Monday 25 August 2008 A Spanair jetliner made an unscheduled landing at Malaga airport on Sunday because of an unspecified problem. The jetliner had left Madrid airport an hour earlier. On Wednesday, a Spanair jetliner bound for the Canary Islands crashed upon takeoff in Madrid, killing 154 people. The 18 survivors are still in hospital.
Wednesday 20 August 2008 More than 200 illegal African migrants have arrived in several boats on the coast of the southern province of Andalusia in one day after having been spotted by rescue services. Fifty migrants from sub-Saharan Africa were found on a small fishing vessel and escorted to land by a civil guard boat. Meanwhile, a public opinion survey carried out by El Mundo newspaper shows that 68 per cent of Spaniards think there are too many immigrants in their country. Five million of Spain's 46 million residents are foreigners.
Thursday 14 August 2008 Police in the Canary Islands say more than 130 illegal African immigrants have arrived in the islands on board two boats. The arrivals brings the number of illegal migrants to 450 in the past week. The local authorities say the numbers have increased since last week's military coup in Mauritania. In the first seven months of the year, 7,165 illegals have arrived in Spain, a nine per cent drop over the same period of 2007. Spain has worked with several other European countries to increase air and sea patrols and has concluded repatriation accords with several African nations.
Saturday 09 August 2008 About 500 Gypsies, or Roma, marched through Madrid and then demonstrated in front of the Italian embassy to protest against what they called attacks against their people in Italy. The Romany Union issued a statement denouncing the "blind violence of the racists." New immigration policies have focussed on Gypsies, many of whom came from Romania. The government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has implemented a plan to fingerprint them, with police going into camps to obtain the fingerprints by force if necessary. The Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights, Thomas Hammarberg, has called Italy's measures a "worrying" step away from international law.
Friday 20 June 2008 Thousands of Spanish farmers converged on Madrid on Thursday to demand government help with rising fuel and fertilizer costs. The protesters handed out farm produce and threw tomatoes at the offices of the economy ministry. Some also carried coffins. The farmers want lower taxes on fuel, and lower prices for fertilizer. The protests come after earlier protests by fishermen and truckers against high fuel costs.
Tuesday 10 June 2008 The country's human rights ombudsman has made public a report which reveals substandards conditions at two migrant centres in the Canary Island which house 200 children. The ombudsman intervened after the Human Rights Watch lobby called on the Spanish government to close the centres because the children were at risk of violence. The ombudsman's report says that the children have been living in substandard housing at two centres for a year and that there were incidents of violence in one centre before January 2007, although the perpetrators are all gone. The Canary Islands in recent years have become a goal for African migrants trying to reach Europe.
Monday 09 June 2008 Spanish fishermen and truck drivers intensified their protest strikes against high fuel prices on Sunday. Truck drivers in the northeast region of Catalonia staged a truck parade three kilometres long, slowing traffic on a local highway. The truckers joined the fishermen's protest on Friday. More truckers are expected to join on Monday, when their representatives are scheduled to meet with officials of Spain's transport ministry. The ministry will unveil a plan next week to help the transport sector.
Tuesday 03 June 2008 Water Is a New Battleground in Spain
Spurred on by poorly planned development, swaths of southeast Spain are turning into desert. FORTUNA, Spain — Lush fields of lettuce and hothouses of tomatoes line the roads. Verdant new developments of plush pastel vacation homes beckon buyers from Britain and Germany. Golf courses — dozens of them, all recently built — give way to the beach. At last, this hardscrabble corner of southeast Spain is thriving.
Sunday 04 May 2008 More help is on its way for people in poor countries who are struggling to pay for increasing food prices. On Saturday, the Asian Development Bank announced an emergency package consisting of soft loans for countries hardest hit by the global food crisis. No exact figures were announced, but the amount was said to be sizable. Two out of three of the world's poor live in Asia where they are particularly vulnerable to rising prices for staples such as rice. Poor Asians spend 60 per cent of their income on food. Delegates at the meeting disapproved of Thailand's idea to create a rice-exporting cartel along the lines of OPEC. The delegates preferred to let market forces set prices. The Asian Development Bank was created in 1966 to fight poverty in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sunday 27 April 2008 The crew of a Spanish fishing boat that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia was freed on Saturday. The 26 crew members of the Playa de Bakio were released following the government's negotiation with their kidnappers. The vessel's owners and the Spanish government collaborated to find a successful end to the hijacking. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wednesday 23 April 2008 The pain in Spain
Spain's long property boom has come to a painful end
The Spanish economy has been a driving force for economic activity in the euro area for more than a decade, with year-on-year GDP growth exceeding the average rate of expansion in the euro area in every quarter since 1995. The good times are now over. Turmoil in the world's financial markets has coincided with the bursting of Spain's decade-long housing bubble, raising fears of a deeper and more abrupt economic slowdown than previously thought.
Spain's Socialist Party wins another term in office amid mounting economic gloom
AFP
SPAIN’S prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, may come to regard leading his Socialist Party to another election triumph on Sunday March 9th as one of the easier achievements of his second term in office. He did not win the absolute majority he so desired, falling seven seats short in the 350-member lower house of parliament. So Mr Zapatero must now seek backing from regional parties if he is to govern. And then he must turn his attention to the mounting economic problems facing Spain.
Monday 10 March 2008 Unofficial results of Spain's election on Sunday showed that the governing Socialist Party of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had been re-elected. One exit poll gave the Socialists at least 172 seats in the 350-seat lower house. It was not clear whether the party would secure an absolute majority. The opposition Popular Party had 148 seats. About 61 per cent of eligible voters were reported to have turned out, slightly lower than in the previous election in 2004. Voters in the northern Basque region also turned out to vote, rejecting appeals by the Basque separatist group ETA to boycott the election. Yesterday, the daughter of a local politician who was slain in a shooting on Friday urged the Basque people to honour her father and to defeat ETA. Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero accused ETA of the murder.
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Post briefs news that Spain’s leftist government has banished
the notion that its rise to power was a fluke. Socialist Prime Minister
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will remain in office and continue reforms
that have shaken up the political status-quo, after winning
yesterday’s parliamentary elections. Though Zapatero didn’t
win an outright majority, he is expected to form a parliamentary alliance
with several smaller parties in order to make up for an eight-seat
deficit. Zapatero’s party won 168 seats in the 350-seat parliament,
compared to 154 seats for the conservative Popular Party. Zapatero’s
election victory in 2004 stunned observers, who viewed it as a fluke caused
by outrage at the conservative government over its handling of a terrorist
attack on Madrid’s commuter train network days earlier. But Zapatero
proceeded with an ambitious agenda of reform, including pulling Spanish
troops out of Iraq, legalizing gay marriage, amnesty for illegal
immigrants, and a fast-track divorce system. With Zapatero’s
re-election, Spaniards have endorsed policies once thought to be anathema
to the overwhelmingly Catholic country. But the most recent election was
fought primarily on fiscal, rather than social, issues. The booming
Spanish economy has slowed in recent months, taking a hit from the US
subprime mortgage crisis. Zapatero had been promoting immigration in order
to fill jobs in the construction industry, but the economic slowdown led
his rival to challenge him on the policy. These issues were largely
overshadowed in the last days of the campaign by the murder of a Socialist
politician, Isaias Carrasco, by Basque separatists. Some credited the
attack with generating a last-minute wave of sympathy for Zapatero’s
party.
Josh
Ginsbergis a Montreal-based MediaScout
writer for Maisonneuve Magazine.
Saturday 08 March 2008 The government has suspended the campaign for Sunday's national election because of the assassination on Friday of a prominent Basque politician in the town of Arrasate. Isaias Carrasco is said by witnesses to have been fired upon five times by a gunman who then fled in a car. The authorities said Mr. Carrasco was hit as least three times. No one has claimed responsibility but Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero blamed the Basque terrorist group ETA, with which he had vainly tried to make peace. The prime minister's main rival, Mariano Rajoy of the conservative Popular Party, called for unity but also levelled an apparent criticism of his adversary by saying that the only way to deal with ETA is through force.
Friday 29 February 2008 Spain's High Court has sentenced 20 Islamic radicals to between five and 14 years in prison for forming a group to blow up the High Court building in Madrid. Abderrahmane Tahiri, a Moroccan, was sentenced to 14 years for forming the terrorist group he led. Seventeen other men received sentences for being members of a terrorist group. Two other men were sentenced for helping terrorists. In March 2004, a separate group of Islamist bombers killed 191 people in attacks on Madrid trains, for which 21 men were jailed. Spanish police have since regularly arrested suspected Islamist militants and in January arrested 14 South Asians suspected of plotting to attack Barcelona's subway.
2007
Wednesday 19 December 2007 A boatload of 59 exhausted African illegal migrants reached the Canary Islands on Tuesday. Forty were arrested as soon as they set foot on a beach on the island of Tenerife, the others trying in vain to run away. Police say the men are healthy and don't need hospitalization. The interior ministry says the group probably departed from Senegal or Mauritania and may have been at sea for four or five days. The authorities have caught 10,000 illegal migrants this year, compared with 24,000 in 2006.
Friday 07 December 2007 MAURETANIA
The coast guard has arrested a Spanish fisherman who was trying to sail 18 illegal African immigrants to Spain's Canary Islands. Sixteen of them were Mauretanians, the two others a Senegalese and a Sierra Leonean. Ten of the migrants told the coast guard that that have paid between $1,170 and $1.700 for the trip, while the others worked on board in lieu of payments. The fisherman is the first European to be arrested by Mauretania for people smuggling. In the past two weeks, Mauretania has intercepted more than 200 African migrants seeking to reach the Canary Islands.
Thursday 06 December 2007 The authorities report the arrival of two boats off the Canary Islands carrying 91 African migrants, three of them dead. The survivors had to be helped ashore by passersby in a rescue operation that lasted six hours. Many of the migrants arrived in a weakened state, saying that they hadn't had anything to eat or drink for the second week of their 15-day journey from Ghana. About 9,000 migrants have arrived in the Spanish islands off the coast of Morocco this year, compared with a record of 31,000 in 2006.
Sunday 02 December 2007 One Spanish policeman was shot and killed and another was seriously wounded by suspected Basque separatists on Saturday. The attack occurred near Bayonne in south-west France. The two officers---members of a joint Franco-Spanish anti-terror unit---were about to enter their vehicle when shots were fired. Police are hunting for two suspected members of the Basque separatist group ETA. The group's previous fatal attack was nearly a year ago when a bomb left several people dead at Madrid Airport. ETA is fighting for an independent Basque homeland.
Thursday 01 November 2007 A Spanish court has convicted four defendants of murder and other charges in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. They received sentenced that stretch into the thousands of years for their part in the attacks. Fourteen others were found guilty of lesser charges, like belonging to a terrorist group. Twenty-eight people faced charges during the five-month-long trial. However, one of the accused masterminds of the attacks, plus seven lesser suspects, were acquitted on all charges. The bomb attacks killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800.
Thursday 01 November 2007
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The Globe, the Post (neither available online), the Star and the
Citizen go inside while The
National and CTV
News brief on the verdicts handed down in the Madrid train bombings. It
was three and a half years ago when a coordinated wave of bombs tore
through trains at the city’s Atocha commuter rail terminus, killing
191 and wounding 1,800 in the middle of rush hour. Yesterday, 21 men were
convicted and sentenced, in a verdict that has left many unsatisfied. The
Post gives a good summary of the central controversy of the case: the
conservative then-government of José Maria Aznar, which was fighting an
election over its participation in the US invasion of Iraq when the bombs
exploded, quickly blamed Basque separatist organization ETA for the
attacks. Police, however, soon found clear evidence that the bombings were
executed by an Islamist cell, and seven of the most important suspects blew
themselves up during a dramatic police raid a week later; Aznar’s
government fell and the incoming Socialist administration immediately
withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq. Yesterday’s verdicts, which
acquitted seven of the people on trial while sentencing others to tens of
thousands of years in jail, have left many dissatisfied as prosecutors had
sought far longer symbolic sentences. The courts were also wary of
convicting some on the basis of circumstantial, if overwhelming, evidence.
As the Globe explains, the sentences don’t even amount to life in
prison, as Spain—only thirty years removed from a stifling
dictatorship—has no death penalty and caps prison sentences at 40
years.
Daniel
Caseyis a Montreal-based MediaScout writer for
Maisonneuve Magazine.
Tuesday 16 October 2007 Illegal immigrants continue to try to reach Europe through Spain. A wooden boat carrying 84 migrants was discovered on Sunday 26 kilometres from Tenerife in the Canary Islands. After the group was conveyed there, one of the migrants died of dehydration. Some 8,095 migrants have arrived in the islands so far this year, five times fewer than in 2006 because of strengthened patrols by the European Union. And a Spanish fishing boat that rescued about 50 African migrants from a small boat that was headed toward Italy has disembarked them in Libya. The migrants are now in a transition centre.
Wednesday 19 September 2007 The Spanish government has announced a six-week publicity campaign in Senegal aimed at dissuading migrants from trying to attempt the 1,000-kilometre sea voyage to the Canary Islands. The immigration secretary, Consuelo Rumi, says the campaign will seek to make possible migrants understand that the dangerous trip isn't worth their lives. The messages will also tell them that their future is in Africa. Thousands of migrants have reached the islands in recent years but an unknown number have lost their lives at sea. The publicity campaign will tell the story of three Senegalese whose relatives died attempting the passage. More than 31,000 migrants reached Spain from Senegal last year. Increased surveillance has reduced the number to 6,700 so far this year.
Saturday 25 August 2007 There's a report that far fewer illegal African migrants are arriving or trying to arrive in Spain. The International Organization for Migration says that since the beginning of the year 6,300 Africans arrived either in the Canary Islands or on the Spanish mainland, compared with almost twice as many in the same period of 2006. The total number of Africans trying to reach Spain in 2006 was more than 31,000. The International Organization for Migration says one reason for the lower numbers is an agreement between Senegal and Spain that allows the Spanish to send refugees back to Senegal.
Local groups there also have campaigned to make people aware of the dangers of attempting such a voyage. The international inter-governmental group also speculates that clandestine migrant networks have shifted their efforts to trips between Libya and Italy.
Wednesday 18 July 2007 Would-be African migrants continue to try to reach Europe through Spain's Canary Islands. The International Committee of the Red Cross reports that a boat crammed with 56 would-be immigrants has arrived in the islands from Mauretania, one of them dead. More than 250 migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands since Sunday, and more than 2,700 since January despite the tighter surveillance of the African coastline in recent months by the EU border patrol agency.
Wednesday 11 July 2007 rci The Strait of Gibraltar is to be monitored more closely for possible terrorist activity. Spain and Morocco, which border the strategic shipping lane, have agreed to step up their security co-operation. Neither country specified exactly what measures are to be taken except to say that surveillance will be heightened. Morocco has been on edge since five suicide bombers blew themselves up in Casablanca between April 10 and 14, just weeks after another suicide bombing in which a policeman was killed and 45 people injured. In June, three Spanish soldiers and three Colombians serving under Spanish command with the UN peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon were blown up in a roadside attack.
Tuesday 26 June 2007 The U.S. and Spain have demanded that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reopen a television station that he ordered closed last Sunday. Mr. Chavez closed RCTV on the ostensible grounds that it has backed a coup against his then government in 2002. The station had been a critic of his nationalizations and of his increased control of the military and the courts. Visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the closure undemocratic and says it isolates Venezuela in a region where most nations are free and democratic. Miss Rice also called on Mr. Chavez to cease his attacks on the free press. Her Spanish counterpart, Miguel Angel Moratinos, says his country will work with the Americans to promote democracy and free speech in Venezuela. In London, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has invited Mr. Chavez to mind his own business after the Venezuelan leader called Brazilian senators lackeys of the U.S. for having requested that he reopen RCTV, claiming that Brazil's Congress is controlled by right-wing parties that want to keep Venezuela out of Mercosur.
Tue 01/08/2006 rci Illegal immigrants continue to arrive in record numbers to Spain's Canary Islands. Two-hundred-and-thirty Africans arrived on Monday, bringing the total for the year to over 13,000. That number is already far higher than the 10,000 who tried to enter illegally last year. The most recent arrivals came while the crew of a Spanish maritime patrol ship was on a ten-day rest break. During that time, 11 illegal immigrants are known to have died while crossing the Mediterranean. Spain has appealed to the European Union to help control the flow of illegal immigrants. Italy has agreed to supply a surveillance airplane.
Sat 08/07/2006 The Pope made an appeal for traditional family values on Saturday as he began a 24-hour visit to Spain. King Juan Carlos and tens of thousands of people greeted Pope Benedict in the coastal city of Valencia. The Pope is there to close an international gathering of Roman Catholic families. Earlier in the day, he visited the site of a deadly subway accident last week and met with relatives of some of the 42 victims. Spain's government distressed the Vatican last year when it passed a law legalizing same-sex marriages. It's not known whether the Pope expressed his opposition to the law when he later met briefly Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The Vatican is reported to be displeased that the prime minister has declined to attend a mass that the Pope will conduct on Sunday.
Sunday, July 02, 2006 Contacts are increasing between Spain's governing Socialist Party and the banned political wing of the militant Basque separatist group, ETA. The leader of the Basque branch of the Socialist Party will meet with the wing, Batasuna, within the next ten days. The opposition Popular Party has criticized opening contacts with Batasuna, and will boycott the talks. ETA has been blamed for killing hundreds of people in its fight for a separatist Basque homeland. But the Socialist Party government has been looking to enter into a dialogue since ETA announced a ceasefire earlier this year.
Sunday Jun 4, 2006 rci Spain has started to send hundreds of illegal immigrants back to Senegal from the Canary Islands. Spain has asked several countries in West Africa to accept the repatriation of their citizens as it tries to turn back an unprecedented tide of illegal migrants. The first batch of 99 Senegalese were flown back to Dakar from the Canary Islands late Wednesday. They are part of close to 9,000 migrants caught in the first five months of this year trying to get into Europe.
Monday Apr 10, 2006 rci Thousands of people marched in Spain's Basque region on Sunday to demand Basque independence. The rally in the port city of San Sebastian was organized after a Spanish judge banned a meeting of Batasuna, the political wing of the militant Basque separatist group, ETA. Among those participating in the demonstration was the leader of Batasuna, Arnaldo Otegi. He's scheduled to appear in court in Madrid on Monday to face charges of promoting terrorism. He and two comrades was released from jail on Friday after posting bail of 800-thousand American dollars. ETA announced a permanent ceasefire last month. Batasuna hopes to achieve legal status in time to participate in municipal elections next year.
Monday Apr 3, 2006 rci Supporters of an autonomous Basque region staged a mass peaceful demonstration in northern Spain on Saturday. A crowd in the thousands passed through the city of Bilbao. They carried banners that called for a democratic solution to a problem that cost hundreds of lives during 38 years of militant separatist violence. The main separatist group, ETA, announced a ceasefire last month. Many different groups joined the march today, but one major party, the Basque Nationalist Party, boycotted the demonstration. It calls for Basque autonomy rather than total independence.
A recent opinion poll in Spain shows that most Spaniards oppose releasing Basque militant prisoners. Sixty-six per cent of those polled said that imprisoned members of the Basque separatist group ETA should remain jailed. A majority of Spaniards support moving the prisoners to detention centres in the Basque country in northern Spain. Basque nationalists have demanded the release of 680 prisoners as a condition for continuing the peace process. ETA declared an ceasefire last month. Two previous ceasefires have failed.
Sunday Mar 19, 2006 rci Spanish youths and riot police clashed on Saturday as tens of thousands of people took part in a mass drinking session. The so-called 'big bottle' session involved participants across the country. The most serious violence was in Barcelona, where 68 people were injured, including 37 police officers. Police used batons and fired rubber bullets to try to control the youth, who were throwing bottles and cans. More than 50 rioters were arrested. Firemen were called to put out 50 blazes as the youths set fire to rubbish containers in the streets. Shop windows were broken and several shops ransacked. Another 12 people were injured and 16 arrested, including an Italian and a German, in clashes in the city of Salamanca.
Tuesday Mar 14, 2006 rci Spanish authorities continue to intercept groups of would-be African immigrants to the Canary Islands. On Sunday, officers picked up 211 clandestine immigrants in boats off the islands. On Saturday, officials picked up 38 migrants off Gran Canaria. Another 132 people were intercepted off yet another island. Smuggling groups are targeting more outlying islands in the Canary Island group because of stepped-up vigilance in the Strait of Gibraltar, northern Morocco and the northern Canary Islands. Many of the would-be immigrants are setting out to sea from Mauritania because of increased coast guard surveillance further north. On Friday, Mauritania announced a plan to curb clandestine immigration from its shores.
Monday Mar 13, 2006 rci Spain on Saturday marked the second anniversary of the Madrid train bombings in which 191 people were killed. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero attended a wreath-laying ceremony that was followed by five minutes of silence. A delegation from Morocco---the country of origin of many of the suspects---travelled to the city to join the commemoration. Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda said that they carried out the attacks on four commuter trains.
2005
Sunday Dec 25, 2005 rci Six men suspected of recruiting Islamist radical volunteers to fight in Iraq and elsewhere were arrested in Spain on Saturday. Spanish authorities say the men were seeking to recruit volunteers to become so-called 'martyrs' in Chechnya, Iraq, Kashmir or selected places in Asia. One of the suspects is thought to have been in close contact with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq.
Monday Nov 28, 2005 rci Many Arab leaders were notably missing from the historic first summit involving European leaders and countries bordering the southern Mediterranean Sea. Only two southern Mediterranean states---the Palestinian Authority and Turkey---sent high-level delegates. The two-day summit began on Sunday in Barcelona. Some Arab leaders were reported to be angry over what they considered to be humiliating demands for reforms made the Europeans. The summit was designed to improve political and economic links among 35 countries. Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, sought to change the focus of the summit to issues concerning immigration and counter-terrorism.
Sunday Nov 13, 2005 rci Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, promised to raise the issue of human rights during the visit of China's president, Hu Jintao, that began in Madrid on Sunday. Mr. Hu arrived from Germany for two days of talks. In Germany and earlier in Britain, he signed large commercial contracts, and he hopes to increase trade with Spain as well. But Spanish human rights groups plan to demonstrate against him outside China's embassy on Monday. Protests were also staged in Germany and Britain. Mr. Angel Moratinos said that foreign countries can help to protect human rights by forging mutual confidence with China. Spain is expected to sign a treaty on extraditing criminals to China in cases that do not involve the death penalty. Mr. Hu toured a telecommunications plant and met business leaders on Sunday. On Monday, he'll meet with Spain's prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez
Tuesday Sep 13, 2005 rci A Spanish newspaper says the Basque separatist group, ETA, will announce a truce within the next three months. El Mundo quotes unidentified sources as saying that ETA and Spain's government are negotiating a truce. Another Spanish newspaper, El Pais, reports that the government wants the Basque party, Batasuna, to pressure ETA to lay down its arms. Batsuna is currently banned as ETA's political wing. The leader of Spain's opposition conservative Popular Party, Mariano Roy, calls such negotiations irresponsible. In May, Spain's parliament gave the government permission to open peace talks with ETA provided the group laid down its arms.
Monday Apr 18, 2005 A coalition of Basque separatist moderates led by regional premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe won local parliamentary elections in Spain's northern Basque region on Sunday. Partial official returns late in the day showed that the coalition had won 30 of the 75 assembly seats, three less than in 2001. Moderate Basques lost ground to hardline candidates, who appeared to be headed to win eight seats. The Batasuna Party, the political wing of the armed separatist group ETA, was banned from the elections, which are viewed as a referendum on independence from Spain. The Basque region is split between Basque nationalists seeking greater autonomy from Madrid and Spaniards who support territorial unity.
Thursday Jan 27, 2005 ec Attacked from the right Protesters rough up Spain's macho defence minister
SPAIN'S defence minister, José Bono, likes to wrap himself in the national flag. He is less used to being struck by one, as he was at a protest last weekend staged by the Association of Victims of Terrorism in Madrid. The 35,000-strong rally was called to commemorate all victims of terrorism, including those killed in the March 11th Madrid train bombings. But the protesters' bigger target was the Basque terrorist group, ETA. And the attack on Mr Bono was the work of right-wing thugs.
Thursday Nov 25, 2004 ev Police in Spain arrested 90 people, including 21 minors, in a nationwide crackdown on child pornography and trafficking. The raids, which hauled in people trading images on the internet, were Spain's most ambitious effort to stop the exploitation of children for sex.
Thursday Nov 25, 2004 ev Police in Spain arrested 90 people, including 21 minors, in a nationwide crackdown on child pornography and trafficking. The raids, which hauled in people trading images on the internet, were Spain's most ambitious effort to stop the exploitation of children for sex. see wn Spain
Friday Nov 19, 2004 Dear Diana and David,
We've just returned home from our month in Spain. The country remains a fascinating place. Thanks to the EU's help, there's now a network of fast autovias knitting the country together far more closely. Cranes are in evidence everywhere, in Madrid, in Bilbao, on the southern coast. In the center of Mijas, a hillside town above Torremolinos, we found two or three real estate agencies in every block. But there are also that many bars per block, in Madrid and Malaga as well, and don't try to have lunch before two. Zapatero's new government is shaking things up, taking off the restrictions on embryonic stem cell research (the first stem cell lines were brought down from Sweden to Seville several weeks ago), loosening restrictions on abortion, permitting gay marriages. The bishop of Pamplona complained about these attacks against the victors of the civil war.
Our first trip was to Bilbao, to see the splendid Guggenheim Museum. There we also chanced upon a march by the shipworkers, demanding more government support in protecting the industry against Chinese competition. They were singing as they marched, but no longer the familiar notes of the Internationale. Later in Madrid, we found a demonstration by firemen from around the country, just as it was ending. They were calling for better disability support for those firemen exposed to toxic air or water, as well as for a lowering of the retirement age from 65 to 55.
After the US elections, the press was full of the slap in the face Bush gave Zapatero by not responding to Zapatero's congratulatory call while taking time to meet with Aznar, who is now lecturing at Georgetown.
I'm not sure to what degree any of this is of interest to the Wednesday Night group, but I'd be glad to say some words. In any case, Yolanda and I would appreciate a chance to come up for an evening, before the snows come.
Frank Kinnelly
Monday Apr 19, 2004 SPANISH PM ORDERS TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ
Spain's new prime minister is fulfilling a promise to withdraw his
country's troops from Iraq.
Sunday Apr 18, 2004 The Spanish authorities have arrested an 18th suspect in connection with the March 11 terrorist bombings in Madrid that killed 191 people. Fuad El Morabit, a Moroccan, was arrested for collaboration with a terrorist organization. In examining his cellular telephone, police discovered that Mr. El Morabit had been in contact with the majority of both live and dead suspects both on March 11 and afterwards. The police says he was in particular in contact with another Moroccan, Serhan Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, who is suspected to have masterminded the attacks.
Thursday Apr 8, 2004 A judge in Madrid has charged two more suspects in the March 11 bombings in the Madrid area that left 191 dead and more than 1,800 injured. Both are Moroccans. Of the 17 suspects now in custody in connection with the terrorist bombings of four trains, 13 are Moroccan. Six have been charged with mass murder, and the others with collaborating with or belonging to a terrorist group. Meanwhile, a court official in the Spanish capital said that the seven suspected terrorists who died in a suicide blast last weekend were planning more attacks in Spain over the Easter weekend.
Saturday Apr 3, 2004 rci Spain is sending helicopters and army vehicles to patrol the rail line between Madrid and Seville following the discovery on Friday of a large bomb concealed under the tracks. Police defused the bomb, which was reported to weigh about 11 kilograms. A railway employee detected it near the city of Toledo. Train service was halted while police checked the entire track. No suspects have been named. The discovery came just a few weeks after a series of bombs exploded aboard commuter trains at a Madrid station, killing 191 people. The same station is the terminal for the rail line to Seville.
Saturday Apr 3, 2004 ts `Spain on alert after new rail bomb found
MOCEJON, Spain—Spain sent in the army to guard its railways yesterday after finding a bomb under a high-speed track that contained explosives similar to those used in last month`s Madrid train bombings.
Tuesday 30 Mar 2004 ts MADRID BOMBING INVESTIGATORS FOCUS ON MOROCCAN GROUP
The Spanish government says a Moroccan extremist group is now the main
focus of its investigation into the March 11 Madrid train bombings.
Sunday 28 Mar 2004 The authorities in Madrid announced on Friday the arrest of another
suspect in the March 11 terrorist bombings in which 190 people lost
their lives. The Moroccan suspect is also under investigation in
Germany, where he once lived. The Spanish authorities announced five
new arrests on Thursday. At least 18 people are suspected of being
the perpetrators of the attacks.
Thursday 18 Mar 2004 cbc SPAIN ARRESTS 5 MORE BOMB SUSPECTS
Spain arrested five more people Thursday in connection with the Madrid
commuter train bombings, bringing the total number of suspects detained
to 11.
Thursday 18 Mar 2004 Five men arrested in connection with last week's terrorists bombings in Spain were to appear in court in Madrid on Thursday. Three are
Moroccan, and the others east Indian. At least 201 people died and
1,750 were injured when bombs exploded on four Madrid-area commuter
trains last Thursday. An Islamic group connected to al-Qaeda has
claimed responsibility for the attack. The group published a
statement on Wednesday it which it congratulates itself for having
destroyed one of the "pillars of the axis of Crusader evil..." The
statement supposedly from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades also says it
will suspend its attacks in Spain while waiting to see whether
Spain's president-elect, José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, keeps his
promise to remove Spanish troops from Iraq. The current president,
José Maria Aznar, has been a stronger supporter of the U.S.-led
occupation of Iraq, which is unpopular with the Spanish people. Mr.
Zapatero had been trailing in popularity polls before Sunday's
Spanish election.
Wednesday 17 Mar 2004 OTTAWA: CANADA COULD BOOST SPENDING AGAINST TERROR
There has been reaction from Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to
Wednesday's terrorist bombing in Baghdad and last Thursday's
terrorist attacks in Spain. Mr. Martin says Canada could step up the
fight against terror by increasing spending for it. The Canadian
government has already spent $7 billion since the Sept. 11 attacks to
heighten national security. Mr. Martin warns, however, that no matter
how much is spent to prevent such attacks, errors are always possible
and that there will never be 100-per cent security against them.
Wednesday 17 Mar 2004 The premier of Spain's Basque region says that the election of a new
Spanish government provides an historic opportunity to end Basque
separatist violence. Juan José Ibarretxe expressed hope that the
public outcry against the bombings in Madrid last week would deter
the Basque separatist group ETA from violent acts. In the last 35
years, ETA terrorists have killed more than 800 people. Mr. Ibarretxe
also welcomed a promise by Spain's new prime minister, Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero, to govern by dialogue. However, the new prime
minister rejects Mr. Ibarretxe's proposal to allow the Basque
regional council to govern the region jointly with Madrid. Meanwhile,
Spanish investigators say they've identified six Moroccans as
suspects in Thursday's bombings. The police suspect them of
connection to al-Qaeda. Only one of them, Jamal Zougam, is in custody.
Tuesday 16 Mar 2004 ts Will Spain set off domino effect?
WASHINGTON—George W. Bush had barely begun a meticulously orchestrated week of positive news marking the anniversary of his invasion of Iraq when he received an unexpected slap from voters in Spain.
Monday 15 Mar 2004 cbc NEW SPANISH PM SAYS WAR IN IRAQ WAS 'HUGE DISASTER'
Spain's Prime Minister-designate Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has
threatened to withdraw 1,300 Spanish soldiers serving in Iraq. Zapatero
says it will happen by July, if the United Nations doesn't take over
operations in the country.
Monday 15 Mar 2004 ec After the train bombs, a political bombshell Spain’s ruling People’s Party has lost the election to the opposition Socialists, amid increasing signs that it may have been al-Qaeda that planted the devastating train bombs in Madrid last week—and not Basque separatists, as the government had insisted
Friday 12 Mar 2004 ts SPANISH PROTESTERS ASSAIL GOVERNMENT FOR BOMB INVESTIGATION
Angry protesters assembled in Madrid Saturday outside the headquarters
of the ruling Popular Party, calling for more transparency in the
investigation of Thursday's bomb attacks that killed 200 people.
Sunday 14 Mar 2004 cbc FIVE ARRESTED IN SPANISH BOMBINGS
Three Moroccans and two Indians were arrested Saturday for questioning
about bombings in Madrid that killed 200 people last week.
Friday 12 Mar 2004 ts Rush-hour explosions rock commuter trains
MADRID—A series of co-ordinated bomb attacks that killed at least 192 people and wounded 1,400 has triggered a massive manhunt for the extremists who covered the heart of Spain`s capital in blood.
Friday 12 Mar 2004 ts Suspicion falls on Al Qaeda
WASHINGTON—Did Al Qaeda strike at the heart of the Spanish capital during morning rush hour?
Valid as of April 9, 2004
On March 11, 2004, bombs exploded aboard commuter trains arriving in central Madrid during morning rush hour. About 200 people were killed and more than 1,450 were injured. Four separate trains were hit at stations along the southern part of Madrid's passenger train network, including Eugenia, El Pozo, and Atocha, where the most deadly blast occurred. On April 2, an additional explosive device was found and defused on a high-speed rail track linking Madrid and Seville. On April 3, a police officer and five suspects died in anti-terror raids related to the March 11 attack. Canadians should exercise caution and maintain a high level of personal security awareness at all times and in all places. They should also remain informed of developments and follow the advice of local authorities.
For advice on travel to Spain, see the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Travel Report.
Saturday Apr 3, 2004 cbc MADRID BOMBING SUSPECTS KILL THEMSELVES
At least three people accused of involvement in last month's deadly
Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up Saturday as police tried to
arrest them, Spanish authorities said.
2003
Wednesday Jul 23, 2003 Authorities in Spain believe Basque separatists were behind two bomb
blasts on Tuesday that injured 12 at two beach resorts. One attack
occurred in the town of Alicante on the Mediterranean, where eight
people were hurt. Moments later another blast rocked the nearby
resort of Benidorm. Four police officers were injured in that attack
as they cordoned off a hotel that was being evacuated. In both cases,
authorities were tipped off by anonymous calls shortly before the
explosions. Basque separatists have killed more than 800 people in a
three-decade campaign aimed at creating an independent homeland in
northern Spain.
The Spanish prime minister, José María Aznar, has received an unexpected boost in the country's local elections. The vote was seen as the Spanish people's judgment on the prime minister's backing for America’s global war on Islamic terrorism and on his local war on Basque terrorism
Monday May 12, 2003
Basque groups defy protest ban
Tens of thousands of people in northern Spain protest against a ban on Basque separatists standing in local elections.
Nov 21, 2002 nyt Spoiling the Coast of Spain By MARA MAHIA
In the sea off the coast of Spain rests the Prestige, once a tanker, now a coffin filled with enough oil to cast a long shadow over a city that has already seen enough darkness.
Monday Nov 18, 2002 OIL SPILL REACHES SPANISH FISHING AREAS
The first traces of a huge oil spill washed up on the northwest coast of
Spain Saturday, threatening one of the country's most important fishing
areas.
Tuesday Aug 27, 2002
US seeks Saudi support US President George W Bush contacts senior Saudi officials as he attempts to ease relations and drum up support for action against Iraq.
Police move against Basque separatists A judge in Spain orders police to complete the closure of offices of the Basque nationalists, Batasuna, as the party vows to fight the ban.
Monday Aug 26, 2002 bbc
Spain bans Basque separatist party The party widely seen as the political wing of the paramilitary group, ETA, is closed down for three years.
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Spain’s Quiet Corner Saturday 25 August 2007
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SPANISH PROTESTERS ASSAIL GOVERNMENT FOR BOMB INVESTIGATION
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