SPAIN: Pledges to Ukraine & more – 27th Feb 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 27th of February twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Let’s start this week with Spain’s pledge to continue supporting Ukraine. On Monday, the 24th, President Pedro Sánchez announced that his government would grant Ukraine a one-billion-dollar military aid package.

The initiative will run parallel with a nearly four-billion-dollar aid package from the European Union and individual support from other countries worldwide.

This latest pledge of Ukrainian support was announced on the same day as the three-year anniversary of Russia’s full-scale assault. In Brussels, foreign ministers continue to discuss support for Kyiv and new sanctions against Russia, with Roberta Metsola, head of the European Parliament, calling for maintaining solidarity with Ukraine.

In an update to a story from previous shows, on Thursday the 20th, Luis Rubiales, the former head of the Spanish football federation, was found guilty of sexual assault for kissing national team player Jenni Hermoso without her consent and was ordered to pay a fine of just over ten thousand euros.

The case originated after the Spanish women’s team beat England in the World Cup; after the ex-football head grabbed the player by the head and kissed her on the lips. The incident triggered protests and calls for Rubiales’ resignation, which followed soon after.

Over to Catalunya, in north-eastern Spain. On Monday the 24th, Oriol Junqueras, the President of Catalunya and leader of the Party Esquerra Republicana, announced that the central government has agreed to forgive over seventeen billion dollars in debt owed by the autonomous region, eliminating nearly 20% of Catalunya’s total debt.

The deal was part of Pedro Sanchez’s twenty twenty-three presidential bid, where he bargained with the Catalan party to secure his party's victory in the twenty twenty-three elections – gaining votes from them in exchange for deals.

From finance to fighting for rights. On Friday the 21st, Carla Antonelli, a Spanish politician and LGBTQ+ activist, made headlines by delivering a powerful speech in defense of trans rights during a session in parliament.

On the same day, Antonelli and Más Madrid, the left-wing political party she has been a member of since twenty twenty-three, shared a collaborative Instagram post publicizing the speech, which has since gone viral across social media.

Antonelli first made history in twenty eleven as the first openly transgender person elected to parliamentary office, while being a member of the Spanish Workers’ Party (PSOE). Since twenty twenty-three, she has also been the first openly trans woman to serve in the upper houses of the Spanish government.

Want to listen to her impactful speech? Link in show notes.

In news about visas, since Spanish authorities announced in April twenty twenty-four that the popular Golden Visa scheme will only continue until April twenty twenty-five, reports indicate that applications have surged. The program grants Spanish residency in exchange for financial investments.

According to a report from Madrid-based law firm Golden Partners, the Government issued an average of sixty-nine golden visas per month between January and March twenty twenty-four, while from April until October, the number of monthly permits increased to ninety-five. The firm also mentioned that in Madrid alone, the application rate had increased by 200%, with most applicants being from the US, although, we could not find numbers in the report to confirm or deny this.

Now to the hot topic of bullfighting. On Wednesday the 19th, Spanish animal protection groups delivered over 700,000 signatures to the Electoral Commission as part of the It’s Not My Culture or No Es Mi Cultura citizen’s initiative.

The initiative aims to repeal a twenty thirteen law designating bullfighting as a cultural heritage. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, supports the initiative, which far exceeded the minimum threshold of 500,000 signatures, the magic number that requires the issue to now be discussed in the Spanish Congress. So, organizers will now wait until it's discussed in parliament.

Want to get on the roads but can't afford the driving lessons? Well, Spain is considering changing its driving education system, allowing learner drivers to train with friends or family instead of professional instructors.

The National Commission for Markets and Competition proposed the change on Tuesday the 25th, to cut costs and increase accessibility, especially for low-income learners. As it stands, Spanish citizens cannot learn to drive without being part of an official driving school or instructor.

The Commission has also suggested easing instructor requirements, with countries like France and Italy already using similar systems. While driving schools wouldn’t disappear, they will likely face increased competition, and will need to adapt to fit in the new system.

Meanwhile, a well-loved Spanish water park is set to re-open on the country’s south coast.

The abandoned Tivoli World, on the Costa del Sol, has finally been given the go-ahead to reopen four years after being forced to close. The attraction closed in twenty twenty during the pandemic and has been left vacant ever since

There have been lots of campaigns to get it going again since its closure, but finally with a 200-million-dollar investment by real estate company Tremón, the Andalucian attraction has a bright future ahead of it.

The local government has said that the earliest opening date is predicted to be twenty twenty-eight.

Speaking of tourism, where do the Spanish and Europeans travel? Well, according to a recent coverage by Spanish media reports and the media outlet China Daily released on Tuesday the 25th, many European countries have been experiencing an increased rate of travel to China, driven by China’s visa-friendly policies.

Policies include an extended visa-free entry introduced in November twenty twenty-four to allow ordinary passport holders from thirty-eight countries, including Spain, Bulgaria and Portugal to visit China for a maximum of thirty days without applying for a visa until the end of twenty twenty-five.

Citing national immigration data, China Daily states that in twenty twenty-four, foreign nationals made over sixty million inbound and outbound trips last year, around an 80% year-on-year increase.

Spain is a country that loves its tomatoes, but recent figures show that it may no longer be one of Europe’s biggest exporters.

According to the latest data from statistics company Euroestacom, in twenty twenty-four, Morocco exported nearly fifty million kilos more tomatoes than Spain last year.

The Coordinator of Farmers and Ranchers Organizations says that this market share loss is due to Morocco's low production costs and alleged preferential treatment by the EU. According to the leading force in Spanish agriculture, Morocco has also exceeded in recent years the quota of duty-free tomatoes, potentially meaning that Morocco could be over-exporting tomatoes to avoid paying certain taxes.

Up next, on Friday the 21st, Leroy Merlin, the French home improvement and gardening retailer with a huge presence in Spain, announced that it will distribute over sixty million dollars among its more than 18,000 employees in Spain due to increased profits.

Similar to how Home Depot or Lowe’s might be perceived in the US, Leroy Merlin is a go-to store for Spaniards looking to improve their homes. It’s seen as reliable, affordable, and - especially after Friday’s announcement - a company that looks after its staff.

From home refurbishments to cultural heritage. If you love a good food program, and you want to know a little more about Spain, there’s a new show coming that everyone’s talking about.

Mexican-American actress Eva Longoria, is launching a new show entitled Searching for Spain, where she will explore the country’s food and culture, connecting with her heritage, and visiting major cities like Barcelona and Madrid.

Speaking to the Spanish media outlet HOLA about the CNN original series, Longoria shared her excitement about exploring Spain’s diverse regions, rich history, and vibrant culinary traditions. She described the experience as exhilarating and couldn’t wait to share it with the world.

And finally…a highly anticipated cultural competition. The coastal Carnival of Puerto Real in Andalucia province in the south is one of the town’s most anticipated cultural events and is celebrated each year with vibrant performances, music, and satire.

Rooted in Andalusian tradition, it features the Official Carnival Groups Competition where different ensembles, like choral folk singing groups or chirigotas, groups of entertainers or comparsas, and groups of people performing traditional Spanish folk ballads or romanceros, compete in theatrical showcases, often undertoned with social commentary.

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

In case you didn’t know, besides the Rorshok Spain Update, we also do others! We’ve got many country updates from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. But we also have non-country updates, including the Arctic Update, about the area north of the Arctic Circle, the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions, and the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water,

If you want to check out the full list of updates, go to https://rorshok.com/updates/. The link is in the show notes.

¡Hasta la próxima!