Motion of no confidence in Spanish government mooted

Rajoy’s weak administration could be on the verge of toppling after Podemos called for a vote of no confidence in his government this afternoon. The scandal hit PP party is tottering, as high-ups are arrested or quit as magistrates extend their investigations into corruption and illegal financing by industry magnates. Catalan independence party Comprimis has backed the call, and now the race is on to get the other small parties to back them. For the Continue reading Motion of no confidence in Spanish government mooted

Turre council implodes – mayor Martín cast adrift

Turre council imploded today after mayor Morales expelled his only party councillor, Maria Luisa Cervantes, from the ruling body. The move means that the association ‘Somos Turre’ has now been split into two. Morales returns to his previous party as a communist IU councillor, whilst Maria Luisa is now an independent councillor under the Somos Turre brand. It also leaves Morales head of a hamstrung minority government, a solitary figure backed up only with the Continue reading Turre council implodes – mayor Martín cast adrift

Rajoy to offer a government of “national unity” with PSOE

Rajoy’s PP party is preparing the PSOE an offer they can’t refuse – a government of national unity, according to El Mundo. The coalition government being planned is along Angela Merkel’s CDU-CSU-SPD coalition in Germany.   Rajoy is willing to take onboard several of the PSOE’s manifesto commitments, and may even consider their plans to reform the Constitution. If the coalition is rejected, then a second plan is to offer a two year term to Continue reading Rajoy to offer a government of “national unity” with PSOE

Andalusian government coalition splits over housing row

The Izquierda Unida party has “suspended” the coalition with the PSOE party until President Diaz retracts the withdrawal of power issued today. Diaz yesterday withdraw housing rights from the IU Minister for Housing after she handed out free homes to a bunch of squatter evicted from the Corralia Utopía. The IU had a party meeting today in which they decided to “suspend” the coalition until the rights are returned to the Minister. The minister in Continue reading Andalusian government coalition splits over housing row

Was the theft of millions of Iraqui Dinars behind arrest of Almerias government lawyer?

A report – rumour?- has surfaced suggesting that the reason behind the sudden arrest of the government’s legal counsel for Almeria, Demetrio Carmona, was because he had come across -and pinched- millions of Iraqui Dinars seized by the State in the first Iraq war, held in a storeroom in El Ejido and forgotten about. Demetrio was arrested last week in a central government sweep, accused of a “mega scam”, along with at least six prominent Continue reading Was the theft of millions of Iraqui Dinars behind arrest of Almerias government lawyer?

ZP shakes it up a bit

So today’s the first full day of school for the new Cabinet after ZPs’ night (or morning) of a thousand long knives yesterday. Ousting the PSOE power base, he has shuffled his best friends up to the top positions and cleverly moved a few obstacles into ministerial posts where they can concentrate their talents on messing up the country and not his political power base. Leire Pajín, a woman alledged to earn €15,000 a month Continue reading ZP shakes it up a bit

The NIE

So, together with the brother in law, I popped into the “Oficina de Extranjeros”  in Almeria. To get his NIE, of course. We queued with a lot of… shall we call them “non EU citizens”? Lovely fellas. Pity the majority don’t seem to know about deodorent. Still, they smile a lot, even if they don’t seem to have all of their teeth. After about 45 minutes, we got called up to desk 47. A very Continue reading The NIE