Woman trapped in ravine was rescued

Two off duty, National Police officers rescued a trapped walker in Rute, Cordoba. The woman hiker had fallen into a ravine and was trapped under a strong flow of water.

The three had met up through an internet page for fans of the sport. The woman had become trapped with her rope as she was descending the “chute” of water in a waterfall around 17 meters high.

As she called out for help, she slipped and fell into the chute below the flow of the waterfall in the Barranco de la Hoz where she remained semi conscious due to lack of oxygen.

One of the officers started to go down using the same rope that the victim had used to see what had happened to her, when he realized he did not have time to rescue her. So he cut the rope in order to allow her to fall free of the water channel and slip down into the lake about six meters below.

There the other officer climbed back up to safety and ran to his car to telephone for help from the fire service, ambulance and the Guardia Civil.

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Malaga couple sentenced for trying to buy baby

A Spanish couple, which conspired to buy a Moroccan baby for €3,000, has ended in prison, with the help of a good trainee policeman’s action.

A Malaga husband and wife, were sentenced on Thursday for their 2011 attempt to buy an unborn child.

A Spanish woman from Ceuta acted as intermediary between the couple and a pregnant Moroccan woman, who agreed to hand over her baby when it was born, in return of €3,000.

The scheme was accidentally discovered by a policeman training in the city of Ceuta who reported it to his colleagues.

Ceuta’s criminal court sentenced the husband to a year prison, as well as a fine of €3,240 and a four year loss of custody and guardianship rights and the wife received a six months, suspended sentence.

The biological mother was fined €135 while the intermediary and her mother received six month suspended sentences. All defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.

The baby, now two years old, is in the care of Ceuta social services.

This is not the first time this week that Spain has been rocked by the sale of Moroccan babies to Spanish families.

Police yesterday revealed 28 cases, from the 1970s and 1980s, where newborns were taken from their mothers in Morocco and the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla and sold to families in Spain.

The investigation was opened in November 2011 following a complaint from ANADIR, an association formed to represent victims of the scandal.

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Madrid drug network busted by police

Thursday, Spanish police busted in Madrid, a network of Moroccan and Chinese nationals who laundered hundreds of thousands of euros a week in drug money.

A police spokesperson said that officers arrested two Chinese nationals, one suspect from Hong Kong and three Moroccans in raids at locations including a major Chinese trading estate, near Madrid.

They seized 21 million items of clothing worth more than €100 million, as well as luxury cars and jewels and watches worth four million euros.

The network sold hashish that was smuggled from Morocco to Spain, distributing it to Britain, France and other countries and laundered the money, via wholesale purchases of clothes and jewellery.

After catching drug traffickers in December with 11 tonnes of hashish, police traced the gang’s financial activities and discovered it was laundering €500,000 of drug money a week.

Police said in a statement: “The group that has been broken up was mainly composed of nationals from Morocco and China specialized in introducing the illicit money into the legal market, they carried out a multitude of commercial transactions of clothing, deluxe watches, jewels and other goods”.

Moroccan members of the network used the money in transactions involving suspects in the industrial estate of Cobo Calleja, considered the biggest Chinese wholesale in Europe.

Also last year a major raid seized between the criminals the Chinese businessman, Gao Ping, who was charged with money laundering and other crimes.

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LED lighting damages eyes, says Spanish investigators

According to recent research by Spanish scientists, energy saving LED lights can cause serious damage to the retina and once the cells are destroyed by prolonged and continuous exposure to LED rays, they cannot be replaced and will not regrow.

This is caused by the high levels of radiation in the “blue band” and is likely to become a global epidemic in the medium term given that computer, mobile phone, TV screens and even traffic lights and street lights, have been gradually replaced with LED.

Experts are calling for these to have built-in filters to cut out the blue glare.

An investigator at Madrid’s Complutense University, Dr Celia Sánchez Ramos, says the retina, a highly sensitive tissue covering the eye, never regenerates itself once it has become damaged.

The professor of the University College of Optics at the Complutense says LED lights are made up of rainbow longitude waves and it is the blue part which causes the problem.

Humans have their eyes open for around 6,000 hours a year and most of this time they are exposed to artificial light, for which reason Dr Sánchez Ramos says the best way to prevent damage is to “close your eyes often to soften the impact”.

She also says using good sunglasses with UV filter rays, a healthy and varied diet rich in Vitamin A, which comes from spinach and peppers, will protect the eyes.

The Prince of Asturias Scientific Investigation Prize winner in 2009 says Vitamin A has a high concentration of visual pigments, known as “maculars”, which are responsible for absorbing the harmful elements of light such as short-wave blue and violet rays.

A human being’s ability to store these pigments reduces with age.

Dr Sánchez Ramos explains: “This problem is going to get worse, because humans are living longer and children are using electronic devices from a young age, particularly for schoolwork, instead of paper. Eyes are not designed to look directly at light, they are designed to see with light”.

Her investigation into eye damage caused by LED, was financed by the MAPFRE Foundation, the charitable arm of the Spanish insurance giant MAPFRE.

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Man attacks workers at health center

According to the CSIF trade union, a man violently attacked three workers at the Las Lagunas health center, this weekend, after repeatedly demanding medication for his mother.

The man threatened to “kill you all”, if the workers didn’t give him a tranquilizer for his mother, said the union in a written statement.

When one of the workers decided to call the Guardia Civil, the men set upon two nurses and an orderly with a flurry of “punches, head butts and kicks” that left two of the victims on medical leave.

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Real Madrid to face Barcelona for a place in the Euroleague final

In May 10th, the O2 Arena in London, have been circled in red for a long time by Pablo Laso’s Real Madrid.

The team has had to follow a long path, 27 European matches this season, but the Whites are in the four chosen ones who will play for the continental title in the 2013 Final Four.

Two matches separate Madrid from the Euroleague. The first will see the team face Barcelona Regal in the second semi-final.

Real Madrid will go into the match in great form and with a squad that combines talent, youth and excitement. The dream of Number Nine is within their reach.

Two weeks ago, Real Madrid mathematically guaranteed first place in the Liga regular season, after easily beating Barcelona in the Palacio de los Deportes.

Today, both teams will face each other again in a totally different situation, with a ticket to the Euroleague’s grand final in the background.

This will be the fifth Clásico of the season, with a balance of two wins per team.

Real Madrid has arrived in London in excellent condition, with the boost of overcoming Maccabi in the quarter-finals.

Apart from the already announced absence of Pocius and Darden, the entire squad is available for Laso. Names like that of Rudy Fernández stand out, who is averaging 13.6 points in the Euroleague and has been chosen for the All-Euroleague First Team, and also Llull, Mirotic and Carroll.

For its part, Barcelona goes into the match with the definite absences of Mickeal and Oleson and the injured Wallace and Jawai are also doubtful.

Barcelona, which is having an inconsistent domestic championship, is showing its best form in Europe.

However, it booked its place in London after a close series of matches against Panathinaikos which was only decided in the fifth match.

Navarro is still the team’s star. Many of Xavi Pascual’s team’s chances are inspired by Navarro. In the figure of Ante Tomic it has its outstanding player in this competition, who forms part of the All-Euroleague First Team.

Real Madrid will have to impose its speed and intense style of play over Barcelona’s slower rhythm and control.

The Whites will try to impose themselves with their skills from outside court and with their great ability on the rebound.

Barcelona will try to stay strong in defense and make the most of their ability on court with players like Tomic or Lorbek.

In conclusion, all the appeal of a Clásico with the added bonus of playing for a place in Sunday’s grand-final.

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Marbella to host Celebrity Golf Classic

This month it is reported that a former Liverpool and Aston Villa stars will be heading to Marbella for a charity golf day.

Ex-footballer and manager Stephen Staunton, will be hosting his Celebrity Golf Classic and Gala Dinner on May 26, to raise funds for Children with Cancer UK which will take place at Villa Tiberio, while the golf will be held at Marbella Club Golf Resort.

Players such as Niall Quinn and Ken McNaught will be joining participants on the green.

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Harley Davidson bikers filled the streets of Almuñecar

According to the secretary of the Granada Chapter, Carlos Lopez, clubs from Andalucia, Melilla, Alicante and even some from La Coruña, all came to Almuñecar.

Between 250 motorbikes and 200 riders participated in a rally of Andalucian clubs, last weekend.

The local police, civil protection and the town hall were all involved in making the event a success.

The car park of the Bahia Hotel situated by the El Pozuelo beach was the official meeting place and headquarters.

The riders took their bikes through the streets in a procession wearing their best jackets, badges, flags and original helmets all from Harley Davidson.

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Spanish schools strike over education reform

Spanish schools and university’s were seen totally empty as teachers, pupils and their parents joined, a nationwide strike and protest march against the proposed education reform.

The new law, according to schools, is leaning in favour of privatisation and will “neglect” State schools in favour of private ones.

It will also give schools less independence and freedom to set the curriculum and content of the various subjects.

Education minister José Ignacio Wert has already said he will “not be moved” by strikes and protests, which he considers part and parcel of being a high level politician.

Wert added that the education reform was going to go ahead no matter how many demonstrations and strikes were staged to prevent it.

Unions and PTA groups have called for Wert to “listen to the voice of his voters” and not to go ahead with his plans to put the reform in place from today.

Said to be the largest strike yet in the education sector, over 90 per cent of teaching staff and pupils are thought to have joined in and numerous lock-ins were organized last night in schools.

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Alcohol and tobacco prices to increase

Spanish Government plans to increase taxes on tobacco and alcoholic beverages by up to 10%, but gave no further indication as to which ones would be affected.

It was revealed that the tax office has already contacted manufacturers stating its plans to increase its taxes by up to 10% depending on alcohol content.

The tax hike would mainly affect spirits and will exclude wine and beers.

An €8.30 bottle of spirits would cost €9.13  an increase of 83 euro cents per liter.

Although it has been pointed out that Spain still has one of the lowest taxes on alcoholic beverages in the EU, only behind Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, the tourism sector fears a very negative impact.

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