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

US-China trade talks kick off in Madrid

China kicked off trade talks with United States officials in Madrid on Sunday, Beijing's state media and the Spanish government said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and senior Chinese officials, including Vice Premier He Lifeng, will discuss economic and trade issues, as well as TikTok, both sides have confirmed.

"The Chinese and US delegations convened here on Sunday for talks on economic and trade issues," the official Xinhua news agency said in a report from the Spanish capital.

The Chinese delegation will be in Madrid until Wednesday, Chinese officials have said.

Spain's PM 'proud' of pro-Palestinian protests at La Vuelta

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Sunday said pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked the Vuelta a España filled him with "pride" as large demonstrations await the race's final stage in Madrid.

The protests, which have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team over the devastating war in Gaza, have disrupted several stages of one of cycling's three grand tours and cast doubt on whether the 21-day race could be completed.

More than 100,000 pro-Palestinian protesters rallied at the chaotic demonstration, Spanish authorities said.

The activism has forced some stages to be shortened and occasionally caused crashes as demonstrators burst onto the course, prompting criticism for threatening rider safety and harming Spain's image.

In his first public comments on the debate, Sanchez expressed his "recognition and full respect for the athletes, but also our admiration for a people like Spain's which mobilises for just causes, like Palestine".

"Spain today shines as an example and as a source of pride, an example to an international community where it sees Spain taking a step forward in the defence of human rights," he told a Socialist party gathering in Malaga.

READ ALSO: Why Spain's top cycling race has been rocked by pro-Palestinian protests

Spanish government to revoke over 50,000 tourist flats

Over the weekend , PM Sánchez also announced that his government will revoke 53,000 properties set to be tourist flats in order to make them available for families and young people.

Speaking in Málaga on Sunday, where some 6,000 properties will be included, Sánchez said plans are in place "to revoke and remove 53,000 homes... which are intended to become holiday or tourist rentals so that they become constant, permanent rentals for young people, the families of this country."

According to reports in the Spanish press, the properties will be freed up from the rental lease registry, known as Registro Único de Arrendamientos.

S&P upgrades Spain's credit rating to A+ for its economic strength

The risk rating agency S&P has raised Spain's rating to A+ (considered a “notable high”) with a stable outlook due to the strength of its economy that has proven less vulnerable to sudden changes in external financing conditions and less exposed to US tariff policy. In 2024 Spain was named the best developed economy in the world by The Economist.

In its report published last week, the agency projects strong Spanish growth in employment and domestic demand, which will favour GDP growth of 2.6 percent for the year as a whole, three times the Eurozone average.

However, it also warned that the rating could be lowered again "in a context of high political fragmentation" that reversed the downward trend in the deficit and public debt. "Political risk persists, although the coalition government is likely to hold," the report said.