lunes, 21 de marzo de 2011

No more strikes on flights to Spain - No habrá cancelaciones para volar a España

No habrá cancelaciones para volar a España

El sector turístico español así como los propios viajeros pueden respirar tranquilos. Tras la amenaza de huelga en los aeropuertos españoles, parece haberse alcanzado un acuerdo para así poder mantener los servicios estipulados.

La empresa encargada de la aviación en España es AENA, que hasta ahora ha ejercido como una empresa gubernamental, es decir, una empresa con dinero público español. Debido a la crisis económica mundial y a diversos factores políticos, parte de esta empresa pasará a ser de capital privado. Por eso sus trabajadores amenazaron con una huelga.

Todo el mundo recordará la huelga que tuvo lugar en Diciembre del año pasado en los aeropuertos Españoles en la que el colectivo de Controladores Aéreos paralizó el tráfico aéreo y el consecuente caos. Esta huelga respondía, por el contrario, a cambios en el salario únicamente de los Controladores. Sin embargo esta vez se han tomado medidas previas y afecta a todos los trabajadores de AENA.

Todos los trabajadores de AENA han alcanzado un acuerdo con el gobierno mediante la revisión de los cambios de su compañía. Así se han comprometido a ofrecer sus servicios con absoluta normalidad, asegurando los viajes a España y también han visto mejoradas sus condiciones laborales.

Los propios trabajadores de aeropuertos y AENA confirman que no habrá cancelaciones ni en Semana Santa ni en verano 2011.

There won't be cancellations in flights to Spain.

Tourist industry and travellers do not need to be alarmed. After the strike threaten in Spanish airports, an agreement has finally reached to maintain all services.

All flights in Spain are managed by a company called AENA, which has been a governmental company, which means it is funded by public money in Spain. Due to the Global Financial Crisis and several political orders, this company will become partly private. That was the reason why its workers threaten to go on strike.

The last strike taken place in December 2010 is still remembered by all of us. A strike in which the Air Controllers paralyzed the air traffic with the subsequent chaos produced. On the contrary, that strike was only for the changes in the sallary of the Controllers. However, this time several actions have been taken place and it involves all AENA employees.

All AENA workers have reached an agreement with the Government and they have made revisions in the changes to come in their employer company. So they have announced that the service will be offered with normality, assuring all travels to Spain as well as their working conditions.

AENA workers and airports assure there will not be any cancellations during Easter holidays or Summer-time 2011.

FURTHER DETAILS

Notice that the word Government is spelt with a b in Spanish:

Government - Gobierno
This is a very common mistake for people who can speak both English and Spanish and the truth is you'll never know in what language can this affect to you. Another example is this are the words Abbility and its Spanish form Habilidad.

¿Conoces más? / Do you know more examples?

lunes, 7 de marzo de 2011

Words that change their meaning according to the genre

Spanish language is always making a balance between genre and number. The first refers whether the words are male or female, the second whether they're singular or plural.

Distinguishing between a male or a female word can be frustrating from time to time as grammar rule do not seem to cover all of them and we've got too many exceptions. To make it even more fun we've got some words that change the meaning if we change the genre of them. Here are some examples of that:

Capital
El capital: this refers to a big amount of money.         
"Ganó un capital en América"                                        
La capital: it refers to the capital city.
"Madrid es la capital de España"

Cometa
El cometa: a space object that is constantly moving      
"Esta noche hay un cometa visible desde la Tierra"         
La cometa: a kite
"El niño ha perdido su cometa"

Corte
El corte: the way a cloth is cut to make clothes             
"El corte de esta camisa es muy original"                       
La corte: the King or Queen's court 
"La corte del Rey de España"   

Orden
El orden: when things are tidy                                       
"El orden en la habitación era un desastre"                     
La orden: a command
"¡Obedece la orden inmediatamente!"

Cura
El cura: the priest                                                        
"El cura de mi pueblo se llama Luís"                             
 La cura: the cure
"La cura del cancer es un sueño para todos"

martes, 1 de marzo de 2011

Semana Blanca - The White Week

Semana Blanca, which literally means white week, refers to the week after the Día de Andalucía, Andalusian Day, on the 28th of February.

Only children from Málaga get this holiday, specifically thought to give the chance to Málaga students to go skiing on the snow in Sierra Nevada (Granada).

Snow is quite typical in Spanish winters, however, not in all places. Sunny Spain don't see much of it and that's why we have to move to different places. Sierra Nevada, which is one of the best places in Europe to practice skiing or snowboarding, is not very far from Costa del Sol. In less than two hours you can change from sunbathing to skiing are there aren't many places in the world that can offer you that, are they?