Fines for misusing water in Barcelona

Fines of up to 3000 euros to be imposed for the misuse of water in Barcelona as from today

Wasting water in Barcelona and its suburbs could end up being very expensive as from today due to the fact that La Entitat del Medi Ambient (EMA), an organization that covers 33 districts will start to impose fines on those people who use drinking water to water their gardens or fill up their swimming pools.

Fines of 30 euros are to be imposed for washing your car in the street using drinking water and 50 euros for those who use this resource to water gardens less than 250 m2.

The severity of the sanctions is aimed to be proportional to the size the pool or garden in question. Fines can be up to 750 euros for a minor incident, up to 1500 for a serious misuse of water or up to 3000 for the very serious misuse of water.
If someone who has been fined once continues to misuse water in the same way this would be viewed as a very serious action and their water supplies could be cut off as a result.

Some examples of minor fines apart from washing your car in the street are watering a garden between 250 and 1000 m2 – 200 euros and filling a pool 12m by 6m – 20 euros.

If somebody waters a garden between 1000 and 3000 m2 with drinking water this could result in a fine of 800 euros and filling a swimming pool 12m by 25 m with drinking water could result in a fine of 700 euros.

But the highest fines are reserved for people who water their garden with drinking water if it is more than 3000 m2 – this could result in a fine of 2500 euros. Filling a pool over 52 metres wide could result in a fine of 2800 euros.

It will be left up to each individual town hall to manage the system of fines. Town council inspectors, the local police and the Catalan police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, will be responsible for detecting the inappropriate use of drinking water.

Although the system of fines has only be in place for some hours a case has already been detected in Sant Cugat del Vallès where the town council has discovered a resident filling their own private pool using drinking water. Nevertheless, it is yet to be seen how effective the system of fines will be in helping reduce the consumption of drinking water.

Related: Drought in Spain

Region in Spain with highest total personal income

Inhabitants in the Basque Country the richest in Spain

The Basque Country has overtaken Madrid as the area of Spain with the highest capita per inhabitant. Figures published yesterday by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE) showed that GDP per inhabitant in Madrid was 29,965 euros compared to 30,599 for inhabitants in the Basque Country. Extremadura and Andalucía remained at the bottom of the list although figures show that the difference in GDP between parts of Spain is going down year by year. The average income per inhabitant in Spain is now estimated at 23,396 euros.

This is the first time that Madrid has lost its place at the top of the list since 1995 when the INE began to publish these figures although this change has been put down to more to changes in the Basque Country’s demography to its economic growth. In fact, the economy in the Basque Country has grown less than the national average over recent years. However, the population has hardly grown at all. Since 1995 it has only grown by 2.3% while the population of Madrid has increased by a massive 21%.
Income per inhabitant has fallen in the Balearic islands. Figures for 1995 showed that income per inhabitant was equivalent to 120% that of the national average while now it is just 108%. However, the population in this part of Spain has also grown by 37% over the last 12 years. Furthermore, the incorporation of more workers in its economy has not led to economic growth. The Canary islands is also a similar case.

The figures just published for 2007 show that Catalonia has the highest GDP in Spain valued at 196,000 euros, followed by Madrid, Andalucía, Valencia and the Basque Country. Aragón showed the biggest growth at 4.5% compared to an average growth in GDP of 3.8% for the rest of Spain. The INE showed that Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha and Galicia all had thriving economies with strong manufacturing sectors. Economic growth in Aragon was attributed mostly to building work in preparation for the Expo which starts in June.

Since 2000 average annual growth in Murcia has been the most intense at 3.9%, followed by Andalucía at 3,7%, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha (both at 3.6%). These four communities together with Galicia which has experienced renewed growth over the last 2 years are all at the bottom of the list in terms of income per inhabitant. However, it is also clear that regional differences are decreasing. For example, GDP in Extremadura has gone from 64% of the national average to almost 69%.

Finally, figures published yesterday show that there are six regions in Spain with income per inhabitant above the EU average of 24,700 euros.

Gibraltar tax haven

Spain to ask for Gibraltar to be placed on the black list of tax havens

Spain is to ask the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development (OCDE) to revise Gibraltar’s status as a tax haven and for it to be placed on a ‘black list’ for its lack of cooperation with the Spanish authorities. According to the Spanish Tax Office, Gibraltar continues to be an ‘opaque, inaccessible and impenetrable’ place. A spokesperson for the tax office said that any information they had received from the Gibraltan authorities had been ‘insufficient and of very little use’ and that their inquiries had come up against a brick wall. The Spanish authorities believe that other tax havens like Jersey, some parts of the Caribbean and Andorra have provided more information to help combat money laundering.

The 6.5 squared kilometres that make up the territory of Gibraltar constitutes a international financial centre much more important than the Gibraltan authorities would like to admit. The local economy of this British naval base has been moving towards the financial sector in recent years. In fact, according to El Pais, based in Gibraltar there are 19 banks and 10 branches of international companies. There are also 17 insurance companies as well as more than 30 investment companies or financial brokers. There are 15 foreign exchange offices, up to 28,000 active associations and an undetermined number of non registered foundations and trusts. According to the same article, this small area of land also boasts 115 lawyers and 28law firms whose activities are outside the supervision of any financial authority.

Although the financial activities of tax havens normally have a global character experts, such as the International Monetary Fund have continued to suggest that Gibraltar is an individual case where, along with other areas such as the Costa del Sol or the north of Africa, there appear to be activities linked to money laundering, corruption and drug trafficking. Furthermore, in recent years Gibraltar has become the headquarters for many international internet gambling companies, something which also worries the authorities involved in combating money laundering.

Gibraltar has committed itself to accommodating its legislation to EU norms and to adopting the recommendations made by GAFI (the International Financial Action group), the principal institution in the struggle against money laundering. Some legal reforms will take effect from 2010. Gibraltar until now has been considered as a cooperative tax haven compared to Andorra, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Marshall Isles and Mónaco which are all considered as non cooperative.

According to Juan Hernández Viñuelas author of a book about tax havens quoted by El Pais, Gibraltar has been breaking agreements since 1997. Hernandez states that ‘Gibraltar has become a very active financial centre with a very special status within the EU’. In addition, he says that it is governed by an oligarchy, that is to say, a very small group of powerful people.

PSOE wins Spanish emigrants vote

PSOE beats the PP in 51 out of 52 provinces and in the number of votes from emigrants

In last Sunday’s general election PSOE managed to get 217,686 votes from Spanish emigrants, a figure which is nearly double the 106.265 votes obtained by the PP from the same group.
Furthermore, PSOE beat the PP in the number of votes it received in 51 out of 52 Spanish provinces. It won in every province except for in Tenerife where it was beaten by the Coalición Canaria.

The Socialists achieved better results in Spain’s autonomous communities where the PP beat them easily in 2004. For example PSOE beat the PP in Melilla, Castilla and Leon, Cantabria, La Rioja, Baleares, Navarra, the País Vasco and Galicia.

There was a clear change in Galicia compared to the 2004 election results when the PP beat PSOE by 22,000 votes. This time round the socialists beat the PP by 25,000 votes.

This change was clearly notable in Castilla and León where the PP beat PSOE in 2004 by more than 1,500 votes. This time PSOE beat the PP by nearly 11,000 votes.

In addition, PSOE tripled its votes in its most ‘popular ‘ autonomous communities like Andalucía, Asturias, Aragón, Cataluña, Canarias or Extremadura. It also doubled its votes compared to those received by the PP in Baleares, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, the Comunidad Valenciana, Galicia, Murcia and the País Vasco. PSOE also won by a clear margin in the rest of Spain’s autonomous communities and autonomous cities.

These results mean that PSOE beat the PP by more than a million votes overall in last Sunday’s general election.

The final count shows that PSOE obtained 11,282,210 votes (43,84%), compared to 10,276,238 received by the PP (39,93%). This means that Zapatero has become the candidate with the most votes in the history of Spanish democracy.

Spanish priests protest at politicised courses

The new Archbishop, Rouco Varela, reported to be organizing training courses for priests with leading PP leading members of the PP

Details of further links between the President of the Episcopal Conference, Antonio María Rouco Varela, and the Partido Popular have emerged in reports in the Spanish media today. Apparently, the diocese of Madrid together with leading members of the PP is organizing training courses for priests. However, the Forum of Madrid priests have denounced this as "political indoctrination".

This Forum, which has been created recently and is made up of around a hundred priests from various parishes in Madrid has referred in particular to a course entitled ‘Political, economic and social challenges’ that leading members of the PP such as Jaime Mayor Oreja, Gustavo de Arístegui or the Immigration advisor for the Comunidad de Madrid, Carlos Clemente, are involved with.

The course is registered in the Permanent Training Seminary that trainee priests in Madrid attend. According to Agustín Rodríguez, a member of the Permanent Commission for the Forum of priests, political representatives should not be involved in training priests.

The Forum of Madrid priests considers that this to be political and ideological indoctrination of priests and evidence of the connections between Cardinal Rouco Varela and the PP. The forum has written to the Cardinal to express its disapproval.

New tax rebate in Spain

Solbes announces that the 400 euros tax cut will be included in the first ministerial meeting

The Spanish Vice-president, Pedro Solbes, confirmed in an interview with CADENASER this morning that the electoral promise to give back 400 euros in tax rebates will be approved at the first ministerial meeting of the new government. He said that the government’s intention was to approve this measure as quickly as possible and make it effective retrospectively from the 1st January this year so that the tax rebate would be applicable for the whole of 2008. Solbes also added that that tax payers would notice the effect on their monthly salary immediately and as a consequence be better off.

Economic "slowdown", not "crisis"

Solbe, also the Minister for the Economy, insisted that Spain was not facing an economic crisis but that it was experiencing an economic slowdown. He said that unemployment would rise less this year, especially if the rate of immigration decreases compared to numbers for the last few years. He said that if economic growth stayed at around 3% then more than a million and a half jobs would be created and the unemployment rate would go down to below 8%. Although he added that it was the government’s intention to create two million new jobs.

With respect to negotiations taking place between PSOE and other political parties Solbes said that his party would be happy to work with all groups who were prepared to support the PSOE in its next legislature. Speaking about PSOE’s relations with the PP, he said that the government had always held out an olive branch to Rajoy and would continue doing so in the future.

As far as extending the time for the payment of mortgages, one of PSOE’s key electoral campaign issues, Solbes said that at present his department was working on the definition of families with ‘special difficulties’. He stressed that this was also one of the government’s priorities. He said that first an agreement with the financial sector and notaries was required before this issue could be resolved. However, he pointed out that the beneficiaries of this measure would not incur any extra costs.

The Vice-president also said that the new government, led by PSOE, would work on other social issues such as helping women get into the labour market.

As far as the decision by the EU tribunal which has declared that the government placed illegal conditions which prevented the German energy giant E.ON from getting a foothold in Spain, Solbes said that it hadn’t been the government’s intention to exclude this company but that the government also had to protect Spain’s strategic rights. He added that it was a complex issue because at present there was no liberalization regarding the exchange of energy between EU countries.

Finally, Solbes commented on the issue of property prices. He said that it was the government’s long term objective to see property prices rise in line with inflation.

The Socialist party wins Spanish election

Rodriguez Zapatero wins second term but not absolute majority.

The Socialist party won the elections held yesterday in Spain by a narrow margin as predicted in the pre-election polls. Turnout was over 75 percent and both PSOE and PP improved their electoral performance with respect to the last elections in 2004 at the cost of the smaller and nationalist parties. The Socialists won 169 seats (compared to 164 in 2004) and the Popular Party won 153 seats (148 in 2004).

In his victory speech José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero paid tribute to Isiais Carrasco, murdered by ETA on the final day of the election campaign, and to all the victims of terrorism and their families.

The socialists did particularly well in the Basque Country and Cataluña where they took votes from the Basque PNV separatists and the left wing Catalan regionalists ERC who dropped from 8 to 3 seats. The only small party to improve on their last result was the Catalan conservative CiU which won one seat more than in 2004.

The leftwing party Izquierda Unida had their worst ever result winning just 2 seats and their leader, Gaspar Llamazares announced his intention to resign last night.

Basque socialist assassinated

Suspected ETA terrorists shoot ex-counsellor on the last day of Spain's election campaign

Isaías Carrasco was killed ealy this afternoon when he was leaving his home in Arrasate accompanied by his wife and one of his daughters. Carrasco was shot various times by two gunmen who then escaped. He was taken to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Carrasco was a member of the Basque Socialist Party and used to be a councillor, but he no longer had an active role in the local administration, and worked collecting tolls on a motorway near Arrasate. Party colleagues have said that he was an "easy target" for ETA hitmen because since he didn't have any official post he did not qualify for a bodyguard or any other kind of protection. Carrasco was father of three young children and one of his daughers witnessed his murder. Neighbours were alerted by her cries of "Papa, Papa".

All Spanish political parties have suspended their closing electoral acts planned for today, and the Government spokesman has summoned all parties to attend an extraordinary session in the Spanish parliament this evening in order to release a collective condemnation of this latest terrorist act. The Defence Minister, José Alonso has declared that "Now we cannot talk about party politicas or anything like that. Now we have to talk about democracy".

This is the second consecutive election campaign in Spain to be interrupted by a terrorist attack.

Healthy eating in Spanish restaurants

Healthy food campaign for luncheon voucher users

More than 26,000 restaurants in the whole of Spain which are part of a luncheon voucher system called ‘Ticket Restaurant’ have joined the Government's fight against growing obesity among the Spanish population and will participate actively in the ‘Gustino’ programme. The ticket restaurant system is implemented by many big companies, banks and organisations in Spain's largest cities where employees are unable to go home for lunch because of the distance and time involved and so receive daily luncheon vouchers from their employers which they exchange for a set menu in restaurants which participate in the system.

According to this new initiative in the fight against obesity, these restaurants have committed themselves to fulfilling a set of requirements such as offering at least one option of vegetables or pulses out of every three starters on offer in set menus, ensuring that fish is always available as a main course option and guarenteeing that one out of every three dessert options includes either fresh fruit, fruit juice or nuts.

This initiative is part of the NAOS strategy against obesity in favour of a balanced diet developed by the Ministry for Health and Consumption working with the Spanish Agency for Food and Nutrition Safety (AESAN).

The ‘Gustino’ programme is also aimed at educating people on how to live a healthy lifestyle by providing information on diet and physical activity and the basic ingredients in a Mediterranean diet, considered to be one of the healthiest in the world. It will also help more than 175,000 people who use luncheon vouchers in Spain everyday to improve their eating habits.

Once it has been verified that the establishments which are part of the scheme meet the set requirements attending courses which will look at guidelines for a healthy, balanced diet will be compulsory.

The Gustino Guidelines:

1. At least one out of every three first course dishes must be based on vegetables or pulses.
2. Vegetables or pulses will be offered as a side dish to main courses.
3. At least one out of every three options for dessert will be fruit (whole pieces of fruit or prepared fruit dishes such as fruit salad), fruit juice or nuts.
4. Fish will always be available as a second course option.
5. Dishes that do not require a large amount of fat will be available and healthy cooking techniques such as grilling, boiling or steaming will be used.
6. The possibility of choosing half a menu will be available – either a first course or main course and dessert (also half rations will be available).
7. A bottle of water will be offered and alcoholic drinks will be served in single units rather than by the bottle.
8. Extra virgin olive oil will be offered for salad dressings etc.
9. Brown bread will be offered as an alternative to white bread.
10. There won’t be salt cellars on the table and menus low in salt will also be available. Alternative condiments such as pepper, herbs and spices will be used.

Related: Restaurants in Spain ## Best Spanish restaurants in Spain ## Vegetarian restaurants in Spain

Zapataro wins second election debate

According to all polls carried out this morning by the Spanish media, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was the clear winner of the second, and final, election debate between the two main presidential candidates last night, just six days before the general election.

The Socialist party's strategy during this election campaign has been to combat the fatalism and criticism of the Popular Party with constructive proposals and promises for the next four years. Their electoral television ads try to portray optimism and to use the constant criticism received from the Popular Party to portray the opposition as a party of pessimists. Zapatero continued to follow this strategy last night, and arrived at the debate armed with dozens of "solutions" and policy proposals designed to address problems related to immigration, the economy, education, terrorism, domestic violence etc.

Mariano Rajoy, leader of the Popular Party on the other hand stuck to his party's strategy which has been to criticise the Socialist Government, and Zapatero himself, for the rise in prices, the state of the economy, immigration and for negotiating with ETA. This televised debate was more or less a repetition of the first one last week, and attracted over a million less viewers. The only difference was that Rodriguez Zapatero appeared to be more relaxed and firmer when responding to Rajoy's accusations, whereas Rajoy seemed less confident and more irritable.

At the end of the debate each leader was given three minutes to address voters. This is a translation of what they said:

Mariano Rajoy:
"If we act with realism, work and humility we will resolve current problems. I want this to be a a legislature of consensus for all. I want Sapin to be a great nation of free and equal citizens. There are things that have not been done properly. I am going to offer the leader of the opposition an agreement to defeat ETA, not to negotiate with ETA. I will not be the president of the PP, but of all Spaniards. I will address the economy, fight against rising prices, unemployment and will make sure that as many women as men can work. We will lower taxes, we will make reforms. And in education merit and effort should be valued. It is very important that we concentrate on defeating ETA rather than making shortcuts. Ladies and gentlemen, the other day I spoke of a little girl, and I'm thinking of that girl, she is in my heart and in my feelings. That girl is in my head" (Last week Rajoy surprised many political commentators when he used the allusion of a little girl in his closing speech to talk about the country he would like Spain to be).

José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero:
"I want to take advantage of this chance to express my gratitude to those Spanish people who put their trust in me in 2004. And to those who didn't. I want all Spaniards to know that both their support and their criticism have stimulated my efforts. I want to ask you for your support for a project for the next four years. A country is strong if it provides the same circumstances to all its citizens and if it supports the weakest. I am convinced that the economic growth should take us to full employment. I am convinced of the fight against climatic change and that our country should lead this new stage. I am committed to a Spain of unity and co-existence. For all these reasons I ask for your support and vote. I will govern firmly and with conviction. I will correct mistakes. I will govern with sensitivity and I will be very near those who have not got it all. Good night and good luck".