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☆ Ex-Soccer Chief in Spain to Stand Trial on Sexual Assault Charge
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Luis Rubiales, Spain’s former soccer chief, will stand trial on a count of sexual assault for grabbing the head of Jennifer Hermoso, a star player, and forcibly kissing her on the mouth at the Women’s World Cup medal ceremony in August. The decision on Wednesday evening by Spain’s National Court came after a judge concluded in January that Mr. Rubiales should be held to account for the kiss, which the judge said “was nonconsensual” and within the bounds of the “intimacy of sexual relations.”Public prosecutors and Ms. Hermoso’s lawyers are seeking a total of two and a half years of prison time for Mr. Rubiales: one year for the sexual assault charge and an additional 18 months in connection with a coercion charge. Mr. Rubiales is accused of pressuring Ms. Hermoso to show support for him after the kiss. Three other former soccer officials, including Jorge Vilda, the former women’s team’s coach, are also accused of coercion. They could each face 18 months in prison.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso, Rubiales, “, Ms, Hermoso, Jorge Vilda Organizations: Spain’s National, ” Public

☆ After Mulling Resignation, Spain’s Leader Says He’ll Stay On
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-29 | by ( Jason Horowitz | Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The decision by Mr. Sánchez, who has repeatedly astonished his supporters and frustrated his conservative critics with his knack for political survival, is a momentous one for him, his country and all of Europe. Mr. Sánchez inspired anxiety, bewilderment and right-wing hopes last week when he responded to the opening of a judicial investigation into his wife by canceling his public schedule and issuing an emotional public letter. He wrote that harassment against his family had become intolerable and that he was considering quitting. But on Monday he walked back from the precipice after days of apparent reflection out of the public eye. Spain’s public prosecutor’s office had already sought to have the complaint against his wife dismissed for lack of evidence.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez, Sánchez Locations: Spain, Europe

☆ A Puzzling Move by a Political Survivor Grips Spain
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jason Horowitz | Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A wave of political turmoil crashed over Spain on Thursday as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez publicly weighed resigning his post after a judge agreed to investigate his wife over allegations that he and other officials decried as a politically driven smear campaign. Mr. Sánchez, whose political survival skills have for years astonished his supporters and detractors alike, wrote in a public letter Wednesday that the accusations against his wife, Begoña Gómez, were false and amounted to harassment. One of the most prominent leftist leaders in Europe, Mr. Sánchez has canceled his public schedule while he reflects on his next move. He plans to address the nation on Monday. As Mr. Sánchez holed up with his family and resisted the entreaties of his allies to hit the campaign trail ahead of key elections in the Catalonia region and for the European Parliament, supporters talked about mobilizing rallies to convince him to stay.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez, —, Sánchez’s, Sánchez, Begoña Gómez Locations: Spain, Europe, Catalonia

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said late Wednesday that he was considering resigning after a judge opened an investigation into whether Mr. Sánchez’s wife had abused her position to help friends win public contracts. The development stunned Spain and threw the political future of perhaps Europe’s most prominent progressive leader into doubt only months after he defied widespread expectations by putting together a fractious coalition and securing a second term in power. “I need to stop and think,” Mr. Sánchez wrote in a long letter published on his X social media account on Wednesday evening. He canceled all political engagements until Monday to decide, he said, whether he “should continue to lead the government or renounce this honor.”Recently, Mr. Sánchez had seemed to overcome another significant obstacle by assuring that the Catalan independent movement would support his coalition, making his second term in government seem sturdy.

Persons: Spain’s, Pedro Sánchez, Sánchez’s, Spain, Mr, Sánchez

Public safety officials in England, France and Spain said Tuesday that they would step up security for matches this week in the Champions League, Europe’s marquee soccer competition, after ISIS-related groups called for violent attacks on the contests. The first of four quarterfinal matchups were scheduled in London and Madrid on Tuesday, and were to feature some of the top clubs in world soccer: Spain’s Real Madrid; the English giants Arsenal and Manchester City; and Germany’s Bayern Munich. Two other high-profile matches will take place on Wednesday in Paris and Madrid. “We don’t know what location might be particularly targeted, neither in what conditions,” the French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, told reporters in Paris. The ministry said security measures at the matches in Madrid had been increased and additional agents deployed.

Persons: Gérald Darmanin Organizations: Champions League, ISIS, Spain’s, Arsenal, Manchester City, Germany’s Bayern Munich, ”, El Mundo Locations: England, France, Spain, London, Madrid, Spain’s Real Madrid, Paris, Spanish, El

☆ At Least 10 Die as Fire Engulfs High-Rise Complex in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-23 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A day after a fire roared through a high-rise apartment complex in the Spanish city of Valencia, killing at least 10 people, police investigators were trying to determine why the flames had engulfed the two buildings in less than an hour. Luis Sendra, the dean of the Official College of Architects of the Community of Valencia, said that investigators would have to wait until the structures cooled down to be able to determine whether exterior cladding might have helped fuel the fire. He said that gaps between the insulation and the cladding could have facilitated the spread of flames. “It’s too early to know the exact cause,” Mr. Sendra said. “But the speed with which it spread would indicate similarities with Grenfell Tower in London.”

Persons: Luis Sendra, “ It’s, Mr, Sendra, ” Organizations: Official College of Architects, Community of Locations: Spanish, Valencia, Community of Valencia, London

☆ Luis Rubiales, Ex-Chief of Spanish Soccer, to Face Trial Over World Cup Kiss
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A judge with Spain’s National Court recommended on Thursday that the country’s onetime soccer boss, Luis Rubiales, be tried on a sexual assault charge over his non-consensual kiss of a star player during the Women’s World Cup medal ceremony in Sydney, Australia, last summer. If found guilty of sexual assault in the case, which upended Spanish women’s soccer and set off a debate about the legacy of sexism in the sport in Spain, Mr. Rubiales would face a prison sentence of one to four years. The judge also recommended that Mr. Rubiales and three officials with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, soccer’s governing body in the country — including Jorge Vilda, who was fired as the women’s team coach in the wake of the incident — be tried on charges of coercion for exerting pressure on the player, Jennifer Hermoso, to show support for Mr. Rubiales in the immediate aftermath of the kiss. The judge concluded that the kiss by Mr. Rubiales “was non-consensual and was a unilateral and surprise act.”

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jorge Vilda, Jennifer Hermoso, Rubiales “, ” Organizations: National, Royal Spanish Football Federation Locations: Sydney, Australia, Spain

☆ A Glimpse Into Spain’s Future, Where Water Comes by Truck, Not Tap
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-22 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It was 10 a.m. when the villagers, clutching empty plastic containers, lined up behind the tanker truck of drinking water. A cake shop owner arrived with four big jugs for his pastries. And a mother of four loaded her trunk with fresh water to wash vegetables and cook pasta. “This is a disgrace,” said Antonio Luque, the cake shop owner. “We can’t even wash dishes with tap water.

Persons: ”, Antonio Luque Locations: Spain, Europe

☆ Spain Women’s Soccer Team Agrees to Play After Talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nearly a month after Spain’s World Cup-winning women’s national soccer team was thrown into turmoil over a forcible kiss, the players have agreed to come back and play their scheduled high-profile matches in the coming days. The players’ participation had been in doubt after many of them demanded an overhaul of Spain’s soccer federation to guarantee a “safe place where women are respected.” In addition to the furor over the kiss, by Spain’s top soccer official, Luis Rubiales, after the team’s World Cup victory in Australia on Aug. 20, the players had voiced longstanding complaints of sexism and of unequal treatment compared with their male counterparts. Mr. Rubiales has since stepped down over the episode, and the team’s coach, Jorge Vilda, was fired amid complaints of outdated training methods and controlling behavior. But the players continue to push for more changes within the federation as well as demands like equal pay and better-quality sports facilities. On Wednesday morning, after a meeting of players, government officials and soccer federation bosses that went on through the night, the president of the state-run National Sports Council said that 21 of the 23 players on the roster for U.E.F.A.’s Nations League matches against Sweden and Switzerland over the coming week had agreed to play.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jorge Vilda Organizations: soccer, Spain’s, Sports Council, U.E.F.A, Nations League, Sweden Locations: Australia, Switzerland

☆ Jennifer Hermoso Excluded From Spain’s Game Roster
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Spain unveiled its roster on Monday for the first two matches of the women’s national team since the team’s World Cup win — and a postgame kiss that plunged women’s soccer into turmoil. Many of the players chosen to play for Spain, however, have made it clear that they are unwilling to take the field unless management changes are made at the soccer federation, and the announcement and the outraged response from many of the players highlighted the uncertainty and mistrust pervading the program. Only eight of the World Cup winners were left off Monday’s roster, including three who are injured, one who has retired — and Jennifer Hermoso, the star player who was forcibly kissed by the man who was Spain’s top soccer executive at the time. “We are with Jenni. We believe it’s the best way to protect her,” said the new coach, Montse Tomé, at a Royal Spanish Football Federation news conference, when she was asked why Ms. Hermoso had not been chosen to play in the UEFA Nations League, which is the qualifier for European teams in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Persons: Jennifer Hermoso, Jenni, ”, Montse Tomé, Hermoso Organizations: women’s, Spain, Royal Spanish Football Federation, UEFA Nations League, Olympic Games Locations: Spain

☆ Spain’s Women’s Team Demands Full Reorganization of National Federation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Shortly before the roster was due to be announced for the Spanish women’s first international soccer match since their World Cup victory, the Royal Spanish Football Association postponed the event until further notice. It became clear why five minutes later, when Spain’s star players made public a list of demands for a top-to-bottom reorganization of the federation, Spain’s soccer governing body. The events came the same day as a restraining order was granted against Luis Rubiales, the former head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the country’s governing body. Mr. Rubiales, who appeared in court Friday on charges of sexual assault against a star forward, Jennifer Hermoso, whom he forcibly kissed after the team won the World Cup in August, must stay 200 meters, or more than 650 feet, away from the player while the investigation continues. “We believe that it is time to fight to show that there is no place for these situations and practices in our football or our society, and that the structure needs to be changed,” the players’ statement said.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso Organizations: Spanish women’s, Royal Spanish Football Association, Royal Spanish Football Federation

☆ Players in Spain’s Women’s League Call Off Strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Players in Spain’s women’s soccer league have called off a strike that delayed the opening of the season after reaching an agreement with the league over minimum salaries, a rare moment of harmony in what has been an acrimonious period in Spanish soccer. The agreement, confirmed early Thursday, would raise the minimum salary for players in the league to 21,000 euros, or about $22,500, from 16,000 euros this season, a significant increase but still far short of what their male counterparts make. The minimum is scheduled to rise to €23,500 for the 2025-2026 season, with the potential for an even higher benchmark “if enough profits are obtained from commercial assets,” such as sponsorship, according to a statement from the unions representing the players. Spanish soccer is in the midst of a turbulent moment, touched off by an unwanted kiss by Luis Rubiales, the nation’s top soccer official at the time, on Jennifer Hermoso, one of the national team’s top players. The episode occurred last month after Spain’s 1-0 victory over England in the Women’s World Cup final in Sydney, Australia.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso Organizations: England Locations: Spain’s, Sydney, Australia

☆ Spain’s Top Soccer Official Resigns Over Unwanted World Cup Kiss
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-10 | by ( Michael Wolgelenter | Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The head of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, resigned on Sunday, weeks after kissing a member of Spain’s women’s team on the lips after the team won the World Cup last month, setting off a national scandal and drawing accusations of abusing his power and perpetuating sexism in the sport. In a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Sunday, Mr. Rubiales said he had submitted his resignation as the federation’s president and as vice president of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body.vic“After the rapid suspension carried out by FIFA, plus the rest of proceedings open against me, it is evident that I will not be able to return to my position,” he wrote. “My daughters, my family and the people who love me have suffered the effects of persecution excessively, as well as many falsehoods, but it is also true that in the street, the truth is prevailing more every day.”Mr. Rubiales, 46, was largely unrepentant about his actions, but pressure had grown on him and the group he leads, known formally as the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and it became clear that his position was untenable as the outrage against him showed no signs of abating. Spanish prosecutors opened a sexual assault case on Friday after the player Jennifer Hermoso, who said she was made to feel “vulnerable” and a “victim of an attack” when he kissed her, filed a formal complaint, and there were signs of opposition to his continued presence at the top of Spanish soccer at every turn.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Spain’s, Rubiales, body.vic “, ”, “, Mr, Jennifer Hermoso Organizations: UEFA, FIFA, Royal Spanish Football Federation Locations: Spanish, European

Female soccer players in Spain are going on strike as the club season begins, a union representative said on Thursday, as a dispute over conduct by the head of the country’s soccer federation widened into a fight with their clubs over pay. Early this month, the women’s players’ union announced that if working conditions did not improve considerably before the start of the season on Friday, the women would not play the matches set to begin this weekend. The dispute is playing out amid broader upheaval in Spanish soccer, with the firing on Tuesday of the women’s national soccer coach, Jorge Vilda, whom players had criticized for his domineering management style, and the filing of a criminal complaint against Luis Rubiales, the head of the country’s soccer federation, by Jennifer Hermoso, a player on the national women’s team whom he forcibly kissed during a public celebration of the team’s World Cup final victory in Australia last month.

Persons: Jorge Vilda, Luis Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso Organizations: women’s Locations: Spain, Spanish, Australia

The Spanish soccer star Jennifer Hermoso has filed a sexual assault complaint against Luis Rubiales, the head of the country’s soccer federation, after he gave her an unsolicited kiss in the wake of her team’s World Cup victory in Australia last month, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Prosecutors in Spain opened an initial investigation last Thursday into whether Mr. Rubiales could be charged with committing sexual assault and invited Ms. Hermoso, who had said that the kiss made her feel “vulnerable” and a “victim of an attack,” to formalize a complaint within 15 days. In Spain, sexual assault is a crime punishable with one to four years in prison. “It was a necessary step to begin the judicial process,” said Mar Hedo, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office. She said the first phase of the case would come in a few days.

Persons: Jennifer Hermoso, Luis Rubiales, Hermoso, Rubiales, ”, Mar Hedo Organizations: England, Prosecutors Locations: Spanish, Australia, Spain

Ms. Muñoz, who resigned in 2019 after a year on the job, recounted for the first time the reasons for her departure. (Mr. Rubiales has previously denied any wrongdoing in either case). Fifteen of the federation’s 18 board members were men, Ms. Muñoz recalled. Players tried and failed to force change last year over the behavior of Mr. Vilda, the now-fired national coach. Mr. Vilda also required players to keep their doors open at night until he could check that each of them was in bed.

Persons: Muñoz, “, ”, Rubiales, Vilda, Boquete, ” Ms Organizations: Team Locations: Saudi Arabia, Spain

☆ Coach of Spain’s Women’s Soccer Team Is Fired
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Players have said they would not take the field for the national team unless changes were made on a managerial level. Last year, 15 star Spanish players staged a protest, refusing to play on the national team unless Mr. Vilda was fired. That rebellion drew a stern rebuke from the Spanish soccer federation, which backed Mr. Vilda. Mr. Rubiales backed Mr. Vilda at the time. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País in October 2022, Mr. Rubiales connected the success of the women’s team to Mr. Vilda’s coaching skills and dismissed the accusations of ill treatment.

Persons: Rubiales, Vilda, Spain’s, Jennifer Hermoso Organizations: FIFA, El País, Spain, England Locations: Spanish, Sydney, Australia

☆ Pressure Mounts on Spanish Soccer Chief Over Kiss at World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pressure is on for Luis Rubiales, the president of Spain’s national soccer federation, to quit. In an emergency meeting that went on late into Monday night, Spain’s regional soccer chiefs unanimously asked him to step down immediately. And in Madrid on Monday night, hundreds of people took to the streets, waving red cards and demanding Mr. Rubiales’s resignation. Mr. Rubiales, a former professional soccer player, had hoped to play a match with friends on Saturday evening at the town’s municipal stadium. Feminist groups threatened to protest outside the gates, and the town council ordered it canceled, saying it could not guarantee Mr. Rubiales’s safety.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso, Rubiales, Rubiales’s, “, ” Organizations: Prosecutors, Spain, National Sports Council Locations: Madrid, Motril

Laura Marqués has never been much interested in soccer. She doesn’t watch the Spanish league games or know the names of the players. She didn’t even watch the Spanish women’s team win the World Cup final this month. “We’ve been talking about soccer a lot this week,” Ms. Marqués, a 26-year-old lawyer, said as she walked in downtown Zaragoza with a friend. Some commentators have taken to calling it Spain’s #MeToo moment.

Persons: Laura Marqués, “ We’ve, ” Ms, Marqués, ”, “, Luis Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso Organizations: Spanish, Spanish women’s Locations: Zaragoza, Spain

Spanish prosecutors said on Monday that they had opened an investigation into whether Luis Rubiales, the president of the country’s soccer federation, could be charged with committing an act of sexual aggression after he kissed one of the female team’s players on the lips when they won the World Cup this month. Opposition has steadily grown in response to Mr. Rubiales’s conduct and his strident defense of it, and the group he heads, known formally as Royal Spanish Football Federation, has found itself under increasing pressure to take action. The group was meeting later Monday to discuss the issue. Mr. Rubiales was shown on video after the World Cup final in Sydney on Aug. 20 kissing one of the team’s star players, Jennifer Hermoso, and although he apologized the day after, he then took a defiant stand later in the week. He said Ms. Hermoso had lifted him off his feet and “moved me close to her body,” accusing his critics of “false feminism” and saying he was the victim of “social assassination.” Ms. Hermoso countered in a statement, “At no time did I consent to the kiss that he gave me.”

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Rubiales’s, Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso, Hermoso, “, ”, ” Ms Organizations: Opposition, Royal Spanish Football Federation Locations: Sydney

☆ Spanish Soccer Chief Finds His Defenders Backing Away
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When the president of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, kissed Jennifer Hermoso, a star forward on the Spanish national team that had just won the Women’s World Cup, much of the Spanish news media condemned his behavior. Most mainstream outlets, along with Spaniards on social media, called out the kiss as evidence of a callous disregard for Ms. Hermoso and, more broadly, lingering sexism in soccer. Not the radio sportscaster Manolo Lama. Mr. Lama said on a popular late-night show on the Cadena Cope radio station, “Those who are angry, it’s because they have never been kissed.” He used the female pronoun for “they” in Spanish. Earlier, in a post-match interview with Mr. Rubiales, also on Cadena Cope, a popular sports presenter, Juanma Castaño, did not question the federation president about the appropriateness of his behavior.

Persons: Luis Rubiales, Jennifer Hermoso, Hermoso, Manolo Lama, Lama, Rubiales, Cadena Cope, Juanma Castaño, peck, ”, Mr, Castaño, “ Organizations: Spanish national, Cadena Cope Locations: Spanish

☆ Spanish Soccer Chief Refuses to Resign Over World Cup Kiss
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The head of the Spanish soccer federation, under fire after he grabbed and kissed a member of the winning team fully on the lips at a Women’s World Cup medals ceremony last weekend in Australia, insisted on Friday that he would not step aside, saying he was the victim of “social assassination.”News reports had said that the federation chief, Luis Rubiales, would resign as president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation at noon local time after five years at the helm, but he instead took a defiant stand. “I will not resign,” he said several times at an extraordinary meeting of the federation, to loud applause from some and silence from others, adding that “I will fight this to the end” and accusing his critics of “false feminism.”The government is limited in its ability to punish members of the soccer federation, but after Mr. Rubiales made his remarks on Friday, it said it was taking steps to have him suspended. Víctor Francos, president of the National Sports Council and secretary of state for sports, said on Cadena SER radio: “We’re going to act — we’ve activated all the mechanisms to take appropriate measures.”

Persons: Luis Rubiales, “, ”, Rubiales, Víctor Francos Organizations: ”, Royal Spanish Football Federation, National Sports Council, Cadena SER Locations: Spanish, Australia

Sitting in a park in Zaragoza, a city in northeastern Spain, Jorge Jiménez, 41, was trying to enjoy a day off from his job as a municipal garbage collector. But the heat was making it difficult. “We get very hot these days,” Mr. Jiménez said. Large areas of southern Europe baked under extreme temperatures on Thursday, the latest in a string of heat waves that have scorched the continent over the summer and sent residents and tourists scrambling for cool shelter. Temperatures in some cities were not as high but still far above the norm for so late in the summer.

Persons: Jorge Jiménez, ” Mr, Jiménez, “ Locations: Zaragoza, Spain, Europe

☆ Spanish Soccer Official Apologizes, Sort of, for Kissing World Cup Winner
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

A day after drawing outrage by grabbing and forcefully kissing the Spanish forward Jennifer Hermoso on the lips during the Women’s World Cup medals ceremony, Spain’s soccer federation chief issued something of an apology. “I have to apologize,” the official, Luis Rubiales, said in a video broadcast by the federation on Monday afternoon. “Probably I made a mistake.”The kiss was delivered in Sydney, Australia, only a few feet from where the Spanish queen, Letizia, was standing onstage as she congratulated the women’s team for trouncing England, 1-0, to capture its first World Cup trophy on Sunday.

Persons: Jennifer Hermoso, “, ”, Luis Rubiales Locations: Spanish, Sydney, Australia, England

☆ If Your House Was Falling Off a Cliff, Would You Leave?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Rachel Chaundler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Still, for some house hunters, a property atop an unstable cliff can seem an attractive option — at the right price. The pub is only about 215 feet from where the main road collapsed into the sea six years ago. With beamed ceilings and a four-bedroom apartment on the first floor, where Ms. Vine, 51, now lives with her family, the pub was a bargain at just over £100,000. Sepia photos of village landmarks lost to the sea over the decades hang on the walls. Ms. Vine is renovating the rooms upstairs, without, she joked, going overboard on expenses.

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