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borrowing cojones...
The Spanish government's cost of borrowing has hit a new record amid renewed concerns over the state of its economy and public finances.
The interest rate Spain is being asked to pay by investors is now 2.23 percentage points higher than that being demanded of Germany.
This widening gap in the bond market marks a drop in confidence in Spain's ability to repay its debts.
The Spanish cabinet has also approved unpopular changes to labour rules.
"It is a necessary labour reform," said Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa de la Vega. "One of the most important reforms of the last 20 years."
The changes, which include a cut in the level of severence pay, have prompted a call for a general strike in September.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10331351.stm
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Meanwhile in Mexico....
Cowardly Mexican matador Christian Hernandez was arrested for breach of contract after fleeing the bullring in a fit of panic as he battled a bull in Mexico City.
The 22-year-old, who looked dashing in a pink and gold costume, froze after evading a charge from a half-tonne bull. Then, after a moments thought, he decided that he would be safer on the other side of the wall, so he dropped his cape and ran for it.
He later returned to the ring, albeit briefly, to a chorus of boos and whistles as the furious crowd made its displeasure with the youngster abundantly clear.
To add insult to injury he had to pay a fine before he could make good his escape, after the organisers oif the bullfight had him arrested for breach of contract.
But it seems there was some method in Hernandez's madness, as the youngster had been gored in the leg a month before his latest, and presumably last, appearance in the ring.
- By Gus Leonisky at 17 Jun 2010 - 6:40pm
- Gus Leonisky's blog
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The more debt, the more they hammer you...
There are also worries that spending will hamper its recovery from recession, with its unemployment rate of 20% - the highest in the eurozone - a significant concern.
The government has approved long-awaited labour market reforms, which it says will encourage firms to hire more people, easing the jobs crisis.
But the plans have met with demonstrations from unions, who fear the changes will hurt workers' rights.
The reforms still have to be ratified in a parliamentary vote later this month.
spanish revisionism...
Aznar's hearing before the Spanish deputies took an unexpected turn. While he had to express himself on the corruption cases affecting his political party, he spoke of the war in Iraq, denying the participation of Spain.
Former Spanish Prime Minister José Maria Aznar went to the Congress of Deputies, the lower house of parliament, on 18 September as part of a parliamentary commission to investigate the alleged irregular financing of the Popular Party (PP). In May this year, the Spanish judiciary issued a verdict of illicit financing of the Popular Party in a massive corruption which lasted seven years and investigation started in October 2016. Politically weakened, the former Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had then been forced to wipe a motion of censure from the parliament and resign.
Honorary President of the PP at the time when this corruption case broke out, José Maria Aznar was of a particular interest for the deputies. denying the existence of an hidden background, contradicting the conclusions of the Spanish justice, the former head of the Spanish government found himself crossing swords with the deputies on a different subject, the war in Iraq.
While the Socialist MP Rafael Simancas asked him to apologize for corruption, José Maria Aznar replied: "I do not have to apologize for anything." José Maria Aznar, ironically talked about the back-pedalling of the current Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez who, having canceled the delivery of 400 bombs to Saudi Arabia, retracted this decision.
An intervention that strongly displeased the Socialist MP who continued by accusing the former head of the Spanish government, Aznar, of having led an "illegal" and immoral "war in Iraq in 2003."
"In this war, Spain had no bombs, it's obvious, because Spain did not participate [in the war in Iraq]. Spain did not send any soldiers..." responded José Maria Aznar.
This was an assertion that contradicts the facts: Madrid had supported Washington's intervention in Iraq by sending more than a thousand soldiers there.
Read more
https://francais.rt.com/international/54032-jose-maria-aznar-nie-partici...
(Translation by Jules Letambour)
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