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

El Mundo headlines that Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, has admitted that his ‘ideology’ stopped him from forming a cross-party pact on exiting the recession. The paper says he presented his ‘profound differences’ with the PP over the economy as ‘the essence of plurality, and that he has admitted mistaking the seriousness of the recession ‘I was not very accurate’.
The paper highlights a comment from the PP leader Mariano Rajoy who said that he would not support ‘a suicide policy’.
El Mundo notes also that the Government has spent 73% more than it earned this year.
EL País headlines that Zapatero has warned of more unemployment in 2010, despite the country exiting recession. The paper describes 2009 as the most difficult year of his mandate and notes Government plans to reform the pensions and social security system.
ABC headlines that Zapatero has confessed he did not see the crisis coming, although he claims that economic recovery will be seen in Spain by the end of next year. The paper notes the PM described the creation of jobs as his ‘obsession’ next year. It notes the leader of the opposition Mariano Rajoy has claimed to have the support for a motion of censure against the ‘total incapacity’ of the Government.
La Razón notes Rajoy has called 2009 a wasted year.
La Razón leads with an opinion poll carried out for the paper by NC Report, and headlines that the public has rejected the management of the economy by the Government.
Público also has a large front page photo of Zapatero and highlights his ‘only obsession is the creation of employment’.

It’s not all been gloom in 2009 however. El País reports that the Spanish stock market has ended the year with a 30% rise.

El Mundo reports that the captors of the three Spanish aid workers taken in Mauritania are demanding seven million dollars for their release. The paper says there was a crisis cabinet meeting to discuss the matter on Tuesday night where foreign and defence chiefs were also present.
La Razón notes that the NGO where the three worked, Barcelona Acción Solidaria, has started a series of protests calling for their release.

El Mundo has a front page photo of a deserted Times Square in New York and says that an anti-terrorist psychosis has broken out in the city. It says there was a collective panic attack seen there yesterday because of a suspicious van.
EL País tells us that the US intelligence services had enough data to avoid the recent attack on a flight to Detroit, and notes too Dutch plans to whole body scan passengers.
La Razón says that two ex Guantanamo Bay prisoners have been linked to the Al Qaeda attack in Detroit.

El Mundo notes the PP is continuing to ask questions ain the Faisán case where ETA were allegedly given advance warning of a police raid.

El País reports that the digital book has won its first battle and best sellers are now selling more copies electronically than on paper, using the latest from Dan Brown on Amazon as an example.
The platform established in Spain by Planeta, Mondadori and Santillana will soon offer some 7,000 titles electronically.

There are no papers printed in Spain tomorrow, New Year’s Day. (Via Original Source)