• Spain edition
1st Spanish banker in jail pays €2.5 million bail
Miguel Blesa (right) sitting next to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the Moncloa Palace in 2008. Photo: Pedro Armestre/AFP

1st Spanish banker in jail pays €2.5 million bail

Miguel Blesa has become the first top Spanish banker to spend time in jail over alleged mismanagement in the financial crisis. The former head of Spanish bank Caja Madrid spent less than 24 hours behind bars after he paid the staggering €2.5 million ($3.2 million) bail set by the judge. READ () »

Atletico stun Real in King's Cup final
Atletico hadn't beaten Real in 14 years. Photo:Pierre Philippe Marcou/AFP

Atletico stun Real in King's Cup final

Atletico Madrid won their 10th Spanish Cup on Friday when they beat bitter city rivals Real Madrid 2-1 in extra-time in a match which saw both Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo sent-off. READ () »

Blood-doping doc to face sentence appeal
Convicted doping doctor Eufemiano Fuentes headed for court in Madrid. File photo: Dani Pozo/AFP

Blood-doping doc to face sentence appeal

The public prosecutor in the Operation Puerto case in which doctor Eufemiano Fuentes was sentenced to a year in prison intends to appeal the sentence and the destruction of more than 200 blood bags seized from his apartments. READ () »

Spanish priest sacked for oral sex snaps
A video said to show a priest engaged in fellatio and masturbation has led to his dismissal. Photo: YouTube

Spanish priest sacked for oral sex snaps

A priest in Murcia has been fired after photos and a YouTube video allegedly showing him involved in public acts of gay sex became a social media sensation. READ () »

Hotel bans 'annoying' Down syndrome kids
"We do not admit groups of guests with mental disabilities," Hotel CaboGata Plaza Suites told Down España. Photo: ZT Hotels

Hotel bans 'annoying' Down syndrome kids

Spain's leading Down syndrome association has slammed a hotel for turning away a group of children with the condition 'in case they annoyed' other guests. READ () »

Spain posts first trade surplus since 1971
The surplus is not in fact a sign of health in the Spanish economy, said Jose Garcia Montalvo, professor of economics at Barcelona's Pompeu Fabra University. Photo: Juan Antonio Canales

Spain posts first trade surplus since 1971

Spain announced Friday its first monthly trade surplus since 1971 as imports slumped because of a collapse in demand in the midst of a recession and record unemployment. READ () »

Hosepipe bandit steals water from school
The school noticed an unusally high level of consumption but was unable to trace the leak. Photo: peasap/flickr

Hosepipe bandit steals water from school

Police have arrested an Extremadura man for using an underground hose to steal water from a neighbouring school over a three-year period. READ () »

Catalan cops face court over rubber bullet injury
An internet campaign called Ojo con tu ojo (Watch out for your eye) was launched recently to publicly denounce the use of rubber bullets by Barcelona police. Photo: Jose Lago/AFP

Catalan cops face court over rubber bullet injury

Twenty-two Catalan cops will appear before a Barcelona court after a man who was shot by a rubber bullet fired by one of the officers had to have his spleen removed. READ () »

Spain's star ham fights for greater prestige
Iberian black pigs are herded near Santa Teresa, near Salamanca. Photo: Pierre Philippe Marcou/AFP

Spain's star ham fights for greater prestige

The exquisite cured ham called Jamon Iberico made from distinctive Iberian black pigs, is the star of Spanish cuisine, but the economic downturn gripping Spain has hurt domestic sales and producers are looking to boost their fortunes abroad. READ () »

Features
The Local List
Guide to Spain's urban tribes
Our weird and wonderful list will help you to pick out who's who on young Spain's social map. Photo: John Haynes

Guide to Spain's urban tribes

This week The Local puts young Spaniards under the microscope and takes a look at the different urban species roaming the streets of Spain. READ () »

Opinion - Brand Spain
'Nobody wants to be like Spain now'
One of Spain's roadside bull signs originally designed to advertise Osborne sherry: the bull is an unofficial emblem of Spain. Photo: Tomas Fano

'Nobody wants to be like Spain now'

Spain’s international reputation has taken quite a battering since the country’s economic problems began five years ago but the Spanish government is fighting back in a bid to restore the nation's prestige. READ () »

My Spanish Career
'Two-hour lunch break? That's ridiculous!'
Maritheresa Frain thinks young Spaniards are more open to going abroad to work than ever before.

'Two-hour lunch break? That's ridiculous!'

In the latest instalment of My Spanish Career, we talk to American consular agent Maritheresa Frain about working with US convicts in Spain, running a Seville-based study abroad company, and how she's managed to shake off old Spanish habits in the workplace. READ () »

My Spain: Barcelona
'Barcelona is full of great offbeat festivals'
Regina Winkle-Bryan and Nancy Todd are co-editors of The Spain Scoop: a fun, expert advice site on travel in Spain

'Barcelona is full of great offbeat festivals'

This week in The Local's My Spain, we talk to US expats Regina Winkle-Bryan and Nancy Todd about setting up a successful travel blog about Spain, Barcelona's alternative vibe and where to get the best glass of wine in the city. READ () »

Spanish Face of the Week
'The power of the poor against that of the rich'
Gordillo decided to occupy Las Turquillas military camp in 2012 and 2013 to fight against the region's 40 percent jobless rate. Photo: Cristina Quicler/AFP

'The power of the poor against that of the rich'

This week's Spanish Face of the Week is a United Left politician who's headed food raids on supermarkets, occupied military land illegally and been in prison seven times. Meet Juan Manuel Sánchez Gordillo, the Andalusian “Robin Hood” who is taking crisis matters into his own hands. READ () »

More News
Spain's king gives up luxury yacht 'Fortuna'
Spanish Princess Letizia waves as she holds two of Prince Felipe's nephews on the Fortuna yacht on August 3, 2004. Photo: Jaime Reina/AFP

Spain's king gives up luxury yacht 'Fortuna'

Spain's King Juan Carlos is giving up a €21 million ($27 million) yacht named Fortuna, officials say, as his subjects weather a biting recession and record unemployment. READ () »

Cops bust 'snail cream' bike courier coke gang
Police were aware of sneaky smugglers using bicycles and fake boxes to ship drugs. Photo: MOSSOS D'ESQUADRA

Cops bust 'snail cream' bike courier coke gang

Catalan police have arrested 22 cocaine smugglers who used bicycles to transport drugs hidden inside boxes of 'snail cream' cosmetics. READ () »

Uefa spares Malaga 2nd year of European ban
Malaga made it to the quarter-finals in their first ever participation in the Champions League this season. Photo: Patrick Stollarz/AFP

Uefa spares Malaga 2nd year of European ban

The second season of a two-year suspension on Malaga competing in European competition has been lifted by UEFA after the Spanish club proved they have no outstanding debts to other clubs, employees or the tax authorities. READ () »

Bankrupt TV game show owes winners thousands
The insolvent production company also owes money to the winners of other game shows and has convened a creditors meeting to try to solve the issue. Photo: Youtube

Bankrupt TV game show owes winners thousands

Telemadrid TV show Cifras y Letras, the equivalent of the British game show Countdown, owes hundreds of thousands of euros to dozens of contestants who have won the competition in the past two years. READ () »

Judge rejects royals' appeal in corruption case
Cristina won some respite on May 7 when judges spared her for the time being from being called into court to be questioned as a formal suspect in the embezzlement case. Photo: ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP

Judge rejects royals' appeal in corruption case

A judge rejected on Thursday an appeal by Spanish King Juan Carlos's daughter in a corruption probe, insisting her tax returns be admitted for scrutiny in the investigation which has plunged the family into scandal. READ () »

Spanish top for 'hours worked' and 'days off'
Study suggests Spanish should work fewer hours but increase their productivity. Photo: QuietDangst/Flickr

Spanish top for 'hours worked' and 'days off'

The Spanish enjoy more public holidays than most Europeans but pay the price in longer working hours, according to a new study. READ () »

Spaniard unveils 8 month online Chinese challenge
Pérez’s language learning application is based on the 80-20 rule — 20 percent of a language is used 80 percent of the time. Photo:Storyvillegirl/Flickr

Spaniard unveils 8 month online Chinese challenge

A young Galician entrepreneur has created a ground-breaking online learning tool which he claims can make anybody fluent in Chinese in eight months. It’s already caught the attention of Spanish multinationals Santander, Telefónica, BBVA and Repsol. READ () »

Robbers force Russian roulette on elderly Brits
A gun was loaded with three bullets and the trigger pulled twice in the violent attack. Photo: Vasnic64/Flickr

Robbers force Russian roulette on elderly Brits

Burglars have attacked a retired British couple in their Costa Brava home, forcing the woman to play Russian roulette with a gun loaded with three bullets. READ () »

Rich-poor divide grows fastest in Spain
Social inequality growth in Spain is on the rise. Photo: PEDRO ARMESTRE/AFP

Rich-poor divide grows fastest in Spain

The income gap between rich and poor families widened faster in Spain than in any other of the 34 members of the international economic organization OECD, a new study reports. READ () »

Mobile video sparks axe attack on grandfather
The victim’s daughter and husband were unable to stop the attack and were also punched, axed and stoned by the aggressors. Photo: Martin Cathrae

Mobile video sparks axe attack on grandfather

A grandfather in the Valencian municipality of Pedralba was hit on the head with an axe by two of his neighbours over a dispute involving a video filmed with a mobile phone. READ () »

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