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☆ EU announces new green proposals to rival Biden's Inflation Reduction Act
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The announcement comes just months after the U.S. launched its own Inflation Reduction Act. "The EU continues to seek similar, non-discriminatory treatment of EU clean vehicle producers under the Clean Vehicle Credits of the Inflation Reduction Act. This scheme remains of concern to the EU, as it contains discriminatory provisions," the European Commission said in a statement in late December. While discussions with the U.S. continue, von der Leyen wants to cut red tape in Europe and step up green investments. But as this will take some time, we will look at a bridging solution to provide fast and targeted support where it is most needed," von der Leyen said in Davos.

☆ Europe can learn from Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, Spain's PM says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailEurope can learn from Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, Spain's PM saysWatch the full interview of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick in Davos, Switzerland.

DAVOS, Switzerland — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told CNBC Monday that the European Union has something to learn from Washington and its new policies to fight inflation, saying he hopes that a trade war between the two sides can be avoided. "We need to learn," Sanchez told CNBC when asked the Inflation Reduction Act which the U.S. hopes will make it the go-to place for green investment. "We need to reform some internal aspects of our industrial policies such as state aid, reducing bureaucracy and trying to send a message for the industry worldwide that's it's Europe, and of course Spain, that is a good place to locate," he added. The sweeping U.S. legislation, which was approved by U.S. lawmakers in August and includes a record $369 billion in spending on climate and energy policies, has received a mixed response from the 27 EU nations. The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, has previously said there are "serious concerns" about the design of the financial incentives in the package.

☆ Davos draws record crowds, but its relevance is fading
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Data from the World Bank shows that global trade of goods and services as a percentage of total economic output peaked that year. A wooden sign on the waterfront of Lake Davos in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 8, 2023. Just look to Italy’s new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who was installed in October. Those skipping the gathering this year include US President Joe Biden, China’s Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. That raises questions about whether Davos can hang on to its reputation an essential event for the rich and powerful.

☆ Spain's Supreme Court drops sedition charges against Catalan separatist leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Spain's Supreme Court on Thursday dropped sedition charges against the leader of Catalonia's failed bid for independence, Carles Puigdemont, after a reform of the country's penal code abolished the crime. Puigdemont, who is in self-imposed exile in Belgium to avoid prosecution in Spain, still faces charges of disobedience and embezzlement, which carry jail terms of up to eight years. Spain's previous bids to have Puigdemont extradited during his stays in Germany, Belgium and Italy have failed. Puigdemont posted a video on Twitter in which he vowed to fight "to the end" against his extradition in European courts. Puigdemont has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium since late 2017 and served as a member of the European Parliament since 2019.

☆ Global leaders condemn assault on Brazilian government buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Brazil's democratic institutions have our full support and the will of the Brazilian people must not be undermined. Using violence to attack democratic institutions is always unacceptable. BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT LUIS ARCE"We strongly condemn the assault on the Brazilian Congress, Palace and Supreme Court by anti-democratic groups. A return to normality is urgently needed and we express solidarity with Brazilian institutions. We categorically condemn the assault on the Brazilian Congress and make a call for the immediate return to democratic normality."

☆ Spain's November retail sales fall 0.6% on year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 29 (Reuters) - Spanish retail sales fell 0.6% in November from a year earlier on a seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis, after rising 1.0% in October, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Thursday. As shoppers grapple with the rising cost of living exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, food sales in Spain recorded an annual decrease of 3.6% in November, INE said. Meanwhile, sales of other goods grew 0.5% year-on-year. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a new raft of measures worth 10 billion euros ($10.64 billion) to ease the pain of inflation, which includes slashing value-added tax on essential foods to 0% from 4% during the first six months of 2023. ($1 = 0.9401 euros)Reporting by Jakub Olesiuk; Editing by David Latona and Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain announces $10.6 bln package to ease inflation pain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Spain on Tuesday announced 10 billion euros ($10.65 billion) worth of measures to ease the pain of inflation in the third major package this year, bringing total aid to 45 billion euros since early 2022. Spain, like other European countries, has been grappling with a cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by the impact of the war in Ukraine on energy prices. The package follows similar announcements in March and June that included direct aid, tax cuts, soft loans and rental controls. Inflation for the past 12 months slowed to 6.7% in November, the lowest rate in the 27-country EU bloc. Slowing inflation has been aided by a sharp fall in electricity prices, which decreased by 22.4% from a year earlier in November.

☆ Seventh body found in river after bus accident in Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A seventh body was found in northwestern Spain after a passenger bus careened off a bridge and plunged into an overflowing river, bringing the accident's final toll up to seven dead and two injured, regional authorities said on Monday. The remains were recovered downstream after being spotted by a rescue helicopter, the Spanish government's representative in the Galicia region, Jose Miñones, told reporters. Earlier on Monday, search-and-rescue efforts resumed following a missing person report filed by the victim's son two days after the accident. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter he was "appalled at the tragic accident", expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Peter GraffOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hydrogen pipeline from Spain to France to cost 2.5 bln euros, Spanish PM Sanchez says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Belén Carreño | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ALICANTE, Spain, Dec 9 (Reuters) - An underwater pipeline to carry green hydrogen between Spain and France will cost about 2.5 billion euros ($2.64 billion), Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday, adding that he hoped the European Union would partly fund the project. An additional pipeline connecting Spain and Portugal will cost 300 million euros, a Spanish source said. The undersea section will be known as BarMar, while the entire hydrogen corridor connecting Spain and Portugal to France will be called H2MED, Sanchez confirmed. Sanchez said that France, Spain and Portugal would apply for EU funds to pay for up to 50% of H2MED's cost. "If you already have an overland pipeline why build an undersea pipeline?"

REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraCompanies Enagas SA FollowBARCELONA/LISBON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - An underwater pipeline to carry green hydrogen between Barcelona and Marseille will cost around 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion), according to preliminary estimates of the project agreed between Spain, Portugal and France, two sources told Reuters. Spain and Portugal aim to become clean hydrogen hubs and net energy exporters, causing tensions with France which plans to produce its own hydrogen using nuclear energy. The pipeline will only carry hydrogen in order to meet EU funding criteria, though "improvements" could be made in future to allow for some gas, a Spanish government source said. As a result, the industry source said, they have pushed their four grid operators to "speed up technical studies, potential pipeline layouts and cost assessments". "If you already have an overland pipeline why build an undersea pipeline?"

Spain fans were dejected to see their team crash out of the tournament. "We go back to Spain crying and we will have to reflect," said Julia Calvet, 21, in a Barcelona bar. In Barcelona, Morocco fans packed into the central Raval neighbourhood to celebrate, lighting flares and singing. "We needed to win so that Moroccans have confidence in themselves in Spain," Anass, a 22-year-old Moroccan cook told Reuters in downtown Barcelona. Spain retained the enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta, which were previously colonial territories, after Morocco gained independence in 1956.

☆ Spanish police find more 'bloody packages' sent to Ukraine missions
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MADRID, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Spanish police intercepted three more envelopes containing animal eyes addressed to Ukraine's embassy in Madrid and its consulates in Barcelona and Malaga on Monday, police sources close to the investigation said. Last week, Ukraine said a series of "bloody packages" were sent to its missions across Europe, soon after a letter bomb detonated at Ukraine's embassy in Spain and police defused others sent to, among others, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The postal service's security staff detected the new envelopes during screening on Monday morning and alerted police, the sources said. Ukrainian embassy in Madrid had already received a package with animal eyes on Friday that the interior ministry said carried a foreign stamp. Evidence from that package shared with the postal service helped its staff detect the latest one, police sources added.

☆ 'Bloody parcels' containing animal eyes mailed to Ukrainian embassies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Bloody parcels containing the eyes of animals and explosives have been sent to several Ukrainian embassies and consuls across Europe, officials said late Friday. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement on Facebook that embassies in Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Croatia and Italy had received packages containing the disembodied eyes of animals. Consulates in Naples, Italy, Krakow, Poland, and the Czech city of Brno had also been targeted, he said. Letter bombs were mailed to six addresses in Spain earlier this week, including the Ukrainian Embassy and the U.S. Embassy, as well as to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, causing security to be tightened. Farther south, the Ukrainian consul in Naples, Maksym Kovalenko, told the AP that his office received two letters containing fish eyes at around 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

☆ Spanish police say origin of letter bombs was city of Valladolid, El Mundo reports
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Spanish police said six letter bombs that were sent to high profile targets in recent days had been posted from the northern city of Valladolid, El Mundo newspaper reported on Saturday. The devices were sent to targets including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company and the U.S. Embassy between Nov. 24 and Dec. 2. Most were defused, although an employee at the Ukrainian embassy was slightly injured when one of the devices ignited. The Spanish Interior Ministry said it was unable to comment on the report. Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spanish police believe origin of letter bombs was city of Valladolid
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Spanish police said six letter bombs sent to high profile targets in recent days appeared to have been posted from the northern city of Valladolid, a source close to the investigation told Reuters on Saturday. The devices were sent to targets including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid, government offices, a European Union satellite company and the U.S. Embassy between Nov. 24 and Dec. 2. Most were defused, although an employee at the Ukrainian embassy was slightly injured when one of the devices ignited. No person has been identified as the sender of the packets, said the source, who asked not to be named in order to discuss the investigation. Reporting by Graham Keeley, additional rpeorting by Belen Carreno; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukrainian embassies receive 'bloody packages' containing animal eyes - Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Several Ukrainian embassies abroad have received "bloody packages" containing animal eyes, the foreign ministry said on Friday, after a series of letter bombs were sent to addresses in Spain including Ukraine's embassy in Madrid. An embassy source in Rome said human faeces were left in front of the door. Nikolenko also said that the embassy in Kazakhstan had received a bomb threat, which was subsequently not confirmed. The embassy in the United States received a letter containing an article that was critical about Ukraine, he said. Reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv; additional reporting by Philip Pullela in Rome; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Timothy HeirtageOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ukrainian embassy in Madrid receives 'bloody package'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Spanish police have cordoned off the area surrounding the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid after it received a "bloody package" similar to the ones sent to other embassies abroad, Ukraine's foreign ministry said on Friday. This comes after a spate of six letter bombs targeted high-profile targets in Spain related to the war in Ukraine, including the United States' embassy, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the Defence Minister, an arms manufacturer, an air base and a European satellite centre. On Friday, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said several of the country's embassies abroad have received "bloody packages" containing animal eyes. Reporting by David Latona in Madrid and Tom Balmforth in Kyiv; Editing by Aislinn LaingOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain rocked by wave of letter bombs, with the country's prime minister among those targeted
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Spain's prime minister was targeted by a letter bomb, the interior ministry said on Thursday. One bomb exploded at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid on Wednesday, injuring an embassy employee. Spain's interior ministry said in a statement on Thursday that an envelope containing explosives was addressed to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and was detected and neutralized by his security services. Investigations are underway, the interior ministry said. Spain has ramped up security around public buildings in response, the interior ministry said.

☆ Thousands march in Spain to demand end of violence against women
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Elena Rodriguez | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] A demonstrator with a red paint on her face attends a protest to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Madrid, Spain, November 25, 2022. REUTERS/Violeta Santos MouraMADRID, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Thousands of people took to the streets in Madrid and Barcelona on Friday evening in marches to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Since 2003, when statistics started to officially count fatalities, 1,171 women have died as a result of gender violence in Spain, according to the Ministry of Equality. The law, known as the "only yes means yes" law, classifies any non-consensual sex as rape but also sets lighter minimum sentences for certain sexual crimes. Chants of "only yes means yes" rang through the crowds on Friday evening.

☆ PM Sanchez sees 70% of US-EU data traffic passing through Spain
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MADRID, Nov 24 (Reuters) - About 70% of the internet traffic between the United States and the European Union will pass through Spain after all the investments planned in data centers and submarine cables have been carried out, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday. Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Andei KhalipOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden says it's 'unlikely' the missile that hit Poland was fired from Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden said it is unlikely that the missile that hit Poland and killed two people was fired from Russia, but the United States and allies unanimously agreed to support the country's investigation. "There is preliminary information that contests that," Biden said when asked if the missile was fired from Russia. Biden didn't address whether the missile could have been fired by Russia from Ukraine or elsewhere. Participants included G-7 members and allies: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Spainish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and European Council President Charles Michel. "The moment when the world came together at the G-20 to urge de-escalation, Russia continues to escalate in Ukraine," Biden said.

☆ Spain frontloads subsidies for electric car projects as VW appears in doubt
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Industry Ministry said that the subsidies to be disbursed this year under the so-called PERTE scheme using EU pandemic relief funds would rise to 877 million euros ($860 million) from 600 million euros, meaning the total planned amount of nearly 3 billion will be slightly more front-loaded. Volkswagen's Spanish unit SEAT, the Volkswagen Group and 60 associated companies want to mobilise 10 billion euros to electrify the automotive industry in Spain and turn the country into a hub for electric mobility in Europe, producing electric cars and batteries. Other projects vying for the funds focus mainly on batteries. SEAT was allocated 167 million euros in the PERTE programme's first provisional results announced on Aug. 1. "We will keep working with the VW-SEAT group and other producers for Spain to be a global reference for electric cars, including batteries," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.

☆ Barcelona-Marseille pipeline could take 4-5 years to build, Spain says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( David Latona | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The joint project between Spain, Portugal and France, agreed on Thursday and dubbed BarMar, replaces the cross-Pyrenees MidCat pipeline that Spain had said could be ready by 2023 but was vetoed by France. All three countries said the pipeline should also temporarily allow for the transport of some natural gas to help alleviate Europe's supply problems stemming from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. She added that the connections between Spain and France, as well as between the entry point in Marseille and the hydrogen pipeline network in central Europe, are yet to be completed. Fernando Garcia, a London-based utilities analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said the BarMar route would "clearly" not fix Europe's short-term supply woes. The BarMar pipeline would also substitute an underwater gas link between Spain and Italy that was once considered, Ribera told Spanish TV station Antena 3 earlier on Friday.

Amid resistance from France, Spain and Italy had previously broached the idea of building an underwater pipeline between the two countries. Iberdrola, which is building Europe's largest green hydrogen plant in Puertollano in central Spain, declined to comment on the pipeline announcement. Cepsa CEO Maarten Wetselsaar told Reuters the agreement put Spain at the heart of Europe's plan to diversify away from Russian energy. As for natural gas, Spain has six terminals allowing it to bring in liquefied natural gas and convert it into its gaseous form, and three storage facilities, while Portugal has one. The United States and Nigeria are among key suppliers of LNG to Spain, which also receives piped gas from Algeria.

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