Tag: spain

Spain proposes declassifying secret Franco era files

The Spanish government on Tuesday introduced a bill to automatically declassify all secret government files older than 45 years, including documents from Francisco Franco’s dictatorship and the transition to democracy.

If approved by parliament, the proposed law could shed light on some of Spain’s darkest chapters, including Franco’s ties to Adolf Hitler, the locations of mass graves where victims of his 1939-75 rule were buried, and details of the 1966 Palomares nuclear accident caused by the mid-air collision of two U.S. Air Force planes over a fishing village in southern Spain.

“With this law we will overcome an obstacle in our legislation to put us in line with European standards,” Justice Minister Felix Bolanos told reporters. 

“Citizens have the right to know. Administrations have the obligation to provide documentation that is important for history,” he added.

The bill seeks to replace the existing law governing official secrets, enacted during Franco’s rule, which lacks provisions for automatic declassification based on the amount of time that has passed. 

The law would automatically declassify all documents older than 45 years unless they constituted a justified threat to national security, Bolanos said.

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5,000-Year-Old Stone Basin Predates Tomb by 1,000 Years, Transported by Boat

A team of Spanish archaeologists has unraveled one of the most intriguing mysteries in Iberian prehistory: how a massive stone basin ended up inside the Matarrubilla dolmen near Seville—and why it is at least 1,000 years older than the structure meant to enshrine it.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, not only confirm the earliest known example of megalithic maritime transport in the Iberian Peninsula but also suggest that the Copper Age society in southern Spain was more complex and interconnected than previously believed.

A Monumental Enigma Inside a Dolmen

The Matarrubilla dolmen, part of the vast prehistoric site of Valencina de la Concepción in Andalusia, has long puzzled researchers due to an unusual artifact discovered inside: a rectangular stone basin measuring 1.7 m long, 1.2 m wide, and nearly 0.5 m high. Weighing more than 2,000 kg, the basin’s sheer size, unique material, and placement within the dolmen’s chamber raised numerous questions.

First documented in 1917, the basin seemed far too large to have been maneuvered through the dolmen’s narrow corridor. Additionally, its distinctive rock—gypsiferous cataclasite with red, green, and white veining—does not naturally occur anywhere near Valencina.

Provenance and Transport: From Distant Quarry to Ritual Center

By using geological and geoarchaeological techniques, the research team traced the stone’s likely origin to the opposite side of the ancient Gulf of Guadalquivir, near present-day Las Cabezas de San Juan, approximately 55 km from Valencina. At the time (around 3000–4500 BCE), the gulf stretched much farther inland than it does today.

Because of the stone’s weight and the distance, the team concluded that prehistoric people transported it via water—on rafts or boats—across the ancient bay. Once ashore, the basin was dragged approximately 3 km uphill, likely using wooden sleds and human or animal power.

This marks the first confirmed instance of riverine or maritime transport of a megalith in Iberian prehistory. Comparable methods have only previously been documented at sites like Stonehenge (UK) and Newgrange (Ireland).

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Eco-experiment that ‘blacked out entire country’: Spanish scientists ‘were experimenting with how far they could push renewable energy’ before country-wide chaos

Spanish authorities were experimenting with how far they could push their reliance on renewable energy before the Iberian Peninsula was hit with a massive power outage last month, it has been suggested. 

As people wait for more answers on what caused the power cut that disrupted tens of millions of lives across Spain and Portugal, several have questioned Spain’s heavy reliance on renewable energy sources as it plans to phase out nuclear reactors. 

Spain’s socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has rejected such criticism, asking for patience while the government investigates the causes of the historic blackout. 

Spain’s electric grid operator Red Eléctrica de España pinned it on a significant and unprecedented drop in power generation. 

Now, it has been suggested that the Spanish government was carrying out an experiment before the country’s grid system crashed, The Telegraph reports. 

Under said test, authorities had been trialling how far they could push their reliance on renewables as they prepared for Spain’s phase-out of nuclear reactors from 2027. 

The Spanish Association of Electrical Energy Companies (Aelec), which has criticised the inquiry into the blackout’s cause, has now said it was not the country’s generators that failed to deliver power to the grid, but rather it was the grid that failed to manage it and then shut down automatically. 

The head of Spain’s photovoltaic association, Jose Donoso, had made a similar suggestion earlier this month, telling newsoutlet 20Minutos: ‘It’s a matter of logic; the fact that the entire system goes down because of a photovoltaic plant makes no sense.

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Ukrainian ex-politician shot dead outside elite American school in Madrid

Unidentified gunmen shot dead a former Ukrainian politician on Wednesday outside a school in a wealthy suburb of Madrid, Spain’s Interior Ministry said.

Andriy Portnov, 51, was previously a senior aide to a pro-Russian former Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovich, who was ousted in a 2014 popular uprising.

Police reached the scene after receiving calls at 9.15 a.m. (0715 GMT) about a man with gunshot wounds on the street outside the American School of Madrid, in the Pozuelo de Alarcon suburb west of the capital, police officials told Reuters.

“Several persons shot him in the back and the head and then fled towards a forested area,” an Interior Ministry source said.

When emergency services arrived they found Portnov dead with at least three gunshot wounds, a spokesperson said.

Police had covered the body of a person wearing white running shoes lying near a black Mercedes-Benz car in a cordoned-off pavement outside the school.

Portnov left for Russia in 2014 and faced investigations in Ukraine over accusations of treason and embezzlement. He was targeted with European Union sanctions, although those and the charges were later dropped.

The U.S. Treasury Department put Portnov on its sanctions list in 2021, saying he had “cultivated extensive connections to Ukraine’s judicial and law enforcement apparatus through bribery”.

The American School said it believed the victim was a father of children at the school but was waiting for formal identification by the police, according to a letter sent to parents seen by Reuters.

It said police were on campus interviewing parents who witnessed the incident. A spokesperson for the school did not reply to a request for comment on the incident or the letter.

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AGAIN? Spain Hit by Widespread Phone and Internet Outages Less Than a Month After Mass Blackouts

Led by a Socialist government and devoted to ‘Net-Zero’ climate fantasies, Spain has of late become increasingly unstable country when it comes to its unreliable infrastructure.

Not even a month ago, the country was plunged into darkness by a massive blackout, and today (20) a widespread internet and phone outage caused alarm in the population.

The Telegraph reported:

“Spain was hit by phone and internet blackouts on Tuesday morning, just weeks after a power failure plunged the country into darkness.

Landline and mobile services were brought down across the country after a botched system upgrade by Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica.”

The outage disrupted the lives of the population, and was particularly harmful to the work of emergency call operators.

The problems began at 2am local time, and initially affected land-lines mostly.

“Regions thought to be affected by the blackouts include the Basque Country, Andalusia, Aragon and Extremadura.”

A spokesman for telecom giant Telefonica said around lunchtime that the issue was resolved.

“The spokesman added: ‘This morning we had an incident that affected the fixed communications services of some companies and public services. We have been working from the outset to restore these services, which have now been fully recovered’.”

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Spain’s Prime Minister Labels Israel a “Genocidal State,” Escalates Diplomatic Tensions

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ignited an international firestorm on Wednesday after publicly calling Israel a “genocidal state” during a heated parliamentary session, marking the first time the socialist leader used such language, despite his government’s long-standing alignment with anti-Israel rhetoric.

The remarks came in response to Gabriel Rufián, a leftist Catalan MP, who accused Sánchez of hypocrisy for maintaining trade ties with Israel amid its ongoing military campaign in Gaza. Sánchez, pushing back sharply, stated:

“I want to make one thing clear here, Mr. Rufián. We do not do business with a genocidal state, we do not.”

The statement, echoing the language of Sánchez’s far-left coalition partner, the Sumar party, represented a new level of official condemnation. Until now, the prime minister had refrained from personally using the term, even as Spain formally joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), alleging genocide by Israel.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry condemned Sánchez’s statement and swiftly summoned the Spanish ambassador, Ana Salomon, to its Jerusalem office for a formal reprimand. The Ministry accused Sánchez of spreading inflammatory and unfounded accusations, saying his words distort the reality of the ongoing conflict and ignore the suffering of Israeli victims.

Elsewhere in Europe, similar rhetoric emerged. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, addressing the city council, referenced the term “genocidal violence” and cited Holocaust scholars critical of Israel’s actions. Her remarks were also met with swift pushback. Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands Modi Ephraim said he was “deeply dismayed,” calling her speech a distortion of both historical memory and present-day realities.

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Planning to withdraw cash in Spain? You could now face a €150,000 fine

Thinking of pulling out a large amount of cash from your bank account in Spain? A new rule is now in force — and ignoring it could cost you dearly.

New rules in Spain: cash withdrawals over €3,000 under strict control

From now on, anyone withdrawing €3,000 or more from a Spanish bank must notify the Agencia Tributaria (Spain’s tax agency) in advance. If you’re planning to take out €100,000 or more, you’ll need to give at least 72 hours’ notice. For smaller sums over €3,000, a 24-hour notification is mandatory.

The warning must be filed through the tax agency’s official website using a digital certificate, Cl@ve PIN, or electronic ID card. You’ll receive a receipt that must be shown at the bank when withdrawing your cash.

Fail to notify? You risk a fine between 1 per cent and 10 per cent of the amount withdrawn — starting at €600 and climbing up to a massive €150,000, depending on the seriousness of the violation.

Banks are now required to block withdrawals if they detect missing paperwork, and must report suspicious transactions to the authorities, even if amounts are repeatedly just under the threshold.

Spain steps up fight against tax fraud and money laundering

This tough new measure is part of a wider strategy to crack down on tax fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing.
Authorities say that cash remains a key tool for illegal activities, making tighter monitoring essential.

Interestingly, it’s not just massive withdrawals that will raise red flags.
Even frequent small withdrawals — say, €800 or €900 at a time — could draw unwanted attention if not properly justified.
The message from the Spanish government is clear: every move involving large sums of cash must now be fully traceable.

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Spain Blackouts Prompt EU Push for More Censorship Under “Preparedness Strategy” Citing “Disinformation” Threats

These days, no event, incident, or occasion, regardless of its nature, appears to be too big or too small to use as an excuse to promote more censorship in the name of “combating disinformation.”

Last week, Spain and Portugal lived through an embarrassing episode of widespread electricity blackouts – and the current consensus is that the reason is even more embarrassing: old infrastructure, fraught with its own problems – that are only compounded by endless attempts to work “green” energy sources into it.

Trillions of dollars is the figure that experts are mentioning as needed to get the EU’s electricity grid up to speed – or rather, balance the reality with the aggressive “progressive” policy pushes so that a similar crisis is averted going forward.

But a conversation about these topics is apparently a hard one to have for the EU bureaucracy.

Instead, it, through the mouth of Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality Hadja Lahbib, prefers to effectively misguide, and deflect away from that, and onto the key talking points that are sure to provoke a sense of paranoia among citizens: cyberattacks and supply chain disruptions (as a result of this type of threats).

In other words – instead of addressing actual problem(s), the focus is being shifted to how information around them should be best managed, to somehow score public opinion points.

Speaking for Spain’s El Mundo, Lahbib mentioned the EU Preparation Strategy, and the Union Strategy for Preparation – apparently, her “shorthand” for the formal, and oddly phrased, “EU Preparedness Union Strategy.”

It is a set of measures meant to “counter foreign information manipulation and disinformation more systematically” by fully using the EU’s Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) toolbox, the censorship law Digital Services Act (DSA), and the censorship initiative – the upcoming European Democracy Shield.

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Spain hit by more blackouts as ‘tens of thousands’ left without power in Canary Islands a week after nationwide outages

A power outage hit several areas of the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands on Thursday, just a week after national outages.

Local media reported that thousands of locals and holidaymakers across the island were left without power for nearly two hours after a blackout occurred at around 10am local time.

The affected areas included Los Llanos de Aridane, Breña Alta, Santa Cruz de La Palma and Fuencaliente.

More than twenty towns were left without in the dark in these areas, stretching from north to south of the island, before Endesa and Red Eléctrica begun working on restoring power.

Javier Llamas, the mayor of the town of Aridane, told a local radio station at around midday that: ‘More than half of the power outage has already been restored.’    

Local media reports explained how the power outage could potentially affect up to 30,000 people in La Palma.

‘The source is unknown for now, but everything points to a problem at the Los Guinchos power plant,’ La Radio Canaria said.

La Palma Island Council urged residents to remain calm, avoid overwhelming emergency services, call 112 only if absolutely necessary, and prioritise saving battery life on mobile devices. 

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Three children ‘rescued’ from home after ‘COVID syndrome’ parents kept them locked inside for 4 years

Three children have allegedly been found living in prison-like conditions following COVID ‘lockdown’ rules, long after pandemic restrictions ended.

A German couple living in Spain have been arrested after allegedly locking their three children inside and forcing them to abide by pandemic restrictions, such as wearing masks, for the past four years.

The siblings, eight-year-old twins and a 10-year-old, were dramatically rescued from the ‘house of horrors’ in Oviedo on Monday (April 28) after being locked up inside since around December 2021.

Once freed, cops noticed the children acted unusually to being outside, as they touched the grass and appeared intrigued by a snail.

An investigator also said: “As soon as we got them out, all three children began to breathe deeply, as if they had never been outside before,” according to New York Post.

The authorities learnt of the children’s situation after a neighbor filed a complaint on April 14 that the youngsters had not been attending school, according to El Comercio.

Yet while Oviedo Police Chief Javier Lozano said there was nothing ‘initially’ that sparked concern, cops grew suspicious after surveillance on the home revealed the 53-year-old father was the only person to leave the residence to pick up groceries and mail.

Other neighbors reported the rest of the family had not left the home since December 2021.

When police approached the family, the father reportedly ‘agreed’ to let them in while they spotted the mom, a 48-year-old German-American woman, putting three masks each on the children, per El Mundo.

It is also reported that she told officers to ‘be careful’ since her children were ‘very sick.’

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