Around 150,000 cars are on the province of Malaga’s roads with no insurance

The Andalusian Institute of Statistics reflects 900,000 policies while there are well over a million vehicles registered in Malaga

According to the database at the Traffic Department (DGT) at the end of 2009 there were some 1,044,361 vehicles registered in the province of Malaga. Of them, this time according to figures released last week by the Andalusian Institute of Statistics (IEA), only 897,180 had a valid insurance policy. You only have to compare the two figures to work out that this leaves some 150,000 cars, lorries or motorcycles with no obligatory insurance cover. This amounts to around 14 per cent of the total.

Nevertheless experts point out that not all of these uninsured vehicles are actually in circulation. In fact the president of the association ‘Automovilistas Europeos Asociados’ (AEA), Mario Arnaldo, explains that it is estimated that there are some two million vehicles in Spain with no insurance, “although we calculate that around half of them are not on the roads, but the owners have not made the relevant off road notification”, he stresses. Applying this to the context of the province of Malaga this would mean that some 74,000 vehicles are still on the roads with no cover.

Crisis

The report produced by the institute of statistics also shows how the economic crisis has taken its toll on the insurance business. The number of new car registrations has plummeted and vehicle usage in many families has been reduced, resulting in insurance policies falling by 8.5 per cent in 2009 in the province of Malaga. Meanwhile the number of companies dealing with insurance policies has fallen by eight per cent to 163 and have cut down their staff by six per cent to 920.

Road accidents in the province of Malaga forced insurance companies to pay out some 268.5 million euros in 2009, an average of 735 euros per claim.

Mario Arnaldo warns that drivers on the road with no insurance face fines of between 601 and 3,000 euros. Police officers are also authorised to take uninsured vehicles off the road and even send them to the scrapyard if the owner does not produced a valid insurance policy within two months.

The DGT reminds drivers that having no insurance also shows a lack of respect for others, as in the case of an accident, and if the owner cannot pay for the damage caused, the bill must be footed by the Consorcio de Compensación that is paid for with taxpayers’ money. The recent legal reform aimed to reduce the number of uninsured vehicles on the roads by making it obligatory to produce a valid insurance policy before taking the ITV motor vehicle test.

From SUR in English

Construction company refuses payment for El Algarrobico

From Typically Spanish

Azata, the construction company which built the controversial Hotel El Algarrobico in Carboneras, has refused to accept payment from the Junta de Andalucía for the plot on which the hotel stands together with an adjacent site.

Azata would have been paid more than 2.3 million € for the two plots, after the courts recently awarded the Junta de Andalucía the retrospective rights of first refusal on their purchase, as both lie within the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Nature Park. The regional government said they planned to demolish the hotel and return the site to its former condition.

Azata representatives have refused the payment and have announced an administrative appeal to the Andaluz Supreme Court. That body will now have to rule on which party is deemed to be the owner of the land.

Construction work at the site is currently halted under a ruling issued by an Almería court in a separate case.

Halloween in Spain

Halloween is celebrated in Spain, but in a different form. It is know as the "Day of the Dead," or "El Dia de los Muertos." It is a three day event beginning on the night of October 31 and ending on November 2, in which family members commemorate their loved ones whom have passed. It is believed that the dead return home to be with their families. Families sometimes make an alter at home as a way to reminisce. It is also common to visit the grave sites and both picnic and decorate.

Spain to hit 'Costa del Crime' with UK hotline

From Reuters

MADRID (Reuters) - British and Spanish police, struggling to track down expatriate fugitives and break into a web of foreign traffickers and fraudsters, have asked charity Crimestoppers to set up a tip-off hotline on the Costa del Sol.

Both countries hope Crimestoppers Costas, launched on Tuesday, will become an key intelligence source from the 350,000 expatriates living around the southern city of Malaga -- a group difficult to tap because of the language barrier.

For years British criminals have used the Spanish Costas as the perfect place to disappear among English-speaking expatriates and tourists, but British police are increasingly concerned it is being used by drug traffickers as a base for British operations.

A series of adverts in local papers and on the Crimestoppers website: www.crimestoppers-uk.org/wanted/spainwanted/ aims to hunt down criminals wanted in Britain for a range of crimes including fraud, trafficking, kidnap and murder.

Tip-offs passed to the charity in Britain help solve an average 17 crimes a day and one murder a week, and its head of operations Dave Cording said that until-now weak links between Spanish police and expatriates meant the pilot scheme could make an immediate impact.

"There is good information out there to be had and it's just a question of coordinating the whole thing to bring these people back into the British crime justice system," he told Reuters.

Crimestoppers' anonymous freephone number -- 900 555 111 -- will route calls directly to its London call centre and information will then be passed to Spanish police.

Ronnie Knight, jailed for one of Britain's biggest-ever cash robberies hid on the Costa del Sol as did Kenneth Noye, who helped melt down millions of pounds of stolen gold from the Brinks Mat robbery and was jailed years later for stabbing to death a fellow motorist in a road-rage attack near London.

Water tax in Spain

Spanish Government announces new plan to tax excessive use of water

The Spanish government yesterday announced its most recent proposal to limit the use of water in Spain and protect the dwindling water reserves which after one of the driest spells in Spanish history are at an all-time low.

The Environmental Minister, Cristina Narbona, told the Spanish media that the government is looking for ways to encourage "responsible use" of water and is considering the possibility of setting a new limit to domestic consumption. The proposed limit is a daily limit per person of up to 60 litres. According to the new plans, all water consumed in excess of this limit would be charged at a higher rate than the usual price of water.

Reaction to the Minister's declarations yesterday in Spain has been mixed. While most people here are perfectly aware of the serious problem of water shortages and the need to rationalise the use of water, many question the fact that the first measures taken by central government are aimed at domestic use, rather than tackling the hundreds of kilometres of rusty, leaky water pipes all over Spain or the continuous growth of new golf courses needing constant watering in some of the driest regions of Spain.

Spain's Mediterranean diet is increasingly a myth

From Expatica

MADRID — Spain's famous healthy Mediterranean diet may be little more than a myth, say experts.

Instead of a diet of fish, fresh vegetables, fruit and olive oil, Spaniards are increasingly eating pre-cooked food, meat derivatives and fruit substitutes.

Social changes, imported habits and fashions, as well as dietary advice are said to be to blame, say officials at the agriculture ministry.

It means they are eating too many proteins, carbohydrates and not enough cereals and vegetables.

Jesus Roman Martinez, a professor of nutrition, said: "We want quick food because we have no time."

Breakfast, considered by dieticians as crucial, is increasingly ignored.

Parents have quick lunches as do their children at school.

Four out of ten Spaniards said they ate no greens every day, 30 percent no fruit, 66 percent ate less than four daily portions of carbohydrates and 59 percent ate snacks while watching the television.

Jerez Airport to Increase Flights from Spring 2007

Jerez de la Frontera's international airport (La Parra) is planning to expand its flight programme from March next year. The airport is making the most of the current battle between Spain's airlines as well as the growing interest shown by foreign tour operators in the Costa de la Luz. New destinations include Manchester in the UK, and Scandinavian cities and there will also be more flights direct from Jerez to Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao. The new direct link between Jerez and Manchester is due to the expansion of Monarch Airlines into the province of Cadiz. The firm is already selling tickets for the service which will start to operate on March 25th. There will be four flights a week.

Meanwhile the volume of domestic flights from Jerez is also expected to increase significantly over the next year. After operating a link to Madrid from the terminal for the last year and a half, the company Spanair plans to start running two return flights a day between Jerez and Barcelona from May 2007 and Spanair has also announced a daily flight from Jerez to Bilbao. Furthermore both Iberia and Spanair face new competition on the Jerez-Madrid route with the introduction of the company Vueling, which has announced that its flights between La Parra and the capital will start next year. Currently an average of 1,200 passengers fly between Jerez and Madrid every day.

Useful vocabulary when buying property in Spain

If you are considering buying an apartment, townhouse, villa or other type of property in Spain, the following words and phrases can be useful to learn in advance:


Apartment, condominium or flat - apartmento, piso. Of interest, further north, piso means a floor of a building.
Holiday - vacacion
Holidays - vacaciones
Floor of a building - planta
Floor of an apartment, house or villa - suelo
Marble - marmol
House - casa
Two floors - duplex
Size - Tamano
Bedroom - in an apartment, dormitorio, in a hotel, habitacion
Bathroom - cuarto de bano
Shower - ducha
Kitchen - cocina
Penthouse - atico
Top floor - invariably referred to as atico, or penthouse. Does not mean that there is even a terrace. If an agent uses the expression "atico", ask if they merely mean "top floor" or does the apartment have a huge terrace.
Elevator or lift - ascensor
Swimming pool - piscina
Garden - jardin
Building - Edificio
Porter or concierge - Portero
Furniture - Muebles
Furnished - Amueblado
Community - la comunidad
City hall taxes - IBI
Rubbish taxes - basura
Electricity - corriente or la luz
Built area, of property - construido. Floor area is measured in square meters
Sq.M. - metros cuadrados or metro cuadrao
Legal document of ownership - escritura
Legal guy that checks legality - Notario

Are Mortgages a Risky Business?

by: Jenny Barclay

A bank or mortgage company is nothing more than a box in which to keep money. The owner of the box has to do a few calculations. Firstly, how much is he going to offer those people who deposit cash in his box, in return for such a deposit? Secondly, how much of that money should he keep as cash in case the owners of that cash want it back? Maybe 5%, maybe 10%, what are the regulations in his jurisdiction? Thirdly, how much is he going to charge those people who wish to borrow the money of others, previously deposited in his box?

The person who owns the box then sets out to find lots of other people to put their spare cash in the box, in return for which he promises to give them their money back plus interest. In the eyes of some economists, these people are lenders and not investors. This terminology is based on the fact that the capital investment of lenders does not change, whereas the capital value of investors, in stocks or property for example, can go up or down. The owner of the box then has to find other people who do not have spare cash, but in fact wish to borrow it.

Fixed or variable?

Both the lenders and the borrowers can sometimes be bewildered by the variety of terms offered by such institutions. The easiest terms to understand are those that are based on a current rate that will vary according to the market for interest rates, which alters daily, although the companies will try to even out such daily fluctuations with only periodic changes in the rate. Fixed rates, for a given period, are more difficult for the average lender or borrower to understand, a fact that has given rise in the past to greedy companies being able to reap huge benefits from such lack of knowledge. The reason for an institution wanting to attract deposits at a fixed rate could be based on the fact that their advisors calculate that interest rates are going to rise. Should they find it possible to attract deposits at e.g. 3% over 3 years, and then find that current rates are 5%, they will be somewhat pleased. In the case of a borrower finding that they are in this situation they should be congratulated for being better at guessing than the companys advisors. On the other hand, a borrower tied in to a contract at say 10% for several years who then finds that rates have dropped to 5%, will not exactly be celebrating. In my short experience since I started at university fourteen years ago, I have seen deposit rates vary from 14.5% down to 1.5%.

Is a bank safe?

There is also a common belief among lenders that their capital is safe. In the absence of a government or similar state authority providing such a guarantee, this can be far from the case. At university one of the cases we studied, was that of a particular savings bank. A rumour went around the city that the bank was in trouble. A great number of people went to the bank to withdraw their savings. Those that represented the first few % of the total deposit had no problem. When the percentage rose to 6%, which in this case was the amount decided by the owner of the box, the rumour became fact in that there was no cash to pay out to depositors. As this was in a country in which the owners of all the boxes were members of a club, the aim of which was to protect the undeserved, but perceived, reputation of said members, the members sent round security vans with sufficient cash to pay out all those who people who had taken notice of an unfounded rumour. Things quietened down after a while, and the government decided to introduce legislation to create a minimum liquidity level.

Another case we studied was that of one of the worlds largest banks, the board of which was mainly composed of greedy souls. They had decided that the stock market was a good place to keep the liquidity margin, so that in the event of a bear market, they could create more profit for the shareholders. A sudden bear market wiped out the liquidity margin, and the bank came within a hairs breadth of going belly up.

Once the bank has reached a substantial size, the liquidity should be sufficiently large to cater for all such panic withdrawals, unless of course the panic is as great as 1929.

For the borrower it provides a necessary service, and apart from penal conditions imposed on borrowers, is a vital service to our society. From the investors point of view, it depends firstly on the mentality of the treasury function within the bank, and secondly the legislation that governs their actions and accountancy practices. From the investors point of view, considering investing in the stock of such an organisation, it depends entirely on an analysis of the banks net worth and profitability. Both the examples mentioned above have since gone from strength to strength, and have since been bought for more billions that most of us can count.

© Jenny Barclay

About The Author

Jenny Barclay majored in math. and economics, and obtained a masters in viability of banking institutions. She is currently studying Spanish in Andalucia, Spain. This article may be reproduced on websites subject to credit being given to the author, and a link to her website.

http://www.regent-estates-group.com/s/apartments-for-sale-fuengirola/index.cfm

Málaga village holds general strike against real estate development

From Typically Spanish

The village of Cuevas del Becerro, in the Serrania de Ronda, held a General Strike yesterday, in protest at plans to build two hotels and new housing in the village.

The locals feel that their village life is under threat, and so all businesses and shops closed for the day and a march was held.

The locals say they are particularly concerned about the water supply and they are calling on the Junta de Andalucia to stop the plans to build 800 homes, two golf courses and two luxury hotels in the Merinos Norte project.

Local IU mayor, Isabel Teresa Rosado, was among the protestors and described the day as 'a landmark in the history of democracy'.

Rain in Spain doesn't end drought

From www.iol.co.za

Madrid - Even after 10 days of rainstorms across the country, four regions of Spain are still suffering a severe drought, the government said on Friday, after ministers approved an emergency transfer of water to some of them.

Reservoirs at the head of the Tagus river, which are themselves low, will send 12 cubic hectometres of water to the Segura basin in the southeast, which is even worse off, to provide drinking water for towns there.

A cubic hectometre - a cube with 100 metre sides - is roughly the size of a football stadium.

Two years of drought, the first of them the worst ever recorded, have left many of Spain's autonomous regions short of water and bickering about any transfers the central government tries to impose.

Farming regions in central Spain, like Castilla-La Mancha, are increasingly unwilling to send water to the southeast coast to cover the needs of new homes, golf courses or fruit farmers.

The Castilla-La Mancha government this week won agreement from the two main political parties to stop transfers from the Tagus to the Segura river for good in 2015.

The government said it had invested more than €600-million euros since the drought began in emergency measures to avoid water restrictions to homes.

The Socialists threw out the previous government's plan to divert water from the Ebro river to the dry southeast and is instead building desalination plants all along the Mediterranean and investing heavily in improvements to farm irrigation systems.

"Despite the recent rain, the situation is still very different from one basin to another. While some areas are suffering from flooding, the drought is still concentrated in the Jucar and Segura basins," it said in a statement.

Those rivers run through the regions of Valencia and Murcia.

Climate change models show Spain is likely to get less rain overall in the future and that what does fall will be more unevenly distributed.

Spain and Morocco: Failure to protect the rights of migrants

Amnesty International today releases a report criticising Spain’s failure, one year on, to conclude investigations on the deaths of 13 migrants and hundreds wounded in Ceuta and Melilla in September/October 2005. (Available below)

The new report, based on victim’s testimonies and contacts with Spanish and Moroccan authorities, concludes that there has been no progress in terms of independent investigations, preventive measures and disciplinary action.

Amnesty International remains seriously concerned about allegations of excessive use of force by the Spanish civil guard, including use of firearms when confronting migrants and asylum seekers.

As recently as July 2006, three more people have been killed as they attempted to enter Spain from Morocco. The Spanish Minister of the Interior has failed to provide promised information on these as well as previous deaths.

In a letter, (see below) Amnesty International urged the EU to ensure that Spain conducts an independent investigation into the excessive use of force by law enforcement officials and that adequate human rights provisions are inserted in any EU-Morocco readmission agreement

Document Links:

• Report (summary only) - Spain and Morocco: failure to protect the rights of migrants - one year on
• Report (complete) - Spain and Morocco: failure to protect the rights of migrants one year on
• Report (Spanish) - España y Marruecos: Falta de protección de los derechos de las personas migrantes: Ceuta y Melilla un año después
• Letter
• Further information on the new.amnesty.org website

For further comment/background and interviews:
Amnesty International EU Office (Brussels)
Tel: +32-2-5021499
Fax: +32-2-5025686
Email: AmnestyIntl@aieu.be

Junta lifts restrictions on construction in Marbella old town

From the SUR in English

The measure brings an end to a 20 year ban and should revive the area

Some 85 buildings are to be protected

Marbella’s Urban Planning office has approved a modification to the 1986 PGOU (town development plan) which lifts the restrictions on construction in the old part of the town. The measure, due to be published in the official provincial bulletin next week, will allow the Town Hall caretaking committee to award planning permission to around a hundred local residents, and comes in answer to a request from the Association of Traders and Professionals in the old town centre.

The office, set up by the Junta de Andalucía for the drawing up of the new PGOU after the power over planning was taken from the Town Hall, has decided to modify an article in the current plan, which established that until a “special plan” had been drawn up for the old part of the town, no construction would be allowed except for work to preserve existing buildings or the demolition of declared ruins.

This ruling was passed 20 years ago, however the “special plan” it refers to was not commissioned until 2004 when Marisol Yagüe was Mayor. Nevertheless the architects abandoned the job when the Town Hall failed to pay them for their work.

Poor condition

Both local traders and the Cilniana association for the defence of local heritage had criticised,on a number of occasions, the fragile condition of the old part of the town and the need to intervene to preserve its life and to turn it back into a social centre.

The absence of new building work in two decades had caused the severe deterioration of a number of the buildings and the consequent reduction in habitability.Now the Town Hall caretaking committee will be able to grant planning permission for building work affecting a hundred houses or business premises.

The Urban Planning Office, managed by José María Ruiz Povedano, has justified the measure by saying that “it will help to solve the problem of buildings being in a bad state of repair and the consequent loss of habitability, resulting in an improvement in the quality of life of the local residents”.

Nevertheless the Junta has laid down strict conditions governing new building projects undertaken in the old part of the town. Licences will only be granted to projects which comply with the 1986 PGOU as far as the type and height of the construction are concerned. Furthermore the pattern of land division must not be altered.

Protected buildings

The ruling establishes preventative measures to protect some of the buildings: 13 have been listed as being subjected to “singular protection” which gives them a similar status to that of buildings classed by the Junta de Andalucía as an asset of cultural interest (Bien de Interés Cultural). A further 72 buildings have been listed in the “general protection” category.

Restrictions have also been established governing the use of business premises in the area. Within the walled zone premises cannot be used for recreational purposes although a commercial and hotel and catering use is permitted and the occupation of pavements is limited.

Strict measures have also been introduced to protect any archaeological heritage and a survey must be carried out before any construction work takes place. Special protection

Buildings listed in the resolution approved by the Urban Planning Office.

Castle: Declared as a monument.

Hospital Bazán: Declared as a monument. C/ Hospital Bazán, 5.

Encarnación church: Plaza de la Caridad, 1.

Santo Cristo church: Plaza Santo Cristo, 80.

Capilla de la Caridad: Chapel. Calle Caridad, 7.

Town Hall: Plaza de los Naranjos, 1.

Ermita de Santiago: Shrine. Plaza de los Naranjos, 8.

Trinidad Convent: Calle Viento, 1.

Antigua Casa del Regidor Cosme Fernández Altamirano: Calle Altamirano, 1.

Antigua Casa del Corregidor: Plaza de los Naranjos, 6.

Casa Correa: Calle Ancha, 18.

Antigua Fonda: Old tavern. Calle Santo Cristo, 8 & 10.

Fountain: Plaza de los Naranjos.

Heavy rainfall claims another life in Andalucía

From Typically Spanish

The heavy rainfall which hit Marbella on Wednesday has claimed the life of a local resident. She died at her home in Los Naranjos Urbanisation, in Nueva Andalucía, when she was crushed beneath a wall which was knocked down by the force of one metre of water of the other side.

It happened at 3am, when she and three members of her family were trying to sweep the water away from their patio.
Reports say that she was 43 years old and was from Russia.

She was the second victim of flash flooding in Andalucía this week: a Swiss woman was found dead on Monday after her car was swept away by a raging torrent in Huelva. One occupant of the car remains missing.

New Ryanair routes from East Midlands

from Travelbite.co.uk

Ten new routes from East Midlands airport have been announced for February 2007 by low-cost airline Ryanair.

The airport, located close to Nottingham, will be serving three new Italian routes to Alghero in Sardinia, Pisa in Tuscany and Italy's fashion capital Milan.

There are also three new routes to Spain from the airport - Granada in Andalucia, Santiago in Galicia and Valencia on Spain's east coast.

Further east, flights from East Midlands will be landing at the Slovakian capital Bratislava and the Polish capital Krakow from next year.

Closer to home the low-cost airline will be flying to Inverness in northern Scotland and Knock in County Mayo in Ireland from East Midlands.

All prices start from £1.99 each way, not including taxes and any additional charges. All the new routes start between February 12th and 27th 2007.

The routes represent a five-fold increase of Ryanair flights from East Midlands airport.