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	Top Stories Spain's tourist numbers up in July Spanish solar firm to put US base in Arizona Bullfighting ban a first for Spain

	Top Stories Spain, Portugal: More people learning Transcendental Meditation, Consciousness-Based Education projects underway Spain: Educators inspired by live demonstrations of EEG brain wave coherence during Transcendental Meditation Spain: Demand growing for Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture

	Top Stories Fighting bull cloned for 1st time in Spain Spain downgraded, Europe debt crisis widens Spain eyes 200 more troops in Afghanistan - Prime Minister
Positive Trends Short Summaries of Top Stories Spain's tourist numbers up in July 31 August 2010 - Spain's government says the nation's tourist arrivals rose by 4.5 per cent in July, the biggest year-on-year increase in more than two years. The tourism ministry says about 7 million tourists arrived last month, the third consecutive month of increase. Spain is consistently ranked among the world's top three tourist destinations. (more) Spanish solar firm to put US base in Arizona 11 August 2010 - A Spanish manufacturer of glass for commercial solar plants announced Wednesday that it will build a $50 million US headquarters in the Phoenix suburb of Surprise. Rioglass Solar said the 130,000-square-foot facility will employ more than 100 workers. An additional 130,000 square feet of manufacturing space is on the drawing board. The company makes curved glass sheets used in solar plant parabolic concentrators. (more) Bullfighting ban a first for Spain 28 July 2010 - The Catalan Parliament dealt the death blow to bullfighting in the region on Wednesday, outlawing the centuries-old spectacle for the first time on mainland Spain. In the debate, some lawmakers cited the declining popularity of bullfighting in Spain, where fewer people go each year to the arena to watch the event. Under the ban, which would come into effect in 2012, the last active bullring in Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, would shut down, as would the remaining few elsewhere in the region. Bullfighting was made illegal in Spain's Canary islands in 1991. (more) Spain jobless claims down sharply in June 2 July 2010 - Spain says the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell by nearly 84,000 in June as companies stepped up hiring for the summer tourism season. The 2 per cent drop marked the third straight monthly decline and made for the best month of June -- traditionally good for job-creation in Spain -- since 1997, the Labour Ministry said. (more) Spain optimism, stress tests boost euro assets 19 June 2010 - Europe's single currency headed for its strongest weekly gain in over a year on Friday as concerns about Spain's financial health eased and the bloc detailed plans to unveil stress test results for its banks. (more) Tesla takes centre stage at World Innovation Summit in Barcelona, Spain 15-17 June 10 June 2010 - Tesla Motors is debuting at the World Innovation Summit in Barcelona, and the electric vehicle company will be offering test drives for the media and prospective customers throughout the 15-17 June conference. 'It`s a huge honour to be part of the summit -- proof that the paradigm is shifting to energy efficiency even in the traditional automotive sector,' Cristiano Carlutti, Tesla`s Vice President for European Sales and Operations (more) Spain: SunPower to build 9.1-MW solar plant for Naturener 9 June 2010 - Solar panel maker SunPower Corp said it would build a 9.1-megawatt solar power plant in Spain for the Naturener Group. Construction of the plant at the 38-hectare site in Alange, Badajoz, will start this month and it will employ over 150 people locally. SunPower said its tracker systems on solar panels, which follows the sun, delivers up to 25 per cent more energy than fixed-tilt systems. (more) Spain's Ingeteam sets sights on US wind market 2 June 2010 - Spain's Ingeteam, a privately held renewable energy equipment and services company, is expecting to hit US sales of around $100 million by 2015 as wind power generation continues to gain in popularity, a top US executive said on Tuesday. Ingeteam is building its first US manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The US wind industry has grown nearly 40 per cent on average each of the past five years. (more) Spain: Abengoa 50 MW solar plant goes online 25 May 2010 - Spanish renewable energy firm Abengoa said on Monday a 50-megawatt solar plant it had built which is capable of supplying 27,500 homes had begun feeding power to the grid. Abengoa said in a statement the new plant would avoid the emission of 31,400 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which would be produced if the same amount of power was generated from fossil fuels. (more) Spain pulls out of recession in first quarter 7 May 2010 - Spain emerged from recession in the first quarter of the year thanks to improving global demand, breaking a run of seven straight quarters of contraction, according to a Bank of Spain estimate on Friday. Spain's battered stock market celebrated the news, rising 2 per cent at 1048 GMT after falling as much as 2 per cent before the data was revealed. (more)
Success of Maharishi's Programmes Short Summaries of Top Stories Spain, Portugal: More people learning Transcendental Meditation, Consciousness-Based Education projects underway 7 August 2010 - Spain and Portugal are moving closer to national invincibility, with more people learning the Transcendental Meditation Programme, including in schools. (more) Spain: Educators inspired by live demonstrations of EEG brain wave coherence during Transcendental Meditation 7 August 2010 - Dr Fred Travis, Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management in the United States, recently presented to educators in three Spanish cities on how the Transcendental Meditation Programme creates coherent brain functioning. Audiences in Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao were especially interested in live demonstrations showing EEG brain wave coherence during the technique. (more) Spain: Demand growing for Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture 16 December 2009 - Demand for products grown according to Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture is increasing in Spain and has already led to an increase in production. A new Spanish-language website on the topic has drawn over 1,000 visitors and many requests for information and products. (more) Natural health care expanding in Spain: Maharishi Ayur-Veda spas, courses, products 14 December 2009 - Prevention-oriented natural health programmes are expanding significantly in Spain, provided by Maharishi Ayur-Veda, the world's oldest and most comprehensive system of natural medicine. Hundreds of spas plan to offer Maharishi Ayur-Veda spa treatments; Maharishi Ayur-Veda products will soon be widely available; and short courses on health topics including diet have been translated and will be offered in the near future. (more) Spain: Website aids in expansion of Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture 29 September 2009 - The Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture project in southern Spain is expanding rapidly, with greater demand for products within the nation than ever before, due in part to increased availability of products over the Internet. (more) World experts in Consciousness-Based Education to tour Spain in 2010 28 September 2009 - In early February 2010, Dr Ashley Deans, Global Ambassador for Consciousness-Based Education, will give public conferences and meet with principals, teachers, and other education officials in Basque country in northern Spain. In March, Dr Fred Travis, director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management, USA, will speak in Madrid, Barcelona, and other major cities on the scientifically proven benefits of the Transcendental Meditation Programme in education and business. (more) Spain moves forward with Consciousness-Based Education initiatives 27 September 2009 - New developments in Consciousness-Based Education are underway in Spain, including implementation of the Transcendental Meditation Programme in higher education and upcoming conference tours by international experts in the field. (more) Spain: Health and beauty spas to adopt Maharishi Ayur-Veda natural health care widely 26 September 2009 - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's programmes for natural, prevention-oriented health care are drawing increasingly wide attention among spas and health product stores across Spain. (more) Spain and Portugal: New associations inaugurated for Maharishi's programmes 10 May 2009 - Building a Maharishi Peace Colony in Madrid is the first project of a new association for Maharishi Vedic Architecture in Spain. A new company was also recently established in Spain to distribute Maharishi Ayur-Veda Products; and in Portugal an organization was founded for all the activities of the Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more) Growing enlightened students and Vedic organic agriculture in Spain, Portugal, and Mozambique 22 February 2009 - Consciousness-Based Education and Vedic Organic Agriculture are thriving in Spain, Portugal, and Mozambique. Dr Ashley Deans continues his world tour for Consciousness-Based Education with an upcoming conference in Barcelona, Spain. (more)
Flops Short Summaries of Top Stories Fighting bull cloned for 1st time in Spain 19 May 2010 - Scientists in Spain say they have cloned a fighting bull for the first time. Vicente Torrent, a specialist in veterinary genetics, says the newborn calf, named Got, is an exact replica of a muscular, horned specimen of the type matadors face in bullrings. The animal was unveiled Wednesday, a day after being born. It now weighs 24 kilogrammes (53 pounds). Animal cloning began in 1996 with Dolly the sheep. Torrent said it took three years of work to devise a means of preserving what he called valuable bull genes. (more) Spain downgraded, Europe debt crisis widens 28 April 2010 - Europe's debt crisis mushroomed Wednesday as Spain saw its credit rating lowered, just as Germany sought to reassure nervous investors that Greece would not be allowed to go under, saying Berlin's share of a key aid package could be approved in the next few days. Stock and bond markets had begun to regain their composure after stinging downgrades of Greece and Portugal the day before, when Standard and Poors delivered more bad news by cutting Spain's rating to AA from AA plus amid concerns about the country's growth prospects following the collapse of a construction bubble. Spain is considered the key to whether Europe's debt crisis can be resolved -- its economy is much larger than that of Greece and Portugal and -- many in the markets postulate -- may be just too big to bail out if it gets into serious trouble. (more) Spain eyes 200 more troops in Afghanistan - Prime Minister 6 September 2009 - Spain plans to send 200 more soldiers to Afghanistan, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Saturday. That would bring Spanish troop levels up to about 1,000, not counting a contingent of 450 who went to Afghanistan to boost security for elections held on 20 August. (more) Basque separatists claim four deadly attacks in Spain 9 August 2009 - Basque separatist group ETA has claimed responsibility for four bombing attacks that left three people dead and 60 injured in Spain this summer. An ETA statement says the group planted two bombs that exploded in late July, killing two officers and wounding 60 people. ETA has killed more than 825 people since 1968 when it started a violent campaign for an independent Basque state. (more) Three small bombs explode in Mallorca, Spain 9 August 2009 - Three small bombs exploded on Sunday in places frequented by tourists in the capital of the island of Mallorca, Spanish government officials said. The explosions followed a phone warning made in the name of the Basque separatist group ETA, the website of the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported, citing the Mallorcan ambulance service as saying there had been no reports of injuries. ETA has carried out three larger bomb explosions in the last two months which, with Sunday's blasts, call into question the Spanish government's claim that a series of arrests has weakened the armed separatists. (more) Spain buys 6 million emissions rights from Hungary 14 November 2008 - Spain has bought rights from Hungary to emit 6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas through a government-level emissions trading scheme under the Kyoto Protocol, a Hungarian Government Official said on Thursday. 'We have sold 6 million (emissions rights) to the Spanish Government. According to our knowledge this is the biggest single sale (of its kind) in the world so far,' said Lajos Olah, State Secretary for Hungary's Ministry of Environment and Water. Spain plans to buy 159 million tonnes of carbon credits and offsets over the next four years in an effort to meet emissions reduction goals under Kyoto, a spokeswoman for Spain's Environment Ministry told Reuters. Critics have dubbed the credits 'hot air', saying they are not generated as a result of investment in clean energy and are a cheap way for countries to meet commitments under Kyoto. (more) Spain: Huge rise in unemployment 4 November 2008 - The number of people filing jobless claims in Spain rose 7.3 per cent last month alone and is now the highest since 1996, the Government reported Tuesday, providing the latest evidence of the devastating impact of the international financial crisis. Those claiming unemployment benefits increased by 192,658 in October to 2.8 million. Since October 2007 the number has risen a staggering 37.5 per cent, the Labour Ministry said. Spain's once-buoyant economy is on the verge of recession, due mainly to a collapse of a debt-fuelled boom in the real estate sector. This had been the main engine fuelling more than a decade of solid growth. (more) Spain: Corporate defaults soar 172 per cent as boom collapses 1 August 2008 - Spanish corporate debt defaults soared 172 per cent between April and June from a year earlier to hit a record high as dozens of building and property firms collapsed at the end of a decade-long housing boom, the government reported on Friday. Some 206 firms and individuals suspended debt payments during the second quarter amid a severe slowdown in what was previously one of Europe's hottest real estate markets, National Statistics Institute (INE) data showed. (more) Spanish smash windscreens in European fuel protests 9 June 2008 - Spanish truck drivers smashed windscreens and Portuguese truckers blocked roads on Monday as protests over rocketing global fuel prices spread across Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese drivers began an indefinite strike, and there were also protests across the border in France over the impact of high oil prices, now at record highs of over $139 per barrel. The worst hit are mostly small firms and self-employed drivers, while large hauliers have kept working. Demonstrations and strikes across Asia have already forced fast-growing countries such as India, Malaysia, and Indonesia to raise fuel subsidies to ease the pain of high prices. (more) Spain: Three bombs explode in Basque Country, ETA claim 1 May 2008 - Three small bombs exploded early on Thursday in Spain's Basque city of San Sebastian and a nearby town after a warning call claiming to be from Basque separatist rebels ETA, Spanish local officials said. The caller warned of the two bombs in San Sebastian but not of another device which exploded shortly afterwards in the town of Arrigorriaga, Guipuzcoa province. ETA has killed more than 800 people in four decades of armed struggle for independence for the Basque Country from Spain. (more)