Bob James’ Spanish News Headlines – Visual format – Dateline: 26/04/24
Madrid’s prosecuting authority yesterday said it had requested the dismissal of a corruption case against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife that prompted him to announce he is considering resigning.
The authority said it was appealing Wednesday’s decision by a Madrid court to look into a private complaint laid by anti-corruption activists against Begona Gomez over alleged influence peddling and business corruption.
The anti-graft group behind the complaint, Manos Limpias said earlier it had based its suit on media reports and could not vouch for their veracity.
The group’s head, Miguel Bernad, said in a statement on Facebook the group had merely compiled and passed the reports to a judge out of “civic duty”, and denied that the action was politically motivated.
Sanchez issued a letter to citizens on Wednesday saying he was taking a five-day break from public duties and would announce his decision to stay or quit on Monday.
He blamed the move on what he called “unprecedented slander and harassment from the right and far right”.
In his letter, Sanchez forcefully denied the allegations against his wife who has not commented in Public.
Bernad, who in the 1980s ran in two European elections as a candidate for the far-right National Front said in his statement yesterday the suit was not political but “solely based on journalistic reports”.
High-ranking Socialist Party officials closed ranks around Sanchez, describing the political climate as “toxic” and the complaint by Manos Limpias as fake.
Thousands of travelers faced travel chaos yesterday after Ryanair cancelled more than 300 flights across Europe.
The Irish airline had warned 50,000 of its customers would be impacted by the scrapped services, including many on trips to and from Spain and Italy.
The last minute disruption came as a result of air traffic control strikes taking place in France .. the civil aviation authority asked airlines to cancel 75 per cent of flights at Paris Orly airport as well as over half of flights at both Paris Charles-De-Gaulle and Marseille airports.
French Air traffic control strikes frequently impact travel throughout the continent, as they don’t just limit flights into France but also across its airspace.
The Guardia Civil have announced the arrest of 20 people for making Illegal Cigarettes.
It is alleged that those arrested were involved in the production and distribution of 6 Million counterfeit cigarettes Many were soezed along with 33 tons of tobacco with an estimated value of €7.6 million.
There were two clandestine factories operating, one in Cordoba and the other in Humanes de Madrid .. the Lucena operation was almost impossible to find with some 11 Bulgarians locked inside and living in the factory.
In order to be able to smuggle the counterfeit cigarettes to their main markets of France and Portugal there was also a selection of false packaging in order for it to appear that the packs were genuine and represented the most popular brands.
The investigation which stretches as far Ukraine via different international agencies continues.
That’s the latest from TRE, I’m Bob James.
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