Spain Questions Britain over Gibraltar Incident

Spain’s government expressed “concern” Monday over an incident in which Gibraltar and British units intercepted a Spanish patrol boat pursuing suspected drug smugglers in the Bay of Algeciras.A Royal Gibraltar Police boat collided with the vessel belonging to Spain’s Guardia Civil.Madrid has conveyed its displeasure to Britain “though the usual diplomatic channels,” the Spanish Foreign Ministry said.Sources close to the Guardia Civil said the confrontation...

Ex-Bank Analyst Settling Insider Trading Charges

former analyst for Spain's biggest bank has agreed to pay more than $600,000 to settle federal regulators' charges of trading on confidential information about BHP Billiton's bid last year to buy Potash Corp.The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement Monday with Juan Jose Fernandez Garcia. He was an analyst for Banco Santander, which advised BHP on the deal. The SEC filed civil charges last August against Garcia, saying he made...

Chain from Spain calls tune on colourful Sydney style

Since it opened shop in Spain in 1975 Zara has grown to more than 1700 stores in 77 countries that last year generated sales of more than €8 billion ($11 billion).THE most important accessory at the Zara store opening in Sydney tomorrow will not be a handbag, a shoe or a headscarf.It will be the security presence: police, private guards and barricades assembled by the Spanish fast fashion juggernaut to manage the thousands of shoppers expected...

Pope Benedict received Maria Jesus Figa Lopez-Palop, the first woman to serve as Spain's Ambassador to the Holy See

Born in 1951 in Barcelona, ​​and a graduate in law and diplomacy;  Mrs Figa served  in embassies in Ivory Coast, Mexico and Lisbon before becoming chief of the Technical Office in the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs and Senior Adviser at the Directorate General of Foreign Policy for Europe and North America and International Security Department, Office of the Prime Minister. In 2002 she was appointed Spain's ambassador to the Dominican Republic...

Spain sells short-term debt but rates rise

Spain raised 4.66 billion euros in short-term debt on Monday but had to pay more than previously as Portugal's bailout talks sparked fresh fears over Madrid's ability to stabilise its own public finances.The treasury said it raised 3.51 billion euros ($5.06 billion) in 12-month bonds at an average yield, or rate of return for investors, of 2.77 percent, up from the 2.128 percent paid at the last such auction on March 15.It raised 1.15 billion euros...

IN Spain's Canary Islands the month of April is the time to harvest coffee

IN Spain's Canary Islands the month of April is the time to harvest coffee, which is marketed as gourmet product and one which farmers hope to expand rapidly.Since the late 19th century, the residents of the Valley of Agaete on the northeast coast of Gran Canaria island in the Atlantic have cultivated this coffee which they consider the "only one in Europe," said Victor Lugo, head of the Agroagaete cooperative.It is not quite the only one, as coffee...

Irish celebrity DJ Maurice Boland is returning to the airwaves for the first time following his inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old teenager in Marbella.

DJ Maurice Boland: 'If people want to take a pot shot at me, I've an open line -- they can ask whatever they want...'Niamh Horan, talks to celebrity DJ Maurice Boland, back on the air after a scandal over his relationship with a teenIrish celebrity DJ Maurice Boland is returning to the airwaves for the first time following his inappropriate relationship with a 16-year-old teenager in Marbella.Known as 'Mr Marbella', the former Irish nightclub boss,...

Telefónica España warns of 20% job cuts

Telefónica España CEO Guillermo Ansaldo warned that the company could cut its 32,000-strong workforce by up to 20 per cent over the next three years as Spain's largest telco looks to mitigate the effects of the economic recession.Speaking at a Telefonica investor conference, Ansaldo said, "There is further room to improve efficiency in Spain. We are ready to start negotiating a series of initiatives...that will affect approximately 20 per cent...

Thousands of British students have descended on a Spanish seaside resort to take part in a drunken annual festival that has outraged the locals

The youngsters have arrived at Saloufest - billed as "the biggest student festival in the world" - in the Costa Dorada resort.About 5,000 reached north-east Spain yesterday and by midnight many of the 18- to 23-year-olds were already drunk.Television news footage showed students swigging from beer bottles on the beach, dancing nude in the sea and stumbling through the streets half-naked or in fancy dress.Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo wrote today:...

Spain remains vulnerable,

Spain remains vulnerable, despite Madrid insisting last week that its economy is much healthier than Portugal's and its debts are much more manageable. Spanish banks must roll over debts worth more than 5% of GDP this year, and more than 9% in 2012, in addition to the government's financing needs. A two-point increase in the interest Madrid pays in the bond markets – much of which could come from the ECB, even without a further loss of confidence...

BRITAIN will put Mediterranean resorts in the shade this BBQ weekend as temperatures hit a sizzling 25C (77F).

We will thrash France, Spain and even parts of Greece with a belting weekend of sun.Barcelona will only manage 21C (70F), usually baking Athens is a cooler 17C (63F) and Istanbul will trail with just 14C (57F). But Brits will need to slap on suncream by the bottle as high pressure keeps the mercury in the mid-20s.Last night saw dozens of families head for the seaside. Pubs with gardens will do a roaring trade today, while suncream firm Garnier Ambre...

The governor of the Bank of Spain, Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez, believes it is now "essential" to keep up with the ambitious pace of reforms so as not to lose market confidence.

In a speech to the XVIII Finance convention organised by Deloitte and AVC, Fernández Ordóñez stressed in particular the importance of labour market reforms to move away from the current inflexible system that makes job creation difficult.He warned that 2011 was going to be a difficult year for everyone, and for the banking sector especially.The governor praised the new solvency rules for banks and savings banks and added that international investors'...

RYANAIR IS to cut its operations at it Spanish base in Alicante by up to 80 per cent from October in response to increased charges at the airport.

RYANAIR IS to cut its operations at it Spanish base in Alicante by up to 80 per cent from October in response to increased charges at the airport.The no-frills airline said it was reducing the number of base aircraft at Alicante from 11 to two, cutting the number of routes in half to 31 and reducing passengers from 4 million to 1.5 million.Among the cancelled routes are flights operating between the Spanish holiday destination and Cork and Derry....

ex England manager and his Academy recently relocated back to the UK after a dispute over an unpaid loan

An agreement reached between the Glen Hoddle Academy and the Jerez Industrial football club has meant that 12 of the Academy’s players have returned to Spain for the rest of the season.It comes after the former England manager, who set up the Academy near Jerez in 2008, decided to relocate the centre’s base back to the UK ‘to be closer to its principle market for players’. The club’s failure to pay back Hoddle’s loan appears to have been the reason...

French driver was seriously hurt when he crashed head on into another vehicle, killing a 63 year old Spaniard

Alicante province has seen its fifth case in the past month of a kamikaze driver, and this latest, on Thursday, was fatal.A 51 year old Frenchman who drove up the wrong carriageway of the A-31 motorway was seriously injured when he crashed head on with another vehicle at Monforte del Cid, but the driver of the other car was killed in the smash. He’s been identified by Europa Press as a 63 year old Spanish man.The injured man was trapped in his vehicle...