News
Pioneering transplant
Diplomatic fallout over Ceuta incident
A team from Madrid ’ s Gregorio Marañón Hospital has carried out the world ’ s first heart transplant on a baby under one year , using a donor heart which had stopped beating and despite incompatible blood types . The recipient was a premature infant who had been taken into intensive care 24 hours earlier . Naiara , now more than two months old and weighing over three kilos , is another success story supporting Spain ’ s role as leader in world heart transplant surgery .
Community meetings
Emergency meetings of property owners can be held virtually until the end of the year . By law , meetings of a “ comunidad de propietarios ” must be attended by members in person , or by a proxy held by another member , but this has caused problems during the pandemic . The Cabinet suspended the requirement from May 9 , but the obligation to be present physically will return in January .
Employee status
Ministers last month approved a new royal decree which confirms that fooddelivery riders and ride-hailing drivers are employees and are not selfemployed . The move follows a Supreme Court ruling last September which forced such businesses to change their relationship with riders and now have until August 12 to complete this . Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz said the law is important because it protects young people .
Weather warnings
Spain ’ s state weather agency Aemet said last month that the average temperature in the country has risen 1.7 ° Celsius over the past 60 years , and warned this will rise to 5 ° by the end of the century . It says that although the pandemic reduced activity , carbon dioxide concentration rose to levels not seen for 800,000 years . Aemet added that the average temperature in Spain last year was 14.7 °.
The Government of Pedro Sánchez sent troops to Ceuta on May 17 after thousands of immigrants attempted to enter the Spanish enclave . The prime minister paid a visit to the Spanish areas on Africa ’ s north coast the next day while the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain was summoned to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to explain how the border was opened .
Up to 8,000 people , including around 2,000 minors , were reported to have entered Ceuta , mostly from Morocco . Sr Sánchez described the situation as “ unusual ” and promised to restore order at the border as quickly as possible . At least half of those trying to enter were reported to have been returned quickly , some voluntarily and some carried by soldiers .
Eye witnesses reported seeing groups of people either swimming around the border fences which stretch out into the sea , or simply walking around at low tide . Officers from the Guardia Civil in Ceuta were forced to rescue some children who got into difficulties making the journey , whereas border guards on the Moroccan side were
Tolls on all major routes by 2024
Madrid has told the EU that it plans to introduce tolls on the country ’ s busiest roads from 2024 . The promise is included in the national recovery plan which has been sent to the European Commission in Brussels . Until now , the government has been abolishing tolls on some roads , including some sections of the AP-7 , when the operators ’ concessions expired . Now , it seems that , in time , 14,000 kilometres of motorways ( autopistas and autovías ) and other high-capacity routes will levy a charge on all users , including private vehicles and lorries , based on the EU principle of “ polluters pay .”
The government has claimed that Spain has the most extensive highcapacity road network in Europe . It argues that growing maintenance costs reported to have made no effort to stop people trying to get into Spain .
Spain ’ s Interior Minister , Fernando Grande-Marlaska , said 200 troops , plus 200 extra police officers were sent to assist Ceuta ’ s own 1,100-strong border force . The government ’ s action was supported by senior EU officials , one of whom commented , “ Spain ’ s borders are the European Union ’ s borders .”
As the diplomatic row over the incident intensified , Spain accused Morocco of disrespect for the European Union and of a willingness to risk the lives of children and babies . Madrid also called on Spain ’ s neighbours to take in some of 1,500 children and teenagers who were crammed into its reception centre for minors where Red Cross volunteers were supplying them with food and drink .
Ceuta has been one of three Spanish enclaves on the north African coast since the 17th century but all have constantly been claimed by Morocco . All three have semi-autonomous status , like other Spanish regions .
can no longer be covered directly out of the national budget , a situation which leads to a deterioration with consequent implications for road safety . However , Ministers acknowledge that exceptions will have to be made , for instance , in the case of municipalities whose sole access is via a major highway .
The cost of using the network has not yet been announced , although transport experts have suggested that a realistic rate per kilometre could be € 0.03 for light vehicles and € 0.14 for heavy vehicles . At 3 cents per kilometre , a return journey from Nerja to Málaga airport via the A-7 – a distance of 68.2 kilometres each way – would cost a car driver just over € 4 , while a haulage firm would pay a little over € 19 .
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