toll road planned between Ronda and the Costa del Sol. ?????

A leading Junta official has now admitted that she has no idea when the ‘ecologically damaging’ motorway will be built. Although public works chief, Dolores Fernandez, still insists that the project will eventually be completed, she stopped short of explaining exactly when. And, despite repeated Junta guarantees that the road will be operational by 2012, this now looks impossible. In fact, it is increasingly likely that building will not even have begun. The project was originally backed by Ronda mayor Antonio Marin Lara in 2007, after the Junta unveiled its toll road plans. A total of 400 million euros was set aside to replace the winding 45-kilometre...

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Air Comet, on Tuesday finally applied for voluntary bankruptcy protection, three months after its licence to fly was withdrawn.

Air Comet, on Tuesday finally applied for voluntary bankruptcy protection, three months after its licence to fly was withdrawn.It’s debts amount to 160 million €, and now the bankruptcy process is finally underway it means that the workers can claim the back pay they are owed.The company was hoping to find a buyer or reach an agreement with the main banks to have given it credit, but finally it has admitted defeat and given in to union pressure. Unions say wages amounting to four or five million € remain outstanding.It also means that those passengers affected by the collapse of the company can now apply to the judge for compensation.It should...

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EURO MP has slammed the visit of British minister Chris Bryant as insincere.

Marta Andreasen claims the visit to try and solve the huge demolition issue currently affecting hundreds of expats around the region didn’t amount to much.She explained: “I don’t think he achieved very much. I don’t think his visit was very sincere.“He’s not doing anything to resolve the problems of the people who are already suffering.”Minister for Europe Bryant visited pensioners in Almeria and announced that Spanish civil servants will now work...

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Guardia Civil found the bodies of some 100 dogs as it broke up an illegal sales network in Cáceres

Guardia Civil found the bodies of some 100 dogs as it broke up an illegal sales network in Cáceres. The owner of the premises was arrested in the operation codenamed ‘toys’.He had been selling pedigree puppies imported illegally from Slovakia, despite many of them suffering from poor health and some of them from malformed bodies. According to the records some of the dogs had been vaccinated before they were born.SEPRONA, the environmental wing of the Guardia Civil had been working on the case for six months after receiving several complaints from people in Badajoz, after dogs were dying shortly after being purchased.At the Cáceres premises on...

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Belgian Consul in Málaga, Claude de Hennin run over by a British resident in his car at the doors of the Belgium Consulate in Mijas.

Belgian Consul in Málaga, Claude de Hennin, who has lived in Spain for 41 years says he still cannot believe how he was attacked after an argument with his neighbours on Monday.He claims that he was run over by a British resident in his car at the doors of the Belgium Consulate in Mijas. Diario Sur reports he says he saw a child about five years old with a woman by the exit to the parking area and warned them he was about to drive out. The woman then turned to insult him in English, and he turned away and went inside.Later in the street though a British man with a dog came up to him and continued the insults. The Consul then called the local...

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people affected by the Ley de Costas will give their evidence to the Petitions Committee in Brussels.

European Parliament has launched another attack on Spain’s coastal law ‘Ley de Costas’ describing it as ‘abusive’Labour and Conservative British MEPs criticised the law on the Petitions Commission, in their opinion, it confiscates assets of those who purchased in good faith.Conservative M.E.P. Roger Helmer said he was recommending his constituents not to buy property in Spain.‘If Spain wanted to enter the EU today, it would have many problems because...

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heavy rain on September 21, 2007 had caused structural movement in the house and the damage was not covered by their policy.

Barrie and Janet Waterfall were full of hope when they moved to Spain nine years ago. Spanish retirement home, which is now uninhabitable But their dreams of a happy retirement have been shattered and their 21-year marriage has been brought close to breaking point - all because of a bitter dispute with their buildings insurer, Axa Spain. Retired teacher Barrie, 67, and Janet, 68, face financial ruin. They own a property rendered uninhabitable because of structural damage caused by a leak from a water main. They cannot sell it and now owe more than £39,000 to banks, credit card companies and friends. The mounting debt is the result of a costly...

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Thousands of Britons have bought Spanish properties in good faith, only to find they were illegally built on protected land.

800 British and Irish residents marched in Almeria after demolition orders were issued for eight expat-owned homes in the nearby town of Albox. The owners are appealing but it is feared many more homes are under threat after Spanish regional authorities overruled planning permission. Thousands of Britons have bought Spanish properties in good faith, only to find they were illegally built on protected land. Albox home owner Nicola Veitch, of Jersey, said: 'We are devastated. We have every legal document under the sun for our propert...

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pensioners lost their fight in the European Court of Human Rights to prove this pension freeze violates anti-discrimination rules.

One in five expats claims a sterling pension, with more than a quarter of Brits living in Spain (28%) and a third of British expats in Germany relying on this as their core source of income, according to Moneycorp. More than half a million pensioners living in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand suffer a further blow because their state pensions don't rise each year in line with inflation. Only those living in the European...

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Pensioners abroad have arguably been hit the hardest as they rely most heavily on their savings and pensions built up in the UK

four million Brits living abroad are planning a mass return to home shores after seeing their savings and income stripped by the plunging values of the pound and their property. Pensioners abroad have arguably been hit the hardest as they rely most heavily on their savings and pensions built up in the UK. They've been hit by a declining pound and falling interest rates. The dramatic slump has slashed their income by a third and has turned Brits into the paupers of Europe. Fears over job security and falling property prices are also giving expats second thoughts, according to research from foreign exchange specialist Moneycorp. Some 845,000 Brits...

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