Spain

Carles Puigdemont (R) unites with his fellow candidates after a press conference in Oostkamp, near Brugge, on November 25th 2017. Photo: AFP Deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said on Wednesday that he will stay in Belgium "for now" despite Spain dropping European arrest warrants against him and four former ministers. Puigdemont accused Spain of backtracking on the warrants, which are on charges of sedition and rebellion over Catalonia's illegal independence referendum, only because it was "scared of world opinion". He said that if his party wins elections in Catalonia on December 21st then "we should return" but did not give any further details of whether he would actually go back for the polls. "When I arrived here, I did not come to Belgium, I came to Brussels the capital of Europe, where we could better defend our rights, and that will not change," Puigdemont told a news conference in Brussels. "Can we move around the EU without fear? For now we don&..

Briones in La Rioja has been recognised for its beauty. Photo: Víctor Gómez / Flickr Eleven new towns have just won a coveted spot on the most beautiful pueblos in Spain list. Spain might be renowned for its costas but it is also home to dozens of quaint little towns just waiting to be explored by those intrepid enough to get off the beaten track. Eleven new places have just earned a coveted spot in the Association of the Most Beautiful Pueblos in Spain. The idea to start the association, in 2011, came after the success of its French counterpart and first such group, Les plus beaux villages de la France. "It is our goal to promote preferably rural and small towns," the association says on its website. Town halls can apply for their town to join the list, but only 20 percent make the grade, winning the right to publicize themselves as "one of Spain's prettiest towns". To qualify, towns must have a population of under 15,000 and some kind of provable ar..