US-Spain flight forced to turn back due to security threat, Sánchez marks eight years as Spain’s PM, Spain kicks off the week with more hot weather and more news on Monday June 1st.
Sánchez marks eight years as Spain’s PM
Exactly eight years ago on June 1st 2018, Pedro Sánchez made history by becoming the first Prime Minister in Spanish democracy to be elected through a vote of no confidence.
Sánchez thus brought down Mariano Rajoy’s government, prompted by the court ruling that convicted the People’s Party (PP) of profiting from the Gürtel corruption scandal.
The tables have since turned, and now Sánchez faces the most critical moment of his term with the numerous corruption cases that have tainted his party and his government, even reaching former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , a key figure and electoral asset for the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).
Self-employed workers protest across Spain
The Spanish Platform for the Dignity of the Self-Employed-30N called another round of protests on Sunday in 22 provinces across the country to raise awareness for the reality of the 16 percent of people in the country who work as autónomos.
The group has demanded tax measures such as a VAT exemption for those with annual revenues below €85,000, the simplification of tax returns, and the equalisation of social benefits with those of the general Social Security system.
The self-employed sector has also requested that they not be charged contributions during the first 60 days of leave, maternity and breastfeeding benefits, and the payment of contributions appropriate to their actual income.
READ ALSO: ‘Suffocated’ – Why Spain’s self-employed workers are protesting
Spain kicks off the week with more hot weather
High temperatures will continue this Monday in most of Spain, exceeding 34-36C in the southern half of the peninsula and the northeast, but there will be showers and storms in the Pyrenees.
The sunny weather that has been typical in recent weeks will continue to prevail, with mostly clear or partly cloudy skies, according to the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).
Temperatures are expected to drop slightly on the coast.
US-Spain flight forced to turn back due to security threat
A United Airlines flight bound for the Spanish island of Mallorca from New Jersey’s Newark Airport was forced to turn around mid-flight Saturday due to a possible security threat.
The flight departed around 6pm but landed back at Newark at 9.37 pm.
The reason for this? According to air traffic control audio, someone had named their Bluetooth device a “certain four-letter word,” which we can presume was “bomb”.
The aircraft was carrying 190 passengers and 12 crew members.
A passenger posting on social media afterwards said that crew repeatedly asked passengers to turn off all Bluetooth devices, but two devices remained on.
