Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Feb 3

FEATURE ARTICLES: "Spanish air traffic controllers go on strike" and "British drug lord arrested in Benidorm to be extradited to the UK"

Incredibly, after quite a chilly January, the start of February in Spain is turning out to be just lovely. Towns and cities up and down the Iberian peninsula are preparing their ‘floración’ festivals, ready for the moment when the peach, almond and cherry trees blossom in all their fragrant pink and white glory, and the tourist businesses are rubbing their hands together with glee at what promises to be a great spring, bringing in visitor numbers the likes of which haven’t been seen since before lockdown.

Until then, though, there is some consternation from their end about the continued and continual strikes by various members of the aviation business. As of this Monday, and every Monday for the next month, it is the turn of the air traffic controllers to undertake industrial action in demand of higher wages. The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone (although not equally), and we’re likely to see more disruption as the year goes on from disgruntled workers. Though a welcome decision by the Spanish government this week to raise the minimum wage will go some way to forestalling that.

Meanwhile, a major British drug criminal who was captured in the seaside resort of Benidorm last September is being returned to the UK to face justice. All this and more in this week’s Editor’s Roundup Weekly Bulletin...

Gang leader faces justice

Four months after his arrest in Benidorm and following a ruling by Spain’s National Court, a British fugitive will finally be extradited to the UK to face a string of major drug charges.

The 41-year-old ‘drug lord’ from West Yorkshire was a key member of a British drugs ring that ran amphetamine laboratories in North Wales and Merseyside. In one of the factories, UK police found enough chemicals to cook a staggering 3,000 kilos of amphetamines.

He, along with 14 other gang members, is also accused of manufacturing and supplying cocaine, heroin, cannabis and ketamine. Narcotics with a retail value of 1.3 million euros were seized during raids in 2019, and police thwarted plans to produce more drugs worth 2.1 million euros.

The Brit fled to Spain, but his luck ran out when the National Police’s Prevention and Reaction Unit inadvertently caught up with the elusive criminal while carrying out a daily prevention checkpoint near Benidorm’s theme park area last September.

A quick check on the police’s database revealed he was wanted by the British authorities and he was promptly arrested.

Spain’s National Court in Madrid signed the 41-year-old’s extradition order at the end of December, but details have only just been disclosed.

Flying high

The year has gotten off to another shaky start for Spain’s airports as yet more strikes threaten to cause disruption for holidaymakers. This time it’s the turn of the air traffic controllers, 162 of whom have voted to down tools in January and February in airports up and down the country.

The staff of privatised towers in Spain are demanding a 5.5% pay rise and have rejected an offer of staggered increases over four years.

With negotiations at a standstill, the workers will strike for 24 hours on five consecutive Mondays (January 30 and February 6, 13, 20 and 27) at 16 Spanish airports: A Coruña, Alicante-Elche, Castellón, Cuatro Vientos, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Jerez, Lanzarote, La Palma, Lleida, Murcia, Sabadell, Seville, Valencia and Vigo.

A British Airways flight from the Canary Islands to the UK took off without a hitch this week but ran into problems almost as soon as it was in the air when the pilot realised that one of his flight attendants was steaming drunk.

Seeing that she “was in no fit state to work and engage with passengers,” an inside source revealed that the pilot radioed ahead to Gatwick Airport while the plane was still 30,000 feet in the air, and Sussex police were waiting on the tarmac when then flight touched down.

Officers immediately breathalysed the flight attendant and found that she was well over the allowed alcohol limit. She was arrested but has since been released on bail pending further investigation.

The unfortunate passengers, stuck on the plane on the runway while police dealt with the intoxicated air hostess, were eventually allowed off after nearly an hour.

Undaunted by the air traffic control strikes, popular budget airline Jet2 has again reinforced its commitment to the Costa del Sol, adding several more flights between Malaga and the UK, as if there weren’t enough.

Celebrating its 20-year anniversary in the region this week (the first flight from Leeds touched down in Malaga in 2003), the carrier announced that it will expand its operations further by adding a new route between Bristol and Malaga, which will fly four times a week.

Last summer, Jet2 operated 60 flights every week between the Costa del Sol and the UK, offering 700,000 seats between the Andalucia base and Leeds-Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, London Stansted, East Midlands, Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Bristol.

And it seems the only way is up for the airline, with CEO Steve Heapy confirming that “the forecasts for this summer in Spain are for additional growth of 4% compared to 2022”. If it’s true, it’s good news for flyers and local tourist businesses, for sure, although there is a question mark over how many people will be able to afford holidays abroad this year.

And it seems that with the decision to put on ever more flights, the only way is up for airplane emissions too, and you have to wonder if it’s really necessary to aim for non-stop growth, rather than be content with the level of service that’s being provided at the moment, or even spend that money elsewhere trying to make sure the current flights have as little environmental impact as possible and are providing the best quality service to customers and staff.

Minimum wage increases

January is typically a quiet month here in Spain and many people are feeling the new year pinch as prices remain at an all-time high. But there was finally a boost to the purchasing power of workers this week as the government announced it would be increasing the minimum wage by 8% to 1,080 euros per month over 14 payments.

The salary hike, which will be retroactively applied to the January payroll, will impact around 2.5 million euros and marks Spain as the second country in the OECD that has increased the minimum interprofessional salary (SMI) the most.

And although the Spanish government has raised the SMI by 47%, going from a paltry 736 euros in 2018 up to 1,080 now, Spain still falls far short of some of its European neighbours.

Germany, for instance, pays staff a monthly salary of 1,703 euros in 14 payments. France, on the other hand, has set a minimum wage of 1,465 euros in 12 payments.

Pedestrian problems

It’s been a little while since the DGT have been on the scene with new rules and regulations for drivers but this week they’re back in force with a different kind of message: the many ways pedestrians can get fined on Spanish roads.

It seems that motorists aren’t the only ones who can get in deep trouble for flouting the rules of the road; those on foot can make multiple mistakes, often unwittingly, that will land them with hefty fines.

By far the most common transgression is failing to use a pedestrian crossing on a busy street. Aside from the obvious dangers, darting across the road in front of traffic could set you back 100 euros. Even at the zebra crossing, we’ve all been tempted to chance it when the little man on the lights is flashing red. This is another big no-no, and can result in a fine of 200 euros.

Other big issues occur on the country’s motorways. It should be common knowledge that it’s absolutely forbidden to take a stroll along these high-capacity, high-speed roads, but people are allowed to get out of their vehicles if there’s an emergency. This is the rub: failing to wear a high-vis vest when you step out of the car, aside from being potentially lethal, will cost 200 euros.

The last infraction may seem like a strange one, but it’s rooted in logic: walking on the right-hand side of the road when leaving built-up areas. Pedestrians walking on the road in urban areas must always walk on the left so that they can see oncoming vehicles, and other drivers can clearly see them. If people walk on the right-hand side, cars are approaching from behind, which makes it harder to spot any danger. The fine for non-compliance is 100 euros.

Murcia

Parking is always a touchy issue around the coast of the Murcia Region, and motorists are forever on the lookout for more free parking spaces, especially those in prime spots near the town centre, shopping areas or the beach.

Good news, then, as Los Alcázares Ayuntamiento has announced it will build a new 1,500m2 car park in Los Narejos, just behind the police station and a two-minute walk from the beach, a project that should ease the congestion of parked cars that often plagues the area in the tourist high season in summer.

The plot of land has been completely fenced off and abandoned for years, which the Town Hall admitted “sometimes causes problems of health and appearance”. That’s why, in the coming weeks, they’re going to start work to not only put in a smart car park with a vehicle counting system that informs motorists of the number of spaces available, but they will also remove the perimeter fencing and create a recreational green zone that is expected to beautify the area.

Meanwhile, an illicit car park that has been bugging local residents and visitors in Mazarrón is being dismantled once and for all, allowing free and undisrupted access to the Percheles beach.

The 51,000 square metres of land around the Playa de Percheles are currently privately owned, but Mazarrón Town Council is all set to expropriate it, taking ownership of 3 kilometres of coastline between Las Chapas beach and Parazuelos, which includes car parks and walkways.

For years, the private landowner has been illegally charging beachgoers to park on his land, even though he doesn’t have the requisite permits, and he has been preventing people from even passing through his land unless they pay. More recently, he has set up an unauthorised campsite for caravans and motorhomes.

Now, fed up of his behaviour, the Council will reclaim the land as public property for a cost of 150,000 euros, allowing it to be used freely by members of the public. In addition, three houses that were built in the area without the proper planning permission will also fall into public hands, though the decision of what to do with them is still pending.

For events coming up soon in the Murcia and Alicante areas, check out our EVENTS DIARY:

Spain

One of Spain’s most valuable exports, Iberian ham or ‘jamón ibérico’, has become the latest casualty of climate change, with producers warning that the prized pork will become scarcer, and thus more expensive, in the coming years.

This culinary crisis is a result of the hotter summers we’ve been experiencing, coupled with drier winters with little rain, which creates a double whammy for pig farmers: the earth is parched, so there’s not enough land for the animals to graze, and oak trees which produce acorns – a vital part of their diet – are stunted because of the heat.

Within a three-month period, the pigs that produce Spain’s Iberian ham must gain around 60 kilos, and a key factor is that they gorge themselves on acorns during this period to give the meat its distinctive flavour.

But according to the experts, there simply isn’t enough for the animals to eat, which means that this year, around 150,000 fewer pigs will be available for slaughter. It’s estimated that this season there will be between 30% and 40% fewer pigs, and if the climate crisis continues to worsen then this already pricey product is likely to skyrocket.

It’s not just pricey pork that’s facing supply problems in Spain, either, as the latest count by the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) has revealed that pharmacies are running low on, or have completely sold out of, some 671 different drugs.

The biggest supply problems relate to prescription medications for nervous system complaints, but the problem has also stretched to some very common drugs: different brands of amoxicillin, a popular antibiotic; Ozempic, a treatment for type 2 diabetes; and Metalyse, a thrombosis drug.

There are many reasons for the supply issues, such as a shortage of raw materials from Asian countries, but the low cost of drugs in Spain is also a culprit, as patients scramble to stock up while the meds are available.

The main message from the medical profession, though, is that consumers shouldn’t panic; many of the missing medications can be substituted with generic brands so that patients won’t have to interrupt their treatment.

Alicante

A beachgoer in Torrevieja got far more than he bargained for during an early morning stroll along La Mata beach when he stumbled across a massive 13-foot shark that had been washed ashore dead.

The findings of a necropsy have still to be made public, but images of the 500kg bluntnose sixgill shark (Hexanchus grises) shared by Oceanogràfic Valencia show flesh wounds on the animal’s back.

After the initial shock, the walker raised the alarm, and police were soon on the scene, followed by a municipal cleaning team that later removed the shark’s corpse so that specialists can determine its cause of death.

Protecting and caring for abandoned, abused and neglected animals is pivotal to the work of staff and volunteers at Torrevieja Animal Shelter and, in a first for the facility, its doors will remain open 365 days a year – something that has never happened before.

It was those people who do the rescue and caring themselves who pushed for the extended opening hours in a move Torrevieja Council has dubbed “a turning point in animal care in the town”.

The shelter is now open seven-days a week, including public holidays, which means “there are more opportunities for people to visit the facilities and, above all, the volunteers will have more time to carry out their work of caring for the animals, accompanying and walking the pets more comfortably.”

In addition to beach scares, the arrival of February has brought with it the flowering of almond trees, transforming the landscape and heralding the start of ‘Feslalí, Alcalalí en flor’ – the Alicante town of Alcalalí's traditional festival of flowers in bloom.

Feslalí is held over four weeks with a packed programme that showcases Alcalalí’s stunning landscape, wildlife, culture and history, with gastronomy, hiking, photography, music, crafts, and much more.

Andalucía

Spain’s most popular ski resort, the Sierra Nevada, was the scene of near-tragedy this week when a sudden rock fall cascaded down on top of passing vehicles, completely blocking the A-395 motorway as it passes through Güéjar Sierra.

Those injured from the freak accident include a 4-month-old baby, a 2-year-old boy, two women aged 36 and 60, and a 65-year-old man. All were evacuated to the San Cecilio Hospital.

Terrifying footage shows the cliff leading to the resort suddenly crumbling and showering the road below with deadly debris, which took emergency workers hours to clear.

An altogether different video from the Costa del Sol has been flooding the networks this week and filling many motorists with jealousy, as a seemingly ordinary traffic jam in Marbella turned into a cash cow for many.

On Monday January 30, drivers travelling along Malaga’s A-7 motorway were astonished to see a briefcase smash open and spill out wads of 50-euro notes.

Un conductor lanza billetes de 50€ por la ventanilla del coche y paraliza la autovía

📹 Marbella, Málaga pic.twitter.com/iNwsuNxA0W
— SocialDrive (@SocialDrive_es) January 30, 2023

One of the drivers called the 112 Andalucia Emergency Services at 11.30am to report that dozens of cars, and even a bus, had stopped in the middle of the motorway, and people were scrambling along the road to pocket the thousands of euros that were fluttering around.

One lucky bus passenger claims to have nabbed more than 500 euros in 50s, which the original driver insists were all obtained legally and above board, though it’s unlikely they will recover much of the money they lost.

Finally, a major international drug trafficking operation was taken down this week in a joint sting involving National Police in Spain and Colombia and US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Nine people, including several ‘high-value’ Europol targets, were arrested in Malaga, Aranjuez and Madrid and during home raids, 740 kilos of cocaine was seized. Five vehicles, a firearm, bulletproof vest, 50,000 euros and 30 mobile phones were also confiscated.

The gang was one of the most active criminal organisations in Europe and investigators discovered that several of the ringleaders had been operating out of Malaga for more than two decades.

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That’s it for this week. Thanks as ever for reading this Editor’s Roundup Weekly Bulletin and we’ll be back with more next week.

See ya!

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