MANY consumers who use mains gas in their homes have been receiving their first bills since the confinement period started and finding that they are unexpectedly high, as much as €300 above the normal rate in some cases. OCU, the Spanish consumer association, has received numerous complaints and an investigation has found that this is because meter readers have been unable to visit properties during the...
SPECIAL units of the National Police were called out to an apartment block in Valladolid (Castile y Leon) where an 83-year-old man was firing off two hunting rifles from his sixth-floor terrace. They had a key to the property, supplied by relatives, and tried to convince the man to surrender his weapons and his person. He carried on firing and the agents had to shoot him in the arm to disarm him; he had...
THE lowest number of deaths in Spain in the last 24 hours Sunday April 26 as the latest reports confirm a sharp drop from coronavirus are 288 the lowest number since the spike of the crisis reported 980 deaths in 24 hours. Lockdown rules change today. in the biggest easing of lockdown restrictions in Spain to date, children will now be allowed to leave their house to get some fresh air and exercise,...
A National Police raid to release a woman who had been kidnapped and held on a property in Almeria also uncovered a marijuana farming operation. The authorities received a call on the Cimacc-091 emergency line from a distressed female, saying she was being held against her will. The police went to the property and with the help of the fire services were able to break in and rescue the woman. She said that...
MANY shoppers have claimed that supermarket prices have risen since the start of the health crisis and the OCU, Spain’s Consumers Organisation, has this week reported on the results of a full survey into the matter. It concludes that some items have risen, but many of these are to do with seasonal supplies rather than the lockdown situation. Both oranges and potatoes have become dearer across the board...
TELECOMMUNICATIONS firms in Spain have been as prepared as they can for the rise in internet usage, but one aspect has caught them on the hop – a big surge in people making phone calls. Over recent years this has been a declining service as people increasingly communicate by messaging, voice mail etc. However, many are not now regularly seeing family and close friends and have been phoning them for a...
Spain’s empty roads this Easter, respect for the restrictions in place as travel to second homes was a myth. Despite fears in tourist towns, there has been no evidence of mass arrivals of visitors to second homes in Spain. Lockdown checkpoints for Easter seem to of worked across the country, there were more than 10,000 checkpoints to maintain the restrictions in place and to ensure that people were not...
ALTHOUGH nothing has officially been announced, the government is expected to ban foreign tourists from entering Spain this summer, a time when the vast majority of them head for the countries thousands of beach resorts. Sources close to the Executive understand an international travel ban, at least for non-essential trips such as holidays, is likely to remain in place until at least the autumn. If the...
Spanish Health authorities in Spain have reported a upsurge of new coronavirus cases and deaths in the last days but also recoveries. 757 people had died from the coronavirus in the last 24 hours bringing the total to 14,555, 32% of the 146,690 who tested positive for the virus had recovered, with 4,813 recoveries in the last 24 hours. Figures supplied by the Spanish health authority. The World Health...
PICTURES of large groups of ducks taking to the streets in Mallorca are another example of one of the unforeseen side effects of reduced human activity during the health crisis. The birds are wandering along what would normally be packed streets in resorts such as Santa Ponca and even the capital Palma, trying to supplement the food that they would usually get from people. These join recent images such as...