News, September 2010

General Strike, 29th September

Travel to or within Spain on 29th September is significantly affected by the general strike. Be sure to check with your tour operator / airline to know if your plans may be affected. Government offices are also hit, together with schools, hospitals, etc.. Particularly in Madrid and other major cities. Most smaller places continue to work as normal. But it is reported that many fresh food shops and the central wholesale market in Madrid ran out of food last night as individuals stocked up! more >>

News from the Churches

This weekend brings Madrid a European preachers' conference, while OM ship Logos Hope visits the Canaries. New Bible now available. Summer outreaches now coming to an end - i.e. Decision in Fuengirola, Costa del Sol, OM in Galicia. Jimmy Carter opens new church building. Catalonia sets rules for new church buildings. Holy Land Theme Park coming to Mallorca! This and more... Read on! more >>

September 30th, recent news round-up

Government and unions to resume dialogue after general strike; Bank of Spain warns of fall back into recession during 3rd quarter (ending today); Moody downgrade of Spanish debt encourages markets: Guardian; following BA-Iberia merger, transatlantic pact with American confirmed, to start in October; 29th: General strike hits transport and major cities most - unions claim 70% success, while government says life goes on as usual - most news webs working normally - Telegraph, Guardian; gas prices to fall as light rises from 1st October; 3 more people arrested accused of ETA membership in Basque Country - Interior Ministry believes this was an attempt to remake a local 'commando'; presumed Al Quaeda terrorist arrested in Barcelona - BBC; inflation (Advance HCPI) up to 2%; Moodys downgrades Spanish debt - BBC as Treasury debt auction not fully covered at higher rate; Brussels approves Spanish subsidies on generators' use of home produced coal -only- until 2014; Rafa Nadal plants tree in Thailand against Climate Change; 28th: 7 ETA advisors arrested in Basque Country for relations with FARC terrorists in Colombia; parties finally agree new membership of Constitutional Court - a cause of friction during the Catalan Statute case; Civil Guard boats chased off Gibraltar sea by police - new border showdown; 27th: Malaya Case, largest corruption 'macro-trial' (95 cases) since democracy, involving former Marbella mayor and team, opens in Malaga - Guardian; Polish bus taking tourists home from Spanish holiday tour, crashes in Berlin - 13 dead - BBC; Zapatero to meet Pope on 7th November in Barcelona during Spanish visit; state deficit to August 42% less than last year; Menorca inventor launches Cry Translator App for iPhone, a must-have for anxious new parents. more >>

Sport headlines

Alonso wins in Singapore - 2nd in row. Nadal wins US Open - and thus Grand Slam. Vincenzo Nibali wind Vuelta. Basketball world cup: Spain reached 1/4 final to be beaten by Serbia. Lorenzo hangs on to MotoGP championship lead. July saw Spain's best ever month for sport. Spain win 1st World Cup. Nadal wins 2nd Wimbledon. Contador wins 3rd Tour. more >>

200th anniversary of opening of the Cortes de Cádiz

24th September. Today in Cádiz Spain is celebrating the 200th aniversary of its first democratic experiment. 200 years ago, 2 years after the defeat at nearby Trafalgar, with the Napoleonic wars still raging and just days after the Mexican declaration of independence, liberals from across Spain met in Cadiz to declare themselves the legitimate government of the country - which was largely controlled by the French and ruled by Napoleon's brother Joseph. 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 >>

The other 9/11: Catalonia's national day... and other September Fiestas

For Catalonia, September 11th marks not an event in recent American history, so much as an event of equally sad significance in the own history. On that date, in 1714, at the end of the war of the Spanish Succession, Catalonia fell to the advancing Borbon troops of Castille which took over the country and did away with the governing structures of Catalonia and the kingdom of Aragon which had existed since medieval times. more >>

News Theme, Late Summer in Spain and the Weather

During August, the main news concerning the weather tends to be the extreme heat and forest fires, causing loss of life as well as much damage to property. In September the main topic is late summer storms. But the most widely feared phenomenon is known as the 'Gota Fría'. 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 >>