Record migrant arrivals in the Canaries
A record 46,843 migrants reached Spain's Canary Islands illegally in 2024 via the increasingly deadly Atlantic route, the second consecutive year of unprecedented arrival numbers, official data showed on Thursday.
The landmark came as the European country received 63,970 irregular migrants last year, the vast majority in the Atlantic archipelago, up from 56,852 in 2023, the interior ministry said.
Spain has moved to the forefront of the European Union's migration crisis as tighter controls in the Mediterranean push more migrants to attempt the perilous trip from west Africa to the Canaries.
Rents will rise by 2.2% if new reference index is applied
Spain’s national stats body (INE) has released its new reference index to which rent increases will be tied.
Renewed rental contracts from now on may be increased by only 2.2 percent if the new reference index for housing leases, published by INE on Thursday, is used.
This affects rental contracts signed after the entry into force of the Housing Law in May 2023, which will have to apply this index to revise the annual rent from 2025 onwards.
You can read more about how exactly this works in our coverage below.
READ ALSO: What is Spain's new rent cap for 2025?
Three Wise Men parades are brought forward to avoid rain
Several ‘Three Wise Men’ parades across Andalusia (known as los Reyes Magos in Spain) including in Seville, Cádiz and Huelva have been brought forward to Saturday 4 January to avoid the heavy rain forecast.
Cádiz and Huelva will bring their parades forward, while the Andalusian capital will keep them for Sunday.
Across the wider Seville province, a dozen towns and cities have changed the date to move their parades to Saturday, while in Málaga and Cordoba town halls are studying the forecasts.
New low-emissions zones come into effect
New low-emissions zones (ZBE’s in Spanish) have come into effect in two Spanish cities this week.
Palma de Mallorca rolled out its ZBE to kick off 2025 but will do so, for the moment, without penalising offenders. Like in Madrid, a moratorium initially slated to last a few months has been extended throughout the year, whereby those who do not comply with the rule will be notified but not sanctioned.
Similarly, after a year of its own moratorium, the ZBE in Almería in southern Spain came into force on 1 January with the start of 2025.
READ ALSO: GUIDE - How to get an emissions sticker for your car in Spain
Portugal scraps tolls on several motorways connecting with Spain
Portugal has shut down tolls on several motorways that connect with Spain. These notably include tolls connecting Porto and Vigo, as well as ones incorporating the provinces of Ourense, Zamora and Salamanca, and the one that goes from the Algarve to Huelva in southern Spain.
The end of these tolls was approved by the Portuguese Parliament and it is estimated that €157 million per year will no longer be paid in toll fees.
READ ALSO: Everything that changes about life in Spain in January 2025
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