Summary: With the regional elections in Catalonia just around the corner, Spain’s security chiefs are well aware that their focus must be on the internet. While the Catalan police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, will be in charge of ensuring the smooth running of the December 21 vote on the ground, Spanish authorities are very concerned about the possible effects of fake news stories, bots, and hackers, all of which could influence the campaign and the vote itself. Officers with Catalonia’s regional police force on Monday morning clashed with pro-independence demonstrators who were protesting the transfer of 44 artworks from the region’s Lleida Museum to neighboring Aragon. The medieval artworks, originally from Aragon’s Monastery of Santa María de Sijena, are being returned to Aragon after a court recently upheld a 2015 ruling that the original sale of the treasures by nuns at the convent to the Catalan government had been illegal Catalonia’s public health system is feeling the effects of political instability in a region that has held three early elections since 2012. A new study by the State Association of Directors and Managers of Social Services shows that Catalonia is the region that experienced the deepest cuts to social spending during the economic recession, between 2005 and 2015. Faced with political and social opposition, the Catalan government was forced to backtrack on some of its decisions The ups and downs of the pro-independence drive have affected the quality of healthcare: the system was first hit by budget cuts enacted by former premier Artur Mas in the middle of the economic crisis; later it was unable to implement necessary structural changes because of governmental delays. Madrid municipal police officers have begun enforcing controversial new regulations for pedestrians in a popular downtown shopping district. Mayor Manuela Carmena, of the leftist Ahora Madrid coalition, has made two major pedestrian thoroughfares – Preciados street and del Carmen street – into one-way routes over the Christmas holidays. The measures will be in place until January 7 on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays during peak times for human traffic in the popular commercial area. The Sol Metro stop is also affected, with some doors to be used exclusively for exiting the high-volume transit hub. City officials say that the measure will enhance security and improve mobility in the area. But the initiative has drawn widespread criticism and become an endless source of humor on social media, where comparisons have been drawn to cattle trails and even to the North Korean regime Ryanair Pilots are set to strike over the Christmas period in support of their colleagues based in Germany and Italy. The strike is planned for Wednesday 20th and is pushing for better working conditions. Chris Froome has been asked to explain a possible doping violation during La Vuelta de España. In the UK Britain is facing demands to push back the ‘cut-off date’ for new EU migrants to 2021 in return for a two-year transition deal, it emerged last night. Documents show that EU negotiators plan to issue the demand during the next phase of negotiations in return for the ‘transition deal’ wanted by the Prime Minister. The ultimatum risks infuriating Brexiteers who insist that Brexit should be capitalised on by the Government to regain control of the country’s immigration system. The Brexit divorce deal agreed by Theresa May last week proposes a ‘cut-off date’ of March 2019, after which new EU migrants would lose the automatic right to reside in the UK on a long-term basis. A gang who murdered three young children after pouring fuel down a chimney in Walkden, Greater Manchester, reportedly ran to a nearby house to watch the devastating blaze. Nearly 40 per cent of those receiving jail sentences in 2016 for violent offences – including murder, grievous bodily harm, assault, kidnapping, stalking and harassment – already had 15 or more convictions The North Sea’s m