Spain's news in English

Change edition:
Austria ·
Denmark ·
France ·
Germany ·
Italy ·
Norway ·
Sweden ·
Switzerland

A picture taken by Spanish Guardia Civil shows jet skis parked after being seized by the police off the coast of Tarifa. Photo: AFP/Spanish Guardia Civil

15 held in Spain for smuggling Moroccan migrants on jet skis

Fifteen people were arrested this month in Spain for smuggling Moroccan migrants into the country on water scooters, authorities said on Saturday, terming it a "very dangerous practice."

Packs of hashish seized by the Spanish police in 2013. Photo: AFP/Handout Spanish police

Spanish police hunt for Moroccan hashish in the Strait of Gibraltar

Morocco has become the world’s top producer and exporter of hashish over the past decades and, with just 14 kilometres separating northern Morocco from Spain’s southern Andalucia region, Spanish police have their work cut to stem the flow of illegal drugs.

The star currently known as Mu Arae and author Miguel de Cervantes. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Astronomers on Quixotic quest to immortalize Cervantes with a star

Some celebrities get the honour of having their own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But a group of Spanish astronomers have something more cosmic in mind for their own literary star.

Police arrive at the headquarters of CatDem in Barcelona. Photo: Josep Lago / AFP

Catalan ruling party hit by graft probe ahead of September election

An anti-corruption operation targeted Catalonia's ruling CDC party on Friday, tainting a separatist coalition that wants the wealthy region to secede from Spain if it wins a regional election next month.

Bilbao will host the Red Bull Extreme Cliff Diving Finale. Photo: Diego Jambrina / Flickr

What's on in Spain: Sept 2015

From Roman battle re-enactments, to music festivals to cliff diving, there are lots of great events happening in Spain this September.

The strikes will take place across Spain on four days in September

Travel chaos threat as September strikes called at Spanish airports

Spanish airport workers have called a series of strikes for September threatening to cause significant delays for holidaymakers.

Photo: Screenshot from RTVE broadcast.

Emotional homecoming for granny jailed for refusal to demolish home

A grandmother who was sent to prison for refusing to see her family made homeless has been released after becoming a cause celebre and winning sympathy across Spain.

The uniforms used by the suspects to allegedly rob tourists in fake traffic stops. Photo: Alicante Civil Guard.

Fake traffic police arrested for robbing tourists on Costa Blanca

The Spanish Civil Guard arrested two men who posed as cops to carry out at least twenty robberies by pulling unsuspecting tourists over on 'routine traffic checks'.

The suspected jihadist was arrested in Madrid on Tuesday. Photo: Interior Ministry

Madrid terrorist suspect ran Isis cell planning massacres in Spain

A 26-year-old who called himself "Salami Jihadi" is accused of running an Islamic State recruitment network that wanted to "carry out massacres and create a climate of mass panic and instability" in Spain.

Screenshot from an Airbnb YouTube advert

Barcelona draws up battle lines to curb Airbnb type tourism boom

Barcelona's new mayor is drawing up the battle lines in a bid to crackdown on uncontrolled tourism but Airbnb insists that there is a simple solution.

Features

There is even an art to tasting the grape itself. Photo: AFP

Grape Escape: Discovering the art of winemaking in the vineyards of La Rioja

There's more to wine than tasting it as Sophia Smith Galer discovered on a trip to the rustic vineyards of the Rioja region.

The two-michelin starred Atul Kochar will open Benares in Madrid. Photo: Benares

Michelin-starred Indian chef opens up new restaurant in Madrid

He became the first Indian chef to earn a Michelin star and is widely regarded as one of the best chefs in London. The Local talks to Atul Kochhar as he prepares to launch his new restaurant Benares in Madrid.

The Local list

Pimientos de padron - like playing Russian Roulette with a spicy pepper. Photo: The Table Hopper / Flickr

Thirteen delicious reasons to be a vegetarian in Spain

Long feared by vegetarians as the land of jamón, Spanish cuisine also boasts a host of delicious traditional alternatives. Foodie experts, Devour Spain, share their tips for the best vegetarian food in Spain.

Vogue Like a Painting merges high fashion with high art. Photo: Sara Houlison

Madrid's traditional art scene gets a haute couture makeover

Madrid’s museums are moving away from the traditional to embrace new artistic forms and the latest brings a touch of haute couture to the capital's celebrated art scene.

The Local list

Spain is the biggest exporter of wine in the world. Photo: LexnGer/Flickr

Ten interesting facts you probably didn't know about Spanish wine

It was the Romans' favourite drink, a muse to Picasso and fell victim to the fascist regime of dicator Francisco Franco. Wine blogger Timmer Brown lifts the lid on everything you (probably) didn't know about Spanish vino.

More News

RNE pulled the programme entitled "The Jewish People: Propagator of the Satan Cult". Photo: AFP

Spanish public radio removes show on Jews and Satanism amid outcry

Spain public radio RNE said it had removed an episode of a programme that linked Jews to Satanism from its website after receiving complaints from Jewish groups.

The Local list

There are some Spanish words that English should immediately adopt. Photo: Contando Estrelas/Flickr

Eleven Spanish words the English language needs to adopt right now

Some Spanish words are so good at perfectly describing a feeling, experience or person you have to wonder why the English language hasn't adopted them yet. The Local has chosen eleven linguistic gems that should be immediately adopted into the English language.9 comments

9 comments

A group of tourists visiting Tenerife. Photo: Desiree Martin / AFP.

Tourist spending in Spain sets new record, boosting economic recovery

Money may not grow on trees, but in Spain it sure seems to grow on tourists as holidaymakers bring in more cash than they ever have before.

Our Lady of the Rock is advertising for a hermit to live in the sanctuary for a year. Photo: Tabalot/Wikimedia

Hermit wanted for remote hilltop shrine. The immoral need not apply

A hilltop hermitage in Catalonia has an unusual vacancy to fill. It is advertising for a hermit who is 'pure in spirit' to move in and look after the place for a year.

La Tomatina

The Google Street View car was damaged after driving through La Tomatina. Photo: Biel Alino/AFP

Why you should NOT drive through the world's biggest ever food fight

Google Street View thought it would be a good idea to drive one of their state of the art cars smack bang into the middle of Spain's La Tomatina festival to record the tomato pelting battle for all the world to see.

Pensioners are furious over taxes on pensions. Archive photo: Gerard Julien / AFP

Spain retirees battle against 'unfair' back taxes on foreign pensions

Eyeing a year-end general election, Spanish retirees who worked abroad have stepped up their protests against the cash-strapped government's bid to collect back taxes on their foreign pensions.2 comments

2 comments

The photo the woman took of the police car parked in the disabled person's parking space Photo: Facebook / Twitter

Spain scraps fine for posting a photo of police car on Facebook

Spanish officials have scrapped an €800 fine against a woman for posting a picture on Facebook of an illegally-parked police car after admitting the image did not contravene a controversial security law.

Video

The Spanish tennis champ stars in a steamy underwear ad. Photo: Screenshot Tommy Hilfiger / Youtube

Rafael Nadal bares (almost) all in a steamy locker room striptease

The Spanish champion reveals what’s beneath his tennis whites in a sexy new underwear advertisement for Tommy Hilfiger.

Eero Markkanen has been dropped for being "too fat". Photo: realmadrid.com

Too fat for Real Madrid: Promising player sacked for eating all the pies

When Real Madrid dropped the young Finnish footballer claiming he had put on too much weight, the player turned to twitter to deliver a brilliant response.

Gallery

The action kicked off at midday on Wednesday. Photo: Biel Alino/AFP

In pics: Thousands get mushy in Spain's epic tomato throwing battle

Thousands of half-naked revellers pelted each other with tomatoes on Wednesday in the town of Buñol in eastern Spain, bathing the streets with red goo in the 70th annual "Tomatina" battle.

Read older articles »

From our other editions:

www.austria.info

Six-year-old girl being sued for €38,000

A six-year-old girl is being sued by a woman for €38,000 for causing a skiing accident in Vorarlberg that left the adult with serious injuries.

The student (not pictured) was sent home from school. Photo: Heng Fu Ming

School tells Muslim pupil to take off veil in class

A high school in the canton of Bern has forbidden a pupil from wearing the hijab in class, Swiss media reported on Monday.

Protests in Heidenau turned violent as right-wing demonstrators clashed with police at the weekend. Photo:DPA.

Gabriel visits Saxony after weekend of violence

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel is to visit the Saxon town of Heidenau on Monday after far right demonstrators clashed with police outside a refugee home in the town over the weekend.

Inger Støjberg said she is considering changes to Danish citizenship requirements. Photo: Jens Nørgaard Larsen/Scanpix

Denmark considers citizenship rule changes

The Danish government is considering changes to the nation’s citizenship laws that may make it harder to get citizenship in the future and pull the rug out from under 1,950 foreigners who have already satisfied the current requirements.

A security worker talks to one of the feminist group members about their street sign stunt. Photo: The Local

'Sexist' Paris streets renamed in feminist stunt

A feminist organization has changed the street signs of a Paris neighbourhood so that they bear women's names instead, protesting the lack of streets in the city named after famous female figures.

The woman allegedly locked up the man at her home near Naples. Photo: Alexandra Svatikova

Italian woman locks up man for refusing sex

A 46-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of abduction after locking a 25-year-old man in the basement of her home near Naples because he denied her sex, Italian media reported.

The Storskog border station between Norway and Russia. Photo: Cornelius Poppe/NTB scanpix

Syrians cross Norway's Arctic border on bicyles

More than 100 Syrian refugees have crossed the Arctic border into Norway from Russia on bicycles, exploiting a loophole in the country's border regulations.

Video

Swedish model Agnes Victoria Hedengård. Photo: Private/Instagram

'Too big' Swedish model cheers global support

UPDATED: A 19-year-old model from Sweden has told The Local she is thrilled to have raised concerns about the fashion industry, after using a video to reveal how agencies said she was "too big" despite her being underweight.