MARBELLA GOLDEN MILE

Spain will not object to an independent Scotland joining the EU

2012-02-26T14:13:00.001Z

SPAIN have insisted they will not block an independent Scotland becoming a member of the EU. Uk ministers had claimed Madrid was considering a veto because of fears that Scottish independence would encourage the Catalan and Basque OPINION Garcia-Margallo separatist movements in Spain. But Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said it would not raise objections to Scotland joining the EU. Garcia-Margallo said: "If in the UK, both parties agree that this is consistent with their constitutional order, Spain would have nothing to say. This does not affect us. "The constitutional arrangements in Britain is one and in Spain another. It is up to them." Spain has previously refused to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. The SNP government have insisted that Scotland would be able to join the EU following a "yes" vote in a referendum. A spokesman for external affairs secretary Fiona Hyslop accused anti-independence parties of scaremongering. He added: "The people of Scotland are EU citizens. "That will not change upon independence."

Spain king’s son-in-law questioned over corruption

2012-02-25T10:58:00.001Z

As public relations nightmares go, it can’t get much uglier: The Spanish king’s son-in-law will be questioned over alleged corruption while everyday people brave austerity measures, tax hikes, staggering unemployment and bleak prospects for the future. Inaki Urdangarin — the Duke of Palma — has not been charged with a crime. But his arrival Saturday at a courthouse on this Mediterranean resort island will be one for the history books anyway — photographed, filmed and written about by an army of ravenous media. The case file against the 44-year-old commoner who married Princess Cristina, the second of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia’s three children, remains sealed. But much has been leaked. The duke is suspected of using his high-profile status to win contracts from regional governments for a nonprofit foundation he ran, then subcontract the work to companies he also oversaw, sometimes charging the public ridiculously inflated prices and stashing at least some of the income in overseas tax havens. Urdangarin is a former professional and Olympic handball player and the deals he landed were for things such as organizing seminars on using sports as a tourism lure. The newspaper El Mundo reports the revenue he and associates took in may have exceeded euro6 million ($8 million). Urdangarin comes from a wealthy Basque family but is not nobility; he became Duke of Palma because Cristina is Duchess of Palma. Urdangarin’s lawyer Mario Pascual Vives told reporters this week that his client is eager to testify and clear things up, and any errors he may have made are of an “administrative’’ nature. The duke’s alleged misdeeds go back to the period 2004-2006. Urdangarin, the princess and their four children moved to Washington, D.C. in 2009, as an investigation was quietly under way. The case exploded into the media late last year as Spain was buffeted by Europe’s debt crisis, its economic growth grinding to a halt and already huge jobless numbers swelling. Ricardo Mateos, a Spanish historian who specializes in European monarchies, said Spain runs no risk of being swept away by pro-republican sentiment as a result of the Urdangarin scandal. But Mateos said it’s been devastating for the royal household’s image and has even caused divisions within the family itself. The king has unceremoniously dropped Urdangarin, announcing in December that his son-in-law would no longer take part in official ceremonies with the rest of the family. “Besides the damage to their public image,’’ Mateos said, “the damage is also great for the private side of the family. It is very divided right now and going through a very hard time.’’ Were Urdangarin to be charged and convicted of a crime, the princess might be stripped of the Duchess of Palma title, Mateos said, adding that at the very least Urdangarin would likely lose his title.

A glamorous French politician is set to become France’s first ever ‘MP for Britain’ to represent more than 100,000 Gallic expats living in the UK.

2012-02-25T10:38:00.001Z

A glamorous French politician is set to become France’s first ever ‘MP for Britain’ to represent more than 100,000 Gallic expats living in the UK.

Emmanuelle Savarit, 39, is leading the race to be elected to France’s newest overseas constituency - based in London’s well-heeled Kensington.

The member of Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party is the clear frontrunner among five hopefuls vying for the seat of northern Europe.

Hopeful: Emmanuelle Savarit, 39, is leading the race to be elected to France's newest overseas constituency - based in London's well-heeled Kensington

The radical plans to create 11 foreign constituencies to represent French abroad were approved by the Paris parliament three years ago.

More...

Dominique Strauss Kahn to be grilled in New York next month over 'sadistic and violent attack' on hotel maid

Britain is part of the northern Europe constituency, which also includes the Irish Republic, Scandinavia and the Baltic states.

But within the new seat, 113,655 French voters are registered in the UK, compared with 27,076 in all the other countries put together.

Divorced mother-of-two Ms Savarit’s main rival is equally glamorous 36-year-old socialist Axelle Lemaire, a London-based lawyer.

Competition: Divorced mother-of-two Ms Savarit's main rival is 36-year-old socialist Axelle Lemaire, a London-based lawyer

But the French media predict the right-winger’s victory will be ensured by wealthy expats based mainly in west London when the first election takes place in June.

Ms Savarit, who has a doctorate in Psychology, describes herself
on her campaign website as ‘a tough cookie’, but adds: 'That’s not necessarily a fault when you’re in politics.'

The new foreign constituencies are the brainchild of former French interior affairs minister Alain Marlaix.

Vital: The importance of the French expat vote was highlighted when President Sarkozy came to London to give a speech to thousands of French voters ahead of his 2007 election campaign

He said: 'This is the first time in any country in the world that something like this had been done.

'The new overseas MPs will have identical status to any other MP based in France, and vote in parliament in Paris.

'They will be elected in the same way and speak for the French expatriates they represent.'

Government advisor Herve Fabre-Aubrespy, who is overseeing the new constituencies, said: 'It is a challenge for us, because nothing similar has ever been done anywhere.

'No one has carved the world up into constituencies in this way.'

The new constituencies are part of a larger parliamentary shake-up, with seats being merged or enlarged across France so that the total number of 577 MPs still remains the same.

The importance of the French expat vote was highlighted when President Sarkozy came to London to give a speech to thousands of French voters ahead of his 2007 election campaign.

But French socialists have claimed the new overseas seats are ‘closet gerrymandering’ - where constituencies are created to the benefit of the ruling party.

A socialists’ spokesman said: 'Studies show French people living abroad are more likely to vote for a centre-right party than a left wing one.
'This is being proposed as something that is good for French expatriates, but in fact it is just a way for the government to give itself another 11 safe seats.'

Six of the 11 new constituencies will be in Europe, but others are based in Canada and the US, central and South America, the Middle East, Arica and Asia, representing more than million French people living abroad.

ENVELOPES full of cash, drug habits funded by EU grants and police taking payments to legalise prostitutes – you name it, it has happened in Spain.

2012-02-24T11:58:00.001Z

Add to those a snail-paced justice system and, a law society in Malaga that fails to scrutinize bent lawyers, and things start to look distinctly cloudy. Consider too that last week Spain’s top anti-corruption lawyer, Baltasar Garzon, was suspended from his post for illegally tapping the phones of lawyers, and most will come to the same conclusion. “Yes, corruption is certainly endemic in Spain,” says Gwilym Rhys-Jones, an Estepona-based financial expert. “Sadly there is a tradition of it and it became institutionalised since the late 1980s as nobody was dealing with it from the top down.” There is certainly nowhere better to highlight the problem than here on the Costa del Sol, where in Marbella for over two decades you could only get anything done if you were prepared to pay for it. Under the current Malaya corruption trial, centred around Marbella Town Hall, which has been going for over a year. Over a hundred councillors, mayors, businessmen and civil servants are currently on trial for taking backhanders totalling up to 2.4 billion euros. And sadly, the same state of affairs was taking place at hundreds of town halls around the country, with a central government apparently prepared to turn a blind eye. It led to hotels and golf courses being built in national parks, developments installed in river flood plains and hundreds of thousands of illegal – and unsellable – homes around the country. It comes as no surprise then that Transparency International has listed Spain as more corrupt than Uruguay, Chile and Qatar, and almost on a par with of Botswana – quite a feat for the fourth richest nation in the European Union. And while some might like to point the finger at the right or the left, the range of cases shows that bending the rules for personal gain goes right across the spectrum. The Conservative PP party has often been in the spotlight – most recently thanks to the Gurtel case, in Valencia – but the PSOE socialist party, particularly with the ERE pension scandal in Andalucia, certainly takes some beating. Even the royal family may have dipped its toes in the murky waters, with King Juan Carlos’ son-in-law about to stand trial for a misuse of public funds and embezzlement. So where did it all begin? Franco regarded it as the ‘necessary lubrication for the system’, according to historian Stanley Payne. While central government appears to be largely free of endemic corruption, in the regions it is quite a different story. In Andalucia, for example, UGT trade union leader Manuel Pastrana believes as many as 75 per cent of the region’s town halls are corrupt. This is partly down to the fact that much of Spain’s corruption is linked to illegal planning, which is said to be more profitable than drug dealing – mainly because tourism is the biggest earner on the Costa del Sol. It’s a simple tale, and sadly all too common. Developers purchase non-urban, rural land for knock-down prices, then pay corrupt town hall mayors to reclassify the land as available to develop. This leaves the developers to build whatever they like – and it is arrangements like this that explain the illegal 411-bedroom Algarrobico hotel in Almeria’s Cabo de Gata natural park – which will thankfully be demolished any day now. The question is, why are so many mayors and councillors tempted to the dark side, considering the possible environmental and criminal consequences? Aside from describing Spain as having the ‘slowest justice system in the known world’, investigator Rhys-Jones argues that it is human nature to be tempted by money once it’s dangled in front of you. “When people see a massive amount of money, they can’t help but steal it. It’s human nature,” he says, using the unscrupulous former Marbella mayor Jesus Gil as his example. Jesus Gil was described as the bad apple that spoilt Marbella’s bunch “Gil was a crook, but he started out with good intentions. Marbella was a mess in the 1980s. Property wasn’t selling. It was a dump filled with drugs and hookers. So Gil started a political party, the GAL, to try and sort it out.” But this apparent do-gooder turned resident evil, with many describing Gil – who was convicted in 2002 – as being the bad apple that spoiled Marbella’s bunch. Either way his legacy was a disaster and has led to the following three mayors – as well as his main cohort, planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, who became the svengali of the operation – all facing prison. Much of the corruption comes down to backgrounds and a lack of education, believes Marbella-based lawyer Antonio Flores. “A lot of mayors have previously had rural-based jobs, without the ability to make any money,” he explains. “The moment they have responsibility, the temptation to make money becomes too great. After four years in power, they’ll often have to go back to their tractors,” he says. A classic example of a rags-to-riches mayor is Julian Munoz, also heavily implicated in the Malaya case, who worked as a waiter before running Marbella Town Hall in 2002. Roca, too, had been on the dole before going on to pilfer 30 million euros. Planning boss Juan Antonio Roca, the main man in the Malaya case Flores compares town hall councillors with more prominent politicians in central government who are less reliant on get-rich-quick methods: “It’s not so difficult to get another job when you’re in a higher political position,” he says. The good news is that most commentators agree that corruption in Spain is on its way out. “The Malaya case was where the mentality changed,” estimates Flores. “It was a turning point for corruption and the Marbella run by thugs completely collapsed when they were all arrested. “As Spain becomes more civilised, we are slowly getting rid of corruption,” he continues. “But it has definitely not gone completely,” argues Rhys Jones. “That will take quite a few more decades.” As for shamed Judge Garzon, opinion remains firmly divided on whether he too was a man who let power corrupt him… or whether he has been silenced by a country whose corruption will be harder to iron out than some may hope. Big cases Malaya Planning chief Juan Antonio Roca is at the heart of this 2.4 billion euro scandal in Marbella. The unelected Roca operated a cash-for-permissions scheme, which saw over 18,000 homes built illegally. Gurtel Businessman Francisco Correa gave money to PP bosses in Valencia in return for lucrative contracts with the regional government. ERE The Junta is being investigated in a 647m euro retirement scandal, where posts were created in non-existent companies in order to defraud public funds. Ballena Blanca One of the largest money laundering cases in Europe, with 21 people accused of investing proceeds from drug trafficking and prostitution in property via over a thousand companies.

EU clampdown on unregulated financial advisers in Spain

2012-02-24T11:38:00.001Z

The European Commission is to consider setting up an ombudsman to help expat victims reclaim against unregistered financial firms. It comes after a local pressure group, that represents over 1,000 victims, sent a dossier of information to Brussels. The Costa del Sol Action Group demanded action against the advisers who, it claims, have lost their clients over €120 million (£102 million). “It is good news as something has to be done about this bunch of rogues,” said group founder David Klein. “The current Spanish regulatory system is totally inadequate and ineffective. Dealing with the authorities is a constant game of ping-pong. Anyone can come to Spain and be a financial adviser; they could have been selling fish before they came here for all anyone knows." This situation could soon be coming to an end, after the European Commission confirmed it was to begin "a preliminary investigation of the problem". Foreign Office plans evacuation of expats 18 Dec 2011 It has asked for more information and the action group has called on all victims to write to the European Parliament outlining their experience. “This problem is causing untold stress and heartache in the expatriate community and it cannot be allowed to continue,” explained Klein. The European Commission is to study how investors would be able to make an official complaint against Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs). At present, there is no effective means for victims to make a complaint against product providers who work with unregistered IFAs. The group was also highly critical of the local media for its willingness to accept adverts from unregulated financial firms in a bid to maximise advertising revenue. To highlight the problem, the group included testimonials by members who were allegedly defrauded by one specialist investment brokerage, which it claims is "not regulated or registered". It said the company was able to trade, "collecting unsuspecting clients who are soon relieved of their money". One Costa del Sol-based financial adviser, Richard Alexander, said he was pleased with the EU’s response. “Bring on the review,” he said. “I have seen too many sad stories of people being turned over, badly advised or grossly over-charged by unregulated independent financial advisors in Spain. "It is entirely possible to provide professional, quality advice without the client losing out.”

Poor men and lonely wealthy women

2012-02-24T11:14:00.001Z

I see so many lonely women out here in the world today. Of course, there are lonely guys as well. But, in my opinion men react and respond differently to their problems. We almost never actually admit that we are alone, except when our self-esteem is compromised. We just go with the flow. But for women, it is a totally different story. “I am so alone,” was what she would say. I hear this all the time from the opposite sex. Why is this so in the modern-day world? Are we men not doing our jobs? This brings me to the recent lonely end of soul-siren Whitney Houston and UK Amy Winehouse in 2011 respectively, whose public battles with drugs and alcohol often overshadowed their music success. May their musical souls rest in peace! These are glaring examples of lonely women. It is an open secret that Whitney had been a ‘druggy’ for years, which had become more pronounced after her tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, whom she divorced before her death. Rumours had it that Amy was killed by lack of love, not a drug addiction. I think this is probably true. Another example is that of Lady Gaga, who recently admitted in an interview, “Yes I’m lonely, but I’m married to my loneliness.” It is quite interesting to know so much about her. She has said loneliness is the only thing she loves the most. Nevertheless, I wish her good luck! Now, you may wonder what the situation is Namibia? One of the most well-known examples of this ‘loneliness phenomenon’ is the infamous middle finger gesture employed by a well-known personality in Namibia’s showbiz last year. Was that a sign of loneliness? Well, without risking my poor miserable life I’ll leave that to the reader to figure out. Today, with the advent of equal opportunities and interventions, our ladies in the ‘Land of the Brave’ have made great strides in business, politics, TIPEEG, BEE, Namdeb, highly skilled professions and the list goes on, which makes them wealthy but ‘lonely.’ You will agree with me that successful women are multiplying in Namibia, but sadly, success has been unsettling for some as they are struggling to keep their ‘unemployed’ boyfriends or husbands, who feel that they can’t compromise on their self-esteem and would leave relationships in which they can’t cope with the rich lifestyle of their girlfriends or women – and therefore rendering many women lonely. I know many of them. Rich women have difficulties managing fulfilling relationships and therefore end up being lonely. My advice to these lonely Eves is simple; do not pride yourself in intimidation, aggression and power. No man will accept to be controlled by a wife just because he is poor. Instead, a rich wife must remain strong but be humble and respect her husband to make him stronger. No matter how much wealth a woman can attain, she will still long for a person she can share her life with; not to mention her wealth with. Although money can be friendly, rich women still need someone who will be there for them and just simply love them. We do not want a Whitney or Amy Winehouse situation to play off in our country or do we?. Until then, Eewa!

Spain's banking sector set to shrink to about 10 lenders

2012-02-24T02:27:00.001Z

This year, Spain’s banking sector looks set to shrink to about 10 lenders from more than 40 before the economic crisis, as the government forces banks to recognise steep losses from a housing crash. Small and medium-sized banks will scramble to join forces to meet capital requirements implicit in a new law demanding lenders write down up to 80 per cent of the book value of real estate assets on their balance sheets. Click here for Cloud Computing Also Read Related Stories News Now - 24-hr deadline for Kingfisher to submit revised schedule - Kingfisher assures to restore normal schedule in 5-7 days - Indian banks eye assets of European counterparts - It is time to take money off the table: Jim Walker - Swiss solicits tourists from India amidst EU crisis - Abheek Barua & Shivom Chakravarti: Risk-on in a sweet spot Particular focus would rest on the country’s fourth-largest bank by market value, Bankia. Fears persist over its ability to fund losses from its heavy exposure to the property sector. Only a handful of banks — international leaders Santander and BBVA, domestic lender CaixaBank and Basque Country savings bank Kutxa — are considered strong enough to remain independent and cover capital holes with their own profits. Bankia has insisted it does not plan a link-up with Barcelona-based counterpart CaixaBank, but market sources say it would be hard for the bank to go it alone. "It’s true there were overtures towards CaixaBank, but that has gone cold. It seems CaixaBank is the only one interested in Bankia. BBVA and Santander do not seem up for it," said one banking source. Another expressed doubt Bankia could deal alone, with Euro 3 billion of capital needs with annual net operating profits of Euro 1.67 billion and with its parent company BFA still owing Euro 4.1 billion of state loans given out last year. "The numbers simply don’t add up," the second banking source said. If Bankia opts for a tie-up, it could win more time to write down losses related to real estate. The government has given banks one year to write down losses, but would extend it to two years for lenders involved in a merger process.

Showbiz world remembers Frank

2012-02-24T02:18:00.001Z

Celebrities from all generations have paid tributes to Frank Carson. The Belfast-born comic died on Wednesday after battling poor health for some time. Famous for his sayings "it's a cracker" and "it's the way I tell 'em", Carson came to prominence in the 1960s after winning TV talent show Opportunity Knocks. He leaves a wife, Ruth, daughter Majella and sons Tony and Aidan, as well as 10 grandchildren. Tony told BBC Radio Ulster that he was a father first and a celebrity second. "He was a pain in the butt, in the nicest way," he said. "He was non-stop." "Dad was kind and generous, he had great affection for us all, especially his grandchildren as he got older and had more time on his hands. "He had such a positive outlook on life, on everything. There was definitely a child within that wanted to have fun and give fun. "Laughter is the best exercise for the heart and he got plenty of exercise for his." The Carson family plan to bring Frank back to Belfast for burial on Saturday 3 March. Tributes As the news of his death broke on Wednesday night many stars took to the social networking site Twitter to share their memories.

4.5 billion euros were spent on Spanish luxury items last year, particularly in the foreign tourist havens of Barcelona, Marbella and Madrid.

2012-02-18T16:21:00.000Z

–Despite the fall of Spanish consumer confidence, many are still buying bags that cost more than the average salary. In fact, the local luxury brands actually grew 25 percent last year. The huge influx of Chinese, Japanese and Russian tourists looking to buy designer fashion and home accessories has offset the general downturn in Spanish consumerism.

In total, 4.5 billion euros were spent on Spanish luxury items last year, particularly in the foreign tourist havens of Barcelona, Marbella and Madrid.

In the summer of 2011, the Spanish luxury brands–led by Loewe, Numanthia, Lladró, Carrera y Carrera, Natura Bissé, Pagos Marqués de Griñón, Village Olive payments, La Amarilla de Ronda and Sotogrande–got together and formed an organization to self-promote abroad. Called “Circulo Español del Lujo Fortuny,” or the Spanish Circle of Luxury and Fortune, this corporate union joined the European organization the European Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance, as well as it forged alliances with the UK, French and Italian orgs. It was welcomed to join these heavyweights because the luxury brands of Europe–which hold 80-percent market share–have been going strong through the economic crisis.

The European luxury sector employed more than 800,000 people in 2011. While the vast majority of European-branded consumer goods has been outsourced to countries with cheaper labor, the manufacture and design of luxury goods remains in Europe.

The new Rajoy government has openly spoken about its support of the Spanish luxury brands, as it thinks they will continue to rise in 2012. This governmental support will be focused on helping to promote these brands abroad, for both consumer exports and tourism imports. Both the government and the Circulo Lujo believe this is one of the right-now-rare concrete steps for Spanish companies to increase their sales, thus creating more jobs, which should then be reinvested in the economy.

Citizens from outside the EU don’t pay the 18-percent value-added tax, and export/import tariffs crossing the EU borders are reaching the point of astronomical. Besides the mild weather, gilded gastronomy, Mediterranean beaches, and Picasso and Gaudí, Goya and Vasquez, these substantial shopping discounts are excellent tourist draws. A Loewe purse can cost around 17,000 euros, so the cost of a round-trip flight would be nothing in comparison to the savings.

While there are many Spanish luxury brands, no other is bigger than the accessory and clothing company Loewe, which began over a century ago as the official supplier to “La Corona,” the Spanish royalty. SmartPlanet popped by the Loewe accessories store on Calle Serrano and talked to their Japanese employee Noemi. “We have thousands of foreigners. Chinese, Asian,” she said. Loewe “is a Spanish brand unique to the world.”

The seller did say they have seen the purchasing power of Spanish clients to be “down quite a lot.” She said, in general, she has also seen a huge increase in Russian custumers, along with a significant increase in Latin American customers. She said that, in the last year, they’ve also seen a small boost again in customers from the US and from the UK, though not from the rest of the European Union.

Calle Serrano is Madrid’s version of Fifth Avenue, with windows filled with 20,000 euro Cartier watches and 500 euro bras from La Perla. One block has two Prada stores capped with two Loewes on the corners. While many Spanish businesses are putting up for-sale signs and shutting there doors, you simply do not see this or even sales or clearance signs on Serrano.

The luxury and tourism markets are the silver (or gold or platinum) lining in an otherwise bleak country with 24 percent unemployment. SmartPlanet has already talked about how Spanish tourism is up a 10 percent since 2010, opening its borders to 56.9 million foreign tourists last year.

One of the newest tourism trends is shopping tours, including the Made in Spain luxury tours. Shopping not til you drop, but casually with private showings and personal assistants are a big draw for the ex-pat elite. Even on the Spanish tourism homepage, which doesn’t typically have anything except the occasional English or French translation, is fully translated into Russian, Chinese and Japanese as well.

While luxury brands are up, we will wait another month if any other Spanish consumer area start to climb back up in the first quarter of 2012.:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Costa del Sol could soon shed its reputation as a cheap package holiday destination.

2012-02-17T12:35:00.002Z

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

The local tourism board has launched a plan to market the coast as a luxury brand.

This is because this market has bucked global trends by showing steady growth over recent years, according to Costa del Sol Tourism Board President, Elias Bendodo.

“We know the economic crisis is very difficult, but we have also proved tourism appears to be withstanding the effects of this global recession,” Bendodo said. Spain’s luxury market turned over €4.5 billion last year, and 5-star hotels saw the number of overnight stays rise by 20 per cent during this period, official estimates show.

The promotion has been named ‘Costa del Sol Elite Collection’ in the hope for potential big spenders to associate the coast as a destination of exclusivity and an index of possibilities for those wanting to splash out.

Although open to all nationalities, Bendodo admitted the main focus it to promote the coast to Russians, Americans and Arabs. These three markets have been producing 50 per cent annual growth over recent years, he said.

‘Elite Collection’ will promote high end brands, a selection of local products and a range of premium services on offer. “We will go to find the luxury tourists where we know they are at”, Bendodo said, referring to the Arabian Travel Market, the ILTM in France or Travel Mart in Las Vegas (US), among other initiatives.

The target tourists is a professional person aged 30-40, “cultured, demanding and aware of the most exclusive destinations worldwide,” and demands personalised service.

On average this person will spend from €3,000 over a few days up to €50,000 for the holiday. The luxury market arrived to the Costa del Sol in Marbella in the 1950s when visionaries including Alfonso de Hohenloe developed a high society resort.

Then came the Saudi royals and the construction of Puerto Banus, becoming an internationally renowned playground for the rich and famous.

In the 1990s and early 2000s the luxury brand was tainted as the coast became associated with political corruption and organized crime.

Thomas Willis, 57, was lifted in Estepona on the Costa del Sol after an international arrest warrant was issued in Scotland.

2012-02-16T10:49:00.000Z

Willis has been evading authorities since 2000, when he was convicted of plotting to flood Glasgow with £500,000 of drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine and cannabis.

He was arrested in Spain with Briton Arnold Stagg, 78.

Willis could be back in Scotland in a couple of weeks if he agrees to the terms of the arrest warrant.

He will be taken to Madrid to appear before an investigating judge at the National Criminal Court, which handles extradition cases in Spain.

If he decides to fight the extradition, Willis could be held in prison for many months before a hearing in front of three judges who will decide his fate.

The Crown Office said: “We can confirm that a 57-year-old male has been detained in Spain on a European arrest warrant and is the subject of extradition proceedings.”

Whitney Houston Dead at 48

2012-02-12T03:10:00.001Z

Whitney Houston was found dead today in a Beverly Hills hotel room, the Los Angeles Times is reporting. Paramedics arriving at the Beverly Hilton found the singer's body. While the cause of death is still unknown, Houston's publicist Kristen Foster has confirmed the sad news. Houston had been scheduled to attend the annual pre-Grammy party of music mogul Clive Davis, the producer who discovered her, tonight and had attended rehearsals for the event earlier this week. CNN reports the party is still going on. The singer, was known for her string of hits in the Eighties and Nineties, including "The Greatest Love of All," "I Will Always Love You," "How Will I Know" and "I'm Every Woman." She also had an acting career, appearing in The Bodyguard and Waiting to Exhale. In recent years, Houston was more known for her tumultous personal life and addiction issues. She was married to R&B singer Bobby Brown from 1992 to 2007, and had the couple had one daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, born in 1993. The couple appeared in the reality TV series Being Bobby Brown in 2005. |

British expats in Spain face the bulldozers once again

2012-02-11T10:50:00.001Z

British couple receives an order saying they must face the bulldozers although their home had planning permission from the local council in 2002 and has all of its necessaru paperworkArchive Photo AUAN British expatriates in Albox, a sm0all provincial town in Andalucía, Spain, faced an anxious New Year in 2010 after police served notice that their homes were to be bulldozed after their construction was declared illegal. Having overturned the demolition orders on the basis that they had not been informed of the proceedings, the couples vowed to fight on. Since then they have engaged in a protracted and expensive court battle to try and defend their homes. Yesterday, one couple received the devastating news that the courts have again decided that they must face the bulldozers. Their home, in which they have invested their life savings, was constructed with planning permission from the local council in 2002 and possesses all of its necessary paperwork. Lawyers acting for the regional government (the Junta de Andalucía) successfully argued that the property risked provoking an urban nucleus. The revocation of the building licence was upheld and the retired couple were ordered to pay costs. They are now faced with the prospect of an expensive appeal. A spokesperson for AUAN, a pressure group made up of mostly British homeowners, responded to this latest ruling saying “Welcome to the surreal world of planning in Andalucía. The regional government claims that its much publicised Decree will grant recognition to illegal buildings in Andalucía but this couple, who have a building license, face demolition”. The regional government argues that the property runs the risk of creating an urban nucleus. Which urban nucleus are they referring to? Promoters swamped this area with urban settlements and sold houses to unsuspecting Brits whilst the administration fiddled about with its legislation and comprehensively failed to enforce it.” “Has the Junta de Andalucía learned nothing? Demolitions damage the beleaguered property market and the international reputation of Spain. The response of the regional government to this planning disaster is more tinkering with the laws, creating, in our view, even more confusion, complexity and traps for an unwary purchaser to fall into. Oh, and by the way” the spokesperson concluded “if you want to purchase a house in Andalucía, the Property Register, currently gives this house a clean bill of health”.

Spain cuts salaries of rescued bank bosses

2012-02-10T22:04:00.001Z

While debate continues to rage in the UK about bonuses, and bank bosses defend their payouts, their counterparts in Spain are taking a rather more pragmatic and popular approach Rodrigo Rato's position as a former boss of the International Monetary Fund and now one of Spain's senior bankers would normally put him among Europe's highest-paid financiers. But then his bank took money from the taxpayer so Rato has agreed to have his executive chairman's salary at the Bankia group slashed by three-quarters. His €2.34m (£1.95m) package will be cut to €600,000. The cut has been ordered by the new conservative People's party government of Mariano Rajoy, which is clamping down on pay to bankers who have had to seek help from the state. "Naturally, I will obey," said Rato, who heads Spain's third-biggest lender. Bankia's number two, Francisco Verdú, will also see his salary reduced to €600,000 from €2.2m. Non-executive directors will be limited to €100,000. "Bankia and all of us who work in it will, of course, comply with any government decision," said Rato, who is also a former PP finance minister. Where the Spanish government has nationalised or part-nationalised a bank – as happened with Britain's Lloyds TSB or the Royal Bank of Scotland – the salary cuts are even greater. The upper limit for these banks is €300,000, with non-executive directors capped at €50,000. That will be a blow to Adolf Todó, head of the CatalunyaCaixa savings bank, and Jordi Mestre of Unnim. Their wages are €1.55m and €960,000 respectively. The measures announced by the finance minister, Luis de Guindos, will hurt a handful of senior bankers, but have been widely approved of by Spaniards. "We are asking society as a whole for sacrifices and those of us who have most should set an example," De Guindos, former banker who once worked for Rato, told El País newspaper. Bankia received a €4.5bn loan from the Spanish government's FROB bank restructuring fund, which has been used to support consolidation and part-nationalisation of banks. CatalunyaCaixa and Unnim were both nationalised as they sank under the weight of toxic property loans. The salary measure was part of a fresh round of banking reform earlier this month when De Guindos ordered Spanish banks to put aside some €50bn for bad loans and write-downs on toxic real estate. This will bring further consolidation and more use of FROB money. The fact that the measure was passed by De Guindos rather than his socialist predecessor, Elena Salgado, has raised eyebrows. Spain's leading political blogger, Ignacio Escolar, said: "She made a feint at capping these salaries but her plans never came to fruition." He noted that the head of a bank rescued by taxpayers would still earn 10 times the average wage. "In one year they will earn as much as someone on the minimum wage will get in their life, if they work for 33 years." Rajoy has also raised income tax, especially for higher earners, and come out in support of the financial transactions tax introduced by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. He took over the reins of government in December from José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's socialists.

Spanish police arrest man convicted in the 2003 assassination of Serbia’s premier

2012-02-10T22:00:00.001Z

Spanish police have arrested three men, including one who had been a fugitive for five years after being convicted for the 2003 assassination of Serbia’s prime minister, the Interior Ministry said in a statement Friday. Vladimir Milisavljevic, Luka Bojovic and Sinisa Petric were arrested as they met in a downtown restaurant Thursday in the eastern coastal city of Valencia, the statement said. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare ( Serbian Ministry of Interior / Associated Press ) - This handout photo provided by the Serbian Ministry of Interior, shows Vladimir Milisavljevic, arrested in Spain on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, at an undisclosed location. Spanish police said Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, that they have arrested two men involved in the assassination of Serbia’s premier in 2003. A National Police official said that agents arrested Milisavljevic and Luka Bojovic in a restaurant in the eastern coastal city of Valencia on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was killed by a sniper in front of government headquarters in Belgrade in March 2003. In 2007, Milisavljevic was convicted and sentenced in absentia in Serbia to 35 years for his involvement in the assassination of Djindjic and to another 40 years for other crimes. He had been on the run since the slaying. Milisavljevic was one of a dozen former gang members and paramilitaries sentenced for their roles in the assassination. The hit man and the mastermind got 40 years in prison. Bojovic, 39, was wanted in connection with 20 murders in Serbia, the Netherlands and Spain, the statement said, and was also under investigation for other crimes in Switzerland, Romania and the U.S. However, Maja Kovacevic, a judge and spokeswoman for Serbia’s Court for Organized Crime, which handles high-profile cases, said Friday that Bojovic is not wanted for Djindjic’s assassination but is wanted for three other unrelated killings. Kovacevic told The Associated Press the indictment against Bojovic alleges that he took over and organized the fugitive members of the gang that killed Djindjic — the Zemun Clan — who managed to flee a police sweep that followed the assassination in March 2003. All three of those arrested in Spain were members of the Serbian paramilitary group known as “Arkan’s Tigers” as well as belonging to Zemun Clan, the statement said. Arkan’s Tigers were known for sowing terror during wars in the Balkans in the 1990s. Djindjic had led a popular uprising that toppled President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. He became Serbia’s prime minister in 2001, extraditing Milosevic to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Netherlands, where the former leader died of a heart attack in 2006.

Number of British fatalities from Calpe Legionnaire's outbreak rises to three

2012-02-04T12:05:00.001Z

The number of British tourists to die after contracting legionnaire’s disease in a Calpe hotel has risen to three, aged between 73 and 78. Saga Holidays said the hotel concerned was the Diamante Beach Hotel in Calpe. The first person to die a 76 year old man, who died in intensive care at the Benidorm Clinic on Tuesday, and the second fatality was found in his room on January 31. News of the third fatality came this morning, but there are no more details. The holiday company has sent an expert to Spain and water samples were taken and all clients were moved to a new hotel. Regional Councillor for Health, Luis Rosado, said an investigation was underway by the health department to try and establish the origin of the outbreak, although there were first reports that they had identified the source. It was thought to be in the showers or taps of the hotel.

Spanair bankruptcy proves expensive for Baleares travellers

2012-02-04T12:03:00.001Z

The closure of Spanair has resulted in ticket prices soaring for those who want to travel between the Baleares and the mainland. Prices as high as 700 € have been see for a flight from Menorca to Madrid. For that price you could fly to Chicago. Most affected island is Menorca, given that from tomorrow it will have no direct flight to Madrid. A flight via Mallorca can cost as much as 1,000 € although residents on the islands would pay half that amount with their usual discount. The Baleares administration has already called on the Ministry for Development to take steps against the exorbitant tariffs, and an independent study has already described the prices as ‘abusive’. The Govern announced that the new low-cost airline, Iberia Express, which launches in March, will offer flights between Madrid and Mallorca, and between March and October between Menorca and Ibiza. Orbest Airlines will cover the route between Madrid and Mahón from Feb 13 until the end of April.

Half of Spain “Addicted” to the Internet

2012-02-03T00:28:00.001Z

Nearly half of all Spaniards (45%) claim to “be addicted” to the internet, amongst them, the majority are women and youngsters between 18 and 34. The figures come from the “Nestea Study about the Internet and Social Networks”, carried out by the Sondea Institute. 2,618 people were interviewed throughout Spain. According to the study, the autonomous communities with the most “addicted” to the internet are people living in Navarra (65%), Balearic Islands (58%), Cantabria and the Basque country (both 50%). The least “addicted” are in Asturias (35%), Galicia (36%), La Rioja (38%), and Murcia (41%). The study reveals that 43% of all Spaniards spend between four and ten hours per day, actively connected to the internet, while 5% are connected more than ten hours per day. Over 90% of those who took part in the survey confirmed that they had a profile on a social networking site, mainly Facebook (85%), Twitter (35%), Tuenti (27%), and LinkedIn (17%).

Profits slide at Spain’s Banco Santander as it tries to clean up its real estate portfolio

2012-01-31T17:41:00.001Z

Spain’s Banco Santander saw its fourth-quarter net profits plunge 98 percent after it took a €1.8 billion ($2.4 billion) charge to clean up bad real estate loans caused by the Spanish property crash. Europe’s largest bank by market capitalization said Tuesday that net profits fell to €47 million for the quarter that ended in December, down from €2.1 billion in the same period a year earlier. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare Without the provision, the bank said it would have had profit of €1.7 billion in the fourth quarter. Spain’s banks are under heavy pressure from the government to disclose additional losses on overvalued real estate including land and apartment buildings in their holdings. The country is mired in an economic morass and has the highest unemployment rate in the whole 17-nation eurozone, largely because of a big construction sector crash. A more detailed look at the quarterly earnings figures showed that the bank’s revenue rose modestly to €11 billion from €10.6 billion a year earlier. For the whole of 2011, Santander’s net profit totaled €5.4 billion, down from €8.2 billion in 2010. The bank said its banking operations in Latin America made up the bulk — 51 per cent — of its profits during the year. The growing importance of Latin America was evident in the bank’s loan book during for 2011. Total loans during the year were up 4 percent as Banco Santander SA boosted business in Latin America that helped buffer decreasing European operations. Santander shares rose 1.1 percent to €6.05 each in Tuesday morning trading after the results were released.

Spanish airline Spanair ceases operations after running out of funds

2012-01-28T12:13:00.001Z

Spanair ceased operations late Friday after a regional government in Spain announced it could no longer fund the airline, officials said. Spanair’s financial woes were exacerbated by a 2008 crash that killed 154 people. Eighteen people survived what was Spain’s worst aviation disaster in 25 years. In a statement, the airline said its “last commercial flight will land at” 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Jan. 27. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare ( Manu Fernandez / Associated Press ) - Passengers wait at a Spanair check-in desk of El Prat airport in Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. The Spanish air carrier Spanair announced on January 27, 2012 the cessation of the company and the suspension of flights. The regional government of northeastern Catalonia, which had been investing in the country’s No. 4 airline since its 2008 purchase from SAS Scandinavian Airlines System International, said in a statement that it could no longer bankroll Spanair. The Catalan government said the “current economic climate” and “European legislation concerning competition” made it impossible for it to continue financing the small carrier, whose hub was Barcelona airport. Spain’s Development Ministry also published a statement requiring Spanair to “fulfill its obligations with passengers.” The airline advised passengers who had booked flights with it to consult its website where it said “full information” would be displayed. However, from just before 9 p.m. (2000 GMT) the website read only “Website access not available.” Spanair said it had communicated its decision to Spain’s air authorities and had been coordinating its demise with AENA, the country’s airport authority, and with the Development Ministry, which is responsible for civil aviation. Spanair has a fleet of 36 mainly aging aircraft and flew to 19 domestic and 24 international destinations, which included Algeria and Poland. The airline, which also ran a commuter service between Madrid and Barcelona, was in trouble financially before Spanair Flight JK5022 — an MD-82 jet — crashed on takeoff on Aug. 20, 2008 as it tried to leave Madrid bound for the Canary Islands. In December 2008, SAS sold the airline to tourism group Consorci de Turisme de Barcelona and Catalana d’Iniciatives, a private equity group.

number of complaints against lawyers have been ignored by the Malaga Law Society.

2012-01-28T11:34:00.001Z

One Marbella legal company Lawbird confirmed that it had made several complaints to the self-regulatory body about malpractice that have gone unheard.

One of these involves a commoner passing herself off as a lawyer.

Another property buyer is now being forced to take separate legal action, after the body failed to reprimand a lawyer who overcharged him 34,000 euros.

“It is a clear cut case,” the British businessman told the Olive Press. “The lawyer in question kept promising to give me the money back, but it never came.

“I can’t believe that the society feels there is no case to answer.”

It has also emerged that one of the employees of the embattled society is himself linked to a dubious legal practice investigated by police.

“What chance is there of getting justice here in Andalucia when these sorts of people work in the so-called regulatory body,” asked Antonio Flores, from Lawbird.

“The law society is certainly acting in a strange way and is not at all transparent.

“They have a very lax way of dealing with things.”

Here, the Olive Press shines a light on the three cases:

Case study 1:

A complaint made to the Malaga Law Society by a British businessman after he was overcharged a staggering 34,000 euros by his lawyer has fallen on deaf ears.
According to the expat, the body insisted the lawyer was using his ‘knowledge and expertise’ and that they would take no action.
“It is ridiculous. It is cut and dried. I went to the trouble of documenting everything, translating it in to Spanish and then sending it recorded delivery to the law society and they just said no.”
“What is the point in having the society if it doesn’t deal with these matters?”

Case study 2:

Despite complaints from law firms, one high-profile woman is passing herself off as a registered lawyer and yet she has no qualifications.
Advertising in various rival newspapers, she even speaks at legal seminars for expats.
“We have reported her several times but no-one at the Law Society seems to take any interest,” insisted one lawyer.
“We cannot afford to have a regulating body which allows fraudsters to run bogus law firms,” he added. “It’s very detrimental to the image of the profession.”

Case study 3:

In an ironic twist, a lawyer working for the Malaga Law Society to keep check on the profession has been linked to an alleged fraudster.
Tovar Oliver Hernandez Riverol (above) works in the department that deals with good legal practices and imposters.
Yet, he is mentioned in a police report as having connections to law firm Ramirez & Ramirez, which has been investigated for defrauding victims in the timeshare arena.
Arrested four times, its boss Fabian Marcelo Ramirez was accused of falsely promising his victims to recover money in boiler room, timeshare and cashback scams in exchange for an upfront fee.
“Ramirez backed up his activities using a number of lawyers, including Hernandez,” explained Antonio Flores of law firm Lawbird.
While there is no suggestion Hernandez was conning the victims himself, as Flores adds: “Surely the Law Society must know that a man supposedly protecting the purity of the profession should not have these kinds of connections. Why have they not done anything?”

Spain Plans Budget Law as Drug Firms Owed $8.4 Billion by States

2012-01-26T18:38:00.001Z

Spain pledged to set spending limits for regional governments in a new law tomorrow as the country’s pharmaceutical lobby said the regions owe companies $8.4 billion for drugs. The People’s Party Cabinet plans the budget-stability law to flesh out a constitutional amendment that the party helped the former Socialist government pass in September. Budget Minister Cristobal Montoro said “early warning” and “automatic correction” systems will be set up to prevent overspending and sanctions will be strengthened. “The aim is to guarantee the budget stability of all administrations, boost confidence and strengthen Spain’s commitments to the European Union,” Montoro told a parliamentary committee today in Madrid. Spain’s PP government, in power since December, is trying to convince investors it can reduce its budget deficit by almost half in 2012 even as the economy suffers its second recession in two years. The law aims to increase discipline in the regional governments, which have accumulated unpaid bills after they were shut out of public debt markets and saw their tax revenues collapse. Spain’s 17 regions owed pharmaceutical companies 6.37 billion euros at the end of 2011, lobby group Farmaindustria said today in a statement. That debt has risen 36 percent from a year earlier as payments were delayed by an average of 525 days, according to the group, which has urged Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to sell bonds backed by the unpaid bills in a program that would be guaranteed by the government. Credit Line As regions including Valencia suffer from a liquidity squeeze, Montoro has offered the states a credit line to allow them to pay unpaid bills. The government will seek tighter deficit plans in return, he said. The budget law will prevent spending rising more than projected economic growth, while giving debt redemptions and interest payments priority over other public spending. The ratio of debt to gross domestic product will be limited to 60 percent, Montoro said. The PP or its allies govern in most of Spain’s 17 regions, strengthening the government’s hand to reorder public finances. The regions, which missed their combined budget goals in 2010 and 2011, control about a third of public spending and hire half of the countries’ public workers. “We have seen the willingness of all the regional governments that Spain should have a new budget-stability law,” Montoro said today.

Tony Blair agreed to a secret deal to hand joint sovereignty of Gibraltar to Spain, according to explosive claims by a former Labour cabinet minister.

2012-01-26T17:38:00.002Z

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Peter Hain reveals in his memoirs that he struck the deal with the Spanish government in 2002 to end the UK's 300-year control of the vital strategic outpost.

He makes clear that he and Mr Blair were both prepared to ride roughshod over the objections of the people of Gibraltar in order to get their way, describing Mr Blair's attitude to the inhabitants as 'contemptuous'.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair (left) was prepared to ride roughshod over the objections of the people of Gibraltar in order to get his way, Peter Hain (right) has revealed

Deal: Gibraltar has been a British overseas territory since 1704

The former Europe Minister revealed Mr Blair sanctioned the deal because he wanted to win the backing of the Spanish government – then led by Jose Maria Aznar – to help Britain take on France and Germany in EU negotiations.

The agreement was only shelved when what he called 'hardliners' in the Spanish government – who wanted only full sovereignty – objected.

RUSSIAN Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, is not planning to buy a property in Marbella, Benhavis or anywhere else on the Costa del Sol.

2012-01-26T11:25:00.001Z

This was revealed exclusively to EWN by the Prime Minister’s press office which rubbished widespread reports in the Spanish and at least one local English language newspaper. Citing Spanish gossip magazine Vanitatis, these reports claimed Putin was ‘keen to snap up’ a mansion in La Zagaleta, Benhavis, described as ‘Europe's most exclusive residential development’, according to lazagaleta.com. Several reports said Putin was convinced to buy a property in La Zagaleta by former Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov who lives in the urbanization. An official from Putin’s press office laughed off the reports, and revealed EWN was the first to ask them if the story was accurate.

The King of Spain is a serial womaniser who once made a pass at Princess Diana while she was on holiday with Prince Charles, a book has claimed.

2012-01-23T09:41:00.001Z

It also alleges that Juan Carlos is a ‘professional seducer’ who has had numerous affairs and has not shared a bed with his wife for the past 35 years.

And it reveals that age has not stopped the 74-year-old, with the monarch regularly receiving vitamin injections and anti-ageing treatments.

Tactile: Princess Diana being kissed in 1987 by the King of Spain, who according to a new book, is a serial womaniser

Together: Diana, Prince Charles and their boys with King Carlos, Queen Sofia and members of the Greek royal family on board a yacht in August 1990

The Solitude of the Queen by Pilar Eyre, which is likely to prove controversial in the Catholic country, claims the king made a ‘tactile’ advance to Diana while she and Charles were on holiday in Majorca in the 1980s.

It follows much-derided allegations made in 2004 by Lady Colin Campbell that the princess had a fling with Juan Carlos while on a cruise in August 1986 and then again the following April.

Controversial: The Solitude of the Queen by Pilar Eyre claims the king made a 'tactile' advance to Diana while she and Charles were on holiday in Majorca in the 1980s

During a 1987 visit, in which Charles and Diana went to Madrid, the king was pictured smiling as he kissed the princess on the hand – a gesture which left Diana looking embarrassed.

Miss Eyre’s book also alleges that Queen Sofia has not slept in the marital bed since 1976 and only remains in the marriage out of ‘a sense of duty’.

She even claims the queen stumbled upon her husband with one of his alleged lovers, the Spanish film star Sara Montiel, at a friend’s country house in Toledo in 1976.

Sofia, now 73, was forced to attend a football match the day afterwards ‘as protocol demanded’, before storming out of the Zarzuela Palace, their official residence, with her children.

Advised to stay with her husband, she was told a break-up would mean she would ‘end up being paid to liven up the parties of the newly rich’.

Miss Eyre adds: ‘The role of the queen is sad, she is the loneliest woman in Spain.’

Distant: Carlos and Queen Sofia have allegedly not slept in the marital bed together since 1976

She also told Spanish gossip magazine Vanitatis: ‘Queen Sofia is a woman betrayed and hurt with a married life that has been a real tragedy. The king’s closest friends I have spoken to say they don’t like her.’

And she alleges that, as recently as last year, when the monarch was recovering from the removal of a benign lung tumour, he was seeing a 25-year-old German translator.

After writing the book, Miss Eyre was informed she would no longer appear on Spanish TV channel Telecinco.

She said she was told: ‘The station has banned talk about your book and does not allow you to continue working. You are banned, Pilar, we are sorry.’