Moody's threatens Spain rating cut, euro falls

Rating agency Moody's put Spain on review for a possible downgrade on Friday, adding to concerns that a Greek rescue package has done little to halt the spread of Europe's debt crisis.

The euro sank and German Bunds jumped after Moody's put Spain's Aa2 government bond ratings on review, citing concerns over growth and saying funding costs would continue to be high in the wake of euro zone leaders deal on Greece last week.

Spain's rating is still set at a high investment grade, far above those of Greece, Portugal and Ireland -- the countries bailed out in the crisis so far.

But while Moody's said any cut for Spain would likely be limited to one notch, it said the Greek package had signaled a clear shift in risk for bondholders across the euro zone.

"The rating agency ... notes that challenges to long-term budget balance remain due to Spain's subdued economic growth and fiscal slippage within parts of its regional and local government sector," the agency said.

Its current rating for Spain is in line with S&P's AA setting, while Fitch has the country one notch higher at AA+.

International investors are concerned the euro zone's fourth largest economy, hamstrung by anemic growth rates and high unemployment, will fail to put its fiscal house in order and need a Greek-style bailout. Nerves about that have sent bond yields to their highest level in over a decade.

The euro fell more than 40 pips against the dollar on Moody's announcement, nearing morning lows at $1.4281. Bund futures rose over half a point while early indications were of higher Spanish yields.

 

RESIDENT in Lomas Rio Verde Alto, Marbella

RESIDENT in Lomas Rio Verde Alto, Marbella, has reported his house was broken into last month by a woman who stole money and jewellery.

She was caught on CCTV camera entering the house while another woman was posted as a lookout in the neighbour’s garden. The owners were in the garden with relatives at the time of the break-in.

The homeowner wishes to warn others to make their homes safer.

Jaén to demolish water bed properties

50 illegally built properties built in Jaén are to be demolished as they invade river beds in the residential zone, Puentes de Jaén.

The area suffers periodic flooding, but despite that over the past ten years some 5,000 illegal homes have been built there.

The Town Hall wanted to regularise the properties in the new PGOU Urban Plan, along with 135 private plots which contain swimming pools and other installations.

However the Junta wants to compulsory purchase some 893,888 square metres of land next to the Frio and Quiebrajano Rivers as part of a project to re-channel 40kms of the rivers which still awaits environmental approval. A project to dam the Eliche River has been abandoned.

 

Estepona Town Hall tells the workers, 'Take a cut if you want to be paid'.

Estepona Town Hall has called on its municipal workers to accept a pay cut if they want to be paid. The Partido Popular say they want to eliminate all extra or bonus payments by the end of the month, given the ‘desperate situation’.

Mayor, José María García Urbano, has sent a letter to the workers which warns that their salaries are at risk, but President of the workers’ committee, José Carrasco, has said that ‘it is unacceptable that they want to charge workers with the responsibility for the payment of the wages, which is the obligation of the governing team’. He said the workers were aware of the situation, and are prepared to accept measures, but not with the speed desired by the Mayor. They have called for talks with a ‘global vision’.

The PP team are blaming their Socialist predecessor, David Valadez, saying he claimed there was money for the wages, when in fact there is a 5.5 million € shortfall.

 

Use seawater or vinegar to treat jellyfish stings, not urine

But according to the British Red Cross, the widespread belief that urine can lessen the pain of venom injected by the marine creatures is misplaced.
It says the substance has the wrong chemical make-up for the job, and that seawater or vinegar is more effective.
The advice comes after conservationists claimed that the number of jellyfish off the coast of Britain is on the rise.
Last month swarms of moon jellyfish led to the closure of a nuclear power plant in Scotland by blocking its cooling water filters.
As families head to the seaside this weekend at the start of the school summer holidays, Joe Mulligan, head of first aid at the British Red Cross, said: “A sting from a jellyfish can be extremely painful, but trying to treat it with urine isn’t going to make your day any better.
“Urine just doesn’t have the right chemical make-up to solve the problem.”
He went on: “If people have been stung, they need to get out of the water to avoid getting stung again. Once out, slowly pouring seawater over the sting will help ease the pain.
“Doing the same thing with vinegar can be even more effective as the acid helps neutralise the jellyfish sting. But, unless you’re near a chip shop, seawater will probably be easier to find.”
Although described by some as an “old wives’ tale”, the belief that urinating on a jellyfish sting will lessen its pain became far more widespread after it featured in an episode of the American sitcom Friends.

 

MARBELLA Town Hall plans to spend €25,000 to help local families with children aged between three and six

MARBELLA Town Hall plans to spend €25,000 to help local families with children aged between three and six to face the expenses of the new school term.

The mayor, Angeles Muñoz, explained that the town hall will grant vouchers of €100 to school children registered as residents in the town whose parents earn less than the minimum wage. Children under six are not entitled to free books offered by the Junta de Andalucia.

The town hall has also set aside €35,000 which will allow the town’s most needy families to use school transport for free.

The mayor said that despite the situation of the municipal coffers, there is no way that these grants can be done away with.

GIRL MAULED BY PROPELLER IN HOLIDAY ISLAND HORROR

BRITISH holiday worker says she is glad to be alive after her leg was sucked on to the propeller of a speedboat.
Former nursery nurse Suzanne Cassidy, 26, suffered horrific injuries during a day out to mark a friend’s birthday.
She had finished her turn being towed on an inflatable ring when she was struck as the boat’s engine was fired up again.
Miss Cassidy, of Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, was dragged on to the propeller blades, which inflicted deep cuts to her right leg and snapped a bone.
The bar worker grabbed the side of the craft and twisted around to try to avoid the the razor-sharp blades as they hacked into her leg.
She was hauled on board by colleagues from The Highlander pub in the resort of San Antonio on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza and taken to the Can Misses Hospital.
In bed after more than four hours of emergency surgery, Miss Cassidy, who had arrived in Ibiza in April, said yesterday: “I’m just glad to be alive.
I really thought I was going to die but my friends pulled me back.
Suzanne Cassidy
“I knew immediately the danger I was in when I felt my leg being sucked towards the propellers by the force of the engine. Somehow, I found the strength in my upper body to twist myself around and away from danger.
“I really thought I was going to die but my friends pulled me back.
“I could feel the throbbing in my leg where it was broken but I didn’t want to look at it so I only found out the bone had been sticking out of my leg after I came to after the operation.”
Police in San Antonio are investigating the captain of the boat to find out why, in the accident on Sunday, he started the engine before Miss Cassidy was clear.

 

Estepona Beach and Country Club. Spanish property lawyer defends Irish clients 6 million Euro scam

A leading Spanish Property lawyer is defending almost a hundred Northern Ireland families in a property scam worth six million euros.  The bogus scheme dates back to 2005/2006 and relates to a number of off-plan apartments at the Estepona Beach and Country Club in Spain.

6 million euros swindled from investors in scam

The families from Northern Ireland invested a total of six million euros in 350 apartments supposedly planned for the Estepona Beach and Country Club in Spain.  The project was managed by Ocean View Properties, a British based developer who collected the deposits for the properties in 2005/6.

Each of the investors put down a deposit of between 60,000 and 100,000 euros after they were told that the scheme had enormous investment potential thanks to Disneyland’s plans to relocate from Paris to Estepona.  While Disneyland has purchased land in Estepona, the company has never announced any plans for the area.

The plan never came to fruition and neither did the planned Estepona Beach and Country Club.  The investors all lost their deposits and the contracts they had to sign and return to Ocean View Properties were never countersigned by the developer.

Overseas property lawyer taking on class action

The families involved in the scam have now launched a class action against Ocean View Properties and its Spanish partner Sun Golf Desarrollos Inmobiliarios, which was in charge of marketing.

Spanish property lawyer Antonio Flores who is representing the families also claims that the lawyers who were recommended to Ocean View’s clients were complicit in the property fraud.

Some of the families involved also invested in other Ocean View off-plan developments in Morocco and the Dominican Republic, neither of which ever came to fruition.

 

Spaniard gets 8 years for Yukos embezzlement

Moscow court on Monday sentenced a Spanish citizen to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzling $13 billion from a subsidiary of the now-defunct Yukos oil company.

The conviction and sentencing of Antonio Valdes-Garcia, who escaped from house arrest in Russia in 2007 and is now in Spain, came despite imprisoned Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky's testimony that he didn't know of any such embezzlement.

Valdes-Garcia, who has dual Russian-Spanish citizenship, headed a Yukos subsidiary called Fargoil accused of funneling $13 billion of funds raised by the export sale of Yukos' oil.

Critics say Valdes-Garcia's conviction was part of the state onslaught against Yukos and Khodorkovsky, who was arrested in 2003 and convicted of embezzlement and tax fraud in prosecutions that supporters claim were Kremlin punishment for his funding of opposition parties. Yukos assets were auctioned off, much of them going to state oil company Rosneft.

Russian news agencies confirmed the eight-year sentence, six years fewer than prosecutors had demanded.

Valdes-Garcia fled Russia in 2003, when the state case against Yukos began. He was charged in absentia, but returned to Russia in 2005 to give evidence in exchange for being classified a witness rather than a suspect.

He claimed Russian officials reneged on the deal and forced him to partially confess. He was placed under house arrest, during which time he said he received police threats that he should implicate Khodorkovsky and others.

He claimed to have been severely beaten after he vowed to go public about the threats. Valdes-Garcia said he filed a report saying he sustained the injuries in a fall from a window in exchange for promises he wouldn't suffer further violence.

But he escaped from house arrest in Moscow in January 2007 after reportedly locking his police guards inside his apartment.

 

Puerto Banus on the Costa del Sol BRITISH teenager has been stabbed

Roddy Azar, 17, suffered a knife wound to the groin when he got into a row with a group of youths.

A police source said: "Our understanding is an argument started after one of the youths said something to the victim's girlfriend and a female pal that upset them.


"The British boy was stabbed during a brief fight. He fell to the ground feeling dizzy."

Mr Azar, whose dad is Spanish, was taken to hospital after the attack in posh Puerto Banus on the Costa del Sol. The keen footballer lives nearby and attends a private school.

Police were yesterday hunting five people over Friday's incident. Mr Azar is expected to fully recover.

TWO men wearing hoods and armed with an axe threatened several people at a bingo hall in Marbella and stole almost €1,000.

The two men burst into the premises in Calle Magallanes, dressed in black and covering their faces with black hoods. There were only around six people on the premises at the time. The intruders threatened the staff with an axe and demanded that they hand over all the money that was on the premises.

When they left, the authorities were alerted and the National and Local Police arrived within minutes. One of the men was identified and arrested shortly afterwards.

British teenager was stabbed 13 times and saw her boyfriend murdered in a bloodbath on a holiday island.

Maddison Wrixon, 18, tried to fight off a crazed knifeman who tied up Cristian Santana Guerra, 21, then stabbed him to death.

Miss Wrixon, who lives on the Canary island of Fuerteventura, underwent emergency surgery which saved her life.

Four out of ten Spanish are in favor of expelling immigrants who are unemployed and nearly 80 percent think there are a number of "excessive" or "high" of foreigners in Spain.

These figures emerge from the report by experts at the request of the Spanish Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia , the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, which analyzes data collected by the C enter for Sociological Research in late 2009 on attitudes toward immigration in Spain.

The more protected
The Spanish believe that immigrants are the group "more protected", earning more than they contribute and which account for aid, especially schoolchildren, and they are still attributing responsibility for the deterioration in the quality of care and education.

The report concludes that there has been changes in the appreciation of the diversity that immigration brings, but has increased the acceptance of the expulsion of a student for wearing headscarf and has reached the willingness to maintain their culture and customs.

The authors attribute the change in the image of immigration to the economic crisis and warn that a higher incidence in the population groups most exposed to competition in the labor market.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Andalusian Monday ordered the temporary closure of the nine grounds of bivalve molluscs of the province,

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Andalusian Monday ordered the temporary closure of the nine grounds of bivalve molluscs of the province, after receiving the results of the analysis confirm an increase in PSP toxin, responsible for the phenomenon popularly known as 'red tide' in clams, mussels thin shells.

This has been confirmed to Europa Press, the provincial delegate of the branch, Monica Bermudez, who has stated that only affects shellfish , given the impossibility of movement of these vessels to other areas, "because all toxins are present", which disables the exercise of this activity.

Specifically, the nine coastal fishing grounds of the province, Fuengirola, Torremolinos Rincon de la Victoria and Nerja-Torrox-analysis began to be positive on the 1st of this month in the east. Thus, Rincon de la Victoria were added those of Fuengirola and Marbella area between Sabinillas and, finally covering it entirely.

As for the opening, Bermudez explained that it depends on what "will determine the analytical." This is necessary to obtain at least two negative results, with a minimum of 48 hours in making both samples. The procedure for analytical control of these being in Europe.

Grants

Once you close all fisheries in the area, an order of the same Department determines the need to account 21 days of unemployment in order to access aid for temporary cessation of fishing for reasons unforeseen by the close 90 boats engaged in shellfish in Malaga.

As he pointed out the Provincial Delegate of Agriculture and Fisheries, this is guaranteed a minimum of 100 euros per working day for shipping companies during the period of inactivity, while for the crew, the maximum is about 40 euros a day.

However, it is not yet known what the total affected by the closure, as the Harbour Master gives the possibility to use fishmongers roles, so that in some cases, can focus on other types of art. "If they could switch to another activity not present the role, because fishing and would therefore not be affected, "stated Bermúdez.

BRITISH businesswoman has vanished after allegedly taking thousands from an English couple to furnish their home.

Margaret Corley, who lived in Marbella, was contracted by property developers Peninsula to furnish apartments at a golf resort in Atarfe, near Granada.
But after being handed thousands of euros for furniture at the Medina Elvira golf scheme she disappeared, leaving a string of victims out of pocket.
One victim Lesley Howard, 55, who lives near Manchester, ended up losing 16,200 euros.
She told the Olive Press: “My husband Frank and I transferred 16,200 euros to her company Royal Peninsula Vacations in 2008 as Corley was setting up and running the rentals.”
But after chasing Corley and the company for updates for nearly a year they eventually discovered that neither she nor her company worked for the developers any longer.
“It was only in March 2010 that they told us Corte Ingles had only received 3,800 euros for our furniture package.
“They said the rest had gone missing with Margaret.”
The couple, who have since filed a report with police, are desperately trying to track down Corley, who they insist has left ‘numerous other victims’.


They have since had to shell out a further 7,700 euros to get their apartment furnished.
The Olive Press tried repeatedly to speak to director Gaspar Lino at the developers Peninsula, but were unable to get an answer.
Its current sales and marketing manager Steve Hindley said: “I can’t comment on this, you have to speak to the director.”
A former sales director of Peninsula Sharon Hitchcock however, confirmed that Corley had disappeared with a lot of money.
She said: “We tried very hard to find her but were unsuccessful. I am not sure if she is even still in Spain.
“We did our best to get the furniture but a lot of people simply had to pay again, it was terrible.”

Marbella legalises the Senator Hotel

Marbella Town Hall has decided to legalise the illegally built Senator Hotel following an agreement reached with the owner of the building.

The owner will pay three million € to the Town Hall, and will also finance the costs of half of the extension to the Congress Palace which it neighbours. That extension has a budget of about seven million €.

It’s the latest deal to be reached in the compensation scheme in the new PGOU for the town.

Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, told the press on Tuesday that the owner wants to open the establishment this month, but she is insisting that he first meets the requirements for an opening licence to be granted, but she added that she wanted to see the hotel opened as soon as possible.

 

75% of Town Halls in Andalucía are bankrupt

The UGT union General Secretary in Andalucía, Manuel Pastrana, has said that 75% of the Town Halls in the region are bankrupt. The union has presented a guide to combat the ERE early retirement schemes which are now being enforced in the administrations, and fears an avalanche of public sector sackings after the General Election.

Manuel Pastrana also confirmed that UGT, union CCOO and another 20 organisations are preparing a ‘hot autumn’ with street demonstrations. He drew a scene of serious social conflict and said that ‘social dialogue and collective negotiation with companies has become impossible.

 

LOCAL POLICE officer has testified in court that the former mayor of Marbella, Marisol Yague, asked him to lift a fine for drunk driving in August 2005.

In his testimony, the police officer claims Yague called him on his personal mobile phone to ask him if he could “do anything” for a nephew of journalist Jose Maria Garcia, who had been charged with drunk driving. He claims to have responded that he “could call him a taxi”, because he had already finished writing out his report. He claims the journalist also called him, which surprised him and led him to ask about the case several months later, when he was told that the report was still at the station and the trial had been cancelled.

The former lady mayor, who is also charged in the Malaya case, was in court this week and denied the charges. The prosecutor is asking for nine months ban from holding public office for failing to pursue crime. Four members of the local police are also on trial, including the former chief, Rafael del Pozo who faces three years in prison, seven years suspension and a fine of €13,500.

All five are accused of hiding this report and two others and not passing them on to the courts.

McInerney Holdings looks set to be wound down, through a voluntary liquidation process instigated by the group’s management.

The board of the debt-ridden Irish housebuilding group has written to its shareholders explaining its decision and informing them that it will hold an extraordinary general meeting on July 29 to vote on the matter. The board requires 50% shareholder approval to pass the motion.

In the letter to shareholders, McInerney’s chairman, Ned Sullivan, outlines that the group has "no meaningful assets of worth", no bank facilities and no cash, leaving the board with "no realistic alternative but to propose its liquidation" and cease trading.

He added the directors have exhausted all possible efforts and options to rescue the group and have acted in the best interest of shareholders at all times.

"As there is no longer any remaining equity value for the existing shareholders, and following consultation with our financial and legal advisers, the only realistic option available to your board, at this point, is to propose a voluntary liquidation of the company."

McInerney was placed in temporary examinership last September, owing a consortium of banks (including Bank of Ireland, KBC and Anglo Irish Bank) a combined €113 million.

Elements of its Irish business are currently awaiting a Supreme Court judgment on an appeal against the High Court ruling against a rescue plan for the group tabled by US-based investor group, Oaktree Capital.

The ruling on proposed investment in the McInerney Homes Ltd and McInerney Contracting Ltd subsidiaries will have no real affect on the overall group, however, as the two divisions will either go into receivership or hold no equity interest for their former parent, pending the outcome.

Following its examinership, the McInerney group de-listed from both the Irish and London Stock Exchanges, claiming it wasn’t in a position to meet its obligations as a publicly quoted company.

Earlier this year, McInerney’s British operations were placed in administration and later sold off to Miller Homes. Its Spanish operations had already been sold. Last month, London-based corporate financier, David Nabarro bought the 21.5% stake in the group formerly owned by the Quinn Group, and was linked with a takeover bid and the seeking of a separate EGM to remove the existing board.

McInerney’s board, however, is approaching shareholders with its voluntary liquidation idea as it sees no alternative value deal. It said that, despite its best efforts, it hadn’t been possible to secure any further investment in respect of the group.

How it all unraveled

-November 2009: Announces it’s on the brink of breaching certain bank covenants. McInerney says it is actively looking to dispose of all non-cash generative aspects of the group, as part of a wide-ranging cost cutting exercise.

- April 2010: Begins disposal of Spanish business after board member Barry O’Connor expresses interest.

- July 2010: Raises €45m from US-based investor, Oaktree Capital, and makes restructuring proposal to British and Irish banks.

- August 2010: NAMA instructs banks to withhold credit facilities from McInerney.

- September 2010: Group placed in examinership, with debts of €113m owed to Anglo, BoI and KBC.

- November 2010: De-lists from both Irish and London Stock Exchanges. Board says business isn’t in a position to meet obligations as a publicly quoted company. Group taken out of examinership, but Irish business remains.

- February 2011: High Court rejects — for a second time — rescue plan for the group, tabled by Oaktree Capital.

- March 2011: McInerney appeals High Court decision to the Supreme Court. McInerney’s British operations placed in administration, subsequently being acquired by British firm Miller Homes.

- June 2011: London-based financier, David Nabarro buys the 21.5% stake in McInerney — previously owned by Quinn Group. Interests in Alanda Club Marbella sold to Onagrup.

- July 2011: McInerney board writes to shareholders informing them of its intention to launch voluntary liquidation process.

Most illegally built homes in Andalucía to be allowed to remain standing

The new decree being prepared by the Junta de Andalucía on the isolated illegal properties built across the region will allow the buildings to remain, but says that they will never be declared legal. The decree intends to bring order to a reality, but notes that the law cannot allow the properties to be made legal.

El País reports the new decree will apply to properties which have been built for at least four years, provided they are not constructed in areas of outstanding beauty or in river beds where extra protection orders are in place.

Such properties can continue to be used and lived in as long as a series of basic requirements on health and safety are met.
Under the new decree local Town Halls will issue ‘a resolution of recognition’ for the properties. However with the lack of legality it means that no first occupancy licence can ever be issued, and that means the property will lack certain protection in criminal proceedings, for example in boundary disputes or in cases of compulsory purchase.

Also the owners of such property will be prohibited from carrying out any building work, other than renovation strictly necessary for reasons of safety.

The properties will have to be connected to basic services, and when they are too isolated they will have to have autonomous supplies paid for by the owners. The property owners will also have to pay a tax to the local Town Hall to obtain the ‘resolution of recognition’. Such resolutions will have to be issued within six months after an application is made and the owners will have to pay for any works to bring their properties into the boundaries of the new legislation.
Only properties constructed more than four years ago are eligible.

In the Axarquía and Almanzora valley alone as many as 25,457 illegal homes have been counted, and it is estimated that 89% of them will fall into the new legislation. In Andalucía as a whole the number of illegally built properties is estimated to be between 300,000 and 500,000.

 

driver crashed through the wall of the property into the pool in Marbella.

A VEHICLE had to be extracted from a private swimming pool at a villa in Marbella after the. No-one was injured and he was able to escape through the window.

 

Forest fire destroys 200 hectares in San Roque

The fire is now stabilised and residents of two urbanisations which were evacuated as a precaution have returned home

Two urbanisations were evacuated as a precaution on Wednesday night after a forest fire broke out in the Sierra Carbonera, San Roque, destroying 200 hectares of land before it was stabilised on Thursday.

Fire fighters were at the scene fighting the blaze throughout the night, and were joined by air support at first light on Thursday. Eleven Infoca specialist teams were brought in from Cádiz, Huelva and Málaga, plus two support brigades from Sevilla and Málaga, local firemen, the National Police and the Civil Guard. Europa Press reports that the operation involved more than 100 personnel.

Infoca announced that the fire was stabilised at 2.30pm on Thursday. Residents of the Vista Hermosa and the Santa Margarita urbanisations had been allowed to return to their homes earlier in the day.

The Junta de Andalucía’s environment chief, José Juan Díaz Trillo, said evidence appears to indicate that the blaze was started intentionally.

There was another fire in the area on Sunday, in the Sierra del Arca, which it’s now known was started by arson.

 

Bank ordered to reinstate sacked staff from Las Dunas Hotel in Estepona

The TSJA Andalucía High Court of Justice has ordered the Banco Pastorto reinstate the hotel’s workforce who were sacked last year from the Estepona hotel Las Dunas after the bank moved to foreclose on the mortgage which had been taken out by the previous owner.

The 5-star hotel closed its doors in May 2010.

The TSJA has upheld a previous sentence by a court in Málaga and, it’s understood from a press release from the CCOO union sent to Europa Press, has also ordered the bank to pay the staff their unpaid salaries. They must also pay any possible compensation which may be ruled in the future.

CCOO’s Lola Villalba called on the Banco Pastor to seek companies interested in buying the hotel to allow it to reopen as soon as possible.

 

German man dies in Marbella chainsaw accident

68 year old man from Germany died in a chainsaw accident on Tuesday while he and his neighbour were pruning a tree in his garden in the Elviria area of Marbella.

Diario Sur reports that the victim’s arm was severed when the neighbour lost control of the saw, and he bled to death shortly afterwards, despite attempts by local police and emergency services to stem the flow of blood.

The 48 year old neighbour, who is also German, now faces charges of involuntary manslaughter. He is understood to have told police in his statement that the accident happened when the saw’s chain jammed.

 

EU aims to slash mobile phone roaming charges

The high roaming costs of using smartphones and tablets across the European Union are to be slashed under a new plan issued on Wednesday to give users greater choice in a more competitive, regulated market.
In a season that often sees disgruntled vacationers returning home to shock bills after calls and downloads in other EU nations, the European Commission said it was time "to get to the root cause of roaming rip-offs, namely the lack of competition."
To force phone operators to offer better deals, telecoms commissioner Neelie Kroes is submitting legislation offering Europeans the possibility from July 1, 2014, of buying a stand-alone roaming service from any provider while keeping their own number.
If a consumer opted for a separate contract, their device would automatically switch to the pre-selected roaming provider when travelling -- without change of number or SIM card.
Once approved by the European parliament and the 27 member states, the new regulation will also give mobile operators, including "virtual" operators without an own network, the right to use other operators' networks in the EU.
"Within a single market there is simply no justification for huge mark-ups, just because you've crossed an invisible border that is supposed to have disappeared," Kroes told a news conference.
With travellers currently paying anywhere from two to 12 euros for a single megabyte of data -- 100 e-mails, an hour browsing or a minute-long music download -- the Commission will also introduce a retail price cap for data roaming, while keeping an existing rates cap on voice and SMS calls.
"Competition is still very weak," said Kroes.
"Just as structural measures to increase competition in air travel have brought down air fares and increased choice very substantially, I am confident that structural measures to increase competition on the roaming market will ensure customers get a significantly better deal."
Kroes admitted that at the end of the day the aim was to abolish roaming charges altogether in a single Europe, but said that for the moment "this is a breakthrough".
Under the new price cap for data roaming, from July 2012 e-mails and the Internet will cost 90 cents a megabyte, dropping to 0.70 euros in 2013 and 0.50 euros in 2014.
Currently, the EU has imposed maximum rates known as "Eurotariffs", which came into force in 2007, first for voice calls but later extended to text messages.
Until the stand-alone roaming service comes into effect, the system, initially due to be phased out in 2012, is to be extended until 2016 to act as what Kroes labelled "a safety net."
Rates under that system however will continue to be decreased.
The maximum price for making a phone call abroad would drop from 0.35 euros a minute today -- not including sales tax -- to 0.32 euros in 2012, 0.28 euros in 2013 and down to 0.24 by 2014.
Sending an SMS would cost 0.10 euros from next year instead of 0.11 today.

 

Gay parents and people with HIV joined the 35 floats which took part in Madrid’s gay pride celebrations

Gay parents and people with HIV joined the 35 floats which took part in Madrid’s gay pride celebrations which brought more than 57,000 onto the capital’s streets on Saturday.

The parade’s slogan this year was ‘Health and equality by law’, and speakers warned the Partido Popular that they will not consent to any backwards steps in homosexual marriage.

The Minister for Equality, Bibiana Aido, was at the head of the procession and called for the PP to remove the ‘shameful’ appeal they have made about gay marriage to the Constitutional Court, because ‘it goes against happiness and the more than 20,000 gay weddings which have been celebrated in Spain over the past six years’.

Many of the floats carried messages against the Pope and the Catholic Church, and the parade came on the same day that the Bishop of Alcalá published a guide to ‘cure’ homosexuality. His webpage (www.obispadoalcala.org) invites gays to read the texts about perverts in the Bible. The Bishop says he offers his advice ‘with the most exquisite respect for the people’.

Pedro Zerolo, Secretary of Social Movements of the PSOE, responded that ‘homosexuality is not an illness, but homophobia is, and it is cured with education of the citizens’.

Reporting restrictions extended in the Astapa case

The Astapa Case, investigating allegations of corruption in Estepona Town Hall is now reported to have accumulated 150 boxes of documents which still need to be looked at.

The judge, Jesús Torres, who has indicted 94 people in the case, which now has seen four years three months under instruction, said that he was extending reporting restrictions.
The process is slowing down because of a lack of resources for the investigation.

The case broke in June 2008 with the arrest of the then Mayor, Socialist, Antonio Barrientos, and another 24 people including councillors, civil servants and businessmen.

 

13 people died on Spanish roads over the weekend at the start of the first large summer getaway

13 people died on Spanish roads over the weekend at the start of the first large summer getaway. It came as the motorway speed limit returned to 120 km/h.
Nine of the deaths took place on Sunday.

There were 11 fatal accidents between 3pm Friday and 8pm on Sunday, and the DGT traffic authority is reporting an additional eight serious injuries.

The most serious smash was close to Aranjuez where three people died and two more were injured on the M-305 when a car containing five people left the road.

There were 4.1 million cars on the road over the weekend, carrying out long journeys, leading to delays at some times on roads to the coasts.

New rules announced by the British Foreign Office make it easier and cheaper to take your pet back to the U.K.

The new regulations are introduced at the start of next year, bringing the U.K. into line with the rest of the European Union from Jan 1 2012.

Forcing pets to spend 6 months in quarantine, a practice dating from the 1800’s, is to end because of the vastly improved rabies vaccines and treatments.

However all pets will still need to be vaccinated against rabies, and pets entering the U.K. from the UE and listed non-EU countries such as the United States and Australia, will no longer need a blood test and will only have to wait 21 days before they travel.
Stricter criteria will be established on pets from other countries.

Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelmen, said:
“The UK’s quarantine system was designed to combat the threat of rabies in the 19th century and has now been left far behind by scientific advances. It’s time we changed these outdated rules which have caused hardship to generations of pets and pet owners, and those who rely on assistance dogs, with too many animals cooped up unnecessarily.

“What is needed is a simpler, evidence-based system for protecting the UK from rabies which recognises the actual risk to pets and pet owners. The EU’s pet movement scheme has been working very well for nearly a decade, and it makes sense for us to have similar rules.

The UK is also expected to announce new rules on tapeworm controls shortly, and tick treatment for pets returning to the UK will no longer be required.