2 January – Oil leakage from the sunken
tankerPrestige threatens the southwestern coast of France. The
prefect of
Aquitaine reported a slick from the tanker is 50 kilometers (30 standard miles) from the coast. French Prime Minister
Jean-Pierre Raffarin promised 50 million
euros for the cleanup. The Prestige, which carried 77,000
tonnes of crude oil, sunk in late November 2002, off the coast of the Galician region of Spain.[2]
7 July – Thousands of people take part in the first
bull run of the annual
San Fermín festival in
Pamplona,
Spain. No serious injuries or gorings were reported.[4]
24 October – Three same-sex couples in
Spain, including a
Madrid city councilman, apply for marriage licenses. They state that if the registry judge does not grant them the licenses, they will appeal to Spain's constitutional court, and as far as the
European Court of Human Rights if necessary. They describe their actions as inspired by
the recent rulings on same-sex marriage in Canada.[5]
13 December –
Spain has announced an agreement with
Morocco to proceed with plans to build a rail
tunnel beneath the
Strait of Gibraltar, linking Europe and Africa. Assuming the project is technically and financially feasible, digging would start in
2008.[6]