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NEWS REVIEW
September 10, 1996

INTA has been forced to postpone the launch of the first Spanish mini-satellite, the “Minisat 01”, by several months. It was informed yesterday by the Air Force, that the satellite will be sent into space during the month of December, with the support of the American rocket “Pegaso”. The goal of this program is to obtain access to all the scientific, technical and industrial capabilities present in the Spanish section aerospace and which are necessary to develop, test and operate complete space systems.

During this School year, the Department of Education will put in place a competence system among public Schools, which will be experimental and will affect all those educational centers offering non-college courses and are under State management. A budget of twenty five million pesetas has been already approved in the form of twenty five grants, which will be the awards to finance annual plans of improvement, which are expected to lead to an increase in the overall quality of education. Esperanza Aguirre, Minister of Education, is behind this project and supports the plan with all her political will, as she considers that a public competitive education has to be accountable and respond to quality measurements that are under permanent validation.

The National Association of Publishers of Textbooks and Learning Material (ANELE) has announced that they are willing to negotiate with the Minister of Education the deregulation of prices for school textbooks, according to the statement made to Europe Press by Mauricio Santos, President of the organisation.

The City Hall of Madrid is considering the possibility of a ceremony to honour Ignacio de Valentin-Gamazo, the lawyer who was shot when trying to confront a group of robbers who were stealing at a Supermarket. This statement was made by the Mayor of the City, Jose Maria Alvarez del Manzano, who expressed that “if all the citizens of Madrid acted in the same way this man did, the criminals and delinquents would have a much harder time to commit their crimes”.

The Spanish Government will demand the “operational control over Gibraltar and the Iberian Peninsula” as a sine-quanon condition to become a fully integrated member of NATO, affirmed Abel Matute, in charge of the Foreign Ministry, while presiding over a press conference in conjunction with Javier Solana. The Secretary General of NATO, in his first official visit to Spain, showed himself very confident that the requirements set by Spain will be met, encouraging the country at the same time to become as active as possible in the transformation process undertaken by the Organisation he presides over. In October, the Government will request a negotiating mandate from the European Parliament, in order to proceed with the integration before the end of this year.

Only Izquierda Unida (United Left Wing) will break the consensus amongst the different parliamentary parties over the full integration of Spain in the Atlantic Alliance. This position was made very clear yesterday, at a meeting held by Javier Solana, Secretary General of NATO, and members of the Spanish Parliament, when he presented the plans drafted for the transformation of the Alliance. Felipe Alcaraz, from Izquierda Unida, accused Solana of interfering with the Spanish internal and political matters, “by trying to tell which song to sing and setting the rhythm for them”.

Jose Barrionuevo, the former Home Office Minister, filed an incident of challenge for cause at the Supreme Court against Jose Luis Manzanares, former vice-president of the General Council of the Judicial Power (GAL) and Judge at the Second Office at the High Court. The charges are “manifested hostility”. In his brief, the defence council who represents the former ministry, expressed that Manzanares, who has been extremely generous with his public statements about the “GAL case”, is not objective in his declarations.

The National High Court settled the matter regarding the entrance of four agents of the Ertzaintza Organisation into one of their Tribunals, after their president, Mr. Clemente Augen, received a note from Judge Baltasar Garzon, stating that the access of the Basque police officers to the documentation was authorised by the “proper actions carried on by the Officer in charge of the proceedings”. However, the Police Officers were found in the Court by themselves.

Margarita Mariscal de Gante, in charge of Department of Justice, affirmed yesterday that the future Penal Law for Minors will include incarceration measures for minors, but excluding those younger than 14 years old, and always for very specific charges. Mariscal, stated at a press conference held to analyse her first 100 days as Attorney General, that the age for Criminal Cases will not be modified and that is will remain as 18 years old being the minimum age actually established by the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Aleix Vidal-Quadras, president of the PP in Catalonia, ratified in front of the National Conduction of his party his option to decline his re-election to the position during the next Regional Congress, which will take place on September 28. Vidal-Quadras explained his resignation as a consequence of his “personal and political commitment towards Jose Maria Aznar”, whom he has not been able to meet yet to inform him about his decision.

Manuel Aznar, the brother of the President of the Government, announced yesterday to Fernando Alvarez de Miranda his decision to reject any possible appointment as Parliamentary Commissioner Assistant, after being informed of the criticism caused by his selection for this post. Aznar sent a letter communicating that “his decision was based on his determination not to cause any damage to the Institution of the Parliamentary Commission or to the Presidency of the Nation”, even though he has proved “his impartiality and independence”. He also stated that it was a shame that people had judged him “on the account that he was born from the same father and the same mother as the president”.

Felipe Gonzalez, former President of the Spanish Government, affirmed yesterday in front of the nine hundred delegates to the Congress of the International Socialist who gathered at the UN, that he is not satisfied with being a member of the opposition, and is willing to be back in the Government of Spain. “I have the will to rule because I want to transform the reality of my country”, Gonzalez stated during his speech at the Inaugural Session of the XX Congress of the IS celebrated in New York.

Their Majesties, King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia will arrive in Budapest tonight (Sept 10), where tomorrow, they will be officially welcomed by the President of Hungary, Mr. Arpad Göncz at the Plaza Kossuth. This is the second time that Don Juan Carlos and Doña Sophia have made an official visit to the Republic of Hungary. The European political arena, and specifically the Hungarian scenario has suffered substantial changes since their last visit in 1987. The enlargement of the EU and NATO will be some of the subjects discussed during this visit.

Juan Carlos Rodriguez Ibarra, President of the Government of Extremadura, was very quick to answer Felipe Gonzalez, former President of the Government and Secretary General of the PSOE, who questioned his proposal to call for a referendum in Extremadura to decide on the new model of autonomic financing. He warned the President of his political party that his Autonomic Region “will not be governed from Ferraz or Gabelas”. He also added that “It’s us, the citizens of this Community who will decide what is best for our region”.

Repsol, the oil group, has taken the first step in what could become a “price war” between the oil companies who are trying to capture the market and attract new customers. At the moment, a discount of one to two pesetas has been announced for the Unleaded gasoline of 95 octane’s (Sin Plomo), and approximately one peseta for the Super Gas. Additionally, they have announced a promotional campaign that includes a lottery with prizes of several automobiles from now until October 6. Cepsa one of Repsol´s major competitors was analysing their response yesterday but anticipated an immediate decision to decrease their prices for gasoline from today.

The Government will not set any new tolls on highways which are already constructed, but they are considering the project of financing the construction of new roads by resources out of the budget, one of which could be the instalment of toll booths on the Highways. Francisco Lazcano, General Director of Highways stated that this is a twin project to reduce the deficit, in contrast with the taxation on insurance premiums, which were officially rejected yesterday by all the Unions.