Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Catalonia’s ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont saw his independence drive vindicated after he led the separatist bloc to a big win in a crucial election on Thursday from exile in Belgium. “The Spanish state has been defeated,” he told supporters in Brussels after his Together for …
Read More »Taxi or app? Uber faces big EU court decision
Luxembourg, Luxembourg | AFP | The EU’s top court will decide Wednesday if ride-hailing app Uber is an ordinary taxi company and should be regulated as such, in a decision that will be closely watched around the world. The case is yet another thorn in the side for scandal-rocked Uber, which …
Read More »Politically divided Spain united by El Clasico rivalry
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Often symbolised as pitting the pride of Catalonia against Spain’s capital, the ‘El Clasico’ between Barcelona and Real Madrid is a match laced with political and social as much as sporting tension. Even more so this week when the sides face off in Madrid on Saturday …
Read More »Spain breaks ring that used bank warehouses to grow marijuana
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spanish police said Sunday they had dismantled an international hashish trafficking ring which allegedly used industrial warehouses that had been repossessed by banks to grow huge amounts of marijuana. The authorities detained two Spaniards and a British national they believe headed the ring as part …
Read More »Forty injured as Spain nightclub floor collapses
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Forty people were injured after a section of floor at a packed nightclub on Spain’s holiday island of Tenerife collapsed Sunday, sending revellers plunging into the basement, officials said. Rescuers rushed to the Butterfly Disco Club in Adeje at about 2:30 am (0230 GMT) after …
Read More »Hundreds of migrants held in jail in Spain
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spain on Tuesday defended holding in prison nearly 500 migrants who arrived in the country by boat. Following criticism by rights groups, the Spanish government said it was due to a lack of space at immigration detention centres. “We feel it is better that the migrants …
Read More »600 African migrants rescued near Spain
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Around 600 African migrants were rescued off the coast of Spain in 24 hours, a sea rescue patrol said Saturday. The Guardia Civil and Salvamento Maritimo rescue service added that operations to recover further migrants were still under way. Spain is the third busiest gateway …
Read More »Spain rescues 250 migrants in Mediterranean
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Spanish authorities said they rescued over 250 migrants, including children, on Saturday who were making the perilous Mediterranean crossing to Europe. “We saved 251 people from five improvised vessels all in the Alboran Sea,” Spain’s maritime safety authorities said on Twitter, referring to the westernmost portion …
Read More »Sacked Catalan parliament speaker is freed on bail
Madrid, Spain | AFP | The sacked speaker of Catalonia’s parliament left a prison near Madrid on Friday hours after supporters posted her bail of 150 000 euros ($175,000), ending her brief detention over the region’s controversial independence drive. A judge at the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday had …
Read More »Shakira cancels first week of concerts of her world tour
Paris, France | AFP | Pop star Shakira was forced to cancel the first swathe of concerts of her world tour Friday because of a problem with her vocal cords, the tour’s promoters said. The Colombian singer postponed two concerts this weekend in Paris and a Belgian date on Sunday …
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