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Pedro Sánchez halts public duties, hitting out at opponents after court launches inquiry into alleged corruption by Begoña GómezSpain’s socialist prime minister has cancelled his public duties for the rest of the week and said he is considering resigning, blaming a “harassment and bullying operation” by his political and media opponents for a court’s decision to launch an investigation into his wife for alleged...

Surveys suggest EH Bildu’s focus on health, housing and employment is attracting younger votersA leftwing coalition of Basque separatists, partly descended from the political wing of the defunct terrorist group Eta, could become the largest party in the Basque Country’s parliament after an election in the northern Spanish region on Sunday.Latest polls suggest that EH Bildu, which is led by a convicted Eta member...

In Fisterra in north-west Spain, a diet rich in seafood, fruit and vegetables survives, and has been found to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart-related conditionsSeagulls shriek, boats bob and the morning sun silvers the waters off the Coast of Death as two sailors take a break from winding up their conger eel lines to ponder the sudden interest in precisely...

Spanish prosecutors issue two charges against RubialesThree others alleged to have coerced HermosoLuis Rubiales could face a prison sentence of two and a half years if convicted of kissing Jenni Hermoso on the lips against her will, court documents have shown. The former Spanish football federation chief has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one of coercion in the aftermath of...

Brussels vote cancelled after it became clear law would not pass final stage with majority voteThe EU’s nature restoration laws appear on the verge of collapse after eight member states, including Hungary and Italy, withdrew support for the legislation.The laws, which have been two years in the making and are designed to reverse decades of damage to wildlife on land and in waterways, were...

Ex-Barcelona footballer on provisional release from prison term while he appeals against rape convictionThe former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves has been allowed out on bail having served 14 months of a four-and-a-half-year sentence for rape.One of the world’s most decorated footballers, Alves, 40, was found guilty last month of raping a young woman in the VIP bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub in the...

New date for Antoni Gaudí’s basilica announced but enormous, controversial stairway will take another eight yearsBarcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica has a new completion date of 2026, which will come 144 years after the first stone was laid.The president of the organisation tasked with completing Antoni Gaudí’s masterwork announced the date last Wednesday, which coincides with the centenary of the death of the building’s architect....

Families say they were promised details of relatives’ whereabouts after contacting people they thought were linked to NGO in SpainFamilies of people who disappeared on the perilous journey from Africa to Europe have said they were asked to pay hundreds of euros in exchange for information about what had happened to their loved ones.In interviews with the Guardian, three families recounted how, as part...

Gangs steal ‘liquid gold’ amid shortages and surging prices after extreme weather damages harvestsOlive oil has become the most stolen product in supermarkets across Spain, with organised criminal gangs targeting the “liquid gold” to resell on the hidden market, according to new figures.Olive oil is now the most shoplifted product in regions that account for 70% of the country’s population, the Financial Times reports....

Instrument was adapted, translated and corrected by Muslim and Jewish users in Spain, north Africa and ItalyAlmost exactly a year ago, Federica Gigante was preparing a lecture and searching the internet for a portrait of the 17th-century Italian nobleman and collector Ludovico Moscardo when an altogether different image caught her eye.The historian’s gaze soon snagged on a photo of a metal disc with a...

Maksim Kuzminov, who changed sides in secret operation, killed after allegedly moving to Alicante, reports suggestA Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine last year in a secret operation has been found dead in Spain, according to the main military intelligence agency in Kyiv.Reports in Russian and Spanish media on Monday said Maksim Kuzminov was found dead after allegedly moving to the town of...

Victory in regional election strengthens Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s position as Spain’s main opposition leaderSpain’s opposition conservative People’s party retained its absolute majority in Galicia on Sunday in a close-run regional election.The PP won 40 seats in the 75-seat regional assembly, the electoral board said, with more than 98% of votes counted. Continue reading...

Close-run race could see PP ousted and Ana Pontón of BNG installed as area’s first female and nationalist leaderSpain’s opposition conservative party faces the prospect of defeat in its leader’s home region, where it has governed for much of the past four decades, when voters in Galicia go to the polls on Sunday.The People’s party (PP) won an absolute majority four years ago under...

Lawyers see Basir’s case as test of European policies that fail to provide safe routes to sub-Saharan asylum seekers For 25-year-old Basir, it was a ray of hope after fleeing Sudan more than a decade ago. For his lawyers, the asylum request he made from Morocco was the ultimate test of whether Spain – and more broadly the EU – was willing to provide...

Even Though it’s Night, which chronicles the conditions of Europe’s largest shantytown, Cañada Real, in running for a Goya A short film that chronicles the lives of the forgotten, deprived and marginalised children who live in Europe’s largest shantytown, just outside Madrid, is in the running for Spain’s equivalent of an Oscar at the Goya awards on Saturday.Aunque es de noche (Even Though it’s...

More than 7,000 people used route between west Africa and Canary Islands last month, up from 500 in January last yearThe head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, have flown to Mauritania to sign a series of deals on migration and energy, as data reveals there has been a surge in people-smuggling operations to the...

Ex-Barcelona defender is accused of raping a woman in a nightclub in December 2022The former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves has denied raping a young woman at a Barcelona nightclub as he took the stand on the last day of his trial in Spain.“If she wanted to leave, she could have left, she was not obligated to be there,” the 40-year-old told the court...

Public opinion divided over lyrics to Zorra, usually used to mean ‘bitch’, by electropop duo Nebulossa It has been criticised by some as insulting to women, but hailed by the prime minister as provocative – in a good way.Days after Spain selected its entry for this year’s Eurovision song contest, the electropop tune Zorra has rocketed to the top of the country’s music charts...

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...