2,205 jobs were lost in the catering industry

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Easter Week, workers protested on the streets of Malaga against the 15.9% loss of employment in the hotel sector in 2009. On the Costa del Sol in 2009, a total of 2,205 jobs were lost in the catering industry, which makes up a 15.9% drop. However, the unions are insisting that a decrease in employment of this magnitude makes no sense since it is not in proportion to the drop in tourism activity.

The problem is that the majority of hotels with work-related conflicts and management problems are those belonging to real estate companies who only run the hotels at peak season to earn high profits, such as Los Monteros and Las Dunas, or those who are in the process of refinancing, such as the Guadalpin hotels, Byblos, Incosol and Torrequebrada.
Easter Week is the true test, according to the unions. Hotels on the Costa del Sol expect 70% occupancy while in Seville they anticipate 75%, all of this translating into a lucrative Easter Week.

Foreclosures and repossessions are on the rise throughout the Costas

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Foreclosures and repossessions are on the rise throughout the Costas. With countless thousands of unsold Apartments and Villas sitting empty the rental market has followed the sales crash. It is now a buyers market through and through. With foreclosures getting ever closer, countless owners are desperately trying to unload their properties at a fraction of their normal value. Now with the risk so great there are few prepared to buy. That leaves the door open to investors in this new marketplace

Spanish government turned off its Mijas television transmitter. More than a million inhabitants in 51 municipalities can no longer watch analogue television

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Spanish government turned off its Mijas television transmitter. More than a million inhabitants in 51 municipalities can no longer watch analogue television. Digital television is taking its place, but many in the region are not ready, and technology is not yet in place for all.
Specifically, 1,128,278 people, or 91.5% of the population, can no longer see analogue television. Municipalities include Málaga, with 566,447 inhabitants, Marbella Segude (130,549), Mijas (70,437), Fuengirola (68,646) and Benalmádena (55,960). Official sources confirmed yesterday that another 17 locations, totaling more than 104,000 people, would face the shutdown on Tuesday.In Andalucia, a total of 523 municipalities will no longer be able to view analogue television, but will be able to receive Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), according to data provided by the Junta de Andalucía.In Marbella, as much as half of the population still cannot receive DTT signals because they lie in a reception shadow, with Elviria and Las Chapas most affected. The government says it is working to install a repeater in the Nueva Andalucia district to remedy the problem, and it is considering the installation of a second central transmitter in Marbella.Other communities also report less than optimal reception, but the government is reiterating that once minor problems in reception and signal paths have been corrected, DTT will provide significant improvements over analogue broadcasting.
The Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for broadcasting infrastructure, has admitted that it cannot provide for all the needs of every community until it knows the full consequences of the analogue shutdown.Meanwhile, despite the challenges of implementing DTT, but not surprisingly, electronics stores across the region are reporting a surge in sales of digital television receiversWatch out for tricksters who are visiting homes in the province, especially those occupied by elderly residents, and telling them that their Digital Terrestrial Television receiver needs changing, only to then sell them a new one at “a very good price”. In most cases, the fraudsters are taking a receiver from one home and replacing it with another, to then go on to sell the receiver they have just removed at a nearby house, telling the occupants that they can have it at a special price thanks to a grant for pensioners. If they already have one, they convince them that it will not work once analogical TV is switched off, and offer to sell them a better one at half its true value. To seem more credible, they even ask for their victims’ ID.
The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce has reported that groups which are considered to be in danger of social exclusion will receive TDT decoders for free in the 28 towns where analogical TV will be switched off before the end of this year, which are: Coin, Frigiliana, Guaro, Monda, Nerja, Torrox, Velez-Málaga, Torremolinos, Algatocin, Alpandeire, Atajate, Benadalid, Benahavis, Benalauria, Benaojan, Benarraba, Casares, Cortes de la Frontera, Estepona, Farajan, Gaucin, Genalguacil, Igualeja, Jimera de Libar, Jubrique, Juzcar, Montejaque and Parauta.
If you are over the age of 65 and are level II or III dependant, have a hearing or sight disability of 33 per cent or more, or are over the age of 80 and live alone or with another person of a similar age you can ask for your decoder in Malaga, Calle Duquesa de Parcent 8, second floor, at your local town hall, or thanks to Junta de Andalucia volunteers who will be distributing them.

ex-boyfriend of missing teenager Marta del Castillo has confessed to her murder.

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Jealous former lover Miguel Carcaño, 20, admitted he had killed her in a fit of rage.
His confession to police on Valentines Day heralded a flurry of arrests in the case.
While police have still not found the body of Marta, 17, they have now made a total of four arrests in the case.Carcano told police that he had thrown her body into the Guadalquivir River with the help of a friend Samuel Benitez, who is also now under arrest, accused of covering up the crime.The pair had used a wheelchair belonging to the mother of Carcano, and a moped to take her body to the river from his house in the Macarena district.Police are trying to establish whether Benitez could also be involved despite insisting that he was out with his girlfriend on the night of the murder.Carcano himself admitted he had got into an argument with his ex girlfriend and hit her with an ashtray until she was dead.He apparently finally confessed after being shown the heavy glass ashtray.The current girlfriend of Carcano, a local 14-year-old called Rocio insisted that she knows he is the killer.
She told local media that she knew that he was quite a jealous man, and when she had asked him if he had anything to do with the crime, he had simply hung his head in silence.The family has vowed to fight for justice.Marta’s cousin Sandra insisted that Carcano had only dated Marta for about a month “some time ago”.Meanwhile there were shouts from the public of ‘asesinos’ (or murderers) as Miguel and his friend Samuel arrived in court in Sevilla on Monday. Over the weekend police made two more arrests, including Carcano’s brother.Hundreds of police and volunteers continued the search for her body along the length of the Guadalquivir river as far as Sanlucar in Cadiz.

Antonio Marin Lara called for the Ministry of Defence’s headquarters to be torn down.

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Antonio Marin Lara called for the Ministry of Defence’s headquarters to be torn down. Lara allegedly spent some 605,000 euros of a four million employment budget on the demolition project.Opposition Izquierda Unida councillor, Rafael Ruiz, explained that he had previously requested a technical report to ascertain the building’s condition several times. He revealed that the only information he received confirmed the headquarters’ partial decline but recommended just a few repairs. And IU member of Parliament Gaspar Llamazares has demanded an official explanation for the demolition, stating that the building’s deterioration was only “partial”. The 19th-Century headquarters were also protected as part of the city’s urban development plan (PGOU).

voodoo prostitution curses

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leaders of a gang that brought Nigerian women to Spain and then forced them into prostitution by threatening them with voodoo curses, have been arrested.The group of 23 suspects from around the country appeared at court in Huelva accused of the charges.Police said the arrests were triggered by a woman who told police in February of the gang’s intimidation tactics.The gang tempted young Nigerian women to travel to Europe with promises of prosperity and later extorted money and controlled them through intimidation, police said in a statement.The victims, aged 25 to 35, were forced to pay large sums of money to the gang members, who told the women they would go mad or have their souls destroyed if they disobeyed orders given during voodoo rituals that were held in Nigeria involving pieces of their fingernails or hair.
Voodoo is a religion practiced primarily in Haiti and parts of Africa.

Rivers burst their banks in many parts of the region, leading to hundreds of homes being flooded

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Rivers burst their banks in many parts of the region, leading to hundreds of homes being flooded over the Christmas period.In Ronda a number of horses were allegedly swept to their death at La Indiana, while a horse was also killed when a river flooded in Setenil.Dozens of homes were flooded in the La Indiana and Llano de la Cruz areas of Ronda, as well as in nearby Benaojan and Jimera de Libar.In Jimera six families had to be evacuated, as the mayor claimed it was the worst flooding the village had seen since 1947.The Ronda area has seen up to 400 litres of rain in just over a week. In total up to 80 litres fell in Malaga in just 24 hours.
“We had had 230 litres in just four days,” said vineyard owner Jose Ramos Paul, in Ronda. “It is the heaviest rainfall we have seen here in ten years.“It is far too much in far too short a time and is not good for the land.”Bridges were swept away and dozens of families were cut off around the region.The heavy rain during the Christmas period caused rail links between Sevilla, Huelva, Granada and Jaén to be shut.The AVE fast track line between Malaga and Madrid was also shut for much of Christmas.In total 24 major routes, including the N-IV in Cadiz were shut during Christmas Eve, due to some of the heaviest rain on record.The weather was so bad, the emergency services in Sevilla had 500 calls alone.
The N-IV motorway between Jerez and Cádiz was closed for a kilometre due to flooding.
The access road to the Sierra Nevada was closed by strong winds and an accumulation of snow.In Motril serious flooding led to dozens of houses being evacuated, while a car park full of cars was submerged.There were serious power cuts in the Cádiz Bay area, although supplies are expected to be restored during the day today. Some 1,500 homes are still affected in El Puerto de Santa María, Chiclana and San Fernando.Lightening cut the power to Torrox in Málaga for 12 hours.Many advertising hoardings and other items were blown down, along with trees and the wall of a school in Córdoba, but despite the damage there are no reports of any injuries or fatalities in the region.The forecast until the new year is for more rain, with temperatures dropping.
In Jimera de Libar, a benefit concert has been organised to help people affected by the flooding.

“You try it. Spend two months with your feet in water and see how they end up, even if you have your shoes on,”

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“You try it. Spend two months with your feet in water and see how they end up, even if you have your shoes on,” said Alfonso Vazquez, at Fuente Ymbro, in Cadiz. Furthermore, bulls won’t eat wet feed pellets, and because of the chilly, inclement weather they spend more energy just keeping warm.This means they will enter the ring this Spring a fair bit lighter than normal, making them less impressive and dangerous.The bullfighting season starts this month and takes off next month at Valencia’s Las Fallas festival. “Right now, we are worried,” said Vazquez. “As we get through the first bullfights of the season, we’ll see what state the animals are in and how they perform.” Another owner Alvaro Nunez, said: “There is no denying we are afraid because the fans in Madrid and Valencia demand a lot in terms of the bull.”

expatriate living in Spain is understood to have scooped a record 60 million euros in Euro Millions draw.

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The winner is believed to live in the Almeria town of Mojacar, where half of the 10,000 population is British.He was joined by another winner in the UK, who also scooped 60 million euros.One ticket in Britain and one in Spain shared the 120 million jackpot. “There is a very good chance the winning ticket was bought by a Brit living in Mojácar.”Subject to validation, the prize could be paid out when the banks open tomorrow. The winner can then decide whether to go public.A spokesman for the official lottery operator in Spain, Loterias y Apuestas del Estado, said: “There is a very good chance the winning ticket was bought by a Brit living in Mojácar.”Mojacar, a popular holiday destination for Britons, boasts a British library, an English Bullfighting Club and a branch of the Royal British Legion. Last night Lotto bosses in the UK confirmed that a double record-breaking cash bonanza for British players was a realistic possibility. Both ticket-holders will be catapulted into first place in the National Lottery rich list. Joint second on the list of lottery wins are Les Scadding and wife Sam from South Wales, and the Lucky Seven syndicate from Liverpool, who each banked a EuroMillions cheque for £45.5million in November last year.
Angela Kelly from Glasgow is third with her £35.4million win in August 2007 followed by an unnamed £26.5million winner the same month.

jailed auditor of El Ejido had stored over three million euros worth of designer watches in his safe.

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Disgraced Jose Aleman also owned a “magic” American Express Centurion card with a credit limit of one million euros – only 300 have been issued in Spain. jailed auditor of El Ejido had stored over three million euros worth of designer watches in his safe. The abundant excesses enjoyed by Aleman were sensationally released after presiding judge Montserrat Pena released parts of the case summary. “Don’t worry, I will see if we can give him a helping hand.”Aleman also admitted that he received a staggering 490,000 euro annual pay packet from El Ejido town hall. Furthermore, the former town hall employee watched the French Open tennis final in luxury seats alongside his wife, brother and sister-in-law. It also emerged that Aleman had a penchant for Michelin-starred restaurants and paid a chauffeur to drive him to Rome to view the 2009 Champion League Final. Aleman even boasted that he had the power to pass failing university students. Speaking about a struggling student he once said: “Don’t worry, I will see if we can give him a helping hand.”Although Aleman is now behind bars, his wife Isabel Carrasco was granted 90,000 euro bail. The mayor of El Ejido Juan Encisco is also facing charges along with some 18 others accused of bribery, perversion of the course of justice and money laundering.

Adnan Khashoggi once owned Spain’s most expensive real estate is set to return for a charity dinner in Marbella.

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Adnan Khashoggi once owned Spain’s most expensive real estate is set to return for a charity dinner in Marbella. Adnan Khashoggi – former owner of La Zagaleta development in Benahavis – will attend the Children for Peace event at Hotel Incosol.
After a 17-year absence from Spain the business tycoon will attend the dinner scheduled for March 27 with second wife Lamia – the charity’s vice president.
In 1988 Khashoggi was jailed in Switzerland for concealing funds but was acquitted two years later.Born in Mecca, Khashoggi was regarded as the world’s richest man in the 1980s and his yacht, the Nabila, was used in James Bond film Never Say Never Again.

Puerto Banus, Marbella, Spain

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Puerto Banus, Marbella, Spain