Eight injured by very strong winds in Catalonia, forest fire breaks out in Murcia, Spain to streamline euthanasia process in urgent cases and more news on Monday March 30th.
Spain to introduce 35-hour work week for civil servants from April
Spain’s Minister for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service, Óscar López, has announced that from April a 35-hour working week will be introduced for civil servants working in central government administration, a measure that has been backed by unions.
López also noted that there are regions where the 35-hour working week is already in place for civil servants, but that a resolution will be issued within the civil service and public bodies to implement this working week in the first half of April, likely after Easter, across other areas.
The minister also emphasised that the measure will be implemented in agreement with trade unions and will need to be rolled out across all ministries.
Spain will streamline euthanasia process in urgent cases
Spain’s Health Ministry has drawn up a new Manual of Good Practice in Euthanasia to improve the processes leading to a dignified death, speed them up in emergencies and give a greater role to nursing staff.
The document was due to be voted at a recent Inter-territorial National Health System Council (CISNS) one day after the widely reported death of Noelia Castillo that made international headlines, but was postponed due to the doctor’s strike.
The remaining items on the agenda, including the euthanasia manual, have been postponed until 9 April, as confirmed by Health Minister Mónica García.
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Eight injured by very strong winds in Catalonia
Gusts of wind of up to 168km/h left at least eight people injured in Catalonia on Sunday, forcing as well road closures the northeastern region.
At least six people of these people were injured by objects knocked down by the wind, including rooves.
Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) activated a red alert for hurricane-force winds per hour in the Pyrenees of Girona and the Pre-Pyrenees area of Barcelona. Spanish Civil Protection also sent an Es-Alert message to people’s phones on Saturday in the two affected provinces to warn the population to stay indoors.
Forest fire breaks out in Murcia
A forest fire that broke out on Sunday in the Sierra Espuña Natural Park in Murcia has burned at least 400 hectares and forced the evacuation of a group of 80 boy and girl scouts and their 14 instructors.
The first significant forest fire of the year in Spain started in the Llano de las Cabras area of Totana.
Strong gusts of wind caused it to spread rapidly, leading to the activation of Level 2 of Spain’s Special Emergency Civil Protection Plan for Forest Fires (Plan Infomur).
