VinceTracy Podcasts

SPAIN must urgently change its rules on how much British pensioners need to earn to live there or its economy will suffer badly, a leading ex-pat said to The Express. Speaking from the Expat Centre in Costa Blanca South, Moira Carmenate said she was “surprised” that Spain hadn’t dropped its requirement for pensioners to prove an annual earning of more than £21,000 (€24,697). Spain is a second home to many criminal groups, in particular the Italian mafia. The recent arrests of two mafia bosses highlight this trend. At the beginning of August, Domenico Paviglianiti, a high-ranking member of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia group, was arrested in Madrid, where he had been hiding after being wrongly released from prison in Italy. Forgotten, lost or collected: Spaniards hang on to peseta coins and banknotes worth €1.6 billion The deadline to exchange the former currency for euros has now passed, but unlike in countries such as France or Portugal, a surprisingly large amount has not been returned.

A 600.000 euro bill to replace burned containers in Valencia angers city officials because the money could be better used elsewhere. In the last two years 518 containers in Valencia have been destroyed in acts of vandalism, 278 standard, gray containers, 165 containers for paper and cardboard, and 75 for plastic. According to the City Council, most of them were burned. The search for quality land in the Province is reminiscent of the days of land grabs in the United States, with various companies outbidding each other to be able to instal the solar park. The situation became so serious that people began organising in opposition to the new land owners, attempting to educate the public and anyone who would listen about how dangerous uncontrolled solarization of Valencia Community can be for the environment. Despite Government guidance recommending they are worn in 'crowded and enclosed spaces', all but two frontbench ministers - Michael Gove and security minister Damian Hinds - declined to wear a mask. MPs were crammed shoulder-to-shoulder into the House for the first time since March last year to debate the situation in Afghanistan and were not required to socially distance or wear a mask.

Spain is the number one country for Erasmus exchange students, and Valencia University is Europe’s most desired university… Valencia has become a favourite among European students participating in the Erasmus exchange programme, according to European Commission data. In the municipality of Tijarafe, on the island of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, located among pine and almond trees in the northwest corner of the island, you can discover one of the most incredible sights, Poris de Candelaria, the ‘town within a cave’, overlooking the deep blue of the Atlantic Ocean, where it is not unusual to regularly spot whales or dolphins.

The price of electricity in Spain has been rising for more than a year, but on July 21st 2021, it reached a new historic high of €106.57 / MWh, according to data from the Iberian Electricity Market Operator (OMIE). This amid an economic crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic and a national heatwave, has dealt another blow to Spanish pockets and has caused a wave of complaints. SPANISH town of Otero de Sanabria gets its own AVE train station for its 24 inhabitants Alfonso Fernandez Mañueco, the President of Castilla y Leon, accompanied by Raquel Sanchez, the Minister of Public Works, on Thursday, July 22, inaugurated the AVE new train station in the small town of Otero de Sanabria, which has just 24 inhabitants, who, after several months of seeing trains passing for Galicia, can now take advantage of the four daily services to Madrid and Galicia. In the UK This is the election that will determine the future of Labour — and perhaps whether it continues to exist as a party at all. No, not a plan to unseat Sir Keir Starmer — but the race to succeed 'Red Len' McCluskey as the leader of Unite, the 1.4-million strong trade union that the Corbyn-supporting McCluskey

From July 1, the European Union is going to put into use a “coronavirus passport” that will allow its citizens to travel across the 27-country bloc without the need for quarantines – assuming the epidemiological situation does not take a new turn for the worse. The “EU Digital Covid Certificate,” as the scheme is known, is seeking to standardize the documents issued by each country so that they can be recognized by each member.

Nuria Montes, general secretary of Hosbec, the hoteliers association of Benidorm and the Costa Blanca, made a scathing attack of the UK’s criteria for classifying countries in their traffic light system and accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of protectionism. Emiliano García-Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha, has said that his government is planning to end the compulsory use of face masks outdoors in the region by July. According to a recent study published in early April 2021, by researchers Adrià Miralles- Núñez, Carlos Pradera and Juan A. Pujol, a new insect – Zelus renardii – with a powerful bite, has been detected in some of the autonomous communities of Spain, namely, the Valencian Community, Madrid and Cádiz, but they forecast that it will quickly spread to other regions of the country.

Eitan Biran, five, the sole survivor of a horror cable car crash in Italy which killed his parents,brother and great-grandparents, was protected by father Amit who 'wrapped his son in aninstinctive embrace', medics said........plus much more news from Spain and UK

The trends are clear. Eurostat has studied 1,216 regions – or provinces in the case of Spain – in 31 countries. Almost nine out of 10 will have a higher average age in 2050 than in 2019. Not all areas will age at the same rate. The fastest aging populations are expected to be those located mainly in Eastern Europe – the Baltic countries, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria; and southern Europe– Italy, Spain and Portugal. Spain’s Social Security system could be about to change. Negotiations underway with employerand worker representatives may lead to a new multi-tiered system of contributions for the self-employed based on annual revenue, as well as new benefit reduction rates for early retirement. Meanwhile Thousands of migrants have crossed into a Spanish enclave from Morocco after swimming around a border fence, taking advantage of relaxed border controls in the North African country.

Podemos as a party was born from the 2011 citizen movement known as 15-M, a series of protests in response to austerity policies in place at the time and political corruption. The emergence of the group in 2014, led by Iglesias, who back then was a university professor and television host, shookup the traditional two-party system in Spain. In 2019, Podemos joined forces with the United Left (IU) and Equo, to create Unidas Podemos ahead of a general election that year. In Spain, large groups of revellers chanted 'Freedom' and sang songs as they unleashed their emotions and boozed on take-out alcohol after the threat of fines of more than £500 was lifted.There were reports of clashes between partygoers and police in some parts of Madrid as officers tried to dissolve large gatherings of people without face masks on.

The Italian government expects its debt to rise above 159.5 percent of GDP later this year, the highest figure in a century. To support its members the EU has agreed to a €672.5billion (£585billion) rescue package named the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF)......and lots more