News
Politics remain complex
after November vote
Spain’s second General Election of
2019 held last month only served to
produce further political
complications. The socialist PSOE
party lost three seats but remain the
largest party in the country’s lower
house, the Congress of Deputies, with
120 out of 350 seats. However, they still
do not have an absolute majority.
The far-right party Vox produced the
biggest shock, up from 24 to 52 seats,
making it the country’s third political
force, boosted, experts say, by the
Catalan independence crisis.
The liberal-conservative Partido
Popular came second with 88 seats, 22
more than in April, but centre-right
Ciudadanos collapsed dramatically,
falling from 57 seats seven months ago
to just ten now. The party’s president
Albert Rivera immediately resigned.
Left-wing Unidas Podemos lost seven
seats for a total of 35, while newly-
formed centre-left Más Pais took three
seats. The remaining 37 seats were won
by seven minor parties on a turnout
was 69.87 per cent, down from the
April total of 75.75 per cent.
In the upper house, the Senate, the
PSOE lost 29 seats to total 92, but
remains just ahead of the second
placed party, the PP, which gained 28
to total 84 seats. The Catalan Republic
Left party, ERC, retained their 11 seats,
Together For Cataluña, Junts, gained
one to total three, while Vox retained
their two seats.
The vote on November 10 was
obligatory under the Spanish
Constitution because acting PM Pedro
Sánchez failed to form a workable
coalition following the vote in April
which had left him with a minority in
Parliament.
As Soltalk went to press, Sr Sánchez was
being urged by the European
Commission to form a stable
government with a budget that the EU
approves. Pierre Moscovici, the EU
commissioner for economic and
financial affairs, called on Sr Sánchez to
introduce the reforms required to
address long-standing issues such as the
structural deficit and high debt levels.
Dengue fever contracted
through sex
A Spanish man has contracted a viral
tropical disease, despite not having
visited any country where the virus is
found. Doctors say he contracted
dengue fever from his male partner
who had recently been in Cuba and the
Dominican Republic.
The 41-year-old developed the fever,
which is almost always spread by
mosquitoes, and Spanish authorities in
Madrid have confirmed it was
transmitted through his partner’s
semen. It is believed to be the first case
in the world in which dengue fever has
been transmitted through having sex.
Cuba visit
Tests have shown the virus contracted
in Spain is identical to the virus which
exists in Cuba.
Dengue fever is common in many
parts of the world, particularly in
tropical regions including Asia, South
America and the Caribbean. It causes
flu-like symptoms such as a high
temperature, headache, pain behind
the eyes and in the muscles, and
vomiting or nausea. There is no cure
but symptoms tend to clear up on their
own within a week or so, although it
can be more serious for some patients,
especially children.
Scientists have known for 18 months
that the virus could live in semen after
examining a traveller recently returned
from Thailand, but there has been no
previous evidence that it could spread.
9
King Felipe and Queen Letizia last
month became the first Spanish
monarchs to visit Cuba in 500 years.
Spain is Cuba’s third largest economic
partner, after China and Venezuela, with
$1.39 billion in 2018, and the former
colony was one of the last to gain
independence from Madrid in 1898. The
four-day official visit marked the 500th
anniversary of Havana, founded in
November 1519.
Russian probe
Spain’s High Court has opened an
investigation into the alleged activities of
an elite Russian military unit in
connection with the illegal referendum
staged in Cataluña in 2017. Intelligence
sources in several countries are reported
to have claimed the intention was to
destabilise Europe through extremist
and racist organisations. The unit has
previously been linked to the poisoning
of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and
his daughter Yulia in the UK in March,
2018.
Leaders sentenced
Two former socialist leaders of
Andalucía have been found guilty by a
Seville court in the main case of the so-
called ERE scandal. They oversaw
irregular payments made from a €680
million government fund meant to
finance severance payments to
redundant workers. José Antonio
Griñán, premier 2009-13, has been
jailed for six years, while Manual
Chaves, premier 1990-2009, has been
barred from public office for nine years.
Of 21 defendants, only two have been
fully acquitted.
Island drowning
A 67-year-old British man is reported to
have drowned in a swimming pool at a
complex in the south of Tenerife. He
was pulled unconscious from the water
at 4.30am and could not be revived.
While an investigation is ongoing, police
have said there was nothing to indicate
the death was suspicious.