As per a report by the Health Ministry and the International Registry of Organ Donation and Transplantation, Spain is the world’s leading country in organ donations. A commonly used standard to determine this fact is the number of deceased donors per million people and this figure stood at 34.2 for Spain last year, which is the best in the world.

Restaurant terraces and bull rings will escape the harsher measures

The Health Minister has confirmed that Spain is to introduce an extended smoking ban next year, when, from an as yet to be confirmed date, ‘No Smoking’ signs will be seen in all closed public places. The legislation which has been in place since 2006 currently permits the smaller bars and restaurants to choose whether to allow smoking on the premises or not; if they do allow it, they must provide a separate closed-off area for smokers.

When my husband and I first arrived in Madrid, we enjoyed every aspect of the Spanish capital’s hectic nocturnal lifestyle. Everything was so exciting and new, life seemed so simple and great.

Eating out soon turned into a habit; we enjoyed the tapas bars, our local and the more central cervecerias. We drank coffees in bars during afternoon strolls in the parks. Whenever there was a language hiccup or a misunderstanding, we would simply shrug our shoulders and put it down to cultural differences.

It comes as the Government is planning to reform abortion law

The President of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, CEE, Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, said on Friday that ‘taking the life of an innocent human is something that should never be morally accepted, and the laws have the obligation to protect this right. Abortion is a sin’, he said, and went on to say that he did not understand why it is not a crime.

They want a concession allowing early retirees free access to the public health system to remain in place

Many British protesters were amongst the close to 200 European residents of the Costa Blanca who marched in Alicante on Thursday morning against the Valencia government’s decision to withdraw their access to free healthcare. The demonstrators marched from the British Consulate to the Generalitat building, in demand of their claim that they should not now be obliged to pay a fee if they want to continue to use Valencia’s public health service.

The organisers claim that they are now being denied access to free health care in the Valencia region

British residents are expected to lead a demonstration tomorrow, Thursday, called for outside the British Consulate in Alicante in demand for free health care. Other nationalities are expected to join the protest as the group then marches to the offices of the Diputacion in demand that the promise of free access to health care be kept.

The child has made a full recovery, but two people have now been arrested

A three year old girl was admitted to the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella last Sunday night after eating cake which had been made with vodka and marijuana.

There are contradictory versions about exactly what happened, but it is clear that the Local Police received an emergency call on Sunday from Nueva Andalucía. Once in the property they called an ambulance, and the child is now back home after undergoing detoxification treatment.

The new service is being established by the Spanish Ministry for Equality

The Spanish Ministry for Equality’s phone helpline for men opens on Friday this week. Calls to 900 21 00 21 will not be charged, and the lines will be open Monday to Friday from 9am to 11pm.

The service has a budget of 1.2 million € and annual funding of 420,000 €, and will attempt to answer callers questions about sexual identity and relationship problems.

The 10 year old urgently needs a transfusion of AB blood from 12 donors

The family of a young boy who is sick with leukaemia have issued an appeal this Monday for urgent blood donations which are needed to save the child’s life. His blood type is one of the rarest groups, AB, and the 10 year old’s mother, María Ángeles, says her son needs a transfusion from 12 donors in the same group.

The global number of swine flu deaths has jumped by more than 1,000 in a week, latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) show.

At least 7,826 people are now known to have died following infection with the H1N1 virus since it first emerged in Mexico in April.

Europe saw an 85% increase in the week, with the total number of deaths rising from at least 350 to at least 650.

Hundreds of patients may have died needlessly at an NHS hospital due to appalling standards of care, a damning report has found.

Poor nursing care, filthy wards and lack of leadership at Basildon and Thurrock University NHS Hospitals FoundationTrust led to the deaths of up to 400 patients a year.

Figures compiled by a health watchdog showed death rates at the Essex trust were a third higher than they should have been.

The Equality Minister has indicated a possible modification to the contentious issue of a termination at 16 without parental consent

The government’s planned reforms to the Abortion Law have passed their first hurdle in parliament, passing a vote in Congress this Thursday with the support of MPs from six parties, including the governing Socialists. The figures from Público are: 180 votes in favour, 163 against and 3 abstentions.

Health officials say a Tamiflu-resistant strain of swine flu has spread between hospital patients.

Five patients on a unit treating people with severe underlying health conditions at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff were infected.

Three appear to have acquired the infection in hospital.

They are thought to be the first confirmed cases of person-to-person transmission of a Tamiflu-resistant strain in the world.

An undiagnosed health condition is suspected. In Málaga, a pregnant nurse has contracted the virus after she was allegedly refused leave from her hospital

The regional health department has opened an investigation into the sudden death from the H1N1 virus of a young boy in Torrevieja last week. The analyses which detected the presence of the virus have, it’s understood, also shown up indications of an underlying health condition which could not be diagnosed owing to his young age. The boy was six years old. No information has been released on the nature of his medical condition.

The confectionary, called Lola, contains chemicals which suppress hunger, while still tasting as rich and satisfying as traditional chocolate.

The only drawback is said to be asthaetic because it has a slight green tinge due to its unusual ingredients which promote weight loss.

The chocolate contains the dietary supplement spirulina, a microscopic algae with high level of nutrients like vitamin A and B12, which have weight loss benefits.

Swine flu has killed at least 90 people in Spain, while press reports say fewer than 10 people have died in Greece. Athens has for weeks released no official figures on fatalities or on the number of cases.

Spain’s health ministry said the government has bought 37 million doses of the A(H1N1) flu vaccine and will start inoculating high-risk groups such as pregnant women, health workers and those with serious illnesses.

Two of the five victims last week did not have a previous medical condition

The health department in Cataluña released news on Saturday of two of the region’s latest victims of the H1N1 virus, neither of whom appear to have suffered an underlying health condition. The two girls, aged 4 and 13, both lived in the Barcelona metropolitan area and died last Thursday.

The vaccination programme for high-risk groups starts on Monday

The vaccination programme for the A flu virus starts in Spain next Monday, when 4 million doses of the vaccine will be available at public health centres. The Health Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, announced this Wednesday that the remaining doses – 6 million – which are needed to cover all high risk groups will be delivered over the course of next week.

14,000 Euro of public money is being spent on workshops and the campaign with the slogan ‘The pleasure is in your hands’

The Junta de Extremadura has launched an advertising campaign to promote masturbation workshops under the slogan ‘The pleasure is in your hands’.

The campaign teaches youngsters how to masturbate and also encourages them to explore self-eroticism, stroking, and using lubricants and erotic toys.

An estimated one million British expatriates have made their home on the Spanish Costa’s in the last decades tempted by the ‘dream’ of warmer climates, cheap property and a better quality of life. But few take into account the fact that better quality of life also means being well cared for when taken ill.

Expatriates should not expect to get the same quality of national healthcare on the continent that they can in Britain.