News October 2003

28 October, resumé

Spanish astronaut Pedro Duque returns from latest ISS support mission in a Russian Soyuz capsule - landing successful - Pedro returned to earth with the two men previously aboard the ISS; PP won Sunday's Madrid regional election; Basque president Ibarretxe complains that Basque Country has been put under state of siege by national police, Basque province of Alava stands out against PNV free state plans; 2 corpses found at Rota (close to the US base), more >>

Regional Elections: Partido Popular wins

27 October. The Partido Popular won the region of Madrid this weekend in the re-run of the spring elections for the regional assembly, which could not be established due to the rebellion of two key deputies, thus causing a power vacuum. Municipal elections were also held more >>

New Basque Statute approved today by Basque government

25 October. The new Statute, prepared by the Basque government under the so called Ibarretxe Plan, will now be put to the Basque parliament for debate, following which, if approved, a referendum will be held in the region. It is exactly 24 years since the approval of the existing Statute which outlines the ground rules for regional government and relations with the central government of Spain. The'constitutionalist' opponents of this move are already planning the steps they will take, if necessary, to block its path to legality. Most Spaniards believe that any such move at this time would just underline how right ETA has been to continue its reign of terror with the aim of achieving regional independence. more >>

Clocks change this weekend

25 October. Tonight, Spain, along with most other western European countries will put the clocks back one hour. Thus the peninsula and Balearics will be GMT +1, while the Canaries revert to GMT. more >>

Príncipe de Asturias prizes: Harry Potter wins Concord prize

25 October. Last night, in the capital of Asturias, Oviedo, prince Felipe presented the 2003 (23rd) Príncipe de Asturias prizes. Most famous winner is certainly JK Rowling, who won the Concord prize for her success in getting the noses of little children back into books. She, together with Brazilian president Lula and other prize winners, as well as the prince himself made significant speeches. All the information is available... more >>

Iraq Donor Conference, Madrid focus of the world

24 October. Madrid was yesterday and today most definitely the focus of the world, as international leaders and diplomats met together to discuss the Iraq situation and how to help in its reconstruction. Spain has already committed some 300 Million dollars, virtually this year's (to September) budget surplus, to the reconstruction. 70 countries were represented. 13,000 Million more were raised for the reconstruction effort. more >>

34 Arrested in France and Spain on ETA suspicion

8 October. Early this morning 34 were arrested in the Basque Country, Navarre, Aragón and Bayonne (France). Behind the arrested is Spain's best known judge, Baltasar Garzón. The detainees are likely to be charged with invlovement in fund raising (extorsion) and recruitment activities of the terrorist group. Another 29 were arrested earlier this year on similar suspicions. the five arrested in France were all aged 20, involved in the Segi radical group and suspected of being involved in logistic support for commandos. more >>

Buenas Noticas TV now weekly

National Prayer Day, 31st October

4 October. The announced national Prayer Day was to be on Sunday, 5th, but it has been postponed to 31st October, a day which coincides with the 'Day of the Reformation', Halloween, a holiday weekend and other events. More info in the Arise prayer bulletin in this news page and http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index11.html or http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index10.html more >>

Over 1.000 visits in September

Thank you for your interest and concern! In September for the first time we registered over 1000 visits from almost 600 specific URLs with almost 3000 pages viewed. Top visitor URL by 'hits' was Berkely Unified Schools, CA. more >>

'Strangler', British citizen arrested for deaths of Sonia Carabantes and Rocio Wanninkhoff

10 October. Tony Alexander King, a British citizen, was on 21 September arrested and charged with the murder of Sonia Carabantes and Rocio Wanninkhoff. His true name is Tony Bromwich. He has admitted involvement in a letter, but yesterday refused to give evidence to the Rocio W. case judge. His DNA has been linked to the cases and it is being used to investigate further cases both in Spain and Britain. Spanish police are accused of having neglected warnings about his presence and potential for harmful attacks given by Scotland Yard. more >>

Camps suffer from summer weather extremes

Two evangelical camps suffered from the summer's extreme weather. In Madrid, the Pinos Reales Camp was partially destroyed by fire on 1st August. In the mid-month storms, the Catalan camp L'Arcada was hit by a major storm. more >>

News theme: Basque politics and ETA

During July and August many of us were concerned by the numerous attacks by ETA terrorists, most notably for foreigners and Spaniards at large, the hotel bombings in Alicante and Benidorm. While concern will remain about the threat of ETA attacks, political interest is now mostly directed at the regional president's proposals for extending autonomy to become a 'free associated state', rather like Puerto Rico. more >>

Autumn News Theme: Elections in Madrid and Catalonia

Two regions are holding elections for their regional assemblies this autumn, Madrid on 26th October and Catalonia on 16th November more >>

News theme: weather and winter travel

During the summer, the main news concerning the weather was the extreme heat and forest fires, causing loss of life as well as much damage to property. In September the main topic was late summer storms the most widely feared phenomeno being the 'Gota Fría'. As the autumn goes on, the weather cools and rains become milder. Spain's autumn rainy season is often about two months long during October and November. Some time during this period snow appears on the peaks of the mountains and by early December the pistes are ready for the ski season more >>

News theme: Spain and Iraq

Spain is particularly in the news due to its position on Iraq, closely linking itself with Washington. Recently the International Donor Conference took place in Madrid, underlining Spain's commitment to ongoing support for a new Iraq. more >>

ARISE, SPAIN AND SHINE!

BULLETIN Nº 7 (October '03)

Campaign News

We have several reports now in. More: http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index8.html more >>

More News

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