SPAIN: Palestine State & more – 30th May 2024

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 30th of May twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Kicking things off this week, on Wednesday the 29th, Spain received substantial support from Arab and Islamic countries following its recognition of the Palestinian State.

On Wednesday, a delegation of foreign ministers from Qatar, Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met with Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish President, and José Manuel Albares, the Foreign Minister.

They discussed advancing the two-state solution, a proposal that sees the coexistence of the Israel and Palestine states and attempts to address the ongoing issues in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas.

Closer to home, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the leader of the Partido Popular or PP, has criticized far-right party VOX’s anti-European stance and its rejection of the EU migration pact.

The EU Migration Pact aims to establish a comprehensive and fair framework for managing migration and asylum across Europe.

This week, Feijóo praised Italian leader Giorgia Meloni for her pro-European position, but he spoke out against VOX, labeling them as part of the "extreme right," further distancing PP policies from VOX.

Keeping with politics, on Tuesday the 28th, Pedro Sanchez and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President, signed a decade-long defense and security agreement that will provide Ukraine with a billion euros in military aid this year. The deal follows a deadly Russian attack in Kharkiv and increasing frustration among EU leaders over the situation in general.

The exact details of the agreement haven’t been announced, but it aims to bolster Ukraine's military capabilities, including air defense systems. Spain will supply Patriot missiles, Leopard tanks, and ammunition. The agreement also covers intelligence, training, de-mining, reconstruction, and humanitarian aid.

Turning to Andalucía, the regional government has ruled out imposing a tourist tax in the near future. On Monday, the 27th, Arturo Bernal, the Tourism Minister, stated that the decision to introduce a tax on products and services tourists use would be premature, and more work needs to be done to understand the full impact of this type of tax.

Bernal agreed with municipal and business leaders to create the Observatory for Local Tourism Sustainability to analyze tourism’s effects.

Tourism economically benefits much of Andalucía but also creates challenges. Some Andalusian cities, like Sevilla and Málaga, support the tax to manage tourism's negative impacts, but the regional government remains divided on the issue,

Speaking of tourism, news outlet The Olive Press says that Sevillian locals are becoming more angry about inflated food and drink prices across the city. Taking to social media to discuss their frustrations, residents shared examples of exorbitant charges at tourist area restaurants, such as paying over thirty-one euros for a modest breakfast including three coffees and two traditional molletes, which are lightly toasted white bread rolls with olive oil, often spread with garlic or lard, typical of Andalucian breakfasts.

Next, to Catalunya, where rains in March and April have improved the water level in the Fluvià-Muga aquifer, a layer of the earth capable of distributing rainwater. Major droughts in Catalunya began around three years ago, and in twenty twenty-four, the situation has been getting worse due to rising temperatures and water scarcity.

The increased rains have allowed twenty-two towns in the Alt Empordà region of Girona to escape their emergency drought situation.

These towns can now increase the daily water supply per inhabitant from 200 to 230 liters. Still, the overall drought scenario remains critical, with 495 other municipalities in a state of emergency and continued precautionary measures across Catalunya. This state of emergency includes restrictions on water use for swimming pools and agriculture.

In transport news, Basque company Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, or CAF, is set to secure a 412 million euro contract with Metro de Madrid to renew its train fleet on Line One.

CAF is a company that operates across the world, providing trains and transport solutions for hundreds of lines and services, including metros in Italy, Hungary, and the UK.

The company has submitted its technical and economic offer to Metro de Madrid and is the only finalist, making the award almost definitive. This follows a previous 450 million euro contract for supplying forty trains for lines six and eight.

The total 1.1 billion euro project for renewing Madrid Metro fleets includes maintenance for a decade and trains that will apparently have a forty-year lifespan.

In other news, cloud computing giant Amazon Web Services, or AWS, plans to invest €15 billion euros in Spain, creating over 17,000 full-time jobs annually and contributing over €21 billion euros to the country’s GDP by twenty thirty-three.

The investment focuses on expanding AWS’ cloud infrastructure in the autonomous community of Aragón. Approximately 40% of the 6,800 jobs will be based in Aragón across sectors like construction, engineering, and telecommunications.

From tech investments to stolen artwork. Spanish police have recovered another €5 million euro Francis Bacon painting that was stolen from José Capelo’s home in Madrid in twenty fifteen. Five paintings were stolen, and with this news, four have so far been found.

The painting is one of five portraits of Capelo, a friend of Bacon. Three of the five stolen works were recovered in twenty seventeen.

Since twenty fifteen, sixteen people have been arrested so far in connection with the theft of the four paintings, including the supposed mastermind and many of the perpetrators.

The stolen paintings are worth about 25 million euros.

Moving on, thousands of Taylor Swift fans eagerly awaited her concert at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, with some camping near the venue days in advance to secure a good spot. According to news outlet El País, this has upset some locals because of the disruption.

Some streets have been closed, and news outlet El Mundo reported the regional government and city council have installed several stands outside the stadium in the Chamartín neighborhood to sell official tour merch.

Taylor Swift is currently on her worldwide Eras tour, a show that has made over $1 billion dollars in revenue so far and is predicted to double that by the tour's end in December in Vancouver.

On Tuesday the 28th, the Gay Games Federation confirmed that Valencia will host the twenty twenty-six Gay Games despite boycotts by local LGTBI+ groups.

The federation decided against changing the venue for the games, saying the Valencia City Council has been extremely cooperative.

Local groups like València Diversitat Foundation and Lamda withdrew over disagreements, including organizational structure and concerns about the regional government's political stance. In the regional elections in twenty twenty-three, right-leaning VOX and PP allied, and won the majority of votes. VOX party members, in particular, have historically commented negatively on LGTBQ+ rights.

The federation has acknowledged global and local challenges to LGTBQ+ rights but emphasized the importance of maintaining visibility and not retreating simply because a regional government doesn’t share the same views. In fact, it’s adamant that this is exactly where events like the Gay Games should be held to challenge stereotypes.

Let’s take a step back in time now. For a week in May, the small town of Mérida in Extremadura transformed into Augusta Emerita to celebrate its Roman history.

The Emerita Lvdica festival, now in its 14th edition, attracts nearly 100,000 visitors to celebrate the city’s rich heritage. Mérida was once the capital of Roman Lusitania, an area that once encompassed much of Spain and Portugal.

This year the celebration was held between the 20th and the 26th of May, hosting over 120 activities, including gladiator fights, spiritual rites, theater, craft markets, and legionnaire marches.

And to close this edition, a bit of breathtaking biology. Bioluminescence is a phenomenon in which organisms produce light through a chemical reaction. It can be seen on certain beaches, creating a starry sky effect in the water —and guess what? You can see it on the northern coast of Spain!

The Sea of Ardora showcases this starry effect along the coast of Galicia. Key spots include the islands of Ons and Cíes, Cabo Fisterra, Corcubión. and Carnota Beach.

The phenomenon, often visible from June to September, is enhanced by warm temperatures and low moonlight.

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

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¡Hasta la próxima!