SPAIN: Is Spain Really That Cheap & more – 20th August 2026

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

Kicking off this week’s special longer episode: a little update. As we head into a new week, the central government is still looking into what went wrong when around 70,000 irregular migrants from Morocco entered Ceuta, the Spanish enclave in Africa.

In case you missed it, these mass entries were organized via social media and communication channels like Telegram and WhatsApp when the border was unofficially declared open.

Opposition parties, including the Partido Popular (PP), have demanded answers from the central government about how this happened, and on Wednesday the 19th, members of the PP led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo went to the Supreme Court after the central government said it wouldn’t allow several ministers to appear before the senate about Ceuta, saying it was dealing with it internally.

Meanwhile, there are vulnerable displaced migrants, including young children, on the Ceuta beaches, just waiting until a decision can be made about what to do, after a very recent ruling from the Supreme Court that prevents authorities from immediately returning migrants who are intercepted at sea whilst trying to enter Ceuta or Melilla. Some people have already returned to Morocco.

On Wednesday, the 19th, the central government said that around 500 vulnerable unaccompanied children will be relocated to the mainland, but that still leaves the hundreds of other displaced people, some of whom Feijóo believes should be repatriated immediately.

And that’s not the only thing that has been affected by the situation in Ceuta. On Friday, the 7th of August, a spokesperson for FC Barcelona said the team decided to cancel its pre-season friendly in north-western Morocco that was supposed to happen on Saturday the 15th, because they said it would be inappropriate considering everything going on right now.

On Tuesday the 18th, three earthquakes above a magnitude 4 struck southern Spain’s Granada province, causing minor building damage and at least three light injuries, including one child who was taken to hospital.

lometers south of Granada, at: 10:30

The tremors followed a magnitude 5.0 earthquake last Saturday that damaged homes and cars and temporarily closed Granada’s famous Alhambra palace-fortress. Although no serious structural damage was previously found at the Alhambra, authorities restricted tourist access after Tuesday’s quakes and remain on high alert.

Meanwhile, great news for EU consumers this week. On Wednesday the 12th, the EU introduced new restrictions on toxic substances, often known as "forever chemicals," that are often found in food packaging, along with cutting waste generally.

These chemicals take an extremely long time to break down and are increasingly associated with adverse health effects worldwide, and the EU has decided enough is enough. According to the European Commission statement, food packaging containing high levels of the chemicals won’t be able to be sold on the EU market; traces will be allowed, but this will be strictly monitored. And by twenty thirty, all packaging across the EU must be recyclable, and single-use items, like sauce packets and mini shampoo bottles, will also be phased out.

Speaking of plastic use, as part of the new regulations, the country is preparing to introduce its new Deposit, Return and Refund System, otherwise known as SDDR. Under the planned system, eligible drink containers will carry a ten-cent refundable deposit. Customers pay the deposit when buying a drink and get it back when they return the empty container. This is already a pretty popular model, but now it’s legally binding.

And for the entrepreneurial-minded, this could mean discarded bottles and cans become worth collecting, similar to the metal collectors that already frequent Spanish streets. A discarded bottle may no longer be worthless waste, but ten cents waiting to be collected.

Our last story on this. Here are a few things that will be gradually phased out over this year as part of the new regulations.

Plastic bags, shrink-wrapped fruit and vegetables, miniature hotel toiletries, Styrofoam takeaway containers and some single-use food packaging are all being targeted.

New colour-coded labels will also make it easier for shoppers to separate packaging for recycling.

The changes will be introduced gradually, so many consumers may not notice a major difference immediately. Hotels and restaurants will face further restrictions in the coming years, including requirements for reusable takeaway containers and the eventual removal of many single-use items.

Coffee capsules are also in the spotlight, with producers required to make their packaging more sustainable.

Next up. What’s the key to making a person live longer and healthier? Well, professors from the University of Vigo, in the northwest of the country, Galicia, are trying to find out in a new study.

According to initial reports, the region is emerging as a Spanish “blue zone” of extraordinary longevity, rivaling places such as Sardinia in Italy and Martinique in France, with the country’s highest rates of centenarians, nearly double the national average. And women vastly outnumber men at around three to one.

Researchers have specifically identified two hotspots spanning thirty-four municipalities, and a newer central zone stretching from south of Santiago towards Lugo and Os Ancares.

By studying centenarians’ genetics, lifestyles and environments, initial findings obviously point to a simple recipe for longevity: daily activity, stable social life and low stress. But, perhaps more surprisingly, they are also looking into whether living at moderate altitude may also trigger protective cellular mechanisms.

As one researcher described it, these centenarians carry a “health heritage” worth preserving, and that is exactly what they are trying to do!

Turning to history. What if some of Barcelona’s most familiar buildings, businesses and wealthy family names were connected to the Transatlantic slave trade?

Historian Martín Rodrigo Alharilla is trying to answer that question. In a fascinating interview with news outlet El País released on Sunday the 9th, he takes readers through Barcelona and points out buildings, monuments and streets connected to people who made fortunes through slavery and colonial trade.

His research suggests that the best-known slaveholding families in Catalunya are only “the tip of the iceberg.” The wealth generated through the enslavement of Africans helped finance properties, businesses, banks, and other institutions whose influence can still be seen today.

What makes the story especially compelling is that Rodrigo isn't simply interested in naming individuals. He argues that slavery was part of a much larger economic system.

His project, España Esclavista, has mapped more than 200 physical locations connected to this history, bringing a largely overlooked part of Spain's past into public view.

A thought-provoking read for anyone interested in history, Barcelona, and the stories hidden behind familiar places.

Link to España Esclavista in the show notes.

From history to tourism. In a recent El País article released on Wednesday the 19th, the news outlet wrote about how overtourism is putting growing pressure on rivers in Andalucia, as overcrowding is damaging fragile ecosystems. According to environmentalists and scientists, the Chíllar River near Nerja in Southern Spain is a key example; it once attracted up to 3,000 visitors a day, prompting authorities to close it in August twenty twenty-three.

However, despite this measure, the Andalucian government is considering reopening it under restrictions, potentially allowing up to 500 visitors daily. Environmental experts aren't happy, arguing that this is still far too many for the river’s biodiversity.

And it's not just here; other rivers, including the Verde, Dúrcal, Cebollón, Bocaleones and Turón, are also heavily visited, leading to problems including trampling riverbeds and vegetation, litter, pollution from sunscreen and urine, disturbance from dogs and noise, and damage to wildlife habitats.

Next, a festival aiming to prove that large events can be greener. Rototom Sunsplash, taking place from the 17th to the 22nd of August in Benicàssim, Spain, is promoting itself as a model for large-scale sustainable events.

The six-day reggae event welcomes around 25,000 visitors a day and combines music with debates on climate change, housing, human rights and social justice.

Its green initiatives include LED lighting, solar power, water recycling, locally sourced food and a plastic-free policy. Since twenty twenty-one, a partnership with drinking water company Tuawa has helped eliminate more than 3.2 million plastic bottles. This year, over 50 water refill stations have been installed across the site.

The festival is also using hybrid energy technology, expected to save around 3,000 litres of fuel and cut more than eight tonnes of CO₂ emissions during the event.

Continuing with festivals, though less sustainable. More than 3,000 people and around 1,000 vehicles descended on a rural site with a population of only 300 near La Granja in Cáceres for an illegal multi-day rave.

The gathering began on Thursday the 13th, triggering a major Guardia Civil operation. Officers initially attempted to prevent access but were overwhelmed by the volume of cars, vans, motorhomes and lorries arriving at the rural site. By Friday afternoon, hundreds of vehicles had filled fields near the town’s natural swimming pool, while surrounding roads experienced severe congestion.

Authorities expect the rave to continue through to this weekend, underscoring the growing challenge of unlicensed events organised via encrypted apps like Telegram and WhatsApp.

For our thought piece this week, we’re looking into whether the country is really as cheap as it once was.

For years, “Spain is so cheap” has been part of the country’s appeal. Cheap property, cheap food, cheap coffee and cheap living. But according to this week’s opinion piece by Esme Fox for news outlet The Local, perhaps it is time to retire the phrase.

According to Fox, the latest figures often tell a different story. Spain’s cost of living has risen 78% in the past decade, while housing prices have surged and food costs are up 41.5% since two thousand and eighteen. Average salaries, meanwhile, remain far below those in many wealthier European countries.

And this is where the idea becomes misleading. While the country may still look affordable to a visitor earning a foreign salary or spending a few weeks on holiday. Fox proposes that for someone earning a Spanish wage and paying Spanish rent, the equation is very different. Because behind the two- to three-euro coffee and 295,000-euro average home is a country where locals are increasingly being priced out of the lifestyle that once made the country feel so affordable in the first place.

Link to article in show notes.

Now, a look at recent policy changes. On Wednesday the 19th, the Supreme Court officially ruled that changing legal sex does not erase or overturn criminal responsibility for offences committed beforehand.

This clarification made by the court was sparked by an event last April, when a man from Castellón, eastern Spain, assaulted his former partner and their eight-year-old daughter during a confrontation over visitation. He was sentenced to nine months in prison for gender-based violence against his former partner and another nine months for domestic violence against his daughter. The defendant later changed his legal sex from male to female, which was approved on the 1st of June twenty twenty-five, and appealed his conviction, arguing that he could no longer be convicted under gender-violence legislation.

At the time, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, stressing that legal sex changes have no retroactive effect and that criminal responsibility is determined by the circumstances when the offence occurred, but there wasn't anything legally set in stone. That has now changed with the recent legislation.

If you’re looking for something else that’s interesting to listen to, we’ve got a little recommendation for you. The Roca Project is worth a listen. It’s hosted by Carlos Roca, a national journalist. The interview podcast has just reached over one hundred episodes and has become one of the country’s most popular.

The show features long-form conversations with people from very different backgrounds, often focusing on personal experiences, difficult moments and stories that might otherwise go unheard.

Missed the eclipse on Wednesday the 12th? Well, you will only have to wait until this time next year to catch the next one. On the 2nd of August, twenty twenty-seven, there will be the opportunity to see the total eclipse in southern Andalucía, Ceuta, Mililla, and Gibraltar, and that’s not all - according to meteorologists, this will be a marine eclipse rather than this year’s terrestrial eclipse, meaning it will affect ocean tides and marine life. Plus, it’s predicted that viewers will be able to see it for longer, as it will be almost three times longer than this year's.

You’ve probably heard about this one already, as lots of people are talking about it. But Catalan singer Aitana’s song Superestrella has become the soundtrack of the summer, turning into a surprise global Latin-pop hit.

More than a year after its release on her album Cuarto Azul, the nostalgic pop anthem topped Billboard’s Hot Latin Songs chart earlier this month, giving the Catalan singer her biggest international breakthrough yet.

The song has been everywhere in Spain this summer - even featuring at the country’s World Cup victory celebrations. And once it gets stuck in your head, good luck getting it out!

And finally. Want to know what people in the country are searching for on Google this week? Well, we’ve found out for you.

The eclipse was a huge talking point, with searches about when and where to watch it. Football was also pretty high up, from PSG and Real Madrid to Arsenal and Manchester United.

And then there’s everything from the forest fires to the Royal British Family.

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

Anything to ask or tell us, email us at info@rorshok.com.

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¡Hasta la próxima!