News, May 2011

On the move

We are on the move during much of May, including attendance at two national conferences. Updates will be sporadic. Please forgive the interruption. more >>

News from the Churches

First ever evangelical 'demonstration' protests against church building closures outside Madrid's city hall. Protestante Digital English service to relaunch in June. Canaries hear gospel. Easter day is day of prayer for the Basque Country. Churches threaten demonstrations over church building closures. Saturday 2nd was Spain Prayer day. Actualidad Evangelica web news service launched. Protestante Digital renewed - English service temporarily unavailable! MariLuz murder trial took place. Hospital chaplains finally at work in Madrid. This and more... Read on! more >>

May 27th, recent news round-up

Sport headlines

Nadal wins 7th Monte Carlo Masters, plus 6th Barcelona Open. Madrid beat Barcelona 1-0 in Cup final - Telegraph. Madrid and Barça draw 1-1 in league game - BBC. Madrid and Barça to meet twice more in coming fortnight - BBC. MotoGP circuit comes to Jerez - Lorenzo wins. Nadal beaten by Djokovic in Miami final. Jean-Pierre Dick wins Barcelona World Race. Spain beat Lithuania 1-3. Alonso 4th in Melbourne. Bikes: Terol wins 125 in Qatar, Lorenzo and Pedrosa runners up in GP. Djokovic beat Nadal at Indian Wells. Spain starts well in Davis Cup. Spanish committee absolve Alberto Contador of doping in Tour. more >>

Local Elections, May 2011

During May the political focus is on the local and regional elections, which take place on 22nd. National parties will be hoping for a foretaste of their desired national election result, as this must take place within a year. All local municipal councils will be re-elected and most regional governments also. more >>

MariLuz murder case closes with 22 years for Santiago del Valle.

The trial of Santiago del Valle, accused of the murder of MariLuz Cortés, daughter of an evangelical pastor, began on 16th February and came to sentencing on 18th March. The little girl (3 years old) went missing from her home in Huelva, Andalusia in January, 2008. Her body was discovered several weeks later thrown into the harbour close by. The killer, Santiago del Valle was sentenced to 18 years for murder and 3 for abuse. 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 >>