News, April 2008

April 30th, general news roundup.

Spain heads off for warm, sunny May Day weekend - 'monumental' traffic jams in Madrid from early morning; protests in Barcelona over new cycle rules; Madrid bus drivers return to work after 3 month dispute; Renfe raises rail fares; current account deficit up 6.9% in February; 29th: 75 arrested and 16,000 kg of hashish held in various operations; heavily pregnant Defence Minister Chacón visits Sarajevo; inflation slips to 4.2%; Banco Santander beats trend and raises profits 22%; former cabinet minister Zaplana resigns seat to become CEO Europe for Telefónica; BBC reports on low birth rate; 28th: Chacón visits Lebanon peace force - commander asks for updated equipment; fishing boat freed from Somali pirates - no official admission of ransom paid, possibly 1.2 million USD - BBC report; sunflower oil scare - due to a delivery from Ukraine in contaminated containers - now 'all under control'; National Statistics Institute (INE) confirms property sector slow-down at 24% in February - 38% in Mallorca; high speed regional AVE - Avant rail shuttles start service in Catalonia and Aragon; 11 bikers lose life over weekend; forest fire hits rare Garajonay national park in la Gomera, Canaries - 800 hectares lost.

Other recent news includes: 25th: Hernani town council (in Basque Country) fails to pass motion of no confidence in rule of pro-ETA ANV, as 2 far left EB councillors and one right wing PP abstain, with one EB vote against the motion - all 3 EB councillors now to be expelled from the national party; fishing boat held hostage by Somali pirates is again at sea; EPA survey places q1 unemployment at 9.6%, up 1/4 millon or 12.7% on year end - BBC report; rice could rise 30% in Spain; 24th: Leading hashish godfather, 'El Nene', arrested in Ceuta, after escaping from Moroccan jail - BBC report; government calls for UN anti-pirate force as Spanish ship follows French vessel captured by Somali pirates - warship and reconnaissance plane have gone to area - BBC report; Mallorca-based hotel chain Barceló plans to be all 4 and 5 star from 2010; 23rd: Cervantes Day; state surplus halved by construction crisis; Argentine poet Juan Gelman awarded Cervantes prize; El Prado gallery opens special 'Dos de mayo' Goya exhibition for 200th anniversary celebration; home sales 60% down, say builders - half million finished new homes still on books; 22nd: Air Europa pilots to strike 5th to 9th May over subcontracting of flights; recent rains fill reservoirs to 53%; 198 Spaniards investigated over Liechtenstein accounts; finance minister Solbes to lower growth expectations to 2.4% from 3.1%;

18th: 10 presumed members of ETA support group arrested; house prices rise by 3.8% in first quarter - first time below CPI in 11 years, but still a rise on the year; peninsula forecast to get more rain over weekend - Spaniards happy; government announces fiscal stimulus to keep economy going: 10 (US) billion Euros this year and 8 billion next; Ibex up; 17th: 7 Basque police slightly injured by ETA bomb trap -BBC report; 16th: Parliament officially opened; finance director of Gugenheim confesses to embezzlement -BBC report; director of Ascó nuclear power station (Catalonia) resigns after escape cover-up last November; record rain fall this week has brought national water reserves over 50%; government offers to pay for transfer of water from Ebro river to drought stricken Barcelona, but Aragon to challenge transfer in courts; 15th: Crowd tries to lynch brother of MariLuz killer; man arrested in Santomera, Murcia wandering with mother's decapitated head; Repsol announces major oil find in Brazil; Telefonica raises price of international calls; 14th: New cabinet sworn in - BBC report; new anti-speeding campaign by traffic police until 27th; 20% of road deaths so far this year were motorcyclists; IBEX continues fall.

12th: Zapatero sworn in and names new innovative cabinet - Carme Chacón is first woman Defence minister -and also pregnant, Cristina Garmendia becomes first Innovation Minister; 11th: Zapatero elected president (prime minister) in second vote; opposition leader Rajoy says agreement between 2 leading parties is essential for the coming parliament; inflation at 4.5% is worst for 13 years; employers' federation warns almost a million jobs are at risk in next 18 months and calls for flexibility; 9th: Zapatero fails to be elected as president in first round of voting by Congress - BBC report; investiture debate suggests less heated parliament than the last one; IMF lowers growth rate for Spain to 1.8%; cayuco reaches Grand Canary with 78 on board; floods in Andalusia, but drought holds Catalonia; 7th: 2 die of Mad Cow disease in Valladolid - new scare ruled out; rain across Spain is welcome after dry winter; judge in MariLuz case reprimanded for severe failure to do job; striking justice workers agree terms to return to work - subject to workers' meetings; Madrid buses on strike; BBVA warns of very low growth (below 2%) in coming 18 months and loss of 400,000 jobs in Construction - this will hit many Latin American evangelicals and other migrants.

3rd: Another court bungle lets GRAPO terrorist off 30 year sentence; confessions show MariLuz was dead within an hour; justice workers vote to continue strike; mayor of Torre Pacheco (Murcia) arrested on building license corruption charges; 800 tonnes of water from local hills daily lost to Barcelona through negligence, according to El Mundo; 'fregona' wet mop celebrates 50th anniversary; 2nd: Moroccan terro suspect arrested in Melilla - BBC report; budget airlines Clickair and Vueling agree to open merger talks; unemployment down 14,000; Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) refuses to support censure motion against pro-ETA party ANV in Mondragón, where ETA recently killed an ex socialist councillor - ANV rules in minority; EL País reveals that over 4 million CHF are blocked in Swiss bank accounts pending investigations about their relation with ETA; 1st: José Bono elected Speaker of Congress as the new Cortes gather for first time; car sales down 28% in March; Pedro Zaragoza, the man who made Benidorm, dies. Read The Economist's obituary.

Earlier news headlines: click here.