Marbella-based British company named in nation-wide fraud | Costa del Sol | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain

Euro Weekly News | Marbella-based British company named in nation-wide fraud | Costa del Sol | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain: "GUARDIA CIVIL are investigating a possible fraud which has affected parents with children in schools throughout Spain. A company based in Marbella, Forward Press (Europe) Ltd, organized a short story contest for young writers in schools all over the country.

Diplomas were handed out to the winners. It then offered parents the chance of having their children’s stories published for just €13, something which hundreds agreed to.

They paid via bank transfer or internet and should have received the books in September.

However, so far no books have been published and Guardia Civil are encouraging parents to contact them and report the problem so they can prove the fraud.

The Penal Code establishes that there is no crime if the quantities are less than €400, but if Guardia Civil can prove the fraud was ‘en masse’ something can be done.

Forward Press (Europe) Ltd is the Spanish-based subsidiary of Forward Press Ltd in the UK, a Spanish daily reports."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Mother is convinced missing Amy is still alive | Irish Examiner

Mother is convinced missing Amy is still alive | Irish Examiner: "THE mother of missing schoolgirl Amy Fitzpatrick is convinced her daughter is still alive and believes she is living with an older man who has brainwashed her."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Costa del Sol gains a quarter of a million residents in ten years

Costa del Sol gains a quarter of a million residents in ten years: "The Costa del Sol has gained a quarter of a million residents over the past ten years. Málaga province now has a population of more than 1.6 million.

Most of the 250,000 new residents are concentrated into ten localities and were attracted to the area by the economic boom and jobs in the service and construction sector.

Benalmádena has almost doubled its population, up more than 29,000 to reach over 61,000. Málaga City has seen 36,942 new residents, and Mijas has seen its 34,450 new residents take the population now to 76,000 making it the third largest town.
Marbella saw more than 30,000 new residents, while Estepona, Fuengirola, Torremolinos and Vélez-Málaga have all attracted more than 20,000."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

'Ruta Británica' proposed as new tourist route in Huelva

'Ruta Británica' proposed as new tourist route in Huelva: "The mines which are considered to be the oldest in the world were bought by the British in the 19th Century

The Partido Popular in Andalucía is proposing a new tourist route in Huelva to promote the areas of the province which are linked to mining.

The PP MP for Andalucía, Loles López, told the website ‘vivahuelva.es’, that her party plans to ask the regional parliament for funding to set up as an official route for tourists the ‘Ruta Británica’ – the ‘British Route’, to run from Riotinto and Nerva as far as Punta Umbría.

The PP hopes it will bring more visitors to the area and that the route would act as an alternative to the traditional tourism of sun and the beac"

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Anni Dewani Was Executed Without Sexual Assault : NewsTime : South Africa

Anni Dewani Was Executed Without Sexual Assault : NewsTime : South Africa: "leaked report by an unnamed paramedic, who examined Anni Dewani’s body at the crime scene, has allegedly ruled out the theory of resistance to an attempted sexual assault leading to the gun going off in the murder of the Cape Town honeymooner.

This is in line with police reports after the body was discovered which said that there was no suggestion of a sexual assault and that she had been murdered in cold blood.

One of the witnesses at the crime scene had allegedly said that Anni’s dress had been pulled up which indicated a sexual assault but the paramedic, according to a report in the Montreal Gazette, said that her clothes were neatly arranged and there was no sign of a struggle or a sexual assault."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

15 arrested as Civil Guard smash car theft network in Andalucía

15 arrested as Civil Guard smash car theft network in Andalucía: "Civil Guard have recovered 15 top range cars after arresting 15 members of a gang which operated on the Costa del Sol and in Cádiz province in the illegal traffic of vehicles.

Investigations began in March when detectives discovered that stolen cars were being used to transport drugs in the Campo de Gibraltar.

The suspects taken into custody are understood to be from Bulgaria, Morocco and Spain, and each worked with their own countrymen in the three separate sections into which the organisation was divided.
Europa Press reports that the vehicles, once stolen, were parked out of sight on urbanisations on the Costa del Sol. They were then sold on to buyers involved with drug smuggling and transported over by ferry to Morocco."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Jardines del Príncipe, 81 properties which were built illegally in Marbella have now been brought into line

: "81 properties which were built illegally in Marbella have now been brought into line with the town’s local development plan, the PGOU, following approval given by the Town Hall this Tuesday.

The compensation agreement affects the development Jardines del Príncipe, and brings in funds for the Town Hall of more than 2 million €. The municipality also receives in compensation seven of properties within the complex and a plot nearby of more than 2,000 square metres of land.

The local planning councillor, Pablo Moro, said in a press release on Tuesday that the land and the seven properties will be set aside for public facilities.

The Town Hall has now regularised the situation of close to 400 illegal properties since the new PGOU came into effect."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Grandfather spends two days lost on M4 during snow chaos - The Daily Record

Grandfather spends two days lost on M4 during snow chaos - The Daily Record: "Mohammed Bellazrak, 72, had taken his wife to catch a Christmas holiday flight on Thursday before getting lost on the M4 on the return trip.
He was eventually found on Christmas Day, still at the wheel of his Peugeot 307, when he triggered a police camera and was flagged down by officers.
The disorientated pensioner was trying to find his way home to Wiltshire from Gatwick airport, while his worried family reported him missing to the police.
Officers in Wiltshire asked colleagues in neighbouring forces to keep an eye open for the Moroccan-born motorist."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Crackdown on UK benefit cheats who live abroad

 Crackdown on UK benefit cheats who live abroad: "The DWP said the highest instances of fraud was recorded by people living in Spain, Pakistan, the US and Bangladesh."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Airports should be fined for disruption, ministers say

Airports should be fined for disruption, ministers say: "Airports could face fines when passengers have their travel plans disrupted, the government has said.

London's Heathrow Airport faced criticism last week when it closed snow-hit runways, stranding thousands.

Aviation minister Theresa Villiers said an airport should be fined when it 'does let passengers down and doesn't prepare properly for severe weather'.

A BAA spokesman said it welcomed any law 'designed to improve the experience for passengers at the UK's airports'.

The spokesman added: 'We will of course play a full part in the government's discussions about this year's weather disruption and will make public the findings of our own independent investigation.'"

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

ONE of the women claiming she was sexually assaulted by Julian Assange took a 'trophy photo' of him lying naked in her bed

WikiLeaks founder baffled by sex assault claims | The Australian: "ONE of the women claiming she was sexually assaulted by Julian Assange took a 'trophy photo' of him lying naked in her bed, he says.

The white-haired computer impresario had been invited to stay in her empty flat when he visited Stockholm to give a lecture last August, shortly after WikiLeaks released tens of thousands of classified US documents on the Afghanistan war.

Mr Assange, 39, and unmarried, said the woman had returned home early and insisted he sleep in her bed. He does not feel he needs any excuses for what happened next. 'We went to bed, and things went on from there,' he said."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe | McClatchy

WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe | McClatchy: "Don't indict former President George W. Bush's legal brain trust for alleged torture in the treatment of war on terror detainees, warned Mel Martinez on one of his frequent trips to Madrid. Doing so would chill U.S.-Spanish relations.

Rather than a resolution, though, a senior Spanish diplomat gave the former GOP chairman and housing secretary a lesson in Spain's separation of powers. 'The independence of the judiciary and the process must be respected,'' then-acting Foreign Minister Angel Lossada replied on April 15, 2009. Then for emphasis, 'Lossada reiterated to Martinez that the executive branch of government could not close any judicial investigation and urged that this case not affect the overall relationship.''

The case is still open, on the desk of a Spanish magistrate, awaiting a reply from the Obama administration on whether it will pursue a probe of its own."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Elderly Dutch couple, son found dead in Spain

Elderly Dutch couple, son found dead in Spain "spanish divers Saturday recovered the bodies of a Dutch couple from the Fluvia river, hours after police found the body of their 33-year-old son following an apparent family drama.
It was not immediately clear how the Dutchman had died in a country house in Serinya, in north-eastern Spain.
Police found a farewell suicide note from the man's parents next to his body, in which they said they planned to take their own lives in the nearby river.
Investigators regarded the note as authentic and launched a search along the river. The bodies of the parents, both around 70 years old, were found at a depth of two metres."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Morocco Aborted Smuggling of 15 kg of Cocaine

Morocco Aborted Smuggling of 15 kg of Cocaine: "Rabat: Moroccan authorities have aborted an attempt to smuggle 15 kg of cocaine via the Mediterranean port city of Tangiers found hidden in car heading to France.
Customs authorities seized 9 kg of cocaine before finding the remainder of the haul hidden in the car's spare tyre.
The car driver, a French national accompanied by his Senegalese wife and their son, entered Morocco yesterday coming form Mauritania.
The coupe were arrested and referred to police for investigation."

Euro Weekly News | Kingpin of €400,000 scam arrested in Costa del Sol | Costa del Sol | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain

Euro Weekly News | Kingpin of €400,000 scam arrested in Costa del Sol | Costa del Sol | News | The Largest English Language Newspapers in Spain: "POLICE have arrested a person in the Costa del Sol thought to be the kingpin of a network that defrauded more than €400,000 from property investors. Several others have also been arrested. All except one – from New Zealand – are thought to be of British nationality.

The gang set up luxury offices they rented in the Costa del Sol, Alicante and Turkey in a bid to attract investors to non-existent construction projects in Turkey.


In order to give credibility to their scam, they prepared bogus plans and organised trips to the fake resorts. Their victims made significant deposits into bank accounts in Gibraltar and Turkey. Police discovered that the fraudsters also managed real estate offices in Britain.

Once deposits were made by unsuspecting victims, the fraudsters would vacate the offices, without paying outstanding rent and in some cases, even taking the office furniture with them.

One of the victims is a Belgian architect who prepared the plans for the fake building complexes, but was never paid.

Investigators specialising in financial fraud based in Alicante and Marbella have already discovered many victims of the scam, many of them foreign residents in Spain.

"

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Juan Antonio Roca insists he arrived in Marbella with his fortune

Juan Antonio Roca insists he arrived in Marbella with his fortune: "interesting declarations from the man at the centre of Spain’s largest municipal corruption case, Juan Antonio Roca, as the Malaya case continues in Málaga.

The ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor in Marbella Town Hall told the court that he had 1,000 million pesetas, (six million €), when he arrived in the town. Holding court in the first week of his declarations he attacked the police for ‘staining my image’.

‘They have presented me as a person without scruples who spent his time killing animals and hanging Miró paintings in the bathroom’. He said that nobody had been able to demonstrate the painting was an original."

Spain law aims to save 4.6 billion euros in power costs | Reuters

Spain law aims to save 4.6 billion euros in power costs | Reuters: "Spain said on Thursday it would slash subsidies for its photovoltaic solar power industry, netting savings of around 2.2 billion euros ($3 billion) over three years, part of a law aimed at limiting the cost of power.

The law, which is targeting savings of 4.6 billion euros over three years, will also charge utilities an operating toll and temporarily reduce wind power subsidies.

European governments have poured billions of euros in recent years into renewable energy by requiring utilities to pay a premium for solar electricity in order to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on imported fossil fuels."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Spain law aims to save 4.6 billion euros in power costs | Reuters

Spain law aims to save 4.6 billion euros in power costs | Reuters: "Spain said on Thursday it would slash subsidies for its photovoltaic solar power industry, netting savings of around 2.2 billion euros ($3 billion) over three years, part of a law aimed at limiting the cost of power.

The law, which is targeting savings of 4.6 billion euros over three years, will also charge utilities an operating toll and temporarily reduce wind power subsidies.

European governments have poured billions of euros in recent years into renewable energy by requiring utilities to pay a premium for solar electricity in order to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on imported fossil fuels."

DISCLAIMER:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Spaniards celebrate El Gordo lottery windfalls | World news | guardian.co.uk

Spaniards celebrate El Gordo lottery windfalls | World news | guardian.co.uk: "world's biggest lottery payout – Spain's €2.3bn (£1.9bn) Christmas El Gordo 'Fat One' – sprayed money across the country today, with shares in the winning ticket reportedly spread through several towns and cities.

The announcement of the winning number sparked celebrations in a dozen places where 79250 had been sold.

Spaniards spent an estimated €69 a head on Christmas lottery tickets in the hope of sharing in the €2.3bn payout.

'We are floating in the clouds,' Salvador, whose lottery shop in Alicante, eastern Spain, sold shares in the winning ticket, told the state TVE television channel."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Zapatero Says Spain Needs 5 Years to Correct Economy - Bloomberg

Zapatero Says Spain Needs 5 Years to Correct Economy - Bloomberg: "Spain needs five years to “correct” imbalances in its economy, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said, as he pledged not to backtrack on an “ambitious” pension overhaul.

“We have been fighting the crisis for two years and we will need five years to correct the structural imbalances in this economy,” he told lawmakers in Parliament in Madrid today as he called for unity to solve Spain’s economic difficulties.

He pledged that a pension overhaul slated for Cabinet approval on Jan. 28 will be “as ambitious” as the government’s first proposal a year ago that included raising the retirement age to 67 from 65 and increasing the number of years used to calculate benefits."

:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.