Costa del Crime

Bulgarian man is reported to have attacked the woman in a retail center in Los Cristianos, Tenerife, on the Canary islands, Friday morning.

2011-05-13T17:16:00+01:00

Spanish resort island of Tenerife is in shock after a suspect, believed to be a homeless Bulgarian man with a criminal and mental illness record, beheaded a woman in a supermarket.

The victim of the horrifying attack is a 62-year-old British woman, according to the BBC.

Bulgarian man is reported to have attacked the woman in a retail center in Los Cristianos, Tenerife, on the Canary islands, Friday morning.

In what seemed like a Hollywood horror movie plot, he cut off her head with a machete, a knife, or even a sword, according to some reports, and started running with the head in his heads before he was wrestled down to the ground by security guards and passers-by but not before he was seen by dozens of people dropping the blood-soaked head in his hands.

Witnesses have told local media that they thought the man was carrying an artificial head.

Regional Interior Ministry delegate Dominica Fernandez said the suspect is believed to have entered the shop, stolen a knife which he then used to assault and behead the woman.

It is still unknown what caused the Bulgarian man to commit the brutal murder in public, and if he is in any way related to the victim of the seemingly random attack; according to some reports, he had been following the victim for several days before assaulting her.

According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the Bulgarian man was born in 1983; he had a mental illness record, and was released from a psychiatric hospital in February 2011, after he was admitted there for a series of random violent incidents such as punching a random passer-by in the street.man known to be a local vagrant has walked into a shop in a commercial centre in Los Cristianos, Tenerife and decapitated a British customer in her 60’s. It appears the man entered the Chinese supermarket and chose his victim by chance.

The Mayor of Arona, José Alberto González Reverón, said the closed circuit recording of the shop showed that the man did not speak at all to his victim, and after picking up a large knife, decapitated her.

The Councillor for Safety from Arona Town Hall, Manuel Reverón, has said that witnesses report that the man cut off the head of the British woman, and walked out of the shop at 1025am on Friday in Avenida Juan Carlos I, with her head in his hand.

The agressor was caught and held down by members of the public when he slipped and fell on the pavement outside. The head fell to the pavement and was quickly covered with a sheet. The public managed to hold him down until the police arrived and made an arrest.
National and local police rushed to the scene with two ambulances from the Canaries Emergency Services.

The man, a 28 year old named as Deyan Valentinov D. has been arrested and has found out to be Bulgarian. Reports indicate that he has been under psychiatric treatment, at the La Candelaria Hospital following previous violent episodes, and that he was allowed home after that treatment was considered to have been completed last February. He is known to have been living in a semi-abandoned property, and was known by locals for often shouting aloud that he was ‘God on earth’.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_30482.shtml#ixzz1MFcXeIEu

"I parked my car and saw a man running out with something bloody in his hands and a security guard chasing him. He threw it to the ground. It almost hit me and what he had been carrying was a woman's head

2011-05-13T17:13:00+01:00

A man has killed and beheaded a British woman in a supermarket on the Spanish holiday island of Tenerife.

The man attacked the unnamed 60-year-old woman in a Chinese supermarket in the resort town of Arona, severing her neck with a knife and then rushing on to the street with the head.

Passersby and security guards tried to stop him and he was eventually caught after an Italian man on a motorbike knocked him to the ground by hurling a helmet at him. The man tripped over and fell to the ground, with his pursuers managing to retain him until police arrived.

The alleged killer is an unemployed Bulgarian apparently well known in the town and occasionally given to loudly proclaiming himself to be God on earth. The 28-year-old man lives in the town.

Spain's state news agency, EFE, quoted police sources as saying that the victim was a 60-year-old British woman who had been shopping in the supermarket just after 10am local time.

Mayor José Alberto González said the attack appeared unpremeditated and had been recorded on the supermarket's security cameras.

A witness told the broadcaster Cadena Ser that he saw the man drop the head on the pavement after coming out of the shop "I parked my car and saw a man running out with something bloody in his hands and a security guard chasing him. He threw it to the ground. It almost hit me and what he had been carrying was a woman's head."

A regional interior ministry delegate, Dominica Fernandez, said the suspect was believed to have entered the shop and stolen a knife, which he then used to behead the woman, whose identity has not been released. Fernandez said the attack appeared to be random.

Police were investigating to see if the victim and the killer knew one another. Authorities have not made the woman's name public.

Arona is a resort town popular with British tourists situated on the southern point of Tenerife.

British woman beheaded in busy Tenerife supermarket

2011-05-13T17:09:00+01:00

A British woman has been beheaded in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, Spanish authoritiesman known to be a local vagrant has walked into a shop in a commercial centre in Los Cristianos, Tenerife and decapitated a British customer in her 60’s. It appears the man entered the Chinese supermarket and chose his victim by chance.

The Mayor of Arona, José Alberto González Reverón, said the closed circuit recording of the shop showed that the man did not speak at all to his victim, and after picking up a large knife, decapitated her.

The Councillor for Safety from Arona Town Hall, Manuel Reverón, has said that witnesses report that the man cut off the head of the British woman, and walked out of the shop at 1025am on Friday in Avenida Juan Carlos I, with her head in his hand.

The agressor was caught and held down by members of the public when he slipped and fell on the pavement outside. The head fell to the pavement and was quickly covered with a sheet. The public managed to hold him down until the police arrived and made an arrest.
National and local police rushed to the scene with two ambulances from the Canaries Emergency Services.

The man, a 28 year old named as Deyan Valentinov D. has been arrested and has found out to be Bulgarian. Reports indicate that he has been under psychiatric treatment, at the La Candelaria Hospital following previous violent episodes, and that he was allowed home after that treatment was considered to have been completed last February. He is known to have been living in a semi-abandoned property, and was known by locals for often shouting aloud that he was ‘God on earth’.

Libya not immune to winds of change

2011-02-16T14:26:00+00:00

Libya not immune to winds of change: "The violent clashes reported from Benghazi, on Libya's north-east coast, could well be a foretaste of what is to follow.

Opponents of the regime are calling for major protests this Thursday, spreading the word by internet.

Libya has had protests before, successfully quashed by the powerful security forces. But those were before the leaders of both Libya's neighbours - Tunisia to the west, Egypt to the east - were driven from power.

There has been much speculation among young, educated Arabs, that the days of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime are numbered.

He himself has been in power for 42 years, making him the Arab world's longest-serving ruler, just ahead of Oman's Sultan Qaboos.

Officially, he does not rule Libya, it is government by committee, with the country adopting various titles like The Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.

In practice, it is effectively a police state where political parties are banned and dissent is crushed."

"Devil's advocate", he has made his name defending some of the most hated criminals in recent years.

2011-02-16T14:19:00+00:00

Giovanni di Stefano, who is from Italy, is wanted by London detectives in connection with a lengthy inquiry and was arrested on Majorca on Monday.
Dubbed the

The 55-year-old said in a statement the charges against him – which relate to fraud, theft and money laundering - were "spurious".
He claimed they were revenge for a recent indictment he served against Tony Blair arguing that the Iraq war was illegal.
A source close to the City of London Police inquiry, which dates back several years, said a warrant for his arrest was issued in January after a review of the case.
Detectives are keen to have him brought back to the UK for questioning.
Spanish reports said he fell ill during his arrest and was admitted to hospital for surgery.
Di Stefano was one of several non-Arab lawyers who helped defend deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
He has also represented serial killer Harold Shipman, Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs and killer Jeremy Bamber.:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Spanish politicians under fire for backing Contador

2011-02-16T14:13:00+00:00

Spanish politicians under fire for backing Contador: "The head of cycling's governing body UCI has criticised Spanish politicians for supporting Alberto Contador in his battle against a doping ban.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was one of several politicians to publically back Contador's appeal.
'It's up to sport to police itself and sport should be allowed to do that,' UCI president Pat McQuaid said.
'I don't think [the process] should be interfered with by politicians when they don't know the full facts.'
Three-time Tour de France champion Contador tested positive for banned substance clenbuterol during the race in 2010.
The Spaniard protested his innocence, claiming contaminated meat was responsible for his failed test."

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

Spanish court releases Saddam Hussein lawyer

2011-02-16T14:10:00+00:00

Spanish court releases Saddam Hussein lawyer : "Spain's National Court has ordered the release of an Italian lawyer who was part of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's defence team, judicial sources said Wednesday.
Giovanni Di Stefano, 55, was held on Monday in Palma de Majorca. A British court accuses him of 18 crimes including embezzlement and fraud.
Di Stefano presented himself as a lawyer in Britain, without having been authorized to exercise as such, embezzling clients between 2004 and 2009, the British court said.
Spain's National Court ordered Di Stefano's release for health reasons while he was waiting to be operated at a Palma hospital. He was due to be extradited to Britain later on."

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

Sir Fred Goodwin wasn’t sharing any of the pain as he lorded it on a five-star shooting trip this week, paid for by the boss of Spanish bank giants Santander.

2011-02-14T10:28:00+00:00

He is reviled as the world’s worst banker for his disastrous role in bringing the British economy to its knees.
But disgraced Sir Fred Goodwin wasn’t sharing any of the pain as he lorded it on a five-star shooting trip this week, paid for by the boss of Spanish bank giants Santander.
And joining Goodwin, 52, on the jaunt to shoot partridge and drink the finest wine at a medieval Spanish estate was none other than his long-standing crony, Sir Jackie Stewart.
Ex-Royal Bank of Scotland boss Goodwin hired former racing driver Sir Jackie, his boyhood hero, to be a £4million “global ambassador” for the bank.
When RBS hit the rocks, Sir Jackie caused outrage by initially demanding that Goodwin’s replacements honoured the deal and carried on paying him, even though the bank had to axe 20,000 staff. As a tax exile partly-based in Switzerland Sir Jackie, 71, doesn’t pay UK tax when he works overseas for RBS, despite the bank being kept afloat by £20billion of taxpayers’ cash.
But the continuing fall-out from RBS’s collapse appeared the last thing on their minds as Goodwin and Sir Jackie jetted out business class to Madrid on Tuesday, taking with them two 20-bore Beretta shotguns.
At the airport they were met by a limousine sent by Santander chief Emilio Botin, who helped fund Goodwin’s disastrous £49billion takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro in 2007.
The deal, the biggest in banking history, was blamed directly for the collapse of RBS a year later.
After a night at Madrid’s five-star Villa Magna Hotel, the two Scots were driven 30 miles by limousine to La Flamenca, a vast country estate near the town of Aranjuez. The 2,500-acre grounds are owned by Manuel Falco Anchorena, the Duke of Fernan Nunez, who is said to have the finest partridge shooting in Spain.
Goodwin, dubbed Fred the Shred for his ruthless cost-cutting while in charge of RBS, and Sir Jackie were driven past the Duke’s palace up a three-mile track to Casa del Monte, an imposing hunting lodge.

Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/02/13/disgraced-banker-sir-fred-goodwin-goes-on-luxury-shooting-trip-to-spain-115875-22918797/#ixzz1DvZx7P9G
Go Camping for 95p! Vouchers collectable in the Daily and Sunday Mirror until 11th August . Click here for more information:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Prostitution racket busted in Spain

2011-02-14T09:25:00+00:00

Prostitution racket busted in Spain: "prostitution network that exploited girls from various nationalities in four brothels in Madrid has been busted after police kept a watch over it using cameras connected to the internet.

Police arrested 11 gang members of whom two were fee collectors, three were telephone operators and four were in charge of the prostitutes.

They have been charged with crimes related to prostitution, including harming public health, human trafficking and illicit association, police said.

Investigation began when a complaint was filed by a woman who had formerly been a sex worker in the network.

Police also seized over 80 cell phones, computer equipment, documents and a safe."

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

Movie on post war Spain big winner of Goya cinema awards

2011-02-14T09:21:00+00:00

Movie on post war Spain big winner of Goya cinema awards (Roundup) - Monsters and Critics: "Director Agusti Villaronga's Pa Negre (Black Bread) emerged as the big winner of Spain's top cinema awards, the Goya prizes, at a gala night early Monday.
The post-civil war childhood drama describing a society where the poor ate black and the rich white bread had hardly been distributed outside the north-eastern region of Catalonia, where it was made.
Pa Negre nevertheless took nine awards, including best movie, best director, best actress for Nora Navas, best supporting actress for Laia Marull and best promising actors for Francesc Colomer and Marina Comas.
The film's director and its producer described Pa Negre as a movie with an emotional rather than customs-and-manners perspective, filmed in a classical style and showing 'the moral devastation that war produces on a civilian population.'"

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

Spanish resort to advance plans for 450-room resort - News - JamaicaObserver.com

2011-02-12T15:32:00+00:00

Spanish resort to advance plans for 450-room resort - News - JamaicaObserver.com: "REPRESENTATIVES from Spain's Excellence Group Luxury Resorts are expected to arrive in the island within days to advance plans for the construction of a new attraction and a 450-room resort in Oyster Bay, Trelawny, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett announced Thursday.
'We will be seeing a new attraction coming in the Trelawny area and that will be important to complement the range of attractions we already have,' Bartlett told journalists at a press conference at the Ministry's offices in New Kingston.
The attraction, Bartlett explained, will be called Captain Hook and will feature a maritime-type attraction complete with galleons and pirates.
'They will be using the lights and special effects to create a mock battle of the pirates,' Bartlett explained."

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

Pilot flew as captain on a few occasions

2011-02-12T15:27:00+00:00

Pilot flew as captain on a few occasions - The Irish Times - Sat, Feb 12, 2011: "THE SPANISH pilot who died in the crash was on one of his first flights captaining an aircraft, his family said yesterday. Jordi Sola Lopez (31) was an experienced co-pilot, but had taken charge of an aircraft on only a few occasions, they said.

Family members in the pilot’s home town of Manresa, 40 miles from Barcelona, described his experience and flying history to local newspaper Regio7.

Mr Sola Lopez, an only son, studied at the Top Fly aviation school in nearby Sabadell, where he later worked as an instructor.

He went on to fly in the Canary Islands before taking his job with Air Lada, the company that owns the aircraft that crashed on Thursday.

The newspaper report said he had earned his captain’s licence some time ago, but added: “He has only been exercising this rank for a few days and yesterday’s flight was one of the first in which he had acted as captain.”"

13 arrests in 11 million Euro IVA/VAT fraud in Spain

2011-02-11T23:04:00+00:00

13 arrests in 11 million Euro IVA/VAT fraud in Spain: "Thirteen people have been arrested in five Spanish provinces accused of a massive IVA/VAT fraud worth 11 million €.

The arrests have taken place on Thursday in Madrid, Málaga, Guadalajara, Alicante and Benidorm. The group is accused of failing to pay the tax on the purchase of merchandise.

Eight searches of property and companies are being carried out and links to companies in France, Cyprus and Lithuania are being investigated.

The case came to light after a denuncia to the tax inspectors in Cataluña, and its understood a meeting was held by the relevant authorities in The Hague ahead of today’s arrests, given that companies in the European Union outside Spain are implicated.

The Málaga province arrests were in Marbella and Alhaurín de la Torre, while the Alicante detentions were in Alicante city and Alfaz del Pi.

Those arrested had created 14 companies and 8 fake companies buying merchandise from other countries in the EU but failing to pay any IVA. There are no details as to the nationality of those arrested as yet."

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

Spanish cities take action as pollution levels soar

2011-02-10T09:35:00+00:00

Spanish cities take action as pollution levels soar - News & Advice, Travel - The Independent: "The cities of Madrid and Barcelona have moved to curb dangerous levels of atmospheric pollution sparked by a high-pressure system lodged over the Iberian peninsula, but ecologists Tuesday condemned the measures as inadequate.

Municipal authorities in the Spanish capital on Monday used overhead panels on the city's ring road to advise drivers to take public transport 'as a preventive measure' to avoid rising pollution levels, a spokeswoman said.

The government of the northeastern region of Catalonia, which had a long-standing plan to increase speed limits from 80 kph (50 mph) on some motorways entering Barcelona from Monday, postponed the measure to reduce the risk of pollution"

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

Michael Dermot McArdle is wanted in Spain to serve the twoyear sentence for the manslaughter of his wife Kelly Anne Corcoran.

2011-02-10T09:33:00+00:00

Michael Dermot McArdle is wanted in Spain to serve the twoyear sentence for the manslaughter of his wife Kelly Anne Corcoran.

McArdle was due to hand himself in to the Spanish authorities last September but he failed to do so.

The mother of two died from injuries sustained when she fell from a hotel balcony while on a family holiday in Marbella on the Costa Del Sol on February 11th, 2000.

Yesterday Mr Justice John Edwards, sitting at the Criminal Courts of Justice, remanded McArdle (41) until March 9th on foot of a European arrest warrant seeking his surrender to Spain.

McArdle, Brookfield, Heynestown, Dundalk was arrested last month on foot of a warrant issued by a Spanish judge that was subsequently endorsed by the High Court in Dublin.

In the warrant seeking his surrender the court heard McArdle was convicted of his wife’s manslaughter at a court in Malaga in October 2008.

His wife died two days after falling from the balcony of room 421 of Marbella’s five-star Melia Don Pepe Hotel following an argument with her husband.

He was also ordered to pay his two sons by Ms Corcoran, Mark and Paul, €60,000 each in compensation for the loss of their mother.

He was also ordered to pay her parents, Ted and Bridie, €100,000.:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Student dies after silicone buttuck implant operation

2011-02-09T19:12:00+00:00

Student dies after silicone buttuck implant operation - Telegraph: "Claudia Adusei, 20, who lived in Hackney, east London, died after being taken to a hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania, suffering from chest pains and having difficulty breathing.
She had earlier undergone the controversial procedure on her backside in a room at the Hampton Inn Hotel in nearby Philadelphia, where she was staying with three friends.
It is believed the injections had been ordered over the internet. Companies across the US offer cheap surgery for women who want curvier buttocks like celebrities including Kim Kardashian, a socialite.
The regional medical examiner said that the preliminary cause of Miss Adusei's death was that silicone had entered her bloodstream and caused her to have a heart attack.
Past deaths caused by similar procedures have been attributed to the use of cheaper, industrial silicone, rather than specialised cosmetic silicone as is used in breast implants."

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

The Briton taking polo back to China

2011-02-09T19:04:00+00:00

The Briton taking polo back to China - Telegraph: "Paul Stevens hopes the ancient game will emerge as the lifestyle activity for China's super-rich.
'The first generation of new wealthy said 'we've got lots of money and just wanted to splash it about',' says Mr Stevens, the English general manager of Tianjin's Metropolitan Polo Club.
'But now there is a second generation of rich Chinese who are well educated, and are real enthusiasts for actually doing things. One of those things will be polo.'
It takes vision to imagine that Tianjin's Bin Hai High-technology Industrial Park could one day partly reassemble Guards Polo Club, in Windsor Great Park.
'Over there, we'll be constructing our VIP pavilion which will be modeled on the Royal Box at Guards Club,' said Mr Stevens, pointing to a gap between two enormous grandstands which stand opposite £60,000 video scoreboard – 'the biggest anywhere in polo'."

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

Jet2.com adds 70,000 more seats to Spain and Portugal

2011-02-09T08:52:00+00:00

Jet2.com adds 70,000 more seats to Spain and Portugal | Reuters: "The airline is responding to an increased interest in Spain and Portugal from UK holidaymakers and using capacity made available by the airline’s decision to suspend services to Egypt, in light of recent events.

All the traditional family favourites such as Alicante, Ibiza, Malaga, Majorca, Faro and Tenerife will have more flights going out in summer 2011.

Philip Meeson, boss of Jet2.com, said, “We have always seen strong demand for Spain and Portugal as there really is something for everyone in these great sun destinations, and getting there could not be easier whether it be via flight only with Jet2.com or an ATOL protected package holiday with Jet2holidays.”"

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

Video Tribute to Guitar legend Gary Moore

2011-02-08T08:16:00+00:00

Guitar legend GARY MOORE died of a suspected heart attack, according to a preliminary post-mortem examination.
Forensic experts believe the former Thin Lizzy star died from natural causes on Sunday (06Feb11), while on holiday in Spain with his girlfriend.
They will now conduct further tests on tissue samples before releasing a final report.
A Spanish police spokesperson says, "Mr Moore died of natural causes and his death is not in any way suspicious.
"An investigating magistrate has opened a standard inquiry to determine the exact cause of death."Guitar legend Gary Moore dies aged 58:Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder.

Spanish government has urged Britons to help kick-start Spain's faltering economy by buying some of the country's 700,000 unsold houses.

2011-02-07T01:39:00+00:00

"THE Spanish government has urged Britons to help kick-start Spain's faltering economy by buying some of the country's 700,000 unsold houses.

Spanish Housing Minister Beatriz Corredor promised new planning laws to end the confusion that has led to foreign home owners being ordered to knock down properties deemed to have been built illegally.

The Spanish government will also embark on a ''roadshow'' to promote the country's property market. Mrs Corredor's plea reflects growing alarm in Spain at the huge stock of newly built homes waiting to be sold."

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