More News on the Infamous Football Kiss & more –31st Aug 2023

summary of what's going down in Spain.

We start with Spanish football news this week as last week's row over Luis Rubiales impromptu kiss on Jenni Hermoso's lips continues.

Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation or RFEF, outraged people worldwide when he decided to kiss Hermoso on the lips during the Female FIFA World Cup tournament ceremony.

FIFA opened a disciplinary case on Thursday, the 24th, and provisionally

suspended him on the 25th. On the same day, the RFEF said on social media that they would support Rubiales's position and take legal action against Hermoso for her "lies." However, they deleted the post hours later.

The worldwide media storm forced the RFEF to organize an emergency meeting to discuss its president on Monday, the 28th.

As it stands, eighty-one Spanish players say they refuse to play until Rubiales is removed, including the twenty-three players who won the World Cup, and eleven Spanish coaches resigned over the weekend in protest, too.

Two investigations are taking place: a preliminary internal investigation by the RFEF and another led by the Spanish Government, who opened legal proceedings against Rubiales through the Spanish Sports Tribunal (TAD) on the 25th to investigate if what took place was sexual assault.

While Rubiales awaits his fate from the TAD, his mother, Ángeles Béjar, locked herself up in the Divina Pastora church in Motril on Monday the 28th. She decided to host a protest of her own against what she describes as the "vilification" of her son. She has also asked Jenni Hermoso to "tell the truth."

According to close family, she wanted to go on a hunger strike until a solution was found and justice prevailed. However, two days after the hunger strike started, her condition deteriorated and she was taken to hospital. The priest of the church said she wouldn’t go back to the chapel because she “was tired of being there” and felt “uncomfortable.”

Jenni Hermoso is on the other side of this story. While many are against Rubiales, some criticize her — particularly on social media of course. A video of her on the bus after the impromptu kiss has emerged, where people say she is laughing and joking about the situation with other team members.

Continuing with female football. In an interview with Telecinco, Lola Gallardo, a Spanish goalkeeper who plays for Atlético de Madrid Femenino, shared how she feels female players were treated in this World Cup.

Gallardo is one of the players who has resigned in protest against Rubiales. In the interview, she says she wasn't particularly surprised by Rubiale's actions, but that it was a horrible gesture. She believes it would never have happened in men's football, as she "has never seen Rubiales kiss Spanish football Sergio Ramos on the mouth when he's won important titles."

Gallardo also quoted Rubiale's "apology" speech when he said kissing Jenni was like kissing his daughter, telling Telecinco that Jenni is a professional athlete.

It is clear from the interview that she felt the players’ treatment throughout the World Cup this year was unfair. Gallardo said she felt the team was never treated like professional footballers and that the RFEF has protected coach Jorge Vilda's actions at all costs despite backlash from players since September, which caused some national players to resign before the World Cup.

Moreover, amidst the controversy, Vidal has supported Rubiales. The RFEF now wants to fire Vidal, and it’s trying to find ways to terminate his contract as the team’s coach.

Moving to a less metaphorical storm now, as sudden violent winds on Sunday, the 27th, heavily affected Mallorca in the Balearic Islands.

Suddenly, 130 km or eighty miles per hour crosswinds, followed by rain and stormy conditions, wreaked havoc on the island on Sunday. Flights coming into the island saw extreme turbulence and had to turn around. Pieces of debris from buildings were flying off, as was furniture left on balconies.

Separately, the dock lines of a P&O cruise ship snapped because of the storm in Palma de Mallorca. Causing the massive vessel to float away from the dock into the port like a "paper boat." It crashed into a nearby oil tanker, sustaining minor structural damage. Luckily, no one was injured, and only a handful of passengers were on board.

Following the crash, they managed to anchor the vessel about a mile from shore, and it is now safely docked in the Palma de Mallorca port. P&O said passengers will be transferred or flown home to Southampton.

The sudden violent storm didn't only affect Mallorca either, as Barcelona also saw a dramatic weather change and turbulent protests at the Vuelta de España bicycle race on Saturday, the 26th, and Sunday, the 27th.

Even before the Vuelta kicked off, a group of Catalan independentists threatened to disrupt the race's opening stages. While Saturday's evening time trials went off without a hitch, a sudden storm enveloped Barcelona, causing dangerous racing conditions.

On Sunday, the 27th, sudden stormy wet conditions and plastic-mounted nail tacks caused even more danger and flat tires. The tacks on the road might have been thrown by protestors.

Spain's political stalemate continues as a president is yet to be appointed.

Alberto Nuñez Fejioo, leader of the Partido Popular, needs more support from other parties to secure an absolute majority after being proposed as a candidate by King Felipe VI last week. Despite gaining two votes from smaller parties, he falls short by four votes for the absolute majority.

Fejioo has reached out to the socialists for support. On Wednesday, the 30th, he requested backing from the PSOE to lead a two-year government and break the deadlock following July's inconclusive general election. However, the PSOE promptly rejected his proposal.

Fejioo's deadline to secure a majority is the 26th of September. Failure to do so might lead King Felipe VI to consider Pedro Sanchez, leader of the PSOE, or call for another general election.

Spain has several important issues to deal with, as continuing droughts stretch water reserves.

However, according to the Catalan Water Agency or Agència Catalana de l'Aigua's (or ACA), a water regeneration and desalination project has so far prevented water cuts for the area's residents. Specifically, after the last severe droughts between two thousand and four and two thousand and eight, Catalunya has extended its capacity to produce desalinated safe drinking water, building the El Prat de Llobregat plant and expanding the Tordera plant in Maresme.

After last summer, when the current drought was showing its effects, efforts were redoubled, generating a huge quantity of drinking water for residents.

Want to find out more about this project? Link in the show notes.

In the summer, it’s not only the heat you should be worried about. This summer has been one of the most tragic in the past twenty years in terms of gender violence as sixteen women were murdered between July and August. These cases account for 40% of the killings of twenty twenty-three.

In lighter news, we have some catching up to do on the economy front. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD, Spain has successfully regained its pre-pandemic levels.

The Spanish economy is rising as the GDP might return to the pre-COVID stage.

Spain's economic recovery has been attributed to various factors, including effective vaccination campaigns and government support measures.

Next up, let's talk about road safety and cycling lanes.

Local cyclists in Elche, Alicante, have been protesting against council plans to remove cycle lanes in the city that, according to the council, are "dangerous and unsafe."

This region's recently elected local government is a coalition between the right-leaning People's Party and the nationalistic VOX party, who have decided to adopt a pro-car policy. The council already removed one cycle lane last week, and work is now underway to remove another.

It isn't just nationalistic parties that have adopted pro-car policies either. The newly elected mayor of Barcelona, socialist Jaume Collboni, has announced that a small portion of a pedestrianized area near the city's cathedral will be turned into parking spaces despite the city's pledge for greener energy.

And that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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¡Hasta la próxima!