact it is one of the continent’s top beach destinations for holidaymakers – and points out that in many coastal parts, especially on the tourist trail, communities of English-speaking expatriates can be found, meaning those who have not yet started learning Spanish will still be able to make friends before they are confident enough with the language to mix with locals. Outside of the mainstream holiday areas, the Index report warns that newcomers will need to learn Spanish before they make the move in order to cope.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HUNDREDS of towns and villages in Spain have been ordered to remove vestiges of General Franco’s dictatorship – including renaming streets that have been dedicated to the fascist leader and his supporters.

A total of 1,171 roads and squares retain names or figures that were originally a homage to the dictator and his men, and the 656 local councils they belong to have been given instructions to wipe them out.

This falls in line with the Law of Historic Memory, passed in 2007, and the request has come from the ministry of justice.

Along with these towns, another 19 are still holding onto ‘memorabilia’ which ‘exalts’ the Civil War or the Francoist regime, the ministry reveals.

Shields, coats of arms, statues, placards and other pro-Franco symbolism is required to be replaced or removed by law, and the ministry of justice has threatened those towns which do not comply with the loss of government grants.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A PLANET-FRIENDLY way to fuel a car, in a nutshell – that’s what researchers at Córdoba University have just invented.

Batteries for electrically-powered vehicles that run on almond shells last 60% longer than the conventional variety, says the team.

“Climate change is a reality and its consequences are becoming clearer and clearer,” a spokesperson for the university says, “to the point where governments of the world’s main countries are taking steps to avoid the problem that could even lead to a possible ban on vehicles that run on combustible fuel.”

If this were to happen, drivers all over the planet would gradually have to switch their petrol, diesel and hybrid cars to 100% electrically-fuelled versions.

But these are slow to catch on at present, due to concerns about how long the battery power would last and whether there would be a charging point available in time, as well as the length of time it takes to recharge – and, of course, the very high purchase price for this type of vehicle.

The Inorganic Chemistry FQM-175 team at Córdoba University Fine Chemistry and Nanochemistry Institute (IUNAN) has spent the last few years trying to develop lithium or sulphur batteries suitable for cars, using materials that are kind to the environment, efficient at energy storage and high-performance.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PRESENTER Jordi Évole interviewed deposed Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro for Spain's channel six, or La Sexta show Salvados just as Spanish leader Pedro Sánchez announced his government's acceptance of Juan Guaidó as the South American country's head of State.

Évole bravely visited the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, for the person-to-person interview – against the advice of the Spanish foreign office, which has recommended nobody travel to the country unless absolutely necessary.

Sánchez announced today that Spain, in line with the rest of the European Union – including the UK – officially recognised Guaidó as president, despite Maduro's supporters, such as Russia and Cuba, calling the new Venezuelan leader's taking over a coup d'état.

During the show, which aired yesterday (Sunday), Maduro said: “It's as though I told the EU it had seven days to recognise the Republic of Catalunya.”

Asked whether he was considering the possibility of civil war, Maduro said: “That depends upon the level of madness of the northern empire [the USA] and its allies.”

He warned that the 'organised people' had 'access to a weapons system and military training'.

The 'people's army' can potentially swell to two million members – 50,000 units, each led by a sergeant.

Maduro added: “The people are arming themselves already. They know where to go, what to do, and how, to defend themselves.

“I'm not going to let anyone twist my arm,” he insisted, and ruled out calling a snap general election.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist high-jumper has just won a bronze in London 2012 – nearly seven years after the competition.

Ruth Beitia, 39, came fourth when the UK capital hosted the Games and went home reasonably satisfied with her Olympic diploma, given that Spain had never yet won a medal in the women's high-jump.

But the Cantabria-born physiotherapy graduate has just heard how third-placed Svetlana Shkolina has been disqualified due to doping.

The Russian high-jumper's results between July 16, 2012 and September 14, 2014 have been declared null and void, and she has been banned from competing for four years, starting yesterday (Friday, February 1).

Shkolina beat Ruth on height by just three centimetres in London six-and-a-half years ago.

This means Ruth is now the only Spaniard with two Olympic medals in high-jump, as well as the only one to win a gold.

She has also now been awarded the silver in the 2013 world championships, held in Moscow, since Shkolina won it, but has now been disqualified as it falls within the two years and two months during which she has been found to have been taking performance-enhancing drugs.

Ruth said after Rio 2016 that she did not plan to go on to a third Olympic Games, since she 'could not see herself' competing in Tokyo 2020 'at the age of 41'.

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SPAIN'S answer to the Oscars, the Goya Awards will have had much of the nation glued to their TV sets last night (Saturday) and offered the rest of the world a taster of what the Spanish cinema industry is capable of. In the Anglo-Saxon world, viewers in general know little about films not produced in English – given that these continue to dominate the planet and it is extremely rare to hear of a movie dubbed into the language – meaning those in any other language tend to be found uniquely in art-house film theatres, subtitled, and cater for a very niche market.

But Spain's most famous modern director Pedro Almódovar has successfully exported his productions to the UK, and actors who started out in his films and continue to star in them regularly – such as Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas – have also managed to conquer Hollywood; the former only in the last 18 years, when she made her English-language début alongside Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky, an adaptation of Alejandro Amenábar's Abre los Ojos ('Open Your Eyes').

And Amenábar, too, has made his name among Anglo-Saxon mainstream film fans through The Others, starring Nicole Kidman.

So, even if you have to watch Spanish films with subtitles in English – perhaps graduating onto subtitles in Spanish eventually, with a view to dropping these altogether one day – anyone who plans to live or holiday regularly in the country should do their cinema homework; you never know who or what might pop up one day on UK and US screens.

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'ALTERNATIVE' taxi services Uber and Cabify have ceased operations in Barcelona as from today after restrictions on booking have made it 'impossible' for them to operate.

In light of mainstream cab drivers having staged multiple protests across the city to force the council's hand, passengers now have to book Uber and Cabify rides at least 15 minutes in advance – which taxi drivers have reluctantly agreed to, as they wanted this to be extended to at least an hour or two, with geo-tagging removed so customers would not be able to trace any other Uber or Cabify than the one they had reserved, and minimum distances set.

Cabify says 98.5% of its bookings are made much less than 15 minutes before the ride is required, and Uber says this restriction does not apply anywhere else in Europe – where, they say, mainstream taxis coexist with these newer alternatives without any problems – and that it goes against their policy of being immediately available.

Both services say they have been 'constructively dismissed' from Catalunya, since the Barcelona ruling is expected to apply across the region.

Uber, which briefly left Catalunya, returned about a year ago and, up to yesterday, had around 500,000 users, whilst Cabify has about a million customers registered in Barcelona alone.

In Madrid, no such restrictions are likely to apply – regional president Ángel Garrido is against limiting Uber and Cabify services, although may consider allowing individual town and city councils to 'regulate' pre-booking times if they see fit.

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THREE journalists and a driver from the Spanish news agency EFE are being held in custody in Venezuela after their apparently unmotivated arrest whilst covering street protests against ousted president Nicolás Maduro's régime.

Colombians Maurén Barriga Vargas (centre), a journalist, and Leonardo Muñoz (left), a photographer, along with the latter's driver, Venezuelan José Salas and Spanish journalist Gonzalo Domínguez Loeda were detained in the capital, Caracas, at the EFE office based there.

Members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) detained Gonzalo and Maurén at the EFE branch last night (Wednesday), and told them the other two had been arrested earlier by the Directorate of Military Counter-Intelligence (DGCIM).

Gonzalo and Maurén were escorted to their hotel to collect their belongings before being taken into custody and questioned.

Head of EFE in Caracas, Nélida Fernández, says she and the agency's lawyer are closely following the situation and attempting to clarify the arrest with Venezuelan authorities in order to secure their workers' release as soon as possible.

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