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 …
Read More »Three Spanish tourists die in Swiss canyoning accident, fourth missing
Three Spanish tourists have died and a fourth is missing after canyoning in a river gorge in northern Switzerland. The four men, who have not been identified, went missing in the Parlitobel Gorge in the canton of St. Gallen just before 1700 GMT on Wednesday. The accident was reminiscent of …
Read More »Surge in Spain’s virus cases prompts regional smoking ban, field hospital
Coronavirus cases in Spain jumped by nearly 1,700 on Wednesday, part of a surge that has prompted the construction of a military field hospital in the hard-hit Aragon region and led authorities in Galicia to practically ban smoking in public places. Health ministry data showed 1,690 new coronavirus cases were …
Read More »Protesters in Spain call for end to monarchical rule
Protesters in Spain have called for an end to monarchical rule in the country, following the departure of former king Juan Carlos into exile this week in the middle of a corruption scandal. A group of 100 protesters rallied in the Spanish capital, Madrid, on Sunday, calling for regime change. …
Read More »Two men arrested after face mask brawl on Ibiza flight (Video)
A fight broke out onboard a KLM flight to Ibiza after two passengers refused to wear face masks. Video footage appeared to show British holidaymakers were involved in the brawl after the Boeing 737 took off from Amsterdam on Friday. KLM said both men were restrained with the help of …
Read More »Italian cities put on alert and Spain sees record temperatures as heatwave grips Europe
A fire destroyed a vast area of a forest in France and people in Britain filled beaches on the hottest day of the year so far. More than a dozen Italian cities were put on alert and Spain experienced record temperatures as heatwaves gripped Europe last week. A fire destroyed …
Read More »UK Prime Minister warns of Europe ‘second wave’ amid Spain row
Boris Johnson has warned there are signs of a “second wave” of coronavirus in Europe, as he defended a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain. The PM said the government had to be “swift” – and it would continue to take further action “where it is necessary”. It comes after …
Read More »UK keeps eye on France, Germany after slapping coronavirus quarantine on Spain
Britain is closely watching rises in coronavirus cases in other European destinations such as France and Germany after slapping a 14-day quarantine on travellers from Spain at the height of the summer vacation season. The imposition of a British quarantine on Spain is one of the starkest indications to date …
Read More »Spain’s Catalonia to take stricter measures if coronavirus situation does not improve
Spain’s Catalonia may take stricter measures to limit coronavirus contagion if situation does not improve in the next 10 days, regional leader Quim Torra said on Monday. Torra warned that in many parts of Catalonia the data was similar to the situation before Spain declared a national lockdown in March. …
Read More »Spain is safe, minister insists as British quarantine move sows dismay
Spain is safe for tourists and Spaniards, the government insisted on Sunday after Britain abruptly imposed a two-week coronavirus quarantine on travelers returning from there, a decision that filled holidaymakers with dismay. Last year, Britons made up over a fifth of foreign visitors to Spain, which relies heavily on tourism …
Read More »Spain pays tribute to victims and workers who put their lives at risk during the worst of the pandemic
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 …
Read More »Catalan leader demands investigation into Spain spying claim
The speaker of the Catalan regional parliament demanded Tuesday that the Spanish government launch an official investigation into reports that his cellphone was the target of espionage, allegedly by Spanish security services. Roger Torrent, a leading supporter of Catalonia’s efforts to break away from Spain and become an independent country, …
Read More »Coronavirus is NOT CHINESE, says famed British epidemiologist
One of the world’s leading epidemiologists thinks the coronavirus may not actually have originated in China, with samples of Covid-19 surfacing from Spain in early 2019. The coronavirus story keeps getting stranger… Dr. Tom Jefferson is a British epidemiologist working for the Cochrane Collaboration’s acute respiratory infections group. He also …
Read More »Herd immunity is ‘unachievable’, says Spanish study
A nationwide antibody study in Spain has found that only 5.2 percent of the country’s population has been exposed to coronavirus, suggesting that herd immunity could be unachievable. The findings marked the conclusion of a three-month study into the prevalence of the virus, which involved testing almost 70,000 people across …
Read More »Coronavirus: Spain imposes local lockdown in Galicia
Officials in Spain’s north-western region of Galicia have re-imposed restrictions on an area of 70,000 people following a Covid-19 outbreak. Only those traveling for work will be allowed to leave or enter the coastal district of A Marina from midnight on Sunday to Friday. The move comes a day after …
Read More »Man shot during Albuquerque protest over Juan de Onate statue, police say
A man was shot in New Mexico’s largest city on Monday night as protesters tried to take down a bronze statue of a Spanish conquistador, authorities said. The victim was transported to a local hospital where he was listed in critical but stable condition late Monday, according to the Albuquerque …
Read More »Spain to open borders to EU Schengen countries on June 21: reports
Spain will open its borders to countries in the European Union’s Schengen area on June 21, except for Portugal where the border will open on July 1 as previously announced, Spanish media including El Pais newspaper and Ser radio station reported. The Spanish government had previously said it would allow …
Read More »Lionel Messi chases 11th La Liga title as Spanish football resumes
“Our duty was to come back prepared for this moment. It was tough, but we’ve made it.” That is how La Liga president Javier Tebas describes the return of the top division of Spanish soccer. Spain has recorded a total of over 240,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including over 27,000 …
Read More »Spain to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan
The Spanish authorities decided to close one of their military bases in Iraq and withdraw their troops from Afghanistan, El Pais reported. Troops serving at the Bismayah training camp in Iraq are expected to return to Spain by the end of July. Currently, there are 350 Spanish troops at this …
Read More »Spain reports no virus deaths for first time since March
Spain said Monday it’s reporting no deaths in a 24-hour period from the new coronavirus for the first time since March. Emergency health response chief Fernando Simón said the development is “very, very encouraging.” He told a news conference there was only 71 new infection over the past 24 hours. …
Read More »