new whistleblowers' hotline to help catch benefit cheats living it up on the 'Costas' was launched today in Spain.

new whistleblowers' hotline to help catch benefit cheats living it up on the 'Costas' was launched today in Spain. In the first trial of its kind, ex-pats in Alicante who suspect benefit fraud will be able to report their concerns on a local number. Cases will be passed by the operator to investigators in the UK, who will also be able to draw on the team's on-the-ground intelligence. Anti-Benefit Fraud Minister, James Plaskitt said: "Most...

Torrevieja Guardia Civil has broken up an international gang which had been pirating British satellite television signals

The group had some 60,000 clients, most of them British, between Benidorm in Alicante and Vera in Almería. The Judicial Police from the Torrevieja Guardia Civil has broken up an international gang which had been pirating British satellite television signals and then distributing them to British clients resident in the provinces of Alicante, Murcia and Almería in an area between Benidorm and Vera.The group, based in an industrial estate...

Liverpool man Marbella resident five shots were fired in the Peurto Banus hitting the man in the face

The victim was said by witnesses to be a man in his 30's from Liverpool who has been resident in Marbella for some years. A man in his 30’s, first reported to be Eastern European by some sources, but now considered to be British by most media, has been injured in a shooting incident in a cafeteria in Puerto Banús, Marbella. At least five shots were fired in...

Authorities in Fuengirola are to bring charges against the company responsible for carrying out roadworks on the access approach

Authorities in Fuengirola are to bring charges against the company responsible for carrying out roadworks on the access approach roundabout to the popular Miramar shopping centre. The action has been brought following an incident which occurred after two pipes from the drainage system burst open, allowing the outflowing water to mix with sewage material and carry waste and toxic substances into the Rio Fuengirola. This has resulted in the...

Two Chileans, about to board a flight to Spain, and one Immigrations inspector were arrested

Two Chileans, about to board a flight to Spain, and one Immigrations inspector were arrested on Friday evening. Yesterday morning, three more arrests were made of another inspector and one customer service officer, as well as an Argentine lawyer.Airport Security Police (PSA) trustee Marcelo Saín revealed at midday yesterday that the Immigrations customer service officer was the “ringleader” of the drug trafficing group.A separate PSA source...

Possible compensation for the families of 130,000 people who disappeared in the Spanish Civil War edged closer

Possible compensation for the families of 130,000 people who disappeared in the Spanish Civil War edged closer yesterday as a judge was given the names of victims with the aim of starting a formal investigation. Court officials said 22 church and human rights groups handed to Judge Baltasar Garzon the names of 130,137 people contained in a dozen files, each the thickness of a telephone directory. Judge Garzon, who tried to exile former...

"go-fasters " – drug-traffickers who zoom in almost ostentatious convoys of three or four cars from Spain to large French cities

"go-fasters " – drug-traffickers who zoom in almost ostentatious convoys of three or four cars from Spain to large French cities .The drivers, often young men from the troubled multiracial suburbs of French cities, can earn as much as €50,000 (£40,000) for one dash at speeds of up to 200kph (120mph) from southern Spain to Paris, Marseilles, Lyons or Lille. The...

Amy Fitzpatrick,Police are now looking for a second car connected to the case, although no description has yet been released.

The 16-year-old vanished from Mijas Costa, in Spain, on January 1 after telling friends she was going to walk home. Amy had been at a friend’s home in the tourist resort of Riviera del Sol, on the Costa del Sol, when she went missing. Mum Audrey Fitzpatrick met with Mr Cowen last week and said the Irish ruler had promised to “do all within his power to help find Amy”. She said: "Basically he's the boss of the country. He has more contacts...

Parents of missing teen Amy Fitzpatrick are facing financial problems after being hit with a 10k mobile phone bill.

The parents of missing teen Amy Fitzpatrick are facing financial problems after being hit with a 10k mobile phone bill.Distraught mum Audrey Fitzpatrick and Stepdad Dave Mahon are being crippled by the cost of calls in Spain and Ireland but have vowed their search will go on.And now pals have set up a fund and trust fund to help with the search for Amy before...

Golf Río Real area of Marbella and the other in Linda Vista Alta in San Pedro to be demolished

Ángeles Muñoz, is about to order the first two empty illegal buildings to be pulled down. One is in the Golf Río Real area of Marbella and the other in Linda Vista Alta in San Pedro.The two demolition orders were approved by a local government commission presided over by Muñoz on Tuesday. Both involve unfinished buildings that did not comply with the 1986 development plan and have not been legalised within the new PGOU as they stand on...

Riviera Invest company five directors were trying to escape on a private jet to Morocco.

The five directors of a real estate company in Alicante, Riviera Invest, have been arrested in connection with an alleged fraud which is thought to have affected between 600 and 1,000 clients.The arrests were carried out by the Economic Crimes Unit of the Judicial Police on the orders of the National Court judge, Santiago Pedraz, and took place at Alicante airport when the five directors were trying to escape on a private jet to Morocco.Among...

Villa Loma Five, Michael Owens new home ?£12million wonderland theme park on the Costa del Sol.

High stone walls totally surround the huge estate of 16,000 square metres, Mature Egyptian palm trees grace the grounds, which can be entered only through electronically controlled gates specially made of high-quality Arabic ironwork, lavishly adorned in gold leaf. A sentry will stand guard in a box outside the property night and day.Named Villa Loma Five, it is a mere five minutes from southern Spain’s biggest international horse-riding...

The Costa del Sol will be impacted by increased air taxes

Higher UK airport taxes from February to reduce carbon emissions could impact the prices of properties, according to an international estate agency.‘There has been more discussion and calls for action recently over the impact that air travel is having on the environment,’ they say, ‘And one of the most obvious ways to cut air travel is to raise the price of travelling through taxes. It’s a win-win situation for governments, more tax revenue...

Highly contagious sheep and goat plague has hit Morocco and could spread to southern Europe.

Highly contagious sheep and goat plague has hit Morocco and could spread to southern Europe.Agency spokeswoman Teresa Buerkle says the outbreak has reached 29 Moroccan provinces and has largely affected sheep.She says the viral disease is known by its French name peste des petits ruminants (small ruminants' plague), or PPR.The disease is closely related to cattle plague and is transmitted to goats, sheep and wild small ruminants through...

Four youngsters have been hospitalised, two of them in a serious condition

Four youngsters have been hospitalised, with two of them in a serious condition, after they went out in Torremolinos for a night of drinking and drugs.The four, three men and a woman aged between 20 and 33, were found intoxicated on Sunday afternoon outside a well known venue in the Nogalera area of the town and now two of them remain in Intensive Care in the Carlos Haya hospital in Mála...

Body of a man found on the motorway in direction of Malaga

Body of a man, estimated to be 38 years old, has been found on the AP7 tool motorway according to the 112 emergency services.They say the man had suffered a blow to the head and was spotted by another driver on the ground in the middle of the road at the 219 km point on the direction Málaga side of the road at 10,30pm last night.When the Guardia Civil and ambulance crews arrived at the scene they could do no more than certify the victim...

The Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park devasted by fire

fire raged across the southernmost tip of mainland Spain had burning more than 480 hectares of cork forest and scrubland by Thursday night in what environmentalists described as the worst ever disaster in the Strait of Gibraltar Natural Park. More than 1,000 people were evacuated as the blaze raged in a forested area between the city of Algeciras and the popular windsurfing resort of Tarifa. Andalusian regional Premier Manuel Chaves said...

Futura International Airways Mallorca-based charter firm BUST

Mallorca-based charter firm, Futura International Airways, suspended its flights yesterday and has filed for administration. Futura, which is one of Europe's biggest medium-haul charter flight companies, runs flights between Palma and a number of major British towns and cities, including Belfast, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Glasgow. Like many of its competitors, it has been badly hit this year by rising fuel prices...

Iberian Peninsula is the main entry point for most drugs trafficked across Europe

According to a report issued by the United Nations, the Iberian Peninsula is the main entry point for most drugs trafficked across Europe. Spain is the most used of the two countries for cocaine smuggling, with authorities having seized 50 metric tonnes of the substance in 2006. With tonnage as follows: Holland (11), France (10) and Italy (5) are the countries with most drug apprehensions.The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),...

Scrub fire in the Sierra de Mijas was finally brought under control on Friday after affecting some 75 hectares of scrub.

Scrub fire in the Sierra de Mijas was finally brought under control on Friday after affecting some 75 hectares of scrub. The regional Environment Department said that 70% of the land affected would recover naturally, while the Junta de Andalucía said that there were suspicions that the fire was started deliberately. The fire started at 7,10pm close to an urbanisation and that was quickly put out, but then two other centres of fire were...

Prince to sell Marbella Villa

Prince home. 3 bedrooms ensuite, posibility to expand to 6 ensuite. Plot of almost 6.000 m2, surrounded by golf courses with sea and mountain view. Located in the hills above the New Golden Mile, only a 5 minutes drive away from San Pedro, surrounded by different golf courses and only 10 minutes away from Puerto Banus and a couple of minutes away from the...

forest fire in Mijas ,has seen the evacuation of 300 local residents from the Buenavista urbanisatio

Forest fire which broke out in Mijas yesterday evening at about 7,45pm, has seen the evacuation of 300 local residents from the Buenavista urbanisation in the town overnight. The local sports centre at Las Lagunas is being used as a reception centre for the people.10 fire-fighting units and a team of 70 people continued to work against the flames overnight, while the Mayor of Mijas, Antonio Sánchez, told the press that the fire had been...

woman is in a serious condition after jumping from the interior balcony of her home in Las Chapas, Marbella

A woman is in a serious condition after jumping from the interior balcony of her home in Las Chapas, Marbella to avoid an attack from her 41 year old Colombian partner who was wielding a knife.Police say that the alleged attacked, named with the initials J.L.S.L. has no legal residence in Spain and was about to be deported last June.The 37 year old victim, also from Colombia, is now in the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella where she reported...

Taoiseach Brian Cowen met the mother of missing Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick.

Audrey Fitzpatrick, and her partner, Dave Mahon, met Mr Cowen at Government Buildings for half an hour during which they updated him on the investigationTaoiseach Brian Cowen met the mother of missing Irish girl Amy Fitzpatrick The 16-year-old disappeared after leaving a friend's house at about 10pm on January 1st to walk to her home on the Costa del Sol in...

Water shortages on the Costas in the coming winter

Raised levels of consumption of water during the summer months is a major factor contributing to the threat of water shortages in the coming winter. If the rate of consumption which a popular tourist area like Malaga province experiences in August were to continue, our water reserves would be sufficient for just six more months.In the hot, dry, tourist-filled summer months, even greater quantities of water are used to clean the streets,...

Mijas authorities on the Costa del Sol have issued fines to 20 owners of what they deem to be illegal homes in the municipality

Mijas authorities on the Costa del Sol have issued fines to 20 owners of what they deem to be illegal homes in the municipality, after they repudiated demands to bulldoze their properties, according to Spanish Property Insight. The homeowners will now have to pay the fines, which are believed to be around 10% of the property value, or face having their assets frozen. “With help from friends you can cope with the first fine, but after that...