Tag: Heat Wave

Headline News:

Last week this area experienced a heat wave for several days. It resulted in a red alert given the high temperature. The temperatures were in the upper 90s to low 100s for those days. Many in this region do not have air conditioning so cooling off can be a bit of a challenge especially in the small towns. The heat wave saw an increase in forest fires for Spain that have affected hundreds of acres of land thus far. Thankfully the heat wave broke and temperatures have returned to be more pleasant.

The results of the selectivity exam have been sent to students and the application process for university has opened. The number of applications is over 19000 to attend the Basque University system. The score of the selectivity exam is competitive as it determines which field they can study. When applying the students have to rank the areas they’d like to study. Most will likely get to the second or third choice depending on which one’s they chose.

Economy:

Inflation over the last week was a headline item and also discussed in the political and economy sections of the paper. The political conversation was what the government can do to help the current situation as inflation is over 10%. In the economy section the Central Bank of Europe raised rates 0.5% the most it has done in 22 years in an attempt to limit the future impacts. This is after a 0.25% raise in June. The article shared how the Eurozone was in alignment with the policy moving forward to address the issue. It was also a headline article on Sunday sharing how people in Gipuzkoa have reduced spending by 7.5%. Additionally, stores are seeing consumers move to general brands versus name brands as they look for ways to save in stores.

The IBEX35 ended last week on a small upward trend closing at 8,051.60, a 1.33% increase for last week.

Political:

Urkullu, the president of the Basque Country, is looking for ways to build pacts with other parties as the region exits the COVID-19 situation and moves forward. Parties are looking to address areas that have not been addressed recently. They have seen success with political cooperation in the past with updates made to the education system. A couple of the concerning areas highlighted in the article were the public hospital system, increase in social program spending, birth rate (which was reported as one of the lowest in Europe) and minimum income. The problems with public health care were front page news, as people are needing to wait longer for emergency care and to visit the doctor.

The PP party continues to gain momentum in Spain. Last week the latest poll figures were released. It showed that for the first time with the new PP leadership of Tezanos, now having 1.9% advantage over PSOE. PSOE is the party currently in power of the Spanish government. The PP party gained 3.1% in the poll, while PSOE lost 1%. PSOE leadership under Sánchez is trying to recover before the next election cycle. The current trajectory for the next elections would be a year and a half, though that could change.

International:

Here were some key headlines: The heat wave that affected the United Kingdom, Italy and France where temperatures were over 100º F, Russian invasion of Ukraine with the EU taking additional sanctions, Political situation in Italy as it will be the 68th new government since WWII.  

Sports:

Real Sociedad has started its preseason play. Over the off season they had several new players added and are looking forward to the return of Oyarzabal after his knee injury last year. They have played two games with one being a loss and the other a draw. Two more preseason games exist before the start of the season on August 14.

The Tour De France ended on Sunday. The winner was Jonas Vingegaard, a 25-year-old who suffered from anxiety at the start of every stage. It was reported that his favorite race in his career was the Itzulia, which happens here in Basque Country, he specifically talked about the 2021 race where he had a mental change. He will also be racing in the San Sebastián Classic that happens this Saturday.

Prayer Points and verse for the week:

Prayers points:

• Economic impacts from inflation
• Political unity
• Heat wave impacts

The verse for the week:

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

2 Peter 3:9 NLT