Spain’s lower house has endorsed a law granting citizenship to tens of thousands of people born in Western Sahara, a move likely to anger Morocco, which claims sovereignty over the disputed territory.
If confirmed by the Senate, the initiative risks adding a fresh strain to relations already tested after more than 70,000 migrants swam from Morocco to Spain’s north African exclave of Ceuta. The bill
was put forward by Sumar, the radical leftwing party in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s ruling coalition. Sánchez has been at pains not to blame Morocco for the Ceuta crisis, wary of provoking another influx.
Western Sahara, a contested desert region about the size of the UK, which was a Spanish territory until 1976, has long been a source of tension between Morocco and Spain.
Rabat claims sovereignty over the territory, while Madrid only endorsed Morocco’s autonomy plan in 2022 after a previous migration crisis in Ceuta. People born in Western Sahara before 1977 and their descendants “have been in a state of legal and political limbo” for decades
unresolved”, the political group said. Sumar estimates the measure could benefit up to 80,000 people. Granting citizenship to Sahrawis could further strain relations with Morocco, where sovereignty over Western Sahara is a core tenet of the monarchy and a pillar of foreign policy. Rabat is likely to see the move as undermining its claim to the territory.
Some of the world’s biggest underground bankers have been targeted in an international law enforcement operation against a sophisticated financial network suspected of financing drug trafficking and laundering criminal proceeds around the world.
The investigation, led by the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and supported by Europol, has resulted in the arrest of 21 suspects for offences including participation in a criminal organisation, drug trafficking and money laundering.
This resulted in the arrest of 15 suspects. Spanish authorities also issued 19 international arrest warrants against suspects located outside the country. Six of these warrants have since been executed, resulting in four arrests in the United Arab Emirates, one in Egypt and one in the Netherlands.
Among those arrested is a leading figure in a major underground banking network known as the “Dubai Bank”. Identified by Europol as a High Value Target, the suspect is believed to have played a key role in providing financial services for major drug trafficking operations worldwide.
Authorities have identified, seized or frozen assets worth approximately EUR 20 million.
Formula 1 has a brand-new track to look forward to this weekend and the expectation is there will be carnage and the drivers will be seriously tested at the Madring.
The Spanish Grand Prix has moved from its traditional circuit in Barcelona to a high-speed street track in Madrid and has been described as “Jeddah on steroids” by Formula 3 drivers who tested there last month – the Jeddah track itself is one of the most challenging circuits in F1.
There are 22 official corners on the 3.365-mile Madring circuit, although unusually the track layout has Turns 5A and 20A – so maybe there are 24.
Whatever the number, after the start/finish straight the driver will almost always be turning the steering wheel at some point as there are few straights.
For much of the track, if the drivers are slightly off the racing line by turning at the wrong time or carrying a little too much speed, they could easily find themselves in the barriers at high speed.
The risk-versus-reward stakes will be very high and the bravest drivers, who get it right, will come out on top.
“I think definitely with the way they’ve put the barriers and the design of the track it’s going to be one of the biggest challenges in Formula 1 recently,” said Sainz.
. Such is the difficulty of the track, it is a question of how many red flags will we see across practice, qualifying and the race. As we saw at the Italian Grand Prix, if any barriers need to be repaired for crashes, that will definitely require a red flag.
In the two-day F3 test, there were 19 red flags – albeit not all of them were for crashes.
“Looking at the track and hearing of what happened in the F3 test, I think we are all expecting safety cars, red flags and yellow flags in qualy and things like this,” said Sainz.
“It has been a fashion or a tendency of Formula 1 to go to these kind of tracks like Jeddah, Baku recently that are closer to the city – and Miami – but they have more walls and we haven’t had any issues with it. The races actually seem to be going quite well to every place we’ve gone, so it’s that similar trend we’re going towards.”
Predicting the pecking order is anyone’s guess but the track layout will suit cars that are strong in the corners – akin to what we saw at the Hungaroring and Zandvoort when McLaren’s Lando Norris won.
McLaren and Ferrari will hope to wrestle some momentum back off Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli following the Italian’s stunning victory at Monza.
Avoiding a qualifying or race-ending crash for the title contenders this weekend will be pivotal. But we all know F1 drivers will push the limits, but they must all be careful when attacking the new Madring because this track will bite you, and bite hard.