In the Spanish news headlines in English for this Monday morning, 150,000 bank workers called to strike today, several minors investigated for using AI to sexually manipulate images, National Court confirms the existence of a cartel between dairy companies, and personal image practitioners to protest in Madrid.
Contents (click to jump ahead)
- Spanish News Headlines
- Business, Markets and Statistics
- 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 unions representing workers in banks have called a two-hour strike this Monday for all 152,000 employees in the financial sector, as a pressure measure to request an improvement in salary conditions in the market for the collective agreement negotiations that are underway.
The two-hour strike is called by the majority unions in the financial sector (FINE, UGT and CCOO) and will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., effectively delaying the time of starting work in those two hours.
The Guardia Civil has investigated seven minors in the province of Zaragoza after the dissemination of photographs of other minors that were manipulated with artificial intelligence to obtain a false image of the victim in which the naked body was seen. In total there are 13 minors involved. The other six are under 14 years old and cannot be charged.
The complaint by the parents of several young women regarding the dissemination of photographs in which they appeared naked was the beginning of the investigation by the Guardia Civil. These images had been previously manipulated to obtain a false portrait of the victims’ naked bodies.
The National Court has confirmed the Competitions and Markets Authority (CNMC) Resolution of July 2019 that considered that eight dairy companies and two associations formed a cartel whose illicit conduct consisted of exchanging sensitive commercial information to coordinate the purchase of milk.
In nine sentences, one for each appellant business, the judges of the Sixth Section confirm the fines of 8.5 million euro imposed on Calidad Pascual; of 53,310 euro to Central Lechera Galicia; 11.6 million to Grupo Lactalis Iberia; 6.8 million to Nestlé and 929,644 euro to Schreiber Food España.
The Court partially upholds the appeal presented by four other companies, Comercial Alimentaria Peñasanta, Danone, Industrias Lácteas Granada (Puleva), and Asociación de Empresas Lácteas de Galicia, understanding that some of the periods investigated are statute-barred, which is why it orders the CNMC to recalculate them.
Whilst tractors are threatening to surround Madrid in a “massive” protest on Monday, in the centre, another protest is set to take place, with personal image practitioners, such as hairdressers, beauticians, etc, will also take to the streets in protest.
The Business Alliance for the Lowering of IVA on personal image has called for a new protest on Monday at 11:00 a.m. at the doors of the Congress of Deputies, in Madrid, to demand the restitution of its reduced IVA as essential service in the General State Budgets (PGE) of 2024.
To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news
Business, Markets and Statistics
The week begins with the publication of the industrial price index (IPRI) for January in Spain. Outside our borders, the evolution of new home sales in the US and the Dallas Fed manufacturing index stand out.
Meanwhile, on a business level, Cie Automotive presents its fourth quarter accounts.
In the UK, the OEUK clean energy transition manifesto is published and results from Bunzl.
Things to Do Today
This week, Andalusia Day, Dia de Andalucia, is celebrated on Wednesday, 28 February, and a concert will be taking place in Torrevieja.
International Flamenco Day is celebrated in Torrevieja with a concert on 2 March. You can then take a Trip to Oz, with the kids, on 15 March, assuming you survive Peter and the Wolf on 10 March. There is also the Magical world of Disney concert on 16.
For runners, on 10 March, Elche has both as 7.2k and half marathon, Crevillente on 6 April has a 6 k race, and the Dama de Guardamar half marathon, which takes the form of both a 10k and 21k variant (10.5 and 21.1 kilometres, respectively, to be pedantic), and will take place in Guardamar del Segura on 14 April 2024.
Aircraft fans can look forward to RACEFEST, Madrid, taking place on 16 March, where the Patrulla Aguila aerobatic team from San Javier will be taking part, before showcasing their skills locally in the San Javier Airshow, taking place from 3rd-5th May – Festival Aéreo San Javier – over the playas de Santiago de la Ribera, San Javier, Murcia. They are also at the DIFAS 2024, taking place in Oviedo on 1 June, and on 15th June, the 50º Aniversario del ALA 14, in Albacete, where a competition is open to design a Eurofighter livery.
If your love of the sky means watching people jumping out of planes, then there´s good news for you too, as on 19th March – Fiestas Patronales de Puerto de Mazarrón 2024, in Murcia, sees the Patrulla Acrobática de Paracaidismo del Ejército del Aire (PAPEA) parachutists perform, and on 31st March they are at the Conmemoración de “El Encuentro” de Alcantarilla, also in Murcia, before the team head overseas in April to attend the 5th FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship, in Macau, China.
Musically, James Blunt is back in Alicante on 19 July, as is Tom Jones on 25. Other popular groups coming to Spain in the near future include AC/DC, Depeche Mode, and Simple Minds.
A Black Music Festival is taking place in Salt until 9 March, and the Jerez Festival of Flamenco and art is on in Jerez de la Frontera also until 9 March.
Down south, the Malaga Film Festival takes place from 1 to 10 March, followed by the Granada Tango Festival from 12 to 17 March.
For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.
Local Markets
Monday is market day in Elche and Santa Pola.
The roads will of course be busy around those locations.
Traffic and Travel
There is still the ongoing protest with farmers blocking roads around the country, and so you should check the DGT traffic map (below) before you travel. On Monday, much of the focus will be the roads around Madrid.
The same applies if you are heading towards higher ground, as snow continues to fall in places and 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.
Wednesday is Andalusia Day and so a special traffic operation will take place in the days before and during that celebration in the Andalucia area of the country.
For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es
Flight wise, with some 25,500 flights scheduled across Europe on this Monday, it’s not one of the busiest days, but the weather might take its toll, and military exercises are aplenty this week.
Before we get onto today’s weather though, a warning that a 24-hour strike is planned from late Tuesday night until late Wednesday night in Greece. No information has been published as of Sunday evening, and so the actions and activities are classed as unconfirmed, we will revisit that in tomorrow’s update. A teleconference is planned for Monday morning to discuss the situation, so we should know more tomorrow.
Regarding the weather, it’s all about the wind, and Heathrow is set to be plagued by problems once again on Monday, but today, the wind related problems extend across London, and pretty much to a lesser extent the whole of the south of England. This is also the case for much of the Benelux region.
Regarding the military exercises, once again there is missile Firing over the Black Sea from 25 to 27 February 2024, with alternative routes provided for commercial aircraft.
Military Exercise BVR 2024-1 will take place in Hungary from 26 to 29 February and 04 to 07 March 2024.
Military exercise Joint Warrior (JW 24-1) will take place mainly within Scottish airspace, but also impacting areas in England. This exercise is part of the Steadfast Defender campaign, which will continue with the Nordic Response exercise in the first half of March. The exercise schedule is 24 Feb – 04 Mar, but the activities on the weekends will be very low.
The exercise is not expected to have much of an impact on commercial traffic, but intensive military movements are expected, especially in Scottish airspace, from today.
Official Websites for Travel Information
- For live traffic reports, visit the DGT traffic map
- For weather warnings, consult AEMET
- DGT Twitter account
- AEMET weather related road information
- Aemet Twitter account
- For flight information, check the AENA airport operator’s website
Weather
Always check the weather where you are before embarking on a trip. Here are the official sources for alerts and warnings.
- Click here to visit AEMET for weather alerts and forecasts.
- Click here to visit the DGT for live traffic and road conditions.
- AEMET weather related road information
On This Day
2004, an exhibition is inaugurated in Valladolid to commemorate the fifth centenary of the death of Isabel la Católica.
2004, in Barcelona, all democratic parties, except the PP (Partido Popular), support a demonstration against the terrorist group ETA.
1991, in the Canary Islands, Spanish police seize two tons of cocaine on a ship on the high seas, coming from Colombia and destined for Galicia and its drug trafficking network.
Video of the Day
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The post Spain Today – Monday 26 February 2024 first appeared on Mark Nolan´s Podcast.
