Spain has the highest high school dropout rate in the European Union
Spain has the highest high school dropout rate in the European Union, according to the findings of OECD.
Spain’s rate of 28% is in stark contrast with EU’s 12%. In 2021, 28 percent of people aged 25 to 34 in Spain hadn’t completed the sixth form/high school education or a grado medio (the equivalent in terms of vocation training).
Renfe short and medium distance trains to remain free for all of 2023
The Spanish government has announced plans to keep Renfe short- and medium-distance train tickets fully subsidized for all of 2023, extending the measure already in place from September to December of this year.
The transport budget will be increased by 41.2% up to €700 million. Most of this will go to Renfe to cover the subsidisation of the tickets.
Energy cost and material supplies increases hurt SMEs in second quarter
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) paid twice the energy costs and 50% more in material supplies in the second quarter of this year, which has reduced their profitability to 2014 levels, according to the Cepyme indicator.
According to Cepyme, 55% of the fall in net return on assets is due to the Covid-19 crisis and 45% can be attributed to inflationary struggles.
First possible crater caused by meteorite found in Almeria
According to experts, the first possible crater caused by a meteorite in Spain has been discovered and it is located in the Albabia-Tabernas basin in Almeria.
The crater was buried 1,000 metres deep and is about four kilometres in diameter.
It is likely to have been caused by a meteorite which crashed to earth eight million years ago.
Torrevieja police undermanned by 51 Agents
Torrevieja Local Police should have at least 51 more policemen than it has. The “official” organisational chart details a total of 187 officers, but the actual staff number is 120 agents and 17 officers, in total 136.
The recommendation of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) is two agents for every thousand inhabitants, and as such, Torrevieja, with a population close to 90,000 inhabitants, regularly rising above 100,000, should employ at least 200 local police officers.
More than 70 passengers are left at the airport by Ryanair
Although Ryanair delayed it’s flight from Castellón to Stansted by 30 minutes last Tuesday, the airline is being criticised by the National Police for leaving 70 passengers at the airport, despite the fact that the policemen due work the security gates arrived late, so the passengers were unable to be processed through to departures.
However a spokesman for the police trade union said, “The lack of foresight on the part of the Provincial Police Station and the excess of work caused the incident.”
When contacted by the press the National Police has declined to comment.
Improvements to Torrevieja Desalination Plant delayed to 2024
Farmers in the province have spent almost two years listening to the promises of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition about the solutions to the planned cut in the Tajo-Segura water transfer with the enlargement of the Torrevieja desalination plant.
However, the public company, Acuamed, does not contemplate investing a single euro in 2023 despite 61.2 million euros having been allocated for this purpose.
The formal budget announcement was made last week in Congress. The 61.8 million will be spent, in theory, in 2024 (20 million), 2025 (20 million) and 2026 (21.2).
Campaign to stop bullying announced for Torrevieja schools
Torrevieja Council of Torrevieja has announced a municipal campaign against Harassment and School Absenteeism. There are two objectives of the initiative, the first is to raise awareness and prevent bullying, a problem that is prevalent inside all educational centres as well as outside them through social networks, while the second initiative emphasises the importance of attending class to avoid school absenteeism.
The campaign was explained at a press conference by Ricardo Recuero, Councilor for Education, Abel Moya, director of the IES Mare Nostrum; Nalian Cantero , director of the campaign, and Gloria García, social worker from the Department of Education.
Campoamor urbanisation cut off from Orihuela Costa by heavy rain
Once again there are many residents in Campoamor urbanisation having to take a long detour in order to get to shops, centro salud and and other amenities as a result of heavy rain.
The road that runs under the viaduct is flooded yet again, as it is following almost every period of rain, with many people concerned that it will remain so for most of the winter. Residents were particularly critical of the ‘Concejalía de Infraestructuras’ which they say has had plenty of time to resolve the situation but continues to sit on it’s hands.
Celebration of National Day on Playa Flamenca Esplanade
There will be an afternoon of celebration and fun taking place on Wednesday to which members of the public, of all nationalities, are invited.
The activities will begin at 12.30 with the raising of the National Flag following which there will be a tribute to the local police, orchestral music, fireworks and childrens activities.
The event will be brought to a close by the councillor for Festivities and the President of AIDOC at 3pm.
Spain’s regions ordered to report on Covid-19 deaths in care homes
The State Attorney General’s Office in Spain has written to all the Autonomous Communities to submit an exhaustive report in 30 days, detailing the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the deaths that occured due to coronavirus in the care homes for the elderly. This has been done to ensure that all the victims are heard and their concerns are addressed.
Spain struggling to cope with skyrocketing food prices amid inflation
A survey by consumer organisation OCU has found that Spain recorded prices of food items rising an average of 15.2% over the last year, the highest annual rise in 34 years. Skyrocketing commodity prices which have been further fuelled by the crisis in Ukraine have led to a surge in cost of living, which includes food and grocery items.
