EU throws Spain two potential lifelines

The European Commission threw Spain, the latest frontline in Europe's debt war, two potential lifelines on Wednesday, offering more time to reduce its budget deficit and direct aid from a euro zone rescue fund to recapitalise distressed banks. Spanish government borrowing costs lurched higher and the Madrid stock market hit a nine-year low with investors rattled by the parlous state of its banking sector fleeing to the relative haven of German bonds....

Governor of the Bank of Spain brings his departure forward by a month

The Governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Fernández Ordóñez, has announced he will be leaving a month earlier than previously planned. He will now depart on June 10. He told the Prime Minister of his decision to bring forward the date from July12. He has held the post over the past six years. He goes on the same day that the banks have to present their viability plans for health assets. Press reports name Luis María Linde as his successor, and...

Baroness Thysen selling a Constable

It's the very first time she has sold a painting from her collection. 'I need liquidity', she said.John Constable's 'The Lock' The crisis is also proving difficult for some of the rich in Spain with the Baroness Thyssen putting a painting from her collection up for sale for the very first time, because of liquidity problems. John Constable’s ‘The Lock’ shows a man opening a canal lock gate in a typical English Constable scene. It will be auctioned...

Three Spanish savings banks, Ibercaja, Liberbank and Caja3, are considering a merger to strengthen their balance sheets

Three Spanish savings banks, Ibercaja, Liberbank and Caja3, are considering a merger to strengthen their balance sheets as the country's debt crisis continues to bite. The banks said their boards would meet on Tuesday to vote on the merger. The difference between German and Spanish bond yields also hit a new high, as investors lose faith in the Spanish economy and flee to safety. German 10-year bond yields fell to 1.347% while Spain's rose to...

Cudeca Annual Sunflower Campaign 2012 is approaching! 9th to 24th June in Málaga Province

This year, in conjunction with our 20th anniversary, Cudeca will shortly be celebrating its annual Sunflower Campaign. During these past two decades, Cudeca has provided care to more than 7.000 patients via the following personalised care programmes: Home Care visits, In-Patient Unit, Day Care Centre, Physiotherapy, Counselling and Psycho-Social Programme. All the care provided by the Hospice is cost-free. During this Campaign, dozens of Cudeca...

Volvo's self-drive 'convoy' hits the Spanish motorway

A convoy of self-driven cars has completed a 200km (125-mile) journey on a Spanish motorway, in the first public test of such vehicles. The cars were wirelessly linked to each other and "mimicked" a lead vehicle, driven by a professional driver. The so-called road train has been developed by Volvo. The firm is confident that they will be widely available in future. The project aims to herald a new age of relaxed driving. According to Volvo, drivers...

Crisis draws squatters to Spain's empty buildings

Sleeping on inflatable mattresses with just a few boxes to hold their belongings, 32 families have occupied an empty new apartment block in Seville in southern Spain to put a roof over their heads after being thrown out of their own homes. They share a single cooker and a cheap brown sofa left behind by the builders. To others facing the prospect of living on the streets the families are living in luxury and they have set up a 24-hour watch to keep...

Location of new mega casino and leisure complex still to be decided

A spokesman from the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the company which wants to install a mega-leisure centre and casino called Eurovegas in Spain, has said that between 90% and 95% of the negotiations have been completed and the decision as to whether the location will be Madrid or Barcelona will be made in about a month. The spokesman said that the two cities had ‘exactly the same options’. More meetings will be held between the Las Vegas Sands...

investors watch for run on banks

Spaniards laze at sidewalk cafes on a street dotted with banks. The biggest bank bailout in Spanish history doesn't seem to have affected this weekend crowd: There are no lines of people trying to take out their money. But if Europe's debt crisis has barely diminished the crowds in Madrid's popular tapas bars and shops, Spain's own banking crisis just might. Investors are holding their breath for a run on Spanish banks, as depositors quietly worry...

Tensions Rise As Spanish Fishermen Claim They've Been Stopped From Casting Their Nets

Tensions between Spain and the UK over Gibraltar have sharply increased after Spanish police demanded naval protection to defuse a fishing dispute around the Rock. A leading police union has urged Madrid to send in its armed forces to square up to the Royal Navy if it continued to back attempts to stop Spanish fishermen casting their nets near the British colony. The Spanish police claimed they were facing a "David and Goliath" battle every time...

Spain's Bankia seeks 19bn-euro bailout from government

Spain's fourth-largest bank, Bankia, has asked the government for a bailout worth 19bns euros ($24bn; £15bn). Bankia also restated its results - now saying it made a 2.98bn-euro loss for 2011 rather than the 309m euros in profit it announced in February. Earlier on Friday, trading in Bankia shares was suspended on the Madrid stock exchange while its management put together a restructuring plan. Bankia has already been bailed out because of its...

190 jobs could go at Estepona Town Hall

The Mayor is obliged to pay outstanding facturas to suppliers and has to make savings as a result. The Mayor of Estepona, José María García Urbano from the PP, has proposed to the unions some 190 job losses among workers who did not have to undergo a selection process to obtain their employment. The Mayor has said he is obliged to act because of the adjustment plan which sees town halls paying the outstanding facturas to providers. In Estepona there...

Standard and Poor's reduce Telefónica ranking to two steps above 'junk bond' status

Rating agency Standard and Poor’s has reduced its ranking for Telefónica, leaving it just two steps above junk bond level. It goes down to BBB from BBB+ The agency has also warned of more possible cuts in the short term giving it a negative perspective. It considers the telecoms operator is facing intense pressure in the Spanish market, while it expects that the credit parameters for the Spanish operator will get ever weaker. S&P has also...

Two people died from bacterial infection in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga

Two people have died in the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga from a bacterial infection. They were affected by the outbreak of ‘klebsiella pneumoniae’ , a rod shaped bacterium found in the normal flora of the mouth, skin and intestines, which was registered in the hospital last month, and those affected have been placed in isolation. The bacterium is capable of mutating to bring a version which is resistant to the normal medical treatment. There...

Bankia to ask Spain for over 15 billion euros

Spanish lender Bankia will ask the state for more than 15 billion euros (12 billion pounds) to bail it out when its new management team presents a restructuring plan on Friday, a financial sector source said late on Thursday. Bankia, partially nationalized by the government earlier this month, is the weak spot in Spain's fragile banking system where loan losses stemming from a 2008 property crash threaten to push the country into seeking international...

British Naval ship tackles a contingent of Spanish Civil Guard vessels in Gibraltar stand-off

HMS Sabre THE Royal Navy has been involved in a three-hour stand-off with Spanish vessels in Gibraltar’s waters overnight. A contingent of Spanish Civil Guard vessels appeared to be protecting around six Spanish fishing vessels, two of which had cast their nets.Earlier...

Angela Merkel under pressure to sign up to eurozone stimulus plan

European Union leaders will tonight pledge to give greater priority to securing economic growth as they increase the pressure on Germany to do more to solve the eurozone crisis. At an informal dinner in Brussels, several leaders will acknowledge the need for an EU "growth pact" after critics warned that Europe's "collective austerity" is stifling growth in the 27-nation bloc. The change of tone follows the election of the Socialist François Hollande...

Dutch politician Geert Wilders seeks to postpone ratification of ESM

He wants ratification delayed until after elections he precipitated when he brought about the collapse of the government last month over budget cuts. Mr Wilders has proposed that the Netherlands leave the eurozone and aims to turn the 12 September elections into a referendum on the euro and EU membership. A Dutch TV poll found that 59% of Dutch voters favour postponing a decision on ratifying the ESM until after the elections. A court in The Hague...

School’s out in Spain as teachers strike over cuts

From kindergarten to university, Spain’s education system came to a standstill on Tuesday as teachers went on strike in protest at austerity cuts and other measures designed to save money. Classrooms remained empty as students and teachers stayed away. Evening marches were being planned in towns and cities across the country. Parents’ associations and some private schools that receive state subsidies have joined unions. They claim thousands of...

Spain court drops tax probe of Santander chairman

Spain's National Court said Tuesday it had dropped its investigation into the country's top banker - Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botin - and 11 of his relatives over possible income and wealth tax evasion. The case focused on tax returns filed between 2005 and 2009 on accounts the family held in Switzerland's HSBC Private Bank (Suisse). The court said the probe showed the Botin family had normalized its tax situation before the investigation...

Spain court drops tax probe of Santander chairman

Spain's National Court said Tuesday it had dropped its investigation into the country's top banker - Banco Santander chairman Emilio Botin - and 11 of his relatives over possible income and wealth tax evasion. The case focused on tax returns filed between 2005 and 2009 on accounts the family held in Switzerland's HSBC Private Bank (Suisse). The court said the probe showed the Botin family had normalized its tax situation before the investigation...

Tunnel contractor sues Gibraltar government for £20 million

A CONSTRUCTION company contracted to complete Gibraltar’s airport tunnel project is suing the government for £20 million. OHL was handed the lucrative £34.1 million deal by the previous administration, before the contract was later cancelled. The Spanish-based firm is demanding damages for breach of contract as well as other costs including loss of profits, despite having received £14 million. The case has now gone before the High Court in the UK,...

General Strike in Education across Spain today

million workers and 7.5 million students are called out on a General Strike in the education sector today. All levels are affected by the protest; it’s the first time that has happened. The stoppage is against the education cuts with the changes meaning that university students will pay 540 € more in fees, with many saying the cuts will mean many people having to leave further education. The Government has announced 3 billion € of spending cuts in...

Spain bank losses could hit 260bn euros

Spanish bank loan losses could hit 260 billion euros ($A339.05 billion), with the industry likely to need some 60 billion euros ($A78.24 billion) in outside help to stay afloat, the International Institute of Finance (IIF) says. . Taking guidelines from how badly Ireland's banks were hit in its financial crisis, economists at the global banking institute said they expect the losses to be in the range of 216-260 billion euros. "A number of factors...

Sportingbet dives after Spain tax hit

Sportingbet shares slumped more than 7 per cent yesterday after the online gambling group admitted it faces an unexpected tax bill for its Spanish operations. The company did not say how great the damage could be, which appeared to spook the market. Its rival Bwin.party digital made a more detailed disclosure, revealing it intends to pay €33m (£27m) to settle the matter with Spain, and its shares firmed 0.6p to 125.1p. Bwin, formed from the merger...

case archived against the President of the Supreme Court Case

The Prosecutors’ Office has archived the denucia placed by Manuel Gómez Benítez against the head of the General Council for Judicial Power and President of the Supreme Court, Carlos Dívar, regarding the costs of his weekend trips to Marbella. Gómez Benítez is also a member of the General Council for Judicial Power. The case was archived when the prosecutors considered that although Díver is alleged to have taken his weekend breaks at public expense...

Man killed and woman seriously injured in freak accident in Torremolinos

A 71 year man has died and a 73 year old woman was seriously injured when part of the load of lorry carrying construction materials along the N-340 in Torremolinos fell upon them. The couple were walking near Aquapark. It’s not known how the lorry lost part of its load at 10,40am on Monday morning, but it is clear that the load slipped and some of it fell from the lorry and fell to the pavement hitting the couple. The Local Police and health crews...

Body found in Istán countryside

A body in an advanced state of decomposition has been found among shrubs close to the Istán reservoir. Two foreigners found the body on Sunday afternoon and sources close to the case think the body is male. Several Police units and the Guardia Civil went to scene on the Carril Zahara de Istán. The cause and time of death remains unknown, as the identity of man. An autopsy will be carried out at the Legal Medicine Institute, and forensic scientists...

Malaga suicide rate is highest in Spain

THE suicide rate in Malaga Province is the highest in Spain. There were 144 suicides in the province in 2010, almost double the number of deaths in traffic accidents, new National Institute of Statistics data shows. This figure is the highest average per 100,000 inhabitants in Spain, and while the general tendency in Spain is that the number of suicides is falling. Regionally figures across Andalucia are rising. It was also revealed that suicide...

Gibraltar's First Minister responds to the decision to stop Queen Sofía travelling to London

The Gibraltar First Minister, Fabian Picardo, has said ‘Cancelling Doña Sofías trip (to London for Queen Elizabeth’s celebrations for 60 years on the throne) is a reaction from the 18th century’. ‘Spain has 8,000 kilometres of coast. Are they going to stop fishing for 3 kilometres?. Somebody has said ‘Gibraltar español’ again and is looking for conflict. Picardo said he was prepared to maintain talks with the fishermen affected in the Algeciras...

Ex Marbella Mayor, Julián Muñoz, has to pay 50 million €

His appeal to the Supreme Court against a ruling from the Tribunal de Cuentas has been rejectedEx Mayor of Marbella - Julián Muñoz The ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz, has seen his appeal to the Supreme Court rejected. It means the sentence served against him for accounting irregularities with two other people from the Tribunal de Cuenta stands and the three, Muñoz, ex councillor Esteban Guzmán, and the lawyer Modesto Perodia, have to find 50.7...

Could Spain leave the euro?

The euro crisis spotlight has turned on Spain with the bank downgrade by a credit rating agency and unemployment at a record high. Justin Webb has been taking the temperature on the streets of Madrid. Pablo Triana, professor at the ESADE business school, says that if people start to believe that a new peseta is "not a hallucination" they will start withdrawing their money from Spanish banks. "The biggest potential impact on Spain is the human impact",...

The Guardia Civil want short sleeves for the summer

The Unified Association of Civil Guards, AUGC, has complained today that they will have to work in the summer in long-sleeved shirts, because their superiors will not let them use short sleeves despite the high temperatures of the summer over 40º in some areas. They demand ‘a uniform adequate for the ambient temperature’, and note two days ago an agent fainted in Lepe, Huelva, because of the heat and crashed into another car. They note in that...

Documents assembled on Carlos Dívar's trips to Puerto Banús

It is alleged that the President of the Supreme Court has been charging trips to a luxury hotel in Puerto Banús as expenses. The Council for Judicial Power has prepared the documentation on the costs claimed by Carlos Dívar, President of the Supreme Court, for several trips to Marbella, despite the trips having nothing to do with his work. Documentation on 14 trips to Puerto Banús has been assembled following the allegation from another member of...

Talks between Gibraltar and Spanish fishermen breakdown

Fishermen from La Linea and Algeciras who use their small boats in the bay, held a meeting with the Gibraltar Government at 6 Convent Place on Tuesday, regarding the skirmishes seen between them the Gibraltar Police when they fish near the rock. The meeting between them and the Gibraltar Government council, led by First Minister, Fabian Picardo, ended without agreement. The fishermen say the break in negotiations is definitive and in the face of...

Kent County Council withdraws its money from Santander

Kent County Council in the U.K. has withdrawn its funds from Santander UK for fear of the financial crisis. The council had three million pounds, some 3.6 million € deposited in the bank. Santander UK, the British subsidiary of the Grupo Santander in Britain, has now found itself oblige to guarantee the solvency of the bank to ease the concerns of its clients. Doubts about its solvency come from the announcement of the nationalisation of Bankia,...

Bond markets attack Spain as contagion fears spread

Deeply indebted Spain was forced to pay through the nose for much-needed funds today amid growing doubts over its banks. Madrid raised €2.5 billion (£2 billion) from jittery bond markets but its borrowing costs soared, heaping more pressure on the nation’s buckling finances. Spain paid 5.1% to borrow for five years — a 50% jump from March, the last time it sold similar debt. Spain’s benchmark borrowing costs have soared dangerously above 6% since...

Ex Mayor of Casares arrested as Town Hall searched

The ex Mayor of Casares in Málaga, current housing councillor, Juan Sánchez from left wing group I.U., his wife, and a lawyer from Estepona have been arrested today, Monday, and the Guardia Civil is searching the Town Halls not only in Casares but also in Estepona and Málaga, as well as the lawyer’s office in Estepona. They have asked for the minutes of planning meetings and computer archives. The investigation, by the non-uniform judicial police...

Bar owner fined 6,000 € when a chair was not able to support one of his clients

The owner of a bar in Murcia has been fined 6,000 € because one of his chair was unable to support the weight of one of his clients. The First Instance Court in Totana initially dismissed the case, but the man, who suffered injuries in the accident, has now taken it to appeal to the Murcia Provincial Court. They ruled that ‘A chair should have sufficient resistance to support the weight of any person’. It continued, ‘the man fell because the chair...

48 hours to save the Euro as Greece faces turmoil

Europe was on the brink of financial meltdown tonight as Greece’s political crisis threatened to bring down the single currency. Opposition parties in debt-stricken Athens have until Thursday to form a government or face the turmoil of a fresh election. The crucial next 48 hours will also see the first meeting between France’s new anti-austerity president Francois Hollande and Germany’s Angela Merkel tomorrow, which could see them clash over the...

complaint was filed May 8, against Carlos Divar, President of the Supreme Court of Spain, on the grounds of having paid out of public funds, luxury travel.

The daily El Mundo and El Pais, in their editions of Wednesday, May 9, 2012, reveal that a complaint was filed May 8, against Carlos Divar, President of the Supreme Court of Spain, on the grounds of having paid out of public funds, luxury travel.  The representative of...

New changes to rental agreements in Spain

The Government has announced it is to cut the legal duration of rental contracts, and make evictions easier. The maximum duration of a contract is reduced from eight to four years, and if the owner wants to recover the property he only has to give two months notice. Forced extensions are reduced from five years to three years; tacit contracts are reduced to a year. The Government also decided in the Friday cabinet meeting to reduce the tax for those...

Spanish Default Protection Costs Hit Fresh Record High

The cost of protecting Spanish government debt against default rose to a fresh record high Friday, as low volumes helped push the country's credit default swaps into new territory on a small amount of buyi...

Pioz, the town in the Guadalajara province of Castilla-La Mancha which has now earned the unwanted distinction of being the most indebted in Spain.

 In fact with its projected income, Spain's Ministry of Public Administration estimates that Pioz will take 7,058 years to repay itsdebts thanks to mismanagement and a vast programme of overspending during the boom years when credit flowed and developers stampeded to put up housing estates they could never realistically hope to fill. While eyes across Europe focus on Greece and the political turmoil that threatens to derail it, Spain's government...

man dies in Spain boating accident

POLICE in Spain are investigating the death of a Newport man whose body was found floating near his yacht. Denis Manley, 72, was spotted yesterday afternoon in the marina at Estepona, between Marbella and Gibraltar, where his yacht had been moored. Mr Manley, who had been living on his boat, had a head injury and police say it appears he slipped and hit his head on the yacht, before falling into the water. The Guardia Civil (police) in Spain said...

The Bankia accounts were presented to the Bank of Spain without being audited as Deloitte refused to sign off on them

 It has emerged today that an audit in Bankia detected that the 2011 accounts were inflated. El Mundo reports that Bankia has confirmed, and Deloitte put in its report, that its Banco Financiero de Ahorros, BFA, matrix was overvalued and that Rodrigo Rato had a plan to correct it. BFA was the matrix formed mainly by Caja Madrid and Bancaja which received a loan from the state, still to be returned, to the value of 4.5 billion €. Sources have...

Costa del Sol 'cowboy' bank robber arrested

A 32 year old Italian, V.S.A., has been arrested in Las Lagunas, Mijas in a joint National Police and Guardia Civil operation, accused of carrying several bank robberies on the Costa del Sol. He always wore a cowboy hat and sunglasses and became known as the cowboy hat thief. A police statement said a search of the detained man’s home found clothes alleged used in the robberies. He’s believed to have carried out a robbery from a savings bank in...

Spain may embark on risky bank rescue with public money

Spain keeps repeating that it will not pump any more public money into its ailing banks, but the likelihood of that happening is growing by the day. If using public money "were necessary to save the financial system, I would not renounce" resorting to it, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Monday, announcing a reform that would leave "no doubt" about the solvency of Spanish banks. Ads by Google The reform, which is expected to include the creation...

British expats wrongly charged inheritance tax on their Spanish properties are gearing up for a legal battle to reclaim the charges.

It is estimated that around 60,000 British families have been hit with Inheritance tax (IHT) bills for properties or assets they inherited in Spain. Charges are believed to be in the region of £400 million (€490 million). The Spanish government levied IHT of up to 35 per cent on non-residents, while Spanish residents paid close to zero per cent IHT. The European Commission believes this is an unfair tax treatment with regard to EU citizens. It brought...

Expats in Spain 'owed £400 million in overpaid inheritance tax'

Luis Cuervo, CEO at Spanish Legal Reclaims, said: “They may have believed they were fortunate to inherit a property in Spain, but in the process they have been scammed out of a lot of money.” The group is confident the verdict will go their way, given that the EU doesn’t bring cases to the ECJ unless it believes they are legally sound. British expat Peter Jackson, 62, inherited a Spanish property from his mother and paid more than €10,000 (£8,000)...

Argentine-Spanish trade row escalates after Telefonica fined

The fine by Argentina comes just days after President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner seized control of domestic energy company YPF from Spain’s Repsol. Julio De Vido, the Argentine planning minister, said on Tuesday that the penalty against Telefonica, which owns O2 in the UK, was intended to be a warning to other telecoms providers that service interruptions will not be tolerated. He added: “Cellphone service quality has declined in recent months....

Hangover III but in Marbella

The Only Way is Essex cast want to make a film version of their reality show. The idea has reportedly been discussed to allow the TOWIE cast to star on the silver screen. Ricky Rayment told the Daily Star Sunday: "TOWIE: The Movie, I'd be all over that. We could make it like Hangover III but in Marbella "They did an S Club 7 and Spice Girls movie I think. We could do something similar, just tongue-in-cheek. "Even if it was shit, people...

Brink's Mat the reason that Great Train Robber was shot dead in Marbella

The Brink’s-Mat curse even touched on the Great Train Robbery gang of 1963. One of them, Charlie Wilson, found himself in trouble when £3 million of Brink’s-Mat investors’ money went missing in a drug deal. In April 1990, he paid the price when a young British hood knocked on the front door of his hacienda north of Marbella and shot Wilson and his pet husky dog before coolly riding off down the hill on a yellow bicyc...

British tourist falls to her death from hotel balcony in Magalluf

23 year old British tourist has fallen to her death from the third floor balcony of her hotel in Magalluf, Mallorca. Emergency sources said it happened at 4.25am Saturday morning at the Hotel Teix in Calle Pinada. Local police and emergency health services went to scene. After 20 minutes of an attempt to re-animate her heart, the woman was pronounced dead. Online descriptions for the Hotel say it is the best place to stay of you are looking for...

Costa del Sol owners are bracing themselves after a plan was submitted to run the Mediterranean Corridor along the coast

• PROPOSED ROUTE: A MAP OF THE LINE THAT APPEARED IN DIARIO SURWhile running largely parallel to the A-7 motorway, the new proposed rail line cuts across open farmland inland from Manilva to Algeciras, as well as a section inland from Marbella and west of Fuengirola.Backed by...

Four of the last reporters and photographers willing to cover crime stories have been slain in less than a week in violence-torn Veracruz state

Four of the last reporters and photographers willing to cover crime stories have been slain in less than a week in violence-torn Veracruz state, where two Mexican drug cartels are warring over control of smuggling routes and targeting sources of independent information. The brutal campaign is bleeding the media and threatening to turn Veracruz into the latest state in Mexico where fear snuffs out reporting on the drug war. Three photojournalists...