News for prayer for Week of June 13, 2022
Headline News:
The Spanish legislature is attempting to introduce legislation that would make prostitution illegal, as currently it’s not illegal and quite a gray area in the law. In Gipuzkoa it is estimated that ~700 people work in this industry. Most of them are from Brazil and Columbia. An organization that works with these women in Gipuzkoa is concerned that the new law will make it worse for these women and push them further to the fringe of society.
The Sunday paper included an article with interviews from 4 different people of Catholic faith. They were a young pastor, retired pastor, person of faith (catholic roots) and a catholic. The article title included the following statements: the church not being in style, problems of the church and Gipuzkoa becoming more secularized. All 4 of the people had hope and different suggestions for how the church could become relevant in society again.
Economy:
The restaurant businesses are quite concerned about the upcoming summer season because they do not have the wait staff to support the demand they are expecting this summer. This will be the first summer in 2 years that will not have restrictions on hours open, mask mandates or limits on maximum people inside/at a table. This industry was hit particularly hard during the pandemic and hiring of new staff has been slow for them. Options are being explored on how to help this industry including how foreigners, who may not have full residency, can be hired and changing the minimum wage.
The Central European Bank announced that at the end of July they will be raising interest rates. This will be the first time for a rate increase in 11 years. The current plan is for it to be 0.25%. They will monitor the inflation situation and may make another adjustment in September.
The IBEX35 ended last week on a downward trend closing at 8,390.60, a 3.83% loss for last week.
Political:
June 29 & 30 Madrid Spain will be hosting a meeting for NATO. The meeting will have leaders of 30 different nations visiting the city. Security for the event is a key item. The air space in Madrid will be restricted and the city will have an additional 35000 security personnel to ensure protection. The three areas they currently have concern about is an attack are: Jihadist, violent protest from opposition groups or a group upset about the Russian-Ukraine invasion.
The Spanish court system ruled last week that ETA prisoners would no longer be required to write an apology letter to victims as part of the transfer process. It was argued that some did not have definitive victims and it should not be required. The article ended with parts of a letter from a prisoner talking about his reflections of his actions.
The diplomatic relations between Spain and Algeria are a bit tense at the moment. Last week Algeria attempted to put some economic sanctions in place against Spain. They are saying this is due to Pedro Sánchez having conversations with Moroccan authorities to discuss some trade options. The EU is stepping in and trying to better understand the situation and help address the tension.
International:
The Russia-Ukraine invasion still has a good amount of coverage in the international section. Other articles were: Celebration of Queen Isabel II Platinum jubilee, another French election and US gun violence/control.
Sports:
The Spain National Team is currently playing in the UEFA Nations League Tournament. They are currently in League A Group 2, where they finished in 1st place. The next set of games will be in June of 2023.
Prayer Points and verse for the week:
Prayers points:
- Women working in prostitution
- Church influence in Gipuzkoa
- Basque Economy (Restaurants & workers)
The verse for the week:
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
Isaiah 43:2 NLT