Ryanair in trouble again

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PETITION about urban planning abuse submitted to the EU Petitions Committee by the AUAN is to be heard on April 14 in Brussels

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PETITION about urban planning abuse submitted to the EU Petitions Committee by the AUAN is to be heard on April 14 in Brussels. The petition calls for a European Parliament investigation into abuses in the Almanzora Valley as a matter of urgency, AUAN said in a statement.

AUAN President, Maura Hillen, has been invited to speak to the committee to put forward the case of innocent homeowners who, having bought their property in good faith, are now faced with the threat of demolition.

untimely death of an English bank manager Gary Vigors who was killed in an incident in a bar in Magaluf, has raised a raft of unanswered questions

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untimely death of an English bank manager Gary Vigors who was killed in an incident in a bar in Magaluf, has raised a raft of unanswered questions. What happened? Well reports coming in from one of our stringers who is living in Spain for over ten years tell a very different story to the news reported to date.

Incident Report

• Fact 1 – There was no bar brawl, Mr Vigors was attacked by a man who slashed his throat with a beer bottle.

• Fact 2 – Gary Vigors is reported to have been on holiday in Spain, when in fact he was based in Spain working as a respected bank manager.

• Fact 3 - Gary Vigors reportedly got into an argument yesterday with a fellow Briton with whom he was on a cricket tour. We understand Mr Vigors had no connection with the cricket tour.

We believe that details about this incident are very important as the Spanish Police have arrested Thomas Swannell, 44, of Northampton, and depending on evidence he could be charged with voluntary manslaughter or murder.

We are not lawyers or prosecutors but it is safe to assume that...

Scenario One – If it was a bar room brawl – a voluntary manslaughter charge is likely.

Scenario Two – If Mr Vigors was victim of an unprovoked attack – a murder charge is likely.

So it is extremely important to find out exactly what happened in this incident.

The incident happened at 2.20am on Saturday morning, at Cafe Plaza, Punta Ballena.

Witnesses please report to the Authorities

Address and Contact Data

Spain – Guardia Civil

http://www.guardiacivil.org/index.jsp

Happened on March 28, 2011

Magaluf
Mallorca
Spain

England is a nation of celebrity-obsessed junk food addicts

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England is a nation of celebrity-obsessed junk food addicts, according to the latest Lonely Planet travel guide. It describes the British economy as "looking dicey" and said there may be "choppy waters ahead".

The guidebook, to be published this month and expected to sell more than 100,000 copies worldwide, claims: "More junk food and ready-made meals are consumed in the UK than in all the rest of the countries of Europe put together."

The guide's co-ordinating author, David Else, laments the rise of "hype over merit" in Britain's celebrity-obsessed society. He writes: "It's impossible to overlook the recent trend for scurrilous celebrity autobiographies – penned by everyone from footballers to reality TV also-rans. Whatever you make of the literary qualities of these memoirs, the British buy them by the bucketload."

Mr Else was unrepentant, saying: "The point of a guidebook is to be honest. We are not a tourist brochure."

Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have begun an official visit to Portugal, kicking off a 10-day tour that will also take them to Spain and Morocco.

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company which manages Jerez racing track, Cirjesa, has decided to apply for bankruptcy protection

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The managing company has debts from the redesign of the track nine years ago


The company which manages Jerez racing track, Cirjesa, has decided to apply for bankruptcy protection as a way of gaining time for the re-negotiation of their debt which has been put at 18 million €.

Most of the money is owed to FCC and Serviobras, the companies which carried out a new design of the track nine years ago. It comes after Cirjesa failed to pay the annual payment for 2010 of 2.5 million € agreed with Jerez Ayuntamiento and the Junta de Andalucía.

The law allows three months for the talks and then a further month to liquidate if no agreement is reached.

It comes just a week ahead of the Spanish Motorbike GP which is to be held at the track next weekend.

General Francisco Franco's palatial summer residence is open to the public

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A new UK to Spain ferry route will open this weekend.

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A new UK to Spain ferry route will open this weekend.
From Sunday, Brittany Ferries will start a twice-weekly service between Portsmouth and the northern Spanish city of Bilbao.
This is the company's first new port destination in 25 years and will complement its existing service between Portsmouth and another northern Spain city - Santander.
Brittany Ferry group passenger commercial director Mike Bevens said: "Bilbao has forged a reputation as a destination in its own right in recent years.
"As the numbers of air travellers from the UK to Spain have declined, we've witnessed a surge in demand for direct UK Spain crossings."

France has asked the European Commission to look into a harmonized system of controls on radioactivity in food and feed imports from Japan following the Asian country's nuclear crisis,

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France has asked the European Commission to look into a harmonized system of controls on radioactivity in food and feed imports from Japan following the Asian country's nuclear crisis, officials said on Tuesday.

The European Union's executive arm advised EU governments last week to check radioactivity levels in food and feed imported from Japan but left each state to decide what measure to implement.

The French farm ministry officials said there had been no direct food imports from Japan into France since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but said food could have been imported through other EU countries within the EU's free market zone.

"The principle is the mutual confidence in the credibility of our systems, which is why we will ask the EU Commission that further than its recommendation to individually reinforce our checks at the border we have an harmonized European scheme," an official said.

Diplomatic sources said the Commission was due to examine the request on Wednesday. The farm ministry said France last week imposed that the level of radioactivity of all fresh food products from Japan, such as shellfish, fish, or vegetables, be tested.

Japanese fresh food imports into France amounted to just 8,800 tonnes worth 13 million euros ($18.47 million) last year, the ministry said. At the EU level, the Commission last week said Japan's total food and feed

Driving at the new national maximum speed limit in Spain of 110km/h could damage your engine

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. That’s the claim from the European Vehicle Guarantee Network, who say that cars sold in the EU are designed to cruise at speeds of between 115km/h and 130km/h for long periods.

They say cars with six gears and diesel models are those most affected, and that the recirculation valves for exhaust gases could be affected. Injectors, the catalyst and anti-particle filters are also likely to be affected, and any break down may not fall under the manufacturers guarantee.

local Town Halls should not be issuing any licences for first occupation.

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The Public Works and Housing Department from the Junta de Andalucía has written to several Town Halls across the region to remind them that the expiry of the four year term on homes built on non-buildable land, does not imply that the properties can be made legal, and therefore the local Town Halls should not be issuing any licences for first occupation.

The Junta has established that over recent months many Town Halls have approved local bylaws approving property which was outside that established in the LOUA and RDUA regional laws.

The regional legislation says that only those homes on non-buildable land which fit into the LOUA which takes into account farming, livestock or forestry, can be considered for legality.

El País reports that Director General of Town Planning, Daniel Fernández, commented, ‘We do not want to create expectations for the owners that their homes will be legalised, or for them to spend any money on permissions which have no judicial basis, as they could find legal problems later.

His comments go against the recent announcement from the Junta that they are preparing a decree to ‘normalise’ such homes, estimated to total more than 500,000 across the region, under a scheme which will offer documents similar to a first occupancy licence, provided that supplies and infrastructure is provided at no cost to the public purse.

Meanwhile the Andalucía High Court of Justice has announced that laws passed by Cómpeta Town Hall in 2004 to regulate building on non-buildable land are null and void. The main argument of the court is that land regularised exceeds that which can meet the LOUA regional regulations. The court considers that legislation means it not necessary for Cómpeta to issue its own regulations.

British patient from Orihuela, Alicante, has denounced serious errors in the public health service

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British patient from Orihuela, Alicante, has denounced serious errors in the public health service, and the British community has created an association to defend themselves against what they see as negligence. The group is informing the British Ambassador.

La Gaceta newspaper reports on the case of Dale Barton who says that he awoke feeling ill and friends had to take him to Torrevieja Hospital as they did not want to send an ambulance. Once there he tells how he was sick and could not speak properly, swallowing his tongue. The doctor in the Emergency Department told him to go home, saying he was drunk. That night Dale Barton suffered a heart attack, and is now in a wheel chair and suffering epilepsy.
The newspaper notes that the doctor who attended to him is Polish and named Piotr Chochowshi.

Other cases are listed by La Gaceta. William Jordan Carr suffered an internal haemorrhage after taking the medicine prescribed by the Cabo Roig health centre. He had been attended to by a Peruvian doctor, Carolina Vanessa Calle Tello, who the paper says was practicing without the correct qualifications.

The Mayor of the Sevilla village of La Puebla del Río has been sentenced to three years in prison

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The Mayor of the Sevilla village of La Puebla del Río has been sentenced to three years in prison and a six-year ban from office for using the Town Hall’s official mobile to call his ex girlfriend.

Europa Press reports that the Socialist Mayor, Julio Álvarez González, spent more than 6,000 € within the space of one year on calls to the woman and others made to sex lines. He is reported to have claimed it to be a ‘humanitarian case’, and that he was talking to a local woman to try and help her in a case of abuse.

The Mayor was found guilty of misappropriation of public funds and his ex councillor for public works and services, Juan Carlos Benítez, of falsifying private documents and of covering up what had happened by altering the telephone bills requested by the opposition. Benítez gets more than a year and a half in prison.

Five "unscrupulous" connected companies involved in dubious property investment schemes in the UK and in Spain have been put into liquidation in the High Court.

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Five "unscrupulous" connected companies involved in dubious property investment schemes in the UK and in Spain have been put into liquidation in the High Court.

Company Investigations of the Insolvency Service uncovered a string of lies, forged signatures and missing paperwork at Property Legal Services (London) Limited, Property Legal Services (2007) Limited, Overseas Legal Services Ltd, Enjoy Property Ltd and United Holdings & Investment Limited.

They were linked in the operation of three distinct businesses: a "fractional investment scheme" in which victims became minority owners of properties; a scheme involving the transfer of off-plan properties in Spain and most recently a scheme involving the same-day transfer of property in the UK.

All of the companies were associated with 51-year-old Clive Ballard of north London and in the case of PLS (London) Limited and PLS (2007) Limited, struck-off solicitor Michael Alexander, aka Michael Mendoza, aged 60.
Commenting on the case Company Investigations Supervisor Chris Mayhew said: "We have strong enforcement powers and will not hesitate to use them as here where the companies were found to have operated complicated and dubious property schemes in a thoroughly unscrupulous way destroying the property investment dreams of those people unfortunate enough to have invested.

"More recently significant residential property transactions were entered into where material facts which could have influenced the mortgage lender's willingness to lend were not disclosed to the lenders".

In the fractional investment scheme, investors were told that they'd become a minority owner of a rented property, have a share in its future growth, an annual 9% return, and their money would be safeguarded in a solicitor's account until security was in place.

But money disappeared from the solicitor's account and properties were sold on Ballard's orders and the proceeds "largely dissipated for his benefit".

The investigation has identified 25 victims of the scheme who lost more than £288,000.

In the case of the off-plan property purchase scheme, victims suffered loses estimated at 750,000 euro - around £650,000.

The same-day UK property sales run by PLS (London) Limited and PLS (2007) Limited turned over £860,000.

In ordering the companies into liquidation Registrar Derrett said she was: "satisfied on the uncontested evidence that substantial monies were received from members of the public and that adequate protections were not put in place despite the representations made otherwise.

"The link between the companies is Mr Ballard and his wife Clare Harrington also known as Clare Lewin. The documents relating to the fractional investment scheme and the same day property transactions involved solicitors and accountants in particular, a solicitor Beatrice Lebow and an accountant Iris Korobuk and there is evidence that the signatures of both of these ladies have been forged in various documents.

"There is evidence of 90 instances of forgery. Mr Alexander has informed the investigation that he forged signatures on 50 documents and that Mr Ballard drafted the letters of that nature.

"Also that 32 letters on which Ms Lebow's signature appears were forged by Mr Ballard or his wife Ms Lewin. The evidence involving the same day transactions also demonstrates other individuals were involved in the scheme including a property dealer called Mr Frank Kantor and that incentive payments were made.

"I am satisfied the evidence demonstrates the considerable lack of co-operation with the investigation in particular from Mr Ballard. Some documents have been provided Mr Alexander but essentially there has been limited co-operation by him with the investigation.

"On the basis of the evidence it has in my judgment been demonstrated that certainly three of the companies operated without any commercial probity and adopted unscrupulous business practices which led to the public suffering significant losses.

"One can't determine the whole extent of the losses due to the lack of co-operation and lack of records and it is not clear what role two companies had in this but they are linked and in my view it is entirely appropriate for all of the companies to be placed into liquidation on grounds of public interest."

Bad loans as a proportion of total lending at Spanish banks climbed to 6.1 percent in January,

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Bad loans as a proportion of total lending at Spanish banks climbed to 6.1 percent in January, the highest level since 1995, as the country struggles to emerge from a property crash.

Bad loans jumped to 110.7 billion euros ($156 billion) from 107.2 billion euros, or 5.8 percent of total lending, in December, the Bank of Spain said on its website. The January figure compared with 96.4 billion euros in the year-earlier month, which represented a bad-loans ratio of 5.3 percent.

Risky loans on the balance sheets of Spanish banks have soared as the country struggles to emerge from the worst recession in 60 years, which drove unemployment above 20 percent and caused a surge defaults on debt linked to real estate. The total amount of “potentially troubled exposure” linked to construction and property is 181 billion euros, the Bank of Spain said in its October financial stability report.

Experts at a Spanish museum have revealed a previously unknown work by the 17th century Flemish master Anthony van Dyck, a museum official said Thursday.

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Experts at a Spanish museum have revealed a previously unknown work by the 17th century Flemish master Anthony van Dyck, a museum official said Thursday.
"The Virgin and Child with Repentant Sinners" depicts the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus in her arms watched by Mary Magdalene, King David and the Prodigal Son.
The masterpiece had lain in a warehouse of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid for more than a century and was believed to be a copy, said the museum official, who asked not be named.
But restorers have since last July undertaken a painstaking study of the work using pigment and X-ray analysis, and confirmed it to be the work of Van Dyck, the official said.
"It is confirmed that it's a Van Dyck," said the museum official, backing up a report in Spain's leading daily El Pais. "All the analyses have confirmed it."
The picture, painted in Italy around 1625, was originally part of the collection of the Duke of Medina de las Torres, the Spanish viceroy of Naples.
In the middle of the 17th century it was transferred to the monastery of El Escorial outside Madrid, where it survived the pillaging of the Napoleonic invasion of 1808.
Sometime later it was taken to the San Fernando museum.
Van Dyck completed some 800 paintings before his death at the age of 42 in 1641.
A self portrait by Van Dyck painted in the last months before he died sold for 8.3 million pounds (9.5 million euros/$13.4 million) at auction in London in 2009.

These statements have caused deep offence amongst the victims of urban and real estate abuse in the Valley of Almanzora.

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The AUAN are concerned about the latest statements in the Andalucía Parliament about a decree over the illegally built properties in Andalucía. They say the statements have caused great offence.Josefina Cruz Villalón 


On the 9th of March in a session of the Commission of Public Works and Housing of the Andalucian Parliament, Josefina Cruz Villalón, Consejera of Public Works and Housing of the Junta de Andalucia, responding to a question posed by Alicia Martinez Martin, planning spokesperson for the Partido Popular, stated (as recorded in the Diary of Sessions), amongst other things, the following 

Page 20: “Ladies and gentleman, the confusion is yours. I believe that you do not know what you are defending. I do not know if you're defending the intrusion of people and I do not know if you're defending the interests of a group of people who are not of this country and who have settled here illegally; I do not know if you're defending those interests, Ladies and Gentlemen. I do not understand, I really do not understand.

I have said on this occasion we have had meetings on the matter also with the British Ambassador, but I'm interested, I am concerned about the overall situation, and I'm not worried about the particular situation of a group of people who have settled illegally in our territory. I do not understand ... hence the confusion….I do not know if you're defending the legality of this or what. I do not know what you are defending, I do not know from what or whom you are coming from.

We are trying to address a problem that has occurred in Andalucia as a consequence of a lack of respect for the culture of the territory, for the culture of the landscape and for the planning culture, and , therefore, one has to adapt, we must respond within the law, within urban planning, within the territorial plan, and in compliance with all the appropriate legislation for protected land, forested land, legislation relating to livestock trails, coasts, etc,etc,etc.



Tomorrow, I have scheduled a meeting in Almanzora, Ladies and gentlemen. Tomorrow I have arranged a meeting with the mayors. Ladies and gentlemen, I will meet with the mayors, who are those responsible for planning in their municipalities, and, from there will come information for those residents who are affected, whether they are in an organisation or not in an organisation, whether they are residents who settled in good faith or not in good faith, and who are now demanding of us to solve a problem that some of them have been responsible for creating”.

These statements have caused deep offence amongst the victims of urban and real estate abuse in the Valley of Almanzora.

judge in Jaén has been suspended for closing down two shops in Úbeda after refusing to reimburse her for a perfume she had bought.

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She had already used up most of the bottle when she returned it, saying it didn't smell rightEFE


A judge in Jaén has been suspended for closing down two shops in Úbeda after refusing to reimburse her for a perfume she had bought.

Judge María Dolores Barragán ordered the closure in June 2008 after an assistant in one of the shops, which both have the same owner, told her she was unable to reimburse her outlay of 49.95 € as most of the bottle had already been used up. The judge had complained that the perfume did not smell right, and claimed that she thought it might be a forgery.

The shop however finally gave in to pressure from the judge and returned her money.

In a ruling made public this Monday, the Supreme Court has, on appeal from the judge, confirmed previous disciplinary action from the General Council for Judicial Power, suspending María Dolores Barragán for a one year period. An additional disciplinary measure transferring her more than 100 kms from her previous assignment in Úbeda has also been confirmed.

She is considered to have abused her position as a magistrate in ordering the local police to close down the two shops for a week.

take with your self a pre-paid SIM card for Spain.

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take with your self a pre-paid SIM card for Spain. It will preserve you a lot of money when it comes to your communication payments. You may not need experiencing any agreement or paying out any month finish charges. This pre-paid SIM card may be the most cost-effective and handy strategy to keep in contact with your individuals, whether or not in Spain, UK or again residence. The most wonderful component is the fact that you are not charged for incoming calls, sim card spain regardless wherever they create from. You obtain a regional Spanish amount and you buy your calls since the locals do. No more of that roaming fees slapped on prime of your calls.

While you get your mobile to Spain, be sure that it could work with their network. You need a GSM handset and it is quite likely that regardless of whether you have a GSM cellphone, it’s going to not function in Spain. The GSM phone which you have has a diverse frequency band and doesn’t comply using the one particular working in Spain. In order to be selected the mobile handset that you are taking with you, spain sim card rental functions in Spain, it’s always greater to avail a handset which has quad band capacity. This kind of a cellphone will function all over the globe. To begin with, the GSM cellphone in USA and Canada performs on 850MHz and 1900MHZ bands that’s various in the frequency bands in Europe, having a end result that North The united states is set aside from the rest of the entire world. This is actually the purpose why, even when you have a GSM handset it’ll not function in Spain. To comprehend the make any difference much better, allow me to reveal the different varieties of GSM handsets offered as well as the frequencies they operate on. The GSM mobile phones use frequencies inside four diverse frequency bands:

US-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago in mud flats in southern Spain

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US-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago in mud flats in southern Spain

Maltese notary arrested in Spain has returned to Malta to face charges of misappropiation.

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Pierre Falzon was arrested in Marbella a week ago after the Maltese police issued a European arrest warrantagainst him over allegations of misappropriation.

On Friday, he was charged in court with misappropiation of funds of his clients allegedly paid him for the stamp duty on documents on a property they meant to buy.
.

He was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €20,000.

MALAGA woman has been reunited with her son, stolen from her just after his birth,

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MALAGA woman has been reunited with her son, stolen from her just after his birth, who was adopted by a family in Benejuzar. Four years ago, they finally met in Murcia, but the case has come to light recently since investigations are being carried out into similar cases.

The mother, now 65, lived in Marbella with her husband and three children.

However, one son had been taken away from her 30 years ago as soon as he was born and she was threatened with prison if she complained.

The boy grew up in Benejuzar (Costa Blanca) and had always suspected he was adopted because he looked nothing like his parents.

Eleven years ago, he was preparing to get married and found that his birth certificate was missing.

His wife encouraged him to speak to his mother and confirm his suspicions.

She admitted he was adopted and that a relative who was a nun had organised the adoption, knowing that his biological mother was separated from her husband and was pregnant by another man.

He began to look for his biological mother and found out her surname from the same relative. He called all the people of the same surname in Marbella and finally found her.

12,000 homes which have been built outside the law.

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inventory of illegal properties in 10 municipalities in the Almanzora Valley has identified more than 12,000 homes which have been built outside the law.

The Junta de Andalucía gives the exact number built on land classified as unsuitable for development as 12,697.

Ideal newspaper notes that the previous estimate three and a half years ago was some 6,000.

Josefina Cruz Villalón, the Junta de Andalucía’s councillor for public works and housing, has said that more than 90% of the illegal properties can be saved. There are, however, 920 homes which have been built on land under a special protection order or were built less than 4 years ago, which means the crime has not prescribed. Ideal indicates that properties falling within this group could be demolished.

It’s understood that the Junta is preparing a planning decree for the remaining properties which will leave most in a legal limbo, but will allow them to have access to basic services and the provision for an occupancy licence. The costs of providing water and electricity to their homes will, however, have to be met by the owners.

New local development plans will reclassify land as suitable for development for a small percentage of the properties.

The Marbella restaurant, the Asador de Guadalmina in San Pedro de Alcántara, which was closed down for refusing to comply with Spain’s new smoking legislation, reopened at lunchtime on Thursday

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The Marbella restaurant, the Asador de Guadalmina in San Pedro de Alcántara, which was closed down for refusing to comply with Spain’s new smoking legislation, reopened at lunchtime on Thursday as a smoke-free zone.

The ‘No Smoking’ signs are up, but the owner, José Eugenio Arias Camisón, says that although he decided to observe the law for the good of his business, he may decide to allow his customers to smoke if he finds that he is losing business.

He told a reporter from El Mundo newspaper that if he were told to close down again, he would only do so with a court order. It’s understood that the Andalucía High Court of Justice has admitted for consideration his complaint against the regional government’s health department for ‘violating his fundamental rights’ in closing his business down.

He continues to support the campaign against the new law, and hopes that, by Easter, the various hostelry associations across the country will have collected the 500,000 signatures needed for a debate in parliament.

The Asador Guadalmina was closed down on February 12, but was given permission to reopen five days later after Arias gave a written undertaking that he would no longer allow his customers to smoke.

Why Google serves porn images for Spanish supermarkets

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three British suspects, have been arrested in Mijas and Torremolinos in connection with the illegal sale of products which were promoted as natural herbal aphrodisiacs

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Roca contested that ‘now in Spain not even God has money.

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Spanish researchers campaign to change science law

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The Problem With Spain's Plan to Pay Migrants to Go Home

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Spain slows down drivers to lower gas prices

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Prince Charles, Camilla to visit Spain

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Spain town reintroduces peseta to boost economy

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Mark Wright: The Only Way Is Essex is ripe for a Spanish spin-off | Metro.co.uk

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Main Malaya suspect lived 'very well' on 12,000 Euro a month

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Son of dictator wanted superyacht

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Europe's pensioners have a penchant for Marbella -

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