Author: OnlyBob

Gibraltar Navy Spat
Authorities in Madrid and Gibraltar gave differing versions yesterday of an incident in which a Spanish warship told commercial ships to leave anchorages near Gibraltar, the latest example of tension over the strategic port as Brexit approaches.
In toughly worded statements, Gibraltar said a Spanish warship ordered commercial ships to leave anchorages in British waters near Gibraltar, adding it was challenged by the British navy and sailed away, while the commercial ships stayed put.
The Spanish government said the commercial ships were in Spanish waters and they left the area after being contacted by the Spanish warship.… Read all the news

Nautical Drug Bust
Authorities seized more than three tonnes of cocaine and arrested 11 people off Portugal’s Atlantic coast, dismantling a drug smuggling gang that operated across international waters from a cargo vessel, police said on Friday.
The seizure of the 3.3 tonnes of cocaine – thought to be worth around $148 million at European street prices – took place at sea when security forces boarded the smuggling ship 150 nautical miles off the coast.
The investigation into the gang, which started in 2017, was led by Spanish authorities.… Read all the news

Snap General Election
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a snap general election this morning .. to be held on April 28, potentially spelling months of uncertainty in the euro zone’s fourth-largest economy.
Sanchez called the election after parliament voted down his minority government’s budget bill.
The demise of his Socialist government comes after just over eight months in office.
Opinion polls show that no single party would win enough votes to govern on its own, with possible coalition scenarios pointing to lengthy negotiations between three or more parties – potentially including the far-right Vox.… Read all the news

Catalan Separatist Trial
The lead defendant in the trial of 12 Catalan separatist leaders, former regional vice president Oriol Junqueras, refused to answer prosecutors’ questions in court yesterday.
“I am being persecuted for my ideas and not for my actions… I will not answer questions from the accusers,” he said as he took the stand in the Supreme Court in Madrid for the first time.
Junqueras faces 25 years behind bars if he is convicted of rebellion and misuse of public funds for pushing an independence referendum in October 2017 in defiance of a court ban.… Read all the news

Borehole Death Trial
The judge investigating the death of two-year-old Julen Roselló, who fell to his death down a 110-meter borehole near Málaga, has formally named the owner of the rural property where the toddler fell as a suspect.
This comes a day after prosecutors in Málaga asked for David Serrano to be investigated for involuntary manslaughter. Serrano’s defense lawyer confirmed his client had been formally named as a suspect.
This development means that the public prosecution has ruled out, for now, the possibility that other people were criminally responsible for Julen’s death.… Read all the news

Budget and General Election
Spain’s Socialist government is widely expected to call a snap general election after failing to get its budget through parliament.
Catalan separatists rejected Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s bill after the government refused to discuss the region’s right to self-determination.
They voted with the conservatives, despite their different agendas.
Mr Sánchez, in power since June, will announce a date for the vote after a cabinet meeting tomorrow.
The government’s budget was rejected by 191 members out of the 350-seat parliament, with votes from the People’s Party and Ciudadanos as well as Catalan separatists.… Read all the news

Drug Bust
Police arrested 29 people between Cadiz and the Costa del Sol in a massive drug bust yesterday.
Over 500 Guardia Civil officers from across the country were involved in an operation that resulted in 36 different property searches.
Most police activity focused on La Linea, where police arrested several people linked to the Castañitas drug gang who dominate the city.
The infamous gang are thought to control 70% of the hash that makes its way across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco.… Read all the news

Early Elections
The government expects to lose a key budget vote today and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez plans to announce an early general election soon after so government sources said yesterday.
The sources said the snap election date had not been set yet, but added that April 14 was the most likely date, followed by April 28, because Sanchez wanted a ballot as soon as possible to mobilise left-leaning voters against the threat of the right coming to power.
The budget vote depends largely on pro-independence Catalan parties, who have so far said they would oppose it.… Read all the news

Trial Protests
Protesters blocked highways in Catalonia this morning as the trial of separatist leaders gets underway in the Supreme Court in Madrid.
The protests, which have also led authorities to close off some main roads in Barcelona, were timed with the start of arguably Spain’s most consequential trial in four decades of democracy.
Twelve defendants are being tried for their roles in pushing ahead with a unilateral independence declaration based on the results of a referendum that ignored a constitutional ban.… Read all the news

Early Elections
If Spain’s parliament rejects the 2019 budget proposal, the current minority Socialist government due to run till 2020, would be cut short .. so the party’s Deputy Secretary General Adriana Lastra said yesterday.
It is up to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to take the final decision on whether to call an early election, Lastra said during a conference in Madrid.The budget vote is due tomorrow.

Catalan Separatists
Spain is bracing for the nation’s most sensitive trial in four decades of democracy this week, with a dozen Catalan separatists facing charges including rebellion over a failed secession bid in 2017.… Read all the news