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Spain Papers Review - Friday November 23 2007
By h.b. - Nov 23, 2007 - 9:47 AM

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Today's ABC front page
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A mixture of headlines end the week in Spain on the front page today
El Mundo leads with criticism of the Judge Javier Gómez Bermúdez who over saw the Madrid Train Bombings case. It comes a fellow judge on the case, Alfonso Guevara, who has accused Bermúdez of ‘a lack of personal and professional loyalty’.
It follows the publication of a book this week by the wife of the judge which talks about how her husband faced the March 11th train bombing case.

El País leads with the investigation into the corruption in Madrid City Hall and says that it was been taking place for years. Illegal commissions were collected by civil servants for the granting of municipal licences. The paper says the suspicions now extend to 17 districts and a quote ‘You have to give me 3,000 € to share with my bosses’.

ABC leads with statements from the previous Prime Minister, José María Aznar – asked about the events at the Ibero-American summit, Aznar said ‘When the King is attacked, the Spanish nation is attacked’. Speaking on Punto Radio, he said the Monarch was a guarantee ‘of historical continuance’.

El Mundo has an interview with the Mayor of the Basque locality of Lizarza which has stood up against Basque independence protests.
Regina Otaola tells the paper that she does not feel supported by the Prime Minister, who has never rung her up. She was threatened with death for flying the Spanish flag from the town hall balcony.

In international stories
The Columbian President, Álvaro Uribe, yesterday ended his mediation between Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and the Columbian FARC guerrillas.

Back in Spain,
El País says the latest opinion poll of voters’ intentions carried out by the CIS, the Centre for Sociological Investigation, has shown the PP has cut the PSOE lead to just 2.3 points. That is 1.2 points less than the last poll in July. The Spanish are now more concerned about unemployment than terrorism which has fallen from top to fourth place.
ABC says that Zapatero remains the best valued leader while Rajoy falls to fifth place.

El Mundo tells its readers today that drunk or dangerous drivers could be sent to prison from the next long bank holiday weekend.

El País says being humiliated on television is an attenuating circumstance, and reports on how the sentence against a man has been reduced – he tried to kill his wife after seeing her on TV. It comes in the same week as the latest tragic case of the Russian woman from Alicante.

La Razón has a photo of demonstrating students in Madrid. Because of a lack of enemies the paper says they were fighting amongst themselves yesterday.
ABC also has a picture and says that dozens of anti-system and left wing students come to blows in Madrid.

Público claims that the Minister for Tax and the Economy, Pedro Solbes, has placed some conditions to the Prime Minister on his continuing in Government. He has demanded that the Prime Minister only make election promises that can be afforded, and he wants the effective control of the economy if the PSOE wins in March.

La Razón leads with the headline that Spain will have to pay a ‘millionaire fine’ because of the delay in the AVE high speed connection with France. The paper says the tunnel will not be ready before 2012, three years later than planned, because of the slow down in work on the Spanish side.

El País notes that National Court judge, Fernando Grande Marlaska, has archived the Yak 42 case, despite describing it as serious. It saw the fraudulent identification of 30 of the 62 Spanish soldiers who died when the plane crashed in 2003 on the way back from Afghanistan.
ABC says that Marlaska has archived the case after not finding any evidence of a crime.

El Mundo notes that two goods trains carrying dangerous substances have collided in the centre of Alcalá de Henares. Fortunately there were no injuries or leaks.

La Razón says that the Environment Minister, Cristina Narbona, is moving ahead with her controversial law against hunting.

And finally,

El Pais has a photo from the Teatro Español yesterday where the coffin of actor and director, Fernando Fernán-Gómez, was placed on the stage for the public to pay their respects. Hundreds of friends turned up with the chairs brought in from the actor’s favourite restaurant for a turtulia, Café Gijón.


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