Whether Isabel Pantoja, 55, is truly innocent will emerge over the course of the 49 days of the trial

Whether Isabel Pantoja, 55, is truly innocent will emerge over the course of the 49 days of the trial, which is likely to drag on until next spring. The popular Seville native has been charged with money laundering, and the prosecution is asking for a three-and-a-half-year prison...

regional heath services want payment for treating national holidaymakers

Spain’s autonomous regions say they want compensation for medical attention to National tourists. The movement is being led by Valencia, Murcia and Cataluña, the three regions who have already accepted money from a regional support fund set up by the Government. Now they want another compensation fund so they can treat the tourists. Not all the regions like the idea, with Andalucía saying it does not understand the claim because they believe ‘in...

Tom Jones cancels his concert in Santiago de Comopostela

Tom Jones has had to cancel his only show in Spain which should taken place in Santiago de Compostela at 2230 tonight, for reasons of health. A new date, ‘probably’ in August will be fixed. The news was given by David Lago, the spokesman for the production company Sweet Noctura. Some media say that the Welsh singer has had to be attended to for a sudden loss of his voice although there are no details on his hea...

If you unwittingly purchased an illegal house in Spain you can expect to receive little or no support from the European Union according to AUAN, an association of mainly British homeowners based in Andalucía.

“Many of us purchased property in Spain believing that membership of the European Union offered an extra safety net should things go wrong. We were very much mistaken.” said Maura Hillen, the association’s president. “When you finally find out that you have fallen foul of complex and poorly enforced planning legislation, political corruption, a hopelessly slow judicial system, unscrupulous developers, lawyers of ill repute and other ‘professionals’...

Confused press reports on Ryanair planes running out of fuel

Some English language media are reporting that three Ryanair aircraft have had to make emergency landings in Valencia because they had run out of fuel. The reports say they originally tried to land in Madrid, but summer storms prevented that and they were diverted to Manises Airport in Valencia. The pilots sent out urgent alerts to the control tower to say there were on their way. One of the pilots called for an ambulance and police to be at the...

Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books

Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper* magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books. I suppose it can be alternated with "In the Library," a perfume that smells like old books.Paper Passion fragrance by Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine,...

Kym Marsh's 'honorary hen' guest

Kym Marsh will be breaking from tradition to enjoy her hen do with a male pal, according to reports. The star will be taking a trip to Marbella in Spain with her Corrie co-star Antony Cotton, who plays Sean Tulley in the soap, The Sun claims. Kym, who plays Weatherfield's Michelle Connor, is taking along her favourite Coronation Street colleagues for the trip before she marries Jamie Lomas. A source was quoted as saying that Antony "will be the belle...

Workers at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella start strike action

Workers at the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella have started what is the first indefinite strike in a public clinic in Málaga province. The workers are demonstrating about the cuts from the Junta de Andalucía, increasing the working day and cutting wages. They say there has been no negotiation with the Hospital Management to see how the cuts could be introduced. It’s reported that the action is only affecting only 10% of the patients a day,...

The Guadalhorce Hospital is built in Cártama, but remains closed

It will cost two million € to connect the electricity, and nobody wants to pay.The empty Guadalhorce Hosptial in Cártama - Photo EFE The Guadalhorce Hospital has been completed in Cártama on the Costa del Sol, but it has been empty for several months with no opening date planned.To...

Forest Fire out of control Three are known to have died

There are now two active fires, one which has affected 6,000 hectares near La Jonquera and another which has broken out at Portbou.The fire next to the La Jonquera customs point After the large forest fire earlier this month on Tenerife, now there is a new blaze at La Jonquera near the customs post at the French border. The fire is out of control and more than 7,000 hectares have been burned. French fire-fighters are taking part in the fight against...

Spain wildfires: Three killed

 Officials say the flames have been fanned by strong windsForest fires raging in Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region have left three people dead, officials say.Two French nationals drowned in the sea close to the border with France while trying to escape the flames, Catalonia's...

Spain Scraps Siesta as Stores Stay Open to Spur Spending

The Spanish shopping siesta may be about to become the latest victim of the sovereign debt crisis. To stimulate spending after a 23 percent drop in retail sales since 2007, the euro region’s fourth-largest economy this month approved measures that allow shops of more than 300 square meters (3,229 square feet) to open for 25 percent longer a week. The new rules may encourage the outlets to sell during the traditional afternoon snooze from 2 p.m....

Spain king ousted as honorary president of World Wildlife Fund branch after elephant hunt

The World Wildlife Fund’s branch in Spain has ousted King Juan Carlos as its honorary president — a title he’d held since 1968 — after deciding his recent elephant hunting safari was incompatible with its goal of conserving endangered species. The announcement Saturday was the latest in a string of bad news for Spain’s royal family, which has been embarrassed by legal and other scandals. The fund said in a statement that “although such hunting is...

Heightened tensions on the rock of Gibraltar

As the temperature rises between Gibraltar and Spain, Brussels may no longer be able to afford the luxury of brushing the rock's problems under the carpet. PublicServiceEurope.com talks to Gibraltar's MEP Sir Graham Watson about the thorny sovereignty issuesDepression-wracked...

ETA chief Benat Atorrasagasti Ordonez’s decade of living as a fugitive came to an abrupt end when police raided his rented flat in Leith, ­Edinburgh.

ONE of the world’s most wanted terrorists escaped an international manhunt … by working as a van driver in Livingston.But ETA chief Benat Atorrasagasti Ordonez’s decade of living as a fugitive came to an abrupt end when police raided his rented flat in Leith, ­Edinburgh.Brazen Atorrasagasti...

Spanish civil servants out against pay cuts

Thousands of Spanish civil servants left work and took to the streets in angry protest against new sweeping austerity measures including wage cuts and tax increases. In Madrid, hundreds-strong groups of government workers blocked traffic in different parts of the city. As dusk fell, bands of protesters marched, stopping to jeer outside the headquarters of the conservative and socialist parties before heading to parliament. About 500 civil servants...

Gang of five drug traffickers arrested on the Costa del sol

The Police have broken up a gang of drug traffickers on the Costa del Sol. Five arrests have been made and 1,600 kilos of hashish impounded in an operation called ‘Sarco’. Although the five, aged between 32 and 67, were based on the Costa del Sol they often changed their address to avoid being localised. The operation remains open, as police analyse documents taken and a 9mm pistol which was loaded. The investigated started at the end of last...

Civil servants, many of whom earn as little as 1,000 euros a month, protest across the country at salary cuts and tax rises.

Spain's Public Workers Protest.Spanish workers blocked streets and railways in Madrid and other cities on Friday in protests against new austerity measures they said hurt ordinary people more than the bankers and politicians who caused the economic crisis.As the Spanish government...

Spain's Novagalicia Bank seeks 6 billion euros aid

Novagalicia Bank has asked for 6 billion euros (4.8 billion pounds) to repair its damaged balance sheet as Spain's weaker banks join the queue for the European Union's rescue package. The unlisted regional bank, taken over by the state last year when it became clear it could not cope with huge loans to a collapsed real estate sector, is likely to be among the first to receive EU funds. The bank, formed from a merger of savings banks in the north-western...

Just a few minutes after the start of the DGT campaign, a Guardia Civil was hit by a drugged motorist

The DGT traffic department’s first ever anti-drugs campaign got underway on Monday, and minutes after it started a drugged motorist tried to run down a member of the Guardia Civil just a few metres from a control point where, because it was the first day, the Guardia Civil had invited journalists. It’s now known that the driver had taken methadone. The injured agent, Ángel Noé Riviero Rodriguez, jumped away in time and was only slightly hurt. Director...

Thousands of people have been attended to for jellyfish stings on the Costa del Sol as a plague of the creatures has been approaching the shore.

The numbers started to rise over the weekend, bringing inconvenience to bathers, affecting the whole coast. The species involved is the ‘Pelagia Noctiluca’, which is complicated to control because of their small size and because they sting a lot. Efforts are being made to try and collect the creatures in fishing baskets, which are then taken to the shore and buried. Cleaning ships contracted in Málaga city alone collected 3,900 kilos of jelly fish...

Spain gets its €30bn bailout, but it comes with new cuts

Eurozone finance ministers agreed yesterday to the latest in a series of packages aimed at stemming Spain's financial crisis, by bringing forward some previously committed aid to the country's ailing banks and giving the government more time to cut its budget deficit. However, the strings attached include yet more austerity measures for a country struggling with recession and where nearly one in four are jobless. Protests grow daily, while the financial...

Two Britons gored in Spain bull run

Two Britons and an American have been gored in the running of the bulls through the streets of Pamplona in northern Spain, the regional government has said. Thousands of daredevil runners charged ahead of six fighting bulls on the third day of the annual San Fermin festival. The trio were gored by an animal which broke free from the pack just before entering the city's bullring, a Navarra government statement said. The bull charged the runners as...

Spain's most famous fiesta hit by economic downturn

Spain's most famous fiesta, the San Fermin bull running festival in Pamplona, is taking a hit from the economic crisis as revellers cut corners to save money. The cobbled streets of the northern city are still packed with party-goers from around the world, drawn by the carnival atmosphere and the chance to be chased by half-tonne bulls every morning. But hotels report lower occupancy rates, and sales in restaurants and bars are down. Instead, many...

Spain opens fraud case on ex-Bankia chief Rato

Spanish court opened a fraud case on Wednesday against former executives of state-rescued lender Bankia (BKIA.MC), including one-time IMF chief Rodrigo Rato, as public rage engulfs a bank which is in line for the biggest share of an EU bailout. The lawsuit was brought by one of Spain's smaller political parties and accuses 33 officials including Rato - a former government minister who stood down as Bankia chairman in May - of fraud, price-fixing...

Spanish Formula One test driver loses an eye in UK accident

It’s now known that the 32 year old Spanish Formula One driver, María de Villota, has lost the use of her right eye after a serious accident at the Duxford airfield in the U.K. She suffered serious head injuries and to the face and her racing team Marussia say she is stable. She has been acting as a test driver for the team this season. The surgical team at Addenbrook Hospital in Cambridge ‘carried out a long interventio'n to treat the serious...

Gay cruise prohibited from Morocco goes to Málaga

The ‘Nieuw Amsterdam’ cruise liner has been diverted to Málaga port after the Moroccan Government refused permission to dock in Casablanca. The reason most of the 1,564 passengers is gay. As Gay Pride marches were held last weekend in cities around the world, those on the cruise were told of the diversion to Málaga. El País reports one passenger, Eric from Washington, saying ‘I was in the hairdressers when the captain said over the megaphone that...

Fires in eastern Spain have destroyed 50,000 acres

The forest fires affecting eastern Spain have already destroyed some 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres) in the province of Valencia and continue to spread, given that ongoing changes in wind direction are making it difficult for authorities to control and extinguish them. More than 2,000 people worked all night to try and put out the worst fires Spain has experienced since 1994, which have produced a huge cloud of smoke and ash that on Sunday morning...

Spanish hotel rates plunge

If you're tempted by the idea of a city break in Spain, book now because hotel prices are falling fast. The Sunday Times reports that hoteliers are suffering because many Spanish people can no longer afford to travel. As a result, the biggest bargains are to be found in four- and five-star hotels, where some room rates are around £30 a night, which is lower than a night in a hostel. Even in July, a night at the four-star Beatriz in Toledo is...