SPAIN: Repsol Trouble & more – 3rd April 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 3rd of April twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Kicking things off this week, the US government has revoked Spanish energy company Repsol’s authorization to import oil from Venezuela.

José Manuel Albares, Spain’s foreign minister, has vowed to protect Repsol’s interests and is assessing the decision’s implications. Despite its Spanish beginnings, Repsol is now a global power in the energy sector, and its loss of access to Venezuelan crude oil could have broader economic implications worldwide.

Repsol says it’s in active discussions with US authorities to find a way to continue its operations.

Next up, on Friday the 28th, around 200 people joined an organized march by the feminist organization Asociación de Mujeres Migrantes de Barcelona and protested demanding the reversal of former Barcelona football player Dani Alves' acquittal after he was previously convicted of sexual assault.

The demonstration took place in the center of the Catalan capital. Many called the ruling a reflection of a sexist, patriarchal, and racist system.

The court justified its decision by citing a lack of reliability in the accuser’s testimony and insufficient evidence to convict Alves. However, protesters argue that his acquittal sets a dangerous precedent that reinforces impunity in sexual violence cases.

In some sad news this week, a tragic accident happened at the Cerredo mine in Degaña, Asturias, Northern Spain, that left at least five dead and four seriously injured on Monday the 31st.

Two injured workers were first taken to a local health center, but due to the severity of their burns, they were transferred to hospitals in nearby León and Ponferrada, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León in the northwest.

The accident reportedly occurred due to a collapse in the cave after an explosion. Emergency services, firefighters, and the mining rescue brigade were quick to attend the scene.

The regional government has requested help and aid from regional leaders and the central government.

In Catalunya, controversy broke out over Barcelona’s Sagrada Família. The church is set to reach its highest point in the coming months with the construction of the Tower of Jesus as envisioned by Gaudi himself, stretching over 125 meters, or 410 feet into the air over the Catalan capital. The backlash? Plans for the façade would involve demolishing buildings and potentially evicting up to 3,000 residents in the surrounding area.

Xavier Martínez, the director of the basilica's construction board, insists that the world-renowned architect's vision will be completed as planned and believes an agreement with affected neighbors will eventually be reached.

Now some important news about money. Spain’s central bank will begin withdrawing old and damaged fifty-euro notes from circulation starting in July.

The move aims to improve security in cash transactions and reduce fraud, particularly during the busy summer tourist season. Worn-out notes that are crumpled, faded, or torn can often be mistaken for counterfeits.

People with damaged fifty-euro notes are being urged to exchange them at any branch of the Bank of Spain or partner banks by presenting a valid ID. To know if your money is authentic, look out for raised ink, a distinct texture, and watermarks visible when held to the light.

If you find any counterfeits, you must take them to a local police station or give it to the Banco de España head office in Madrid or one of its fifteen branches across the country..

Over to the Madrid-Barajas Airport now, where cleaning staff have announced they will begin an indefinite strike, starting on Tuesday, the 8th of April.

According to the workers’ union FeSMC-UGT, staff are striking against poor working conditions, staff shortages, and unfulfilled agreements. The union has also stated that workers are under increased pressure due to new cleaning methods imposed by AENA, the company that manages the airport.

The strike will impact cleaning services across all terminals. Despite discussions with Madrid’s city council, no solution has been found to prevent the strikes, and workers have apologized in advance for any inconvenience caused to passengers.

The Muslim community in Spain celebrated Eid Al Fitr or the Festival of Breaking the Fast on Sunday the 30th of March, marking the end of Ramadan.

The celebrations included family gatherings, traditional food, and gift-giving for children. Many families also visited cemeteries to honor their deceased loved ones.

Ramadan, which began on the 1st of March this year, requires Muslims to observe sawm or fasting, from dawn to sunset.

Spain has a Muslim population of over 2.5 million, making up around 5% of the country’s forty-seven million inhabitants.

In other news, on Monday the 31st, Vicente Ordaz, head of the Valencian Audiovisual Corporation, ruffled a few feathers when he announced he wants to boost audience ratings for Valencia’s regional public television channel À Punt by adding more Spanish-language content and cutting back on Valencian.

Critics say this goes against the channel’s mission, but Ordaz insists Valencian will stay dominant.

Spain is known for many things, but simple bureaucracy isn’t really one of them. However, on Monday the 1st, the Spanish government approved a new digital National Identity Document or DNI, which will coexist with the physical version making administrative and legal procedures a little bit easier.

It won’t help foreigners with a Foreigners Residency card or TIE, but it will help anyone with Spanish citizenship after living in Spain continuously for ten years.

Accessible via the MiDNI app, it allows identity verification for in-person services but isn’t valid for border crossings. The rollout starts in April, with online use and electronic signatures expected by twenty twenty-six.

In entertainment, we’ve got the latest buzz of the reality TV drama Supervivientes, Spain’s version of Survivor, where contestants endure a remote island and compete for prize money.

Contestant Makoke was accused of smuggling food by a fellow contestant, saying he heard she had done it. She denied it but a fiery clash followed, with Makoke calling another contestant, Laura, deceitful. Host Sandra Barneda assured viewers that contestant belongings are checked, though mistakes can happen.

While no one confirmed the allegations, social media is ablaze with opinions! Many people seem to support Makaoke and believe her, while others say she has seriously violated the show's rules.

Spain faces a new storm, called Nuria, which brings strong winds and heavy rain. This is the fifth named storm in less than a month.

Rain began earlier this week with showers covering parts of Aragón, Catalunya, Valencia, and the Canary Islands. The heaviest rain is expected in central Spain and southern Galicia, and increased snow will fall across the Northern Spanish mountain range of the Pyrenees.

Nuria will hit hardest towards the weekend, bringing even more downpour, and lower temperatures. Make sure to check the weather report of where you are for more details.

From one storm to another, the Catholic Herald, one of the world's oldest Catholic news publications, reported on Wednesday the 2nd that Archbishop Luis Argüello, president of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, opened an annual assembly with a sharp analysis of Spain’s shift from Catholicism to secular liberalism.

According to Argüello, the Church can no longer assume Spaniards are raised Catholic, ending the era when Catholicism was a defining national identity. Argüello pointed to Sunday Eucharist services being taken away in rural areas and shifting priorities in cities as key reasons.

His concerns align with a recent Pew Research Center study, which highlights a global trend of people leaving their childhood religions behind.

Want to check out the study? Link in show notes.

And finally, now that April Fools' Day has passed, we hope no one fell victim to pranks or embarrassed themselves trying to trick their Spanish-speaking colleagues. Traditionally, in many Spanish-speaking countries, including the peninsula, the infamous day of mischief actually falls on the 28th of December and is called Holy Innocents' Day or Día de los Santos Inocentes, honouring the memory of the infants in Bethlehem who were killed by King Herod.

A few common pranks you might see include putting cut-out white figures on someone's back.

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

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¡Hasta la próxima!