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Remains of 451 people believed to lie on proposed site of Madrid waste plant – including Bloomsbury poet Julian BellThe children of Montecarmelo are in fine and raucous voice as they pour into the playgrounds that flank the quiet alleys of the Fuencarral municipal cemetery.Equally voluble, if less joyous, are the banners and posters that hang from the balconies, walls and railings of this...

Rights of lone minors were not protected, with some deported and others left homeless for monthsSpain, Greece and Hungary have been rebuked by courts for failing to protect the rights of children.It adds to a string of recent rulings that have reprimanded countries across Europe over the treatment of lone minors who are seeking asylum. Continue reading...

Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a former vice-president of the European parliament and co-founder of Spain’s Vox party, was shot in the head in Madrid last yearColombian police say they have arrested a Venezuelan suspected of involvement in the alleged attempted assassination in Madrid last year of a co-founder of Spain’s far-right Vox party.Greg Oliver Higuera Marcano was wanted in connection with last year’s shooting of Alejo...

Rules reintroduced as ‘commonsense measure’ despite opposition from some regional administrationsFace masks will be mandatory in hospitals and health centres in Spain from Wednesday as the country experiences a surge in cases of flu, Covid and other respiratory illnesses.The government decision, which was made six months after the use of masks ceased to be obligatory in health facilities and pharmacies, has been met with...

After being elected to Valencia’s regional assembly, Galcerán says she wants to be seen as a person, not for her disabilityFor decades she battled to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities were part of the conversation. The extent of the progress she had made, however, was laid bare recently when Mar Galcerán became Spain’s first parliamentarian with Down’s syndrome.“It’s unprecedented,” the 45-year-old told the...

City council hired firm to produce personalised messages as part of traditional 6 January festivitiesMadrid city council is investigating after video messages featuring a white man wearing blackface and speaking halting and heavily accented Spanish were sent to children as part of the traditional 6 January festivities that celebrate the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus.The feast of the Epiphany...

Exclusive: Evidence found by Hannah Durkin includes ships landing in Cuba in 1872, and people held in Benin in 1873Historians have generally assumed that the transatlantic slave trade ended in 1867, but it actually continued into the following decade, according to new research.Dr Hannah Durkin, an historian and former Newcastle University lecturer, has unearthed evidence that two slave ships landed in Cuba in 1872....

But critics say the raising of the San José, sunk in battle with British ships in 1708, might damage the country’s cultural heritageThe Colombian government has announced that it will attempt to raise objects from the 1708 shipwreck of the galleon San José, which is believed to contain a cargo worth billions of dollars.The 300-year-old wreck, often called the “holy grail of shipwrecks”, has...