News, September 2007

News from the Churches

Mariano meet Mariano!

September 28th, general news roundup.

Inflation 2.7% (from 2.2%) after cereal and fuel rises; trial begins of ETA terrorists Juan Antonio Olarra Guridi and Ainhoa Múgica Goñi, authors of the 1995 Vallecas bomb in Madrid which killed 6 marines and wounded 44 civilians; high speed rail strike this weekend; The Police gave concert in Barcelona Olympic Stadium to 55,000; snow in north, but temperatures will rise again; 27th: 16 pensioners injured as 2 coaches in convoy collide in Alicante - they were returning to the north from holiday in Benidorm; Violence resumes in Basque Country: cars and skips burnt, power catenary on rail line broken; 2 presumed ETA members identified in Lleida; 'El Orfanato' candidate for Oscars; 26th: 2 dead soldiers (in Afghan attack) given state funeral; farmers plan more winter wheat planting after EU set-aside rules change; Spanish tourist photo causes new short-lived hopes in the 'Madeleine saga'; 25th: ETA bomb explodes in Zarautz, Basque Country; finance minister Solbes presents 2008 budget to Cortes; Zapatero in New York for UN assembly; ex-president Suarez -who managed transition to democracy- is 75 - he is now badly affected by alzheimer; skipper of cayuco in which 10 died is jailed for homicide; 24th: 13 linked with ETA terrorism and street violence arrested in France - 6 presumed terrorists; 2 Spanish soldiers killed in Afghanistan; 28 dead on roads over weekend; emergency declared as Almuñecar (Granada coast) severely flooded - heavy rains now moved to Balearics; 54 migrants reach Tenerife - one dead; Rato (IMF) warns Spanish economy will be hit by world crisis in 2008; new 'Metro' line in Palma, Mallorca, closed due to flooding -2nd time in a month- accusations of rush to be completed before May's elections; Airbus warning - Spanish warning could be hit further by strong Euro; Richard Gere gets tremendous welcome in San Sebastian (film festival). more >>

Sport roundup, 20th September

Denis Menchov wins La Vuelta cycle race; poor show in Japan for bikers; Champions return; Spain wins European volleyball championship; Spain loses EuroBasket final; Alonso 3rd in Belgian GP; Bautista and Faubel win in Estoril bikes GP; Michael Schumacher gets Prince of Asturias sports prize; after 3rd League day Madrid leads; 3 athletics medals in Osaka; Soccer League starts with sad death of Sevilla's Antonio Puerta; Sevilla won Supercopa; Nadal continues off court due to knee injury. For more, read on! more >>

ETA strikes one last time? Sadly, not just once.

On 24th August a car bomb exploded outside a Civil Guard station in the Basque town of Durango. On the 27th, a camper van was blown up by its occupants after the Civil Guard had sniffed around it. On 1st September, those same occupants -probably- plus others were arrested by French police at their house in Cahors. One of the 4 was ETA's top bomb maker. A car bomb also failed to explode on 10th September. more >>

Catalan infrastructure crumbling.

August. In 1992, at the opening of the Olympics, Barcelona could boast Spain's best infrastructure. Now it is believed it would not be granted the games on the present record. Every day trains are delayed or cancelled - including services to and from the airport, long jams occur at toll gates on the motorways out of town and a recent electricity substation fire blacked out much of the city for several days. Local politicians blame the central governments of the past 15 years for hardly spending a cent on Catalan infrastructure since the Games. more >>

The other 9/11: Catalonia's national day... and other September Fiestas

For Catalonia, September 11th marks not an event in recent American history, so much as an event of equally sad significance in the own history. On that date, in 1714, at the end of the war of the Spanish Succession, Catalonia fell to the advancing Borbon troops of Castille which took over the country and did away with the governing structures of Catalonia and the kingdom of Aragon which had existed since medieval times. more >>

ETA announces end to ceasefire

5th June. ETA has announced that from midnight tonight its 'unilateral ceasefire' has come to an end. Sadly, it is hardly an unexpected announcement. Although at first there had been high hopes that 'this would be it', since last autumn it was clear that ETA had no plans to cease its activity, robbing arms, extorting 'revolutionary tax' from businesmen and then in December destroying a car park at Madrid's new airport terminal. Even allowing a party deemed close to its cause in the recent local elections was insufficient to appease the most extreme of the terrorists. more >>

News theme: Basque politics and ETA

To be updated in due course On 22nd March ('06), ETA, the Basque separatist terrorist group, announced a permanent ceasefire. One would have expected that after many years of living with terrorism in the Basque Country and across Spain, all Spaniards would have welcomed the announcement. However, a brief glance at newspaper headlines since that date would suggest that the announcement had been the spark for an all-out fight between the major parties. Several very different reactions have come to light and hopes of true 'peace' are as far as ever. Indeed, six months on, ETA has almost gone as far as to cancel the ceasefire, saying it will not hand in arms until its political aims are achieved. more >>

News Theme, The immigration crisis

Desperation (AFP)

News Theme, Late Summer in Spain and the Weather

During August, the main news concerning the weather tends to be the extreme heat and forest fires, causing loss of life as well as much damage to property. In September the main topic is late summer storms. But the most widely feared phenomenon is known as the 'Gota Fría'. more >>

More News

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