Local (Benalmádena & Málaga)
Paul Lukas’s Forgotten Grave in Benalmádena Gets Official Protection — Benalmádena town hall has initiated proceedings to protect the grave of Hollywood actor Paul Lukas, buried in the town’s International Cemetery since 1971. Lukas won the 1944 Best Actor Oscar — beating Humphrey Bogart — and later swapped Palm Springs for Torremolinos, becoming a local celebrity who campaigned to promote the Costa del Sol. His tomb had been abandoned and at risk of disappearing until the council stepped in. [Diario SUR]
Costa del Sol Tourism Unveils New Brand for 50th Anniversary — Turismo Costa del Sol celebrated half a century of promoting the destination with a gala at Málaga’s Edgar Neville auditorium, unveiling a refreshed brand identity built around “the art of living well.” Provincial president Francisco Salado highlighted the evolution from a sun-and-beach destination to a diversified, year-round tourism industry, while acknowledging future challenges including water resources, housing, and transport. [SUR in English]
Marbella Anti-Drug Prosecutor Carlos Tejada Dies at 58 — Carlos Tejada, the lead anti-drug prosecutor for Marbella since the specialised Fiscalía Antidroga was created in 2022, died Saturday after a serious illness. A key figure in the fight against drug trafficking along the Costa del Sol, Tejada had worked in Marbella’s prosecutor’s office since 2006. The Attorney General’s Office expressed its deep regret. [Diario SUR]
Marbella Accelerates First Public Elderly Care Home — Marbella’s town hall is fast-tracking its first public residential care home, with construction in its final phase. The council plans to tender the management contract this June while the building works continue, aiming to cut the wait time before the facility opens. The town is also negotiating bed allocations with the Junta de Andalucía. [Diario SUR]
Malaga Juvenile Court Convicts Underage Boy of Sexual Assault — A juvenile court in Málaga has convicted a minor of sexually assaulting a female classmate in secondary school. The defendant admitted the facts and received an 18-month supervised release with mandatory sex education courses, plus a three-year restraining order requiring 500 metres’ distance from the victim. [SUR in English]
Sources: Diario SUR, SUR in English
Spain (Independent & Transparency)
Santos Cerdán Orchestrated Conspiratorial Network Against Corruption Investigators — The former PSOE Organisation Secretary funded a conspiracy network run by party militant Leire Díez and businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, aimed at discrediting Guardia Civil and prosecutorial chiefs investigating socialist corruption. Judge Pedraz has established that Cerdán met privately with Díez 22 times between April 2024 and May 2025 and channelled payments through three law firms. The investigation also implicates PSOE manager Ana Fuentes for signing the consultancy contracts. The Guardia Civil spent over ten hours searching the PSOE’s Madrid headquarters last Wednesday. [elDiario.es]
Schools Swelter Without Climate Adaptation Plans — Students across Spain are enduring classroom temperatures above 35°C as the heatwave season begins, with virtually no autonomous community having a comprehensive school climate adaptation plan. The Education Ministry has allocated over €1 billion in aid programmes, but experts say “schools were designed for a climate that no longer exists.” Asturias authorised two schools to close due to heat this week, while a four-year-old in Bilbao required ambulance treatment for heatstroke. [elDiario.es]
Spain’s Roads Cracking Under €13 Billion Maintenance Deficit — A sustained lack of investment since 2009, combined with increasingly extreme weather events, has pushed the conservation deficit for Spain’s 165,000-kilometre road network past €13 billion. Industry experts warn that water infiltration — especially during freeze-thaw cycles — accelerates hidden damage before potholes become visible to drivers. [Diario SUR]
Justice Left 13 Key Questions for Fernández Díaz Unanswered in Kitchen Trial — The judge presiding over the Kitchen case blocked the prosecutor from asking the former Interior Minister and his deputy 13 specific questions about the PP’s illegal operation to spy on ex-treasurer Luis Bárcenas. The blocked questions included who gave the orders and who paid for the operation. [elDiario.es]
Sources: elDiario.es, Diario SUR
World & Independent Investigations
**White House Intervened for 620 million loan to Vulcan Elements, a rare-earth magnet startup in which Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm had taken an undisclosed stake just three months earlier. Pentagon staff worked late nights and through weekends at Navarro’s behest. It is the first documented case of direct White House intervention in awarding a federal agency contract to a Trump-linked company. [ProPublica]
U.S. and Iran Draft Deal Pending Trump Approval; Netanyahu Orders IDF to Take 70% of Gaza — The U.S. and Iran have reportedly drafted a deal awaiting President Trump’s final approval, as the administration weighs new strikes. Simultaneously, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered the IDF to seize 70% of Gaza, while Palestinians protest World Central Kitchen scaling back operations amid rising food costs and blockade conditions. Anti-government demonstrations in Iran continue as inflation surges and unemployment soars. [Drop Site News]
Trump Officials Celebrated Aid Cuts with Cake — Then Cholera Deaths Followed — ProPublica’s investigation documents how top Trump administration advisers celebrated deep humanitarian aid cuts behind closed doors, followed by preventable cholera deaths in South Sudan. The reporting traces a chain of decisions from Washington conference rooms to fatalities in the world’s poorest country, alongside parallel starvation crises documented in Kenya. [ProPublica]
Graham Platner Forces Democrats to Confront Anti-Oligarchy Politics — Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, a 41-year-old oysterman and combat veteran, is running a populist campaign against Republican incumbent Susan Collins that explicitly calls for wielding congressional power against oligarchs and fascists. Both The Lever and The Intercept profile the race as a test of whether the Democratic Party’s base is ready for a candidate who rejects “vote blue no matter who” centrism. His primary is June 8.
ICE Pepper-Sprayed and Beat Detainees Protesting Conditions at Delaney Hall — Detainees at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall jail were pepper-sprayed and beaten by ICE officers after protesting what they described as “horrific conditions,” according to testimony heard by a visiting member of Congress. Detainees told lawmakers the attacks were “retribution for the ongoing hunger strike.” [The Intercept]
Ex-Trump Campaign Chief Funnelled Israeli Government Money to Allies — Brad Parscale, Trump’s former 2020 campaign manager, channelled millions of dollars in Israeli government funds to companies run by longtime associates, according to an Intercept investigation. The reporting raises questions about the intersection of foreign government contracts and domestic political operatives. [The Intercept]
Sources: ProPublica, Drop Site News, The Lever, The Intercept
Tech
AI Data Centers Race Ahead of Community Protests, Draining Scarce Water — A proposed 40,000-acre data center project in drought-stricken northern Utah — backed by Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary and more than double the size of Manhattan — is sparking resistance over water consumption and environmental impact. The Trump administration is moving to cut federal and local regulations to accelerate AI infrastructure build-out. “National security isn’t just about having technological and military superiority — we’re not safe if we don’t have clean air and clean water,” said Food and Water Watch policy director Jim Walsh. [The Intercept]
Sources: The Intercept