30 year old grape farmer from Villanueva de Alcardate (Toledo) found dead last night, died of heat stroke.

30 year old grape farmer from Villanueva de Alcardate (Toledo) found dead last night, died of heat stroke. According to local mayor, Jorge Luis Garrido, the dead man, Pedro Pablo MP, left for his vineyard at around 5pm yesterday afternoon to install a new irrigation system. After he failed to return by nightfall, his father and brother went out to look for him, but only managed to find his car. After Local Police and Guardia Civil officers joined...

Police in Mallorca investigating sunbathers death

Police in Mallorca are investigating whether a 29 year old Bulgarian man who passed away in Son Llàtzer Hospital last Tuesday, died as a result of heat or sunstroke. Vladimir suffered severe sunburns last Saturday on Cala Major beach in Palma. The alarm was raised by a lifeguard who noticed that the man had not moved for several hours. Police are not ruling out the possibility that the man might have worn himself out while bathing, and fallen asleep...

Ryanair said that its winter cost cutting programme is going to hit Majorca.

Spanish airline industry was rocked by the announcement by the Palma-based airline Spanair that it plans to shed a third of its workforce, Ireland low-cost carrier Ryanair said that its winter cost cutting programme is going to hit Majorca.While Ryanair has a number of new routes planned out of its Palma hub for December, it will first be suspending all its Palma operations between November 4 and December 19.Ryanair sources explained yesterday that...

Woman Waits Two Days For Treatment After Genitals Set On Fire

The woman's partner covered her with alcohol saying he was giving her a massage, but then set her alight. A 39 year-old Alicante woman has suffered ‘deep second degree and third degree’ burns after her partner massaged alcohol into her genitals and then set her on fire. The couple is believed to be homeless and live in an abandoned house in the city and the woman suffered the pain for two days before seeking medical help. She is now waiting for an...

100kg of coc aimne were stolen from police headquarters and replaced with talcum powder

Police in Seville have been left red-faced after more than 100kg of drugs were stolen from police headquarters and replaced with talcum powder, a spokesman said.The missing drugs, amounting to 95% of the cocaine seized in police operations, would be worth about five million euros on the black market. All the signs are that the thief or thieves who took the drugs were regular visitors, and might even be police officers themselves as there was no sign...

British man threatened members of a gypsy clan known locally as ‘Los Pertolos’ which, according to the court, is well known for its acts of violence.

Married couple have been sentenced to four years in prison by Almeria Provincial Court for extorting money and the ownership of a car from a British man living in Arboleas. The couple, aged 41 and 46, are members of a gypsy clan known locally as ‘Los Pertolos’ which, according to the court, is well known for its acts of violence. The couple threatened the British man, who ran an estate agent’s business in the Arboleas area, showing him a pistol which...

Expat living in Calpe will be extradited if found guilty of a massive robbery

Expat living in Calpe will be extradited if found guilty of a massive robbery in his home country. The 60-year-old German national is said to have an international arrest warrant hanging over him in connection with a raid on a supermarket in the town of Herne. Guardia Civil officers say criminal damage to the value of 2,200€ was caused and around 30,000€’s worth of goods stolen during the theft in May 2005. The accused has been transferred to the...

Miguel Merida Gallardo old time Bandido

Miguel Merida Gallardo, a minor thief wanted for around 100 robberies in 1994, followed the example of the Maquis – the Spanish resistance to Franco - and lived in caves for 14 years, subsisting on food and supplies stolen from market gardens and farmsteads. He was last heard of in Baena (Cordoba) in February 1994 and reappeared on July 13 2008 in Alcaudete (Jaen) after a suspicious resident reported him to the PolicÌa Local. Miguel Merida, now aged...

Málaga waiter stabbed

waiter in a Málaga restaurant was stabbed after he asked a beggar to stop bothering his customers. The vagrant smashed plates on the floor before picking up a table knife and attacking the 26-year-old waiter who was not seriously injured. Catering workers have complained that city centre beggars constitute an on-going problem but that complaints to the town hall bring no soluti...

Wave of arrests investigation into taxfraud involving a bank in Liechtenstein. Costa arrests were in Marbella, Fuengirola, Torremolinos

70 Spanish nationals have been arrested in a major investigation into tax and fiscal fraud involving a bank in Liechtenstein. Four of the detentions were in Marbella, Fuengirola, Torremolinos and Benalmádena and officers have also visited a private bank located in Nueva Andalucía.According to official sources some 200 million euros is thought to have been involved in the fraud. The 'Jade-Limusina' investigation started in April when the Tax Agency...

Spanish authorities have seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the Atlantic and detained the ship's five Venezuelan crew members

Spanish authorities have seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the Atlantic and detained the ship's five Venezuelan crew members, the interior ministry said Tuesday, cited by AFP.Spanish police intercepted the Venezuelan-flagged "Rio Manzanares" just as it was about to deliver the cocaine to another ship operated by a suspected Spanish drug-trafficking gang, the minsitry said in a statement. It gave no street value for the cocaine which was stored...

Civil Guard is looking for the thieves who broke into the home belonging to their Civil Guard Chief Captain in San Vicente del Raspeig, in Alicante.

Civil Guard is looking for the thieves who broke into the home belonging to their Civil Guard Chief Captain in San Vicente del Raspeig, in Alicante.The chief was asleep with his family in his home in the old Guardia Civil barracks in Babel, where some 20 civil guard families now reside, while the thieves obtained access through a balcony window. The embarrassing theft took place a month ago, but news of it has only just been released. A bag and other...

Amy Fitzpatrick who disappeared in Spain on New Year's Day.

The campaign is being led by the family of missing Dublin teenager Amy Fitzpatrick, who disappeared in Spain on New Year's Day.petition is due to be presented to the European Commission in Dublin today as part of a campaign for an EU-wide alert system for missing children.The 15-year-old's...

Prices falling, buyers are disappearing and developers, starved of loans by Spanish banks nervous about international financial instability

prices are falling, buyers are disappearing and developers, starved of loans by Spanish banks nervous about international financial instability, are going bust. Along the Costas, developments lie half-finished, without water and electricity, and without any prospect of being sold. For Spain's notoriously corrupt and capricious planning regime, which gave birth to the developments now disfiguring virtually all the country's Mediterranean coastline,...

The biggest corporate failure in Spanish history, Martinsa-Fadesa on Tuesday filed a petition for court administration after accumulating debts of EUR

the biggest corporate failure in Spanish history, Martinsa-Fadesa on Tuesday filed a petition for court administration after accumulating debts of EUR 7 billion.Anecdotal evidence apart - the number of creditors affected in this recourse to court administration is the largest in Spanish economic history - the disaster is clearly due to the profound recession that the Spanish property market is now going through, after two decades of the real estate...

Thousands of buyers who have not yet taken ownership of their properties on what has become known as the "Costa del Crash" could lose everything.

Thousands of buyers who have not yet taken ownership of their properties on what has become known as the "Costa del Crash" could lose everything. Lawyers specialising in real estate report a surge in the number of British buyers contacting them for advice after the developers they bought from have gone under. Spain is suffering similar economic jitters and rising prices as the United Kingdom. Others who have paid in full now own homes on resorts...

James Douglas Willson retired Des Plaines pilot convicted of international drug trafficking in Morocco

James Douglas Willson, 67, suffers from diabetes and kidney failure and has lost 35 pounds, said his daughter, Marilyn Brief.A retired Des Plaines pilot convicted of international drug trafficking in Morocco isn't getting adequate medical care and may not survive his 7-year prison sentence, a family member says."My dad's body is shutting down," Brief said. "He's dying."Imprisoned since early May, Willson was convicted after a Cessna 337 he reportedly...

Álvaro Iglesias was found guilty of sexually abusing five children between 2002 and 2004.

The Spanish paedophile known as ‘Nanysex’ has been sentenced to 58 years in prison for sexually abusing five children between the years 2002 and 2004. The name came for Álvaro Iglesias following his system of offering himself to babysit for the children who he would then go on to abuse. He also faces charges on six counts of the corruption of minors in localities in Madrid and Murcia.His friend and accomplice José G.C. was sentenced to 31 years in...

Martinsa-Fadesa -- which operated out of Ireland and dealt with several agents here -- preparing to declare bankruptcy in the face of debts of €5bn.

Spanish housing crisis claimed its first major victim, with property developer Martinsa-Fadesa -- which operated out of Ireland and dealt with several agents here -- preparing to declare bankruptcy in the face of debts of €5bn. It has created major shockwaves here, among customers who are still awaiting the completion of their dream home in the sun.Another announcement, which sent ripples across the industry this week, was news that Larionova, the...

Hundreds of thousands of families are abandoning the Costa del Sol

Hundreds of thousands of families are abandoning the Costa del Sol and other traditional holiday destinations for eastern Europe and north Africa to escape the punitive euro exchange rate. With state schools breaking up, many families will spend this weekend packing their bags to go to Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria, Tunisia and Egypt rather than Greece, Spain or France. Most eurozone countries have never represented such poor value for British travel...

Martinsa-Fadesa bankrupt 2,531 homes on the Costa del Sol at risk

The filing for bankruptcy protection of the constructor Martinsa-Fadesa, the largest in Spanish history, leaves the construction of 2,531 homes on the Costa del Sol in the air. The company, chaired by Fernando Martín had developments planned in Manilva, faces having to pay compensation to Marbella Town Hall for the irregular construction of 1,386 homes in the town, and also owns land in Antequera for industrial and commercial use in the business...

Joseph Jones was accompanied by officers from the Herts and Beds Major Crime Unit on his return from Spain

Joseph Jones, 23, of Crescent Road, New Barnet, was accompanied by officers from the Herts and Beds Major Crime Unit on his return from Spain yesterday.The headless body of father-of-four John Finney was found in Ickleford in March, weeks after he was abducted outside his home in...

European interior ministers plans to set up temporary joint police stations in tourist areas and at major sporting events.

European interior ministers discussed Monday plans to set up temporary joint police stations in tourist areas and at major sporting events.French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, chairing informal talks in the Riveria resort city of Cannes, said that a pilot station would be set up in Lourdes, "when the pope next visits France" in mid-September.Her Italian counterpart, Roberto Maroni, said that Franco-Italian stations would be in place as...

£6.3 billion worth of personal goods is being left unattended in Brits' holiday homes across the UK and abroad

More than £6.3 billion worth of personal goods is being left unattended in Brits' holiday homes across the UK and abroad, according to new research from high net worth insurer, Zurich Private Clients.The findings show that British holiday property owners have an average of £15,200 of contents in their homes-away-from-home, while some risk leaving more than £100,000 of personal belongings in their second homes. This can cause problems because second...

ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz six month prison sentence

The Provincial Court in Málaga has confirmed the six month prison sentence handed down against the ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz and five GIL party councillors, Rafael González, Manuel Calle, Mario Jiménez, Marisa Alcalá and José Marino Pomares, for real estate corruption in the Incopromar case. The group of six were also banned from holding public office for seven years in the case which came as a result of a licence being given to the Incopromar...

Mijas Costa bridge came down when a crane got caught underneath it, and the blocked A7 motorway caused traffic chaos for the rest of the evening,

Four of the six injured in the accident caused by the collapse of a pedestrian bridge over the A7 motorway in Mijas Costa on Monday afternoon have been allowed home from hospital, while the two men who were in the first car which was crushed by the falling bridge remain in a serious...

Gang of drug traffickers had six light planes for bringing drugs from Africa into Spain.

Spanish authorities have broken up a gang of drug traffickers that had six light planes for bringing drugs from Africa into Spain.The criminal organization was led by a veteran airline pilot, arrested together with 11 other gang members, who used airfields and landing strips in wooded areas in Andalucía to evade detection by security forces.Besides the six airplanes, the Civil Guard, Spain's militarized national police, seized assault rifles and...

Nueva Andalucía property fraud trial three British citizens to be given prison sentences of 28 years

Malaga Public Prosecutor is calling for three British citizens to be given prison sentences of 28 years for stealing 5.7 million euros from the sale of properties in a housing development project in Nueva Andalucía. The prosecution says that in October 1988, the developers signed a contract with the real estate company in which the three suspects worked, and that these "pocketed 5.7 million euros paid by the buyers of the properties." This forced...

Estepona secret tax offices had large sums of money in bank accounts

The ‘Astapa’ investigation has revealed two separate networks set up to manage the payment of illegal commissions at Estepona Town Hall. Although connected, each group had its own secret ‘office’ where the deals were made, according to the investigations carried out by the Financial and Tax Crimes Unit (UDEF).Documents seized in the search of the municipal premises appear to confirm that the corrupt group had been operating since June 2003 when the...

12 of the people charged in the Astapa corruption case based in Estepona Town Hall, have calmly walked back into the building

El País reports that 12 of the people charged in the Astapa corruption case based in Estepona Town Hall, have calmly walked back into the building and are back doing their jobs. While the Socialist ex Mayor of the town, Antonio Barrientos, remains in prison on remand, the four councillors who were also arrested are now back at their posts, as are the town planning technicians implicated in the case. This comes despite a warning given by the Town...

ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe home auctioned

First Instance Court number 5 in Marbella has placed for auction the home of the ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe. The sale comes as part of the sentence which condemned her to pay more than 722,000 € for building reform work carried out to the property.According to the auction documents the property is worth more than 1.9 million €, although there is a mortgage in place with the Banco Español de Crédito and has another embargo in place on it.Those...

Torremolinos man has been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison

Torremolinos man has been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to murder another man over a debt. The court heard how he approached the victim in the street in the early hours of June 25, 2006, and slit his throat, severing the jugular vein. The victim survived the attack but took more than two months to recov...

Montejaque hashish plants find

19-year-old youth has been arrested in the village of Montejaque near Ronda on drugs offences. The Guardia Civil arrested him after 19 hashish plants were found growing in pots on his patio. A routine patrol had spotted the plants and the officers suspected they were cannabis. First they set about identifying them as drugs then they made the arre...

6,000 euros cash robbery in Malaga

case of robbery of recently withdrawn cash has been recorded in Málaga. Two thieves relieved a man of 6,000 euros which he had just taken out of a city centre bank at lunchtime last Friday. The pair, reported to have South American accents, felled their victim with a blow to the legs before snatching the money and fleei...

Brit arrested for exposure

National Police in La Línea have arrested a 54-year-old British national of Indian origin for allegedly exposing himself to a child in the town. He was reported to the police by a neighbour after he habitually appeared nude and making obscene gestures by his window while a neighbour’s five-year-old daughter was in his clear view on the balco...

Moroccan national arrested Algeciras port

The Guardia Civil in Algeciras port have arrested a Moroccan national, described as violent and dangerous and alleged to be a member of an international drug trafficking network. At the time of his arrest at the Tangier ferry passport control it is believed he was trying to flee to Morocco after Italian police issued a warrant for his detenti...

Arrested a 35-year-old Málaga man alleged to have robbed two shops in Torrox Costa.

Guardia Civil officers in Nerja have arrested a 35-year-old Málaga man alleged to have robbed two shops in Torrox Costa. He is thought to have threatened staff with a large kitchen knife and a replica firearm before making off with a total of 800 euros. His targets were a small corner shop and a bake...

Five people have been arrested for allegedly attacking officers at the Alhaurín el Grande Guardia Civil headquarters

Five people have been arrested for allegedly attacking officers at the Alhaurín el Grande Guardia Civil headquarters. The incident occurred when relatives of a detained man saw officers restraining him after he tried to escape. From outside the facility’s fence, they hurled rocks and punched one officer who approached the fen...

Head of the BBVA's debt-collection department had been shot twice through the chest

Police are investigating a number of leads after a bank director was found shot dead at a chalet in Bollullos de la Mitación (Sevilla) where he has been staying occasionally since the break-up of his marriage. Andrés Toro Barea (55) was found by a work colleague after failing to turn up for work on Monday. He had been shot twice through the chest. Detectives believe it to be significant that none of the doors or windows had been forced and that nothing...

Spanish police have travelled to Switzerland to extradite the care worker suspected of killing Conchita Gadea

Spanish police have travelled to Switzerland to extradite the care worker suspected of killing 80 year old Valencian socialite, Conchita Gadea, whose bound and gagged body was found at her home on the calle Botánico Cavanilles, just opposite the Viveros gardens in Valencia, on February 1st, 2007. The autopsy revealed that Ms Gadea died of a heart attack. Detectives suspected the maid from the start on the grounds that she had not turned up for work...

Spanish National Police have broken up a criminal gang which was based in the Valencia region

Spanish National Police have broken up a criminal gang which was based in the Valencia region and made up of citizens from Eastern Europe, mostly from the Ukraine and Russia.The gang was engaged in criminal activities such as vehicle theft, arms trafficking and extortion, and they also had a laboratory set up for identity document and money falsification. In total there have been 11 arrests in a police operation in which some 70 officers took part....

Hundreds of Britons who have sold a property in Spain between June 2004 and December 2006 have begun the fight to reclaim their money

Hundreds of Britons who have sold a property in Spain between June 2004 and December 2006 have begun the fight to reclaim their money from the Spanish government, who overcharged them Capital Gains Tax by 20%. However, where as initial conservative estimates put the total amount to be reclaimed at £11,000 per person – totalling an estimated £37 million – over the last three months hundreds of Brits have registered average reclaims of more than £19,300...

British holidaymaker Mark Day,has died after falling 40ft from a hotel during a forfeit for losing a game of poker.

British holidaymaker has died after falling 40ft from a hotel during a forfeit for losing a game of poker. Mark Day, 20, plunged to his death in a freak accident on Sunday night during a holiday with university friends at the three-star Majorca Beach Hotel in the resort of Magalluf. Police sources revealed that after losing a game of cards he was dared to strip off and run along a hotel corridor in just his socks and underpants. But he lost his balance...

'Fat Freddie' Thompson in Alicante and his lieutenant who shot Foley is in Malaga

'Fat Freddie' Thompson and two of his key associates have fled to Spain in fear of their lives.The trio, including the gangland figure reported to have shot Martin 'Viper' Foley, left the country at the weekend.Thompson is thought to be in Alicante and his lieutenant who shot Foley is in Malaga.Early Saturday, the home of another associate was ripped apart in a grenade attack.The 2.20am explosion came horrifically close to claiming the lives of the...