Welcome to another week of news in Spain – and it seems the country has calmed down a little with the advent of September.
But never that quiet. This week we have brought you the exclusive news that the ‘bloodied body’ discovered on an Almeria beach last week belonged to a 23-year-old Spaniard named Mario Belmonte.
The tragic story has fast taken a very dark tinge as we can tell you that police are looking to speak with four men seen getting out of a car, while the nearby yet remote hippy haven of San Pedro Beach is coming under the spotlight. It’s home to a squatter community that seems to escape the law thanks to its isolated location.
The tragic news doesn’t stop there – a British tourist drowned after going for an 8pm swim with two friends in choppy seas on Benidorm beach. There is a heartbreaking pic of the two survivors sitting on the sand staring into the dark surf.
In some good news, our squatter nightmare exclusive last month regarding the Alicante community that was being terrorised by organised gangs that were threatening to kill their pets has had a happy outcome.
The community president told us the gang had vanished and left them in peace – thanks in large part to the media coverage. On the downside, he believes they’ve found an easier home to squat in in another urbanisation nearby.
The big travel news of the week has been Ryanair’s war on Spain’s tourism industry. A row over airport charges has seen them flex their muscles and pull over one million seats from flights to Spain.
We’ll see whether the move manages to squeeze Spain’s champion sector – tourism is expected to be worth 16% of GDP by the end of the year.
And it’s little wonder, when this Malaga town joins Baena (Cordoba) and Aracena (Huelva) in Spain’s brand-new Red de Pueblos Gastronomicos – where ‘bread is legend and soups heal the soul‘, as our news editor Dilip waxed lyrical.
Our latest property news reveals that Spain’s housing market has seen its largest ever 12-month jump, with an average home in Madrid going up from €464,000 to €572,300 in just one year.
Costa del Sol residents should keep an eye out for these new speed cameras, which are already in effect and snapping speeding drivers. And everyone should be aware of new radars in Spain that target tailgating drivers who flout minimum distance laws.
A young Portuguese bullfighter died in a horror goring in a Lisbon arena – not strictly Spanish news, but the tragedy served to illustrate the interesting differences between Spanish and Portuguese bullfighting. One is much more humane than the other.
