Trapped visitors to Montserrat drama

Around 1,500 people visiting the Montserrat monastery had to be evacuated by cable car on Sunday after a landslide in the Els Degotalls zone blocked road and rail access to the emblematic Catalonian tourist attraction.

Around nine rocks each with a surface area superior to fifteen cubic metres fell from a height of around 100 metres close to the car park although no vehicles were damaged. A small group of visitors preferred to stay put until the road was opened so that they could leave by car.

This is not the first incident of its type on the mountain this year – two workers lost their lives clearing a landslide on the B-1121 access road last month.

$3 billion shareout in Spain’s Gordo lottery

Economic woes eased for thousands in Spain on Monday as the Christmas lottery — billed among the world’s richest — dished out some €2.32 billion ($3.23 billion) in prizes.

The top prize of the lottery dubbed “El Gordo” (The Fat One) went to holders of tickets bearing the number 32365 — which appears on 1,950 tickets, each winning €300,000 ($418,000). Thousands of others cashed in on runner-up prizes.

The top number was sung out at just after noon Monday by pupils of Madrid’s Saint Ildefonso School in a nationally televised draw held each Dec. 22.

Rather than a single jackpot, the lottery aims for a share-out in which thousands of numbers yield at least some kind of return.

The draw brought scenes of jubilation across Spain.

In the central town of Soria, Ricardo Jimenez’s bar sold all 1,950 of the third prize tickets, spreading some 97 million euros ($135 million) among customers, family and friends.

Television images showed him being showered with sparking wine by celebrating clients.

“I’m still shaking,” said Jimenez, who bought 15 tickets worth €750,000 ($1 million) for himself. “But I’ll keep on working. I’ll share this with my three children.”

Since it began in 1812, the Christmas lottery has become a favorite holiday tradition. This year, it sold an estimated €2.8 billion euros ($3.90 billion) nationwide — nearly 3 percent down on last year.

The lottery starts at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) and people throughout the country typically tune into the radio, television or Internet to find out if their number is called for a prize.

The 1,950 tickets with the top prize number were sold across seven of Spain’s 52 provinces.

The state lottery agency estimates per capita spending of about 62 euros ($92) on the Gordo this year, down about 1 euro from 2007. Seventy percent of lottery sales goes back out in prizes, and 30 percent goes to the state.

Spain established its national lottery system as a charity in 1763, during the reign of King Carlos III, but its objective gradually shifted toward filling state coffers.

Spain holds another big lottery Jan. 6 to mark the Feast of the Epiphany. It is known as “El Nino” (The Child), in reference to the baby Jesus.
Source: IHT.com

Paris apartments

Caixa Catalunya to sell 824 of its branches

Spanish savings bank Caixa Catalunya is seeking to sell 824 of its 1,200 buildings in Spain in a bid to raise 500 million euros ($663.4 million), La Vanguardia reported on Sunday, citing sources at the bank.

The bank wants to strike a deal with potential buyers to continue to rent the branches, with a buy-back option for 10, 15 and 20 years, and wants to sell them in lots of 5 million euros, which would include 10 to 15 premises, the paper said.

The bank is in particular targeting its private banking clients as potential buyers, it added.

Its head office in Barcelona is not up for sale, added the report.

No one was immediately available at the bank on Sunday to comment.

Other Spanish banks have also closed leaseback deals on their property, notably Spain’s largest bank Santander which has sold more than 1,150 of its branches and other buildings and its headquarters complex at Boadilla del Monte on the outskirts of Madrid.

Source: reuters.com

Spain shocked by Russian move to buy stake in Repsol

Spain responded with shock bordering on panic yesterday to the suggestion made in Madrid by Russia’s deputy prime minister that Gazprom might buy a stake in the energy conglomerate Repsol YPF.

Alexander Zhukov caught Spain’s Industry Minister, Miguel Sebastian, on the hop when he announced in a joint press conference late on Wednesday that the Russian state monopoly was interested in buying 20 per cent of the Spanish-Argentine firm Repsol YPF currently up for sale. “Gazprom is studying at the moment the possibility of buying 20 per cent of Repsol that has been put up for sale,” Mr Zhukov said.

Mr Sebastian, clearly wrong-footed, said this was the “first time he’d heard the news”. However, the debt-laden construction company Sacyr Vallehermoso, which owns the Repsol stake that is up for sale, said yesterday that it had been in talks with Russian and other possible buyers for months, although “no agreement had been reached”.

“The idea of privatising Spanish companies and them being bought by state-run firms goes against the grain,” the Finance Minister Pedro Solbes said. “It’s an enormously delicate matter.”

Spain’s Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, took no official view, apparently considering the matter a purely business operation. “The government considers it only a declaration of intent, and in any case an operation between companies that the government does not evaluate,” sources told Europa Press agency.

The conservative opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy, was more forthright. He “radically opposed” the possible sale. “I hope it doesn’t even cross the government’s mind to give it the green light,” he said.

For conservative Spanish business circles, it is unthinkable for a privately owned Spanish company to become part of a state monopoly controlled – and used as a political lever – by Moscow. This was, commentators said, exactly the sort of Russian incursion against which the EU has been trying to barricade European gas and electricity networks.

Repsol shares rose slightly after the news, however, and the company said any decision was a matter for shareholders. The Russian move has a business and strategic logic, advancing Moscow’s aim to control energy supply and distribution first in Spain, with its gas and oil pipelines from the Maghreb, then Portugal and throughout southern Europe.Establishing a presence in Repsol would also consolidate Russian influence in liquid natural gas, which Spain has developed to a high level with supplies from Algeria.

Gazprom’s move was announced shortly before new proposals, unveiled by the European Union yesterday, to build pipelines from the bloc to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The plan is aimed at reducing EU reliance on Russian resources
Source: independent.co.uk

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Apartments in Barcelona

Renting an apartment in Barcelona is the best alternative to a Hotel room. One of the advantages of renting a Barcelona apartment is that you can go with a group of people or some friends and it will be quite a lot cheaper than renting a hotel room. You can also rent an apartment with a garden, pool and fully equipped kitchen. Privacy and space are just some of the other advantages of renting an apartment in Barcelona.

Above all, the price is just one of the many factors that makes renting an apartment more viable rather than a Hotel room. If you travel with young children the apartment is most certainly the best choice. They have more space and there is no one to disturb you except your own family of course! So give it a try and on your next holiday rent an apartment in Barcelona, you’ll love it!