Twenty years since Spain legalised gay marriage, rubbish collector dies in Barcelona during heatwave, metro service returns to Valencia’s flood affected areas and more news from Spain on Monday June 30th.
Twenty years since Spain legalised gay marriage
On June 30th 2005, Spain’s Congress of Deputies approved the same-sex marriage law proposed by the then-Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Two decades later, the LGBTIQ+ community continues to fight against discrimination, for the right to love freely and live their lives free from fear.
There have been 75,000 same-sex marriages in Spain over the past two decades.
Metro service returns to Valencia’s flood affected areas
Metro services returned to the so-called ‘ground zero’ of Dana-affected areas in Valencia over the weekend, eight months after flooding killed over 200 in the region and caused extensive damage to infrastructure.
More than 500 people were needed to repair the 50km and 20 stations damaged by the October floods on the Valencia Sud-Castelló section, mostly in the districts of l’Horta Sud and la Ribera.
Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat (FGV) has confirmed that the metro service is now running normally on the restored lines in the Valencia South-Castelló section of Metrovalencia, as planned, and that all 20 stations and stops are operational.
Trump considers it ‘guaranteed’ that Spain will meet 5% Nato spending commitment
US President Donald Trump has declared himself convinced that Spain will meet its commitment to spend 5 percent of its GDP on Nato defence spending, despite recent manoeuvring from the Spanish government to find creative ways around it.
“Spain has not complied, but it will. I guarantee it will. It was the only country that, in some way, tried to avoid putting up the money,” Trump said at a press conference at the White House over the weekend.
Spain has historically been one of the lowest contributors to NATO and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has sought ways to opt out of the 5 percent target, whether by delaying it or softening the financial impact by spreading it across different sectors.
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Alicante fighter Topuria wins second world title and remains undefeated
Spain’s Ilia “El Matador” Topuria was crowned Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight world champion on Saturday after scoring a spectacular knockout in the first round against Brazil’s Charles Oliveira.
The fight took place at UFC 317 in Las Vegas, marking a milestone in Topuria’s career as he establishes himself in one of the most competitive divisions in mixed martial arts and as a world famous fighter.
Topuria, originally born in Germany to Georgian parents, moved up to the lightweight division (155 pounds) after an impressive undefeated run in the featherweight division, where he compiled a 16-0 record. He is based in and trains in Alicante, and received Spanish citizenship in recent years.
Rubbish collector dies in Barcelona during heatwave
Barcelona City Council is investigating the cause of death of an street cleaner who passed away in the midst of a heatwave is being investigated.
An autopsy will be performed to on the 51-year-old woman to ascertain whether the cause of death was heat stroke.
