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News, July 2011July 29th, recent news round-upZapatero calls election for 20th November - Guardian, Economist; Half of Spain go on holiday this weekend - while another third come home - that's a lot of extra cars on the roads; Lots of economic news today: EAPS q2 employment figures today: unemployment receded from close to 5 million, to 20.9% - more in pdf; Inflation - July advance CPI: 3.1% - pdf; ; Moodys places Spain and leading banks (Santander, BBVA) on rating warning and downgrades 6 regions - Guardian; IAG (Iberia and BA) announce swing to first half profits - BBC; 27th: Opposition leader Rajoy loses 3% of lead over Socialist candidate Rubalcaba in new poll; Santander to allow unemployed mortgage holders to suspend capital repayments from August - for up to 3 years; Constitutional Court confirms regions must obey state on fiscal responsibility - Murcia to return some responsibilities to central government; 5000 passengers hit by last December's air traffic control strike demand 50 million from state owned Air Navigation firm AENA; 26th: Costa Brava loses direct flights from London and Liverpool - Ryanair announces 21 more closures on Girona routes after clash on funding with Catalan Generalitat (regional government): 25th: 'Indignants' march again in Madrid; Zapatero visits Cameron in Downing Street; Basque nationalist party PNV believes Zapatero is waiting for peace deal with ETA before calling elections; tensions continue to build over Spanish incursions into Gibraltar waters; tourist arrivals up 7.5% in first half to 24.8 million. Other recent news includes: 22nd: Spanish market index (IBEX) rebounds on Greek/Euro rescue package; traffic dept expects busy roads over long weekend - Monday is Santiago (St. James' Day), holiday in much of central and northern Spain - James is Spain's 'patron saint'; 21st: Row grows over Gibraltar waters after EU ruling on special zone - Telegraph; May new mortgages 1/3 down on last year; 20th: Francisco Camps, regional president of Valencia resigns after claiming innocence in Gürtel corruption case - several other politicians in Valencia plead guilty of accepting gifts of ties and suits; new corruption case involving regional government and trade unions hits Andalusia; Madrid agrees new Olympics bid - for 2020; Bankia the new bank formed from several Cajas, successfully launched, albeit with share price fall; 19th: PSOE presidential candidate Rubalcaba adds Senate reform proposal to idea from 'Indignants' to establish German-style proportional representation; new leaders in Castilla la Mancha discover another € billion of unpaid bills; police dig up €25 million in notes hidden in luxury villa by narcos in FBI-led operation - Telegraph; Italian police publish video of narcos at sea before capture - Telegraph; Partido Popular reacts badly to proposal by Peter Caruana, PM of Gibraltar,to set up own coast guard; Britain gives Ferrovial three months to sel Stansted and one of its Scottish airports - BBC; borrowing cost rises 37% as crisis won't go away - Guardian. 15th: 5 banks and Cajas fail stress tests, but Bank of Spain stresses they have enough capital when (untested) counter-cycle strategic reserves added - almost all of Spain's banks were tested, as against just 4 in some other countries, Banca March again came out best European bank; Francisco Camps, regional president of Valencia, faces trial over gift ties and suits; "In Barcelona you get fined more for double-parking or wandering around with your shirt off than for stealing three purses in one day." - Guardian reports on lone woman fighting Barcelona pick-pockets; 14th: New Partido Popular president in Castille la Mancha discovers €1.7 billion worth of bills as she takes over from PSOE government; ETA's lawyer Arantza Zulueta arrested as 'postman' between terror teams - most recently she had pen drive with location of arms hides; Telefonica allowed to plan 6500 redundancies over next 2 years; real time traffic on Google Maps arrives in Spain; 13th: 3 senior police officers to be tried for warning ETA of impending police raid in 2006; Barcelona court does not consider placing link to illegal downloads illegal in itself - blow to new internet law; June inflation (CPI) confirmed at lower 3.2%; 12th: Cabinet reshuffle: Antonio Camacho replaces Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (presidential candidate for upcoming election) as Interior minister, while José Blanco adds spokesman's portfolio to his job description, finance minister Elena Salgado, takes over first vice-presidency; global banks to participate in public offer of National Lottery - Telegraph; sale of new shares in Bankia, bank formed by 6 Cajas going well despite market turmoil; heat wave takes break as rain sweeps north; British holidaymaker survives 7 storey fall from Mallorca hotel balcony - Telegraph; world's first double leg transplant completed in Valencia - Telegraph. 8th: Vice President and Interior Minister Rubalcaba stands down from cabinet to plan and lead upcoming national election campaign, due at latest in March; ETA suspect 'Cyril' appears in London magistrates' court - Telegraph; 7th: Would-be ETA assassin of king Juan Carlos arrested in Cambridge, England - BBC; interest rate hike (to 1.5%) by ECB means more Spanish home owners face inevitable repayment difficulties (Euribor rises to 2.19%); Spanish Treasury places €3 billion, but at higher rates after Portuguese junk status by Moodys; 2010 hatch, match... birth rate falls to 10.5 per thousand - INE pdf - only one in four marriages now by RC church; Pamplona bull-running festival opens - Telegraph video, Guardian photos; a big police operation is under way after the Calixtine Codex, a fundamental document of the Santiago Pilgrims' Way, went missing on Tuesday from the Cathedral- Guardian - written in the 12th century, for the first time it detailed the route at a time when the pilgrimage replaced that to Jerusalem, due to the crusades - it is thus Spain's first tourist guide book. 4th: Unemployment falls to 4.12 million - would have been less but for the e.coli scare; scandal over royalties, as leaders of authors' association SGAE arrested for misuse of funds. 1st: As holidaymakers speed off at a renewed 120kmh limit (after a foreign exchange saving reduction to 110 in the second quarter), gas and electricity prices rise - but EU roaming costs also fall - BBC; government raises level of income below which banks cannot enforce primary mortgage claim to €961 - thus reflecting one of principal demands of the indignants (15M movement); first half figures: car sales down to lowest level in 18 years after 31% fall in June; house prices fall again, 4.7%; manufacturing down, unemployment up again - BBC; nun celebrates record 84 years in enclosed convent - she is 103; June 28th: Last State of Nation debate before national elections - but when will these be? At the latest they must take place in March - El País; Congress approves rise in pension age to 67; first heat wave of the summer continues across Spain; former Mallorcan tourist secretary, Miquel Nadal (no direct relative of Rafa), arrested for corruption; Mallorcan pilot killed in Kabul hotel bombing; high speed rail link in Castilla La Mancha between capital Toldeo and regional cities cut - as only 9 people used it's 2000+ seats each day over past 8 months - Telegraph; Tramuntana mountains in Mallorca become UNESCO heritage site; Madrid celebrates 25th anniversary of Spanish Film Academy with walk of fame - BBC. Earlier news headlines: click here. |