Spain

Spain plans a sharp cut to its value-added tax on fuel, dropping it to 10% from 21% to soften the economic fallout of the Middle East conflict, SER radio reported, citing sources familiar with the plans. Madrid also intends to suspend the excise duty on hydrocarbons, a step that would immediately trim the price of diesel and petrol by between 0.30c and 0.40c per litre, the SER report said. The government will also scrap the 5% tax on electricity consumption, according to the report. A government spokesperson declined to…

Heavy rain and gale-force winds battered Portugal and Spain on Thursday, toppling trees, disrupting transport and closing schools as authorities warned of more dangerous weather to come. A motorway viaduct partially collapsed near the Portuguese city of Coimbra, while Spain placed its northern coast under the highest red alert as seas built to 9 meters amid Storm Nils. Portugal’s infrastructure minister, Miguel Pinto Luz, who visited the fallen span between Lisbon and Porto, called the scene “an absolutely abnormal…

Storm Leonardo unleashed more than 40 centimeters (about 16 inches) of rain in 24 hours across parts of the Iberian Peninsula, killing one person in Portugal, forcing thousands from their homes in southern Spain, shutting schools and canceling trains. In Portugal’s Alentejo region, a man in his 60s died after being swept away as he tried to drive through floodwaters near a dam in the municipality of Serpa, a spokesman for the national civil protection authority said. “A vehicle was found with one occupant, so there is one…

Storm Leonardo unleashed what forecasters called “extraordinary” rain across the Iberian peninsula on Wednesday, forcing thousands from their homes in southern Spain, shutting schools and crippling rail service as authorities warned of life-threatening floods and landslides. Spain’s national weather agency, AEMET, placed parts of Andalusia under its highest red alert for torrential rain, saying the storm risked triggering flash floods and landslides in already saturated terrain. The agency said some locations in the southern…

Spain will move to ban social media for under-16s and force platforms to adopt robust age checks, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced, positioning the country among a growing number of governments tightening rules to protect minors online from pornography, violence and manipulation. "Spain will ban access to social media for minors under the age of 16. Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems, not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work," Mr Sanchez told a summit in Dubai. Framing…

Spain to grant legal status to 500,000 undocumented migrants MADRID — Spain will grant legal status to about 500,000 undocumented migrants, the government announced Tuesday, casting the move as a pragmatic response to labor shortages and a bid to curb exploitation in the underground economy. The step contrasts with increasingly restrictive immigration rhetoric in the United States and parts of Europe. Immigration Minister Elma Saiz called the decision “historic,” saying it strengthens a migration model “based on human…

Spain’s left-wing government has approved a decree to grant legal status to an estimated 500,000 undocumented migrants, a sweeping regularisation that underscores Madrid’s divergence from tougher migration policies elsewhere in Europe. Migration Minister Elma Saiz said those who qualify will be able to work “in any sector, in any part of the country,” framing the plan as both an economic necessity and a rights-based reform. “We are talking about estimations, probably more or less the figures may be around half a million…

Spain’s rail network reeled from a fourth accident in less than a week as authorities recovered two more bodies from the wreckage of last weekend’s high-speed train collision in Andalusia, raising the death toll to 45. The discovery comes hours after a commuter train struck a crane arm near the port city of Cartagena in the southeastern Murcia region, lightly injuring six, officials said. An Andalusia emergency services spokesman said the bodies were retrieved from a Renfe-operated train that crashed into a derailed Iryo…

Spain began three days of national mourning after a high-speed train collision near Adamuz in the southern province of Córdoba killed 41 people and injured more than 120, authorities said. Investigators are focusing on a suspected faulty rail joint as they work to determine why the crash occurred on a straight section of track where both trains were within the speed limit. The crash happened Sunday when an Iryo service traveling from Málaga to Madrid derailed near Adamuz, about 360 kilometers south of the capital, crossed…

At least 40 people were killed and 122 injured after a high-speed train derailed and was struck by an oncoming service in southern Spain late last night, authorities said, in the country’s deadliest rail disaster since 2013. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared three days of national mourning and visited the crash site. The collision occurred at 7:45 p.m. near Adamuz in the province of Córdoba, about 360 kilometers south of Madrid. State rail operator Renfe said roughly 400 people were aboard the two trains — an Iryo…