Spanish government proposes unmarried couples should receive widower’s pensions, Spain’s Princess Leonor speaks in defence of migration and more news on Monday October 27th.
Spanish government proposes unmarried couples should receive widower’s pensions
The Spanish government has proposed including some unmarried couples in the group of those who can benefit from a widower’s pension if they can demonstrate “a stable and visible cohabitation” of at least five years.
The measure is included in proposed changes to Spain’s social security system, a draft copy of which the Social Security Ministry sent to trade unions and employers earlier in October and Spanish outlet La Información Económica has had access.
The proposal is for now only a draft measure and needs final approval.
Spain’s Princess Leonor makes political intervention, speaking in defence of migration
Spain’s Princess Leonor has made arguably her first major political intervention since becoming a public figure, making what the Spanish press have deemed her “most political speech” yet.
At a time of heightened political polarisation in Spain, especially rhetoric of migration and integration, speaking at the Princess of Asturias Awards in Oviedo the Princess defended migration and called for a return of values.
The Princess acknowledged that “coexistence is not easy, but it is the only way to achieve shared progress.” For this reason, she added, “it makes sense to care for and defend the values that, as Spaniards and Europeans, indeed as citizens of any place, define and guide us.”
READ ALSO: Ten things to know about Spain’s prestigious Princess of Asturias awards
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Spain seizes 6.5 tonnes of cocaine on boat off Canary Islands
Spanish police said Sunday that they seized 6.5 tonnes of cocaine and arrested nine people after a US tip-off led them to raid a ship off the Canary Islands a few days ago.
In a statement, police said the narcotics were hidden in the hold of the boat, which was flying a Tanzanian flag and had departed from Panama en route to Vigo, in north-west Spain.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the US federal agency responsible for combating drug trafficking, provided key “information” that enabled the operation to succeed, the press release stated.
Spain is one of the main gateways for cocaine into Europe, due to its links with Latin America, where the drug is produced, and its geographical location in the south-west of the continent.
Spanish police made their biggest ever cocaine seizure last October when they discovered some 13 tonnes hidden in a shipment of bananas to the southern port of Algeciras.
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Spain probes steelmaker for alleged trading with Israeli arms firm
Spain’s top criminal court has said it had opened an investigation into executives at steelmaker Sidenor for alleged complicity in crimes against humanity or genocide for trading with an Israeli arms company.
Spain, one of the fiercest critics of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, said it had stopped exchanging weapons with the country after the conflict started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
The embargo formally became law this month as part of measures aiming to stop what Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calls a “genocide” in the devastated Palestinian territory.
Sidenor’s chairman José Antonio Jainaga and two other executives are being investigated for having allegedly covertly sold steel to Israel Military Industries, the Audiencia Nacional court said.
The Spanish firm sold the metal without requesting the government’s permission or registering the transaction, and knew the material “was going to be used for the manufacturing of weapons”, the court said in a statement.
It said the company itself was not being investigated because of whistleblower employees who contributed to the complaint and helped “prevent the continuation of the allegedly criminal activity”.
The investigating judge has summoned all three executives to testify on November 12 in the case, which was initiated after a complaint filed by a pro-Palestinian association.
With additional reporting by AFP.
