Spain - The Expat Reporter

Business

Spain’s intensive farms turn land to desert

The heatwaves and forest fires that swept through the Mediterranean this summer gave Europeans a grim lesson in the dangers of climate change. But many experts are just as worried about a longer-term affliction: desertification.
Society

Excommunicated Spanish ‘witch’ village turns curse into cash

Embracing its strange past is a blessing for Trasmoz as curious tourists fill its streets, writes Ashifa Kassam
Society

A Spanish Treasure Hunt

Mallorca’s reputation today as a jasmine-scented, jet-set paradise can make it hard to swallow tales of the Spanish island’s formerly hardscrabble history. Frederic Chopin, who spent the winter of 1838 on the island with his then paramour, George Sand, nearly froze to death there.
Culture

Island outpost Art empire brings touch of Bruton to Balearics

For all the lizards, the loquats and the lantana, Menorca’s newest art gallery, which lies amid the blue waters and lolling yachts of Mahуn harbour, carries the faintest whiff of a certain corner of Somerset.
Society

Spain tightens curbs on British arrivals amid variant concerns

“British citizens will require a certification of full vaccination or a negative PCR (72hrs) [test] to enter Spain,” said Arancha González Laya, foreign minister, on Twitter.
Society

Young people propel rise in Spanish infections

The Delta variant of Covid-19 and a surge in infections among younger, unvaccinated people have catapulted Spain’s coronavirus rate to the highest in mainland Europe, according to Financial Times research.
Society

Sánchez hopes gamble paves way for progress

No sooner had Pedro Sánchez arrived at Barcelona’s Liceu opera house to announce the pardons of nine Catalan separatists than the obstacles to his attempt at defusing Spain’s most divisive political dispute became clear.
Opinions

Catalonia pardons are a gamble that Spain’s divisions can be healed

Gerald Ford, US president from 1974 to 1977, entitled his autobiography A Time to Heal. “If I’m remembered, it will probably be for healing the land,” he wrote.
Culture

Cosplay, comics, and culture: Manga Barcelona returns!

The 25th edition of Manga Barcelona returns this week for a renewal of the special relationship between Catalonia and the Japanese art form. Around 150,000 people attended last year’s Manga fair, and similar numbers are expected this year to fill the 78,000 square meters of activities that will be on offer in Fira Barcelona, just off Plaça Espanya.
Society

Madrid to host UN climate summit after Chile pulls out

Event will take place from 2-13 December as planned after Spain intervenes to save talks. The world’s governments will meet in Madrid this December to discuss the climate emergency, it has been confirmed, after a last-minute intervention by the Spanish government to save the talks.

Spain - The Expat Reporter 2019