The Spanish Government has admitted that it thinks that the black economy represents almost one-fifth of the country's GDP. The Minister for Employment, Celestino Corbacho, said that he considered "submerged activities" make up between 16% and 20% of GDP and that the number usually increased in times of recession.

Presenting the numbers for 2009 in the fight against fraud in the labor market, Corbacho said that there was a 30% increase in the number of work inspections during 2009, and that this had resulted in fines worth € 960 million, 12.4% more than in 2008. In addition, the inspections led to an extra 48,742 people registering to start contributing into the Spanish Social Security system.

Unemployment benefits in Spain are fairly generous but there is a large number of people working in side jobs while collecting unemployment benefits.

But there has been a surprisingly small number of people who applied for extended unemployment benefits. One reason may be the requirement to take training courses to qualify. That's difficult if you're already working at another job.

Spain's Iberia Airline is asking for travellers flying with them to the USA to arrive at the airport at least three hours before take off time.

The extra time is a result of the extra security measures being demanded by the US for incoming flights, which has resulted in an additional security controls on passengers at the boarding gate.

The company is also asking that hand luggage be kept to "a minimum" and that passengers show up at the boarding gate earlier than before because of the additional security controls there.

The governing Socialist Party has agreed to amendments to its proposed new Abortion Law. The party announced that the text of the reforms will now include issues on conscientious objection.

Under the amendment, medical staff will have the right, individually, to register in writing as conscientious objectors. Objections may not be made, as is currently permitted, by the leader of a medical team on behalf of the entire team.

The government is stepping up its fight against tax fraud. In January it passed a new law requiring banks to automatically inform the Spanish tax authorities every year of any movements of cash or credit card payments for more than € 3,000.

The Agencia Tributaria (Spanish IRS) already had access to such information - if it requested it - but now there will be a routine transfer of the information. Banks will also have to identify the exact type of payment used in each transaction.

Meanwhile, real estate transactions, long a favorite method of laundering undeclared income, will come under increased scrutiny. Lawyers and Notaries will now be obliged to note the payment method used in the purchase of property.

An woman resident in Cartagena has been arrested by the Guardia Civil for advertising offers of free sex on the Internet, but giving contact details of a rival.

News reports said she published the telephone number and even the full address of her enemy. The victim was forced to move out of her home to escape the avalanche of enquiries from men seeking to take up the offer.

The ads have now been removed from the five websites on which they were published and the woman in question faces charges of libel and disclosing private personal information.

The law that required drivers to carry a spare set of bulbs in their cars has finally been eliminated by the Spanish traffic authorities.

As car headlights got more complicated to replace even in the garage, let alone at the roadside, most drivers just carried a box of bulbs to avoid being fined. Just over a year ago the government announced that the traffic police would no longer impose such fines, even though the law requiring spares was still on the books. Authorities had been collecting about € 2 million in fines from 13,000 drivers every year.

Now the authorities have apologized to those drivers who were fined during this past year and said the obligation to carry bulbs has been eliminated. (There was no mention of refunds.)

The Spanish government is considering delaying the retirement age by 2 years - from 65 to 67. But some in the Cabinet of Ministers are opposed to the idea.

The reform is being promoted in the cabinet by the Minister for Tax and the Economy and is opposed by the Minister for Employment and Immigration.

The measure is being considered as the government takes measures to deal with the national budget deficit. If approved by the Cabinet, it would then be debated by employers and unions before being considered by the Congress.

If approved by Congress, the changes would start gradually in 2013 and be completed by 2025.

The Spanish INE, National Statistics Institute, predicts in 40 years only about 40% of the population will be of working age.

The INE estimates that, in 2049, 31.9% of the population will be 65 or over, and 29.07% will be 16 or under.

In other words, assuming a 10% unemployment rate, for every ten workers there would be only nine who are paying into the system. Such an age distribution would require major changes in the country's Social Security and pensions systems.