Live News From Spain As It Happens

HEARING of the recent passing of Spain's best-selling author after Cervantes, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, at the age of just 55, has had many of us reaching for our copies of The Shadow of the Wind again – probably untouched for a decade and a half on average – and discovering elements in it we missed the first time around.

This is often the case with a book or film we check in with again after a long hiatus and, in the case of Ruiz Zafón's massive hit, may well spur many of us on to buy and devour his long string of others – especially given that even the sequels to it have been overshadowed by his masterpiece of 2001. To such an extent, in fact, that many avid readers may be unable to name his other titles, particularly the early ones aimed at a younger audience.

Yet they may be missing out on entire new worlds created by the writer who is, arguably, Spain's King of Mystery and Suspense, sometimes based upon real life, sometimes fantasy, sometimes both, and frequently sinister, gripping and labyrinthine in its twists and turns, with impressive and vivid historical detail.

Ruiz Zafón was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2018 whilst on holiday in London, two years after finishing his last novel, and in a tragic coup of irony, discovered it was terminal, like the main character in one of his best-loved books.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THE WORLD Health Organisation has praised Spain for its 'swift control' of new outbreaks, acting quickly to isolate and test and, if necessary, impose movement restrictions, whilst British broadsheet The Guardian has described the 'exemplary' way Spaniards behaved during lockdown and are continuing to act now 'New Normality' has been declared.

Although the European continent is still notifying an average of 700 deaths a day and around 20,000 new cases of Covid-19, Spain is handling it exceptionally well, says the WHO's regional manager Hans Kluge.

On Twitter, he wrote: “Staggering progress in Spanish Covid response guided by health minister Salvador Illa – 1% positivity rate, 60% of new patients through contact-tracing, testing capacity increased. Vigilance towards mini-outbreaks in the new reality. Full support by WHO Europe,” and includes emojis of clapping hands.

Germany, one of Spain's main summer tourism output countries, is managing further outbreaks similarly well, as are Poland and Israel, says Kluge.

Most of these have been associated with the reopening of schools, factories and coal mines, he explains.

Kluge, additionally, praises the 'change in people's behaviour', in terms of adhering to social distancing rules and use of masks in public.

“Bravo, people!” He tweets.

His view are supported by Guardian writer Giles Tremlett, who lives in Madrid and has experienced Spanish lockdown first-hand.

In an article titled 'Spain squashed Coronavirus', Tremlett raises concerns that British tourists will 'undo all that hard work', given that they are now permitted entry to the country but that many UK residents have heavily criticised their public for ignoring and flouting the safety measures – such as huge crowds on the beaches in Southend and Bournemouth, and unmasked crowds drinking to celebrate Liverpool's Champions' League win.

Tremlett echoes president Pedro Sánchez's argument that 'Spain had Europe's strictest Coronavirus lockdown', referring to 'children housebound for weeks and Army patrols to enforce it', which has 'produced a dramatic tail-off' and led to the country's mortality rate 'returning to normal' on May 10.

“It's important to acknowledge that Spanish success is the result of an exhausting exercise in nationwide solidarity among 47 million people,” Tremlett says.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

COINCIDING with 'Pride month' and just before International Pride Day – on June 28 – a report has revealed Spain is one of the world's top countries for protecting and supporting the homosexual and bisexual community, as well as the transgender and intersex population.

A report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – whose member countries cover the whole of the developed world and a few emerging nations – shows Spain is the fifth-best place in the world for non-heterosexual people to visit, live and work, and equally so for trans people.

Anecdotal evidence has shown, for the best part of 20 years at least, that expats who identified as homosexual or bisexual were pleasantly surprised by how 'ordinary' they felt when they moved to Spain, experiencing total acceptance, feeling safe, and being able to talk freely about their partners without avoiding personal pronouns, even with the older generations and in the workplace.

The popularly-used acronym, LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) was recently extended to include 'TI' (transgender and intersex), although the debate rages on as to whether they should be separated, as they have no connection between them other than both communities having once suffered from being ostracised or invisible; transgender people are just as likely to be heterosexual as non-trans or 'cisgender' people, and their support needs are very different from those of people who are comfortable with their biological sex but are romantically attracted to either the same sex, or both.

Given that the two have been joined, for the moment, as 'LGBTI', the OECD report does not differentiate between them when analysing which countries meet international equality and integration standards – even though it is likely many nations do better with one community than with another.

How the rest of the world performs

The report says Spain fulfils 69% of international criteria in place as at 2019, and is only beaten by Canada (87%), Portugal (76%), France (74%) and The Netherlands (72%).

And Spain is ahead of forward-thinking European nations such as Germany (68%) and Iceland (67%), the latter of which is on a par with Australia.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

KING Felipe and Queen Letizia arrived in Gran Canaria today (Tuesday) – their first official trip since before lockdown – to 'transmit the message' to people in Spain that they 'can now safely travel anywhere in the country'.

Their visit this morning, however, came before the announcement of a handful of localised outbreaks, mostly in northern Spain – half of which, around 50, are in Aragón's Pyrénéen province of Huesca, where four districts have been put back to 'Phase 2' after just four weeks of 'New Normality', or the 'precautionary' end of confinement.

These outbreaks have been traced to very specific environments – factories, residential homes and, in Huesca, a group of youths holding a bring-your-own-bottle street-drinking party, or botellón, which is illegal in any case.

The national health authority says it has isolated all cases, closed the premises where the outbreaks have occurred where possible, and are tracing contacts, but have ruled out a return to the State of Alarm which came into force on March 16 and ended on Sunday, June 21.

Felipe VI and his wife Letizia, masked and greeting members of the public with 'elbow bumps' to avoid contact and potential contagion, visited the Pérez Galdós Museum in the island's capital, Las Palmas, and gave speeches urging the Canarians and the rest of Spain to get on with their lives and revive the economy which, like most countries, has taken a temporary knock due to the pandemic.

The monarchs landed this morning at Gran Canaria's military base in Gando, meeting with island and regional authorities, but always maintaining a safe distance.

They also met with employees and business owners in the tourism and farming industries and were met with resounding applause by masked members of the public lining the streets.

The museum they visited, in Las Palmas' central Triana neighbourhood, reopened to the public that day for the first time since before lockdown, and the monarchs' presence was aimed at showing support for cultural institutions and encourage people to return to them.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AIR POLLUTION in Spain has plummeted to levels of nearly a decade ago, even before the three-month lockdown, and which is likely to be partly due to schemes set up in previous years in some of the country's largest and worst-offending cities.

According to a study by Ecologists in Action, contamination fell in 2019 by 58% in Spain's main metropolitan areas, taking it down to levels seen in 2011 – and is thought to have reduced even further during the Covid-19 shutdown.

It remains to be seen whether it will spike again now the State of Alarm is over, but about two years ago, Madrid set up a traffic-free zone – known as 'Madrid Central' – which has seen air pollution fall visibly and has been championed by residents.

This said, a change in local government last May means 'Madrid Central' could be in jeopardy, although it is probable that any backtracking on the move could mean the Spanish capital is among other cities continent-wide hauled before the European Commission again to explain what they intend to do about their pollution problems.

Ecologists in Action calls for switch to bikes, walking and public transport

Ecologists in Action say this is a time when the national and regional governments and town and city councils should be making moves to prioritise public transport and for society to switch to bicycles or walking.

It also criticised Spanish president Pedro Sánchez for his recently-announced grant scheme which will give residents up to €6,500 towards buying a new car, in an attempt to reduce the average age of vehicles on the country's roads – currently around 12 years.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ANIMALS at Tenerife's biggest and most famous safari park are celebrating the start of summer via social media to keep in touch with their human fans until the centre reopens for visitors.

Loro Parque – 'Parrot Park' – in Puerto de la Cruz in the north of the island has been active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during lockdown, and has now regaled its followers with stunning pictures of exotic animals taking a refreshing dip, eating fruit and vegetable ice lollies, and relaxing in the sun.

Otters, chimpanzees, hippos, jaguars and tigers are the main stars of the show on Loro Parque's first post of summer 2020, and staff who run the centre's pages reveal fun facts about the animals featured.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BRITISH nationals and UK residents in general will be allowed to visit Spain from today (Sunday, June 21) without going through 14 days of quarantine, minister for foreign affairs Arancha González Laya has announced.

The 'direct entry' will be in line with procedures for all European Union and Schengen countries, even though the UK is neither – it has never belonged to the latter, and formally left the EU on January 31 this year, although until New Year's Eve it is treated as a member as it remains in transition.

Sra González Laya (pictured) says Spain will carry out a 'triple test' – checking the departure point of incoming visitors is on the 'safe' list; temperatures taken at the airport upon arrival, and the passenger's data and contact details taken to ensure authorities can get in touch with them in the event of a Covid-19 case being confirmed in someone who has been near them.

The possibility of imposing a two-week quarantine on British arrivals was raised after the UK government announced it intended to do this with all travellers from Spain, and Spanish authorities considered the idea of 'reciprocal treatment'.

No other EU country has proposed quarantining its visitors from any other member State.

But Spain is mindful of the fact that by far the largest national group of its summer tourists is from the UK, meaning placing any hurdles in the way could harm the industry, and also, more Brits own holiday homes in Spain than those who live in the Mediterranean country year-round.

“We're in talks with British authorities to see whether they intend to do the same [dropping quarantine requirements], out of respect for the 410,000 Brits who own a second home in Spain,” says the foreign affairs minister.

“We want to be sure that we're complying with our commitment to treat British citizens in a similar way to those of other EU member States from an epidemiological point of view.”

In an interview with the BBC reported in Spanish media, the minister said: “We hope British authorities will be sensitive to the quarter of a million Spaniards living in the UK who would like to be able to [visit their families in Spain and return home to Britain] without quarantine.”

Britain is said to be due to review its quarantine requirements for travellers from outside the country on June 29, although it is not clear whether these are likely to be dropped.

They were first introduced on June 8, and the UK government reportedly said it would revisit the rule every three weeks.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

The start of the 2020-2021 academic year will be different from ever before, but some of the consequences of Covid-19 precautions will be positive progress.

Class sizes are expected to shrink – a maximum of 15 to 20 children will be in any one group, although the 'recommended maximum' will be 15, says national president Pedro Sánchez.

This allows for social distancing, and as a bonus, will mean pupils get more individual attention and supervision.

Masks will be compulsory except in infants', and priority will be given to activities in the open air, both educational and leisure-related.

It may mean more sports or nature field trips, but could also mean that on a warm, sunny day, kids get to take their usual lessons outside.

Regional governments are mainly responsible for deciding matters relating to education, subject to certain limits, and online 'meetings' have been held between these and the national government in order to agree procedures.

Every school in the country needs to have a contingency plan in place ready to be activated from September if necessary, and at least one person will be required to be in charge of monitoring and managing suspected Coronavirus cases, with a team on hand to ensure full information is supplied at all times and recommended procedures are followed.

“Guaranteeing the return to class for all pupils is our priority – the school year being interrupted was a huge blow, a wound that has affected generations of young people,” Sánchez says.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

LOW-COST carrier Ryanair will be back in the sky before the end of the month, and has put seats on 110 routes to and from Valencia, Alicante and Castellón up for sale with prices starting at €19.99 one-way.

Exceptionally cheap for the time of year, the offers will only be open until 21.00 mainland Spain time tonight (Friday, June 19), meaning anyone hoping to grab a bargain should act quickly.

Some of the flights will be available from June 21, but the vast majority will be running from July 1 onwards.

For summer 2020 and in the Comunidad Valenciana, Ryanair will be operating one route to and from Castellón-Costa Azahar airport, 46 to and from Valencia, and 63 to and from Alicante – 110 in total, not including its connections with other parts of the country.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN should 'take advantage of the pandemic' to 'improve quality in its holiday industry', says Secretary of State for Tourism Isabel María Oliver.

Speaking at the first Barcelona Virtual Summit 2020, Sra Oliver said the country should focus on an approach to tourism in line with the United Nations' sustainable development aims, which include accessibility and a 'digital transformation' in destinations and among companies in the sector.

This approach would need 'public authorities, companies and the workforce' to join forces and pool efforts, 'optimum public- and private-sector cooperation', and for Spain to 'continue to show its leadership' in tourism development policies.

She assured Spain had 'done its homework' during the months of the Covid-19 shutdown, and had produced 'at least 20' information guides, approved by the ministry of health, in order to 'guarantee maximum safety standards'.

“Reactivating the tourism industry needs to be not only safe, but also sustainable,” she stressed, and revealed that the government and professionals linked to the sector have 'multiplied their efforts' in this respect.

The pandemic and long lockdown initially led to fears Spain's tourism industry, especially its summer holiday season, would be restricted or even lost – a result which would have been disastrous for a country that largely lives off national and foreign travellers.

But various bodies, including the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), the Catalunya Finance Institute (ICF), the Official Credit Institute (ICO) and Santander Bank, have all said they do not believe the tourism industry will suffer long-term, whilst companies in the sector say – via Expedia Group's director for Spain and Portugal, Fernando Ramiro – that they expect the holiday market to recover well 'provided there is no significant second outbreak' of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Speaking at the Summit, Ramiro said the industry was 'starting to gather traction' in order to 'meet the 2021 season in a happier place'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S socialist MPs – who make up the bulk of the country's coalition government – want to gradually axe cash from circulation and have tabled a motion to that effect.

But the Central European Bank (BCE) has told them they cannot do that.

Until a few years ago, card payments in most of Spain outside big cities, restaurants and major chain stores were the exception rather than the norm, with many retailers setting a lower limit of €25 to €30 and others not accepting anything but cash at all.

This has changed dramatically in recent times, especially since it became law that cards must be accepted for payments of at least €30, and that any cash payment of €2,000 or more had to be accounted for – both in a bid to make life easier for the consumer and to combat money-laundering, which had been an historic problem in Spain for decades.

And with the Covid-19 pandemic, all businesses permitted to open during the most restrictive period of lockdown – newsagencies, tobacconists', chemists', petrol stations and supermarkets – were required to accept cards or mobile phone payments for even the smallest amount to prevent the virus being transmitted through touching coins and notes.

Now that lockdown is all but over and practically all businesses have reopened, card payments continue to be the preferred choice, with even local bars now allowing customers to use their debit or credit cards to pay for just one coffee.

Also, lower limits for PIN-free contactless transactions have been mostly lifted in Spain – previously, anything over €20 required a PIN to be entered, but at present, anything less than around €50 does not.

Pre-pandemic, BCE figures showed that an average of eight in 10 payments in the common-currency nations were made in cash, although this depended largely on the amount spent: Two-thirds of transactions were for €15 or under, and 88% of these were made with notes and coins, but between 92% and 98% of payments for €50 or €100 or over were made by card or electronic means.

Any study carried out post-pandemic may, however, show that non-cash payments are now in the majority, or at least, considerably more frequent than before.

And axing cash would only be possible where a country's banks charged little or nothing to traders for card payments, and also allowed free bank transfers below a set figure so that, if someone owed a friend a few euros, they could pop it into their account without paying commission.

But in any case, the BCE says Spain cannot phase out cash – all it can do is make non-cash payments as easy, widely-available and cheap as possible to encourage these in preference.

Otherwise, Spain would be in breach of the EU Treaty, which establishes that notes and coins in euros are legal tender.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN APPLICATION has been approved for the whole of Barcelona and Lleida provinces to move onto 'Phase 3' – the last of the four 'Phases' between lockdown and 'New Normality' – meaning only the Greater Madrid region and part of Castilla y León remains on 'Phase 2'.

Whilst 'Phase' changes normally happen the Monday after they are approved on the Wednesday or Thursday, in this case, the adjustments will be effective from tomorrow (Thursday, June 18).

Madrid was the worst-hit part of Spain during the Covid-19 pandemic, with its health service in chaos and the condition out of control – compared with towns out in the provinces and on the coast with only a handful of cases, if any – but the hefty restrictions the capital and its wider region have been under appear to be working, with contagion numbers plummeting and the death toll falling constantly.

As a result, the ministry of health agreed two weeks ago that the region could switch to 'Phase 2', but does not yet consider it ready to make the leap to 'Phase 3', which allows all shops, bars and business premises to open, subject to reduced numbers – between 50% and 75% - and permits residents to travel outside their province, but not their region.

In the case of Madrid, 'Phase 3' would not extend travel freedom in any case, since as yet, nobody is allowed outside their region, only their province, and Madrid only has one of these.

Four provinces in the centre-northern region of Castilla y León – those of Salamanca, Ávila, Soria and Segovia – remain on 'Phase 2'.

In Catalunya, the Barcelona metropolitan area and the two health departments of Alt Pirineu and the Arán Valley in the province of Lleida remained on 'Phase 2' last week whilst the rest of the region was on 'Phase 3', but from Monday, the whole of Catalunya will be on 'Phase 3'.

Once on this final 'Phase', regional governments have the power to restrict travel between their provinces if they wish – although as yet, only Extremadura has done so, for the first week, and has now lifted these limits – and are also permitted to unilaterally decide to call a halt to the State of Alarm which the whole country has been in since March 16.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN AMBITIOUS government plan to boost Spain's car industry will involve a cash injection of €3.75 billion to allow individuals and companies to upgrade their vehicles where these are over a given age.

Additional funds will be granted for those who buy electrically-powered, rather than conventional petrol or diesel, cars, and extra financial help will be provided for households on the lowest incomes.

Part of the plan, as well as giving the motor industry in Spain a hefty dose of extra security at a time when it has been hit hard by the pandemic, is to work towards the country's becoming 'zero emissions' by the year 2050.

President Pedro Sánchez says this 'urgent environmental transition towards sustainable and connected mobility' will also help the industry 'adapt itself and become more competitive'.

“This is consistent with our international commitments concerning fighting, adapting to and mitigating climate change,” the socialist leader explains.

“We're aiming to make it easier to rejuvenate the cars on our roads so that they're more energy-efficient and more in line with our energy transition objectives that we've set ourselves.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SINGER Miley Cyrus has called on Spanish president Pedro Sánchez to join a Global Citizen scheme to help ensure full access to Covid-19 diagnoses, treatment and eventual vaccinations everywhere on the planet, and he has agreed to attend a meeting on June 27.

The artist behind Wrecking Ball and Nothing Breaks Like A Heart had a full conversation on Twitter with Spain's leader, starting on Saturday morning (Spanish time) when she tagged Sánchez in a tweet that read: “Spain, you united in solidarity with Black Lives Matter in the US. We must keep standing together to tackle #Covid19 and its disproportionate impact on marginalized communities, especially communities of color. Please join us, PM?”

She included the hashtag #GlobalGoalUnite.

Sánchez responded, in English – a language in which he is fluent – with: “Spain is coleader in initiatives such as the ACT-Accelerator to achieve equitable access to vaccines, treatment and diagnosis to fight #Covid19. Ours is a strong commitment, Miley. Unity and multilateral response is the only way forward not to let anyone behind.”

The reply from the daughter of Achy Breaky Heart singer Billy Ray Cyrus did not take long in appearing: “Thank you! Will you join us on June 27 for #GlobalGoalUnite to help close the funding gap for the most vulnerable? Testing, treatments, and vaccines for everyone everywhere...We need your leadership!”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S government is compiling a list of 'safe countries' of origin for tourists arriving from outside Europe after July 1, when international borders will reopen.

Travellers from Europe will be allowed to visit Spain from this coming Sunday, June 21, although the frontier with Portugal is not set to open again for a further 10 days, on July 1, along with the rest of the world.

This is because of a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the neighbouring country, but which Spain hopes will shortly be under control, given that Portugal had not been among the worst-hit nations in Europe and had even started reopening its beaches weeks before Spain was able to do so.

For non-European nations, a complete plan including three criteria – as yet not specified, but which will relate to their national Covid-19 incidence and testing – will be drawn up, and 'safe' origins listed where tourists will be allowed to travel to Spain from, or where they can fly from subject to greater restrictions.

Some countries are still refusing entry to people from Spain – although these are gradually opening up, with Greece announcing Athens airport would now allow planes from Italy, Spain and The Netherlands to land – and Spanish president Pedro Sánchez says the situation is likely to be reciprocal: People from those which allow travellers from Spain to enter will also be able to cross into Spanish territory.

Sánchez has also called for countries beyond Europe to accept – when they eventually open their borders – travellers from anywhere within the EU, not just specific member States.

It is not clear whether the list of 'safe countries outside Europe' refers to those beyond the continent, or whether it will also cover European nations which are not part of the EU, such as Albania, Turkey and Serbia, and if the latter, whether the UK will be mentioned as it is still midway through the transition period to full departure after having 'officially' left the Union at the end of January.

The president says that whilst the epidemiological situation in Europe is 'frankly, going very well', this is not the case with, for example, many countries in the Americas, and Russia.

This means restrictions on travel from Russia could be included, even though it is technically considered a 'European' nation – western Russia, including the capital, Moscow, and the former capital, Saint Petersburg, are 'European', although the eastern part, or Siberia, is normally classified as being in Asia.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HOW HAVE self-employed traders coped with the Covid-19 pandemic and Spain's universal shutdown? Research by Granada University sought to find out, and discovered that the answer was far more optimistic than expected.

The Infoautónomos team, a firm which keeps abreast of issues affecting the self-employed and offers online services to sole traders and small business owners – such as invoicing software, legal and tax advice and assistance training and protection equipment - worked closely with the university.

Its CEO, Marcelo Vázquez, said: “As a key organisation for the self-employed community in Spain, we considered it our obligation to 'take the pulse' of the situation and find out the true repercussions that the pandemic has been having on these workers.

“And once more, the results confirm that those who work for themselves are a very unique breed: Faced with circumstances as tough as we've been experiencing, they've yet again managed to reinvent themselves and have restarted their activity with the same energy they had when they were forced to stop.”

The secret to success: Love what you do

A lot of that has to do with the fact they are working in a field they love, says Vázquez.

“The responses to our survey highlight the fact that traders' impetus when picking themselves up and carrying on during times of adversity are largely fuelled by their enjoying what they do, as 54.6% of respondents admitted.”

In total, 55% of self-employed workers, sole traders and small business owners were able to continue their activity during lockdown to some degree or another.

And over 80% said they had 'no fear at all' about returning to 'business as usual'.

The study was carried out over the month of May, targeting a stratified sample of 1,553 traders across the whole country and asking them to answer 120 questions online.

In the words of the two field researchers, Francisco Liébana and Francisco Muñoz: “We were surprised by the level of participation among respondents, given the huge number of questions we were expecting them to answer.

“This alone shows they are a dedicated, conscientious community with plenty of enthusiasm and team spirit.”

Shutting up shop? 97.7% have not had to close for good

In terms of their overall sense of wellbeing in connection with their work, six in 10 say the pandemic has affected them 'very little' or 'not at all'; six in 10 say they have not been left with generalised fear, anxiety or phobias as a result of the health crisis, and two-thirds say they do not expect to need counselling to readjust to opening up again.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

CLEANEST, most convenient, easiest to access if you have mobility troubles, best facilities and, now, for the first year ever, the safest ones to catch the rays on post-pandemic without having to worry about catching Covid-19 – beaches, yacht marinas and cruise ports which are awarded the élite kitemark, the blue flag, are officially the best and of the highest quality.

This worldwide award is announced every year, and recipients on Spain's coast have been revealed this week.

Where to find them on the east coast

Starting with the Costa Brava, beaches and marinas which have earned the highest quality distinction on the planet for cleanliness, convenience, accessibility and facilities – and, this year, for being 'Covid-safe' – are in Blanes (Blanes, Sabanell, Sant Francesc-Cala Bona), Castell-Platja d'Aro (Cala Rovira, Platja d'Aro-Platja Gran, Sa Conca), Palafrugell (Canadell, Llafranc, Tamariu), Palamós (La Fosca), Port de la Selva, Llançá (Del Port, Grifeu), Castelló d'Empúries (Empúriabrava), Calonge i Sant Antoni (Cala Cristus-Ses Torretes, d'Es Monestrí, Sant Antoni, Torre Valentina), Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Sant Feliu, Sant Pol), Torroelloa de Montgrí (Cala Montgó), Tossa de Mar (Gran de Tossa, La Mar Menuda), and Lloret de Mar (Cala Canyelles, Lloret, Sa Boadella, Santa Cristina).

On the Costa Daurada, blue-flagged beaches this year are in Alcanar (Les Cases), Altafulla, Calafell (Calafell, L'Estany Mas Mel, Segur de Calafell), Cambrils (Cavet, La Llosa, Prat d'En Forés-Regueral, Vilafortuny), Cunit (Llevant and Ponent), El Vendrell (Coma-Ruga, Francàs, Sant Salvador), L'Ametlla de Mar (Calafató, L'Alguer, Pixavaques), L'Ampolla (Cap Roig, Les Avellanes) Mont Roig del Camp (Cala Vienesos-dels Espenyals, Casa dels Lladres, Cristall, Pixerota), Sant Carles de la Ràpita (Les Delícies, Parc de Garbí), Tarragona (De la Móra, L'Arrabassada, Savinosa, Tamarit), Torredembarra (Barri Marítim, Dels Muntanyans, La Paella), Vandellós and L'Hospitalet de l'Infant (L'Arenal, La Punta del Riu, Torn), Deltebre (Riumar), Salou (Capellans, Llevant), Roda de Bará (Costa Daurada, Roda de Bará Llarga), and Vila-Seca (La Pineda).

In the Comunidad Valenciana's northernmost province of Castellón, blue flags have been retained or awarded to beaches in Alcalá de Xivert (El Carregador, El Moro, La Romana, Manyetes), Almenara (Casablanca), Benicarló (La Caracola, Morrongo), Burriana (Grao-Malvarrosa, L'Arenal), Oropesa del Mar (La Conxa, Les Amplaries, Morro de Gos, Plagetes de Bellver), Peñíscola (Nord), Torreblanca (Nord), Vinaròs (Fora Forat, Fortí), Castellón city (Gurugú and Pinar), Moncofa (Grao, L'Estanyol, Masbó, Pedra Roja), Nules (Marines), Xilxes (El Cerezo, Les Cases), and Benicàssim (Dels Terrers, Heliópolis, L'Almadrava, Torre de Sant Vicent, Voramar).

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HEALTH minister Salvador Illa has raised concerns about the 'Black Lives Matter' protests in Spain, but says he admires the sentiment behind them.

Gatherings in Valencia, Barcelona, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia and elsewhere in the country have been taking place in the past week, with manifestos read out and demonstrators going down on one knee with a fist raised – the international anti-racism posture.

The death of 46-year-old black American civilian George Floyd at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, USA has sparked protests worldwide, despite the pandemic – in Madrid alone, around 3,000 people marched through the streets carrying banners.

Illa says: “Despite my profound respect for any democratic demonstration, I want to remind you all that the virus is still out there and to ask for those who demonstrate to act responsibly.”

Most of the footage of the 'Black Lives Matter' protests seems to show members of the public wearing masks and keeping at least 1.5 metres apart, but in some cases during these and other demonstrations – such as the one convened by far-right Vox against Spain's government and its decision to put the country in lockdown – pictures have shown protesters getting too close to each other.

Spain's black population is, statistically, very small, especially in comparison with that of the USA or Spain's neighbouring nations, Portugal, France and the UK.

Some are originally from the only sub-Saharan African country which was a Spanish colony – Equatorial Guinea – and the majority of the black community in Spain, according to ethnographic studies, are first-generation Africans.

They are typically Senegalese, Nigerian and Gambian, although other countries south of the Sahara are represented due to Spain's being one of the main entry points to Europe and the only European country sharing a land border with the African continent.

'Ethnic minorities' in Spain are commonplace, although most of these are from Asia, particularly China and the formerly-Spanish Philippines (around 6%) as well as Pakistan; north African nations such as Morocco and Algeria (some 18%), and Latin America (over 36%).

Only around 21% of the immigrant population is of European origin, of whom about 54% are from western and south-western Europe and the rest, from eastern and north-eastern Europe, including Russia and the Baltic States.

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A REPORTED sighting of a Nile crocodile where two rivers meet in centre-northern Spain and footprints which could be those of a giant reptile have led to a mass police search – but zoologists are keen to calm the furore.

Local Police in Simancas, in the province of Valladolid (Castilla y León) received several calls at around noon on Saturday saying they had seen a 1.5-metre (4'11”) crocodile of the type found in the river Nile in Egypt and Sudan, in the confluence of the Pisuerga and Duero rivers.

A police officer also thought he had seen it in the water.

Several areas on the Pesquerela tow-path have been cordoned off as the Guardia Civil's environmental wing, SEPRONA, searches for the croc.

They say if, indeed, it exists, it is likely to have been abandoned by its owner – almost certainly an owner who should not have had it in the first place, since it is one of a long list of exotic creatures which cannot be legally kept by private individuals outside the countries of their natural habitats.

Nile crocodiles are exceptionally dangerous creatures, but they are also nervous and will tend to flee if they see a human, rather than attack.

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HEALTH authorities have been speaking for some time now of the 'New Normality' when Spain is fully out of lockdown – auguring changes to the way we live and interact that offer a somewhat depressing panorama – but the government has now confirmed what this really means, and it's not as bad as we first thought.

The 'New Normality' is not about how we will live the rest of our lives; it's more of a 'Phase 4', with stringent security and hygiene measures but no confinement, and will only last until the SARS-CoV-2 is considered 'beaten'.

By this, the government means that a vaccine would have been found and made widely available in much the same way the autumn-winter influenza inoculation is administered annually to anyone aged 65 and over, public sector workers in close contact with other people, and anyone with a health condition that could make a bout of the 'flu much more serious – or, alternatively, when no active cases remain in the country, the risk of imported cases is minimal, and a further outbreak appears unlikely.

So it's not going to be forever – although it's likely to last longer than the standard two weeks of the four 'unlocking phases'.

Current 'Phase 3' areas are hoped to be in 'New Normality' mode by June 22, and those still on 'Phase 2' should, all being well, be there by June 29.

No restrictions, but 'act as though everyone has got it'

With over half the country now on the final 'Phase 3' and the remainder on 'Phase 2', a large dose of 'normality' has already arrived with businesses now open and no restrictions on movement within the same province, and 'New Normality' will restore it all except for the requirement to continue social distancing and wear masks.

Effectively, although we will all be able to live much as we did before, the general advice is to act as though everyone you see is a Covid-19 carrier – even though 'New Normality' will not start until this is relatively unlikely.

Compulsory mask-wearing will remain as it is currently – anywhere outside the home, even in the street or out in the countryside, on all public transport and inside all buildings open to the public, for anyone aged six or over, as well as in private modes of transport of up to nine seats unless all passengers and the driver are from the same household.

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THE Covid-19 pandemic is 'practically under control' now in Spain, according to head of Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Centre Fernando Simón.

Spanish authorities, through lockdown procedures, have managed to contain the SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus and, although it will be a while before the country is completely free from the condition it causes, numbers are now dramatically reduced.

Simón, however, warns that even though the pandemic is under control, Spain could still be at risk from imported cases once it reopens its borders on July 1.

Figures from the previous 24 hours were revealed on Saturday, and showed that 177 people had been diagnosed with Covid-19 in that time, with a further 249 cases where symptoms had started seven days earlier.

During the week of May 29 to June 4, GPs reported 32,954 patients as having one or more 'suspect' symptom and hospital staff reported 24,418, but this does not mean they are probable cases since the signs include dry cough, breathing trouble and fever, each of which could have literally hundreds of potential causes.

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in people being monitored due to having been in close contact with diagnosed patients totalled 94 during the week of May 25 to 31.

“All these data show we currently have an excellent capacity for detecting Coronavirus cases,” Simón stated.

Last week alone, a total of 314,737 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were carried out nationwide – overall, around 2.5 million of these have been conducted since the pandemic was first recognised as having reached Spain – and, even though the number of cases is falling all the time, the same frequency and number of tests are being carried out on anyone who could be at risk or who shows symptoms consistent with Covid-19.

Simón stresses that the public should not get complacent, and that even though the situation is fully contained at present, Spain's next task will be protecting itself from possible cases in visitors from overseas.

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RESIDENTS in five regions in Spain are allowed to travel to other provinces within their territories from today (Monday), although others have decided to wait at least another week.

Anyone living in Andalucía, the Canary Islands, Galicia, Aragón or the Basque Country can now travel to another province – for example, those based on the Costa del Sol can go to Granada or Cádiz, and people in Teruel can go to Zaragoza or Huesca – although they are still not able to leave their regions.

Spanish health authorities opted to allow regional governments to decide for themselves whether movement between provinces would be permitted – provided these regions were in 'Phase 3'.

This means residents cannot yet leave their provinces if they live in Castilla y León, the Comunidad Valenciana, the Castilla-La Mancha provinces of Toledo, Ciudad Real or Albacete, or the Catalunya provinces of Barcelona or Girona or within the hospital catchment areas of Alt Pirineu or the Arán Valley in Lleida, since all these areas remain on 'Phase 2'.

Different regional governments have made different decisions on movement, though.

In the Basque Country, residents can travel within regional borders without restrictions, although the exercise time slots of 10.00 to noon and 19.00 to 20.00 for the over-70s will be retained for the moment as a 'priority period'.

But the Basque regional government's request for 'outliers', or people living on the borders with provinces in neighbouring regions – such as Navarra and Cantabria – to be allowed to cross over into these territories has been denied, likewise its request for the French border to open.

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SPAIN has become one of the key nations on earth in conducting clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine, with the third-highest number of patients participating in an advanced stage of the research.

Worldwide, a total of 556 clinical trials are taking place – where vaccines developed in laboratories and found to be successful when tested on animals, usually rats and mice, move onto the next stage and are tested on humans – with, at present, 300,099 volunteers having been administered with what is hoped will be a drug that prevents the condition.

In Spain, 76 clinical trials are under way, and scientists have recruited 25,227 volunteers.

This represents about 8.5% of the international total, and makes the country second in the world for the number of trials taking place.

The USA has 97 trials already started, involving 71,710 patients; the UK has the world's highest number of patients participating, at 86,702, but only around 40% as many trials as Spain, with 32 overall.

Figures have been released by the Spanish pharmaceutical company Farmaindustria.

The USA's research is led by experts from the Cochrane Library, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) is using as its source of statistics.

And these 556 trials are not the end of the story: Another 423 are expected to start soon, their research leaders' having applied for or already obtained official approval and, in the case of the latter, now getting organised and arranging the logistics and technicalities of their projects.

They will see another 222,105 patients taking part, of whom 4,196 will be in Spain as part of 16 trials – a total of 92 trials and 29,423 patients nationwide.

But now, Spain is likely to have to search harder for volunteers, probably in other continents – although that's good news, says Farmaindustria's head of new medications, Amelia Martín Uranga.

“Many of the clinical trials in operation targeted patients who were in a serious, or critical, condition – and, fortunately, that's exactly the type of patient we currently have the fewest of,” she explains.

Pharmaceutical companies are now likely to find it easier to recruit volunteers in Brazil, Russia or the USA, which are still in the full grip of the pandemic, Dr Uranga says.

Spain's health minister Salvador Illa highlighted the country's major rôle in developing a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and thanked the pharmaceutical industry for their 'significant donations' of medications to help support national researchers.

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NEARLY half of Spain's residents have suddenly become more health-conscious in terms of their diets in the past year, according to recent research – although it is too early to say whether two months in lockdown have undone all their hard work.

The WIN World Survey is based upon self-report from the year 2019, and Spain's figures were contributed by market research firm DYM Institute.

An average of 44% say they consume far less fast food, processed food and sugary food than they did in 2018 – although a small percentage admitted they ate more of these.

Ready meals and processed food consumption went down in 42% of cases, cakes and sweets in 46%, and fast food in 44% - however, 8% said they ate more cakes and sweets and 10% said they bought more fast food.

Meanwhile, a similar percentage to the first set of figures said they ate more low-sugar, low-fat and organic foodstuffs.

Different age groups were studied, and it was found that in the over-65s, only between 1% and 3% bought more fast food, ready meals and high-sugar produce, whilst those who had significantly cut down their consumption of these accounted for between 46% and 54%.

Those who had least reduced less-nutritious choices were – perhaps surprisingly – the 18-34 age group, the ones who, in other research, have been found more likely to opt for a vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian diet.

In keeping with that, it was the younger adults who were found to have most increased their purchases or consumption of healthier types of food, such as fresh produce and organic goods – between 21% and 32% - whilst among those over 65, only 18% said they had moved more towards the more typically 'recommended' products.

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FRANCE'S most widely-read football magazine has listed its top 30 venues around the world, which include two in Spain – but, perhaps surprisingly, neither of them are those of FC Barcelona or Real Madrid.

According to France Football, it's the atmosphere that counts, not the élite nature of the stadium or how much has been invested in building, designing and maintaining it.

At Barça's Camp Nou, Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu and Manchester United's Old Trafford, 'the quality of the fan base is not up to the level you would expect from the grounds', meaning they have been 'deliberately left out'; Arsenal and other UK Premier League teams have lost their 'passion' and the Wanda Metropolitano of Atlético de Madrid, as well as the grounds for Tottenham and West Ham, have 'diminished in excitement' after 'losing their homes', or moving to other sites.

France Football says larger teams no longer have such an atmosphere because of the presence of 'tourists' who are not really fans, or of supporters who are not local to the team.

“Finding Boca Junior and its Bombonera, Liverpool and Anfield, or Dortmund and its yellow wall on the podium won't shock anyone as going to a match at these legendary sites is an unforgettable experience,” France Football says.

“You also need to have watched the derbies at Alger, Casa, Istanbul and Athens to understand how much the football 'show' needs its faithful followers; the recent Dortmund matches at Schalke 04 and Bayern, its eternal rivals, played in an empty stadium, are the best examples.”

Boca Junior's La Bombonera, 'where every match is a party', comes first, followed by Liverpool's Anfield Road, Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park, Belgrade Red Star's Rajko Mitic Stadium, and Celtic Park make up the top five.

One Spanish stadium has made it into the top 10 – San Mamés, home of Athletic de Bilbao and arguably one of the best football grounds in the country is in ninth place.

Valencia's Mestalla stadium comes about midway through the list, at number 18, based upon its 'great atmosphere'.

The full list can only be obtained by paid-up subscribers to France Football – but at least fans of the sport now know where to head for if what they're looking for is a great time and a celebration, and this type of atmosphere is the best to take non-fans to as they can enjoy the euphoria and suspense without having to care too much about following the actual game.

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SPAIN'S government is once again going through the weekly applications to jump forward a 'Phase' which, if agreed, would take place from Monday – and so far, only the Comunidad Valenciana and the northern Morocco-based city-province of Ceuta have opted not to do so.

The former, on the east coast, moved onto 'Phase 2', the penultimate on the scale, on Monday this week (June 1) after 14 of its 24 area health departments had been on 'Phase 1' for a fortnight, the standard timescale, and the rest for three weeks.

Ceuta moved onto 'Phase 2' along with its fellow Spanish city on the African continent, Melilla, on May 25, but a sudden spike in the number of cases due to a birthday party where numbers far exceeded the legal maximum means Ceuta regional health minister Mohammed Mohand has opted not to request a further opening up.

Galicia, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra, La Rioja, Extremadura, the Balearic and Canary Islands, Melilla, Asturias and Murcia have applied to move onto 'Phase 3', the last before the lockdown is declared over.

In the case of the Canaries, the islands of La Graciosa, El Hierro and La Gomera have already been on 'Phase 3' for a week, having been a step ahead of the rest of the country all along; this also applies to Formentera in the Balearic Islands, although not to its three larger neighbours, Mallorca, Menorca or Ibiza.

Galicia also wants travel between provinces to be authorised, given that its four provinces are 'in a similar epidemiological situation', and also for the borders between the region and its eastern neighbour, Asturias, and Portugal to the south, to reopen.

Castilla-La Mancha has been split between 'Phases' several times, typically with the provinces of Cuenca and Guadalajara ahead, and now the central territory is entirely on 'Phase 2', it wants these two provinces only to move to 'Phase 3'.

Castilla y León is one of only two complete regions still on 'Phase 1', although earlier this week, it was agreed that the healthcare catchment area of El Bierzo in the province of León could move to 'Phase 2' – which regional health minister Verónica Casado now wants the rest of the centre-northern territory to switch to from Monday.

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NURSES, doctors and other healthcare staff ranging from cleaners to porters will collectively receive this year's Princess of Asturias Award in the 'Concordance' category, the Royal household has confirmed.

The highest distinction granted in Spain for services to the community, science and the arts, the Princess of Asturias Award – formerly the Prince of Asturias Award until the heir to the throne became a female in 2014 – is the country's answer to the Nobel Prize and has been won by celebrities worldwide from Nelson Mandela to Stephen Hawking, Margaret Atwood to Michael Schumacher, and even Google, as well as activists and charity leaders such as anti-FGM campaigners and conservationists like chimp expert Jane Goodall.

This year, the Concordance Prize – which, in 2018, went to marine biologist and environmental activist Dr Sylvia Earle and, last year, was awarded to the Polish city of Gdansk – has been set aside to share between the medical workers in the public health service who grappled with the Covid-19 crisis, risking their own lives in order to save those of their patients, often with extremely limited resources due to the pandemic's being the most widespread health disaster in over a century and no government on earth able to plan for it.

For the first time in the history of the Awards, the jury met by video-conference, but they were all unanimous in their support of healthcare workers being given the Concordance Prize, the first of the eight to be confirmed for 2020.

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THE FIRST-EVER white lion outside the wild has been born in Spain, in the MundoPark nature reserve in Guillena (Sevilla province).

And the public can go and visit him in person after June 12, when the park reopens.

According to MundoPark's social media channels, the cub – who would look very much like the ones on the photograph above left – is the son of Alba and Can, two white lions brought over from Thailand four years ago.

Staff have not been able to get close enough to Alba yet to see if the baby has any brothers or sisters, since they saw her cub appear on Sunday and have not been able to ascertain whether she was about to give birth to more in the same litter, a process which could take several hours or even days.

This 'distancing' is in keeping with the environment in which animals at MundoPark live – in open areas designed to be as similar as possible to their natural habitats.

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FOR THE first day ever since the pandemic hit Spain, nobody has died from Covid-19, according to the ministry of health – in fact, if the situation continues to evolve favourably, the country could be out of lockdown sooner than thought.

So far, a total of 27,127 people in Spain have died from the SARS-CoV-2 virus – of whom

63 are healthcare workers and the majority over 75 – and although no fatalities have been reported in some regions for several weeks, the daily total in hotspots such as Madrid and Barcelona has consistently been at least in double figures.

Also, contagion rates, which were at their highest in these two areas, have just fallen below 100 a day nationwide for the first time, with 71 new diagnoses in the last 24 hours of whom nearly half were split more or less equally between Madrid and Barcelona.

Health Emergency and Alerts Coordination Centre leader Fernando Simón says this is the first 24-hour period with no deaths since the first fatal case of the Coronavirus in the country was reported on March 4.

No deaths from Covid-19 have been registered in the past week in Ceuta, Melilla or Extremadura, although the latter reported six in the previous week; Andalucía and Asturias have registered just one, and the Comunidad Valenciana suffered three, although several of this Mediterranean region's healthcare catchment areas have not had a single fatality in months.

Spain's government says if the reduction in cases and fatalities continues, it may be in a position to authorise movement of people between provinces or even regions by as early as next Monday (June 8).

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