e-Government in Spain

The Spanish Government has launched a 84 million Euro e-government plan for the next three years to bring public administration closer to citizens.

According to Public Administration Minister Jordi Sevilla, the “Public Administration Technological Modernisation Plan 2004-2007” aims to “connect administrations and connect people” while reducing bureaucracy (Spanish bureaucracy is always time-consuming and often quite baffling), simplifying procedures and eliminating unjustified delays. One of the plan’s goals is to do away with 80% of the certificates currently requested from citizens by the public bodies and to set up an electronic system for the safe exchange of data between administrations.

The new plan includes 43 projects with some major initiatives such as the future electronic ID card – to be phased in from 2005 and to be used for electronic signatures and online transactions between citizens and government – and the launch of a new e-government portal, Ciudadano.es (“Citizen.es”).

If all the projects are carried out, the public administration in Spain will be completely transformed over the next three years. And hundreds of thousands of civil servants will be left with very little to do during their working day. 2.2 million Spaniards are employed by the public sector (including state health and education).

Unemployment and terrorism Spaniards biggest concerns

According to the latest survey carried out by the CIS (Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas), unemployment and terrorism head the list of Spaniard's major concerns (62.6% and 44.4% respectively), as they did last July when the last survey was published. Immigration (21.9%) has risen to third place, and the price of property in Spain (19.4%) has dropped to fourth. Other national issues worrying Spaniards are safety (17.7%), the economy (12.4%), drugs (10.3%), political problems (7.4%) and domestic violence (4%).

When asked what problems most affect their personal life, unemployment continues to be the major problem (33.4%), economic worries comes second (19.3%) and housing third (18.2%).

The report is based on the results of 2,487 personal inteviews carried out in 168 different towns representing all the provinces in Spain. The margen of error is calculated to be plus or minus 2%.

Recent related news items:

• ETA terrorists arrested in France
• Unemployment in Spain
• Housing prices in Spain expected to rise 15%
• Mortgages in Spain
• Reform of immigration laws in Spain
• New Spanish immigration laws
• Drugs in Spain
• ETA targets tourist areas in Spain
• Housing prices in Spain still rising
• Future law to tackle domestic violence in Spain
• Property market in Spain
• ETA terrorism
• Anti-terrorism reforms in Spain
• OECD Report on housing prices in Spain
• Property in Spain

Future of Gibraltar

Jack Straw visited Spain yesterday and attended a meeting with the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, to discuss, among other issues, Gibraltar. The ministers agreed to open a new programme of talks about the future of Gibraltar which would have an open agenda. For the first time in the long history of bilateral talks about the sovereignty of the Rock, the Gibraltan governing party will be invited to participate in talks, and local opinion of Gibraltans will be taken into account. Meanwhile, the Spanish Government will "suspend" all sovereignty claims and concentrate on building confidence with Gibraltans.

This is the first time the Spanish and British governments have discussed Gibraltar since they fell out about the way celebrations of Gibraltar's 300 anniversary of British rule were handled this Summer. The Spanish government criticised the visits to Gibraltar of Hoon in August and Princess Anne, in June. According to the Spanish media this morning, Jack Straw told reporters that he had discussed the outcome of the meeting with the Chief Minister of Gibraltar, Peter Caruana, who had said he was "totally satisfied" with the agreement.

The Gibraltan press this morning are also pleased with the outcome of the talks:

• "In the most important development on the Gibraltar question in decades Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary, and his Spanish counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos meeting in Madrid signalled what could be the start of a new process and the end of the so called 'Brussels process' - talks with an open agenda in which Gibraltar would have its voice. The statement not only echoes the often stated position of Chief Minister Peter Caruana but the Foreign Secretary confirmed that Mr Caruana had been consulted throughout on the statement yesterday afternoon. The "modalities" for this dialogue are to be agreed "by all the concerned parties", The Gibraltar Chronicle
• "The Spanish government have seen that Gibraltar is in no mood to accept a severeignty deal and take the view that a confrontational line will go nowhere.....It follows that the priority now will be to remove restrictions, having recognised that a hostile attitude by Madrid gets them nowhere", Panorama, Gibraltar's Daily.

Other issues agreed on during the meeting included use of Spanish airports for planes carrying passengers travelling to Gibraltar, use of Spanish ports for cruisers which stop off at Gibraltar, and further discussion of the problem of payment of pensions to Spanish pensioners who live in Gibraltar.

Telefonica Internet Services

Yesterday Telefonica, Spain's leading telephone company, announced that it is going to slash broad-band internet access prices in a move to consolidate its control over other Spanish Internet providers. The move is excellent news for people in Spain who rely on Internet to keep in touch with news, events and family abroad.

More than 3 million Internet users in Spain pay between 29 and 100 euros per month for their broadband conexion. Telefonica representatives yesterday said that the company plans to offer a new Internet service for just 9.9 euros per month. This is the last in a series of special offers launched by Telefonica to capture the ADSL market. The first, last month, was a special offer whereby users were given the chance to double the speed of their broadband conection at no cost at all. The second was a offer whereby consumers were offered the chance to purchase ADSL line plus a computer in one special package.

But it is its most recent offer which will probably prove to be the beginning of a new commercial battle between Telefonica and its competitors and will hopefully bring prices further down to the ultimate benefit of consumers.

Telefonica's new plan, called "Tailor-made Internet", offers customers a minimum of 11 hours of broadband Internet connection per month for 9.9 euros. Customers wanting more than just 11 hours can upgrade to another plan offering broadband access from nine p.m. to eight a.m from Monday to Friday. This second plan costs 12 euros and is expected to be extremely popular among families with teenage children who increasingly turn to the Internet for help with their studies aswell as for an extension to their social life.

Telefonica's latest move is expected to result in increased Internet traffic in Spain (Spain is at the rear end of the EU league table of number of Internet users) as more people will be able to afford a quicker connection.

Related stories:
ecommerce in Spain

New driving laws in Spain

Last week the Spanish government passed new legislation aimed at reducing Spain's terrible record of traffic accidents and road safety. Here is a summary of the new traffic legislation in Spain based on the new "points" system:

From now on there will be three main categories of drivers:
"Normal" - 12 points
"New drivers" - drivers with less than 3 years experience - 8 points
"Veterans" - drivers who have lost all their points and have got a new licence - 8 points.

How to win back points:
If drivers successfully complete a course of "sensibilización and reeducación" they will be awarded 4 points.
If drivers drive for three years without committing any breach of conduct they will win back all their points.

Points lost for bad driving:

Drivers lose 6 points for:

• Driving under the influence of alcohol (>0,75 mg/l).
• Driving under the influence of drugs
• Refusing to undergo breath tests
• Driving in the wrong direction
• Driving in unauthorised races or competitions
• Dangerous driving
• Driving vehicles which are not permitted on motorways
• Speeding over 50% or 30 km over the authorised speed

Drivers lose 4 points for:

• Driving under the influence of alcohol ((0,25-0,75 mg/l)
• Driving a vehicle with too many passengers (50% more than the authorised limit)
• Driving in parallel with other vehicles
• Driving a vehicle with no registration plate
• Driving a vehicle which has not passed its MOT
• Driving irresponsibly
• Speeding (over 40-50 km the limit)
• Failing to respect right of way
• Failing to respect a STOP sign
• Failing to respect overtaking laws
• Changing direction in dangerous situations, such as tunnels, junctions, motorways and roads where overtaking is forbidden.
• Reversing on motorways
• Accelerating to prevent other vehicles from overtaking
• Overtaking on bends or when visibility is reduced
• Failure to obey traffic police
• Failure to obey traffic lights.

Drivers lose 3 points for:

• Speeding
• Not respecting distances with vehicles in front
• Driving without lights
• Driving with lights which dazzle other drivers
• Driving while using other devices which prevent the driver from paying full attention to driving (eg mobile telephones)
• Stopping or parking in bends, areas with reduced visibility, tunnels, junctions, dangerous areas or areas which present other drivers with difficulties

Drivers lose 2 points for:

• Stopping or parking in: places which make it more difficult for other vehicles to turn; urban areas where lack of visibility represents danger; tram lines; places which make it difficult for other drivers to see road signs; lanes reserved for public transport
• Driving vehicles which have mechanisms installed aimed at avoiding police controls
• Not obeying rules of overtaking other vehicles (even if other drivers are not put at risk)
• Changing direction or reversing against traffic rules
• Driving without wearing seatbelts, helmets or other compulsory protective devices (driver or passengers),
• Riding motorbikes with underage passengers (12 years) without permission

For practical advice on traffic norms and customs in Spain see:
Driving in Spain and Roads in Spain

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's new book

Yesterday Gabriel Garcia Marquez's new novel, Memorias de Mis Putas Tristes, was released in bookshops all over the world. The publishers bought forward the release of the book, originally set for 26th October, because pirated versions were being sold in Colombia and on the Internet. Apparantly, despite tight security, a copy of the book was stolen from a delivery lorry in Colombia, and sixteen hours later, illegal copies of the book were being sold.

Memorias de mis putas tristes (literally "Memories of my sad whores") is Garcia Marquez's first novel in ten years, and is being acclaimed by book critics in the Spanish media this week. Critics say that it shows all the usual flair, daring, prose and imagination of the popular Colombian author

The book is just 109 pages long, and tells the story of a ninety-year old man who "for ninety years of boring existence was incapable of falling in love". At ninety, and to his surprise, the old man falls in love for the first time, and the book relates this experience which transforms his whole attitude to life.

The opening phrase of the book sets the scene in typical Garcia Marquez fashion:
"El año de mis noventa años quise regalarme una noche de amor loco con una adolescente virgen"
(On my ninetieth birthday I decided to give myself a gift of one night of crazy love with an
adolescent virgen).

No English translation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's new book is available yet, but Spanish-speakers can read an extract of the book here.

Reform of Spanish immigration laws

According to the Ser this morning, the Spanish government has finally reached an agreement with private sector and trade unions with regard to the reform of Spanish immigration laws.

The draft reform released by the Socialists las month met with fierce criticism because it encouraged illegal immigrants to give details of employers as part of the legalization process and even report them to police for illegal employment. The idea was that these employers would then have to offer the immigrants a legal contract, pay all the national health payments corresponding to the period of illegal employment, and face a fine. This meant that many illegal immigrants decided simply not to seek legalisation because they risked being fired by their employers.

The new draft, based on recent negotiations with private sector and trade unions, states that illegal immigrants in Spain will be given three months to legalize their situation.

Immigrants will be required to produce a "private contract" between employee and employer, intended to prove the fact that the employee has been working in Spain for the past 6 months. Once granted residence and work permits, employers will be expected to offer their employees a legal contract, will have to pay national health payments corresponding to the last six months, and from the first day of the new legal contract onwards. Employers will not face fines or prosecution.

Cadena Ser estimates that over 200.000 illegal immigrants living and working in Spain will benefit from these reforms.

Related links:
New Spanish immigration laws

Corruption in Spain: on the decline

According to a report published today by Transparency International based on the results of the latest corruption surveys carried out by this organisation, Spain is the 22nd least corrupt nation in the World.

In 1995 at the height of the corruption scandals in Spain which eventually brought down the then Socialist government, Spain scored an embarrassing 4.35 out of 10. This year it has been awarded a 7.1 which is a great improvement.

Out of the 146 countries surveyed in the study, Spain is the one which has most improved its position during the last few years. Experts consulted by Cadena Ser put this improvement down to the following factors:

• to the defeat of the Socialists in 1996, when the electorate punished them for the corruption cases which had come to light,
• to the creation and work of the Anticorruption Fiscal,
• to the work of the Spanish media who have been quick to pounce on any potential corruption scandals on all sides of the political spectrum and have made it more difficult for corrupt politicians to carry out sleazy acts.

Spain ties with France in 22nd place. Finland is the world's least corrupt state according to the results of the survey, followed by New Zealand, Denmark, Island, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Australia y The Netherlands. The United Kingdom comes 11th overall, Germany 15th and the USA 17th.

Here is a quote from the press release published on the Transparency International website today:

“Corruption in large-scale public projects is a daunting obstacle to sustainable development, and results in a major loss of public funds needed for education, healthcare and poverty alleviation, both in developed and developing countries,” said Transparency International (TI) Chairman Peter Eigen today at the launch of the TI Corruption Perceptions Index 2004.“If we hope to reach the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, governments need to seriously tackle corruption in public contracting,” said Eigen. TI estimates that the amount lost due to bribery in government procurement is at least US$ 400 billion per year worldwide.A total of 106 out of 146 countries score less than 5 against a clean score of 10, according to the new index, published today by Transparency International, the leading non-governmental organisation fighting corruption worldwide. Sixty countries score less than 3 out of 10, indicating rampant corruption. Corruption is perceived to be most acute in Bangladesh, Haiti, Nigeria, Chad, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Paraguay, all of which have a score of less than 2.

See the rest of the release and the table of results here.

Mortgages in Spain

According to a report released today by the Colegio de Registradores de España (the Spanish association of house and land registrars), the average mortgage in Spain (111,351 euros) represents a massive 83% of the total value of the property purchased. The average mortgage in Spain extends for as long as 23.9 years and represents 41.6% of borrowers wages.

This latest report on the Spanish property market says that housing prices in Spain increased by almost 8 % during the first six months of this year, while the total increase for the past 12 months was just over 18%.

The conclusions of this report coincide with figures offered by other recent studies which point to a 14 - 15% overall rise in housing prices in Spain this year.

Related links:
Mortgages for non-residents in Spain
Spanish banks
Property market in Spain
Latest news about the Spanish property market
Source: Cadena Ser

Prado Museum: Spanish portraits from El Greco to Picasso

This week the Prado Museum opens a new exhibition covering five centuries of
Spanish portraits, from El Greco to Picasso. The exhibition has 87 paintings, opens
tomorrow and will stay open for three and a half months.

The Prado Museum’s Spanish Art exhibition is unique in that it covers such a long
period and illustrates the evolution of the style, social meaning and strategies of
Spanish portrait artists over five centuries.

The Museum describes this unique exhibition as follows:

An exhibition that offers an overview of the history of the Spanish
portrait, from its origins to the avant-garde. It includes more than
80 paintings by the leading artists to have worked in this genre,
including Alonso Sánchez Coello, El Greco, José de Ribera,
Diego Velázquez, Anton Rafael Mengs, Francisco de Goya,
Federico de Madrazo, Joaquín Sorolla, Ignacio Zuloaga,
Joan Miró, Juan Gris and Pablo Picasso.

This broad viewpoint allows not only for an analysis of the
development of the genre, but also an examination of the
varying social implications of the portrait in Spain over the
centuries, and of the aspirations of the sitters in conveying
their images to posterity. The exhibition includes paintings
by Velázquez, Goya and Picasso not previously exhibited in
Spain.

Art galleries from all over the world have collaborated to make this exhibition possible.

If you want to visit the El Greco to Picasso Portraits Exhibition and would like to book
your tickets in advance click here (if you don't book in advance you might find yourself
waiting for hours in the long queues which often form at the ticket office when the Prado
puts on these kind of special exhibitions).

Related links:
Prado Museum Euroresidentes
El Prado homepage (English version)
Guggenheim Art Gallery, Bilbao
Spanish Art, Euroresidentes
Valazquez
Goya
Picasso
Miro
Dali

Spanish politician refused entry to Cuba

Jorge Moragas, Internacional Relations spokesman of Spain’s Popular Party, was refused entry into Cuba this weekend, and Saturday’s incident remains one of the main headlines here 2 days later.

Moragas arrived in Cuba together with 2 members of the ruling Dutch Christian Democratic Party, intending to meet with some of Cuba’s most popular opposers to Fidel Castro’s regime. According to Moragas, the three politicians intended to draw attention to the situation in Cuba and demand respect for human rights. However the three men were not even allowed out of the airport, and returned to Europe on the same plane which had flown them to Cuba two hours ealier.

Moragas and his colleagues were even refused assistance from their respective diplomatic staff. Although the Spanish PP politician managed to talk over the phone to the Spanish Ambassador in Cuba, Spanish embassy staff who went to the airport to intervene were refused permission to see Moragas on the grounds that having been denied permission to enter the country, he was not officially in Cuba, and so had no reason to meet with Spain’s embassy staff there.
A document released by the Cuban authorities called the visit a “political provocation” and they even referred to ex Spanish president Jose Maria Aznar in the release, calling him a “frustrated and pathetic” man (when he was President Aznar cut off all relations with Cuba and the Cuban government called him "a little fuhrer" .

Meanwhile the Popular Party are apparantly furious with the Spanish Socialist government for its handling of the affair. This morning during a radio interview, Moragas said that the Ambassador had not fulfilled his role properly by not appearing at the airport, and he said he owed the Cuban dissidents an apology. He said that if the Ambassador did not apologise, the Popular Party would ask for his resignation. “If I have caused a political circus, there is no doubt in my mind that they (the Socialists) are the clowns” said Moragas.

Other PP spokesmen have criticised the reaction of the Spanish government, accusing it of having a weak reaction to a serious international incident. They have accused Zapatero’s government of “confusing” European Union member states with this supposedly “weak” reaction. Recently Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said that EU policy towards Cuba was ineffective and the Socialists are trying to restore some sort of dialogue with the Cuban government.

Spain’s Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, told reporters that the incident made it much more difficult to maintain some sort of dialogue with Cuba, but that the Spanish government’s priority was to work in favour of Cuban people by establishing dialogue withe Cuban authorities. Moratinos said this morning on Spanish radio that he would be happy to receive Cuban dissident groups and to discuss with them the situation in Cuba. The Spanish government has also called its Ambassador back to Spain so that he can explain the whole affair properly, and has asked Cuban authorities for an apology.

Population in Spain reaches an all-time high

According to figures released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) yesterday, Spain’s population has risen to over 43 million.

The Spanish population has never been so high, and yesterday INE’s Chairwoman said that population had reached historic heights thanks to the over 3 million foreign residents (7% overall population) who have chosen Spain as their home. And that doesn’t include the thousands of illegal immigrants who live and work in this country but are not registered with the local authorities. Or the European homeowners who do not register with the authorities because they use their Spanish property as a second home and haven’t got round to registering with the local authorities or with their nearest consulate. According to a demografic expert consulted by El Pais, the real percentage of foreign residents in Spain is probably 8% overall population.

This year the average number of new regisgrations of foreign residents stands at about 39,500. Most of these newly registered residents are immigrants. Registering gives new residents the right to state education and health services, and is you need to be registered in order to apply for residence and work permits.

In 1998, the number of foreign residents registered in Spain was 637,085. It is five times that now.

Housing prices in Spain expected to rise 15% this year

According to a report on consumers and the Spanish economy which has just been published by the Caixa Cataluyna, and contrary to other recent reports, housing prices in Spain are expected to rise by 15.1% in 2004 and by 9% in 2005. Last year the price of property in Spain rose by 16.6%.

The report also says that, given the fact that 85% of Spanish homeowners own all of their property compared to just 25% who are paying a mortgage, perhaps too much emphasis has been put lately on the financial load of buying a house in Spain. According to the bank, the fact that housing prices have risen so much in Spain in the last five years has actually had what they call a "wealth effect", as homeowners here have seen their confidence rise with the increase in value of their property go up, and so they have consumed more goods as a result.

The authors of the report do not expect the property market in Spain to suffer a crisis in the near future, and they think there is no reason to expect demand for mortgages to fall either.

The report does not mention difficulties experienced by first-time house buyers in Spain. According to the 2003 annual report of the Spanish Economic and Social Council, a massive 34% of Spanish adults who are older than 30 still live with their parents, and the report claims that the main reason for this is high housing prices.

Related links:
Property in Spain
Caixa Catalunya Informe sobre el Consumo y Economía Familiar

National Day in Spain

12th October is a national holiday in Spain. It is also Saint Day for anyone called Pilar (many Spaniards, especially the older generations, celebrate their saint day more than their birthday). Pilar is the Patron Saint of Zaragoza.

The origins of 12th October celebrations go back to the beginning of last century. In 1913 Faustino Rodriguez San Pedro (a wealthy and influential Spanish business man and lawyer and at that time Chairman of an organization called the Iberoamerican Union) proposed that 12th October (which was already a festival in many South American countries and in Zaragoza in honour of the Virgin Pilar) be called Fiesta de la Raza - literally Festival of the Race, i.e. the Spanish race - and be celebrated throughout Spain and Latin America. La Fiesta de la Raza duly became an official national holiday in 1918 in Spain and some American countries, where the 12th October was already a national holiday, started calling their national day Fiesta de la Raza too.

In 1926 a Spanish priest, Zacarias de Vizcarra, displaying a little more sensitivity and respect for the diversity and wealth of Central and South American culture and race, wrote an article in which he said that the word "Hispanidad" ought to substitute the word "Race" in the official description of the 12th October festivals. The idea started to catch on, and in 1935 the national holiday in Spain was officially renamed Fiesta de la Hispanidad.

Each year military processions are held in Madrid. Last year Aznar was criticised for inviting American troops to participate in the processions just when public opposition to the Government's support of the invasion of Iraq was at its peak in Spain. This year the Spanish Defence Minister Jose Bono has been criticised for inviting a veteran of the pro-Franco Blue Shirt Division, who fought with Nazi Germans against the Russian troops in the Second World War, and a veteran of the Republican army which helped to free Paris from the Germans during the same War. Both veterans will give King Juan Carlos a bayleaf laurel which is meant to comemorate all Spaniards who have given their life for their country.

The leader of the Communist Party, Gaspar Llamazares, said yesterday that he intended to boycott the celebrations in protest against a government who by inviting both veterans "was putting hangmen and victims on the same level". And a spokesman from the PNV Basque Nationalist Party said it was like inviting members of the Basque terrorist group ETA to march side by side with victims of ETA terrorist attacks.

Bono has brushed off the criticism with his usual emphatic style. He says he wants people from all sides of the political spectrum to participate as proof that under the Spanish Socialist Government nobody is left out. "If we throw out of Spain everyone who has once in the past said "long live Franco" or has worn a blue shirt, they would only be four of us left". Bono said that he wanted the processions to be a celebration of peace, concord and understanding of all Spaniards. Other participants in the celebrations include members of the Association for Victims of Terrorism, members of the families of soldiers killed in the Yak-42 plane crash last year, members of soldiers and journalists killed in Iraq and families of people killed in the terrorist attack in Madrid in March.

Related links:
Fiestas in Spain

Number of Britons moving to Spain rising

According to an article in the Independent this week, this year an estimated 50,000 Britons will leave behind the UK to begin a new life in Spain. Whereas Spain has always been a popular destination for people who decide to spend their retirement in a warmer climate, now the trend is moving towards people who are moving here to live and work.

The article features a mortgage broker and his wife who are going to move their real estate business to Spain. According to the broker, "Spain has everything we could want.... It has good, fresh food, a healthy and more relaxed outdoor lifestyle, a great climate, and business opportunities, where those who work hard are rewarded and get to keep more of what they earn than they would in the UK."

Well it is a beautiful country (check out our 2000 photos of Spain), but work isn't that easy to find (unless you are setting your own business up). This blog describes one person's experiences while looking for work in Barcelona.

One of the disadvantages of coming to live and work in Spain is without doubt all the paperwork you have to do to apply for a residence and work permit. One of the objectives of the European Commission study on mobile citizens is to simplify all sorts of complications Europeans still experience when living abroad. Hopefully, in the near-term future, people living abroad will be able to do all sorts of things from the comfort of their home computer (apply for residence and work permit prior to arrival, do tax declarations, renew passports, register births, register your child in a state school prior to arrival etc.). Surely that is what the whole philosophy of European Union and free movement of its citizens should be about. Until then however, people coming to Spain should be prepared to be more than a little frustrated at the bureaucracy involved in securing work and residence permits.

Smoking to be banned on RENFE trains

Today the Spanish Transport Minister, Magdalena Alvarez, announced that early next year, RENFE (Spain's national railway company) will ban smoking on all train journeys that take less than 5 hours.

At present, RENFE trains have smoking and non-smoking carriages in first and second class. Because they get so clogged up with smoke and smell awful, travellers who are not heavy smokers, usually travel in non-smoking seats, and go and have a cigarrette in the train bar (which often has a cloud of smoke in it as a result) or at the end of the carriages by the doors. Infact is isn't uncommon to see RENFE train staff smoking a cigarette in either of these places.

A Transport Ministry spokesperson has confirmed that RENFE staff are presently doing a course to help them to deal with smokers who have anxiety attacks during journeys because of the new smoking ban.

The number of smokers in Spain is slowly going down, but is still high compared to many other European countries. 31% Spaniards are smokers (compared to 35% five years ago) and 50.000 die from smoking-related diseases each year. Spain was one of the last countries to ban smoking on international flights, and you only have to get off a transatlantic flight at a Spanish airport and see how many of your co-travellers grab a cigarrette as soon as they are off the plane, to see how difficult it is many to go for 8 hours without smoking.

Smoking was only banned in public places relatively recently too. And it is still common in many banks to be attended by a cashier with a cigarrette in his hand. The Transport Minister, however, is a firm anti-smoking campaigner, and recently had a disagreement with the leader of the opposition Mariano Rajoy because she caught him smoking a cigar in a non-smoking area in the Spanish Congress!

Unemployment in Spain

Spain's Employment Minister announced the unemployment figures for September this morning. Usually these figures are released as soon as the month finishes, sometimes even beforehand if they are encouraging ones, and inevitably they are immediately politicised by all sides. The Socialist Party, when in opposition, often accused the Popular Party of manipulating figures by making changes in how they were calculated, and yesterday the trade uniones accused the Socialists of waiting until the Minister of Employment was back from a trip abroad to release the new figures, so that he could make political gains from what was expected to be good news.

As it turned out the figures are quite encouraging. Unemployment went up last month (as it generally does in September, because the tourist industry takes on extra employees in June, July and August to cope with high season demand, but contracts generally end when the Summer does), by 1.2% which means 20.023 people became unemployed. This is the lowest figure for the month of September since 2001 and is much lower than the rise in unemployment registered last year (38,633).

The strange thing is that all the new unemployed people who registered in the unemployment offices during September were women. If this is surprising in itself, we were even more surprised that none of the major Spanish news sources seem to find anything strange about it at all! So we asked one of our Spanish collaborators who is an economist why.

Apparantly women in Spain often determine the rise of fall unemployment figures because in a traditional working-class Spanish family, it is the mother who is most likely to work in temporary employment as and when the chance arises, to help boost the family economy, whereas the father has the role of permanent earner. When a temporary (usually seasonal) contract finishes, women often register straight away at their local unemployment office, and continue with domestic jobs at home and maybe take on cleaning jobs in houses or offices (with no contract). In September this trend generally rises, as workers who are mothers often choose to register at the unemployment office rather than look for alternative employment when their Summer contract ends, so that they can organize the start of the school term and the care of their children, whereas men who have been on temporary contracts look around for another job straight away.

Spanish Basque terrorist group ETA leaders arrested in France

According to last minute reports in the Spanish press, the two Basques considered to be the leaders of the Spanish Basque terrorist group ETA, Mikel Albisu Iriarte, "Mikel Antza", and Soledad Iparragirre Genetxea, "Anboto", have been arrested this morning in southern France, together with 19 other people. Police say they have also recovered an important number of arms as a result of raids which led to the arrests.

According to reports, these latest raids, which have led to 21 arrests, represent the most important operation carried out by authorities against ETA since the famous Bidart raids in 1992.

Mikel Albisu Iriarte and Soledad Iparragirre Genetxea are partners, and have been arrested this morning in Salis-de-Bèarn where they were found with their young child. The other 19 people arrested and charged for belonging to an armed group have been caught in other southern areas of France. At the time of writing, officials still do not consider the operation to have finished.

Meanwhile, as a result of these raids, police have found an important arsenal of weapons, including part of what is thought to be the dinamite robbed some time ago in Grenoble. The French Interior Ministry has said that weapons of war have been found (such as hand granades, machine guns etc) aswell as money.

Over one hundred policemen from different units have participated in this operation.

Spanish housing market attracts British first-time buyers

The Daily Telegraph published an interesting article this week about the increasing number of British first-time house buyers who are turning to the Spanish housing market to purchase their first home.

According to the results of a study carried out by Datamonitor, young people who want to invest in property but are priced out of the property market at home, are buying property in Spain in areas where house prices are still relatively low, in the hope that when the the area gets more popular and housing prices start to rise, they will be able to sell the house, and use the profit to put a deposit on a house in Britain.

The Telegraph article goes on to mention the dangers of investing all your money in a house in Spain in the hope of reaping a handsome profit with a resale, and quotes reports by the OECD stating that the market was over-valued.

Related links:
Housing market growing on Spain's Costa Blanca

Daily Telegraph article