Spanish government warns off tourists
By Jayne Lovett
THREE children from Torrent have been kidnapped with their uncle while on holiday in Venezuela.
Two boys, aged 10 and 13, from Torrent's Santa Apolonia urbanisation, along with their 12-year-old cousin and their uncle, have gone missing. Their uncle, David Barreto, belonged to a prominent Venezuelan construction body which it is believed made him a prime target because of his wealth andbecause guerilla groups are openly opposed to the construction work. A colleague, Hemir García, was kidnapped a month previously and has still not been released.
Staying in San Cristóbal, the boys and their uncle had made a day trip to the nearby resort of Uribante-Caparo, a Venezuelan town bordering Colombia, on Sunday August 12.
Venezuela's Home Office, after criticising the Spanish government for warning citizens not to travel to the zone, has now admitted that a member of the National Guard is a key witness in the case. The supposed kidnap occurred ten days after the Colombian Peace Commission advised that the National Liberation Army (ELN) were kidnapping foreigners.
Police have confirmed that the Wrangler Jeep in which the party was travelling was found abandoned at a petrol station 800 kilometres south east of Caracas. This is the fourth kidnapping of Spanish tourists in the region this year, but the first involving children.
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Specialised summer robberies |
Empty apartments sacked
By Jayne Lovett
POLICE have broken up a gang which was taking advantage of owners being away to rob 30 apartments in Castellón and another 40 in Valencia, Alicante and Tarragona.
Two men and two women, all Romanian aged between 24 and 32 years old, described as ‘highly specialised’ were arrested last week.
Police sources explained that their method was simple but effective: “They didn't belong to a large violent group but worked in pairs with a baby, waiting until the owners went away to escape the August heat in the city. They would stand on street corners watching for people leaving their flats and then the women would simply ring on all the doorbells to establish which flat was empty. Their next step was to ring the actual doorbell inside. Then the men would take out tools which they had made themselves, gain entry and empty the place. They worked so fast they could clean out four or five at a time, sometimes constituting the entire block.”
The police mounted the operation to catch them in May and finally caught them red-handed as they came out with their spoils from a block in the Avenida de Castellón. The thieves were carrying tools, jewellery, various mobiles and electronic goods to be sold abroad. Everything they stole was small so as not to arouse suspicion.
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Woman stabbed by ex on beachfront
By Roy Wickman
A 20-YEAR-OLD mother was stabbed to death by her ex partner on the crowded Gandia beachfront promenade on Sunday.
Her two-year-old son witnessed the tragedy and a friend walking with her was also seriously wounded.
Medical staff worked for more than six hours trying to save the victim after the frenzied attack at 19.45 but she died while being transferred from Gandia hospital to the clinic.
The attacker had a restraining order placed on him a month ago after the woman reported domestic violence but he had the right to see his son every Sunday.
A senior judge said the tragedy will cause lawmakers to reflect on changes as the law was not able to protect the woman even though she had reported maltreatment.
The victim and her 22-year-old attacker had lived in Gandia for only five months after leaving Romania to look for a better life in Spain.
After her partner was ordered to leave their home, the victim was receiving help – especially babysitting - from an Ecuadorian family and it was their 18-year-old son who was accompanying her for the evening walk. He is being treated for serious wounds in Valencia’s La Fe hospital.
The attacker ran through the crowds threatening them with the knife after the attack but local police on quad bikes gave chase and caught him shortly afterwards.
He is now being held in custody. The child has been handed into the care of the Valencia regional government.
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(pics: 22newspage5paseo1 and 2)
Residents asked to help find teenage girl attacker
By David Eade
THE MOTHER of a teenage rape victim and Kent police are asking residents and tourists on the Costas to help track down a fleeing rapist.
Andrew Alderman, 48, from Maidstone in Kent, was out on bail while being tried for the offence but skipped the country on August 31 of last year, the day he was found guilty.
He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for rape, indecent assault and sexual activity with a child.
Alderman was last seen on CCTV cameras at the Channel Tunnel as he made his way to Europe. Police believe he is probably in southern Spain, although Ibiza, Mallorca or the Canary Islands are also possibilities.
He is said to speak several languages including Spanish.
The mother of the victim stated: “It's a living nightmare. It is constant, every single day it's there. It's not finished, he's been convicted but he's not been punished.”
She pleaded: “Holidaymakers could quite easily bump into him … if somebody sees him just phone the police.”
Kent Police's Detective Inspector David Berry appealed for people in Spain to look out for a specific car. He said: “We are particularly interested in a Volkswagen Passat we know Alderman owned and left the country with in August last year. The registration is GL53 VBU. From the information that we have we do believe he is somewhere in the south of Spain.”
(This goes with foto ‘Andrew Alderman 2’ – no credit)
News Staff Reporter
ACTION is being taken to stop the illegal dumping of rubbish in the street, with people being persuaded to inform police of the guilty parties.
From September, the dustbin men of the province will be meeting residents' associations to ask for their cooperation in taking down the registration numbers of cars owned by the culprits. Once the authorities have this information, official reprisals will follow.
Ramón Isidro Sanchis at Valencia town hall said that ‘the strongest possible sanctions will be applied’, hinting that heavy fines would be involved.
The impromptu dumps generally spring up at the side of the road and the increase in domestic building work over the summer has made the situation worse, even though building licences indicate the local area where the unwanted materials and refuse should be taken.
News Staff Reporter
Valencia is behind five other Spanish capitals when it comes to ‘gorrilla’ warfare -not a reference to the Planet of the Apes but the people who take it upon themselves to direct you to a parking space and then demand payment.
Other cities such as Badajoz, Huelva, Almería, Alicante and Sevilla have all passed laws prohibiting this behaviour, denouncing an average five people per day. In Badajoz, where it was first implemented in 1998, the crime is considered as bad as defecating in the street. There, the local police impose a fine of 90 euros and a second infraction can result in a prison sentence. One person even spent five months in jail because he said he couldn't pay the fine.
In 2005, Valencia town hall began the legal process to outlaw such activity and Ramón Isidro Sanchis said this week that it was in the throes of being developed.
Air raid shelters protected |
News Staff Reporter
THE FORMER air raid shelters used during the civil war are to be classified as monuments of local interest (BRL).
In response to a petition from the residents and businesses of El Carmen, Valencia’s old quarter, the shelters will be preserved and put to cultural use.
Presenting their arguments to the city's cultural councillor, the petitioners said: “In contrast to what happened in France and Italy, where the defensive constructions of World War II are protected, the majority of historical war monuments here do not enjoy any form of protection.”
Maintaining that the Valencia Region enjoys a rich heritage in this respect, such as rural aerodromes, trenches and Valencia's military museum, they said that there is still no adequate acknowledgement of their historical, archaeological and economic value.
The majority of the bunkers were constructed in the playgrounds and gardens of schools and can be found all over the city, especially in the old centre and in Ruzafa, Campanar, Patraix and the maritime district. There are more than 200 such shelters in the capital and all boast lettering in the art deco style. The group argues that precious few are protected.
Full speed ahead for Formula One |
News Staff Reporter
WORK on Valencia's Formula One circuit has begun in earnest to bring it in on time, with construction deadlines moved forward by two months to the end of June 2008.
The International Automobile Federation (FIA) has decreed that the circuit must be finished 60 days before the event on August 24.
Valmor Sport, the company behind the Grand Prix, said that its biggest enemy was time and Aspar, one of the main companies involved in the project, has admitted that it will have to work against the clock to achieve the new deadline.
The so-called Gran Premio de Europa will see cars racing around Valencia's streets at speeds of up to 323 km per hour. It basically means that everything will have to be in place by the festival of San Juan, exactly two months before the Grand Prix.
NEWS Staff Reporter
DESPITE the much-lauded extension of Valencia's Manises airport in April with a potential increase in capacity of 33 per cent, the new facility remains seriously underused while the old area is still on the verge of collapse. From January to July, almost 3.5 million passengers travelled through Manises, with 26,000 registered on August 15 alone.
According to the airport authority, AENA, the new terminal has been designated for regional airlines, but currently the only regional company based in Valencia is Air Nostrum.
At the moment there are between 13 and 23 flights per hour entering and leaving Valencia but the extension means this could rise to 36 with 12 check-in sites in the new terminal which are, however, mostly closed.
Nearly half of all passengers leaving or arriving via Manises are travelling within the country but the majority are obliged to check in at the old terminal.
| Got a story? |
| Is something of interest happening in your area? Do you have a news or human interest story that you think our readers should know about? Then we’d love to hear from you! Please get in touch with Roy Wickman south of Valencia on 647 485 444, email rwickman@cbnews.es, or Tony Durbin in or around Valencia and north on 652 491 129, email editor@clnews.es. |
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