Arrests in the Body in the suitcase

25 year old man and a 40 year old woman have been arrested in connection with the death of a man whose body was found last Tuesday inside a suitcase which had been abandoned on waste ground in Benimaclet in Valencia.It seems the two arrested on Friday were romantically involved, and were arrested after the daughter of the woman alerted police to the fact that her boyfriend was missing. His description matched that of the man found in the suitcase. Police think that the arrested man could earlier have also have had a romantic involvement with the daughter. The mother had told her daughter, who is pregnant by the victim, that he had left the area on a business trip.The body in the half-open suitcase, which was found by chance, had six stab wounds and showed signs of torture. The victim and the two arrested are all from Honduras.

foreign property owners in the Marina Baixa region of Valencia’s Alicante province have formed a group called Veins de L’Alfàs (Residents of L’Alfàs).

Following the plight faced by many local residents; foreign property owners in the Marina Baixa region of Valencia’s Alicante province have formed a group called Veins de L’Alfàs (Residents of L’Alfàs). It’s designed to defend their rights as homeowners against the town council and local property developers. The homeowners are threatened with the prospect of having some or all of their land taken away from them, under the controversial ‘land grab’ law. The local mayor intends to build around 2,000 new homes on the collective private holdings. The 100-member group plan to take legal action against the mayor in both Spain and EU courts. Some would argue that this is long overdue, as many homeowners in the Valencia region have been the victims of local corruption.

Spanish police have travelled to Switzerland to extradite the care worker suspected of killing Conchita Gadea

Spanish police have travelled to Switzerland to extradite the care worker suspected of killing 80 year old Valencian socialite, Conchita Gadea, whose bound and gagged body was found at her home on the calle Botánico Cavanilles, just opposite the Viveros gardens in Valencia, on February 1st, 2007. The autopsy revealed that Ms Gadea died of a heart attack. Detectives suspected the maid from the start on the grounds that she had not turned up for work either the day before, nor on the day when her employer's body was found, and given that there was no evidence of a break-in. However, after more than a year without any sign of a breakthrough, they were about to archive the case until they were informed just a few days ago that a Georgian woman named María matching the suspect's description, had been arrested in Switzerland.

Spanish National Police have broken up a criminal gang which was based in the Valencia region

Spanish National Police have broken up a criminal gang which was based in the Valencia region and made up of citizens from Eastern Europe, mostly from the Ukraine and Russia.The gang was engaged in criminal activities such as vehicle theft, arms trafficking and extortion, and they also had a laboratory set up for identity document and money falsification.
In total there have been 11 arrests in a police operation in which some 70 officers took part. Police say that they think the three main heads of the group are among those now in custody, and that the group was in frequent contact with similar gangs along the Mediterranean coast. Their structure was almost military in nature, and firearms and ammunition was also recovered.Investigations in the case started six months ago, which finally led police to the criminals’ base and to links to people used by them to launder the proceeds. 8 home, three shops and a warehouse were searched simultaneously today in Sagunto, Paterna, Algemesí, Cullera and Alberic.

Half a million British expatriates living on Spain’s Costa Blanca are to lose their right to free healthcare

Half a million British expatriates living on Spain’s Costa Blanca are to lose their right to free healthcare under a radical new law introduced by the provincial government.The Spanish authorities say that providing for 500,000 Britons - most of whom are over 50 - and other European residents living in the Valencia region is placing an impossible burden on the country’s health service.Valencia region can no longer afford expats’ bills as housing market slides
In 2002 the provincial government offered free healthcare to all expats - not just UK pensioners or those working and paying tax in Spain - in order to encourage Britons and other northern Europeans to invest in the Costa Blanca’s then lucrative property market. However, with house prices collapsing, the Valencia government last week announced that the concession had been withdrawn. The move echoed a similar ruling last year against British early retirees in France.A spokesman for the regional health ministry said: ‘It is costing us an extra €1bn [£790m] annually to look after a million new residents as well as long-stay tourists, and our services are at saturation point. Some come to Spain to have their heart operation or hip replacement here at a better standard and more quickly than in their own country.’The decision has so alarmed the British community that health centres and the British consulate in Alicante have been flooded with calls. A British embassy spokesman said UK pensioners and individuals on long-term incapacity benefit who are living permanently in Spain would be unaffected, as they are covered under a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK. Those who will lose their entitlement - mainly early retirees aged over 50 - were being advised to take out private health insurance.The Spanish move comes just two months after the Department of Health closed the door on free NHS care for British expats visiting the UK. Only those still living in the EU who have obtained a European health insurance card - which provides holiday cover only - from their new country of residence will be allowed emergency treatment. However, people such as the Bridges, who are being excluded from the Spanish health service, will no longer be eligible for a card.
Political parties run by expats - some of whose members won seats in local elections last year - and other pressure groups are petitioning the British embassy and regional government. Bob Houliston, 71, a retired diplomat who is now president of a party representing the 20,000 expat residents of the Orihuela area, said: ‘It should surely be possible for UK and Valencia government authorities to find solutions for those who could otherwise face real hardship.’British residents in France put up such a fight against the withdrawal of healthcare rights that President Nicolas Sarkozy did a U-turn and the ruling now only applies to newcomers. However, many expats in Spain are battle-weary after years of challenging the country’s property laws and doubt that a government defying the European Parliament on that count will be responsive.Property sales have fallen by up to 40 per cent on the Costa Blanca in the past year, according to the Spanish government. Expat leaders say the only way forward is to gain political power. Expat parties now plan to create a federation to fight local and national elections.

Two Nigerian women have been arrested in Spain accused of stealing a child

Spain has cracked a number of groups smuggling Nigerian women. Two Nigerian women have been arrested in Spain accused of stealing a child and forcing his mother into prostitution to pay their ransom. The mother, also Nigerian, claims her son was snatched from her shortly after he was born four years ago. She said the women demanded 45,000 euros (£31,000) for his return and threatened her with "voodoo".
The boy was kept hidden from neighbours in a Madrid flat until police tracked him down and rescued him this week. The kidnap and blackmail came to light when the mother, who has since given up prostitution, went to the police. She said the women had got her into Spain from Nigeria illegally - which was why she owed them money. Despite being the only black child in the block of flats, hardly any of his neighbours had seen him there
After they took her son, she said she worked as a prostitute in different clubs around Spain to pay off the debt. Officers investigating the case confirmed that the woman had had a baby in 2002 and finally tracked down the suspects - identified only as Becky F, aged 27, and Faith N, aged 24. The women were known to live in a flat with an 18-month-old girl and another young Nigerian woman. Officers could not confirm the presence of a young boy until a neighbour reported hearing cries from the flat that differed from the little girl's.
On Tuesday, the surveillance teams got the breakthrough they needed when a boy appeared on the balcony. Police raided the flat and found the boy, his mother's passport and other items used in voodoo rituals which the suspects used "to terrorise the mother".
Police said the boy was healthy, although he showed signs of delayed development and had barely learned to talk. He has not been to school and has not been registered at any official institutions, such as health centres. "Despite being the only black child in the block of flats, hardly any of his neighbours had seen him there or in the local children's playgrounds," the police said. They said his captors had probably kept him hidden, alone, in the flat all day. He has now been taken into the care of social services.
In the past few years, Spanish police have broken up a number of illegal immigration networks involving Nigerian women being brought to Spain to work as prostitutes. In March, six people were arrested in Valencia, accused of running such an enterprise. Voodoo has often been found to be a way of threatening the women, but reports say kidnapping their children is less frequent.