A roundup of the latest news on Tuesday

Spain’s Supreme Court rejects extending voting ban to children of those under Grandchildren’s Law

The Supreme Court has rejected extending the ban on voting rights to the children of those who acquired Spanish nationality through the Grandchildren’s Law. 

This means that unlike their parents, the children of those who benefited from the law will be able to vote on November 29th in the general election.

The court acknowledges that the children of those who benefited from the Grandchildren’s Law, who would have obtained Spanish nationality by birth and not through the law, should be able to vote.

According to the court order, suspending the right to vote of this group, as requested by Iustitia Europa and far-right party Vox, with more than half of the electoral period already completed and a week having passed since the start of the campaign, could cause a “serious disruption of the general interests”.

Seasonal and room rentals account for more than half of apartment listings

The number of seasonal and room rentals has been growing over the last few years compared to traditional residential rentals, according to a recent study by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council.

It states that 55.8 percent of the rental listings posted on Idealista in the last six months are for seasonal (47.7 percent) or room rentals (8.1 percent), which is more than half. 

For every ten residential rental properties, almost two are advertised as seasonal rentals and three as shared rooms.

Chaos in Madrid and Catalonia due to train drivers’ strike

The first of two strike days called for this week by the Spanish Union of Railway Drivers (Semaf) has left thousands of commuters stranded across Madrid and Catalonia as minimum services are not being met. 

The Ministry of Transport had agreed minimum services for commuter trains rangning from 75 percent during peak hours to 50 percent the rest of the day, as well as 65 percent for medium-distance trains and 72 percent for high-speed rail. This morning, however, these minimum services are not being fully met, and widespread delays are being reported across the network.

The Catalan Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, has stated that the Catalan Government will request information from Renfe regarding the failure to provide minimum services and investigations will be opened into why so many drivers are not turning up for work. “The failure to provide minimum services is unacceptable, and we will get to the bottom of this,” she stated on Catalunya Ràdio.

Train drivers across Spain are staging walkouts due to the situation on the railways and are calling for measures to strengthen railway safety and improve working conditions. Partial strikes are also planned for Thursday November 12th during three time periods: from 6.20am to 9.20am, from 2.20pm to 5.20pm, and from 9.20pm to 11.20pm.

Red weather alert issued for Ávila and Cáceres as classes are suspended

Storm Bruna is bringing heavy rain and strong winds to eight Spanish regions this Tuesday, particularly in Castilla y León and Extremadura, where a red alert been activated due to rainfall that could accumulate up to 120 litres per square meter in 12 hours.

The regional governments have suspended school activities today in 32 municipalities with a total of 943 students affected. 

In Castilla y León, a red alert has been issued for Ávila from 9.am until midnight, according to Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (Aemet), as well as the same for Cáceres in Extremadura. Other areas in the region such as Villuercas, Montánchez and Vegas del Guadiana are under yellow warnings for 40 litres of rain in 12 hours.