Four Brits arrested in Spain for marijuana ‘mail-order’ business

Four Britons have been arrested by Spanish police in Bullas in the region of Murcia after post office staff noticed a suspicious aroma.

Photo via Flickr by Global Panorama / CC BY-SA 2.0

It turns out the four Brits had been cultivating cannabis in two greenhouses on the outskirts of the city and sending packages of their product to the U.K. and Ireland via the normal postal service. Staff in the Bullas post office called the police after they noticed that regular packages were being sent to the U.K. and Ireland, some of which gave off a strong aroma of marijuana. In each case the packages were sent with no return address, but with a sticker printed with a logo.

INFOMIX MURCIA :
Cae en Bullas una red que cultivaba y traficaba con cannabis a nivel internacional .https://t.co/Pb34NtnmfJ

— SupermixRadioMurcia (@SupermixMurcia) November 18, 2016

In an operation dubbed "Magic", the Guardia Civil carried out surveillance at the post office and saw a British couple posting the packages. Officers then tracked the couple to a rural property on the outskirts of the town where they discovered two large greenhouses, used for the cultivation of the marijuana, along with drying machines and the equipment necessary to process the weed. Two more Britons were also arrested in the bust for their involvement in the cultivation and trafficking of marijuana, which was then sold on the Internet.

Marijuana is decriminalized in Spain and can be grown for personal use and smoked in the home with no problems. However, cultivating cannabis on a large scale and selling it is a crime and running a mail order service with the drug is a definite no-no.

Source: La Opinión de Murcia

Museo Vostell Malpartida: Art in Fluxus in Cáceres, Spain

Situated a short distance outside of the city of Cáceres in Extremadura, Spain, is a fascinating and unique art museum.

German artist Wolf Vostell has turned an 18th century wool washing house into a strange and unusual artistic display. 

Vostell is one of the early associates of what is called the “Fluxus" movement. This group has explored using various different techniques, blending noise and music, video and design with more typical artistic mediums to create something different. The word “Fluxus" comes from the Latin word, meaning "flux" or "flow," and this artistic work certainly flows, if in a very unusual way.

Stork art by Francisco Mingorance. Storks nesting on sculpture outside Vostell-Malpartida Museum, Spain.
V @NHM_WPYpic.twitter.com/MOBBb2paXN

— Katharine Francis (@KatharineTace) September 7, 2015

Vostell (1932-1998) took over the building, situated in the Los Barruecos de Malpartida natural park, in 1976 and created an avant-garde and fascinating exhibition which joins together life, nature and art. The three big collections inside the building cover a floor space of approximately 14,000 square meters. One is the "Wolf and Mercedes Vostell Collection," which is covered in this article, and the other two are the "Fluxus Donation Gino di Maggio Collection" and the "Conceptual Artists' Collection."

Highly representative of Vostell's work, the installation uses cars to make up several different displays, including "Auto Fever (1973)," the totally fascinating "Fluxus Buick Piano," which can be seen in the video included below, and "Breakfast of Leonardo da Vinci in Berlin in 1998."

Descobrindo Cáceres - Malpartida de Caceres - Museu Vostell ... https://t.co/pZxGdlEAFO pic.twitter.com/39oUC4MtMB

— Os Papa Trilhos (@nenucopastelita) July 15, 2016

It is difficult to describe the awesome surrounding sound, colors and images that are seen on viewing Vostell's installations. He has combined the old cars with sound and television, using the Fluxus technique, to create an amazing experience, which according to Vostell defines our current society.

As one walks through the museum, televisions screen videos, closely tied to that particular exhibit, and the often discordant sounds surround a visitor, taking them almost to another world. The experience brings to mind science fiction films of recent years, featuring future dystopian societies, with a little chaos in the background.

There are also several sculptures by Vostell in the grounds surrounding the museum, including one 16-meter creation (above) which was created using the remains of a Russian Mig-21 aircraft, in combination with two cars, three pianos and several computer monitors (pictured bottom of article). The name of this creation is “Why Did the Process Between Pilate and Jesus Last Only Two Minutes?” Close by is a second sculpture called “Car in Concrete.”

The Vostell Malpartida Museum in Cáceres, Spain, is a must-visit for anyone interested in art, particularly the fascinating Fluxus technique. Enjoy a virtual visit to the museum in the video included below.

Photos: by Solyroca1000, Hans Peter Schaefer and Luis Pita Moreno / CC BY-SA 3.0

Spanish media accidentally kills off Swedish princess

Princess Birgitta of Sweden was shocked and angry to find out that, according to some Spanish media outlets, she was dead.

One of the largest multi-media groups in Spain, Vocento, reported on Saturday on several of its news websites that Princess Birgitta of Sweden had tragically committed suicide. According to El Comercio and El Diario Vasco, a neighbor of the princess had raised the alarm, having not seen King Gustav’s sister for a week. The report noted that her car was in the garage and that police found her lifeless body beside a bottle of pills in her home. The reports cited the fact that Princess Birgitta had lost her husband, Prince Johann George of Hohenzollern-Signaringen, two years ago.

The article displayed a photo of Princess Birgitta, who reportedly lives on the island of Mallorca in Spain. However, according to The Local, her husband passed away earlier this year, and not two years ago as stated in Saturday’s reports.

Princess Birgitta of Sweden alive and well despite Spanish media reports https://t.co/aASbM6mVvE pic.twitter.com/ryozB5riDV

— Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) November 16, 2016

Sydkusten, in Swedish-language newspaper published in Spain, was the first to suspect that something was very wrong and called Princess Birgitta’s home to find that she was very much alive, and very angry. The 79-year-old princess told them from her home on Mallorca that the media should do a bit more research before publishing this kind of article.

"God, how stupid they are, ugh. Shame, that's all I can say," the Princess added.

It turns out the false rumors of the death of Princess Birgitta may have been related to the recent death of 77-year-old Princess Brigitta of Prussia, who lost her husband two years ago and was found dead in her home, as reported in the German media. 

Princess Brigitta of Prussia commits suicide aged 77 https://t.co/Fsu3AhYexi pic.twitter.com/NSzdmT0xEG

— Royal Central (@RoyalCentral) November 10, 2016

With the similarity in name, and the fact that Princess Birgitta of Sweden is also Princess of Hohenzollern, a dynasty of former royals from the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, might explain the mix up.

Non-smoking Spaniard plans to sue over his photo used as a warning on cigarette packets

A 54-year-old man is about to take legal action after his image appeared on cigarette packaging, meant as a warning to smokers.

Photo by Melanie Tata / CC BY 2.0

Spain has recently passed legislation that all cigarette packaging must display gruesome images to warn smokers of the effects of their habit. In this particular case, the man was a patient at the Santiago de Compostela hospital in April last year for back problems and was photographed as he was being prepared for an operation to fit a titanium plate in his spine. The photograph of him was used with the warning “Smoking can cause embolisms and disability” on cigarette packaging.

Un vecino de Boiro denuncia que su rostro sale en las cajetillas de tabaco y exige su retiradahttps://t.co/jnYsLKRRy8 pic.twitter.com/HKkKtp3VIy

— La Voz de Galicia (@lavozdegalicia) November 12, 2016

The man, named only as FJTA, is a resident of Boiro in Galicia and went to the Spanish civil guard last week to sign a complaint against authorities at the hospital for using an image of him without his consent or approval. He believes the photo was taken while he was unconscious, as he is wearing breathing apparatus as he is being prepared for an operation.

According to the Spanish language newspaper La Voz de Galicia, several of his neighbors recognized him on the cigarette packages and informed him. The man was naturally angry, especially as he is a non-smoker and his medical condition had nothing to do with the habit.

Spanish non-smoker complains over use of image on cigarette packets https://t.co/IftnIrHrVh pic.twitter.com/IhQlhbDK5G

— The Local Spain (@TheLocalSpain) November 15, 2016

Health authorities in Galicia have now launched an investigation to confirm that the image was indeed of FJTA and to discover how it came to be released for publication without the man’s permission.

Reportedly this isn’t the first time something like this has happened, as according to The Local, a Barcelona woman launched a similar complaint after an image of her late husband, taken when he was under treatment in a local hospital, suddenly appeared on cigarette packaging. In that case it is unknown whether the man was suffering the effects of smoking tobacco.