UEFA approves Barcelona’s Camp Nou return, endangered white rhino born at Valencia zoo, and more news from Spain on Thursday November 20th.
Spain releases ex-ally of PM implicated in graft probe
Spain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday November 19th, released from jail a former top Socialist official and close ally of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez who is under investigation for alleged corruption.
The suspicions against Santos Cerdán have exacerbated a series of graft investigations against Sánchez’s former inner circle and relatives that have threatened to topple the fragile government.
Cerdán is implicated in a complicated affair involving alleged kickbacks in exchange for public contracts, which saw him provisionally detained in June.
The investigating judge ordered Cerdán’s release considering that the risk of destruction of evidence that justified his imprisonment had been “seriously mitigated”, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Cerdán will have to appear before court every 15 days and cannot leave the country, with the judge ordering the confiscation of his passport.
UEFA approves Barcelona’s Camp Nou return in Champions League
UEFA has given Barcelona the go-ahead to play Champions League matches at their partially rebuilt Camp Nou stadium, the La Liga giants said.
The news comes just a couple of days after Barça announced their long-awaited return to league action at the stadium, which had been beset by construction chaos, after more than two years in exile.
The Spanish champions will host Eintracht Frankfurt at the Camp Nou on December 9th, just over two weeks after reinaugurating the stadium against Athletic Bilbao in domestic action on November 22nd.
Barcelona said in a statement that “UEFA accepted the request, considering that all the necessary requirements have been met.”
The Camp Nou return will end a messy saga in which Barcelona repeatedly had to postpone their announced reopening of the stadium as construction delays and a failure to secure safety licences curtailed their plans.
Financially troubled Barcelona are estimated to be spending €1.5 billion on the rebuild.
READ ALSO: Barça to make long-awaited Camp Nou return on November 22
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Spain plans 480 more events to mark Franco’s death
Spain’s leftist government has announced 480 new events to be held this year to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of right-wing dictator Francisco Franco and the restoration of democracy.
The series of concerts, conferences, exhibitions and other initiatives will follow the more than 150 events already held so far this year across the country under the slogan “Spain at Liberty”.
Franco died on November 20th, 1975, aged 82, after ruling Spain with an iron fist for nearly four decades.
Democratic elections followed in 1977 and newly enfranchised Spaniards approved a new constitution in a referendum the following year, now celebrated with a public holiday on December 6th.
Democratic Memory Minister Angel Victor Torres said the government had opted against holding a “central act” on Thursday to mark the anniversary of Franco’s death in favour of “celebrating the recovery of democracy throughout the year”.
“We are not celebrating the death of the dictator, we are celebrating the beginning of the end” of the dictatorship, he told a news conference.
READ ALSO: Divided Spain marks 50 years since ex-dictator Franco’s death
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White rhino born at Valencia zoo in conservation success
A southern white rhino calf has been born at a zoo in the city of Valencia, in a success for a European programme aimed at preserving the threatened species.
After a 491-day pregnancy, mother Kwanza gave birth to the male calf in early November, the Bioparc Valencia zoo said.
The zoo released a video showing the birth and the jubilant reactions of caretakers who had long awaited the event.
“We are very happy because we tried both artificial insemination and natural breeding, and finally we succeeded,” the zoo’s technical director for animals, Loles Carbonell, said in the video, without explaining how the conception occurred.
It is the first birth of a southern white rhino at the zoo since it opened nearly 18 years ago.
“This birth is very important for the international conservation programme, as this is a highly threatened species,” said Raul Olmo, a member of the zoo’s animal care team.
With reporting from AFP
