MALAGA GAZETTE

Friday, September 30, 2011

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

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 his body thrown into the sea during the pirates’ assault. The Galicia was on patrol with the EU anti-piracy mission Operation Atalanta when it intercepted the skiff which was transporting the 55 year old French woman. Operation Atalanta command ordered the Galicia to open fire on the skiff’s engines and the pirates responded by shooting at the Spanish ship. The pirate skiff capsized after the gun battle, but the hostage was rescued and seven pirates were arrested.


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

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 percent probability of an imminent eruption, but the island’s government has ruled out any need to evacuate the island. The President of El Hierro’s Cabildo, Alpido Armas, said, ‘That’s not going to happen. We will not need to evacuate 4,000 people. If there is an eruption, it will not be a violent one and the worst that can happen is that a 200 metre mountain emerges’. Fifty three people were evacuated from Frontera due to the seismic activity and it’s understood that they will not be allowed home for the moment. Local schools there were also closed as a precaution because of the risk of landslides. The last volcanic eruption on El Hierro was in 1793, when the Lomo Negro volcano erupted. The last on the Canary Islands was just 40 years ago on La Palma.


Wanted Belgian fugitive arrested in Alhaurín El Grande

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 a warrant for extradition to Belgium to serve a prison sentence of four and a half years for armed robbery. EFE indicates that he took part in an armed hold-up of a goods lorry in Wervik in 2009, where the lorry driver was assaulted with an electric shock weapon and left handcuffed and tied up by the neck.


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

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 to the Sacerco company. AENA estimates savings of 46.6% as a result, with Ferronats bidding 70.4 million, and Sacerco bidding 20 million.


Iberia to launch new low cost airline next week

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 have to ratify the decision on Thursday. Iberia has been holding talks with the pilots’ union SEPLA on the conditions for them in the new airline. The airline contends that it needs a structural reorganisation, but the union considers that all the flights should remain under the Iberia brand, and considers maintenance would be cheaper with a single company. An earlier leasing of six planes to Vueling, the budget airline with a 45.85% Iberia shareholding, proved unsuccessful with Iberia passengers complaining they were being put on Vueling flights. Five of those six planes are now back with Iberia. The expected name for the new airline, Iberia Express, was first mentioned back in October 2009.


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

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 the tyres to ensure that the thieves could not take it again. After the police arrived a search of the car revealed a simulated pistol. The two men, 47 year old L.J. and 20 year old G.C.D., were taken into custody and it’s now known that there was an international search and capture order in force against them. One of them has served time for serious sexual crimes against children. They have now both been passed to the National Court ahead of being extradited to Belgium.


Major heroin haul in Algeciras

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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. There has been no announcement of any arrests in connection with the find as yet. Spain’s biggest ever haul of heroin was in Sitges, Cataluña, three years ago, where more than 300 kilos were seized.


Ex Ronda Mayor released on bail in corruption case

Posted On Friday, September 30, 2011 0 comments

 

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 15 days to pay his bail. Marín Lara left the court in Ronda at around 5pm, five and a half hours after he arrived there under police escort. The six remaining suspects who were arrested on Tuesday have also been released from custody, but all have been charged. Two other people have been questioned at courts in Madrid and Valencia and face similar charges as the ex Mayor. The four Socialist councillors, including the ex-Mayor, among those arrested on Tuesday have now resigned from the PSOE party. The party had previously suspended the four.


Thursday, September 29, 2011

UK pressure group set up to help Spanish property victims

Posted On Thursday, September 29, 2011 0 comments

 

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 Property Purchased in Europe (POPPIE) is run by husband and wife team Chris and Angela Beattie, who have first hand experience of the issues that surround buying in Spain. In 2004 they spent €150,000 on an off-plan Andalucian villa that was supposed to back onto a golf course, hotel and villa complex. After a building delay of two years, the house was finally built, although the surrounding complex was not. Due to the developer not having planning permission to build their home, they remain unconnected to mains water and electricity supply and are unable to sell the property.


Monday, September 26, 2011

Irish expat charged with prostitutes' murder in Spain

Posted On Monday, September 26, 2011 0 comments

 

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 on the tenth of the month. The first woman, said to be 45 years old and of Argentine origin, was found dead in her apartment in the nearby resort of Calahonda. She had been stabbed at least 15 times and was found by her son with a pillowcase tied round her neck and a cushion over mouth. A month later police discovered the body of a 47-year-old Ecuadorian born woman at her home in San Pedro near Marbella. She had 12 stab wounds to her chest and neck. Both women reportedly advertised their services through local newspapers. Post mortem evidence suggested the two women shared the same killer. Police are investigating whether the suspect could be linked to other unsolved murders across Spain.


Blasts hit ex-home of Franco-era politician

Posted On Monday, September 26, 2011 0 comments

 

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 were composed of explosive power of the kind used to make fireworks and butane gas canisters used for camping stoves. The official said there was no immediate claim of responsibility. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry rules. Fraga is 88 and has a seat in the Senate.


Sunday, September 25, 2011

El Hierro prepares for a possible volcanic eruption

Posted On Sunday, September 25, 2011 0 comments

 

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 Morales, called for calm. ‘These seismic movements are normal given that we are on a yellow alert and we have never seen a similar crisis’. She said that more movements were expected over the next few days given that the magma has been estimated to be active 15 kms below the surface. They estimate the possibility of a volcanic eruption to be 15%. Despite the low possibility the regional government are carrying out an information campaign in case evacuation of the island is needed. They say there will be plenty of time, in the case of an eruption, to evacuate the population to a safe place.


Canadian gold diggers look to Coruña

Posted On Sunday, September 25, 2011 0 comments

 

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 of slaves to find the metal. The new gold fever is the first in the area for 2,000 years. Despite their advanced plans the company is still waiting for a licence to proceed from the Xunta de Galicia.


Saudi women given right to vote

Posted On Sunday, September 25, 2011 0 comments

 

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 sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama (clerics) and others... to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from the next term," he said in a speech delivered to the advisory body. "Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote." Women's rights are regarded as a litmus test for the government's appetite for social and political reform. Saudi Arabia adheres to a strict version of Islamic law that enforces the segregation of the sexes. "This is great news," said Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi writer and women's rights activist. "Women's voices will finally be heard. "Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowing women to drive cars and not being able to function, to live a normal life without male guardians."


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

Posted On Sunday, September 25, 2011 0 comments

 

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 actress Frances Mcdormand (Official Jury President), after winning the Golden Shell award for the best film with ‘Los Pasos Dobles’ (The Double Steps), at the 59th Film Festival in San Sebastian, northern Spain, Saturday Sept. 24, 2011. Also honored Saturday was the Greek film “Adikos Kosmos” (”Unjust World”), with Filoppos Tsitos named best director and Antonis Kafetzopoulos as best actor. The festival’s special jury prize was given to French actress and director Julie Delpy for her film “Le Skylab.” Frances McDormand, the Oscar winning actress who starred in “Fargo,” chaired the film festival’s jury.


Saturday, September 24, 2011

Pub owners across Spain charged for illegal TV channels

Posted On Saturday, September 24, 2011 0 comments

 

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 in the establishments. The price for the contract specifically designed for public use is more expensive. The operation was carried out by police in Madrid, Leon, Valencia, Lugo, Malaga, Valladolid, Sabadell, Ponferrada and Santa Coloma de Gramanet.


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

Posted On Saturday, September 24, 2011 0 comments

 

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 Altet. In addition numbers show a marked fall in German traffic using the airport this August compared to last, down 22% with 78,988 German tourists. A spokesman for the airline is reported by Europa Press of having commented that part of the problem is that the Germans don’t like the British, and the Brits are the majority in Benidorm hotels. The town’s hoteliers have described that as ‘an urban legend’. The cutbacks come into effect in November and will see the number of direct destinations from Alicante reduced by 45%. The lost destinations are Frankfort, Munich, Nuremburg, Stuttgart and Zurich. The airlines connections to Berlin, Hamburg and Palma remain. The Air Berlin decision follows the earlier announcement from Ryanair reducing flights from Alicante, and dispels the opinion voiced by the PP at the time that Air Berlin could take up those vacant slots. Air Berlin is one of five airlines which use El Altet airport currently.


Friday, September 23, 2011

Costa del Sol’s oldest magazine shuts its doors

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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, a member of staff in the UK office confirmed that it was their understanding that the Costa del Sol edition had closed. “As far as I am aware that was the plan (to close on Friday) but you will need to call back in 10 minutes to speak to someone who can confirm that,” she said.


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

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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 bullring, which is nearly a century old. The closure of the Monumental - in keeping with a bullfighting ban in the north-eastern region of Catalonia - reflects the decline of bullfighting in Spain, though fans of the country's 'national fiesta' vow to fight on. 'We have lost a battle, but not the war,' Marin told the daily El Mundo. But animal rights campaigner Aida Gascon said, 'Now that we have achieved (the end of bullfights) in Catalonia, we shall try to finish with them in the rest of Spain.' Catalonia, a wealthy region of 7.5 million people, has spearheaded the campaign against bullfights, or 'corridas,' in a country where animal rights activism is on the rise. The Catalan capital of Barcelona declared itself an 'anti-bullfight' city in 2004. Dozens of other municipalities followed suit, and finally in July 2010 the regional parliament outlawed bullfights from January 1, 2012. The Canary Islands had already done so in 1991, as part of a more general animal protection law, but that decision had gone largely unnoticed. The Catalan opposition to bullfights is explained not only by animal rights activism, but also by Catalan nationalism, many of whose representatives see 'corridas' as an expression of Spanishness. The region with separatist currents 'wants to eliminate everything that represents Spain,' Marin said. Bullfighting remains an important industry in Spain with an annual turnover of more than 2.5 billion euros (3.5 billion dollars), contributing to 0.25 per cent of gross domestic product. It provides direct employment to 200,000 people, including bullfighters, or 'toreros,' bull breeders, managers and others. Yet gradually the spectacle that once inspired artists and writers such as Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway is losing its appeal. Only 37 per cent of Spaniards are interested in bullfights, while 60 per cent dislike them, according to a 2010 poll. 'Corridas' are least popular among young people. Animal rights campaigners see the event, in which darts are stuck into the back of the animal's neck before the 'torero' kills it with his sword, as torture. Some observers attribute the decline also to other causes, ranging from Spain's economic crisis to an alleged deterioration of the race of the Iberian 'brave bull.' Not only are bulls' horns 'shaved' to make them less dangerous, but they are also losing their fighting spirit, some bullfighting commentators complain. Another important reason for the decline of 'corridas' is their image as an old-fashioned form of entertainment. 'Young people do not choose an anachronistic spectacle,' anti-bullfight campaigner Helena Escoda said. Even Catalonia, however, has not outlawed other bull spectacles, such as bull runs. Some Spanish regions have come out in defence of the 'corrida,' describing it as a part of their cultural heritage. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government placed bullfights under the responsibility of the Culture Ministry, instead of the Interior Ministry. The opposition conservative People's Party, which is expected to win the November 20 parliamentary elections, has taken legal action against the Catalan bullfighting ban at the Constitutional Court. Catalan bullfighting enthusiasts have also collected 300,000 signatures in defence of the fiesta. Yet it is far from certain that such initiatives will stop what many see as an inevitable social development. Catalan bullfighters, in the meantime, are planning to face the bull elsewhere in Spain or in the south of France.


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

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

Raton the bull at a festival in Sueca,near Valencia, Spain
Ratón the bull at a festival in Sueca, Spain. Photograph: Alberto Saiz/AP

It 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 bullring's sand under his hooves and sniff the scent of commingled human adrenaline and fear for the last time.

Those who pay their €2.50 (£2.20) in Canals, eastern Spain, will witness the final chapter of a life spent chasing, and occasionally goring, people. Fans are expected to arrive from around the country.

Many will be secretly hoping Ratón, who has killed two and reportedly gored five others in his career, will draw blood at his valedictory outing in the small town near Valencia. A fiesta poster promises "a show with the presence of the famous Ratón" starting at 12.30am. It does not mention that Ratón killed a spectator in nearby Xátiva last month and another man in 2008.

Canals mayor, Ricardo Cardona, claims to have been unaware of Ratón's bloody past when hiring him. He has asked the bull's owner, Gregorio de Jesús, to prevent members of the public coming face to face with the beast.

Four professional recortadores, or bull-taunters, will instead dodge in front of him in the bullring, encouraging him to chase them over obstacles for up to half an hour.

"It is when someone jumps in spontaneously that things inevitably happen," De Jesús said this month.

Police and security staff will try to prevent enthusiastic amateurs jumping into the ring with Spain's most infamous bull.

The future of Ratón, who is past retirement age, remains uncertain. De Jesús wants to clone the bull but is waiting to hear if he will receive local government funds to pay for it.

 

 


Owner of marijuana plantation caused Ibiza fire by negligence

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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 out. He spent his nights in a home-made shelter and used a nearby cave to dry out his plants. The Civil Guard seized marijuana plants and dried leaves at the site, amounting to almost 6 kilos of the drug. The man now faces additional charges of a public health crime. The fire which began in Cala Llonga and forced hundreds of people to be evacuated in Santa Eulàra des Riu destroyed more than 80 hectares of pines and just under 9 hectares of agricultural crops. The amount of land destroyed is however lower than the original estimate of 115 hectares. The Baleares Nature Institute, Ibanat, gives the amount as 92.3 hectares.


Ten Britons arrested in new Ibiza raid against drug traffickers

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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 of August against other British traffickers on the Baleares, in which there were 13 arrests, nine Britons, three Irish and a Polish man. The Guardia Civil say the groups only operated in the high summer season, and made the use of several homes on the island to store small quantities of drugs which would be distributed within days. The main store of the drugs were hidden in hard to access parts of the countryside more than 5 kms away from any homes. They were protected in plastic bags, sealed with tape and placed in lunchboxes to avoid damp and any deterioration of the drug.


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

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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, whose son found her stabbed to death in a flat in Calahonda, Mijas, on August 11. One month later, on September 10, the body of Maryuru Alice P., a 47 year old woman from Brazil, was discovered in San Pedro de Alcántara, by the owner of the flat where she was found. The autopsy has shown that she died the previous day. Domestic violence has been ruled out in both cases. La Opinión has spoken to detectives who are working on the investigation, who believe the killer could be related to previous murders with a similar modus operandi.


Europe leaves Bulgaria, Romania out in Schengen cold

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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," Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, lamented after the talks. "This leads me to a rather sad conclusion regarding mutual trust among the member states," Miller added, saying Bulgaria and Romania were promised a place in Schengen when they joined the European Union in 2007. "Today the promise has been broken," he said, adding that Romania and Bulgaria had made "huge progress." But the Dutch and Finnish governments disagreed. "What we wanted to avoid was to take a decision today that we would later regret," said Dutch Immigration Minister Gerd Leers. "Imagine you have a door with eight of the best locks in the world. But before that door is standing someone who lets everybody in -- then you have a problem," he said. The ministers did not vote, sending a decision to an EU summit in October, but the Dutch minister said his government was unlikely to change its mind. Schengen's enlargement requires unanimous consent. Poland sought to convince EU peers to accept a two-step solution that would allow Romanian and Bulgarian air and sea borders to open by October 31, while a date on opening land borders would be put off to next year. All nations backed the compromise except for the two opponents, diplomats said. "We don't have complete confidence that these countries will be able to secure outer EU borders because of corruption, among other issues," said Finnish Interior Minister Paeivi Raesaenen. Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov told national radio that Finland and the Netherlands "presented abstract arguments" against the bids and were "isolated compared to other EU members." Schengen, an area stretching from Portugal to Poland, through which road, rail and even air travellers need only basic identity papers to move freely, has come under growing strain this year over fears about illegal migration. Greece's struggle to police its porous border with Turkey, fears that the Arab revolutions could unleash a wave of boatpeople, and rising populism in some nations have sparked calls for a shake-up of the whole system. Romania has accused the Dutch centre-right government of being held hostage to the far-right. The Dutch centre-right government rules with the backing of Geert Wilders' far-right Freedom Party (PVV). In Finland, the far-right True Finns made major gains in recent elections. After the Dutch indicated their likely stance in advance of Thursday's talks, Romanian border authorities this week blocked Dutch trucks carrying tulips from the Netherlands -- officially over a bacteria scare. Romanian daily Adevarul linked the move to the Schengen dispute, calling it the "war of the flowers." The trucks were finally allowed into Romania on Thursday.


French court fines women for wearing veils

Posted On Friday, September 23, 2011 0 comments

 

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 saw the first two court-issued fines, and the Muslim women vowed to appeal their case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. "This is a travesty of justice and a day of shame for France. These women are being punished for wearing what they want," Amnesty International's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia John Dalhuisen said in a statement. Advertisement: Story continues below "Instead of protecting women's rights, this ban violates their freedom of expression and religion." The court in the northern cheese-making town of Meaux ordered Hind Ahmas, 32, to pay a 120 ($A163) fine, while Najate Nait Ali, 36, was fined 80 euros. It did not order them to take a citizenship course, as the prosecutor had wanted. The women were arrested when they brought a birthday cake for local mayor and lawmaker Jean-Francois Cope, who is head of President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party that pushed through Europe's first anti-burqa law. France is not the only country to try to ban the Muslim full-face veil - Belgium and some Italian cities have similar laws, while other countries are planning to follow suit - so a European ruling could have broad effect. French officials estimate that only around 2,000 women, from a total Muslim population estimated at between four and six million, wear the full-face veils traditionally worn in parts of the Arab world and South Asia. Many Muslims and rights activists say the right-wing president is targeting one of France's most vulnerable groups to signal to anti-immigration voters that he shares their fear that Islam is a threat to French culture.


Thursday, September 22, 2011

Muammar Gaddafi has fled Sabha

Posted On Thursday, September 22, 2011 0 comments

 

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 snipers.


Spanish consumers have appetite for grass-fed lamb

Posted On Thursday, September 22, 2011 0 comments

 

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 breeds of lamb reared on rain-fed pastures, which they have traditionally shunned out of a perception that it has too strong a taste compared to their milder, grain-fed domestically produced lamb. Jean-Pierre Garnier, Eblex head of export services, said: “Traditionally, we have faced a wall with some Mediterranean countries, particularly in Spain, who believe the lamb produced in northern Europe is not to the liking of their palate. They have a preference for their own grain-fed lamb.   “This has been a real barrier to trade, but something we felt was based on historic perception rather than people actually tasting the difference, so we put this to the test.” Consumers were asked to rate the lamb on tenderness, juiciness, flavour and overall acceptability. A small majority (51%) of the tasters in Catalonia and Aragon preferred the English lamb, while a small majority in Extremadura (58%) preferred the Spanish lamb, suggesting that there was no real preference between the two. “This really does show that the Spanish consumer has an appetite for grass-fed lamb and we hope this will encourage more Spanish importers to look to buy from countries like England that use this system,” added Garnier.


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

Posted On Thursday, September 22, 2011 0 comments

 

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 legal battle over the cache, which could be worth as much as $500 million. In a statement Wednesday, the company said it would take the next step in the appeals process, requesting a hearing before all the judges of the 11th Circuit Circuit Court of Appeals. That came after a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit had issued its ruling in a case that could case spill over to treasure hunts for years to come. "We are certainly disappointed by the 11th Circuit's ruling," said Melinda MacConnel, Odyssey's vice president and general counsel. "We believe the U.S. Constitution and all other applicable laws give jurisdiction to the U.S. courts to determine the rights of Odyssey, Spain and all other claimants in this case." Attorneys for Odyssey asked the three-judge panel to overturn a lower court ruling and uphold the "finders keepers" rule that would give the treasure hunters the rights to coins, copper ingots, gold cufflinks and other artifacts salvaged in April 2007 from the galleon found off the coast of Portugal. Spain's lawyers countered that U.S. courts are obligated by international treaty and maritime law to uphold Spain's claim to the haul. The ship, called the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, was sunk by British warships in the Atlantic in 1804 while sailing back from South America with more than 200 people on board. Odyssey created an international splash in May 2007 when it announced that it had recovered more than 500,000 silver coins and other artifacts from the wreck and flew the treasure back to Tampa. Spain went to the U.S. District Court in Tampa, where the company is based, claiming ownership. Odyssey disputed the Spanish government's ownership of the valuable cargo. James Goold, a Washington attorney who represented the Spanish government in court, called the appeals court decision "a complete and much-deserved victory." "The court recognized that stripping the sunken Spanish ship of coins to sell to collectors is no more appropriate than to do that to the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor," Goold said. "We are pleased and gratified that the court recognized U.S. obligations under international law, just as Spain respects the sanctity of sunken U.S. Navy ships." A federal judge sided with Spain in the first round of the tug-of-war in June 2009, accepting the Spanish government's argument that it never surrendered ownership of the ship and its contents. Attorneys argued the case before the 11th Circuit panel in May. Odyssey had argued that the wreck was never positively identified as the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes. And if it was that vessel, then the ship was on a commercial trade trip — not a sovereign mission — at the time it sank, meaning Spain would have no firm claim to the booty. International treaties generally hold that warships sunk in battle are protected from treasure seekers.


La Tasca evolves brand into Spanish Tapas Bar and Kitchen

Posted On Thursday, September 22, 2011 0 comments

 

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 Tascas' customers remain a central focus for the future of the business, Simon Wilkinson CEO said: "We want to keep our current customer base but attract plenty of new ones too, it's been a frantic but very exciting few months, and we can't wait to roll out another six before Christmas for people to enjoy." The change also brings an innovative approach to its people within the business, focusing on a new training programme, recognition and reward and re-instating the value of being part of the La Tasca family. David Pepper, people director said: "People are the core cog of the business and drive every aspect of its success. Implementation of innovative training with flow, a new training manager and people development strategy in place are just the beginning of what we want to do for our 'family' at La Tasca." Today a new website launched as part of the evolvement of the brand, allowing customers to engage more via social media, enhance the online guest experience with a simplified booking system and new features in the form of a customer gallery, what's on and a bigger focus on careers for the business. This innovative approach brings the people and its customers back to the heart of the business and both Windsor and Leeds restaurants have been a test bed of which the successful elements will appear next in Glasgow, St Martins Lane- London and Bluewater. La Tasca Restauarants became a private company in March and is operated by CEO Simon Wilkinson. Prior to this the company had 3 previous owners including most recently Bay Restaurant Group, which is now Stonegate Plc. The first La Tasca opened in 1993 in Manchester and now has 65 UK restaurants spread over all regions and five in the USA and aims to double its estate in the next three years.


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

Posted On Thursday, September 22, 2011 0 comments

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 Bank of Spain is looking for a buyer for CAM, which was seized in July. It posted a 1.14 billion-euro first-half loss as its default ratio more than doubled to 19 percent since December. Selling the stricken lender is a priority for the regulator as it seeks to bolster confidence in a banking industry pummeled by defaulted loans to developers. Auditors KPMG said yesterday that the bank’s viability depends on the success of a plan put together by the government’s rescue fund. The Alicante-based lender said 5.4 percent of its 1.1 billion euros of mortgage loans to individuals were in default. Property development and business-services loans accounted for 29 percent of its loan book, the lender said.


Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Spain Examines Long Hidden Swiss Account

Posted On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 0 comments

 

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 of Emilio Botín, the head of Banco Santander, paid too little taxes. Add to Portfolio HSBC Holdings PLC Barclays PLC Go to your Portfolio » Enlarge This Image Nacho Cubero/Reuters Emilio Botín is head of Banco Santander, which is based in Madrid. Readers’ Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (30) » Yet, there is one not-so-small matter that Mr. Botín (pronounced bo-TEEN) has failed to keep tabs on: a Swiss bank account secretly opened long ago by his father that grew to such a size that when Spanish authorities discovered its existence last year, Mr. Botín and other family members paid 200 million euros (about $273 million currently) in taxes to avoid tax evasion charges. At the request of tax fraud inspectors, a Spanish national court is investigating whether the payment is enough, given the amount that was stashed abroad; tax experts in Spain say that the account could reach two billion euros. The court has also said that officials need more time to sift through the blizzard of documents that the family submitted and will consider whether a criminal charge of document fraud should be brought. A lawyer for the Botíns, Jesús Remón, said the family was cooperating with the investigation and was “fully in compliance with its tax obligations following their voluntary filing” last year. He added that no family member had been charged with wrongdoing. Mr. Botín’s tax problems come as debate intensifies over whether struggling governments should demand more tax revenue from the rich. On Monday, President Obama called to end some tax breaks for the wealthiest taxpayers in the United States. Last Friday, the Spanish government reintroduced a wealth tax that it had abolished three years earlier, hoping to collect an estimated 1.08 billion euros from taxpayers with more than 700,000 euros in declared assets. Spain’s wealthiest have so far not publicly endorsed calls for higher taxes, and Mr. Botín on Friday told reporters that “it seems to me very bad to reintroduce” the wealth tax. More so than in other European countries, where bankers are largely anonymous figures, Mr. Botín holds sway in Spain. Although he avoids social events and his public utterances are few, his influence is seen as wide-ranging. And he has been able to retain control of Santander despite his family’s controlling just 2 percent of its shares. Neither the judiciary nor the family has provided details about how much money the Swiss bank account contained or how the amount grew over time. Nor would Mr. Remón, the lawyer, comment on whether Mr. Botín had been aware of the account. What is known is that Mr. Botín’s father, also called Emilio, left Spain with part of his wealth in late 1936, after the start of the Spanish Civil War, fearing, like many other Spaniards, what might come. The elder Mr. Botín spent a few months in London before moving to Basel, Switzerland, and eventually returning to Spain to resume leadership of the bank that he had run since 1933. But while he returned to Spain, the money he salted away in Switzerland did not. The senior Botín died in 1993. Last year, the French government passed on to Spain data that it had obtained from Hervé Falciani, a former employee in HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary, naming almost 600 Spanish holders of secret bank accounts. Among those was one belonging to the estate of Mr. Botín’s father. In his opening summary, the judge in charge of the case, Fernando Andreu, highlighted “the complexity of the hereditary structures” of trusts, foundations and other companies set up to oversee the account. The closest he came to explaining what was in the account was to say that it also included a 12 percent stake in Bankinter, a midsize bank in which Jaime Botín, Emilio’s brother, is a leading shareholder. That holding, at current stock market value, would be worth about $310 million.


Manchester airport reopens after bomb scare

Posted On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 0 comments

 

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 and the airport’s two other terminals remained open. Manchester Airport is Britain’s fourth biggest and handles around 20 million passengers each year.


IMF cuts growth forecast for UK for 2011 and 2012

Posted On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 0 comments

 

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" to tackle its deficit. But shadow chancellor Ed Balls called them "deeply concerning forecasts for both the UK and world economy". Independent economists are currently forecasting average UK growth of 1.3% in 2011, slower than the IMF, and 2% in 2012, ahead of the IMF figure. The IMF's UK forecast for 2011 falls behind projections for Germany, France, the US and Canada. Germany is forecast to grow 2.7% in 2011 while France is expected to show 1.7% growth. The US should advance 1.5% and Canada 2.1%. However, UK growth in 2012 should surpass both Germany and France, whose forecasts have been cut to 1.3% and 1.4% respectively. A spokesman for the Treasury said the Government remains committed to its deficit cutting plan. He said: "It is welcome that the IMF have forecast that the UK will grow more strongly than Germany, France and the euro-zone next year. "But it is clear that the UK is not immune to what is going on in our biggest export markets, with every major economy seeing lower forecasts for growth this year and next. "The Government remains committed to implementing the deficit reduction plan which has delivered stability, a policy stance that Christine Lagarde described as 'appropriate' earlier this month." Mrs Lagarde, head of the IMF, said the UK's budget deficit stance remained "appropriate" but "the heightened risk" meant a need for a "heightened readiness to respond".


Debt Crisis Infects Companies via Bank Loan Costs

Posted On Wednesday, September 21, 2011 0 comments

 

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 finding new ways to charge us more.” Spanish and Italian government bond yields surged to euro- era records this quarter as Greece struggled to avoid default, driving the cost of insuring against nonpayment by the region’s banks to a record and making it harder for them to sell bonds. Spain pays 5.35 percent for 10-year money, up from an average of 4.07 percent in the first half of 2010, while Italy pays 5.65 percent compared with a 4.05 percent average last year. As a result, banks such as Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest lender, are passing higher funding costs on to their customers. Santander’s return on Spanish loans rose to 3.63 percent in June from 3.37 percent in December, as the yield it pays on deposits fell to 1.32 percent from 1.54 percent. UniCredit SpA, Italy’s biggest lender, said on Aug. 3 it’s being more selective about who it lends to and levying higher rates. One out of three companies asking for credit in the second quarter period didn’t get it or obtained less than they asked for, according to Confcommercio, an Italian retailers’ lobby group. ‘Increasingly Stringent’ “The cost of financing our current activities has increased significantly,” said Riccardo Illy, chairman of Italian coffee maker Gruppo Illy SpA. “We don’t have any problems accessing credit because we’re large enough, but we know many businesses that are having trouble because banks’ requirements have become increasingly stringent.” Spanish banks including Santander and Bankia SA are shrinking their loan books after being pummeled by a collapse in credit demand for real-estate and surging loan defaults. Santander’s Spanish lending shrank an annual 7 percent through June, mirroring a trend in the Bank of Spain’s data that show a 1.9 percent annual drop in lending to companies and individuals. Lending at Bankia, the third-biggest lender formed from a merger of seven savings banks, was down 2.3 percent from December. The average interest rate on new company loans of as much as 1 million euros rose to 4.70 percent in July from 4.57 percent in June and 3.88 percent in December, according to the Bank of Spain. Companies took out 15.9 billion euros of those loans in July, down from 18.7 billion euros in the same month a year ago and 39.2 billion euros in July 2007, according to the central bank. ‘The Bottom Line’ “In our case, it’s not so much the issue of access to credit that’s the problem, it’s the fact that it costs more,” said Luis Zapatero, chairman of Bodegas Riojanas, a Spanish winemaker, which needs to finance putting wine aside to create reserve vintages that may not go on sale until several years after bottling. “Our financial costs have increased 15 percent and that goes straight to the bottom line.” Banks face a dilemma when trying to pass on increased funding costs in full because they risk driving more borrowers into default, said Barclays Capital’s Pascual. Bad loans in the Spanish banking system are near 7 percent of total lending, the highest since 1995. Increased Caution “Banks are more cautious in giving long-term loans because it has become more difficult to transfer increasing funding costs to customers,” said Giovanni Bossi, chief executive officer of Banca Ifis SpA, an Italian bank specializing in short-term loans to companies. As lending slides in Spain and banks struggle to finance themselves, the outlook for growth is worsening, said Antonio Ramirez, an analyst at Keefe Bruyette & Woods in London. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Sept. 14 that Spain might miss its 1.3 percent growth target this year because of the “situation of financial tension and economic uncertainty, mainly because of Greece.” Banks, meantime, are struggling to sell bonds. The last benchmark-sized issue of 1 billion euros or more of debt by a Spanish bank was a sale of public-sector covered bonds by Santander in June. UniCredit paid a record spread for Italian covered bonds when it raised 1 billion euros from a sale of 10- year notes that yielded 215 basis points more than the benchmark mid-swap rate. ‘Negative Feedback Loop’ “It’s the negative feedback loop between what’s happening to the sovereign and the effect on banks and the economy,” said Antonio Garcia Pascual, chief southern European economist at Barclays Capital in London. “To a large extent, the problems facing Spanish lenders also apply to Italy.” As financing costs rise in Italy, analysts have started revising down their growth estimates for that country. Nomura International Plc economists revised their Italian gross domestic product growth estimate for 2012 last month to 0.5 percent from 0.8 percent previously. “The increased financial costs will become more evident in the dynamics of the economy,” said Giada Giani, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in London. “I definitely think that the deterioration of financial conditions is a key factor in the macro-economic picture.” A survey by Spain’s national statistics institute published in May showed that one in every four companies that sought loans in 2010 failed in the attempt, compared with 10 percent in 2007. Half of the companies surveyed said they’d been able to line up the credit needed, compared with 80 percent in 2007, according to the survey. Meanwhile, Spanish banks are also demanding higher fees from customers, Bank of Spain data show. The average six-month charge for a retail customer current account jumped 15 percent to 25.80 euros at the end of August from 22.36 euros in December, according to the regulator. “There’s a double effect because commissions have also increased dramatically,” said Elias, the owner of the pumps and filter maker, who has cut his workforce to 12 from 20 in the past year. “It affects any kind of investment plan.”


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

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

Posted On Tuesday, September 20, 2011 0 comments

 

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 after his head struck the pavement. Police have arrested three French nationals in connection with the incident and the men, all aged between 25 and 30, are now being questioned on suspicion of manslaughter. Officers investigating his death said Mr Fischer and three friends drank five or six pints at a bar before they arrived at the lap-dancing club. But Mr Fischer left after just one drink, apparently outraged by the price. 'He believed he had been ripped off so he left the bar,' a police source said. 'Outside he saw a guy who was handing out fliers for another lap-dancing club. 'He was very angry so he started to shout at the man.' A fight broke out, which drew in friends of both men, and Mr Fischer was dealt a blow which knocked him to the ground. He died at the scene around 3.30am. A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We can confirm the death of a British national in Cannes on September 18th. 'Next of kin are aware and we are providing consular assistance.' An investigation has been launched into exactly what happened to Mr Fischer and a post-mortem examination will now be held


Spanish schools hit by strike over staffing cuts

Posted On Tuesday, September 20, 2011 0 comments

 

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, allay fears it might need an international bailout and reinvent itself for the future with a modern, educated workforce after the collapse of an economy fueled largely by a real estate bubble. "We are on strike to improve state education. It is not true that we are on strike because we have to work more. The timetable is the same as we had last year. What we want is better conditions for public teaching," Pilar Hortal, a 57-year-old English teacher standing at a picket line in Madrid, told The Associated Press. The teachers' branch of the UGT union said 65 percent of the teachers in Madrid were honoring the strike and up to 85 percent in outlying areas. The Madrid regional government put the overall figure much lower, about 43 percent. Education in Spain is in fact largely run by regional governments, many of which are debt-laden. The one in Madrid hopes to save €80 million ($110 million) with staffing cuts. It and the others making budget cuts are mostly run by the conservative Popular Party. The central government of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, which has enacted austerity measures of its own, opposes education cuts. The strike's immediate trigger was an order from the Madrid regional government forcing teachers to give two extra hours of classwork per week. Their actual work week remains unchanged at 37.5 hours. Unions say the extra classroom hours mean several thousand backup or temporary teachers will not be hired this year. Teachers will have less time to prepare classes or meet with students and parents, and can't use auxiliary colleagues to break big classes up into smaller groups. Unions say some teachers are being assigned to teach subjects they know nothing about. Spain, meanwhile, easily raised €4.45 billion ($6 billion) in an auction of short-term debt, although higher borrowing rates reflected investor worries over the impact of Europe's debt crisis. The Treasury had wanted to sell between €3.5 billion and €4.5 billion in the auction. It sold €3.59 billion in 12-month bills at an average interest rate of 3.59 percent, up from 3.34 percent at the Aug. 16 auction. Demand outstripped the amount actually sold by a ratio of 2.8. Spain also sold €870 million ($1.2 million) in 18-month bills at an average yield of 3.8 percent, compared with 3.59 percent on Aug. 16. The oversubscription rate was 2.7.


British man breaks his hip in new 'balconing' incident

Posted On Tuesday, September 20, 2011 0 comments

 

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, although the Local Police also attended the incident.


Ibiza fire brought under control

Posted On Tuesday, September 20, 2011 0 comments

 

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 helicopters. 160 fire fighters brought the fire under control on Monday morning, and there are no reports of any injuries. A total of 115 hectares were affected. In a separate incident a fire at Marratxí on Mallorca has affected some 5 hectares and is now also under control.


Strong dollar and low inflation make UAE expats a happier lot

Posted On Tuesday, September 20, 2011 0 comments

 

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 to the UAE dirham appreciate in tandem against currencies in which expats remit money home, leading to welcome monthly savings by expats. At Rs13.11 at 9.30am this morning, the Indian rupee, for instance, is trading at a two-year low against the dirham (the INR last traded at the same level against the UAE dirham in late September 2009). The Pakistani Rupee (PKR), on the other hand, is at an all-time low against the dirham, with Dh1 fetching as many as PKR23.9 as of Tuesday. The British pound, too, has lost ground against the US dollar – in effect, against the UAE dirham – and is currently trading at AED5.78 for £1, a level not seen since mid-January this year. Similarly, the Philippines Peso is trading at PHP11.90 vs Dh1, its lowest level since mid-March this year. Rental relief While the strong US dollar implies that expats with fixed monthly commitments back home – be it mortgage payments or family sustenance allowances – are making incremental savings on their remittances, what is really adding to their bank balance is perhaps the lower annual rental payments, which have declined substantially over the past two years. From the crazy days of early 2008, rents in the UAE – though still high compared to other property markets at a similar stage of development – have declined by 50 to 60 per cent in certain cases. With a vast majority of UAE expats living in rented accommodation, this has led to a substantial boost to their finances while at the same time pushing down debt levels in the country. Banking on growth According to UAE Central Bank statistics, bank deposits rose to an all-time record of Dh1.126 trillion in the first half of 2011, compared with Dh985.4b in the first half of 2010 – a growth of 17 per cent year-on-year. At the same time, overall bank lending (including loans to businesses) are witnessing a slowdown too, with loans and advances by banks up just 3 per cent in the same 12-month period. On the other hand, personal loans availed of by residents inched up by less than 1 per cent during the same period, from Dh245.6b in June 2010 to Dh248b in June 2011 – indicating that we are saving more and borrowing less now. Spending vs saving While this may bode well for the residents in the short-term, Keynesian economics suggests excessive saving, i.e. saving beyond planned investment, is a serious problem, encouraging recession or even depression. According to experts, excessive saving results if investment falls, perhaps due to falling consumer confidence and/or demand, over-investment in earlier years, or pessimistic business expectations, and if saving does not immediately fall in step, the economy declines, or stops growing. Saving in effect means not spending all of one’s income. Thus, it means insufficient demand for business output, unless it is balanced by other sources of demand, such as fixed investment – a recurring savings account or a fixed deposit in a bank, for instance. While such an account is ‘savings’ for one person, it gives the bank the freedom to lend the same money to another individual or a company for business purposes, plugging liquidity back into the general economy, which boosts growth. But in case of a lack of borrowing demand – as seems to be the case now – excessive saving corresponds to an unwanted accumulation of inventories, or what classical economists called a general glut. This glut in inventory eventually leads businesses to decrease production and then employment levels, leading to a fall in household income levels, and the beginning of a new recessionary cycle. A number of residents who saw their friends or friends of friends lose jobs or generally get into financial trouble in the recent past with the economic slowdown went into auto-savings mode – fearing the worst, they downsized their expenses and started saving for the rainy day. They became prudent in their expenditure. But at some point in their savings spree, prudent became paranoid – weekly grocery shopping bills began being overanalysed (did we really need the room freshener?); in some cases, non-working spouses returned to their home countries along with the kids to avail of complimentary (or at least less expensive) schooling there, and working individuals shifted to smaller accommodations, further cutting down on rents. But with things improving (incrementally and relatively), it may be time to stop being ‘paranoid’ and start being ‘prudent’ about your finances again. We are certainly not suggesting that you start splurging now in a bid to boost the overall economy – far from it – but do relax those purse-strings a little bit to once again enjoy some of the things that money can buy.


Spanish banks hit by spike in bad loans

Posted On Tuesday, September 20, 2011 0 comments

 

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 6.69 per cent. The central bank had previously said the bad loan ratio was 6.42 per cent that month. Advertisement: Story continues below Bad loans at Spanish lenders, especially its regional savings banks which account for half of all lending, have risen steadily since the collapse of the property sector at the end of 2008. The bad loan ratio at Spanish banks stood at 3.37 per cent at the end of 2008. Earlier this month Spain's struggling Caja Mediterraneo, under state control since July, reported a bad loan ratio of 19 per cent, fuelling concerns about the state of balance sheets across the banking sector. The financial health of Spanish banks is at the heart of market fears that Spain could follow the example of Ireland, Greece and Portugal in seeking a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The government and Bank of Spain have forced a wave of consolidation in the sector this year and are requiring banks to quickly increase the proportion of core capital they hold to above international norms. In July, Moody's threatened to lower the ratings of four Spanish banks, including the euro zone's largest, Santander, as well as the country's confederation of savings banks. The three other banks concerned are BBVA, CaixaBank and La Caixa.


Monday, September 19, 2011

UK Home Office considering gender-neutral passports

Posted On Monday, September 19, 2011 0 comments

 

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 displayed on the passport.” Currently, transgender people can obtain passports in their new gender. But intersex people – those born with chromosomal or genital ambiguity – must pick whether they are male or female. Supporters of gender-neutral passports say there is little need for passports to list gender and argue that other forms of ID do not state the information. Intersex rights campaigner Jennie Kermode told PinkNews.co.uk last week that the change would be easy to implement. She said: “The passport offices in the UK will not issue passports with the ‘X’ option now, although they could do so without, as I understand it, any necessary change in UK laws.” Another campaigner, Jane Fae, said: “The issue of documenting gender goes much wider than the ‘feelings of trans and intersect people’. In fact many in the trans community would oppose the removal of gender as its inclusion on passports is vital to ensure safety when travelling abroad. “Many non-trans individuals would be happier not declaring gender for all sorts of reasons. It should be optional for all.”


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

Posted On Monday, September 19, 2011 0 comments

 

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 jurisdiction in the case was declined by District Judge Daphne Wickham on the grounds of the nature and complexity of the charges and sums involved.

They allegations consist of 15 counts of false accounting and six of forgery.

Moran, of Ivy Road, St Denys, Southampton, was remanded on unconditional bail to appear at London’s Southwark Crown Court on October 28 for a plea and case management hearing.

The former politician spoke only briefly, in a faltering voice, to confirm her name and date of birth.

Moran looked almost unrecognisable as she arrived at court this morning with a dark grey beret over her head, wearing glasses, and clutching a handkerchief to her mouth.

The auburn tresses and bright clothes seen in previous photographs were replaced by a sober dark suit and blonde hair.

In court she continued to sob into a handkerchief as she waited for the hearing to start.

The criminal probe into Moran began after an investigation by The Daily Telegraph.


Margaret Moran in May 2009 and arriving at Westminster Magistrates Court today (PA/NICHOLAS RAZZELL)


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

Posted On Monday, September 19, 2011 0 comments

 

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 private residence of Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe. The 121 luxury bedrooms and suites, spread over the beach front resort, harmonize with 14 Andalusian-Style villas throughout 42,000 square meters (452,083 sq. ft.) of lush subtropical gardens. Each guest room is decorated with the finest fabrics and Mediterranean interior design, reflecting the surrounding elements and has furnished balcony / terrace and spacious luxurious bathrooms with separate shower and bath. The 14 charming villas are in the unmistakable style of the Hotel, faithful replicas of traditional Andalucían architecture, blending harmoniously with their surroundings, and are ideal for families and guests seeking to enjoy more space and privacy. The 2, 3 or 5 bedroom villas have their own private garden and heated pool, providing guests with both comfort and privacy during their stay. Both of the 2 outdoor heated swimming pools, one with seawater invite you to relax in the surrounding gardens or to enjoy the views of the Mediterranean through the palm trees of the famous beach club.


Housing Market Woes Even Hit Celebs

Posted On Monday, September 19, 2011 0 comments

 

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 in Disney's Lizzie McGuire up for sale with an asking price of $6.25 million. But according to The Real Estalker, Duff also attempted to sell the estate last year, listing for $7 million last time around. Real estate records reveal Duff bought the 9,277 square-foot house in Toluca Lake, Calif., in March 2004 for $3.5 million. Mark Wahlberg, a.k.a. Marky Mark, also recently re-listed his Beverly Hills estate with a $2 million price cut. Wahlberg originally listed the property in 2008 for $15.9 million. The 1.41-acre home is now listed for $13.9 million. The executive producer of Entourage purchased the mansion in 2001 for just $5 million, later remodeling it. Earlier in the summer, Christina Aguilera reduced the price on her home in the Hollywood Hills to $5.5 million from $8 million, while Jodi Foster's Beverly Hills mansion was brought down to $8.9 million from $10 million. The housing market continues to wobble with few consumers taking advantage of record-low mortgage rates. Sales of newly built homes are expected to be at their worst levels for decades this year, while sales of previously occupied homes are on pace for their poorest showing in nearly 15 years


Spain finance chief admits odd quirk in wealth tax

Posted On Monday, September 19, 2011 0 comments

 

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. But the Madrid government has kept compensating regional governments for the lost revenue. Now, regions stand to get the money twice: once from high-earning taxpayers under a decree passed Friday and again from the central government because the compensation must continue under a separate law that has a higher status than a decree. Salgado said "this does not seem reasonable" but there's no way around it. "With a decree, there is nothing you can do to avoid it," she said. Her comments were the latest in a sea of confusing government statements about the wealth tax, which is levy on a person's net worth: assets minus debts. The flip-flops concerned the wealth level at which it will kick in and how much revenue it will raise. In the end, if passed by Parliament next week, the levy will apply to taxpayers' net worth above euro700,000 ($963,000), or an estimated 160,000 people, and raise euro2 billion in revenue. It is temporary, and will be in effect only in 2011 and 2012. The government says the tax is aimed at getting richer people to chip in more as Spain struggles with a 21 percent jobless rate, anemic growth and a high deficit. But it has been criticized by the conservative opposition as a populist nod to leftist voters angry over deficit-cutting austerity measures as Nov. 20 general elections approach. The ruling Socialists are projected to lose badly. Salgado's remarks seemed to contradict some made just Friday by government spokesman Jose Blanco, who said no region would get the wealth tax money twice. Salgado said Blanco really meant the same thing she did: that it seems unreasonable for regions to get the money doubly.


Spain to cover 20bn euros in potential bank losses

Posted On Monday, September 19, 2011 0 comments

 

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 Caja Mediterraneo (CAM), if necessary. If confirmed, the central bank intervention would be "the costliest for the public treasury in Spanish financial sector history," the newspaper said, without identifying its source. The price tag could unnerve financial markets -- it is equal to a government estimate of the maximum cost of recapitalising Spain's entire banking sector. Contacted by AFP, Bank of Spain officials were unable to respond immediately to the report. The Bank of Spain injected 2.8 billion euros and opened a three-billion-euro line of credit for the CAM when it took control of the institution in July. But in early September CAM revealed a first-half loss of 1.136 billion euros and a high 19-percent ratio of bad loans, mostly property-related credits whose recovery was doubtful. The average bad loan ratio for the Spanish banking sector was 6.416 percent in June. According to El Mundo, the Bank of Spain is trying to complete the sale before general elections set for November 20. It said rival banks Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank, as well as a union of three Basque banks, were among candidates to buy the CAM, with Santander the favourite.


Saturday, September 17, 2011

Handling of Saudi prince's Spain court case challenged

Posted On Saturday, September 17, 2011 0 comments

 

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 of Ibiza in 2008. A spokeswoman for the prince denied the allegation and said he had not been to Ibiza for more than a decade. The case was shelved by an island court but has now been reopened. This followed a successful appeal by Soraya's lawyers. The judge is preparing a second official request to the Saudi authorities for assistance in formally questioning the prince. The nephew of Saudi King Abdullah, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is a multi-billionaire with major investments in both Citigroup and NewsCorp. 'Something in my drink' "In our opinion, the Court of Instruction No 3 in Ibiza and the police did not follow full procedure in cases of alleged sexual abuse," the lawyers from Madrid-based firm Turiel and Beloqui told the BBC. "There are things that should have been investigated that were not - like questioning staff on the yacht and the guests, an analysis of the victim's clothes and so on," the lawyers wrote, describing the fact these steps were not taken as "very unusual". The claim that the case was not being pursued with proper rigour was dismissed by the Ibiza court in 2010, saying that the identity of the accused in no way affected its decision to drop the case that year. The court ruling cites insufficient evidence to proceed. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote My daughter was in a terrible state, [...] scared to death, crying, awful” Mother of 'Soraya' Soraya, a Spanish-German model, was 20 at the time of the alleged attack on 13 August 2008 on board the 117-metre luxury yacht Turama. She told police she had begun to feel nauseous in the VIP zone of a local night club, where she believes something was slipped into her drink. She had been taken there by a man claiming to be a chauffeur for "an Arab prince" who was visiting the island. According to court documents seen by the BBC, Soraya sent the chauffeur an SMS text message at 05:12, saying: "I haven't drunk much but I think there was something in my drink." The model says she came round some hours later on board the Turama to find a man on top of her. She later identified the man as Prince Alwaleed bin Talal using images taken from YouTube. Forensic reports from a medical examination the following day revealed traces of a sedative and semen, but no physical injuries. A woman identifying herself as the mother of Soraya told the BBC her daughter had called on the morning of the alleged attack asking her to come and collect her from the island. "My daughter was in a terrible state, [...] scared to death, crying, awful," the woman said, responding to questions sent by email. "The Spanish justice system has treated this case very badly. In my view they did not want to get too involved because of who the accused was." A 2010 prosecutor's report says three men who were questioned by police during the investigation were unable to corroborate the model's version of events "in any way". The Saudi foreign ministry rejected an initial request from the Ibizan court to investigate, citing "an inability to identify the accused and a lack of solid evidence". This week, a spokeswoman for Prince Alwaleed's Kingdom Holding Company said the prince had never been informed of the 2008 court case, or that it was eventually shelved. In a statement, she also said the billionaire's travel records confirm he was with dozens of friends and family at the time of the alleged attack, nowhere near Ibiza. "There have been many examples of people impersonating Prince Alwaleed over the internet and elsewhere for their own purposes," Heba Fatani said in a statement. She called the allegations against him "salacious" and "completely and utterly false". The Audencia Provincial court in Mallorca - which has jurisdiction over Ibiza - has ordered the case to be reopened in order to ensure the prince can be questioned in accordance with Spanish law. Soraya's lawyers have urged him to provide a DNA sample to rule himself out of the inquiry.


Spain raises taxes on the rich

Posted On Saturday, September 17, 2011 0 comments

 

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 and this year's 6% deficit target looks increasingly tough to meet. The move represents a U-turn for prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who abolished a similar wealth tax in 2008 — just before the country plunged towards recession. "The economic crisis makes it necessary to bring this tax back, applying principles of fairness so that those with bigger assets can be taxed and so those who have greater wealth can contribute more to getting the country out of the crisis," a finance ministry statement said. Spaniards with €700,000 of assets in real estate – excluding their main home – as well as in stocks and bank deposit will have to pay the new tax. "It excludes the middle classes, who were the ones who had been largely affected by it when it was eliminated in 2008," the statement said. "We estimate the number of people who will contribute at around 160,000, with annual payments of about €1.08bn if it is applied evenly across Spain," it added. The wealth tax will go to Spain's cash-strapped regional governments, though some of them are opposed to it. Only one of the eleven regions currently governed by the right-wing opposition People's Party (PP) has so far indicated that it will apply the tax. It remained unclear how many others, including the wealthy Madrid region, would join the PP-administered region of Extremadura. But with fierce austerity measures in place, PP regional governments will come under intense pressure to use the tax. "In moments of hardship it is fair that those who have more should give more, just as some of the wealthiest people in Germany and France have offered to do, especially as they are less affected by measures that have been applied to pensions, salaries, lay-offs and income tax or VAT hikes," said José María Mollinedo, head of the tax inspectors' union. Spain's wealthy largely avoid income tax, with only some 7,000 people declaring annual taxable income above €600,000. Emilio Botín, head of the Santander banking group and Spain's tenth wealthiest individual, said that he disagreed with the move. "I think it's bad," he told journalists


Mijas to ban smoking in the Sierra year round

Posted On Saturday, September 17, 2011 0 comments

 

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 reach its correct destination’. It follows the recent fire, which it has now been determined was started by a bonfire, which resulted in 500 people being evacuated from their homes and affected more than 400 hectares of land.


Director of empty airport earns more than the Spanish Prime Minister

Posted On Saturday, September 17, 2011 0 comments

 

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 is a scandal, especially in the context of the crisis when many people don’t have the money for the day to day, and even more so when you consider that the airport is not even operational. The Chairman of Aerocas, the company which promoted the Castellón Airport, is none other than the ex President of the Castellón Diputacion, Carlos Fabra, who opened the facility in March. The Valencia Government now say that the first plane should arrive at the airport in the spring of next year.


Dogs drugs sweep in Alicante schools

Posted On Saturday, September 17, 2011 0 comments

 

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 hidden near the schools or in holes in the buildings’ exterior walls, or in some cases, being carried by pupils. Diario Información indicates that the fine for those found carrying drugs on their person, if the amount is small enough for no more than personal use, ranges from 300 to 3,000 €. The dogs’ handlers will also be giving preventive talks to the pupils in the classrooms on the problems for those who take drugs.


Plan shelved to partially open Málaga Metro this year

Posted On Saturday, September 17, 2011 0 comments

 

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. Vice regional councillor for public works and transport, José Salgueiro, told reporters on Thursday that the decision was taken on advice from Metro Málaga, the company which will manage the system. The original plan, now shelved, was to open just two sections of track with a total length of just three kilometres, which would have only been used by some 2,000 people a day and would therefore not be profitable.


Friday, September 16, 2011

Moroccan maids may ‘spell’ trouble, warn some women

Posted On Friday, September 16, 2011 0 comments

 

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 at a private school, said she felt threatened by the news, pointing out that Moroccan women are known for being pliant and willing to adjust to varying situations, and this posed a threat to a working wife who is not at home most of the day. Raja is a housewife who hopes the move falls through. She said Moroccan women are known for their black magic and could use it in Saudi homes. “It is better to be safe than sorry,” Raja said. “It all depends on the upbringing of the man,” said Nuha, a physician and mother of three young children. She expressed support for the initiative to bring in Moroccan workers and pointed out that any threat can come from workers of any nationality and not only one. Sawsan, a 40-year-old housewife, sees no harm in the initiative as she believes Saudi women should have confidence in themselves. “If a woman knows how to keep her husband satisfied, nothing can threaten her home.” Sameer, a divorced businessman, believes that “black magic” is the key phrase frightening people. “However, other nationalities, as we have experienced in the Kingdom, use black magic to control families.” “I am against having a live-in domestic helper in general,” said Majed, a single lawyer, adding that having a stranger live in anyone’s home is not healthy and can cause many problems, especially in marriages. “It is like bringing in an alien seed and planting it in your garden. No one can predict the outcome.” Umm Fahad, a 27-year-old mother of three, has worked with a Moroccan maid for seven years, and she thought it was the best experience. “She was so clean, quiet and kind, and since she left I have been suffering with workers of other nationalities,” she said, adding that at least the maid spoke the same language and understood Saudi traditions. On the other hand, PR manager Abdullah saw no harm in recruiting from Morocco provided that a minimum age for workers is set and that watchdogs control visa allocations closely to prevent any foul play. Moneera, a single journalist, saw no point to the fuss surrounding this issue. “Many families have recruited Moroccan domestic workers for many years now and there might have been minor complaints about them, like any other nationality.” “It is a ridiculous fear that is without base,” said marriage counselor and psychoanalyst Hany Al-Ghamdi, pointing out that if a man has no respect for his family, nothing will stop him from having an affair and that any concerns about nationality are invalid.  It is a misconception, Al-Ghamdi points out, to stereotype in this way based on nationality. “If there is to be a reasonable analysis, we should ask why Moroccan women know how to attract and keep their men,” said Al-Ghamdi, suggesting that Saudi women who feel threatened should take a closer look at themselves. “There is no black magic in a relationship between a man and woman. But there is the magic of love, caring and tolerance,” said Al-Ghamdi, adding that some women do not know how to understand their men and show tolerance toward them. Tolerance, according to Al-Ghamdi, means being able to overcome problems and disputes and show love and femininity. Moroccan women, in his opinion, are feminine by default. “They feel and express their femininity and surrender to their husbands, which is in their nature, while other women might look at it as degrading,” said Al-Ghamdi, adding that marriages involving Moroccan women in the Kingdom are not a trend that could threaten Saudi women. Teaching love, Al-Ghamdi believes, is one way to reduce Saudi women’s fear of being threatened by other women. “Aisha, the wife of Prophet (peace be upon him), was the first to open a ‘school for women.’ She was teaching women about even the most intimate details of their lives with their husbands. We need more of this teaching, instead of the rigid curriculum we are teaching girls in schools,” said Al-Ghamdi, stressing that even Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said “there is no alternative for love but to marry.” In his opinion this is a clear sign that there is love before marriage or at least strong admiration and desire, on which homes should be built to dispel any such threats.


Thursday, September 15, 2011

Málaga singer picks up three nominations in the Latin Grammys

Posted On Thursday, September 15, 2011 0 comments

 

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, I don’t know what to say. This is a dream, I love you!’. Shakira, Ricky Martin and Maná also have three nominations this year. Grand favourites at the Latin Grammys this year are Calle 13, a due from Puerto Rico who have as many as ten nominations. The ceremony will be held in Las Vegas on November 10.


Spain, Seeking New Revenue, to Reintroduce Wealth Tax

Posted On Thursday, September 15, 2011 0 comments

 

The Spanish government was planning to re-introduce a wealth tax Friday that it scrapped just three years ago, as it scrambles for ways to reduce the budget deficit and avoid becoming the next victim in the European sovereign debt crisis. Elena Salgado, the finance minister, detailed the tax shortly after Spain pulled off a successful — if expensive — bond sale Thursday. She estimated that the tax could yield about €1.08 billion, or about $1.5 billion, in additional revenue from some 160,000 of Spain’s richest taxpayers, those with more than €700,000 in declared assets. In 2007, the last year that the wealth tax was collected, revenue from the wealth tax reached €2.12 billion, after more than 900,000 people were charged between 0.2 percent and 2.5 percent of their declared assets. The Spanish government removed the tax in April 2008, shortly after José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was re-elected as prime minister. Its reintroduction is likely to be the last legislative measure taken by the Socialist government before a general election on Nov. 20. Opinion polls indicate that Mariano Rajoy, leader of the main center-right opposition Popular Party, will defeat the Socialist candidate, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, and replace Mr Zapatero as prime minister. As it fights to regain the confidence of financial markets, Mr. Zapatero’s government has pledged to lower the budget deficit to 6 percent of gross domestic product this year, from 9.2 percent last year. However, that target — still double the maximum that countries in the euro zone are supposed to meet — was set on the assumption that the economy would grow 1.3 percent this year. The most recent data suggests that growth will in fact fall short of 1 percent for the full year. Even though the revived wealth tax will be more narrowly focused than the previous one, the plan has added to tensions over fiscal strategy between the federal government and regional governments that will be collecting the wealth tax on behalf of Madrid. Economists have also questioned the benefit of such a narrow tax — it will affect about 0.7 percent of Spanish taxpayers — at a time when the euro crisis is deepening. Some regional government controlled by the Popular Party have already declared their opposition to collecting what they consider to be a misguided wealth tax. Mr. Rajoy, however, has refused to say whether he would abolish such a tax if elected in November. Most regional governments are expected to fall short of their budget deficit targets this year, after only eight of the country’s 17 regional governments met last year’s target. Fitch, the credit rating agency, this week lowered the ratings of five regions, warning that “considerable efforts” were still required “in the area of cost control.” On Thursday, Spain sold €3.95 billion of bonds maturing in 2019 and 2020, just short of its target of €4 billion. The yields remained near record highs. The bond due Oct. 31, 2020 was sold at an average yield of 5.16 percent, compared with 5.2 percent when it was last sold on Feb. 17. That was also the level at which it was trading on the secondary market before the auction. The auction attracted twice the number of bids as were accepted, a level of demand that “compared favorably to the last two Spanish auctions,” said Chiara Cremonesi, a fixed-income strategist at UniCredit. “Taking into consideration the current environment, the auction result was not too bad overall.”


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