Live News From Spain As It Happens

SPAIN is better prepared for the global expansion of new and emerging technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data than giants like Russia and China, according to the United Nations' Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Internet of Things, Blockchain, 3D printing, robotics, drones, genetic editing, nanotechnology and solar energy are some of the current and future technologies analysed in the Launch Technology and Innovation Report 2021, which revealed that the world market was worth US$350 billion in 2018 and, by the middle of the 2020s, is likely to move up to 10 times that amount – around US$3.2 trillion, of which US$1.5bn in Internet of Things and US$500 million in robotics.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ANYONE wondering where King Juan Carlos I is now will have had their curiosity satisfied through a TeleCinco magazine show this week – details of his secluded location in Abu Dhabi have been revealed.

Reporters from Viva la Vida have traced the Rex Emeritus to an island about a 15-minute boat ride from the mainland, barely a square kilometre and mostly forest, where those who retreat to it are assured of privacy.

A complex of 11 luxury villas on Nurai Island is well-hidden from the shores, and the retired monarch, who abdicated in June 2014, is staying in one of them.

Said to be worth around €11 million, with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a panoramic sea view, the two-storey house takes up about a quarter of its one-acre plot and has plush, spacious lounges, a billiards room, a table football room, its own cinema, and a swimming pool.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BRITS are desperate to get to Spain after a whole year of being unable to take their sunshine summer breaks – and with the vaccine roll-out in the UK making progress, bookings have started to soar, according to tourism associations in the Mediterranean country.

Palma de Mallorca, Málaga and Alicante airports have seen a spike in reservations, according to low-cost carrier easyJet, which is also noticing a rise in its package holidays to these areas being snapped up.

In fact, since prime minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday that the UK would start an 'irreversible' staged release from its third lockdown – which began just after Christmas – bookings for holidays shot up by 630%, says easyJet, and flights by 337%.

Spain has captured the bulk of these reservations, although the airports in Faro, southern Portugal and the Greek island of Crete have also proven to be among the most popular.

The most-booked month so far is August, followed almost equally by July and September.

CEO of easyJet Johan Lundgren says the airline is offering flexible tickets and free cancellation and rebooking, to give customers the confidence to take the plunge. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BARELY 16 hours, but the whole of Spain gripped with terror and high-profile lives on the line – this day, February 23, was one of the longest nights in recent living memory 40 years ago. And King Felipe VI, masked and addressing the public, remembers it well – he had just turned 13 and his dad was among those attempting to negotiate with his rebelling Armed Forces, before reassuring the nation on TV just hours before the siege was over.

The attempted coup d'état in 1981 still sends a chill down the spines of Spaniards old enough to recall it first-hand, even now, four decades later – not least Queen Letizia's father.

Future Queen's dad recalls fearing for his family's lives

Recently retired, reporter Jesús Ortiz revealed today how he was on his way home to Oviedo, Asturias, when he heard the terrifying headlines and immediately feared for the safety of his three girls.

Telma, nine, Letizia, eight and Érika, six – who committed suicide in 2007, aged 31 – were at ballet class with their mum, Paloma Rocasolano, in Marisa Fanjul's studio.

And the studio was just one floor above the headquarters of one of Spain's main unions, the Labourers' Commissions (CCOO), one of the targets of the coup.

Ortiz turned round immediately, headed back to the studio, and tore up the stairs.

“I told the family, come on, we're going now, hurry – and I quickly told the ballet school leader what I was afraid of,” he told the celebrity news magazine Lecturas.

Once his wife and daughters were safely home, Ortiz's professional instinct kicked in and he wanted to go out into the streets and tell everyone what was happening – but his editor stopped him, as the situation was still very delicate and one false move could mean lives were lost and the whole of Spain under military rule, just six years after it had come out of a 37-year dictatorship.

Not everyone backed democracy

The coup arose when things came to a head, having been simmering below the surface as Spain underwent some of the most rapid and ground-breaking changes in its modern history – the Transition from tyrannical, fascist rule to a fully-fledged democracy. 

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

IF YOU'RE living in Spain and want to be sure you don't miss the boat for your Covid vaccine when the time comes, you need to make sure you're on the padrón, or your town hall headcount register, warns Marbella's councillor for expatriate residents, Remedios Bocanegra.

She recently held a Zoom meeting with the chairs of several foreign residents' associations in the Costa del Sol town to discuss various issues affecting non-Spaniards who live there for all or most of the year – the main ones of which, in recent months, have been about how to ensure they get the summons for their Covid immunisation, whether they are entitled to it, whether they have to pay and how much, and how to get registered on the public healthcare service.

Remedios Bocanegra stresses that the vaccine is available to everyone as soon as it is their turn in line with the national immunisation programme established, and is free of charge to all those who are employed, registered as self-employed, or in receipt of benefits for sickness, maternity, disability, paternity or unemployment – meaning they are 'in the system' as far as Social Security is concerned – and, for those who do not fall into these categories, anyone who holds a healthcare assistance card, or SIP.

“To get a SIP card, you need to present a series of documents to your local GP surgery – which must include your padrón certificate,” the councillor says.

The padrón: What it is and why you should register

Anyone resident in Spain is required, and entitled, to register on the padrón, which is the town hall's official list of its inhabitants; it does not mean personal information will be shared, and even 'illegal immigrants', or migrants without residence papers, are allowed and expected to sign up to it.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A FIRST for two continents, not just for Spain, this month marks the 95th anniversary of a journey that now takes place dozens of times a day without incident, celebration or welcome parties beyond those strictly family- or friend-related.

In these times of standard check-in, security and passport-control procedures as thousands of daily passengers hop on and off planes between Spain and Latin America, knowing the drill, settling in their reclining seats with blankets, eye-pads, iPads and either dread or eager anticipation at the knowledge the food will turn up on the usual trolley within an hour or so, it is easy to forget that, within the lifetimes of thousands still with us today, this would have been impossible – not just for the non-wealthy, but for anyone.

The Plus Ultra, manufactured in Spain and Italy, made its maiden flight on January 22, 1926 from the very same town from which Christopher Columbus set off on his epic, historical adventure in 1492, in the very same direction: Palos de la Frontera, Huelva province, to the first mass of land directly due south-west over the Atlantic.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HOMEBUYERS from the USA have sharply increased in number on the Costa del Sol's 'Golden Mile' over 2020, as a result of 'the pandemic and being unhappy with Trump's government', according to estate agencies in the area.

In the past few months, the burgeoning North American market has risen from barely anecdotal to at least 15% of the total demand for high-end homes in the Málaga-province locations of Marbella, Benahavís and Estepona.

Customers cited former president Donald Trump's administration – whilst he was still in office – and the Covid-19 crisis, by which the USA was one of the worst-hit countries, as some of their main reasons for heading across the pond.

They included buyers of main residences and of property for investment, and were typically aged between 35 and 50, professionals, with young families.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

TRAFFIC fines will help fund driving lessons and tests for young adults with little or no income – it's official.

Left-wing party Podemos, in coalition the socialists (PSOE) in national government, proposed that fines for motoring offences be used at least in part for the under-26 age group where they were out of a job or otherwise on very low incomes so that they could meet the costs of learning to drive and pass a test, and Parliament has now agreed unanimously to do so.

Podemos points out that young adults without a driving licence or a job were in a catch-22 situation – they are unable to attend interviews or apply for jobs that would require commuting if they lived in an area with insufficient public transport, such as anywhere outside a major city, and yet, unless they were able to get to a job every day, would never be able to afford driving school fees.

General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) figures showed that, as at 2017, up to 73% of all driving school pupils failed their first test, which adds to the costs.

Also, in Spain, lessons can only be taken via an approved driving academy – normally a physical premises under State control – as it is illegal for them to drive, even off-road and accompanied by an experienced older motorist, until they have passed their test.

Doing so would mean they face a criminal conviction for driving without a valid licence, and this would also apply to the adult supervising them.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NEARLY two-thirds of people in Spain are more likely to buy a product online if delivery is free of charge, and at least four in 10 will be more attracted to a product or service if it comes at a discount, according to recent research. 

A study by Chollometro – which more or less translates as 'bargain-o-meter' – found that in 2020, around 45% of residents were more cautious when it came to spending in general, especially on non-essentials, but that 30% were expecting to buy more online in 2021 than the previous year.

Free delivery clinched sales for 65%, and discounts on the retail price did it for 43%, Chollometro reveals.

Around three in 10 said one of their main concerns was that the payment process should be quick and simple.

Communication and social media manager for Chollometro, David Gutiérrez, says: “The year 2020 saw an expansion in the profile of a consumer who wants to save money, who tightened his or her belt and did not spend money on trivial items.

“This profile of consumer pays attention to sales items, discounted goods, and tends only to buy when there are offers on.”

But although online shopping in Spain has long lagged behind the rest of the western world, and its growth – whilst steady – has been slow until the turn of the decade, the pandemic saw internet purchases soaring in comparison with physical purchases in shops, Gutiérrez says.

In fact, the greatest growth in online buying has been seen among the 25-54 age group, whose purchases on the internet have risen by 70% in the past year – particularly during the Christmas and Black Friday campaigns.

“Comfort and ease of use have been the main factors that have seen purchases via SmartPhones increase – Spain is one of the countries with the highest level of market penetration for SmartPhones per inhabitant, and this is also the most-used device nationwide for accessing the internet,” he reveals.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NOT content with just dressing humans, Spain's largest and most world-famous fashion empire has started a new clothing line for pets. 

As well as collars, leads and pup-beds, dogs can now strut about the streets of Spain in the latest New Zealand rugs to protect them from the cold and rain, bomber jackets for extra padding, or cotton scarves and jackets to shield them from the heat, thanks to the new Zara range for the furry members of the family.

Or they can simply don any of these merely to give themselves a new look – or even to match their humans, since a walking accessory on a lead always ups one's street cred, as most dogs firmly believe.

Dogs shown on Zara's new online catalogue showcasing just-released designs are all family pets of the human models presenting the high-street store's seasonal range for bipeds, and creators behind the scenes said the pooches were very 'content', 'well-behaved', 'relaxed', and generally just enjoying the attention.

The fact their own humans were their handlers during the photo-shoot meant they were completely at ease, the team reveals.

Pet outfits from the most global brand owned by the fashion empire Inditex vary in price from around €9.95 for 'doggie-bag bags' – so you don't have to stuff your pockets with plastic pouches for poo-collection when out walking – through to around €25.95 for a padded coat.

Many of the new pooch pieces are in similar colour schemes, patterns and fabric as the women's, men's and children's collections, so fashion-conscious dogs can make sure that the human accessory attached to their collars complements their own look.

Supermarket shopping in style

The new range to hit the 'dogwalk' comes just four months after Zara launched its collection of pull-along shopping trolleys, in a bid to keep on selling at a time when nobody was buying.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

EIGHT in 10 people in Spain use social media every day, and are connected for a total of two hours, according to the latest worldwide research into online habits.

Hootsuite and We Are Social have just released their 10th annual report, Digital 2021, which reveals that 4.2 billion people have at least one social media profile kept active – nearly six in 10 of the earth's inhabitants, or about 56.5% of the planet's population.

Unsurprisingly, last year, with its various lockdowns and restrictions on meeting people in person, social media use rose sharply – by 13% around the world, or 490 million new users.

In fact, 15 people register on a social media platform for the first time every second.

Digital 2021, given that it is an annual comparison, may not necessarily reflect a permanent or even long-term change in trends – with many workers temporarily laid off, family and friends unable to see each other and shops, bars, restaurants and leisure facilities shut or severely restricted, the amount of time a typical human spent in front of a screen of any size will have been much greater on average for 2020 than for 2019.

In Spain, nearly 43 million people use the internet – out of a population of 47 million – and spend an average of six hours and 11 minutes a day online.

A total of 80% use social media daily, for an average of two hours a day.

Across the board, around 45% of people on earth aged between 16 and 64 inclusive use social media for brand information, and around 40% use it for work or work-related factors.

In Spain, the most-used social media platform is WhatsApp, with 89.5% of surfers availing themselves of it daily.

YouTube is very close behind, with 89.3% of those with internet access using it every day.

Facebook is used daily by 79.2% of surfers, and Instagram by 69%.

Applications most often employed in Spain are messaging or chat (96%), social media applications (95%), and video and entertainment (81%).

A total of 57% of internet-users in Spain have made video-calls at least once, 53% have scanned QR codes, and 34% have used their phones to watch TV programmes.

According to Digital 2021, nearly 94% of internet-users go online via their mobile phones, and preferred browsers are Chrome (72%), Safari (14%) and FireFox (5%).

As for content, 95% of Spanish internet-users watch videos online, 62% listen to music via streaming and 46% listen to podcasts.

How does Spain compare with the rest of the world?

Worldwide, 2020 saw people spending an average of six hours and 54 minutes a day on the internet – a total of 4.66 billion, or almost six in 10, people on earth are surfers - of whom 63% use it to search for information, 56% to connect with friends and family, and 55% to keep up to date by browsing news and events.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

WHEREVER you've made your home or set up a pied à terre in Spain, you're not going to be short of sunlight. 

It's virtually guaranteed every day for at least two months in the coldest parts and five or so in the warmest parts, and whether you get the mild winters of the Mediterranean, south coast or Canary Islands where a coat over a single layer is enough to feel comfortable in a pavement café or whether you're in those inland, northern or high-altitude areas where thick snow is a given for about two months of the year, the earth's biggest star will usually be keeping your surroundings glowing. Even when temperatures drop below zero or close to it (which does happen, even on the Med, and is standard in winter in Aragón, Castilla y León and their neighbouring regions), you'll usually be able to expect the sun to be glaring brightly even as you freeze your fingers and toes off.

So it stands to reason that Spain is in an ideal position to power itself from solar energy and ditch the fossil fuel, and is attempting to head in that direction, even though it'll take years, if not decades.

And it's perfectly feasible for you to have enough solar panels fitted to make yourself completely immune to electricity bills and price fluctuations – sunlight is free, after all.

High outlay, but a sound long-term investment

Many do so, but it involves a very hefty initial investment; depending upon whether mains electricity is going through a 'cheap phase', as is the case at the moment, or an 'expensive phase', as it did in 2012 when bills were typically two to three times what they are now, it could take you between five and 10 years before you start seeing the financial benefit. Once this time has passed and you have covered your outlay, then you'll start getting your household power for free, but it means either having a few thousands of euros to spare in the first place, or being able and willing to borrow it.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

ONCE, Spain's southern and Mediterranean coasts were predicted to become 'the California of Europe' – and now, it looks as though the former may well be in some way, thanks to a massive investment by one of the world's most dominant cyber-giants.

Over the next five years, Google plans to invest over US$650 million (more than €530m) in a Silicon Valley-type centre on the Costa del Sol.

By the year 2023, Málaga's Paseo de la Farola will be home to the biggest and most complete cyber-security hub outside of the USA.

Not all of us are internet-literate

According to Google, the European Centre for Professional Training and Development has revealed that among residents in Spain aged 16 to 74 inclusive, as many as 43% of us 'have little or no basic digital competence', despite estimates that by the year 2025, 'nearly 70% of all employment' in the country will be carried out by workers with 'medium- to high-level' qualifications in the online arena.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AHEAD of formal announcements tomorrow (Friday) about enclosures and reopenings for the weekend, Andalucía regional government has revealed large swathes of the province of Sevilla will see their restrictions relaxed.

The city of Sevilla and another 32 towns and villages in the province will cease to be 'confined' and their borders reopened from Saturday now that their contagion rates have fallen below 500 per 100,000 inhabitants, or 0.5% of the population.

Two other municipalities – Los Corrales and El Viso del Alcor – have now reported rates of fewer than 1,000 per 100,000 residents, or 1% of their headcount, meaning from Saturday, non-essential trade can recommence.

The only town in the province which will increase restrictions is Villanueva del Ariscal, which has risen to 546.2 cases per 100,000, or 0.5462% of the population, in the past two weeks.

Restrictions or their easing will now be announced in Andalucía every week rather than every fortnight, but for now, early bar closures, and a ban on selling alcohol after 18.00 to prevent street-drinking gatherings after the bars shut, will remain in place.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HEIR to the throne Princess Leonor has made it through the rigorous selection process to get into an élite Welsh sixth-form college based in a 12th-century castle.

The young Royal, 15 – whose father is King Felipe VI of Spain – had to get through a tough pre-selection process for the United World College of the Atlantic (UWC Atlantic), which is always carried out anonymously, meaning none of the board or staff viewing it has any idea who the candidate is.

This way, there can be no danger of 'ordinary' civilians being screened out and prevented from studying in what is described as an institute providing a 'liberal, progressive and radical education', with a 'global ethos' and 'strong focus on local and global sustainability'.

Once Leonor cleared the first hurdle, she had to sit a series of tests, given online.

Founded in 1962, the UWC Atlantic College is based in St Donat's Castle in Llantwit Major, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, a short distance from Barry and close to Cardiff and the Bristol Channel.

It is set within rolling, emerald fields and woodland, with its own valley and seafront promenade, a spacious garden with café tables, and dining halls that would not look out of place at Harry Potter's famous wizarding school, Hogwart's. 

Although élite in terms of its limited places – 350 at a time – and the exceptional level of education provided, it is not 'exclusive' in terms of only being available to the world's richest families: Most would-be pupils are selected through UWC National Committees, which offer scholarships covering all or part of the fees.

In fact, around six in 10 students at the UWC Atlantic are on scholarships.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SPAIN'S government has confirmed the AstraZeneca or 'Oxford' vaccine will be administered to residents aged 18 to 55 inclusive and, once it arrives in the country, work will start immediately on immunising public service staff.

Firstly, the police, Guardia Civil, the military, firefighters and teachers from nursery school to high school will be vaccinated, and this will start straight away, leading to a two-tier immunisation programme.

Health and care workers who are not considered 'front-line staff' will be included in this group – physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists and pharmacy office employees, forensic and post-mortem specialists, home help service providers, and workers at children's homes, prisons and day centres – as long as they are aged under 55.

Those aged over 55 will be given the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna jabs.

Now nearly all care home staff and residents and front-line healthcare workers – including cleaners and canteen staff – have had both doses of the vaccine, regional health authorities are gradually starting on those who need 24-hour or at least constant care and do not live in sheltered accommodation, a group classified as 'major dependants', and on the 80-plus age group.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A RUSSIAN low-cost supermarket chain is set to land in Spain this year and is expected to have a mainstream high-street presence nationwide by the year 2025.

Owned by the Svetofor Group, Mere supermarkets are based upon the format of Aldi and Lidl as they were when they first arrived in the country, and prices are said to be between 10% and 20% cheaper than in Spain's existing network of stores.

Managing director of Mere Spain, Andrey Murzov, describes the chain as 'spartan' and 'no-frills', with no shelves, display units or even staff.

“Everything is stocked on pallets or in boxes, in order to reduce overheads as much as possible and be able to offer very cheap products,” Murzov explains.

“This model of store is similar to what Lidl and Aldi used to use years ago.

“Our aim is to offer the best prices every day, thanks to a business concept that involves saving costs – rent, decoration, and personnel.”

The first branches will open in May this year, between 10 and 15 are planned by the end of 2021, and around 100 are expected to be trading in the country by the year 2025.

Regions targeted for Mere's expansion are likely to be Madrid, Murcia, the Comunidad Valenciana, Catalunya, and Andalucía.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

IF YOU'RE in the eastern coastal provinces of Spain at the moment, you may have stepped outside on Saturday and found the landscape had turned orange – a film of clay-coloured dust that looked as though they'd been cutting terracotta tiles in heaven.

And even though it's messy, it's actually a good thing and helpful to the atmosphere, reveals the State meteorological agency, AEMET.

'Sahara rain' always creates extra work for Mediterranean residents, what with sweeping their terraces and cleaning their cars and windows, and according to head of Alicante University's Faculty of Climatology, Dr Jorge Olcina, the 'sandstorm' seen in the early hours of Saturday morning is the 'most intense' since June 2018.

It happens when an atmospheric front 'drags' sand floating above the surface from the Sahara desert, caught up by a south or south-westerly wind, and normally comes during unsettled conditions – not necessarily gales or storms as we know them, but in a typical 'heat-meets-cold' or 'humid-meets-polar' air clash.

Dr Olcina, who is also chairman of the Spanish Geographers' Association (AGE), says for the 'orange effect' to occur, the rain combined with the desert sand in suspension has to be very fine and very light – of the type where people barely notice it and hold out their hands to feel for drops, with a puzzled expression on their faces; even 'Scotch mist'-type rain would be too heavy for it to happen.

This is because the water needs to evaporate quickly to leave the solid residue, or sand, behind, if Mother Nature is aiming to create a 'Martian look'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

OFFERING privacy, shade in the summer heat, greenery and colour, and of course, oxygen – whilst drinking up carbon dioxide – trees are a must in any garden or ground-floor terrace that has the space, especially if you live near an area of heavy traffic. There's something indescribably serene, uplifting and relaxing about being around trees, hearing the wind rustle through them, or sitting under them on a bench with a good book, and they're great news for the health of the planet, too.

Oranges, a classical Mediterranean fruit - this picture shows a commercial grove in Pego, northern Alicante province
Which ones to plant in your Spanish garden, though? Naturally, if you live on the Mediterranean, the south coast or in the Canary Islands, palm trees spring to mind, but plenty of others will flourish given the right conditions.

And these depend upon where you live. A home near the coast at ground level is very different to one inland, in a mountainous area, or at an altitude; also, Spain has so many microclimates that trees, plants and bushes that do well in its warmer provinces and those which thrive in more northerly parts will differ widely.

Northern and north-central Spain tend to have much colder winters, meaning trees that stay healthy in climates such as those of the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and other countries on a similar latitude will also do well here, but others are more suited to year-round sunshine and very infrequent rainfall, albeit standing up well to the rare but very dramatic downpours seen in the Mediterranean basin.

Magnolia

Ideal in a warm climate and with a good, deep subsoil, stunning pinky-white floral displays are practically guaranteed in springtime if you tend to them carefully and manage to get them growing strong and healthy. But you'll need plenty of space – they can reach up to 30 metres in height.

You'll also need patience, since the magnolia tree is slow-growing and can take many years before your efforts are rewarded.

Apple

Coming with fruit as a bonus, apple trees need plenty of sun for several hours a day, but if you live a long way inland or towards the north of Spain, you'll find they thrive better than in the warmth and humidity of the south and east coasts.

Apple trees, being a hardy species, cope very well with frost and below-freezing temperatures, so they're ideal if you live in a part of the country with very cold winters. In fact, they prefer climates with cold winters, chilly autumns and fairly cool springs, as long as they're planted somewhere they get lots of natural light.

Olive

Farmers grow their olive groves up in the mountains – you may have seen the giant steps, which look a bit like the exotic rice platforms of south-east Asia without the water – and typically inland, although even just a few kilometres from the coast you'll find them in abundance...

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A COUPLE admitted to a Madrid hospital with Covid-19 have been married on their ward, with nurses helping to organise the ceremony.

Rosario, 62 and Fernando, 70, had caught Coronavirus from the son they have in common and were admitted to La Paz hospital on January 23, both with a dry cough and a temperature of 39ºC.

They were then transferred to the Isabel Zendal hospital, where they were in separate rooms.

Both are expected to recover, although Fernando is on oxygen.

Whilst they were apart in the hospital, Fernando sent Rosario a WhatsApp message, proposing to her after 14 years together – and Rosario, of course, accepted.

Nurses decorated Fernando's room and helped arrange a priest to give the ceremony via Zoom, and remained in the ward to act as witnesses.

Rosario was then wheeled in and, after the 'I do', the bride and groom kissed, cut the cake the nurses had organised for them, and the new 'Mrs Fernando' threw the bouquet staff had ordered in.

One of the nurses, who is as yet unmarried, caught it.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SOME regions in Spain have relaxed restrictions on movement as their Covid case numbers are starting to decline or at least level off.

Catalunya, which had confined every single one of its towns and cities – meaning nobody was allowed in or out of them other than for very limited exceptions – will now move the ring-fencing to districts instead, starting from this Monday (February 8).

Also, bars and restaurants in the four provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona are permitted to stay open an hour longer during each of the two 'shifts' they are permitted to trade – elevenses, or breakfast, and lunch – allowing them to serve customers from 07.30 to 10.30 and from 13.00 to 16.30, whilst gyms are now reopening to the public, albeit with limited numbers.

Book shops in Catalunya will be permitted to open again at weekends, from Saturday, February 13, as they have, until now, been among the shops considered 'non-essential' and obliged to close at weekends, but the definition has now changed as these outlets are considered 'cultural establishments'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

NOW that just over 1% of Spain's population has had both doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19, health authorities have revealed who will be next to be immunised.

So far, all healthcare staff on the front line – in most cases, this includes cleaners, hospital porters and canteen employees – care home workers and care home residents have had both jabs, except in nursing homes with current cases of the virus.

Those homes where everyone has since tested negative are now starting to get their injections, and the over-80s living at home are being immunised.

Unlike in the UK where, it seems, medical authorities are working their way through the different sections of the community much quicker, Spain has opted to give each group both doses before moving onto the next – in Britain, first doses are being worked through rapidly, but second doses are waiting longer, with appointments for the over-75s already given their first now being issued for March. 

Once Spain's residents aged 80 and over have had both jabs – meaning they will be completely immune to the effects of the virus, even though not necessarily unable to pass it on – health authorities will move onto the National Police and the Guardia Civil.

Prison workers will be immunised at the same time, as they spend a lot of their day in enclosed spaces with members of the public who are often of a conflictive nature.

Secretary of State for Security, on behalf of the ministry for the interior, and the ministry of health have both said it is crucial for police to be vaccinated as soon as health and care workers ad the most clinically-vulnerable members of society are immunised.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A MEDICATION made in Spain has been found to reduce the viral load in Covid-19 patients by almost 100% by inhibiting a protein known as eEF1A.

According to Science magazine, the 'powerful' activity of Plitidepsin – branded on the market as Aplidin – developed by PharmaMar is administered intravenously and has a 'limited toxicity level', meaning few or no side-effects.

It cuts the replication of viral particles in the lungs by over 99%, according to tests on animals, and now it is being trialled on humans, it has been found to be well-tolerated as well as effective.

The dose needed for Covid patients is 'significantly lower' than that given in trials, and which only produced minor and very bearable reactions.

It acts by blocking the protein eEF1A, which is automatically present in human cells but which is 'used' by the SARS-CoV-2 virus to reproduce and spread throughout the body.

“We believe that our data, and the positive initial results of clinical trials by PharmaMar, suggest that Plitidepsin should be seriously considered as a candidate for more extended trials in treating Covid-19,” Science magazine says.

Head of the Faculty of Microbiology at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai, Spaniard Adolfo García-Sastre, is one of the trial participants and says: “Of all the SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors we've classified in tissue cultivating and in animal models since we started our research into the virus, Plitidepsin has proven to be the most powerful, which highlights its great potential as a therapy in treating Covid-19.”

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AN EXTRA payment into State pensions for parents per child will mostly benefit women, but not exclusively, the government has revealed this week.

Everyone who has a child of their own, including an adopted or foster child, will get €378 a year injected into their State retirement pension – a fixed sum per child up to a maximum of four.

Based upon a 12-month income per year, this means when a parent retires, he or she will receive €31.50 for every son or daughter, to a maximum of €126 a month if they have four or more children.

State pensions are, in fact, paid 14 times a year, with a double packet in August and at Christmas, meaning in practice, each pension payment will have been incremented by €27 per child, to a maximum of €108 and twice a year, by €54 for each child, to a maximum of €216.

The additional payment into the pension pot was initially for women only, but the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled this was discriminating against men.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A PENSIONER'S dog saved his life in Madrid soon after he had been discharged from hospital, emergency services report – proving once again that the canine species really is man's best friend, or certainly turned out to be in the case of a lone-dweller recovering from Coronavirus.

The 72-year-old man lives alone in the Tetuán neighbourhood of the capital, and had recently been treated at La Paz hospital after contracting Covid.

On Saturday afternoon, a few days after he had been sent home, his neighbours heard his dog barking incessantly and urgently at all hours of the day and night and, concerned at this unusual behaviour, tried telephoning the owner.

Repeated attempts brought no response, so they called the Madrid Municipal Police.

After getting no answer at the door, officers sought an emergency warrant and summoned the fire brigade and a SAMUR ambulance.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

HYDROGEN-POWERED cars are cheaper to run and kinder to the planet, but have so far failed to catch on in Spain – as there has never been anywhere to recharge them. 

In fact, only seven brand-new hydrogen cars were registered in Spain the whole of last year – way below expected, even allowing for lockdown and restrictions on movement.

Now, though, the first recharging station for cars with hydrogen batteries has just opened in Madrid, a joint effort between Toyota Spain, Enagás utility board, Urbaser, Carburos Metálicos, Sumitomo Corporation Spain and the Spanish Confederation of Service Station Owners (CEEES).

It is capable of refuelling up to 12 Toyota Mirai hydrogen cars all at once, with each vehicle taking under five minutes to fully charge – a huge advantage over electric cars, which can take 30 minutes to an hour.

Once refuelled, the Toyota Mirai can be driven for 550 kilometres on average at 155cv without needing a top-up.

The charging station would be suitable for other hydrogen-powered cars, but at present, the Toyota Mirai accounts for six of last year's seven newly-manufactured and purchased vehicles of this type – the only other to have been sold was a Hyundai Nexo, and so far, these are the only two hydrogen models on forecourts in Spain.

For all the above reasons, only 6% of drivers surveyed would consider buying a hydrogen car – lack of charging points and the fact that they remain a very expensive option to purchase, even if not to run, are the most off-putting factors.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

Gaining a foothold on the Forbes list usually means being a billionaire, although another method is becoming one of the most influential Spaniards of the year.

And for 2020, it seems this alone was not enough: You also have to be female.

For the first time ever, Forbes' 'Most Influential Spaniards of the Year' ranking is made up entirely of women – possibly in an attempt to redress the gender balance, given that on both the annual 'rich' and 'influential' lists, men tend to outnumber women quite significantly, or possibly because, in the compilers' view, the 25 names featured really were last year's most 'influential' Spaniards, and the single-gender nature of it was purely accidental.

Queen Letizia sits at number one – the rest are made up of eight politicians, six top-ranking company managers, five journalists, two gallery owners, a singer, a scientist and an activist.

The definition of 'influential' covers a multitude of sins, or virtues: Being a major icon in their field, significant achievements, or simply being one of most talked-about and read-about household names.

HRH Letizia ticks all these boxes; as a journalist and TV news reporter, she covered major events worldwide and, after her master's degree, spent several years working in Guadalajara, México, where she started – although did not finish – a PhD, and was already a familiar face on the late-evening TVE news before her engagement to the then Prince Felipe of Asturias was announced.

Since Princess Letizia became Queen Consort in 2014, she has been actively involved in charity patronage and representation, especially raising the profile of women and all manner of diversity, and promoting fashion and the arts – and bringing up two daughters, Leonor, now 15 and Sofía, who will be 14 in May.

Completing the podium are Ana Patricia Botín, chief executive officer of Banco Santander and described by Forbes as 'one of the most powerful and best-known women on the planet', and Madrid regional government president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of the right-wing PP party, who is defined as 'one of the most-mentioned persons in political speeches'.

Other politicians

Forbes women in the political arena cover all party colours: Deputy president of the national government, Carmen Calvo, from the centre-left socialist (PSOE), minister for work and pensions Yolanda Díaz, from the leftist Podemos – which governs in coalition with the PSOE, national leader of centre-right party Ciudadanos, Inés Arrimadas, who took over from its creator Albert Rivera when he married prolific pop artist and The Voice coach Malú, State prosecutor Dolores Delgado, an expert in fundamentalist terrorism and partner of one-time human rights judge Baltasar Garzón, Secretary of State for digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence, Carme Artigas, and also two city mayors.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

AFTER suffering early-morning temperatures close to freezing in the first week or so of this month, Costa Blanca weather has gone completely to the opposite extreme: The mercury reached a peak yesterday (Friday) in the city of Alicante not seen in 163 years.

It beat the temperature recorded 39 years ago – in 1982 – on January 7 which, at 29.2ºC, joined this Thursday (January 28) as the second-warmest day in the first month of the year in history.

Soaring to 29.8ºC, yesterday's figure made it the hottest January day since records in the metropolitan area began being taken in the year 1858.

Faculty head of the Climatology Laboratory at Alicante University Jorge Olcina – who is also chairman of the Spanish Geographers' Association – said Friday broke all records for the city for January.

Prior to the 1982 figure – which set a record unbroken until now – the hottest January days in Alicante had not even happened in the last century, and even then, were several degrees lower.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com