Bob James’ Spanish News Headlines – Visual format – Dateline: 27/01/25 – Latest
As the Government struggles to shake off Donald Trump’s criticism of its NATO spending, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is set to meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Madrid with the issue high on the agenda.
At present, Spain does not meet the minimum threshold of 2% of GDP recommended by the alliance and remains the lowest spender among the 32 NATO members, with just 1.28%.
However, as Defence Minister Margarita Robles pointed out last week, Madrid is committed to reaching the 2% target by 2029.
In the midst of the debate the NATO Secretary General warned last week at the World Economic Forum in Davos that if Alliance members do not increase their spending quickly, they will not be able to defend themselves collectively in “four or five years”.
A suspected arson attack in Gibraltar triggered a housing block to be evacuated early this morning.
Multiple residents reported the blaze at George Don House to authorities just before 7.30am today, prompting an immediate response from the Police and Fire and Rescue Service.
The fire was successfully extinguished by 8am with no injuries reported.
Residents were able to return to their homes by 8:20am after being temporarily evacuated.
Crime Scene Investigators were sent to examine the scene as part of an ongoing investigation into the suspected deliberate fire.
Police are appealing for witnesses and urge anyone with information to contact them.
Oil company Repsol plans to invest 4 billion euros in data centres it was reported this morning.
The planned data centres would be located near Zaragoza.
A Repsol spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Zaragoza area is set to become a major cloud computing hub, with technology giants such as Amazon and Microsoft having already announced massive investments in the area.
Spain’s aviation industry has received global recognition, with Iberia and Vueling securing spots in the 2025 rankings of the world’s safest airlines.
The annual list, compiled by Airline Ratings, evaluates safety based on fleet age, profitability, and expert assessments
Iberia made its debut in the top 20, securing 16th place. The list is dominated by Air New Zealand, which claimed the top spot, followed closely by Qantas.
Vueling, a key player in Europe’s low-cost airline market, ranked 13th in the category of safest low-cost airlines.
Barcelona ended their four-match winless streak in LaLiga with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Valencia yesterday.
Barcelona sit third in the standings with 42 points, three behind second-placed Atletico Madrid and seven adrift of leaders
Relegation-threatened Valencia are 19th with 16 points after their first defeat in five matches in all competitions.
That’s the latest from TRE, I’m Bob James.
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