La Manga Club in Murcia filed for bankruptcy protection

La Manga Club in Murcia filed for bankruptcy protection. Owned by George Soris’s company MedGroup, the company says that they will continue to trade, but will take ‘very strong measures’ to make the company viable.They purchased the club from P&O for 102 million pounds in 2004. It includes three golf courses, 28 tennis courts, 8 football pitches, a spa, 1,800 private villas and apartments, and a 5 star Hyatt Regency hotel. It’s one of the most complete tourist complexes in Spain and one of the best in Europe, and currently employs 700 workers.The Concurso Voluntario de Acreedores was placed in the mercantile court in Murcia, but the judge...

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severe fall-off in bookings is alarming tourist authorities and businesses.

The severe fall-off in bookings is alarming tourist authorities and businesses. Figures from the Spanish tourist industry reveal that the number of Britons who visited Spain in November, for example, was down by 15% on 2007. The fall has closely tracked the decreasing value of the pound. Britons began to turn their backs on Spain in September, when numbers were down 5%, reaching 7% in October. Last month's dramatic decline came after the pound had lost 25% of its value against the euro in a year. With the pound and the euro now apparently heading for parity, tourist authorities fear that worse will come ? with the all-important summer season...

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arrest of 20 members of a suspected international counterfeit money distribution network, operating in Spain and Portugal.

code-named ‘Margarita-Kuskus,’ in Alicante, Valencia, Murcia, Malaga, Almeria and Lugo provinces, has led to the arrest of 20 members of a suspected international counterfeit money distribution network, operating in Spain and Portugal. The operation, carried out in collaboration with the European Union's criminal intelligence agency (Europol), also resulted in the seizure of 150,000 fake euros in 50 and 20 euro denominations destined for distribution in Spain. The investigation was launched toward the end of last year after in increase in false bank notes was detected in circulation in Alicante and Lugo Provinces. Given that the modus operandi...

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purple €500 notes are so rarely seen that they have earned the nickname “Bin Ladens”.

Spain is estimated to have one of the biggest black economies in Europe, accounting for between 20 and 23% of annual GDP. Spanish tax authorities are investigating 12,000 big transactions involving €500 notes.It is, perhaps, the strangest idea yet for pumping extra liquidity into Europe’s troubled banking system. Spanish officials were yesterday reported to be looking for ways of encouraging Spaniards to remove the estimated 108m €500 notes they have hoarded in safes or under floorboards and take them to the bank. That averages out to at least two per Spaniard, or a total of €54bn, circulating outside the country’s banking system.A combination...

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Fortuna Land scam was run out of offices on the Costa del Sol using companies registered in places like Cyprus and Delaware (USA).

The Spanish land investment scam run for years by Fortuna Estates has finally been busted, with the Spanish fraud squad swooping last week on several office in Mijas and Fuengirola, arresting at least 2 people, and questioning 20 others. This could be one of the biggest Spanish property scams to date, with hundreds, if not thousands of British and Irish victims. The Spanish authorities estimate that Fortuna Estates made at least 65 million Euros out of this fraud.Still under official secrecy orders, the police have released few details about “Operation Fuentespino”, but the Spanish press reports that there could be more than 2,000 victims, mainly...

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Death of the Beach Bars,500 bars and restaurants in the Malaga province alone have been built on the sand in contravention to planning regulations

Coastal authority of Andalusia has announced plans to enforce a 1988 law designed to prevent construction within 100 yards of the waterline. An estimated 500 bars and restaurants in the Malaga province alone have been built on the sand in contravention to planning regulations, authorities claim. Around 300 of them will be forced to close when their concessions end next year. Javier Hermoso, the chief of beaches on the eastern Costa del Sol, said closing the bars and clearing the coastline had become his main objective since taking office in September. "It will be a long complicated process because nothing has been enforced for 20 years," he told...

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Google has started to take 360 degree photos of the city of Málaga as part of the internet portal’s Street View program.

Google has started to take 360 degree photos of the city of Málaga as part of the internet portal’s Street View program.A car covered in cameras has been seen taking the photos which will shortly appear on the internet.Street View was named as the most innovative product of 2007 by Time magazine, and reports are that Google are currently also filming in seven other Spanish cities, Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia, Galicia, Salamanca and Bilbao.Some may consider Street View more evidence of Google’s dominance of the net, while others may have privacy issu...

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residents on the Ana Maria 2 find dead body hanging from a tree only a few metres from their front doors

horrified residents on the Ana Maria 2 urbanisation in Calypso awoke to find a dead body hanging from a tree only a few metres from their front doors. The man, in his 30s, appears to have committed suicide, by hanging himself by the neck from a lower branch. One local resident said: “At 8.30, my wife walked with me to the front gate when I was leaving for work. “We noticed that the Guardia Civil had blocked off the road a little further up the hill. We were then horrified to see a body hanging from a tree only a few metres from the front of our house. “My wife burst into tears and I must admit that I felt shaken, too. We went back inside our...

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Town of San Miguel de Salinas are in a state of shock after its cemetery was vandalised, graves robbed and coffins removed from their niches.

Town of San Miguel de Salinas are in a state of shock after its cemetery was vandalised, graves robbed and coffins removed from their niches. This was the appalling scene of desecration that greeted the caretaker of the graveyard when he arrived to open the gates as usual at 8.30 in the morning. He discovered that one of the niches had been tampered with but had not been opened, while another one had been opened and the coffin removed. The coffin had been placed upright against the wall, with the body still inside. It was obvious that the clothing of the deceased had been searched for any objects of value. The robbers had also removed two receptacles...

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Police are reported to be investigating possible links between the shooting of a British man in Calle Ramón Areces in Puerto Banús on Wednesday night,

The victim in the Puerto Banús shooting has been confirmed to be British and is in hospital in a serious but stable condition after being shot five times. Police are reported to be investigating possible links between the shooting of a British man in Calle Ramón Areces in Puerto Banús on Wednesday night, with an earlier shooting incident at the Nikki Beach discotec.They think the British victim of the latest shooting, named with the initials M.H. could be linked to those who took part in the shooting at Nikki Beach. He remains in a serious by stable condition in hospital after being shot five times including to his right eye, right arm, right...

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Málaga man has been arrested by the police for growing marihuana plants on his terrace.

27 year old Málaga man has been arrested by the police for growing marihuana plants on his terrace. Police seized 40 kilos of the plants and say that they were being grown also in two rooms of the property where as many as 14 time switches controlled heaters, ventilators and automatic watering systems.The arrested man is reported to have been running a seed business and the raid came after an anonymous tip-off to the poli...

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Two British men have been arrested in Spain for alleged drugs offences, the Foreign Office has said.

Two British men have been arrested in Spain for alleged drugs offences, the Foreign Office has said. It confirmed Brian Deans - thought to be from Dundee - and Dean Hinton, from Northampton, were arrested in Alicante on 12 September. The Foreign Office said consular assistance was being provided. But it could not confirm reports that the arrests followed a seizure of more than 350kg of cannabis, a spokeswoman went on to s...

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28 kilograms (61.6 pounds) of cocaine had been carefully tucked inside the frame rails of a 1947 Chevrolet Stylemaster sedan.

Had it not been for an anonymous tip, it's likely the bad guys in this latest real-life drama would have gotten away. The 28 kilograms (61.6 pounds) of cocaine had been carefully tucked inside the frame rails of a 1947 Chevrolet Stylemaster sedan. "Drug dogs couldn't detect anything" when passing by the vehicle, said Claude Catto, head of the interregional judicial police in Lyon, according to local news reports. Loaded into a large shipping container, the car and its secret cargo had already passed undetected through ports in Chile, Spain, Fos-sur-Mer, France, and finally Lyon. Customs documents revealed that the container and the car originated...

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22-year-old man originally from Colombia is fighting for his life after a dramatic chase down the A-31 that ended in Alicante city centre

22-year-old man originally from Colombia is fighting for his life after a dramatic chase down the A-31 that ended in Alicante city centre in a collision with a National Police patrol car. The drama began at around 9am yesterday morning when Guardia Civil officers in Villena spotted the man arguing violently with a woman, now believed to be his sister. When they tried to intervene, the man got in his car, speeding off down the twisty A-31 freeway towards Alicante city centre, before ploughing into a police roadblock on the Avenida de Elche, near the old flour mill. He was taken by ambulance to Alicante General Hospital, where he is reported to...

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Nearly 30% of Spain is in the process of becoming desert

Nearly 30% of Spain is in the process of becoming desert, according to a report by Adena, Spain's branch of the World Wildlife Fund."We have tried to raise the alarm, before everything goes to hell," said Oliveros, from the Toledo office of Ecologists in Action, Spain's largest consortium of environmentalist groups.Fueled by corruption, speculation and a hot market that only recently cooled, vast patches of regions such as Castilla-La Mancha are...

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Princes House purchase price includes curtains and furniture and a pink car.

Located in the hills above the New Golden Mile, only a 5 minutes drive away from San Pedro, surrounded by different golf courses and only 10 minutes away from Puerto Banus and a couple of minutes away from the beach with many beach restaurants. This most elegant high standard property, perched over the valley enjoys fantastic sea views and is situated in a magnificent private park-like garden with the most beautiful subtropical trees and flowers,...

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22 hotels in Lanzarote declared illegal by the Supreme Court of the Canary Islands still face an uncertain future.

22 hotels in Lanzarote declared illegal by the Supreme Court of the Canary Islands still face an uncertain future. As the controversy over their fate continues. Some of Lanzarote´s best known hotels are in the firing line, such as the five star Gran Melia Volcan in Playa Blanca, the Natura Palace and the Gran Castillo. In total eight five star hotels, ten Apart-hotels and four new developments still in the planning stage have been decreed to have flouted an edict controlling construction on the island. Which was created back in 2000 to militate againstunfettered building work.However two local councils essentially chose to ignore these new...

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Half of the 165 passengers on an Air Europa flight from Tenerife to Salamanca Wednesday refused to travel in the Boeing 737-800 aircraft

Half of the 165 passengers on an Air Europa flight from Tenerife to Salamanca Wednesday refused to travel in the Boeing 737-800 aircraft after the pilot informed them about a fault in the antifreeze valve before takeoff. The Air Europa plane was preparing for takeoff when the captain informed the passengers of the fault. He said the plane would change its route and fly to Madrid, where passengers would board another flight to Salamanca. Eighty-seven passengers demanded to be allowed off the aircraft while the remaining passengers continued to Madrid on the original Boeing 737-800. Meanwhile, the passengers who had gotten off the plane had to...

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Mother of missing Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick met Taoiseach Brian Cowen

Taoiseach Brian Cowen met the mother of missing Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick this afternoon.The 16-year-old disappeared after leaving a friend's house at about 10pm on January 1st to walk to her home on the Costa del Sol in Spain.Her mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, and her partner, Dave Mahon, met Mr Cowen at Government Buildings for half an hour during which they updated him on the investigation.A spokesman for the Taoiseach said Mr Cowen offered the...

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Tambovskaya branch of the Mafia makes it's money from a network of criminals in Russia

The Spanish Anticorruption 'Bureau' has asked its counterpart in Portugal for collaboration in investigating the presence and actions of the Russian Mafia operating on Madeira, and suspected of stripping profits and / or laundering money in the 'Zona Franca', the tax protected business community. The Tambovskaya branch of the Mafia makes it's money from a network of criminals in Russia, and last June in Spain 20 members of the gang were arrested in Spain and charged with numerous offences including money-laundering, murder, extortion, drug dealing, illicit association, falsification of documents and tax fra...

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Owners of a jewellery store have been robbed three times in the past year

Owners of a jewellery store located on a busy corner opposite the Mosque in Cordoba have installed so many anti-robbery devices that it now looks like a fortress. The store has been robbed three times in the past year, twice by having a car driven into the window. On the third occasion the thieves smashed the window with a drain grill. In addition to the usual burglar alarm and "thief-proof" locks, bullet-proof unbreakable glass was installed last week, as well solid iron beams across the windows to stop the cars. The owner said the store had never been robbed during opening hours, only at night, but with all that extra protection, the thieves...

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Thirty robberies at chemists shops in Málaga province

Thirty robberies at chemists shops in Málaga province, and the authorities are so concerned about the situation that the police have drawn up a special plan to try to give better protection to the chemists and their staff. Working in conjunction with the College of Pharmacists, which is to provide the addresses and phone numbers of every one of the 600 shops, police all over the province will now change their patrol routes to include all the streets in which pharmacies are located, and hope that this will dissuade would-be robbers as well as providing reassurance to the staff. The police will give talks about possible security measures and what...

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“The drums of crisis have started to roll,” says the vice-chairman of the Alliance for Tourism Excellence, Jose Luis Zoreda. “The outlook is stormy."

Holidaymakers affected by the growing credit crunch have deserted Benidorm, as Spain’s traditionally strong and resilient tourist industry sees a downturn during the peak season.Visitor numbers to beach resorts along Spain’s Costa del Sol dropped by eight per cent in July, as the government makes a pledge of €500 million to upgrade facilities.This unprecedented decrease in foreign visitor numbers in July has meant deserted bars, empty sun loungers and highly-discounted offers extending the length of the Costa del Sol, and has sent a warning signal throughout the industry.“The drums of crisis have started to roll,” says the vice-chairman of the...

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Expats with a past

John `The Coach' Traynor (52)Traynor strenuously denies allegations that he set up crime reporter Veronica Guerin for her murder.Garda and criminal sources allege that Traynor travels regularly between southern Spain, Amsterdam and Brussels to organise large-scale cannabis deals. Traynor, a former fraudster and associate of `The General', Martin Cahill, is believed to have made and spent a fortune from his involvement in the hash trade between 1994 and October 1996. In a phone interview with this reporter he denied that he had any part in Guerin's death.Peter Mitchell (33)Mitchell, from Dublin's north inner city, was alleged during two trials...

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Sunday saw the celebration of the Día Sin Bañador, day without the bathing costume, organised by the Spanish Nudist Federation.

Sunday saw the celebration of the Día Sin Bañador, day without the bathing costume, organised by the Spanish Nudist Federation.The federation is made up of 14 nudist associations from across the country but the day was particularly successful in Asturias and Cataluña where many took off their clothes in demand that nudist and non-nudist beaches no longer be separa...

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Costa del Sol has turned into the Costa del Gloom.

Adding to Spain’s economic problems, the Costa del Sol has turned into the Costa del Gloom. The sun still shines, but the economic storm clouds have been gathering for some time and are now raining on the property developers’ parade. Holiday and retirement homes that once looked like sure shot investments are now dropping in value. Apartments, often bought by speculators, have fallen in value by a third in the last year. Their owners – many from elsewhere in Europe – want to sell, but with mortgages difficult to get, there are few buyers.More and more building projects are being put on hold, although the infrastructure is in place the homes will...

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prices are falling, buyers are disappearing and developers, starved of loans by Spanish banks nervous about international financial instability

prices are falling, buyers are disappearing and developers, starved of loans by Spanish banks nervous about international financial instability, are going bust. the Costas, developments lie half-finished, without water and electricity, and without any prospect of being sold.For Spain's notoriously corrupt and capricious planning regime, which gave birth to the developments now disfiguring virtually all the country's Mediterranean coastline, the chickens are coming home to roost. Houses built on the nod of corrupt mayors are being refused retrospective planning permission by regional administrations under pressure from the green lobby. Many properties,...

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former wife of BBVA executive, Andrés Toro Barea, who was murdered in Bollullos de la Mitación (Sevilla) last June, may have used a relative's gun

former wife of BBVA executive, Andrés Toro Barea, who was murdered in Bollullos de la Mitación (Sevilla) last June, may have used a relative's gun to commit the crime. NRCS, who had separated from her former husband several months before his murder, was arrested last Tuesday and remanded into preventive custody following a preliminary court hearing two days later. Mr Toro's body was found on June 16th by colleagues concerned that he had not turned...

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Figures from the Spanish tourist board show the number of Brits holidaying in Spain in the second quarter to June fell by 5 per cent

Figures from the Spanish tourist board show the number of Brits holidaying in Spain in the second quarter to June fell by 5 per cent compared to last year. Overall, the number of visitors to Spain was down 0.7 per cent. Of course, the British love affair with Iberia has not ended yet - Spain is still our favourite holiday destination, attracting about 12 million visitors each year. But the effect of the credit crunch, combined with the strength of the euro and the choice of cheaper destinations, has led many British tourists to say 'adiós España'. Others believe the British may also be tiring of the Spanish formula of sun, sand, sea and sangría....

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Come visit Spain, the European point of entry for cocaine

A study of randomly selected Spanish euro notes carried out by chemists at the University of Valencia (UV) has shown that they contained traces of cocaine at an average concentration of 155 micrograms, which is the highest rate in Europe, according to an article published in the latest issue of Trends in Analytical Chemistry. The researchers also carried out a comparative study of the methods currently used in detecting the presence of cocaine on bank notes worldwide.It may seem like an odd marketing campaign but "Come visit Spain, the European point of entry for cocaine" remains apt.Spanish Money Contains Higher Traces Of Cocaine Than Any Other...

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30 year old grape farmer from Villanueva de Alcardate (Toledo) found dead last night, died of heat stroke.

30 year old grape farmer from Villanueva de Alcardate (Toledo) found dead last night, died of heat stroke. According to local mayor, Jorge Luis Garrido, the dead man, Pedro Pablo MP, left for his vineyard at around 5pm yesterday afternoon to install a new irrigation system. After he failed to return by nightfall, his father and brother went out to look for him, but only managed to find his car. After Local Police and Guardia Civil officers joined the hunt, Pedro was eventually found at around 11.30pm. Maximum temperatures in the Castilla La Mancha region soared above 40ºC yesterday, and the heatwave is expected to last for a few more days at...

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Police in Mallorca investigating sunbathers death

Police in Mallorca are investigating whether a 29 year old Bulgarian man who passed away in Son Llàtzer Hospital last Tuesday, died as a result of heat or sunstroke. Vladimir suffered severe sunburns last Saturday on Cala Major beach in Palma. The alarm was raised by a lifeguard who noticed that the man had not moved for several hours. Police are not ruling out the possibility that the man might have worn himself out while bathing, and fallen asleep after reaching the bea...

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Ryanair said that its winter cost cutting programme is going to hit Majorca.

Spanish airline industry was rocked by the announcement by the Palma-based airline Spanair that it plans to shed a third of its workforce, Ireland low-cost carrier Ryanair said that its winter cost cutting programme is going to hit Majorca.While Ryanair has a number of new routes planned out of its Palma hub for December, it will first be suspending all its Palma operations between November 4 and December 19.Ryanair sources explained yesterday that while it is having to battle rising operating costs at Stansted Airport (see Business) the combination of rising fuel prices and Palma being one of the most expensive airports to operate from in Spain...

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100kg of coc aimne were stolen from police headquarters and replaced with talcum powder

Police in Seville have been left red-faced after more than 100kg of drugs were stolen from police headquarters and replaced with talcum powder, a spokesman said.The missing drugs, amounting to 95% of the cocaine seized in police operations, would be worth about five million euros on the black market. All the signs are that the thief or thieves who took the drugs were regular visitors, and might even be police officers themselves as there was no sign of the door having been forced.According to the newspaper El Pais, the keys were usually kept by the head of Seville’s organised crime unit, although he sometimes handed them over to other officers.Seville...

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British man threatened members of a gypsy clan known locally as ‘Los Pertolos’ which, according to the court, is well known for its acts of violence.

Married couple have been sentenced to four years in prison by Almeria Provincial Court for extorting money and the ownership of a car from a British man living in Arboleas. The couple, aged 41 and 46, are members of a gypsy clan known locally as ‘Los Pertolos’ which, according to the court, is well known for its acts of violence. The couple threatened the British man, who ran an estate agent’s business in the Arboleas area, showing him a pistol which they told him had “already been used to kill a person” and telling him at the same time that they could “become enemies”. Later they went to the man’s home where other unidentified members of the...

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Expat living in Calpe will be extradited if found guilty of a massive robbery

Expat living in Calpe will be extradited if found guilty of a massive robbery in his home country. The 60-year-old German national is said to have an international arrest warrant hanging over him in connection with a raid on a supermarket in the town of Herne. Guardia Civil officers say criminal damage to the value of 2,200€ was caused and around 30,000€’s worth of goods stolen during the theft in May 2005. The accused has been transferred to the national court in Madrid for trial following his arrest at the weeke...

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Miguel Merida Gallardo old time Bandido

Miguel Merida Gallardo, a minor thief wanted for around 100 robberies in 1994, followed the example of the Maquis – the Spanish resistance to Franco - and lived in caves for 14 years, subsisting on food and supplies stolen from market gardens and farmsteads. He was last heard of in Baena (Cordoba) in February 1994 and reappeared on July 13 2008 in Alcaudete (Jaen) after a suspicious resident reported him to the PolicÌa Local. Miguel Merida, now aged 48, had two principal “residences” – a cave in Luque (Cordoba) and another in Alcaudete where he kept provisions that included tinned food and a battery-operated television. After being released on...

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The biggest corporate failure in Spanish history, Martinsa-Fadesa on Tuesday filed a petition for court administration after accumulating debts of EUR

the biggest corporate failure in Spanish history, Martinsa-Fadesa on Tuesday filed a petition for court administration after accumulating debts of EUR 7 billion.Anecdotal evidence apart - the number of creditors affected in this recourse to court administration is the largest in Spanish economic history - the disaster is clearly due to the profound recession that the Spanish property market is now going through, after two decades of the real estate bubble, in which building companies embarked on a dizzy spiral of indebtedness and excessive construction.They believed that they were looking at an endless party, but they have now come up against...

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ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz six month prison sentence

The Provincial Court in Málaga has confirmed the six month prison sentence handed down against the ex Mayor of Marbella, Julián Muñoz and five GIL party councillors, Rafael González, Manuel Calle, Mario Jiménez, Marisa Alcalá and José Marino Pomares, for real estate corruption in the Incopromar case. The group of six were also banned from holding public office for seven years in the case which came as a result of a licence being given to the Incopromar company to build 68 homes, shops and parking on land not classified for building in the Avenida del Mar in the to...

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Mijas Costa bridge came down when a crane got caught underneath it, and the blocked A7 motorway caused traffic chaos for the rest of the evening,

Four of the six injured in the accident caused by the collapse of a pedestrian bridge over the A7 motorway in Mijas Costa on Monday afternoon have been allowed home from hospital, while the two men who were in the first car which was crushed by the falling bridge remain in a serious but stable condition in the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella. The men aged 44 and 30 had to be rescued from the remains of their crushed vehicle by fire-crews. One...

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British holidaymaker Mark Day,has died after falling 40ft from a hotel during a forfeit for losing a game of poker.

British holidaymaker has died after falling 40ft from a hotel during a forfeit for losing a game of poker. Mark Day, 20, plunged to his death in a freak accident on Sunday night during a holiday with university friends at the three-star Majorca Beach Hotel in the resort of Magalluf. Police sources revealed that after losing a game of cards he was dared to strip off and run along a hotel corridor in just his socks and underpants. But he lost his balance at the end of the passageway and smashed through a fifth-floor window, falling to concrete below. He was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics shortly after 8pm. Mr Day's friends, Marc Smart...

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Fraudsters: Evangelia Liogka and Christakis Philippou conned thousands of people into buying their 'bargain holidays'

Accountant Timothy Entwistle, 57, who lived in an 11-bedroom mansion near Yeovil, Somerset, and educated his three children at public school despite being a declared bankrupt, masterminded the finances.Accountant: Timothy Entwistle lived a luxury lifestyle in a £1m mansionFraudsters: Evangelia Liogka and Christakis Philippou conned thousands of people into buying their 'bargain holidays'Instead, the £7million they handed over collectively went into...

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Alleged arms merchant Monzer Al Kassar has been extradited from Spain to the United States

A long-time Spanish resident known as the "Prince of Marbella" for his opulent lifestyle, Al Kassar is charged in a federal indictment unsealed last June with conspiring to kill Americans, supply terrorists, obtain anti-aircraft missiles and launder money, the police said.US officials confirm that alleged arms merchant Monzer Al Kassar has been extradited from Spain to the United States. He arrived in the here this morning. Al Kassar allegedly armed...

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Benalmádena 34 cars and four motorbikes were burned out

34 cars and four motorbikes were burned out in a fire in the early hours of Friday which took place outside the Tio Charles urbanisation in Benalmádena.The blaze started just after 4,10 am and was declared to be extinguished just after three hours later. Firemen from Benalmádena and Fuengirola attended the scene. Despite the ferocity of the blaze there was no need for any people to be evacuated from the ar...

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four year in prison after more than 3,150 child porn images were found on his computer

The court in Sevilla has sentenced a man to four year in prison after more than 3,150 child porn images were found on his computer together with 157 videos, all of which he shared with other users of the internet.EFE news agency reports that 32 year old C.T.R. was discovered when he took his lap-top computer in for repair and the shop informed the police on finding the contents. Police say that there were images of children, some aged under 13, taking part in explicit sexual practices. The sentence rejected the defence claim to the man’s right to privacy and the claim that the police registered the computer without a judicial ord...

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suspects were rounded up by cops backed by riot police in Malaga, on Spain’s Costa del Sol.

Fifty-five Nigerians were arrested in armed swoops by Spanish fraudbusters on more than 60 homes and businesses. The suspects were rounded up by cops backed by riot police in Malaga, on Spain’s Costa del Sol. The gang are believed to have ripped off 1,500 victims worldwide – many of them British – for £21.6million.Individual losses average £14,000, but range from £640 to a massive £720,000. The crackdown followed the jailing of a Nigerian last Friday in Surrey after a disabled British pensioner was swindled out of his £100,000 life savings in a lottery scam. Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency is also currently engaged in a long-running...

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British family’s £4.4 million Spanish home has been wrecked by 400 teenagers

British family’s £4.4 million Spanish home has been wrecked by 400 teenagers after their 16-year-old daughter used social networking sites to invite people from across the Costa del Sol to drink a “lot of alcohol”. After invites were posted on the Bebo and Facebook sites, rumours were spread that the Jodie Hudson’s parents did not mind the seven-bedroom house being trashed because they were getting divorced. By the end of the night, according to...

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offences were committed at Melling’s villa in Torrevieja,

4 men have pleaded guilty and been sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court for a total of 17 sexual offences on three teenaged boys from Tyneside.The court heard how Derek Marshall, 52, and his son, Graeme Marshall, 24, befriended the boys, aged between 13 and 16 years. The victims were then introduced to a 58-year-old man called Melling, from Middlesbrough, who had been living in Spain, and Paul Anthony Bures, 53, from Kent, both of whom were jailed indefinitely. The offences were committed at Melling’s villa in Torrevieja, and also at locations in the UK: Kent, London and Northumbria.Judge John Evans described the case as: “An altogether horrendous...

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In Spain it is legal to grow cannabis for personal use in his own property, even for recreational use.

A judge of the town of Ferrol declared a patient, who grows and uses cannabis to treat pain and spasticity due to spinal cord injury, not guilty, because he "did not commit a crime" against public health. In Spain it is legal to grow cannabis for personal use in his own property, even for recreational use. However, 32- year old Juan Manuel Rodríguez did not cultivate cannabis at his home, but in a nursing home of the national health service and he was denounced by the director of the centre. Meanwhile the Spanish government acknowledged the medical benefits of cannabis in some illnesses. The current national plan on drugs issued by the Health...

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Portugal's Judicial Police arrested four people for allegedly trying to smuggle the Coke into Spain

Portugal's Judicial Police said Thursday it had seized 121.8 kg of cocaine and arrested four people for allegedly trying to smuggle the drug into Spain. The detainees, three men and one woman, "aimed to acquire and secure the transport of cocaine from Portugal to Spain with the intention of distributing it there," the police said. "Some of those arrested had already been linked to narcotics trafficking by either Portuguese or foreign authorities," the police added. Four passenger vehicles were also seized, three of them with Spanish license plates, the police add...

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Cargoes of cannabis over the Strait from Ceuta to the Costa del Sol

Details have been released of a National Police operation against a drug smuggling gang which operated between Ceuta and the Costa del Sol, and which brought large amounts of cannabis into Spain illegally. Central government offices in Ceuta said eleven arrests have taken place in Marbella, Estepona and Ceuta, and that six of them were from the Autonomous City, two from Málaga province, and the remaining three were Moroccan.It has been a joint investigation on both sides of the Strait, which brought information that the gang planned to make a drugs run to Estepona on the 5th of this month. The haul amounted to more one and a half tons of cannabis,...

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"Helldorado" - paradise that has mutated into a nightmare.

"for sale" signs are the most stark warning yet that the Spanish property bubble has finally burst. Here in Southern Spain, bitter expats talk about "Helldorado" - paradise that has mutated into a nightmare. Tumbling property prices, a glut of new properties still flooding onto the market and rising Spanish interest rates are taking their toll. Added to this, illegal building practices mean that 100,000 coastal homes are now under threat of demolition....

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Nerja teacher has been arrested on charges of sexually abusing an 11 year old

32 year old Nerja teacher, named with the initials A.P. and who works at the Nueva Nerja Primary School, has been arrested at his home in Torrox, on charges of sexually abusing an 11 year old member of his family.The married father of two was arrested in Saturday evening charged with continued abuse of the 11 year old girl. He is well known in Nerja and also works as a Civil Protection volunte...

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Santiago del Valle disposed of the infant girl's body in a sewer around 300 metres from his apartment in Huelva

Santiago del Valle, a convicted paedophile arrested in March for the murder of five-year-old Mari Luz Cortés, has told a judge that he disposed of the infant girl's body in a sewer around 300 metres from his apartment in Huelva.Mari Luz's body was found in an estuary outside the city 54 days after her disappearance on 13 January.In his court testimony from 27 March, which was made public this week, Del Valle admitted to enticing Mari Luz into the entrance hall to his apartment block with a toy after seeing her alone on the street. He claims she fell as she climbed the stairs and hit her head."I didn't touch her," Del Valle, who was previously...

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Spanish police have seized more than 700 priceless artifacts

Spanish police have seized more than 700 priceless artifacts plundered from archaeological sites in South America and smuggled to Europe, they said on Tuesday.The pieces, predating the Spanish conquest, included dozens of valuable golden objects, masks, vessels, pendants and maces, stolen from Peru, Ecuador and Colombia.An Interior Ministry statement said police had arrested a Spanish man and his Colombian wife who had been trafficking in stolen...

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Julián Muñoz, are refusing to accept the prosecutor’s demand that all those charged with perversion of the course of justice

The idea of a forming a plea bargain pact with the prosecutor has, according to El País, split the ex-GIL party councillors in Marbella who face corruption and other real-estate related charges.Defence lawyers are trying to get the prosecutor’s offer of short jail terms replaced by mere financial penalities.The prosecutor wants a deal to speed up the some 70 cases which are linked to the town, most for the granting of building licences for illegal...

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