Bomb transported on passenger flight

Bomb transported on passenger flight

five cents charge on single use plastic bags from January 1 2011

Junta de Andalucía has said it is to apply a five cents charge on single use plastic bags from January 1 2011. From 2012 charge will increases to ten cents.

The regional budget for next year describes the charge as having the objective ‘of reducing the use of the bags, reducing the contamination they produce and therefore contribute to the protection of the environment.’

The measure is forecast to bring an income of 45.4 million € to the Junta in the first yea

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27707.shtml#ixzz13y0JVDqA

five cents charge on single use plastic bags from January 1 2011

Junta de Andalucía has said it is to apply a five cents charge on single use plastic bags from January 1 2011. From 2012 charge will increases to ten cents.

The regional budget for next year describes the charge as having the objective ‘of reducing the use of the bags, reducing the contamination they produce and therefore contribute to the protection of the environment.’

The measure is forecast to bring an income of 45.4 million € to the Junta in the first yea

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27707.shtml#ixzz13y0JVDqA

Europe's largest whorehouse raided after just nine days

Europe's largest whorehouse raided after just nine days: "Five Brazilian women were found in the Paradise club in La Jonquera were in the country illegally

What has been described as Europe’s largest knocking shop, the Paradise club near the border with France at La Jonquera, has been raided by police after being open no more than nine days.

Police arrested five Brazilian girls for not having their papers in order, and identified the 125 prostitutes and 188 clients who were in the building at the time.

The local town hall in La Jonquera says that it did all it could to stop the 2,700 square metre club from opening, but the regional courts finally obliged them to issue the opening licence.

The owner of the club, José Moreno, has two others in Girona, and has been arrested on previous occasions related to the exploitation of immigrant women."

Spanish Banks Expected To Increase Discounts On Housing Inventory

Spanish Banks Expected To Increase Discounts On Housing Inventory: "Banks in Spain, now the country’s biggest property owners having re-possessed so many homes, will have to offer discounts of up to 50% in 2010 if they are to shift their stock of real estate, according to a new report.

Current discounts are simply not big enough to interest buyers, says the report from BNP Paribas Real Estate, the real estate arm of French bank BNP Paribas.

The prediction comes as analysts point out that it could take years for the Spanish property market to recover. According to Acuna & Asociados, highly regarded Madrid real estate analysts, it could take six or seven years just to clear the huge numbers of empty homes that won’t sell.

The firm’s annual report indicates there are 1.67 million properties for sale in Spain including 500,000 new builds, 500,000 resales and the rest are buildings that have yet to be completed.

Indeed, the latest report from BBVA, Spain’s second largest bank, also indicates that a recovery will be slow and drawn out over several years.

It says that Spanish property prices were 30% over-valued but have only fallen 10% so far and they need to fall another 20% before reaching bottom.

It predicts that prices will fall by 7% this year, 8% next year, and 5% in 2012 when they will start to stabilize.

The biggest price falls will be in the coastal areas where the most building has taken place in recent years."

Spanish Coastal Real Estate Hit Hard By Market Downturn

Spanish Coastal Real Estate Hit Hard By Market Downturn: "Residential property prices in Spain have fallen between 3.7% and 5% over the 12 months to the end of September with the popular coastal regions taking the worst hit.

The latest figures from the Ministry of Housing show prices down 3.7% while the Tinsa index is down 5% year on year.

The average price of property is €1,832 per square meter, down from €1,903 per square meter a year ago, according to the figures from the Ministry of Housing.

But on a regional basis popular locations like Alicante on the Costa Blanca and Malaga on the Costa del Sol are down around 20%, the ministry figures also show. However, prices on the Costa del Sol are still more than double what they were a decade ago.

The Tinsa index fell 5% in September, compared to declines of 4.6% in August, and 4% in July. Up until then prices had been trending towards smaller declines, suggesting they might even make it into positive territory on an annualized basis before the end of the year"

Marbella Town Hall is coming to the rescue of Antonio Banderas.

A modification to the PGOU is being made specifically for the actor

Marbella Town Hall is coming to the rescue of Antonio Banderas. Diario Sur reports that the council will approve a modification to the five month old PGOU Urban Plan specifically to clear the actor of handing over the 1,200 square metres of his property, ‘La Gaviota’, on the beach at Los Monteros.

Under the current plan the land, now part of the Banderas garden, is described as a green zone. The modification means that now a smaller green zone will be created, but Town Planning Councillor, Pablo Moro, said that the town would benefit because the green zone and a new public walkway on the beach could be more quickly established.

The Mayor of Marbella, the PP's Angeles Muñoz, on Wednesday denied that the actor is receiving preferential treatment.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27670.shtml#ixzz13bGfT95M

Valderrama Masters betting | Golf365 | Golf News, Live Golf Scores, Equipment Reviews, Blogs

Valderrama Masters betting | Golf365 | Golf News, Live Golf Scores, Equipment Reviews, Blogs: "Golf will have a new World Number One come Sunday evening and he'll be a European. Sounds good, doesn't it?
England vs Germany.
Westwood vs Kaymer.
Except Westwood can do nothing but look on in the hope that Martin Kaymer doesn't do what Martin Kaymer does best and win the Andalucia Valderamma Masters as the European Tour returns to its spiritual home after a year away.
There's no doubt Kaymer can do it. Anyone else might be phased by the prospect of taking over from the greatest player the game has ever seen, but not him. At 25-years-old Kaymer is already a Major Champion and Ryder Cup winner and he might just be on the verge of dominating golf in the same way Tiger Woods did at his peak."

Miguel Garcia 'continues to improve' after heart-attack during Spanish league game | Mail Online

Miguel Garcia 'continues to improve' after heart-attack during Spanish league game | Mail Online: "Spanish second division side UD Salamanca have released a very positive statement about the health of player Miguel Garcia who 'died' for almost half a minute during Sunday's match against Real Betis.
Garcia collapsed in the centre circle after suffering a heart attack early in the second half. The 31-year-old was revived on the pitch before being rushed to Salamanca's University Hospital, where the club say his condition continues to improve following surgery.
Team physician Jose Ignacio Garrido said after the match that the player was legally dead for 25 seconds. He added that his playing days were almost certainly over."

Malaya court case takes 20 days break to consider the defence lawyers preliminary questions

Malaya court case takes 20 days break to consider the defence lawyers preliminary questions: "Malaya court case, investigating the corruption in Marbella Town Hall, and currently underway in the Ciudad de la Justicia in Málaga, has been suspended for 20 days.

The time is for the tribunal to consider the preliminary questions which have been placed by the lawyers representing the 95 accused, many of which were demands for parts of the case or evidence gathered to be declared null and void.

The 77 defence lawyers, some of the best and most expensive in the country, queued up to criticise the actions of the first Instruction Judge in the case, Miguel Ángel Torres, but the prosecutor has defended how the case was handled. Juan Carlos López Caballero said the instruction was 99% validated, adding that the state of law has always been present.

The lawyers have claimed that the case should be moved to the National Court, or be heard by jury, that phone taps should be thrown out, and that some police searches were irregular and broke the fundamental rights of the accused."

first people to be given the so called ‘Shadow invoice’ by the Andalucian Health Service, which informs patients as to the cost of their treatment

scheme was launched on Monday in the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella

The first people to be given the so called ‘Shadow invoice’ by the Andalucian Health Service, which informs patients as to the cost of their treatment, are praising the idea.

The idea is to roll out the paid already invoices across the region so that the public gets an idea of just how expensive hospital treatment really is, and the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella has been chosen to launch the scheme.

The first patients have welcomed the idea saying that it tells them what they are ‘spending’. Some had to read the text closely to realise the invoice had already been paid, and many were more surprised by the media interested generated in Marbella by the initiative on Monday when the Costa del Sol Hospital expected to issue 50 of the ‘facturas en la sombra’. The hospital describe it as an exercise in transparency.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27646.shtml#ixzz13Q7sUByx

Sterling falls vs euro on QE risk; UK GDP awaited | Reuters

Sterling falls vs euro on QE risk; UK GDP awaited | Reuters: "Sterling fell to its lowest in nearly seven months against the euro on Monday, weighed down by the possibility the Bank of England may loosen monetary policy and that GDP data on Tuesday could point to a stuttering UK recovery.
The pound rose against a broadly weaker dollar as a Group of 20 agreement to shun competitive currency devaluations was viewed as a green light to resume dollar-selling on expectations the Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy next week.
But the prospect that the BoE may follow in the Fed's footsteps by opting for a fresh bout of quantitative easing (QE) left sterling underperforming currencies other than the dollar, pushing it to a five-month low versus a currency basket."

Prostitutes ordered to wear fluorescent jackets on Spanish roads | Mail Online

Prostitutes ordered to wear fluorescent jackets on Spanish roads | Mail Online: "Street prostitutes have been ordered by police to wear fluorescent jackets to prevent road accidents outside a Spanish town.
Officers have been fining the sex workers £35 (40 euros) for failing to wear the brightly coloured clothing where they work, on the LL-11 highway near the town of Els Alamus, in Catalonia in north-east Spain.
They started wearing the jackets last week following a crackdown by the regional Catalan police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra.
Own safety: Prostitutes near the town of Els Alamus, in Catalonia, Spain, are being told to wear high-visibility vests or face a £35 (40 euro) fine for being a danger to moving traffic It's the law: Pedestrians on major highways or hard shoulders must wear fluorescent jacketsOfficers fined the women under a road traffic law which states pedestrians on major highways or hard shoulders must wear fluorescent jackets."

Analysis: French oil industry recovery to take time | Reuters

Analysis: French oil industry recovery to take time | Reuters: "France's oil industry is unlikely to make a swift return to normality even as some refineries prepared to return to work, given that more strikes are in the diary and workers continue to block a key port.
Workers at three of France's 12 refineries on Monday voted to lift blockades and restart operations after President Nicolas Sarkozy got Senate approval on Friday for a bill raising the eligible pension age by two years to 62.
The news raised hopes the sector would lurch back into action after a crippling strike, which has led to fuel shortages at a quarter of French petrol stations."

Ryanair has announced that it is pulling out of Santiago de Compostela from January 11.

Ryanair has announced that it is pulling out of Santiago de Compostela from January 11. It’s a serious blow to the Xunta de Galicia regional government as it means the end to international connections from the Lavacolla airport.

The airline currently flies to Rome, Frankfurt and London moving 150,000 passengers a year.

The announcement was made in Santiago by the airlines Marketing and Sales Director for Spain, Portugal, Malta and Morocco, Luis Fernández-Mellado, who noted that 150 jobs would be lost as a result. He blamed the refusal of the Xunta de Galicia to ‘collaborate in promotional activities for Galicia in Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom’ with Ryanair.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27615.shtml#ixzz138OhJ600

RBS may sell $1.6 billion Spain property portfolio | Reuters

RBS may sell $1.6 billion Spain property portfolio | Reuters: "Spanish commercial property loans add to a 3 billion pound portfolio of British real estate loans also on the block. Private equity firms and specialized investors looking to pick up the assets at a discount would be the likely buyers.
Part-nationalized RBS is attempting to shrink its 'non-core' division and has said it may sell assets.
There were 44 billion pounds of real estate assets in its non-core division at the end of June, down from 63 billion at the end of 2008. At the end of last year 42 percent of the non-core portfolio assets were in Britain, and a quarter were in Continental Europe."

Keith Richards has accused a Scottish film director of setting up an affair between his lover and Mick Jagger.

ROCK legend Keith Richards has accused a Scottish film director of setting up an affair between his lover and Mick Jagger.
He accused Edinburgh-born Donald Cammell of encouraging his Rolling Stones band-mate to bed Richards' then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg.
Richards then had a one-night stand with Jagger's girlfriend Marianne Faithfull in revenge, causing a lifelong rift.
The guitar hero launches a scathing attack on Cammell, who later shot himself dead in Hollywood, in his explosive tell-all autobiography.
Cammell, a shipping f irm heir, was directing cult movie Performance in 1968 when Jagger and Pallenberg - who were playing a couple - had an affair.
Richards said: "Clearly he took a delight in the idea that he was screwing things up between us. It was a set-up, Mick and Anita playing a couple.
"D o n a l d Cammel l was more interested in manipulation than actually directing."
Richards' hatred for Cammell, who died aged 62 in 1996, has been revealed in his book, Life.
Richards said: "I really didn't like Donald Cammell, the director, a twister and a manipulator whose only real love in life was f***ing other people up.
"He was the most destructive t**d I have ever met. Also a Svengali, utterly predatory, a very successful manipulator of women.

latest generation iPhone, smothering it in £5 million worth of diamonds including two massive swappable stones which sit on the home button.

Stuart Hughes, the Liverpudlian purveyor of eye-wateringly expensive gadgets, has been at it again.

In May he produced a golden iPad worth £130,000, and before that he knocked out a gold Nintendo Wii which cost £300,000. Indeed, a year ago he produced a gold and diamond studded iPhone 3GS with a £2 million price tag.

Now he’s gone and bettered that with the latest generation iPhone, smothering it in £5 million worth of diamonds including two massive swappable stones which sit on the home button. One is a 7.4 carat pink diamond, the other an 8 carat single cut flawless diamond.

Diamonds are also embedded all the way around the edge of the iPhone, which is one very expensive way to ensure the handset’s antenna reception works fine. We’ll stick to the traditional rubber bumper, we think…

Apparently Hughes has been commissioned to produce two of these for an ultra-wealthy Australian businessmen, so reports the Daily Mail. The £2 million 3GS was also produced for a rich Australian, so we’re guessing it might be the same bloke with money to burn.

continued costal development is suicide

The sun is setting over the Atlantic waves on El Palmar beach, casting long shadows of two wetsuit-clad teenagers leaning against their surfboards. But as the light fades on another peaceful day in this remote corner of southern Spain, the Andalucian government and the property developers it backs are hard at work finalising their plans to shake up the region, and build a hotel for 1,300 people.
The decision has sparked a fierce debate over the past errors of unfettered construction, pitting those worried about the financial torpor against environmentalists who see the forest of skyscrapers and thick crust of costal developments as a warning about the perils of construction fever.


"The continued costal development is suicide," said Miguel Angel Losada, of the University of Granada's centre for the Andalucian environment. "It is unsustainable and an absolute catastrophy to keep building."
To that end, what might have been a local planning debate has become the focus of nationwide soul-searching.
A 13-part television series, almost three years in the making and scripted by Mr Losada, has recently begun showing on Spanish national television, entitled Las Riberas del Mar Océano (The Shores of the Ocean).
"The dimensions of the problem are enormous," he said. "Over 80% of the Spanish coast has been developed – either in hotels, apartments, roads or ports.
"And it's not just Spaniards that need to be aware. In the south of England, in Denmark, along the French and Italian coasts – everyone is being fed the myth that building equals tourism equals wealth. It is not true."
Indeed, many observers believe that the Costa del Sol, a mere 100 miles from the Cadiz coastline, should act as a stark warning about the perils of over-development.
Since the advent of mass tourism in the 1950s, an anarchic sprawl of hotels, beach resorts and apartments have grown along the southern coast. Under Franco's regime, the construction boom unleashed by his cronies was unrestricted, limitless and hungry.
More recently, the monstrous Algarobbico hotel – a huge, empty shell leering over the beach near Almería – still serves as a concrete symbol of the threat to Spain's coasts. The hotel was built in 2003, on the border of the Cabo de Gata natural park, but never opened and was immediately subject to legal wranglings that continue to this day over its proposed demolition. Authorities now say that demolition is technically and physically impossible, owing to the 65,000 cubic metres of concrete which cannot be removed from the hillside.
Spain is at last perhaps appearing to take action against the excess of southern costal construction. The country's largest-ever corruption trial is currently underway in Marbella, unpeeling layers of corruption and bribes in return for building permits that have turned the area into a maze of apartments and hotels.
And earlier this month, in a new investigation, three people were arrested in Murcia – including the director of urban planning – on allegations of illegal construction.
Earlier this month, the MEP Raúl Romeva raised concerns over the new El Palmar project in the European Parliament, asking Janez Potocnik, Environment Commissioner, to confirm that the proposed hotel complied with requirements to deal with sewage and residual water. The 600-inhabitants of El Palmar are not currently connected to the main water system.
For the residents of El Palmar, on the Costa de la Luz, that is precisely why they accept plans for the Gran Palmar hotel. Gathered in the family-run beach-front hostal of Luis Alferez, president of the neighbour's association, the village representatives tell The Sunday Telegraph that they are desperately in need of improved infrastructure.
"The planned hotel is an evolution of the land, not an aggressive development. It won't ruin the beach" said Montserrat Molina, of the parents' association of El Palmar. Her great-grandparents were among the first to build on the land.
"Many of the houses here don't have electricity, and rely on generators. And some of the tourists came along and said how beautiful it was not to have electricity, so that you can see the stars. I said to them they should try living like that," she scoffs.
"We have to be realistic about things. If this is the way we will have improved infrastructure, and better services, then so be it," she said.
Salvador Ramos, president of the Parados de Vejer (job-seekers association) agrees that the proposed hotel will boost the economy.
"This is exactly what we need," he said, paintbrush in hand as he decorated a house in the cobbled streets of Vejer.
"We are desperate for any work. The ecologists against it are not realistic."
It is clear that Spain – and the Cadiz region in particular - is in dire need of job creation. Unemployment currently runs at 20.9% - double the EU average of 10% and the worst in the whole of the eurozone.
And within Spain, Cadiz is the province with the highest rate of job seekers. Over 30% of people are without work, and figures for September show a surge in numbers signing on to benefits as the summer tourist season draws to a close.
The economic argument is one taken up with gusto by the administration in Vejer de la Frontera town hall. Antonio Muñoz, director of planning and the environment, describes the proposed hotel as "an opportunity for enriching the local economy, for investment and for employment."
"When people have seen so much destruction of the Spanish coast, so much barbarity, they automatically think this is another monstrosity. But we are talking about a hotel set well back from the shore, with buildings a maximum of seven metres high, that will not damage the environment.
Mr Muñoz rose from his desk, and pointed out a splattering of small houses and buildings dribbled across the coast.
"You see these? All of them are illegal. People build anywhere. And it would take an army to stop them – they come in the middle of the night, build foundations, and then it takes years and years of legal arguments to counter it.
"I don't understand why people complain about this legal, sustainable hotel when there is so much illegal building all along the coast."
Campaigners against the hotel refute the arguments emanating from the town hall and developers. They argue that building a hotel in El Palmar will drive away tourists - including Damien Hirst and his surf-loving wife, Spanish actor Javier Bardem, and British rock star Paul Weller - who appreciate one of the last unspoilt stretches of Spanish coastline. They are sceptical about claims of creating 300 jobs, claiming many will be temporary, badly paid, and handed to people from outside the area.
"It is absurd that the local government thinks that building is the way to get us out of this mess – when it was construction that played a large part in creating the problem," said Tatiana Rodriguez, president of the Salvar El Palmar campaign.
"Of course the countryside has to progress, but building megahotels is not the answer. How is the money going back to the local economy, if people are wearing wrist-bands in an all-inclusive resort?"
Miss Rodriguez launched her campaign on Facebook at the end of last year, gaining 17,000 supporters in one week. The group now has 47,000 supporters, and is currently working in alliance with Greenpeace and other lobbies in the Spanish costal provinces of Galicia, Murcia and Asturias.
Driving along the windswept coast, past the lighthouse on Trafalgar Point where the great sea battle was fought in 1805, Miss Rodriguez heads past great untouched stretches of beach, flanked by sand dunes and backed by olive groves.
But suddenly the trees stop, and at Sancti Petri, a line of hotels begins.
"I call this Babel," said Juan Antonio Gotor de Astorza, supporter of the campaign.
"All these luxury hotels, where once there were pine trees. It breaks my heart. And it's a ghost town – it's out of season now, so there is no one here. It's not like the Costa del Sol, which is warm all year round – here the wind really blows. There is no need for all this."
Miguel Angel Losada, scientist and scriptwriter for the costal documentary series, agrees.
"In the end, everyone will pay for this over-development," he said.
"They just cannot keep on like this. And it's not just in El Palmar; there are 20 or 30 cases like this all over Spain.
"People are sold this idea that tourism is the only solution; that is creates boundless riches.
"But Spain – and the rest of Europe – has to wake up. This process is destroying far more richness than it could ever create

France's main airport, Charles de Gaulle, has enough fuel to last only a few days

France's main airport, Charles de Gaulle, has enough fuel to last only a few days, the transport ministry has warned amid strikes against government plans to raise the retirement age.

A ministry spokesman said officials were working to restore aviation fuel supplies. Economy Minister Christine Lagarde urged people "not to panic".

Oil refineries and fuel depots have been hit by the latest strikes.


Meanwhile unions are holding fresh mass protests over the pension plan.

On Saturday thousands of students have joined a fifth day of demonstrations in less than six weeks. Unions have called for more than 200 marches nationwide.

Police in Paris said 20,000 people were taking part in Saturday's protest when it started, shortly after 1500 local (1300 GMT), compared to 50,000 on 2 October, the last Saturday of protests.

Trapil, the company that operates the fuel pipeline to the Paris airports, told French media on Friday that supplies had stopped and that Roissy-Charles de Gaulle could run out of fuel as early as next week.

On Saturday a transport ministry spokesman confirmed to the AFP news agency that reserves would last until late on Monday or Tuesday.


Pension protest numbers

Tuesday 12 October: 1.2m (police) - 3.5m (unions)
Saturday 2 October: 899.000 - 3m
Thursday 23 September: 997,000 - 3m
Tuesday 7 September: 1.2m - 2.7m
But he said the pipeline was now working intermittently, adding: "We are exploring possible solutions to supply the airport [at Roissy]. We are confident."

All 12 oil refineries in France have been hit by the strikes. Ten have shut down or are in the process of closing.

A number of fuel depots have been blockaded.

Panic buying
Officials have insisted that France has enough fuel to see out the industrial action. On Saturday Ms Lagarde said: "There is no reason to panic over this... I am sure that we will unblock the situation through intelligent social dialogue."

However, some 10% of filling stations have run out of petrol and panic buying has broken out in some areas.

Meanwhile more than 200 marches nationwide are due to take place on Saturday. The protesters are opposed to President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, and from 65 to 67 for a full state pension.

More than a million people took to the streets in the latest national protest on Tuesday, according to police. Trade unions organisers said 3.5m had taken part.