News, August 2007

News from the Churches

Remar celebrates 25 years rescuing drug adicts. Decision outreaches cancelled due to lack of permissions. Pocket Testament League cancels plans due to family illness. Vademecum goes online. Evangelical Hospital in Barcelona gets overhaul, Terminal 4 interconfessional prayer room opens at Madrid airport. While 74% of Spaniards claim to be Catholics, only 48% believe in God! Anglican summit in Madrid. This and more... Read on! more >>

August 31st, general news roundup.

4.5 million road journeys expected this weekend as Spain returns from holiday; 4 migrant pateras intercepted off Gibraltar; fires in Castellón 'almost under control'; José Luís Vilallonga, aristocrat, writer and actor (Breakfast at Tiffany's) dies in Mallorca; molotov cocktails thrown at estate agents in Amurrio, Basque Country; Basque Socialist MEP Rosa Diez resigns from party over long-standing disagreements over ETA and joins new formation; 2nd shark alert of summer, this time in San Javier, La Manga (Murcia); 29th: Forest fire out of control in Castellón; one dead, two injured under 3 tonnes of wire in AVE rail construction work near Barcelona; woman arrested for murder of husband - unusual compared to sad data on women killed by partners; 2nd quarter growth 4% but building down 6 points to 4.6%%; funerals of football player Antonio Puerta and writer Francisco Umbral draw large crowds; Lithuanian man arrested for locking 66 year old father and small children in boot during 7 hour ferry crossing to Mallorca - fare is from 10€ when booked early; 27th: ETA sets off 150kg explosive in stolen van after Civil Guard were on track - major bombing averted; 24th: Car bomb explodes in Durango, Basque Country - 2 police slightly hurt; 21st: 380 migrants have reached shores in 2 days; French member of Batasuna arrested in relation with ETA bulletins; shark caught on Tarragona beach after causing closure for 3 days; Spanish tourists affected by 'Dean' in Cancún (Mexico); BA to fly from Madrid to USA next year; field mouse plague in Castilla León causing major crop losses; mortgage debt rose by 'only' 17.2% in year to June - now at 600 billion Euros, all shops in Mallorca must have signs (and service) in Catalan by September - so how do you write 'Tea like Mother makes it'?; stormy weather hits north and east; sinking freighter off Gibraltar may split, but little fear of oil spill. more >>

Sport roundup, August

3 athletics medals so far in Osaka; Soccer League starts with sad death of Sevilla's Antonio Puerta; Sevilla won Supercopa; Alonso-Hamilton row overshadows F1 results; Faubel and Lorenzo brought 300th bikes championship win to Spain; Nadal again seeing a poor set of results in 2nd half year. July: Alberto Contador won controversial Tour de France; Nadal a worthy runner up at Wimbledon, despite 'hardest match of career'; Alonso won German F1 at Nurburgring, but Hamilton maintains lead; Catalan teams visited Britain for training camps; Torres transfers to Liverpool; Bikes: Lorenzo leads championship in 250cc, Faubel 2nd in 125, Pedrosa won GP in Germany - now 3rd overall; Americas Cup - Next round will also be in Valencia. For more, read on! more >>

ETA strikes again

24th/27th August. A car bomb exploded outside a Civil Guard station in the Basque town of Durango this morning. Two Civil Guards were slightly injured and several of their vehicles written off. The getaway car was later blown up as well. Details from the BBC. An even bigger load (150kg) failed to reach its destination and was blown on 27th in Castellón. ETA is back! more >>

Catalan infrastructure crumbling.

August. In 1992, at the opening of the Olympics, Barcelona could boast Spain's best infrastructure. Now it is believed it would not be granted the games on the present record. Every day trains are delayed or cancelled - including services to and from the airport, long jams occur at toll gates on the motorways out of town and a recent electtricity substation fire backed out much of the city for several days. Local politicians blame the central governments of the past 15 years for hardly spending a cent on Catalan infrastructure since the Games. more >>

ETA announces end to ceasefire

5th June. ETA has announced that from midnight tonight its 'unilateral ceasefire' has come to an end. Sadly, it is hardly an unexpected announcement. Although at first there had been high hopes that 'this would be it', since last autumn it was clear that ETA had no plans to cease its activity, robbing arms, extorting 'revolutionary tax' from businesmen and then in December destroying a car park at Madrid's new airport terminal. Even allowing a party deemed close to its cause in the recent local elections was insufficient to appease the most extreme of the terrorists. more >>

Local and Regional Elections

On May 27th there were elections for all municipal districts (cities and towns) and for some regional governments. Overall, the Partido Popular 'won' the local elections, although while gaining ground in Madrid and Valencia, hold over the regional governments of Navarre and the Balearics is in the balance. The representative of the island of Formentera holds the decision on whether the right or left wing rule in the Balearics. Socialist Lopez Aguilar (former justice minister) won in the Canaries, but if Coalición Canaria joins up with the Partido Popular the right may rule. more >>

3-11 trial under way

25th February. The trial of those accused of the 11th March 2004 bombings in Madrid began on 15th February. The bombs, on four commuter trains running into central Madrid during the rush hour, killed 191, wounded 1900. 29 are accused, 7 of murder. In the first week of declarations, denial and silence marked the answers of the accused to questioning. more >>

News theme: Basque politics and ETA

To be updated in due course On 22nd March ('06), ETA, the Basque separatist terrorist group, announced a permanent ceasefire. One would have expected that after many years of living with terrorism in the Basque Country and across Spain, all Spaniards would have welcomed the announcement. However, a brief glance at newspaper headlines since that date would suggest that the announcement had been the spark for an all-out fight between the major parties. Several very different reactions have come to light and hopes of true 'peace' are as far as ever. Indeed, six months on, ETA has almost gone as far as to cancel the ceasefire, saying it will not hand in arms until its political aims are achieved. more >>

News Theme, The immigration crisis

Desperation (AFP)

More News

A few more news items and where to find more news about Spain: