Killing the golden goose,Survey by Barclays Bank four years ago suggested a million Britons intended to leave the UK for Spain,

A survey by Barclays Bank four years ago suggested a million Britons intended to leave the UK for Spain, but in the past two years the UK market has dropped so significantly that some developers have stopped promoting Spain to Britons.Jesús Pérez set up Seville-based Area 10 New World to sell Spanish properties to UK buyers. In 2006, he switched to selling homes in Romania, Hungary, Germany and Portugal. 'A few years ago I was selling six houses in a single day to Brits,' he said. 'Things changed so quickly that we no longer promote Spanish properties .'The national government started to implement a campaign to clear any developments deemed to...

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Soldiier shot accidentally shot through the neck during an exercise

30 year old soldier was seriously injured at around midnight last night when he was accidentally shot through the neck during an exercise at the Las Navetas army training camp near Ronda. The victim, whose identity has not been confirmed, is recovering from surgery at the Carlos Haya Hospital in Málaga, to where he was transferred after initially being taken to Ronda Hospit...

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Lightning strike kills in Cadiz

60 year old construction worker died on a building site in the Los Barrios district of Cádiz. The victim, who has been identified as José Iglesias Conejo, was apparently struck at around 11.45am when he got up to put on a raincoat. His workmate, 59 year old Antonio Espinosa Moya was also injured after being thrown several metres in the same strike. In a separate incident, firemen were called to evacuate around a dozen people from four properties in San Roque's Miraflores district affected by leaky roofs. This week's heavy rains have also flooded part of Jérez's courthouse building as well as La Antilla beach and Estepona's sporting marina, where...

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

Cargoes of cannabis shipped undercover of darkness 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...

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black cocaine are being smuggled to Spain

Increasing amounts of black cocaine are being smuggled to Spain, with police discovering couriers of the drug which is undetectable to sniffer dogs and regular tests, the daily El Mundo reported on Tuesday.Police detained two Romanian women whose bags had inner linings made with the rubber-like substance, press reports said.Flying in from Brazil, the women made a stopover in Portugal, deliberately left their bags at Lisbon airport, and then requested them to be brought to a Madrid hotel, in an attempt to mislead police.Police seized 16 kilos of the drug. The haul, which was destined for the Dutch market, was estimated to be worth a million euros.Black...

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Hidalgo money laundering case

The Hidalgo money laundering case in Marbella has now also revealed the payment of commissions for building licences in Estepona. El País has printed the transcripts of phone taps included in a police report which is part of the case summary, which indicate a series of payments and deals were made with civil servants in or linked to Estepona Town Hall. El País has today printed the transcripts of phone conversations including a municipal architect and Jan Nadir, one of the people charged in the Hidalgo caseAt the centre of the allegations is Jan Khan Nadir who wanted to buy land in the town. He is already facing charges of VAT fraud worth 130...

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The Civil Guard have arrested a Moroccan man

The Civil Guard have arrested a Moroccan man as a suspect in the kidnapping of a 12 year old child in Torre Pacheco in June 2006. They believe him to be the leader of the gang which snatched the boy, and which released him the following day after a 50,000 € ransom was paid by the family.The boy’s father owns a well-known local company.EFE said the new suspect has a previous arrest record and was originally taken into custody on 6th February when he was caught breaking into a factory in Los Dolores. He used a different name on that occasion. He has now been identified as M.H. and was wanted under three separate warrants.The other gang members...

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110lb of cocaine with a street value of £2.5 million

Two packages washed up on the coast contained a total of 110lb of cocaine with a street value of £2.5 million.The first package was washed up on the beach at Bude, north Cornwall, on February 7 and consisted of a number of packets wrapped in sacking.Another package was found on a beach near Carleon Cove on the Lizard Peninsula the following day - between 60 and 70 miles from the first.Devon and Cornwall Police said that forensic analysis confirmed the packages contained cocaine, and inquiries were continuing.HM Customs spokesman Bob Gaiger said a number of packages of drugs had been washed up on the south west coast over the last 10 years."But...

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Amy Fitzpatrick reward

The parents of missing Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick are offering a cash award for information on her whereabouts. The 16-year-old - who's originally from Dublin - disappeared near her family home in Spain on New Year's Day.Her step-father has announced that he will pay a 'substantial' amount of money to anyone who can help in the search for Amy. Amy Fitzpatrick family, the young Irish girl who disappeared from Mijas on the night of New Year’s Day,...

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Marisol Yagüe will be first to declare

Ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe,appears in court among 34 others charged.The new instruction judge in the case, Óscar Pérez, has called the main accused to declare in Marbella again as he tries to establish the extent of the corruption and those responsible in Marbella Town Hall.Marisol Yagüe will be first to declare today, followed by a list of previous local councillors Victoriano Rodríguez, José Antonio Jaén, Vicente Manciles, María del Carmen...

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With Paddy Doyle until days before he was shot dead

The driver of the vehicle who is in his early 20s is well known to Limerick gardai investigating ongoing criminal and gangland activity in the city.He has just returned to Limerick from Spain where he was in the company of murdered Dublin criminal Paddy Doyle until days before he was shot deadSiezed bullet-proof BMW worth €100,000 belonging to a leading member of one of the country's most dangerous criminal gangs after a high-speed car chase.The...

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Three whales found dead on the Spanish coastline 14 metre long Razorback whale, weighing an estimated 20 tons

Three whales found dead on the Spanish coastline 15 metres long whale has been washed up onto a beach close to Luarca in Asturias.The body is about half complete, with the area behind the dorsal fin missing, and had been carried to the beach by the strong currents in the area after first being spotted two miles from Cabo de Busto.14 metre long Razorback whale, weighing an estimated 20 tons has appeared dead on the beach at Bolonia near to Tarifa...

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Marbella:Having a whale of a time

A 15 metre long finback whale, estimated to weigh three tons, which appeared yesterday afternoon on the La Petunia beach in Marbella has died.It’s the largest whale ever to reach the Costa del Sol and will now be removed from the beach after an autopsy has taken place. The news was given by the Regional Environment Councillor, Ignacio Trillo.Some 3,000 people gathered on the beach to watch the spectacle as some experts in small boats tried to get the animal back out to sea. The animal had reached the beach under its own steam, and had some injuries to its skin, thought to have come from being beaten against rocks. Its natural habitat is the water...

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Nazi veteran Gerd Honsik has been arrested in Málaga today

The Nazi veteran Gerd Honsik has been arrested in Málaga today, wanted by the Austrian Judiciary.Honsik, who has always denied that the genocide of the Jews and the gas chambers even existed, was found guilty of that denial in Vienna in 1992, and sentenced to 18 months in prison, but he escaped custody to Spain.He has written a book ‘Absolution of Hitler’ and magazine articles for ‘Halt’ and in both denied the existence of the gas chambers, claiming...

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