EUROZONE

New Magaluf sex video: 'British tourist' caught romping in broad daylight between parked cars

2014-07-22T05:52:00.001-07:00

A shocking new video has emerged of a couple having sex in broad daylight apparently filmed on a Magaluf street. The couple's romp between two parked cars was captured on film by someone recording them through a window. The footage is too shocking to broadcast but during their two-minute encounter they are failed to be put off by passing cars. The nationality of the copulating couple is unknown, but the title of the video describes a "British Tourist". It is not clear how old they are, but they appear to be in their 30s. When he has finished he kneels on the ground as the woman slowly gets to her feet and re-arranges her mini-skirt before he passes her a tissue.

Barcelona Slaps Fine On Airbnb And Considers Taking Action To Ban Access To The Site

2014-07-22T03:39:00.001-07:00

Barcelona’s Generalitat has fined the holiday rental site Airbnb €30,000€ after detecting that the site displayed advertising for more than 11,000 ‘irregular’ properties that are not registered with the government as official tourist accommodation. Launched in 2008, the site Airbnb is one of the most popular travel sites for holiday accommodation and short stays with listings in over 34,000 cities in 190 countries around the globe. The website also offers rooms in private homes, which is illegal under Catalan legislation. According to various sources, the government of Cataluñya is also considering blocking access to the site, should Airbnb not remove the ‘illegal’ property listings from their site. Airbnb has warned that the fine imposed by the government will only slow down Barcelona’s tourism, with the city currently in the top three most popular cities on the site, only after New York and Paris. In February, Airbnb announced that it had contributed 128 million Euros towards Barcelona’s economy, as well as boosted employment with over 4,000 jobs.

After expressing misgivings about the wording of the UN resolution, the Russian ambassador ultimately raised his hand in favour.

2014-07-21T19:24:00.001-07:00

After expressing misgivings about the wording of the UN resolution, the Russian ambassador ultimately raised his hand in favour. A veto from Moscow would have provoked even more of an international outcry. US ambassador Samantha Power said it would not have been necessary had Russia used its leverage to get the separatist rebels to let international experts visit the site sooner. Raising a hand in support of a resolution at the UN is different from lifting a finger to help, and the test of this resolution will come from its implementation on the ground. Not for the first time during this crisis, the chamber of the Security Council felt more like a courtroom, with Vladimir Putin still very much in the dock.

SFO investigates price rigging in foreign exchange market

2014-07-21T08:45:00.001-07:00

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a criminal investigation into allegations of price rigging in the £3tn-a-day foreign exchange market. The probe will look into allegations of "fraudulent conduct", the director of the SFO said in a statement. Around 15 authorities internationally are investigating allegations of collusion and price manipulation. It is alleged that traders used online chatrooms to plan the fixing of benchmark prices. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in October it had joined other regulators around the world in scrutinising firms over the potential manipulation of the foreign exchange market.

Lionel Messi may have just been named the most valuable player at the World Cup in Brazil but that is unlikely to soften the blow of having to pay Spain's largest tax bill

2014-07-19T11:46:00.001-07:00

Lionel Messi may have just been named the most valuable player at the World Cup in Brazil but that is unlikely to soften the blow of having to pay Spain's largest tax bill — a whopping €53 million ($71 million)On top of that €53 million, the FC Barcelona star could also have to pay an extra €3 million on undeclared advertising and sponsorship earnings for the years 2007 to 2009.

The huge sum paid by Lionel Messi this year covers taxes on his salary, as well as on his assets and advertising deals. It also includes €22.4 million in outstanding tax for 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Over the past seven years, the Argentina captain has paid more than €100 million to Spain's tax office, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia reported.

This amount has increased proportionally to the player’s income.

According to the business magazine Forbes, Lionel Messi earns more than €48 million a year from salary and sponsorship, making him the fourth highest-earning athlete in the world.

He’s also the highest-paid football player with a €20 million annual salary, ahead of Real Madrid’s player Cristiano Ronaldo.

Last year, Lionel Messi and his father were accused of defrauding the Spanish tax office of over €5 million ($7 million) but cleared the tax debt before a court appearance.‏

Named 'businessman of the year', José Mestre headed Barcelona's biggest port container operator before being charged with smuggling 186 kilos (410lb) of cocaine.

2014-07-19T11:27:00.001-07:00

Named 'businessman of the year', José Mestre headed Barcelona's biggest port container operator before being charged with smuggling 186 kilos (410lb) of cocaine. The Local looks at his fall from grace and takes a sneak peek at his impressive mansion, Barcelona's most expensive.

Fifty-seven-year-old Mestre was once the toast of the town, his company Tercat managing two container terminals at Barcelona’s busy port.

In June 2010, just months after receiving the accolade, Mestre was arrested after Catalan police found 186 kilograms camouflaged in one of his scrap metal containers, Spanish national daily El País reported.

Police surveillance found Mestre had been holding talks with an international drug ring for several months.

Four years on, Spain’s High Court found him guilty of drug trafficking, sentencing him to 12 years in prison and slapping him with a €14.6 million ($19.76 million) fine.

As the tycoon turned drug villain is not yet behind bars, he’s taken the time to try to sell off one of his most prized possessions: a 2,500sqm (27,000 square feet) property described as “an architectural jewel from the 1920s”.

The money raised via the sale will be used to pay off Mestre's obligations, including mortgages he holds with banks.

Spain’s biggest home sale and rental website Idealista has posted an ad for the opulent property, located in Barcelona’s Pedralbes neighbourhood,The €30 million mansion is split into two buildings, which have a wine cellar, gym, garage with space for 12 vehicles, pool, nine bedrooms, seven bathrooms and even a watchtower.

Wildfires ravage Spain villages

2014-07-19T11:16:00.001-07:00

100 firefighters backed by planes and helicopters battled a blaze in scrubland near the town of Bustares in the central province of Guadalajara, east of Madrid, the regional government said. The blaze, which was accidentally started by a beekeeper, forced the evacuation of 140 people from two villages, it added. The wildfire has destroyed around 200 hectares of land, including part of the Sierra Norte national park. More firefighters aided by water-dropping aircraft fought another blaze raging near the town of Cogolludo, also in Guadalajara province. This fire, accidentally sparked on Wednesday by a combine harvester, saw 40 people evacuated from two villages. The blaze has so far destroyed over 800 hectares of scrubland and pine forest. High temperatures, strong winds and low humidity levels were fuelling the two wildfires, officials said.

The TOWIE cast returned to Marbella last night as The Only Way Is Marbs made a typically explosive comeback.

2014-07-19T07:02:00.001-07:00

And if the TV show has got you itching for a holiday to the Spanish resort, Lauren Pope has given us an exclusive run-down of her favourite nightspots.

The TOWIE beauty is a huge dance music fan and is currently promoting the show’s first ever CD; The Only Way is Marbs: Marbella Anthems.

Stars from the show including Lydia Bright and James 'Diags' Bennewit attended the The CD’s launch party at The Brickyard in Essex on Friday.

Lauren Pope's holiday tips: TOWIE star picks out her best nightspots exclusively for Travel Mail readers

Day and night: The terrace at luxury beach club Nikki Beach stays open until late

Lauren said: 'I’ve loved working on this album - from the track selection to the mixing, it’s been an amazing experience.

Magaluf puts 50-person limit on pub crawls

2014-07-19T06:51:00.001-07:00

The local mayor announced the new legislation today after a video surfaced last week showing sex acts being performed by a young British holidaymaker at a club night called Carnage. The resort’s reputation has been steadily deteriorating for years, but recent revelations about bars and clubs where tourists are encouraged to get drunk and engage in sexual behaviour in public proved the tipping point. Manuel Onieva, the Mayor of Calvia, a region including Magaluf, said the new law was an expression of his “total rejection and anger at the activities which were carried out in a video which is currently on the social media circuit.” In an attempt to clean up seedy bar crawls, any company wanting to operate one in the area will now need to apply for a licence through the town hall. In order to be granted a licence they will have to “prove their responsibility and show that they have the appropriate civil insurances in place,” the mayor said.

2014-07-19T03:42:00.001-07:00

Barcelona To Tackle Dog Walkers: Get a License Or Receive a Fine

2014-07-19T03:21:00.001-07:00

The Catalan capital is set to unleash a new law that will force dog owners to get a license or face fines up to €600. From October, dog owners will be required to obtain a “civic license” before letting their pets walk around without a leash within one of Barcelona’s 103 designated dog parks. An “animal abuse” register will also come into effect with a prohibition of leaving animals tied up for more than two hours or leaving animals locked in a car for more than 20 minutes.

Is it balls, vagina, or both? Airbnb logo sparks wave of internet parodies

2014-07-19T00:43:00.001-07:00

Is it balls, vagina, or both? Airbnb logo sparks wave of internet parodies The apartment-rental website launches its grown-up logo to a wave of ridicule – as well as claims of plagiarism

Passenger on Malaysia Flight Shared Eerie Facebook Post Prior to Taking Off

2014-07-17T22:13:00.001-07:00

Cor Pan probably didn't realize the effect his post would have when he shared it. The Dutch citizen was aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that was carrying 295 people and was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday. But prior to taking off, Pan took a snapshot of the plane and posted the picture on his Facebook page with the caption that translates to, "If it disappears, this is what it looks like," poking fun at the Malaysia plane that went mysteriously missing in March. The aircraft, which was shot down near the Russian border, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it fell near the city of Donetsk in a war-torn area which has become a stronghold for pro-Russian rebels. All the passengers onboard were killed.

Incredible Map Shows Airplanes Getting The Heck Out Of Ukranian Airspace

2014-07-17T22:06:00.001-07:00

On a normal travel day, the airspace over Ukraine is some of the most congested in the world. It serves as a major cross roads for flights connecting major hubs in Europe with megacities in Asia. However, after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was reportedly shot down earlier today, most of the world's major airlines have ordered their planes to avoid the area completely. The above map, which was tweeted by Newsweek, shows Ukranian airspace a few hours after MH17 lost contact with radar. Two of Europe's largest airlines, Lufthansa and British Airways, have both told Business Insider that they have ordered their planes away from the disputed region. To avoid the Russian-Ukraine conflict altogether, Lufthansa has specifically ordered their planes to take a southerly route over Romania.

Airbus's folding saddle seat could be the cattle-class future for cheap flights

2014-07-17T08:25:00.001-07:00

Airbus's folding saddle seat could be the cattle-class future for cheap flights As Airbus files a patent for a new space-saving design to jam many more economy class passengers in.

If you thought low-cost air travel couldn't get any more bleak, then Airbus has a treat in store for you. The aeroplane manufacturer has now filed patent for the what looks like a human battery-farm, but is in fact the future of budget flights: racks upon racks of folding saddle-seats for even more passengers to be jammed onto aeroplanes, packed in knee-to-rump.

While some airlines have already removed their folding tray tables and squeezed leg-room down to brutal knee-capping levels, Airbus have gone one step further, doing away with the idea of proper seating altogether. In their ultra-economy vision, seating aisles will instead take the form of long horizontal poles, from which bicycle-like saddles and small back and arm rests will pivot out, on to which humans will be placed, skewered together like table-football players.

“The design of the seats has to be optimised so that they present the smallest possible bulk,” says Airbus, explaining that the saddle-style seat has been developed “in order to reduce the distance needed to accommodate the legs of passengers between two rows of seating devices.”

Gas reps detained for defrauding the elderly

2014-07-17T06:28:00.001-07:00

THE Guardia Civil have arrested two representatives of a ‘gas company’ who were thieving in people’s houses when they went to make their inspections. The victims, always elderly, would get a phone call a few days before the inspection; during the phone call the representatives would always inquire as to the age of the people in the house. The victims would be informed that two representatives would visit the house to make sure that everything conformed to standards and was safe.

They would charge €356 for this service and, when the victims would go in search of the cash, the reps would follow them to find where they hid their money and then go back later, while their colleague distracted the elderly person, and steal whatever cash they could find. Investigations began when a complaint was made to the Guardia Civil, by an 84-year-old man, who claimed that after a gas inspection he was left €3,000 short - this was money he had been saving in order to buy a hearing aid. Police rapidly identified and arrested the two individuals who made the visits as well as the woman who would make the preliminary phone calls and the appointments. Investigations into the matter are ongoing as the police suspect that there are a lot of victims who have not yet spoken up about the matter. All three are out on bail until their case goes to court.

THE Local Police in Benalmadena are one of the most tech savvy forces on the coast.

2014-07-17T06:20:00.001-07:00

They regularly use the social networks to inform the public about crimes ranging from drug dealing to paedophilia and have an open communication policy on their Twitter account (@policia_benalm). They tend to shy away from using institutional language and communicate in the same manner as the rest of the users of the social networks. #avoid accidents - grab a cab is one of their usual Saturday night reminders to the general public to avoid drink driving. Benalmadena Local Police opened their Twitter account last year in April principally to send out press notes and official information but they soon realised that the system had enormous possibilities and started to send out messages about cyber bullying and domestic violence, as well as the usual warnings not to drive drunk. Because they are a local force they can send messages which directly relate to the residents of the municipality on local matters like which roads are fluid, where there may be any problems around the town or if there may be a wave of pick pocketing going on.

Police headquarters in the town commented that the decision to use the social networking site, which is not used by any of the other Local Police forces in the area - not even in the capital, was not an easy one as there are many ‘trolls’ online who can hack into an account and ruin it. They decided to take the risk anyway as they thought it would heighten their profile with the public, which it has done, and help them to improve their image of helping the community rather than just handing out parking tickets. In other Costa del Sol policing news, the Malaga police force are ageing, with no replacements in sight. Currently, the average age of a local police officer in Malaga is 45. Malaga Council is said to be concerned about the ageing force as, due to cutbacks, there has been no ‘new blood’ since the recession started. Although the council is aware of the problem, they have stated that they are not going to do anything about it for the moment as they do not have the budget to remedy the generational handover needed. The number of police officers on the roster in 2003 was 980, but the force now has only 924 officers. Of these 924, 40 per cent are over the age of 45 and another 130 have had to be given light duties due to physical problems.

Due to the budget cuts the council has decided to ‘in the short term’ open up another 30 places, the same as they did when a similar problem happened with the fire brigade in 2008. Francisco de la Torre, mayor of Malaga, has commented that even though experience is a good thing in a police officer, there is a need for a younger generation to take over in order to bring the average age down. He underscored the fact that all police officers over the age of 50 are given light duties unless they can pass a stringent, yearly, physical test.

British family recount moment forest fire forced them to flee Spanish hotel in Costa del Sol

2014-07-16T23:28:00.001-07:00

'It was like Pompeii': British family recount moment they were forced to evacuate Spanish holiday apartment as raging forest fire sent hot ash raining down on them Family arrived at resort and were unpacking when they were forced to flee Clarks were alerted when Spanish porter looked up at hillside and swore Hot ash rained down and smoke obliterated the sun Eight-year-old Isla screamed that the family was going to die

THE Costa del Sol hospital has announced that it will be closing three operating rooms in the afternoons in July and four in August.

2014-07-16T23:19:00.001-07:00

THE Costa del Sol hospital has announced that it will be closing three operating rooms in the afternoons in July and four in August. Ana Corredera, spokesperson for the PP health department, commented that the works being done to expand the hospital have also been blocked for more than two years. Corredera went on to underscore the fact that there would be no reduction in the number of beds available during the summer but that, due to the reduced budget this year, the summer reinforcements, brought in to cover the four-fold increase of the population, would be “minimal.” The PP spokesperson added that, in her party’s opinion, the delays in the expansion were due to bad local government by the PSOE.

Costa Del Nightmares

2014-07-16T23:15:00.001-07:00

Costa Del Nightmares (4×60’), which wrapped filming in Spain last week, has been pre-sold in 110 territories, including BBC Global (Africa, Poland, Asia), FX (India), Planet TV (Slovenia), SIC (Portugal), TV Joj (Slovakia), ABS (Philippines) and VTM (Belgium). The show follows Ramsay as he tries to help expat Brits living on the Costa Del Sol to turn around their struggling eateries

MARBELLA taxi drivers have warned the council about the rising growth of the pirate taxi industry and are threatening a strike if something is not done about it.

2014-07-16T23:08:00.001-07:00

MARBELLA taxi drivers have warned the council about the rising growth of the pirate taxi industry and are threatening a strike if something is not done about it. More than 150 cars stopped outside the fairgrounds for two hours to protest the situation about the amount of unauthorised vehicles which abound every summer in the town. “There are around 40 private individuals and companies endangering the livelihoods of the 316 legal taxi drivers in Marbella,” commented one driver at the two-hour protest. David Piquer, spokesperson for the taxi association of Marbella commented that this situation repeated itself every summer and the association was now asking for a sit down with the mayor in order to discuss the situation and find a remedy that would work for everybody. “We just want to be listened to and have our petitions taken into account by the council,” added Piquer. The petition, which summarises the association’s concerns along with the licence number plates of the rogue cars and photographs of their drivers, has been handed in to the council. One of the main bones of contention between the taxi association and the council is the Puerto Banus area which, according to one demonstrator, the police know about but have not taken any action on.

REVEALED: Shocking failure to police drink-spiking in Spanish resorts

2014-07-16T18:17:00.001-07:00

POLICE in Spain have apparently no official records for the crime of drink-spiking. Hospitals and town halls have also failed to give any indication of the severity of the problem, despite a terrifying 60% increase in sexual attacks in Spanish resorts last year. The shocking revelation comes as assaults from spiking begin to soar, with the summer season now well underway. “It is clearly becoming a bigger issue and particularly in the summer,” said a source at Marbella Town Hall.

We cannot see our greatest selves beyond giant shame trees that provides shade for our demons of guilt

2014-07-16T15:42:00.001-07:00

while we sweat in the harshness of the midday sun of our hang-ups, begging to believe we are worthy.

Released Alien from Border Crisis Arrested for Alleged Murder, Kidnapping in Texas

2014-07-16T15:28:00.001-07:00

An illegal immigrant who was released by U.S. authorities with a Notice to Appear has been arrested for the alleged murder of a woman and kidnapping of children on U.S. soil. The alleged crimes occurred after the man was released. The man, Pedro Alberto Monterroso-Navas, entered the U.S. illegally with children and turned himself in to U.S. Border Patrol agents. He was processed and released, as are all illegal immigrants who come as unaccompanied minors or incomplete family units from Central America. The alien is from Honduras. The arrest was first reported by the Associated Press (AP), but Breitbart Texas has exclusively confirmed that the man was part of the Obama Administration’s catch and release policy for family groups from Central America. A U.S. Border Patrol source who spoke with Breitbart Texas on the condition of anonymity provided Breitbart Texas with the alien registration number for the man, and the event number for the man’s apprehension. He was processed in the McAllen station of the U.S. Border Patrol. The alien’s registration number is 202027386. The event number for his apprehension is MCS14061487. The “MCS” designates the McAllen station, the “1406” designates that the man was apprehended in June of 2014. A separate Border Patrol source confirmed that the man was apprehended on June 26, 2014 with two children he claimed were his own. He told U.S. authorities he had family in Metairie, Louisiana.

Shocking images showing two couples having sex outside nightclub sparks outrage online

2014-07-16T14:21:00.001-07:00

This is the shocking photograph showing two couples having sex outside a nightclub. Two scantily clad girls are pictured sitting on boys’ laps in a car park outside Ed Divino in Belfast as other stunned revellers looked on. The jaw-dropping snap of the two couples, taken last Thursday, has gone viral with people posting their disgust online. One twitter post reads: “WTF is wrong with the young ones did they not learn after magaluf girl n slanegirl now another pic pops up :(.” Another posted: “People have no shame. This is traumatic.”