Mallorca
A search is underway on Mallorca for a 41-year-old woman who has been missing after going hiking.
Her husband reported her disappearance after she failed to return home after leaving their house at 9am.
A search operation is underway with a helicopter and rescue group scouring the area.
And in a separate incident on Mallorca, five climbers were rescued in a hair raising rescue in the early hours yesterday morning after becoming trapped on a cliff edge for 11 hours.
The group had reportedly been practicing abseiling, but were unable to descend.
Mallorca Fire Service confirmed the five hour rescue was extremely difficult ‘due to the night time conditions and access. They were eventually brought to safety without injuries.
Dia Supermarket
Financially troubled Spanish supermarket group Dia this morning said it wanted to cut up to 2,100 jobs as it reported a massive loss.
Dia, the target of a public buyout offer by the Russian Millionaire who is already its top shareholder, reported a net loss of 352.5 million euros for last year.
The discount supermarket chain, which has had to reduce prices in the face of competition from Lidl and Mercadona, saw net sales fall nearly 11 percent.
Dia said the job cuts would be negotiated with trade unions.
The company’s shares have lost nearly 90 percent of their value since the beginning of 2018 and have lost their place on the Madrid exchange’s main Ibex 35 index.
Electricity Bills
Electricity bills in were 25 per cent higher last month compared to the same period in 2018.
The reason according to the Spanish consumer organisation OCU, is the weather and CO2 emission rights
OCU said a bill payer who consumed 3,000 kWh during January will have paid an extra €51 euros compared to 12 months ago.
The organisation predicted that there will not be a reduction this month either claiming ‘everything seems to indicate the prices will remain’.
“We will have to wait until March or April for a reduction in the wholesale market,” it said.
Release
Juan Antonio Roca has been released on parole.
The mastermind behind the infamous Malaya case was let out of prison yesterday after serving 12 years of his 20-year sentence.
A judge deemed the former Marbella urban planning boss eligible for release as he had completed three quarters of his sentence and had been a model prisoner.
He spent the last year working with a charity which works to reform inmates and helps former ex-convicts find work on release.
Roca was convicted of being the ringleader of the Malaya plot, which saw 53 officials across dozens of Andalucian municipalities tried for embezzlement of public funds, breaches of trust, influence peddling and more between 1991 – 2006.