SPAIN: NATO’s Defense Budget & more – 24th April 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 24th of April twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Let’s start things this week with Spain’s reaction to the passing of the Pope.

Spain declared a three-day national mourning period from Tuesday, the 22nd, to Thursday, the 24th, honoring Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday.

During this period, public celebrations, including festivities, are cancelled, flags are flown at half-mast, and media focus shifts to honour the deceased.

Felix Bolaños, Minister of the Presidency, emphasized the Pope’s efforts to fight inequality and injustice, his support for migrants and war victims, and his affection for Spain as the Catholic church's first pope from South America.

In other news, in April, Spain introduced a new law requiring all public and private primary and secondary schools to serve healthier meals as part of efforts to combat childhood obesity.

Under the new law, which passed with royal decree on Wednesday the 16th, schools must provide fruit and vegetables every day and fish at least once a week, along with vegetarian and vegan options by September.

At least 45% of the produce must be seasonal and ideally locally sourced, with 5% being organic. Sugary drinks are now banned, and limits are set on caffeine, fats, and salt. Fried foods must be cooked in olive or sunflower oil, and processed items like pizzas and pies prepared outside the school can only be served once a month.

Keeping with health news, on Monday the 21st, news outlet El Diario reported that Spain’s National Court confirmed workers can take their full five-day paid leave to care for seriously ill or hospitalized relatives, even if doctors discharge the patient early.

The court emphasized that if a doctor recommends home rest, workers can continue using their leave. The workers' union CCOO brought the case in twenty twenty-four after a food company stated the leave ended when the patient left the hospital.

This ruling enforces a twenty twenty-three labor law update that expanded paid force majeure leave and caregiver benefits. This is one of the first times the law has been put into practice since its enactment.

Looking ahead to the near future, your body could become your wallet as Spain plans to roll out biometric payments, letting people pay using fingerprints, facial recognition, or eye scans by twenty twenty-six.

Banks and major retailers are already developing the system, which will remove the need for cards, phones, or PINS. Users will register their biometric data, likely through a banking app and pay at participating stores with a quick body part scan.

Despite raising some privacy concerns, many experts consider biometric data more secure as it's more unique and harder to steal. In fact, Visa surveyed consumers in December twenty twenty-four and found that nearly 50% of Spaniards trust biometric data more than cards or mobile payments, and over a third are ready to adopt it within five years.

Supermarkets, pharmacies, and local shops will lead the rollout, marking a major step in payment tech.

From biometrics to an old age problem, Sevilla is facing a surge in rat infestations, with residents spotting rodents climbing trees from their windows.

Mayor José Luis Sanz announced a 500,000 euro rat control plan in September twenty twenty-three, but the city has not finalized the contract. So, the issue continues to grow, especially in older areas like San Pablo-Santa Justa, which suffers most due to poor infrastructure and nearby wild spaces.

Despite the city assuring that there was a 30% drop in incidents in early twenty twenty-five, consumer group FACUA has logged infestations on over twenty streets and says that this will only get worse as the weather gets warmer.

Still in Sevilla, the state-owned train company RENFE has launched a new direct AVE high-speed train service connecting Barcelona and the city, eliminating the need to transfer in Madrid and significantly reducing travel time.

Trains started taking this new route on Wednesday, the 23rd, which runs daily in both directions. The fastest journey takes just five hours and forty-eight minutes, with key stops including Córdoba in the south, Zaragoza in the northeast, and Tarragona on the eastern coast. With transfers, this journey sometimes takes around an hour more.

Next up, some new plans for the NATO spending budget. On Tuesday the 22nd, Spain unveiled a 10.5 billion euro plan to meet NATO’s 2% GDP defence spending target, fast-tracking its original twenty twenty-nine pledge to twenty twenty-five.

While speaking at a conference, President Pedro Sánchez outlined the security and defence plan that he will be putting forward to help Spain meet its 2% NATO spending target by twenty twenty-five.

The fast-tracked investment, prompted by pressure from NATO and the US, will focus on telecommunications, cybersecurity, and military equipment to counter threats like cyberattacks, disinformation and infrastructure sabotage.

Despite criticism from many within his coalition, Sánchez has assured the public that the increased defence funding will not lead to higher taxes or cuts to social services.

Keeping with security news, as part of Sánchez’s commitment to defense, the Spanish government also announced on Tuesday, the 22nd, that it would invest around 3 billion euros to create a digital shield to defend against cyber attacks, modernizing encrypted telecommunications systems, boosting satellite, radar, and antenna capabilities, and improving both military and civilian cybersecurity.

The government hopes its new plan will prevent up to 1,000 annual cyberattacks from targeting critical infrastructure and essential services such as hospitals, airports, and power grids.

Now, we’ve got a reminder for drivers in Spain, which is also important info for tourists or new residents:

There are three essential documents you must always carry while driving in Spain: your driving licence, a vehicle registration certificate, and an ITV or Ficha Técnica certificate, which confirms your car has passed its technical inspection.

All documents must be valid and either original or certified copies, no photocopies. Forgetting any of these could lead to fines, towing, or further legal issues, whether you’re a resident or just driving a rental car. So make sure you check the glove box before you drive off!

And for people living in Spain who prefer things a little more digital, you can upload your driving license and vehicle registration to the official miDGT app.

Want more info? Link in the show notes!

Now for a cow calamity in Northern Spain. In the rural Basque Country towns of Karrantza and Lanestosa, residents finally got power back on Monday, the 20th, after a cow brought telecommunications to a standstill after getting tangled in a low-hanging fiber optic cable, snapping the line and cutting service for a week.

The incident has since gone viral on Spanish social media as residents in the affected areas, especially elderly citizens, were left isolated since many don’t have mobiles. The area suffers frequent service outages due to poor maintenance of ageing copper cables and collapsing telephone poles.

Locals have accused Telefónica, the only telecom provider in the region, of doing nothing, calling the frequent service outages a case of institutional neglect.

On Friday the 18th, Spain’s popular naturalist and TV presenter Frank Cuesta was hospitalized in Thailand after a spitting cobra sprayed venom into his face.

On Monday, the 21st, his partner, Paloma Ramón, confirmed on social media that he’s been discharged and is receiving eye treatment after the incident, which could have caused serious health risks like blindness and severe inflammation.

This latest incident adds to a tough period for Cuesta, including legal issues over alleged illegal animal possession, a lawsuit from his ex-wife, and a previous injury from a deer at his wildlife sanctuary, including a break from YouTube due to emotional exhaustion.

And finally, an interesting story about Chinese-owned businesses in Spain undergoing a major transformation.

For over twenty years, Chinese-owned businesses have been associated with low-cost bazaars, which sell almost anything you could think of.

However, according to the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers, this might be shifting because of changing consumer habits like shopping online and the decline of traditional small retail. Many Chinese entrepreneurs are shifting to services, launching salons, tech shops, eateries, travel agencies and language academies.

The Chinese community remains pretty unique in Spain for having more self-employed individuals than salaried workers; roughly 66,000 Chinese individuals are registered as autónomos, making up 14% of all foreign self-employed workers.

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

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¡Hasta la próxima!