Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Nov 12

CLICK HERE FOR THE FEATURE ARTICLES "Spanish truckers go on strike again this Monday" and "Iberia warns of Black Friday WhatsApp scam"

Plenty of controversy in the runup to Black Friday this year. While we’re still two weeks away from that Marmite-style, love-it-or-hate-it consumerist holiday, the HGV drivers and trucking unions of Spain are already using it as a bargaining chip in their negotiations with the government to secure better working conditions. “Hold on,” I hear you shout, “didn’t this already happen about eight months ago?” Yep, but it looks like the government isn’t keeping the promises it made then, and so the freight and transport workers are going on an indefinite strike again from Monday, supposedly threatening the supply chain for Christmas and Black Friday shopping.

Spanish airline Iberia, meanwhile, is having to convince people that they’re not giving away free flights, and if you receive a message saying so on WhatsApp IT’S A SCAM. Read on to find out more.

But first, a moment’s silence…

Poppy Day

It’s Remembrance weekend, when we take time to stop and remember those who have died in wars, and the Royal British Legion (RBL) sells paper and plastic poppies (which are made by disabled former British military personnel) to raise money for injured ex-servicemen and their families.

In Spain, Remembrance Day is generally not observed as an event that is on the cultural radar of many people. Spanish do not respect a minute’s silence at 11am on November 11, and they don’t wear poppies. This is mainly because observing Armistice Day, or Poppy Day, is largely a British Commonwealth tradition. Spain was a neutral country during World War I, which is where Armistice Day originated, and in World War II Spain was too poor and broken after its Civil War to join in, even though their victorious fascist dictator General Francisco Franco was firmly on the side of the Nazis and received plenty of bomber planes and help from Hitler himself.

For their part, the Spanish are still trying to come to terms with the terrible and murderous consequences of the Civil War even after almost 90 years have passed. The recently passed ‘Law of Historical-Democratic Memory’ in Spain is trying to set up a Día de Recuerdo y Homenaje (Day of Remembrance and Homage) on October 31 each year to remember the victims of Spain’s Civil War and dictatorship. The first year of this Spanish Remembrance Day was this year, but to be honest it hasn’t yet caught on as a national tradition like Poppy Day has in the UK.

The ones who have commemorated Armistice Day in Spain this year are the RBL, selling poppies to raise money and organising wreath-laying events in areas with large expat communities like Torrevieja, Benidorm, the Costa del Sol and, notably, at the dedicated Memorial Garden on the Camposol urbanisation in the Region of Murcia. The money raised by the RBL in Spain goes towards helping ex-servicemen and -women in the country itself.

We will remember them.

Strike out

As industrial unrest amid a cost-of-living and energy crisis continues in Spain, Black Friday and even Christmas shopping plans could be thrown into disarray after transport workers called a new indefinite strike starting Monday November 14.

The work stoppages and slowdowns are aimed at disrupting the business of haulage in the country until the demands of transport workers, including HGV and freight truck drivers, are met for agreed-upon working conditions to be respected.

The last time truckers went on strike in Spain was in March, and back then it led to shortages of food and supplies in supermarkets and stores, and panic-buying of certain items. This time, it is feared that Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Nov 12

the timing of this latest wave of strikes, in the run-up to Black Friday and the Christmas shopping period, could make the effects on consumers even worse.

Hauliers reached a series of agreements with the government after the March strikes: a package of 450 million euros in aid; the limitation of waiting times to one hour, reinforcements in transport inspection and the approval of a law to prevent hauliers from working at a loss.

“The problem has been the lack of seriousness and lack of coordination of the administrations,” say the strike organisers. “The government transport delegate has tried to do things well... but, at the same time, the weapon we had, the decree law that was passed in August not to work below the cost price and limit the commission to shippers, is not being respected.”

As well as truckers, bars, pubs and restaurants in Benidorm, Alicante and elsewhere in Spain this week joined a 15-minute “energy blackout” in protest against the “astronomical” hike in electricity prices.

The demonstration, in which hospitality establishments in popular tourist destinations ceased activity for a quarter of an hour, took place from 7pm on Tuesday November 8, an action called by Spain’s Federation of Hotels and Restaurants.

Over the last six months, establishments have seen their electricity bills skyrocket due to the energy crisis and the escalation of prices. Bills have almost tripled in a sector that is still bearing serious economic consequences from the coronavirus pandemic.

Alex Fratini, spokesman for the restaurant association Abreca, which represents the sector on the Costa Blanca, warned that in Benidorm, “the impact of the electricity bill has been more noticeable than in other places because the maximum price reached so far coincides with the high summer season”.

Specifically, in the so-called 3.0td tariff for businesses, the highest price is applied in July and the average in August. “Together with the higher consumption of the sector in Benidorm, this has resulted in bills of astronomical amounts,” said Fratini, who has experienced this first hand, with a bill of 11,000 euros over summer. “It’s electrical robbery.”

It seems the hike in prices across the board shows no sign of slowing down, and until things get better for the average homeowner and business, we can expect more strikes, disruptions, unrest and anger in Spain and across the world at the inability of our elected leaders to look after our needs properly. Access to electricity, a minimum living wage in accordance with the cost of living and basic necessities should be assured as human rights, so it’s no wonder people are so upset when their livelihoods and their lives are threatened.

Iberia scam warning: free flight hoax

The public are constantly being alerted to online scams as the internet makes it easy for criminals to trick people into giving away their money and personal information. However, it’s not just websites that opens up a world of fraudulent opportunities for scammers, as the number of complaints about bogus prizes and sweepstakes on social chat platforms is also on the rise.

And with Black Friday fast approaching, con artists are attempting to get in on the action in the hope of taking advantage of unsuspecting customers looking to bag a bargain. In the latest nationwide case to hit Spain, Iberia airline was this week forced to shut down claims the firm is giving away 5,000 free flights via WhatsApp.

Iberia’s HQ in Madrid issued a warning claiming that the ‘promotion’ is a hoax, after several users reported receiving a message through this social messaging network which contained a link redirecting people to a fake website which ultimately asked for a sum of money in order to participate in the ‘competition’.

The statement on Twitter read: “In recent days we have detected a high number of alerts regarding fake contests and sweepstakes to fly with Iberia circulating through WhatsApp. They are fraudulent claims.”

Murcia

The residents of Murcia are in for a treat come next Easter, as airline Air Nostrum (which belongs to Iberia) is putting on a series of three flights from Corvera Airport to Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands exclusively for the Semana Santa holiday period. Specifically, the flights will run once a week Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Nov 12

between March 30 and April 13, 2023 with room for 100 passengers on each flight – and they absolutely will NOT be free!

While we haven’t even got to Christmas yet, if you’re thinking about your Easter holidays already and fancy a trip to Mallorca from Murcia, you can be one of the lucky 300 people who get to book a flight on one of these trips. If you miss out, though, it’s not you’re only option as Air Nostrum will actually be competing with Ryanair, who are running flights on the same route during that period.

As well as this Palma de Mallorca-Murcia flight, Iberia is adding 9 new flight connections within Spain between February and May 2023, including flights from Almeria, Malaga and Barcelona, among others.

Back home on the range, and focusing on the present, those living in and who own holiday homes on the popular Condado de Alhama Golf Resort will have to start paying an extra tax, which the Town Council is starting to collect now, for the collection of their rubbish.

Up until six months ago, the rubbish collection service on the Condado urbanisation was run by the Community of Owners, and they were the ones who bore the costs, from the money paid to them by local homeowners. As of July, though, the Ayuntamiento took over the garbage collection service, and now it’s time to pay up.

The tax is due on the service for the period from July 19 to December 31, 2022, and from now on will need to be paid every year for the next 10 years, which is the length of time the waste contract has been signed for. Essentially it amounts to around 59 euros per year, and so just under 30 euros are due for the last six months.

The sticking point for residents and homeowners comes, however, in the fact that many of them weren’t aware or hadn’t been properly informed of the change, and believe they will be paying twice over for the same service – once to the Council and once in their Community fees. However, the truth is that the corresponding Community fees for this will no longer have to be paid, but the new amount is actually more expensive than what they were paying before… and they will still have to pay even if the properties are not being used, for example if they are holiday homes that only get used for a few months each year, and so there is in fact no rubbish to clear.

Lastly, if you’re looking for something to do this weekend, and for the next week, you could do worse than get down to the annual Fiestas del Milagro de Bolnuevo in Mazarrón, which start on Friday November 11 and run until the following Sunday, November 20, including an unmissable Tapas Route during the whole festival.

Also, check out the Medieval Market in Cartagena this weekend, November 11-13. Plenty of artisan stalls, folk music and more good food and drink!

For more fun activities like this going on in Murcia soon, check out our EVENTS DIARY:

Spain

As though things weren’t tight enough in the run up to both Black Friday and Christmas, CaixaBank and former Bankia customers in Spain have been hit with new charges for ATM withdrawals.

Price hikes are currently commonplace, from basic household necessities to fuel and energy costs, and now it appears customers with one of Spain’s largest banks will have to pay to withdraw their own cash at certain ATMs.

CaixaBank has announced a restructuring of various operations and procedures, including a fee for cashpoint transactions. This is due to the fact that, some years ago, Bankia reached an agreement with banks such as ING, Banco Sabadell and the Euro 6000 network that allowed its customers to withdraw money without paying commission at any of its ATMs.

After Bankia's merger with CaixaBank last year, a further agreement was reached with the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) to extend this condition for a specific period. In bad news for hundreds of thousands of customers, the agreement with Banco Sabadell and Euro 6000 expired on October 16, so CaixaBank customers now have to pay fees when using the ATMs of these two banks. For its part, ING will keep the agreement until January 31 2023 – after that date a fee will be imposed.

And in a legal first in Spain, a racist police officer became the first person in the country to be convicted of spreading fake news. The Guardia Civil officer has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for posting false footage about Moroccan migrants on social media.

The defendant published a 45-second video showing a brutal attack on a woman, with a man kicking and punching her until she is unconscious. He tries to pull down her pants before the clip ends. Alongside the video, which was tweeted in 2019 and viewed almost 22,000 times, the officer wrote: “Here you have a video of the Moroccan MENA (a derogatory name for underage migrants) in Canet de Mar. These are the kind of people that we are paying until they are 23 years old… to make matters worse, the rape, these delinquents, and herds of Moroccans will not be shown in the media.”

Although the video was real, the attack actually took place in China, not Barcelona. A Barcelona court found that the police officer was well aware that he was lying about the content and context of the video clip and determined that he shared it to “unfairly defame unaccompanied foreign minors” by linking them to violence and sexual assault.

Alicante

In a welcome boost to local businesses in Benidorm, the coastal resort is bracing itself for its biggest and best yet Benidorm Fancy Dress party. On November 17, more than 30,000 people are expected to take to the streets of Rincon de Loix in all their colourful splendour for the mammoth event’s 25th anniversary following a two-year hiatus due to Covid.

The event was “created from nothing”, explained organiser and pioneer of Benidorm Fancy Dress Party, businessman Manuel Nieto, and in a very short time “it evolved by itself, with the involvement of more and more people”.

“Every year the number of activities increases, such as parades, the distribution of T-shirts, more decorations, giant paellas, and barbecues, etc. Benidorm has become a reference in terms of costume parties for British tourism, around 9,000 people who come to the town exclusively for this event,” added Nieto.

Assuring that “the number of officers will be proportionate and adequate to the number of people who will congregate in the streets”, the Councillor for Public Safety, Lorenzo Martínez, said 50 additional National and Local police will be drafted in to control the crowds and warned there will be road closures and traffic diversions during the party which will be made public in advance.

The actual fancy dress parade is expected to start at 4pm, although this has still to be officially confirmed, with up to 18 floats, music and shows.

Meanwhile, in a bid to recover 90% of pre-Covid UK tourists, Costa Blanca tourism representatives, along with the President of Alicante Provincial Council, were in London earlier this week attending the World Travel Market to meet with the Spanish Ambassador to the UK and top industry experts from around the world from different sectors in travel.

Andalucía

We start with sad news from Andalucía this week after it emerged that an 80-year-old British expat living in Benalmádena on the Costa del Sol had murdered his 69-year-old wife, also British, by stabbing her more than 20 times.

It turns out the man, who lived with his wife in a flat on Avenida Antonio Machado in the well-known Los Maites urbanisation, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the beginning of this year, and had already been arrested three times over the last few months for incidents of domestic violence. Each time, the woman had called the police but had not pressed charges, so nothing further was done. She never requested special protection, neither at the police station nor at the court, and so there was no measure in place to stop the horrible murder from happening.

This time, too, it was she herself who phoned police. But by the time they arrived it was too late. Sufferers of Alzheimer’s can become confused and have dramatic mood swings, seemingly out of nowhere; their personality seems to change and they can sometimes turn aggressive. It’s always worth remembering that, whether in cases of domestic violence or Alzheimer’s disease, there is help available – often in English – from local health centres, police, charity organisations and other specific official departments set up specifically for this reason.

>>> Click here to see the domestic abuse and elderly helpline numbers in Spain <<<

In other news, justice has been served after a British fugitive extradited from Spain was charged with murder. 31-year-old David Ungi, also known by the aliases David Riccio and Junior, was on the Spanish National Crime Agency’s most wanted fugitives list after fleeing the UK following the killing of teen Vincent Waddington.

18-year-old Waddington was shot at through a car window and rammed off a motorbike in the Garston area of Liverpool in July 2015. Ungi went on the run to the Costa del Sol and was finally nabbed by Spanish police entering a gym in the Malaga town of Coín on the Costa del Sol with two pals on May 5.

Following his arrest, during which police seized several firearms and 15 kilos of cocaine from the house the group shared, the British Crime Agency described Ungi as a “very dangerous person,” adding that his capture was “very good news for communities both in Liverpool and Spain.”

Apart from crime, though, mostly the Costa del Sol is known for its reputation as a laidback, affordable and sunny tourist destination. Many people choose Malaga city, with its plethora of bars, restaurants and cultural activities, as the location to hold their stag do or hen party with a few drinks and some dancing.

But now Malaga locals are getting fed up of seeing rowdy groups of bachelor and bachelorette parties, whether from Spain, the UK or elsewhere, tottering down the street wearing nothing but underwear (if that!), carrying blow-up sex dolls or wearing inflatable penis costumes.

That’s why the City Council is looking to amend its civic ordinance to expressly forbid people, in the actual words of the legal amendment, “to walk or remain in the streets or in public spaces without clothes or only in underwear, with clothes or accessories that represent human genitals or with dolls or elements of a sexual nature.”

Anyone who ignores a warning from police and doesn’t deflate their giant penis in time could be slapped with a fine. So watch out where you’re pointing that thing!

You may have missed…

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Spain demands that EU scrap 90 days in 180 rule for British tourists.
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The rice fields of Calasparra, a unique day out in the Region of Murcia.
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This is the Spanish village you can buy for the price of a house!
The quaint town of Salto de Castro in north-west Spain could be yours for the very reasonable price of just 260,000 euros.

So that’s it for another week! Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next week.

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