Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Jan 19

FEATURED ARTICLES: "Major law change means Brits in Spain can vote in UK elections" and "Alterations to ITV stickers and driving licences in Spain"

Just when we thought we were done with elections (2023 was a very ballot-heavy year in Spain, what with municipal, regional and national elections all taking place within the space of three or four months), there are more to come in 2024. In fact, it has been estimated that there will be more than 40 important votes this year, including in Russia and the US election, which could see Donald Trump resume his seat in the Oval Office.

In this edition of your Spanish News Today Editor’s Roundup Weekly Bulletin, we’ve got an exciting new development that could affect British nationals living in Spain who want to vote in the UK general elections which are expected to take place later this year and info about how EU citizens living in Spain can register to vote in the European Parliament elections.

Plus, changes to ITV stickers for your car in Spain, what you need to know if you are over 65 and have a Spanish driving licence and some interesting Ryanair stories, to boot…

Make your voice heard

Britons residing long-term in Spain have often felt a little cut-off from their homeland, left without any say in the running or governing of the UK. This is largely down to a controversial rule enforced by former PM Tony Blair, back in, which denied British citizens living abroad for more than 15 years the right to vote in UK elections.

But all that changed with the Elections Act of 2022 and as of January 16, some 3 million British expats residing abroad can have their voices heard in the upcoming general elections.

This sweeping reversal means that anyone over the age of 18 who has been living abroad for any period of time, even those who left the UK as infants and have never been registered to vote in Britain, can now put themselves on the register. It also extends to Irish nationals who also hold British citizenship.

You can sign-up on the UK government’s voter registration page, which has been updated to reflect the new rules. Those wishing to be added to the UK electoral register will have to provide proof of their name, address and national insurance number, and anyone with a British passport (current or expired) will be asked to scan it.

The recent change in law regarding voting rights for British citizens living abroad does not extend to local elections in the UK. However, British citizens who are registered on the padrón (electoral roll) at their local Spanish town hall can participate in local elections in Spain whenever they are held.

Meanwhile, European Parliament elections are taking place later this year, on June 9. Any EU nationals who live in Spain and who wish to vote must register before the end of this month.

There is a form you must fill out specifically for this purpose, which is available online, and then present it along with other documentation at your local town hall where you’re registered on the padrón.

If, for whatever reason, you have Spanish nationality, you don’t have to do anything because the authorities will send you a letter and register you on the electoral roll automatically.

Car-n’t keep up

As well as in the UK, change is also afoot here in Spain in relation to driving laws. The changes are coming so thick and fast it’s hard to keep up with it all!

The first new rule change in Spain will impact older people wanting to renew their Spanish driving licence.

The process is quite straightforward normally. Motorists aged between 18 and 64 have to renew their licence every 10 years; over 65s need to renew every 5 years; and this period is reduced to every 2 years for people aged 70 and over.

Drivers need to pay a small fee and book a psychotechnical (‘psicotécnico’) test, a quick exam that checks things like reaction times, hearing, concentration etc.

However, since the number of deaths on the roads in Spain and other nations has remained steady despite efforts to improve safety measures, the Transport Committee of the European Parliament has approved a new measure which will make these tests stricter for over 65s.

Up until now, a simple eye test formed part of the psychotechnical exam, but going forward the EU has decreed that a medical doctor will have to certify that drivers over the age of 65 don’t have any vision problems which impede their driving.

The second change comes courtesy of the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) and involves the ITV test – a periodic road-worthiness test on all vehicles similar to the MOT in the UK. Traditionally, when a car passes the ITV, drivers are given a small sticker to prove this which they must place in the windscreen where it can be clearly seen.

Now, these labels aren’t such an inconvenience, but many drivers feel they are rather unsightly and what’s more, they can leave a sticky residue which damages the glass.

The good news is that the DGT is planning to do away with physical ITV stickers in favour of an electronic version, which drivers can store on their mobile MiDGT phone app just like their driving licence and other vital motoring documents.

No firm date has been given for the change but the DGT has hinted that it will be sometime this year.

However, it’s not driver preference that has prompted the move but rather environmental considerations. Moving the system from paper to electronic will save the printing of millions of stickers annually, which will of course save a considerable amount of money for the traffic authorities as well.

Of course, it will not be obligatory to have the sticker on your phone, at least at first, so if you don’t own a smartphone you don’t have to worry just yet. For now it will just be another option but eventually it is likely to become obligatory as the stickers are phased out completely.

If you haven’t already, do join our Driving in Spain Facebook group to see all this kind of motoring news when it comes out

Pollution in the Mar Menor

There was good news for the Mar Menor saltwater lagoon ecosystem this week after those two archnemeses, the conservative President of the Region of Murcia, Fernando López Miras, and the liberal Minister for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, Teresa Ribera, put their differences aside to sign into existence a new ‘Interadministrative Commission’ to promote coordination and cooperation when it comes to public policies and actions that affect the lagoon.

The Mar Menor, in the Region of Murcia, is one of the most important, unique and threatened ecosystems in the whole of Europe, having been subjected to years and years of illegal dumping of toxins that are harmful for the local flora and fauna.

Minister Ribera noted that the Government of Spain had been trying to set up this commission since the Law for the Recovery and Protection of the Mar Menor was approved in 2020. President López Miras blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and the local and national elections last year for delaying the creation of this new body. It was actually the deal that was reached late last year between the Government and the Junta de Andalucía to protect the Doñana Natural Park that served as a precedent for this Mar Menor deal.

Anyway, it’s been created now and that’s what matters. It was co-signed by the mayors of the 10 town councils of the salt lagoon’s basin, namely San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier, Los Alcázares, Cartagena, Fuente Álamo, Torre Pacheco, La Unión, Murcia, Alhama de Murcia and Mazarrón.

What this really means is that – for the next four years, at least – representatives of the signees will meet at least once a year to ensure coordination on actions being taken to reduce pollution and improve biodiversity in the Mar Menor. There is no new investment in the Mar Menor beyond the 484 million euros already promised between 2021 and 2026. No new specific measures for environmental protection have been put forward. It’s basically just business as usual, aside from the fact they’ve agreed to work together.

The minister herself admitted it was “symbolic” but said that it represents the “will to work together to solve problems”, in this case the tragic degradation of “one of the most precious ecosystems in the Mediterranean”.

It is estimated that 3,580 tons of nitrates and 19.7 tons of phosphates are still being dumped into the Mar Menor each year. As such, it is important, said the Ministry, to renaturalise land surrounding the lagoon and create a 1,000-hecatre Green Belt that will stop, treat and eliminate the pollution.

Environmental action group Pacto por el Mar Menor said of the deal, “We have been waiting a long time for this collaboration between administrations and we have high hopes that it will work well. We hope that this day will mark a new direction for the future of the Mar Menor.”

Murcia

After the big news last week that the opening of the A-33 motorway from Yecla would cut down journey times from Murcia up to the Valencian Community by about half an hour, the road news this week is that a 2-kilometre-long stretch of the RM-19 dual carriageway (between kilometres 15 and 17, near Torre Pacheco) will be reduced to just one lane of traffic in each direction from now until June.

This is because the Spanish rail operator company Adif Alta Velocidad (Adif AV) is building four new overpasses on the RM-19, RM-313, RM-F14 and RM-F51 roads as part of the works to create the high-speed rail link between Murcia city and Cartagena.

In the long run, the grand master plan will make train travel from Cartagena to other parts of Spain much faster and more efficient. Until then, there are going to be a lot of road closures and disruptions to make it happen. The RM-19 Torre Pacheco road will be reopened for the busy summer months, but from mid-September they’re cutting it back down to just one lane of traffic again to finish off the work. And there’s no indication of how long this phase alone will take.

Buoyed by the start of this work to bring the AVE to Cartagena, all political parties in San Javier have voted unanimously to ask the regional government to request the central government to turn the Balsicas-Mar Menor train station into a stop for the AVE and AVLO high-speed trains too. The idea is that it would serve as a modernised public transport link for all the towns of the Mar Menor, including San Pedro del Pinatar and Los Alcázares, and those in the south of the province of Alicante, such as Pilar de la Horadada, Campoamor, Cabo Roig and La Zenia. A long shot? Probably, but you never know unless you try. Judging by the way Spain’s trains are going and the ludicrous amount of public money being pumped into railway infrastructure, it’s probably only a matter of time before the Mar Menor becomes part of the high-speed network. And if they can bring that time forward by starting to lobby for it, why not?

Back to the roads in Murcia, and there was a horrendous accident near Lorca on Monday when a lorry overturned on a bus carrying a load of day labourers on their way back from a morning’s work across the border in Pulpí, Almería.

Of the 18 people on the bus, including the driver, 13 had to be taken to hospital in Lorca and one young woman, just 21 years old, lost her life. She had only been working with the company for a few months.

For whatever reason, it seems the lorry, which was carrying a heavy load of plastics, crossed into the opposite lane and tried to swerve to avoid oncoming traffic, tipping over onto the bus as it travelled under a bridge.

Over to Corvera airport again now, this week because it was the fifth anniversary of the airport on Monday. Yep, five years since it opened back in January 2019 in a ceremony presided over by the King of Spain himself to much fanfare and to promises that it would be able to steal 3 million passengers from Alicante airport.

Indeed, reports back then suggested that Corvera airport would reach 32 million passengers by 2030. At this moment in time, that goal seems a long way off. In 2023, a scant 877,796 passengers travelled through Corvera.

Alright, it’s not all bad. The place has won awards for being the cleanest airport in Spain. And the facilities there are really quite nice. Plus, the relocation of the Murcia airport to the small town of Corvera has helped to give this area of the centre of the province a boost. Amazon decided to base its logistics centre there for strategic purposes, to be close to the airport, and that, in turn, has brought lots of workers and their families to the surrounding towns of Los Martínez and Valladolises.

At the same time, Corvera Golf Resort is apparently now at 80% capacity with British, Irish and Belgian buyers all moving into the urbanisation after it lay virtually empty for the last 10 years. So there’s that. As always, though, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, the airport itself just needs more year-round international flight destinations and better transport links to coastal areas.

Coming up in the Region of Murcia over the next few months, we’ve got the usual incredible and entertaining Semana Santa processions at Easter. The truly unique Holy Week processions in Lorca – with their dazzling costumes, spectacular daredevil horsemanship and fanatical support among local residents – are among the best in the Region and tickets have already gone on sale for the two most iconic events on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

Before that, for basically the whole month of February, we’ve got Carnival. Águilas is one of the best places in the whole of Spain for ‘Carnaval’, and the celebrations here have even been granted International Tourist Interest status. This year, the fiestas last from February 2 to March 24, and the main events are without doubt the National Drag Queen gala, which celebrates its 20th annual edition on the opening day of the fiestas; the paper costume and body make-up contest; and the “Suelta de la Mussona” when the carnal beast of Carnival is released from the castle, from where it runs down to the town centre amid taunting and provocation from the assembled crowds!

Check out our EVENTS DIARY for more ideas of what to do in the Region of Murcia:

Spain

Anyone living or holidaying in Spain during 2023 can’t have failed to notice the huge upsurge in tourists throughout the summer season, but the entire year surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts and traveller numbers blasted past 2019’s pre-pandemic figures by almost 3%.

Throughout 2023, more than 283 million travellers passed through the doors of Spanish airports, the highest figure of all time and a staggering 16.2% more than the previous year.

Predictably, the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport in the Spanish capital was by far the busiest, handling 60.2 million people during 2023.

It was followed by Barcelona-El Prat, with 49.9 million (+19.9% compared to 2022); Palma de Mallorca, with 31.1 million (+8.9%); Málaga-Costa del Sol, with 22.3 million (+21.1%); Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández, with 15.7 million (+19.2%); Gran Canaria, with 13.9 million (+12.4%); Tenerife South, with 12.3 million (+14%); and Valencia, with 9.9 million (+22.6%).

Sadly though, most of their passengers were forced to cram their worldly goods into tiny carry-ons or pay an additional charge, at least if they were flying with the low-cost airlines. And this isn’t likely to change anytime soon, as a Spanish court has just ruled in favour of Ryanair’s right to set its own cabin bag policies and prices.

Back in October, the European Parliament unanimously voted on the need for all airlines to have common hand luggage allowances, but nothing has yet been passed into law. It’s a complicated issue which most of the airlines are naturally against, and Ryanair has argued time and again that its planes simply aren’t big enough for all passengers to bring a large cabin bag on board.

But Strasbourg continues to put pressure on the EU to approve regulations that establish common rules on cabin luggage that all airlines must accept. Hand luggage, it’s being argued, is “an indispensable right of the passenger” which they shouldn’t be forced to pay extra for.

Such is the power of Ryanair in Spain that the company’s notorious CEO, Michael O’Leary, met with Spanish President Pedro Sánchez last week to discuss the airline’s ambitious investment plan in this country in the coming years. They have committed to adding hundreds of flights to and from Spain over the next 7 years, thanks to a promised investment of 5 billion euros between now and 2030.

Specifically, their goals are to go from 55 million to 77 million passengers per year; to expand flights routes from 730 to more than a thousand by 2030; to incorporate 33 more sustainable aircraft with a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions; and to open five new air bases in Spain by the end of the decade. Like them or not, it seems Ryanair is set to continue being a powerhouse of aviation in Spain and those of us who want cheap flights will just have to keep putting up with their small aircraft, extortionate and strict cabin bag policies, and everything else that comes to mind when you mention the name ‘Ryanair’.

Alicante

With tourism right across Spain on the up and up, Alicante and particularly the Orihuela Costa continues to be the destination of choice for millions of Britons and other travellers year after year. But with the price of plane tickets and accommodation also on the rise, the way in which we travel has also changed, with more and more people taking to the open road in campervans and motorhomes to explore the country at their leisure.

That’s all well and good until it comes to settling in for the night after a long day on the Costa’s highways, and there isn’t a decent camp ground in sight. For this very reason, the Neighbourhood Association of Cabo Roig and Lomas has called on the regional government to build a proper service area on the Orihuela Costa for campers and motorhomes.

Each summer, the huge parking lot opposite the Zenia Boulevard Commerical Centre turns into an unofficial camp site for these travelling vehicles as dozens of RVs park up for the night, even though the space has no facilities to speak of.

It’s true that motorists visiting the likes of La Zenia or Cabo Roig do have campsites that they could avail themselves of the nearby districts of Torrevieja or Torre de la Horadada. However, these are still several kilometres away and inconvenient for motorists who want to have a glass of wine with dinner, or people who don’t like negotiating the Spanish roads in the dark.

“More than a year has passed since our request and we believe that it is increasingly necessary to address this action, since, in addition to benefiting its users, it would generate income for the Orihuela City Council,” says the spokesperson for the neighbourhood association, Tomás Moreno.

Compared to the UK and many other countries, waste disposal in Spain is very convenient and relatively cheap, with large rubbish containers on almost every street corner and regular pick-ups of large household items. But this doesn’t stop people taking advantage, and there’s constant complaints of piles of bin bags and old sofas stacked up beside the containers.

The City Council in Alicante is cracking down on this unsolicited dumping, but an unfortunate pensioner was shocked to find herself on the receiving end of the well-meaning initiative this week.

The woman, who is in her 80s, threw out her rubbish last December in her local bin and thought nothing more of it. That is, until a huge fine arrived in the post weeks later for allegedly “depositing unfolded cardboard boxes outside the container”.

Explaining what she thinks happened, the woman pointed out that “it is common for there to be people searching in the trash at night,” so the cardboard that incriminated her “could have been knocked out by anyone”.

Upset by the unfairness of the sanction, the Alicante local requested a meeting with the Councillor for Cleaning of the Alicante City Council, but received no reply. She eventually decided to bite the bullet and pay the fine so as to receive the early payment discount.

In the urbanisations of l'Alfàs del Pi, meanwhile, there have been no fewer than eight garbage container fires as a result of people throwing hot ashes from their fireplaces into the bins. As well as being highly illegal and against common sense to throw hot ashes in a plastic bin, it is also extremely dangerous. In fact, Alfàs Town Council has asked for residents to send them photos and videos of anyone they see breaking the rules when it comes to throwing rubbish away, so that they can issue fines accordingly.

A Belgian woman became the latest driver to be confused by Alicante’s dual-carriageway system last month when she careened down the N-332 outside Torrevieja, in the wrong direction, for 400 metres, before smashing into a parked car.

According to other road users, the 49-year-old motorist reportedly took the wrong exit onto the busy road with the intention of travelling into Torrevieja city centre. After she crashed, several witnesses kept her at the scene until the police arrived. When she was breathalysed, the woman was found to be three times over the legal alcohol limit.

Police are now investigating the woman, who has a string of previous road safety offences, one for the crime of reckless driving and another for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Andalucía

UB40 and Sir Tom Jones are the latest big acts to be confirmed for the Starlite Occident 2024 festival on the Costa del Sol this summer. Rather than a 2- or 3-day festival, Starlite is actually a series of concerts that take place across the course of about two months in the summer, all held in the same outdoor venue in Marbella and all spread out so that there’s about one or two a week.

This year, the first act to be appearing is jazz wunderkind Jamie Cullum on June 14. He’s followed by Sheryl Crow (‘You’re Still the One’), British Indie band Keane (‘Somewhere Only We Know’), Take That (‘We Can Rule the World’), Simple Minds (‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’), Tom Jones (‘It’s Not Unusual’) and UB40 featuring founder and frontman Ali Campbell (‘Red Red Wine’).

There are also a bunch of high-profile Spanish-language artists performing too, if you’re interested. Tickets are on sale now.

And finally, a strange story released by the Explosives Disposal Team of the Diving Unit of Cádiz this week, who revealed that they had been called in to deactivate an unexploded missile that was found by a tourist on an Andalucía beach.

The rusted, old projectile was discovered on the cliffs of the Parque Natural La Breña in Barbate, Cádiz province, in a “rocky area that was difficult to access”. The 105mm calibre explosive had to be moved to a safer area down on the sand before it could be could be blown up in a controlled explosion by the bomb squad, who then proceeded to gather up all the little bits and reconstruct the device to make sure they didn’t leave anything behind.

It just goes to show that you never know what could be lying on the shore, nor where it came from, nor how long it’s been there. If you do ever spot anything like this, as unlikely as you may think it is that you’ve found a bomb, just call the police anyway. Even if they look old, like this one, the detonation equipment inside could still be fully functioning!

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