The Collar tightens

By on October 30, 2008

Environmentalists slam plans to develop ‘Special Protection’ zone above the A7 motorway THE Collar of Concrete strangling inland Andalucia is pulling tighter. The once-sacrosanct area inland from the A7 motorway is under threat of mass development.

From Jete to El Bulli

By on October 23, 2008

It is classed as one of the best wines in Spain and is served in some of the nation’s top restaurants. MARK ROULSTON heads to the modest village of Jete to revisit the even more modest bodega of Calvente

Law threatens Albariño wine

By on October 23, 2008

Draft law proposed by the region’s health authority could effectively outlaw wine production.

God in urban row

By on October 23, 2008

Family claims mayor ‘stole land to build illegal’ chapel A VICIOUS row has broken out over the “illegal” construction of a mountain chapel in La Alpujarra.

Promoter offers 2 for 1 home deal

By on October 23, 2008

A DESPERATE housing developer is offering a two-for-one offer on its homes. Salsa Inmobiliaria is giving away a one-bedroom apartment on a golf complex to those who buy one of its townhouses in the city of Málaga.

The great emasculator

By on October 23, 2008

Spanish men lose their mojo as pollution plays havoc with the male gender

Guilty

By on October 23, 2008

A British woman accused of allowing 16 horses to starve to death in Cadiz has been found guilty of cruelty in the UK

“The dead are so many here”

By on October 20, 2008

MARK ROULSTON travels to Órgiva to hear the history of what could be Spain’s biggest mass grave

Developers move in on Civil War mass grave

By on October 20, 2008

Building work begins on top of communal tomb of Franco’s victims DESCENDENTS of those killed by supporters of the military uprising that led to civil war in Spain have reacted angrily to plans to build a housing development on top of a mass grave.

Here lies Lorca?

By on October 20, 2008

Farmer claims mass grave skeletons were dug up and thrown away in the 1950s DOUBTS have been cast on the whereabouts of the remains of murdered poet Federico Garcia Lorca. In an interview with newspaper El Pais, a retired agricultural labourer said that a colleague found and disposed of human remains while working in Granada […]

Let the people decide!

By on October 20, 2008

Landmark ruling puts controversial urban plans to the vote IN the first referendum of its kind in Spain, the residents of Almuñecar are to be asked to vote for or against urban growth in the town.

Return of the cat

By on October 20, 2008

Twelve generous landowners in Andalucía have signed away swathes of their property to make way for two new reserves for the World’s most endangered feline.

Michelin-starred chef arrested

By on October 20, 2008

A leading female chef has been accused of selling toxic shellfish A FEMALE chef has been accused of selling shellfish from dangerously contaminated rivers. Toñi Vicente, owner of the same name Galician restaurant has been detained along with nine others for allegedly selling scallops illegally harvested from Ferrol’s busy port estuary.

WWF begs end to motorway madness

By on October 20, 2008

ENVIRONMENTALISTS have demanded the end to a motorway project that will destroy the habitat of some of the World’s rarest animals.

Lights, camera… fallout

By on October 20, 2008

Hollywood bases melodrama around Almeria nuclear accident A COLD War nuclear incident that almost resulted in Andalucía being wiped off the face of the Earth is to be the subject of a Hollywood film.

‘Lack of humanity’

By on October 20, 2008

Three elderly sisters with a combined age of 283 have been denied home help by the regional government.

Flushed away

By on October 20, 2008

Government has two months to give answers on schemes, including Los Merinos and others in Ardales and Colmenar THE European Commission has launched an investigation into why hundreds of housing projects without a guaranteed water supply are already underway in Spain.

A secret Swiss bank account, the near concreting of a famous white town and a soap that’s anything but clean

By on October 20, 2008

The perverse twists and turns of politics inside the celebrated white town of Gaucín have led to the description as ‘El Culebron de Gaucín’, or The Gaucin Soap Opera.

Britons in Costa gang war

By on October 20, 2008

Third shooting in a month due to an unpaid drugs debt as British criminals muscle back into Spanish drugs trade POLICE believe that a British man shot in Marbella last week may have been involved in the shooting at Nikki Beach last month.

Boy savaged by two Rottweilers

By on October 17, 2008

A FIVE year old boy is in intensive care after being mauled by his family’s Rottweilers. Sacha Simonnet, nearly died after the two dogs missed his jugular vein by millimetres.

Feline frenzy comes to an end

By on October 17, 2008

Satanic Siamese – called Tyson – seized after attacking a tourist A CAT who frequently attacked local dogs has met his match with a fierce French pensioner.

Land Bagged

By on October 17, 2008

Junta to protect Medina Azahara and other important sites by buying up the area around it

Wrong type of rain

By on October 17, 2008

Reservoir levels have actually dropped, as recent downpours have been too few and heavy WHILE the recent rainfall has been well received across the region for gardeners and farmers, environment bosses are not so sure.

Shhhh! Dining Secrets

By on October 17, 2008

Launching Andalucia’s first and most discerning restaurant guide, The Olive Press presents first serialisation of editor Jon Clarke’s new book Dining Secrets of Andalucia

Police foil Glitter’s Spanish return plot

By on October 16, 2008

A PLAN that shamed singer Gary Glitter had hatched to return to Spain has been foiled. The convicted paedophile, who was deported to the UK from Vietnam this summer, had aimed to spend time on the Costa del Sol, before returning to the Far East on a yacht.