SPAIN: Discreet Laws Passed & more – 10th Oct 2024

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 10th of October twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

First off, news broke on Monday the 7th, that the Spanish government discreetly amended a law at some point during early October. The bill in question was originally enacted in twenty fourteen, to benefit former ETA members, a Basque separatist group responsible for decades of violent attacks.

The law change, demanded by Bildu, a Basque pro-independence party, allows sentences served abroad to count towards time served in Spain. This is particularly beneficial for those imprisoned in France, where a significant number of former ETA members have served sentences following their convictions there.

The executive modified the law as part of a broader legal reform that aligns with a European Union directive on amending criminal records.

Opposition parties, including the People’s Party or PP and Vox have criticized the move, warning it could lead to early releases of around forty-four ETA prisoners, potentially sparking controversy among victims' groups.

Next up, Spain has introduced a draft royal decree to regulate medical cannabis, marking a significant step in providing standardized cannabis treatments for specific medical conditions.

The proposal isn’t available to everyone. It will limit legalized medical cannabis use to conditions like multiple sclerosis spasticity, severe refractory epilepsy, chemotherapy-induced nausea, and chronic refractory pain.

Only specialists can prescribe medicinal cannabis when other treatments fail, and it is dispensed solely through hospital pharmacies. The decree excludes general practitioners from prescribing and restricts formulations to THC and CBD extracts, excluding cannabis flowers.

Over to Madrid, where The Cañada Real, Europe’s largest shantytown, has been without power for four years, since October twenty twenty, leaving 4,000 people, including 1,800 children, in darkness.

Authorities blame drug production for overloading the power grid, but residents, primarily of Romanian and North African descent, suffer from extreme energy poverty.

Families endure harsh conditions, relying on expensive generators and lacking basic necessities like refrigeration, heating, and lighting. Despite promises and protests, little has changed, and a recent 330 million euro rehousing plan is expected to take ten years to implement.

On to sport, where Fenix FC, Spain’s first all-transgender football team, has debuted in Catalunya’s regional men’s league, becoming the first federated transgender team in Europe.

Overcoming prejudice and administrative barriers, the team is aiming to create a safe space for trans men to play football. Fenix FC’s formation was driven by Hugo Martinez, who experienced abuse during his gender transition.

After three years of effort, the team now competes in the fifth tier, although their first game ended in a 19-0 defeat.

Keeping with football, on Tuesday the 8th, Andrés Iniesta, a Spanish World Cup winner and legendary midfielder, announced his retirement from football at age forty.

Iniesta is regarded as one of the greatest players in history, earning 131 caps for Spain, scoring the decisive goal in the twenty ten World Cup final and winning two European Championships.

After a twenty-two-year career, Iniesta announced plans to pursue coaching.

From football to farmers, communities in Jaén and Córdoba, Andalucia, are protesting against the construction of large photovoltaic plants, or solar panels, fearing the loss of 100,000 olive trees.

These solar projects, authorized by the Andalusian government and led by company Greenalia Solar, have sparked opposition due to concerns over forced expropriation of land and the potential destruction of local jobs.

Farmers argue that these projects harm the local economy, as the generated electricity would be exported to other European countries, and are demanding proper regulation of solar plants, fearing that companies are neglecting the importance of olive tree cultivation.

In other news, Rosa Peral, a former police officer sentenced to twenty-five years for murder, is suing Netflix and the production company Arcadia for 30 million euros, alleging violations of her and her daughter's rights.

Peral said that the series El Cuerpo en Llamas, based on Peral’s murder case, goes beyond proven facts and violates their rights to honor, privacy, and image. She seeks 26.5 million euros for her daughter and 2.6 million for herself, calculated based on the hours the show was streamed.

A Barcelona court has ruled that her earlier attempt to halt the series should have been considered by the Vilanova I la Geltrú court where she first appealed before it was released.

Meanwhile, the coastal city of Benidorm, Andalucía, remains committed to tourism, rejecting fears of turismofobia despite its reputation as a mass tourism hotspot. The city, which sees its population quadruple during peak seasons, continues to rely on tourism as its primary economic source.

Local officials have implemented sustainable measures, such as water conservation, to manage the influx of visitors and support tourism. However, the city boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region, primarily thanks to tourism.

From the South to the North, an amazing initiative in Barcelona, Catalunya, where eighty schools, including Scales Bristol, or nurseries, are opening their playgrounds to the public. Starting this October, schools will open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays as part of the Patios Escolares Abiertos program, which aims to enhance these spaces' educational and social value by making them available to the public for collective use and activities in a safe and accessible environment.

Now for some festivals. On Saturday the 12th of October, Spain celebrates Día de la Hispanidad, marking its National Day and Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Americas. The country established the holiday in nineteen eighteen and formalized it in nineteen eighty-seven, highlighting its global cultural legacy with an annual military parade in Madrid, attended by the King.

Critics argue it glorifies colonization, leading some Latin American countries to rename the day to honor indigenous resistance or reflect cultural diversity.

The Fairs of Sant Narcís, Girona’s biggest annual festival, will take place between the 27th of October tandthe 5th of November.

These festivities celebrate the city’s patron saint, Sant Narcís, with a lively blend of events, including parades, concerts, and cultural performances.

There will be traditional elements like the human towers, or castellers, and firework displays. The famous fairground, known as La Devesa, features attractions and stalls for families, while historical reenactments, local cuisine, and religious ceremonies showcase Girona’s rich heritage throughout the festival days

Wrapping up this edition, let’s take a look at one of the country’s lesser-known regions! Extremadura, in south-west Spain, offers a rich history, stunning landscapes, and excellent food and wine.

The town of Cáceres, with its medieval architecture, has been featured in films like Game of Thrones. Mérida, once the Roman capital of Lusitania, is home to well-preserved Roman ruins, including an amphitheater and theater. Extremadura is also known for its free-range Iberian pigs, producing the famous Iberico ham.

Want to find out more about Extremadura? Link in show notes.

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

Do you know that besides the Rorshok Spain Update, we also do others? Our latest ones are the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Ocean Update, about 70% of the world covered in salt water, and the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions. The other ones are all country updates, we have a selection of countries from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. Check rorshok.com/updates for the full list, the link is in the show notes.

¡Hasta la próxima!