SPAIN: Russian Pilot Dies & more – 22nd Feb 2024

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 22nd of February twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

The body of a Russian pilot, identified as Sergey Kurkin, was found on Monday the 19th. Kurkin defected from Ukraine to Russia in twenty fourteen because of disputes between the two nations. He later moved to Spain. However, on Monday, his body was discovered in the garage of a rented apartment in Alicante, reportedly showing signs of violence. Investigations suggest he could have been there since the 13th. Authorities are investigating the case and are considering various possibilities, including suicide or foul play.

Movong on, in the recent Galicia regional election, Spain's People's Party, or PP, maintained its absolute majority by securing forty out of seventy-five seats. Their victory solidified the PP's dominance in Galicia, where they have governed for thirty-one years. The Galician Nationalist Bloc secured second place with twenty-five seats, while the Socialist party walked away with only nine, and the Democratic Ourense rounded things off, winning its inaugural seat. This win enhances the PP's position as the main opposition party to President Pedro Sánchez's Socialist-led government.

Meanwhile, Brussels has postponed a crucial plan to enhance the European Union's resilience to droughts and floods amid growing water shortages in the southern regions of Europe, particularly Spain and Italy.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, proposed the water resilience initiative in September. However, it has been removed from the latest EU executive calendar without a set timeline.

Green groups have criticized the EU's decision to postpone the implementation of the initiative, highlighting the urgency of tackling water resilience amid the climate emergency.

There's good news in the world of green energy this week, as it has been reported that Spain has the potential to become a major producer of green hydrogen in Europe. According to engineering advisory firm AFRY, the country has some ambitious but totally achievable targets. Spain will fund and support renewable hydrogen projects worth around €3 billion euros this year.

Spain boasts abundant solar resources, making it ideal for combined solar and hydrogen projects. The existing infrastructure for importing key ingredients, like grey ammonia and methanol, can be repurposed for exporting hydrogen derivatives, essentially aiding targets and boosting the green economy even more. The journey to a greener Spain may be tough, but it looks like the country is on the right track.

While Spain looks forward to a greener future, there's outrage in the capital. A large fireworks display took place on Sunday the 18th along and over the river of the Cuenca Alta del Manzanares nature reserve just outside Madrid.

The mascletà is a Spanish occasion renowned for its intense and dramatic use of pyrotechnics and has been heavily criticized for its location this year. Despite petitions, the event went ahead.

Many argue that the event heavily disturbed and harmed the animals and birds in the area. The lack of permits and transparency surrounding the event has fueled even more criticism, with roughly 300 kilograms of gunpowder said to have been set off over the reserve.

From outrage to acceptance, China agreed to lift its ban on Spanish beef imports this week, which had been in place since two thousand.

Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, announced this decision during talks with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Albares. Recall that beef imports had been historically banned due to concerns over mad cow disease. Spanish farmers welcomed the decision as they are facing challenges due to heavy regulation, high costs, and competition from cheaper imports.

Next up, Pedro Sánchez, Spain's Prime Minister, has defended the country's controversial Eurovision song titled "Zorra" amid accusations of sexism.

The electro-pop anthem, performed by the band Nebulossa, has faced criticism for its use of the Spanish word "zorra," which can derogatorily mean "bitch" or "slut" in slang.

However, Sánchez argues that the song challenges sexist stereotypes and promotes feminism in a playful manner— so much so that the European Broadcasting Union has confirmed the song's eligibility for the Eurovision contest, saying it doesn't go against the competition’s guidelines.

Now, breaking from tradition, Spain has its first openly LGBT matador. Mario Alcalde, who balances bullfighting with a full-time job as a baggage handler, disclosed his sexuality to El Mundo spontaneously, surprising even his family. Alcalde believes that his revelation as pansexual will encourage more bullfighters to come out despite bullfighting's association with conservatism.

Bullfighting is still a matter of controversy, with many saying it's cruel and outdated. Audience numbers for bullfights have declined, but Alcalde rejects claims of irrelevance, asserting its enduring significance in Spain.

In some tech news, this week, the Catalan government has thrown shade at cryptocurrency company Worldcoin and even filed a complaint regarding the company's practices and potential security threats.

Catalan newspaper El Periódico reported on the complaint and expanded by saying that the government felt Worldcoin ”violates privacy and data protection laws... and fraud risks.”

The company, founded by entrepreneur Sam Altman, has faced criticism for its intrusive biometric data collection. The controversy highlights ongoing debates about privacy, specifically Worldcoin's iris-scanning technology, which takes images of the eyes using infrared light.

Moving on, a drug informally known by some as "Pink cocaine," but more commonly referred to as "tusi" or “tucibi” in Spain, has spiked in popularity lately, sparking conversations for better testing and drug regulation.

On the 16th of January, a fourteen-year-old boy died when his energy drink was spiked with the "luxury drug." Dubbed so because of its market value, not because of what’s in it.

According to the National Police, Tusi has a market value of over 100 euros per gram and isn't actually a single drug but an unknown and completely unsafe mixture of other illegal substances such as ketamine, cocaine, and ecstasy.

Authorities are working to improve their testing capabilities, but the rise in the narcotic has highlighted the challenge of regulating the drug market in Spain.

Let's turn to the world of tennis, where two Spanish players will be gracing the court for a game to be remembered.

Spain's tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz are poised to face off in an exclusive exhibition match streamed on Netflix, dubbed "The Netflix Slam."

Scheduled for the 3rd of March in Las Vegas, the clash between the twenty-two-time Grand Slam winner Nadal and the rising star Alcaraz, ranked World Number 2 at twenty years old, promises an exciting showdown at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Keeping with sports, Spain's Ilia Topuria's victory in the UFC Featherweight Championship signifies a shift in the mixed martial arts landscape and puts Spanish representation on the map.

Despite the popular narrative of Australian Alexander Volkanovski's dominance and experience, Topuria, a twenty-seven-year-old undefeated fighter who moved to Alicante, Spain, when he was fifteen, has defeated the seasoned champion.

Topuria was even given the cover of MARCA, one of Spain's most important sports publications.

The World Trade Organization or WTO has upheld the European Union's challenge against the United States regarding Spanish olives.

The WTO has said that the EU was right to complain about the United States' actions against Spanish olives, with the US making the sale of olives harder due to higher taxes.

First placed in twenty eighteen, the WTO has now agreed that the taxes the United States placed on Spanish olives broke the rules. Good news for Spain and Spanish olive sales.

And to close this edition with more food news, the Finnish food company Paulig Group has announced plans to invest in a new factory in Spain to expand its snack business going into twenty twenty-five/twenty twenty-six.

The investment aims to meet the growing demand for snacks in Europe and strengthen Paulig's position in the market. The new facility, to be located in southern Spain, will focus on producing healthy and sustainable snacks and will include an initial investment of forty-two million euros.

Aaaand that’s it for this week!

Thank you so much to everyone who filled in the survey over the past few weeks, we really appreciate your comments and ideas. Many of you mentioned you would like to get some more in depth episodes and interviews, is that something you would like? Do you have any topics in mind? Something specific about Spain that you want to know more about for us to do a special show on? We want to do some new things very soon! Please email us at info@rorshok.com. The survey is still linked in the show notes if you are interested in that as well.

¡Hasta la próxima!