https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Europe in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Whether it be education, health or overall happiness, this little-known autonomous community of Spain consistently ranks as the region with the best quality of life in the entire country. https://www.thelocal.com/20240904/why-navarra-is-the-region-with-the-best-quality-of-life-in-spain Wed, 04 Sep 2024 14:14:27 +0200 why-navarra-is-the-region-with-the-best-quality-of-life-in-spain Many foreigners who move to Spain are surprised by just how freezing Spanish winters can be, but they're equally shocked by how sometimes it's colder inside their homes than outdoors. https://www.thelocal.com/20211104/why-are-spanish-homes-so-cold Thu, 04 Nov 2021 09:42:59 +0100 why-are-spanish-homes-so-cold People from Spain's south eastern region of Murcia, where tennis superstar Carlos Alcaraz hails from, often take a lot of flack from other Spaniards, to the point where the long-running joke is that 'Murcia doesn't exist'. https://www.thelocal.com/20231213/why-is-murcia-the-butt-of-all-the-jokes-in-spain Wed, 13 Dec 2023 17:13:23 +0100 why-is-murcia-the-butt-of-all-the-jokes-in-spain Vibrant tapas bars and wild outdoor festivals define many outsiders' image of Spain - but locals are increasingly fed up and mobilising against the din unleashed by their compatriots. https://www.thelocal.com/20250711/impossible-to-sleep-how-fun-loving-spain-is-even-too-noisy-for-locals Fri, 11 Jul 2025 12:34:55 +0200 impossible-to-sleep-how-fun-loving-spain-is-even-too-noisy-for-locals Jilted on dating apps but undeterred in the quest for romance, 20 young singles gathered in Madrid to share activities and flirtatious smiles in a rediscovery of real-life love. https://www.thelocal.com/20250115/spanish-youth-ditch-dating-apps-for-real-life-love Wed, 15 Jan 2025 10:57:39 +0100 spanish-youth-ditch-dating-apps-for-real-life-love Mercadona's flirting craze appears to have gone a bit far in Spain as police have been called in to deal with crowds, stag dos have been held at supermarket branches and staff have been forced to remove pineapples during 'flirting hour'. https://www.thelocal.com/20240904/flirting-craze-at-mercadona-supermarkets-take-over-spain Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:25:10 +0200 flirting-craze-at-mercadona-supermarkets-take-over-spain The Local Spain’s editor Alex Dunham shares one example of the state-funded impunity of many of the country’s civil servants, an experience that anyone who lives in Spain can relate to. https://www.thelocal.com/20240830/opinion-my-surreal-experience-with-a-civil-servant-is-normal-in-spain Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:18:31 +0200 opinion-my-surreal-experience-with-a-civil-servant-is-normal-in-spain New rankings have put Spain in the top 10 countries in the world for foreigners to live in, maintaining its position head and shoulders above its European neighbours, which fared far worse in foreigners' views. https://www.thelocal.com/20240708/spain-ranked-worlds-fourth-best-country-for-foreigners-to-live-in Mon, 08 Jul 2024 16:21:10 +0200 spain-ranked-worlds-fourth-best-country-for-foreigners-to-live-in Looking to improve your language skills while getting hooked on the most engrossing Spanish TV shows? Here are the most bingeable made-in-Spain series from 2023 and 2024 to watch on TV or stream. https://www.thelocal.com/20240507/the-best-new-spanish-tv-series-to-watch Tue, 07 May 2024 12:33:20 +0200 the-best-new-spanish-tv-series-to-watch In this week's Inside Spain, we look at the country's increasing rates of school cyberbullying and how the Prime Minister himself also feels he's been the victim of another kind of harassment by what he calls 'the sludge machine'. https://www.thelocal.com/20240504/inside-spain-cyberbullying-at-schools-and-the-rights-sludge-machine Sat, 04 May 2024 15:42:04 +0200 inside-spain-cyberbullying-at-schools-and-the-rights-sludge-machine Tourism has been the backbone of the Spanish economy for decades, but in recent weeks there are increasing signs that locals are more willing than ever to ‘bite the hand that feeds them’. What’s changed? https://www.thelocal.com/20240402/why-does-hatred-of-tourists-in-spain-appear-to-be-on-the-rise Tue, 02 Apr 2024 12:04:09 +0200 why-does-hatred-of-tourists-in-spain-appear-to-be-on-the-rise Málaga city centre is being emblazoned with stickers demanding tourists “go f*cking home” as locals in the Costa del Sol city struggle with the negative consequences of its exploding popularity among holidaymakers and foreign digital nomads. https://www.thelocal.com/20240313/get-the-fck-out-of-here-spains-malaga-filled-with-anti-tourism-stickers Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:48:48 +0100 get-the-fck-out-of-here-spains-malaga-filled-with-anti-tourism-stickers Spain has just experienced its warmest January since current records began in 1961, national weather office Aemet said Wednesday, after temperatures neared 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in some regions. https://www.thelocal.com/20240208/spain-sees-warmest-january-on-record Thu, 08 Feb 2024 10:04:10 +0100 spain-sees-warmest-january-on-record Double the number of people were granted Spanish nationality via residency in 2023 than the previous year, with Americans among the foreigners with the most successful citizenship applications. https://www.thelocal.com/20240206/spain-granted-nationality-by-residency-to-almost-250000-people-in-2023 Tue, 06 Feb 2024 12:11:31 +0100 spain-granted-nationality-by-residency-to-almost-250000-people-in-2023 After years of living in Barcelona, I forgot the exhaustion of keeping a near-constant guard, particularly as a woman, writes American writer Jennifer Lutz as she speaks to other US women based in Spain about how they feel about safety now. https://www.thelocal.com/20240129/crime-in-spain-is-different-to-the-us-particularly-if-youre-a-woman Mon, 29 Jan 2024 17:12:58 +0100 crime-in-spain-is-different-to-the-us-particularly-if-youre-a-woman Spain is grappling with unusually warm temperatures for a winter month as a mass of hot air pushed the mercury to just shy of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) in some regions. https://www.thelocal.com/20240126/spain-swelters-in-abnormal-january-heat Fri, 26 Jan 2024 10:18:10 +0100 spain-swelters-in-abnormal-january-heat The cancellation of winter flights between Menorca and the UK has left many Britons with second homes on the tiny Spanish island paying hundreds of pounds for flights with several stops and layovers as long as 23 hours. https://www.thelocal.com/20231214/second-home-owners-on-spains-menorca-left-in-limbo-over-lack-of-uk-flights Thu, 14 Dec 2023 14:28:02 +0100 second-home-owners-on-spains-menorca-left-in-limbo-over-lack-of-uk-flights Spain's population passed 48 million in 2022 and now counts more than six million foreign nationals, whose numbers jumped last year, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.com/20231213/spains-population-hits-48-million-with-surge-in-foreign-nationals Wed, 13 Dec 2023 17:37:24 +0100 spains-population-hits-48-million-with-surge-in-foreign-nationals Barcelona police have been deployed to prevent people from clogging up traffic by taking selfies in the middle of the road, one of many examples of how Spanish city centres become unbearably crowded during the December holidays. https://www.thelocal.com/20231211/cities-in-spain-get-uncomfortably-busy-over-long-december-break Mon, 11 Dec 2023 12:31:56 +0100 cities-in-spain-get-uncomfortably-busy-over-long-december-break Spain is the EU country with the second lowest level of English proficiency in the EU, according to a 2023 study. We asked readers why, in their opinion, the country appears to be struggling to get better at 'inglés'. https://www.thelocal.com/20191120/why-are-spanish-so-bad-at-speaking-english-study-readers-views Wed, 20 Nov 2019 10:11:45 +0100 why-are-spanish-so-bad-at-speaking-english-study-readers-views