Valencia’s Las Fallas festival comes to an end, second body found after storms, and more news from around Spain on Thursday.
Rainy Las Fallas 2025 comes to an end in Valencia
Valencia’s famous Las Fallas festival came to an end last night with the traditional Nit de la Cremà, the finale when all ninot structures are burned. Fallas 2025 was a wet one, with the stormy conditions that have affected much of the country in recent weeks dampening procession plans and even damaging some ninots throughout the week.
It was also the first Las Fallas since the deadly Valencia floods, and the festivities this year took on an additional political dimension. Regional President, Carlos Mazón, was conspicuous in his absence throughout due to the ongoing political backlash over his alleged poor flood management. The regional head did, however, appear on many of the more satirical ninots, as did Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.
Mazón did finally appear on the town hall balcony last night to watch the cremá, something that had not been announced. Before last night the President had not dared appear at any of the sixteen mascletás (fireworks displays) in the city since March 1st. Mazón is still facing fierce calls to step down and Valencians have taken to the streets in protest several times to demand his resignation.
READ ALSO: Why Valencia’s president is being blamed for Spain’s flood devastation
Spanish salary growth slows to post-pandemic low
Wage increases in Spain grew by 3.5 percent at the end of 2024, the lowest rate since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Salaries are beginning to show signs of slowing down after several years of increases of over 4 percent, spurred first by the end of the government’s ERTE furlough schemes and then by historic inflation levels.
Wage data published this week by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) indicate that this was the most moderate increase since the end of 2020.
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Spanish govt mulls reduction in blood-alcohol level for drivers
This week the Spanish Congress approved a draft bill to reduce the current maximum drink-driving limit by more than half, as well as a proposed ban on warnings between drivers about upcoming drug and alcohol controls.
The bill now begins its long parliamentary journey towards final approval, with the centre-right Partido Popular and far-right Vox likely abstaining or voting against.
The text proposes that the maximum permitted blood alcohol level for all drivers be lowered to 0.2 grams per litre of blood (compared to the current 0.5 grams) or 0.1 milligrams per litre of exhaled air (currently 0.25).
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Second body found in Spain after storm, man missing
The death toll from a storm in Spain rose to two Wednesday after police found the body of a man whose car was swept away by a flooded stream, with a third person missing. The man and his wife disappeared in the village of Constantina in the southern region of Andalusia Tuesday after their vehicle overturned while crossing the stream and was swept away, officials said.
Emergency services found the woman’s body on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Civil Guard police force said they had found the body of a man who was confirmed to be the husband.
Emergency services were looking for another man who tried to cross a river in the province of Malaga, also in Andalusia, and “was swept away by the current”, a Civil Guard spokesman said.
Storm Laurence lashed much of southern, eastern and central Spain earlier this week. Several regions were put on alert for rain, wind and dangerous tides. The Iberian Peninsula is bracing for the arrival of another storm on Thursday, dubbed Martinho, the fourth to sweep across Spain in less than two weeks.
