Spain

MADRID, June 10 (Reuters) - Algeria's decision to block trade with Spain following a diplomatic row over Western Sahara could be a violation of European Union trade law, two senior EU officials said on Friday.

"The EU is ready to stand up against any type of coercive measures applied against an EU Member State," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said in a joint statement. "However, the EU continues to favour dialogue first to solve controversies."

BENAHAVIS, Spain, June 9 (Reuters) - A wildfire in mountains in southern Spain has forced evacuation of 2,000 people from the centre of the town of Benahavis and injured three firefighters, authorities said.

The blaze started on Wednesday afternoon on the slopes of Pujerra mountain in the Sierra Bermeja, above the Costa del Sol, a magnet for British tourists on the Andalusia coast, Andalusia's Wildfire Department (INFOCA) said on Twitter.

Hot summer weather and adverse winds are stoking the blaze, it said in a post late on Wednesday.

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s former king is set to return to the country Thursday for his first visit since leaving nearly two years ago amid a cloud of financial scandals.

The royal household said Juan Carlos I would first visit the northwestern town of Sanxenxo, where a yachting event is scheduled. He plans to travel to Madrid on Monday to see his son, King Felipe VI, and other members of the royal family, the palace said in a statement issued late Wednesday.

MADRID, May 5 (Reuters) - Spain received 4 million tourists in March, more than eight times as many as in the same month last year, after most pandemic-related restrictions were lifted, data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed on Thursday.

Foreign tourists spent 5.07 billion euros ($5.37 billion) while on holiday in the country in March, up from a mere 544 million euros a year earlier, the data showed.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A leading Catalan separatist politician said Thursday that Spain’s top intelligence official acknowledged that her agency had hacked into the cellphones of “some” of the dozens of politicians reported to be targeted by spyware but she said it had proper judicial authorization.

Gabriel Rufián, member of a Catalan pro-independence party, spoke after he participated in a closed-door meeting with the director of Spain’s National Intelligence Center, CNI, along with a select group of Spanish lawmakers.

MADRID, April 27 (Xinhua) -- The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) confirmed here on Wednesday that Russia had announced its intention to withdraw from the organization.

"Russia has announced its intention to withdraw from UNWTO," explained the UNWTO in a tweet, adding that nevertheless Russia must "follow due process - and this will take a year to complete upon the receipt of the official communications through the appropriate channels."

MADRID, April 24 (Reuters) - Spain's ombudsman said on Sunday it would investigate the government's alleged spying of Catalan separatist figures during the height of the region's bid for independence, while the government announced a separate inquiry by its CNI intelligence agency.

MADRID (AP) — Spain took another step Wednesday toward a sense of normality amid the pandemic by partially ending the near two-year-long obligatory use of masks indoors.

The government decree, passed Tuesday, keeps masks mandatory for visitors and staff in medical centers and nursing homes, although patients won’t always be obliged to wear them.

Masks will also be mandatory on all forms of public transportation, but not in stations or airports.

FUENTES DE ANDALUCIA, Spain, April 16 (Reuters) - A peaceful white-walled village in southern Spain has changed its name to Ukraine in solidarity with those caught up in the conflict more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) away.

On a sign at a roundabout at the village's entrance, Ukraine has replaced Fuentes de Andalucia and the country's blue and yellow flag has been painted alongside.

Streets have been renamed City of Kyiv, Odesa and Mariupol in the village of more than 7,100 inhabitants east of Seville.

08 April 2022; MEMO: The Spanish parliament yesterday condemned the government's shift in position over the Western Sahara, saying it has abandoned its "historic" neutral position on the conflict.

The Spanish parliament said the government's actions would "practically support the path proposed by Morocco, by abandoning the basis for a political solution acceptable to both sides" of the conflict.