Madrid Times

Joe Biden’s Cancer Has Spread Beyond His Bones, Hunter Biden Says

Spanish Companies Begin Major Compliance Changes as EU Artificial Intelligence Act Takes Effect

Spanish banks, telecommunications companies and technology firms are beginning broad compliance reviews as key transparency and regulatory requirements under the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act take effect, requiring closer sc...

Spanish Rail Service Suspended After Fatal Talavera de la Reina Level-Crossing Collision

A fatal pedestrian collision at a level crossing in Talavera de la Reina has forced an indefinite suspension of the Alvia long-distance rail service between Madrid and Extremadura, highlighting continuing safety and infrastructure challe...

Iberdrola Commits More Than Five Hundred Million Euros to Brazilian Power Grid

Spanish energy company Iberdrola, through its Brazilian subsidiary Neoenergia, plans to invest more than five hundred and twenty million euros to modernize electricity infrastructure in Brazil’s Federal District, expanding its role in th...

Spain’s Water Reserves Fall Below Seventy Percent as Summer Heat Intensifies Drought

National reservoir levels have fallen to sixty-nine percent after successive summer heatwaves, with drought continuing to affect agricultural production and water supplies in southern Mediterranean basins including the Segura and Júcar r...

Spain Welcomes Record Forty-Six Point Five Million International Visitors in First Half

Spain received forty-six point five million international tourists in the first six months of the year, generating more than sixty-four billion euros in spending, but the surge is also intensifying opposition to overcrowding and short-te...

Santander Overtakes Inditex as Spain’s Most Valuable Listed Company

Banco Santander has reclaimed the top position by market value on Spain’s Ibex 35 for the first time in eight years, overtaking Inditex after a two hundred and sixty-five percent rise in its shares over recent years amid strong profitabi...

Banco de España Raises Inflation Forecast as Spanish Growth Remains Strong

The Banco de España expects the Spanish economy to grow two point three percent this year, supported by exports and tourism, but has raised its inflation forecast to three point six percent as persistent price pressures and high borrowin...

Spanish Opposition Escalates Pressure on Pedro Sánchez Over Ceuta Migration Crisis

Spain’s Partido Popular and Vox are intensifying their challenge to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over the government’s handling of migration, with Vox leader Santiago Abascal proposing constitutional impeachment proceedings and the conse...

Spain and Italy Escalate Diplomatic Dispute Over Migration With Tit-for-Tat Border Controls

Spain has introduced stricter border and police checks on Italian travellers arriving at airports including Barcelona, in response to similar measures imposed by Italy, escalating a rare dispute between two European Union and NATO allies...

Logista Announces €0.58 Dividend as Spanish Logistics Sector Maintains Strong Profitability

Spanish logistics group Logista plans to pay a €0.58-per-share dividend in late August, highlighting continued profitability and strong balance sheets across parts of Spain’s commercial transport and distribution sector.

Spain Welcomes More Than 46 Million International Tourists in First Half of Year

Spain received more than 46 million international visitors during the first half of the year, generating nearly €64 billion in spending as tourists from Britain, Germany and France drove strong revenues across major destinations includin...

Spain Issues Extreme Heat Alerts as Summer Excess Deaths Rise

Spain’s meteorological authority has issued severe weather warnings across Andalusia, Castilla-La Mancha and the Ebro Valley as temperatures again exceed 40 degrees Celsius, while health monitoring data indicate more than 3,000 excess de...

Spain Prepares Power Grid for Solar Eclipse as Solar Generation Faces Sudden Drop

Red Eléctrica de España and major utilities are testing emergency load-balancing measures ahead of the total solar eclipse, when a temporary decline in photovoltaic generation will challenge a national electricity system increasingly rel...

Spanish Companies Face New EU Artificial Intelligence Transparency Requirements

Businesses operating in Spain are adapting to new obligations under the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, including requirements to tell consumers when they are interacting with automated chatbots and to provide artificial inte...

Agrifood and Fishing Exports Remain Major Pillars of Spain’s Economy Despite Climate Pressure

Spain’s agricultural and maritime industries continue to drive exports, with fruit shipments worth nearly €12 billion and meat exports worth €10 billion, while more than two-thirds of production is destined for consumers elsewhere in the...

Spanish Home Sales Fall to Multi-Year Low as Mortgage Costs Weigh on Buyers

Residential property transactions in Spain fell nearly six percent in the second quarter, reaching their lowest level since late 2024, while new-build sales dropped eleven percent as high borrowing costs continued to limit mortgage affor...

European Commission Asks Spain to Cut Recovery Fund Borrowing by €1.2 Billion

The European Commission is seeking a €1.2 billion reduction in Spain’s planned borrowing under its recovery programme after inflation made some social housing projects unviable and demand for electric vehicle subsidies fell below earlier...

Spain Tightens Border Checks on Italian Travellers Amid Migration Dispute

Spain has introduced stricter checks on passengers arriving from Italy after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government declined to lift restrictions affecting Spanish citizens following a surge in irregular migration into the Sp...

Spain Deploys More Than 24,000 Officers for Massive Solar Eclipse Security Operation

The Spanish Guardia Civil is deploying more than 24,000 agents across over 600 designated observation points as millions of domestic and international visitors prepare to watch the total solar eclipse, creating an unusually large peaceti...

Catalan Government Faces Growing Pressure Over Rail Disruptions, Healthcare Delays and Strikes

Catalan President Salvador Illa is facing mounting criticism from Junts per Catalunya over repeated problems on the Rodalies commuter rail network, growing healthcare waiting lists and education strikes that are putting pressure on the r...

UK Drought Cuts Harvests and Raises Food-Security Fears

Record July dryness, repeated heatwaves and water restrictions are reducing crop yields across England and Wales, while farmers warn of mounting pressure on domestic food production.

Ukraine Tells Senate Republicans Its Drone War Offers a Blueprint for America

Frontline commanders briefed Republican senators on cheap drones, electronic warfare and rapid adaptation as Washington pursues deeper defence cooperation with Kyiv.

Weight-Loss Drug Boom Tests the Limits of Prescription Advertising Rules

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are competing for an enormous obesity-treatment market, but strict rules in Britain and Europe force them to promote awareness of the condition rather than the medicines themselves.

Roman Marble Head Found in Alicante Sparks Debate Over Archaeological Protection

The discovery of a well-preserved Roman marble head in a construction ditch in Alicante has renewed concerns over funding for archaeological oversight and the protection of Spain’s extensive cultural heritage beneath modern development.

Research Examines Links Between Catalan Industrial Wealth and Transatlantic Slave Trade

Economic historians in Barcelona have published research examining how capital linked to the Spanish slave trade contributed to Catalonia’s industrial development in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, prompting renewed debate over ...

Spain Expands Protective Housing for Vulnerable Prisoners Across National Prison Network

Spain’s Prison Administration has expanded dedicated protective units for vulnerable inmates across maximum-security facilities, responding to concerns about violence and discrimination and strengthening safeguards within the national pr...

Spain Opens Fifteen Million-Euro Fund for Hotel and Restaurant Energy Upgrades

The Industry and Tourism Ministry has launched fifteen million euros in funding for hotels and restaurants to install more efficient equipment and climate-control systems as businesses contend with persistently high European energy costs.

Spain’s Hospitality Workforce Tops Three Million as Permanent Employment Expands

Spain’s tourism and hospitality sectors added more than one hundred and sixty thousand jobs over the past year, while the number of permanent contracts rose by nearly six percent as labour reforms continue to shift employment away from s...

Spain’s International Tourism Spending Reaches Sixty-Three Billion Euros in First Half

Foreign visitors spent sixty-three billion euros in Spain during the first six months of the year, a seven percent increase that came alongside forty-six million international arrivals, with Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Andalusia ...

Uneven Water Recovery Leaves Spain Facing Regional Climate Risks

Heavy rainfall has lifted hydropower generation to nearly thirty percent of Spain’s electricity mix, but water conditions remain sharply divided between regions, with northern areas facing prolonged shortages while reservoirs in the sout...

Spain’s Renewable Energy Curtailment Hits Record as Solar Output Exceeds Grid Capacity

Uncompensated electricity curtailment in Spain exceeded two point five terawatt-hours during the first half of the year, according to energy market analysts, as insufficient transmission and storage capacity forces renewable developers t...

Spain Allocates More Than Six Hundred Million Euros to Modernise Renewable Power Infrastructure

Spain’s Ecological Transition Ministry has allocated more than six hundred million euros from European Union recovery funds to upgrade one hundred and seventy-three wind and hydropower facilities, including the addition of two gigawatt-h...

Spain Launches Three Hundred Fifty Million-Euro Electric Vehicle Subsidy Programme

Spain has activated the Auto Plus programme, offering retroactive incentives of up to five thousand euros for private electric vehicle and commercial van purchases as the government seeks to revive slowing demand for electric mobility.

Catalonia Steps Up Drive to Build European Semiconductor and Photonics Hub

Catalonia is using its new Semiconductor and Chip Alliance to develop expertise in integrated photonics, advanced packaging and chip design, as regional and national authorities seek to strengthen Spain’s position in Europe’s semiconduct...

Spain Offers Six Hundred Million Euros to Protect Energy-Intensive Industries From Carbon Costs

Spain’s Industry Ministry has launched a six hundred million-euro support package for ceramics, glass and steel producers facing higher indirect carbon costs, as manufacturers warn that rising expenses are threatening their international...

Madrid Luxury Property Market Attracts Surge of Ultra-Wealthy International Buyers

Madrid’s Salamanca district is seeing a sharp increase in off-market luxury property deals, with international buyers regularly purchasing homes for more than fifteen million euros as the Spanish capital competes with London and Paris fo...

Banco de España Warns Housing Shortage Has Become a National Emergency

The Banco de España has warned that soaring housing purchase and rental costs in major cities have reached emergency levels, putting increasing financial pressure on younger households and raising wider concerns about Spain’s economic st...

Spain Resists US Pressure to Use Rota and Morón Bases for Middle East Operations

Madrid is resisting demands from the Trump administration to use Spain’s joint military bases at Rota and Morón for potential offensive operations against Iran, highlighting growing differences between Spain and the United States over Mi...

Spain Gives Catalonia Greater Control Over Barcelona Free Trade Zone

The central government has agreed to raise the Catalan regional administration’s stake in the Barcelona Free Trade Zone Consortium to forty percent, giving the Generalitat greater influence over industrial land and logistics development ...

Spain Begins Talks on 2027 Budget With Deficit and Housing Targets

The Spanish government has opened preliminary parliamentary negotiations on the 2027 national budget, targeting a public deficit of two point two percent of gross domestic product and sovereign debt below one hundred percent while increa...