As of Tuesday morning, 26 suspected cases of swine flu had been identified in Spain (article in Castilian), 10 of which are in Catalunya. One person in Albacete was confirmed during Monday as the first European to suffer from swine flu, although two further cases were identified in Scotland later in the day. The patient is a 23-year-old man who had recently returned from a trip to Mexico, the country that has been most affected by this outbreak of swine flu. At an emergency meeting held yetserday afternoon, the World Health Organisation elevated its alert level from three to four, meaning that the virus is now easily transferable between humans and that there is a risk of many deaths in the coming weeks and months during a global epidemic.

From today, 36 pharmacies around Catalunya will offer a free HIV test as part of a pilot scheme that will run for a year (article in Castilian). The test will be done in confidence and take around 15 minutes to complete—if the results are postive, the chemist will arrange for a doctor's appointment for the affected person. The test will be available to anyone over the age of 16 and it is forecast that some 1,500 tests will be carried out over the coming 12 months.

Fans of the US musician Leonard Cohen will have the chance today to buy tickets for the concert that he will present here on September 21st (article in Catalan). Available through ticketmaster.es and Tick Tack Ticket, Cohen will also perform at the Festival de Cap Roig in the Costa Brava in August, as well as other points around Spain during the summer months. Cohen has been doing a long series of concerts around the world, as a result of financial difficulties that he's faced following the robbery of almost $10 million by his ex-manager.