A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Fifty-four Moroccan minors in Ceuta join their families in mainland Spain

A total of 54 unaccompanied migrant children who arrived alone in Ceuta during the mass influx on July 30th and 31st have been transferred to the Spanish mainland to be with relatives who already reside in Spain.

Sources at Spain’s Ministry of Youth confirm that this is a routine procedure and that they are also considering reuniting another 300 children, who will not be placed in reception centres but rather with family members who were already living in Spain before the migration crisis began.

“When family members request family reunification or the child claims it, the family relationship between the adults and the minors is verified before proceeding with the reunification,” reports the department headed by Minister Sira Rego. 

To verify the relationship, adults claiming a family connection are being transferred to Ceuta to prove these family links and then go to collect the minor. 

This happens always under the supervision of the police, who are responsible for authorising their departure to Spain before the autonomous city informs the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the services of the destination region.

Lonely Planet adds Spanish city of León to 2027 global must-visit list

Travel guide company Lonely Planet has released its Best in Travel 2027 selection this Wednesday, which brings together 50 inspiring destinations – and it includes the relatively unknown northern city of León.

León has plenty of history, beautiful architecture and a lively foodie scene, but it’s far from the big cities, has no major airports nearby and can be bitterly cold in winter.

León was placed in Lonely Planet’s category of essential places to visit in Europe along with Veneto (Italy), Dessau (Germany), Skanör-Falsterbo (Sweden) and Sibenik (Croatia).

The editorial team highlights the “timeless charm” of the city of León, defining it as one of the most evocative and attractive medieval cities on the continent.

The New York-based firm emphasizes that the list seeks to respond to the change in traveller consumption habits, who are prioritising moving away from tourist crowds, reconnecting with nature, and supporting local economies through authentic and personalized itineraries.

Website selling Spain-England football tickets hacked

The ticketing platform of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suffered a cyberattack on Wednesday caused by “a high volume of malicious external traffic directed at its systems”.

This forced the RFEF to temporarily pause the purchase of tickets for the Spain-England match on November 15th at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.

Upon detecting the computer incident, the Spanish Football Federation activated security and service protocols, stopped sales and began working with “specialized technology providers to restore operations as quickly as possible”. 

Once the problem was resolved, the online ticketing system (tickets.rfef.es), which started operating at 1 pm, resumed selling tickets at 5 pm, with a limit of six tickets per person.

Spanish PM slams housing crisis ‘tragedy’ after pensioner evicted

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned an unacceptable “tragedy” on Wednesday after an 87-year-old Madrid pensioner was evicted from her life-long home in one of the harshest expressions of Spain’s chronic housing crisis.

Maricarmen had resided for 70 years in the upmarket central Retiro neighbourhood, next to the popular UNESCO-listed park of the same name, and always paid her rent, supporters say.

She had spent years in a legal battle against a real estate firm that had acquired her apartment and raised the monthly rent fivefold to €2,650 ($3,000).

“This is a social tragedy that we cannot accept,” Sánchez told journalists in New York, where the Socialist premier was attending the UN General Assembly, criticising the role of the conservative-run city and regional governments.

Amnesty International Spain said: “It isn’t an isolated case, it is just another portrayal of the suffering that thousands of households go through in Spain”.

Sanchez said approving an “absolutely necessary” law to prevent such evictions was “a shared responsibility” between his minority leftist coalition and the rest of parliament.

With additional reporting by AFP.