Spain evicts migrants from huge informal settlement near Barcelona, Spanish PM says EU move to ease combustion-engine ban is a ‘historic mistake’ and more news on Thursday December 18th.
Spain evicts migrants from huge informal settlement near Barcelona
Spanish police on Wednesday evicted almost 200 people from a huge informal settlement near Barcelona that symbolised the country’s housing crisis and difficulties for immigrants, sparking uproar from NGOs.
Acting under a court order, dozens of officers fanned out around the abandoned B9 secondary school in Badalona, a town of 230,000 people in the north of Barcelona’s greater metropolitan area.
The expulsion took place peacefully despite a few moments of tension, with the mostly migrant residents carrying away their belongings in suitcases or trolleys.
Police said they identified 181 people during the operation. The central government’s representation in the northeastern Catalonia region said 15 were detained for migration irregularities.
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Around 400 people once inhabited the former school, transformed into an assortment of flimsy shacks filled with broken furniture, but some had already fled in advance of the police operation.
Badalona’s right-wing mayor, who is outspoken in his criticism of illegal immigration and had requested the eviction, celebrated the news on X.
“I said we would kick out the 400 illegal squatters who made life impossible for residents, and we’ve done it,” wrote Xavier Garcia Albiol, of the main conservative Popular Party.
“Badalona is not a shelter for illegality or for anti-social behaviour.”
NGOs voiced concern over expelling residents in the middle of winter and a housing crisis that has made properties unaffordable for many Spaniards, with migrants especially vulnerable.
Spanish former ruling party heavyweight denies role in corruption scheme
A former top official in Spain’s ruling Socialist party who is at the heart of a widening corruption probe on Wednesday denied wrongdoing, calling the investigation “worthy of the Inquisition”.
Santos Cerdan, formerly a longtime aide to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is accused of orchestrating kickbacks from public works contracts.
A police report has said there was evidence including audio recordings suggesting Cerdan received payments in exchange for irregularly awarded public contracts.
“Everything being said is absolutely false,” Cerdan told a Senate investigative committee, describing the allegations as “extremely imaginative police speculation”.
“The way they are pursuing me is worthy of the Inquisition,” he added.
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Cerdan had been the governing Socialist party’s organisation secretary and its third-ranking figure until June, when he was detained as part of the corruption probe.
Spain’s Supreme Court last month ordered his provisional release from jail, citing a reduced risk of evidence-tampering.
The investigation also targets former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, and his advisor, Koldo Garcia.
Sanchez has repeatedly apologized over the case and denied knowledge of the alleged scheme.
But the opposition has called for the prime minister to resign.
Spain’s PM says EU move to ease combustion-engine ban is a ‘historic mistake’
The European Union’s decision to walk back a 2035 ban on new petrol and diesel cars is a “historic mistake”, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Wednesday.
“What was approved yesterday constitutes a historic mistake for Europe, because competitiveness is ensured by sustainability, not by loosening our commitments,” he said during a climate conference in Madrid.
The combustion-engine ban was hailed as a major win in the fight against climate change when adopted in 2023.
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Spain, France and the Nordic countries warned that ditching the commitment risked slowing the shift to electric vehicles, undermining the EU’s green agenda and deterring investments in electrification.
But carmakers and their backers have lobbied hard over the past year for Brussels to relax the ban, in the face of fierce competition from China and a slower-than-expected shift to electric vehicles.
Under proposals decried by environmental groups, carmakers will now have to cut exhaust emissions from new vehicles by 90 percent from 2021 levels — down from an envisaged 100 percent — with the remainder “compensated” in various ways.
Spain is Europe’s second-largest car producer after Germany.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has hailed the EU’s new proposals, saying “more openness to technology and greater flexibility are the right steps”.
World no. 1 Alcaraz ends ‘incredible ride’ with coach Ferrero
Men’s tennis world number one Carlos Alcaraz announced on Wednesday he is splitting from his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after seven hugely successful years together with assistant coach Samuel Lopez taking over.
Alcaraz has won six Grand Slams among his 24 tour level titles under the guidance of fellow Spaniad Ferrero, including this year’s French and US Opens.
Alcaraz, 22, ends this year as world number one having claimed eight tournaments during the season including his dramatic victory over Jannik Sinner in Paris.
“It is very difficult to write this post,” Alcaraz said on social media with photos of the pair hugging.
“After more than seven years together, ‘Juanki’ and I have decided to end our story together as coach and player.
“Thank you for making the dreams of a child become reality,” Alcaraz added.
Alcaraz began working with 45-year-old Ferrero, a former world number one, in August 2018, when he was a teenager.
As a player, Ferrero won the 2003 French Open and was runner-up in New York later in the year before becoming a coach working alongside Alexander Zverev in 2017.
