News, February 2004

1 March, resumé.

(Church and Sport news click more) 2 ETA terrorists detained Saturday night after discovery of 532kg explosives in van in Cuenca, headed for Madrid - the second man was in another van in Guadalajara - with the second largest charge ever found, a potentially disastrous attack has been thwarted, the charge being virtually ready for use as a car bomb, the detention may have been through a regular Saturday night roadside check, since the 'advance' van had broken down and was unable to warn the bomber; the government has made rather ugly political capital from the ETA threat in the election campaign; 2 weeks count-down to national elections (14th March vote), politics heated with promises and attacks, governing Partido Popular promises 5% tax cut; economy grew by 2.4% in 2003, house prices rose again, by 18% ; snow continues to disrupt roads across north- French frontier was closed to trucks at the important Irún crossing and Biblao airport was also closed earlier today , 272 towns remain cut off; Iberia airlines announces end to free meal service on domestic and European flights - a menu service will replace it; the tradition 'pareja' or couple of traffic police men is from today starting to be a thing of the past. new patrol ars equipped with the latest technology will patrol motorways with only one man on board, although there will always be another paired patrol car close at hand or doing the run in the other direction.

Sport:

Football (soccer): Madrid draws with Bayern Munich after home goal from Kahn; it also leads in Spanish league from Valencia, which is losing ground; Madrid and Sevilla through to semi-finals of Copa del Rey with Celta and Zaragoza
Basketball: Tau Ceramica after winning first 14 games in ACB league, finally beaten by Barcelona, could not equal 15 game record of Real Madrid... now won 19/23; Spaniard Pau Gasol is helping Mephis Grizzlies to beat records
Motor: Paris-Dakar, Joan 'Nani' Roma wins bikes. F1, Barcelona trials Fernando Alonso in Renault faster than the Ferraris.
Tennis: Australian Open - Ferrero failed in semi-finals
Cycling: Season started end January in Mallorca- author saw inaugural race stage in Palma, Mallorcan cyclist Toni Colom made history by winning for the Illes Balears team (formerly Banesto); the course of the 2004 Vuelta Ciclista de España is now available - it will replace traditional climbs in the north with more exposure to Valencia, Andalusia and Extremadura. See the route at: http://www.lavuelta.com/04/ingles/recorrido/index.asp

Churches

Gypsy churches bulldozed The Madrid City Council had bulldozed two churches belonging to the Filadelfia church which had long been on land designated in 1995 for other purposes. So far no alternative accommodation has been provided. More: http://www.protestantedigital.com/actual/spain.htm#1

Diakonia announces next national congress The social action network of the evangelical churches, called Diakonia, is to have its third biennial congress in March, 19th to 21st, in Madrid.

Sources El Mundo, TVE, EP