Living Articles
Christmas crackdown on overseas fraud
As Britain shivers, fraud investigators at the Department for Work and Pensions are finding new ways of cracking down on benefit thieves who are living the sunshine lifestyle on taxpayers’ money. Fraud officials have joined forces with overseas counterparts to target Brits in countries where most of the fraud is carried out; this includes Spain, […]
Holidaymakers from abroad spend more in Spain this year
FOREIGN tourists in Spain spent an average of 90 euros a day last month, claims the ministry of industry and commerce. They say visitors to Spain from abroad in July shelled out around 6.334 million euros in total; that´s 911 euros per holidaymaker which represents a 3.7% rise on June’s figures. In fact, July was […]
Heatwave nearly over but Andalusia and Canary Islands still on alert
The Spanish met office has reduced its heatwave ‘orange alert’ (high risk) to just seven provinces in the Canary Islands and Andalusia today, where temperatures of over 40ºC are expected and puts only eight other provinces on ‘yellow alert’ (risk) for temperatures in excess of 38ºC. The areas at high risk of excessive heat are […]
Spain seconds happiest in Europe
It seems that the people in Spain are some of the happiest in Europe according to a survey of 12,500 people carried out by Coca-Cola in 16 countries across the globe. Rumania is the only European country where people are seemily happier than those in Spain; the principle source of this happinesss are friends, partners […]
Spanish King doing well after surgery
Spain’s King Juan Carlos I is very well after his weekend operation to remove a benign growth on his lung, Queen Sofia told reporters Monday. The 72-year old monarch, who underwent surgery on Saturday to remove a growth that doctors said showed no signs of malignancy, spent a very good night said Queen Sofia said […]
Traffic fines and how to deal with them
One of the most important aspects to consider when changing your residency to a new country, whether temporarily or permanently, is to be familiar wtih the traffic regulations. There are significant differences between EU countries, what for expatriates may not be an offence in their home country may be just that in Spain and may […]
Water shortage by 2025 – UN warning
According to UN sources, some 290 million people in Mediterranean countries will have limited access to water by 2025, a situation that could generate social and territorial conflicts and one that the Union for the Mediterranean hopes to avoid by embarking on a global strategy to ensure the supply of this resource. Representatives from 43 […]
EU assesses economic fallout from travel chaos
On Sunday, the EU ordered an assessment of the billions of euros potentially lost since an Icelandic volcano erupted, prompting the biggest airspace shutdown since World War II. The head of the European Union’s executive branch Jose Manuel Barroso has given the task of assessing the impact on the troubled airline industry to three of […]
Britain working with Spain to get people back home
London and Madrid are working on ideas to fly Britons stranded by the volcanic ash cloud to a Spanish hub and then sailing them back home, officials said. Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero held telephone talks after top British ministers and scientists met to discuss the crisis at […]
European airspace still at a standstill
Most European countries have kept their airspace either partially or entirely closed today due to the cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland. Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium will keep their airspace closed until 18:00 GMT and the Netherlands until 12:00 GMT, whilst Austria reopened its airspace this morning, a move also made by Italy, […]