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NEWS REVIEW
1 - 8 August, 1996

Civil Guard General Enrique Rodriguez Galindo was released from jail without bail at half past four on Friday afternoon. The National Tribunal agreed to free the General who had been imprisoned for 72 days in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid) for the alleged involvement in the murder of the suspected ETA members Jose Antonio Lasa and Jose Ignacio Zabala. The other three imprisoned by the judge in this case, ex Guardia officers Enrique Dorado and Felipe Bayo and Lieutenant Pedro Gómez Nieto remain in prison.
The Tribunal considered that there was no risk of Galindo fleeing justice, thus their decision not to impose bail terms. According to Galindo's lawyer, Jose Argote, Mr. Galindo is dissatisfied and bewildered that he should be let free while his subordinates remain in prison and that he would prefer to remain with them.
The freeing of Galindo was met with disgust on the part of the Basques. The spokesman for the National Basque Party "Partido Nacional Vasco" (PNV) stated that "to distinguish between bad terrorism and good terrorism is the worst thing that could happen to a democracy".

The Government waited until its last meeting before the summer recess in order to take the most controversial decision of its short term in office,i.e., to deny the judges access to CESID (Centro Superior de Información sobre la Defensa) documents in their investigation into the "dirty war" against ETA.
The decision which was adopted on Friday was a complete turnaround from the Partido Popular's stance when in opposition. At that time it accused the then Government of self rather than State protection, when it decided not to release the said documents
The Minister of Defence, Eduardo Serra, said that taking the decision had been neither comfortable or easy. A spokesperson for the PSOE said that they were surprised and satisfied by the news.

Without waiting for the announcement of the winner of the project to extend the Prado Museum, its Director, Fernando Checa, has now decided to distribute the Museum's paintings between four separate buildings.
Checa pointed out that the extension of the Prado to other sites is absolutely essential in order to accommodate new works and, above all, to make available to the public 500 high quality paintings which currently remain in storage.
One of the buildings to be included in the project is the Cloister of the Church of "Los Jeronimos" which will house the collection of XIX century paintings, restoration workshops and public services such as the café, restaurant, shop and rest areas.

This year 15.000 pairs of flamingoes migrated to southern Spain in order to nest and reproduce and, according to calculations made from aerial photographs, more than 13,000 flamingo chicks have been born in the area of lake Fuente de Piedra in Málaga.
It is thought that, after years of drought, the lake's previosuly scant depth and salinity have been replenished by this year's rains and, so too, the flamingoes.

The Cádiz company, Bahia Industrial, has successfully bid for the installation of an essential wing part for the McDonnel Douglas MD-95 aircraft. Last year McDonnel Douglas called for bids for the construction of its new aircraft and the Korean Company, Hyundai won the contract. Under McDonnel's supervision Hyundai have subcontracted the construction of the part to the Andaluz Aerospace consortium which has,in turn, awarded the installation of the part to its partner company Bahia Industrial. The complex wing innovation is a hydraulic system which balances the aircraft on take-off and landing.
The contract will guarantee work for 40 employees in Bahia Industrial and will provide additional employment for a further 50 subcontracted from other companies in the area.
According to company sources it will provide in total at least 30.000 work hours annually for the next 15 years.

Between the 8th August and the 20th October the Exhibition "Velazquez in Seville" will remain open in the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Within the framework of the prestigious Edinburgh Festival, this important exhibition has been sponsored by Banco de Santander and the Royal Bank of Scotland. It comprises appoximately 50 paintings, the majority of which pertain to Velazquez's youth in Seville.
Important works included in the exhibition are "La Vieja friendo huevos" (1618) National Gallery of Scotland, "La Adoración del los Reyes Magos" (1619), "El Aguador de Sevilla" (1616-1620), "La Inmaculada Concepción" (1616-1620) both from the National Gallery in London, "La Cena de Emaus" (1617-1620) Preserved in Dublin and "Santo Tomás Apostol" (1619) from the Fine Arts Museum of New Orleans.

The PSOE has accused the Spanish government of censuring a Spanish/Moroccan journalists' symposium which took place three weeks ago in the Euro-Arab University of Granada. According to an opposition member of Parliament, the government ordered its consular representatives in Morocco to deny visas to the editors of the daily newspapers Le Matin and El Puente, due to their critical attitude towards Spain. The two journalists did not attend the symposium.
The PSOE delegate, Rafael Estrella, said that he would request from Parliament, the criteria applied to the concession of visas.

The State collected 2,279 billion pesetas in income tax in the first 5 months of this year. This represents an increase of 9 per cent in respect of the same period last year, according to figures issued by the IGAE (Intervención General de la Administración del Estado).
With respect to indirect taxes, mainly derived from Value Added Tax, there has been an increase of 10 per cent over the first 5 months of the previous year. The Administration calculates that, with its toughening up on tax fraud, it will recover a total of 120.000 million.

Two days after the release of General Enrique Galindo, the ex-guardia officer Felipe Bayo attempted to commit suicide by cutting his veins with a razor blade. According to the Civil Governor, Jose Ramón Gońi Tirapu, Felipe Bayo lost a lot of bolood and was therefore taken to the Principe de Asturias Hospital at midnight on Monday. However, the hospital would not issue a public statement on his condition.

Lieutenant Javier Calderón, Director of CESID ( Centro Superior de Información de la Defensa ) brought to a head the complete sanitisation of CESID by sacking more than 40 chiefs of staff from Director Generals to Section Heads. On assumption of his post in May, Calderón initiated the purge which is now virtually complete.
According to Ministry sources, Calderón wanted to demonstrate his firm intention to make a break from the recent past of CESID, marked by successive scandals of illegal wire tapping and the disappearance of key information and, at the same time, to show who was in charge of the Secret Service.
This re-structuring has meant strong resistance by those intimately affected by the changes but has won the support of lower-ranking personnel within the organisation.

In the Manifesto on Science in Spain presented to the Crown and Government in the Escorial yesterday (Tuesday), Faculty Heads alert all to the dangers of the lack of progress in Science and Technology in Spain, even despite recent advances.
The question of Science in Spain is also a serious cultural problem which goes unrecognised by the public and government members alike and is the root cause of many of Spain's difficulties, so states the manifesto.
One example cited is that of the relationship between technology and unemployment and the need for Spanish companies to improve their efficiency and competitiveness in a world of technical innovation. The Manifesto goes on to say that until Spain establishes a more interactive relationship between science and its applications, Spanish companies will always be at a disadvantage in relation to its foreign competitors.
It also states that he number of research scientists per inhabitant in Spain is very low, less than half the average in the European Union, for example. One argument against the incrementation of scientific investigation and application is the high cost but the signatories of the manifesto contest that the consequences of not heeding this warning will incur an even greater cost.

The Santander Festival is bringing together 3 grand opera stars, Mirella Freni, Plácido Domingo and Nicolai Ghiaurov with two young but already triumphing singeres, the Rumanian mezzo soprano Carmen Oprisanu and the Cantabrian baritone Manuel Lanza.
The programme is impressive and varied, Puccini, Girodano, Mascagni and Bizet. Mirella Freni is a lover of song whose performance of Mimi (Adriano Lecouvrier) and her duets with Plácido are quite amazing. The Madirdi tenor, Plácido Domingo, as a voice, and as a great person and artist, is capable of filling every venue with life, emotion, excitement and brilliance.

Of the 300 firms that worked on the Sierra Nevada 96 ski championships, only 96 suppliers have been paid a small amount of what is owed to them in quantities of less than 500.000 pesetes. Other small companies point out that the delay in payment presents a serious obstacle to their survival.
Jesus Quero, President of Sierra Nevada 96, said that the debt would be paid within a month and a half. Quero also said that at the last meeting of the Sierra Nevada 96 Committee which took place at the end of June,the members agreed to pay out a proportion of the 2.500 million owed to suppliers. The Junta, through Soprea, Cetursa and Instituto de Fomento de Andalucia control 92 percent of the Society's activity.
Quero went on to say that there were 3 reasons for the delay in payment. First, the postponement of the 95 championship obliged them to repeat the initial investment. Secondly, the special lottery reduced the initial investment of 1.400 million to 800million on the payment of prize money and lastly, Sierra Nevada 96 had the unusually high cost in snow control of 700 million pesetas.

There was a warm reception in Barajas airport for all the returning Olympic athletes on Tuesday afternoon.
Miguel Indurain with his "gold" was the first to arrive on a separate flight. There was a loud applause as he and his luggage were whisked by onlookers as he made his way to a waiting car.
The others arrived, after a three-hour delay in Atlanta, to an emotional and rapturous welcome, particularly for the 9 new "Chicas de Oro" (Golden girls) who formed the rhythm gymnastic team which won. The tears which filled their small faces were a reflection of the emotion of the moment and the many others that had gone before during the games