English in Madrid

Image generated with Chat GPT Spanish PM sorry for corruption scandal as opposition demands resignation Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has apologised to the Spanish people after an escalating corruption scandal brought down a senior Socialist party colleague. Sánchez, who has led Spain since 2018, said there was no such thing as "zero corruption" and he sought to put to distance himself from the affair, ruling out early elections. Opposition conservative leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said it was time for Sánchez to resign: "Survival is no longer an option." A downbeat Sánchez admitted he had been wrong to trust Santos Cerdán, the secretary of his Socialist party, and spoke of his deep disappointment . Cerdán has been asked to testify in court after a judge suggested he may have acted with former party officials in improperly awarding public contracts in exchange for kickbacks . He said on Thursday he was stepping down to defend himself in the Supreme Cour...

Image created by Chat GPT US tariff turmoil makes Spain's flagship foods seek other markets It's lunchtime in a bar in the southern Spanish city of Seville. The kitchen is humming with activity, and behind the bar a member of staff pours cold beer from a tap into a glass. Nearby, another uses a carving knife to cut slices from a large leg of jamón ibérico, or Iberian ham, placing each one on a plate, to be served as an appetiser. There are few more Spanish scenes. And there are few more Spanish products than jamón ibérico, whose unique salty flavour is * renowned across the world, and part of a national cured ham industry worth nearly €750m ($850m; £630m) each year in exports. As he watches the jamón being carved, Jaime Fernández, international commercial director for the Grupo Osborne, which produces wine, sherry and the renowned Cinco Jotas brand of ham, describes it as a " flagship " national foodstuff. "It's one of the most iconic gastronomic prod...

Image generated by Chat GPT Greta Thunberg deported, Israel says, after Gaza aid boat intercepted Israel says it has deported Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg, a day after the Gaza- bound aid boat she and 11 other people were on was intercepted by Israeli forces in the Mediterranean. Thunberg departed Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning on a flight to France after she agreed to be deported, the Israeli foreign ministry said. Upon arriv ing at an airport in Paris, Thunberg accused Israel of illegally kidnapping her and other activists on the boat while they were in international waters. France said five of the six French citizens detained alongside her had refused to sign their deportation orders and would now be subject to judicial proceedings . The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), the activist group operating the yacht The Madleen, has demanded the immediate release of everyone detained. The vessel was intercepted early on Monday while the activists tried to deliver a "symbolic...

Image created by Chat GPT October 2024 First Message to BA via their website: My first flight was delayed and I was resigned to missing my connecting flight. However, they made up time and I had a chance to make the next flight.  I ran off the flight to passport control where a BA assistant said I could still make the flight but my boarding pass didn’t let me through. The only BA employee (Ágata) behind a desk there was attending a customer (whose flight was 2 hours later), though was not doing anything other than being on hold on a mobile phone.  I told her that I was going to miss my flight if she didn't  help me but she completely ignored me. After around ten minutes, and thanks to a border force employee, she reluctantly attended to me. She then told me that my name had been taken off the connecting flight (Why did this happen when there was still time for me to make it to the plane before boarding closed 20 minutes before the flight?) Security was partic...