Spain

Spain's acting prime minister said in a press conference on Nov. 14 that he aims to form a functioning government by December.

The division in Catalonia between those in favor and those against the region's independence from Spain is quite similar to that in Northern Ireland, with sectarian tensions being possible too, warned Professor Ignacio Molina of the Elcano Royal Institute and the Autonomous University of Madrid at an event organized in Athens by a leading Greek think tank.

The leader of Spain's Catalonia region condemned increasing unrest in the city of Barcelona on Oct. 17, as protests intensified three days after nine leaders of a 2017 independence bid were sentenced to up to 13 years in jail.

Spain holds parliamentary elections on November 10th.

Spanish Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez failed to get enough support in parliament to become prime minister again. On the other side, King Felipe VI announced that he would not be proposing another prime ministerial candidate, thus paving the way for a new vote.

Two people have died in floods caused by heavy rainfall in southeastern Spain, BTA reported.

"The death of two people has been confirmed," the emergency services of the Castile-La Mancha Autonomous Region said on Twitter. The car of the two victims was taken by the stranded waters of the village of Caudete. The dead man was 61 years old and his sister 51 years old.

More than 150 migrants crossed the border fence at Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta early on Aug. 30 and at least six Spanish police officers suffered minor injuries as they tried to stop them, a government spokesman in the city said.

Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the head of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), has been awarded the Spanish Order of Civil Merit with degree of Encomienda at the behest of King Felipe VI of Spain, in recognition of his valuable work toward strengthening relations between Turkey and Spain.

Spain's acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and opposition leader Pablo Casado of the Popular Party (PP) have agreed to open up a permanent communication channel on the issue of Catalonia, where the independence drive has deeply divided the region.

Spain's ruling Socialists were considering possible partners for a new government for the politically polarized country on April 29 after they won a national election but failed to secure a majority.

Greek households lost 27.9 percent of their assets in the decade from 2008 to 2018, Alpha Bank notes in its weekly financial bulletin.