News, January 2010

We wish you a Happy New Year!

Thank you for your support over the past year. We pray you will enjoy this Christmas and New Year period and find time to reflect on the wonder of the coming of Christ. May you be encouraged to continue praying for Spain over 2010. more >>

News from the Churches

Gospel Choir in Burgos

Church presentation on the issue of abortion broken up by women demonstrators. Meaning of Christmas - cancelled until 16th January due to bad weather, now a great success. Christmas TV Service on Christmas Eve seen by 275,000. 4880 shoeboxes sent to children in Sahara. 'Spain, we're praying for you' repeats event in March. 500 attend GBU Forum. Red box preachers ran successful marathon day. 450th anniversary of first Spanish evangelical martyrdom. This and more... Read on! more >>

January 29th, recent news round-up

Retirement to be delayed until 67; bad weather continues to affect much of Spain; 13 held in Internet child porn raids across country; 3 ETA weapons hides found in Basque Country; Arnaldo Otegi, ETA related political leader of Batasuna on trial; EPA employment survey shows 2009 ended with 18.8% unemployment (c.f BBC article, BBC video) - social security surplus fell over 40%, public debt grows to 11.4% of GDP, January inflation is 1.1%, IBEX market index ends month 9% below start; 26th: IMF forecasts continued recession this year, with 0.6% decline in GDP - only major industrialised economy to remain in the doldrums; Ertzaina (Basque police) detain five on ETA suspicion; cold and snow return to peninsula. more >>

Sport headlines

Nadal abandons against Murray in Melbourne 1/4 final. Nadal wins in Abu Dhabi, but takes 2nd place in Doha. Dakar now on. Barcelona wins Clubs World Cup in Abu Dhabi. Spain win Davis Cup. Spain gets 'easy' groups in football and basketball World Cups. Barcelona leads league. Madrid beat Marseille, Barcelona beat Kiev. La Vuelta 2010 presented. more >>

New abortion law in Congress

December. In November a new abortion law went before the Congress. This has been long months in the planning stage and finally comes to full political debate. With the Roman Catholic influenced Partido Popular on the opposition benches, the law faces a narrow victory. Main items are the closing of a clause which has allowed almost any woman to abort at any stage of pregnancy, but it now gives full freedom to abort up to 14 weeks. more >>

Inquisition museum opens

Early December saw the opening of the doors to the Castle of Saint George in Seville, former home of the Spanish Inquisition. more >>

News theme: weather and winter travel

Spain is not, contrary to its image, permanent summer! The tourist season is limited, even at coastal areas, except in the Canary Islands, to half the year. Winter, especially inland, is far harsher than it is in (mostly) mild Britain, so much further north. more >>

News Theme: The Economy

Unemployment in Spain (The Economist)

For the past few years Spain has been hitting headlines for above average growth and very high house price inflation. The end has now definitely arrived for the Spanish economic miracle, with Spain among the worst hit nations in Europe. 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 is heading for 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: Basque politics and ETA - 50 years on

31st July 2009 marks 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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