Incessant rain in Spain continues with arrival of Storm Konrad
It's been raining almost non-stop in many parts of Spain for the past two weeks and it's not going to end for the upcoming days as Storm Jana gives way to Storm Konrad this Wednesday.
Cádiz, Almería, Granada, Tarragona, Girona, Castellón and Albacete are the seven provinces in southern and eastern Spain which are on yellow alert for heavy rain, strong winds and snow at relatively low altitudes; but many other parts of the country will remain wet over the coming days, including the Canaries and the Balearics.
According to Spain's weather agency, Thursday is expected to be the rainiest day and the bad weather will continue until the weekend.
So it's perhaps no surprise that all the recent precipitation Spain has been experiencing this February and March has resulted in a four-year drought in the country to be almost declared over.
Buying a home in Spain requires entire family income for 6 years
The price of a two-bedroom home in Spain would require a family's entire income for more than 6 years, according to a study published by property portal Idealista.
The average cost of a two-bedroom home in the fourth quarter of 2024 was €187,108 , which is 6.1 times the €30,552 net income of families in Spain. Logically, it takes a lot longer for people to pay off a family home in Spain as they have many other costs, which are also rising.
By capital, Palma is the city where the highest number of years of income should be allocated, since it practically doubles the national average with 11.8 years.
It is followed by Málaga, where the price is the equivalent of 9.8 years of income, San Sebastián (9.7 years) and Madrid (9.5 years).
Spain's PP proposes banning burqa in schools and health centres in Barcelona
The Barcelona branch of Spain's right-wing Popular Party has proposed that female Muslim headwear such as the burqa and the hijab should be banned in educational and health centres in the Catalan capital, and that the so-called 'burqini' should also be prohibited on the city's swimming pools.
The president of the PP in Barcelona City Council, Daniel Sirera, told Europa Press that this would address "security matters in public buildings" and increase the "respect for women", adding that the burqini ban would be for hygiene reasons.
Air France-KLM and Lufthansa vie for stake in Spain's Air Europa
Air France-KLM and Germany's Lufthansa have made competing offers to buy a stake in indebted Spanish carrier Air Europa, the El Confidencial news site reported Tuesday.
Air France-KLM has proposed €300 million ($327 million) to acquire 51 percent of Air Europa from its main shareholder, the tourism group Globalia, and pledged to take on the debt it incurred with the Spanish state during the coronavirus crisis, El Confidencial said.
The Hidalgo family that controls Globalia would see its stake tumble to 29 percent, while IAG, the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, would hold 20 percent, it added.
Lufthansa, for its part, has offered to plough €240 million in the Spanish company via a capital increase of 25 percent, which would allow it to pay off debt contracted with the state.
Air France-KLM and Air Europa declined to comment when contacted by AFP.
The Franco-Dutch giant's chief executive Benjamin Smith said last week that a stake in Air Europa would "interest" the group.
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