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Cita con el Español

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In each episode, we'll dive into essential grammar concepts and vocabulary in bite-sized portions.


Spanish Tapas: Content Review

Spain has said it wants to introduce a tax of up to 100% on property purchases for anyone from outside the European Union (EU) who is not a resident in the country.

That could mean a lot of potential buyers from places like Asia, the UK and the US being priced out of the market.

And that's exactly the idea.

Many Spaniards have said that they can't afford to buy property because of the number of homes being bought by foreign buyers.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently shared the plan, saying that in 2023, 27,000 apartments and houses around Spain were bought by people from outside the EU.

He said these buyers didn't purchase the homes to live in, but to make money from them.

Spain is a popular vacation destination for people around the world, and many like to buy holiday homes for themselves.

But other buyers put their properties on the short-term rental market, using sites like Airbnb.

This has meant that there are fewer homes for local people to buy. The shortage of properties in popular areas has seen prices increase, with many locals unable to afford higher prices.

Sánchez also said he wants to increase taxes on landlords who rent their properties with companies like Airbnb.

However, the prime minister's plans may not become law; for now they're just ideas.

British people who spoke to the BBC after hearing the news weren't happy with these plans.

Michele Hayes from Manchester, who has been looking at properties in Spain, said: "How many working Spanish people want to live in holiday homes in these tourist areas anyway?"

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

Spain Considers 100% Tax for Foreign Property Buyers

After 15 months, three Israeli hostages have left Hamas captivity as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold on the morning of January 19.

Dozens of Palestinian prisoners also walked free from Israeli jail as the skies above Gaza and Israel were silent for the first time in over a year, stirring modest hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war.

The ceasefire deal, with an initial phase lasting six weeks, calls for the entry into Gaza of 600 trucks carrying humanitarian relief daily. Over the course of the deal's first stage, 33 Israeli hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza will also be released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Many Israelis stayed glued to TV screens to glimpse the three hostages — Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher — being released as militants handed them over to the Red Cross on a packed street in Gaza City.

In videos released by the Israeli government, the women were seen weeping and hugging family members. Damari raised a bandaged hand in triumph.

The military said she lost two fingers in the Hamas-led militant attack on October 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 people and resulted in the abduction of some 250 others.

Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, crowds flooded the streets around 1 a.m. on January 20 as white buses carrying 90 Palestinian detainees — all women or teens — exited the gates of Ofer prison.

Fireworks erupted, and several men climbed atop one of the buses to raise Hamas flags.

All of those being released had been detained for what Israel called offenses related to its security, from throwing stones and promoting violence on social media to more serious accusations such as attempted murder.

Khalida Jarrar, one of the freed detainees, told The Associated Press: "There's this double feeling we're living in, on the one hand, this feeling of freedom, that we thank everyone for, and on the other hand, this pain, of losing so many Palestinian martyrs."


Gaza Ceasefire Brings Exchange of Prisoners and Hostages

Reducing the time we spend on our smartphones outside of work could help improve satisfaction and motivation in the workplace, according to a new study.

Spending less time on our phones doing non-work tasks like scrolling social media or watching videos could also have an impact on our mental health, researchers said.

A research team from Germany wanted to find out about easy ways companies could improve the motivation and well-being of their employees.

Almost 280 volunteers were put into four groups.

For one week, people in the first group reduced their daily smartphone use by one hour.

People in the second group didn't change their smartphone use, but did 30 minutes more exercise per day.

Participants in the third group did both of these things. And the fourth group didn't make any changes at all.

The volunteers took surveys about their work satisfaction, motivation and mental health before starting the experiment. They took the surveys again after the experiment ended, and then again two weeks later.

The researchers found that participants in both of the groups that reduced their smartphone use saw significant improvements in their mental health and workplace satisfaction. People in these groups also felt that their work-life balance was better.

And those in the first three groups — including the exercise-only group — all said they felt a greater sense of control over their lives.

The researchers said companies could think about encouraging employees to make small changes like these to their daily lives. When employees are happier at work, they're likely to be more productive, they added.

And the good thing for companies is that there's no cost to encouraging changes like these!

Cutting Phone Use May Improve Motivation at Work

Greenland's prime minister has said that the people of the mineral-rich Arctic territory don't want to be Americans.

However, he understands the US President-elect Donald Trump's interest in the island given its strategic location, and he's open to greater cooperation with Washington.

The comments from the Greenlandic leader, Múte B. Egede, came after Trump said that he wouldn't rule out using force or economic pressure in order to make Greenland — a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — a part of the US.

Trump said that it was a matter of national security for the US.

Egede acknowledged that Greenland is part of the North American continent, and "a place that the Americans see as part of their world." He said he hasn't spoken to Trump, but that he's open to discussions about what "unites us."

"Cooperation is about dialogue. Cooperation means that you will work towards solutions," he said.

Egede has been calling for independence for Greenland, presenting Denmark as a colonial power that hasn't always treated the Indigenous Inuit population well.

"Greenland is for the Greenlandic people. We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American. We want to be Greenlandic," he said.

Trump's desire for Greenland has caused anxiety across Europe. The US is a strong ally of the European Union, and many Europeans were shocked by the suggestion that an incoming US leader could even consider using force against an ally.

Greenland has a population of 57,000. But it is a vast territory possessing natural resources that include oil, gas, and rare earth elements, which are expected to become more accessible as ice melts because of climate change.

It also has a key strategic location in the Arctic, where Russia, China and others are seeking to expand their interests.

Greenland, the world's largest island, lies closer to the North American mainland than to Denmark. 

Greenland Open to Cooperation with US, Says Leader

British writer Bill Bryson once wrote that "London is a city of endless possibility" — and perhaps, endless traffic?

The UK capital is the most congested city in Europe, according to transport analytics company Inrix.

The company looked at data from different cities around the world, and found that drivers in London spent an average of 101 hours sitting in traffic in 2024. That's up from 99 hours in 2023, and 97 hours in 2022.

According to Inrix, these delays cost the city more than $4.8 billion a year — or about $1,200 for each of London's 4 million drivers.

Inrix says London's bad traffic congestion is caused by the "concentration of population, employment and economic activity."

But although it's Europe's most congested city for the fourth year in a row, London has improved in the global rankings. It was third in the world in 2023, but is now in fifth place globally. It is still, however, the only European city in the top five.

Istanbul has jumped to first place, up from sixth, with drivers in the Turkish city spending an average of 105 hours in traffic per year.

New York and Chicago are next on the list, followed by Mexico City in fourth place.

Inrix also calculated each city's "downtown speed" — that is, the speed at which a driver can expect to travel 1.6 kilometers in the center of the city during morning rush hour.

For each of the top five cities, the downtown speed was under 25 kilometers an hour.