Tomahawk missiles

In 2002, the Spanish Army signed some agreements with the US Pentagon to become the third most important army in the world, after the US Army and the British Army, thanks to the incorporation of Tomahawk missiles in the Spanish navy. These missiles can kill people at a thousand miles, which are justified by the military nonsense as “being able to attack a target without risking human life”. Needless to say, human life refers to the life of the pilot dropping missiles. The first order for 24 missiles was delivered in 2007 and it cost 72 million euros. There will be more orders like this because each Spanish frigate is supposed to carry 12 missiles. To put figures into context, 72 million euros is 2.5 times more than the budget of the Spanish government in 2009 to take measures against gender violence (28,321,180 €).

Sources:

1.  Article in the Spanish newspaper El País (14/05/2007) about the purchase of missiles: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/Armada/inicia/verano/compra/24/primeros/misiles/Tomahawk/72/millones/elpepuesp/20070514elpepinac_25/Tes 
2. Spanish General National Budget 2009. Ministry of Equality (page 37): http://www.sgpg.pap.meh.es/Presup/PGE2009Ley/MaestroTomos/PGE-ROM/doc/L_09_E_MI.PDF

Streets named after women

Towns and villages of all around the world name streets after geographical locations, trades or prominent figures in the political, economical, cultural, religious or military history of the town or country. The selection criteria differ according to the place and to the times, and sensitivities vary from one country to another. This is obvious when travelling around Northern European countries, where streets are usually named after poets, scientists or musicians. In Spain, streets are more commonly named after military or religious people. However, the common feature in most towns and villages worldwide is that men’s names prevail over women’s names.
For instance, in Barcelona, the official Dictionary of Street Names includes 1,907 streets named after men and only 306 streets named after women. That means a ratio of one woman per six and a half men.
Moreover, in the last few years, 317 new street names have been added: one quarter has been named after men and a quarter after women. The rest are geographical locations (towns, countries, etc.). At this rate, changing ratios will take a couple of centuries more.

Sources: 

1. http://www.bcn.es/nomenclator/english/welcome.htm
2. http://cpnl.cat/noticies/3192/nou-diccionari-nomenclator-dels-carrers-de-barcelona

Refugees in Somalia

The Somali Civil War, ongoing for 19 years, has turned Somalia into one of the largest countries without government. This war, together with recent droughts and floods, has forced 1.4 million people to leave their home and move to other regions in this country. Besides this internal migration, there are some other 560,000 people who have sought shelter in neighbouring countries like Ethiopia, Kenya or Yemen.
We are used to reading about large numbers of refugees and displaced people in Africa and Central Asia, but sometimes we are not aware of the real meaning of these figures. Well then, let’s picture in our mind what it means: it is as if the whole population of the Spanish region Castile-La Mancha (2,038,191 inhabitants in April 2010) were forced from their homes into tents spread in Murcia, Valencia, Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia. Moreover, if we take into account that Somalia has just about 8 million inhabitants (approx. 8,228,000 in 2005), it means that 23% of Somali people are refugees or displaced. Following the Spanish example, this percentage would include the whole population in Castile-La Mancha plus Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla: almost 11 million people living in refugee camps far from home.

Sources:

1. UNHCR Newsletter of February 2010 published by ACNUR Spain, the Spanish delegation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (spanish):
   http://www.eacnur.org/media/docs/BoRef_FEB-10_baja.pdf 
2. Population figures of the Spanish National Statistics Institute (April 2010) (spanish):
   http://www.ine.es/jaxiBD/tabla.do?per=01&type=db&divi=EPOB&idtab=4
3. Demographics and other data of Somalia (estimate in 2005):
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somalia

 

Spanish Navy frigate F100

Justícia i Pau is a Catalan organisation devoted to rising citizens’ awareness on such issues as human rights, social justice, peace and disarmament, solidarity and respect for the environment, and political pressure on institutions and parties. Among its reports, there are lots of information about how much the Spanish government invests in the army and about the export and manufacture of arms in this country. The intelligence published by the Spanish government is usually so cryptic and misleading that an experts’ commission is necessary to untangle it.
In one of these reports, there is a staggering figure: each frigate F100 of the Spanish Navy costs 517 million euros, which is the budget to pay unemployment benefits to 71,428 people for one year. Taking into account that there are 5 frigates F100, it would mean unemployment benefits for 350,000 people.

Sources:

1. Justícia i Pau webpage (in Spanish): http://www.justiciaipau.org/index.es.shtml 
2. Wikipedia article about Frigates F100: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81lvaro_de_Baz%C3%A1n_class_frigate 
3. Report Les exportacions espanyoles d'armament 1999-2008 (Spanish arm export 1999-2008), by Tica Font and Albert Benítez. Centre d'estudis per la Pau J. M. Delàs - Justícia i Pau (2010). Online Catalan version: http://77.246.179.85/aa_upload/7dc10f2cdabf56575884fff9bafc49b5/Informe_exportacions_1999_2008.pdf