Spanish Press Review
Spain Papers Review - Wednesday April 30 2008
By h.b. - Apr 30, 2008 - 9:56 AM
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El País leads with the headline – Zaplana lets down Rajoy and goes to Telefónica for a million a year.
The paper says that César Alierta has contracted the ex P.P. spokesman in Congress because of his contracts with Silvio Berlusconi. El País claims that Mariano Rajoy was one of the last to know about Zaplana’s departure.
El Mundo says his job will be to liaise with European Governments and considers it is a loss for Spanish politics. The paper considers it shows that when the renovation of a party is not well managed it can cause a problem. This is the case of the PP which has recently lost the talent of Josep Piqué, Jaume Matas, Rodrigo Rato and now Zaplana.
El País considers the new legislature is showing a crisis of authority in the PP for Mariano Rajoy. The paper shows a series of a worried-looking photos of Rajoy talking to Manuel Pizarro, who told him that he does not want any responsibilities. The paper says that Pizarro’s argument was ‘I’ve been 25 years being my own boss’.
How Rajoy is assembling his team is creating more tension in the party.
El Mundo notes that he has changed his mind, and will now attend an event being organised by Esperanza Aguirre in Madrid on Friday, to celebrate the regional fiesta.
ABC leads with the Euribor rate, used to set the mortgage rates in Spain, which has ended the month at its highest level for eight years. The paper says that Mortgages and a slow down in consumer demand fly in the face of the optimism of the Prime Minister.
El Mundo continues its attacks on the Government’s language policy with the headline ‘The Balearic Government imposes Catalan and eliminates Spanish from public life’. It comes after a statement was made in the region calling on civil servants to use Catalan wherever possible.
In international stories:
El País has a feature today on the increased demand in China, and says there is not enough meat in the world for China and the rest of us.
El País notes comments from General Raúl Isaías Baduel, the ex Defence Minister of Venezuela. He has said the country is in a stage ‘prelude to an insurrection’, provoked by the country’s own President, Hugo Chaves, and his ‘irresponsible’ decisions.
El Mundo notes that the monster from Austria travelled to Thailand, which it describes as the capital of child sex, in 1998, leaving his children held hostage in the now famous basement.
La Razón says that Fritzl was ‘an international paedophile’.
El País considers that NATO plans for Kosovo are complicating the Spanish position in the country. There are 600 Spaniard soldiers there, who supposedly are training a future Kosovo army – the problem comes as Spain does not officially recognise Kosovo independence.
Público notes that Raul Castro has decided to suspend the death penalty in Cuba.
Back in Spain:
El Pais notes that it is selling more copies than ever before according to the latest numbers – for the year to March – 11% up at 2,336,000. New newspaper Público notes, in its first figures, that it has sales of 188,000, according to the EGM.
Another best seller is the lead in Público which considers the new video game ‘Grand theft auto 4’.
La Vanguardia in Barcelona notes the approval of what El Mundo calls the ‘non-transfer’ of water from Tarragona to Barcelona. La Vanguardia notes that both the PSOE and the PP voted in favour of the measure.
La Razón notes after the recent scare that sunflower oil imported to Spain from the Ukraine is not analysed at the Spanish border.
ABC notes that from tomorrow if you drive in Spain without a licence or if you have lost your points, you face a 3-6 month prison sentence. The paper says 63,000 drivers could go to jail.
And finally,
The papers give wide coverage to the defeat of Barcelona in Old Trafford last night. Barça without a European final, says El País.
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