Spain sets out 8.9bn euros of new austerity measures

 

Spain's new conservative government has outlined 8.9bn euros ($11.5bn, £7.5bn) in new spending cuts and tax rises to lower the country's borrowing. The announcement is the first in a wave of austerity measures, with a total of 16.5bn euros to be cut in 2012. It also said Spain's 2011 deficit will be about 8% of its output - higher than the 6% seen by the previous government. The Popular Party last month ousted the Socialists from power at elections amid deep economic gloom. The government of new Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has vowed to meet Spain's target of reducing the public deficit to 4.4% of gross domestic product in 2012, no matter what. On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria maintained a freeze on public sector wages for another year and ruled out practically all government hiring. "This is the beginning of the beginning," Ms Saenz de Santamaria said. "We are facing an extraordinary, unexpected situation, which will force us to take extraordinary and unexpected measures." Taxes on the wealthiest Spaniards will also be raised for at least two years, raising 6bn euros, she said. Spain's borrowing costs have jumped in the last year - reaching as high as 6.7% for 10-year debts - as investors feared that Spain might join Greece, the Irish Republic and Portugal in needing a bailout. The country's economy has shrunk sharply since a housing bubble burst in 2008, and it has an unemployment rate of 21%, the highest in Europe. The austerity measures have sparked a number of large protests across the country.

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Snakes on a plane (almost) in Argentina

 

Snakes on a plane (almost) in Argentina Authorities in Argentina caught a man trying to board a plane with almost 250 poisonous snakes and endangered reptiles.

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Spain’s Iberia scraps 118 flights due to strike by pilots angry over planned budget affiliate

 

Spanish airline Iberia canceled more than a third of its flights Thursday due to a strike by pilots fearing job losses when company planes are diverted for use by Iberia’s planned new budget carrier. Iberia said it scrapped 118 domestic and international flights but found seats on other Iberia flights or with other carriers for all the 10,000 travelers affected by the one-day strike. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare It was the second such holiday-season walkout by the pilots. The first was on Dec. 18. Iberia, Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A., plans to divert jetliners from money-losing domestic and medium-haul European routes for Iberia Express, which it hopes to launch early next year using lower-earning, newly hired pilots and flight attendants. The company says its plans are for this carrier to have 40 planes in 2015. Pilots union SEPLA threatened on Wednesday to stage more strikes over the creation of Iberia Express, fearing job losses among existing staff with the creation of the unit, designed to compete with budget airlines.

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Spain King's Son-in-Law Subpoenaed in Graft Probe

 

A judge subpoenaed the son-in-law of Spain's King Juan Carlos on Thursday to testify as a suspect in a corruption case, deepening a public relations nightmare for the royal family at a time of acute economic crisis for everyday people. The case surrounding Inaki Urdangarin, husband of the king's daughter Cristina, has been front-page news for weeks. But it went a big step further Thursday when Judge Jose Castro on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca named Urdangarin as a formal suspect in a criminal probe. The Balearic Islands Superior Court of Justice said in a statement that Urdangarin has been called to testify Feb. 6 in Palma, the capital of the archipelago. The one-page document did not mention allegations. But Spanish media say Urdangarin, 43, is suspected of siphoning money from public contracts awarded from 2004 to 2006 to a nonprofit foundation he then headed. He has not been charged with a crime. An official at the Royal Palace declined comment Thursday other than to say it "respects the decisions of judges." Spain has nearly 22 percent unemployment, a stagnant economy, mountains of debt and many other woes, so alleged shady business dealings by a member of the royal family look terrible for the Spanish monarchy. On Dec. 12 the Royal Palace shocked the country by announcing Urdangarin would for the time being stop taking part in official ceremonies involving the royal family. And in an unprecedented show of transparency, the palace this week made public the details of the stipend the royal family receives from the national budget. It said, for instance, that King Juan Carlos earns euro292,552 ($382,597) a year in salary and expenses and his son, Crown Prince Felipe, roughly half that amount. In his yearly Christmas Eve speech, the king expressed concern over what he described as the declining confidence among Spaniards in public institutions, a remark seen as a reference to the scandal surrounding his son-in-law, a commoner who used to be a professional handball player. Judge Castro's order Thursday made public an until-now sealed case file that the newspaper El Pais said contains 2,700 pages. Spanish newspapers have quoted investigators as saying Urdangarin is suspected, among other things, of having taken some of about euro6 million ($8 million) his nonprofit foundation received from the regional governments in Valencia and the Balearic Islands for organizing events such as sports seminars and diverting it to for-profit companies Urdangarin ran. The case is part of a broader, long-running corruption probe involving the regional government in the Balearic Islands. Since 2009 Urdangarin, the princess and their four children have lived in Washington, D.C., where Urdangarin works for the Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica, S.A. King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have three children. Crown Prince Felipe is the youngest, Princess Cristina is the middle child and the eldest is Princess Elena.

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She was the other woman in James Hewitt’s life, the blonde entrepreneur whom he two-timed with Princess Diana.

When she discovered the depth of her betrayal, Emma Stewardson was bitterly hurt. 

Like Diana she too had been besotted with the copper-haired cad and for long afterwards the couple traded insults.

But now after two decades of rancour there has, I learn, been a remarkable rapprochement between the ex-cavalry officer and the businesswoman.

After a series of private meetings — one in London and two in Spain where Hewitt now lives — the two have settled their differences.

Reconciliation: James Hewitt and Emma Stewardson are now on speaking terms

‘James and I are in touch,’ Emma tells me. ‘Things had been really cool between us for many years, things said in the heat of the moment. I apologised and he apologised and generally just cleared the air.’

It was while dating Emma, now 49, that Hewitt began his affair with Diana after giving her riding lessons. Both women wrote long adoring love letters to the tank commander while he was serving in Iraq during the first Gulf War.


As Hewitt’s relationship with the Princess of Wales cracked up in the early Nineties, so too did Emma’s patience. She later married publisher Christopher Younghusband, although that ended in divorce eight years ago.

Over the years Hewitt, 53, and Emma indulged in what a friend calls ‘verbal battling and insulting each other’ through the media. ‘Some terrible things were said. Emma vented her sorrow and anger and James’s ripostes upset her a lot.’ 

At one stage Emma, who runs a curtain business, Back On Track, in Shaftesbury, Dorset, was on the verge of consulting lawyers.

‘In the end she didn’t because she didn’t think it worthwhile raking up all the past again,’ says the friend.

I understand they had their first reunion at a friend’s flat in London after a go-between had put them together.

Emma then dropped in on Hewitt in Marbella where he runs The Polo House restaurant. ‘They had lunch on the beach and it was all very agreeable,’ I am told. ‘They have both said sorry and put a line under it all.’

Adds Emma: ‘I wanted to get the rubbish out of my system once and for all.

‘Who knows, his restaurant might be the perfect location for my office Christmas party!

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The Granada builder, José Ávila Rojas, has been given a three and half year prison sentence for continued fraud

Irregularities have been proved in a Marbella development Jose Avila Rojas 


The Granada builder, José Ávila Rojas, has been given a three and half year prison sentence for continued fraud. It comes after he sold three homes in a promotion in Marbella knowing that they could not be occupied as the development, despite being constructed, had not first occupancy licence.

Ávila Rojas also faces charges in the Malaya case, and in this example has been ordered to return the deposit monies paid by the property buyers, an amount of about 67,000 € in each case.
The sentence from the Provincial Court in Málaga shows that Ávila Rojas built the Carril del Relojero development of 64 homes, garages and shops without the correct permissions.

In April 2003 Marbella was governed by the GIL party which did grant an initial works licence, but that was appealed by the Junta de Andalucía who managed to get it revoked in the courts. But Ávila Rojas ignored the ruling and continued with the development after some reforms completing it in June 2005.
Because it had no valid building licence the Town Hall could not grant the first occupancy licence.

The three purchasers did so via Naviro Inmobiliaria, owned by Ávila Rojas, in August 2004, and the company told them nothing about the administrative problems the development was facing. It was only when the Malaya case broke that the purchases discovered the lack of occupancy licence, and demanded the return of their money, with interest. Naviro refused that considering that the licence had been granted by ‘administrative silence’, and that was when the purchasers started their legal action which has now concluded.

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police operation has seized five top-range vehicles, 24,000 € in cash, eight sets of precision weighing scales and a pen gun with ammunitio

The Interior Ministry released news on Monday of a National Police operation, ‘Operación Pantano’, which has broken up an international network of drug traffickers and has arrested 15 suspects and seized 3.5 kilos of cocaine. Nine of the detainees are from Colombia and the remainder are Spanish.

The group was mainly based in Almería province and obtained its supplies of cocaine either from Madrid or directly from Colombia. The drugs were then distributed within Almería and in the south of neighbouring Granada.

The final arrests in the case were at the end of November when the network’s two main leaders were taken into custody. The police operation has also seized five top-range vehicles, 24,000 € in cash, eight sets of precision weighing scales and a pen gun with ammunition.

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Ice Skating in Marbella

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Ice Skating in Marbella

From December 15th to January 9th next year the Marbella ice skating rink is open to the public at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos. The 800 sqm ice skating rink also includes a Christmas market, bouncy castle, trampolines, carousel and children's attractions. There is a cafeteria and free parking.

*Normal opening hours are from 12:00 noon until 11:00pm (see below). Entrance is free but there is a charge of €6 to ice skate for 45 minutes which includes the rental of the skates. It is necessary to wear gloves while ice skating so remember to bring some along or you will be charged €2 to rent a pair. The attractions and rides cost €2.50.

*During the Christmas holidays there are special opening hours:
December 24th: 12.00 - 19.00
December 25th: 16.00 - 23.00
December 31st: 12.00 - 19.00
January 1st: 2012: 16.00 - 23.00
January 5th: 12.00 - 19.00
January 6th: 12.00 - 23.00

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Delta Airlines to fly Málaga and Valencia to New York again next summer

 

Delta Airlines is to restart its direct flights from Málaga to New York this summer, with five flights a week in collaboration with Air France KLM from June 2. A Boeing 757-200 will fly the route, with space for 170 passengers. A similar aircraft will fly the route from Valencia to New York, also from June 2. The frequency of the flights there will be four times a week.

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British suspect arrested in Valencia

 

59 year old was wanted in the UK in connection with contraband cigarettesA suspect in handcuffs - EFE archive A British man sought by the UK in connection with smuggling cigarettes worth 8.2 million € was arrested in Valencia on Monday and is to be transferred to the National Court for the extradition process. He was arrested on a European arrest warrant and had been wanted by the UK for 10 years. All that’s known on his identity is that he is 59 years old and appears on the Crime Stoppers’ list of the UK’s most wanted.

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largest Apple Store in Spain is to be unveiled in Marbella this Friday

Marbella has been chosen as the location for the company's fourth store in Spain

EFE archive

 

The largest Apple Store in Spain is to be unveiled in Marbella this Friday, November 25, in the centro comercial La Cañada.

It will be the company’s fourth store in Spain and, to celebrate its opening, free T-shirts will be given away to the first 1,000 visitors on inauguration day. Opening hours are 10am until 10pm, Mondays to Saturdays.

Plans for expansion include another new store in Murcia, although there has been no confirmation as yet of when it is likely to open.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32758.shtml#ixzz1eRrLe85A

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Alice Walton, heiress to the Walmart supermarket fortune and the the 10th richest woman in the United States, opened a spectacular fine art museum in her home town

Architect Moshe Safdie looks out of a window next to a large red untitled magnifying disk sculpture by artist Fred Eversley at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Photograph: Danny Johnston/AP

When Alice Walton, heiress to the Walmart supermarket fortune and the the 10th richest woman in the United States, opened a spectacular fine art museum in her home town, she might have expected plaudits and gratitude. It hasn't quite worked out that way.

The long-awaited opening of the Crystal Bridges Museum for American Art in Walton's home town of Bentonville, Arkansas, has provoked mixed reactions. Some have celebrated the unveiling of a significant new private art institution, but many have criticised the decision to spend $1.4bn of company and family foundation money as the retail colossus cuts back its workers' benefits.

Protesters at the museum have informally joined forces with the Occupy Wall Street camps across the US and point to growing ties between the Occupy movement and established trade unions.

The museum, which opened last weekend and features a survey of American art from Benjamin West to Georgia O'Keefe, from Norman Rockwell to Andy Warhol, and from Joan Mitchell to Walton Ford, has also come under criticism from within the art establishment for both inflating values and buying masterpieces from impoverished art institutions without giving local institutions a chance to match Walton's offer.

While historians point out that this is little different from 19th-century robber barons such as Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie amassing vast collections of European art and bringing it to America, the prospect of hundreds of masterpieces in rural Bentonville, two hours' drive from Tulsa, is still controversial.

Walton, at 62 the youngest of Walmart founder Sam Walton's four children, started buying specifically for the project in 2005. The Moshe Safdie-designed institution, which sits in 120 acres of dogwood trees and trails minutes from downtown Bentonville, already has 440 works on display and 800 in storage.

"We set market records for very few pieces that we purchased," says curator, David Houston. "But there is latent criticism from an east coast elite that bringing a famous painting like Thomas Eakins's [$68m] Gross Clinic to Arkansas is itself an act of cultural vandalism. We're bringing art to the public, but it's a different kind of public, and there are social and political connotations to that."

In the week since Crystal Bridges opened, it has already seen 5,000 registered visitors. "Sheer curiosity and hunger for an institution like this bears out Alice Walton's vision," Houston says.

Ben Waxman, spokesman for the union-affiliated Making Change@Walmart, said: "Opening a huge, opulent museum in the middle of nowhere while the company is cutting health insurance for its employees is troubling. It sends the message Wal-Mart doesn't care about them."

The issues of wealth distribution that have brought art into conflict with the labour movement at Crystal Bridges have also been on display at Sotheby's during the billion-dollar modern, impressionist and contemporary sales earlier this month in New York.

Since August, when Sotheby's dismissed 43 unionised art handlers, its salesrooms have been besieged by Teamsters union members, bearing an inflatable rat and a fat cat banker with a cigar in one hand and throttled worker in the other. "The company is having its most profitable year in 267 years and they locked us out in the middle of our contract," said Teamsters member Phil Cortero. "Sotheby's represents the richest people in the world. When you lose your shirt down on Wall Street you come and hock your stuff here."

Increasingly, the Teamsters are joined by Occupy Museum activists, chanting "We are the 99%!" They protest that the multimillion dollar art handled by auction houses is used to maintain and transfer the wealth of the 1%.

Outside Christie's, which is not involved in the dispute, Los Angeles property developer Eli Broad, one of America's wealthiest men, confirmed as much to the New York Times. "People would rather have art than gold or paper," he said.

OWS Labor Outreach member Mike Friedman said that Occupy had no problem with the art itself. "But at a time when we're seeing cutbacks in health and education spending, we're seeing the transfer of wealth by way of tax cuts and subsidies to an elite who use excesses of that transfer to buy these magnificent works of art."

With the end of the Zuccotti Park sit-in, Occupy says it plans to initiate focused protests against cultural institutions associated with big Wall Street donors. It has singled out Lincoln Center, home to the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and New York fashion week, which is financially supported by Tea Party funder David Koch.

Back at Crystal Bridges, Houston argues that it will take years to see the full effect of how the Walton family has used its wealth. The family foundation is active in a whole variety of charitable activities, many of them educational, he says. "Their intent is not to create a shrine to an individual or even a family. Their goal is to create a tremendous cultural resource in this part of the world."

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SPAIN appeared the latest country at the centre of the escalating eurozone crisis

 

SPAIN appeared the latest country at the centre of the escalating eurozone crisis yesterday as David Cameron failed to persuade European leaders to back his calls for action. After a meeting with the Prime Minister in Berlin yesterday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned it was important not “to pretend to have powers that we don’t have”. But within hours the new governor of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi said “urgent action” was necessary from Europe’s leaders to implement the new eurozone bailout fund.

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WOMAN who died from a brain haemorrhage at Marbella’s Costa del Sol Hospital may have been a victim of medical negligence.

 

WOMAN who died from a brain haemorrhage at Marbella’s Costa del Sol Hospital may have been a victim of medical negligence. The 30-year-old had visited several health centres complaining of headaches – but was each time diagnosed with migraines. Although medical reports show the woman had an X-ray and electrocardiogram, neither the woman nor her family had seen the results. An investigation is now underway.

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65-YEAR-OLD British man was stabbed in the neck during an argument over a debt

 

65-YEAR-OLD British man was stabbed in the neck during an argument over a debt at a bus stop on the A-387 road in Mijas, according to Spanish Press reports. The attacker, a Spanish man to whom he allegedly owed money for some building work, handed himself in to the Guardia Civil. He claimed he had stabbed the victim with a screwdriver, but doctors said the injuries were caused with a knife. Witnesses who saw the victim was bleeding called the emergency services and an ambulance was sent to the scene as well as the Guardia Civil. The victim, who was taken to the Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella, also sustained injuries to his arms. Although his condition was reported to be serious, the Guardia Civil informed that the injuries were not life-threatening.

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The Spanish Police have accused Fat Freddie of participating in a criminal organisation, the illegal transportation of drugs and the illicit trafficking of weapons.

Freddie's brother Ritchie parties for Hallowe'en despite threats to his life

 

 

FEELING BLUE: Ritchie Thompson dressed up as character from film Avatar 

THIS is 'Fat' Freddie Thompson's brother, Ritchie, enjoying Hallowe'en despite the fact that his life is in real danger from rival mobsters. These exclusive Sunday World photos show 34-year-old Thompson posing with his wife Catherine while dressed as a character from the hit movie 'Avatar'.  

 

While Ritchie laughs and jokes for the cameras, he is aware that the gang led by criminal Gerard Eglington is planning to target him while Freddie is stuck in Spain after being extradited. Although Fat Freddie was released from custody this week by a Spanish judge, he has had to hand over his passport which means he is unable to travel back to Ireland to help protect his older brother.  

Ritchie needs all the help he can get, after he was targeted by Eglington's mob last March and had his leg broken after an unprovoked assault in the Karma Stone pub on Camden Street in Dublin.  

Innocent

 

 

AVATARS: Ritchie and Catherine

Catherine, who is totally innocent and has no involvement in crime, was viciously slashed in the same incident and required 17 stitches. When Freddie heard about the attack and his mother's home was firebombed, he went ballistic and returned to Dublin's south-inner city swearing revenge on Eglington and his cronies. Eglington has since escaped three murder bids and has kept a low profile for the last few months while Freddie was back in town.

 

However, now that Thompson is stuck in Spain for the short term, the Eglington gang has regrouped and set their sights on Ritchie, who is regarded as being especially vulnerable to attack. Ritchie was arrested last month in connection with a brutal assault on the innocent mother of hitman Wayne McNally, an attack that was frowned upon in gangland where attacking criminals' families is regarded as a no-no. Gardai fear it is only a matter of time before Ritchie Thompson's rivals catch up with him and are extremely concerned for his well-being and have increased patrols near his home.

Meanwhile, Fat Freddie is relaxing in Marbella after being released from custody, having only been quizzed for a matter of hours following his extradition last week, as predicted by the Sunday World. He was quizzed by a magistrate about his part in Christy Kinihan's huge drugs gang, although the evidence offered by the Spanish authorities was very flimsy.

Criminal

 

 

EXTRADITED: ‘Fat’ Freddie Thompson is led away

He was given bail on Monday but must stay in Spain and sign on with cops twice a month. It is believed that Thompson is staying with his cousin, Liam Byrne, in a luxury villa in Estepona and is already masterminding the importation of drugs shipments back to Ireland. Gardai believe that one of Freddie's right-hand men, the on-the-run criminal Eugene 'The Devil' Cullen, travelled to Spain last week and met with his boss to discuss the gang's finances.

 

The Spanish have accused Fat Freddie of participating in a criminal organisation, the illegal transportation of drugs and the illicit trafficking of weapons. However, despite the seriousness of the charges, the maximum sentence that the mobster is facing is just nine years in prison.

The Spanish authorities have not provided any direct evidence to back-up assertions that Thompson is a key member of the Kinihan gang. They claim that he is a "trusted right-hand man" of Kinihan and acted as his bodyguard and chauffeur and was a key player in the organisation. They accuse him of drug and gun trafficking but the only evidence they cite is a vague recorded conversation between Thompson and criminal Gary Hutch about a gun not being as "big as expected" and the Spanish say it is possible to "infer" from this that Fat Freddie is responsible for sourcing the gang's firearms.

There is considerable tension between the Kinihan mob and Fat Freddie amid accusations that someone in the gang is touting to cops.

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Puerto Banus, Marbella

Plenty of Brits retire to the golden sands of Marbella and Puerto Banus’s famous harbour is filled will supercars, parked up while their owners enjoy the restaurants and bars.

But one expat, who lived in Marbella for more than seven years and wishes to remain anonymous, says the area definitely deserves its nickname as the Costa del Crime, among civilians and authority: “One of my clients had a rather nice black BMW X5 giving the air of someone with perhaps a bit of wealth,” she said. “Police did a daytime 'routine' stop and check just at the back of Puerto Banús.

“Working as a pair they went through his papers then asked him to step out of the car whilst one put him through some, to be quite frank, embarrassing and unnecessary exercises to prove he wasn’t drunk. They let him go without charge, he reached for his mobile to call a mate and say what idiots the cops had been and - bingo - it was gone, a nice expensive smart phone vanished.

“Seems one had kept him occupied whilst the other rifled through the car. He drove back to confront the police, but guess what? Their 'routine' stop and check point had gone in a flash… You can’t report that crime can you!”

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Saif al-Islam Gaddafi after his capture, his fingers wrapped in bandages and his legs covered with a blanket

. Photograph: Reuters Tv/Reuters

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the fugitive son of Libya's deceased former dictator, has been arrested in southern Libya, according to officials from the country's new government.

Libyan state TV reported that Saif has arrived in captivity and unhurt at an army base in the town of Zintan, 90 miles south-west of Tripoli.

Muammar Gaddafi's second and highest-profile son was captured along with several bodyguards by fighters near the town of Obari in Libya's southern desert, said the interim justice minister and other officials.

Saif was said to be in good health, according to the justice minister Mohammed al-Alagi.

"We have arrested Saif al-Islam Gaddafi in [the] Obari area," the minister told Reuters.

Saif was captured near the southern city of Sabha with two aides trying to smuggle him out to neighbouring Niger, militia commander Bashir al-Tayeleb said.

Zintan, a base for forces in the Nafusa Mountains which played a key part in the storming of Tripoli in the summer, is reported to have crowds dancing in the streets and waving the Libyan flag.

There are reports that an angry mob tried to storm the plane on which Saif was taken to the western mountain town of Zintan, the home of one of the largest revolutionary brigades in Libya.

Gunfire is echoing across the capital, Tripoli, where large crowds have gathered in Martyrs' Square firing volleys of automatic fire in the air. "A great day, a great day," said Abdullah, a taxi driver, stuck in one of the traffic jams that built up around the square.

A Reuters reporter said a man who appeared to be Saif, but who refused to confirm his identity, was on a plane flown by militiamen to the town.

The man wore traditional robes with a scarf pulled over his face, but his features, visible despite a heavy black beard, as well as his rimless spectacles, conformed to pictures of the 39-year-old younger Gaddafi.

The man's thumb, index finger and another finger were heavily bandaged.

Libyan TV also showed him He is sitting by a bed and holding up three bandaged fingers as a guard looks on.

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High speed train comes to Ronda

 

THE AVE is coming to Ronda. This means significantly reduced journey times to Madrid, Granada, Cordoba, Málaga and beyond. The project also includes completing the upgrade of the line from Ronda down to Algeciras to allow for the faster trains. The announcement was made on Friday, 4 November, via a BOE, Boletín Oficial del Estado. According to this document there will be 64.4 kms. of double track electrified line of the European gauge between the existing AVE-station at Antequera-Santa Ana and La Indiana, the old station on the outskirts of Ronda where the new AVE station for Ronda will be built. The project has a budget of 711.47 million euros and will follow the route of the current single track line between Bobadilla and Ronda. However, according to the website ferropedia.es the line will take a direct route from Setenil de las Bodegas to La Indiana, cutting out the S-loop which takes in Arriate and Ronda, and will cut through virgin countryside. The proposals are now out to public consultation and the plans can be viewed at the Town Halls in Antequera, Campillos, Teba, Cañete la Real, Almargen, Ronda, Arriate, Olvera, Alcalá y Setenil de las Bodegas, as well as in Málaga City, Cádiz and Madrid. I understand from an unnamed source that work will not commence until 2014. So peace and quiet for three more years before more new sounds are added to the local cacophony where we live. However, ignoring any NIMBY tendencies, a high speed rail link from Ronda into the rest of the AVE-network can only be a good thing for the area. With journey times to major cities cut dramatically, it can only improve the economic prospects of the area, both in terms of tourism and commerce. Real estate values in the area around La Indiana are likely to rocket as people realise it’s possible to commute from the rural idyll that is the Serranía de Ronda to Madrid and the other major cities to the north.

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Work to build the new terminal on the Gibraltar side of the border is practically complete

The joint use of the airport was agreed back in 2006

The Gibraltar border - EFE

 

The Gibraltar Government has met its obligations under the Tripartite Agreement made with the UK and Spain in Córdoba in September 2006 regarding joint use of the airport.

Work to build the new terminal on the Gibraltar side of the border is practically complete with just a freight warehouse still under construction along with facilities for private planes.

But on the Spanish side there is still a lack of agreement between AENA, the Spanish Airports Authority, and the La Línea de la Concepción Town Hall on the concession of the land which will allow the construction of the Spanish terminal. 

The Gibraltar side has spent 67 million € according to El País which notes the budget for the Spanish side is just seven million.

Gibraltar First Minister, Peter Caruana, has said there will be a gradual move to the new facilities this month.

The Spanish side is awaiting a deal for the re-establishment of flights to Madrid, or even other Spanish airports. Caruana considers that new airlines and flights will be established when the facilities are completed, and the tunnel being built under the runway is completed so traffic no longer will have to be stopped for every take off or landing.

La Linea says they want to start building as soon as possible, with plans for a three story terminal over 2,000 m2, with parking for between 300 and 400 cars. The Town Hall plans to run the car park to generate income as part of the deal with AENA. Once that deal is agreed, it’s hoped in a few days, construction will take about 12 months, and only when completed will Spain have complied with the agreement made in Córdoba back in 2006.

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Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life.

 

Too many of our gangland criminals are sitting in places like Marbella and Amsterdam, leading the rich life. An initiative I instigated at European level is to try and ensure the CAB model is replicated in every European country so we have a framework in place," he said. "Those engaged in gangland in Ireland who have used their assets to acquire properties abroad will discover there's no hiding place. We'll have sister organisations in every EU country who we can rely on to secure the assets of those who have gained from their criminality." And he pledged to continue to support the work of the Garda in continuing to tackle criminals who have ruined so many lives. COMPLACENT "They have no respect for human life and that lack of respect extends to the products they sell -- the drugs they bring to the street are destroying lives in our cities and towns," he continued. "They have done it over the decades, they continue to do it and they have no concern for the lives they're destroying. "It's my job to ensure that An Garda Siochana have the resources and the support from all political parties on all levels in the work they do." He was speaking at the launch of Paul Williams' new book Badfellas which was launched at the Harcourt Hotel last night. But he said he could "never be complacent" about the fight against organised criminality. "Unfortunately as one gang disappears and a group is sentenced to long terms of imprisonment, there always seems to be another group to fill their space," he added.

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National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria

 

National Police agents have broken up an organization dedicated to the sexual exploitation of Nigerian women in Almeria. Girls were forced into prostitution by threats, which included alleged practices of voodoo or abduction of family members. Ten people have been arrested in the Andalusian village of Roquetas de Mar in a raid in which seizures also included 20,000 euros in cash, a large number of passports of women from sub-Saharan origin and documentation relating to their criminal activity on the site of the Yegua Verde. The investigation began in late 2010 when police discovered the existence of a group of victims who had all been sexually exploited by the organization. The network, now dismantled, had been bringing women from Nigeria since 2005 and then the introducing them illegally into Spain before forcing them into prostitution. The organization, members of which were all Nigerian nationals, recruited women in various towns in Nigeria. The recruitment was carried out by relatives of the leaders of the organization. They also formed an association to attract women, called "The Nigerian Women’s Progressive Movement", through which they had even applied for grants from the Junta de Andalucía, although this was not granted. The women arrived in Spain by boat having spent many days walking through African deserts.  The victims were transported by land with false documents from Nigeria to Morocco, crossing through many other African countries such as Benin, Niger, Mali and Algeria. Once on the Moroccan coast, the organization made contact with citizens of Morocco, who in exchange for large sums of money, provided them with places on a boat which made the journey across to the peninsula. During this journey which could often last several months, the girls suffered numerous tragedies. After crossing the strait, and once in Spain, the network took many of the victims to Roquetas de Mar (Almería) where they were forced into prostitution with constant beatings and threats. Among the forms used by the criminals to coerce the women were included alleged practices of voodoo by which method they were made toto submit their will to the control of the organization. They were also threatened with the kidnap of their families in Spain and Nigeria. Debts of up to 50,000 euros The women were forced to work for more than two years until they eventually obtained freedom having paid of debt which could easily amount to 50,000 euros, although, depending on how the victims might behave they would often find the cost of their living expenses, clothing or other support dramatically increased. As a result of painstaking research, carried out by a National Police operation in Roquetas de Mar ten members of the network, six men and four women, have now been arrested and charged. In addition, agents found four homes and a brothel located in the Paraje de la Yegua Verde where they also found involved 20,000 euros in cash, numerous sub-Saharan women's passports, a large amount of documentation relating to the sexual exploitation of the women and various instruments of voodoo. The Police were assisted in their investigation by members of the Central UCRIF led by the Commissioner General of Immigration and Borders at the Provincial Police Station UCRIF Almeria.

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Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl. He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive

British actor Hugh Grant has become a father for the first time at the age of 51. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP

Film star turned anti-hacking activist Hugh Grant has become a parent for the first time at the age of 51.

The actor – best known for roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Bridget Jones's Diary – became father to a baby girl earlier this month.

The identity of the mother has not been revealed but a spokeswoman for the actor said they were on good terms.

She added: "I can confirm that Hugh Grant is the delighted father of a baby girl. He and the mother had a fleeting affair and while this was not planned, Hugh could not be happier or more supportive. He and the mother have discussed everything and are on very friendly terms."

Grant has had several high-profile previous relationships, including with Elizabeth Hurley and socialite Jemima Khan, from whom he split in 2007.

The actor has kept a low profile on the big screen in recent years. His last role was alongside Sarah Jessica Parker in 2009's Did You Hear About the Morgans? and his next project is to voice the role of a captain in animated film The Pirates!, due for release in spring.

Grant, who suspected that his own phone had been hacked, recently emerged as the unofficial spokesman for victims of phone hacking at the News of the World after railing against politicians for failing to curb the power of Rupert Murdoch. He wrote a New Statesman article after secretly recording a conversation with a former News of the World reporter, Paul McMullan, in which he alleged that ex-editor Rebekah Brooks knew about hacking at the paper.

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Taking a shot … Roger Moore, shown here in 1984 Bond film A View to a Kill, was less than impressed by Quantum of Solace

. Photograph: Allstar/Cinetext Collection

Former James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore has described the franchise's most recent outing, Quantum of Solace, as "a long, disjointed commercial".

 

The 84-year-old actor, who played 007 for 12 years between 1973 and 1985, was speaking to a reporter from Cambridge University's Varsity newspaper when he criticised the film, which was released in 2008 and starred Daniel Craig. Moore, who praised Craig's interpretation of Ian Fleming's secret agent despite disliking the film, also passed comment on another Bond - his own predecessor, Sean Connery. "Sean is a good actor," said Moore. "It's a pity I can't understand what he's saying."

 

Moore, known for his wry sense of humour, rounded off the interview by revealing that his favourite contemporary actor is Johnny Depp. "I wish he would change his name to something I can remember," he quipped.

 

The actor also identified his favourite Bond girl – his wife, Danish-Swedish multi-millionaire Kristina Tholstrup. He was visiting the university to give a speech at the student union, where he introduced himself as "Moore, Roger Moore".

 

Meanwhile, Daniel Craig will return as 007 in a new James Bond film, rumoured to be titled Skyfall, which will arrive in cinemas next year. Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris have all been linked with the film, which will be helmed by American Beauty director Sam Mendes. Official confirmation of the film's details will be announced at a press conference in London tomorrow

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Gangster suspect Freddie is bailed in Spain

 

SUSPECTED gangland boss 'Fat' Freddie Thompson is enjoying the Spanish sunshine after being freed on bail following a brief court appearance. Mr Thompson (30) was allowed to leave a Costa del Sol court a free man yesterday after more than a fortnight in jail in Ireland and Spain. He was told he was suspected of offences including drugs trafficking, money laundering and unlawful assembly, at the private court hearing in Estepona near Marbella. But he was spared more prison time after agreeing to bail conditions including the surrender of his passport and a ban on leaving Spain. Accomplices He has also been ordered to sign on at the court twice a month -- a requirement likely to bring him into contact with alleged accomplices John Cunningham and Christy Kinahan's sons Daniel and Christopher. Suspected gang boss Christy is in jail in Belgium after being extradited there in August. Mr Thompson's bail address has not been made public. A court source confirmed yesterday: "Frederick Thompson has been released on bail. "He has been informed he is under investigation for crimes including money laundering, unlawful assembly and drugs trafficking. Court "The three conditions of his bail are that he cannot leave Spain, hands in his passport to the authorities and signs on at court twice a month on days fixed by the court." Mr Thompson consented to extradition after being arrested in Dublin on a European arrest warrant on October 14. He spent 13 days in Cloverhill Prison before being flown to Spain last Friday. He is thought to have spent the weekend in prisons in Madrid and Alhaurin de la Torre near Malaga. He is said to be facing nine years in prison in Spain if convicted. Under Spanish law, he has not been officially charged with any crimes.

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Two British tour operators who come to Spain go bust

 

Two British tour operators who bring tourists to Spain have gone bust. Romano Travel ceased operations on October 26, a day after Airborn Limited. Romano Travel specialized in package holidays to Spain and Turkey and had been operating for 30 years. There were no more than half of dozen or so pending bookings from the Buckinghamshire firm which was fully protected with an ATOL licence and was a member of ABTA. Airborn Limited operated as Airborn Direct and Holiday Hero, and was based in Romford, Essex. It sold packages to Spain, Cyprus and Turkey, and sold its products to other operators. The CAA says there are many clients who have purchased flights with the firm using a credit card, and these flights should be operating normally. If in doubt passengers can confirm with the airline.

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Spain no longer the main destination for Brit's second homes

 

A new survey carried out by the HomeAway holiday rentals company and real estate group Savills International has concluded that Spain is no longer the first choice among the Brits for their second residence. 1,700 British property buyers were questioned. More Britons now prefer France because of its better economic stability and the moderation in its house prices. 40% of Brits who buy in Spain later rent out the property, sometimes obtaining an income of as much as 34,500 € a year, but 24% still say that Spain is the place they have chosen for retirement. Despite the change away from purchasing a second home, Spain continues to be the most popular holiday destination for the Brits. In France, Italy and Switzerland the British purchasers usually opt for restored old properties, while in the United States, Cyprus and also in Spain and Portugal, they tend to go for more modern or new constructions.

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Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, in the Southern Spanish region of Andalucia, was the city you avoided

The city of Malaga on the Mediterranean coast, in the Southern Spanish region of Andalucia, was the city you avoided. An industrial port encircled by a tired ring of Franco-era low-rise apartment buildings, it was always the city tourists dashed by on their way to Torremolinos or Marbella further down the Costa Del Sol.

Being out of favor from the 1970s onwards – when torrid overbuilding ruined the Spanish coast – has served Malaga well, and the tired city around the old port has gone through a revival in recent years: The pedestrian-only squares and streets are washed clean, filled with a mix of fashionable shops selling Ermenegildo Zegna suits and Omega watches, and old men hawking lotto tickets and blanched Andalucian almonds wrapped in paper cones—all in the shadow of the city’s baroque cathedral where the 17th century choir stalls are carved from mahogany and cedar.

The city is still no great beauty, but its unpretentious charm stems from the fact it remains a middle-class working port. The first night I arrived I dined on a plate ofpata negra (thinly-cut slices of cured ham, with a rich marble of fat, made from black pigs that feed on acorns) and some grilled sea bream served with French-cut beans. As I drank my copa de vino tinto, contentedly observing the town’s life from the sidewalk café, a guitar-banging gypsy dashed by, twitchy as a heroin addict, followed by an old man selling to local tapas bars the snails slowly crawling the walls of his white bucket.

Two newly-opened institutions have greatly contributed to Malaga’s cultural revival. The crowd-puller is the Picasso Museum, and I am sure it is a lovely collection, but, in all honesty, I couldn’t bear to see yet another second-tier Picasso Museum. (The Spanish painter, for all his greatness, would have benefitted considerably from being a little less prolific.)

My interest was, however, very much piqued by the new museum housing the collection of Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kaszon.

The Thyssen family, dating back to the 17th century, famously made their fortune supplying the industrializing German state with steel. But they were also great collectors of art, and the late Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza aggressively added works to his father’s stacks of Old Masters until the family’s 1,600-strong collection became the second largest private art collection in the world, second only to the British Royal Family Collection.

Ranging from Hans Holbein to Edward Hopper, the collection was originally housed in the family’s Villa Favorita in Lugano, Switzerland. (The Thyssen family left Germany for Switzerland in the 1930s.) In the mid 1980s, however, the Swiss unwisely barred the baron from expanding his museum at Villa Favorita—they were unimpressed he wanted to show more of his collection to the public.

Enter Spain. In 1985 the baron married his 5th wife, Carmen Cervera, a former Miss Cataluna, just as his battle with Swiss small-mindedness was heating up. The Catalan beauty was instrumental in getting her husband to move his art collection to more flexible Spain, where it now sits in its own museum next to the Prado in Madrid.

But Baroness Carmen Thyssen herself began collecting in the late 1980s, all under her husband’s tutelage, and she focused on Andalucian art of the mid-19th to early 20th century. It was this collection, critically praised throughout Spain when it was first exhibited in the late 1990s, which was squirreled away in the newly-converted palace called the Museo CarmenThyssen Málaga.

The mid-19th century Andalucian works in the collection were largely painted for middle-class European tourists of the day who wanted to return to London and Paris with reminders of their Andalucian holidays. So the first floor of the museum is devoted to these so-calledColumbrista painters, and provides a panoply of chocolate box scenes of idealized Andalucian landscape romanticism: sultry gypsy dancers and battling bandoleros in mountain caves and young fishermen wooing flower girls.

But as the 19th century progresses, so does the sophistication of the paintings. Two paintings in particular stayed with me long afterwards: the dark Columbrista painting of 1851 by the Frenchman, Alfred Dehodencq, painted for the duke occupying the Palace of San Telmo. It’s of a procession through the town during Holy Week. Hooded monks, like an all-black vision of the Ku Klux Klan, are the candle-carrying advance guard of the Mater Dolorosa, and they walk a gauntlet of rapturous women in black mantillas. Powerful stuff.

Later, in 1867, the Spaniard Mariàno Fortuny Marsal painted a bullfight with quick, almost impressionistic brushstrokes that seems to foreshadow what is yet to come in the art world. Called Exquisite Realism, or the Précieux Style, the intense brushstrokes of the “Bullfight” give a blurry sense of speed and movement at the breath-holding moment when a gored picador is carried dying from the ring and another picador is trying to weaken the bull with the hard thrust of his lance. It’s hard to tell who is going to live or die, and it’s a very modern work, in a 19th century way.

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Five arrested for road rage attack in Madrid

 

National Police have arrested five people, two of them underage, for a brutal road rage attack in a tunnel on the M-30 motorway in September. They were taken into custody after they were identified on video footage from security cameras in the tunnel. The aggressors were travelling in two vehicles on the evening of September 17, and were seen on film chasing another car into the tunnel, speeding ahead and cutting across it to bring it to a halt. The eight occupants of the two cars are then seen getting out of their vehicles and dragging the three people travelling in the third car out onto the roadway. They are beaten and kicked, and their car is vandalised. Some personal items were also stolen and one of the victims was stabbed in the back. The reason for the attack was because the victims had criticised their assailants for a dangerous manoeuvre a few kilometres previously. The Interior Ministry released news of the five arrests this week, and said the search continues to locate the three other suspects involved.

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32 arrests in luxury car scam in Spain

 

National Police in Spain have arrested 32 people accused of stealing 25 vehicles worth over a million € from counties such as Germany, Austria, France, Italy and Switzerland, to be sold on in Spain. The sale of the vehicles were helped by official dealers and the gang even had the collaboration of workers at several ITV/MOT centres which issued certificates to say the vehicles had no signs of being manipulated. The Ministry of the Interior says that the gang was made up mainly of Hungarians, Romanians and Spaniards, and the vehicles were sold on with false documents in dealers in Madrid, Santander, Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia, Alicante, Cuenca, Almería, Córdoba, Jaén and Granada.

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Spain's first private airport goes bust

 

Spain’s first private airport has closed. The Ciudad Real Airport was opened in December 2008, considering that it could act as a Madrid overflow for residents in the south, but that just has not happened. The very last flight, operated by Vueling and with just 45 passengers, took off for Barcelona on Saturday at 2,45pm. The airline lasted less than a year at the Ciudad Real airport which has been dogged by bad luck from the start. It had problems with the environmental agency in 2005 as it is located in a special bird protection area, there were complaints that as much as 50% of the building works were illegal, it needed a continued supply of capital, and the intervention of the Bank of Spain in the CCM Castilla La Mancha savings bank revealed more irregularities. The airport closes with the company, CR Aeropuertos, owing its creditors more than 290 million €. It opened with debts of 1.7 million, and a poster declaring ‘Our dreams take off’, can still be seen in the Cuidad Real City Hall. The airport had hoped to attract seven million passengers a year, and managed to attract the airlines, Air Nostrum, Air Berlin and Vueling, with the attraction of a AVE high speed train station at its door, and one of the longest runways in Europe, but the facility never attracted more than 500,000 travellers in the first year. It was not long before some flights had more crew than passengers. There has been a rash of private airport projects in Spain, started during the economic boom, and there were six projects in total in Cataluña, Aragón, Valencia, Murcia, Andalucía and in Ciudad Real. Only one has opened, and today, has now closed for business.

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Man stabs three people to death in Valencia

 

A man has stabbed three people to death and injured another two in a hamlet close to Valencia. It happened in Castellar-Oliverar to the south of the city on Friday night at about 9pm. A 48 year old is reported to be very seriously hurt and is in the intensive care unit of the La Fe Hospital. Another 44 year old man has injuries to his back and head, and is stable in the General Hospital. Two of the dead are father and his 13 year old son, while the third is a female pensioner. 33 year old local resident and neighbour to the dead and injured, named as J.P., has been arrested in connection with the triple homicide. Municipal sources say the man carried out his attacks in several flats connected to the stairway of his block after ringing the door bells. A local policeman then saw the man in the street, covered in blood, and asking what had happened. It seems that the case is linked to a dispute between the neighbours, and it is still unclear if the attacker is related in any way to the victims. Several neighbours have described him as ‘a normal man’ who was married and had a young daughter and who had never caused any problems.

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Qantas grounds all flights

 

Australia’s Qantas Airways grounded its entire fleet on Saturday over a bitter labour dispute in an unprecedented move that prompted the government to warn it feared for the airline’s future and would seek action to end the dispute. EDITOR’S CHOICE Strikes cost A$15m-a week in lost sales - Oct-28 US airlines earnings hit by fuel costs - Oct-27 Lufthansa scales back passenger forecasts - Oct-27 Virgin eyes tie-up with Etihad on BMI - Oct-14 Qantas overhauls lossmaking international operations - Aug-16 Qantas said it would lock out all employees from Monday night in a dispute affecting 70,000 passengers and 600 flights on one of the country’s biggest travel weekends. The grounding does not affect Qantas’ budget airline Jetstar or code-share flights on other airlines. Passengers will get a full refund for flights cancelled due to the industrial action, Qantas said on its website. Customers can also rebook their flights for a later date. The announcement took passengers and the government by surprise, embarrassing Prime Minister Julia Gillard who was hosting a Commonwealth leaders summit in Perth. Some of those leaders are booked to fly home on Sunday with Qantas. Unions, from pilots to caterers, have taken strike action since September over pay and opposing Qantas plans to cut its soaring costs, as it looks at setting up two new airlines in Asia and cutting back financially draining long-haul flights. “They are trashing our strategy and our brand. They are deliberately destabilising the company. Customers are now fleeing from us,” Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce said.

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Fresh appeal launched to find man living abroad accused of murdering Nantwich man

 

NEW appeal has been launched to capture a man wanted in connection with the murder of a Stapeley market trader. Christopher Guest More, 33, of Lymm, near Warrington, is one of 10 individuals wanted in the latest campaign being run by Crimestoppers and the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). He is suspected to have been part of a gang involved in the torture and murder of market trader and cannabis farmer Brian Waters, who was killed in a barn in Tabley, near Knutsford, in June 2003. Three of his alleged accomplices, Otis Lee Matthews, James Stuart Raven and John Godfrey Wilson, received life sentences for their part in the brutal attack. More is also sought in connection with the attempted murder of Suleman Razak and for the alleged false imprisonment and assault of other victims present during the incident. It is believed he fled to Spain just 24 hours after the incident. The appeal is part of crime charity Crimestoppers’ ‘Operation Captura’ campaign, which is trying to locate wanted criminals abroad. Crimestoppers’ regional manager Gary Murray, said: “This extremely heinous crime saw an individual lose their life and the person responsible needs to be tried for their actions. “I’d urge anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers on our 0800 555 111 number or use our online form on our website – we guarantee your anonymity.” Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Smith said: “Eight years on, we still remain determined and committed to finding and arresting Christopher More for his alleged involvement in the brutal murder of Brian Waters. “Cheshire Police will not close this case until the family of Brian Waters sees justice done.”

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'My limbs may fail me but my heart and soul will carry me through.' Those are the words that bring to an end another grueling training session at Luis' Scorpion Gym in Marbella.

'My limbs may fail me but my heart and soul will carry me through.'

Those are the words that bring to an end another grueling training session at Luis' Scorpion Gym in Marbella.

Now it's time to refuel before a brief rest. 'Train, eat, sleep, repeat' is another well-used refrain in Spain.

In training: Khalid Ismail trades blows with boxer Terry Dunstan in Marbella

Khalid Ismail, 31, one of Britain's best mixed martial artists, is in Marbella for a week-long training camp, which can include two sessions during the day.

 

It is part of a 16-week programme designed to get him in shape for his forthcoming fight.

 

Ismail has an team of nine, each with a specific job. From his diet to counting the number of punches during a session, nothing is left to chance.

 

Fortunately, Ismail embraces the training with obvious vigour. 'The competition side is brilliant,' he says. 'But I'm only going to be in the cage for 15 minutes so I have to love the training that goes into it. The fight is the icing on the cake.'

 

Fifteen minutes might be pushing it; Ismail's last fight lasted a mere seven seconds. Is it worth it even then? 'Yes. It's like passing an exam. You’ve done the hard work and the fight is the exam. As long as you’ve given 100 per cent, it's worth it.'

High regard: Ismail is regarded as one of Britain's leading mixed martial artists

 

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is a sport that continues to divide opinion. 

Branded brutal, violent and a form of 'human cockfighting', you don't have to go far to find a vociferous opponent.

 

But for Ismail, these observations are merely misconceptions.

  

'Any combat sport looks brutal from the outside but MMA is an art. There are so many different elements to it. It’s a skilled event with the most primed athletes in the world. It takes things from other sports so you're getting a new type of athlete.'

 

Specifically, an MMA fight can include aspects of boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, kickboxing, karate and judo.

A study has shown that the number of injuries are in line with other combat sports.

 

MMA has grown exponentially in America and Ismail believes it's only a matter of time before it has the same effect on these shores.

 

'I think MMA is going to be the biggest sport out there; it will overtake boxing. It’s a case of getting it out to the public so that they understand what's going on. Wrestling (Olympic freestyle, not WWE) for example, isn’t well known in the UK but it is in America; jiu-jitsu is the same. When people get the knowledge, it will explode.

Capturing the imagination: MMA has grown exponentially in America

'It's also about understanding the skills side of it. Wrestling and jiu-jitsu are excellent for self-defence for women so that’s another element that can come into it.'

The sport's reputation wasn't helped by reports last month that eight-year old children were taking part in an adult cage fighting event.

But Ismail believes it was the environment - and not the martial art - that was at fault.

'The footage of the eight-year-old boys from Preston fighting in a cage can look shocking. Even to someone in the industry it's an unusual sight to see. However there are deeper issues that need to be addressed rather than simply pulling the children out of the ring and condemning what happened.

'Children of this age can partake in mixed martial arts, but it needs to be suitably controlled and in and appropriate environment for under 18's. At this event you had an adult audience consuming alcohol with scantily clad women and that for me is what the main problem was. If they had that show in a well-lit leisure centre with three or four cages it would have been fine.

Multi-tasking: MMA incorporates several martial arts, including jujitsu

'There are MMA shows for kids in America all year round but they are for children only. Their parents are present, there are plenty of mats and cages and although they are fighting, it's a completely different atmosphere. The kids are not under any pressure, it's about them having fun.

'It also keeps them in the sport for as long as possible so that when they get to the troublesome years later on, they've got something productive in their life. If they're fighting at eight-years-old, they probably won't want to do it after a few years.

'The main issue is there needs to be a governing body that can regulate and control these kinds of events. The physical aspect in this specific footage that's emerged is no worse than what nine-year-olds will experience playing rugby. But there needs to be a stricter, all-encompassing watchdog to make sure it's done in the right environment and for the right reasons.'

Ismail, who has trained in martial arts since he was five, runs the LDG gyms in Essex which cater for youngsters. He also gives talks to young people about the benefits of martial arts.

Shocking: The video of two young boys fighting provoked outrage

He added: 'We do a lot of outreach work with youth centres where we link martial arts to real life. I present myself as a martial artist but show that I am educated and that I run a business and that my training has helped me get where I am.

'The discipline I learned through training and hard work is how I achieved my goals. We tell the kids they don't need to become a fighter but if they understand martial arts, it is a means to improve their life skills.

'Core values like discipline, respect, honour, truth and self-control can all be taught through martial arts. I was five when I started and it was fun. I enjoyed the training because we had a good instructor. When I was seven or eight I approached him and said I wanted to compete. But there was no pressure to win. There are no bad students, just bad teachers and if you have a bad teacher then it can get ugly.

'Through martial arts I stayed out of trouble and it always brought me back to training. I would say that martial arts saved me. I went through a bad time in my life but it was the only thing that was constant.'

Back in London, news reaches me that Ismail has suffered a serious injury. His fight scheduled for later this month has been cancelled and his career could be in jeopardy.

Fight: Ismail faces a long battle back to fitness after injuring his arm

'It happened during my last sparring session,' he confirms. 'I was wrestling and I heard something pop in my arm. I looked down and my bicep was near my shoulder; it was completely detached. I tried to train with it but when I tried to wrestle, I had no strength in my arm so I called it a day.

'I've had the bicep re-attached and my surgeon was happy with the operation. I'm in a full cast from my shoulder to my hand. 

'The surgeon said I had a 50-50 chance of carrying on my career. It depends on whether I can get the strength back in my arm, I think it's more mental than anything else.

'I'm normally so active, training twice a day and I'm still in fight mode so I need to channel that energy and use it positively to get me through this.

'We are all faced with adversity and I'll need my mental strength to get through rehab and to get back in the cage.'

Being so close to the end of a four-month training regime makes the injury even more galling. 

One thing though is for certain. Ismail's limb might have failed him but you guarantee his heart and soul will carry him through

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