Bullfighting saved from the sword as Spain rules it is an artistic discipline

The debate over bullfighting has been reignited in Spain after the government recognised the spectacle as "an artistic discipline and cultural product", delighting enthusiasts but outraging animal rights campaigners.

Prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's socialist government announced that the ministry of culture will from now on be responsible for the "development and protection" of bullfighting, which previously fell within the remit of the interior ministry.

The move follows pressure from bullfighting organisations keen to protect their livelihood following a controversial vote to ban bullfighting in the Catalonia region last year.

The ministry of culture said in a statement: "As it is understood that bullfighting is an artistic discipline and a cultural product, it was considered that the ministry of culture was the correct place for its development and protection."

Supporters, who see bullfighting as an integral part of Spain's cultural identity, hope the announcement is a step towards protecting the tradition from further regional bans.

Juan Diego, a matador speaking for the Bullfighters Union, welcomed the announcement as necessary "for the protection and guardianship of bullfighting", describing the sport as "a symbol of Spanish cultural heritage that shapes the national identity".

The change was backed by the conservative Popular party (PP), in opposition but favourite to win power in the general election on 20 November.

Miguel Cid Cebrián, chairman of the Parliamentary Bullfighting Association, said he hoped the PP would provide legal protection for bullfighting as a special "cultural interest" if it takes power, in order to stop other regions outlawing the tradition.

Last year the regional government in Madrid announced it was awarding bullfighting legal protection locally, because of its cultural importance.

Opponents, who describe the practice as a barbaric bloodsport, accused the government of abandoning a commitment to animal rights.

Silvia Barquero, spokeswoman for Pacma, an anti-bullfighting political party, told newspaper Público the decision to switch responsibility for bullfighting to the ministry of culture was "complete nonsense ... a measure which sends us back to the Middle Ages".

Animal rights campaigners say bullfighting only survives because it is subsidised by the Spanish taxpayer. Attendances are falling, its appeal has faded among younger Spaniards and the industry has been hit by the economic crisis. The number of bullfights taking place at local fiestas has diminished as spending cuts have been enforced.

The Catalan regional government voted to ban bullfighting in the northeastern region last July, by 68 votes to 55, with nine abstentions, on the grounds it is cruel and outdated. The vote was held after campaign group Prou! (Enough! in Catalan) collected 180,000 signatures in favour of a ban.

Anti-bullfighting organisations hope the Catalan example will be copied in some of Spain's 16 other autonomous communities.

Critics of the ban said it was motivated more by Catalan nationalism and a desire to assure political independence from Madrid than by a genuine desire to outlaw the tradition.

The ban, which will come into effect next January and will not be affected by Friday's decision, will be the first to be introduced in mainland Spain. The Canary Islands outlawed bullfighting in 1991.

A poll last year for the newspaper El País found 60% of Spaniards did not enjoy bullfighting, but 57% disagreed with the ban in Catalonia.

 

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Taghazout serves up an endless supply of surf all year round,

There’s nothing quite like a faceful of offshore ocean spray to let you know you’re alive. But then there’s also nothing like sliding on to a smooth early morning wave, riding the liquid glass on an uncrowded break with 
a handful of other surfers and the slow-rising sun as your only companions.

I would sit and contemplate all this, but there’s no time; more peaks are lumbering towards the beach at Panoramas in Taghazout. Forget thinking about the dream – I’m living it.

Surfing lessons
My Surf Maroc guide Zac, a Taghazout local with a style as wild as the afro atop his head, constantly chirps at me in broken English.

“Look up earlier,” he chides. “Trust yourself. Feel the board underneath your feet. You know it’s there, just point where you want to go.”

I launch myself into wave after wave, my fatboy board the perfect vehicle for hitching a ride on these small slices of oceanic perfection. Every ride is met with more approving words from Zac. From anyone else it would be wearing, but 
when you surf as well as he does, your advice means something.

I watch as he slashes his way down the line, smashing the wave’s lip and then cutting back to meet the peak. He pulls 
a neat 360 in the whitewash and then, 
as he paddles back out, motions to me.
“Come further out,” he calls. You’re ready now.”


Surfing at sunrise

Steering
Beyond the impact zone, there’s just a few of us. Aside from Zac, at 30 I’m the oldest by at least a decade; the line-up is made up of a group of Taghazout grommets, none yet even thinking about shaving.

They’re rippers and I have to be on my game to even think about catching a wave. But it doesn’t take long for me to find 
my spot in the hierarchy and score some good rides. Zac’s advice is paying off. The board floats beneath my feet as I learn to subtly distribute my weight and steer it along the green wall.

“No class for these boys today?” I ask Zac after I’m snaked for another wave. 

“No man,” he replies with a grin. “The beach is their school today … maybe everyday.”

The beach
The sun rises higher, bringing crowds 
– mostly novices going through the ‘learn-to-stand-up-on-the-beach-first’ routine.

By the time they hit the water, I’ve been out there for two hours and ready for a bit of onshore time to regenerate.

As a camel trots by, ridden by an eight-year-old in the foolhardy style of one who has never tasted pain, polite hawkers offer their wares, only too happy to chat and learn about the world outside Morocco 
– even though their offers are declined.

The groms are also in. They gather round hoping Zac can hook them up a sandwich. He does. Hopefully that’s bought me some waves in the afternoon session.

We surf ‘til mid-afternoon when the swell drops off. No work, no school – the groms definitely have the right idea.

Dinner
Back at the stunning Surf Maroc HQ, the sun is setting above the villa’s top balcony. I watch it from an almost upside-down position under the tutelage of Lindsay, an extremely lithe Canadian yoga instructor.

A solid stretching session – some time to clear the mind and focus only on my breathing – would seem the perfect end 
to the day. But it’s not over yet.

The Surf Maroc team has prepared their nightly feast. Hunger can be a horrible poison but these solid meals are the antidote. Our multi-national tribe of wave warriors gathers to break bread and share tales of the day’s spills and thrills.

As the pastel-orange sky fades to black, the ocean becomes a soundtrack to sleep. My weary head hits the pillow, happy in the knowledge that I’ll do it all again tomorrow ... and every day this week.



All levels welcome
No matter what your level of surfing, there’s a wave for you in Taghazout.

From the beach breaks at Panoramas and La Delle (for learners/ intermediates) to the long rides and barrels of Killers and the exposed reef and fast wave at Boilers (for experienced riders), there’s never a shortage of swell.

Surf Maroc provides transport to the beach and instructors know where to go to suit your level of experience.

On your day off, talk to the team about a day trip to the nearby Paradise Valley for bush walking and cliff diving.

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Moroccan property takes a tumble

The terrorist bombing of a Marrakech cafe in April, which left 16 people dead, dealt another blow to Morocco's struggling holiday-home industry.

Five years ago, the North African country was seen as a rival to Spain and Italy, a less-expensive alternative, luring pensioners and buyers of holiday homes. Middle East developers such as Emaar Properties, Sorouh Real Estate, Barwa and Qatari Diar announced large, multibillion-dollar developments.

But the global financial crisis, political turmoil in the region and the cafe bombing have brought activity in the market to a halt.

"The second-home market collapsed totally," says David Le Bail, the director of consulting for the international property consultancy DTZ. "There were simply no transactions."

Even before popular uprisings began in the Arab world, the market was slowing. From 2008 to last year, prices for holiday homes in Marrakech fell as much as 50 per cent, according to research by the property company CB Richard Ellis.

The abundance of new developments, many as large as 400 hectares, resulted in an oversupply of luxury villas, often priced between €800,000 (Dh4.1 million) and €1.5m. Of the 10,000 homes available, 50 per cent were vacant last year, according to CB Richard Ellis.

There were fundamental problems in the developers' approach to Morocco, analysts say. Emaar and others were exporting a project model that had worked well in other countries, focusing on expensive villas usually built around golf courses.

Developers typically made deals with the government for land in exchange for building infrastructure. The deals lowered the cost of entry into the market but made it difficult for developers to arrange financing since they did not own the land.

"Only projects with access to other forms of financing are continuing," says Mr Le Bail.

Many of the homebuyers in the developments were speculators who hoped to resell their homes quickly for a profit. But the financial crisis made potential buyers more conservative, especially in the UK, the primary supplier of holiday home purchases in the region.

Morocco lost its appeal when property started plummeting in Spain, Cyprus and other European holiday destinations. UK buyers could get better deals in the more traditional resort areas with better amenities and more frequent air service.

"Morocco was picking up because other places in Spain were getting too pricey," says Robert Lee, an independent consultant.

But the country was not an easy place in which to build, developers learnt. Government permits, restrictions on workers and requirements to use local companies in certain areas added expenses and delays.

"Morocco has proven to be difficult for most international developers," says Mr Lee.

Emaar Properties, based in Dubai, was listed as one of the largest foreign direct investors, with five projects in development. But last year the company's only sales in Morocco were 49 of the 123 homes released in Emaar Tinja, a 230-hectare housing development on 3km of waterfront outside Tangiers, according to a recent presentation to investors.

The project represents Emaar's lowest level of sales for international operations, outside Pakistan. Another 107 homes are expected to be delivered in the project by 2013.

A number of international companies pulled out of Morocco, turning projects over to local developers. A US$2 billion (Dh7.34bn) development in Taghazout, originally planned by a consortium of international companies, is now primarily controlled by Moroccan interests, with Colony Capital, a member of the consortium, left with only a 25 per cent stake.

Work on most of the large projects has stalled. Of six tourist regions that the government had planned to create, three have been put on hold, industry executives say.

But Morocco remains a popular tourist destination. Arrivals jumped 11.5 per cent last year to 9.3 million from 2009. In the first quarter of this year, tourism figures were up 6 per cent from the same period last year, despite the turmoil in the region, which included protests in the kingdom itself.

"Morocco has been evolving for the last several years," says Yassine Hamdouch, a senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle. "The investments have not stopped in tourism."

This year, the Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental luxury chains opened hotels in Morocco, and a Ritz-Carlton resort is expected next year. Thirteen golf courses are scheduled to open in the next three years, adding to the current total of 27, according to the tourism office.

A new constitution approved in a referendum this month offered hope that the country would avoid the upheaval experienced in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia.

The market is "going back to normal", says Mr Hamdouch.

Morocco offers buyers of holiday homes several advantages over its competitors, including tax breaks, long-term visas and a financial system based on French laws. But the political reforms may not be enough to woo buyers back to the market in the short term.

"I believe they need a lot more to restart the market," says Mr Le Bail. "There is increased competition from Spain, Portugal and Greece."

Developers have started lowering prices and offering deals, such as free furnishings, to compete with the low prices in Spain and other areas.

"I'm bullish on Morocco in the long run," Mr Lee says. "But what will happen is that a lot of developers will have to reset their price point."

Property experts say Morocco will start attracting buyers of holiday homes again when developers begin offering apartments and villas for €300,000 and below, once again providing an alternative to the popular European resorts.

"Gone are the days of multimillion-euro palaces," says Mr Lee.

 

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National Police in Malaga have dismantled 108 drugs sales points, arrested 179 people, and seized 322 grammes of heroin, three kilos of cocaine and 8.3 kilos of hashish

National Police in Malaga have dismantled 108 drugs sales points, arrested 179 people, and seized 322 grammes of heroin, three kilos of cocaine and 8.3 kilos of hashish.

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Posted in: and seized 322 grammes of heroin,arrested 179 people,National Police in Malaga have dismantled 108 drugs sales points,three kilos of cocaine and 8.3 kilos of hashish

Costa del Sol red tide fishing warning extended across the Málaga coast

 red tide fishing warning which has been affecting parts of the Costa del Sol recently was extended across the coast of Málaga province on Monday, where fishing for bivalve molluscs has now been banned until further notice.

It comes after increased levels of the PSP toxin, which causes the phenomenon known as ‘red tide’, was detected in three types of bivalve molluscs.

The Junta de Andalucía’s agriculture and fisheries representative for Málaga, Mónica Bermúdez, informed Europa Press that the ban only affects shellfish. She said the fishing grounds can only be reopened after analyses show at least two negative results, with a minimum period of 48 hours between each sample which is taken.

The shellfish sector supports around 90 fishing boats in the province, and it’s understood the crews and boat owners will receive compensation payments for every day the ban is in place.

 

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The Sierra Nevada biosphere reserve has been highlighted by UNESCO as a case study in good practice against climate change.

The international coordinating council for the organisation’s Man and the Biosphere programme met in Dresden, Germany, recently, which was preceded by an international conference, ‘For life, for the future. Biosphere reserves and climate change’. The conference analysed the work of 564 biosphere reserves and a report which has been now been published on good practice case studies includes the Sierra Nevada as a reserve which fully integrates climate change into its work ‘as a very high priority’.

The report notes that the Global Change Observatory’s monitoring programme is one of the key activities of Sierra Nevada, and adds that, ‘The Spanish biosphere reserve invests more than 30 million dollars on forest adaptation and 9 million dollars on reforestation. Many other projects of more than a million dollars are underway such as adjusting to increasing drought, adaptation in agriculture or protecting rare high-altitude flower species’.

Granada Hoy newspaper reports that Sierra Nevada is the only natural space in Spain which takes part in UNESCO’s Glochamore project, a world-wide network of 28 biosphere reserves which studies global change in mountain regions.

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Posted in: The Sierra Nevada biosphere reserve has been highlighted by UNESCO as a case study in good practice against climate change.

Six Spanish banks fail European stress tests

six Spanish banks have failed the European stress tests, including five savings banks and one medium-sized bank, ABC newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) will publish stress test results for 91 of the region's top lenders on Friday afternoon.

Spain's Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Monday some banks had failed the tests as generic provisions - cash put aside by the banks to cover potential losses - would not be counted as core capital.

Spain's banks held some €27 billion in generic provisions at the end of March.

Nobody at the Bank of Spain was immediately available for comment

 

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Spain-Portugal high-speed train link postponed

Portugal's new conservative government today announced the suspension of the high-speed train link to Spain, although it maintained that it could be reconsidered at a later date and with a revised budget.

As had already been outlined in his electoral campaign, the new Portugese prime minister, Pedro Passos Coelho (pictured, right), confirmed today that the project would not now go ahead, despite the fact that half the work on Portugese soil has already been done.

The decision, which will now be debated in the Legislative Assembly, means that the future rail link, which was started with EU funding and is already well advanced in Spain, could be re-evaluated in the future under "new conditions".

The conservative coalition government, that took over after the socialists were defeated in the elections on June 5th, included in its manifesto many more measures to save money in order to alleviate the recession and to be able to meet the terms of its international financial rescue package.

Pressure on Portugese debt forced former prime minister Sócrates to ask for financial help in April of this year, and in exchange for the 78 billion euros of aid granted by Brussels and the International Monetary Fund, the government in Lisbon has to adhere to a very strict programme of reduction in public spending.

As far as the high-speed train link (AVE) is concerned, Passos Coelho said: "the project could be subject to a re-evaluation, including the contents and calendar, with an eye on optimizing costs, under new conditions and taking into account the legal status of the contracts that have already been signed".

The AVE link between Lisbon and Madrid was supposed to have been opened in 2013.  The high-speed rail projects between Spain and Portugal were revised two years ago, with both governments agreeing to delay the Vigo-Oporto link, which had also originally been scheduled to open in 2013.

 

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Hot Sangritas and Blanco con lima

If you think Sangria is passé, populist and puerile, think again. Red wine or white wine punch (called Sangria Blanco) packs bursts of vitamin-enriched fruit with wine, brandy or rum, and can be served as a hot mulled drink in winter, or with sparkling soda or lemonade as a long summer refresher.

Did you know that sangria (or a version of it) is one of the world’s oldest known alcoholic beverages? Hippocras was made from wine, and enriched with spices, notably cinnamon and is traditionally attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates (in the 5th century BC). It was first mentioned in texts from the mid 12th century onwards. Lacking fresh water options, many European households would drink alcoholic beverages, livened up with spices and fruits, safe in the knowledge that the alcohol would kill any bacteria.

Spain has been supplying wines from several varieties of red and white grape since 200BC when it was first actively planted with vineyards by the Romans. The local Spanish sold their best wines, reserving only a few bottles for their red wine punches, known as Sangria. Usually this meant Rioja, and later Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon blends, which formed the traditional sangria made popular on countless package holidays for tourists in the 70’s. Since then, sangria has appeared in white wine versions, sparkling with cava, dashed with soda water or extended with fruit juices (particularly peach or nectarine in Southern Spain where it is called zurra) and has become synonymous with tapas, or that most typical Valencian meal – paella.

Experts agree that the flavour improves with time; sangria is best left chilled overnight to allow the fruit infusion to blossom. Although many restaurants use cheap local house wines, connoisseurs say that sangria should be made with a good-quality wine (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Rioja or Californian Zinfandel) so as not to be outweighed by the fruit flavours, juice, soda water and ice. Experimenting with fruits is the key. Anything from cranberry and orange, to pear, peach, lime and grapefruit can give your sangria a twist. For the white wine version, you might want to combine it with apple or grape juice and a small bunch of fresh mint. For sangria with a real kick, add gin, triple sec or brandy, and if the result is too potent, mellow it out with some ginger ale, or the ubiquitous Spanish casera. The best part of sangria is taking your favourite fruits or varying it according to the seasons, and surprising guests with subtle flavour differences.

For a hot Halloween punch, Jamie Oliver recommends the addition of cinnamon, vanilla pods and star anise, making a hot syrupy concoction of the fruit, caster sugar and spices first, and adding the red wine after. Mulled wine is more commonly a Northern European drink, stemming from the Swedish Glögg or German Glühwein but the influence of the Chilean Navegado, (which is heated wine, spiced with cinnamon sticks, orange slices, cloves and sugar) has led the Spanish to adopt sangria for the same purpose. Although generally a citrus fruit drink, some recipes for sangria suggest adding sliced apple as it absorbs some parts of the wine that don’t taste great, which is why you must allow the fruit time to soak.

If you are planning a Mexican meal, you can even spice your sangria with jalapeños or chilli sauce, (when it becomes known as sangrita) or try a Valentine surprise with rosé wine and soft berry fruits. Just as the Spanish language has travelled the world over, blending with local influences, so can sangria adapt to our changing culinary and gastronomic tastes. It need never remind you of teenage hangovers in Benidorm again!

Ingredients

Spanish-style Sangria and Sangria Blanco

- 1 or 2 bottles of red (Rioja/Valdepeñas) or white wine (Chardonnay/Albariño)
- 1 orange (grapefruit/mandarins/peach/nectarine)
- 1 lemon (lime/pear/kiwi/handful of cranberries or blueberries)
- 1 apple (optional)
- 4 tsp of sugar
- 1/2 cup soda water or Spanish casera
- Large pitcher or bowl of ice
- 4 shots of dark rum, triple sec or brandy
- Cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, or cloves in an orange

Preparation: Slice or chop the fruit into wedges and soak in the wine in the fridge overnight or for a couple of hours. Pour the wine, soda water and brandy into a punch bowl. Add half the sugar, a sprinkle of the cinnamon, the vanilla pods and the spiced orange. Taste. If it doesn't taste sweet enough, add more sugar. Add ice and serve. To serve, spoon fruits into glasses or goblets and pour over the spiced wine.

Note: If you are preparing sangria immediately before serving and you like it fizzy, pour the soda water or casera into the bowl first and pour the other ingredients in slowly. If you make the white wine or Sangria Blanco version, use appropriately pale colour fruits. If you want spicy Sangrita, add one diced jalapeño chilli and a dash of Tabasco or pepper sauce, to taste.

Halloween Sangria

- 1 bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot or a Spanish Rioja)
- 1 peeled sliced orange (add curled zest to taste into cooking pot)
- 1 peeled sliced lemon (add curled zest to taste in cooking pot)
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 5 whole cloves
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1/2 cup sugar (or honey can be substituted)
- 2/3 cup brandy or cognac
- 1/2 cup water

Preparation: Combine all ingredients in a large pot and gently warm the ingredients on low to medium heat (avoid boiling), for 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure that the honey or sugar has completely dissolved. When the wine is steaming and the ingredients have blended well it is ready to serve. Ladle into mugs, garnish with a blood orange segment and enjoy!

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Alicante's Gegham Ghazaryan was last night named the "G'Vine Gin Connoisseur 2011" making him the purportedly the "best gin barman in the world".

Alicante's Gegham Ghazaryan was last night named the "G'Vine Gin Connoisseur 2011" making him the purportedly the "best gin barman in the world".

Ghazaryan beat an international field of 15 other finalists to the title, coming out top overall after sitting a written exam, an aroma exam (focusing on citrus fruits, spices and ingredients in gin), producing his own commercially viable gin from different distilled gins, and a speed test involving five different gin-based cocktails.

Ghazaryan's winning cocktail was the "Coupage Floral" made with G'Vine Floraison gin, fresh lime and pink grapefruit juice, cardamom and ginger syrup, blueberry reduction, and served on ice with flambéed lime and grapefruit peel.

Apart from the coveted title, Ghazaryan, fromthe Xandom bar in Alicante, won a cash prize and the chance to tour the best gin bars in the world with his winning cocktail.

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Posted in: Alicante's Gegham Ghazaryan

Hotel sector to take on 60,000 more staff this summer than in 2010

Spanish hotels are set to take on 60,000 more seasonal staff this year than they did last summer, an increase of 26%, according to figures presented today by the president of the Spanish Confederation of Hotels (Cehat), Juan Molas.

This means that hotels will be taking on some 290,000 extra employees this summer compared with 230,000 in 2010.

Hoteliers are hoping that 2011 will be better than last year, thanks in the main to the economic recovery in the main European markets and an important increase in Russian tourists (35% more bookings than last year).

Give the increasing affluence of foreign tourists, Molas warned Spaniards holding out for that last minute deal that they might be disappointed, as many places are already fully booked for the summer.

The home market, which accounts for 50% of the business in some areas and which is still undoubtedly being affected by the recession, is still a cause for concern amongst Spanish hoteliers, and prices are still very much determined by national demand.

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Posted in: 000 more staff this summer than in 2010,Hotel sector to take on 60

Ryanair to close base in Reus, Spain

Budget carrier Ryanair said Wednesday it will close an operations base in Spain's northeastern Reus because of contract disputes with the regional authorities.
Ryanair said that since November 2008 it had used the airport in Reus, south of Barcelona, as a base for three planes in summer and one in winter. It planned to close the base October 30.
The airline blamed the Catalan government and Tarragona authorities for its decision.
"Unfortunately, these institutions have repeatedly failed to comply with commitments to support and help the development of the Ryanair base in Reus," airline vice president Michael Cawley said in a statement.
Ryanair would continue to fly to Reus using planes from other bases after the closure, the carrier said.
"At Ryanair we are overwhelmed by requests from many other European airports for us to base our planes there, with lower costs and more reliable partners than we have in Tarragona," Cawley said.
Ryanair regretted the loss of jobs but was prepared to consider re-opening the base if it obtained "reliable guarantees" that the authorities would abide by contract agreements, he added.
An airline spokesman declined to say how many jobs were affected.

 

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Posted in: Ryanair to close base in Reus,Spain

Fitch downgrades Spain's Banco Sabadell

Ratings agency Fitch downgraded the ratings of Spain's fourth-biggest bank, Banco Sabadell, by a notch on Wednesday owing to its exposure to the collapsed real estate market and weak economy.
The agency said it had trimmed the Barcelona-based bank's long-term debt rating to "A-" from "A" with a negative outlook.
"The vast majority of Sabadell's activities are undertaken in Spain and thus its performance is highly correlated with that of the Spanish economy, which has uncertain growth prospects and has suffered from the collapse of the property sector," Fitch said in a statement.
"Like many Spanish banks, this is likely to continue affecting asset quality and profitability," it added.
Banco Sabadell's exposure to the real estate sector totalled 10.8 billion euros ($15.4 billion), and repossessed properties totalled 3.1 billion euros, at the end of the first quarter of 2011, according to Fitch.
The bank's profitability "has held up relatively well", helped by good cost control, a healthy level of commissions and its focus on small and medium-sized firms, it said.
"However, sharp deterioration in asset quality since 2008 led to large loan impairment and other charges, the latter mainly for foreclosed assets, affecting operating profitability and net income," Fitch added.
"Managing the real estate exposure will continue to be challenging due to a high level of land financing."
Investors fret over the state of Spanish banks, hard hit by the collapse of property bubble in 2008, an ensuing recession and a steep rise in the cost of raising money on financial markets in past months.
The government and Bank of Spain have forced a wave of consolidation in the sector and are requiring banks to quickly increase the proportion of rock-solid core capital they hold to above international norms.
Spanish banks' bad loans amounted to 115.35 billion euros or 6.36 percent of total assets, in April -- the highest ratio since June 1995, the central bank said in a report released earlier this month.

 

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BRITISH expat has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a fellow Brit who he accused of having an affair with his wife.

The 48-year-old, identified by the initials P.D, was apprehended after a 32-year-old man was discovered with a stab wound at a bus stop in Torremolinos.
The victim was taken first to a local medical centre and then to hospital in Malaga after allegedly being attacked at his home.


It is believed that the attacker worked at a bar visited regularly by the victim and his wife.

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Posted in: BRITISH expat has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a fellow Brit who he accused of having an affair with his wife.

Paris luxury-home prices rose the most in the world in the 12 months through March as buyers from emerging markets competed for a limited number of properties

Paris luxury-home prices rose the most in the world in the 12 months through March as buyers from emerging markets competed for a limited number of properties, Knight Frank LLP said.
Values of houses and apartments costing more than 2 million euros ($2.9 million) increased 22 percent in the French capital, Mark Harvey, a senior negotiator for the London-based property broker, said in an interview. Hong Kong was second with a 15 percent rise and Helsinki third with 12 percent. Shanghai and Beijing completed the top five.
Buyers from the group of Brazil, Russia, India and China “are increasingly looking to Paris as a safe haven to invest funds in a mature and high-performing market,” Liam Bailey, head of residential research, said in a statement. “Like London, supply is hindered by a paucity of new-build developments.”
Measures by Asian governments to curb property speculation appear to be working, with luxury-home prices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore growing 11 percent as a group in the first quarter compared with 55 percent a year earlier, Bailey said in the statement.
London prices gained 8.6 percent, putting the city in a tie for sixth with Singapore. Zurich followed with an 8 percent increase.
Los Angeles had a 2.2 percent decline and Moscow took the bottom spot on Knight Frank’s 15-member Global Cities Index, with prices contracting 8 percent. The index compares the performance of prime housing markets, defined as the top 5 percent to 10 percent of the mainstream market, in key global cities chosen by the broker.

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Posted in: Paris luxury-home prices rose the most in the world in the 12 months through March as buyers from emerging markets competed for a limited number of properties

The Spanish government , battling to rein in public spending, wants Telefonica to foot the bill for unemployment benefit due to 8,500 employees the telecoms group plans to lay off,

The Spanish government , battling to rein in public spending, wants Telefonica to foot the bill for unemployment benefit due to 8,500 employees the telecoms group plans to lay off, the Labour Minister said on Thursday.

Spanish newspapers reported on Friday that the cost of benefits for the 25 per cent of Telefonica's Spanish workforce to be laid off would be 270 million euros to 440 million euros ($615 million).

The total value of benefits paid to those workers, additional to the redundacy package paid by Telefonica will depend on how long they have worked, their current wage and the formula used in firing them, under Spanish legislation.

Telefonica declined to comment. The telecommunications company is reining in costs in Spain, having suffered tough competition in a stagnant economy which has made it more expensive to win and retain customers while unemployment affects more than one in five.

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Posted in: 500 employees the telecoms group plans to lay off,battling to rein in public spending,The Spanish government,wants Telefonica to foot the bill for unemployment benefit due to 8

ONE of the Costa del Sol’s 10 Most Wanted, Jamie Dempsey, is being held in connection with a 90 million euro cocaine empire.

Dempsey, 33, from Essex, was arrested during a raid on a property in Benahavis, Marbella for allegedly conspiring to supply 299 kilos of cocaine in spring 2009.
It follows Dempsey’s appearance on the wanted list, issued by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) in February.
Dave Cording, of Crimestoppers, said: “This is another great result which means that now 50% of the most recent batch of wanted individuals have been arrested.


“Not only is the campaign successful in tracking people down in Spain, but it displaces them as well.”

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Posted in: is being held in connection with a 90 million euro cocaine empire.,Jamie Dempsey,ONE of the Costa del Sol’s 10 Most Wanted