News
Record Nativity
Alicante earned two entries in Guinness World Records last month for the tallest and largest nativity scene . The display of three figures by a local artist in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento was visited by a Guinness adjudicator who confirmed the 56-metre tall figure of Joseph is a world record . However , left-wing politicians have condemned the cost of almost € 14,000 , “ at a time when there is a lack of social services .”
Warehouse tragedy
Four people died and 20 were injured in a fire at a warehouse in Badalona early last month . The three-storey building was home to an unknown number of squatters , mostly from sub-Saharan Africa . It began to collapse as fire fighters went in to search for victims and survivors .
Brexit advice
Britons who live in Spain have been warned to carry proof of residency next time they return from a visit to the UK . The British Embassy in Madrid has given the advice because , from January 1 , British citizens no longer have the automatic right to enter an EU country . It says acceptable proof would be the green A4 sheet or the new TIE residence card , a work contract , a tenancy agreement or a town hall certificate to confirm registration on its padrón ( local census ).
Fake whiskey
Fourteen people have been arrested in an operation to crack down on whiskey fraud . The gang , based in Ciudad Real and La Rioja , manufactured and distributed an alcoholic mixture in an operation thought to have netted € 800,000 and which caused a loss of around € 4 million to the unnamed brand which they counterfeited . Police seized fake bottles and tax stamps during the raids .
Britons warned on EU ban
The EU warned last month that British subjects could be barred from the European Union under current Covid- 19 restrictions . A few countries with low infection rates are exempt from rules which prohibit non-essential visitors from outside the EU and EEA ( European Economic Area ) and the UK was dropped from that list on January 1 at the end of the transition period .
Europeans resident in the UK can still return to their home countries and those British nationals coming to Europe for work or study reasons are also exempted .
There is also an exemption in place for residents of Northern Ireland
A parliamentary deadlock of over two years was broken in early December when members of the Spanish parliament voted in favour of the government ’ s 2021 budget . The victory by PM Pedro Sánchez ’ minority government will see € 27 billion from the EU coronovirus fund become available , plus increased funds for social services , but increased taxes are on the way for high earners and big businesses .
Opposition members were critical of the support shown to Sánchez ’ socialist administration by Basque and Catalan secessionist parties . They claimed the deals done between the government and those who would see the country broken apart puts at risk the institutions of the Spanish state , including the judiciary and the monarchy .
Some critics have questioned the economic assumptions made in the budget , particularly the government ’ s view that it expected GDP to contract this year before growing to 7.2 per cent in 2021 , and then to 9.8 per cent once the effect of the cash from the EU coronovirus fund becomes evident . travelling into the Irish Republic .
The UK ’ s Foreign Office currently advises against all non-essential travel to Spain and most of Europe with quarantine obligatory on return to Britain for those who have to travel . The leisure industry says that there had been a surge in holiday bookings during early 2021 , but it appears most of these could now be under threat .
Meanwhile Amazon in the UK has advised its customers that ordering in Britain for delivery in Spain could incur additional charges from January 1 . It says that these may include VAT ( IVA ) due , as well as customs duties , taxes and import fees .
2021 budget finally approved
However , the OECD said last month it expects the Spanish economy to grow just five per cent next year , and then four per cent in 2022 , while others have queried how effective the EU funds will be in generating growth .
Express radicalisation
A Spanish national living as a squatter in Madrid was detained last month after he was identified as the author of social media messages seeking to justify recent terrorist attacks in Europe . He is said to have undergone an “ express radicalisation process .” Investigators say he took measures to avoid detection including constant changes of places to sleep overnight .
Retrial ordered
A Basque separatist , jailed for trying to relaunch Batasuna , a banned political party with ETA connections , is facing retrial . The Supreme Court last month ordered Arnaldo Otegi , released in 2016 and now leader of the left-wing party Bildu , to be retried for his 2011 conviction which was annulled in 2018 . The European Court of Human Rights ruled then that Otegi had been denied a fair trial .
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