The courts are set and the world’s best tennis players are in town to battle it out on the clay courts of Madrid´s Caja Mágica for the 22nd Mutua Madrid Open. The tournament, which has now become a two-week affair, is part of the ATP Masters men’s circuit and the WTA Premier Mandatory women’s competition. It’s the only Open in Europe with this duration and in which the men’s and women’s competitions are held simultaneously. The qualifying rounds will take place Monday April 22 and Tuesday April 23 with main draw action taking place from Tuesday April 23 for WTA matches, and Wednesday April 24 ..read more

It’s over a year since Spain’s digital nomad visa was launched, so the Madrid Metropolitan spoke to our  Spain tax expert Antonio Rodriguez as well as some of the early applicants to find out how the system has worked from the practical side of living in Spain. Spain’s digital nomad visa (DNV) allows the self-employed or those with a remote job from a non-EU country to come and live in Spain for between one and three years and then renew it for a further two. Some people are using it in the traditional nomad sense to spend a certain amount of time in Spain and then move on to somewhere el ..read more

This is the moment a bull corners a festivalgoer in a doorway and gores him before a young man pulls it by the tail and gets it to stop. The images were filmed in Arcos, in the southern Spanish province of Cadiz on Sunday, 14th April. https://www.madridmetropolitan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/saved-by-the-bull.mp4 The footage begins with the victim’s feet disappearing into the doorway with the bull in hot pursuit during the Toro del Aleluya bullrunning event. It then reportedly begins to gore its victim as the person filming screams and other people are heard shouting at it in a bid to dist ..read more

Four people have been arrested in Extremadura by the Spanish Civil Guard  following an investigation into scams related to the online sale of solar panels in Madrid and 16 other provinces across Spain. According to Spanish media reports the alleged perpetrators were able to obtain €24,000 from their victims before being stopped by the police in an operation named Herrecol-Solar, which began last June in Badajoz when cybercrime officers became aware of scams in the Extremaduran city. The investigation found a criminal group residing in four different municipalities in Extremadura involved ..read more

Some of the world´s leading sports figures are expected in Madrid next week for the 25th Laureus World Sports Awards, considered as the Oscars of the sports industry which is being held in the Cibeles Palace on 22 April.  Some of the biggest names in the world of sport, including 15 Olympic champions will be in the capital to honour their peers including some of the greatest sportsmen and women and teams in 7 categories for the best of human physical excellence in 2023. Each of the Winners will receive the coveted Laureus Statuette, one of most recognisable symbols of excellence in sport ..read more

The final piece of the Brexit jigsaw is hopefully in place as the UK and Spain edge towards an agreement that alligns the Gibraltar and EU border. The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares met his UK counterpart David Cameron, as well as the Gibraltar Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo and the Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič, to define the status of Gibraltar, a British overseas territory on the southern tip of Spain, after Brexit. According to Spanish officials, it could be a matter of hours before the three parties involved can reach a pact, which will determine ..read more

Spain plans to scrap so-called ‘golden visas’ that allow people from outside the European Union to obtain residency permits if they purchase property with a value of over €500,000. The Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the reform to the residency law was part of the government’s push to make housing “a right, not a speculative business”. The government says some 10,000 such visas have been issued since the measure was introduced in 2013 by the previous right-wing People’s Party (PP) government, in order to attract investors into Spain. ‘Golden visas’ are strongly criticised for ..read more

      Spain is set to recognise Palestinian statehood by July in a move that it hopes will open the way for other EU countries to follow suit. In an earlier communique signed with the Prime Ministers of Malta, Ireland and Slovenia, the countries committed themselves to “our readiness to recognise Palestine and to do so when the circumstances are right.” However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who is on a trip this week to Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, made it clear that time is now approaching and “that we have to think seriously about doing it in the first half of this ..read more

The Spanish Civil Guard  have arrested the former head of the Spanish football federation. Rubiales was detained at Madrid’s Barajas Airport after returning from a trip to the Dominican Republic this week. Spanish media footage showed Rubiales being escorted from the plane by officers  before being questioned inside the airport. He was released a few hours later. An investigative judge is expected to summon him for more questioning in the coming days. The former head of Spanish football is being investigated for alleged acts of corruption and improper management in connect ..read more

Tourists on a Madrid siteseeing tour bus got a  different type of tour experience when the driver tried to take a narrow bend but ended up crashing into a shop after being forced to take another route due to Easter holiday road closures. Footage obtained by the Madrid Metropolitan shows how the Big Bus Madrid double-decker attempts to enter a broader road at nighttime in the Spanish capital. Pedestrians walk past unbothered, but screams can be heard after the large vehicle crashes into a roadside building. The illumination and advertising sign of a bakery were demolished in the incident w ..read more