News
Sink hole
Protests at lenient sex assault sentences
A giant sink hole which appeared in Madrid ’ s Avenida Niceto Alcalá Zamora last month caused damage to the city ’ s drainage network and left huge areas of the capital without water . Authorities expected further damage caused by huge volumes of water which leaked into the sub soil . Roads around the sink hole were closed as a precaution while tankers delivered supplies to health centres , hospitals and other essential public services buildings .
Euthanasia debate
The lower house of parliament has voted to consider legalising euthanasia in Spain , although it is likely to meet considerable opposition . An opinion poll conducted by Metroscopia in March 2017 found that 84 % of Spaniards are in favour of allowing people with terminal illnesses to be helped to die “ painlessly .” The bill , which was opposed by the Partido Popular , must now go through parliament before it gets to a final vote .
Cash limits
A maximum level of € 30 for cash payments is expected to be set when new legislation comes into effect . Traders will have to offer alternative payment methods for bills in excess of this amount . The law , presently being finalised in parliament , will increase the facility for paying by card , mobile phone or online and aims to reinforce security with electronic payments .
Pollution progress
Spain has escaped EC sanctions over air pollution . The country was one of nine summoned to Brussels to explain how it was handling the problem and Madrid ’ s plans were found to be in line with EC directives , if implemented immediately and effectively . However , Ecologists in Action warned that Spain ’ s reprieve could result in the country “ resting on its laurels ” and failing to comply with air pollution limits .
Hundreds of students and young people from Andalucía joined thousands across Spain last month to protest at the sentences handed to a gang of five Sevilla men aged 27 to 29 , including a Guardia Civil officer and a former soldier , who were found guilty of a sexual assault on a woman . The biggest protest was in Madrid where an estimated 20,000 people gathered to denounce the leniency of the sentencing .
The assault took place in the early hours of July 7 , 2016 , during the annual San Fermin festival in Pamplona . The men , who called themselves La Manada ( the wolf pack ), had offered to walk the 18-year-old woman to her car but instead took her into the lobby of a building , attacked her and filmed the assault on their phones , before leaving her half naked . The victim , who was later found crying on a bench , described her attackers to police who arrested all five suspects the following day .
The case was heard in a Pamplona court where defence lawyers claimed the woman had consented ; they said she had let one of the suspects kiss her and argued that 96 seconds of video footage from the men ’ s phones , showing her immobile and with her eyes shut during the attack , was proof of consent . However , the prosecution
The Spanish fast-food delivery business Telepizza is to merge with the US giant Pizza Hut . The joint venture will be the largest of its type in the world .
Telepizza began in the 80s when Cuban immigrant Leopoldo Fernández Pujals persuaded a group of small investors in Madrid and Galicia to back his business plan .
The first Telepizza outlet opened in Madrid ’ s Barrio del Pilar district in 1986 and the chain is now the world ’ s largest non-American pizza business ; it has 1,300 branches in 15 countries outside Iberia including one each in Saudi Arabia and Iran . said the victim had been too terrified to move .
After five months ’ deliberation , the judges sentenced the gang at the end of April , triggering nationwide anger . The men were found guilty of the “ continuous sexual abuse ” of the woman , but not of rape , the judges ruling there was no “ violence or intimidation ” in the case . Under Spanish law , the lesser offence of sexual abuse differs from rape in that it does not involve violence or intimidation .
One of the judges even argued that the men should have been cleared of all charges except the theft of the victim ’ s phone , and the entire trial was widely criticised as a cross-examination of the 18-year-old woman , rather than the men who attacked her .
While prosecutors demanded jail terms of 22 years , the five men were each sentenced to nine years ’ imprisonment , five years ’ probation and ordered to pay € 10,000 each to the woman . The Guardia Civil officer whole stole her phone was fined a further € 900 . The woman ’ s lawyer , as well as the regional government of Navarra , intend to appeal the sentences , while Madrid has announced that it will consider reforming the law in response to the case .
Spain ’ s Telepizza to merge
The 700 branches in Spain and Portugal will retain the name Telepizza , although in Latin America branches will be renamed Pizza Hut but will continue internet and telephone home delivery services .
Whilst Spain and Portugal will keep the Telepizza name permanently , the deal will enable the Pizza Hut brand to gather strength in Iberia , where it presently has just 80 branches in Portugal and only 25 in Spain . It is understood that the merged entity plans to expand into Spain ’ s smaller towns and communities with 1,000 new outlets in the medium term , and with a target gross profit of € 100 million by 2021 .
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