News August 2003

More News

Please pray for the continuing work on this site!

In Brief:

Traffic accidents cause unnecessary deaths and serious injuries

Here are some of the statistics:

58 died in traffic accidents over the mid-August weekend, 14th to 17th
42 died between Thursday 31 July and Sunday 3 August, over the most important holiday weekend of the year.
43 died in the weekend of July 25 to 27,
56 died in road traffic accidents over the May 1st long weekend.
Another 126 people died on the roads in Spain during the Holy Week holiday period (Friday 11th to Monday 21st inclusive).

This horrendous Holy Week figure compares with 128 last year and 135 in 2001. Despite the stunning nature of the figures, they reflect the annual statistics, particularly with reference to weekend deaths. Many of these are not so much among long-distance holiday travellers as among young people returning from nights out and clearly over all the drink and drug limits.

Pray for those who have lost dear ones and also for those who escaped death and now face long periods of hospitalisation and even indefinite immobilisation or disability. Also pray for the evangelical hospital visitors in different regions. An official body was recently set up in Catalonia for this purpose.

2 suffer top fine of 514 Euros and three months' driving licence withdrawal (the maximum penalty) for speeding at over 230kmh

On Sunday 18th May a motorcyclist was caught by a speed trap on a local road in Lerida, Catalonia racing at 236kmh, but his record took only three days to be overtaken, when a car was caught on the A2 motorway going at 243kmh, approximately 150mph. The speed limit on local roads is 90 and on motorways 120kmh. In addition to the fixed penalties, however, both rivers could be faced with criminal convictions for dangerous driving.

Madrid's Post Office Palace to be taken over by the City Council

July '03 The Madrid City Council is in discussions with the national government to take over most of the 'Palace of Communications' at the key Cibeles square before the end of the year. The impressive nineteenth century building has recently been deserted by the board of Correos, the national postal service, but it remains the principal post office for the centre of Madrid. A post office department will remain, -to the relief of locals and tourists alike- but the building which has become known as "Our Lady of Communications" because of its physical similarities with a cathedral, will in future house municipal offices.

17% of Spanish homes have access to the Internet

According to a recent official survey by the National Statistics Institute (http://www.ine.es/welcoing.htm in December 2002) the number of people with access to the Internet is only 17.4%. By the end of July '03, the number of ADSL lines was 1,343,823 with Madrid and Barcelona way ahead, emphasising the gap between town and country in technological advance. (El Mundo)

Finally, more news from the churches is always available at the ICPRESS and Protestantes sites: (the first not available during August 2003)