A lorry carrying mortar grenades and other explosives from the Fábrica de Municiones de Granada lost part of its load in the middle of a public main road on Tuesday afternoon, forcing a full road closure and the evacuation of nearby homes, according to local press.

Residents in the El Fargue area of Granada woke up to a tense scene after the vehicle, travelling between two sites belonging to the same company, suffered an internal load shift, indicating that the load might not have been well tied down. According to local reports, the movement was so strong it ripped open the side of the truck and scattered rounds of mortar shells across the carriageway. Guardia Civil officers ordered people living within a 100-metre radius to leave their properties while specialists worked to make the area safe.

📢⚫️Especial precaución en Granada por el corte de la A-4002 en el entorno de El Fargue.

⚠️Eviten circular por la zona y sigan las indicaciones de los servicios de emergencia. https://t.co/DQ6y8OZI26

— Dir. Gral. Tráfico (@DGTes) October 13, 2026

Bomb disposal teams and emergency crews on the scene

TEDAX explosive ordnance disposal experts (bomb disposal), Guardia Civil, National Police, local police and firefighters all responded quickly. Andalucia’s emergency service activated the pre-emergency phase of the plan for accidents involving dangerous goods, a standard step when munitions or explosives are involved on public roads. No injuries were reported, and officials later said the rapid arrival of the bomb squad meant there was never any real danger to the public.

Police later suggested the incident was probably caused by the load not being properly secured. The company itself confirmed it had been a short internal transfer between its own facilities rather than a long-distance export run, and said it had opened its own investigation. Traffic on the A-4002 was restored later the same afternoon once the rounds had been cleared.

Why this factory is important for Spain’s defence industry

The plant in El Fargue is one of Europe’s oldest continuous ammunition producers, with roots going back centuries. Since 2020 it has been owned by Slovak firm MSM Group, part of the larger Czech Czechoslovak Group (CSG). Demand for large-calibre shells, propellants and mortar rounds has risen sharply because of the war in Ukraine and wider European rearmament, and the factory has expanded its workforce and output to meet contracts. You can read more background on the Fábrica de Municiones de Granada.

Much of what leaves the site ends up with European and NATO customers. Some of the group’s production is also linked, either directly or through the parent company, to supplies that support Ukraine. Spain’s overall military support to Ukraine has included both government donations (such as Leopard tanks and air-defence equipment) and commercial sales of ammunition. Estimates put cumulative Spanish military aid in the region of several billion euros since 2022, with ammunition forming a large share of the commercial side. Euro Weekly News has previously covered Spain’s Leopard tank deliveries and a €615 million military aid package. Earlier reporting also noted Ukrainian criticism that some early Spanish shipments were only enough for two hours of fighting, while other flights carried large-calibre ammunition. Commercial ammunition exports, including from plants like this one, have been substantial — one analysis tracked around 140,000 155 mm shells in a relatively short period.

Rules for moving this kind of cargo

Transporting explosives and ammunition in Spain is tightly controlled under national explosives regulations and the international ADR rules for dangerous goods. Vehicles must meet specific safety standards, specialised “vigilantes de explosivos” security staff are normally required, and journeys need official authorisation, emergency plans and reliable communications with the Guardia Civil. Depending on the quantity and route, an official police escort can also be ordered.

Local moves between a company’s own sites can sometimes operate under lighter escort conditions than long-haul export shipments, but the basic safety rules still apply.

Tuesday’s spill has raised fresh questions among local residents about how such loads are handled on ordinary roads close to homes. The factory has grown into an important industrial site for Granada province, driving a noticeable rise in arms-related exports in recent years. At the same time, any accident involving live munitions on a public highway is bound to draw attention, especially when the material is of a type that has been in high demand for the conflict in Ukraine.

Authorities have not released a detailed public statement beyond the basic facts of the road closure and the activation of the emergency plan. The company’s investigation into the load shift is ongoing. For now, the road is open again and no one was hurt, but the incident has put a spotlight on the practical realities of moving military-grade ammunition through residential areas in southern Spain.

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When you run a business on your own, a quiet month does not mean the bills stop arriving. Rent, supplies, tax paperwork and social security contributions still need paying, even when customers are thin on the ground. For people starting out, those fixed costs can make the difference between getting a business off the ground and deciding it simply is not worth the risk.

Now, Spain’s main self-employed workers’ association wants political parties to consider a package of changes that would cut some of those costs, reduce paperwork and improve protection when business owners become ill or can no longer work.

The National Federation of Associations of Self-Employed Workers (ATA), led by Lorenzo Amor, has sent parties a list of 10 proposals ahead of Spain’s elections on 29 November. The organisation says the changes are needed because 63.2 per cent of self-employed workers earn less than the national minimum wage. 

New autónomos could pay no social security for two years

One of the central proposals is a zero-euro social security contribution for the first two years of self-employment. ATA wants the exemption extended to three years for people under 30, women starting a business after maternity, and workers whose earnings fall below the minimum wage. Students under 30 who run a business while completing formal education or vocational training would pay a proposed €30 a month throughout their course.

For established autónomos earning below the minimum wage, ATA also wants contribution reductions over two years. Depending on income, the proposed discounts would range from 15 to 75 per cent, funded through the state budget. 

VAT exemption for businesses earning under €85,000

Small businesses could also see a change to how they charge and declare VAT. ATA wants workers with annual turnover below €85,000 to be able to opt out of charging VAT to customers, alongside replacing quarterly VAT returns with a single annual declaration.

The proposal would bring Spain closer to the arrangements available to small businesses in several other EU countries. A separate proposal would allow businesses with cross-border transactions to qualify for the VAT scheme up to a turnover of €100,000. ATA is also calling for changes to deductible business expenses, including allowing 50 per cent of certain vehicle, utility and meal costs to be deducted for income tax and VAT purposes without having to justify each expense individually. 

More support during illness, maternity and business closures

The proposals go beyond tax and contributions. ATA wants self-employed workers to have better access to support when their income collapses or they have to close a business.

It proposes easing the conditions for receiving the cessation-of-activity benefit when income falls, and making the benefit automatic in certain permanent closures. It also wants the unemployment subsidy available to people over 52 extended to autónomos who have exhausted their cessation-of-activity payments.

For pregnancy and childcare, the organisation is calling for subsidised cover so a replacement can be hired and trained before a worker takes maternity leave. It also wants two extra weeks of leave for breastfeeding, more flexible maternity leave and greater flexibility for returning to work after the initial period of leave. Self-employed people caring for a seriously ill or disabled family member could also receive a full contribution discount, up from the current 75 per cent, under the plan. 

Changes to contributions and retirement

ATA wants planned increases in self-employed contributions frozen until 2030, with contribution bases set annually through the state budget process. It is also seeking changes to the rules for active retirement, which allows people to keep working while receiving part of their pension.

Under its proposal, autónomos without employees would gradually receive a larger share of their pension while working, reaching 100 per cent in the fourth year. Those with at least one employee, partner or collaborator would be able to receive the full pension from the first day. Other requests include improved pension-plan tax deductions, incentives for hiring younger workers and a simpler route out of debt for people whose businesses fail.

The package also calls for less administrative red tape, including a single online portal for business owners, a first-warning approach to certain mistakes before financial penalties are imposed, and fewer official notifications outside normal working hours.  The proposals would affect costs, tax obligations and social protection for autónomos across Spain. Their impact will depend on which measures, if any, political parties choose to adopt.

Most people invited to lunch at a farm wouldn’t expect to leave with two newborn calves in their car. But when José Antonio Oria was visiting a friends farm in Sevilla for lunch and discovered that two cows were destined for slaughter, he offered to pay for the meat the farmer needed in exchange for taking them home. 

Around two years later, the two cows he raised as pets are at the centre of a legal battle that could determine whether they get to stay with him. Jose Antonio took the calves to his 14-hectare property in Lepe, Huelva, where he raised them by bottle-feeding them as they grew. Their veterinarian named them Tiberia 1 and Tiberia 2. Jose Antonio has also said that contact with the animals, including walking alongside and stroking them, has been recommended for some of his ailments.

But despite registering the cows as companion animals, Jose has faced an order from the Junta de Andalucía demanding their compulsory slaughter. A court in Huelva has now temporarily allowed him to keep them while the legal proceedings continue, although their long-term future remains uncertain. 

Why the Junta wants the cows slaughtered

The Junta de Andalucía’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development had sought the compulsory slaughter of the two animals, without compensation for their owner. The regional government raised concerns about their identification and the potential transmission of diseases, including brucellosis and tuberculosis, which can pose risks to other animals and, in some circumstances, people. Jose Antonio challenged the order, arguing that the cows had been registered as companion animals and should be allowed to remain on his property.

His legal team provided documentation showing that Tiberia 1 and Tiberia 2 were entered in the regional companion animal identification register on 12 November 2025 and had their own passports. The animals’ identification was also checked by technicians from Andalucía’s Agricultural and Fisheries Management Agency in March this year, who confirmed that their microchips could be read correctly.

The dispute therefore centres not simply on whether the animals have been registered, but on whether that registration satisfies the legal requirements and overrides the grounds for the original administrative order. 

Spanish law does allow cows to become pets

Spain’s Animal Welfare Law, Law 7/2023, provides a route for animals normally kept for production to become companion animals. Article 3 states that production animals can be considered companion animals when they lose their productive purpose and their owner chooses to register them in the relevant companion animal register. That means cattle are not automatically excluded from being pets simply because they are traditionally raised for agricultural purposes.

However, the law does not mean that anyone can simply declare any farm animal a pet and ignore the rules governing its identification, welfare or health. The animal must meet the applicable legal requirements, and registration does not necessarily resolve separate concerns raised by the authorities.

In Jose Antonio’s case, his defence relies on the fact that both cows have been registered and identified. The Junta, meanwhile, has maintained its objections, making the legal status of the animals a matter for the courts to determine. 

The cows must remain on the property

The latest ruling, issued by a court in Huelva on October 7, allows Jose to keep the cows on his property while the legal proceedings continue. The regional government had pursued the case after an earlier decision by the High Court of Justice of Andalucía in June 2026 provisionally suspended the slaughter order.

The new ruling means the animals can remain at Jose Antonio’s finca, but they must stay there while proceedings continue. They cannot simply be moved elsewhere, and the decision is not a final judgement on their permanent status as companion animals. For now, the two Tiberias have avoided the immediate threat of slaughter. Their future will depend on the outcome of the legal proceedings, which will determine whether their owner can continue keeping them as pets under Spanish law.