Free Republic

The decision by Florida governor Ron DeSantis in 2023 to oust the radicals controlling the state’s tiny liberal-arts college, New College of Florida, has elicited frenzied reactions from the global Left. The effort by a democratically elected government to bring political balance, educational excellence, and fiscal sanity to a failed public institution of 800 students is seen as nothing less than a collegiate March on Rome. The reaction has rather proven the point: The leftist control of higher education has become so totalitarian that even the slightest hint of deviance is viewed as a mortal threat to the revolutionary project....

Spanish Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz has been confirmed by Pope Francis as the new leader of Opus Dei, following his election by an Opus Dei congress to the role. Ocáriz, 71, is a long time consulter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and performed key tasks under Pope Benedict XVI. Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, a Spanish priest and consultant to the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as well as other Vatican departments, has been confirmed by Pope Francis as the new leader of Opus Dei after being elected to the post by the group’s congress.Ocáriz becomes...

Thousands of protestors marched through central Barcelona this evening, waving placards and squirting holidaymakers with water guns in the latest expression of anger at perceived overtourism in Spain. Under the slogan 'Enough! Let's put limits on tourism', some 2,800 people - according to police - marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year. Protesters carried signs reading 'Barcelona is not for sale,' and, 'Tourists go home,' before some used water guns on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist hotspots. Chants of 'Tourists...

The 2000-year-old tipple was found in a burial urn mixed with cremated human remains. Discovered in Carmona in the southern region of Andalusia, the wine is believed to be the oldest ever found and was preserved in liquid form. Analysis of the liquid inside the urn concluded that it was white wine despite its dark colour, as it did not contain the polyphenols found in grape skins used to produce red wine. In a report published about the discovery, scientists added that the liquid was similar to the Fino wines produced in the same region today.

A team of archaeologists in Spain has applied a new dating technique to more precisely determine the intervals between hearth fires from the Paleolithic Age.This research, published in the journal Nature, reveals that the hearths at El Salt, a Paleolithic site, were used over 200 years with intervals of decades between uses. This suggests that Neanderthals returned to this site over multiple generations, challenging previous assumptions about their mobility and settlement patterns...a novel combination of archaeomagnetic and archaeostratigraphic analyses... leverages the magnetic properties of minerals in the fire pits to record the orientation of the Earth's magnetic field at the...

At a time when ammunition is being used in Ukraine at a faster rate than the West is able to manufacture it and when the geopolitical situation has boosted the defence industry worldwide, the Fábrica de Munición de Granada (Granada ammunitions factory) has increased its activity to the highest levels in its recent history. The El Fargue facility is working at full capacity to meet demand since the increase in contracts resulting from European defence aid being sent to Ukraine. "Due to the current geopolitical situation, all defence factories have increased their activity and we are a reference in ammunition,...

Anti-Israel virtue signaling is usually reserved for know-nothing college students who may or may not be smart enough to realize how antisemitic their movement is. Sometimes, though, even whole countries find out how virtue signaling can backfire.Ireland, Norway, and Spain all decided to reward Hamas’s massacre of 1,200 Israeli civilians and promise to continue to try and kill Israeli civilians by declaring that they would recognize “Palestine” as an independent state. As part of that process, Norway will be turning its diplomatic office in the West Bank into an embassy, and Ireland announced it would create an embassy as well.Spain,...

In the lead up to the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation to destroy Hamas and secure the release of over 100 hostages – including 8 Americas – believed to be in and around Rafah, leaders around the world from Joe Biden to the collective leftist leaders of the European Union to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi panicked and ordered Israel to forestall its necessary means to end the war.Why did world leaders clamor for Israel to do nothing?What are they hiding?It turns out they are hiding a lot.Over one million Gazans were said to be sheltering in humanitarian safe areas...

Spain’s Socialist government has sensationally BANNED the public saying of the Rosary in Madrid ahead of the European Elections. Pedro Sanchez’s government has told the organisers of the daily Rosary in Madrid that they will not be allowed to gather in the city on June 8th of June 9th due to a ‘day of reflection’ and the election day. It comes after already fining its leader thousands for praying in public. Catholics have said that they will defy the order.

Following the joint press conference in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday, where the governments of Spain, Ireland, and Norway recognized a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, Christians in Ireland and Norway criticized their respective governments' decisions. Christian leaders in Ireland and Norway, affiliated with the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), issued statements on Tuesday rejecting their governments' unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. They denounced the recognition as a grave mistake and a "reward for terrorism," arguing that the move would not contribute to peace in the region. “Christian supporters of Israel in Ireland sense...

The Biden administration is planning to refer some migrants in Latin America for resettlement in Greece and Italy as part of another effort to discourage people in the region from traveling to the U.S.-Mexico border, two people familiar with the government's plans told CBS News. The initiative would involve Greece and Italy welcoming migrants processed at immigration offices that the Biden administration set up last year in four Latin American countries to screen migrants who hope to reach the U.S., the sources said, requesting anonymity to discuss arrangements that have yet to be announced.

Breaking with the stance of other Western countries, Israel decided on Monday not to express an official opinion on the issue of Catalan independence in the meantime, NRG reported. According to the report, Spain asked Israel over the weekend to publicly declare that it does not support Catalan independence, as part of Spain’s efforts to garner international consensus on the matter. Israel’s ambivalence is a departure from the opposition to Catalan independence declared by the EU and US. On Friday, US State Dept. spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that “Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the...

After the announcement last week that Spain, Norway and Ireland would recognize the state of Palestine, a visibly-delighted Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations came to talk to the press. “We need somebody to take pictures,” Riyad Mansour said, ushering the Irish, Spanish and Norwegian envoys into an impromptu photoshoot just outside the UN Security Council. “A glorious day today,” Mr. Mansour declared as the four ambassadors stood shoulder-to-shoulder. […] All this, the supporters of Palestinian statehood hope, is gathering momentum towards the implementation of a two-state solution. That is not how Israel, nor its closest ally, the US, see...

MADRID (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday secured from Spain a pledge of additional air defense missiles to help fight the about 3,000 bombs that he says Russia launches every month at Ukraine in the third year of the war. However, Ukraine still urgently needs another seven U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems to stop Russia hitting the power grid and civilian areas, as well as military targets, with devastating glide bombs that wreak wide destruction, Zelenskyy said. “If we had these modern Patriot systems, (Russian) airplanes wouldn´t be able to fly close enough to drop the (glide) bombs...

Joel Bueno shed tears of joy as his four-legged guests entered the intensive care unit where he had been admitted due to a blood clot. Bueno, 34, said being showered with affection by therapy dogs Vida and Lu reminded him of his own dog back home. "It's great to have someone that loves you more than anything else in the world," he told Reuters with a broad smile. "They give everything for you, no matter how you are with them." The visit was part of a trial launched by the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona and the Affinity Foundation, which...

Irish Ambassador to Israel Sonya McGuinness was summoned to the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry in Jerusalem today and reprimanded over Ireland’s decision to recognize the State of Palestine. The ambassadors of Spain and Norway attended the same meeting for the same reason. Before any discussions, they were shown a previously unaired video of Hamas taking female army conscripts captive on 7 October last year. It is understood the Irish Government was disappointed at this, on the basis that it fell below the established procedures and practices regarding diplomatic engagement. What is believed to have been a “forthright exchange of views”...

The economy is experiencing a golden moment thanks to exports and tourism after cleaning up its accounts. But the country has paid a price in migration of qualified workers and reduction of public services. Ten years after the departure of the “men in black” — the international managers of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank who cleaned up Portugal’s accounts with a machete, the country has emerged as the most diligent student in southern Europe. In 2023, for the first time, public debt fell below 100% of GDP (it stood at 98.7%) and there was a...

Tonight in Paris two police officers shot and seriously wounded inside a police station... The Russian military in Syria says that Russian military police blocked a convoy of the US-led military coalition... Pro-Palestinian demonstrations going on in Spain without violent incidents or police crackdowns... "There are few soldiers there. Observers, engineers" Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk discussing NATO's presence in Ukraine... Thousands gathered for a Pro-Palestinian protest in Malmo, Sweden... The mainstream media reporting on the Israel-Gaza situation noting Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah and a buildup of ground forces around it...And there are signs of...

Ireland, Spain and a number of other EU member states are considering 21 May as the date on which they will jointly recognize the State of Palestine, RTÉ News understands. Two sources have said that 21 May is being looked at. A third source said contacts between Dublin and Madrid, as well as between Slovenia and Malta, have been intensifying with a view to the countries jointly recognizing Palestinian statehood. […] Currently, eight EU member states recognize the State of Palestine, the most recent being Sweden in 2014. Ireland has been in ongoing discussions with “like-minded” states for a number...

The British Empire and other major European powers did not significantly enrich themselves through slavery and colonialism but rather may have taken a net loss as a result, a report has asserted. Contrary to narratives pushed by ‘anti-colonialism’ academics and promoted by leftist talking heads, Western capitalism was not built off the backs of colonialism and slavery, fresh research from Kristian Niemietz of the Institute of Economic Affairs claims. The head of Political Economy at the IEA argues that while some select elite families within Britain and other colonial powers profited immensely during the time, such gains were not felt...