Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Oct 20
FEATURED ARTICLES: "How the Israel-Hamas conflict is affecting Spain" and "Flight from Spain to London cancelled after passenger poops on the floor"
There has been a dramatic change in the weather in the last couple of days, with Spain turning colder, wetter and greyer thanks to Storm Aline. The wind has especially been a problem, knocking over trees and causing power outages on railway tracks, while other areas have experienced some predictable flooding, which always seems to happen any time it rains here.
Temperatures, too, are taking a tumble, and this is the first time we can truly say it’s time to get the jumpers and jackets out of wherever they’ve been hiding all summer.
If you can find a gap to see it through the thick clouds and pouring rain, you might be able to see a spectacular meteor shower this weekend. As always, there are plenty of fun events to attend and activities to get involved in this weekend (weather permitting!), but the wave of terror attacks and the ongoing situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip are destabilising may make you think about going out anywhere.
Shower show
2023 has been an incredible year for stargazers, offering everything from eerie blood moon eclipses to breathtaking super moons. But the most spectacular celestial display of the year is still to come, with the Orionid meteor shower set to reach its peak on October 21 and 22 in what promises to be an unforgettable experience.
The Orionids are actually one of two meteor showers created by Halley’s Comet, or Comet 1/P Halley to give it its official name, which is only visible from Earth every 76 years and was last glimpsed back in 1986.
Each October, our planet passes through a dust cloud streaming from the comet and results in the Orionids, a wave of meteors or shooting stars that light up the night sky. Meteors are generally named after the constellation from which they appear to be emanating and, in this case, from Earth the Orionids look like they’re coming from the Orion constellation.
These meteor showers often produce as many as 80 shooting stars an hour but this year the moon will be 37% illuminated at the time of its peak. This means the heavens won’t be in total darkness but patient observers should easily be able to observe at least 20 or 30 per hour.
The Orionids streak across the sky at an incredible 66 kilometres per second – that’s only 5 seconds slower than the zippy Leonids, according to NASA.
The Orionids can actually be witnessed from Spain between October 2 and November 7 but this year, according to the National Geographic Institute, the best visibility will be in the small hours of October 21 and 22, assuming, that is, that the clouds part for long enough to allow you to peek through.
Like all celestial shows, the best visibility will be found well away from street lights and other glares. No special equipment is needed to view the meteor shower, but it’s advisable to direct your gaze towards the darkest area of the sky, in the opposite direction to the position of the moon.
How is the Israel-Hamas conflict affecting Spain?
Terrifying news continues to emerge from Israel where the Hamas terrorist group continues to advance without mercy, and the reverberations are being felt across the globe. In the last few days, two Swedish football fans were killed in Brussels and a teacher was murdered in a terror attack in France. Although Spain has yet to be caught in any serious cross hairs, these attacks have prompted the Ministry of the Interior to beef up its security.
The country’s anti-terrorist alert system has been set at level 4 (the maximum is level 5) for some time now and while this will not be raised, a series of “complimentary measures” will be introduced to ensure safety within Spain.
Mainly, this will entail increasing security in areas that are considered “especially sensitive” or at risk, such as the embassies, and cyber surveillance will also be stepped up to watch out for any possible threats.
Spain might not seem like the obvious target for a terrorist attack but it’s worth remembering that last year, several high-ranking officials were targeted in a letter bomb campaign as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Just this Friday, a high-level police operation has resulted in the arrest of four people in Barcelona and Granada for spreading messages of jihad and trying to indoctrinate others with radical Islamist sentiments. At the same time, the movements of 12 more jihadist returnees from the war in Syria and Iraq are being closely monitored.
🚩Operación contra el terrorismo #yihadista
— Policía Nacional (@policia) October 20, 2023
4 detenidos por proselitismo y captación #yihadista en #RedesSociales en #Granada #Barcelona y #Madrid
El líder del grupo consumía masivamente contenidos violentos y utilizaba las #RRSS para captar y adoctrinar a otras personas pic.twitter.com/K637hEMb2Y
Away from the national effort, local communities have unilaterally decided to ramp up their security measures too. In the Murcia town of Mazarrón, police and municipal government officials have agreed to increase traffic controls during fiestas, including additional checks at the entrances and exits to detect not only the consumption of alcohol and drugs but also anyone who may be carrying concealed weapons. At the same time, plainclothes police officers and patrols will be deployed to monitor areas that may be left empty while citizens enjoy the festivities.
Overall, crime is down in Mazarrón, especially robberies and sexual crimes, although there has been an increase in cybercrime such as online and mobile scams. The security forces’ decision to focus their efforts and their resources on certain areas has been based on the places where their data tells them there have been the most crimes reported.
As such, the majority foreign Camposol urbanisation in the municipal area of Mazarrón may receive fewer patrols and less police attention than it deserves, despite an ongoing series of home invasions and robberies there, due to the fact that so few victims of these crimes take the trouble to go down to the police station to report them. The language barrier is just one obstacle, but so is the fact that the nearest Guardia Civil police station to Camposol is in the Port of Mazarrón.
To assist the Local Security Board in planning and distributing police resources, it is of vital importance to report crimes to the Guardia Civil so that a proportional security strategy can be formulated to provide adequate patrols in areas where crimes are perpetrated.
Flight fright
Hundreds of British passengers on board an easyJet plane from Tenerife to London had a really crappy ending to their holiday when their flight was cancelled after someone pooped on the bathroom floor.
The plane had apparently been waiting on the runway for hours and it’s not clear whether the passenger was simply caught short or if he was expressing his frustration at the delay but either way, the aircraft had to be cleared so the toilets could be disinfected. Others have said that the incident was due to a burst stomach bag, but whatever the cause, at the time it happened passengers and the flight crew were less than amused.
“Rather entertaining to defecate the front toilet so we’re now staying the night here, we’re now going to get everyone off... and organise hotels then we’ll fly back tomorrow morning,” the pilot said over the loudspeaker.
This announcement was met with loud groans from the inconvenienced passengers and one traveller can be heard, in a video taken at the time, exclaiming “Who s*** on the floor?”
So we’ve been given the excuse of a toilet being defecated in for the reason for a CANCELLED flight?! @easyjet this is UNACCEPTABLE!! Your customer care is ATROCIOUS. 100s of passengers left STRANDED in the airport terminal! Do something!!!! pic.twitter.com/zn3jCoFIVJ
— Rubee Rose (@queenrubee1) October 16, 2023
To make matters worse, the Spanish island was thronged with tourists at the time and, unable to secure accommodation for all its passengers as promised, easyJet left most of them to find their own rooms for the night.
Murcia
Two years on, some patients of the Murcia Health Service have still not been issued a new health card, instead being made to carry around flimsy pieces of A4 paper which serve as temporary medical documents. In the past the Regional Health Ministry has blamed a “lack of plastic”, but now claims that an “alternative solution” is on the way soon.
It has been over a year since the Servicio Murciano Salud (SMS), confirmed that no new cards had been manufactured since October 2021, and it has been eight months since they promised they would be able to make some more “in approximately one month”. Still, no new cards seem to be on their way, though a more modern, techy replacement could be in the works.Those who have not been issued health cards are decidedly miffed, since not only are the replacement pieces of paper awkward to carry around but they also deteriorate quickly if not protected.
As if that weren’t enough, these documents have an expiry date 3 months after they are issued, which means that people have to go back to their local health centre four times a year just to get a new one.
Now, the SMS promises it is “working on an alternative solution that will be implemented soon”. Whether this is a virtual card that could be kept on people’s smartphones or some other solution remains to be seen as, so far, no further details have emerged.
Even if you’re not in the market for a new house or thinking of selling yours, there’s still nothing quite like knowing what the neighbours’ asking price is or having a quick snoop of the classifieds to see if there’s a property to daydream about.
Satisfy your curiosity, then, with the latest update on what has been happening with property prices and sales in the Region of Murcia so far this year. According to the most recent data from the Regional Statistics Centre of Murcia (CREM), in the first six months of this year, demand for homes has shot up, especially in San Javier, Murcia capital city, Mazarrón, Cartagena, Águilas and Torre Pacheco, which between them were responsible for half of the total property sales and also commanded the highest price per square metre of all available housing.
In fact, house prices in the second quarter of 2023 rose by 9.3% compared to the same time last year, says the report, with increased demand pushing prices up. In San Javier, for instance, the average price per square metre to buy a home has risen to 1,283.90 euros, while in Mazarrón it is 1,130.60 euros and in Cartagena it is 1,102.60 euros.
If property purchases aren’t really your thing, though, perhaps you’d like to consider buying a restaurant business. Locally based real estate agency Murcia Golf Properties, which specialises in selling and renting on Murcia’s residential urbanisations and golf resorts, has an exclusive restaurant for sale on the Mar Menor Golf Resort.This is Beluga’s, which sits on the resort’s popular ‘El Boulevard’ shopping and dining street and has now gone on the market. Regular customers will be sad to see Beluga’s closing down as it was a well-established and highly regarded restaurant in a prime location within the Mar Menor Golf Resort, but it does represent a rare opportunity for one lucky buyer to acquire a turnkey business with tremendous growth potential.
All of the restaurant’s existing furniture, kitchen equipment, tableware and glasses are included in the price and it will likely be snapped up pretty fast. Before the previous owner left Spain, the restaurant had built a strong reputation for its excellent cuisine, friendly service and welcoming ambiance and could be ready to reopen in a very short space of time. You can bet that Beluga’s, if indeed it retains that name, won’t be shut for very long.
Meanwhile, the Camposol urbanisation is mourning the loss of Silvana Buxton, Councillor for Camposol and International Relations, who sadly passed away on the morning of this Friday, October 20. Silvana had recently taken an indefinite leave of absence from her official duties due to illness, which eventually and unfortunately claimed her life at the age of 75.Of Italian origin, Silvana lived in England for most of her life, where she was a Justice of the Peace for fifteen years, and then in France for seven years. When she moved to Camposol, she played an essential role first as president of the Camposol Residents Association (CRA) and later as a tireless public servant, fighting for the rights and needs of the foreign community in Camposol and Mazarrón, and acting as a vital bridge between them and the Spanish community.
She is survived by her husband Geoff, three children and seven grandchildren, and will be sorely missed.
Rest in peace.
Check out the EVENTS DIARY to see what’s coming up soon in the Region of Murcia:
Spain
It’s time to resurrect the double denim and platforms as 90s pop sensations Take That have announced four exciting gigs in Spain next summer as part of their ‘This Life. Under The Stars’ world tour, which kicks off in County Cork, Ireland, on June 20.
The trio – consisting these days of Gary Barlow, Mark Owen and Howard Donald – will play to undoubtedly packed stadiums in Barcelona on July 13, Marbella on July 15, Seville on July 16 and Madrid on July 17.
Fans of the iconic boy band will no doubt be disappointed that the inimitable Robbie Williams won’t be making an appearance and Jason Orange will also be absent. Nevertheless, it promises to be a cracking tour but you’d better hurry, as tickets are on sale now and they’re likely to sell out quickly.
Closer to the present moment, this Sunday Madrid plays host to what is possibly one of the weirdest and wackiest celebrations in Spain (and there are certainly a lot!) when the streets are closed, traffic diverted and thousands of sheep and goats are herded through the city centre of the Spanish capital.
This is the Fiesta de la Trashumancia, a tradition that has its roots in the 15th century but which has been held on the second to last weekend in October in Madrid every year since 1994. ‘Transhumance’ is the word given to the nomadic migration of livestock between higher mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year. The fiesta acts as a sort of welcoming celebration for the autumn season, and there are similar festivities held around Spain in smaller rural towns, but the one in central Madrid, a bustling European metropolis, is surely the most bizarre to behold.
The flocks are herded by their shepherds from the Casa de Campo park in the outskirts of Madrid in the morning and walked to the central Plaza de Cibeles, where the farmhands ceremonially pay a toll of 50 ancient ‘maravedí’ coins to the Mayor of Madrid for the passage of the livestock, based on a tradition dating back to 1418.
Normally, tourists and locals turn out in their droves to witness the remarkable spectacle, although the adverse weather and perhaps some security fears may keep a number of people away this year. Others point out that it must be so disorienting and confusing for the poor animals, and say that it’s just another cruel Spanish festival that inexplicably abuses defenceless animals in the name of culture and entertainment.
Alicante
There’s no better time than the autumn to explore a bit of Spain when the weather is blessedly cooler and the cities aren’t quite so packed and this year, Ouigo is making that even easier with two new daily trains connecting Alicante and Madrid.
More than 2.5 million tickets for travel between December 10 and May 31 went on sale this week and adult seats start at just 9 euros each way.
With these two new services, the number of daily high-speed trains operating between Alicante and the Spanish capital will increase from four to six, with departures from the Costa Blanca city at 8am, 2pm and 6pm. From Madrid, trains will leave Chamartín at 10.15am, 2.15am and 6.15pm.
These are in addition to the increase in supply on the Valencia-Madrid line, with four new frequencies from December, bringing the total number of daily journeys between the cities up to ten (five each way).
The quiet Alicante town of Javea was the scene of some high drama this week with the high-profile arrest of a British fugitive who was the subject of an international arrest warrant.The 36-year-old has been wanted in the UK since 2020 on a string of drugs charges and Spanish police said that with his arrest, the main criminal organisation dedicated to the trafficking of narcotics in the British Isles has been dismantled.
He was reportedly responsible for trafficking huge amounts cocaine, heroin and ecstasy into the UK and he’ll also face charges of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation.
Another fugitive accused of belonging to the same criminal organisation was arrested by the Guardia Civil’s UCO unit in January last year in Palma de Mallorca.
Tragedy struck the popular town of San Miguel de Salinas on Monday when a 62-year-old British motorcyclist died in a head-on collision with a car, driven by another UK expat. It seems the motorbike swerved onto the opposite lane while taking a tight bend on the CV-95 near the Los Montesinos-Entrenaranjos road and smashed into a vehicle travelling against him.
Emergency workers and officers from the Police and Guardia Civil were quickly on the scene but sadly nothing could be done to save the life of the motorcyclist. The driver of the car was uninjured in the accident.
This horror crash will put the area back in the spotlight as residents have been campaigning to have this busy stretch of road widened for years. On average, between 10,000 and 15,000 vehicles travel the route on a daily basis as its serves as the main link between the Vega Baja coastal towns and Orihuela.
Andalucía
Some families seem to have to endure one tragedy after another and that’s certainly the case for 33-year-old Romina Acuna, who plunged to her death on October 14 from the fifth floor of her Fuengirola villa. Chilean-born Romina only buried her husband in April, bouncer José Rafael Pisani Pardo, who died when he tried to break up a fight outside former ‘The Only Way is Essex’ star Elliott Wright’s restaurant on the Costa del Sol.A 36-year-old British man, already known to police, has been arrested and brought in for questioning in relation to the widow’s death, although it’s still unclear whether he was even at the property at the time.
According to police sources, she actually phoned emergency services just hours before she died to report an assault, but she decided against pressing charges even though she had to be treated in hospital. However, several other partners of the British man have lodged formal domestic violence complaints against the suspect in the past.
Romina and Venezuelan-born Mr Pisani Pardo were married just five months before the doorman died on April 16 after hitting his head on the ground when trying to break up a fight at Wright’s eatery ‘Olivia’s’. After his death, his widow told police he had phoned her hours before saying he was “frightened” because there were so many drunk customers that night.
As we’ve reported in the past, many US flyers were overjoyed this summer by the addition of a New York-Málaga flight this summer, operated by American carrier United Airlines. Well, while those same passengers were pushing for this flight route to be made a permanent, year-round fixture of the Costa del Sol airport’s roster, it looks like for now they’ll have to postpone that dream until 2025.
Málaga’s Tourism Minister Arturo Bernal said that he hopes to be able to make the flight route connecting what is one of Spain’s most popular tourist hotspots with the Big Apple in two years’ time.
In the meantime, there is what the Minister has called “a very important step forward” as United Airlines have agreed to resume the flight route in summer 2024. There will be three weekly round trips starting from May 30, 2024 until the end of the summer period, probably around the end of September if 2023’s dates are anything to go by, and eager passengers can already book their flights online.
Across Spain, United has operated in a total of five cities since 1991 – more than any other US carrier.
There was tragedy in the skies recently, however, when two young men, one of them a 26-year-old British citizen, died during a flying lesson in Andalucía when their small aircraft crashed into a hill in Cerro del Fraile, within the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park in Almería.
It is not known what happened, but it seems that 24-year-old Rafael Ricote, who worked as an instructor at the Málaga aviation school One Air Aviation, was piloting the plane at the time it crashed.
The British trainee flyer accompanying him has not yet been named. The pair were heading from Málaga to Valencia, and had just made a brief stop at Almería’s El Alquián airport to refuel. Everything indicates that the aircraft was operating “normally” at that point, but shortly after taking off again the plane suddenly disappeared from the radar.
No mayday calls were made, but the Valencian airport raised the alarm anyway. After an all-night search, the plane was eventually located, having crash landed into a steep slope in the Cabo de Gata, and the two bodies inside recovered.
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That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading and we’ll be back next week.
See you then!
