SCOTLAND Yard detectives will fly to Spain to pursue leads that Madeleine McCann was kidnapped to order by organised criminals.

When three officers flew to Barcelona for two days last month they met detectives from Spain’s Drugs and Organised Crime Unit.

One theory being considered is that Madeleine’s abduction was part of a sophisticated child kidnap racket, possibly involving Spanish gypsies.

The McCann’s private investigator Dave Edgar has had discussions with Scotland Yard about a woman in Barcelona who has never been traced.

Four days after Madeleine vanished from Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007, the woman, a Victoria Beckham lookalike, spoke to a British man on a stag night and asked him a strange question along the lines of: “Have you got her? Have you got the child?”

She appeared to be expecting to meet a man at 2am who would be handing over a child.

Scotland Yard will be examining that contact.

The son-in-law of King Juan Carlos is denying any link between his business dealings and the royal family, amid a fraud investigation that has threatened to tarnish the Spanish monarchy.

The son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, who received the title of Duke of Palma after marrying the Infanta Cristina, the king’s youngest daughter, is at the center of an investigation into whether he and business partners embezzled public money allocated to sports and tourism events.

The duke has not been charged so far. But he has been named in preliminary reports released by public prosecutors who have been investigating the dealings of the Noós Institute, a nonprofit foundation that the duke had chaired.

On Saturday, the duke made a brief statement to Efe, the Spanish news agency, in which he said that “I profoundly regret the serious damage to the image of my family and that of the king’s household, which has nothing to do with my private activities.”

He is alleged to have used his royal credentials to secure multimillion-euro contracts for his foundation from regional authorities in Valencia and the Balearic Islands to organize sports and tourism events, then siphoning off part of the contract fees toward other companies that he and his business associates controlled. His main associate, Diego Torres, has already been charged with misappropriating public funds.

While members of the royal family have normally been spared the kind of media scrutiny that their counterparts in Britain have faced, the Noós investigation has recently made the front pages here, at a time when opinion polls have shown declining public support for the Spanish monarchy.

Two years ago, the duke and his family moved to Washington, where he works for Telefónica, the Spanish telecommunications company.

Ice Skating in Marbella

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Ice Skating in Marbella

From December 15th to January 9th next year the Marbella ice skating rink is open to the public at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos. The 800 sqm ice skating rink also includes a Christmas market, bouncy castle, trampolines, carousel and children's attractions. There is a cafeteria and free parking.

*Normal opening hours are from 12:00 noon until 11:00pm (see below). Entrance is free but there is a charge of €6 to ice skate for 45 minutes which includes the rental of the skates. It is necessary to wear gloves while ice skating so remember to bring some along or you will be charged €2 to rent a pair. The attractions and rides cost €2.50.

*During the Christmas holidays there are special opening hours:
December 24th: 12.00 - 19.00
December 25th: 16.00 - 23.00
December 31st: 12.00 - 19.00
January 1st: 2012: 16.00 - 23.00
January 5th: 12.00 - 19.00
January 6th: 12.00 - 23.00