Chemical emergency in Catalonia: 5 municipalities in lockdown
A dangerous toxic cloud formed following a fire at a swimming pool chemicals factory in Vilanova i la Geltrú. The blaze erupted at around 02:20 on Saturday, 10 May, at Clim Waterpool, a company specialising in cleaning products for swimming pools.
The affected site, located at 18 Rambla dels Països Catalans in Vilanova i la Geltrú, contained approximately 70 tonnes of chlorine—a highly toxic substance when it burns.
Catalonia's Civil Protection activated its chemical risk plan, PLASEQCAT, and sent emergency alerts to residents' mobile phones in the affected areas.
Lockdown orders have been lifted, however vulnerable people are still advised to stay inside for the moment. The towns affected were:
Authorities had instructed residents to stay indoors, keep doors and windows closed, and not to use air-conditioning devices that can filter contaminated outdoor air.
Firefighters from Catalonia report that the blaze is now in the stabilisation phase, with efforts successfully preventing its spread to nearby industrial buildings. Civil Protection has confirmed that no injuries have been reported so far, as the wind is directing the toxic cloud towards the sea, minimising the threat to densely populated areas.
Vilanova i la Geltrú town council warned on its social media that activities at the "La Fira Conte Va!" festival, outdoor sports activities, libraries, the Central Market and the Fish Market have been cancelled.
Sixty firefighters are working in the area with teams specialised in chemical risks constantly assessing the situation.
The Medical Emergency System (SEM) has sent three units that remain on alert. Local Police are ensuring civilians comply with confinement orders.
Civil Protection, operating from its coordination centre (CECAT), is in continuous contact with town councils and local police of all affected municipalities to ensure a coordinated response.
Health authorities are advising anyone experiencing symptoms such as eye irritation, breathing difficulties, or general discomfort to seek immediate medical assistance.
Authorities stress the importance of strictly following official recommendations. It is essential to remain indoors until the containment order is lifted.
In case you need to go out due to an unavoidable emergency, it is recommended to protect your respiratory tract with appropriate masks and minimise the time you are exposed to the open air.
Stay informed through official channels such as local radio stations, official social media accounts of Civil Protection and affected municipalities.
Shock and embarrassment in Berlin! Friedrich Merz was only elected as the new German Chancellor by the Bundestag in the second round of voting. This never happened before in the history of the Federal Republic.
Is he already damaged goods before he can bring the show on the road? Can his coalition still work together in a spirit of trust? And what about his ambitious plans for Europe?
Questions for our panel in this edition from the European Parliament: Damian Boeselager, from the German Volt Party sitting with the Greens, Anna Stürgkh from Renew Europe (Austria) and Siegfried Mureșan, from the European Poeple's Party (Romania).
The era Friedrich Merz started with a bang. The 69-year old did not receive the required majority of 316 votes in the first round. Nobody expected this!
In the three months after the snap elections that turned his Christian Democrats into the biggest force in the Bundestag, Merz has already come under sustained attacks from fellow conservatives and their media allies for giving too much away to the Social Democrats, his coalition partner.
And that was even before he entered the chancellery! The question is: who were the dissenters, Christian Democrats or Social Democrats - or both? Some called them traitors. One thing is certain: the new government will start with a serious amount of mistrust within its own ranks.
Too bad, as there are huge expectations in Berlin and Brussels that Merz revives the economy, brings Europe back on track, repairs the sputtering French-German engine, reigns in Trump and tames migration. Will it finally come to all that?
The second topic was the political thriller in Romania where the far-right Eurosceptic George Simion has won the first round of the Romanian presidential election rerun.
The rerun was necessary after the highest court of the country had annulled last December's election due to attempted Russian manipulation. A decision that was sharply criticized by the global far right, including the Trump administration. A victory for Simion could have a serious impact on Europe, say political observers.
On May 18th, voters will face a stark choice between two radically different candidates, Simion and Nicusor Dan, the mayor of Bucharest.
Simion, the leader of the Nationalist Alliance for Romanian Unity Party, has increasingly aligned his rhetoric and position with those sympathetic to the Kremlin interest. In a recent and widely criticized statement, Simion claimed that Russia poses no threat to NATO.
His opponent is Dan, an independent candidate with a background in mathematics and a strong pro-European progressive orientation. Voters, therefore, must decide between two fundamentally different visions.
Will Romanians maintain the country's pro-European course? Or will anti-EU forces prevail?
Finally, the panel discussed the aftermath of the big blackout that struck the Iberian peninsula and parts of France recently.
Traffic lights failed, elevators stopped, electronic payments broke down – and across cities, people stepped in to help one another. The blackout was likely triggered by technical issues, although the exact cause remains unclear.
Could it happen again elsewhere in Europe? Are we prepared for a major energy security crisis?
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
2 days ago
- Euronews
Overdoses and drug-related gang violence are rising, EU officials say
Between 'unprecedented' cocaine availability, counterfeit painkillers that contain deadly synthetic opioids, and evasive trafficking networks, Europe's drug problems are more complex than ever. That's according to the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), which says illegal drugs are taking their toll across the entire bloc due to addiction, increases in gang violence, and burdened health systems. 'Today we face a fast-changing situation everywhere in Europe,' Alexis Goosdeel, the agency's executive director, told Euronews. An estimated 7,500 people died from drug overdoses in 2023, up from about 7,100 the year before, the analysis found. Most overdose deaths involved opioids, but the risks are changing as more people turn to synthetic drugs and use multiple substances. EU officials called for more proactive efforts to prevent and treat addiction, rather than simply monitoring drug use, as well as increased police efforts to dismantle criminal networks that traffic drugs. Here's what the latest data shows on illegal drug trends across the EU, Norway, and Turkey – and what health authorities are most worried about going forward. Europe's opioid market is changing, with other substances emerging alongside long-term heroin risks. After the Taliban took over in Afghanistan in 2021 and banned opium production the following year, European officials warned that heroin could become harder to find, prompting people to turn to dangerous fentanyl derivatives or synthetic opioids. In 2023, authorities dismantled 14 heroin production sites in Europe, mostly in the Netherlands. One type of synthetic opioid, called nitazenes, is already causing problems in places like Denmark and the Netherlands, where health authorities have warned that people could be buying counterfeit painkillers that actually contain nitazenes. In 2023, the number of nitazene powders detected in Europe tripled. The drugs are so potent that even a small dose can be life-threatening. Germany, France, Sweden, and Norway have reported clusters of overdoses linked to nitazenes, the EUDA said, while the drugs appear to be responsible for a 'significant share' of overdose deaths in Estonia and Latvia. 'What we see already is people who are buying on the internet molecules, believing that they are medicines while in fact they contain other substances,' Goosdeel said. In the past year, about 4.6 million European adults have used cocaine, making it the bloc's most commonly used illegal stimulant. It's also becoming more popular. In 2023, EU member states seized 419 tonnes of cocaine – marking the seventh year in a row of record seizures. The biggest busts were in Belgium (123 tonnes), Spain (118 tonnes), and the Netherlands (59 tonnes), which are key entry points for cocaine trafficked into Europe from elsewhere in the world. Last year, Spain seized 13 tonnes of cocaine, which were hidden in bananas from Ecuador – its largest ever haul from a single bust. Cocaine is also developed in the EU, with authorities dismantling 34 production sites in 2023. The competitive market is driving an uptick in cocaine-related crime and gang violence, the report found. The EUDA expects there to be a surge of people seeking addiction treatment in the coming years, given that there tends to be a lag of about 13 years between someone's first time trying cocaine and their first time seeking treatment. 'We need to build the capacity to be prepared for treatment,' Goosdeel said, because at the moment, 'we are not ready'. An estimated 8.4 per cent of adults – 24 million people – used cannabis in the past year, making it Europe's most commonly used illegal drug, the report found. Cannabis seizures rose slightly in 2023 after falling the year before, the report found. The market is worth at least €12.1 billion, and is run by organised criminal groups that cultivate, traffic, and sell the drug across Europe. Cannabis may be common, but it isn't without its health risks. It can cause or worsen chronic respiratory issues and psychotic symptoms, with long-term, regular users at higher risk. Meanwhile, a class of drugs known as synthetic cannabinoids are a growing concern, the EUDA said. These highly potent drugs may be added to edibles or other cannabis products without people's knowledge, raising the risk of poisoning or other health problems. Last year, European countries detected 20 new cannabinoids, representing more than 40 per cent of the new substances identified by the EU's early warning system. The possible health consequences of cannabinoids are 'poorly understood,' the report said. Still, they may be tied to fatal poisonings or other problems because they have such a high concentration of THC, the active ingredient in cannabis that makes people feel high. 'So yes, there is a danger,' Goosdeel said. Health experts and parents have been raising the alarm about a surge in ADHD cases, particularly among young people – but the increase appears to have tapered off in recent years. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental disorders, affecting an estimated 8 per cent of children and teenagers. Worldwide, around 366 million adults have ADHD, with symptoms including trouble focusing, restlessness, and impulsivity. But a new analysis, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, suggests the apparent recent uptick in ADHD cases may be more due to recognition than reality. It looked at 40 studies on ADHD from 2020 onward. While there were major gaps in data, the highest-quality studies found no significant increase in the overall prevalence of ADHD in that time. They also found no meaningful increase in new diagnoses from 2020 to 2024, though they have been trending upward in recent decades. Researchers also noted that a growing number of people are getting tested and seeking support for ADHD. 'Our best evidence suggests the true rate of ADHD isn't increasing that much,' Philip Shaw, director of the King's Maudsley Partnership for Children and Young People, told journalists. 'My hunch is there's such a huge awareness of ADHD that it's often used as… the way young people express they are struggling at school and need help,' added Shaw, who was not involved with the new study. Researchers said the longer-term increase in ADHD cases is likely due to some combination of 'catch-up' diagnoses among people whose conditions were not detected when they were young, as well as changes to how ADHD is diagnosed, pandemic-era disruptions, social media, and other unknown reasons. Some have proposed that constant stimulation from social media and mobile phones – which has earned young people the title of the 'distracted generation' – could be driving an increase in ADHD. A 2023 study, for example, found a link between ADHD symptoms and excessive social media use, smartphone dependence, and internet addiction. But not all attention problems are ADHD, and 'it's too early to say what's causing what here,' Shaw said. 'We don't know what's the chicken and what's the egg'. Researchers said more studies are needed to confirm whether more people are actually developing ADHD than in the past, or if they are simply more likely to be diagnosed. 'We should be looking at these questions… and I think that is what's happening,' Shaw said.
France 24
3 days ago
- France 24
Europe suffers its largest diphtheria outbreak in 70 years
Diphtheria is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can attack the respiratory tract and spread throughout the body, causing a sore throat, fever and other symptoms. For unvaccinated people, it can be fatal in around 30 percent of cases, and is deadlier for children, according to the World Health Organization. In 2022, there was an unusual surge in the bacteria that causes diphtheria -- Corynebacterium diphtheriae -- in several European countries, particularly among recently arrived migrants, according to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. That year 362 cases were recorded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Contact tracing and screening helped tamp down the outbreak, but rare infections have continued to be recorded, the researchers said. A total of 536 cases, including three deaths, have been recorded across Europe since the start of 2022. Patient samples from 10 countries showed that 98 percent of the cases were in males with an average age of 18. Almost all had recently migrated. "The outbreak, which mainly affected migrants from Afghanistan and Syria, was not the result of people being infected in their countries of origin, but during their migration journeys or in their places of accommodation in European countries," said a joint statement from France's public health agency and the Pasteur Institute. The genetic similarities between the strains seen in people from different countries suggests that there was a "recent point of contact, outside the country of origin" at the source of the outbreak, the statement added. The exact areas affected by the outbreak remains unclear. But a genetic link between the 2022 strain and the one detected in Germany this year indicates that "the bacteria continues to circulate quietly in Western Europe," the statement said. Vaccination is very effective at fending off diphtheria, and the researchers emphasised the importance of immunisation programmes for the general public. They also called for European nations to do more to ensure their most vulnerable people avoid contracting the disease. That included raising awareness of the symptoms among doctors and those in contact with migrants and the homeless, as well as increasing access to vaccines and antibiotic drugs.
Euronews
3 days ago
- Euronews
2024/45 European football season review
The 2024/25 European football season will forever be remembered by fans as the year that long trophy droughts were finally broken all across the continent. Paris Saint-Germain won their first ever UEFA Champions League title, dismantling Inter Milan 5-0 in the final. Tottenham ended their 39 year wait for a European trophy, securing the Europa League. In Germany, former Spurs player Harry Kane also lifted silverware, leading Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title. Over a million Muslims have begun the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage, Hajj, on Wednesday in Saudi Arabia's Mecca, as additional measures are taken to contend with this year's sweltering heat, expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Over the span of five days, Muslim pilgrims - who can afford it and are physically fit - will immerse themselves in religious rituals that originated more than 1,400 years ago. After entering Mecca, pilgrims will start their journey by circling the Kaaba, a black cube-shaped structure in the centre of the Great Mosque and Islam's holiest site, seven times in a anti-clockwise direction to express a unified devotion to one God. Pilgrims will then travel to other sacred sites in Mecca, where they will perform additional rituals and acts of worship. Before leaving the holy city, Muslims will circle the Kaaba another seven times, signifying a spiritual farewell to the sacred sanctuary. A successful completion of the Hajj, a spiritual experience of a lifetime, is a chance to seek God's forgiveness and can wipe the slate clean of past sins. While it's only required to do the pilgrimage once in a lifetime, some Muslims perform the Hajj multiple times. The Hajj occurs once a year during the 12th and last month of the Islamic calendar, called the lunar month of Dhul-Hijja. This year, the annual pilgrimage falls at the start of summer, making the heat an additional challenge to pilgrims completing the journey. After last year's suffocating temperatures, reaching up to 47 degrees Celsius, resulted in more than 1,300 deaths, Saudi authorities are taking additional measures to ensure the safety of visitors. This year, Riyadh has spent billions of dollars on crowd control and cooling systems. The world's largest and a one-of-a-kind cooling system installed in the Grand Mosque will keep pilgrims comfortable at temperatures ranging from 22-24 degrees Celsius, local media reported. Pilgrims are also being told to avoid going out during the day and uncovering their heads, unless necessary such as during rituals and are given an official safety kit offering advice on what to wear and bring and explaining how to recognise and treat heat exhaustion and dehydration symptoms. Representing one of the biggest policy changes in years, Riyadh has also introduced a ban on the participation of children younger than 12 years old in this year's Hajj. Children are exempt from doing the Hajj and are not required to fulfil other religious obligations, such as praying and fasting, until they reach puberty. Hajj is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, in addition to faith, prayer, almsgiving and fasting.
