More than a third of wealthy British residents are considering leaving the country because of high taxes, the weather and crime.

study by of 1,000 people with more than £250,000 in savings and investments found 35pc may move abroad because of high tax rates, while 44pc blamed the weather and 43pc want to avoid antisocial behaviour.Recent changes in tax rules have proved controversial for many Britons, including a combination of the 50pc income tax rate on those earning more than £150,000, increases in national insurance and a reduction in personal allowances.Almost...

Marbella Terra Sana restaurant row

BUSINESSMAN insists he was right to pull out of a deal with the Terra Sana restaurant chain.Expat Ned Latif, 47, told the Olive Press he was ‘horrified’ to find the chain was, he claims, over two million euros in debt after signing for a franchise in Gibraltar.The Portuguese restaurateur briefly took over the running of three of the chain’s restaurants in Marbella.But, despite getting the full support of its staff, he claims the figures...

Worker killed by falling crane arm at Cártama building site

He is the third person to have died in an accident at work in Málaga province this yearThe scene of the tragedy - EFE A worker was killed on Tuesday after he was struck by the falling arm of a crane at a building site in Cártama.It happened at a site near the A-7057 road shortly before 11am, when the crane’s arm collapsed and struck the 49 year old who was working below. He was from Málaga and was married with two children.EFE reports that...

Banks are selling off property cheap, but sight unseen

Reports in the Spanish press indicate a new real estate market – Bargains for real estate being sold as bank possessions where the bank concerned has still not got the key. El Mundo has labelled such properties as ‘invisible’. The banks and savings banks are now reported to be selling off such property cheap, but ‘sight unseen’, with purchasers not being able to even inspect the property. That requirement is compensated for by even lower...

27 arrested in Alicante for selling written-off caravans as new

racket involving staff from Alicante ITV vehicle testing stations to sell on written-off caravans has been uncovered by the Civil Guard with the arrest of 27 people. Twenty one of them are vehicle inspectors at the ITV stations.The 33 caravans were amongst more than 400 which had all been sent for scrap as unfit to be on the roads after suffering serious damage in floods which hit France in 2008. The Interior Ministry said in a press release...

Arson attack on Sagrada Familia

Hundreds of tourists had to be evacuated from Barcelona's world-famous Sagrada Familia basilica after an arson attack. Police said the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was hurt. Around 1,500 people were evacuated from Antoni Gaudi's unfinished masterpiece, one of the most popular tourist sites in Spain. An official said some tourists saw smoke coming...

Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman posted Nicolas Cage's $11,000 bond, after the Knowing star was arrested on charges of domestic violence,

Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman  posted Nicolas Cage's $11,000 bond, after the Knowing star was arrested on charges of domestic violence, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness Saturday morning in New Orleans, E! News has confirmed. "Media from around the world have been requesting interviews with me today after reports surfaced about my...

‘Lady of Marbella’, she was allegedly the smiling face that fronted many of the companies’ run by former planning svengali Juan Antonio Roca.

‘Lady of Marbella’, she was allegedly the smiling face that fronted many of the companies’ run by former planning svengali Juan Antonio Roca.But during her day in court, Catalan lawyer Montserrat Corulla sensibly attempted to disassociate herself from the crook’s illegal business.The elegant woman – once referred to as the Lady in the White Veil by Judge Torres – told the so-called Malaya trial that her role as manager for several of his...

Staff at La Zagaleta – where homes start at three million euros – are blaming the British owners and Troon golf club for the loss of jobs.

Staff at La Zagaleta – where homes start at three million euros – are blaming the British owners and Troon golf club for the loss of jobs. Half a dozen staff were laid off in cutbacks and are now manning a picket line outside the upmarket development between Ronda and Marbella. Among a dozen banners in English that line the road outside, one said: ‘English...

EXPATS dividing their time between Britain and Spain should be able to claim back the cost of Spanish medical treatment on the NHS from 2013.

The Cross Border Healthcare directive, which affects all EU states, will allow patients to have elective surgery at a state hospital wherever they live instead of travelling back to the UK.Implementation of the move – originally scheduled for 2011 – has been hampered by disputes between countries. But it is now expected that all states will sign up by 2013.A sticking point has been whether patients using the proposed system should be reimbursed...

Marbella a gun-smuggling Libyan fixer and friend of the Duke of York presented Princess Beatrice with an £18,000 necklace

A gun-smuggling Libyan fixer and friend of the Duke of York presented Princess Beatrice with an £18,000 necklace months before the duke allegedly lobbied a British company on his behalf, it has been claimed. Tarek Kaituni gave the young royal a gold pendant with a solitaire diamond after he was invited by Prince Andrew to her 21st birthday party in Spain in...

British man arrested on Tenerife for assaulting a Civil Guard

A British man faces two sets of separate charges after the Civil Guard were called out to a domestic violence incident in Amarilla Golf, in San Miguel de Abona, Tenerife, and the suspect threw hydrochloric acid at one of the officers.La Opinión reported on Wednesday that the officer is now recovering from injuries to an eye, although his colleague reacted quickly in washing off the ‘agua fuerte’ from his face. It was at this point that...

Free Internet access will be available on some beaches at Easter, to be extended to 50 access points for the summerLa Malagueta Beach.

There is to be free WiFi access on the beaches of Málaga this Easter, thanks to an agreement between the Costa del Sol’s beach businesses association and Gowex, the company which sponsors WiFi Internet connections on the municipal buses in Madrid. Diario Sur reports that the service will be available later this week on La Malagueta in Málaga City, and on...

Search resumes in the Sierra Nevada for body of British mountaineer

The search has restarted in the Sierra Nevada for the body of John Hogbin, the British mountaineer who was caught by an avalanche while climbing with two friends in the area of Hoya de la Mora in February.His two companions managed to escape from the avalanche unaided, but the only trace found of their friend in an extensive search of the area was his climbing axe.The search was called off at the beginning of March, but has recommenced...

The biggest ETA arms cache found by Spanish police has now grown substantially from the original 850 kilos of explosives which were discovered in a country house in Legorreta, Guipúzcoa,

The biggest ETA arms cache found by Spanish police has now grown substantially from the original 850 kilos of explosives which were discovered in a country house in Legorreta, Guipúzcoa, on Tuesday.There were new searches at the site on Thursday, leading to the discovery of hundreds of kilos of explosives in an outbuilding near the house where the first cache was found. El Mundo reports that the amount is so large, that an exact figure...

Civil Guard seize 3.5 tons of cannabis from a fishing boat off Isla Cristina

small fishing boat which was boarded by a Civil Guard sea patrol off Isla Cristina on Sunday night was found to be carrying a cargo of more than 3.5 tons of cannabis.The exact amount given by Europa Press this Thursday was 3,616 kilos, with the 113 packages covering almost the entire surface of the vessel’s deck.The Civil Guard boat was on security patrol when...

Briton arrested after crime wave in Sóller

The Guardia Civil in Sóller, Mallorca, has arrested a 24 year old British man, named with the initials D.G. in connection with several burglaries from the inside of local homes and shops.A statement from the Guardia Civil on Thursday said that after a local crime wave was noted at homes and shops in Sóller and Puerto de Sóller, with similar characteristics both in the modus operandi and what was taken, an investigation was launched and...

Spain not stepping up Libya role

Spain will not step up its role in the military operation in Libya, Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said at a NATO meeting in Berlin, resisting pressure from alliance members France and Britain."Spain chose to provide capacity to monitor the arms embargo for a period of three months, and the no-fly zone," Jimenez told reporters."This is the force that Spain is providing and will continue providing in the future, which is the authorisation...

Morocco's king pardons 190 prisoners

King Mohammed VI Thursday pardoned or cut the sentences of 190 detainees, including Islamist political prisoners, on the advice of a rights council set up a month ago as Morocco undertakes reforms.Only 96 of the group were immediately released with "the others, most of them common-law prisoners, having their sentences substantially reduced," a justice ministry source told AFP.Among those freed were six Islamists known as moderates, including...

Spanish TV presenter ordered to compensate bullfighter for reporting rumours about his alleged infidelity as news

Ana Rosa Quintana, the Spanish TV presenter who was recently questioned in court over the live TV confession by Isabel García that her husband, Santiago del Valle, had killed Mari Luz Cortés, has had a sentence confirmed in another case.In a ruling made public this Monday, the Supreme Court has confirmed a previous decision by the provincial court in Madrid on a case brought against Quintana and the Cuarzo production company by the bullfighter,...

British residents in Spain

Everyone registered on the padrón as a resident in Spain, including British nationals, has until and including Monday 11th April to check with their town hall whether they are on the list of registered voters, ahead of the local and regional elections across Spain on 22 May. If not on the list, residents can request to be added (although in a few cases, it is possible that town halls may lack the necessary IT systems to enable checks)....

English teacher Eoghan, 36, from Sligo town, disappeared a week ago in Gijon, northern Spain, after telling partner Analia Garcia he was going for a stroll.

THE girlfriend of missing Irish man Eoghan Timoney spoke yesterday of her worry over his disappearance as she relived the last time she saw him.English teacher Eoghan, 36, from Sligo town, disappeared a week ago in Gijon, northern Spain, after telling partner Analia Garcia he was going for a stroll.He left the flat they shared in the city with just the clothes he was wearing and a wallet with a credit card and around €40 in it. Police say...

British contract killer who used a fake Irish passport to flee to Spain has been sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison

British contract killer who used a fake Irish passport to flee to Spain has been sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison following an international investigation. The hit-man hid out in Spain for four years using the names Michael Lynch, Ronald Farmer and O’Flynn.James Tomkins (61) murdered Rocky Dawson in front of his children and then fled to the Costa del Sol resort of Puerto Banus, in Spain, using a fake Irish passport. Having...

Brits lodge Criminal complaint for discrimination against member of Andalucian Government

Twelve British members of AUAN (Abusos Urbanisticos Almanzora No) have lodged a criminal complaint against Josefina Cruz, Consejera for Public Works and Housing of the regional government of Andalucia for offensive statements made in Parliament earlier this month.The Consejera is being sued for an alleged crime against the Spanish Constitution, specifically under Article 510.2 of the Criminal Code because of what the plaintiffs believe...