Sociedad

Unexpected turn at the start this Monday of the long-awaited trial for the alleged corruption scheme surrounding the payment of invoices during the projection and construction of the new Hospital Universitari Sant Joan de Reus (Baix Camp), after fifteen years of judicial investigation. Two of the main accused, Josep Prat, then general director of the municipal holding Innova de Reus and former president of the Institut Català de la Salut (ICS), and the architect Jorge Batesteza have reached a plea agreement with the Prosecutor’s Office after admitting to the crimes of prevarication, embezzlement of public funds, and document falsification, according to the defense lawyer of Josep Prat who reported this on the first day of the trial.

There are situations that cry out to heaven. And Pepe Espino’s (Barcelona, 54 years old) is one of them. With stage IV prostate cancer and metastases in bones, lungs, and soft tissues, the Institut Català d’Avaluacions Mèdiques (ICAM) discharged him to return to work after being on sick leave for two and a half years. Hence, the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social (INSS) denied him permanent disability. All this despite having reports from his oncologist at the Clínic hospital detailing that he is undergoing palliative hormonal treatment whose symptoms “prevent him from performing any work activity.” In February, this newspaper reported on the case. And now, fortunately, the ICAM has rectified, and Pepe has already received the first payment from the INSS of his disability pension.

The protests in schools do not subside. This Tuesday marks the start of the first of 16 planned educational strikes in the public sector by the unions. Many are local, corresponding to educational territorial zones, but today’s, May 12, the one on the 27th of the same month, and the one on June 5 will be for all of Catalonia. In practice, each center can strike for five days in these remaining 40 days to finish the school year.

The United Kingdom Army has carried out an air operation to assist one of the passengers of the Hondius residing in Tristan da Cunha, a British territory in the South Atlantic with 221 inhabitants. The island lacks an airport and upon hearing that a passenger from the cruise with hantavirus was in the territory and showed symptoms compatible with the disease, the Army sprang into action.

In the midst of the debate about the use of AI, there are situations where it is undeniable that its applications and technology in general represent a step forward in quality of life. A clear example is people with visual disabilities, for whom apps or AI glasses allow a broader perception of the world: they serve to read food product labels or describe specific situations when the blind person is alone and needs help. That is why, from ONCE, which these days celebrates the Social Group Week, technology is claimed as a tool to move closer to equality.

The MV Hondius cruise ship is at the center of a hantavirus outbreak declared between April and May 2026. Of the 147 passengers on board, from 23 different nationalities, 9 cases have been reported —6 confirmed and 3 suspected—, 3 of them fatal. Among those affected are 14 Spaniards: 13 passengers and one crew member.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, addressed the population of Tenerife this Saturday to deliver a message of reassurance regarding the arrival of the cruise ship Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak that has claimed three lives.

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has published a letter addressed to the population of Tenerife in which he calls for calm regarding the arrival of the cruise ship MV Hondius, the vessel carrying nearly 150 passengers from 23 countries after several cases of hantavirus were reported on board, with three deaths. Tedros emphasizes that the public health risk to the island is low, that there are currently no passengers with symptoms, and details the strict measures planned for disembarkation: transfer in sealed vehicles from the Granadilla industrial port and direct repatriation to the countries of origin, without contact with the local population. The Director-General also defends Spain’s decision to host the ship as “an act of solidarity and moral duty” and announces that he will personally travel to the island to oversee the operation firsthand.

In just 24 hours, Spain faces a complex international operation from the island of Tenerife to evacuate with all health guarantees the occupants of the cruise ship MV Hondius, affected by a hantavirus outbreak and carrying 14 Spaniards who will be quarantined at the Gómez Ulla Hospital in Madrid.

A woman, considered the first contact in Catalonia of a fatal victim of the ‘Hondius’ hantavirus, will remain in quarantine at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona for between three and six weeks. She is a resident of Barcelona who coincided for a few minutes, on April 25, on the plane covering the Johannesburg-Amsterdam route with the cruise passenger who ended up dying in the South African capital. She is around 40 years old, sources from the Departament de Salut told this newspaper.