SPAIN: Sánchez’s Speech & more – 18th Dec 2025

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 18th of December twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Kicking things off this week, on Monday, the 15th, President Pedro Sánchez used his end-of-year address to reject snap elections and defend his Socialist government amid controversy.

He acknowledged mistakes but emphasized his party’s commitment to feminism and equality, highlighting anti-harassment measures, gender-based violence legislation, and gender balance in public life.

Sánchez dismissed right-wing criticism, accusing opponents of hypocrisy and contrasting ongoing investigations of former allies with the corruption cases that toppled the previous conservative government in twenty eighteen.

On political stability, he affirmed his intention to govern until twenty twenty-seven, rejected calls for a cabinet reshuffle, and warned that his fall could lead to a right-wing government supported by the Vox party.

Also on Monday, the government announced a nationwide public transport pass that will allow unlimited travel by bus and train across the country.

Sánchez said the scheme will transform how Spaniards use public transport. The pass will be available from mid-January, and cost sixty euros a month, with a discounted thirty euros monthly pass available for under-26s, covering middle-distance and suburban rail services and national buses.

The government has said that the initiative could cut commuting costs by up to 60% for around two million workers nationwide.

From quicker commutes to costly fines. On Monday, the 15th, the government fined Airbnb, sixty-five million euros for advertising more than 65,000 short-term rental properties that were illegal or improperly licensed.

The consumer affairs ministry said the fine, which amounts to six times the profits Airbnb earned while advertising the properties, was final and ordered the immediate removal of the offending listings.

The move reflects growing political and public pressure to control mass tourism, particularly in major cities. Pablo Bustinduy, the consumer rights minister, said families were being pushed to the brink while companies profited from practices that displaced residents.

In weather news, the country is facing another spell of heightened winter weather as a new cold front and a developing DANA storm system move in, raising the prospect of a rare white Christmas in some areas.

While Storm Emilia has eased this week after a period of disruption, AEMET, the State Meteorological Agency, has warned that instability will continue nationwide. Rain is expected across much of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, with showers continuing, particularly along the Mediterranean coast.

Temperatures were forecast to drop from Thursday the 11th onwards, bringing colder nights, frost in inland areas, and who knows, maybe a magical white Christmas for some.

Up next, absenteeism in Spain is currently at record levels, with nearly 1.2 million people missing work every day.

According to non-profit think tank Círculo de Empresarios, the economic cost of these recent levels is between 3% and 5% of total GDP, equivalent to about forty-five and eighty billion euros annually. In twenty twenty-three alone, more than 360 million workdays were lost, a 52% increase compared with twenty eighteen.

Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute show that in the third quarter of twenty twenty-five, 5% of employed people did not work during the reference week, almost two points higher than pre-pandemic levels, while hours not worked accounted for 6.6% of total agreed hours.

In other news, customer service is about to change. On Thursday, the 11th, Spain approved a new customer service law that will significantly change how companies deal with consumers, including a strict requirement to answer phone calls within three minutes.

Under the new rules, 95% of calls must be answered within three minutes, calls cannot be cut due to long waits, and companies must provide free customer service lines. Automated systems can no longer be the only option, and customers must be able to speak to a human operator. Complaints must be resolved within fifteen days, down from thirty, with proper tracking and written confirmation.

The law also bans spam calls, restricts commercial offers during service calls, strengthens protections for vulnerable users, and tightens rules on online gambling.

Looking beyond Europe now, on Wednesday the 17th, the Times of Central Asia released an article about the relationship between Spain and Turkmenistan.

In recent months, the two countries have discussed closer cooperation to combat desertification in Central Asia, including the possible creation of a regional center focused on land degradation.

Talks took place in Ashgabat between Turkmenistan’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Spain’s ambassador, following President Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s proposal at the UN to establish a specialized regional center to strengthen cooperation, research and funding.

The initiative aligns with the EU strategy for Central Asia, linking environmental stability to regional security and economic development.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the 16th, the government announced its new generation of long-range mobile speed cameras capable of detecting speeding vehicles from more than one kilometer (0.6 miles) away.

The Directorate-General for Traffic has begun deploying the TruCAM II, a laser-based radar designed to strengthen speed enforcement and improve road safety. Unlike fixed cameras, which are signposted, these portable devices are hard to spot and can monitor vehicles travelling both towards and away from them.

Officials say the focus is on accident prevention, particularly during busy holiday periods when traffic increases.

Over to the capital now, as on Tuesday the 16th, Madrid’s Movistar Arena achieved its best-ever international ranking, being named the world’s second most active venue in twenty twenty-five.

Both Pollstar and Billboard, two of the most influential global music industry publications, placed the arena in second position, a step up from third place last year. The venue hosted 158 concerts during the year and 230 events total.

The Movistar Arena attracted more than two million people in twenty twenty-five, 1.8 million of them for live music. In Pollstar’s Top 200 World Arenas, the Movistar Arena ranked just behind Japan’s Yokohama Arena and ahead of iconic venues such as New York’s Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas’ Sphere.

In sports news, on Tuesday the 16th, Barcelona and Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí won her third consecutive FIFA Best Women’s Player of the Year award at a ceremony in Doha, Qatar.

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner was recognized despite currently being sidelined after suffering a broken leg two weeks ago, while Spain prepared for the second leg of the final of the UEFA Women’s Nations League against Germany. Bonmatí underwent surgery and is expected to be out for around five months.

As Christmas inches closer, Spaniards have already begun gift-giving. The mountain village of Tejeda, in the Canary Islands off Spain’s northwest coast of Africa, won Ferrero Rocher’s national Together We Shine Brighter competition and was named Spain’s Star Town for Christmas.

Seventeen finalist towns competed, representing each autonomous community in Spain, and Tejeda beat Fuentes del Maestre in Extremadura, in the country's central west, in the final public vote.

On Monday the 15th, sand artists from around the world unveiled a large-scale Nativity Scene carved entirely from sand on Las Canteras beach in the Canary Islands, marking the event’s 20th anniversary.

Ten sculptors from six countries, including the United States, Canada and Australia, spent several weeks shaping the intricate scenes along the shoreline. Despite a storm over the weekend that threatened to damage the fragile works, tourists and local residents gathered on Monday to admire the sculptures.

‘Finally, something to think about. Muslim women in Spain continue to face significant barriers to employment because of wearing the hijab, a religious clothing item promoted in Islam.

In a recent El País article, Somayya Anwary, a highly qualified Afghan refugee, shared her experience of repeatedly being rejected for jobs despite an impressive résumé, solely because she refuses to remove her headscarf.

The article documents similar experiences from other Afghan women who fled the Taliban and arrived in Spain seeking freedom and equal opportunities, only to encounter discrimination in the labor market.

Experts describe this exclusion as gendered Islamophobia, rooted in racism and colonial attitudes that portray Muslim women as needing to be saved.

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

Don’t forget to check out our new t-shirts with the link in the show notes!

¡Hasta la próxima!