From typicallyspanish.com
Spain Papers Review - Tuesday May 13 2008
By h.b.
May 13, 2008 - 9:40 AM
The paper leads today with the headline that Maria San Gil will not return to the party steering committee as she does not trust ‘the new Rajoy’. The decision from the head of the party in the Basque Country has had quite a considerable effect in the party.
El Mundo notes she considers that here is a basic problem in the party, which she fears will be hidden away.
El Mundo has a photo of Ana Botella. The Madrid deputy and wife to the previous PP Prime Minister, José María Aznar, has come out in support of Maria San Gil – ‘I’m with her’ is the caption.
El País leads with the story too, and headlines that the posture of María San Gil against Rajoy has now fractured the party in two. The paper says the hard wing of the party is supporting the Basque leader, and reports that Rajoy tried to get her, unsuccessfully, to correct her statement yesterday.
ABC agrees with El País and says that the PP is now in its most difficult point since the Madrid Train Bombings. The paper also notes that Rajoy was unable to get her to change her statements yesterday.
Público reveals that she did give Rajoy a two-day warning of her decision.
La Vanguardia considers that the split is a real threat to Rajoy.
El Mundo notes that the PSOE Socialist party has been looking to Norway for ideas on labour reform. The word ‘flexiguridad’ is used to mix flexibility and security in the workplace. Greater work rotation and better cover for the unemployed.
In Barcelona La Vanguardia reports on the first tanker to bring water into the city which arrives there today.
El Mundo notes that the Prosecutors’ Office is investigating seven councillors in the Catalan Generalitat Government who are accused of the mis-use of public funds. There is a claim that they ordered 1,583 ‘ghost’ reports.
ABC says that the reports were requested arbitrarily with 31 million € being allegedly spent on studies given to friends.
In international stories:
The lack of real information on the extent of the earthquake in China appears apparent. El Mundo says that province of Sichuan has been devastated and 10,000 people killed.
El País gives the story half its front page today and says that the quake is the worst seen for several decades and talks of 8,500 dead and hundreds trapped in the wreckage. The paper has quite a gruesome front page photo.
ABC also with a large front page photo – Thousands of dead in China among the ruins says the paper, which says the 7.8 degree tremour has destroyed the province of Sichuán.
Público has a large photo and the headline ‘China trembles’
Back in Spain, El Mundo notes that Prince Felipe is on the cover of the 50th anniversary of the ‘Actualidad Económica’ magazine where he defends the freedom of the company. The magazine features 50 top names from the years 1958-2008.
El País notes that José Montilla from Cataluña and José Antonio Alonso have been meeting in secret to try and reach an agreement on the future funding of Cataluña.
The order to send the local police chief from Coslada, GInés Jiménez, to jail, with 10 other local police, makes the El Mundo front page.
El Mundo notes that a Basque police car, parked in Baracaldo and containing explosive samples, went off accidentally yesterday.
And finally,
ABC tells us that the National Energy Commission is today to decide on an electricity price rise of between 7 and 11%. The paper says it will come into force in July and there will be another larger increase in December.