Trapped Boy
Eleven days have now passed since two-year-old Julen Roselló fell down a 110-meter borehole near Málaga.
Rescuers continue to work relentlessly to reach the toddler and in the early hours of this morning finished work to shore up a 60-meter deep vertical tunnel, parallel to the borehole where Julen is thought to be trapped.
Another 12 meters of tubing were added this morning, ahead of specialist miners traveling down the tunnel in a metal capsule to begin excavating by hand a four-meter gallery to connect to the borehole – considered the most dangerous part of the operation.
Taxi Strike
Barcelona taxi drivers have decided to end the strike they began last Friday to protest against what they view as unfair competition from online ride-sharing services such as Uber and Cabify.
In a vote held late last night, a majority decided to accept a new decree proposed by the Catalan government setting out stricter regulations for VTC (vehicle for hire) licenses, which ride-hailing apps in Spain use to operate.
Under the proposed terms, users of ride-sharing services will have to book their vehicle at least 15 minutes in advance.
Meanwhile, in Madrid, the open-ended strike that began on Monday continues. A group of around 30 taxi drivers briefly blocked the M-40 beltway this morning near the convention center, which is hosting a major tourism fair.
Authorities in Madrid are trying to come up with a similar decree to the one developed by the Catalan government. But conflicting viewpoints between city officials their regional counterparts have been preventing progress.
Catalan Trial
Amnesty International has applied to the Spanish courts for permission to observe the upcoming trial of twelve Catalan pro-independence politicians and activists.
A total of 12 people, nine of whom are in pre-trial detention, will be tried on charges including rebellion, misuse of funds and disobedience in connection with their role in the Catalan independence referendum in October 2017.
A senior MP From Scotland’s SNP last night told a public meeting that members of his party’s Westminster group may also apply to attend the trial as international observers.
Venezuela.
SPAIN’S government is on the fence over whether or not to officially recognise Juan Guaidó as president of Venezuela after his surprise coup knocked Nicolás Maduro from power, with foreign affairs minister Josep Borrell saying his cabinet is reluctant to ‘take impulse decisions’.
Borrell says Spain will wait to see what the European Union’s verdict is before making an official statement, in the interests of ‘unity’ across the continent.
Foreign ministers from the EU-28 are set for an urgent meeting today to ‘evaluate the situation’.
Borrell says that at present, his government’s ‘main concern’ was ‘the situation for the Spanish nationals who live in the country..
In the hours that followed news of the coup, US president Donald Trump announced his government officially recognised Guaidó as ‘interim president’ of Venezuela in place of Nicolás Maduro.
Juan Guaidó declared himself ‘interim president’ during mass protests in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, against Nicolás Maduro’s régime – demonstrations during which 13 people were killed.