Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin March 17

FEATURE ARTICLE: "Brits in Spain can now legally drive and exchange their licences again!"

While most of the rest of the world are busy worrying about big banks failing and needing to be bailed out, stock markets crashing and mortgage interest rates going haywire, it’s actually been a week with a lot of positive news for expats living in Spain, especially the British ones.

On one hand, the third anniversary of the first Covid lockdown in Spain sees deaths and infection rates at a promisingly low level, while there was a long-hoped-for and much-welcomed announcement about driving licences for UK nationals resident in the country.

For those hoping to come here on holiday this Easter, though, the situation may be tricky as airports are already experiencing some of the long queues and backlogs that plagued the tourist season last year, but it’s not putting holidaymakers off choosing Spain as their favourite destination once again.

¡Al lío!

Brits are back on the roads

Ten months and two weeks. That’s how long Brits were banned from driving on Spanish roads for.

Not all Brits, of course. If you went to holiday on Spain you could still rent a car or drive your own vehicle. If you had been a resident for under six months, you were still allowed to drive. And if you had already exchanged your UK-issued driving licence for a Spanish one, then you were good to go.

But for the not insignificant number of UK nationals registered as Spanish residents living in Spain who did NOT get around to exchanging their driving licences before December 31, 2020 (whether because they forgot, couldn’t be bothered, didn’t know they had to, or else tried and failed in the hectic labyrinth of red tape), the last ten months have been hell.

Those who obeyed the law, and refrained from driving when they were told not to, have found themselves stranded, unable to drive to hospital appointments, to the supermarket, to the airport or anywhere. Public transport links, especially those in the urbanisations where many British citizens live, have not been sufficient to cover the needs of most. And those who decided to drive anyway were risking being stopped by police and slapped with a hefty fine for driving without a valid licence.

Now all that is finally over.

This Tuesday, the Spanish government finally signed into law the long-talked-about agreement with the UK to reopen the process to allow British citizens resident in Spain to exchange their driving licences for Spanish ones without having to take their test again, which came into effect on Thursday.

It’s incredible to think that, despite being the European country which houses the highest population of British expats, Spain was actually the very last country in the whole of the EU to reach a post-Brexit driving licence deal with the UK, and the shambles of a situation has understandably affected many people’s quality of life and their mental health.

There has been endless finger pointing, much of it aimed at people who voted for Brexit and at the staff at the UK Embassy in Madrid for their perceived uselessness in pulling the deal to a conclusion, but the important thing now is to look ahead to what comes next, because time is of the essence.

This deal – which the Embassy has said it has been negotiating for months and which in every update they have given for months now have promised was always “very close” to becoming a reality – also gives British nationals another 6 months in which they can drive using their UK licences, while they undergo the process of changing to a Spanish one.

The British Ambassador to Spain, Hugh Elliott, has also confirmed that even if you do not exchange your licence in that 6-month window, you can still do so at any point without having to take a Spanish driving test.

However, there is still some confusion as to the status of those whose UK driving licences expired during this interminable waiting period, and whether they will be able to exchange an expired licence or a renewed one. You certainly cannot drive on an expired licence, 6-month window or no, but people also should not have renewed their British licences if they were a Spanish resident at the time as it gives a false (UK) address. But if they couldn’t exchange it for a Spanish one, either, then they would be left permanently adrift…

As if that legal grey area weren’t enough, many people have been having problems trying to get an appointment on the DGT website since the news broke this week, whether because the system is flooded with desperate Brits, or simply because the website hasn’t been fully updated yet. Hopefully it won’t be a repeat of the obstacles and difficulties that happened last time people were allowed to exchange their licences…

Nonetheless, the fact remains that anyone who wants to keep driving from mid-September onwards should absolutely not dally and start the process of applying to exchange their licence with the DGT Spanish traffic authorities now. While six months may seem like a long time, it comes around pretty fast.

Last time around, there were major delays in the processing of these applications and lots of people encountered problems, and there will definitely not be another 6-month grace period, so it’s best to start the process of switching over now.

Here you can see our Definitive step-by-step guide for how to exchange your driving licence in Spain

This time 3 years ago…

Sometimes, some time flies, but it still seems hard to believe that this week marks the third anniversary of the day that Spain was plunged into its first Covid lockdown back on March 14, 2020. The country watched in stunned silence as President Sánchez explained the gravity of the pandemic, ordered all but essential businesses to shut up shop and confined the general population to barracks.

Three years later and coronavirus has sadly become a part of our lives. Although the Health Ministry is satisfied that the situation is stable and we all feel pretty safe and secure now, the sad truth is that 15 older people lose their lives to the disease every single day. Things aren’t helped right now by a particularly stubborn flu epidemic, which is pushing the health services to the brink.

Some towns and cities in Spain have marked the anniversary with solemn ceremonies to pay tribute to those thousands who died from the disease, to those who died from other diseases which were harder to treat while the healthcare system was solely focused on Covid-19, to those who were not able to attend the funerals of their loved ones, and to remember the hard work and sacrifice of our medical professionals and key workers, who seem to have been forgotten all too easily in recent months.

Today, the important indicators of how the pandemic is evolving – hospital numbers, the cumulative incidence rate, daily infections diagnosed – continue to fluctuate and, while the figures are nowhere near where they were even a year ago, the incidence rate in particular is showing a worrying upward trend.

In the past few weeks, this number has jumped up a few points in each report, standing at 63.64 cases per 100,000 inhabitants at the last count. However, the health authorities are confident that a high vaccination level should keep things under control, and Spain has survived another winter season without a significant rebound.

In fact, despite doom and gloom predictions from some scientists, there was actually not a massive spike in the infection data after Spain removed its face mask requirement for public transport at the beginning of February. All things considered, we’re doing quite well.

For all the latest coronavirus news and updates in Spain, use the following link: CORONAVIRUS LATEST NEWS

Spain gears up for the Easter holidays

We’re only a couple of weeks away from the start of Easter week, which means – aside from preparations for the usual religious processions wearing those oh-so-evocative pointy hats – we will have school holidays and families coming to Spain for a vacation (hopefully) in the sun.

But is the country ready? There has been apprehension once again over travel arrangements for the holiday season after thousands of international passengers endured frustrating delays at Madrid airport last weekend thanks to understaffed passport control desks.

Last summer saw unprecedented chaos at Spanish airports as officials struggled to cope with the influx of tourists and this latest debacle is raising concern over Easter flights, when hordes of Britons and other holidaymakers are expected to descend on Spain.

President of the Spanish Airline Association, Javier Gándara, has demanded that the Ministry of Transport act now by ensuring the “necessary resources in all Spanish airports to meet the demand of tourists,” before the holiday season begins in earnest.

Given that more than 80% of the tourists to Spain arrive by air, there are simply not enough staff to operate passport control and ensure a smooth operation, Gándara explained, adding that the disruptions will affect every airport in Spain before long if more workers aren’t drafted in.

Down in Seville, Spanish low-cost airline Vueling has made the surprise decision to cancel six routes from its SVQ airport roster, leaving the base it maintains there at a minimum – just three aircraft this April, during the busy Easter holiday period.

The routes being cancelled include three in Spain, two in France and Rome in Italy, and it is thought that the airline may be experiencing financial difficulties. Expert observers have remarked that Vueling “is losing market share in a resounding way” due to competition from Ryanair and “other smaller companies such as Transavia”.

Murcia

The grand plans for the new golf course and residential site on the Condado de Alhama urbanisation have been made public, and they’re just as wonderful as we’d hoped. Under the name of ‘Alhama Nature’, the renovations and rejuvenation of the site will include a residential area with apartments, bungalows and villas marketed under the grandiose and somewhat presumptive slogan ‘The life you deserve’.

The work also entails a major overhaul for the existing golf course, as well as the creation of a football arena, a spa, and a hotel/tourist accommodation development with the capacity to handle more than 30,000 overnight stays per year, in what it is hoped will eventually be a massive boon to Condado and the Region of Murcia in general with regard to income from the tourism sector. Although it’s still in the early stages for now, planning permission has already been granted to start building the first residential homes.

Over in Camposol, decidedly more modest improvements are underway, but welcome and important (not to mention immediate) ones nonetheless. A children’s play area has been installed outside the Compusurf office on Camposol’s B Sector Commercial Centre, featuring a noughts and crosses frame, two fixed board games and seating.

Praised by local parents, the playground is already proving a hit with the youngsters, who have been popping into the Compusurf office all week for their dice and counters to play with.

Meanwhile, on Sector D work has begun on a new dog park, and diggers are already hard at work creating the exercise and play area for pooches and pups on Camposol, which hopefully will be finished sooner than the long-promised dog park down in Puerto de Mazarrón which was only opened last October!

What should have been a celebratory 50th anniversary of the oldest half marathon in the world ended in tragedy when the Costa Blanca sports event was sadly marred by the death of a Murcia soldier after he crossed the finishing line.

Fernando Ayala Collado, a 21-year-old athlete from Elche, played for the Alicante town’s handball club and was a soldier at the San Javier General Air Academy. Tragically, the fit and healthy young local runner died of suspected cardiac arrest minutes after completing Elche’s 50th Half Marathon.

Soaring temperatures nearing 30ºC are believed to have attributed to the untimely death of the young man, who slumped to the ground after running 21.97km. Medics on site and at Elche General Hospital spent an hour performing cardio-respiratory massages to try to revive the athlete, but nothing could be done to save his life. There have also been reports of several other runners fainting, and while their conditions were not considered life-threatening, they did require hospital treatment.

In Royal news, it was also announced this week that Spanish Princess Leonor will be undertaking her own military education at the San Javier General Air Academy. Following in the footsteps of her father, King Felipe VI, and his father before him, the heir to the Spanish throne will receive three years of military training, to start when she turns 18 later this year and finishes her second Baccalaureate course that she is currently studying at a school in Wales.

However, she will not be spotted around San Javier until 2025 at the earliest. She is spending her first two years at the Spanish army’s General Military Academy in Zaragoza and at the Marín Naval School in Pontevedra, respectively, before heading to San Javier for her third and final year. All of this is to observe the longstanding “tradition in European parliamentary monarchies that future heads of state develop a miliary career” that the Spanish Crown is so fond of, and in order to prepare her to become head of the armed forces when she ascends the throne.

From a princess to a queen, there is excitement over a new history season based around Cleopatra and the Egyptians which is making its way to Cartagena this spring and summer.

The weeks-long themed activities kick off at the end of this month, and include guided tours following the trail of the Egyptian ruler and her influence on the creation of the Roman city of Carthago Nova, which is modern-day Cartagena.

There will also be an exhibition housed in the city’s Roman Augusteum building, featuring reproductions and replicas of over 100 objects related to Ancient Egypt, including the Rosetta Stone and a recreation of the study of archaeologist Howard Carter, who discovered the pharaonic tomb and mummy of Tutankhamun in 1922.

Check out our EVENTS DIARY for more events coming up in the Region of Murcia:

Spain

The threat of a global food shortage was highlighted earlier in the year by empty supermarket shelves in the UK; the inclement weather has wreaked havoc with crops and as production costs continue to climb, many farmers in Spain aren’t able to turn out the same quantity of produce as before.

To add insult to injury, the persistent avian flu, by far the worst outbreak ever seen in Europe, has resulted in the culling of thousands of birds, thus drastically reducing the amount of eggs available for market. As a result, Spanish supermarket chain BonÀrea has made the decision this week to begin rationing eggs.

While it’s certainly a concern, sources in the distribution sector have assured that Spain is in no danger of completely running out of eggs. Rather, the likely issues will come from a rise in price and not in product shortage.

In fact, prices have tripled in the last year, going from 0.80 to 2.40 euros at source, and some supermarkets in Spain have hiked up the cost by more than 40%.

Something we can all breathe a sigh of relief over is the fact that disgraced former pop icon Gary Glitter shouldn’t be winging his way to Spain anytime soon, as it appears the 78-year-old has already been re-arrested for violating his bail conditions.

Glitter was released from HMP the Verne in early February, having served eight years of a 16-year sentence for sexually abusing three schoolgirls.

If you rememeber, while in the bail hostel he was reported to have said he wanted to move out to Spain where his son currently lives, so that he could “keep a low profile” because “Britain is dangerous”.

However, according to the UK Probation Service, he was recently caught on camera using a smartphone and was sent back to jail. Scarier still, reports have emerged that Glitter was trying to access the ‘dark web’, a difficult-to-trace way of browsing the internet that is usually used for more sinister searches.

A British man is rejoicing this week after his wife, 60-year-old Kate Barley, returned home safe and well after disappearing without a trace while walking her dogs in Tenerife. The couple were enjoying a two-month holiday on the Spanish island when the UK mother vanished.

After she had been missing for almost a week, her distraught husband told the press that it was totally out of character, and insisted that it was not a “voluntary disappearance”.

But against all odds, Kate returned home on Tuesday March 14. No explanation has been given for her disappearance but Giuseppe has reassured everyone who helped in the search that she is safe and well.

“My wife has only been home a few minutes and is tired and confused but she is fine,” he said in an emotional message.

In an unprecedented move, Morocco has joined Spain and Portugal in their joint bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Originally, Spain decided to go it alone but was eventually joined by Portugal and later Ukraine, but the addition of Morocco has raised further doubts about whether the war-torn country will stay in the race.

On November 19, 2018, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez made a public proposition to Morocco to participate alongside Spain to present a World Cup bid, but that enthusiasm gradually waned as diplomatic tensions between the two countries increased over such issues as immigration into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in Northern Africa; the treatment of military leader and possible genocide perpetrator Brahim Ghali in a Spanish hospital; and disagreements over the gas pipeline supplying energy between the two countries.

Now, though, tensions seem to have thawed and Morocco, which surprised everyone by knocking Spain out of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar and finishing in fourth place, seems ready to take its footballing chops to the next level.

Alicante

In the Alicante town of Crevillente, the brakes have been put on the shady activities of a dodgy car dealership caught tampering with vehicle mileage to hike prices of luxury cars.

A man and a woman have been arrested in connection with the fraudulent scam in which high-end cars were shipped from Romania and resold on the Costa Blanca. During a search at the dealership, police seized 14 cars of “different prestigious makes” with altered mileages of up to 100,000 kilometres.

The arrests were the culmination of a lengthy investigation after the local police suspected imported vehicles were being manipulated at a garage opposite the second-hand dealership that belonged to the same company before being offered for sale with higher price tags on the forecourt.

From car sales to house sales, and the real estate sector is booming at the moment in Alicante province thanks for the most part to foreign demand.

The lifting of Covid restrictions last year led to an “avalanche” of foreign buyers looking to invest in property in Spain, and the repercussions of the post-pandemic boom continues to have a positive impact on house sales and purchases.

So much so, that in January, the province experienced its highest number of property transactions for a single month since 2007, with Nordic and British investors accounting for a large chunk of contract exchanges. No fewer than 4,684 sales and purchases were completed, the largest figure since the property market crashed in Spain 16 years ago.

This places Alicante province in third place nationwide in terms of the number of exchanges signed off, behind Madrid, with 7,026 sales and purchases, and Barcelona, with 5,565.

In the province’s capital, the city council this week announced its toughest-ever crackdown on noise pollution ahead of the summer season and an influx of British and other tourists.

The newly approved Ordinance for Protection Against Acoustic Pollution and Vibrations has huge repercussions for visitors to the city and residents alike, regulating everything from listening to music on the beach, talking too loudly indoors or watching the footy on an outside bar terrace to staging open-air concerts.

The restrictions go as far as to ban furniture scraping on the floors of bar and restaurant terraces when they are being set up in the morning and taken in at night. Establishments will have to muffle the sound with rubber pads.

There are also new stipulations for noisy activities on public roads, inside buildings, and in homes with hefty fines ranging from 600 to 300,000 euros for anybody caught flouting the new rules.

This weekend is also the grand finale of the world-famous Valencian Fallas fiestas, when they burn the incredible artworks that the specialist artisans have been working on all year in a series of bonfires in the middle of the street, and let off obscene amounts of fireworks.

It’s not too late to get yourself over there, and Renfe are putting on no fewer than 27 additional train services to Valencia to accommodate the flood of people to what is without a doubt one of Spain’s biggest, most unique and most extraordinary local fiestas to be found anywhere.

Andalucía

A French fugitive from the law was captured in Torremolinos this week. The 28-year-old, who was wanted for drug trafficking and armed robbery, had escaped from prison in his home country when he was transferred out to hospital, after assaulting a nurse and violently attacking the police officers who were guarding him.

From there he fled to the Costa del Sol – like so many criminals seem to do – and began living under a false identity. He was only found out when his partner reported him to the police for abusing her!

Also on the Costa del Sol, a Brit was the hero of the day when he saved a man from a burning building in the centre of Fuengirola on Thursday. Thomas Barnes, son of the owner of the nearby antiques shop Anthony’s Antiques, didn’t hesitate to step into action when a blaze broke out in an apartment block on the busy Avenida Ramón y Cajal, and bravely climbed up a ladder to get a dazed and confused elderly man out to safety.

Unfortunately, the fire claimed the life of another resident of the block of flats, who was in her 70s, and a further two people, aged 45 and 52, needed medical attention.

Lastly, it was the Brits themselves who needed saving in Granada after a couple from the UK managed to get stuck while driving their large campervan through the narrow streets of the tiny, picturesque town of Sorvilán.

The pair had been taking a leisurely drive and enjoying it so much they hadn’t noticed that the alleyways, which had originally been designed to allow the passage of donkeys and carts, were becoming narrower and narrower. Eventually they got wedged between two ancient stone buildings and had to be freed by a tow truck… four hours later!

Luckily, no one was hurt in the incident, but the driver’s door of the motorhome was badly damaged, as was the wall of the alley where the vehicle became stuck. Though perhaps the worst damage of all was to their pride!

You may have missed…

Genius driver posts video online as he speeds down the motorway in Murcia at 150mph.
A video has gone viral online, recorded by a person driving on the A-7 in Murcia, of the individual’s speedometer showing 240 kilometers per hour – well over the legal speed limit.
Spanish pharmacies prepare for a serious allergy medication shortage this spring.
With spring just around the corner, Spanish pharmacies are struggling to get hold of allergy medications.
Marbella footballer arrested for punching referee over a disputed goal.
Police in Marbella have arrested a 30-year-old footballer who violently attacked the referee during a Senior Andalucían Third Division match.
British firestarter who torched Benidorm natural park is banned from entering Spain for 10 years.
An arsonist convicted of deliberately torching a large section of a natural park in Benidorm has been identified as a 63-year-old Scottish man who will be expelled from Spain at the end of May with a 10-year ban on re-entering the country.
Drunk woman tried to kiss Ryanair flight attendant before attacking police on flight from Spain.
A 32-year-old woman has been hauled before the courts in the UK accused of sexually assaulting a flight attendant aboard a Ryanair flight from the Spanish island of Fuerteventura to Manchester.