Spain busts international ‘laughing gas’ smuggling ring, disgraced Valencia region leader to announce if he resigns, Spain’s top prosecutor goes on unprecedented trial and more news on Monday November 3rd.
Disgraced Valencia region leader to announce if he resigns
Reporting from Spanish daily El País suggests that Carlos Mazón, the disgraced President of the Valencia region under scrutiny for his management of the deadly floods, will not be the centre-right People’s Party (PP) candidate for the next elections in the region.
Following monthly protests calling for his resignation, the PP has been working for months on various scenarios to succeed Mazón.
Different party sources consulted by El País claim that Mazón has a plan that involves stepping back from the elections and promoting the current president of the Provincial Council of Valencia, Vicente Mompó, as the next candidate for the Generalitat.
Mazón is due to confirm on Monday morning whether he will step down as Valencia’s leader.
Spain busts international ‘laughing gas’ smuggling ring
Spanish police said over the weekend they have smashed an international ring suspected of smuggling nitrous oxide, commonly known as “laughing gas,” and contraband tobacco.
Officers confiscated 5,184 litres of nitrous oxide from a warehouse and the home of the suspected owner of the trucks used by the ring in the southern province of Malaga, police said in a statement.
Police also seized more than 2.5 million contraband cigarettes from a truck in the eastern province of Alicante while members of the group were unloading the cargo, the statement added.
Authorities said the network, composed of Spanish and Eastern European nationals, used legitimate shipments to France and other European countries to transport the nitrous oxide and contraband tobacco.
Seven suspected members of the network were arrested.
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Spain’s top prosecutor goes on unprecedented trial
Spain’s top prosecutor on Monday goes on trial accused of leaking legal secrets against the conservative opposition, an unprecedented case that has rattled Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government.
The politically explosive case against Álvaro Garcia Ortiz, the first serving attorney general to face trial in Spanish history, is one of several legal affairs embarrassing the minority left-wing coalition.
García Ortiz is accused of leaking case files about Alberto González Amador, a businessman under investigation for alleged tax fraud who is the partner of the Madrid region’s influential right-wing leader, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Her conservative Popular Party (PP) has accused García Ortiz – appointed by Sánchez’s Socialist government in 2022 — of organising the leak to damage Ayuso, a darling of the Spanish right who has been tipped at times for a national leadership role.
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Barcelona and Catalonia tourism numbers drop
The number of foreign tourists arriving in Catalonia fell by 1.4 percent year-on-year in September with 2 million visitors, marking the third consecutive month of decline, according to data published by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
This figure follows a 4.3 percent drop in August and a 1.2 percent decrease in July. The trend confirm a slight downturn in tourism in the region housing Barcelona, albeit still too little for a noticeable difference for residents who have grown tired of overtourism’s negative effects.
This year hasn’t been marked by as many protests against mass tourism in Spain, but the problems persist.
READ ALSO:Why Barcelona’s new tourism crackdown doesn’t convince locals
With additional reporting by Conor Faulkner and AFP.
