Regional
News, week ending Friday 25th May 2001
FRAUDULENT
PRIEST SENTENCED
A Seville man, MTV has been sentenced to six years in jail in
Puerto Rico for passing himself off as a priest, and carrying
out at least 50 religious ceremonies fraudulently in Seville.
At the time of his deportation to Puerto Rico, he had charges
of falsifying a nomina, and carrying out a variety of bank frauds.
The 46 year old man was allowed close access to prishes and monasteries
due to his knowledge of religious art, in which he is considered
a world expert.
JAIL
FOR OLD FOLK DE-FRAUDERS
The Civil Guard officer and the director of a home in Villamanrique
de la Condesa in Seville have been charged with defrauding a group
of elderly people. The two face a total of nine years in prison,
with 11 years disqualification from work , for stealing 11 million
pesetas from the old people by telling that that the residence
was to be sold, and taking away their savings books.
ANIMAL
EXPERIMENTATION SANCTIONS AGAINST SPAIN
The Environment department of the European Commission has opened
sanctions against Spain because the Junta de andalucia has broken
the law over experimentation on animals, according to Asanda,
the andaluz association for the defence of animals. The Junta's
transgression came with regard to experimentation on animals for
scientific reasons according to Asanda. Proceedings began in October
1999 when Asanda denounced serious irregularities in experimentation
centres in universities and hopsitals in Andalucia before the
European Union.
JAIL
FOR MAN WHO FAKED PAPERS
A Seville court has sentenced a man to six months in prison for
falsifying documents to try and obtain a place for his son in
a religious school. The man had faked a work contract between
his wife and a business situated in the school catchment area,
to try and get the points required by the Education Department
to favour his child getting a place.
CAŅETE
ASKS FOR RELECTION ON IMMIRGANT SITUATION
The Agriculture minister Miguel Arias Caņete said yesterday that
"reflection" was called for about the "paradox"of demand for immigrant
workers such as in Almeria when there was also heavy unemployment
in the agricultural sector. His remarks came after the refusal
of Almerian mayors to grant land for the building of rental homes
for immigrant workers, and cited this as a possible reason for
the scarcity of future workers. He added that the Immigration
Law was quite clear, stating that acceptable homes must be provided
by anyone employing immigrants, and said that if Almeria wished
to benefit from these workers, the mayors would have to grant
the ground.
And
on the subject of the lack of a fishing agreement with Morocco,
Caņete announced yesterday that he would shortly be going to Algeria
to try and get agreement that some of those affected by fishing
problem could fish in its waters. Speaking at an agricultural
fair in Ronda yesterday, he explained that the waters round Algeria
and Tunisia were sufficiently mature for Spanish trawlers to exploit.
HOSPITAL
ORDERLY SUICIDE AFTER ATTEMPTING TO KILL WIFE
A hospital orderly in Jerez died yesterday after swallowing nearly
a litre of sulphonamide. Prior to the incident he had been trying
to kill his ex -wife with a screwdriver in the entrance of the
hospital where the both worked. The died man was 50 year old Juan
C. His wife was treated for her injuries and is now considered
to be out of danger.
MOROCCAN
DEATH INVESTIGATION
Police are investigating the death of a young Moroccan found in
a rubbish container in an industrial estate in Seville on Sunday.
A council cleaner made the grim discovery, finding the man still
bleeding from a wound in his side. The dead man is thought to
have been between 25 and 30 years old, appeared to have no papers
and had previous convictions for drug trafficking. First theories
are that the murder was a possible settling of scores.
PRISON
FOR SWIMMING POOL DEATH HUSBAND
The court in Granada has ordered ABR, the 78 year old man accused
of murdering his wife in Huetor Vega last week, into prison. The
move came despite a medical examination revealing that the man
suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The manīs 72 year old wife,
Carmen Ortega was found dead in the swimming pool at their home,
alongside the body of the family dog. A clinical report said that
the manīs mental faculties had deteriorated to such a point that
he was no longer master of his actions, and recommended against
his being put into prison.
ARRESTED
FOR KIDNAPPING SWEDISH STUDENT
Two men have been arrested in Seville in connection with the kidnap
of a 20 year old Swedish student. 42 year old taxi driver Daniel
HT and 24 year old Israeli Mohamed WM were charged with illegal
detention, robbery with violence, intimidation and assault. The
Israeli has already been arrested 34 times, and is known to use
at least 19 different identities. The kidnapping happened last
March when the student was picked up from the airport by Daniel
HT, and taken to the Murillo district of Seville. The student
was then made to get out of the car, and taken to a flat where
he was tied up, beaten and threatened with a knife. A 31 year
old woman known as Maleni also took part in the attack.
COUPLE
FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING BABY
A drug addict couple from La Linea have been found guilty of murdering
their five month old baby. Manuel Hidalgo Cerezo has been sentenced
to 20 years and five months for battering the infant to death,
while the childīs mother, Josefa Mudarra Serrano has been sentenced
to eight years for not preventing the attack, and participating
in it. The Audiencia of Cadiz heard how domestic violence was
commonplace in the home.
BAZA
HOSPITAL DENOUNCED
A woman has denounced the Baza hospital in Granada for the death
of her teenage daughter. Isabel Navarro says that the hospital
misdiagnosed her daughter's condition, saying that she had anorexia,
when in fact she was suffering from a brain tumour. The situation
developed in April last year when Raquel Migues, aged 15 began
to develop intense headaches, affecting her vision. Her mother
claims the hospital told her the girl was suffering from anorexia
and should be taken to a centre for mental health. In the follwoing
three months, the girl was taken to casualty five times suffering
from violent headaches and vomiting, but was never given any tests.
It wasnīt until the family moved to Lanzarote in June that the
correct diagnosis was made, by which time it was too late, and
the girl died in July.
BISHOPS
DEFEND ECUATION CHOICE
The collective of southern bishops yesterday accused the Junta
de Andalucia of attempting to reduce private education and to
cut down the freedom of parents to choose the education they want
for their children. The bishops criticised the loss of 146 secondary
education schools lost between 1997 and 2000, and the refusal
of the Junta to cover 100% of demand for nursery education in
the region.
JUNTA
DRAWS UP FISHING PLAN
The Junta de Andalucia has given its approval to the Plan drawn
up for the future of fishing in the region. Its intention is to
bring economic diversification to areas which have lost out since
the failure of Spain and Morocco to reach agreement over fishing.
A budget of over 50 thousand million pesetas will be earmarked
for the task, 75% of it coming from the EU. The money will finance
new businesses, experimental fishing and aquaculture, the modification
of certain boats to fish in new waters, and the scrapping of boats
unable to be modified.
Meanwhile
the European Fishing commissioner Franz Fischler has said he will
look at a demand by Spain to modify the norms of the Fishery Finance
body, the IFOP, to try and find a way forward for the part of
the andaluz fleet which has been unable to fish since talks between
Spain and Morocco broke down last month. A spokesman said yesterday
however that the executive had not yet given its reply to spain
over the restructuring proposals it presented before the EU last
week.
SOCIAL
WELFARE BUDGET ANNOUNCED
The budget for social welfare has been announced for Andalucia
for 2001 to 2004. 885 thousand million pesetas have been earmarked
for the region in an agreement signed by the Andaluz government
and the trade unions CCOO and UGT. The money will go towards boosting
employment and developing stability in the work place, also to
encouraging small businesses, new entrepreneurs and helping groups
which are currently disadvantaged in the workplace, like young
people, women and those with handicaps. A proportion of the money
will also go towards helping small businesses with new technology
and helping various key sectors in the region like agriculture,
fishing, mining, energy production and tourism.
LA
GENERAL DEFENDED
The Confederation of Businesses in Granada agreed yesterday to
defend the independence of La General bank of Granada in any moves
to merge with another savings bank. In making their stand the
Granaino businessmen are rejecting a propsal by their equivalents
in Cordoba and Jaen to create a new bank to be called the Caja
del Interior de Andalucia, which would bring together Cajarsur,
the Caja Provincial de Jaen and La General. The Granadan position
has been fully supported across the political parties and trade
unions of the area. A spokesman said that there would be no benefit
to Granada in such a move because there was uncertainty over the
figures put forward by CajaSur, among other things.
COURT
HISTORY MADE IN SEVILLE
A court in Seville has sentenced a man who sexually abused his
14 year old daughter to 4 years imprisonment. The case has made
history because the victim, her mother and sisters gave evidence
by videoconference from Palma in Mallorca, where they live. The
court also imposed a 2 million peseta fine on his daughter, and
has forbidden him from going within a kilometer of the girl for
the next four years.
HUELVA
IS POLLUTED, SAY RESDIENTS
A study has shown that the inhabitants of Huelva capital think
that the environmental state of the city is very poor and they
blame the 14 industries which make up Polo quimico, situated in
the outskirts of the city. Huelvans say they are most concerned
about air and water pollution, more so than unemployment or citizenīs
safety. The exhaustive study was carried out by the Council for
Scientific Investigations of the Junta de andalucia. The study
revealed that the Polo Quimico businesses had scant credibility
among the Huelva populace. The outcome of the study has been that
the CCOO and UGT trade unions want to start a series of talks
with the businesses to oblige the administrations to supply better
environmental information to residents.
IMMIGRANT
DIES CROSSING STRAIT
A Moroccan man died in the early hours of yesterday on board a
pneumatic launch trying to cross the Strait. He was part of a
group of 55 people on board the 7 meter craft, and was found drowned
inside the vessel which had been taking in water. Guardia Civil
intercepted the boat six miles off the Punta Camarinal. The surviving
immigrants were brought ashore, where most had to be treated for
exhaustion, burns and other injuries. Two had to be taken to hospital
in Cadiz, while the rest were attended in the Health Centre in
Barbate. A further five paperless Moroccans were detained yesterday
on the Barbate coast, while a Moroccan with residency papers and
domiciled in Valencia was arrested for giving them a lift.
EUTHANASIA
PROPOSALS
The Andaluz parliament yesterday approved the presentation of
a proposal by the Junta de Andalucia to permit a so called passive
euthanasia law. This would permit terminal patients to make decisions
about their own lives and would also permit the placing of a clause
in wills reflecting a personīs wishes about what is happen in
the case of a terminal illness. The initiative has cross-party
support, apart from that of the PP-A.
ALMERIAN
HOSPITAL DENOUNCED
Meanwhile, the Andaluz parliament rejected a request for the creation
of a commission to the investigate the Hospital de Poniente in
Almeria. The PP had made the request based on 32 denuncias placed
by workers and patients about alleged irregularities. PP deputy
Esperanza Oņa said that the recent case where the hospital refused
to operate on an immigrant worker was the tip of the iceberg,
calling the hospital the least humane in Spain.
TWO
WOMEN ALLEGEDLY MURDERED BY PARTNERS
A guardia civil killed his wife with 5 shots from his regulation
pistol in Cordoba late on Wednesday night. The shooting happened
in front of the couples two children and after a heated argument.
The alleged murderer is 36 year old Juan Julio Gomez Jimenez,
who was in divorce proceedings with his 33 year old wife, Antonia
Sanchez Muņoz. And in Jaen yesterday a man was arrested in connection
with the death of his live-in partner 38 year old FMR. The womanīs
18 year old daughter found her dead with signs of strangulation
when she returned home at midday.
LATEST
TOURISM FIGURES FOR ANDALUCIA
The number of tourists staying in Andalucia has seen an increase
of 3.89% in the first quarter of this year compared with figures
last year. The increase is accounted for mainly by Spaniards.
During Semana santa, the influx of international tourists dropped
by 8%, while the number of tourists from elsewhere in Spain grew
by 16.2%. The Tourism Department has predicted that the months
of may, June and July will see an average occupancy of 64.6% across
the region.
MORE
PROTECTION DEMANDED FOR NATURAL SPACES
The Network of Protected Natural Spaces in Andalucia has presented
its strategy to the Environment Department to manage at least
half of the natural areas as an "integrated entity." Director
general of the organisation, Hermelindo Castro said one of the
objectives of the plan is the break down the isolation of over
one hundred protected spaces, amounting to some 18% of Andalucia,
through connecting green corridors.
ECOLOGISTS
WANT REPORT ON PESTICIDE LINKS WITH ILLNESS
Meanwhile,
Ecologists in Action have demanded access to a report commissioned
by the socialist party of Andalucia from the Health Department,
which apparently explains the link between illnesses like leukaemia,
male and female infertility and miscarriages with the use of pesticides
used in intensive agriculture. The group said that the use of
such chemicals is having serious consequences on the human population
who cannot get anything done about it due to loopholes in the
existing law.
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