Spain News in English - Expat Guide to Spain

January 14, 2019

Spanish police arrest 182 people at illegal cockfight

Spanish police said Monday they had arrested 182 people who took part in a “national” cockfighting competition, an ancient sport that continues in some regions despite being banned. Officers seized around 300,000 euros ($344,000) during Saturday’s raid in the southern…

January 14, 2019

Spanish rescuers search well for two-year-old boy

Around 100 emergency services workers were searching Monday for a two-year-old boy who fell into a narrow, deep well in southern Spain, officials said, in a race against time that has gripped the country. The toddler, who has not been…

January 14, 2019

Spain stops migrant rescue boat Open Arms from setting sail

Spanish migrant rescue charity Proactiva Open Arms said Monday that the authorities were preventing its ship from setting sail from Barcelona to save migrants. “We are blocked in a port once again. Port Authority in Barcelona denied permission to Open…

January 12, 2019

‘Hero’ firefighters, Spanish tourist killed in Paris gas blast

A powerful gas explosion tore through a building in central Paris on Saturday killing a Spanish woman and two firefighters hailed as heroes by French President Emmanuel Macron. Dozens more were injured in the blast which also badly damaged nearby…

January 12, 2019

Thousands demand transfers for ETA prisoners in Basque protest

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the Basque Country on Saturday demanding that prisoners linked to the former armed separatist group ETA be transferred to jails closer to the northern Spanish region. In the city of Bilbao, protest organisers…

January 12, 2019

Two firefighters, Spanish tourist killed in Paris gas leak blast

A powerful gas explosion tore through a building in central Paris on Saturday, killing two firefighters and a Spanish woman, injuring dozens of people and badly damaging nearby apartments, officials said. Around 200 firefighters were mobilised to battle the fire…

January 11, 2019

Spanish government approves draft survival budget

Spain’s Socialist government on Friday approved a draft 2019 budget on which it depends for survival, cozying up to Catalan separatist lawmakers whose support is key to get it through parliament. Okayed by the cabinet, the budget contains many social…

January 11, 2019

Spanish bank BBVA accused of corporate spying: reports

Spain’s second-largest bank BBVA is suspected of having used a disgraced former police chief to illegally tap the phones of journalists, politicians and businesspeople to push back an unwanted shareholder, according to media reports. Jose Manuel Villarejo, a retired police…

January 11, 2019

Fate of ETA prisoners divides Spain

ETA may be history but the dilemma of what to do with prisoners linked to the former armed separatist group stirs passions in the Basque Country, where a protest in their favour is due Saturday. After coming to power in…