News, December 2010

We wish you a very Happy Christmas!

We are now closed until the New Year. We also regret our inability to keep you up to date more >>

News from the Churches

8000m2 awarded to evangelical foundation for school near Seville. Lleida city council closes 5 churches and opens case studies on 3 more; MyHope - TV campaign through home groups launched for Christmas 2011 splash. Betel association and Madrid City Mission celebrate 25th anniversaries. Micah Challenge comes to Spain. Holy Land Theme Park coming to Mallorca! This and more... Read on! more >>

December 15th, recent news round-up

Icy, windy weather spreads across Spain - even Mallorca sees roads closed by snow, Menorca cut off by sea; Man shoots 4 people dead in Olot (Catalonia) - BBC; Moodys to reconsider Spain's credit worthiness, especially that of regional governments - Telegraph, Robert Peston (BBC), (radio comment), Telegraph on Spanish industrial boost plans; fears that power bills could rise by 10% in January; November CPI (inflation) confirmed at 2.3%; Defence ministry to train military controllers for civil airports (in case another strike should occur); prince Felipe and Letizia inaugurate Madrid-Albacete AVE high speed rail link; Inditex owner of Zara increases profit by 42%; 14th: Ministry to outsource air traffic control at 13 airports in 2011 and the rest in 2012 - 'to break the monopoly of AENA, whose controllers are now working under military orders following their wildcat strike over the recent long weekend 3rd to 8th; IATA supports government's extension of state of emergency in air traffic control; Treasury bond auction fully sold, but rate rises again - BBC; Telegraph publishes new report on paper property scandal involving Britons losing millions; Guardian reports on how Spain attempts to keep men away from battered partners; 13th: Baby born on patera crossing from Morocco to Spain - Guardian; opening of new France-Germany high speed rail bridge (BBC) opens potential of Barcelona-Berlin services - from 19th, twice daily 7.5 hour TGV service opens from Barcelona via Figueres (change trains) to Paris, also Madrid - Valencia in 1.5 hours (15 services daily); October home sales fell to record low of 27,200; 4% less abortions performed in 2009 - year of legalisation of the day after pill - total fell to 111,482. more >>

Sport headlines

World 300m hurdles champion Marta Domínguez suspended for implication in doping scandal. Barcelona leads Primera after thrashing Madrid 5-0. MotoGP ends with Spaniards in 1-2 position in all 3 categories. Barcelona and Valencia through to Champions' League knockout. Marc Coma world champion of Raids. Women win bronze in basketball world cup. Alonso closely misses F1 championship in last race thriller. Nadal fails to beat Federer at London Masters finals after marathon semis against Murray. Alberto Contador faces Tour doping enquiry. more >>

November media focus on Barcelona

The Sagrada Familia Cathedral - as seen by Spiderman!

This November sees two important events in Barcelona for the media. On 7th Pope Benedict opened the Sagrada Familia cathedral. On 28th there are regional elections in Catalonia. more >>

AVE tunnel passes Sagrada Familia Cathedral

[Image 102???]15th October. Reports from Barcelona say that the machines tunnelling below the city have passed within metres of the famous Sagrada Familia Cathedral, due to be consecrated by Pope Benedict in November. It is coincidental that this news comes the same day that the Gotthard Base tunnel broke through below the Alps in Switzerland, but both events speak for substantial and rapid economic and social change in Europe, overseen by a rather sedentary Christian scene. more >>

General Strike, 29th September

The first general strike under the Zapatero presidency took place on September 29th. Travel to or within Spain on 29th September was significantly affected, together with ports and industry, especially car builders. Ryanair cancelled all flights at Palma, but other airlines worked more or less normally, albeit with delays. Government offices were also hit, together with schools, hospitals, etc.. Particularly in Madrid and other major cities. Most smaller places continued to work as normal. But it was reported that many fresh food shops and the central wholesale market in Madrid ran out of food the previous night as individuals stocked up! more >>

New abortion law goes into practice

On July 5th the new abortion law began its life. What was until now a crime, is now 'a right' in the first 14 weeks. Girls over 16 will get abortions without parental permission free on the Social Security, even though many abortions will still be undertaken in private clinics on the government's behalf. This is due to the fact that many Social Security gynaecologists are 'conscientious objectors'. However, the Constitutional Court has taken their complaints into consideration and accepted the request of the opposition Partido Popular to consider the legitimacy of the law. This has not held up its introduction. more >>

News Theme: The Economy

[Image 96???]During the decade until 2007 Spain was seen as enjoying an economic miracle. Now Spain is among the worst hit nations in Europe, with economist all over the world, not least in Spain itself, hitting hard at the government for its policies. World economic woes are certainly affecting Spain, but it is suffering more due to local matters. Several billion Euros have now been thrown by the government at the problem, but unemployment reached over 4 million, or virtually 20% by the end of 2009. Experts believe the government is not adopting the best policies to get Spain back to work. We offer our view. more >>

News theme: Corruption

At PrayforSpain we do not regularly report on a topic which sadly generates Spanish newspaper headlines every day, that of corruption. During the construction boom of the past decade there appear to have been many occurrences of builders making friends with municipal and regional politicians and civil servants responsible for planning and finances. A multitude of cases have come to court, with new arrests or revelations seemingly almost daily. But the most extraordinary case appears to be that of the director of the Palau de la Música Catalana, a concert hall in Barcelona. He turned himself in for having embezzled millions of Euros unknown to anyone and apparently providing finance for a foundation close to a political party, as well as feathering his own nest. more >>

News theme: Basque politics and ETA - 50 years on

On 5th September 2010 ETA announced another ceasefire. Acclaimed in a few circles, this is rejected as meaningless by the majority of commentators. It is now over a year since the last killing. 31st July 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of ETA's terror campaign. To mark it, ETA planted a bomb outside a Civil Guard barracks in Burgos on 29th and under a patrol car in Mallorca on 30th, the latter causing two deaths. ETA is still alive and killing, but has achieved nothing useful for the Basques they claim to represent. On 19th June '09 ETA killed again. Here we offer some background thoughts to the problem. more >>

News Theme, The immigration crisis

Desperation (AFP)

Reports, almost daily, of open boats known variously as pateras (coming from Marrocco or Algeria) or larger cayucos (reaching the Canary islands from further south), combine with stories of illegal 'paperless' immigrants attempting to cross the fences at Ceuta and Melilla. Add to these high profile stories the situation of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans and Romanians, not to mention Asians and you have the appearance of a significant immigration crisis. Throw in the confusion and disagreement of politicians as to how to deal with the phenomenon and you have a real crisis, now doubly significant as the jobs they are hoping for have dried up. more >>

More News

A few more news items and where to find more news about Spain:

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