A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Support for Catalan independence falls to lowest level since 2011

New polling has revealed that support for Catalan independence has dropped below 40 percent, the lowest level since 2011.

Data from Catalonia’s Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió shows that Catalans have seemingly moved on the ‘procés’, the term for the independence process, with levels of support now returning to levels prior to 2012 when the separatist movement first reopened the debate on a referendum. 

Now 54 percent of Catalans polled would vote against independence in a hypothetical referendum on self-determination, while just 38 percent would vote in favour, two percent less than four months ago.

Spaniards least concerned about defence among Europeans

As debate around defence spending and rearming dominates Spanish politics, polling has shown that Spaniards are 16 points below the EU average when it comes to the topic.

Data from the latest Eurobarometer reveals that on average 36 percent of Europeans believe that the EU should focus its efforts on defence and security. In Spain, however, that figure is just 20 percent, meaning that Spaniards, together with Maltese nationals, are the least concerned about it.

In Spain, defence and security ranked fifth place among issues Spaniards feel the EU should focus on. Ahead of them were education and research (40 percent); competitiveness, economy and industry (30 percent), food security and agriculture (26 percent) and the protection of European values, democracy and human rights (24 percent).

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Spain posts smaller than expected 2024 public deficit

Spain’s public deficit fell below the government’s target of three percent of economic output last year thanks to robust growth, Budget Minister María Jesús Montero said Thursday.

The public deficit narrowed to 2.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2024 from 3.5 percent in 2023, the first time it has fallen below the European Union limit of three percent since 2018, she told a news conference.

The figure was achieved as the Spanish economy expanded by 3.2 percent last year, one of the fastest rates in the eurozone, on the backs of buoyant household consumption and exports as the country’s key tourism sector has flourished after the Covid pandemic paralysed travel.

It is the fifth consecutive year that Spain has met its public deficit target, the Socialist minister said.

“This significant reduction in the deficit for another year confirms that Spain is a reliable country, enviable in terms of economic stability, and therefore inspires confidence in the markets,” added Montero, a former hospital administrator.

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Prosecutors want 15 years for ex-Spanish football chief Villar

Spain’s public prosecutor’s office called for a 15-and-a-half year prison sentence for former Spanish football federation president Angel Maria Villar for alleged corruption and embezzlement on Thursday.

Contracts arranged under Villar between 2007 and 2017 are said to have defrauded the federation of more than €4.5 million ($4.84 million).

Eight people are implicated in the case including Villar’s son Gorka, for whom the prosecution are asking for a seven-year prison sentence, and former Spanish football federation (RFEF) vice-president Juan Padron.

Villar was suspended from his role as president in 2017 because of his alleged involvement in what has become known as the Soule case, after 29 years leading the federation.

Villar was succeeded by Luis Rubiales, who resigned in disgrace in 2023 after forcibly kissing Women’s World Cup star Jenni Hermoso, during a crisis-hit spell for the federation.

Pedro Rocha took over briefly but was suspended for overstepping his duties before Rafael Louzan was elected the new RFEF president in December 2024.

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Spanish actor’s son appeals Thai sentence for grisly murder

A famous Spanish actor’s son, jailed for life in Thailand for the grisly murder of a Colombian plastic surgeon on a tropical holiday island, has appealed his sentence according his lawyers.

Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, a 31-year-old chef, was found guilty in August of the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta Arteaga in 2023 on the tourist island of Koh Phangan and of dismembering his body, a lurid case that has gripped Spain and Colombia.

The court on the nearby island of Koh Samui sentenced Sancho, a chef who had his own YouTube channel, to life and ordered him to pay 4.4 million baht (around $130,000) to Arrieta’s family.

The case has generated enormous interest in Spain because the defendant’s father, Rodolfo Sancho, is a well-known actor who starred in the hit TV series “El Ministerio del Tiempo”, or “The Ministry of Time”.

Sancho’s appeal was filed on Wednesday for review by the court in Koh Samui, Spanish law firm B&CH told AFP, without giving further details.

The trial heard that Sancho chopped up Arrieta’s body and put the parts in plastic bags before distributing them around Koh Phangan.

The defence argued that Sancho acted in legitimate self-defence after Arrieta, 44, tried to force him to have sex.