Author: Bob James

Coalition
A TRIO of right wing parties have come to an agreement to end 36 years of socialist rule in Andalucia. Juan Manuel Moreno is set be the new leader of the Junta de Andalucia.
The PP leader in the region has got support of both Ciudadanos and Vox to lead parliament.
While the exact combination of the cabinet is still being negotiated, leader Moreno is expected to be sworn in this week.

Drug Bust
Spanish police were filmed ramming suspected drug runners after a high-speed speedboat chase.… Read all the news

Fake Priest
A man who pretended to be a priest for more than 18 years has been dismissed by the Catholic Church in Spain.
Miguel Angel Ibarra carried out weddings and baptisms, first in Colombia and then in southern Spain, despite having never been ordained.
Those ceremonies will still be recognised, the Church says, but not his communions or the confessions he heard.
He was found to be an impostor after a complaint was filed in Colombia.
Mr Ibarra moved to Spain last October, settling in the town of Medina-Sidonia in Cadiz Province.… Read all the news

Catalunia
Police dragged Catalan separatist protesters off highways this morning as Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez began a cabinet meeting in the regional capital Barcelona in an attempt at reconciliation.
Dozens of protesters, some wearing high-visibility vests, sat on the AP 7 motorway, which runs down the Mediterranean coast as police in riot gear pulled them from the road. Some other roads were blocked with tyres.
One man was arrested in central Barcelona carrying materials that could be used to build an explosive device.… Read all the news

Prestige Oil Spill
The Supreme Court has ruled that the captain and the insurer of the Prestige oil tanker must pay more
than 1.5 billion euros in compensation for Spain’s biggest environmental disaster, when the vessel
sank in 2002.
The court said in a statement yesterday that captain and The London Mutual Insurance Association
shall pay the damages to Spain, France and authorities in Galicia as well as to another 269
companies, communities and individuals affected by the spill.
The tanker sprang a leak and sank off northwest Spain, polluting a long stretch of coastline and
ruining the area’s rich fishing grounds.… Read all the news

Teachers Murder
Statements provided by the self-confessed killer of a schoolteacher do not match the evidence found by investigators. The police have found “many traces of blood” inside Bernardo Montoya’s home in El Campillo, in Huelva.
An autopsy on Tuesday showed Laura Luelmo was sexually assaulted before her death, contrary to what Montoya has been claiming since his arrest.
Montoya said he killed the young woman but was unable to rape her.
Investigators believe that Montoya is trying to avoid being tried and sentenced to “permanent reviewable imprisonment,”.… Read all the news

Multinational Arrests
THE National Police have arrested three fugitives who were hiding out in Spain to evade capture for different crimes in England, Germany and Venezuela.
The fugitives have been arrested for different crimes such as sexual violence, aggression and murder.
The arrests were made in Benidorm, Barcelona and Madrid.
a Serbian citizen was arrested in Barcelona for attempting to rape a woman whilst she was entering her home in Stolberg, Germany.
The Serbian criminal was caught at coffee bar in a downtown hotel in Barcelona.… Read all the news

Murder Confession
According to Spanish media sources, Bernardo Montoya Navarro has confessed to the murder of 26 year old Laura Luelmo this morning.
Mr. Montoya has allegedly claimed that the teacher had asked him where she could find a local supermarket and he gave her a false address to lure her out into the open.
Montoya who recently was released from prison just a few months ago, reportedly stated that he wanted to start a new life in Cataluña where he had previously worked.… Read all the news

Murder
The murder of a 26-year-old woman who had crossed Spain for a teaching job has sparked outrage in the country, the latest high-profile case to put the spotlight on gender violence.
Laura Luelmo’s partially naked body was found near the southern village of El Campillo after five days of searching.
Drug addict Bernardo Montoya, 50, has been arrested in connection with the murder.
Montoya, who has a previous conviction for murder, was arrested by the Guardia Civil Yesterday.
He was captured after a brief chase on foot after his car was stopped.… Read all the news

Catalunia
Four jailed Catalan separatist leaders currently on hunger strike sent letters to more than 40 European leaders yesterday to protest what they see as mistreatment by the Spanish courts.
The dispute between Catalonia’s independence-seeking regional government and Madrid has worsened in recent weeks .. Pro-independence protests are planned across Catalonia on Friday.
the Catalan leaders say Spain’s courts are unduly delaying their leagal action to prevent them appealing at the European level,
four signatories went on hunger strike earlier this month to protest their treatmeant by the judiciary
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his cabinet will travel to Barcelona on Friday for a meeting to be held amid high security
Meanwhile
The Supreme Court is holding a preliminary hearing ahead of a trial of 18 former Catalan officials and activists.… Read all the news

Bodies found
A body recovered off the coast in Tenerife has been confirmed as that of missing British woman Amy
Gerard.
The 28-year-old, originally from Cleethorpes, was last seen outside an Irish bar in Puerto de la Cruz
early on 30 November.
She had been working at the island’s Loro Parque marine zoo.
The charity The Lucie Blackman Trust said it was “saddened to announce” DNA testing results had
confirmed the body was Ms Gerard’s.
She was found in the water by search teams on 4 December.… Read all the news