One issue high on every expats priority list when moving to live in Spain, when they have children, is the quality of the education that they will receive so the news that a new scheme will allow overseas schools to be accredited by the British Government for the first time will surely be pleaseing to note.

The European Union, currently headed by Spain, has activated its Emergency crisis management system on account of the earthquake that shook Haiti on Tuesday, as told by French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Pierre Lellouche, in an informal meeting of European affairs ministers.

In April 2010 Spain will start to close down the remainder of the Analogue Television frequencies, as their version of Freeview becomes the standard throughout the land. Along with the UK and the rest of the EU, it’s the start of a five-year plan to clean up the airwaves to make more use of wavebands for mobile and internet communication. The move to ‘Freeview’ in Spain will not concern most expats as many only watch UK Television although there are many Dual Language channels and movies in English broadcast on Freeview too!

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the UK police’s use of stop and search powers granted under terrorism legislation is illegal.

The case was brought by two people who were stopped and searched under the Terrorism Act of 2000 while on their way to an arms fair.

The law grants police the power to search anyone regardless of suspicion. A senior police officer can grant the power for a defined area; this must then be confirmed by the secretary of state within 48 hours.

Portugal’s parliament has passed a law to legalise same-sex marriage, but rejected proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt.

The bill was approved with the support of the governing Socialist Party and other parties further to the left.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates opened the debate with an appeal to back the law, saying it would put right an injustice that had caused unnecessary pain.

The law has been fiercely opposed by conservatives in the Catholic country.

The RRP of a pint of Guinness will rise by 10p to £3.03 on 1 February, producer Diageo has announced.

In further grim tidings for drinkers, brewer AB InBev – which counts Beck’s, Budweiser, Staropramen and Stella Artois on its roster of brews – “will increase the wholesale price of all its drinks products by an average of 4p a pint” on the same date.

Spanish police have detained a man for collaborating with the separatist organization ETA, according to media reports released on Friday. The police detained Pedro Maria Olano Zabala, who was sentenced to two years imprisonment, for collaborating with the ETA.

Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, or the ETA, is considered as a terrorist group by both the United States and the European Union. In the online edition of El Mundo, it was reported that this is the first detention of its kind this year.

What a difference five little kilometres can make and in the case of the Casino Mediterráneo in Torrevieja it could possibly mean closure and a loss of jobs because it seems that it was built within 60-kilometers of another gaming site!

Although they are still open for business the Tribunal Supremo (TS -The Supreme Court) has endorsed a ruling set down by the Tribunal Superior de Justicia de la Comunidad Valenciana (TSJCV – High Court of Valencia) that annuls the decision that allowed the Casino to open in 2003!

The Spanish Monarch is having a quiet day with his family

King Juan Carlos is celebrating his 72nd birthday quietly with his family on the Zarzuela Palace today.

While the other Three Kings are making their preparations to process through the streets of Spain this evening, ahead of bringing the Christmas gifts for the Children tomorrow, Juan Carlos is taking the day off and has no official events planned.

The latest from ETA, Cuba and Mr Bean on the front pages in Spain today

El País leads with Obama activating the anti-terrorist alert after the offensive being seen from Al Qaeda. The paper says that the threat from Yemen has changed the President’s agenda, while Europe continues to debate the use of full-body scanners at airports.
ABC says that José Blanco, the Development Minister, has ruled out their use in Spain without agreement in the EU, but notes too that the Government has not ruled out talking about the matter with the US at a meeting planned in Washington on Jan 13.
La Razón notes that the citizens from 14 countries now have to be body searched before they can fly to the United States.

More opinion polls to welcome the New Year

El País headlines that Zapatero is calling on a group of three ‘wise men’ to help with the six month presidency of the EU. The paper says he is looking for ideas for a economic government of the EU, and has called on Delors, González and Solbes.
ABC headlines today that Zapatero has doubled military spending abroad during his mandate. The paper notes that Zapatero has put the breaks on Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the Spanish Foreign Minister, and his attempts to soften the EU stance with Cuba.
La Razón headlines that unemployment has produced an extra cost of 21 billion to meet dole payments. The paper says the monthly cost has risen from 1.3 billion in August 2007 to 2.66 billion paid in October last year.

One of the biggest drug busts of the year happened today when police announced finding over 100 kilos of cocaine hidden inside bananas on display in Lidl’s supermarkets across Madrid.

“Something went wrong”

Police surrounded Lidl supermarkets across Madrid and sniffer dogs examined the fruit section of every one of the discount supermarkets after a Lidl store worker found packages of cocaine inside the bananas he was putting on display.

It remains operational, despite both the US and the UK deciding to close their embassies in Sanaa

Spain on Sunday decided to restrict access to its embassy in Yemen in response to threats from Al Qaeda, and it’s understood from El Mundo newspaper that the building is to be closed to the public over Monday and Tuesday. It came after both the US and UK Embassies decided to close earlier in the day. The US Embassy in Sanaa was the first to make the move, announcing on its website, that their offices were closed, ‘in response to ongoing threats by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to attack American interests in Yemen’.

Negligence is being put forward as the most likely cause

A forest fire which broke out in Aigües, inland to the north east of El Campello, on Friday afternoon was officially out 24 hours later after destroying an estimated 20 hectares of land. The work to tackle the blaze was hampered by the high winds affecting the area, but it was brought under control by 9 on Saturday morning after three fire-fighting brigades spent the night at the scene attempting to prevent the flames spreading any further.

Police have recovered 25 kilos of the drug

Some 2 million € worth of heroin have been recovered by National Police in Madrid after the packages were delivered by error to the Spanish capital’s central wholesale market, Mercamadrid, amongst the cargo of bananas which the drugs gang had used to smuggle them into the country.

There is no common theme on the Sunday front pages today

El País leads with an advance of the considerations in the Constitutional Court over the new Catalan Statute. The paper headlines that the ruling will name Spain as the only nation, and says that the judges are trying to reach an agreement to avoid changing the pre-amble to the document where Cataluña is referred to as a nation.

The Spanish papers catch up today, having not gone to press on New Year’s Day

January

Spain officially enters recession after a fall in the GDP for two consecutive quarters

January was the month when Barajas Airport was closed by bad weather for the first time in its history, when heavy snowfall on the 9th of the month brought traffic chaos and long delays to the Spanish capital. The airport was closed for more than 5 hours by the snow falling in central and north eastern Spain, with hundreds of passengers having to spend the night in Barajas and thousands affected by the long delays. The Civil Guard had to be brought in to persuade passengers on three grounded aircraft to disembark when they refused to leave the planes.

The Prime Minister’s look back on 2009 leads most of the papers in Spain today

Jaume Matas is to be questioned as a suspect by the instructing judge in March

The former Partido Popular President of the Baleares government, Jaume Matas, is due to appear in court on 23rd March next year as a suspect in the ongoing investigation into construction of the Palma Arena Velodrome on Mallorca, and it’s now been revealed what charges he will face when he is questioned by the judge. El Mundo gives the list this Wednesday of his nine alleged crimes: perversion of the course of justice, embezzlement, misappropriation, falsifying documents, influence peddling, money laundering, bribery, and fiscal and electoral crimes.