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Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Oct 9
As restrictions are gradually lifted the world over and things start to return to some semblance of normality, so too are we pleased to announce the return of the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup & Weekly Bulletin. But this is also a ‘new normal’.
We’re sad to say goodbye to Murcia Today’s previous Editor, Zoe Cooper, who headed this ship ably through all sorts of stormy weather for 13 years and is now enjoying the benefits of a well-earned retirement. I’m Tom, and I’m honoured to take the rudder to steer Spanish News Today and Murcia Today into uncharted waters as Editor.
A bit about me. From Bognor Regis, England, I’ve lived all over the north and south of Spain since 2013 (minus a brief stint in the Far East). With a background in web marketing, I’ve worked for the Mediterranean’s biggest and best-known property website, and in IT and e-commerce business solutions in Southeast Asia, and now it’s a great privilege for me to take over as Editor of the best English-language daily news site in Spain. I promise to try and do justice to what Zoe created before, to maintain the quality of news content and the fresh, honest voice that has kept you, the reader, so loyal to this paper for so long. Your support is infinitely appreciated, and I swear to strive to keep alive the spirit of care for community that has been the mark of this online news platform throughout its reporting on environmental issues, illegal migration into Spain, airport scandals, topics relating to the underrepresented and undervalued expat population in Spain and, of course, coronavirus.What better place to kick off?
Coronavirus
People in Spain and all over the world are quietly, or even sometimes loudly, confident that this latest wave will be the last big one and that, thanks to the rapidly advancing rate of vaccination in Spain, Europe and the West, we might actually be arriving to that light at the end of the tunnel.
Sure, we’ve been here before. People have been optimistic about falling infection rates and the dwindling number of deaths from Covid-19, prompting football stadiums to increase capacity, airports to allow more passengers through their gates, and bars and restaurants to open later as the regional government of Murcia decided this week. The maximum limit on customers per table has been removed, the closing time for bars, pubs and nightclubs has been extended to 4am, while friends and family are allowed now to meet up with virtually no restrictions.
In the past this has only blown up in our faces. Inevitably, holidays and Christmas breaks have been a welcome break from the doom and gloom of coronavirus, but spelled disaster two weeks down the line when cumulative incidence rates shot back up. But could it be different this time? We are all slowly getting double jabbed, after all…
Well, maybe not all of us… there still remain over three million people to be vaccinated in Spain. Some of them will get their turn, but some people just don’t want to. The Spanish Health Authorities this week launched a formal investigation into why people refuse to get vaccinated. Consisting of a simple questionnaire, the research aims to find out whether people are anti-vax because they are sceptical about whether the vaccines work, if they’re scared, or if they think the whole coronavirus thing is some big hoax. The idea is that this information will allow the Spanish government to better target these people and change their minds, urging them to get vaccinated using the reasons and arguments that will most appeal to them. It may not work for 100% of people, but at least it seems like a better idea to get to know why people think that way instead of just judging them for it and pointing fingers.
Anti-vaxxers are in the minority, though, as the vaccination program in Spain continues full steam ahead. At the end of this week, 87.4% of the Spanish population has been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, representing 36,832,362 people: 1,144,953 in Murcia, 3,974,880 in the Valencian community and 6,615,499 in Andalucía. By excluding all those under the age of 12 from the calculation of the daily vaccine figures, the vaccination rate shot up by ten points overnight, and from now on the government will include those who have received the third booster jab in the tally. From the end of October, everyone over the age of 70 will be offered a third vaccine.
One curious and worrying side effect of being vaccinated that is currently being investigated by Spanish health authorities is irregularity in women’s menstrual cycles. In the initial phase of the study, an online questionnaire, more than 70% of the women who responded reported changes to their cycle after getting one of the four Covid jabs that are being used in Spain – Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen and AstraZeneca. It’s not yet clear whether any such changes can be attributed to the vaccine, how long the symptoms tend to last for or what long-term effects it will have, but one thing’s for sure: the consequences of contracting coronavirus, which has affected more than 200 million people around the globe, far outweigh the risks of being vaccinated.
Covid figures and statistics continue to improve in the Region of Murcia, with just over 600 active cases in the region. However, coronavirus restrictions are still far from over as masks are still mandatory in indoor public spaces and, unfortunately, the long-awaited return to the region’s dance floors has yet to be announced.
It may have taken more than a year, but this week Spain as a whole has finally managed to enter the low-risk range for Covid-19 infections, reaching a cumulative incidence rate of just 48.92 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The last time the country saw a rate this low was back in July 28 of 2020, and the Spanish government is attributing the huge success of the vaccination campaign to the positive evolution.
In Alicante, the 14-day cumulative incidence rate has fallen from 136 to 39 cases per 100,000 people in a month, and hospital admissions have dropped from 351 to 156, while in Andalucía the incidence rate has fallen to 35.1 per 100,000, down 12.7 points in the last week.
The most significant change in terms of international travel this week was possibly the scrapping of the traffic light system in the UK on Monday October 4. The system, which divided countries into ‘green’, ‘amber’ and ‘red’ has been replaced by a single ‘red list’ for countries that are not safe to visit. Now, fully vaccinated people travelling to England from Spain, which is not on the red list, will need to fill out a passenger locator form on arrival and take a day 2 Covid test after they arrive, and will no longer need to take a test before flying to England or self-isolate when they arrive. Good news for any English expats hoping to visit home this autumn or those returning for the winter after spending the summer in Spain. Not such good news for anti-vaxxers as the new rules only apply to those who are fully vaccinated.
The UK government also announced that it plans to introduce more new travel rules at the end of October, but nothing quite so drastic. It will just mean that if you are travelling to England and have a transfer flight or connecting train in a different country, you can now follow the travel guidelines as declared in the country you left from originally.
And yes, it’s only for England as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will all be making their own travel rules, though as a rule of thumb they tend to copy what Westminster does.
La Palma volcano
This will all be a moot point if we can’t fly because of volcano ash, though. Remember when that volcano erupted in Iceland back in 2010 and grounded almost all flights in Europe because of ash clouds? Well, it doesn’t look like we’re at that point with the Spanish volcano eruption in the Canary Islands yet, but the airport was forced to ground flights this week as debris littered the runway and compromised visibility. Meanwhile, ash in La Palma is spreading to other parts of the Canaries and towards the Carribean, meaning scientific and emergency personnel had to be evacuated from the danger zone.
Banana farmers in La Palma are particularly worried, with some claiming they’ve lost their entire crop for the year. The so-called ‘plátano canario’ is a staple of the economy of the Canary Islands – 50% of the GDP of the island of La Palma comes from this fruit and more than 10,000 families depend completely on its cultivation. That’s why the Canarian Association of Farmers is pleading with the government to raise the price of bananas. Last year, the average market price of Canarian bananas was around 90 cents per kilo and the consumer cost was 2.50 euros. The produce made it from farm to supermarket in around 15 days, but now there are approximately one million kilos of bananas per week not making it to market since the eruption. Shoppers all over the country have been showing their solidarity with the banana growers by buying up more of them from supermarkets and local fruit markets. You may have noticed they’re all sold out when you down the shops. If the government refuses to accept to proposal to intervene to raise the price of bananas, this additional demand from consumers will surely do the job for them.
In case you’ve been living under an (igneous) rock for the last three weeks, the
Cumbre Vieja volcano on Spanish the island in the Atlantic has been erupting since September 19, devastating homes, businesses and wildlife.
One of the volcano’s cones collapsed in on itself earlier in the week, prompting yet more lava to spill down the mountainside to the sea. For now, it’s all following the same trajectory as what came before it, but experts monitoring the situation worry that the lava may begin to flow in different directions, causing further destruction to as-yet unscathed land.
The amount of sulphur dioxide in the ash is also increasing, making it more toxic. The amount of gas emitted is closely linked to the rate of magma being produced, meaning that if SO2 levels drop, it is almost certain that the eruption phase of the volcano is nearing its end. This doesn’t appear to be the case yet though, unfortunately, and the volcano is likely to continue erupting for the foreseeable future.
Environmental catastrophe
Unstoppable volcanoes? Raging forest fires? Water with no oxygen in it for the fish to breathe? Is this the end of the world?
Nope, just another chapter in the ongoing saga of how the climate crisis and human negligence are ruining our natural world. The Mar Menor lagoon in Murcia is still mired in problems that have brought it to global attention with the shocking images of thousands of dead fish washed up on the shore.
Continuing governmental incompetence at the regional, national and European levels has ensured that, despite everyone making lots of noise about the need for change, nitrate-infested water continues to pour into the lagoon from agricultural land at an alarming rate. The ones who really seem to be pushing change through are activist groups, local residents and concerned well-wishers across the country and beyond. Local activists ‘planted’ a symbolic crop of lettuces in the middle of the lagoon to draw further attention to the fact that run-off from farmland in the surrounding areas is still carrying harmful substances into the Mar Menor.
A huge protest march in Murcia city on Thursday October 7 showed the level of citizen support for saving the Mar Menor, with over 200 social and ecological organisations and up to 75,000 people in attendance. The protest didn’t stay in the Region, though, as people took to the streets in other cities across Spain, showcasing outrage at the pathetic lack of political action to save one of Europe’s largest salt-water lagoons.
At the same time, private residents have managed to overturn a decision by the Cartagena City Council to build its new multipurpose centre on protected ground that it has spent the last decade trying to clean up and rehabilitate. In this latter case, the council originally claimed the Monte Blanco site in La Manga del Mar Menor where the building was supposed to be built was the “only available space”. It seems like they didn’t do their research very well because local residents flooded Twitter this week with suggestions for where the new centre could go (no, none of them were “where the sun don’t shine”). The council withdraw its proposal after it was brought to their attention that there was another site, a 1,000-sqaure-metre municipal plot of land located in Cabo de Palos which was actually ceded to them back in 1997 to be used as a nursery for children, and because the construction plans were illegal under the Law to Protect the Mar Menor which was passed last year. Even so, the Association of Naturalists of the Southeast (ANSE) has put Cartagena council on blast, saying its justification for not developing the Monte Blanco land was a mere legal technicality instead of doing it for the right reasons – the need to preserve and protect endangered trees and juniper bushes in one of the last undeveloped areas of La Manga.
Animal magic
If the trees and the water are having a hard time of it, at least there was good news for pets this week. A new rule being implemented as part of an overhaul of animal rights laws in Spain will oblige anyone who wants to get a dog in Spain to take a training course to prove they are responsible owners, while pet stores will be banned from selling any living creatures bar fish. The new law is in response to what the government has termed the “high degree of abandonment of animals” in Spain, not to mention animal cruelty, abuse and general mistreatment.
Animals are even going to be given recognised legal status as “living beings endowed with sensitivity” rather just “things”, which is the case at the moment. Under this conception, then, judges will have the power to deny joint custody of children to a parent that has been convicted of an animal abuse crime.
Murcia
A fire broke out at the Villas Caravanning campsite in La Manga last Sunday morning, burning through 20 plots and completely destroying 12 campervans and mobile homes. Fortunately, most of the damaged properties on the site, which is popular with British expats, were used as holiday homes instead of primary residences.
The fire was followed by more bad news, as a pensioner drowned on Wednesday at the Puerto de Mazarrón, in the south west of the region, bringing the total number of drowning victims this year in the Region of Murcia up to seven.
However, the economic side of things took a turn for the better in the Region as ,
Murcia’s unemployment rate dropped by 7.29% in September, the third highest regional drop in the country. And the tourism industry also looks to be on the path to recovery as tourist accommodation occupancy levels in the municipality of Mazarrón reach 90% this summer and the Ministry of Tourism in Murcia have recently launched a marketing campaign to coax golfers back to the region’s many golf courses; even splashing out on a Sky Sports TV advert!
Another scandal also hit the Region this week as a gynaecologist from the Reina Sofia Hospital in Murcia caused outrage when he filled in the “current illness” category with the word “homosexual” on the medical report for one of his patients.
Spain
As Spain moves steadily toward a state of ‘new normal’, the Ministry of Health is proposing a reform of the anti-smoking law which would see smoking on outdoor terraces permanently banned throughout the country.
Electricity prices continue to make the headlines in Spain as the price of energy in the wholesale market reached new record highs this week, driven primarily by the cost of natural gas globally. However, the government has insisted that consumers should be seeing a drop in the price of their household bills this October as a range of tax breaks aim to lessen the burden on the average customer.
The 2022 budgets have also been announced for Spain, which will allocate more than ever to regional spending to encourage local economic recovery. The government predicts an overall financial growth rate of 7% next year and forecasts that unemployment will drop to 14.1%. The statistics are already pointing in this direction, as September, traditionally a month when job losses actually increase, saw a decline of 2.3% – the seventh consecutive month to register a decline in unemployment in Spain.
On the opposite end of the finance spectrum, several high-profile Spaniards including Pep Guardiola, King Juan Carlos I and Julio Iglesias are part of a collective scandal involving the now infamous Pandora papers – a series of leaked documents which show the men hid millions in off-shore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes.
The effects of Brexit on those living in Spain continue to be felt, and the latest data from the College of Registrars show that, while Brits still top the list for buying the most foreign property, purchases fell to an all-time low during the second quarter of 2021. In addition, an unprecedented number of British retirees are now selling up. On a positive note, the Spanish and UK governments are currently in talks to extend the validity of UK driving licences in Spain after October 31, with sources “hopeful” that a second extension can be agreed upon.
Alicante
The number of new infections and hospital admissions fell steadily over the last six weeks, in particular in Alicante province, which recorded its lowest weekend data since the end of June. Within 24 hours of the Ministry of Health releasing Monday’s figures, president of the Valencia government, Ximo Puig, announced an end to “the maximum restrictions possible” from October 9, Community of Valencia Day. After 19 months of confinement, travel restrictions and closures, business and the public were given hope that the region is about to enter the final phase of de-escalation and a long-awaited shift towards an “improved normality”.
Bars, restaurants and nightlife venues will be able to remain open, and dance floors will reopen from 12.01am on Saturday October 9, but whilst “the most restrictive measures” have been lifted, others remain. For instance, a maximum of 10 people are allowed to be seated at one table in restaurants, and masks will still be mandatory in closed public spaces and outdoors if social distancing cannot be respected.
Meanwhile, the tourism sector is reporting a steady upturn in the return of holidaymakers to the Costa Blanca, in particular the hugely popular coastal resort of Benidorm. Following the easing of UK travel rules from October 4, Benidorm is already feeling the positive benefits, with UK tourists accounting for a significant increase in hotel booking for the next three months.
Staying in Benidorm, it was this week confirmed the first buyer has moved into the luxurious Intempo skyscraper – Europe’s tallest residential building – and currently has the run of the entire 204.5-metre block, including its stunning infinity pool on the 46th floor, to himself. A total of 256 apartments have been sold, 40% to expats, with prices ranging from 250,000 to two million euros, but as yet, none of the other buyers have unpacked and settled in, so for the moment the sole resident truly is king of a huge castle.
Meanwhile, as part of Blue Flag Mediterranean Week, El Campello Council carried out an environmental awareness initiative with a shocking and sad outcome. Hundreds of microplastics, cigarette butts, dirty nappies, bottles and cans were cleared from just two metres of Muchavista beach. The dismayed local authority warned that “there is along road ahead to raise awareness... of the serious damage caused by inappropriate waste management on our planet and our health”. Further along the coast at Playa del Postiguet, an 18-month saga continues as residents make further calls for “urgent repairs” to a footbridge. A fire engine collided with the structure last year, leaving a gaping hole in the base, which, rather than being fixed, has been covered in tape, raising concerns it will “remain a risk to public safety until something unfortunate happens”.
In Torrevieja, health professionals and unions staged another protest outside the hospital over staff shortages after 200 temporary workers were laid off, which has led to a worrying strip back of resources and closure of wards. The Ministry of Health will take back direct management of Torrevieja Health Department from Ribera Salud on October 15, but in the meantime, both parties have been accused of “failing to collaborate” leading to a sense of helplessness and uncertainty amongst remaining medical staff.
Andalucía
The tourist sector on the Costa del Sol in Andalucía is making a steady recovery as travel restrictions are relaxed, with almost 6,000 new jobs created in the hospitality sector as a result. Even so, unemployment in the region saw a spike after six months of decreases.
Not so for doctors, since Andalucía boasts full employment in the health sector, but that didn’t stop the Health Minister issuing a warning about a shortage of doctors in the next 10 years as many GPs and paediatricians come up to retirement age, and there aren’t enough trainee doctors to replace them.
Nonetheless, there are still enough medical professionals to kick off the flu vaccination campaign in Andalucía from next week. Starting on Thursday October 14, health services will be offering the annual flu jab to care home residents, healthcare workers and then over-65s, ahead of schedule.
You may have missed…
It’s not the only shark sighting in Spain recently as a great white was even seen swimming in shallow waters in Vigo, Galicia in the north of Spain!
The endangered loggerheads have been hatched and returned to their home beaches.
The pill has been suggested as an alternative to culling the boars in Barcelona.
A good Samaritan in Málaga turned a folder in to police containing over 1,000 euros.
Shocking video footage has emerged of two people fighting with a baseball bat and a katana in a Canary Islands car park.
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See you next week!
