Cadiz seven bulls being used on the set of a film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have broken free

Seven bulls being used on the set of a film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have broken free in Spain and slightly injured two people. Seven bulls on a Tom Cruise film set in Spain went on the rampage.Seven bulls being used on the set of a film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have broken free in Spain and slightly injured two people.Tom and Cameron were not at the rehearsal, as the actors are scheduled to arrive in the city of Cadiz, in south-west Spain, for the filming of the Knight And Day movie next weekend.
Two unidentified women were slightly injured by the bulls as they broke free from the downtown location and ran through streets to a nearby beach.It was not immediately clear if the women had anything to do with the film.Film director Jose Luis Escolar told reporters he didn't know how the bulls had escaped.Filming in Cadiz was due to begin on Monday, but local government spokesman Ignacio Romani said it has now been suspended until further notice.

Marbella Hotel, Los Monteros, has announced bankruptcy protection

Marbella Hotel, Los Monteros, has announced bankruptcy protection, known as the suspension of payments after being closed for the past six months. El País reports that the owner, the Russian magnate Ernest Malyshev, has failed to comply with the plan to refloat the establishment made last September. Under the plan workers accepted the temporary redundancy of 60 workers, while 72 remained to re-open the hotel. Payment of back wages was promised along with a series of new investments, but none of that has actually happened.Malyshev closed the hotel in May, but has not paid any wages since the start of the year, and was denounced by the workers in August.Union CCOO said the suspension of payments affects the three companies owned by the Russian, Las Dunas Land, Inversiones Dajoal and Inversiones Aljoda.Union secretary for the hostelry industry in Málaga, Lola Villalba, warned that if the suspension of payments goes ahead the hotel will have to be re-opened and the establishment will go under judicial administration until a new formula for a viability plan can be found.The suspension of payments at Los Monteros follows other 5 star hotels in problems on the Costa del Sol, most of them owned by real estate groups, such as the two Guadalpín establishments in Marbella, Incosol, Byblos and Torrequebrada.

Establishment of a new Technology Park Marbella

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The head of Innovation, Science and Business for the Junta has said that the new site will cover 197 hectares on land that is currently made up of 300 privately owned estates and is designated as an "area of opportunity" for the Costa del Sol in the POT plan. The idea would be to reach a public-private agreement with the participation of Marbella Town Hall and the landowners along with the regional authority for the development of the project.Technology or industrial parks are, for those not familiar with the terms, a means of promoting small and medium sized businesses with the overall aim of generating economic growth, investment in an area and job creation.The technology park in Malaga has since its inauguration in 1992, has continuously grown and now is currently home to 375 businesses covering telecommunications, electronics, software and advanced services, and is generating over 800 million Euros annually. More than 70% of this sum is made by businesses related to information technology and communications.But the Tech Park in Malaga has not only brought financial benefits but also, in partnership with University of Malaga, developed many cutting-edge technologies with the participation of students, which has created a position of respect among all other Spanish universities.Such parks ultimately help increase the human capital (skills and knowledge gained by a worker through education and experience) in the region which tends to further increase outside investment.
Thus the reason for the expansion into Marbella. Not only will it help deliver economic and social benefit to the community. There will be a creation and promotion of a range of new career opportunities.And of course let us not forget that the project should help act as a catalyst to the Marbella property market. It should not be forgotten that Marbella has been the destination of many searching for a second home on the Costa del Sol. The high demand lead to a substantial increase in prices that, although having taken a beating over the last few years, are still above the average for Spain in 2009. This should further help alleviate the property market by attracting skilled labourers and families to the area.If such projections continue, not only will the Costa del Sol slowly start to diversify further away from tourism, but might make Malaga into the equivalent of the USA’s ‘Sunshine State’. Companies will be drawn to Marbella to set up headquarters as the quality of life is superior to London, Frankfurt etcMalaga is already well connected internationally via the Malaga airport and the high speed train means all major cities in Spain are only a few hours away.There is of course still room for improvement in the Costa del Sol’s infrastructure. The main projects being the continuation of the Train line linking Marbella to Malaga and the expansion and improvement of the communications networks.If this project is handled correctly and, unlike the Malaga Park, made to attract foreign/international companies, then the long term benefits could be very high indeed.

Mijas police jailed for Narco trafficking

The officers are accused of seizing 170 kilos of cannabis and using patrol vehicles to move the drugs to a safe house. Charges will also be laid concerning other drugs found at the scene, conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.The investigating judge in Court Number Two, Fuengirola, has ordered the detention in custody of four officers of the Local Police from the Costa del Sol town of Mijas. A fifth man has also been held. All five are accused of serious offences related to the trafficking of illegal drugs and possession of an unauthorised firearm. Two of the police officers have made statements to the judge. It is believed that these declarations are, in fact, confessions.In Spain, the first step in any major investigation is to hand power to a judge “of instruction”, who acts as a neutral evidence-gatherer. It is rare for defendants to be remanded in custody at this early stage, but yesterday (Monday 9 November), late in the evening, the judge in this investigation took the immediate decision to send all five accused men to the Alhaurin de la Torre prison.
What is alleged is that the officers used their police powers in order to seize the drugs from other dealers. All five were arrested by the Guardia Civil on Saturday. It is believed that the fifth man, who is not a police officer, acted as the “minder” of the drugs, which were unloaded from police cars and stashed in his home.
A member of the public who witnessed the transfer of the contraband called the emergency number 112, and the Guardia Civil intercepted the Local Police vehicles, finding packs of cannabis equivalent to 25 standard bags of sugar in weight. A search of the accomplice’s house revealed the rest of the stash. When the officers’ lockers were opened at the local police station, other drugs were found, along with an illegal firearm.
Mijas councillor with responsibility for public safety, Jose Francisco Roca, released a statement within hours, stating that Mijas Town Hall (which employs the four arrested officers) “will get to the bottom of this”.
Senor Roca added that the criminal authorities were now gathering evidence and it would be necessary to await the outcome of the investigation. “However, the people of Mijas can rest assured that any police officer found guilty of serious wrongdoing will be punished to the maximum, according to the applicable Disciplinary Code.”In an unusual development, the four detained officers have opted not to be defended by the Police Association’s lawyers. They have asked barrister Miguel Criado to represent them.

Ronald William Priestley, 69, was arrested last month in Malaga on the Spanish coast once dubbed "Costa del Crime" because of its criminal expat community.

Ronald William Priestley, 69, was arrested last month in Malaga on the Spanish coast once dubbed "Costa del Crime" because of its criminal expat community.He had been sentenced after he failed to appear before Leeds Crown Court in 2005 where he had been convicted of conspiring to counterfeit £20 banknotes with a face value of £4.25m.Priestley had been detained by an international arrest warrant issued as part of the crime-fighting charity Crimestoppers' Operation Captura, which has identified criminals living in Spain wanted in the UK. Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency work closely with British Embassy and Spanish law enforcement agencies.Officers from West Yorkshire Police's money laundering team brought Priestley back to England on October 22.When Priestley was put before Leeds Court Court yesterdayhe was also sentenced to a further 32 weeks in prison for failing to appear at court. He is to appear in due course at Leeds Magistrates Court in connection with an alleged default on an earlier Confiscation Order.
When Priestley, 69, from Colton, Leeds, but orginally from Bramley, failed to appear at court in 2005 he disappeared from his luxury home which was protected by electric fences and guard dogs.In the hunt for Priestley police urged Spain's expatriate British community on the Costa del Sol to help bring him to justice. Priestley had a criminal counterfeiting past long before 2005 and in December 2002 had been stripped of more than £2.2m at Bradford Crown Court.
Police raids on his home in Park Road, Colton, and factories near Huddersfield, had netted 138,000 bottles of fake fragrances and 1,500 bottles of Spanish sparkling wine re-labelled as Moet et Chandon champagne.
Officers also found £104,000 cash hidden in secret compartments at his home.In April 2002 that year he had been jailed for 18 months after admitting three counts of conspiracy to sell or distribute counterfeit goods – but was released early from jail.Priestley was featured in the Operation Captura's first 10 appeals in October 2006 and was the 25th out of 50 wanted fugitives arrested over a 10 day period.

Bently Financial LTD, and Kellington Investments INC. laundered ‘a minimum of 12.6 million €’ in financial havens.

Hacienda tax authority has estimated that the man at the centre of the Malaya corruption case in Marbella, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor, Juan Antonio Roca, laundered ‘a minimum of 12.6 million €’ in financial havens. The number is published in one of the hacienda reports which has discovered accounts in Switzerland, Andorra and the British Virgin Islands, and makes up part of the case summary. Europa Press reports that that Hacienda considers that these accounts were used not only to hide Roca’s assets, but also to launder the amounts so they could be re-introduced into circulation. Much of the operation was carried out via two companies on the Virgin Islands, Bently Financial LTD, and Kellington Investments INC.

Marbella Sexual exploitation of the women employed as prostitutes on the premises

National Police investigation in Marbella has arrested three people at a local alternative nightclub for alleged sexual exploitation of the women employed as prostitutes on the premises. The suspects are the two owners of the club and the receptionist.It comes under Operation Diosa – ‘Goddess’, launched in August after information received by police which indicated that the women employed in the club were working there under threats from the owners. Europa Press reports that detectives discovered in the course of the investigation that the three now in custody kept for themselves half of the money the women earned for the services they rendered to the club’s customers.Officers seized unspecified amounts of cocaine and other recreational drugs in a search of the premises.

Marks & Spencer has announced its return with the forecasted opening of a new store in the Andalusian city of Marbella

Eight years after departing Spanish mainland shores, retail giant Marks & Spencer has announced its return with the forecasted opening of a new store in the Andalusian city of Marbella.In 2001 M&S closed all of its Spanish stores save for the ever popular Gibraltar location due to the large British presence. The heavy expat population in the Costa del Sol has lead to the relaunch with the Marbella store set to open its doors next month.In 2001 the nine mainland outlets were bought by rival El Corte Ingles for around £150 million. At the time it was part of the company’s well publicised worldwide reduction in the wake of falling profits. The move sparked outrage in France and Belgium where the local workforce was sacked. The new 14,000 square foot £2.7m Marbella store is expected to lead to around 70 new jobs.M&S currently has over 300 overseas stores in addition to the near 700 in the UK.The usual range of homewares, baked treats, clothing and manchester will be sold at the La Canada mall location but unlike most UK branches the store will not feature fresh food due to the abundance of local produce markets.M&S also has branches in four locations across the Canary Islands, with one Tenerife and three in Gran Canaria.The opening represents an about turn on the company’s philosophy from a decade ago, where stiff competition from El Corte Ingles and a luke-warm reaction from Spaniards forcing the closure of operations. However, a successful rebranding in recent years and signs of an economic upturn has led M&S to decide the time is right to try again.

Talk of establishing a member of parliament for the Spanish costas

About a million Britons live for most or all of the year in Spain. Of these, 352,000 have registered at Spanish town halls as being fully resident. Hundreds of thousands of Britons live elsewhere across the European Union.Those who left the country in the past 15 years (the vast majority) can vote in UK elections. Most, however, do not bother. This is hardly surprising. They must send their postal vote to the place where they last lived in Britain. People now living in Torrevieja, Marbella or Barcelona thus end up voting for candidates who are only interested in, say, the problems of Luton, Lambeth or Dumfries. That is not fair to them. What do they care, or know, about hospitals, post offices and planned ring roads a thousand miles away? It is also not fair to the people living in those constituencies.British communities abroad have their own problems. In Spain, they worry about pensions, health rights, the bureaucratic problems they can face if they try to move home and the (exorbitant) price of consular services. Even the winter fuel allowance (yes, payable in some circumstances) matters to them. Many of those suffering the catastrophic effects of a weak pound would like Britain to be in the euro. Many more have problems with local housing laws that they insist break EU rules. These people would like MPs and the British government to take their problems seriously. Without an MP to turn to, however, the chances of anyone paying attention to them are decidedly limited.
Some say that Sarkozy is wooing French voters in London because they are rich and likely to vote for him. Conservatives may be tempted to think they can win votes the same way. But the political leanings of emigrant Brits cannot be taken for granted. To start with, most of those in Spain are not rich. Tory MPs with long memories recall the last time they wooed the Mediterranean fringe. It turned out that most voted Labour – because they thought the Tories would take their winter fuel allowances away.
Britain frets about immigration but cannot be bothered to think about emigration. It should do. Of the hundreds of thousands of diaspora Britons with the right to vote, only 12,800 are registered to do so. Some 200,000 Britons move abroad every year, according to a study by the Institute for Public Policy Research. About 10% of all Britons, or 5.5 million people, live outside the country. "The UK government's lack of attention to its large diaspora stands in contrast to the measures being taken in other countries," the study noted. "In the UK, talk of establishing a member of parliament for the Spanish costas, a new ministry for Britons living abroad or even a special parliamentary inquiry would most likely be laughed down."
Foreign governments care far more about these emigrants than any British government has ever done. We have happily created a Europe without borders, encouraging people to travel, live and work in other countries, but we have not changed our electoral system to reflect that. A whole generation of young professionals has also moved abroad to follow the natural career paths of a globalised economy. No one represents them, either, at Westminster.I have been sounding people out on the idea of "diaspora MPs" for the past year. MPs and diplomats I have spoken to worry about the impact on, in this case, relations with Spain. Imagine, they say, an MP who spends half of his life complaining to Spanish authorities about problems faced by expat Britons.That, of course, brings us to another possible solution. Why not allow Britons living in Europe to vote in the national elections of their host country? Unfortunately neither the UK nor any other country in Europe seems to want that. As a result, I live in Madrid and pay taxes to the Spanish exchequer but have no say in how my tax money is spent.And therein lies another problem. For not only am I prevented from voting in a Spanish general election, but, as I have lived abroad for more than 15 years, I have no right to vote in the UK either. I pay tax but cannot vote. Whatever happened to "no taxation without representation"? Other countries (such as Germany, I believe) allow their citizens to keep on voting until they die, wherever they live.We complain constantly of voter apathy and low election turnouts. There is one easy way to boost participation in elections. Just give a few hundred thousand voters in Spain an MP of their own.The truth is that rather than just one MP representing Britons living in Spain and elsewhere, there should be dozens (the average UK constituency has 74,000 voters). I would be happy, however, if we could just start with one (and perhaps the honourable member for southern Europe has a better ring). That would leave me with just one request. I pay my taxes – so can I vote too, please?