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SUMMER

Ten brilliantly fun things to do in Spain this June

Summer is here and Spaniards are ready to welcome it with a range of fiestas, sporting events and cultural activities across the country from Madrid's Pride festival to a celebration of classical music and dance in Granada. Here are some of the highlights.

Published: 3 June 2019 14:18 CEST
Ten brilliantly fun things to do in Spain this June
A battle where the weapon is wine takes place in La Rioja. Photo: AFP

Fiestas

The San Juan Bonfires, June 23rd


Photo: AFP

On June 23rd, the people of Spain celebrate the beginning of summer with traditional music and dance as well as parades and street performers. Each region celebrates San Juan in its own way, but in A Coruña, in the Region of Galacia, the solstice will be celebrated with a roaring bonfire and a fiesta into the early hours of the morning.

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Madrid Orgullo, June 28th – July 7th


Photo: AFP

In June, people across the world celebrate Gay Pride. Although Madrid’s famous parade isn’t until July 6th, the city will be bursting with colour from June 28th, when Pride Week begins. Performances, concerts, parties and expositions will salute the LGBTQIA+ community. This year also marks the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, which signified the beginning of LGBTQIA+ liberation across the world.

 

Batalla del Vino, La Roija, June 29th 


Photo: AFP

At 8am on June 29th in La Roija, two teams of villagers will celebrate the feast of San Pedro by soaking each other in litres of wine, a spectacle which dates back to the sixth century when pilgrims to the region would enjoy a feast after mass with great quantities of wine.

 

X Emerita Lvdica, Mérida, June 3rd – 9th

Between June 3rd and June 9th, the city of Mérida in Badajoz travels back in time to the 1st Century AD as it celebrates its Roman past with performances in the amphitheatre, fashion shows, a Roman market and the opening of monuments through the night.

 

Music

Festival de Granada, Granada, June 21st – July 12th

Originating in 1883, this festival of music and dance is a historic event involving an array of performances including chamber music and ballet shows as well as workshops in music, dance and photography. It takes place in the Andalusian City of Granada, showcasing performing arts in striking venues such as the Palicio de Carlos V.

 

Azkena Rock Festival, Basque Country, June 21st – 22nd 

The annual Azkena festival will welcome Stray Cats as part of their 40th Anniversary tour this year as well as The B-52s, Wilco, and The Cult, offering a full weekend of rock in the Basque Country.

 

Ed Sheeran, Barcelona & Madrid, June 7th & 11th


Photo: AFP

Ed Sheeran continues his “Divide” tour with extra dates across Europe this summer, including gigs in Barcelona and Madrid, with support from two brilliant artists: James Bay and Zara Larsson.

 

Sport

The “Quebrantahuesos”, Sabiñánigo in Aragon, June 22nd

Sabiñánigo in the province of Huesca once again hosts the “Quebrantahuesos” this year. The exhausting 205km cycle race demands a spectacular ride through some of the harshest mountain passes in Pyrenees, testing the resilience of around 8,000 athletes from all over the world.

 

Catalan Motorcyle Grand Prix, June 14th – 16th


Photo: AFP

Since 1992, the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit has played host to the Catalonia Motorcycle Grand Prix. In the two days prior to the big race on June 16th, training sessions and classifying stages can be watched, all taking place just north of the city of Barcelona.

 

Last Chance

“Pioneers. Women of the Russian avant-garde”, Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, until June 16th

Photo: Detail of Liubov Popova, Painterly Architectonic /Thyssen Museum

An exhibition at entitles “Pioneers. Women of the Russian avant-garde” is entering its final weeks in The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, presenting the work of a selection of prominent female artists from the 20th century cultural resistance in Russia. The display’s curator will be giving a free talk on the featured artist at 6pm on June 5th.

 

List compiled by Alice Huseyinoglu

READ ALSO: The intern's guide to surviving a summer in Spain 

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TRAVEL NEWS

German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail operator and the GDL train drivers' union have reached a deal in a wage dispute that has caused months of crippling strikes in the country, the union said.

Published: 26 March 2024 09:55 CET
German train strike wave to end following new labour agreement

“The German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) and Deutsche Bahn have reached a wage agreement,” GDL said in a statement.

Further details will be announced in a press conference on Tuesday, the union said. A spokesman for Deutsche Bahn also confirmed that an agreement had been reached.

Train drivers have walked out six times since November, causing disruption for huge numbers of passengers.

The strikes have often lasted for several days and have also caused disruption to freight traffic, with the most recent walkout in mid-March.

In late January, rail traffic was paralysed for five days on the national network in one of the longest strikes in Deutsche Bahn’s history.

READ ALSO: Why are German train drivers launching more strike action?

Europe’s largest economy has faced industrial action for months as workers and management across multiple sectors wrestle over terms amid high inflation and weak business activity.

The strikes have exacerbated an already gloomy economic picture, with the German economy shrinking 0.3 percent across the whole of last year.

What we know about the new offer so far

Through the new agreement, there will be optional reduction of a work week to 36 hours at the start of 2027, 35.5 hours from 2028 and then 35 hours from 2029. For the last three stages, employees must notify their employer themselves if they wish to take advantage of the reduction steps.

However, they can also opt to work the same or more hours – up to 40 hours per week are possible in under the new “optional model”.

“One thing is clear: if you work more, you get more money,” said Deutsche Bahn spokesperson Martin Seiler. Accordingly, employees will receive 2.7 percent more pay for each additional or unchanged working hour.

According to Deutsche Bahn, other parts of the agreement included a pay increase of €420 per month in two stages, a tax and duty-free inflation adjustment bonus of €2,850 and a term of 26 months.

Growing pressure

Last year’s walkouts cost Deutsche Bahn some €200 million, according to estimates by the operator, which overall recorded a net loss for 2023 of €2.35 billion.

Germany has historically been among the countries in Europe where workers went on strike the least.

But since the end of 2022, the country has seen growing labour unrest, while real wages have fallen by four percent since the start of the war in Ukraine.

German airline Lufthansa is also locked in wage disputes with ground staff and cabin crew.

Several strikes have severely disrupted the group’s business in recent weeks and will weigh on first-quarter results, according to the group’s management.

Airport security staff have also staged several walkouts since January.

Some politicians have called for Germany to put in place rules to restrict critical infrastructure like rail transport from industrial action.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected the calls, arguing that “the right to strike is written in the constitution… and that is a democratic right for which unions and workers have fought”.

The strikes have piled growing pressure on the coalition government between Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business FDP, which has scored dismally in recent opinion polls.

The far-right AfD has been enjoying a boost in popularity amid the unrest with elections in three key former East German states due to take place later this year.

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