Spain Press Review - Monday June 22 2009
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Jun 22, 2009 - 9:35 AM
Iran and ETA dominate the front pages across Spain today

Many papers in Spain lead with the news from Iran that the Council of Guardians has admitted that there were irregularities in the recent election.
El Mundo considers that something is changing in Iran after the admission that in 50 cities there were more votes than the number of people on the electoral roll.
Público reports that the repression is continuing in Iran with the arrest of a daughter of the ex President, Rafsanyani. The paper considers that an internal fight for power has broken out among the ayatollahs, and notes that there has been more than a dozen deaths on the streets so far.
El País leads with the headlines that the bloody repression in Iran has worsened the split between the ayatollahs. The paper says the police violence has caused at least ten deaths and 100 injured, and that Tehran has accused western countries of instigating the revolt.
El País has a front page photo of a woman carrying bricks close to a street barricade, and describes it as one of the pictures which the regime failed to block.
ABC has a close up photo of Neda, a 16 year old victim, and describes her as already being a symbol of the protests against the Almadineyad regime. ABC says some 20 people lost their lives in Saturday’s protests.

The weekend papers have been filled with the aftermath of the Bilbao car bomb on Friday which took the life of a National Police Chief Inspector, and saw a massive demonstration on the streets of the city on Saturday.
Today too El Mundo has a large front page photo of one of the burnt out cars at the site, a rose placed on the ground, and Santos Gutiérrez, the husband of a friend of the victim’s family. He said his wife would also have died had it been a normal Friday, but she escaped as she was on a trip to Barcelona.
El País reports that Eduardo Puelles will be honoured by the Basque Parliament today. The paper also notes that the PNV Basque Nationalists Party has criticised the organisation of the demonstration on Saturday, claiming that it is better for widows not to address the crowd.
ABC says that many politicians from all parties are calling for the prosecutor to act against the Iniciativa party led by Sr. Sastre, describing it a pro-ETA party and noting that it has said that without talks ‘times of much pain are on the way’.

El Mundo reports on the statement made by Miguel Ángel Moratinos, Spanish Foreign Minister, about the arrival of prisoners from Guantanamo to Spain. He tells the paper that there will be no red lines and each case will be studied individually.
El País says that the Government already sees a problem with accepting one of the proposed prisoners, and that Spain has asked the United States for detainees who have no previous criminal record.

Following recent revelations about the activities of the head of the Spanish CNI Secret Service, Alberto Saiz, the paper today headlines that he has submitted ten agents of his staff to a lie-detector test.
The paper claims he is trying to find out who leaked the information about him to El Mundo, and what the paper said was his use of public funds for private ends.
The paper says that at least three agents have denied to be tested by the sophisticated machine which was purchased in the United States in 2002, and that the testing is continuing this week.

The latest Publiscopio opinion poll in Público shows that the PP is holding onto a 1.5% lead over the Socialists. The PP has 41.8% support and the PSOE 40.3%.

El Mundo reports that the ex Mayor of Pinto, near Madrid, has been denounced for selling property which was paid for by the Ayuntamiento.

Público leads with a six page special report on the economy, and says that the crisis is hitting youngsters the hardest. The paper says that unemployment and job insecurity hits the young more so where unemployment levels among the under 25’s is now nearly 40%. The paper says that many youngsters have had to go back and live with their parents, or delay plans to do leave the nest.
El País names them as the ‘ni ni’ generation – neither do they study and neither do they work. The paper says the youngsters have no projects and a lower standard of life than their parents.
El País also has an interview with Celestino Corbacho, the Minister for Employment. He tells the paper the Government will attend to those unemployed who are not entitled to benefits.
ABC reports that the Government is considering including a reduction in social security payments as part of a new social package, with the star idea being a new payment if 422 € to the unemployed who have used up their rights to the dole.

ABC leads with the headline that despite the crisis, the regional governments are keeping their 196 ‘embassies’ and notes that a quarter of them are from Cataluña which the paper notes has just extended its ‘diplomacy’ with a new headquarter in Mexico. ABC notes that Spain has only 119 accredited ambassadors in 190 countries.

Despite the crisis, El Mundo notes that the Government is increasing its subsidies to the Spanish film industry by 40%.

La Vanguardia in Barcelona reports on plans by Ryanair to start a new ‘low cost’ shuttle service between Barcelona and Madrid.

El País notes that a new code is to limit the abuse of ecological messages in advertising in Spain.

El Periódico has an interview with Bono ahead of the U2 concerts in Barcelona at the end of the month, and he tells the paper that the band has been inspired by Gaudí. The paper also has a front page photo of the massive stage being constructed in the Camp Nou.

And finally,
El Mundo has an interview with the Real Madrid and Spanish goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. He tells the paper that what the team is doing has made people wave the Spanish flag with pride.
El País reports Spain will meet the United States in the semi-final of the Confederation Cup, noting Italy has been eliminated after being beaten 0-3 by Brazil.

Click here for related stories

 mobile |  email this article |  printer friendly page

 del.icio.us |  digg |  technorati |  yahoo | Stumble It!
Facebook | Reddit | Newsvine | Meneame | Wikio
Blink | Google | Fresqui | MSN reporters | Live Spaces
My Space | Fark | Mixx | Twitter

Spain Press Review

Readers' comments:
Please keep to the subject. Opinions published here are of our visitors, not the Typically Spanish team. Comments which go against Spanish laws or which are libellous are not allowed. We reserve the right to delete any comment we wish. Placing a comment indicates you have read our terms and conditions and privacy policy .

Por favor, céntrate en el tema. Son las opiniones de los internautas, y no las de Typically Spanish. No está permitido verter comentarios contrarios a las leyes españolas o injuriantes. Reservado el derecho a eliminar los comentarios que consideremos fuera de tema. Escribir un comentario indica que has leído nuestros condiciones de uso y politica de privacidad .