Table of Contents
In Wednesday´s Spanish national news headlines, spending by international tourists in Spain grows by 25.5% in January, brutal coercive control case comes to court, and have you lost jewellery as a result of crime? And January sales figures in Europe and the budget in the UK are the financial leaders today.
Contents (click to jump ahead)
- Spanish News Headlines
- Business, Markets and Statistics
- Things to Do Today
- Local Markets
- Traffic and Travel
- Weather
- On This Day
- Video of the Day
- Follow Mark Nolan’s Podcast
Spanish News Headlines
Last January, 4.8 million international tourists visited Spain, 15.3% more than in January 2023, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). In addition, Spain once again breaks its tourist spending record in January. Foreign visitors contributed 6,5 billion euro, which, in a context when everything is more expensive, from travel to hotels, to food and drink, represents a growth of 25.5% compared to the figure for January of last year.
The Canary Islands were the first main destination for tourists in January, with 27.7% of the total. They were followed by Catalonia (20.1%) and Andalusia (14.0%). 9.2% more tourists came to the Canary Islands than in January 2023. The number of tourists who visited Catalonia increased by 20.3% and 17.4% more came to Andalusia. Catalonia, incidentally, operates a so-called tourist tax, and has done for many years, a concept which has been cancelled by the new regional government of Valencia as they argue it would damage tourism.
This Wednesday, the trial begins in Murcia against JCS, 34 years old, who is accused of a continuous crime of coercion, another of serious injuries and a third of illegal detention against his partner until 2022.
The defendant was already had an executory sentence by a final judgment in 2018, issued by the Criminal Court No. 4 of Alicante, for the crime of threats in the field of gender violence, to the penalty, among others, of 3 years of deprivation of the right to possess and carry weapons, extinguished on 02/10/21 and in provisional prison for this reason since 02/10/22, having been arrested for the same on date 02/08/22.
If you have lost jewellery as a result of crime, it is possible the items have been recovered already, and therefore you might be able to be reunited with your precious mementos.
The Spanish National Police has launched a Virtual Jewellery Exhibition on their website, where victims of crime can browse through a catalogue of recovered items, and if you spot anything you own, you can then contact them and start the recovery process.
To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news
Business, Markets and Statistics
January retail sales in the eurozone, encompassing the January sales season, and the Fed’s Beige Book will be the main macro references on Wednesday, in which in Spain the INE releases the statistics on mortgage foreclosures for the fourth quarter.
Investors will also be attentive to more data on the evolution of employment in the US and the spring forecasts in the United Kingdom.
In Spain, the day will commence with the Institute of National Statistics (INE) publishing details of mortgage foreclosures for the fourth quarter of 2023. Next, the deputy governor of the Bank of Spain, Margarita Delgado, will speak on the panel “10 years of the single supervisor: looking back and ahead” on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Single Supervisory Mechanism.
In the Eurozone, Eurostat releases retail trade data for January.
In the UK, Jeremy Hint will present the spring budget in Parliament, as the Cabinet signs off what is arguably the most important budget in the history of the Tories facing the next elections having last week polled their worst ever in opinion in some surveys. As it’s Wednesday, we will of course have Sunak and Starmer going head-to-head in their grown-up virtual schoolyard of name calling and childish bickering, setting a bad example rather than fixing the problems. Meanwhile, going back to the budget, the OBR publishes their Economic and Fiscal Forecast.
The ONS releases figures on inequalities in victimisation, just before we celebrate International Women’s Day, we will also see details of THE report on women-led universities. HMRC issues their second estimate of the VAT gap, and we will have the Ifo Economic Forecast, OECD Consumer Price Indices, and UK Construction PMI.
Finally, we will have results from DHL, Quilter, Tullow Oil, Legal & General Group, CLS Holdings, and Capita Group.
Things to Do Today
Aircraft fans can look forward to RACEFEST, Madrid, taking place on 16 March, where the Patrulla Aguila aerobatic team from San Javier will be taking part, before showcasing their skills locally in the San Javier Airshow, taking place from 3rd-5th May – Festival Aéreo San Javier – over the playas de Santiago de la Ribera, San Javier, Murcia. They are also at the DIFAS 2024, taking place in Oviedo on 1 June, and on 15th June, the 50º Aniversario del ALA 14, in Albacete, where a competition is open to design a Eurofighter livery.
If your love of the sky means watching people jumping out of planes, then there´s good news for you too, as on 19th March – Fiestas Patronales de Puerto de Mazarrón 2024, in Murcia, sees the Patrulla Acrobática de Paracaidismo del Ejército del Aire (PAPEA) parachutists perform, and on 31st March they are at the Conmemoración de “El Encuentro” de Alcantarilla, also in Murcia, before the team head overseas in April to attend the 5th FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship, in Macau, China.
For more local events, pick up The Leader newspaper every Monday, and This is Torrevieja for Torrevieja events.
Local Markets
Midweek markets can be found today at Guardamar del Segura, La Mata (Torrevieja), San Isidro, and San Miguel de Salinas.
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.
For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es
Flight wise, widespread low visibility across western Europe might pose a problem in the morning, with London likely affected, however that is the only phenomenon expected to impact the 24,000 flights scheduled across Europe.
Military exercise NORDIC RESPONSE 2024 will take place in North Scandinavian region until 15th March 2024, and in the case of this exercise, that includes weekends.
Gun Firing will take place over the Black Sea until 11th March 2024.
Military exercise DRAGON 24 will take place in Poland until 13th March 2024, not expecting to have an impact on commercial traffic however. A training exercise is also taking place in Poland, but again, not expecting to impact flights. Military exercise BVR 2024-1 will take place in Hungary until 07th March 2024.
Official Websites for Travel Information
- For live traffic reports, visit the DGT traffic map
- For weather warnings, consult AEMET
- DGT Twitter account
- AEMET weather related road information
- Aemet Twitter account
- For flight information, check the AENA airport operator’s website
Weather
Always check the weather where you are before embarking on a trip. Here are the official sources for alerts and warnings.
- Click here to visit AEMET for weather alerts and forecasts.
- Click here to visit the DGT for live traffic and road conditions.
- AEMET weather related road information
On This Day
1972, in Barcelona, an explosion takes place in a building that causes the death of 19 people. It was initially attributed to a natural gas leak, but later reports from the Official College of Engineers of Barcelona denied it.
1938, in Cartagena (Spain), the Republican squad sinks the warship of the Francoist Balearic side. In her shipwreck, 788 men from her crew perished.
1929, from the Spanish Theatre in Madrid, a theatrical premiere is broadcast for the first time on the radio, that of the play Las hogueras de San Juan (by Juan Ignacio Luca de Tena).
Video of the Day
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The post Spain Today – Wednesday 6 March 2024 first appeared on Mark Nolan´s Podcast.