Latest Spain News

Spain approves amnesty for Catalan separatists, but adiós to hopes it would bolster weak government

Mar. 14, 2024 13:46 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has kept his part of a bargain struck last year with Catalonia’s separatists to keep him in power by pushing through a divisive amnesty bill. The legislation aims to clear hundreds of secession supporters for their roles in an...

Catalonia calls an early regional election that could add to Spain’s political uncertainty

Mar. 13, 2024 17:35 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The regional president of Catalonia has called an early election for May 12 after his minority government failed to pass a budget for Spain's wealthy northeast region that includes Barcelona. The move by Pere Aragonès on Wednesday came on the eve of a vote...

Spanish police dismantle network that profited off families of dead migrants seeking repatriations

Mar. 13, 2024 12:13 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police have dismantled a network that profited off families of dead migrants seeking to repatriate the remains of their loved ones, authorities said Wednesday. Fourteen people have been detained and one person is under investigation in the southern...

Virgin of Charity unites all Cubans — Catholics, Santeria followers, exiled and back on the island

Mar. 13, 2024 10:55 AM EDT

EL COBRE, Cuba (AP) — Ramon Nieblas fixed his tearful eyes on the small golden statue, a beloved icon of Cuba’s patron saint. Whispering, he asked the Virgin of Charity of Cobre for a miracle: Please save his sick son. “I came to pray for his health,” said Nieblas, a Cuban...

Revered by Hemingway and visited by popes, why Cuba's small patron saint is such a huge symbol

Mar. 13, 2024 08:09 AM EDT

EL COBRE, Cuba (AP) — One religious icon unites Cubans: The Virgin of Charity of Cobre. Cuba's patron saint is venerated by observant Catholics and followers of Afro-Cuban Santeria traditions as well as Cubans in exile and back on the island. The wooden statue of the Virgin Mary...

At least 7 are dead and 38 are rescued after a migrant boat was found near Spain's Canary Islands

Mar. 12, 2024 11:41 AM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Two bodies have been found in a migrant boat making the risky but increasingly popular voyage from West Africa toward Spain's Canary Islands, and survivors said five other people died and were put overboard, maritime rescuers and the Red Cross said Tuesday. ...

An expanding NATO uses its diversity as strength. Member troops know Russia is watching

Mar. 12, 2024 01:37 AM EDT

ABOARD THE FRENCH FRIGATE NORMANDIE (AP) — The French navy frigate, bristling with weaponry and powering through frigid Norwegian seas not so far from Russia, awoke at 7:30 a.m. sharp to what, in the circumstances, was a surreal sound. The 1967 “ Summer of Love " hippie anthem...

Spanish and European officials mark the 20th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings in 2004

Mar. 11, 2024 10:54 AM EDT

MADRID (AP) — Victims of terror attacks are a symbol of the constant need to guard freedom and the rule of law against threats, King Felipe VI of Spain said Monday at a ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of one of Europe’s deadliest extremist attacks. “Remembering, just like...

A religious procession in Barcelona celebrates rain during a severe drought in northeast Spain

Mar. 10, 2024 12:46 PM EDT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A religious procession in downtown Barcelona celebrated the appearance of long-awaited rain, after nine days of praying for relief from a severe drought. Around 100 local people took part in the Catholic ceremony on a rainy Saturday evening. ...

Spain's prime minister says he will propose that parliament recognizes a Palestinian state

Mar. 09, 2024 13:44 PM EST

BILBAO, Spain (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday that he will propose that Spain's parliament recognizes a Palestinian state. “I will propose granting Spain’s recognition to the Palestinian state,” Sánchez said. "I do this out of moral conviction,...