News for prayer for Week of October 3, 2022

Sampie Brown on October 9, 2022

Headline News:

The Basque medical system is continuing to feel the effects of the pandemic. The number of people waiting for an operation has increased 20% over the last 2 years. In 2006 the Basque Government established that the maximum time to wait for surgery should be less than 180 days. Currently about 1000 people are outside of that limit. Also, the wait time to enter a residential home for older people is seeing improvements down to 3 months. Before the pandemic it could be up to 7 months. For a person with a disability, they may have to wait up to 500 days before entering a facility.

With school starting statistics are starting to be released about the makeup of classes. A statistic that was highlighted is the number of foreign students in the education system. The number has increased 15% over the last 5 years. A majority of those students are coming from North Africa, with South America also being a large percentage. Also, the legislation approved changes in the school system which are still working to be finalized. They were hoping to have those finished before this school year; however, it’s now looking like the changes will need to be implemented next year with the delay in government finalization.

Economy:

The Euribor, which is how interest rates are set for mortgages in Spain, has been climbing since the start of 2022. This is affecting people buying houses. The government is looking at alternatives on how to address the problem given the rise in the rates. A rise is also being seen on consumer loans and credit cards given the changes with the Euribor.

The Basque government is attempting to do all it can to help the business sector. They recently passed a 14 million € package to help them during the current economic situation. September also saw inflation fall to 9%, with the main driver of the reduction being reduction in electricity and fuel costs.

The IBEX35 ended last week on a downward trend closing at 7366.80, a 2.86% decrease over the previous week.

Political:

The end of September 2022 marked 40 years since ETA started the process to disband due to the initial violence not having the intended effect. It would take another ~30 years before the organization was fully disbanded. With that they started to shift their strategy.

Last week Pedro Sánchez tested positive for COVID and had to cancel some of his engagements while he recovered. The new leader of the PP was recently interviewed. The interview covered a range of topics: Spain’s financial situation, status of Catalonia, lack of meetings between him and Sánchez since April and the upcoming election. Urkullu’s interactions with Sánchez were recently documented. The most recent request was an email sent on September 21 about the Basque’s desire for self-government, although to date no response has been received.

International:

With Putin having made a military requirement for males to show up for recruitment, the Ukraine SOS in Basque Country received about 50 calls for assistance from Russian’s trying to flee the country. It was also noted that the number of Ukrainians still in Basque Country has reduced as they return home or seek refuge in other parts of Europe. Currently ~900 students have registered and are making plans for education in the Basque system, which is slightly less than last year.

Other international headlines included: Political changes in Italy, Brazilian presidential election results, hurricane Ian’s landfall in Florida and various themes regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sports:

Real Sociedad played against Sheriff Tiraspol, with the result being a 2-0 victory. With that victory the team is in 7th place overall in LaLiga. The next game is Sunday October 9 against Villareal.

Gipuzkoa Basket had its first game on Friday October 7. The result was a 68-62 win. The next game is on Tuesday October 12 against Castello and will be the home opener to the season.

The Spanish national soccer team has played two games in the UEFA Nations League. The first was a 1-2 loss against Switzerland. Next was a 1-0 win against Portugal. The next game is November 23 against Costa Rica in the World Cup group stage.

Prayer Points and verse for the week:

Prayers points:

  • Basque Medical System
  • Political Interactions
  • Economy

The verse for the week:

No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

1 Samuel 2:2 NLT

News for prayer for Week of February 7, 2022

Sampie Brown on February 9, 2022

The cover page images for the 4 papers last week were the following: Rafa Nadal after winning the Australian open for his 21st Grand Slam, restaurant owner removing the sign about needing COVID-19 passport after the TSJPV ruled against them and results of the Real Sociedad game against Betis. The Sunday front page had two focuses with the top portion focused on the 40th anniversary of Ertzaintza (Basque National Police) and the other was child refugees from Greece and Syria being taken care of in Gipuzkoa.

Headline News:

COVID continues to be in the news as the government attempts to transition to the next phase of the pandemic. The COVID passport had been in effect since December and the government was looking to extend the use of it for a bit longer. However the judicial system did not agree with the further usage & expansion, so last week the need for a COVID passport was removed completely. This was the seventh time the judicial system did not support the recommendations of the government. The government has also started the process of returning 2.5 million euros that were collected from the fines issued during the various State of Alarms that have now been ruled unconstitutional. The numbers for the 6th wave are beginning to trend down, though the map for Gipuzkoa still is showing all red. The demand for home tests continues to be consistent, and is much lower than what was seen in early January.

The catholic church had two headlines. The first was more coverage surrounding the investigations of the abuse that happened in the Church. They highlighted that in February 2019, 4 cases of sexual abuse were reported for Gipuzkoa. For two of the cases, the priests had already passed away, and the other two cases were sent to Rome for further investigation. Another article talked about ~50 cases that have been reported in the last 50 years for Basque Country. The Sunday paper included a two page interview with a Criminal Investigator from the Basque University. It was very direct and talked about several different aspects of the abuse that happened. It also included thoughts about the way forward for the people and the church. Another article had one victim who raised concerns about the current process and he believes that no investigation will happen. The other headline was that the current bishop had his last service on Sunday after being the ArchBishop for 12 years here. The church was at maximum capacity of 60% due to COVID and also had people outside protesting with posters. He will be moving to Alicante.

Economy:

The outlook for 2022 for the Basque economy continues to look good. They are expecting the GDP for the region to be between 4.5% and 6% for 2022. They believe that 5,000 new jobs will be created. They also acknowledged that some sectors are still needing help (Restaurants and tourism) and are looking for solutions as those businesses are still being impacted. Cost of energy was also listed as a concern as that will also impact the profit margins for companies. 

The IBEX35 ended last week on a downward trend closing at 8,589.30, a 0.24% decrease for the week.

Political:

Two big political items were the focus last week. Both were items that were voted on in the Spanish legislature. The first were updates to housing laws, which were passed. It included protection for small home owners, incentives to help keep prices low, options for houses that are vacant and public housing. The measure was passed with the unity from the PSOE and Unidas Podemos parties. The second item was labor reform. For the past several weeks, it’s had at least one article in the paper. Effects from the labor reform impacted several areas: seasonal contracts, unemployment benefits, contracts for young people entering the workforce, among other areas. The measure barely passed with a 175-174 vote count. The headline talks of how a vote that made the decision was cast incorrectly telematically. This vote was from one of the senior leaders in the PP party, who have been vocal about not supporting the measure.

International:

Here are a few headlines from the international section over the week: The main focus was Russian & Ukraine border tension termed here: The ‘New Cold War’. Also included was the Portugal election with the surprise outcome and high voter turnout, the US attack against Hajji Abdullah, and a view from two different EU countries handling the COVID-19 pandemic: Denmark declaring the end versus Austria implementing fines for those unvaccinated.

Sports:

Real Sociedad played two games in the last week. The first was a King’s Cup match in which they played against Betis. The outcome was a 4-0 loss. With the loss that end’s Real’s attempt to win the King’s Cup in 2022. The other game was a LaLiga match where they played against Valencia, with the result being a 0-0 tie. That result left them in 7th place.

GBC had a game against Tau Castellón which was a 69-77 loss. They only scored 5 points during the third period of this game. The next game they played was against Almansa with the result of a 101-78 victory. The paper commented how it was a well played game for the team. The next game was against Real Valladolid, where the team secured another victory with a 85-71 victory. The team is currently in 6th place overall.

The Monday paper had a spotlight on Rafal’s career after his victory at  the Australian open. He is currently number 4 in overall career victories and 5th in the ATP rankings. I noted in the opening paragraph that he has 21 Grand Slam victories, along with a gold medal in the Olympics in both individual and doubles.

Prayer Points and verse for the week:

Prayers points:

  • COVID-19 and it’s continued impacts
  • 2022 Outlook for the Basque Economy
  • Basque and Spanish political leaders
  • Leaders in the catholic church

The verse for this week focused on our paths in life. I thought this verse fit well:

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:13-14