Bob James’ Spanish News Headlines – Visual format – Dateline: 26/03/25 – Latest
The Irish and Spanish police have uncovered the “organisational structure” of the Dublin-headquartered drugs gang known as the Family, with 12 suspects now arrested, including six in Spain.
Among those were three men who are related to each other and are the apex of the Family.
Irish and European investigators, with the support of Europol traced a series of drugs runs from Spain to Ireland that the Family gang was involved in. Each run involved drugs valued at millions of Euro, mostly cocaine.
The drugs were concealed in hidden compartments in trucks, which were fitted with cloned registration plates.
The government will outline and start implementing a plan to boost the defense sector before the summer so Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told lawmakers this morning without providing details.
“The objective is for Spain to contribute to and, at the same time, benefit from the technological and industrial stimulus to strengthen the European security and defense area, while remaining faithful to our principles,” he said.
In a speech about new global geopolitical challenges, Sanchez also promised that any increase in investment in security and defense would be carried out without cutting spending on social or environment policies.
Environmental groups and residents are suing the state and Galicia in a landmark case over alleged decades-long mismanagement of pollution caused by intensive pig farming so charity ClientEarth said this morning.
The case, which argues that the authorities’ inaction breached national and European law, was filed with the High Court of Justice of the region which is home to about a third of Spain’s pig farms.
ClientEarth said it was the first time a court in Europe will hear a case on the impact of intensive livestock operations on water sources and, consequently, on residents’ human rights.
There are about nine plaintiffs involved, including residents and associations.
The claimants, including the consumer organisation CECU, decided to bring the case to court after officials continued to rubber-stamp new farms despite residents’ repeated attempts to get them to address the agricultural pollution.
Drivers on the Costa Blanca should be aware that the DGT has installed 17 new speed cameras.
These include nine fixed cameras and eight average-speed cameras.
This is part of the DGT’s 2025 speed control plan, which aims to introduce 122 new cameras across the country to improve road safety and reduce speeding.
For the first month after activation, drivers caught speeding will receive a warning letter instead of a fine. After the grace period, fines and penalty points will apply.
That’s the latest from TRE, I’m Bob James.
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