Car Crash Deaths
Emergency Services have confirmed five people died in a crash between a lorry and a car this morning.
The accident happened on the A-394 between Utrera and Arahal in the province of Sevilla.
The five victims were traveling in the car according to health officials.
Guardia Civil traffic officers are at the scene to investigate the cause of the accident.
In a separate incident in Almeria a 48-year-old man died after his car overturned in the early hours of the morning in El Ejido.
Catalan Trial
As the trial of Catalan secessionist leaders approaches, and with a fresh crisis on his hands over the decision to include an Independent observer in political talks between Madrid and Barcelona, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is due to fly to Strasbourg today to support Spain’s push-back against Catalan separatists’ campaign to cast doubt on the Spanish justice system.
For Sánchez it’ll be his second trip to Strasbourg in a month. His agenda includes visits to the European Court of Human Rights and to the Council of Europe.
The defendants’ legal team is ready to appeal to the European Court as a last resort, and lawyers are working to convince public opinion in Europe that their clients are being subjected to a political trial.
Meanwhile, Madrid is running an international campaign called “This is the Real Spain,” and Justice Minister Dolores Delgado has met with dozen’s of foreign correspondents to convey the message that there are no political prisoners in the country, and that the defendants will enjoy all the legal guarantees of a consolidated democracy.
Eurozone Finance
The European Commission this morning sharply cut its forecasts for economic growth in the euro zone this year and next because of an expected slowdown in the largest countries of the bloc caused by global trade tensions and growing public debt.
In its quarterly economic forecasts, the EU executive also revised down its estimates for inflation in the 19-country currency bloc next year, which now is expected to be lower than forecast by the European Central Bank – complicating the bank’s plans for an interest rate hike this year.
The Commission said euro zone growth will slow to 1.3 percent this year from 1.9 percent in 2018, and is expected to rebound in 2020 to 1.6 percent.
The new estimates are less optimistic than the Commission’s previous forecasts, released in November.
Growth in the 27-nation European Union – without Britain which is planning to leave next month – is expected to slow to 1.5 percent this year from 2.1 percent in 2018. Next year, the bloc is forecast to expand by 1.8 percent.
France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands are forecast to reduce the pace of their expansion, with Italy expected to be the slowest economy in the whole EU with a mere 0.2 percent growth this year.
The Commission cited global trade tensions and China’s slowdown as the main drags for the European Union’s economy.