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News, August 2010August 13th, recent news round-upAir traffic controllers agree new job conditions; coach firm Auto-Res again on strike; Formentera, in Balearics, inaugurates 14 electric 'filling stations' for cars - free for rest of year; Q2 growth (0.2%) amongst worst in Europe; UK travel firm bust affects holidaymakers in Spain - Telegraph; 2 firefighters die in Galicia; 2 struck by lightning at beaches in Valencia and Costa Brava; 11th: Air traffic controllers return to negotiations - 'no August strike'; 7 Spaniards still missing in India floods; heat continues in south, with storms in NE; 93 migrants intercepted on pateras in 24 hours, the last 7 in 'toy boat'; government plans to 'recuperate' several suspended infrastructure projects; damp squib for electric car sales - just 16 so far this year - Guardian; 9th: Catalan Statute is 4 years old, despite recent set-backs; 26 die on roads over weekend - worst this year, including British babies - BBC, mother speaks to Telegraph - year-on-year road toll is 15% down; European bank says changes in Spanish banking are incomplete; 11 held for trafficking women between Catalonia and Canaries; 75 year old kills disabled sister before committing suicide; 2 Spaniards still missing in Kashmir floods; The Economist publishes graph of which nationalities never go to church - Spain in 6th place; princess Letizia skips protocol to visit old colleagues at the press room of the Royal Yacht Club, Palma, saying she doesn't miss the old job, but is "happy with my current work". Other recent news includes: 8th: Michelle Obama visits royal family in Mallorca before returning to Washington; USA, in annual human rights report, complains of discrimination in Mallorca and Catalonia due to insistence on regional Catalan language use; 6th: Economy grew 0.2% in Q2, after 0.1% in Q1, helped by buyers aiming to avoid July's 2% VAT hike; investor confidence grows: treasury places €3.5 billion of 3 year bonds at 2.3% - as against 3.3% in June; giant Picasso on show in London - BBC; Dalí exhibition opens in Atlanta - BBC; The Telegraph examines fascinating motives for taking the pligrims' road to Santiago; The Economist publishes a briefing on The Fate of Catholic Europe. 5th: Controllers bribed with offer of average €200,000 salary until 2013 - if they work properly without excessive sickness - strike decision postponed until Friday for negotiations; coach firm Auto Res /Avanza faces drivers' strike for 10 days from Friday; Cepsa refinery fire in Huelva causes 2 deaths; Barcelona police campaign against phoning from cars - 45 caught daily; last equestrian statue of Franco removed from Melilla barracks; Duchess of Alba and Javier Bardem (rather than his wife Pe Cruz!) among Vanity Fair's 45 best dressed people; July temperatures - 2nd hottest on record; Michelle Obama visits Granada's Alhambra (c.f. photo on home page); 4th: Air traffic Controllers to strike 14th to 16th - when 2500 flights should operate at Palma alone; Mallorca hotels fear for 2nd half reservations; Guardian offers travel alternatives for people needing to get to and from Spain during controllers' strike - see also our travel suggestions; Santander buys 318 UK branches from RBS; CIS voting intention survey shows opposition Partido Popular gains 6.3% lead over Socialists; president Zapatero celebrates 50th birthday; Michelle Obama arrives in Marbella - Telegraph; Telefonica buys social network Tuenti; 3rd: Two presumed ETA members arrested in Basque Country; unemployment down 74,000 in July to just over 3.9 million; air traffic controllers vote for strike action - possibly taken late August - Telegraph; Spanish frigate saves Norwegian tanker from Somali pirate attack off Aden; days before Michelle Obama arrives - USA withdraws warning against Spanish police 'racism' in dealing with Afro-Americans after 2 US agents were apparently detained and questioned without cause in Barcelona- Guardian; survey shows consumer confidence up in July; jelly fish also arrive - on Costa Blanca - Telegraph - first serious problems this year; 2nd: July 31st marked anniversary of last ETA deaths, with political representatives claiming ETA wants peace, while police fear the worst; Busiest traffic weekend of year, as holidaymakers make 'changeover', produces 20% rise in road toll, to 20 including 2 cyclists; July car sales down 24% due to VAT rise - they rose by the same amount in June; air traffic controllers threaten strike over extra rest decree; truckers threaten strike over proposed German-style tolls on 'free' dual carriageways; Michelle Obama expected this week in Marbella - Telegraph. July 30th: Holiday 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. 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