Spain Today – Monday 5 February 2024

In Spain today, the sexual assault trial against a footballer is set to begin, child killer gets permanent prison sentence, and management meet with Ford unions.

The European week begins with the publication of December data on the trade balance in Germany, in a context in which the main European economy is being weakened by the global logistics crisis and sluggish domestic demand.

Subsequently, we will know the data on the purchasing managers index (PMI) of the services sector in the Eurozone. The United Kingdom PMI will also be published, which, unlike the Eurozone, was in expansionary territory in the last month. At the same time, the Sentix Index and PPI of the Eurozone will be published that same day, together forming a good x-ray of the global development of the economy of the European continent.

Spanish News Headlines

The trial against footballer Dani Alves, accused of sexually assaulting a young woman in a Barcelona nightclub, is scheduled to begin on Monday in the Barcelona Court. The footballer, in provisional prison, and who has changed his account of events numerous times, faces a request for a sentence of 9 years in prison by the Prosecutor’s Office and 12 years by the private prosecution, carried out by the complainant.

The Court of Valencia has imposed a reviewable permanent prison sentence on the man who murdered his 11-year-old son in the town of Sueca on April 3, 2022, which he did to cause the “greatest pain of all imaginable” to his ex-wife, according to the sentence. In addition, it imposes penalties totalling six years and twenty days in prison for the commission of crimes of habitual abuse, threats, mistreatment and breach of sentence in the area of gender violence, and he must compensate the mother with half a million euro.

The management of Ford Europe has confirmed the call for a meeting with UGT, the majority union at the Almussafes factory (Valencia), in which the workers’ representatives will put on the table the commitment made by the multinational with the template in the Agreement for Electrification, “on which they must respond.”

To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news

Things to Do Today

Local holiday in Catral.

Carnival comes to Torrevieja schools this week with various workshops and talks taking place to prepare for the big day.

Guardamar del Segura is celebrating Valentine’s with special promotions in many shops, bars and restaurants, a full list available form the town hall or tourist info.

For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.

Local Markets

Monday is market day in Elche and Santa Pola.

The roads will of course be busy around those locations.

Traffic and Travel

Road wise, there´s nothing significant planned but remember that if you are venturing into the mountain areas, which in some cases might be less than an hour from the sunny coast, snow chains should be a consideration to avoid getting stranded.

In the air, we still have equipment tests in Paris, although they are not causing many problems on flights to Spain, and we have that military exercide over Spain, but again, no problems expected.

For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es

Weather

On This Day

2004, a ship arrives on the coast of Tenerife in the Canary Islands with 227 sub-Saharan immigrants on board.

2001, the electricity companies Endesa and Iberdrola announce the termination of the merger process, which began in October 2000.

1985, in Cádiz, the civil governor opens the Gibraltar gate for the transit of people, vehicles and goods, in application of the agreement signed by Spain and the United Kingdom in November 1984.

1984, Duke Alfonso de Borbón y Dampierre suffers a serious car accident, in which his eldest son, Francisco, dies.

1948, the Franco – Spanish border is reopened.

Video of the Day

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