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 There’s a time and a place for everything, they say, and tourists are being given a reminder of that when they try to enter the sacred interior of one of Spain’s most visited monuments. https://www.thelocal.es/20190819/no-flip-flops-or-hot-pants-seville-cathedral-imposes-strict-dress-code Mon, 19 Aug 2019 18:26:42 +0200 no-flip-flops-or-hot-pants-seville-cathedral-imposes-strict-dress-code Spain on Monday accused the Vatican of "interference" in its internal affairs after the papal envoy in Madrid criticised government plans to move dictator General Francisco Franco's remains from a vast mausoleum. https://www.thelocal.es/20190701/spain-to-proetest-over-vaticans-interference-in-franco-exhumation-plan Mon, 01 Jul 2019 16:08:00 +0200 spain-to-proetest-over-vaticans-interference-in-franco-exhumation-plan Spain's Supreme Court has confirmed a jail sentence of more than 17 years for a priest who sexually abused two boys, one of whose parents consented. https://www.thelocal.es/20190411/spains-supreme-court-confirms-jail-for-priest-who-abused-boys Thu, 11 Apr 2019 11:40:58 +0200 spains-supreme-court-confirms-jail-for-priest-who-abused-boys The Bishop of Alcalá de Henares is under investigation after it emerged that conversion therapy courses which told homosexuals to "pray away the gay" were being held in his diocese. . https://www.thelocal.es/20190403/catholic-church-investigated-over-gay-cure-therapy Wed, 03 Apr 2019 18:00:20 +0200 catholic-church-investigated-over-gay-cure-therapy A former gym teacher at a Catholic school accused of sexually assaulting students went on trial Monday in Barcelona, as a growing trickle of abuse allegations shakes the Church in Spain. https://www.thelocal.es/20190325/catholic-school-sex-abuse-case-goes-to-trial-in-spain Mon, 25 Mar 2019 14:41:02 +0100 catholic-school-sex-abuse-case-goes-to-trial-in-spain A trickle of accusations of sexual abuse against priests in schools and seminaries is starting to erode the wall of silence in Catholic Spain, whose Church representatives are set to attend a major Vatican meeting on child protection. https://www.thelocal.es/20190218/spanish-victims-of-sex-abuse-priests-speak-out Mon, 18 Feb 2019 10:52:51 +0100 spanish-victims-of-sex-abuse-priests-speak-out Spain's Catholic Church wants to "eradicate" cases of sexual abuse of minors within the church and not cover them up, the president of the Spanish bishops' conference said Monday. https://www.thelocal.es/20181119/spanish-catholic-church-wants-to-eradicate-sexual-abuse Mon, 19 Nov 2018 18:41:12 +0100 spanish-catholic-church-wants-to-eradicate-sexual-abuse A 24-year-old man from Jaen has been ordered to pay a fine for offending the church by posting a photoshopped image of his own face on a revered statue of Christ. https://www.thelocal.es/20180207/man-who-photoshopped-his-own-face-on-christ-statue Wed, 07 Feb 2018 17:10:00 +0100 man-who-photoshopped-his-own-face-on-christ-statue The head of the Catholic Church in Spain has criticised a declaration of independence approved by Catalonia's regional parliament last month, calling it "serious and disturbing", a spokesman said Monday. https://www.thelocal.es/20171128/catholic-church-speaks-out-against-catalan-independence-drive Tue, 28 Nov 2017 10:22:54 +0100 catholic-church-speaks-out-against-catalan-independence-drive At sunset on Saturday evening dozens of Muslims from across Spain’s southern city of Granada gathered in a park in the city and prayed together before breaking their daily Ramadan fast. https://www.thelocal.es/20170613/ramadan-prayers-at-catholic-site-spark-controversy-in-granada Tue, 13 Jun 2017 13:41:35 +0200 ramadan-prayers-at-catholic-site-spark-controversy-in-granada A 23-year-old man from Jaen has become the latest Spaniard to fall foul of religious authorities after angering them by posting a photoshopped image of his own face on a revered statue of Christ. https://www.thelocal.es/20170602/spaniard-on-trial-over-instagram-snap-of-photoshopped-christ Fri, 02 Jun 2017 15:15:59 +0200 spaniard-on-trial-over-instagram-snap-of-photoshopped-christ Three women, who carried a giant plastic vagina through the streets of Seville as part of a feminist protest mimicking the Easter processions, could face jail after the action was deemed a “religious hate crime”. https://www.thelocal.es/20170426/three-women-face-jail-over-giant-plastic-vagina-protest Wed, 26 Apr 2017 18:49:32 +0200 three-women-face-jail-over-giant-plastic-vagina-protest A Spanish court on Tuesday acquitted a Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a teenage altar boy, in a case in which Pope Francis had pushed for an investigation. https://www.thelocal.es/20170412/spanish-court-acquits-granada-priest-accused-of-sex-abuse Wed, 12 Apr 2017 11:48:08 +0200 spanish-court-acquits-granada-priest-accused-of-sex-abuse The parish priest from the Galician town of Cuntis has apologised for his “misguided” carnival costume which saw him posing on a float as the Playboy founder along with men dressed as Playboy bunnies. https://www.thelocal.es/20170310/priest-who-dressed-up-as-hugh-hefner-flanked-and-simulated-sex-with-male-playboy-bunnies-seeks-forgiveness Fri, 10 Mar 2017 11:42:56 +0100 priest-who-dressed-up-as-hugh-hefner-flanked-and-simulated-sex-with-male-playboy-bunnies-seeks-forgiveness Catholics seeking to confess their sins to a priest in Spain can now turn to a new app to find the nearest available cleric. https://www.thelocal.es/20161208/need-to-confess-sins-new-app-in-spain-finds-nearest-priest Thu, 08 Dec 2016 12:08:03 +0100 need-to-confess-sins-new-app-in-spain-finds-nearest-priest A parish church near Madrid is facing a fine of €16,000 because its bells are too noisy. https://www.thelocal.es/20161018/madrid-parish-church-faces-fine-over-too-noisy-bells Tue, 18 Oct 2016 15:12:44 +0200 madrid-parish-church-faces-fine-over-too-noisy-bells Throngs of mourners attended the funeral on Thursday for a Catholic sister from Spain who was shot dead last week on a highway in Haiti. https://www.thelocal.es/20160909/throngs-mourn-spanish-catholic-nun-shot-dead-in-haiti Fri, 09 Sep 2016 11:13:13 +0200 throngs-mourn-spanish-catholic-nun-shot-dead-in-haiti The Bishop of Mallorca has been removed from his post by the Vatican after complaints that he had conducted an "improper relationship" with his married secretary. https://www.thelocal.es/20160908/vatican-fires-mallorca-bishop-over-affair-with-secretary Thu, 08 Sep 2016 16:10:17 +0200 vatican-fires-mallorca-bishop-over-affair-with-secretary The Bishop of Lleida has requested all staff, including priests and monks, prove they are not paedophiles. https://www.thelocal.es/20160527/spanish-bishop-demands-staff-get-anti-paedophile-certificate Fri, 27 May 2016 14:18:17 +0200 spanish-bishop-demands-staff-get-anti-paedophile-certificate A spokeswoman for Madrid's city council went on trial on Thursday for her role in a protest when she was still a university student during which she bared her breasts in a chapel. https://www.thelocal.es/20160219/madrid-podemos-rita-maestre-on-trial-for-topless-breasts-church-protest Fri, 19 Feb 2016 15:18:45 +0100 madrid-podemos-rita-maestre-on-trial-for-topless-breasts-church-protest