News, July 2007

PrayforSpain summer break

We were on the move from 20th June to the end of July. more >>

News from the Churches

Decision outreaches cancelled due to lack of permissions. Pocket Testament League cancels plans due to family illness. Vademecum goes online. Evangelical Hospital in Barcelona gets overhaul, Terminal 4 interconfessional prayer room opens at Madrid airport. While 74% of Spaniards claim to be Catholics, only 48% believe in God! Anglican summit in Madrid. 7/7/7 united witness opportunity. This and more... Read on! more >>

July, general news roundup.

The second half of the month was one of winding down towards the holdiays in most areas of life. New regional governments took their places, just in time to close for another month! More presumed ETA terrorists were arrested in a variety of places. A member of the CNI (State Security Agency) was arrested: having been apparently under cover in ETA, he had then sold secrets to a foreign power, presumably Russia. Illegal migration in small boats led to more needless deaths, but Catalonia saw first temporary agricultural harvest workers arriving from Senegal in attempt to redirect the flow through legal means. Power was cut for 3 days in Barcelona due to a power line falling on a transformer, while fire in an affected sub-station caused a domino effect. Much of western Mallorca also had cuts for a day due to a fire. Forest fires in the Canary islands destroyed one third of the woodland on Grand Canary as well as large tracts of Tenerife. Andalusia was also hit by fires. Temperatures were about 'normal' for the time of year, meaning very hot, but not as bad as the past few years. more >>

Sport roundup, July

Alberto Contador won controversial Tour de France; Nadal a worthy runner up at Wimbledon, despite 'hardest match of career'; Alonso won German F1 at Nurburgring, but Hamilton maintains lead; Catalan teams visited Britain for training camps; Torres transfers to Liverpool; Bikes: Lorenzo leads championship in 250cc, Faubel 2nd in 125, Pedrosa won GP in Germany - now 3rd overall; Americas Cup - after thrilling Louis Vuitton qualifiers where Spanish Desafío got to semi final, New Zealand finally lost to Alinghi in Americas Cup final. Next round will also be in Valencia. 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 >>

Local and Regional Elections

On May 27th there were elections for all municipal districts (cities and towns) and for some regional governments. Overall, the Partido Popular 'won' the local elections, although while gaining ground in Madrid and Valencia, hold over the regional governments of Navarre and the Balearics is in the balance. The representative of the island of Formentera holds the decision on whether the right or left wing rule in the Balearics. Socialist Lopez Aguilar (former justice minister) won in the Canaries, but if Coalición Canaria joins up with the Partido Popular the right may rule. more >>

3-11 trial under way

25th February. The trial of those accused of the 11th March 2004 bombings in Madrid began on 15th February. The bombs, on four commuter trains running into central Madrid during the rush hour, killed 191, wounded 1900. 29 are accused, 7 of murder. In the first week of declarations, denial and silence marked the answers of the accused to questioning. 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)

More News

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