
The ‘absurd' statue that has divided opinion
The organisation intends to fund the construction, claiming the statue would attract tourism and create jobs in its chosen host city.
Madrid has rejected the project, but the populist right-wing Vox party in Burgos has expressed interest, seeing it as a potential tourist attraction.
If constructed in Burgos, the statue would stand almost three times taller than the 112-metre Gothic Burgos Cathedral, featuring observation decks, restaurants, and souvenir shops.
Critics, including Burgos's former mayor, have labelled the proposal 'absurd', reflecting the ongoing debate surrounding bullfighting in Spain.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
11 hours ago
- Reuters
New Zealand will make it easier to run businesses in conservation areas
Aug 2 (Reuters) - New Zealand will make it easier to run businesses in conservation zones and charge foreign tourists to enter some areas in an effort to create jobs and increase economic growth, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Saturday. The decision by the centre-right government, elected in 2023, is part of its efforts to boost New Zealand's tourism industry and stimulate a limp economy. It also comes at a time when people in countries around the world are protesting what they see as excessive numbers of tourists. "We're going to fix the Conservation Act to unleash a fresh wave of concessions – like tourism, agriculture, and infrastructure, in locations where that makes sense," Luxon said in a statement. Business activities from guided walks and skiing to livestock grazing and infrastructure construction already take place in conservation areas, but permission takes too much time and effort to obtain, he said. "Unleashing economic growth on one-third of New Zealand's land will create jobs and increase wages across the country," the statement said. Foreign visitors will also be charged between NZ$20 and NZ$40 ($12-$24) to access some popular sites, while locals will continue to go free. "Tourists make a massive contribution to our economy, and no one wants that to change. But I have heard many times from friends visiting from overseas their shock that they can visit some of the most beautiful places in the world for free," said Conservation Minister Tama Potaka. ($1 = 1.6903 New Zealand dollars)


Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
EU court rules against environmentalists trying to block Spanish wind farms
MADRID, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The European Court of Justice on Friday dealt a blow to environmental groups trying to stop wind farms from being built in Spain's northwestern Galicia region, in a ruling affecting billions of euros of investment. Companies developing wind farms in Galicia and regional authorities welcomed the decision, which is a setback to opponents' strategy of using the courts to block plans they say encroach on the environment and the lives of local people. The court rejected the environmentalists' argument that the public's rights to consultation had been violated. The decision affects dozens of planned wind projects that were approved by the regional government and then halted by the highest regional court after locals and environmental groups filed hundreds of lawsuits. Carmen Bouso from the regional government's environment department said the court's decision "clearly and emphatically supports" the procedures used to approve wind energy projects and the government's full respect of the public's rights to participate in the process. She urged regional judges to resume their consideration of lawsuits that they had put on hold pending the ruling of the European court. The AEE, a Spanish wind industry group, welcomed the ruling as "a key step toward restoring legal certainty" in the region. "Now it's time to act quickly and responsibly so that the projects that have been stalled until now can resume operations as soon as possible," AEE General Director Juan Virgilio Marquez said. Galician activist group Adega, a leading opponent of wind projects in the region, said the ruling was disappointing and went "against the right to real and effective public participation". The group vowed to keep on fighting and said it believed other legal issues beyond the scope of Friday's ruling meant many wind projects would still not be able to proceed. There are 92 wind farms targeted by legal actions in Galicia, 86 of which have been halted before construction started, according to data provided by regional authorities. They involve an estimated investment of 3 billion euros ($3.42 billion) and have a total planned capacity of almost 2.5 gigawatts (GW). ($1 = 0.8762 euros)


Reuters
a day ago
- Reuters
EU's top court rules in favour of wind farm builders in Spain's Galicia
MADRID, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The European Court of Justice ruled on Friday the rights to public consultation were not violated in a dispute brought by environmental groups over the construction of wind farms in the Spanish northwestern region of Galicia. Developers of wind parks in the region, regional authorities and rural communities opposing the projects eagerly awaited the ruling. The decision affects dozens of wind projects, worth billions of euros in investments, that were approved by the regional government and then halted by the highest regional court after locals and environmental groups filed hundreds of lawsuits. Last year, the Galician court asked the European Court of Justice to rule on whether Galician and Spanish laws comply with EU access to information rules in the permitting process.