In our Spanish news on Wednesday, we have a checkpoint-fleeing drug trafficker in court, sexual assault trial starts today, and onions rocketing in price. Plus, European house statistics will dominate the economic headlines.

Spanish News Headlines

The First Section of the Provincial Court of Ciudad Real will begin to hear evidence from today, Wednesday, against a man accused of the crime of drug trafficking, and another against road safety, when he fled a police checkpoint in Valdepeñas and being arrested carrying several grams of cocaine. According to the indictment the event occurred in May 2021, when the accused was driving his vehicle on a road in the municipality of Valdepeñas and fled from a police checkpoint “at excessive speed and having to abruptly swerve to avoid running over an officer”. In the days after the escape, a National Police patrol identified the vehicle parked in front of a hotel establishment. Immediately afterwards, the agents entered the premises to arrest the accused. The second section of the Provincial Court of Lugo will host this the trial from today against a man accused of sexual assault in which the prosecutor requests 8 years in prison. The man is accused of vaginally penetrating a woman with whom he had a friendship and with whom he shared a home. Of the foodstuffs which are supposedly benefitting consumers through a reduced rate IVA, onions, white grapes and fuji apples are the three foods that increased the most in price in large supermarkets in the last month, according to the study carried out by Facua-Consumidores en Acción in which it analyses the evolution of prices between February and March 2024 in eight chains in a series of basic products including fruits, vegetables, eggs, lentils, rice, and olive and sunflower oils. According to the royal decree-law by which this measure is in force, none of the products analysed could increase in price unless there were increases in costs. To read these articles in full, visit SpainToday.news

Business, Markets and Statistics

Wednesday is a holiday in the Spanish autonomous communities of Melilla and Ceuta. The US inflation data for the month of March will be the main macro reference for a day in which, in Spain, the Bank of Spain will publish the Financial Accounts of the Spanish Economy corresponding to the fourth quarter. House buying statistics in the Eurozone in general will dominate Wednesday. BBVA bank will pay dividends, Banco Sabadell holds their general shareholder meeting, and in the USA, Delta Airlines publish their results. In the UK, the real-life drama of Mr Bates versus the Post Office continues, as the penultimate phase of the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry begins with a day of evidence from Alan Bates. Paula Vennells is scheduled to give evidence in May and Fujitsu engineer Gareth Jenkins in June. Also, on Wednesday, Tesco will proudly tell everyone how much money they have made during a cost-of-living crisis when they publish their results.

Traffic and Travel

Road wise, there´s nothing significant planned but remember that if you are venturing into the mountain areas, which in some cases might be less than an hour from the sunny coast, snow chains should be a consideration to avoid getting stranded. For information and updates about driving in Spain, visit N332.es

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