Better News From Spain

In the second quarter of 2017, the number of people without work in Spain fell to below four million for the first time since the first three months of 2009, when unemployment rose above that threshold a few months after the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Experts are forecasting a rise in the number of Spaniards going on summer vacation this year. Following several years of decline due to the economic crisis, the tourism sector is optimistic that the trend will be reversed in 2017. In a part of Cádiz province known as Campo de Gibraltar – adjacent to the British overseas territory – an old battle for control of the drug trade is being waged more aggressively than ever before. Operators in the area carry out their deals with a feeling of impunity, while law enforcement agencies do their best to fight a war that they admit to be losing, for now at least. The following is the story of the ongoing battle from both sides of the trenches. Barcelona’s business community has criticized the city’s authorities for its slow and tepid response in dealing with an attack against a tourist bus in Barcelona last week by a radical group called Arran, which is linked to the tiny, radical-left CUP party, which plays a key role in the municipal and regional governments The public figure that cropped up most often among the 5,800 teens who answered a particular question about their role models was Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex, the fashion empire that owns popular brands like Zara. The Galicia-born entrepreneur regularly tops the global wealth charts. A newlywed who died after falling from a balcony on a friend's hen do in Benidorm was 'climbing to safety' a new witness has claimed. Kirsty Maxwell died on April 29 after plunging from apartment balcony in the Spanish resort at about 4am. In Spain’s northeastern Basque Country, between Irun and the French city of Hendaye – in the middle of the Bidasoa river that separates the two countries – there is a territory with a peculiar status: Pheasant Island (Isla de los Faisanes in Spanish). A young boy was among those winched to safety after as many as 100 people were trapped inside cable cars dangling over Cologne. Public transport authorities for the city say 32 of of the cars were operating on the line, which runs over the Rhine, when the mishap occurred. The news bulletins have come live from the Battlefields in Europe during World War 1 More than 500,000 men lost their lives at the Battle of Passchendaele, from July 31 to November 6, 1917. Fine words have been spoken but the horrors of war should never be forgotten. Sadly, this media event will soon become just another memory. Channel 4 has been accused of paying ‘blood money’ for ‘deeply personal’ tapes of Princess Diana and that the content about her troubled marriage to Prince Charles will be incredibly hurtful for her family, including her sons William and Harry. The British taxpayers will fund an £80million aid giveaway in Brazil, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced yesterday. Mr Hammond unveiled the promise during a visit to the ninth-largest economy in the world. He said the money would help reduce poverty and fund economic development – but last night critics said it was wrong to give cash to richer developing countries such as Brazil. Londoners have been left 'stranded' inside their homes after 100 miles of roads were closed with more than 100,000 cyclists take part in a mass riding festival. The organisers of RideLondon claim the event has contributed £82million to London's economy since its first edition in 2013 and has also raised £41million for charities. British tourists are queuing for up to four hours at airports because of the botched introduction of tougher EU border checks. Travellers from outside the Schengen free movement zone are being subjected to stricter vetting at passport control. Instead of a few seconds, the process can now take several minutes. The new regime was drawn up by Brussels after it emerged that terrorists may have used EU passports for atrocities in Paris that claimed 142 lives. A Kurdish illegal immigrant is accused of swindling £32,000 in benefits after being smuggled into Britain in the back of a truck.