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According to the latest figures, the foreign voters appears to be the key over who will rule in the towns and villages of the Valencian Community next May. Alicante is the province that has registered the most Europeans, with several areas being of special interest as the table of European voters below shows:
The price of pleasure cruising on private craft appears to be on the rise in Spain after the Port of Moraira announced that the price of a 12 meter by 4 meter mooring in the 620-berth port extension would be 300,000 Euros, or 50 million of the old Pesetas. These high figures are also reflected in other pleasure ports, such as Javea where the price is 200,000 Euros or Denia where a mooring costs 170,000 Euros
According to Paloma Hoffman, the President of the Benissa Costa residents Association, many of her members are being forced to sell their properties, as the owners are unable to pay the newly increased rates. Mrs Hoffman stated that Benissa Town Hall ‘clearly thinks we are all millionaires’, and added that if last year the rates were at 600 Euros, this year some homes are facing a tax bill of 1,300 Euros and the majority of those affected by these measures are pensioners. As a final point, Mrs Hoffman added that despite the higher taxes, there is no street lighting, most of the area is in a deplorable condition, and garbage has to be taken to a special deposit. ‘In most other European Countries, the money from these higher taxes is invested back into the local economy to improve services. Here, it seems they are used for other purposes.’
There was considerable diplomatic activity over the weekend after the pro-Socialist newspaper El Pais published an editorial in which it alleged that Pope Benedict XVI had encouraged Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero in his peace talks with the Basque terror organization Eta. The brief statement revealed that nothing of the like had occurred and that when the Pontiff was in Valencia last July, the subject was not even mentioned in his brief meeting with the Prime Minister. All this is seen as the Socialist promotion machine kicking into high gear as the debate on Eta/Batasuna will take place in the European Parliament tomorrow.
Meanwhile two Judges – Santiago Pedraz and Baltasar Garzon have allowed two Eta collaborators – Gorka Aguirre and Rafael Diez Usabiaga to be present during the debate bin Brussels
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The Guardia Civil and the Basque autonomous police the Ertzaintza have raided about fifteen Herriko Tabernas in the Basque Country and come away with a vast amount of documentation. In the past Judge Baltasar Garzon. Amongst others, accused these Tabernas as being a source of money for the Basque terror organisation Eta as well as a recruiting ground for gathering new members.
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The numbers of television viewers in Spain who saw Fernando Alonso sweep to victory in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix has broken new records, according to the audience figures. Televised by Telecinco nationally and TeleMadrid in the capital, market researcher TNSofres found that Telecinco had an average audience of over eight million, and TeleMadrid over 700,000, guaranteeing the high figure of a 72.4% share. This is the highest rating ever achieved by a broadcast in Spain since audience measurement began in earnest.
IBM announced yesterday that it was presenting two lawsuits for copyright infringement against internet retailer Amazon, claiming that the seller’s website is improperly built using technologies developed by IBM. Amazon is accused of infringing five patents, including how the site recommends products to customers, shows advertising and stores data. Some of the patents used by Amazon were apparently filed in the 80s, including one called ‘Ordering Items Using an Electronic Catalog.’
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