Spain
Recent stories
Immigrant death toll surges
The Association for Human Rights in Andalucia has claimed that 289 would-be immigrants died in the sea between Spain and Morocco last year, up from 236 in 2003.
31 December 2004 (130 words)
Amnesty for illegals
The Spanish cabinet approved an amnesty providing residence and working papers for up to 800,000 illegal immigrants.
31 December 2004 (24 words)
Franco veteran joins war parade
The Socialist government made a controversial gesture by allowing the national day parade of 12 October to be led by veterans of both sides in the civil war.
15 December 2004 (66 words)
Racism in Spanish football exposed
Black English footballers abused
11 December 2004 (343 words)
Vexed question of local mosques
Since the Madrid bombing on 11 March, the existence and/or development of local mosques has become extremely contentious and the Islamic community has asked the state to regulate the country's mosques as it does the churches.
5 December 2004 (484 words)
Huelva: racist murderer sentenced to 32 years
The trial of four men and one minor for the murder in Huelva (Andalucia) of a Moroccan national and attempted murder of two others on 17 April 2003 has ended.
4 December 2004 (149 words)
Lessen penalties on undocumented workers call
An academic study for the Jaume Bofill Foundation has suggested that penalties for hiring undocumented workers should be lessened.
1 December 2004 (74 words)
Religious education still being debated
Whilst the Catholic Church campaigns to have Catholicism taught as any other school course, the Education Ministry has announced that the teaching of Islamic religion will extend to several cities in Spain (in addition to the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa).
30 November 2004 (84 words)
Fascist symbols to be banned
Almost thirty years since the death of Franco, parliament has decided that the remaining symbols from the fascist era should be removed - these include the fasces (adopted from the Romans as a symbol of authority) and streets named after Franco.
28 November 2004 (51 words)
Councils refuse to hand over data to police
The Foreigners Law demands that immigrants register themselves with their local councils and that this information be then handed on to the police.
27 November 2004 (329 words)
Violence against Chinese footwear businesses in Elche
On 16 September local anger against the competition of Chinese shoe businesses broke into violence in the Elche area of Alicante.
23 November 2004 (265 words)
Catholic church to fight Socialist reforms
The Roman Catholic Church has placed itself in the frontline of opposition to the government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero by calling for a December demonstration to protest at plans on gay marriages, divorce, abortion and the amending of religious education in schools.
29 October 2004 (91 words)
Aragon: anti-Moorish symbols to go
Authorities in Aragon have proposed that the severed heads of four Moors (harking back 500 years to the eviction of the Moors from Spain) should be removed from its heraldic shield.
21 October 2004 (52 words)
'Race-mixing' claim furore
The former president of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, has spoken of the dangers of miscegenation for the future of the region.
27 August 2004 (131 words)
Neo-Nazis beat up the homeless
Two soldiers, who are members of the Social Republican Movement, which puts on neo-Nazi gigs, have been arrested for beating up and stabbing a homeless man in Madrid in August.
26 August 2004 (78 words)
Popular Party slams funding of multi-faith education
The leader of the Popular Party (PP) has blasted a Justice Ministry proposal to finance state education in other religions besides Catholicism, arguing that public money should not be spent on teaching faiths 'which are not part of our culture'.
26 August 2004 (133 words)
Melilla's Berbers denounce apartheid
Melilla boasts its five cultures and peaceful integration of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Gypsies.
21 August 2004 (95 words)
Madrid victims granted residence
The Spanish government has given residence permits to nearly 700 immigrants who were either victims or related to victims of the Madrid bombs on 11 March.
13 August 2004 (73 words)
New Gypsy platform in Catalonia
Gypsy associations in Catalonia have decided for the first time to create a common front to defend their historic claims more vigorously and have regrouped around the new 'Democratic Platform of the Gypsy People of Catalonia'.
26 July 2004 (111 words)
Archbishop accuses government over Islamification
According to Spain's leading archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco, the government having decided to cancel compulsory religious classes (first introduced by Franco) and to find ways of financing other faiths, including Islam from public money, is taking Spain back to Moorish times.
8 July 2004 (184 words)
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