holidaymaker from Lancashire believes she is lucky to be alive after a bomb attack on a cafe in Marrakesh, Morocco

holidaymaker from Lancashire believes she is lucky to be alive after a bomb attack on a cafe in Marrakesh, Morocco, that left 16 people dead.

Genevieve Haines, from Garstang, had visited the Argana cafe in Djemaa el-Fna square, a major tourist spot, the night before the explosion.

She told the BBC she "felt very lucky" to avoid the blast, which killed 11 foreigners and injured 20 other people.

One Marrakesh official said a suicide bomber could be behind the attack.

Ms Haines said she had been returning to the city after visiting the Ouzuode Waterfalls when she heard about the explosion.

"It was only because I got a text off my friend asking if I was alright that I knew what had happened," she said.

Ms Haines said forensic examinations and clean-up operations were continuing at the square on Friday.

"After we'd seen what had happened we left the square because of the advice of the embassy," she said.

"The cafe where it happened was three storeys high and it looked like the bomb had gone off in the middle terrace, which is where all the tourists like to sit and overlook the square.

"[I felt] a bit worried because we were actually sat facing it last night, so obviously it could have been us if we hadn't have left and gone somewhere else.

"I obviously feel very lucky that we weren't there and directly involved, and sad for the people that have been injured and the people who have lost their lives in the incident."

Witnesses described hearing a huge explosion just before noon on Thursday that sent debris flying into the square.

Much of the facade from the cafe was blown away.

The UK Foreign Office is investigating reports one of the victims was British.

The last serious attack in Morocco was in Casablanca in 2003, when 45 people - including suicide bombers - were killed.

 

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Briton 'among 14 tourists killed by suicide bomber' in explosion at popular Marrakesh cafe

A British tourist was believed to be among 15 killed yesterday in a  terrorist attack in Marrakesh, Morocco’s most popular holiday destination.

Up to 80 victims were injured after a suicide bomber dressed in a Real Madrid shirt set off what is believed to have been a massive nail bomb.

The attack happened after the man ordered a drink in a cafe overlooking the Djemma el-Fna Square in the heart of the ancient city.

The Argana restaurant is hugely popular with British tourists, who used its terrace as a vantage spot to watch snake-charmers, fire-breathers and dancers.

 

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Palma prosecutor is seeking a two-year prison sentence for an alleged Chinese hit man accused of extorting a Chinese couple

Palma prosecutor is seeking a two-year prison sentence for an alleged Chinese hit man accused of extorting a Chinese couple. According to the prosecution, in April 2007 the defendant, now aged 49, tried to force the Chinese couple to buy out their business partner’s share of the restaurant at an exorbitant price, threatening to kill them if they did not.

The suspect, who police say is part of an organized crime gang dedicated to extortion and blackmail, denied the allegations during the hearing on Monday.

The male victim who reported the incident said their business partner, a woman, told them of her intention to sell her stake in the Chinese restaurant.

"We were asked for €50,000, but that seemed to be too much so we rejected the offer," he explained.

Instead of reducing the asking price, “she came to the restaurant with the accused and demanded €78,000. He told us if we did not accept he would get the Malaysian Mafia to come to the restaurant every night to collect the day’s takings, and if we stopped him, he would cut off our hands,” he told the court.

Hours later, the suspect allegedly returned to the restaurant and threatened them again. “He told me if I did not pay, I was dead. That he would cut off my arms and legs. I was very scared, because everyone knows he belongs to the mafia,” he said.

The victim’s wife echoed her husbands testimony and claimed that in 2004 they had paid €3,000 to the accused to avoid ‘problems.’

Following the arrest of the accused, police investigations revealed there were other victims of extortion by the gang.

Some victims had allegedly paid this ‘mafia’ gang €16,000 for fear of reprisals.

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THE owner of an Alicante ice cream parlour received a letter from her bank informing her that she had 90 days to pay €1,000 billion in interest

THE owner of an Alicante ice cream parlour received a letter from her bank informing her that she had 90 days to pay €1,000 billion in interest. Encarnacion Gomez, had the shock of her life upon opening the letter from the Guipuzcoano Bank and when she told her husband he thought she must have misread it.

But when Vicente Asencio checked the letter, it indeed stated the couple owed €1,000,000,000,030.89.

Fortunately, after contacting the branch, they were told it was a computer error and management sent a letter of apology to the couple. "They gave us a good scare," said Vicente.

Encarnacion and Vicente have run the establishment located in the Buevard del Pla neighbourhood for seven years.

With some irony, Vicente Asencio says, he would not have cared if he owed that much money because it would be "a sign that I have much more money. I assure you that if I had taken out ​​a loan with €1,000 billion of interest, I wouldn’t be working in an ice cream parlour,” he joked.

 

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BENIDORM theme park Terra Mitica opened its door for the first time this season receiving an estimated 10,000 visitors

BENIDORM theme park Terra Mitica opened its door for the first time this season receiving an estimated 10,000 visitors Much has changed following the renovation programme over the winter months. The areas are verdant and more nebulizers have been installed to help keep visitors cool. The park generally has a more relaxed and comfortable atmosphere than previously.

Although not greatly publicised, admission on the first day was free to those who had the coupons. Those who weren’t aware of the scheme turned up and paid as usual. The free first day might have artificially boosted attendance, as on the following day there were noticeably fewer people at the park.

“I don’t think there were 10,000 people today” said Thomas Murdin on Sunday’s attendance,  adding “We were there most of the day and we didn’t have to queue once to get on any ride.”

Some say the basic problem that faces Terra Mitica is not that the concept is wrong or that the park needs updating or somehow “tweaking” to make it more attractive. The new owners have done a marvellous job in improving the experience. But it seems there simply aren’t the people available to fill its massive facilities.

What must be worrying for the new owners is the proposed construction of the new Paramount theme park in Murcia, just an hour away.

With its intended size covering the equivalent of 109 football pitches it will provide stiff competition for a finite market in difficult times.

The new owners of Terra Mitica would do well to concentrate on their core market of Benidorm visitors, for whom Murcia might as well be Florida in terms of distance.

The partnership with the colossus that is Benidorm, could well salvage the area’s biggest theme park. Only time will tell.

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18 hurt in Barcelona train crash

18 people were slightly injured at 10am on Thursday in a collision between two trains in a tunnel in Barcelona. A local cercanías commuter train ran into the back of an empty sleeper train close to the El Clot station.

Some 70 passengers were evacuated from the scene, and some were treated for cuts and bruises and whiplash. All managed to walk from the scene, guided by the fire and civil protection services.

Line 1 trains were diverted through Passeig de Gràcia.

 

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The lights go out in Jerez City Hall

A power cut as a result of an unpaid bill has paralysed the activity of Jerez City Hall. The collapse of the computer system meant that all activity had to be done by hand.

A council meeting, chaired by the Socialist Mayor, Pilar Sánchez, has to be suspended given the impossibility to approve and transmit the agreements and documents through the computer system.

The City Hall has called for ‘more understanding’ from the Endesa power company which is owed 3.1 million € by the ayuntamiento.

Public services in the city are now reported to be under threat because the City Hall has failed to meet other payments. Bus drivers are on strike today in protest at not being paid for three months, and the 2,500 municipal workers have only just been paid for March.

 

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Spanish submarine leaves Cartagena for Libyan waters

The Mistral will relieve the Tramontana on the mission to enforce an arms embargo on LibyaThe Defence Minister Carme Chacón at the Navy submarine base in Cartagena


The Defence Minister, Carme Chacón, was at the Spanish Navy submarine base in Cartagena on Tuesday to see off the ‘Mistral’ submarine, as it left to relieve the ‘Tramontana’ which is deployed in the operation to enforce an arms embargo on Libya.

The Tramontana has been in the area since March 26.

The Mistral is almost 26 years old and, with a top speed of six miles an hour, will take a week to reach its destination. It’s sailing with a crew of 62, including 7 seven women, who will be in Libyan territory until the first fortnight of July. EFE reports that it will then return to Cartagena for the quarterly revision which all submarines must undergo.

The Mistral will be under NATO orders during its Libya mission.

Admiral General Manuel Rebollo, Chief of Staff of the Spanish Navy, announced at the event that four new submarines, with a design and technology which are ‘genuinely’ Spanish, are currently under construction to relieve the older models. He noted however that both the Tramontana and the Mistral are both ready and able to take on new missions.

 

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Town Hall has criticised the Junta for not carrying out an inventory of homes built illegally in the municipality

“People are getting more and more nervous. When they come to the Town Hall to ask about the future of their properties we don’t know what to tell them. Neither can we explain why Alcaucín has been missed out by the Junta de Andalucía when it drew up inventories of irregular buildings in most of the other municipalities in the Axarquía. The fact that the planning situation in Alcaucín is in the courts with the ‘Arcos’ case is not a valid excuse. This is unfair”. With these words the acting mayor and planning councillor, Domingo Lozano (PP), expresses the unease and concern that has been generated in Alcaucín by the regional Department of Public Works’ decision to exclude the municipality from the inventory of illegal buildings in the Axarquía. The councillor explains that the decision has been interpreted by the Town Hall as an attempt to leave the village out of the planning amnesty announced by the Junta.
“The Arcos case cannot turn Alcaucín into a village of outcasts. Only a minority of the defendants are from the municipality. We are hard-working and honest people. The majority of the property owners bought their homes in good faith, investing their savings, and now they see themselves being excluded from a process that is not being applied to us because the Junta says that local planning is in the courts”, says Lozano.
According to the councillor, the reality is that the municipality and its residents are suffering the consequences of the poor planning management of the former mayor, ex-Socialist José Manuel Martín Alba, who has since become the main defendant in the ‘Arcos’ case, and his team of councillors.
“It so happens that Alcaucín was one of the first municipalities to start the inventory, but then it was stopped by the Junta. Later we asked on as many as four occasions for the work to continue but we have only received silence for an answer. Two weeks ago we asked for help with resuming the inventory, but the Junta says it has no resources, and so we are still being pushed to one side”, points out Lozano.
The councillor goes on to say that there is a constant trickle of residents going to the Town Hall to ask about the situation of their country homes. “People are very impatient. When they are told time and time again that the Town Hall doesn’t know anything, insults are frequent. It’s not the owners’ fault; they want solutions, and the Junta, which also has its share of the responsibility, doesn’t even want to help us do the inventory”, continues the acting mayor.
In the municipality of Alcaucín, where there is a registered population of around 3,000, it is estimated that there are between 1,600 and 1,800 irregular properties on land not designated for building, according to the Town Hall. This figure should be added to the 12,760 properties already counted by the Junta de Andalucía in 22 of the 31 municipalities in the Axarquía.
Already counted
The properties counted so far in the district are in Almáchar, Arenas, Comares, Iznate, Moclinejo, Alfarnate, Benamargosa, El Borge, Canillas de Albaida, Cómpeta, Cútar, Macharaviaya, Salares, Sedella, Alfarnatejo, Algarrobo, Benamocarra, Colmenar, Frigiliana, Periana, Sayalonga and Riogordo. Inventories are still to be drawn up for Alcaucín, Canillas de Aceituno, La Viñuela, Totalán, Rincón de la Victoria, Vélez-Málaga, Torrox and Nerja.
In the case of La Viñuela the inventory is being drawn up in parallel with the new urban development plan (PGOU), the first draft of which is expected to be approved in the new few weeks.
Of the 12,760 illegal buildings counted so far by the Junta, 859 are on land classed as ‘protected’, and 976 were built recently enough to be still prosecuted, which means that a total of 11,025 are likely to be legalised.
With these figures, collected in the Axarquía and in the rest of Andalucía, the Junta is preparing a special decree to regulate properties build on land classed as ‘no urbanizable’.
Foreign home owners call for speedy regularisation
The president of the association Save Our Homes Axarquía, Phillip Smalley, met last week in Seville with the director general of Planning Inspection, Rosa Urioste. He has called for the regional Department of Public Works carry out the regularisation process as quickly and easily as possible, given the great unease among the affected home owners. “We have been fighting for a solution for four years and while we believe that the Junta is committed to regularising our homes, we are still not fully reassured. We will be happy when they solve our problem”, Smalley pointed out.
The SOHA president also stated that the last thing the Junta de Andalucía has told the group is that it is working on the decree to legalise the homes, but that the new regulation will not be in force for at least another four or six months. “Now all we can do is wait, although the Junta must speed up the process as much as possible”, Smalley insisted.

 

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TWO Irishmen were in custody last night after they were arrested in connection with the shooting of a British ex-pat at his home on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

TWO Irishmen were in custody last night after they were arrested in connection with the shooting of a British ex-pat at his home on the Costa del Sol in Spain.

Detectives detained a 52-year-old Cork-born suspect last week in the holiday resort of Fuengirola in connection with the attempted murder of Peter Christley (58) three months ago.

He has been remanded in custody.

Meanwhile, a 45-year-old Irishman was also arrested last week at a four-star hotel in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo.

Police detained him on an international arrest warrant.

Spanish police are expected to fly to south America and escort him back to Europe in the next few days, after he agreed to be extradited.

Mr Christley was shot four times at point-blank range by a gunman when he answered the door of his home near the resort of Benalmadena, at 9pm on January 27.

Mr Christley spent several weeks in intensive care, but has since recovered.

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Royal Navy and Gibraltar police were accused of “acting like pirates” after clashing with Spanish police who had arrested drug smugglers in British territorial waters.

A Guardia Civil officer was left with arm injuries after two boats collided as the Gibraltar forces tried to snatch Moroccan suspects from his ship.
The incident, which saw the Spanish customs boat surrounded by seven Royal Navy and police vessels, stoked existing tensions between the two countries.
Reports in the Spanish media said the situation was “five minutes away from a clash of incalculable consequences”.
The Unified Association of the Guardia Civil issued a statement yesterday alleging that its members had been subjected to “serious insults, harassment and threats” and claiming the Royal Navy and Gibraltar police had acted like “pirates, as in other times in the past”.
The fracas marked a new low in diplomatic relations between Gibraltar and Spain, who have clashed repeatedly because of demands that Britain hands over sovereignty of the Rock.
The fracas marked a new low in diplomatic relations between Gibraltar and Spain
It follows a string of incidents where Spanish police have crossed into Gibraltar’s waters.
Last September, a suspected drug smuggler was removed from British waters by the Guardia Civil after scuffles and a tense stand-off with the Gibraltar police.
At the time, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana warned that the incident could undermine efforts between the two countries to co-operate on law enforcement.
Earlier this month the heir to the Spanish throne, Prince Felipe, caused outrage at a dinner for Prince Charles and Camilla when he called for Britain to give in to Spain’s claim on Gibraltar.
The latest spat happened on Sunday afternoon after a Spanish customs boat spotted and chased two Moroccan drug traffickers into Gibraltar’s territorial waters.



Two men were arrested by the Guardia Civil and the boat, containing around 100kg of hashish, was seized and tethered to the Spanish vessel.
Seven boats from the Gibraltar customs, Royal Navy and Gibraltar police surrounded the Spaniards, who eventually took the suspects to the nearby port of Algeciras.
According to the Guardia Civil, the Gibraltar forces shouted abuse and accused them of being “pirates” and “thieves” then tried to board the boat to take the suspects and their ship away.
The Gibraltar police said they would make a full statement on the incident today.

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Students rampage in Moroccan campus after murder

Masked students with sticks and knives went on the rampage in a Moroccan university campus on Friday after a student from the disputed Western Sahara territory was stabbed to death, official media reported.

The MAP news agency said the head of security from the City of Knowledge in the capital Rabat had been taken hostage during the riot, but that the trouble had been brought under control. It did not say whether anyone was hurt.

It said some of the students who committed "vandalism and violent acts" originated from the Western Sahara territory, referred to by Morocco as the Southern Region. It said they set up barricades with gas canisters, beams and paving blocks.

"The situation has quickly been brought under control and fires have been contained," MAP said.

The clashes followed the deadly stabbing of 25-year old student Abbad Hammad, from the Western Sahara, in a brawl on Thursday near the campus. MAP said the brawl started when Hammad got drunk and harassed a woman on the campus.

Police were hunting for the person who stabbed Hammad, the agency said.

Morocco annexed the Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, in 1975. That sparked a war with the Polisario Front until a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in 1991. The deal provided for a referendum on the fate of the territory, but it has not been held.

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staggering 32 per cent of Britons said they had been unwell while staying on the Iberian Peninsula

staggering 32 per cent of Britons said they had been unwell while staying on the Iberian Peninsula, compared to just six per cent in Italy and three per cent in Thailand.

While many people may believe they are more likely to fall ill in Middle Eastern destinations such as Egypt or Turkey, Spain is actually the place where most travellers claim they have had problems.


Holiday upset: Half of British travellers fall ill while abroad

In a poll of holidaymakers conducted by the company behind Bimuno Travelaid, a sickness preventative, around a third of Britons said they had experienced an upset tummy in Spain, with Greece a close second and France - known as a centre for gastronomy - taking a surprising third place.

Egypt did make it into the top five countries for travel-related illness, taking fourth place ahead of Turkey in sixth place and America in seventh.

Perhaps surprisingly, the Caribbean was only listed in 10th place for diarrhoea, with only 4 per cent of those polled saying they had suffered there, despite the region having a bad reputation for causing illness.

 With 50 per cent of Britons suffering at one time or another, travellers' diarrhoea beats sunburn as the most common complaint among holidaymakers.

Around 30 per cent of those polled said they had suffered for two days on holiday, while a further 15 per cent said illness had blighted their holiday for three days or more.

Sunburn, in comparison, affects 37 per cent of travellers and only 14 per cent said they had experienced a bout of heat stroke on holiday, with 5 per cent saying sangria and beer in the sun had caused alcohol poisoning.

Geoff Collins, of Bimuno, said: 'As a nation, British travellers make 23.7 million trips a year to countries linked with travellers’ diarrhoea, so there is a high risk that a vital business trip or a precious holiday could be ruined by this problem.'

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Terra Sana has won the first stage of its legal battle

POPULAR restaurant chain Terra Sana has won the first stage of its legal battle against the owner of three of its franchises.
The group has managed to secure a court order to remove the current owner from the branches in Puerto Banus, San Pedro and Nueva Andalucia.
Under an injunction from the Mercantile Court of Malaga, businessman Ned Latif has been temporarily suspended from running the trio.
As the Olive Press revealed last issue, the bosses claimed they were owed two million euros from Latif following the sale of the franchises in September.
The founders insisted he had been ‘weakening the brand’, after they received countless complaints from customers.
Latif told the Olive Press it was not him, but the authorities who would not let him hand the restaurants back because of a large debt he inherited from the previous owners.
There were unsubstantiated reports that Latif has been arrested on another matter, although we were unable to contact the businessman.

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living it up at the five-star Gran Hotel Guadalpin Banus, British expat Alwyn Funke disappeared

HE arrived at the hotel pleading with an old friend who worked there that he needed just one night’s accomodation after finding his apartment roof had fallen in.But, after eight nights living it up at the five-star Gran Hotel Guadalpin Banus, British expat Alwyn Funke disappeared without paying a penny.
Now, the hotel on the so-called Golden Mile has sent out an appeal, via the Olive Press, to find him.
“We would definitely like to find him,” said hotel manager Victor Villar, confirming that the bill was over 1,500 euros. “The contact numbers and email he gave us do not work and we have no way of locating him.
“I understand he is a well known character here, and used to run a landscaping business so someone should know where he is.”
Funke, who checked into the hotel on March 6, had moved to Spain, the Olive Press can reveal, after being banned as a company director in the UK for 12 years in 1998.
He had been struck off after the gardening company he had inherited from his father, The Flower House Group, continued to trade despite being put into receivership in 1991.
By the time it was struck off, it had 10 insolvent companies with deficiencies totalling nearly two million euros.
The High Court heard how he and his partner Alexe Meddings had misappropriated funds, had misused bank accounts and had inadequate accounting records.
Funke had checked into the hotel after a former gardening colleague had agreed to lend him his credit card number to guarantee the booking.
He told him he had just returned from the UK and had gone to his home in Elviria to find the roof falling in.
Not having any money or credit cards he promised to pay in cash the next day on check out.
But Funke stayed a further seven nights where he was seen enjoying himself and ordering food and drink in the hotel’s restaurants and bars until he left last week.

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Alicante-based CAM is presenting the Bank of Spain with a new business plan

STRUGGLING Spanish savings bank is in discussions over the possibility of becoming nationalised, after a planned merger fell through.
The Alicante-based CAM is presenting the Bank of Spain with a new business plan and an application for money from Spain’s state-financed Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB).
Analysts have estimated that the amount needed by the bank would give FROB control of more than 50 per cent of the bank.
Nationalisation of the bank would be the first since the Spanish government set new minimum capital requirements.
CAM, Spain’s 10th largest lender, had been in advanced merger talks with three smaller banks, Cajastur, Caja Cantabria and Caja Extremadura, would have formed Banco Base.

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Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall rode a city centre tram as they arrived in Seville, southern Spain

Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall rode a city centre tram as they arrived in Seville, southern Spain.
The royal couple are on the final day of an official visit to the country where they have been hosted by the crown prince, Felipe, and his wife Letizia.
After arriving in the Andalusian capital, famous for its architecture and arts, Charles and Camilla were met by regional president Jose Antonio Grinan Martinez at his offices in the 17th-century San Telmo Palace.
The prince and the president held a private meeting where they discussed Andalucia's Three Cultures Foundation, a project which builds bridges between the Christian, Jewish and Muslim cultures in the region.
Key to the scheme's success is co-operation between the region and its southern neighbour Morocco, where Charles and Camilla will visit on Monday. There are around 700,000 Moroccans living in Spain and the prince attended a seminar staged by the Foundation called "Unlocking Muslim Potential".
During the prince's meeting, the duchess toured the palace's Baroque Chapel, which has been restored to spectacular effect.
Camilla spent 10 minutes in the chapel venturing to the top of the altar and waving through a glass window at the photographers and staff below.
As her husband arrived, Camilla told him: "This is a fabulous place. I'm very lucky I've had a very good tour. It's beautiful."
The couple then signed a visitors' book, the prince reaching for a pen from the inside of his jacket as one had not been left ready for them.
The couple also called in on the Mayor of Seville, Alfredo Sanchez Monteseirin, who met them at the steps of the Town Hall.

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