News, March 2008

PrayforSpain on the move

We were involved in the Easter outreach at Azuqueca 12th to 27th March. Back to normal as soon as possible. more >>

News from the Churches

Santiago del Valle arrested for death of Mari Luz. Body of pastor's daughter Mari Luz found floating in the Rio Tinto estuary. United prayer for Spain gathers almost 5000 at Real Madrid stadium on 1st March. Foundation laid for new Catalan 'mega-church'. Evangelical Alliance advice paper (pdf) on how to vote is downloaded over 2000 times in first week of campaign. New city centre open air ministry. Zaragoza water Expo gives go-ahead to Agua Viva Christian pavillion. Catalan government to regulate 'Places of Worship', while churches elsewhere end up on the street. This and more... Read on! more >>

March 31st, general news roundup.

Barcelona declares hosepipe ban due to severe drought, with 3000€ fines; inflation hits 4.6% as government reveals growth slowing to 1.8%; Zapatero prmises Cortes full investigation into MariLuz justice failure; speed cameras in action on Madrid's M30 tunnels - 70 kmh limit; 28th: Assumed assassin of pastor's daughter MariLuz should have been jailed for similar earlier behaviour, but court chaos left him free - government blames judge, he blames secretary... justice workers are still on strike; water transfer from Tajo to Segura agreed for domestic use on La Manga coast; farmers give away milk in Madrid in protest at lower producer prices paid by dairies; 27th: Antonio Camacho gets 11 years for Gescartera fraud - he siphoned off millions of investors' money; fall in house-building licences and sales tax hits revenues 27%; justice ministry pay strike now hurting important National Court investigations; Catalan government decrees 'exceptional' use of Cadi Road tunnel to transfer French sourced water from Segre valley to drought-ridden Barcelona; rain top news for a Happy Easter - with snow falls over Pyrenees ski resports; Good Friday saw new ETA bomb. more >>

Sport roundup, 28th March

8 medals for swimmers in European Swimming championships. 2 Spaniards -Lorenzo and Pedrosa- on first MotoGP podium of year in Quater. Barcelona sole survivor in Champions' League to 1/4 finals. Joventut wins basketball Copa del Rey. Madrid heads Primera and ACB league. For more, read on! more >>

Mari Luz case highlights big justice failures

31st March. On 7th March the body of MariLuz Cortés was found floating in the Rio Tinto estuary docks in Huelva, close to where she was kidnapped on 13th January. Mari Luz Cortés, 5 year old daughter of a gypsy pastor in Huelva, went missing on Sunday, 13th of January. She just nipped out to the sweet kiosk in the street for a packet of crisps. Huelva is just across the border from the Algarve, where British girl Madeleine went missing in May, 2007. Could there be a link? No one dared say, but MariLuz's parents rejected an offer to unite efforts in the hunt for the girls. Finally, on 26th March, convicted child abuser Santiago del Valle was arrested on charges of abusing and killing MariLuz. The case now throws up a pile of questions about how it was that del Valle was allowed to roam free despite a prison sentence for an earlier case which should have been executed. more >>

Elections 2008 - again hit by terrorism

After an intense campaign, affected at the last moment by a terrorist killing the Socialist party (PSOE) has won the general election. The opposition Partido Popular also gains seats (and votes). The minority parties failed miserably as a 2 party system is consolidated. However, neither the Congress nor the Senate see an overall majority. In the regional election in Andalusia there was an overall majority for the PSOE. more >>

Court allows objection to 'Citizenship' classes in school

4th March. The Andalusian High Court has admitted that parents have the right to 'concientious objection' to the socialist government's 'Education for Citizenship' subject. The subject is meant to cover those area of values and behaviour which allow people to live together in harmony and interact with wider society. However, the problem is that the socialist idea of values clashes fiercely with traditional Roman Catholic values, not to mention those of Muslims or Bible believing Evangelicals. Now the court has admitted the religious nature of many objections and thus permitted that parents have the right to withdraw their children from these classes. more >>

Socialists consider revision of Vatican agreements and Religious Freedom law in 2008 election manifesto

23rd October. The Socialist party (PSOE) is considering including the revision of the 1979 Concordat agreement between Spain and the Vatican, as well as the 1980 Religious Freedom Law in their 2008 general election manifesto. The Socialists are again moving towards a more 'lay' state, in which any religious expression is effectively sidelined. The PSOE is especially concerned that the Roman Catholic Church has excessive privileges in an increasingly 'plural' nation in terms of religious belief. more >>

Racist attack on Lewis Hamilton suggests wider problem in society

6th February. The BBC today published an article reflecting on the recent racist abuse hurled verbally at Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton at the Montmeló track in Barcelona. Read the BBC report here! Spain has proclaimed over recent years that it is very open to foreigners and is coping well with integrating them. However, the truth is perhaps a mixed bag going over many centuries. more >>

Catalan Infrastructure - Coming out of the Tunnel.

February 2008. Barcelona has had an horrendous past six months on the roads, rail ,in hospital and even at home! Power went down for 3 days in the summer, rail links were cut for up to 3 months and congestion has been the order of the day on the roads and in hospitals. Even schools have run out of supply teachers! However, on 5th February as the last of the cut rail lines was resumed, track and catenary testing began on the new AVE high speed line to Madrid in the tunnel into the city which had caused much of the traffic chaos. Plans are also afoot to take on many more medical and teaching staff in the coming few years. more >>

Expat life in Spain

4th February. The BBC has just published another article in their occasional series on living abroad. Read it here! More and more people are retiring to Spain or moving here for work or other reasons, but as you will see from the article, many never get integrated with the Spaniards, partly because they may live in areas, such as the Costa Blanca, where Spaniards appear increasingly scarce! more >>

News theme: Basque politics and ETA

Spain's peripheral regions, particularly Catalonia and the Basque Country, have never felt fully part of 'Spain'. History and language have parts to play in this situation. The result is that these regions have long desired high levels of autonomy or even independence. In the Basque Country, the existence of ETA, a terrorist organisation with a pseudo left-wing nationalist agenda, has forced all parties to consider the independence issue seriously. ETA started during the Franco dictatorship, but has resolutely refused to die before achieving its objectives, themselves more confused with the passing of time. Ceasefires and bombing campaigns have succeeded each other over the years. Meanwhile, democratic parties have taken their own positions on independence, with the governing centre-right Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), under the presidency of Lehendakari (regional president) Ibarretxe, leading the search for an agreed independence or high level of autonomy. more >>

News Theme, The immigration crisis

Desperation (AFP)

Reports, almost daily, of open boats known variously as pateras (coming from Marocco or Algeria) or cayucos (reaching the Canary islands from further south), combine with stories of illegal 'paperless' immigrants attempting to cross the fences at Ceuta and Melilla. Add to these high profile stories the situation of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans and Romanias, not to mention Asians and you have the appearance of a significant immigration crisis. Throw in the confusion and disagreement of politicians as to how to deal with the phenomenon and you have a real crisis. more >>

News theme: weather and winter travel

Spain is not, contrary to its image, permanent summer! The tourist season is limited, even at coastal areas, except in the Canary Islands, to half the year. Winter, especially inland, is far harsher than it is in (mostly) mild Britain, so far further north. more >>

More News

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

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