THE 5 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1.Tragic earthquake in Syria and Turkey

During the early hours of Monday morning, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale shook southeastern Turkey and northern Syria, followed by an earthquake measuring 7.5 in central Turkey. The consequences of these earthquakes have been of tremendous severity, and it is even estimated that, in the coming days, the figures computed will get worse. Although the Turkish authorities currently put the number of victims at 3419 and the Syrian authorities at 1602, which would leave a total of 5021 victims, the WHO estimates that these figures could multiply to reach 20,000.

In addition to the cost in human lives, the destruction of buildings and the desolate landscape has been imposed in the provinces of the two countries. Murat Kurum, Minister of Environment and Urban Planning in Turkey, pointed out as       13.5 million people have been directly affected by the earthquake in Turkey, as well as hundreds of thousands of people forced to spend the night outside their homes.

The first 48-72 hours after the earthquake are key to find survivors in the rubble, and in these hours we have seen how from some countries humanitarian aid and emergency and rescue teams were sent to try to save as many lives as possible.

Even so, several affected localities have reported not having received aid, such as the province of Hatay in Turkey, near the Syrian border. Finally, it should be recalled that the Syrian territory affected by the earthquake is in the hands of rebel insurgent groups, who have asked the central government not to hinder the humanitarian corridors or the aid and shipments that may arrive from abroad.

Tension increases in the government due to the reform of the "yes is yes" law.

After the controversial implementation of the "yes is yes law" a few months ago, which ended up involving the reduction of more than 400 judicial sentences on sexual assault, and which earned much of the criticism of the opposition to the Ministry of Equality and the government, it seems that the PSOE has reversed its position and intends to bring a reform of this, in order that these criminal reductions do not continue to happen.

This fact has provoked another schism, the umpteenth already, between the government partners, PODEMOS and PSOE. The reform negotiations between the Ministry of Justice (led by the socialist Pilar Llop) and the Ministry of Equality (led by Irene Montero) to reach a consensus on a new law with more legal basis, seem to have exploded in the air, due to the "very entrenched positions" of the purple party, according to socialist sources.

To such an extent that the talks seem to have run aground, that yesterday Patxi López opened the door to negotiate the reform of the law with other formations, although he ruled out the right-wing forces of PP and VOX. For her part, Angela Pam, from the Ministry of Equality, pointed out the disappointment of the Ministry with the socialist initiative, and that the good reception of PP and VOX to this one demonstrates its reactionary character.

Thus, it seems that in the coming weeks the government will be looking for new partners, among which PNV and ERC, who have already been criticizing the "deficient application" of the law for weeks, are at an advantage. It remains to be seen whether this move will lead to an increase in the already frayed tensions between the two government parties.

3. One more step exemplifying the end of the pandemic

After 2 and a half years with the masks (33 months, to be precise) it seems that the constant use of these masks is going to disappear. Yesterday, Tuesday, February 7, the government issued a royal decree revoking the obligation to wear masks on public transport, reserving the use of these masks to socio-health and sanitary spaces, mainly pharmacies and hospitals.

The improvement of the epidemiological situation, together with the fact that the appearance of new viruses and flus has not had harmful repercussions and has been easily combated, have led to this decision. The analysis has also been accompanied by several medical reports, which show that the COVID no longer has the capacity to collapse the Spanish healthcare system.

Even so, the virus has not completely disappeared. In the last week, 76 people have died in Spain as a result of it, alarming figures, but far from the thousands of daily deaths caused at the peak of the pandemic.

4.Economy: Rent prices continue to rise above the standard of living

Over the last few years, rental prices have increased by 20% in the main cities on the Mediterranean coast, while Spanish rents have risen by an average of 9.1%.

These increases are due, in part, to the increase of those known as "digital nomads", workers from Northern Europe with more purchasing power, and that due to the pandemic and the increase of teleworking, opted to settle in cities like Barcelona or Valencia while maintaining their jobs (and salaries) in their country of origin.

Another factor is due to the change that is taking place, especially among the younger generations, where renting is prioritized over buying apartments (a fact that was already established in many European countries, but was not recurrent in Spain).

Among the coastal cities, Barcelona leads the way with a 25.3% increase in price, closely followed by Alicante (23%) and Gerona (22%), where the rise seems to have been least noticeable is in Mallorca (15.1%), although even in this, the difference with the rise in rent would be 6 points. According to data from the idealista portal, we are, once again, at historic highs, as far as the average rental income is concerned.

5.Cold weather returns to Ukraine, conflict escalates

Over the last few weeks, we have seen how the Western powers have been discussing the appropriate armament to send to Ukraine, as well as the technical and economic support that should be given to the country. Finally, and in spite of German reluctance, the most interventionist line seems to have been reinforced; the shipment of new armament, among which the new tanks leopardThe new economic aid, the new economic aid, and the new sanctions and restrictions on Russian oil are proof of this.

On the other hand, it seems that Russia is beginning to move pieces on the board, to the point that several Western intelligence services have indicated that Russia is planning a large-scale offensive for the end of this month of February, in which more than half a million soldiers would be mobilized. The objective of this would be the entire seizure of the Donbas.

In view of this information, and recalling that February 24 will mark one year since the beginning of the conflict, the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov, has pointed out that "they will try something around February 24". This tendency to accumulate forces in the Donbas is not new: since a month ago Russia has been accumulating troops in this area, and little by little it seems that it is beginning to gain ground, first capturing the important enclave of Soledar, and in recent days encircling the strategic Bakhmut.

Mantente informado 

Staying informed is key to being able to follow the news of the world around us. Being able to collect as much information as possible makes us better able to understand our reality. Both individuals and companies need to be informed and, above all, know how to store this information, and what better than a CRM that centralizes all your data so that no detail of your business process escapes you. If you want to know everything and always be informed of what is happening in your company, do not hesitate to try Datalyse CRM, the easiest and fastest CRM in the Spanish market.