U2 in Barcelona

U2 wowed the audience with its enormous high technology stage show in Barcelona last night on the first night of their world tour

Last night the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona became the stage for the first show of this U2 world tour. The enormous, ultra-modern stage was designed so that all ends of the stadium could enjoy a good view of the band.

The concert began with four songs from their latest album (Breathe, No line on the horizon, Get on your boots and Magnificent). Later on during the middle part of the show they played Unknown caller, with a karaoke screen so that the audience could join in. They played Beautiful day to a rapturous stadium and later played Angel of Harlem in tribute to Michael Jackson.

As well as their most recent songs the concert included some of their most popular songs from the past including I still haven't found what I'm looking for, The unforgettable fire, City of blinding lights, Vertigo, Sunday bloody Sunday, Where the streets have no name and Pride (in the name of love). For their encore they played With or without you. Needless to say the stadium went wild.

As well as the music the concept of a spectacular stage show was a central theme to last night’s concert. While U2 insisted that their stage was inspired by the work of the famous Catalan architect, Gaudí many people have likened it to having similarities with the Eiffel tower while the El Pais correspondent claimed it looked like a long legged alien. The round stage allowed all the corners of the stadium to get a good view of the band and there was also an amazing circular screen which was retractable and two walkways which rotated.

First swine flu death in Spain

Woman dies from swine flu in Madrid

It has been announced that a 20 year old woman who was admitted to hospital a fortnight ago suffering from swine flu in Spain died in the early hours of this morning.

The woman was asthmatic and according to first reports her condition worsened over the weekend due to complications from pneumonia. According to official health sources she is the first person to die from Swine Flu in Spain.

Trinidad Jiménez, the Minister for Health, will give more information on her death during a press conference scheduled for 9.30am this morning. Juan José Güemes, the Director of Health Services for the Comunidad de Madrid, will also appear before the press.

The young woman who was admitted to hospital on 15th June was 28 weeks pregnant and was given a caesarean on Monday. Doctors decided to carry out the operation in order to save the life of the baby she was carrying due to the worsening state of the woman. According to information provided by the hospital the baby is doing well.

This case which represents the first death from Swine Flu in Spain is the fourth death from the disease in Europe. A second swine flu sufferer, 32 year old man, is reported to be in a very serious condition in the hospital Joan XXIII hospital in Tarragona, Spain.

MySpace announces job cuts in Spain

MySpace to make large numbers of its staff redundant in Spain

The internet social network site ‘MySpace’, which belongs to the media group, NewsCorp, directed by Rupert Murdoch, is about to announce a significant ‘readjustment’ of its workforce in Spain. The company has already served various members of its staff with redundancy notices and the official news of its redundancy plans which will affect most of its 18 staff and collaborators in Spain is expected to be announced today.

Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the company indicated that this was not a closure of the company’s activities in Spain and that MySpace España would continue to operate from its own office. However, the spokesperson avoided answering questions regarding the redundancies and repeated that the official news would be broadcast by NewsCorp today.

The reorganization of the MySpace office in Spain forms part of the process of restructuring announced by the company and it is expected that up to two thirds of its international workforce, around 300 employees, will be affected. It is also expected that in addition to redundancies 4 of its offices outside the US will be closed.

NewsCorp acquired MySpace in 2005 at a cost of 580 million de dollars (432 million euros), at a time when it was considered to be the principal social networking site operating on the internet. However its leadership is now in question given the success of the 2 other major social networking sites - Facebook and Twitter.

Spanish government recession spending

Spain spending more on fighting the recession than any other EU country

According to a report on public finance published this week by the European Commission the Spanish government will use 2.3% of its GDP between 2009 and 2010 on measures to combat the current economic crisis. This is more than double the amount that other EU states are spending which is estimated to be 1.1% of their GDP. It is also estimated that spending on helping financial institutions overcome the crisis has risen to an average of 16.5% of GDP throughout the EU equivalent to 1.8 billion euros.

Although it is forecast that the recession will begin to improve from 2010 onwards in its report the European Commission warns that the ‘success of current measures adopted depend on credible strategies for beating the crisis’. In reality this means that when economic growth occurs governments will have to start to reduce their public deficit which has shot up due to less revenue from taxes and higher social spending.

On Tuesday the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Joaquín Almunia, said that the ‘efficiency of policies to stimulate budgets depended a great deal on the commitment to put an end these measures when the economy begins to recover’.

In addition to plans for stimulating economic growth ‘if automatic stabilizing factors such as more social spending are taken into account it is estimated that EU states will have spent around 5% of their GDP on their economies between 2009 and 2010 which is equivalent to 600 million euros’.

As well as Spain, Austria, Finland, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Germany have also introduced significant measures to stimulate their economies. The EU report demonstrates its concern for countries where credit and property prices have increased disproportionately. It goes on to say that ‘in a certain number of cases where significant macroeconomic imbalances have occurred the margin for possible manoeuvres to impose anticyclic policies without increasing risk factors have gone down since the beginning of the crisis’.

The report analyzes the four packages of economic stimulation which were introduced in Spain in April, August and November 2008 and during the first few months of 2009. According to Brussels not all the measures have been equally effective and well directed.

It found that the most effective plan was applied in November 2008 with the investment of 8,000 million euros in small scale projects and the 3,000 million euros for technological development in the car industry. In total this plan represents 1.5% of Spanish GDP and according to the report ‘the composition of this stimulus and its concentration in investment by local government has been very effective for national production as a whole and for employment’.

The report also said that other measures such as those adopted in April and August 2008 which include the 400 euros tax rebate for 2008 will probably have a more limited impact. The authors of the report also showed their concern for the deficit in the Spanish economy and expressed their worry that instead of extra resources going towards consumption in the economy they will instead be destined for savings.

Spain aid to Africa

Zapatero offers 240 million aid package to fight hunger in Africa

This week the Spanish President, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has committed 240 million euros to fighting hunger in Africa. The announcement came in a meeting with 14 other heads of state from Sub-Saharan Africa during the first bilateral summit between Spain and the Economic Community of Western African States which is currently taking place in Nigeria.

Zapatero defended the need to maintain and increase development aid despite the economic crisis. He said that the crisis ‘affected everybody but when it hit those that already suffered from hunger and poverty the consequences are much more devastating because they are measured in human lives’. He added that ‘the developed world cannot sit back and ignore their responsibilities’.

The 240 million aid package promised by the Spanish president yesterday forms part of the 200 million euros a year aid (1000 euros over a 5 year period) that Spain announced during the conference on food security held by the UN body the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Madrid last January. It is anticipated that the plan will be approved on 10th July in L'Aquilla (Italy), at the end of the G8 summit and in a meeting of 20 countries to which Zapatero has been invited.

Yesterday’s declaration also includes 15 million euros aid over a 5 year period for the preparation of infrastructure projects and 7 million euros to support the renewable energy centre in Praia.

The text proposes supporting ‘the consolidation of democratic processes’ and the ‘fight against the rise in human, arms and drug smuggling’. However, the final communication from the summit fails to address the serious problem of corruption in countries like Nigeria where more than 70% of the 140 million inhabitants live below the poverty line despite the fact that Nigeria is the biggest oil producer in Africa producing 1.7 million barrels a day.

Zapatero has also offered to host the second summit of the Economic Community of Western African States in the Canary Islands although no date has been fixed yet.

Wine industry in Spain facing difficulties

Surplus grape harvest and the economic crisis could damage wine sector in Spain

With just over 2 months to go until grape harvesting begins the wine sector in Spain is facing a critical situation due to surplus grape production coupled with the reduction in prices due to the fall in demand for wine in the Spanish market. The problem appears to affect all ranges of wines even high quality brands.

Agricultural organizations and cooperatives have asked the government to impose urgent measures to eliminate or reduce this ‘surplus’ and to help wine producers earn a better market price.

The Ministry for Rural Affairs has decided that the distillation of wine for alcohol can take place a month earlier beginning on 1st August.

During the last grape harvest the total production of wine was 40.5 million hectolitres compared to the record of 50 million obtained in 2004.