The man who faced Tejero’s coup in February 1981
By J Garrigós
A STATE chapel of rest and funeral procession was held on Monday for Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, Spain’s second prime minister since the return of democracy, who died on Saturday at the age of 82.
Thousands visited the open-coffin chapel of rest at the Congreso de los Diputados main hall over the weekend. Among the visitors were the royal family, the PM, current cabinet ministers and former PMs. Adolfo Suárez was unable to attend due to his severe illness.
After a procession along the streets adjoining the parliament building, the coffin was taken to the former PM’s hometown of Ribadeo, Lugo, where the funeral took place.
It was the first funeral for a former PM since the end of Franco’s regime and the first time members of the Spanish military entered the Congreso de los Diputados since the failed coup d’état of February 1981.
Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo became prime minister in February 1981 after the resignation of his close friend and UCD party leader Adolfo Suárez.
He was unable to be invested PM on February 22, 1981, in the first vote, and as the second was taking place the following day, the PM-to-be faced the coup attempt led by Guardia Civil Colonel Antonio Tejero, who entered the parliament and fired several shots in the air – the bullet holes have remained untouched in the ceiling of the Congreso de los Diputados.
When the attempt failed, two days later Sr Calvo Sotelo won the second vote by overall majority and was invested PM.
During his short term in office, Spain joined NATO in May 1982.
In the October 28 general elections, the UCD led by Sr Calvo Sotelo was defeated by the PSOE party of Felipe González. Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo held onto his MP seat but left to become an MEP in Brussels in 1986.
The following year he retired from active politics but although he never actually became a member of the party, he publicly offered his support to the PP party led by José María Aznar.
Born in Ribadeo, he was granted the title of Marqués de Ribadeo in June 2002. He was married and had eight children.
Photos EFE
Massive back-logs in penal courts |
Thousands of sentences still pending
By Nuria Pérez
A REPORT issued by the Spanish Council of the Judicial Power (CGPJ) has revealed that the Spanish penal courts are suffering dramatic back-logs and the Valencia Region alone has 38,868 sentences pending to be executed by the enforcing courts.
Spanish penal courts judge crimes that raise social alarm, such as homicides, domestic violence, robberies and burglaries, rape and child abuse. The Valencia Region has been provided with three enforcing penal courts that have been established to speed up the judicial procedures.
A spokesman of the CGPJ admitted that some culprits are not being sent to jail and victims were not getting compensations due to the hold-up. He said: “The hold-up is affecting non-appealable sentences. Penal courts keep passing sentences as it is the enforcing penal courts that are responsible for executing the sentence.”
However, the enforcing courts are short-staffed and lack adequate software.
The CGPJ spokesman said more judges and specialised civil servants are needed urgently. He explained: “Every autonomous region has its own database and the computer systems are independent. A judge working in Valencia cannot check the database of a person who has been judged in another region or if that person has any pending sentences.”
Spokesman for the Spanish Association of Judges, Antonio García, said that the figures come as no surprise: “All courts have been suffering a dramatic hold-up for years.
“The delay of the Spanish justice is well known by all.
“We have been asking for resources and investment for nearly 30 years but politicians are more concerned with discussing how important other autonomous languages are or how to decentralise the justice.”
“Judges are working over the limit but we have 20-year-old equipment and we cannot do miracles. We need more qualified staff, a proper computer system and more resources – but that costs money.
“I ask politicians to stop making promises and to start investing.”
nperez@cbnews.es
Anti-bullfighting protesters jump into the arena |
News Staff Reporter
SIX MEN and women shocked the crowd at Las Ventas bullring on Sunday by jumping into the arena with anti-bullfighting banners demanding the practice be abolished.
Policemen did not intervene and it was up to the bullring staff and some of the bullfighters to get them out of the bullring.
Madrid is currently celebrating its Feria de San Isidro, which alongside Sevilla’s Feria de Abril and Valencia’s Fallas hosts the top bullfighting events on the calendar.
Eurovision victory fixed claims documentary |
News Staff Reporter
A DOCUMENTARY broadcast in the UK claims that the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest won by Spanish singer Massiel was a huge fix by General Franco.
According to the investigation the dictator ordered broadcast executives to help fix the vote, which managed to get Spanish La, La, La voted ahead of Cliff Richard’s hit Congratulations.
“When I came off the stage that night I thought to myself – I was robbed,” Sir Cliff Richard said this week.
By James Parkes
TENNIS players usually selected to play the Davis Cup representing Spain have threatened not to play the semi-final clash against the USA in September if the matches are held in Madrid.
The controversy follows a statement from the Spanish tennis federation (RFET) president Pedro Muñoz that suggests the semi-final will be held in the Spanish capital.
However, inspectors are currently touring the four candidate venues – Madrid, Benidorm, Tenerife and Gijón – and are not scheduled to announce their decision on the selected city until next week.
The words of Sr Muñoz have angered players, including Spain’s top man Rafael Nadal, who prefer to play at sea-level. They also resent the fact that the decision may have already been taken without taking them or captain Emilio Sánchez Vicario into consideration.
Players’ threats to strike could cause a serious problem for the RTEF or force it to pick another venue, in which case Benidorm’s chances would increase (see page 7).
jparkes@cbnews.es
Spain backs EU immigration law |
By James Parkes
MINISTER for the Interior Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba has promised Spain’s full support towards a strict illegal immigration law proposal presented by the EU for all member states.
The ministers said the proposed EU legislation will not reduce immigrants’ rights, but will be very strict on illegal immigration, especially regarding confinement and repatriation procedures.
“Some member states, including the UK, Holland and Sweden, currently have no regulation regarding the limits in the detention of illegal immigrants,” says Sr Rubalcaba who added: “If we are lax about illegal immigration, nothing will stop the avalanche.”
At the weekend, it was revealed that Spanish and French government officials are on the verge of signing a joint agreement on immigration control.
Foreign affairs minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos confirmed late last week that the final touches are being made to the agreement, which could be signed within days.
The text includes specific measures to fight illegal immigration and people trafficking and at the same time have more control over legal immigration and employment.
Immigration control policies will by one of President Sarkozy’s top priorities during France’s six-month term in the presidency of the EU from July, and PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has marked the same target for when Spain takes over the presidency in 2010.
jparkes@cbnews.es
By J Garrigós
SUPPORTERS of Real Madrid football club throughout Spain were celebrating until the early hours on Monday after their team retained the league title in a thrilling 1-2 victory over Osasuna in Pamplona on Sunday.
At around 03.00 on Monday morning and according to Real’s celebrating traditions, thousands of fans cheered the champions as they arrived at Cibeles in an open-top double-decker bus and saw captain Raúl place the Real Madrid scarf and flag on the statue of the goddess for the second consecutive year.
Read the full report on the match and Wednesday’s Real Madrid-Barcelona derby on page 59.
news@cbnews.es
Price of basic food products soars |
News Staff Reporter
A SUPERMARKET price check this week has shown that the cost of basic food products has risen 40 per cent over the last year.
A comparison of prices with the same period in 2007 has revealed that sunflower oil, which cost 1.07 euros a litre in 2007, now costs 1.80 euros, a rise of 40.65%.
Added to this the cost of sterilised milk has shot up by 23.57% from 0.92 euros a litre in 2007 to 1.20 euros in 2008. Cereal-based products have also risen, eg bread that cost 0.43 euros in 2007, now costs 0.60 euros – a rise of 28.37%.
More than 50% of retailers claim that sales over this quarter have dropped in comparison with the same period last year and consumer associations are warning that the continuing rises, jobs losses and low wages are hitting many families very hard.
JOB LOSSES
Alicante Province has seen a loss of 21,000 jobs in the past year due to the growing economic crisis.
Figures released this week show that unemployment figures rose by 69 per cent in the construction industry and by 58% among migrant workers.
By the end of April the official number of those out of work in the province was put at 106,887, with 16,233 people coming from the construction industry.
Economy minister Pedro Solbes said this week that unemployment rates had risen faster than was predicted.
RAILWAY users are up in arms after Renfe announced immediate increases of up to 20 per cent on its AVE and long-distance line tariffs. The Madrid-Barcelona AVE fare has increase by four per cent (124.30 euros, 223,80 in first class) while the Madrid-Zaragoza fare has been increased by 8.5 euros to 51.20. AVE tickets between Madrid and Málaga have increased by 3.10 euros to 78.60 (141.40 first class).
PNV councillors at Mondragón town hall have demanded the release of mayoress Inocencia Galparsoro, imprisoned last week for collaborating with ETA. Meanwhile, Rosa Díez, former MEP for the PSOE and now leader of the UPyD party, has demanded the government orders the dissolution of 33 town hall councils in the Basque region, which are currently ruled by the banned ANV party, of which Sra Galparsoro was an active member.
PP SECRETARY general Ángel Acebes has announced he will not be standing in for re-election at the party’s general congress to be held in Valencia next month.
SIXTY-SIX families were called in by their creditors because they were unable to meet the payment of the first quarter of this year. The figure represents a 230% rise of last year’s figure.
THE FATHER of Mari Luz Cortés has gathered 220,000 signatures on his petition for an official list of paedophiles to be published and to bring back the life sentence for such crimes. Juan José Cortés began a tour of Spain last week to collect the signatures and will be visiting 32 cities over the next month.
THE 27-YEAR-OLD driver who allegedly caused the fatal April 19 coach accident on the A7 motorway, has been ordered to jail without bail pending trial. The judge, who took the man’s statement last week after he was released from hospital, justified her decision based on the severity of the charges he faces, namely nine counts of negligent manslaughter, 41 counts of negligence resulting in injury, reckless driving, and driving under the influence of alcohol – he was tested at double the legal limit for alcohol following the accident. (Photo EFE)
A CYCLIST was reported by Barcelona local police for riding his bicycle with an alcohol level five times above the maximum allowed.
TWO ‘CAYUCO’ boats arrived at the shores of the Canary Islands on Sunday carrying 134 illegal immigrants.
INTERVIÚ magazine has published a highly controversial report featuring semi-nude photographs of the niece of archbishop Rouco Varela, head of the Spanish Catholic Church, in which she denounces her uncle’s and the church’s hypocrisy.
PRIVATE TV companies have signed a joint petition to demand the government gradually reduces and finally forbids advertisements of public TV channels, following the policy of state radio company RNE.
THE PORTUGUESE petrol station owners’ association has demanded the creation of a joint Iberian fuel market to avoid price difference between Spain and Portugal, which are sometimes above 20%.
