By Susana Vera and Guillermo Martinez VALENCIA, Spain (Reuters) -The deadliest flash floods in Spain’s modern history have killed at least 214 people and dozens were still unaccounted for, four days after torrential rains swept the eastern region of Valencia, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday. In a televised statement, Sanchez said the government was sending 5,000 more army troops to help with the searches and clean-up in addition to 2,500 soldiers already deployed. […]
Tag: Spain
In Spain’s drought-hit Costa Blanca, people queue for bottled water
By Eva Manez TEULADA-MORAIRA, Spain (Reuters) – A severe drought has rendered tap water undrinkable in several towns along Spain’s Costa Blanca, forcing holidaymakers and locals to queue at distribution points for bottled water to cover their basic needs. As water levels have dropped, salinity has increased, prompting authorities in some areas to deem tap water unsafe for drinking or cooking. Bottled water is being distributed free of charge. Overdevelopment, climate change and mass […]
Four dead, 21 injured as roof collapses in Mallorca restaurant
By Jaime REINA -ALCOCER PALMA, Spain, May 24, 2024 (AFP) – The roof of a restaurant in Spain’s popular tourist island of Mallorca collapsed on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 21 others, local rescuers said. “There are four dead and around 21 injured,” an emergency services spokeswoman said, adding that “several nationalities” were among the victims. The emergency services wrote on social media platform X that seven of the victims were in a “very […]
Scientists at Spain meeting sound alarm over ocean warming
By Rosa SULLEIRO BARCELONA, April 12, 2024 (AFP) – Scientists at a United Nations conference in Spain called Friday for more research into the sharp rise in ocean temperatures which they warn could have devastating consequences. “The changes are happening so fast that we are not able to keep pace with the impact,” the executive secretary of UNESCO’s intergovernmental oceanographic commission, Vidar Helgesen, told AFP on the sidelines of the three-day “Ocean Decade” conference in […]
Paris Picasso Museum reopens with new selection
By Sandra BIFFOT-LACUT PARIS, March 10, 2024 (AFP) – The Picasso Museum in Paris, which houses the world’s biggest collection of the Spanish artist’s works, is reopening on Tuesday with an overhauled display and a first-ever tribute to his ex-partner, the renowned painter Francoise Gilot. The new permanent collection will present a fresh selection of 400 works by Pablo Picasso across the museum’s 22 rooms. They have been drawn from some 200,000 items stored in […]
Spain suspends Worldcoin crypto over privacy concerns
MADRID, March 6, 2024 (AFP) – Spain’s data protection agency said Wednesday it had ordered the temporary suspension of the Worldcoin crypto project that relies on an eye scan to verify a user’s identity, citing concerns about data protection. Worldcoin, set up by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, began operating last year and provides users with a private digital identity — a “World ID” — after they get their eye’s unique iris pattern scanned. The […]
‘Very worried’: Scientists fret as Antarctic sea ice dwindles
By Juan BARRETO, Juan RESTREPO ON BOARD THE ARC SIMON BOLIVAR, Antártida, March 2, 2024 (AFP) – Sea ice levels in Antarctica have registered historic lows for three consecutive years, portending grave consequences for life on Earth as we know it. But looking out over the southernmost continent, scientist Miguel Angel de Pablo laments that humanity seems to be oblivious to the warnings. “We (scientists) are very worried… because we don’t see how we can […]
4 dead as fire engulfs residential block in Spain’s Valencia
VALENCIA, Spain, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – At least four people have died in a huge fire that gutted a multi-storey apartment block in Spain’s eastern port city of Valencia, with another 14 people injured. The toll could rise, with 19 people missing, a source on the city council who asked not to be named told AFP. The fire began around 5:30 pm on Thursday on the fourth floor and spread rapidly, witnesses and the […]
Europe demands answers, diplomats summoned after Navalny’s death
PARIS, Feb 19, 2024 (AFP) – A host of European governments Monday summoned Russian diplomats following the prison death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne said during a visit to Argentina that Russia’s ambassador in Paris would be summoned, while Norway’s foreign ministry issued a statement that it was calling on its top Russian diplomat “for a talk” about Navalny’s death. “In the conversation, Norwegian views will be conveyed about […]
Madrid wants masks worn in hospitals as viruses surge
MADRID, Jan 5, 2024 (AFP) – The Spanish government on Friday called for the wearing of masks to be obligatory in medical facilities as cases of flu and Covid-19 surge with the onset of winter. With the increase in respiratory infections, “we are calling” for the return of obligatory mask-wearing in hospitals and health centres, Health Minister Monica Garcia said on X, formerly Twitter. The minister said she would bring up the subject on Monday […]
Sanchez gets new term as Spanish PM despite amnesty row
By Daniel SILVA MADRID, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – Pedro Sanchez won the backing of Spain’s parliament on Thursday for another term as prime minister, with the country divided over his decision to grant Catalan separatists an amnesty in exchange for their crucial support in a vote of confidence. Sanchez, in office since 2018, won the backing of 179 lawmakers, three more than the absolute majority of 176 in the 350-seat parliament after an often […]
Spain’s Catholic bishops apologise after report of 200,000 abused
Spain’s bishops apologised on Monday after a report estimated more than 200,000 minors had been sexually abused by the country’s Roman Catholic clergy since 1940. But the Spanish Episcopal Conference said the numbers mentioned in the report, by an independent commission, “do not correspond to the truth”. The paper published Friday did not give a specific number of abuse victims but said a poll of more than 8,000 people found that 0.6 percent of Spain’s […]





