Three dead bodies have been found on the 'Los Naranjos' property in less than a year.

The man arrested in connection with their deaths is the owner of the finca and testing for gunpowder residue is being carried out on the dead men’s hands to determine if either of them shot at the suspect now in custody. There are some reports that both were carrying pistols, and the owner of the finca is reported to have claimed that he defended himself when the two men attacked his property.Autopsies carried out on the bodies of two men found dead on the finca ‘Los Naranjos’, on the Camino de los Martínez in Alhaurín de la Torre, on Saturday night have confirmed that they were shot at close range with a hunting shotgun. Neither man was carrying documentation and has yet to be identified, although reports from El Mundo newspaper indicate they could be from South America and are possibly from Colombia.Civil Guards have arrested the owner of a house in Alhaurín de la Torre where the bodies of two men were discovered on Saturday night.
The men, who were not carrying any identification, had been shot dead with a shooting rifle. The owner of 'Los Naranjos' allegedly shot the two men and says that he was defending himself. It is thought that the two men had entered the property with the intention of burglarly.Apparently, at around 10.30 p.m. the owner was alone in the house when he was alerted to the presence of the two men, who were carrying guns, in the grounds by the barking of his dogs, the owner claims that the two intruders fired their weapons first and he pulled the trigger of his to defend himself. However, before this is confirmed, the police will have to examine the gun shells and the bullet wounds on the bodies of the victims.
Autopsies are being carried out and the police are trying to identify the victims. The same sources said that they could be Colombian and the police are working with the Colombian embassy.
Three dead bodies have been found on the 'Los Naranjos' property in less than a year.On April 30th last year a teacher in Alhaurín de la Torre, worried that a mother hadn't come to collect her daughter, called a neighbour. When the neighbour found the villa all closed up she called the police.When the police arrived they found the body of the ex-wife of the owner floating in the pool. She had a serious wound on her mouth and her neck had been cut. It later came to light that she had been alive when she entered the water.The victim (35) lived in the home of her ex-husband, who she had reported to the police several times for threatening behaviour.
The ex was questioned by police but he had a solid alibi. He said that he was on a trip to Cadiz.In the area, the owner of 'Los Naranjos' is known for being an animal lover. He cared for many exotic species and abandoned animals.

Len and Helen Prior,Constitutional Court has ruled the proceedings which led to the demolition to be invalid

There was some good news last week for Len and Helen Prior, the British couple whose home in Vera was demolished as illegal in January last year: the Constitutional Court has ruled the proceedings which led to the demolition to be invalid. The court states that the Priors were not informed of those proceedings and were therefore denied their right to effective judicial protection. The demolition itself has also been declared as invalid.The house was bulldozed on a court order which ruled that it was built illegally on rustic land, despite the fact that planning permission was granted from Vera Town Hall. The Priors have been living in their garage ever since, with no running water or electricity supply . Europa Press reports the couple have claimed 600,000 € from the Town Hall in compensation for the demolition.

British Hell’s Angel arrested in Altea

Five of the 22 Hell’s Angels arrested across the country on Tuesday, had their headquarters in Altea. The three men and two women were released on police bail after questioning yesterday, despite a pistol ammunition and documents being taken from the home in Pla del Castell.The nationalities of those arrested in Altea are German, British, Belgium and Polish.Police continue to investigate the documents recovered in the case which is being led by the Instruction Court 4 in Benidorm.

Civil Guard are working to identify a body

Civil Guard are working to identify a body which was found in El Ejído on Thursday in the area of Camino Cortés. The find was made at around 6am near local greenhouses.The body is reported to be that of a male, and he is reported to have been shot at least once. The dead man was not carrying any documentation.

Department for Work and Pensions has extended its successful benefit cheats hotline to the Costa del Sol

Department for Work and Pensions has extended its successful benefit cheats hotline to the Costa del Sol and Canary Islands following its launch in Alicante in September 2008.Residents in these popular ex-pat areas can report suspected British benefit thieves to a local number and their concerns will be passed on by the operator of the hotline to a team of investigators in the UK.
Employment and Welfare Reform Minister Tony McNulty said:
"We are absolutely determined to stop benefit thieves stealing from the British taxpayer. Our commitment extends beyond the borders of the UK. Even in sunny Spain, we're closing in on benefit fraud."
A publicity campaign, 'We're closing in', in the local ex-pat media is raising awareness of the hotline as well as a dedicated web site where suspected British benefit thieves living abroad can be reported on-line.The total cost of benefit fraud committed by UK benefit recipients living in or travelling to countries abroad is an estimated £63 million a year. It involves a range of scams such as people on means-tested benefits going abroad but failing to declare their absence, and individuals working while claiming sickness benefits.This initiative is part of a growing relationship between Spain and the UK on social security issues that already includes agreements to data-match and share death notifications.
The Spanish benefit fraud hotline number is 900 554 440. It is free and confidential and operates from 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday. The hotline is run and funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), working with the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.
The dedicated web site address is www.dwp.gov.uk/benefit-thieves-spain and provides more detail on what constitutes benefit fraud along with an on line reporting form.

Amy Fitzpatrick grandmother spoke of her anguish at reports that a body found in Spain might be her beloved grandaughter

Amy Fitzpatrick grandmother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick spoke of her anguish at reports that a body found in Spain might be her beloved grandaughter.Maura Donohoe (80) she suffered a "serious fright" when she saw a TV3 report about an unidentified body found near the town where the 15-year-old girl was last seen before she disappeared on January 1 last year."I got such a fright. I thought it could be Amy," said Maura, speaking at her home in Coolock in Dublin."But then I got a call from [Amy's mother] Audrey who told me the Spanish police told her it was a man's body." An intensive search of the region in the Costa del Sol at the beginning of 2008 failed to find any trace of the vanished Irish girl. Amy lived in Spain her mother, brother Dean, and Audrey's partner Dave Mahon.Maura added: "Audrey rang me immediately after the reports went out about the body. My stomach was going up and down. I got an awful fright and I couldn't settle down after it."I know if the Spanish police had found Amy's body they would have contacted the gardai who would have contacted us. But it was such a fright. Audrey spoke to Dean too to let him know it wasn't Amy's body. We will never give up hope for Amy. I've been getting loads of Masses said for her," she said."The Spanish newspapers reported it was the body of a man three days ago.Meanwhile, forensic experts continue to examine the body which was badly burned.A local person made the gruesome find on Sunday lunchtime as he was out walking near the Costa del Sol resort of Mijas.

Death of thousands of chiringuito restaurants

"Chiringuitos have existed for centuries, far longer than we have had ministries," Norberto del Castillo, of Andalucia's association of beach businesses, said.
Campaigners have denounced moves by the environment ministry to close down the thousands of chiringuito restaurants that spring up on beaches at the beginning of summer.Some 30,000 summer jobs and a cherished tradition of eating with sand between your toes are under threat, according to the campaigners, who want the chiringuitos to be treated as part of Spain's cultural heritage.The crackdown comes as part of the environment ministry's response to criticism that Spain's beaches are over-developed and under-protected. It has dusted off its "law of coasts", which bans building on the sand, and told the chiringuitos to move inland - on to concrete seafront walks or past the first line of asphalt."We have been here on the sand ever since tourism reached Malaga in the 1950s," Servando Cidoncha, who runs a bar on the Costa del Sol beach at Guadalmar, told the ABC newspaper. "If they take us inland we will stop being a chiringuito and become just another restaurant. The English and Germans come to us attracted by a sense of tradition. Moving us would destroy that."Politicians from all parties have thrown their support behind moves to save the chiringuitos, which jointly turn over some €900m (£810m) a year. "They are not in any way an aggression against the environment," Javier Arenas, leader of the opposition People's party in Andalucia, said. "And this is not a moment to be throwing away income and jobs.""We socialists are not going to stop until the future of the chiringuitos is assured," said Miguel Ángel Heredia, an MP for Spain's ruling party, representing the southern Costa del Sol.The beach bars are to ask customers to sign a petition this summer urging the ministry to rethink.

600 shortfall in the number of policemen and women placed across the Costas.

All the police stations in the province have a deficit of numbers which is now described in some places as ‘alarming’. Biggest shortages are seen in Estepona, Torremolinos, Vélez-Málaga and Antequera.

Latest data shows the number of National Police in the province is at 81% capacity, 2,492 instead of the 3,067 required.Spokesman from the SUP police union in Málaga, Manuel Expósito, told the Diario Sur newspaper that apart from tourism the nature of the Costa del Sol was that there were more inhabitants than those officially registered on the census, and this led to more police work. In addition the Costa del Sol remains a crime hotspot with 61% of the crimes committed in Eastern Andalucía, that’s to say in the provinces of Málaga, Granada, Jaén and Almería.

Juan Carmelo Santana found guilty of murdering a British couple on Fuerteventura has been sentenced to 39 years in prison

Juan Carmelo Santana found guilty of murdering a British couple on Fuerteventura has been sentenced to 39 years in prison for the killings. In a ruling released this Monday reported by the EFE news agency, 42 year old Juan Carmelo Santana has also been ordered to pay 30,000 € compensation to the couple’s son.The jury found the accused guilty on two counts of murder, and he was sentenced by the provincial court in Las Palmas to 17 years in prison for the murder of 58 year old Tina Jane Johnson, and to 22 years for killing her husband, Brian Johnson, aged 60.It happened in July 2006 in a flat in El Cotillo, near La Oliva, where the accused lived with his son in a flat he rented from the British couple. The Johnsons had gone there to ask their tenant for the three months he owed in unpaid rent. He is reported to have struck Mrs Johnson with his hand when she told him to look for somewhere else to live and, after pushing her to the floor, hit her on the head with a hammer. He then violently attacked Mr Johnson, also with the hammer, hitting him at least 10 times on the head.He kept their bodies hidden in the flat for an unknown length of time, and buried them beneath a pile of rocks in countryside in Malpaís de Mascona, not far from La Oliva.
The sentence noted that the accused had admitted to the murders, but that he also said he didn’t know why he had done it.

Bernard Madoff, the disgraced New York broker, sent 150 million dollars to a bank in Gib.

Bernard Madoff, the disgraced New York broker, sent 150 million dollars to a bank in Gibraltar. El Mundo reports that the transfer was made in the name of a company based in the Virgin Islands called Vizcaya Partners Ltd. a month before he was arrested.
The lawyer given the job of liquidating Madoff’s assets, Irving Picard, is now trying to recover the money from the branch of the Swiss bank, Jabob Safra, on Gibraltar.

Elche treasury councillor, Maria Angeles Aviles, could be facing charges of accountancy fraud

Elche treasury councillor, Maria Angeles Aviles, could be facing charges of accountancy fraud, along with the mayor, Alejandro Soler. Elche’s chief prosecutor, Ramon Siles, has announced that the decision to prosecute was taken after it was revealed that Aviles had signed five payments which were judged to be irregular and that Mayor Soler had signed two irregular payments, worth 5,620 euros.The monies in dispute were allegedly used to fund the Socialist Party (PSOE) political campaign promoted in a local newspaper. In the course of investigating the payments signed by Soler, the Popular Party discovered five more suspect payments, in the sum of some 11,000 euros, which they have submitted to the anti-corruption prosecution in Alicante. Whilst the prosecutor considers that Aviles should be charged with the same crimes as Soler, the judge, who is currently studying the relevant documents, has not taken any firm decision as yet. Aviles has been nominated to stand as a Socialist Party member for the European elections next June and the secretary of the Socialist Party in Alicante, Ana Barcelo, reiterated that the Party will continue to support the mayor, because they believe that he has simply made a mistake. They say that he has explained the circumstances and has ordered an audit to examine all the payments made during the last three years.

Lee Ward, 28, was killed instantly in a car crash close to Marbella, on the Costa del Sol.

Lee Ward, 28, was killed instantly in a car crash close to Marbella, on the Costa del Sol. His grieving father, entrepreneur and executive Charles, 48, told of his devastation last night.
Writing on a Facebook tribute page set up in his son’s memory, he said: “God, how I miss you. You will never leave my thoughts or my heart forever my first born.” Amazingly a passenger, believed to be a male friend, is thought to have survived the horror by leaping clear of the car as it fell. He is believed to be fighting for life in hospital. Locals told yesterday how they saw the white £150,000 Gallardo convertible skidding as it crested a hill overlooking the exclusive Los Flamingos golf course. One said: “It careered over the edge and fell more than 250ft over the cliff, landing on its roof by the side of one of the greens. Lee had no chance but his passenger managed to leap clear of the car and survived with very serious injuries. “Lee was a very popular person locally and it’s a real tragedy.” Pals said his wife Kati had decided not to go with him just minutes before the crash. Yesterday more than 200 mourners attended Lee’s funeral at a church in Marbella as friends continued to pay tribute on the web. One said of Lee: “A guy that lived life to the full and was full of desire. Wherever you are, they’re lucky to have you — I know we were.” On Lee’s Facebook site a pal wrote: “I will say a prayer and dance to good house music — Lee Richard Ward keep dancing — RIP.” 29 year old British man has died and two other people, possibly also British have been injured in a traffic accident in Benahavís near Marbella.The vehicle in which the three were travelling left the road, fell down a drop and burst into flames. One of the occupants was trapped inside and had to be rescued by the fire service.There are reports that one of the injured is 38 years old and one was taken to the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella for urgent treatment.It happened on the road between Benahavís and Cancelada, the CV-11, and happened at about 10pm on Saturday night. La Opinión de Málaga reports that the vehicle had Swiss number plates. Another said: “Thinking back on your antics leaves me wishing there could be just one last time. Now I know why they say the good die young.”

Chiringuito at Bikini Beach to be demolished

Coastal Authority has fined a chiringuito beach restaurant in Estepona 240,000 €, but the local Town Hall is calling for the structure to be demolished. The council says that if the owner of the restaurant does not demolish it himself, they will do so.The chiringuito at Bikini Beach is considered to be guilty of increasing its plot size from 100 to 508 square metres.
The regulations from the Coastal Authority, dependant on the Ministry for the Environment, say that the maximum size for a chiringuito is 400 square metres, with 100 more for a terrace and upto 300 more for sunbeds.Local councillor for beaches, Carmen Ocaña, said the problem at Bikini Beach is that the terrace had reached 500 square metres and that Balinese beds had been used when the licence is for sunbeds.Other chiringuito owners are reported by La Opinión de Málaga to have complained about unfair competition from Bikini Beach and have said the restaurant should be white in colour and not brown.

Juan Carlos Juárez, the Mayor of La Línea, faces a possible 28 years in prison

Juan Carlos Juárez, the Mayor of La Línea, faces a possible 28 years in prison following the presentation on Monday of the private accusation in the Roseworld case.It relates to an allegedly illegal procedure in the sale of municipal land to the company Roseworld and its onward sale to another company at a later date. Juárez also faces a 56 year ban from public office.Another nine people are charged in the case, including three members of the Mayor’s governing team. Canal Sur Radio reports that the text of the papers presented also requests bail of 60,000 € from each of the accused.
The text of the public prosecutor’s submission in the case is not yet known

Resale property prices on the Costa del Sol have fallen by upto 20% in some areas, and Mijas down 18.6%, Manilva down 20.7%, Estepona down 17.5%.

Resale property prices on the Costa del Sol have fallen by upto 20% in some areas, and Mijas down 18.6%, Manilva down 20.7%, Estepona down 17.5%, and Torrox down 17%, are all in the list of the top 20 towns in Spain to see the largest reductions in price.Arteixo in A Coruña and San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia are the places where house prices have fallen the most, by 23.4% and 22%.Marbella and Málaga remain among the most expensive places to purchase property across the country. In Málaga the average price per square metre is now 2,287 €, down 10.4% on a year ago, and that places Málaga in a list of nine provinces where the fall in price has reached double digits. The others are Navarra, Almería, Ciudad Real, Zaragoza, Lugo, Valencia, Toledo and Tarragona.The data comes from Fotocasa and the IESE.

29 year old British man has died and two other people, possibly also British have been injured in a traffic accident in Benahavís near Marbella.

29 year old British man has died and two other people, possibly also British have been injured in a traffic accident in Benahavís near Marbella.The vehicle in which the three were travelling left the road, fell down a drop and burst into flames. One of the occupants was trapped inside and had to be rescued by the fire service.There are reports that one of the injured is 38 years old and one was taken to the Costa del Sol hospital in Marbella for urgent treatment.It happened on the road between Benahavís and Cancelada, the CV-11, and happened at about 10pm on Saturday night.
La Opinión de Málaga reports that the vehicle had Swiss number plates.