News
Car death
A ten-month-old baby girl died after being left in a car for eight hours on Mallorca last month . Her 56-year-old grandfather faces manslaughter charges after telling police he forgot she was in the car when he parked at 7.00am . Officers who were called to the scene and broke into the vehicle are reported to have broken down in tears when she was found to be dead .
Narrow escape
Two Spanish tourists were on the Morandi bridge in Genoa when it collapsed last month . Pedro Barthe from Asturias and his cousin were less than a kilometre away from the disaster when they ground to a halt and watched in horror as vehicles plunged 90 metres to the ground . They said the scene was “ total chaos ” with a constant procession of emergency services vehicles arriving .
Tourist dies
A British tourist on Ibiza died on his 24th birthday last month after diving into the sea and hitting his head on rocks . He was pronounced dead at the scene despite being pulled out of the water by friends and emergency responders could do nothing to save him . The dead man is believed to have dived into the water from a height of eight metres at a cove called Cala Gració near San Antonio .
Intoxicated toddler
The parents of a 15-month-old baby found to be intoxicated on cocaine and marijuana have been detained in Alicante . The 17- year-old mother and 21-year-old father were reported to police by a hospital where the infant was taken for treatment . The child was reported to be responding well and will remain under the protection of the Valencia region when released from the hospital .
Suspension call
Political party Ciudadanos has called for Cataluña to be suspended of its powers again after its new leader said his regional government will “ attack ” the “ unjust Spanish state .” Quim Torra made the remarks on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Barcelona and Tarragona . Cataluña ’ s powers were suspended by Madrid last October following an illegal independence referendum , but reinstated after Torra became regional president .
See Smalltalk on page 20
Pier collapses during Vigo festival
Around 300 people were injured , some seriously , when part of a pier gave way during a music festival in the Galician city of Vigo . It was later claimed that no safety inspections had been carried out on the wooden and concrete structure for some years , although festival organisers said all safety measures were in place .
The incident happened within the city ’ s port area early on August 12 during the performance of a Mallorca rap artist . Witnesses said the seafront boardwalk beneath them collapsed “ like a lift shaft ” and concert-goers fell to the ground on top of one another , with some tumbling into the water .
Dozens remained trapped in the debris while boats were immediately launched to search for survivors in the sea . Many of those hurt were reported to be youngsters , some attending their
New decree to order Franco ’ s exhumation
The government says that the exhumation of the remains of Francisco Franco is to be achieved through a decree amending the Law of Historical Memory . Culture Minister José Guirao said this would be done to “ avoid lawsuits ” and the cabinet was expected to approve the move before the end of August . He added the decree will be validated by Congress at the start of the next session .
The remains lie , alongside those of an estimated 60,000 victims of Spain ’ s Civil War , in a huge mausoleum known as The Valley of the Fallen , 60 kilometres north-west of Madrid . It was built over an 18 year period on the orders of General Franco , and , until 2007 , his supporters held a mass at the site every November on the first music concert . First reports said that a structural fault in one of the concrete pilings caused the decking in a central area to buckle and fail along a 30 metre length . National Police launched an immediate investigation and the entire area was closed to the public for “ security reasons .”
In the days following , arguments broke out about who was responsible for safety in the area . The consensus appeared to be that , while the structure was crowded with people at the time of the collapse , the cause was a lack of adequate maintenance of the structure .
anniversary of his death before the new Historical Memory Law banned such political assemblies .
Groups representing Franco ’ s victims have been pressing for his remains to be removed and buried elsewhere , after which , they say , the Valley of The Fallen could become a Civil War memorial .
In June , Spain ’ s new prime minister Pedro Sánchez said he intended to proceed with exhuming Franco ’ s remains and that work would start in July . However , the project was delayed after the socialist government ran into problems with Franco ’ s family members who object to the exhumation and have threatened legal action .
1 4