World
Europe Day: 40 years of ties between Spain and the European Union
The Spain that knocked on Europe’s door 40 years ago was a country that had only just emerged from 40 years of dictatorship.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Spain’s democratic transition, still fragile in some respects, found in European integration an institutional anchor, a guarantee that the freedoms it had won would not be reversed.
Felipe González, who had applied for membership in 1977 as leader of the Socialist opposition and was now governing as prime minister, saw it clearly: joining Europe was not just about economics. It was a statement of political identity. Spain was rejoining the community of democratic nations from which Francoism had excluded it.
The figures for that Spain of 1986 show how far back the starting point was: per capita income was around 7,300 euros, life expectancy was 76 and the population had yet to reach 38 million.
Exports accounted for barely 4.9% of GDP and infrastructure lagged decades behind European standards. Forty years on, per capita income is above 31,000 euros, life expectancy has reached 84 and exports have climbed to 34% of GDP.
None of these transformations can be separated from EU membership.
The early years: opening up and the shock
The initial stages of integration were not easy. Spain had to face the abrupt opening of its market to European competition, which triggered tensions across whole sectors of the economy, especially in industry and agriculture.
The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) profoundly reshaped the Spanish countryside, forcing through painful reconversions but also opening up new markets for Mediterranean products. Olive oil, fruit, wine: Spanish agriculture found in Europe a stage for expansion that had been unthinkable until then.
At the same time, European structural funds began to flow into a country that was in desperate need of them. The motorways that now link the Peninsula, the trains that criss-cross the country, the modernised ports, the telecommunications systems: all of this was built to a large extent with financial backing from Brussels.
In four decades, Spain has received more than 185 billion euros in European funds for infrastructure, employment, innovation and regional development. Without that injection, modernisation would have taken generations longer.
An unexpected symbol of those early years was the Erasmus programme, launched by the European Community in 1987. What began as a modest university exchange initiative gradually became the defining experience of a generation.
Spain became the country that receives the most Erasmus students in all of Europe, and more than 1.6 million Spaniards have taken part in the programme over these four decades. For many young people, Erasmus was not just a semester abroad: it was the first time they truly felt European.
Maastricht and the dream of the single currency
The year 1992 marked a turning point for all of Europe, and Spain was fully aware of its significance. The signing of the Treaty on European Union in Maastricht transformed the European Economic Community into the European Union proper and opened the way to the single currency.
For Spain, Maastricht also meant taking on economic convergence commitments that required deep reforms: deficit control, keeping inflation in check, budgetary discipline. It was the price of having a seat at the top table.
In parallel, 1995 brought another of the great achievements of the European project: the entry into force of the Schengen Agreement in Spain, alongside Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Portugal.
For the first time in modern history, citizens could cross Europe’s internal borders without showing their passport. The Schengen area was not just a convenience for tourists; it was the physical embodiment of an idea: that in Europe, people’s freedom of movement was a right, not a privilege.
And then the euro arrived. On 1 January 1999, Spain became one of the eleven founding countries of the eurozone, adopting the single currency for financial and commercial transactions.
On 1 January 2002, notes and coins reached citizens’ pockets and the peseta disappeared for good. It was a moment full of emotion and also tinged with a certain melancholy: the peseta was being abandoned, a currency with centuries of history, but something bigger was being gained, the feeling of sharing an economic destiny with hundreds of millions of Europeans.
Fittingly, it was at a summit held in Madrid in December 1995 that European leaders finally agreed on the name of the new currency: the euro.
Institutional leadership on five occasions
Over these 40 years, Spain has not limited itself to benefiting from the European project: it has also helped to build it. Since 1986, the country has held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on five occasions, the most recent in the second half of 2023, under the motto “Europe, closer”, making it one of the member states most committed to driving the Union forward institutionally.
Three presidents of the European Parliament and nine European commissioners have been Spaniards over these four decades, a presence that reflects Spain’s growing weight in Europe’s political architecture.
Spain has also helped design some of the EU’s most important policies. It played a leading role in developing cohesion policy and in boosting the EU’s social dimension.
It was instrumental in including in the Amsterdam Treaty a sanctions mechanism for states that breached the Union’s fundamental values. And for decades it has played a distinctive role as a bridge between Europe and Ibero-America, drawing on its historical, cultural and linguistic ties with Latin America to enhance the EU’s external projection.
The great crisis and test of the euro
The years of the Great Recession brutally tested the strength of the European project and Spain’s resilience. The 2008 financial crisis triggered a devastating recession in the country: unemployment climbed above 26% in 2013, the construction sector collapsed and the financial system had to be partially bailed out with European funds.
The austerity policies imposed from Brussels fuelled deep social discontent and fed European scepticism among parts of the population that had borne the brunt of the cuts.
Even so, Spain did not abandon the euro or the European project. It opted for reform and recovery within the EU framework, and from 2014 it entered a growth cycle that was among the strongest in the eurozone. Painful as it was, the crisis also ended up showing that EU membership offered a safety net that would have been unimaginable alone.
The banking rescue coordinated by the European institutions, the financial solidarity mechanisms, access to capital markets underpinned by the European Central Bank: without Europe, the fallout could have been much more severe.
The pandemic and the NextGenerationEU funds
If the 2008 crisis was a test of endurance, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was something different: a demonstration that European solidarity could evolve into new, more ambitious forms.
For the first time in the history of European integration, the Union took on joint debt to finance the recovery of its member states. The NextGenerationEU funds made more than 140 billion euros in grants and loans available to Spain, the largest injection of European resources in the country’s history.
The pandemic was also a reminder that, when it works, European solidarity is an extraordinary asset. The coordination in vaccine purchasing, the European COVID certificate that made it possible to restore mobility, the joint response to an unprecedented threat: all this showed European citizens, Spaniards included, that the EU project was not just a market but also a community of shared destiny.
Forty years of transformation
The numbers tell a powerful story. Spanish exports of goods rose from 12.6 billion euros in 1986 to 141.5 billion in 2024. Real GDP has grown by more than 100% since accession. Life expectancy has increased by eight years over the past four decades.
The population has grown by more than 10 million people, largely thanks to immigration made possible by European prosperity. And more than 1.4 million young Spaniards have benefited from the European Youth Guarantee scheme to get into work.
The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has marked the day on his x.com account, stressing that the European Union is Spaniards’ home and future, as well as their privilege and their responsibility.
The challenges of the next 40 years
The anniversary is not only a time for celebration. It is also a moment for honest reflection on what still remains to be built. Territorial inequalities between the autonomous communities remain significant.
The green transition, population ageing, digital transformation and migration flows pose challenges that no country can face alone. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped Europe’s security map and forces Spain to rethink its contribution to common defence, as we have also seen with the US–Iran conflict and threats against European bases.
The new generations, who have grown up knowing no reality other than the European one, expect the Union to respond more effectively to these challenges. For them, Europe is not a historic achievement to be defended, but a starting point to be improved. That demand, far from being a threat to the project, is perhaps its best guarantee for the future.
Forty years on from that January night in 1986, European membership is now so taken for granted that it is hard to imagine Spain outside it.
World
UNRWA fires 70 Gaza staffers amid allegations of Hamas ties, says terminations not admission of guilt
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) fired 70 staff members working in Gaza after long-standing claims from Israeli authorities that the agency is a collaborator with the Hamas terrorist group.
“Today, the Commissioner-General ad interim of UNRWA, Christian Saunders, took the decision to terminate the employment of 70 UNRWA staff members in Gaza with immediate effect,” UNRWA wrote in a statement Friday.
UNRWA insisted its decision was not an admission of guilt but one taken “to mitigate safety and security risks for the refugees the Agency serves under its mandate and for UNRWA personnel and premises.”
The agency claims it has “repeatedly asked the Israeli authorities to provide information and evidence to substantiate allegations against individual UNRWA staff members in Gaza but has received no response to date.”
ISRAEL SAYS UN MISLEADS WORLD AS GAZA AID STOLEN AND DIVERTED FROM CIVILIANS
A Palestinian boy walks near a UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City July 5, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
“The dismissal of the staff is not part of a disciplinary process and does not constitute in any way a validation of the claims made against them,” the UNRWA statement read.
The firings follow a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) investigation that referred more than 100 UNRWA staff members for suspension or dismissal.
USAID’s investigation, the results of which the agency published June 5, assessed that a number of UNRWA’s employees were deeply enmeshed in Hamas’ civil society and military operations.
The investigation results included mention of “a deputy school principal serving as an al-Qassam deputy company commander in the Ain Gallout/5th infantry battalion, a deputy school principal serving as squad leader for the Khan Younis Brigade/2nd infantry battalion” and “a teacher with expertise as a sniper for Hamas.”
Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, hands over Israeli hostages Omer Shem-Tov, Eliya Cohen and Omer Wenkert to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza, on Feb. 22, 2025, as part of the seventh exchange under the Jan. 19 ceasefire deal. (Ashraf Amra/Anadolu)
The investigation also found numerous school teachers and principals it claimed to have participated directly in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
Israeli authorities have long charged UNRWA with being directly tied to Hamas.
“Since October 7, evidence of numerous incidents of Hamas exploiting UNRWA infrastructure and UNRWA employees being involved in terrorist activity has been exposed. Civilians in Gaza have even stated that UNRWA is Hamas,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) wrote in a January web post.
Israeli soldiers stand inside an evacuated United Nations Relief and Works Agency compound in Gaza City during a media tour organized by the Israeli army on Feb. 8, 2024. (Jack Guez/AFP)
Additionally, the IDF claimed, citing intelligence findings, that “among the 12,521 UNRWA employees in the Gaza Strip, at least 1,462 (12%) are members of Hamas or other designated terrorist organizations.”
UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNS
Israel’s Foreign Ministry pushed back on UNRWA’s defense framing and claims that Israel had not supplied evidence of employee-Hamas collaboration.
“UNRWA’s statement on the termination of 70 employees, while blaming the victim, Israel, and without even mentioning the word ‘Hamas,’ is a cynical cover-up,” the ministry wrote in a statement shared on X.
UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza, Feb. 21, 2024. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu)
“The responsibility to purge terrorism lies solely with the UN, yet Hamas membership remains simply acceptable within UNRWA’s ranks. By harboring terrorists and letting its facilities serve as Hamas headquarters, UNRWA has become an arm of Hamas.”
UNRWA, for its part, denies being an active collaborator with Hamas but insists working with the group is an operational necessity for distributing aid in Gaza.
“UNRWA, similar to other United Nations entities, does not have police or intelligence capacities and must rely on the cooperation and assistance of Member States, including the State of Israel as the Occupying Power, to protect its operations and neutrality amid high risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the agency wrote in its statement Friday.
In April, UNRWA’s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) announced the results of an investigation into 19 employees accused of participating in Oct. 7. UNRWA terminated 12 of the employees in January. Of the remaining seven cases, UNRWA had dismissed one, citing a lack of evidence. The remaining six cases were still under investigation as of April, according to the agency.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
President Donald Trump’s administration weighed levying terrorism-related sanctions against UNRWA in December.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also referred to UNRWA as “a subsidiary of Hamas.”
Fox News Digital contacted UNRWA and a spokesperson for the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations but did not immediately receive a response.
Washington, DC – There are fisticuffs on the White House lawn, soon to be followed by a high-speed race through the National Mall. What is going on in Washington, DC?
The United States capital has been transformed in honour of the country’s 250th anniversary.
list of 3 itemsend of listRecommended Stories
Events all around the country are planned to mark two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
The nationwide bash has been dubbed the “semiquincentennial” — meaning half of 500 — and not just because Congress loves long words. The US has a history of throwing itself a party every 50 years.
But US President Donald Trump has promised a particularly noteworthy event this year, though the proceedings have been marred by a cavalcade of controversies.
Here’s what to know:
What is the history of US semicentennial celebrations?
The first 50-year anniversary, in 1826, was a considerably more muted affair than the festivities to come.
At the time, some of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence were still alive, so the mayor of Washington, DC, invited them to attend the celebration in the capital.
Former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both demurred, citing their failing health. They died within hours of each other on the day of the semicentennial.
Fifty years later, in 1876, the US would mark its 100th anniversary by hosting its first world’s fair, an exhibition featuring displays of art, culture and technology from around the globe.
The fair was held in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was signed, and the original document was put on temporary display in the city.
Another world’s fair arrived in Philadelphia for the country’s 150th anniversary in 1926, but it was not nearly as successful. Variety magazine called it “America’s greatest flop”.
Meanwhile, the modern template for having a yearlong, cross-country celebration was set on the 200th anniversary in 1976.
A train-mounted museum of documents and historical artefacts toured the lower 48 states for 21 months. Volunteers, meanwhile, used covered wagons to travel the width of the country.
The celebrations were generally received positively, although the sale of souvenirs — from umbrella hats to mugs — earned it the pejorative “the buy-centennial”.
What is happening this year?
While the US capital may be the centre of this year’s celebration, there will be a multitude of events across the country. They include:
- UFC Freedom 250, a mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn on June 14
- the Great American State Fair, featuring booths representing all 50 states, presented on the National Mall from June 25 to July 10
- the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, which will see IndyCars race around capital monuments from August 22 to 23
- the World Cup Fan Zone in Washington, DC, from June 11 to July 16
- a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on July 3
- concerts and exhibitions in cities like New York, Los Angeles and Boston
Mobile museums, known as Freedom Trucks, will also be travelling around the country.
Another initiative is America’s Block Party, an effort to encourage communities to engage in charitable works and host their own semiquincentennial parties.
So far, however, there appears to be no government programme in the works to tackle the holiday’s most vexing and far-reaching problem: how to make the traditional July 4 potato salad less bland.
What is the controversy over the UFC fight?
One of the most scrutinised events in the semiquincentennial calendar is UFC Freedom 250, which will take place on the White House lawn on Sunday.
The timing of the event is one of the details that have wiggled eyebrows. Sunday is a holiday known as Flag Day, but it also marks Trump’s 80th birthday.
The event is also being staged by one of Trump’s most prominent political donors: Dana White, the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
White has described Sunday’s event as designed “to tell the story of America”. There will be two title fights: a lightweight bout between Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje and a heavyweight interim title fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, as well as several smaller “undercard” matches.
Despite bearing the title “Freedom 250”, the UFC event is not being organised by the White House task force of the same name.
A Freedom 250 spokesperson clarified that the presidential group “has not been responsible for the operations, logistics or funding of the UFC White House event”.
That point has been central to ongoing debates about whether the fight represents a conflict of interest for Trump, who holds stock in UFC’s parent company.
On Friday, a federal judge rejected an emergency petition to stop the fight, on the premise that Trump was using government property to promote his private business interests.
White has told the ESPN sport broadcaster that his organisation was paying for the event.
What is the difference between Freedom 250 and America250?
There are two government-backed nonprofits organising festivities for the anniversary: Freedom 250 and America250.
The former is part of a White House task force, and the latter is a bipartisan organisation created in 2016 by the US Congress.
America250 was set up in 2016 to “plan and orchestrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence”, and it is led by private citizens.
The Freedom 250, meanwhile, is a public-private partnership within the National Parks Foundation, the charitable arm of the National Park Service, a federal agency.
It is ostensibly the public-facing side of the White House Task Force 250, which Trump established in 2025 “to plan, organize, and execute” the semiquincentennial. Trump is also the task force’s chair.
What is each side organising?
The two groups’ event-planning philosophies do not overlap much.
Freedom 250 focuses mostly on big, marquee functions, such as the IndyCar race, the World Cup Fan Zone and Sail4th 250, which will see an armada of tall ships and military vessels travel to US cities along the Atlantic coast.
The America250 organisation has been more focused on community participation through initiatives such as America’s Block Party and its Giving 4th programme, which aims to boost charitable giving on the July 4 holiday.
So Freedom 250 and America250 are not stepping on each other’s toes?
Not really, and they’re ostensibly playing nice, with America250’s chairwoman, Rosie Rios, lauding Freedom 250 as a way to advance presidential initiatives to “give the American people more ways they can celebrate America’s 250th birthday”.
But this is Washington, DC, so some elbows are being thrown.
The creation of White House Task Force 250 was widely viewed as a manoeuvre by Trump to seize control of the celebrations, outside of congressional oversight.
The launch of Freedom 250 came just two months after the appointee Trump picked to lead America250, Ari Abergel, was fired for “serious and repeated breaches” of his authority. Abergel has denied overstepping his mandate.
Who is financing the two groups?
Neither the congressionally created America250 nor the White House’s Freedom 250 are required to disclose its private donors.
But critics point out there are fewer guardrails with Freedom 250 than with America250.
America250’s parent commission is required to submit an annual report to Congress detailing funding and spending.
Freedom 250, meanwhile, lists some “sponsors” and “partners” online, but it is not subject to any independent oversight. That lack of transparency has been a recurring complaint.
In February, The New York Times reported that Freedom 250 was offering access to a reception hosted by Trump in exchange for large donations.
But the newspaper USA Today also pointed out that America250 offered packages that included invitations to events where government officials would be in attendance.
Both groups have been given taxpayer dollars. Congress appropriated $150m to the Department of the Interior for the celebrations, but it did not specify how the money was to be split between the groups.
The Interior Department allocated $100m to Freedom 250 (via the National Park Foundation) and $50m to America250, raising concerns that Trump was steering public funds away from the congressionally mandated organisation.
Critics have also questioned whether the Freedom 250 events are designed to celebrate US independence or promote Trump and his priorities.
Nearly $10m, for instance, went to supporting the Freedom Trucks, whose exhibits have been criticised for offering a whitewashed portrait of US history.
Has there been a backlash to Freedom 250?
The perception that Freedom 250 is a Trump organisation, rather than a nonpartisan one, has created snags for one of its tentpole events: the Great American State Fair.
Almost as soon as its musical lineup was announced in May, artists started dropping out. Several performers said they felt misled by the organisers’ claims that the event is nonpartisan.
Several state governments have also declined to take part, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington state.
A spokesperson for Oregon said in part that the fair “is shaping up to be a more partisan affair than originally presented”.
But Freedom 250 has maintained that the fair will continue with all 50 states represented on the National Mall.
Trump, meanwhile, cancelled the concert, replacing it with a “Rally to end all Rallies”, at which he will give a speech. Country musician Lee Greenwood and tenor Christopher Macchio, as well as several military bands, will also be included in the lineup.
-
Detroit, MI1 minute agoReview: Ambitious chef’s second restaurant brings promise to Midtown
-
San Francisco, CA9 minutes agoWhere to watch Chicago Cubs vs San Francisco Giants: TV channel, start time, streaming for June 14
-
Dallas, TX16 minutes agoQuiet Cowboys free agent signing may not survive the summer
-
Miami, FL19 minutes agoAuthorities searching for person who may have gone overboard in Biscayne Bay
-
Boston, MA31 minutes ago
Where to watch Texas Rangers vs Boston Red Sox: TV channel, start time, streaming for June 14
-
Denver, CO34 minutes ago‘Full send, full speed;’ Red Bull brings Soapbox racing back to Denver
-
Seattle, WA39 minutes agoWEST SEATTLE WEEKEND SCENE: Soundgarden co-founder Kim Thayil’s book-signing session at Easy Street Records
-
San Diego, CA46 minutes agoSan Diego ER nurse survives helicopter crash during the Baja 500
