All posts tagged: Spain

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can’t wait for Pope Leo’s visit

Returning to the fold? Some young Spaniards embrace Catholicism and can’t wait for Pope Leo’s visit

Until three years ago, Sara Cabral’s faith experience was on trend with other Southern European youth — a “Catholic but never practicing” upbringing with little relevance to her life on Spain’s Canary Islands. Then she listened to a song from a faith youth group that felt as if God were speaking to her. She joined the group, and now in addition to its weekly adoration with music sessions, Cabral is excitedly preparing to attend Pope Leo XIV ’s Mass in Gran Canaria with her friends. “You get a restlessness about an emptiness that you don’t know how to fill,” Cabral, 26, says of her embrace of Catholicism. “God is the one looking for you first, but you need to go meet him.” On trips to Spain this month and France in September, Leo will find thousands of young people like her in these traditionally Catholic but now staunchly secular countries, where historic churches are abundant and Mass attendance is sparse. Church leaders and some experts see the success of youth movements and the surge in …

AfD, Vox mingle with ex-US Border Patrol chief, white nationalist leader at ‘remigration summit’  – POLITICO

AfD, Vox mingle with ex-US Border Patrol chief, white nationalist leader at ‘remigration summit’  – POLITICO

Two years later, a confident Sellner made himself available to journalists for interviews at the remigration summit, dwelling on concepts that he says are now going mainstream. “We have a very neurotic relationship to our own ethnicity, our own ethno-cultural identity and I think we need to overcome that,” Sellner told reporters at the summit, calling on Europeans to overcome their “guilt complex” and “self-loathing” stemming from “post-war consensus.” At least three AfD politicians attended the event, including Kay Gottschalk, a member of the Bundestag and one of the party’s cofounders. Gottschalk said he was there “to listen” as “a visitor.” Lena Kotré, an AfD member and representative in the Brandenburg state legislature, spoke on stage with Sven Tritschler, a member of the North Rhine-Westphalia parliament, also in attendance. Vox MPs Rocío de Meer and Carlos Quero featured on the summit’s speakers list. Activist Sammy Woodhouse, a supporter of U.K. right-wing party Restore Britain, was also among the speakers. Tensions emerged when reporters who had been accredited to cover the event were not allowed in …

Spain is legalizing half a million immigrants, a very different policy from the U.S.

Spain is legalizing half a million immigrants, a very different policy from the U.S.

BARCELONA, Spain — Nariola Romo, 34, and her family immigrated to Spain from Colombia, but that wasn’t their initial plan. Their goal was to travel to the United States, but they couldn’t obtain the two loans they needed to make the trip, so they sought a new life in Europe instead. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. “Things didn’t work out for us, and we thought it was God’s will that we didn’t get the chance to go there, and, well, here we are,” she said. Today, as she nears obtaining legal status in Spain, she feels grateful for the turn her life has taken. “Look at how things are in the United States with migrants. It seems like God didn’t want us to be there, because with everything that’s happened, we would have been deported already,” she said. From right to left, Nariola Romo, her son, Angelito, her husband, Ángel, her daughter, Claribel, and her father, Will, on the Barcelona metro.Marta Campabadal In Spain, an …

Bad Bunny wants to meet Pope Leo XIV. In Madrid, a crossover event is in the works.

Bad Bunny wants to meet Pope Leo XIV. In Madrid, a crossover event is in the works.

MADRID (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV and Bad Bunny may seem unlikely candidates for a shared stage, but with both the pontiff and the Puerto Rican pop star set to draw huge crowds in Madrid next week, church and city officials say a meeting — or at least a live video link — is possible. Cardinal José Cobo, archbishop of Madrid, said in an interview with the Europa Press news agency on May 21 that a meeting between the two “is possible.” He added that it could be an opportunity for “bridges to be built.” He also said the Archdiocese of Madrid wants to help make the meeting happen, but added that it will be handled discreetly and “surprises are surprises.” Speaking to a small group of reporters in Madrid, including Religion News Service, the spokesperson for the archdiocese, Sara La Torre, confirmed that Bad Bunny expressed interest in meeting the pope. “The slogan of Madrid is that it’s a crossroads of the world,” said the delegate for tourism of the city of Madrid, Marta …

EU’s big 6 pitch a rival to Wall Street – POLITICO

EU’s big 6 pitch a rival to Wall Street – POLITICO

Back-to-back crises have limited the power of the public purse, so policymakers are hoping professional financiers and savers can do the heavy lifting by putting their money to work in the right places. EU citizens alone have €11 trillion of cash savings sitting in their bank accounts. But vying interests from within the industry and national governments, such as Ireland and Luxembourg, threaten to derail negotiations. That’s convinced the E6 group to agree on the fundamentals among themselves to speed the process along, triggering fears of a two-speed Europe in which some countries are left behind. “I don’t think a separate structure is feasible, because it would conflict with the prevailing perception in all member states today that fragmentation must stop,” Cyprus’ Finance Minister Makis Keravnos, who currently chairs Ecofin meetings, told POLITICO. Devil in the detail The broad strokes of the deal paper over internal divisions within the E6. While all six governments agree on upgrading the EU’s securities regulator into a supercop for the bloc, they disagree on how fast the process should …

CMAT shares ‘deep sadness’ over online abuse from body-shamers after Radio 1 Big Weekend performance

CMAT shares ‘deep sadness’ over online abuse from body-shamers after Radio 1 Big Weekend performance

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This CMAT has said she would “love to stop” having to speak out against the abuse she receives about her body and weight, but it “keeps happening”. The Irish pop star, real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, addressed the trolling following her appearance last week at the BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend in Sunderland on 24 May. “It is literally so boring for me, a gorgeous genius, to keep having to yap on about how horribly I am treated because of my body,” the 30-year-old wrote in a post on Instagram. “I would love to stop but I cannot because it keeps happening, at an accelerating and worsening pace as I become more famous. There is no relief from this – nobody can protect me or save me from this, and all that is demanded of me is more and more work as every environment …

Phil Hogan emerges as front-runner in EU race for world’s biggest food agency – POLITICO

Phil Hogan emerges as front-runner in EU race for world’s biggest food agency – POLITICO

Hogan, Planas and Martina did not respond to requests for comment. The danger of dithering The EU’s agriculture ministers tried to settle which of the three should represent the bloc, but couldn’t agree. For six months, Cyprus, which has chaired the meetings, pressed them to coalesce around one name, but Cypriot Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou told POLITICO that no decision had been made on how to move it forward. The choice will now be made by EU leaders, possibly folded into a broader deal over other top international posts. That pushes any decision to a European Council summit, with the FAO race playing only a small part in the late-night horse-trading. The risk is that the deadlock holds and the EU enters the 2027 vote divided. “The most important thing is to pick one from these candidates,” Polish Agriculture Minister Stefan Krajewski told POLITICO. “Because otherwise, we may lose, and a candidate from outside the EU could win.” Three African contenders are already in the field, including Morocco’s Ismahane Elouafi, the FAO’s former chief scientist, …

EU’s big six reach deal on key markets package – POLITICO

EU’s big six reach deal on key markets package – POLITICO

One of the thorniest issues involves giving more supervisory powers to the EU’s markets body, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). France and Spain pushed to give ESMA sweeping new powers immediately, while Italy and the Netherlands pushed for a transition period of up to eight years. The discussions ended with the E6 agreeing to expand ESMA’s powers “as soon as possible” but without including a specific timeline, said two of the officials. In the final stages of the negotiations, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil left the room to consult with his aides in the gardens of the countryside mansion in Berlin where the meeting was being held. Earlier in the day, Klingbeil told reporters that he was “ready to make concessions” to secure a deal. The signatories of the agreement now face an uphill battle to advance a broader political agreement among the EU’s 27 countries, including arch skeptics Ireland and Luxembourg. In order for the EU to finalize a deal, it must be approved by 15 countries representing at least 65 percent …

Spain distances itself from call for EU to get tougher on China  – POLITICO

Spain distances itself from call for EU to get tougher on China  – POLITICO

Last Friday, Spain was among the large economies who signed onto a French position paper sent to the European Commission that called for the bloc to bolster its trade defenses, make greater use of its investigative capacities and potentially create a new tool to address market distortions.  But as first reported by POLITICO, within a few days Madrid appeared to get cold feet and began insisting the document, which was additionally co-signed by Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania, had only been discussed at the technical level. Spain is often seen as one of the most China-friendly EU members. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has visited Beijing four times in as many years, and the country is among the most receptive to Chinese investment, particularly in the solar panel and automotive sectors. The new line from Madrid comes on the eve of a highly anticipated debate among European commissioners that seeks to kick off a rethink of the EU’s ties with China and to suggest measures to protect the bloc’s industries, which are being squeezed by a …

Scandal after scandal lands Spain’s Sánchez on the ropes – POLITICO

Scandal after scandal lands Spain’s Sánchez on the ropes – POLITICO

This isn’t the only scandal affecting the Sánchez government, is it? No. Last June, Sánchez was forced to apologize after it emerged that his confidant and Socialist Party No. 3, Santos Cerdán, was under investigation for involvement in a massive public contract kickback scheme. Also caught up in that scandal was José Luis Ábalos, a former senior figure in the Socialist Party and transport minister, who had already been under investigation. Deepening the party’s embarrassment, evidence also emerged that Ábalos paid prostitutes on a number of occasions. Both men have denied involvement in the kickback scheme. Spanish Prime Minister speaks during a plenary session at the Spanish Parliament on July 09, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. | Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images Ábalos has already gone on trial once, alongside his former adviser, Koldo García and businessman Víctor de Aldama, accused of taking kickbacks from the purchase of €50 million-worth of facemasks during the pandemic. They are awaiting the verdict but are expected to face trial again in the future over other probes. That all sounds pretty …