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Spain News Archive - April 2009
Zaragoza Zaragoza
April 30th.
The honest taxi driver of Zaragoza.
A Good Samaritan taxi driver in Zaragoza has handed in to the police a forgotten handbag which a passenger had left behind in his car. Police say it was handed in on Tuesday afternoon, containing, amongst other items, all the woman’s documentation and a large sum of money: a total of 20,000€. The forgetful and, presumably, very grateful passenger has already collected the bag from police lost property, and the local police have thanked the taxi driver for his honest behaviour.
Feria de Sevilla Seville
April 29th.
The Feria de Abril is officially underway in Seville.
It began at midnight on Monday night, when the Mayor of the city pulled the switch to light up more than 214,000 bulbs for the 162nd edition of the Feria de Abril. 
Swine flue Spain
April 28th.
Spain confirms Europe's first case of swine flu.
A 23 year old student under treatment in a hospital in Albacete has been confirmed as the first case of Swine Flu in Spain, and the first confirmed case in Europe. Another two cases were also confirmed by the UK on Monday. The World Health Organisation reports 40 confirmed cases in the United States and, in Mexico, 149 people have now died, although it’s understood definitive confirmation only affects 20 of those cases. Mexico has closed its schools until at least May 6th in an attempt to prevent further infection. In Spain, the patient infected with the virus returned from a trip to Mexico last Wednesday was admitted to an isolation ward in Almansa General Hospital on Saturday. His family were also put under quarantine. The Health Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, announced at a press conference on Monday that he is being treated in accordance with World Health Organisation recommendations and said his condition is not serious.
Swine flue Spain
April 27th.
Mexican Swine Flue.
Eight youngsters are in quarantine across Spain because of the possible contagion of swine flu. El Mundo paper says they all returned from Mexico over the last week, and are admitted to hospitals in Bilbao, Valencia, Almansa, Teruel, Cadiz and three in Cataluña. The Minister for Health, Trinidad Jiménez, says the situation is under control and there is no cause for alarm. El País newspaper headlines that there is a global alert to avoid a Swine Flu pandemic. The paper notes the eight suspected cases in Spain and says that the United States has declared a health state of emergency. The paper shows travellers arriving at Madrid airport on flights from Mexico and wearing a face mask. ABC headlines that the fear about Swine Flu has reached Spain and put the world on alert. It says that Obama has declared a health emergency, that there are eight suspected cases here, with more than 80 deaths in Mexico.
Cannabis Torrevieja
April 26th.
Alleged drug trafficker found not guilty.
The fifth section of the Murcia Provincial Court in Cartagena, has found a youth, named with the initials D.J., accused of drug trafficking, not guilty after he said that he had acquired the cannabis to share with four friends in the village fiestas in Fuente Alamo. All four backed up his story saying they were regular users of the drug at weekends, and that they had given the accused the job of obtaining it, each one paying him between 50€ and 60€. The accused had gone to Torrevieja to obtain it on the day concerned. The prosecutor had asked for a three and a half year prison sentence in the case. The sentence therefore indicates that holding cannabis for personal use is not a crime against public health.
4,000,000 unemployed Spain
April 25th.
Unemployment smashes through four million in Spain.
The number from the survey of the active population, EPA, for the first quarter of the year, has come in worst than expected and is the highest ever recorded in Spain. 802,800 people joined the dole queue over the period, which amounts to 8,911 people losing their job every day.  It takes the unemployment rate to 17.3%, its highest level for the last 11 years. There are 4,010,700 now unemployed.
The number of Spanish families where all the members are out of work is now over a million. Minister for Tax and the Economy, Elena Salgado, admitted that the numbers are worse than expected, and noted that with 800,000 joining the dole queues you could not say, (as the employers have been), that sacking is expensive. Government and Unions have both rejected the idea from the employers CEOE, who wanted to see compensation for loss of employment reduced to eight days pay for each year worked.
Cannabis in Cadiz Cadiz
April 24th.
More than a ton of cannabis found on a Spanish boat in Cádiz.
Four drug smugglers have been arrested in Cádiz in a joint Civil Guard and Customs operation which has seized more than a ton of cannabis from a boat boarded off Puerto de Santa María. Officers discovered 1.1 tons of the drug hidden in a false bottom built into the boat once the vessel, which was flying under the Spanish flag, was inspected in port. The two crew members taken into custody are both Spaniards, as are another two men arrested in Chipiona who are believed to have been the leaders of the smuggling operation.
Costa del Sol Torremolinos
April 23rd.
Homes on the Costa del Sol taking up to eight years to sell.
Given the current rate of demand, homes on the Costa del Sol will take between four and eight years to sell. The number of unsold properties on the Western Costa del Sol between Manilva and Torremolinos is 30% of the total in Málaga province, at some 6,600, and work has halted on 38 developments in the area. The disturbing picture comes from the Aguirre Newman consultancy. With almost null demand the study shows that prices have fallen by between 10% and 40%, with the largest reductions generally being seen in Torremolinos, Benalmádena and Fuengirola.
Ferrán Adrià Girona
April 22nd.
El Bulli is the best restaurant in the world, again.
For the fourth year running, the El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Girona, hosted by the Spanish chef, Ferrán Adrià, has been chosen as the best restaurant in the world. Adrià was in London on Monday to collect the award presented by ‘Restaurant’ magazine in a ceremony held in Freemason’s Hall. Three other Spanish restaurants are in the top ten this year: The Basque restaurants, ’Mugaritz’ in fourth place and ‘Arzak’ in eighth, also the Catalan restaurant ‘El Celler de Can Roca’ which came in fifth.
Kidneys for sale Malaga
April 21st.
Seville man asks 100,000€ for his kidney on the Net.
The prosecution service in Seville is investigating the case of a local man who has put one of his kidneys up for sale on the Net. Giving details of his age, weight and blood group, the non-smoker is asking 100,000€ for the kidney, in what is by no means the first case of its type in Spain. There have even reportedly been cases of some advertisers who say they need the money to pay their mortgage. Posting the advert is not itself against the law, Europa Press reports, but the Seville Fiscalía want to determine if it would constitute a crime were the sale to actually take place, as a number of people would have to be involved in the whole process. Speaking on the matter on Monday, Spain’s new Health Minister, Trinidad Jiménez, described it as an isolated case which is ‘totally prohibited’ in Spain. She said the case was already ‘in the hands of the police’.
INAER Malaga - Ceuta Malaga
April 20th.
Malaga - Ceuta helicopter service expanded.
The INAER helicopter company has increased the number of flights between Malaga and Ceuta. A new early morning flight in each direction has been added to the service which now offers four flights a day. The Malaga - Ceuta service is the only passenger helicopter service currently in operation in Spain.
Change your mobile phone provider with a single call. Spain
April 19th.
Change your mobile phone provider with a single call.
Mobile phone users in Spain can now change operators by making just a single phone call. However the Consumers’ Association FACUA has warned of the possible frauds such as a system of portability could produce. It comes after the CMT, the Telecommunications Market Commission, approved the idea of simplifying the process where, until now, the client has been obliged to write to his or her operator to change provider. The client keeps his or her old phone number after the change of provider. The new company gaining the client must ensure that the client has given consent for the change, and this will be done via a body independent of both phone companies. This body is expressly prohibited from engaging in promotions or accepting any incentives from any party.
For sale Spain
April 18th.
House prices have fallen by 6.8%.
The inter-annual rate has shown price falls in all of the regions of Spain, and increases only in the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The numbers come from the Ministry of Housing, which notes the biggest falls are seen in Madrid and neighbouring provinces. Málaga, with a 10% fall in prices over the past year, leads the falls along the Mediterranean coast. The latest numbers show that new housing has caught up and is now falling at the same rate as resale property.
Prices compared to the last quarter of last year were 3% lower.
Only lesbians Spain
April 17th.
It's only gay domestic violence if the couple are lesbians.
Following the first fatal case of domestic violence between two married men in Spain, in Adra, Almería on Tuesday this week, the President of the Almería Provincial Court, Benito Gálvez, has commented that it could only be called a gay domestic violence incident if it had happened between two lesbians. The judge ruled out a case being legally considered as domestic violence if two men are involved, as in the Adra case where a Spanish man was killed by his Moroccan ex-husband, who then committed suicide. The judge has therefore ordered that the case be considered as ‘an ordinary crime against life’, although he conceded that a far-reaching study is needed to establish the best judicial route for the case. Under present domestic violence law the victim is described as female, while the sex of the aggressor is left blank. 
Earthquake epicentre Murcia
April 16th.
Earthquake hits northeastern Murcia.
An earthquake estimated at 3.7 on the Richter scale was felt in the northeast of the Murcia Region on Wednesday, with its epicentre to the northwest of Fortuna. It came at 5.42 pm, and was also felt in the south of Alicante province, in Novelda and Elche. The National Geographic Institute said there were no reports of any injuries or material damage.
Adra, Almaría, spain. Spain
April 15th.
Spain's first gay domestic violence fatality.
A Moroccan man stabbed his Spanish ex husband in Adra, Almería, before committing suicide. The first domestic violence fatality following a gay marriage in Spain took place on Tuesday in the Almería village of Adra. The Moroccan aggressor stabbed his 34 year old Spanish ex husband to death at the doors of his home, and then committed suicide. The body of the aggressor was found on waste ground nearby later in the day. The couple had separated two months ago. It’s the first recorded domestic violence fatality involving people of the same sex who were married under the legislation introduced in Spain in 2005. Socialist Secretary for Social Movement, Pedro Zerolo, lamented the ‘tremendous and very sad’ news, and said it showed that violence also existed in same sex couples. He said more education was needed to fight violence, in all of its forms. The Domestic Violence helpline in Spain is 016.
Malaga Malaga
April 14th.
Record hotel occupancy for Easter in Málaga.
Hotel occupancy in Málaga reached record levels over Easter, according to the President of the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, Salvador Pendón. Average occupancy levels were 75,29%, 7.7 points higher than in 2008. The improvement was even better in the first half of Holy Week with 72.4% occupancy, more than ten points better than last year. Pendón said that a cautious attitude needed to be kept despite the numbers, and the CCOO union has played down their importance, and noted that this season so far some 2,000 fewer people have been employed by the tourist sector locally.
39 lose their lives on Spanish roads over Holy Week. Spain
April 13th.
39 lose their lives on Spanish roads over Holy Week.
39 people lost their lives on Spain’s roads over the Holy Week break this year, compared to 58 last year. There were ten serious injuries this year and 25 more suffered lesser injuries. There were long delays in many places, especially on the entry roads to Madrid, on Sunday evening despite the fact that many who chose the Levante coast headed home early given a turn in the weather over the end of the week in the east of the country. Long delays were also seen on the Benalmádena bypass and at Las Pedrizas north of Málaga on Sunday. Delays reached 14 kms at Montforte in Alicante on the A-31 and there were also long hold-ups in Torrevieja. The most serious accidents on Sunday were in Villalobón in Palencia, and Guzmanes, León, although Saturday was the worst day for fatalities with eight deaths in seven fatal crashes.
Corín Tellado Spain
April 12th.
Top selling Spanish author dies at 81.
Corín Tellado features in the Guiness Book of Records as the most sold writer in the Castellano language. María del Socorro Tellado López, better known as Corín Tellado, a writer from Asturias who was considered as ‘la gran dama’ of romantic fiction in Spain has died at the age of 81. She sold over 400 million novels during her career. She is the most read Spanish author after Miguel de Cervantes, and her more than 4,000 novels have been translated into several languages. With a family of four brothers she showed an interest in writing in school, and followed it through university where she failed to complete a psychology degree. Her novels are quite different from other European romantic writers in that they are invariably set in the present day, have a direct style and don’t use eroticism. Several have been converted into ‘telenovelas’.
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones Alicante
April 11th.
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones to film in Alicante.
They are to be the stars of the new Simon West film on the life of Salvardor Dalì. 
Antonio Banderas joins forces with Catherine Zeta-Jones next month to start filming a new production on the life of Salvador Dalí. Banderas plays Dalì while Zeta-Jones plays his muse, Gala. The couple are used to working together, having been in the last two films about El Zorro. The Ciudad de la Luz in Alicante will see filming over May and June. The new film on the life of the Catalan painter is being directed by the Briton Simon West and has an international production company. 
Carretta Carretta Turtle Torrevieja
April 10th.
Sea turtles released on Torrevieja beach.
Hundreds of bathers were on the Playa de la Mata beach in Torrevieja on Wednesday to witness four Loggerhead Sea Turtles, the Carretta Carretta Tortuga Boba, being returned to the sea. They had been rescued on the coast of Spain and had been cared for in La Granja and ARCA Recovery Centres in Valencia. The Generalitat’s environment councillor, José Ramón García Antón, and the Mayor of Torrevieja, Pedro Hernández Mateo, were both there for the release to watch the turtles return to their natural habitat. Two were found caught in fishing nets, another on a fishing line, and the fourth had ingested plastic; many sea turtles mistake the floating pieces of plastic for jellyfish. Three of the reptiles were rescued in Castellón and the other in Alicante.
500 euro notes Barcelona
April 9th.
In for a penny, in for 2.8 million euros.
A 22 year old Italian was found with 2.8 million euros in fake 500 euro notes in Barcelona. The local police in Villafranca del Penedès in Barcelona arrested a 22 year old Italian resident, named with the initials D.J. when he was found to be carrying 2.8 million euros in false 500€ notes.

Its worth noting that for exactly that reason, most businesses will not accept 500€ notes and many will not even accept 200€ or 100€ notes, so when converting your holiday money to Euros, try to get denominations of 50€ or less.
Platform Screen Doors (Photo of Paris Metro) Seville
April 8th.
Seville Metro now open.
The Seville metro (Metro de Sevilla in Spanish) is a light metro network serving the city of Seville and its metropolitan area. The first line was opened on April 2nd. The system is totally independent of other traffic, rail or street traffic. Every station will have platform screen doors.

Further details at Wikipedia
Aer Lingus Malaga
April 7th.
Aer Lingus launches new route: Málaga - Gatwick.
The Irish airline has started three flights daily to the Costa del Sol capital. On the day the company gave the surprise announcement that their Chief Executive, Dermot Mannion, is to step down, the Irish airline, Aer Lingus, launched a new route between Málaga and London Gatwick. Aer Lingus already flies from Málaga to Belfast, Cork and Dublin.
Rafa Moñoz Spain
April 6th.
Spanish swimmer breaks the world 50m butterfly record.
21 year old Rafa Muñoz from Córdoba has broken the 50m butterfly world record, just a day after being just 18 hundredths off the 100m record in two tremendous swims in the National Championships in Málaga this weekend. He recorded 22.43 in the 50m race, cutting more than half a second off his previous best time. He said his performance had not sunk in. ‘I am on a cloud and tomorrow when I get up it will be something else, but I will carry on being a man from Córdoba who likes to swim. I’m now in the record books, and that’s what I wanted’.
Beach Chiringuito Spain
April 5th.
The Chief of the Costas calls for calm over the moving of beach restaurants off the sand.
After the outcry from the public over the statements that Chiringuito beach restaurants are to be removed from the sand as part of the Ley de Costas, the Chief of the Costas Demarcation Office, Francisco Javier Hermoso, has said that nobody has spoken of removing all the restaurants off the sand. Speaking to the La Opinión de Málaga newspaper on Saturday, he said that an agreed solution would be found, negotiated between all those affected, including the Town Halls, Junta de Andalucía and the restaurant owners. He doubted that the law implied that all the restaurants had to be on the paseo instead of the beach, but the idea was to reconcile their activity and at the same time liberalise the largest space possible on the sand. 
Banco de España Spain
April 4th.
Bank of Spain says the recession will continue into next year.
The Bank of Spain has said in its latest forecast that unemployment will reach 17% this year, and that the economy as a whole will shrink by 3%. That compares to the Government’s own latest forecast of a 1.6% shrinkage in G.D.P. The latest statement from the Bank says that there will be no imminent recovery to what it says is a ‘deep recession’, with a further 1% reduction in the economy next year. They also say unemployment will continue to increase during next year to reach 19.4%. The forecast comes just a day after optimism from the Prime Minister at the G-20 summit who said that the economy would hit bottom in the second half of this year. Spain is to contribute to the tune of four billion euros to the new G-20 fund against the global recession.
Sitges Sitges
April 3rd.
Lesbian police couple denounce Sitges Town Hall.
The married couple say they are never assigned to the same shifts or days off. A married lesbian couple, who are both local police officers in the force in Sitges, Barcelona, have lodged a complaint for discrimination against the Town Hall. Three people are named in the complaint, including the Chief of Local Police. Another is the local councillor responsible for the local police force. The two officers say that, despite their repeated requests, they have never been assigned to the same shift or to the same days off for more than a year. The couple allege that the problems only began when the current Chief took over the post at the end of 2007. Europa Press reports that both the officers and the union have decided to make the case public after waiting since last June for the Mayor of Sitges to fulfil a promise to resolve the situation.
Malaga tornado damage Malaga
April 2nd.
Repairs continue on Málaga tornado damage.
Twenty one families are hoping to be able to move back to their homes at the end of May. It’s now two months since a devastating tornado hit Málaga City, reaching speeds of up to 180 kilometres an hour as it left destruction in its wake along a 4 km long corridor, some 300 metres wide. It’s believed to have been the strongest tornado to have been seen in Spain for 150 years. It affected eleven blocks in the city, causing damage to homes and vehicles and even to the main bus station. Sixty percent of the 1,800 claims made were for damage to buildings, and 21 Málaga families remain in hotels as the work continues to repair their homes.
Benidorm Benidorm
April 1st.
Hoteliers fear 500,000 fewer British tourists on the Costa Blanca this year.
The fear is a 25% reduction in numbers this year compared to last. The fall in the value of sterling is being blamed by what is now forecast to be 500,000 fewer British tourists on the Costa Blanca this year. Figures so far this year show that hotels in the area show a 10% reduction in the number of British guests, but the hoteliers fear the final reduction will be 25%, and that means 500,000 fewer tourists. Benidorm is the municipality to suffer the most from the fall as the Brits lose purchasing power. Local tourist officials note that a pint of beer in a Benidorm bar is now 22% more expensive for a British tourists than in March 2008, and that’s even with no price increases in the bars.
 
March 2009
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