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News, January-February 2011February 23rd, recent news round-up30th anniversary of the attempted Coup d'Etat against the newly restored democracy (23rd February, 1981); Latin Kings gang boss arrested: BBC; We were away 20th to 26th 16th: MariLuz murder trial begins; Interior minister Rubalcaba 'hopes' ETA truce to be definitive; police report shows new Basque party Sortu is an instrument of ETA; Inditex forced to withdraw T-shirts after being denounced for copying Internet photos - Guardian; CPI inflation index confirmed at 3.3%; IPIC of Abu Dhabi takes full control of Spain's 2nd oil firm CEPSA, buying out half owner Total; 14th: Half Spain on alert for snow, wind and rain; Mobile World Congress opens in Barcelona - BBC; Spanish bank debt with ECB fell 20% in January; exports are growing and could lead Spain out of trouble - Telegraph; Pa Negre (Black bread) sweeps floor at Goya film awards. Other recent news includes: 11th: GNP growth was 0.2% in last quarter; BBC - the economy shrank by 0.1% over the year, less than the 0.3% decline expected; 45 banks sued over 'ground clause' in mortgages; Guardian reports on new Spanish solar tower generator; 9th: Pollution, due to high pressure and no wind, causes health warnings in Madrid and Barcelona; treasury recovered much more from tax avoiders in 2010, increasing tax raised 23% to over €10 billion; 8th: Immigrants with Spanish born children to be given papers in law change; UK newspapers denounce 'slavery' in Spanish salad fields - Guardian; 6th:New Basque radical party will denounce ETA violence; first transsexual to stand for Madrid's regional Assembly in May election; housing minister desperately appeals to Britons to return with guarantees to housing market - Telegraph; 100 Belgian students thrown off Ryanair plane in Canaries after mutiny over excess baggage charge - BBC. 4th: GNP ('growth') 0.2% in last quarter, -0.1% over 2010; national football squad trainer Del Bosque given title of Marquess; rush of job-seekers apply for work in Germany - BBC; bank reports show most earned less in 2010 from the BBC: Santander, Popular; 3rd: Reform agreed a day before Merkel arrives to put Spain in order - The Economist; 2nd: Historic record: unemployment up 130,000 to over 4.2 million; new child protection law to raise marriage minimum age to 16 from present 14; cold (-7ºC) and windy weather continues; BBVA bank earns 9% more despite crisis - BBC; January 31st: Opposition leader Rajoy says he will overturn new abortion and other socialist laws when in power; last day for EU (resident) citizens to sign up to vote in May local elections; January inflation (AHCPI) 3.3%. 28th: Deal done on raising pension age - BBC; scandal over stolen baby mafia - Guardian; 25th: Freezing temperatures across Spain; Spanish state deficit closed 2010 at 5.07%, better than the 6% expected; IMF report expects growth this year under 1%; government reveals restructuring plans for Caja savings banks, to include possible state shareholdings; AVE high speed rail network made first profit in 2010. 21st: This week's political news has included the renewal of the Constitutional Court after years without a full membership during which the Catalan Statute of Autonomy was examined; police continued arresting presumed ETA members, despite the ETA ceasefire; government, unions and business leaders discussed reforms, such as pensions, but despite hopes coming to no conclusions; the government proposed cutting the final backstop of unemployment pay to be cut from 420€ to 350€ per month; the penniless Balearic islands are offering small investors bonds at 4.75%; air traffic control was handed back to AENA, the airports authority, after six weeks of military oversight, while AENA agrees with unions some details of its privatisation. Also, Google ordered by court to serve up balanced back news about individuals, not just the bad news which might remain on some newspaper servers - BBC; fuel prices hit record high; many towns and villages celebrated St Anthony's day, presenting animals at the church doors for blessing and eating barbecued meat at open air fires in coastal areas - Telegraph; Spain backs Bolivia over Coca - Telegraph; further round of consolidation encouraged by government for Caja savings banks, which could get more state control - Guardian; BA, former British Airways is now a Spanish based company, as it merges with Iberia to become part of IAG from Monday - BBC's Today programme. 14th: 2010 inflation confirmed at 3% - fears abound of 'stagflation'; Ryanair, not permitted by Barcelona court to charge for printing boarding cards, will refuse boarding rights to those without home-printed card - BBC update (21st); Basque Lehendakari (regional president) calls for an attempt to integrate Batasuna, the extreme left nationalist party linked to ETA, into Basque society; 3 violent deaths in Parla, Madrid in a week - the last was today, when a newspaper distributor fell from the back of his van as a thief jumped in and drove off; 10th: ETA announce 'permanent truce' to suspicion of politicians who have heard this before several times - BBC; Spain gets back to work and school after the Christmas break came to an end with the celebration of 'the Kings' over the past weekend; Spaniards come to grips with tough smoking ban - Telegraph; TVE bans bull fighting to protect children - Telegraph; Mallorcan Catholic youth group shock bishop (and others) with naked Holy week calendar - Guardian; 53 million visited Spain last year, up 1.4% or 800,000 on 2009; 4,100,073 were unemployed at the year end. 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