Eurocup: Spain prepares to welcome football heros home

Winning Team return to Madrid today

Following Spain’s convincing 1 – 0 victory against Germany in last night’s European Cup final the triumphant Spanish national team is due to arrive back in Madrid this afternoon. Their arrival and parade through Madrid with their trophy is expected to be attended by thousands of fans. Around two hundred police will assist in escorting the vehicle carrying the team through the streets of the Spanish capital.

As well as a large police escort around 40 medical assistants, 8 ambulances and 4 teams of medical staff on foot will accompany the parade. In order to try and prevent problems the town hall of Madrid is planning to stop traffic entering the streets between the la plaza de Gregorio Marañón and Cibeles, as well as la glorieta de Alonso Martínez and Serrano. Traffic will be prevented from entering this area depending on the number of people attending the parade. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to line the streets to welcome back the victorious Spanish team.

The local authorities have recommended that people use the public transport system, especially the Metro underground system, as alternative ways of getting to Serrano, Alfonso XII, Velázquez, Príncipe de Vergara, las Rondas and la M-30.

A special stage to one side of the Paseo de la Castellana, in front of the Fernán-Gómez theatre has been installed where there will be a concert to entertain the expectant crowds. A number of large screens will also be put up so that everybody can take part in the celebrations.

Spain's Eurocup semi final game attracts record TV audience

Spontaneous street parties erupted all over Spain last night as the Spanish football team coasted to victory with a performance few Spaniards had dared to dream possible hours before when everyone seemed to agree that the team had already "proved" itself by beating eternal rivals Italy and reaching the semi finals.

At one point during last night’s match there were 17 million people watching Spain beat Russia. The match, broadcast once again by Channel Cuatro converts this Spanish TV channel as the most viewed in Spain ever. It is estimated that an average of 13 million people watched Spain’s match last night.

At 10.26 p.m. last night it is estimated that there were 17,150,000 people watching the match on channel Cuatro at the moment that Silva scored the final goal. This figure represents 84.1% of the viewing public and beats the previous record which was broken during last Sunday’s match against Italy when more than 16 million viewers were recorded during the final penalty shoot out.

An average of 13 million viewers watched last night’s semi-final match between Spain and Russia which equals 72.7% of all viewing figures which is more than the number recorded for the Spain v Italy match which was watched by an average of 11,501,000 spectators (68%).

Advertising following the match was watched by around 51.5% of the viewing public (9,921,000 spectators). Channel Cuatro, which has exclusive broadcasting rights of the Eurocup games, dedicated no less than 12 hours to the much awaited match against Russia and it led the day’s viewing figures with an average of 26.2% of the total share.

Journalists Àngels Barceló and Nico Abad led the special programme on Spain’s semi-final match from midday onwards from Madrid’s famous Colón square which was filled with thousands of spectators who watched events unfold on a giant screen. Some famous names in Spain such as Mariano Rajoy the leader of Spain’s main opposition party, Alejandro Sanz the singer and the basketball player Pau Gasol were interviewed before the match began. Following the match channel Cuatro continued its coverage with post-match analysis.

Margaret Atwood awarded Asturias prize

Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood awarded the Príncipe de Asturias prize for literature

Margaret Atwood, (Ottawa, Canadá, 1939), novelist as well as ecologist, feminist and poet has been awarded the Príncipe de Asturias prize for literature. She has beaten other important novelists - the Albanian Ismail Kadaré, the British novelist Ian McEwan and the Spaniard Juan Goytisolo - who were among the 32 names put forward from 24 countries around the world.

The jury for the prestigious prize justified its decision due to the ‘splendid literary work’ by Atwood, ‘which has explored different genres using both wit and irony and because she has defended the dignity of women and denounced social injustice intelligently in a classic tradition’.

Atwood, who won the Booker Prize in 2000, offers a committed a critical view of the world and contemporary society through her novels while maintaining an enormous sensitivity in her poetry, something which she does very well. She obtained international recognition with the publication of her novel the Edible Woman (1969) which was followed by Surfacing (1972), Lady Oracle (1976), Life Before Man (1980), Cat’s Eye (1988) and The Robber’s Bride (1993). Central themes in her books usually feature women, maturity and the changes in sexual roles. Her candidature for the Principe de Asturias prize was proposed by Rogelio Blanco, the general director of the Book, Archives, and Libraries of the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

The other candidates for the prize which did not make the shortlist mentioned earlier were Jorge Semprún, Andrés Trapiello, Eduardo Galeano (Urugay), Haruki Murakami (Japan), the poet Alí Ahmad Said (Albania), Ko Un (Korea), Antonio Tabucchi (Italy) and Richard Ford (American).

During the process of selecting the shortlist and ultimately the prize winner the debate over whether only Spanish speaking novelists should be considered arose once again. The last Spanish speaking novelist to be awarded the Principe de Asturias prize for Literature was the Guatemalan Augusto Monterroso in 2000.

Other Principe de Asturias prizes also awarded this year have been given for International Cooperation, the Arts, Technical and Scientific Research, Communication and Humanities and Social Science. Prizes for Sport and Harmony will be awarded in September.

Free health care withdrawn from British expats living in Valencia

Valencia takes away free healthcare from 1600 Britons

The Valencian regional government has decided to take away free healthcare for Britons who have voluntarily taken early retirement and now reside in the Valencian, most of them on or near the Costa Blanca.

Until now Britons residing in the Valencian region were entitled to a healthcare card which meant they could get free healthcare on the basis of simply being registered as residents in their local town hall despite not having paid any contributions to the national health system (seguridad social, literally translated as social security). This was due to a loop hole in Spanish law which was meant to protect certain categories such as the widows of military personnel. However, this also meant that British expats could get free healthcare and treatment for all sorts of common conditions such as angina and cataracts.

The problem of free healthcare is particular to those Britons who reside in Spain and have taken voluntary early retirement. Pensioners and those who have been forced to take early retirement are covered by European funds. It doesn’t affect tourists either who are entitled to an E-111 which gives them the right to free healthcare in Spain for up to a year.

The new measures which come into effect immediately respect the expiry date on health cards which have already been issued. The best solution for those affected by these changes to the healthcare system in Valencia is for them to take out private health insurance to cover their future healthcare needs until they reach retirement age when they will be entitled to free healthcare once again. Emergency healthcare services will still be provided free of charge.

The British Embassy in Spain commented on the situation saying that Valencia had simply done the same as other regions in Spain and that it had been warning British residents in Spain that the present system of free care without any questions asked would not last forever. In fact the British government had gone as far as publishing advertisements in the British press to warn Britons living in Spain of the impending changes.

Related: Healthcare in Spain

Consumer spending in Spain

Spanish households second largest spenders on food and housing in Eurozone

Families living in Spain spent around 55.3% of their household budget on food and housing in 2005.

According to a survey published today by Eurostat for 2005 this percentage is the second highest after Italian households which spent around 55.8% on food and housing. Given that prices for both food and housing have risen steeply since 2005 and disproportionately compared to disposable income it is possible that these percentages have risen even more.

Specifically, Spanish households spent 35% of their income on housing and 20.3% on food, drink and tobacco in 2005. Other expenses were clothes and footwear (6.9%), health (2.2%), transport (10.5%), communications (2.7%), leisure and culture (6.4%), education (1.1%) and restaurants and hotels (9.3%).

The results of the 2005 survey also found that the Spanish were the second largest spenders on restaurants and cafes (8.4%) which is second only to the Portuguese (9.6%). Both these figures are far higher than the average for the rest of the EU states which spent on average just 3.9% of their income on restaurants and cafes.

As far as consumption of alcoholic drinks is concerned only Cypriots (0.5%) and Greeks (0.6%) spent less than the Spanish (0.7%) on drink. The average amount of income for the whole of the EU spent on alcohol was found to be quite a lot higher at 1.2% although some countries, such as Ireland (4.1%), Rumania (2.3%) and Lithuania (2.2%) spent a much higher proportion of their incomes on alcohol.

According to figures for the survey Rumania topped the list for the percentage of income spent on food and housing at 69.4% followed closely by the Polish and Bulgaria which spent 64% and 63% of their incomes on this. The survey discovered that those countries with lower incomes spent a higher proportion of their incomes (60%) on food and housing than those countries with higher incomes which spent on average 45%.

Statistics from the Eurostat survey for 2005 show that the burden of food and housing expenses was lower for households with higher incomes although these tended to spend more on transport, leisure and culture and hotels and restaurants.

Foreign workers in Spain

Foreigners working and living in Spain now make up 11% of the country's National Health contributors

The number of foreigners affiliated to the national health system in Spain went up by 45,655 in May which is 2.1% more than the previous month. The total number of foreigners affiliated to the seguridad social as it is called here (social security) now stands at 2.1 million according to figures provided by the Ministry for Work and Immigration.

Specifically, 12,285 of the newly affiliated contributors are from EU member states while there are 33,370 new contributors from other non EU states, increases of 1.6% and 2.4% respectively.

Figures from the Work and Immigration Ministry show that the social security system in Spain has a total of 740,819 contributors from EU countries and 1,405,082 contributors from non EU countries.

Overall social security had a total of 19,384,101 contributors out of which immigrants in the system made up 11.07% of the total compared to 10.9% for the previous month.

Out of the non EU countries four out of ten people affiliated to social security were Moroccan (288,455) and from Equador (260,855). There were 152,897 affiliated contributors from Colombia which is the third country for non EU immigrants working in Spain ahead of Peru with 82,365 affiliated contributors.

The rest of non EU affiliated contributors living and working in Spain are from China (66,769), Argentina (58,288), Bolivia (57,858), the Ukraine (40,396), the Dominican Republic (36,416), Cuba (25,086) and others (335.697).

Rumania, Portugal and Italy top the list of EU contributors to social security with 265,394, 81,439 and 72,288 affiliated members respectively. Britons follow closely and then Bulgaria with 63,231 and 56,106 affiliated contributors. Germans are less numerous with just 47,311 affiliated contributors.

One out of every four foreigners affiliated to social security (359,512) work in the construction industry although this sector lost 4,699 affiliated contributors in May.
The rest of foreigners affiliated to the social security system in Spain work in the service industry (18.5%), commerce (14.6%), the housing sector (15.1%) and in agriculture (8.9%).

Only 11% of foreigners affiliated to social security are self employed (237,373).
Almost half (43.4%) of foreigners affiliated to social security in Spain live in Catalonia (480,071) and Madrid (452.402) followed by Andalucía with 237,975 affiliated contributors and the Comunidad Valenciana with 240,161. Murcia has 101,454; the Balearic Islands 97,473; the Canary islands 96.122; Castilla-La Mancha with 86,327; Aragón with 83,208; Castilla y León with 71,374 and the Basque Country with 53,351.

Galicia, Navarra, the Rioja and Asturias had the lowest numbers of registered foreigners affiliated to social security.

Weather in Spain settles down

.... and Summer is finally on its way

Last weekend it appeared that summer had finally arrived in Spain and beaches and swimming pools were crowded with people anxious to get their first rays of sunshine. However, the hot spell over the weekend didn’t last long and heavy rain returned to some parts of the country on Sunday evening along with a considerable drop in temperatures.

Heavy rainfall in Spain this springtime, especially during May, has reduced Spain’s deficit of water supplies by 9% according to the State Meteorology Agency (AEMET).
As far as rainfall over the whole of the peninsula is concerned an average of 490 litres per square metre was collected when the average for the decade is 536 litres. Furthermore, it has rained more than normal for this time of year in parts of Castilla and León, the Rioja, parts of Navarra and Aragón as well as the Comunidad Valenciana which has helped improve water reserves in these areas.

The consequences of the recent rainfall are that the 5 reservoirs in the Ter-Llobregat system, that supply the 5.5 million inhabitants of Barcelona and its surrounding area are now at 62.28% of their total capacity which is almost 10 points more than this time last year (56.37%). In fact the current figure is very close to the five year average of 67.46%. Nevertheless water restrictions imposed by the Catalan government still apply.

The persistent rainfall in Catalonia has left the Sau, Susqueda, La Baells, La Llosa del Cavall and Sant Ponç reservoirs with 399,53 cubic hectometres (hm3) of water when just a year ago they only contained 345.01 hm3.

On the other hand, despite the fact that over the last 7 days the water reserves of the Tajo reservoirs (Buendía and Entrepeñas) has increased 9 hm3 and now stands at 381 hm3 it is still just 15.40% of its total capacity (2.474 hm3). However, these two reservoirs now contain water reserves over the 240 hm3 legal minimum limit.

Despite the fact that the bad weather is set to continue today and tomorrow in Northern Spain, AEMET has forecast a significant improvement in the weather for later on this week.

Operation against the Russian mafia in Spain

Judge Baltasar Garzón launches operation against the Russian Mafia in Spain

The national police and Spanish Civil Guard have carried out an extensive operation against the Russian mafia in Spain. The High Court judge Baltasar Garzón has ordered 25 arrest warrants. So far at least 18 arrests have taken place, principally in the Costa del Sol, according to sources close to the investigation. Other arrests have also taken place in the provinces of Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands. The operation is a result of a coordinated effort between the anticorruption prosecution unit and the High Court judge Baltasar Garzón.

More than 400 police and secret service agents have participated in the operation called Troika, which has also been helped by the collaboration of the intelligence services belonging to other countries such as Switzerland, Germany and the US.
It is believed that amongst other activities the Russian mafia in Spain laundered money, traded in arms and ordered assassinations. Garzón has discovered more than 500 bank accounts used by the network to launder millions of euros every year in tax havens.

Amongst the 18 people already arrested there are at least 4 leading members of the mafia who were resident in Alicante, Marbella and Nerja. The rapid action of the police meant that all those arrested had no time to react against the operation which was carried out in several locations simultaneously.

As well as the 25 arrest warrants several businesses and luxurious residences where the presumed leading members of the mafia and their families lived in locations such as Palma de Mallorca, Calviá, Nerja, Málaga and Madrid are currently being searched by the police.

The operation which has taken place today against the Russian mafia in Spain has taken years of careful planning. Several countries have already asked for some of those detained in operation Troika to be sent back so that they can be prosecuted there. In the next few hours Garzón will travel to different parts of the country where the arrests have taken place.

Spanish lorry drivers strike began yesterday

Lorry Drivers begin an indefinite strike in protest against rising fuel costs

The Spanish National Transport Federation (Fenadismer), which for the most part consists of self employed lorry drivers began an indefinite strike at midnight last night to ask the government for help with rising fuel costs which have risen by 20.1% over the last year.

The strike does not have the backing of large transport companies in the sector, the main trade unions or the members of the Spanish Confederation of Goods Transport (CETM) whose representatives are very critical of the way the government is dealing with the strikes and the road blocks which are preventing other transport workers from carrying out their jobs and are causing chaos on Spanish roads.

The strike is affecting the flow of traffic in the AP-7 and the N-II in la Jonquera (Gerona), where there are pickets which have cut off routes used by lorries and consequently caused serious circulatory problems for all drivers and massive queues of lorries. There are also similar problems in the access to La Reva industrial estate and in Riba-roja in Valencia. Traffic jams near the Spanish-French border in Irun are currently around 7 kilometres long and accesses to and from Madrid are also affected.

Yesterday there were long queues at a lot of petrol stations especially in Madrid with drivers worried about the lack of fuel supplies. Supplies were at minimum in many petrol stations in Barcelona where police this morning escorted lorries prevented from transporting fuel to petrol stations in Catalonia yesterday to Barcelona's port so that they could fill up and take fuel to petrol stations around the city.

In a press conference the Director General of Road Transport Juan Miguel Sánchez said that a packet of measures would be presented around midweek in order to contain the effects of rising fuel costs for those in the transport sector. The president of Fenadismer, Julio Villaescusa, said that it was incoherent to present the measures several days after the strike had begun.

The Director General of Road Transport played down the effect that rising fuel costs could have on inflation and said that 55 million euros would be used to offer help to self employed lorry drivers who were nearing retirement age and wanted to give up their jobs. Most of the drivers participating in the strike and barricades are self-employed drivers and do not belong to a trade union.

The European Commission is meeting in Brussels on Wednesday this week to study economic aid for the fishing sector as requested by Spain, France, Italy and Portugal and according to the European Commissioner for Fishing, Joe Borg, certain measures could be applied in the next few weeks.

The Spanish president, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, claimed this weekend that the government was fully aware of the impact of rising fuel costs and that all possible action would be taken to support those sectors of the economy most affected.
With regards to the transport strike Zapatero said that the government is prepared to "face the consequences" which is why a special committee of coordination met at the weekend to follow events and set up negotiations with the transport sector. However with increased chaos and hold-ups on the roads and the first sign of shortage of supplies in Spanish markets and supermarkets provoking panic-buying among Spanish consumers yesterday, the government is under increasing pressure to take a much more proactive role in the crisis.

Low-season holidays in Spain

Spanish government aims to increase low season tourism by up to 12%

The Minister for Industry, Tourism and Commerce, Miguel Sebastián, has announced that the government wants to increase the number of tourists visiting Spain during the low season by six or even twelve times.

With this objective his ministry has designed a Project called 'Hibern Spain' which would offer package holidays to Spain during the low season from between 3 to 6 months and which would be aimed at retired European citizens. According to Sebastian this strategy would boost the service sector during the low season and would not cost the government anything in real terms.

Miguel Sebastian also announced that the government wants to promote social European tourism that would help contribute to employment and strengthen the economy over the next few years as well as helping tourism evolve and move away from being divided into high and low seasons. He said that if the correct product was designed then there was a potential market of 100 million European citizens between 55 and 75 years old.

Another new strategy that Miguel Sebastián announced was the ‘Renovation Plan for Tourism Infrastructure’ which would be carried out in collaboration with local and regional governments throughout Spain. This plan aims to improve the profile of Spanish tourist destinations and help them in a very competitive market. With regards to his ideas for this plan Sebastian talked about profound changes to be made and challenges for the future. During his first appearance before the Commission for Industry, Tourism and Commerce said that this strategy of renovation would have an immediate impact on economic activity by boosting the construction sector which is currently experiencing a slowdown.

A new Secretary of State for Tourism is to be created which according to Sebastián reflected the growing importance placed by the government on this sector for the Spanish economy. He said that tourism had been and will be in the future one of the biggest ‘motors’ behind Spain’s economy.

Last year tourism accounted for 12% of all employment and contributed around 11% to Spain’s GDP. Sebastian added that this sector of the economy was resisting the slow down more than other sectors. In fact, according to official figures in the first quarter of 2008 despite competition in recent years from the growing popularity of other cheaper Mediterranean destinations such as Turkey or Croatia 3.3% more tourists visited Spain than for the same quarter last year. They also spent 12,706 million euros during this period which is 6.2% more than for the same period last year.

The Minister for Industry, Tourism and Commerce also announced that Spain was opening its 33rd tourism office in Bombay and that further offices would be opened in Prague, Budapest, Sydney and Seoul, with a budget of 2 million euros.

Sebastián announcced the government’s commitment to the construction of three new Paradors in Béjar (Salamanca), Molina de Aragón (Guadalajara) and Alcalá la Real (Jaén) pending approval. The government is also planning to put into place a project called 'Privilege Spain', with products aimed at tourists with more money to spend.

The Minister for Industry, Tourism and Commerce, also mentioned the ‘Tourism Plan 2020’ which was passed by parliament in November 2007 and is aimed at consolidating Spain’s position as a leading tourist destination.

Finally Sebastian said that the image of Spain as simply a destination of ‘sun and beaches’ need to be remodelled and said that places such as the Bahía de Palma, the Costa del Sol Occidental and San Bartolomé de Tirajana, in the Canary Islands needed to be re-evaluated with regards to what they had to offer.

Iphone distributor in Spain

Telefónica confirms it will sell the iPhone in Spain this year

In a brief press release consisting of three lines of text Telefonica, the Spanish telecommunications company, has confirmed that it has reached an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in Spain this year.

It is not yet known whether Telefonica has the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Spain although this looks likely given that in the US it is sold exclusively through At&T and through O2 in the UK, an affiliate of Telefonica.

The terms and conditions of contracts for the iphone with Telefonica still remain a mystery. It is not yet know whether there will be a permanency clause for clients wishing to purchase the iPhone, when exactly it will be commercially available, whether it will have 3G connection or how much it will cost.

Next week the annual development conference held by Apple will take place where it is expected that Steve Jobs, the Head of the company, will present the new version of the iPhone which is expected to have 3G connection.

According to the European Press Agency Apple sold four million units of the iPhone throughout the world in 2007 which works out at approximately 20,000 units a day.

Expats unhappy with their life in Spain

ITV is offering homesick British ex-pats the chance to come home!

Every year more and more Brits are giving up their life in the sun to move back to the UK – last year more than 80,000 expats came home.

The decision to go home however is a tough one and can be a huge ongoing dilemma for the whole family.

To investigate this phenomenon, ITV1 is making a second series of the day-time documentary ‘No Place Like home?’

Families who take part will get the chance to be flown back to Britain to test-drive the reality of life there. It’s an opportunity to fact-find, and equip themselves to make an informed choice - to remain an expat or realise it’s time to come back home.

If anyone is interested in taking part or knows someone who may be suitable, please email: Jenny.popplewell@fevermedia.co.uk

Spanish fishing fleets strike over oil prices

Spain’s main fishing fleet give 100% support to strike in fishing sector

According to Javier Garat, the General Secretary of the Spanish Fishing Confederation (Cepesca) nearly 100% of the Spanish fleet, which currently consists of 13,000 boats, have given their backing to a strike.

Given the widespread nature of Spain’s fishing fleet Cepesca has organised an assembly to obtain information on which boats are striking. For example, in Barcelona a part of the fleet has gone out to fish. Nevertheless Garat believes that the decision of the Federation of Catalan Fishing boats call to ignore the call to strike is due to the fact that the organization is waiting to see what happens in the rest of the country.

In Andalucia, some of the fishermen that backed the strikes last week have gone back to work, as in Almeria and Huelva, although part of their fishing fleets have remained in port. The vice secretary of the Federation of Fishermen, Nicloás Fernández, explained that they will be meeting this week to analyze the results of the strike and possible future action.

Garat, has calculated that support for the strike ‘is going to be massive’ during the next two weeks when the rest of the national fleet begin taking part in the indefinite strike called for last Friday to protest against rising fuel costs.
On the other hand, Garat has confirmed that the sector has still not received a reply from the Government to help it out of the present crisis.

However, the Secretary of the National Association of Fish Wholesale Purchasers, Manuel Pablos, said that up to now there was ‘total normality’ and that the protests had not had any significant impact on fish supplies up to now.

He said he considered it ‘very difficult’ for supplies to dry up in a market like that of Madrid, the first in the world in variety of fish available despite similar protests in other countries.

Italia and Portugal continue this week with parts of their fishing fleets on strike in addition to France where after two weeks on strike some fishing fleets have returned to sea. Meanwhile in the UK fishermen have organised a protest to take place in central London tomorrow.

Cepesca has indicated that it is working with French organisations in order to carry out coordinated action in the heart of the EU.

Would anyone like a slice of olive oil?

Spanish food scientists experiment with new textures and colours of olive oil.

A team of researchers at CTAEX (Centro Tecnológico Agroalimentario de Extremadura) have given olive oil a whole new look and feel in the hope that this will diversify and extend the use of what many people in Spain call liquid gold.

Spain is one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of olive oil, and according to one of the members of the CTAEX research team, the aim of the Spanish scientists is to provide companies commercializing olive oil with new “formats” leading to new “uses” and, in turn, to new “consumers”.

The team claims to have produced a solidified olive oil that can be used to make ice cream, or can be presented in slices as a complement on a cheese board or in cubes in salads. The hard oil comes in different shapes, colours and flavours according to what kind of olive is used in the process.

The scientists would not go into any detail about their methods so as not to “give away any ideas” to competitors, but they claim that the process used to produce the solid olive oil in no way damages the nutritional benefits of this famous component of the Mediterranean diet.