Tag Archives: Madrid

Thousands of people protested in Madrid Saturday against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftist government in a rally held in a key election year that was backed by far-right party Vox. Participants waved red and yellow Spanish flags and called on Sanchez to resign. Some held up signs with a photo …

Smoke from a huge wildfire in central Portugal enveloped skyscrapers known as the “Four Towers” in Madrid 400 km (250 miles) away on Tuesday, and residents of the Spanish capital complained of a strong burning smell. The fire, which has ravaged Portugal’s Serra da Estrela national park, started on August …

Spain’s government on Tuesday sacked the country’s spy chief as part of a widening scandal over the hacking of the mobile phones of the prime minister and Catalan separatist leaders.

At least 17 people were injured, most of them lightly, in a strong explosion that rocked a four-story building being renovated in central Madrid on Friday, Spanish authorities said, and rescue teams were searching for people potentially trapped inside. Four people were taken to hospital, one in serious condition, Madrid …

Spain’s King Felipe VI disclosed that his wealth is worth about 2.6 million euros ($2.8 million) as the government pushes rules to make the Royal House more transparent and end the opaqueness that prevailed during the reign of his father Juan Carlos. The king’s assets include just under 2.3 million …

Thousands of Spanish police officers marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest against a proposed reform of a security law that they say will hamper their ability to do their work. Politicians from Spain’s three main conservative parties joined police officers in the protest against proposed changes to the 2015 …

Exiled former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has been arrested in Italy on Thursday, his lawyer and an aide say, four years after fleeing following an independence referendum that Madrid ruled unconstitutional. The European MEP was expected to appear in court on Friday at a hearing that could see him extradited …

Thousands of Catalans chanted, sang, and waved flags as they marched through Barcelona on Saturday, calling for the region’s independence from Spain. The march, organized by the grassroots Assemblea Nacional Catalana ANC, was the first since Spain’s government pardoned nine Catalan separatist leaders who had been jailed for their role …

Ten bulls charged through the streets of Villaseca de la Sagra on Sunday in pursuit of hundreds of runners as the first bull-running fiesta was held in Spain since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Villages and towns across Spain hold the fiestas but they were prohibited last year as …

Rebels hold a defiant commemoration in the Spanish capital to say they are ‘still here resisting’. In the summer of 1521, Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes looted and destroyed the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Today, 500 years later, Mexico’s indigenous Zapatistas are holding their own “invasion” of the Spanish …

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez appointed a new foreign minister but retained his economy minister in a cabinet reshuffle on Saturday. Jose Manuel Albares was named foreign minister, while Isabel Rodriguez will become the new government spokesperson and territories minister. Nadia Calvino kept the economy portfolio and was also promoted …

The Spanish government plans to pardon Catalan independence leaders on Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said. Nine politicians and activists were jailed for sedition over the failed 2017 independence bid.

A huge crowd of protesters has assembled in Madrid, decrying government plans to pardon jailed Catalan leaders behind the failed 2017 independence bid, and demanding the resignation of the country’s PM over the move. Some 25,000 people gathered in central Madrid on Sunday, according to estimates by Spain’s National Police. …

Hundreds of people were seen partying in several cities across Spain in the early hours of Sunday, as the country ended its 11 p.m. curfew, which was lifted in 13 of the country’s 17 regions at midnight. The footage was shared of people taking to the beaches of Barcelona and …

Spain’s former King Juan Carlos, who went into exile this month in the face of graft allegations, is in the United Arab Emirates, the royal palace said Monday, ending the mystery over his whereabouts. The 82-year-old, who has long had warm relations with the Gulf monarchies, “traveled to the United …

Chanting “freedom”, hundreds of people rallied Sunday in Madrid to protest against the mandatory use of facemasks and other restrictions imposed by the Spanish government to contain the coronavirus pandemic. A crowd of clapping and cheering people gathered beneath an enormous yellow and red Spanish flag that stands in the …

Spain is paying homage to the nation’s victims of the new coronavirus and workers who put their lives at risk during the worst of the pandemic, with a solemn ceremony in Madrid. Relatives of around 100 people who died during the pandemic, representatives of medical personnel, police, and other essential …

Spain’s government will seek a fresh extension of its state of emergency that will last “about a month” until the transition out of lockdown is completed, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday. “It should be the last state of emergency (period) and will continue until the end of the …

Spanish children have been kept at home since 14 March, under strict measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. Now Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aims to relax the rule on 27 April so they can “get some fresh air”. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who has young children herself, this week …

Soccer matches and other sports events in Spain will take place in empty venues at least until the end of the summer, the mayor of Madrid said Saturday. José Luis Martínez-Almeida told the Onda Cero radio station that the coronavirus pandemic likely “won’t be under control” by then for events …