Venezuela arrests Colombian drug kingpin

 

The arrest of Maximiliano Bonilla-Orozco at his home in Venezuela's third largest city of Valencia on Sunday was announced, perhaps not coincidentally, during a visit by Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. After a five-hour meeting at the presidential palace, Santos thanked Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez for the "welcome gift" of capturing "a very high-value" drug trafficker "who has caused terrible damage to our country." Venezuelan Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami said Bonilla-Orozco, 39, would be extradited to the United States, where he was charged with drug trafficking in a 2008 indictment in a New York court. The United States accuses Bonilla-Orozco of trafficking several tons of cocaine from Colombia to the United States, and transporting more than $25 million in drug-related proceeds from the United States to Mexico. "Maximiliano Bonilla-Orozco is the leader of an extensive transnational narcotics exportation and transportation organisation that distributes thousands of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia, through Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, to the United States," a US State Department profile says.

Marvel character, Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, has apparently infringed the copyright of the King of Spain

Marvel character, Erik Lensherr a.k.a. Magneto, has apparently infringed the copyright of the King of Spain in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, with the Zarzuela Palace claiming the X-Men villain's alternate costume is identical to the military uniform worn by King Juan Carlos.

Representitives for the Zazuela Palace have contacted the Spanish distributor of the game in the region, Koch Media, to warn them of possible copyright infringement.

This isn't the first time the Spanish Royal's has stamped their feet over the strong resemblences, as Marvel faced a similar dispute when Magneto first donned the uniform in The Pulse: House of M Special X-Men special.

eurozone and UK economies lurch towards a renewed recession

eurozone and UK economies lurch towards a renewed recession, the US recovery has surpassed expectations and appears to be firming for now.

The decoupling of the US from Europe is good news for global growth and points to the fact that the two regions have pursued very different fiscal policies over the past year. European nations have been forced to step on the spending brakes to control debt, while the US has been able to delay the switch from stimulus to austerity.

“We have no doubt that the UK is suffering from the severe fiscal austerity the government has put in place and this has contributed to the UK’s weaker economic performance relative to the US,” says Frank Engels, co-head of European economic research at Barclays Capital.

Barclays Capital estimates that these austerity measures have shaved 1,5 percentage points off UK GDP this year and will do so again in 2012 through their indirect impact on household demand and confidence, as well as the direct effect of lower government spending.

More than 100000 UK public servants have lost their jobs in the government’s drive to eliminate the UK’s structural budget deficit by 2015. (The previous government’s commitment was only to halve the deficit over the same period.)

Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne’s argument is that the situation would have been worse if it hadn’t enacted a credible deficit reduction plan, since this would have risked the UK being dragged into the eurozone’s debt crisis. Instead, UK bond rates are at record lows, meaning the government is not facing higher borrowing costs. This has helped to support the economy at a time when borrowing costs are rising significantly across the eurozone, including the core economies of Spain, Belgium, France and Italy.

For this reason, Osborne is refusing to flinch from his plan, even in the face of worsening UK economic data.

The UK, like the US, benefits from being considered a safe haven fixed income (bond) market and for that reason can continue to borrow at reasonable rates. It is also not part of the eurozone. It could therefore be argued that the UK need not have tightened fiscal policy so aggressively.

“It could probably have got away with doing a bit less,” agrees Barclays Capital chief UK economist Simon Hayes, “but the UK government’s caution is understandable, given how brutal financial markets can be and how quickly they can shift an economy from being in the good bucket to the bad one .”

Eurozone economies clearly didn’t have any alternative. Investors have voted with their feet, driving up yields (hence borrowing costs) in the bond markets of those countries unable to demonstrate the political will to rein in government debt.

Italy is the latest example. Last week nervous investors pushed Italy’s yields back above 7% — the level at which peripheral EU countries sought bail outs. The Italian bond market is the third- biggest in the world, owing bond holders around € 2 trillion. It is simply too big to save.

The risk of a major fallout in Europe is increasing. While European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has said Europe will be heading towards a “mild recession” by year-end, the latest JP Morgan purchasing managers’ index for Europe suggests its problems are worse than the authorities are letting on and that the economy is probably already in an outright decline, says Sanlam Investment Management economist Arthur Kamp.

“It was hoped that reasonable growth would allow countries like Italy and Greece to work their way out of financial distress,” he says . “However, a double-dip recession will simply push up government debt levels.”

On the other hand, Kamp believes the US economy could grow by around 2% this year and hopefully, combined with Chinese economic growth , pull Europe back into positive growth territory.

The US economy has enjoyed a string of positive data releases over the past few weeks, which suggests the economy is on a firmer footing. Part of the reason is that the US has had the luxury of time to get a handle on its $15trillion debt mountain.

Thanks to the US having the world’s largest government debt (bond) market as well as the global reserve currency, not even the loss of its AAA credit rating in August had any material effect on US borrowing costs. The upshot is that the US has been able to delay any serious fiscal adjustment for at least another year.

In addition to the $775bn stimulus plan enacted in 2009, US president Barack Obama recently put forward a $447bn jobs plan. Though this additional stimulus has been rejected by the Senate, Obama still hopes to push it through in a piecemeal fashion.

The disbanding of the so-called debt “super committee” seems ominous but its work was about deciding where cuts would come from, not the extent of cuts. These will now be triggered automatically in line with Obama’s budget deal with the Republican party. This will wipe up to $2,4trillion off government spending over the next 10 years but these savings are heavily back-loaded towards the outer years in order to prevent depressing short-term growth.

The term being given to this juggling act of supporting short-term growth while promising long-term savings is “growth- friendly fiscal consolidation”. Over the course of the past year it has become the new consensus in developed economies.

SA’s approach is very much in line with this shift in global thinking. “Whereas over the past few months there was strong support for fiscal austerity, that has changed,” finance minister Pravin Gordhan told the FM recently. “There is now a much more nuanced approach which says: focus on growth and jobs in the short term because a focus on fiscal austerity won’t produce the goods.”

The problem is that you can’t solve debt with more debt indefinitely. Europe’s condition shows what happens when an economy eventually does apply the austerity brake . If this is what the US will look like from 2013 , then the future is indeed grim.

500 vehicles per year are abandoned at car repair shops

500 vehicles per year are abandoned at car repair shops in Almeria province.

The owners leave them for repair and then abandon them when they are unable to pay the bills.

Mechanics say that this has always happened, but more so in the past few years, and in 2009, almost 1,000 vehicles were abandoned at garages in the province.

They report losses that year alone of more than €2m because of what the unpaid repairs cost them.

However, the following year, a law came into effect by which, if they notify the traffic department and the car is not collected and paid for within a month, they can call for it to be taken for scrap, meaning they can take back any pieces used for the repair which helps to reduce costs, although there is no way for them to get back the time they have spent on the vehicle.
In most cases, when vehicles have been abandoned, the cost of the repairs was quoted at around €1,000 and the vehicle is between eight and 10 years old.

Spain must help herself

Following the pressure on the Spanish debt on Thursday, the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, called for more help from the European Central Bank to buy Spanish bonds. But today Brussels has responded by saying, ‘Spain must help herself’.

The community economic spokesman said ‘We’ve been saying this for some time’, although he added that the European institutions are already doing what is needed to help countries in danger.

P.P. leader Mariano Rajoy has made a call to the markets for a margin for his new government. ‘I hope this stops and they realize that there are elections’, he said, adding that Spain is a ‘serious and trustworthy country’ which has always paid its debt, but he blamed the Socialists for the situation, ‘These people have left us broke’, he said.

Meanwhile the risk premium, the difference paid between German and Spanish ten year bonds, has fallen today to 450 points after opening this morning at 502 and being higher than the Italian number for a time.

victim was having sex with her husband at the time she fell.

There has been another case of balconing in Spain, this time in Adeje, Tenerife, and with the twist that the victim was having sex with her husband at the time she fell.

The British tourist who fell several metres then got her ankle caught between the bars of an internal staircase was left hanging there, head down and totally naked until the emergency crews arrived.

49 year old A.M.A.M. had been having sex with her husband against the railings on one of the public areas of the hotel and in the frenzy, the railings gave way. The husband called the emergency services and the local and national police arrived with a fire crew.

After their initial surprise, the managed to release the woman’s trapped right leg, and she was taken for observation to the Hospitén Sur.

Four people from the same family, one of them a six year old boy, have died in a flash flood in Castellón.

 They were washed away in their car in the heavy rain on Sunday when the small river, Rio Seco, in Onda burst its banks. 

The Government Sub-Delegate reports that it happened at about 5,30pm, but the car was not found until just before 7pm. Those to die were trapped inside the vehicle which was covered completely by the water.

The dead were the 42 year old father who was driving the car, his six year old son, his 81 year old father and 78 year old mother. The fire service sent an underwater rescue diving team to the scene.

The Valencia region was hard hit by the rain and flooding, and Valencia airport had to close for a time on Sunday. In Vinarós, Castellón roads were closed as 102.7 litres per square metre fell in five hours.

U.K. tax falls on overseas property investors

 

Overseas property owners based in the UK are about to be targeted by a new HM Revenue & Customs "affluent unit", which has been set up by the British government to address what it sees as tax avoidance by the rich.Photo 20minutos.es What next I wonder?? A new team of 200 taxation investigators and specialists has been established by HMRC to identify wealthy individuals who, amongst other things, own land and property abroad … such as a holiday home. OPP understands that the tax attack unit will concentrate on overseas property assets first, and then switch its attention to UK-based commodity traders (who have been accused of helping to drive up food prices,) before looking into the number of UK residents who hold offshore investment accounts. HMRC says that it will be using sophisticated "data mining" techniques to try and track down people who own overseas properties, but do not pay the right amount of tax. This might include someone who owns a villa in Spain which they are renting out, or an individual who owns a piece of land in France that is being used as business premises, said an HMRC spokesman. The experts will be looking for people who do not seem to be declaring the correct income and gains. The new unit, which has been announced by the UK’s Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, will focus solely on people paying the 50% top tax rate. David Gauke, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said there would be "no hiding place" for tax cheats, adding that the UK government “is committed to tackling tax evasion and avoidance across all areas of the economy. That is why we allocated HMRC £917m to reduce the tax gap over the next four years. This new team is part of that investment." Ronnie Ludwig, tax partner at accountancy group Saffery Champness told OPP that “those who have been letting out their foreign property and declaring the rents received have nothing to fear, but those who own foreign property which has never been let out should be prepared to prove to HMRC that they have received no income from the property.” “This will involve producing UK and foreign bank statements and being able to demonstrate that they could afford to purchase and maintain the property out of normal declared sources."

Toxic Smoke fills Hotel Senator in Marbella

 

On Friday the 18th November 2011 our family with a 3 year old toddler and a 15 month old baby checked into the SENATOR Hotel in Marbella for a one night stay. We knew that the Hotel SENATOR had only recently opened and indeed everything seemed brand new and glitzy. After the usual check in fomalities we finally got to our room on the 4th floor which was OK in every respect other than perhaps being a little on the small side. After returning from dinner we immediately went to sleep as we were very tired. At probably between 3 and 4 am I woke up and I thought there was a bad smell in the room. At first I gave it no further attention and went back to sleep only to wake up again and now identifying the smell you get when you turn on an electric heater that has gathered dust. Both my wife and children were completely asleep. As the smell got worse and now clearly was no longer a smell but serious toxic smoke that started to fill the room I woke my wife and she immediately realised that this was smoke from a fire. Then our baby started to cough very badly. I immediately opened our balcony door and to my amazement saw three fire engines and at least three police cars on the front side of the building with firemen entering the Hotel. At this moment images of flames coming out from the balconies entered my head. However only smoke could be seen everywhere. We immediately put on some clothes grabbed essentials and run out of the room only to find that in the hallway smoke was pouring from what seemed to be a fire sprinkler. Another couple opened the safety exit door to the escape staircase and there we found that the smoke was much less apparent. So we went down into the reception which was smoke filled and out into the road. Heavy smoke came out from a basement access into the road. Another guest told us that apparently the fire had started in the newly opened Sauna. By now more guests had decided to leave the hotel for the safety of the street and we were all huddling about in the cold expecting some news about what was going to happen to us. The manager of the Hotel could be seen on top of the Hotel stairs smoking a cigarette. Eventually we requested some explanation and information about the situation as obviously everybody was tired and did not want to remain in the street for ever. The Manager almost casually said that the fire had been put out and that everybody could go back to the rooms as it was now only a simple matter of getting rid of the smoke which he estimated would take about an hour. I made it clear to the manager that both our 3 year old toddler and our baby could not go back into a room where smoke would still be present for at least an hour. He agreed but provided no alternative. So I asked him whether it was safe to retrieve our car from the garage which he said it was and we left. The following questions need answering both by SENATOR Hotels Group and by the local authorities: 1. Why was there no alarm? We might not have woken up perhaps never because as is well known most people do not die from fire but from the toxic smoke it produces. My wife and my children in particular our baby and 3 year old were fast asleep in our smoke filled room. The fact that there was no alarm which was queried by other guests surely implies that either there was a serious breach of procedure or an inadequate safety system in the Hotel. Fire and smoke procedures are subject to extremely serious inspections by the local authorities in all countries. In fact a hotel normally cannot open or will be closed down if any of these procedures are inadequate, faulty or non existent. 2. There were communications over loudspeakers outside the hotel. We could not hear the words spoken on the 4th floor and it seemed that this was more of communications between the police and the firemen. Apart from that we assume that the communications were in spanish and therefore could not be understood by the foreign guests in any case. There seemed to be no call to evacuate the hotel as some guests were still waving from their hotel balconies. 3. That the guests were told to go back ot their rooms even though smoke was still pouring out and would be for at least one hour also indicates a complete lack of understanding of the serious health risks of smoke particularly to children. 4. Nobody gave any explanations or assistance to the guests which included many children. We were all required to stand in the cold of the street for over one hour. You would have thought that a Hotel would have a program in force for such an event including a reciprocal arrangement with another close by hotel for the guests to be able to wait in the reception and be able to use the toilets and get some refreshments in particular for the children. 5. To clear the dining room of thick smoke an industrial fan was brought to the door to literally blow the smoke out of the windows. 6. The penultimate safety question must be: why would a fire in the sauna of the wellness centre of the SENATOR Hotel produce smoke that pours out of every ventilation and airconditioning outlet right up to the top of the hotel? 7. The ultimate safety question must be: why does the SENATOR Hotel in Marbella have no smoke alarms? We are concerned about the possible longterm effects on the health of our children. When cleaning our noses we were worried to notice that our tissues were black. How much of this has gone into our baby's and toddler's lungs? What is the toxic composition of this smoke? We are waiting to hear from the SENATOR Hotel group as to compensation for our nightmare and what they will do to prevent this ever from happening again.

The Government blames the judges for the Málaga drugs theft

 

300 kilos of cocaine was taken from a warehouse in Málaga portPhoto EFE Government sub-delegate for Málaga, Hilario Lopez Luna, has blamed the judges for the theft of 300 kilos of embargoed cocaine from a warehouse in Málaga port. He said that despite requests being made for authorisation to destroy the drugs, that permission had not arrived from the judges, and that was why there was so much drugs being stored. He said that the drugs taken had already been analysed and the judges have samples so no ongoing investigation would be affected. López Luna denied knowing about the security problems at the warehouse, saying he had never received any information on the subject from the Guardia Civil or anyone else. He said the warehouse was manned weekdays between 7am and 3pm by a private security firm, and for the rest of the time the Guardia Civil had the key. The thieves broke into the warehouse on Saturday night last weekend. His comments have been criticised by the judiciary. ’You can’t move the responsibility now from the administration to the judiciary’ said the President of the Andalucia High Court of Justice, Lorenzo del Rio. The judge noted that ‘the law obliges the immediate destruction of seized drugs’, after samples are taken. ‘Until they can show me documents showing that the destruction of the drugs was pending permission, I will think that it was already authorised’, he said.

20 arrested for sexual exploitation of women

 

The case started with the arrest of a mother in Vélez-Málaga who obliged her children to prostitute themselvesTwo groups which dedicated their time to the sexual abuse and exploitation of women have been broken up by Spanish police. The case resulted from a police investigation in Vélez-Málaga into two children who were obliged to prostitute themselves by their mother. A total of 20 arrests have been made in Málaga, Girona and Madrid, including two thought to be the heads of the operation who were arrested in Figueres, Girona. The groups operated in clubs and private homes and the women were forced to work round the clock and consumer large amounts of alcohol and drugs. They would often be beaten if they refused any request. Six people have been charged for crimes linked to prostitution and corruption of minors, while the rest face charges of prostitution and acting against the rights of workers.

British woman falls off hotel balcony when having sex

 

There has been another case of balconing in Spain, this time in Adeje, Tenerife, and with the twist that the victim was having sex with her husband at the time she fell. The British tourist who fell several metres then got her ankle caught between the bars of an internal staircase was left hanging there, head down and totally naked until the emergency crews arrived. 49 year old A.M.A.M. had been having sex with her husband against the railings on one of the public areas of the hotel and in the frenzy, the railings gave way. The husband called the emergency services and the local and national police arrived with a fire crew. After their initial surprise, the managed to release the woman’s trapped right leg, and she was taken for observation to the Hospitén Sur.

traders bet that Spain would follow Italy into bail-out territory.

traders bet that Spain would follow Italy into "bail-out territory." French bank Societe Generale said: "Spain is now joining Italy on the radar screen". Warren Buffett, the US investor, said bond markets were displaying a "partial run on Europe." British borrowing costs fell to just 2.2pc.

Michel Barnier, the EU markets commissioner, said he wanted to ban credit rating agencies from rating bonds from bailed-out countries. He told French radio that the agencies could lose the "right to rate certain countries for a certain time that are receiving an international support programme from the IMF or European Union." But few could see how the ban could be imposed.

In Athens, a debate over Lucas Papademos' leadership starts in the Greek parliament today. The new premier has to win a confidence vote tomorrow and then prepare next year's draft budget to take to his first showdown with eurozone finance ministers in Brussels on Thursday.

Antonis Samaras, leader of the Greek opposition, warned that he would not support Mr Papademos' interim government for more than three months without elections. His objections are said to be barring the disbursement of the €8bn tranche of international aid to Greece.

The King of Spain’s son-in-law was at the centre of a corruption storm today as he came under investigation for siphoning off public money.

Inaki Urdangarin - the husband of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia's youngest daughter Infanta Cristina - is suspected of misappropriating cash paid into an NGO.

The former handball player now faces a possible interrogation by investigating judge Jose Castro  and risks causing huge embarrassment for the royals.

It is claimed that his non-profit company, Instituto Noos, was given an enormous 2.3million euros (just under £2million) by the Balearic Islands’ regional government to organise two conferences on tourism and sport in 2005 and 2006. 

The judicial investigation is looking into whether the bills for the events were inflated and if the money ended up in private companies run by Urdangarin, who is Duke of Palma, the capital of Majorca.

Urdangarin, 43, left Instituto Noos in 2006, months after the exorbitant sums paid by the Balearic government were revealed by the Socialist Party.

 

 

He said today: 'I cannot comment about on-going judicial proceedings.'

The prosecution claims Urdangarin and his associate Diego Torres created a network of societies with which they diverted public and private funds received by Instituto Noos.

Under suspicion: The former handball star is charged with creating a network of societies into which he diverted private and public funds

Regal scandal: Princess Cristina and Urdangarin (far right) pose with Spain's royal family King Juan Carlos, Queen Sofia, Crown Prince Felipe and wife Princess Letizia and Princess Elena

They are under investigation for document falsification, corruption, fraud and embezzlement, and Torres’s home has been searched.

The Royal Household expressed its 'absolute respect' for the legal decisions and added that it has 'nothing to say at this moment' as this is 'an investigation which must follow its course'.

The Duke and Duchess, who married in 1997, now live in Washington, DC. The couple have four children. 

Urdangarin played in Spain’s national handball team at three Olympic Games, captaining the side for Sydney 2000.

A Romanian man wanted for murder and robbery in Portugal has been arrested in Torre del Mar.

27 year old from Romania escaped to Spain after he was sentenced for the death of a woman who was killed in Portugal in 2005

EFE archive

 


Named by El Mundo newspaper as 27 year old Ioan R., he fled to Spain after a Portuguese court sentenced him to 15 and a half years in prison for the death of a woman in 2005. The victim was smothered to death in her bed during the course of a robbery.

The wanted man was traced to the Axarquía district of Málaga province and was arrested near a bar in Torre del Mar on November 4. He has now been transferred into the custody of the National Court for extradition to Portugal.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32623.shtml#ixzz1dJgywORG

British investment fund has chosen Paterna in Valencia to invest 500 million € in a new commercial centre.

A model of the Puerto Ademuz centre - Eurofund Investments

A British investment fund has chosen Paterna in Valencia to invest 500 million € in a new commercial centre. The investment will be 200 million € higher than that given the money spent by the companies which take up home in the centre.
Eurofund Investiments area to build the large complex on a half a million square metre plot. 

Eurofund is already the owner of two other commercial parks in Spain and says the new project next to the CV-35 road, opposite Heron City will be called Puerto Ademuz.

The British fund has been planning the centre for some nine months, and CEO of Eurofund in Spain, Ian Sandford, said they already had agreements with many of the businesses.

Paperwork is also before the local Town Hall for the development of the zone. The centre will have the usual galleries of shops, but also some far larger areas for bigger clients. There will also be a leisure park around an artificial lake which will offer ice skating, water skiing and artificial snow for skiing.

The plot is one of those offered to IKEA to open their first store in Valencia, and Eurofund says it is open to stores who find their project attractive, but it’s thought that IKEA would rather develop its own centre.

Eurofund hope that if all goes well, construction could start in three years.

Surprise judgement in fraud trial for Cádiz businessman who faked his own death

 

The provincial court in Cádiz has found the bank to be at fault in the case of a man charged with fraud for a 30,000 € loan obtained from Bankinter. He used his wife as guarantor without her knowledge, and also used a power of attorney which had been signed by his wife in his favour, but hid the fact that it had been cancelled. The court considered in a ruling made public this Thursday that the bank was negligent in failing to make any checks at all into the man’s financial situation and has acquitted him of fraud and falsifying documents. The bank placed a private accusation in the case against him, claiming a term of six years in prison and a fine of 21,000 €. The man in question is Jenaro Jiménez, a Cádiz businessman who faked his own death by drowning off the coast of Tarifa in 2008. He fled to Paraguay to start a new life, leaving his debts behind him. There, the 44 year old married a former beauty queen and fathered a daughter; EFE reports that he named her after the wife he had left behind in Cádiz. He was arrested upon his return to Spain in 2009 to answer charges in the case which had been brought against him by the bank.

Nigerian scam case deflates in Málaga

 

Nilo Case has reached court in Málaga, judging the largest ever swindle carried out mostly by Nigerians who sent out letters to try and capture their victims. Under the scam thousands of letters were sent from Málaga around the world, informing their recipients that they had won a prize in the Spanish lottery, and calling for them to pay a management fee so they could receive their winnings. There are 247 known victims of the fraud from Belgium to Australia and in the United States and even the UAE. The network collected 2.98 million € in ‘management fees’, via phone booth businesses on the Costa del Sol. 168 people from 14 countries were accused in the case, but the procedure was deflated somewhat on the first day on Wednesday when 55 of the accused could not be located by the court to serve them with the summons to appear. Of the 113 remaining, plea bargains were established with 87 to give them 23 months and 15 days in jail and a 1,800 fine each. That means that if they have no previous record, they will not have to go to prison, just having to pay the fine. Another group of just 16 refused to accept the plea deal, which implies them admitting their guilt, and they will be called back for the oral hearing of the case which will start on December 15. During the instruction of the case 84 people found to be in Spain illegally were deported back to Nigeria.

The Civil Guard have asked for help from the public in identifying a body

The unidentified man - EFE

The Civil Guard have asked for help from the public in identifying a body which was found floating in the waters of Tarragona Port at the end of October.

The deceased is a man aged between 55 and 65, 1.60 metres tall, with short greying hair and a beard. He was wearing blue Lois jeans when he was found, with a white vest, a blue T-shirt with the words ‘Out One Jeans’, a brown ‘North Face’ fleece, and brown Paredes sports shoes.

His body was found on October 31 and is thought to have been in the water between 10 and 16 hours.

Any member of the public with information on the man’s identity should contact their nearest Civil Guard barracks or call the central Civil Guard emergency number, 062.

Read 

Hundreds of foreign residents could lose their homes after mortgage scam in Spain

 

A group of some twenty foreign residents of the Costa del Sol have denounced a fraud under which they could lose their homes. They have formed a platform to denounce a mortgage fraud which had the objective of getting large amounts of money which was then invested in financial havens such as Luxembourg or the Channel Islands. There were foreign victims, mostly all retired, along the entire Spanish coastline and on the islands, from the Costa del Sol to the Costa Blanca, Baleares and Canaries. The scam was headed by foreign banks and foreign financial advisors, nearly all from Denmark, who had been working for some years in Spain, many without the correct authorisation of the National Commission for Market Values. They told the foreigners purchasing property that they had to get a mortgage as otherwise they would be hit with high Spanish taxes. The sales patter for these inverted mortgages claimed that residents’ homes were in danger from the Spanish taxman, claiming Spain would claim between 70 or 80% in succession tax. In effect the scheme invited the foreigners to defraud the Spanish Hacienda tax authorities. The lawyer representing those affected in Málaga, Antonio Flores, from Lawbird in Marbella, said the victims signed up for ‘predatory mortgages’ which offered the possibility of mortgaging their homes for nearly five years at a value above the level of the official appraisal and investing the money outside Spain, mostly in Luxembourg, in order to obtain a profit which covered their costs and gave them an extra payment. Some 800 contracts for the scheme were taken out between 2004 and 2009, and now the foreigners’ platform on the Costa del Sol is appealing to the National Court that those contracts be declared null and void. The total fraud is estimated at 250 million €. The mortgages were signed in Spain, with Spanish notaries and the investment contracts were signed in offices which the financial agents had in Spain, or in some cases in the client’s home. Nearly all those offices are now closed and the financial agents implicated have abandoned Spain. The clients’ money went on the purchase of currency or bank bonds in operations which soon lost money, leaving many of them now facing the possibility of losing their homes.

Man decapitates his daughter in Girona saying the devil ordered him to kill her

 

Latin American man was arrested at his home in Girona on Thursday morning after telephoning emergency services to say he had killed his two year old daughter. His other daughter, aged six, was found with him at the family home on Calle Oviedo unhurt. She is understood to have been watching television when it happened. Her sister’s decapitated body was found lying on the bed when a medical team arrived at the property with police. The father is reported to have claimed that the devil had ordered him to kill her.

Civil Guard have arrested 18 members of a drugs network which had its main base in Bilbao

Some of the drugs recovered. Photo - Civil Guard

The Civil Guard have arrested 18 members of a drugs network which had its main base in Bilbao and smuggled cocaine into the country from Colombia for sale on the Canary Islands.

They used drug mules to bring the cocaine into Spain on regular flights to Madrid, who were often made to practice before the trip by swallowing capsules containing a similar volume of flour. Once in Spain, the cocaine was cut at their base in Bilbao and sent on to the island of La Palma for distribution.

The suspects are 14 Colombian citizens, three Spaniards and another from Venezuela. They include six couriers, including two who were arrested in Colombia as they were about to board a flight to Spain and another at Lanzarote Airport. This last was found to be carrying more than one kilo of cocaine inside his body.

Eight addresses were searched as part of the operation, when 11 kilos of cocaine, 6 kilos of cannabis and 1.5 kilos of an adulterating substance were seized.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32647.shtml#ixzz1dJZ9i2Hx

Three brothers from hell

 

These are the three brothers from hell -- two killers and one a suspected hitman. Two of the men, Eric and Keith Wilson from Ballyfermot in Dublin, are now suspected of being involved in over ten gun murders between them. Keith Wilson (23) was today beginning a life term in jail for the gangland execution of hitman-for-hire Daniel Gaynor in August, 2010. His brother Eric 'Lucky' Wilson (27) is serving 23 years in a Spanish prison for the murder of British criminal Daniel Smith in a packed bar on the Costa del Sol. Their older brother John (34) was released from garda custody in September after being arrested by officers probing a shooting at the Players Lounge pub in July, 2010, which left three innocent men with serious injuries. John -- who has survived three assassination attempts -- showed up every day at Keith's dramatic murder trial. Yesterday's conviction is being hailed as a major breakthrough in the fight against organised criminal activity in Dublin.

former mayor of La Viñuela, Juan Millan, has voluntarily entered Alhaurin de la Torre prison to serve sentences for urban planning corruption.

 

 Several months ago, his defence lawyers reached an agreement with Malaga Public Prosecutor and the ex-mayor pleaded guilty to 12 charges of crimes against territorial planning. The sentence was nine months in prison and a ten-year ban from holding public office for each of the charges, but the law establishes that with related crimes, the maximum time served will be the triple of the longest sentence imposed. Therefore, Juan Millan is facing 27 months in prison and a 30-year ban from public office. The prison will now have to legalize his situation and gather information on his sentences. One if them, imposed by a criminal court in Malaga, is for granting five building permits knowing that they were illegal, and failing to resolve requests for licences on three occasions.

Farmer dies after being attacked by jabalí

 

A farmer has died in Guadassuar, Tous, in Valencia after being attacked by a jabalí wild boar. Reports say the 60 year old man was working in his own orange grove when he was surprised by the beast. Miguel E. suffered injuries in the groin and was found with his blood over his hands and face according to witnesses who said it looked like he tried to defend himself from the attack. It happened last Saturday morning. Tous is a municipality where 90% of the population are hunters and nobody can ever remember anything similar ever happening before. The local police say the victim’s son reported that his father had phoned him on his mobile to say he had been injured, but when a neighbour arrived at the scene he was already dead. Reports indicate that he had earlier suffered a heart attack.

National Police arrest Local Policeman in Marbella

 

National police arrested a member of the Marbella Local Police force who was found shoplifting in a local commercial centre on Saturday. The man had tried to take a camera from the store. Municipal sources say the agent has already handed in his plaque and pistol, and is being suspended from his post without pay. Marbella Town Hall said they lamented the incident which they described as ‘totally isolated’.

Juan Antonio Roca, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor, at the centre of the allegations, has moved on to the most interesting phase

Juan Antonio Roca - EFE archive

The Malaya case investigating the widespread corruption in Marbella Town Hall, and with Juan Antonio Roca, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor, at the centre of the allegations, has moved on to the most interesting phase, as the Málaga court starts to investigate the bribes.

On Monday, some five years and seven months after his arrest, Roca has had to start to respond to the big questions at the centre of the case, the backhanders he allegedly received from real estate promoters in exchange for licences to build outside the PGOU urban plan. More than 50 people including ex Mayors and Roca himself are expected to declare in this section of the case.

The court considers that Roca was paid by 19 different companies between 2001 and 2006, a total of 33.3 million €. Among the big payers were Carlos Sánchez and Andres Liétor – 6.8 million, José Avila Rojas – five million, and the directors of Aifos – 4.8 million.

The Córdoba promoter Sandokán, who is now a councillor in the city, allegedly handed over 600,000 in exchange for town planning favours.

The prosecutor claims that despite not being elected, a politician or even a civil servant, Roca was the man who was running Marbella Town Hall following the motion of no confidence passed in August 2003 against the then Mayor, Julian Muñoz. Roca’s power, lubricated by bags of cash, saw all the councilors act as his subordinates.

Key to the prosecution’s case are a series of files found at the lawyers offices, Maras Asesores. The business was controlled by Roca and councilors and businessmen often met in their offices. Police found some files, in the power of Salvador Gardoqui, which are considered to be Roca’s secret accounts, showing the entry and exit of money, with the real estate section of the accounts showing a surplus of more than 17 million €.

In the court on Monday another one of the accused, Eusabio Sierra, admitted, following a plea bargain with the Anti-corruption Prosecutor, that he paid a 60,000 € backhander to Roca to speed up the Town Hall’s payment of a debt. His two year prison threat has now been reduced to six months as a result, which means he will escape jail by paying a fine.

The basis of Roca’s statement to the court today was that he was not in control of the Town Hall and that the now late Mayor, Jesús Gil decided absolutely everything, ‘above all in the areas of work, the economy and real estate’. Asked by the Prosecutor what his relationship was with the Marbella Town Hall, he replied that it was always via municipal companies.

However Roca did admit paying local councilors for their votes in the motion of no confidence against Julián Muñoz, and admitted to the judge that he was paid more than 3.5 million € in backhanders, which he described as ‘advice payments’ for projects developed in the town. He admitted that Construcciones Salamanca 740,000 € and said that Aifos, whose bosses are also on the accused bench, paid as much as 1.8 million €. He said that the accounting of Maras Asesores, was correct, and admitted that was the company he used to try and hide all his finances.

Three Gibraltar police injured in collision with Guardia Civil boat off Gibraltar

 

Three Gibraltar police have been injured after their boat was in collision with a Guardia Civil vessel in the waters off the Rock on Monday night. Spanish media say the collision took place in Spanish waters close to La Línea during a joint chase of drug traffickers who were in an inflatable craft. The fact the Gibraltar and the Spanish authorities were both chasing the drug traffickers showed that in this case there is no talk of any interference having taken place between the two. Spain has repeatedly requested clear protocols to be established to avoid accidents in situations such as this. The three men were injured as a result of the impact between the two boats, and were seriously hurt. All three had fallen into the water and were rescued by the Guardia. One man with a suspected head fracture was taken to La Linea Hospital but is now at St Bernards on the rock. The other two were taken to the Punta de Europa hospital in Algeciras where they were x-rayed and cleared of fractures. An investigation is underway and it is unclear at this stage whether the drug traffickers got away. The Royal Gibraltar Police vessel is reported to be extensively damaged, including its engines. It’s the latest of a chain of incidents between the Gibraltar Police and the Spanish Guardia Civil.

Waiter found guilty of killing Ukrainian call-girl in Mijas

 

THE man charged with killing and dismembering a Ukrainian call-girl in Mijas in April last year has been found guilty. The public prosecution was asking for 14 years for manslaughter and five months for desecration of the body. Alla Mefodova, 36, disappeared in Fuengirola, and police only recovered the remains of her hands. DNA tests confirmed they belonged to her. The man confessed that he had been out drinking on the night of April 5, 2010, and enlisted the services of a call-girl who identified herself as Bianca. It was the six calls he made to her phone which led police to him. He told the police they were together at his house for several hours during which they drunk a bottle of whisky and took cocaine. He claimed they began to argue, probably about money. He says that he fell asleep and doesn’t remember how the woman died, but admitted that when he saw she was dead, he went into shock, considering calling the police or committing suicide, but that instead, he took her personal belongings and clothes and burned them. Later, he bought a saw, cut her body into pieces and put them into bags which he dumped in rubbish containers in the area. He claimed to have fainted several times in the process. The waiter from Castilla-La Mancha had no criminal record and had never been accused of violent behaviour. Just a month earlier, Alla had managed to bring her 17-year-old son to Spain, after leaving him with her mother in the Ukraine when he was just seven years old. He and a close friend reported her missing.

London’s newest and most fashionable hotel bling is Whitehall’s Corinthia Hotel

Hotels have become the newest and most luxurious of flaunt-able accessories.

Fashion houses, celebrities and the anonymous super rich want to own them and the rest of us just want to say we’ve stayed there.

London’s newest and most fashionable hotel bling is Whitehall’s Corinthia Hotel: a shiny new bauble of a five star property ensconced in a hallowed vintage building that once housed the UFO wing of MI6 (it’s true, I heard it from the hotel’s concierge). The heart of the hotel is the dome-covered lobby lounge, dressed to the 9′s with a “Full Moon” chandelier by Parisian designer Chafik Gasmi. You want to talk bling; this baby has over 1,001 twinkling crystals winking seductively as government officials, embassy big wigs and arm candy girlfriends sip gin and tonics or take afternoon tea with cucumber sandwiches below.

Upstairs the rooms are lush, Frette linen-wrapped and full of fab extras like Hi Definition TV in the marble bathroom, super sleek electronic hook ups and my favorite: ESPA soaps, scrubs and shampoos in the walk in shower. ESPA fans will want to make a pilgrimage to the hotel just for the new ESPA Life SPA that covers four floors and includes an indoor pool, a vitality pool and–wait for it–an ice fountain.

Downstairs, the hotel’s two restaurants: Northhall and Massimo and the Bassoon Bar are abuzz with London’s Yummy Mummies, MP’s who work nearby and “Dragon’s Den”-like entrepreneurs who clearly feel the Corinthia is the fashion accessory of the moment. Dinining in Northhall is like a trip back in time to the glory days of the Empire with dishes on hand like Goosnargh Duck with Dauphinoise and Buttered Beans and St. Ives Seamed Lemon Sole with Cockles and Clams.

Notwithstanding all the shiny toys to play with, the Corinthia is grounded in luxe hotel 101: spot on service, quality product and a graciousness that reminds one of the old saying attributed to old school Ritz-Carlton staff: “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”

Casares actually inherited its name from Julius Caesar, who is said to have ridden himself of a nasty skin complaint thanks to his visit to the Hedionda baths

For here, in this sleepy, undeveloped valley is the still-standing Roman bathhouse, where it is said Caesar himself once bathed around 60 BC.

Having survived for over 2000 years, it is a privileged place to spend an hour and the perfect reminder of the rich heritage that has been left on the Andalucian coastline by a succession of marauding cultures.

Casares actually inherited its name from Julius Caesar, who is said to have ridden himself of a nasty skin complaint thanks to his visit to the Hedionda baths, which literally translate as ‘foul-smelling woman’.

But these days there is nothing foul about the classic ‘white town’, which was first shaped by the Romans and later the Moors, who inhabited the region for over 700 years.

Perched on a rocky outcrop and pouring down two sides of a ridge, this most spectacular of Spanish towns looks impressive from every side.

A photographer’s dream, few towns can compare in terms of subject matter.

Backed by the soaring peaks of the Sierra Crestellina, and views towards the Med and Africa, Casares is also blessed with fabulous walks and wildlife, including a colony of vultures and other rare birds, including eagles.

An enterprising company has recently produced an excellent map of the nearby walks, one of which ascends straight out of the village on a steep path into the verdent hills.

Up here the views stretch all the way to Gibraltar and Africa and you will find yourself completely on your own. Well apart from the odd sheep or goat.

In fact, the town is fast becoming known for its excellent goats cheese and yoghurts. Award-winning Quesos Crestellina produces a fantastic range of organic cheeses from its herd of 400 goats that spend the day up on the peaks.

A family-run affair which dates back over a century, owners Ana and Juan run a tight ship aided by their son Juan, who does all the marketing.

“We sell the cheese all over Spain and yoghurts to the local school, as well as the five star Finca Cortesin hotel,” explains Ana, whose shop also stocks some of the region’s best quality local produce.

Head up into the village for a general wander, in particular admiring the labyrinthine Arabic quarter, with its narrow streets and low rise houses. The most impressive part is the Alcazar (or fortress) at the top of the town, first built by the Romans and later strengthened by the Moors.

From here you have spectacular views and an attractive 16th century church that has been recently renovated.

On your way down take a look out for the street Calle Carrera, where one of Andalucia’s heroes Blas Infante was born. Infante, who was shot during the Civil War, was the man who planned, forged and declared Andalucian independence (in nearby Ronda, for history buffs), before being killed at the age of 41.

Nearby Manilva also has its fair share of history. This is clear from the huge expanse of ruins – much of them Roman – that lie, largely ignored, next to the fortress at Manilva port, known as Duquesa.

It is an interesting area, including a bath house, villas and a necropolis, most of which was discovered in the late 1980s, and which one hopes will be properly excavated in the near future.

The fort itself is well worth a poke around. Built in the 1760s to protect the town against continual incursions by pirates, it is incredibly solid and earnt its builder Francisco Paulino a title and the honour of commanding a cavalry company.

It is here where the town hall of Manilva has its archaeological team, which has recently been busy investigating an exciting Roman discovery in the town.

The substantial remains of a kiln dating back to 2AD are in a good condition and were found alongside a series of fragments of pottery.

It is thought the unique design may be the only existing example in Spain and could serve as further evidence of the town’s key role in exporting ‘garum’, one of the most popular products during Roman times.

Then known as Saltum, Manilva became famous for the delicacy, a pungent paste made from fish guts.

Exported to the Eternal City of Rome via boat, it needed to be stored in well-made pots, called amphoras. And it now seems likely that the recently discovered kiln may be where these were made on an almost industrial scale.

While the centre of Manilva is not of great interest, one of the things you cannot fail to miss is the large amount of vineyards clinging to the steep slopes that drop away from the town.

Mostly Moscatel, the vines are largely for growing grapes for raisins, although in recent years there has been an attempt to return to winemaking, with some astonishingly good dessert wine.

“We have seen a lot more people interested in buying the sweet wines over the last few years,” explains local shopkeeper Maria Esteban, who sells the wine, plus a lot more local produce from her unmissable shop Frutas Pascal y Hijos on a bend on the way into town.

High speed train comes to Ronda

 

THE AVE is coming to Ronda. This means significantly reduced journey times to Madrid, Granada, Cordoba, Málaga and beyond. The project also includes completing the upgrade of the line from Ronda down to Algeciras to allow for the faster trains. The announcement was made on Friday, 4 November, via a BOE, Boletín Oficial del Estado. According to this document there will be 64.4 kms. of double track electrified line of the European gauge between the existing AVE-station at Antequera-Santa Ana and La Indiana, the old station on the outskirts of Ronda where the new AVE station for Ronda will be built. The project has a budget of 711.47 million euros and will follow the route of the current single track line between Bobadilla and Ronda. However, according to the website ferropedia.es the line will take a direct route from Setenil de las Bodegas to La Indiana, cutting out the S-loop which takes in Arriate and Ronda, and will cut through virgin countryside. The proposals are now out to public consultation and the plans can be viewed at the Town Halls in Antequera, Campillos, Teba, Cañete la Real, Almargen, Ronda, Arriate, Olvera, Alcalá y Setenil de las Bodegas, as well as in Málaga City, Cádiz and Madrid. I understand from an unnamed source that work will not commence until 2014. So peace and quiet for three more years before more new sounds are added to the local cacophony where we live. However, ignoring any NIMBY tendencies, a high speed rail link from Ronda into the rest of the AVE-network can only be a good thing for the area. With journey times to major cities cut dramatically, it can only improve the economic prospects of the area, both in terms of tourism and commerce. Real estate values in the area around La Indiana are likely to rocket as people realise it’s possible to commute from the rural idyll that is the Serranía de Ronda to Madrid and the other major cities to the north.

Work to build the new terminal on the Gibraltar side of the border is practically complete

The joint use of the airport was agreed back in 2006

The Gibraltar border - EFE

 

The Gibraltar Government has met its obligations under the Tripartite Agreement made with the UK and Spain in Córdoba in September 2006 regarding joint use of the airport.

Work to build the new terminal on the Gibraltar side of the border is practically complete with just a freight warehouse still under construction along with facilities for private planes.

But on the Spanish side there is still a lack of agreement between AENA, the Spanish Airports Authority, and the La Línea de la Concepción Town Hall on the concession of the land which will allow the construction of the Spanish terminal. 

The Gibraltar side has spent 67 million € according to El País which notes the budget for the Spanish side is just seven million.

Gibraltar First Minister, Peter Caruana, has said there will be a gradual move to the new facilities this month.

The Spanish side is awaiting a deal for the re-establishment of flights to Madrid, or even other Spanish airports. Caruana considers that new airlines and flights will be established when the facilities are completed, and the tunnel being built under the runway is completed so traffic no longer will have to be stopped for every take off or landing.

La Linea says they want to start building as soon as possible, with plans for a three story terminal over 2,000 m2, with parking for between 300 and 400 cars. The Town Hall plans to run the car park to generate income as part of the deal with AENA. Once that deal is agreed, it’s hoped in a few days, construction will take about 12 months, and only when completed will Spain have complied with the agreement made in Córdoba back in 2006.