Smurf theme park to be first for Spain

Authorities in Lleida announced Thursday that a Smurf theme park is planned for the city, a project that will see the first such theme park completely dedicated to the blue characters, known as the "pitufos" in Spanish. Even better, the theme park will create 200 jobs in the area.

Apparently the project will require set up fees of around $57.8 million, and expected revenues look to be around $17 million within the first year.

20 Minutos reports (in Spanish) that the Smurf theme park will be aimed at families with children aged two to 12 years and this will, apparently be a real first for Spain.  While the Smurfs have been popular on TV, film and in video games, and have generated a lot of success in toys, the Lleida park will be the first dedicated only to the Smurfs and another good option for attracting tourism to Catalonia.

Big Bang Schtroumpf, a park operated in France between the 1980s and 1990s, was Smurf-related but the blue people apparently vanished once the park was bought out by another company.

Of course, Smurfs have met fame in other ways in Spain in the past.

There was a publicity stunt back in 2011 for the Spanish premier of The Smurfs 3D movie, which turned into a successful marketing scheme for the previously white, now completely Smurf-Blue, Andalusian village of Júzcar. (See photo of Hotel Bandolero in the town on the right, courtesy the hotel).

The Local mentioned producers had said at the time that the village would return to its Andalusian "white village" status after the stunt, but villagers said "no," preferring to keep the bluer hue which has attracted around 200,000 tourists to the village. The first "Pueblo Azul" or "Blue Village" of Andalusia, if you will.

Now it seems Lleida is now set to profit from the Smurfs too, in probably an even bigger way.
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Smurf photo CC by-SA Pere López

Bankrupt businessman arrested after attempting to blow up PP Headquarters

A bankrupt businessman has been arrested after crashing a car, loaded with two cylinders of butane gas, into the national headquarters of the Popular Party in calle Genova, Madrid on Friday.  The man was arrested at 7.00 a.m. today.

The man was also carrying two bags, currently being analyzed by police specialists.  He told police that he had "lost everything" and that in the car there were "15 kilograms of ammonal and a timer scheduled to explode within 45 minutes."  (Ammonal is an explosive made up of ammonium nitrate and aluminum powder).

However, after an initial analysis was performed on the substance found hidden in the car, it was revealed that it is combustible, but not explosive, according to police.

Police sources say that the unnamed man could be suffering from mental problems. "Everything seems to indicate this is a personal action and has nothing to do with a terrorist action," said National Police spokesman Antonio Nevado in statements to RNE. 

Various security protocols are still in place.  According to an El Mundo reader who lives close to the scene of the incident, calle Genova is "empty" and is blocked off by police at each end, at the Plaza de Colón and Alonso Martínez  but there is something that apparently looks like a robot near the crashed vehicle. "I heard a noise in the early hours of the morning and then a tumult of people," he told the newspaper.

The police have activated the so-called 'Circular 50' protocol for attacks using explosive devices. Agents have cordoned off the building perimeter for security, and public and private traffic has been halted in the area.

As a precaution the subway service on line 4, between the San Bernardo and Goya stations, has been halted. In addition, there will be no stops in Alonso Martínez station, lines 5 and 10. 

Police have urged workers for the PP headquarters to stay away from the building until they have completed their analysis on the crashed vehicle.

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Photo: Twitter post: Estrellan un vehículo contra la sede del PP en Madrid que podría tener explosivos http://t.co/XeI5SbvxPc pic.twitter.com/G0K09URR3R
— Santiago Romero Ruiz (@atlante83) December 19, 2014

Translation of Tweet:

They crashed a vehicle against the headquarters of the PP in Madrid that could contain explosives

Sources:

El Mundo
RT

Animal circuses to be banned in Málaga, animal rights to be protected

An announcement was made on Sunday by the mayor of Málaga that animal circuses are to be banned in the southern Spanish city.  A further ban will be made on the pony ride carousels, popular at local fairs.

 

Photo of elephant in "training" - CC by-SA Heather Norwood PETA

Local government unveiled a new federation for the protection of animal rights in the city, which is the first of its kind in Andalusia, and third nationally.  The Federation of Protectors of the Province is to be dubbed "Tidus," after a dog who died after suffering severe injuries in a fire in Valencia.  Videos telling Tidus' story can be seen on YouTube here.
 
The circus ban in Málaga itself follows the lead of several other Spanish cities, Alicante, Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona, Vigo and Vitoria, who also decided to ban circuses that use animals in their acts.

Further work will be done on the proposal in the weeks ahead in order to reach the widest consensus possible. Meetings will shortly be held with the newly-formed Federation of Protectors of the Province and the prohibition is to be brought before the whole city council in January 2015.

Several animal rights groups have been demanding a ban on both animals in circuses and the pony rides saying that the training used is "aggressive" and produces "unnecessary animal suffering,"

The secretary of Tidus, and president of the Málaga Society for the Protection of Animals, Carmen Manzano, spoke to the media about other animal suffering, including that of dogs, saying "animal lovers and animal rights campaigners have had enough of knowing that there are breeding centres and kennels throughout Málaga where dogs are tied up day and night, often without shelter, mistreated and abandoned."

She explained that Tidus was set up show that the group "will not be silent until animals have the respect and love that, as living beings, they deserve."

 

Pony rides at the local fair in Málaga are to also be banned.

Photo: Copyright © Anne Sewell

Sources:

Gnomes
The Local

Less taxing: Madrid theater sells porn instead of tickets (Video)

An all-women theater group in Madrid, Spain was having problems selling tickets due to the high VAT charged on culture in the country.  They came up with a novel idea, in a much lower tax bracket.

It seems one of the areas most badly hit by the crisis and budget cuts in Spain is that of culture, and in this case, theater.  The ladies who run this theater company were finding it hard to sell tickets to their performances.  The VAT on theater tickets is that of a luxury item at a high 21 percent.  However, the VAT on porn magazines is a mere four percent, which makes one think it was men to set the standards.

Anyway, what they did was to print up a whole bunch of porn mags which are sold at the nearby magazine outlets.  People then show the magazine when attending the theater.  Now everyone is happy, and some are no doubt a little more excited than others...

World's largest tortilla a dud, says Guinness

It seems attempts in the city of Vitoria, up in northern Spain, to enter the iconic Guinness Book of Records by cooking the world's largest tortilla have failed.

Not only did opposition groups in the city say the attempt was "ridiculous," it seems the people at Guinness Book of Records rejected the whole thing, as the tortilla was apparently not cooked correctly.

What the Guinness people said was that they didn't accept the way the tortilla (or potato omelette) was cooked in "precooked portions and assembled like a puzzle."  That is just not on and doesn't comply with the rules.

Apparently what the chefs did was to fry the potato, onion and egg mix in normal-sized tortilla pans, producing rectangular slabs of cooked omelette, which they then fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle to create one gigantic omelette.

Antxon Belakortu, representing the Basque nationalist party Bildu in the town called the whole thing "a circus," while Patxi Lazcoz, from the Basque wing of Spain’s Socialist party, said the whole endeavor was a "scam" adding that Vitoria will now be christened "the capital of the ridiculous" in the worldwide media.

Spanish news agency 20 Minutos referred to the whole thing as "tortillagate."

However, it seems the Popular Party mayor of Vitoria, Javier Maroto, said just having attempted the record was something "positive" for the city and that it was "worth the effort". The record-breaking attempt happened on August 2nd and was supervised by Spanish chef Senén González, who received a 2010 Spanish award for the best tortilla.  The omelette itself comprised a massive 1,600 kg of potatoes, 840 kgs of eggs, and 150 litres of olive oil.

The good side is that the tortilla fed a hungry crowd in the Plaza de Virgen a massive10,000 portions once it was complete.  The bad side was that González had tweeted about how happy he was after the event and will probably be really disappointed now Guinness has failed to confirm the record attempt.

The video below shows the creation of the monster tortilla (Spanish language).  You can see Guinness' point, however, as the whole thing would have needed to be cooked in that giant tortilla pan to be a true record.


Spanish language sources:

El Correo
20 Minutos
The Local (English)

Photo: 
1. Screengrab from the above video on YouTube.
2. Image of tortilla portions CC by-SA Tamorlan

End of an Era: Marín iconic flamenco doll factory closes down, cannot fight competition

 

The Marín doll factory has been producing beautiful and detailed flamenco dolls for the last 86 years.  Finally the factory, located in Chiclana, Andalusia, has had to give up the fight, claiming it is a victim of competition from Asia, and particularly China.

The dolls produced at Marín are beautifully detailed, unique and well-known internationally, but after the last ten years of struggling to keep the business going, they now have to give up.  At its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, the factory employed more than 100 workers and were producing approximately 350,000 dolls per year.  Back in 2009, the workforce at the Marín factory had to be cut from what was then 17 to only five workers.  Now, the end has finally come.

The famous dolls produced by the company have featured in various films by top Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar, at an MTV awards ceremony in Barcelona and even on English television shows.  On the international level, the dolls have also been honored, along with doll maker José Marín Verdugo, by winning top prize at the International Dolls Biennale in Krakow.  Photos of some of the various designs are included here.

While it will be difficult to buy these iconic and beautiful dolls in future, except possibly at outrageous prices on eBay, a museum will continue to display examples of the work in Chiclana.  An introduction to the museum can be viewed below in the Spanish language.

It is regretted that in future the only flamenco dolls on sale in most shops in Spain will be the cheap and shoddily-made imitations, mass-produced in China.



Spanish sources:

La Voz Digital
El Pais
The Local

Photos:

Marín muñecas flamencas

Lanzarote Art in Nature: A Visit to the César Manrique Foundation [Video]

The César Manrique Foundation has set up a fascinating museum and art gallery on the island of Lanzarote which
offers the possibility to visit an artistic home, quite literally
embedded in nature.

This beautifully designed building was the artist’s home and studio and is located in Taro de Tahiche on this Spanish island.... read more

Shakira asks press to not photograph her son

In an interview on Sunday, Shakira told the Spanish news daily ABC that she wants the press to please leave her son alone.

Popular singer Shakira is married to the Spanish footballer, Gerard Piqué and they have a son, Milan, who is almost two years old, plus another baby on the way.

When Milan was born on January 22nd, 2013, Shakira shared an image of the baby, sleeping in his father’s arms, on the Unicef website, together with a request that people donate to the UN children’s agency.
 
She has shared some other photos of Milan with her many fans on the social media sites. However, now Milan is growing, she says she would prefer he had more privacy.

When the family recently attended the opening of a children’s store in Barcelona recently, Shakira refused to have photos taken of her son. She told ABC that she liked being able to share with fans and the people who have always supported them in the experience of being parents. She also enjoyed sharing photos of the first few months of her son’s life, but added that now Milan is growing and has stopped being a baby, she would prefer if the press didn’t focus so much on him, saying she wants him to have a normal childhood.

Shakira went on to explain that Milan doesn’t know that his father and mother are famous, saying that he recognizes them on TV and in ads and points, saying, "Mama! Papa!" but does not realize that other children do not see their parents on a “toy box.”

The Grammy Award-winning singer is apparently in the last stages of her second pregnancy and expects to release a new album after the baby’s birth. At present, Shakira is taking things easy, resting in preparation for the arrival of their new baby and says she is doing her best to keep fit and healthy. 

Milan’s parents, Shakira, 37, and Piqué, 27, originally met at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when Piqué made an appearance in the World Cup theme song “Waka-Waka," included below. They went public with their relationship in early 2011.



Sources: 
ABC (Spanish)
The Local
International Business Times

Family murder: Dad kills two daughters, then self in Asturias, Spain

In a tragic murder-suicide scenario on Thursday this week, the 55-year-old father of two young daughters allegedly murdered the two girls, aged seven and nine, before taking his own life.

It happened in San Juan de la Arena in the Soto del Barco municipality of Asturias in Spain.  The father, José Ignacio Bilbao Aizpurúa, is alleged to have murdered his two daughters, Amets and Sara, 9 and 7 years old respectively, in his apartment before committing suicide by throwing himself off a viaduct in the town.

Apparently the man is separated from his wife, Bárbara García Martínez, and shared custody of the two girls.  He was supposed to return them to their mother on Thursday, but when they did not arrive home, the mother reported this to the police.  On entering the man's apartment, police found blood on the doormat and an iron bar covered in blood inside, as well as the bodies of the two children.  The Civil Guard later found the body of the father under a viaduct on the nearby A-8 motorway.

Neighbors described the father as a sad person who hardly spoke to anyone. The owner of a bar in the town where the man regularly drank coffee, Josefa Barriga Garrido, said: "He was a person who did not speak with anyone. I think that the only person he spoke to was my husband. When my husband learned of the incident he said that it was impossible. He did not believe the father would have done this."

Apparently when the couple divorced a year ago, the father returned to the Basque Region.  However, around three months ago he returned and rented the apartment in the town.  Under the custody agreement, he had the right to see the children on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from four to six in the afternoon.

Due to his quiet nature, most neighbors in the surrounding area did not even know he had two daughters.  On hearing of the tragedy, a teacher at the school the girls attended called it "so cruel and absurd."

Spanish sources:
La Nueva España 1
La Nueva España 2
The Local

Photo:   
Top image screengrab from video
View of San Juan de la Arena CC by-SA Asturkian

Two pit bulls ate owner's dead body in caravan in Mallorca

Two purebred pit bull terrier dogs, locked inside a mobile home on the island of Mallorca, ate the body of their owner after he died of natural causes. 

Authorities believe the dogs ate the man's remains due to hunger, or that thirst may have caused them to need to drink his bodily fluids.

According to an autopsy run on the 65-year-old German man, named only as Jürgen G., he had apparently been dead for several weeks.  It it not sure how long after his death the dogs, who could not get out of the caravan, ate his remains in an attempt to survive.

One of the dogs had passed away, while the second was very upset and had to be immobilized and taken away by specialists.

They were found together with the man's body on Monday this week, locked in the caravan which was parked near a sewage plant in Ses Salines, Mallorca. The remains were found by a friend of the dead man, who was concerned that he had not been able to contact him for some time and who then contacted Spain's Civil Guard.


Spanish sources:

La Vanguardia
Diario de Mallorca

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Beverly & Pack

Airborne archaeology uncovers 2,000-year-old gold mines in Spain

Archaeologists, using plane-mounted lasers, have found a 2,000-year-old network of gold mines in north-western Spain. 

Located in the Eria Valley in the spectacular Las Médulas region of León, the mining network is considered to be the largest opencast gold mine of its type dating from the Roman Empire. The network of mines had remained hidden and overgrown over the centuries.

Photo : J. Fernández Lozano et al.

Researchers from the University of Salamanca discovered the gold mining network using a remote sensing technology known as LiDAR while making an aerial survey of the area. Science Daily reports that LiDAR operates by illuminating targets using a laser beam to measure distance.

The LiDAR technology was originally developed by NASA back in the late 1960s, when it was used to track the retreat of the ice in the Arctic and the composition of the oceans.  The technology today is used with either planes or drones.

Javier Fernández Lozano, a geologist with the University of Salamanca, is co-author of a paper about the discovery which has been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Fernández Lozano said of the technology, "Unlike traditional aerial photography, this airborne laser detection system allows the visualization of archaeological remains under vegetation cover or intensely plowed areas."

This is apparently the first time the LiDAR "geo-archaeology" method has been used in Spain.

Researchers wrote in the paper, "Our intention is to continue working with this technique to learn more about mineral mining in the Roman Empire and clear up any mysteries such as why Rome abandoned such a precious resource as gold from one day to the next."

Nature World News reported the researchers also found evidence that the Romans had diverted rivers in order to supply water to the mines back in the first century BC. This appeared to follow similar practices by the Egyptians in North Africa.

"The volume of earth exploited is much greater than previously thought and the works performed are impressive, having achieved actual river captures, which makes this valley extremely important in the context of Roman mining in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula," Fernández Lozano concluded. 

Spanish sources:
Sinc
Diario de Leon

Photo of Roman gold coin: CC by-SA Kaly99

'Ebola Heroes' granted citizenship by Spain

Two African missionaries, who played a role in the recovery of nursing assistant Teresa Romero from the Ebola virus, were granted Spanish citizenship in Madrid on Friday.

Paciencia Melgar Ronda (47) from Equatorial Guinea (pictured on the right wearing green) and 36-year-old Helena S. Wolo from Sierra Leone were granted citizenship by Spain after traveling to Madrid to donate blood plasma for the treatment of Romero.

Ronda contracted the virus working as a nurse in Liberia and volunteered to be used as a test case, so doctors could observe the long-term evolution of her recovery from Ebola.  Wolo traveled to Spain from Liberia and donated plasma which was then used in the treatment of Romero. According to doctors involved in the case, the two nurses' assistance had been vital to Romero's eventual recovery from Ebola.

Romero was the first person known to contract Ebola outside of Africa, after treating two Spanish missionaries who were repatriated from Sierra Leone, suffering from the virus.  Both missionaries eventually died.  Romero recovered and left hospital on November 5th. 

Ongoing Ebola news:

On Thursday last week, a Spanish health worker from the Spanish NGO Médicos sin Fronteras was repatriated from Mali after suffering a "high risk" needle-stick injury treating a patient with Ebola in Bamako, capital of Mali.

The health worker was admitted to Madrid's Carlos III hospital where she has been quarantined, but so far is asymptomatic, according to doctors.

Spanish sources:

20 Minutos
RTVE
The Local

Photo: Screengrab from YouTube video

Spanish TV star Koldo Losada found dead, partner suspected

After receiving an ominous warning via Facebook from his husband, the body of Spanish TV star Koldo Losada was found in their Bilbao home, together with the corpse of their dog, Gaston, on Wednesday. 

Losada's long-term partner, Jon Ezkurdia, has been arrested, suspected in the killing of his partner.

Losada and Ezkurdia have apparently been together for 20 years.  However, Ezkurdia was arrested Wednesday night in Bilbao on suspicion of murder, after his husband's body was found in a pool of blood in their apartment by friends.  Their white Westie terrier, Gaston, was also found dead, apparently strangled.

Losada, 54, is well known to millions of Spaniards from his appearances in several popular TV series, including Cuéntame, Águila Roja and Amar en Tiempos Revueltos.  After being together for many years, the couple married two years ago.  However, friends of the couple said that they were going through difficult times and were apparently in the process of separating.

The couple were often seen together in a bar called "La Gallina Ciega" (the blind hen), which is run by 54-year-old Ezkurdia. However, apparently the bar has been closed since September this year.

La Vanguardia (in Spanish) reports that Ezkurdia posted a rather cryptic and sinister status on Facebook a couple of hours before Losada died, together with a photo of himself wearing a clown's makeup, with a wide, red painted mouth and black eyes.  The message, posted at 5:34 pm on Wednesday, read, "The blind hen began in silence and will exit the same way. Thank you for everything you have given us."

Reportedly, Ezkurdia had been see drinking on Wednesday in the centre of Bilbao with some female friends.  The friends were concerned about his depressed state and decided to later check up on him in the couple's home.

On arrival at the apartment, they found a reportedly very drunk Ezkurdia, receiving medical attention from an ambulance crew.  Worried about this, the women then entered the couple's apartment and found Losada's body, lying in a pool of blood in the hallway and with signs of a violent attack.  It was in the bin outside that the body of their dog, Gaston, was discovered, together with various items that might have been connected to the crime.

A friend of the couple told ABC that it was impossible that Ezkurdia could have killed Koldo and Gaston, adding,“They were always out having a beer together. They were a wonderful couple, and got on really well. We just don’t understand what could have happened.”

A waiter working at the bar said “I’ve known Jon for nine years; he’s a very loving man and always quick with a compliment."

It is unknown what pushed Ezkurdia to first post the ominous Facebook message and then allegedly to kill Losada.

Koldo Losada was born on November 13, 1960 in Getxo, Vizcaya, País Vasco, Spain and died on November 19, 2014 in Bilbao, Vizcaya, País Vasco, Spain.

Besides his appearances in the popular TV series Cuéntame, Águila Roja and Amar en Tiempos Revueltos, he was also known for his appearances in the films, Mystikal (2010), No controles (2010), The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013).

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Photo: Screengrab from YouTube video

Spain seizes Greenpeace ship 'Arctic Sunrise' off Canary Islands

The iconic Greenpeace vessel, "Arctic Sunrise" has been seized by Spanish authorities, after activists approached the Repsol oil exploration vessel as part of their recent protests.  Arctic Sunrise has been in the area for several weeks, protesting against oil exploration in the Canary Islands.

Photo: Courtesy Greenpeace España 

Spanish News in English recently reported on the ongoing protests by Greenpeace against oil exploration off the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura and Lanzarote.  In a recent incident, several Spanish naval vessels rammed into a dinghy manned by Greenpeace activists, injuring four, one of them critically.

According to Spanish authorities a "case had been opened against Greenpeace for not respecting an exclusion zone banning navigation and fishing," however, they did not confirm whether the ship had been sequestered.

According to the ship's captain, the vessel "cannot move until a €50,000 ($63,000) bail is paid."  Spokesman, Julio Barea, told AFP Spanish authorities were holding the ship at Arrecife.

The previous incident occurred on Saturday when activists were using smaller boats to approach the oil exploration vessel belonging to the Spanish oil company, Repsol, which was about to start oil exploration efforts on Tuesday.

Three Spanish navy boats were captured on video ramming one of the activists' vessels and a 23-year-old female Italian protester fell in the water and was injured, her leg broken, in the incident.

While Greenpeace says it only wished to protest peacefully, the Spanish defence ministry alleged that Greenpeace was intending to board the Repsol vessel, which would violate a maritime exclusion zone.

The people of the Canary Islands themselves protested against the oil exploration, citing the possible damage to the ecology and tourism on the islands, but without success against the government's plans.

Spanish Sources:

Greenpeace (1)

Greenpeace (2)

El Mundo

Second photo of Arctic Sunrise public domain by Michael Sample

 

Latest news

End of an Era: Marín iconic flamenco doll factory closes down, cannot fight competition

 

The Marín doll factory has been producing beautiful and detailed flamenco dolls for the last 86 years.  Finally the factory, located in Chiclana, Andalusia, has had to give up the fight, claiming it is a victim of competition from Asia, and particularly China... read more

Shakira asks press to not photograph her son

In an interview on Sunday, Shakira told the Spanish news daily ABC that she wants the press to please leave her son alone... read more

Family murder: Dad kills two daughters, then self in Asturias, Spain

In a tragic murder-suicide scenario on Thursday this week, the 55-year-old father of two young daughters allegedly murdered the two girls, aged seven and nine, before taking his own life... read more 

Spanish TV star Koldo Losada found dead, partner suspected


After receiving an ominous warning via Facebook from his husband, the body of Spanish TV star Koldo Losada was found in their Bilbao home, together with the corpse of their dog, Gaston, on Wednesday... read more

Spain seizes Greenpeace ship 'Arctic Sunrise' off Canary Islands
The iconic Greenpeace vessel, "Arctic Sunrise" has been seized by Spanish authorities, after activists approached the Repsol oil exploration vessel as part of their recent protests. Arctic Sunrise has been in the area for several weeks, protesting against oil exploration in the Canary Islands ... read more

Massive fire rips through meat factory in Burgos, Spain
It was apparently a short circuit, combined with ammonia, that caused a huge fire to rip through the Campofrio meat products factory in Burgos on Sunday. While no one was hurt, the jobs of 1,000 workers are at stake... read more 

Greenpeace boat rammed by Spanish Navy, four injured (Video)
Greenpeace España launched a protest Saturday against oil exploration off the Canary Islands of Spain. A Spanish navy boat rammed their dinghy, injuring four activists, one badly ... read more

Spain Parliament to vote on recognition of Palestinian state
Spain's Parliament will next week be voting as to whether the country will recognize Palestine as a state. This after Sweden unilaterally recognized the Palestinian state and the UK and France are symbolically looking in that direction ... read more

Spain's Civil Guard uses superheroes to educate kids on Internet risks
Using the popular and enigmatic characters from the movie world of superheroes, along with quite a few Disney characters, the Civil Guard in Spain has begun a new set of workshops in Madrid aimed at informing third and fourth grade children about the dangers of the Internet .. read more

Featured photo:

 

Protesters for Palestine in Fuengirola, Spain - photo copyright Anne Sewell - Spanish News in English