E L P E R I Ó D I C O G L O B A L E N E S P A Ñ O Lwww.elpais.com FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009

ENGLISH EDITION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Prime Minister José Luis Ro-dríguez Zapatero on Thursday ac-cused the governor of the Bank ofSpain, Miguel Ángel FernándezOrdóñez, of championing “neo-conservative” ideas and wantingto “shrink the welfare state” afterthe central banker suggested thegovernment make it cheaper forcompanies to hire and fire.

“We shouldn’t go down theroad” of repealing workers’rights, Zapatero, a Socialist, said.“A society whose workers havemore rights is more competitive;the other option falls into the cata-logue of neoconservative theories[…] that have not given satisfacto-ry results.”

Spain, where the unemploy-ment rate rose to almost 14 per-cent at the end of last year, thehighest in the EU, has some of themost rigid labor rules in Europe.It costs companies the equivalentof between 20 and 45 days’ salaryto fire a worker for every yearthey have worked, a factor thatOrdóñez, many economists, andinstitutions such as the IMF, seeas contributing to Spain’s employ-ment and economic crises.

“It does not favor the cre-ation of employment nor thegrowth of the most competitivecompanies, […] it is a disincen-tive to new hiring, […] and it dis-torts the market,” Ordóñez, whowas appointed by Zapatero twoyears ago, said Wednesday. Hepointed to the example of coun-tries such as Denmark and Aus-tria, where it costs companieslittle to hire and fire workers

and where unemployment ratesare currently around 4 percent.

Zapatero, in response, used adifferent example. “The UnitedStates has the most flexible la-bor market in the world and it isdestroying employment like nev-er before,” he said.

The unemployment rate inthe US was 7.6 percent in Janu-ary, almost half that of Spain. See RECESSION Page 7

The prince and princess of Asturias officiallyopened the 28th edition of Arco yesterday,one of the world’s biggest contemporary artfairs. From today, the public will be able to

peruse works from 32 different countries,such as Vivek Vilasini’s Last supper — Gaza,pictured above. As usual, one country is invit-ed as a special guest — this year the choice is

India. In fact, a work by Indian artist JitishKallat was drawing most attention among ad-vance visitors on Thursday: Aquasaurus 2008,a truck constructed out of dinosaur bones.

Zapatero hits back at Bankof Spain over labor policyCountry must not fall prey to “neocon” ideas, PM insists

uly martín

India takes center stage at opening of ARCO 2009

Arts & Travel Pages 4 & 5

The governing Socialist Party iscommitting a “barbarous act” by“opening the door to free-choiceabortion” under proposed legisla-tion presented Thursday in Con-gress, a spokesperson for the mainopposition Popular Party declaredThursday.

Sandra Moneo, the PP’s repre-sentative in a congressional sub-committee that has studied abor-tion-law reform, said the Socialists

had reduced the debate to an “auc-tion” over the period of time wom-en will be permitted to terminatetheir pregnancies without citingany reason. The government is ex-pected to propose changing thelaw to allow free-choice abortionduring the first 14 weeks of preg-nancy and in certain cases up to 22weeks.

Currently, Spain only permitsabortions in cases of rape, if thereis a risk to the mother’s health or ifthe fetus is malformed.

The Basque Nationalist Party(PNV) and its allies could losecontrol of the Basque parlia-ment for the first time in almostthree decades in a regional elec-tion on March 1, but the out-come may not guarantee a newleader for the troubled northernregion, a new opinion pollshows.

The PNV, EA and EB, thethree nationalist and leftist par-ties that make up the current

Basque administration of pre-mier Juan José Ibarretxe, are ex-pected to win between 33 and35 seats in the regional parlia-ment, putting them at leastthree seats short of an absolutemajority in the chamber,Spain’s Center for SociologicalStudies (CIS) said Thursday.

The opposition Basque Social-ist Party (PSE), the regionalwing of Spain’s governing Social-ist Party, is expected to win 26seats, while the conservativePopular Party looks likely topick up 12. Continued on Page 3

At least 50,000 people are vic-tims of trafficking in Spain, ofwhom between 80 and 90 per-cent are women, according to es-timates published Thursday bycampaigners dedicated to fight-ing “modern slavery.”

“They are by our side, in thestreet, locked in apartments; it’s areality that exists, we cannotclose our eyes,” declared Eva San-cha, one of the founders of theSpanish Network Against PeopleTrafficking, a newly formedgroup of 22 associations. Sanchadescribed Spain as one of the prin-cipal destinations for traffickingvictims, many of them womenand children forced into the sextrade. The network has publisheda guide to help police, social work-ers and doctors identify victims.

PP labels abortion reformplans “barbarous”

Basque Nationalistslose ground in poll

How Portugalcan be a musefor the blues

NGO points to50,000 victims of“modern slavery”

A. E.Madrid

EL PAÍS, Madrid

EL PAÍS, Madrid

A. E., Madrid

2 EL PAÍS, Friday, February 13, 2009

OPINION AND EDITORIAL

THE POPULAR PARTY (PP) has been un-able to withstand the impact of the twoserious scandals that are affecting its or-ganization, principally in Madrid, whichare casting doubt on the authority andmettle of its president and parliamentaryopposition leader, Mariano Rajoy. His re-action to a spate of dismissals and resig-nations related to recent interlockingscandals involving the PP has been anintemperate outpouring of adjectives.Armed with these, Rajoy appeared onWednesday after the meeting of the par-ty’s National Executive Committee, andfired a broadside.

“Obscene” and “unacceptable” werethe adjectives he found suitable for thefact that Judge Baltasar Garzón and thejustice minister, Mariano Fernández Ber-mejo, were both present in the samehunting party last Sunday — which, in hisopinion, ought to oblige the judge to with-draw from the case. He also announcedthat from this moment on he was goingto break relations with the Justice Minis-try as long as it was headed by Bermejo,and that he would call for a parliamenta-ry appearance by the state prosecutor todemand explanations on the unequaltreatment given to different political par-ties involved in corruption cases.

“There is no conspiracy within the PP;there is a conspiracy against the PP,” hesaid. This is not entirely false: it is peopleof the PP against the PP. On the one hand,it was members of the party who record-ed compromising conversations and re-ported the activities now being investigat-ed by Garzón; and on the other hand, inthe words of the Basque PP leader Anto-nio Basagoiti, while some people risk

their lives just by being in the PP, othersexploit their membership to carry on illic-it business. Rajoy must look inside hisparty, and not to those outside it who areinvestigating or calling for explanations.

While at first, in keeping with hisstyle, Rajoy reacted sparingly to thenews about the extent of the illicit deal-ings, on Wednesday he lost his cool anddecided to step out personally and speak— in terms that may express the releaseof pent-up personal feelings, but unfortu-nately go much further and cannot failto have consequences, bad ones, especial-ly for the PP itself. The facts leave noroom for jokes or lame excuses; we arelooking at corrupt practices in PP munic-ipal governments, which cannot be ex-cused on the grounds that they also existin other parties. We are looking, too, atthe feeling of impunity with which thesepractices have spread in the territorieswhere the PP has an absolute majority.To speak of leaks, or conspiracies be-tween the State Prosecutor’s Office anda High Court judge, sounds like the ex-cuses of someone who is loath to pay hisdebts.

As the leader of the party with the big-gest membership in Spain, Rajoy is notgoing to gain more credibility by meansof his indignant adjectives. Nor will hisparty, which is in great need of a drasticcleanup. An inquiry is not enough to exon-erate the leaders. There needs to be aclean break with the confusion betweenpublic and private interests that haschronically infected the party. Publicopinion is offended not so much by cor-ruption, as by the passivity of party lead-ers when it comes to dealing with it.

Mariano Rajoyloses his cool

The PP leader cannot blame others forthe scandals that arise inside his own party

EDITADO POR DIARIO EL PAÍS, SOCIEDAD LIMITADA

More terrorism. Just a fewhours after the SupremeCourt prevented ETA fromrunning candidates in theBasque elections, throughAskatasuna and Democra-cia 3 Milliones, the terror-ist group decided to re-mind Spain that despite theban on its parties, it stillhas an ace up its sleeve:threats and terror.Through its attack, ETAsent out a clear message ofrejection regarding thecourt’s decision, withwhich it dispelled anydoubt about the link be-tween the parties and the

armed group. But with thisattack it also wanted tomake clear that its threatstranscend words and thatthe choice of Ferrovial wasnot a coincidence, giventhat the company is work-ing on the Basque high-speed rail link. The court’sdecision was attributed bysome to the interests of thePSOE and the PP, but ETA’sactions only served to con-firm the suspicions aboutthe candidates. Once more,they proved that violence isthe weapon of those whoare in the wrong.— Vanes-sa Massimini.

Lettersto the Editor

PRESIDENTIgnacio PolancoCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERJuan Luis CebriánCHIEF OPERATING OFFICERSJesús Ceberio & Pedro García Guillén

EDITORJavier MorenoDEPUTY EDITORSVicente Jiménez & Lluís BassetsEDITOR ENGLISH EDITIONGuy Hedgecoe

Letters submitted to this sec-tion should not exceed 20typed lines. It is imperative thateach one is signed and is com-plete with an address, tele-phone number and DNI orpassport number of the au-thor. EL PAÍS reserves the rightto publish such pieces, eitherin shortened version or as anextract when it is consideredopportune. Unless otherwisestated, original letters will notbe returned, nor will informa-tion be made available aboutthem by mail or by phone.Email: iht@elpais.es

Some see China as a harmless pandabear; others see it as threatening drag-on. For the first, the rise of China is logi-cal and inevitable; they propose to makethe best of the time we have to involveBeijing in the network of interdependen-cies called multilateralism. For the sec-ond, China is stealthily building a hugeeconomic and military power, in orderto surpass the United States as a worldpower and dominate Asia and the Pacif-ic. Some propose to be friendly; othersfirm and watchful.

Though the first are maligned as“panda huggers,” there is nothing wrongin a policy that consists of bringing Chi-na into the society of nations. After all,this supposed insult draws its inspira-tion from the expression “tree hugger,”first used to describe the Chipko Undulamovement in India — people who literal-ly hugged trees to keep them from beingcut down. China, naturally enough, de-fends its own interests, not ours. And theanti-Chinese hysteria has been foment-ed by neocons who felt that Islamismhad little mileage left as an enemy.

Fortunately the Vulcans, as those arecalled who think that world order isforged of blood and iron, are in retreat.With the United States in a phase of mul-tilateral humility, the prospects for glo-bal alliance between it and China arebetter than ever. Such an alliance, whichsome are already calling the G2, wouldhave a huge impact on crucial questions.Without China we can do nothing mean-ingful about climate change; and with-out Chinese support and UN-led sanc-tions, the Tehran regime will persist in amad nuclear race that can only end inarmed conflict or nuclear proliferation.

The European Union, which has di-rect interests in both areas, cannot stayaloof from this process. But to influenceChina it needs to act in a united way. Sofar this has not been possible, the Euro-peans never having managed to speak inunison on the thornier aspects of theirrelations with Beijing, while the Chinese

have profited from these divisions andmaneuvered to widen them. The Europe-an tour of the Chinese prime minister,Wen Jiabao, is a good example: he hasgraced Spain with his presence — de-scribing it as “China’s best friend in theEU” — but has ignored Nicolas Sarkozy’sFrance, a more vocal critic.

Madrid has obtained a good agree-ment, since our trade and business pres-ence in China still has great room forimprovement. It is harder to find theright political tone for dealings withBeijing, a regime that has a major hu-man rights problem. Strangely enoughfor a country that has seen a long dicta-torship, and knows what it means to bedeprived of human rights, Spain tends tokeep its mouth shut in these matters.This has recently come to the fore oncemore in the case of the charges laid in aSpanish court against Israel. The Span-ish government’s silence on humanrights is sorely apparent, in a countrythat can boast exceptionally progressivelegislation in the area of world justice.

It would seem as if Spain had twoforeign policies: the government’s, andthat of the High Court as it applies lawsenacted by Congress. Thus the govern-ment soothes Beijing and calls for dia-logue with the Dalai Lama, while HighCourt judges indict the Chinese govern-ment for what it is doing in Tibet. Thejudges have no choice but to apply thelaw; but the government does have achoice and can take a stronger line, espe-cially in coordination with the EuropeanUnion. Prime Minister Zapatero, who inconnection with Tel Aviv and Washing-ton has always said that friends must becriticized when they are in the wrong,might take his own advice in relationswith Beijing; and with Moscow too and,of course, Rabat. Otherwise the leadersof these countries may interpret our si-lence as a lack of trust, and even suspectthat we are not really their friends.

José Ignacio Torreblanca is head of theMadrid office of the European Council onForeign Relations.

The politics of terror

Hugging the panda

EL ROTO

JOSÉ IGNACIO TORREBLANCA

“The painter doesn’t paint anything, my friend, it’s the one who manages themarkets that paints.”

EL PAÍS, Friday, February 13, 2009 3

NEWS

Greenpeace activists on Thurs-day draped 18,000 squaremeters of green material overan illegally built hotel in Alm-ería province as a protest atwhat they say is the govern-ment backpedaling on plans toexpropriate the seafront con-struction site.

The protest, which beganwith members of the environ-mentalist group scaling thehalf-finished building at 7am,comes more than three yearsafter a court ordered the sus-pension of building work onthe El Algarrobico Hotel nearthe town of Carboneras. Since

then, successive court ordershave revoked the building li-censes for the 20-storey hotel,which sits inside a nationalpark less than 30 meters fromthe seashore. Under Spanishlaw, no building can be con-structed closer than 100meters to the sea.

An end to legal action?However, Greenpeace activistssay they have had access to aconfidential report drafted bystate prosecutors for the Envi-ronment Ministry that recom-mends ending the expropria-tion process.

“Despite all the sentences de-claring the El Algarrobico Ho-

tel illegal, the ministry that issupposed to be defending theenvironment has decided to par-alyze the recovery of the first100 meters of beach,” Pilar Mar-cos, the head of coastal affairsfor Greenpeace Spain, told re-porters. She said there are novalid legal arguments againstcontinuing with the expropria-tion of the land from its currentowner, the Azar e Sol company.

Since doubts about the legal-ity of the project were firstraised, El Algarrobico has be-come a symbol of the excessiveconstruction that has blightedSpain’s coastal areas in recentyears, as well as the damage ithas caused to terrestrial andmarine ecosystems.

Greenpeace draws veil overillegally built beachside hotelGroup says government backpedaling on expropriation plan

Robert Fortea, a former arts stu-dent and theater technician,was arrested by the US authori-ties after his visa ran out andheld for 54 days in a privatelyrun detention center in the Tex-as border city of El Paso beforebeing deported two weeks ago.

“I paid a high price for beingthere illegally,” says the 32-year-old Spaniard ruefully from hishome in the Catalan mountaintown of Valldoreix.

He had been working in theArt Students League in NewYork for three years, and also asa technician on a Broadwayshow for almost three years, buthad let his visa lapse about ayear ago. “I didn’t renew it be-cause I couldn’t afford it. I wasgoing to leave the country inthree months,” he says.

Fortea was picked up alongwith an Israeli friend by police

while traveling by bus throughNew Mexico on a final trip be-fore returning home. The pairwas then taken to a privatelyrun detention center in El Paso.

“We arrived at the prison at3am, were given a cold shower,and the two of us were put in awindowless holding cell,” saysRobert, adding, “I knew it wasgoing to be hellish.”

Fortea says that he was treat-

ed “harshly, but not violently.”He was given three meals a day,and describes the food as “dis-gusting.” He was allowed out in-to the courtyard for an hour on

most days — “It depended on theguard.”

Most of the time the holdingcell, with bunks and lavatoriesopen to public view, was filledwith up to 65 other prisonersfrom as many as 35 other coun-tries. Most of them were Mexi-cans, also waiting to be deport-ed. “I knew I had broken thelaw, but I was being treated likea hardened criminal. I couldn’tbelieve what was happening.”

Fortea was told that hewould be deported in two orthree weeks. As the assigneddate for his deportation ap-proached, he called the Spanishconsulate in Texas, and was toldhis plane would leave the nextweek. But the officer due to ac-company him fell ill, whichmeant the whole process had tostart all over again. “I broke outin a cold sweat when they toldme,” he says. His deportationwas cancelled a second time two

weeks later. “I thought I was go-ing to be stuck there forever. Itwas clear that nobody was in ahurry to get us out.”

Around half-a-million peopleare deported by the UnitedStates each year. The New York

Times says that pri-vate companies runalmost half of the de-tention centers fordeportees. The feder-al government paysthem just over $100per detainee per day.Congress has dou-bled spending on an-ti-immigration mea-sures, approving a$5.9-billion packagein the process.

Fortea chose notto inform his familyof his ordeal. Theythought he was stillworking in NewYork.

Finally, twoweeks ago, and onthe third attempt, hewas escorted by anarmed guard to Atlan-ta, Georgia, where hewas put on board a

plane bound for Spain. He willnot be allowed to return to theUnited States for five years.

“At times, I felt like I was inKafka’s The Trial,” he says.“What was going on made nosense whatsoever.”

Expired visa? A 54-day detentionSpaniard held in Texan jail after letting documentation lapse

From Page 1

Until recently, such a scenariohad led to talk of a possibleSocialist-PP coalition in theBasque Country to oust thePNV from power for the firsttime since 1980. However,with PP politicians embroiledin corruption scandals and ac-cusing the Socialists of conniv-ing with the judiciary at thenational level, such an alli-ance now seems unlikely.

In addition, the CIS pollshows that Ibarretxe remainsthe most highly valued Basquepolitician, with far stronger ap-proval ratings than those ofPSE leader Patxi López or, es-pecially, the PP leader in theregion, Antonio Basagoiti.

In Galicia, where regionalelections will also take placeon March 1, the incumbent So-cialist-nationalist coalitionlooks set to assure itself a sec-ond term in power. The Gali-cian Socialist Party (PSdG) ispredicted to win 27 seatswhile its partners in the Gali-cian Nationalist Bloc (BNG)look set to win 12 or 13,enough to form an absolutemajority of at least 38 seats inthe parliament. As in the lastelection, the PP is likely to bethe most-voted party, winning35 or 36 seats, but would beunable to govern.

Campaigns for both re-gions’ elections begin today.

On a national level, the CISalso asked voters about theiropinion of the governing So-cialists and the main opposi-tion Popular Party, findingthat if a general election wereheld today it would end in atie, with both parties winning39 percent of the vote. Thepoll was conducted in Janu-ary before news broke of thecorruption scandals affectingthe PP.

Spain’s main opposition Popu-lar Party on Thursday pre-pared to go to court to fightaccusations of corruptionagainst several of its mem-bers, requesting that the partybe represented in the case so itcan file a complaint over theperceived bias of the judgeleading the investigation.

In papers presented to theHigh Court yesterday by PPCongress spokeswoman Sor-aya Sáenz de Santamaría andPP justice spokesman Federi-co Trillo, the party requestsrepresentation in the case,which has so far led to two ofits members being indicted oncharges of money laundering,bribery and tax fraud. As anentity involved in the lawsuit,the PP would then be able todemand that the High Courtput Judge Baltasar Garzón un-der review for alleged biasagainst the PP.

Garzón has shown “mani-fest enmity” and “constant ani-mosity” toward the PP, the par-ty’s request states. “From themoment the arrests weremade public […] the case hasbeen presented as a lawsuitagainst the PP in general.”

The request is accompa-nied by newspaper cuttings re-porting Garzón’s huntingtrips, dinners and luncheswith Socialist Justice MinisterMariano Fernández Bermejo.

“This leads us to questionthe independence of JudgeGarzón,” Sáenz de Santamaríasaid. Garzón has so far indict-ed 37 people in the corruptioninvestigation, including twoformer PP mayors and severalbusinessmen with links to theparty.

“I was being treatedlike a hardenedcriminal, I couldn’tbelieve it”

Socialists setfor secondterm in Galicia

ANTÍA CASTEDO, Madrid

Robert Fortea, who is now back in Spain.

PP prepares forcourt fight overcorruptioncases

EL PAÍSMadrid

Greenpeace activists protesting yesterday in the Cabo de Gata natural park in Carboneras, Almería. / reuters

EL PAÍS, Madrid

4 EL PAÍS, Friday, February 13, 2009

EXHIBITIONS

»THE SHADOW This intrigu-ing exhibition examines the useof shadows as a theme through-out Western art, with each peri-od having assigned the shadowwith a different connotation.Spanning a period from the Re-naissance to the present day,the work on show is by artists asdiverse as Pablo Picasso and Janvan Eyck.

La sombra. Until May 17 at MuseoThyssen Bornemisza, Paseo del Prado8, Madrid and Fundación Caja Madrid,Plaza San Martín 1, Madrid. See www.museothyssen.org and www.funda-cioncajamadrid.es for more informa-tion.

»FRANCIS BACON A hundredyears after the Dublin-bornpainter’s birth, this retrospec-tive arrives in Madrid — the citywhere he died and was cremat-ed. The Prado will be showing78 works, including 16 of themost important triptychs he ev-er painted. There is also a sec-tion featuring paint-spatteredphotos and sketches, providinga fascinating insight into theway that he worked.

Francis Bacon. Until April 19 at MuseoNacional del Prado, Paseo del Prado,Madrid. See www.museodelprado.esfor more information.

»SPANISH STREETS This exhi-bition brings together 100 pho-tos by the well-known Spanishphotographer Alfonso, who diedin 1953 having spent his life cap-turing street scenes and the day-to-day business of Spaniards.Fascinating images abound,such as washerwomen on thebanks of Madrid’s River Manza-nares, or a zeppelin flying overGran Vía.

Alfonso, 50 años de historia de Es-paña. Until February 22 at Casa de laProvincia, Plaza del Triunfo 1, Seville.See www.casadelaprovincia.es formore information.

»SOROLLA The exhibition of 14murals by the Spanish artistthat has been traveling the coun-try comes to call in Barcelona.The works were commissionedfor the Hispanic Society in NewYork, and see Sorolla depict typi-cal local scenes, from fishing onthe Valencian coast to the fiestadel pan in Castile.

Sorolla. Visiones de España. From Feb-ruary 20 to May 3 at Museo Nacionalde Arte de Cataluña, Parque de Mont-juïc, Barcelona. See www.mnac.es orcall 93 622 03 76 for more informa-tion.

»ROMAN CLASSICS Andalu-sian history is peppered withRoman influence, and this newexhibition brings togethermore than 100 objects from theperiod of Roman dominance inthe Iberian peninsula. Onshow are exhibits such as LaVenus de Itálica and El Efebo deAntequera, donated from Span-ish museums, as well as acache of treasures gatheredfrom international foundationsincluding the Metropolitan Mu-seum of New York and the

Musée Saint-Germain in Paris.

El Rescate de la Antigüedad Clásica enAndalucía. Until February 28 at Hospi-tal de las Venerables, Seville. www.focus.abengoa.es

»IF I CAN’T DANCE... This in-triguing exhibition, entitled If ICan’t Dance I Don’t Want to bePart of your Revolution, investi-gates the evolution of perfor-mance art. The project began in2005 in the Netherlands, and isnow in its third edition. Psycho-analysis, feminism and contem-porary art are all examinedhere.

If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want to bePart of your Revolution. Until April 19at Rekalde, C/ Alameda de Recalde 30,Bilbao. See www.salarekalde.bizkaia.net or call 94 406 87 55 for moreinformation.

»SMOKING IS BAD After hav-ing spent 50 years photograph-

ing male style icons from all ar-eas of society, the magazine GQhas built up a stellar collectionof portraits. This exhibition putssome of the magazine’s archiveon display, with many of the sub-jects — including MickeyRourke, Javier Bardem andSteve McQueen — posing amid aplume of tobacco smoke.

Smoking is Bad. Until February 28 atFnac San Agustín, C/ Guillén de Castro9, Valencia. Call 96 353 90 00 or seewww.fnac.es for more information.

»GOYA’S MODERN WORLDThis exhibition seeks to analyzethe relationship between theworks of the Spanish master,and the subject matter that hechose, as well as charting theemergence of contemporary art-ists throughout the 19th and20th centuries.

Goya y el Mundo Moderno. UntilMarch 8 at Museo de Zaragoza, Plaza

de los Sitios 6, Zaragoza. See www.goyayelmundomoderno.es for moreinformation.

»ROMAN BUSTS Before theGermans and the British madeMajorca their own as a package-holiday destination, it was alsopopular with the Romans. Fit-tingly, then, this new exhibitionbrings together a collection ofRoman portraits, discoveredboth in Spain and elsewhere. Aswell as a variety of busts, thereare also items used in funeralceremonies, including sarcopha-guses.

Retratos Romanos del Museo Ar-queológico Nacional. Until February22 at Ses Voltes, Parc de la Mar s/n,Palma de Mallorca.

MUSIC

»CHAMBAO Anyone whobought one of the thousands of

chill-out albums that became sopopular in the 1990s — most ofwhich had “Ibiza” in the title —will no doubt be familiar withChambao, who have carved outa niche for themselves specializ-ing in “flamenco chill.” The Mál-aga outfit will be playing songsfrom their latest release, Conotro aire, as well as tracks fromtheir extensive back catalogue.

Chambao. March 6 at PolideportivoHermanos, Induráin. March 13 at Indus-trial Copera, Granada. See www.ticket-master.es for more information.

»BUZZCOCKS This Englishpunk band formed way back in1976, but have been headed upby singer, songwriter and guitar-ist Pete Shelley for nearly thatentire period. For this Europeanand UK tour, the band are play-ing songs from their first twoalbums, Another Music in a Dif-ferent Kitchen and Love Bites, in-cluding, of course, perhaps theirgreatest song, Ever Fallen inLove (With Someone YouShouldn’t’ve).

Buzzcocks and Cute Lepers. March 4at Sala El Sol, C/Jardines 3, Madrid.See www.ticketmaster.es for more in-formation.

»SÓNAR One of Europe’s finestelectronic music festivals re-turns to Barcelona once morethis June, as Sónar begins pre-paring its usual day and nightprogram full of bleeps, squeaksand techno. Kings of electronicaOrbital are the first big names tohave been announced, withmore to come.

Sónar 2009. June 18-20 at various ven-ues throughout Barcelona. See www.sonar.es or www.ticktcakticket.comfor more information.

THEATER AND DANCE

»JAZZING FLAMENCO Thisshow is the third from the Com-pañía Antonio Najarro, with theeponymous choreographer set-ting himself the unenviable taskof fusing classical Spanishdance with the modern musicalavant-garde of jazz. A total of 11dancers make up the cast, whilea host of musicians — led byFernando Egozcue, who com-posed the music for the compa-ny’s first outing, Tango Flamen-co — provide the soundtrack.

Jazzing Flamenco. From February 20to 22 at Teatro de Madrid, Avenida dela Ilustración, s/n, La Vaguada, Madrid.See www.teatromadrid.com or call 91740 52 74 for more information.

»SING-ALONG The Grupo En-canto have hit on a winning for-mula, with their theatrical mix-ture of life-size animal puppets,popular songs from the past andpresent, and plenty of audienceparticipation. If you want togive your kids a treat, take themalong to this new show, wherethey can sing along with the restof the crowd.

Cantajuego: El Payaso Tallarín. UntilJune 13 at Teatro Circo Price, Rondade Atocha 35, Madrid. Call 91 528 81 22for more information.

»CONTEMPORARY FESTIVALWith 2009 now well and trulyunderway, the first of Madrid’s

Fado has been occasionally de-scribed as “Portuguese blues,”and it may well be that the peo-ple of Portugal feel a specialaffinity for the melancholy as-sociated with the popular USmusical form.

For three years now, thenortheastern Portuguesetown of Guarda has been host-ing InBlues, a festival that isalready managing to attract in-ternational performers whohad never played in Portugalbefore. All of the acts perform-ing in Guarda are white andnone of them are American,even though their music payshomage to the black musi-cians of the Mississippi Delta,where the genre has its roots.But as such, the festival re-flects how the blues has be-come an idiom for musiciansof every age and background.

The three-week event be-gan on February 5 with a con-cert by the Frenchman Ben-jamin Tehoval. The Stras-bourg native is one of themost original voices in con-temporary blues and is knownas “the one-man band” be-cause he plays four instru-ments, most of them at thesame time. His concerts usual-ly combine time-tested clas-sics with his own songs, and ademonstration of his musicalskills is available on Youtube,where Tehoval himself posteda black-and-white video of hisperformance of 44 Blues, a“proto blues” originally writ-ten by the pianist RooseveltSykes. In it, Tehoval sings andplays the harmonica, a guitar,drums and a foot pedal.

On February 20, Sons of theDelta will present their latestalbum, Made in Mississippi.Mark Cole and Rick Edwardsare not from the AmericanSouth at all, but rather Britain,and began playing together in2002. Their second album, anelectro-acoustic recording

made in Clarksdale, Mississip-pi, includes a guest appear-ance by the great Pinetop Per-kins, a legendary pianist whoplayed for over a decade in theMuddy Waters Band.

Portuguese blues is repre-sented by Nobody’s Bizness,a six-piece outfit from Lisbonthat mines the early 20th cen-tury roots of the genre, al-though they stray into post-war Chicago territory aswell. Their acoustic outputpays tribute to the likes ofBessie Smith, Ida Cox, SkipJames, Tampa Red and ofcourse Muddy Waters. The

Portuguese group, led by fe-male vocalist Petra, plays onFebruary 26.

Another Englishman closesthe festival on February 27.Honeyboy Hickling is the big-gest act in Guarda, and thiswill be his first performancein Portugal. A singer and song-writer, Hickling is neverthe-less best known for his virtuo-so harmonica blowing andhas played in the past with thegreat Willie Dixon.

InBlues. Until February 27 at TeatroMunicipal de Guarda, Guarda. www.tmg.com.pt/

Muddy Waters, inspiration for many of the Guarda festival’s acts.

S. U.Madrid

Guarda’s Mojo is workingHoneyboy Hickling among performers at blues festival

SPAIN

Arts & Travel Guide

EL PAÍS, Friday, February 13, 2009 5

many arts festivals arrives: Esce-na Contemporánea. Running forjust under a month, the pro-gram is a celebration of theater,music and dance, with compa-nies from Beirut, Prague, Lon-don, Paris and Amsterdam com-ing to call.

09 Festival Escena Contemporánea.Until February 22 at various venuesthroughout Madrid. See http://escena-contemporanea.com for full program.

»CIRQUE DU SOLEIL Theworld-renowned Canadian cir-cus troupe has returned toSpain once more. This produc-tion, their fifth, is called Varekai,a word from the Gypsy languagemeaning “in any place.” The sto-ry follows a lonely young boywho falls from the sky into anenchanted forest. As audienceshave come to expect, the compa-ny will deliver plenty of breath-taking acrobatics and impres-sive stagecraft.

Varekai. Cirque du Soleil. Until Febru-ary 22 in Seville. March 26 to April 19in Bilbao. See www.elcorteingles.esfor more information and tickets.

OTHER

»ARCO ART FAIR Madrid’s AR-CO is one of the world’s biggestcontemporary art fairs, comingto call in the city on an annualbasis and taking residence inseveral huge conference halls inthe IFEMA center, which is lo-cated near the airport. Everyyear there is a guest country,and this time around the choiceis India. Thanks to the crisis,there will be a slightly reducedroster of 250 galleries from 30countries this year, allowing visi-tors to pick up a piece of art orjust wander around and enjoywhat’s on display.

ARCO Madrid. Until February 16 atIFEMA, Campo de las Naciones,Madrid. See www.ifema.es for moreinformation.

»HARLEM GLOBETROTTERSFor 82 years, some of the tallestmen in the world have been en-tertaining audiences with allkinds of basketball tricks, hav-ing played 25,000 games and en-tertained everyone from presi-dents to popes. The ball-bounc-ing maestros will be coming toSpain in May, wowing thecrowds with their skills.

The Harlem Globetrotters. May 21 atPalau d’Esports l’Illa, Benidorm. May22 at Pabellón Fuente San Luís, Valen-cia. May 23 at Palacio de DeportesComunidad de Madrid, Madrid. May24 at Pavelló Olimpic de Badalona,Badalona. May 26 at Palacio de De-portes de San Pablo, Seville. See www.ticketmaster.es for more information.

»STAND-UP COMEDY The Gig-gling Guiri stand-up comedyclub sees its first Northern Irishcomic come to call next month,Belfast’s Colin Murphy. Expectpolitical and observational sat-ire performed to up-for-itcrowds in Madrid and Barcelo-na.

Colin Murphy. March 14 at Sala Clam-ores, C/ Albuquerque 7, Madrid andMarch 15 at Teatre Tradicionàrius,Trav. Sant Antoni 6, Barcelona. www.comedyinspain.com

»OVAR CARNIVAL It’s carnivaltime in Ovar, where the partywill run for 11 days. The locationfor the festivities has beendubbed “Tentzone,” and will fea-ture live music from acts suchas Orishas and Per7ume. DJswill feature too, with French-man Fernando Alvim steppingup to the decks.

Tentzone. Until February 24 at Parquede Estacionamento, Ovar. See www.tentzoneovar.com for more informa-tion.

»STOMP The phenomenallypopular British company thatspawned imitators throughoutthe world is coming to Porto toshow off its skills in dance, per-cussion and acrobatics — all ofwhich make use of everydayitems, such as Zippo lightersand brooms, as instruments.

Stomp. From February 18 to February22 at Coliseo do Porto, R. Passos Man-uel, 137, Porto. Tel: +351 223 394 947.See www.stomponline.com for moreinformation.

»FROM DISNEY TO WARHOLThis intriguing exhibition exam-ines how children’s books andcharacters have inspired artistsover the years. Some, such as Di-eter Roth, actually made booksthat appealed to the young,while others, such as Andy War-hol, created works based on thedesign of tomes for toddlers.

Do Rato Mickey a Andy Warhol. UntilMay 14 at Museu de Serralves, RuaDom João de Castro 210, Porto. www.serralves.com

»OASIS While latest studio ef-fort Dig Out Your Soul may notscale the heights of Be HereNow, which was the fastest-sell-ing album in British history, Oa-sis’ Portugal gig is sure to be

electric. The old favorites willno doubt be trotted out, as wellas their new material.

Oasis. February 15 at Pavilhão Atlânti-co, Parque das Nações, Lisbon. www.pavilhaoatlantico.pt

»LA BOHÈME The celebratedopera by Giacomo Puccinicomes to Lisbon under the direc-tion of Julia Jones, the Britishmaestro who has conducted atmany of the world’s most presti-gious venues. Jones is accompa-nied by the Teatro Nacional’schoir and the Portuguese Sym-phony Orchestra.

La Bohème. Until February 22 at Te-atro Nacional de São Carlos, Lg. S.Carlos, 17, Lisbon.

»INNER WORKINGS What liesinside machines that make imag-es, such as projectors? Swedishartist Alexander Gutke tries toget to the bottom of this ques-

tion through his work, withsculptures and the use of actualprojector parts. By revealing theinnards of all of these image-cre-ating machines, Gutke bringsthe normally invisible workingsinto focus.

Alexander Gutke. Until April 4 at Cul-turgest, Av. Aliados 104, Porto. Call+351 222 098 116 for more information.

»ALEXANDRE FARTO Thefirst solo show for artist Alexan-dre Farto sees the young innova-tor bring his striking take on theparallels between observationand intervention in the urbansprawl to the walls of the VeraCortês. Farto recently exhibitedat New York’s Outsider show,and the buzz surrounding this21-year-old is going global.

Even if you win the rat race, you’restill a rat. Until February 21 at VeraCortês, Agência de Arte, Avenida 24de Julho 54, Lisbon.

Guarda sits atop a plateau in-side the Parque Natural Serrada Estrela, a stunning moun-tain range in Portugal’s cen-tral-eastern region of Beiras.Although neither particularlylarge nor influential, Guardacan boast about being thecountry’s highest-altitudetown, at 1,000 meters abovesea level.

Somebody once describedGuarda as the town of the five“F”s, and the definition hasstuck. The first “F” stands forforte or strong; this is be-cause Guarda still preservesvestiges of its military archi-tecture, including a fortress-like cathedral, stone wallsand a tower that was oncepart of a castle. The town wasestablished in the 12th centu-ry as a bulwark against vari-ous enemies within present-day Spain, including the King-dom of León and the King-dom of Castile, and that ex-plains the origin of its name:a guarda is a keeper, both inPortuguese and Spanish.

The second “F” stands for

farta or abundant, a referenceto the wealth of the surround-ing Valley of Mondego; thethird for fria or cold, which iseasily explained by its location,where winter temperatureshover around the freezingmark; and the fourth “F”

means fiel or loyal, because in1385 Álvaro Gil-Cabral, thenthe keeper of the castle, re-fused to turn the town over tothe King of Castile.

The final “F” stands for for-mosa or beautiful, an obviousadjective for a place of green

valleys, clear lakes, and fieldsof olive trees and cereal. Thetown itself contains a greatmany buildings of historical in-terest, including the cathedralor Sé, the city walls, a medievalJewish quarter, the convent ofSão Francisco da Guarda, the

Torre de Menagemand various Catholicchurches and chapels.

From Guarda, it iseasy to take a shortdrive through themountains to visit oth-er peaceful-looking vil-lages whose wallsspeak of a bloody past.Almeida, right on theborder with Spain, is atiny town of 1,500 in-habitants, yet it con-tains an impressivestar-shaped fortressthat dates back to the17th century. Pinhel,northwest from here,boasts a castle withtwo towers as well asthe Church of Miser-icórdia, decorated inthe typically Portu-guese “manuelino”style.

February andMarch is a good timeto visit the region be-cause this is when thealmond trees begin tobloom — a spectaclethat draws many Por-tuguese from otherparts of the country.And if the weather isnot quite as warm asit might be elsewhere,it is easy enough tochase away the coldwith the hearty dishesthat are servedaround here, includ-ing roast kid andlamb, bean stews withwild boar meat, curedcheeses and stuffedsausages, washeddown with one of thelocal red wines.

Serra da Estrela: http://www.quintadoriodao.com/ eng/out/estrela.html

Beira gastronomy: http://www.portu-gal.gastronomias.com/beira_alta.ht-ml

Guarda:http://www.mun-guarda.pt/

Purely preserved for pleasureSix centuries of history set in a verdant natural park give Guarda a lofty feel

PORTUGAL

SUSANA URRAMadrid

Portugal’s Beiras region is steeped in history. / reuters

Arts & Travel Guide

Guarda was built inthe 12th century asa bulwark againstvarious enemies

Chase away the coldwith roast kid andlamb, bean stewsand wild boar meat

6 EL PAÍS, Friday, February 13, 2009

SPORTS

J. L. RON

Sunny

Changeable

Cloudy

Showers

Rain

Stormy

Fog

Windy

Frosty

Snow

Rough Seas

Heavy swell

Swell

Slight swell

A Coruña

Pontevedra

Lugo

Ourense

Oviedo Santander Bilbao

Vitoria PamplonaLeónBurgosPalencia

Valladolid

Segovia

ÁvilaSalamanca

Soria

Logroño Huesca Girona

Barcelona

Tarragona

Lleida

Castellón

Valencia Palma deMallorca

Zaragoza

TeruelMadrid

Guadalajara

Cuenca

Alicante

Murcia

Albacete

Toledo

Ciudad Real

Cáceres

Badajoz

Huelva Sevilla

Córdoba Jaén

Granada

AlmeríaCádizMálaga

Ceuta Melilla

Zamora

San Sebastián Toulouse

Oporto

Lisboa

Las Palmasde Gran Canaria

S. C. Tenerife

Weather: Spain toda

No one can knock Spain offcourse. One after another, oppo-nents worthy of respect are dis-patched, and all the while theSpanish soccer team is able toblood new talent, while effec-tively retaining its title of Euro-pean champion. And without re-nouncing its recipe for success:a beautiful style which is none-theless never soft.

Today’s Spanish soccer team,with coach Vicente del Bosquehaving overseen seven straightwins since taking over after lastsummer’s waltz to glory in Vien-

na, is faithful to its own stylewhen it is producing stellar soc-cer or merely going through themotions. The latter was all thatwas necessary against Englandin Seville on Wednesday night.Spain got hold of the ball andbided its time without sufferingso much as a scratch. It was aprecision job.

The team coached by FabioCapello never gave the impres-sion it could dispute the final re-sult; and in pure soccer terms itwas a mismatch. For Spain, ba-sic order in its play, a touch ofsubtlety and a spell of Xavi at hisvery best were more than suffi-cient to rattle up a 2-0 victory

and extend Spain’s unbeatenrun to 29 games.

The Barça midfielder, deserv-edly voted MVP at the EuropeanChampionship, took a few min-utes to find his ideal position onthe field from which to probethe English defense — but oncehe did, he found it was made ofplasticine. Despite the aggres-sive start Capello’s men made atthe Sánchez Pizjuán, the absenc-es were too big for this gray line-up to make up for: Wayne Roon-ey and Steven Gerrard stayed inEngland, with David Beckhamand Frank Lampard startingthe game among the substi-tutes. While some of the Pre-

mier League’s clubs haveevolved, the English nationalteam sticks to its prehistoric po-tion: a goalkeeper withouthands, stalactites for defenders,sweaty midfielders and for-wards as big as can be found.

For Spain, while FernandoTorres has become even moredirect during his time in En-glish soccer, David Villa has de-veloped his astute, predatoryskills, scoring Spain’s first aftertormenting the English backline. Young sub striker Fernan-do Llorente, tall but with feetthat obey his brain, headed inthe second from a Xavi freekick.

Spain reigns supremeDefeat of England no more than routine business for European champion

Mostly clear skiesMost of the peninsula will enjoy blue skiestoday, with some cloud in the north. TheBalearic Islands will see cloudy spells witha chance of light rain, and snow at alti-tudes above 700m. The Canary Islands willbe clear in the eastern isles and cloudyelsewhere. Temperatures will fall slightly inparts of the peninsula and the Balearics.Lows: Madrid 1ºC, Barcelona 6ºC, Valencia6ºC, Málaga 6ºC, Bilbao 5ºC, Lisbon 16ºC.

All emergencies ........................... 112

Ambulance ........................... 061

Fire Brigade ........................... 080

Municipal police .................... 092

National police ...................... 091

Civil Guard .............................. 062

Catalan police ......................... 088

Traffic ...................... 900 123 505

Consumerinformation ................ 900 775 757

Forest fires ............. 900 850 500

Domesticabuse ............................ 900 100 009

Coast Guard ........... 900 202 202

Immigrationinformation ............. 900 150 000

Powersupplies ................... 900 248 248

Directory .......................... 11818

Internationaldirectory inq ........................... 11825

TOURIST POLICEMadrid ......................... 91 548 85 37

Barcelona .................. 93 290 33 27

Gran Canaria .......... 928 30 46 64

AIRPORTSAENA (flights, customer servic-es) ................................... 902 404 704

Barcelona ................... 93 298 38 38

Madrid ........................ 902 35 35 70

Valencia ....................... 96 159 85 00

Málaga ......................... 95 204 88 04

Palma ........................... 97 178 90 99

TRAINSRENFE ......................... 902 240 202

International ............... 902 243 402

EMBASSIESAustralia ...................... 91 353 66 00

Canada ......................... 91 423 32 50

Ireland .......................... 91 436 40 93

New Zealand ............. 91 523 02 26

UK. ................................. 91 700 82 00

US ................................. 91 587 22 00

CITY WEBSITESwww.munimadrid.eswww.bcn.eswww.sevilla.org

PORTUGALAll emergencies .......................... 112

Breakdowns ................... 219425095

MOROCCOPolice ................................................ 190

Fire Brigade ................................... 150

The former world champion ofFormula 1, Fernando Alonso,racked up the worst time yester-day in testing sessions at theJerez de la Frontera circuitahead of the start of a new seasonin six weeks’ time.

Out of the five drivers on thecircuit on Thursday, the Spaniardcompleted the most laps, 133, butin his Renault team’s new R29,he finished two seconds behindFrenchman Sebastien Bourdais,who topped the timesheets in a2008 Toro Rosso. He was fol-lowed by McLaren’s Lewis Hamil-ton, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vetteland Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima,all driving their teams’ 2009 car.

Despite the slow time, Alonsowas positive after the session, say-ing that it was the first time he’dbeen able to “drive in good condi-tions” since the R29 was un-veiled. “It’s been a good test daywith 133 problem-free laps, so wecan say that it’s been the first daywith good conditions given that[teammate] Nelson [Piquet] hadhydraulic and brake problems inprevious test days.”

Canceled sessionHowever, it was reported yester-day in German magazine AutoMotor und Sport that Renaulthas decided to cancel a testingsession planned for next week atthe Montmeló circuit in Catalo-nia due to the problems the R29car has been suffering. The R29has been off the pace and some-what unreliable since its Januarydebut at Portugal’s Portimão cir-cuit. That has prompted the engi-neers to try to solve the problemsthe car is suffering before continu-ing with the testing schedule.

Alonso is hoping to take histhird title in the upcoming sea-son, after winning the champion-ship in 2005 and 2006.

Useful information

Problem car seestesting canceledfor off-the-paceAlonso

EL PAÍS, Madrid

JOSÉ SÁMANOSeville

Despite the desperate attempts by three English defenders to stop him, Villa fired Spain in front at Seville’s Sánchez Pizjuán stadium. / a. ruesga

EL PAÍS, Friday, February 13, 2009 7

BUSINESS

IBEX35

Equity

Latest

priceDaily variation Yesterday Annual Variation %

Euros % Min. Máx. Previous Current

Abengoa 12,70 -0,50 -3,79 12,40 13,18 -51,2 7,63

Abertis 12,70 -0,11 -0,86 12,61 12,89 -40,0 0,79

Acciona 88,55 -0,05 -0,06 86,50 89,15 -59,0 -0,51

Acerinox 10,03 -0,23 -2,24 9,95 10,30 -32,4 -11,79

ACS 33,45 -0,44 -1,30 33,10 33,99 -19,7 2,45

Banco Popular 4,84 -0,14 -2,81 4,80 4,92 -48,0 -20,39

Banco Sabadell 3,86 -0,07 -1,78 3,82 3,92 -34,6 -20,41

Banco Santander 5,71 -0,16 -2,73 5,62 5,86 -51,1 -15,41

Banesto 6,67 -0,03 -0,45 6,50 7,00 -39,3 -17,45

Bankinter 7,25 0,04 0,55 7,08 7,30 -49,7 14,90

BBVA 6,98 -0,18 -2,51 6,85 7,14 -48,3 -19,40

BME 16,84 0,01 0,06 16,50 16,95 -60,0 -8,43

Cintra 4,34 -0,01 -0,23 4,24 4,36 -45,9 -18,42

Criteria 2,50 0,02 0,81 2,46 2,50 -46,2 -10,07

Enagás 13,68 -0,02 -0,15 13,55 13,90 -22,2 -12,08

Endesa 23,99 -0,42 -1,72 23,75 24,31 -21,3 -16,12

FCC 21,57 -0,20 -0,92 21,09 21,99 -54,6 -7,54

Ferrovial 21,83 -0,65 -2,89 21,27 22,57 -59,3 11,49

Gamesa 12,79 -0,48 -3,62 12,54 13,30 -60,2 0,39

Gas Natural 16,79 -0,23 -1,35 16,55 17,03 -51,8 -12,96

Grifols 13,13 -0,01 -0,08 12,92 13,26 -20,1 6,66

Iberd. Renovables 2,98 -0,03 -1,00 2,92 3,02 -46,0 -2,30

Iberdrola 5,51 -0,06 -1,08 5,43 5,56 -37,1 -15,75

Iberia 1,98 - - 1,96 2,01 -34,0 -

Inditex 31,00 -1,14 -3,55 30,25 32,10 -25,4 -1,05

Indra 15,20 -0,42 -2,69 15,00 15,72 -12,9 -6,11

Mapfre 2,29 -0,01 -0,43 2,26 2,32 -20,1 -4,58

OHL 9,72 -0,10 -1,02 9,51 9,98 -56,8 -2,41

REE 32,76 -0,08 -0,24 32,31 33,29 -16,7 -9,00

Repsol YPF 13,84 -0,55 -3,82 13,69 14,33 -38,1 -8,34

Sacyr Vallehermoso 6,32 -0,32 -4,82 6,23 6,68 -74,3 -0,78

Técnicas Reunidas 21,95 -0,57 -2,53 21,70 22,40 -58,0 19,23

Telecinco 5,98 -0,02 -0,33 5,92 6,06 -56,9 -20,79

Telefónica 14,08 -0,25 -1,74 13,90 14,26 -28,7 -11,17

Unión Fenosa 17,66 0,11 0,63 17,64 17,79 15,2 -0,39

BIGGEST LOWS

% Euros

Vueling -7,44 -0,45

Vidrala -7,04 -1,22

Reno Medici -6,25 -0,01

Fluidra -5,63 -0,16

Ercros -5,56 -0,01

Mecalux -5,52 -0,59

Renta Corporación -4,95 -0,11

Sacyr Vallehermoso -4,82 -0,32

Catalana Occidente -4,49 -0,48

Montebalito -4,38 -0,18

Spain’s National Commissionfor Competition (CNC) saidThursday it had approved GasNatural’s proposed takeover ofthe country’s third-biggest elec-tricity company, Unión Fenosa,but imposed a series of condi-tions on the deal.

One of the main provisos isthat Gas Natural offload some

600,000 retail clients, about 9percent of the current total,and sell combined-cycle plants,which are fuelled by gas, withcombined installed capacity of2,000 megawatts. Gas Naturalalone currently has 3,600 mega-watts of combined-cycle gener-ation capacity.

The CNC also obliged thecountry’s biggest gas distribu-tor to maintain Unión Fenosa’s

gas joint venture with Italy’sENI as an independent compa-ny. It was also told to sell its5-percent stake in Enagás, thecompany which operatesSpain’s gas transportation andstorage grid.

It was also instructed to “re-duce” its ties with Cepsa,Spain’s second-largest oil com-pany, in which Unión Fenosaholds a 5-percent interest.

The National Statistics Institute(INE) on Thursday confirmedwhat had been self-evident forsome time; that the Spanisheconomy slipped into a reces-sion for the first time since 1993at the end of last year as a hous-ing bubble burst and the globalcredit crunch tightened its grip.

The INE estimated that GDPin the fourth quarter of 2008fell 1.0 percent from the previ-ous three months, when it con-tracted 0.3 percent. A technicalrecession is defined as two con-secutive quarters of negativegrowth. Compared with thesame quarter a year earlier,GDP was down 0.7 percent, butwas up 1.2 percent for thewhole of 2008. The INE will re-lease a breakdown of the fig-ures next week.

“The contraction in the levelof GDP is the result of a nega-tive contribution from domes-tic demand, which was partlyoffset by a positive contribution

from the foreign sector,” theINE said.

Spain’s GDP grew 3.7 per-cent in 2007 as the country en-joyed an extended economic bo-nanza driven by a boominghomebuilding market, whichhas now collapsed, and a con-sumer spending spree, abruptlyended by soaring unemploy-ment and tighter borrowingconditions.

Experts, however, say theworst has yet to come. The gov-ernor of the Bank of Spain,Miguel Ángel Fernández Or-dóñez on Wednesday de-scribed the current downturnin activity as the worst sincethe Great Depression in 1929.

The government expectsGDP to shrink by 1.6 percentthis year before growing 1.2percent next year. The Europe-an Commission, however, hasforecast the Spanish economywill contract 2.0 percent thisyear and remain in recessionin 2010. Brussels also expectsunemployment, which is cur-

rently the highest in Europe at14 percent, to peak at 18.7 per-cent next year. The govern-ment believes the jobless ratewill hit a ceiling of 15.9 percentthis year.

While acknowledging the“unprecedented” nature of thecurrent economic crisis, PrimeMinister José Luis RodríguezZapatero yesterday remainedupbeat about the prospects of arelatively prompt recovery inactivity. “We expect to see posi-tive signs within no more thana year,” the premier told report-ers.

Cristóbal Montoro, the con-gressional spokesman on eco-nomic affairs for the opposi-tion Popular Party, said yester-day Spain was “immersed” inthe “worst and longest” reces-sion in its economic history,and predicted the downturnwould extend into next year.

“We have not touched bot-tom, and we don’t know howbad things are going to get,” hesaid.

FOREIGN CURRENCIES

Buy Sell

US dollar 1,2826 1,2823

Japanese yen 116,2700 116,2100

Sterling pound 0,9013 0,9009

Australian dollar 1,9700 1,9683

Hong Kong dollar 9,9423 9,9397

Swiss franc 1,4937 1,4930

Norwegian kroner 8,8250 8,8183

Units per euro at 18:00

Investors remain in a state ofconfusion about the current eco-nomic crisis and the proposalsput forward to address the dete-rioration in activity.

The majority of analysts havecalled for more details about thegenerous US bank bailout plan,particularly a specific timetablefor it. Opinion also remains wide-ly divided in Spain about the solu-tions proposed to pull the domes-tic economy out of recession.

The Spanish blue-chip Ibex35 closed down 1.85 percent atjust above 8,200 points, and hasnow accumulated a loss of 4.47percent over the past three ses-sions. The last set-back would ap-pear to have ruled out the emer-gence of a period of wide side-ways movement, which wouldhave helped to consolidate posi-tions. Turnover in the continu-ous market came in at ¤2.120 bil-lion, including ¤1.811 billion inopen-market deals..

Analysts are leaning toward

the idea we are heading for a pe-riod of strong volatility, and donot rule out the market retestinglows.

The economic figures re-leased yesterday provided back-ing for the latter possibility as itwas confirmed Spain hadslipped rapidly into recession,while industrial output fell inthe euro zone. However, surpris-ingly enough US retail salespicked up in January.

The National Commission forCompetition’s approval of gasNatural purchase of UniónFenosa served to provide somesupport for the electricity suppli-er’s share price, which is slowlyapproaching the ¤18.33 offerprice.

During these times of crisis,the offer is particularly attrac-tive and even Banco Pastor hasstated its intention to tender itsstake in Unión Fenosa to GasNatural. The bank reported itsearnings for last year had suf-fered from a sharp increase inloan defaults.

Anti-trust office approves GasNatural takeover of Fenosa

Spain drops into recession,statistics bureau confirmsActivity contracted 1.0 percent in last quarter of 2008

CONTINUOUS MARKET

BIGGEST HIGHS

% Euros

Exide 9,68 0,51

Amper 3,74 0,18

Antena 3 TV 2,86 0,10

Miquel y Costas 2,36 0,27

Almirall 2,31 0,15

CAM 2,22 0,12

Pescanova 2,18 0,55

Realia 1,87 0,03

Lingotes Especiales 1,69 0,05

Rovi 1,54 0,09

Of the countries that currentlyenjoy Moody’s Investors Servic-es highest Aaa sovereign rating,Spain and Ireland are the mostmost vulnerable to a down-grade. So said Moody’s Thurs-day, citing the serious problemsthe countries’ economies face.

Moody’s said Spain’s abilityto hold onto its rating will de-pend on its ability to rapidly re-vive its economy, which slippedinto recession at the end of lastyear for the first time since 1993.

Standard & Poor’s last monthcut its AAA long-term sovereigncredit ratings for Spain by onenotch to AA+ due to the deterio-ration in the government’s fi-nances as a result of the sharpdownturn in the economy and amassive injection of state fundsto help underpin activity.

Spanish bank Banco Pastormay issue ¤1 billion in bondsunder the auspices of the gov-ernment’s asset issue guaran-tee program, Chairman JoséMaría Arias said Thursday.

The government hasagreed to back asset issuesby banks to an amount of upto ¤200 billion. So far, onlysavings banks La Caixa andCaja Madrid have tapped thefacility to an amount of ¤2 bil-lion each.

Arias stressed Pastor had“enviable” levels of liquidityand “adequate” cover for con-tingencies, and that it wouldtap the government programto increase lending to compa-nies.

Pastor booked a net loss inthe fourth quarter of lastyear of ¤5.85 million, com-pared with a profit of ¤47.98million a year earlier as it opt-ed to increase provisions by¤168 million to cover soaringdefaults. The bank’s bad loanrate at the end of last yearjumped to 3.6 percent of totallending from 0.8 percent ayear earlier.

The bank fully set aside asprovisions capital gains of¤111 million from the sale of a1.14-percent stake in electrici-ty company Unión Fenosa.

Pastor bank booked a netprofit for the whole of 2008of ¤164.1 million, down 18.8percent from a year earlier.

Arias said Pastor did notforecast the need for a capitalincrease to bolster the bank’sshareholder funds any timesoon. “We have [latent] capi-tal gains which can provide acushion against the crisis,”he said.

Consumption of cement in thefirst month of the year droppedby 51.9 percent to levels of be-low those of 10 years ago as adecade-long boom in the home-building sector turned to abust.

The industry associationOficemen said Thursday pro-duction in the month dropped47.8 percent to 1.9 million tonsas all of the 37 integrated plantsin the country had either reinedin output or had shut down.

Uncertainty returns

Moody’s saysSpain primecandidate fordowngrade

A. S., Madrid

A. S., Madrid

Pastor mayissue bondsbacked bythe state

Cement use,output plungein January onbuilding slump

EL PAÍS, MadridA. S., Madrid

EL PAÍS, Madrid

RAFAEL VIDAL

MADRID: Miguel Yuste, 40. 28037 Madrid. 91 337 82 00.Fax: 91 327 08 18. Legal deposit: M-14951-1976.© Diario El País, S.L. Madrid, 2002. “All rights reserved.

According to articles 8 and 32.1, second paragraph, of theintellectual Property Law, it is expressly prohibited toreproduce, distribute or communicate in public, including

making available, the entirety or segments of this publication forcommercial ends, in any shape or form, without the authorization ofDiario El País, S. L.” Authorized press clipping company: Acceso Group, S. L.

ENGLISH EDITION WITH THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2009

When a writer dies, sooner or lat-er a chest of drawers turns upcontaining previously unpub-lished material. In the case of theArgentinean Julio Cortázar, thischest was stuffed so full of docu-ments that its five drawers bare-ly opened. But on December 23,2006, his first wife and heir tothe Cortázar legacy, AuroraBernárdez, managed to slidethem out with help from thescholar Carles Álvarez, aCortázar obsessive who was de-lighted with the find.

Álvarez immediately quit hisjob as a civil servant and devotedhis time to putting these papersin order, working closely withCortázar’s 86-year-old widow. Ittook them a year just to takestock of 750 separate documents,which he catalogued in a100-page list.

“For the first three months,we were finding one unpub-lished text a day,” Álvarez recalls,still brimming with disbelief.

The result of the project is abook that will be published inMay simultaneously in Spain andArgentina. The title, somewhatinevitably, is Papeles inesperados(or Unexpected papers), and itpromises to be a real feast forfans of the master of short sto-ries. It contains 11 new tales, apreviously unpublished chapterfrom Libro de Manuel, 11 new epi-sodes of Un tal Lucas, four inter-views with the author, 13 new po-ems… The new book contains atotal of 450 pages of original ma-terial that is the best possible trib-ute to a true giant of Latin Ameri-can letters, 25 years after he died.

It is surprising that Cortázarkept these papers at all consider-ing he never thought them to beof much value. During his life-time, he sold a lot of his ownwork to US universities, includ-ing Texas and Princeton. But thegreatest source of informationfor Papeles inesperados wasCortázar’s mother, who passedon the material she had kept —and which the author of Rayuelawanted to burn — to his wife.

That is why we can now enjoya text such as Discurso del día dela Independencia (or Indepen-dence Day Speech), a paper that a24-year-old Cortázar wrote anddelivered to his teachers andclassmates. According to Álva-rez, the writer was always a topstudent, whose grade averagehovered around 8.7 out of 10.

Another early gem is the shortstory Los gatos (or The cats), writ-ten in January 1948. This is oneof his earliest known works, yetto everyone’s surprise, it already

contains one of the features ofhis best stories: the diegesis, ortelling of a story by a narrator (asopposed to mimesis, whichshows the action).

“Cortázar had an uncanny abil-ity to make the narrator switchcharacters without the reader no-ticing — unless they are veryalert,” said a spokesperson for Alf-aguara, the Spanish publisher ofPapeles inesperados.

According to his widow, how-ever, the most surprising text ofall — and “an irresistibly funnyone” — is Manuscrito hallado jun-to a una mano (or Manuscriptfound next to a hand), about amusic lover with an unexpectedtalent.

As for the new chapter of thenovel Libro de Manuel, the theorygoes that it was left out of thefinal manuscript “because it wasredundant and because of itshighly erotic content.”

The drawers also yieldedthree stories about “Cronopios,”a fictional character invented byCortázar, whom he describedloosely as a naïve, spontaneousand idealistic individual. Thesestories are Never stop the press,Vialidad and Almuerzo. Therewere also 11 new episodes of theadventures of Lucas, an alter egofor Cortázar. Lucas, las cartas querecibe (or Lucas and the lettershe gets) and Lucas, sus erratas (orLucas and his typos), are the bestof the lot, according to Álvarez.In the latter story, Lucas gets ob-sessed with his own typographi-cal mistakes, and ends up believ-ing they are rats (there is a playof words here between the Span-ish “errata” and “rata”). He thenhires a Japanese miniaturist tocreate a special cage in which totrap them.

Cortázar’s bonhomie andfriendly nature made it impossi-ble for him to say no when hisfriends asked him to write some-thing about them. That is whywe now have about a dozen suchtexts — one about the sociologistÁngel Rama, another about thesinger and actress Susana Rinal-di — as well as 11 essays about hisgreat passions: painting, sculp-ture and photography. These arti-cles were originally published inthe various magazines he wrotefor.

Cortázar’s imagination hasoverwhelmed even his own wid-ow. While she and Álvarez wereputting all his newfound materi-al in order, they were forced tocreate a new chapter for Papelesinesperados, which they simplydescribed as “pure Cortázar” forlack of a better description. They

are fascinating word games thatreach the category of epigram.

Since metaliterature was al-ways part of Cortázar’s work, it isnot surprising to find four “self-interviews” among his work. Inthree of them, he is interviewedby a sarcastic duo, Calac and Po-lanco, who play down everythinghe says. Both characters show upregularly in his work ever sincehe first created them for his nov-el 62, A Model Kit.

Papeles inesperados also in-cludes 36 articles on literature,politics, travels and miscella-neous items, such as the speechhe gave when he receivedFrench citizenship. The last chap-ter contains 13 unpublished po-ems. In 1956 Cortázar boughthimself a mimeograph, a precur-sor of today’s photocopiers, andmade “manual copies” of his poet-

ic compositions for his friends.One of those sets, which was pre-served over time, makes up thebulk of this last chapter.

Papeles inesperados is a defini-tive contribution to the humanand literary side of Cortázar.“The vital period covered hereranges from the early 1930s tonearly 1984 [the year of hisdeath]; that allows us to see ev-ery side of him, from the haughtyto the playful, from the backwardrural teacher to the politically ac-tive, critical author,” says JuliaSaltzmann, the head of Alfaguarain Buenos Aires. “To me, this ishis great autobiographical textbesides his correspondence, be-cause it shows the evolution ofthe person and the writer, of thepre-Cortázar individual to the fa-mous Cortázar.”

“Since there are texts of alltypes and from all periods, wecan travel from the grandilo-quent and even slightly affectedprose of his youth, to the rhetori-cal liberation of the Spanish lan-guage that makes him one of themost extraordinary authors of20th-century literature,” says Ál-varez.

Álvarez also said that it is un-likely that any new Cortázar ma-terial will turn up at this point,leaving little hope of finding Solil-oquio, the 600-page novel that hewrote as a young man and whichwas sadly lacking from that chestof drawers in Paris.

Although he was born in Brus-sels and lived most of his life inFrance, Julio Cortázar(1914-1984) grew up near Bue-nos Aires and wrote all his ma-jor work in Spanish.

Thanks to his groundbreak-ing techniques, which drew onjazz, Surrealism and Frenchnouveau roman, he was con-

sidered one of the most influ-ential of the 20th century’s Lat-in American writers.

His best-known work isRayuela, published in Englishas Hopscotch, a novel whichsacrifices plot to make way forcharacter development andphilosophical wanderings. Itsuse of the Spanish language, in

particular, was considered rev-olutionary when it was pub-lished in 1963.

But Cortázar is just as well-known for his short novels,and has been compared toJorge Luis Borges in that re-spect. Blow-up and Other Sto-ries, and Cronopios and Famasare two of his finest.

Revolutionizing Spanish

The bulging chestof drawers thatCortázar left behindA total of 750 documents pennedby the influential Argentinean writerhave been collected in a revealing book

CARLES GELIBarcelona

Writer Julio Cortázar, photographed in 1968. A new book brings together 450 pages of unpublished material. / efe

“For the first threemonths, we foundone unpublishedtext each day”