Date Published: 07/01/2022

Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin Jan 8

CLICK HERE FOR THE FEATURE ARTICLES "Spain experiences warmest New Year’s Eve in 20 years" and "Spain reaches highest Covid incidence in Europe"

So that was Christmas, and what have they done?

New rules and restrictions, but more Omicron.

It was a funny kind of Christmas for many – not quite normal, but better than 2020. For those who did get to see family and friends, it was sometimes quite an ordeal having to sort out PCRs, LFTs, passenger locator forms and Covid passes, all the while trying to navigate the complicated and constantly evolving different restrictions for different circumstances in different areas.

Some feared getting the virus, and tucked themselves away inside with a facemask on to avoid the Omicron variant, the second most transmissible virus known to humankind behind measles; some weren’t bothered about catching it because the prevailing wisdom is that it’s far less deadly, they’re triple vaccinated already anyway, and they’d probably catch it anyway, as long as it’s not before Christmas dinner is served!

In Spain, some autonomous communities knuckled down on enforcing the Covid passport to allow entry into restaurants, bars, hotels and more, while others didn’t, prompting calls that it kind of defeats the purpose if there’s no single, nationwide plan of action against coronavirus. Wearing a facemask outdoors has been made obligatory once again in the whole country, and for the most part people seem to be abiding by the law, but this too is seen as charging at windmills when most infections are said to take place inside in areas with low ventilation.

In spite of some tough talk, not one single region of Spain took the step of limiting how many family members could legally get together at Christmastime. Understandably, none of them wanted to be the Grinch who stole Christmas (for a second year running!), but then they also have to understand that it was expected that Spain would become the European country with the highest incidence rate and the most daily infections.

Still, people don’t seem too worried because the death toll is not going up substantially, and there are whisperings in some corners that the government’s real plan is to allow everyone to get Omicron as a form of ‘natural vaccination’, leading to the hallowed ground of ‘herd immunity’. True, it might be a cheaper and more efficient way of vaccinating the population, especially if one in three people are expected to get the virus anyway, but let’s not forget that the deadly Delta variant still exists and is claiming lives on a daily basis. Meanwhile, even if hospitalisations due to Omicron infection are rare, the truth is that number of nurses and doctors off work sick is putting pressure on hospitals to provide effective care for the thousands of diseases and maladies that befall people every day that aren’t connected with coronavirus.

And then there are still new strains popping up all the time. The latest coronavirus variant to come out of Cameroon and be detected in France has been dubbed ‘IHU’, though not much is yet known about how contagious or deadly it might be. While the western world is busy giving third and fourth shots to boost immunity, the lack of vaccination in many parts of Africa and other developing countries will only lead to the virus mutating more and more there. If people in Europe and North America really want to protect themselves from coronavirus, they will pay for vaccines to be sent to the poorest parts of the world too.

We’re taking this health crisis seriously, and are of the opinion that the better informed everyone is about the latest of the fast-changing developments, the more protected we all are. That’s why in this week’s Roundup Bulletin we’re dedicating each of our regional sections below to elucidating the developing Covid situation in each different area of Spain, and we continue to endeavour to bring you all the most up-to-date coronavirus news as it comes out, which you can consult here: Coronavirus Latest News.

Scroll down a bit further to read more about Covid and other news in Murcia, Spain, Alicante and Andalucía. But first, weird weather and fantastic beasts…

Warm weather: the climate is changing

Although residents in Spain and visitors to the country over the Christmas period were subject to several restrictions regarding the hospitality sector depending on where they were located, the extremely warm and pleasant weather opened up a wide range of other outdoor activities usually reserved for the spring and summer months. The Region of Murcia was amongst the warmest places in Spain over Christmas and broke a 61-year-old record for the hottest December ever, with temperatures 2.2ºC over the average.

The weather also cooperated to allow people to enjoy their Christmas and New Year celebrations in the rest of Spain, too, with the country recording the warmest December 31 in two decades. In Andalucía, for instance, it hardly felt much like winter these last few weeks, regardless of flu, vaccines and Christmas, with thermometers in every single province in the region showing temperatures of over 20ºC. This has made for the warmest Andalusian New Year in 20 years, in a development that has observers worried about the increasingly visible effects of climate change on our weather systems.

Yes, it might be glorious to be able to enjoy the sunshine and beach in December, and all year round, but in the long run we will pay the price in unpredictable floods, snowstorms and other dangerous weather fronts, not to mention the scorching sun itself. As we’ve seen in recent years, a balmy winter doesn’t mean we won’t have hotter-than-usual summers with sudden storms that cause untold damage.

Indeed, the spring-like temperatures are set to make way for more typical wintry weather this week as a polar trough sweeps through Spain, resulting in plummeting temperatures and rain and gusts in many regions reminiscent of last year’s enormous ‘Storm Filomena’ in January, although maximum temperatures will actually increase slightly on the eastern coast. It’s anyone’s guess which way it will go next, but while people bask in the good weather and complain about the cold and the rain, the elephant in the room is that it is our own actions – polluting the atmosphere, emitting dangerous chemicals, reducing natural flood defences by building on protected land – that is the cause of all this wacky weather.

So by all means go out and sunbathe this January, but just keep in mind that the long-term ramifications may be more widespread than a bit of skin damage.

Animal magic

It’s finally here, the new animal rights law in Spain that will give pets the status of living beings and not just objects or possessions. About time, too, as anyone who’s ever stroked a dog or lived with a cat at any point in human history will tell you. France and Portugal have had similar laws since 2015 and 2017, respectively, and Germany has legally treated animals as sentient beings since 1990.

Still, better late than never, and the new laws mean dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, tortoises, birds and more will all be legitimate members of the family. They will be given in joint custody when a couple divorces, and alimony payments will apply for the care of the animal. Child custody (of human animals) can now be withheld from a parent if they have ever been convicted of animal abuse or neglect. The law even means that anyone who finds a missing pet and cares for it until it is returned to its rightful owners is now entitled to compensation to pay for the cost of care.

In addition, Spain plans to implement a national database of registered animals, dog owners will have to take a training course and pet shops will be prohibited from selling live animals. Finally, people who own a dog or a cat will be required to obtain an ID for their pets, which it is hoped will help identify lost pets, record what vaccinations they have received, and help bring to justice anyone who abandons their pet.

One glaring omission from the law, however, is animals used for livestock, industrial or recreational purposes. Hunting dogs, for example, are unfortunately not classed as pets under this conception because they are used for a specific recreational end, and not kept to be treated as ‘members of the family’. Bulls used in bullfighting are still classed as mere objects. Pigs, cows and chickens raised for slaughter don’t have this protection from abuse and neglect under Spanish law; only if you treat your goat or Vietnamese Pot-bellied pig as a pet will it be considered so by law.

What is the dividing line for treating an animal one way or another? How will the law legislate for what constitutes considering an animal a pet? What if one person in the household sees the chicken scratching around in the backyard as a brother, and another person sees it as lunch?

Laudable as it is, this new Spanish animal rights law is full of holes, and falls far short of the animal welfare and protection that Spain needs, most notably for bulls, horses and steers that are used in traditional bullfights.

Murcia

The new Covid restrictions, exceptionally high temperatures and the Omicron variant made this year’s Christmas in Murcia a little different to other years’ celebrations. The advance of the sixth wave in the Region left daily cases at an all-time high of over 2,000 cases before Christmas and, now, after the Three Kings celebrations on January 6, the number of daily positives has surpassed 5,000. These are the highest figures yet in the Region of Murcia and the upward trend shows no sign of slowing down, with a 14-day incidence rate which has remained well over 1,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants for the past few weeks.

The measures put in place to combat the advancing sixth wave by the regional authorities meant that the hospitality sector in almost every municipality was limited to 30% capacity, unless business owners opted to request Covid certificates from their customers. More bad news for the hospitality and nightlife industries came just before Christmas Eve, when the authorities decided that all non-essential businesses must close at 1am and that dance floors would be closed to all partygoers.

As Covid cases continue on their upwards trend, the healthcare system, especially local health centres, are beginning to feel the pressure, with more than half of the Region’s centres on red alert, and the remaining centres on orange alert.

Although hospital admissions are similar to those of a year ago despite there being more than five times as many cases, there is no denying that health centres and hospitals in the Region are suffering as staff struggle to cope with the mounting demand for PCR and LFTs. The elevated number of cases means that more and more residents are requesting PCR and antigen tests and causing backlogs in the health system, with some patients having to wait three weeks or more to get an appointment with their doctor.

A group of medical staff in the Region, who form the Association in Defence of Public Health (ADSP), recently warned that health centres were overwhelmed by the wave of new cases over Christmas and the New Year and that it was nearly impossible for staff to keep track of the over 20,000 active cases. The Association went on to criticise the regional government’s budget predictions for the Health system in 2022, stating that the money allocated would not allow for any new hires in the new year; something that is an urgent need, according to doctors and nurses across the Region of Murcia.

Tragedy struck in the Condado de Alhama golf resort on Christmas Day, when a security guard arrived ready to start his shift and found his colleague unconscious. After calling the emergency services, ambulance staff sadly pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, another golf course in the Region also made the headlines recently: the infamous Polaris World made Spain’s tax ‘name and shame’ list once again. The real estate development conglomerate, Holding Polaris World, owes around 300 million in unpaid taxes and is the most indebted company in the Region of Murcia, followed by Desarrollos Nueva Condomina.

Things could be looking up for the tourism sector in this year just begun, though, with an entire fleet of cruise ships expected to dock in Cartagena’s port throughout 2022. Almost 50,000 cruise ship passengers are expected during the first quarter alone and the yearly forecast predicts 30% more cruise liners than in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

This is good news for the hospitality and tourism sectors in the city of Cartagena and the surrounding areas, but the same cannot be said for the Mar Menor area. A recent study shows that the state of the saltwater lagoon, specifically the chlorophyll levels, have had a devastating effect on tourist accommodation, with a lack of demand leading to prices per night dropping drastically in direct inverse correlation to the amount of pollution.

Want to know what’s going on in your local area? CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR EVENTS DIARY!

Spain

From this week, fully vaccinated people arriving in England, whether from Spain or any other ‘safe’ country, won’t have to take a pre-departure test or self-isolate on arrival, providing they test negative for Covid-19, and Ireland has also scrapped the necessity to produce a Covid test for passengers to be double jabbed.

And while cases are on the rise, the good news is that the Spanish Hipra vaccine is moving smoothly through its trial phases and the latest reports show promising results against Omicron and other strains, with scientists anticipating the drug will be ready for market in the coming months. This is a very welcome development given that the health crisis has inevitably led to increased hospital pressure, and intensive care facilities in Spain have now reached the high-risk level with more than 21% of ICU beds occupied by Covid patients.

In a week where animal welfare is at the forefront, dozens of big names in the performing arts sphere have joined forces to call on regional governments to ban the use of animals in their Three Kings parades, which take place in cities, towns and villages across Spain on January 5 every year. Traditionally, elephants, camels, horses and even reindeer are used in the procession, a practice which is downright abusive according to the protesters, given the crowds, fireworks and loud music.

Alas, no one in Spain this year has decided it’s time to start a petition for the volunteer actors who play the part of King Balthasar to stop blacking up. While many towns in Spain have updated their traditions with the times, choosing black people to portray Balthasar in the parades, some notable exceptions (such as Benidorm) still use white actors in blackface to give presents and candy to the children. It wasn’t acceptable 40 years ago; it’s not acceptable now.

Spain’s Pedro Sánchez is making headlines again for all the wrong reasons, this time refusing to explain his jet-setting lifestyle as he has been accused of overusing military and government helicopters and aircraft to flit between official engagements. While officials are using the ‘security risk’ excuse for not divulging the extent of the president’s movements, the opposition has accused Sánchez of hypocrisy since he has recently proposed scrapping short haul flights due their detrimental effect on the environment, with one politician even calling him the president who has caused the most pollution.

For those not wanting to take a leaf out of President Sánchez’s book and still having to fly commercial, the situation looks equally bleak as Ryanair have announced that they plan to cut 80 routes in Spain in the coming weeks. The budget airline has blamed the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and Omicron for the suspended flights, which will affect Andalucía, Murcia and Valencia.

And while travelling abroad might be off the cards for a while, things aren’t much better here in Spain with the price of everything from bread to beer set to increase even more this year. Inflation has already hit all-time highs, but the experts have warned that over the next few months, grocery staples such as pasta, milk and eggs will become more expensive, and Spanish authorities plan to raise the price of beer and tobacco also. This is in addition to the skyrocketing cost of electricity, gas and petrol, which isn’t expected to decrease anytime soon.

But if you were planning on saving a few euros by switching off the tumble dryer, you might need to think again as a round-up of the weirdest and wackiest laws in Spain actually outlaws hanging your unmentionables out to dry on the balcony, at least in Seville, while people are free to have sex in their car in Bilbao but will be slapped with a fine if they doze off. In Málaga, kids aren’t allowed to play paddle tennis on the beach in the summer while building sandcastles is strictly prohibited in Tenerife.

While it’s debatable how strictly these unusual laws are actually enforced, one tradition that has stood the test of time is that of twelve grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Legend has it that if a person swallows one grape for each toll of the bell, they are set to have a prosperous and lucky year, and the practice is said to date back to the 1800s. Now more of a fun party trick, the tradition is still taken pretty seriously as many people believe that cheating by gobbling the grapes before the twelve bells will result in a whole year of bad luck.

Let’s hope everyone managed to finish all the grapes in time this new year, and if we’re lucky 2022 will be the year we finally get rid of coronavirus!

Alicante

The Valencia region, including the province of Alicante, has been no different over this Christmas and New Year period, with the number of infections and the cumulative incidence rates continuing their steady upward trajectories.

This is despite the fact that back on December 20 the need to show a Covid passport was indiscriminately applied to all bars, cinemas and gyms, whereas before it had only been needed to get into bars and restaurants with a capacity of more than 50 people. True, not everyone who should have been requesting the certificate to allow people entry at the door was doing so, but the grand majority of establishments stuck to the law as best they could.

So far, this measure has done little to stem the tide of Covid infections in the region, but that hasn’t stopped it being extended until the end of January in a somewhat optimistic (or pigheaded?) move by the Valencian authorities.

Nor have the cancelling of official public New Year’s celebrations and Christmas parties helped the situation much either. Facemasks are obligatory both indoors and outdoors, as they are countrywide, of course, and in the Valencia region only up to ten people may sit at a table together in a restaurant. Private celebrations at home were not subject to any restrictions, but people were strongly recommended not to get more than two family households together and for people to socially distance with the windows open as much as possible.

And none of it had the effect the authorities desired.

Away from the spectre of coronavirus, the most compelling news story to come out of Alicante in the last couple of weeks was the call by a grassroots Vega Baja social movement to demand independence from the Valencian Community. While there is as yet no formally named campaign group, Vega Baja residents have come together under the battle cry of “No to Valencia, Orihuela independence” to press for economic separation of this corner of Alicante from the rest of the Valencian Community.

The main argument used by proponents of independence is that the significant income generated by the area’s tourist activities flows upwards to the regional coffers, but fails to make its way back to the coastal towns. It is a similar argument to that used by supporters of Catalan independence from Spain, but so far the two independence movements have had the same degree of success. In fact, while calls for Vega Baja independence may be growing now, the fact is that there have been periodical surges in popularity for independence in the area for many years, but nothing has ever come of it.

Now though, the possibility of establishing a provincial entity within one of the autonomous administrations has been put on the table as an intermediate step towards independence, though if it ever does come to fruition it is sure to be many years away yet.

Andalucía

In Spain’s sunny south, too, the cumulative incidence rate for coronavirus is at record levels not seen in any other wave of the disease since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. As of Friday January 7, the 14-day rate stood at just over 1,600 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, although there may be some positive signs as the number of new infections per day seems to be staying stable at around the 13,000-15,000 mark.

The Andalucía region rang in the New Year with a promise of no new major restrictions at least until after the Three Kings celebrations this week, so it remains to be seen whether the powers that be will decide to take measures to try to slow the rising number of infections now that we’re on the other side of the Christmas holidays.

Many towns and cities across Andalucía decided unilaterally to cancel their New Year’s parties and scale back the traditional Three Kings parades on January 5. As in the Valencia region, masks are of course obligatory and the Covid certificate is theoretically required to get into any restaurant or bar, but the president of the regional government, Juanma Moreno, has openly stated he is unwilling to enforce stronger measures in order to “affect the economic and productive activity” of the community “as little as possible”.

Those worried about the spread of the virus and looking for a booster shot even though it might not be their turn yet were granted a happy surprise when a glitch in the Andalucían Health Service computer system allowed anyone to make an appointment for a booster jab regardless of age or previous vaccination status.

Thousands of people took advantage of the bug to book a vaccination appointment even if they had received their second dose less than six months ago or were under the age of 58, which was at that moment the age group who were being offered booster shots in Andalucía (it’s since been extended to anyone over the age of 54).

The excitement was short-lived, however, and the health authorities were alerted to the glitch almost immediately. The issue was fixed rapidly and all of the incorrect bookings were cancelled. While the Ministry of Health offered its “apologies for the inconvenience caused”, they also appealed to individuals “to respect the prioritisation of the third doses to the established groups” instead of trying to jump the line.

You may have missed…

1. UK driving licence validity in Spain extended.

British citizens resident in Spain have yet again been granted a reprieve, with UK driving licences remaining valid on Spanish roads until the end of February, rather than the end of December as planned.

2. Carry your driving licence on your mobile in Spain.

Those who do have a Spanish driving licence can now have it on their phone on the miDGT app, rather than carrying around their physical licence all the time.

3. Cartagena dinosaur park finally opens after several delays.

After several months of delays, the much-anticipated Jurassic-themed Parque Sauces in Cartagena finally opened on Thursday December 23.

4. 7 ways the new law in Spain makes it easier for expats to start a new business.

Spain’s new ‘Startup Law’ removes the need for foreigners to have a NIE in order to start a business, and contains other tax breaks for entrepreneurs.

5. Seventy Americans busted at New Year’s Eve orgy in Barcelona.

People across Spain choose to ring in the New Year in a variety of ways, but a large group of US citizens raised eyebrows when they were discovered breaking Covid gathering restrictions to partake in an orgy in the Barcelona town of Lliçà d'Amunt.

Finally, here are the answers for the Christmas Crossword we left you in our last bulletin three weeks ago. The answers are the same for both the Cryptic and Quick crosswords.

Warning: Spoilers below!!

A Very Happy New Year to you all, and many thanks for reading. It’s great to be back, and we’re grateful for your continued support. Committed regular readers like you help us to bring the best possible journalism, and inspire us to keep going. If you know anyone else who might like reading this weekly bulletin, it would be a real boon to us if you could send them to this link: https://murciatoday.com/weekly_bulletin.html and get them to sign up too!

Here’s to a fantastic 2022, and we’ll see you next week!

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