Looking back over the past year, the news wasn’t all bad, and what is better is that much of the good news augured well for 2009 as well! Here is the SUR in English random list of ten good news stories, in no particular order, except for number one!

1. Barack Obama

Was elected next President of the United States. Enough said!

2. The weather: it rained

We all felt sorry for the tourists who came towards the end of the year to soak up some sun, because we had the wettest season for a long time. Come again next year, but please understand - Andalucía really needed that water!

3. Sports

2008 was definitely Spain’s year as far as sport is concerned. Victories were enjoyed in football and tennis competitions, and Spain fared pretty well in the Olympics too. Perhaps the sweetest sporting victory for Spain was the Euro 2008 tournament which saw the country named champions of Europe for the first time in 44 years after a spectacular and nailbiting final against Germany in Vienna. More tears of happiness were shed a month later in July when Mallorca tennis player Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in an epic Wimbledon final for the first time. He also took away the gold medal at the Olympics in Beijing and became the number one player in the world tennis rankings. Meanwhile Carlos Sastre notched up another victory for his country at the Tour de France, and the year was capped with a win at the Davis Cup final in November. The national tennis team beat Argentina, earning its third title, despite Rafael Nadal pulling out of the competition with a thigh injury.

4. Cudeca

After a magnificent effort at fund-raising all year, Cudeca Founder Joan Hunt was able to say she was confident the in-patients unit could continue for another 12 months - very good birthday news for Joan, who reaches the age of 80 on January 5th, and for all of us. “It’s wonderful how everyone has worked together to achieve this”, said Joan, “but it isn’t the end of the story. We need the same good news every year!” Happy birthday Joan!

5. Celebrity come-uppance

Supermodel Naomi Campbell was banned from flying with British Airways after throwing a wobbly over lost luggage. Nobody likes losing luggage, but this is the same supermodel who the previous year pleaded guilty to “reckless assault” on her maid and is known for her tantrums.

6. Strictly entertaining

In the UK it was great to see Reality TV get its come-uppance from a nice, intelligent man who knows how to be funny without offending. John Sergeant, who hasn’t got a rude (or a balletic) bone in his body, made the headlines in all the media by giving great pleasure to millions and then withdrawing - with singular grace.

7. Free

In July, 15 hostages, including former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, were freed from Colombia’s FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) rebels after six years in captivity.

8. New website

SUR in English launched this new-look website, surinenglish.com, bringing you bang-up-to-date news and views about Spain, and a calendar with the week’s entertainment. Readers responded by contributing their own news items, photos of life in Spain, and comments on what’s going on, and by sending their poems and short stories for the Literary Corner. More and better things are planned for 2009 - watch this space!

9. Olive crop

Spain, the world’s biggest olive oil producer, had a bumper olive crop leading SOS Cuétara, the world's biggest olive oil bottler, to predict a domestic harvest of 1,285 million tonnes for the market year which began in November, up from 1.24 million previously. SOS CEO Jaime Salazar said he expected prices to remain stable and demand to withstand the widespread economic slowdown, as more and more people switch to using “healthy” olive oil instead of the alternatives.

10. Energy

Spain continued to set an example in the field of alternative energies. Renewable energy has boomed in recent years as the country tries to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce its heavy dependence on fuel imports, and for a brief moment (early one morning in November) wind farms provided a record 43 per cent of demand for electricity. Spain is the third-largest generator of wind power in the world and is no lag when it comes to using the sun to best advantage, either. It is the fourth largest manufacturer in the world of solar power technology and exports 80 per cent of this output to Germany.

If you would like to highlight more good news stories or comment on our selection then please do so below: