Leire Pajín names 4 regional sectors the EU must shield

Today's essentials (5 key points)

• Socialist MEP Leire Pajín, who comes from Alicante, told elDiario.es that the EU should use its full diplomatic weight to protect humanitarian workers.
• Valencia city expects an overcast, dry Sunday 11 October, with temperatures between 14 and 27 degrees according to Open-Meteo.
• The union CCOO has started a campaign asking councils in the Valencia metropolitan area to install toilets at bus terminuses.
• Valencia CF plans to sell the old Mestalla seats to its season ticket holders at what it calls an affordable price, according to Valencia Secreta.
• The Dragon Boat Marina Valencia team was honoured at Alboraia's Premios 9 d'Octubre on 9 October.

Today's essentials

Leire Pajín names 4 regional sectors the EU must shield. Leire Pajín, a Socialist MEP from Alicante, says the European Union must use all its diplomatic capacity to protect humanitarian workers, and she lists fishing, toys, ceramics and footwear as four regional industries that European policy has to take into account.

Pajín made the comments in an interview with Sergi Pitarch, published in the Comunitat Valenciana edition of elDiario.es on 10 October 2026. She has real weight on the topic: she is rapporteur for the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and the European Parliament's standing rapporteur for humanitarian aid. In the interview she says more aid workers are being killed than ever before.

The UN figures back up her warning, although the reported numbers differ. Diario Libre, citing a UN report in April 2026, put the number of aid workers killed in 2025 at no fewer than 326. Later coverage of the same report by La Nación and El Tiempo in August 2026 gave a figure of 350, including 186 in Gaza and 71 in Sudan. UN News reports that more than 1,000 humanitarian workers have been killed over three years, and that 82 deaths, 97 injuries and 39 kidnappings had already been recorded in 2026.

Closer to home, Pajín names four sectors that Brussels should treat according to how they actually work on the ground: Mediterranean fishing, including Valencian trawling; the toy industry centred on Ibi in Alicante; ceramics, which she says needs an energy transition suited to its situation; and footwear, which could be affected by the EU's Mercosur trade agreement. According to a PSPV-PSOE statement, she had already asked the European Commission for a new proposal on the number of authorised fishing days, based on updated data, and for a full plan for the Mediterranean that includes support for Valencian trawlers.

She also wants the fight against online disinformation to be a priority, and suggests the EU build its own ethical digital platforms. Pajín has a long political record: she served as Spain's Minister of Health, Social Policy and Equality from 2010 to 2011 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, then came back to politics in April 2024 as number four on the PSOE list for the European elections.

What this changes for you: nothing has been decided yet, as no vote, Commission decision or Mercosur deadline is mentioned in the coverage. If you work in fishing, ceramics, footwear or toys around Valencia and Alicante, though, these are the files to watch in Brussels. EU citizens registered on the electoral roll in Spain can vote here in European elections, which makes MEPs like Pajín your representatives too.

Weather today

Grey but dry Sunday across the province. Valencia city will see temperatures between 14 and 27 degrees on Sunday 11 October 2026 under overcast skies, with a 0% chance of rain and winds of no more than 7 km/h, according to Open-Meteo.

Inland it will be cooler: Requena expects a low of 12 and a high of 22 degrees, also under cloud, with winds reaching 13 km/h, so take a light jacket if you are heading to the wine country. On the southern coast, Xeraco should range from 16 to 25 degrees with no rain and winds up to 8 km/h. It is a calm, dry day for a walk along the beach or a long lunch outdoors, and a sweater will come in handy once the evening cools down.

Transport & traffic

• Union wants toilets at bus terminuses. The CCOO public services federation in the País Valencià (FSC CCOO PV) has started a campaign calling on councils in the Valencia metropolitan area to install toilets at bus terminuses, Noticias CV reports. Terminuses are the stops where drivers wait between routes, and the union is asking local councils to deal with a basic working condition for the people behind the wheel. Passengers will not see any change to timetables or fares for now, but the campaign puts pressure on town halls across the metropolitan network to act.

What's changing for you

• Old Mestalla seats offered to season ticket holders. According to Valencia Secreta, Valencia CF will sell seats from the old Mestalla stadium to its season ticket holders at an "affordable price" so that fans do not tear them out, as the club moves to Nou Mestalla for the 2026-27 season. If you hold a season ticket and want to keep a piece of the old ground, look out for official messages from Valencia CF about how the sale will work, since the club has not yet announced a price or a date. Buying through the club is also the legal way to take a seat home: unscrewing one yourself is exactly what the club is trying to prevent.

Local news to know

• Bruno Tamarit on El Titi's legacy. In an interview with Valencia Plaza, theatre and dance artist Bruno Tamarit says that El Titi learned to empower himself on stage as a "mariquita", reclaiming a word used as an insult against gay men.
• Column warns about disputed election results. An opinion column in elDiario.es Comunitat Valenciana argues that questioning an election result two months before people vote is part of a wider strategy to bring back the old regime.
• Dragon Boat Marina Valencia honoured in Alboraia. On 9 October, the Dragon Boat Marina Valencia team received recognition at Alboraia's Premios 9 d'Octubre at the town's Auditorio Municipal, an occasion the crew described to Hortanoticias as one of the most special moments in its history.
• Valencian words used to sell products. A thread on the Reddit forum r/valencia asks whether more and more shop signs use single Valencian words, often ones close to Spanish, as a kind of marketing hook rather than as a real use of the language.