Free Republic

An Italian man has simultaneously tested positive for monkeypox, HIV and COVID-19 after returning home from a holiday, according to a paper published in the Journal of Infection. The 36-year-old reported having intercourse with men without a condom during a five-day Spanish holiday from June 16 to 20. Nine days after his trip, he developed a fever, sore throat, fatigue and headache before testing positive for COVID-19 on July 2.

Ah, olive oil. The golden elixir that has graced everything from the most luxurious Mediterranean feasts to the humble kitchen counters of suburban America. It’s been hailed as the heart-healthy darling of the culinary world, the so-called “nectar of the gods,” worshipped almost as fervently as the wine it accompanies. But is this liquid gold as divine as we’ve been led to believe, or is there something more nefarious lurking beneath its glossy surface? Let’s start with the basics. Olive oil is one of those pantry staples that’s been given an almost holy status. We’re told it can do no...

The world’s oldest known person has died aged 117, her family have announced. Maria Branyas Morera died peacefully in her sleep, having survived two pandemics, two world wars and Spain’s civil war. Her family wrote on X: “Maria Branyas has left us. She died as she wished: in her sleep, peacefully and without pain. We will always remember her for her advice and her kindness.” Branyas, who lived for the past 20 years in a nursing home in Olot, north-eastern Spain, had said that she was feeling “weak” before passing away. “The time is near. Don’t cry, I don’t like...

...at the Casas de Turuñuelo archeological site in Guareña, Badajoz — where a huge 2,500-year-old two-floor building is being unearthed — ...the Tartessian culture... between the 9th and 5th centuries B.C... In addition to fabulous material riches — gold, bronzes and ivories — and constructive elements that were of the caliber of the most sophisticated of the time in the Mediterranean region, five unusual sculptures were recently uncovered.The find constitutes the remains of five almost life-sized stone busts that not only provide a new twist in the investigation of the Tartessos, but also reveal for the first time faces that...

When archaeologists on a dig in southern Portugal last year flipped over a heavy chunk of slate and saw writing not used for more than 2,500 years, they were elated. The enigmatic pattern of inscribed symbols curled symmetrically around the upper part of the rough-edged, yellowish stone tablet and coiled into the middle in a decorative style typical of an extinct Iberian language called Southwest Script. "We didn't break into applause, but almost," says Amilcar Guerra, a University of Lisbon lecturer overseeing the excavation. "It's an extraordinary thing."

Spaniards search for legendary Tartessos in a marsh By Sinikka Tarvainen May 11, 2007, 11:28 GMT Madrid - Where was the capital of Tartessos, the legendary pre-Roman civilization which once existed on the Iberian Peninsula? The culture which flourished from around 800 to 500 BC is believed to have been located mainly around the present-day cities of Cadiz, Seville and Huelva in southern Spain, but no traces of a major urban settlement have been found. Now, however, scientists have discovered surprising clues to where a major Tartessian city may have been, the daily El Pais reported. Its ruins could lie...

Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of Mérida (IAM) have unearthed a slate plaque at the Casas del Turuñuelo site in Guareña, Badajoz, Spain. Measuring approximately 20 centimeters wide, this plaque is intricately engraved on both sides with various motifs, including geometric patterns, repeated faces, and a combat scene featuring four warriors...The plaque's detailed engravings depict four warriors with decorated clothing and weapons, suggesting its use as a reference for creating intricate designs on various materials.In addition to the slate plaque, the 2024 excavation campaign has revealed the location of the eastern gate of the palace complex. This gate provides...

One of the enduring consequences of the era of Phoenician influence -- which had by around 800 BC progressed from trading outposts to full-blown colonies in southern Spain -- was the adoption of alphabetic writing by the native population, first in the south-west. The number of known Tartessian inscriptions on stone is now about 90 and steadily rising with new discoveries. Concentrated densely in southern Portugal (the Algarve and Lower Alentejo), there is a wider scatter of fifteen over south-west Spain. The best exhibition of the inscriptions is on view in the new and innovative Museu da Escrita do Sudoeste,...

...a magnificent hoard of ancient gold objects discovered by Spanish construction workers near Seville in 1958... 2,700-year-old treasure... sparked speculation and debate about Tartessos, a civilization that thrived in southern Spain between the ninth and sixth centuries B.C... That wealth, and the fact that the Tartessians seemingly 'disappear' from history about 2,500 years ago... Another side of the debate held that the jewelry came with the Phoenicians – a Semitic, seafaring culture from the Near East which first arrived in the western Mediterranean in the eighth century B.C. and established a trading port at what is now modern-day Cadiz... The...

Researchers from the University of Cádiz in Spain focused on settlements in the areas surrounding Arcos de la Frontera, Bornos, Villamartin and Puerto Serrano which would have all been interconnected by the Guadalete River, leading them to believe that they were part of a hidden empire.The team said they used geo radar - a tool that sends radar pulses underground to detect any hidden objects.They used geo radar technology to locate the wall structures from ancient residences that weren't visible from the surface...The researchers discovered that the villa had walls separating the residential and work areas while they were trying...

This vibrant reminder of the human need to create art was no match for one idiot with a smart phone and a dream. The paintings, washed out by water. © Civil Guard photo. ====================================================================================== Cops are investigating the defacement of a 6,000-year-old cave painting in southern Spain. According to authorities, the ancient evidence of the human drive to create was damaged when a local man poured water on it. Why? He was trying to gussy up the painting to take a photo for his Facebook page. The paintings are located in the Sierra Sur de Jaén mountain in Spain’s Jaén...

Team JAJO had some special –– and terrifying –– visitors while sailing in the Strait of Gibraltar as part of the 2023 Ocean Race on Thursday. A group of orcas, otherwise known as killer whales, surrounded the Dutch crew’s yacht, first circling the boat and then ramming into it. “This was a scary moment,” Jelmer van Beek, Team JAJO skipper, said, according to the Associated Press. “Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders. Impressive to see the orcas, beautiful animals, but also a dangerous moment for us as a team.” Some of Team JAJO’s crew banged...

SCIENTISTS have been left confused by a series of incidents in which killer whales have hit sailing boats along the Spanish and Portuguese coasts. In some cases, boats have been damaged and at least one crew member suffered bruising from the impact of the ramming.Two boats also lost parts of their rudders due to the impact of the attacks, according to reports. Incidents have been reported in several locations, including one just off A Coruña, on the northern coast of Spain, on Friday afternoon. Pete Green, managing director of Halcyon Yachts, told The Guardian a boat was being taken to...

At first, the crew "heard a strange noise and rushed to the top of the ship" thinking they may have hit a container The yearlong aggression of orca pods against boats off the coast of Spain and Portugal continues unabated. By October of last year, there were 33 bizarre "revenge" attacks by killer whales off the coast of Spain and Portugal and it seems they’re not done yet. A video taken by fishermen in the Straights of Gibralter on April 3 shows the men valiantly fighting off a pod of the angry sea mammals as they attack the boat and...

Orcas relentlessly battered a yacht in a “terrifying” two-hour attack that didn’t end until the $128,680 vessel sunk to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. ... they were not playing at all, they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew the weak points of the boat, and they knew how to sink it... “Their sole intention was to sink the boat ... The five orcas circled the 39-foot sailing boat and took turns smashing it to bits .. in a coordinated assault Powell compared to the carnage of wolves. ... The pod of five first focused on the rudder,...

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...