In Tuesday’s Spanish news, Congress to establish pandemic fraud investigation commission, recent rains leave rice growers “hopeful”, and Granada to get new Amazon logistics centre. Plus, business and markets activities resume after the Easter break.

Spanish News Headlines

Spain’s Congress will today establish the investigation commission on emergency contracts in the pandemic, which was promoted by the PSOE after the so-called ‘Koldo case’ broke out and which was agreed to be created in the last Plenary Session. However, the objectives of the different groups intersect, since while the socialists want to examine communities governed by the PP, especially that of Madrid. The PP are targeting high-ranking PSOE officials, and Junts wants to take the opportunity to pillory the PSC candidate for the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who was Minister of Health in those months. The rice growers of Seville are now “hopeful” of an “almost normal harvest” after the latest rains that fell during Holy Week in the province as a result of the passage of the storm ‘Nelson’. This was stated by the president of the Federation of Rice Growers of Seville, Mauricio Soler, who positively evaluated the new forecasts, ensuring that they “have changed a lot” with respect to what they anticipated before Easter. “181 cubic hectometres are entering in 24 hours, which means that we are ten points above the volume dammed a week ago, and, in addition, we have one and a half points more than the year we planted 50% two years ago,” Soler has expressed. Amazon will have a new logistics centre in Escúzar, Granada, covering more than 9,000 square metres and will be fully operational starting in September. The new platform will serve to streamline delivery processes to customers in the city and surrounding areas, creating more than 40 permanent full- and part-time jobs. This centre will be the company’s fourth logistics station in Andalusia, along with those in Malaga, Seville and Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz. Since 2011, Amazon has invested more than 13 billion euro in Spain. To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news

Business, Markets and Statistics

The business and markets start to resume after the Easter break, and on Tuesday, investors will focus their attention on the publication of the PMI for the Eurozone manufacturing sector, which will likely reinforce the deteriorating prospects for European industry. At the same time, in Spain we will know the evolution of the labour market in the last month. After the resilience shown in the first two months of the year, it is expected that hiring during Holy Week will drive down registered unemployment. In the UK, results of the Nationwide House Price Index will be published, as well as the BRC-Nielsen Shop Price Index, Bank of England Money and Credit report, and the UK manufacturing PMI.

Things to Do

Tuesday is a local holiday in some locations in Murcia and around Catalonia. Looking ahead, on 26 April there is a film music tribute concert taking place in the International Auditorium in Torrevieja, specifically a tribute to the music of Morricone, Williams, and Zimmer, three of the greatest film score composers of modern times, arguably. The Film Symphony Orchestra will also perform in Torrevieja on 26 May, offering music from the likes of Harry Potter, Indiana Jones and Mulan. For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.

Traffic and Travel

Road wise, there´s nothing significant planned now that the Easter ush is over, 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. For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es

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