Sánchez announces €1 billion for Ukraine, train delays in Spain triple since 2019, one in three Spanish tenants fear rent rises in near future and more news from Spain on Thursday 19th March.
Sánchez announces €1 billion for Ukraine as Zelenskyy visits Madrid
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced on Tuesday that Spain will make a “new commitment” to Ukraine, with €1 billion earmarked for bilateral military cooperation.
Sánchez made the announcement during the visit to Spain by the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to whom he promised that “Spain will not stop looking towards Ukraine”.
After meeting at La Moncloa, Sánchez and Zelensky formalised the signing of five new agreements between the two countries, including several on cooperation between institutions and private companies and the provision of an ICO loan to Ukrainian companies in the railway sector.
One in three tenants in Spain fear rent rises in near future
Over a third of tenants in Spain (35 percent) expect their rent to rise “soon” and a similar proportion (33 percent) fear losing their home because they cannot afford the mortgage or rent.
This is the main conclusion of the Analysis on Extending the Right to Housing published by the UGT union on Wednesday.
According to the report, the situation becomes even more complicated when it comes to looking for a flat: 31 percent surveyed have moved house more than five times, and almost half take more than four months to find a place to rent when moving.
Advertisement
Train delays in Spain triple since 2019
The number of trains in Spain experiencing delays has tripled since 2019, new data shows.
The stark rise represents a 235 percent increase according to figures from Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser, and comes as the state and safety of Spanish rail networks has been called into question in recent months following the deadly crash in Adamuz that killed 46 commuters.
Data shows that in 2019, before the pandemic and rail market liberalisation in Spain, the total number of delayed trains was just over 10,000, but by 2025 this figure had risen to over 34,000 for both conventional and high-speed networks.
Advertisement
Spain arrests three for helping Russian evade EU sanctions
Spanish police said on Wednesday they had arrested three people on the holiday island of Mallorca for allegedly helping a Russian national evade European Union sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The one man and two women are accused of acting as fronts to manage luxury properties, bank accounts and vehicles to shield assets from seizure, Spain’s National Police said.
Authorities did not name the Russian national, but Spanish media identified him as Nikolai Kolesov, a businessman linked to the military sector and considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kolesov heads a major supplier of helicopters to the Russian army and is among those sanctioned by the EU over the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian opposition organisation Anti-Corruption Foundation has said that Kolesov owns five luxury villas on Mallorca, part of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.
Police said they seized over €300,000 ($328,000) in cash, six luxury cars, electronic devices, and documents during raids on five villas.
The announcement of the operation came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Madrid to seek diplomatic and military support from Western allies.
With additional reporting from AFP.
