Two arrested in Spain after fights break out at former mosque

Two arrested in Spain after fights break out at former mosque: "Two men were arrested after clashes between police and tourists who broke a ban on Muslim prayers at a cathedral in Spain which was once a major mosque, the local bishop's office said this week.
Trouble broke out Wednesday when six members of a group of 118 Muslim tourists visiting the cathedral in the southwestern city of Cordoba knelt to pray and were ordered to stop by security guards.
As they refused to stop praying, they were 'invited to continue with their visit or leave the cathedral,' the Cordoba's bishop's office said.
The security guards called in police, who were attacked by the visiting Muslim tourists, it added. Two policemen were injured and two of the Muslim tourists were detained.
'This was a one-time incident that does not represent the genuine Muslim identity as there are many who display attitudes of respect and dialogue with the Catholic Church,' the statement said.
Despite calls by Muslims for rules to loosen, Bishop Demetrio Fernandez Gonzalez recently reiterated a ban on Muslim prayers at the former mosque that turned into a Christian cathedral in the 13th century"

Seanie won't clear his name - Irish, Business - Independent.ie

Seanie won't clear his name - Irish, Business - Independent.ie: "OVER four out of five of Ireland's top 300 company bosses feel that former Anglo Irish Bank chairman Sean FitzPatrick (above) will not be able to clear his name.
More than 83.5 per cent of respondents felt that the omens were bad for the disgraced banker. Most of the remaining respondents were undecided.
Mr FitzPatrick was arrested and questioned by gardai two weeks ago. He is now believed to be staying near Marbella in the sunny south of Spain.
In last year's poll, more than 88 per cent of respondents indicated that they felt that bankers should face criminal charges over their conduct."

Spain to invest billions in rail, road projects - BusinessWeek

Spain to invest billions in rail, road projects - BusinessWeek: "Spain said Wednesday it would invest euro17 billion ($23 billion) in a rail and road project over the next two years in an effort to boost its recession-hit economy and create jobs.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said 70 percent of the investment would go toward new passenger and freight rail projects, as well as improvements of the existing network. The remaining 30 percent will be dedicated to highway construction and maintenance.
He said the plan would not affect Spain's coffers for the moment as it would be financed initially by the companies contracted with funds from state credit institutions and private banks.
Zapatero said Spain would begin paying the companies back after 2014 by means of a new tax on users once the projects are finalized and functioning.
'This is the most important collaboration between the public and private sector in the history of our country,' said Zapatero."

Failed EU-U.S. data deal to be revived, U.S. says | Reuters

Failed EU-U.S. data deal to be revived, U.S. says | Reuters: "'There are still issues we have to work through,' Holder told a news conference in Madrid following talks with EU officials.
'I am confident that over a relatively short time, the (data sharing) will be once again active.'
Holder met EU officials in Spain this week to discuss security cooperation with the 27-nation bloc, notably the data agreement rejected by the European Parliament in February because of concerns over citizens' privacy. The United States wants access to information about money transfers in Europe, saying it is crucial in tracking suspected terrorists.
Negotiations on a new agreement between Washington and Brussels could start as soon as this month, pending a green light from EU governments.
Washington was forced to seek an agreement on data sharing with the EU when the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which tracks money transfers, changed its server infrastructure several months ago.
But any new deal will have to address concerns by EU parliamentarians over privacy safeguards such as the right to complain if citizens feel their data is misused. Deputies also want provisions against sending bulk packages of information instead of data on specific cases.
In a debate over the EU's proposed negotiating framework in the European Parliament this week, lawmakers again demanded more stringent protection.
'The Americans are looking for a needle and we basically send them a haystack,' Sophie in't Veld, a Dutch member of the EU assembly, said."

Spain unveils measures to boost ailing economy - BusinessWeek

Spain unveils measures to boost ailing economy - BusinessWeek: "Spain's government announced Friday a package of measures aimed at boosting its ailing economy and generating more than 350,000 jobs.
Economy Minister Elena Salgado said the initiatives were intended to help medium to small businesses, especially those operating in the hard-hit construction sector.
'These are measures oriented toward creating employment,' Salgado said at a press conference after the government's weekly cabinet meeting.
The 30 measures were designed 'to continue moving forward with our economic recovery,' Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, said.
Salgado said the fiscal impact of the measures had been included in the budgetary stability proposals the Spanish government had presented to the EU in Brussels in January."

Mayor of Marbella complains about TV progamme

Mayor of Marbella complains about TV progamme: "The Mayor of Marbella, Ángeles Muñoz, has written a letter of protest against the Telecinco gossip TV programme, ‘La Noria’.
She is angry at the contents of last Tuesday’s programme when the subject was Isabel Pantoya and the Malaya corruption case based in Marbella.
Muñoz says it showed an image of the town which does not correspond to reality, and that the treatment of Marbella was ‘unjust’ over the two hours of the programme."

First Property Choice makes it Easy to Find Information on Cheap Spanish Property and Marbella Prope

First Property Choice makes it Easy to Find Information on Cheap Spanish Property and Marbella Prope: "latest buzz going around in the real estate market is about the reduced prices of prime properties in Spain. Recession is considered the main reason for the reduction in prices of Spanish properties. Most of the real estate companies have thus started listing their Spanish and Marbella properties at much reduced prices. However the downside of these listings for cheap Spanish property and Marbella property is that they fail to give the correct information to the customers.
First Property Choice is a real estate company which aims to become the first choice of people wanting to sell or buy Marbella property, cheap Spanish property, Calabria property, Turkey property and many other properties. Yes, like any other real estate company First Property Choice also lists cheap Spanish properties and Marbella properties with reduced prices. But unlike other companies it has made sure that customers are able to find the information they are looking for regarding the property they wish to invest in."

The Latest in Luxury Resort & Real Estate News - Real Estate Channel Global News Center

The Latest in Luxury Resort & Real Estate News - Real Estate Channel Global News Center: "Group Metro, the Dominican Republic's leading real estate and transportation company, together with their partner Frank Pimentel of Cotuicar announced March 29 the grand opening of its newest beachfront development: Marbella.

This luxurious development, which includes both residential and hotel units, is located in Juan Dolio beach. For this special event, Group Metro hosted an exclusive event on the beach in front of the stunning new residential property. Among those who attended were the country's most elite figures including the President Leonel Fernandez, Minister of Tourism Francisco Javier Garcia and others.

'After three years in development, we are very pleased to announce the grand opening of Marbella,' exclaims Dr. Luis Jose Asilis, chief executive of Group Metro. 'It is always such a great feeling of accomplishment when a vision becomes a reality. Today, we are overjoyed to finally welcome all the new residents and guest to Marbella who will enjoy it for years to come.'"

Britons return to sun, sea, sand and Spain - Times Online

Britons return to sun, sea, sand and Spain - Times Online: "They became a symbol of the global housing market crash, unsold, half-built, lining the Mediterranean like skeletal relics of a bygone, more prosperous age.
But villas and apartments on the Spanish Costas are suddenly hot property again as Britain’s second-home buyers rediscover the attractions of life in southern Spain.
Fresh from a chilly, dismal winter, drawn by falling prices and apparently undaunted by the low sterling-euro exchange rate, a new generation of would-be buyers has descended on Spain, according to the Spanish division of Taylor Wimpey.
Typical holiday home buyers are no longer “stereotype retirees”, the UK’s biggest housebuilder said. Instead, executives with families who spend an average of 60 days a year in Spain have emerged as the dominant British buyers in a region that enjoyed huge popularity during the credit-fuelled boom years."

SPAIN rampant piracy and legal commercial P2P has put the country on the verge of “no longer being a viable home entertainment market.”

Sony boss Michael Lynton complains that rampant piracy and legal commercial P2P has put the country on the verge of “no longer being a viable home entertainment market.”
According to Michael Lynton, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, piracy is so rampant in Spain that Hollywood studios are considering discontinuing the sale of DVDs there altogether.“People are downloading movies in such large quantities that Spain is on the brink of no longer being a viable home entertainment market for us,” he told the LA Times. In the last few years illegal movie downloads have soared from 132 million to 350 million while DVD sales have declined by some 30%. This means Hollywood could soon find itself in a situation like South Korea where they simply gave up and left.“It is very sad and very shameful for Spain that we should reach the stage where companies are thinking of leaving,” said Octavio Dapena of the Spanish film rights association Egeda. “I hope it doesn’t happen and that Spain reacts in time.”Spain faces the rare juxtaposition where the courts there have ruled on numerous occasions that individual file-sharing is legal so long as there is “no talk of money or any other compensation beyond the sharing of material available among various users.”To do what it can to prevent people from profiting from copyright infringement the govt recently passed legislation that will allow a judge with the National Audience, the country’s federal court, to close or block websites accused of facilitating copyright infringement within 4 days as compared to the current year-long process.The real problem in all of this is that studios bosses like Lynton don’t seem capable of monetizing the future of content distribution. Lynton, if you recall, is the same person who said last year that he “doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet” so it’s not surprising that he hasn’t developed a way to formulate an effective online distribution model to compete with illegal alternatives like file-sharing and streaming.In fact, he said he’s “worried” about the spread of faster broadband connections, even in the US.The only words of wisdom seem to come from an unlikely source, Bob Pisano, the MPAA’s interim chief executive.“We need to get a handle on it (piracy) if we don’t want to end up like the music industry, where their business model didn’t keep pace with the realities of the new marketplace,” he said.Retooling the business model is the key to competing in Spain. All businesses that don’t heed the marketplace will fail unless artificially supported by govt intervention. If Hollywood wants to maintain a viable home entertainment market in the country then it ought to focus on giving consumers what they want, which seems to be online content distribution.Delivering a digital product is far cheaper than producing and a physical one, and so it could even afford to drop the price dramatically and make the product more enticing. Spaniards may not be willing to pay $10 for a physical DVD, but surely they’re willing to pay $1 to stream or $2-3 to download it at home or on the go.
I’m no fancy movie boss, but even I could figure this one out.

toll road planned between Ronda and the Costa del Sol. ?????

A leading Junta official has now admitted that she has no idea when the ‘ecologically damaging’ motorway will be built. Although public works chief, Dolores Fernandez, still insists that the project will eventually be completed, she stopped short of explaining exactly when. And, despite repeated Junta guarantees that the road will be operational by 2012, this now looks impossible. In fact, it is increasingly likely that building will not even have begun. The project was originally backed by Ronda mayor Antonio Marin Lara in 2007, after the Junta unveiled its toll road plans. A total of 400 million euros was set aside to replace the winding 45-kilometre stretch with a high-speed dual carriageway. The road connects Ronda to San Pedro de Alcantara and is one of the region’s most dangerous, comprising of 365 bends.Estimates suggest that it would cut travel time from Ronda to the coast by 20 minutes, but it would reportedly cost five euros to use and also be an environmental disaster. Plans involved carving through the Sierra Bermeja – a European protected site – as well as damaging chestnut growing areas in the higher Genal Valley.It could also harm a key aquifer in the Sierra del Oreganal, north of Benahavis.Last year a report by university professors from Granada and Malaga recommended improving the current road by adding an extra lane for overtaking.Academics also proposed increasing train services between Malaga and Ronda

Air Comet, on Tuesday finally applied for voluntary bankruptcy protection, three months after its licence to fly was withdrawn.

Air Comet, on Tuesday finally applied for voluntary bankruptcy protection, three months after its licence to fly was withdrawn.It’s debts amount to 160 million €, and now the bankruptcy process is finally underway it means that the workers can claim the back pay they are owed.The company was hoping to find a buyer or reach an agreement with the main banks to have given it credit, but finally it has admitted defeat and given in to union pressure. Unions say wages amounting to four or five million € remain outstanding.It also means that those passengers affected by the collapse of the company can now apply to the judge for compensation.It should be noted that despite the size of the debt, the company could find itself with assets larger than the debt because it is still waiting to hear whether the Argentine Government is going to pay compensation to it of 222 million €.

EURO MP has slammed the visit of British minister Chris Bryant as insincere.

Marta Andreasen claims the visit to try and solve the huge demolition issue currently affecting hundreds of expats around the region didn’t amount to much.She explained: “I don’t think he achieved very much. I don’t think his visit was very sincere.
“He’s not doing anything to resolve the problems of the people who are already suffering.”Minister for Europe Bryant visited pensioners in Almeria and announced that Spanish civil servants will now work in the British Consuls in Malaga and Alicante.At the time he stressed that finding a solution to the problem was out of the British Government’s remit. “Obviously it’s not for us to tell the Spanish what to do, but whether it’s an amnesty or a change in the law, we are pushing for whatever solution is needed,” he added.Bryant also met with demolition-threatened couple John, 82, and Muriel Burns, 70. And John Burns explained that, although any direct prevention action is out of their jurisdiction, at least officials are now taking note. “It meant a great deal that they came and spoke to us. It was only meant to be an hour but they were here for two,” he said.

Guardia Civil found the bodies of some 100 dogs as it broke up an illegal sales network in Cáceres

Guardia Civil found the bodies of some 100 dogs as it broke up an illegal sales network in Cáceres. The owner of the premises was arrested in the operation codenamed ‘toys’.He had been selling pedigree puppies imported illegally from Slovakia, despite many of them suffering from poor health and some of them from malformed bodies. According to the records some of the dogs had been vaccinated before they were born.
SEPRONA, the environmental wing of the Guardia Civil had been working on the case for six months after receiving several complaints from people in Badajoz, after dogs were dying shortly after being purchased.At the Cáceres premises on Tuesday they found 58 cages containing 75 puppies from ten different breeds including schnauzers, shi tzu, yourkshire terriers and poodles among others.
Tragically they found the bodies of nearly 100 dogs frozen and stored in two freezers. It’s thought they were dead on their arrival in Spain, or shortly after, and were being kept by the business as justification for an economic claim later.

Belgian Consul in Málaga, Claude de Hennin run over by a British resident in his car at the doors of the Belgium Consulate in Mijas.

Belgian Consul in Málaga, Claude de Hennin, who has lived in Spain for 41 years says he still cannot believe how he was attacked after an argument with his neighbours on Monday.He claims that he was run over by a British resident in his car at the doors of the Belgium Consulate in Mijas. Diario Sur reports he says he saw a child about five years old with a woman by the exit to the parking area and warned them he was about to drive out. The woman then turned to insult him in English, and he turned away and went inside.Later in the street though a British man with a dog came up to him and continued the insults. The Consul then called the local police and while he was waiting for them to arrive, the British man got into his British plated car to get away. The 70 year old Consul tried to block his escape, but the man started the car and ran into him, causing bruising to his right leg and arm.He said he wanted to thank the Guardia Civil, Local Police and doctor for his treatment and hoped that the case would be resolved quickly so he could forget about it all.

people affected by the Ley de Costas will give their evidence to the Petitions Committee in Brussels.

European Parliament has launched another attack on Spain’s coastal law ‘Ley de Costas’ describing it as ‘abusive’Labour and Conservative British MEPs criticised the law on the Petitions Commission, in their opinion, it confiscates assets of those who purchased in good faith.Conservative M.E.P. Roger Helmer said he was recommending his constituents not to buy property in Spain.
‘If Spain wanted to enter the EU today, it would have many problems because of its lack of respect of the right to property.For Labour, Michael Cashman said, ‘There is a lot of corruption which is tarnishing the image of Spain. It is a totalitarian country’.For Spain the General Director for Coasts, Alicia Paz, said that the Spanish Constitution defines the first line of the beach as public land, and that all Spanish Governments have applied the law since it was approved in 1988. El País considers that was an indirect comment against the Partido Popular deputy, Carlos Iturgaiz, who has said that ‘confiscating the assets of the owners converts them into squatters’.
The EU Petitions Commission has already launched a hard-hitting report on town planning in Spain, but now has moved on to the coastal law having received ‘dozens of complaints’ from Britons, Germans and Spanish residents, because the law grants a 60 year concession on occupation on the properties built on public land before 1988, after which time they will be demolished. The author of the earlier report, Margaret Auken, Danish Green MEP, described the Ley de Costas as ‘extraordinary’ and that the problem is how it is being applied unequally, as she saw modest homes which were not protected on the one hand and large hotels being built on the other.

Many retired Europeans, most of them Britons and Germans, purchased homes on the beach in good faith, without the bank or notary advising them that, under the Ley de Costas, they were only purchasing the concession and not the freehold. Later they discovered the truth when they could not sale the properties.

Alicia Paz said there was a lot of confusion over the law, and many had commented on the demolition of properties at Cho Vito on the Canaries, but here she said the properties were actually also built illegally. some of the people affected by the Ley de Costas will give their evidence to the Petitions Committee in Brussels.

heavy rain on September 21, 2007 had caused structural movement in the house and the damage was not covered by their policy.

Barrie and Janet Waterfall were full of hope when they moved to Spain nine years ago.
Spanish retirement home, which is now uninhabitable But their dreams of a happy retirement have been shattered and their 21-year marriage has been brought close to breaking point - all because of a bitter dispute with their buildings insurer, Axa Spain.

Retired teacher Barrie, 67, and Janet, 68, face financial ruin. They own a property rendered uninhabitable because of structural damage caused by a leak from a water main. They cannot sell it and now owe more than £39,000 to banks, credit card companies and friends. The mounting debt is the result of a costly legal battle with Axa Spain,

which has involved them employing architects and surveyors. The couple have also had to rent an apartment for the past two years. Janet, a former senior administrator at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, has moved back to Lewes, East Sussex, to stay with friends because she is so distressed. Spanish builders have told the couple it will cost about 110,000 euros (£98,000) to repair the damage - money they do not have.

The builders want to inject industrial foam under the house to shore it up, which Barrie says will cost at least £40,000, rebuild the internal walls and replace the bathroom and kitchen.

The couple paid 158,000 euros (£144,000) for their 200-year-old three-bedroom terraced house in the market town of Xativa near Valencia with a 112,000 euros mortgage from BBVA in Spain.

Barrie, who was head of languages at a prep school in Dorset, says if it was repaired it would be worth only about 145,000 euros because of the drop in property prices.

In late 2007, the couple noticed small cracks in an arch in the hallway. These were repaired, but in January 2008 the cracks reappeared and the couple contacted Axa Spain, part of the multinational Axa Group.

The Waterfalls chose Axa because they trusted the brand and paid about 200 euros a year for joint buildings and home contents cover and had never made a claim.

Axa sent an assessor to review the damage, but within a week the claim was rejected.
The company said heavy rain on September 21, 2007 had caused structural movement in the house and the damage was not covered by their policy.
'Jan and I looked at each other in disbelief,' recalls Barrie. 'Axa had also chosen a date to blame for this so-called heavy rainfall that we knew had been dry, sunny and warm. It was ludicrous. We felt they were trying to wriggle out of paying.'
Days later, after a complaint from a neighbour who had water coming into his property, the town council sent workmen to dig up the road outside the Waterfalls' home.

Thousands of Britons have bought Spanish properties in good faith, only to find they were illegally built on protected land.

800 British and Irish residents marched in Almeria after demolition orders were issued for eight expat-owned homes in the nearby town of Albox.
The owners are appealing but it is feared many more homes are under threat after Spanish regional authorities overruled planning permission.

Thousands of Britons have bought Spanish properties in good faith, only to find they were illegally built on protected land.

Albox home owner Nicola Veitch, of Jersey, said: 'We are devastated. We have every legal document under the sun for our property.'

pensioners lost their fight in the European Court of Human Rights to prove this pension freeze violates anti-discrimination rules.

One in five expats claims a sterling pension, with more than a quarter of Brits living in Spain (28%) and a third of British expats in Germany relying on this as their core source of income, according to Moneycorp. More than half a million pensioners living in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand suffer a further blow because their state pensions don't rise each year in line with inflation. Only those living in the European Economic Area and countries with reciprocal agreements in place with the UK, such as the U.S. and Jamaica, are protected against inflation. Yesterday, these pensioners lost their fight in the European Court of Human Rights to prove this pension freeze violates anti-discrimination rules. Tim Finch, head of migration at think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research says: 'The weakness of the pound will mean more people will lose jobs and find it harder to live overseas and come home. This is likely to be a growing trend over the next few years. 'Generally, the big wave of lifestyle emigration where people got their place in the sun for a better life was a reflection of the boom years when you had high house prices and decent pensions.

Pensioners abroad have arguably been hit the hardest as they rely most heavily on their savings and pensions built up in the UK

four million Brits living abroad are planning a mass return to home shores after seeing their savings and income stripped by the plunging values of the pound and their property. Pensioners abroad have arguably been hit the hardest as they rely most heavily on their savings and pensions built up in the UK. They've been hit by a declining pound and falling interest rates.
The dramatic slump has slashed their income by a third and has turned Brits into the paupers of Europe.

Fears over job security and falling property prices are also giving expats second thoughts, according to research from foreign exchange specialist Moneycorp.
Some 845,000 Brits living in Spain and France have suffered an 8% drop in house prices in the year to August 2009 alone. This wiped €30,000 off the average property on the Costa del Sol.
Sterling has slumped from over €1.50 to £1 in January 2007 to close to parity, taking a terrible toll on the estimated 5.5m British expats, and particularly the 1.1 million pensioners living abroad. Moneycorp research shows that 70% of all expats are now considering returning to the UK.
A retired couple living in Spain, for example, both drawing a full state pension of £95.25 per week, will have seen their combined monthly income - on their pension alone - drop by €396 over three years, from €1,263 to €867.

The warning signs that hundreds of thousands of Brits may be ready to return to the UK started when the credit crunch began in 2008. That year, the number of expats returning home jumped by a fifth on the previous 12 months. The number of British homeowners downsizing or selling up and sending money back to the UK doubled last year, foreign currency specialist HiFX reports.

It has seen an 180% increase in the number of euro to sterling transactions and an 11% increase in the number of US dollar to sterling transactions in the past six months, compared to last year. More people over 65 than any other age group are repatriating.

Mark Bodega from HiFX says: 'The pound's fall to historic lows in recent months has meant the cost of living or running a holiday home on the continent has risen to unaffordable levels for many people.'

A weak property market is also proving to be a nightmare for many of the estimated 1.5m Brits who own homes abroad. Many are being forced to sell their property at a loss, particularly in countries like Spain.

The weak pound has proved a blessing for those who receive an income in euros, for example from renting a property. Sterling's slump means they will get far more pounds for their euros.

Brennon Nicholas, managing director at estate agency Cluttons Spain says: 'We have seen an increase in the number of people coming to us who are struggling because their pensions and savings do not stretch as far as they used to. They're selling up because of the favourable exchange rate but the market is extremely tough and there is a lack of buyers.'