SPAIN: Defense Spending & more – 20th Feb 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 20th of February twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Let’s start this week with a hot topic: defense spending. On Monday the 17th, Carlos Cuerpo, Spain’s finance minister, advocated for the European Union to issue joint debt to bolster defense spending.

Cuerpo emphasized that bending existing EU rules is insufficient to address the continent's current security challenges. This proposal comes as U.S. President Donald Trump stated he would reduce the support for Ukraine and European security in general.

However, Germany and the Netherlands oppose increasing EU debt, citing economic stability concerns. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, has suggested activating an emergency clause to allow member states to increase defense budgets without breaching EU fiscal regulations.

Keeping with defense in Europe, early on Tuesday the 18th, Spain dismissed a British proposal to send peacekeepers from Britain and Europe to Ukraine, stating that discussions on troop deployment are unnecessary and premature.

José Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, spoke ahead of the emergency European summit, which was held in Paris on the same day, warning that negotiations should not reward Russian aggression. He stressed that there is no peace at the moment and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of continuing attacks.

Now, some news on the Spanish economy. According to The Economist, Spain's GDP has risen by almost 3% since the start of the year, nearly five times the eurozone average.

A significant driver of this growth is immigration with nearly 90% of all new jobs filled by workers of foreign origin or dual nationality, leading to the lowest unemployment rate of around 10% in September twenty twenty-four when the latest statistics were last recorded. This is the lowest it has been since two thousand seven, when unemployment was around 8%.

Experts say additional factors include a thriving tourism sector, EU-backed public investments, increased exports, and labor reforms such as the 50% minimum wage increase since Pedro Sánchez took office as president in twenty eighteen.

On Tuesday the 18th, Spain's Directorate-General for Traffic or the DGT, announced they would be installing over one hundred new speed cameras over the next few months.

These new cameras would add to the existing 2,000 devices on the country's roads. The DGT has defended the move, citing speeding as one of the main factors for fatal accidents in twenty twenty-three, though they haven’t produced any statistics from twenty twenty-four.

There’s been a bit of backlash as well. Critics argue that many cameras are placed on roads with low-speed limits, prioritizing revenue over safety. The government’s opposition party, Partido Popular, has called for the revenue from fines to be reinvested in road improvements.

Heading over to Catalunya, according to a recent article by news outlet El Pais from Tuesday the 18th, Barcelona has seen an increase in gold-buying shops since two thousand eight. Back then there were only a handful, now there are over 160 in the city and 600 across Catalunya.

However, the article also said that a recent national police report revealed that 7% of these shops violate security laws, driven by fierce competition and fraudulent practices.

The rise in gold-buying shops since two thousand eight reflects growing demand for quick cash, particularly during economic uncertainty.

Speaking of Catalunya, while Catalan is its co-official language, according to the twenty twenty-three Language Use Survey, presented on Wednesday the 19th by the Department of Language Policy, Catalan habitual use is declining.

The report says that only 33% of residents use Catalan as their habitual language, down three percent from five years ago. Another surprising figure is that 24% of the population of Catalunya, which is around 1.6 million people, reported never using Catalan at all — double the figure from twenty years ago.

While 93% of residents over the age of fifteen understand Catalan, only 66% can write it. Meanwhile, Spanish remains dominant, with nearly universal fluency.

On that note about languages, are you still missing the mark with your Spanish language journey, or maybe you just need some inspiration? In an article published on Tuesday, the 18th, world news and lifestyle blog Journee Mondiale named the best five cities and five institutes throughout the country to learn Spanish.

Málaga, in the south, is one of the places on their top list, offering a mix of relaxation and learning at Málaga Instituto. Also on their list are Valencia, Madrid, Sevilla, and Barcelona.

Want to read the full article in English? Link in the show notes!

Next, If you’ve been on social media this week, you may have seen the viral clips of José Carlos Montoya, a breakout star of the reality show Temptation Island or La Isla de las Tentaciones.

Montoya has become a viral sensation after a dramatic moment on the show. On Saturday the 8th, Montoya witnessed his girlfriend, Anita, being repeatedly unfaithful. Overcome with emotion, Montoya ran down a beach, shouting “you have destroyed my life”, while host Sandra Barneda chased him, shouting the now infamous phrase, “Montoya please or Montoya, por favor.”

This moment has garnered global attention, with over fifty million views and even mentions on programs like The View in the US. Montoya, while still recovering emotionally, has embraced his newfound fame.

From viral moments, to speedy sales. In Spain's booming real estate market, homes seem to be selling faster than ever.

According to reports by the housing company Tecnocasa Group, in twenty twenty-four, the average time to sell a property was just seventy-three days, down from ninety-four days in twenty twenty. Cities like Madrid experienced even quicker sales, with a mere sixty-day average for a house sale.

However, the report highlights market disparities. 55% of homes sell within six months, while around 23% remain on the market for over a year, often due to overvaluation. This shift reflects a market with growing demand but not much supply.

Over to sports news, Spain’s football or soccer federation condemned the abuse directed at referee José Munuera Montero after he issued a red card to Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham during a 1-1 draw with Osasuna on Saturday the 15th.

Montero had judged that Bellingham directed foul language at him, leading to the dismissal. However, Bellingham and coach Carlo Ancelotti argued that the referee misinterpreted the player's expression.

Bellingham denied insulting the official, explaining that his words were aimed at himself in English, not at Montero. The federation has expressed disgust over the online attacks and threats targeting Montero and his family, highlighting the increasing verbal and physical violence referees endure.

Off the pitch and onto the runway, high-end brand fashion is causing a storm in Andalucia, in southern Spain.

Lanuya, a fashion brand founded in twenty twenty-two in Jaén, in the south of Spain, is making waves in the Spanish fashion scene dressing high-profile celebrities, including singer and composer Ruth Lorenzo for the Benidorm Fest.

Lanuya is following the trend of fashion brands across Spain, such as Barcelona-based Thinking Mu and Madrid-based Blue Anemone, with their goals of putting sustainable and exclusive designs first.

To wrap up this edition, let’s head over to Extremadura in the south-west now for something interesting. An article published on Wednesday the 19th by Live Science has revealed that the ruins of a fortress that was first discovered in twenty twenty-one have archaeologists asking new questions.

Archaeologists were excavating the 5,000-year-old site when they came across a surprising find: a man from ancient Rome who was buried with a military dagger.

The remains of the man, who died between the ages of twenty and thirty, were discovered near the outer wall. It is a mystery to those working on the site since, at the time of his death, the structure would have been abandoned for over 2,500 years and its walls had probably collapsed. A historical mystery indeed!

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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¡Hasta la próxima!