Nearly 39,000 illegal buildings in Marbella

90 percent of the official list, or 24,488 of the irregular buildings are homes
The full extent of the illegal building problem in Marbella has been revealed with an official count of the irregularities coming in at nearly 39,000.
On the list are homes, hotels, schools, petrol stations, golf courses and even a chapel and heliport.
The list from the Marbella planning office is now closed at 38,194 constructions outside the PGOU Urban plan guildelines approved in 1986, 24,488 of them are homes. The numbers have been published Monday by La Opinión de Málaga.

Fernando Alonso dissapointed but optimistic

The Spaniard came in seventh in the German Grand Prix
Fernando Alonso was disappointed after the German Grand Prix on Sunday after failing to qualify for the grid after spinning off on slick tyres during a rain storm in qualification.
The driver from Asturias considered that even a podium place would have been possible for him given improvements made in the R29 car which even produced the fastest lap time during the race. Alonso considered that his car had been the quickest, after the two Red Bulls which came in first and second.
Things do look a bit more optimistic for the Spaniard at the next race in Hungary, and he has said he is confident of better results from now on. ‘Sometimes you don’t note when things have changed in the car, this time yes’, he said.
Alonso finished 7th. The top six places went to
Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, 1,2 in the Red Bulls,
Felipe Massa was 3rd for Ferrari, Nico Rosburg fourth in the Williams and then the two Brawn with Button 5th and Barrichello 6th.

High temperatures continue across Spain

Orange alerts for high temperatures have been issued in some areas of the country
The new week starts in Spain with the high temperatures seen over the weekend continuing in many areas.
Hottest part of the country will be Castilla-La Mancha were an orange alert for high temperatures has been issued by the Spanish Meteorological Agency. Orange alerts also in the provinces of Granada and Jaén.
Temperatures will also be high inland in the Eastern part of the mainland and in Mallorca where yellow alerts for high temperatures are in force.
Yellow alerts are in force for the following provinces - Huesca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Toledo, Madrid, Navarra, Alicante, Valencia, La Rioja and Murcia.
Cloudy or very cloudy with showers during the morning in Galicia, Asturias and the north of Castilla y León. Light showers also possible in La Rioja, Navarra and the North of Aragón, where there is a chance of a storm later in the day.
Cloudy or very cloudy on the Canaries with the chance of a shower in the north.
Some morning cloud in places along the Mediterranean coast, but elsewhere generally clear skies, with just some cloud forming later in the day over the mountains and sierras.
Winds along the costas will be westerly weak, strengthening to moderate later in the day.
Temperatures:
Highs: Granada, Murcia 38, Málaga 34, Alicante 31, Valencia 30, Almería, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 29, Cádiz 25.
Lows: Almeria 24, Valencia 23, Murcia, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 22, Alicante, Cádiz 21, Málaga 20, Granada 17.
Hottest place in Spain today – Córdoba and Toledo 39
Coolest overnight provincial capital – Burgos, Palencia, Salamanca 12
Outlook
Little change on the Costa del Sol, just some cloud possible on Thursday, remaining hot.
There is a 20% chance of rain on the Costa Blanca and Cálida tomorrow, Tuesday but the rest of the week will be hot and sunny.

Tensions increase between Armstrong and Contador

The two Astana team mates both want to win the Tour de France
Sunday’s stage in the Tour de France saw more tension between Alberto Contador and his teammate Lance Armstrong, after differences first emerged between the two members of the Astana team on Friday.
Armstrong has commented ‘I was the boss before and controlled everything with a firm hand, but if he shows that he is the better rider, there is nothing I can do’. The comment is reported by El Mundo. The United States rider is also reported not to be happy at possibly ending the race in his current third position.
For his part Contador has said that he could have gone faster in the ninth stage on Sunday in the Pyrenees, but the important thing was to be wearing the yellow jersey at the race end in Paris.

68 arrive on El Hierro in immigrant patera

One of the travellers has died and five more have serious dehydration
One person dead and five in a serious condition in hospital is the balance from the latest patera immigrant boat to arrive on the Cararies.
Several of the 68 people on the boat which arrived at the port of La Estaca on El Hierro at 10,45pm on Sunday night were suffering from dehydration. Five are now recovering in the Nuestra Señora de los Reyes hospital on the island.

Elena Salgado announces new finance deal for the regions

The Minister for the Economy is to spend an additional 11 billion a year on the regions from 2012
Spanish Minister for the Economy, Elena Salgado, has announced that Central Government will make more than 11 billion additional € available annually for the regions from 2012.
The main change she has made to the system is to calculate the amounts given to each region on a per-capital basis for the first time, and makes the move to ensure that a deal can be done now on regional funding but the idea has already been criticised by the P.P.’s economic spokesman, Cristóbal Montoro. He said the idea would only bring ‘more crisis and more unemployment’.
Salgado has dismissed that claim, saying the new funding shows a greater solidarity with the regions and that all areas would have more resources in the future closer to an average per capita budget.
There are still few details on the proposal which will now be considered in the regions of the country, although reports indicate that it has already been accepted in Cataluña. However Artúr Mas, the leader of Catalan coalition, CiU, said it was ‘an illegally finance deal in time periods, and insufficient in resources’. His opposition will not matter however following support for the deal from the ERC Catalan Republicans. It’s calculated by the Catalan Nationalists that the region gets an additional 3.85 billion a a year under the deal.
In Andalucia the government has described the proposal as ‘enormously positive’, while Madrid considers the calculation of population numbers as erroneous.
The new proposal means in effect that the regional administrations in Spain will get one in every four € collected in tax across the country.

Almost a ton of cannabis seized from a yacht off Mijas

Seven suspects were taken into custody by National Police
The Interior Ministry say more arrests could be made in a joint National Police and Customs operation which has seized almost a ton of cannabis resin in Mijas and so far taken seven people into custody. Most were resident in Fuengirola.
Officers discovered that the organisation used a yacht based in Marbella to transport drugs for Moroccan suppliers of cannabis and set up a surveillance operation when the yacht set sail on its latest drugs trip. It was located a mile off the coast of Mijas with both engines broken down, just as the two crew were preparing to escape in a small boat and dump the cannabis overboard. Police seized 38 packages of the drug, totalling 920 kilos.
The organisation’s leader and deputy were amongst those taken into custody on land. The Interior Ministry has not released any information on the nationalities of the suspects.

New offices for British Embassy and Consulate General in Madrid

Both are relocating to one site in one of Spain’s tallest buildings, the Torre Espacio

The British Embassy and Consulate General offices in Madrid are moving to new offices this month, in the Torre Espacio building on Paseo de la Castellana. In order to make the move, the Embassy is closed from 10th-14th July, and reopens this Wednesday, 15th July, at Torre Espacio, Paseo de la Castellana 259D.
The Consulate General makes the move next week, and is closed from 17th-21st July, to reopen in the Torre Espacio on Wednesday 22nd July.
Further information is given on the Embassy website www.ukinspain.fco.gov.uk”
The Torre Espacio is one of four skyscrapers built recently on the extension to the Paseo de la Castellana and the British offices take up four floors in the new block, where ABC newspaper reports Australia and Canada have also rented space. The Embassy was based for almost a century on Calle Fernando el Santo, in a building which the paper said was sold at the beginning of the year, and whose new owners plan to demolish in order to rebuild.

Unfair dismissal ruled for tailor in Spain’s Gürtel corruption case

José Tomás has appeared as a witness in the court investigations linked to the Partido Popular and was sacked after he told his company he had done so
The tailor called as a witness in the Gürtel corruption case implicating high-ranking members of the Partido Popular administrations in Madrid and Valencia is to have his job back, a Madrid court has ruled.
José Tomás worked for the Forever Young and Milano stores which supplied the suits the Valencia President, Francisco Camps, and other suspects are believed to have accepted as gifts from the corruption network. He was sacked in February after he told his bosses he had declared as a witness in the court investigation; Tomás was accused by company management of issuing false invoices and losing the company almost half a million € in items either returned or sold on credit which was never paid.
The court decided in its ruling that José Tomás had no part in the company’s invoicing procedures and ruled his dismissal to be unfair. He must either now be re-employed or receive compensation of more than 230,000 €.
El Mundo reported this Sunday that Luis Bárcenas, the Partido Popular treasurer implicated in the Madrid side of the investigation, blames his situation on information on him allegedly released to the press by the party in Madrid and by the Madrid President, Esperanza Aguirre. He has allegedly threatened to bring down others before he himself falls. Aguirre responded on Monday by challenging Bárcenas to go ahead and make public any information he may have on her.
El País newspaper referred this Monday to nine boxes of party documents which Bárcenas says he has at home which include information on high-ranking members of the PP.

Sahara refugee children spend summer holidays in Santa Pola

A group of 10 are staying with local families this summer, with another group of 18 spending their holidays in Elche
A group of 10 Western Sahara children who live in refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, have arrived in Santa Pola where, thanks to donations from the locals, they will be able to spend the rest of the summer.
It’s part of the programme ‘Vacaciones en Paz’ – ‘Holidays in Peace’, and is organised by the association Help the Sahara, who have managed to raise more than 4,000 €. The donations have also been affected by the recession, and they were not able to raise quite as much as they had hoped, however.
Diario Información said another group of 18 children are spending their summer holidays in Elche.

Immigrant boat intercepted off Almería

All 16 passengers are reported to be in good health
The 16 passengers rescued from an open-topped patera boat off the coast of Níjar on Sunday night were all said to be in good health on reaching port in Almería in the early hours of Monday. The Zodiac boat was detected by the SIVE electronic surveillance system shortly after 11.30 pm, some three miles off the eastern shores of San José, and they arrived at the port approximately two hours later.
All on board were adults, with one woman travelling with the 15 men.

Two Murcia prisoners escape from prison in Castellón

They forced the bars on their cell window and reached the street from the prison roof
Police and Civil Guard are still looking for two prisoners from Murcia who escaped from the Castellón prison in the Valencia region between Saturday night and Sunday morning. They shared the same cell and managed to break out by forcing the bars on the window and reaching the street after climbing onto the prison roof.
Neither are described as dangerous and were both taken into custody for drug trafficking. They had previously spent time together on remand in prison in Murcia.

Baby who lost mother to Swine Flu dies in Spanish hospital from a dreadful medical error

Rayan was born by Caesarian section at 28 weeks the day before his mother became Spain’s first victim of the virus

The baby born by Caesarian section the day before his mother became Spain’s first victim of the A(H1N1) virus has died in hospital. Rayan was born at seven months old at the end of June while his 19 year old mother, Dalilah Mimuni, was in a coma just hours before her death.
It was later confirmed that he was born without the virus, but has been under special care since then owing to his early birth. He died on Monday morning because of what Antonio Barba Ruiz de Gauna, manager of the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid, told El Mundo newspaper was ‘a dreadful medical error’.
Rayan was said to be progressing well when, on Sunday evening, a nurse from another department, who El País said was on duty for the first time in the hospital’s neonatal ICU, mistakenly administered premature baby formula into a vein. It should have been delivered by tube to the baby’s stomach.
The nurse was under supervision, but it’s understood the supervisor was absent at the moment the nurse picked up the wrong solution, despite its being correctly labelled, and began intravenous feeding. Doctors worked on the child all night, but Rayan finally died at 12.20 on Monday morning. An internal investigation is under way, but Antonio Barba Ruiz de Gauna (2nd left) at a press conference after Rayan’s death - EFE
the hospital manager has described what happened as a negligence which has no excuse, confirming that the Gregorio Marañón takes all responsibility for the baby’s death. Both the nurse and the supervisor are understood to have been suspended from duty.
Dalilah Mimuni’s widower announced earlier this month that he would be taking legal action against the hospital’s treatment of his wife, where he said doctors failed to consider testing her for the virus despite her rising fever and difficulty in breathing.

Spain pollutes: Greenpeace protest in the Bay of Algeciras

The ecologists say Spain has direct responsibility for pollution which occurs from spillages during ship to ship fuel transfers
A Spanish fuel supply ship was the target of a Greenpeace protest in the Bay of Algeciras this Monday morning against the practice of ‘bunkering’, the transfer of fuel from a smaller supply vessel to another ship. The ecologists cite it as a common practice in Zone C of the deep water anchorage of Algeciras Port and say Spain has direct responsibility for polluting the Bay with the spillages which sometimes occur.
They say Monday’s bunkering operation took place near the protected waters of the Estrecho Natural Park and painted the words ‘Spain Pollutes’ on the side of the barge as a protest.
Greenpeace has called for an end to the bunkering practices and, together with other environmental organisations, sent a report last month to the Tripartite Forum on Gibraltar urging action on environmental issues. They claim that both the local environment and the health of local residents are suffering as a consequence of decades of neglect and a lack of cooperation between Gibraltar and Spain.

Andalucía’s largest building society in merger talks with the region’s smallest

Unicaja has more than 900 branches compared to Caja Jaén’s 52
The Chairman of Unicaja, the largest building society in Andalucía, has released a joint statement with the chief of the region’s smallest, Caja Jaén, announcing they are holding talks on merging. It’s been announced as a private operation with no external funding and will be taken to both companies’ boards of management for discussion, with a view to leaving the way open to other building societies to merge with the new company at a later date.
It was just last week that Braulio Medel from Unicaja and his colleague from Cajasol, Antonio Pulido, announced they were open to a wider fusion of financial bodies in Andalucía.
Should the merger go ahead, EFE said it will give the new building society a business volume of 50 billion €. Unicaja is 30 times larger than its smaller cousin and has 921 branches compared to Caja Jaén’s 52.
Unicaja itself itself was born in 1991 with the merger of five building societies and El Mundo speculates that their Chairman, Braulio Medel, could stay on as Chairman of the new building society. He’s due to leave the position having spent the maximum amount of time permitted in the job and the electoral process for his successor begins next month, the paper said. Forming a new building society would allow him to stay on as chairman, however.

DESIGNATION OF GIB WATERS TO SPAIN ‘BREACH INTERNATIONAL LAW’

Gibraltar is seeking to annul the wrongful designation of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters to Spanish administration under an EU habitats directive, by showing that there have been major breaches of international law.
In the action Gibraltar will be seeking partial annulment of Decision 2009/95/EC to the extent that it affects Gibraltar’s waters. It is also seeking an order that the European Commission pay the Gibraltar Government legal and other costs and expenses in relation to this matter.
The Gibraltar Government decision, to take the European Commission to court over its allowing Spain to designate Gibraltar waters as a protected site under EU nature legislation, was made last May.
Britain had already designated a large part of Gibraltar waters as a European protected site in 2006 and British Government officials have maintained that they failed to detect the Spanish designation until it was too late. Efforts to reverse the decision through diplomacy failed after the anomaly was brought to light by the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society (GONHS) last December.
Only last week the Foreign Office reiterated that it is in close contact with the Government of Gibraltar and it is aware of their application, to the Court of First Instance, for the annulment of Commission Decision 2009/95/EC to the extent that it lists Estrecho Oriental so as to include British Gibraltar
territorial waters and an area of the high seas. But London has not yet gone as far as joining the action, a move believed to have been seriously mooted.
Gibraltar is set to argue that the contested decision is in breach of the EC Treaty. It claims that the Commission made manifest errors of law in that, in breach of Article 299 EC, it has designated an area of one Member State, British Gibraltar Territorial Waters, as forming part of another Member State, Spain.
It is also being argued that the decision was adopted in breach of several articles of the directive on conservation of natural habitats. Gibraltar’s lawyers are saying that, in manifest violation of the scheme of that directive, it purports to attribute “site of Community importance” status to a large part of the site which is not in Spanish territory and which is national to another Member State. It also says there is a clear breach of the same directive in designating a part of the High Seas which do not form part of the European territory of Member States and over which Spain “does not, and cannot, exercise any jurisdiction or sovereignty”.
The case, which is being argued by David Vaughan QC and Gibraltar lawyer Michael Llamas, argues that the contested decision contains an error in law in that it purports to apply two separate and distinct legal, penal, administrative and monitoring regimes in the same site area.
The lawyers have presented the court with documents seeking to prove that the demarcation was adopted in breach of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNICLOS), the Barcelona Convention on the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea 1976 and the 1995 Protocol to that Convention, as it requires Spain to comply with the same environmental obligations in the part of British Gibraltar Territorial Waters as are required to be complied with by the UK/Gibraltar in the same area.
Gibraltar also claims that the contested decision is made invalid by manifest errors of facts which, it says, led the Commission to an improper application of the law and infringements of the EC Treaty since it is based on information which is “false and misleading”.
Meanwhile, in a belts and braces move, the Gibraltar Government also launched a second legal case in defence of Gibraltar’s British waters last May at the Gibraltar Supreme Court.

Gibraltar has no airspace, says air control tower Spanish Government Order Seville Airtower not To Assist Gibraltar
(1) The Gibraltar air control tower says that Gibraltar has no airspace,
(2) Seville Air Traffic Control, which handles the last lap to Gibraltar, have been given new instructions which affect Gibraltar,
(3) Suddenly, Foreign Office circles are saying that the term Gibraltar Airspace is a misnomer, and
(4) Other official sources say that what Gibraltar has is ‘uncontrolled airspace’.

DOES GIBRALTAR HAVE BRITISH AIRSPACE?
At 10.40 on Wednesday 10 June the following took place:

-Gibraltar Approach to Monarch: Proceed south, we have aircraft on the approach flying at 500 feet. I want to find out his intentions.
- Monarch to Gibraltar Approach: Has he left your airspace?
- Gibraltar Approach: We have no airspace.
The surprising notion that Gibraltar should have no airspace prompted us to refer the matter to the Command British Forces, as Gibraltar’s air controllers are employed by the MOD.
That was 17 June. When we again asked about it, we were told that the answer was covered in the “new Civil Aviation Act”, and that the question had been passed to the Director of Civil Aviation. The HQBF were not sure if the answer would come via them or direct to me. That was 18 June.

Spain surpasses EU recycling targets

Last year, people in Spain recycled more than six out of every ten containers on the market (62%), surpassing by seven points objectives laid down by the EU.
Although, data was not available community by community, Melchor Ordóñez, head of Ecoembes, the non-profit-making organisation charged with managing the collection and recycling of plastic, aluminium and paper, told members of the press that the areas with the best results are the ones that started recycling earlier, like Navarra, the Basque Country, Catalunya and Madrid, but he added ‘I’m not saying the rest of the country is poor; every area is making a serious effort’.
Since 1998, when Ecoembes started its work, ten million tonnes of rubbish has been collected in recycling bins that would have otherwise ended up on rubbish dumps, the equivalent of 750 stadiums like the Santiago Bernabeu ‘full to the brim’.
Of these ten million tonnes, eight million have been recycled, meaning a massive reduction in CO2 emissions and saving nearly nine billion kilowatts of energy (the equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 90,000 Spaniards) and 214 million cubic metres of water (the annual consumption of some four million people).
Ordoñez said that ‘the job of making people aware of the need to recycle has been well done and more and more people are separating their rubbish into the recycling containers’, but added that his organisation’s next priority was to reduced the weight and volume of containers on retailers’ shelves, a programme that cut waste by 70,000 tonnes last year alone.
measures like these have already reduced the weight of cans by 20% over the past decade and plastic bottles by 35% in the past 20 years.

Heatwave set to continue

Some twenty provinces in central and eastern Spain are still on heatwave alert, with Granada and Jaen seeing temperatures of 40º and many areas experiencing 38 or 39º.
The Spanish met office, AEMET, has issued amber warnings for both these provinces as well as for Toledo and Zaragoza.
Warnings have also been issued for Navarra, La Rioja, Huesca, Lleida, Teruel, Guadalajara, Madrid, Cuenca, Valencia, Ciudad Real, Albacete, Murcia, Alicante, Sevilla and Córdoba although these provinces are classified as ‘low risk’.

Counterfeit goods gang broken up in Benidorm

Eight arrests have been made in a joint operation with Barcelona police
Benidorm police have arrested eight people in the town and in Barcelona on counterfeit charges. Those arrested were tracked in a joint operation between Benidorm and Barcelona police and all have a previous record on similar charges.
A 45 year old Argentinean woman led the group of Spaniards, Indians and Italians, who have been found selling the counterfeit goods in tourist areas such as Denia, Sitges, Manresa and Benidorm.
Investigations started two months ago have led to clearing up of six different cases of fraud and other crimes.

No problems for the nudists of Sitges

Nudists and clothed bathers are sharing the beach without problems
A year ago the beaches of Sitges, near Barcelona, which were used traditionally by nudists, saw the local Town Hall erect signs welcoming families. At the time the council said that they did not want to ban nudists, but stop the exclusive nudist character of the beach.
The nudists protested at the time and even won a court order for the sign to be removed as it was considered discriminatory.
Now, a year on, the story is different as beaches in the town see a mix of both clothed and naked bathers.
As one woman told Público, ‘If the families with children are prepared for the children to be nudist too, then there is no problem’. A new sign this year simply describes the beach as ‘beautiful and clean’ and everyone it seems is happy with that.

27 arrested in swoops in Spain against child porn

Those arrested are accused of using P2P programs to distribute and share the material
Spanish National Police has arrested a total of 27 people across the country in another swoop against people sharing child porn images on the internet.
Searches of homes have been carried out as part of the operation in 15 Spanish provinces and a large number of hard discs, CD’s and DVD’s seized.
Police are now analysing the connection data between those detained who used P2P programs to share the material online.
It’s one of three such operations carried out in recent days by the Technological Investigation branch of the Judicial Police who have been collaborating with local police stations across the country.

The Costa del Sol runs out of hire cars

It comes as some companies have been refused credit for new vehicles
Despite the concerns of a less successful summer this year on the Costa del Sol, Diario Sur reports that the region is currently suffering a shortage of hire cars.
Demand has overtaken supply as some companies have reduced the numbers in their fleets this season, following the refusal of some banks to grant credits for new vehicles. Some companies have purchased second-hand vehicles instead according to the report, and reports that they have no cars available until August. As you might expect the law of supply and demand indicates that prices have risen in some cases.

Davis Cup a success for Marbella

Mayor, Angeles Muñoz, said the event brought 10 million Euro to Marbella
Marbella Town Hall estimates that holding the Davis Cup quarter final between Spain and Germany in the town last weekend, brought in 10 million €.
Mayor, Ángeles Muñoz, said that despite the fact the Town Hall had spent 600,000 € on the event, the income was some 15 times that when income for local shops and businesses was taken into account.
The global cost of staging the event was 2,350,000 €, and the Town Hall had the sponsorship of local businesses to have collaborated and been given their change to promote their services outside the bullring in Puerto Banús.
She said that hotel occupancy over the weekend was 94% locally.

Real Madrid arrive in Dublin

Security is high as the team embarks on a pre-season trip
Real Madrid has arrived in Dublin, moving from the 35 degrees of the Spanish capital to the 15 degrees in Ireland.
The trip is part of the pre-season training for the club, and will also test the club’s plan against paparazzi photographers who are now ever more interested in Cristiano Ronaldo.
Security considerations were such that hundreds of fans who had gathered at Dublin airport for a glimpse of the Portuguese player were disappointed as the players were loaded directly into their bus on the tarmac.
Attention will be on the game against Shamrock Rovers which is set for July 20, and which will mark the debut for Ronaldo, and the new French signing, Karim Benzema.
Meanwhile the team’s goalkeeper, Iker Casillas, has issued a note of caution ahead of the new season. ‘We can’t aspire to win everything from one day to the next’, he said.

15 people seriously in hospital in Spain with Swine Flu

The Government is to purchase three million doses of Tamiflu
As the World Health Organisation has said that the Swine Flu pandemic is ‘unstoppable’, it has been confirmed that there are now 15 serious cases in Spain.
Minister for Health, Trinidad Jimenez, gave the latest update on Monday, after confirming the tragic death by medical error of Rayan, the premature baby born by Cesarian section the day before his Moroccan mother died from the A(H1N1) virus. His death follows the two deaths in Spain so far because of the virus, his 20 year old mother in Madrid, and a 41 year old man on the Canaries.
The latest serious case has been confirmed in Valencia, and is a 52 year old woman who also suffers from high blood pressure. A man remains in intensive care in the Insular Hospital in Gran Canaria, there are two serious cases in Madrid, two more in Andalucia.
In Cataluña there are now three serious cases, one more in Asturias and another in Galicia.
Trinidad Jimenez also announced that the Government is to purchase three million doses of the anti-viral drug Tamiflu after understanding the vaccine against the virus is not expected to be generally available until December.

Marta Castillo’s parents want a jury trial

Their daughter is alleged to have been killed by Miguel Carcaño
The parents of Marta del Castillo, the 17 year old girl from Sevilla who was killed in January this year, have called for a jury to hear the case against the accused.
There is doubt on how the case will be heard following a recent ruling from the Supreme Court which has indicated that if the accused face several charges then a professional court of judges should hear the case.
Now the Sevilla Prosecutors’ Office is expected to make a decision in a few days time after the judge investigating the case has asked for the opinions of all concerned.
Those against a jury ask how such an uncontaminated jury can be found, given the high media interest in the case and the revelations about it printed in the press.

Scarlet Johansson: the new face of Mango

The actress follows in the step of Penelope Cruz, the face of Mango’s summer campaign
Scarlet Johansson has been presented this week as the new face of Spanish fashion label Mango. The actress is described by the company as the ‘epitome of an elegant, sensual woman who is, at the same time, both creative and inquisitive, and always aware of the latest fashion’.
She was presented as the face of Mango’s Autumn/Winter ’09 campaign at the Hotel AC Santo Mauro in Madrid on Monday, and takes over from her co-star in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Penelope Cruz, who was the face of Mango for their Summer ’09 campaign.

Home delivery of cocaine in Madrid

The network had almost 500 regular customers
National Police in Madrid have broken up an extensive network of home delivery of cocaine which had a list of close to 500 regular customers. Just as with any home delivery service, the cocaine was ordered by phone to be delivered to the client’s home, many of whom lived in the ‘Golden Mile’ area of the Salamanca district of Madrid.
The network also supplied bars and clubs in the city centre, and is said by the Interior Ministry to have distributed around 300 gm of cocaine every week. Eleven people are in custody, with almost 2 kilos of cocaine and almost half a kilo of cannabis seized by officers.
The investigation began at the beginning of the year following the murder of a Romanian bouncer at a Madrid nightclub, whose death police believed was related to drugs. It was during these investigations that the cocaine home delivery network came to light.

Third passenger dies from El Hierro immigrant boat

The first had already died when the boat reached the island and two have died in hospital
Three people have now died from the immigrant cayuco which arrived on the island of El Hierro on Sunday night.
The boat reached port in La Estaca with one dead passenger and five of the remaining 67 in a serious condition. One died only hours after being admitted to hospital, and central government offices on the Canary Islands have confirmed that a third passenger has now died. He’s understood to have died in the early hours of Tuesday.

Spain Business Brief

Government extends benefits to long-term unemployed
The Government has announced that it is extending unemployment payments for a year to all those unemployed who have used up all their previous entitlement. It’s a six month extension on the previous six months announced by the government. The government hopes that this deal, with lower Social Security payments for employers will lead to a wide-ranging deal between Government, Employers and Unions.

Bad debts in stores in Spain fell by 28% in May in what was the second month to see an improvement in the figure. Payment by instalments in Spain which were returned by the bank totalled 1.243 billion € in May, 28% down on the amount in May last year. The numbers show that the point of inflexion on the data came during the month of February.

The number of new companies created in Spain in May was 27% down on the number seen by the month last year. The fall is, however, more moderate than that seen in April which saw a 40% reduction.

The Government has announced that it will finance local projects to modernise tourist infrastructures in Spain to the tune of 150 million €. The plan is to bring improvements to the established tourist destinations in the country, especially along the coasts. Applications are invited from November 15 this year for projects with a minimum cost of 300,000 € and year duration. The upper limit could reach 25 million € in some cases.

Minister for Housing, Beatriz Corredor, has forecast that a million families are to benefit from help from banks with their housing. She has said that 120 entities are to finance the latest plan from the ministry.
The new plan enters into effect this week and offers credits for the purchase of protected housing. 34 billion € in credit is expected to be moved in the last stages of the plan.

The first fall in sales from vending machines has been registered in Spain according to a study by DBK.
The fall is 1.5% so far this year compared to last, led by a fall in the sales of hot drinks.
Despite the fall sales for the sector are expected to reach 2.3 billion € this year.

June tourist arrivals down by 24% on Lanzarote

The latest numbers come from the Spanish Airports Authority, AENA
Tourist arrivals continue to fall on the holiday island of Lanzarote. As the latest figures from the Spanish airport operators AENA reveal a drop in foreign visitors of 24.45% last month. With the British market the hardest hit – down by nearly 27% versus June 2008 figures.
The downward trend in visitor numbers continues on Lanzarote. As the number of tourists visiting the island declined again last month. Falling from 123,993 arrivals in June 2008 to 93,676 visitors. A shortfall of 24.45%.
Thanks to the additional impact of a weakened pound the British market, which is the island largest source of tourists, proved the hardest hit once again. As the number of tourists arriving on flights to Lanzarote from the UK fell by 26.91%. Whilst visitor numbers from Germany and Eire, the islands second and third largest markets, fell by 16.43% and 24.18% respectively.
Overall, the island has now welcomed 148,604 fewer tourists during the first six months of this year versus the same period in 2008. A fall of 18.05%. With the British market once again ahead of this negative curve, with 20.03% fewer visitors from the UK spending their holidays in Lanzarote.

High speed link Madrid-Valencia by the end of 2010

It will cut journey time between the two cities to one hour and 35 minutes
The AVE high speed train link between Madrid and Valencia will be operational at the end of next year, when the journey will be completed in one hour and 35 minutes. The announcement came from Development Minister, José Blanco, and the Valencia President, Francisco Camps, who held a joint press conference following a meeting in Madrid this Tuesday.
The Ministry is investing almost 4.5 billion € in the project over this year and next, and the work will include gauge-changing installations to allow the AVE service to connect with Alicante and Castellón, also reducing the journey EFE
time from both cities to the Spanish capital.
Another subject under discussion was 700 million € investment in Valencia and Alicante airports up until 2012.
Francisco Camps declined to answer any questions from journalists on his implication in the Gürtel corruption case; he limited himself to saying that he expects to be at the AVE inauguration at the end of next year in his capacity as Regional President, as, he said, the regional elections are not due to take place until 2011.

Search for missing jet skier off the coast of Málaga

The missing woman disappeared off the coast of Benalmádena on Monday night
An extensive search i s on off the Málaga coast for a woman who disappeared while jet skiing off the coast of Benalmádena on Monday night. The 24 year old, who Diario Sur reports works in a bar in Puerto Marina and is from Vizcaya, had set off with a group of friends from Benalmádena on Monday afternoon with four jet skis and a yacht. The alarm was raised at around 10 on Monday when only 3 of the jet skis returned to shore.
The other occupant of the missing jet ski was picked up by a passing ship at around 2.30am on Tuesday, some 4 kms off the south eastern shore of Benalmádena. He is understood to have said he lost sight of his friend after they lost control of the machine and tumbled into the sea.
The search is covering the area of coast from Mijas as far as Rincón de la Victoria.

Orihuela cat burglar arrested after 18 robberies

The police operation which led to his arrest was dubbed ‘Spiderman’
A specialist cat burglar dubbed by police as the ‘Spiderman’ of Orihuela has been arrested on suspicion of 18 burglaries.
The 34 year old named as J.R.R. is from Écija, Sevilla, and was given the nickname owing to his skill at gaining access to offices by using air conditioning units, guttering or even blinds to help him scale the buildings . He always worked by night or in the early hours of the morning.
Diario Información reports police found a number of burglary tools in a search of his home and also impounded two vehicles.

National Court again orders judge to close case into death of Spanish cameraman

Three U.S. soldiers faced charges for the death of José Couso in Baghdad 6 years ago
Spain’s National Court has again ordered Judge Santiago Pedraz to conclude his investigation into the death of Telecinco cameraman, José Couso, who was killed by so-called ‘friendly fire’ in Baghdad in 2003. The Reuters journalist, Taras Protsyuk, also died when the Palestine Hotel, the residence of foreign correspondents in the city, was hit by fire from a United States tank on 8th April that year.
The judge’s investigation in the case has been a lengthy process which began with a suit brought against three U.S. soldiers by Couso’s family - Sgt Thomas Gibson, Capt Philip Wolford and Lt Col Philip de Camp – in 2005. Pedraz issued an international warrant for their arrest and extradition in October that year, but the National Court ordered him to archive the case the following March. The Supreme Court ordered it reopened in December that year, and in April 2007 the judge charged the three U.S. soldiers in connection with Couso’s death.
An appeal by the prosecution service was supported by the National Court in 2008, and the judge was ordered to archive the case.
Pedraz reinstated the charges in May this year citing new evidence, but, in a ruling released this Tuesday, the National Court has revoked the proceedings, seeing the judge to have produced no new evidence to continue the case against the soldiers. He has again been ordered to close his investigation.

Relative says not just nurse to blame for death of baby Rayan

The premature son of the first victim in Spain of the A(H1N1) virus died after a dreadful medical error on Monday
An autopsy was taking place on the body of baby Rayan this Tuesday, the baby born prematurely to Spain’s first victim of the new flu known as the A(H1N1) virus. Rayan was born by Caesarean section on 29th June, just hours before his mother, Dalilah Mimuni, succumbed to the virus, and died after a ‘dreadful’ medical error this Monday morning.
It happened after a nurse, reported by Telecinco as young but experienced, but who was working in the neonatal ICU unit for the first time, fed formula to the child intravenously instead of through a tube to his stomach. She’s been suspended and is understood to be currently under sedation. 20 minutos reports that the nurse’s supervisor, who was absent at the moment it happened and was also suspended on Monday, has now been reinstated. Antonio Barba Ruiz de Gauna, manager of the Gregorio Marañon Hospital in Madrid where Rayan died, said this Monday that the hospital assumes all responsibility, describing the baby’s death as very serious negligence for which there is no excuse.
There are a number of investigations underway: a preliminary court investigation by Instruction Court 53 in Madrid and another by the Madrid prosecution service. Spain’s General Nursing Council and the Madrid Region’s health department are also carrying out their own investigations.
The grieving widower’s uncle, Jaime, told El Mundo newspaper on Tuesday that the family will be taking action against the Gregorio Marañón over baby Rayan’s The Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid - EFE
death, but he believes responsibility lies not just with the nurse, but also with the doctors who were in charge in the unit – just as, he said, a foreman on a building site must also take responsibility. He spoke of his thoughts of how she must be feeling, adding again that it is not just she who is to blame.
It was in the Gregorio Marañón that Rayan’s mother also died, and Dalilah Mimuni’s husband Mohamed said after his wife’s death last month that he would be The coffin containing Rayan is taken to the Madrid Mosque - EFE
taking legal action against the treatment she received from doctors there; he said they failed to consider testing her for the virus despite her worsening condition. The family say she was sent home on two occasions after treatment at the emergency department, and once from another hospital, before finally being admitted as a patient.
She was buried in her home town of Mdiq in Morocco on 2nd July and El Mundo reports baby Rayan will be joining his mother there once his body is released to the family.
King Mohamed VI has announced he is to fleet a military plane to bring the body of baby Rayan home to Morocco.

Cómpeta Race4Life this Sunday

The event is organised to raise funds for Cudeca
The event this Sunday 19th July kicks off in Cómpeta’s main Plaza Almijara alongside the church at 11am with an open-air market. There’ll be something for everyone, including wine tasting and nibbles.
The Mayor of Cómpeta unveils the Race4Life statue at 2.30pm outside the cemetery in Avenida de Torrox. The final part of the walk is up to the Hotel Rural Alberdini where the fun really starts from 3pm, with plenty of activities for the kids.
Further information can be found on the Race4Life website www.race4life.competaart.com

Francisco Camps makes his appeal in the Gürtel case

The lawyers of the four men accused in Valencia have been called to court by Judge Flors today
The P.P. President of the Valencia regional government, Francisco Camps, has presented his appeal to the Valencia High Court, calling for the case against him to be closed.
Camps is implicated in the Valencia section of the Gürtel case and is accused of accepting gifts of free suits from companies owned by Francisco Correa, which obtained several large public contracts in the region, but Camps claims in his appeal to Judge Flors that the judge has taken the statements of the tailor, José Tomás, more into account than his own presumption of innocence. He also complains about the ‘scant’ penal importance of the charges against him.
Camps has claimed he paid for the suits in cash, although it appears that there is no documentary proof of that, while the judge has said that there are indications ‘at a very probably level’ that he did accept the gifts. Three other members of the PP in the region are also accused in the case.
At 1030 today, Wednesday, Judge Flors will inform the legal representatives of the four accused of the exact charges against them, and will also give his ruling on the request from the Anti-corruption prosecutor who wants to see those who allegedly gave the gifts on the accused bench along with those who allegedly received them.

160 million euro loan needed to complete Murcia Airport

The airport is confident despite a recent slowdown in activity
The company which has the concession to run Murcia Airport, Aeropuerto de la Región de Murcia S.A. (AEROMUR), is reported to be negotiating a 160 million € loan with a group of banks so that development work can be completed.
80 million € has already been spent at the site, and Cajamurcia and CAM have granted a temporary credit while the main deal is found, and the company is confident that despite a recent slowdown in construction activity, the airport completion date will be maintained.
Director, Mariano Menor, said that the passenger terminal and control tower are now underway.

All Euro Loans and Grants have been suspended 2 months ago due to Spanish Government not complying with the Land Grab law of various EU and Non-EU Citizens that were effected. Spain still are not moving on this subject EU Comission still Suspended Euro Grants etc until Spain act on there Ruling… This is the 1st effected project of the suspencion.

Málaga sidesteps the tourism crisis

National tourism has covered for a fall in foreign visitors
Málaga has emerged as one of only a few destinations in Spain which has not seen a reduction in the number of tourists this summer.
The latest report from the Spanish Tourist Board, Exceltur, says the worst of the crisis for the industry is over.
Tourist numbers for the second quarter of the year were up over the same period last year only in Barcelona, Vitoria, Bilbao and Málaga, with national tourism key to the recovery.
However the study shows no recovery in foreign tourist numbers nationally with an 11.5% fall in hotel stays between March and May compared to last year. There were 1.5 million fewer German tourists in the country over the time, and a million fewer Britons.
Across the country it is estimated that 71,000 fewer people are employed in the tourist industry this year, with Murcia and Aragón the regions most affected by the fall in visitor numbers.

60 hectares affected in two forest fires

The fires broke out in Marbella and Casarabonela
Two forest fires in Málaga province on Tuesday resulted in 60 hectares of land being affected in the Marbella and Casarabonela sierras.
The fire in the area known as ‘La Concha’, between the Los Monjes peak and Puerto Rico, started at 3,30pm as temperatures in the area matched the yellow alert in place from the Spanish Meteorological Agency. 53 firefighters took part against the fire which was brought under control at 8pm after some 30 hectares had been affected.
Four houses had to be evacuated by the fire service in Casarabonela when the fire there was detected at 6pm. The A-354 road had to be closed for a time also.

17 year old gets five years internment for killing his father

It happened in Puerto Serrano, Cádiz on New Year’s Day
A 17 year old youngster who stabbed his father to death in Cádiz has been sentenced to five years in a juvenile internment centre.
Before killing his father with a ham knife after an arguement, the boy had stabbed another youth in the jugular.
It happened on January 1 this year in Puerto Serrano.
In court, in Jerez de la Frontera on Tuesday, the youth pleaded guilty as charged, and said that he had stabbed the other youth as ‘he was looking at me in a bad way’. Health professionals managed to save the life of the youth despite his stabbing in the jugular.
The judge also ordered the accused to pay a 6,000 € fine and ordered him to keep more than 300 metres away from another three youth he has also previously attacked.

Search underway for two ETA shooters

Beinat Aguinagalde and Iurgi Mendinue have already killed four times
The Spanish Ministry for the Interior has said that a search is underway for two ETA shooters. The two members of the Basque terrorist organisation are known to have fired their weapons a total of ten times, enough to end four lives, of two Civil Guards, an ex Socialist Councillor and a builder.
25 year old Beinat Aguinagalde and 27 year old Iurgi Mendinueta are expected to carry out ‘an immediate, hard and selective’ ETA offensive in the near future, according to the Ministry which thinks the terrorists will go for multiple victims.
The warning comes after considerable police success against ETA recently in Spain and in France, to the extent the terrorists are thought to only have one active command unit in operation, based in Vizcaya, which recently killed the policeman Eduardo Puelles using a limpet bomb under his car. New versions of such devices are now harder to detect, according to the Ministry.

350 racist incidents in Spain in 2008

The number comes in the Raxen Report
A new study has shown an increase in racism in Spain, with 350 incidents last year.
Valencia, Madrid and Cataluña are the areas where most incidents were seen, although there were some rural examples also, as in El Ejido in Almería.
The Raxen 2009 report was drawn up by the Movement against Intolerance, and shows that such incidents are on the rise.
Director, Esteban Ibarra, highlighted the worrying case of the Valencia region where there were more than 80 cases, followed by Madrid with close to 60 and Cataluña with more than 40. He said that there was increasing use of the internet by neo-fascist groups in Spain and across Europe, and weakness on the part of the institutions allowed such groups to hold 22 meetings across the country last year in places from football grounds to small offices.
The study was first started in 1992 following the murder of the Dominican woman, Lucrecia Pérez, and has recorded 80 racist killings in Spain since then.

Rafa Nadal back in action next month

The player says he hopes to take part in the Montreal Open
Rafa Nadal has started training again as the tendinitis he has been suffering from in his knees has abated.
The player is expected to return to competition in Montreal from August 8, and to be back in full action in the US Open, after being forced to retire from Queens, Wimbledon and the Davis Cup.
A statement on the player’s webpage says that he has spent two days this week undergoing more tests in Barcelona, under the supervision of Doctor Ángel Ruiz-Cotoro. Mangnetic resonance was part of the tests, and the doctor has concluded that the player is making good progress as treatment and physiotherapy continue.
Nadal has lost his number one crown to Roger Federer, because of his recent lack of play.

Baby’s father says he cannot forgive the hospital or the nurse

The premature son of the first victim in Spain of the A(H1N1) virus died after a dreadful medical error on Monday
An autopsy was taking place on the body of baby Rayan this Tuesday, the baby born prematurely to Spain’s first victim of the new flu known as the A(H1N1) virus. Rayan was born by Caesarean section on 29th June, just hours before his mother, Dalilah Mimuni, succumbed to the virus, and died after a ‘dreadful’ medical error this Monday morning.
It happened after a nurse, reported by Telecinco as young but experienced, but who was working in the neonatal ICU unit for the first time, fed formula to the child intravenously instead of through a tube to his stomach. She’s been suspended and is understood to be currently under sedation. 20 minutos reports that the nurse’s supervisor, who was absent at the moment it happened and was also suspended on Monday, has now been reinstated. Antonio Barba Ruiz de Gauna, manager of the Gregorio Marañon Hospital in Madrid where Rayan died, said this Monday that the hospital assumes all responsibility, describing the baby’s death as very serious negligence for which there is no excuse.
There are a number of investigations underway: a preliminary court investigation by Instruction Court 53 in Madrid and another by the Madrid prosecution service. Spain’s General Nursing Council and the Madrid Region’s health department are also carrying out their own investigations.
The grieving widower’s uncle, Jaime, told El Mundo newspaper on Tuesday that the family will be taking action against the Gregorio Marañón over baby Rayan’s The Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid - EFE
death, but he believes responsibility lies not just with the nurse, but also with the doctors who were in charge in the unit – just as, he said, a foreman on a building site must also take responsibility. He spoke of his thoughts of how she must be feeling, adding again that it is not just she who is to blame.
It was in the Gregorio Marañón that Rayan’s mother also died, and Dalilah Mimuni’s husband Mohamed said after his wife’s death last month that he would be The coffin containing Rayan is taken to the Madrid Mosque - EFE
taking legal action against the treatment she received from doctors there; he said they failed to consider testing her for the virus despite her worsening condition. The family say she was sent home on two occasions after treatment at the emergency department, and once from another hospital, before finally being admitted as a patient.
She was buried in her home town of Mdiq in Morocco on 2nd July and El Mundo reports baby Rayan will be joining his mother there once his body is released to the family.
In an interview on Tuesday night on Telecinco television, Mohamed, Rayan’s father, said that he did not forgive neither the nurse nor the hospital. He said the hospital had put an inexperienced person in the care of his son, and hidden the error from him.
King Mohamed VI has announced he is to fleet a military plane to bring the body of baby Rayan home to Morocco.
There Mohamed (in white) the father of Rayan - EFE
were prayers and scenes of mourning at the M-30 mosque in Madrid where the small white coffin was taken on Tuesday.
The President of the Patients Rights Association has indicated meanwhile that the compensation likely to be awarded in the case will be no greater than 200,000 €, with the family likely to reach an out of court settlement.
The nurses involved could face a prison sentence and suspension from their jobs if the judge considers that there was medical mal practice.

Man confesses to killing of three Chinese people in Barcelona

A man has confessed to the crime carried out last Friday
A Chinese man has confessed to a triple homicide carried out in shop in Calle Dante, Barcelona last weekend.
The two women and man, also Chinese, had been beaten to death, and the man now in custody has confessed to the crime which was carried out last Friday. The detained man walked into a Mossos d’Esquadra police station to confess on Tuesday.
Police are investigating the motive for the crime and a possibly family link between the detained man and the victims.

PP expected to abstain on new regional finance deal

The deal is expected to be passed today in the Council for Fiscal Policy and Funding
The PP controlled autonomous regions of Spain are expected to abstain today in the debate in the Council for Fiscal Policy and Funding on the new finance deal for the regions, despite the fact that they will all receive greater funding.
It comes after the Partido Popular leader, Mariano Rajoy, encouraged the regions controlled by the PP to ‘defend their own interests’. The PP considers the new deal is not even handed, and that there is a lack of guarantees on future funding.
They say they do not know all the figures describing the deal as a government pact with the ERC Catalan Republicans, and not a pact of state.

Fire destroys 4,000 hectares in an Almería natural park

The military were called in to help fight the blaze in the Sierra Cabrera
A forest fire which has been raging in Almería province since around midday on Tuesday has now destroyed more than 4,000 hectares in the Sierra Cabrera natural park near Turre. More than 100 fire fighters from 15 brigades were working at the scene, with support from the air from 25 helicopters and specialist planes.
Help was called in from the military and Civil Guard on Tuesday afternoon, as winds of up to 30 km an hour and poor visibility in the heavy smoke led a Level 2 Emergency to be called. There was an improvement in weather conditions by Wednesday, and the Junta’s environment councillor, Cinta Castillo, said there were hopes the blaze could be brought under control that day.
500 people evacuated from their homes in Turre and Mojácar were, however, being allowed to return home on Wednesday morning. Temporary overnight accommodation was set up by the Red Cross in Mojácar, but it’s understood only some 30 people chose to stay there.
The fire is believed to have started during an electrical storm which hit the area on Tuesday.
Two fires in Málaga province have destroyed a total of 120 hectares: 30 hectares in La Concha, Marbella and 90 in Casarabonela.

Body found off the eastern shores of Málaga province

It could be the body of the 24 year old woman who disappeared near Benalmádena after a jet ski accident on Monday
The body of a young woman found floating off the shores of Málaga province on Wednesday, near the border with Granada, arrived in port in Caleta de Vélez for identification shortly after midday. It’s believed it could be that of Noelia Pérez, the 24 year old girl who disappeared after falling from a jet ski off the coast of Benalmádena on Monday.
Diario Sur reports the body spotted by the crew of a yacht in the early hours of Wednesday was wearing a life jacket, as Noelia was, and that a jet ski was also found in the same area, which is some 45 miles to the east of Benalmádena.
Noelia Pérez Pérez, from Baracaldo Vizcaya, works in a bar in Benalmádena’s Puerto Marina, and set off with a group of friends on Monday afternoon with four jet skis and a yacht. The alarm was raised at 10pm when only three of the jet skis returned to shore. The man who was with Noelia said after his rescue in the early hours of Tuesday that they had lost control of the machine and tumbled into the sea. The rider-less jet ski sped off away from them and he later lost sight of his friend as they both tried to swim back to shore.

Spanish woman who gave birth at 67 has died

Carmen Bousada became the world’s oldest mother when she gave birth to twins in 2006

The pensioner who became the world’s oldest mother when she gave birth to twins at the age of 67 died last Saturday, it’s been revealed.
Carmen Bousada was diagnosed with cancer less than a year after the birth of her two sons, Christian and Pau, who were born by Caesarean section in Barcelona on 29th December 2006. A single woman, her controversial decision to become a mother so late in life was carried by newspapers all over the world, and she’s reported to have lied about her age to the private clinic where she received fertility treatment in Los Angeles. It’s understood the upper age limit in the United States is 55.
She said in an exclusive interview with the News of the World a month after her children were born that her own mother had lived to be 101 and she saw no reason why she shouldn’t do the same.
The news of Carmen’s death was confirmed by her brother, Ricardo, to Diario de Cádiz this Tuesday, who declined to release any further details to the press.

Gibraltar says Spain has changed the goalposts in Tripartite process

It follows Spain’s designation with the EU of a protected maritime area including waters around the Rock
The issue obstructing progress in the Trilateral Forum on Gibraltar is not, the Gibraltar government says, the question of sovereignty, but the designation by Spain of waters around the Rock as a protected area. The European Commission’s approval of Spain’s application to include part of the waters near Gibraltar in a new EU marine conservation area – the Estrecho Oriental Site of Community Importance – led the Gibraltar government to place a legal challenge against the decision, on the argument that Member States may only designate such sites in their national territory.
In a statement published this Monday, the Gibraltar government accused Spain, by its designation, of unilaterally changing the goal posts in the middle of the unilateral process, describing Spain’s action as ‘unacceptable’. Any agreement to cooperate, they said, must take place ‘in the context of the position as it was before Spain’s designation of the Site of Community Importance.’
Te next Tripartite Ministerial talks are due to take place on Gibraltar on 21st July, and if the meeting is confirmed, would mean that Miguel Ángel Moratinos would be the Spanish Foreign Minister to step on the Rock. Official confirmation, Diario Sur reports, depends on agreement being reached on the matter of maritime and environmental cooperation on the waters which surround Gibraltar.
The Gibraltar government has meanwhile advised local boat owners, following what they call further incidents of ‘unlawful encroachments’ by the Guardia Civil, to launch distress flares if they are stopped by Spanish authorities within BGTW – British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.

Body found off eastern shores of Málaga province confirmed as missing jet skier

Noelia Pérez was found more than 40 miles to the east of where she went missing
The body of a young woman found floating off the shores of Málaga province, near the border with Granada, arrived in port in Caleta de Vélez on Wednesday after being found by the crew of a yacht early that morning. Europa Press reports that first indications that it could have been that of a young woman missing from Benalmádena since Monday were confirmed by relatives, who have identified the body as Noelia Pérez.
The 24 year old girl disappeared after falling from a jet ski off the coast of Benalmádena on Monday evening. She was found some 45 miles to the east of where she went missing.
Noelia Pérez Pérez, from Baracaldo, Vizcaya, worked in a bar in Benalmádena’s Puerto Marina, and set off with a group of friends on Monday afternoon with four jet skis and a yacht. The alarm was raised at 10pm when only three of the jet skis returned to shore. The man who was with Noelia said after his rescue in the early hours of Tuesday that they had lost control of the machine and tumbled into the sea.
The rider-less jet ski sped off away from them and he later lost sight of his friend as they both tried to swim back to shore.

Valencia judge rules out calling corruption ringleaders as suspects

They have already been charged in the other side of the case led by the Madrid High Court
The judge investigating the Valencia side of the Gürtel corruption case has ruled out calling the alleged leaders of the corruption as suspects in his investigation. The case implicates high-ranking members of the Partido Popular administrations in both Valencia and Madrid and is under investigation separately by the High Courts in both regions.
The three main suspects at the centre of the corruption are Francisco Correa, Pablo Crespo and Álvaro Pérez. Judge Flors at the Valencia High Court has said however, as they are already under investigation by his colleague at the Madrid court, they cannot be accused in his side of the case, as the prosecution service had wanted. Sources quoted by El Mundo say, for that to happen, the Madrid High Court would have to hand over the entire case to Valencia.
One of those implicated in the Valencia investigation is the Partido Popular regional president, Francisco Camps, who is accused of accepting gifts of free suits from companies owned by Francisco Correa in return for public contracts. This Wednesday saw a preliminary hearing, where lawyers acting for the accused were informed of the exact Another protest against Francisco Camps - EFE
charges against their clients. Neither Camps or the three other suspects – Víctor Campos, ex Vice-President of the Valencia government, Ricardo Costa, the PP’s No. 2 in Valencia, and Rafael Betoret from the Valencia government – were present for the hearing. It’s understood, however, that their lawyers applied to the judge for proceedings against their clients to be suspended until he rules on their appeals for the case to be closed.
The prosecution service and the private accusation from the Valencia PSPV Socialist Party asked for further investigations to be carried out, although no specific detail on that has been reported in the Spanish press.
Wednesday’s hearing came after Judge Flors ordered proceedings against the four suspects to continue after finding ‘rational evidence’ of the crime of bribery in the course of his investigations.

The grave which contains the bones of Federico García Lorca could be opened this autumn

Relatives of others who lie in the same grave approached the Andalucía government after obstacles for court authorisation
The Junta de Andalucía is reported to be working on guidelines for a legal framework which will allow the mass Civil War grave thought to contain the bones of Federico García Lorca to be opened. It’s a site between Víznar and Alfacar in the poet’s province of Granada, and the regional government’s decision follows attempts by family of others believed to be buried there for their relatives’ bodies to be exhumed.
The bones of the teacher, Dióscoro Galindo and the two banderilleros, Francisco Galadí and Joaquín Arcollas, are believed to be in the same mass grave. Lorca’s family, while saying they want the poet to rest there in peace, have said they are willing to accept the wishes of the other families involved and allow the grave to be opened.
The problem has been the refusal by a judge in Granada to accept the case after responsibility for the Civil War disappearances was handed over to the local courts in Spain. The Supreme Court has yet to give its answer on which court has jurisdiction on opening the grave, and the Federico García Lorca – EFE archive
families have been attempting the administrative route as a way of gaining authorisation. The regional government’s department of culture had said it cannot come from them as the grave cannot be treated as an archaeological site, but now EFE reports work to open the grave could start this autumn.
The news agency reports the Junta’s department of justice and administration is already working on guidelines for action to be followed in such cases. In the case of this particular grave, contacts have already been made with the Granada provincial government, with the Town Hall in Alfacar and with families

New finance plan for the autonomous regions approved in Spain

Most of the Partido Popular controlled regions abstained in the vote
The new finance plan for the autonomous regions of Spain has been approved, with the abstention of most of the regions controlled by the Partido Popular.
The meeting of the Council for Fiscal and Financial Policy, CPFF, approved the plan which will send 11 billion € to the regions.
So, Asturias, Cataluña, Aragón, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, Andalucía, Baleares, Canarias, Cantabria and the autonomous city of Ceuta voted ‘Yes’, while Galicia, Castilla y León, La Rioja, Madrid, Comunidad Valenciana, Murcia and the autonomous city of Melilla all abstained.
Now the law goes on to parliament where it still has to be approved, but no surprises are expected there given that the PSOE Socialists have already agreed the support of the ERC Catalan Republicans and the IU left wingers.
It will then be discussed in the transference commissions in each of the regions.
The plan, presented by the Minister for the Economy, Elena Salgado, last Sunday, was assembled after a process of more than 100 interviews with different representatives from the regions and covers the funding from January 1 next year, with the changes being introduced in stages until the year 2012. It sends an additional 11 billion € finding to the regions and reflects the changes in population in each area.
Both Elena Salgado and the Minister for Territorial Policy, Manuel Chaves, noted that no region voted against the plan, and said that all the regions would emerge with greater funding.
The regions will now get 50% of the tax collected from IVA/VAT, and 58% of the special taxes, such as those on petrol and cigarettes. There are other complicated variables used in the calculations, such as the age of the population, its density and number at school age, area of the region, and whether it can be considered to be a bilingual area.

Spain’s 28th victim of domestic violence this year killed in Ceuta

The Spanish woman’s Colombian partner unsuccessfully tried to kill himself by slitting his wrists
central government offices in Ceuta have confirmed the arrest of a 32 year old man from Colombia for the murder of his partner, a 24 year old Spanish woman, who it’s believed was strangled. She died on Wednesday in the Autonomous City’s second ever fatal domestic violence attack, which happened in the Juan Carlos I district, on the outskirts of the city.
It was also in this district that a former Civil Guard officer killed his wife in 2003.
The suspect was arrested by police after trying to commit suicide, and was taken to the Hospital Civil del Ingesa to have his injuries treated. He’s understood to have attempted to cut his wrists.
210 women are reported to have died as victims of domestic violence in Spain over the past three years; exactly a third of those lost their lives last year. Wednesday’s victim becomes victim No. 28 of 2009.
The free telephone number in Spain for advice and assistance on domestic abuse is 016.

6,000 Euro haul in armed bank robbery in Vélez Málaga

The thieves posed as tourists, dressed in bathing costumes and straw hats
Armed thieves posing as tourists are reported by EFE to have got away with 6,000 € in a robbery at a branch of the Unicaja building society in Vélez Málaga.
It happened on Wednesday at the branch on Avenida Andalucía in Caleta de Vélez where, shortly before 11am, two people in bathing costumes and straw hats, who the staff took to be clients, suddenly produced their guns and demanded that all the money be handed over. They were carrying a beach umbrella and a newspaper, presumably to hide their weapons and to also give more credence to their disguise.
They left the bank on foot and are now being sought by police.

Non-urgent surgery postponed at Alcoy Hospital

Part of a false roof near the surgical unit gave way on Tuesday night
Only urgent surgery is taking place at the Virgen de los Lírios Hospital in Alcoy for the moment, after part of a false roof gave way on Tuesday night in an annexe to the hospital’s surgical unit on Wednesday night. It’s understood there were no injuries as none of the four operating theatres were in use at the time, and in fact only two are in use during the month of July. The air conditioning system was damaged however, and scheduled operations have been postponed over the next few days while repairs take place.
It does not affect urgent surgery, which continues as normal in the Casualty Department’s independent operating theatre.
Diario Información reports the area affected is one of the oldest in the hospital and was due to undergo renovations as part of the project which will bring the Virgen de los Lirios an additional four operating theatres at the end of the year.

More high temperature alerts for Spain today

Yellow alerts have been issued in several Spanish provinces as temperatures rise again
Temperatures are on the rise across Spain again with the Ebro valley and the south of the country expected to reach 36 degrees in many areas today.
The Spanish Meteorological Agency has issued yellow alerts for high temperatures today in parts of Sevilla, Córdoba, Jaén, Murcia, Albacete, Mallorca, Teruel, Zaragoza, Huesca, La Rioja, Navarra.
Cloudy or very cloudy today in Galicia and Asturias, with showers, locally moderate and occasionally stormy. Cloudy too in Aragón, Navarra, La Rioja and the Pyranees where rain is possible in the afternoon.
Any cloud or morning mist along the costas will soon clear to give another dry hot and sunny day.
Winds light and variable, veering weak Easterly later along the coasts.
Temperatures
Highs: Granada 34, Alicante 31, Málaga 30, Almería, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Valencia 29, Cádiz 28,
Lows: Alicante, Valencia 23, Almería, Santa Cruz de Tenerife 22, Málaga 21, Cádiz 20, Granada 14
Hottest place in Spain today – Córdoba 39
Coolest overnight provincial capital – Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca 10
Outlook
The latest heatwave will be short-lived as cooler temperatures with some cloud are forecast for the costas from Saturday.

United States rogue trader arrested in Marbella

Julian Tzolov is alleged to have sold fraudulent bonds worth a billion dollars
A rogue trader from the Credit Suisse Securities company in New York who is accused of the fraudulent selling of bonds worth more than 1,000 million dollars, has been arrested by Spanish police in Marbella.
News of the arrest of Julian Tzolov has come from the United States authorities who say that the court case against him and an accomplice, Eric Butler, who has also been arrested, will start on Monday.
Tzolov is thought to have been hiding in Marbella since last May, a few weeks before the case was due to start against him in the Federal Court in Brooklyn.

Sevilla Prosecutors’ Office wants jury trial in the Marta del Castillo case

As the accused face more than a single charge the Supreme Court would prefer to see a jury not used
The Prosecutors’ Office in Sevilla has joined the wishes of the family of the victim and called for a jury to hear the trial of the four accused of killing the 17 year old Marta del Castillo last January.
The Prosecutors’ Office considers that Miguel Carcaño and his friends killed Marta and hid her body in an attempt to cover up the crime of rape, and Marta’s father says he is in agreement with that being the possible motive.
The four adults facing charges in the case face the charges of assassination, two of sexual aggression and another of covering up the crime.
The Supreme Court has indicated that in general if a person faces more than one charge, then a jury should not be used, preferring a panel of professional judges instead.

Why to add AA to your mobile phone contact list in Spain

The Ministry for the Interior wants all residents to add the contact name and number
British residents will consider that the AA is Alcoholic’s Anonymous, or perhaps remember the Automobile Association, but now in Spain the Interior Ministry has started a campaign for residents of Spain to add a new contact ‘AA’ to their mobile phones.
The ‘AA’ here is ‘Avisar a’, meaning ‘Who to contact’, and is the name of a new campaign presented by the Ministry in conjunction with the Spanish Red Cross.
The idea is that you add ‘AA’ to your mobile phone contact list and then add the number of the person to contact should you suffer an accident.
President of the Cruz Roja, Juan Manuel Suárez de Toro, described it as a very good idea, and said that it would be extremely useful for them and a guarantee that anyone who has suffered an accident has a friendly face nearby quickly.

Eto’o given another week on holiday

Transfer speculation still surrounds the Barcelona player
Barcelona player Eto’o, of whom there has been plenty of transfer speculation this summer, has been given an extra week’s holiday by the club.
The team meets for training on the 20th of the month, but Eto’o will return with the player involved in the Confederations Cup, a week later on the 27th.
Reports are the club has made the decision with the hope that a transfer for the player can be confirmed in the meantime; despite the fact his contract has a year to run.
Meanwhile the club is reported to be close to closing its first signing of the new season, the Brazilian Inter winger, Cabelino Andradew Maxwell. Reports indicate a deal worth 4.5 million €. It comes after the failed attempt by Barça to sign Filipe Luis.

Málaga woman dies on safari in Zambia

Reports indicate that she was attacked by an elephant
A woman from Antequera, Málaga has died in Zambia after being attacked by an elephant while on safari.
A statement from the Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed that the 24 year old woman named Laura Paláez had suffered ‘an accident’ on Tuesday, but had died on Wednesday.
20 minutos reports the victim worked in fashion in Torremolinos, and that her family has been informed. The factory where she worked has decided to close for two days on hearing the news.
Reports indicate that she was attacked by an elephant
A woman from Antequera, Málaga has died in Zambia after being attacked by an elephant while on safari.
A statement from the Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed that the 24 year old woman named Laura Paláez had suffered ‘an accident’ on Tuesday, but had died on Wednesday.
20 minutos reports the victim worked in fashion in Torremolinos, and that her family has been informed. The factory where she worked has decided to close for two days on hearing the news.

Mariano Rajoy defends Camps and Bárcenas in the Gürtel case

The leader of the Partido Popular was speaking in Málaga on Wednesday
Partido Popular leader, Mariano Rajoy, has finally broken his silence over the Gürtel corruption case, and once again he has supported the party’s President of the Valencia region, Francisco Camps.
Speaking at an event organised in Málaga by ABC newspaper, Rajoy said that he was sure that Camps paid for his suits, and that it was absurd to think that someone in the position of being President of an Autonmous Region would sell themselves ‘for three suits’.
Rajoy said that the President of Valencia had already suffered a sentence which was far greater than the punishment handed out in such an alleged case of bribery given the Ministry of Justice has placed a value of 3,500 € on the suits.
Rajoy’s position is in line with Camp’s declaration that he paid for the suits in cash, but despite the small financial amount involved the political consequences could be great if it emerges later that the suits were indeed given as gifts, and not paid for by Camps.
When asked by a journalist about the party’s treasurer, Luis Bárcenas, Rajoy insisted that he had not been blackmailed by him, as indicated by some reports in the press. He added that was not affected by ‘threats or pressures’ and also said he had no evidence that Bárcenas had taken boxes of party documents home, as has been claimed in the press.

Benicassim festival underway for 2009

Oasis, Franz Ferdinand and The Killers headline the indie music festival
The 14th edition of the Benicassim International Festival gets underway today, and has now established itself as the largest festival of independent rock music in Spain over the summer.
FIB Heineken, Benicassim, is the place to be over the next four days, and some 200,000 music fans are expected to do just that, many of them foreign tourists attracted by the heady mix of live music, fiestas and the beach.
Despite the invasion the local towns accept the inconvenience, given the 19 million € estimated to be spent by the fans locally.
This year’s event is headlined by Oasis, Franz Ferdinand, Kings of León, and The Killers.

Cannibalism confirmed at Atapuerca

A bone found at the site near Burgos indicates cannibalism 1.3 million years ago
What is being described as the oldest proof of human cannibalism has been found at the Atapuerca dig near Burgos in Spain.
A piece of humorous bone dating from 1.3 million years ago found at the site shows the marks typically of those caused by primitive man who tried to remove the marrow from inside.
The find was made by the young paleontologist, Gala Gómez Merino, and the bone was already featured on the cover of ‘Nature’ magazine in 2007.
Now it has been concluded that stone utensils were used to remove the marrow.
Earlier evidence of cannibalism had been found at the site, but this is the first time it has come from level nine, dating from 1.3 million years ago.

Spain Business Brief - Thursday July 16 2009

The Government cancels the excess use power surcharge
The Ministry for Industry has announced it is to eliminate the controversial charge for excess use of electricity.
The Spanish Federation of Numerous Families is among those to welcome the decision, considering that the excess charge which was being levied on a per-property basis took no account on whether the property was occupied by a large family or a single person.
The charge had been introduced in July last year.
Meanwhile in a separate decision users who suffered an extended power cut in Barcelona in 2007 have been told they can apply for compensation. A judge has fixed payments between 122 and 300 €.
The Government has postponed the next meeting on Social Dialogue, the yearned for agreement between Government, Employers and Unions. The meeting planned to be held today, Thursday, has now been postponed until Monday.
It gives all sides time to consider new proposals from the Government which include a reduction in social security payments for employers.
Minister for Employment, Celestino Corbacho, has commented however that such reductions would only be temporary.
2010 will be a dramatic year for banks and savings banks in Spain, according to the latest report from Citigroup predicting a fall in profits of upto 70%.
One analyst said that bad debt was the cancer of the Spanish banking system saying the problems next year will be aggravated by the reduced volume of business expected.
One Spanish bank highlighted in the Citi report is Banesto where an 8% fall in profits this year is forecast to change to a 70% loss next year. Other banks mentioned are Banco Sabadell and the Banco Popular.
It comes after the Bank of Spain announced a relaxation of the provisions it demands be made in the face of high-risk mortgages in Spain.
As the Spanish government continues with its public spending plans in the face of the recession it has said that it will be awarding contracts to those companies which best respect equality. A new award for such companies is planned to be launched in October, and they will be allowed to publicise the fact that they fulfil policies on equality.
Spanish investment abroad fell by 64.8% last year, while the amount of foreign investment made here reached 37.7 billion €, 0.4% more than in 2007. The numbers come from the Industry Ministry and show that most of the foreign investment made here comes from the European Union, which makes up 92% of the total, led by the U.K. which represents 46% of the total.
The latest survey of the worries of the Spanish population carried out by CIS, the Centre for Sociological Investigation, has shown a slight reduction in the worries over unemployment and the economy.
Even so 73.8% of those questioned still place unemployment as the main problem in Spain, but down from 77.3% at the last survey carried out in May.