As of 1 July 2008, the latest smoking ban came into effect - in Amsterdam. The new legal requirement prohibits lighting up anything less than a pure doobie in cannabis cafes.

Madame Tussauds had to defend its decision to include a wax likeness of Adolf Hitler at its new, in July 2008, Berlin museum. The waxwork Fuumlhrer is to be older and meeker-looking compared to its UK counterpart, and must be shielded behind glass lest the unruly masses pose for pictures next to it.

During the 1990s property boom, large parts of Spain's Mediterranean coastline were concreted over.

Barcelona is often pointed to as a model of urban planning and renewal, especially since the city hosted the 1992 Olympic Games.