Economic concerns dominate many of the papers in Spain again

El Mundo headlines that the Government is heading out on a ‘road show’ to calm the markets which have been attacking Spain over the past week.
Minister for Tax and the Economy, Elena Salgado and the Secretary of State for the Economy, José Manuel Campa, are to meet in London and Paris with investors and analysts. The paper says the comment in the Moncloa in Madrid is ‘If we move ahead with the plan for pensions, the austerity plan and the reorganisation of the savings banks, we will be in another dimension’.
El Mundo has an interview with the Minister for Employment, Celestino Corbacho, who tells the paper that with demonstrations or without them, they will not be withdrawing the plans to reform pensions.
El País headlines that the cut in pensions has provoked serious debate in the government. The paper says Manuel Chaves blocked the idea of extending the number of years worked used in the calculations, and also notes that that the Ministry for the Economy is going to the City of London to explain the planned reforms.
ABC says that the maturing of the Spanish short term debt has made the situation worse, with 70% of the loans taken out last year having to be cleared this. The paper says the markets see more risk in Spain than in Mexico or Poland.
Público has its own ‘Publiscopio’ poll which shows 50% support for a General Strike if the retirement age is moved to 67 as the Government wishes. The poll shows that 74% of the citizens reject the 67 retirement age, while seven out of ten admit that the pension system has to be reformed to guarantee its future. Nearly half of those questioned are in favour of prohibiting early retirement.
Público also reports that the PP controlled regions are doing worse than the average regarding unemployment rates.

El Mundo has a front page photo of Mariano Rajoy at a party rally at Atarfe in Granada yesterday saying that the party is already ready to govern.
The paper has more from its Sigma Dos opinion poll which says that 82% are against the Government’s economic policy, but only 37% think it would get any better under the Partido Popular.
ABC has its own survey from DYM which shows that only a third of the Spanish want Zapatero to stand again at the next election. The paper says it is the youth who are most against him standing again, and that the Prime Minister has lost nearly half his valuation in the six years he has been in power. The rejection is in the majority in Andalucía, Extremadura and Cataluña.

El Mundo claims today that Gerardo Díaz Ferrán, the Chairman of the CEOE Employers Organisation, took 238 million € from the accounts of his company Marsans without justification. The paper says it was done as part of the refinancing of the company’s debt last December.

El Mundo says that the Prime Minister will not be attending the congress of terrorist victims. The paper says he has been invited three times, but has not replied to any of the letters.
ABC has a photo of the President of the Foundation of Terrorism Victims, Maite Pagazaurtundua, who remembered the death of her brother at an event in Andoain in the Basque Country yesterday. Friends and family of Joseba attended the event and said that ETA is in the decadency.
The paper notes that the Ministry of the Interior is stepping up terrorist controls, fearing an ETA kidnapping. A new wave of extortion letters have arrived amongst Basque businesses.

El País reports on the 149 deaths from cancer among the workers and neighbours of the Uralita company at Cerdanyola, Barcelona. The company prepared radioactive material.

In international stories, El Mundo says that Yanukovich looks like the winner in the elections in Ukraine with a margin of 3-6%. El País confirms the opinion in the exit polls.

El País has a photo of the Iranian President, Mahmud Ahmadineyad at a laser technology exhibition in Tehran. The paper says Iran is exasperating the United States and Europe with its new challenges in its nuclear plans.

And finally
El País tells us that the President of Telefónica, César Alierta, has opened the door to, in the near future, charging Google and other search engines for their use of the internet. The paper says that the large telecom companies consider that Google has reached its dominant position in Internet Advertising without having to meet any costs.

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