Roquetas de Mar shoplifters caught

Guardia Civil stopped a Volkswagen Golf at 10pm in Roquetas de Mar, at a checkpoint making random inspections of passing cars, they came across more than they expected.
After identifying the five occupants, officers searched the vehicle and found several articles of clothing which appeared to be brand new and with the price-tags still attached. They also found a suitcase and a bag, both of which were lined with aluminium foil – a method frequently used by thieves to fool shops’ security systems, containing more new items of clothing. On searching the five occupants of the car, one of them was found to have yet more similar items hidden in the clothes he was wearing. A total of 12 articles of clothing were found with a value of 740 euros.Those arrested were identified as Gheorghe C., aged 23, Gheorghe S. R., aged 23, Buta L., aged 37, Cristian F. M., aged 27 and Lidia C., aged 29. All were said by the Guardia Civil to have previous criminal records.

Mother and son robbers

Police in Ronda have arrested a mother and son for having performed around twenty opportunistic robberies in the town. According to police, the criminals always committed their crimes in shops, taking advantage of shop owners and customers being distracted in order to steal wallets and items off the shelves. Thanks to CCTV cameras, the woman (aged 44) was caught red handed by police in a jewellery shop and her son was arrested shortly afterwards. The pair are also believed to have committed similar offences in Malaga, Seville and Cadiz.

A total of 25 marijuana plants were seized by local police from a house in Callosa de Segura.

A total of 25 marijuana plants were seized by local police from a house in Callosa de Segura.They also arrested two people in the raid identified.
The plants were being cultivated in plastic bags on a terrace.

no company based in Spain has a licence to show BBC public service channels.

no company based in Spain has a licence to show BBC public service channels.
They stated that it is illegal to rebroadcast these channels in Spain without a licence from them.The BBC and Sky have both said that companies that do this are breaking copyright laws.A spokesman for the BBC explained this week that the BBC’s public service channels –BBC1, BBC2 and the digital channels – are produced for broadcast in the UK only.He added that although European law allows channels that are broadcast in an EEA (European Economic Area) country to be licensed for cable redistribution in another EEA country, the BBC only currently licenses cable redistribution in the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands.
“The BBC’s public service channels are not licensed for broadcast in any other countries,” the spokesman added.“Our international news channel, BBC World News is distributed in Spain.“BBC Worldwide’s international general entertainment channel, BBC Prime, is licensed directly to individual subscribers in Spain but is not currently licensed to a cable, satellite or other platform.”
But he added that cable operators in Spain could come to an agreement with the BBC, as they have done in the Benelux countries.
He continued: “If a cable operator wishes to redistribute the BBC’s channels it must enter into a licence with the BBC and other underlying rights holders.
“The BBC can choose whether or not to license the BBC’s public service channels for redistribution in this way.” BskyB has already stated that it is illegal to receive its programmes in Spain.
A spokesman said: “We authorise the reception of Sky TV in the UK and Ireland only.
“Our terms and conditions expressly prohibit reception elsewhere in Europe.”
BBC Prime clients can use their own equipment to view English programmes with more information available at www.bbcprime.com
It is an encrypted channel and customers need to buy a subscription to receive a smart card which enables them to receive up to 50 channels with BBC Prime being just one of them.A BBC Prime spokesman added: “Live coverage or highlights of sporting events is not something that BBC Prime includes in its schedules.
“We do not have international transmission rights to the action.
“International rights to the pictures have to be bought on the open market and payment made for European or global transmission.
“Often the international rights are held by a number of different channels with exclusivity clauses for their territory, and so are unavailable to us.”
Also this week the Guardia Civil revealed that the investigation into Costa Blanca rebroadcasting company Telmicro Levante SL remains ongoing.
A Guardia Civil spokesman in Alicante said: “We cannot give any information about the investigation.“The judge must establish when the investigation is finished and when we are allowed to give information.“Clients interested in getting information must go to Torrevieja’s court.
“They can present a formal complaint if they have a contract signed with Telmicro and they feel the contract has been broken.“The judge would then decide whether the complaint is accepted or not and which crime if any the company might have committed.”

'FAT' Freddie Thompson is is now “a dead man walking”, he is in hiding in Dublin after he was forced to flee Spain by a Russian drugs gang.

Thompson is now “a dead man walking”, according to senior gardai.
'FAT' Freddie Thompson is this evening in hiding in Dublin after he was forced to flee Spain by a Russian drugs gang.The thug had originally fled Dublin and was in hiding on the Costa Blanca after the INLA ordered him dead. Now garda sources have revealed that a Russian gang have been upset by the inner city thug, and want him dead. Caught in no man’s land, Thompson is now moving between addresses in Clondalkin and Rathcoole as various criminal and republican elements try to track him down.
A senior garda monitoring the situation “He doesn’t know what he’s doing from one hour to the next. He is constantly on the move. "He has at least three locations in Dublin alone which he uses to put his head down at night."
Thompson has been subjected to at least two attempts on his life since he returned to the capital earlier this month. On Monday, a bomb threat was made to Lowe's pub in Dolphin's Barn where Thompson was expected to be following the removal mass of an associate. Despite the threats, Thompson appeared in the open for the funeral of his girlfriend's brother this week. Leslie Dempsey, who was just 26-years-old when he died last week, was a sister of Vicky, Thompson's girlfriend. At his funeral on Tuesday, Thompson made a rare public appearance causing a stir among mourners and undercover gardai. He arrived at the funeral in Crumlin just as proceedings were about to get underway and quickly mingled with a group of men at the back of the church. His sudden appearance caused a bustle among his gang, who appeared to gather around him eagerly. Two of the men immediately caught each other's attention and nodded towards the door of the church before leaving swiftly as if to scan the perimeter of the building. They arrived back a short time later when it appeared the coast was clear. Freddie Thompson appeared relaxed, wearing a striped shirt out over his denim jeans. He was clean-shaven, with his head also freshly shaved. The only occasional hint of stress from Thompson was a few times when he rubbed his face while glancing around at the crowd in the church. But it was those around him that appeared most nervous. About 15 minutes into the funeral mass Thompson was approached by a man who appeared to give him a tap on the arm as he passed towards the door, leading Thompson and his group to follow. And then in the warm summer haze, Thompson, incredibly, stayed in open territory, chatting with his group and having the odd laugh with them. The fact that he was in wide open view to everybody did not seem to faze him, and there he stayed until the funeral mass was over and the body of his girlfriend's brother was carried from the church.
Freddie Thompson appears fitter and healthier than his cohorts in most of the photographs that people are used to seeing in the media. Usually guarded about appearing anywhere an enemy could be lying in wait, he used the presence of the gardai as protection, as well as the presence of a large number of friends.
It is rare that Thompson stands still long enough to be pictured in public without something like a baseball cap to help shield his image from prying eyes, but old-fashioned funeral etiquette meant that this appearance was always going to be different. And despite initial attempts to keep his return to the city under wraps, Thompson has been repeatedly spotted and targeted. Two social occasions attended by the 27-year-old in the past two weeks have both been targeted by hoax bomb threats -- leaving Freddie in no doubt that he is still a marked man.
Gardai too intend to keep a close an eye on the hood.

family say that an alleged sighting of Amy Fitzpatrick, in Portugal was never followed up, even though Amy's aunt reported it

family say that an alleged sighting of Amy Fitzpatrick, in Portugal was never followed up, even though Amy's aunt reported it to both the Spanish and Irish police. Amy's father, Christopher Fitzpatrick, is now attempting to raise funds in order to employ the private detective. "To be honest, not for one second did he ever think he would need to trouble anybody for help with funds but Spain is so far from Ireland and the costs to get anything done is crazy," said Amy's aunt Christine Kenny. "This is the first time Christopher has asked for help with funds and it will only be used to hire a private detective and any funds left over will go to the missing organisation in Ireland www.miss.ie to help other families in this situation." Amy disappeared on the evening of New Year's Day, 2008, at approximately 10pm. After she left her friend's house in the tourist resort of Riviera Del Sol, on the Costa Del Sol in Spain, to take the 10-minute walk to her own house, Amy was never seen again. Adding to the family's trauma were hoax texts which had been sent to Amy's mother's phone claiming to be Amy.
One message read: "(Hi) mum n dad i am fine so stop worrying."
However, Amy's mother, Audrey Fitzpatrick, knew that it wasn't her daughter who sent the text in question. "She wouldn't call me mum, she calls me something else," said Audrey. "If I get a message with that name then I'll know. "There's been a few (hoax messages) like that. I've had texts on my phone saying, 'It's me, I've no money, could you put free credit on my phone'. Plenty of them got free credit with that one," Audrey said.
"There have been some on the Bebo site as well. But the first thing I notice is the wording, it's not her," added the mother-of-two. Burglars broke into Audrey's home this month and stole a laptop the family were using in the search for her.
The stolen computer contained designs of search posters as well as hundreds of vital contact numbers Audrey and Amy's stepdad Dave Mahon had gathered during their eight-month search for the 16-year-old.
"There are numbers on there we'll never be able to recover," Audrey said.

Banana Beach

Spanish Corruption

Afghanistan’s opium harvest has dropped from last year’s record high

Afghanistan’s opium harvest has dropped from last year’s record high, the United Nations announced Tuesday, contending that the tide of opium that engulfed Afghanistan in ever rising harvests since 2001 was finally showing signs of ebbing.

Skip to next paragraph
Related
Afghans Want a Deal on Foreign Troops (August 26, 2008) “The opium floodwaters in Afghanistan have started to recede,” Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, wrote in the foreword of the 2008 annual opium poppy survey, published Tuesday. “Afghan society has started to make progress in its fight against opium.”

Poppy cultivation has dropped by 19 percent since 2007, and had fallen beneath 2006 levels as well, the report said. The harvest was also down, although by a lesser margin because of greater yields, dropping by 6 percent to 7,700 tons.

More than half of Afghanistan’s provinces have now been declared poppy free — that is, 18 of 34 provinces grow no, or very little, poppy, up from 13 poppy-free provinces last year.

The results, gathered by the United Nations through satellite imagery and checks on the ground, are a success for the Afghan government’s strategy of weaning farmers off the illicit crop through persuasion, incentives and local leadership. A drought in northern Afghanistan also helped bring numbers down, although that has also increased the hardship farmers are suffering.

The report underscores a trend, first seen last year, that the more stable, better-administered provinces are succeeding in curbing illicit drug production, according to diplomats and government officials. A swathe of blue on a United Nations map of Afghanistan, stretching across from the north-east to the north-west of the country, now denotes decreasing or no poppy cultivation.

Two provinces that have been large-scale poppy producing regions in the past, Badakhshan in the north-east and Nangarhar in the east, have been declared poppy free this year, a consequence of effective local leadership and the support of religious leaders, elders and local council members, Mr. Costa said at a news briefing in Kabul Tuesday evening.

Nevertheless, Afghanistan’s poppy crop still remains the world’s largest, and now 98 percent of the crop is grown in the lawless southern and south-western regions that are in the grip of a virulent insurgency. Two-thirds of all opium in Afghanistan in 2008 was grown in the province of Helmand, where the Taliban control whole districts. Eight thousand British troops working with government soldiers have failed to make much headway, either in curbing Taliban activities or the drug industry.

“If Helmand were a country, it would once again be the world’s biggest producer of illicit drugs,” Mr. Costa wrote.

The fact that poppy and opium production is thriving in areas where the insurgency is strongest shows the link between drugs and conflict, he says, arguing that both need to be dealt with at the same time. The Taliban were making up to $70 million a year taxing poppy farmers, and were collecting their share of the estimated $3 billion made yearly by the drug traffickers in Afghanistan, he said.

He called on NATO, the United States and the Afghan military to destroy drug laboratories, opium markets and traffickers’ convoys, without harming the livelihoods of struggling farmers. The poor risk severe hunger this year after bad harvests and price increases, Mr. Costa said, and should be assisted before they are tempted to return to the high rewards of poppy cultivation

Prince Kardam of Bulgaria is in a critical condition after a traffic accident yesterday afternoon in El Molar (Madrid).

Prince Kardam of Bulgaria is in a critical condition after a traffic accident yesterday afternoon in El Molar (Madrid). His wife, Doña Miriam Ungria y López, was also injured. The accident occurred at around 2.50pm yesterday afternoon on the Madrid-bound carriageway of the N-1 (km 42) when the couple's Jaguar veered off the road, then collided with a tree before flipping over onto its roof. The prince, who has lived his whole life in exile in Madrid, sustained severe head injuries as well as "catastrophic" damage to both hands, which doctors will probably have to amputate. Princess Miriam is believed to be much less seriously injured, but suffered a broken elbow as well as extensive bruising. Prince Kardam is the eldest child of former prime minister of the Bulgarian Republic, Tsar Simeon II, and Doña Margarita Gómez Acebo y Cejuela. After achieving a degree in economics from an American university, Kardam married in 1996 and has since fathered two sons. Bulgaria abolished its monarchy in 1946.

John Michael Daykil, died on Barayo beach (Valdés) yesterday afternoon

John Michael Daykil, died on Barayo beach (Valdés) yesterday afternoon shortly after being pulled unconscious from the sea by some of his fellow bathers as his wife looked on. Mr Daykil was pronounced dead at the scene at around 2.45pm after a member of the public tried for around twenty minutes to resuscitate him.
According to local officials, Barayo beach, which is not patrolled by lifeguards, was quite busy yesterday despite the choppy sea conditions.

non-performing loans held by Spanish banks almost tripled in the 12 months to June

The value of non-performing loans held by Spanish banks almost tripled in the 12 months to June as a combination of higher interest rates, rising unemployment and a collapsing property market drove many consumers to default.As a proportion of bank's total loan portfolios, money in the hands of delinquent borrowers stood at 1.61 percent of the total, a level that government officials say remains relatively small and does not put the health of the Spanish financial sector at risk.However, with non-performing loans already amounting to EUR 28.4 billion, there are fears that banks will start to suffer if the slowdown continues and an increasing number of clients finds it hard to make ends meet.The government expects interest rates to fall later in 2008 and early in 2009, offering consumers some relief.

Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared camera could have recorded Amy on the track she is thought to have taken on New Year's Day

It has been revealed that a camera could have recorded Amy on the track she is thought to have taken on New Year's Day, the day she disappeared.
Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared on the evening of New Year's Day 1st January 2008 at approximately 10pm when she left her friends house in the tourist resort of Riviera Del Sol on the Costa Del Sol, Spain to take the 10 minute walk to her house.Amy was 15 at the time of her disappearance; on 7th February Amy turned 16, Amy has black/Brown hair, blue eyes and has a pale complexion. She is 1.65m tall and was wearing brown crushed velvet tracksuit bottoms and a black T-shirt with the word "DIESEL" in various different colours when she was last seen. She had no money, phone or passport. Amy is originally from Clarehall Dublin but was living in Spain the last few years. Tuesday 26th August 2008 Amy will be 34 weeks missing. We have discovered a sighting that was reported to Christine Kenny Amy's Aunt of Amy in Portugal was never followed up that Christine reported to both the Spanish and Irish police. Christopher Fitzpatrick Amy's father needs to raise funds to hire a private detective to help with the search for Amy. To be honest not for one second did he ever think he would need to trouble anybody for help with funds but Spain is so far from Ireland and the costs to get anything done is crazy. Please note this is the first time Christopher has asked for help with funds and it will only be used to hire a private detective and any funds left over will go to the missing organisation in Ireland Miss.ie to help other families going through this situation.

overnight shooting in Marbella is linked to a gun attack on 39-year-old Peter Mitchell on the Costa del Sol this week.

Police in Spain are investigating if an overnight shooting in Marbella is linked to a gun attack on an Irishman in the Costa del Sol this week.
A 42-year-old man and one other person were shot in the early hours of this morning, outside a disco bar.On Thursday night 39-year-old Peter Mitchell, a former associate of convicted drugs dealer John Gilligan, was shot in a bar in Puerto Banus by a masked gunman.He remains under guard in hospital in Spain after narrowly surviving the assassination attempt, while two other men caught up in the shooting received minor injuries.

Peter Mitchell was sat outside the El Jardin bar in Puerto Banus, when the hitman opened fire

Peter Mitchell was sat outside the El Jardin bar in Puerto Banus, when the hitman opened fire at 11.40pm on Thursday.The gunman tripped as he fired off four shots, and injured two innocent bystanders as he chased after his target. Mitchell, 39, escaped with two bullet wounds to the shoulder. An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: "The gunman tripped as he chased after Mitchell and that saved his life. His weapon went off as he was falling to the ground and the bullets went off in different directions. Mitchell was running towards the back of the bar to try and find some cover and got hit in the shoulder. The other two victims just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It all happened so quickly, the gunman was up and out of the bar before anyone could react properly."

One man was gunned down at the Trendy beach nightclub Nikki Beach, near Marbella, Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Metcalfe was dancing with friends.

Nikki Beach is a favourite of the celebs who flock to the up-market resort of Marbella in the summer. Trendy beach nightclub Nikki Beach, near Marbella, Hollyoaks actress Jennifer Metcalfe was dancing with friends. One man was gunned down and another injured after a fight broke out after 2am.Jennifer -- who plays Mercedes McQueen in the soap -- left in tears as the two male victims were rushed to hospital. The 25-year-old actress was thought to have been with former Big Brother contestants Brian Belo and Ziggy Lichman. Onlookers described how a fight broke out in the club and shots were fired.One witness, who asked not to be named, said: "It was like the Wild West. The people fighting were throwing anything they could get their hands on at each other. Chairs and bottles were flying."It was absolute pandemonium. Some people ran for cover as it all kicked off and others just dropped to the ground and covered their heads."The minute they realised someone had been shot there was a mass surge for the door as people tried to get out of the club as quickly as they could."A Malaga police spokesman confirmed that three people were injured, two with gunshot wounds. Several premiership footballers, and David Beckham's sister, Joanne, are regular visitors. Calum Best was pictured sunbathing at the beach club this year.

Irish holidaymakers sparked a massive air and land rescue -- after getting lost as they tried to climb a Spanish mountain in 90 degree heat.

Irish holidaymakers sparked a massive air and land rescue -- after getting lost as they tried to climb a Spanish mountain in 90 degree heat.The Dublin trio phoned friends after running out of water and succumbing to dehydration as they attempted to reach the summit of La Concha overlooking the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella.
And their pals made matters worse after alerting emergency services -- by trying to reach the stricken men in their beachwear and forcing a second separate rescue after losing their way too. Last night the cost of the rescue was being put at more than €25,000. A source on the rescue team said: "The rescue involved more than more than 40 people on foot, in cars and a helicopter including civil protection officers and police. "The cost is going to run into several thousand pounds. "Trying to climb a mountain in southern Spain at midday on one of the hottest days of the year without enough water or proper clothes and equipment is a pretty stupid thing to do," the source said. "They'd run out of water by the time we found them and were pretty exhausted. "They could quite easily have died if we hadn't got to them in time."
The three men, all in their 20s, set off just after midday on Tuesday to try to reach the top of La Concha, a striking mountain 1215 metres high sitting at the end of the Sierra Blanca mountain range. The three-hour-trek is popular with locals and expats in spring, autumn and winter. Rescue workers were alerted just after 3pm by friends of the men who were thought to have been sunbathing when they received a call on their mobile phones from their distressed pals. They were taken to hospital suffering from dehydration

100 people have been killed after a passenger plane swerved off the runway at Madrid's Barajas airport, Spanish officials say.

100 people have been killed after a passenger plane swerved off the runway at Madrid's Barajas airport, Spanish officials say. Many others were hurt when the Spanair plane bound for the Canary Islands left the runway with 172 people on board.
There were reports of a fire in the left engine during take-off. TV footage showed smoke billowing from the craft. Helicopters were called in to dump water on to the plane, and dozens of ambulances went to the scene. TV footage later showed several people being carried away on stretchers.The exact number of casualties is still unknown, with several reports suggesting just 26 people survived the crash, which happened at about 1430 local time (1230 GMT).
Officials confirmed to the BBC and Spanish news agency Efe that the death toll had passed 100. Spanish journalist Manuel Moleno, who was near the area when the accident happened, said the plane appeared to have "crashed into pieces".
"We heard a big crash. So we stopped and we saw a lot of smoke," he said.
Mr Moleno said he had seen as many as 20 people walking away from the wreckage.
The plane, which was destined for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, came down during or shortly after take-off from Terminal Four at Barajas. TV footage showed that the plane had come to rest in fields near the airport. Spanair issued a statement saying that flight number JK 5022 had been involved in an accident at 1445 local time. The airline's parent company, Scandinavian firm SAS, later said the accident happened at 1423. According to Spain's airport authority, Aena, the plane had been due to take off at 1300 local time.
No details of the nationalities of the passengers on board have yet been released.
But the plane was a codeshare flight with German airline Lufthansa, which said it was investigating whether German passengers were on the flight.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero was on his way to the scene after cutting short his holiday, his office said. The aircraft was a MD82, a plane commonly used on short trips around Europe, Spanair, a subsidiary of Scandinavian carrier SAS, had a very good safety record. Reports say it was the first crash at Barajas airport, some 13km (8 miles) from central Madrid, since 1983

foreign property owners in the Marina Baixa region of Valencia’s Alicante province have formed a group called Veins de L’Alfàs (Residents of L’Alfàs).

Following the plight faced by many local residents; foreign property owners in the Marina Baixa region of Valencia’s Alicante province have formed a group called Veins de L’Alfàs (Residents of L’Alfàs). It’s designed to defend their rights as homeowners against the town council and local property developers. The homeowners are threatened with the prospect of having some or all of their land taken away from them, under the controversial ‘land grab’ law. The local mayor intends to build around 2,000 new homes on the collective private holdings. The 100-member group plan to take legal action against the mayor in both Spain and EU courts. Some would argue that this is long overdue, as many homeowners in the Valencia region have been the victims of local corruption.

Thousands of holidaymakers were evacuated shortly before the first bomb went off around 1pm local time by the Tryp Hotel in Guadalmar Beach

Thousands of holidaymakers trying to reach Malaga Airport were caught in six-mile-long traffic jams as police closed the access road to the airport to search for an ETA bomb thought to have been planted along a nearby motorway. Tourists landing this afternoon were also prevented from leaving the airport as security services tried to locate the device. A spokesman for EasyJet said: "No-one can reach or leave the airport at the moment. "We haven't been asked to evacuate the airport at the moment but there's not many people to evacuate. "Everyone's pretty calm at the moment but there's no doubt this is going to cause travel chaos around Europe.
"We have a flight which is supposed to be leaving Malaga Airport for Gatwick at 4.50pm local time but it will have to be delayed. "Even if the passengers were here on time, which they're not going to be, there wouldn't be a flight crew. "The air crew and pilot are currently stuck in a hotel near to where the first bomb went off and they can't leave the building to get to the airport. Authorities received warnings of three devices planted across the southern coast, forming part of the Basque's separatist group's summer bombing campaign.Thousands of holidaymakers were evacuated shortly before the first bomb went off around 1pm local time by the Tryp Hotel in Guadalmar Beach near the popular tourist resort of Torremolinos.
An hour later police were forced to evacuate shops and a beach at Benalmadena Port - along with thousands more bathers at the nearby beaches of Malapesquera and Fuente de la Salud - after being alerted to a second bomb. Police said that more than 10,000 people had been evacuated from the yacht marina and three nearby beaches before the second bomb exploded. The bomb had been left near the harbour's underground car park.
Police are on alert for attacks in the Andalusia area of southern Spain after they arrested members of an Eta unit last month and found evidence that the group were planning attacks in the region. The group often set off mainly small bombs in Spanish resorts during the busy summer holiday season to target the tourist industry as part of its four-decade fight for an independent Basque homeland. Last month they detonated a small bomb in the sand near a bustling promenade in Torremolinos, also on the south coast. It followed four small explosions at holiday resorts on Spain's

Amy Fitzpatrick went missing on New Year's Day. She had left her best friend's house on the Riviera del Sol, Costa del Sol at around 10pm

Amy Fitzpatrick went missing on New Year's Day. She had left her best friend's house on the Riviera del Sol, Costa del Sol at around 10pm after spending the day with her visiting amusement arcades. Amy had almost decided to spend the night with her best friend Ashley Rose and had been getting ready for bed, but her friend's mum Debbie had been concerned that she hadn't touched base with her family. It was for this reason that 15-year-old Amy went home.She had brought no clothing with her, no telephone and most important of all, she had no money or passport. And she was never seen again.It makes her disappearance all the more sinister. From being out there, speaking to her best friend Ashley and her mum Audrey Fitzpatrick, Amy had no plans of running away, and my own experience of investigating missing person cases backs this up.She left that night around 10pm, the investigators should discount any idea that this girl ran away. We all must give up the myth that this child ran away. Amy Fitzpatrick, in my opinion, has been abducted.
Here we are more than 220 days later and the family have searched extensively for Amy. They have delivered missing person posters around Europe and attended the EU parliament. There have been sightings as far away as Algeria, but still Amy remains missing.I imagine that Amy's last-minute decision to go home is vital in the investigation -- there could be no premeditated plan.My own belief is that this is an opportunistic crime. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The road she travelled home is a lonely place. I believe Amy was walking that perilous lane on her own when an opportunistic predator saw her.
Spanish officers searched for Amy, but could more have been done? I saw the ravine they searched. It was half a mile long and 200ft to 300ft deep, a canyon, the search, from my experience as a garda, couldn't be said to be conclusive.
Amy's parents remain inconsolable. Their biggest hope may soon become to recover her body for a Christian burial, to have closure.You can never think of Amy's disappearance without thinking of that of Maddie McCann, who went missing in the neighbouring country of Portugal.I was out in Spain during the initial search for Amy. It never got the publicity of Maddie McCann's disappearance.
I understand not as a former garda but as a parent of a child that they still have hope and I don't want the Fitzpatrick family to lose hope.

ruse to sell non-performing mortgage loans as ‘distressed homes’. Investors looking for distress sales on the Costa del Sol should beware.

A source tells me that some lawyers on the Costa del Sol are up to no good again. Now that their astronomical fees from conveyancing have dwindled to a trickle in the market freeze, they are having to come up with new ways to part clients from their money. This time they have come up with a ruse to sell non-performing mortgage loans as ‘distressed homes’. Investors looking for distress sales on the Costa del Sol should beware.I’m not sure exactly how it works, as it wasn’t explained to me in much detail, but it goes something like this:Banks have clients who aren’t paying their mortgages, and the banks would very much like to off-load those mortgages onto someone else. Lawyers are helping the banks out, for a fee, by finding buyers for those debts. But, so I am told, some lawyers are misleading potential investors by presenting the deal as a distressed home purchase, or bank repossession, rather than an investment in bad debt. So investors think they are buying properties at distressed prices, but in reality they are just non-performing mortgage loans.
There is nothing wrong with investing in distressed debt. Some people have made massive fortunes in financial markets out of doing so. The problem here is that small investors on the Costa del Sol are being mislead into buying bad debts when they think they are buying property on the cheap. I’m told there are various lists of ‘deals’ in circulation from banks which lawyers are using to try and snare investors.
“They are sharks these lawyers, now there’s less work about they are all trying to screw money out of people in other ways,” one estate agent told me.
So if you are an investor looking to take advantage of this market, just make sure you know what you are buying.

Property prices have fallen by a crushing 35% over the past 12 months, four times faster than in the UK, and haven't stopped plunging yet.

Who is going to shell out for all this whitewashed concrete, even at today's knock-down prices? Spanish property developers are frantically asking the same question, with buyers for unfinished projects down up to 60%. With their credit lines garrotted by the credit crunch, the developers are expiring in droves.Property prices have fallen by a crushing 35% over the past 12 months, four times faster than in the UK, and haven't stopped plunging yet. This spells disaster for an economy where investment in housing is worth 10% of GDP and employs 13% of people in the private sector.I had a small insight into the shambles while holidaying in the Atlantic coast town of Rota, near Cadiz, a couple of weeks ago.I briefly hovered outside an estate agency window when a wild-eyed woman charged out and tried to manhandle me inside. I explained, with the help of my girlfriend's Spanish, that I was merely browsing and had no desire to buy a two-bedroom villa overlooking a building site, even if it was €40,000 cheaper than yesterday, and made good my escape. The crestfallen agent trudged back to her empty office.I knew the Spanish property market was going through a tricky time, but until I saw the fire sale prices and the desperation in her eyes, I hadn't realised things were so bad.
And it's going to get worse. Next day, we drove along the Costa del Sol to Malaga and were awestruck by the pace and scale of construction along the coast, massed ranks of half-built villas and apartments squeezed into every dusty hollow and ditch alongside the motorway.The Spanish property market bubble has been well and truly pricked, but sadly too late to save the beauty of the country's coastline.
I've followed the coastal Spanish property market with interest ever since an editor dispatched me to report on a get-rich-quick property seminar around six or seven years ago.On a rainy February night in Croydon, a pint-sized Irishman with a ponytail warmed the assembly of small-time investors with visions of great profits as retired people poured in from northern Europe seeking golf, cheap booze and sunshine. And to be fair, he was right for a time.Another 2 million built properties have been built since then, with 3 million more in the pipeline (although many may never be completed).Up to three-quarter of a million Britons have been seduced by the Spanish dream, but many have now come unstuck. Some are spending their final years stranded in a half-built golf resort while others have watched their home demolished before their eyes because their builder hadn't got the right planning permission. The local planning process is notoriously corrupt and thousands of trusting Britons have paid the price.Everybody wants their little plot in paradise, and my heart goes out to them. Flying out from drizzly Britain, it is easy to be blinded by the Iberian sun. Too many Britons have left their brains at Gatwick, but unfortunately, taken their bank details with them.

Ranks of exquisitely tasteless, often empty, villas advancing in close order up isolated, parched hillsides.

Drive along the coast south of Alicante and the results of the Spanish property bubble are there to see: serried ranks of exquisitely tasteless, often empty, villas advancing in close order up isolated, parched hillsides. Many have been built in locations totally unsuitable for housing: by the sides of dual carriageways, away from shops and amenities – anywhere that developers could find a landowner willing to sell. Property has driven the Spanish economy like no other in the European Union. Last year, housing investment accounted for a tenth of GDP and 13 per cent of private sector jobs. More than four million dwellings have been built in the last decade, a boom fuelled partly by an influx of British retirees (some three-quarters of a million Britons now reside in Spain). Britain's Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors says the number of homes built last year would be excessive even given steady market conditions, never mind a downturn.
But it's on the Costas where the developers are really hurting. La Axarquia is part of Malaga province, a constellation of 29 coastal and inland councils. Ask about the number of illegally built properties in La Axarquia and the official figure will be about 10,000. Local environmentalists put that at more than 20,000.
"In Marbella, the local council is calling on the regional authorities to retrospectively authorise illegally built properties because otherwise mortgages cannot be raised on them," says Mr Rhys-Jones. "In other words, they want to draw a line under the old era." However, he does not believe the property industry will be cleaned up any time soon. "In my town of Estepona, the mayor was elected in May on an anti-corruption ticket. He is now awaiting trial, charged with money laundering, and influence-peddling relating to planning permission." Housebuilding was popular with ordinary Spaniards, struggling to match the living standards of their more developed partners in the EU. Unfettered building was a vote-winner with local electorates because of the money it injected. Smallholdings, worth next to nothing as agricultural land, suddenly took on great value. Helping it all in recent years was the pound's strength against the euro, making Spain an attractive destination for elderly British couples wanting to maximise their pensions. Now, the pound has dropped and the developers are finding fewer takers from the UK. The result is an enormous glut. Prices are falling relentlessly on the Costas, destroying the hopes of Britons who bought properties as investments. Tina Reeves, who has worked as an estate agent in Spain for the last 18 years, says tortuous planning laws are part of the problem. "Licences granted by local councils to developers are being rescinded by the regional authorities," she explains. "It's not the fault of the developers, it's the fault of local councils granting licences and not passing it by the region. Also, not many Spanish banks are lending at the moment. They are getting uptight because even they don't know whether anything is legal any more."

Spanish authorities are secretly preparing to deal with a significant terrorist attack in one of the country’s popular tourist resorts

Spanish authorities are secretly preparing to deal with a significant terrorist attack in one of the country’s popular tourist resorts, and have ordered police to step up security measures, according to an internal memorandum distributed to regional forces last week.The warning comes after a spate of minor bombings by the Basque separatist group ETA, timed to disrupt Spain’s tourist industry at its busiest period.The latest attack, a blast outside the Sol Aloha Puerto hotel, in the Costa del Sol resort of Torremolinos, was the fifth in 10 days and, although nobody was hurt in the explosion, local police say the device was “perfectly capable of killing”.The Spanish interior minister, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, said that he had no doubt the bombing was the work of ETA, adding that the discovery of a rucksack containing bomb-making equipment in a quarry on the outskirts of the town showed further attacks were planned.

it’s now thought that at least twelve international schools are operating in the province of Málaga without permission.

The case of the dangerous conditions at the St Javier’s International Nursery in Marbella, has led the authorities to take a closer look at other international schools in the area, and it’s now thought that at least twelve international schools are operating in the province of Málaga without permission.
The owner of St Javier’s has been arrested and she has been working there for 12 years without the regional Educational authorities knowing about it.The Málaga Hoy newspaper says that there are at least a dozen international educational centres on the Costa del Sol which are not authorised. It says most of these are international establishments, in Mijas, Marbella and Estepona, and are operating without the approval of the regional authorities. They are generally nurseries but some teach up to the Bachillerato level.Those that are correctly authorised are listed on the Regional Education Authority website - www.juntadeandalucia.es/educacion/

Officers from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency and Spanish police are now increasingly focusing on criminal elements among UK residents

Officers from Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency and Spanish police are now increasingly focusing on potentially criminal elements among UK residents abroad. Their efforts are running in tandem with attempts by Greater Manchester Police to round up some of its most wanted individuals. Recently, the Mancunian suspected of funding one of Britain's largest gun smuggling operations was caught after 11 years on the run, most of them believed to have been in Spain. Michael Sammon, 47, was allegedly involved in a plot in which 274 weapons were imported into Britain from Europe. Two weeks ago Irishman Timothy O'Toole was jailed in Spain for trying to smuggle cocaine worth £100m into Europe on board a yacht from South America. He had extensive links with the Manchester underworld with police monitoring his dealings in Marbella.However, others are still to be caught. In particular, detectives are still hunting Raymond Nevitt from Manchester, who funded his playboy lifestyle and obsession with fast cars following a £3.25m fraud scam. The 43-year-old is believed to be in Puerto Banus or Marbella and has been found guilty in his absence of fraudulent trading.One of Britain's most wanted men will be extradited to the UK this week after being arrested in Benidorm, southern Spain. Bobby Spiers will be interviewed by Manchester police in connection with a bungled underworld hit in a Salford pub that left two men dead.The seizure of Spiers is a notable triumph for British police, ending a two-year manhunt for the Mancunian boss of a Salford private security firm who allegedly had links to some of the city's most notorious armed gangs. In recent weeks, officers had received intelligence concerning Spiers's new life on the Costa del Sol. Greater Manchester Police believe the 42-year-old from Prestwich was involved in orchestrating an assassination attempt on Salford criminal David Totton in 2006. After a row over nightclub entry between the two, its is alleged that Spiers contacted Ian McLeod - the chief of Moss Side's Doddington gang - and ordered a £10,000 hit on Totton while he was drinking in the Brass Handles pub in Salford. McLeod, in turn, hired two young Doddington hitmen to carry out the attack while drinkers watched a televised Manchester United match. Spiers was at Old Trafford watching the game, the perfect alibi. His company secretary, convicted gun-runner Constance Howarth, known locally as the Black Widow, had agreed to sit in the pub and guide the gunmen to their target by sending text messages to the pair. One shot Totton, 29, six times in the face and chest but he miraculously survived. However, the weapon belonging to his accomplice jammed and amid the ensuing commotion, drinkers overpowered the two would-be assassins and shot them with their own weapons. Both managed to escape but were caught by the pub's clientele and attacked as they lay dying from their gunshot wounds on a nearby grass banking.Meanwhile, Howarth applied fresh lipstick in the toilets and left. No one came forward to identify those who shot the two young gang members and by the time police arrived CCTV footage from inside the pub had been wiped clean.
Both Howarth and McLeod were later jailed for life for their part in the conspiracy, with the prosecution case alleging that Spiers 'was instrumental in the planned execution'. By that time, however, he was enjoying anonymity among the 375,000-strong British expat community around Malaga.

Hotel Byblos Andaluz in Mijas auctioned off

Nobody turned up at the auction to sell off the Hotel Byblos Andaluz in Mijas , and that despite that the reserve price was set at 15.1 million €, estimated to be less than half the hotel’s real value. The luxury hotel is owned by the troubled Aifos real estate developer and Mijas Ayuntamiento had organised the auction to collect a debt owed to it by the company. Aifos owes 1.2 million to Mijas in IBI and IAE taxes, and also find themselves implicated in the Malaya corruption case in Marbella.
The lack of a buyer now gives the Town Hall the option to sell the hotel to whom they deem fit, and those who are interested in the sale now have six months in which to present their offers.

Woman Waits Two Days For Treatment After Genitals Set On Fire

The woman's partner covered her with alcohol saying he was giving her a massage, but then set her alight. A 39 year-old Alicante woman has suffered ‘deep second degree and third degree’ burns after her partner massaged alcohol into her genitals and then set her on fire. The couple is believed to be homeless and live in an abandoned house in the city and the woman suffered the pain for two days before seeking medical help. She is now waiting for an operation in hospital while her partner has been arrested by the National Police and has been sent to prison on remand.Police sources explained that the couple had been arguing when the man said he forgave the woman and offered to give her a massage. It was then he carried out the brutal abuse.

Spanish authorities have seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the Atlantic and detained the ship's five Venezuelan crew members

Spanish authorities have seized 2.5 tonnes of cocaine on a boat in the Atlantic and detained the ship's five Venezuelan crew members, the interior ministry said Tuesday, cited by AFP.
Spanish police intercepted the Venezuelan-flagged "Rio Manzanares" just as it was about to deliver the cocaine to another ship operated by a suspected Spanish drug-trafficking gang, the minsitry said in a statement.
It gave no street value for the cocaine which was stored in 80 packages.
The ship is now being escorted to Spain's Canary Islands which are located just off the coast of Morocco.
Spain, with its extensive southern coastline, is Europe's main point of entry for Moroccan cannabis and for cocaine from South America, mostly from Colombia, the world's top producer of the drug.
The country has become the biggest consumer of cocaine in continental Europe, and is one of the world's top users of the drug, according to a report published in January by the United Nation's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Amy Fitzpatrick who disappeared in Spain on New Year's Day.

The campaign is being led by the family of missing Dublin teenager Amy Fitzpatrick, who disappeared in Spain on New Year's Day.petition is due to be presented to the European Commission in Dublin today as part of a campaign for an EU-wide alert system for missing children.
The 15-year-old's parents will present today's petition of 20,000 signatures along with Sinn Fein MEP Mary Lou McDonald.Ms McDonald is calling on the Taoiseach to raise the idea of an alert system with the French President when he visits Ireland later this month. mother of Amy Fitzpatrick, the 15-year-old Irish girl who went missing from Calahonda, Mijas Costa, when she was coming home from a friend’s house on New Year’s Day says that she is optimistic and that she still hopes to find her daughter. The investigation has revealed no clues to her whereabouts and her family no longer believe that she may have simply run away because she was unhappy. Their hypothesis is that she is being held against her will by an older, English-speaking man, who may have promised to get her a passport and who is telling her what to do. Amy’s mother has said that the young girl would not be able to stay away from her loved-ones for so long without letting them know she was OK. She believes the girl is no longer in Spain, but doesn’t think she is in England or Ireland, either. In any case, the family have not given up hope and ask police to continue searching and doing all they can to find Amy. Amy is said to be thin and pale, 1.65 tall, with black hair and blue eyes and was wearing dark tracksuit bottoms, a t-shirt with the word ‘Diesel’ and a pair of black boots. She was carrying a red bag containing clothes when she was last seen.

Thousands of buyers who have not yet taken ownership of their properties on what has become known as the "Costa del Crash" could lose everything.

Thousands of buyers who have not yet taken ownership of their properties on what has become known as the "Costa del Crash" could lose everything. Lawyers specialising in real estate report a surge in the number of British buyers contacting them for advice after the developers they bought from have gone under. Spain is suffering similar economic jitters and rising prices as the United Kingdom. Others who have paid in full now own homes on resorts that may never be completed. They are seeking to recoup their losses to salvage what remains of their dream move abroad or hope of a perfect holiday home. "I've now got dozens of British clients who all want to know where they stand," said Martin de la Herran of the Spanish law firm Abolex.
He said that the biggest problem lies with those who have paid deposits on properties that may never be built. "Some people have paid 50-60 per cent of the final cost of the home, the company goes into administration and it's a long process to get their money back. Courts are not fast in Spain as we know."
At the resort of Costa Esuri in Ayamonte, on the border of Spain and Portugal, building work has ceased. The developers Martinsa-Fadesa, one of Spain's largest real estate firms, filed for bankruptcy last week following the path of about 60 smaller construction firms that have gone under since the start of the year when the bubble burst on a decade-long construction boom that had fuelled Spain's economy.
The development of 2,184 homes and two golf courses on the bank of the Guadiana river is far from complete. Semi-constructed buildings cover one hillside, cranes loom over a half built hotel, and one golf course is little more than bare earth.
Ben and Kate Byrne, newlyweds from Warrington in Cheshire, have just taken possession of their three-bedroom "townhouse". The couple, who paid 230,000 euros (£180,000) for their property, hoped to use it as a holiday retreat and to rent it out for the rest of the year. "It's an eye sore and not exactly what we thought we were buying into," said Mrs Byrne, 30, a PA at the Environment Agency.
"Unfortunately, its rental potential isn't much at the moment." The house has not been connected to mains water and has been without electricity since Martinsa-Fadesa went into administration last week and stopped running the generator.
The large roof terrace is supposed to have views of the resort's second golf course but instead it overlooks earthworks and a tarmac road that leads nowhere. A commercial centre that would have contained shops and restaurants has not been finished. "This was supposed to be a self-contained community but there is nothing here at the moment except for the club house," said Mrs Bryne of the golf club which houses the resort's only bar and restaurant. The estimated 1,000 people, around 700 of them British, who have already taken possession of Costa Esuri properties, are frustrated at the complete absence of information from Martinsa-Fadesa about what will happen next. They have formed a residents' committee and are taking legal advice. "We've been told nothing by the company," said Mr Byrne, 31, a musician. "We have been left in limbo, not knowing if or when the resort will be finished or who to turn to for maintenance issues." But they feel they are lucky ones. "Hundreds of others have yet to complete on their properties here so they could end up with nothing," he said.

Hundreds of thousands of families are abandoning the Costa del Sol

Hundreds of thousands of families are abandoning the Costa del Sol and other traditional holiday destinations for eastern Europe and north Africa to escape the punitive euro exchange rate. With state schools breaking up, many families will spend this weekend packing their bags to go to Turkey, Croatia, Bulgaria, Tunisia and Egypt rather than Greece, Spain or France. Most eurozone countries have never represented such poor value for British travel makers, with £1 buying just €1.26. A year ago holidaymakers' money went 20 per cent further, with the exchange rate at €1.49. Those countries outside of the eurozone – but only slightly further in terms of flying time – such as in eastern Europe and north Africa have witnessed a surge in bookings, according to travel companies. Lastminute.com, the travel website, said bookings to Turkey are up more than 14 per cent, bookings to Tunisia have shot up by 95 per cent and the number of people taking holidays to Croatia has soared by 150 per cent compared with last year. Meanwhile, bookings to Italy are down eight per cent, Spain is down four per cent, Greece is down eight per cent and France has dipped by two per cent. These figures are backed up by CheapFlights, which specialises in finding air plane tickets for independent travellers.
While bookings to Barcelona have fallen by 16 per cent, tickets being bought to Dalaman, on the southwest coast of Turkey, have increased by 9 per cent.
The Co-Operative Travel Company describes the new trend as a "seismic shift".
Phil Davies, the editor of TravelMole, the travel industry website, said: "Given people are counting the pennies, the strong euro is having a significant impact on where people are going.
"Why go to Spain or France, if it will cost you so much more when you get there?"
A bottle of beer in Turkey will set you back just £1.11 – little more than a third of the price of the same bottle in France, where it costs £2.96, according to the Post Office. Prices in Greece are 22 per cent more expensive than its neighbour Turkey when it comes to a basket of popular goods such as beer, sun cream and insect repellent, due to the strong euro and relatively weak Turkish Lira.
The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) pointed out that while Spain was "having a poor year" official figures show that it remains clearly the number one destination with more than 12 million Britons visiting the country every year. Greece welcomes 2.2 million Britons – a million more than Turkey.
Tunisia, despite its new found popularity, attracted just 270,000 British holidaymakers in 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available from the Office of National Statistics.
However, the popularity of non-eurozone countries is no short-term blip, experts said. ABTA estimates that 1.32 million people will fly out of Britain this weekend from just the main airports.
By its calculations, bookings for Egypt are up 28 per cent and Turkey are up 20 per cent. Bob Atkinson at TravelSupermarket, the price comparison website, said: "There is a clear trend towards visiting more exotic locations, and doing something a bit more interesting or active on holiday.
"After all a lot of people have done Spain to death. Why not visit Tunisia, Egypt or Croatia – once you are there the holiday will be significantly cheaper."
Families that have not booked a holiday in the hope of catching a last minute deal to these cheaper destinations are set to be frustrated, however.
Holiday companies, anticipating the economic slowdown, have cut back capacity . This factor, combined with the fact that very few people have actually cut back on their holidays means that prices for last minute deals are high.
However, Lastminute.com has a seven nights stay a the El Mouradi Gammarth – a five start hotel in Tunisia's Gammarth resort –for just £199 per person.
The cheapest deal for a week long trip to Croatia will set you back £414 per person, according to the travel website.

Martinsa-Fadesa bankrupt 2,531 homes on the Costa del Sol at risk

The filing for bankruptcy protection of the constructor Martinsa-Fadesa, the largest in Spanish history, leaves the construction of 2,531 homes on the Costa del Sol in the air. The company, chaired by Fernando Martín had developments planned in Manilva, faces having to pay compensation to Marbella Town Hall for the irregular construction of 1,386 homes in the town, and also owns land in Antequera for industrial and commercial use in the business park.Manilva I.U. left wing Mayor, Antonia Muñoz, told the Diario Sur newspaper that the development there was likely to be revised in any case, with the land earmarked possibly being reclassified.
Martinsa has already built a dozen developments in Guadalmina Alta in Marbella, amounting to a commercial centre and 1,386 homes in agreements signed during the GIL administration and not recognised by the Junta de Andalucía.84 apartments have also just been completed in the Nueva Calahonda urbanisation in Mijas, where 20% of the properties have been sold and the keys handed over.The collapse of the Martinsa-Fedesa company, which has filed for bankruptcy protection in the face of massive debts, has left an estimated 12,500 families fearing that their new homes will not be completed. The Government though has said that it will ensure that the company meets its obligations in such cases.
The suspension of payments in Martinsa, which now has reported total debts of more than 7 billion €, led to large falls among other builders and also banks on the Spanish stock market yesterday.
Caja Madrid, which lent the company 1 billion € said yesterday that the debt was guaranteed given the assets of the firm, where the only problem was one of liquidity.
Unions calculate that as many as 4,000 jobs are under threat. 234 workers in the firm are the first to lose their employment.
There are also press reports this morning that the Martinsa company may try and back out of the purchase of Fadesa it carried out nearly two years ago. Under the Ley Concursal, if there is a subsequent bankruptcy, the purchase can be rescinded over a following two year period, and in this case there is still two months to go.
Such a scenario would be a serious one for the founder of Fadesa, Manuel Jove, because ff the courts do decide to annul the operation, he would have to pay back the same amount of money.
Many of the Martinsa problems stem from the interest being charged on the 5 billion € loan the company took out to carry out the purchase of Fadesa 22 months ago.

European interior ministers plans to set up temporary joint police stations in tourist areas and at major sporting events.

European interior ministers discussed Monday plans to set up temporary joint police stations in tourist areas and at major sporting events.French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, chairing informal talks in the Riveria resort city of Cannes, said that a pilot station would be set up in Lourdes, "when the pope next visits France" in mid-September.Her Italian counterpart, Roberto Maroni, said that Franco-Italian stations would be in place as soon as August in French cities most visited by Italians; Paris, Versailles and Nice.The stations "would allow, when an EU member state is a nation that hosts many tourists from another country, for citizens of that country to have access to police from their home and who speak their language," she told reporters.They could be set up for three months, for example, around tourist seasons or one month for a large sporting event, like the recent Euro 2008 football championship."As you know, we have excellent beer in the Czech Republic," said Czech Interior Minister Ivan Langer."So if you drink quite a lot and, if you're French, I can imagine that it is pleasant to meet a policeman who speaks your language and who will assist you and will take you to your hotel without any problems," he said.His Spanish counterpart Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba also backed the idea, saying it was important for visitors to "have the possibility of using their own language to resolve a problem".
Alliot-Marie said the ministers also discussed exchange training programmes for police, which would involve officers spending time with their neighbours to better share policing techniques and best practices.

£6.3 billion worth of personal goods is being left unattended in Brits' holiday homes across the UK and abroad

More than £6.3 billion worth of personal goods is being left unattended in Brits' holiday homes across the UK and abroad, according to new research from high net worth insurer, Zurich Private Clients.The findings show that British holiday property owners have an average of £15,200 of contents in their homes-away-from-home, while some risk leaving more than £100,000 of personal belongings in their second homes. This can cause problems because second home are often left vacant for months at a time.Indeed infrequent homeowner visits are the biggest reason for homes being left lying empty; two-thirds of those with holiday homes admit to personally visiting their property no more than every three months, and one in 10 stay only once a year. While others encourage family and friends to use their second home, 52 per cent of properties are still left completely unoccupied for a month or more at a time.Zurich Private Clients are also seeing a developing trend for wealthy clients being targeted and burgled whilst in their European holiday homes. This can involve the burglar(s) releasing gas into the air-conditioning system or through an open window, to disable the inhabitants whilst they remove valuables. Those with larger jewellery collections appear to have been the major target to date.
And it seems that many second homeowners are not even protecting themselves with insurance. One in 10 do not have any home contents insurance, with another one in 10 (11 per cent) not knowing if their insurance is adequate.
Worryingly, many are not even taking basic steps to protect their vacant homes. Just half (48 per cent) have window locks on their property and only one in five (22 per cent) have an alarm fitted - while one in 20 (six per cent) admit that they have no security measures in place at all.
But their purchases are not without caution, as a fifth of holiday property owners (22 per cent) admit that they are worried about security for their homes-away-from-home. Besides properties being left unoccupied (56 per cent), other concerns include local crime (24 per cent) and their houses being deliberately targeted by criminals (16 per cent).Despite this apprehension, it seems Britons' passion for property is so strong that they will still invest in a pad that might get used just once or twice a year.In fact, one in five (18 per cent) holiday homeowners are looking to purchase additional properties, with half of those (47 per cent) set to buy in 2008. Currently, France (24 per cent) and Spain (26 per cent) are the most popular destinations for holiday homes, but up and coming places such as Cyprus (four per cent) and Bulgaria (three per cent) are attracting more investors. A quarter (26 per cent) who are looking to purchase in the future are considering buying in the UK, nearly half (45 per cent) on the continent, and an adventurous 26 per cent are looking beyond Europe.

Nueva Andalucía property fraud trial three British citizens to be given prison sentences of 28 years

Malaga Public Prosecutor is calling for three British citizens to be given prison sentences of 28 years for stealing 5.7 million euros from the sale of properties in a housing development project in Nueva Andalucía. The prosecution says that in October 1988, the developers signed a contract with the real estate company in which the three suspects worked, and that these "pocketed 5.7 million euros paid by the buyers of the properties." This forced the developers to file for bankruptcy in 1990.
The prosecution wants the suspects to serve sentences of eight years each, four years more for one of them who is also accused of fraud. The trial is to begin on Tuesday this week and will continue on the 23rd and 24th of the month.

Estepona secret tax offices had large sums of money in bank accounts

The ‘Astapa’ investigation has revealed two separate networks set up to manage the payment of illegal commissions at Estepona Town Hall.
Although connected, each group had its own secret ‘office’ where the deals were made, according to the investigations carried out by the Financial and Tax Crimes Unit (UDEF).
Documents seized in the search of the municipal premises appear to confirm that the corrupt group had been operating since June 2003 when the PSOE came into power with the help of councillors from the Partido de Estepona (PES, former members of GIL).
It appears that the first and most important of these commissions ‘offices’ was controlled by Barrientos himself and managed by the head of the Mayor’s office, José Flores, along with Francisco Zamorano and the former planning coordinator, Pedro López.
The second and more modest ‘branch’ of this network was run, according to the police investigation, by Arturo Cebrián. Business people paying commissions either met with the group in municipal offices or, especially in the case of smaller building firms, spoke on the telephone to someone calling himself ‘Raúl’ who told them in which bank account they had to make the payment.
“No building licence, planning agreement or re-zoning deal”, said the anti-corruption specialists, would have been given the green light if it hadn’t previously passed through this ‘parallel administration’ at Estepona Town Hall. Detectives have had the collaboration of two key figures who were familiar with the workings of these clandestine ‘offices’ at Estepona Town Hall. Apparently these collaborators are people who had been involved but were regretful and went to the police.
By Thursday morning 13 of the 26 suspects arrested on Tuesday had appeared before the judge in charge of the case, Isabel Conejo, and had been released on bail, with sums ranging between 30,000 and 500,000 euros. Charges include bribery or accepting bribes, influence peddling, money laundering, embezzlement and fraud.
Police find 600,000 at estate agency
As well as the tons of paperwork and computers confiscated during the almost 40 searches carried out in relation to the ‘Astapa’
investigation, police have also seized various sums of money. The most significant of these was the 600,000 euros in cash found on the premises of a small real estate agency located in a central street of Estepona.
Police have also discovered large sums of money in bank accounts, some of these abroad, linked to some of the suspects arrested.

12 of the people charged in the Astapa corruption case based in Estepona Town Hall, have calmly walked back into the building

El País reports that 12 of the people charged in the Astapa corruption case based in Estepona Town Hall, have calmly walked back into the building and are back doing their jobs. While the Socialist ex Mayor of the town, Antonio Barrientos, remains in prison on remand, the four councillors who were also arrested are now back at their posts, as are the town planning technicians implicated in the case. This comes despite a warning given by the Town Planning Councillor, Rafael Duarte, that should this happen there was a possible risk of evidence being destroyed in the case. He has written to the Councillor for Hacienda, Francisco Zamorano, himself released on 50,000 € bail in the case, calling on him to act to ensure that no technical reports are manipulated. El País reports that Zamorano has responded that there is no legal reason to limit the access to the Town Hall of those implicated in the case.

ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe home auctioned

First Instance Court number 5 in Marbella has placed for auction the home of the ex Mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yagüe. The sale comes as part of the sentence which condemned her to pay more than 722,000 € for building reform work carried out to the property.According to the auction documents the property is worth more than 1.9 million €, although there is a mortgage in place with the Banco Español de Crédito and has another embargo in place on it.Those who are interested in the property have to go to the courts and supply a bank guarantee for a 30% deposit to take part in the auction which is set for September 23. Bids will be made in closed envelopes and the highest bid will win provided that it is at least 70% of the estimated value.

Head of the BBVA's debt-collection department had been shot twice through the chest

Police are investigating a number of leads after a bank director was found shot dead at a chalet in Bollullos de la Mitación (Sevilla) where he has been staying occasionally since the break-up of his marriage.
Andrés Toro Barea (55) was found by a work colleague after failing to turn up for work on Monday. He had been shot twice through the chest. Detectives believe it to be significant that none of the doors or windows had been forced and that nothing appears to have been stolen. The positioning of two armchairs in the lounge seems to suggest that the victim and his killer sat and talked, providing further evidence that they may have known each other. Neighbours have confirmed that Mr Toro was seen taking out the garbage at around midday last Sunday.
As the head of the BBVA's debt-collection department, Mr Toro had noticed a considerable increase in his workload recently as a consequence of the economic slowdown.

Spanish police have travelled to Switzerland to extradite the care worker suspected of killing Conchita Gadea

Spanish police have travelled to Switzerland to extradite the care worker suspected of killing 80 year old Valencian socialite, Conchita Gadea, whose bound and gagged body was found at her home on the calle Botánico Cavanilles, just opposite the Viveros gardens in Valencia, on February 1st, 2007. The autopsy revealed that Ms Gadea died of a heart attack. Detectives suspected the maid from the start on the grounds that she had not turned up for work either the day before, nor on the day when her employer's body was found, and given that there was no evidence of a break-in. However, after more than a year without any sign of a breakthrough, they were about to archive the case until they were informed just a few days ago that a Georgian woman named María matching the suspect's description, had been arrested in Switzerland.

Spanish National Police have broken up a criminal gang which was based in the Valencia region

Spanish National Police have broken up a criminal gang which was based in the Valencia region and made up of citizens from Eastern Europe, mostly from the Ukraine and Russia.The gang was engaged in criminal activities such as vehicle theft, arms trafficking and extortion, and they also had a laboratory set up for identity document and money falsification.
In total there have been 11 arrests in a police operation in which some 70 officers took part. Police say that they think the three main heads of the group are among those now in custody, and that the group was in frequent contact with similar gangs along the Mediterranean coast. Their structure was almost military in nature, and firearms and ammunition was also recovered.Investigations in the case started six months ago, which finally led police to the criminals’ base and to links to people used by them to launder the proceeds. 8 home, three shops and a warehouse were searched simultaneously today in Sagunto, Paterna, Algemesí, Cullera and Alberic.

Hundreds of Britons who have sold a property in Spain between June 2004 and December 2006 have begun the fight to reclaim their money

Hundreds of Britons who have sold a property in Spain between June 2004 and December 2006 have begun the fight to reclaim their money from the Spanish government, who overcharged them Capital Gains Tax by 20%. However, where as initial conservative estimates put the total amount to be reclaimed at £11,000 per person – totalling an estimated £37 million – over the last three months hundreds of Brits have registered average reclaims of more than £19,300 each – totalling more than an estimated £86 million that British people have been overcharged by the Spanish government.
The tax loophole – which was originally exposed by currency exchange brokers HiFX and Spanish lawyers, Costa, Alvarez, Manglano & Associates – came about after British non residents paid a Spanish Non Residents’ Income Tax rate of 35% on any capital gains, compared to a rate of 15% paid by Spanish nationals. This 20% overpayment not only totals a profit somewhere in the region of an estimated £86 million, but also contravenes European Community Treaty rules on discrimination and therefore was unduly charged by the Spanish Government. British people applying for a refund are also set to add on missing interest at a compound rate of 6% to their reclaims, meaning payouts could be on average 26 % larger than first thought.
However, whilst more than 300 people have so far joined forces and registered requests for rebates since the launch of the website that was set up to help them (www.spanishtaxreclaim.co.uk) , thousands more are still to come forward.
Mark Bodega, Director of currency specialists HiFX said: “Since launching the website and establishing this class action against the Spanish tax authorities, we have always said it would be extremely difficult to put an actual figure on the number of people affected by this tax issue and how much they would be able to reclaim from the Spanish government. This is largely because the Spanish government will not reveal this information, and this is why our initial estimation about the amount being able to be reclaimed was on the conservative side. However, the sums that people are coming forward to reclaim are much larger than anticipated, almost double in size. So far more than 300 people have registered to be part of the class action, which is a huge response – but we anticipate there are more than 4,500 British people affected by this, meaning there are still a lot of people who need to come forward to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.” People who have sold property previous to June 2004 have already missed out on being able to make a reclaim on their overpaid tax, as under Spanish law claims can only be made dating back over a four year period, meaning millions more have become victim to this tax trap.
Commenting on the issue, Spanish Lawyer Emilio Alvarez said: “A change in the law at the start of 2007, which saw the standard Capital Gains Tax for non Spanish residents being brought in to line – ºa reduction from 35% to 15% , passed by largely unnoticed. As a result, thousands of people who had previously sold property in Spain are entitled to a 20% rebate, with estimates now standing at £19,000 each plus interest. The response so far has been amazing, thousands have made enquiries, with more than 200 people registering to begin the reclaim process. However, if anyone believes they have been affected by this they need to move quickly, due to stringent legal restrictions people who sold their property before June 2004 have already missed out, as claimants must register within 4 years, but thousands of Brits can still join forces and fight to get the Spanish tax authorities to pay back the money owed.“In some cases potential claimants are being put off by the lawyers who acted for them during the sale as they are being told that they will not be able to get hold of the necessary forms (Form 212) or that this consumer campaign will not succeed. As a result, we are offering to speak to the Spanish Tax Office on behalf of any clients who have doubts to ascertain whether or not they are eligible and get the forms they need.”

Work to rule threatens airports and border

Protests over wages by National Police officers could bring airports and border crossings to a standstill in July with officers threatening to scrupulously follow the rules - checking almost everyone entering or leaving the country, filing charges for all offences and filling in all the relevant paperwork.The protests are due to take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout July in a bid to force the interior ministry to equate officers’ salaries with those of higher-paid regional police forces.

Half a million British expatriates living on Spain’s Costa Blanca are to lose their right to free healthcare

Half a million British expatriates living on Spain’s Costa Blanca are to lose their right to free healthcare under a radical new law introduced by the provincial government.The Spanish authorities say that providing for 500,000 Britons - most of whom are over 50 - and other European residents living in the Valencia region is placing an impossible burden on the country’s health service.Valencia region can no longer afford expats’ bills as housing market slides
In 2002 the provincial government offered free healthcare to all expats - not just UK pensioners or those working and paying tax in Spain - in order to encourage Britons and other northern Europeans to invest in the Costa Blanca’s then lucrative property market. However, with house prices collapsing, the Valencia government last week announced that the concession had been withdrawn. The move echoed a similar ruling last year against British early retirees in France.A spokesman for the regional health ministry said: ‘It is costing us an extra €1bn [£790m] annually to look after a million new residents as well as long-stay tourists, and our services are at saturation point. Some come to Spain to have their heart operation or hip replacement here at a better standard and more quickly than in their own country.’The decision has so alarmed the British community that health centres and the British consulate in Alicante have been flooded with calls. A British embassy spokesman said UK pensioners and individuals on long-term incapacity benefit who are living permanently in Spain would be unaffected, as they are covered under a reciprocal healthcare agreement with the UK. Those who will lose their entitlement - mainly early retirees aged over 50 - were being advised to take out private health insurance.The Spanish move comes just two months after the Department of Health closed the door on free NHS care for British expats visiting the UK. Only those still living in the EU who have obtained a European health insurance card - which provides holiday cover only - from their new country of residence will be allowed emergency treatment. However, people such as the Bridges, who are being excluded from the Spanish health service, will no longer be eligible for a card.
Political parties run by expats - some of whose members won seats in local elections last year - and other pressure groups are petitioning the British embassy and regional government. Bob Houliston, 71, a retired diplomat who is now president of a party representing the 20,000 expat residents of the Orihuela area, said: ‘It should surely be possible for UK and Valencia government authorities to find solutions for those who could otherwise face real hardship.’British residents in France put up such a fight against the withdrawal of healthcare rights that President Nicolas Sarkozy did a U-turn and the ruling now only applies to newcomers. However, many expats in Spain are battle-weary after years of challenging the country’s property laws and doubt that a government defying the European Parliament on that count will be responsive.Property sales have fallen by up to 40 per cent on the Costa Blanca in the past year, according to the Spanish government. Expat leaders say the only way forward is to gain political power. Expat parties now plan to create a federation to fight local and national elections.

55-year-old, identified in German media as Mikhail R., was picked up at his Berlin apartment on Thursday on the basis of a European arrest warrant

A suspected Russian mafia lynchpin has been arrested in Berlin, following a swoop on Russian money launderers and arms traffickers in Spain, prosecutors said Saturday.
The 55-year-old, identified in German media as Mikhail R., was picked up at his Berlin apartment on Thursday on the basis of a European arrest warrant requested by Spanish authorities.A court will decide whether to extradite the man, who is wanted on charges of money laundering, forgery and providing support to a criminal organization, the Berlin prosecutor's office said.
Spanish police detained at least 20 Russian mafia suspects in raids carried out in the southern Costa del Sol, Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante and the Balearic Islands on June 13.They were believed to be members of the Tamboskaya crime syndicate, named after the village of Tambos near St Petersburg, where most of the gang came from.
The network, which had been active in Spain since the late 1990s, was suspected of laundering money from criminal activities elsewhere, contract killings and trafficking in arms.The man arrested in Berlin was reportedly the right-had man of the boss of the mafia clan.

Mark Thatcher faces eviction from his Costa del Sol hideaway

Mark Thatcher faces eviction from his Costa del Sol hideaway after his landlord branded him the tenant from hell.The disgraced son of former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is being taken to court to get him out of the £1.5million villa he has rented for two years.Exasperated landlord Stephen Humberstone claimed that Thatcher, 54, has broken antiques, messed up the garden and is months in arrears with his rent. The fellow Old Harrovian said: "If you see him, punch him on the nose for me, would you?"The news comes after a week in which Thatcher was accused of being a key player in a plot to overthrow the ruler of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in West Africa.Mr Humberstone said: "I'm issuing court proceedings. I want to evict him. He doesn't pay the rent, he alters the garden - he does what he bloody well wants."I don't want to go round there because I'll lose my temper.
He's deeply unpleasant."He put all my furniture into my gardener's van and sent it down to some office so I didn't know where it was. It wasn't even wrapped and it was smashed, but he didn't care. He just wanted it out of the house.
"He went to the same school as me and was in the same house, and this is how he treats people."Thatcher has been paying £5,500 a month rent for Casa Flores, where he lives with his new wife Sarah Russell.The £1.5million four-bed villa with a secluded outdoor pool is surrounded by closed-circuit TV.Visitors to the development in the hills above the resort of Marbella need permission to enter.The area is nicknamed the Costa del Crime, because of the number of ex-pat British crooks there.
Thatcher's lawyer has now been sent a fax demanding rent due since March. Thatcher - nicknamed "Thickie Mork" at Harrow - must pay up or face eviction.But Thatcher, who has a hereditary baronetcy from father Denis, is thought to be looking for a property in Gibraltar where he can dodge paying tax.Despite having £64million, he would pay only £20,000 tax a year if he had an address there.Thatcher last night refused to comment on his landlord's claims.

British mother has been arrested in Spain after she allegedly left her five-year-old son to burn on a baking hot beach for 12 hours

British mother has been arrested in Spain after she allegedly left her five-year-old son to burn on a baking hot beach for 12 hours while she went to work.
The boy's mother, aged 19, reportedly left him playing in the sand at the popular resort of Benalmadena, in the Costa del Sol, where he suffered serious sunburn and had to be later admitted to hospital.According to locals, at around 10am the woman went to work at the top of the beach for five hours, but failed to collect her child when she finished her shift.The boy is said to have later made his way to the stall, reportedly covered in blisters. 'He looked desperate for a drink and was crying his heart out.'The stallholder managed to get the girl on the phone at around 8pm.
'But it was nearly 10pm before she turned up, claiming she couldn’t find anyone to give her a lift.'She started screaming and threatening people who had helped out.'
Police arrested the woman at the scene, having being called earlier in a bid to find her.A local police spokesman refused to comment except to confirm: 'It’s being dealt with by National Police.'It is believed the woman is from Scotland and moved to Spain after meeting a man on holiday there.A police source added: 'The burns were serious enough to warrant hospitalisation.'She could be charged with abandonment and child neglect.'

20 year old Romanian man has been arrested by police

20 year old Romanian man has been arrested by police in Madrid in connection with the death of a German pensioner couple who were stabbed to death last Monday night in their attic flat home in Teulada.The arrested man had been working as the gardener in the complex where the Germans, aged 78 and 85, had previously lived in Benissa, and police think that he knew that the couple had a large amount of money in cash as they were about to purchase a villa. The accused is said to have taken that money from the couple’s safe.
Informacíon newspaper in Alicante reports this morning that the accused was turned into the police by his girlfriend. He will go before the court in Dénia later today.

Amy Fitzpatrick psychic investigator Joe Power told Spanish police they should search a fenced-off area in the Costa del Sol

An Englishman who describes himself as a psychic investigator has claimed that clues to finding missing Amy Fitzpatrick are to be found in an area of land in Spain.
Joe Power told Spanish police they should search a fenced-off area in the Costa del Sol for clues after he travelled to Spain in cooperation with one of the missing teenager's aunts.Dubliner Amy Fitzpatrick disappeared on the night of January 1, while walking to her mother's Spanish home in Calahonda, near Fuengirola.
Mr Power, who twice travelled to Spain after he was in contact with Amy's aunt Christine Kenny in Dublin, told police that he had found an area in the region that police should search.No clues to Amy's disappearance have yet been found and some of her relatives have been desperate for any possible help from anyone. Ms Kenny has also been in contact with Irishwoman Maura Martin who has also made claims that she has special abilities to help locate the missing girl.Mr Power has stated he gives much of his time seeking the whereabouts of missing persons and murder victims in the UK. He claimed to have come up with clues during the search for missing English child Shannon Matthews. He now claims that clues to Amy's disappearance can be found in an area which is about 12 kilometres from where Amy went missing.
The area is at the back of a Costa Del Sol hospital heading onto farm land in Los Altos.The following 'clues' are to be found in this area, he has claimed:
l Scrap cars which may lead to the white car which has also been missing since Amy disappeared.l The missing car was in this area on the night Amy went missing, he says.l A rusty diesel metal tank is in the area which could be a clue.l A yellow house above a ravine in the area has appeared in an 'image' which Power claims could be a clue.Meanwhile, Christine Kenny continues to campaign for the introduction of a European Alert System for missing children, similar to the Amber Alert System which operates in the US when a child is abducted. Her campaign has so far resulted in more than 11,000 signatures on an online and paper petition.

Gennadios Petrov, the alleged head of the Tambovskaya-Malyshevkaya gang in Spain

Gennadios Petrov, the alleged head of the Russian mafia in Spain.Petrov is said to head the Tambovskaya-Malyshevkaya gang from the sunny climes of Calvi, one of the most exclusive villages in Majorca. He counted among his neighbours Pilar de Borbón, the sister of King Juan Carlos of Spain.Accustomed to handing out tips of €500 (£393) and not looking at the price tag when buying designer jackets, Petrov lived surrounded by tight security. But the peace at his €20m mansion was rudely interrupted when the Spanish police came knocking on Friday.In a major operation, codenamed Troika, 20 alleged members of the organised crime organisation said to have been led by Petrov were arrested in Majorca, Málaga, Alicante, Valencia and Madrid. Police seized 23 luxury cars including Bentleys and Ferraris and €200,000 in cash.The Dalí painting, signed by the Surrealist master and dated 1949, was found at a luxury mansion in Valencia linked to Petrov. More than 100 bank accounts containing a reported €14m were also frozen.Spain’s leading anti-terrorist judge, Baltasar Garzón, who tried to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, charged Petrov and 17 others with a variety of offences including money-laundering, murder, extortion, drug dealing, illicit association, falsification of documents and tax fraud. They will appear before a maximum security court in Madrid today.The gang, said to be one of the most brutal in Russia, allegedly set up a web of front companies in Spain to launder millions in illegal property deals gained from criminal activities in Russia and the former Soviet states.After the raids, which involved 300 police, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the interior minister, said: “This is the largest crackdown on organised crime in Europe.”The operation was carried out with the help of German, US and Russian police.Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Russian mafia has gained ground in Spain, exploiting lax property laws and limited police resources to launder millions in property deals through bogus firms and into tax havens such as Gibraltar. Petrov, who is in his 50s, arrived in Spain in the early 90s, and allegedly used cash from the former KGB and communist party to buy a luxury hotel in Majorca.Operation Troika is the latest stage of an ongoing investigation into the Russian mafia in Spain, which began in 2005 with the arrest of 28 suspects.

25 people were arrested Tuesday in a new swoop against real estate corruption in Estepona, including the Socialist Mayor, Antonio Barrientos

25 people were arrested Tuesday in a new swoop against real estate corruption in Estepona, including the Socialist Mayor, Antonio Barrientos and several councillors. Also in custody are the municipal architect Arturo Cebrián, the Councillor for Hacienda , Francisco Zamorano.Police sources indicate that the operation comes following an investigation into allegedly irregular financing in the Town Hall.


Agents from the Economic and Financial Crime UDEF specialist unit of the National Police started searching the Town Hall early in the morning after the investigation, started by a court in Estepona in 2006 with the support of the Málaga Prosecutors’ Office, had established evidence by using telephone taps. When the size of the case, codenamed ‘astapa’ became apparent, the Attorney General, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, was brought in, who, after reading the reports, passed it to the Anti Corruption Prosecutors Office in MálagaThe Town Hall’s town planning and tax offices were also searched today, as was the Mayor’s home in the Bahía Azul urbanisation. The Mayor left his home under arrest at 2pm, in the company of members of the National Police. We was taken to the Town Hall where a crowd had gathered and who greeted him with booing.Those arrested face charges of influence peddling, perversion of the course of justice and money laundering, in a case which sources say is linked to the re-classification of land in the municipality for building. The allegation is that local land was sold to several companies at prices far lower than the market rate, and that those councillors who signed the deals received an economic benefit in exchange.

Monzer al-Kassar lived an openly lavish lifestyle as the so-called "Prince of Marbella" like a villain out of a James Bond movie.

Monzer al-Kassar has played a key role in some of the worst atrocities committed against Israeli and Jewish civilians, and his links to one Arab regime in particular - that of his native country, Syria - deserve special scrutiny at a moment when Jerusalem is just about to begin potentially historic negotiations with its government. Kassar, 63, is an international arms dealer, and, by some accounts, has spent much of his lifetime as a key supplier of weapons to many of the worst enemies of Israel, America and the West.
Earlier this year, he was arrested by Spanish authorities after allegedly offering to sell weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Agency posing as representatives of Colombia's FARC guerrilla group. On Friday he was extradited from Madrid to New York City, where he is scheduled to face trial on charges that also include conspiracy and money-laundering.
The list of Kassar's alleged clients is a long one, ranging from Somali warlords to Bosnian militias, Brazilian rebels to Iranian agents. He is also rumored to have worked at times with Western governments - for example, as a middleman in the arms deals of the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s. This has led to claims that such ties have helped him remain relatively unmolested by authorities, for years living an openly lavish lifestyle as the so-called "Prince of Marbella" like a villain out of a James Bond movie. Kassar is also alleged to be a major supplier of weaponry to Palestinian terror organizations. His major legal entanglement prior to the current case against him came in 1995, when he was charged by Spanish authorities with providing the guns and explosives used by the Abu Abbas terror cell in their hijacking of the ship Achille Lauro, and the subsequent brutal murder of American Jew Leon Klinghoffer. Kassar denied the charges, but not the fact that he was a friend and supporter of Abu Abbas, telling the The Guardian two years ago: "No, you cannot call him a terrorist. He's a hero. He's a hero in the eyes of the Arabs ... I don't allow you to call him terrorist!" Kassar's acquittal in that case has led to allegations that Madrid allowed him to operate as long as he kept his business off Spanish soil and away from Spain's enemies. But Washington has in recent years stepped up its pursuit of Kassar and the pressure for his extradition, no doubt because he has been fingered as a key arms supplier for the Iraqi insurgents killing US troops. Among his reputed governmental links, there is no doubt that his closest one through the years has been to the rulers of his homeland.
Kassar's father was a significant early backer of Hafez Assad, and later served him in various senior diplomatic positions. Kassar himself is considered to be a personal protege of longtime Syrian defense minister Mustafa Tlas, one of the top figures in the Ba'athist oligarchy that has maintained an iron grip on the country for over four decades. Among the many unsavory services Kassar is alleged to have provided for Damascus is facilitating its role in the international narcotics business. Having himself been arrested in his younger days for hashish smuggling, he is believed to have played a major role in the export and distribution of the bountiful harvest of the Lebanese Bekaa Valley opium fields that long operated under Syrian protection.
Perhaps Kassar's most nefarious role is one that won't get mentioned in the New York courthouse where he will soon stand trial - the part some informed sources believe he played in the bombings of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 and the Argentinean capital's AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires in 1994. Kasser was among a number of businessmen of Syrian origin or roots believed to have close ties with Carlos Menem, himself the child of Syrian immigrants, providing the Argentinean president with funds and contacts used to help further his political career, and in return protecting them from prosecution for their links to terrorist groups. In 2000, Kassar was indicted by an Argentinean court for using fraudulent documents in order to obtain citizenship there eight years earlier, possibly with Menem's assistance.
Another Argentinean judicial investigation into Kassar's activities uncovered a source claiming that the sophisticated Centex (C-4) explosive used in the Buenos Aires bombings had originated in a Spanish factory owned by Kassar, and been smuggled into Argentina via his contacts with Syrian intelligence. Just last month, an Argentinean prosecutor asked a local court for permission to arrest Menem, on charges he covered up the involvement of Syrian-Argentinean individuals connected with the bombings.
Although focus on foreign involvement in these atrocities usually emphasizes the alleged Iranian role in their execution, Kassar serves as a useful reminder of the part Damascus is believed to have played in them.
Given the shadowy and Byzantine nature of Syrian politics, it is difficult to know the nature of Kassar's current standing with the government of Basher Assad. But as Israel sits down to negotiate with Damascus over issues that decisively touch on this country's most sensitive security concerns, this shady super-criminal is an all-too-fitting exemplar of the dark side of Damascus, one that goes far beyond simply the shelter and aid it openly provides to such groups as Hamas and Hizbullah.