The Malaga born singer Pablo Alborán has been nominated for three Latin Grammy Awards.
Including the best new comer and song of the year for ‘Solamente tu’.
This the first time a Malaga born musician has been nominated for so many prestigious awards.
Shakira, Ricky Martin and Maná also have three nominations each this year.
Pablo is said to be overjoyed with the nominations. The ceremony is to be held in Las Vegas on November 10.
Telefonica has announced plans to open a state of the art Digital headquarters in London. The Spanish telephone giant is rapidly moving into the digital arena. This is seen as the first move in many to capture the European, Asian and Latin American markets.
The new digital headquarters will be based in London, with sub offices across various locations including Sao Paulo, Silicon Valley, various locations in Asia and, of course, Madrid.
The digital revenue in Europe and South America accounted for 68% of Telefonica’s gross last year. Up from 51% the previous year. The main reasons behind this growth were the continued expansion in South America and the purchase of O2 in the UK.
In its first press conference since the announcement, company chairmen César Alierta has made it clear that Telefonica needs to reduce its prices – particularly for instant messaging – and will look at its service levels across all business units.
Spain’s happiest pig has been publicly identified and he’s called Quinin!!
Rescued from a certain death by his vegetarian owner – Pedro – over three years ago during San Martín fiestas in Galicia.
Pedro saved his life at last moment and had to buy Quinin just minutes before the ‘Festivies’ began…
Quinin is all over the Spanish news. Three years later he is one contented pig, weighing over three hundred kilos, enjoys regular walks in the country and likes nothing more than to be stroked and groomed.
Has risen its ugly head again.
Abdellatif Aoulad Chilba was just remanded in custody without bail in La Linea, Cadiz. It is believed that Abdellatif Aoulad Chilba is afflicted with Al Qaeda and was planning attacks on a massive scale.
Although details are still sketchy and unofficial. It is claimed that he was planning on poisoning the water supply of several large tourist complexes in the Province of Cadiz.
The 37 year old Moroccan was arrested following an intelligence operation that followed his online activities. Specifically his use of several Islamic fundamentalist forums which are used to recruit for various groups – including Al Qaeda.
It is reported that he was posting asking for lethal/homemade poison formulas – with someone responding with a recipe for a botulism toxin. It was at this point that intelligence agents decided to move in.
In the course of their investigation. Abdellatif, who married to a Spanish lady, who currently lives in Girona apparently made what sounded like a ‘goodbye’ phone call a few days previously.
A report published last Thursday by Eurostat – the EU’s statistical office – has shown that Spain, after Luxembourg, has the highest rate of expat residents in Europe. Examining the 27 countries that make up the EU.
12% of Spain’s population comes from elsewhere, a staggering 5.7 million foreign citizens.
In aggregate numbers Germany takes the lead with some 7.1 million foreigners, equating to 9% of its total population.
Luxembourg has the highest number of foreign residents in Europe with 43% of its population coming from elsewhere.
Romanians, Moroccans, Ecuadorian, the English and Colombians are the five most common non-Spanish nationalities. UK expats make up around 7% of the total number.
Everyone knows the importance of the internet. It never ceases to amaze me how big, how much information and how quickly everything online changes. Now, more than ever, everyone needs a presence on the net. Whether its a personal blog or professional made website, there really is no choice.
The only choice people have nowadays is how they go about getting their presence made. Web design Spain could be many people’s answer to that dilemma. From professional web design, content management, to search engine optimisation and all at some truly outstanding prices. Now is the time to check them out for yourselves.
Marbella has always been a destination associated with money. A millionaire’s playground since the late 1970s, it is somewhere that is permanent fixture in many people’s agendas. With the falling ailing economic climate and the recent corruption cases, some of Marbella’s glitter has certainly fallen by the way-side.
One project that is certainly going to push Marbella and neighbouring Puerto Banus back into the limelight, the construction of Marbella’s new port. A spectacular project by anyone’s standards, it is hoped that one day Marbella is going to be one of the prime cruise ship destinations in the Mediterranean.
The estimated 400€ million project is being financed the Qatari sheikh, Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani, the owner of Malaga football club. The revised plans show a Marina very similar in design to those in Dubai. The project is the largest ever construction project undertaken in Marbella’s history. The regional and national government are only going to be contributing 3% of the finances.
Despite the initial pricetag of 400€ million, the Sheikh’s company has stated that they are willing to invest double that amount. Five star hotels, helipads every conceivable luxury….Marbella’s new port promises to be quite a project.
Following the crisis in the Middle East and North Africa…petrol prices soared all over the World. Spain being one of the countries most heavily affected, decided to introduce various energy saving measures. The most contravesial and subsquently most effective was the lowering of the speed limit on all Spanish motorways to 110km/h.
Of the numerous energy saving measures introduced, which included cutting train ticket prices and the planned use of more biofuels - conservationists have argued that the measure was a resounding success. Accident rates and mortality levels also fell dramatically. With stiff fines in place, people really made an effort to stick to the reduced speed limit.
As of July 1st – the speed limits across Spain are going back to 120km/h – time will tell if the decision is the correct one.
The baby – named ‘Alma’ by the media – which loosely translated as soul – has been reunited with his mother. The Madrid Social services sparked an International Campaign when they removed the 15 month baby from his mother’s care and cited breast feeding on demand as one of the reasons.
Baby and mother were reunited last Wednesday following three weeks of separation. Juan Ignacio de la Mata, the mother’s lawyer is quoted as saying “The child wouldn’t leave her mother alone and you could see both of them slowly being transformed by the encounter. It was moving and very beautiful.”
The International backwash that caused surprised the authorities in Madrid. And they quickly stated that breastfeeding and sleeping arrangements had very little to do with their decision.
Campaigners are now focusing their attention on the backdated child protection laws in Spain that side almost exclusively with the authorities. In most countries, an order from a judge is needed to remove children from parenteral care. In the current Spanish system its the other way around. Social services make the decision and then the parents have to present their case to a judge to get their children back. Sometimes leading to a delay that can last for several months.
Social services in Madrid have sparked an International campaign after taking a 15-month baby girl away from her mother. One of the reasons cited was breastfeeding on demand.
The 21-year old mother known as Habiba was criticised in an official report for her “chaotic” feeding patterns and for allowing the baby to sleep with her. Following the international condemnation social services in Madrid are now stating that there were numerous other factors influencing their decision. Even so, women’s groups and childcare activists are up in arms about the decision.
The baby girl known as ‘Alma’ was removed from her mother’s care at the beginning of the month. Very little is known about the case, other than the mother was in a shelter for single mothers and despite repeated attempts to control the breastfeeding, no progress was forthcoming. In the official report that was presented by child protection officers they also cited the “unhealthy” sleeping arrangements with mother and baby sleeping in the same bed.
Condemnation has been swift from both sides of the Atlantic. Pressure groups in the US have been particularly vocal and are demanding the return of baby ‘Alma’ to her mother as quickly as possible.
Authorities in Madrid has since clarified the situation stressing that the decision was based on numerous factors including a violent relationship with ‘Alma’s’ biological father (who is currently in prison), the fact that the baby was often left on its own and taken outdoors in “unsuitable” clothing.
Over half the World’s children currently sleep with their parents and studies have pointed to no detrimental effects. Various governmental and non-governmental organisations from the World Health Organisation to Unicef recommend breastfeeding on demand – exclusively for the first six months and supplemented by other foods up to the age of two.
