Deutsche Bank CEO Says `Mistrust' of Spain, Banks `Unjustified' - Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank CEO Says `Mistrust' of Spain, Banks `Unjustified' - Bloomberg: "Investors’ mistrust of Spain is unjustified and problems in the banking industry are “manageable,” Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann said, as Europe’s debt crisis intensified.
The fundamental economic data “in no way justifies the apparent mistrust that exists in the case of Spain, though not only there,” Ackermann, who also heads the Institute of International Finance, a global industry group with more than 400 members, said yesterday in response to a request by Bloomberg News. “Spain can deal with its problems by itself.”"

Hepatitis C fears prompt screening

BBC News - Hepatitis C fears prompt screening: "Hundreds of dialysis patients are to be screened for hepatitis C after two people contracted it during treatment at the same unit in Spain.
The patients, who are from Greater Glasgow and Clyde and Forth Valley, were found to be infected with the condition on return from holiday.
The dialysis unit in Spain has now been closed as a precaution.
Meanwhile, screening for tuberculosis (TB) is to be offered at a Glasgow school after a teacher became ill."

Spain denies U.S. offer of cash to take Guantanamo detainees - Fox News Latino

Spain denies U.S. offer of cash to take Guantanamo detainees - Fox News Latino: "Spain's justice minister denied Tuesday that Washington offered Madrid money to accept prisoners from Guantanamo, as stated in U.S. diplomatic cables disseminated by WikiLeaks and published in Spanish daily El Pais.
The documents mention a sum of $85,000 for each detainee accepted by Spain"

Man arrested for taking photos under women's skirts

Man arrested for taking photos under women's skirts: "A 55 year old man, named with the initials, J.A.L.G. has been arrested in Utrera, Sevilla, accused of using his mobile phone to take pictures under women’s skirts in street markets and other busy places.

The Guardia Civil found some 250 photos of different women in the phone memory.

Investigation started with a tip-off from a member of the public who alerted a girl whom the man was following.

The Guardia Civil said that the man would allegedly drop his phone as a premise to take the photo. He now faces charges of acting against the intimacy of the women."

Juan Antonio Roca prepared to 'spill the beans' if he gets a reduced sentence in the Malaya case

Juan Antonio Roca prepared to 'spill the beans' if he gets a reduced sentence in the Malaya case: "El Mundo newspaper today reports that Juan Antonio Roca, the ex Municipal Real Estate Assessor in Marbella Town Hall, at the centre of the Malaya corruption case, has said that he will offer ‘information’ to the prosecutor if he can get a deal to reduce his sentence. He has indicated that he is prepared to ‘spill the beans’, and name the businessmen implicated.

Roca currently faces 30 years in prison and a fine of more than 810 million €, on the belief that he was the king pin of the entire affair."

1,000 homes in Cuevas may be illegal as courts revoke license

1,000 homes in Cuevas may be illegal as courts revoke license: "Several hundred, probably more than a thousand residents of the small city of Cuevas del Almanzora in Almeria will receive unpleasant and unexpected news, according to the opposition PSOE, after court documents revealing hundreds of homes in the village have had their building licenses revoked by Andalucia's Supreme Court.
All building licenses in the municipality for homes built under the 'Consolidated Urban Land' project, as approved by the cityhall in 2003, have been declared null and void by the Supreme Court of Andalucia. Socialist councilors of the City of Cuevas del Almanzora said that the issue goes back to 2003, when the PP party still ran the townhall, and have demanded that the townhall explains what is going on, after confidential townhall documents were leaked to the press this week."

British man arrested for rape in Marbella

British man arrested for rape in Marbella: "Agents of the National Police have arrested in Marbella (Malaga) a man of British nationality, but resident in the town, as the alleged perpetrator of a crime of sexual assault on a girl he apparently met in the establishment where he worked.The investigation was initiated following a complaint filed last October by a woman alledging she had been sexually assaulted by an individual.After meeting her, he invited her out with some co-workers for a drink. However, at the end of the evening, the alleged assailant invited her back up to his home.
Once there, he caught by the neck and hair, before raping her, as reported in a statement from the Provincial Police."

Problems found by RICS Residential Surveyors and Valuers in Spain,8 months the year the majority of Spain has a temperate climate with wind, rain and chill

Problems found by RICS Residential Surveyors and Valuers in Spain: "Common problems found by our surveyors include

1. Damp – mainly rising or coming through walls built against rock or earth, principally due to improper or no application of damp proofing at the time of construction.

2. Damp – coming down from above, again due to improper or no application of damp proofing, especially around terraces.

3. Lack of recognition of the fact that for at least 8 months the year the majority of Spain has a temperate climate with wind, rain and chill. This is especially the case in mountainous areas. Over-emphasis on dealing with the heat of summer.

4. Lack of planning and/or other permissions and/or title registration for the initial construction and/or enlargement of the property, including encroachment on restricted areas affected by Ley de Costas.

5. Inadequate, ineffective, illegal and/or absent electricity, water and drainage connections.

6. Naïveté of the buyer in believing all that they are told without making simple checks and effectively without looking after themselves. ‘Misrepresentation’ and buying ‘in good faith’ are often euphemisms for buyers not accepting personal responsibility for their own imprudence.

7. Absence of a 'professional conscience' by lawyers who shrug their shoulders when asked ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ and reply ‘You didn’t ask’, when it was obvious that the client didn’t know to ask. Linked to 6 above."

Almuñecar to be home to Spain's first seven star hotel

Almuñecar to be home to Spain's first seven star hotel: "Almuñecar is to be home to the first seven star hotel establishment in Spain. Businessmen from the Costa Tropical and Eastern Costa del Sol consider such a project would revitalise the entire economy of the area.

Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts are the company involved and the project has already seen a visit by the Danish Ambassador to Spain, Lars Thuesen, visiting the site at Peñón del Lobo, between the Marina del Este and Cotobro."

A similar fate could await Spain.

After Ireland was finally forced this week to ask for financial help from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Barclays analysts now say it is possible that a similar fate could await Spain.

In the first four months of 2011, the Spanish government and the country's banks must raise about €70bn (£59.2bn) in the bond market, which Barclays said would be a "big test for investor appetite", adding that it was concerned with the "execution risk".

"Our view is that the challenges facing Spain remain substantial – with the likelihood of a positive outcome poor until at least the sovereign and the banks have successfully navigated their way over the funding hump facing them both in Spring 2011," said the analysts. 

Gibraltar has, in the words of its Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, finally managed to do away with its image as a fiscal paradise.

Gibraltar has, in the words of its Chief Minister, Peter Caruana, finally managed to do away with its image as a fiscal paradise. It’s taken us 15 years, he said, but we’ve finally managed to do it.

Caruana was speaking in Seville this Thursday, at the Forum Europa organised by Nueva Economía Forum. He said Gibraltar strictly complies with all the international and European financial regulations, ‘although the rest of the world does not share this view of our economy’.

Reporting on the meeting, Nueva Economía Forum said Peter Caruana announced during his speech that, from 1st January, a new law will come into effect to equalise tax rates between Gibraltarians and non-residents, with a rate of 10% for all.

The Chief Minister noted fiscal agreements with more than 20 countries, including the United States and the leading countries of the European Union. He added, ‘We’ve invited Spain to join in with these agreements on fiscal policy, but they did not consider it necessary’, and continued, ‘Gibraltar has neither the need nor the aim of being a Financial Centre which its neighbour sees as going against their 

Document issued by the notary public declares Duran to be the "owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometres

Angeles Duran, 49, told the online edition of daily El Mundo she took the step in September after reading about an American man who had registered himself as the owner of the moon and most planets in our Solar System.

There is an international agreement which states that no country may claim ownership of a planet or star, but it says nothing about individuals, she added.

"There was no snag, I backed my claim legally, I am not stupid, I know the law. I did it but anyone else could have done it, it simply occurred to me first."

The document issued by the notary public declares Duran to be the "owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometres".

Duran, who lives in the town of Salvaterra do Mino, said she now wants to slap a fee on everyone who uses the sun and give half of the proceeds to the Spanish government and 20 percent to the nation's pension fund.

She would dedicate another 10 percent to research, another 10 percent to ending world hunger -- and would keep the remaining 10 percent herself.

The Bank of Spain called on the country’s banks to make an “extra effort” to disclose their real estate holdings

The Bank of Spain called on the country’s banks to make an “extra effort” to disclose their real estate holdings amid concern the country may also need to be bailed out after Ireland accepted a financial rescue.

Lenders will have to give more information about risks linked to property and real estate, with details of guarantees and reserves set aside to cover them, by March 2011, Deputy GovernorJavier Ariztegui said today in a speech in Barcelona. He also told banks to cut their costs in a “rapid and decided manner” and complete the mergers that will reduce the number of savings-bank groups by almost two-thirds.

“Spain and the Spanish banking system need our creditors to renew the financing they’ve granted us,” he said, saying there was “no room” for delaying the restructuring under way in the industry. “The best way to achieve it is to show daily that the banks and savings banks are healthy and profitable.”

Contagion from Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is spreading to Spain and Portugal as Irish officials race to complete a deal for an international aid package before financial markets reopen next week. All of Ireland’s banks passed European regulators’ stress tests in July, while five Spanish savings banks failed the exercise.

Stock prices are falling and financing costs soaring for Spanish lenders. Banco Santander SA, Spain’s biggest bank, dropped 3.6 percent to 7.54 euros at 11:57 a.m. in Madrid, while Banco Espirito Santo SA, Portugal’s biggest publicly traded bank by market value, fell 1.1 percent to 2.97 euros.

A Home-Price Puzzle in Spain - WSJ.com

A Home-Price Puzzle in Spain - WSJ.com: "Spain faces a problem as empty homes left over from the housing boom go up for sale: determining just how much the properties are worth.

Confusion over home prices in Spain has kept some investors out of the market. Above, a listing in Madrid.Analysts, property-sales representatives and economists said data coming from the government and even some large appraisal companies understate the drop in real-estate prices. That is causing confusion and scaring off some investors who could help banks clear their backlog of homes.
The discrepancies are owed, in part, to a quirk in how some Spanish home-price data are calculated. The data are based not on actual sales prices, but rather on appraisals by private companies, which in a slow market are heavily reliant on asking prices. The result is a variation in estimates of Spanish home values."

Spain Bets on Budget Cuts, Domestic Investors to Stem Contagion - Bloomberg

Spain Bets on Budget Cuts, Domestic Investors to Stem Contagion - Bloomberg: "Spain is counting on budget cuts and domestic appetite for its bonds to build a firewall against contagion as Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero warned investors would lose money betting against the nation’s debt.
Spain, which has the euro region’s third-highest budget deficit, says it won’t adopt new measures to protect itself from Europe’s worsening debt crisis after cutting the central government’s budget gap by almost 50 percent and taming regional spending. Providing support is about half of Spanish debt is held at home, more than in Ireland or Portugal, offering a line of defense against changes in foreign investors’ moods."

Bailout of Spain could severely stress the ability of Europe’s stronger countries to help the financially weaker ones, and spell deep trouble for the euro,

Bailout of Spain could severely stress the ability of Europe’s stronger countries to help the financially weaker ones, and spell deep trouble for the euro, Europe’s common currency. Even though Spain, like Ireland, has adopted an austerity plan to help it avoid the need for a bailout, it still could need aid if its banking system proves frailer than the government thinks it is, as was the case in Ireland.

This troubling possibility has unnerved lenders, with Spain’s borrowing costs rising even though Madrid has cut its deficit and the country’s banks maintain they have sufficient strength to absorb their bad real estate loans. “Europe can afford the collapse of Ireland, even perhaps that of Portugal, but not that of Spain, so Spain’s ultimate line of defense is in fact this knowledge that it’s too big to fail and that it represents a systemic risk for the euro,” said Pablo Vázquez, an economist at the Fundación de Estudios de Economía Aplicada, a research institute here.

Quieres descrubrir a la novia de Ronaldo desnuda

Model Irina Shayk—best known these days as girlfriend to high-maintenance soccer stud Cristiano Ronaldo—is extremely unhappy with GQ Spain.

The December issue features a scantily-clad Irina on the cover next to the caption, "¿Quieres descrubrir a la novia de Ronaldo desnuda?" (translated: Do you want to see Ronaldo's girlfriend naked?").

Unfortunately, Shayk never approved the caption nor the images within the issue, which were apparently altered to make her appear nude. A rep from Irina's talent agency called the captions "defamatory towards Ms. Shayk's persona and image," continuing, "This lack of professionalism and neglect towards the future of Ms. Shayk's modeling career in an effort to sell magazines is not only shocking but unacceptable from such an established and [prestigious] publication as GQ."

Foreclosed homes for sale in Spain may triple in number in 2011

 Foreclosed homes for sale in Spain may triple in number in 2011 owing to new accounting rules that push banks to shed depreciating assets more quickly, according to a report. Fernando Acuna, the co-founder of Pisos Embargoes de Bancos, which advertises repossessed properties, made the comment in an interview with Bloomberg News. He said about 100,000 repossessed houses and apartments are now on the market, with a quarter of them listed on his website, on behalf of 25 banks. In September, the Bank of Spain began requiring banks to account for a fall in property values of at least 30% if they keep those assets more than two years.

Spain can’t really be the next-but-one euro-zone sovereign financial disaster. Can it?

Spain can’t really be the next-but-one euro-zone sovereign financial disaster. Can it?

After all, its public finances are much healthier than Ireland’s, or Greece’s, or Portugal’s. And its banking sector has been a rare beacon of probity in amongst a global financial mess. Right?

To be sure, optimists focus on Spain’s relatively modest gross government debt, which the IMF figures will come in at 63% of GDP this year, against Portugal’s 83%, Ireland’s 94%, and Greece’s astonishing 130%. Economists reckon once the debt to GDP ratio breaches around 90%, financial crisis and default become exponentially more likely.

And yes, that ratio will grow over the coming years as Spain battles to deal with its own structural fiscal shortfalls, which, once again, according to the IMF, exceed Portugal’s and Greece’s. But there’s plenty of time before this becomes an issue. After all, Spain’s gross debt will only breach 80% in 2014, by which time economic growth and government belt tightening should get the deficit under control.

And yet some of the estimates underpinning the expectations that Spain won’t be one of the peripheral dominoes seem distinctly…umm…optimistic.

To begin with, take Spain’s unemployment rate. At 20% this year, according to IMF projections, it stands at double Portugal’s rate and is even higher than Ireland’s and Greece’s, which are 13% and 12% respectively. An economy where one in five of the working age population is without a job is not a healthy one, even when factoring in the likelihood that a substantial fraction of these jobless will be employed unofficially to get around rigid labor laws.

What’s more, the economy’s overall unhealthiness is reflected in a current account deficit worth some 5% of GDP, which itself is seen shrinking this year. Like Ireland, Greece and Portugal, Spain has grown increasingly less competitive relative to Germany–whereas German unit labor costs rose by only 5% during the past decade, Spain’s have gone up by a third.

This means that unless German inflation starts to rise substantially, Spain, like the other peripheral euro-zone countries, is condemned to years of deflationary pressure in order to regain competitiveness.

And that’s a serious problem. Because Spain also has one of the most overstretched housing markets in Europe. Like Ireland, Spain suffered a real estate bubble and an associated construction boom. The result is massive overcapacity–vast tracts of empty housing and a crippled construction industry. If anything, Spanish house prices rose even higher than Ireland’s, by the 2008 peak they’d risen 2.4 times from where they were in 2000, while Ireland’s prices merely doubled. But where Irish prices have slumped some 37% since their peak, Spanish prices are only down around 10%.

Unfortunately, Spanish house price indexes are as transparent and as trustworthy as the European bank stress tests run earlier this year. Remember those? That’s right, the ones that passed Allied Irish Banks and the Bank of Ireland with flying colors.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled due to a general strike in Portugal.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled due to a general strike in Portugal. Trains and buses are also affected.

Services from healthcare to schools and banks have been hit. Unions say the whole country has more-or-less ground to a halt.

This is the first joint general strike by Portugal’s two biggest unions since 1988.

They have been angered by plans to cut public sector wages, freeze pensions and increase taxes.

Private and public sector workers are expected to take part in the stoppage.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates wants to stop rumours that Portugal will be the next Eurozone country to need a bailout after Ireland and Greece.

The stoppage comes just two days before the parliament in Lisbon is due to vote on an austerity budget.

earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter Scale at 0817 on Monday morning centred in Mijas

earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter Scale at 0817 on Monday morning centred in Mijas on the Costa del Sol.

However most of the population say they did not feel the tremor which was, according to the National Geographic Institute, at 36.61º North and 4.63º West and at a depth of 69 kilometres.

The institute says that there are 1,200 such earthquakes each year, of which only 20 or so are felt by the population.



Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27971.shtml#ixzz169woqD00

policy makers fear could one day price Portugal or even Spain out of global credit markets.

Any deal between the Irish government and the European Union and International Monetary Fund to resolve Ireland’s financial crisis is ultimately aimed at cutting short the turmoil in sovereign bond markets that policy makers fear could one day price Portugal or even Spain out of global credit markets.

Portugal, which like Ireland is a small economy with a relatively illiquid debt market, is seen as the next country likely to find itself in the sights of bond traders.

“If you see an Ireland package, we would hope that contagion effects would be limited,” said Ian Harnett, managing director at Absolute Strategy Research, a financial consulting firm. “But investors appear to be picking off weak countries one by one,” leaving Portugal “very much at risk.”

Irish bond yields soared in recent weeks on mounting worries about the government’s ability to meet the cost of rescuing its crippled banking sector. European officials upped the pressure on Ireland to apply for a rescue as turmoil spread to other peripheral bond markets, pushing up borrowing costs for Portugal and, to a lesser degree, Spain.

Supporters of late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco marked the 35th anniversary of his death

Supporters of late Spanish dictator Francisco Franco marked the 35th anniversary of his death Saturday by praying outside the basilica that houses his tomb, barred from attending a mass inside due to repair works.

About 100 anti-Franco demonstrators also later gathered outside at the Valley of the Fallen near Madrid, calling for the site's 150-metre-tall (500-foot) granite cross to be torn down and the general's remains moved elsewhere.

The protesters from the Forum for Memory, dedicated to identifying killed or missing opponents of Franco, shouted "We will not forget", a reference to Franco-era crimes.

"The Valley of the Fallen is a horror whose persistence in the heart of the country is inconceivable," the forum said in a statement.

The state-run Patrimonio Nacional, keeper of some of Spain's grandest historic houses, has since April blocked access to the sprawling site, citing public safety risks from repairs on buildings there.

The Benedictine community which oversees the basilica on Saturday celebrated a mass inside for members of the order to mark Franco's death on November 20, 1975.

More than 100 Franco supporters prayed outside the gates, chanted "Long Live Spain" and "Long Live Franco" and raised right-wing salutes.

Some wrapped themselves in the former Spanish flag from the Franco era, which is adorned with an eagle, a symbol that was changed after the dictator's death and replaced with the royal Bourbon coat of arms.

They were separated from the anti-Franco protesters by dozens of police, and there were no incidents.

The Valley of the Fallen, a vast underground mausoleum, was built on Franco's orders between 1940 and 1958.

Historians estimate the mass graves contain the remains of between 40,000 and 60,000 Franco supporters and the Republicans who opposed them in Spain's 1936-39 Civil War, which led to Franco's rise to power.

But for many Spaniards, the memorial site -- carved into the side of a mountain in part through the forced labour of political prisoners -- is their country's most divisive and potent reminder of the Franco era.

It drew gatherings of far-rightists nostalgic for Franco's rule until a law passed in 2007 by the socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero outlawed political rallies there.

The Franco Foundation, run by the late dictator's daughter Carmen, claims the government is using the excuse of danger from repair work to prevent masses for Franco at the basilica, consecrated by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

massive cross as a ‘symbol of death and vengeance’ and want it blown up as a public apology to the victims of Franquism.

A demonstration has been called for this Saturday, November 20, in the ‘Valle de los Caídos’ – ‘The Valley of the Fallen’ – in El Escorial, Madrid, to ask that the 150 metre high cross which stands atop the basilica which contains the remains of General Francisco Franco be destroyed. This Saturday will be 35 years since Franco’s death.

The associations which have called the protest consider the massive cross as a ‘symbol of death and vengeance’ and want it blown up as a public apology to the victims of Franquism.

The national federation of Foros por la Memoria released the news of Saturday’s demonstration in a press release issued on Thursday, proposing that the Valley of the Fallen be converted into a ‘memorial dedicated to the victims of fascism and to the political prisoners who built it with their forced labour’. The press release, seen by the EFE news agency, calls for Franco’s remains to be handed over to his family and an investigation launched into the thousands who are buried there.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27939.shtml#ixzz15pqXBQQI

Two dogs, one at Rottweiler, and the other a Rottweiler cross with a Pit-bull, have killed a 55 year old man and injured the man’s 29 year old son

Two dogs, one at Rottweiler, and the other a Rottweiler cross with a Pit-bull, have killed a 55 year old man and injured the man’s 29 year old son on a finca in Carcabuey, Córdoba. The dogs did not belong to the victims.

The Guardia Civil says that the owner of the dogs is a local man, and that he had reported their disappearance on Thursday morning. The attacked happened at 10pm that night.

The injured man was taken to the Infanta Margarita Hospital in Cabra, and the Guardia then informed the dogs’ owner what had happened. He went to the scene and confirmed the animals were his. Reports indicate the dogs had their papers in order with the civil responsibility insurance needed for dangerous breeds in Spain. 

A decision on the possible sacrifice of the animals will not be taken until full investigations are complete. For now they have been taken to a centre for abandoned animals.

A 50 year old man, named with the initials A.J.M.S. gave a statement to the duty judge on Friday

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27950.shtml#ixzz15pplwbkd

17 house searches were carried out and more than 8 kilos of cocaine, 4 kilos of Methamphetamine and ten kilos of Marihuana, as well as 15 kilos of substances used to adulterate the drugs,

National Police in Murcia have broken up the largest drug trafficking operation seen in the region or nearby provinces such as Alicante. A total of 47 people have been arrested and three laboratories used to adulterate the drugs have been found.

17 house searches were carried out and more than 8 kilos of cocaine, 4 kilos of Methamphetamine and ten kilos of Marihuana, as well as 15 kilos of substances used to adulterate the drugs, and presses, balances and other items.

The police investigation has been underway for several months and saw the interception of a three vehicle drug trafficking convoy on November 4.

The 47 people arrested are from Spain, Colombia, Brazil, Ukraine, Paraguay, Romania and the Dominican Republic. They will appear shortly in the instruction courts in Murcia, Totana and Molina de Segura.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27952.shtml#ixzz15ppOouvN

British man defrauded some 12 million € from seventy Britons.

British man, named as John H. has fled Mallorca after allegedly defrauding some 12 million € from seventy Britons. Most of the victims are retired and some have lost their life savings in what is being described as a pyramid fraud of false investments.

The Economic Crime Group of the National Police in Palma described the events as ‘a small Madoff’ and say that John H. has not been seen for a year. The massive fraud started in the middle of 2005.

El Mundo reports that police, after three months of investigations, have made one arrest, a 67 year old British chartered accountant, Richard John P. who lives in a mansion in Ambassador Park, Santa Ponça, Calvià, and who police believe had assisted John H. in his fraud. Richard John P. was arrested on Thursday and appeared before Instruction Court 7 in Palma de Mallorca on Friday. 

Several of the victims attended the court and heard the defence claim that Richard John P is innocent. Defence lawyer, Jaime Campaner, showed the court how Richard and his family had also lost ‘a fortune’ in investments with John H. Richard P. was granted bail.

Police think the money defrauded has been sent to financial havens.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_27954.shtml#ixzz15pop2MEH

Spain says can avoid 2nd wave of savings bank mergers | Reuters

Spain says can avoid 2nd wave of savings bank mergers Reuters: "Spain's Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Friday the country's troubled savings banks can avoid a second wave of mergers if they continue to carry out the necessary restructuring.
'If they do their homework, we can avoid a second wave of mergers,' Salgado said in an interview on Spanish television"

National Police have arrested four people for the theft of items of incalculable value which had been pillaged from first and fourth century tombs in Córdoba.

National Police have arrested four people for the theft of items of incalculable value which had been pillaged from first and fourth century tombs in Córdoba.

Some of them come from the necropolis recovered in a private estate in the town of Aguilar de la Frontera, Córdoba, which came to light after the floods of last August. At the time the Junta de Andalucía decided to cover up the site, to better conserve the remains and in an attempt to stop any depredations.

El Mundo reports that the pieces which have now been recovered had been taken from the Provincial Cultural Delegation warehouses belonging to the Junta de Andalucía, where they were being kept while a decision on their future was being taken.

Among those arrested is a Belgian-Lebanese man, who took the base of a column from the Medina Azahara in Córdoba, dating from the Omeya Caliphate out of the country, to then sell it at Christie’s auction house in London for some 150,000 €. It was the sale of that item which led the police to start their investigations. The man was located with the help of Interpol and arrested in Marbella on charges of contraband.

The man who sold the base to the Belgian man, an antique dealer in Ronda, has also been arrested. The dealer knew people who could supply such valuable items. 

Other items now recovered include a late Roman mosaic, Neolithic axes, Roman projectiles, an Oniokoe, and more than 300 Arab and Roman coins taken from the necropolis in Aguilar de la Frontera.

The Civil Guard have intercepted more than three tons of cannabis resin

The Civil Guard have intercepted more than three tons of cannabis resin in two separate operations which took place on the western coast of Málaga province in recent days. The first haul was on Sunday evening at the marina in Marbella from a yacht which had been under surveillance since the previous day. Two people were taken into custody on that occasion, F.J.A.S. and A.G.M., neither of whose nationalities has been revealed in reports.

The second was in the early hours of Tuesday when a 38 year old Spaniard, E.H.M., was arrested as he was trying to unload his cargo of cannabis onto a van waiting on shore. His boat is understood from the EFE news agency to have been followed to shore, to an area between the Playas del Padrón y de Velerín, by Civil Guard patrol boats.

Three Guardia Civil and two lawyers have been arrested and imprisoned

Three Guardia Civil and two lawyers have been arrested and imprisoned in an anti-drug operation which started with raids in Marbella. A total of ten people are being held in prison on remand.

The case comes as a result of a 1,400 kilo hashish haul found on a Marbella beach back on September 21, and reports indicate that the police operation remains open this (Tuesday) morning. 

The Guardia Civil Internal Affairs Unit, based in Madrid has been directing the operation with a court in Málaga province, and Diario Sur reports that there are at least 12 arrest in total since September.

One of the arrested Guardia Civil is reported to be based with the Judicial Police in Málaga, while another is reported to be based in Córdoba.

Spanish National Police also seized 5.5 million euros – nearly £4.7 million – in cash, 65 luxury cars and six yachts in raids in Madrid, Alicante and Galicia

Police seize £143 million of cocaine in international operation - Telegraph: "total of 65 arrests were made in Operation Scythe, 55 of them in Spain and ten in Argentina.
The Spanish National Police also seized 5.5 million euros – nearly £4.7 million – in cash, 65 luxury cars and six yachts in raids in Madrid, Alicante and Galicia – the rugged region on Spain's north-west Atlantic coast which is the main gateway for cocaine coming into Europe.
In Argentina and Brazil, police seized a total of 3.4 metric tonnes of cocaine ready for shipment across the Atlantic. The drugs were wrapped in sealed one kilogram packets bearing Donald Duck logos, each worth £42,000 at street level – a total of £142.8 million pounds. They were to have been shipped to Europe hidden in containers of apples."

The Brit Costa Gangster has been eclipsed by Europe's new mafias.

 The sun went down on the Costa del Crime years ago, your average

English gangster has fallen victim to extradition, just like Ronnie Knight and Kenneth

Noye.

The Brit Costa Gangster has been eclipsed by Europe's new mafias.

It's true that lean, mean eastern Europeans, African and South American pretenders to

the throne, are taking over the streets from Madrid to Torremolinos, Colombians have

cornered the market in robbery, Yugoslavians concentrate on payrolls, Romanians are

into people trafficking. The list is endless, Nigerians, Bulgarians, Moroccans, all

looking for a cut of a billion euro industry.

Meanwhile, Mr British Big is perceived to be about as threatening as a wet weekend

in Blackpool. But there is always going to be fat earnings in sex, drugs, sangria - and

now Spain’s crashed property market.

The real hardcore Brits abroad though aren't going anywhere. The Costa del Sol was

reminded of the ruthlessness sun-soaked gangsters by a mysterious crash on 'Death

Road', the notorious M430, near Mijas. Stewart ‘Speccy’ Boyd, a well-known British

gangland enforcer, died instantly when his top of the range Audi TT Sports left the

road in wholly unexpected circumstances. His girlfriend and their children died with

him.

The road was straight and dry. The absolute opposite of his life. Boyd was just 40 but

had a record of terror stretching 20 years into the back streets of Glasgow.

Weeks before his death he'd completed an 18-month sentence for witness

intimidation. As he left prison, he flew out to Malaga and began to be seen in all the

best places. He was known to dress well and was a regular at the Hugo Boss boutique

in Porte Benuse where a shirt costs a month's salary. He was also known to be into

drug dealing and protection rackets, both major earners in this part of Andalucia. It is

rumoured that he died because of a £2.5m cocaine debt to the Russian Mafia.

Mijas is the expanding mecca of British-owned time-shares and hotels. But everybody

in the know there still refuses talk about why Boyd was in the area on that fateful day.

Strangely, minutes after arriving at a sumptuous timeshare complex, less than a

couple of miles from where he died, I was revealed as a journalist. Immediately I

was presented with a bottle of champagne and dispatched in a paid-for taxi back to

my hotel in the appropriately named Danger Road, Torrimolinos.

The message was frighteningly obvious.

On the face of it, a lot has changed in Torremolinos in the last decade. It's as if Bob

Guccioni had been brought into to redesign the topless beaches. Now it's all collagen

lips pouting above silicone breasts. It's certainly got bigger, in every way. More

hotels, more McDonald's, more Burger Kings. But the streets still stink of rotting

rubbish and bad drains. The ocean is like an open sewer. Nightly, caches of hashish

are dumped three miles off shore for local fishermen to net.

Many of the hundreds of bars along the mountainous San Miguel Street operate as

money launderers and you can actually order a prostitute in one prominent

supermarket.

Marbella, 20 miles up the road, isn't the poser's paradise it used to be in those

hedonistic days of sunbathing criminals. The days of posing along the front in your

Porsche Carrerra ended when the council decided to pedestrianise the promenade.

Egg and chips is three times dearer than anywhere else in Spain. Half-naked lady-

boys beg unashamedly along the sea front.

That's not to say all the flash is gone - take a trip round the cluster of jewellers in the

old town and Orange Square. Diamonds as big as your shoe. Jewellery no honest man

ought to be able to afford - watches by Gucchi, diamonds by DeBeer and jewellery by

Cartier. Armed guards patrol arrogantly outside.

It was Prince Alfonso von Hohenlohe who spotted the potential of this part of

Andalucia in 1946. On a whim he bought Finca Santa Margarita, near Porte Benuse, a

sprawling hacienda with a magnificent tower. And suddenly it was party time in the

sun. For the next ten years his beautiful friends visited - and many of them never

bothered to go home again. So, in 1957 Prince Alf turned his home into the Marbella

Club and the rich and the famous started to pay for the privilege of attending his

parties.

And that's where it all began: the sun, the money and the lack of an extradition

agreement between the UK and Spain. The British gangsters buzzed around the rich

like flies round honey pots. Now these old survivors of the 60s and the 70s are the

honey pots, whether they are property developers, time-share executives or buy-off-

plan cowboys. This is the Costa del Crime a decade into the Millennium.

Google Maps becomes embroiled in another battle after angering Spain for “wrongly” showing the Perejil Island as part of Morocco.

Google Maps becomes embroiled in another battle after angering Spain for “wrongly” showing the Perejil Island as part of Morocco.
The disputed territory named after the herb that grows there (Parsley), lies just off the coast of Morocco and is smaller than a football pitch.
A spokesman for Google Spain said it would be marked as a “disputed territory.

Court of First Instance No. 6 of Marbella has acquitted UBS Bank to pay 12 million euros to a client for an investment in Lehman Brothers

The Court of First Instance No. 6 of Marbella has acquitted UBS Bank to pay 12 million euros to a client for an investment in Lehman Brothers bonds. The lawsuit is the biggest Lehman Brothers-related lawsuit in Spain.
The court ruling declared that the client “has not shown the occurrence of any alleged failings” to the entity. The plaintiff was a client of the UBS private banking office in Marbella, who had invested all the profits from the sale of land in Lehman Brothers bonds.
The customer lost his entire investment with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers on 15th September 2008.

Costa del Sol Tourist Board thinks it positive news that the area is losing British tourists

Costa del Sol Tourist Board welcomes fall in British tourist numbers: "Costa del Sol Tourist Board thinks it positive news that the area is losing British tourists.

Tourist chief, Ana Gomez, speaking at the World Travel Market in London, says that it meant that not all their eggs are in the same basket, welcoming an increase in tourist numbers from other European countries, such as Italy, France or Sweden.

A report on this year’s tourism, presented by the President of the Tourist Board, Salvador Pendón, showed that the number of Britons arriving at Málaga Aiport between January and September was down 9.9% on last year. However the total number of international travellers was up by 1.8% thanks to increases from Sweden up 87.6%, Italy up 58.1%, Austria up 51.35, France up 28.1%, Danish up 25% and Russians up 23.9%.

‘The British market still has 32% of the total despite the falls seen in recent years’, said Pendón, but saw the rise of other nationalities as ‘possibly being the good thing about the crisis’."

Spain is currently stepping up controls on drivers using their mobile phones

New Tráfico campaign cracks down on distracted drivers: "DGT traffic authority in Spain is currently stepping up controls on drivers using their mobile phone or programming a GPS unit while driving.

Of the 1,295 fatal accidents this year, distraction was considered the cause in 512 cases, and in these cases 581 people have died.
The DGT says that dialling a number or even the eight seconds it takes to answer the phone can mark the difference between life and death.

Other normal activities can also prove fatal, lighting a cigarette takes four seconds, adjusting the radio or changing a CD is described as taking five or six, and all of them mean taking your eyes off the road.

A car travelling at 120 kms/hour covers 100 metres in just three seconds."

Málaga actor and director, Antonio Banderas, has been trying his hand at photography and will open his first exhibition

Antonio Banderas brings his photography to Madrid: "actor's photographs can be seen at the Cervantes Institute until November 21

Málaga actor and director, Antonio Banderas, has been trying his hand at photography and will open his first exhibition at the Instituto Cervantes in Madrid on Thursday. The show has already been presented at the Cervantes Institute in New York.

The show consists of 23 images, mostly of women, and linked to Spanish themes such as Carmen, The Barber of Sevilla, Don Juan Tenorio, and others, ‘reflecting concepts of Spanish references and myths’.

The actor said in New York last May that he has been taking photos for many years but he had never thought of making them public, until now."

British man among spate of drug related deaths in Málaga

British man among spate of drug related deaths in Málaga: "three drug takers have died in Málaga province in just 72 hours. Two of the dead were Spanish, one British, and all were aged between 35 and 45.

The first case was the 35 year old Briton. His body was found on Saturday in Torre del Mar at his home by his flat mate. Final results from the autopsy have not yet been published, but the police think that the man had gone out the night before and had taken a mixture of cocaine and alcohol.

The second case was of a 40 year old Spaniard who was found dead in the passenger seat his car in the Carranque area of the city, Police found a syringe by his neck"

Wounded Spanish journalist receives first Freedom of Speech Prize for Journalistic Values - The Times of India

Wounded Spanish journalist receives first Freedom of Speech Prize for Journalistic Values - The Times of India: "Spanish photographer Emilio Morenatti, who lost a foot in a roadside bomb explosion while working in Afghanistan last year, received on Tuesday the first Freedom of Speech Prize for Journalistic Values.

Morenatti accepted the prize from Mayor Manuel Maria de Bernardo in the southern city of San Fernando, and from the president of the Cadiz Press Association, Fernando Santiago, at a ceremony in the Royal Theater of Las Cortes where 200 years ago freedom of the press was proclaimed in Spain."

Thomas Cook y los hoteleros firman un pacto de no agresión - HostelTUR.com

Thomas Cook y los hoteleros firman un pacto de no agresión - HostelTUR.com: "United Kingdom and the Spanish hotel yesterday reached an agreement in extremis to disable the judicial conflict that both sides were going, following the decision by British tour operator to cut 5% of outstanding invoices for August and September. But trading has not been easy: Manny Fontenla Novoa, chief executive of the company, had even threatened to withdraw from the catalogs of European establishments that did not want to join this agreement.
As explained by the president of the employers CEHAT hotel, Joan Molas the tentative agreement reached yesterday is based on three puntos.En First, the recognition that Thomas Cook will not make a unilateral decision of this type.
Second, establish a single clearing system for the hotels to which they applied the discount of 5%.
And thirdly, Thomas Cook is committed to increasing its capacity to Spain next year, with 50,000 seats more than 450,000 overnight stays mean extras, such as advanced Hosteltur yesterday."

Foreign investors shun risky eurozone bonds

FT.com / Capital Markets - Foreign investors shun risky eurozone bonds: "Foreign investors have cut their holdings of so-called peripheral eurozone government bonds because of rising fears over the health of these economies.
Local banks and financial institutions replaced foreign counterparts as holders of Greek, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish debt in the second quarter, at the height of the sovereign debt crisis amid fears of a default. The trend, identified in research by Citigroup based on World Bank and Eurostat data, has continued since the second quarter with government bond auctions attracting almost exclusively local buyers."