Spain swelters under second heatwave of the summer
The second heatwave of this summer began to scorch Spain on Sunday and is set to intensify further from Monday, with temperatures expected to exceed 42 degrees in many parts of the country.
Spain's State Meteorological Agency, Aemet, has updated its heatwave warnings.
In total some 14 regions are currently under various levels of heatwave warning, but these warnings could be extended to the whole of Spain on Monday afternoon and, from Tuesday, could even reach red level (extraordinary danger) in large parts of Aragón, Catalonia and the Valencian Community as temperatures are forecast to soar to 44 degrees in some areas.
On Tuesday, therefore, there are red level alerts forecasts in the provinces of Zaragoza, Lleida and Valencia.
Wildfire in Castellón forces evacuation of 500 residents
A large-scale operation involving firefighters from various brigades across the Valencia region and military worked through the early hours of Monday morning to contain the perimeter of a wildfire fire that broke out on Sunday afternoon in Soneja in Castellón province.
The fire reportedly began on Sunday afternoon, at around 2.00 pm, and subsequently forced the evacuation of 500 people from the neighbouring town of Azuébar.
Flames burnt around 150 hectares and affected woodland, while the situation is still "deteriorating", according to information from provincial firefighters, with the blaze spreading "very slightly" into the Sierra de Espadán Natural Park.
This follows news that the Catalonia government on Sunday lifted the lockdown that confined 12,000 residents to their homes as firefighters managed to contain the blaze that broke out on Friday in La Bisbal d'Emporda, 12 miles from the Costa Brava coastline.
Six in ten Spaniards believe lawfare exists
At a time when the Socialist (PSOE) government is embroiled in corruption scandals, new polling has revealed that 6 in 10 Spaniards believe lawfare, the concept of politically or ideologically motivated legal cases, exists in Spain.
According to a 40dB poll for El País and Cadena SER some 65.4 percent of Spaniards believe that lawfare is taking place in Spain, AMD 34.1 percent said they believe judges favour the right, compared with 16.3 per cent who think they favour the left. Only 27 percent consider them impartial.
There was also an imbalance between public knowledge in corruption cases between the left and right. The Zapatero case is the best known amongst the Spanish public: some 64 percent of the population say they are "well aware" of it and a similar proportion, 60.2 percent, knew of the conviction of former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos. The allegations against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's wife Begoña Gómez (59.9 percent) and the trial of his brother David Sánchez (51.3 percent) were also well known.
Scandals involving the centre-right PP, however, were less widely known. Respondents familiar with the corruption case against Madrid President Isbael Ayuso’s partner fell to 48.8 percent, while just 35 percent were aware of the Caso Kitchen, a wide-ranging corruption case implicating the previous PP government.
Spain responds to Trump's criticism of Spain’s NATO contribution
Spain's Defence Minister, Margarita Robles, has hit back at US President Trump's repeated criticisms of Spain's defence spending and NATO contributions, insisting that Spain "is a reliable ally" that fulfils its obligations to its allies.
This defence comes just days before the NATO summit in Ankara.
Robles made her view clear in an interview with El País, in which she emphasised that "all NATO countries" know that the US President's claims about Spain are untrue.
"Spain is a reliable, responsible and serious ally. At present, we have almost 3,000 men and women on missions. They know that, if Spain is asked to take part in any mission, we are always ready," she said.
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