News, November 2008

November 28th, general news roundup.

HCPI falls to 2.4%; 60 Spaniards being flown home from Bombay; National Statistics Institute says 20% of poulation is below poverty level; 27th: Regional president of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, among guests at Oberoi hotel attacked by terrorists in Bombay -managed to escape before they took control and is now back in Spain- Spanish couple injured, Catalan Euro-deputy Guardans still affected, but safe; Catholic daily Irish News publishes call for return to Spain of ETA convict De Juana Chaos; Spanish journalist kidnapped in Somalia - BBC report; 26th: Bank robber dies in shoot-out in Alicante; snow still hampering traffic in north, more possible today close to Med. coast south to Almería; government stands by as calls rise to 'save' oil 'flag flyer' Repsol from Russian Lukoil, which is attempting to take 30% control without spending a cent, through a debt transfer with troubled builder Sacyr; government expects inflation to fall to 1% by July '09; next cabinet shake-up likely to see sport minister named (part of the Madrid 2016 Olympic bid); new Taliban video threatens Spain; 25th: Airport refuellers on partial strike - to be repeated 27th and 5th and 8th December (coinciding with long weekend) - Madrid and Barcelona not affected today; one dead due to bad weather in north; Spanish frigate Victoria to head EU piracy patrol off Somalia; OECD forecasts severe recession for Spain -BBC on the report; Santa Coloma cemetery goes solar -BBC report; 24th: Snow and gales sweep peninsula; arrested ETA terrorist Txeroki linked to Madrid airport and other killings -BBC report; archbishop Rouco calls to forgive and forget Franco's killings, as hopes go for recovery of victims in mass war graves -BBC report, Socialist General Secretary Blanco asks Catholic Church to stop making saints of Franco's supporters; Madrid doctors reconstruct breast with tissue from abdominal fat stem cells; cayuco with 71 on board reaches Tenerife; home sales down 30% in 3rd quarter; overnight stays in hotels down 5% in October; IBEX market index cheered by Citibank rescue and UK tax cuts.

Other recent news includes: 21st: 67 members arrested of group responsible for arranging 600 'marriages of convenience' to help migrants come to Spain; Cayuco with 61 migrants on board reaches La Gomera (Canaries); ETA bomb damages TV repeater close to Bilbao, Basque Country; Airbus temporarily closes Spanish factories for December; tax office to investigate all cash operations over 3,000€ to chase money laundering and undeclared property transactions; UK shareholders locked out of Santander share issue -BBC report; 20th: MariLuz killer del Valle had obsession with little girls since death of daughter; oil industry convulsion: Russian Lukoil close to buying 30% of Repsol from troubled builder Sacyr and savings bank La Caixa - government wants it to remain 'Spanish' -BBC report; IBEX market index falls below 8000; Treasury lends 2 billion to firms; British Sugar to buy Ebro Puleva sugar operation; 19th: Judge Garzón pulls out of opening war graves -BBC report, NYT, The Times; encyclopedia Espasa.com withdraws 5000 articles plagiarised from Wikipedia; Barcelona surgeons succeed in transplanting windpipe from stem cells -BBC report; 136 migrants reach Tenerife on board cayuco; Bank of Spain report sure Spain is going into recession -BBC report; 18th: Txeroki's arrest helped by NSA (US security agency) spying on his email; one of three Spanair technicians not to be imputed with crash responsibility; intellectual and artists produce manifesto in support of judge Garzón's controversial opening of war graves; woman dies in stampede on Melilla frontier with Morocco; scandal over cost of Miquel Barcelo's cupola for the Chamber for Human Rights at the UN in Geneva, opened today by King Juan Carlos - charged to Spanish development aid -BBC report; 17th: ETA military leader 'Txeroki' (pron Cherókee) arrested in France - BBC report NYT, The Times- false car plates gave him away; ex-con Chaos bailed by Belfast court and has limits placed on movement - facing new terror-related charges -BBC - Spain wants to extradite him - he's now on British social security - The Times reports; builder Tremón declares insolvency; 16 dead on roads over 'road toll remembrance' weekend; IBEX market index ignores World economic summit results with early fall; company Christmas party bookings down with lower cost menus.

14th: Almost a million residents of Mallorca and Menorca suffer blackout for hours after lightning hits power station; INE statistics confirm -0.2% GDP recession in q3; ETA convict Chaos will go to court in Belfast next Monday - ending hide and seek with Spanish justice; Gazprom makes offer for 20% of Repsol; Catalán Generalitat makes formal complaint to The Economist for criticism of Catalan Nationalism in special report on 7th November; 12th: October inflation confirmed at 3.6%; Iberia profits down 77% to September; Spanair technicians in dock today for August accident; 11th: 17 years for youths who killed homeless woman sleeping in Barcelona bank doorway; ETA ex-convict Chaos plans not to go to National Court for new trial; Sol Meliá hotel group earns 42% less to September; demonstrators against lay-offs at Nissan plant (Barcelona) stone HQ building; 10th: Zapatero wins place at G20 conference in Washington; cayuco with 123 reaches El Hierro (Canaries) - two dead; some 200 sub-Saharan migrants attempt to cross Melilla fence into North African enclave; 2 Spanish soldiers killed in Afghan car bomb, bringing total mission dead to 87 -BBC report; Grupo Santander -so far seen as Europe's strongest bank- announces rights issue, to increase capital by 25% -BBC report; Telefónica capitalisation beats Vodafone; new immigration row: ecologists, farmers, hunters and trippers at loggerheads over (Slovakian) bears in Spanish and French Pyrenees -BBC report. Don't missThe Economist's special report on Spain this week.

7th: Judge asks Spanair to identify mechanic who inspected slats responsible for 20th August crash; recently arrested ETA sympathisers released by France without charges; IMF forecasts 0.7% recession for Spain in 2009; Energy Commission proposes 31% rise in electricity prices, to break even - Industry Minister rejects this as outrageous; Spanish fishing boat sinks off Bermuda - 6 crew rescued; cayuco reaches Tenerife with 76 migrants; petrol prices fall below one Euro per litre; Prince Felipe visits Lebanon troops; BBC publishes list of most wanted Britons in Spain - 2 immediately arrested; The Economist publishes special report on Spain; 6th: Catalan Generalitat gives go-ahead to SEAT lay-offs; ETA calls for new round of 'negotiations' to grant independence to Basque Country; 248 intoxicated in Pamplona university by fumes indirectly caused by ETA car bomb (last week); 5th: Bin Laden's son requests asylum in Spain - BBC report - quick decision is no - he is not sufficiently threatened by his father's followers; 6 more ETA sympathisers arrested in France; cayuco reaches Tenerife with 65 on board, 20 minors; Spanair continues losing money; 4th: Almost 200,000 more go on dole - total 2.8 million; 11 suspected ETA sympathisers arrested in France; 2 families request permission to conceive cancer-free embryos; 3rd: Stormy weekend: serious damage after tornado hits Salou, Costa Dorada, ferries prevented entering Palma due to heavy seas, 20 dead on roads; unemployment may reach 1% next year; car sales down 40% in October BBC report; defence minister Chacón visits Somali pirate patrol hq; 1st president Zapatero continues campaign to join G20 meeting; Queen Sofia celebrates 70th birthday; 20th anniversary of first dead migrants in Straits - 11 died as patera overturned - up to 18,000 may have died since; passport offered to heirs of Civil War exiles - BBC report. Protestante Digital reports on 2nd edition of Delibes' book The Heretic, a novel telling the story of an evangelical burned for his faith by the Spanish Inquisition.

Earlier news headlines: click here.