Spain to approve first national plan against loneliness, wage gap in Spain sees women earn 20 percent less, gang that scammed foreign property buyers in Alicante arrested and more news on Tuesday February 24th.
Spain to approve first national plan against loneliness
Spain’s government will today approve the Strategic Framework for Loneliness, a non-binding document which all regional authorities have taken part in creating.
Some of the measures it proposes are to improve public transport and connectivity in rural areas, expand the communal use of libraries, cultural centres or sports facilities, promote cohousing models and have local figures as “neighbourhood references”.
One in five people in Spain feel lonely, and two-thirds of them have been experiencing this for more than two years, a situation exacerbated by Spain’s increasingly aging population, with more single-person households concentrated in cities, while villages become depopulated and disconnected.
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Wage gap in Spain means women earn 20 percent less than men
Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser reports that the gender wage gap continues to exist in Spain despite measures to raise minimum wage and implement payer equality plans designed to rebalance the job market.
However, since 2019 the gender wage gap in Spain has stood stagnant at around 20 percent, meaning that women would need to earn an average of €5,000 more per year to match men’s pay, depending on the role.
In professions that are predominantly female, such as administrative roles, this percentage can reach up to 40 percent.
Gang that scammed foreign property buyers in Alicante arrested
Spain’s National Police have dismantled a criminal organisation which defrauded foreigners looking to buy homes in Alicante.
According to police, the victims were offered the opportunity to buy real estate at discount rates and after paying as much as €100,000 in down payments, they were urged to sign seemingly official documents that turned out to be fake.
Some of the victims reportedly spent all of their savings or requested personal loans to pay for the properties, and in some cases they were left homeless after vacating their rental homes for what they believed were the properties they’d just purchased.
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Spain court annuls jury trial for PM’s wife, but graft probe continues
A Madrid court has annulled a judge’s decision to order Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, to a jury trial over alleged embezzlement of public funds, calling it “premature”.
It added, however, that the investigation was ongoing.
The long-running probe is one of several into Sánchez’s family and former close allies that have embarrassed the Socialist leader and heaped pressure on his minority coalition.
“The decision taken by the investigating magistrate is premature and lacks factual, legal and procedural grounding,” the court said in a ruling dated February 20th made public on Monday.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado opened an investigation in April 2024 to determine whether Gómez exploited her position as Sanchez’s wife for private benefit.
In September 2025 he ordered Gómez to be tried before a jury on charges of public embezzlement linked to the hiring of an assistant who is also under investigation.
Her lawyer appealed the ruling, denouncing a lack of evidence and questioning the judge’s interpretation of the criminal code.
Gómez has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
Sánchez has dismissed the allegations against his wife as an attempt to undermine his government by the right, which has demanded his resignation.
With additional reporting by AFP and Conor Faulkner.
