Live News From Spain As It Happens

THREE individuals thought to be behind a spate of burglaries in villas on San Juan beach (Alicante) have been arrested. National Police say the accused parties – all Bulgarian nationals – had been clearing out homes on an urbanisation next to the golf course in Playa de San Juan after forcing the front doors open, usually when the properties were empty.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A BRITISH man living in Valencia filmed a bus driver sending text messages and paying no attention to the road for a whole 10-minute journey. Ian Nichol normally takes the number 4 bus, but earlier this month he got on the number 2 and watched in horror as the driver wove his way down the port road, pressing buttons on his mobile phone and barely once looking up from it.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SHOPS can now hold their sales whenever they like without having to wait for January 7 or the summer months as in the past. They can also put up signs saying Rebajas ('sales') at any time of the year. The central government has decided to relax the rules in a bid to boost business year-round, and has also agreed that shops in areas popular with tourists – such as on the coast or in parts of big cities – can open whenever they wish.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

PUBLIC sector employees will see a large chunk of their freedom curtailed from the start of next year as their working hours are set to get longer and their lunch hours and time off reduced. They will be expected to work 37 hours a week, normally 09.00hrs to 17.00hrs with half an hour for lunch, but this may be flexible and allow certain employees to start work at 07.30hrs or finish at 18.30hrs, depending upon their role.

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ELECTRICITY bills will go back to being bi-monthly and estimated readings will no longer be used. According to Spain's government, the sheer volume of consumer complaints over incorrectly-charged bills – either with estimated readings being exaggeratedly high or considerably low – means that the monthly billing system is not working and is costing more in man hours to solve disputes.

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SPAIN'S government has decided to eliminate medium-distance train lines and replace them with buses to save money.The move will affect transport networks across the country and is expected to save 51 million euros. According to Mariano Rajoy's cabinet, some 52 per cent of trains cover routes used by just 16 per cent of passengers.

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LEADERS of Spain's major unions have written to the country's president with 'Robin Hood-style' ideas as to how to end the recession. Cándido Méndez and Ignacio Fernández Toxo, heads of the UGT and CCOO respectively, have told head of State Mariano Rajoy that extra taxes should be placed on ultra-high net-worth residents and that multi-billion-euro businesses should not be entitled to a deduction on company tax, or Impuesto sobre Sociedades (IS).

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A SMALL village in inland Spain wants to redefine regional borders and move further south, potentially re-writing the map of the country. Residents of Solana del Pino (pictured), which is in the province of Ciudad Real and the autonomous region of Castilla-La Mancha, are close to the border of the province of Jaén and the region of Andalucía.

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SIX in 10 workers have less income than they did a year ago, according to a leading consumer association. Among those people in Spain who still have jobs or self-employed work, only just over a third are on the same salary as they were at the end of 2011. A further 63 per cent have seen a drop in their income, with one in 10 workers losing over 20 per cent and one in three losing between one and 10 per cent.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

VALENCIA'S mayor Rita Barberá has hit out at the BBC for its documentary on how certain councils and regional governments in Spain have been 'wasting taxpayers' money'. The great Spanish crash was aired on Sunday, December 16 and included live coverage from Valencia city, with TV cameras homing in on what they called 'white elephants' such as the City of Arts and Sciences, the America's Cup port and, further north in the city of Castellón, the airport which has yet to see any planes or passengers.

read more at thinkSPAIN.com

KING Juan Carlos' annual Christmas speech referred mainly to the recession and the economy this year with the Monarch proclaiming: “Any austerity measures must be compatible with economic growth and the protection of social rights and, in the face of the division that has arisen between the public and government institutions, the latters' policies must be a necessary instrument to escape the recession.”

Read more at think.SPAIN.com

The full text from the King of Spain's Speech on Christmas Eve :

"Buenas noches. En Nochebuena, como cada año, me dirijo a todos vosotros para transmitiros mis mejores deseos de paz y felicidad.

Al término de este año difícil y complicado para todos, quiero hablaros con sinceridad y realismo, sin rehuir los problemas que nos aquejan como sociedad.

Quiero hacerlo con la confianza y el optimismo que me inspiran las virtudes del pueblo español, al que quiero con todo mi corazón y al que a lo largo de estos treinta y seis años de reinado he aprendido a conocer a fondo y a admirar con orgullo.

Llevamos varios años sumidos en una severa crisis económica y financiera cuyas causas complejas no son siempre fáciles de entender, pero cuyos efectos negativos son para todos evidentes. Para muchos, tristemente demasiado evidentes por su dureza.

Es una crisis que está llamada seguramente a modificar hábitos y comportamientos económicos y sociales.

Si España ha alcanzado en los últimos decenios las más altas cotas de progreso y bienestar de su historia, ahora hemos de saber reconocer con humildad cuáles han sido los comportamientos en los que, como individuos y como grupo, hayamos podido equivocarnos.

Sólo a partir de este reconocimiento, y con los mejores valores de nuestra sociedad por delante, podremos comenzar a superar esta crisis.

Será necesario para ello un planteamiento global, un enfoque de conjunto cuyas líneas maestras y medidas concretas corresponde diseñar, desarrollar y aplicar a los responsables políticos y a los agentes económicos y sociales.

En este ámbito a mí me corresponde, como Jefe del Estado, animar a esas instancias a trabajar sumando voluntades, no restándolas; acercando posiciones, no distanciándolas; buscando avenencias, no rechazándolas. Animarles a trabajar con diálogo y altura de miras, con rigor y convicción.

Sé, sabemos todos, que el camino de la recuperación no será corto ni tampoco fácil, que exigirá sacrificios.

Por eso resulta tan importante que la sociedad en su conjunto asuma la trascendencia del momento y sepa responder a los desafíos de una situación tan difícil como la que vivimos con el necesario realismo, pero también con mucha generosidad, con mucha solidaridad hacia quienes por sus circunstancias económicas o familiares son más vulnerables.

Vivimos una crisis de naturaleza global que ha puesto de manifiesto la dificultad de que cada país pueda afrontarla aisladamente. Las soluciones exigen establecer de forma coordinada medidas efectivas.

En ese empeño se encuentra la Unión Europea y en él Europa encontrará a España en la vanguardia, como actor destacado que desea seguir jugando un papel relevante. La vocación europeísta de España se hunde en las raíces de la historia de nuestro continente, y nuestro compromiso es tan fuerte e intenso con su futuro como lo es hoy con su presente.

Una vocación europeísta que gana valor y peso con la solidez de los lazos que nos unen con las naciones iberoamericanas y con nuestros vecinos de la orilla sur del Mediterráneo.

La crisis es internacional pero también tiene perfiles nacionales propios. El más doloroso de todos es, desde luego, la elevada tasa de desempleo que sufrimos, moralmente inasumible para un país vertebrado, moderno y solidario como el nuestro.

Es cierto que, en una coyuntura como la que vivimos, los temas que requieren una solución prioritaria se agolpan ante nuestra puerta, pero si tuviéramos que destacar la máxima prioridad creo que ninguno dudaríamos en señalar la lucha contra el desempleo como objetivo último y cierto.

Ciudadanos, instituciones y administraciones públicas debemos volcar nuestros mejores esfuerzos y energías en apoyo de los desempleados y de sus familias.

Con una cifra de parados inaceptable, y que lo es todavía más entre los jóvenes que buscan su primer empleo, quiero rendir un hondo homenaje de agradecimiento y admiración a las familias, cuya generosidad y entrega está siendo clave para que nuestro país mantenga los actuales niveles de estabilidad social.

Todas las medidas que se adopten deben tener como objetivo final la recuperación del empleo, pues esta es la principal palanca que puede dar a cada individuo un horizonte de dignidad y estabilidad, y al conjunto de la sociedad una expectativa de prosperidad.

Estabilidad y prosperidad, en el marco de nuestra Constitución, es lo que esta gran nación española ha sabido construir en paz y libertad a lo largo de las últimas décadas, junto con un Estado de Bienestar necesario para mantener la indispensable cohesión social que la justicia distributiva reclama.

Estos son también nuestros desafíos de hoy. Las herramientas para enfrentarlos con éxito son los valores que han hecho siempre grandes a los pueblos: educación, trabajo, esfuerzo, iniciativa, compromiso, solidaridad, entre otros.

Son los que necesitamos potenciar, tanto colectiva como individualmente, más que nunca en la coyuntura actual.

Junto a la crisis económica, me preocupa también enormemente la desconfianza que parece estar extendiéndose en algunos sectores de la opinión pública respecto a la credibilidad y prestigio de algunas de nuestras instituciones. Necesitamos rigor, seriedad y ejemplaridad en todos los sentidos. Todos, sobre todo las personas con responsabilidades públicas, tenemos el deber de observar un comportamiento adecuado, un comportamiento ejemplar.

Cuando se producen conductas irregulares que no se ajustan a la legalidad o a la ética, es natural que la sociedad reaccione. Afortunadamente vivimos en un Estado de Derecho, y cualquier actuación censurable deberá ser juzgada y sancionada con arreglo a la ley. La justicia es igual para todos.

No debemos, sin embargo, generalizar los comportamientos individuales, so pena de cometer una gran injusticia con la inmensa mayoría de servidores públicos, y también de empresarios o trabajadores del sector privado, que desarrollan su labor de forma ejemplar y honesta.

De lo contrario, se podría causar un grave daño a instituciones y organizaciones que son necesarias para la vertebración de nuestra sociedad.

La unidad de las fuerzas democráticas y la firmeza de los españoles en la defensa de nuestro Estado de Derecho frente al terrorismo, han demostrado que los proyectos totalitarios no tienen cabida en la España democrática.

Frente a la intolerable pretensión de los terroristas de tratar de conseguir objetivos políticos mediante el uso de la violencia, la amenaza, la intimidación o la extorsión, la sociedad vasca y el conjunto de la sociedad española han defendido su libertad y sus instituciones desde la legalidad, con el sacrificio y la eficacia de las Fuerzas de Seguridad, la permanente y decidida acción de la justicia y la generosa cooperación internacional.

Ahora es ya tiempo de que los terroristas entreguen sus armas asesinas y desaparezcan para siempre de nuestras vidas.

Esta noche es un momento especial para dedicar un recuerdo emocionado a quienes más han sufrido esta tremenda injusticia, las víctimas del terrorismo.

Nuestra sociedad tiene contraída una permanente deuda de gratitud con el sacrificio y el dolor de todas las personas que perdieron la vida, quedaron mutiladas, fueron extorsionadas o se vieron obligadas a abandonar su tierra. Al evocar su memoria, queremos poner de manifiesto su dignidad y compartir su sufrimiento y el de sus familias, que siempre contarán con nuestro apoyo, solidaridad y afecto.

Este es nuestro firme compromiso, para recordar que su sacrificio no ha sido en vano.

Es el compromiso de una sociedad libre que no se deja amedrentar, que exige justicia y reparación para quienes fueron víctimas de la violencia por no querer someterse a la dictadura del terror.

Hace cinco semanas los españoles, como dueños de su destino y en el ejercicio de sus derechos soberanos, han elegido a sus representantes a nivel nacional en unas elecciones generales que han dado como resultado la alternancia política.

En este nuevo escenario que se abre, la Corona, en tanto que símbolo de la unidad y permanencia del Estado, seguirá haciendo todos los esfuerzos necesarios en favor de una convivencia integradora.

Los actuales son tiempos de gran exigencia. Nos esperan muchas dificultades pero también nos respaldan sólidos valores que nos hacen sentirnos orgullosos de ser españoles, y un pasado reciente de superación que nos sirve de estímulo.

Como os dije la Navidad pasada, “no hemos llegado hasta aquí para dejarnos vencer por las dificultades, para renunciar a nuestras ambiciones de construir un país cada vez mejor”.

Hemos demostrado con creces que, cuando estamos unidos y seguros de lo que queremos, sabemos dar respuesta a los retos más complejos. Los que tenemos ante nosotros lo son, pero no tengo duda de que los españoles sabremos estar a la altura de los tiempos y para ello siempre contaréis con el mayor y mejor hacer de la Corona.

Son muchos los mensajes que quisiera hacer llegar a todos y a cada uno de los sectores y colectividades que integran nuestra sociedad. Sabed que todos estáis en mi corazón y en mi pensamiento.

En esta noche, quiero dar las gracias especialmente a tantos españoles que en los últimos meses se han interesado por mi salud, felizmente recuperada.

En este tiempo, he podido apreciar, aún más si cabe, el rigor y el acierto con que mi hijo, el Príncipe de Asturias, me acompaña como Heredero de la Corona en el servicio a los españoles y a España, a su democracia, a su Estado de Derecho, a sus libertades, a su unidad y su diversidad, y a la defensa de sus intereses en todo el mundo.

Os reitero mis mejores deseos en esta Navidad y para el año que pronto comienza.

Estemos unidos. España lo merece y lo necesita. Buenas noches"

THE average person in Spain will put on between three and five kilos (6.6 to 11 pounds) over Christmas, say nutritionists. They have warned people to stay clear of cheap produce – despite the recession – since these are poorer in nutrients and higher in saturated fats and refined carbohydrates. Using as an example the typically-Spanish Christmas biscuits, known as polvorones, dieticians say manufacturers will increase the quantity of palm oil and lard and reduce that of almonds in order to keep the price down.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

MEMBERS of two pressure groups fighting to save homeowners from repossession will celebrate Christmas Eve night in front of a branch of Bankia in Alicante city. Spanish tradition dictates that the main Christmas dinner is on the night of December 24, which is when presents are opened and the King gives his speech. But protesters from thePlataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca ('Mortgage victims' board'), or PAH, andStop Desahucios ('Stop Evictions') will be dining in the street.

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AN impromptu visit to Afghanistan to meet the Spanish troops has left president Mariano Rajoy 'very impressed', in his own words. According to the head of State, “if everyone in Spain worked as hard and with as much effort as our soldiers, things would go a lot better.” He claims the situation in the country will 'improve' in 2013, and that 2014 will be 'a year of economic growth and creation of employment'.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THIS year's winning El Gordo lottery ticket bears the numbers 76.058 and is worth 400,000 to holders of winningdécimos, or 10ths of tickets, or four million to those who splashed out on a full ticket. Second prize, which has won 1.25 million per full ticket or 400,000 for a décimo, is number 42.260. The number was sold at a lottery shop in Aranda del Duero (Burgos) – a total of 180 full tickets (1,800 décimos) – and also in Segovia, two towns where large lottery syndicates took part.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

BARÇA coach Francesc 'Tito' Vilanova will have to go through six weeks of chemotherapy, followed by radiotherapy, after his operation on Thursday, confirm sources from the Club. Tito, who had a tumour removed from his salivary glands – a delicate and high-risk operation which is said to have gone very well – wants to get back to work as soon as possible, but a press release from the Club says this will depend upon how well his treatment progresses.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

FORD factory workers in Almussafes (Valencia) will be retired off at the age of 61 and replaced by 'relief' staff on five-year temporary contracts, which will be made permanent at their renewal. The plant has had to reword its initial plan, which involved early retirement for employees at age 60, since a new law was passed this year moving the minimum age to 61.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

THIS Christmas and New Year is set to see 'tropical' temperatures all along the Mediterranean coast, according to the State meteorological agency, AEMET. The climate will remain stable from Boxing Day to New Year's Day, and warmer than usual for the time of year.

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SPAIN'S government will prosecute Catalunya's president Artur Mas via the criminal courts if he goes ahead and calls a referendum for the region's independence. Mas' consultation with the left-wing regional republican party, ERC, is planned for 2014, but a Constitutional Court ruling may say he cannot do so. And Spanish president Mariano Rajoy's cabinet says if Mas does not obey a verdict against him claiming any consultation on Catalunya becoming a separate country would go against the Constitution, they will take action via the criminal route.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

A LEADING Australian politician has married his boyfriend in a village near Granada after authorities down under refused to legalise weddings for same-sex partners. Ian Hunter, minister of Communities and Social Inclusion for the region of South Australia, and his new husband Leith Semmens tied the knot this week at the Arts Pavilion in the town of Jun, which has just 2,100 inhabitants.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

SEVILLA, Huelva, León, and Ourense are the provinces with the highest number of traffic accident blackspots in the country, a recent report shows. Although none of these is in the region of Asturias, the research by the RACE claims this is the second-most likely place in Spain where car crashes are likely to happen, after Galicia.

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CAIXABANK has sold a property portfolio to Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim for 428.2 million euros. Officially the richest man in the world in the last three years according to the Forbes List, Slim has close business ties with the Spanish entity and a subsidiary of one of his companies, the estate agency Inmobiliaria Carso, has bought 439 of the CaixaBanks's branch offices. The bank has signed a contract giving it the option to buy the offices back if it is able and willing to do so in the future, and has earned 200 million euros in gross capital gains as a result.

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NEARLY 88,000 foreign workers have come off the Social Security system this year, government figures reveal. For four consecutive months, numbers have been falling, with over 33,000 coming off the system in November alone. Of the nearly 1.7 million non-Spanish workers who are registered with the Social Security, just under 217,000 are self-employed. Out of all of these, 15 per cent work in the hotel and catering sector, 13 per cent in sales and only 7.6 per cent work in office administration roles.

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A KIND-HEARTED Costa del Sol man has handed out 1,500 euros' worth of El Gordo lottery tickets in the dole office queue this week, all with the same number. Bartolomé Florido, 60, a driving instructor, said he felt weighed down by 'sadness' at the despair faced by so many people in Spain who could not find work – and decided to give 333 of them a little piece of hope. “I went through the dole queue in Málaga, Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Sevilla and Arroyo de la Miel, asking everyone if they were unemployed, and if they said yes, I gave them a ticket with the number 11.946,” Bartolomé explained.

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A GANG led by a 76-year-old man who sold fake 'Vía T' digital toll cards to lorry drivers that would let them through without paying has been broken up in Madrid. Transport workers would allegedly buy the cards in packs of four for around 500 euros, and would quickly make their money back through frequent use, as well as from selling the others on

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YET more nationwide protests are due to take place today (Monday) in 55 towns and cities across the country against tax hikes and funding cuts. Numerous organisations, including two of Spain's major unions – the UGT and CCOO – will be involved in the demonstrations which will be a public rejection of cutbacks in pensions, massive hikes in fees for court action, labour reforms making it easier and cheaper for firms to get rid of staff and the 'general lack of job security and employment protection', say organisers.

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ELECTRICITY bills are set to go up again, but the price increase will hit the highest consumers the hardest. Those with power supplies of between three and 10 KW contracted from the utility board will pay a supplementary charge if they use more than the average monthly amount of energy. The additional charges will range from 0.00138 to 0.01546 euros per KW and will be added to the part of the bill that relates to government taxes and fees.

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FREE representation by duty solicitors is a thing of the past for most residents in Spain – anyone who is arrested and asks to see a lawyer will have to pay unless they can prove they are on a low income. They will also have to show information about the earnings of any family members living with them.

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THE annual Royal Christmas card will not include a greeting from the Infanta Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarín this year, given the corruption case against the latter . But to disguise these motives, the Royal household has decided not to publish the usual online card from Cristina's sister, the Infanta Elena, either, in keeping with the new protocol launched on October 12 that only the 'central nucleus' of the Crown would be the public face of the family.

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FARMERS pelted the ministry of agriculture building with 500 kilos of tomatoes and several crates of peppers and cucumbers yesterday in protest over 'illegal' imports of fruit and vegetables from Morocco. Tomatoes from the north African country are coming into Spain without any proper control, claim members of the farming association COAG. And they are undercutting Spanish prices by such a degree that the agricultural sector in Spain cannot compete.

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MINIMUM ages for marriage, leaving home, working, testifying in court and consenting to sexual relations are set for a revamp, according to minister of justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. Spain's age of consent for sex is among the lowest in the world and is the youngest in the whole of Europe, and children's charities worldwide – including UNICEF and Save the Children, as well as child psychology experts – have been clamouring for it to be increased for some time.

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A BRITISH man who set fire to a hotel in Benidorm has been jailed for four years and four months. Although there were no fatalities, 11 people were treated in hospital for smoke inhalation when the building went up in flames at Christmas in 2010.

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A MAN who successfully beat his drug problem and now counsels others to help them beat their addiction is facing jail for swapping heroin wraps nearly seven years ago. David Reboredo, 43, got involved in drugs at 16 when he fell into a bad crowd, and has had the support of his parents right through his long-drawn out rehabilitation process.

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WESTMINSTER Court has authorised the extradition of an ETA member arrested in London this year after he fled to the UK in 2001 – a year after being found guilty of aiding and abetting the Basque terrorist cell. Kemen Uranga Artola, 43, is said to have allowed the Commando Vizcaya to use his flat in Bilbao as a base and to store explosives, arms and documents giving instructions on how to create bombs.

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BORDER authorities have arrested a woman smuggling drugs into Spain inside her breast implants. The accused, a native of Panamá aged around 20, had flown into Barcelona's El Prat airport from the Colombian capital, Bogotá and was stopped at customs when officials became suspicious – particularly when she was vague about the reasons for her having travelled to Spain.

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MAYORS' salaries will be based upon the number of inhabitants in their towns and will never exceed that of a Secretary of State under any circumstances, says the ministry of tax affairs and public administration. Using wages of high-level politicians and civil servants at national level, mayors' maximum pay packets will be worked out on a pro-rata basis in accordance with how many people live in the municipality they lead.

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MOST of the strikes affecting the tourism industry over Christmas have been called off and rescheduled, even though no consensus has yet been reached between companies and unions. National airline Iberia has agreed not to down tools until at least January 7, cancelling the six-day strike planned for between this coming Friday, December 14 and Friday, December 21.

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THE Supreme Court has ruled that anyone claiming dole money can be out of the country for up to 90 days without losing their entitlement to continue to receive their money on their return, although they will not be paid whilst they are abroad. A woman signed on the dole had been ordered to pay back nearly 15,370 euros in benefits after she went to the Ukraine for three weeks, where her father-in-law, who had been suffering from angina, is living.

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EVERY second Spanish person has had an affair with a work colleague at some point in their lives, a recent survey has revealed. And 57 per cent of men and 63 per cent of women have been unfaithful to their partners at the office party.

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BRITISH authorities have set up CCTV cameras at the border of Spain and Gibraltar to investigate the 'excessive' searches carried out by Spanish officials on vehicles, which lead to long queues. The UK has already complained to the European Commission, claiming Spain is being 'disproportionately' vigilant at the border as a 'tit-for-tat' in the face of hurdles imposed by Gibraltar for Spanish fishermen.

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STRIKES are set to hit the tourism industry hard over this festive season with workers from rail board RENFE, airline Iberia and public sector-owned hotels known as paradoresdowning tools. Iberia has already announced a continuous strike starting this Friday, December 14 for a whole week, with services resuming only for the first weekend.

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AT least 60 junior doctors and 120 permanent staff members have spent the last month staging a lock-in at the Cardiology Institute in Madrid where they work in protest over its pending closure. This means the capital's only hospital which specialises entirely in heart complaints, particularly complex ones, will be axed to save money.

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UNIVERSITY degrees taught, assessed and examined entirely in English are due to be introduced gradually in the Comunidad Valenciana from the start of the next academic year. Regional education authorities say it is the 'ideal opportunity' for students to become fluent in English, both in terms of speaking and written expression, and technical knowledge of their chosen subject matter.

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OVER 300 branches of the SabadellCAM have been closed down this week in order to meet with 'consolidation' requirements of the European Union. Offices of the Sabadell Atlántico will undergo a change of image in the next few days in the Comunidad Valenciana and Murcia Region.

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GUARDIA Civil officers have arrested three men and two women said to be behind at least 17 robberies from drivers in motorway service stations along the east coast. The accused parties, all from Eastern Europe, are believed to have used deception techniques such as asking directions, puncturing tyres and stealing bags when the occupant of the cars were distracted checking their wheels, and at times even employed force and violence.

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THE Bank of Spain, the OECD and president Mariano Rajoy all believe it will be practically impossible for the country to reduce its national deficit in time as required by Europe. Spain's target this year was to cut its debt to 6.3 per cent of the Gross National Product, after having a limit of 8.9 per cent for 2011.

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NATIONAL airline Iberia has announced 4,500 redundancies and the cessation of flights to Athens, Cairo, Istanbul, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and La Habana (Cuba).

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FIVE walkers had to be rescued on Wednesday night after they became trapped by a rock-fall on the El Cid mountain range in Petrer (Alicante). They are said to have been trying to attempt to enter a part of the mountain which was difficult to access, and were forced to call out the fire brigade just before 16.30hrs.

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SPAIN, Greece and other countries with high youth unemployment may be obliged to set up a scheme which guarantees that the under-26s are placed in formal study, training, paid work experience or a 'proper' job within a maximum of four months of either finishing their education or being left unemployed.

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AS Spain takes a day off work today to celebrate the 34^thanniversary of the signing of the Constitution, opposition leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba says he wants to see this amended to ensure free healthcare is a basic right for all residents in Spain, irrespective of whether they pay social security or have a valid visa if they are non-EU citizens.

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A RADICAL reform of the education system in Spain has sparked criticism from several regional governments, particularly those with second languages. Minister José Ignacio Wert wants to ensure that all parents who wish their children to be taught in Castilian Spanish have the facility available, meaning that where there are only places or schools for these pupils which teach the entire curriculum in the regional language –valenciano, catalán, gallego or the Basque language, for example – the autonomous government must pay for the child in question to attend a private school which offers education in Spanish.

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SNOW in northern Essex and Bedfordshire has led to two of London's airports – Stansted and Luton – being shut. Stansted was closed from 06.00hrs to 08.30hrs after the first snows of winter in the UK hit Essex heavily, leading to many flights being delayed or cancelled.

Read more at thinkSPAIN.com

KING Juan Carlos has read the letter sent to him by a six-year-old Valencia boy asking for an operation for Christmas, and says he has asked for help to ensure he gets it. Edu Pinto suffers from Guillain-Barré Syndrome, which has a life-expectancy of just three years – he has already had it since age four – and which affects the nerves and muscle functions as well as leading to curvature of the spine.

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MADRID'S Christmas lights have been switched on – nearly a week later than usual due to the city holding an official period of mourning for the fifth victim of the Hallowe'en tragedy, María Teresa Alonso, who passed away in hospital last week after suffering serious brain damage due to lack of oxygen from being crushed in the stampede. The lights will only be on in the main commercial areas of the city, to draw attention to those and boost business, and also to save money on electricity.

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UP to 5.5 million cars could be out on Spain's roads at the start of the bank holiday weekend (Thursday, December 6), according to the ministry of traffic, or DGT. Around two-thirds of journeys will be concentrated on the south and east coasts, and central Spain in the Madrid area, highway authorities say.

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A STRANGE case of a 'motherless' baby at Málaga maternity hospital has left National Police puzzled. They say a young girl and her newborn baby were brought in by ambulance after having given birth elsewhere and suffering complications. She was apparently accompanied by another woman.

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A MAN from the southern province of Huelva has found his natural mother via a DNA bank, after he began to suspect he had been stolen at birth. The 47-year-old, who has not been named, was born in a northern Spanish hospital in 1965 and is one of the thousands of cases of babies who were taken from their mothers between the 1930s and 1990s, often by supporters of Franco or sold to parents who were, usually from Republican parents, and often by nuns.

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THREE walkers from Valencia and two from Madrid have survived after being buried up to the neck in snow in an avalanche at the resort of Panticosa (Huesca). They were part of a group of 12 climbing the Garmo Negro peak, which is nearly 3,000 metres above sea-level, when they saw a huge wall of snow of around 100 metres by 30 rushing towards them.

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A 'NEW' dinosaur has been found in the Teruel area, say archaeologists from the Dinópolis theme park. They have discovered over 5,000 bones of six different examples of a breed of the prehistoric creature that has not yet been found in the area, below the coal-mine in Santa María de Ariño

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AN elderly couple found dead in their home in the province of Granada had made a suicide pact so as 'not to be a burden for their children', according to notes found in the deceaseds' handwriting. The husband, initially said to be aged 85 but later described as a 78-year-old, shot his wife dead before turning the gun on himself.

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FOURTEEN people have been arrested in San Fulgencio and San Vicente del Raspeig (Alicante) in connection with a crimewave spanning the whole of the Mediterranean coast involving thefts from cars, burglaries in homes and cash-card cloning. National Police and Guardia Civil officers, who worked closely with the police forces in Romania and the court in Dénia (Alicante) in their investigations, say the group are thought to be behind at least 100 cases of theft and fraudulent purchases with cloned cards.

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TWO men have been arrested in Guardamar del Segura (Alicante) for selling top-of-the-range mobile phones online and sending vegetables to buyers instead. Police say they received a flood of reports from people in Jaén and Sevilla (Andalucía), Badajoz (Extremadura) and Tenerife, saying they had bought mobile phones based upon photos and descriptions on a website and that when they received their parcels through the post, they contained tomatoes, cucumbers, sprouting potatoes and even bars of soap.

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PHARMACIES in the Valencia region are set to re-open after nearly a month of being on strike due to not having been paid. They have reached an agreement with the regional government, the Generalitat, which the College of Pharmacists says is 'far from ideal' but which will help them out of an immediate tight spot.

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OVER 40,000 people in Spain are HIV positive and do not know it, reveals a survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO). To mark World AIDS day today (Saturday), the 31^stanniversary of the first-ever diagnosis, figures have been released concerning patients around the globe.

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A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy from Valencia has written to the King for help as he needs an operation and physiotherapy for his rare condition. Edu suffers from Gullain-Barré Syndrome, a disease that affects the nervous system and has paralysed most of his muscles, as well as Thoracic Scoliosis, which means his spine has moved into a sharp angle.

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