Live News From Spain As It Happens

LIFE expectancy in Spain rose by 1.17 years on average in the last decade, according to the ministry of health and the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Both organisations are researching the effects of the financial crisis on how long people live – a period of recession and relative poverty lasting from approximately late 2008 until around 2013.

The study, however, takes figures from 2010 to 2018 inclusive – as yet, statistics for the last full year, 2019, are not available.

Data show that the highest life expectancy increase was in the Spanish-owned city-province of Ceuta on the northern Moroccan coast, directly opposite Gibraltar, rising by two years and three months from the start of the last decade – but, curiously, its near-neighbour Melilla, a Spanish enclave immediately south of Almería and close to the Algerian border, was the only region in Spain where life expectancy fell in that time, by 0.67 years.

The Balearic Islands saw the second-highest rise, by 1.55 years, with the greatest leap seen on the mainland being in Asturias, where inhabitants now live 1.45 years longer, followed by Madrid (1.44).

It was, in fact, the capital and its wider region where the highest life expectancy was recorded in the most recent figures to date, in 2018 – it had risen to 84 years and just under 10 months, on average, across both genders, even though the difference is usually around three years with women's being the highest.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S consumer authorities are looking into Ryanair's claim that it is the 'lowest-emission airline in Europe', amid concerns that this may be influencing planet-conscious passengers in their choice of travel.

Earlier this month, according to British broadsheet The Guardian, the UK had pulled the plug on the advertising claim, dubbing it 'greenwashing'.

Now, the Spanish federation FACUA-Consumers in Action, along with the ministry for consumer affairs – led by United Left leader Alberto Garzón – is also looking into the issue.

Airlines being conscious of, and attempting to reduce, their carbon footprint, are to be encouraged, but the low-cost Irish carrier may be forced to change its wording if it turns out that it cannot substantiate its claims to be the 'greenest on the continent'.

On Ryanair's corporate website, a monthly CO2 report is provided, and the headline states that it was the first EU airline to do this.

It says that its carbon dioxide emissions per passenger per kilometre are the lowest in the EU airline industry, based upon its having 'one of the youngest fleets' at an 'average of six years', and the 'highest passenger load factor' at 96%.

“Our CO2 per passenger per kilometre has been cut from 82g to 67g (-18%) over the last decade,” the report reads.

“[This] is substantially lower than [Ryanair's] EU competitors.”

The company aims to cut its CO2 output to under 60g per passenger per kilometre within the next 10 years.

In the last nine months, according to Ryanair's monthly CO2 reports, emissions have actually risen slightly, from 66g per passenger per kilometre in May and June of 2019, to 67g from July to November 2019 inclusive, and now 69g in December 2019 and January 2020.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HOLLYWOOD actor George Clooney could be the new part-owner of Málaga CF football club, according to the the Small Shareholders' Association (APA).

It has just revealed that the team's current owner has opted to sell it after a grim few years of what APA describes as 'managerial crises' caused by 'lack of funds' – and the company earmarked to buy it is linked to the Ocean's Eleven star.

Sheikh Abudullah Al-Thani of Qatar was recently forced to hand over the reins to receivers – but a US-based company is said to have offered €15 million to buy out his share, which makes up the majority of the capital.

APA claims Sheikh Al-Thani rejected this figure and counter-offered a purchase price of €100m – somewhat excessive, given that the market value of all the players put together barely breaks the €20m barrier.

Where negotiations are at present is not clear, but the as-yet undisclosed company, of which Clooney is a major shareholder, is said to have ambitions that go way beyond leading the Second-Division club to scooping up more silverware.

APA chairman Antonio Aguilera says the firm which has put in the offer has designs of turning the Costa del Sol into 'the Hollywood of Europe'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PEARL Harbour star Ben Affleck told TV interviewers he would be 'delighted' to attend ex-fiancée Jennifer López's wedding – in perfect Spanish.

Talking of his upcoming film The Way Back, the 47-year-old star was frank and open on the talk show El Gordo y La Flaca, on the US-based Hispanic TV channel Univisión.

Affleck's character is a celebrity who could have been a legend, but fell dramatically from grace due to his addictions – the film focuses on how he attempts to claw back from the brink.

Speaking to – and being spoken to - entirely in Spanish, Affleck revealed his own battle with drink had given him plenty of background knowledge to help him in the rôle.

“I wanted to make a film that gave hope: You are not your problems; you're better than them,” said the actor from Lost.

“You can live a good life if you deal with your problems. But sometimes it's difficult. Some scenes were really easy for me to act because I'm an alcoholic, and I understand what this means and the pain that goes with it.”

He admitted that his addiction to alcohol was largely the cause of his break-up from actress girlfriend Jennifer Garner, whom he speaks highly of, having recently admitted that the biggest mistake he had ever made in his life had been to divorce her.

“I know about the pain of the divorcé, but I'm very lucky to have such a lovely ex-wife who has helped me so much, and we work together for the kids, because we both know this is the most important thing,” explains Ben, who had three children with Ms Garner – Violet Anne, 14; Seraphine Rose, 10 and Samuel, seven.

Naturally, he was asked about another of his famous ex-partners – Jennifer López who, born in the deprived and mostly-Hispanic Bronx area of New York to recent Puerto Rican immigrants and growing up surrounded by poverty and violence, exploits her Latin roots constantly in her music, producing entire albums in Spanish which, surprisingly, she does not speak completely fluently and had to learn, even though it is her parents' native language.

Affleck was in a relationship with Jennifer López – an acclaimed actress and, more recently, clothing designer with her J-Lo collection, as well as an accomplished singer-songwriter – after they met in 2001 whilst filming Gigli.

They split up in 2004, breaking off their engagement, with both of them citing relentless media attention as what wrecked their relationship – in fact, Jennifer's 'rags-to-riches' hit in which she insists she is still the Puerto Rican girl from the impoverished suburb, Jenny From the Block, was a response to the couple's being hounded constantly by the press.

“For me, it's wonderful to see her gaining the respect she deserves,” Affleck said when asked about J-Lo.

“She's a great woman. She seems very happy with her fiancé and I wish her all the best with her forthcoming marriage.”

Jennifer had already said publicly that her hoped-for wedding guests would include a number of her ex-boyfriends when she ties the know with her 44-year-old US-born ex-professional baseball player partner.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN ENDANGERED species of giraffe has been born at Barcelona zoo – 10-year-old Nuru, from Emmen zoo in The Netherlands, gave birth this month and mother and baby are both doing well.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), giraffes are now an endangered species, and certain strains of them even more so.

This 'makes the existence of the species in safari and zoo parks absolutely essential', says the IUCN – and the world's zoo network is attempting to breed at least 500 of them in order to reintroduce them to the wild after they have been raised specifically to enable them to cope.

At the moment, no plans are afoot to release giraffes into Africa, their native continent, until guarantees are in place that they will be safe, but it is hoped this will start once systems are in place.

Most safari reserves of the type visited by tourists on animal-spotting trips, such as Kruger Park in South Africa and the Masai Mara in Kenya, are patrolled by anti-poaching officers who will shoot to kill if they see a human unlawfully killing or trying to kill animals which roam wild there.

The latest newborn is a Rothschild giraffe, one of those which, it is feared, will become extinct unless efforts are stepped up to save them.

He has not yet been named – and, in fact, was born on February 16, but zoo staff did not release the news straight away until they were able to be sure he was in good health and would survive.

That said, several visitors were lucky enough to actually witness Nuru giving birth.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FACE cream costing €3.99 and containing the same anti-ageing properties as another retailed at €570 has just hit the shelves in branches of Lidl in Spain, after selling out in the UK, Germany and Portugal.

Cellular Beauty is described as a 'clone' of La Prairie's Cellular Radiance, which sells at 142.5 times the price.

Its main active ingredient is Myramaze, an extract from a shrub known as the 'plant of resurrection', which is able to survive extreme conditions of dehydration.

Used in skin cream, it helps protect lipids from oxidation and retains moisture, meaning the skin is constantly repairing itself, even during the day – despite the fact most skin regeneration happens at night, during sleep.

Lidl's version contains sun protection factor (SPF) 15, helping to filter out UV rays which cause ageing.

Both the Lidl version and La Prairie's version promise firm, moisturised skin and to improve the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

Despite this, British dermatologist Dr Andy Millward warns against comparing two types of face cream purely on the basis of their main active ingredient, since these do not work in isolation – their true power is in the complete formula and how all the ingredients work together, plus the percentage of each.

Also, packaging is important – the better the packaging, the better the cream retains its properties.

Luxury brands invest more money and time in research, development, marketing and packaging, because they have a much larger budget to do so – meaning consumers are not merely paying for the name, says Dr Millward.

But cheaper ones, such as supermarket own brands, are created off the back of this expensive research and development, meaning they do not have to plough the same immense resources into creating the product – they merely clone the original, or at least, follow broadly the same recipe.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FEW nations eagerly await the start of Lent the way Spain does – except, perhaps, Brazil – and, arguably, these two countries are the ones that have the best time of it the night before it starts. Carnival craziness has hit the nation, and although a handful of these still hold the trump card for being the biggest and most splendid, drawing in tourists from hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away, a huge number of towns now hold their own versions.

Local Carnival celebrations range from fancy-dress children's parades as part of the main school day through to entire streets bursting with discos, pop-up bars and costumed revellers until sunrise.

Arguably the largest in Spain is in the Canary Islands, where the fun started on Thursday and will carry on into the middle of next week, with at least one public holiday where everyone can get involved and nobody goes to work.

Santa Cruz de Tenerife

In fact, you're not too late to catch the main parts of the Carnival in Santa Cruz de Tenerife – which attracts almost as many visitors as the coastal cities of Salvador de Bahia and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil over the same few days. Live music and discos are still playing in the Plaza del Príncipe and the Plaza de la Candelaria tonight and tomorrow night, and it's tomorrow (Sunday, February 23) when the largest and most colourful parade of all hits the streets.

It starts at 17.30, but live bands are on all day – the Ni Fú Ni Fá 'Aphilarmonic' hits the stage at 11.00 and the Los Fregolinos Lyrical Musical Union from noon.

Every year, Santa Cruz de Tenerife nominates a Carnival Queen, and the honour of this once-in-a-lifetime rôle is about the size of being chosen as Miss España or to represent Spain in the Eurovision – the only 'job' that comes close to it is that of Fallera Mayor in the city of Valencia during its flamboyant March fiestas (more on those nearer the date – stay tuned to find out more).

This year's Carnival Queen is Sara Cruz Teja who, at just 18, is much younger than usual, but was gunning hard for the position because she wanted her grandmother to see her in it 'before it was too late'.

Psychology undergraduate Sara's grandmother has Alzheimer's, and she wanted her to witness her granddaughter – who hopes to go on to specialise in criminology – performing her part in the greatest festival honour nationwide whilst she still remembers who she is and still understands what the Carnival is all about.

Sara will not just be 'Queen for a Day' – once you're elected for the 'royal' Carnival rôle, you have a job for the rest of the year (unpaid, except in prestige, excitement and fun) until the next one is elected, normally the following February, depending upon when Easter falls.

An almost-equally huge Carnival celebration takes place in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the other provincial capital of the Canary Islands, but smaller towns also hold their own, meaning if you live or are staying almost anywhere in the region, you'll find one near you.

Cádiz

Spain's second-most famous, and the largest and most spectacular on the mainland, is in Cádiz on Spain's southern coast, to the west of Gibraltar

.

Naturally, other towns in the same province – and in the wider region of Andalucía – host local versions, but the one in the port city should be witnessed at least once in the lives of anyone resident in or with a holiday home in the wider area.

ARE Spanish people generally organised, or are the international stereotypes about their supposed flakiness and absent-mindedness true? They often cite the 'famous British punctuality and order', but many Brits would agree that's a bit of a myth, too – or is it just that Spaniards think Brits are organised in comparison to themselves?

Swedish furniture giant Ikea decided to find out.

Its Time and Order study, carried out with the help of Spanish market research company Sigma Dos (so nobody can accuse them of cultural bias) interviewed a stratified sample of 5,300 Spanish nationals living in Spain (as in, residents of non-Spanish extraction, and Spaniards living abroad, were not included).

'Stratified', for clarification, means the proportion of interviewees selected was designed to reflect a microcosm of real demographics in the society being studied – such as, X% of people over 65, X% of men versus women, and so on.

Areas covered included, do Spanish people lose things often, and do they tend to lose the same things again and again, such as odd socks, mobile phones and keys? What is the emotional effect of misplacing something? How long does the average Spaniard spend looking for something they've mislaid or, worse, lost irretrievably?

How long Spaniards spend looking for lost items in a lifetime

Taking Spain's current life expectancy of 82 years (about 81 for men and 83 for women at present, but set to rise to over 90 by the year 2030), Ikea worked out a typical Spaniard spends 4,683 hours, from birth until death, searching for misplaced items.

Assuming you wouldn't mislay anything until you're about five years old – after all, you wouldn't have much of an idea where it's supposed to go before then, but by your early school years, you could well discover you've left your PE kit in the cloakroom or lost one of your felt-tips after lending it to a classmate – this means a total of 77 years (before age 82) in which you're likely to lose things.

Also, by the mid-late 80s and early 90s, when old-age-related dementia may well be setting in, losing everyday items is far more common and would skew the figures.

In terms of days, those 4,683 hours, then, total 195 days and three hours, or a total of six-and-a-half months, assuming Spaniards start looking for a lost item on New Year's Day, keep searching around the clock without sleeping, and find it on June 14.

LEFTIST Unidas Podemos has won its first debate with its socialist (PSOE) coalition partners – a request to change the Criminal Code so that only consciously-consenting sexual relations can be considered as such.

In the same way as campaigners have called for a 'no-means-no' approach to judging cases of sexual assault, abuse, harassment and rape, Unidas Podemos' equality minister Irene Montero wants to see this go farther still and a 'yes-means-yes' approach taken.

She said days ago that she intended to table a new Sexual Freedom Law for voting 'imminently', with a view to its being in force by March 8, which is International Women's Day.

It included the consideration of sex attacks where the victim is not and has never been a partner of the assailant as 'gender violence', which attracts a harsher legal interpretation, and for the crimes of 'sex abuse' and 'sexual assault' – the latter of which already includes rape – to come under the same heading, preventing situations such as the infamous Pamplona bull-run gang-rape in which the five offenders were initially convicted of 'sexual abuse' and jailed for nine years, instead of 'sexual assault', which carries sentences of between 15 and 20 years, on the basis that their 18-year-old victim did not fight back as she was drunk.

The reason for the debate over Irene Montero's new Sexual Freedom Law was largely the timescale: it will involve changing the Criminal Code, and the socialists, led by Spain's president Pedro Sánchez, have more plans for the Code than this alone.

These plans include dramatically reducing set sentences for the crime of sedition, which a number of high-ranking Catalunya politicians have been found guilty of for their part in the disputed independence referendum and which has landed them in jail for between nine and 13 years each.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LAST-MINUTE flights of just €6 are up for grabs – as long as you're prepared to book in the next 24 hours.

Ryanair is offering trips for about half the price of a menú del día to the east of England from the Spanish airports of Almería, Alicante, Bilbao, Málaga and Girona.

Flights are to Southend (Essex) only, a very small, single-terminal airport described as 'manageable' and 'cosy', and which comfortably serves the four coastal counties of Kent, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk as well as the London area.

But you have to be willing to book and pay before the end of Friday (February 21), and the offer is only valid for travel between now and March 8.

This is the second low-cost sale the Irish carrier has launched so far in 2020 – back in January, the airline released a million seats to destinations all over Europe from the airports it serves in Spain for an average of 20% off, although with offers starting at as little as €8 one way.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A NATIONAL Police officer who saved the life of a two-month-old baby has told reporters: “I have a child, and I knew I couldn't give 100% of myself – I had to give 200%.”

Ruymán Díaz Miranda (pictured right) has been a policeman for 10 years, and he talked to Spanish media after he and fellow officer Juanjo Jiménez Palomo (pictured left) got a call whilst patrolling near Valencia's main station.

“A mum had a child who was unconscious and not responding, on the C/ Cuba in the Russafa neighbourhood,” Díaz Miranda said.

“We drove off at speed in the wrong direction, against oncoming cars.

“The family had come down onto the street when we got there.

“I turned the baby over to see if he had a foreign body in his nose or mouth, then asked what had happened to him. She said she had put nose-drops in him and he had started to convulse. So I started CPR with my fingers.

“After eight or 10 seconds the baby started to open his eyes again, but then had another fit and his eyes rolled back and he was completely still, so I had to revive him again.

“I did this 10, 15 or 20 times in 20 minutes.”

Jiménez Palomo said he focused on keeping everyone at arm's length, since six or seven relatives were all trying to take the baby, and on calling the 112 emergency hotline to get paramedics on the scene.

The baby, 54 days old, had bronchitis, and had had an adverse reaction to the nose-drops, causing his bronchial sacs to close up.

Trying to revive a baby rather than a full-grown human is a much more delicate exercise and Ruymán had to remain calm and focused.

“If you're in a state of shock, the child could die,” he explained.

“At the end of the day, this is the reason why we become police officers: to save lives. I've got a child, and I knew I couldn't just give 100% of myself; I had to give 200%.”

Ruymán said he was practically begging the infant to vomit and praying he would survive, as he 'could not bear it' if he lost his life.

“Then, suddenly, the baby looked at me – then his eyes went again. That night, I didn't sleep a wink. The following day, when we heard the baby was much better, it was a weight lifted off our shoulders.”

Despite their years of experience, Juanjo and Ruymán have not come up against a situation quite like this...

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A HANDY new tool on the Barcelona metro is making life easier for everyone – and residents who use underground rail networks in the rest of Spain's cities are hoping it will spread nationwide.

Simple but effective, a screen overhead on the platforms at three stations on Line 5 shows how full or otherwise trains are before they arrive.

Sensors attached to the trains enable the screen to show where the disabled carriage is, and features four 'person shapes' in outlines of each carriage – if all four are filled, passengers know there is little point in trying to squeeze on and can sit back and wait for the next, and if only one or none is lit up, they do not have to rush to the platform edge to be the first on board, since there will be plenty of room and a choice of seats.

This pilot scheme will run for two years and data will be collated to work out how useful it has been.

Travellers on Line 5 will find these information panels at the stations of Hospital Clínic, Entença and Sants, which is one of Barcelona's main national and cross-border stations.

The idea is to extrapolate the idea to all stations on the underground network eventually.

Text on the screens is shown in three languages – catalán, Spanish and English.

And the sensors on the trains linked to the panel will help the transport board, too: management will be able to work out how long it takes for passengers to get on and off, and figure out which lines are oversubscribed and when, and which ones are rarely occupied, so they can schedule trains accordingly.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A BABY born in a Segovia-province village has caused euphoria among locals – his is the first birth in Puebla de Pedraza since 1977.

Yerai is only just over two weeks old, but when he grows up, he will almost certainly learn how he has made history – and probably saved his village from extinction.

Puebla de Pedraza, in the sparsely-populated centre-northern region of Castilla y León, has just 46 inhabitants, and the average age of the population is 70.

No children have been born there in 43 years.

Rural Spain is gradually becoming empty, since working-age inhabitants move closer to larger towns or cities to get jobs, and if they decide to have children, they need to be near enough to schools and health centres and communities of other kids for their youngsters to have somebody to play with.

This means the majority of residents in small, remote villages are retired, and it is feared that within a generation or two, could become completely empty.

For this reason, Spain's government is seeking ways to create employment in the countryside and looking into setting up grant schemes to fund local services such as internet and phone lines – often absent in villages with a population count in two figures, given that telecommunications companies would not get a return on their investment if they set up infrastructure in these.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

WHAT would life really be like on Mars? We'll find out soon enough, given that Earth is planning on colonising the red planet within 10 years, but anyone who's genuinely curious and serious about it can discover for themselves how to be a Martian in Spain's far north.

Astroland Space Center in Cantabria takes volunteers through the weird sensations and gruelling tasks that a real-live person on Mars would have to face, as well as giving them rigorous emergency-situation training.

Another reality

“Mars is a desolate landscape, and I'm alone in it,” according to The Martian, Andy Weir's début novel which was adapted to screen by Ridley Scott, starring Matt Damon.

But if you're up to finding out what it's like without committing yourself to the rest of your life on a strange planet, Astroland offers a 100-day course where you can find out.

Back in 2019, the centre carried out a stringent selection process to find 100 crew members to take part in 10 missions, with 10 people in each, and they are still running the training for anyone who has changed their mind and would like to give it a go.

It costs €10,000 and comes in three phases – the first of which is the easiest, involving distance learning, physical and advanced psychological preparation and personal development.

Online sessions of up to three hours at a time, and one-to-one follow-up tutorials, start the course, then each 'Astrolander' has to take on some of their own preparation work.

This is carried out independently but with the support and supervision of Astroland staff, and covers personal training, nutrition, exercise, scientific knowledge and psychology techniques.

They are sent scientific reports and then have to carry out field research based upon them, and are expected to follow a tailored diet and exercise programme, with regular self-report on their progress.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN has been declared officially free from Coronavirus after the only two cases in the country – both imported – have been cured and the patients tested negative.

The first of these was a German tourist on the Canarian island of La Gomera, who had caught what is now dubbed Covid-19 in Munich, from a Chinese woman.

He was diagnosed two weeks ago and at least 25 people known or suspected to have been in contact with him closely monitored and staying in voluntary quarantine in their homes.

The holidaymaker has now tested negative after being treated in an isolation unit at a public hospital in the region, and none of the people he had been near has displayed symptoms.

Health authorities from the Canary Islands say: “He can now carry out any activities he wants to with complete normality – no restriction measures of any type, in accordance with procedures, are necessary.”

His symptoms, and those of the five friends he was on holiday with, were very mild and disappeared quickly, but even though he felt well, he was kept quarantined for the requisite 14 days in his accommodation in Hermigua.

The second patient was a British man in Mallorca who was admitted to Son Espases Hospital in Palma (pictured above) after having displayed 'flu-like symptoms for a full day and explaining to medical staff that he had been in contact with a person in France who had developed the condition.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HAVING cleared up at the Goyas and narrowly missed two Oscars, cult director Pedro Almodóvar is on a roll – already the most international of Spain's home-grown filmmakers, he is seeking to become even more global by launching his next two projects in English.

“What I'd really like to do is make a short film, of about 15 minutes, and not part of a series,” the acclaimed director said this week.

La Voz Humana ('The Human Voice') is based upon Jean Cocteau's 1928 story and, although Almodóvar has written the script in Spanish, he is planning to have it translated into English.

It will feature just one character – a woman talking to her lover for the last time on the telephone, her only companion being her dog.

British-Australian actress Tilda Swinton, 59 – a schoolmate of the late Lady Diana Spencer, a Cambridge graduate and great-great-granddaughter of Scottish botanist John Hutton Balfour – plays the lead rôle.

“She's exactly as I imagined her,” enthuses the director.

“Open, intelligent – we understood each other, and very closely.”

Tilda, whose German-New Zealander husband is the acclaimed Highland artist Sandro Kopp, has played the lead part in Sally Potter's film adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando, and starred in The Beach, with Leonardo di Caprio, Vanilla Sky with Penélope Cruz and Tom Cruise, and three of the films in the Chronicles of Narnia series, among others.

The mum-of-two has won an Academy Award, two BAFTAs, a Critics' Choice Award, a European Film, an Independen,at Spirit, two Saturn, a whopping 20 Critic, and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar Award.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Rare marine fossils dating back around 465 million years have been found in a central Spain national park.

According to the ministry of environment and energy transition – led by one of the four deputy presidents, Teresa Ribera – the fossils are of a cephalopod, a family which includes the squid, and have turned up hundreds of kilometres from the nearest sea.

They were located by scientists working in the Cabañeros National Park, which sits across the borders of the provinces of Toledo and Ciudad Real, in Castilla-La Mancha.

The site has been key in naming the fossils – the mysterious prehistoric sea creature has been baptised as the Cabaneroceras Aznari.

As for the Aznari part, there is no link to Spain's former PP president José María Aznar, who ruled until 2004 – it comes from the owner of the land in the village of Horcajo de los Montes (Ciudad Real province) where the fossils were found, Alejandro Aznar.

It is believed to have lived in the now-disappeared sea platforms in what was originally one of the planet's two continents, Gondwanaland – the other being Laurasia – and belong to a rare group of intejocerids, a type of cephalopod originally thought to have only lived in paleotropical zones.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Surveys on popular travel review site TripAdvisor have led to Spain's earning an average of 4.16 out of 5, or 83.2%, as a destination – although some regions score even higher.

Overall, the Canary Islands earned 4.3, or 86%, rising from 4.26 (85.2%) in 2018, followed by Andalucía and the land-locked northern wine region of La Rioja, joint second with 4.27, or 85.4%.

The northern coastal region of Asturias came next with 4.24 (84.8%) and the inland western region bordering Portugal, Extremadura, is fifth with 4.23 (84.6%).

Spain as a whole has gone up from 4.14 (82.8%) in 2018 to 4.16 in 2019.

Travellers were asked to rate hotels, restaurants and sites of general interest, and results were given for each section and region as well as overall.

Spain soars to 4.39 (87.8%) for tourist attractions, rising from 4.38 (87.6%) the previous year, with 4.08 (81.6%) for accommodation – up from 4.02, or 80.4%, in 2018 -. with restaurants keeping their last year's ranking of 4.03, or 80.6%.

The best accommodation was found in Madrid (4.2, or 84%), the Balearic Islands (4.19, or 83.8%), and Asturias, La Rioja and the Basque Country (4.18, or 83.6%).

For restaurants, the Canary Islands was at the top with an average ranking of 4.29 (85.8%), followed by the Balearic Islands (4.21, or 84.2%), Andalucía (4.15, or 83%), and Catalunya (4.12, or 82.4%).

Tourist attractions broke the 90% barrier in three regions - they were the highest-ranked in La Rioja, at 4.56 (91.2%), Extremadura (4.53, or 90.6%) and Asturias (4.5, or 90%) - and just short of nine out of 10 in Andalucía, at 4.49 (89.8%).

The inclusion of non-typical tourist destinations in all three categories, such as Asturias, La Rioja, the Basque Country and Extremadura – and Madrid which, although in fact accounts for the highest holidaymaker numbers in Spain, is at least a three-hour drive from the nearest beach – shows that visitors are not necessarily only seeking sunshine, swimming pools, sea and sand, but are drawn to Spain for its other attractions such as unique historical sites, breathtaking countryside, mountains, and excellent cuisine which is arguably better in the country than outside it, something that is not always guaranteed.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANIARDS repatriated from Wuhan are now out of quarantine and symptom-free – and most are keen to get back to the Chinese city as soon as it is safe.

The group of 21 – who all live there permanently or are in China on assignments or long-term projects – were flown back to Spain at their own request within days of contacting the embassy – and, in fact, were more than halfway through quarantine before the UK had fetched its own citizens back from Wuhan.

After being transported back to Madrid in a military aircraft with specialist staff who are used to handling situations such as these, the 21 were placed in isolation at the Gómez Ulla Hospital in the capital.

They told reporters and family members that they were 'very happy' there – despite the fact they were not allowed to see anyone except through a screen, they described their stay as 'rather like a break in a luxury hotel'.

The group was monitored around the clock, their temperatures taken three times a day, and their relatives and friends who visited were given watertight protection and full instructions.

Visitors brought food and other supplies for the quarantined group, since there were no restrictions on what they could eat, as long as it was in an unopened package.

“They arrived here healthy and are leaving healthy,” said Dr María Vicenta García, head of the Preventive Medicine Service at the military hospital where the group was based.

“Yes, they've been in Wuhan, but no, they have not caught the Coronavirus.”

For the moment, the 21 are staying with their families or friends in Spain, as it is not safe for anyone from outside to travel to Wuhan.

This is a difficult situation for some of the group, who have Chinese spouses and, in a few cases, children, but whose families were not allowed to leave the country – even though Spain would have been willing to fly them to Madrid, too.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MOBILE World Congress organisers have cancelled the huge annual trade fair in Barcelona after several major technology companies pulled out as a precaution in light of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Although national and regional health authorities insist going ahead with the MWC would be completely safe, the fact that 30 global corporations – largely based in Asia – have opted not to travel has forced the hands of the organisers, GSMA.

Managing director of the firm, John Hoffman, announced just before midnight in an official communication that, for the first time in history, the MWC would not be going ahead.

Ericsson, Rakuten, Nokia, Amazon and Facebook followed on after LG announced it would not be attending, and Orange, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and BT decided today (Wednesday) that they would be pulling out.

Vodafone is one of the 26 companies that make up the GSMA committee which organises the trade fair and which held a crisis meeting to discuss whether to proceed.

AT&T and NTT Docomo later said they felt it best to cancel their plans.

Until almost the last minute, GSMA was planning to go ahead with the MWC anyway, but the four main European network providers Vodafone, Orange, BT and Telefónica's having decided not to take part turned out to be decisive.

GSMA comprises around 800 mobile operators and 200 corporations.

It is not thought the MWC will be postponed and held later in the year – the 2020 edition will be written off altogether, and GSMA will start working early on the 2021 event in Barcelona.

Spain's second-largest city is under contract to act as venue until the year 2023 inclusive, and GSMA is very happy with its facilities and infrastructure for the purposes of the MWC.

It is likely the contract will be renewed after the 2023 edition.

Experts have already insisted the risk of Coronavirus – or Covid-19 – contagion at the MWC is virtually nil, but the fact that it has spread so fast across China from its original source in the city of Wuhan, which remains in lockdown, with around 400 cases outside of China already reported, means most of the world is being exceptionally cautious.

GSMA may be forced to pay compensation to those who will lose money through the cancellation of the MWC out of its own pocket, given that insurance companies only indemnify financial losses caused by the presence of contagious or infectious disease epidemics or pandemics where a public health alert has been issued.

This is not the case in Spain – no public health alert has been issued because there is no need to – and, in any event, the MWC has not been cancelled due to a contagious disease outbreak; rather, due to participants opting not to attend because of their perception of this risk.

The firms which opted to cancel their attendance will have to bear their own financial losses, but those which had been planning to do so and are now unable to due to the event's being called off may seek compensation from GSMA if their own insurers do not cover these costs.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

'SPAIN'S sexiest policeman' who has been dovetailing as a model for the past 18 months is set to appear on popular jungle reality TV show, Supervivientes.

Jorge Pérez, 36, married with two kids, was just another member of the military-trained force until his photo was used by the Guardia Civil on Twitter in full combat gear with the caption: “Even if you see us in uniform on the outside, on the inside we're no different to you. We work for your freedom and safety. If you need us, call 062.”

The tweet racked up well over 12,000 'likes' in five weeks, nearly 5,000 comments and almost 2,500 retweets – very few of them relating to the public service provided by the Guardia Civil.

A bizarre about-face of the story of the USA's handsomest criminal, fugitive Jeremy Meeks – who ended up with a modelling contract thanks to his 'sexy' wanted photo and ended up marrying the Top Shop empire heiress – Jorge is the Spanish version on the right side of the law whose face drew the attention of a prestigious agency; in this case, Sight, in Barcelona.

Sight Management also represents the likes of the ex-Mr Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, and Kylie Minogue's former partner, Spanish model Andrés Velencoso.

Jorge decided not to become a full-time model and give up his police job, since he was very conscious that the former industry can be very fickle and, if he lost his looks or his face no longer fit what was considered 'trendy' in the fashion and cosmetics industry, he would also lose his sole source of income.

Whilst the risk of damaging his modelling career is higher in the military police, given that officers face criminal underworlds and possible violence, and despite the Guardia Civil job involving a punishing schedule and long hours, Jorge has managed to successfully combine catwalk and magazine jobs with his initial calling.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE WOMEN'S basketball team's qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has taken Spain's total up to 10, with the latest victory for the country coming at the expense of the UK, leaving British expats on Spanish soil with mixed emotions.

Under the auspices of manager Lucas Mondelo, Spain (pictured left) beat Britain 69-79 yesterday (Sunday), meaning the UK's women's basketball team failed to qualify.

The match was moved at the last minute to Serbia, since it was originally due to be held in Wuhan, China, a city virtually in lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Spain's men's basketball team was practically a certainty to qualify anyway, given that they are world champions – the side working under Sergio Scariolo includes the legendary 7'1” (2.16m) Marc Gasol, currently playing for the NBA team Toronto Raptors.

Field hockey is also due to be represented in Tokyo this summer with both the men's and women's teams qualifying – the 'RedSticks' have been growing fast in the last few years and taken on a host of new players, the men's side has played in every World Cup since 1971 and carried off the EuroHockey Nations Championship twice, as well as the Champions Trophy and the Champions Challenge, whilst the women already have an Olympic gold to their name, which they earned at home in 1992 when the Games were held in Barcelona.

Women's and men's water polo have also both qualified – Spain has one of the world's most successful women's water polo teams, with three European Championship, three World Championship, one World Cup, World League, Europa Cup and Olympic medals to their name.

They won the European Championships in 2014 and again this year, and the World Championships in 2013, and earned a silver at the London 2012 Olympics plus a fifth-place diploma in Rio 2016.

The men's water polo team is also one of the best on earth, having won an Olympic gold (Atlanta 1996) and a silver (Barcelona 1992), a fourth-place diploma (Sydney 2000) and a fifth-place diploma (Peking 2008), two World Championship golds (1998 and 2001), four World Championship silvers (1991, 1994, 2009 and 2019) and a bronze (2007), five World Cup bronze medals between 1985 and 2010, three World League silvers (2002, 2006 and 2012) and a bronze (2018), and picked up six European Championship medals: three bronzes (1983, 1993 and 2006) and three silvers (1991, 2018 and 2020), meaning they are currently reserve world champions in Europe.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A TINNED potato factory in Galicia founded by a man who is now 87 has been given a massive publicity boost – the brand features in a scene on the film that swept the board at last night's Oscars.

Parasite, a dark comedy from South Korea, won Best Picture, Best Script, Best Direction and Best International Film, and is the first non-English-language production ever to win the 'mainstream' categories in the 92 years of the awards.

It was also a big win for the company founded by César Bonilla, who remains at the head of the family business in Arteixo (A Coruña province), even though he is only five years younger than the Oscar Awards themselves.

César only found out that the Bonilla a la Vista tinned potatoes his firm produces were on the shelves in Parasite through word of mouth, after the film was already being shown on the silver screen in Spain.

“News travels fast here,” César commented.

Bonilla a la Vista has clients in South Korea, although none of these mentioned to him that his tins featured in the hit production.

This said, since the Bong Joon Ho kitchen-sink drama went global, César's firm has doubled its production to keep up with demand, and online sales have rocketed by 150% in the past fortnight once it gradually became known that Parasite was up for several Oscars.

And this has given the local job market a boost: the company's 115 employees have now increased in number by another 12 in a fortnight.

The Arteixo factory makes about 550 tonnes of tinned potatoes a year, of which around 40 tonnes are shipped to South Korea, which became a new market for the company in 2016.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPANISH scientists have discovered a genetic material that prevents skin cancer cells from spreading and metastasising.

Although early-stage skin cancer is normally easily curable, this factor has, to a certain extent, reduced the sense of terror this type of tumour creates and is leading the public to be more complacent about taking precautions – but malignant melanoma which spreads is often fatal.

Researchers from Valencia University, Valencia's Hospital Clínico and the latter's health investigation centre INCLIVA joined scientists from New York's Langone Medical Center in the study which has been published in the prestigious magazine Cancer Cell.

The investigation focuses on circular RNA (Ribonucleic acid) – a macromolecule which, along with DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, are essential for all known life forms.

RNA is normally a linear molecule, but some of these become circular in shape and, instead of producing proteins in the same way as linear RNA, the circular version forms part of complex regulatory systems of which the functions are still not entirely clear.

Laboratory staff carried out research with cultivated cells, animal models (mice), and samples of human melanoma, and found that the loss of circular RNA – known as CDR1as – is what leads to tissue invasion and metastasis in this type of skin cancer.

A noticeable relationship between low levels of CDR1as activity and limited patient survival was found.

Melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer and its rapid spread to other organs and tissues is what usually causes death.

CDR1as activity is able to predict the likely behaviour of cancer cells and the patient's prognosis.

This is the first study to show that circular RNA can act as a brake on metastasis.

Researchers say it stops a known pro-cancer protein known as IGF2BP3 from developing.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FISH and seaweed are not the only creatures living in Spain's seas. Some of the most common are also some of the least-known, or least-understood in the case of certain plants, and they even include birds who, whilst they do not actually dwell in the water, scarcely move more than a few metres from the nearest waves as their food source is inside them.

Some are everpresent and others are under serious threat of extinction, but if you go out walking, diving, snorkelling, or on a catamaran trip, you could well see some or all of them.

Here's our top 10.

Rorqual or blue-fin whale (Balaenopteridae)

The largest group of baleen whales – a family that includes the blue whale, the largest mammal on earth, which grows to 180 tonnes – the rorqual also covers the fin whale, or blue-fin whale, which comes in at around 120 tonnes and is believed to be the second-largest on the planet.

They live on small fish and molluscs, and their migratory route south at the start of the northern hemisphere autumn and winter passes through the Ligurian Sea to the eastern Atlantic – and, right on the eastern tip of the mainland, the Cabo de la Nao in the north of the province of Alicante between Dénia and Jávea, is a stretch of the Mediterranean known locally as the 'whale way'. Cetacean traffic here in around August and September is fairly dense, as it is a standard part of the migration route. Residents and tourists in the area have often spotted rorqual fin whales from their terraces or whilst out on boat trips.

Long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala macrorhynchus)

A type of ocean dolphin common in the Mediterranean, this creature gets its common name in English from its exceptionally-long chest fins and the fact that they appeared to have a 'pilot', or leader, in their packs. Females can grow to 5.7 metres (about 19 feet) and males to 6.7 metres (22 feet), and weigh around 1.3 tonnes and 2.3 tonnes respectively when fully grown.

They mostly eat squid and other cephalopods, and they mix with other species of dolphins socially – particularly the bottlenose, Atlantic white-sided, and Risso's dolphins.

Also, they have been seen 'mothering' baby calves which are not their own – and males are just as likely to do so as females.

In Spanish, they are known as the Calderón.

Mediterranean Slipper Lobster (Scyllarides Latus)

One of the Mediterranean's most enigmatic species – a rare crustacean caught as food, it lives in caves and underwater cracks. Work is ongoing in trying to recognise them, document their habits and protect them.

They grow to around a foot in length (30 centimetres) and weigh up to 1.5 kilos, and can also be found in the waters surrounding the Canary Islands, the Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde, and the coast of western mainland Africa.

Despite being classified as a 'lobster', they do not have claws, they live on smaller crustaceans such as limpets and bivalves, as well as squid and oysters, and are mainly nocturnal hunters as their natural predators tend to come out in the daytime.

In Spanish, they are known as the Cigarra de Mar, and one is shown in picture two (Peter Koelbl/Wikimedia Commons).

Neptune Grass, or Slender Seagrass (Cymodocea Nodosa)

A plant which forms a meadow on the sea bed and which is similar to grass, with flowers, seeds, roots, stems and leaves, this marine shrub has adapted to life on the bottom of the oceans and provides shelter and oxygen for sea fauna. It is mainly found off the coasts of the Canary Islands in the eastern Atlantic.

European Shag (Phalacrocorax Aristotelis)

Normally found on islands and coastal clifftops along the Cantabrian Seashores, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of mainland Spain and Portugal and the Canary Islands, their main threat at the moment – other than climate change – is the American Bison, which has lately been plundering their nests. A type of cormorant, they grow to between 68 and 78 centimetres (2'3” to 2'7”) in length, with a wingspan about one-and-a-half times this figure.

The European Shag is black with a long tail, rarely strays far from the immediate coast and feeds off fish from the sea – which they will often travel long distances to find – and their natural predator is the sand eel.

They build their nests from old seaweed, twigs and their own excrement.

To spot them, head to Mediterranean nature reserves such as the Montgó (Dénia and Jávea, Alicante province) and Las Salinas (salt-flats) de la Mata (Torrevieja, southern Alicante province).

In Spanish, they are known as the Cormorán Moñudo.

Picture three (Javier Albertos/Wikimedia Commons) shows a pair of European Shags in the Cíes Isles off the coast of Galicia.

Turtles

Seven species of marine turtle exist in the world – the Loggerhead (Caretta Caretta), the Leatherback (Dermochelys Coriacea), the Pacific Green (Chelonia Mydas), the Hawksbill (Eretmochelys Imbricata), the Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys Kempii), the Pacific Ridley (Lepidochelys Olivacea), and the Flatback (Natator Depressus). All bar the latter two are found frequently in Spain's seas, particularly the Mediterranean, where the Loggerhead turtle (the Tortuga Boba, in Spanish) is the most-spotted – and the most-rescued. Many towns along the east coast have set up 'turtle banks' on their shores, so if fishermen catch them by accident or members of the public out on yachts find them injured or trapped, they can drop them off, call the 112 emergency service number, and marine vets will collect them.

In this area, they are taken to the Oceanogràfic in Valencia – Europe's largest aquarium – and treated, rehabilitated and nursed back to health, before being released into the sea again near where they were caught. The turtles are tagged so experts can monitor their processes, and huge crowds of members of the public gather for the 'turtle release' – often, competitions are held with children getting to name the turtles before they go back into the wild.

Angel Shark (Squatina Squatina)

Although this creature, known in Spanish as the Tiburón Angelote, is actually a shark, it looks for all the world like a fish – a flat one, like a rayfish or monkfish, which lives close to the bottom of the sea. It is extinct in most of the world and, although this is not yet the case in Spain's seas, it is critically endangered and the project Life Intermares, based in the Canary Islands, is working hard on trying to protect them and increase their population.

When they were more abundant and doing so was more sustainable, they were caught for human consumption, particularly in the north-eastern Atlantic, between approximately Iceland and the Canary Islands, where they were fairly prolific.

They can grow to 2.4 metres, or about 7'11”, in the case of females, and 1.8 metres, or 5'11”, in the case of males – a rare case of the female of a species being larger than the male.

As it mainly lives on the seafloor, the Angel Shark eats bottom-dwelling, small, bony fish.

Whilst their bite is extremely painful, the Angel Shark almost never attacks humans; they normally stay still or move away unless aggravated...

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A 'TWO for one' special offer on rail tickets has been launched for Valentine's Day travel on the Larga Distancia (long-distance) and high-speed AVE trains.

The promotion is for trips planned between Thursday, February 13 and Monday, February 14, return as well as single tickets.

Rail board RENFE's special offer schemes come under the slogan 'YoVoy' ('I'm Going') and the Valentine's discounts are dubbed 'YoVoy 2x'.

Tickets bought online, at station ticket booths, by telephone (on 91 232 03 20) or from travel agencies for trips between the dates in question are all eligible for the two-for-one offer.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TOURIST spending in Spain continues to rise, but anyone hoping to capitalise on this needs to know what, in fact, is spent and where.

According to the Trade and Territory Office of Valencia's Chamber of Commerce (PATECO), in the Comunidad Valenciana alone, a record number of holidaymakers – 29.5 million – was seen in 2019, including Spaniards living in other parts of the country.

Collectively, the region's 29.5 million spent just over €13.4 billion over last year.

Of this, a total of 15.8%, or slightly more than €2.1bn, went on supermarket produce.

The percentage rises to nearly the entire total in the case of tourists who have holiday homes and do not need to spend on accommodation during their stay.

Of the €2.1bn spent in shops, for every €10, a total of €6 is shelled out in supermarkets on daily consumer goods such as food, drink, toiletries and cleaning products.

The remaining €4 in every €10 goes on clothes, shoes, technology, toys, and souvenirs.

Holidaymakers with a second home in the region, and those who rent holiday accommodation such as apartments or villas, are the ones who spend the most of their budgets on everyday groceries – out of the €1.34bn this tourist segment parts with every year, 63.2% is in supermarkets.

The Comunidad Valenciana has some of the highest numbers of privately-owned tourist accommodation in the country – either holiday homes owned by the tourists themselves, or owned by other individuals, couples or families who rent them out for holidays.

These alternatives to hotels, aparthotels and other resort complexes means package holidays in the Comunidad Valenciana are among the minority.

Tourists staying in hotels and resorts spend 66% of their money – estimated to be €416m a year in the eastern region alone – on 'occasional use' consumer goods, such as clothes, electronics, souvenirs and other items not needed for daily living or which do not 'run out'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN has scooped up a BAFTA Award and beaten three serious contenders who were thought to be certain winners.

Best Animated Film was expected to go to either Frozen 2, Toy Story 4 or Shaun the Sheep: The Movie, but in the end it went to Spanish director Sergio Pablos for Klaus, a feel-good Christmas flick which is also up for an Oscar and was nominated in the same category recently in the Goya Awards.

Jesper is the worst student at the postal academy, so as a punishment for his poor performance, he is sent to be postman in a freezing Arctic location where the inhabitants never send letters.

He is just about to give up his vocation when he meets Klaus, a toy-maker who lives alone in a hut full of his hand-made wares.

Jesper and Klaus make friends and decide to bring back some joy to the world – and discover that acts of generosity are always reciprocated.

“Thank you so much, Netflix, for taking a risk on this,” Sergio Pablos said in his BAFTA speech.

“I feel incredibly proud to be here.”

Pablos thanked everyone who 'made it possible to bring Jesper to life'.

As well as collecting the prestigious British Film and Theatre Award at the Royal Albert Hall, Sergio Pablos has recently netted an Annie Award, considered to be the Oscars of animated film.

Klaus was co-produced by Spa Studios and the broadcasting company behind Spain's channel three, Atresmedia, and was shown on Netflix for the first time in November.

From here, it has launched to the international silver screen.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A SPANISH passport is the fifth-most 'useful' in the world, according to official figures about where citizens can travel to and how.

The Henley Passport Index, drawn up by London-based consultation firm Henley & Partners, uses data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and found that the most valuable passport anyone can hold is a Japanese one, since this allows nationals to travel to 191 countries without needing a visa.

A Singaporean passport is the next-best thing, as its holders can travel to 190 countries without a visa, and a German or South Korean passport are joint third, permitting entry to 189 countries visa-free.

Finland and Italy are joint fourth, allowing visa-free travel to 188 countries, whilst Spain comes fifth along with Luxembourg and Denmark, all of whose passports let their holders get into 187 countries without a visa.

A Spanish passport beats a French or Swedish one, which allows for visa-free travel to 186 countries.

Joint seventh, permitting the holder to get into 185 countries without a visa, are passports held by citizens of Austria, Ireland, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Although the figures have only just been released, they are based upon the value of international passports as at January 7, when the UK had not yet left the European Union, although this was on the cards at the time – on that date, and still the 28^th member State, a passport from Britain was joint eighth along with Belgium, Greece, Norway and the USA, and its holders could get into 184 countries without a visa.

With 183 visitable countries, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Malta and New Zealand came next, and the top 10 was completed by Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia, whose passports permit travel to 181 countries without a visa.

The lowest-ranked EU passport was from Croatia, giving entry to 169 countries, just below Bulgaria (171) and Romania (172) and just above San Marino (168) and Andorra (167).

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

IN THE LARGEST-EVER genetic study into autism, researchers at Madrid's Gregorio Marañón Hospital have successfully identified 102 genes after analysing more than 700 patients.

Some 35,000 individuals took part in the study, including people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and also mentally-disabled persons with neuro-developmental delay (NDD), plus confederates and scientists.

And 30 of the genes identified are completely new.

ASDs cover a multitude of neurological differences – there is some debate over whether Asperger is a form of high-functioning autism, and it is often the most 'invisible' on the spectrum as those with it lead normal lives and are often of very high intelligence and abilities, whilst other, more severe strains can mean the patient is, in medical and psychological terms, retarded (typically characterised as with an IQ of 70 or less) meaning they need round-the-clock care.

Some autistic people are non-verbal and show developmental delays, although at the higher-functioning end of the spectrum, advanced development is often a feature.

Mental disability or learning difficulties are not necessarily associated with autism per se, but the two often overlap in the severely-autistic.

Until now, it has often been questioned whether autism is passed on through generations – in the case of high-functioning autism, or Asperger's parents, their children will often receive the same diagnosis.

But the Gregorio Marañón study has found both 'rare', or unrelated, genes, as well as hereditary genes, involved in both ASDs and NDD.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE EUROPEAN Union's head of diplomacy, foreign affairs and security policy is Spanish – Josep Borrell – and his job will come heavily into focus during the Brexit transition period that opened at midnight on Friday and will end with the New Year chimes that mark the start of 2021.

Now thrust into international focus, the 73-year-old from La Pobla de Segur, in Catalunya, has been interviewed on the immediate future of Britain, the Union and Spain by his national media, and among the revelations he has made so far is his determination that the relationship between the EU and the UK post-transition will be 'as close as it is possible to be' for a third-country State.

Following Brexit, is it appropriate to talk about 'winners' and 'losers'?

“Brexit is a decision in which everyone loses. Some British nationals who voted in favour of Brexit think they're the winners, but they'll soon realise that with their decision, the UK will be facing problems that, in the past, would have been resolved before they cropped up thanks to its membership of the EU.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN is determined to turn Brexit into an 'opportunity', and many experts believe the country could find its position in Europe strengthened as a result of the departure of one of its key economies – which can only be positive for people living in Spain, even if they are British nationals.

The Costa Blanca hoteliers' association, HOSBEC, says it is 'not too worried' about the UK's leaving the European Union, believing it will not stop tourists heading to the area.

HOSBEC chairman Toni Mayor says: “In spite of it all, thing's aren't too bad; bookings are at normal levels and, in some cases, even higher than last year.

“Ours is an established and strong destination and our network of hotels has been moving with the times and assuring customer loyalty.”

Mayor admits he 'does not like' UK prime minister Boris Johnson, but does not believe Brexit will create a 'psychological impact' on consumers.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com