Catalan separatists force a general election in Spain as the trial of their former leaders begins in Madrid

In a week when a survey found that 73 per cent of the people of Murcia were suffering from Valentine’s Day-related stress the headlines in regional and national press have been dominated by the start of the trial of the Catalan separatist leaders during the tumultuous autumn of 2017 and the rejection by parliament of the government’s proposed budget, which has led to an early general election being called on 28^th April.

The two issues are closely related, as it was the withdrawal of support for the government by Catalan separatist MPs which led to the budget being voted out. They had implied that they would be prepared to vote in favour of the budget if concessions were granted in respect of the holding of an independence referendum in Catalunya, but once it was apparent that no ground would be given by the PSOE government on this point their opposition was steadfast. This situation has been inevitable ever since the PSOE leader ousted the PP and Mariano Rajoy, forming a government with the support of the Catalan separatists, who were expecting concessions for their cause in return, a possibility which immediately caused widespread dissent within the ranks of the PSOE and lead to the inevitability of the current situation.

From that point on speculation in the media was over when, not if, an election would be held, and by opting for the end of April Pedro Sánchez has avoided a “Super Sunday” on 26^th May, when local and European elections are to be held in Spain. What it means, though, is that for the next three months the Spanish public will be subjected to almost incessant campaigning and pre-campaigning, at the end of which it will be fascinating to see how the political panorama of the country changes: in the last five years or so there have been drastic shifts in voting patterns, with the emergence first of new left-wing and centrist parties (Podemos and Ciudadanos) and, most recently, the radical right-wing group Vox.

This makes it difficult to imagine that any one group will be able to form a majority in the national parliament - even at regional and local levels the task will be a tough one - and as Pedro Sánchez’s short-lived government has illustrated (he took office last June), governing with only 85 of the 350 members of Congress is a very tall order indeed.

In the first half of the week, it seemed that the start of the trial of separatist leaders at the Supreme Court in Madrid might steal the headlines from the budget vote, as supporters of the 12 accused and their policies staged roadblocks and protests in Catalunya. One of their grievances is that it has taken as long as 15 months for the trial to get under way after the tumultuous events in Catalunya which culminated in a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain in the regional parliament on 27^th October 2017, converting the defendants into “political prisoners” in the eyes of some.

It should be remembered that the accused in the trial which started on Tuesday are those who opted not to flee Spain after 27^th October 2017, preferring to stay and “face the music”. Among them are Oriol Junqueras, the former vice-president of Catalunya, and Carme Forcadell, who was Speaker in the regional parliament when the declaration of independence was made, but former president Carles Puigdemont is still in “exile” in Berlin.

The initial sessions of the trial took place with both the prosecution and the defence stressing the importance of ensuring that the issues addressed are penal and legal rather than political, but the events of this week could hardly illustrate any more graphically that it in this case it is almost impossible to separate politics from the law!

It's been interesting to observe news coverage of the situation in the UK, where national tv channels have chosen to portray the Catalans as victims of Spanish oppression who have been denied the right to vote in an independence referendum, rather than explaining to UK viewers that the Spanish Constitution which was drawn up after the period following the Spanish Civil War and Dictatorship, was created to hold Spain together as a single country and enable it to move forward as a democracy, so the holding of an independence referendum without the consent of the national government is illegal, as Puigdemont and his supporters knew full well when they decided to defy the law. The UK TV also neglects to inform viewers that Spain's system of government does give a large degree of autonomy already to each of the 17 regions which make up Spain, all of which have their own elected parliaments, leaders and legislative powers.

 

Corvera and San Javier airports

It is now a month since the opening of the Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera on 15th January, when existing flights were transferred from the airport of Murcia-San Javier on the shore of the Mar Menor, and despite efforts to boost passenger numbers at the new facility the first data published by airport management company Aena since the changeover suggest that this may not be an easy task.

During January, the number of people passing through the terminals at San Javier and Corvera  represented a decrease of 8 per cent in comparison to the first month of 2018 at San Javier, the first year-on-year fall in passenger numbers since September 2016, and comes despite the number of flights this January having risen from 374 to 428.

Those living in parts of south-west Murcia have now been added to the bus service routes and this week it was announced that a coach service will operate during the summer connecting the terminal building with Mazarrón, Lorca and Águilas. Timetables will be adapted to the take-off and landing times at Corvera, but Patricio Valverde was unable to confirm whether the route will include a stop at the residential development of Camposol, where a large number of the British and northern European population of Mazarrón live and many more fly out to spend their holidays.

Meanwhile, at San Javier the problem of what to do with an unused airport terminal building appears to have been solved. After months of negotiations the Fundación Infante de Orleans has confirmed that it will transfer its collection of classic aircraft to San Javier to create an aviation museum: with over 40 vintage planes this is described as the third most important collection of its kind in Europe, and the hope is that the regular air displays which until now have been held at the Cuatro Vientos aerodrome in Madrid will now take place on the shore of the Mar Menor!

 

Agriculture and the environment

Águilas Town Hall removes single-use plastic cups from public buildings and replaces them with biodegradable alternatives: a small but important step to combat plastic pollution in the seas and oceans.

Ecofinca Torrecillas aims to plant 1,000 trees in the Sierra de Carrascoy by Easter: British and Dutch people are among those joining in the re-forestation scheme in the Regional Park of El Valle-Carrascoy!

Brown bins for compostable waste to be introduced in the city of Murcia: the fifth container will be used to collect food for a protein-producing black soldier fly larvae farm.

Drone boats to patrol and monitor marine reserves and fish farms in Murcia: the equipment has been designed and built by a team at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena and will be put to use in the marine reserves of Cabo Tiñoso and Cabo de Palos - Islas Hormigas.

Murcia ecologists oppose EU proposal to defer closure of aquifer wells: the 2027 deadline to close over-exploited wells could be extended, affecting 40 of the 63 aquifers in the Segura basin.

Tuna and swordfish prices soar in Cartagena: the sale of two longline fishing vessels has resulted in fewer tuna being brought ashore and demand exceeding supply.

Furtive fishermen reeled in by Guardia Civil in La Azohía and Portmán: two men were caught red-handed with octopus and grouper in La Azohía and another two have been detained in Portmán.

Wild boar made fair game for hunters in Murcia in response to swine fever threat: the risks associated with swine fever are so serious that the armed forces could be called in!

Loggerhead sea turtle released into the Mediterranean in Bolnuevo: the second rescue this year for the same lucky turtle after earlier treatment in Valencia!

Murcia irrigation farmers threatened by new EU recycled water regulations: the Region of Murcia is a pioneer in maximizing recycled water usage in agriculture.

Don Simón launch fully recyclable fruit juice cartons: the Jumilla-based firm plans to extend the new containers to its whole range of drinks and soups, and is working on a new recyclable cap for the cartons.

Over a million plantlets a day are planted by one machine in the Campo de Cartagena: the equipment is being used in the fields of Balsapintada in Fuente Álamo.

 

Other stories in the Murcia news

20 potentially dangerous dogs with nowhere to go at Murcia animal shelter: overcrowding at the Murcia zoonosis centre due to the new “zero sacrifice” law which bans putting rescued animals down without veterinary justification.

Four arrested after 9 burglaries at rural properties in Mula: Spanish and Colombian youths have been detained by the Guardia Civil.

One walker dies in Abarán while another is rescued near El Portús: emergency services staff were kept busy on Sunday in the Region of Murcia.

30 graves found in the excavation of the Moorish San Esteban site in Murcia: an entire residential quarter of the 12^th century city of Mursiya is being investigated.

Flu cases dropped by 26 per cent in Murcia last week: 7 more fatalities related to the virus bring the death toll this winter to 40 but the epidemic seems to be on the wane.

Beware fake deaf-dumb con artists on the streets of Spain: a Rumanian woman faking dumbness stole a 1,700-euro bracelet from a man in Murcia.

Murcia government withholds licences for gambling salons: 330 gaming salons are already open in the Region of Murcia but concern is growing over addiction among young people.

Doctors and hospitals in Spain banned from calling patients in by name: confidentiality rules also mean that hospital staff may not inform visiting relatives of patients’ room numbers.

Woman robbed of 20,000 euros outside Molina de Segura bank: the victim was distracted while the thieves snatched the cash and made off, having previously punctured one of her tyres so that she couldn’t give chase, leading to suspicion that they knew she was collecting a large sum of cash from the bank.

More problems for the Calatrava bridge in Murcia. This time it's problem pigeons: anti-pigeon netting to be installed to protect residents (and cars, and street furniture…) in the district of Vistabella.

Marijuana plantation found in squatter property in Totana: neighbours reported the characteristic scent of cannabis in a nearby playground.

Cartagena hospital car parking fees slashed: the daily rate has been cut from 13.85 euros to just 2.12 euros at the Santa Lucía hospital just outside the city.

County cricket warm-up matches at La Manga Club in March: Hampshire, Northants, Glamorgan and Gloucestershire begin their 2019 seasons in the Costa Cálida!

 

Murcia and Spanish property news

The main statistical bulletin published this week was the government’s central statistics unit’s report for December 2018, which confirmed that during last year the number of sales and purchases rose in the Region of Murcia far more sharply than in any of the other 16 regions.

The national figure increased by 10.1 per cent in comparison with 2017 to just over 515,000, topping the half million mark for the first time for 10 years, and the breakdown offers confirmation that the level of activity in the real estate market might be reaching a ceiling in areas where the recovery in the market began soonest fallowing the crash which began in late 2007. For example, the Balearics was the only region where there were fewer sales last year (down by 2.9 per cent), while both Madrid and Catalunya were also near the foot of the table with increases of only 4 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively.

However, in the Costa Cálida the annual total climbed to 16,387 after an increase of 24.3 per cent, reaching a level of activity last seen in 2010 and registering the 19th consecutive monthly increase in December. To put that annual growth rate into perspective, the next most significant increases were those reported in La Rioja (18.9 per cent) and Castilla-La Mancha (18.1 per cent), and the figure is now 76 per cent higher than four and a half years ago!

 

Spanish news round-up: controversial ban on diesel vehicles passed in the Balearics

Of course the press has this week been dominated by the trial of the Catalan separatist leaders in Madrid and the events which led to a general election being called, but there has been room for other stories of interest to filter through onto the front pages.

One of these was the passing of controversial legislation in the Balearics by which the registration of new diesel-powered vehicles will be banned in 2025, and petrol engines will be banned ten years later with the intention of achieving a situation where all motor vehicles in the islands are powered by electricity. This seems at first to be a far-reaching and, in Spain at least, pioneering piece of legislation, but it has come in for a good deal of criticism.

On Monday, the day before the vote in the Balearic parliament, the monopolies commission expressed doubts over its feasibility, and the car motor vehicle manufacturers’ association Anfac has questioned the legislation in a report to the European Commission, describing it as “arbitrary, disproportionate and lacking in any technical or scientific justification”.

On a practical level, there are two perceived problems with the way in which the law is designed. The first is that it will encourage drivers in the islands to continue using older cars, which are more harmful to the atmosphere (this is already being reflected in the figures for new car registrations, according to some analysts), while the second is that the immediate consequence will be an increase in the sales of petrol-powered vehicles in the Balearics, and these actually produce more of some pollutants than their diesel counterparts.

Animal rights have also been in the news, with the Guardia Civil reporting that last year 16,625 instances of maltreatment of animals were processed, almost 11,000 of them related to pets, another 4,000 to dangerous animal species and 1,731 to potentially dangerous breeds of dog. These figures more or less match those of previous years, and while it is saddening to learn that there are still so many cases of maltreatment of animals in Spain, on the other hand, the very fact that offences such as these are being reported, investigated and punished is encouraging.

On a related note, there have recently been protests against cruelty to greyhounds all over Spain to coincide with the end of the hunting season: activists claim that over 50,000 greyhounds are abandoned or killed every year, while hunters retort that this is a gross exaggeration.

There have also been a couple of eye-catchingly bizarre stories which attracted a lot of attention. One of these concerned an intriguing Rumanian contortionist and astrologer who lived as a hermit but found time to commit 20 robberies in bars in Catalunya before the Mossos d’Esquadra (the regional police force) caught up with him – apart from all his other unusual character traits he was also apparently strongly committed to helping children in need, and donated a significant proportion of the 100,000-euro loot to charities.

And if that’s not unusual enough for you, it has come to light that a convict who was wrongly pronounced dead a year ago at the Villabona prison in Asturias is to sue prison authorities for 50,000 euros in compensation for the alleged mental and physical harm he suffered. Much of this harm occurred during the three hours he spent in a body-bag in a morgue before stunning medical staff by starting to snore and opening his eyes!

For more on these and other stories in the Spanish news this week, scroll down the feed box below:

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