Franco Exhumation
There’s been a new set back for the Governments plans to exhume the body of Dictator Francisco Franco after the Catholic Church informed government officials that it is denying them authorization to access the mausoleum .. the Valley of the Fallen .. where Franco is buried outside Madrid.
Despite the new setback, the government says it will forge ahead with its plans.
This will not prevent the process from moving ahead,” they said in a Press release .. the government maintains its decision to press ahead with the exhumation process,
The Valley of the Fallen contains a mass grave with around 30,000 bodies as well as the tombs of Franco and José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the fascist Falange Española. The nature of the memorial and the need to reform it has been the subject of years-long debate in Spain.
Wolf Pack Gang
A group of five men sentenced to nine years in prison for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman at the Sanfermines running of the bulls festival in Pamplona in 2016 can remain on bail pending their appeal, a regional Spanish court ruled this morning.
Two of the three judges at a Navarre regional court voted to maintain the conditions of bail saying there were no grounds to alter it considering there was no real flight risk, but a third voted in favor of remanding the convicts in custody while their appeal is processed.
Migrants
The Netherlands announced yesterday it was prepared to welcome some of the 32 migrants waiting to disembark from a Dutch-flagged vessel in the Mediterranean, if other countries did the same.
late Yesterday Malta’s navy announced that authorities would allow two German NGO ships — the Sea- Watch 3 and Sea-Eye — carrying migrants to “take shelter” in Maltese waters due to the deteriorating conditions on board.
The Dutch had at first joined Italy, Malta and Spain in refusing to accept the migrants who were rescued on December 22 by Sea-Watch 3, which is operated by a German charity.
The Sea-Eye has been stranded in the Mediterranean with 17 migrants on board.
Meanwhile Spanish coastguards reported yesterday they had rescued 401 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean over the first two days of the new year.
Emergency Landing
A drunk British passenger’s unruly behaviour during a flight forced pilots to make an emergency landing.
The incident happened on board a flight run by Dutch low-cost airline Transavia from Eindhoven in Holland to Tenerife. The British passenger behaved increasingly aggressively towards other passengers and crew members on the plane
A spokesman said that the crew had increasing difficulties to keep the man in check during the flight and were even forced to enlist the help of other passengers.
Because the safety of the crew and passengers was jeopardised, the pilots decided to make an emergency landing at the airport of Faro in Portugal.
The drunk man was taken off the plane by Portuguese cops to loud cheers and applause from the rest of the passengers.
The Transavia spokesman said: “Afterwards, the aircraft continued its journey to Tenerife.”
The spokeswoman said that it was “very bothersome” but added that the airline was happy that it all ended well.