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Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin March 12
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Tanks roll through the streets, advancing further into Ukrainian towns and cities; targeted missiles reduce children’s hospitals to rubble; desperate families flee to safety in neighbouring countries in their thousands. The crisis worsens.
In just two and a half weeks, a democratic, capitalist country has been turned on its head by the unilateral actions of a small, despotic madman on a deadly power trip, and the whole world is suffering the consequences.
At the same time, it shouldn’t be forgotten that, while fewer people wear facemasks and fewer people are dying, coronavirus isn’t gone yet. It’s tempting to think that it’s all done with now, especially when other seemingly more urgent world events take over, but the relaxation of restrictions doesn’t mean we can all just rest on our laurels. The virus is still out there, still putting people in hospital and killing them, and although we’re all Covid-weary after more than two years, we must remain sensible and safe.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though. There are still fiestas, celebrations and events going on in Spain. Holidays and shopping. Beaches and bars and good news. We’ve got it all below, the good and the bad… starting with the bad…
The cost of war
It’s been just over two weeks since Russia ruthlessly invaded Ukraine, and already Europe is feeling the economic effects of the crisis. One of the more surprising casualties for many has been sunflower oil.
Panicked shoppers have been clearing the shelves of this cooking product to such an extent that several of the major supermarkets in Spain, including Mercadona and Consum, have been forced to ration sales, something which the country’s Organisation of Consumers and Users (OCU) said will only serve to spread alarm and hike up the prices further.The organisation has insisted that Spain is nowhere near a supply crisis, but the confectionary sector begs to differ; everything from bread to cookies, pastries and other sweet treats are made using sunflower oil, and representatives of the industry have revealed that they only have enough to continue production for another two to four weeks, meaning there could be a serious lack of our favourite chocolate eggs on shelves this Easter.
In the Region of Murcia, flour prices have increased by 7 cents per kilo in just one week because of the community’s reliance on both Ukraine and Russia for staples such as grain. It’s not only consumers who are hard hit, though, as there is a real possibility of farmers running out of animal feed for the livestock. According to the head of the Union of Farmers in the Region, not only have trade flows with Russia and Ukraine been interrupted, but cereal is not reaching Spain from surrounding countries because shipping companies will not traverse the conflict zone.Energy prices are already going up due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. They were already outrageously high, of course, but the current crisis has highlighted Europe’s dependence on Russian gas to generate its electricity. The price per megawatt hour of electricity broke above the 500-euro threshold this week, the highest price in Spanish history and ten times higher than a year ago. The Spanish government has extended a series of tax breaks on VAT and electricity generation until June 30, but homeowners are advised to try and reduce their reliance on the national grid and external energy sources by installing solar panels on their homes. The installation of panels on a house or garden pergola in Spain is estimated to be able to reduce electricity bills by 60% and has a long-term return of 10% or more each year, which is why those in Spain’s sunnier southern areas are turning more and more to this renewable energy source.
On the Costa Blanca, communities have been rallying to do whatever they can to support and provide aid to the victims of the atrocities with collection points for donations set up in the majority of municipalities. The astonishing selflessness of many continues to inspire as people offer their homes to Ukrainian refugees and businesses pledge their premises as temporary shelters. In fact, the Spanish has government has actually announced that it will offer automatic residence status, as well as work permits and healthcare, to Ukrainians who are in an irregular situation in Spain, including existing expats. The Valencian Government has opened three official logistic centres, one in each of the region’s three provinces, where all donations dropped at Town Halls can be collected and transported to Ukraine.
Charities and town halls in Murcia, though, have called for donations to be made in the form of monetary contributions rather than physical items. Money can be transferred to the needy in Ukraine faster and more efficiently than tins of beans, and many NGOs like Cáritas, Unicef and the Red Cross have set up dedicated bank accounts to facilitate economic contributions.
Despite this call, the Local Police force in the town of Lorca have included a novel item in their donation to the people of Ukraine: bulletproof vests. The eight protective jackets, which are normally used by police in training exercises, are being shipped over to “be used for the defence of Ukrainian citizens”, along with more traditional offerings like medicines and warm clothes.
Both Murcia and Andalucía have offered 1,200 places to refugees escaping Ukraine, many of whom will be housed in public buildings but whose numbers will be increased with accommodation in hotels.
As the heartbreaking images emerging from the besieged country show, animals are also victims of the conflict, and closer to home huge efforts are being made to provide refuge for the most vulnerable.
A convoy of threatened zoo animals from Ukraine arrived in Alicante this week following a dangerous and exhaustive rescue operation. Earlier this month, a brave team from Wild Animal Rescue, a rescue centre in Kiev, put their own lives on the line to transport lions, tigers, caracals and a wild dog to Poznań Zoo in Poland.According to APP Primadomus, a non-profit animal protection and defence organisation, the drivers were held at gunpoint by Russian soldiers but refused to give up on the animals until they were eventually able to continue on their rescue mission. Finally, after a further 25-hours on the road, the animals were brought to safety and will be cared for at a special facility at Alicante Animal Rescue Centre.
Understandably, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has stirred up strong and passionate views amongst most of us, but in Valencia, firmly-held opinions over the war spilled over into violence.
A 45-year-old pro-Russian man from Ukraine and a compatriot, 61, both wound up with serious injuries – one lost an eye and required surgery for head wounds – when a heated discussion resulted in a violent axe fight. Police were called to a bloodbath at the home they share in the Valencia neighbourhood of San Antoni, and both have since been arrested since each blamed the other for striking the first blow.
Water palaver
The sun finally came out and it’s been a glorious week in much of the south of Spain (the same can’t be said for the north). Now the torrential downpours return, and southern and western areas like the Region of Murcia are in for yet another weekend, with the weather intent on raining on Saturday and Sunday plans once again. The good thing is that the rising temperatures over the course of this week will not drop with the arrival of the rain, but will remain steady, with maximums in the high teens and low 20s. The combination will make for a humid few days, but luckily wind speeds are not expected to exceed 15km/h, so it should be fairly settled and not too blustery.
Professional property and roofing experts working in the Murcia Region and up in Alicante province have warned of the danger of these frequent, heavy downpours to the kind of traditional, flat-roofed homes found in many parts of southeast Spain. “When the water pools on top of these types of buildings and doesn’t have time to drain off properly”, the structure of the roof can become damaged and water can easily flood the property, “especially if the roof is old and hasn’t been fixed up in a while”.
It’s a good idea to get your walls and roofs checked out, especially if you don’t reside in Spain the whole year round and haven’t visited your property in a while, or you know that it’s been a long time since they last got checked out. Before we would have the intense Gota Fría storms once a year, but as they become more frequent due to climate change and the weather becomes more extreme and unpredictable, it becomes more important to make sure your home is properly protected.
The rain has been good for refilling the water levels of the reservoirs, of course, which were becoming dangerously empty and threatening a drought situation, and farmers have hailed the deluge as a “blessing” that has enabled them to spend 15% on watering their crops. But several shocking videos have emerged of the Segura River bubbling with foamy water that, according to Murcian conservation group Huermur, “smells like detergent”.
It’s just another example of the disgraceful state of the water facilities in Murcia, of the kind which has led to the terrible situation in the Mar Menor. Despite millions of euros of funding each year and endless reports of new water tanks, processing plants and sanitation projects, the relevant authorities seem summarily incapable of carrying out their function of ensuring the proper purification of the Region’s wastewater and of preventing harmful contaminants from entering the waterways in the first place.
The latest scheme to try and reverse the years of pollution in the Mar Menor is… oysters. Researchers working with the Spanish Institute of Oceanography have come up with a novel proposal for halting the deterioration of the lagoon that involves introducing flat oysters into the ecosystem, which, in great enough number, could potentially reverse the damage by filtering out the nitrates in the water.
Thirty years ago, the Mar Menor had a population of 135 million flat oysters, but today it is estimated that only a couple of thousand survive, and this number could be as low as a few hundred. Sixty million oysters would be needed for their filtering function to have a positive effect on the polluted waters, so this is no immediate solution and would have to be accompanied by a halt on any further pollution. The saga continues…
Coronavirus
Experts in Spain agree that the “acute phase” of the pandemic is already over, but transitioning to the next stage, one of surveillance and control, will have to wait a little longer; the Public Health Commission is expected to set a date for moving into a ‘new’ new normal sometime next week but some sources have speculated that this might be as late as 2023.The government already decided earlier this week that from now on, coronavirus data will only be released twice-weekly rather than on a daily basis, and the new system is likely to rely less on the cumulative incidence rate of the entire population to judge the evolution of the pandemic.
The decision to deescalate comes as Spain’s cumulative incidence has dipped to just 429 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, but the vaccination campaign has well and truly stagnated, with 91.9% of the population over 12 now fully jabbed. While this is still a good number, the needle hasn’t moved in weeks, and the uptake of the booster vaccine has really slowed in the younger age brackets. The paediatric vaccine is experiencing a similarly disappointing trend: in the almost three months since the campaign started, only 57.6% of 5 to 11 years olds have been vaccinated, while a meagre 20.1% have received the second dose.
Regarding the use of masks indoors, the Minister of Health stated after this week’s meeting that it “is getting closer” but that for now, the measure will remain in place. “We have to agree not only on when, but also on how,” she explained. “When that happens, we will make it known.”
The issue of masks is causing quite the divide amongst regional leaders, with Madrid pushing for the measure to be scrapped immediately, while others, such as the Region of Murcia and Andalucía, are in favour of doing away with them in theory, but only with the expertise and guidance of the scientific data.
Murcia itself is improving on a daily basis and nowhere is this more evident than with regard to the cumulative incidence rate, which has dropped an impressive 137 points in just one week. The number of new infections each day is also falling fast, with the regional health authorities registering under 400 new cases in the last count and fewer than 5,000 active cases in the Region as a whole.
In the Valencia region, too, the pandemic continues its downward trajectory. Aside from the odd glitch with a marginal increase in daily cases towards the end of the week, all the indicators are moving in the right direction, and health centres in Alicante have returned to pre-Covid normality.
The same can be said for Andalucía, where the incidence rate, infection rate and number of hospitalisations all continue to decrease overall. The fall in all these figures has slowed down, and there is the occasional spike back up again, mostly down to the widespread carnival festivities a couple of weeks ago, but for the most part the region is leading the way in Spain’s recovery from the sixth wave. Part of this is now down to the increased rollout of fourth Covid jabs for immunodepressed people, which is inflating the vaccination data.
When it comes to Covid, the better informed everyone is about the latest fast-changing developments, the more protected we all are. That’s why we endeavour to bring you all the most up-to-date coronavirus news as it comes out, which you can always consult using the link above.
Murcia
As the average price of filling up a vehicle’s tank with petrol or diesel in the Region of Murcia has soared to 100 euros, there have been scenes of long queues at low-cost service stations. The most expensive gas stations are mostly in and around Murcia city, but a few have also tipped over the 2-euro per litre mark in Mazarrón and Lorca.
This is a 30% increase on the same time last year, when prices were still low after the dip caused by lockdown but were already beginning to rise. Now, there are warnings of people panic buying petrol and diesel in the same way they did with toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic and sunflower oil more recently, even resorting to filling plastic containers with fuel out of uncertainty about how long petrol costs will continue to climb and how far they will go.
One age-old penny-saving trick drivers can use is carpooling of course – travelling together in the car with others going the same way to save a car journey. We’re coming up to the one-year anniversary of the Region of Murcia’s transition to the ‘new normal’, when the rules limiting the number of people who could travel in a vehicle together were finally lifted. In 2020, only one person was allowed to be in a car, and in the early months of last year this rule was relaxed to allow two people to sit in each row of seats in the vehicle. Now, there is no limit to the number of passengers who can be in a car, at least as far as Covid is concerned… there should still only be one person per seat!
It’s also best to stick to a steady speed, well within the speed limit, and not speed up or slow down too much. This helps to save not only fuel, but lives as well. In this vein, the authorities have shared a map with the location of all of Spain’s so-called ‘invisible’ speed cameras. These small, lightweight cameras use radar technology to detect speeding motorists, but they’re not actually meant to ‘catch people out’ by being hard to spot, as such. Rather, they are just easily portable and highly adaptable. In the interests of encouraging drivers to slow down and be aware that they are always under surveillance on the roads, the map shows where all of the nearly 50 cameras are installed in Spain.
Another unexpected side effect of the rising fuel prices is a lack of fish on the market. The rise in the cost of oil has forced the Region’s fishermen to bring forward a planned stoppage to trawling that was originally scheduled for November, and now boats will be moored until May 4 as the cost of going out on the water outweighs the profits they would make. There aren’t many people who strictly observe the Lent tradition of forgoing meat and eating fish instead, but the real danger is the knock-on effect on other aspects of the economy. It is hard to say how many more sectors will be affected by this crisis, and what other products or services that we once took for granted will have to be sacrificed before the altar of supply and demand.
For now, the retail sector looks to be in full swing, though, at least if we’re to judge by the new makeover being given to Cartagena’s La Rambla shopping centre. The City Council’s Urban Planning Department has given the green light for the mall to reopen for commercial activity after it was put to good use last year as a temporary mass vaccination centre. First, though, extensive renovations will have to be made to the building’s current façade and its 50,000m2 interior. The project will take approximately six months to complete and has an estimated budget of 175,000 euros. When it’s finished, there should be a great selection of DIY, food and fashion stores in La Rambla, as well as a gym and cinema. In this way, La Rambla joins the Las Dunas shopping centre on the list of shopping malls being systematically brought back to life in the Murcia Region.
Finally, if you haven’t yet made plans for the weekend, the Murcia Region’s abundance of street markets will offer an unmissable opportunity to sample the area’s rich culture. With everything from artisan products, antiques and handmade crafts to unique, local delicacies, Murcia has it all on offer, and we’ve rounded up the top 5 weekend markets in the Region that you can’t miss.
For more info on markets and everything else that’s going on in your local area, see our EVENTS DIARY!
Spain
March for many heralds the beginning of a new phase in the year; the clocks go forward, meaning more days of sunlight and the weather is getting better every day, hinting at the summer season to come. It’s no surprise, then, that this month turns the minds of the masses towards holidaying in Spain, and this week we brought you the ideal rugged a tourist-free locations courtesy of The Times list of the 8 best beaches in Spain.
The Brits have returned to the top of the list of foreign visitors to Spain, and while we may flock to the Mediterranean for the sun, sand and beach bars in particular, UK visitors also know the value of those special places away from the crowds, little gems nestled in coves and turquoise waters hidden away from the masses. While these wild beaches might be a little off the beaten track, they are well worth the effort.
Travel in general seems to be opening up more and more as the weeks go on, and passengers flying from Spain to Ireland from now on have to deal with practically no airport restrictions. Gone are those pesky Passenger Locator forms, and from March 6, travellers are not required to show proof of vaccination, proof of recovery or even a negative PCR test on arrival.
UK travellers booking a trip to Spain’s Canary Islands, which include Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote, can enjoy a more relaxed break and far more freedom as the entire archipelago is operating at Covid alert level 1 from March 7.
This means that bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues can open at 100% capacity both indoors and on outside terraces, while the closing times can now be as late as 4am. Large events, including guided tours, kiddie clubs and camps, can also operate at 100% capacity. In addition, a maximum of 12 people are allowed to socialise together in public. However, while nightclubs have reopened, dancing is still not allowed.
For those returning to a holiday home in sunny Spain, or even planning to rent a property for a break, the Police have warned that the season for an escalation of break-ins is almost upon us. According to the officers, favoured methods of would-be thieves include inserting a thread or piece of plastic in the door jamb when they think the house empty. If, when the robbers return later, the item is undisturbed, they can be fairly confident that the coast is clear to break in.
Officers particularly advise anyone returning to their holiday home after a period of time away to meticulously check their doors for these items, but as the season becomes busier, it’s wise to have a look even if you’ve only been out for a few hours. If you notice anything suspicious, the National Police should be notified immediately.
Alicante
Unstable weather heralded the start of a wet week in Alicante, hot on the heels of a tempestuous weekend with record levels of rainfall recorded in parts of the province, leading to flash flooding.
As heavy rain pummelled the majority of the province, firefighters responded to more than 20 emergency calls, mainly concentrated in Elche where firefighters rescued a group of people trapped inside a car in rising waters. Many roads were simply unpassable to vehicles causing major disruptions, and orange and yellow alerts were issued by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) that continued into the middle of the week.
According to Aemet, Alicante-Elche Airport registered the highest level of rainfall since 1967 with 131.2l/m2 recorded during the heaviest of the wet spell and a whopping 101l/m2 in just one hour. “This is the highest amount of rainfall accumulated in one hour at the airport in 55 years, which is really extraordinary as it occurred in the cold season, at the beginning of March,” said Aemet sources.
It’s hoped that there won’t be a repeat of such dramatic scenes this weekend.
On a lighter and brighter note, fiesta fever is hotting up with preparations well underway for Valencia’s world-famous Fallas celebration (March 14 to 19), featuring fireworks and giant papier mâché statues that get burnt to the ground in a spectacular display after a week of loud partying.
And in Orihuela, Cabo Roig’s hugely successful and much-loved St Patrick’s Day Parade will make a much-anticipated return to the streets after two years of cancellations for its 10th year anniversary celebrations on March 17.The Parade has become one of Spain’s largest St Patrick’s Day processions and has also been recognised as one of the biggest in mainland Europe. These two massive fiestas this week promise to kick off the approach to spring in style, that is, assuming they’re not a total washout.
Finally, a holiday turned to heartbreak for a Scottish couple hours after they landed in the hugely popular resort of Benidorm this week. Maria Riley, 37, from Paisley, died suddenly in an unspecified “incident” on Monday March 7 whilst travelling with her wife Lynne and other friends.Lynne announced the tragic news on Facebook the following day, prompting an outpouring of heartfelt messages and tributes from friends and family who described Ms Riley as “genuinely one in a million” and “an amazing person”.
Andalucía
There have been further confrontations between the Spanish government and the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar located just south of Andalucía’s Cádiz. This time, there have been two bones of contention: rescue services and rubbish.
First it was reported that from now on, ambulances belonging to the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA) will only be allowed to transfer routine patients to Spanish hospitals if the staff have residency in Spain or are EU nationals. The government in Gibraltar also stated that “The same rules have been applied to St. John’s Ambulances even though this is a charity largely manned by volunteers, not by employees, and evidently also not a commercial operation.” They will also require a Spanish work contract to be able to transfer patients from the Rock to a Spanish hospital.
This has all come about as a result of Brexit, of course, which has thrown into question the status of Gibraltarians in the EU. Urgent talks are underway to try to come up with a solution as soon as possible, and in the meantime it has been agreed that in emergency, life-threatening situations, patients can be taken from Gibraltar to be treated at hospitals in Spain.
A similar, if slightly less serious issue, came up surrounding the disposal of trash from the Rock in Spain. Up until the beginning of this year, Gibraltar took its garbage to be disposed of at the Southern Europe Environmental Complex landfill site in Cádiz, but Brexit restrictions meant that the standing arrangement could not be continued as normal and over 6,000 tonnes of rubbish has already piled up on the eastern side of the Rock, near the sea. The Government of Gibraltar was forced to use crushing machinery to compact the waste in order to make more space and to try and prevent it falling in the water and causing an environmental disaster.
Now, the Spanish Ministry of the Environment has finally given authorisation for landfill waste to once again be driven over the border to Cádiz for processing. It is just the latest in a long line of services in Gibraltar that have been, and no doubt will continue to be, affected by Britain’s exit from the EU.
This is not the only controversy surrounding UK citizens in Andalucía though. After the 2-1 defeat on Real Betis by Eintracht Frankfurt in Seville on Wednesday night, there were violent clashes between Frankfurt ultras and West Ham fans. The two bands of football hooligans were filmed throwing bottles and attacking each other outside an Irish bar in the city centre. Deplorable actions like this hurt the image of all foreigners in Spain, and do no favours for the way Spaniards treat expats and holidaymakers alike. We must condemn this kind of behaviour and set a better example, for the sake of the continued peaceful coexistence of everyone in Spain.
Batalla campal en el centro de Sevilla entre ultras del West Ham y del Eintracht. pic.twitter.com/CV59g4GDhg
— Leandro Iglesias (@leandrosexta) March 9, 2022
You may have missed…
Spring officially starts in March and the days get longer, so we have to put our clocks forward an hour on Sunday March 27.
Murcia’s Corvera Airport has been named ‘Best Medium-sized Airport in Europe’ for a second year, a prestigious award bestowed by The Airports Council International (ACI) for its quality of service in the category of fewer than two million passengers per year.
A drug trafficker sentenced to eight years in prison in Belgium for smuggling more than 1.5 tonnes of cocaine and money laundering has been arrested in Altea in Alicante province.
Cartagena's popular markets look set to be transformed into gastrovenues and additional attractions in the city following updates to the Municipal Markets Regulation.
The Costas coastal authority has given permits to all the catering businesses who applied to renew their ‘chiringuito’ bars on the beaches of the municipality of Cartagena for this year.
And that’s that for another week! Thanks for reading, as ever. We know times are hard and getting harder, but if you can find it in your heart and your pocket to donate what you can to those who need it most, here’s a useful link with bank account numbers that will accept any offering large or small.
See you next week!
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