WED AM May 29

Football Match Fixing
A match-fixing scandal has hit Spanish football with Valencia’s final day win at Real Valladolid among the games under suspicion.
The news came yesterday as 11 people were arrested for alleged match fixing including the president of Huesca football club.
The other names include former Spain and Real Madrid player Raul Bravo and Borja Fernandez, who’s now retired from football.
Carlos Aranda, a Real Madrid youth product who played for several top flight clubs and Íñigo López Montaña, a player of Deportivo de La Coruña and formerly of Huesca were also among the detainees.… Read all the news

FRI AM MAY 10

Job Cuts
The Spanish arm of Japanese carmaker Nissan has reached an agreement with unions to cut 600 jobs at its plant in Barcelona, or almost 20 percent of the workforce.
The layoffs, a mixture of voluntary redundancies and early retirements over the next year, were a condition for a planned investment of 70 million euros in a new painting facility.
Nissan, which has five plants and employs around 5,000 people in Spain, reached the agreement after more than a month of negotiations with unions.… Read all the news

WED AM MAY 08

Catalonia
Catalonia’s former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont yesterday urged caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to be open to dialogue with the independence movement but declined to say if his party would back him in parliament.
The Regions bid to break away from Spain was at the heart of the election, which Sanchez’s Socialists won but without enough seats to have a majority on their own.
Puigdemont is still his party’s leading figure. Although he did not stand in the parliamentary election last month, he will run in the upcoming EU vote though.… Read all the news

Tue PM May 07

Political Co-operation
Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and opposition leader Pablo Casado of the PP have agreed to open up a permanent communication channel on Catalonia.
Such an initiative would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago,but the PP has performed a U- turn following its resounding defeat in the Elections.
Casado, who until recently had described Sánchez as a “traitor,” a “squatter” and “a stand-in,” has now adopted a completely different tone.
Yesterday both men made a commitment to keep discussing the Catalan crisis.… Read all the news

Tue AM May 07

Catalan Separatists
Former Catalan premier Carles Puigdemont may run in European elections on May 26.
Three Madrid courts yesterday said that he and two other ex- regional officials who fled Spain Toni Comín and Clara Ponsatí – may participate as candidates in the European Parliament election with the Lliures per Europa coalition.
The decisions contradict the Central Electoral Commission, which had banned all three from running on the basis that, having fled Spain, they were technically living abroad yet not properly registered as Spaniards residing in another country.… Read all the news

Mon PM May 06

Catalan Separatists
Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that exiled former Catalan leaders should be able to run in the European election, but left the final decision to a lower court.
The court said there are “no reasons for ineligibility,” but told Madrid judges to make a final decision because it is within their competency to do so.
Former Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont and two others had appealed a decision by the Central Election Commission to exclude them from participating in this month’s European Parliament election because they do not reside in Spain.… Read all the news

Mon AM May 06

European Elections
Spain’s Supreme Court will decide whether Carles Puigdemont and two other Catalan separatists who fled abroad to escape arrest will be able to run in next month’s European Parliament elections.
A court on Saturday ruled to send to the Supreme Court an appeal filed by Puigdemont’s party against the decision by Spain’s Electoral Board to prohibit the three from running in the May 26 race to fill Spain’s allotted seats at the parliament in Strasbourg.
All three fled to avoid arrest for their part in Catalonia’s failed secession attempt in 2017.… Read all the news

FRI PM MAR 22

Brexit Protest
A huge march on Westminster to demand a People’s Vote on Brexit will take place in London tomorrow. And at the same time, people will also be gathering in central Madrid.
In London hundreds of thousands are expected to take to the streets to demand that the public is given a final say on any Brexit deal.
The “Put It To The People March” will begin at noon on Park Lane and then onto Parliament Square.
But for those who can’t make it a demonstration will be held in central Madrid to show the strength of feeling against Brexit among those that live here.… Read all the news

FRI AM MAR 22

On Line TV Bust
Police raids across Europe have broken up a sophisticated operation that pirated and resold net- based TV channels.
Five people have been arrested and dozens of servers shut down as a result of raids in Spain, Denmark and the UK.
The IPTV services run by the gang offered customers more than 800 channels including sports and movies.
The raids come as three British men were jailed for pirating footage of top football matches.
Europol said the raids marked its “biggest hit” against pirated IPTV services.… Read all the news

THU PM MAR 21

Brexit Cost
A HARD Brexit would wipe €9 billion off the Spanish economy and slash more than 100,000 jobs, according to a report which highlights the full impact of the UK and the EU failing to reach a deal.
In a document from the Bank of Spain titled ‘Brexit: Balance and Perspective’, the Spanish central bank warned the country’s economy would suffer hardest in the first few years following a no-deal Brexit. The Spanish economy would shrink by 0.8 percent.
Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos said the report suggested the costs on the country’s economy from a no-deal Brexit “could be significant, depending on the final scenario.… Read all the news