Close ties between Georgetown University and the Spanish Popular Party

According to Cadena Ser, the Spanish Ministry has been financing events held in Georgetown University for the past 3 years. Apparantly in 2001 the Spanish Popular Party Government signed an agreement worth 1.200.000 Euros with Georgetown University to develope a postgraduate programme. According to Cadena Ser, The Spanish Government used public money to finance this agreement.

Since signing this agreement, according to Cadena Ser, various Spanish government ministers have been invited to Georgetown in the past 3 years. The acting Director for University Quality for Spain (Agencia de Calidad Universitaria) is one of Georgetown University's invited professors, and his wife, Antonia Martinez, who has acted as electoral advisor to the Spanish Presidency, is according to Cadena Ser, director of an online degree offered by the same University in collaboration with other universities. According to the same source, one of the Vicepresidents of the outgoing Spanish Government, Rodrigo Rato, is a member of Georgetown University's International Center of Strategic Studies.

Two days ago Georgetown University announced that Jose Maria Aznar, Spain's outgoing President, will join Georgetown University next fall as a Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership where he will lead seminars on contemporary European politics and trans-Atlantic relationships.

Bad weather in Spain affects Holy Week celebrations

The general atmosphere in Spain at the moment, still very much affected by the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Madrid and the unusually wet and windy weather dominating most of Spain this week have all contributed to Easter celebrations being much more low key than usual. Holy Week events and processions have been cancelled in some Spanish towns and cities due to bad weather, and although most years Spaniards take advantage of the Easter break to have short family holidays (this is the only time of year when as much as 80% of tourists in Spain are Spanish), this year more families have chosen to stay at home. Madrid, perhaps not surprisingly, is the worst affected traditional Easter week destination. According to the Cadena Ser, hoteliers report a 10 - 20% fall in hotel reservations. Clouds and rain are expected to dominate the weather all weekend.

Most of the news in Spain, as in the rest of the World, is dominated by recent events in Iraq. The insistence of Jose Luis Zapatero for the US to recognise its mistakes and hand over control of the crisis to the United Nations seems to many to be the only viable way of improving a situation which seems to be increasingly out of control. In the last Ser Pulsometro, 72% Spaniards said they supported Zapatero's policy on Iraq, while 15% Spaniards opposed it.

Video made by terrorist suspects found in Madrid

Spanish police have found a video in the wreckage of the apartment where Islamic militants blew themselves up at the weekend, officials have said today. In the video, three armed men wearing traditional Arab costumes read out an ultimatum in Arabic demanding that Spain withdraw its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan within a week. According to Cadena Ser and El Mundo, the video was recorded just minutes before Spanish police ambushed the apartment and the suspects blew themselves up.

Spanish police are hunting Islamic militants still at large after the bombings.

Bullfighting in Spain - Barcelona declares itself officially against corridas

"Barcelona City Council took a historic vote today when it officially declared the Catalonian capital an anti-bullfight city; by 21 votes to 15, with two abstentions. This follows an announcement by the city's Deputy Mayor, Jordi Portabella, two weeks ago, when he declared his opposition to bullfighting in front of hundreds of protesters, saying, "Barcelona must act like a capital and be a pioneer in the abolition of bullfighting."" Full story here.

Road safety in Spain

Traffic accidents kill 1.2 million people annually in the world and are the second leading cause of death among people aged 5–29, according to a joint WHO/World Bank report launched today. The theme of this year's World Health Day is Road Safety and today around the globe, hundreds of organizations will host events to help raise awareness about road traffic injuries, their grave consequences and enormous costs to society.

Road safety is a big big problem in Spain. According to estimates from the DGT - National Traffic Directorate , accidents cost Spain about 9.000.000.000 Euros every year. Last year alone, 4.032 people were killed outright in a traffic accident, 2061 were seriously injured and 1.967 suffered light injuries (see this Cadena Ser article). Reasons behind the high rate of traffic accidents in Spain include:
The bad state of many roads,
Drinking and driving (according to this El Mundo article, 4 out of every 10 people killed in a road accident in Spain in 2002 had exceeded the legal limit of alcohol)
Human error
Faulty vehicles
Congested roads - just this Easter weekend the DGT expects 23 million cars with holidaymakers on Spanish roads.

This month the DGT have launched a campaign with some very violent images designed to shock Spaniards into complying with basic safety rules on the roads. In an attempt to reduce traffic accidents in Spain this year by increasing awareness, the advertising campaign uses images to describe what awful consequences failure to respect basic norms (such as using safety belts, speed limits, using a helmet on a motorbike and making sure children are strapped into their seats..) can have.

More information on road safety in Spain here. Don't forget that for this and other Spanish resources quoted here, non-spanish speakers can always use one of these free online translators.

Aznar to join Georgetown University

According to a press release from the University itself, the acting President of Spain, Jose Maria Aznar, whose term ends on April 16, will join Georgetown University next fall as a Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership where he will lead seminars on contemporary European politics and trans-Atlantic relationships.

“Prime Minister Aznar’s involvement on campus will enhance the work of our students and faculty in invaluable ways,” University President John J. DeGioia said. “Having such a distinguished former head of government join our community builds on Georgetown’s tradition of intellectual engagement on crucial global issues.”

At Georgetown, Aznar will lead at least two seminars each semester through the Mortara Center for International Studies, BMW Center for German and European Studies and Center for Latin American Studies. “I am greatly looking forward to this opportunity with Georgetown University. It will be a privilege for me to join the faculty of this world-class institution in the fields of international relations and political studies,” Aznar said in the university press release.

It will be interesting to see whether or not this means that his wife, Ana Botella, will give up her recent career in local politics to follow him to the US. She has been in charge of social affairs in Madrid's Town Hall since first accepting to run for her husband's party in the local elections last year. More about Aznar here.

Bank robber holds hostages for 12 hours in Alicante

Security forces in Alicante were on red alert yesterday as a young man threatened to blow up a branch of the Banco Popular in a residential area of the city. The bank seige lasted for over 12 hours. The man entered the bank at 9.30 a.m. and held hostage bank employees and clients for twelve hours, while the police evacuated 176 families from flats around the bank and cordened off the area. The man's father travelled down from Madrid and tried to pursuade his son to free the hostages and to surrender to police, but the man continued with his threats to set off a hand grenade if police did not give him a motorbike and a gram of heroin. Finally he was given a motorbike and tried to escape, but a police car crashed into the bike and overpowered him. He was taken to hospital last night and is reported to be in a serious condition. Tele Cinco offer a video of some of the moments of the seige here . If you want to see the moment when a police car crashes into the bank robber when he tries to escape on the motorbike in Alicante, click on the video link at the bottom of the Tele Cinco page.

Key suspects behind the 11M attacks in Madrid die in Lagenes explosion

Spanish police are still trying to clarify how many people died in the explosions in a flat in Madrid the day before yesterday. The acting Interior Minster, Angel Acebes, confirmed that at least three key suspects in the Madrid train bombings case - a Tunisian, Sarhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet, Jamal Ahmidan, and Abdennabi Kounjaa, a Moroccan - were among those killed in Saturday's suicide blast.

This afternoon police investigating the events of Saturday have found evidence that a fifth person died in the explosion, but they still do not know if he or she formed part of the group of terrorists believed to be behind last months attacks.

In a cupboard which survived the huge explosion, bags containing 10kg (22lb) of dynamite connected to detonators suggest that the bombing campaign against Madrid had not been, and still may not be, over. Two hundred detonators were also found. And according to reports in the Spanish newspaper ABC today, just hours before the terrorists killed themselves in Leganes on Saturday, the newspaper received a fax signed by "Abu Dujana al-Afgani, Ansar Group, al-Qaida in Europe", warning of more strikes unless Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq and Afghanistan within 24 hours.

Explosion in Madrid

According to the Spanish interior minister, the Tunisian identified by the Spanish government as the ringleader of the March 11 bombings in Madrid was among four suspects killed yesterday in the explosion in Laganes, on the outskirts of Madrid.
The suspects, chanting in Arabic, set off the blast while police were pursuing them Saturday night at a four-story apartment building, Angel Acebes said.

One Spanish police officer was also killed and 11 were wounded, Acebes said. Three are still in hospital.