Did the very entertaining Via Ferrata at Castala yesterday with Dexter and Felipe. Ladders, walkways, balance bar, Tyrolean traverses, wire bridges, pendulums. Also 2 abseils - 18m and 30m. Lots of fun in the afternoon shade near Berja. Well worth a visit!
@NormanDunbar after the initial trepidation, the transition from a horizontal to a vertical world seems to go fine. Once you get used to the initial exposure the fact that you are clipped in at every stage means you actually feel quite safe.
@elperronegro I used to dangle from yacht masts, 60' up on a rocking and rolling boat in busy harbours, fitting mast top equipment, radio antenna and nav lights. I was fine.
Putting a TV ariel on a bungalow chimney one day, I was fine but about half way through, I needed to get off that roof! Never liked heights since that day.
I get the full stomach drops when they show drone video of a field shot where there's a drop at the end. I could hurl my breakfast even with the TV!
🇪🇸 Spain: Covid infections quadruple across Spain despite the fine weather.
Experts blame a highly contagious new strain of coronavirus for the rapid spread in Spain.
Although most of us have half forgotten about the coronavirus, the reality is that SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve and mutate even now and, as specialists have warned, it’s very much here to stay.
Covid is estimated at 27.8 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in primary care. In hospitals there are 1.86 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
#Spain recognizes Palestine and calls for a ‘viable’ state based on 1967 borders （El País, 2024-05-28）
———
“Sánchez made clear the formula proposed by Spain in its recognition: ‘A viable state with the West Bank and Gaza connected by a corridor [and with East Jerusalem as its capital] and unified under the government of the Palestinian Authority.’”
UK holidaymakers warned as climate change triggers super-sized cockroach infestations in Spain
The alert was raised by the National Association of Environmental Health Companies (Anecpla) which said the insects will emerge in their masses this summer
#Spain plans to send #Patriot missiles and #Leopard tanks to #Ukraine as part of a 1.13 billion euro ($1.23 billion) weapon package announced last month.
Spain will hand over a dozen crucial Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine and 19 second-hand German-made Leopard 2A4 tanks and other Spanish-made weapons, such as anti-drones gear and ammunition.
> La ministra de Defensa, Margarita Robles, afirmó desde Oviedo que lo que está pasando en la Franja de Gaza “es un auténtico genocidio”. #stopzionistWarCrimes #StopGenocideGaza #spain
‘It’s totally broken down’: tourism surge forcing Ibiza’s workers to live in car parks” by Sam Jones #TheGuardian
“In Ibiza – as in neighbouring Mallorca and in the Canary islands – it is increasingly obvious that neither the island nor its housing market can put up with the huge numbers of tourists that arrive each year.
“Over the past five years – but mainly since the pandemic – people have been feeling that everything’s oversaturated, that there are more and more tourists, and that leads to roads and public services becoming overloaded,” says Rafael Giménez, of Prou Eivissa (Enough Ibiza), a group that is campaigning for limits on the number of visitors and vehicles onthe island.
“Ibiza’s an island, so housing is limited by definition. The law of supply and demand has totally broken down.”
@Barros_heritage@sociology@culturalheritage here in La Palma with do not have to many tourists. But due to the destruction of houses by the vulcano ewe have a shortage of houses too….
#Spain demands #Israel comply with #UN court ruling on #Rafah
The Spanish government demanded on Saturday that Israel comply with an order by the top UN court to immediately stop its bombardment and ground assault on Rafah, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
According to AFP, Spain stressed that the ruling on Friday by the international court of justice (ICJ) was legally binding.
“The precautionary measures set out by the #ICJ, including that Israel should cease its military offensive in Rafah, are compulsory. Israel must comply with them,” Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares wrote on X.
> Lo acaba de anunciar el ministro de Exteriores israelí, "como respuesta", dice, al reconocimiento del Estado de Palestina por parte del Gobierno español y a unas palabras de la presidenta Yolanda Díaz #spain #palestine #ceaseFireNow
Instead of putting up "angry" performances wrt student protests and ICC's issuance of an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Biden had better listen to what the Irish Prime Minister had to say when Ireland announced the recognition of the State of Palestine (along with #Spain and #Norway).
That's how politicians, who actually respect the intelligence of the people whom they serve, deal with political issues, and how they honor their homeland's love for freedom.
@65dBnoise@Lassielmr I have no reason to doubt the Irish Taoiseach is sincere, though. This issue runs deep in Ireland and I'm surprised they didn't move forward earlier.
@jesusmargar@Lassielmr
Biden is of partial Irish descent so the contrast between the Taoiseach mentioning his county's past and Biden's theatrics couldn't be starker. I take heed of the words of an Irish who recalls his country's suffering when offering a path to peace (what a contrast to Israel's offering only wars in the name of the Holocaust), but I find Biden's words hypocritical, offering no solution to the problems his government's Middle East policy is creating.
🇪🇸 Spain: A new wave of COVID-19 infections is beginning to be noticed in hospitals in Spain.
"According to data from the Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance System released by the Carlos III Health Institute, hospitalizations due to covid-19 have quadrupled in two weeks, mainly affecting people between 65 and 79 years old."
"In communities like Madrid, infections have skyrocketed in patients aged 60 or over, increasing by 60%."
Interesting day yesterday doing a via ferrata whilst being filmed by the BBC as part of an upcoming TV series. Not allowed to mention details but it was great to see how professional film crews set up to capture such things. One thing that struck me ... "Aren't all the film crew (4 cameramen, producer, sound man, director, fixer etc) so young? Or is it that I am just so old 😀 Anyway, a lot of fun!
"#Spain on Sunday announced it was recalling its ambassador from #BuenosAires after President Javier Milei, speaking at a far-right gathering in #Madrid, called Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's wife 'corrupt.' The #EuropeanUnion also stepped into the row, its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell condemning the Argentine leader's remarks
@faab64@palestine
I believe government in general is a necessary evil. None offer true freedom.
“Free world” is a euphemism for democratic countries—at least in the USA it is—in contrast to authoritarian/autocratic governance. The USA is hanging on to freedom by a thread.
Israel is a militarized theocracy—like Iran and others. Bibi is Putin with a kippah—trying to take all Palestinian land, from the river to the sea, and kill or displace all Palestinians.
A picture of success. Of reconnection with family roots. Of successful navigation of an unfamiliar bureaucracy. Of obtaining a privilege of our heritage.
My daughter and son got their passports this week!!
This marks the completion of a journey started in October 2021. I missed my first opportunity in my 20s. I wasn't going to let this one slip by, for me or them!
If you are not a citizen of Spain but a child or grandchild of a Spaniard feel free to ask me about the process. #Spain#españa
This month I got my replacement British Passport. It isn't red, it's blue. It no longer refers to Europe at all. It made me feel really sad. But it will still mean that I don't have to stand in a longer line when I arrive at Gatwick. For everything else I have a so far unused, newish Canadian passport.
