Spain Papers Review - Tuesday December 1 2009

Spain Papers Review - Tuesday December 1 2009
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By h.b. - Dec 1, 2009 - 9:02 AM
The kidnapping of three Spanish aid workers in Mauritania dominates the front pages in Spain today

ABC front page today with the kidnapped aid workers

El Mundo headlines that the Government fears a long kidnapping with political demands. The paper says that the Spanish Secret Service, CNI, warned in February 2008 that Al Qaeda was acting in the area. The security forces in Mauritania have declined an offer of help from the Guardia Civil.
El Mundo has a front page photo of their abandoned land-rover with the caption ‘Stop Stop they are shooting at us!’. The paper says the shouts came over the radio where the convoy had been listening to commentary on the Barcelona-Real Madrid match.
El País tells us that the CNI has launched a search plan. The paper says they think that Al Qaeda are responsible, and also reveals that the Secretary of State, Josep Puxeu, passed the same point as the raid just a few minutes before.
ABC headlines that Spain is now the main objective for Al Qaeda in the Maghreb, according to the Ministry for the Interior. A report has warned of the dangers from the group who want Al Andalus, Cueta and Melilla to be returned. ABC has large front page photos of the two missing men and woman.
Público has the headline ‘In the hands of Al Qaeda’ and also has photos of the three kidnapped aid workers. The paper says that the Ministry for the Interior is expecting a statement mentioning Al Andalus or the presence of Spanish troops in Afghanistan, or even the demand for the release of Islamic prisoners.
La Razón has some graphics to show how the kidnappers acted and say they have been told by the police in Mauritania that the kidnappers were targeting Spaniards. The paper says their families have criticised the lack of information from the Government.

El País reports that Barack Obama has ordered the sending of reinforcements to his forces in Afghanistan, and also says that the USA is establishing its requests to the allies.

El Mundo notes that the Secretary of State for Security, Antonio Camacho, has compared the PP with ETA’s political wing Batasuna, after PP Senator Luis Peral, said there was still the need to investigate the Madrid Train Bombings. Camacho said that only the PP and Batasuna dispute firm sentences.
The paper notes that the President of the Generalitat in Cataluña, José Montilla, has accused Rajoy of wanting to take Spain down the ‘road of confrontation’ as the row over the Statute continues. El Mundo says that Cataluña is negotiating with the Barleares to jointly attend the Biennale di Venezia.
ABC notes that José Montilla has said that all of Spain will resent it if the Constitutional Court changes the Statute.
La Razón considers that despite the PSOE offensive the Constitutional Court will still rule on the key points of the document.

El Mundo notes that PP leader Mariano Rajoy has demanded that Zapatero recognises Lobo as the President of Honduras.
El País has a front page photo of Brazilian President, Lula de Silva, and notes that the elections in Honduras have divided the Iberoamerican Summit. De Silva and Zapatero are the leaders of a group resisting recognising the elections, while the USA has given its support to the new Government.

El País reports that the National Court judge, Fernando Andreu, has opened an investigation into the killing of civilians at a refugee camp in Ashraf, Iraq, carried out last July by the Iraqi army. The paper notes that the judge has found a way around the limitation, approved in Congress last October, that only cases affecting Spaniards can be investigated by the court under the principle of Universal Justice.

El Mundo reports that the President of the Balearic Islands, María Antònia Munar, has been indicted for financing TV programmes which were never broadcast with public money.

El País says that a new era gets underway in Europe today, as the Lisbon Treaty comes into force. The paper reminds us that the idea is to make the union ‘more democratic and efficient’.

El Mundo puts 24 year old Diego on its masthead, the man who was, it has now been revealed, falsely accused of raping and abusing a three year old on Tenerife. He has now been admitted to hospital, having problems coping with what has happened.
El País has a photo of the man’s handcuffs, and an article which is titled ‘No one can repair the damage to an innocent (man)’. The paper says the parallel case in the media stigmatises any judicial ruling.

El País tells us that internet access could be restricted and cut if the person has been downloading pirated material, provided a judicial order is found. The change comes as part of the new Sustainable Economy Law, which gives more power to the fight against internet piracy in Spain.

And finally,
El País notes that the Cervantes Prize this year has gone to the poetry of José Emilio Pacheco. They put a photo of the Mexican writer on the front page.

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