Neutral ground

submitted a request to send the weapons back in mid­January.

Switzerland’s policy of neutrality in conflict expressly bans the sale of Swiss­made products to be used in conflict scenarios, under its War Material Law. Any country pur­ chasing weapons from Switzerland must gain permission before re­exporting them.

Switzerland has already blocked similar requests from other European countries including Denmark and Germany, but it is the first time it has happened to Spain. Last year, Swiss authorities moved to block a German export of Swiss ammunition for Gepard tanks and a Danish request to supply Piranha III battle tanks.

Despite Switzerland’s lengthy neutrality stance, the country has complied with the European Union’s economic sanctions against Russia, leading Russia to label Switzerland as a ‘hostile’ state since the beginning of the war.

BARCELONA has officially recovered its population and has reached 1,656,725 registered people. These figures confirm that the city has broken the trend of the last two years.

The Municipal Data Office (OMD) shows that, in less than a year, the population registered in the city of Barcelona has increased by 16,744 people, 1 per cent.

This is revealed by the latest available data, which reach October 2022, and which evidence this stable and moderate upward trend, with the growth of one point compared to the last annual reading of the register, made on the first day of 2022.

The evolution of the population registered

Broken trend

in Barcelona during the first 10 months of 2022 reveals two phases, one of initial decline with a minimum reached in March, and one of subsequent recovery since then, which reaches the peak in October 2022, with 1,656,725 people registered.

With regard to the population registered by nationality, no major variations are observed in relation to the previous months. At the beginning of October 2022, the Spanish population represented 76.8 per cent of the total resident population.

Battery building

SPAIN is reportedly one of the final candidates being considered by Jaguar Land Rover as the company aims to expand operations to build more electric vehicles. Jaguar has committed to going 100 per cent electric by 2025 and needs infrastructure to support its pledge.

The British car makers’ parent company, Tata, announced last month that the company was planning to expand battery building within Europe and India, but sources revealed on Friday, February 6 that Zuera in Zaragoza and Aragon could be chosen as locations for the new factory.

One of the sites was formerly considered as a location for a Volkswagen factory, and although it was not selected, it is considered a good strategic location for vehicle manufacturing. The final decision on the manufacturing site has not been made yet, but it is expected to depend on national and European incentives. If either of the Spanish locations are chosen, it would give a valuable boost to the automotive sector.