Early Elections
The government expects to lose a key budget vote today and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez plans to announce an early general election soon after so government sources said yesterday.
The sources said the snap election date had not been set yet, but added that April 14 was the most likely date, followed by April 28, because Sanchez wanted a ballot as soon as possible to mobilise left-leaning voters against the threat of the right coming to power.
The budget vote depends largely on pro-independence Catalan parties, who have so far said they would oppose it. But parties can theoretically change their mind up until the last minute.
Big Drug Bust
Police have arrested 29 people who they allege are involved in a drug trafficking ring.
The Guardia Civil says that their officers made the arrests yesterday after raiding several locations in the provinces of Cadiz and Malaga. Most of the arrests took place in La Linea near to Gibraltar.
Police say they started investigating the group several months ago when they were suspected of smuggling large amounts of hashish from Morocco.
The bust is part of a large police operation to stamp out drug smuggling in southern Spain.
The Cadiz province, which is 14 kilometers away from North Africa, accounts for 40 percent of the drugs entering Spain, according to Interior Ministry figures.
New Energy Law
The Balearic Islands have approved a local law that by 2050 aims to ban the use of fossil fuels and adopt renewable energy for all of the region’s power needs, in what authorities claim is a pioneering step in Europe.
The Climate Change and Energy Transition Law passed yesterday on the islands also bans new diesel vehicles on the roads from 2025 and new Petrol vehicles from 2035.
The law is facing a legal challenge at the European Commission from Spanish vehicle manufacturers.
The regional government says the islands are especially vulnerable to global warming, with lower rainfall and more frequent weather extremes that will threaten public health, the water supply and tourism, among other sectors.
Taxidermy Probe
Police were investigating six people in connection to the recent seizure of over 200 stuffed animals, including several examples of protected species, that were illegally manufactured in an unlicensed workshop and placed on the black market.
In what was the largest operation against the illegal trafficking of animal products in terms of the monetary value of the contraband in the country to date, The Guardia Civil probed six people over accusations of crimes against fauna and for the possession, trafficking and sale of protected species following an operation in Alicante.