News, April 2008

News from the Churches

Evangelical authors sign books on 'Day of the Book'. Irish pastor speaks at Basque peace meeting. Santiago del Valle arrested for death of Mari Luz. Body of pastor's daughter Mari Luz found floating in the Rio Tinto estuary. United prayer for Spain gathers almost 5000 at Real Madrid stadium on 1st March. Zaragoza water Expo gives go-ahead to Agua Viva Christian pavillion. Catalan government to regulate 'Places of Worship'. This and more... Read on! more >>

April 30th, general news roundup.

Spain heads off for warm, sunny May Day weekend - 'monumental' traffic jams in Madrid from early morning; protests in Barcelona over new cycle rules; Madrid bus drivers return to work after 3 month dispute; Renfe raises rail fares; current account deficit up 6.9% in February; 29th: 75 arrested and 16,000 kg of hashish held in various operations; heavily pregnant Defence Minister Chacón visits Sarajevo; inflation slips to 4.2%; Banco Santander beats trend and raises profits 22%; former cabinet minister Zaplana resigns seat to become CEO Europe for Telefónica; BBC reports on low birth rate; 28th: Chacón visits Lebanon peace force - commander asks for updated equipment; fishing boat freed from Somali pirates - no official admission of ransom paid, possibly 1.2 million USD - BBC report; sunflower oil scare - due to a delivery from Ukraine in contaminated containers - now 'all under control'; National Statistics Institute (INE) confirms property sector slow-down at 24% in February - 38% in Mallorca; high speed regional AVE - Avant rail shuttles start service in Catalonia and Aragon; 11 bikers lose life over weekend; forest fire hits rare Garajonay national park in la Gomera, Canaries - 800 hectares lost. more >>

Sport roundup, 30th April

Man United beat Barcelona in Champions' semi-final. Synchronised girls win Beijing pre-gold. Valencia wins Copa del Rey final against Getafe. Lorenzo wins Estoril MotoGP from Pedrosa. Joventut wins ULEB cup. Nadal wins in Monte Carlo. Alonso burnt out in accident filled Barcelona GP. Gasol helps Lakers' good results. 8 medals for swimmers in European Swimming championships. Joventut wins basketball Copa del Rey. Madrid heads Primera and ACB league. For more, read on! more >>

23rd April, - Cervantes' and St. George's Day

23rd April is a big day in Spain for culture and more so this year than any. It is Cervantes' official birthday -actually the anniversary of his death in 1616. It also marks the anniversary of the publication of Don Quijote (part 1) in 1605. In addition, it is St. George's Day, a public holiday in several regions and cities. All over Spain it is also known as 'The Day of the Book' more >>

200th anniversary of 2nd May uprising

2nd May, 1808, was a key historical day for Madrid, but also for Spain. Local citizens rose against the occupation of the city by the French army of Napoleon. Remembered above all because of the paintings of Goya (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Goya_-_Second_of_May_1808.jpg|Dos de Mayo> and <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Francisco_de_Goya_y_Lucientes_023.jpg|Tres de Mayo>), depicting the uprising and subsequent bloody repression, Madrid celebrates its regional day today. For Spain the uprising meant not only a revolt against a foreign usurper of power, but also an attack on the modernising liberal ideas arriving from France. It ushered in 150 years of (occasional) civil war and even today, political parties in some respects represent the two (actually three) sides in the original struggle for independence. more >>

Mari Luz case highlights big justice failures

31st March. On 7th March the body of MariLuz Cortés was found floating in the Rio Tinto estuary docks in Huelva, close to where she was kidnapped on 13th January. Mari Luz Cortés, 5 year old daughter of a gypsy pastor in Huelva, went missing on Sunday, 13th of January. She just nipped out to the sweet kiosk in the street for a packet of crisps. Huelva is just across the border from the Algarve, where British girl Madeleine went missing in May, 2007. Could there be a link? No one dared say, but MariLuz's parents rejected an offer to unite efforts in the hunt for the girls. Finally, on 26th March, convicted child abuser Santiago del Valle was arrested on charges of abusing and killing MariLuz. The case now throws up a pile of questions about how it was that del Valle was allowed to roam free despite a prison sentence for an earlier case which should have been executed. more >>

Elections 2008 - again hit by terrorism

After an intense campaign, affected at the last moment by a terrorist killing the Socialist party (PSOE) has won the general election. The opposition Partido Popular also gains seats (and votes). The minority parties failed miserably as a 2 party system is consolidated. However, neither the Congress nor the Senate see an overall majority. In the regional election in Andalusia there was an overall majority for the PSOE. more >>

Court allows objection to 'Citizenship' classes in school

4th March. The Andalusian High Court has admitted that parents have the right to 'concientious objection' to the socialist government's 'Education for Citizenship' subject. The subject is meant to cover those area of values and behaviour which allow people to live together in harmony and interact with wider society. However, the problem is that the socialist idea of values clashes fiercely with traditional Roman Catholic values, not to mention those of Muslims or Bible believing Evangelicals. Now the court has admitted the religious nature of many objections and thus permitted that parents have the right to withdraw their children from these classes. more >>

Catalan Infrastructure - Coming out of the Tunnel.

April 2008. Barcelona has had an horrendous past nine months on the roads, rail, in hospital and even at home! Power went down for 3 days in the summer, rail links were cut for months and congestion was the order of the day on the roads and in hospitals. Even schools have run out of supply teachers! However, on 19th March the new AVE high speed line to Madrid finally opened, with local rail services and roads back to normal. Plans are also afoot to take on many more medical and teaching staff in the coming few years. more >>

Expat life in Spain

4th February. The BBC has just published another article in their occasional series on living abroad. Read it here! More and more people are retiring to Spain or moving here for work or other reasons, but as you will see from the article, many never get integrated with the Spaniards, partly because they may live in areas, such as the Costa Blanca, where Spaniards appear increasingly scarce! more >>

News Theme: The Economy

For the past few years Spain has been hitting headlines for above average growth and very high house price inflation. It appears 'the end is nigh' for the Spanish economic miracle. World economic woes are certainly affecting Spain. On 18th April the cabinet approved a fiscal stimulus of 10 (US) billion Euros this year and another 8 billion in 2009. We offer our view. more >>

News theme: Basque politics and ETA

Spain's peripheral regions, particularly Catalonia and the Basque Country, have never felt fully part of 'Spain'. History and language have parts to play in this situation. The result is that these regions have long desired high levels of autonomy or even independence. In the Basque Country, the existence of ETA, a terrorist organisation with a pseudo left-wing nationalist agenda, has forced all parties to consider the independence issue seriously. ETA started during the Franco dictatorship, but has resolutely refused to die before achieving its objectives, themselves more confused with the passing of time. Ceasefires and bombing campaigns have succeeded each other over the years. Meanwhile, democratic parties have taken their own positions on independence, with the governing centre-right Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), under the presidency of Lehendakari (regional president) Ibarretxe, leading the search for an agreed independence or high level of autonomy. more >>

News Theme, The immigration crisis

Desperation (AFP)

Reports, almost daily, of open boats known variously as pateras (coming from Marocco or Algeria) or cayucos (reaching the Canary islands from further south), combine with stories of illegal 'paperless' immigrants attempting to cross the fences at Ceuta and Melilla. Add to these high profile stories the situation of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans and Romanias, not to mention Asians and you have the appearance of a significant immigration crisis. Throw in the confusion and disagreement of politicians as to how to deal with the phenomenon and you have a real crisis. more >>

More News

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

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