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News, February 2008More NewsA few more news items and where to find more news about Spain:Water reserves:[Image 49???]At the end of another 'hidrological year', we thank God for water! This year followed two years of drought. Mediterranean basin reserves were still very low in March. Then spring rains brought rain to the neediest regions in abundance. At 24th September the reservoirs had survived the summer well in most regions of the peninsula. [Image 59???]The total reserve was 46% of capacity (mid-October '06 40%) but only 39.3% (up from 31.4%) of drinking water capacity. Reserves, in October at the lowest ever, reached close to average after rainfall in the west filled some river systems to overflowing. However, the Mediterranean coast and Balearics remained in dire straits until Easter. Despite the spring rain, summer use again reduced levels to critical in some areas. In particular, the Jucar river reservoirs, feeding the Costa Blanca, had just 6.8% of capacity, the Segura (Mar Menor) had 2 13%, Malaga has 17% and the upper Tajo area, Spain's largest reservoir system, which could feed many parts of the south and east, had a mere 14.4%. Supplies human use over the summer have been secure, although some areas had to restrict agricultural use and power generation. Spain is one of Europe's top 'green' generators, partly due to the large number of reservoirs. But this green potential remains at the mercy of the weather. During late September, heavy rain fell in the South and East, even causing major floods in some localities. Let us hope some of this water reaches reservoirs. During October and eaarly November, high pressure over the Bay of Biscay left northern Spain unusually dry, but still hopeful of future rainfall to cover needs. In the hope that reserves and current rain are now sufficient in most regions to cover the coming months, we now leave this water watch until alarm is once again raised. In Mallorca, falls of over 200mm in the mountains on 15th April (2007) brought the reservoirs (only 2!) to overflowing for the first time in a decade. By early November, despite much autumn rain, reserves were back to 70%. TechnologyMost of our technology statistics have now been moved to a new page. Here are some of the key headlines:Spanish TV across the world: The Spanish national station TVE has an international service with two channels. TVE Internacional and Canal 24 Horas. TVEI includes the evangelical programme Buenas Noticias TV (which runs on Sundays). Programme: at this link. The menu offers programme (2 days in advance) and technological details. 93.9% of population have mobiles (cell phones) 6.4 million Spaniards have Internet access. By 2011, 80% could have it. El Mundo.es has over 10.7 million unique monthly visitors Annual visits for 2006 to P4S 38,750 (about 212,000 hits). The first half of 2007 saw more growth, with over 55,000 visits in the year to August, itself a poor month by recent standards, but with no day below the August '06 average number of visits. Old News archivePast news is not all forgotten by P4S! Such items as can be found on the news pages at the end of every month are being filed in our archives. Your response and concerns are also of interest to us. Don't hesitate to let us know them The Vademecum, Spain's oldest and most revered directory of churches has gone online. To find a church or other evangelical outfit near you click here! Finally, more news from the churches is always available at the Protestante Digital site. You can also listen to some reports and comment.This week on Protestante Digital: (29th February)Doing politics in the service of God (22nd) (15th): (8th:) (1st): |