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

Spain's PM proposes regions triple public housing spend

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Wednesday sent a letter to the regional presidents proposing a comprehensive national pact on housing, "a real problem that worries and affects the lives of millions of Spaniards."

In the letter, Sánchez proposes tripling public investment in housing, indefinitely protecting social housing from private buyers and creating a reliable database on housing prices.

The national government is committed to contributing €4 billion (60 percent of the total) to this new plan, "as long as" the regional governments take on "greater co-responsibility and contribute at least €2.7 billion," the remaining 40 percent.

Partially blind woman saves baby's life on flight

A woman who lost 86 percent of her vision to meningitis which she suffered as a child has saved the life of a one-month-old baby on board a flight between Gran Canaria and the Basque Country.

Fátima Román, a clinical assistant at a care home, was the only person with knowledge of first aid on board the plane and remembered how to practice a chest compressions on an infant using two fingers.

Román brought the child back to life and urged the crew to land the plane at Jerez Airport as a precaution. She received a round of applause from her fellow passengers and was given free tickets by the airline for her heroism.

Spain loses millionaires but billionaires get richer

The number of high-net-worth individuals with at least €1 million in Spain fell from 250,600 in 2023 to 246,600 in 2024, representing a 1.6 percent decline, according to a new report by the Capgemini Research Institute on global wealth.

Spain came 15th out of the 25 countries ranked in terms of the number of millionaires.

Nevertheless, the number of ultra-rich individuals, including billionaires, is on the up in Spain, Europe and across the planet.

Spain sees rise in highly qualified foreign workers

Forty-three percent of foreigners working in Spain have a high level of education, compared to 20 percent in 2008, the Bank of Spain has reported. Meanwhile, the percentage of immigrants with a low level of education has decreased from 45 percent to 30.

According to Spain's central bank, this is contributing to increases in productivity in the country, but it doesn't change the fact that Spain currently has the highest rate of overqualified foreign workers in the EU.

Spain cancels purchase of Israeli anti-tank missiles

Spain, which has strongly criticised Israel's offensive in Gaza, has cancelled a contract to buy 168 firing posts and 1,680 anti-tank missiles from Israeli defence company Rafael, Spanish media reported Wednesday.

The deal was worth €287.5 million ($327 million), according to top-selling daily Spanish newspaper El País, which cited unnamed government sources.

The equipment was to be manufactured in Spain under licence from Rafael.

Spanish defence ministry sources told AFP that the government "has begun a process to revoke licences of Israeli origin" and was working to redirect its procurement programmes "with the goal of achieving greater technological independence and autonomy".

With additional reporting from AFP.