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10 July 2007

Spain to Offer €2,500 Baby Allowance

All families legally resident in Spain will receive 2,500 Euros in order to help raise the country's low birth rate and support the fast-growing economy, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced in his State of the Nation Debate. The bonus follows similar moves in France and Scandinavia to encourage larger families and counteract a trend towards ageing populations that burden pension and social security systems.

European Commission Will Take Spain to Court for Taxing Foreign Lottery Wins

The EC has said it will take Spain to court for taxing foreign lottery wins while Spanish lottery prize winnings are tax free. Spanish rules give a tax exemption to cash prizes by the state lottery, national and regional draws and other lotteries organized by the Spanish Red Cross and the Spanish National Association of the Blind while all other lottery wins must pay normal income tax.

EU regulators said this discriminated against lotteries based in other countries and broke EU rules that guarantee the right to do business anywhere in the 27-nation community. Spain had been asked to change its system last year but refused. The European Court of Justice can order Spain to change its laws under threat of daily fines.

Deal Agreed Between Unions and Management of Delphi Car Parts Factory

Delphi management and the trade unions have reached an agreement on the closure of the car parts plant in Puerto Real, Cadiz, the agreement means the Junta de Andalucia will share out the assets of the closed factory, estimated to be worth 160 million Euros, the deal also contemplates the payment of 120 million Euros in compensation to the workers at the rate of 45 days pay per year worked, with a maximum of 42 months payment.

Ups and Downs of Property Prices

Salvago Inmobiliaria points out that the price of new property has increased in the last year in inland towns such as Cártama, Pizarr and Alora, as well as on the western Costa del Sol in Benalmádena, Fuengirola and Marbella, where prices are up around 15 per cent, more than the provincial average of 8.7 per cent. This means that prices on the western Costa del Sol have increased three times as much (9.4 %) as those on the eastern Costa (3%).

Since March the price of new property has actually fallen by 7.9 per cent in Mijas, by one per cent in Estepona and by 1.6 per cent in Rincón de la Victoria. Meanwhile the statistics for the two Alhauríns are particularly significant as much of the property under construction in the Malaga metropolitan area is located in these two towns.

According to Salvago Inmobiliaria the price of new homes in Alhaurin de la Torre has fallen by 13 per cent in the last three months while it has remained steady in Alhaurin el Grande.

Spanish Civil Servants to Lower Air Conditioning to Fight Climate Change

Spanish civil servants are to turn down their air conditioning in summer to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change, the government said yesterday (6 July). Temperatures will be no lower than 24 degrees Celsius in summer, the government said and in winter, heaters will also be controlled, with temperatures no higher than 21 degrees Celsius.

Spain produced 48% more greenhouse gas in 2006 than in 1990, the base year for the Kyoto agreement under which developed countries are committed to cutting their emissions. Spain, whose economy lagged other European Union countries in 1990, is allowed a 15% increase.

The power industry is one of the main sources of carbon dioxide, the main gas believed to be responsible for global warming.

Road Deaths Fall on Spanish Roads

On the first anniversary of the points driving licence system, the Interior Minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, announced that there had been a 14.3% reduction in road deaths during the first year compared to the year from 1st July 2005 to 30th June 2006. During the last year 2,783 people lost their lives on Spanish roads, which was 467 less than the previous period.

Spanish Woman Unmasks Attacker to Reveal Husband

A bakery worker who thought the masked man who burst into the bakery where she worked in Valencia was a robber pulled off the attackers mask in the ensuing struggle as he tried to strangle her and was shocked to discover the attacker was her estranged husband. The couple were in the process of divorce proceedings. Police arrested the man.

‘Love letter to Barcelona’ - New Woody Allen Film

Filmmaker Woody Allen said the film he plans to start shooting next week in Barcelona will be a "love letter to Barcelona." The actor and director said, "The movie will present Barcelona to the world as I see it through my eyes, as I've already done with Manhattan."

Allen offered no clues about the content of the picture, whose title remains a secret. The film will star Scarlett Johansson and Spaniards Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.

The comments were made at a press conference in a Barcelona hotel. Spain's culture minister, Carmen Calvo, said it was "splendid" news that Allen is setting his next project in the city, while the Allen spoke of Barcelona's marvellous locales and praised the talents of Bardem and Cruz.

New Wonders of the World to be Chosen Today (7th July)

The winners of the new seven wonders of the world will be announced today (7th July) in Lisbon, Portugal, The Alhambra in Granada, the Great Wall of China, the Coliseum in Rome and Peru's Machu Picchu are some of the contenders to be among the new seven wonders of the world, as a massive poll draws to a close with votes already cast by more than 90 million people.

The Great Pyramids of Giza are the only surviving structures from the original seven wonders of the ancient world and will keep their status in addition to the new seven after Egyptian officials said it was a disgrace they had to compete.

The campaign was started in 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with almost 200 nominations coming in from around the world. The list of candidates was narrowed down to 21 by the start of 2006, with Granada's Alhambra Palace among the finalists. Most of the votes have been cast by Internet in a system that registers each participant’s e-mail address to discourage people from voting twice.

Velazquez Painting Sold for Over 12 Million Euros

The 'Santa Rufina', a painting attributed to Diego de Velazquez was sold to the Sevilla-based Focus-Abengoa Foundation at an auction at Sothebys in London this week for 12.47 million Euros. According to a Sothebys spokesman, this breaks the previous record price for the sale of a Velazquez at auction set by the same painting when it was bought by a private collector at an auction in New York for $8.9 million. The same source also confirmed that it was a new record for any painting by an artist from the Old Spanish School. The Focus-Abengoa Foundation was set up several weeks ago with the aim of raising sufficient funds to acquire the painting.

Airport Link for AVE High Speed Train

The high speed AVE train service between Sevilla and Cadiz is to stop at Jerez Airport. A platform is to be built alongside a new car park with space for over 540 vehicles. The service is due to begin operating in 2010, and work on this section of the line is scheduled to begin in the autumn with a completion timescale of approximately eight months. Construction of the AVE line is progressing according to schedule, although there has been a delay in awarding the contract for widening the line between San Fernando and Puerto Real, and the nine kilometre stretch between El Cuervo and Jerez.

Malaga Airport Runway and Approach Road Approved

The Ministry of Development has announced that two major contracts have been awarded in the development programme for Malaga airport. Last week, the task of building the second runway was awarded to a consortium formed by Acciona and Sando which submitted a bid of 244 million Euros for the 28-month project. In addition to the 2,750-metre runway and 3,090 metres of taxiways, the project includes moving the existing rail service underground, plus provision for a future extension of the AVE high-speed rail line to the airport. Furthermore, Fomento de Construcciones y Contraras S.A. was awarded the 36.8 million Euro contract to build the airport's new southern access road. The construction of the 1.94-kilometre road will take 28 months to complete. The new carriageway will link the airport to the A-7 at the Guadalmar roundabout.

Low Cost Air Travel

A report by the Spanish Tourist Board has revealed that for the first time more people will have travelled to Malaga airport on low cost airlines than on traditional airlines if the trend continues throughout the rest of the year. Up until the end of May, 949,330 passengers arrived on low cost flights (9% more than the same period last year). In 2006 low cost airlines carried 2.7 million passengers to Malaga (22.9% more than 2005). Easyjet, Air Berlin and Thomsonfly carry more than half of the low cost sector passengers who land in Malaga.

30,000 m2 for Malaga Sports Complex

The Ayuntamiento of Malaga yesterday agreed with the Malaga Football club to transfer 30,000 square metres of land next to the Jose Maria Martin Carpena Palacio de los Deportes (sports centre) for the construction of a new sports complex. The land will be used by the football club for the next 50 years. The plan is to build a sports complex "symbolic and worthy of the city", confirmed the president of Malaga Football club, Fernando Sanz.

Next to the Carpena, the athletics stadium can be found, which the Junta de Andalucia plans to be complete by the end of the year along with a municipal complex of swimming pools that are planned to be finished in 2008.

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Pizarra Summertime Bus Service

A bus service from Pizarra to Playamar in Torremolinos is now operating on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. The M-540 line leaves Pizarra at 10.00am, 12.00 am, 4.15pm and 5.45pm, and leaves Playamar at 10.45am, 3.00pm, 5.00pm and 7.00pm. The service, which costs 1.10 Euros each way for multi-use ticket holders and 1.60 Euros each way for a single-use ticket runs until 2nd September.

British Grand Prix (Silverstone)

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen set the pace to dominate the day's second practice session for the British Grand Prix with team mate Felipe Massa, second. Ahead of McLaren, Toyota had Ralf Schumacher third and Jarno Trulli fifth. McLaren had joint third and sixth-fastest times. Lewis Hamilton was said to be very happy with his car's pace and said neither he nor Fernando Alonso had been going for fast times in the afternoon, but were rather following the planned schedule. Final practice started at 10.00 am this morning (7th July with qualifying due to start at 1.00 pm. The race gets underway at 1.00 pm tomorrow 8th July).

Djokovic Last Obstacle for Nadal on Route to Wimbledon Final

Spain's Rafael Nadal will face Novak Djokovic on Court One at 12.00 noon today (7th July) in the men's semi-finals. Nadal beat Djokovic in the semi-finals of the French Open last month and has a 4-1 record against him. At the same time, Roger Federer will take on newcomer Richard Gasquet.

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