We have sources who tip us off -2 thousand cannabis plants

2 thousand cannabis plants have been seized following drug raids on plastic greenhouses (invernaderos). Police found 664 plants during a raid on an invernadero, which are normally used to grow fruit and vegetables for northern Europe, near Albuñol . The plastic drugs bust followed a raid on a greenhouse nearby, when civil guards found 560 plants.In total, four marijuana factories on the Granada coast have been found under plastic since the middle of August. Explaining the increase in the number of drug raids on invernaderos, a police spokesman said: “We have sources who tip us off. We can then locate the greenhouse and their owners. However, some are like cuckoos and it is difficult to locate the...

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Posted in: Granada

Home Invasion the Christmas buzzword

Home invaders in Spain understand the isolation poor infrastructure and lack of police presence they also know know that they won't have to overcome alarm systems when the home is occupied or be worried about video cameras and silent alarms. Unlike robbing a retail store, home invaders expect privacy once inside your home and won’t have to deal with the police suddenly driving up or customers walking in. Once the offenders take control of a residence they can force the occupants to open safes, locate hidden valuables, supply keys to the family car, and PIN numbers to their ATM cards. Home invaders will try to increase their escape time by disabling...

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Homejacking hits Christmas on the Costas

Homejacking is on the rise.This is the residential form of an automobile carjacking and it's on the rise. Like the crime of carjacking, most police agencies don’t track home invasions as a separate crime. Home invasion robbers work more often at night and on weekends when homes are more likely to be occupied. The home invader will sometimes target the resident as well as the dwelling. The selection process may include a woman living alone, a wealthy senior citizen or a known drug dealer, for example. It is not unheard of for a robber to follow you home based on the value of the car you are driving or the jewelry you are wearing. Some home invaders...

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loans were taken out for car purchase, and were based on false documentation relating to income and employment. The loan repayments were never made.

The National Police Fraud Squad in Málaga has broken up an organised group of criminals who are believed to have defrauded more than 150,000 € by taking out fraudulent bank loans.The gang used false documentation to take out loans for car purchase but never made the repayments.Twelve vehicles have so far been detected as being bought in this way.Twelve people have been taken into custody: eight Spaniards, three Romanian nationals and a woman from Morocco. A 51 year old man from Romania is believed to have originally formed the network, and then passed it on to his two so...

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Posted in: Malaga

Costa home invaders the new threat to expat security

Spanish Home invaders know that they won't have to overcome alarm systems when the home is occupied or be worried about video cameras and silent alarms. Unlike robbing a retail store, home invaders expect privacy once inside your home and won’t have to deal with the police suddenly driving up or customers walking in. Once the offenders take control of a residence they can force the occupants to open safes, locate hidden valuables, supply keys to the family car, and PIN numbers to their ATM cards. Home invaders will try to increase their escape time by disabling the phones and sometimes will leave their victims bound or incapacitated. It is not...

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Posted in: Home Invasion

seaside resort cities of Lloret de Mar and Benidorm

agents identified several websites in the U-S that allowed access to child pornography files in exchange for payments of between $70 and $95. The trail led to the seaside resort cities of Lloret de Mar and Benidorm where police detected, then arrested, four Russian nationals. Subsequent probes then led to the arrest of 59 people during the past 10 da...

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secret mass graves

The Spanish government and judges might be instructed to cooperate in the investigation of scores of secret mass graves dating from the civil war (1936-39) and its aftermath. They may be forced to begin opening such graves and to identify the corpses lying within.The graves are dotted all over Spain and their existence has been known to Spanish people for over 60 years. They are reported to contain the remains of more than 30,000 republican soldiers, militants and other opponents of Franco’s fascist dictatorship. The victims were either captured or detained during the civil war and executed later, or were summarily executed by falangists or Francoist...

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Posted in: Spanish Civil War Graves

Puente Romano and the Marbella Club

The judge investigating the Hidalgo money laundering case in Marbella, Manuel Martin Hernandez-Carrillo, interrogated three people connected with the hotel group that owns the Puente Romano and the Marbella Club last week. One of them is said to be the director of one of the hotels. The director of the Marbella Club, Juan Carlos Luna, said he had never been ordered to appear before the judge and that he and the hotel had nothing to do with the case. A local newspaper said it had not been possible to contact the director of Puente Romano. The case had been conducted in absolute secrecy until September, when the court began to release some details...

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Posted in: Marbella

30.000 dwellings

30.000 dwellings in the municipality which either have been built or are in the process of being built with illegally issued building licences. Basically, these were given in spite of the fact that they violated the 1986 Town Planning Regulation in force at present. The violations range from constructing houses on land not designated for building, for example in green belts or on land set aside for public facilities, to granting licenses in spite of the fact that buildings did not meet regulations or building codes, for example, building more homes or square metres on a plot than regulations allowed. Many of these dwellings have been completed and have been purchased by bona fide owners who have registered their title in the land registry and inhabit them. Now they have found out that they...

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Posted in: Andalusia

paid money to Judge Francisco Javier de Urquía

The Andalucian High Court of Justice, TSJA, has said that ‘there is absolutely no doubt’ that Juan Antonio Roca, the ex municipal real estate assessor in Marbella Town Hall, paid money to Judge Francisco Javier de Urquía. The instruction judge in the Andalucian High Court, Miguel Pasqau, has thus ordered that the case proceed to a full hearing on the charges of perversion of the course of justice and bribery.Charged are the judge, Francisco Javier de Urquía, who has now been removed from Court number two in Marbella, Juan Antonio Roca, and a man described as a friend of the two and named as Arnau Fabrice Albouhair.Meanwhile, Ecologistas en Acción have denounced what they claim is the administrative perversion of the course of justice in Marbella Town Hall. They claim that the town hall’s decision...

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Posted in: Corruption

shot in the centre of Marbella

A foreigner has died overnight after being shot in the centre of Marbella by two people who managed to make their escape from the scene.EFE news agency quotes police sources who say it happened at 10pm close to Calle Camilo José Cela and that the two people who carried out the attack passed on a moped.The victim is reported to have been shot several times in the ba...

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remains are said to be of a white man in his forties

The Civil Guard are coming closer to solving the mystery of a chopped up body which was found buried in plastic bags in a field in Ceutí on Saturday, and have now, according to a report in La Verdad newspaper on Tuesday, managed to lift fingerprints off the mummified remains. The remains are said to be of a white man in his forties, who was murdered elsewhere before his body was chopped up and buried at a depth of one metre.There is also evidence that the victim’s body was kept in a freezer for some time prior to being buried.The gruesome contents of the plastic bags were discovered by a farmer who was turning over his land, and appear to have been buried there some years a...

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Ghosts of the 80s

A trawler fishing off the coast of Altea brought up a rather unexpected catch in its nets on Wednesday: a human skull, and bones from the thorax, which were brought up from a depth of between 60 and 70 metres. The find has been handed over to the Civil Guard, who have started an investigation to try and identify the remains.The President of the local Fishermen’s Guild, Antonio Lloret, spoke to the EFE news agency of an opening which could be seen in the back of the skull, as if, he said, it were made by a bullet.Another trawler found a human hand and a leather jacket in its nets earlier this week, in the same ar...

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Lorcrimar Hotel

The Andalucian Supreme Court of Justice has ordered Marbella Town Hall to revise the licence given for the Lorcrimar Hotel in town by Julián Muñoz in 2003, against the planning legislation.The court is in agreement with the Junta de Andalucía which says that the Town Hall has the obligation to revise all the illegal licences. Last July 31st the Partido Popular controlled Town Hall passed a motion not to revise any more licenc...

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two performers had live sex on a stage in front of dignitaries

A comic fair in Spain erupted into scandal after two performers had live sex on a stage in front of dignitaries, according to reports. Local authorities in the southern Spanish town of Granada threatened to withdraw funding from the International Comic Fair, reports the Guardian and El Pais newspapers. Organisers "decided to enliven an awards ceremony" for comic books last Friday, reports the Guardian, by paying two actors to have sex on stage. During the performance actors stormed the stage dressed as burka-clad women and Taleban fighters led by an Osama bin Laden lookalike, according to El Pais. They burned pictures of icons, including the Virgin Mary and simulated the crash of jets into the World Trade Center Two performers started having sex while others sang songs from the Spanish version...

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Ken Macintyre, 64, was with a friend when they were attacked

Ken Macintyre, 64, was with a friend when they were attacked and robbed near Domino bar in the Spanish holiday resort in the early hours of Saturday morning.A spokesperson for the Foreign Office confirmed: "A man was attacked in an old part of the resort of Benidorm. However, we do not believe that the mugging caused the man's death. We believe that a subsequent incident caused the death of one of the men."Spanish police said that Mr Macintyre and his friend were both "well-known visitors" to Benido...

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Posted in: Ken Macintyre

Spain is going to be bigger than Jamaica or Holland as a cannabis growing

"The Spanish sun is free, and the climate in some parts of the country is good for growing cannabis 10 months a year, but we see indoor growing as superior because it offers a controlled environment, and avoids the possibility of rip-offs and problems with insects and lack of water," Molina said. "Growers can combine indoor and outdoor growing, using their indoor gardens during cool weather, and also getting a head start on making plants for transplanting to outdoors. Pretty soon, Spain is going to be bigger than Jamaica or Holland as a cannabis growing and tourism destinatio...

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home of Antonio Banderas

The home of Antonio Banderas in Marbella will have to be demolished because it has been judged to be illeg...

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The brains of the operation Malaya, Juan Antonio Roca

The brains of the operation Malaya, Juan Antonio Roca, the public prosecutor requested a sentence of 10 years in prison for money laundering, false documents, illegal possession of weapons, trafficking of influences and crimes against regional planning.The Judge said... Óscar Pérez, the judge now in charge of the Malaya corruption investigation in Marbella, has decided to treat an order for French wines and champagne placed by the man at the centre of the corruption, Juan Antonio Roca, as separate from the main case. The prosecution service argues that the ex Municipal Real Estate assessor planned to pass the cost – more than 850,000 €, onto...

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Posted in: Juan Antonio Roca

"We rented a private plane to eat cus-cus in

"We spend four million pesetas in a birthday" "We rented a private plane to eat cus-cus in Marruecos ” Morocco " "The least we always had at home were one hundred million pesetas" "Julian Munoz has properties in Madrid Barcelona and Seville, and nothing is in your name, just in cas...

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Posted in: Julian Munoz

Isabel PANTOJA MARTIN, born on 07 August 1956 in Seville (Seville), the son of John and Mary, owner of the National Identity Document number 28515553

Brief summary: Isabel PANTOJA MARTIN, born on 07 August 1956 in Seville (Seville), the son of John and Mary, owner of the National Identity Document number 28515553-S. En Málaga, siendo las 00:05 horas, del día 3 de Mayo de 2007 y en cumplimiento de lo dispuesto en el artículo 520 de la Ley de Enjuiciamiento Criminal (L.O. 14/83), se procede a poner en conocimiento del epigrafiado que ha sido detenido por su participacíon en un presunto delito de BLANQUEO DE CAPITALES , así como de los derechos que le asisten, consistentes, fundamentalmente. In Malaga, with 00:05 hours of the day on May 3, 2007 and pursuant to the provisions of Article 520 of...

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Posted in: Isabel PANTOJA MARTIN

Judge Torres just locate in Switzerland a chest Security 2 million Swiss francs

Judge Torres just locate in Switzerland a chest Security 2 million Swiss francs (1.2 million euros) was in the name of one of the presumed front of Rock. Francisco Antonio Soriano Pastor, abogado de Roca encarcelado e imputado por el caso Malaya, al salir de Alhaurín viajó hasta Andorra donde supuestamente intentó vaciar varias cuentas corrientes con dinero de Roca. Francisco Antonio Soriano Shepherd, a lawyer from Rock imprisoned and accused by the Malaysian case, to leave Alhaurín traveled to Andorra where allegedly tried to empty several accounts with money from Roca. Fue el pasado mes de Agosto, cinco meses después de las primeras detenciones....

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Judah Binstock has returned to Marbella.

Judah Binstock has returned to Marbella. Muñoz. Just after closing the investigation of Malaya and go to Grenada Judge Torres, the multimillionaire Jewish reappeared, owner of the majority of land in the municipality and alleged sponsor of the motion of censure against Julian Munoz. He did so in a wheelchair and surrounded by his "gorilla" at a gala dinner and without his wife Josie, who dared to speak a few days ago to journalists of "Tomato", accusing journalists of the situation in which located Marbella after Operation Malaya. Although Binstock has official residence in Buenos Aires and Paris, where he lives and makes their business really is in Marbella. His immense mansion called Villa Magnolia and his company through which conducts all its business Corporation New Marbella....

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Judah Binstock connection to corruption in Marbella

An address book with telephone Montaner, Judah Binstock Aki Kuj wing and Raneapino Among the documents seized Juan Antonio Roca following his arrest in April 2003, shortly before entering custody and work in the summary of the case soqueol, provides a comprehensive phone book, with names of relevant world politics, entertainment and urban businesses. The name "Judah", in allusion to British tycoon of Jewish origin Judah Binstock, is repeated several times. agosto de 2003. The businessman Binstock as he puts his hand that moved the threads of censure against former Mayor Julian Munoz in August 2003. Binstock's relations with the former councilors of tripartite Marbella Isabel Garcia Marcos and Carlos Fernandez, personal friends of the tycoon, are well known and are already spoken former Cabinet...

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Insider View translated from the Spanish

Marbella, a beach resort for the "jet set" now emerging as the hub for every mafia connection in Spain. Finally, there is a Swiss connection in the form of the Cultrera-Meninno scandal, which only leads back to Marbella, a beach resort for the "jet set" now emerging as the hub for every Mafia connection in Spain. Felice Cultrera and Gianni Meninno are under investigation in Geneva for fraud and money laundering. Felice Cultrera and Gianni Meninno are under investigation in Geneva for fraud and money laundering. They are also under investigation in Marbella by Judge Blanca Esther Diez, who has uncovered a group of attorneys and judges protecting...

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The Prince of Marbella, Monzer Al Kassar arrested this morning at the airport in Madrid was taken at 10.30 hours

The National Police announced Friday the arrest in Madrid of Syrian arms dealer Monzer Al Kassar by several charges related to terrorism issued by an American court. Al Kassar is sought on charges of conspiracy to provide support and material resources to a terrorist organization, to kill Americans, to use and acquire anti-aircraft missiles, and money laundering, police said in a statement. Al Kassar has long resided in Spain and has been nicknamed the "Prince of Marbella" for his opulent lifestyle. His home in Marbella remains in custody to avoid the loss of evidence or indication, and will be recorded after statement to Al Kassar, police...

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Gil's town plans had not been approved by the Junta de Andalucia

The Marbella Land Registry gives information on ownership of the Land, but not on its planning. It can detail the house that is built as being physically there, but and that it has licences. It is stated that the registry givew the information supplied to it, but it is not a guarantee that it is accurate. This is especially the case with regard to the property description and the price paid. However, professionals, including Notaries and lawyers, will be held to have known that Gil's town plans had not been approved by the Junta de Andalucia, and therefore permissions granted in conflict with the approved 1986 Plan could not be fully legal.Therefore,...

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Spanish singer Isabel Pantoja has described herself as a victim linked to the Malaya corruption case. For the past three years she has been in a relationship with Julián Muñoz, who was Mayor of Marbella at the time they got together. Speaking in a statement sent to Antena Tres television, she claimed she felt tricked if the published news that Muñoz has been sending large amounts of money to his ex wife Mayte Zaldiver turns out to be true. ‘He told me on repeated occasions that he had no money’, she said. ‘I’ve been working to support him for years...

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The Andalucian Ombudsman

The Andalucian Ombudsman, José Chamizo, has also supported the demolition of 334 homes in a total of seven developments in Marbella whose licences were annulled by the Andalucian Supreme Court. He said that what justice ordered had to be carried out, however lamentable it was for the owners of the buildings. He said each owner should be looked at on an individual basis to see if they had been tricked into making the purchase, adding that the judiciary should study the alternatives and take the rights of the owners into accou...

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affect expatriates who are used to buying drugs in Spain

The New law, which in some areas has been brought into force early, will affect expatriates who are used to buying drugs in Spain rather than having to face a Spanish speaking doctor. Many doctors in Spain insist on translators who can charge more than a private doctor.The legislation is to prevent the over use of medicines and health products, guard against inappropriate use, monitor and control given medical prescriptionsIt is hoped that greater regulation will create higher quality pharmacists and allow the government to monitor medicines more effectively. The law also provides disease control mechanisms which could cope to restrain outbreaks of avian flu. The law was approved with the help of the disease prevention units of the government with the consent of heath professiona...

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Property Crash

The dive was precipitated last week when Valencian builder Astroc’s shares fell by 62 per cent after planning laws were changed. Since then panic has spread causing the Madrid Bourse (Spain’s Stock Exchange) to topple. Manuel Romera, Director of Madrid’s Institute of Industry said, “I can see a mortgage crisis building. We have a serious property bubble in this country and everyone is in denial; it’s worse than the US”. Dismay has also set into the banks that have been key investors in the market. The banks have been buoying the market by granting easy access to mortgages and loans. Both Banco Sabadell and BankInter both lost 5 percent of their value on Monday as part of the ongoing nightmare. Low interest rates that have been repeatedly set by the European banks have provided fuel for a...

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Dozens of stars from the worlds of sport, music and TV

Dozens of stars from the worlds of sport, music and TV are choosing the elegant Spanish resort as their number one holiday choice.And many have dabbled in the booming Andalucian property market and bought second homes there.Marbella and nearby Puerto Banus are favourites with the rich and famous because they boast fine restaurants, exclusive bars and shops full of designer clothes.David and Victoria Beckham chose the resort's exclusive five-star Marbella Club hotel for a relaxing break when Posh was pregnant with Brooklyn.And more recently comedian Frank ''Foo Foo'' Lamarr and Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn, who plays Vera Duckworth, have both splashed out on luxury apartments. And Liz's old Street pal Beverley Callard, who played Rovers' barmaid Liz McDonald, has moved to Marbella full-time...

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MARBELLA TOWN HALL

MARBELLA TOWN HALL has put a reserve of 34,650 euros on the Rolls Royce that Jesus Gil used during his time as mayor. The present mayor of Marbella, Angeles Muñoz, announced last August that the Rolls was to be auctioned as it is no longer in use and is being held by the Local Police. The decision was made to sell off the vehicle partly because of its value and also because of what it symbolises. The car was valued by a municipal specialist. The Rolls Royce along with the BMW X5 that ex-Mayor Marisol Yague used were sent to auction last year but not sold due to the lack of interest by the public. The Rolls Royce was valued at 45,000 euros and the BMW at 25,514 euros. The Rolls Royce Silver Spur was registered in 1992; it has eight cylinders and 173 horsepower. The luxury vehicle was used on...

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Fernando del Valle

Fernando del Valle, the founder of the firm of lawyers in Marbella where he has focused the police investigation linked to the network of money laundering, has been hosting his constitutional right not to testify. El detenido no ha hablado ni ante la Policía, ni ante el juez que decretó el lunes por la noche su ingreso en prisión. The detainee has not spoken either to the Police or to the judge who ruled on Monday evening his detention. Según fuentes cercanas al caso, Fernando del Valle, ha estado “muy tranquilo y sereno” durante las seis horas que ha permanecido en las dependencias del Juzgado de Instrucción número 5 de Marbella. According to sources close to the case, Fernando Valley, has been "very quiet and calm" during the six hours that has remained on the premises of the magistrate...

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Allan James Foster, 31

POLICE are appealing to expats and holidaymakers in Spain to help trace a man wanted for murder. Originally from South Shields, Allan James Foster, 31, is known to have spent time in Majorca and the Canary Islands. It is believed he may now be living somewhere on the Costas. Foster, who sometimes uses the name Sean Wilkinson, is 5’8” tall and has a mole on the left side of his fa...

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26-year-old British dealer was recently arrested near Marbella with false passports

39 British-organised crime syndicates on the Costa del Sol have been identified as being involved in major drugs supply. A 26-year-old British dealer was recently arrested near Marbella with false passports, eight mobile phones and a British-registered Mitsubishi 4...

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links between Ibiza and the Costa del Sol

Soca officers confirmed that they have intensified their scrutiny of the links between Ibiza and the Costa del Sol, from where some of Britain's most wanted drug barons run their empires. Co-operation with Spain's Special Central Unit for Locating Fugitives (UCLF) has recently been stepped up. At least six suspected major British criminals have been arrested in the province of Malaga, including Brian Wright, who is alleged to have smuggled £300m of cocaine into Britain.Among those understood to be wanted in connection with San Antonio's drug supply is Mickey Green, ...

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Answer Phone in English

This service is not available in all areas and cannot be used on all telephones to check if you can use this service in your area and with your phone you must first activate the service. Pick up your receiver and press * 10 # replace your receiver. Your answeringmachine (if available) should now be activated. To check this pick up your receiver and wait about 5-10 seconds. If the service has been activated you should hear a lady speaking (in Spanish of course) this means that the service is available to you if not ring telefonica on 1004.TO CHANGE THE LANGUAGEPick up the receiver and wait 5-10seconds until the lady stops speaking………………………………………….press the number 1 on your phoneWhen she stops speaking again ………………….press 4When she stops speaking again…………………..press 0000(See * below)When...

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mobile phones while driving

16 policemen in Marbella and San Pedro Alcantara will be on the look out for people who use their mobile phones while driving. This forms part of a national campaign which aims at reducing the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers. Talking while driving carries a fine of 150 euros and the loss of three poin...

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combat violence in the classroom

the National Police and the Guardia Civil will be making their presence felt in schools around Malaga province in an effort to combat violence in the classroom. They plan to give a series of talks to get the message across that bullying fellow students and attacking teachers will be punished, even though perpetrators are under age. In a recent case, a judge split up a group of three bullies, sending them to different schools in Malaga city. The security forces will also warn students of the dangers posed by the Internet, and be on the look out for drug dealers inside and outside the schoo...

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garbage bags full of what she liked most: money

the former wife of ex-mayor Julian Muñoz, has now been jailed. Insiders have stated that ever since Jesus Gil y Gil became mayor of the town, Miss Zaldivar regularly used to receive garbage bags full of what she liked most: money – to the tune of somewhere in the region of seven hundred million Pesetas, or about £3.5 million. As she used to brag about how much these garbage bags were giving her, she has now been placed in jail by Judge Miguel Angel Torres, who is now planning to hear her testimony before taking any further action. All in all, since last March when the investigation first started, some seventy people have been placed in jail as a result of Judge Torres’ investigations. Also arrested under orders from Judge Torres yesterday was Jose Maria Gonzalez de Caldas, the director of...

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future of houses already built on land too near the beaches

future of houses already built on land too near the beaches, as has happened, for example, in El Palo, Pedregalejo and La Araña. What is going to happen to these houses? The document proposes that these areas be planned all over again, and this will be the opportunity to do it in a rational way, taking the environment into account much more than before. Can the local inhabitants of these areas be sure their houses will not be knocked down?Owners of houses built on public land need not worry; we are working to find a reasonable solution for all concerned. We have much the same situation in areas like Banana Beach in Marbella, the El Castillo area in Manilva, a building belonging to the Unicaja banking group in Arroyo de la Miel and the La Rada Hotel in Estepona. What’s going to happen in these...

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Paul Durant had initially told an English tabloid newspaper that he had eaten his victim after hacking up her corpse.

A British citizen accused of killing and quartering his girlfriend three years ago in Calpe, Alicante, admitted yesterday in court that he had murdered her but said he did not get rid of the body. Paul Durant had initially told an English tabloid newspaper that he had eaten his victim after hacking up her corpse.This is the first time since 1983 that a person has been put on trial for murder without a corpse being found.Paul D. told the judge in Alicante that in February 2004 he killed Karen Durell, a 41-year-old British mother of two who had moved to the resort of Calpe a few months earlier. But he said that after the murder, he left the body "in its place." The accused, who had fled Britain after being sentenced to a 20-year prison term for theft, admitted that he tried to withdraw money...

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Janette May Grocutt, was stabbed to death last Friday by a gang of burglars

A 74 year old British woman, identified by the Foreign Office as Janette May Grocutt, was stabbed to death last Friday by a gang of burglars during a break-in at the home she shared with her bed-ridden husband, Douglas, who was not attacked, but who is now being treated in hospital for stress. The results of the autopsy will confirm suspicions that Mrs Grocutt was killed when she bravely tried to fight off the gang. It seems that the couple moved to Spain from Cornwall around six years ago, and ran a campsite. Mrs Grucott's body was found by a close friend of the family last Friday evening at the couple's home, which is located on a small independent plot surrounded by a metal fence in the village of Paredón, close to the town of Pinoso (pop. approx. 7,350), which, in turn, is located in the...

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Puente Romano and the Marbella Club

The Marbella judge responsible for the Hidalgo money laundering case, Manuel Martín Hernández-Carrillo, has interviewed another five suspects, among them two directors of Marbella’s main hotel group. They are all accused of money laundering and tax fraud, pointed out court sources at the end of last week.Among the five who appeared before the judge last week were the finance director of the group that owns both the Puente Romano and the Marbella Club, the manager of one of these two hotels, a tax consultant connected with the group and a former public notary, explained the same sources. The fifth new Hidalgo suspect is the lawyer Juan Germán Hoffmann, who also faces charges in the Malaya corruption case. Hoffmann, the son of the founder of the Marbella German school of the same name, apparently...

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several concrete blocks chained to his feet.

The body of a 34 year old man, who was reported missing ten days ago, was found last Sunday lunchtime by a fisherman at the bottom of the River Júcar with several concrete blocks chained to his feet. The victim, who was from Cullera, but worked in a meat processing factory in Torrent, was found in an inaccessible spot located roughly halfway between Cullera and Sueca, known locally as 'L'Astut'. Attempts to contact the victim by mobile phone immediately following his disappearance were unsuccessful, and his car was subsequently found parked in the nearby town of Solla...

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30,000 illegally constructed homes in Marbella

The ex Prime Minister, José María Aznar, is now known to have purchased an attic in an illegally built urbanisation in Marbella in 2005. The building, Hoyo 15 in Guadalmina Baja, goes against the 1986 Urban Plan, and is part of an estimated 30,000 illegally constructed homes in Marbel...

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Julián Muñoz deposited a €50,000 euros bail payment

Julián Muñoz deposited a €50,000 euros bail payment pertaining to charges arising from a money-laundering investigation unrelated to the 'Malaya' investigation into property development-related corruption, at Marbella court this morning. On the 21st September, Muñoz's lawyers posted a first bail payment of €50,000 euros pertaining to the 'Malaya' case itself, but their client will remain behind bars for the forseeable future as Muñoz is currently serving two consecutive 12 month sentences having already been convicted as part of the 'Proinsa' and 'Moansa' urban fraud and corruption investigatio...

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Europe's wunderkind

In the late 1980s, Spain had become Europe's wunderkind: its foreign investment ballooned, its 4% cumulative annual growth was the Continent's highest and, with the help of European Community subsidies, it built $30 billion worth of highways and other public works. No longer did Spaniards have to emigrate north for jobs: their income rose to 79% of the E.C. median. Culturally, Spain became fashionable: the campy fantasies of filmmaker Pedro Almodovar; the sunswept abstractions of painter Miguel Barcelo; the postmodern extravaganzas of architect Ricardo Bofill; the prankish sexiness of fashion designer Sybilla. Madrid promoted itself as the eye of a creative tornado known as la movida, whirling all night long. Novelist Camilo Jose Cela won the 1989 Nobel Prize for Literature. "In the 1960s,...

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Overseas investors in the Spanish buy-to-let property market are suffering a double blow, as not only are property prices plummeting in Spain, but now

In spite of the ‘hard times’ currently faced by the Spanish property market, with much talk of over inflated property prices, combined with increasing interest rates; new and established Spanish property owners are being offered a helping hand, to support them through increasing problems with affordability.Several key mortgage products have been developed, offering high loan to values and interest only periods, some even with no early redemption penalties. - 21st August 2007 11:01Spain's property prices show no signs of cooling - In spite of Spain’s reputedly ‘cooling’ property market, statistics show that property prices in Spain are not coming down. Spain's Little Britain - The influx of British tourists and holiday homeowners in Spain is now putting investors off Spanish property according...

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new wireless Internet-access networks

Mijas Mayor Agustín Moreno last week officially launched the town’s new wireless Internet-access networks. A series of WiFi networks provides high-speed wireless access to the rural Osunillas, Valtocado and Entrerríos zones, while a WiMAX network links some 20 municipal offices throughout the town. There are currently 70 pilot users of the rural-areas WiFi networks. The networks have a capacity for up to 60 users in each of the three zones. “This service represents a revolution for the rural areas of Mijas, and will be extended further, with increased capacity,” said the Town Hall in an official statement. The 322,000-euro project for the newly launched wireless networks is part of the Town Hall’s ‘Mijas Digital’ programme for the promotion of new technologies. Other projects under the programme...

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four year prison sentence handed down to the owner of a bar and restaurant which was causing excessive noise

The sentence issued by the Barcelona Provincial Court has now been confirmed by the Supreme Court in SpainThe Supreme Court has confirmed a four year prison sentence handed down to the owner of a bar and restaurant which was causing excessive noise in an area of Barcelona. The high court found the establishment lacking measures demanded by law, and guilty of a crime against natural resources and the environment.The owner will also have to compensate four neighbours with amounts of between 6,000 € and 10,000 €. The Supreme Court thus supports the ruling from the Provincial Court in Barcelo...

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Benalmádena Town Hall will have to compensate a local Dutch family for the noise coming from the Puerto Marina.

The couple have been awarded more than 15,000 € for the noise from bars in the port, which dates back some eight yearsThe case dates back to 1999, but the sentence has only just been announced, ordering the council to pay 15,175€.The Dutch couple purchased a flat in the Marina, with the intention of enjoying the summer there and renting the flat out for the rest of the year, but they say they had to soundproof their home and return the rent to ten people after three pubs opened below them.Eight years after making their complaint to the courts in Málaga, they have now been told they have won the case. The 15,000 € goes to cover the soundproofing costs and to compensate for the rental money retuned to clien...

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The British on the Costa Del Sol

As the first major ethnographic study of British migrants in Spain, The British on the Costa Del Sol is to be welcomed for the light it sheds on an important but hitherto poorly researched subject. It is a valuable addition to the literature on ethnicity and European migration, as well as on tourism in its mass and long-stay forms. As a pleasant bonus, it also happens to be a very enjoyable re...

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They insist that their lives in Spain are good and that no one ever wants to go home, while individuals are choosing to go home every day.

They don't integrate, yet say they do, or that their children do. They construct and reconstruct strong community boundaries yet talk of community as if it includes the Spanish as well as other nationalities. They deny their isolation. They live fun and leisured lives, often denying or understating the work that goes into the construction of community. They insist that their lives in Spain are good and that no one ever wants to go home, while individuals are choosing to go home every day. They deny their boredom and suppress their loneliness as this contradicts the image they wish to portray of a happy, friendly and exciting experienc...

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"Prince of Marbella" because of his opulent lifestyle

Spanish court authorized Friday the extradition of Syrian arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar to the United States on charges of conspiring to provide weapons to Colombian guerrillas. US authorities say Kassar agreed to sell machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, millions of rounds of ammunition and surface-to-air missile systems to the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) between 2006 and May of this year. Prosecutors in New York have charged him with conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a terrorist organization, money laundering, and conspiracy to acquire an anti-aircraft missile and to kill US nationals. Kassar, a longtime resident of Spain, has been in jail since he was arrested on June 8 after flying into Madrid airport on a domestic flight. US...

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Pedro Román

The former deputy mayor of Malaga, Pedro Román, may soon get out of jail, if he comes up with the million-euro bail stipulated by the Provincial Court last week. Román was Jesus Gil’s right hand man during two terms in Marbella Town Hall. Earlier in the week, the Attorney General had refused to let out Román or Juan Antonio Roca - the alleged mastermind behind Marbella’s Malaya case because of the risk of flight and destruction of evidence. However, the Malaga court took into account the fact that Román had returned voluntarily from Switzerland to face the charges of corruption brought against him. It also said there was little evidence not already in the hands of the police and courts and therefore there was nothing left to destroy. It is the highest bail imposed so far in the Malaya ca...

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Disco Inferno, is the 70's / 80's bar

Disco Inferno, is the 70's / 80's bar, in my opinion its one of the best places to go in the port as it is the least pretencious.Must also mention that Sean Connery does not have a yacht in the port, this one of Marbella's oldest tales......All of the large yachts are Arab owed and derive from oil money, simple as that!Also, if you do happen to want to watch any sports whilst your staying, I recommend a bar called Bar Cheers, it became my Spanish local (no lager louts) its between Puerto Banus and San Pedro (only 5€ taxi from Puerto Ban...

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Best Bars in Puerto Banus

Best Bars in Puerto BanusFor hotties & beautiful people Sinatras Bar in Puerto Banus - small bar, gud funky music2 bars either side of Sinatras which are full of our age group - also very gud...Linkers is a fun bar but younger and is located the street behind Sinatras...a small skinny cobbled stoned street full of bars, mini clubs and pizza take outs etc....parisien feel to this street actually!Glam is the name of a good nite club, its big with a price tag of 20euros admission (includes 1 drink), at main Roundabout beside taxi rank - open til 6amOlivia Valiere is my favourite night club- bit like American spirit however its 60euros admission and 20 euros for 1 vodka & coke is an expensive night out - unsure of your budget?Do note its expensive to sit beside dance floor- most expensive...

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case regarded by many as the most significant of its kind in Spanish legal history

THE massive sum of 600,000 euros has been demanded in return for the temporary freedom of Fernando del Valle in the Marbella money-laundering case which occurred last March. The family of the Chilean-born lawyer, accused of being the mastermind behind the 250 million euro fraud, are now attempting to secure the bond which will lead to his release from the prison in Albolote, Granada. His lawyer, Javier Núñez, admitted that it would not be easy raising the money, a previous attempt to win bail through presentation of his assets having been rejected. In a case regarded by many as the most significant of its kind in Spanish legal history, 50 arrests have so far been made, including a large number of multi-national, high-profile individuals, many of whom are lawy...

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List of developments affected by compensations in Marbella area

Playa de Río Verde. 21 inhabitated dwellings in street Carlos Ponsac. Must hand over 26% of it’s land.Hacienda Los Caballeros. Residential dwellings. Must hand over 30% of its plot of land.Urb. La Trinidad. 116 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute 37% of it’s land.Villa Parra Palomera. 119 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute 46% of it’s land.Los Manchones Altos. Detached inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute 37% of its land.Hotel NH Alanda. Must contribute its own plot of land.Llanos de Nagüeles. Detached inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute 38% of it’s plot of land.Cascada de Camoján. 14 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute 47% of it’s land.Monte Paraíso. Arroyo Guadalpín. Residential gated complex. Must contribute 51% of its land. Viña del Marfil. Detached dwellings. Must contribute...

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developments in Marbella, more than 100, affected by town hall compensations due to planning illegalities.MARBELLA AREA

La Concha. 376 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute to the town hall with 6.645 m2 of a plot of land north of the bull ring with industrial warehouses in use.Parque Miraflores. 576 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute over 9.406 m2 of a plot of land north of the bull ring with industrial warehouses in use.Edificio Belmonsa. 110 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute 1.774 m2 of a plot of land north of the bull ring with industrial warehouses in use.Edificio Plaza. 335 inhabitated dwellings. Must contribute it’s own land plus 5.003 m2 of a plot of land north of the bull ring with industrial warehouses in use.Edificios Puerta Grande. 190 inhabitated dwellings. Must hand over 60% of this land to the town hall plus 13.300 m2 of a plot of land where the McDonald’s in road to Ojén is located...

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tornadoes have been reported out to sea

An English woman thought to be in her thirties died earlier today when she was swept away by a wall of flood water after stepping out of the car she was travelling in. The incident occurred at around midday on the Son Serralta residential estate in Puipunyent on Mallorca. The victim's boyfriend and their baby were rescued uninjured from inside the vehicle. With torrential rains affecting all the Balearic Islands since last night, the regional government has informed that tornadoes have been reported out to sea. Consequently, orange level alerts have been issued for Mallorca, Ibiza, and Formentera while Menorca is on yellow ale...

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arrested the director of a Gibraltar-based bank

National Police officers have arrested the director of a Gibraltar-based banking agency for his alleged involvement in the Marbella money laundering scam. He is accused of chanelling money into the south of Spain from Russia via Holland. According to a police source, the man, who used to manage a banking office in Marbella, was arrested on the La Alcaidesa residential estate located between Concepción and San Roque, which is one of 251 properties confiscated by police in the first phase of the operation. So far, a total of 48 people have been arrested in the investigation which is code-named "Operation White Whal...

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A British man, Harvey Jeffrey L, arrested last Saturday as part of the "White Whale" money laundering investigation

A British man, Harvey Jeffrey L, arrested last Saturday as part of the "White Whale" money laundering investigation, has been jailed by judge Miguel Angel Torres after an appearance this afternoon at Marbella municipal court. His wife, who was also arrested at the weekend, was allowed to go and no charges were brought against her. Both are suspected of swindling fellow Brits out of hundreds of thousands of euros since setting up a business at the end of 2001, which is being investigated as part of a wider investigation into a money laundering operation thought to be run from the Del Valle law firm based in Marbel...

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dramatic drop in the amount of building going on in the province

Malaga’s Official College of Architects has revealed that there’s been a dramatic drop in the amount of building going on in the province. The College approves the architectural plans for new buildings, so sees first-hand the volume of building work to be undertaken. In the first six months of last year, plans for 25,175 new homes were approved; this year that figure slumped by 34.5% to 16,477. The western end of the province has seen the biggest drop, with house approvals down by over 50%. Apartment building is also affected, with all areas on the eastern Costa del Sol showing a drop in the number of plans approved. In inland Malaga, the number of approved plans is risi...

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561 “illegal” building permits

The Junta de Andalucia announced last Friday that it will take Marbella Town Council to court if it does not revise 561 “illegal” building permits issued under former mayor Jesus Gil and his successors. Earlier last week, the council announced it was going to “wipe the slate clean and start again” and would not revise any more illegal licences. A council spokesman said annulling the urban permits and agreements of the so-called Gil and post-Gil years would result in many claims for compensation that the council would not be able to sett...

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A spokesman said sales had dropped 15% this year because tourists had a lower

The Association of Small and Medium-sized Companies of Marbella and San Pedro Alcantara (Apymem) said it expected that between 115 and 130 businesses will close down this autumn.A spokesman said sales had dropped 15% this year because tourists had a lower purchasing power than in the past and therefore spent less. He also said the small and medium-sized businesses simply could not compete with the big shopping centres. Apymem has also asked the council to give provisional licences to 800 companies which are located in illegal buildin...

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kidnapping an Englishman

Police arrested a Dutch citizen in Alhaurin de la Torre last week and charged him with kidnapping an Englishman who worked for him as chauffeur. The latter started work on June 19th but was forced to work increasingly longer hours until he was finally forbidden to go anywhere unless accompanied by his employer or one of his sons. The Dutchman also held on to his documents. The Englishman managed to give the family the slip during a visit to Torremolinos at the beginning of this month and made his way to Otura in Granada province, where he contacted the Local Pol...

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Overcrowding at the Alhaurin de la Torre jail as “scandalous”.

The Comisiones Obreros (CC.OO) trade union has described the overcrowding at the Alhaurin de la Torre jail as “scandalous”. It is the second worst prison in Andalucia, with a population of 1,846, that is, 1,000 more than it was originally built for. Only the jail in Albolote,, Granada province, is more overcrowded, with 1,883 prisone...

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radars installed in helicopters

Those little devices that warn drivers they are approaching speed radars will soon be made obsolete when the Traffic Authority implements its new method of hunting down speed hogs - by radars installed in helicopters. And Malaga will be one of the first provinces to get the service. The helicopters can nail cars with accuracy from a height of 300 metres and at a distance of one kilomet...

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largest open-air cannabis plantation

The National Police in Seville revealed last week that they had discovered the largest open-air cannabis plantation near the town of Dos Hermanas found in Andalucia to date. The police had been investigating a suspected drug trafficker in the town during the course of which they picked up a South American couple who were acting suspiciously. A search of the couple’s house turned up the address of a finca. When the police visited it, they found what they called a cannabis plantation covering just over 1,000m2 of la...

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Four people died, three of them instantly

Four people died, three of them instantly, when the driver of the car they were travelling in from Madrid to San Pedro Alcántara tried to make an illegal turn on the highway in the early hours of Wednesday morning, just as they were arriving at their destination. The car they were in crashed into a taxi which was travelling in the same direction. A Spanish woman and her daughter, who was driving the car, and the baby of the third woman, a 22-year-old Paraguayan, died in the crash. The latter died a few hours later in hospital. It was the worst crash in Andalucia so far this ye...

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massages on the town’s beaches

In a joint operation, the National and Local Police in Marbella arrested 17 Chineses nationals last week for giving massages on the town’s beaches without the necessary licences. Two of them were illegally in the country and are in the process of being expelled. The other 15 have their papers in order and were released without charges. A Town Hall spokesman said the operation formed part of this year’s Beach Safety Plan and warned people they were putting their health at risk when they accepted the services of the beach “masseur...

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seven fixed radar are to be installed on the roads of Malaga province by the end of the year

The Central Traffic Authority in Madrid announced last week that another seven fixed radar are to be installed on the roads of Malaga province by the end of the year. There are currently four on the A-7 motorway, two on the A-45 and one on the A-357. The new ones will be installed at “black spots” on secondary roads. Since the system was installed a year ago, average speeds are down from 93 kph to 90.7 for light vehicles, and from 86 kph to 85.4 for the heavier vehicles. Road deaths are also down 2...

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el camino de los ingleses

Antonio Banderas made a film a few months ago called “El Camino de los Ingleses”, the Englishmen’s road. Many people must have wondered about this “road”, which does exist. It all started when George William Grice-Hutchinson, a London lawyer, bought a finca in the Churriana area in 1926. He was very kind to the local people who worked for him, as a well as those who didn’t. When the Civil War broke out in 1936, Grice-Hutchinson helped 80 people escape the wrath of the Republican militia in Malaga, taking them on his yacht Honey Bee to Gibraltar. After Franco’s troops took the area, Grice-Hutchinson then helped many Republicans to escape. After the war, when the area was ravaged by famine and disease, the Grice-Hutchinson family shared out a considerable sum of money - 12,000 pesetas, which...

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nights out

According to restaurant and bar owners, the first cut made by families affected by higher mortgage interest rates are their nights out. Discotheques and bars report an average drop in sales of 20% in the past eight months. Restaurants report that clients study the prices more closely and tend to opt for the cheaper dishes. Many mortgage payers are foregoing their lunches out and take food to work in what they call “tupper”. One said he and his family hadn’t even visited McDonalds in the past five months. Another said a trip to the cinema was now considered an exciting night out. Malaga’s Catering Industry Association said the number of bars and restaurants in the province was dropping steadily. He said that while tourist areas like the Costa del Sol are particularly vulnerable, the situation...

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Beachgoers who smoke can heave a sigh of relief

Beachgoers who smoke can heave a sigh of relief. The Junta de Andalucia announced last week that it would not be banning smoking on the beach, after Health Minister Bernat Soria had said the government was studying the possibility of banning smoking in open spaces such as beaches. However, he said law regional governments and local councils will have the last word. Smoking has already been banned on one beach in Catalonia but no other costal town seems in a hurry to follow that examp...

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illegal use of water during the first six months of this year

Of the 589 cases opened by Andalucian Water Agency involving the illegal use of water during the first six months of this year, 251 pertained to Malaga, making the province the leader in water abuse. The cases range from illegal sinking of wells and tapping into the municipal water supply to abandoning old vehicles in streams, using them as rubbish dumps or cementing over them. Fines for irregularities involving water range from 600 to 30,000 euros. The Agency is also reminding users of underground water it is now compulsory to install water metr...

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drug trafficking is a major issue in Cádiz

police figures indicating that 77 per cent of all hashish seized in Spain is confiscated in the province of Andulcia, has called upon the Government to carry out a major campaign against drug trafficking. The provincial government agrees that drug trafficking is a major issue in Cádiz and in Andalucía as a whole, and indicates that it is already utilising multiple resources to combat the probl...

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EU residents in Spain

A new legislation has done away with the requirement of residence cards for EU residents in Spain. European Union citizens will no longer be issued with residence cards. The new decree was approved on the 16th of February 2007 by the Spanish council of Ministers and will take effect on the 28th of March 2007.It requires all EU citizens planning to reside in Spain for longer than 3 months to register in person at the Foreigners office in their province of residence or at designated police stations. They will be issued a certificate stating their name, address, nationality, identity number and date of registration. Those EU citizens who already have residence cards in Spain will not need to re-register until their residence card expires upon which they will be issued with a certificate. The...

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“The number of people looking to set up a business in Spain is increasing all the time,” his department gets 1,500 enquiries a year. Over the last fiv

Emigration gets easier every day and is, thanks to cheap flights and the internet, not that drastic anymore as it used to be. 320 days a year of sunshine, inviting beaches no more traffic jams and piece of quiet. Jose Morillo, Director of investment at the Spanish embassy stated “The number of people looking to set up a business in Spain is increasing all the time,” his department gets 1,500 enquiries a year. Over the last five years, GDP growth in Spain has been 68% above the European Union average. Setting up a business in Spain is straightforward, but it can be time consuming obtaining the correct forms and licences. Facts & Figures “500 Brits leave UK every day. Spain is number one choice in Europe for Brits to live abroad.” Five hundred Britons are leaving the UK every day to find...

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Brits fleeing the UK

BRITS are leaving the UK in their thousands in search of a better life abroad. Another Brit leaves every three minutes, the Institute for Public Policy Research has estimated. Former immigration control officer Liam Clifford set up globalvisas.com, a visa consultancy firm, 12 years ago. This year, he has seen a 400 per cent increase in enquiries for visas to countries such as Australia and Canada. He says: “One of the reasons people cite is over-stretched public services in the UK. A lot of the time the trigger is that children are coming up for school age and they are going to be affected by crime and education issues.“Because of immigration, even rural villages are now overstretched so people can’t just move out of the city any more. “People don’t want to be seen as racist, but they feel...

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Illegal betting on the Costa del Sol bars uncovered in a National Police operation

Illegal betting on the Costa del Sol bars uncovered in a National Police operation news date: Monday, April 02, 2007National Police officers from the eight Andalusian provinces have broken up an illegal betting network which was operating in bars on the Costa del Sol run by British citizens.Around 30 people are implicated and they could face fines of between 30,000 and 300,000 euros.Police discovered that illegal betting was taking place in seven bars: four in Benalmadena, two in Fuengirola and one in Torremolin...

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