Spain: Gang Violence on the Rise | Focus on Europe

Oct 26, 2022 | Violent youth gangs are a major problem in Spain's capital. Two former members talk about how they managed to get out.

Luxembourg PM’s Same-sex Husband Seated Next to Viktor Orbán at Summit

THE GUARDIAN: Hungarian leader was criticised by Xavier Bettel in 2021 for introducing homophobic law

Nato leaders’ spouses including Gauthier Destenay (centre), husband of Luxembourg’s PM, in Madrid. Photograph: Ballesteros/EPA
The dozens of invitees were carefully seated along the lengthy table, flanked by columns fashioned out of Bagnères marble and surrounded by paintings from Spain’s Francisco de Goya.

As photos of the Nato dinner at Spain’s royal palace filtered out, many were swift to spot what one Spanish news site described as the image of the summit: the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, seated next to Gauthier Destenay, the first same-sex spouse of a leader of an EU member state.

Amid speculation as to whether the seating arrangement was intentional – perhaps a nod to this month’s Pride celebrations – or whether it was simply the mysterious hand of protocol working its magic, Spain’s royal palace did not respond to a request for comment.

The eye-catching seating arrangement came one year after Destenay’s husband, Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, blasted Orbán over a Hungarian law banning any portrayal of LGBT people in materials meant for children.

“To be nationally blamed, to be considered as not normal, to be considered a danger for young people – it’s not realising that being gay is not a choice,” said Bettel, who in 2015 became the first EU leader to marry someone of the same sex.

“But being intolerant is a choice,” Bettel continued. » | Ashifa Kassam in Madrid | Thursday, June 30, 2022

Cartier Beautés du Monde: The Exhibition

Jun 30, 2022 From 13th June 2022 in Madrid, Cartier revealed the Beautés du Monde High Jewelry collection - in a setting that lives up to its shining light: the brutalist Embassy design by two architects, English WS Bryant and Madrid native Luis Blanco-Soler. Cartier entrusted the scenography of the event to the Madrid artist and design Jaime Hayon. In this succession built around a well of light, color is omnipresent, the design pure, which rounded arches that break up the space. A singular experience that invites exploration, and the discovery of the Beautés du Monde collection.

Spain: Anti-Covid Restrictions Rally Descends into Chaos in Madrid

In Spain, protesters have clashed with police in the capital city of Madrid, vandalizing ATMs, as well as breaking and burning trash cans in the city center.

Madrid Stuck in the Past with Idea of Unity above All Else – Catalan MEP

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Barcelona, protesting the apparent desire of the Catalan government to create an independent state. Days before, hundreds of thousands had marched in support of the push for secession. An unrelenting Madrid, unwilling to let any of this happen, is ready to prevent Catalonia from becoming independent. Will it come to the use of military force? Is the drive for independence strong enough to overcome all the obstacles? We ask Josep-Maria Terricabras, member of the European Parliament for the Republican Left party of Catalonia.

Can Spain Keep It Together? Madrid Ponders Direct Rule in Catalonia

Defying Madrid: Catalonia's Independence Referendum

Spain: "Spaniards Yes, Refugees No" - Hundreds of Far-right Protesters Hit Madrid

Around 600 far-right protesters marched through Madrid on Saturday, demanding "social aid" for Spaniards and holding banners and placards reading "Spaniards Welcome," a play on the "Refugees Welcome" movement currently organising across Europe.

État islamique : Rabat et Madrid démantèlent un réseau de recruteurs

LE POINT: Quatorze personnes ont été interpellées au Maroc et en Espagne, soupçonnées de recuter et d'envoyer des combattants en Syrie et en Irak.

Quatorze personnes ont été interpellées au Maroc et en Espagne lors d'une "opération antiterroriste conjointe" des deux pays, visant à démanteler un réseau de recrutement pour le groupe État islamique (EI, Daesh en arabe), ont annoncé les ministères de l'Intérieur des deux pays. Des agents des services de renseignement - du Commissariat général d'information de la police espagnole et de la Direction générale de la surveillance du territoire marocaine - "ont démantelé une cellule terroriste composée de 14 personnes", a expliqué mardi le ministère espagnol de l'Intérieur. » | Source AFP | mardi 25 août 2015

Spain's Felipe VI, Righteous Son, Inherits a Shaken Monarchy

König Felipe VI. will seinem Land dienen

KRONEN ZEITUNG: Generations-wechsel in der spanischen Monarchie: König Felipe VI. ist als neues Staatsoberhaupt des Landes vereidigt worden. Der 46- jährige Monarch schwor am Donnerstag, die in der Verfassung festgelegten Aufgaben zu erfüllen. Er glaube an diese "große Nation", er liebe sie, "sie liegt mir am Herzen", sagte Felipe anschließend bei seiner Antrittsrede im Parlament in Madrid.

Felipe trat als jüngster König Europas die Nachfolge seines Vaters Juan Carlos an, der am Vortag nach fast vier Jahrzehnten auf dem Thron abgedankt hatte. "Ich werde immer das Allgemeininteresse im Auge haben", betonte Felipe in seiner Rede. Er werde loyal zur Verfassung stehen und bereit sein, zuzuhören, zu verstehen und Ratschläge zu geben, sagte der Monarch am Donnerstag. Als "Bürgerkönig" möchte er außerdem das angekratzte Image der spanischen Monarchie wieder aufbessern. » | AG/red | Donnerstag, 19. Juni 2014

Bedbug Epidemic Spreads Across Spain

Reports of bedbug infestations in Spain have risen by 70 per cent
over the past five years

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Huge rise in the number of infestations of parasitic insects reported across Spain

Housing authorities in Madrid are complaining of “a plague of bedbugs” and called for extra measures to tackle the troublesome parasites.

According to pest control experts, the reports of bedbug infestations across Spain have risen by 70 per cent within five years and is now bordering on an “epidemic”.

A residents’ association in the Lavapies district of central Madrid is demanding city authorities provide temporary housing for those affected while their homes are fumigated.

Residents are blaming the proliferation of the insects, which bury themselves deep inside mattresses, on the rise in the number of buildings being squatted in the neighbourhood.

“We never had bedbugs until the squatters moved in,” one neighbour told Spain’s daily El Mundo newspaper. » | Fiona Govan, Madrid | Friday, May 30, 2014

Buskers, Pimps and Plant-lovers Beware: This Is Madrid's Biggest Crackdown Since General Franco

THE INDEPENDENT: New anti-social behaviour laws ban everything from carelessly perched pot plants to carpet-beating in public

In the biggest crackdown on anti-social behaviour in decades, the city of Madrid is to impose new restrictions and fines on everything from soliciting the services of a prostitute to juggling, dog-feeding and carpet-beating in public.

All manner of human behaviour is being targeted under the new laws, including being careless with pot plants on a balcony or for using a park bench for – perish the thought – “something other than sitting”.

The draft series of regulations, currently being reviewed in all-party discussions, represent the biggest single series of potential changes to the Spanish capital’s civic legislation since the ‘Policing and Good Government law’ of 1948. In equally wide-ranging format, that 1948 law banned everything in Madrid from blasphemy (intriguingly defined in the legislation as ‘particularly forbidden’) to woodchopping in public and keeping poultry. » | Alasdair Fotheringham | Madrid | Wednesday, October 09, 2013

Espagne : des milliers de manifestants demandent une république
LE POINT: Selon un récent sondage, 53 % des Espagnols désapprouvent la façon dont le roi Juan Carlos exerce ses fonctions.


Plus de 8 000 manifestants ont défilé dimanche dans le centre de Madrid pour dénoncer une monarchie à l'image ternie par plus d'un an de scandales dans un pays en crise et réclamer l'avènement d'une IIIe République en Espagne. Agitant des milliers de drapeaux républicains rouge, or et violet, les manifestants, la plupart des républicains convaincus de longue date, criaient "L'Espagne, demain, sera républicaine" et "Le Bourbon, au travail", en direction du roi d'Espagne Juan Carlos.

Comme tous les ans, ils avaient été convoqués, sous le slogan "À bas le régime monarchique, pour la III République", pour marquer la date anniversaire de la IIe République, proclamée le 14 avril 1931 et suivie par près de 40 ans de dictature franquiste après la guerre civile (1936-1939). "Personne n'a élu le roi", lançait Verónica Ruiz, militante du parti écolo-communiste Izquierda Unida (IU). "Nous voulons un référendum : ça serait la manière juste et démocratique de savoir ce que veut le peuple." » | Source AFP | dimanche 14 avril 2013

Spain Anti-austerity Protests: 'There Is a Great Deal of Anger on the Streets'
Fiona Govan, the Telegraph's correspondent in Madrid reports on the escalating tension as Spanish workers join strikes to protest against spending cuts and tax hikes that trade unions say have brought misery and deepened the country's economic crisis.

Read the article here | Contains video from Reuters | Wednesday, November 14, 2012

En Espagne et en Italie, des manifestations dégénèrent
LE FIGARO: EN IMAGES- À Paris, Lisbonne, Bruxelles ou encore Athènes, la mobilisation anti-austérité est importante. Forces de l'ordre et manifestants s'affrontent violemment à Madrid, Turin et Milan.

» | Par Sébastien Thévenet | mercredi 14 novembre 2012

Hundreds Clash with Riot Police in Madrid

Read the article here | Saturday, July 14, 2012

Spain Protesters Challenge Government Ban
Spain's government have ruled that mass protests are illegal on the eve of elections. But many people remain on the streets of a number of cities refusing to leave. Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips reports.

Greece Suffers Fifth General Strike as Metro Blockaded in Madrid
Violence erupted in Bilbao during a one-day general strike. Photo: The Times
THE TIMES: Violence broke out during Greece’s fifth general strike of the year, while in Madrid the Metro was blockaded in a foretaste of a summer of industrial unrest.

As Mediterranean governments push through austerity measures, masked youths took part in running battles with police in Athens, with domestic flights and many ferry sailings from the port of Piraeus cancelled.

Public and private sector unions in the country announced that there would be a sixth all-out stoppage next week, when the package of pay and pension reforms comes to a final vote.

“These measures will not help. They will only lead to deeper recession and poverty,” said Despina Spanou, a board member of the Adedy civil servants’ union, which helped to organise the marches. “We are resisting the slaughtering of our rights.”

The governments of Greece and Spain are increasingly worried about the impact of unrest on tourism — which is a mainstay of both economies. >>> Philip Pangalos in Athens, William Bond in Madrid, David Charter in Brussels | Wednesday, June 30, 2010

¡Buenas noticias! El 'Euromillones' deja en España su mayor premio para un único acertante
EL PAÍS: Un billete validado en la ciudad de Madrid, premiado con 126 millones de euros

Un cupón del sorteo del Euromillones validado en Madrid le dará a su dueño más de 126 millones de euros, el mayor premio de la historia de la lotería europea para una única persona. Este único acertante de primera categoría -cinco números y dos estrellas- adquirió su boleto para el sorteo de esta pasada noche en la Administración de Loterías número 25 de Madrid, situada en el número 39 de la calle Alcalá.

El premio, de 126.231.764 euros, según ha informado Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, supone el de mayor cuantía cobrado por una única persona desde el nacimiento del sorteo en febrero de 2004. >>> Agencias - Madrid | Sábado 9 de mayo de 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: «Le chat noir» a porté chance au plus gros gagnant à l'Euro Millions

ESPAGNE | L'Espagnol qui a gagné, lors du tirage d'hier soir, 126 millions d'euros a validé son billet dans le bureau de loterie nommé «Le chat noir» situé dans une grande rue du centre de Madrid.

Le plus gros gagnant de l’histoire de l’Euro Millions avec un gain de 126 millions d’euros est pour l’heure anonyme mais a validé son billet dans le bureau de loterie "le chat noir" d’une grande rue du centre de Madrid, a-t-on appris samedi auprès de sa propriétaire. >>> AFP | Samedi 09 Mai 2009

THE GUARDIAN: Lottery Officials Continue Search for Owner of £110m Ticket

Madrid shop sold ticket for biggest single lottery prize / EuroMillions winner may be tourist, says seller

Lottery officials across Europe were searching today for one of the continent's richest people, who may still be unaware that they possess a lottery ticket worth £110m.

The EuroMillions jackpot is the world's biggest ever single lottery prize, but the Madrid lottery shop that sold the ticket has so far been unable to trace the buyer. If found, he or she would shoot into the club of the richest people in Europe. If the winner were British, it would mean joining the Sunday Times rich list at No 492 — tied with the Bee Gees brothers Barry and Robin Gibb.

A sign pinned to the window of the Black Cat lottery shop, just off Madrid's central Plaza de Cibeles, boasted today that this was the place where the €126m ticket had been sold.

The shop's owner, Paloma Cateleiro, said that she had no idea who had bought the ticket but suspected the chit might be lying at the bottom of a tourist's suitcase in some part of Europe.

"A lot of people come though here," she said. "We might never find out who has won it."

She said that the winner had put down €10 in the game, which let them make five different predictions of a combination of numbers that could land the jackpot.

"It could have gone to a tourist or to someone from outside Madrid, as we are right in the centre," said Ana Maria Rincón, one of the Black Cat's lottery sellers.

The huge jackpot built up after the weekly draw was rolled over six times, with no winner since 20 March. >>> Giles Tremlett in Madrid | Sunday, May 10, 2009

TIMESONLINE: £110m Winner of EuroMillions Jackpot Was Ill in Bed with Flu

Europe’s biggest lottery winner is a 25-year-old Spanish woman who was in fear of losing her job and was unaware of her £110 million jackpot because she was struck down with the flu.

The woman, from Majorca, only discovered she had become a multi-millionaire when she returned to work on Monday. She is unmarried but has a boyfriend and bought the ticket through the commercial betting website Serviapuestas.

The winner went back to work after fearing she might lose her job because of the recession, only to turn on her phone and be told she had won the jackpot. The ticket was later validated at the Black Cat kiosk in the centre of Madrid.

Jose Mieres, director of the Serviapuestas website, said they had been trying to contact the young woman since last Friday´s draw. But she did not answer her phone over the weekend and she was not replying to their e-mails.

She told Mr Mieres: “I still had flu on Monday, but with the situation of crisis we are going through, I decided I had to go to work anyway, out of fear of losing my job.” >>> Graham Keeley in Madrid | Tuesday, May 12, 2009