News
Bale out?
Ryanair dismisses
court order
Ryanair has vowed to stand firm after a
Spanish court last month called its
policy of charging a fee for hand
luggage “abusive.” The ruling said it
contravenes both Spanish and
European law.
Gareth Bale has been criticised in Spanish
media after celebrating Wales’ Euro 2020
qualification by displaying a flag with the
words, “Wales Golf Madrid in that order.”
Sports paper Marca’s headline next day
read, “Disrespectful Misguided Ungrateful
in that order.” Madrid fans have the called
on Real manager Zinedine Zidane to axe
Bale from the team.
Suicide prevented
A man who attempted suicide in a remote
area of Almayate last month was rescued by
two National Police officers who broke into
his car. They discovered a hosepipe
pumping exhaust fumes into the vehicle
but managed to pull him out unconscious
and resuscitate him before an ambulance
arrived to take him to Vélez-Málaga
hospital. One of the officers also suffered
from inhaling the toxic fumes.
Soccer strike
A dispute over pay has led to the
cancellation of a number of top women’s
football fixtures. Almost 200 players from
16 clubs voted to strike in October after
more than a year of failed negotiations.
They are demanding a professional
agreement that regulates minimum
working conditions, rights to minimum
wages and measures for maternity.
Sales down
The registration of new cars and SUVs in
Spain in the first ten months of the year fell
by 6.3 per cent compared with the same
period last year. According to the Association
of European Car Builders, sales across
Europe shrank by 0.7 per cent between
January and October, but Spain’s was the
largest national decrease. The fall was 2.9 per
cent in the UK, whereas Germany recorded
an increase of 3.4 per cent.
First snow
The first snow of the winter fell in the
province of Málaga in mid-November. Peaks
of more than 1,000 metres in the Sierra
Tejeda received their first dustings of the
season as two cold fronts lowered
temperatures across the area. Although the
snowfall was light, strong winds created
blizzard conditions.
conditions. However, the court rejected
a claim for compensation as it did not
deem the case to have caused sufficient
stress to the complainant.
A Commercial Court in Madrid said
the policy, “curtailed the rights that the
passenger has recognised by law,” and
declared the policy to be invalid in
Spain. The case was brought after a
passenger complained after being
forced to pay €20 to bring a 10 kilo bag
into the cabin on a flight from Madrid
to Brussels. Ryanair operates a policy allowing one
small bag per passenger into the cabin
without charge, but only if it can be
stowed under the seat in front. The size
limit for such bags is 40 by 20 by 25
cemtimetres. Larger bags of up to 10
kilo are usually allowed into the cabin
if the passenger pays an extra advance
fee for “priority” boarding, which can
cost up to €14 per journey. Without
priority boarding, this can rise to €20.
In its ruling, the court ruled that the
woman should be refunded with
interest, with the judge remarking that
the bag could easily have fitted in the
cabin. It ruled the policy to be null and
void, stating it should no longer be
charged in Spain, and ordered Ryanair
to “remove it” from its terms and The airline issued a statement
confirming that it does not intend to
change its policy following the ruling.
It described the incident as, “an isolated
case” which “misquoted the European
Court of Justice,” as well as denying the
airlines’ commercial freedom to
determine the size of cabin baggage.
Guilty verdict in Los
Romanes murder
The man charged with the murder of a
woman in La Viñuela has been found
guilty. A jury in a Málaga court last
month rejected his defence arguments
and decided that 47-year-old José
Manuel Olea Ternero had stabbed 44-
year-old María Adela Fortes Molina 105
times at her home in the village of Los
Romanes during February 2018.
The victim was widowed and lived
alone when she met Olea on-line four
months before she died. A witness told
the court that she had become “afraid”
of her new partner, and appeared
“scared and worried.”
Her son, who lives in Torre del Mar,
discovered his mother’s body and told
police that he had seen the suspect
driving away as he arrived at her
house. Investigators discovered a trail
of blood leading from the front door to
where Olea’s car had been parked.
The suspect was detained in Marbella
the day after Adela’s body was found
14
and claimed he could not remember
anything as he had been drunk, but
tested zero for alcohol. Officers who
detained him said he smelled of “blood
and sweat,” with blood stains on his
clothes and face, in his car and over his
mobile phone.
Olea previously had seven complaints
of abuse lodged against him by two
former partners, for which he was
arrested six times. He had also been
banned from carrying weapons and a
restraining order was in force at the
time of the murder. The prosecutor has
asked for Olea to be jailed for 25 years.
Woman abused
A 58-year-old Spanish man has been
arrested in Málaga after allegedly
sexually abusing a woman in the city.
The victim was found semi-conscious
under a traffic flyover by her husband
and a friend as the attacker fled. Police
said the woman had been seen earlier
in a drunken state in the company of
the man later detained.