DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Catalan separatists lose majority as Spain’s pro-union Socialists win regional elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A pro-unity rally marches through Barcelona, Spain, on October 8, 2017, in response to last Sunday's disputed referendum on Catalan independence. This was the first time the Socialists led a Catalan election in both votes and seats won. Illa led Spain's response to the COVID-19 pandemic before Sánchez sent him back to Barcelona to lead his party. The Socialists are already in a coalition government in Madrid with the Sumar party, which now has six seats in the Catalan parliament. Separatists have held the regional government in Barcelona since 2012 and had won majorities in four consecutive regional elections.

Persons: Carles Puigdemont, Salvador Illa savored, Illa, Catalonia's, Sánchez, bode, Pedro Sánchez, Puigdemont, pardoning, Puigdemont's, Pere Aragonès, Vox Organizations: Socialist Party, Socialists, Sánchez's Socialists, Republican, Popular Party, Catalan Alliance Locations: Barcelona, Spain, Catalonia, Madrid, Catalan, France, Spain's, Spanish, Catalans

☆ Dani Alves: Soccer star leaves prison after paying $1 million bond for provisional release after sexual assault conviction
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-25 | by ( Pau Mosquera | Sammy Mncwabe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Brazilian soccer star Dani Alves has left prison after submitting a €1 million bond (approximately $1.08 million) to a Barcelona court required for his provisional release after being convicted of sexual assault, the Supreme Court of Justice of Catalonia said in a statement on Monday. On February 22, the Barcelona provincial court sentenced Alves to four-and-a-half years in prison for sexually assaulting a woman in one of the city’s nightclubs in late December 2022. After leaving prison, the 40-year-old will have his Brazilian and Spanish passports confiscated. He is also prohibited from leaving Spanish territory and must make weekly appearances at the provincial court. Alves is one of the most decorated soccer players of his generation, winning domestic titles in Spain, Italy and France.

Persons: Dani Alves, Alves, Inés Guardiola, Alves ’ Organizations: CNN, Justice, Provincial, Barcelona Prosecutor’s, Barcelona, Copa Locations: Brazilian, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, Italy, France, Brazil

☆ Opinion: Why a line of dialogue truly can define a film
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Opinion Arash Azizi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“Frankly, I hate dialogue,” Villeneuve told The Times of London. I don’t remember movies because of a good line, I remember movies because of a strong image. This supposed truism is heard everywhere in the film world and even taught to film writers. Cinema has never been a language of “pure image and sound.”Even in the age of silent films, dialogue rendered as inter-titles was critical to cinema. Charlie Chaplin stars in his 1931 silent film, "City Lights."

Persons: Arash Azizi, ”, CNN — Denis Villeneuve, It’s, Zoe Prinds, ” Villeneuve, I’m, Rolling Stone, Federico Fellini, Villeneuve, Fellini, Alexander Steele, ” Josh Brolin, Gurney Halleck, Paul Atreides, Carla Simón’s “, Gorgeously, Ethan Hawke, ” Hawke, “, they’ve, Charlie Chaplin, Chaplin, Virginia Cherrill, Adenoid Hynkler, Adolf Hitler, Institute’s, Quentin Tarantino’s, Jackie Brown ”, Pam Grier, Marlon Brando’s, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, Merve, Greta Gerwig’s, Bird ”, wouldn’t, Palme d’Or, Jane Campion, David Lynch’s, Golden, Martin Scorsese glowed, ” Scorsese Organizations: Oneworld, CNN, Warner Bros, Times, Gotham Writers, Chalet, Warner Bros ., Sundance, Film Society of Lincoln Center, United, Getty, New York Times, Villeneuve, Janus, Atlanta ”, Derry Girls ”, Cannes Locations: French, Canadian, London, Italian, Cannes, Berlin, Catalonia, Jewish, Iran, cinema’s, “

☆ PortAventura World: 14 people injured at Spanish amusement park as tree falls onto children’s roller coaster
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Benjamin Brown | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Fourteen people were injured, including two seriously, after a tree fell onto the tracks of a children’s roller coaster at an amusement park in the Spanish region of Catalonia Sunday. Strong winds caused the tree to fall on the “Tomahawk” children’s roller coaster at the “PortAventura World” park in Vila-Seca, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) from Barcelona on Sunday morning, according to the park. Catalan emergency services said they had treated the 14 injured people, two of whom were taken to hospital with serious injuries. “This Sunday morning, due to strong winds… there was an incident caused by a tree falling close to the Tomahawk ride,” the theme park said in a statement, per Reuters. The PortAventura World park is the most visited amusement park in Spain and the sixth most visited in Europe, according to PortAventura.

Organizations: CNN, Reuters, “ Locations: Spanish, Catalonia, Vila, Seca, Barcelona, Spain, Europe

Camila Lange, who is 7-months-pregnant, on Monday sat with her husband and dog in what used to be their home in Vina del Mar, Chile. Hundreds of homes in the central coastal area of the South American nation have been destroyed in fires that have killed at least 112 people. Weather and climate extremes — wildfire, drought and flooding — are taking a toll around the world. — In Chile, firefighters are battling huge forest fires stoked by hot and dry conditions. Up to 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain had already fallen by Monday, with more expected, according to the National Weather Service.

Persons: Camila Lange, ___, ”, Pere Aragonès Organizations: Vina del Mar, National Weather Service, San Francisco Bay Area, AP Locations: Vina del Mar, Chile, —, Vina del, California, Southern California, Los Angeles, Northern California, San Francisco Bay, Spain, Catalonia, Barcelona

GUALBA, Spain (AP) — Plastic jugs in hand, Joan Torrent takes a path into the woods in search of drinking water. The drought emergency, which takes effect Friday, limits the daily amount of water permitted for residential and municipal purposes to 200 liters (53 gallons) per person. Catalonia’s water agency says the average resident uses 116 liters (30 gallons) per day at home. Gualba's name, according to local lore, means “white water” thanks to the streams flowing down from the Montseny mountain that overlooks the village. Only the Guadalete-Barbate river basin in southern Andalusia, which faces similar shortages and restrictions, is worse off at 14.6%.

Persons: Joan Torrent, Gualba, don’t, ”, Jordi Esmaindia Organizations: ” Locations: Spain, Gualba, Barcelona, Spain’s, Catalonia, Llobregat, Andalusia

☆ Amid Drought, Water Curbs in Portugal's Algarve, Spain's Catalonia
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Sergio Goncalves and Joan FausLISBON/BARCELONA (Reuters) - Portugal's caretaker government has ordered cuts to the amount of water used in farmland irrigation and in urban environments including hotels in the tourism-dependent southern region of Algarve, where a severe drought has nearly emptied reservoirs. Across the Iberian peninsula, Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record and authorities in the greater Barcelona area said on Thursday they would reduce water pressure in some towns' supply systems. If nothing was done in relation to moderation on the consumption side, we would reach the end of 2024 without water for public supply," he said. In the southern region of Andalusia, officials on Thursday said there would be water restrictions in big cities such as Seville, Cordoba or Malaga by the summer in the absence of substantial rain before then. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; additional reporting by Joan Faus in Barcelona and Emma Pinedo in Madrid; editing by Andrei Khalip and Bernadette Baum)

Persons: Sergio Goncalves, Joan Faus, Duarte Cordeiro, Emma Pinedo, Andrei Khalip, Bernadette Baum Locations: Joan Faus LISBON, BARCELONA, Algarve, Catalonia, Barcelona, Portugal, Andalusia, Seville, Cordoba, Malaga, Madrid

☆ Considering a move abroad in 2024? These are the best countries for expats
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Blane Bachelor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +26 min

The survey, which has been running for a decade, reflects input from nearly 12,000 expats representing 177 nationalities in 181 countries or territories. John Coletti/The Image Bank Unreleased/Getty ImagesA longtime retirement destination for Americans, Mexico also has attracted more families and the digital nomad set over the past few years. Pros: Mexico ranked first in InterNations’ 2023 Expat Insider survey and has ranked among the top five countries since 2014. Cons: As is the case in Mexico and other countries with large expat communities, there’s growing backlash against the influx of foreigners, especially Americans, and especially in Lisbon. That popularity among auslanders has contributed to a housing pinch in major cities, especially Berlin, where finding accommodation is one of the most stressful aspects of a move.

Persons: It’s, Megan Frye, Frye, ”, “, We’ve, John Coletti, San Miguel de Allende, margarita, Sean Pavone, expats, Alex Ingrim, Chase, Ingrim, it’s, pollsters, they’re, it’s MVV, Arielle Tucker, that’s, auslanders, Andriy Kravchenko, “ Costa, ” David Lesperance, Costa Rica’s, “ Tico, Sebastien Lecocq, Lesperance, he’s, what’s, Emily, ” Tucker, Roth, Tucker, Carte Organizations: CNN, Invest Overseas, Braga, InterNations, Mexico, National Institute of Statistics, Human Rights Watch, Visa, USA, CNN Travel, ”, Spain, International, Travel Association, pollsters Gallup, Michelin, Changi, Cons, United, Costa Rica Costa, Central, Costa, Lesperance, Associates, Panama Panama, Miami of, Panama City, Panama Qualified Investment, Panama Golden Visa, France France Locations: Valencia, Spain, Portugal, Mazatlán, Mexico, United States, Mexico City, Michigan, Mexico Mexico, Plaza Carso, Polanco, North America, —, Oaxaca, San Miguel, Playa, Carmen, InterNations, Portugal Portugal, Porto, Douro, Europe, Lisbon, Western Europe, Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Bilbao, Catalonia, Catalan, Netherlands, Amsterdam, Statista, Haarlem, Delft, Leiden, Maastricht, Washington, Miami , New York, San Francisco, Germany Germany, Munich, Germany, Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Switzerland, Singapore Singapore, Singapore, Asia, Entre, Costa Rica, “, “ Costa Rica, Costa Rican, Panama City, Miami, Miami of Central America, Panama, North, South America, Italy, Venice, Italian, Paris, France, Lyon, Strasbourg

☆ Pedro Sánchez Secures New Term to Lead a Divided Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Jason Horowitz | More About Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish progressive leader, secured a second term as prime minister on Thursday after a polarizing agreement granting amnesty to Catalan separatists gave him enough support in Parliament to govern with a fragile coalition over an increasingly divided nation. With 179 votes, barely more than the 176 usually required to govern, Mr. Sánchez, who has been prime minister since 2018, won a chance to extend the progressive agenda, often successful economic policies and pro-European Union posture of his Socialist Party. The outcome was the result of months of haggling since an inconclusive July election in which neither the conservative Popular Party, which came in first, or the Socialist Party, which came in second, secured enough support to govern alone. But the fractures in Spain were less about left versus right and more about the country’s very geographic integrity and identity. Mr. Sánchez’s proposed amnesties have breathed new life into a secession issue that last emerged in 2017, when separatists held an illegal referendum over independence in the prosperous northeastern region of Catalonia.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez, Sánchez, Sánchez’s Organizations: Socialist Party, Popular Party Locations: Spanish, European, Spain, Catalonia

Key to the agreement signed Thursday is a massively controversial amnesty that could benefit Puigdemont and thousands of other secessionists. Puigdemont is one of several Catalan leaders who fled justice after an illegal independence referendum was held in 2017. 1 for many Spaniards, and Catalan independence a politically toxic issue, some wonder why Sánchez, who has long opposed any amnesty, is now pushing for it. Those include the two pro-secession Catalan parties who led the unsuccessful 2017 breakaway attempt. A LEGAL QUAGMIREAny amnesty approved by Spain's Parliament is likely to be contested by the opposition parties and several courts in Spain.

Persons: — Spain's, Pedro Sánchez ’, Carles Puigdemont, Sumar —, Sánchez, Junts, QUAGMIRE, Didier Reynders, Spain’s, ___ Wilson Organizations: MADRID, Socialist, WHO, AMNESTY, Sánchez's Socialists, Forces, Popular Party, Vox, Police, Socialists, Junts, Basque Country, Court, European Union Locations: Catalunya, Catalonia, Spain, Spain's, Puigdemont, CATALONIA, Barcelona, Madrid, Basque, Navarra, Belgium

Just holding the deal together through a full four-year parliamentary term will be a tough challenge, many predict. "The next legislative term will be very tough for the PSOE, it is likely it won't finish the whole term," said Catalan political analyst Joan Esculies. Spaniards have also been called to show their ire in town square demonstrations across the country on Sunday. For Andoni Ortuzar, the Basque Nationalist Party leader who also struck a deal with the Socialists on Friday, whether the government could hold would be a test of Spain's plurality. "We are different - we consider ourselves a different nation - and the question is whether we can live together comfortably," he said.

Persons: Sanchez, Pedro Sanchez, Francisco Franco, Junts, Carles Puigdemont, Joan Esculies, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Andoni Ortuzar, Susana Vera, Emiliano Garcia, Puigdemont, Lluis Orriols, Ortuzar, Belen Carreno, Joan Faus, Emma Pinedo, Aislinn Laing, Alex Richardson Organizations: Deal, Spain's Socialists, Socialist, PSOE, People's Party, Socialists, Basque Nationalist Party, REUTERS, Catalan Socialist, Carlos III University, Thomson Locations: MADRID, BARCELONA, Catalan, Belgium, Catalonia, Spain, Madrid, Castilla, La Mancha, Spanish, Catalunya

☆ Deal Granting Amnesty to Separatists Sets Off Turmoil in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Jason Horowitz | More About Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain sealed a deal to extend amnesty to Catalan separatists on Thursday in exchange for their political support, likely allowing him to stay in power but causing turmoil throughout Spain, doubts in Europe and questions about the country’s stability. Mr. Sánchez, 51, who is currently acting as a caretaker prime minister after inconclusive snap elections he called in July, backed the amnesties related to an illegal referendum that shook Spain in 2017 to receive the critical support of the Junts party, which supports independence from Spain for the northern region of Catalonia. With their support, Mr. Sánchez will likely avoid new elections, win parliamentary backing for another stint as prime minister and solidify his place in the European Union as its standard-bearer for progressive politics.

Persons: Pedro Sánchez, Sánchez Organizations: Union Locations: Spain, Europe, Catalonia

☆ Spanish Socialists and Catalan Junts reach deal for government support, amnesty
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A law granting amnesty to those prosecuted over Catalonia's attempt to secede from Spain was included in the deal, political leaders said and the deal text showed. The agreement included Junts lending its votes in parliament to support legislation for a full four-year term, he said. But Junts, which seeks another independence referendum, said supporting each law would depend on progress in talks involving Catalonia's political conflict. As a deal between Junts and the Socialists edged nearer in the past week, the mood in the country has become increasingly febrile, with protesters clashing with police outside the Socialists' headquarters in Madrid. An amnesty could exculpate as many as 1,400 activists and politicians involved in the attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain.

Persons: Junts, Feijoo, Puigdemont, Pedro Sanchez, Santos Cerdan, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont, Jaume Clotet, Belen Carreno, Joan Faus, Graham Keeley, Aislinn Laing, Charlie Devereux, Alison Williams, Toby Chopra, Bernadette Baum, Sharon Singleton, Alex Richardson Organizations: Companies Spain's Socialists, Conservative, Socialist Party, PSOE, Socialist, Socialists, Police, People's Party, Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party, Basque Nationalist Party, Thomson Locations: Catalan, Madrid, MADRID, Spain, Brussels, Junts, Catalonia, Belgium, Waterloo

☆ Spain's Socialists win backing of Catalan separatist ERC, still waiting on Junts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) reached a deal with Spain's Socialists (PSOE) to support acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's bid for a second term, both parties said on Thursday. However, the crucial backing of rival party Junts remains pending amid last-minute negotiations. Seeking the support of the Catalan parties, Sanchez said on Saturday he favoured granting an amnesty to people involved with Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid. The agreement with ERC included "an amnesty for all", the Catalan party's chairman Oriol Junqueras told reporters, without elaborating. Junts held a meeting in Brussels to decide whether to back Sanchez's investiture, but it ended without an agreement with the PSOE, said a Junts source.

Persons: Esquerra, Pedro Sanchez's, Junts, Sanchez, Catalonia's, Oriol Junqueras, Pere Aragones, Felix Bolanos, Bolanos, Junqueras, Emma Pinedo, Belen Carreno, Charlie Devereux, Joan Faus, Gareth Jones Organizations: ERC, Spain's Socialists, PSOE, Thomson Locations: BARCELONA, Catalan, Basque, Spain, Brussels

☆ Spain's Princess Leonor Swears Allegiance to Divided Nation on Her 18th Birthday
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Oct. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

The ceremony in parliament marked her coming of age, meaning she will now directly become queen after her father King Felipe VI, assuming he does not go on to have any male children. Those surveyed then gave Felipe VI an average score of 4.34 out of ten. Juan Carlos also did not attend Tuesday's ceremony. Juan Carlos has declined to comment on the various allegations of wrongdoing. Opponents of the monarchy see Juan Carlos' coronation in 1975 as illegitimate, saying he had been groomed to succeed dictator Francisco Franco.

Persons: David Latona MADRID, Princess Leonor, King Felipe VI, Unidas Podemos, Sinaptica, Felipe VI, Juan Carlos I, Juan Carlos, Francisco Franco, David Latona, Andrei Khalip, Andrew Heavens Organizations: for Sociological Studies Locations: Wales, Spain, Catalonia, Basque, Galicia, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi

[1/5] Spain's Princess Leonor arrives to swear an oath to the constitution at the parliament in Madrid, Spain, October 31, 2023. Those surveyed then gave Felipe VI an average score of 4.34 out of ten. Juan Carlos also did not attend Tuesday's ceremony. Juan Carlos has declined to comment on the various allegations of wrongdoing. Opponents of the monarchy see Juan Carlos' coronation in 1975 as illegitimate, saying he had been groomed to succeed dictator Francisco Franco.

Persons: Leonor, Susana Vera, Princess Leonor, King Felipe VI, Unidas Podemos, Sinaptica, Felipe VI, Juan Carlos I, Juan Carlos, Francisco Franco, David Latona, Andrei Khalip, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, for Sociological Studies, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Rights MADRID, Wales, Catalonia, Basque, Galicia, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi

☆ Barcelona museum throws open its doors to nudist visitors
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia held the 90-minute tour in collaboration with the Catalan Naturism Club. Visitors viewed the Bronzes of Riace exhibition of Luigi Spina's photographs depicting two large Greek bronze statues of naked warriors from the 5th century BC that were discovered in 1972 near Riace, Italy. "We wanted to make it a more colourful visit and not the typical guided tour," said guide Edgard, who also went clothes-free. "We wanted people who came to see it to feel exactly the same as the work they were looking at". Reporting by Nacho Doce; Writing by Jessica Jones; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Luigi Spina’s, Luigi Spina's, Edgard, Marta, Nacho Doce, Jessica Jones, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Archaeology Museum, Catalonia, Archaeology, Catalan, . Visitors, Thomson Locations: Barcelona, Spain, BARCELONA, Catalonia, Riace, Italy

Those include two pro-secession Catalan parties who led the unsuccessful 2017 breakaway attempt and who now find themselves holding the key votes in Parliament that Sánchez requires. They have made an amnesty law as a prerequisite for supporting Sánchez. “Pedro Sánchez needs the amnesty law to pass so he can get the four votes he is lacking,” Nebrera told the AP. Spain granted a sweeping amnesty during its transition back to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. But legal experts are divided over the constitutionality of an amnesty for the Catalan separatists.

Persons: Oriol Calvo, Calvo, Pedro Sánchez, “, ” Calvo, Sánchez, Carles Puigdemont, Spain can’t, ”, Pablo Seco, Montserrat Nebrera, ” Nebrera, Felipe González, Francisco Franco, Xavier Antich, Hernán Muñoz Organizations: —, Socialist, International University of Catalonia, AP, Omnium Locations: BARCELONA, Spain, — Barcelona, Catalonia’s, Madrid, Catalonia, Belgium, Barcelona, Montserrat, Sánchez, Catalan

☆ Spain's right-wing leader fails in first bid to become prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-27 | by ( Ruxandra Iordache | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Spain's right-wing opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo on Wednesday failed to gain the absolute majority of parliamentary votes needed to become prime minister. Feijóo received 172 votes in favor of his mandate in the Wednesday session — four short of the absolute 176 majority needed from the 350-strong parliament. Despite his electoral win over the summer and support from hard right party Vox, Feijóo's Popular Party has so far failed to stitch together the critical support. Should he fail, acting Prime Minister and Spanish Socialist Workers' Party leader Pedro Sanchez has two months to undergo a similar two-vote process in a bid for investiture, before parliament dissolves on Nov. 27 and elections are called on Jan. 14. A potential pardon could bring on the side the support of self-exiled former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya.

Persons: Alberto Núñez Feijóo, Feijóo, Vox, Feijóo —, Felipe VI, —, Pedro Sanchez, Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont's Junts, Puigdemont, Raquel Sans Organizations: Feijóo's Popular Party, Spanish Socialist Workers ' Party, Popular Party, Reuters, Republican Left Locations: Spanish, Spain, Catalan, Catalonia, Catalunya, Madrid

☆ Exiled Catalan leader sets tough terms for talks on Spain's new PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Bart Biesemans | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez would need the seven lawmakers in Carles Puigdemont's Junts per Catalunya party if he gets a shot at forming a government. Speaking in Brussels, Puigdemont called on Spain to respect the Catalan independence movement's legitimacy and abandon judicial actions against it. "A world separates us from those positions," Rodriguez told reporters of Puigdemont's conditions. "Our framework is the one that the prime minister expressed with absolute forcefulness yesterday: We have a tool, dialogue; a framework, the constitution; and an objective: coexistence." If Feijoo fails, it will fall on Sanchez to see if he can muster support, seen as impossible without Puigdemont's party.

Persons: Junts, Pedro Sanchez, Carles Puigdemont's Junts, Puigdemont, Isabel Rodriguez, Rodriguez, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Feijoo, Sanchez, Oriol Bartomeus, Bartomeus, Bart Biesemans, Inti Landauro, Emma Pinedo, David Latona, Charlie Devereux, Andrei Khalip, Peter Graff, Alison Williams Organizations: Socialist, Socialists, People's Party, Autonomous University of Barcelona, PSOE, Vox, Inti, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Catalonia, Spain, Catalunya, Brussels, Belgium, Madrid

☆ Spanish king nominates conservative Feijoo for premiership bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Spain's King Felipe on Tuesday nominated the leader of the conservative People's Party (PP), Alberto Nunez Feijoo, to face a parliamentary vote for prime minister, according to lower house speaker Francina Armengol. No single party or bloc earned an outright majority of seats in the snap general election. Earlier on Tuesday, acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that he believed his Socialist party would be able "to gather the parliamentary support needed" to form a government. Her appointment was seen as a nod to smaller regional parties, whose support Sanchez would need in a potential bid should Feijoo fail. If no candidate secures a majority within two months of the first vote, new elections have to be called.

Persons: King Felipe, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, Francina, Feijoo, Feijoo's PP, Pedro Sanchez, Armengol, Esquerra Republicana, Sanchez, Pietro Lombardi, David Latona, Andrei Khalip, Mark Porter, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: People's Party, Socialist, Sanchez's Socialists, ERC, Thomson Locations: MADRID, Balearic, Catalonia

☆ Catalan kingmaker tells Spain's Sanchez not to take support for granted
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File PhotoBARCELONA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Spain's Socialists (PSOE), seeking to form a government after a hard-fought national election, should not take the support of Catalonia's separatist parties for granted, one of their leaders said on Wednesday. "It is Pedro Sanchez who has to make the moves to get support," Aragones said. To renew its support, ERC wants further talks, to cut the region's contributions to the national public finances, and to take control of local train services. Junts is demanding a referendum on independence and an amnesty for all separatists facing legal charges related to the failed 2017 independence bid. Aragones said the two parties' leverage could help obtain a referendum and amnesty, but also concessions in financial or cultural issues.

Persons: Pere Aragones i Garcia, Sarah Meyssonnier, Pere Aragones, Pedro Sanchez's, Sanchez, Pedro Sanchez, Aragones, Junts, Joan Faus, Charlie Devereux, John Stonestreet Organizations: of, Entrepreneurs de France, Paris, Paris Longchamp Racecourse, REUTERS, Spain's Socialists, PSOE, ERC, Socialist, People's Party, Thomson Locations: of Catalonia, Paris Longchamp, Paris, France, Spain, Catalan

☆ Planning to Visit Barcelona or Dubrovnik? It’s Going to Cost You.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Paige Mcclanahan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“It’s part of this zeitgeist that we need to be more conscious and take better care of our local environment,” Mr. Hansen said. In line with that trend, some European destinations that have long imposed tourism taxes have begun to increase their rates or impose additional levies. Last year, the Barcelona City Council began imposing a “city surcharge” on visitors, over and above the accommodation tax (from €1 to €3.50 per night), which the government of Catalonia established in 2012. It’s a similar story in the Croatian city of Dubrovnik — which, according to one index, had the highest ratio of tourists to residents of any European city in 2019. The mayor described the cruise tax as “a win-win.”

Persons: “, Mr, Hansen, Jordi Valls, Mato Frankovic, ’, Frankovic, ” Organizations: Barcelona City Council, City Locations: Barcelona, Catalonia, Croatian, Dubrovnik, Mato

CNN —A judge in Barcelona has opened a second investigation into alleged tax fraud by Grammy-winning singer Shakira, a Spanish court said Thursday. Shakira is already awaiting trial for alleged tax evasion of $16.2 million for the years of 2012, 2013 and 2014. The Colombian-born singer, who now lives in Miami, earlier denied the charges of tax fraud relating to the period 2012-2014 through her public relations firmShakira reiterated her innocence on Thursday. In July 2021, a judge at a court near Barcelona ruled that the singer could stand trial for alleged tax evasion. In a ruling obtained by CNN, the investigating magistrate said there was “sufficient evidence” to hold a trial for Shakira’s alleged tax evasion for the years of 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Persons: CNN —, Shakira, “, Judge Marco Jesús Juberías, Shakira’s, Gerard Piqué, Piqué Organizations: CNN, Higher, Justice, Miami, FC Barcelona football Locations: Barcelona, Esplugues, Llobregat, Catalonia, Colombian, Miami, Spain, Bahamas

[1/3] People cool off near the Spanish Steps, during a heatwave across Italy, as temperatures are expected to rise further in the coming days, in Rome, Italy July 18, 2023. They have added fresh urgency to talks this week between the United States and China, the world's top greenhouse gas polluters. "Whilst most of the attention focuses on daytime maximum temperatures, it is the overnight temperatures which have the biggest health risks, especially for vulnerable populations," it said. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service says 2022 and 2021 were the continent's hottest summers on record. In a large part of the territory, night-time temperatures were in the top 5% of the highest recorded at this time of year.

Persons: Remo Casilli, John Kerry, Xi Jinping, Carlo Spanu, Anita Elshoy, Elshoy, AEMET, Talim, Angelo Amante, Emma Farge, Giselda, Crispian Balmer, Angeliki Koutantou, Emma Pinedo Gabrielle Tétrault, Farber, Matthias Williams, Janet Lawrence Organizations: REUTERS, World Meteorological Organization, WMO, Thomson Locations: Italy, Rome, Europe, U.S, Asia Italy, ROME, Asia, United States, Sardinia, Lazio, heatwaves, Death, China's, Greece, Swiss, India, South Korea, China, Beijing, North America, North Africa, Sicily, Sulcis, Norway, Spain, Catalonia, Aragon, Mallorca, Andujar, 44.9C, Toledo, Dervenochoria, Athens

Search resuls for: "of Catalonia"

25 mentions found