Catalan parliament approves law to eradicate asbestos, Spain’s population set to reach 53 million by 2076, and more news from Spain on Thursday 18th June.
Catalan parliament approves law to eradicate asbestos in region
The Catalan Parliament has approved measures to speed up the removal and disposal of asbestos from buildings and facilities in the Catalonia region.
The legislation was unanimously passed on Wednesday and obliges public authorities to identify, manage and remove this material from their properties.
“The law provides us with the necessary tools to continue making progress and do everything in our power to ensure that this polluting material becomes a thing of the past in our country,” said the Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition, Sílvia Paneque.
She also pointed out that, despite the fact that the sale of asbestos was banned in 2001, in Catalonia there still are 121,982 roofs currently containing asbestos.
Four arrested for selling drugs to tourists on Barcelona’s La Rambla
A police investigation has led to the dismantling of a drug storage facility and the arrest of four suspects accused of selling drugs to tourists in the La Rambla area of Barcelona.
The investigation began when it was discovered that several suspects were involved in drug trafficking in Barcelona city centre and that their main customers were foreign nationals.
Officers carried out surveillance and tailed the suspects until they located the flat being used as a storage point for these drugs, situated in the Poble-sec neighbourhood, in the Sants-Montjuïc district.
Spain’s population set to reach 53 million by 2076 due to migration
Spain’s population is set to reach 53 million by 2076, an increase of 3.38 million people and driven exclusively by immigration, according to projections published by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
This would significantly reduce the proportion of Spanish-born people, which would fall to 59.6 percent compared with the 79.8 percent they represent today.
Without immigration flows the Spanish population would plummet to 31.7 million, the data shows. “Net migration would be positive in every year of the projection period, which would result, on balance, in a population increase,” the INE states.
Outrage amongst Valencia flood victims over decision to shut down inquiry
Family members of the victims of the Valencia floods are outraged after the regional legislature, Les Corts, ordered the closure of the inquiry committee.
Victims groups said the authorities haven’t taken them seriously since the start of the investigation.”
From the day he started speaking and changing his story so many times, he has been laughing at us”, said Rosa Álvarez, president of the Association of DANA Victims, referring to disgraced regional president Carlos Mazón.
The committee is reportedly set to conclude by passing a motion that brings the Valencian parliament’s inquiry to a close and holds the national government solely responsible for the more than 200 lives lost during the floods in the city, something disputed by both Madrid and victims groups.
