Here is The Leader daily briefing with the news from around Spain, things to do locally, the forecast for the day, and other notable events Today in Spain.
News Around Spain
The National Court has acquitted a young British man tried for sending a message in July to a private group of friends in which he joked before boarding a flight from London to Menorca. The British Security Services intercepted the private message and told Spanish authorities he planned to blow up the plane, which resulted in the immobilisation of an Air Force Eurofighter being sent to escort the aircraft. The 19-year-old young man, a native of India and with a British passport, face a fine of 22,500 euro as well as compensation for civil liability of 94,782 euro for the cost of mobilising the military aircraft. The judge however ruled that the man was not responsible for the response, as it was a private message. The judge also commented that it was not known how or why the British security services were able to monitor the private messages of a small group of friends.
After responding to a call for a suspected burglary, the Guardia Civil ended up arresting 2 people in the Alicante town of Busot after they entered the property through an open window and found 17 boxes with 202 kilograms of tobacco, 4,368 counterfeit packets of tobacco to be refilled, 3,640 boxes with tubes ready to be refilled with tobacco and 307 grams of marijuana, as well as a machine capable of making 12,000 illegal cigarettes an hour. The product was being produced for shipping mostly to Poland and Germany, for which smuggling was added to the long list of offences.
If you’ve ever been on a flight and thought the one thing missing in this travel chain is a space to leave your motorbike, then the good news is that Barcelona is set to become the airport to fulfil your desires. Starting on 6 February, the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport will have a new space for controlled parking of motorcycles. The surface parking lot at Terminal T1 will be reorganised to incorporate 930 controlled spaces for this type of vehicle. They have also improved the existing motorbike parking at other terminals.
According to the latest weekly Hydrological Bulletin, the Spanish hydraulic reserve stands at 50.5% of its total capacity (56,039 hm³), compared to 50.9% the previous year and 56.1% of the average for the last decade. The reservoirs currently store 28,288 hm³ of water, increasing in the last week by 2,932 hm³ (5.2% of their current total capacity).
If you have an older television set, it might be time to upgrade, or perhaps, if you´re lucky, just a retune will suffice, as from February 14, Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) will suffer the blackout of SD channels (standard definition) after the obligation to broadcast in HD. Most channels have been broadcast in HD for some time, but as the deadline is looming, it might be a good idea to check. We have more details about the specifics on the website, spaintoday.news, so it might be a good idea to check, just in case.
To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news
Things to Do Today
The Pascual Flores pilot boat is open for visitors in Torrevieja on Wednesdays through to Sundays until 29 January.
Torrevieja Carnival starts today. You can find the full schedule of events here, but here is an overview of this weekend.
The fun starts on Friday at the Torrevieja Municipal Theatre, with the proclamation given by the famous actress and presenter, Sara Escudero.
On Saturday at the Municipal Theatre in Torrevieja there will be a double session. At 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., the Coronation of the Carnival Queens and Kings will take place.
And Sunday is the first key day, firstly as the Carnival moves to La Mata (Plaza Encarnación Puchol) to celebrate the II Carnival Paella Competition, and at 12:00 p.m. the 3rd edition of the Animal Carnival, where animal shelters and associations will have their space to make possible the promotion of animal adoption. The day will be completed with a giant paella, entertainment for the little ones, musical performances and a gift raffle.
In the Casa de Cultura in Guardamar del Segura a collective exhibition featuring “new perspectives” is on in the same venue until February 4.
For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.
Local Markets
On Friday there’s are weekly market in Dolores, Jacarilla, Los Montesinos, Pilar de la Horadada, Torrellano (Elche), and Torrevieja.
On Saturday, you can get your bargains at the markets in Alicante, Almoradi, Catral, Elche, Moncayo (Guardamar), Orihuela, Playa Flamenca (Orihuela Costa), San Anton (Elche), San Fulgencio (La Marina), and Santa Pola.
And on Sunday, Algorfa (Zoco), Campoverde (Pilar de la Horadada), Corvera (Murcia), Guardamar El Limonero (Lemon Tree Road), Guardamar (N-332), Elche Mercadillo del Martínez Valero, La Aparecida (Orihuela), La Murada (Orihuela), and Pilar de la Horadada (El Toro).
The roads will of course be busy around those locations.
Traffic and Travel
On the roads of Spain, coinciding with the weekends of the winter months, an increase in traffic is expected on the main routes, national roads, and motorways towards rest areas, second homes and mountain areas for practicing winter sports.
FRIDAY
Movements out of large urban centres and increased circulation on the main communication routes towards rest areas, second homes and mountain areas, the least favourable time being between 7 and 9 p.m.
SATURDAY
Travel out of large urban centres, many of which will be short trips to recreation and leisure areas close to large towns, as well as increased circulation on the main communication routes to rest areas, second homes and mountain areas, the busiest times being between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
SUNDAY
Movements in the entrance direction to the large urban centres along the main communication road axes that channel the entire return movement, in particular on motorways, as well as along the access roads to areas of mountain with winter sports practice, at an unfavourable time between 6 and 10 p.m.
If you are going to the mountains, remember to take snow chains (click this link to browse snow chains on Amazon). Winter tyres are also permitted, but if you come across a blue circular sign showing snow chains, it is obligatory to have them fitted on your wheels before passing the sign. You are not permitted further without having them installed. It is both dangerous, and illegal.
For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es
For live traffic reports, visit the DGT traffic map
For weather warnings, consult AEMET
Once again, it’s not going to be a great day for flying, although still better than earlier in the week, with around 24,700 flights expected, the day starts with a risk of low visibility during morning hours for Spain, southern France and northern Italy, with flights made worse by moderate to strong winds stretching from the British Isles to Benelux and Germany. Oh, and for good measure, snow forecast for Norway and Sweden.
Heathrow is once again highlighted as a potential problem, with strong winds, particularly in the morning, likely to cause moderate disruption.
We also have industrial action continuing today in Lanzarote. There are still Air Traffic Control staffing issues in some UK towers too, as has been the case for some time now, with no real resolution in sight.
And, because why not on a Friday, the equipment testing resumes at Paris Air Traffic Control Centre, affecting the air space across the north of the country, resulting in anticipated delays, and on some occasions, those delays could be severe.
Weekend Weather
Across Europe today we have high pressure forecast over the south of the continent and ridging into central Europe. As mentioned in the flight briefing, risk of low visibility during the morning hours for Spain, southern France and northern Italy. Low Pressure over Scandinavia with associated frontal activity bringing unsettled conditions, moderate to strong winds stretching from the British Isles to Benelux and Germany. Forecasted snow for Norway and Sweden.
Weak low pressure over southeast Europe, mostly affecting Cyprus and Israel.
Locally, on the Costa Blanca, for the next 10 days will see the maximum temperature start to dip again from today, leading to a low a week on Wednesday of 11°c. The windiest day is expected to see wind of up to 30 kmph on Friday next week.
On This Day
1812, Napoleon Bonaparte orders the division of Catalonia into departments.
1939, in the context of the Spanish civil war, the rebellious army takes the city of Barcelona, which was semi-deserted after having been abandoned by the weakened republican army, which retreats along with a mass of refugees towards the French border.
1960, the Constitution of the Spanish Volleyball/Volleyball Federation (RFEVB) is established in Spain.
1979, the Spanish Government authorises ten foreign banks to establish branches in Madrid.
2001, terrorist group ETA murdered Ramón Díaz García, a 51-year-old cook employed at the San Sebastián Navy Command.
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