Doctors in Valencia have completed the first face transplant in Spain (article in Castilian, La Vanguardia). It was led by Doctor Pedro Cavadas, a recognised pioneer in such procedures, and took place at the Hospital La Fe, which is one of three Spanish hospitals authorised to do face transplants. This makes Spain the fourth country in the world to undertake a transplant of this kind. The complex operation began yesterday and continued throughout the night. More information will be given today about the details of the surgery.
In Gràcia last night, the inauguration of the the Plaça de Dones del 36 was disrupted by protests and arguments (article in Catalan, Avui). The square, whose name commemorates the role of women in the Spanish Civil War, is situated between Torrent de l'Olla and Carrer Santa Àgata and will have its access barred each night from 11pm, a feature that motivated protests by some neighbours and the councillor Ricard Martínez, who is president of the district. Some demonstrators held placards complaining about the building of expensive new flats in the neighbourhood, forcing out the young and old who can't afford to live there. In addition, at one point Martínez vocally protested about the presence of the republican flag at the official act, complaining that it had been put up because it was "Spanish, like the politics of the neighbourhood." He later got into an argument about flags with a councillor from another party.
Remains have been found in Huesca of the most recent dinosaur to have lived in Europe, dating back some 66 million years (article in Castilian, El Periodico). Investigators from a group at the University of Zaragoza, made up of experts from around Spain, found evidence of the creature in rocks from the end of the Cretaceous period, which was just prior to the extinction of the species. The dinosaur was found in the town of Arén and first discovered by the geologist Lluís Ardèvol; it has been given the scientific name Arenysaurus ardevoli. On average, the dinosaur measured around seven metres in length and belonged to the hadrosauridae family, which ate plants, had a bill like a duck and was abundant in North American and Asia during the Upper Cretaceous era.
Also in the news: Temperatures in Catalunya reach 40º (La Vanguardia); FC Barcelona face Manchester City at Camp Nou (El Periodico); Taxi drivers demand swine flu vaccine (Avui)
