https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Spain in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed A lawyer has reported 38 Spanish mayors, among them the mayor of Madrid Ana Botella, for failing to remove Franco-era symbols from their towns. https://www.thelocal.es/20150212/mayors-reported-for-francoist-symbols Thu, 12 Feb 2015 11:21:00 +0100 mayors-reported-for-francoist-symbols The wife of former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, Ana Botella, has chosen not to run for Madrid’s next municipal elections after a term in office plagued by scandals and criticism. https://www.thelocal.es/20140910/madrids-gaffe-mayor-wont-run-for-2015-elections Wed, 10 Sep 2014 13:24:00 +0200 madrids-gaffe-mayor-wont-run-for-2015-elections The gaffe-prone mayor of Madrid caused a stir on Thursday when she said that women weren't able to work as firefighters because they didn't have the right physical attributes. https://www.thelocal.es/20140718/women-cant-be-firefighters-spains-gaffe-queen Fri, 18 Jul 2014 12:48:00 +0200 women-cant-be-firefighters-spains-gaffe-queen Despite being the capital of the country with the third-highest number of Unesco World Heritage Sites, Madrid as yet has none to its name. That could be about to change if the local town hall gets its way. https://www.thelocal.es/20140709/madrid-wants-unesco-status-for-the-prado-and-retiro-park Wed, 09 Jul 2014 12:18:00 +0200 madrid-wants-unesco-status-for-the-prado-and-retiro-park Madrid mayor Ana Botella was again the butt of all the jokes on Twitter after her CV was mysteriously left blank in a brochure given out at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday. https://www.thelocal.es/20140122/madrid-mayors-blank-cv-turns-into-trending-topic Wed, 22 Jan 2014 19:08:00 +0100 madrid-mayors-blank-cv-turns-into-trending-topic Madrid mayor Ana Botella has made Time magazine's 2013 honours list — for making one of the worst political gaffes of the year. https://www.thelocal.es/20131212/madrid-mayor-makes-time-magazine-worst-list Thu, 12 Dec 2013 12:30:00 +0100 madrid-mayor-makes-time-magazine-worst-list With 2014 just around the corner, The Local takes a look at ten key figures who have shaped the news in Spain over a dramatic 12 months. https://www.thelocal.es/20131210/ten-spaniards-who-made-the-news-in-2013 Tue, 10 Dec 2013 18:22:00 +0100 ten-spaniards-who-made-the-news-in-2013 The organizing committee for Madrid's failed Olympics 2020 bid is hoping to recoup some cash by selling off furniture and electronics items including phones and laptops. https://www.thelocal.es/20131127/madrid-flogs-off-remains-of-failed-olympic-bid Wed, 27 Nov 2013 19:00:00 +0100 madrid-flogs-off-remains-of-failed-olympic-bid Madrid’s mayor has threatened to take the city’s striking street-sweepers to court if within the next 48 hours they do not carry out the minimum services required by Spanish law. Her announcement comes more than a week after the strike that has left Spain’s capital looking like a full-blown rubbish tip with a resulting slump in tourism figures. https://www.thelocal.es/20131114/madrids-striking-cleaners-handed-two-day-deadline Thu, 14 Nov 2013 11:00:00 +0100 madrids-striking-cleaners-handed-two-day-deadline A leading German newspaper has labelled Madrid "the capital of rubbish" as the city's street cleaners' strike enters its second week with no end in sight. https://www.thelocal.es/20131112/capital-of-rubbish-german-paper-blasts-madrid Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:39:00 +0100 capital-of-rubbish-german-paper-blasts-madrid She made world headlines recently with her "relaxing café con leche" comment. This week The Local takes an in-depth look at Spain's former first lady and current Madrid mayor, the very well-connected Ana Botella. https://www.thelocal.es/20130912/botella-face-of-the-week Thu, 12 Sep 2013 18:35:00 +0200 botella-face-of-the-week The mayor of Barcelona has stirred up the rivalry between Madrid and the Catalan capital by saying his city is the only one in Spain that can compete with "spectacular" Istanbul and Tokyo. https://www.thelocal.es/20130910/only-barcelona-is-olympics-worthy-in-spain Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:02:00 +0200 only-barcelona-is-olympics-worthy-in-spain Spain is laughing its way to recovery from Madrid's failed Olympic bid by parodying the city mayor's English language speech to the Olympic bosses in which she said there was "nothing quite like a relaxing cup of cafe con leché" in the city's main square. https://www.thelocal.es/20130909/madrid-mayors-cafe-con-leche-goes-viral Mon, 09 Sep 2013 17:10:00 +0200 madrid-mayors-cafe-con-leche-goes-viral Madrid's mayor has received a barrage of criticism from the Spanish media after she struggled to answer a journalist’s question in English during an Olympic bid press conference. https://www.thelocal.es/20130906/spanish-media-mocks-madrid-mayors-english Fri, 06 Sep 2013 19:52:04 +0200 spanish-media-mocks-madrid-mayors-english The team in charge of Madrid's bid for the 2020 Olympic Games said they were 'very satisfied' with the International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission's (IOCEC) report on how the Spanish capital's third consecutive bid to host the Games is shaping up. https://www.thelocal.es/20130626/madrid-claims-backing-for-budget-olympics-2020-bid Wed, 26 Jun 2013 11:30:00 +0200 madrid-claims-backing-for-budget-olympics-2020-bid A Madrid Town Hall proposal to name a street after the late Baroness Thatcher has been snubbed by Spain's left. https://www.thelocal.es/20130412/madrids-left-shuns-thatcher-street-idea Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:41:00 +0200 madrids-left-shuns-thatcher-street-idea A ceremony was held at Madrid's Retiro Park at midday on Monday for the victims of the train bombings in the city in 2004. https://www.thelocal.es/20130311/spain-remembers-madrid-train-bombings-victims Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:43:00 +0100 spain-remembers-madrid-train-bombings-victims