The case against so-called 'land grab' laws in Spain took a significant step forward this week when the European commission formally moved to take the complaint to the European Court of Justice.
At the height of Spain’s building boom, autonomous regions such as Valencia were confiscating land and, in some cases, demolishing homes to make way for new developments. Many of the cases involved expats who had bought property and retired in Spain. Groups like Abusos Urbanisticos No have long argued that Spain’s regulations were in violation of the European Union’s contract laws, as well as basic property rights.
A 2004 report to the European parliament called the laws “surrealistic” and demanded payment for homeowners who lost property.
''The mere fact that this issue is now before the ECJ—and will be the subject of further hearings within the Petitions Committee in September—will make it much riskier for the authorities here to ignore or knowingly breach EU law,' said Charles Svoboda, spokesman for Abusos Urbanisticos No. (International Herald Tribune)
There are, of course, cases of 'land grab' locally, including El Pinar in Bédar. There will be a massive case... unless things change... in El Llano Central when the Junta de Andalucia´s delirious dream to savage the lower Almanzora Valley comes to fruition.
In Cantoria, the next town up from Albox, the local foreign property owners will stage a protest against the demolition order placed by the Junta on 23 homes. The protest will be on September 18th. Be there!

Advertising is down everywhere - including The New Entertainer. I'm preparing the paper this week-end but need a few extra adverts to keep the pages up - or I'll have to pull it down in size (and articles). C'mon, we're the same price as everybody else, but we are at least read by everyone who lives here. Tell your favourite bar or restaurant!! Advertise with The Ent or else!!

From today, Wednesday, through Saturday, it's fiesta-time in Mojácar (well, the pueblo anyway). Tomorrow, Thursday, is our local saint's day - so everything should be shut (except for the bars, restaurants, shops and opium dens).
The fiesta attractions follow:

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Why advertise your product in boring old newspapers (which, er, nobody ever reads)? Why rely on rusty hoardings, or fizzy radio spots or those irritating octavillas that ill-paid skip-people stick under car windscreen wipers? That's right - you need something that gets attention every morning... like the family barra de pan! Yes, put your advert on our special bread-wrappers and you can be sure it will be seen... at least by the maid.
No, I'm not making this up. See this rather grandiose site.

A recent report published by the British Foreign Office, 'British Behavior Abroad,' noted that in a 12-month period in 2006 and 2007 that 1,591 British tourists died in Spain and a further 2,032 were arrested there.
The report did not distinguish between medical cases and arrests associated with drunkenness and those that had nothing to do with it. But it did say that 'many arrests are due to behaviour caused by excessive drinking.'
So it would seem. Reports of scandalous incidents rumble on regularly here and elsewhere, helping to cement Britain’s reputation as the largest exporter of inebriated hooligans in Europe…
… 'I think that in their country, they are like prisoners and they want to feel free,' said Niki Pirovolaki, who works in a bakery in the Cretan resort of Malia and often encounters addled Britons heading back to their hotels — 'if they can remember where they are staying,' she said. (From the New York Times)
Thirsty work putting up this blog... think I'll go and have a triple vodka with a cherry for the vitamins!

Brown Threat in Breaking Story

It could have been the lyrics from an old Beatles song : I read the news today, oh boy / About a plot in Blackburn, Lancashire... What surprised me, amidst the news of yet another tragedy in Madrid, the Olympics and the Russians in Georgia, was how little the terror plot was reported. Perhaps it was just too early to say, but - and despite this - the media were claiming links to a threat to kill the Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The actual story revolves around three men, none of whom have yet been named, who were arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences. In addition the men, aged 21, 22 and 23, were linked to a Jihadi website calling for the head of Gordon Brown to be delivered to the elusive Osama Bin Laden. The website host system is pro- al Qaeda and has made threats to the UK and USA in the name of bin Laden blaming the west in general for the unrest in the Middle East.

Two of the men were detained at Manchester airport as they prepared to board a plane to Finland while the third, rather unspectacularly, was arrested in Accrington, Lancashire. The arrests were all made on August 14th.

The police operation was the co-ordinated work of Greater Manchester Police's Counter Terrorism Unit and Lancashire Police and both units now have officers in Scandinavia to investigate further links.

Back in Blackburn, Lancashire, neighbours greeted the news of the arrests with disbelief and some described the detainees as 'normal everyday lads'. Others spoke of being surprised at the arrests and not expecting something like this to happen in 'your own street.' One informant told reporters that the family of one of the accused had lived in the street for many years and the children had gone to Islamic schools.

It is understood that the three men had been under police surveillance for some time and police had only taken steps to detain them when they were made aware that two of the group intended to leave the country.

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What on earth is happening to Spain? We've seen the cruel demolition of a British-owned house in Vera by the authorities back in January (the same man who ordered the demolition, the 'delegado provincial' - has just signed the go ahead for the POTALA for the same area: a Junta de Andalucía plan to build 30,000 homes!). We've seen the institutionally approved land-grab - which despite European-wide criticism - continues to this day. We 'residents' have had our 'tarjetas de residencia' removed in favour of some meaningless and worthless piece of paper to be carried around together with our passport (so much for la union europea) and a NIE identification; and now those non-residents who have bank accounts here discover that they have had them 'frozen' in a kind of grotesque 'cash-grab'! How do you pay the utilities when your bank arbitrarily freezes your account?
Don't they want us anymore...?

A letter from a Mojácar reader follows:

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I may have suggested in previous comments about the POTALA that the proposals for the future of this area as envisaged by the folks in their ivory towers in Seville were a bit stupid. Such titles as ‘You’ve Gotta be Fucking Kidding’ and ‘Junta de Andalucía Planners are Complete Cretins’ may have given the impression that this correspondent is in some way against the ambitious plans to turn our part of Eastern Almería into a Milton Keynes.
With the latest news now in our possession - that ‘the POTALA will create more than 130,000 jobs’ (not bad for a total population of under 100,000 people in the Baja Almanzora) and that the streets will be running with gold (‘the Llano Central will generate 3,800 million euros of investment’) I now accept that I was quite wrong. Long Live President for Life Manuel Chaves!
By the way – anybody like to buy my house…?

P.S. The irony of Caparros knocking down one (one!) house in Vera while merrily signing bits of paper to build 35,000 homes will not be lost on anyone who doesn't vote for the PSOE-A.

A Spanair jet taking off for Gran Canaria crashed today in Madrid Barajas killing 153 passengers. Around 20 others survived. One of the aircraft's engines apparently exploded on take-off. The accident is the first for the Madrid airport in 25 years. Our prayers for the families involved in this dreadful event.