From typicallyspanish.com
Spain Papers Review - Wednesday June 25 2008
By h.b.
Jun 25, 2008 - 9:49 AM
El Mundo leads with what is says is a wave of people signing up for the paper’s Manifesto in defence of the Castellano language – a common language for Spain. The paper says that more than 37,000 citizens including the grand Miguel Delibes have supported the document against discrimination against Castellano. PP leader Mariano Rajoy and the new shadow cabinet have also signed up says the paper which also reports the Minister for Education as saying that ‘the learning of Castellano is guaranteed across the country, and it is a growing language’.
ABC leads with the appearance of the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy, appearing in the ABC forum yesterday. The paper headlines that he has defended pacts with the PNV Basque Nationalists and the CiU Catalans to form a parliamentary majority. The paper shows Rajoy with his new number two, María Dolores de Cospedal.
Political pacts also dominate the Público front page which says that the Government needs the Catalans CiU. The paper considers the economic crisis has put the approval of the government budgets in the hands of the Catalan politicians Mas and Lleida. Zapatero noted two defeats in Congress yesterday.
El Mundo says that the Minister for Tax and the Economy, Pedro Solbes, had now admitted that it is useless to return the 400 € in tax rebate to stop the crisis. He said that other measures would have been planned if the Government had known how quick the slowdown was going to be. Solbes said that the wage freeze for top civil servants would only have a psychological effect.
The Bank of Spain meanwhile thinks the slowdown will be ‘long and costly’ if no efficient measures are taken.
ABC notes that the Government has spent 80% of the state surplus and assumes unemployment next year of 11%
El País leads with the revelation that the Ministry for Employment has admitted that there will be 375,000 more on the dole in a years time. Unemployment will be at 11% - the rate it was when Zapatero came to power in 2004.
The paper notes that the Prime Minister will have to give explanations on the economic situation to Congress, where he will appear on Wednesday.
Both the Catalan papers, El Periodico and La Vanguardia, lead with the economic problems and the forthcoming appearance in Congress from Zapatero.
EL Mundo reports that strikers in Telemadrid, the regional public broadcaster in the capital have left the screen in black all day yesterday. A logo confirmed that the channel had been found.
El País reports that Socialist activists in the PSOE party are planning a policy move to the left in social matters. The debate is lively ahead of the forthcoming 37th party congress.
In international stories,
El Mundo notes that Mugabe is ignoring the United Nations and keeping the election run-off despite the lack of guarantees.
El País has a photo of the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy with wife Carla Bruni leaving Israel – in a hurry as the paper puts it. It came after a policeman shot himself just 200m from the couple at Tel Aviv airport in what was an apparent suicide. The paper has a photo of the couple climbing the stairs of a plane.
El Mundo has a photo of what is captions as the global protest against the increase in crude prices. The photo was taken in Jakarta where the Indonesian police used water cannon against hundreds of demonstrators. The paper notes that the World Petroleum Congress opens in Madrid on Sunday.
El Mundo tells us that Jorge Dezcallar, who was the chief of the Spanish secret service CNI during the time of September 11th and the Iraq war, has been named as the new Spanish ambassador to the United States.
Back in Spain, El Mundo tells us that directors of the Spanish Football Federation are putting pressure on Luis Aragonés for him to stay on as the trainer of the national side.
Público tells us that the number of filthy rich in Spain has grown by 4% this year. The number of people with more than a million dollars has reached 164,000.
And finally,
El Mundo tells us that the La Fe Hospital in Valencia has received the authorisation to carry out the first face transplant in Spain.