Man receives 2 year sentence for stealing 5 euros from Galicia bank

With the current and continuing economic crisis, many people are living under constant financial stress. In this case, a bank customer, who discovered that bank charges had decimated his remaining small balance, lost his temper and stole €5 ($6.20) from the bank counter.

It happened in a branch of a bank located in calle Villa de Negreira in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.  The customer wanted to withdraw his remaining balance of €5 and approached the bank teller.

On being told that bank charges had not only wiped out his remaining funds, but had actually put his account in the red, he lost his temper and demanded an explanation.  On hearing the commotion, the bank manager came out to try and calm the situation, but the man pushed his fist into the manager's face, saying he was going to "beat the hell out of him."  Two other staff members came to the manager's aid, without any success at calming the customer down.

Eventually the man pushed them all aside, jumped over the bank counter and grabbed a €5 note from the drawer.  He then fled from the bank.

When the case hit the court recently, the man admitted he was guilty and received a two year jail sentence for aggravated robbery.


Spanish sources:
La Voz de Galicia
The Local

Photo: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported JLogan

Who needs Monopoly when you can play Corruptopolis?

Marina Belda, 22, a student in industrial design in the Valencia region of Spain, is hoping a game she has designed will make her some honest money.  The game, "Corruptopolis," involves figures from Spain's most notorious corruption scandals, more of which seem to crop up every day.  

The aim of the game is to take on one of these corrupt and heinous roles, with the objective of reaching the fictional city of Villa Corrupta, which sounds a little like Madrid. Unlike Monopoly or other, rather more tame, board games, players work in teams, answering questions about the various high-profile scandals that have darkened Spain's doors, including the huge Pokémon case in Galicia, and the notorious Gürtel kickbacks scheme.

Belda told the media that as she saw the new corruption cases continue to appear in the current political situation on an almost weekly basis, she got inspired to use these incidences in a more positive way. Her timing is apt, with the recent public apology by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy after two more corruption scandals reared their ugly heads, comprising of yet more back handers and the use of "secret" credit cards.

She now hopes to raise enough money (in a far more legal fashion) using crowd-funding via the Verkami website to actually produce the board game. So far Belda has raised more than €1,300 ($1,600) of the €6,500 she needs to be able to release Corruptopolis to the world.

Anyone wishing to help can visit the Verkami web page to make a donation and reap various benefits. The video below gives more detail about the corruption involved and the game itself:

 

Teresa Romero, Spain's Ebola nurse, heads home today

Teresa Romero, the 44-year-old nursing assistant considered to be the first to catch Ebola outside Africa, has received the all-clear from doctors and will be heading home on Wednesday.

 

Romero caught the virus while caring for Manuel García Viejo, one of the two missionaries infected with Ebola while treating patients in West Africa.  Viejo had been repatriated to Spain and died shortly after arrival in the country.

Romero was kept in isolation at the Carlos III hospital in Madrid from October 6th and has, with the help of doctors, managed to both survive and recover from the serious virus.

Dr. Jose Ramon Arribas, head of the hospital's infectious diseases unit, said as a press conference on October 20th,"The criteria set by the World Health Organization for curing the Ebola virus have been fulfilled. She is now cured."

There has been a further precautionary period of observation since then but she has now completely recovered from the virus. Romero told staff at the hospital that she is planning to visit her home town of Becerreá, near Lugo in the north-west of Spain.

While Romero has recovered completely, lawyers are finalizing a complaint against the Department of Health for the killing of Excalibur, the family dog, that was put down as a precautionary measure once Romero had been diagnosed with Ebola. Romero's husband, Javier Limón, said when leaving the hospital after completing a period of quarantine, Javier Rodriguez of the health department had killed his pet, something he saw as "a performance" and not a sacrifice.

Spanish Sources:

Telecinco
El Pais

Erasmus student who fell from Seville bridge taking 'selfie,' has died

It was reported yesterday that a Polish Erasmus student, attempting to take a "selfie" on the emblematic Triana Bridge in Seville, Spain, had fallen and was in a critical condition. Further reports today state that unfortunately the student did not survive the fall.

 

Digital Journal yesterday reported the accident that happened to the 23-year-old Erasmus student, now named as Sylwia Rajchel from the Murcia University, who was apparently on her first visit to the historic city.  While trying to take a "selfie" of herself, including the iconic bridge, she accidentally tumbled over a low stone wall and fell seven meters down to the concrete bank lining of the Guadalquivir River below.  This happened early on Sunday morning. 

Emergency services were called, who found Rajchel in a state of cardio-respiratory arrest and paramedics immediately performed CPR at the scene.  They then transferred her to the Virgen del Rocio Trauma Hospital in the city. At that stage, her condition was listed as "extremely critical." Despite the efforts of the doctors, they were, regrettably, unable to save her.

Seville mayor, Juan Ignacio Zoido, told the media in a statement, "We did everything we could."

It should be noted that according to authorities, the area in question is not protected by any kind of fencing or other security measure, as the site is heritage listed.


Spanish sources:

La Verdad
ABC
The Local 

Photo of Triana Bridge CC-by-SA Benurs

E-cigarette business burning out in Spain

When the sale of e-cigarettes started in Spain, it was an extremely popular product and shops popped up all over the country. However, the tides have turned and sales of the once popular product have decreased dramatically. Now 95 percent of the shops selling the product have closed.

 Photo CC-by-2.0 Jonny William

There were apparently 3,000 shops selling the product this time last year.  However now, according to ANCE, Spain's national e-cigarettes association, there are only around 300 shops still up and running.  ANCE cites lobbying by pharmaceutical companies as one of the main causes of the decline in sales.

Alejandro Rodríguez, Vice President of ANCE, told the media,"There has been a very intense attack by pharmaceutical companies which has generated bad publicity in the media."

The media statement comes after several emails, leaked from the top pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, have shown the company was lobbying for harsher regulation of e-cigarettes. As the product has been advertised as a way to stop smoking, the company wants them regulated as medicines.  E-cigarettes would then have to compete with other products used for quitting smoking, such as nicotine gum.

While those regulations are not yet in force, Spain has banned the use of the controversial product in public places, including hospitals and schools, due to their possible and so far unknown health risks.

However, it is apparently not only the interference by the pharmaceutical companies that is causing problems.  According to a spokesperson from ANCE when the products were first released, there were far too many shops opened in Spain in too short a time.  For example, one Italian man who moved to Spain to open an e-cigarette store was shocked at seeing three similar stores on the same Madrid street, within a distance of around 200 meters. He told El Confidencial that it was madness, saying, "As soon as I saw it I knew that things would turn to shit for most of us," he said.

He added that initially there was a boom for the product in Spain.  People believed it was like a magic wand allowing them to give up smoking, but this wasn't the case.  At first it seemed the market was virtually infinite and that there would be plenty of business to go around.  He also said that many of their clients have now gone back to normal tobacco, although no one is ready to admit it.

Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol also had a surfeit of e-cigarette stores, with three or four opening within a radius of a couple of blocks in a short time. It wasn't long before most of these stores also closed.

Rodríguez from ANCE mentioned that another factor was that many of the staff in the stores were inexperienced and didn't know how to advise their clients on the use of the products.

Around the world, governments have been having problems deciding how to regulate e-cigarettes.  With supporters claiming they are a safer alternative to normal cigarettes and a great tool in helping smokers to quit, the World Health Organization disagrees, advising against them as their potential health risks "remain undetermined."

According to ANCE, around 900,000 Spaniards use e-cigarettes on a regular basis, although there are no official statistics available.  Under the strict anti-smoking laws in Spain, among the strongest in Europe, smoking is banned in restaurants, bars, discos, airports and casinos and is also banned outside children's playgrounds and hospitals. In the case of restaurants and bars that have outdoor terraces, clients are often allowed to smoke there.

Spanish sources:

El Confidencial
The Local

Woman almost beheaded in Fuengirola, Spain, killed by brother

A 22-year-old Ecuadorian man is in custody after confessing to killing his sister following an argument.

 

Photo by and copyright © Spanish News in English

Police discovered the body of the 25-year-old woman, known only as Erika, at 9:15 a.m. on Monday in the family's beachfront apartment on the Paseo Maritimo in Los Boliches, close to the Confortel Hotel in Fuengirola.  Police had been alerted by calls from concerned neighbours who had overheard the argument.

At 9:39 a.m., the dead woman's brother phoned the police and confessed to the killing. Shortly afterwards police arrested the man and he is currently in custody.

A forensic team from the National Police inspected the property and removed the body at 11:45 a.m. 

Police found the body of Erika in a bedroom, although they believe the woman was killed in the bathroom of the apartment and some of the blood had been cleaned up by the brother.

According to police sources, the woman had suffered a violent death. Diario Sur reports her throat had been deeply cut.  Other media sources quote the murder as a beheading..  Spanish media outlets have noted that the family is of Ecuadorian origins and that the young man apparently had a restraining order against him for mistreating their mother.