US preacher warns end of the world is nigh: 21 May, around 6pm, to be precise

Harold Camping has been broadcasting his Doomsday predictions around the world


The end of the world is nigh; 21 May, to be precise. That's the date when Harold Camping, a preacher from Oakland, California, is confidently predicting the Second Coming of the Lord. At about 6pm, he reckons 2 per cent of the world's population will be immediately "raptured" to Heaven; the rest of us will get sent straight to the Other Place.

If Mr Camping were speaking from any normal pulpit, it would be easy to dismiss him as just another religious eccentric wrongly calling the apocalypse. But thanks to this elderly man's ubiquity, on America's airwaves and billboards, his unlikely Doomsday message is almost impossible to ignore.

Every day Mr Camping, an 89-year-old former civil engineer, speaks to his followers via the Family Radio Network, a religious broadcasting organisation funded entirely by donations from listeners. 

accident during work to build the Málaga metro system

Two men remained in hospital on Wednesday after an accident during work to build the Málaga metro system on Tuesday night. A third man was less seriously hurt and was discharged on Wednesday.

The most seriously injured, a 42 year old man who is understood to be the crew’s foreman, is in Intensive Care in Carlos Haya after being transferred to the hospital’s plastic surgery unit with injuries to his face.

The accident was in a tunnel which is under construction on Line 2 of the metro between the José María Martín Carpena sports pavilion and the Carrefour commercial centre. Diario Sur reports that it happened when concrete was being pumped onto the station platform and the hose exploded, spraying the group with its contents.

Royal couple's visit to the estate, near Granada, has been met with anger by villagers who claim that the Duke's estate has encroached on their land.

Royal couple's visit to the estate, near Granada, has been met with anger by villagers who claim that the Duke's estate has encroached on their land.
The Prince and his wife begin their visit in Portugal on Tuesday before moving on to Spain on Wednesday and finally arriving in Morocco next Monday.
The couple have avoided Gibraltar during their first official tour together of the Iberian Peninsula, skirting the inevitable controversy that a visit to the disputed territory would ignite in Spain.
But the decision to conclude the Iberian leg of their official tour with a private weekend stay on an estate awarded to the first Duke of Wellington in 1813, in gratitude for aiding Spain in the Peninsular War against France, has stirred up a similar land dispute.
Although the first duke himself never visited the Molino del Rey estate outside Illora, near the southwestern city of Granada, it was passed down to his heirs and is now the property of Arthur Valerian Wellesley, 95, the eighth and current Duke of Wellington and a close friend of the Queen.

municipal law came into effect in Malaga banning sexual activities in public less than 200 metres from homes or businesses, Local Police have handled 200 complaints.

SINCE the municipal law came into effect in Malaga banning sexual activities in public less than 200 metres from homes or businesses, Local Police have handled 200 complaints. Most of the complaints registered since January, are against prostitutes although others are against their clients, and there have been a further 100 cautions issued.

The local Councillor for Citizen Participation, Immigration and Development Cooperation, Julio Andrade, has said that prostitution has practically disappeared on the Guadalhorce Industrial Estate – where it was once rife – as a result of the new law and enforcement by police.

Prostitutes and clients found to be flouting the law can be fined between €750 and €1,500.

In February, 30 Malaga prostitutes abandoned their usual corners and gathered on the roundabouts of the Azucarera-Intelhorce road to protest against the new regulations.

Some say that the increased police presence has caused their takings to fall by 80 per cent as customers are afraid to stop.

DGT Central Traffic Authority has fined more than one thousand drivers since the new ‘radar de tramo’ speed trap came into operation in the A-7 motorway tunnel at Torrox

DGT Central Traffic Authority has fined more than one thousand drivers since the new ‘radar de tramo’ speed trap came into operation in the A-7 motorway tunnel at Torrox on March 1.

The equipment calculates a driver’s average speed over a distance of one kilometre and is one of only two such systems which are currently in place on roads in Spain. The other is in Guadarrama, Madrid, where close to 600 vehicles have been caught speeding in its first two months of operation.

The record speed was in Torrox, where La Opinión de Málaga reports that a driver travelled at an average speed of 173 kph, reaching the far end of the tunnel in half the time it should have taken if the speed limit had been respected.

The paper notes that 43 drivers are fined on this stretch of road every day, while in Guadarrama the number has now dropped to 7.

Spain's third-largest savings bank, Banco Base, has become the first of the country's struggling financial institutions to seek government cash to bolster its ailing finances under new funding rules.

Spain's third-largest savings bank, Banco Base, has become the first of the country's struggling financial institutions to seek government cash to bolster its ailing finances under new funding rules.

The bank, formed out of four struggling local cajas, said it would need €2.8bn (£2.5bn) from the restructuring fund set up by the Bank of Spain.

The amount is nearly twice the capital shortfall the Bank of Spain had estimated for Banco Base, adding to the growing unease surrounding Spain's banks and their ability to cope with billions of pounds of bad loans during a prolonged recession.

A spokesman for Banco Base was not able to say why it was applying for more than the original estimate.

Plans to offer private investors a slice of the bank in an effort to raise capital were abandoned as part of the decision to seek state funds.

While Santander and BBV have passed current tests, 12 of Spain's other banks have been told to find an extra €17bn to shore up their finances and prevent a collapse in confidence.

Subsidiaries of Barclays and Deutsche Bank were among the 12 named as lacking capital, but all eyes were on the mutual cajas, which acted much like UK building societies until they became involved in a lending spree in the middle of the last decade.

Most were forced by the Bank of Spain to pool their resources by merging, but tests of their capital found they still needed extra funds.

The Basel III rules on banks' capital and another stress test this year in Europe have been putting pressure on banks to shore up capital to prevent a repeat of the funding crises that caused many lenders to seek government bailouts during the financial crisis.

Dean Rice sits between two armed and masked Spanish police officers, his hands tied behind his back. He has just been arrested in the small Andalusian town of Alhaurin and is about to return to Britain to start a life sentence

Dean Rice sits between two armed and masked Spanish police officers, his hands tied behind his back. He has just been arrested in the small Andalusian town of Alhaurin and is about to return to Britain to start a life sentence for a grim kidnapping that occurred in Kent in 2006 and of which he was convicted in his absence. He must have thought that, using various aliases, he had managed to hide himself amongst the many expats in the area but he was rumbled by a neighbour in February and arrested in a morning raid.

Rice is the latest to fall foul of Operation Captura, launched jointly five years ago by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the charity Crimestoppers which offers anonymity for tip-offs on the whereabouts of villains. "Don't let UK criminals became a handicap in Spain," was how the scheme was originally launched, alongside a picture of a retired gent on a coastal golf course. Since then, expats have help to shop 40 of the 60 most wanted.

No rewards are paid to members of the public who tip off the police but the response so far has been remarkable. Dave Cording, Crimestoppers' Director of Operations said: "For many years, Spain has been an appealing sunny hideaway for British criminals escaping justice. But this all changed in 2004 when European Arrest Warrants came into effect, making it easier to bring British criminals back into the UK's criminal justice system."

Nueva Andalucía has become the preserve of Britons with criminal connections.

Nueva Andalucía has become the preserve of Britons with criminal connections. There have been a number of shootings, some deadly, in what the National Police call the “settling of accounts” largely amongst drug traffickers.

The latest of these cases was the Thursday of last week just before 15.15 when the 091 emergency room of the local police in Marbella received a call to say there had been a shooting in the calle del Califa. A number of shots were discharged and a person injured.

When officers arrived there was no injured man to be found but eyewitnesses informed them the shooting had indeed taken place with the victim shot in the leg. It is understood the gunman arrived on the back of a motorbike; had got off and shot the victim as he talked with another man in the street. The gunman was then driven off at speed whilst the injured man was taken away in a four wheel drive vehicle.

Police searched the scene and found two spent cartridges which corresponded with the number of shots heard. However there was no sign of blood and no hospital or health centre had treated anybody for gunshot wounds.

From speaking to witnesses police say they are sure those involved were British. Tragically this is nothing new for Nueva Andalucía where one of the more serious shootings was in December 2009 when a Briton was shot three times, with one bullet entering his head.

However the worst case was back in December 2004 when gunmen shot and killed a 7-year-old boy and a 36-year-old hairdresser outside the Andalucía Plaza Hotel. Also injured in the hail of bullets were three other people. This case probably did not involve Britons although one of the gunmen spoke in English.

The tragic events took place at 17.30 on a Saturday afternoon when three heavily armed men got out of an Audi car parked outside the hotel leaving a fourth man at the wheel. They walked to a BMW parked outside the Cosmo hairdressers, which is part of the hotel building, and fired at a man sitting in the passenger seat. Eyewitnesses then say that the trio ran to the entrance of the hotel and one of the men fired a hail of bullets inside. The men were armed with automatic rifles and reports state that police found over 100 spent shells at the scene of the shooting.

Killed in the outrage was the 36-year-old Italian male owner of the hairdressers. Slain too was a seven-year-old boy from Sevilla who was on a short holiday to Marbella. He was waiting in the interior of the hotel for members of his family when around 6 bullets hit him in the abdomen. His aunt and another family member were amongst those injured.

After the shooting, an Algerian-born French businessman, without any known previous convictions, went to Marbella National Police station and told officers that he believed that he was the target of the killers. The businessman is involved in the exclusive fashions industry and commutes between Paris and Marbella. He was in the hairdressers at the time of the shooting.

He claims that he did not know the identity of the four men but they appeared to be looking for a second man after shooting his colleague sitting in the BMW. The injured man, who also has no previous convictions, has been described as the Frenchman’s friend and bodyguard. A pistol was found beneath the BMW car and officers have arrested him in his hospital bed on charges of alleged possession of an illicit firearm.

Today the Costa del Sol is a shooting gallery for rival gangsters. British criminals there are a plenty plus various Italian mafias, Russians, Eastern Europeans and bad guys and girls from other nations. The only difference is now the Spanish police work closely with their counterparts in these countries. Hence if you turn a corner and face a man or woman with a gun they are just as likely to be from the police as a gang member.

52 year old Spanish woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand for smuggling drugs into the country.

52 year old Spanish woman has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand for smuggling drugs into the country.

María Nieves García Alcaraz, from Torraba, Albacete, was arrested at Bangkok Airport last August after 3.1 kilos of crystal methamphetamine were found in her hand luggage. She’d arrived there on a flight from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and claimed at the time to have no idea that was carrying drugs.

EFE reports that she told police after her arrest that she’d been given the package by a man from Ghana, who’d asked her to take it with her to Bali.

The accused pleaded guilty at her trial in Bangkok, which the court took into account on deciding her sentence, and commuted her punishment to life imprisonment. Serious drug offences carry the death penalty under Thai law.

EFE notes that an agreement signed between Spain and Thailand in 1983 allows Spaniards sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand to serve their sentence in Spain, once they have completed the first 8 years of their prison term.

Another Spaniard is currently awaiting trial for possession of cannabis.

14th Malaga Spanish Film Festival kicks off Saturday it signals the beginning of a new film season for Spain -- as the festival packs a powerful punch of premieres from edgy first-time directors and seasoned veterans in its lineup.

When the 14th Malaga Spanish Film Festival kicks off Saturday it signals the beginning of a new film season for Spain -- as the festival packs a powerful punch of premieres from edgy first-time directors and seasoned veterans in its lineup.
Spain’s main showcase for homegrown talent, Malaga has firmly established itself as the debut of most of the local industry’s solid product.
A parade of Spanish industry faces accompanies such a lineup every year and this year is no different. Aside from Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde and Film Institute director Carlos Cuadros, directors Santiago Segura and actresses Maribel Verdu, Goya Toledo and Maria Valverde are all due in town.
But the real measure of the festival, which takes place on the red carpet outside the Cervantes Theater, is the frenzy of local support and enthusiasm that not only maintains the festival as a key tent pole for homegrown product in Spain, but reinforces TV-generated sex symbols’ glamour and star power.
“Malaga is what I call a hormonal red carpet,” said Spain’s ubiquitous film industry photographer Pipo Fernandez, who has covered the Malaga Film Festival for 14 years. “If Liz Taylor came back and showed up for the opening night, no one would recognize her. The fans are 14-17-year-olds and are passionate about their current heartthrobs.”
This year, Spanish sex symbols Mario Casas, Hugo Silva and Miguel Angel Silvestre will sweep in to Malaga to thrill crowds.
True to form, the lineup at this year’s festival spotlights 18 world premieres and showcases new Spanish talent, with the vast majority of competition titles being first or second feature films.
The official section is book-ended by Tom Fernandez’s second feature What’s a Bear For? starring Malaga constant Javier Camara at the opening and Maxi Valero’s directorial debut El Hombre de las Mariposas, about an old Soviet general living in Spain.
Other competition titles include: Enrique Otero’s road movie Crebinsky, Frank Spano’s opera prima about a 1999 Venezuelan flash flood Hora Menos, Alberto Gorritiberea’s Arrilla, Max Lemcke’s Cinco Metros Cuadrados and Carles Torras’ drama of an overwhelmed night watchman.
The Spanish national soccer team’s goalkeeper Iker Casillas, and a heartthrob in his own right, has a cameo in David Marques’ soccer-based comedy, Offsides, with Ricardo Darin, Hugo Silva and Fernando Tejero.
Telecinco Cinema backs Borja Manso and Marcos Cabota’s comedy about three old friends in Amigos.
“Malaga is a snapshot of the Spanish film industry at a particular moment,” said festival director Carmelo Romero. “It’s representative of what’s available right now. There are plenty of unconventional storytelling techniques and fresh talent.”
The Eloy de la Iglesia award, which recognizes filmmakers working outside established formulas, will go to director Isaki Lacuesta, while the Ricardo Franco Award for career achievement will go to Spanish photographer Jose Luis Alcaine. Malaga will also honor director-producer Jose Luis Borau and actor Luis Tosar.
Alternative filmmaking is grouped in the Zonazine section. Standouts this year are expected to include Bueno Aires, Cuatropuntocinco, Miss Tacuarembo and Brutal Box.
The festival, which operates on less than a €2 million ($2.8 million) budget, will screen 11 of the “most representative” Latin American films of the season in its Latin American Territory sidebar.
The festival will also host a round table discussion to include ICAA’s Cuadros, Filmotech’s Rafael Sanchez, Telefonica’s Ignacio Fernandez and Perro Verde’s Manuel Cristobal, among others --highlighting new paths for commercializing Spanish film.
Malaga runs on Spain’s Mediterranean coast from March 26-April 2 this year.

Banco Popular and Allianz Spain have created a fund management joint venture,

Banco Popular and Allianz Spain have created a fund management joint venture, the Spanish bank announced on Thursday.

The joint venture will be called Allianz Popular and would integrate the life Insurance, non-life insurance, pension and mutual funds businesses of both companies.

The new company will manage assets in excess of €11 billion. Allianz will own 60% of the new entity while Banco Popular will own 40%.

Under the terms of the agreement, the German insurance giant will be the only asset manager apart from Banco Popular's asset management arm Popular Gestión authorised to distribute financial products to Popular’s retail clients over the next 15 years.

The exclusive of distribution does not affect the clients from private banking arm Popular Banca Privada, however, and they will continue to enjoy an open architecture offering.

Allianz will have exclusive access to around 6.3 million new clients as a result of the deal, as Banco Popular the is third biggest Spanish retail bank in terms of assets with a market share in deposits and loans of 5%.

Popular Gestión and Allianz Gestión will keep operating as independent fund companies.

Spain's struggling saving's banks, or cajas, have held talks with major hedge funds

Spain's struggling saving's banks, or cajas, have held talks with major hedge funds and private equity groups to try to raise 15 billion euros ($21 billion) in fresh capital to avoid a bail-out, the Financial Times said on Friday.

U.S. hedge fund Paulson & Co and buy-out groups Cerberus CBS.UL and Apax Partners APAX.UL have held meetings with several cajas to discuss possible investments, the paper said.

The talks by Bankia, Banca Civica and smaller rivals stalled because of the low valuations offered by foreign investors, the FT said, citing unnamed bankers and investors.

Spain's savings banks lent indiscriminately to property developers during a decade-long housing boom that fizzled out three years ago.

Ratings agency Moody's downgraded 30 Spanish banks on Thursday, citing a combination of pressure on the country's sovereign debt and declining market share of smaller banks as the financial sector consolidates.

Moody's has taken the hatchet to the Spanish banking sector this morning, cutting the ratings of 30 of the country's banks.

Moody's has taken the hatchet to the Spanish banking sector this morning, cutting the ratings of 30 of the country's banks.
Note: This does not include Santander, BBVA, or La Caixa.
Moody's made the move because they are losing faith in the Spanish sovereign's ability to stage a full scale bailout of the country's banking system.
Earlier this month, Moody's downgraded the Spanish sovereign due to problems in its banking sector. Spain has claimed its banking sector only needs €15.15 billion in cash, while other independent assessments suggest it could be as high as €120 billion.
The cost to the country's banks is very much dependent on the outlook for its real estate sector. Spain's unemployment rate remains above 20%, and a ECB rate hike seems imminent, so there's little reason to think the situation will be improving soon.

Town Hall in Estepona now has some breathing space, after the regional government has authorised an advance payment of 740,000 € from the municipality’s share in regional taxes.

The Town Hall in Estepona now has some breathing space, after the regional government has authorised an advance payment of 740,000 € from the municipality’s share in regional taxes.

It means the Town Hall will be able to pay the municipal staff’s wages for the month of March.

It’s the third advance Estepona has received from the Junta de Andalucía in a little more than a year. Others have been authorised for Bailén, Jaén, and El Coronil, Sevilla.

Estepona’s tax councillor, Carmen Ocaña, told Diario Sur after hearing the news on Tuesday, ‘We didn’t expect it this month. It’s like manna from heaven’. She said, that apart from the March wages, the money will also go towards the millions the Town Hall owes to staff in supplementary payments and suppliers.

The paper notes that the Town Hall’s needs around 3.5 million € every month to pay its 1,300 workers. Most of it is understood to come from local taxes.

Two British men found guilty of murdering Colin Nobes, a convicted crook who escaped from the UK’s Winchester Prison in 1996 and fled to Spain, have had their appeals against their sentence turned down by the Supreme Court.

Two British men found guilty of murdering Colin Nobes, a convicted crook who escaped from the UK’s Winchester Prison in 1996 and fled to Spain, have had their appeals against their sentence turned down by the Supreme Court.

The court has confirmed, in a decision made public this Wednesday, an earlier ruling by the Alicante provincial court which sentenced both Lindsay George Frampton-Slade and Adrian Marshall to 16 years in prison. It has also confirmed compensation of 60,000 € to the victim’s family.

Adrian Marshall’s wife, Bridget Stokes, who was found guilty as an accomplice, has also had her sentence of 1 year and 9 months ratified by Spain’s highest court.

Colin Nobes was killed in June 2006 and it was not until the following month that his badly decomposed body was found beneath a motorway bridge in Ondara.

The provincial court said in its original ruling that the two men hit the victim with such force that his skull was fractured into 19 pieces. Thinking he was dead, they put his body into the boot of their car, and then took him out again to finish him off when they heard his cries from inside the vehicle.

ROYAL Bank of Scotland is selling a €286 million (£247m) portfolio of Spanish commercial property loans and assets

ROYAL Bank of Scotland is selling a €286 million (£247m) portfolio of Spanish commercial property loans and assets as part of disposals and business run-downs totalling £120 billion so far.
The buyer of the Spanish assets is Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund, RBS said yesterday as the bank's chief executive Stephen Hester continues to dispose of non-core assets under a programme to strengthen the balance sheet and move out of part-taxpayer ownership.

The proceeds of the Spanish sale are in cash and RBS, in which the government has an 83 per cent stake, said yesterday: "The disposal represents a further step in RBS's plan to run off or dispose of the assets within the non-core division.

"Overall funded assets in non-core had reduced to £138bn from the original funded asset base of £258bn."

Hester began his disposal programme in early 2009, shortly after predecessor Sir Fred Goodwin was ousted following an expansionary strategy that eventually led to record RBS losses of £24bn.

Other non-core businesses sold by the Scottish bank include its 4.3 per cent Bank of China stake and its retail and commercial operations in that country; Linea Directa in Spain; Sempra metals to energy commodities business; operations in Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Pakistan and India; and 300 UK branches at the behest of the European Commission in return for RBS's £45bn taxpayer bailout.

The group has also exited asset management, as well as its retail and commercial businesses in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia, and wholesale banking operations in the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.

Analysts said yesterday that the Spanish property assets sale was predictable, particularly given the severe economic problems the country has suffered. That has sparked intermittent fears Spain might require an Irish or Greek-style European Union and IMF taxpayer bailout.

"Spanish real estate is hardly a core RBS business, and you could see why Hester would want the distraction out of the way, particularly given Spain's problems," one analyst said.

Thousands of Spaniards gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square to protest the recent reduction in highway speed limits in Spain.

Thousands of Spaniards gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square to protest the recent reduction in highway speed limits in Spain.

The reduction from 120 to 110 kilometers per hour (75 miles per hour to 69 mph) was put into force last week, but the group Movimiento 140 (88 mph) has been pushing to increase the speed limit to 140 kmh.

Protesters Sunday carried speed-limit signs with the number 110 and a red stripe through it, while others carried similar signs with the number 140, Think Spain reported.

"We don't need to be forced to drive at 110. It would have been better just to make recommendations on how to save petrol while driving," said Pedro Javaloyes, spokesman for the group.

More than 34,000 petition signatures were gathered from people who are against the lower speed restrictions, and 191,000 from those who want the limit increased to 140 kmh.

The group applied to the Supreme Court to postpone the reduction, but its case was thrown out.

two-week holiday to Costa Del Sol costs £447 per person in March but rockets to £991 per person in August.

two-week holiday to Costa Del Sol costs £447 per person in March but rockets to £991 per person in August.

Education chiefs in Walsall say they are now adopting a zero-tolerance approach to term-time holidays in a bid to stop it affecting children’s progress.

Last year, 209 fines were issued to parents for term-time holidays.

Frank Barnes, assistant managing director of Serco, the private company in charge of education, said: “There is a strong relationship between absence and attainment.”

In Dudley, cabinet member Councillor Liz Walker said: “The number of penalty-notice fines issued to parents for a child’s unauthorised leave of absence during the 2009-10 school year was 126 and for the current school year it is 162 to date.”

But fines are not so common elsewhere.

No parents in Sandwell have been fined for taking children on holidays as there have been no referrals to the education department from schools.

Wolverhampton City Council said it takes action against parents only where children are missing enough lessons for it to affect their educational attainment.

Staffordshire County Council also said holidays during term time were not individually fined. Cabinet member Liz Staples said: “Any notice issued takes into account overall attendance rates, so if holidays are within that absence, this could result in a fine.”

Nine people were arrested in Spain in an operation that led to the seizure of roughly 1,100 kilos (1.2 tons) of cocaine

Nine people were arrested in Spain in an operation that led to the seizure of roughly 1,100 kilos (1.2 tons) of cocaine hidden in two containers.

The gang dismantled in the operation - mainly made up of Spaniards - had extensive infrastructure in South America, the National Police said Friday.

A first container had been offloaded at the northeastern port of Tarragona, in the Catalonia autonomous region, and later taken to an industrial complex, where the police arrested three people and seized 627 kilos of cocaine hidden in a false bottom.

The police learned that the same company had imported another container and tracked it down in the neighboring autonomous region of Valencia, where seven people were arrested.

That second container had a false bottom containing 480 kilos of cocaine.

INCREDIBLE Holiday COMPLAINTS

You need a passport for Dubai?
'...on reaching the checkout at Gatwick, we were told that we would need our passports to fly to Dubai. No one told us this would be the case and we assumed that we would be able to travel hassle-free. We had to re-arrange out flights and this was a horrid start to our holiday...'

In hot sand
'...Along with my husband and my two young children (aged seven and nine) I went to the beach on our first day of the holiday in Playa Blanca. It was 26C and the sun warmed the sand to such an extent that my children could not walk across the beach to swim in the sea. It was truly upsetting for them, especially seeing all the other children who were paddling...'

All inclusive weight gain
'Before my holiday, I weighed 12st 9lb. I thought it would be a good idea going all inclusive with you, but there was so much food on the buffet-style meals that I put on a total of 5lbs. I am now 13st and regret the holiday...'

Ogling outrage
'Majorca was alright, but there were so many women in bikinis on the beach that it caused a problem for me. Some were topless. My wife caught me looking at other women on more than one occasion and we argued for at least two days. Hopefully you will understand my concerns...'

Turkey ‘too English’
'When looking at the pictures of the Turkish resort we went to on your website, it looked very exotic. The resort did look like the picture, but there were far too many English people around this took away from the exotic feel. We were quite disappointed and won’t be visiting Marmaris again.'

Comfy bed crisis
'....I like to get up early on my holidays and make the most of excursions, walks on the beach, that kind of thing. The hotel was nice, but my bed was too comfy and I overslept 5 out of the 7 days I was there. I prefer to be up early and making the most of it...'

Prada for nada
'...the man near the beach was selling sunglasses and I saw some Prada ones I liked – he wanted €10 but I got the price down to €4.50. I was pretty chuffed until I found out they were fakes. Isn’t that illegal? Nobody warned me about this and I can’t wear them now.'

Noisy lovemaking
'...this is quite an uncomfortable subject, however during our trip to Bulgaria we had what can only be described as noisy neighbours in the hotel. They were extremely loud when making love, which happened on more than 5 nights. I felt pressured into then initiating sex with my own wife, as I didn’t want her to complain about being left out.'

MALAGA woman has been reunited with her son, stolen from her just after his birth

MALAGA woman has been reunited with her son, stolen from her just after his birth, who was adopted by a family in Benejuzar. Four years ago, they finally met in Murcia, but the case has come to light recently since investigations are being carried out into similar cases.

The mother, now 65, lived in Marbella with her husband and three children.

However, one son had been taken away from her 30 years ago as soon as he was born and she was threatened with prison if she complained.

The boy grew up in Benejuzar (Costa Blanca) and had always suspected he was adopted because he looked nothing like his parents.

Eleven years ago, he was preparing to get married and found that his birth certificate was missing.

His wife encouraged him to speak to his mother and confirm his suspicions.

She admitted he was adopted and that a relative who was a nun had organised the adoption, knowing that his biological mother was separated from her husband and was pregnant by another man.

He began to look for his biological mother and found out her surname from the same relative. He called all the people of the same surname in Marbella and finally found her.

Michael Dermot McArdle (aged 41) of Brookfield, Heynestown, Dundalk, is wanted by Spanish authorities to serve a two year sentence for causing the death of Kelly Ann Corcoran over 10 years ago.

Michael Dermot McArdle (aged 41) of Brookfield, Heynestown, Dundalk, is wanted by Spanish authorities to serve a two year sentence for causing the death of Kelly Ann Corcoran over 10 years ago.

The mother-of-two died from injuries sustained when she fell from a hotel balcony while on a family holiday in Marbella on the Costa del Sol on February 11, 2000.

McArdle was convicted by a jury in Malaga in October 2008 but was allowed to return to Ireland pending an appeal.

He was due to hand himself in to the Spanish authorities to begin his jail sentence in September of last year, but failed to do so and was arrested in January on foot of a European Arrest Warrant issued by a Spanish judge.

Last month Barrister Mark Lynam told the High Court that McArdle was appealing to the Constitutional Court in Spain and had a “legitimate expectation” that he would not have to return to the jurisdiction until after the outcome of this appeal.

Today at the Criminal Courts of Justice, lawyers for the State told the court they had yet to receive any documentation to support a “legitimate expectation” argument or any points of objection to the extradition proceedings.

Mr Justice John Edwards acceded to a short adjournment in the matter and remanded McArdle on continuing bail until March 16.

banks in Spain are now the country's largest real estate owners, a situation they don't want to be in,

Visit a Spanish bank, or regional caja, to discuss your home loan prospects and they may well tempt you with a selection of properties. And if you opt to buy from them – rather than a private individual or builder – they'll be far more generous with the finance terms they offer you.

Such is the situation across Spain following the meltdown of the country's construction industry in 2008. When the credit crunch really bit, scores of developers began defaulting on loans, leaving their financial backers no choice but to swap loans for assets, ie to repossess thousands of new, often incomplete properties.

The extent of the situation is unprecedented. Last month, a former adviser to Spain's housing ministry, Ricardo Verges, calculated that since 2004, 2.3 million homes have been started but not purchased in Spain. At the height of the boom in 2005, 800,000 new homes were started, about four times the level for the UK.

Most banks now have their own real estate arms, such as Santander's Altamira, but while they're fine selling to Spaniards, most don't have the resources to market effectively to foreign buyers. That's a job for agents, such as Propertyrepossessions spain.com, one of a number that have formed alliances with banks to focus on selling their repossessions.

"The banks in Spain are now the country's largest real estate owners, a situation they don't want to be in," said Peter Birkett, who runs Propertyrepossessionsspain.com and works closely with bank Cajamurcia. "And [the banks] are trying hard to remedy this by offering substantial incentives to buyers, including discounts of up to 60 per cent, 100 per cent interest-only mortgages with low fixed rates and excellent rental packages.

"We're selling two- and three-bed apartments in southern Spain, 500m from the beach. Last week these were ¤198,422 (£170,642) and ¤258,797. We are now selling them at a discount of circa 60 per cent for ¤80,120 and ¤100,540." Dependent on buyers meeting the bank's conditions, these are available with 100 per cent interest-only mortgages, fixed at 3 per cent for three years, making the monthly mortgage payments ¤202 on a two-bed apartment and ¤252 on a three-bed."

Paul and Emma Whiteman from Leeds recently bought a bank-owned flat in Murcia for ¤161,000 through Propertyrepossessions spain.com. The couple are financing their purchase through an interest-only mortgage from the bank, with a rate of 2.5 per cent fixed for three years.

"We chose a two-bedroom penthouse at Mojon Hills, a new development in the resort of Isla Plana, 30 minutes west of Cartagena," said Mrs Whiteman. "We viewed the property last October, returned in November and then completed on 14 January. We've bought as a long-term investment and for holidays with our six-year-old son, Jack. We may rent it out too and we're thinking about buying a second property in the future." Mojon Hills has communal pools, 180-degree views of the Med and is a 10-minute walk from amenities in Isla Plana

Picasso: most expensive painting ever sold at auction to go on display at Tate Modern in London

Picasso: most expensive painting ever sold at auction to go on display at Tate Modern in London - Telegraph: "The 1932 painting, which sold at Christie's in New York last May for a world record price of $106.5 million (£65.5 million), will be displayed from Monday morning at the Tate Modern on London's South Bank.
Tate director Nicholas Serota said: ''This is an outstanding painting by Picasso and I am delighted that through the generosity of the lender we are able to bring it to the British public for the first time.
''Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is one of the sequence of paintings of Picasso's muse, Marie-Therese Walter, made by the artist at Boisgeloup, Normandy, in the early months of 1932. They are widely regarded as amongst his greatest achievements of the inter-war period.''
The painting, which has been lent to the gallery by a private collector, will be on display in a new Pablo Picasso room in the Poetry and Dream wing on Level 3 of the building.
The Spanish-born Pablo Picasso first met Marie-Therese Walter in 1927 but kept their relationship a secret from his wife and only began to paint her four years later.
An exhibition exploring the links between Picasso and the UK will open at Tate Britain next year."

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Spanish town reintroduces peseta -

Spanish town reintroduces peseta The townsfolk of Mugardos in northwestern Spain are being encouraged to search out forgotten stashes of the defunct currency and to spend it in local shops.
More than 60 shops in the fishing village on the rugged Galician coast have agreed to accept pesetas alongside the euro in an attempt to encourage spending during a time of economic crisis.
The initiative introduced on March 1, has seen people from across the region travelling to the town with old notes that they failed to convert into the new currency within the given time limit. 'People are coming with handfuls of change that they had at home and didn't know what to do with,' the manager of the Juan Rey ironmonger in the town, said. 'Now they have an opportunity to spend it.'
The euro was introduced in Spain in January 2002 when Spaniards were given three months to exchange their old currency at any bank.
Pesetas can still be converted today but only at the Bank of Spain in Madrid."

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Teams worked across the country to prepare for Monday's change - covering the old 120km/h (75mph) limit with stickers on 6,000 road signs.

Spanish commuters have had to ease off the accelerator this morning on their drive to work, confronted with a new speed limit of 110km/h (68mph) on main roads.

Throughout Sunday and into the night, teams worked across the country to prepare for Monday's change - covering the old 120km/h (75mph) limit with stickers on 6,000 road signs.

The slowdown is intended to save energy in response to the surge in oil prices sparked by the unrest in Libya and elsewhere in the Arab world.

Spain is heavily dependent on imported fuel and 13% of its oil usually comes from Libya.




We are going to go a bit slower and in exchange we will consume less petrol and pay less money”

Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba
Spanish Deputy Prime Minister
But the move is controversial.

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba argues that it is a temporary and "exceptional" measure called for by an "exceptional situation" in Libya. The new limit will remain in effect until the end of June at the earliest.

But the minister denies that there is any shortage in the fuel supply to Spain. His argument is all about cost.

The government calculates that the reduction in road speed translates to a 15% saving on fuel and a considerable cut in Spain's energy bill.

"We are going to go a bit slower and in exchange we will consume less petrol and pay less money," as the minister put it.

Tapas
"There is a transfer of income from families to foreign countries, that's the problem," explains Ismael Sanz, economist at King Juan Carlos University in Madrid.

Motorway speed limits

UK 112km/h (70mph)
Spain 110km/h (68mph) until June 2011
Germany 130km/h (81mph) but no limit in some areas
France, Italy 130km/h (75mph)
Irish Republic, Portugal, Netherlands 120km/h
Denmark, Lithuania 110 or 130km/h
Sweden 110km/h
Cyprus 100km/h
Source: EU

"If people are devoting a higher share of their income to imported fuel, then they're spending less buying Spanish products, going for tapas," Mr Sanz says. "That ends up costing jobs; everything is affected."

But he and many others are deeply sceptical about the government's maths - and its methods.

They point to studies suggesting that a 10km/h reduction in speed saves closer to 5% on fuel rather than 15%. The government's own figures suggest it could forfeit large sums in tax revenue due to the fuel savings. And the bill for changing the road signs for just four months runs to 250,000 euros.

Many Spaniards believe the change is a ruse to raise funds through more speeding fines.

An opinion poll put opposition to the speed limit cut at 69%
The main opposition Popular Party has labelled the idea as "absurd" and "improvised", recalling that the last time Spain reduced the speed limit in such a way, dictator Gen Franco was in power.

"This measure is restricting the freedom of people who are not harming others," agrees Ismael Sanz, who believes the best way to reduce a driver's fuel consumption is to put the price up.

"We could ask: what next? Will the government make people go to sleep earlier to reduce their consumption of light?"

A weekend poll for El Pais newspaper put opposition to the speed cut at 69% and revealed the socialist government's own approval rating at an all-time low.

The uprising in Libya has already increased the price of oil, but not to intolerable levels. Spain's concern is that the turmoil could spread to other oil-producing countries and send the cost rocketing.

So it is taking precautions.

Alongside the emergency speed restriction, the government has approved a series of far less contentious measures for the medium and long term. Altogether, they are intended to cut the country's total fuel consumption by almost 5%.

The measures include subsidising the cost of energy-efficient car tyres, installing energy-saving light bulbs in small towns and a 5% cut in the price of tickets on commuter trains.

A public awareness campaign will alert people to the need to conserve energy.

Economists baffled
Other - more drastic - plans are in place should the supply of fuel actually be disrupted, forcing Spain to tap its strategic reserves.

But opting to reduce the motorway speed limit now baffles many economists, who see only an unwelcome brake on a still delicate economy.

"I would give this the gold medal of an absurd policy measure," says economist Professor Javier Diaz-Gimenez of the IESE business school in Madrid. "It makes no sense."


The government is also subsidising the cost of energy-efficient car tyres
"It's hard to see how reducing speed limits will make a difference at all for the Spanish economy. If anything, freight and people will move at a slower speed; the Spanish economy will be less competitive," he argues.

Professor Diaz-Gimenez points out that the Dutch government recently raised the speed limit; the UK is considering the same to "get the economy moving", as well as waiving a planned tax rise at the petrol pump.

Only Spain has opted to go slower.

"I think the trains will be much fuller," says one rail commuter, Maria, who approves of the initiative to cut ticket prices to promote public transport.

"Let's hope they lay on more carriages though, or we'll be squashed!"

"I don't think many people will be influenced," shrugs Alberto, a few seats back. "People here are stubborn. Once they're used to something, like driving, they don't change their habits."

Former F1 champion Fernando Alonso raced into the debate last week, declaring that it was harder to stay awake at the new, reduced speed limit.

The government has shrugged that off.

But it clearly has its work cut out to convince Spaniards that taking their foot off the accelerator or taking the train can really help this economy.:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Spain is now being whacked again

:Spain is now being whacked again. One-year Euribor rates jumped 14 basis points to 1.92pc within hours after ECB chief Jean-Claude Trichet uttered the code words “strong vigilance”. As the ECB knows, this is the rate used to price most Spanish mortgages.
Homeowners due for rescheduling in March will take the hit immediately. Fresh waves will follow each month, with knock-on effects for banks and Cajas already grappling with record defaults. Fitch Ratings said on Friday that the financial system will need €38bn in fresh capital to right the ship.
The Spanish might justly feel aggrieved, and judging by the comment threads of the Madrid press – "Put Trichet on trial", "Leave the EU immediately", "Create a currency for the South" – a vocal minority of Spaniards are going through their moment of EMU Epiphany.
Spain is doing what is required: slashing its twin deficits; biting the bullet on the Cajas (unlike Germany with the Landesbanken); and boosting exports faster than France or Italy. But Spain's chances of pulling through without a blow-up are contingent on EU authorities not committing another of their serial stupidities.Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Researchers prove smartphone 'death grip' problem

Researchers prove smartphone 'death grip' problem: "Scientists have confirmed the 'death grip' issue that afflicts Apple's iPhone 4 and some other smartphones, but they have also pointed out that trying to solve the problem with plastic cases will not make much difference.

According to researchers at the University of Bristol's Centre for Communications Research (CCR), their study demonstrated how signal levels change due to obstruction, position and motion. The study was published on Monday in the journal IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters under the title, 'Slot Antenna Performance and Signal Quality in a Smartphone Prototype'.

'The results from the study indicate a 100-fold reduction in sensitivity of the device when held, or when the user's thumb is mimicked by phantom material,' the CCR said in a statement. 'This de-tuning of the antenna was found not to significantly alter the shape of the radiation pattern, but dramatically worsened the electrical match between the antenna and the electronic circuitry.'"

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