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Sports victory
Listeria outbreak
leaves three dead
Three dead, seven unborn babies
aborted, and over 200 people infected:
the toll wrought by an outbreak of
listeria in Spain during August and
September. The vast majority of
confirmed cases have been in
Andalucía, with fewer than a dozen
diagnosed elsewhere.
Marc Gasol
Spain’s national basketball team have
been celebrating winning their first
title for 13 years. They beat Argentina
95-75 in Beijing last month to take the
FIBA Basketball World Cup. The
victory made centre Marc Gasol, who
plays for Toronto Raptors, only the
second player ever to win a World Cup
and NBA championship in the same
year.
Spain upgraded
S&P Global last month upgraded
Spain’s sovereign debt to “A” from
“A-.” The ratings agency said prospects
for economic growth are good while
the budget deficit is shrinking. It is
forecasting a 2019 deficit of about 2%
of GDP, the lowest in 12 years, while
the economy is expected to grow 2.2%,
but then slow down until 2022.
Crash inquest
The cause of a plane crash in Spain
which killed two British pilots remains
unknown. An inquest in the UK last
month heard that the light aircraft in
which Simon Moores and David
Hockings died on January 9 hit a
mountain in dense fog near Errezil in
Gipuzkoa. The coroner said it was not
known whether their Piper plane had
suffered an engine problem or a
mechanical problem.
Child porn
A 43-year-old socialist councillor in
Torrejon de Ardoz, near Madrid, has
been detained by National Police after
several thousand pornographic images
of children were found on his
computer. Marcos Gallego Alonso is
also accused of distributing more than
60,000 images, some of very young
infants. Gallego is reported to have
resigned his position at the town hall
and has been released on bail.
market. The company voluntarily
recalled all products manufactured
since May 2019. Later in August,
further suspension orders were
imposed on another supplier.
The deaths have all been of elderly
people, while more than half the cases
have been recorded in pregnant
women and a quarter of patients are
over 65, according to WHO data. By
mid-September, around 20 people
remained in hospital but no new cases
were being reported. On September 6, seven people from
the same family from Palencia were
rushed to hospital in Marbella with
symptoms of food poisoning, although
only one tested positive for listeria and
is being treated where he lives in the
UK. Six days later, health authorities
issued a further alert after the
pathogen was detected at the restaurant
where they had eaten in Ronda, and at
a factory in Benaoján.
Investigations are reported to have
shown that the outbreak originated in
food products manufactured in
Andalucía, none of which had been
shipped to other countries. In the
middle of August, health authorities in
the region suspended production of
the suspected chilled roasted pork at
the implicated company and ordered
the withdrawal of all batches from the Listeriosis can be readily treated with
antibiotics if diagnosed early. However,
the risk of severe invasive disease is
high in specific susceptible groups
including pregnant women, the elderly
and immunocompromised individuals.
When infection occurs during
pregnancy, prompt administration of
antibiotics prevents infection of the
foetus and new-born babies.
National protest against
domestic violence
Protesters took to the rain-soaked
streets of more than 250 towns and
cities across Spain on September 20 to
declare a “feminist emergency.” The
action followed a series of high-profile
rape cases and a summer in which 19
women were murdered by their
current or former partners.
Many of the demonstrators dressed in
purple, the colour of the feminist
movement, or held candles, torches
and mobile phones to honour the
memory of victims of domestic
violence. One of the organisers
described this summer as “barbaric,
with figures on gender violence which
are chilling for a state that has
pioneering laws.”
Over 40 women have died already this
year, leaving at least 32 children
without their mothers. Since formal
recording of domestic violence
murders began in 2003, well over
12
1,000 deaths have been recorded.
The subject came to national
prominence with the trial of a gang
calling themselves the Wolf Pack who
were accused of raping a 19-year-old
during Pamplona’s annual “running of
the bulls” festival in July 2016. The
seven men were eventually convicted
of the lesser offence of sexual abuse,
triggering national protests and
demonstrations.
The trial in 2018 was widely criticised
following the interrogation to which
the victim was subjected in court. The
men’s defence team argued that the
girl, who was too terrified to move
during the assault, had consented to
the attack. However in June this year,
the regional court’s verdict was
overturned by the Supreme Court
which ruled that the men had indeed
committed rape. It increased their jail
sentences from nine to 15 years each.