Drugs laboratory was broken in the suburb of Molinos Marfagones

In Puerto de Mazarrón, a major case involves the alleged smuggling of huge quantities of drugs coming in from North Africa. The criminal activities are said to have involved drugs being carried by large vessels sailing up the Mediterranean. The drugs were then dropped off onto fishing boats which brought them into Puerto de Mazarrón. The network is said to have been operated by a Spanish-Moroccan group. In Operation Toroyano a fishing boat carrying...

Málaga courts for The Malaya corruption case

The Málaga courts are preparing already for the case with the setting up of a new penal section and the employment of more civil servants. The hearing will take place at the new ‘Ciudad de la Justicia’ and so far has 86 accused, bringing with them 100 lawyers. Some 600 witnesses will be called during the duration of the case, which is expected to last for more than a year. The Malaya corruption case is set to see the main hearing open in the Málaga...

Pascuale Ferrato, an Italian kitchen cabinet installer, took his own life after killing his 45-year-old Belgian-born wife

49-year-old man died Friday after apparently throwing himself off the second-storey balcony of his apartment in Los Olivos de Adeje in Tenerife where police later discovered the blood-soaked bodies of his wife and two children, authorities said at the weekend.Investigators suspect that Pascuale Ferrato, an Italian kitchen cabinet installer, took his own life after killing his 45-year-old Belgian-born wife, his seven-year-old son and his four-year-old...

Roman Stanislaw Szalachowski, a 40-year-old Polish man, to six years in prison for killing one of his five housemates

On Tuesday, a judge in Alcalá de Henares, northeast of Madrid, sentenced Roman Stanislaw Szalachowski, a 40-year-old Polish man, to six years in prison for killing one of his five housemates, the Ukranian Mykola Stelmakh, on April 10, 2004, and hiding the body for almost two weeks before disposing of it. An argument about who was going to do the household chores ended in murder and the subsequent quartering of a housemate's body for convenient disposal.According...

Credit crunch in the wake of the US subprime mortgage market crisis signals the end of the Property Bonanza

The appraisers' association Sociedad de Tasación said Wednesday that while the cost of a new home rose on average by 5.1 percent last year in Spain's provincial capitals, the increase in the last quarter with respect to the first six months of the year was only 1.1 percent.The biggest increases took place in Valencia, Almería and Barcelona where prices rose by over 8 percent. Prices fell in Segovia and Vitoria by 2.7 and 2.5 percent respectively....

Demolition orders are being served on unwitting home-owners across the region.

Antonio Banderas actor and his wife Melanie Griffith have had a demolition order served on their luxurious Marbella beach house.But it is only one wing of their home La Gaviota, in Los Monteros, that is in for the chop.Their appeal against an original 2003 ruling to demolish the newer wing, which impinges on public beach land, has been rejected.Now their neighbours are insisting that the sentence of the High Court be carried out. The celebrity pair...

Club Class Holidays offering cheap luxury breaks which buyers claim fail to materialise.

Club Class Holidays, based in Fuengirola, is reported to be taking between 3,000 and 30,000 euros to join holiday clubs offering cheap luxury breaks which buyers claim fail to materialise.The company, which has links to former timeshare salesman Costa Killer Tony King, uses a training manual that teaches staff how to crudely fool customers.In a sales manual for staff, trainees are told to treat customers “as if they have the intelligence of 10-year-olds”...

El Ejido Owners homeless after discovering beach-front apartments are rental apartments

Owners homeless after discovering beach-front apartments are rental apartments. Judges in Almería have opened a fraud investigation into the former president of a top Spanish football club.Gerardo Martínez Retamero, who was in charge of Sevilla-based club Real Betis between 1983-89,...

Alleged web of corruption at Marbella town hall and the Xerez Club Deportivo

Secret deal comes to light that saw Roca buy into club. judge investigating the alleged web of corruption at Marbella town hall has turned his attentions towards a top Andalucía football club.Óscar Perez is looking into the secretive 2002 purchase of second division Xerez Club Deportivo...

Airplane, loaded with 600 kilos of hashish had to make an emergency lin rice fields close to the Isla Menor in Sevilla

Members of the National Police and Guardia Civil from Sevilla have caught some drug runners when their light airplane, loaded with 600 kilos of hashish had to make an emergency landing in rice fields close to the Isla Menor in Sevilla. The two crew were arrested despite the fact...

Safe house for illegal immigrants who came into Spain on false documentation.

Moroccan woman who was being held against her will in a house in Estepona was rescued by police on Wednesday, after she managed to contact a friend in Ciudad Real through an Internet web site. She said she was being held by a man and a woman, and had been there for some days.Police...

Spanish tax office confirming that it is joining a growing list of countries investigating citizens with bank accounts, in Liechtenstein

A rapidly expanding international probe into tax evasion centred on Liechtenstein spread to Spain on Tuesday, with the Spanish tax office confirming that it is joining a growing list of countries investigating citizens with bank accounts, companies and foundations in the Alpine principality.The potentially massive case of tax fraud emerged earlier this month when Germany admitted to paying EUR 4.2 million for information on German nationals with...

Mari Luz Cortés girl found in Naples could be that of the missing five year old youngster from Huelva

Interpol is reported to be investigating whether a girl found in Naples could be that of the missing five year old youngster from Huelva, Mari Luz Cortés.The Government delegate in Andalucía, Juan José López Garzón, has today said that there was no confirmation of the identity as...

Killing the golden goose,Survey by Barclays Bank four years ago suggested a million Britons intended to leave the UK for Spain,

A survey by Barclays Bank four years ago suggested a million Britons intended to leave the UK for Spain, but in the past two years the UK market has dropped so significantly that some developers have stopped promoting Spain to Britons.Jesús Pérez set up Seville-based Area 10 New World to sell Spanish properties to UK buyers. In 2006, he switched to selling homes in Romania, Hungary, Germany and Portugal. 'A few years ago I was selling six houses...

Britons are being scared off buying property

The most spectacular violator of planning laws has been the council in the Costa del Sol town of Marbella. Planning chiefs allegedly took bribes to grant licences to 30,000 houses. In 2006, police arrested 28 people, including the mayor, Marisol Yagüe, and the former head of planning,...

Soldiier shot accidentally shot through the neck during an exercise

30 year old soldier was seriously injured at around midnight last night when he was accidentally shot through the neck during an exercise at the Las Navetas army training camp near Ronda. The victim, whose identity has not been confirmed, is recovering from surgery at the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga, to where he was transferred after initially being taken to Ronda Hospit...

Lightning strike kills in Cadiz

60 year old construction worker died on a building site in the Los Barrios district of Cádiz. The victim, who has been identified as José Iglesias Conejo, was apparently struck at around 11.45am when he got up to put on a raincoat. His workmate, 59 year old Antonio Espinosa Moya was also injured after being thrown several metres in the same strike. In a separate incident, firemen were called to evacuate around a dozen people from four properties...

200 burglaries in the province of Malaga North Africa gang caught

Civil Guard, acting on the results of investigations carried out from Alicante, arrested a score of people accused of being behind 200 burglaries in the province of Malaga. The highly organised gang, mostly from North Africa but including some Spaniards, operated by waiting for the occupants to leave a house before entering and stealing their valuables. Receivers of stolen goods also formed part of the operati...

Cargoes of cannabis shipped undercover of darkness over the Strait from Ceuta to the Costa del Sol

Cargoes of cannabis shipped undercover of darkness over the Strait from Ceuta to the Costa del Sol.Details have been released of a National Police operation against a drug smuggling gang which operated between Ceuta and the Costa del Sol, and which brought large amounts of cannabis into Spain illegally. Central government offices in Ceuta said eleven arrests have taken place in Marbella, Estepona< and Ceuta, and that six of them were from the...

Court investigation into the false Bills which were issued during the GIL administration in Marbella

Ángeles Muñoz, the Partido Popular Mayor of Marbella, presented a document at a press conference on Tuesday, which comes from the Tribunal de Cuentas, the National Court of Auditors, and is their report on Town Hall accounts between 1991 and 2006. It covers the time when the town...

Trafford Centre España,Trafford Centre for Torremolinos

Peel Holdings, the property and investment giant, is set to take its Trafford Centre shopping mall international with a £500m scheme on the Costa del Sol. After years of planning and negotiations with the Spanish authorities, Trafford Centre España has been given the green light. The development, being led by Lindsey Ashworth, one of Peel founder John Whittaker's key lieutenants, will take place on a 80-acre site in Torremolinos. With planning permission...

House Jacking in Ciudad Quesada

A gang of robbers broke into the home of 80 year-old promoter Justo Quesada in Ciudad Quesada, while he and his wife were in the house. The gang of at least 3 men threatened a guard on duty at the house with a pistol, which allowed them to gain entry and once inside they stole 30,000€ in cash plus other valuables. Fortunately nobody was injured at the hands of the gang, which is believed to be the same band of foreigners which have struck recently...

‘El Ardilla’ (The Squirrel). Major Drugs Gang Arrested In Torrellano

National Police raided a house in Torrellano used by an organised gang which distributed drugs throughout the province of Alicante and the surrounding regions. The same house was attacked 2 years ago, almost to the day, by another gang from France, which resulted in the death of one of the attackers.The police raid resulted in the detention of 9 gang members, including it’s leader Enrique C, known as ‘El Ardilla’ (The Squirrel). A search of the premises...

black cocaine are being smuggled to Spain

Increasing amounts of black cocaine are being smuggled to Spain, with police discovering couriers of the drug which is undetectable to sniffer dogs and regular tests, the daily El Mundo reported on Tuesday.Police detained two Romanian women whose bags had inner linings made with the rubber-like substance, press reports said.Flying in from Brazil, the women made a stopover in Portugal, deliberately left their bags at Lisbon airport, and then requested...

60 suspects have so far been called in for the final round of declarations in Marbella

Marisol Yagüe,ex Mayor of Marbella was the first suspect to appear before the Malaya judge, Óscar Pérez, on Monday, in his final round of court declarations before the corruption case is handed over to the provincial court in Málaga for trial. As with all the suspects who will appear...

1.5 million € Armed Robbery in Puerto Banus

Three armed men waved pistols as they attacked a Jewelery Store 'Boutique Tourbillón'in upmarket Puerto Banus close to Marbella. the home of the superrich. The armed robbers overpowered the security gaurd in a well planned Hiest.They stripped the fitting of jewellery and watches.1.5...

Spanish society’s feelings of insecurity overall have taken off.

The Spanish press statement about crime in Spain.For one thing, the downtown areas of the big cities are breaking down at a remarkable rate. In the name of multiculturalism and coexistence, entire neighborhoods are becoming black holes of crime, prostitution, drug trafficking, and...

Spanish society’s sick and tired of crime and corruption

In Spain, the crime rate is obviously on the rise under the Zapatero Administration. While the ones in charge mess around with conveniently fabricated numbers and statistics, one thing has become increasingly clear. In recent years, Spaniards have started to feel more and more insecure,...

Hidalgo money laundering case

The Hidalgo money laundering case in Marbella has now also revealed the payment of commissions for building licences in Estepona. El País has printed the transcripts of phone taps included in a police report which is part of the case summary, which indicate a series of payments and deals were made with civil servants in or linked to Estepona Town Hall. El País has today printed the transcripts of phone conversations including a municipal architect...

Jesús Gil roller sells for a knocked down price.

The roller was sold for a little over 39,000 € and now becomes the property of the Grupo Franco y Proyectos, which is based in Salzadella. The two other bids presented came from private individuals but were both around 3,000 € below the winning bid. The reserve price was set at 34,650...

McCanns spokesman regrets the reaction of Juan Cortés

McCanns spokesman regrets the reaction of Juan Cortés and says that the couple only wanted to help"Is shameful that Mari Luz's father presents complaints"It is "surprising and shameful that Mari Luz's father presents complaints about us in a press release". This was the reaction of Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns when he was informed by the 24 Horas that the father of Juan Cortés does not authorise the distribution of the 18 thousand...

The Civil Guard have arrested a Moroccan man

The Civil Guard have arrested a Moroccan man as a suspect in the kidnapping of a 12 year old child in Torre Pacheco in June 2006. They believe him to be the leader of the gang which snatched the boy, and which released him the following day after a 50,000 € ransom was paid by the family.The boy’s father owns a well-known local company.EFE said the new suspect has a previous arrest record and was originally taken into custody on 6th February when...

110lb of cocaine with a street value of £2.5 million

Two packages washed up on the coast contained a total of 110lb of cocaine with a street value of £2.5 million.The first package was washed up on the beach at Bude, north Cornwall, on February 7 and consisted of a number of packets wrapped in sacking.Another package was found on a beach near Carleon Cove on the Lizard Peninsula the following day - between 60 and 70 miles from the first.Devon and Cornwall Police said that forensic analysis confirmed...

Amy Fitzpatrick reward

The parents of missing Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick are offering a cash award for information on her whereabouts. The 16-year-old - who's originally from Dublin - disappeared near her family home in Spain on New Year's Day.Her step-father has announced that he will pay a 'substantial'...

Marisol Yagüe will be first to declare

Ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe,appears in court among 34 others charged.The new instruction judge in the case, Óscar Pérez, has called the main accused to declare in Marbella again as he tries to establish the extent of the corruption and those responsible in Marbella Town...

A substantial reward is on offer to anyone who can provide reliable information on Amy's whereabouts.

Stepfather David Mahon revealed yesterday he was prepared to pay a "substantial" amount of money to anyone who could help unravel her mystery disappearance.parents of missing expat Amy Fitzpatrick have offered a cash reward for information on her whereabouts.Franco Rey, spokesman...

No Nos Olvideis ,Don't forget us Cortés family say they are against a poster campaign launched in Spain by the McCann family

The Cortés family say they are against a poster campaign launched in Spain by the McCann family which shows images of four year old Madeleine alongside their daughter, Mari Luz, who disappeared in Huelva on 13th January, and others pictured with Yeremi Vargas, who was seven when...

Special Forces of Arturo Beltran

soldiers seized 23.5 tonnes of cocaine – enough for about 200 million lines of the drug – in the world's biggest ever cocaine bust. It was destroyed in a public bonfire. Calderon is hoping his crackdown will bring his administration rewards from the US, which has frequently urged...

Hashish had come from Tetuan in Morocco, shipped over from Safi or Tan Tan

While the debate over bugging continues in the UK, police in Tenerife make no bones about the advantages of tapping not one but twenty telephones, which was the case last week when it helped them bust a gang of local and Moroccan traffickers in Güímar.The police swooped as the men were in the act of transferring 1,100 kilos of hashish in a van to a safe house.Hashish had come from Tetuan in Morocco, shipped over from Safi or Tan Tan and had been...

With Paddy Doyle until days before he was shot dead

The driver of the vehicle who is in his early 20s is well known to Limerick gardai investigating ongoing criminal and gangland activity in the city.He has just returned to Limerick from Spain where he was in the company of murdered Dublin criminal Paddy Doyle until days before he...

Just returned to Limerick from Paddy Doyle incident on the Costa del Sol. Spain

Siezed bullet-proof BMW worth €100,000 belonging to a leading member of one of the country's most dangerous criminal gangs after a high-speed car chase.The driver of the car, who is a close relation to the vehicle's owner, was arrested following the pursuit after he failed to stop...

New biometric tests for the Costa del Sol border surveillance purposes and focusing first on the Mediterranean Sea

Visitors to Europe will face biometric screening and automated security checks under proposals for a shake-up of EU border controls.Under plans to strengthen checks at European borders laid out by the European Commission, international travelers would also have their stay logged and monitored by an electronic system, which could become operational by 2015.The system would alert authorities if the person was recorded as overstaying the length of their...

Voluntary tax made the payments in the municipal offices

The Partido Popular have demanded that the Junta de Andalucía remove responsibility for town planning away from the Socialist controlled local council in the village of La Viñuela in Málaga province.It follows reports that hundreds of owners of illegally built properties in the municipality have been asked to pay a ‘voluntary tax’ of upto 12,000 € to make their properties legal and that their licences to build have been revoked and their homes face...

Helicopter is being used to fly over Málaga province to search for illegally built properties

Environment Prosecutor for the Costa del Sol has announced that a helicopter is being used to fly over Málaga province to search for illegally built properties. Members of the SEPRONA environment department of the Guardia Civil will man the flights and take photographic and video evidence. The first flight took place on Wednesday, and Diario Sur today shows the craft over the La Viñuela area. SEPRONA is particularly concerned about illegal constructions...

Alicante death alley Bandidos evicted

Police moved into one of the highest crime areas of Alicante on Monday, the Barrio del Carmen in the North of the city, to evict 65 homes which El País newspaper said had been illegally occupied. The area is known locally as the ‘callejon de la muerte,’ – ‘death alley,’ and is, according to police sources quoted by El País, a known haven for drug traffickers.The paper reports some moments of tension as police – more than a hundred officers in total...

Ciudad de la Luz film studios investigation by European Commission

Public funding of the Ciudad de la Luz film studios in Alicante is under scrutiny by the European Commission, who have announced an in-depth investigation to determine if funding from the Generalitat de Valencia, the regional government, could have distorted competition between European studios. It follows complaints from two film companies in Europe, and there are concerns that the Generalitat’s investment could have violated European regulations...

La Viñuela Bandidos give us 6,000 € and 12,000 € or else

Residents of the village of La Viñuela in the Axarquía, Málaga province are receiving a letter from the local socialist-controlled town hall, which asks them for the payment of what is called a ‘voluntary tax’ so that their illegally-built property can be declared legal. The amount being requested is between 6,000 € and 12,000 €.Most of the people affected are British and German, and they have said that they will create a protest group to defend...

Real estate deals in the most dynamic zones

The Spanish Tax Authority, Hacienda, and the Spanish Social Security System are joining forces in a fight against Tax fraud. New computer links will interchange information to detect any possible frauds, and particular attention is to be made on real estate deals, even more so in areas of the country described as ‘the most dynamic zones’.News of the crackdown was given by the General Director of Agencia Tributaria, Luis Pedroche. The Secretary of...

Mari Luz Cortes witnesses saw a girl who answers her description being put into a van

A large demonstration took place in Seville on Monday to call for the safe return of Mari Luz, the five year old gypsy girl who has been missing from her home in Huelva for more than four weeks. It was headed by her parents, Juan José Cortés and Irene Suárez, and they have now contracted the services of a private detective agency to help them find their daughter.Mari Luz was last seen when she left her home in the El Torrejón district of the city...

Marbella residents bus pass

Marbella residents will soon have unlimited use of the town’s nine bus routes for only 36 euros a month once the new transport company’s pass comes into force. This means that getting around the town on several buses will cost only 1.1 6 euros a day, as opposed to the 1.15 euros it currently costs for just one bus journ...