22 Blue Flags For Malaga's Beaches This Summer

number of blue flags waving in the Malaga coast is to increase this year. According to data released yesterday by the Asociación de Educación Ambiental y del Consumidor {Association of Environmental and Consumer Education(, the province passed from 21 in 2010 to 22 in the summer season, Fuengirola will have three blue flags,{Santa Amalia, San Francisco and Los Boliches-Las Gaviotas.}Marbella has four (Artola –Cabo Pino–, Casablanca, Guadalmina-San...

Change In Frequency On The Cercanías Málaga-Fuengirola Train Route From September

The C-1 Suburban Train Line which links the capital city of Malaga and Fuengirola Malaga, is to reduce its frequency from 30 to 20 minutes from 11th September, which will lead to an increase in the number of services per day which resulting in around 48 per cent more seats a day.&nb...

horseshoe snake was captured by agents from the Grupo de Medio Ambiente la Policía Local de Málaga

horseshoe snake was captured by agents from the Grupo de Medio Ambiente la Policía Local de Málaga after it was discovered in a car park of a block of flats in MalagaIt is understood the snake was captured at around 11.45 after it had been spotted in the carparkIt is reported that the snake was very aggressive and even bit the trouser leg of one of the agents during the captureAfter the capture, the snake was taken to the Parque Zoosanitario Municipal...

Spanish protesters vote to remain in Sol square

Spaniards protesting over the handling of the country's economic crisis vowed to keep their tents in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square this week, driving a movement that is spreading across Europe.Hundreds of people both young and old voted late on Sunday to keep the Sol encampment going until Thursday at least.Dubbed "los indignados" (the indignant), tens of thousands of demonstrators packed squares across Spain in a wave of outrage over high unemployment...

GERMANY has warned that the source of an outbreak of bacteria poisoning blamed for 10 deaths and hundreds of people falling ill, some in other countries, has yet to be pinpointed

.''Until experts in Germany and Spain are able to positively identify the source of the pathogen, general warnings about vegetables remain valid,'' Consumer Minister Ilse Aiger told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.''The relevant authorities are doing all they can to clear this up, nationally and internationally''.Germany's national disease institute, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), has confirmed so far two deaths from haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS),...

Barclays is considering buying one of Spain's regional savings banks, it has been reported.

It comes after the Spanish government said Barclays' boss Bob Diamond had met Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Madrid last week.The Sunday Times said Mr Diamond was seeking a guarantee that Barclays would not be responsible for any historic debts.Barclays said it would not comment as the discussions were private.The Spanish government said the talks focused on the financial markets and the global and European economies.Spain has a number...

Police fire rubber bullets at protesters in Barcelona

Spanish police fired rubber bullets and swung truncheons to disperse anti-crisis protesters in a Barcelona square Friday as cleaning crews cleared their tent camp.Catalan police in anti-riot gear moved in after about 50 protesters sat down on the street to block a convoy of cleaning trucks leaving the Plaza de Cataluna square with remnants of the encampment.Police, some with plastic shields, were shown on television dragging protesters along the...

Redevelopment of Marbella Port could start early next year

The project to develop Marbella’s La Bajadilla Port was officially presented at a Marbella hotel on Tuesday, where it was revealed that 100% of the companies which will be involved in the work will be Spanish. It’s estimated that it will create 1,500 direct jobs and another 3,000 indirect.The contract for the new port was awarded to the owner of Málaga Football Club, the Qatari Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani, whose right hand man and Vice-President...

13 arrested for Mallorca telesales scam which defrauded millions out of UK customers

National Police have arrested 13 people in a new scam which operated from Palma de Mallorca and allegedly cheated millions out of their customers in the UK. Diario de Mallorca reports that the majority of the suspects are British, of Pakistani origin.Officers searched 10 addresses on Tuesday, including an office in Palma from where the telesales calls were made. Two premises in Santa Ponça and Andratx were also searched.The investigations began in...

Alleged British paedophile arrested in Benidorm

49 year old Briton has been arrested by the Guardia Civil in Benidorm in connection with several sexual abuses on children, and for the alleged crime of corruption of minors for his possession of child pornography.Sources at the Guardia Civil has said the man is also subject to a search and capture order for child sex abuse issued by the British authorities. In addition there are reports that they man was being investigated on similar charges by...

political party set up by the owners of homes now deemed to have been built illegally in Chiclana, Cádiz, now holds the balance of power in the Town Hall.

political party set up by the owners of homes now deemed to have been built illegally in Chiclana, Cádiz, now holds the balance of power in the Town Hall.The electoral success for the PVRE neighbours of Chiclana party comes as a result of door to door campaigning. They have two councillors, just the amount needed by the PP for an overall majority in the town.The PP was the most voted for party and they will have to deal with the property owners if...

Spanish police say they have prevented the illegal sale of nine military transport helicopters to Iran and have detained eight people.

The operation, which took place in Madrid and Barcelona, led to the arrests of five Spanish businessmen and three Iranian nationals, reports say.As well as the Bell-212 helicopters, police also found spare parts for export to Venezuela, police said.Iran is banned from buying attack helicopters under UN sanctions.The five Spanish businessmen are suspected of trying to export the US-made aircraft, while the three Iranians are accused of negotiating...

476,294 vehicles registered in the province of Malaga were due to take their ITV test. However only 352,223 actually made it to a test centre:

74 per cent. The remaining 26 per cent makes Malaga the Andalusian province with the most cars on the roads that haven’t passed the motor vehicle test, according to statistics from the ITV organisation that forms part of the regional_Economy, Innovation and Science Department. The ITV test is obligatory, either annually or every two years, for vehicles over a certain age in order to ensure that the cars, lorries and motorcycles are roadworthy and...

Unicaja-owned centre in Benalmádena is home to 72 people, including many foreign residents

residents and staff of the Marymar nursing home in Benalmádena Costa organised a rally outside the building’s main entrance last Tuesday morning to demand explanations as to the centre’s forthcoming closure on 31st May.Following years of rumours and speculation, the Marymar residents received a letter in April from Unicaja bank, the centre’s owner, confirming that it is to be closed at the end of this month.The building is being shut down for the...

Nearly $1M Awarded to Dad Who Sued Ex-Wife’s Law Firm for Role in Child Abduction

A father whose child was spirited to Spain by his former spouse has won a nearly $1 million verdict against the New Jersey law firm that represented the woman.A jury in Bergen County, N.J., awarded $950,000 to Roy Innes and his daughter in their suit against Lesnevich & Marzano-Lesnevich and name partner Madeline Marzano-Lesnevich, the New Jersey Law Journal reports. The suit faulted the law firm for releasing the child’s passport to the mother,...

Spain's Socialists, devastated in local elections, are now split over how to choose the successor to unpopular Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero

Spain's Socialists, devastated in local elections, are now split over how to choose the successor to unpopular Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who alienated voters with painful austerity measures.Unemployment has soared to the highest rate in the European Union as Zapatero -- who will not stand for a third term -- slashed spending to keep Spain from being sucked into the euro zone debt crisis that has claimed Greece, Ireland and Portugal.The...

Ryanair's inexorable passenger growth will go into reverse this winter for the first since it became a low-cost carrier,

Ryanair's inexorable passenger growth will go into reverse this winter for the first since it became a low-cost carrier, the airline admitted on Monday, as high fuel costs and weak demand force the grounding of up to 80 aircraft.Europe's largest short-haul carrier said passenger numbers will fall between September and March compared with the same period in 2010/11, ending a trend that has seen traffic figures at the Dublin-based airline grow by millions...

SPAIN’S RULING Socialist Party headed for a crushing defeat in local elections yesterday,

SPAIN’S RULING Socialist Party headed for a crushing defeat in local elections yesterday, punished by voters after a week of mass public protests over high unemployment levels and a stagnant economy.With 85 per cent of votes counted nationwide, the centre-right Popular Party had 37 per cent of the aggregate municipal vote.The Socialists were 9 percentage points behind, heading for their worst showing in municipal elections since Spain returned to...

Sentenced to 14 days in jail and fined 900 euros for a woman who had seven hours late to his polling station

The Supreme Court has sentenced to 14 days in jail and 900 euros a woman from Barcelona who had seven hours late to the table of the polling station where he had been named a member second, considering that, but blamed the delay on an unwillingness intestinal, provided no justification that would have exempted from this requirement.In a ruling made ​​public this Saturday, the Second Chamber of the high court revoked the acquittal that issued the...

Flight chaos feared after new Iceland eruption

Another volcanic eruption has shut down airspace around Iceland and is threatening to disrupt travel across Europe in the coming days.The eruption at Grimsvotn was much stronger than the Eyjafjoell eruption further south that shut down the airspace across Europe in April last year and disrupted the travel plans of millions of passengers.Air safety officials said ash from the latest eruption may reach north Scotland by Tuesday before sweeping across...

Two people aged 36 and 14 have died while watching the II Rally Sprint in Pozoblanco in Córdoba after being hit by a vehicle taking part.

The Guardia Civil say a third person was seriously injured in the accident on Saturday in the rally organised by the Escudería Sierra Morena. 66 cars were taking part in the rally which is part of the Andalucía Champions.hip, and the tragedy occurred at Km 8 on the CO-6410.Other spectators alerted the emergency services and health professionals reached the scene by helicopter.Investigations are underway to establish if the two fatalities were in...

British woman on a Spanish holiday was gassed and raped while her husband lay unconscious next to her,

British woman on a Spanish holiday was gassed and raped while her husband lay unconscious next to her, it was claimed today.The mother-of-two, 56, was assaulted at a hotel in Benalmadena, Spain, after a mystery gas was pumped into their roof-top bedroom, her husband said.The pair from Greater Manchester, were near the end of their Costa del Sol holiday when the sex attacker struck at the Hotel Siroco.The British woman claimed she was raped at the...

Tens of thousands of disenchanted and unemployed young Spaniards refused to leave tent cities they raised over the week in plazas throughout the country

Tens of thousands of disenchanted and unemployed young Spaniards refused to leave tent cities they raised over the week in plazas throughout the country, defying an official ban on gatherings ahead of this Sunday’s municipal elections.Are British student protests a harbinger of future violence over austerity measures?Russia protests: Thousands rally in 'Day of Wrath' against PutinUK taken aback by fervor and staying power of student protestsSome...

contract to enlarge Marbella’s La Bajadilla marina has been awarded to Nasir Bin Abdullah & Sons.

The contract to enlarge Marbella’s La Bajadilla marina has been awarded to Nasir Bin Abdullah & Sons. This temporary consortium (UTE) is headed by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family and owner of Malaga FC. With a cost of €84 million this will be the first harbour development in Andalucia that is funded with both public and private money.The company, specifically formed to bid for the tender, includes Marbella Council...

New golf resort under discussion for Coín

The Town Hall in Coín is reported to have started conversations with a group of real estate investors from Russia to build a golf resort which would include a luxury 200-bed hotel and 250 residential villas.The Mayor of Coín, Gabriel Clavijo, has confirmed to Diario Sur that a first meeting has already taken place, with conversations set to continue in the coming weeks. He added that the investors are interested in creating a high performance sports...

Bulgarian attacker was admitted to psychiatric unit in the U.K

The 28 year old Bulgarian, Deyan Deyanov, who is accused of beheading the 60 year old English woman, Jennifer Mills-Westley in Tenerife on the 13th of this month, has been revealed to have been admitted in the past to a psychiatric facility in Britain.He was admitted to Glan Clwyd Hospital in Wales last summer for his own safety under the UK Mental Health Laws. What is not clear is whether he was discharged or escaped from the facility, and an investigation...

Prison for man who swindled British Couple over property sale

The Málaga Provincial Court has sent a man to prison for five years for defrauding a British couple over the sale of a plot of land containing a half-built house.The sale of the plot was not inscribed in the Registry, and was non-buildable land; the half built property was illegally built and did not respect minimum distances from the boundaries.Europa Press reports that he man found guilty acted as a real estate intermediary, advertising in publications...

Torrential rain has caused flash floods in southern Spain, killing an elderly woman and sending cars floating down the streets of one town.

Torrential rain has caused flash floods in southern Spain, killing an elderly woman and sending cars floating down the streets of one town.National Spanish Television on Thursday showed a river of water gushing through the streets of Canete de las Torres town in the Andalusia region and cars piled on top of one another.About 150 houses were evacuated, and TV footage showed people sweeping water out of their damaged homes.The body of an 85-year-old...

CAMPAIGNERS have slammed the UK benefit system, which is allowing expats abroad to defraud around 70million euros a year from government coffers.

They believe the majority of this so called ‘abroad fraud’ is being committed by Britons living in Spain.The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) is now calling for a major shake-up of the claims process, in a bid to prevent the huge amount of fraud.TPA Director John O’Connell, told the Olive Press: “It’s alarming for taxpayers and genuine claimants that so much is lost to fraud.“The reality is that the benefits system is way too complicated, with over 50 benefits...

Jamie Dempsey, is being held in connection with a 90 million euro cocaine empire.

Jamie Dempsey, is being held in connection with a 90 million euro cocaine empire.Dempsey, 33, from Essex, was arrested during a raid on a property in Benahavis, Marbella for allegedly conspiring to supply 299 kilos of cocaine in spring 2009. It follows Dempsey’s appearance on the...

A young man has drowned after plucking his younger brother from the sea off southern Spain.

The 19-year-old had last been seen swimming off the notorious Playa de la Bota beach at Punta Umbria on Sunday evening.Emergency workers this morning found his lifeless body in the sea two miles from where he had entered the water to save his brother.His body was taken ashore, at 10am, to Playa Flecha del Rompido beach before being transferred to a forensic centre in the Andalusian town of Huelva.According to a spokesman for the Guardia Civil, the...

TENS of thousands of students, social groups and unemployed Spaniards rallied in more than 50 cities.

The protesters are fighting government austerity measures and the role banks and political parties have played in the financial crisis.The events were organised by two activist groups under the banner of "We aren't merchandise in the hands of politicians and bankers."Protesters in Madrid marched from Cibeles square to city hall in Puerta del Sol, many wearing yellow T-shirts distributed by the Youth Without a Future group, which was founded in early...

Scot accused of running a s9million timeshare scam is on the run in Spain.

Police are hunting Edinburghborn Richard Bain after he failed to appear in court in Malaga on fraud charges on May 9.Bain, 46, is linked to Toni Muldoon who faces more than four years in jail over the racket which fleeced cash from people with unwanted Costa del Sol properties.Bain was previously arrested in the UK on charges of theft and fraud under the name Richard Thompson.He is alleged to have conned timeshare victims in Spain by offering legal...

The British woman beheaded in a supermarket on the Spanish island of Tenerife has been named as Jennifer Mills-Westley.

The British woman beheaded in a supermarket on the Spanish island of Tenerife has been named as Jennifer Mills-Westley.Her family paid tribute to her and said they were devastated by her death in the town of Arona, about 10 miles from the popular beach resort of Los Cristianos, in the south of the island.Her daughter, Sarah, said: "Mum retired a number of years ago and was fully enjoying her retirement travelling between Tenerife and France, where...

A deranged knifeman decapitated a British woman in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife on Friday and fled with her head,

A deranged knifeman decapitated a British woman in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife on Friday and fled with her head, police said.The man, 28-year-old Bulgarian Deyan Valentinov, launched his knife attack on the victim in a Chinese supermarket, they said."The attack culminated with the decapitation of the victim," Canary Islands police said in a statement. "The attacker left the establishment with the head in his hand and then...

The large quake struck the community on Wednesday evening, two hours after a moderate 4.7 earthquake hit the town.

 earthquake measuring 5.3 hit a town in southeast Spain today causing houses to collapse, damaging historic churches and killing at least six people. Some reports said that the rare earthquake in Lorca, sent tremors through the region of Murcia and had affected a nursing home...

Costa del Sol phones should be back today, Tuesday, but ADSL may take longer

Businesses in Málaga and on the Western Costa del Sol say that they have been losing sales because of the massive phone problems which have affected the area since a large fire at a Málaga exchange on Friday night.The damage has taken out police lines, bringing a halt to the issue of DNI identity cards, and the DGT traffic authority has also seen its services affected.Travel agents in Málaga city centre claimed that they could not trade as their...

British Consular team to explain pensions, benefits and healthcare rights to British residents in Castellón

The British Consul in Alicante will be visiting one of the most northern parts of his Consular district on 25 May to hold an Open Day for British residents in Alcossebre which is part of Alcalá de Xivert, Castellón, where residents will have the opportunity to find out what the Consulate can do to help them. He will be joined by the Pension, Benefit and Healthcare team who will give a presentation relating to people’s rights on access to healthcare...

marijuana lab in Alhaurín de la Torre

The Civil Guard have arrested four people after the discovery of a high tech marijuana laboratory stocked with more than 600 plants at an address in Alhaurín de la Torre.It was equipped with artificial lighting, an advanced ventilation system, temperature and humidity control, PH testing equipment and ample supplies of fertiliser.The Civil Guard said in a press release that with this advanced system in place the plantation would have been able to...

Earthquake damages buildings in Spain, no injuries reported

An earthquake of 4.5 degrees on Wednesday rocked south-eastern Spain, causing some damage but no injuries, officials said.The tremor had its epicentre near Lorca in Murcia region. It damaged the facades of some buildings, and dislodged furniture inside homes, according to media reports.Lorca residents rushed into the street in panic. The city of 100,000 residents suffered a quake of 4.7 degrees in 2005, when nearly 1,000 homes were damag...

Final autopsy report on U.S. student shows accidental drowning

The final autopsy report on a San Diego State exchange student whose body was pulled from a Madrid river last March indicates an accidental drowning death with no signs of external violence, a Spanish court official said on Tuesday.The student, Austin Taylor Bice, 22, was studying a semester of business courses at the University of Carlos III in Madrid when he went missing after a night out with friends. He was last seen outside a nightclub on the...

Spanish bankruptcies climb to record high

The ongoing slump in the property sector and the persistent weakness of the economy after Spain's worst recession in living memory have driven a record number of households and companies to seek protection from creditors, Spanish El Pais daily writes.According to figures released Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), the number of individuals and firms in bankruptcy proceedings climbed 5.9% in the first quarter of the year from a year...

KATE McCann has told of her outrage after Portuguese police made her and husband Gerry suspects in the abduction of their daughter Madeleine.

The former doctor, 43, also revealed how she smashed a bed in frustration over the handling of the investigation and how detectives attempted to bully her into a murder confession.In a personal account of the 2007 disappearance of their daughter, who was then aged three, Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, said she and her husband were shocked by the treatment they received from the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria.Describing one police interrogation...

Golf great Seve Ballesteros dies at 54

Spanish golf legend Seve Ballesteros has died after a protracted battle with cancer.The 54-year-old passed away surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena, northern Spain, in the early hours of Saturday morning.Ballesteros was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2008 after losing consciousness at Madrid Airport.The five-time major winner had four operations to remove the tumour as well as undergoing chemotherapy.In a statement, the Ballesteros...

25 immigrants are missing, feared drowned, after an immigrant patera small boat went down off the coast of Almería.

The coastguard services have been combing the coast close to Adra in search of any survivors using the Sasemar 101 plane and the ‘Guardamar Caliope’ patrol ship. Another 30 people have been rescued according to Civil Guard sources.Among the 25 who are thought to have fallen into the water are a woman and two babies. The rest are all adult males.29 of those rescued arrived in port in Motril, Granada, at 3,30am on Friday and two of them have been taken...

report on immigration, compiled by the Obra Social La Caixa, has dismissed stereotypical images of immigration in Spain.

The study from the savings bank notes that immigrants now represent 12% of the Spanish population, more than 5.7 million people, but only 1% of those in Spain to receive a state pension is an immigrant.The research looked at immigrants’ access to social services, the health and education systems, and analysed immigrants contribution to the funding of social services.It concludes that immigrants who live in Spain pay more into the welfare state than...

13 year old María Esther Jiménez was found murdered in the village in January

The juvenile prosecution service will be taking witness statements this Friday in the case of María Esther Jiménez, the 13 year old girl who was found in dead in the Málaga village of Arriate on January 20.The teenager’s beaten body was found in the pump house of a swimming pool on the outskirts of the village the day after she disappeared. R.V.R., a 17 year old boy resident in Arriate, was arrested in connection with her death and remains in preventive...

Italian man arrested for indecent exposure and child molestation in Torre del Mar

The National Police have tracked down in La Herradura, Granada province, a suspected child molester who was wanted in Vélez Málaga.The EFE news agency reports that the 37 year old Italian man allegedly waited outside a secondary school in Torre del Mar and accosted children as they left after school. Some were threatened or even injured when he assaulted them and subjected to indecent exposure.He has now been remanded to custody after appearing before...

Spain is currently on terror alert level two, on a four-point scale. Rubalcaba said government ministers are meeting Tuesday to discuss new security measures

2004, Spain suffered Europe's worst act of Islamic terrorism when bombs blamed on al-Qaida killed 191 people at a Madrid train station.In the wake of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's death, Spain is reinforcing security and remembering its dead.Terror in Madrid, March 11, 2004After Sept. 11, 2001, the single most deadly al-Qaida-linked attack on the West happened at Madrid's Atocha train station. On March 11, 2004, 191 people died and more than...

Spain loses 'Rioja' name battle with Argentina

The northwestern Argentinian province of La Rioja was founded by a Spaniard in 1591; the Spanish were also responsible for introducing vines to the region.In recent decades, however, Spain has been increasingly concerned that wine consumers will confuse wines from La Rioja Argentina, as they are labelled, with wines from the northern Spanish DO of Rioja – one of the most-recognised wine brands in the world.In 1999 the Consejo Regulador – the regulatory...

incident between the Spanish vessel P74 Atalaya, and a merchant vessel in the waters to the East of the Rock in waters considered by Gibraltar to be their territorial waters

The Gibraltar Government complained on Tuesday of an incident between the Spanish vessel P74 Atalaya, and a merchant vessel in the waters to the East of the Rock in waters considered by Gibraltar to be their territorial waters, but which are not recognised as such under the Treaty of Utercht.The Gibraltar Government says the Spanish patrol ordered the merchant vessel to move on, lacking permission to put down anchor in waters which Spain considers...

Body of missing Barbate fisherman found off Moroccan coast

A body recovered from waters off Morocco on Tuesday night has been identified as that of a Barbate fisherman who was last seen when he set sail from Barbate on March 28. The missing man’s boat was found just a few hours later, with its engine still running, but with no-one on board.Sixty eight year old Juan Carrillero had retired from his profession, but still liked to sail out on the occasional fishing trip. El Mundo newspaper reports that his badly...

Two German sailors rescued after yacht gets into trouble off Cabo de Gata

two German crew of a small yacht who set off from Ibiza to sail home to Germany arrived safe and sound in Almería Port on Tuesday morning after two days adrift at sea.They had set sail from the Baleares a week previously, but were left with no rudder, no sails and no communication after they were hit by stormy weather. Ideal newspaper reports that their 2-mast 32 year old yacht was having serious problems in remaining afloat when it was spotted by...

Thirteen stowaways caught at Málaga Port

Eleven stowaways, including a 12 year old boy, are in the custody of the National Police after they were found hiding in the double bottom of a trailer which had been brought into Málaga Port on a Moroccan merchant ship last Friday night. Diario Sur reports the ship had been subcontracted by a Spanish company.The paper indicates that all claimed to be underage and from Algeria, although officers believe them to be Moroccan and suspect that only three...

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a ground operation outside Islamabad based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged last August.Mr Obama said after "a firefight", US forces took possession of his body.Bin Laden was accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including...

1,304 people have been admitted to drug treatment centres in the province of Almeria in the past year according to figures released in a report last week from the Andalusian Observatory on Drugs and Addictions.

The figures show that the number of women being treated is much smaller than that of men. Of all admissions, 1,085 were male and just 219 female.The same study indicates that 717 people attended the centers for ongoing addiction to illegal drugs, while 587 had problems with legal substances, 460 were alcohol related and 34 people sought help because of their addiction to cigarettes.Treatment to prison inmates was administered in just 70 cases in...