Vox Gives Votes to PP Unconditionally & more – 10th Aug 2023

Buenos días from Sant Gervasi! This is the Rorshok Spain Update from the 10th of August twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Spain.

Santiago Abascal, leader of the far-right party Vox, has offered to support the Popular Party or PP. Vox decided to give its votes to the PP without imposing any conditions. The primary motivation behind this move is to prevent Pedro Sanchez from being re-elected as Prime Minister with the backing of other political parties.

The situation arises from a fragmented political landscape, with no single party gaining an outright majority. Now, forming a government and alliances and gaining support from other parties is crucial.

Vox has significant support and holds a considerable number of seats in the Spanish Parliament. By offering their votes unconditionally, Vox aims to maintain a strong stance against what they perceive as harmful to the interests of Spain.

However, Vox's interests look slightly different since they lost the support of one of their founding members and strongholds, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros.

On Monday the 8th, Espinosa de los Monteros left his position as a member of the Congress of Deputies, which he had held for almost four years. Espinosa de los Monteros reportedly met with Vox leader Santiago Abascal on Monday evening.

In Espinosa de los Monteros’ own words, he announced that "enough is enough," as he leaves Spanish politics and Vox party spokesmanship behind after supposedly feeling disappointed by the General election results. He also believes Vox's ideologies differ greatly from the party he once helped build.

Moving on, the death of "The Eagle of Toledo," ninety-five-year-old Federico Martín Bahamontes.

On Monday, the 7th of August, former Spanish cyclist Toledo-born Federico Martín Bahamontes passed away in Valladolid. Famous for being the first Spanish cyclist to win the Tour de France in nineteen fifty-nine and the first to complete a career triple by winning the mountain classification in all three Grand Tours, he was sweetly named the "The Eagle of Toledo" and a monument of the great cyclist is erected in Paseo del Miradero in Toledo.

August is in full swing, and between the lack of rainfall since Spring, the subsequent heatwave, and forest fires, the peninsula continues to struggle with its water supplies.

Many autonomous communities have resorted to restricting water use to try and save reservoir water levels from being depleted further.

ater supplies are cut between: 11:00

Locals looking to cool off in public and private swimming pools have also been banned in many regions. In Badajoz, you can't fill swimming pools, nor can you wash vehicles, and each resident is limited to 189 liters of water, around 49 gallons per person per day. While in Galicia, locals are told to use water only for essential purposes.

Perhaps regions are guarding water supplies because of summer wildfires. Around four thousand people were left without power this week, and almost 140 people were evacuated as forest fires in Catalunya bordering France near Portbou spread across the equivalent of 600 soccer fields on Saturday, the 5th.

As a precaution, firefighters moved locals from neighboring villages, and train services between Figueres and Portbou were temporarily cut off but returned to normal on Sunday the 6th.

The blaze is still active, and efforts are underway to prevent it from creeping into nearby tourist hotspot Llançà.

Fiery temperatures aren’t just affecting the land this week, as scientists have observed rising sea temperatures in the Mediterranean and Atlantic regions, which could be affecting many marine species and the climate.

The increase in temperature has been likened to a "sea on fire" for many marine organisms, with scientists reporting damage to their habitats, reproductive patterns, and overall survival. From nineteen eight-one to twenty twenty-three, the temperature of the Mediterranean has risen by 0.4 Celsius (or thirty-three Fahrenheit) every decade, so 1.7 degrees Celsius since nineteen eighty-one.

Marine life, such as fish and plankton, are moving towards cooler waters, disrupting existing ecosystems and potentially causing economic and ecological imbalances.

With water supplies low and summer heat high, the most logical thing to do is cool off at the beach.

However, media outlets say a "war of umbrellas" is happening, as overcrowded beaches lead town halls to impose sanctions on people trying to reserve spots on the beach for later in the day.

No more hogging is the slogan, as places like Algarrobo and Torrox in Malaga warn people that if they leave their belongings unattended for more than three hours, they will be taken away and stored at the town hall lost and found. Then when the owners turn up at the town hall to collect the lost belongings, they are told to pay a fine of up to 750 euros.

So, a local tip, if you want to enjoy a day at the beach, get there early, avoid the crowds, and don't leave your belongings unattended for a long period.

Another local tip for you, most young people in Spain now pay each other via their mobiles using an app called Bizum, and most Spanish banks support it. It's similar to Venmo. Hugely useful if you need to pay a friend back for drinks, tapas or pay a small business.

However, be wary of how many transfers you make, as most people don't know that it has limits on it. The Treasury or Hacienda has introduced a cap on the number of transfers and quantity to stop large amounts of money from being frequently transferred. If a user happens to exceed more than sixty money transfers per month, then the platform will warn you. However, if a Bizum payment exceeds 10,000 euros, the platform is legally obliged to tell the Treasury, and users will have to prove solvency and provide documentation.

If you want to get friendly with the locals, you have to learn slang.

So, with that in mind, Viajar magazine produced a report on the most common words in each autonomous community. According to them, Quillo, which has a lot of translations but could be used to express danger or refer to someone, is typical in the Andalusian region, while apa in Catalan is said when something is ready or amazing. Moving to the Canary Islands, bus drivers are called guagueros who drive guaguas (buses) and if you don't like to spend a lot of time resting, you might be called a rochero in Castilla la Mancha.

The jury is out, however, a few readers on social media have disagreed with some of the Viajar Magazine's expression allocations, saying that they had never even heard of them.

Want to check out Viajar’s list? Link to the source in English in the show notes.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Remember to tell your friends about Rorshok and how great we are. Also, don’t forget to hit the subscribe button. If you are feeling extra nice you can always financially support us with the link in our show notes.

¡Hasta la próxima!