Spain to expel Libyan diplomats

A boy holds up the former Libyan monarchy flag-- the sign of the Libyan revolution-- in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, Libya.Spain is telling the Libyan ambassador to leaveThree other diplomats are also being expelledSpain is not breaking off diplomatic relations with Libya

Madrid (CNN) -- Spain is expelling the Libyan ambassador to Madrid and three other Libyan diplomats here, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

"The government of Spain has decided to put an end to the mission of the ambassador accredited in Madrid by the authorities in Tripoli (Libya), because the Gadhafi regime has lost all legitimacy due to its continual repression of the Libyan population," the statement said.

The Libyan ambassador to Madrid, Ajeli Abdussalam Ali Breni, "has 10 days to leave" Spain, the ministry said.

The government also is expelling three other diplomats at the Libyan embassy "who undertook activities incompatible with their diplomatic status," the statement said.

But Spain has not broken diplomatic relations with Libya, said a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, who by custom is not identified.

Spain still has an embassy in Tripoli, although it evacuated its personnel from the city, like many other nations, as fighting between the regime of Moammar Gadhafi and rebels intensified in late March.

The Spanish Embassy in Tripoli, staffed only by local Libyan personnel, "is not closed in a diplomatic sense," the spokeswoman said.

It was not immediately clear, she added, how many Libyan diplomats or local Spanish personnel might remain at the Libyan Embassy in Madrid, after the expulsion of the ambassador and the three other Libyan diplomats.

Spanish Foreign Ministry Trinidad Jimenez on June 8 visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi , where she declared that Libya's rebel National Transitional Council was a "valid interlocutor" and a "legitimate representative of the aspirations of the Libyan people," the spokeswoman said.

Spain has been participating in United Nations-mandated, NATO-led military operations in Libya. Spain has deployed four F-18 fighter jets and a refueling plane to help enforce a no-fly zone, and a frigate, a submarine and a surveillance plane to help impose an arms embargo against the Gadhafi regime.

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Qatar bans salad vegetables from Germany, Spain (AP)

BERLIN – The Gulf nation of Qatar has temporarily banned imports of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuces from Spain and Germany because of concerns about a deadly strain of E. coli.

All other fresh fruit and vegetable shipments from Europe must carry a health certificate declaring they are free of the bacteria.

Qatar added that it will "not hesitate to ban all vegetable imports from Europe if that is necessary to preserve the people's health in Qatar."

Qatar's Supreme Council of Health said the decision was made during an emergency meeting of the country's food control committee on Thursday, the official Qatar News Agency reported Saturday.

The neighboring United Arab Emirates last week banned cucumber imports from Spain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands because of concerns about the illness that has killed at least 18 people.

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Elections in Spain under way after massive protests

Madrid (CNN) -- Spaniards voted in local and regional elections Sunday after a campaign overshadowed by week-long protests in Madrid and other cities over the nation's deep economic crisis.

Despite a court-approved ban on demonstrations the day before the elections, the demonstrations continued on Saturday.

Polls predict the ruling Socialist Party will suffer deep losses to the conservatives in voting for all 8,000 Spanish city and town mayors and for presidents of 13 out of the 17 regional governments. The outcome is viewed as a bellwether for national elections due no later than March 2012.

The Socialist government did not order the police to disband the peaceful demonstrations on Saturday, despite the electoral board's ban that said the day prior to balloting should be a day of reflection, without politicking.

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said earlier that police would not create even more problems than already existed in the streets.

Rubalcaba voted early on Sunday, shortly after polls opened at 9 a.m. Rubalcaba is widely expected to seek the nomination of the Socialist Party as candidate for prime minister in the next general elections.

The current prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, announced last month he would not seek a third term.

His government has been squeezed by Spain's 21% unemployment rate, the highest in Western Europe, and a financial crisis that prompted unpopular austerity measures.

That's what helped start a wave of protests May 15, when Spaniards using social media sites like Facebook convened demonstrations that attracted large crowds.

The protests against the political and financial establishment continued and gained force throughout last week, as demonstrators set up encampments in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza and at emblematic plazas in Barcelona and many other Spanish cities.

Overall, reports indicated that tens of thousands took to the streets across the nation in the past week, and news media attention on the protests quickly overshadowed the campaign.

The sprawling tent city in Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza includes a kitchen, a painting workshop to churn out protest placards, a communications office to answer media inquiries and even a day care nursery.

Young people dominated the protests on Saturday, but there were also families with young children, senior citizens and many people who have jobs and said they're concerned about the nation's future. Spain has a 42% jobless rate for people ages 16 to 24.

"Everybody here is a volunteer, and everything started very small, but we got organized very fast and it started growing very fast," said Juan Lopez, a protest spokesman and Internet technology manager who is currently unemployed.

"People want to participate," said Sofia de Roa, a spokeswoman for the protesters. "This is a fiesta of democracy."

Protesters decided on Sunday to stay at least another week in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza, said Juan Lopez, a protest spokesman.

"The assembly has just approved that," Lopez told CNN by phone. The protesters have divided themselves into decision-making bodies they call assemblies, which debate and then vote on issues.

Lopez said the decision applies only to the protest in Madrid, which has been the largest in Spain. Barcelona and other cities would make their own decision.

"We are trying to coordinate," but he added that, so far, nationwide collaboration is not in place.

Zapatero, the prime minister, said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.

"It's just before elections when the Spanish politicians usually hear the voice of the people," Lopez said. "Now on Monday, we have to see how this develops and what the answer is. The best-case scenario, which is the one we would like, is that they will come down here as citizens to hear us, and to make a new and better Spain."

A total of 34 million Spaniards are eligible to vote on Sunday, including 500,000 foreigners, mainly from other European Union nations, who have established residency in Spain.

About 100,000 police officers are on duty to maintain safety. The polls close at 8 p.m., and results are due later Sunday.

Several representatives of the protests told CNN the demonstrations will continue even after the elections. But Spanish media reported that in various cities, the protester assemblies - their decision-making bodies -- had not yet decided how long the protests would continue.

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Spain protests continue despite ban

Madrid (CNN) -- Spanish youths on Saturday protested across the country for a seventh day over the economic crisis, in defiance of a 48-hour ban ahead of local elections.

Thousands of people crammed into the center of Madrid, as well as many other cities, angry over soaring unemployment rates.

"We intend to continue, because this is not about Sunday's elections it's about social cutbacks," Carmen Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the protesters in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square, told Agence-France Presse.

As a ban ordered by Spain's election commission took effect at the chimes of midnight, the protesters chanted: "Now we are all illegal" and "the people united will never be defeated," according to the agency.

The supreme court's decision to overturn an appeal against the ban came two days ahead of local and regional elections that are scheduled across the Iberian nation. The ruling meant no such protests could legally occur on Saturday.

This follows a ruling from late Thursday, when Spain's electoral board said the demonstrations, organized largely via social media networks, would be banned on Saturday. That day is supposed to be a "day of reflection" for voters -- the idea being that there should be no campaigning immediately preceding Sunday's balloting -- the board said.

The government of the ruling Socialist Party appear to have decided -- so far --that the police should keep a safe distance, as they did last Wednesday when a demonstration was banned but went ahead anyway. Socialist politicians are widely expected to suffer deep losses to the conservatives, according to recent polls.

Economist Fernando Fernandez of the IE Business School predicted that police would try to peacefully seal off Puerta del Sol plaza to prevent more demonstrators from arriving, and let those in the plaza eventually leave.

We intend to continue, because this is not about Sunday's elections it's about social cutbacks.
--Protest spokeswoman Carmen Sanchez

"The government does not want to have any sort of violence taking place the day prior to the elections. This would have a very large political cost and electoral cost," Fernandez told CNN.

"People want to participate. This is a fiesta of democracy," Sofia de Roa, another spokeswoman for the protesters, told CNN.

Demonstrators are protesting Spain's 21% unemployment rate, the highest in the euro zone, and a record 4.9 million people who are out of work. The jobless rate for youth -- those between ages 15 and 24 -- is 42%.

Protesters say that many temporary labor contracts offer few or no job benefits. In addition, some are protesting against the political and financial establishment that they say is to blame.

The protests appear to have gained momentum in the closing days of the campaign. They have captured considerable news media coverage, and all major parties have acknowledged them.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said in an interview with SER radio on Friday that voters ultimately will decide whether and how much change will be made.

On Sunday, voters in Spain's 8,000 cities and towns will elect mayors, along with 13 out of 17 regional presidents and parliaments. The results are expected to be a bellwether for national elections, which must happen no later than March 2012.

De Roa, a journalist who works for a university communications office, said protester assemblies, their ad hoc decision-making bodies, have called for a demonstration on Saturday night despite the no-campaigning tradition on the eve of a Spanish election.

She said the protests also are expected to continue nightly, even after the elections.

"We're not leaving until there's a change," she said, standing amid thousands of protesters in Madrid's emblematic central square. "Until a politician commits to implementing the proposals here."

Beatriz Elosegui, a government worker, said Thursday she had been to several protests since they started on Sunday. Her husband, an advertising executive, is out of work and her son is about to finish his training to become an electrician but has few job prospects, she said.

Two young men who appeared to be the only ones wearing suits and ties in the crowd said they showed up Thursday for the first time. Both said they work as accountants, and one, Andres Maldonado, complained of tight credit that is squeezing homeowners and small businesses. He said government efforts to inject liquidity into the financial system are not working.

Besides Madrid, there were also protests in Barcelona, Valencia and other cities in Spain. Up to a few hundred protesters have camped out in central squares each night, but the main protests are in the evening.

Some in the crowd said they would vote on Sunday, including de Roa. But she said she would change her vote from the Communist-led United Left to an even more leftist party, which she hadn't chosen yet. Elosegui said she would vote for the Humanist Party.

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Thousands protest Spain austerity cuts

Protesters set up a camp for the night at a demonstration in Madrid's Puerta del Sol plaza on Tuesday, May 17.Thousands return late Tuesday to Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plazaA few hundred demonstrators camp out overnightDemonstrators are protesting Spain's 21 % unemployment rate

Madrid, Spain (CNN) -- Protests against Spain's economic crisis took a new turn Wednesday as social media networks fueled calls for demonstrators to take to the streets before local elections a few days away.

Thousands returned late Tuesday to Madrid's central Puerta del Sol plaza -- where the main protests began Sunday.

A few hundred demonstrators camped out there overnight, while similar but smaller protests were held in Barcelona and other Spanish cities, a protest organizer said.

"The economy and unemployment are key to the protest because that binds all of us together," said Jon Aguirre Such, a spokesman for the Real Democracy Now, one of many groups convening the demonstrations.

"In this crisis, while some have gotten rich, most people have less income," Aguirre said.

Demostrators are protesting Spain's 21 % unemployment rate and a record 4.9 million jobless.

Protesters say a plethora of temporary labor contracts offer few or no job benefits. In addition, some are protesting against the political and financial establishment that they say is to blame.

The protests come in the closing days of the campaign for local elections set for Sunday. Spain's 8,000 cities and towns will elect mayors, along with 13 (out of 17) regional presidents and parliaments.

Opinion polls in Spanish media predict major gains for the opposition conservatives over Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's ruling Socialist party.

Zapatero, squeezed by the nation's prolonged economic crisis, announced last month he won't seek a third term in national elections due by March 2012.

For the past few years, as Spain's rate of unemployment remained tenaciously high, most of the protests were organized by major trade unions.

But the latest protests appear to be grass-roots movements fueled by social networks, sparking more attention.

Elena Ortega, who says she's managed to find only a part-time secretarial job, helped spread the word on Facebook about the protests on Wednesday.

"If this is happening, it's because the unions weren't doing what was needed, when it was needed. They haven't delivered," she said.

She said she's worried about her 20-year-old son, who has only found temporary jobs in the past four years.

"Forty percent of our young people are unemployed and don't have a chance," Ortega said.

The movement does not appear to be linked to the unions or political parties, the traditional protest heavyweights in Spain, said Economist Fernando Fernandez of the IE Business School in Madrid.

"I think we really don't know what we're seeing," Fernandez said.

"This is the very beginning of a new movement. I don't expect it to become a very large social response or protest against the unemployment perspective in Spain."

But hours later, on Tuesday night, several thousand protesters returned to Madrid's central plaza. By Wednesday morning, dozens remained in their overnight encampment.

The social media networks call for renewed protests on Wednesday evening in Madrid and three dozen other Spanish cities. The aim is to continue the protests at least through the elections on Sunday, Aguirre said.

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