Majority of Spaniards see ‘structural corruption’ in governing Socialists, second deadly avalanche hits Spanish Pyrenees, and more news from Spain on Friday.
Early tests rule out lab as cause of Spain swine fever outbreak
Preliminary analysis rules out a lab leak as the cause of an African swine fever outbreak that has rocked Spain’s lucrative pork industry, but further tests are needed, authorities said Tuesday.
Spain has deployed dozens of soldiers to help track and contain the outbreak in the northeastern Catalonia region, where 29 cases in wild boars have been detected since November 28.
Authorities are investigating five laboratories within a 20-kilometre (12-mile) radius of the outbreak to determine its source. Police earlier this month searched the premises of the IRTA-CReSA animal laboratory, close to where the first contaminated dead boars were found in November, as part of the probe.
Genetic sequencing conducted by a Barcelona research institute showed that virus samples taken from wild boars “do not correspond to the ones we have in our labs”, said the regional Catalan government’s agriculture minister, Oscar Ordeig.
“We are awaiting official confirmation” from the national agriculture ministry, he told a news conference.
Second deadly avalanche hits Spanish Pyrenees
An avalanche near a mountain resort in the Spanish Pyrenees killed a snowshoer, police said Thursday, days after another avalanche in the area killed three skiers.
The body of the man was found Thursday in the Bielsa Valley in the northeastern Aragon region, the Civil Guard said.
Two men were caught in the avalanche while snowshoeing on Wednesday, trapping one beneath the snow while the other escaped unharmed and was able to raise the alarm from a nearby mountain refuge.
The Civil Guard released a video showing officers with shovels, backed by rescue dogs, searching for the man swept up by the avalanche.
On Monday, an avalanche in the same area killed two men and a woman who were skiing. Another woman suffered mild hypothermia.
Authorities urged caution in mountainous areas amid winter weather and continuing avalanche risk.
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62 percent of Spaniards believe there is ‘structural corruption’ within ruling Socialists
Sixty-two percent of Spaniards polled believe that the governing Socialist party (PSOE) is home to “structural corruption”.
This is according to polling by Sigma Dos for Spanish daily El Mundo, which comes as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling party enters 2026 faced with several ongoing criminal investigations into alleged corruption. These include his former Transport Minister, organisational secretary, wife, and brother.
Nonetheless, polling also found that 63 percent of Spaniards believe it “unlikely” (35.8 percent) or ‘very unlikely’ (27.2 percent) that Sánchez will call early general elections in 2026, suggesting the majority in Spain believe that the Prime Minister will hold onto power despite mounting political and legal pressure.
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Over a quarter of Spaniards saw salary increases in 2025
Polling shows that 28.1 percent of Spaniards saw their salaries improve in 2025, while only 9.6 percent made less than in 2024, according to data from the latest La Sexta barometer.
Most of those polled in the survey, 60.9 percent, maintained their income level in 2025.
Broken down according to the respondents’ voting intentions, voters for far-left Sumar (42.9 percent) and the governing Socialists (35.4 percent) were those who saw the largest pay rises.
On the other side, both Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox voters saw their salaries fall the most, by 13 percent and 12 percent respectively.
