MON PM MAR 11

Benidorm Murder
Police have identified the 33-year-old man from Scotland who died after an early morning confrontation in Benidorm on Friday
Jim Clark, from Hawick, was staying in a hotel in the resort.
Officers are attempting to trace two English men in connection with the death.
It is understood Mr Clark had traveled to Spain as part of a stag party.

Activist Charges
Spanish activist Helena Maleno says Moroccan authorities have dropped a case against her that sought human trafficking charges for her calls alerting maritime rescue services to the presence of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
In 2012, Spanish police investigated what they alleged were possible links between Maleno and human trafficking gangs. A Spanish court later dropped the case. Moroccan justice carried out a parallel investigation until it was closed this morning.
Maleno, who lives in Morocco, has made it her job to inform Spanish and Moroccan rescuers when migrants set out in flimsy boats to make the perilous crossing from African to European shores.

Fake News
With four elections coming up in April and May, the government has set up a special unit to fight “hybrid threats” including cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns.
Experts from the National Security Department, the Office of State Secretary for Communication, and several Spanish ministries are leading the effort.
cyber-attacks remain one of the main risks that Spain faces, according to the Interior Ministry.

European Elections
Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont will run in the May 26 election to the European Parliament as the leading candidate of Junts per Catalunya .. his political party announced yesterday.
Oriol Junqueras, leader of the pro-independence party ERC who is on trial in Madrid with 11 other Catalan politicians for their role in the 2017 secession drive, will also run in the European election.

Cigarette Smuggling
THE Guardia Civil has arrested six people in Andalucia after they seized over 15,400 packs of contraband cigarettes that were sold in sweet shops.
Two brothers and two women, all members of a criminal gang, were among the arrests made in Jerez and Sevilla.
The tobacco, worth €67,000, was smuggled through Gibraltar, but was intercepted by authorities as part of ‘Operation Nicotine’.

Opinion Poll
Thee ruling Socialists would win 134 seats in the upcoming election though would fall short of a majority in parliament forcing it to seek allies to pass legislation, a poll showed on this morning
The GAD3 poll for the ABC newspaper showed that a coalition of right-wing parties would also not win enough seats to hold a majority.
The poll was taken among 1,000 people between March 4 and March 8.