SPAIN: EU for Peace & more – 25th Jan 2024

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 25th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

On Monday, the 22nd of January, the EU Foreign Ministers started considering a peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Josep Borrell Fontelle. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since twenty nineteen, has proposed a peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Borell wants the EU to prepare a conference with representatives from Palestine and Israel, guided by international involvement. The idea is to give them a space to discuss a two-state solution. The conference will also address worldwide concerns of prolonged violence. The proposal highlights the need for Israel to have security guarantees and for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

EU ministers are reviewing the plan, so we might have an update next week.

Meanwhile, The Canary Islands' migrant influx that we spoke about a couple of episodes ago has now shifted to the Barajas airport in Madrid, where asylum seekers face admission issues.

Approximately 300 people, including nineteen minors, are now detained at the airport, and immigration judges have urged immediate measures to address overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. The problem arose because an influx of travelers from Senegal, Morocco, Kenya, and Somalia requested asylum during stopovers in Madrid, overwhelming immigration offices.

The Ministry of Interior attempted to transfer fifty of them to a Foreigners Internment Center to ease congestion. But the Prosecutor's Office objected, saying this type of center wasn't appropriate because it was for people waiting to be deported, leading to a reversal of the decision.

To address the situation, Spain implemented a transit visa requirement for citizens with Kenyan passports, aiming to curb the arrival of Somalis seeking asylum with Kenyan documentation. However, the influx of Senegalese and Moroccans using this route has become noticeable over the last month. The Minister of Interior is considering implementing additional measures, including transit visas for other nationalities. Still, Spain's close relations with some of these countries, like Morocco, make it a lot more difficult for them to impose such requirements.

To add to the chaos, on Monday the 15th, the Unified Police Union, or SUP, revealed that around nine people held at the airport escaped on Saturday the 6th through a false ceiling, and a further seventeen broke through a window on Saturday the 20th. Most of these people had been detained in the airport for over a month in squalid conditions, awaiting information, and since their escape, only one person has been found.

Also keeping the government busy is the Amnesty law, as the Spanish government is finalizing it this week, for approval in Congress on Tuesday the 30th. The law grants total exemption for acts related to the Catalan independence process from twenty twelve to twenty twenty-three, covering referendums, riots, violence, and alleged terrorism. The total amnesty also extends to police, many of whom were charged with unnecessary force during the referendum vote. However, critics, particularly those with axes to grind, have scrutinized the law, questioning whether it is legal and its impact on unity across Spain.

Pablo Casado, former president of the People's Party or Partido Popular, and Ricardo Gómez-Acebo Botín, the nephew of Ana Botín, the Executive Chairman of the Santander banking group, have clubbed together with other important business figures to launch a 150 million euro venture capital fund called Hyperion Funds after getting approval from the National Securities Market Commission (or CNMV).

The fund will mainly focus on aerospace, cybersecurity, and AI and support emerging technology companies in the EU, focusing on Spanish Small and medium-sized enterprises.

Hyperion responds to the increasing need for technological sovereignty and security in Europe.

On the topic of national security, according to a recent La Vanguardia news article in Barcelona, relationships between the Catalan state police operating throughout Catalunya: the Mossos d'Esquadra, or Mossos, and the Barcelona Urban Police who only operate in the Barcelona region are tense.

Mossos and Urban Police relations have soured, especially since Eduard Sallent's return as Chief Commissioner in twenty twenty-two. Since the twenty seventeen Catalan independence bid, there have been multiple commissioner changes. Throughout all these changes, relationships have deteriorated.

The Mossos aim to regain investigative powers, causing conflict as the Urban Police expanded their role due to resource constraints. The Urban police's crucial involvement in actions like 400 public health interventions and weekly closure of drug houses is one of the reasons they are challenging the Mossos' ability to handle these cases alone.

On an operational level, things are continuing as normal for now. However, a meeting between both sides is coming up in February, so let's see what happens.

Next up, doctors and families worldwide urge caution in Spain regarding the painkiller metamizole due to a surge in adverse reactions.

A recent case involves the death of Mark Brooks, a British resident in Alicante, who suffered severe reactions after he got a metamizole injection for shoulder pain at his local clinic. Sold as Nolotil in Spain, it's allegedly available without a prescription despite being banned in over thirty countries, including the United Kingdom, India, and the USA, due to the rare risk of agranu-locytosis, a severe condition that means someone has low Neutrophil levels, a type of white blood cell. In the worst-case scenario, metamizole can completely wipe out someone's Neutrophils making it harder for them to fight infection.

Research from the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella suggests that certain populations are more susceptible to dangerous side effects, though it's unclear why. Campaign groups, including the Association of Drug Affected Patients, citing over forty deaths in Spain, have demanded an end to metamizole usage.

Luis Martinez Torras, Spain's oldest working painter born in Vigo, passed away on Sunday, the 14th of January, at 111 years old. He was affectionately called the "Maestro of Galicia" because of his passion and dedication to art. Torras has a permanent exhibition in Casa das Artes in Porto, and his work is regularly featured at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid’s National Art Gallery.

In sports news… the Royal Spanish Football Federation (or RFEF) lodged a complaint with the Civil Guard on Tuesday, the 24th, after private referee conversations from the Real Madrid - Almería match on Sunday, the 21st, were leaked online. The complaint addresses the unauthorized "extraction of audiovisual material from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system." The RFEF has initiated an internal investigation, saying the matter is "extremely serious." Even though some audio publication is allowed, La Liga and RFEF agree that what was leaked wasn't supposed to come to light, as it was a private conversation, not a discussion involving on-field referees.

And to wrap up this edition, starting in twenty twenty-six, the Spanish Grand Prix for Formula 1 or F1 will relocate from Montmeló, Barcelona, to a new circuit near Madrid's Ifema exhibition center, aiming to enhance accessibility, with 90% of fans able to use public transport to get to and from the circuit. The circuit spans almost six km and supports F1's goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by twenty thirty of its great accessibility. If all goes well, Madrid will host the annual race until twenty thirty-five, signifying a notable shift from the circuit's long-standing home in Montmeló, Barcelona, since nineteen ninety-one.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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¡Hasta la próxima!