The Spanish agriculture
minister, Miguel Arias Cañete, has denied in the Congress of Deputies (Parliament)
that there is a European Commission proposal to allow alcohol with other
origins than wine to be used to make brandy. He was answering a question put by
the Socialist Parliamentary Group, which is worried about the effects of the proposal.
It was, however, accused of scaremongering.
Brandy currently accounts for over 650 million litres of
wine, and such a proposal could result in the uprooting of 150,000 hectares of
vineyard –mostly in La Mancha, where the Airen grape is used for brandy
production. While it would result in huge production cost reductions, it
would inevitably also result in unemployment.
Earth tremors were
felt at about 2.30 yesterday afternoon in the Bay of Cadiz areas of El
Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz and Puerto Real. The tremors registered 2.8 on the Richter
scale, but no damage or injury was reported. These followed mild tremors at
about 10.00 on Tuesday night with a reading of about 1.7 Richter. The south
coast of Spain has thousands of tremors every year, but they are usually very
mild and rarely noticed. The reason is probably that the African tectonic plate
is pushing north, a long-standing affair which has caused the Pyrenees to very
gradually rise.
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