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☆ Spain, France champion Europe's industry in bilateral summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BARCELONA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. efforts to boost green technology should not lead to the dismantling of Europe's industry, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday after signing a new bilateral treaty with French President Emmanuel Macron in Barcelona. The industrial references come amid an intense debate within the European Union on how to respond to government support measures under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). "We need to accelerate our green technology, and our 'Made in Europe' strategy," he said. About 6,500 Catalan separatists protested outside the museum where the summit took place against Sanchez's position on independence, according to police estimates. Catalonia's regional leader Pere Aragones greeted Sanchez and Macron before the summit, but left before both countries' anthems were played.

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?"

☆ 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?"

☆ Migrants flee plane forced to land in Spain by fake childbirth emergency
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Journalists gather after a commercial airplane flying from Morocco to Turkey made an emergency landing in Barcelona's El Prat airport in the early hours and 28 would-be migrants on board ran away across the tarmac in Barcelona, Spain December 7, 2022. After landing at El Prat airport, the woman was checked at a hospital and found she had not gone into labour, the government said. Police detained 14 people who were on the plane operated by Turkey's Pegasus Airlines, while 14 others were still missing, the government said. It said five were put back on the plane and eight others would be deported to Morocco. Reporting by Joan Faus, Inti Landauro; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Arun KoyyurOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spain briefly closes part of airspace as Chinese rocket debris flies over
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Spain briefly closed the airspace over the northeastern region of Catalonia and three other regions on Friday as remnants of a Chinese rocket were expected to pass by, emergency authorities in Catalonia said on Friday. The Long March 5B (CZ-5B), China's most powerful rocket, blasted off on Oct. 31 from southern China to deliver the last module of the Chinese space station currently under construction. As gravity pulls the rocket back to Earth, most of it is expected to burn up on re-entry, though there are concerns sizable chunks might survive. "These predictions however come with uncertainties, and a better estimation will only be possible close to the re-entry." Debris from the second flight landed harmlessly in the Indian Ocean, while remnants from the third fell into the Sulu Sea in the Philippines.

That means vineyards - which have for centuries transplanted cuttings to ensure robust and flavourful fruit - are now looking for grape types that are more resistant to climate change. It has determined that vines aged 35 years and older appear to cope better with climate change because they are more genetically diverse. The lab's ultimate goal is to ensure winemakers plant specific vines proven to be "more adaptable to climate change conditions", said Carbonell. "We are very worried about climate change," said Iñigo Torres, director of Grupo Rioja, an association representing 60 wineries that together account for 80% of sales. The grapevines were transplanted after being carefully selected from another vineyard where RODA studies the behaviour of old vines - some up to 110 years old.

LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The world is falling far short at rounding up money to help struggling nations adapt to the increasingly dangerous impacts of climate change, according to a report released Thursday. Current international finance flowing to developing countries is between 5 and 10 times below what is needed, the United Nations Environment Programme report said. "It's time for a global climate adaptation overhaul," said United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres in a media statement, noting he had asked green climate funds to work with public and private financiers to pilot a new accelerator for adaptation investment. The accelerator will help financiers work with developing countries to invest in their adaptation priorities and specific projects. At the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow last year, developed countries agreed to double support for adaptation financing to $40 billion per year by 2025.

☆ VW's SEAT says Spain's subsidy for battery plant, EV production 'not sufficient'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MADRID, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The chief of Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) Spanish unit SEAT said on Thursday the subsidies offered by Spanish authorities for a battery factory construction and electric vehicle production "is not sufficient", but voiced optimism about finding a solution. Speaking at a panel in Madrid, SEAT Chairman Wayne Griffiths said the solution, which he did not specify, has to be found within 10 days. "Spain is capable of making one of the best cars in the world," Griffiths said, highlighting the country's renewable energy capacity. However, he lamented the fact that the country had also one of the lowest shares of electric vehicles in Europe. Reporting by Corina Pons, writing by Joan Faus, editing by David Latona and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: Catalonia's economic muscle weakened five years after separatist bid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The fallout serves as a cautionary tale for the independence movement in Scotland, which is pushing to hold another referendum next year on breaking away from the United Kingdom. Junqueras was Catalonia's deputy government head when the region held an independence referendum banned by a Spanish court. Junqueras insisted the Catalan separatist movement is still strong, pointing out the increase in pro-independence lawmakers in the past decade. Like Scotland, Catalonia's independence movement is now pushing for another referendum, this time with the approval of the Spanish government. But as with the UK government and Scotland´s bid, Spain has so far rejected the proposal.

☆ 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.

In Spain, six vessels were frozen following sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February. The "majority" of the owners are paying their maintenance, crew, docking and insurance fees, a source with knowledge of the matter said. In March, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez vowed, when announcing the freezing of one yacht in Spain, to hit Putin's allies "decisively" and "hard". read more read moreProposals by the United States and European Union to sell seized Russian assets and give the proceeds to Ukraine have stalled. In France, five yachts have been frozen.

☆ Catalonia seeks Spain's agreement for new independence referendum
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Joan Faus | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has favoured dialogue with Catalonia to rebuild relations after a chaotic unilateral bid for independence in 2017 plunged Spain into its worst political crisis in years. It remains, however, staunchly opposed to independence and has hitherto ruled out a legal referendum. A similar proposal by Catalonia in 2012 was firmly rejected by the then conservative government in Madrid. The wealthy northeastern region held a referendum five years later despite a ban by the courts, and issued a short-lived unilateral independence declaration. Catalan government head Pere Aragones told the regional parliament that for another referendum, Catalonia needed Madrid's buy-in.

☆ Venezuela arrests 'Fat Leonard' contractor in U.S. Navy bribery case
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Edgar Su/File PhotoSept 22 (Reuters) - Venezuelan police have arrested a fugitive Malaysian businessman nicknamed 'Fat Leonard' who is at the centre of a major U.S. Navy bribery scandal, as he prepared to leave the country for Russia, Venezuelan Interpol said. Francis pleaded guilty to bribery in January 2015 and agreed to forfeit $35 million in ill-gotten gains. According to that plea agreement, Francis paid about $500,000 in bribes to Navy officials. He arrived in Venezuela from Mexico, with a stopover in Cuba, and was planning to continue to Russia, the Interpol statement said. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Joan Faus, editing by Aislinn Laing and Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

MADRID/BARCELONA, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Spain has fined Delivery Hero's (DHER.DE) local business Glovo 79 million euros ($78 million) for allegedly violating labour laws, its labour minister Yolanda Diaz said on Wednesday. "(Glovo) has violated fundamental labour rights and they have obstructed the work of the investigation. In May 2021, Spain passed one of Europe's first laws relating to gig-economy workers' rights, requiring riders for food delivery platforms be made employees on formal labour contracts. A woman wearing a protective face mask amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) walks past Glovo food delivery couriers in Kyiv, Ukraine August 6, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File PhotoBut some, such as 19-year-old Glovo rider Giancarlo from Peru, said they have still not been offered a formal contract.

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