Musk slams Spain PM as ‘tyrant and traitor’ over teen social media ban, ex-Orihuela mayor on trial for corruption, Spanish government forces pension increase and more news on Wednesday February 4th.
Ex-Orihuela mayor on trial for granting €800,000 to local football club
The former PP mayor of Orihuela, Mónica Lorente, will take the stand next Thursday alongside two former councillors for alleged fraud in the granting of subsidies to Orihuela CF exceeding €800,000.
The trial will be held in Elche, and in addition to the three local politicians, the trial includes a municipal technician, an auditor, two former club presidents and a former secretary.
All of them are accused of alleged irregularities in the processing, resolution, payment and subsequent expenditure of subsidies granted by the Orihuela city council during the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 seasons.
Spanish government approves new decree to force through pension rise
The Spanish cabinet has approved a decree to split a controversial bill in two in order to pass a rise in the state pension.
The leftist government plans to push through its pension revaluation in the Congress of Deputies after last week’s rejection by right-wing parties including the PP, Vox and Junts of its so-called ‘social shield’ bill.
The parties voted down the pension increase because it was, in its previous form, paired with a moratorium on evictions for vulnerable people and a ban on cutting off water and energy supplies to vulnerable families.
At the Council of Ministers meeting held on Tuesday, the government gave the green light to two separate decrees and two separate votes in the lower house. According to La Sexta, pensions will be included in a separate decree, while social protection measures, including the eviction moratorium, will be included in another.
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NFL to return to Madrid with regular season games
The NFL is set to return to the Spanish capital for regular season games as part of a multi-year deal starting in 2026, the league has confirmed.
“The 2025 NFL Madrid game at the Bernabéu was a pivotal moment for the sport in Spain, and we are delighted to confirm that we will return to play a regular season game in 2026 in a multi-year partnership with the City of Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid and Real Madrid C.F.,” said NFL Spain Country Manager Rafa De Los Santos.
“This multi-year commitment to playing games in Madrid — a world-class global cultural and sporting destination — underlines our commitment to the market and enables us to continue to engage fans year-round and invest long-term in initiatives like NFL Flag and youth participation nationwide.”
The American football league will also try and bolster youth participation in Spain through its NFL Flag programme in partnership with the Federación Española de Fútbol Americano (FEFA).
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Musk slams Spain PM as ‘tyrant and traitor’ over teen social media ban
Tesla and X chief Elon Musk hit out at Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Tuesday after the Spanish leader announced a ban on social media access for children under 16 and other curbs.
“Dirty Sanchez is a tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain,” Musk wrote on X, ending his comment with a poop emoji.
The pair recently exchanged punches after Musk reposted a message on his social media platform X written by a right-wing influencer that described Spain’s upcoming mass regularisation of undocumented migrants as “electoral engineering”, reacting with the comment: “Wow”.
Sánchez replied with: “Mars can wait. Humanity can’t” — a reference to Musk’s oft-repeated idea that humans will one day travel to other planets.
