News in Spain
August 2010 ISSUE
15 year old girl dies in Barcelona fairground accident. A 15 year old girl has died at the Tibadabo attractions park in Barcelona. It happened at 19:15 on Saturday 17th July when the ride known as The Pendulum which rises to a height of 38 metres fell on top of a neighbouring ride, Goldmine. The ride was made in Italy and was installed by Italian engineers in 2006. Another two 15 year old girls were seriously injured and remain in hospital but their injuries are not life-threatening. A 15 year old boy was also slightly hurt. The 4,000 people in the attractions park at the time were evacuated in an orderly fashion. It appears that the screws used to anchor the ride had completely sheared off, despite the fact the ride had a full inspection on June 9. There are reports however that a worker and several members of the public had warned that the ride was ‘moving more than normal’ and that the ride underwent an inspection just four hours before the tragedy, because of a ‘strange noise’. It’s thought that an error in the calculation of the weight which the anchoring screws had to support could have been the reason for the tragedy. 12 people have died in accidents in fairgrounds in Spain since 2000.
Aguirre posts anti-IVA rise petition to Zapatero A PETITION containing over 410,500 signatures protesting against the rise in IVA from 16 to 18 per cent has been sent by post to Spain's president. Head of the regional government of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, posted the petition to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on the 20th July as part of the PP's campaign against the tax hike. The first to sign the form was Zapateros' rival, Mariano Rajoy, followed by various heads of the PP from all over Spain, including the regional governments. But before heading for the post office to send off the petition, Aguirre asked: “Why didn't we just go to the Moncloa [Zapatero's official residence] in a van to drop it off?” Aguirre said 'all Spanish residents' will be forced to pay for the IVA hike, and that this could have the same repercussions as in 1993 when the tax rise had the opposite effect and actually brought in less money for the government, since households cut their spending. She collected the signatures via the website www.nomasiva.com (literally, 'no more VAT').
Catalan Parliament votes to show half of films in Catalan. The Catalan Parliament has voted to approve a new law which will oblige cinemas in the region to dub half of the films being shown into Catalan, 117 votes in favour and just 17 against. Only the PP and Ciutadens voted against the idea. The measure comes into effect on January 1 next year, and will be applied progressively, with a fine of up to 5,000 € for each film copy which does not meet the requirement. Other fines could reach as much as 75,000 €. There were calls during the debate for contacts and dialogue to be made with the sector to help with the application of the law. Cinema owners fear that the obligation will lead to lower audiences and they will have to close. It comes as a boost for the nationalists after the blow to the region’s Statute from the Constitutional Court hearing.
Sean Connery faces second tax-fraud trial in Marbella FORMER James Bond actor Sean Connery and his wife Micheline have been brought before the courts again over an alleged 1.6-million-euro tax fraud following the sale of land in Málaga. The land is thought to have been sold by a company linked to the couple. Judge Ricardo Puyol of the Court of Instruction No.1 in Marbella (Málaga) discovered the second incident which could give rise to fraud charges whilst investigating an ongoing, similar case linked to the Connerys. It is possible that the case will come to trial as early as July 25. The first incident, known as the 'Caso Goldfinger' – after the actor's 1964 film in which he played 007 – involves investigations into a plot in Marbella where Connery's villa and 72 luxury properties are located. During their holidays in Marbella, until 1999, Sean and Micheline Connery lived in the seafront villa in question, which is on the same plot of land as a four-storey apartment block built between 2004 and 2005. Now, the sale of the block Colinas del Limonar in the Los Almendrales district of Málaga city is being looked into, since it appears the firm linked to the Connerys did not declare the sale as part of their annual Company Tax bill. However, it is said that the IVA on the property sale was duly declared. A number of bank accounts and shares have been frozen pending the outcome of the trial.
First baby Imperial eagles in 54 years IMPERIAL eagles have been bred in the Doñana national park for the first time for 54 years. Experts from the park's Biological Station, together with the ministry of the environment, have managed to reproduce using a pair of Imperial eagles in the La Janda district of Cádiz. They had originally hoped to see two nesting eagles by 2012, but the first has come two years earlier than they envisaged. The two female eagles born are about ready to leave the nest, say the organisers behind the project. Imperial eagles tend to stay in the same area until they reach sexual maturity, at around the age of five years. There are currently only 250 couples of Imperial eagles left in the world, all of which are based in Spain and Portugal.
Oberhausen sea life centre refuses to sell Paul the octopus to Madrid zoo. The Sea life centre in Oberhausen (Germany), home to world famous psychic octopus, Paul, has categorically refused to sell the cephalopod to a zoo in Madrid. Paul rose from obscurity in Oberhausen’s Sea Life aquarium during the World Cup to international celebrity as he correctly predicted the outcome of Germany’s seven matches in the month-long tournament, time and again picking a mussel from a tank marked with the flag of the would-be winner. He also correctly predicted Spain would beat Germany in the semi-finals and Spain went wild for him after he correctly tipped their team to beat the Netherlands in the final. Paul is now so popular in Spain that a northwestern Spanish town tried to borrow him. Officials in O Carballino, population 14,000, declared that the octopus is their “honorary friend” and wanted Paul’s presence to promote a seafood festival, the Faro de Vigo newspaper said. A businessman from the town also offered 30,000 euros to buy Paul, but the newspaper said Sea Life declined. In response to hundreds of requests to bring Paul to Spain, the Madrid Zoo this week asked Sea Life if it would be willing to make a deal to bring him in as a tribute to the Spanish soccer team’s victory. Zoo spokesperson Amparo Fernández said the zoo had asked for Paul to come on either a temporary or permanent basis, and had proposed an exchange of animals. She said no financial offer had been made, but that it would be considered if necessary. But Sea Life spokesperson Kerstin Kuehn said there was no way it would happen. “It’s totally out of the question to sell Paul or lend him out,” she said in an email. “Paul will enjoy his greatly deserved retirement in Sea Life in Oberhausen.”
Broadband for all ?...
The Spanish government has announced plans to give every citizen a legal right to 1Mbps broadband at a fixed price – and will follow it up with measures against file-sharers.
Spanish citizens will have the legal right to broadband at 1Mbps, in 2011, the Spanish minister of industry Miguel Sebastian announced at the FICOD 2009 digital content event in Madrid.
Sebastian also promised measures to protect copyright – but refused to discuss “piracy”, promising a specifically Spanish model for managing digital content, which would provide a “platform for legal content that will meet the needs and demands of key players”, according to eWEEK Europe Spain.
Spain is the first major European country to add broadband to the universal service obligation due from telecom providers - although Finland announced its citizens will have the legal right to 1Mbps last year - but commentators have said that 1Mbps is not a very ambitious target.
“The new law will simply formalise something that the operators will soon deliver voluntarily, said IHS Global Insight telecoms analyst Aapo Markkanen, “at the same time defining the speed of access as something that will hardly qualify as broadband on the day when it will come into force.”
Although Spain has plenty of rural areas which will be hard to cover, Spain can do this with wireless, having announced the liberalisation of the 900MHz band for data services, said Markkanen. Already radio is used to provide the legal right to dial-up Internet which Spain has, he said.
The Spanish regulator CMT will give the contract to provide the service, so Spanish citizens can demand broadband as well as telephone. So far, universal services have been provided by incumbent telecom provider Telefonica, with other operators contributing according to their market share.
The universal service provision might be in conflict with any move to cut off the connection of illegal file-sharers, such as the one which the UK government has promised, but Markkanen doubts this will be an issue.
“That has not been tested in court yet,” he said, “and as there are not many countries where Internet access is universal, it is a little debatable.” Even universal services such as a phone line, which are a legal right, are not the same as a universal human right, and there are situations where they can be restricted, he said: “Phone usage can be restricted if you deal in drugs, and is also restricted in prison. Some legal rights can be restricted.”
The SUPER SLICK new AVE train
This S103 model has a 200 metre long aluminium chassis carrying up to 404 passengers, it even has reclining seats that swivel to face the direction of travel, and these seats even have video and music players.
The aim of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is to have 10,000km of high- speed track in Spain by 2020, meaning that 90% of the population will be no more than 30 miles from a station through which the train passes.
December saw the opening of lines connecting Madrid to Valladolid and to Malaga, which have slashed journey times and proved hugely popular. Carrillo describes the success of these two lines as “unprecedented and well ahead of what we expected. Traffic has doubled on the Malaga line, and grown by 75% on the Valladolid line.”
What the AVE offers is unavailable in the rest of Europe in terms of comfort, speed and punctuality. Do not read on if you are a British commuter used to delays, if an Ave train arrives more than five minutes late, passengers are reimbursed the full price of their ticket, the main problem for those hoping to get their money back is that the trains are almost 98% reliable.
New Rail Link Between Seville and Barcelona Announced
Plans were announced last week for a new high speed train route for Andalucia, to connect Seville with Barcelona and also Malaga with Barcelona without having to go to Madrid. A date has not been set, but the plan is to provide a link south of Madrid which connect the existing AVE lines from Barcelona and Andalucia.
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