Spain legalises gay marriages

This morning the Spanish government finally passed the new law legalising same-sex marriages in Spain, just two days before the traditional annual "Gay pride" march is due to be held in Madrid. Parliament voted in favour of the new legislation by 187 votes in favour, 147 against and 4 abstentions.

One PP MP, Celia Villalobos, broke the party discipline code by voting in favour of the law - something which is almost unthought of within the strict confines of Popular Party norms. And the coordinator of the Gay and Lesbian section of the Popular Party later told the Spanish press waiting outside Congress that he intended to ask Madrid's charismatic PP mayor, Alberto Ruiz Gallardon (considered to be one of the party's moderates) to conduct the marriage ceremony between him and his partner this Summer. It is not known whether or not Ruiz Gallardon will agree to the request.

Spanish President José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said before the vote that "a small change in the wording (of the previous legislation) respresents a massive change to the lives of thousands of compatriots". Spain now joins Belgium, Holland and Canada as the fourth country to legalise gay marriages.

Rodriguez Zapatero made an unexpected speech before the vote, in which he underlined the fact that government support for this law did not imply a vote against traditional marriage or the family, a criticism which both the Spanish Catholic Church and Popular Party members have used in their joint campaign against the new legislation. Zapatero defended the legalization of same-sex marriages today before congress in the following terms: "we are not legislating for remote or strange people. Rather we are simply extending a new opportunity for happiness to our workmates, neighbours and friends, and we are making this country more decent in doing so.... Homosexuals are just a minority, but their victory today is a victory shared by everyone, because it is the victory of freedom".

The leader of the opposition's request for the right to reply to the improvised speech was denied by the Leader of the House, Manuel Marín, who said that according to the Rules of Congress, the Government is allowed to intervene in Congress at any time to defend its policies, but that this should not be seen as an excuse to reopen the debate.

The "small change" mentioned by Zapatero refers to the following sentence which has been added to article 44 of the Civil Code as a result of today's vote. "Marriage will have the same requirements and effects whether the couple are members of the same sex or of different sexes". The new law also includes a clause that contemplates the right of same-sex couples to adopt children, which means it goes beyond the gay rights laws in the Netherlands and Belgium.

According to a survey carried last year out by the CIS, 66 percent of Spaniards approve of gay marriages, but just 48 percent approve of the right of gays to adopt children.

Related:
Gay marriages in Spain

Spain cracks down on domestic violence

The latest measures of the Spanish government's policies aimed at tackling the worrying figures of domestic violence in Spain came into effect today.

The measures against domestic violence are grouped together in the Integral Law against gender violence and as from today 430 specialised courts will deal with cases related to domestic violence. Most of the new courts will be mixed (i.e. will deal with other cases) but a few will deal exclusively with cases related to domestic violence. 14 of the judges who will preside these courts are women.

The Chairwoman of the government's Observatory against Gender Violence, Monserrat Comas, said today that the new courts would make the administration of all court cases easier because victims of domestic violence would no longer be required to go from court to court to prosecute aggressors and then seek separation and divorce.

Furthermore, as from today, threatening a woman with violence will be considered a criminal offence. This last measure was criticised by the Popular Party when it was proposed by the Socialist government on the grounds that a threatened man should have the same rights as a threatened woman. However, despite protests the measure was passed so that from today onwards, any man who threatens his partner will be considered to be committing a serious criminal offence. Men who do not comply with orders to keep a minimum distance from their ex-partners will also be committing a crime and if found guilty, could pay with a prison sentence or a heavy fine.

Popular Party lose majority in Galicia

The final count of the postal votes sent by Galicians living overseas (mostly in Latin American countries) ended just before midnight last night, and confirmed the results of the elections in Galicia held a week ago.

Manuel Fraga, Spain's most veteran politician and the only politicican still active in Spanish politics to have served Franco, is no longer President of Galicia. The Popular Party needed to win 66 percent of the postal votes in the key Pontevedra constituency to hold on to its overall majority, but in the end they only got 49 percent. For the first time in 16 years, the new regional government will be formed by a coalition between the Socialist party and BNG, the Galician nationalist party.

This result is a great blow for the PP which has always considered Galicia as one of its strongholds, in the same was as the Socialist Party considers Andalucia and Extremadura. Franco was born in Galicia, as were Fraga and the current leader of the Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, who took a very active part in the election campaign.

Many of the Popular Party's key members were present at the count yesterday, and some threatened to challenge the result because of the fact that hundreds of votes were not taken into account because their envelopes did not have the compulsory date stamp proving they had been sent before the last voting date. In the end, the total number of votes which were discarded would not have been enough to secure an overall majority for the Popular Party, and this morning it is unclear as to whether or not the party will try to challenge the result or not.

ETA car bomb in Madrid

Yesterday evening, just a day after the new Basque government was formed, terrorist group Eta exploded a car bomb in the carpark of a sports stadium in Madrid. The fact that the terrorists chose a sports venue to carry out this most recent attack could be seen as an attempt to damage Madrid's chances of hosting the 2012 olympic games.

The bomb exploded in "la Peineta" stadium carpark at seven o'clock yesterday evening. ETA made two telephone calls informing of the location of the bomb and what time it was set to explode. Police had time to evacuate the area, and nobody was injured.

Spain's Interior Minister condemned the attack and underlined the government's commitment to fight the terrorist group ETA with "total determination". He said the terrorist attack was yet another example of pointless violence which only had one feasible end - the "disappearance of those who only understand the language of weapons".

Related:
ETA bomb in Madrid (May)
Basque terrorist group ETA cell in Madrid

Life in Spain

One of the things which attracts so many people to this country is the Spanish lifestyle which is so different from many other European countries (see reasons for living in Spain).

The CIS (Spain's Center for Sociological Research) has just published a survey which indicates that Spaniards themselves are very happy with the main differences between Spain and their European partners, especially when it comes to eating habits. According to the results of the survey, over 85 percent of Spaniards prefer Spanish eating times and have never considered eating lunch or dinner earlier at similar times used in the rest of Europe.

Over half the people interviewed eat lunch from two to three o'clock and 19.9 percent between three and four o'clock. Meanwhile over 48 percent have dinner between nine and ten, and 27 percent from ten to eleven o'clock. Spaniards sleep on average seven and a quarter hours during the week and eight and a half hours at weekends.

Spaniards consider health and family to be most important to them (86 and 81 percent respectively), followed by work (56.4), friends (46.5), money (27.7). Only 11 percent consider religion to be important, and even fewer politics (6.2 percent).

Over 54 percent of Spaniards are very satisfied with family life, but only 22 percent are very satisfied with their home. The majority are happy, very happy or quite happy with their job, and only 6.9 and 7 percent are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied at work. Over a third would like to have more free time to spend with their families.

Related:
Beautiful places in Spain

International trafficking network discovered in Spain

Spanish police continue to home in on international crime in Spain. This morning 22 people have been arrested accused of belonging to an international network trafficking women from Rumania and then forcing them into prostitution on their arrival in Spain.

The two suspected leaders of the network are among the arrested, most of whom are Rumanian. Two Spaniards are accused of collaborating with the criminals.

According to reports, police started to investigate the network in 2003 acting on information supplied by a Rumanian girl who told police she had been forced into prositution by a group of Rumanian nationals.

Spanish police say that the ring specialised in trafficking people and falsifying all kinds of documents (passport, ID cards, traffic licences...) and had set up HQs in various towns along the Costa Blanca. The police operation has uncovered two workshops in Valencia used to produce false ID cards and licences. This is the third network of its kind to be discovered by police this month in Spain.

Operation reveals organised crime network in Spain

Yesterday Spanish police arrested 28 people suspected of belonging to the Russian mafia. 400 police agents were involved in "Operation Wasp". 800 bank accounts were frozen as a result of the investigations leading to yesterday's arrests in what Spain's Interior Minister described as Europe's biggest police operation carried out yet against organised crime

The arrests took place in Alicante, Barcelona and Malaga where police also registered several propierties. The suspects who come from Russia and other ex-Soviet Union countries, are accused of belonging to illegal organisations, laundering money, false bankrupcy and illegal residence.

The Spanish police claimed yesterday that during the operation they had arrested the leaders of Russian mafia groups who use the Mediterranean coast to launder black money. 41 properties were registered in Benissa, Alicante, Orihuela, Altea, Benidorm and Aigües.

Spanish police were helped in the operation by Interpol, Europol aswell as French, Belgian, US, Russian and Israeli police forces. The international collaboration enabled detectives to collect together information about the activities of various organised groups of international criminals from ex-Soviet countries. According to the Interior Ministry, they had set up home in Spain and were entering into a second stage of activity, allocating to themselves areas of influence and operations in Catalonia, Costa del Sol and Alicante.

By the time police acted yesterday, the groups had set up numerous companies, presumably to cover up illicit financial operations. One German resident and three Spaniards were among the suspects arrested yesterday.

Galicia elections result

Yesterday the Popular Party won the elections in Galicia, although whether or not it will be able to form a government is still not clear. It will depend on the result of the postal votes of Galicians living abroad whether or not Manuel Fraga will serve a fifth term as President of Galicia's regional government.

Fraga is the only surviving politician who served as a Minister during the Franco dictatorship. Both he and General Franco were born in Galicia. Fraga, who founded the Popular Party and is its honorary president, is now in his eighties and has always been quite a controversial character. He is a friend and admirer of Fidel Castro, he has visited and paid host to on several occasions despite his party's firm anti-Castro policies.

Not known for being particularly liberal or tolerant, Fraga frequently resorts to phrases which many women find offensive. Last week when he was asked to give his opinion on the pre-election polls predicting a fall in the number of PP votes, Fraga said that he didn't find surveys particularly credible, and he compared them to a woman who always lies about the number of men she has slept with. Spain's vice-president María Fernandez de la Vega was outraged and Fraga later apologised if he had caused offence to anybody.

One seat remains to be won, and as the results stand now the Popular Party has 37 seats, the Socialists 25 seats and the Galician Nationalists, 13. This means that if Fraga wins the seat on the strength of the votes cast by Galicians living abroad, then he will have won an extraordinary fifth victory. If the Socialists or Nationalists win it, then they will be able to govern as a coalition.

Because of the close result of these elections, last night all parties claimed victory! The PP leaders said they were confident that the last seat would be theirs once the postal votes are counted next week - many Galicians emigrated to Latin America during the last century and traditionally their vote has favoured the Popular Party. The Socialists (who gained 8 seats) claimed that Galicia had voted for change and the leader of the Galician PSOE said he was ready to form government. And the leader of the BNG Nationalists said that his party was ready to enjoy a much more prominent role in the next regional government.

ETA says solution to Basque problem is possible

ETA has sent a letter to the Basque newspaper Gara. It contains many of the contradictions and criticisms characteristic of previous Eta statements, but this one contains a message which the Spanish government may find encouraging.

The terrorist group claims that it is "possible" to find a solution to the "Basque conflict" and says offers its "total disposition" to get involved in a "democratic process, without limits and involving everyone".

In its note, the Basque terrorists urge "Basque agents" to open up new opportunities, and they say that in order to achieve the end of the conflict "it is necessary to build a peace based on justice" achieved by "dialogue and negotiation". The note calls for a democratic process without limits and including all involved parties to be initiated. It underlines the fact that any solution must include the self-determination of the Basque people.

A considerable part of the communication is dedicated to criticising Spain's Socialist Government and also the Anti-terrorism pact (from which the Popular Party withdrew last month) and the PNV party which it critices for putting party interests before the interests of the Basque country.

Finally, ETA accuses the Government of "taking steps remimiscent of the darkest times under Gonzalez" (in reference to ex-President Felipe Gonzalez). The Basques also accuse the Government of applying the usual strategies based on police operations, strategies which, according to the terrorists, makes the possibility of a lasting peace more distant.

Spain's vice-president, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega was asked to comment on the ETA communication during a press conference today. She said repeatedly that the Government would only be prepared to make a comment on an ETA communication if it announced the commitment of the terrorist group to put an end to violence and to disappear.

Arrests in Spain linked to Al Qaeda

Spanish police have arrested 16 suspects in the latest anti-terrorist raids. Three of the detainees have been arrested in relation with the 11-M train bombs in Madrid, and with their relationship with the leader of Al Qaeda in Irak, Al Zarqaui.

Spanish police have revealed that one of the people who escaped from the Leganes suicide bomb could have taken part in suicide attacks in Iraq which has led detectives to suspect that some of the suspects belongint to Ansar el Islam group, led by Abu Musab al Zarqaui, could have also participated in the March attacks in Madrid.

According to reports today, three out of the five suspects arrested by Spanish police could be members of a network whose aim is to capture and sign up muyaidines whose final mission is to act in Iraq.

According to police hypotheses, the three detainees helped two of the terrorists involved in the Madrid bombings to escape from the Leganes flat to Barcelona. According to Spanish police, one of these Iraqies could have been involved in a suicide bombing in Iraq last month.

The sixteen detainees are mainly accused of collecting funds and followers in order to carry out acts related to the international Yihad. Today the Spanish Interior Minister has said that this operation is the most important as yet carried out in Spain against international terrorism related to Al-Qaeda.

Spanish drought

The drought in Spain has worsened to the extent that seven regional governments have been forced to ration water so far. The figure is expected to increase over the next few weeks.

Yesterday the Spanish Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, confirmed that this year is proving to be the driest for the past sixty years, and that the drought situation is now considered to be very severe indeed.

Narbona also warned that experts expect this year to be the start of a drought cycle which could last for several years. Most Spanish reservoirs are already below 50 percent capacity and river levels have fallen by over 40 percent in the last twelve months.

The drought has been further exacerbated by the fact that underground water supplies in Spain have become polluted or, in coastal areas, salted.

Seven regional governments have already started rationing the watering of crops, whereas Narbona said that the efforts of central government would center around the depuration of water supplies.

Related:
Climatic change in Spain
Consequences of climate change in Southern Spain

Lower taxes for non-residents in Spain

The Spanish government has announced its intention to lower the income tax charged to non-residents in Spain. The tax is called Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes (impatriados).

The new law allows people with fiscal residence to declare Non-Resident Income Tax (Impuesto sobre la Renta de no Residentes) and aims to encourage activity of foreign companies in Spain.

People who have fiscal obligations in Spain but have not been residents here for the last 10 years and who have arrived as a result of a contract can opt for Non-Resident Income Tax. The work they are paid for must take place in Spain, although some activity can take place abroad (no more than 15 percent of overall earnings). If the company they work for is part of an international holding, then 30 percent of their wage can be earned abroad.

Non residents must work for a company registered in Spain. Tax payers who opt for this fiscal status will have to declare their taxes each year and will pay a fixed rate of 25 percent. They will not be liable to any tax deductions. They will have to apply for Non-resident status during the first 6 months of working in Spain, and the maximum period granted for non-resident status is set at 5 years.

OSCE conference in Cordoba, Spain

Combating anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance is the theme of the two-day conference organised by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The single conference was organized because of the decision taken by the OSCE Ministerial Council in December 2004, to bring under one roof the three meetings on intolerance that were held last year by the Organization. These meetings focused on anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and discrimination, as well as the use of the Internet to promote intolerance.

Cordoba, like Toledo, was home to Christians, Jews and Arabs during the Moorish occupation of Spain and so its history is particularly relevant to the theme of the conference. It is also the city which Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos serves as an MP.

Moratinos opened the conference yesterday and told delegates that respect and tolerance were not spontaneous and had to be encouraged by governments' actions "We do not need declarations but rather specific decisions in the field of education, in the use of media or in the study of history. It makes no sense to condemn and regret if there are no further measures making it impossible to repeat criminal or shocking acts against a person's race, religion or ethnic origin.... All forms of intolerance and discrimination are to be condemned as assaults on the principle of the equality of all human beings."

Yesterday the conference focussed on anti-Semitism. Today delegates will examine the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia, as well as problems faced by Christians and other religious communities in different societies. They will also discuss the roles of government, civil society, schools and the media in combating prejudice and in promoting tolerance. The conference will conclude with declaration signed by all the participants.

President of Spain responds to victims of terrorism march in Madrid

Last Saturday hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched in Madrid in protest against the Spanish government's proposal to begin talks with Eta. The march was led by members of the Association of Victims of Terrorism (AVT) and leaders of the Popular Party.

The past month has been a difficult one for the Spanish government as far as its anti-terrorism policies are concerned, and things don't look like they're going to get any easier either.

Since the Spanish President sought the approval of Congress to start talks with ETA last month:

• The Popular Party has withdrawn its participation in the Anti-Terrorism Pact (in which both major political parties "agreed not to disagree" in Spain's fight against terrorism)
• The leader of the outlawed political wing of Eta has accused the government of lacking the "maturity" necessary to negotiate with Eta.
• The Association of Victims of Terrorism has promised to organize future protests and demostrations unles the Socialist Government promises not to talk to ETA and to return to the anti-terrorism policies implemented by the previous government
• Even the Washington Post has published an article in which it criticising Rodriguez Zapatero's policies against terrorism and claiming that the march this weekend marks the end of the Spanish president's "honeymoon" with the Spanish electorate.

One of the characteristics of Spain is that absolutely everything in this country somehow ends up becoming politicised: football, education, culture, wine.... and victims of terrorism. Instead of there being just one large association, there are several associations, organizations and foundations for victims of terrorism and their families in Spain. And each one has an, albeit undeclared, political allegiance.

Saturday's march was organised by the AVT, tradicionally more at home with the policies of Aznar's Popular Party government. Because of this the leaders of the Popular Party turned out in force. Even ex-PM Aznar participated in the march organized to protest at the proposed talks with ETA (a little ironic given the fact that when he was leader of Spain, Aznar authorised talks with Eta without even consulting Congress). Meanwhile, members of other victim associations (including victims of the Madrid train bombings) and political parties stayed away.

Yesterday President Rodriguez Zapatero offered to meet the leaders of all groups representing victims of terrorism and so far his offer has been welcomed by all involved. The talks will take place on June 21st and will consist of individual meetings between Spain's president, the Commissioner for Victims of Terrorism and the leaders of each association, followed by a general meeting with all groups and political leaders.

Zapatero said this morning that he did not intend to change his policies according to the demands of the AVT, but that he was prepared to listen first-hand to the concerns expressed during Saturday's mass demonstration. He also said that, unlike Spain's previous government, he was willing to acknowledge counter-opinions, explain his position, and seek consensus.

Although Aznar will probably use this as another example of "Zapatero the appeaser", if Rodriguez Zapatero succeeds in reconciling some of the differences which divide the different associations of victims it will be a step in the right direction along the very difficult road ahead.

European Parliament delegation visit Valencia to challenge Land Laws

Last week members of the European Committee on Petitions visited Valencia and Alicante on a fact-finding mission to meet with victims of the Valencian LRAU land laws and political representatives. Euroresidentes has received this press statement on behalf of the Committee on Petitions regarding their visit.

Valencian Land Law Abuse: Comments on the outcome of the fact-finding visit.

Members of the delegation:
Michael Cashman, 1st Vice Pres. Committee on Petitions, Ms Janelly Fourtou, Rapporteur & Ms Maria Panayotopoulos, 2nd Vice Pres. Committee on Petitions.


During the course of our mission to Madrid and Valencia this week, our delegation met with more than one thousand persons who are among the victims of the Valencian Land Law known as the LRAU. The members of the delegation also visited a number of the affected sites of planned urban developments and spoke with people – both Spanish and from other EU countries, who face massive and apparently abitrary urbanisation charges which they cannot afford as well as the confiscation of a large proportion of their property, or indeed its expropriation, for the sole advantage and benefit of the property developers. Members were also concerned with the related issues of the impact of such developments on the environment and on water provision.

This situation had already been denounced by the Committee, and the European Commission has initiated an infringement procedure against the Spanish authorities as a result of claims that the EU Directive on Public Procurement has not been respected in relation to many contracts awarded by public authorities to private developers, the urbanising agents.

Petitions lodged with the European Parliament, notably by the association Abusos-Urbanisticos-No, have brought to light some 15,000 cases of alledged abuse.

In the course of its meetings with President Camps, with Minister Rafael Blasco, and with a number of Mayors from the region who are responsible for such developments, the delegation welcomed the fact that a new law had been prepared by the Valencian government with the objective of reforming the urbanisation process in a way which will better reflect the rights of property owners. Nevertheless a number of reservations remain and the delegation are pleased that the government has offered to take account of the comments which the Petitions Committee will formulate on the matter. The cooperation between the European Parliament and the Valencian Parliament on this issue was further confirmed at meetings with the President of the Valencian Parliament and leaders of all the political groups.

The members of the delegation also wish to place on record their acknowledgment and support for the constructive proposals regarding the new law which have been made by the local Ombudsman, the Sindic de Greuges with whom they also held extensive talks in Alicante.

The delegation emphasised their determination to cooperate with the authorities not only in regard to the new draft legislation, but above all, to find solutions to the dramatic and desperate situation that so many families from modest backgrounds have and continue to experience, turning their dreams of new lives in Spain into nightmares of outlandish proportions.

Ms Janelly Fourtou, the European Parliament’s Rapporteur on this issue will present a full report and resolution to a plenary session of the Parliament in the autumn. Draft proposals will be published in the coming weeks for discussion in Committee.

For more information contact Michael Cashman, or David Lowe, Head of the Petitions Committee secretariat, at the European Parliament.

Related:

EU homeowners and ambassadors challenge Valencian land laws.

Valencian land laws unconstitutional according to EC

Buying property in Spain

Unemployment in Spain reaches all-time low

Unemployment in Spain fell by 4.2 percent in May to 2,007,393 which is the lowest rate of unemployment ever registered in this country in May. Unemployment fell in the services, industrial and building industries although it rose in agriculture and also among young people who have never been employed.

According to the figures, both sexes have benefitted from the fall in unemployment although men much more so than women - male unemployment fell by 6 percent, compared to a 2.9 percent reduction among unemployed women. In figures this means that 782,160 men are unemployed in Spain compared to 1,225,233 women.

Unemployment fell in all Spanish regions, but especially in Madrid, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.

The number of people registered with the Spanish Seguridad Social and paying their national insurance payments rose in May to 212,172. This all-time high was due largely to the inscription in the Seguridad Social of 90,000 newly legalised immigrant workers whose employers are now obliged to pay their statutory national insurance contributions.

The Spanish government expects the state's national insurance revenue to rise by anything from 1,000 to 1,500 million euros as a direct result of the process of legalisation of illegal immigrant workers in Spain.

Related:
Unemployment in Spain (2004)
Legalisation of immigrants in Spain
End of amnesty period for immigrants in Spain