Spain's Socialist Government's first 100 days in power

Tomorrow  100 days will have passed since Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government's first day in power, and this morning  most Spanish papers make some comment or other about los primeros 100 dias de Zapatero.

El Mundo publishes a survey carried out last week with the following interesting results:

• 52.9% Spaniards have a good or very good opinion of their president and 43% think the Government's image is good or very good. 11% think it is poor or very poor.
• According to the survey, the majority of Spaniards support all of the  major decisions and policies undertaken by the Government since it took power (especially the Law against gender violence, and the withdrawal of Spanish troops from Irak).
• All members of Rodriguez Zapatero's Executive get high marks from the Spaniards interviewed. The best rating goes to Spain's first woman vice-president, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega who scores an unusually high 6.16. Pedro Solbes, Minister for Finance and second Vice President, comes second with 6.12 and the Defence Minister, Jose Bono, third with 6.02. 
• President Zapatero is the most popular leader of a political party. He scores 6.25. Mariano Rajoy, Aznar's succesor, scores 5.23.
• According to the survey, during their first 100 days in power the Socialists have increased their lead over the Popular Party, and if elections were held today they would obtain a slightly better result (43.8% compared to 42.6%) and the PP would obtain a slightly worse one (half a point).

Spain's biggest bank makes a bid for Abbey National.

According to reports in the Spanish press today, spokesmen from Spain's largest bank, the Banco Santander Central Hispano (BSCH), will make an official statement tomorrow about reports that it has made a formal bid to take over Britain's Abbey National Bank.

The Santander Central Hispano Bank has called an extraordinary meeting of its Board of Directors tomorrow, Sunday, to vote on whether or not to go ahead with the bid. BSCH sources  confirmed on Friday that  bank representatives had held talks with Abbey National directors, but they said that "at the moment it is impossible to determine whether or not our conversations will lead to a definite offer".

If the Santander Group does take over Abbey National, British people buying property in Spain could well benefit from the operation.  Spain's property market has been the subject of much speculation over the past few weeks, and soaring house prices certainly seem to have stabilised for the first time in 4 years, although they certainly are not coming down yet and, according to experts here, probably won't.

Already a partner of the Royal Bank of Scotland, if the Santander Central Hispano Bank does finally decide to buy Abbey National, British citizens wanting to finance the purchase of a holiday home in Spain will be able to do so without having to face extra costs coming from transferring money from one bank to another, mortgage etc. According to this Guardian article, the BSCH bank may even ask its Royal Bank of Scotland partners to run the British bank on its behalf.

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Spanish public funds paid US lobby for Aznar's medal

According to reports in Cadena Ser and El Pais today, Spain's former government paid 2.000.000 dollars of public money to a lobby company in the United States to get support for the award of the Congressional Gold Medal for ex president Aznar.

According to these reports, a contract was signed in secret just three months before the elections with money from the Foreign Ministry with a company called Piper Rudnick. A down payment of 700.000 dollars was given, and the contract established monthly payments from then on of 100.000 dollars until the final sum of 2.000.000 dollars was reached. The contract does not include a clause about what would happen in the event of the Popular Party losing the elections. The then Spanish Ambassador to the United States signed the contract and paid the first sum of 700.000 dollars.

According to the reports, the terms of the contract were that Piper Rudnick would "help the Government of Spain in public diplomacy and strategic communication" and would assist in "improving relations with the White House". Cadena Ser claims that in January the company informed the Spanish Government that its services that month included boosting attendance of congressmen to the speech to be made in February by Aznar in the US Congress, and contacting individually congressmen and senators to ask them to sign in favour of a resolution proposing the award of the Congress medal to Aznar.

Today when questioned by Spanish reporters, the then Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ana Palacio, confirmed that the contract did exist, but claimed that "all countries like us sign these kind of contracts". Apparantly Cadena Ser has also contacted the law company which signed the contract today, but they have declined to make any statement, referring journalists instead to the Spanish Embassy in Washington.

Primadomus Center in Relleu, Alicante

Yesterday Jane Goodall, the well known chimpanzee expert and chair of the AAP Foundation, visited the Valencian Regional Government to explain the Foundation's project to set up a sanctuary for exotic animals in the center of Relleu, a village near the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante.

The Primadomus Center being built in Relleu on the Costa Blanca will be a Life Time Care Center for apes and monkeys. The project is being developed by the Dutch non-profit organisation AAP, chaired by Jane Goodhall with close links with her own foundation, The Jane Goodall Institute. The AAP organization started 30 years ago taking in animals bought to Europe via illegal trade, and then abandoned by their owners (circus, small zoos, private collectors, animals used in laboratory experiments....). The Primadomus Lifetime Care Center will house those re-socialized groups of animals that can not be re-homed.

According to Jane Goodall, the AAP chose the Costa Blanca region as the ideal place to build the new center because of its climate, transport infrastructure, natural surroundings and its reputation for conserving species (the last reason is quite a surprising one given the frequent forest fires in this area Summer after Summer which are sometimes linked to real estate speculation and destroy the natural habitat of many wild species).

The Mayor of Relleu is firmly against the project, and started to block building plans last month, but last week Jane Goodall appealed to the Spanish Royal Family to put pressure on the local authorities to unblock the project. The Mayor has not explained publically why he opposes Primadomus. Whatever his reasons, the Valencian Government has rejected them, and after meeting with Jane Goodall yesterday, the Valencian Land Minister announced the regional government's firm support for the Center and he applauded Goodall's work, the Primadomus project and the choice to build it in the province of Alicante.

Jane Goodall was awarded Spain's Prince of Asturias Prize for Scientific Research in 2003.

Measures to tackle air pollution in Spain

The Spanish government has released draft legislation which should be in force by next year and aims at reducing Spanish air pollution as part of the global fight against climatic change. The Air Pollution Plan (Plan de Emisiones Contaminantes) represents the first serious attempt by a Spanish government to tackle the problem of air pollution in accordance with EU guidelines introduced to comply with the Kioto Agreement.

According the the draft legislation released yesterday, all industrial and energy plants will be assigned a fixed limit to the amount of polluting gases they are allowed to release into the atmosphere. If a company expects to exceed its authorised limit, it will have to either find ways of reducing the amount of gases, or it will have to apply to the future European institution in charge of making sure that the European Union complies with the limits laid down in the Kioto Agreement.

Spanish companies who fail to stick to the limits set down by the Plan will have to pay fines of up to 2 million euros and will risk forced closure for up to two years.

The Plan aims to stabilise emissions of carbon dioxide over the next 4 years, and then to start reducing emissions, so that by 2012 Spain can join other countries who have managed to comply with Kioto guidelines. At the moment, Spain is 40% over the CO2 limits and by 2010 it aims to reduce this to 15%.

11th March attacks - Spanish investigation commission

The Parliamentary commission set up to investigate the handling of the 11th March terrorist attacks in Madrid started questioning witnesses two days ago.

Although officially the Commission has been set up to find out exactly what can be done in the future to avoid or better manage terrorist attacks, rather than to signal political responsability, commentators are already drawing political conclusions and the big question being asked by many is did the Popular Party filter or omit information suggesting that Islamic terrorists were behind the attacks in the days following the bombing because of the general elections due to be held three days later.

Aznar, Acebes (the PP Interior Minister) and other PP government ministers appeared in press conferences and continued to indicate that all the evidence pointed at ETA, until the evening before the general elections were held, when the Interior Minister, Acebes, said that police were starting to investigate a possible Islamic connection although he insisted that ETA remained the prime suspect. That night, Acebes announced that the first arrests had been made in connection to the attack - a Morroccan man and two Asian men.

The evidence given by the first witnesses called before the parliamentary commission yesterday and the day before certainly seems to back the view that, for whatever reason, the Popular Party government ignored the fact that police started investigating the link with Islamic terrorist groups right from the start of their investigations. According to the head of the Interior Ministry's bomb disposal unit, the first declarations made by Acebes and Aznar accusing ETA for the attacks were made before experts had determined what kind of explosives were used in the bombs. The leader of the investigation, Jesus de la Morena, during his appearance said that there was a "storm of ideas" among police officials at their first emergency meeting after the attacks, and no conensus. Despite this, just an hour after the meeting concluded, Acebes appeared on television blaming ETA. And finally the director of a unit specialising in Islamic terrorismo declared before the commission yesterday that his team had already taken over the inquiry when the Spanish government continued to blame ETA.

The investigation continues.

See more information on the attack and how the Government reacted here: , , .

Spanish troops to go to Haití and Afghanistan

Yesterday following a heated debates (as usual), the Spanish parliament voted by 307 votes to 3 (Haiti) and 302 votes to 10 (Afghanistan) to support the Government's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan and to contribute to the UN plan for stability in Haiti by sending troops there too - the Spanish Government's wish to participate in the Haiti mission was hinted at over a month ago.

The Spanish president took advantage of the debate yesterday to announce his intention to change Spanish law, making it absolutely necessary for governments to seek the approvement of Congress before making the decision to participate in military and peace missions abroad. One of the reasons ex-president Aznar was criticised by so many sectors of Spanish society for his decision to involve Spain in the US-led invasion of Iraq was because he failed to seek the support of Parliament beforehand. Unlike Tony Blair, for example, who literally had to sweat it out for a whole day in the House of Commons to get parliament's approval to participate in the military operation, Aznar simply "informed" Spanish congress of his decision.

According to El Mundo today, democratic Spain has participated in 40 international missions, and Irak was the only one carried out without seeking Congress consent beforehand. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wants to prevent this from happening again by changing leglislation. All parties, except the PP, supported this motion yesterday, and the new law is expected to be passed in the coming weeks.

Spanish troops to go to Afghanistan and Haiti

Yesterday following a heated debates (as usual), the Spanish parliament voted by 307 votes to 3 (Haiti) and 302 votes to 10 (Afghanistan) to support the Government's decision to send more troops to Afghanistan and to contribute to the UN plan for stability in Haiti by sending troops there too - the Spanish Government's wish to participate in the Haiti mission was hinted at over a month ago.

The Spanish president took advantage of the debate yesterday to announce his intention to change Spanish law, making it absolutely necessary for governments to seek the approvement of Congress before making the decision to participate in military and peace missions abroad. One of the reasons ex-president Aznar was criticised by so many sectors of Spanish society for his decision to involve Spain in the US-led invasion of Iraq was because he failed to seek the support of Parliament beforehand. Unlike Tony Blair, for example, who literally had to sweat it out for a whole day in the House of Commons to get parliament's approval to participate in the military operation, Aznar simply "informed" Spanish congress of his decision.

According to El Mundo today, democratic Spain has participated in 40 international missions, and Irak was the only one carried out without seeking Congress consent beforehand. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wants to prevent this from happening again by changing leglislation. All parties, except the PP, supported this motion yesterday, and the new law is expected to be passed in the coming weeks.

Pamplona San Fermin fiestas: anti-bullfight protests

Today the traditional firework set off from the Town Hall marks the beginning of the San Fermín fiestas in Pamplona and yesterday over 200 anti-bullfighting protesters organized a demostration in the town asking for the fiestas to be cancelled.

The San Fermín fiestas are Pamplona's biggest tourist attraction and thousands of national and international visitors mix with local people each year. Each morning they run through the streets with the bulls due to appear that afternoon in the bullring, in a spectacle which is either enthralling (Hemingway of course was a big admirer of the Pamplona fiestas, as was Picasso) or sick, depending on your views on animal rights, blood sports and Spanish culture.

Last year protesters wanted to walk through Pamplona naked in protest to the fiestas, but police prevented the nude march. This year, police and protesters reached an agreement whereby the people taking part in the demo walked in minimum clothing (as opposed to stark naked)through the streets used each morning for the bull run, shouting "torture is not culture" ("tortura no es cultura") in direct reference to the main defence always put forward by supporters of bullfighting, who argue that bullfights form a central part of Spanish culture and tradition. One of the protesters is reported in El País as saying "Slaves and gladiators also formed part of a tradition, but that doesn't mean you can justify them". Although the protesters managed to get their voices heard and most Spanish papers this morning mention the demostration, it is of course doubtful that they will change the Pamplona fiestas. Barcelona is the only city in Spain whose municipal authorities have officially expressed their opposition to bullfighting.

Meanwhile, Pamplona's emergency medical services are preparing themselves for a busy few days. It is not uncommon for people to get injured or even killed during the bull runs (usually foreign participants), and this year the council has published special leaflets warning against the dangers of running along the streets to the bullring with the bulls ("people who run in the wrong way put their life and that of others at risk") and giving advice to newcomers on how to behave and where to run.

Heatwave in Spain

Spain is really really hot at the moment. After quite a mild, and uncharacteristically wet Spring, Summer has arrived with a vengeance and already some people have been admitted to hospital in the South suffering heat-related symptoms (see advice on how to survive the heat here).

Five provinces are under yellow alert at the moment - Ciudad Real, Albacete, Almería, Madrid and Seville - the first on the scale of 3 established by the government to cope with problems caused by the heat this Summer (yellow, for the first five days, red for the second five days and green if the heatwave goes on for longer than 10 days). Last Summer the number of deaths rose by 13.000 with respect to the previous Summer, and the Spanish Government wants to avoid similar figures this year with its "Prevention Plan".

Yesterday the Spanish Health Minister launched the Plan in a press conference. She said that social and health services of all areas that go into yellow alert will automatically be informed of the situation so that they prepare themselves to receive more patients and emergencies than usual. Areas that go into red alert will alert civil protection forces and in some cases as an extra precaution arrange for people most at risk (elderly sick and and mentally ill people) to be taken to air-conditioned accommodation. The government has signed agreements with the Red Cross, Caritas and the Spanish Federation of Municiples and Provinces so that these organizations can draw up a list of the people most at risk (especially elderly people who live on their own) and take special care of them.

A telephone has been set up to deal with any heat-related affairs, whether they are from people who just want to ask a question, or from someone reporting heat-related illness or death. The number is 902 22 22 92.

Some obvious precautions.

- Remember to drink much more during the heat, to avoid dehydration.
- Try to avoid going out during the day (between 12.00 and 17.00), take cool showers and keep your home or apartment or hotel room well ventilated.
- Eat lots of fruit and salads. Gazpacho is an ideal starter to a meal when it's hot. If you don't know how to make it, here's an easy gazpacho recipe. This lemon sorbet is very refreshing too.
- If you have got air conditioning - congratulations! But use it with care. The ideal temperature is about 22º so people shouldn't be tempted to put the air conditioning on too high. It is especially dangerous to get into a hot car, and turn the air conditioning on at under 20º - the change in temperature might be too much for your body to cope with. A more sensible way of cooling the car down after it has been parked under the hot sun, is to open all the car doors, turn the engine on, and put the airconditioning on at 22º for a few minutes before getting in. You can also use a cardboard sunshade when the car is parked. They can be bought at most big supermarkets and some beachy shops and stop the car from getting so hot.
- Don't do any sort of strenuous exercise outside. During the Summer the best exercise is swimming in the pool or sea, or walking. Only yesterday someone who was cycling during the hottest time of the day went into a coma and died in Castilla la Mancha.
- Avoid drinking too much alcohol because that dehydrates your body too. Go for cool fruit juices, limón granizado or alcohol-free beer instead. If you do want to enjoy some alcohol with your meal, why not try making sangría (recipe for sangría here), but add more ice than usual, so as to dilute it a bit more.