Weather
More extreme weather has been forecast just days after tropical storm Leslie swept across the country and flash flooding in the Balearic Islands left 13 people dead in Mallorca.
The national weather service AEMET has issued a special warning for “rain and intense, generalized and persistent storms” for the eastern side of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands. The extreme weather is expected to last until Sunday.
While the gota fría – or “cold drop,” a term used to describe a sudden fall in temperatures along the east coast caused by the arrival of cold polar air – is “typical” of this time of year an AEMET spokesperson said a drop of this intensity has not occurred since October 2008.
Aragón, Catalonia, Valencia, Andalusia, the Balearic Islands and Murcia will be the worst-hit and a red alert – the highest on the scale – has been issued for Castellón today and tomorrow with 180 millimeters of rain expected.
Budget
The new finance minister has defended budget plans that will see a rise in taxes and government spending, saying they will reduce inequality while maintaining fiscal discipline.
Nadia Calviño, who was appointed minister when a minority socialist government took power in June said that while they wanted to keep lowering the deficit, “economic policy cannot be limited to bean-counting”.
Opposition party leaders have savaged the proposed budget plan, saying it risks derailing the economy and adding more to Spain’s debt pile, which already stands at 97 per cent of gross domestic product.
Migration
European Union leaders are set to push ahead with plans to boost cooperation with North African countries and beef up the bloc’s borders in an effort to stop migrants entering Europe.
A draft statement prepared for today’s summit emphasizes the need to step up cooperation with countries that people leave and transit through to seek shelter or better lives in Europe.
They said that work with those countries on “investigating, apprehending and prosecuting smugglers and traffickers should be intensified.” They also called for a joint smuggling task force to be set up.
Spat
A diplomatic spat broke out between the Spanish and Flemish governments yesterday after the president of the Belgian parliament made statements in support of Catalan separatists.
The Spanish government stripped the Flemish representative in Madrid of his diplomatic status in retaliation for the remarks by Jan Peumans, in which he criticized Spain’s response to last year’s Catalan independence referendum.
Belgiums Prime Minister called Spain’s decision a “very unfriendly act” and said he would summon the Spanish ambassador as soon as possible.