PP Meets with Junts & more – 4th Jan 2024

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 4th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Yesterday news hit that surprise, surprise, after all the talk of rule-of-law and constitutional crisis, The Partido Popular or PP met with Junts in August immediately after the election to explore a pact before Feijóo's investiture. Two representatives from Génova met with two members of Puigdemont's party in a private room of a hotel in Barcelona. No deal was reached, so they immediately started yelling about how horrifying it was that Sanchez sought a deal. Of course.

On to twenty twenty-four, residents will have to pay a little more for electricity. VAT on all electricity contracts will double from 5% to 10% —much less than the 21% increase in Autumn twenty twenty-two when electricity costs were at an all-time high.

After pushing from Brussels, Spain will recalculate the Voluntary price for the small consumer or PVPC tariff using a more regulated method. Until recently, the electricity bill was based entirely on a daily auction by the Iberian Energy Market Operator, where all electricity companies took part. But as of this Monday the 1st, things have changed. Now, 75% of the bill will depend on this market, and the remaining 25% will be determined by future contracts, which are more stable and predictable, though a bit more expensive.

By regulating the PVPC tariff, Spain hopes to make it more stable, even if it means it's a bit pricier.

Still on electricity, according to Endesa, the Spanish utility company, households could save a few euros using electrical appliances during off-peak or flat-rate hours. Off-peak hours include weekdays from midnight to 8 am and all day on weekends and public holidays. Flat-rate hours are from 8 am to 10 am, 2 pm to 6 pm, and 10 pm to midnight on weekdays. So, avoid electricity-guzzling appliances between the highest-peak hours of 10 am to 2 pm and 6 pm to 10 pm.

Meanwhile, Jenni Hermoso, the professional athlete who played in the women’s national football team and made headlines after receiving a non-consensual kiss during Spain's World Cup win, has been gathering accolades.

Jenni Hermoso is currently in an ongoing legal proceedings in a sexual assault case against Luis Rubiales, the ousted Spanish football federation boss. But she's not letting that stop her. The Financial Times named her one of the world's twenty-five most influential women of twenty twenty-three because of her fight for justice and change for women in sports.

We’ve got a new year and a new workforce. Millions of unpaid work internships will begin on the first of January. However, unlike other years, as part of the pension reform, student internships will count as time worked toward future retirement, benefiting around one million intern students– helping them gain experience while chipping into their future retirement contributions. Paid interns have already been contributing to social security since twenty eleven.

Still, some universities aren't happy with the new reform. There are concerns over who will fund the cost. Social security will cover 95%, but universities may need to bear the remaining 5%, which many say will put pressure on their finances.

Moving to the capital, Madrid City Council begins the new year with changes to mobility around the town.

From Monday, the 1st of January, vehicles without an environmental label, or A vehicles, will be fined for traveling around the city and the M-30 circular motorway that circles the town's central districts.

Bicimad, the city's public electric bicycle service, will remain free for users making short thirty-minute journeys or less until the end of January. However, in February, Bicimad will be scrapping the annual twenty-five euro sign-up payment. Instead, the service will have a ten euro monthly fee for unlimited trips.

Many COVID terraces will also be scrapped, and not just in the capital…

In May twenty twenty, during the de-escalation after confinement, authorities initiated the COVID-19 terraces to assist struggling restaurateurs. These outdoor alternatives allowed customers to eat out, enabling establishments to overcome capacity restrictions by making makeshift terraces on roads or parking spaces. Now people with cars are complaining about the reduced parking.

So, starting in January, the majority of the COVID-19 terraces will be removed in the capital, leaving around 700 authorized terraces. According to news outlets, in May twenty twenty-two, there were about 6,000 terraces in the city; around 5,000 of these were set up during Covid.

The deputy mayor for urban planning in Barcelona says that the Catalan capital has already regularized around 500 of these makeshift terraces, meaning they are staying put. However, around 1,000 have already been scrapped.

Next up, the Government is considering denouncing New Year's Eve events near Ferraz Street since the executive considers them a hate crime.

Revuelta, which VOX supports and promotes, is the organization behind recent amnesty protests on Ferraz Street near the PSOE headquarters. In its latest anti-PSOE drive, Revuelta decided to hang up a doll representing Pedro Sánchez, the president and leader of the PSOE, and proceed to hit and shake the figure. A video was then posted on social media and received significant backlash. It was seen as a reenactment of a recent statement made by Santiago Abascal, Vox’s leader, who implied that Sánchez would be hanging by his feet over his party's decision— a comment which Abascal later apologized for. In response, the PSOE announced it would file a lawsuit against the Vox leader.

Carmen Valero, Spain's first female Olympic athlete and double cross-country world champion in nineteen seventy-six and nineteen seventy-seven, died on Tuesday, the 2nd of January, after suffering a stroke last week.

During an interview with news agency EFE in twenty nineteen, she recalled that she faced a lot of criticism and barriers from the Spanish Sports Federation and coaches during her career because women in athletics weren’t treated very well or taken very seriously.

Valero continuously fought for her position in Spanish athletics. Following a remark by a duty manager, just before her inaugural World Cup win in nineteen seventy-six, who said that women only possessed "big bums and busts," she clinched victory and, just before crossing the finish line, delivered a sarcastic response to said duty manager, saying “So, the Spanish women are big assed and busty right?”

Continuing with sports, another national treasure made the news this week.

Majorcan tennis player Rafael Nadal announced his return to the sport, announcing he would play at the Australian Open and Brisbane International twenty twenty-four. After a break due to injuries, the thirty-seven-year-old returned on Sunday, the 31st, alongside fellow Spaniard Marc López. Nadal was warmly welcomed with Spanish flags and support, as many were excited to see him back on the court.

Moving to a different kind of court. Barcelona's city council imposed a fine of 420,000 euros on a family of property owners for consistently renting out on booking.com and airbnb fourteen apartments as tourist accommodations without licenses. The building, located in The Old City or Ciutat Vella, belongs to repeat offenders. Since twenty fifteen, individuals renting out tourist properties must obtain a license and meet specific requirements, including being fully furnished and having a Catalan Tourism Register Number, which must be displayed inside the property.

To address the shortage of affordable housing partially caused by unauthorized tourist properties, the Barcelona city council has implemented an online search tool for residents and tourists to check the legality of accommodation. To know more, follow the link in the show notes.

And finally, just a quick note. The festive season isn't over yet in Spain, as the Three Kings Day, or Día de Los Reyes Magos, or Epiphany is on Saturday, the 6th of January. Families celebrate with fireworks, cava, family lunches, and a Roscón De Reyes, a large circular brioche-like cake with a hole in the middle, traditionally decorated with fruit and nuts. It is tradition to hide a small figurine inside. Whoever finds it has to make or buy the cake the following year. Want to make your own? Link to a Roscón De Reyes recipe in the show notes.

Aaand that's it for this week!

Happy New Year from the Rorshok family! These are our wishes for twenty twenty-four: 1) that you tell your friends about us. 2)... Noup, that’s about it.

Remember you can help us financially with the link in the show notes.

¡Hasta la próxima!