Today in Spain we have a drugs distribution network shut down at Seville airport, a former PP councillor on trial for falsifying Covid certificates, a shop administrator facing prison for stealing 140,000 euro, two separate homophobic cases being heard by the court in Madrid, and Cabify may soon be able to increase their presence in the capital, or not.
Across Europe, France will publish its inflation and production price data. In addition, we will know retail sales in Spain. On a day in which, together with the unemployment rate reference in Germany and Italy, the trend of inflationary pressures in Germany in the month of January will also be relevant, after its significant rise in December and in a situation marked by the possible impact of the Red Sea situation on value chains.
Contents (click to jump ahead)
- Spanish News Headlines
- Things to Do Today
- Local Markets
- Traffic and Travel
- Weather
- On This Day
- Video of the Day
- Follow Mark Nolan’s Podcast
Spanish News Headlines
The Guardia Civil arrested 40 people and investigated another 14, for sending narcotic substances through courier companies. The investigation began in the Port Area and cargo terminals of Seville Airport when the use of this type of company for the shipment of drugs, mainly hashish and marijuana, was detected, leaving from Andalusia to other points in the national geography and abroad. The interception of the shipments has resulted in the seizure of 93 cannabis plants, 593 kilos of marijuana flowering tops, 943 grams of cocaine, 79 kilos of hashish, 18 grams of heroin and 5 kilos of MDMA.
A former PP councillor and his wife are on trial in Valladolid accused of falsifying Covid certificates, pretending to be positive, in order to prevent the property owner of the home where they lived from evicting them. Although unrelated to this case, the couple are also the parents of another former PP councillor in Bobadilla del Campo who last year was sentenced to two years and three months in prison for fraud and falsehood. The man and his wife are facing four years in prison and the payment of a fine of 3,000 euro.
A woman will be tried in the fifth section of the Provincial Court of Pontevedra, based in Vigo, for having allegedly appropriated 140,000 euro from the store where she worked as an administrator through nearly fifty bank transfers and alterations of the real amounts of their payrolls. The Public Ministry considers her the author of a continuous crime of aggravated fraud and falsification in a commercial document and requests for her six years in prison and a fine of 3,240 euro, as well as costs, in addition to compensation of 139,638 euro for the owner of the store.
The Prosecutor’s Office has requested 2 years and 9 months in prison for a man who hit a couple of girls with his crutches and in another case, 2 years and 11 months in prison for two young girls who attacked a minor on two occasions. The second section of the Provincial Court of Madrid will judge both homophobic attacks this week, as appears in the accusation documents of the Public Ministry.
The Supreme Court has once again upheld an appeal presented by Maxi Mobility, a subsidiary of Cabify, against the denial by the Community of Madrid of a request processed in 2018 to obtain 1,000 VTC authorisations, ordering that the process be opened again. This ruling reproduces a similar one published a week ago, which ruled in the same way about another 1,000 licences, so these judicial resolutions open the door for Cabify to add another 2,000 VTC licences in the Community of Madrid. However, although the restrictions set by the Government of Mariano Rajoy has been proven to be the illegality, new rules on environmental grounds could still restrict the service.
To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news
Things to Do Today
Last chance during this visit to take a walk around the Pascual Flores pilot boat in Torrevieja.
A reminder again, as a few people have asked me to repeat the dates, the San Javier air show is scheduled for the 3rd to 5th of May.
In the Casa de Cultura in Guardamar del Segura a collective exhibition featuring “new perspectives” is on until February 4.
For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.
Local Markets
Midweek markets can be found today at Guardamar del Segura, La Mata (Torrevieja), San Isidro, and San Miguel de Salinas.
The roads will of course be busy around those locations.
Traffic and Travel
Road wise, there´s nothing significant planned but remember that if you are venturing into the mountain areas, which in some cases might be less than an hour from the sunny coast, snow chains should be a consideration to avoid getting stranded.
For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es
Weather
Pretty much a settled week continues, although the wind is still playing a part in places.
- Click here to visit AEMET for weather alerts and forecasts.
- Click here to visit the DGT for live traffic and road conditions.
On This Day
2013, one of the biggest political corruption cases in Spain came to light, when the newspaper El País publishes an alleged accounting of the Partido Popular that the former treasurer Luis Bárcenas would have been keeping from 1990 to 2009, which included numerous politicians and businessmen, including the then president of the Government of Spain and president of the PP, Mariano Rajoy, and the deputy secretaries Rodrigo Rato and Jaime Mayor Oreja among others.
1984, the flag of the Community of Madrid was raised for the first time in Spain.
1980, in Guatemala City, several political dissidents and indigenous farmers take over the Spanish embassy to protest the Mayan Genocide. At noon the Guatemalan police enter and burn them alive with white phosphorus. 36 people die.
1978, 1,133 amendments are introduced to the draft Constitution and the PSOE maintains its opposition to the monarchy.
1922, the Spanish police are granted use of asphyxiating gases, dogs, whistles and easy-to-use metal clubs.
Video of the Day
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The post Spain Today – Wednesday 31 January 2024 first appeared on Mark Nolan´s Podcast.
