Spain's property market crash claimed another victim on Tuesday, as real estate company Reyal Urbis filed for insolvency after failing to renegotiate debt with its creditors.

The move takes the property developer, which had 3.6 billion euros ($4.8 billion) of debt at the end of September, closer to becoming Spain's second-largest bankruptcy after Martinsa Fadesa, which defaulted on 7 billion euros of debt in 2008.

Dozens of property companies have collapsed in Spain, where house prices have fallen around 40 percent since their 2007 peak. With the country locked in a deep recession, analysts expect prices to fall further still.

Spain's banks were crippled by the property market bust, eventually requiring the state to agree a European bailout for its lenders of almost 40 billion euros last year. Indebted property firms have asked banks for debt relief but patience is wearing thin among lenders saddled with soured property assets.

Reyal Urbis is 70 percent owned by construction magnate Rafael Santamaria and its creditors include Santander, BBVA, Bankia and Banco Popular.

The company, which valued its property portfolio at 4.2 billion euros in June 2012, said it would continue to operate as permitted by Spanish insolvency laws.

Its insolvency petition now goes to court and its fate will be in the hands of a judge.

Reyal Urbis said Santamaria would remain at the helm of the company and he still hoped Reyal Urbis could reach a deal with its creditors, given "the good will of all negotiating parties".

The company had until Feb. 23 to reach a debt restructuring deal with the banks or file for insolvency. Sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday that creditors had rejected the company's 3.6-billion-euro proposal.

Trading in the company's shares was suspended on Tuesday, Spain's stock market regulator said. The stock had plunged 99 percent since June 2007 to close at 0.124 euros on Monday.

At the end of 2011, Reyal Urbis owned some 888 finished homes in a country where over a million homes lie empty. The company also had 8 million square metres of land for development and 237,000 square metres of commercial property, including offices, shopping centres, industrial property and hotels.

Suspicions that it was started malicously has possibly strengthened. Sources claim that the fire spread quickly because there was more than one fire. Witnesses stated inter alia, have seen an unidentified jeep coming from a farm between Ojén and Marbella exactly where the fire then got an awesome course. In Marbella, it was announced yesterday that it is now able to restore electricity, water and telephone networks in all affected areas. It is now under the companies just the kind of disruption that is "normal". In areas Elviria Ricmar has repaired water pipes, power lines and 3000 meters telephone and fiber optic cable. It has also been launched several campaigns to restore nature and conduct tree plantings. Biologists say that tree planting may be necessary until next year. The hotel chain Fuerte Hoteles has among other things promised to donate a tree for every hotel guest you have in Marbella. The hotels have also started a fundraiser where guests can help by buying a tree, which will then be planted in the affected area.

One person was confirmed dead and another missing on Friday night after a major wildfire Affected Municipalities of the Coin, Alhaurin el Grande, Mijas, Marbella and Ojén, in Málaga province. The victim is a British man aged 78 was found Whose charred body in the area of ​​Las Blanquillas, inside the city limits of Ojén. His wife has not yet been found. Meanwhile, a couple in late fifties was taken Their hospital with burns to 60 percent to of Their Bodies. Both lived in a detached home inside the Marbella residential estate of El Rosario. A mother and her two children were found hiding inside a cave in Ojén and taken to hospital to be Treated for smoke inhalation. Five other people Were Also Evacuated from Their Homes. The fire was Extending to the Sierra de las Nieves even as the chief of the firefighting department Málaga, Manuel Marmolejo, Announced That a new front had opened up and Reached the area of ​​Juanar, where two hotels had to be Evacuated. Marmolejo said Extending the wildfire was with "great virulence." The blaze Began around 6.50pm on Thursday and soon extended to a perimeter of Between 50 and 60 kilometers, said Marmolejo. An Estimated 1.000 hectares of land Have Been Affected.

 Flames roared across a 12-kilometre (seven-mile) front near the glitzy Spanish resort of Marbella on Friday, injuring two and forcing thousands to evacuate.

More than 250 firefighters on the ground, backed by eight planes and nine helicopters, battled the blaze after hot, dry winds sent it racing through tinder-dry forest in southern Spain.

Bright orange flames danced high above the tree tops, lighting up the night sky as a line of fire glowed across the Sierra Negra mountains by the Costa del Sol resort.

"Thousands of people have been evacuated, there are also two injured," said Elias Bendodo, president of the government of the Malaga province, which includes Marbella.

Spanish media said a man and a woman suffered burns when the fire reached their chalet in the district of Rosario in the foothills of the mountain range, a dramatic backdrop to the long white beaches on the Mediterranean coast.

One of them was reported to be seriously injured.

The emergency services were not immediately available to confirm the reports.

It was impossible to give an exact number of evacuees, the Malaga president said.

"It is incalculable, but we can say there are thousands of people evacuated, mostly as a precautionary measure, from the municipal districts," Bendodo said.

"In the municipal district of Ojen, people had to be evacuated with the flames one kilometre (half a mile) away from housing, but they managed to contain it."

The inferno broke out in the mountains Thursday afternoon, later extending across up to 12 kilometres and affecting half a dozen municipal districts including Marbella.

Marbella's sandy beaches and vibrant night life attract about 1.5 million foreign tourists a year, mostly Britons but also Nordic visitors and Germans, French, Italians, Dutch and Belgians.

"A relative lack of humidity, strong winds and high temperatures in the afternoon helped the fire to grow quickly," said a statement by the regional government of southern Andalusia.

Before dawn Friday, winds dropped and the air was more humid, helping firefighters to tackle the blaze, the Andalucia government said. "The fire may be stabilized in the next hours," it said.

Spain is at particularly high risk of fires this summer after suffering its driest winter in 70 years, and blazes have broken out in various parts of the country in recent days.

Flames have destroyed 139,886 hectares (353,665 acres) of land between January 1 and August 12, three times the amount during the same time last year and the highest amount in a decade, according to agriculture ministry figures.

The village of Ojen and eight urbanisations in Marbella have been evacuated. 4,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.

 

The fire broke out on Thursday afternoon and has affected Coín where some 60 homes have had to be evacuated. The fire was still burning overnight so the terrestrial fire fighters continued to work overnight, according to the fire fighting Infoca.
The extinction of the blaze was complicated by the strong hot wind known locally as the ‘Terral’.
Three of the four fronts were brought under control just after midnight.

The fire is also affecting Alhaurín El Grande and Mijas where homes have been evacuated in the Entrerrios area, according to the Junta de Andalucía.

The Barranco Blanco urbanisation in Coín is close to the fire, and there were fears that non-forestry zones could be affected.

In Calahonda there are flames in the urbanisation between Calle Cristóbal Colón and Residential Princess Park. The upper zone of Calahonda is being evacuated.

Two people have been seriously injured with burns. They were in the urbanisation El Rosario where five homes have been affected by the flames. The two injured were taken to the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella a 4.30am this morning. One of them has burns to 50% of their body.

The AP-7 Motorway was for a time overnight for a while.

The Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, has confirmed that several urbanisations have been evacuated, including La Mairena, Elviria, the area of Las Chapas and Molinillo where the fire is concentrated and continues to advance.

The Hotel La Cala Resort has also been evacuated of its 200 guests.

Those evacuated have been told to go to the sports centre in La Cala, the sports centre in Las Lagunas or the Mijas Hippodrome.

Between 25 and 30 families have been evacuated from Alpujata on the outskirts of Monda.

13 airborne fire fighting planes were brought in on Thursday afternoon from Málaga, Córdoba and Granada, and they have resumed their work at first light.

Land forces totalled 99 fire fighters distributed in seven brigades, three reserve brigades, five fire engines, five operation technicians and four environmental vehicles.

The fire continues out of control on one front and the Mijas Town Hall has told the residents of la Atalaya to urgently leave their homes. A level 1 has been put in place and that indicates that the prevision for the fire could affect non-forestry assets.

350 firefighters are at the scene this morning and the fire fighting planes have returned to work.

The situation is particularly difficult in the upper part of Calahonda where residents have been evacuated and there are flames in the urbanisation between Calle Cristóbal Colón and the residential complex Princess Park.

Some 3,000 residents of El Rosario in Marbella have been evacuated, and German couple in their 60’s have been seriously hurt. Marbella Ayuntamiento says they were surprised by the flames and now have burns 40-50% of their bodies. 

Those affected by the blaze are being first treated in the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella, and then many suffering burns are being transferred to Málaga to the Specialist Burns Unit in the Carlos Haya Hospital.

People have been sleeping in sports centre in Monda and Marbella and municipal buses have been laid on as transport.

The Junta delegate in Málaga, José Luis Ruiz Espejo, has said today that he suspects the fire could have been started deliberately given its rapid propagation. He said the technicians suspected the fire was man made from the start.

Ground fire fighters worked through the night facing difficult terrain and totalled 99 fire fighters distributed in seven brigades, and three reserve brigades, five fire engines, five operation technicians and four environmental vehicles.

At first light this morning the 17 fire-fighting planes returned to the air.
Five planes which drop earth, four large capacity helicopters, five transport helicopters, two amphibian planes, and a plane for coordination and vigilance.

More than 250 professionals from fire fighting organisation INFOCA are working this morning in Mijas, Marbella, Alhauin de la Torre and in Coín where the fire started.

The Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, has confirmed that several urbanisations have been evacuated, including La Mairena, Elviria, the area of Las Chapas and Molinillo where the fire is concentrated and continues to advance.
Between 25 and 30 families have been evacuated from Alpujata on the outskirts of Monda.

The fire broke out on Thursday afternoon and has affected Coín where some 60 homes have had to be evacuated. The fire was still burning overnight as so the terrestrial fire fighters continued to work over night, according to the fire fighting Infoca.
The extinction of the blaze is being complicated by the strong hot wind known locally as the ‘Terral’.

Three of the four fronts were brought under control just after midnight.

The fire is also affecting Alhaurín El Grande and Mijas where homes have been evacuated in the Entrerrios area, according to the Junta de Andalucía.
The Barranco Blanco urbanisation in Coín is close to the fire, and there were fears that non-forestry zones could be affected.
The Hotel La Cala Resort has also been evacuated of its 200 guests.

Those evacuated have been told to go to the sports centre in La Cala, the sports centre in Las Lagunas or the Mijas Hippodrome.
13 airborne fire fighting planes were brought in on Thursday afternoon from Málaga, Córdoba and Granada, and they resumed their work at first light this morning.

The fire continues out of control and the Mijas Town Hall has told the residents of la Atalaya to urgently leave their homes. A level 1 has been put in place and that indicates that the prevision for the fire could affect non-forestry assets.

Flames reached the Elviria area on the edge of Marbella early on Friday.

About 1,000 people have been evacuated from the edge of Marbella, about 3,300 from Ojen and others from a camp site at Alpujata, Spanish media report.

They include at least 300 British expats sent to evacuation centres, the UK embassy told the BBC.

Marbella is famous for its up-market hotels and villas - it is a favourite haunt of wealthy foreigners.

Overnight the fire spread rapidly through a 12km (eight-mile) coastal strip, not far from holiday resorts.

Two people have suffered serious burns and some homes have been engulfed by the fire.

The Costa del Sol is one of Spain's most popular holiday destinations and home to a large British expatriate community.

The British embassy says it is working closely with the Spanish authorities and consular staff have been deployed to assist those affected.

Much of Spain's countryside was left tinder-dry this summer by a prolonged heatwave. There have been major wildfires in northern Catalonia - near the Pyrenees - and on La Gomera, in the Canary Islands.

The wind speed has dropped since Thursday and the air is more humid, so there are hopes that the Costa del Sol blaze can be contained soon.

More than 250 firefighters are battling the fire, helped by 17 aircraft dropping water to douse it, Spain's El Pais news website says.

The fire started on Thursday afternoon in the Sierra Negra area of Coin, near Malaga and has now affected an area of some 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres).

Part of the AP-7 highway was cut temporarily, but other roads are unaffected. It is not yet clear how many homes have been damaged or destroyed.

• MISSING: THE family of a British man who went missing a week ago on the Costa del Sol is facing an agonising wait for news of his whereabouts.

John Leach, 65, a former actor who once starred in 1990s TV series El Dorado has not been seen since leaving his home in La Cala de Mijas on August 21.

He was last spotted walking near El Sheriff bar at around 12.30pm – he was carrying €10 in cash and his mobile phone but has failed to answer any calls.

“We have spoken to all his friends so we know he isn’t staying with any of them,” his daughter Jessica Leach told the Olive Press.

“He likes his daily routine and always sticks to it so this is not normal behaviour for him.

“Me and my mum are sick with worry and just hope he is found safe and returned home soon,” the 30-year-old added.

Leach was wearing a grey polo shirt with beige or white three-quarter-length trousers and brown shoes.

He is thought to have been planning to attend a wake at a venue near El Chaparral golf course, which was due to start at 4pm.

Police and Ambulances hurried to evacuate as wild fires quickly spread our reporter on the scene photographer the devastation

We had a tiny little fire today, which they put out.

Then an hour later, it restarted, and spread along 2 Klm of the coast.

It was horrible seeing old people being run out of their homes, and carried through the smoke by police and ambulances.

The pictures really doesn,t do show bad it really was.many houses have gone

British man and his five-year-old granddaughter have drowned in Portugal, according to marine authorities. The incident occurred at the tourist resort of Nazare, which is 60 miles north of Lisbon, at 14:00 local time. The two and the girl's grandmother were hit by a large wave off Salgado beach, officials said. They were all pulled out and the grandmother survived. The Foreign Office said it was aware of the reports and was in touch with Portuguese officials. The authorities have not confirmed the names of those involved, nor where they are from in Britain. The girl's parents were reported to have been on the beach at the time of the incident. The grandmother was taken to hospital and is said to be out of danger. Antonio Jose de Albuquerque, head of Nazare port, told the AFP news agency the Britons had been strolling in an unmonitored area of Salgado beach. "When help arrived, they were able to save the grandmother, but the grandfather was already dead," he said. "The first-aid workers tried in vain to revive the girl for nearly an hour." The area on Portugal's exposed Atlantic coast is popular with surfers because of its large waves.

 In the West, getting a tan is one of the main reasons for going to the beach.

But in China, some are going to extraordinary lengths to avoid getting a bit of sun with a new item of beachwear – dubbed the Facekini – causing something of a stir in the coastal tourist city of Qingdao, Shandong Province.

The masks completely cover the swimmers' heads, revealing only their eyes, noses, and mouths.

The styles and colors of the masks suggest a huge happy beach party attended by some lesser superheroes, Mexican wrestlers and perhaps a few bank robbers is underway. In fact, government officials have become concerned that the masks could be used to rob banks, according to a report in The New York Times.

Another online store sold 542 masks, which come in different colors and patterns, in just 30 days. "We are already out of the pink ones.... All of them sell well. Orange is the most effective in protecting people from sea creatures."

AFP - Getty Images

Users say the face masks are useful in protecting against insects and jellyfish.

The masks are an outward expression of a Chinese understanding of beauty in terms of skin color.

"I myself don't mind getting tanned, but I can see why pale skin is attractive," Alina Zhao, a college student in the U.S. who grew up in Zhejiang, China, said.

"It definitely has to do with the history of China, which is largely an agricultural society,” she added. “Getting tanned means you work outside in the fields a lot, so skin color is like an indicator of your social status. The fairer you are, the wealthier or more respected you seem."

Umbrellas on a sunny day
In fact, Facekini is only one out of many attempts of the Chinese people to stay fair. The number of umbrellas to be seen in Chinese cities on a hot, sunny day might appear bizarre to many non-Chinese people.

"I first became aware of the phenomenon when I lived in Taiwan for the summer," Simone Cote, from Vermont and currently working in Beijing, said. "I constantly saw that women covered themselves when they went out. They wore pants often, and yes, umbrellas everywhere."

Cote was asked "Why is your skin so dark?" by her host mother in Taiwan.

Within this underlying concept of what is beautiful, the Facekini was perhaps a logical development.

A user of the mask commented in Chinese on taobao.com that "this item is very effective in keeping the UV [ultra-violet light] out, and it's very comfortable. With this, you can do whatever you want on a beach, with no worries of getting burned or tanned. It's really recommended."

Another user, Tongchao, seems to have debated between the benefit of not getting tanned and the possibility of getting laughed in this mask. "Okay. I've become the focused again, but this item is really useful. It's actually not stuffy at all. I really like it!" Looks like he or she has made a choice – but not an easy one.

When asked if she would ever wear one, Alina gave her answer without a second thought.

"Of course no! I was never into sunscreen – I'll never get this fair anyway, so why bother? I would rather enjoy the sun."

Wildfires in Spain this summer have so far claimed the lives of nine people and laid waste 132,399 hectares (510 square miles) of land across Spain, three times more than last year according to Environment Ministry figures. It has been the worst season for fires in a decade, with more than 8,000 individual outbreaks so far, some of which have decimated national parks and nature reserves. Recriminations have broken out between local authorities and the Popular Party (PP) government, with all blaming one other for exacerbating the destruction by imposing cuts to fire prevention and protection services and failing to respond quickly enough. The latest fires on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands have destroyed 4,800 hectares (18 square miles), or over 10 percent of the island. Some 5,000 people fled from their homes—a quarter of the population—have been compelled to evacuate. The Garajonay National Park, a United Nations World Heritage site and home to hundreds of plant species, many unique, has been devastated. It could take up to 100 years for the destroyed areas to recover. The fire on Gomera has raged for two weeks and could continue for weeks more. Seven seaplanes and six helicopters have been involved in dumping water on the fire, but complications have arisen because of the porous nature of the volcanic soil. “We have a front that is moving through the subsoil that is giving us much trouble,” said Garajonay National Park director Angel Fernandez. “We are studying alternatives, and have brought an expert analyst here to see how to fix this.” The Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) president of La Gomera Island Council, Casimiro Curbelo, criticised central government for following a “scorched earth” policy and delays in sending help. He said the “eight or ten” seaplanes sent to the island were “insufficient” compared to the 12 sent to Andalusia, where the threat was less and demanded “a permanent presence of aircraft” on La Gomera. Officials from the PP government denied they had been slow to help. Environment Minister Miguel Arias Cañete declared that his department had “met all requests for Canary promptly, without delay.” Cañete claimed somewhat disingenuously, that “In a year when my department’s budget was cut by 29.5 percent, the only part that was raised was the part for forest fires”—from €71 million to €74 million ($90 million). There can be few occasions when boasting of being spared the axe of an overall budget cut of almost a third is seen as a retort to criticism. Shifting the blame for the disaster on the regions, he added, “Each one decides freely where it will make cuts. Each region will have to analyse whether its fire prevention measures are sufficient.” Elsewhere, a smaller fire has burned hundreds of hectares on the neighbouring island of Tenerife, an important tourist destination. On the mainland two fires were extinguished last week in Cuenca and Cuidad Real after destroying over 600 hectares. In Alicante a forest fire claimed the lives of an environment department worker and a fireman, and left three injured. The country’s biggest fire so far this year, and the largest since 1991, started at the end of June. It has ravaged 49,000 hectares (nearly 200 square miles) in Cortes de Pallás and Andilla in the eastern region of Valencia. Around 1,300 personnel, including firemen, police, Red Cross and civil protection officers, along with 40 airplanes, participated. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate the area. Palls of smoke spread northwards along the coast, blocking out the sun above holiday resorts. In the north-eastern region of Catalonia two fires destroyed 10,000 hectares of land in La Jonquera, close to the French border and the coastal town Portbou, claiming four victims, all French, and injuring 24 others. Hundreds of cattle were killed. The ash and fumes reached the city of Barcelona over 150 kilometres away. With no defence of the cuts possible, politicians and ministers have attempted to blame the fires on arsonists, “irresponsible individuals”, strong winds, and high temperatures combined with a dry winter. Typical was Catalonian Interior Minister Felip Puig, who declared the fires the work of a human hand, “most certainly by a flicked cigarette” before ordering the police to pursue “those responsible”. There are, of course, environmental factors precipitating this disaster. This winter has been the driest in 70 years; temperatures have risen well above 30 degrees at the same time as humidity has remained less than 30 percent and winds have been blowing over 30 kilometers per hour. But a major factor exacerbating the extreme ecological conditions has been the austerity measures that have been imposed. In mid July, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced a new €65 billion ($79 billion) package of cuts, the third since his election last November. The latest measures came on top of previous cuts, amounting to €48 billion, agreed between the central government and 17 autonomous regions. The cuts, which have helped plunge Spain into the second deepest recession in its history, are being made to meet the demands of the “troika”—the European Union (EU), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB)—which act as enforcers for the global banks and speculators. In Catalonia, the regional government has cut between 25 to 34 percent of its budget for prevention of fires and firefighting, according to the two main unions, the CCOO (Comisiones Obreras—Workers’ Commissions) and the UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores—General Union of Workers). Back in February, at a public hearing (video), Catalan firefighters warned of the consequences of the cuts, saying that there was “an imminent problem” with regard to this year’s high-risk season. So drastic were the cuts that there were not enough funds to cover the cost of uniforms this year. According to Antonio del Río, UGT firefighters representative, “There were some people who couldn’t help extinguish the flames because they had no boots or gloves.” In Valencia, the regional government has cut €15 million from its firefighting budget, resulting in the loss of 700 jobs linked to firefighting and three fewer airplanes. According to Francisco Caballero, UGT secretary of the firefighting sector in Valencia, retirees have not been replaced, meaning that “at least 10 percent of the professionals have been reduced.” Valencia was the first region to ask for emergency funding, estimated to be around €3 billion, from the recently created €18 billion Regional Liquidity Fund (FLA). Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro has made it clear that the region will “be obligated to follow new conditions”, i.e., new austerity measures. Last week, the indebted central region of Castilla-La Mancha announced plans to cut its number of firefighters by almost a third.

yellow jacket is a case that transforms the iPhone 4 & 4S into that 650,000-volt stun gun you've always needed.

scheduled to hit the US market in fall 2012 the case is advertised as being able to 
easily stop an aggressive male attacker, and ready for use in less than two seconds. 
its designer seth froom, a former military policeman came up with the product after 
being robbed in his home at gunpoint.

what is the demand for such a hostile product you might ask? well, yellow jacket 
has managed to receive over 100,000 USD worth of backing on the crowd-funding 
website indiegogo which means that there must be quite a few people out there 
who feel the need to transform their phone into a weapon.


detail of the stun gun nodes 

the iPhone's designers could never have conceived half of the the weird and wonderful accessories 
that have been designed for use with the iPhone since its launch, but even in the name of self defense 
a stun gun seems a bit much, doesn't it?

Galicia's City of Culture: Unfinished and now four times over budget

High on a hill on the outskirts of the ancient pilgrimage centre of Santiago de Compostela stands an extraordinary complex of buildings.

Their sweeping curved roofs, clad in hand-quarried stone, were designed to look like they had erupted from the ground.

Their scale and design are quite breathtaking. But this is no cathedral.

It is Galicia's extravagant City of Culture: commissioned in the Spanish boom years, but still to be completed and four times over its original budget.

"It's quite difficult to compare the times now with ten or fifteen years ago," says Llatzer Moix, an author who has written about Spain's obsession with grand architectural projects.

It's not time to discuss, it's time to deliver”

Alberto Nunez FeijooGalicia government head

"We were living in a bubble related to the huge boom in construction."

With money apparently no object, every region in Spain wanted its version of the hugely successful Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. And Galicia, in the north-west, was no different.

"It was in order to make cities better in cultural terms but also competitively, in economic terms," Mr Moix explains.

"But then suddenly the bubble exploded and, well, we are now in our poor condition."

And the regions are paying the price, wondering how far and how fast the budget axe will fall.

The Galician government continues to support the original ambitions of the City of Culture, despite criticism that it has become a vanity project which is no longer affordable.

And it is keen to point out that Galicia's finances are healthier than some.

"But the whole philosophy of public spending in Spain has changed," argues the head of the regional government, Alberto Nunez Feijoo.

"The regions aren't immune. We have a firm strategy in place to control public deficits."

But other regional governments - who are not politically aligned with the central government in Madrid - are taking a tougher line.

An EU-funded port complex remains unfinished because of budget cuts

Both Catalonia and Andalucia have resisted efforts this week to steamroller them into budget cuts.

The Catalan government wants more time to make changes, even while admitting that it may soon be unable to provide some basic public services.

"It's not time to discuss, it's time to deliver," Mr Nunez Feijoo retorts, expressing confidence that his friend Mariano Rajoy, the prime minister in Madrid, can extricate Spain from its budgetary mess.

But the nature of the Spanish political system makes that more difficult, and Galicia provides another good example of that.

On a windswept stretch of the Atlantic coastline, a few miles from the city of La Coruna, sits the skeleton of a vast new port.

It was designed - in the wake of the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spill - as a modern petrochemical hub well away from the city.

Eventually it could make money and create jobs, but at the moment there are no proper road or rail links leading to it, and in times of austerity there are few funds to provide them.

But by and large Galicians don't seem to be complaining.

"The funding for this place doesn't come from Galician taxpayers," explains Prof Diego Varela of La Coruna University, as we look down at the empty port complex and the ocean beyond.

"In this case the port received funding from the European Union and also the Spanish state."

Which makes it a pretty good deal for Galicia. But critics say there are too many similar "pork barrel" schemes scattered across the country - prestige projects that enhance the status of local politicians.

In this highly decentralised country, the regions account for nearly 50% of national spending, and now they are haggling over how to take their share of the cuts.

"The regions are big spending machines," says Prof Varela, "because they have the competencies for education and health, but they don't have a corresponding fiscal responsibility.

"They don't raise the funds that they use for these services, so for them it is always difficult to reduce spending because they are not responsible for taxation."

Back in Santiago de Compostela, in the shadow of the great cathedral reputed to be the burial place of St James, apostle of Christ, local trade unionists have gathered for a demonstration.

Teacher Fernando (right) says thousands of young people have to move overseas to find jobs

They have come to protest about cuts in public spending - a reminder of the resistance in some influential quarters to too much change too quickly.

There are few expectations of economic miracles in this holy city, just a hope that things won't get much worse.

"Times are really hard here," says a teacher named Fernando.

"Twenty thousand young Galicians have had to leave, they've emigrated to Europe, Germany, the Netherlands, because there are no jobs at home."

And the uncertainty looks set to continue, because this is not simply a crisis of excessive regional spending.

There is the struggling banking system, the property sector in crisis, and a deepening recession as well.

There are some causes for hope. Exports, for example, are doing well.

But the Spanish economy is simply out of sync with many of its eurozone partners - and to survive in the single currency wages will have to come down, and services will have to be cut.

For Spain's less developed regions - Galicia included - that will be a tough adjustment, and it will not be achieved without a political fight.

It is all adding to fears that the Spanish economy could soon need further financial assistance from abroad, some kind of bailout which could stretch the eurozone to the limit.

Remember that time when everyone got all freaked out about thatsnakeskin pedicure that cost $300? Well, get ready to completely lose it, because we just got a press release for the “most expensive nail polish in the world.”

That title was previously held by Models Own, which produced a $130,000 bottle (featuring a 24-carat gold, diamond-encrusted lid) back in 2010. However, the self-professed “king of black diamonds,” Azature, has doubled that figure. A bottle of black nail polish containing a whopping 267 carats of black diamonds in the actual polish will go for $250,000. Yikes. You won’t be able to just walk into Duane Reade and buy this sucker, however–only one bottle of the stuff will be produced.

For those of us who can’t afford a quarter of a million dollars for a manicure, Azature is offering a $25 version (see, now doesn’t $25 nail polish sound downright cheap in comparison?) containing one measly black diamond. You’ll be able to pick it up in LA at Fred Segal starting this month.

Reece James, 21, a close friend of Tulisa Contostavlos has been shot dead in a reported gangland attack. The 21-year-old, who appeared with Tulisa in a video for rapper Nines, was shot in the head in a "pre-planned and targeted" hit, 100 miles from his home in London, reports the UK's Sun newspaper. Police found James' body in Boscombe, Bournemouth, at around 2.30am near where Somali drug gangs are said operate. A 22-year-old man was arrested. Reece was said to have been in the area with some friends for "a couple of months", though had filmed the video earlier this month with Tulisa and rapper Nines on the Church End Estate in Harlesden, North West London. The former N Dubz star caused controversy at the time, making a "C" symbol to the camera - the same sign that is used by Harlesden's notorious Church Road Soldiers gang. Tulisa claimed it was a reference to Camden, where she was born. Twitter tributes began flooding in last night, with one user writing, "RIP Reece James. Thoughts are with him and his family and friends". Local MP Tobias Ellwood described the killing as "a spill over from the drugs turf war in the capital", adding, "This was one London gang chasing down another, carrying out a professional hit and then going back".

Paper Passion, a scent from Geza Schoen for Wallpaper* magazine, makes its wearers smell like freshly printed books. I suppose it can be alternated with "In the Library," a perfume that smells like old books.

Paper Passion fragrance by Geza Schoen, Gerhard Steidl, and Wallpaper* magazine, with packaging by Karl Lagerfeld and Steidl.

“The smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world.” Karl Lagerfeld. 

It comes packaged with inside a hollow carved out of a book with "texts" by "Karl Lagerfeld, Günter Grass, Geza Schoen and Tony Chambers."

The Guadalhorce Hospital has been completed in Cártama on the Costa del Sol, but it has been empty for several months with no opening date planned.

To continue installing the equipment in the hospital it has to be accepted as meeting requirement, and to show that hospital is as planned, but for that to take place it must be connected to the electricity supply.

The problem is that will cost two million €, although the originally quoted price was 300,000 €, to install the electrical connection required. Endesa say the problem is that to supply the hospital an electrical substation at Villafranca del Guadalhorce will have to be expanded.

Cártama Town Hall has said they cannot meet the extra cost, which has put the budget up five fold. Mayor Jorge Gallardo says he thinks the electricity company is ‘making the most of the circumstances’. 

However the Junta say they think the 2 million bill should be met by the Town Hall. They say the electricity contract was undertaken by Cártama Town Hall.

The Guadalhorce Hospital has been built thanks to an agreement between the Málaga Diputación, the Junta de Andalucía and the Cártama Town Hall, to give the district its long-wanted hospital. Many foreigners live in the inland area and have complained about the time to get to a hospital in Málaga.

Officials say the flames have been fanned by strong winds

Forest fires raging in Spain's north-eastern Catalonia region have left three people dead, officials say.

Two French nationals drowned in the sea close to the border with France while trying to escape the flames, Catalonia's interior minister said.

Strong winds gusting up to 90km/h (55mph) have rendered one fire "out of control", he said.

All residents of the county of Alt Emporda - about 135,000 people - have been ordered to stay indoors.

The area is a main link for holidaymakers travelling to and from southern France. Traffic on the cross-border AP-7 motorway was reported to have been severely disrupted on Sunday.

Cardiac arrest

The two French victims were among several people who were trapped by fire as they travelled along the N-260 main coastal road near the town of Portbou and tried to reach the sea by climbing down cliffs, according to Catalan Interior Minister Felip Puig.

The victims were a 60-year-old man and his 15-year-old daughter, Spanish media reported.

A 75-year-old man died after suffering a cardiac arrest in Llers, north-west of the area's main town, Figueres.

At least another 19 people have been wounded, including a French national who suffered burns on 80% of his body when he was caught in his car by the flames.

The fire near Portbou has been brought under control, according to media reports, while a much larger blaze further inland, around the border town of La Jonquera, was still spreading late on Sunday, Felip Puig said.

The fire, travelling at about 5-6km/h, came within 10km of Figueres, Mr Puig said.

A total of about 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of forest are estimated to have been devastated in the area, according to the authorities.

The Spanish shopping siesta may be about to become the latest victim of the sovereign debt crisis. To stimulate spending after a 23 percent drop in retail sales since 2007, the euro region’s fourth-largest economy this month approved measures that allow shops of more than 300 square meters (3,229 square feet) to open for 25 percent longer a week. The new rules may encourage the outlets to sell during the traditional afternoon snooze from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and on an additional two Sundays or holidays a year for a total of 10. “When everything was fine, nobody complained, but now that things have gone awry, then it’s another story,” said Carmen Cardeno, director general for domestic commerce at the nation’s economy ministry, which created the rules. “We need to evolve and be more flexible.” Spain is following its European neighbors in trying to liberalize shopping hours that have traditionally been checked by governments in the region to protect religious observances, for rest and on behalf of smaller retailers that have fewer resources to staff shops around the clock. England has allowed retailers to open for longer on Sundays during the Olympics than the six hours usually allowed. In France, food shops can be open 13 hours a day and stores located in tourist areas have the right to open on Sundays. Spanish shops are allowed to open for less time than anywhere else in Europe, according to its government, which was asked by retail associations to allow large stores to open 16 Sundays or holidays a year. Some smaller merchants opposed the extension, arguing that the bigger stores would have the necessary manpower and they wouldn’t. The new measures allow stores 18 additional business hours a week and will permit merchants to decide when to cut prices in sales instead of only twice a year. Siesta Time The country’s regions will get to decide how to implement the rules, though they usually follow the lead of the central government. In Madrid, which is an exception, stores have been able to open for as long as they want since July 15. Outlets of less than 300 square meters also have no restrictions on opening hours, though the Spanish tradition of eating at home and having a siesta means most shopkeepers keep their businesses closed for about two hours in the middle of the day. The new measures may not be enough to offset shrinking demand in Spain’s 217 billion-euro ($264 billion) retail industry, which is worsening each year the crisis goes on in a nation where one in four people is out of work. The number of companies seeking bankruptcy protection rose 22 percent from a year earlier to 2,224 in the first quarter, according to the nation’s statistics institute, with commerce being the third- largest contributor behind construction and housing firms and industrial and energy companies. ‘Almost Insignificant’ Javier Millan-Astray, director general of retail association ANGED, said the approved loosening of restrictions on opening hours doesn’t go far enough. “The government’s reform is almost insignificant,” Millan-Astray told reporters in Madrid, when retail groups pushed for 16 Sunday openings. The associations’ “new proposal would help boost consumption and create more jobs because when we open on a holiday, people come and shop. It’s unbelievable that amid this crisis, we have to keep our stores closed.” Spain has been wrestling with the dilemma of preserving its culture and modernizing the industry for decades. The socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2004 rolled back liberalization of opening hours instituted by his predecessor, bringing them back to rules from the 1990s and leaving the country with the tightest regulations of any European country. Job Creation Even with the latest proposals, “retail regulation is hurting both business and customers in Spain,” said Fernando Fernandez, a professor at the IE Business School in Madrid. “Both big and small retailers would benefit from fewer restrictions. When big retailers such as Ikea or Zara open a store, all small shops in that area benefit from that.” Ending the restrictions completely would create 337,581 jobs across all industries and add 17.2 billion euros to economic growth this year, according to a study commissioned by the government, which examined the implications of several scenarios. The nearest of those to the current proposals, under which stores open on 16 Sundays or holidays, could have added 47,945 full-time retail jobs, the study found. About 1.8 million people worked in retail in the first quarter, 0.3 percent less than in the year-earlier period. Stores are also bracing for change as the government looks to the retail industry to help boost tax revenue. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will increase the most common rate of sales tax to 21 percent from 18 percent on Sept. 1, putting an additional brake on consumers’ ability to spend. previous