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

Vueling to partly fill flight gap left by Ryanair in Spain

Spanish airline Vueling has announced that it will join other airlines in replacing some of the flight connections to be lost following Ryanair’s shock cut of 36 routes.

The airline which is part of the same AIG conglomerate as Iberia has said it will offer 89,000 more seats to Tenerife North and Santiago, two of the airports worst affected by the Irish carrier’s recent flight reductions.

This will mean 25 more weekly flights operated by Vueling in Spain.

READ ALSO: Will Ryanair's cancelled flight routes to Spain be replaced by other airlines?

Zaragoza and Granada set to have low-emissions zones

Authorities in the northeastern city of Zaragoza have announced that from December 12th, there will be Low Emission Zones (ZBEs in Spanish) in place that will affect thousands of drivers.

The perimeter includes iconic streets in the Old Town, where most vehicles will need environmental labels to gain access without risking fines of €200.

Residents and emergency vehicles will be able to enter without restrictions, but other drivers will need B, C, ECO or 0 emissions stickers.

There are dozens more towns and cities in the country that are legally obliged to introduce ZBEs as soon as possible, which will result in emission stickers becoming essential for tens of thousands more drivers soon.

This includes Granada, which plans to completely implement its ZBEs on October 1st 2025. Authorities there have detected a noticeable increase in the number of people from nearby towns sneakily changing their padrón town hall registration to family members' addresses in Granada in order to be able to enter the city with their vehicles without emission stickers.

READ ALSO: The changes to vehicle emission stickers in Spain in 2026

Spain’s wealth tax forces the rich to pay 57 percent more

The wealth tax, approved by Spain’s Socialist-led government in 2022, has increased taxation of the wealthiest in Spain by 57.7 percent, according to data from the Treasury technicians' union Gestha.

This equated to almost €2 billion in 2023, €600 million more than the previous year. In total, 228,574 people paid the wealth tax that year.

The approval of this tax has forced regional governments, particularly those of Madrid and Andalusia, to eliminate the tax breaks that have kept the richest people in the two regions from paying anything for years.

Spain's Vuelta cycling race cut short by 8km because of protests

Stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana was shortened by eight kilometres on Tuesday because of a "big protest" close to the finish, race organisers said.

Pro-Palestinian protests have affected several stages of cycling's third-biggest grand tour, with stage 11 neutralised before the finish in Bilbao last week with no winner declared due to demonstrators disrupting the run-in.

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

With additional reporting by AFP.