Nadal worried about illegal Catalan referendum

In this special edition, we're in Spain, which is listed as one of the world's top 15 countries in fighting gender discrimination. It is also a pioneer in the field of gender violence. So how did a once traditionally Catholic nation that spent years under dictatorship now become a world leader in promoting equality? In seeking to find out, Annette Young speaks to the Secretary for Equality, Ángela Rodríguez, and other activists as to why the nation is pursuing such a progressive path.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has described the end of the eruption on the tiny Canary island as the "best Christmas present." The volcano flared for more than 85 days, causing nearly €1 billion in damage.

After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, thousands have been evacuated to Europe. Paralympic wheelchair basketball player Nilofar Bayat and her husband are now living in the Spanish city of Bilbao – making a fresh start on the court.

Some 100,000 abortions take place every year in Spain. In theory, terminations are a right under Spanish law but in practice, many women face obstacles when they choose to terminate a pregnancy. The medical establishment itself is often hostile to the prospect of performing abortions, and doctors working in the field say they are stigmatised by their pro-life colleagues. Our correspondents report.

With one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, Spain is looking at an exit strategy from the pandemic. Its government says it's time to start treating COVID-19 like any other endemic seasonal respiratory disease. DW's Jan-Philipp Scholz reports.

Seventeen years ago, Spain’s socialist government decided to inject subsidies into renewable energy. As a result, thousands of Spanish families massively invested in photovoltaic energy. But, as you'll see in our report, the dream rapidly turned into a nightmare.

A new constitutional amendment will allow Russian troops and nuclear weapons to station permanently in Belarus. The amendment also gives leader Alexander Lukashenko immunity from prosecution.

Amid supermarket food rationing, a truck drivers' strike over petrol prices and rising inflation in Spain, the country's economy minister tells FRANCE 24 that it's "essential" for Madrid to be allowed to take measures to bring electricity prices down. "We're working with the Commission to have an authorisation to decouple our energy market and thus stop this price increase […] It doesn't make sense that Spanish and Portuguese citizens do not benefit from the fact that we have for instance at least 50 percent of our generation from renewables. This is very cheap and clean energy and our citizens should benefit from these low prices," Nadia Calviño explains.

Abortion is legal in Spain yet a number of doctors in the public system still refuse to carry out the procedure, calling themselves "conscientious objectors." Their stance forcing women to use private clinics. We also head to Kibera in the Kenyan city of Nairobi which is Africa's largest urban slum; and where women outnumber men, as they struggle to exit a life of poverty. Plus we meet the Lebanese gay female stand-up comic who has no fear when it comes to breaking taboos.

Security forces and the Spanish tax agency have seized a fishing boat south of the Canary Islands carrying more than 2,900 kilos of cocaine, with a market value of €90 million.

A new report suggests that the Spanish government used the controversial Pegasus software to monitor the phones of dozens of Catalan independence figures.

Catalan politicians and activists announced legal action in several countries, following reports that the government in Madrid used Pegasus spyware manufactured by the notorious Israeli firm NSO Group to monitor them.