Spain

Torrential rain in Spain causes major flooding

Maximum red weather alerts are in place in the Madrid, Toledo and Cádiz regions.

Sunday's football match between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla was suspended due to the torrential rain.

Residents in Madrid have been asked to stay at home due to "the exceptional and abnormal" rainfall, the mayor said.

In the Spanish capital alone, firefighters have been called to alleviate the situation in flooded roads 190 times.

Much of the rainfall, brought by Storm Dana, has been concentrated in Cádiz, Tarragona and Castelló - coastal regions across the country.

Spain star Olga Carmona learns of father’s death after final

The Spanish Football Federation announced the devastating news in a statement the morning after Spain’s historic 1-0 win over England.

“We send our most sincere hugs to Olga and her family in this moment of deep pain,” the federation said.

“We love you, Olga. You are part of the history of Spanish football.”

According to Spanish media, Carmona's father had died in the days leading up to the final but her family had kept the news from her to allow her to focus on the match.

Spain, Japan reach knockout stage, Canada win

Teresa Abelleira opened the scoring in the ninth minute before Hermoso and Redondo converted their respective braces for Spain.

Hermoso scored in the 13th and 70th minutes, and Redondo tallied in the 69th and 85th minutes.

Misa Rodriguez made two saves for Spain, who will battle Japan, also with two wins, on Monday for the top spot in Group C.

Eunice Sakala finished with eight saves for Zambia, who will clash with Costa Rica on Monday for third place.

Japan 2, Costa Rica 0

Couple jailed for stealing $1.7m worth of wine

The incident happened in 2021 at a luxury hotel in the Spanish city of Cáceres, where the couple were staying as guests.

BBC reports the couple later fled, but they were arrested nine months later at the Croatia-Montenegro border and returned to Spain.

None of the wine has been recovered.

The court named the couple only as Tatania and Estanislao, but they have been identified by Spanish media as Priscila Guevara and Constantín Dumitru.

According to the court, Tatania checked into the exclusive Atrio hotel in October 2021 using a fake Swiss passport.

Thousands escape wildfires in France, Spain and Greece

More than 11,000 people have been forced to leave France's south-western Gironde region in the past few days.

Dozens of fires are burning in Portugal and Spain where temperatures have surged above 40C.

At least 281 deaths in both countries were linked to the heat and several towns in western Spain were evacuated.

Portuguese villagers were also told to flee when flames crossed the border from Spain.

Drug smuggling: Underwater drones seized by Spanish police

The unmanned submersibles are apparently capable of carrying up to 200kg (441lbs) of cargo.

As part of the 14-month investigation, eight people have been arrested in Cadiz, Malaga, and Barcelona.

Police say it means they have broken up a gang suspected of building the vehicles and supplying them to drug smugglers across Europe.

Spanish police say it is the first time they have discovered an underwater vehicle capable of being operated unmanned.

Spain's Rafael Nadal

The 13-time champion in Paris was hampered by a chronic foot injury as he failed to reach the quarter finals of the Rome Masters.

Nadal, who only recently returned from a stress fracture in his ribs, said he would take a doctor with him to Roland Garros.

 

Photo: PHOTOSPORT  Caption: Nadal with the Australian Open silverware 

     

Fiji pull out of sevens round because of Covid

The personnel who tested positive are "well and asymptomatic", FRU chief executive John O'Connor said, adding that the men's and women's teams were still hoping to compete in the following round in Seville from Jan. 28-30.

"Taking in consideration that the entire team are primary contacts ... teams have moved into the mandatory seven days isolation," O'Connor said.

Fiji's men's side, who defeated New Zealand to retain their Olympic Rugby Sevens gold in Tokyo last year, are sixth in the standings, while the women's team are second, four points behind leaders Australia.

Flying Fijians include five new caps to face Spain

Tokyo Olympics sevens gold medallists Aminiasi Tuimaba, Jiuta Wainiqolo and Vilimoni Botitu will start on the wings and at centre.

Meanwhile, 2016 gold medallist Masivesi Dakuwaqa and 20-year-old Stade Francais hooker Henry Spring are set to make their test debut off the bench.

Interim Flying Fijians head coach Gareth Baber knows Tuimaba, Wainiqolo and Botitu well from his five years' in charge of the sevens programme.

Spain sends troops as 8000 migrants enter enclave

Some 8000 people have reached Ceuta in two days, Spanish officials say.

They say the migrants - who include about 1500 minors - either swam around the border fences that jut out into the sea or walked across at low tide.

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has vowed to restore order. Spain says around half of the migrants have been sent back to Morocco.

By Tuesday evening, footage of the beach showed that nearly all migrants had been cleared.

Sánchez travelled to Ceuta and Melilla to deal with the crisis, which exacerbated diplomatic tensions with Morocco.