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News, July 2010July 30th, recent news round-upHoliday changeover - 5 million trips by road to be made this weekend; Unemployment (EPA) up 32,000 in Q2 - that was 4.6 million looking for work, 1.3 million homes with no wage earner - government delays end of €428 post-dole support by 6 months; UNESCO finally convinced that high speed rail tunnel under Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona is no threat; Placido Domingo gets 28 minute ovation, including bull-fighter passes, in Madrid's Teatro Real after Simon Boccanegra performance; Mallorca's Banca March, heir to fortunes of Europe's most successful ever smuggler (Joan March), tops Spanish stress test for strength - Guardian; Mallorca holiday girl dies after tragic balcony fall - Telegraph; 29th: Congreso debates firing rules; July inflation (AHCPI) 1.9% - most of the 2% VAT hike; half year results: Telefonica earns 10% more, Repsol up 39%, most banks heavily increase reserves; 25 provinces over 40ºC; police happy with 2009 success against organised crime - 561 groups stopped, with over half of almost 6000 arrested being foreigners; 28th: Catalonia bans Spain's 'National Fiesta', bull fighting from 2012- Guardian - an earlier ban would entail vast compensation for organisers, Canaries already banned fights; heat wave returns, with 20 provinces over 40ºC; national deficit falls 25% in first half, or below 3% of GNP; Telefónica returns to agreement to buy rest of Brazil's Vivo mobile operator; Catalonia also passes law on new territorial division, despite recent Constitutional prohibition - of 7 new 'Vegueries' 4 can be implemented after the next elections, while 3 depend on national agreement on new provincial limits; 27th: World's first face transplantee gives press conference in Barcelona - Guardian; Treasury sells a full quota of bonds at lower rate; 6 members of trafficking mafia held for death of 10 migrants in patera last year; 26th: 2 Spaniards dead, 4 injured in Duisburg 'Love Parade' disaster - Telegraph; Spain celebrated St. James, national saint's day - The Guardian - the king begged the saint to help Spain come out of the crisis; Obama family expected to spend holidays in Marbella and Mallorca - Telegraph; protestant journalist Cesar Vidal recovers personal memoirs of 2nd Republic's president Alcalá-Zamora. Other recent news includes. 23rd: 5 Cajas fails EU stress tests - BBC; EU bans coal subsidies to Spanish mines - BBC; Spanish ambassador do Austria, also president of Mallorca FC, sacked for sexual harassment; 2 Spanish flagged boats to attempt to get to Gaza; Palau de la Musica Catalana reveals former director took 35 million Euros; candidates for military academy double due to crisis; police breath/ blood checks between 2008 and 2009 found 25% of drivers had consumed drugs; Lleida mosque closed for over-use Telegraph day before Love Parade disaster; 22nd: Catalonia notes with enthusiasm ICJ decision on Kosovo independence, while other parts of Spain are reserved - BBC; Flights again affected by French controllers' strike and Barcelona controllers' sickness - 100 flights delayed, 9 cancelled at Palma yesterday, 168 cancellations in all; Summer storm warning in 12 north eastern provinces; 20% infrastructure cuts to hit Catalonia, Aragon and Cantabria most, with 20 projects completely cancelled, others semi-privatised and/or delayed; tourist arrivals in 1st half down 1.8%, especially from Britain; 21st: Zapatero meets Catalan leader Montilla to discuss where next with regional home rule Statute; Senate rejects expenditure limit for 2011; flights hit double, with French controllers on strike; heavy traffic jams after 4 truck crash closed major coastal artery AP7 behind Barcelona four hours; Blanes, Costa Brava, rejects gay festival as being incompatible with family tourism - last year it was 'gay friendly' and lost visitors; stay-at-home Spaniards may save season in Benidorm - Guardian; Mallorca hotels offer 25% discounts on August bookings; border town La Línea considers toll for Gibraltar visitors as other sources of income dry up - Telegraph; Gallup survey shows Spaniards are not the happy people we believed - 17th in Europe, way behind Nordic lands, 43rd in world; 20th: Finance minister Salgado says all Spanish banks pass stress tests; Air traffic control continues to struggle with 'sickness' - Telegraph - pilots reject proposal to bring in military, reminding ministry of accident over France in 1973 in which 2 Spanish flights to Britain crashed; Socialist plan to resolve Catalan Statute problem defeated in Congress - nationalist parties sided with opposition; 19th: Half of Barcelona air traffic controllers off work sick - 2nd day of delays also affects other airports - government suspect foul play during pay negotiations; Madrid Metro workers agree deal and return to work; teenager dies as Barcelona fair attraction collapses; bad debts topped €100 billion for first time in May; British holidaymaker critical after Mallorca hotel fall - Telegraph; UK's Spanish 'second lady' gets thumbs up from press - Guardian. 16th: Catalan parties in parliament talks to agree plan to rescue home rule Statute, while in Madrid national and regional Socialists agree strategy; Home prices fall again (3.7%) in Q2 - but The Guardian warns against buying; Barclays reckon Spanish Caja savings banks need 36 billion Euros in new capital, following US stress test rules; police report Ecstasy sales reach 40,000 pills daily in Ibiza - Telegraph; German zoo refuses transfer of octopus Paul - BBC; Congress discuss 'voluntary' ban on prostitution ads in press - Guardian; 15th: Madrid zoo wants 'transfer' for World Cup octopus Paul - Telegraph; BA - Iberia airline merger approved by EU BBC; 14th: State of Nation debate today; Constitutional Court to decide on possible suspension of new abortion law; Madrid metro again on strike; banks owe ECB 126 billion Euros, up 50% over May; 13th: 7 exiled Cuban political prisoners reach Madrid - BBC, The Guardian; Queen Sofia opens 'Human evolution museum at Atapuerca, Burgos; Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem marry in Bahamas private ceremony - BBC, Telegraph; world's largest solar power station opens in Extremadura - The Guardian; local councils face funding difficulties as government bans borrowing from new Year, plus bank limits now - Telegraph; CPI confirmed at 1.5%; 12th: Spain celebrates World Cup victory - BBC match report, Telegraph, celebration parade this afternoon in Madrid; Zapatero to meet Catalan leader Montilla next week to discuss future for region and its Statute of autonomy after decision of Constitutional Court and Saturday's mass rally against limiting home rule; 17 released Cuban dissidents expected soon in Madrid (of 52 promised last week to foreign minister Moratinos) - BBC; May home sales up 12%, possibly influenced by July VAT rise; Santander buys SEB bank branches in Germany. 10th: Between 1.1 and 1.5 million demonstrate in Barcelona against cuts in their regional home rule - BBC; whatever happens tomorrow, Spain will lag behind Holland and Germany economically - BBC's Gavin Hewitt; competition authoriries to investigate ferry fares to Balearic islands; 9th: Valencia to give 'ethical advice' to women seeking abortion; Spain offers to take 52 political prisoners who may be freed by Cuba - Telegraph; prince Felipe and Letizia fly to South Africa, while media attention on German octopus prophecy of Spanish win - BBC; Constitutional Court reveals more information about Catalan Statute interpretation; survey shows car dealers surviving due to 44% rise in maintenance charges since 2005; 2 Britons gored at San Fermin bull run in Pamplona - Telegraph, photo; 8th: Spain celebrate reaching final in typical style - BBC - queen Sofia saw match and will stay until Sunday's final against Netherlands; Sunday's game to coincide with total eclipse; heat wave -up to 44ºC today- reaches 39 provinces; EU decision allows Telefónica to buy out Portugal's holding in Brazil's Vivo mobile operator - BBC; 7th: All eyes on World Cup semi final against Germany; 4 Spanish aid workers die in Peru road accident; Foreign Minister Moratinos in Cuba, can't visit political prisoners, but may help to get release of some - BBC, hopes are high for the mediating role of the Cuban Catholic church; heat wave reaches 28 provinces (over half Spain); new debt law requires public administration to pay all bills in 30 days, 60 days for firms; new law on publicly owned Caja savings banks to require 50% private capital; market cheer: finance ministry gets double orders for 6 billion Euro 10-year bond placement at just under 5%; 6th: San Fermin bull-running fiestas start in Pamplona, Navarre - Telegraph; Navarre and Murcia refuse to properly implement new abortion law; president Zapatero faces grilling in Strasbourg over 6 month Spanish EU presidency just completed; first Mallorcan politician behind bars for corruption - a handful of cases remain in courts; heat wave affects more provinces; 5th: Free abortion available on Social Security from today; 16 provinces on heat wave alert - with even higher temperatures coming to most areas later in the week; El Mundo announces imminent arrival in Spain of first 'gay church', the Metropolitan Community Church; government savings to include €1.3 billion reducing renewables subsidies, especially for wind power; teenager gored to death on eve of San Fermin fiestas in Pamplona - Telegraph. 2nd: Unemployment falls more than expected to below 4 million; summer holidays start for many today - jams on main routes expected; with tax returns now in, 2/3 of tax payers have under 21,000 €uros gross annual income; meanwhile, 3000 investigated for Swiss bank accounts - Telegraph; Felix Pons, president of Congress 1986-1995, dies in Mallorca; rail operator Renfe postpones order for high speed Ave trains for use on French routes - it will start operations in 2012, passengers having to transfer at the frontier to SNCF units - €270 million saved; Renfe to close unprofitable routes and services not subsidised and declared 'of public service'; Madrid Metro strike continues; lightning paralyses local bus in Zaragoza - none injured; Salou is first major resort to insist on full shirt tops on streets - Telegraph; 1st: VAT rises 2% to 18% - June car sales up 25%; Summer sales open with up to 70% discounts; summer heat everywhere except Galicia; home minister Rubalcaba warns that Basque terror group ETA likes summer months to bomb and kill; police close 7 Chinese brothels in Madrid - 11 arrested; new home prices stabilise, with 0.8% fall in first half; EU visitors to Spain face mobile phone data service cuts under new EU data roaming rules to avoid shock bills - BBC; June 30th: Constitutional Court accepts for examination the new abortion law at request of opposition Partido Popular; Placido Domingo makes London debut in Simon Boccanegra - BBC; 29th: Madrid metro on all-out strike - no 'minimum service' - city chaos - BBC, Basque Country sees general strike, some rail services around Barcelona also on strike; Advance HCPI down to 1.5% due to lower fuel prices; 'gay marriage' celebrates 5 years - 2% of marriages are homosexual; 33,000 got divorced in first quarter; 2009 was first year that more were married in registry offices than in church; PWC report shows Spanish bad loans half those of German banks; explosion at Civil Guard academy near Madrid - cause unknown; 28th: Constitutional Court declares several clauses in Catalan Statue of Autonomy to be unconstitutional - mass demonstrations expected, although region recognised as 'Nation' - Telegraph, The Economist; Rafa Nadal among notorious signatures on letter welcoming Pope to Spain in November. 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