Tomé Chooses Squad, Controversy Arises & more –21st Sep 2023

Buenos días from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 21st of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Kicking off with an update on Spanish women's football, and boy has a lot happened since last week.

On Monday the 18th, Montse Tomé, the new head coach for the national women’s team, announced her chosen squad for the upcoming National League tournament.

However, after Tomé's announcement, at least fifteen of the twenty-three players reiterated their feelings toward the Spanish Football Federation or RFEF. They said that they would not play until the RFEF implemented major reforms

The players have stated that the current federation structures do not allow them to work in suitable conditions and do not respect them as women and athletes. In their statement, they said they remain committed to their boycott and will only play when the RFEF makes changes.

Still, when it came to showing up for international duty on Tuesday the 19th in Valencia, all but two players turned up. However, not because they wanted to perform their duties but because legally, if they didn't show up, they would have been given a two-year suspension from playing for any Spanish team and fines of up to 30,000 euros.

The fate of Montse Tomé´s position is up in the air, too, as players requested a replacement in a letter to the RFEF on Friday the 15th because they say she is too friendly with former RFEF president Rubiales. Probably, she will only coach the team for the first two National League games until they find a replacement.

Jenni Hermoso, the Spanish player at the heart of this situation, has responded to national team coach Montse Tomé and the RFEF in a statement, questioning their decision not to include her in the national team's list.

Tomé and the RFEF said they didn’t include Hermoso to protect her. Hermoso expressed skepticism, asking, "Protect me from what? Or from whom?"

So far, Hermoso has criticized the RFEF for including players who had requested not to be called up, saying that this divisive strategy is meant to intimidate and threaten players with legal and economic consequences - because, if you’re called up, you have to play or face a two-year suspension. Hermoso has stated many times that she stands with her fellow teammates in the current proceedings.

After beating England to win the World Cup, let's hope the sporting heroes get vindication for an incident that shouldn’t have clouded their amazing success.

Moving on to language, the Catalan branch of the Spanish Socialist Party (or PSC) called on all EU member states not to veto a proposal to make Catalan an official language in the European Union.

Catalan pro-independence parties have imposed certain conditions to provide their support to the PSOE and give Pedro Sánchez another term in office. They are asking the PSOE to make Catalan an official language and to push for an amnesty—which we talked about last week.

At first, Spain wanted to make Basque, and Galician official EU languages too but dropped its aspirations.

EU member states have said they are looking into the financial and legal consequences of adding Catalan as an official EU language and said it would potentially slow down the decision-making process and cost a ton which it would surely do, but also open up a whole can of worms with other languages .-- Sweden and Finland predictably have publicly expressed their concerns. Still, other Spanish political parties call for a reassessment of separatist demands, saying the current proceedings could damage progress and hinder constructive dialogue across Spain and the EU member states.

While waiting for the EU decision, Spanish MPs can now speak in Basque, Catalan, and Galician in Congress, thanks to an agreement by the Socialist-led caretaker government. The change aims to promote linguistic diversity. This is also part of the Catalan pro-independence parties' proposals. The move has garnered support from some parties but faced criticism from the Partido Popular or People's Party and nationalistic Vox. Vox MPs demonstrated their displeasure on Tuesday the 19th during a formal vote where some MPs from the nationalistic party walked out of Congress in protest.

Another topic on the EU agenda is Ukrainian grain. Luis Planas Puchades, Spain's agriculture minister, said that an EU unilateral ban on Ukrainian grain imports would be illegal.

His statement was in response to countries, particularly Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announcing their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports. The European Commission had imposed a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, but it did not extend it, so Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary imposed their own restrictions.

Ukraine has been struggling during its conflict with Russia because it can’t export as much grain as it would like, resorting to so-called solidarity routes to neighboring countries rather than preferred routes via the Black Sea.

Amidst the uncertainty of Ukrainian grain, Almendralejo, a small Spanish city in Extremadura, has had to deal with the dark and heartbreaking misuse of AI.

In at least four educational centers in the city, twenty different girls have had their photos manipulated by artificial intelligence, turning them into nude images and deeply upsetting all involved.

The app, which claims to "undress anyone," altered the girls' pictures originally uploaded to social media. Some of the alleged perpetrators, who police say may be the girls' classmates, have been identified. However, it hasn't been confirmed whether they were the girls' peers, but it has been established that many of them are under fourteen and therefore not criminally liable under Spanish law.

The Juvenile Prosecutor's Office is investigating the case, and the affected girls' parents are seeking legal advice for a very upsetting and new crime.

A devastating hail storm has caused widespread agricultural damage. Over the weekend, the storm struck the eastern regions of Valencia and Murcia, destroying vineyards, citrus groves, and other crucial crops. The hailstones were reportedly the size of golf balls. Farmers are now grappling with the aftermath, facing substantial financial losses. Spain is a key player in global agriculture, particularly in citrus production, and this event is expected to impact both the local economy and international markets.

Turning our attention to health. For years, studies have shown that people who never drink alcohol tend to have higher mortality rates compared to those who drink occasionally or in small amounts. This idea has supported the belief that a little wine or beer daily is good for you.

However, the largest study on alcohol and mortality in Spain, presented at the Spanish Society of Epidemiology's congress, has explained the paradox. They say that many of those who say they never drink actually have health problems preventing them from doing so. These people may include former addicts, those with chronic diseases, and people who have bad reactions to alcohol.

Ultimately, the study emphasized that moderate and occasional alcohol consumption provides no mortality benefit compared to abstaining. Sorry.

Continuing with health, but shifting to COVID. An outbreak of a disease, dubbed “COVID for cows”, has spread to nearly every province in the country and could affect the Spanish economy significantly.

Since November twenty twenty-two, Spain has been grappling with an outbreak of Epizootic Hemorrhagic Disease (or EHE), a viral disease that mainly affects deer and cattle. It does not, however, affect humans and can't be spread to us in any way. Despite this, it poses a significant challenge for the livestock sector, as affected animals must be immobilized.

EHE spreads through mosquitos, and although Spain has managed to keep out the disease for many years, it may have found its way over from Northern Africa, where they have been battling against this issue for some time.

Princess Leonor completed her basic military training and photos of her in her military uniform in a training field in Zaragoza have been made public. The heiress received the officer’s saber along with 560 other cadets.

Ending with a little low-down on what's going on in Barcelona this weekend. From the 22nd to the 25th of September, the annual La Mercè festival will take place. Like every year, there are concerts, events, and child-friendly activities happening throughout the city. It's a celebration of the city's Patron saint, Mare de Deu de la Mercè, and most activities are free.

And finally, European Union transport ministers are meeting tonight at Sant Pau and there will be a pillow fight of sleeper train fans to encourage them to have more sleeper trains throughout Europe. To see photos, check #PillowTrainEU

And that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us! Before we leave, we wanted to thank everyone who has been listening to us, and welcome all the new subscribers! We are happy the Rorshok Spain community is growing!

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¡Hasta la próxima!