dimecres, 27 de febrer del 2013

Woekers at spaim's Iberia begin 15 days of strikes


     Protesters clashed with police at Madrid's international airport as ground staff and cabin crews for Spain's Iberia began 15 days of strikes to protest plans to lay off 3,800 staff.
     The company, which is looking to cut jobs after it reported substantial losses last year, says the stoppages will lead to more than 1,200 flight cancelations over the next three weeks, including 236 the first day.
Police used batons to push back hundreds of protesters as they tried to enter the terminal at midday. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
Other demonstrations took place at airports around the country.
     A government decree on minimum services guarantees 90 percent of long-haul flights, 61 percent of medium-haul and 46 percent of domestic flights on stoppage days.
Unions representing most Iberia workers, but not pilots, have called the strikes between Feb. 18-22, March 4-8 and March 18-22.
     The company says it has found seats on other flights for most of the 70,000 passengers affected.
Iberia, Lineas Aereas de Espana S.A., claims economic difficulties oblige it to make layoffs. The government has called on the company and unions to reach an agreement and end the strike.
Iberia merged with British Airways to create International Airlines Group in 2011.

The crisis of the crown

As a financial scandal engulfs the royal family and politicians begin to call for his abdication, Spain's King Juan Carlos faces one of the worst weeks in his 37-year reign, with prosecutors set to ask a judge to formally name his daughter Princess Cristina as a suspect in a multimillion-euro fraud and money-laundering case.Juan Carlos's nightmare week starts in Palma de Mallorca , when Urdangarin must appear before an investigating magistrate who has demanded that he and Torres post a joint bond of €8.1m (£7m).The king is said to be outraged by his son-in-law's behaviour and last year barred him from officially representing the royal family. Last month, the duke's personal profile was erased from the royal website. A spokesman for the king said they had no comment to make on the evidence and emails provided by Torres, possibly because some Spanish newspapers have reported that the emails were unlikely to lead to Cristina being named as a suspect. One of the Valencia politicians who allegedly met Urdangarin to talk business at Zarzuela Palace, Francisco Camps, has denied the meeting.

40 injured in cuts demonstration

On Monday 25 of Febrary, Forty-five people have been arrested in Spain (Madrid) during disturbances following a demonstration by tens of thousands of people against spending cuts and allegations of government corruption. Some 40 people were hurt, including 12 police, though none seriously, officials said yesterday.

What The Times thinks about spanish life

To survive, Madrid needs both inflation and deflation. It can’t have both in the eurozone.
 Who would want to be a Spaniard? They may have the world’s most successful football team but 25 per cent of their workforce is unemployed, 50 per cent of their youth are out of work and even the footballers get red-carded when they have done little wrong.

'Slush fund'

The Spanish cash-for-contracts row that broke last week continues to dominate our attention this morning. Luis Bárcenas, the former treasurer of the governing People's party, will face an anti-corruption prosecutor today.
Bárcenas will be quizzed on those dramatic allegations that he ran a secret scheme where senior party officials received secret payments from business people, who were rewarded with government contracts.
High court judge Pablo Ruz has also begun a probe, after documents dramatically published last week showed that up to €22m was concealed in a secret 'slush fund' run by Bárcenas. If true, those involved could have broken rules on money laundering and tax fraud.

dimecres, 13 de febrer del 2013

Rajoy "pushes" the euro lower against dolar

Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy denied allegations over the weekend that he and his party received secret cash payments from businesses. Spain’s top prosecutor said it may call in Rajoy for questioning if necessary. Opposition parties are calling for Rajoy to resign. The allegations come at a time when the country was just beginning to show signs of convincing investors that its finances are improving. The euro fell to $1.3520 in late trading Monday from $1.3662 late Friday.

The crisis kills

A retired married couple committed suicide Tuesday and left a note saying they were going to lose their home, helping stoke an outcry over Spain ’s tough eviction laws. The deaths increased to five the number of suicides linked to mortgage defaults and evictions in recent months as Spain's financial crisis has deepened and the unemployment rate has reached 26 percent.