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 Spanish police on Tuesday arrested a rapper who barricaded himself inside a university after he was controversially sentenced to nine months in jail over a string of tweets, television images showed. https://www.thelocal.es/20210215/rapper-holes-up-in-spain-university-to-avoid-jail-for-tweets Mon, 15 Feb 2021 17:15:03 +0100 rapper-holes-up-in-spain-university-to-avoid-jail-for-tweets Spain's government said Tuesday that it would ease the penalties for what it called "excesses" in freedom of expression, following the conviction of a rapper whose case won backing from several top artists. https://www.thelocal.es/20210210/spain-to-rethink-freedom-of-speech-laws-after-rapper-jailed Wed, 10 Feb 2021 11:23:44 +0100 spain-to-rethink-freedom-of-speech-laws-after-rapper-jailed A Spanish comedian appeared in court on Monday for having blown his nose on the national flag in a television sketch, the latest case to raise fears for freedom of expression in the country. https://www.thelocal.es/20181127/spanish-comedian-in-court-for-blowing-nose-on-national-flag Tue, 27 Nov 2018 11:28:51 +0100 spanish-comedian-in-court-for-blowing-nose-on-national-flag A Belgian court on Monday rejected a Spanish extradition request for rapper Valtonyc, who has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years for allegedly praising terrorism in his songs. https://www.thelocal.es/20180917/belgium-refuses-extradition-of-fugitive-spanish-rapper Mon, 17 Sep 2018 12:32:02 +0200 belgium-refuses-extradition-of-fugitive-spanish-rapper A Spanish actor accused of ridiculing "God and the Virgin Mary" was detained Wednesday to be questioned by a judge, police said, in the latest high profile case to raise free speech fears in the country. https://www.thelocal.es/20180913/spanish-actor-detained-to-face-judge-over-blasphemy-complaint Thu, 13 Sep 2018 12:03:54 +0200 spanish-actor-detained-to-face-judge-over-blasphemy-complaint A Belgian court is examining a European arrest warrant issued by Spain for rapper Valtonyc, who was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for praising terrorism in his songs, prosecutors said on Tuesday. https://www.thelocal.es/20180627/belgium-examines-arrest-warrant-for-fugitive-spanish-rapper Wed, 27 Jun 2018 10:44:37 +0200 belgium-examines-arrest-warrant-for-fugitive-spanish-rapper Spain issued a national, international and EU arrest warrant Thursday against Valtonyc, a rapper who may have fled the country just as he was due to enter jail in a case that raised free speech concerns. https://www.thelocal.es/20180524/spain-issues-international-arrest-warrant-for-fugitive-rapper-amid-free-speech-row Thu, 24 May 2018 19:30:58 +0200 spain-issues-international-arrest-warrant-for-fugitive-rapper-amid-free-speech-row A Spanish rapper whose three-and-a-half-year sentence for "glorifying terrorism" and insulting the crown caused an outcry said Wednesday he would defy authorities just a day before he was due in prison, amid reports he may have fled the country. https://www.thelocal.es/20180524/spanish-rapper-given-jail-for-glorifying-terrorism-vows-to-disobey Thu, 24 May 2018 12:19:35 +0200 spanish-rapper-given-jail-for-glorifying-terrorism-vows-to-disobey The trial of eight people accused of "terrorism" for allegedly beating up two policemen in the Navarra region began Monday amid sharp criticism from Amnesty International the charges are "inappropriate." https://www.thelocal.es/20180417/controversial-spain-terror-bar-brawl-trial-opens Tue, 17 Apr 2018 10:48:09 +0200 controversial-spain-terror-bar-brawl-trial-opens In its latest report, the human rights group is calling for Spain’s “glorification of terrorism” law to be repealed on the grounds that it's silencing creativity and political satire through fear. https://www.thelocal.es/20180313/spains-counter-terror-law-crushes-satire-amnesty-international Tue, 13 Mar 2018 09:47:38 +0100 spains-counter-terror-law-crushes-satire-amnesty-international Spain's top criminal court sentenced a rapper to two years in prison Friday for Twitter posts and a song it said glorified terrorism, the latest such decision against an artist that has raised free speech concerns. https://www.thelocal.es/20180303/spain-jails-second-rapper-for-terror-lyrics Sat, 03 Mar 2018 06:34:40 +0100 spain-jails-second-rapper-for-terror-lyrics Madrid's International Contemporary Art Fair (ARCO) has pulled a photo exhibition called "Political Prisoners in Contemporary Spain" amid controversy because it includes images of Catalan politicians that are currently in jail. https://www.thelocal.es/20180221/censorship-madrid-art-fair-pulls-photo-exhibition-of-spains-political-prisoners Wed, 21 Feb 2018 18:57:49 +0100 censorship-madrid-art-fair-pulls-photo-exhibition-of-spains-political-prisoners The Spanish Supreme Court has upheld a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence for a rapper for a series of lyrics that glorified terrorism and insulted the crown. https://www.thelocal.es/20180221/spanish-rapper-jailed-over-glorifying-terror-and-insulting-the-king Wed, 21 Feb 2018 14:30:25 +0100 spanish-rapper-jailed-over-glorifying-terror-and-insulting-the-king The restrictive 'gag law' is a threat to press freedom in Spain, warned Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its annual report on the state of the media across the world. https://www.thelocal.es/20170426/spains-gag-law-slammed-in-press-freedom-report Wed, 26 Apr 2017 12:35:35 +0200 spains-gag-law-slammed-in-press-freedom-report The new Popular Party government of Mariano Rajoy is preparing a measure that could see sharing internet memes over social media made a crime. https://www.thelocal.es/20161110/spain-could-be-about-to-ban-memes Thu, 10 Nov 2016 12:42:52 +0100 spain-could-be-about-to-ban-memes Following public outcry a Madrid police commissioner has decided to drop a penalty issued to a young woman for carrying a bag with the supposedly offensive slogan "All Cats Are Beautiful". https://www.thelocal.es/20160525/police-backtrack-over-fine-against-all-cats-are-beautiful-bag Wed, 25 May 2016 17:13:37 +0200 police-backtrack-over-fine-against-all-cats-are-beautiful-bag A Spanish woman has been fined by police in Spain for walking through the streets of Madrid carrying a bag that declared "All Cats Are Beautiful". https://www.thelocal.es/20160523/spain-woman-fined-over-all-cats-are-beautiful-bag Mon, 23 May 2016 17:24:38 +0200 spain-woman-fined-over-all-cats-are-beautiful-bag A Spaniard is facing a huge fine for lying to police after telling them his two daughters were trapped in a car... when in fact he wanted them to help him open the front door of his house. https://www.thelocal.es/20160519/man-faces-600000-fine-for-calling-police-to-open-his-front-door Thu, 19 May 2016 12:06:23 +0200 man-faces-600000-fine-for-calling-police-to-open-his-front-door Spanish police on Wednesday arrested 14 people in nationwide raids for allegedly glorifying terror acts by three radical groups in Facebook and Twitter messages, the interior ministry said. https://www.thelocal.es/20160414/spanish-police-arrest-14-for-glorifying-terrorism-online Thu, 14 Apr 2016 11:07:41 +0200 spanish-police-arrest-14-for-glorifying-terrorism-online A Basque photographer has become the first journalist to be punished under Spain’s controversial “gag law” for posting images of a police raid on Twitter. https://www.thelocal.es/20160408/first-journalist-punished-over-photos-under-spains-gag-law Fri, 08 Apr 2016 16:30:00 +0200 first-journalist-punished-over-photos-under-spains-gag-law