Spanish steps towards general strike say two biggest trade union confederations

If you are holidaying in Spain this year you may learn a couple of new words – huelga general. In the coming days and weeks the Spanish for general strike will be splashed across posters and on the lips of thousands of trade union activists who are campaigning in workplaces, the streets and even the beaches for a mass protest on September 29.

The strike, called by the country’s two biggest trade union confederations – Comisiones Obreras and Union General de Trabajadores – is against the socialist government’s labour market reforms which will make it easier to hire and fire. These are among a raft of reactionary measures, including a 55 per cent cut to public servants’ pay and a freeze on pensions, that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero pushed through parliament last month with the aid of conservative regional parties.

Spain is reeling from a deep economic crisis. But for Marisol Pardo, a senior figure at Comisiones Obreras, the measures taken to tackle it are wholly unfair. “The government is making working people pay who had no responsibility in creating the crisis. This is unjust.”

Spanish workers find themselves in the eye of a storm that has broken across a country once toasted by bankers and politicians across Europe for its free market virtues. Spain ticked most of the boxes – it welcomed foreign investment, firms were striding the world stage, it had a budget surplus, relatively low public debt and falling unemployment.

But the country’s “economic miracle” was built on sand. The boom during much of the 2000s was largely driven by a housing bubble fuelled by unsustainable levels of household debt and purchases by Britons and other northern Europeans. Construction represented a very unhealthy 16 per cent of GDP and 12 per cent of employment at its height, driving growth rates that, if uninterrupted, could have soon seen Spaniards richer than Germans.

Then, in 2008, the bubble burst. A million brand new homes now stand unsold. Parts of the once rock-solid banking system are in trouble. Unemployment is now over 4.6 million, exceeding 20 per cent – the highest in the EU – with 1.3 million jobless households. Public finances have deteriorated rapidly. Spain’s reputation has fallen so far it is being compared to Greece.

For a while Zapatero did as Brown and some other European leaders – he stimulated the economy through public spending. But under pressure from the IMF, other European governments and financial speculators Zapatero went into reverse gear, implementing deficit-cutting reductions to government expenditure and launching what unions describe as “the biggest attack on employment rights for the past 30 years.”

The problem with Zapatero’s strategy to reduce the cost of labour is that over time it will only contribute to Spain’s economic woes. Comisiones Obreras’ Marisol Pardo says: “The labour market reforms won’t work. They don’t get to the root of the problem, which is the productive and developmental model.”

The unions argue that Spain’s employers have long relied on low wages to generate profits, hiring workers on “flexible” employment contracts with few rights attached. This has contributed to an underdeveloped hi-tech services and manufacturing industry – except within the car sector, which is wholly foreign-owned. This in turn has led to a worryingly large trade deficit and an economy far too dependent on finance, tourism, and bricks and mortar.

Instead, unions say there needs to be strong investment in skills and technology to raise productivity and rebalance the economy. They believe that the public finances can also be restored by a more progressive taxation system and a concerted campaign against tax-dodgers in a country where corporate and income tax rates are low and the black economy huge.

Unions also have different ideas to the government on the future of Spain’s local savings banks – cajas – which hold a large proportion of the country’s deposits. The sector has hit problems partly because of its exposure to the collapsed construction sector, and Zapatero plans to privatise them. But Fermín Arellano Morlas, a regional official of Comisiones Obreras, says their difficulties are much exaggerated.

The cajas are controlled by local government and in some circumstances workers have a say in their governance. Opening them up to private capital will be welcomed by profiteers, but it will undermine their traditional role of providing affordable credit to working people and small businesses that big banks deny them, says Morlas. Given the enormous difficulties faced by ordinary people in keeping up mortgage payments and paying their bills, the cajas’ role today has never been more important.

The general strike, to be held to coincide with the European Trade Union Confederation’s (ETUC) European-wide “day of action,” has followed escalating industrial action. Rail workers held a national strike on May 28 followed by public-sector workers on June 8. On June 29 a general strike was staged in the Basque region and a mass demonstration has been called for September 9 by trade unions in Madrid. Air traffic controllers may just have called off their strike for this August but industrial action in September has not been ruled out.

Campaigning by trade unionists is all the more important as there is almost no political opposition to the government’s regressive plans. The right-wing Popular Party – Partido Popular – voted against the measures but this was a purely opportunistic move. Close to big business and the financial elite, it is not offering any real alternative.

Only United Left – Izquierda Unida – is putting up any kind of fight. Its leader Cayo Lara Moya has accused Zapatero of making the “lower orders” pay in order to “please the markets, financial power and business.” For a party that has been in a de facto alliance with the socialists since 1986, this is strong language.

But United Left, led by communists, is weak. In the 2008 elections, together with their Catalan sister party, they garnered 960,000 votes or a 3 per cent share which translated into just two seats in the lower house of parliament. They are now trying to reverse this decline by forming new alliances. The aim is to build an “alternative bloc to neo-liberalism,” an “organisation in which we must coexist and work together with various sectors of the anti-capitalist left – ecologists, communists, socialists, republicans and left nationalists.”

The communists have been here before. Although the Spanish Communist Party was a crucial force in the battle against dictatorship and the transition to democracy, the communists were swiftly overtaken in elections by the socialists who enjoyed strong foreign support, particularly from the German Social Democrats. The United Left, formed in 1986 from an alliance remarkably similar to that being sought today, was created to reverse this. After an initial lift to a peak of 2.6 million votes – 11 per cent – in 1996, support fell away rapidly.

What is new is the attempt to court a range of radical civil society organisations. These include ATTAC which campaigns for a “Robin Hood”-style tax on banks, and other “anti-capitalist” movements. United Left’s call to build a coalition of left forces could also have some echo among traditional socialist supporters and party members who are disillusioned with the sharp right turn of Zapatero’s government.

Certainly, the prime minister’s attempts to please the markets have not made him popular with the wider Spanish public, which since the return to democracy 30 years ago has been used to rising prosperity. The administration’s rating at 21 per cent is at its lowest level since the March 2008 general election, according to a CIS opinion poll of voting intentions for July. But for now it is the right-wing Popular Party that is benefiting with a strong lead in the polls.

Which brings us back to September 29. Many will see it as a crucial test for the government and the success of a progressive alternative. Here’s hoping that by that day millions of Spaniards will be saying, as one union poster goes, “Huelga General, Yo Voy” – I’m going to the general strike.

ABC headlines that Zapatero cancelled the meeting after calling the constructors to the Moncloa where he was to have explained the announced cuts in public works. ABC says that sources close to the Prime Minister say that the leaking of the meeting to the media has caused it to be postponed, but with no new date.
El Mundo considers that the Prime Minister cancelled the meeting to try and avoid being linked to the ‘sounding balloon’ sent up over a possible increase in taxes. The paper notes that businessmen, politicians, and consumers are all against an increase in taxes.
El País however reports that it was the constructors who cancelled the meeting ‘so as not to appear as beggars’.
La Razón thinks it was the Prime Minister who cancelled the meeting, after news of it was leaked, and points to similarities with his meeting with Tomás Gómez last week.

El País reports that a judge has charged the top members of the Partido Popular in Orihuela and 33 others as the Brugal case continues. The paper says that the current PP Mayor of the town has now been implicated.
Público reports that PP leader Mariano Rajoy is still supporting Francisco Camps as the party’s regional candidate in Valencia, but notes that yesterday he avoided being photographed with him.

ABC has photo from the border at the North African enclave of Ceuta which has joined the Moroccan boycott already seen in Melilla. It shows protests at the frontier last Saturday and the indifference of the Moroccan police. It says both enclaves will see another day with a lack of supplies today.
El Mundo reports that the police union SUP has criticised the Equality Minister, Bibiana Aído, for not defending the female police in Melilla. The paper says that Rajoy has sent González Pons to the city as an example that the Government should take the incidents more seriously.
La Razón leads with the story and says that Melilla faces another blockade today as the vacuum of Spanish diplomacy continues. The paper says that there is no ambassador in Rabat, or consuls in Tetuán, Larache and Nador, and that the Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Moratinos, is on holiday. It says the boycott will affect cement, bricks, fish, fruit, vegetables and domestic service.

ABC notes that the National Court is to investigate a ceremony in homage to an ETA terrorist.

El País reports that a Spanish judge is to investigate Google and the accusation that its Street View cars collected private data.
Público leads with the story and puts a Googlemap of Spain on its front page.

La Razón notes that last weekend, considered to be the most dangerous of the years on the roads because of the volume of traffic saw 68% fewer deaths despite the ‘dropped ball point pen strike’ by the trafico guardia. ‘Fewer fines, fewer accidents’, is the headline.

El Mundo says that Basque anti-bullfight activists have compared the bullfight with terrorism.

El País reports that the forest fires in Galicia have now affected 4,000 hectares in a summer which otherwise has seen very few blazes.

El Mundo reports that the US Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, has corrected General Petraeus, and says that the USA will leave Afghanistan in 2011.

El País notes that China has overtaken Japan as the second largest economy in the world.
La Razón highlights the news with a graph and notes that China is also reducing distances with the United States.

El Mundo highlights the Israeli soldier who has put up photos of her Palestinian prisoners on Facebook, as the paper puts it, ‘as if they were pictures of a holiday in Thailand’.

El País has a front page photo of Pakistani children queuing for food. The paper says that epidemics now threaten 3.5 million children in the country following the worst floods for 80 years.

El Mundo notes the Edinburgh Festival has seen an anti-Spanish Montezuma, co-produced by the Teatro Real in Madrid where it will arrive in September.

And finally,
El Mundo puts Angelina Jolie and George Clooney on its masthead today, as the couple take on the roles of Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra.

ABC says that the Government is to increase tax by modifying the the IRPF income tax bands. The paper highlights the comment from José Blanco has confirmed the increase ‘as taxes in Spain are very low’. The paper says that a tax on savings is planned after a u-turn on the idea of a specific tax on the rich.
El Mundo says that Blanco is demanding more taxes to finance his ‘lurching’. The paper notes he has said taxes are very low for the services received and notes too that he made the same reflection a year ago, and 28 days after the announcement of a VAT increase.
El País says that Blanco has defended increasing taxes to improve services.
La Razón says that Blanco has said the Government will look for formulas to match taxes with the European average, and says the details of the tax increase will be given in the debate on the state budgets.

El País continues a series on the effects of the recession and notes that local Mayors are demanding the right to get into debt, so they do not go bust. The paper says that the Economy Ministry is not meeting the norms to finance the municipalities via the ICO, Official Credit Institute.

La Razón notes that the Ministry for Health will hand patients an ‘invoice’ so they know the cost of their treatments.

ABC reports that the ‘Dignity and Justice’ organization is to challenge an event held in homage to ETA activists in the National Court.

El País headlines that a law will guarantee the citizens ‘right to know’, as the paper prints a leak on the planned regulations on access to information. The paper says the demands of those making requests will have to be met in 30 days and any request will be considered as accepted if the administration does not respond.

La Razón notes that Ruiz-Gallardón has confirmed he will repeat as PP candidate for Mayor of Madrid.

El País reports that the PSOE Socialist party is proposing that the unemployed be fined if they do not accept training.

El Mundo has an interview with the head of Greenpeace in Spain, Juan López de Uralde, who says that a green model is the option for those people fed up with the current one.

El Mundo reports that police unions have called on Rabat to get out of no man’s land in Melilla. They say the recent incidents on the border are due to the Moroccan occupation of the 500m.
La Razón has sent to correspondents to Melilla to ‘discover the hard conditions working as civil servants on the frontier’ and the paper headlines their piece ‘Surviving in Melilla as a woman and police officer’.

El Mundo has Barack, Michelle and Sasha Obama on holiday in the Gulf of Mexico – as the paper says ‘Holidays next to the dump’, noting they are 27 hour long mini-holidays.
EL País also has a front page photo of the family on a boat in Florida.

El Mundo notes that General Petraeus has said that the United States could extend its missing in Afghanistan. He has said that the date given by Obama for the withdrawal, July 2011, is not irreversible, and he has not ruled out reconciliation with the Taliban.
El País sees the Patreaus comments as questioning Obama’s plan for an exit from Afghanistan.
La Razón says that like his predecessor, the sacked McChrystal, he is not in agreement with the policies of Obama.

El Mundo notes comments from Judge Afuni who has spent eight months in prison in Venezuela, ‘Venezuelan justice has died with Chávez, because of a lack of autonomy’. She has been imprisoned for freeing an opposition activist accused of fraud.

Público headlines and dedicates its front page to ‘Israel destroys what Europe builds’ and notes that Palestinian infrastructures destroyed by the Israeli army cost 79.5 million €, 33 of them donated by Spain. It gives three examples, the Rafah Airport, the power station in Gaza and greenhouses in Beit Hanún.
The paper has an article from Robert Fisk who says that ‘The Jewish State has taken hold in the EU without anyone noticing’.

ABC has a front page pair of photos which intend to show how Gibraltar ‘continues to grow into Spanish waters’. The paper says that a year after ABC made an earlier complaint, ‘frenetic work is taking place in the mountain gained from the sea’. The two photos are from last week and last year. ABC also has an article and editorial on the matter.

El Mundo notes on its masthead that Hemingway and bullfighting are being honored at the Edinburgh Festival this year.

ABC highlights more Spanish sporting success with three Spaniards on the Motorbike podium this weekend – Lorenzo, Elías and Terol. El Mundo notes that Lorenzo has won seven of the ten grand prizes and was second in the others.

And finally,
La Razón tells us that Madonna has been having plastic surgery for her 52nd birthday.

El Mundo headlines that activists have been attacking Melilla despite the intervention of the King, blocking the arrival of foodstuffs and threatening more intermittent blockages. The paper says that the Police have complained about ‘denigrating photo montages’ against female officers.
The paper notes that the PP has accused the Government of using the Monarch ‘as their Foreign Minister’.
La Razón shows some of the posters put up at the border insulting the women officers, and notes the crisis coincides with a new wave of immigrant arrivals on small patera boats carrying nearly 300 people.
El País also leads with the story and says the conflict is continuing despite the conversation between the two Kings. It notes that activists are threatening to stop workers reaching the enclave of Melilla.

La Razón headlines that ETA is preparing another cease fire trap, to place its supporters in the municipal elections. The paper says the gang are debating whether to carry out any attack before offering the Government ‘a verifiable cease fire’, while the Prosecutors’ Office has asked the judge to ban a pro-ETA march planned for tomorrow in San Sebastian.

El Mundo says that Development Minister, José Blanco, will use 500 million of the 6,400 he has saved to restart some public works.

The increase in IVA/VAT in June put prices rises above wages, according to El Mundo.
Público leads with the story and headlines that there has been a minimal impact on prices by the IVA/VAT increase. It notes the IPC inflation index fell by 0.4% in July to take the annual rate to 1.9%, and says the sales reduced the impact of the tax rise.

El Mundo has a photo of Jaime LIssavetzky and Trinidad Jiménez, who are supporting each other as the PSOE candidates for the Madrid region and Mayor. El País makes the couple the largest photo on the front page and has the caption ‘We are a winning tandem’.

El País notes that tobacco companies have reduced the price of rolling tobacco, directing sales to youngsters and the unemployed. You can now buy a pack for 1 € 35, and that will give you enough tobacco for 30 cigarettes.

El Mundo reports that a third of the experts at the World Health Organisation on the H1N1 flu, were paid by the laboratories.

La Razón notes that Non Governmental Organisations are demanding the creation of a European registry on sexual delinquents.

El País reports that a car bomb in Bogotá has tested the new President, Juan Manuel Santos.

And finally,
El Mundo tells us that Jennifer López has insured her arse for 4.5 million €.

El Mundo has a front page photo from the Melilla border which shows a Moroccan man on the ground. The Committee for the Liberation of Ceuta and Melilla believe it shows ‘racist aggression’ from the Spanish police. El Mundo says the King’s phone call has uncovered the crisis created by Mohamed VI, and says that Zapatero asked the Monarch to intervene given the ‘silly incidents’ which have been increasing on the borders with Ceuta and Melilla.
El País considers the phone call has reduced the tension with Morocco.
La Razón headlines the phone call and notes that Morocco has announced an informal meeting between the monarchs. The paper says that hours before the conversation, the Socialist party claimed that there was no crisis with Rabat.

El Mundo headlines that a mediator has seen ‘advances’ in the ‘process’ between the Government and ETA. The paper highlights the comments from Brian Currin who makes reference to the movement of ETA prisoners to the Basque Country and a possible cease fire call from the terrorists.
The paper notes that the PP General Secretary, Cospedal, has warned that the opposition does not trust the prisoner movements.

El Mundo notes that the Development Minister, José Blanco, now considers the cuts he announced three months ago were ‘excessive’.

El Mundo notes that the markets were hit again yesterday over fears over a new slow down in the economy.
El País leads with this and headlines ‘Doubts over the end of the recession bring fear back to the markets’. It notes that Elena Salgado, Minister for Tax and the Economy, has ruled out another recession and guaranteed that deficit reduction targets will be met.

El País has an interview with the Minster for Health, Trinidad Jiménez, who talks mostly about her running to be candidate for the Socialists for the Madrid regional election. She tells the paper she is not Goliath, and that it is Tomás Gómez who controls the party.

Público has a front page dedicated to the Fundescam case and headlines that the police are looking for more evidence of the illegal funding of Esperanza Aguirre’s PP in Madrid. The money laundering department has sent a new 50 page report to the instruction judge in the Gürtel case about the activities of the foundation which paid for election costs irregularly.

El País has a front page photo of a person being rescued from the flood waters in Pakistan and notes that the United Nations has launched a world alert following the disaster, calling for 350 million €.

La Razón reports that the British police has alerted the Spanish security forces about the incessant arrival of sexual delinquents in tourist area. The paper says that so far this summer the warnings from Interpol have been almost daily.
El País tells us that the Vatican wants to bring forward the age of the first communion to fight the lack of faith.

El País notes that the Spanish Football Federation is to investigate the allegations of the bribes made by Hercules to be promoted to the Primera.

ABC has the Spanish football team on their front page, where La Roja managed to save face with a 1-1 draw in the friendly last night against Mexico.
La Razón looks on the bright side and also has a front page photo with the caption – Spain remains unbeaten, with Silva avoiding the defeat by scoring in injury time.

And finally
Hola Magazine made a great deal of an emotional kiss between the Prince and Princess of Asturias after the Marivent photo call. El Mundo makes reference to it with the caption ‘at last they kiss…. Six years later’.

ABC says that they have given into the pressure and withdrawn the strike threat so that talks can restart and Minister José Blanco can make a move. The paper says that if there is no progress the strike could happen in September. ABC says that the Spanish Airports Authority, AENA, has welcomed ‘the gesture’ and said that it will restart talks at 5pm this afternoon.
El Mundo considers the controllers have postponed the strike to clean up their image, and they say it is their answer to the request from Zapatero to end the uncertainty.
La Razón headlines that the controllers have given in to the pressure and offered a truce for August. It notes that the tourism industry and airlines have celebrated the end of the uncertainty and now hope for a definitive agreement.
Público headlines that the controllers come in to land.

ABC has a front page photo of the Prime Minister with the King. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero went to the Marivent Palace on Mallorca to chat to King Juan Carlos as he does each summer. The paper says that Zapatero is now neutral in the battle for the party’s candidacy in Madrid, but the PSOE party is marginalizing Tomas Gómez. ABC has found a quote from Trinidad Jiménez made in September 2009 when she said that it had never entered her head to stand, and that the only possible candidate was Tomás.
El Mundo has a photo of Gómez with two supporters, and says that three out of four leaders of the party in Madrid support Gómez.
El País headlines that the Prime Minister is backing Jaime Lissavetzky as Socialist candidate for the Mayor of Madrid, ahead of the risk of another set of primary elections. He will be presented tomorrow according to the paper.
La Razón also has a front page photo of Zapatero with Juan Carlos, and notes that the Prime Minister indicated that public investment would be recovered to help construction.

El País notes that the Prime Minsiter has warned that the third quarter GDP figure ‘will not be so good’, which the paper considers as a warning of a return to recession.
The paper notes that the Federal Reserve has taken action in the United States to avoid a similar return to recession there.

El Mundo reports that top bullfighters are to inscribe a bullfight into the intellectual property registry. The idea is to demonstrate that it is ‘an artistic demonstration’ which Cataluña cannot prohibit.

ABC notes that Google has opened the way towards a two speed internet. The paper says a deal with Verizon will permit only users who pay more to have quicker speeds and access to exclusive content.

La Razón notes that the World Health Organization has declared an end to the H1N1 flu pandemic, which cost Spain nearly 100 million € in vaccines. The paper says that of the 13 million doses purchased by the Ministry for Health only 2 million were used.

Público notes that 43% of Spaniards think that fiscal fraud is justified.

El País reports that the Argentinean ex dictator, Jorge Videal, walked out of his court hearing yesterday, because of the presence in the chamber of Judge Baltasar Garzón. The judge had opened a case against the Argentinean in 1996 after the disappearance of 300 people of Spanish origin during his time as President of Argentina between 1976 and 1983.

El Mundo reports that the Government will defend the imposition of the Catalan language in the face of criticism from the United States. The paper says the Government will send a report to the State Department to answer its claims.

El Mundo says the Spanish Ambassador to India has said he thinks it is ‘obsene’ that Spaniards continue to arrive in the devastated zone.
El País has a photo from the area and says the embassy thinks that there are Spanish victims.
La Razón puts the number of Spanish fatalities at three.

Público notes that Colombia and Venezuela have reestablished diplomatic relations and shows Santos and Chávez together.

ABC has a photo of Rafa Muñoz who picked up gold in the 50 metres butterfly in the European Swimming Championships.

And finally,
El Mundo has a photo of Nick Clegg, pushing a pram in Olmedo. The paper describes him as the politician who power has not changed, and notes that he is spending his holiday in his mother in law’s house as he has done since his wedding.

ABC splits its front page into two photos, one of Tomas Gómez arriving at the party’s headquarters by Metro, and one of Trinidad Jiménez arriving by an official car. The paper considers the candidacy of Jiménez will force a cabinet reshuffle, and that there is talk of a super Ministry of Health, Employment, Social Affairs and Equality with Bibiana Aído in charge.
La Razón headlines however that Zapatero will make no cabinet reshuffle because of the ‘battle of Madrid’. The paper also has a photo of Trinidad Jiménez, and says that she has admitted that she starts from behind in the primary race on October 3.
El Mundo has a photo of Jiménez getting out of her car, and says she has started by saying that she is not Zapatero’s candidate. ‘The Prime Minister has not asked me for anything’, she said when announcing that she would be standing against Gómez in Madrid.
El País also has a photo of Jiménez who the paper says opened battle in Madrid backing the Socialist hierarchy. ‘I will be candidate for the activists, not the Prime Minister’, she said.
El Pais also has an interview with Tomás Gómez, who tells the paper that he does not rely on the support of Zapatero.
Público highlights the number 17,809 – the number of Socialist members in Madrid whose votes will decide the matter. The paper has two columns outlining the policies of each candidate.

El Mundo says that the air traffic controllers are perched to declare the ‘most damaging strike for everybody’. The paper says that nobody is moving an inch, and that three days have passed without a telephone being lifted.
Público says that AENA, the Spanish Airports Authority, forecasts that 100% of essential flights will be maintained in the case of a strike.

El País reports of concern in the Spanish Foreign Ministry at the avalanche of protests from Morocco. The 5th protest note in less than a month came against the allegedly racist attitude of the security forces on the Ceuta and Melilla borders.

El Mundo leads with the headline that Brussels is planning a new tax to finance the E.U. The paper says that the proposal will be presented in the month of September, and that in exchange the payments made by each member state will be reduced.

ABC notes it was a bad weekend on Spain’s roads during the ongoing conflict of the Guardia Civil not placing fines, but the DGT traffic authority has not linked the 26 deaths to the Guardia action.
La Razón notes that more than half the fatalities were not travelling in cars.

El Mundo notes that the Socialists on the Baleares and the ERC in Cataluña have both criticized the USA report on Catalan which was reported on here yesterday.

La Razón notes that the Madrid region is the only one in Spain where the state will pay back money for 2008. The paper notes that Andalucía and Cataluña are the regions to owe most to the state coffers.

ABC reports that the BBVA bank has corrected the Government and warned that the Spanish economy will not grow this year.

La Razón reports that 50 Spaniards are missing in the region of India destroyed by flooding.

El País reports that the Taliban have executed a pregnant woman. The 35 year old widow received 200 lashes and was shot three times for having ‘an illicit relationship’.

El Mundo has a photo of Mia Farrow on its front page, and says that Naomi Campbell told her that she had received ‘an enormous diamond’ from Charles Taylor. She got the gift after flirting with him, according to the top model’s agent.
El País considers that Mia Farrow has contradicted the statement made by Naomi Campbell.

Ferran Adría explains his plans for the future of the El Bulli restaurant in El País today.
Público reports that three Iberian Lynx have died and 22 are ill because of an error in the Doñana Nature Park.

And finally
El Mundo puts Tom Cruise’s adopted daughter on its masthead today. It says that she has abandoned the actor, fed up with his Scientology.

68 immigrants who were travelling in two small patera boats have been rescued off the coast of Motril.

The group, all from the Sub-Sahara, were attended to by the Red Cross on their arrival in Motril port. There were five women and a child among them.

The first of the boats was spotted at 3pm on Tuesday afternoon by a Finnish patrol vessel in waters close to the island of Alborán, and some minutes later the second boat was spotted just a mile away.

The immigrants are now in the hands of the National Police who will proceed with repatriation procedures.

Real Madrid Transfer News Ricardo Carvalho from Chelsea a two-year contract 8 million euros deal

Madrid – Real Madrid have signed veteran defender Ricardo Carvalho from Chelsea for 8 million euros (10.60 million dollars), according to media reports on Tuesday.

Carvalho, 32, has agreed to sign a two-year contract with Real.

Mourinho has been keen to sign another defender since learning on Monday that Pepe, who played alongside Carvalho for Portugal at the World Cup, will be out of action for at least three weeks because of a torn muscle in his left leg.

Carvalho is Real’s fifth signing of the summer – after youngsters Sergio Canales, Pedro Leon, Angel Di Maria and Sami Khedira – and brings their total summer spending to around 60 million euros.

This is the highest total in the Spanish league but does not come close to the 265 million euros that Real spent in the summer of 2009 on eight new players.

Jellyfish hit Spanish beaches about 700 people stung

Spain says a vast flotilla of jellyfish has stung hundreds of swimmers on Mediterranean beaches in recent days.

Juan Carlos Castellanos, an official in the town hall of Elche on the Costa Blanca, said 700 people were attacked over three days starting Sunday at three nearby beaches, where normally just a handful get stung daily. He said the beaches were free of the blobby creatures Wednesday, however.

Castellanos said this particular invasion involved a small, almost transparent species that most swimmers probably could not even detect as it floated in a large but dispersed group along three beaches.