Spanish sailors to be decorated after rescuing French woman taken hostage by pirates

 The Defence Minister, Carme Chacón, announced that Spanish forces from the amphibious assault ship, ‘Galicia’, are to be decorated for rescuing a French woman who was taken hostage with her husband by Somali pirates off the coast of Yemen earlier this month. Evelyne Colombo was rescued on September 10 two days after the catamaran she and her husband were sailing had been attacked by pirates. Her husband, Christian Colombo, was murdered and...

El Hierro still on yellow alert, but no fears of an imminent eruption

 UME Emergency Military Unit was deployed to El Hierro on Wednesday as the island remained on yellow alert amid fears of a volcanic eruption. The Defence Minister, Carme Chacón, was also due to travel there on Wednesday afternoon to supervise their work, and spoke of the UME’s deployment as a preventive measure to assist emergency services in any evacuation over the increased seismic activity on the island. EFE indicates that there is a 15...

Wanted Belgian fugitive arrested in Alhaurín El Grande

 wanted Belgian fugitive has been arrested in Alhaurín El Grande after a marijuana plantation was discovered at a property in the town. He was found there with a man and a woman, and all three are believed to have been part of an organisation which cultivated the drug for distribution in Europe. The Civil Guard found 55 marijuana plants on the property plus a 9 calibre revolver. One of the group was identified as F.V.B., who was wanted on...

Ferronats, a company formed by Spanish construction firm, Ferrovial and British air traffic controllers, Nats, has won 10 of the 13 tenders to run control towers at Spanish airports

 Ferronats, a company formed by Spanish construction firm, Ferrovial and British air traffic controllers, Nats, has won 10 of the 13 tenders to run control towers at Spanish airports as AENA privatises 49% of the company. It will control Alicante, Valencia, Ibiza, Sabadell, Sevilla, Jerez, Melilla, Cuatro Vientos, Vigo and A Coruña. The remaining three towers on the Canary Islands at Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma have been awarded...

Iberia to launch new low cost airline next week

 Iberia is planning to launch a new low cost airline next week. The Iberia board is expected to approve the project on Tuesday 4 October, to launch the low cost airline for the company’s short and medium distance services. The new airline is expected to take up 37 of the 69 A-320 aircraft the airline currently has in service. Iberia is now merged with British Airways to create the IAG, the International Airline Group, and the IAG board would...

Belgian couple spot the men who stole their car in Belgium on a Spanish beach

 Sometimes it a very small world. A Belgian couple who had their car stolen at gunpoint in Belgium some months ago could not believe it when they recognised their attackers when on holiday in Alicante. They saw them on the beach in Guardamar, Alicante last Monday, and made no hesitation in calling the Spanish police. While they were waiting for the police to arrive, the couple found their own car parked nearby, and the owner decided to puncture...

Major heroin haul in Algeciras

 The second largest ever haul of heroin in Spanish history has been seized at the port in Algeciras, from a container which was on route to the Ivory Coast from Pakistan. The consignment of heroin was found in three hundred cylinders, each weighing half a kilo, which had been hidden in the cargo of iron oxide powder. The Agencia Tributaria Tax Authority had tracked the container until it arrived at the port, where it was searched on Wednesday....

Ex Ronda Mayor released on bail in corruption case

 Antonio Marín Lara, the ex Socialist Mayor of Ronda who was amongst seven people arrested on Tuesday in an operation against alleged planning corruption, dubbed ‘Operación Acinipo’, has been released on 150,000 € bail. He was freed on Thursday after questioning by the judge and is charged with perversion of the course of justice, bribery, money laundering, misappropriation of public funds and influence peddling. It’s understood that he has...

UK pressure group set up to help Spanish property victims

 While there are similar groups already in existence in Spain, this group is the first of its kind in the UK and aims to raise awareness and pressure the UK Government and MEPs into taking action. Many thousands of Britons are believed to have bought property in Spain and through the actions of various levels of Spanish government, property developers and banks, find themselves unable to enjoy the rights to these properties. The Protection of...

Irish expat charged with prostitutes' murder in Spain

 The 42-year-old man, who is believed to be Irish, was arrested near his home in the resort of Mijas Costa, near Marbella on Spain's southern coast on Friday. The suspect's girlfriend and her mother were also being held over possible involvement in the serial slayings. Police suspect him of stabbing two prostitutes to death, the first in August and the second a month later. The killer was dubbed the "10 murderer" because both women were killed...

Blasts hit ex-home of Franco-era politician

 A Spanish official says two homemade explosive devices detonated outside the childhood home of Manuel Fraga, the last surviving member of the regime of Gen. Francisco Franco. No one was hurt. An official with the Interior Ministry office in Lugo province in northwest Spain says Monday's blasts broke windows and damaged the facade of the house, which is being turned into a museum by the conservative Popular Party, which Fraga founded. The devices...

El Hierro prepares for a possible volcanic eruption

 Canary Island of El Hierro is preparing for a possible volcanic eruption as the Canaries have lifted the alert level to yellow for the first time in the recent history of the archipelago following a group of ever-stronger earthquakes. Saturday night saw a 3.4 quake among a total of 48 seen over the weekend. The fear is that there could be a possible volcanic eruption on the island of El Hierro, but the Councillor for Security, María del Carmen...

Canadian gold diggers look to Coruña

 Canadian company, Edgewater Exploration, are to reopen an old gold mine in Coruña and say they will employ 100 people in Cabanas de Bergantiños in the efforts to extract a million ounces of the metal. An ounce of gold is currently 1,800 € on the market. The Las Médulas mines have a long and distinguished past, and were responsible for ten percent of the Roman empire, as 96,000 kilos of gold was taken over 250 years as the Romans used thousands...

Saudi women given right to vote

 Saudi Arabia will allow women to stand for election and vote, the king announced on Sunday, in a significant policy shift in the conservative Islamic kingdowm. In a five-minute speech, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud said women will also take part in the next session of the unelected, advisory Shura Council, which vets legislation but has no binding powers. "Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with...

Spain’s ‘Los Pasos Dobles’ movie wins top award at San Sebastian film festival

 The Spanish film “Los Pasos Dobles” (”Double Steps”) has received this year’s top award at Spain’s San Sebastian Film Festival. The movie, directed by Isaki Lacuesta, tells the tale of Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo’s search for paintings supposedly hidden in Mali, mixing documentary and fiction. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare ( no / Associated Press ) - Mali actor Amon Pegnere, right, is congratulated by US film director and...

Pub owners across Spain charged for illegal TV channels

 90 people from the hospitality sector across Spain, including Malaga, are in trouble for showing TV channels illegally. They have been charged for crimes against intellectual property and telecommunications fraud. The investigation began after a TV producer complained that 168 bars, cafeterias and restaurants were showing a TV signal destined for home use. The used cards acquired for residential use from cable TV operators and used them...

Germans don't like the British, and the British are the majority in Benidorm

 A spokesman said part of the problem was that the Germans don't like the British, and the British are the majority in Benidorm hotelsPhoto EFE Air Berlin has cancelled five direct flights from El Altet airport as the company puts a tough cost cutting scheme into operation with the goal of saving 200 million €. The plan will leave 18 planes on the ground, and Alicante is reportedly hard hit because of the high seasonality of traffic at El...

Costa del Sol’s oldest magazine shuts its doors

 The Costa del Sol’s oldest magazine is reported to have closed down after running its final edition on Friday. The Friday-Ad – which continues to run a UK operation boasting over 1 million readers a week – had produced a Costa del Sol edition out of its Gibraltar offices since 1975. The reason behind the decision to close remains unclear. When the Olive Press attempted to contact the publication’s office, the number failed to connect. However,...

Barcelona's last bullfight marks end of an era in Spain

 When Spanish bullfighter Serafin Marin plunges his sword into the back of a bull's neck in Barcelona on Sunday, he will be marking the end of an era. The bull will not only be the last of six killed in the bullfight, but the last-ever to be killed in Barcelona's Monumental...

Spain fears pain as Ratón the killer bull prepares to enter ring for last time

Ratón the bull at a festival in Sueca, Spain. Photograph: Alberto Saiz/APIt is the end of a long career, deemed venerable by those who admire Spanish fighting bulls.In the early hours of Sunday morning, the half-tonne 11-year-old killer bull known as Ratón, or Mouse, will feel a...

Owner of marijuana plantation caused Ibiza fire by negligence

 Spanish man who was arrested for starting the fire which broke out on Ibiza on Sunday night is believed to have started it through negligence while he was caring for his marijuana plantation nearby. Civil Guard sources have told the EFE news agency that the cause is thought to be either a cigarette he was smoking or a fire he had lit to cook food. The suspect had spent the past few days caring for his crop in the area where the blaze broke...

Ten Britons arrested in new Ibiza raid against drug traffickers

 The gang dealt in cocaine and designer drugs at the clubs on the island.Britons and an Irishman have been arrested by the Guardia Civil on Ibiza, accused of supplying drugs to discotheques on the island over the summer. The head of the gang was arrested in Manchester where a search of his flat revealed 40,000 pounds sterling and five kilos of cocaine. Information leading to the arrests came from a previous operation carried out at the end...

Detectives suspect possible serial killer in two murders on the Costa del Sol

 The National Police are working together with the Civil Guard to solve two recent murders on the Málaga coast which La Opinión de Málaga reports officers believe could have been committed by a serial killer. Both victims were women, of a similar age, and were both from South America. They had both taken out Spanish nationality and were both found stabbed to death in properties which were not theirs. The first victim was Susana M.F. from Argentina,...

Europe leaves Bulgaria, Romania out in Schengen cold

 Europe left Bulgaria and Romania out in the cold Thursday, when Finland and the Netherlands blocked their entry into the passport-free Schengen travel area. The Dutch and the Finns refused to let them in, at a meeting of EU interior ministers dogged by concerns about illegal migration, citing poor progress in the fight against corruption and organised crime. "Two member states today made it impossible for us to make a decision on Schengen enlargement,"...

French court fines women for wearing veils

 France's fines on women for wearing the full-face covering niqab veil, imposed for the first time by a court on Thursday, are a "travesty of justice," Amnesty International says. Police have issued several on-the-spot fines since the ban came into force in April but the hearing...

Muammar Gaddafi has fled Sabha

 The National Transitional Council are investigating an unconfirmed report that Muammar Gaddafi has fled from Sabha, NTC spokesman reports.  NTC spokesman also states that Libyan government forces now control most of Sabha with small pockets of resistance from pro-Gaddafi...

Spanish consumers have appetite for grass-fed lamb

 Spanish consumers have rated English Quality Standard grass-fed lamb highly in blind taste tests carried out by Eblex. Consumers at three different Spanish locations with a tradition of high lamb consumption rated English lamb equally to Spanish lamb, with no clear preference between the two. It is hoped the research, carried out with 476 people in Catalunia, Aragon and Extremadura, will encourage more Spanish buyers to consider fast-growing...

U.S. deep-sea explorers must turn over to the Spanish government 17 tons of silver coins and other treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007

 U.S. deep-sea explorers must turn over to the Spanish government 17 tons of silver coins and other treasure recovered from a sunken Spanish galleon in 2007, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. But Tampa, Fla.-based Odyssey Marine Exploration has vowed to continue the protracted...

La Tasca evolves brand into Spanish Tapas Bar and Kitchen

 LA TASCA RESTAURANTS LTD IS RE-LAUNCHING THEIR 65 STRONG CHAIN THROUGH THE NEW CONCEPT LA TASCA SPANISH TAPAS BAR & KITCHEN. The first to see the change were Windsor and Leeds, which have had the complete overhaul into the new concept. The change is set to bring a more contemporary, sincere approach to the brand and deliver a fresh new menu, which has halved in size and is sourced from Spain where possible to enhance provenance. La...

Spain’s CAM Says More Than Half of Developer Loans in Default

Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo (CAM), a Spanish savings bank seized by the Bank of Spain, said more than half of its loans for property development were in default. Of 12.7 billion euros ($17.2 billion) lent to developers, 6.4 billion euros were classed as doubtful, the lender said in explanatory notes to its first-half earnings published late yesterday. Another 1.3 billion euros of those loans were classed as “substandard,” the lender said. The...

Spain Examines Long Hidden Swiss Account

 Emilio Botín is a billionaire Spanish banker renowned for running a tight ship. He asks that his top credit officers at Santander — one of Europe’s largest banks — make a trek to his vacation home each summer to report on loan exposures. And he queries the head of his charitable foundation, euro for euro, on its smallest donations. Enlarge This Image Daniel Ochoa De Olza/Associated Press A Spanish court is investigating whether the family...

Manchester airport reopens after bomb scare

 Manchester Airport’s main terminal has reopened after bomb disposal experts were called in to check a suspicious package on Wednesday, police said. A man was being questioned, although police said earlier reports that he was being held under the Terrorism Act were inaccurate. The package, a bag, was found to be safe. The airport’s operators had earlier said 11 flights leaving Terminal 1 would be affected. Incoming flights are operating normally...

IMF cuts growth forecast for UK for 2011 and 2012

 The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecasts for the UK, in a report warning that the global economy is in a "dangerous new phase". UK gross domestic product is predicted to grow 1.1% in 2011, down from the 1.5% forecast in the IMF's previous World Economic Outlook report in June. The growth forecast for 2012 has been slashed from 2.3% to 1.6%. Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK had the "discipline and determination"...

Debt Crisis Infects Companies via Bank Loan Costs

 Banks in Spain and Italy are curbing loans and charging customers more as aftershocks from the sovereign debt crisis drive their own borrowing cost higher. “They can’t lend what they don’t have, I suppose,” said Francesc Elias, the owner of Bomba Elias, a pumps and filters maker near Barcelona, which shelved a 100,000-euro ($144,000) plan to open a Bahrain office when it couldn’t get an affordable bank loan. “The banks are very clever about...

Briton dies in Cannes after brawl 'over cost of drinks at lapdancing club'

 Thirty-seven-year-old Lee Elton Fischer, a trade delegate from London, was visiting the French Riviera city, home of the world-famous Cannes Film Festival, with two friends. It has been claimed that Mr Fischer sparked a fight in the belief that he had been 'ripped off' during a night out with colleagues on Sunday. A spokesperson for the local police confirmed that Mr Fischer appeared to have been hit several times in the face, before dying...

Spanish schools hit by strike over staffing cuts

 Thousands of public school teachers went on strike Tuesday in Madrid to protest staff cuts as anger over government austerity measures spread to Spain's education system. The work stoppage in some 300 schools is to last at least two days and perhaps three, and teachers elsewhere in the country also plan strikes or protests this month against budget cuts. Teachers say education should be spared as Spain tightens its belt to resurrect its economy,...

British man breaks his hip in new 'balconing' incident

 British man has broken his hip in yet another case of ‘balconing’ on the Baleares. The 29 year old, who was said to be very drunk, fell from the first floor of his hotel when trying to cross to the neighbouring balcony. It was a fall of some 3 metres and happened in Avenida Isidor Macabich in Sant Antoni. He was taken to the Can Misses Hospital where he is expected to stay for a few days. The Guardia Civil is in charge of the investigation,...

Ibiza fire brought under control

 Some 1,200 people were evacuated overnight as their homes in the Roca Llisa urbanisation in the town of Santa Eulàra des Riu were threatened by the fire. The fire was declared at 8pm on Sunday afternoon in Cala Llonga, but given the size of the blaze in the early hours of Monday, 16 men from the Emergency Military Units UME were scrambled to the scene to reinforce the fire crews already working. They arrived on the island overnight on two...

Strong dollar and low inflation make UAE expats a happier lot

 The global economy may not be giving out the brightest of signals (don’t even look towards Europe), but expatriates in the UAE are keeping their fingers crossed as a stronger US dollar – to which the UAE dirham has a fixed peg – and a low inflation rate, thanks to declining rents, are heralding a feel-good factor they’d all but forgotten in the past few years. The US dollar has gained significant momentum in the past few months, and has led...

Spanish banks hit by spike in bad loans

 Bad loans from Spanish banks, a major source of concern to financial markets, rose in July to the highest level in 16 years at nearly seven per cent, the Bank of Spain said on Monday. Bank loans whose recovery is in doubt amounted to 124.7 billion euros ($A166.5 billion), or 6.94 per cent of total assets, in July, the central bank said in a report - the highest ratio since February 1995. That compares to a revised bad loan ratio in June of...

UK Home Office considering gender-neutral passports

 The Home Office has said it is considering the possibility of not displaying gender on passports. The proposals follow changes to Australian passport rules, which mean that intersex people who identify as neither gender can be listed as ‘X’, rather than having to choose between male or female. A Home Office spokesman said: “We are exploring with international partners and relevant stakeholders the security implications of gender not being...

Ms Moran, 56, looked a shadow of her former self as she arrived to face 21 charges at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London.

 One count alleges that she falsely claimed £22,500 for dry rot on a home in Southampton more than 100 miles from her constituency.The former Labour member for Luton South sobbed throughout the brief hearing and was passed a tissue by a court official.No plea was entered and...

Marbella Club Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa: Marbella, Spain hotel:

 Located on the Southern Spanish Costa del Sol, in the heart of the 'Golden Mile' only 5 minutes to Old Town Marbella and Puerto Banús, with 320 days of sunshine and a mild year round average temperature of 21ºC). Open year round, the renowned Marbella Club Hotel, was once the...

Housing Market Woes Even Hit Celebs

 Even celebrities are having a hard time selling their mega-mansions. More on DIS Fan Cam: The Next Sports Cash Machine?Jay Rasulo, Senior Executive Vice President And Chief Financial Officer, The Walt Disney Company, To Speak At The Goldman Sachs 20th Annual Communacopia ConferenceBond Funds See Huge Spike in Inflows Market Activity The Walt Disney Co| DIS Mommy-to-be Hillary Duff has put her first mansion that she purchased while starring...

Spain finance chief admits odd quirk in wealth tax

 One aspect of a plan to restore wealth tax in Spain makes no sense but there's nothing the government can do about it, the finance minister said Saturday. Elena Salgado spoke from Poland where she was attending a meeting of euro zone counterparts. The tax stems from the central, Socialist government but is collected by regional administrations. It was suspended in 2008 to stimulate growth as the global economic crisis started to bite in...

Spain to cover 20bn euros in potential bank losses

 The Bank of Spain has promised to cover up to 20 billion euros ($27 billion) in losses at Caja Mediterraneo as it seeks to offload the troubled savings bank, a newspaper said Monday. The Bank of Spain took control of the bank in July and is now trying to sell it off. According to the daily El Mundo, the central bank let investors know it would cover up to 20 billion euros of losses, the estimated amount of property-related assets at risk in...

Handling of Saudi prince's Spain court case challenged

 Lawyers for a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia say the case has not been properly handled by Spain's criminal justice system. The woman, known only as "Soraya", says she was assaulted on a yacht moored off the island...

Spain raises taxes on the rich

 Spain today became the latest European country to hike taxes on the wealthy, with a new asset-based tax targeting the country's richest people. Spain's socialist government hopes that the new wealth tax will raise up to €1bn in a country where growth is grinding to a halt...

Mijas to ban smoking in the Sierra year round

 Mijas Town Hall has announced it is to prohibit smoking, bar-b-ques and bonfires in the sierra all year round. Bar-b-ques on non building private land will now need municipal permission. The Town Hall also will revise the current emergency plan over the next six months to help future battles against fires. Undeveloped land will be cleaned under the scheme, and all the rural roads will be added to GPS systems so ‘any emergency vehicle can easily...

Director of empty airport earns more than the Spanish Prime Minister

 It has been revealed that Juan García-Salas, the Director of the airport in Castellón which was officially opened by Carlos Fabra and Francisco Camps to great fanfare last March, and which is still to see its first plane, is being paid more than the Prime Minister. Left wing group Esquerra Unida has denounced that Juan García-Salas is being paid 84,000 € a year, while Zapatero is paid 78,184 €. EUPV deputy, Marina Albiol, has said that it...

Dogs drugs sweep in Alicante schools

 Police dogs have been joining the pupils in class in secondary schools in Alicante City this week. They are on the search for drugs and will be on duty, morning and afternoon, to sniff out any illegal substances hidden on the premises or being carried by the pupils. The Labradors and German Shepherds from the local police canine unit have already had some success in their task. They have found small amounts of cannabis or marijuana, either...

Plan shelved to partially open Málaga Metro this year

 The Málaga Metro will not come into service this November, as had been announced, and it was confirmed on Thursday that the launch date has now been put back until February 2013. The hoped-for date for service on some sections of the system was November 11, 2011 at 11.11 am. The Junta de Andalucía has however now said that it would mean an extra cost of 12 million € to inaugurate the service before the connection between Lines 1 and 2 is complete....

Moroccan maids may ‘spell’ trouble, warn some women

 Saudi women have voiced reservations against recruiting domestic helpers from Morocco as suggested by the chairman of the Saudi recruitment committee. This is due to an old belief that Moroccan women use black magic to lure men to marry them. Some Saudi women urged the Shoura Council to intervene, while others threatened to quit their jobs to look after their homes if housemaids from the country were brought in. Najla, a 32-year-old teacher...

Málaga singer picks up three nominations in the Latin Grammys

 Málaga Singer, Pablo Alborán, who had a surprise number one album in Spain this year has been nominated in three categories of the Latin Grammys, including best new comer and song of the year for ‘Solamente tu’. When he heard the news the Málaga singer wrote on Twitter – ‘Family,...