SPAIN: Fighting Wildfires & more – 21st Aug 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 21st of August twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

We begin this week with an update on the wildfires. On Monday, the 18th, President Pedro Sanchez announced the country is intensifying its fight against the fires that began around the 1st of July by deploying 500 extra soldiers to join the 1,400 already on duty.

Galicia in the Northwest has been hit the hardest, where twelve major fires are threatening homes across the region.

Local authorities have imposed lockdowns, carried out evacuations, and suspended high-speed trains between Madrid and Galicia. Spain’s weather agency AEMET warns that wildfire risks remain extreme.

So far, fires have burned through an area the size of London. European allies, including France, Italy, and the Netherlands, are sending firefighting planes, while reinforcements from other countries are expected soon.

Still on recent fires, on Thursday, the 14th, Jaime Aparicio, a volunteer firefighter, died from severe burns after attempting to put out a fire in León, in the northwest. His passing brings the death toll from wildfires to seven so far this summer.

On the same day, police arrested a man accused of deliberately starting a blaze in Zamora, Central Spain, which spread rapidly and scorched the equivalent of 7,500 US football fields.

In total, authorities have arrested ten people since June and are investigating dozens more for suspected arson.

On Tuesday the 19th, a national court formally ordered Begoña Gómez, wife of President Pedro Sánchez, to testify in September as a suspect in embezzlement.

Prosecutors allege that Gómez misused state resources in her role at Madrid’s Complutense University, where she directed a course without holding a degree. She will appear before the court for the second time, after she denied influence-peddling charges in July.

The case deepens the controversy surrounding Sánchez’s government. Police arrested his close ally Santos Cerdán on bribery charges, as investigations into corruption within his inner circle continue. Sánchez has defended his wife and condemned what he calls opposition lawfare.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, a viral video showing mouldy aid packets allegedly dropped by Spain has sparked controversy over the last week.

The viral clip, first published on the 2nd of August, shows mouldy rations branded by JOMIPSA, a Spanish company that supplies aid kits to multiple governments, being delivered via air packages. News outlet Euronews confirmed that the country's foreign ministry released a statement on Monday, the 18th, confirming that it had airdropped aid, including over 5,000 halal food rations, but stressed it can’t verify the packets’ origin without batch numbers.

Want to see the video? Link in the show notes.

From Gaza to India. On Monday, the 18th, news outlet Business Standard reported that hundreds of Indian nationals living in Spain have been stranded for months due to severe passport renewal delays, leaving many unable to travel, work, or even access healthcare, as they need a valid passport to present alongside any visas they might have.

According to the North American Punjabi Association, the most affected group is Punjabis. The current situation stems from backlogs at the Indian consulate in Spain, where routine renewals and re-issues have stretched far beyond normal timelines.

Without valid documents, many find themselves jobless, financially strained, and cut off from their families in India.

On Sunday, the 17th, victims and relatives gathered on La Rambla in central Barcelona to honor the sixteen people killed and more than 300 injured in the twenty seventeen Barcelona and Cambrils terrorist attacks.

The ceremony marked the 8th anniversary of the attacks, and was led by Robert Manrique, a spokesperson for the victims, who renewed calls for the Catalan government to finally create an office dedicated to supporting the victims’ families.

Manrique expressed hope that the office could open within two months, with a meeting scheduled in September with Núria Parlon, Catalunya’s interior minister, to discuss the project.

At Sunday’s memorial, top officials, including Salvador Illa, the Catalan president, and Jaume Collboni, Barcelona’s mayor, joined families for a minute of silence and floral tribute.

Also on Sunday, Spain’s national rail operator RENFE unveiled bold plans to launch a Europe-wide high-speed night train network linking Madrid and Barcelona with major cities including Paris, Milan, Berlin, and Rome.

Madrid will serve as the central hub, with the long-awaited revival of the Madrid–Lisbon night train already in sight.

The initiative supports Europe’s push for greener alternatives to short-haul flights, though it still depends on government backing and infrastructure upgrades, especially considering RENFE says it wants to roll out some routes by at least twenty thirty.

Capitol Records, the label of singer Katy Perry, was fined just over 6,000 euros for not obtaining proper permits to film on fragile land in the Balearic Islands, an archipelago off the eastern coast of Spain, for her Lifetimes music video in July twenty twenty-four.

Environmental campaigners quickly raised concerns when the video was released, prompting a nearly year-long investigation by Spanish authorities. The Balearic Islands’ Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment confirmed that Perry’s production team had not secured the required authorization to film at the Ses Salines Natural Park on the dune of S’Espalmador, a fragile habitat with strictly limited access to protect local wildlife.

In response, Capitol Records said the local production company assured them that permits were in place and even said they had received verbal approval to proceed. However, presumably for ease, Perry’s team has already paid the fine.

Turning to scientific breakthroughs, on Monday the 18th, researchers at Barcelona’s Institute for Bioengineering of Catalunya or IBEC announced they had created an artificial womb that allowed them to film, for the first time, a human embryo implanting into womb-like tissue in real time.

The artificial uterus, made from collagen and proteins, mimics the lining of the human womb. Using embryos donated for research, scientists observed how healthy embryos dug and pulled themselves into the tissue.

According to IBEC, implantation is one of the most common causes of miscarriage, with around 60% of embryos failing to attach or survive in early pregnancy. Experts say this breakthrough could not only shed light on why many pregnancies fail but also improve IVF success rates and potentially lead to new treatments in reproductive health.

In more innovative projects, on Monday, the 18th, Selwo Estepona wildlife park announced progress on a long-term project to boost bat populations and naturally reduce pests such as the tiger mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects.

Run in collaboration with Murciélagos Málaga, the initiative has identified three protected species in the park. To support them, over 150 wooden shelters have already been installed across Málaga province, creating safe nocturnal stops, and early results show an 80% occupancy rate after two years.

Eloy Serrano, head of the Conservation department of the park, stressed that pesticides and human pressure have halved bat numbers in recent years.

Now for an interesting story. Do you know anything about the Spanish punk scene? Well, on Tuesday the 12th, Music distribution website Bandcamp put out a great article celebrating Spain’s punk scene, born after the fall of Franco’s dictatorship in the late seventies.

Early bands like Eskorbuto Crónico laid the groundwork for a movement rooted in rejecting authoritarianism and social norms, and today, new bands carry that legacy while responding to modern issues.

Check out the full article with the link in the show notes.

Closing with one of Spain’s most famous festivals, on Wednesday the 27th of August, La Tomatina returns to the town of Buñol, near Valencia, Eastern Spain. Known as the world’s biggest food fight, the event draws over 20,000 participants who throw an obscene amount of ripe tomatoes in a one-hour frenzy through the streets.

The chaos begins when trucks unload the tomatoes in the Plaza del Pueblo, followed by the firing of water cannons. Traditionally, the official start comes after someone climbs a greased pole to claim a ham…sounds interesting?!

Authorities have reminded visitors to squash tomatoes before throwing, avoid hard objects and wear old clothes. For a little bit of historical context, the festival was actually banned under Franco’s rule; however, since its revival in the nineteen seventies, it has thrived and is now celebrated in honor of Buñol’s patron saints.

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

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¡Hasta la próxima!