Author - Barbara Czartoryska

Barcelona Takes on Airbnb

A new rule, the only one of its kind in a major European city, forbids short-term private-room rentals, adding fuel to the debate over how to control booming prepandemic tourism.It’s been a busy summer for Lucas Ezequiel Hernández, a 29-year-old designer who lives with his brother in central Barcelona. In June, he listed the extra bedroom in their apartment on Airbnb, and for more than two months, hosted a steady stream of tourists at a rate of 40 euros, or about $47, per night. But by the end of [...]

Self certified note stating reason for circulating outside recommended in Catalunya from tomorrow, Monday 23 of March.

Royal Decree 463/2020, of March 14, declaring the state of alarm for the management of the health crisis situation caused by COVID-19, establishes the limitation of the freedom of movement of people and determines for what activities will be possible to circulate along the roads for public use. In the framework of the application of the alarm state through the PROCICAT Action Plan for emerging diseases activated in the emergency phase-1, and considering the need to certify that the activity being carried out complies with those provided in the [...]

Tourism industry bracing for economic impact of coronavirus

Published in https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-02-27/spain-bracing-for-economic-impact-of-coronavirus.html#?sma=newsletter_inenglish20200228mBusinesses in Spain are eyeing events in Italy but say that it is too early to feel effects ahead of the Easter breakBesides creating a public health crisis, the Covid-19 coronavirus is also having an impact on national economies. The Spanish stock market has retreated over 9% in six trading days as new cases of the disease have been confirmed. And the tourism industry is closely watching events unfold in Italy, where major cultural, trade and sports fixtures have been cancelled in a bid to halt the [...]

Spaniards still eager to study in British universities in spite of Brexit

Publié dans: https://english.elpais.com/brexit/2020-02-20/spaniards-still-eager-to-study-in-british-universities-despite-brexit.htmlStudent applications have risen 30% since the 2016 referendum, but uncertainty remains over the future of the Erasmus exchange programAn increasing number of Spanish students are interested in studying in British universities despite Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, in a process commonly known as “Brexit.” Britain’s Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) has seen a 30% rise in student applications from Spain since 2016, when Britain voted to leave the EU. Requests from German and Bulgarian students, however, fell 10% this academic year.There are [...]

Spanish rail company wins €5.6 billion contract to operate high-speed network in the United States

Publié sur: https://english.elpais.com/economy_and_business/2020-02-21/spanish-rail-company-wins-56-billion-contract-to-operate-high-speed-network-in-the-united-states.htmlRenfe will be responsible for the line between Houston and Dallas in what will be the largest ever deal reached by a state-owned company outside of SpainSpain’s state-owned rail company Renfe has won a $6 billion (€5.56 billion) contract to operate a high-speed train line between the cities of Dallas and Houston in the United States – the biggest contract ever secured by a Spanish public company outside of Spain, according to a press release issued by the firm on Wednesday.The contract, details of which were published by Spanish [...]

Gibraltar, fishing and migrant rights: Spain’s post-Brexit red lines

https://english.elpais.com/brexit/2020-01-30/gibraltar-fishing-and-migrant-rights-spains-post-brexit-red-lines.html#?sma=newsletter_inenglish20200131mPM Pedro Sánchez is meeting on Thursday with the European Union’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, to discuss the future relationship between the UK and the blocSpain has set down its red lines for the ambitious negotiation over the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom after Britain leaves the 28-country bloc on Friday, a process commonly known as Brexit. The EU’s chief negotiator for the process, Michel Barnier, will visit Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Thursday to discuss Spain’s priorities going into this new stage. Protecting [...]

Spanish nationality: on the road to a new law for the descendants

The agreements of the newly formed coalition government between PSOE and Unidas Podemos could allow a significant change in the acquisition of the Spanish nationality. Indeed, the new government’s program of agreement includes a measure to recognize Spanish nationality for people whose parents are Spanish but born abroad. The idea is to offer the possibility to any Spanish descendant, son/daughter or grandson/granddaughter, in the case that one of their relatives was born abroad. Even if the proposal still raises issues, the original text states: “the Spanish nationality will be [...]

Spain continues to have one of the worst levels of English in Europe

A new study places the country in 25th spot on a list of 33 European states with respect to its proficiency in the languageSpaniards do not have a good level of English. In fact, surveys from the European Union’s statistical office, Eurostat, and a report from the foreign language company, Education First, place Spain close to the bottom of the ladder compared to the rest of Europe when it comes to English proficiency.According to experts, the poor result is explained in part by the size of Spain, its relatively low GDP per capita [...]

Beginning of the rice harvest

 The rice harvesting campaign started this week in the spanish rice paddies , Europe's largest producing country with an annual output of around 800,000 tonnes. In terms of production, Spain is just behind Italy and ahead of Greece. It is a very small part of the worlds production but for the regions of Extremadura, Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia, rice farming is part of both agricultural and gastronomic heritage.Most of the rice milling industries are located in the Valencia region, although this region produces only a quarter of the Spanish [...]

Attics Mythics … The history of these apartments that have become an object of desire …

In modern architecture, the attic is the floor located nearest to  the roof, at the top of the face of the building, set back on the street side, to make way for a balcony or terrace.At a time when the prices take off for this type of housing in Spain (and elsewhere), it is difficult to think that the penthouse was previously the apartment reserved for the porter or the service staff ... Because at the time when the elevator did not exist (or was not within the reach [...]