the May 27th municipal elections, 318,571 are foreign residents from EU countries and Norway.
British residents make the largest group of foreigners that have registered to vote in Spain with a total of 84,018. They are followed in number by 58,611 Rumanians, eligible to vote as EU members for the first time this year, and 42,191 Germans.
The electoral district with the most foreign voters on its census is Alicante with 62,264, followed by Madrid, with 38,022; Malaga, with 31,519; and Barcelona with 28,356.
The electoral rolls are on public display in Town Halls or municipal offices all over the country until Monday April 16th, which is the deadline for all claims concerning mistakes or omissions.

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Ian Prisley 63 years old from Benidorm loses all his uk benefits for being truthful.
Ian Prisley, originally from Battersea in London, has been living in Benidorm on and off for the past 10 years.
Mr Prisley first came to Spain in 1965, he retired early at the age of 35 when he was diagnosed with arthritis of the lower spine and hips and doctors recommended he move to a warmer climate.
Mr Prisley was a deep sea diver on the oil rigs, earning a high income which allowed him to live a comfortable life in Spain. Although he did suffer from arthritis he never claimed any disability from the government as he didn’t feel he needed to.
Soon enough he came to realise that money soon dries up and he was forced to swallow his pride and make a claim for benefits.
At the time, DSS officials told him he could live in Spain and still claim a disability allowance of £98 a week. So he packed his belongings and rented an apartment in Benidorm where he had been a frequent visitor during winter months.
Two years ago he received a letter from the DSS stating that the law had changed and, because he no longer lived in the UK, he was not able to claim disability benefits and had to pay back monies that he had been overpaid.
He was told that in order to reinstate his benefits he would need to return to the UK. He received no prior notification that the system was about to change, instead his payments just stopped coming.
Mr Prisley cannot work, although he does odd jobs for friends who pay him small amounts that enable him to get by, he cannot return to the UK as he has nowhere to live and his passport expired in 2004 – he cannot afford the £119 charge for a new one.
He did earn a small wage by doing illegal airport runs for friends and tourists although not so long ago his car broke down and he has no money to repair it.
He says he is not entitled to medical assistance as he doesn’t pay into the Spanish social security system. He has taken on a lodger who helps pay his rent and his landlady, who is an old friend, helps him with the bills.
He is hanging on until April 6, 2008 when he will be due his state retirement pension from the UK.
Mr Prisley has come to terms with his situation and realises he has made a few financial mistakes, however, he has got to the stage where he can no longer manage and he doesn’t know what to do or how to live.
He is upset and disappointed at the way he has been treated by the DSS and it makes him angry knowing that here are many people living in Spain ‘milking’ the system and receiving benefits they are not entitled to.
Ian said: “I feel that provision should be made to help people who live abroad who once received benefits and who now have had them taken away.
“What they have done is not moral, if they had warned me I would have been able to go back to the UK and sort things out.”
So what is the answer for Mr Prisley?
Does he do like many others and begin conning the DSS in order to claim benefits? Or does he continue to do the right thing and stay penniless relying on a few friends to support him when he’s really desperate?

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The Sant Antoni Marine reserve between Denia and Jávea growing Posidonia sea plants in abundance.

Life-giving beds of Posidonia sea plants are flourishing in the Sant Antoni Marine reserve between Denia and Jávea, a report reveals this week.
Research by Alicante University experts shows the plants are in excellent condition and further studies will now be carried out regularly.
The report gives one warning, however, discovering ‘small impacts’ on the beds around Denia and Jávea ports. This is particularly worrying in Denia where there are already plans to enlarge the port.
Posidonia oceánica only grow in the Mediterranean and form undersea ‘forests’ that are vital marine ecosystems giving shelter and food to more than a thousand species of fish and shellfish.
The plants produce oxygen for the sea and the atmosphere and also act as natural barriers to protect beaches from waves and stop the shifting of sand.
Protection of this vital plant was one of the main reasons for the creation of the Cap Sant Antoni marine reserve in which diving is restricted, motorboats are banned from anchoring and any type of dumping is prohibited.
The Alicante University report was commissioned by the Valencian government and presented by planning and territory councillor Esteban González Pons.

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Demolish your illegal Villa. Penisioner is given 30 days to remove his 300,000€ home

A Costa pensioner has been given 30 days to knock down his 320,000-euro illegal home.
The regional government has frozen 63-year-old Bruce Gauntlett’s bank account and told him he will be fined up to 3,005 euros each month he fails to carry out the demolition order. Mr Gauntlett, who lives alone with his two dogs has been left virtually destitute by the embargo.
The father-of-two said: “I just don’t know what to do.
“Do I think this is not going to happen, or do I pack all my possessions into a container?
“The only rules in this are that there are no rules.
“They keep moving the goal posts.
Originally from Newcastle, Mr Gauntlett said he had been the victim of a con and had no idea that his house had been built on rural land in La Hoya, Elche.
The former Findus engineer and manager explained: “Five years ago I bought a house in La Zenia with my partner and she didn’t like it there in the summer and we went after another house which fell through.
“For some unknown reason I decided to have my own house built.”
He said that the land had been advertised in several local newspapers and he bought the plot through a Belgian estate agent.
“He told us he could get an architect, a builder whatever we wanted.
“When we signed at the notary he translated for us.
“The architect said he would get me all the paperwork at the end of it.”
A short time after the house was completed in 2004 and the couple moved in, Mr Gauntlett had a nasty surprise when a town hall employee knocked on his front door.
“He said that we shouldn’t have built on the land but that it wasn’t a problem,” he said.
“They would bring down an architect and measure up and then I would be fined based on a formula of so much per square metre.”
Mr Gauntlett paid the 17,867-euro fine on October 13, 2004
But, despite settling with the town hall, he was still served with demolition papers.
Mr Gauntlett then tried to fight the order through the courts.
During this process, the 63-year-old was given access to his ‘file’ at Elche town hall, where he found that officials could have warned him the property was illegal before it was finished.
“I found photographs of the house when there were only the footings in, so they must have been aware it was illegal at that stage,” he said.
“If they had stopped me then I would have lost about 60,000 euros instead of the 320,000 which I stand to lose now.
“But they didn’t tell me.
“They didn’t come near the place.”
The final blow for Mr Gauntlett came last week when he was informed by letter that he had lost his case.
In the missive signed by Cristina Serrano, secretary for the regional land and housing department, he was told he had been judged guilty of building a property inside the boundary of Santa Pola natural park.
Under regional law, he was advised he had to repair the damage caused to the protected area – and leave it as it was before it was built on.
The letter states that he has one month to carry out the demolition or he will face repeated fines of 3,005 euros which will be taken from his embargoed bank account.
The regional government also reserves the right to have the property demolished themselves if he refuses to comply.
Mr Gauntlett’s lawyer is now trying to work a miracle.
“My lawyer said he is going to look through all the paperwork and try to pull the rabbit out of the hat,” he said.
Charles Svoboda, vice president of Abusos Urbanísticos NO (AUN), said: “All our sympathies go to him, but Mr Gauntlett's situation is a stark reminder of the need to ensure that all the legal requirements of a property, especially in a rural area, are fully met.
“Do not trust anyone whose prime interest is in selling property or building on it, rather than in having a contented and secure buyer.”

Search and Survey SL do not sell property but specialise in protecting buyers who plan to invest in Spain. For a modest fee they check every detail including structural survey, legal and planning issues and provide an independent valuation, before the sale proceeds.

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Benalmadena fire brigade average just over one job per day being called out 399 times in 2006.

Firefighters in Benalmadena were called out 399 times in 2006. Most of the calls were for rescue (73) or fires on the street (69). The months that registered most activity were October and November. The chief of the Fire Department, David Bañasco, says that their activity has decreased significantly since 2004 when some situations stopped being attended by the fire department, and that this allows them to offer a more professional and thorough service. Benalmadena has a well equipped fire department which constantly performs drills and organises courses to keep up with the latest techniques.

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The Paseo Maritimo area of Mójacar from La Playa Venta to Playa de las Ventanitas has been improved.

THE first phase of the Levante Tourist Dynamisation Plan has been completed and is now open for all to enjoy. This stage of the project involved the opening of a car park along the beach front with a pedestrian walkway incorporated to provide easier access to the beach for the public. The car park itself has ample spaces for up to 70 cars and it is hoped will reduce the amount of vehicles parked along the roadside.
The aim of the development is to improve the Paseo Maritimo area of Mójacar from La Playa Venta to Playa de las Ventanitas by extending the current walkway and creating garden areas for the public to enjoy between the beach and the main coastal road.
The local council in Mójacar have invested, in conjunction with La Mancomunidad, some 150,000 euros to complete the project which construction group Ibersilva have estimated will take three months to complete.
Local mayor Gabriel Flores is pleased that the first phase has already been completed and that the local community and tourists “can already enjoy and take advantage of the improvements”.



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Alarm sounds on the the 'Jet2' flight from Alicante to Blackpool.

Shortly after take off, an alarm on board sounded, causing fear and trepidation amongst the passengers and crew. The 'Jet2' flight had just commenced what was supposed to be a routine flight from Alicante to Blackpool when the alarm sounded! The cabin crew announced that there was a problem that was believed to be with the undercarriage, whilst the pilot and flight engineer tried to establish the actual cause. At the same time the Captain contacted the airport authorities on the ground that in turn activated the airport Emergency Plan. The affected aircraft was forced to circle the airport whilst the plan was implemented. Planes normally carry enough fuel for the specific journey and a little more for good measure and as such, generally land with the minimum fuel on board. This aircraft was forced to land with full tanks, which is uncommon and inherently dangerous.
Fortunately, all went well and the fight returned to Alicante without incident. Later it was discovered that a faulty alarm circuit had caused the emergency and that the take off and landing gear was in fact operating correctly. The incident caused delays and disruption to all flights leaving and arriving around midday. This was the second of two similar incidents last week; the other involved an aircraft from the Turkish company 'Onur Air' which left Alicante on route to Istanbul via Valladolid. It too had an alarm emergency during take off, which was aborted. This incident caused the flight a 3-hour delay. The Jet2 budget airline company has been operating their low cost flights out of Alicante since February 2003. Since that time they have handled more than 360,000 passengers on their 9 Boeing 737-300's and their 2 Boeing 757-200 aircraft. Jet2 serve 22 other European airports from their home base of Leeds/Bradford in the north of England.

Quit Smoking the treatment is free, anyone wishing to take part should talk to their local GP.

The programme is in its sixth year and aims to help smokers quit in less than two months. Smokers wishing to take part in the programme should speak to their GP who will then refer them for treatment if he believes they are addicted and that their habit poses a serious danger to their health.

One of the key factors in the programme is that all patients should be serious about quitting, and should acknowledge the fact that they are addicted. Up until now, the initiative has helped to 'cure' almost 1,000 smokers, and although some patients have lapsed back into addiction, the majority have managed to kick their habit into touch. During the first two weeks of treatment the patient has to cut down on the amount of cigarettes they smoke and they can choose to attend two meetings a week either in groups or as individuals. During the third week, patients stop smoking all together, and then after treatment, Health Department officials will monitor them nine months later for a new evaluation on their case.

The process aims to reduce people's fear of quitting. Many smokers are afraid to quit, because they are scared of the side effects, such as mood swings or putting on weight, but the medical profession are quick to state that the benefits far outweigh any downside, and remind smokers that they are at risk from lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. One of the worrying outcomes of the programme is the large number of teenagers who are desperate to quit smoking. The treatment is free, and anyone wishing to take part should talk about it with their local GP.

95% of Brits who buy property in Spain do not request or obtain a structural survey, but thats not all....

Believe it or not the majority of Brits who buy property in Spain happily sign contracts they can’t read or understand and hand over cash deposits without receiving a proper receipt. The expat ezine receives its fair share of readers emails but one which recently arrived in our In Box which was so bizarre that we felt we should mention it if only to highlight how unbelievably stupid some people can be.
Mr D wrote to tell us his tale of woe, stating that he would never set foot in Spain again, the estate agent had ripped him off, he’d lost his documents because the hotel room didn’t have a safe, everyone he met was a crook, he lost his money, his wife had an accident and the police were less than helpful. Etc. etc
Having spent 23 fantastic years as an expat on the costa blanca this kind of wingeing really makes me see red, because this is not how it is in Spain!
It’s true that some people do find themselves the victim of a horror story, some buy houses that have been built illegally, many hand over large sums of money to total strangers posing as property agents. They leave their passports and cash lying around and then complain when they are stolen.
The problem it seems is that many people looking to invest in Spain leave their brains behind when they get on the aeroplane. Believe it or not the majority of Brits who buy property in Spain happily sign contracts they can’t read or understand and hand over cash deposits without receiving a proper receipt. And we are not talking about one or two people this applies to the vast majority of British buyers in Spain.
A recent survey revealed that prior to purchase only 12% of foreign buyers took independent legal advice, and less than 2% asked for a structural survey of the property before they commit themselves.
Gullible, naive and definitely easy pickings for any skilled con person lying in wait with a big smile and charming manner to welcome them, is it any wonder they are stitched up, ripped off and taken to the cleaners?
Whether it’s the sun, the sangria or the smooth talking sales people that cause this temporary loss of sanity is not always clear, however it is probably true to say that the same people would never act in the same brainless way back in their own country.
Remember the estate agency business in Spain is totally unregulated; always seek independent professional advice before committing to purchase. Remember also that independent advice does not mean accepting the kind agent’s offer to use his tame lawyer - a typical common practice here. You can guarantee he won’t discover anything to stop the sale proceeding. Always expect a free or subsidised inspection flight to involve high pressure sales techniques.
If in doubt get hold of a copy of John Howell’s free book on buying property overseas, or download a mass of valuable free information from Search & Survey’s website.

Do I need a structural survey before investing my life savings in a spanish property?

There are two essential items to bring with you when you come to invest in Spain, your brains and your common sense!
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ICE - in your mobile could save paramedics time and trouble.

The campaign for people to store emergency contact details in their mobile phones under “ICE” is spreading around Spain. Just three letters - ICE - could save paramedics time and effort. They stand for In Case of Emergency and all mobile users are being encouraged to include them in their phone’s address book alongside the number of the person they wish the emergency services to contact if they suffered an accident and were unable to communicate.
Recently thousands of internet users all over Spain have received an email under the subject heading of “ICE: an interesting idea”. The message goes on to say that ambulance crews have realised that the victims of accidents nearly always have a mobile telephone on them but they never know who to contact from the endless list of telephone numbers in the address book. Hence the idea that everybody should have an ICE entry with the name and number of the person who should be contacted in case of emergency. If someone wanted to include more than one ICE number all they would need to do is add a digit: for example ICE1 Carmen, ICE2 John, etc.
The email goes on to encourage all recipients to pass the message on to as many people as possible. In this case it is not a question of false chain mail sent out with the aim of obtaining all the email addresses in people’s computers. While the idea has yet to be supported by the Spanish authorities, it is a genuine citizens’ initiative.
Origins
The idea originally came from a British paramedic of the East Anglian Ambulance Service, Bob Brotchie, in 2005, some time before the terrorist attacks of July 7th, which in fact served to fuel his campaign. He told the BBC that if there was a uniform approach to searching inside a mobile phone for an emergency contact then that would make it easier for everyone. Bob’s ICE idea won a Vodafone LifeSavers Award in April 2005.

BUT is it all a big scam? We received this email which may make you think twice..

Can you please warn people that ICE is 'supposedly' a SCAM - fraudsters are using the fact that there will be an entry under ICE to get into the phone and use the information found illegally.

ICE hit the news in the UK early last year and, as part of the council, the police asked me to notify as many people as possible that this was a scam.

Regards,

Dr. Hopkins

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