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The large-scale operation began in April 2014. Photo: flickr/Les Haines

Spanish police bust Colombian drug ring

Police in Spain have arrested 34 suspected members of a gang based in Colombia that smuggled drugs between the two countries, police said Saturday. READ

Santacristina had renounced violence and distanced himself from ETA. Photo: Gerard Julien/AFP

Spanish court paroles former ETA head

A court in Spain on Friday paroled a former political head of the armed Basque separatist group ETA who had renounced violence and had already served three-quarters of a 30-year jail sentence. READ

A firetruck near the village of Hoyos on Saturday. Photo: David Arranz/AFP

Spain wildfire forces more evacuations

A wildfire that officials suspect was started deliberately forced the evacuation of a third town in western Spain on Saturday, officials said.READ

Luis Bárcenas has the nickname of Luis el Cabrón (Luis the Bastard) in Spain. Photo: AFP

Spain's 'most hated man' gets holiday leave

Luis Bárcenas, currently on bail over alleged involvement in two major corruption scandals, has been given two weeks 'holiday' leave at his mountain home. READ

Farmers use tractors to block a motorway in France. Photo: AFP

Spain tells France to control its farmers

Spanish authorities urged France on Friday to take action against the increasing number of attacks on Spanish trucks by France's striking farmers. READ

Tourists behaving badly

British police will patrol resorts with a reputation for hedonism. Photo: AFP

British police join patrols on island hotspots

British police will join Spanish forces patrolling the notorious Balearic Islands resorts of Magaluf and San Antonio from Monday, in a two-week trial aimed at dealing with disorderly British revellers. READ

Locals launched a campaign against the reality show. Photo: change.org

'Ibiza Shore' cancelled amid local opposition

Plans for "Ibiza Shore", a new reality TV show based on the party island, have been dropped amid fierce opposition from local authorities. READ

The couple fell in love while working at the same Madrid undertakers. File photo: Andrés Nieto Porras

Couple hire hitman in bid to inherit funeral parlour

A Madrid couple who hired an assassin in a bid to inherit an undertaking business have been handed lengthy jail terms after things didn’t work out quite as planned. READ

Firefighter teams were battling to dampen the blaze. Photo: Unidad Militar de Emergencias

Wildfires force hundreds out of homes in Spain

A wildfire raging in Extremadura has forced the evacuation of more than 1,500 residents including two campsites full of holidaymakers.READ

The problem is particularly intense on narrow beaches with little sand. Photo: Amanda Downing

Spanish resort wages war on beach hoggers

In news sure to please frustrated beach lovers the world over, the Costa del Sol town of Torrox has outlawed the practice of 'reserving' a desirable spot on the sand by laying out unattended towels and beach umbrellas. READ

Features

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. READ

The Local list

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

10 facts you 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. READ

My Spanish career

Maura Hillen is councillor for tourism and international relations

'Majority of expats treat Spain as a holiday camp'

The Local talks to Maura Hillen, president of the AUAN property rights association and now local councillor in Albox, southern Spain who thinks expats need to get more politically engaged. READ

The Local list

Ernest Hemingway was a regular at Cafe Iruña when he visited Pamplona. Photo: dlmanrg/Flickr

Ernest Hemingway's favourite Spanish haunts

To commemorate the birthday of Ernest Hemingway The Local takes a look at some of his favourite haunts in Spain. READ 3 comments

Photo: Shutterstock

Top tips for taking the perfect Spanish siesta

Multiple scientific studies in recent years have proven that a short sleep after lunch provides health benefits, including stress reduction, and improves alertness and memory. READ

More News

Tourists behaving badly

Peter Dench documented Brits on holiday in Ibiza Photo: Peter Dench

Caught on camera: Brits behaving badly in Ibiza

A British photojournalist has captured his fellow countrymen at their worst as they enjoy the excesses that Ibiza has to offer. The Local talks to Peter Dench on the publication of his new book "British Abroad". READ

A gold chalice on display at Guernsey's on Aug 5th. Photo: Don Emmert / AFP

Spanish treasure goes under the hammer in NY

An extraordinary collection of shipwrecked 17th and 18th century Spanish treasure discovered off the coast of Florida has sold in New York for about $2 million (€1.83 million). READ

Holidaymakers handed over deposits for non-exist villa rentals. Photo: Guatman / Flickr

Police break up Marbella luxury villa rental scam

Police have busted a gang that swindled dozens of holidaymakers by advertising luxury villas on the internet that did not actually belong to them. READ

People jump into the Guadalquivir river during a heatwave in Sevilla. Photo: AFP

Hottest July ever: Spain sizzled in record month

Last month was Spain's hottest July on record, the country’s meteorological agency said on Thursday, confirming what many long-suffering Spaniards already suspected. READ

A photo of an MQ-9 Reaper in the USA. Photo: Gerald L Nino / Wikimedia Commons

Spanish military to invest in spying megadrones

Spain plans to spend €171 million on four unmanned aircraft and the infrastructure to support them in order to boost its military surveillance capability. READ

Many of Spain's new jobs are temporary positions in the hospitality industry. File photo: Arian Zwegers

What recovery? Spanish reject economic 'spin'

The Spanish government may be trumpeting the country's economic recovery but its long-suffering citizens are yet to share the joy, a new poll shows. READ 2 comments

Video

Guapatón was shot by a resident after goring a 43-year-old man to death. Photo: Pacma

Bull shot in the street at fiesta after goring man

The revenge shooting of a bull by a resident with a shotgun after it gored a man to death at a fiesta is being investigated by Spain's Civil Guard. READ

The unlicensed club regularly showed football matches on its premises. File photo: AFP

Family wins 16-year fight against noisy bar

In a case of the wheels of justice barely turning at all, a family in Spain's Valencia region have finally won their battle to have an unlicensed social club in their building shut down. READ

Basque flags duing a pro-independence demo. Photo: Rafa Rivas / AFP

Spain's Basque's act to end decades of hurt

Four years after the separatist group declared an end to its armed independence campaign, the emotional scars left by four decades of bombings and shootings remain. READ

Photo of a newborn: Héctor de Pareda / Flickr

Mum jailed for throwing newborn out of window

A Spanish woman who threw her newborn baby out of a window has been sentenced to four years in jail after a court found her guilty of attempted murder. READ

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From our other editions:

The Local List

Can you guess the German word for slug? Photo: Wikimedia/Prashanthns

Ten wonderfully literal German words

One of the best things about the German language is undoubtedly its logic. The wonderful compound nouns which German is famous for can sometimes be notoriously complex, but also make perfect sense.READ

Image of pigs at 'factory farm' that animal group alleges shows mistreatment. Photo: VgT

Pigs gassed to death by own excrement

A total of 135 pigs died after inhaling gas produced from their own excrement on a farm in the canton of Aargau, a TV report has revealed. READ

If you want to rest in place while you're still alive, a car park isn't the place place to choose. Photo: DPA

Man promises to stop coffin naps in public

When a man walking his dog alerted police to the fact that a black coffin was lying in the middle of a public parking place, the cops were surprised to find someone inside. READ

Photo: Lego Group

'Offensive' Lego set angers disability group

The group argues that the inclusion of an old man in a wheelchair in a new Lego toy set creates the misleading impression that disability that only affects the elderly. READ

Screengrab from the Facebook page where the shocking images of the dog was published. Photo: AFP

Dog buried alive sparks French social media fury

Photos of a dog buried alive up to its head in France sparked an outpouring of anger on social media Wednesday and police said the owner was taken into custody. READ

Matera, the European Capital of Culture for 2019. Photo: Maryn Ve

Why Italy's south is far better than the north

Following a report last week warning that southern Italy risked "permanent under-development”, we came up with ways in which the long-suffering south is far better than the north. READ

A Viking longship burning at the end of Edinburgh's Torchlight Procession. Photo: viking2

Norway starts school for Vikings

A Norwegian further education college is starting a programme for want-to-be Vikings where students will learn essential Viking crafts, such as sword forging, jewellery making, and roof thatching. READ