SPAIN

The majority association of judges equates the reform of the CGPJ proposed by Sánchez with a “constitutional outrage”, denounce his threats against them as ignoring fundamental constitutional separation of powers: {Translation}
– In the opinion of the Professional Association of the Judiciary (APM), the legal reform proposed by Pedro Sánchez if he does not reach an agreement to renew the General Council of the Judiciary before July is “a real constitutional outrage”. The President of the Government has not detailed the content of this reform, but has implied that it would consist of changing the way in which the CGPJ appoints judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts of Justice of the autonomous communities. It could even be envisaged that this power would be definitively taken away from the Council.
– “Groundhog day is over”, Sánchez announced on Wednesday morning. He was referring to the more than 2,000 days that the CGPJ, the governing body of judges, has been expired. The announcement was accompanied by a threat to the Popular Party: if it does not agree to renew the body by the end of the month, the government will change the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) to modify the powers of the Council.
– The president’s thesis is that the PP has not renewed the CGPJ because it wants to keep the members appointed by Mariano Rajoy’s absolute majority in 2013, who are the ones who in turn decide who occupies the seats at the top of the judiciary. This is the “perverse objective” of the PP, Sánchez said.
– He did not recall, however, that his government promoted a legal reform in 2021 so that the CGPJ could not make these appointments while it was out of office, and that as a result the Supreme Court currently has more than 30% of vacancies.
– The Popular Party has ruled out Sánchez’s ultimatum but is considering accepting the offer made by the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, who wants to resume negotiations this Friday. In any case, the majority association in the judiciary has already expressed its “deep rejection and concern” about the president’s plans. And it has urged “all political forces to urgently resume dialogue in order to comply with constitutional mandates”.
– “The APM has been calling for months for the urgent renewal of the CGPJ in the face of a situation that is already unsustainable,” the statement recalls. For the association, “Pedro Sánchez’s proposal to deprive the Council of the power to make appointments is unacceptable and a real constitutional outrage”. This, judges claim, is but one of the many attacks that judges receive “every day” from the executive branch.
– But this, moreover, is a “precipitous” attack, a threat of “new forms of interference”, a “pilgrim idea” that all political forces must avoid. The APM is in favour of a very different proposal to the one put on the table by the Prime Minister, very similar to the one proposed by the PP and identical to the one that the European Commission has been recommending for months. The idea is to renew the CGPJ as a matter of urgency and to tackle “immediately afterwards” a reform of the Organic Law of the Judiciary (LOPJ) so that the judges themselves appoint part of the members of the Council. This body is made up of 20 members, of whom 12 are judges and eight are jurists of recognised prestige. The reform of the LOPJ would ensure that the 12 judges are elected from among their peers and would leave it to Parliament to appoint the remaining eight members. Source, Spanish: https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5493105/0/asociacion-mayoritaria-jueces-equipara-reforma-cgpj-que-plantea-sanchez-con-un-atropello-constitucional/

ANDALUCÍA

List of Andalusian beaches with the dishonor of the ‘Black Flag’ due to pollution and poor environmental management: {Translation, summary}
– In Huelva, the beaches that appear on this blacklist are El Portil, “due to poor environmental management” and the Ría de Huelva for “contamination”.
– In Cádiz there is Tarifa “due to the accumulation of urban development projects” and Vejer “due to contamination in El Palmar and invasive occupation of the coastline”.
– In Almería, El Lancón beach in Carboneras “due to poor environmental management” and Quitapellejos-Palomares beach “due to pollution”.
– In Malaga, the beaches of Malaga – Chiringuitos, for “poor environmental management” and the beaches of Malaga for “plastic pollution”.
– In Granada, Playa de Castell de Ferro for “poor environmental management” and Playas de Granada and Poniente for contamination. Source, Spanish: https://www.malagahoy.es/andalucia/playas-andalucia-bandera-negra-contaminacion-mala-gestion_0_1911409547.html 

MALAGA CITY

Luxury home in El Candado broken into with owner inside- 200,000 euros in jewellery and watches stolen: {Translation, summary}
– She was alone in one of the rooms of her luxurious villa in El Candado (Malaga) {pic} when several hooded thieves broke in. They must not have made too much noise, as the woman did not realise that they had entered and were searching her house until they gained access to the room she was in. They did not use violence, although they allegedly carried an iron bar and one of the alleged robbers stayed with the victim in the room until the rest took the loot: some 200,000 euros in watches and jewellery.
– It was Saturday, 18 May. It was after 10 p.m. when the robbers jumped over a wall and forced their way into the building through the front door. They went through each of the rooms of the house until they reached the place where the owner, who is about 60 years old, was staying. She had not heard any noise to make her suspect what was happening on the other side of her door.
– When the assailants broke into her room they were allegedly carrying an iron bar. Although they did not use violence against her, one of the robbers stayed by her side and kept an eye on her for the hour or so that the others took the opportunity to ransack the house. They were not looking for money, but for exclusive and unique pieces. According to sources close to the case consulted by this newspaper, the criminals stole, above all, jewellery and watches, the value of which amounts to 200,000 euros.
– The National Police, for the moment, is maintaining an open investigation to fully clarify the facts. Moreover, this is not the only robbery they are trying to solve. Just a few days ago, a married couple who were with their grandson in their home in Cerrado de Calderón also suffered a robbery. In this case, the alleged criminals did attack one of the victims. Source, Spanish: https://www.malagahoy.es/malaga/roban-casa-lujo-Candado-joyas-relojes-Malaga_0_1911109051.html 

HEALTH

Nurses send letters to avoid liability for negligence due to overload: {Translation}
– In the Hospital Clínico de Málaga “140 nurses are missing” since the beginning of the month, “due to the decrease of approximately 40 percent in the recruitment carried out on 1 June”. That alone, denounced José Sánchez, general secretary of Satse Andalucía, in this hospital. From this Tuesday, the union has launched an information campaign that will tour the hospitals and health centres of the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) during the coming weeks to “alert” users about the “deficits” of staffing of nurses, specialist nurses and physiotherapists: “They have to know what is happening in their health centre…it will lead to ever-increasing waiting lists and to all possible damage in terms of health.”
– The “cutbacks” of the Junta de Andalucía have closed a hospital ward, an arrhythmia operating theatre, a haemodynamics operating theatre, the emergency pre-encamp unit and the critical care nursing team has been eliminated, along with the reduction of the haemodialysis, medical day hospital and endoscopy staff at the Hospital Virgen de la Victoria, he said. “This does not provide any kind of security for citizens,” Sánchez lamented, because “it will lead to ever longer waiting lists and all the possible damage in terms of health”. They estimate that “around 2,000 nurses are needed in the province of Malaga, to cover at least the quotas that existed before the pandemic”.
– This situation, he claimed, has worsened “now with the cut of more than 5,000 professionals”. Added to this is the fact that staff leave due to temporary incapacity or other causes (maternity, reduced working hours) “is not being covered”, so that staff “are obliged to carry out their work and that of their absent colleagues”. The “overload” of work is leading the SATSE (Sindicato de Enfermería, Nursing & physio professionals union) delegates to give the health workers written documents, to be sent to the management of each centre, in which they “decline any liability, civil or criminal, that their actions may cause by being subjected to an overload of work due to lack of staff”.
– Satse will be rotating around the province to set up daily stands in various centres, posters will be distributed and leaflets will be handed out detailing the nurses, specialist nurses or physiotherapists who are lacking in each centre and their risks. In a press release, the organisation has stressed that it is essential to raise public awareness in order to avoid “generating situations of tension, which occasionally lead to aggression towards the professionals who attend them”. Instead, they encourage patients to complain: “All SAS centres have complaint books, which can be submitted to the Citizen Care units”. Source, Spanish: https://andaluciainformacion.es/malaga/1684796/enfermeras-mandan-cartas-para-evitar-su-responsabilidad-en-negligencias-por-la-sobrecarga/

SPORTS

Tennis News- Nadal & Alcaraz team up to play Olympic doubles, Badosa to skip Games:
– Spain’s Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz will team up to play doubles at this year’s Olympics in Paris, the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation (RFET) said on Wednesday, but former world number two Paula Badosa will skip the Games.
– The other players selected are Pablo Carreno Busta and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina while Marcel Granollers, who is ranked world number two in doubles, is also in the squad.
Sara Sorribes and Cristina Bucsa, Spain’s top-ranked players and Madrid Open doubles champions, form the women’s team with Badosa not travelling after her ranking plummeted due to injuries. Full article: https://www.reuters.com/sports/tennis/nadal-alcaraz-play-spain-olympic-doubles-2024-06-12/

TRAVEL

Imserso 2024-2025- these are the dates on which the travel program for seniors will begin: {Translation, summary}
– The Imserso trips will go on sale in September, on a date to be announced soon.
– The extension comes after numerous complaints about the services provided in the 2023/2024 season, which both Ávoris and the Ministry have committed to improve. Information on the programme for the 2024/2025 season and how to register for it will soon be available on the Imserso website (https://imserso.es/en/el-imserso). Source, Spanish: https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5492168/0/imserso-2024-2025-fechas-programa-mayores/ 

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RENFE lowers its commitment to punctuality- these are the new delay time limits and ticket refund options that they will be providing: {Translation, summary}
– Until now, Renfe had as its refund policy for delays the paying of 50% of the high-speed or long-distance ticket when the delay exceeded 15 minutes and 100% of the price if the delay was longer than 30 minutes. With the new system, the compensation is now 50% for delays of more than 60 minutes and 100% for delays of more than 90 minutes.
– In addition to the current possibility of reimbursement in cash (or to the bank card), Renfe has added two others: the reimbursement of 200% of the amount to which one is entitled depending on the delay, but in points, which it has called ‘Renfecitos’, through the Más Renfe loyalty card, to be used on other journeys. The third possibility is compensation in the form of a voucher for another ticket, with which the reimbursement in euros will be equivalent to 150% of the amount of compensation for delays of 60 minutes or more than 90 minutes.
– Tickets purchased before 1 July remain under the current commitment of 50% for a 15-minute delay and 100% for a 30-minute delay. Delay compensation, which has been in place since 1992, cost Renfe 42 million euros in 2023, although if all eligible passengers had asked for it, the amount would have been as much as 60-70 million euros.
Source, Spanish: https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/5494227/0/renfe-empeora-compromiso-puntualidad/