Tens of thousands of Spaniards angry over unemployment protested for a sixth day, ahead of Sunday's local elections in which the ruling Socialists are expected to suffer heavy losses.
The Foreign Affairs spokesman for Spain’s conservative Popular Party, Gustavo de Arístegui, said that his party would continue to seek dialogue with Gibraltar if it wins national elections in Spain next year. But he also warned that “there will be changes” in Spain’s dealings with Gibraltar.
About 20,000 young people angry over high unemployment have spent the night camping in a famous square in Madrid as political protest grows. A big canvas roof was stretched across Puerta del Sol square, protesters brought mattresses and sleeping bags and volunteers distributed food.
Gibraltar’s Chief Minister met ‘informally’ with President Rodriguez Zapatero’s top Moncloa official Bernardino Leon to seek ways of getting the tripartite (UK, Spain, Gibraltar) process back on its feet.
Spain has lost its 12-year battle with Argentina over the use of the name La Rioja. The northwestern Argentine province of La Rioja was founded by a Spaniard in 1591; the Spanish were also responsible for introducing vines to the region, reports Decanter.com.
Weak jobs data, sliding retail sales and rising inflation confirm Spain’s economic recovery is faltering. The official figures released Friday showed 21.3% of the workforce without a job, up from 20.3% at the end of last year.
A new row flared between Spain and Gibraltar after police from the British Overseas territory charged on Tuesday that one of its boats was damaged in a clash with Spanish police vessels that illegally entered its waters.
The Right Honourable David Lidington MP, the UK Minister of State for Europe, paid a short overnight familiarisation visit to Gibraltar, arriving Tuesday and leaving Wednesday lunchtime
China will invest in Spain’s savings-bank industry and continue buying public debt, a Spanish government official cited Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao as telling Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at a meeting Tuesday in Beijing.
The mix of high external indebtedness, the fragility of the financial sector and the probability of further declines in asset prices increase the probability of a funding squeeze at some point means that “Spain will be the next country to seek financial assistance from the EU and the International Monetary Fund”, argues one of the Financial Times respected columnists.