News, August 2006

August 24th, general news roundup

Home rule march permitted in Bilbao; 23rd: Buses crash in Madrid - dozens injured; regions of Madrid, Valencia and Murcia and Popular Party request urgent talks over housing of illegal migrants; 'low-cost' airlines now carry over 30% of airborne visitors to Spain; sales of artificial grass boom in Madrid as residents save water; 22nd: Train accident at Palencia - 6 dead - speed believed cause - among others, train was taking pilgrims home to France from Santiago pilgrimage - 2 3rd World aid workers among dead, were returning home to Burgos after acting as 'hospitallers' for pilgrim walkers; Partido Popular denounces 'secretism' of migrant flights bringing them from Canaries to peninsula, most in regions goverend by this party - 11,000 have been moved so far to reduce crowding in the islands; Spanish peacekeeping troops caught in Congo crossfire; 21st: 1400 migrants reach Canaries over weekend; 19th: As 400 more migrants reach the Canaries overnight, regional president warns of worse crisis looming; government admits ETA peace process at critical stage; anniversary of death of Spain's 'most universal' 20th century poet, Lorca; 18th: ETA statement criticises backdown on commitments by parties causing 'blockage' and threatens 'response'; over 16,400 immigrants have reached Canary islands in 2006 - virtually all in open cayuco boats taking over a week for the crossing; 16th: EU calculates 86,000 hectares burnt over past 2 weeks in Galicia; water reserves down to 43%; death toll continues to fall aafter points system for licences introduced in July.

Other recent news includes: 15th: 4 fires still out of control as temperatures fall in Galicia - the many firefighters in the region are able to get more quickly to them - some 30 arreested for arson, several still detained; weather gradually cooling across Spain after records of July, but little rain yet in desperate South East - hopes for tomorrow in Galicia; new wave of Asian immigrants is reaching Ceuta on patera open boats and even water scooters; Spain commits troops to Lebanon peace force; Rolling Stones cancelled Spain concert due to sore throats; possible drug running submarine found in Galician fiord - Spaniard Isaac Peral invented the sub; 11th: Fires continue ablaze in Galicia -almost 100 currently out of control- president Zapatero calls in troops and EU sends more help; July inflation 4% (underlying 3.1%); Iberia faces up to 4 Million Euro fine for strike which closed Barcelona airport on 29th July; 9th: New Catalan regional government Estatut takes effect; 172 immigrants reach El Hierro (Canaries) aboard one Cayuco, the record for arrivals on a single boat; proposed 'peace' demonstration in San Sebastian originally planned by pro-ETA faction now called off; of 110 fires in Galicia, over 40 now 'under control'; 8th: 3 arrested on arson charges in Galicia ; 162 hopeful immigrants detained aboard 2 cayuco open boats on Mauritanian coast; jelly fish alert at Mediterranean beaches; water reserves down to 45%; 7th: Forest fires rage across Spain, burning over 3,000 hectares in 4 days - one man dead - arson suspected in many cases; 4th: 202 immigrants reach Canaries - 49 attended by bathers at beach; 2 seriously injured in building collapse after gas explosion, Alicante; vice-President De la Vega in Bolivia for talks; 2nd: Bodies of 28 hopeful immigrants wash up on beach at El Aaiun, Western Sahara - 4 more cayucos intercepted by Civil Guard off Mauritania - 260 were rescued on Monday off the Canaries and the Andalusian coast and 205 on Sunday; ETA terrorists Parot and 'Txiquierdi' sentenced to 50 years for murder of a general in 1982; one third less forest fires in first 7 months, despite drought, but now major fire on Menorca; Iberia, the airline, lost 9 million Euros in the first half due to oil prices; experts warn of increasing jelly fish threat at beaches - some beaches already closed; 1st: July road toll 18% less than 2005 due to new 'licence by points' system; water reserves fell 1.6% in last week - critical in South East - 2 million live in threatened Costa Blanca area; Spain's principal holiday month begins -Zapatero in Lanzarote, Canaries; average value of new mortgages now above 140,000 Euros, 17% more than last year; electricity demand up 6.6% in July, due to continuing heat wave.