News, February 2009

February 28th, general news roundup.

Day of reflection before elections in Basque Country and Galicia - some polls have suggested a swing to left in both regions; Briton injured attempting to defend woman from attack (by other Britons) in Marbella; Vodafone Spain to raise prices to maintain earnings; Thierry Henri supports Catalan claim to be a nation -Times report; 27th: Inflation: advance HCPI falls to 0.7%; customs sieze boat with 5 tonnes of cocaine close to Canaries - BBC report; mayor of Alcaucin, plus other 12, Costa del Sol, arrested on building permit corruption charges; skipper of patera which sank off Lanzarote (cf 16th) arrested - he has brought at least 5 groups of migrants before; ETA denounces 'political fraud' in Basque elections statement; Iberia profit falls 90% - BBC report, Acciona down 50%; civil service cuts job offers 42% for this year; Morocco jails Madrid bombing suspect, Saad Houssein, for 2003 Casablanca bombing; 26th: Operation Gürtel, the corruption scandal affecting opposition Partido Popular, continues to rumble as regional election campaigns draw to close in Galicia and Basque Country - PP accuse judge Garzón of clear socialist sympathy at critical political moment - The Economist reports; 34% less mortgages signed in 2008; power firm Endesa doubled profit, but oil major Repsol and Telefónica earned less; 25th: Car production (Jan) down 54%; in ETA trial, National Court absolves Olarra Guridi of supporting murder of judge Francisco Tomás y Valiente in 1996 for lack of proof; judge Garzón links 2 more Partido Popular politicians to political scandal; Ferrovial daughter BAA reports profit drop on passenger decline; heads of Iberia and BA meet to discuss merger attempt; Tecnocasa largest estate agency, to close half offices after losing 2.4 million, selling half as many homes as in 2007; 24th: Spain offers places for Guantanamo inmates, as foreign minister Moratinos meets Clinton - BBC report 23rd: Mariano Bermejo, justice minister resigns after recent shooting scandal- replaced as person in charge of relations with evangelicals (among other things) by Francisco Caamaño - BBC report; Penelope Cruz gets Oscar; ETA bombs new socialist office in Lazkao, Basque Country as regional election campaign moves into last week - BBC report; Italian power firm ENEL takes control of Endesa after buying Acciona stake - The Economist reports; 22 Spanish fishermen rescued by Canadian SAR off Newfoundland as boat sinks.

Other recent news includes: 18th: Spanish judges on strike - BBC report; Judge Garzón asked by public prosecutor to quit Partido Popular corruption case and hand investigation over to Madrid and Valencia courts; EU to fine Spain over excessive deficit -BBC report; president of EADS-Casa resigns in row with French and German colleagues; survey shows growing racism in youth; foreign minister Moratinos to visit State dept next Tuesday; 17th: Iberia pilots and judges to strike tomorrow; banned Basque party D3M continues to campaign for regional elections; King visits Trinidad; Iberdrola profit up 21% - due to Scottish Power and Energy East; 16th: Patera sinks off Lanzarote - 25 dead including 14 minors- 5 survive; 4 arrested for death of teenage girl in Seville; Santander defaults on repayment to clients in a mutual property fund - 43,000 affected; ING forced by crisis to cease sponsoring Alonso and Renault F1 team in 2010 - BBC; Madrid justice workers on strike until end of month.

13th: January inflation falls to 0.8%; Constitutional Court confirms illegality of pro-ETA parties D3M and Askatasuna in face of their attempt to contest Basque elections; Partido Popular reacts to judge Garzón's 'persecution' with criticism of mega-shoot with justice minister Bermejo in Andalusia; 12th: Spain officially in recession after Q3 1% GNP fall; Strawberry fields forever? BBC reports on struggle to make ends meet in downturn; Pakistan admits part in Bombay terror attack, but one terrorist came from Spain, with money, too; polls suggest swing to left in Galicia and Basque Country regional elections (1st March); over a metre of snow in the Pyrenees halts ski resorts, as avalanches forecast - rivers flood in Basque Country; blow to Darwin: Spanish scientists claim chimpanzees and humans are not so closely related, after all; 11th: Never, never... Christmas debt over-run doubles as 21 billion Euros in direct debit term payments returned to shops; Zapatero announces government department savings and more money for unemployed - opposition leader Rajoy says he called for this 3 months ago, and for a tax cut all round; PP also end Pact for Justice as judge Garzón investigates party corruption in Madrid; BBC reports on struggling Costa Fortune Brits as minister Gillian Merron visits Spain; 10th: Valuers Tinsa say home prices down 10% - with same again to go by Christmas - by mid-year there will be 1.5 million flats for sale; banned Basque parties appeal to Constitutional Court for admission to regional elections; judges' council representative says there is no framework requiring 'minimum service' during their Feb 18th strike - nor can they accept that the strike has been called, but others on the council claim this was not agreed; secret police and corruption scandals in Madrid Partido Popular continues to grab headlines - 34 charged with corruption - The Economist reports; 1084 auto industry workers to get EU lay-off funding - BBC report; congress rejects calls from communist parties to legislate on 'quick apostasy' method to 'change religion' - aimed at Catholic church; ex-president Suarez in hospital; 9th: ETA car bomb explodes outside Ferrovial hq (owner of BAA) in Madrid - none injured - BBC report - first attack in Madrid since December '06 airport bomb; High Court annuls candidatures of two pro-ETA lists for Basque Country elections (1st March); 200th anniversary of evolution; Penelope Cruz gets BAFTA award (supporting actress); 2 Catalan Mossos policemen injured in Latin gang fight in Barcelona; riot in Santaigo (Galicia) during bi-lingualism demonstration; cayuco with 74 on board reaches Tenerife - over 800 illegals have reached Canaries by sea so far this year, 3 dead; with the arrival of AVE high-speed rail service from Madrid to Barcelona, Malaga and Valladolid early last year, internal air travel fell 7%, as AVE use rose 25% - other forms of transport (local, bus, sea, regional rail) were roughly equal or slightly down - overall travel was slightly down - Economist background article, INE stats.

6th: Snow cuts passes and causes piles-ups on roads; 6 close to Partido Popular arrested for corruption in Madrid; Repsol announces oil discovery in Gulf of Mexico - 4th so far this year; 5th: Good energy news for customers struggling with higher electricity bills: bottled gas goes down in April; ETA incendiary device found in car in Salamanca; storms again across Spain; industrial production fell 20% in December INE pdf report; bank bad debts rise 3 times and expected to reach 8% by year end; yet another cayuco with 76 migrants spotted off Canaries; 4th: New snow and wind warning across peninsula; Global warning generates jobs: salt pans in Torrevieja, Alicante, take on extra workers to cope with demand from central Spain, Britain and even Sweden to thaw roads; 26m 13 cm (87 foot) was highest wave in most recent storm, 22km from Santander, Bay of Biscay, which tore weather buoy from sea bed anchorage; 25 arrested for high-tech home robberies; 7 arrested for robbing businessman at bank door; ETA hide discovered with old arms and explosives; numerous candidates for D3M, new Basque party, linked to old pro-ETA parties - attempts being made to make it illegal it before March 1st elections; human remains discovered during restoration work at Congress; cayuco reaches La Gomera, Canaries with 62 migrants, another one, with 60, rescued off grand Canary; Vatican 'secretary of state' Bertone makes official visit to Spain; Catalan education department proposes shorter summer holiday and a ski week in February; generator Iberdrola (owner of Scottish Power) to join joint venture with Suez and SSE to compete for nuclear reactors in UK - BBC comment; 3rd: Record rise in unemployment in January - 199,000 to over 3.3 million, or 14.4% - government now can't rule out 4 million -BBC report; unemployment pay is now above contributions, but only 2.3 million are on unemployment pay, leaving 1 million with nothing; government accuses banks -who just announced only slightly lower profits- of doing too little to help with the crisis; new Catalan owners of Spanair to move headquarters from Palma to Barcelona, but not administration - to the relief of staff - timetable and number of planes to be reduced; unemployed film critic 'stole' Goya film prize statue and handed it to El Mundo to highlight situation; 14 arrested in Al Quaida round-up; cayuco reaches Canaries with 3 dead migrants on board (74 survivors); 2nd: Ombudsman denounces abuse of minors in detention centres; 'experts' committee' recommends 14 weeks free abortion and up to 22 weeks when danger to mother's life; Arkaitz Goikoetxea, leader of 'Comando Vizkaya' of ETA condemned to 22 years for attack on police patrol; Camino triumphs in Goya film prizes; Car sales down 41% in January; missing 12 year old found safe and sound in Valencia; heavy snow did not stop Madrid on Sunday (for a change and unlike London) - BBC report.

Earlier news headlines: click here.