Migrant Boat
The government says is holding “intense diplomatic talks” to resolve the stranding of a Spanish fishing vessel for nearly a week after it took 12 migrants on board, including two children, north of the Libyan coast.
The rescue by the crew aboard the Nuestra Senora de Loreto took place on Nov. 22 in waters under Libyan jurisdiction.
According to Spain, Libya has not responded to requests to take in the migrants and bad weather has forced the trawler to sail away closer to Lampedusa island half way between Tunisia and Malta.
Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo said yesterday that Spain is in talks with Italy and Malta, whose coasts are closer now to the trawler, in order to find “an alternative, speedy and satisfactory solution.”
Rights group Amnesty International joined previous calls by other non-profit groups and said the migrants “must be allowed to disembark in Europe as soon as possible.”
Catalunia
Doctors and firemen surrounded the Catalan regional parliament yesterday to demand Catalan premier Quim Torra reverse budget cuts introduced during the financial crisis.
The protesters waved placards and used plastic horns to mount a noisy protest and make their demands heard. The demonstrators were held back by the Catalan regional police who clashed with firemen who were calling for more personnel, resources and better salaries.
Family doctors in Catalonia are also demanding more resources.
Yesterday was the Doctors third day of action and they were joined by university students who stopped classes to call for academic fees – which rose by 67% during the financial crisis – to be reduced.
Their strike is set to continue today.
Human Trafficking.
OFFICERS of the National Police have freed thirteen women who had been forced into prostitution, and arrested ten people in Malaga.
The criminal group was led by a woman who was acting as a liaison between Spain and a network in Nigeria.
In addition, members of the criminal group are allegedly also accused of crimes against property, both to clients of the prostitutes and others.
Eight Nigerians and two Spaniards have been arrested, while four raids in Malaga and one in Fuengirola were carried out.
The operation was part of the National Police’s Plan against Human Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation.
Winnie The Pooh
WINNIE-the-Pooh has been temporarily banned from Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square so as not to offend Chinese president Xi Jinping, who is on an official visit.
A man who dresses up as the A. A. Milne character had to take the day off, as Madrid’s mayoress Manuela Carmena was due to present the VIP visitor with the ‘Golden Key to the City’.
Other professional entertainers who spend their day dressed up as animated heroes were able to carry on with their work but Winnie-the-Pooh has become a viral internet meme to mock Xi Jinping, leading to the new Disney film Christopher Robin being banned in China.