Lab tests free Spanish cucumbers from deathful disease in Germany

German laboratory tests on Tuesday ruled out Spanish cucumbers as the source for spreading fatal enterohamorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) which has killed at least 16 people within Europe.Different from previous findings, the newest test did not find the deathful 0104 strain from two samples with EHEC bacteria, which are imported from Spain and sold in a Harmburg market."The sources for the disease are still not clear," said Hamburg's Health Minister Cornelia...

E.coli Outbreak Claims More Lives

Europe's outbreak of E. coli bacterial infections caused another two deaths on Tuesday, including the first outside Germany, bringing the rising total to 16 reported fatalities and around 400 severe cases.The outbreak, centered in northern Germany, is costing farmers and retailers millions of euros as mountains of raw vegetables sit uneaten, with no clarity on what caused the infections. The aggressive strain has now spread to six other European...

Spain has expressed anger at links being made between Spanish cucumbers and a deadly E. coli outbreak.

Spain has expressed anger at links being made between Spanish cucumbers and a deadly E. coli outbreak. The country's agriculture minister said Germany pointed to Spanish cucumbers "without having reliable data". Meanwhile, German officials have voiced doubts about whether the Spanish...

Russia imposed on Monday a ban on imports of fruits and vegetables from Germany and Spain,

Russia imposed on Monday a ban on imports of fruits and vegetables from Germany and Spain, said Russia's chief sanitary inspector Gennady Onishchenko.Onishchenko also said Russia did not rule out the possibility to extend the ban on vegetable imports from the entire Europe, according to Interfax news agency.He said that vegetables from Germany and Spain already imported have been removed from the shops and markets."We urge population not to buy fresh...

U.K. bank Barclays PLC plans to hire Spain's former finance minister, Pedro Solbes, to the board of its Spanish unit

U.K. bank Barclays PLC plans to hire Spain's former finance minister, Pedro Solbes, to the board of its Spanish unit, a spokesman for the bank in Madrid said Monday.Mr. Solbes will also advise Barclays on European banking industry issues such as regulation, a person familiar with the matter said.Barclays will propose Mr. Solbes for its board at a meeting June 13, the spokesman said.Mr. Solbes, 68, was intimately involved in the creation of the euro...

UK warns citizens of Portugal violence

Britain said on Monday it had updated its travel advice to Portugal to warn against the risk of violent attacks after a tourist was killed in a suspected gang attack.Ian Haggath, aged 50, from Dunston in northeast England, was beaten up in the Portuguese town of Faro two weeks ago and died from his injuries on Wednesday.The foreign ministry in London said it was providing consular assistance and warned Britons of the possibility of attacks."We are...

Spain has accused Germany of "spreading alarm" and needlessly damaging trade after blaming a deadly E.coli outbreak on "killer cucumbers" imported from Spain.

Spain's authorities went on the defensive as countries across Europe cleared their shelves of the offending vegetables insisting that there was no proof the deadly outbreak had been caused by Spanish vegetables.Leire Pajin, the Spanish Health Minister, noting that no Spanish cases have been reported, urged Germany to speed up its probe and establish proof of what has caused the outbreak.Germany's allegations "create alarm and affect the producers...

Spain's governing Socialists chose Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba as leader

Spain's governing Socialists chose Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba as leader for what analysts see as a doomed campaign to reverse slumping fortunes ahead of a general election next year.Voters mauled the government in local polls last weekend over its austerity measures and a struggling economy that has left Spain with the highest unemployment rate in the European Union at 21.3 percent."Rubalcaba is the best candidate, but what the...

Three former Cuban political prisoners and 15 relatives living in northern Spain are threatening a hunger strike

Three former Cuban political prisoners and 15 relatives living in northern Spain are threatening a hunger strike unless authorities resolve the “chaotic” conditions of their exile, complaining that they fall short of the welcome promised by the Spanish government. “They are treating...

Ibiza's largest ever forest fire started by smoking of bee hives

The forest fire which has been burning since Wednesday afternoon on Ibiza remains out of control, and is by far the worst fire ever seen on the Baleares. So far 2,000 hectares have been destroyed. Some 200 people have been evacuated from some 80 homes in the area affected by the...

Ibiza fire 'much more controlled'

fire affecting the NE of Ibiza continued to burn on Saturday, three days after it broke out on Wednesday after an Argentinean man allegedly got into difficulties when smoking bee hives in the area. The authorities say that although still active, the blaze is ‘much more controlled’,...

Woman takes husband to court in Lleida for alleged abuse and only allowing her to go out in a full-body veil

27 year old Moroccan man, named as Jamal D., is on trial in court in Lleida in charges brought against him by his wife for alleged psychological and physical abuse. He faces a possible sentence of three and a half years in prison.The wife claims that she was told by her husband, after the couple moved to La Seu d’Urgell, Lleida, two years ago after an arranged marriage in Morocco, that she could go only go out into the street in a full-body veil...

Illegal subsidy scam uncovered in Galicia

Estela San José, head of Instruction Court No. 3 in Lugo, was continuing questioning on Thursday of some of the 15 suspects she ordered arrested in a new corruption case which broke on Tuesday into a network which allegedly obtained fraudulent subsidies from the regional government. Two...

Red flags were flying on all of Benidorm’s beaches of Wednesday over the risk of being stung by the shoals of jellyfish

Red flags were flying on all of Benidorm’s beaches of Wednesday over the risk of being stung by the shoals of jellyfish which were first spotted off shore some days ago and moved closer into the coast on Tuesday.The species is understood to be the ‘compass jellyfish’, which can inflict a painful sting. Juan Guillén, from the Coastline Ecology Institute, warned that the weals left by the sting can last for a number of weeks.Diario Información reports...

The protests across Spain over the past two weeks to demand jobs, economic equality, and “real democracy” turned violent Friday for the first time.

Officials say 121 people were injured in Barcelona as protesters clashed with police officers clearing a makeshift camp. The police had previously told protesters the square had to be cleared so that cleaning services could move in to remove debris.Catalonia regional Interior Ministry spokesman Felip Puig said 37 police were also injured. He did not say how many people had been arrested.The protests that started just before the elections last weekend...

Spain said Friday there is no evidence its farms are to blame for a bacterial outbreak suspected of leaving five dead and nearly 300 sickened in Germany.

The Spanish agriculture minister said she had spoken to her German counterpart and an investigations is under way. Officials are probing whether the cucumbers were contaminated with E. coli when they were shipped from southern Spain, or if they went bad during shipment or while being handled in Germany, Rosa Aguilar said.There are different strains of E. coli and the one detected in Germany is extremely rare in Spain, she said. She added, "as of...

Spanish youth demonstrations turn violent as police fire rubber bullets at protesters in Barcelona

Riot police fired rubber bullets and used truncheons on protesters camped out in Barcelona's Plaza de Catalunya as they tried to clear the square ahead of today's Champions' League final.Authorities said they had to clear the square ahead of the Champions' League final  Photo: JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty ImagesBy Fiona Govan, Madrid 4:21PM BST 27 May 2011Riot police fired rubber bullets and used truncheons on protesters camped out in Barcelona's Plaza...

UPDATE:Fifteen Britons suspected of running one of Europe's biggest "boiler room" scams have been arrested in Spain.

Armed police carried out a raid in Mallorca as part of an investigation into a gang believed to have been cold-calling thousands of UK residents.The arrested men, from Nottinghamshire, Essex, Luton and London, appeared briefly in a Spanish court yesterday but are yet to face trial.Boiler room fraudsters use pressure sales tactics to sell worthless shares.City of London Police, who worked with the Spanish authorities, said younger members of the alleged...

Police in Spain detained a beekeeper suspected of accidentally starting the biggest wildfire in the history of the holiday island of Ibiza

Police in Spain detained a beekeeper suspected of accidentally starting the biggest wildfire in the history of the holiday island of Ibiza, local officials said Thursday.Some 200 people have been evacuated from about 80 homes, the regional government of the Balearic Islands said in a statement.Around 200 guests were also evacuated from the Hotel Paradise Beach in the resort of Portinatx in the northeast of the island on the orders of the local authorities,...

The Peurto del Sol camp is changing everyday. Latest editions include a psychologists office, a massage palour and a library.

The Peurto del Sol camp is changing everyday. Latest editions include a psychologists office, a massage palour and a library. On Thursday most banners had been taken down. A police van is now visible on each entrance to the square. There have been reports in local media that the camp may be shut down.But it's not clear whether the ruling Socialist Party would risk it. The protests - that have spread to over 60 Spanish cities - intensified their defeat...

Icelandic volcano ash won't disturb Air Morocco flights

The Royal Air Morocco (RAM) traffic to European countries, which accounts for half of the company's routes, will not be disturbed in the coming days by Grimsvoetn Icelandic volcanic ash, PANA learnt in Rabat. 'There will be no disruption in the coming days, at least until Friday,' said the Deputy Director General for RAM's European traffic, Abderrahim Sadok, explaining that 'the intensity of the eruption had fallen and the wind sent the ashes to...

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces on Thursday said it has entered into a management contract with Morocco's JK Hotels to manage 'Taj Palace Marrakech'

Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces on Thursday said it has entered into a management contract with Morocco's JK Hotels to manage 'Taj Palace Marrakech', which will increase the company's global portfolio to 17 hotels.With this, the Taj Group has now established its presence in North Africa and will now manage Taj Palace Marrakech, which is set to launch in autumn 2011, the company said in a statement here."Taj Palace Marrakech, is our latest venture...

Spanish imports implicated after E. coli deaths

The source of an E. coli outbreak in Germany that has killed four people and affected at least 200 more has been traced to fresh produce imports.European health officials at the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said on Thursday that cucumbers imported from Spainmay be the source of the outbreak with two unnamed Andalusian companies implicated.The ECDC, which monitors diseases in the EU, said it had reports...

SEVEN men have appeared in a Spanish court accused of stealing tens of millions of pounds from UK residents.

The men stand accused of cold-calling residents throughout the country and pressurising them to part with money for non-existent shares.Liam Rymell, 23, Dominic Jones, 24, Shafiq Dad, 41, Omar Rana, 27 and Rashid Shafayat, 30, all from Nottingham, and John Bartlett, 22, and Tyrone Robinson, 23, both from Mansfield, were among 15 men arrested earlier this week in an armed raid on their suspected headquarters in Palma, Mallorca.Officers appealed for...

Spain's Interior Ministry says police have arrested a former leader of the armed Basque separatist group ETA for his alleged role in a kidnapping.

A ministry statement Wednesday said Ignacio Miguel Gracia Arregui, known as Inaki de Renteria, was arrested in the northern city of Irun for ordering the 1996 kidnapping of prison officer Jose Antonio Ortega Lara.Gracia Arregui was arrested in France in 2000 and served eight years in jail there before being handed over to Spain.He was jailed in Spain until April 2010.Spain has long suspected him of ordering a 1995 assassination attempt against Spain's...

Thousands of Spaniards in central Madrid have vowed to defy a ban on their protest camp and continue their open-air sit-in.

Spain's electoral board has ruled that the gathering cannot continue into the weekend.It argues the protest could unduly influence voters taking part in local and regional elections across the country on Sunday.The decision was met with jeers in Puerta del Sol, where thousands gather every evening - and hundreds have been camping out for five nights now.Dubbed the "Spanish revolution", the protest began with a march through Madrid on Sunday, led...

Spain has become the latest country to apply for early European farming support subsidies

Spain has become the latest country to apply for early European farming support subsidies this year as poor weather continues to threaten harvests across the region, a spokesman for the European Commission said Friday.The European Union's executive arm has already approved in principal France's request for an advance on the Common Agricultural Policy, which would pay farmers around €4 billion ($5.72 billion) on Oct. 16, rather than in December.But...

head of the Guardia Civil traffic authority in Soria has been caught speeding at 207 km/hr on the A-15 road

head of the Guardia Civil traffic authority in Soria has been caught speeding at 207 km/hr on the A-15 road between Soria and Lubia. Claudio Argüello told the Instruction Court 2 in Soria that he was pursuing a suspect at the time.However a denuncia from the UGC Union of Guardia Civil question his argument, and say the statement from the two men who stopped him said that they failed to see any other speeding car. They also noted that he did not have...

Polls indicate Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s party could on Sunday suffer the humiliation of losing historic Socialist strongholds such as the town halls of Seville and Barcelona

Spain’s ruling Socialists are bracing for stinging losses in regional and municipal voting this weekend as people vent anger over staggering unemployment and bleak economic prospects, launching a drumroll toward likely defeat in general elections next year.Butting noisily into the campaign is a growing protest movement by Spaniards fed up with both main parties and what they call a stagnant political system that favors economic interests over everyday...

Mexican environmental groups and other activists said that Spanish real-estate development firm Hansa Urbana will destroy one of the world’s best-preserved coral reefs if it is allowed to go through with a massive tourist project in the Baja California peninsula.

ALICANTE, Spain – Mexican environmental groups and other activists said that Spanish real-estate development firm Hansa Urbana will destroy one of the world’s best-preserved coral reefs if it is allowed to go through with a massive tourist project in the Baja California peninsula.The activists made their concerns known during a gathering in the eastern city of Alicante, the corporate headquarters of Hansa Urbana, which has acquired 3,800 hectares...

Spanish hit streets after tweets

Spaniards have marched and pitched tents in central Madrid for a fourth night to protest budget cuts, bank bailouts and the country's electoral system before regional voting on Sunday.Thousands of people filled Puerta del Sol, where demonstrators have used Twitter to attract supporters to a makeshift camp in the central Madrid plaza, mirroring the use of social media that fuelled the recent protests in Tunisia and Egypt. People held banners declaring...

Residents began sifting through the rubble left by two earthquakes on Thursday morning as questions were asked about how such apparently minor tremors could cause such havoc.

Residents began sifting through the rubble left by two earthquakes on Thursday morning as questions were asked about how such apparently minor tremors could cause such havoc.Hundreds of people queued for food from emergency workers as they were prevented from returning to their homes.Up to 20,000 people had spent the night in squares, parks and nearby countryside amid fears of aftershocks.People slept in tents and cardboard boxes, while hundreds...

Euro chiefs rule out 'stupid' notion of Greek currency exit

Europe's inner currency cabal ruled out "stupid" calls on markets for 340 billion euros of Greek debt to be restructured, as speculation soared that the government in Athens could exit the currency area and with it the EU.Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker dismissed growing claims a write-down would be needed after late-night talks among G20 eurozone states prompted by worries in the United States and at the IMF that saw Greek Finance...

Spanish Minister Says Fewer Than 700,000 Homes Are Unsold

Spain has fewer than 700,000 unsold homes after the market collapsed in 2008, the Transport and Development Ministry said.About 61 percent of those are in coastal areas, Deputy Minister for Housing Beatriz Corredor said at a press conference in London today. Prices in seaside areas have fallen as much as 40 percent from the peak, while on average prices have declined 20 percent in real terms, said Development Minister Jose Blanco, whose remit includes...

Spain's sea rescue service pulled 29 sub-Saharan African migrants from a capsized boat early Friday off the coast of southern Spain

Spain's sea rescue service pulled 29 sub-Saharan African migrants from a capsized boat early Friday off the coast of southern Spain, but 22 others who were also aboard are missing, a rescue official told CNN.The 22 missing include 19 men, a woman, a 5-year-old boy and a baby, according to accounts from the rescued survivors, said the official, Miguel Zea, of the Maritime Rescue Service in the port of Almeria.Spanish authorities are searching for...

Spanish Plume could cause sinkings

An insurance company is warning of an increased risk of boats sinking or flooding this weekend due to heavy rain caused by the Spanish PlumeWhile temperatures may be in the high twenties in many parts of the UK today, this hot weather, courtesy of the Spanish Plume, also suggests that thunderstorms are on their way and Navigators and General (N&G) says that if you don't take precautions to secure your boat it may be at an increased risk of sinking.As...

Spanish students cause havoc with mass party

massive party organised by students using social networking sites brought university classes to a standstill on Thursday in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.The law and economics faculties at the city's university had to close their doors as drunken students began to run amok after more than a thousand people had gathered for an outdoor bring-a-bottle party at the campus.The party was organised as a protest against the university's failure to...

Spain is saturated with budget flights and at least one carrier needs to go out of the market to bring stability

Spain is saturated with budget flights and at least one carrier needs to go out of the market to bring stability, according to International Airlines Group chief executive Willie Walsh.IAG, made up of British Airways and Iberia, is considering how to trim Iberia’s Spanish short-haul network, which operates in a country with Europe’s highest number of no-frills flights. Walsh told an analysts’ briefing consolidation was needed:“The likelihood is that...

Kathleen Rodger (62) plunged from a third-floor balcony at the apartment block she shared with husband Andrew in Torrevieja in the Costa Blanca.

Kathleen Rodger (62) plunged from a third-floor balcony at the apartment block she shared with husband Andrew in Torrevieja in the Costa Blanca.It is believed Mrs Rodger, who lived in Leven before moving to Spain four years ago, slipped on a wet floor as she made her way on to the veranda on Friday.Her funeral is to be held in Peebles in the Borders, where she will be buried alongside her two children — Carol, who died when she was just four days...