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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A man smokes marijuana at the ExpoCannabis trade fair outside Madrid. Javier Soriano / AFP.

Spain becomes nation of stoners as popularity of cannabis clubs soars

Spain has overtaken the Netherlands as a marijuana smoking nation and is third in the world behind Iceland and the United States, new data shows. 9 comments

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 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

13 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 goes high fashion

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

The picnic bench was positioned on top of the ancient tomb. Stock photo: Michael Coghlan/Flickr

Fury as archaeological site ruined and replaced with picnic table

Builders in a Galician village confused a neolithic tomb with a broken stone picnic table and replaced the 6,000-year-old artefact with a brand spanking new concrete bench. 4 comments

4 comments

The symptoms are similar to heroine addiction. Photo: Greg Wood / AFP

Tanorexia: when getting a suntan becomes a dangerous addiction

The proliferation of tanning salons across Spain points to a growing addiction of people who never feel that they are quite tanned enough.

Today's Google Doodle celebrates 70 years of La Tomatina. Screen Grab: Google.es

Squelch! Google doodle celebrates 70 years of La Tomatina festival

Wednesday marks 70 years since the first tomato fight - considered the worlds biggest food fight - in Buñol, eastern Spain.

The incident is latest to cause diplomatic tensions over the Rock. Photo: AFP

Gibraltar outrage after Spanish customs fire shots at fishermen

Gibraltar on Tuesday accused Spanish customs officers of firing four shots in the direction of one of its fishing boats in the tiny British territory's waters. 3 comments

3 comments

Spain registered its hottest ever temperatures during the first six months of 2015. Photo: Cristina Quicler/AFP

Scorchio! Spain sizzles in hottest temperatures since records began

Spain registered its hottest ever temperatures during the first six months of 2015 according to the country’s meteorological agency.

The tomato fight is held the last Wednesday of August in Buñol. Photo: Reno Tahoe / Flickr

La Tomatina: All you need to know about the world's biggest food fight

The world famous tomato throwing festival celebrates its 70th anniversary on Wednesday and this year's festival promises to be bigger, better and more tomatoey than ever.

Tourists behaving badly

A drunk Englishman fell asleep on top of the arch on the famous Malaga bridge. Photo: maGdaa/Flickr

Drunk British tourist rescued after falling asleep atop bridge in Malaga

Local police called the fire brigade to remove the British tourist after they discovered him asleep on top of one of Malaga’s most famous bridges.

The man's parents received threats that their son was going to be killed or have his legs chopped off. Photo: Alon/Fickr

Spanish man fakes own kidnapping to get ransom money off his parents

A young man from Cartagena, in southeast Spain, has been arrested after faking his own kidnapping with the hope of extorting ransom money off his own parents.

Jacqueline Tennant went missing on October 9th 2007. Photo: Missingpeople.org.uk

Remains found of British hiker missing for eight years in Mallorca

Police on the island believe they have found the remains of Jacqueline Tennant, 45, who failed to return from a mountain walk nearly eight years.

A 60-year-old Spanish man has become the first person to contract the chikungunya virus in Spain. Photo: Sanofi Pasteur/AFP

Spain on alert after first case of mosquito-borne virus detected

The European Centre for Disease Control has published a Rapid Risk Assessment after a 60-year-old Spanish man became the first person to contract the chikungunya virus without having travelled to an infected area.

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From our other editions:

Have you found in hard to make friends? Photo: Vienna-Info

Despite quality of life Austria 'isn't friendly'

Austria has been ranked 11th in a new survey of top expat destinations - failing to make the top ten because almost a third of newcomers say Austrians are unfriendly to foreigners, and reported that it was hard to settle in and meet new people.

Photo: Caroline Bishop

Swiss army ends 31-day cow rescue mission

The Swiss army has concluded its mission to airlift water to thirsty cows in the Jura and Vaud Alps after delivering 1,840 tons of water during the period of July 20th to August 19th, authorities have said.

Photo: MMChicago / Flickr Creative Commons.

Courgette stew kills pensioner in Heidelberg

The widow of a 79-year-old man killed by a courgette stew in southern Germany this week has described the fatal meal that led to her husband's death.

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.

Police have said the deaths were likely accidental. Photo: Thomas/Flickr

Naked couple found dead beside French fortress

Police suspect a horrific lovemaking accident is to blame after a French couple were found dead at the bottom of a fortress wall on Thursday, both totally naked.

Migrants on more than 20 boats (not the one pictured) have sent out distress calls. Photo: DPA/Italian Navy

Italy rescues 4,400 migrants in one day

UPDATE: Italy's coastguard coordinated the rescue of 4,400 migrants from boats in the Mediterranean in a single day on Saturday, officials said Sunday as three new rescue operations were launched.

Norway's Halden prison has been lauded as "the most humane prison in the world". Photo: Heiko Junge/NTB Scanpix

Norway inmate hacks TV so can share porn

An inmate at Norway's Halden prison hacked the TV system so he could share pornographic films and secret messages with fellow prisoners.

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.