Maxim Van Gils grabs third ahead of Tom Pidcock The veteran Norwegian has now won 97 races in his career It looked as though Ineos Grenadiers’ Ben Turner might be the man with his hands in the air in Pozoblanco as the Brit launched a long-range effort 300 metres from the finish line but Kristoff came through at the last moment to snatch victory on the line and prevent a third Ineos celebration this week.  Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) and Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) battled for the final podium spot Despite additional bonus seconds on offer during the stage on the ‘golden kilometre,’ there was no change in the top three positions on the general classification led by Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Pidcock moved several seconds closer to second-placed Clement Berthet (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).  Kristoff said: “We had control from the start and also in the crosswind when we were there with almost the whole team The finish was a bit harder than I was hoping it was going quite a lot up to the last kilometre and then I think we did two mistakes with the two lead-out guys.  "They are not used to being the last man in the lead-out so they kind of went the wrong side of the Ineos guys two times I was lucky I had still enough power in the legs to pass in the last few metres Søren [Wærenskjold] already won one for team The race headed further inland and to the north for stage 3 beginning the day in the Jaén province but with the majority of the climbing taking place in the first 50 kilometres the race situation was much calmer in the early stages than it had been on previous days with a bunch sprint looking to be the most likely outcome on paper The main bunch remained intact with 50km remaining just over two minutes behind a three-man breakaway comprising Lorenzo Pesci (Petrolike) Thomas Silva (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma).  it was in the interests of those teams that did have a sprinter to reel the breakaway back in and Euskatel-Euskadi and Uno-X Mobility shared duties at the front of the bunch on behalf of David Dekker and Kristoff The lead group’s advantage reduced dramatically as the race moved within 30 kilometres of the finish with the bunch under half a minute behind the breakaway in preparation for the race’s first  ‘golden kilometre,’ which offered a maximum of nine bonus seconds split across three separate points along its distance.  The action kicked off well in advance of this as the parcours turned east and the wind direction changed and the peloton split under pressure from UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Ineos Grenadiers with the breakaway’s advantage quickly diminishing.  A big crash in the second group on the road held up a large number of riders but most of the top teams were able to stay out of trouble in the first peloton They then quickly subsumed the final two riders from the day’s early break with just over 20km to go Euskatel-Euskadi rode as a unit behind to try and make up the deficit on behalf of Dekker but looked to be out of luck as the pace remained ferocious in the slimmed down front group The golden kilometre arrived with 18km remaining on the stage and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) snatched the first set of three seconds riding defensively on behalf of race leader Sivakov The second sprint was contested between Markus Hoelgaard (Uno-X Mobility) and yesterday’s stage winner Pidcock who took three seconds at the second line and two at the third for a total of six additional seconds instigated by Ineos Grenadiers’ Connor Swift the reduced bunch were piloted by UAE on behalf of Sivakov there was no opportunity for those caught behind in the split and subsequent crash to re-establish contact with the front of the race.  The bunch stayed compact heading for the finale and with Kristoff arguably the strongest of the remaining sprinters in the group Uno-X took up the pacesetting once they were within the 3-kilometre to-go mark.  Ineos Grenadiers charged to the front and led out Ben Turner Kristoff reached full speed and passed the British rider at the last moment denying him just his second professional victory as the situation on the general classification remained the same within the top three Wagner Bazin WB’s Leander Van Hautegem leapt up 43 places into fourth position on the overall Results powered by FirstCycling The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox! Katy is a freelance writer and journalist Cyclist Magazine and the British Continental She also writes opinion pieces on her own website writebikerepeat.com and is a frequent contributor to the Quicklink podcast.  She is obsessed with the narrative element of bike racing from the bigger picture to the individual stories She is a cyclocross nut who is 5% Belgian and wonders if this entitles her to citizenship Her favourite races are Ronde van Vlaanderen and La Vuelta In her spare time Katy is a published short fiction and non-fiction author the Turkish player suffered a cerebral hemorrhage The Turkish Federation has addressed the situation on social media confirming that his condition is being constantly monitored and that the Turkish Embassy in Tunisia is closely following his status This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Shock en el tenis: Altug Celikbilek, hospitalizado tras sufrir una hemorragia cerebral en pista Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Spain - May 2021 - The Municipal Council of Pozoblanco approved that a street in the municipality be named after the Salesian Fr Antonio César Fernández who was killed on 15 February 2019 in Burkina Faso during a jihadist attack started the administrative procedures to make the recognition a reality in memory of the fellow Salesian and missionary the eve of the feast of Mary Help of Christians Director of the Salesian presence in Pozoblanco; Fr Miguel Canino member of the Provincial Council of the Salesian Province "Mary Help of Christians" (SMX) and coordinator of the schools; and the relatives of Fr César Fernández They all gave testimony of the work of the Salesian missionary who dedicated his entire life to the most disadvantaged ANS - “Agenzia iNfo Salesiana” is a on-line almost daily publication the communication agency of the Salesian Congregation enrolled in the Press Register of the Tibunal of Rome as n 153/2007 This site also uses third-party cookies to improve user experience and for statistical purposes By scrolling through this page or by clicking on any of its elements History repeats itself and the Virgen de Luna patron of the Cordoban towns of Pozoblanco and Villanueva de Córdoba will once again play a part in a Nasa space mission The revered image will be present thanks to the initiative of Carlos García-Galán who have designed a special T-shirt to mark the occasion of the launch The two Spanish engineers – both involved at a high level with the lunar project – have recorded a video at the Johnson Space Center in Houston in which they show the embroidered T-shirt with the phrase 'Virgin de Luna Protector of space missions and astronauts' As Carlos García-Galán explains in the video the Artemis program "is going to revolutionise space exploration in the coming decades" and the launch of the Orion spacecraft is the first step who will be responsible for guidance and control of the spacecraft who is responsible for the integration of the European service propulsion module explain that it is a T-shirt similar to the one they will wear on the day of the launch in Houston The duo also sent an affectionate message to the brotherhoods of the Virgin of Luna of Pozoblanco and Villanueva de Córdoba and to the whole region of Los Pedroches Both expressed their desire to visit the statue of the Virgen de Luna as soon as possible to give one of the T-shirts as a souvenir means another step forward in the relationship that the American agency and the brotherhood of Pozoblanco have established since the late 60s During the first lunar mission the then secretary of the brotherhood sent several letters to the agency with images of the Virgen de Luna which received a response and official thanks It is believed that the Virgin of Luna's image accompanied them during the 1969 Apollo 11 trip After two aborted launch attempts due to technical issues Artemis 1 has two launch windows available in the next two months The first runs from 19 September to 4 October and the second is open from 17 - 31 October Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados Flagler College has its first national player of the year in NCAA Division II Andrea Fernandez, a forward on the Saints women’s soccer team was named the winner of the Ron Lenz/D2CCA National Player of the Year on Friday adding another honor to a glittering senior season Fernandez also was named to third team United Soccer Coaches All-American on the same day “Andrea is a worthy winner of this award,” Flagler soccer coach Ashley Martin said in the school’s news release “This accolade is only possible with the support of her teammates and her effort and dedication to be the best player she could be for the team.”  also has been a consensus All-American and All-Region selection the Division II Southeast Region Player of the Year the Peach Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year for the fourth year in a row the Select Sport Gold Ball Award recipient Fernandez scored 22 goals and had 13 assists for 57 points She was the Division II national leader in goals goals per game (1.22) and points per game (3.17) She was third in assists and second in assists per game (0.72) won two Peach Belt Conference titles and made four trips to the NCAA Tournament Flagler has been NCAA Division II since 2006 Ricardo Mena was the NAIA Player of the Year in men's tennis Four found guilty of sexually abusing woman in southern city of Córdoba in May 2016 Four of the five men who gang-raped a young woman at Pamplona’s bull-running festival in July 2016 have been given additional prison sentences after being convicted of sexually abusing another woman in southern Spain two months earlier The Pamplona rape shocked the country and nationwide protests erupted after the five men were initially convicted of the lesser offence of sexual abuse The five original defendants, who called themselves la manada or “the wolf pack” in their WhatsApp group, had their prison sentences increased last year from nine to 15 years each after the supreme court subsequently found them guilty of rape a court in the southern city of Córdoba found four members of the gang guilty of sexually abusing a 21-year-old woman in a car between the Andalucían towns of Torrecampo and Pozoblanco in May 2016 One of the men filmed the assault and later shared images with the others using WhatsApp Jesús Escudero and Antonio Manuel Guerrero were sentenced to prison terms of two years and 10 months while José Ángel Prenda was given a four-and-a-half year sentence for videoing and distributing images of the attack The defendants (L-R): Antonio Manuel Guerrero José Ángel Prenda and Alfonso Jesús Cabezuelo Photograph: Rafa Alcaide/POOL/EPAThe woman met the men at a fair and accepted a lift home with them before passing out the judge said the men took advantage of her unconscious state to touch her in a sexual manner The victim “was unconscious and so was not able to give any kind of consent” After the car reached the woman’s home town of Pozoblanco one of the men asked the victim to perform oral sex on him punched her arm and pushed her out of the car while calling her ‘a whore’,” the judge said The attack and the subsequent leaking of images on social media left the victim with post-traumatic stress disorder and the payment to the victim of fines totalling €13,150 (£11,720) had been imposed given what he termed “the personal circumstances of the defendants who went on to commit an even more serious crime” in Pamplona The defendants have the right to appeal against their sentences After the verdict and sentencing, Spain’s equality minister, Irene Montero, tweeted: “Only yes is yes.” The supreme court in Madrid overturned a lower court’s verdict in the Pamplona case in June last year ruling that the victim – who was raped orally vaginally and anally – had been subjected to “a genuinely intimidating scenario in which she never consented to the sexual acts perpetrated by the accused” The original proceedings had also been criticised because the judges accepted a report compiled by a private detective hired by some of the defendants into evidence The detective had followed the woman over several days and produced photographs of her smiling with friends The case prompted the then-government to announce a re-examination of Spain’s sexual offences legislation Netflix premieres the documentary film You Are Not Alone: Fighting the Wolf Pack a sweeping deconstruction of the case that led to Spain’s first #MeToo reckoning and resonated across Latin America the film departs from a sexual assault at Spain’s iconic “running of the bulls” (Sanfermines) when a woman is assaulted by five men who call themselves “The Wolf Pack” Directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar filmmakers of The Silence of Others - winner of Spain’s Goya a Peabody and preselected on the Oscar shortlist in 2019 - the film is based on the survivors’ own words - with actresses Natalia de Molina and Carolina Yuste as narrators - and never-before-heard key testimonies of people who were close to the events the documentary film interweaves the story of what happened in Sanfermines in 2016 with two other cases - an assault that occurred in Pozoblanco and the 2008 murder of Nagore Laffage - to shed light on the sexual violence that women experience every day building to Spain’s first #MeToo turning point in 2018 where a million women and girls take to the streets chanting 'I do believe you' and break their silence on social media with #Cuéntalo ('Tell Your Story') 'You Are Not Alone: Fighting the Wolf Pack' gradually exposes the faultlines of sexism in the judiciary It shows how a movement changed the way a country deals with sexual violence highlights the individual and collective responsibility we share towards this universal problem 'We wanted to make a film that could tell this story from a perspective that had not been heard before even though it’s actually the official version that has been ratified by the courts: the perspective of the victims/survivors Through their words - extracted from judicial testimony and thanks to unprecedented access to people close to the events we have been able to tell this story with rigor adds that 'This documentary film is built from more than sixty hours of carefully filmed interviews and more than a thousand hours of archival footage the guidance provided by experts in gender violence as well as the documentary participants’ expertise regarding legal processes and the media The documentary film is the result of an extensive investigation combined with a thoughtful artistic approach The music composed for 'You Are Not Alone: Fighting the Wolf Pack' It’s the second time Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar collaborate with Leo Heiblum and Jacobo Lieberman composers of the soundtrack of 'The Silence of Others' and winners of four Ariel Awards in Mexico 'You Are Not Alone: Fighting the Wolf Pack' is written produced and directed by filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar and the Panorama Audience Award at the Berlinale It was also nominated for Best Documentary at the European Film Awards and made the shortlist for the Oscars Almudena and Robert made the feature documentary Made in L.A. about the struggles of three undocumented women in Los Angeles garment factories which won an Emmy and was praised by The New York Times as 'an excellent documentary… about basic human dignity' they developed multi-year impact campaigns to raise awareness around the issues the films addressed and a screening of 'The Silence of Others' at the UN headquarters in New York They are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Spain’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences Jos Verstappen and co-driver Renaud Jamoul made their debut this weekend in the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) The 53-year-old participated in the Rally Sierra Morena in his Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 competing against some of the ERC’s top contenders After thirteen demanding stages covering a total of 210 competitive kilometres through Andalusia the duo ended the weekend in 14th place overall bringing the total number of stages to thirteen by the end of the rally Jos clocked the 15th-fastest time (+37.2s) holding 13th in the overall classification at that point “It went well,” Jos commented after the finish of stage eight but towards the end it became more slippery We’ll review the notes and onboard video to see where we can improve.” Published on 06 April 2025 by Misha van der Kroon Stage nine is Pozoblanco-Villaharta “It was a long stage with constantly changing grip levels,” Verstappen explained “I really had to focus on Renaud’s notes and be careful with the brakes The amount of notes coming at you in such a long stage is completely different from what I'm used to in the Belgian rallies we only have a handful of notes compared to here That’s something I’m still getting used to.” “This one suited me a bit better,” he said and I’m starting to get used to the rhythm but I think they were a bit too soft for these long stages We’ll switch that up for the second loop.” Jos recorded the 16th-fastest time (+36.0s) “There was a lot more dirt on the road which made it tougher,” he explained “It’s about having the confidence and going for it That’s the experience we’re gaining now Jos went seventeen seconds faster than in the first round “We keep learning and trying to improve step by step,” he said “The notes are coming through more clearly now but there’s still a lot to fine-tune if we want to gain more time.” That result secured 14th place overall for Jos and Renaud finishing the rally 5 minutes and 25 seconds behind the winner “We’ll do everything we can to keep improving,” Jos concluded “We’re planning more testing sessions to prepare for the gravel rally in Hungary but that’s exactly why we’re here.” Victory in the Rally Sierra Morena went to Nikolay Gryazin and co-driver Konstantin Aleksandrov The Bulgarian duo finished comfortably ahead of Frenchman Yoann Bonato (+46.0s) and Spaniard Jose Suarez (+1:24.0) Follow Max on social media and keep informed CONTROVERSIAL RULING: Protesters attend a demonstration after judges upheld the lesser charge of sexual assault against the five men known as The Manada (The Wolf Pack) accused of gang-raping an 18-year-old woman during Pamplona's San Fermin festival MADRID – Spanish prosecutors have tabled another sex crime charge against four men calling themselves “The Wolf Pack” who assaulted a young woman at the Pamplona bull-running festival in 2016 a Spanish court last year gave nine-year prison sentences to the men for sexually assaulting the 18-year-old in a doorway but cleared them of rape because of a lack of physical violence The case gained notoriety amid the global #MeToo movement and brought calls for changes to Spain’s rape law the Andalusia regional prosecutor’s office said it was seeking a seven-year prison sentence for sexual assault and other crimes suspected to have been committed in Pozoblanco Evidence for that was found against four of the five men in total being investigated over the case at the San Fermin festival in the northern city of Pamplona Investigators found a video on the cellphone of one of the accused in which a woman appeared unconscious while men were abusing her inside a car after a night of partying The woman was notified about the video and the new case opened the men were released on bail in June last year on a legal technicality that says no one can be held for more than two years without a definitive sentence A rape charge in Spain requires a plaintiff to present evidence of specific violence such as being threatened with a knife or dealt physical blows The government has said it plans to change the penal code to make rape convictions easier The annual bull-running festival in the Navarran capital Pamplona is famed for its drunken revelry But concern has grown over increased reports of sex attacks and harassment at the event as well mistreatment of women in general in Spain Poll results are published every Monday in The Guam Daily Post Saturday’s Mad Collab Block Party in Hagåtña brought together more than 70 local businesses and artists in celebration with hundreds of attendees It was all about the wonders of Artificial Intelligence in the palm of your hand All of the latest features in Samsung's Galaxy AI were showcased at a GTA-sponsored event Thursday University of Guam students and alumni presented original research at the 19th annual International Conference on Business Economics & Information Technology (ICBEIT) hosted by the University of Guam School of Business and Public Administration in Mactan Newtown Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.We recommend switching to one of the following browsers: (ANS - Pozoblanco) - On a very important day for the Spanish municipality of Pozoblanco the funeral of an illustrious citizen of the Andalusian town took place: Salesian Fr Antonio César Fernández victim of a jihadist attack perpetrated about 40 kilometers from the southern border of Burkina Faso which had been carried in procession in the morning close to the coffin containing the remains of the Salesian priest Presiding at Mass was Mgr Demetrio Fernández Manuel Torres; the MP Isabel Albás; and the provincial deputy Andrés Lorite "I want to say a few words of closeness to relatives and Salesians," said Msgr Fernández in the homily "The Salesians in Pozoblanco have borne fruit especially the ripe fruit that is Father Antonio Cesar .. As a missionary he made it clear that life can be lived in another way There were many words about this missionary that resounded during the homily but one in particular drew attention: "Today a saint is buried." His holiness was that of daily life In this way the city of Pozoblanco gave a last goodbye to Fr Antonio César Fernández "Today we remember Mgr Luigi Versiglia and Fr Callisto Caravario missionaries and martyrs," observed Fr Teodoro Castillejo "We will never forget Father Antonio Cesar his missionary spirit of predilection for the last to whom Jesus Christ announced and his intimate devotion to the Virgin under the intimate title of Auxiliary May the good Lord grant that this blood shed on African soil be the seed of new Christians the remains of Fr Antonio César Fernández were carried on the shoulders of his Salesian confreres to the Salesian pantheon in the cemetery of Our Lady of Sorrows in Pozoblanco On the web there is a video on the Salesian's funeral: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfl8RoOFWAI  August has begun almost as black as July ended In less than 24 hours three women have lost their lives in Spain at the hands of their husbands The grisly tally follows the dramatic month of July in which eight women were killed in gender-based violence crimes The most recent of the homicides took place on Tuesday in the Tenerife village of Valle de Guerra According to preliminary investigations by the National Police who may suffer from some kind of psychological disorder allegedly beat his 91-year-old wife to death The circumstances of the death have yet to be certified by the police but the initial hypothesis is that the man may have attacked his wife with a stick There is no record of previous complaints of ill-treatment This attack took place just six hours after another gender-based killing in the town of Pozoblanco A very nervous woman phoned the local police at around 8am to say that she had found a friend lying on the floor of her house next to a pool of blood When officers of the Guardia Civil arrived at the house they found the victims as well as the body of her husband Initial investigations suggest that the 39-year-old man shot his wife and then killed himself with the same weapon The victim had filed a formal complaint against her husband for abuse more than five years ago but there were no protection measures in place All three are in the custody of social services a man was arrested shortly after half past five in the afternoon for allegedly slitting his wife's throat at their home in Almeria The couple’s three young children witnessed how their father killed their mother with a kitchen knife and then tried to avoid arrest by using one of the children as a shield in front of the police There were no previous complaints against him These cases confirm that July and August are typical months in which the number of episodes of gender-based violence and homicides increases This means that so far this year 35 women have lost their lives at the hands of their partners or former partners (ANS - Madrid) - The Spanish Salesian missionary Fr Antonio César Fernández was posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit on the proposal of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs The Official State Gazette published Royal Decree 893/2021 on 11 October with which it granted this prestigious recognition to the Salesian missionary Fr Antonio César Fernández was killed on February 15 during a jihadist attack on the southern border of Burkina Faso The attackers stopped the vehicle in which the Spanish missionary and two other Togolese Salesians were traveling on their way back from the Provincial Chapter of the French speaking Salesian Province of West Africa (AFO) Fr Fernández was taken to a nearby forest Fr Antonio César Fernández had served as a missionary in various African countries since 1982 the year in which he started the Salesian presence in Togo In the following years he worked as Novice Master (1988-1998) and served as Delegate for the AFO at the 25th General Chapter of the Salesians in 2002 His last assignment was to serve the Salesian presence in Burkina Faso after 55 years of Salesian life and 46 of priestly life both where he had worked as a missionary and in his country of origin His much-attended funeral was held in Pozoblanco his hometown also has a street named after him currently depends on the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs The award is awarded to reward “the civic virtues of public officials in the service of the State as well as the extraordinary services by Spanish and foreign citizens for the good of the Nation.”  It consists of seven degrees the person awarded this title is given the title of Excellence or Most Excellent Sir or Madam The Salesians of Spain have expressed deep gratitude for the posthumous conferral of the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit to the Spanish Salesian missionary Antonio César Fernández his dedicated life is presented as an example for all of society (ANS - Jaén) - “I'm a worker; I was born to parents who also were I've lived and I live in the narrow environment of the humble classes and I feel protest running through my veins exacerbated at times by the fire of youthful enthusiasm against those who believe that we are not men like them because we had the misfortune - or perhaps fate - of being born into poverty But let's clarify the concepts: I'm a worker and I'm a Catholic.” Thus spoke Bartolomé Blanco who grew up in a Salesian oratory and a model of an engaged young man and devoted fiancé His mother died of the "Spanish flu" epidemic before the child was four years old Son and father went to live with their aunts and uncles Also orphaned of a father at the age of 12 he had to leave school and work as a chairmaker When the Salesians arrived in September 1930 he attended the oratory and helped as a catechist and grew up in intellectual of which he was secretary and specialized in the apostolate among the workers at the Social Workers' Institute in Madrid scholar of the social doctrine of the Church he met with the Catholic workers' organizations of France Appointed delegate of the Catholic trade unions in the province of Cordoba he founded eight sections Bartolomeo returned to Pozoblanco to defend the city “You believed you were hurting me and instead you are doing me good because you are chiseling a crown for me,” he said He was shot on 2 October 1936 in Jaén shouting "Long live Christ the King!" He was beatified on October 28 To his aunts and cousins: “I ask you to avenge me with the revenge of the Christian: repaying with good those who have tried to harm me.” And to his girlfriend Maruja: “I just want to ask you one thing: that in memory of the love we had for each other .. You take care of the salvation of your soul as the main objective so that we can meet in heaven for all eternity The testimony of Bartolomé Blanco - a young man who rejected any compromise or mediocrity who stood by the poor defending their rights without allying himself to totalitarian positions and violent ideologies and who shared with many friends a position in favor of the dignity of woman - has a prophetic charge that deserves to be made known to young people today To whom he himself could say again: “We are young and therefore we cannot remain inactive; Catholics and thus we cannot look with indifference at the innumerable injustices of modern society .. young Catholics who cannot be satisfied with listening to a Mass and giving a few cents to the poor.” (El Cronista del Valle If you have any questions or need help you can email us Bullfighting may no longer be central to Spanish life but legends around it continue to be told Duncan Wheeler Talavera de la Reina – these are all provincial Spanish towns where celebrity matadors have been killed At a time when public television had a monopoly the nation saw the fighting bull Avispado gore Paquirri He might have survived had the ring’s medical facilities or roads to the hospital in Córdoba been fit for purpose VHS footage circulated of the matador stoically facing death in the ring’s makeshift infirmary was left to raise a sixth-month-old son as a single mother became the world’s most photographed recluse She returned to the public arena with a multi-platinum album of songs and lyrics about love and loss I saw her give a concert for 6,000 fans at the Valencia bullring She said the question she has been asked the most in her life is whether Spain has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last 40 years Entry into the EU led to rapid modernisation The bus out to Pozoblanco now runs along a great dual carriageway and the town also has improved medical facilities morbid visitors could book to stay in the room where Paquirri slept on September 25 but the matador’s presence still looms large Outside the bullring is an ugly bronze monument by Cordovan sculptor Aurelio Teno (his statue of Don Quixote erected outside the Kennedy Center in Washington is better) in which the torero is depicted on the floor at the bull’s mercy Bullfighting may no longer be central to Spanish life but the tragic legend of Pozoblanco still looms large It has been amplified by the fate of Paquirri’s companions on the bill El Yiyo accepted a last-minute substitution in Colmenar Viejo on the outskirts of Madrid the animal’s horns entered under the armpit and punctured his heart An image of the matador’s mother caressing his 21-year-old corpse laid to rest in a suit of lights is iconic but tragedy hit again in 1993: on a rainy evening he slipped on the sand and was caught by the bull but he has since undergone dozens of knee operations and struggles with alcoholism The sole survivor of the tragic corrida never gave up hope of returning to the ring; in 2014 he reappeared in front of a home crowd in Valencia with a bionic leg He was brought to tears by the crowd’s affection I arranged to meet El Soro at his home to discuss Pozoblanco and his wife sent a text message to say he was happy to talk if I could visit him in hospital I realised I didn’t know on which ward the matador was to be found But I needn’t have worried: all the nurses knew El Soro His mother was at his bedside in a private room in which a large framed photograph of him as a young matador was hung confided he hadn’t given up hope of getting back into shape and making another comeback Duncan Wheeler is professor and chair of Spanish studies at the University of Leeds speculation has begun in the scientific community Brits are drawn to the island’s Nelsonian history and the marvels of its sweet Malvasia wine Galway’s Aoife Raftery impressed on her Spanish rally debut by taking second in the highly competitive Rally4 class over the weekend The Craughwell-based driver entered Saturday’s Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco the penultimate round of the Spanish Super Championship With the Irish rally season all but over the Craughwell-based driver was keen to expand her international experience only female driver to be selected for the Rally Academy drove the same Peugeot 208 Rally 4 that she used on five rounds of the FIA Junior European Rally Championship this year The car is prepared by Irish rally team PCRS Rallysport which is headquartered at Aragón racing circuit near Alcañiz in Spain and an opportunity arose to enter Raftery in the 93-kilometre gravel rally Raftery and co-driver Hanna McKillop started well by posting fourth-fastest time on the event’s opening stage the Irish crew were up to third place and a solid performance over the closing stages resulted in a second-place finish behind Spanish Junior championship frontrunner Santiago García Paz “It was great to get the opportunity to drive on classic Spanish gravel roads,” she said “The rally was very well run; we had a problem with dust early in the day but the organisers increased our gap to two minutes but we enjoyed them and it was great to see so many spectators out there.” Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco was based in the town of Pozoblanco in the Andalusian region of southern Spain The eight-stage rally was the penultimate round of the Spanish Super Rally Championship Raftery and McKillop were the only Irish competitors on the entry list that included drivers from Andora © 2025 GalwayDaily. All rights reserved. | Designed by Web Design Ireland Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member Aoife Raftery will fly the flag for Irish motorsport at a rally in Spain this weekend With the Irish rally season all but over the Craughwell-based driver is keen to expand her international experience only female driver to be selected for the Rally Academy has placed an entry for Saturday’s Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco She will drive the same Peugeot 208 Rally 4 that she used on five rounds of the FIA Junior European Rally Championship this year The car is prepared by Irish rally team PCRS Rallysport which is headquartered at Aragón racing circuit near Alcañiz in Spain and an opportunity arose to enter Raftery in the 93-kilometre gravel rally “One of the first international opportunities I got with the Academy was to complete the recce for the Spanish round of the World Rally Championship in October last year,” she said “I really like the country; they are motorsports mad out there and with the car based in Spain it is a great opportunity to get seat time during the Irish off-season in an international setting.” Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco is based in the town of Pozoblanco The eight-stage rally gets underway at 8 am on Saturday morning Raftery is the only Irish competitor on the entry list that includes drivers from Andora Finland and a host of locals like Spanish Super Championship leader and champion elect José Antonio Suárez Aoife Raftery Rallying is supported by O'Neill O'Malley Architects and Project Managers / Loughrea Auto Parts Ltd / Craughwell Tyre Centre / Sean Fleming Motors / Aertec Vacuum and Ventilation / Des Lyons Plant / Quinn’s Hardware Four men accused of sexual abuse two months before Pamplona attack for which they were cleared of rape Spanish prosecutors have brought another sex crime charge against four men calling themselves “the wolf pack” who assaulted a young woman at the Pamplona bull-running festival in 2016 In a controversial ruling last year, a Spanish court gave nine-year prison sentences to the men for sexually abusing the 18-year-old in a doorway, but cleared them of rape because of a lack of physical violence. The case gained notoriety amid the global #MeToo movement and brought calls for changes to Spain’s rape law. In the new case, the Andalusia regional prosecutor’s office said it was seeking a seven-year prison sentence for sexual abuse and other crimes suspected to have been committed in Pozoblanco, southern Spain, two months earlier. Evidence was found against four of the five men being investigated over the case at the San Fermin festival in the northern city of Pamplona. Investigators found a video on the cellphone of one of the accused, in which men appeared to abuse an unconscious woman inside a car after a night of partying. The woman was notified about the video and the new case was opened, the prosecutor’s office said. Read moreDespite the original ruling against them, the men were released on bail last June on a legal technicality that says no one can be held for more than two years without a definitive sentence The annual bull-running festival in the Navarran capital Concern has grown over increased reports of sex attacks and harassment at the event as well mistreatment of women in general in Spain