Spain - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

Senegal’s fishermen head for Spain as fish stocks dwindle at home

FISHERMAN Khalifa Ndour says Senegalese President Macky Sall is responsible for the plunge in his country's fish stocks that forced him to risk his life to seek work as a farmhand in northeastern Spain. Back home in Senegal, his wife Mariatou Mbodj misses her husband. She can't find work as a fish processor, and she and Ndour's three children wait anxiously in Bargny, on the coast south of the capital Dakar, for news of his progress in getting legalised in Spain. Ndour, 42, is one of tens of thousands of Africans, many former fishermen, making a perilous journey to Spain…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Spain arrests 14 accused of defrauding families of missing migrants

NEWS

SPAIN'S Civil Guard has arrested 14 people for allegedly seeking to profit from the families of missing migrants from North Africa, promising them to find, identify and repatriate their bodies in return for money, it said on Wednesday. The network lured victims by posting messages offering their services on social media, police said. The group allegedly spoke over several years with relatives in Morocco and Algeria whose family members were missing and feared to have died at sea while trying to reach the Spanish coast in small boats. The Civil Guard said they offered to act as intermediaries with the…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Missing boy found in France to return to Britain in next few days

WORLD

A teenager from Britain who resurfaced in southern France after disappearing six years ago is expected to return to northern England in the next few days, police said after the boy left a spiritualist mountain community in the Pyrenees. Alex Batty disappeared at the age of 11 during a holiday with his mother and grandfather in Malaga, Spain, in 2017 and both are still wanted in connection with his disappearance. Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said they were working with French authorities to bring Batty back home and to his grandmother, who is his legal guardian, according to French prosecutors. "He's getting well…

Nov

2023

By The African Mirror

Spain offers drones, reinforcement to help Senegal tackle migration crisis

NEWS

SPAIN has delivered six new multi-copter drones to Senegal and plans to reinforce its deployed security personnel to help the West African nation tackle a migration crisis, Spain's acting Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said. Grande-Marlaska is in Senegal where he met his Senegalese counterpart, Sidiki Kaba, as the number of would-be migrants from West Africa, especially Senegal, to reach Spain's Canary Islands this year is near a record high. Grande-Marlaska said the drones delivered to the Senegal Police are designed to detect vessel departures so that they could be intercepted. He added that Spain had also deployed a civil guard aircraft…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Spain seizes ancient gold jewellery stolen from Ukraine worth $64 million

WORLD

SPAIN has seized ancient gold artefacts valued at 60 million euros ($63.6 million) stolen from Ukraine after thieves were caught trying to sell them in Madrid, Spanish police said. The 11 pieces, primarily jewellery including intricate necklaces, bracelets and earrings, are dated from the Greco-Scythian period between the 8th and 4th centuries BC, police said. The items were exhibited in a Kyiv museum between 2009-2013, and were smuggled out of Ukraine in 2016, Madrid National Police said in a statement, without identifying the museum. The artefacts had forged documents to make it look as if they belonged to the Ukrainian…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Morocco will co-host the 2030 World Cup – Palestine and Western Sahara will be burning issues

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE 2030 men’s football World Cup will be co-hosted by three countries across two continents after Morocco, Spain and Portugal’s successful bid was selected by Fifa, the sport’s world governing body. For the north African country of Morocco, this represents a milestone after five unsuccessful bids. It becomes just the second African and second Arab country to host the prestigious tournament – after South Africa in 2010 and Qatar in 2022. MAHFOUD AMARA, Associate Professor in Sport Policy & Management, Qatar University But there’s a bigger picture. The news can be celebrated as a symbol of reconciliation among three historically…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Talking points from European soccer

FOOTBALL

TALKING points from the weekend in European soccer leagues: SPAIN BELLINGHAM KEEPS IMPRESSING REAL MADRID "Nobody expected the level that (Jude Bellingham) is delivering," Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday after another masterful display by the 20-year-old England midfielder, who scored twice in a 4-0 win over Osasuna. He has scored an astonishing 10 goals in his first 10 starts for his new team, equalling Cristiano Ronaldo's tally, but delivered three assists against only one by the Portuguese in his first 10 starts for Real in all competitions. Bellingham has made the transition to Spanish soccer look ridiculously…

Oct

2023

By ROHITH NAIR and DANIELA DESANTIS

FIFA WORLD CUP IN AFRICA: Morocco, Spain and Portugal to host 2030 World Cup

FOOTBALL

IN a surprise announcement a year earlier than planned FIFA allocated the 2030 World Cup to Morocco, Spain and Portugal but also said Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay will host three matches to mark the tournament's centenary. FIFA said the joint bid from Morocco, Portugal and Spain was the sole candidate to host the tournament. The inaugural World Cup in 1930 was held in Uruguay and won by the hosts after they defeated Argentina in the final in Montevideo. Spain was awarded the World Cup weeks after their disgraced former chief Luis Rubiales was forced to step down following his allegedly unsolicited…

Oct

2023

By AHMED ELJECHTIMI

Moroccans ‘honoured’ to co-host soccer 2030 World Cup

FOOTBALL

MOROCCANS welcomed the announcement that their country would co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Portugal, after years of failed attempts. FIFA on Wednesday made a surprise announcement confirming Spain, Portugal and Morocco as hosts after another bid dropped out, but said the three opening matches would be played in Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay. After five failed attempts to become World Cup hosts, the announcement that Morocco will share the honours will lift spirits in the north African country, a month after a devastating earthquake that killed nearly 3,000 people. Soccer is a big part of Moroccan life, with…

Oct

2023

By The African Mirror

Nightclub fire kills at least 13 in Murcia in Spain

WORLD

AT least 13 people have been killed in a fire in a nightclub in Murcia in southeast Spain, emergency services said, adding that rescuers were still searching for people unaccounted for after the blaze. Outside the club, young people hugged, looking shocked as they waited for information after the fire that broke out in the early hours in Atalayas, on the outskirts of the city. "I think we left 30 seconds to 1 minute before the alarms went off and all the lights went out (and) the screams saying there was a fire," one survivor, who was not identified, said.…