Mark Lilley was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis plus possession of a firearm

 Mark Lilley was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamines and cannabis plus possession of a firearm following a trial at Bolton Crown Court.

But after being controversially allowed bail prior to sentencing, Lilley went on the run and has been at large ever since. The trial judge sentenced him to 23 years’ imprisonment in his absence.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency and Crimestoppers relaunched Operation Captura this week which aims to round up major fugitives from justice thought to be in Spain.

Lilley, whose most recent English address is given as Bank Street in Newton-le-Willows although he was considered a major player in the Wigan drug scene of the late 1990s, is among those most wanted.

Said to be about 35 years old he goes by the nicknames Coney, TJ, Fatboy, Big Vern and Mandy. He is white, about 6ft tall, of large build with brown eyes and has dark receding hair.

Multi-agency campaign Captura identifies individuals on the run in Spain who are wanted by UK law enforcement agencies for serious crimes committed in the UK.

Since the campaign launched in October 2006, there have been 50 appeals; 38 of whom have been arrested. Many are now serving lengthy prison sentences for crimes which range from drug trafficking to sex crimes to murder.

However, Lilley is one of the minority who has managed to evade capture.

Ken Gallagher, Head of European Operations for SOCA, said: “Operation Captura is helping make the ex-pat community in Spain an uncomfortable place for fugitives. Having the public’s attention focussed on these individuals goes a long way to making it harder for them to hide and should act as a warning that Spain is no safe haven for British criminals.”

Anyone with information should ring Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 

EXPATRIATE from Yorkshire is feared dead after he was caught in one of the biggest avalanches on record in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountain range.Mountaineer feared dead in avalanche

Mountaineer feared dead in avalancheAN EXPATRIATE from Yorkshire is feared dead after he was caught in one of the biggest avalanches on record in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountain range.

John Hogbin, 42, originally from York, was with two fellow mountaineers when the avalanche struck at 1.30pm on Sunday to the west of a ski resort above Granada city.

Chances of finding Mr Hogbin alive were “practically nil”, a Guardia Civil source said yesterday before the search was called off for the night. Mr Hogbin was a widower with a young son. The two other men, both 43 and believed to be Spanish, survived.

Foreign lorry drivers face road charges of £9 a day under radical new plans

Foreign lorry drivers face road charges of £9 a day under radical new plans | Mail Online: "Foreign lorry drivers are to be charged up to £9 a day to use our roads under radical plans agreed by ministers.

The move comes as the Government tries to calm public anger over high fuel prices.

Currently foreign drivers – who number one in eight of all those on the roads – have a huge advantage over British drivers as they pay no road tax or other charges."

2,000 people working without a contract last year, and nearly 500 of them were also collecting unemployment pay.

Work inspectors in the province of Málaga found some 2,000 people working without a contract last year, and nearly 500 of them were also collecting unemployment pay.
Shops and the hostelry business were most controlled by the inspectors in the province last year, and their work recovered 12 million € additional income for Social Security.The numbers are four times higher than those seen in 2008 as the number of work inspections is stepped up.

900 foreign criminals were expelled from the country last year

Spanish Ministry of the Interior has announced plans to reduce the number of foreign prisoners being held in Spanish jails. They want to try to get prisoners to serve their time in the jails of their country of origin.In Spain there are 27,091 foreigner prisoners from 110 countries currently, 242% more than in 2000. The numbers include Cataluña where responsibility for prisons has been devolved to the region.A statement from the Ministry for the Interior said that ‘foreigners are not to blame for the overcrowding in Spanish jails’ noting that the number of foreign prisoners only increased by 3% last year, but even so Spain has one of the highest percentages of foreign prisoners in Europe at 35%.The law already allows for a foreign prisoner to apply to be transferred to his or her home country if he or she wishes, and last year 580 made the application of which 249 have been repatriated. However many do not make the application as conditions in Spanish jails are generally good.If the prison sentence is less than six years and the criminal has not legal residence in Spain he can be extradited instead of going to prison, and under that rule more than 900 foreign criminals were expelled from the country last year.

Socialist Mayor of Cártama, José Garrido, has been indicted on charges of perversion of the course of justice.

Socialist Mayor of Cártama, José Garrido, has been indicted on charges of perversion of the course of justice. He is accused by the Prosecutors’ Office of having deliberately let an order expire against a local resident who had built a home on non-buildable land.The case is being investigated by Instruction Court 5 in Málaga and refers to December 2005 when the Town Hall inspectors noted the house being built on rustic land. There was an initial fine and the site was taped up, but the citizen continued to build despite several visits from municipal technicians in January, March, April and May 2006. Work was still continuing in February 2007, and in October 2008 , SEPRONA, the Environmental Division of the Guardia Civil asked the Ayuntamiento for details of the sanction imposed. That sanction expired in December of that year, and now the Mayor faces charges.The Mayor contends that competences in the case are unclear, and said he has done nothing wrong as no irregular licence was issued by the council. He also noted the lack of resources to carry out any demolitions saying that there are more than 2,000 similar cases currently outstanding. The house concerned in the case currently remains standing.

Date for the start of the court cases for the ‘Malaya’ corruption scandal and the ‘Ballena Blanca’ money laundering affair could coincide

Date for the start of the court cases for the ‘Malaya’ corruption scandal and the ‘Ballena Blanca’ money laundering affair could coincide and that it causing differences between the Málaga Provincial Court and the Anti Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Final start dates for both cases are still to be set, but they could coincide according to the President of the Provincial Court, Francisco Javier Arroyo. That would cause serious problems for the prosecutor, Juan Carlos López Caballero, who has instructed both cases, and the Chief Prosecutor, Antonio Morales, has concluded that ‘in common sense both cases cannot coincide’.Ballena Blanca was set to start at the end of March, while Malaya could start at the end of May, but with the first expected to last six months and the second a year an overlap is likely. Ballena Blanca has to deal with 19 accused and some 80,000 sheets of evidence, while Malaya has 103 accused and the court summary is 90,000 sheets long.
Antonio Morales considers that the Malaya case should wait until after Ballena Blanca has been completed and has told Diario Sur that he does not understand the hurry.To add to the problems there is a third case, ‘Minutas’ which already has a fixed date of April 6 to June 4 where here the prosecutor, Francisco Jiménez Villarejo, also belongs to the same anti-corruption department.

Two Latin American boys aged 14 and 16 have been charged with the murder of the 71 year old British pensioner Peter Cockshutt

Two Latin American boys aged 14 and 16 have been charged with the murder of the 71 year old British pensioner Peter Cockshutt who was found dead in his home in Arona on the Costa del Silencio, on Tenerife, after what is thought to have been a burglary gone wrong. One of the boys was arrested on Tuesday afternoon, the other on
Tuesday night.The British man, who comes from Brandesburton, near Beverley in East Yorkshire was stabbed twice in the chest and once in the leg. His body was found by a friend on Monday.The two boys are also accused or robbery and both will appear before the judge shortly, and are being held in Guardia Civil custody. An autopsy has been carried out on the victim, but the results have not yet been made public.
It’s understood the two boys have confessed to the crime, and reporting restrictions have been introduced in the case.

Torrevieja Brits are the largest group, making up 16 percent of the total number of operations being carried out

Brits are the largest group, making up 16 percent of the total number of operations being carried outForeign patients now make up 42% of the activity in the operating theatres at the District Hospital in Torrevieja. The largest group is the British, who made up 16% of the 22,640 operations carried out in the hospital in 2009. It shows the high numbers of British tourists in the area, and the number who live in the town for at least part of the year, many of them aged over 65. Britons make up 10% of the padron census in the 12 municipalities serviced by the hospital.
Next group, but with no more than 5% of the total, come the Germans, then the Norwegians and Moroccans.The numbers come amid increasing concerns in the Spanish press about the costs of providing care to ‘health tourists’, and claims that Spain is not getting all the costs of such operations reimbursed in full.

price of resale property in Spain increased in January

price of resale property in Spain increased in January for the first time in 24 months, according to the real estate portal fotocasa.es. Prices rose by 0.6% on average, with the regions of Cataluña, and La Rioja seeing the greatest recovery in price at 4.6% and 4.5%. Prices also rose in the regions of Comunidad Valenciana (2,2%), Asturias (2%), Baleares (1,9%), Aragón (1,4%), Galicia (0,9%) and Madrid (0,7%).It takes the average price of per square metre for resale property to 2,366 €.

Baltasar Garzón, is to appeal against the Supreme Court case which accused him of adopting resolutions

Baltasar Garzón, is to appeal against the Supreme Court case which accused him of adopting resolutions which were allegedly a perversion of the course of justice, by starting to investigate the disappearances of people during the Franco years in Spain.Garzón has said that the Supreme Court case is ‘unsustainable and incomprehensible’ and he has accused the Judge Luciano Varela of using ‘depreciatory arguments’ with no legal base. Garzón has called for international experts who have judged similar crimes to be brought in. Garzón says that Varela has ‘a preconceived idea which stops him analysing the facts objectively’.Garzón also faces a second case where he is accused of not declaring additional income obtained allegedly from the Banco Santander when he was on a sabbatical year in New York.
Meanwhile the Prosecutors Office has said it does not support the accusations being made against the judge and they will be sending their considerations to the CGPJ, despite the fact that the General Council for Judicial Power, the body which oversees the judiciary, started the procedures on Tuesday to suspend the judge.
The Attorney General, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, has said that, in principle, he can see no criminal behaviour which will allow the accusations being made against the judge to be justified.The group ‘Judges for Democracy’ has also expressed its ‘deepest concern’ about the decision of Varela to proceed against Garzón who they do not consider at fault.

woman was reported missing last November, and her chopped up body was found on waste land in Campos, Mallorca

Five Ecuadorians have been arrested on Mallorca in connection with the discovery of the body of a 35 year old Bolivian woman.The woman was reported missing last November, and her chopped up body was found on waste land in Campos, Mallorca, the day after the first three people were arrested this week. Paul Gregory R.C., aged 41; Norma del Rocio V.S., aged 39, and Luis Rodrigo Q.Q. who is said to have been the main author of the killing and who is aged 43. Two further arrests were made on Wednesday and further detentions have not been ruled out in the case.

"Auken Report", which recommended EU sanctions against Spain if it did not act on illegal building and urban abuse

Margarite Auken, Danish MEP for the Green party and author of the controversial "Auken Report", which recommended EU sanctions against Spain if it did not act on illegal building and urban abuse, demanded yesterday in open parliamentary session that the EU ask for an official report from Madrid on how it will protected property rights for people who have purchased illegal homes.
The question, directed to the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, coincided with the appearance in front of the EU Parliament of Spanish President Zapatero, who was in Brussels to explain the six month Spanish programme for the EU. Spain took over the rotating presidency of the EU on the 1st of January 2010.
During her question, Ms Auken referred to the "worrying facts" revealed by her report. The Auken Report was approved by the EU in March 2009. "Spain has permitted a culture of endemic corruption to build up around construction" she said.It revealed to the EU the wide range of issues in Spain that has permitted the construction of hundreds of thousands of homes without any permits whatsoever.President Buzek did not reply immediately to the question, but is expected to give a response in the next few days."Many Spanish citizens feel that they must quietly accept fraud and corruption from building companies who can expel them from their homes without any compensation" said Ms Auken.Ms Auken pointed out that the Spanish government has so far refused to give an official reply to the Auken report and so she believes the time has come for the EU to officially demand a reply to the report.The report recommends EU sanctions against Spain if it does not act to tackle urban abuse and property instability in the region.

Willie Meyers, the Izquierda Unida MEP for Andalucia, also used the opportunity to attack the Spanish government for urban abuse.

The Reader recently had an exclusive interview with Mr Meyers when he visited Almeria during a fact finding mission on urban abuse in the province (An interview with MEP Willie Meyers ) where he explained his horror at what he had discovered.Mr Meyers's office has sent an official request to a number of Spanish departments within the Junta de Andalucia and the Spanish government to ask what, if any, notice they have taken of the Auken report.Mr Meyers has also bought the specific example of the Almanzora Valley to the attention of interested parliamentary groups within the EU.Meyer's office released a statement saying "he condemned the many examples of urban abuse produced by rampant and uncontrolled development over the last few years" and saying that innocent home owners must be protected at all costs.Meanwhile, Michael Cashman MEP, has written an open letter to Prime Minister Zapatero. Mr Cashman was one of the MEPs who asked for a European Parliamentary resolution to get Spain to put its house in order given the enormous number of petitions and complaints about building, environmental and urban abuses it had received. According to Mr Cashman there have been over 15,000 petitions as well as a daily flood of letters on this matter.

Councils on the Costa del Sol are urging foreign residents to register on the municipal electoral roll.

Many councils in Malaga fear tens of thousands of unregistered residents live in certain municipalities: in the case of Marbella, with an electoral roll of 140,000 people from 137 different nationalities, it is thought a further 100,000 people live without registering.
The failure to register means councils are losing money, as the Spanish state gives subsidies to each municipality based on the size of its electoral roll.
Marbella tourism councillor, José Luis Hernández, said: “The fact both Spanish and foreign residents fail to register on the electoral roll here helps to collapse our public services. It is because of this that we have half the police, hospitals, courts, schools and taxis that we really need for a town of this size.”

snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada 3 metres of snow cover over the ski terrain

2 hours from Spain’s Costa del Sol are the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada , Europe’s Southern-most ski resort.December saw the heaviest rain for 50 years fall on the Costa del Sol, officially ending five years of drought in the region and filling the reservoirs to capacity. Although it meant a wet Christmas for Costa del Sol residents, it has led to wonderful conditions in the nearby mountains with the resort management, Cetursa SA, announcing an impressive 3 metres of snow cover over the ski terrain. They are working hard to piste the new snow and hope to have all the runs open soon. To find out the latest information on the state of the pistes visit the British Ski Centre website.If you want to enjoy both the skiing and the warmth of the seaside, you should consider basing yourself on the Costa del Sol and taking a day trip up to the mountains. Alternatively, you could do a two centre holiday and stay in the mountains for one night (be warned the accommodation is expensive) and then move down to the Costa del Sol to relax before heading home.

Treasure of incalculable value has lain just off La Manga.

Buried beneath shells, rocks and sand, for 2,600 years, while the construction boom has been completely changing the surrounding landscape, a treasure of incalculable value has lain just off La Manga. 26 centuries later, archaeologists from eleven countries are bringing these antique objects to the light of day once again. The find appears to be the cargo of a commercial ship carrying ivory from African elephants, amber and lots of ceramic objects. The find has been kept secret for the past three years by the team of divers led by the Spaniard Juan Pinedo Reyes and the American Mark Edward Polzer. The recovery project is being financed by National Geographic, who have reached an agreement with the Spanish Minister of Culture, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology and the University A&M of Texas. The recovery is taking place around Grosa Island and El Farallon Island, just off La Manga. Over the last three years 1,400 objects have been collected. Even some of the wood from the bottom of the ship has survived since the 7th Century before Christ (620 BC), and has been recovered. It is believed the vessel measured approximately 15 metres long.

The find has been described as one of the most important of all archaeological discoveries. The Ivory tusks measure between 70 and 150 centimetres, with Phoenician writing inscribed. They have come from a race of elephants which are now believed to be extinct. There are also copper ingots and stones containing silver and lead. Ceramic pots which were used for transporting fish and oil have been found too, as well as plates, bowls, combs, ivory knife handles, bronze needles and chandeliers.

It is believed the ship crashed into rocks off the island, which are just a metre and a half below the surface. The ship would have set sail from Cadiz, and was probably heading towards Guardamar to a factory there, or to deliver items to a prince living in the area.

Spain is complaining" about the rule, "as more and more northern Europeans choose to retire along its Mediterranean coast."

"Most countries in the European Union offer universal health coverage for their citizens. And when a citizen from one EU country travels to, or lives in another one, they also are covered. But now Spain is complaining" about the rule, "as more and more northern Europeans choose to retire along its Mediterranean coast." NPR likens the situation along Spain's Costa del Sol to that of Florida, where many U.S. seniors with costly health problems retire (Socolovsky, 1/19). SiMAP union, representing public health doctors in Spain, said non-Spanish EU nationals in Alicante, which has a large British expat community, account for 15-20 per cent of hospital admissions. Criticism is not directed at those who register their residency status and pay taxes, but at expats in the black economy who expect to get treatment by producing a European Health Insurance Card (Ehic), which is designed for the emergency care of holidaymakers. many thousands of Britons who regularly flip between homes in Britain and Iberia are also thought to arrange trips according to where they may get the best treatment, or jump waiting lists. Politicians have been concerned about healthcare "freeloaders" for several years, but Spanish doctors have been more muted. They have to decide what is "emergency" treatment and what isn't and, according to anecdotal reports, have tended to take the patient's word.
But Spain's health budget is as much under pressure as the NHS and the SiMAP move reflects fears among Spanish doctors of further belt-tightening. Cutbacks are bound to raise questions about the availability of resources for patients. The Spanish regions – which are autonomous in matters of health provision – have moved to prevent foreign nationals exploiting "free" healthcare. The last to take this step was Valencia. Two months ago, it introduced measures by which expatriates below retirement age and not registered as employed would no longer get free access.
They are now paying a €90 (£80) monthly tax, which will cease once they reach retirement age. The move brings Valencia into line with the rest of Spain – and France, where President Sarkozy took similar steps in 2007. But thousands of British men under 65 and women under 60 are still thought to be working unregistered in Valencia, the Costa del Sol and other expat

Málaga stop calling the Cathedral ‘La Manquita’.

The Bishop of Málaga, Jesús Catalá, has called on the people of the city to stop calling the Cathedral ‘La Manquita’.The popular name translates as ‘The Cripple’ as comes as the second right hand tower of the building was never completed because of a lack of money in 1782. The money put aside to finish the Cathedral was spent elsewhere, building the roads to Vélez-Málaga and Antequera. The Bishop has now said that many other parts of the Cathedral were not completed either, not just the tower, and so he considers the name inappropriate. He has now called for a report to be drawn up on finally completing the building. The report will be ready in the first quarter of next year, when it will be presented to the Junta de Andalucía as the start of the process to look for funding.

swapping child pornography images online.

Guardia Civil investigation has led to the arrest of 15 people across the country, including an employee at a juvenile care centre, for allegedly swapping child pornography images online. Another four people have been questioned as suspects in the case.The investigation began after a member of the public contacted local police in Pamplona to inform officers that a music file he had downloaded from the Internet turned out to be a file containing child pornography. The enquiries into the case were passed on to the Civil Guard, who EFE reports have seized thousands of images in the 21 property searches which took place.The items impounded include 60 computers, 24 mobile phones, 160 hard discs, and more than 1,000 CDs. The paedophile content found is understood to be the equivalent of 12 terabytes – more than 12 million megabytes

Socialist Mayor of Estepona, David Valadez, has been indicted on real estate irregularities.

Socialist Mayor of Estepona, David Valadez, has been indicted on real estate irregularities. The Mayor, who was elected himself to replace the previous Mayor, Antonio Barientos, who is implicated in the Astapa corruption case based in the Town Hall, said that he was relaxed about the news and that he had always acted strictly within the law.It’s understood the new charges come in connection with a house built on rustic land by his chief of staff, Luciano Sánchez. The allegations are failure to pursue planning crimes and perversion of the course of justice.
Reports indicate the municipal surveyor, José Antonio Molina, is also a suspect in the caseIt follows a complaint presented to the Málaga prosecution service by the former Partido Estepona councillor, Juan Manuel Rodríguez, concerning a 115 square metre property built on land which Sánchez and his wife inherited in la Loma de la Pontezuela in 2004. He is reported to have declared when registering the property as a new build in 2007 that it had been built more than 5 years previously, with a certificate to that end issued by José Antonio Molina.El Mundo however reports that National Geographic Institute aerial images taken of the area in 2004 show there to be no construction on the site.El País reports on Thursday however that the Mayor started legal action against the illegal property a month before the complaint was presented by the prosecution service.The case is under investigation by Court No. 4 in Estepona.

collapse of the Trampolin Hills golf resort in Campos del Río

100 or so of the hundreds of clients affected by the collapse of the Trampolin Hills golf resort in Campos del Río gathered at the site on Saturday in a protest to demand their money back and for those responsible to be sent to prison. The first of the more than 2,500 units planned at the resort were sold four years ago, but none were ever completed.It’s affected clients in Spain, the UK and Ireland, amongst other countries, and it’s understood from La Opinión de Murcia that a group of those affected have made a formal request in writing to a court in Mula to ask that the two owners – Antonio Martínez and Rafael Aguilera – be imprisoned for fraud amounting to 60 million €. Joaquín Guzmán, a lawyer who represents many of the investors concerned, said he believes the two owners could attempt to flee Spain or to destroy evidence.The company is now in administration, but sources at the Grupo Trampolín told the newspaper that they believe the project will still go ahead. They said a way will be sought to pay those who want their money back, but have proposed to some of the purchasers the idea of forming a cooperative to allow the urbanisation to be built. There was no indication of the response to their proposal.
Trampolín Hills was recently fined the amount of 350,000 € for failing to put in place a bank guarantee for their investors. Such a guarantee is required under Spanish law to cover refunds for unfinished properties.

Frankie Weber 25 year old Martial Arts expert is wanted in connection with the stabbing of three people in a street fight in Marbella

Frankie Weber was in prison on the Costa del Sol last night accused of three attempted murders.Frankie Weber, 25, from London, is alleged to have fled to Gibraltar after stabbing three Spaniards in a street fight in Marbella.
He was returned to Spain where he now faces trial. Spanish police said the wounded were only saved by swift action by medics.25 year old Martial Arts expert is wanted in connection with the stabbing of three people in a street fight in Marbella
A British man has been extradited from Gibraltar to Spain to face charges of three attempted homicides.The 25 year old is accused of trying to carry out the homicides in Marbella, and the extradition comes as a result of a request made by Instruction Court Two in the town. The court has now ordered the suspect to be held in prison on remand.The case dates back to the early hours of January 24 this year when Spanish National Police were called to a fight in the Plaza de los Olivos in Marbella, which resulted in one very serious stabbing and two more suffering serious stab wounds. The most seriously hurt has had to undergo several surgeries. Police found many large knives at the suspect’s home and established that he had fled to Gibraltar. The agents from the UDEV Specialist Violent Crime Unit describe the suspect, who is an expert in martial arts, as ‘very dangerous’. They say a 30cm long machete was found in a nearby rubbish bin shortly after the aggression, which they believe he dumped during his escape.

owners of illegal property in Catral, Alicante, have said that they will not pay monies demanded of them to make their homes legal

owners of illegal property in Catral, Alicante, have said that they will not pay monies demanded of them to make their homes legal, and have called a protest. They say the amounts demanded, for infrastructure and basic services, are ‘excessive and unjust’ because they purchased their properties in good faith without knowing that the builders were selling them illegally.The owners of more than 1,300 houses built illegally on the traditional orchard land in Catral say that the local Town Hall and Generalitat regional government are to blame for the situation as neither stopped the construction in 2002 when the situation was highlighted by Seprona, the environmental wing of the Guardia Civil.Between the years 2000 and 2005 thousands of people, most of them British, bought property in the area through real estate offices who said that clearly that the builders had obtained all the correct licences.The demonstration has been called for 11am on Wednesday outside the Catral Ayuntamiento.

Spanish woman of gypsy origin after she was denied a widow’s pension by the Spanish state.

European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg has agreed, six votes to one, with a Spanish woman of gypsy origin after she was denied a widow’s pension by the Spanish state. It ruled that article 14 which prohibits discrimination, and article 1 on the protection of property of the European Convention on Human Rights had both been violated.The Spanish Government has said that her marriage, under the gyspey rites at the age of 15, was not valid in law.But despite the fact that gypsy weddings are not legal in Spain the court in Strasbourg recognised the arguments of the woman, Maria Luisa Muñoz, known as ‘la Nena’. She had six children with her husband who died in the year 2000, and was left without any payments despite the fact that her husband, a labourer, had paid into the Spanish social security system for more than 19 years.Her battle has taken nine years, but now she will be paid a pension as well as the 70,000 € the EU court ordered she receive in compensation.Commenting to Cadena SER radio after hearing the news she said

‘I am happy, they have realised we are normal’.

Sean Lovelock-Woodhall, 43,body found?

Property developer and father- of-five Sean Lovelock-Woodhall, 43, a friend of Prince Albert II of Monaco, died in May last year.But his father Ron Lovelock, 65, of Parkmill, Gower, has been denied the chance to find his remains after fishermen who picked up the wreckage demanded £300,000 to reveal exactly where they found it.
Mr Lovelock-Woodhall was with three other businessmen in a Cessna light aircraft taking a flight over possible development sites when they crashed.Gower MP Martin Caton said he would work through the Foreign Office to pressure the Brazilian authorities to ensure the location of the wreckage is revealed.Mr Lovelock-Woodhall lived in the same Marbella complex as Mark Thatcher and sold properties to football stars including Manchester City’s Gareth Barry and former Leicester City captain Matt Elliot.Mr Lovelock, who used to run the Carlton Hotel in Mumbles, has been hoping for news of his remains ever since so his family can at last hold a funeral. He was given hope last Friday when a group of Brazilian fishermen told police they had found wreckage in the sea from a Cessna 310 of the type Mr Lovelock-Woodhall and his colleagues were in.But they have informed the Brazilian authorities they want around £300,000 to reveal the exact location where flight PT-JGX’s wreckage was discovered.Mr Lovelock said: “The Brazilian authorities arrested the guys with bits of plane, credit cards and bones but cannot force them to say where they were found.
“I’m hoping publicity over this will embarrass the Brazilian government into taking action.“Sean was a father of five and he has many family members and friends who loved him and want to stage a funeral for him.“But we cannot do anything until we at least get a clue as to where to start looking for remains.”A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “The Brazilian Federal Police have questioned the fishermen who claim to have found the wreckage and we await further information from the authorities there.”Cambridgeshire-born Mr Lovelock-Woodhall got involved in the booming Costa del Sol property market in the 1980s.His company sold luxury Spanish apartments to British investors, including former England cricketer Paul Nixon.
He planned a £3bn golf and eco-resort, Barra Nova Pearl, near the Brazilian city of Ilheus.He hired a twin-engined plane with three other British businessmen, Nigel Hodges, 52, Rick Every,41, and Alan Kempson, 46, described as a close friend of former Prime Minister John Major, to look at the site.But it lost contact with air traffic controllers eight miles out to sea, nine minutes before its scheduled landing.Rescue teams searched 400km of sea and rainforest for five days but the search was called off.Mr Lovelock-Woodhall’s family have been upset by allegations on websites that he may have faked his death because of business deals that went wrong.His brother Mark Lovelock, who lives in Peterborough, said the stories were untrue.He said: “It’s been hell on earth quite frankly. There’s been allegations made against my brother and he is not here to defend himself.“No one has shown me any evidence to suggest this. He was a good businessman and a good father and doesn’t deserve what has been thrown against him.”Mr Caton said: “It’s appalling that wreckage including personal belongings can apparently be put on sale for a large amount of money.“I know the fishermen involved were arrested and I will be doing everything I can to ensure the grid reference of where the wreckage is found is handed over.”

British residents in demand for free health care

British residents are expected to lead a demonstration tomorrow, Thursday, called for outside the British Consulate in Alicante in demand for free health care. Other nationalities are expected to join the protest as the group then marches to the offices of the Diputacion in demand that the promise of free access to health care be kept.La Verdad reports that the organisers of the protest note that the regional Valencia Government, la Generalitat, issued a law in 2003 promising free access to the health service. But now, in the middle of the recession the group notes another law which says that to continue to get public health care, they have to register with a private insurer at a cost of about 100 € per person per month, including children.The paper continues that the organisers of the protest say they are tired of being abused. ‘They trick us with the houses we buy, many of them illegal, and there are still many with no water or electricity. They trick us in many ways, but the straw which has broken the camel’s back is denying access to the health service, and that is why we are demonstrating. ‘The regional government does not keep its word’.The unnamed organiser tells the Spanish paper that the rumour is already circulating in Britain not to buy homes or come on holiday in the Valencia region.
The protest leaves from outside the British Consulate in Alicante at 10am on Thursday.

1,000 people taken into custody in the 232 anti-corruption operations led by the National Police

More than 80 of the 200 arrested in the province were in connection with Marbella's corruption investigation, MalayaThis Wednesday is designated by the United Nations as International Anti-Corruption Day, and to mark the occasion Spain’s Interior Ministry has released details of the arrests for corruption over the past five years: close to 1,000 people taken into custody in the 232 anti-corruption operations led by the National Police. The value of the items seized amounts to 3 billion €.More than half the 943 arrests were in Madrid, Málaga, Sevilla and Baleares, and Málaga holds the distinction of more corruption-related arrests than any other province in Spain: 25 police operations and 200 people taken into custody. A large number were arrested in the Malaya corruption case centred in Marbella, an operation which the Ministry notes encompasses 18 separate police investigations launched between 2005 and 2008, some of which are still ongoing today. The arrests in Malaya number more than 80 people, and it has seen items seized with the total value of more than 2.4 billion €.Investigations in the Ballena Blanca money laundering case began in March 2005 and has seen the arrest of some 50 suspects, including notaries and lawyers, on suspicion of forming part of a network which is estimated to have laundered 250 million € in Marbella. Assets valued at more than 350 million € were seized as part of the investigation and more than 250 properties embargoed.

Juan Antonio Roca, is claiming unfair dismissal from his post.

It’s been announced that Social Court 11 in Málaga will hear the case on December 15, but before it gets underway the judge will ask those involved if they want to reach an out of court settlement. The legal representatives from Marbella Town Hall previously tried to reach an agreement last September with Roca via the CMAC arbitration service of the Junta de Andalucía, without success.Roca’s defence claimed that his employment was ‘suspended’ while he was in prison, and that any dismissal would be unfair. Roca is asking for his job back, or a payment in compensation. The Town Hall sacked him after opening disciplinary proceedings for ‘the repeated and unjustified fault of failing to show for work’ since March 31 2006, the day he was arrested in the Malaya case.

‘Ballena Blanca’, ‘Malaya’ and ‘Hidalgo’, are now thought to have laundered more than 1 billion € between them

three large corruption cases based in Marbella, ‘Ballena Blanca’, ‘Malaya’ and ‘Hidalgo’, are now thought to have laundered more than 1 billion € between them since 2005 according to their respective court summaries.The 26 frontmen and women alleged used by Juan Antonio Roca, the man at the centre of the Malaya case, are accused of laundering 670 million €. The money came from the backhanders which many real estate promoters and builders paid to do business in the town. A web of companies were set up to accept the cash.
The Hidalgo case saw 220 million laundered and Ballena Blanca some 150 million

Granada city chunk of his ear was partially severed during the biting attack.

man has been arrested by the Civil Guard for assaulting four people who were changing a flat tyre outside his home in La Zubia, Granada province, last Friday night. Annoyed by the noise they were making as they were putting on the car’s spare wheel, the Civil Guard said one of the four was admitted to the Traumatology Hospital in Granada city after a chunk of his ear was partially severed during the biting attack.Another man had five stitches to a bite wound on his hand, while the third was bitten on the shoulder.Granada Hoy said the fourth man escaped with bruising.

Doctor who was fatally shot while on duty at the local health centre in Moratalla

Doctor who was fatally shot while on duty at the local health centre in Moratalla this March has received a posthumous award with the title of ‘Adopted Daughter’ of Moratalla. The distinction of ‘Adopted Son’ goes to Juan Miguel Moya López, the ambulance driver who was injured while trying to save her life. La Verdad newspaper reports that the extraordinary council meeting which took the decision on Saturday also approved a special mention from the corporation for the three police officers who overpowered the gunman who fired the shots.34 year old María Eugenia Moreno Martínez was shot on 10th March 2009, dying in hospital the following afternoon. The gunman was a 74 year old retired taxi driver who claimed to the judge who remanded him to custody that he had received poor treatment when he had attended the health centre earlier that day.A monument in the doctor’s honour was unveiled on Saturday in the gardens outside the health centre which now bear her name, Doctora María Eugenia Moreno Martínez.

Sixth person has been arrested for suspected involvement in the fatal shooting two years ago of the Partido Popular Mayor of Polop de la Marina

Sixth person has been arrested for suspected involvement in the fatal shooting two years ago of the Partido Popular Mayor of Polop de la Marina, Alejandro Ponsoda, over, it’s thought, his failure to support a real estate project. The suspect arrested on Friday night is identified by El País as the owner of the Mesalina nightclub on the outskirts of Benidorm where the murder is believed to have been planned. The nightclub’s Uruguayan manager was arrested earlier last week and, along with the first two suspects, was remanded to prison by the judge.The two alleged Czech hit men believed to have killed the Mayor outside his home in Xirles on the night of 19th October 2007 were also taken into custody on Friday, in Benidorm and La Cala de Finestrat. They are reported to have had links to suspect No. 1, Raúl Montero Trevejo, who already has drug trafficking charges against him.The lawyer acting for the local businessman from Polop suspected in the case revealed indications last week that there are protected witnesses in the case. According to information from El País, five protected witnesses linked to prostitution were questioned again by detectives on Saturday morning.

Recovered the body of a German man who had been reported missing while paragliding in Barbate

Rescuers on Sunday recovered the body of a German man who had been reported missing while paragliding in Barbate the previous day.The 56 year old, who has not been named in reports, disappeared while paragliding with a friend over Barbate’s Hierbabuena Beach on Saturday afternoon. An intensive search was mounted involving five Civil Guard patrols, two helicopters, a Coastguard boat, Red Cross personnel and a team of specialist Civil Guard divers.EFE reports that his body was found in a rocky area of difficult access on the Barbate coast near the Torre del Tajo.

Bank of Spain will be introducing new rules in the next few weeks to double the amount written off by Spanish banks and Cajas

Bank of Spain will be introducing new rules in the next few weeks to double the amount written off by Spanish banks and Cajas (saving banks) when the banks hold repossessed properties for longer than a year.Currently, the banks and cajas, by law, must have provisions of 10% on the appraisal values for repossessed property that have been owned for a year or longer. This figure will now increase to 20%.
There are currently several theories for the this change being implemented by the Bank of Spain. The first is that this is a warning to the banks to stop trying to disguise their bad debts by swapping debt (from promoters/developers) for properties. Many banks have been successfully swapping debt for property with the long term view of recouping their money instead of simply writing of the bad debt.
The second theory, is to help motivate the banks to liquidate their property assets sooner rather than later by getting them to drop the prices. In theory this is a possibility as it is estimated that the Spanish banks currently hold 36 billion euros with of property assets. So we are talking about an additional write down 3.6 billion! In theory at least. Unfortunately the reality is that several of the largest banks, including BBVA and Santander, already make provision of 20%, so there will be no additional motivation to try and sell their properties faster.

Two weeks to go before lines for pay-as-you-go mobile phones will be automatically deactivated if their owners have previously failed to register

Two weeks to go before lines for pay-as-you-go mobile phones will be automatically deactivated if their owners have previously failed to register their details with their operators.The move comes under a new law which came into effect in November 2007 as a consequence of the Madrid train bomb attacks on 11th March 2004, when the bombs were set off by pre-paid mobile phones. Registration has been obligatory since the law came into force, but 20 million such phones bought before that date are estimated to still be in use.To date, 12.5 million people have registered their details, but some 8 million have yet to do so and could find themselves automatically cut off if they fail to register on or before the deadline of 8th November. Operators are then legally obliged to deactivate any which remain unidentified.Registration for each user is at one of their operator’s points of sale, where they must provide either their DNI identity document, passport or foreigners’ residency papers. Businesses must provide their fiscal identification card.

27 year old girl has died in Residencial Monte Marbella at Artola Alta in Marbella

27 year old girl has died in Residencial Monte Marbella at Artola Alta in Marbella after falling to the ground as she tried to get into her own home through a window after forgetting her keys inside.EFE news agency quotes municipal sources as saying the victim is a foreigner, but her nationality has not yet been released. Named with the initials A.K. she was returning home after celebrating her birthday and had climbed a pergola to reach the window. Reports indicate that girl suffered a head injury in the fall, and had already died before emergency services arrived at the scene.

Benitatxell attacked by hundreds of angry bees

German man out for a countryside walk with his wife in Benitatxell on Wednesday found himself suddenly attacked by hundreds of angry bees while he was passing a site which is used for commercial beekeeping. Diario Información notes that there are warning signs about the hives in the area.Named by the paper as 70 year old Hans Klaus V., a resident of Benitatxell, he was rushed to the local health centre in Teulada, where staff removed 300 stings from his body, before he was sent on to hospital in Dénia. He was kept under observation there for some hours, where doctors were surprised, despite the numerous stings, that he suffered no allergic reaction to the bee attack.

Prostitutes who ply their trade on the public way in Granada City will soon face a fine of up to 3,000 €

Prostitutes who ply their trade on the public way in Granada City will soon face a fine of up to 3,000 € under a new local by-law which comes into force next month. The measure also affects their clients.The new regulations, effective from 10th November, ban sexual relations or their negotiation in all public places, with the maximum sanction to be imposed if they take place within 200 metres of schools and residential and business areas.Granada Hoy newspaper said the money collected in this way by City Hall will be spent on social programmes and helping the women who work as prostitutes, particularly those who want to leave the profession.

Search for a missing 13 year old German boy who fell into the sea at Calpe on Thursday was called off

Search for a missing 13 year old German boy who fell into the sea at Calpe on Thursday was called off last night as rough seas continued to affect the area. The child had fallen into the sea from the breakwater on the Playa de la Fosa.
The weather conditions complicated the search and lead to some of the firemen taking part being injured.Witnesses had reported seeing three people fall into the water, of whom two managed to get out, one unaided and a second thanks to another man who was in the area.These two are both reported to be foreigners, one of them is Senegalese according to reports, who had also tried without success to reach the German boy, but who finally had to be rescued himself.The Alicante Fire Service was called out, generally because of wind damage, some 100 times on Thursday between 1030 and 1930. Most of the calls came from Elche, Alcoy, Concentaina, La Nucía, Benidorm, Orihuela, Torrevieja and San Vicente del Raspeig.

officers allegedly took advantage of a prostitute’s illiteracy by charging her 600 € for a document they claimed was a residence permit

Four National Police officers, including a former Chief Inspector and his deputy, will sit on the accused bench along with a Civil Guard officer after their arrest following an 18 month internal investigation into illegal immigration, prostitution and drugs. The officers are accused of charging payments in return for turning a blind eye to local alternative nightclubs and, in one case, blackmailing the owner of one of the clubs who was in the country illegally.Officers arrested two years ago in the police corruption case in Ronda will go on trial at the Málaga provincial court next March, when 42 witnesses, 14 of them protected, will be called to give evidence in the case.La Opinión de Málaga highlights one instance when two of the officers allegedly took advantage of a prostitute’s illiteracy by charging her 600 € for a document they claimed was a residence permit. It turned out to be a registration form for the municipal register of inhabitants.

Mark Porter, 29, and 24-year-old Michelle Clydesdale died after they left their hotel in the resort of Salou, near Tarragona

Mark Porter, 29, and 24-year-old Michelle Clydesdale died after they left their hotel in the resort of Salou, near Tarragona, to go swimming in the early hours of Wednesday.They were with three other friends when they got into trouble and drowned.
Ms Clydesdale was from Scotland but it is not known where Mr Porter was from in the UK.A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We can confirm the death of two British nationals (Mark Porter and Michelle Clydesdale) in Salou, Spain.
"The next of kin have been informed and we are offering consular assistance to them. We understand that they went swimming and got into difficulties."It is understood the pair were found on the beach after being washed up by large waves.Their bodies were taken to the regional capital of Tarragona on the north-eastern coast of Spain for post-mortem examinations.They went missing shortly before 2.30am and their three friends raised the alarm.The local fire department said the weather was stormy at the time, with waves some 7ft high.

670 million euros laundered money in Marbella

Money thought to have been laundered during the infamous ‘Malaya’ case in Marbella has been calculated at around 670 million euros.Most of this involves payments received in exchange for ‘favours’ relating to building development in the city, say police.It is said to have been laundered by up to 26 people who worked according to the orders of the alleged ringleader, former town planning assessor for Marbella Juan Antonio Roca.The suspects are spread across Spain and include six lawyers from a firm in Madrid.In addition to property development corruption on the Costa del Sol – and particularly in and around Marbella – the ‘Malaya’ case is believed to have involved homes built in Los Alcázares (Murcia).

Autopsy carried out on the body of the Boyzone singer, Stephen Gately

autopsy carried out on the body of the Boyzone singer, Stephen Gately, has determined that the 33 year old died from a severe pulmonary oedema, fluid on the lungs, according to sources quoted by El Mundo newspaper this Tuesday. He was found dead on Saturday after a night out while on holiday with his husband, Andrew Owles, on the island of Mallorca, and there has been speculation in the UK press that he may have choked on his own vomit.

A Bulgarian man, Georgi Dochev, told the Sun newspaper that it was he who found the body after accompanying the couple back to their holiday apartment after their night out and found Stephen lying lifeless on the sofa the next morning.

In further information from the Guardian newspaper, a court official on Mallorca is reported to have said the singer’s family will now be permitted to take his body home to Ireland for burial. The paper noted that police on the island have said there are no signs of suspicious circumstances in the 33 year old’s death.

Two ETA terrorists have already been found guilty for the attempted car bomb attack at Málaga Airport eight years ago

Two ETA terrorists have already been found guilty for the attempted car bomb attack at Málaga Airport eight years ago, but a third suspect comes before the National Court this Thursday where he will face a possible 14 years in prison for his part in the attack.The device was deactivated by the Tedax bomb disposal squad before it could go off, but the security lockdown put into place after the warning phone call came early on 26th July 2001 caused extensive disruption to the airport and to the flights which were scheduled that day.The man on trial is Ismael Berasategui Escudero who, with Javier Zabalo Beitia, one of the two found guilty, set up a car washing company in Guipúzcoa as a cover for the stolen vehicles their commando used for the car bombs. The third suspect, Ainoa Barbarín, was responsible with Berasategui for transporting the cars loaded with explosives to the target selected by ETA leadership.The car parked at Málaga Airport, loaded with 53 kilos of Titadyn dynamite, was set to explode at 8am that day, with the warning call coming just under 45 minutes before the explosion was timed.Diario Sur said the bomb attack came in retaliation for the death of an ETA member 48 hours previously, who died in Torrevieja, Alicante province, while handling another bomb.

Delta Airlines direct link between Málaga and New York

Delta Airlines direct link between Málaga and New York, re-launched in June 2008, is to end for the winter, although the company foresees restarting the route at the end of March 2010.The last flight until then will be next Sunday, 18th October, despite average occupancy levels during the time it’s been in operation of 78%. Sources at the company described their basis for the decision to Europa Press as operational and strategic. The news agency quotes figures from the Junta de Andalucía that some 16,000 passengers have flown into Málaga from New York’s JFK on the 119 aircraft which have made the trip to the Costa del Sol since the launch date more than 16 months ago.

Growing anger in Spain over British "health scroungers" has led to accusations that the country's health services are increasingly being used

Spanish doctors' trades unions are leading the charge against what has become known as "scalpel tourism", with easy-to-get hip and cataract operations allegedly attracting Britons who temporarily install themselves in Spain to skip queues at home.Growing anger in Spain over British "health scroungers" has led to accusations that the country's health services are increasingly being used by the estimated one million British people with homes in Spain to plug holes in the NHS.The Simap trade union said that non-Spanish EU nationals in Alicante, where Britons are by far the largest group, now accounted for 15% to 20% of people treated in local hospitals.
"Spain's health service is quick, free and offers a wide range of services," said Dr Juan Benedito of Simaptoday. "It is not surprising that people come here."
The Socialist former head of the Extremadura region of Spain, Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, warned this week that "scrounge tourism" was bleeding money out of Spain's health service.Málaga's Costa del Sol hospital is among those to notice an increase in the number of British patients. "We get an increasing number of cases of foreigners who, taking advantage of the fact that they own a home on the Costa del Sol and that their own country does not cover all that we offer in Andalucía, decide to come to a hospital [here]," the hospital's general manager, Antonio Pérez, told Sur newspaper.Spanish media have been filling up with reports of so-called health scroungers. "Thousands of people from Britain, Germany and Scandinavia travel to Spain every year for operations that, frequently, are not covered by their own health system," the ABC paper claimed recently.One letter-writer to the 20 Minutos newspaper, Federico Avila, said his neighbours in Murcia, south-east Spain, travelled to their holiday home for an operation and then went back to Britain as soon as it was done. "As soon as he was allowed out of hospital they packed their bags and went home, not without first thanking us Spaniards for everything," he said.

Charity workers who help Britons with health problems in Spain say there is evidence that some who live in both countries – known in expat jargon as "dippers" – cherrypick the best health services from each place.

"I haven't come across anyone who has come to Spain specifically for an operation, though," said Pat Lee-Patten, of the Help charity in Alicante province, who rejected the idea that expats' activities amounted to health tourism.Lee-Patten said added confusion was caused by British residents who did not bother to sign on with Spanish health authorities and then asked for treatment using health cards meant for tourists.Bryan Arthur, an "on-and-off" resident of Britain and Spain, chose to have an aortic valve operation at a Costa Blanca hospital because he could get it in two months rather than six, he said."The surgeon in the Costa Blanca hospital spoke English quite well, said I was in urgent need of attention and could accept me in two months and the charge would be on their national health service," he wrote on the euroresidentes website. "So I signed the papers, had the preliminary catheterisation and eventually was admitted."Squabbling over funds is at the root of the complaints, with health authorities in Spain saying that they do not receive adequate compensation for treating EU citizens.

Scrounging foreigners? British expats accused of health tourism in Spain
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 19.15 BST on Monday 5 October 2009. A version appeared on p9 of the UK news section of the Guardian on Tuesday 6 October 2009.

Stig hanging out in Puerto Banus

Stig hanging out in Puerto Banus. Well the Top Gear blog have has now confirmed that the duo were out in the Costa del Sol filming for a new DVD that will hit the shelves in November.The DVD called Duel will showcase a number of speedy challenges and races. The challenge in question involved a night time street race between Clarkson and the Stig from the Ascari circuit to a bar in Puerto Banus.

Antonio Banderas home ‘La Gaviota’ at Los Monteros in Marbella still under threat

Andalucía High Court has overruled an order suspending demolition of part of the propertyThere has been another set back for Antonio Banderas regarding his home ‘La Gaviota’ at Los Monteros in Marbella.The Andalucian High Court of Justice has rejected the ruling which had suspended the demolition of 150 of the 780 square metres of the villa, as well as the swimming pool for the property, considering that the land invades an area marked on the urban plan as being for beach equipment.
It means that the High Court has agreed with an appeal presented by the Community of Owners of the Los Monteros Urbanisation, against the hopes of both the actor and Marbella Town Hall, which had granted the suspension order until the town’s new PGOU Urban Plan is carried out. Under the new PGOU the house would have been made legal.
The lawyer representing the Community of Owners, Inmaculada Gálvez, told El País that to avoid demolition she had offered Banderas a deal under which he would compensate the community with a quantity equivalent to the loss of value of his property should the demolition take place – a sum estimated at 2.1 million €. But now the lawyer says that the talks are over and the demolition must take place. Marbella Town Hall is expected to launch an appeal.

Foreign Mans Death Cause's riots in Roquetas de Mar Southern Spain

Immigrants went on a rampage in a southern Spanish town overnight throwing stones and bottles at police after a Senegalese man was stabbed to death, police and Spanish media said on Sunday. Police would only say that the killing of a man in the town of Roquetas de Mar, had sparked "altercations throughout the night in which immigrants were involved." Spanish media said African immigrants were enraged by the death of the Senegalese man, 28, who was stabbed in a fight. Daily newspaper El Mundo's website said African immigrants threw stones and bottles at police, and burnt down two homes and two police cars. It quoted emergency services as saying that rioters set up barricades, burnt rubbish bins and cars. A policeman who went to the scene told national radio station RNE that firefighters were called to a false alarm and were directed by a group to where a fire was supposed to be. "They began to throw stones at the cars... They ended up destroyed, with broken windows, dents in the doors, at the front. The only thing there wasn't was injuries," policeman Carlos Manuel Ruiz said. Police arrested three immigrants, the media reports said. Madrid Reuters

Richard Henry Roberts, 36,found guilty of the murder of nightclub bouncer Daniel Hastelow

Richard Henry Roberts, 36,found guilty of the murder of nightclub bouncer Daniel Hastelow after a trial.But another Merseyside man, jointly accused of the killing in the popular resort of Palmanova in January last year, was acquitted by the jury of nine because of “lack of proof”.Roberts admitted stabbing the 26-year-old victim, from Walsall, seven times.But he claimed it was self defence when the four-day trial began on Monday.Yesterday, the jury rejected his claim he grabbed a knife from a table to defend himself when Mr Hastelow attacked him, delivering heavy blows.They convicted Roberts of murder, rejecting a defence plea for a manslaughter

Paul Anthony Griffiths aquitted in Daniel Hastelow murder case

The jury accepted the defence argument that evidence was not produced to support prosecution claims that Paul Anthony Griffiths, 23, also from Liverpool, took part in the deliberate killing of Mr Hastelow.It was alleged Griffiths beat the victim with a baseball bat as he lay sleeping in an apartment in the resort on the island’s south coast.Griffiths admitted being present when Mr Hastelow was killed, but denied taking any part in his death.The jury also dismissed a charge against both accused of breaking into the apartment where Mr Hastelow died.After the verdicts, Judge Eduardo Calderon formally acquitted Griffiths and dismissed him from the court.
The state prosecutor then asked for an 18 year prison sentence for Roberts.He also asked Judge Calderon to order Roberts to pay compensation of 90,000 Euros – around £81,000 – to the victim’s family.The judge’s written sentence will be known later.

Daniel Hastelow murder case

36 year old Briton, Richard Henry Roberts, has been sent to prison for 18 years for killing his compatriot, Daniel Hastelow in January 2008. The court in Palma de Mallorca heard how the accused had stabbed the sleeping victim eight times.
A second Briton arrested at the time, Paul A. Griffiths, was found not guilty and released without charge.The court and jury considered it proved that after an argument in a bar earlier the aggressor, Richard H Roberts, went to the apartment where the victim was sleeping under the effects of alcohol and drugs, broke in and stabbed the victim with a 20 cm long and 4cm wide knife eight times. The other Briton Paul Griffiths looked on.The two were arrested at the airport the following day.Richard Robert has also been ordered to pay 90,000 € compensation to the victim’s family. He has a previous record for violent theft, causing injury and robbery.

Torremolinos Arco Iris will become the first real estate project in Spain that is aimed at LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) clients

Arco Iris (Rainbow)will become the first real estate project in Spain that is aimed at LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) clients, with an added condition: residents must be over 55 as the development will also take on the role of a care centre.The building will be located in the very heart of Torremolinos, a town that in recent years has become a favourite holdiay resort for homosexuals. This has given rise to the opening of numerous gay-orientated businesses from clothes shops to bars and restaurants, although nearly always geared towards a younger clientele.
“You would think that all homosexuals are young, beautiful and healthy, but we get old too”, says Antonio Gutiérrez, a veteran gay rights activist who hopes that projects such as this one “will help find a solution for the human dramas suffered by older homosexuals who often have a limited family environment to fall back on as their parents have died and they have no children”.“Loneliness is one of their greatest concerns but many homosexuals we have spoken to believe that moving into a traditional home for the elderly would be like going back to the closet”, explains Íñigo Armengod, director general of Grupo Imnova, the firm promoting the scheme.
The building will have 27 apartments with comforts and services such as cleaners, a social club, a nurse station, and even care for pets, although the main attraction will be a day centre which will be open to residents as well as other members of the general public, regardless of their sexual condition. The apartments will range between 100,000 and 240,000 in price but as yet no date has been set for construction work to start, possibly after next summer.However the gay and lesbian association Colega does

Tax hikes announced by Spain’s Socialist government will increase the cost of the average newly-built property by 2,000 Euros

Tax hikes announced by Spain’s Socialist government will increase the cost of the average newly-built property by 2,000 Euros, thanks to an increase in VAT from 7% to 8% on new home sales. The government will hike VAT (known as IVA in Spain) on new home sales in 2010 to try and plug the country’s gaping fiscal hole.In areas like Madrid and Barcelona, where property is more expensive, the cost will go up by an average of 3,000 Euros, according to José M. Galindo, President of the Association of Developers and Constructors of Spain (APCE). He warns that higher costs will reduce demand for newly built homes, at a time when the market is struggling to digest a glut of them.The more expensive the home, the more VAT to be paid. New homes costing 1 million Euros – fairly common in areas like the Balearcis and upmarket areas of the Costa del Sol, will now cost buyers 10,000 Euros more in VAT, or 80,000 Euros in total.As transaction taxes are not typically financed by mortgages, buyers will have to finance the higher cost from their own capital. The only good news is the increase won’t come into force until July 2010. So if you are planning to buy a new home in Spain, you might want to do so before then.The G-14 group of Spain’s leading developers describe the tax increase as just “another difficulty” for a sector where “all the news is bad”. The G-14 developers (13 of them in total, several of whom are in bankruptcy proceedings) have also revealed that they started just 59 private homes (excluding social housing) between them in the 8 months to August.

Three men from Merseyside on the run in Spain

Three men from Merseyside are on a top ten most wanted list of suspected criminals on the run in Spain.Crimestoppers are asking for ex-pats' help to trace the men, who they believe have fled to the Costa del Sol.They include 40 year old Paul Walmsley, from Liverpool, who's suspected of supplying heroin and cocaine.Another Liverpudlian making the list is Mark Ronald Brown - a 44 year old who's believed to have led a gang who smuggled class As into the UK.Jody Michael Flynn, 28, from Birkenhead, is wanted on a GBH charge.

Woman who suffered years of abuse has called for her attacker to be brought to justice from his hide-out on Spain’s Costa del Crime.

Woman who suffered years of abuse has called for her attacker to be brought to justice from his hide-out on Spain’s Costa del Crime.Investigators want the public to help them trace 10 “most wanted” fugitives thought to be on the run in the Costa del Sol region, including Martin Smith, 44, of North Shields, who is wanted in connection with the rape of a child aged under 16 and gross indecency with a girl under the age of 16.The 44-year-old is accused of raping and indecently assaulting a girl, under the age of 16, over a period of 10 years.He was arrested by police in North Cumbria after his victim found the courage to speak out about the years of abuse she endured throughout her childhood. But he skipped bail in January last year and has been on the run ever since.Last night, as pictures of Smith and nine other dangerous criminals were being circulated among the British community in Malaga, his victim spoke out about the years of abuse that left her feeling dirty and worthless.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she wanted to see her attacker caught so that he would never put another person through the same ordeal.“It was regular abuse. It made me feel awful, small and dirty, and like I had done something wrong and I was the liar and you don’t think anybody is going to believe you. You think it’s all your fault,” she said. “I felt like I needed to have justice done because otherwise it could happen to other people and I don’t want anybody else to go through what I went through. It wasn’t a life, it was torture.”
Smith, who was born in North Shields, but has travelled around the UK, is wanted in connection with the rape of a child under 16, gross indecency with a girl under the age of 16, indecent assault of a girl under 16 and attempted rape of a girl under 16.
The alleged attacks, on one victim, occurred between 1995 and 2005.

Local council in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella – an area traumatised by years of corruption involving politicians and residential developers

Local council in the Costa del Sol resort of Marbella – an area traumatised by years of corruption involving politicians and residential developers – is seeking to retrospectively "legalise" 18,000 homes, which are now found to have been built without appropriate construction licences. But three schemes, all close to the water, have not been included in this de facto amnesty and instead face demolition.
They were built since the introduction of the 1988 Coastal Law (called the Ley de Costas) designed to protect the coastline by prohibiting construction within 100 metres of the high-water mark. "These buildings are practically in the sea," says Barbara Wood, a buying agent, who runs The Property Finders in this part of Spain.

love padlocks being placed on the Isabel II bridge which links the city centre to the area of Triana.

Sevilla is a pretty romantic place, but the City Hall says it no longer wants to see love padlocks being placed on the Isabel II bridge which links the city centre to the area of Triana.The idea of couples placing a padlock on a fence or bridge is thought to have started in the 80’s in Pécs, Hungary, and has proved very popular in Sevilla where many couples have placed their locks thinking that they would never be opened.But the City Hall considers the padlocks damage the aesthetics of the bridge and have removed more than 1,000 of them already.
Público reports that locals are divided on the move.
‘Is the love represented by the lock broken?’, they ask.
The Municipal Junta for the Triana district has made up its mind and on Wednesday placed a motion that the padlocks be taken away every 15 days. They note that the Triana bridge is the only one in the city declared to be a Monument of Cultural Interest

Benalmádena bullfighter, Josélito Otega, says he’s not worried that many will think he is gay.

Benalmádena bullfighter, Josélito Otega, says he’s not worried that many will think he is gay. There’s little more macho in Spain than the world of the matador, but now that is set to change as Josélito Otega has accepted the sponsorship on his pink cape, of the new ‘Gay Up’ energy drink brand. Not only is it the first time that sponsorship has appeared on a bullfighter’s cape in Spain, but the product itself is sure to lead to a great deal of additional publicity. The 'Gay Up' company is Colombia based, but it is a Málaga company which has the franchise in Spain. They had previously tried to The 'Gay Up' energy drink
sponsor Málaga football team, but the attempt reportedly floundered in prejudice, and quite how Spain’s ‘National Fiesta’ responds to this new 21st century challenge remains to be seen. The purists are not likely to be happy.Gay Up’s Chairman, José María Terrón, told El Mundo that the bullfighting world should open up to the gay market, to renew itself and survive.José Otega himself told the press, ‘I am a bullfighter. That is not going to change. I am going to go out into the ring as I have done until now, to risk my life, and the seven goring wounds on my body prove that,’ he said. ‘If the gay community welcomes me as an image or a symbol, that is fine.’

Religious beliefs cannot be above civil law

witness called before the National Court in Spain on Wednesday in a case where nine alleged Islamists were in the dock, facing allegations of sending Mujahidin to carry out suicide attacks in Iraq, has been expelled from the court by Judge Javier Gómez Bermúdez, after she refused to lift or remove her burka.Before expelling her from the chamber the judge explained that in Spanish courts it is obligatory to declare with the face uncovered, and at the end of the session he called her to his office, with the prosecutor, Dolores Delgado. After some debate the witness has agreed to attend the court again on Monday, wearing her burka, but lifting it to show her face to the judge, but with no cameras and no public.The woman is the sister of Hassan Hssisni, a suicide bomber who carried out his attack in Iraq in January 2005.The judge commented that ‘Seeing her face I can see if she is lying or not, or if any question surprises her or not’. He said that he did not want to charge her with disobedience, but underlined that religious beliefs cannot be above civil law.

Javier Rodrigo de Santos, former town planning councillor, spent more than 50,000 € of public money

ex Partido Popular councillor found guilty of misuse of municipal funds in Palma de Mallorca has been sentenced to two years in prison, for using the City Hall credit card to pay for sex and cocaine.Javier Rodrigo de Santos, former town planning councillor, spent more than 50,000 € of public money between 2005 and 2007 and claimed at his trial that he only went to the alternative night clubs to buy the cocaine. In fact, his addiction to drugs formed a strong part of his defence and EFE reports that Judge Carlos Izquierdo took that into account in deciding the length of the sentence. Also key was the fact that de Santos has paid back the money he spent to Palma City Hall.In addition to the prison term, he gets a four year ban from public office.

Electrical storm in Els Poblets blew an enormous hole in the roof of the Swiss couple’s house

Swiss couple with a holiday home in Els Poblets were fortunately away in Switzerland for the summer when their house was hit by lightning. A German woman who looks after the property while the owners are away visited the house on Wednesday and told Diario Información that she is convinced they would have been dead if they had been inside when the house was hit.The electrical storm in Els Poblets blew an enormous hole in the roof of the Swiss couple’s house, lifted up the floor with the impact and the fire it caused destroyed all the furniture inside.Its understood the owners had renovated the property only recently.

Council meeting in Estepona has approved abolishing three local taxes under the austerity plan presented by opposition Partido Popular councillors

Council meeting in Estepona has approved abolishing three local taxes under the austerity plan presented by opposition Partido Popular councillors which, while good news for the pockets of the people of Estepona, will have a serious effect on the municipal purse.The local tax councillor, Francisca Bernal, told Europa Press that the move approved by the opposition, which has a majority in the local corporation, will reduce Town Hall income by around 20 million € next year: 18 million € in the abolished rubbish collection tax, a further 1.5 million € in the drainage tax and the remainder in opening licences granted to new businesses.Most of that income would normally have been spent on paying Town Hall salaries, the councillor said.
The opposition move is being seen by some of the press as a continued attempt by the Partido Popular to achieve the dissolution of the Town Hall.

Armed robbers in Ronda

Police in Ronda are examining CCTV footage to identify the three armed robbers who got away with 300 euros after raiding a BP petrol station on the Campillos road some three kilometres away from Ronda. According to the 46 year old shop assistant who was working at the time, three armed individuals burst into the shop and demanded the contents of the till. They got away with only 300 euros as the petrol station’s policy is keep no more than that amount in the till, while the rest is put into a safe to which employees do not have access. The shop assistant and a customer who was filling up at the time told the police that the three suspects made off in an Opel Corsa driven by a getaway driver.

British director, Michael Radford, has started shooting in Córdoba for his film, ‘La Mula’

British director, Michael Radford, has started shooting in Córdoba for his film, ‘La Mula’ – ‘The Mule’, his movie on the last months of the Civil War. Adapted from the book of the same name by the author from Jaén, Juan Eslava Galán, it’s a true life story which tells the tale of a young soldier who comes across a mule in the middle of a battlefield.He decides to keep the animal so he can take it home with him at the end of the war and allow him to earn a living for his family.The joint production by Spain, Britain and Ireland stars Mario Casas as the young soldier and is budgeted with 7 million €.

Motion of censure will oust the Benidorms Partido Popular Mayor, Manuel Pérez Fenoll.

Partido Popular Mayor claims in an open letter to the people of Benidorm that the motion against him is based on liesThis Tuesday is expected to see the end of 16 years of Partido Popular government in Benidorm, when, saving any last minute surprises, a motion of censure will oust the town’s Partido Popular Mayor, Manuel Pérez Fenoll.It was presented by the 12 Socialist councillors at the Town Hall – who have since resigned from the party – and a ‘turncoat’ PP councillor, José Bañuls, who left the ranks of the Partido Popular in June and is now a non-affiliated councillor. El País reports that he hopes to stand as Iniciativa Benidorm’s candidate for Mayor in the 2011 local elections.The candidate for Mayor on this occasion is Agustín Navarro, who until the mass resignation from PSOE after the motion was presented on 11th September was Socialist spokesman at Benidorm Town Hall. La Verdad newspaper reports that he and his 12 fellow councillors have checked into an undisclosed hotel from this Sunday night, where they will remain until the vote takes place on Tuesday.It’s a strategy which opposition councillors in Marbella, Málaga province, also followed in 2003 in the motion which ousted Julián Muñoz from the local Town Hall and elected Marisol Yagüe in his place.Manuel Pérez Fenoll claimed in an open letter to the people of Benidorm printed in ABC newspaper this Sunday that the motion against him is based on lies, predicting that the 2011 municipal poll will, he said, ‘return everyone to their proper place’.

Friend of the 16 year old Spanish girl, Celeste, found dead in her doorway in Valencia early on Saturday has been arrested

Friend of the 16 year old Spanish girl, Celeste, found dead in her doorway in Valencia early on Saturday has been arrested in connection with the teenager’s death. He is understood from the Levante newspaper to be one of the two friends who accompanied her home after attending a botellón street drinking party on Friday night and stayed talking with her in the doorway after the other youngster left at around 2.30 am on Saturday.There are unconfirmed reports that the victim was raped and is believed to have died after hitting her head on the steps at the first floor landing where her body was found.The other friend who was with the teenager before she died told the newspaper that the man in custody, named as Braulio M.R. was born in Colombia and adopted by Spanish parents and had no relationship with the teenager other than their friendship.An autopsy is expected to be carried out on Monday to determine the exact cause of death.

Juan Carlos Benavides faces a possible payout of more than 30,000 Euro over comments he made about a Socialist councillor

The Convergencia Andaluza Mayor of Almuñécar, Juan Carlos Benavides, faces a posible payout of tens of thousands of euros in a slander case which will be heard by Criminal Court No. 1 in Motril in December.The case comes to court after legal action taken by the Socialist Party’s former spokesperson at the Town Hall, Rocío Palacios, over insulting comments the Mayor made about her during a council meeting on 31st January 2006. Benavides suggested at the meeting that Palacios had climbed the political ladder only because of an ‘intimate relationship’ he claimed she had with her party’s provincial secretary, Francisco de la Chica.He also called her a ‘zorra’ – a tart.The prosecution service sees the Mayor’s words as seriously affecting the two Socialist politicians’ family lives, as the press, as they are for each council meeting, were present at the Town Hall meeting. EFE reports the Mayor faces a possible fine of 21,600 € and, in addition to that, 10,000 € compensation to the two politicians.The controversy over the insult led the Mayor to resign from the Partido Andalucista over what he said was a lack of support from provincial party leadership, joining, with most of his P.A. councillors, the new party, Convergencia Andaluza, in March 2006.

Trial starts of two British men, named as Richard Henry Roberts, 35, and Anthony Griffths, 22,

Trial starts of two British men, named as Richard Henry Roberts, 35, and Anthony Griffths, 22,who are accused of killing another Briton, 26 year old Daniel Hastelow, and breaking into his home in Magaluf on Mallorca in January this year.The attack came at 4am on the morning after the victim’s birthday in an apartment in Calle Contra almirante Riviera in Magaluf, but an argument had started before that in a local pup. This allegedly led the attackers to go to the home of the victim, armed with a baseball bat and knife. The victim was stabbed several times and the two suspects were arrested at Palma airport afterwards when trying to flee Mallorca. They have been held in prison on remand since January 15 this year.A statement from the Supreme Court said that the case will get underway at 9,30am this morning with the selection of the jury, and is expected to continue in both morning and afternoon sessions until Wednesday.

John David W.S. He faces a six-month sentence and a two-year ban from his profession

Partido Popular Mayor of Sorbas faces a possible six months in prison and a 7-year ban from public office for granting planning permission for a development in a protected area of the Sierra Cabrera. The building licence was granted in 2006 for 3 new homes on a plot in Los Pérez, which the prosecution service claims Mayor José Fernández was fully aware was classified as land unsuitable for development.
Other suspects in the case are the municipal technician who drew up the report recommending the licence could be granted, the project’s technical director and the property developer for the three homes. This last is a British man who is named by Europa Press as John David W.S. He faces a six-month sentence and a two-year ban from his profession, as well as having to share the 9,400 € cost of demolishing the illegal construction with his technical director.The construction project had not got past the foundations stage when the prosecution service ordered the building licence to be annulled last year.
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