News, October 2008

October 31st, general news roundup.

Air Europa flight from Glasgow runs off runway at Lanzarote - none seriously hurt; 'Growth' was -0.2% in 3rd quarter (annualised +0.9%); 30th: ETA bombs Navarre University without warning - 17 injured - BBC report; snow falls at sea level on north coast (also close to Med.) as weather worsens - strong winds across country, some passes closed or require chains, Madrid radial routes hit by heavy rain; HCPI inflation rate falls to 3.6%; cayuco reaches Canaries with 126 migrants on board - 3 die on arrival; queen Sofía statement on homosexual marriage in new biography causes furore in gay movement; Spanish patrol plane prevents Somali pirate attack on tanker; 28th: 3 presumed ETA members arrested in Pamplona - 100 kg of explosives found; long standing pact between Partido Popular and Navarrese UPN ends as PP plans to open offices in region; Santander earns 6% more Jan to Sept; Social Security surplus grows 2.7% less Jan to Sept; 27th: Major pro-independence demonstrations in Basque Country on day the regional referendum should have happened - BBC report; severe storms 'cut off' Melilla (North African enclave), but security fence breached and attempted flood of migrants follows; cold weather and snow warning for coming days across peninsula; Civil Aviation department turns down permission to open Ciudad Real airport, Spain's first private airport, on environmental grounds - was due to open today; Santander may sell train leasing business in UK.

Other recent news includes: 24th: Unemployment up to 2.6 million (11.3%) in Q3, up 800,000 over year (EPA statistic); prince Felipe and Letizia in Asturias for Prince of Asturias prizes tonight - Rafa Nadal for Sport, Ingrid Betancourt for Concord, Margaret Attwood for letters, Google for Communication and Humanities, etc.. ; Ryanair to close Valencia routes - BBC report; derailed freight train closes Valencia - Barcelona line until after weekend; 23rd: Drug raid reveals robbers masquerading as police to steal from runners -BBC report; 22nd: Patera reaches Cabo de Gata (Almería) with 73 on board, including 20 women and 3 babies; Santander to help private banking subsidiary Banco Banif after 400M Lehman losses - first Spanish credit crunch casualty; Low cost international arrivals out perform traditional airlines for first time in Septmeber - of 5.9 million, 52% were with the likes of Ryan Air, Easy Jet and Air Berlin - Vueling reports profit up on last year; IBEX index falls 8% on Argentine nationalisation of pensions affectingBBVA subsidiary, Repsol and Telefónica also affected - BBC report; tickets for AC/DC concert (Barcelona, next March) sold out in first day; 21st: Judges and justice staff on strike over MariLuz case penalties, calling for resources to keep abreast of judicial backlog; Judge Garzón releases 12 under arrest on charge of aiding escape of 3-11 terrorists; Garzón's investigation into the crimes of the Franco era challenged by State prosecutor - BBC report; Congress approves bank support plan; Canada extradites ETA member Ivan Apaolaza, accused of terror acts around 2000; tourist arrivals down 6% in September; LTE another airline ceases business -BBC report - 800 British immediately affected.

16th: 8 detained in operation against Islamic terror - in Madrid, Barcelona and Andalusia; judge charges aircraft technicians with manslaughter in Spanair crash case - BBC report, The Times; concern grows over exposure of regional savings banks (Cajas to mortgages and constructors' loans; Fernando Savater wins Planeta novel prize - best endowed in Spanish speaking world; judge Garzón declares himself able to judge the crimes of the Franco regime; The Times reports on how Churchill bribed Franco's generals to stay out of WWII; 14th: First 'spare part' baby is born in Seville, genetically modified to ensure free of genetically transmitted illness (major beta-Thalassemia) which affected brother; SIMO technology fair (Madrid mid-November) cancelled, due to credit crunch - Microsoft, Telefónica, Toshiba among firms that had cancelled; president Zapatero meets with opposition leader Rajoy to gain support for crisis handling - agree parliamentary committee on economic structural reform and call the committee on Social Security and Pensions ('Pact of Toledo'); Zapatero accepts invitation to Cuba next year; number of unsold new homes to reach a million by year end average price down 5% in September; September inflation confirmed at 4.5%; weather warnings again in south; Spanish banks borrowed almost 50 billion from ECB in September; 2 injured in Spanair crash leave hospital; Phillip II exhibition opens in London at National Gallery - 2 more Spanish shows follow in 2009; 13th: 2 ships aground in Straits, one splits in 2 on rocks at Europa Point (Gibraltar) - Gibraltar government statement; Navarre party UPN breaks alliance with Partido Popular over 2009 budget; government announces lending guarantees for banks; IBEX market index bounces on economic rescue plans; Santander to invest 1250 million Euros more in Abbey and makes recommended offer for remaining 75% of New England bank Sovereign; Gas Natural puts prices up - in some cases 13%; Nissan announces 1680 redundancies in Barcelona; European traffic safety day - Spain needs to cut urban accidents, where half of all deaths occur, but road death rate is falling.

10th: Spanair crash was caused by faulty wing flaps - BBC report; storm and heavy rain hits Costa Blanca - British woman and daughter drown in attempt to cross stream at L'Ollería (Valencia) -BBC report, port of Valencia closed, up to 180 litres recorded on coast north of Alicante, Costa del Sol and Straits now threatened and Africa ferries suspended; IBEX market index falls almost 10%, depsite Spanish and international rescue efforts; 9th: 'The end is nigh'... Madrid bans 'human adverts' from streets; 8th: Spanair crash commission gives first findings: pilots did full pre-flight check and all appeared well - more on Friday, but final findings could take years (cf separate article, below); BA and Iberia pilots sign agreement on negotiating merger together; Mauritania holds fishing boat from Galicia; El Mundo reports on political parties' recruitment drive for foreign residents - over a million, including over 250,000 British, will have the vote in next year's elections - some could be elected; 7th: Government guarantees up to 100,000 €uros in bank accounts after Ecofin meeting, 30 billion promised to banks and savings banks; Supreme Court obliges Basque Police to swear allegiance to Spanish Constitution; 4 arrested in Pamplona for links with kale borroka (ETA related street violence); 12 sub-saharans attempt to cross Ceuta fence (into Spanish North African enclave) using ladders; 5 pateras with 54 migrants on board intercepted off Cartagena (Murcia), 2 more pateras with 16 migrants intercepted off Cabo de Gata (Almería); storm warning for Mediterranean areas - up to 200mm any time over next week; judge's secretary in MariLuz case suspended - strike called nationa-wide by colleagues; Banesto, bank owned by Santander, earns 12% more in first 3 quarters than last year; beams of Cordoba's Mosque Cathedral sold for 1.5 million Euros in auction at Christies, after Spain failed to establish ownership - Beckford Advisors, current 'owners' to make doantion to diocesan Cáritas - 2 capitals from Moorish palace Medina Azahara and a Koran also for sale - (cf lots 91-107); air passenger numbers down 10% in August, but rail up 4%, Ave high speed rail up 23%, showing impact of completed Barcelona-Madrid link; 6th: IBEX market index falls 6%, faring 'better' than other markets; president Zapatero meets with senior bankers to agree raising of bank deposit guarantee, to follow recommendations of Ecofin; some hope a financial amnesty could bring back 108 million 'Bin Laden' 500€ notes from the 'black economy' of property purchases, also that more of the (currently) 60% of rentals that go undeclared can become fully legal; judge Garzón handed list of 133,000 'missing' from Civil War; left wing leader Gaspar Llamazares resigns; ETA bomb explodes outside Basque court house - none hurt - BBC report.

[Image 90???]3rd: SEAT (car plant) lays off 750 workers until next June, while 3,900 go on 3 day week for 1 or 2 months; ETA suspect, Esteban Murillo Zuribi, arrested in France, while convict Elena Beloki released from jail for fertility treatment (see next headline!); 58% of young Spaniards have low quality semen - making fertility treatments more necessary - claims survey done by 60 clinics - Basque Country among worst regions, Galicia seems to be the best place to reproduce; new Nokia Xpress Music (iPhone look-alike) to get world launch in Spain, 1st December; 2nd: Congress supports one-off Social Security pay-outs for migrants returning home; 28 products from China, some 77,000 items, held in Toledo on suspicion of melamine contamination - to be examined in labs; 737 flight from Barcelona lands in Kaliningrad, Russia, without undercarriage - none hurt; Catalan Generalitat has almost double budget (157 million Euros) for Catalan language teaching as Instituto Cervantes for Spanish (81M€); richter scale 4.7 quake hits Andalusia; 1st: 121 arrested in largest ever internet child porn operation, including one intelligence officer -BBC report; migrant detention facilities overflow as 1839 migrants arrived in September (up from 835 in August); unemployment reaches 11.3%, or 2,625,368, up 3.7% since August and 608,000 more than in September 2007; house prices fell 0,3% overall in 2nd quarter - new homes up, but 2nd hand down (INE); September car sales down 32%; September 30th: Cayuco reaches Canaries with 230 on board, largest number for 14 years, including 25 minors - photos from El Mundo, BBC video report; a (smaller) patera also arrives with 100 on board; 29th: Santander buys branches from nationalised Bradford & Bingley to add to Abbey-Alliance & Leicester - BBC report, The Times comment, Financial Times.

Earlier news headlines: click here.