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 Spain will deploy more than 13,000 police officers to stave off "multiple" potential threats to Pope Leo XIV's visit from June 6th to 12th, the interior minister said on Monday. https://www.thelocal.es/20260505/spain-to-deploy-over-13000-police-for-pope-leos-june-visit Tue, 05 May 2026 09:12:53 +0200 spain-to-deploy-over-13000-police-for-pope-leos-june-visit Constructors crowned the largest tower of Barcelona's unfinished Sagrada Familia basilica with a final piece on Friday, setting the peak of the world's tallest church at 172.5 metres (566 feet). https://www.thelocal.es/20260220/barcelonas-sagrada-familia-basilica-hits-peak-height Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:41:24 +0100 barcelonas-sagrada-familia-basilica-hits-peak-height Increasing cooperation between Spain's two main rightist parties means that a bill by far-right Vox to ban the burqa and niqab could be voted through this week, with suggested fines of €600 for women who wear the face coverings. https://www.thelocal.es/20260216/spains-right-wing-parties-work-together-on-burqa-ban Mon, 16 Feb 2026 12:45:28 +0100 spains-right-wing-parties-work-together-on-burqa-ban A Spanish court has rejected an appeal by a group of excommunicated nuns who joined a sect and were ordered to leave their convent, confirming their eviction, an archbishopric said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.es/20260131/spanish-court-orders-rebel-nuns-out-of-convent-again Sat, 31 Jan 2026 15:03:34 +0100 spanish-court-orders-rebel-nuns-out-of-convent-again The Pope is expected to visit Spain this year and will travel to three locations within the country. Leo XIV will be the first pontiff to officially visit Spain in 15 years. https://www.thelocal.es/20260112/what-we-know-about-pope-leos-planned-visit-to-spain-in-2026 Mon, 12 Jan 2026 13:02:06 +0100 what-we-know-about-pope-leos-planned-visit-to-spain-in-2026 The Spanish government and the Catholic Church signed a landmark agreement Thursday to compensate victims of sexual abuse by clergy, aiming to settle what officials described as a "moral debt". https://www.thelocal.es/20260109/spain-signs-agreement-with-church-to-compensate-abuse-victims Fri, 09 Jan 2026 08:24:31 +0100 spain-signs-agreement-with-church-to-compensate-abuse-victims The Spanish woman whose failed restoration of a century-old painting of Jesus Christ captured global headlines more than a decade ago has died at 94. https://www.thelocal.es/20260102/spanish-woman-known-for-failed-monkey-christ-fresco-restoration-dies Fri, 02 Jan 2026 11:05:00 +0100 spanish-woman-known-for-failed-monkey-christ-fresco-restoration-dies Two excommunicated Spanish nuns who have joined a sect were held for allegedly selling cultural assets belonging to the Catholic Church from a convent they refuse to leave, a court said on Friday. https://www.thelocal.es/20251129/spain-holds-two-rebel-nuns-over-church-cultural-asset-sales Sat, 29 Nov 2025 17:30:01 +0100 spain-holds-two-rebel-nuns-over-church-cultural-asset-sales The Bishop of Cádiz in southern Spain, under investigation by the Vatican over alleged paedophilia, has resigned, and Pope Leo XIV has appointed his successor, the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) announced. https://www.thelocal.es/20251124/spanish-bishop-resigns-amid-paedophilia-allegations Mon, 24 Nov 2025 09:23:06 +0100 spanish-bishop-resigns-amid-paedophilia-allegations Spain's Catholic Church said Friday it has received 101 sexual abuse complaints so far this year under a new compensation system. https://www.thelocal.es/20251122/spains-catholic-church-facing-101-abuse-claims-this-year Sat, 22 Nov 2025 10:27:48 +0100 spains-catholic-church-facing-101-abuse-claims-this-year The Spanish Congress will on Tuesday debate a proposal by far-right party Vox calling for a ban on Islamic festivals such as Eid in Spain, whilst also deciding whether or not to campaign for bullfighting to be protected by UNESCO. https://www.thelocal.es/20251111/spain-to-debate-whether-to-ban-muslim-celebrations-and-protect-bullfighting Tue, 11 Nov 2025 10:26:40 +0100 spain-to-debate-whether-to-ban-muslim-celebrations-and-protect-bullfighting Spain is traditionally known as one of the world's most Catholic countries, but there are many Anglican and other English-speaking churches around the country. https://www.thelocal.es/20240704/the-little-known-anglican-community-in-catholic-spain Thu, 04 Jul 2024 11:20:00 +0200 the-little-known-anglican-community-in-catholic-spain Spain's leftist government on Monday ordered a town to drop a ban on religious celebrations in municipal sports facilities, a measure critics say was aimed at blocking longstanding Muslim festivities. https://www.thelocal.es/20250811/spain-orders-town-to-scrap-motion-restricting-muslim-festivities Mon, 11 Aug 2025 14:38:01 +0200 spain-orders-town-to-scrap-motion-restricting-muslim-festivities A Spanish court has ordered a group of nuns excommunicated from the Catholic Church to be expelled from their convent, according to a legal ruling viewed by AFP Friday. https://www.thelocal.es/20250801/spanish-court-orders-rebel-nuns-out-of-convent Fri, 01 Aug 2025 19:26:14 +0200 spanish-court-orders-rebel-nuns-out-of-convent A group of Spanish nuns who were excommunicated by the Catholic Church and joined a sect appeared in court on Tuesday vowing to resist eviction from their 15th-century convent. https://www.thelocal.es/20250730/rebel-spanish-nuns-vow-to-fight-convent-eviction Wed, 30 Jul 2025 10:34:31 +0200 rebel-spanish-nuns-vow-to-fight-convent-eviction In mid-June various towns and villages throughout Spain celebrate the festival of Corpus Christi by creating intricate floral carpets to decorate the streets. https://www.thelocal.es/20230607/what-to-know-about-spains-amazing-corpus-christi-carpets Wed, 07 Jun 2023 18:45:13 +0200 what-to-know-about-spains-amazing-corpus-christi-carpets Recent Holy Week celebrations and widespread mourning for Pope Francis' death would lead most foreigners in Spain to believe that Spaniards are deeply religious, but has the once devout country now become an example of 'cultural Catholicism'? https://www.thelocal.es/20230105/focus-how-catholic-are-people-in-spain-nowadays Thu, 05 Jan 2023 16:29:16 +0100 focus-how-catholic-are-people-in-spain-nowadays Spain will observe three days of mourning to honour Pope Francis after the Argentine pontiff's death on Monday aged 88, but does this also mean time off work for people in the country? https://www.thelocal.es/20250421/spain-declares-three-days-of-mourning-for-pope-francis Mon, 21 Apr 2025 17:52:03 +0200 spain-declares-three-days-of-mourning-for-pope-francis Catholic Spain is mourning the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday at the age of 88, with numerous figureheads expressing their condolences for a pontiff "committed to social justice" and "defending the most vulnerable". https://www.thelocal.es/20250421/a-good-man-spain-reacts-to-pope-francis-death Mon, 21 Apr 2025 13:37:53 +0200 a-good-man-spain-reacts-to-pope-francis-death The Spanish government has proposed reforms to rules surrounding 'crimes against religious feelings' that encompass not only freedom of speech debates but the 'lawfare' battle bubbling beneath the surface of Spanish politics in recent years. https://www.thelocal.es/20250116/why-spain-wants-to-scrap-a-law-which-punishes-religious-mockery Thu, 16 Jan 2025 10:55:41 +0100 why-spain-wants-to-scrap-a-law-which-punishes-religious-mockery