Microsoft to open world's first Health Innovation Center in Spain

First Microsoft Centre of Investigation into Health Innovation confirmed for Valencia.

Following a meeting in New York yesterday the president of Valencia's regional government, Francisco Camps, confirmed that Microsoft had signed an agreement to set up its first ever Centre for Health Innovation (I+D+i) in the Comunidad Valenciana. However, the exact location of the centre has not yet been revealed. There are three provinces in the Valencian Region - Alicante, Valencia and Castellon - and the Centre would be welcomed by all three.

Microsoft expressed its preference for Alicante, because of the city's excellent air connections to the rest of the world, it's good specialized health system and the high percentage of retired people among its population. But Valencia or Castellón have not been ruled out as possible locations for the centre.

Camps said that the most important result of the agreement was the fact that the Valencian Region had been chosen by Microsoft as the location for the new centre and indicated that the precise location for the centre would be known in the first fortnight of February when he would attend another meeting with the Spanish Chairperson of Microsoft, María Garaña.

Since it became known that Microsoft was thinking about setting up its first ever Centre for Health Innovation requests that the new centre be located in Alicante have been received from the University, doctors, business groups and politicians representing the region. The Port authorities have already offered a large space in a reserved zone for high technology businesses. But offers have also been received from Elche, Torrevieja and Benidorm.

ETA prisoners start hunger strike

ETA prisoner begin hunger strike in protest against Spain's prison system for convicted terrorists

EPPK, the group representing ETA prisoners has announced that prisoners in this group will begin a hunger strike today in protest against prison conditions for convicted ETA terrorists. This announcement applies to ETA prisoners in Spanish and French prisons. In a letter published in the Basque newspaper Gara it said that ‘we do not have to accept isolation or dispersion and we hold out our hands to those who are prepared to fight against this’.

EPPK says that the hunger strike is the first phase of protest after 12th January when ETA prisoners remained in their cells. The objective of the protest is to get both the Spanish and French governments to change their policies on the way ETA prisoners are treated in the prison system. In the letter to Gara, which was not published in full, EPPK accused the policy towards ETA prisoners as ‘criminal’ and demanded that the 742 prisoners in this group be recognised as political prisoners.

EPPK also added that on 18th January ETA prisoners in France and Spain held a protest against the disappearance of Jon Anza and announced that a protest would be held on 18th of every month.

This latest announcement is the third communication that Gara has received so far this year from this group. The first announced a new ‘dynamic struggle’ against repressive measures and said that it amounted to a ‘new political cycle’ for the Basque Country’.

This communication also said that five people had ‘decided to leave’ EPPK. The five prisoners expelled from this group are: Iñaki Rekarte, Valentín Lasarte, Esteban Murillo, Jorge Urruñuela and Andoni Muñoz.

Debate about making bullfighting illegal in Catalonia

Leading Spanish Bullfighter, Esplá to defend bullfighting in the Catalan parliament
Luis Francisco Esplá, one of Spain’s most famous bullfighters, is expected to appear in the Catalan parliament to defend bullfighting against the proposed legislation to ban it in Catalonia. According to some sources Joselito, also one of Spain’s most well known bullfighters will also argue in favour of protecting bullfighting.

Catalan political parties have asked Álvaro Múnera known as ‘El Pilarico’, an ex bullfighter from Colombia who is now against bullfighting to appear in the Catalan parliament to put forward the argument against it. He is expected to appear alongside almost thirty other people who will take part in the debate over bullfighting during the course of next month

The deadline for presenting candidates who will participate in the debate over bullfighting is 25th January. It is believed that a total of thirty names will be presented which will be evenly split between those speaking in favour of bull fighting and those against it.

Another name that had been put forward by the pro bullfighting lobby is Serafín Marín, although there is some doubt over his appearance.

The president of Ciudadanos-Partido de la Ciudadanía (C's), Albert Rivera, said that Marín had made a personal commitment to accept the invitation to appear before the Catalan parliament to give his point of view. Rivera also explained that he preferred Marín over Esplà or Joselito, because he was a Catalan bullfighter.

The anti bullfighting lobby has revealed that the philosopher, Josep Maria Terricabras, and that ex Vice Chancellor of the Universidad Autonóma de Barcelona, Lluís Ferrer and a member of the European Green Party would be amongst their candidates.

Spanish Greenpeace activist held in Denmark released

The Director of Greenpeace in Spain, Juan López de Uralde, was finally freed yesterday from the Copenhague prison where he and three other members of the organization were being held after they were arrested when they managed to enter the banquet hall and brandish protest banners during a dinner hosted by the Queen of Denmark during the celebration of the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December. The activists had been refused bail by the Danish authorities and have spent Christmas and New Years behind bars with no access to media or lawyers, in "preventive custody". According to Danish law, charges would have had to been made today in order to extend their imprisonment as 21 days is the limit of preventive custody.

During their 20 days of confinement the prisoners were not allowed to receive visitors. Several demostrations have been held both in Spain and in Copenhagen over the past three weeks in protest to the decision made by the Danish authorities to refuse to release them on bail.

On his release yesterder, Lopez de Uralde said that their protest had been peaceful, and put what he called the "excessive" response of the Danish authorities down to the fact that Danish security forces had been shamed since the Greenpeace activisits had found it so easy to get past security and enter what was the Summit's most high-profile social event, hosted by Denmark's Head of State and attended by many world leaders.

Lopez thanked supporters for the protests and said that if it hadn't been for the constant pressure put on the Danish authorities, he and his colleagues would have been "left to rot inside". A small group of thirty Greenpeace members and relatives greeted the four activists with applause at the gates of the prison yesterday.