Nine houses in Garrucha and Mojacar have been burgled, with the intruders amassing a haul worth thousands of euros in cash and home entertainment unit

Nine houses in Garrucha and Mojacar have been burgled, with the intruders amassing a haul worth thousands of euros in cash and home entertainment units.Five youths, aged between 14 and 16, who have been taken in for questioning, are thought to have stolen around 6,000 euros’ worth of audiovisual equipment, including home cinema equipment, LCD-screen televisions, Playstation 3 consoles and other multimedia items, which they sold on to a 53-year-old man, known as ‘Jeronimo’, who has also been arrested.Initial enquiries have suggested that he made the teenagers steal to order, so that he could sell the goods on to third parties. The teen gang took advantage of holiday homes being empty over the winter months in order to break in undisturbed. Police were able to round up the ‘Fagin-style’ gang after two of the minors were identified as the culprits in a burglary at a home in Mojacar.Investigating officers say that their modus operandi was very similar to that of other burglaries in the area.The teenagers are currently being held in a youth detention centre but, as they are under 18, if the case comes to court, any sentence they receive will be far more lenient than that which would normally be imposed on adults.

Stolen car gang thought to be behind the theft and alteration of top-of-the-range vehicles for re-sale has been broken up in Estepona.

Stolen car gang thought to be behind the theft and alteration of top-of-the-range vehicles for re-sale has been broken up in Estepona.They are said to have stolen the cars from dealers and garages and modified their chassis numbers, registration plates and other elements that could lead to their identification.These were then sold on in North African countries, having been shipped out from the port of Algeciras.The suspects, of Moroccan and Bulgarian nationality, often stole cars to order.One of their favoured methods was to go to a motor dealer and pretend they wanted to buy a car, so that they could see where the sales staff fetched the keys from. Other members of the group would then distract the salesperson whilst the car was stolen. The stolen cars were then taken to a villa in Estepona, where they were doctored for resale. The most recent arrests follow the detention of 12 other suspects in November 2008, thought to have been part of the same gang.Six people were taken into custody in Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca province) and another six in La Vila Joiosa and Teulada-Moraira (Alicante province).Also this week, 15 Spanish nationals were arrested in connection with a car-stealing operation on the Costa del Sol where luxury vehicles were stolen to order. Among those detained is a nightclub bouncer, who is said to have found customers for the gang. Documents and registration plates were forged and vehicles sold on around Spain and abroad. Vehicles valued at around one million euros, together with fake car ownership documents and the assets of eight companies, valued at 15 million euros, have been seized by police.The companies were found to have a further 500 cars, valued at around 10 million euros. Police enquiries are on-going and it is believed that, to date, more than 70 individual cases of theft have been traced back to the arrested parties.

Socialist Mayor of the village of Alcaucín in Málaga is among 13 people arrested in Spain’s latest corruption scandal.

latest corruption case in Spain has broken in the Axarquía area of Málaga province

Socialist Mayor of the village of Alcaucín in Málaga is among 13 people arrested in Spain’s latest corruption scandal.José Manuel Martín Alba, a labourer by trade, has been detained as investigations continue into the building and sale of homes on non-buildable land. Searches were carried out on Friday in the homes of the Mayor and members of his family.The PSOE Socialist party says they will expel all those indicted from the party.The 13 arrests occurred in Málaga and Huelva and also include the Mayor’s two daughters, and José Mora, chief of municipal architecture in the Dipitación de Málaga, the provincial government.Also detained are two architects and other constructors and alleged intermediaries.El Mundo says that the investigation could move to neighbouring La Viñuela, where the Socialist Mayor already faces different investigations on town planning irregularities.Many of the properties sold in the area, have been purchased by foreigners.

Socialist Mayor of the village of Alcaucín in Málaga is among 13 people arrested in Spain’s latest corruption scandal.

Socialist Mayor of the village of Alcaucín in Málaga is among 13 people arrested in Spain’s latest corruption scandal.José Manuel Martín Alba, a labourer by trade, has been detained as investigations continue into the building and sale of homes on non-buildableland. Searches were carried out on Friday in the homes of the Mayor and members of his family.The PSOE Socialist party says they will expel all those indicted from the party.The 13 arrests occurred in Málaga and Huelva and also include the Mayor’s two daughters, and José Mora, chief of municipal architecture in the Dipitación de Málaga, the provincial government.Also detained are two architects and other constructors and alleged intermediaries.El Mundo says that the investigation could move to neighbouring La Viñuela, where the Socialist Mayor already faces different investigations on town planning irregularities.Many of the properties sold in the area, have been purchased by foreigners.

Special anti-drug unit set up by the Spanish tax administration agency has intercepted a vessel carrying 5 tons of cocaine in the Atlantic,

Special anti-drug unit set up by the Spanish tax administration agency has intercepted a vessel carrying 5 tons of cocaine in the Atlantic, the agency said Friday. The five Venezuelan crew of the 16-metre-long Dona Fortuna were detained in the operation, which took place some 1,500 kilometres off the Canary Islands on Thursday. The cocaine, which was believed to come from Colombia, would have been worth about 250 million euros (300 million dollars) on the black market. The traffickers were believed to have intended to take the drug to Spain's north-western region of Galicia, which would have acted as its gateway into the European market.
The operation followed the seizure of four tons of cocaine off Galicia six weeks ago.

Spanish authorities Tuesday said it dismantled an alleged Dominican drug trafficking network

Spanish authorities Tuesday said it dismantled an alleged Dominican drug trafficking network, in a Police operation that led to the arrest of 10 ten people, accused of trafficking cocaine from that Caribbean nation and "other Central American countries," to Spain, Scotland and Italy.A source said the operation began at the end of last year in Spain when Police uncovered a ring of "citizens from the Dominican Republic dedicated to introducing large amounts of cocaine in our country," from the Caribbean country, home to its ringleader, linked to Colombian narcotics traffickers. The detainees received the drugs from the Dominican Republic using packets hidden in their body and bought narcotics other criminal groups, to treat it and distribute afterwards from a house in Madrid’s Tetuan sector. The operation included six raids in which the Police seized cell phones, material to “cut” and treat the drug, vehicles, computers and electronic equipment, as well as a bit more than three kilos of cocaine.

British man who is accused of beating another Briton to death in a house in Vista Mar I, Playa Flamenca, Orihuela Costa

29 year old accused, named as Dezzie S. will be back in court on Friday.The court case against the young British man who is accused of beating another Briton to death in a house in Vista Mar I, Playa Flamenca, Orihuela Costa, and then setting fire to the body and home to get rid of the evidence on January 4 2005, was postponed until Friday in Elche yesterday.The victim has been named as Roy John T.29 year old Dezzie S. faces a total of 36 years in prison for the crimes and attended the court yesterday but only to hear the magistrate suspend the proceedings because of the lack of witnesses.Prosecutors’ Office is demanding a 36 year prison sentence for a British man who is accused of setting a house fire, stealing a car, and beating another Briton to death in Orihuela Costa.The attacked happened on January 4 2005, when the 29 year old accused, named with the initials D.S., went to the victim’s house in Vista Mar I in Playa Flamenca.An argument turned into a fight and the accused is charged with beating the victim with a sharp object bursting his aorta and causing his death. Then, in an attempt to destroy evidence a fire was started of both the body and the house, with D.S. accused of leaving the scene in the victim’s car. Three days later he rented another car and drove back to Britain, failing to return the vehicle as agreed.The Prosecutor wants a total of 36 years for the charges and has requested the payment of 150,000 € to the wife of the victim and 200,000 € to each of his daughters.

British holidaymakers are deserting Spain in their droves latest figures show.

British holidaymakers are deserting Spain in their droves latest figures show. Spanish tourism bosses said 148,000 fewer Britons visited last month compared to January 2008 - a drop of 20.5 per cent. It is the lowest number since records began 15 years ago.
A source at the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce said: "British visitors are traditionally by far our largest market. "The fall is due to the worsening economic situation in the UK and the fall in the value of the pound. Britons are looking for cheaper holidays outside the Euro-zone." The southern region which includes the Costa del Sol, registered a massive 26.8 per cent drop in the number of January visitors from the UK. The Canary Islands, popular with Brits seeking winter sun, saw 47,000 fewer tourists from the UK, a fall of 17.5 per cent. The fall-off in British visitors is potentially devastating for Spain as 11 per cent of the economy depends on tourism. About 13.8 million Britons visited Spain in 2007.

The pound's poor rate of exchange against the euro means that British holidaymakers are staying in the UK or are heading for newer destinations.

Robert Orchard, 65,had lived on the ‘Costa Del Crime’ for 13 years but had not been tempted to join the drugs culture until he had a cancer scare.

Cynical Robert Orchard, 65, had not seen daughter Cheyrl and grandson Robert, nine, for five years when he invited her on an all-expenses-paid sunshine trip to Marbella.
He planned to drive her back to her home in Stirling aboard a new camper-van he had bought for the trip.What she didn’t know was that Orchard had stashed cannabis resin valued at more than £800,000 underneath the bunk-bed in which her
son was sleeping.The van was stopped at Dover Docks in April last year and customs officers found the drugs by drilling through to them.As a result, Cheyrl stood trial at Canterbury Crown Court in December but was acquitted because she did not know anything about the drugs haul.Today (Monday, Feb 23) at the same court Orchard admitted his guilt. Chris Geeson, his counsel, said Orchard had lived on the ‘Costa Del Crime’ for 13 years but had not been tempted to join the drugs culture until he had a cancer scare.He said: “He was losing weight alarmingly and decided to come back to England for treatment.”Previously he had been an entertainments manager and had run holiday estates.Mr Geeson said: “He was told payment for the camper-van would be waived if he took a ‘package’ to England.“After he was caught he realised he’d been involved in significant drug-smuggling.”Passing sentence, Judge Michael O’Sullivan said: “An aggravating feature is that you placed your daughter in danger of arrest. "She was accused of being involved, which placed your grandson with the real prospect he wouldn’t have the care of his mother for some considerable time.
“But for you she wouldn’t have been put through the ordeal of being on trial. "There is no doubt you played a significant part in this importation – but for your previous good character you would be facing a longer sentence.”

Monzer al-Kassar, 63, described by prosecutors as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, was convicted in November

Monzer al-Kassar, 63, described by prosecutors as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, was convicted in November of agreeing to sell weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to protect a cocaine-trafficking business and attack U.S. interests.U.S. prosecutors asked a judge on Monday to sentence a Syrian arms dealer convicted of conspiring to sell weapons worth $1 million to Colombian rebels to decades in prison.Kassar, a longtime resident of Spain known as the "Prince of Marbella" for his lifestyle in the glitzy seaside town, will be sentenced in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, along with Felipe Moreno Godoy, a Chilean, 59.Kassar was extradited after Spain received assurances from U.S. authorities he would face neither the death penalty nor a life sentence without chance of parole.In a sentencing memo on Monday, prosecutors asked for Kassar to serve a prison sentence "substantially in excess" of the 25-year minimum he faces, but "less than life.""From his palatial estate along Spain's Costa del Sol, Al Kassar commanded an arms trafficking network of criminal associates and front bank accounts that spanned the globe," the memo said.In this case, the memo said, he agreed to supply 12,000 weapons to the FARC, which "he believed intended to use the arms to kill Americans."Kassar's defense lawyers, who argued during the trial he was a legitimate arms dealer, asked in separate court papers for a sentence of 25 years, the minimum he can receive."There were crimes of greed, not crimes of terrorism," said the lawyers. "All this for a crime -- really, a DEA sting operation -- in which nobody was harmed," they said, referring to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.Kassar "will likely die in prison in a foreign country ... thousands of miles from his wife and children," the lawyers said.The prosecution case was based largely on evidence gathered by two undercover operatives who posed as FARC arms buyers and videotaped negotiations in Spain with Kassar and Moreno.Both were convicted on a host of charges including arms sales, conspiracy to kill U.S. officials, conspiracy to aid a terrorist organization and money-laundering.
The U.S. embassy in Madrid said Kassar had been selling weapons since the 1970s to the Palestinian Liberation Front and clients in Nicaragua, Bosnia, Croatia, Iran, Iraq and Somalia.

Removal companies in Malaga on the Costa del Sol are saying that the number of Brits who are returning to the UK is on the increase

Removal companies in Malaga on the Costa del Sol are saying that the number of Brits who are returning to the UK is on the increase and the number who are booking them to move out here is decreasing .A trend of the credit crunch .There are many reasons for doing this and some of them involve walking away from financial committments which they cannot meet .Rents , mortgages , business taxes to name but a few .

Pensioners are more pragmatic as most do not have mortgages and their needs are less so they are prepared to weather the storm .Most have experienced some form of hardship in their lives before , this is nothing new

.
Many who are returning are doing so with heavy hearts as they have loved the life here but when the money isn’t coming in then other avenues have to be explored and at the end of the day there is no place like home .Most of those spoken to about their returns to the UK have had to think about jobs , children , benefits that they would never have in Spain that they will be able to access in the UK, education , health care , the reasons go on and on .

Maras are much more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia or the Camorra of Naples and they are coming to Spain

Violent gangs like the Latin Kings are almost inactive in Spain, but the country is becoming worried about the possible arrival of more dangerous gangs from Central America.The alert was given by Pedro Gallego, a Civil Guard sergeant who lived in Honduras for four years, during which time he analyzed what are known in the region as "maras," violent groups made up of young men and women ranging in age from 10 to 30 who only know how to survive via crime.The result of that study is contained in "La Mara al Desnudo" (The Mara Revealed), his new book He devoted part of the work to discussing two old Latino gangs that are well-known in Spain: the Latin Kings and the Ñetas, which exist above all in the regions of Catalonia, Valencia, Madrid and Murcia.Gallego said that both groups "are only in a dormant state" after the police substantially weakened them."They are resurging spurred by the loss of jobs and the crisis," he said, and the situation could become more complicated when the Central American gangs get into Spain, since they have tight relations with international organized crime."They (the maras) are much more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia or the Camorra of Naples," he warned.He said that whether the gangs take root will depend on the entry of specific immigration flows from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, the bastions of gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18.
Family reunification also plays a part: "There are parents who want to bring their children to Spain and some of them could be members of one of these gangs."In addition, immigrants who are already in Spain could join the gangs. "It's possible that they'll feel attracted to these gangs after suffering xenophobia and losing their jobs," Gallego said.The author warns that the gangs have a very rapid rate of expansion and therefore it is necessary to fight them as early as possible, with both social measures and support for families."When it's detected that a boy has joined (a gang) you have to guarantee him protection and help him get out because abandoning the group means death, in contrast to what happens in other gangs," Gallego said."They say that there are only three places where you can be a gangmember: jail, the hospital and the cemetery," the expert added.The bait for attracting a young person to a gang of this kind is an attraction to the lifestyle and its typical elements, the power status and the easy access to sex and drugs.
The members of the gang do not all come from broken families and many of them are even educated and have a good economic situation.Gallego in his book analyzes the possibility that the gangs may transform themselves into cultural associations, as happened in Catalonia in 2006."It was a very useful tool to halt the commission of criminal acts, but then it has not been studied how it evolved and it's certain that many gangs use the excuse of being associated (with it) to clean up their image without really having done so," he said.

Metrovaces Spain's biggest property firm said that it lost €738m last year, the biggest loss in its history, as the value of its holdings dived

Spain's biggest property firm said on Friday that it lost €738m last year, the biggest loss in its 90-year history, as the value of its holdings dived following the collapse of the real estate markets in Spain and the UK.The purchase of HSBC's tower in Canary Wharf - the biggest property deal in British history - has helped sink its Spanish buyer, Metrovacesa.Owners of the beleaguered building company, the Sanahuja family, will hand control of the company to its creditor banks, including Santander, swapping a 55% stake in exchange for cancelling €2.1bn (£1.9bn) of debt claims.The purchase of the 42-storey tower in London's Docklands is seen as the peak of the real estate boom for Spanish businesses, which saw a succession of firms launch themselves into an unprecedented debt-fuelled expansion spree. At the peak of the market, 800,000 homes a year were being built in Spain - more than France, Germany and Britain put together.The Madrid-based Metrovacesa bought the 100,000 sq metre tower in Canary Wharf for £1.09bn in May 2007, financed with a £810m loan that it could not pay off or refinance as credit markets tightened.

Like buyout firms such as Baugur, which have also found themselves in trouble, Metrovacesa counted on rising values and cheap debt. The recession, however, has seen valuations go into reverse, while the credit crunch has dried up funds.

The Spanish company sold the tower - 8 Canada Square - back to HSBC last December for £838m, leading to a £250m gain for HSBC and a loss for Metrovacesa.
The real estate collapse has exacerbated Spain's plunge into recession because the sector accounts, directly and indirectly, for about a quarter of the economy. Thousands of firms are going bust and even top football clubs such as Valencia can no longer afford to pay their star players.The former Valencia chairman and real estate entrepreneur Juan Soler raised the club's debt to more than €400m and started building a new stadium before it had sold the land occupied by its current Mestalla stadium, which it has still not managed to do because of plunging property prices and the credit crunch. Work on the new stadium has stalled while the club rushes to get a new financing deal with new lenders. A local savings bank, Bancaja, has already cut off credit.London's commercial property prices have fallen 27% since the credit crunch hit. The latest blow to Canary Wharf came late last month when Morgan Stanley quit its lease of six floors of office space 10 years earlier than planned.

Landsbankis complex fraud involving 40 million euros has hit residents of Marbella on the Costa del Sol

Another complex fraud involving 40 million euros has hit residents of Marbella on the Costa del Sol .It involves an Icelandic Bank , and its Luxumbourg subsiduary plus a Luxumbourg Insurance Company . The case is being investigated by a San Roque court but the main losers are 100 Brits living in Marbella .The latter company has been denounced for deceitful publicity and fraud by a law firm which is representing 28 of the residents .Among those included in the legal action are three financial advisors , mainly to the British community .The people involved are mainly pensioners and those with high value properties .Financial advisors of the Icelandic bank began to sell a product which would guarantee the mortgage of the owner . It consisted of a mortgage on the property of around half a million euros and this was invested in financial products not only to pay off the mortgage but to give income as well .The clients were lured by the fact that it was self financing and had zero risk .It turned out that none of these things was true .They were also told that should the person die then it would reduce inheritance tax .The Spanish argument is that in Spanish law this is not possible and so therefore it is fraud .In fact such schemes had also been illegal in the Uk since 1990 .Under the terms of the Landsbank..Because of the fall of this Icelandic bank these people have no cover and are in danger of losing their homes .equity release scheme the policy holder could take 25% in cash and had to invest the rest in an investment company run by Landsbanki

36 year prison sentence for a British man who is accused of setting a house fire, stealing a car, and beating another Briton to death in Orihuela

36 year prison sentence for a British man who is accused of setting a house fire, stealing a car, and beating another Briton to death in Orihuela Costa.The attacked happened on January 4 2005, when the 29 year old accused, named with the initials D.S., went to the victim’s house in Vista Mar I in Playa Flamenca.An argument turned into a fight and the accused is charged with beating the victim with a sharp object bursting his aorta and causing his death. Then, in an attempt to destroy evidence a fire was started of both the body and the house, with D.S. accused of leaving the scene in the victim’s car. Three days later he rented another car and drove back to Britain, failing to return the vehicle as agreed.The Prosecutor wants a total of 36 years for the charges and has requested the payment of 150,000 € to the wife of the victim and 200,000 € to each of his daughters. The case gets underway at 10am on Monday in the Seventh section of the Alicante Provincial Court in Elche.

Las Maras, could be established in Spain within three years.

Civil Guard sergeant, who lived for a time in Honduras, has warned that a latin gang, more violent than the Latin Kings, called Las Maras, could be established in Spain within three years. Sergeant Pedro Gallego warned that the Latin Kings and the Ñetas, who used to have a higher presence in Spain were only ‘sleeping’ now, but would see a resurgence in activity as the economic crisis bites and youth unemployment rises. Members are attracted to join the gang because of its lifestyle, status and quick access to sex and drugs. Gallego has published a book with the conclusions of his study La Mara al Desnudo.
The book explains that the tattoos of the Mara gang members are important and represent secret codes between them. Dragons, tombs and sex scenes tattooed across the entire body are common place for the gang considered to be much more dangerous than the Sicilian Mafia or the Camorra from Naples.

Immigrants harassed by police who are allegedly under pressure to fulfill arrest quotas.

memo leaked to Spanish media this week is purported to have instructed one particular police station in the Madrid area — not in Lavapies — to arrest 30 undocumented immigrants per week.

Spain's sizable immigrant population already faces soaring unemployment in a souring economy and a government pushing jobless foreigners to go home. Now they complain they are also being harassed by police who are allegedly under pressure to fulfill arrest quotas.In Lavapies, one of Madrid's most multicultural neighborhoods, home to many North Africans, Latin Americans, Asians and people of other origins, immigrants say they are constantly asked for their papers to prove they are legal residents.
"Here, you will never see an immigrant without papers. They are afraid to go out on the street," said Abdel Kader, a 72-year-old Moroccan retiree who has lived in Spain for 40 years.Santo Aybar, a 33-year-old Dominican, said police "go to the subway station at seven in the morning and ask everybody for their papers."They ask to see my papers all day: at breakfast, at lunch and at dinner," Aybar said. "They treat us like trash, as if we were criminals."The Interior Ministry has denied there is any quota system. But police unions complain they are under pressure to make arrests, and say officers pushed to meet their targets have ended up simply stopping foreign-looking people at random at train stations and bus stops."Our officers want to crack down on crime, not on people trying to go to work," police union spokesman Alfredo Perdiguero said Tuesday.Such a tactic aimed at immigrants would reflect how drastically things have changed in Spain, and how quickly. Just two years ago, Spain's economy was on fire, and it relied heavily on immigrant labor in the all-important construction sector. Now the real estate bubble has burst, the economy is in a recessionary spiral and the jobless rate nationwide is 13.9 percent — and almost 22 percent among immigrants.The government has even launched a program offering jobless legal immigrants lump-sum payments of their unemployment benefits if they agree to go home for a few years until the economy recovers.Immigrants complain they are being made scapegoats for hard times after helping Spain create much wealth and become one of Europe's economic success stories.Spain's known immigrant population is nearly 5 million, about 11 percent of the total population.
Being in the country without a residency permit is not a crime but rather a misdemeanor. Those caught are arrested and fingerprinted and can be held for 24 hours. Then they are given an expulsion order but in many cases this is not acted on, Perdiguero said.Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, addressing Parliament on Tuesday, denied there was any kind of written or verbal order mandating a quota for arrests of people without papers."The main goal of the ministry's expulsion policy is none other than to focus on those foreigners, legal or illegal, who commit crimes in Spain," the minister said.In Lavapies, not everyone is convinced of that assertion.
"There have been a lot of police around here in the past few months. But when the press reports what is happening, they leave us alone for a few days," said Ahmed Alimi, a 48-year-old Moroccan who has lived in Lavapies for 20 years.
Raul Jimenez, a spokesman for Ruminahui, an association for Ecuadorean immigrants, added: "It is clear that there has been a toughening of how immigrants are treated, because there is no other way to understand this."

Around 70% of Santander’s retail clients affected by the Madoff scandal have accepted a settlement offered to them by the Spanish bank

Around 70% of Santander’s retail clients affected by the Madoff scandal have accepted a settlement offered to them by the Spanish bank, lawyers told a US court in Miami on Thursday as part of a class action lawsuit. Meanwhile

between 7% to 9% have refused the offer and prefer to continue with their legal proceedings.

Santander’s retail clients were exposed to the Madoff alleged Ponzi scheme via the Optimal Strategy US Equity fund run by Santander’s hedge fund arm Optimal. Santander’s total exposure to Madoff’s funds amounts to €2.3 billion. Despite the negotiated solution to Santander's Madoff exposure, problems have been arising elsewhere for the Spanish bank as

unit-holders of the real estate fund Santander Banif Inmobiliario are also planning to file a lawsuit for the way it has handled requested redemptions

, German newspaper Handelsblatt reports in its printed edition.

Users of pre-paid cards will find their service suspended in November if they have not identified themselves

new advertising campaign ‘Identifícate’ is to be launched by the Spanish government Interior Ministry at the end of this month with the objective of getting the 20 million mobile phone users with prepaid cards to register before a deadline date of November 7.It’s part of legislation passed in October 2007 under which unidentified mobile phone users will be cut off, as operators will be legally obliged to deactivate the cards which remain unidentified. The legislation was passed as a consequence of the terrorist attacks on the trains in Madrid on March 11 2004, when such pre-paid phones were used to activate the bombs. It’s estimated that currently only a quarter of the current 20 million such clients are identified in Spain. Some phone operators are trying to speed up the process by sending SMS messages to their users, and there is concern that some of the new so-called ‘virtual’ operators have no sales points where clients can register in many parts of the country.

To register your pre-paid card mobile you are asked to go to a sales point of your phone operator, taking along a DNI or foreigners residency paper, while companies will have to show their fiscal identification card.

The cost of the entire operation, estimated at between 30 and 50 million € has to be met by the phone operators.

Costa Blanca Crime

Robbery took place last week in Callosa de Segura town centre when two armed men got away with almost 4000 euros .The robbery took place at a gas distribution centre .The men entered the offices wearing motorcycle helmets and threatening staff at gunpoint , telling them to empty the tills .The Guardia civil are investigating the incident .There has been an increase in crime of this type during the last few months .

OFFICERS of the National Police have arrested six persons from Marbella, Alicante and Ibiza suspected of defrauding 70 businessmen and women

OFFICERS of the National Police have arrested six persons from Marbella, Alicante and Ibiza suspected of defrauding 70 businessmen and women by pretending to invest large sums of money in foreign companies in exchange of a profit share, and pocketing the administration and legal costs of these transactions; a figure that is estimated at four million euros.The investigation that lead to four Marbella residents and one from Ibiza and another from Alicante, was carried out by the Costa del Sol Organised Crime and Anti-drugs Unit. One of the four arrested from Marbella is thought to be the kingpin in this fraud ring. Four houses valued in excess of one million euros, 400,000 euros, several luxury vehicles and a large amount of documentation was seized by the authorities in this case where further arrests have not been ruled out.

Torremolinos arrested fifteen people in connection to the sale of luxury stolen cars.

Guardia Civil, directed by the court in Torremolinos, has arrested fifteen people in connection to the sale of luxury stolen cars.
Ten of the group have already been sent to prison on remand, and one of them is accused of importing the stolen vehicles from Germany. Two were granted bail of 10,000 € and three were released.
Diario Sur reports that even more people are implicated in the network, and that it is a foreigner allegedly at the centre of the case.

Banco Santander has suspended payments in its largest real estate fund

Banco Santander has suspended payments in its largest real estate fund in a decision which has left 43,200 clients with their investment frozen.The fund, Santander Banif Inmoboliario, has assets of 3.2 billion, but those who now ask for their original investment will be paid ten per cent.It comes as the bank finds the fund unable to meet recent requests for withdrawals amounting to 2.617 billion, some 80% of the total.The decision to freeze the fund is a first in Spain, although it is contemplated in law, with the bank asking the regulator CNMV for a two year frozen period. It comes despite the bank’s announcement last month of profits of more than 8 billion €.Those who have investments in the fund can find a serious of recommendations in the National Commission for Market Values website

Self-confessed killer of 17 year old Marta del Castillo from Sevilla, 20 year old Miguel Carcaño, and his friend Samuel Benítez

self-confessed killer of 17 year old Marta del Castillo from Sevilla, 20 year old Miguel Carcaño, and his friend Samuel Benítez who helped to throw the body of Marta into the Guadalquivir River, have been ordered to prison in Sevilla today without bail.
Dozens of people waited outside the courts before and after the appearance of the two youngsters, shouting ‘asesinos’ and other insults, as the emergency services spent their third day searching the river for the body of Marta.It’s now known the two used a wheelchair belonging to the late mother of the main accused, and a moped to take Marta’s body to the river from Miguel’s house in the Macarena area of the city.
The two spent some four hours giving their statements to the judge in Instruction Court 4 in Sevilla which heard how the two got rid of the body in the early hours of Sunday January 25, just a few hours after Miguel had killed Marta by hitting her with an ashtray during an argument.

There has been a fourth arrest in connection with the death of the missing Sevilla 17 year old, Marta del Castillo.The latest arrest came this morning and is understood to be Javier Carcaño, the brother of the man, Miguel Carcaño, who has confessed to the killing the girl after getting into an argument with her three weeks ago.
Javier, along with an unidentified 15 year old boy, faces charges of covering up the crime, while a friend of Miguel, Samuel, could face other charges after helping to dispose of the body.There were shouts from the public of ‘asesinos’ as Miguel and Samuel arrived in court in Sevilla today. The prosecutor has called for prison on remand for the two.For the third day the search is continuing along the length of the Guadalquivir river for Marta’s body. The two used a wheelchair belonging to the mother of the main accused, and a moped to take her body to the river from Miguel’s house in the Macarena area of the city.

Search for the body of Marta del Castillo

Search for the body of Marta del Castillo, the 17 year old from Sevilla who went missing three weeks ago, and whose friend, 20 year old Miguel Carcaño D. has now confessed to her killing, has been extended downstream in the Guadalquivir River where Miguel said he threw the body, helped by his friend Samuel B.P.Police say the search has been extended as far as Sanlúcar de Barrameda 80kms away, and that it is being complicated by the 17 metre depth of the river and the fact that is tidal and there is a lot of mud. It could take days to find her body.Two helicopters are taking part in the search which will continue at first light on Monday.On Sunday hundreds of bikers collected in Sevilla to support Marta del Castillo’s family and calling for justice in the case.The two accused are to appear in court in Sevilla on Monday, with the main accused, Miguel Carcaño, possibly appearing in the Domestic Violence Court.

Miguel Carcaño, the 20 year old who has confessed to the killing of missing 17 year old Marta del Castillo in Sevilla

Miguel Carcaño, the 20 year old who has confessed to the killing of missing 17 year old Marta del Castillo in Sevilla, has been currently going out with a 14 year old girl, Rocio. Miguel Carcaño will appear in court in Sevilla on Monday charged with the murder of 17 year old Marta del Castillo.She has told the press that although she knows that he is the killer, she cannot believe it. She said she knew that he was quite a jealous man, and when she had asked him if he had anything to do with the crime, he had simply hung his head in silence.

Amer Hady Saed British property developer had suffered a severe blow to the head and cuts as if he had been defending himself against a knife attack

The victim, named in reports as Amer Hady Saed, 68, had suffered a severe blow to the head and cuts as if he had been defending himself against a knife attack, the Spanish newspaper El Pais said. Body of a British property developer has been found at a luxury villa in southern Spain.His body was discovered by workmen renovating a £4.3 million mansion in Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, on Tuesday morning. It is understood Iraqi-born Saed held a British passport and had moved to Spain from London five years ago. He was married to a Moroccan woman, the newspaper said.details on the death of the Iraqi man whose body was found beaten to death in Marbella on Tuesday. The victim was 68 year old, Amer Hady Saed, whose body was found by some building workers in a luxury villa which is still under construction in Calle Margarita, La Carolina. A jacket had been thrown over his head and his hands were bloody, and cut as if he had been defending himself.The man, who had a British passport, had been in Marbella for some five years, but his domestic employees did not know his business activities, describing him as a quiet man. He was married to a Moroccan woman, and spent time both in Morocco and London. The Daily Telegraph reports he was a Property Developer.There are no reports of any police record, but police have established that he was in debt. The villa where his body was found is on the market for 4.8 million €.His death is the fourth violent killing on the Costa del Sol this year, after the kidnapping and death of a San Pedro builder, the shooting of an Irish drug trafficker in Benalmádena, and the discovery of a 28 year old woman found stabbed in her home in Málaga.

Hundreds of Marbella residents affected tens of millions of euros disappeared. A court in San Roque (Cádiz) investigating an alleged scam Lansbanski

Hundreds Marbellas British residents wiped out tens of millions of euros disappeared. A court in San Roque (Cádiz) is investigating an alleged scam perpetrated against foreign residents in Marbella, in an amount that could exceed 40 million euros.
In the spotlight is the Icelandic capital Lansbanski bank recently nationalized due to the international financial crisis, and its subsidiary Luxembourg Luxembourg SA Lansbanski, now in liquidation after entering into receivership. Both the mother and its subsidiary entity and the insurer Lex Life and Pension Luxembourg SA, also belonging to the same group, is shown as reported for alleged misleading advertising and fraud in a complaint filed by the office Martínez-Echevarría, Pérez y Ferrero representing 28 concerned, all foreign residents in Spain. The total number of victims, according to sources in the firm exceeds a hundred. Among those reported are also three agencies with investment activity in the Costa del Sol and dedicated to the British market, the majority nationality of the alleged victims, all pensioners and properties of high value.
According to the complaint, from 2004 players began to market investment in the UK market on the Costa del Sol a financial product from an insurance company owned by the Icelandic bank's subsidiary in Luxembourg which provided a policy of capital secured with the mortgage of their property.Laoperación consisted of mortgage housing, amounts to around half a million euros each, and the investment of that money in a financial product that allowed for a return that not only covered the interest on the capital borrowed, but also supposedly generated additional income. Guests were taken on the grounds that it was a product that is self. Zero risk and return safely. Nothing could be further from what would happen next.
In product advertising, disseminated in different ways in English on the Costa del Sol, also ensures that the system would result in a reduction of the tax base by reducing inheritance tax, when the death of the owner, the amount of the loan value of the property tax with a clear benefit in favor of heirs of the dwellings. This, according to Spanish law, it is not possible, explain the law firm has filed the lawsuit, which has led to including in it a possible crime of misleading advertising.
Given the success of the product, in 2006 the bank opened an information office in New Andalusia, which grew from the acquisition of customers. The concerted lending institution and the amounts financed channeled through his office in Luxembourg to Lex Life insurance which means insurance capital would allegedly promised returns.
However, the financial capital was not insured as promised, let alone self, which led to customers being unable to meet interest on the loan and the amount that entered the insurance capital lost value. After the entry into receivership and the parent bank's liquidation of the luxembuguesa subsidiary, the alleged victims are not contracted quantities of capital in the insurance and the threat of power lose their homes.
Dramatic spiral Customers, as assured in the lawsuit have entered into the next spiral: they are in breach of the obligation to pay interest on the loan and because they earn interest on late payment will not be able to share the following interests by rioja that default interest will increase, with Lex Life insurance is not going to generate the necessary profit to cover the interest due or to meet to be due in the future because if this was not possible when the amount had not been entered yet depreciated , much less what is now the majority has no additional safeguards that provide; despatrimonializado have and their creditworthiness, which could achieve its greatest asset, its building, is completely exhausted, and if all this were not enough 'weight all about the imminent threat of enforcement of security, and especially the mortgage, which would inevitably lead to its downfall, with the loss of their home. The situation worsened after the last October, the Icelandic State was forced to nationalize the bank as part of measures to prevent the collapse of the financial system. This means that creditors of the bank, others in good faith throughout this process, they will hold mortgage collateral and may proceed with its liquidation.
The bank has closed its office in Marbella and has cut all communication with customers.

Cyril Jacquet shot his mother three times using his father's automatic pistol after she entered the family home.

Cyril Jacquet, 29, and his girlfriend were among the contestants on a new show to be aired on the Antena 3 channel on Sunday night. But the pair were pulled from the programme after rumours surfaced on the internet that he had murdered his parents when he was 15 years old.In 1994, Jacquet shot his mother three times using his father's automatic pistol after she entered the family home. A few hours later, Jacquet used the remaining seven bullets for his father.He was pictured smiling at their funeral and eventually confessed to the double killing claiming they had "scolded him" and "sometimes" hit him. After serving less than three years in a youth detention centre he was released with no criminal record under Spanish law because he was a minor at the time.
Organisers of the show La Vuelta al Mundo (Around the World) which follows young couples as they race around the globe competing with each other for a 200,000 euros (£180,000) prize, claim they had no knowledge of his past.But fans of the show did their own research and discovered the crime, which was well publicised at the time.
Jacquet and his girlfriend Paola Alberdi, 24, were flown home from Venice before the first show was aired."The programme did not know," a presenter told viewers on the show's debut on Sunday night. "After we checked the facts of the case we brought them back to Spain to protect them from media attention."Jacquet, now a flight attendant, was in the studio and blamed the media and "undesirable" people for preventing him from participating in the reality show."They don't let you leave the past behind," he complained. "I don't want to keep giving them the excuse to lynch me.""But I will always hold my head up high," he said. "People change."

large-scale fraud on the London Stock Exchange Six people are arrested

Six people were arrested in Barcelona, Madrid and Alicante, accused of large-scale fraud on the London Stock Exchange, netting more than 450 euros. Behind the swindle were ex-Mossad agent, Abraham Hochman, and Diego Magin Selva, former adviser to the disgraced Spanish banker, Mario Conde.

Félix Martínez Touriño, has been shot dead in the street.

36 year old director of the Centro de Convenciones in Barcelona, Félix Martínez Touriño, has been shot dead in the street. His attacker shot him in the head in the San Gervasi area of the city yesterday and then made his escape on foot. Witnesses said the attacker was wearing a hat and scarf. Police are still to make an arrest and Los Mossos d’Esquadra say they are keeping all possibilities open in their investigations as to the motive for the killing.

17 year old teen is still missing in Seville

17 year old teen is still missing in seville .She went missing on the 24th January after visiting friends .Her ex-bfriend gave her a lift almost to the door of the building in which she lived with her parents and two younger sisters .It is now thought that she mayhave entered the flat andd gone out again as her father is almost 100% certain the internet router was switched off when they went out but when he and the rest of the family returned in the evening it was turned on .There is a possibility that someone may have contacted her via the internet and that she went out again .She was seen by a neighbour outside the building where she lived at a time which coincided with the ex-boyfriend dropping her off that evening .
A massive poster campaign has been launched across Seville and other Andalucian provinces .In fact the scale of publicity about her disappearance is unprescedented .Her friends have set up a ” missing ” page on Tuenti , that has so far recorded 500,000 people supporting the campaign .Police are examining the family computer and forensic experts are also analysing telephone records in an attempt to find out who she had been communicating with on the internet .

Guardia Civil officers arrested a known drug dealer in the town centre

Guardia Civil officers arrested a known drug dealer in the town centre .The man was approached by the police and as they did so he ran off into a nearby cafe .Officers followed him and did a search when they discovered a small quantity of cocaine in his pocket .As they were about to arrest him a fracas broke out in the bar and the man once again ran off into the kitchen , dropping a box in the process .The box was found to contain bags of a white powder which were later confirmed as being cocaine .A search of the kitchen unearthed more drugs and some gold rings .The police also confiscated a very large machete style hunting knife , over 2000 euros , a mobile phone , more white powder .The white powder was not cocaine but possibly something which was used to cut the cocaine .

Torrevieja crime in broad daylight

Torrevieja a man had parked his car in the town centre for only five minutes and the thieves attacked .They were well organised and had look outs on bicycles .When the time was right the car window was smashed and the CD player and and CD’s were stolen .Passers by saw it all happen and understandably did nothing .One never knows these days when there is a knife waiting to be used .The thieves were thought to be Russian .This man had experienced another daylight robbery only weeks before when his mobile phone was stolen from under his nose in his business place .It is clear that thieves are hanging around looking for a chance to steal from unsuspecting victims .Is it the credit crunch or the economic climate which causes people to behave in this way or are they just normal criminals ? When people do not have enough to feed themselves or their families then they will steal , in fact that is what most of us would do in similar circumstances , it is called survival .

last week a judge in Madrid had granted a warrant to arrest Ian Donaldson 30-year-old amateur racing driver from Paisley.

Ian Donaldson spent last Saturday night with pals in Glasgow's Karbon club, despite being the subject of an international arrest warrant. "He had a team of pals with him and didn't seem to have a care in the world. "He certainly didn't look like a man who is wanted by the police across Europe. "It's puzzling as to why the police in Scotland haven't arrested him." Donaldson - once cleared of a gangland kidnap - faces drugs and money-laundering charges in Spain. The Spanish authorities have already confiscated eight properties, a Lamborghini supercar and a yacht belonging to him in Tenerife as part of a major operation, which has seen the seizure of £12million of alleged criminal assets. A Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency spokeswoman said: "This is a matter for the Spanish authorities."

Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared on the evening of New Year’s Day 1st January 2008

Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared on the evening of New Year’s Day 1st January 2008 at approximately 10pm when she left her friend’s house in the tourist resort of Riviera Del Sol on the Costa del Sol to take the 10 minute walk home.

Pancake the scouser, and is involved in drug trafficking and carrying out assassinations in Málaga province

Violent British gang which has been carrying out extortion of local businessmen on the Costa del Sol has been linked to several shooting incidents.The group is known as ‘Pancake’, because it is allegedly led by the known British criminal referred to as ‘Pancake the scouser’, and is involved in drug trafficking and carrying out assassinations in Málaga province. Most of the members are originally from Liverpool and Manchester.La Opinión de Málaga reports that the group controlled four houses in Urbanisation Jacaranda in Mijas, and that there are at least five members known to the authorities.The shooting at Nikki Beach last year has been linked to the gang which is under investigation by the UDYCO, organized crime and drug unit of the police. Several witnesses at the scene identified ‘Pancake the Scouser’ as the shooter there last summer.The gang is also linked to the Puerto Banús shooting last summer and to the shooting of an Irishman at the Aloha Garden bar.

Robbed 1.5 million € from a businessman at the doors of a bank in Alicante.

Five men and two women, all from Argentina, and with criminal records back home, have been arrested for taking 1.5 million € from a businessman at the doors of a bank in Alicante.The police say that the group had been following the businessman for two months and had tried to rob him on another two occasions without success.Finally they took 1.5 million € at gunpoint from the footwear entrepreneur just as he was about to pay in the cash to the bank.National Police spokesman, Blas García, explained that the robbery happened on December 15 in the San Gabriel area of the city. He said the organisers of the gang are a father and son who are very well known in Alicante as a furniture restorer and motorbike mechanic.Others arrested face money laundering charges. Five searches have been carried out and 290,000 € of the money has been recovered and three cars, motorbikes and a firearm have been impounded. It’s thought the group were trying to purchase a property on the beach for 300,000 € but the deal apparently was not completed.

Spanish law firm three million people were affected by the Madoff affair

There are up to three million "direct and indirect" victims worldwide of the alleged fraud by US broker Bernard Madoff, a Spanish law firm that has filed a US lawsuit in the name of some of the victims said Tuesday.
"Our calculations are that at least three million people were affected by the Madoff affair, three million people who could be directly or indirectly affected by the case," Javier Cremades, the president of law firm Cremades Calvo-Sotelo, told a news conference.The estimate is based on information collected from over 30 law firms around the world that are representing the victims of the alleged pyramid scheme in 25 countries, he said.Cremades said the total amount involved could turn out to be higher than the 50 billion dollars (39 billion euros) that has been widely estimated so far.Last week the law firm, which has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Portugal in addition to Spain, filed a class action lawsuit in Florida in the name of people who invested in Madoff through a fund run by Santander, Spain's largest bank.Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, Santander offered to reimburse the 1.38 billion euros which its private banking clients lost by investing in its Optimal fund -- the first offer of its kind by a bank involved in the case.Santander, the largest bank in the eurozone by market capitalization, said in December that it had a total of 2.33 billion in client funds exposed to Madoff. It has so far not offered to reimburse its institutional investors.The law firm said Madoff had victimized people in many countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland, South Africa, Mexico and Israel.Madoff, a 70-year-old former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market, was arrested in December and charged with using billions of dollars from new investors to pay off older ones in a Ponzi or pyramid scheme.

Ley de Costas, Coastal Law.property can now be bought and sold, and indeed passed in inheritance, provided the building was built legally before 1988.

Spanish Government has added a last minute amendment to the Ley de Costas, Coastal Law. The change comes as an attempt to lessen the barrage of criticism the law has received from Europe, following complaints from the British and German embassies.

The law is in fact not a new one, but is now 20 years old, but only recently has the current Minister for the Environment, Carmen Narbona, started to enforce it.

The 1988 law declares that the beach is public land, up to the point where the sea reaches in the worst of storms. Any homes built in that area before 1988 were taken into ownership by the state ahead of demolition, but the owners were granted up to 60 years grace, but they were told that they could not sell or reform their properties. The decision on whether a particular property lies in the public area was allowed to take five years. The reform has now come via an amendment to the Maritime Navigation law, taking the legislation change directly via the Justice department and away from the Environment Ministry, needing only additional approval in Congress.
It states that such property can now be bought and sold, and indeed passed in inheritance, provided the building was built legally before 1988. An estimated 45,000 homes are estimated to be affected all along the coasts of Spain.

17 year old Marta del Castillo, who vanished from Sevilla nine days ago

Eva Casanueva, the mother of the 17 year old Marta del Castillo, who vanished from Sevilla nine days ago, has spent most of that time in bed just waiting for news. On Monday she made the effort to attend to the questions of the media. There are no firm clues to go on, although rumours that the boy who said he dropped Marta off at her home on the Saturday night is under suspicion. An expert dog has indicated that the clues may be in the Triana part of the city, where Marta spent Saturday afternoon with friends before she disappeared.Meanwhile her uncle, Javier Casanueva, who is acting as family spokesman, has complained to the press that neither the Prime Minister, nor the Minister for the Interior have called the family.

‘Latin King’ gang have been arrested in Orihuela

Four Ecuadorians aged between 15 and 23 have been arrested in Orihuela for allegedly being members of the ‘Latin King’ gang. Among those arrested is the man thought to be the leader of the organisation in the province, a 21 year old.The arrests come after a complaint to police from a Uruguayan youngster who said he had been beaten up several times by the gang. Four homes have been searched in the town, and documents and other items impounded. More arrests have not been ruled out.

Spanish Internet Users Paying Extortionate Prices

The Spanish Association of Internet Users has made a formal complaint with regard to the slowing growth rate of ADSL and cable connections within the country, calling for price reductions. It went on to say that as such an affluent source of revenue and potential economic growth it feels that universal access to the web should be sustained by public money.

Nationalisation of tens of thousands of seaside residences in an attempt to protect the coastline from pollution

Environment Ministry is backtracking on plans to nationalize tens of thousands of seaside residences in an attempt to protect the coastline from pollution, the daily El Pais reported Monday. The Environment Ministry had intended to step up the application of a 1988 law prohibiting the construction of housing near the water line. The owners of such houses, many of whom are British and German nationals, would have been granted the right to use them for up to 60 years without being allowed to sell them. Protests from house owners and the British and German embassies have prompted the government to soften the plans, El Pais said.
The owners of seaside residences are expected to be given permission to sell them, which will make it more difficult to nationalize them, according to the daily.
Environmentalists have long been concerned about the impact of urbanization on Spain's coastline

Iberia merger between the airline and British Airways was close.

chairman of Spain's Caja Madrid, the biggest shareholder in Iberia with 23%, said an agreement on a merger between the airline and British Airways was close.
"I believe the operation is close, that's my impression," Miguel Blesa told journalists as he presented the un- listed bank's 2008 results yesterday.Blesa is also deputy chairman of Iberia.When asked what was blocking a merger agreement, Blesa said the share split, corporate governance questions and the location of the combined group's headquarters all needed to be resolved."The perception now I think is that the share exchange will not be 60-40," he said of the likely stakes to be held by BA and Iberia. "Iberia is now worth more. It will be closer to 55-45."
British Airways' chief executive Willie Walsh is expected in Madrid today for talks with Iberia chairman Fernando Conte and other Oneworld alliance bosses.
"The talks are ongoing, no timescales have been set," a BA spokeswoman said.
When the two announced last July they were discussing a merger, British Airways expected to secure around 65% of the combined group, but since then its shares have plunged, worsened by a profit warning in January.Together with the pound's recent slide against the euro, Iberia's market capitalisation is now higher than BA's.
Iberia shares jumped 3.3% to 1.87 after the announcement. BA finished 4p down at 116p, partly because of massive travel disruption at Heathrow, its London hub.
BA cancelled all short-haul flights and long-haul journeys before 5pm because of heavy snow.A spokesman said the weather also disrupted other airlines, and the disruption was likely to continue today.

Spanish police arrested 13 people Tuesday on suspicion of links to organized crime and terrorism groups.

Spanish police arrested 13 people Tuesday on suspicion of links to organized crime and terrorism groups.A police statement said the detainees -- 11 Pakistanis, a Nigerian and an Indian -- are suspected of belonging to an international crime gang involved in passport forgery, drug trafficking and people-smuggling.Police said they were investigating whether the group may also have supplied forged documents to international terror groups. Spanish police often use that term to refer to Islamic extremist organizations, but a police official refused to say if that applied this time.Earlier, news reports citing police sources said 15 people had been arrested on suspicion of forging passports for use by al-Qaida members. Police in Madrid said they could not comment on that.Eleven of the arrests took place in Barcelona and two in the eastern city of Valencia. Police agents wore masks to conceal their identities.The statement said the group is suspected of having contacts in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland and Thailand.The group allegedly stole passports in Spain and forwarded them to Thailand, where they were altered before being sent back to crime gangs in Europe.In the operation, police seized numerous false and blank passports and material used for forging documents.Dozens of suspected radical Islamic militants have been arrested in Spain since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington, and again after the commuter train bombings in 2004 in Madrid.On Jan. 20, six Pakistanis were arrested in Barcelona on suspicion of tax fraud and diverting funds to Islamic terror groups. They were released days later for lack of evidence.

Recent report from Economic Analysts in Andalucía paints a pretty bleak picture for Andalucía

Recent report from Economic Analysts in Andalucía paints a bleak picture for Andalucía but the province of Malaga the home of Costa del Sol has a much more rosy future than the rest of Andalucía. Malaga with a growth rate of 1.5% last year is the leading province for economic growth whose average growth rate is 1.1%. The gross regional product of Andalucía is expected to fall by 1.1% in 2009 however the least effect of the decline will be felt in Malaga and Sevilla.

One very interesting statistic was that the number of building licenses issued in the province of Malaga was more than 13000 less up to September of last year than the year before. The report not surprisingly states that the crisis in the building industry has been mainly due to the overpricing of housing in the region and the only way out of trouble is for prices to be adjusted downwards. The report suggest prices need to fall 17% nationally and 27% in Andalucía but according to Spanish property experts Spanish Hot Properties some Costa del Sol Property has already been reduced by up to 30% from last years price by developers keen to liquidate there stock and in some cases as much as 45%. According to the report such a price drop would stimulate the property market especially when you consider that the average Malaga family spend 56% of there salary on mortgage this is set against an Andalucian average of 45% and a national average of 40%. However house price falls alone won’t restore the confidence of the local property buyers market with the Andalucian unemployment rate likely to reach 23% in 2009 set against a national average of 17% but price readjustment would be a very good starting point.

So how does the latest report and statistics impact on Spanish property sales in Costa del Sol and when is the right time to buy . Some time in 2009 is the right time to buy according to Susana Suspenda the Marketing and Operations manager for Spanish Hot Properties. “Costa del Sol tourism is holding up very well with Andalucian tourism down 2.3 % but Malaga actually having a 2.4% increase which indicates this is still the place where overseas property buyers want to buy and from our recent survey we can see people are very keen to snap up the bargains that are available and they obviously want to buy as close to the bottom of the market as possible. What the report clearly states is that 27% falls is what is needed for the market to readjust so if you can buy at 40% below value then your 13% ahead of the game so to speak.