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MOBILE

‘The Dummies’ Guide to texting in Spanish

Lost in virtual translation whenever a Spanish friend texts you? Here The Local offers a simple guide to SMS and Whatsapp shorthand so that you don’t have to keep writing '¿Qué?' after every message.

Spaniards may love face-to-face communication but keeping in touch via text message is a lot more common than you may have thought.

With the appearance of free messaging service Whatsapp, 20 million Spaniards are now glued to their mobiles, speed-texting away to their hearts’ content.

And, as in most countries around the world, a new sub-language known as ‘netspeak’ has emerged in Spain, a form of written slang which non-native speakers may struggle to grasp.

Not to worry though, this brief breakdown of the most common Spanish abbreviations used online and in mobile messaging will have you sounding fluent in no time, at least on screen.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DUMMIES GUIDE TO SPANISH TEXTING

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MOBILE

Vodafone to close all its own shops in Spain by March 2022

UK mobile and internet operator Vodafone announced on Tuesday it will shut all 34 of its proprietary stores in Spain by March 2022, laying off 509 employees and leaving only the brand's franchises and distributors behind.

Vodafone has proprietary stores in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Seville, Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, Santander, Palma de Mallorca and more Spanish cities.
Vodafone will close all 34 of the stores it owns across Spain. Photo: BEN STANSALL / AFP

Vodafone stores in Spanish cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Bilbao, Seville, Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, Santander, Palma de Mallorca and more will close in the coming six months as part of the operator’s shift to digital. 

The company will pull down the shutters on all 34 of the stores it owns across Spain, confirming through its labour adjustment plan (ERE) that 509 employees will lose their jobs.

The operator is affiliated with nearly 600 stores in Spain that act as franchises and distributors, meaning it will still be possible to carry out operations relating to Vodafone in person. 

However, it will be a lot harder to get face-to-face customer service from the actual operator, if for example there is a problem with billing or you wish to cancel a contract. 

Vodafone CEO Nick Read announced back in 2019 that an increasing number of customers signing up to mobile and internet deals online rather than in stores would mean 15 percent of its high-street retail stores in Europe would close by 2021.  

Spain’s main workers’ union UGT referred to Vodafone’s offer to affected workers of severance pay equal to 33 days worked per year with a maximum limit of two years as “stingy”. 

You can check all of Vodafone’s proprietary stores in Spain here.

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