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During a protest against the imposition of a nationwide 9pm curfew in Eindhoven last Sunday, a police truckturned its water cannon on a young woman who was hurled against a concrete wall so hard that she appeared to bounce off it. Spain has experienced extreme weather conditions across the country over the last fortnight, during a highly unusual period of record-breaking high and low temperatures, snowfall and earthquakes. “We found changes in the tongue that until then had not been linked to Covid: the tongue is enlarged, it appears swollen, the teeth marks can be seen and it can also be depapillated.................... Spain is facing another debate about face masks. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Spanish health authorities did not recommend the use of face masks, partly because there were not enough to supply everyone. In 2014, Spanish doctor Gabriel Heras, specialist in Intensive Medicine, created the International Research Project for the Humanisation of Intensive Care Units (HU-CI Project). Black Lives Matter has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of what the nominator said was BLM's impact in raising awareness of racism worldwide......... Petter Eide, the Norwegian parliamentarian who nominated BLM, dismissed questions about violence carried out in the movement's name. Six men aged between 20-34, including the ‘YouTuber’ and influencer Gonzalo Sapiña, were detained in an investigation into alleged fraud surrounding trading courses, as part of a joint operation involving Europol and other law enforcement agencies.

EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said a 'transparency mechanism' is being introduced as she insisted that the bloc 'means business' about getting its fair share of supplies. A home confinement cannot be legally imposed in Spain under the current emergency state approved by parliament in late October and due to expire in May. But the string of increasingly strict restrictions imposed by regional governments is coming close to a de facto lockdown. Concern is rising in Spain over the number of individuals who have jumped the line to receive the Covid-19 vaccine. The list includes several mayors, a regional health chief and family members of medical workers. Vaccines may not fully prevent people from passing Covid-19 on to others, England’s deputy chief medical officer has again warned. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said Rufus Hound has seen MPs and Bomb victims call for him to be removed from Dancing on Ice after he retweeted unsubstantiated claims Theresa May planned the Manchester terror attack.

The worst snow seen this century has caused chaos, leaving three dead and hundreds of drivers trapped in their vehicles. Madrid, Albacete, Cuenca, Toledo, Guadalajara, Valencia, Castellón, Tarragona, Teruel and Zaragoza are expected to see 20 centimeters of snowfall The number of coronavirus cases recorded in Spain since the beginning of the pandemic officially exceeded two million on Thursday, amid warnings of difficult weeks ahead. According to the Health Ministry’s latest report, all data points clearly indicate that the pandemic continues to follow an upward trend.

As of 31st December non/resident expats will have to return home after 90 days in the Schengen country as opposed to 180 days. They will need to return for 90 days and then will be eligible for the next 90 day stay. This will have implications for long stay semi/permanent residents. The DGT has come up with a new system for exchanging UK driving licences that went live on Monday November 16th that creates a two-step process to enable UK nationals to complete stage one before the end of year deadline even if they are unable to secure a coveted cita previa at a local DGT office. ALICANTE-ELCHE airport will be renamed after the Mediterranean province's most famous poet, Miguel Hernández – an announcement had been made on the exact day of what would have been his 110th birthday. In the UK, John Price - a local potato and cattle farmer - dredged a section of the River Lugg near Leominster in Herefordshire and reportedly stripped a mile-long stretch of the bank of trees and bushes. Video footage taken from the ground shows aggressive boos from the stands as the players took the knee, prompting criticism from ex-players including Lineker, Trevor Sinclair and Greg Halford. Eddie Jones, 60, was responding to a question from a pupil during an event at Eton the £42,500-a-year-school near Windsor, in Berkshire. A female staff member told the England rugby coach that she thought it was an 'inappropriate word', according to a parent. Meanwhile, another parent added that he was respectfully asked to define manliness and that such questions are a necessary part of the events. A nurse who drunkenly smashed her car into a teenage boy will be allowed to return to her profession following a suspension after expressing her deep remorse. Sarah Hogg got behind the wheel, despite being double the drink drive limit after celebrating her 50th birthday and lost control of the Honda CR-V. ….President Donald Trump has tweeted video of a Chinese professor suggesting that China has managed to influence U.S. policy for decades thanks to a special network of relationships with people at the upper echelons of American power.

.Why is it so difficult to reach an agreement on education in Spain? “Different ways of perceiving society and life come into play. The Lomloe, popularly known as the “Celaá law” after Education Minister Isabel Celaá, was approved on Thursday inside a divided lower house of parliament with 177 votes in favor, 148 against and 17 abstentions. Regional governments must aim to reduce the environmental impact of education centers and create “safe paths to school” to allow students to walk to school. The Spanish Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld most of the Public Safety law, popularly known as the “gag law,” including the immediate removal of migrants who try to enter Spanish territory by crossing the border fence in Spain’s North African exclave cities, Ceuta and Melilla.

Spain’s Coronavirus-ravaged economy is expected to fall by an unprecedented 11.2% this year, with tax revenues due to fall by 7.6%. The PSOE–Podemos coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez aims to bolster revenues by 6.8 billion euros with its 2021 budget. ‘This budget cannot be postponed. This budget is essential for the modernisation and recovery of our economy,’ Sánchez said.

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The perfect storm that dragged Spain to the bottom of advanced economies Experts point to factors such as reliance on tourism, a stricter lockdown and the small size of businesses............................... Spain has been hampered by its excessive reliance on tourism, which in pre-crisis days contributed around 14% of GDP and employed three million people

The Spanish royal family presided on Monday over celebrations to mark Spain’s National Day on October 12 amid protests against the central government. The event, which was scaled down due to the coronavirus pandemic, paid tribute to the civil organizations that have been on the frontline of the fight against the virus. “Long live the king!”. It is the phrase with which the former president of the Government Mariano Rajoy begins a 14-minute video in which 183 personalities from politics, culture, the business world, journalism and sports, among others, repeat the proclamation over and over again , as part of an initiative of the ‘Free and Equal’ platform in support of Felipe VI. …..

A woman was arrested on Monday at Zurriola beach in San Sebastián, in Spain’s Basque Country, after going surfing when she should have been in quarantine. After confirming that the woman had tested positive for Covid-19 and was meant to be at home, several officers – some in protective suits to avoid contagion – went down to the beach to take her out of the water.

Bankia and CaixaBank are considering a merger that would create the biggest lender in Spain, the banks said in a Thursday statement to the securities market watchdog CNMV. The new bank would hold €650 billion in assets, although it would lack the international presence of other Spanish lenders such as Santander and BBVA.

Prime minister Pedro Sanchez has announced that any of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities can call their own state of alarm to contain localised coronavirus outbreaks. The Spanish government plans to build 32-foot cylindrical walls around its North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla to stop raids by migrants and individual attempts to enter the country. The government is taking the ongoing harassment that is being suffered by Unidas Podemos politician s Pablo Iglesias and Irene Montero very seriously, considering it not to be an isolated incident but rather the result of a political climate that is being fanned by the far right. .......................Over the past week a number of politicians, including Defense Minister Margarita Robles, have recalled the words of Pablo Iglesias in 2013, when he described noisy protests – known in Spanish as escraches – being staged at the time outside the homes of some members of the then-Popular Party government as being “democratic medicine.”

Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa announced on Friday that the government is closing nightclubs and nighttime bars across Spain in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. He also explained that all establishments, such as restaurants, would have to close at 1am, with no new patrons allowed to enter from midnight onward. Illa also announced that new residents entering senior care homes would be subject to PCR tests to detect coronavirus infections, as would staff from such residences returning from their vacations. Visits to homes will also be limited to one person per resident with a maximum of one hour. This measure will be relaxed, Illa explained, in the case of patients “who are nearing the end of their lives.”

In the end, it took a personal meeting between father and son to get the stalled talks back on track. As one source familiar with the matter described it: “There were no good solutions, just less bad ones.” For Juan Carlos I, his red line was preserving his honorary title of emeritus king, which was bestowed upon him in June 2014, a few days before abdicating the throne. For Felipe VI, the goal was to get his father to voluntarily accept a solution, instead of having to impose one on him. As for the best way to break the news to Spanish public opinion, it was agreed that Juan Carlos I would write a letter to his son and that this letter would be shared by the royal household.

The number of Covid-19 cases continues to rise in Spain, with 1,525 new infections detected in 24 hours on Friday – the highest figure since the end of the lockdown period. The surge in cases has sparked concern in Europe, leading several countries, including France and Germany, to recommend against travel to the Spanish regions most affected by the outbreaks. In other news, Gibraltarian authorities have been seeking a formula that will allow the British Overseas Territory to retain ties to the European Union, The Rock could possibly join the customs union or the Schengen Area.