News, January 2009

January 30th, general news roundup.

Inflation down to 0.8% (AHCPI); drop in Euribor to 2.135% means average monthly mortgage repayment falls 200 Euros; ETA makes new statement in view of forthcoming Basque Country elections; McDonalds hopes to create 2,000 jobs in Spain this year; Catalan business group buys 80% of Spanair from SAS - without accumulated debt; number of Civil Servants rises to 3 million; furniture run in Valladolid as shop has 1€ offers; 24 detained in drug swoop; new storm warnin for Galicia this weekend; 28th: More bad economic news released: Iberia only just in profit, mortgages down 45% in November, car sales likely to fall another 23% this year, BBVA cuts dividend...; Santander to pay back initial deposit to all Madoff investors; arrests across Europe, including Spain, for falsification of Euro notes; 27th: Zapatero announces 1 billion Euro food help -over 5 years- for starving nations; Bad weather warning again across Spain, floods in Basque country; transport minister says sorry for Madrid snow chaos on 9th January, especially at airport; Camorra leaders arrested in Madrid; Zapatero answered public's questions on TVE - 3/4 viewers approve performance - hopes to see the light at the end of the tunnel by the end of the year; builder Nozar forced into suspension of payments by judge due to 4 billion Euro debt; 26th:

A Spanish (Osborne) bull in tatters after the storm - a symbol of the credit crunch, too? -photo EFE

Other recent news includes: 24th: Storm crosses Spain with 150 mph winds - 4 children die as roof blown from sport hall and wall falls in on them, others recovering well- AP7 closed in Alicante as major forest fire burns out of control - BBC report; police detain 8 would-be Basque politicians in pre-election ETA related arrests; king Juan Carlos visits Libya; 23rd: Year-end unemployment hit 14% according to the Statistics Institute's EAP survey 1.3 million more than at the end of 2007- The Economist reports; El Mundo claims over 800,000 families have no employed members; 21st: Judges call first ever strike for 18th February - over need for major changes to update system; Frigate Victoria to sail Friday for Somali piracy mission; new pro-ETA party D3M to attempt to get permission for March 1st Basque elections - government will try to stop it; ETA claims responsibility for killing of businessman Ignacio Uria in December - and threatens other builders of high speed rail link in Basque Country and news media - BBC report; 2 Mirage fighters crash in Albacete, killing 3 pilots - BBC report; 20th: San Sebastian (Basque Country) celebrates its Saint's day as 8m waves break along famous 'Shell' beach; storm and snow alert continues in 14 regions; PP leader Rajoy to visit Switzerland to gain votes from emigrants in Galicia's March 1st regional elections - 330,000 potential voters live abroad; Roca, leading bath and WC maker to lay off 2,000; Burberry also cuts Spanish jobs - BBC report; Social Security lost 4.6% of foreign contributors in 2008; treasury loans 4 billion to banks; 19th: Brussels pubishes depressing economic outlook for Spain:19% unemployment and -2% growth; one million long-term unemployed now have no Social Security benefits; Brussels agrees reform of Agriculture policy (CAP) leading to 10% cuts for Spanish farmers in 2012 - 900,000 farmers affected; Spanish bonds cut from AAA to AA+ - this will cost the state 170 million Euros; stormy, wintry weather returns to peninsula; El Mundo grumbles that the Olive Oil price has not fallen for consumers anything like as much as it has for producers - click here to buy from an evangelical shipper!

16th: ETA plants 2 bombs at TV repeater in Basque Country - both defused by police; new variable speed limits start on Barcelona urban motorways; government revises economic outlook for year, with lower growth (-1.6%) and higher unemployment - 16%; 15th: National inflation figure 1.4% for 2008 - hides serious inflation of mid-year; 2008 housing prices fell 2.8%; tourism takings fell 4.1%- 100,000 jobs threatened; defence minister Chacón visits Lebanon troops; weather offers reprieve for north and central Spain; old ETA explosives hide found after documents (taken in '05) finally deciphered; 13th: Anniversary of death of MariLuz Cortés, daughter of evangelical pastor at hands of convicted child molester who should have been in prison; judges threaten strike over conditions of work; snow again hits central and northern Spain; French police detain 2 ETA suspects; illegal migrant arrivals by patera fell 25% in 2008; finance minister Solbes says deficit to be more than EU maximum 3%; 12th: Freeze continues, with temperatures below -10 in central Spain; case withdrawn against Basque Lehendakari and other politicians in Batasuna talks over ETA BBC report; Police seize 4 tonnes of cocaine aboard speed-boat on Death Coast (Galicia); new AVE high speed rail service by-passing Madrid links Catalonia and Andalusia in one hour less, now under 6 hours to Seville and Malaga - AVE again carried more passengers than internal air flights during November.

9th: Street salt runs out in Madrid as 7cm snow brings city to standstill, airport closed, many major roads across Spain with difficulties -El Mundo photo report; industrial production fell 15% in November (cars down 40%, white goods -27%)- BBC report; another presumed ETA member arrested in France; former Colombian drug baron shot in hospital bed in Madrid -BBC report 8th: Unemployment rose 1 million in 2008 - to 3 million - December up 140,000 - BBC report, The Economist reports; Basque leaders in court for holding talks with terror organisation ETA -BBC report; 'summary secret' raised on MariLuz case one year after event - (cf News theme below); cold weather -snow and ice- continues to affect much of country - 45 (of 52) provinces on alert, even Mallorca gets 10cm snow on mountains; road toll- 104 dead over 3 week (20 day) Christmas holiday period; 7th: Sales start; winter weather affects north - many roads closed or need snow chains; survey among Partido Popular voters shows leader Rajoy is less popular than other PP figures; vice-President de la Vega visits India; Santander cuts dividend by 9%; 6th: 3 kings arrive again on time - much coal distributed among directors of property and building firms; El Niño lottery win again in Catalonia; 5th: Inflation ends year a 1.5%; Basque Lehendakari calls regional elections for 1st March - there will be elections in Galicia the same day; 92 dead over Christmas fortnight on roads; airport chaos continues, albeit not so badly, in the wake of Iberia pilots' go slow and air traffic controllers' strike; December car sales down 50% - 1.17 million over year.

Earlier news headlines: click here.