SPAIN THIS WEEK

"Cooperation with our southern neighbours is a genuine humanitarian and strategic imperative", says Mariano Rajoy

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At a press conference with the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, Mariano Rajoy defended "joint and ambitious" action to put an end to the income gap that separates the two sides of the Mediterranean. He also stressed that the Ministerial Conference on the Southern Neighbourhood, due to be held on 13 April in Barcelona, will be a great opportunity "for frank and constructive dialogue with our southern neighbours".

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President of the Government receives Regional Councillor for Education of Region of Murcia

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The President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy, received the Regional Councillor for Education of Murcia, Pedro Antonio Sánchez, at Moncloa Palace.

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Mariano Rajoy says economic growth and job creation needed to preserve Welfare State

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While speaking in Santander, the President of the Government said that the works on Valdecilla Hospital will be finished in May and that it will become a benchmark centre for all Spaniards. He also reiterated that the main priority is to create jobs - both during this legislature and the next.

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"Every new section of highway we open represents a new axis of prosperity for us all", says Mariano Rajoy

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The President of the Government, who presided over the opening of the L0-20 highway extension to Recajo in Agoncillo (La Rioja) and its connection to the Pamplona-Logroño Motorway, stressed that the Government of Spain has maintained its infrastructure investment despite the economic difficulties because "it is essential for improving well-being and employment" and "a key factor in competitiveness".

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Government of Spain invests 330 million euros to expand ultra-fast Internet access in learning centres

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The agreement signed today at Moncloa Palace will enable more than 16,500 public-funded primary and secondary schools to start enjoying ultra-fast Internet access. Over 6.5 million pupils will benefit from this investment. Mariano Rajoy said this is "a firm commitment to modernising our education system at a national level".

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01/04/2015	The number of foreign residents in Spain stands at 4,925,089
31/03/2015	Spanish Social Security posts surplus of 3.37 billion euros
31/03/2015	Spanish Social Security system posts deficit of 11.2 billion euros, equivalent to 1.06% of GDP
31/03/2015	State deficit falls by almost 9% in first two months of 2015
31/03/2015	Spanish Guardia Civil arrests four people in Badalona (Barcelona) for their links to network dispatching Jihadis to Syria
30/03/2015	Meeting of experts from Intergovernmental Committee of the UN Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage
30/03/2015	​Statement from crisis cabinet on plane crash in French Alps