Spanish government to organise tribute for victims of the Valencia floods
Spain’s government delegate in the Valencia region, Pilar Bernabé, has stated that the central government will organise a state tribute for victims of the recent flooding in Valencia to pay tribute “to their families and to the municipalities and Valencians as a whole."
Bernabé confirmed this over the weekend after taking part in the meeting of the Integrated Operational Coordination Centre (Cecopi), when she was asked if the central government is planning any kind of event and if it will attend the funeral service on Monday organised by the Archbishop of Valencia.
The delegate explained that “the Spanish government is planning to hold a state event to pay tribute to the victims,” but added that “at the moment the search for four victims is still active,” which is why it will try to “exhaust efforts to the maximum in order to find people.”
READ ALSO: Spain's royals to attend memorial service for flood victims
Police arrest 36 people in transnational Cuban migrant smuggling ring
Spanish police have dismantled a transnational criminal organisation that smuggled Cuban migrants into Spain. 36 people in several Spanish provinces have been arrested and the operation, carried out in collaboration with Europol and Eurojust, involved a network based not only in Spain but Serbia, North Macedonia and Greece.
The organisation moved migrants from Cuba to Serbia by plane and from there transferred them by car to Greece, crossing North Macedonia. Once in Greece, the migrants flew to Spain using fake I.D documents or documents stolen from Spanish citizens. Reports suggest at least 67 Cubans were smuggled into Spain in this way.
Police said in a statement that each migrant paid around €10,000 to enter Spain, according to reports from Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE.
Snowstorms and 130 km/h winds over weekend in Spain
Parts of Spain were battered by a winter storm on Sunday. The north of Spain was most affected, with the first snowfall of the year in places, as well as heavy rains and gale force winds in isolated pockets.
Up to 40cm of snow was recorded in areas around the Pyrenees and there were wind gusts of up to 130 km/h in some regions. Temperatures fell across the country and many parts of northern Spain were hit with heavy rain, causing rivers to flood.
Up to 50 roads were affected by snowfall and Spain's Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT) advised drivers returning from the long puente weekend to be careful at the wheel, especially in northern Spain and specifically on the AP-66 in Asturias.
Snowfall caused accidents on the A-8 at Beranga, in Cantabria, which delayed traffic on Sunday night, and there were also incidents on the A-23 at Barracas, Castellón, as well as in Guipúzcoa on the A-1 at Tolosa and the A-1 at Lozoyuela in Madrid.
Spain backs 'peaceful', 'stable' solution for Syria
Spain will support a peaceful solution for Syria that provides stability for the region, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on Sunday following the fall of the Assad regime.
Madrid wants "any solution for the future of Syria to be a peaceful one... that benefits the Syrian people and in some way brings new stability to the Middle East and not more instability", Albares told Spanish public television.
"We have to take steps to ensure that it's the Syrian people who decide how they are governed and by whom in future and, of course, that Syria's territorial integrity is maintained," he said.
The minister said he hoped there would not be a "Balkanisation" of Syria, "with different regions controlled by different groups".
Islamist-led rebels said they had taken the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Sunday.
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