Spanish PM to give his 'version' of slush fund story to Parliament

After massive demonstrations throughout Spain, together with pressure from the opposition party, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday that he will appear in the Spanish Parliament to give his side of the "slush fund" story.

 

Digital Journal reported on the story of Luis Bárcenas, former treasurer to the ruling Partido Popular party, being arrested and thrown in jail without bail on fraud charges. 

 

In court recently, Bárcenas admitted that he had made cash payments to the Spanish Prime Minister from a "slush fund." Bárcenas said that he handed €25,000 ($33,000) in 500 euro notes to Rajoy in March 2010.

 

Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, leader of the opposition PSOE party then called for the “immediate resignation” of Rajoy, and warned that his refusal to stand down was causing “incalculable damage to a country that is living through difficult moments.”

 

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18J - Spaniards in 30 cities across Spain protested against Government corruption and called for Rajoy's resignation.

As Digital Journal reported, on July 18, thousands of Spaniards hit the streets in 30 cities across Spain, protesting government corruption and calling for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his government to resign. 

 

On Sunday the Spanish daily, El Mundo, published a poll which showed 89.1 percent of people surveyed thought Rajoy should answer allegations that he accepted secret payments from the PP. Only a small 2.4 percent of poll respondents didn't think Rajoy needed to offer up that explanation.

 

Rajoy has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has rejected calls for him to resign over the scandal.

 

However, it seems the pressure is now finally getting to Rajoy, and on Monday he said in a press conference that he would appear in the country's parliament to answer questions about the scandal involving alleged illegal funding of his party. Rajoy said that he would appear in Parliament to give his "version" of events relating to the slush fund scandal, under which former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas alleges he operated a second set of books for the PP party over a period of many years.

 

However, Rajoy did not actually specify when he would appear in Parliament other than saying that this would take place either at the end of this month or next month.

 

No doubt protestations from the opposition party and the Spanish people will continue until such time as he does appear.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354935

Spaniards smash world 'skinny dipping' record all in a good cause

A town on the Almerian coast of Spain has broken the Guinness World Record for the largest-ever "skinny dip," after 729 naked swimmers jumped into the Mediterranean sea as one on Sunday.

While organizers had only expected "around 600 people," what they got was 729 completely naked swimmers, baring it all for charity in Vera in the Almeria province of Andalucía. 

 

The town, located in the southeast of Spain has now broken the Guinness World Record for the biggest group 'skinny dip,' beating the previous record set by 506 bathers in New Zealand.

 

José Carmelo Jorge, the local mayor, described the event as a "tremendous success" and noted that he was "very satisfied" with the outcome. 

 

Jorge told reporters that this event had raised funds for charity and that it had also served its purpose of helping to promote naturist tourism in the town.

 

 It seems that Vera's mass skinny dip was only one of the many activities that took place across the country on Sunday to mark the "Day Without Swimsuits."

 

The Spanish Naturism Federation (Federación Española de Naturismo) organized the events, and the goal of the day was to promote tolerance for nudism on beaches. Vera's nudist beach hosted not only the skinny dip, but also an event of au naturel athleticism on Saturday by hosting its first Nudist Fun Run. Runners ran in their birthday suits over a 3.1 km course through the streets of the town's "El Playazo" nudist zone.

 

Nothing like getting back to basics for good fun, especially in the current hot summer weather!

 

A video is available for viewing of the event here (Spanish language - total nudity).

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354911

Child killer José Bretón receives 40-year sentence

José Bretón, the man recently convicted of murdering his two young children, has been sentenced to a total of 40 years in jail by a judge in Córdoba, Spain on Monday.

Digital Journal reported earlier in July on the conviction of Bretón for murdering his two small children, six-year-old Ruth and two-year-old José.

 

A nine-person jury had declared Bretón guilty, and he was awaiting sentencing for his crime. Now the sentence has passed on Monday in a court in Córdoba, Spain and Bretón will spend 40 years behind bars.

 

The crime caused outrage among the Spanish public and the protracted trial has fueled intense media speculation, but now the case has been put to rest. Reportedly Bretón remained cool and detached during sentencing, as he has been throughout the trial.

While Bretón had originally told police that he lost the two children in a park in October 2011, it was found later than he had drugged them and burned their bodies to hide the evidence.

While the fire was so hot it destroyed DNA evidence, teeth were found in the ashes, which were later identified by forensic experts as belonging to two children, aged two and six years respectively. 

The prosecution presented a case that he killed the children as revenge against his wife, who had recently asked him for a divorce.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354907

WhatsappSPY: Spanish man arrested for fake spy app on smartphones

A young Spanish man has been arrested for swindling thousands of euros with a fake spy app for accessing instant messaging conversations on smartphones for free. What victims got was something else entirely.

WhatsappSPY was supposed to be an application to install and use to view conversations from other users in real time. However, the fraud involved calling a phone number for an activation code, which actually subscribed the victim to a premium SMS service.

 

Rumors about the existence of the application had been going around the Internet for some time, saying that using the app, a user could access communications made by any person using a smartphone, with only a few simple steps. 

 

After a complaint was lodged by a social network, it was found that the main channel used to access victims for the fraud was by hacking users' profiles on the social media. 

 

The 23-year-old fraudster gained access to more than 11,000 users' profiles. Through these stolen accounts, mass spam messages were sent out to their contact lists to disseminate the information. All links included in the messages looked similar to a genuine social network, easily fooling people accessing them.

 

Users were automatically redirected to websites to facilitate downloading the program, although apparently once downloaded, the program asked them to introduce a mobile number to purchase an activation code. No activation code was ever received, but the owner of the particular mobile phone number was then subscribed to a premium SMS service, with costs of between €1.45 or €7.26 per call, depending on the operator.

 

Billed over a period of two months, profits to the fraudster could exceed €40,000. Researchers tracked the alleged architect of the fraud, a 23-year-old Spanish national, who was arrested by the National Police on July 20. A search of his home computer and four hard drives is being analyzed by specialists.

 

The operation was carried out by agents of the Technological Research Unit of the Judicial Police Commissioner-General in collaboration with the Police Headquarters of Murcia.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354839

Coronation Street star Kym Lomas is sunning in Marbella

Kym Lomas is enjoying a well-deserved break from her work on the popular soap opera, Coronation Street.

Enjoying a "girly holiday" in Marbella, the former Hear Say singer is in upmarket Marbella with  former WAGs Nicola T and Elen Rivas and ‘Hollyoaks’ star Sheree Murphy.

Reportedly friends of the soapie star are said to be concerned about her marriage to Jamie Lomas after he joined rival soap ‘EastEnders’.

With Kym's on-going role as Michelle Connor in Coronation Street, this means that the couple will be forced to spend five days a week apart.  Kym will continue to be based in Manchester, while hubby will be filming ‘EastEnders’ in London.

Catalan organization fights for legal sex workers for disabled

A Catalan organization is pushing to help provide disabled people with sexual relations by providing legal "disability prostitutes."

 

Jaume Girbau was born with a congenital disease that left him in a wheelchair from a young age. He had a bad experience with a sex worker, which left him wondering why there was such a distinct lack of professional sex workers specializing in people with disabilities.

 

“She didn’t know what to do, she wasn’t prepared," Girbau told 20 minutos. After this traumatic experience, Girbau decided to start a group called "Sex Asistent Catalunya", made up of sexologists, sex counselors, therapists, and people with disabilities.

 

“We think it would be useful for there to be qualified professionals capable of providing a service to people with physical and mental disabilities,” he said. “This could be in the form of hugs, caressing, sexual massages, body exploration, games or aiding sexual relationships for couples who require it," he added.  

 

Now the group wants the Spanish government to back a motion to make sexual assistants legal. This is already reportedly the case in many countries across Europe, including Denmark. Germany, Holland and Switzerland and according to Girbau, France is debating whether to follow suit.

 

Some of these countries apparently even pay for the services with public funds.

 

The organization has started compiling teaching material, with the aim of offering professional training with an official university degree to those interested in participating. 

 

“There’s already plenty of demand,” Girbau told 20 minutos.

 

Patricia Carmona, President of Aspaym (an association for people with serious spinal injuries), is also in favor of a law which would guarantee sexuality to disabled people. 

 

“Unresolved sexual issues lead to behavioral problems,” she told 20 minutos.

 

“It should no longer be the parents or staff at the clinics who have to masturbate them. Why not have a professional do it?”

 

Carmona runs workshops and debates in which participants open up on two of modern society’s biggest taboos: sex and disability. The primary aim of the workshops is to prevent those with disabilities being treated as if they were children.

 

This brings to mind the 2012 Hollywood film "The Sessions". directed by Ben Lewin and starring Helen Hunt. The movie tells the story of a 38-year-old man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity and contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest. The movie has raised awareness for the cause of Sex Asistent Catalunya.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354718

Marbella now second-most expensive beach destination in Spain

Marbella is the place to be for many celebrities, footballers and reality TV stars, who enjoy lying on the endless sandy beaches and dining in style in the local restaurants. It is now also the second-most expensive beach destination in Spain.

Celeb spotters have seen Naomi Campbell (top model), Nicole Scherzinger (US singer/songwriter) and Ashley Cole (top UK footballer) in town recently, enjoying the sun and sangria, either in the luxurious Puerto Banus or on the beaches of the Golden Mile.

 

On June 30, former Police member, Sting, was in town giving a concert as part of his latest world tour.

 

Now it is being said that Marbella is second only to Playa d’en Bossa in Ibiza in terms of luxury and expensive holidays. The town is also the most searched for destination on the holiday comparison website, Trivago.

 

Naturally, all this luxury comes with a price and the average night in Marbella will knock you back 190 euros, while in Playa d’en Bossa in Ibiza, the average price is 286 euros, to lay down your weary head.

Salou will cost around 166 euros, Costa Adeje 157 euros and Puerto de Alcudia and Playa de Palma are an expensive average of 146 euros.

 

Several other Spanish tourist spots are also increasing their prices by on average 28%, including Torremolinos, Lanzarote, Playa Blanca, Roquetas de Mar and Almunecar. 

 

But not to worry, for those on a more conservative budget, several destinations have actually lowered their prices by 3% recently, including Fuengirola, Conil, Torrevieja, Llanes, Salou or Benicàssim.

To the source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/354709