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Spain Tag

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on June 12, 2018 25 Comments
Italy’s new government has declared victory in a standoff over a German-owned rescue boat that brought hundreds of migrants to its shores. Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Salvini refused MS Aquarius, which carried 629 migrants on board, to dock over the weekend. Spain’s newly elected Socialist government accepted the boat, which ended the impasse. "Saving lives at sea is a duty, but transforming Italy into an enormous refugee camp is not," Minister Salvini wrote on Facebook. "Italy is done bowing its head and obeying. This time there's someone saying no."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on March 03, 2018 6 Comments
Despite Spain's attempts to stop the Catalonia Independence Referendum, Catalans voted for independence.  Shortly thereafter, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy moved to impose direct rule. Catalan's deposed leader Carles Puigdemont has been living in exile in Belgium since October. 2017 and was thought likely to run for regional president.  Puigdemont, however, has announced that he will not be running for president and has instead endorsed Jordi Sànchez.  Sànchez is currently in jail in Madrid.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 27, 2017 14 Comments
In a largely symbolic vote, the Catalonian parliament voted for independence from Spain on Friday, which caused the Spanish Senate to allow Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy direct rule over the region. From The Wall Street Journal:
The separatist legislators said Catalan voters gave them a mandate for the declaration in an Oct. 1 referendum on independence. Catalan authorities say around two million voters cast ballots and that the vast majority voted in favor of secession. However, opposition parties boycotted the vote and the Spanish government declared it illegal. The vote was also marred by clashes with the police.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 21, 2017 34 Comments
Since their successful independence referendum, Catalonia has been under pressure, including reported violence against and arrests of pro-independence Catalans.  With no support from the EU or the U. S., Catalonia stands alone as the Spanish Prime Minister announced that he will be removing Catalan government officials and imposing direct rule. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced that he is invoking Article 155 of the constitution to “restore the rule of law, coexistence and the economic recovery and to ensure that elections could be held in normal circumstances."  Direct rule will reportedly be in place next weekend.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 03, 2017 9 Comments
A series of strikes and protests have disrupted the economic life in Catalonia, Spain's wealthiest and most industrialized region. The protests come after Spanish police cracked down on Sunday's independence referendum held in Catalonia region, which Madrid declared as illegal. Catalan authorities say around 900 people were injured after police raided polling stations, carrying away ballot boxes, beating up voters and shooting rubber bullets. The EU and the European media, usually vocal about any perceived human rights violation in the farthest corner of the world, was uncharacteristically quiet over Spain's crack down of the Catalonia vote in its own backyard. "It is telling that these shocking images didn't even make the lead item on the BBC news and voters were described as protesters," wrote the Daily Mail columnist Katie Hopkins.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 01, 2017 14 Comments
After their successful parliamentary elections in 2015, Catalonia votes Sunday on independence from Spain. Madrid is decidedly not happy and has sent police to seize voting boxes and to arrest pro-independence officials. There are also reports of clashes between police sent to stop the "illegal" Catalonia Independence referendum and Catalans eager for independence. The Washington Post reports:
When Catalans go to the polls on Sunday, they'll find just one question on the ballot: “Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?”

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 21, 2017 19 Comments
On Monday morning, the Catalan police identified 22-year-old Moroccan Younes Abouyaaquoub as the terrorist who plowed a truck through a crowd in Barcelona on Thursday. The attack killed 13 people and injured over 100. He escaped, but went on to stab "another driver and mowed down a policewoman." Hours after the press conference, reports emerged that the authorities shot him dead as he wore a suicide belt.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 18, 2017 4 Comments
Spanish authorities killed several in Cambrils in an anti-terror operation to stop a second deadly attack only hours after terrorists killed 13 people in Barcelona. From Fox News:
State-owned broadcaster RTVE reported police killed four people and injured another, after police suspected they were planning a second terror attack.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on August 11, 2017 11 Comments
Despite Europe's politicians and the mainstream media continuing to downplay the migrant inflow that overwhelms the continent, the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate by the day. On Wednesday, beachgoers on a southern Spanish beach watched in horror as dozens of migrants stormed the shore, abandoned their boat, and fled into the countryside.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 12, 2017 2 Comments
You may recall the incident in the summer of 2015 involving Jewish American musician Matisyahu. His appearance at the Spanish Rototom Reggae festival was cancelled after threats from local Spanish activists from the Boycott, Divestment and Movement (BDS) movement. Spain has a particularly malicious BDS movement, which until recently, has had success convincing municipalities to boycott Israel, creating so-called Zionist-free zones. Those municipal boycotts have been declared to be illegal discrimination by Spanish courts. Matisyahu made a name for himself as a religious Jewish Reggae singer with hits advocating peace, such as One Day.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on November 07, 2016 25 Comments
The Spanish government has scarcely budged an inch these past ten months. The result? Economic growth and a falling jobless rate. Though Spain's unemployment rate remains one of the highest in Europe, it dropped to its lowest in six years.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 05, 2016 2 Comments
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad confirmed he will sign a bill that will not allow public companies to do business with firms involved in Israel boycotts. Iowa's Senate passed House File 2331 last week in a 38-9 vote. The legislators hope the bill counters "efforts of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement." Palestinian groups began the movement in 2005 as a way to money and goods from Israel. "I just think it is wrong to be boycotting our friend and ally, Israel," declared Gov. Branstad. "There is a lot of opportunity for us to do business with them, and I don’t believe we ought to be penalizing Israel, of all countries. They are one of our best friends and allies. This is something I strongly support."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 04, 2016 2 Comments
A judge in Spain's National Court has sent out international arrest warrants for Russian citizens, including some close to President Vladimir Putin, allegedly linked to the mafia. Judge Jose de la Mata, who investigates organized crime, found "very serious facts" against each of the men stemming from the Troika operation. The court opened that investigation in in 2008 two mafias in Eastern Europe: Tambov and Malyshev. "(The Tambov group) maintains strong links with political, economic, legal and security powers in Russia and also with members of other international criminal organizations," he said in his report.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on March 02, 2016 1 Comment
Opponents of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction ("BDS") campaign against Israel won a significant tactical victory in hostile territory last month. In January, the city of Aviles, Spain - just inland of the Bay of Biscay on the northern shore of the Iberian Peninsula -  passed a resolution adopting BDS.  The Association for Action and Communication in the Middle East ("ACOM") a pro-Israel organization based in Madrid, filed a discrimination suit against the municipality. According to the Spanish-language El Commercio, in late February the city voted to rescind the BDS resolution, apparently as part of a settlement in the ACOM suit.  Google's translator function is passable:
Action Association and Communication in the Middle East (ACOM), which aims to improve all kinds of relations between Spain and Israel, hailed yesterday's decision of the City of Aviles to withdraw the boycott of Israeli products after the plenary session on Saturday approved, with the votes of PSOE, PP and Citizens, the annulment of the declaration last January 21 the Consistory incorporated Aviles to BDS Network (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against colonization, apartheid and Israeli occupation Palestine.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 07, 2016 2 Comments
Spain has a particularly virulent anti-Israel movement both in the form of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and rogue judges who threaten to issue warrants for the arrest of Israeli officials. As to BDS, recall it was the Valencia BDS group that got American Jewish singer Matisyahu banned from a reggae festival after he refused to sign a declaration denouncing Israel. The decision was reversed after an outcry and statements by the Spanish government that the action was illegal discrimination. The Spanish court system just dealt another blow to BDS efforts, finding that excluding Ariel University, located beyond the 1949 armistice line in Samaria (West Bank), from academic programs in Spain constituted illegal discrimination. The Jerusalem Post reports, In setback for BDS, Spain awards West Bank school €70,000:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 27, 2015 6 Comments
The Catalonia region of Spain is voting today in local elections which, while not directly an independence vote, are considered a proxy for independence support. Background on Catalonia and Spain is explained in this English-language Spanish website, An historical look at the drive for an independent state of Catalonia. This Vox-like Spanish website has a series of "cards" explaining what is going on, Catalonia explained in 21 cards. The Daily Mail reports:
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