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

Spanish government approves €500 million for ALS patients, San Sebastián rolls out new beach rules and more news on Wednesday October 22nd.
Spanish government approves €500 million for ALS patients
The Spanish government has given the go-ahead to the new ALS law and will also strengthen the System for Autonomy and Care for Dependent People (SAAD). The new new law includes the creation of an "extreme" level of dependency, Grade III+, for those who require "highly complex" care.
These are people at an advanced stage of the disease needing 24-hour care, seven days a week, which was one of the main demands of these patients and their families.
To cover this 24-hour care, people with ALS and other serious neurological diseases in advanced stages will be entitled to a benefit of €9,960 per month per patient, half of which will be funded by the central government, with the remainder coming from regional governments.
The law still must be approved by the Lower House in less than a month.
San Sebastián rolls out new beach rules
Starting next summer, San Sebastián City Council will ban smoking and playing loud music on its beaches.
There will be also be a new time slot to allow dogs in the beach in summer from 9pm to midnight.
"We want it to be a regulation developed by everyone, adapted to the current reality of Donostia (San Sebastián) and the environmental sensitivity that characterises us," stated the San Sebastián Environment councillor Íñigo García.
According to studies by the Centre for Marine and Food Research, cigarette butts represent up to half of the waste collected on beaches.
The new rules are expected to come into force in June 2026.
Madrid mayor wants drones to transport people and merchandise through city
Recently, Madrid City Council presented a White Paper on Urban Air Mobility, which seeks to establish traffic regulations related to the transport of goods and people by drones before 2032.
"This transport is already a reality, used for 'the transfer of medicines between health centres, managing emergencies, and distributing logistics goods...'" explained the Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, when presenting the paper.
The document also discusses installing parking spaces on the city's rooftops and calls them "vertiports" - tiny airports that drones can stop and unload at.
Another point mentioned was integrating manned eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft) into Madrid traffic and developing safe air corridors for them.
The date set for the creation of a new air mobility ordinance will be in 2028.
Jury selection begins in Spain 'love scam' debt triple murder trial
Jury selection began Tuesday in Spain in the trial of a Pakistani man charged with murdering three siblings in their 70s over debts reportedly linked to an online romance scam.
Dilawar Hussain admitted to killing two sisters and their disabled brother in Morata de Tajuna, near Madrid, in December 2023.
Hussain has been held in custody since he turned himself in to the authorities the following month. He received a two-year jail sentence for this attack, but it was suspended since it was his first offence, as is customary under Spanish law.
Police found the bodies of the three siblings partially burnt inside their home in January 2024.
Hussain is scheduled to take the stand on Wednesday, with the trial at a Madrid court expected to last until October 31st.
With additional reporting by AFP.
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