Today in Spain: A roundup of the latest news on Friday

Spain's PM says 5% Nato spending target 'unreasonable'

Any Nato target to ramp up defence spending to five percent of annual economic output would be "unreasonable" for Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday ahead of a crucial alliance summit.

The June 24th-25th gathering in The Hague comes as US President Donald Trump demands other Nato members shoulder a greater burden and Russia's grinding war in Ukraine forces Europe to bolster its own security capabilities.

Germany and Poland are among the countries supporting the goal of five percent of gross domestic product, up from a two-percent goal set in 2014, but Spain has resisted its allies' calls to go further.

"For Spain, committing to a 5 percent target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive," Sánchez told Nato chief Mark Rutte in a letter written in English.

Sánchez said each NATO member needed to invest different sums to meet their military capability targets, with the military estimating that 2.1 percent would suffice for Spain.

Spain does not want to limit other Nato allies' spending ambitions but seeks "a more flexible formula" at the summit, Sánchez said.

Restoration rejuvenates iconic Gaudí house in Barcelona

Barcelona's UNESCO-listed Casa Batlló, a modernist architectural masterpiece by Sagrada Familia designer Antoni Gaudí, unveiled a multimillion-euro restoration Thursday that brings its rear facade and courtyard back to life.

Previous refurbishments, changes of owner and the turbulent period marked by Spain's 1936-1939 civil war had taken their toll on the unique building completed in 1906.

A team of architects, historians and artisans spent more than a year repairing the bright mosaics and restoring the original cream-coloured hue to the blackened curvy balcony bars.

The result is "the most similar to 1906 that we have been able to achieve with today's technology", Xavier Villanueva, the chief architect and official in charge of the works, told AFP.

The restoration cost €3.5 million ($4 million), according to Casa Batlló, which is in a fashionable neighbourhood of Barcelona frequented by the city's bourgeoisie and wealthy industrialists in the early 20th century.

A UNESCO-listed site since 2005, Casa Batlló welcomed 1.9 million visitors last year, making it one of the most popular attractions in a city known as a global tourism magnet.

Spain records highest April property sales in 17 years

Property sales rose 2.3 percent in April compared to the same month in 2024, reaching a total of 54,318 transactions, the highest figure for this month since 2008 when nearly 55,000 sales were carried out, Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE) reported Thursday .

That means that property sales have seen ten consecutive months of year-on-year increases, a sign that people in Spain are preferring to buy homes as soon as possible rather than delay the purchase.

This is in large part due to fear, given that prices are increasing by between 1 and 2 percent every month.

READ ALSO: Is there a property bubble in Spain and will it burst in 2025?

Tropical nights make it hard for Spaniards to sleep

It's proving to be a very hot week in much of Spain but perhaps what's hardest to deal with for many people in Spain is that minimum temperatures are in many cases not falling below 24C or 25C, making it very hard to sleep without air conditioning.

In the early hours of Thursday morning, the mercury didn't drop below 26.2C in Osuna (Seville) or 26C in Trujillo (Cáceres) and Castuera (Badajoz).

In Valencia, Murcia and Palma temperatures are remaining at 24C and 25C at night. This trend is expected to continue into the weekend, where the lowest temperature in Madrid and Barcelona will be 23C and 24C respectively.

With additional reporting by AFP.