Spain plans to open grave containing 33,000 civil war victims
The government of Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has started the process to open up a mass grave containing the remains of more than 33,000 victims of the country’s 1936-39 civil war.
Officials have asked for a permit which will allow them to start exhuming the bodies from the Valley of the Fallen, a vast mausoleum on the outskirts of Madrid built by Spain’s former fascist dictator Francisco Franco, according to a statement from the Ministry of the Presidency published Monday.
The remains are buried in the crypt of the Basilica of the Holy Cross, and some of them have been claimed by family members, said the ministry.
A multi-million-euro rescue of a tiny airline with just four planes has sparked controversy in Spain, with its leftwing government under fire for extending special treatment to the Venezuela-linked firm.
The row is over a €53-million government bailout extended in early March to Ultra Plus, an obscure airline that links Spain with Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
The money came from a €10-billion rescue fund created by the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to help strategically important firms hit hardest by the pandemic.
But the move drew a sharp rebuke from Spain s right-wing opposition, which regularly attacks the government over its stance on Venezuela, notably accusing hard-left coalition partner Podemos of being funded by Caracas.
H&M To Lay Off 1,100 Staff In Spain, Close 30 Shops
04/06/21 AT 10:31 AM
Swedish fashion giant H&M will close 30 shops in Spain and lay off more than 1,000 staff who are currently on furlough due to the pandemic, the company and a union said Tuesday.
Hit hard by coronavirus restrictions, H&M said earlier this year it would close 350 of its 5,000 shops worldwide, while opening 100 others in order to adapt to the increased digitalization of the retail industry where online sales have soared.
The retailer said Tuesday that the redundancy in Spain will affect a maximum of 1,100 employees and that the closures would be staggered throughout the coming year.