Prestige Oil Spill
The Supreme Court has ruled that the captain and the insurer of the Prestige oil tanker must pay more
than 1.5 billion euros in compensation for Spain’s biggest environmental disaster, when the vessel
sank in 2002.
The court said in a statement yesterday that captain and The London Mutual Insurance Association
shall pay the damages to Spain, France and authorities in Galicia as well as to another 269
companies, communities and individuals affected by the spill.
The tanker sprang a leak and sank off northwest Spain, polluting a long stretch of coastline and
ruining the area’s rich fishing grounds.
Years of legal challenges slowed the compensation process.
Catalunia
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived last night for today’s widely watched meeting in Barcelona with
Catalonia’s separatist-minded regional leader.
Regional President Quim Torra greeted Sanchez with a handshake. They spoke briefly while they
walked into a grand building belonging to the regional government.
Sanchez met Torra a day before he holds a Cabinet meeting in Barcelona. Separatist groups are
planning to protest the central government conducting business in Catalonia.
Meanwhile
A spokeswoman for four jailed Catalan separatist leaders says they are abandoning their hunger strike
more than two weeks after starting it because they consider that their protest has achieved its goals.
Speaking on behalf of the politicians, who are awaiting trial for their part in last year’s attempt to
secede from Spain, Pilar Calvo said yesterday the strike has drawn attention to the separatists’ plight
and prompted Spain’s Constitutional Court to review some of their appeals, which enables them to
take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Coalition
A ROW over extreme-right wing party Vox could allow the PSOE and Susana Diaz to stay in power in
Andalucia.
It comes as Ciudadanos and the Partido Popular failed to reach an agreement to a pact despite
collectively picking up more seats than the Socialists in the December 2 snap election.
Their fall out comes as centre-right Ciudadanos is refusing to join any coalition that would include
Vox, which surprised Andalucia with 11% of the vote.
In contrast the PP party is happy to include the 12 elected members of Vox, as it means an overall
majority for a right wing coalition.
The lack of progress means it is unlikely there will be an agreement by the December 27 deadline,
when the government must decide its president, vice president and all other ministerial positions.
If there is no agreement by December 27, the deadline will be pushed back by two months.
And if there is still no deal another election will be called.