Displaying items by tag: Spain

European countries temporarily halted arms exports to Turkey after its military incursion into Syria. But Europe’s other arms trading partner, Saudi Arabia, has caused deaths or injuries of 18,000 in Yemen, where 24.1 million need humanitarian assistance. Despite these figures, EU countries still have arms deals with the Saudis. The UK only halted arms exports in June after exports licences were found to be unlawful. Saudi Arabia was France's second-biggest weapons client last year: over €1 billion worth, including armoured vehicles used in or near Yemen. Only Spain suspended arms exports to Saudi Arabia, citing ‘use of this type of armament against a civilian population’. Why would EU countries halt arms to Turkey due to conflict, but not to Saudi Arabia for the same reasons? There could be several reasons, but two stand out - business and alliances.

On 10 November Spain will have its fourth general election in four years. The Socialists received the most votes in April’s election, with Catalan separatist parties increasing their number of MPs. Since then, the supreme court has sentenced nine pro-independence politicians and civic leaders to a total of 100 years in prison. These sentences brought thousands of Catalonians onto the streets of many cities, and further violent clashes by far-right counter-protesters. Petrol bombs, blazing barricades, and vandalised buildings are new for Catalan’s pacifist independence movement, but the graffiti on a Barcelona wall read, ‘You have shown us that being peaceful is useless’. Hundreds have been injured in confrontations with security forces. The latest event was a ‘clean protest’ when protesters put detergent in a fountain, as a message to ‘clean up the mess from Spain’. One protester said demonstrations would continue until all the political prisoners were freed. See

Catalonia is a semi-autonomous region in north-east Spain whose history dates back almost a thousand years. The wealthy region has 7.5 million people, with their own language, parliament, flag, anthem, and police force. It also controls some of its own public services. Catalan nationalists have long complained that their region sends too much money to poorer parts of Spain, as taxes are controlled by Madrid. Last October about 90% of Catalan voters backed independence, in a turnout of 43%. Recently Spanish police arrested 9 Catalan independence activists in Barcelona. They face charges of rebellion, terrorism and possession of explosives used in bomb-making. They are associated with the Committees for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), a network of radical groups that advocates direct action to secure independence from Spain. CDR has previously blocked major roads and railway lines. Police believe the activists plan to carry out sabotage and violent attacks on the anniversary of the referendum on independence.

It smells of mud and damp. Mattresses, household appliances, chairs and broken tables are tossed outside on almost every street hit by last week’s worst storm in 140 years. Residents in Orihuela, one of many towns isolated by floods, couldn’t leave their homes for four days, fearing currents would drag them away. ‘We lost the car from the garage. We had food in the freezer, but people needed it and the emergency military unit took it.’ Pray for the areas still completely flooded and without electricity or water. Pray for the 3,500 who were evacuated, now returning to overwhelming destruction. €75 million was released to repair roads, bridges, homes, farms, schools, hospitals, health centres and businesses. ‘We cannot remove their suffering, but we can help them recover’, said regional president Juanma Moreno.

On 27 June, amid a Europe-wide heatwave, a forest fire in Catalonia raged out of control, despite the efforts of hundreds of firefighters working through the night. It broke out on 26 June, and had destroyed over 10,000 acres by the next morning. Already thirty people have been evacuated from farmhouses, and the regional government warned that it could eventually devour 50,000 acres. It may have been caused by manure in a farm generating enough heat to explode and produce sparks. Much of Europe is gripped in a record-breaking heatwave that could send thermometers above 40 C (104 F).

The Socialists won the recent Spanish election, but far-right party Vox will enter parliament for the first time. Vox opposes multiculturalism, migration, and feminism. Italy's deputy PM from the right-wing League party congratulated ‘our friends in Vox for joining the parliament in Spain’. Its views on immigration and Islam place it in line with far-right and populist parties elsewhere in Europe. With European elections only weeks away, nationalist and far-right parties across Europe are sensing an opportunity for a rise in European nationalism. Italy’s anti-establishment Five Star Movement has common cause with Germany's main opposition party, AfD, the Finns Party, the Danish People's Party (who seize migrants’ property to pay bills), Austria's Freedom Party, France's National Rally, Sweden’s anti-immigration party, and several others, including Nigel Farage’s Brexit party. See

In a bitter row over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, Spain has threatened to block visa-free access to the EU for Britons. Madrid refuses to back down on a controversial description of Gibraltar. Spain has made numerous attempts to use Brexit in its efforts to snatch back sovereignty of the Rock from Britain. Prime minister Pedro Sanchez faces a general election on 28 April. The British government maintains that Gibraltar is not a colony, and will continue to defend its overseas territory. During a meeting of EU ambassadors earlier this month, Sir Tim Barrow, the UK’s permanent EU representative, battled with his counterparts in protest at the move to brand the Rock a ‘colony’. ‘Gibraltar is not a colony, and it is completely inappropriate to describe it in this way. Gibraltar is a full part of the UK family’, he stated.

Last year an investigation revealed that the ruling elite of Azerbaijan operated a €2.5 billion slush fund and international money-laundering scheme, known as the Azerbaijani Laundromat. Three Spanish politicians (Pedro Agramunt, Agustín Conde Bajén and Jordi Xuclá), delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), are suspected of benefiting from the Laundromat in return for watering down human rights criticism of the country’s repressive authoritarian regime - including vote-rigging in the 2015 election. Later an independent investigation found that Azerbaijan had played a role in Agramunt’s appointment as political party leader and PACE president. He had rigged votes at PACE in favour of Azerbaijan, and removed criticism of its authorities in draft reports on Azerbaijan human rights. These Spanish politicians have faced no criminal penalties, and the Council of Europe admits that not enough has been done.

Prime minister Pedro Sánchez says that Spain will reject the draft Brexit deal unless the status of Gibraltar is clarified. Spain claims the peninsula, ceded to the UK by a 1713 treaty, and wants to ensure that future EU talks with the UK do not cover it. Throughout the Brexit negotiations, Spain - along with Ireland and Cyprus - has conducted separate talks with the UK about specific border issues. On 19 November foreign minister Josep Borrell said that talks on Gibraltar had to be ‘separate negotiations’, and Mr Sánchez followed up by emphasising that any future negotiations should only be bilateral, without involvement by the EU.

Violent storms battered Italy, killing at least 11 people. Venice’s St Mark’s Square was inundated and the adjacent basilica had its baptistry totally flooded and its mosaic floors covered by 35 inches (89 cm) of water. ‘The basilica has aged twenty years in just one day, and perhaps I am being overly optimistic about that,’ said the church’s chief administrator. ‘It is becoming ever more difficult for us, and indeed could become impossible for us to repair the damage, especially in an age of climate change.’ Meanwhile, heavy snow in parts of Spain left two mountain hikers missing, and a tornado ravaged Menorca,leaving 38,000 people without power. See