can not understand several sentences, help plz

[japanjapan]

Dear teachers,
I read one article of Ecomonist of the latest issue, the title of which is SURVEY: SPAIN

The second transition

Plz look at the following paragraph:
Spain's cities have, for over a decade, been clever at promoting themselves, and thus the country as a whole, through international fiestas. Barcelona got a huge lift from the Olympics in 1992, and so did Seville from the Expo world fair that same year. Now Barcelona is holding a €326m jamboree called Forum 2004. In 2007 Valencia will hold, on behalf of the landlocked Swiss champions, the contest for sailing's oldest competition, the America's Cup. And Madrid is now running second in the stakes to hold the 2012 Olympics.

I can not understand the red colour sentence.
I think "on behalf of" means represent, how can a city represent one country's champions? do Swiss people sail? Why did the author mention Swiss champions??
I am puzzled.

Plz look at another paragraph:
Spain also lags in some social areas such as homosexual rights and the role of women. Domestic violence is a big problem—no more so than elsewhere, but perhaps less recognised until recently. The Catholic church still receives much of its income through a share of Spaniards' income tax, albeit only by individual agreement. These and other matters will come up for review, and indeed the new government is already tackling many of them.

What does " no more so than elsewhere" mean?
Does it mean that domestic violence in Spain is not so severe as it is in other countries?

What does " albeit only by individual agreement" mean?
Does it mean that most Spaniards in fact do not want to give money to churches? and the agreemant is only a private agreement by the country's leader?

thanks, and I know this post is a little longer and I am sorry for this.
thanks again.

[queenmaabd]

Dear teachers,
I read one article of Ecomonist of the latest issue, the title of which is SURVEY: SPAIN

The second transition

Spain's cities have, for over a decade, been clever at promoting themselves, and thus the country as a whole, through international fiestas. Barcelona got a huge lift from the Olympics in 1992, and so did Seville from the Expo world fair that same year. Now Barcelona is holding a €326m jamboree called Forum 2004. In 2007 Valencia will hold, on behalf of the landlocked Swiss champions, the contest for sailing's oldest competition, the America's Cup. And Madrid is now running second in the stakes to hold the 2012 Olympics.

1_I can not understand the red colour sentence.
I think "on behalf of" means represent, how does a city can represent one country's champions? do Swiss people sail?
I am puzzled.



Plz look at another paragraph:
Spain also lags in some social areas such as homosexual rights and the role of women. Domestic violence is a big problem—no more so than elsewhere, but perhaps less recognised until recently. The Catholic church still receives much of its income through a share of Spaniards' income tax, albeit only by individual agreement. These and other matters will come up for review, and indeed the new government is already tackling many of them.

2_What does " no more so than elsewhere" mean?
Does it mean that domestic violence in Spain is not so severe as it is in other countries?


3_What does " albeit only by individual agreement" mean?
Does it mean that most Spaniards in fact do not want to give money to churches? and the agreemant is only a private agreement by the country's leader?

thanks, and I know this post is a little longer and I am sorry for this.
thanks again.

1_It means that Spain will hold the competition in its country. The reason being is that the Swiss, who are the actual champions and have the right to celebrate the competition in thier country, cannot do so because they are landlocked (surrounded by land). So the America´s Cup will be celebrated in Valencia.And of course the Swiss sail, How else could they be the champions! :wink:

2_It means not more than in other countries. In general the sentence means to say that the problem is as bad as in other countries, but hasn't been recognized until recently.

3_It means that each person can decide to give taxes to the church or not, but it depends on each person. When I declare my taxes here in Spain, I decide if I want to give part of the money to the church, or if I want to give it to other NGOs.