
Sting to perform in several Spanish cities next summer, Spain among top five OECD countries with most immigration and more news on Tuesday November 4th.
Spain among top five OECD countries with most immigration
In 2024, Spain was along with the United States, Germany, Canada, and the United Kingdom one of the countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) where the highest permanent immigration figures were recorded.
That’s according to the annual report on international migration published on Monday, which found that Spain added 368,000 more foreign permanent residents to its census last year.
That put Spain in fifth place behind the US registered, which registered 1.4 million new permanent migrants, 27 percent of the OECD total, Germany with more than 586,000, Canada with around 483,600 and the UK with 435,700 migrants with permanent residency.
These five countries accounted for half of all permanent migration in the OECD in 2024.
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Sting to perform in several Spanish cities next summer
Seventeen-time Grammy Award-winning artist Sting has added a new concert to his acclaimed world tour “STING 3.0”: Seville.
The 74-year-old English popstar and former frontman for The Police will perform on Saturday July 18th at Seville’s majestic Plaza de España, as part of Icónica Santalucía Sevilla Fest.
But that’s not all – Sting will also have concerts in Granada, Fuengirola (Málaga), Chiclana (Cádiz), Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, all of which will take place during the summer of 2026.
US praises Spain’s Nato role despite Trump threats
The United States has praised Spain’s contribution to NATO, the Spanish defence minister said Monday, after President Donald Trump suggested expelling the country from the alliance for not meeting his military spending target.
Last week, the United States announced the withdrawal of some troops from the alliance’s sensitive eastern European flank, on the front line against Russia during the invasion of Ukraine.
But the Pentagon simultaneously said Spain’s contingent was playing “a fundamental and essential role for the defence of Europe and policies of deterrence”, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said.
The Pentagon “congratulated Spain” for “contributing to the reinforcement of the Atlantic Alliance” and its more than 700 troops in Latvia, she added at a security forum in Madrid.
“Faced with those who want to say Spain is not a committed ally, Spain is a committed ally… and the Department of War recognised that last week,” added Robles, referring to the US defence ministry by its new name.
The revelation contrasts with recent remarks by Trump, who threatened to expel and impose tariff “punishment” on Spain, which was NATO’s lowest defence spender in relative terms last year.
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Spanish court orders corruption trial for ex-minister close to PM
Spain’s Supreme Court on Monday ordered the country’s former transport minister, a former top aide to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, to stand trial on corruption charges.
The case against José Luis Ábalos adds to a series of graft investigations targeting former Socialist officials as well as Sánchez’s relatives, embarrassing a leader who took office in 2018 pledging to clean up Spanish politics.
The case involving Ábalos centres on alleged kickbacks in exchange for public contracts for medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The court also ordered Ábalos’s former assistant, Koldo García, and a businessman, Victor de Aldama, to stand trial, according to court documents obtained by AFP.
READ MORE: What is Spain’s ‘Caso Koldo’ corruption scandal all about?
The three men face several charges including corruption, influence peddling, membership in a criminal organisation and embezzlement of public funds.
In another case on Monday, the Socialist-appointed attorney general went on trial Monday accused of leaking legal secrets against the partner of Madrid’s influential PP leader.
With additional reporting by AFP.

