Irish mob boss arrested in Lanzarote, big temperature drop expected over the weekend in Spain, four Spanish film directors vie for top Cannes Festival prize and more news on Friday April 10th.
Four Spanish film directors vie for top Cannes Festival prize
Spanish filmmakers Pedro Almodóvar with “Bitter Christmas”, Rodrigo Sorogoyen with “The Beloved” and the duo formed by Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo with “The Black Ball” will all compete for the Palme d’Or at the next Cannes Film Festival , the organizers announced this Thursday (09.04.2026).
In total, 21 films are in contention, including “Histoires parallèles” by Iranian Asghar Farhadi, “Sheep in the Box” by Japanese Hirokazu Kore-eda (already with a Palme d’Or in 2018) and “Minotaur” by Russian Andrey Zvyagintsev.
The presence of three Spanish films competing for the top prize is a historic event that has not occurred at the world’s largest film festival for decades.
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Spain to reopen embassy in Iran
Spain will reopen its embassy in Iran, which was closed in March due to the war, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Thursday, following the truce reached between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
“I have given instructions to our ambassador in Tehran to return, to resume his post and reopen the Spanish embassy in Tehran, and for us to contribute through all the means available to us, including from Iran’s own capital, to efforts for peace,” he told reporters in Madrid.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar reacted to the news on X, stating “The Iranian terror regime is resuming the execution of its citizens, protesters and political dissidents. Spain is reopening its embassy in Tehran. Hand in hand. With no shame. An eternal disgrace.”
Spain arrests senior member of notorious Irish gang
Spanish police on Thursday said they had arrested a top member of Ireland’s “Hutch” criminal gang on the Atlantic holiday island of Lanzarote in a joint operation with Irish forces.
The suspect was under a European arrest warrant and “considered the leader of the organisation’s intelligence cell, as well as running its money transfers” together with his father, Spanish police said in a statement.
Irish media reported the detainee is a close associate of the group’s boss Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, who was arrested in Spain in 2021 in connection with a murder in Dublin in 2016.
He was cleared in that case but was then arrested in Lanzarote in 2024 in an investigation into alleged money laundering.
The “Hutch” group’s long-running feud with the rival Kinahan gang has cost lives and captured attention in Ireland, including the 2016 murder case.
“Hutch is built around strong intergenerational family ties and close relationships over several decades” in Dublin, Spanish police added.
Spain’s Atlantic archipelago of the Canary Islands and its Mediterranean coast draw foreign fugitives — many of them Irish and British — seeking to escape law enforcement, drawn by high living standards and international drug trafficking routes.
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Big temperature drop expected over the weekend in Spain
Temperatures will continue to fluctuate drastically over the next few days in Spain.
For example, the mercury went from 10.5C on Thursday in the central city of Ciudad Real to 29.5C the next day.
Temperatures will again reach 30C in several parts of Spain on Friday but will plummet by 15C on Saturday and Sunday.
In parts of Castile and León, Sunday’s highs could reach around 10C, while cities like Guadalajara, Madrid, and Cuenca will see temperatures around 15C.
With additional reporting by AFP.