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16 Aug, 2025 @ 10:00
2 mins read

Olive Press Round-Up: The biggest stories in Spain

by

From The Digital Editor
Walter Finch

Dear Olive Press readers, 

Welcome back to another week of news in Spain and a big thank you to Ben Pawlowski – our young but hugely talented journalist who did a disturbingly good job of standing in for me while I was incommunicado.

It took me a couple of days after my holidays to get back into the grind of directing the events in Spain onto the pages of the Olive Press website – but I’m back in the swing and here’s the biggest stories you can’t miss.

The overwhelmingly most important story of the week has been the devastating wildfires that have been blazing across Spain.

www.theolivepress.es

EXCLUSIVE: Expat hotel boss tells of ‘amazing’ staff who saved luxury Tarifa hotel and 100 guests as scary wildfire came ‘just 4 metres’ from its border

IT was a classic rearguard action by the hard-working staff at one of Andalucia’s top hotels that saved it from almost certain destruction. As flames swept across a large swathe…

Read more

The resorts and surf camp sites of Tarifa faced extinction not once but twice in a week – were it not for the herculean efforts of Spain’s firefighting agency INFOCA.

World-famous Spanish chef Jose Andres even popped up during the evacuations as his home in Zahara de los Atunes – and his controversial tourist development plans – came under direct threat of devastation.

Which, coincidentally, follows on from this week’s front page story in the Olive Press newspaper – Tarifa town hall ignored 157 separate objections to give planning permission for a huge housing and hotel development on one of the last truly unspoilt stretches of Spain’s southern coast.

Back to the fires, and the wealthy Madrid commuter town of Tres Cantos – home to the British school of King’s College – also came perilously close to destruction, while the former Roman goldmine and UNESCO World Heritage site of Las Medulas was tragically torched.

One volunteer firefighter gave his life defending the village he grew up in, as that fire – currently engulfing parts of Leon and Zamora – became one of the largest Spain has ever seen.

www.theolivepress.es

PICTURED: Volunteer firefighter, 35, perishes trying to save his village as record-breaking forest fires devastate Spain

A VOLUNTEER firefighter has lost his life to the wildfires sweeping across Leon and Zamora provinces after being engulfed by flames whilst battling to save his beloved village. Abel Ramos…

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Disturbingly, it seems that most of these fires – which have taken lives and destroyed livelihoods – were started deliberately. Arrests have already been made while several more suspects are hunted.

And lest we not forget how perilously close we came to losing another World Heritage site when the Mezquita in Cordoba caught fire. A short circuit in a floor-sweeping machine was the culprit, but thanks – once again – to Spain’s firefighters, only a small section was damaged and the monument was quickly reopened to visitors.

The various tales of heroism and tragedy have come as a result of yet another punishing heatwave, with this August – unsurprisingly – being so far the hottest on record in Spain.

Away from that fiery saga, and Olive Press readers were all dreadfully eager to read about the latest airport strikes in Spain designed to disrupt the August holiday season – matched only by their desire to learn about new mandatory EU home renovations that could set them back thousands.

www.theolivepress.es

Fresh strikes to hit Spain’s busiest airports this August: All you need to know to avoid the travel chaos

A FRESH wave of airport strikes is set to disrupt major Spanish holiday destinations this August, impacting thousands of Brits and north Europeans who have booked a getaway in the…

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It wouldn’t be Spain if there weren’t the weekly arrests of various drug-trafficking mafias – and this week hasn’t let us down. One Albanian kingpin was frogmarched out of his Almuñecar villa, while a British-Irish gang on the Costa del Sol which smuggled marijuana to Ireland was also busted.

Meanwhile, we received a hefty response from our piece on Americans fleeing to Spain to escape Trump’s authoritarian tendencies – mainly from Trump-supporting Americans residing in Spain. There are more than you’d think. Expect a follow up piece on the topic giving the other side of the story.

We’ll leave it there for now, but this is just touching the surface of our reporting this week. Head over to the Olive Press website to read up on everything I’ve left out.

And also take note – we’re currently running a late-summer flash sale. Get an annual Olive Press subscription for half price! But act fast.

That’s all from me this week, have a great weekend.

Best, Walt

Our mailing address is:

The Olive Press

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San Luis de Sabinillas, Malaga 29692, Spain

Copyright © 2025 The Olive Press, All rights reserved.

Click here to read more Spain News from The Olive Press.

Walter Finch, is the Digital Editor of the Olive Press and occasional roaming photographer who started out at the Daily Mail.
Born in London but having lived in six countries, he is well-travelled and worldly. He studied Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and earned his NCTJ diploma in journalism from London's renowned News Associates during the Covid era.
He got his first break working on the Foreign News desk of the Daily Mail's online arm, where he also helped out on the video desk due to previous experience as a camera operator and filmmaker.
He then decided to escape the confines of London and returned to Spain in 2022, having previously lived in Barcelona for many years.

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Olive Press Round-Up: The biggest stories in Spain

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Olive Press Round-Up: The biggest stories in Spain

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Enjoy 50% off an Olive Press annual subscription in our late-summer flash sale

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