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News, May 2008More NewsA few more news items and where to find more news about Spain:Water reserves:[Image 49???]At the half way point of another 'hidrological year', we thank God for water! Many parts of Spain missed out on the autumn rains, which are the key to filling the reservoirs for the following summer, so the summer of 2008 is likely to be the right one for the Zaragoza Water Expo! A good 2006-7 followed two years of drought, but apart from rain in normally dry areas in the south east, the autumn of 2007 was exceptionally dry. At 24th September (end of the hydrological year) the reservoirs had survived the summer well in most regions. [Image 59???]The total reserve was 46% of capacity but only 39.3% of drinking water capacity. At 4th March, the level -which should have been far higher- was 44.9% total and 41% drinking water. Over Easter the upper Ebro almost flooded, feeding into the lower Ebro reservoirs, allowing the Catalan government to talk of pumping water from the river to help serve drought-ridden Barcelona. A debate is now heated over the project. Despite the autumn rain in the south east, as well as recent spring showers generally, levels remain critical here, as well as Catalonia. In particular, under 20% are the Jucar river reservoirs, feeding the Costa Blanca, with 11.8% of capacity, the Segura (Mar Menor) has 19%, the Segre basin in Catalonia has 14.1% and the upper Tajo area, Spain's largest reservoir system, which could feed many parts of the south and east, had a mere 10.4%, barely above the minimum allowed for transfers to other basins. 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. 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. A year on, despite much autumn rain, reserves are back to 80% and gradually falling. Forest fires are feared this summer. 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. In theory 101% of the population have mobiles (cell phones) 6.4 million Spaniards have Internet access. By 2011, 80% could have it. El Mundo.es has over 11 million unique monthly visitors Annual visits for 2006 to P4S 38,750 (about 212,000 hits) and continues gradually to grow. The current yearly total is running at rather over 57,000 visits, or 220,000 hits. 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: (9th May)Homeschooling couple speak to Basque MPs (2nd): |