News
Supermarket search
Police have been given court permission to search in the basement of a supermarket for the remains of a woman who disappeared in December 2010 . She and her former partner both worked in a Mercadona store in the Madrid town of Boadilla del Monte . She vanished after a staff Christmas party and he was found hanged two days later .
Jaen attack
A 21-year-old arrested in Jaén is suspected of leading a sex attack on a 16-year-old girl by a group of five youths . A judge in the town took statements from the victim and her mother last month . The incident , allegedly led by a previous offender , is reported to have taken place in a doorway in the town .
Cheaper mortgages
Repayments on the average mortgage have fallen by € 4.50 a month as the Euribor ended February at -0.191%. Analysts think the rate upon which most Spanish mortgages are based will remain below zero throughout 2018 . However , they also warn that Eurozone interest rates could rise to 3 % in the next five years forcing average monthly payments up by € 250 .
Pension plan
A 63-year-old Tarragona man , detained for growing marihuana , says he sold cannabis to top up his pension . Police confiscated 290 plants after investigating reports about unusually high power consumption from the electricity board . Growing such plants is not considered an offence but selling them for profit or exchanging them for goods is considered to be dealing .
Bread laws
The government is drafting a new law to regulate the labelling of wholemeal bread . The present 1984 legislation does not specify how much wholegrain should be in such bread , resulting in some loaves being made with a high percentage of white flour . The revised law will require bread labelled as “ 100 % wholemeal bread ” or as “ wholemeal bread ” to be made exclusively with wholemeal flour .
Terrorism tribute
Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido has paid tribute to the 193 victims of Spain ’ s worst terrorist attack . On March 11 , 2004 , two bombs went off on packed trains during the morning commuter rush at Madrid ’ s Atocha station . Planting an olive tree in the Ministry garden last month , Sr Zoido said , “ The government will always honour the victims . We will always be at your side .”
“ Support in Spain ” launches
A new website has been launched for older Britons in southern Spain . “ Support in Spain ” is aimed at British residents over 50 to help them find useful information with the aim of avoiding “ social exclusion or vulnerability while living on the Costa del Sol .”
The new information base was unveiled at the Hospital Comarcal in Vélez-Málaga last month during a visit by the British Consul for Andalucía , Charmaine Arbouin , who met local healthcare staff and volunteers working with British residents in the area . The Consul praised the support available to vulnerable British residents and emphasised the importance of all UK residents registering on their local town hall ’ s padrón to reduce the risk of vulnerability and social isolation in the future .
The new site , www . supportinspain . info , is focussed on the Costa del Sol with a series of answers to common questions . It includes an expanding list of local
Details of two separate cases of fraudulent pension claims in Málaga were revealed last month . In the first , a woman was accused of obtaining € 130,000 by deception over 18 years , while a second woman has been sentenced to 21 months in jail for claiming more than € 90,000 over 12 years .
The prosecutor in the first case alleges that the suspect claimed her father ’ s private pension from January 1997 until June 2016 , despite the fact that he had died in 1995 . The woman has repaid only € 217 while her bank has repaid € 27,000 for being jointly liable , leaving almost € 103,000 outstanding . The prosecutor has questioned the “ careless behaviour ” of the bank and has called for a prison sentence for the woman , plus a fine of € 4,320 , as well as indemnifying the Social Marine Institute to the sum of almost organisations in the public or voluntary sectors which can provide support to people who may be at risk of social exclusion or vulnerability , either now or in the future . A range of topics is covered including healthcare , financial and benefit planning , registering as resident , and finding additional help .
The project was coordinated between the University of Birmingham in the UK and the British Consulate in Málaga . The site is in English as well as Spanish and is designed for friends and relatives speaking either language to inform themselves better and to find useful information .
Fraudulent pension claims in Málaga
€ 103,000 . This , claims the prosecutor , is the primary responsibility the man ’ s daughter , and secondarily that of her bank .
The second case relates to the 50-yearold granddaughter of a man who died in November 2003 . However , his state pension continued to be paid into his account until April 2016 . The suspect allegedly withdrew the cash using his passbook until news of his death was discovered , by which time she had taken out € 90,500 . The bank has since refunded € 34,600 to the Social Security authority .
In the case heard by the Provincial Court in Málaga , the woman was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison , and is reported to have accepted that she will have to reimburse the bank and to pay the balance of € 55,200 to the authority .
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