A report by the European International Airports Council shows that Madrid-Barajas suffered the biggest fall in passenger numbers among airports of a comparable size (over 25 million visits a year) during August, a drop of 11.7% compared with the same month last year.
PP may not be popular but they would apparently still win an election
A new opinion poll carried out by Metroscopia for the newspaper El Pais suggests that although the approval rating of the ruling Partido Popular (PP) is at an all-time low, they would still win an election if it were held now.
Compensation for fishermen in Cádiz province
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment has approved a compensation package woth €900,000 for fishermen affected by the dispute over fishing rights around Gibraltar.
Budget doesn’t add up
The projected outstanding public debt figure for 2014 will not now be 99.8% as announced earlier this week in the draft budget, but will be 98.9% after the discovery of a €10 billion ‘error’.
Public sector wage freeze to continue
The Finance Ministry has confirmed that public sector wages will be frozen again in 2014, the fourth consecutive year that this has happened.
Electricity price to rise again in October
The former TUR (Tariff of Last Resort), now renamed the Voluntary Price for Small Consumers (PVPC), looks set to rise by 3.1% as from October 1st 2013.
EU inspectors arrive in Spain
A delegation of EU inspectors will arrive in Gibraltar today to discuss whether border controls between Spain and Gibraltar conform to EU regulations and legislation, although the actual inspection will not be carried out until Wednesday.
IU say King Juan Carlos is missing an opportunity to set an example
The general coordination of the United Left (IU), Cayo Lara, has said that King Juan Carlos, or his advisers, have missed an historic opportunity to set an example and show support for the Health Service by not scheduling his latest operation for a public hospital.
The Transparency Law approved by Congress
Congress has approved one of the PP government’s star pieces of legislation, the Transparency Law, which is aimed at shedding more light on to the notoriously murky workings at all levels of Spanish government. The legislation was supported by the PP, Catalan nationalist bloc CiU, the Basque nationalist PNV and the Canarian Coalition (CC) but not by the Socialist PSOE.
Things are not getting any better
Spain’s public debt in the first half of the year has already exceeded the government’s target for the full year as the country struggles to make an impact on the public deficit amid prolonged recession.