Spain Papers Review - Friday October 9 2009

Spain Papers Review - Friday October 9 2009
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By h.b. - Oct 9, 2009 - 9:04 AM

Público today

Heads roll in the Gürtel case and lead the papers in Spain today

El País headlines that the action taken in Madrid by the regional president, Esperanza Aguirre, has left Rajoy and Camps in the cold. She has sacked the three regional deputies charged with corruption, but notes they have refused to give up their seats.
However, El Mundo headlines that Francisco Camps, the PP President in Valencia, has given in to party leader Mariano Rajoy, and has called for the ‘temporary resignation’ of his number two, Ricardo Costa. The paper says that someone close to Camps has asked the party secretary in the region to go for three months. El Mundo reports that Costa replied that if they want his head they have to call a meeting of the party’s executive committee.
El País has an opinion poll carried out by Metroscopia which shows that the majority (53%) of the Valencian people think that Francisco Camps lied about paying for his suits.
ABC headlines that Aguirre has expelled the Madrid deputies in the Gürtel case from the PP parliamentary group. The paper notes that the Mayor of Valencia, Rita Barberá, has said that ‘you have to make decisions’ in politics, and that she is sure Camps will do so.
ABC notes that the man at the centre of it all, Francisco Correa, defrauded at least five million € from Hacienda between 2003 and 2007. The paper notes that the lawyers who were ‘tapped’ in the case are considering taking legal action against Judge Garzón in the Supreme Court.
Público headlines that Rajoy and Camps are cornered, and that Rita Barberá and Esteban González Pons have both demanded resignations in Valencia. The paper says that Esperanza Aguirre has left the PP leader in evidence by expelling the three charged deputies from the parliamentary group.

The death of the Spanish soldier, Cristo Ancor Cabello, in Afghanistan gets wide coverage. El Mundo has a photo of some of his fellow soldiers, some in tears, as the coffin is taken out of Herat. The paper has a quote from the mother –‘My son thought he was doing to give humanitarian aid – they have been sold out’. The mother also criticised the ambiguity of the Government on the mission and lack of resources for the war.
El País has a front page photo of the Minister of Defence, Carme Chacón, with the coffin in Herat, and notes that the funeral will take place today in Gando, Gran Canaria.
ABC highlights the mother’s comment that the soldiers have been sold out, and also has a photo of the coffin being carried in Afghanistan. The paper notes that the Interior Minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, has admitted that the mission is not going well.

El Mundo has more on the ETA informant case, and says that the police inspector who was investigating the leak has been promoted and decorated by the Ministry for the Interior.

El País has an interview with the Minister for Science, Cristina Garmendia, who has said that she cannot currently increase spending in research and development. It’s one of the hardest hit areas in next year’s budget, and there have been many protests already.

El Mundo says that the Government admitted yesterday that there were aspects of the Catalan Education Law which could be unconstitutional.

El Mundo notes that the High Court in Madrid has blocked a series of new fines and charges, established by the Mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón.

Few international stories today;
El País notes that the Czech President is complicating the approval of the European Lisbon Treaty, demanding last minute changes, while Poland is expected to do so tomorrow.

There’s more coverage in El País on the fight by Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, against the decision to declare his immunity illegal. The paper says he used ‘calculated hysteria’ and insults attacking the powers of the state in response.

ABC notes that Herta Müller was the surprise winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature yesterday. The paper notes on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, the Swedish Academy has honoured a Romanian/German writer.

And finally,
Many papers note the opening of the most expensive Spanish movie ever, ‘Ágora’, from Alejandro Almenábar. El Mundo puts it on the masthead today, and says it shows the pillaging of the library in Alexandria.
La Razón notes that 80% of the subsidies awarded by the Culture Ministry have gone to film this year.

(The La Razón pdf had not been updated at time of writing)

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