Free Republic

"Turn on your Heart Light" My proximity to you is an eternal embrace so let go of your life for it is in my hand and your destiny is everlasting as long as you love to forgive with a true heart found only through me for my love is the window to your peace and joy found in the power of Virtue for holiness must be the voice in your mind perpetually to see as I see and hear The Shepherd of your heart light !

The Pyrenees mountain range has divided Spain and France for centuries, with Spain on the south side, and France on the north. But why is there one strange little blob of Spain over on the French side? I visited the historic enclave of Llivia and discovered the spectacularly pedantic reason behind its existence...How A Spectacular Piece Of Pedantry Created An International EnclaveThe Tim Traveller | 306K subscribers | 427,474 views | January 25, 2022

SPANISH football giants Real Madrid have led tributes to a young female footballer who has died suddenly in Spain. Spanish side Sporting Club de Huelva announced that Estrella Martín, who was also a regular member of Spain’s U-15 women’s national team, had died suddenly. No further information has been released. “Sporting Club de Huelva deeply regrets to announce the death this morning of our player Estrella Martín Rasco in her native Ayamonte,” the club wrote. “A member of our youth ranks, the player, a cadet player and a regular member of the U-15 women’s national team, left us today in...

Almost exactly 15 years ago, I received a book in the mail entitled El Cid: God's Own Champion. When first flipping through this book, I remember thinking to myself, "This probably won't be very good." After all, it was a work by an unknown author, meant for young readers, and self-published to boot. But as it turned out, I loved it. My kids have read it—even the one with dyslexia read and enjoyed it. Since I wrote the above-linked review in 2008, I have recommended El Cid to hundreds of people. A few years later, Mr. Fitzhenry published another equally...

In an attack with a machete in southern Spain, one person has been killed-several people were injured. The perpetrator is said to have attacked people in at least two churches... The public prosecutors office had initiated a preliminary investigation on suspicion of terrorism wrote the newspaper "El Pais". The suspect was a 25-year-old Moroccan. According to eyewitnesses, the man had entered the Church of San Isidro with the cry "for Allah"...

The Observatory of Religious Pluralism in Spain has released an update of the data on places of worship, as well as the religious identification of the Spanish population according to the statistics published by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS).The Observatory aims to provide “data and diagnoses on the diversity of beliefs and the needs related to the effective exercise of religious freedom, in order to contribute to the improvement of public management”, explained on its website.In addition to provide reports and infographics on the situation of religious minorities in Spain, the Observatory updates data on places of worship every six...

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iranian chess player arrived in Spain on Tuesday after receiving what a source close to her said were warnings not to return to Iran for competing without a hijab at an international tournament in Kazakhstan. Sara Khadem, born in 1997, took part in last week's FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships in Almaty without the hijab - a headscarf mandatory under Iran's strict dress codes. The source, who did not want to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said Khadem subsequently received multiple phone calls in which individuals warned her against returning...

A transgender rights bill to be voted on this week has sparked bitter divisions within Spain's ruling left-wing coalition, pitting its powerful feminist lobby against LGBTQ equality campaigners. The draft bill effectively simplifies the procedure for changing gender on a person's national identity card, allowing them to request the change based on a simple statement. ... It would make Spain one of the few countries in the world to allow transgender people to change their status with a simple declaration. ... Activists from the Alliance Against the Erasure of Women fear that the law will be open to abuse and...

[Catholic Caucus] Protector of the IndiansAbove: the old and new basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe.In the year 1527 King Charles V of Spain spent Holy Week at the Franciscan Monastery of Barajo near the city of Burgo in northern Spain. Friar Juan de Zumarraga was the prior of the monastery at this time. So impressed was the King by Friar Zumarraga’s holiness and capabilities that a year later, in 1528, he recommended that he become the first bishop of Mexico. His official title would be “Protector of the Indians.”Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowOne might wonder why a Franciscan would...

Local media reported that the trains had been travelling in the same direction and collided while one was parked at the station. Catalan police are investigating how the incident occurred. The crash happened at the Montcada i Reixac - Manresa station, about 12km (7 miles) from the city centre. Emergency services official Joan Carles Gomez told reporters at the scene that 155 people had been injured in the collision, with 14 passengers transferred to a local medical centre for further treatment.

A sixth letter bomb was intercepted on Thursday at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid, similar to those sent earlier to Spanish President Pedro Sanchez, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles, the satellite center at the Torrejon de Ardoz base, the Instalaza arms company in Zaragoza, and the Ukrainian Embassy in the Spanish capital. The new letter, which contained a homemade explosive device, was detected at 12:30 p.m., the Ministry of the Interior confirmed, adding that the permanent police protocol was activated after the discovery. The package was detonated in a controlled manner after specialized bomb disposal agents from the State Security...

Hansi Flick said German football will "head into a different direction, and very soon" after the four-time world champions suffered a second successive World Cup group stage elimination, described as an "absolute catastrophe" by forward Thomas Muller. Despite a 4-2 win against Costa Rica at Al Bayt Stadium, Japan's 2-1 victory against Spain in Doha ended Germany's hopes of qualifying from Group E. A 2-1 defeat against Japan in their opening game at Qatar 2022 ultimately proved costly for Germany, who are due to host Euro 2024 in just over 18 months. And with that tournament looming large, Flick, who...

Archaeologists From The Aranzadi Science Society First Uncovered The Hand Of Irulegi In 2021, During Excavations Of An Ancient Settlement At The Base Of Castillo De Irulegiko Gaztelua Near Pamplona, Spain.The object dates from the 1st century BC during the Roman Sertoria Wars (80 to 72 BC), a period of conflict between a faction of Roman rebels (Sertorians) and the government in Rome (Sullans).According to archaeologists, the hand was placed over a door for protection, but the settlement was burned and then abandoned, leaving the object buried in the ruins of a mud-brick house.It is suggested that the hand was...

Japan, Britain and Italy are expected to reach a formal agreement in December to develop a next-generation fighter jet that will be used by the Air Self-Defense Force, Japanese government sources said. Japan plans to deploy the new fighters by around 2035, when the ASDF’s current F-2s will start to retire. The airframe of the new fighters will be mainly developed by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI) and BAE Systems Plc, a major British defense contractor. Italian aviation and defense company Leonardo SpA will join in this part of the project, the sources said. Japan’s IHI Corp., Britain’s Rolls-Royce...

France and Germany on Friday hailed the conclusion of a deal to build a new European fighter jet after months of disagreements between two companies involved -- Airbus and Dassault Aviation. Launched by France and Germany in 2017 and since joined by Spain, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) aims to have a next-generation jet in service by 2040, along with integrated drone fleets. But progress on the new delta-wing stealth aircraft has been plagued by fighting over the sharing of the industrial work as well as intellectual property for the cutting-edge technologies. "After intense negotiations, a deal between manufacturers...

The extreme leftist Spanish government has drawn the rage of many in the country after it announced a commemorative postage stamp marking the centenary of the Communist Party. The stamp, featuring the notorious hammer and sickle imagery, is to be launched by the state controlled Correos on November 14, with 135,000 limited edition copies with a postal value of 0.75 euros. World News Anger As Spanish Government CELEBRATES Communist Party With Commemorative Postage Stamp Spain is currently governed by a coalition of socialists and far left extremists Published 12 hours ago on 11 November, 2022 Steve Watson JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via...

MADRID (AP) — Thousands of workers on Thursday attended a protest march in Madrid called by Spain’s major labor unions to demand higher wages to offset the higher cost of living fueled by global inflation. Members of the UGT and CCOO unions marched through the Spanish capital under the slogan “Salary or Conflict.” The unions want Spain’s government and business leaders to agree to increase the minimum salary above the current 1,000 euros a month in reponse to rampant inflation that has only recently started to slow. “Today, unfortunately, due to the situation we are facing, salaries don’t cover our...

India and Türkiye emerged as major importers of Russian goods and produce, demonstrating an enormous surge of 430% and 213% respectively. Brazil, whose imports from Russia soared by 166%, was ranked third on the list. Russia’s exports to China saw an increase of 98%, while imports of Russian goods by Saudi Arabia grew by 45%.Thus, imports of Russian goods by Spain saw a surge of 112%, while Russian exports to Belgium soared 130%. The Netherlands increased imports from Russia by 74%. Japan’s purchases of Russian goods and produce grew by 40%, while Germany and Norway ramped up imports from the...

Spain's Ministry of Health has lifted all COVID-19 restrictions for travelers. European Union citizens and travelers from non-EU nations will no longer be required to show proof of vaccinations or tests or file health control forms. "All COVID-19 travel restrictions for travelers to Spain have been lifted," according to a government website. "The rules that previously applied to travelers coming to Spain no longer apply." There's no longer any requirement for tourists from other countries to produce any COVID-19 documents to enter Spain. Until now, proof of vaccination, a negative test or COVID-19 recovery certificate were needed. ... Spain is...

Today in history, on October 21, 1094, a small force of Christian knights destroyed a massive Muslim horde in Spain, where the Jihad and Reconquista had been raging. Some years earlier, the Almoravids, a North African group committed to jihadist teaching and led by the emir Yusuf bin Tashfin, began to pour into Spain to aid their Islamic counterparts, the Moors, who had suffered several significant defeats to the Christians in recent years. In 1086, the Muslims and Christians clashed at Sagrajas. The Christians were annihilated; their king barely managed to escape with a dagger stuck in his thigh. Afterwards,...