News
Statue demand
Ransom for brother demanded
A women ’ s group in Asturias want a statue of Woody Allen in Oviedo to be removed . They say the film director does not deserve the tribute following allegations of sex abuse by his adopted daughter . The statue was erected in 2003 to mark Allen ’ s visit to the city to receive an honour for his contribution to Arts in the Prince of Asturias Awards .
Galileo moves
The headquarters of the Galileo satellite access system will move from London to Madrid post-Brexit . It is the third European agency confirmed to be quitting the UK ; the European Banking Authority goes to Amsterdam in early 2019 and the European Medicines Agency will re-locate to Paris . Galileo gives more accurate results than other sat-nav systems and presently has 18 satellites relaying data .
Winning ticket
The town council in Santander is searching for the person who has lost a prize-winning El Gordo lottery ticket . The lucky number is worth € 125,000 to the holder who must , by law , give 10 % to the person who found it in the street and handed it in to the police . If unclaimed after two years , however , the finder will keep it all .
Free-range only
Lidl has become the first supermarket chain in Spain to sell only free-range eggs . The country ’ s grocery sector has agreed that battery produced eggs will no longer be sold by 2025 , but the German retailer has implemented the move early . Eggs produced by battery hens are marked “ Category 3 ” and will appear no more on its shelves .
Madrid flagship
The Riu Hotels chain will open Madrid ’ s iconic Plaza de España building as a fourstar establishment in summer 2019 . Work began in October on what the company says will be their first branch in the capital and their flagship in Spain . The 26-floor building will have 589 suites , 15 meeting rooms , a “ sky bar ” on floor 25 with a swimming pool on the top floor .
Details emerged last month of the dramatic kidnapping of the brother of a Málaga man in northern Spain in December . The victim ’ s sibling received demands for € 500,000 ransom to be paid or , he was told , the hostage would be killed .
First contact with the kidnappers , described by police as a , “ dangerous French criminal organization ,” came shortly after the victim left his home in the Basque region town of Errenteria in the evening of December 9 . Four armed men approached and attacked him before bundling him into a vehicle .
The man ’ s brother in Málaga was contacted by the kidnappers who demanded half a million Euros in return for not killing their hostage . Numerous phone calls between them are reported to have followed during which the gang were offered property in place of cash , but negotiations failed . The last phone call ended with the kidnappers saying , “ Forget it – let ’ s kill him .”
It was later established that the victim had been taken to Alicante before the kidnappers set off with him for France two days later . However , investigators
A road accident on the A-92 in Granada last month raised initial fears of terrorism but was finally attributed to the actions of two rival gangs of drugs traffickers . Witnesses on the road 40 kilometres west of the capital alerted police to a dangerous chase between a car and a van , which ended with the van colliding with a crash barrier and being abandoned .
First reports suggested the van driver who fled the scene was of Arabic appearance leading to fears of a terror connection , but when police traced him , it was established he was a young Italian national . Investigators also discovered that the van was carrying a full load of drums containing a flammable liquid had traced the gang and followed them as they headed north in two French registered cars , one of which was a look-out followed by the other which held their captive .
The second car was stopped at a service station in Tarragona where the hostage was released and two of the gang detained . The victim showed obvious injuries from the beating he received when he was abducted and was taken immediately to a health centre . The look-out was stopped three kilometres from the French border in Girona and the other two were also detained .
News of the kidnapping was withheld until last month when police arrested a 47-year-old Algerian national alleged to have given the gang shelter at his home in Alicante . All five men involved are now finally in custody awaiting trial . However , it is also known that the victim was kidnapped by the same criminal organisation in February 2012 at which time his family was also asked to pay a ransom . Investigators believe the Málaga man and his brother have been the victims of mistaken identity as the gang were thought to be attempting to recover a debt from another member of their family who , they say , is missing .
Terrorism ruled out in A-92 incident
which is commonly used to adulterate cocaine and other drugs .
Police now believe that those in the car which was harassing the van driver were from a rival gang of traffickers who wanted to steal his cargo . They disappeared quickly after the van was forced to a halt but their vehicle was later found , although it is understood that no arrests have yet been made . The incident triggered a large deployment of security forces , including explosives experts , close to the town of Huétor Tájar . The van , which had been rented outside the province of Granada , was later taken away by police and its load was confiscated .
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