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.
The campaign group Eurocitizens have organised an event to take place at 12pm in Plaza Margaret Thatcher.
The event is designed to call for the protection of the rights of the five million Europeans in the UK and Britons in the EU and to ask for a second Brexit referendum.

Catalan Elections
After Spain ordered Catalonia to remove pro-independence symbols from public buildings, Catalan president Quim Torra responded yesterday by replacing a banner with a yellow ribbon outside the regional government’s headquarters with another one.
Earlier this month Spain’s election board ordered the Catalan government to remove yellow ribbons and other pro-independence symbols from government buildings ahead of a general election on April 28.
After ignoring two deadlines imposed by the board, the Catalan government finally decided to remove the symbols .. But the yellow ribbon has been replaced with a white one with a diagonal red stripe — still a subtle nod to separatism as it was used in the past by a grassroots pro- independence group.

Bull Fight Cruelty
The Supreme Court has upheld the ban on stabbing bulls to death during the Toro de la Vega festival in the Castilla y León region.
The ban, which was passed in 2016, was immediately challenged by the Tordesillas City Council who appealed against the ruling – claiming there was ‘no reason to prohibit the killing’.
Animal-protection organization, Humane Society International, who worked with other charities to end the festival’s ‘barbaric’ tradition, celebrated the court’s decision.
The Spanish Supreme Court recognized that the medieval ‘tradition’ has no place in modern society.

Return Grants
The government has approved 24,000 grants for citizens who moved abroad to find work during the financial crisis and would be keen to return.
For those who never really wanted to leave or are now ready to come home – including those who decided to abandon the UK in light of the Brexit referendum – they may be able to access grants covering at least some of their living costs for up to two years after becoming a resident in Spain again.
President Pedro Sánchez announced the decision to young Spanish adults in Brussels yesterday.
Other moves to help Spaniards abroad include making it easier for them to participate in general elections.

Motorway Tolls
THE latest Cabinet Meeting revealed that there would be no AP-7 toll reductions for the Alicante province.
Despite earlier assurances, Public Works minister Jose Luis Abalos excluded most of the Valencia region although reductions were voted through by the national parliament last October.
In the Marina Alta and La Safor where Benissa and Oliva still lack bypasses these would have been applied to smaller vehicles as well as lorries.
A Compromis spokesman complained that not applying the same reductions as Cataluña’s made a mockery of the Valencia region.