Spain Papers Review - Tuesday November 24 2009

Spain Papers Review - Tuesday November 24 2009
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By h.b. - Nov 24, 2009 - 8:53 AM

Público today

The Catalan Statute and ways out of recession dominate the Spanish front pages today

El Mundo has a large cross front page photo of José Montilla, the President of the Catalan Generalitat Government, talking to members of the Statutory Guarantees Council in Barcelona yesterday. The paper headlines that Cataluña has already set up its own Constitutional Court. It comes as the Constitutional Court in Madrid is about to rule on the Catalan Statute, and headlines ‘We will not renounce the Statute which will allow us to prosper nationally’, words from José Montilla.
El Mundo also shows a copy of the voting slips which have been prepared for the ‘independence referendum’ which will be held in 153 Catalan municipalities on December 13.
El País headlines that Cataluña is threatening an action plan if the regional Statute is trimmed by the Constitutional Court. The paper says the CiU party has offered a pact to Montilla to combat any adverse decision from the TC.
ABC considers that the link between the Socialists and the CIU is a common front to put pressure on the Constitutional Court in Madrid, in an attempt to avoid a negative ruling on the Statute.
Público says that Montilla wants to implicate Zapatero in the defence of the Statute.

El País notes that the Governor of the European Central Bank agrees with the Governor of the Bank of Spain and has demanded labour reform in Spain. The paper notes that Zapatero has set 2020 as when a new economic model can be in place.
ABC headlines that Zapatero continues to turn a deaf ear to the advice from experts on how to get out of recession. The paper notes that the Prime Minister has said that the recovery has started already, and that he thinks the Sustainable Economy Law will end the recession. ABC notes that the leader of the opposition Mariano Rajoy called the Prime Minister irresponsible, for confusing stagnation with recovery.
La Razón leads with this story and notes that Rodrigo Rato also thinks Spain will not escape recession without reforms.
It notes that Government is considering ordering the public sector to pay invoices from pyme small businesses in just 30 days.
Público notes the calls for labour reform – but asks the question what exactly. It note that members of the cabinet have now joined the calls for change in the labour market, and notes that the Government of the Bank of Spain said he is very happy at the change in direction of the Government statements on the matter. Público notes that unions however consider Fernández Ordóñez and Trichet only want to turn the screw more against the workers.

El Mundo reports that Manuel Chaves’ daughter gave the go ahead to reports on the grants awarded by the Junta to the Matsa company. The paper contends that her involvement in the grant for the firm where she worked was greater than her father has admitted.

El País tells is that the first particle collisions have taken place in the Hadron collider, back on line after 14 months of repairs. The paper says 10,000 scientists are taking part in the experiments.

ABC notes that the Socialist party has asked for the Moors who were expelled from Spain to be officially compensated. The paper says a proposal will be put before Congress to ‘repair’ a decision taken four centuries ago.

Last night’s massive raids against members of the ETA youth group Segi is covered in El Mundo. The paper says that those arrested were being trained to become the new generation of ETA.

La Razón tells is that the fault which led to the Spanair crash in Madrid in 2008, happened again this year.

El País tells us that an armed group decapitated 21 politicians and journalists in the Philippines. The paper says the blood bath was the result of rivalry between two clans ahead of the elections.

La Razón says that the European Union is putting the final details on a pact with Morocco which his ‘very prejudicial’ to agriculture in Spain.

El Mundo reports that the Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, is complicating the rapid arrival of Rodrigo Rato as Chairman of the Caja Madrid savings bank. The paper says a report from Esperanza Aguirre’s regional government says it’s down to the way Gallardón has chosen to remove his judicial complaints in the case.

La Razón reports that the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, does not consider it important that London has demanded that the Guardia Civil stop patrolling the Spanish waters of Gibraltar.

El País reports that the Catholic Church does not have enough priests to cover half the parishes in Spain. It says that 10,615 parishes of the 23,286 that there are in Spain, have no resident priest. Cardinal Antonio María Rouco also revealed yesterday that the average age of priests is 63 and reaches 72 in some areas.

And finally,
La Razón reports that what deputies do in their spare time in Spain has been published for the first time. Top of the list is the Spanish ‘Tertulia’, or sitting down to have a discussion. The most famous place to do that in Madrid is the Café Gijón, and the paper shows two men sharing a coffee in the venue on the front page. They are the retiring and new controllers of the state broadcaster RTVE, Luis Fernández and Alberto Oliart.

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