Spain Papers Review - Wednesday December 16 2009
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By h.b. - Dec 16, 2009 - 9:06 AM
An unpopular new Bishop in San Sebastian features on many of the front pages in Spain today

El Mundo notes that the Socialist party in Spain has changed direction and is now supporting a referendum for the Western Sahara. Congress has also voted in favour of ‘top level mediation’ with Morocco over the case of Aminatou Haidar who remains on hunger strike at Lanzarote Airport. Meanwhile Morocco has threatened ‘serious problems’ if the EU creates difficulties.
El País leads with the story and says that Congress has demanded more pressure be put on Rabat.

El Mundo headlines that the police explosives chief, Alfonso Vega, yesterday refuted the central thesis of the sentence in the National Court regarding the Madrid Train Bombings case. It’s a technical matter over whether the explosive used was Goma 2 Eco or Tiradyn. Conspiracy theorists say the former would indicate ETA involvement in the attacks.

El Mundo reports that 77% of the priests in Guipúzcoa have signed a petition against their new bishop in San Sebastián, Monseñor Munilla, even before he has taken office.
El País considers the protest represents a challenge to the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, Rouco Varela, who is supporting the conservative new bishop.
ABC notes the petition says the new man is ‘not the ideal candidate’.

El Mundo highlights a report from the BBVA bank which says that house prices in Spain are set to fall a further 20% over the next two years.
El País notes that the Ministry for the Economy has said the risk of deflation is over, as inflation returns to positive territory with the rate for the year to November coming in at 0.3%.
ABC headlines that Spain heads the ‘misery index’ of developed countries published yesterday by Moody’s. The rating agency thinks Spain is the country at most economic risk next year. The paper also notes that the head of the employers organisation CEOE, Gerardo Díaz Ferrán, has said he will not resign from the board of Caja Madrid.

In international stories:

El País has a dramatic front page photo of ‘another bloody day in Kabul’ showing a woman with face bleeding fleeing an explosion which killed eight. It happened near a hotel used by foreigners.

El Mundo reports that Antonio di Pietro has become public enemy number one in Italy, with Berlusconi and his media accusing him of being behind the attack on the Prime Minister which resulted in his broken nose. Di Pietro has said ‘There is more hatred against Berlusconi, but he himself is to blame’. Di Pietro is the previous Fiscal General, famous for his anti-corruption investigations.

El País reports that the Copenhagen Summit is on the edge of paralysis. The best that can be said, according to El País, is that everyone says they want an agreement.

El País says 100 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay will be taken to a jail in Illinois. The paper says that they are the most dangerous being held and cannot face trial. It’s part of Obama’s attempt to keep his promise of closing Guantanamo in his first year.

Back in Spain El País has a feature on newspapers and says that they have lost 43% of their advertising on average.

El País talks to Ian Gibson, who says that the search for the body of Federico García Lorca should continue. Gibson is sticking to his version of where the poet is buried.

ABC has two front page photos, before and after, of a classroom where, a year later, both the crucifix and the photo of the King and Queen have been removed.
La Razón headlines that the Ministry of Defence has prohibited the mentioning of Franco at the Army Museum.
The paper says the Colonel running the establishment has asked to resign as he is not in agreement with the ‘twisting’ of history by the Ministry.

La Razón has a photo of Baroness Thyssen, Carmen Cervera, who tells the paper that her son, Borja, is in the hands of a sect. She has announced that her art collection is to be joined with that of the Baron’s and that will defend it from the ‘bad advisors’ of her son.

And finally,
El Mundo has a photo of Penélope Cruz on its masthead today, and notes that she is opting for a Golden Globe for the third time for her role in the musical, ‘Nine’.

(Público pdf is offline at time of writing)

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