COMPUTER STORE OWNERS ARRESTED
The Guardia Civil have arrested the two owners of a computer store in Almuñecar on charges of fraud after allegations that they were selling mobile phones on the Internet, then sending boxes filled with sand to the purchasers. The victims had paid between ¬'90 and ¬?00 for what they thought would be a top-of-the-range N-95 Nokia second-hand phone but which turned out to be a packet full of sand. So far nine victims have been identified, but the Guardia Civil think that as many as 18 other packages were also sent. The Civil Guard said the two people detained are a German man aged 22 and a Spanish girl aged 21, who had been selling the fake phones on the website segundamano.es
BOY KIDNAPPED FOR LOSING SHOE
What started out as a game of football ended in a nightmare. A 14-year-old boy was playing with four friends in a street in San Pedro Alcántara when one of his shoes came off and sailed over the fence of an empty house. As the boys were deciding how to get in to rescue the shoe, the owner drew up. Thinking there were planning to break into his house, he chased them in his car. The other four boys got away on their bikes but the owner easily cornered the shoeless boy, who was on foot. He forced the boy at knife point into the car. He punched the boy's face, fracturing his nose, before driving away. Two of the other boys were watching from a distance and were able to alert the boy's father. The man took the boy to his girlfriend's flat where he explained that he would take the boy back to the house and when the police came the boy would tell them he and his friends had been planning to break in. All three returned to the house, where the man tried to handcuff the boy. At this point, the boy's parents turned up but the man refused to hand over the boy until the police arrived. The boy then jumped over the wall and the man and his girlfriend fled when they heard police sirens approaching. The police caught up with them days later and the man is now charged with kidnapping.
COST OF LIVING AFFECTS CELEBRATIONS
The economic crisis is so bad that Spanish families can no longer splash out on two ceremonies very close to their hearts - weddings and communions. Happy couples thought nothing of spending €20,500 on their wedding but catering companies reported last week that they are now requesting the cheapest menus and cutting back on the number of guests. And offers of wedding gowns are appearing more frequently on eBay where gowns that cost €1,500 are going for less than €400. First communions, which used to cost €3,600 on average have been cut back by half. Families are no longer booking restaurants for the post-communion party, which is now being held in the church hall or at home. They've managed to cut spending back by half by doing away by eliminating visits to the hairdressers and hiring cheaper photographers who take less photos.
HOUSE BUILDERS WILLING TO DROP PRICES
The president of Malaga's Developers and Builders Association, José Prado Seseña, has said his members would be willing to sell their houses and flats they have not been able to sell at the maximum price permitted for officially protected housing, that is, €174,000. Sr Prado said there are currently 13,500 new houses and flats on the market awaiting buyers but that this number could rise to 25,000 by the end of the year. Sr Prado said developers would not be willing to sell new housing costing more than €300,000 but they are willing to take less for cheaper ones in what he described as a "really critical situation".
A SON FOR DEFENCE MINISTER
Defence Minister Carme Chacón left the Sant Joan de Deu hospital in Barcelona last Friday afternoon with her son Miquel in her arms, and accompanied by her husband, Miguel Barroso. She thanked the media for their interest in the birth of her son and said it was an experience that words could not describe. She said both she and her son were well despite the shock of the birth coming nearly three weeks earlier than expected. Sra Chacón had gone for a routine check-up at 1 pm last Monday only to be told she was to be kept in. She said she had an important meeting the next day but the doctors informed her someone would have to stand in for her. Her son was born less than five hours later. Sra Chacon said she will share her maternity leave with her husband, but would be living in a specially prepared apartment at the ministry in Madrid in order to keep in touch with events there.
AVALANCHE TO BEAT TOUGHER DRIVING EXAM
Driving schools have reported an "avalanche" of young people rushing to get their motorcyclist's licence now before a tougher exam comes into force on September 1st this year. On that date, the minimum age for driving a bike will go up from 14 to 15, and the driving test will include a practical exam in real traffic, which it does not do at present. Bikers will not be able to carry a passenger until they are 18, up from 16 now. The driving schools also report an increase in applications for driving licences from people who have been driving their cars for years without a licence. This has now been reclassified as a criminal act so instead of a hefty fine, anyone caught without a licence now faces a jail sentence.
MOUNTAINER DIES OF INJURIES ON PEAK
One of Spain's most prominent mountaineers, Iñaki Ochoa de Olza, died 7,400 metres up the Annapurna mountain, also known as the Cursed Mountain, last Friday, after spending five nights there suffering from a brain injury. He was 41. He was accompanied by the Swiss mountaineer, Ueli Steck, who tried to attend to his injuries following advice radioed from doctors in Ochoa's native Pamplona. Iñaki was attempting to join the select group of mountaineers who have climbed the 14 peaks on the planet which are more than 8,000 metres. He needed only two to complete the circuit, one of them being Annapurna. His family said they were grateful that he had not died alone and announced they would leave his body where it was so as not to endanger the lives of rescuers. They also said it was fitting burial place for a man who had loved mountains so much.
PIGEON REDUCTION PLAN AFOOT
In response to residents' complaints, Cartama Town Hall has asked a specialist company to reduce the number of pigeons in the town with strategically placed traps. The councillor in charge of agriculture, Isabel Sánchez, said she hoped the trapping birds would start at the beginning of June, or by mid-June at the latest. Residents who want their area cleared of pigeons can make an application at the town hall or by sending an email to Sra Sánchez at agricultura@cartama.es.
ETA HEAD SENTENCED IN PARIS COURT
Javiuer Lope Peña, aka Thierry, who Interior Ministry Alfredo described as the person with the most political and military weight in the group, was sentenced on several terrorist-related charges by a Paris court last Saturday. He and three other alleged members of ETA were arrested in Bordeaux early last week as they were holding a top level meeting to discuss the group's future actions. Thierry, aged 50, was wanted by the French police, having been condemned in absentia in two separate court cases in 2005 and 2007 to jail sentences of seven and two years respectively. All four face sentences of up to 30 years on charges of associating with criminals to prepare terrorist acts, extortion, receiving stolen goods, armed robbery, using false car plates, illegal possession of weapons and munitions and possessing or transporting substances that can be used to make bombs. In similar cases in the past, the French authorities have held captured ETA members until they have been tried and sentenced in the courts before sending them back to Spain to face any charges pending against them.
THIEVES CALL 112 EMERGENCY SERVICE
The operator manning the 112 emergency service was amazed to get this request around 4.30 pm last Wednesday: "I'm one of the men who has just robbed the McDonald's in Marbella and our car has broken down in the middle of nowhere and is beginning to burn." Apparently the two thieves had been involved in a collision with another car at the 30 km point on the A-355. The emergency services gave the details of their car to the Guardia Civil who confirmed that it was the vehicle which had earlier been involved in a collision during their getaway. Both men were arrested.