Spanish Police Uniform

Apparently, in the world of drugs, imagination is the key to success. Or not?

The Spanish police force have arrested five men who were passing as police officers and doing simulated raids at the homes and hide-outs of cocaine smugglers and confiscated their merchandise. The leader of the group is of Italian origin, while the other four come from Bulgaria, Colombia and Spain.

The five impersonators, who were using police equipment, were arrested in a Madrid warehouse, while they were trying to confiscate about 260 kilos of cocaine from a group of four Colombian drug dealers.

The impostors were very thorough and they would first spend some time studying their targets, using hi-tech equipment and night goggles. When entering the hide-out they would use bullet proof vests with the National Police writings on them, as well as shackles.

This arrest is the result of a three-month long investigation, and apart from the drugs, the Spanish police officers also seized 14,000 euros in cash, cars, weapons, etc.

Seve Ballesteros

Last Monday, Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros was admitted to a Madrid hospital after suffering from a collapse. The golfing champion, aged 51, obtained five major titles last year, after which he decided to retire from his sports career.

Ever since last Monday he has remained in La Paz Hospital, in Madrid, undergoing treatment and being subjected to several types of analyses, including that of brain tumour.

Unfortunately, the result came back positive and the doctors were already scheduling a biopsy to determine the most appropriate way to proceed. In his press release, the golf champion said he is more than determined to overcome this surgery and to be the best in this life challenge.

Doctors did not reveal the nature of the tumour but they did say Ballesteros had suffered a fit of epileptic resemblance and that, following treatment, all was going well.

In his battle for life, Ballesteros has his family and friends to support him, as well as fellow golf players like the Spanish Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez and also Tony Jacklin, former winner of the European Ryder Cup.

Spanair Aircraft

The Spanish Airline Spanair has lost 51.7 Million Euros since the crash of one of its aircrafts, a MD-82, on the 20th of August, on the Barajas airport in Madrid. The accident which caused the death of 154 persons, was supposedly due to a fuel loss, according to the official report of the Scandinavian group SAS, owner of the Spanish airline.

Immediately after the accident the reservation rates have rapidly decreased, but now, almost two months after the tragedy, they are returning to the normal figures, say the company’s representatives.

In September, Spanair had 680.000 passengers, which results in a decrease of 25.4% compared to the same period of last year.

Spanair have offered a 11.6% less domestic flights and the demand has also decreased a 20%. On the European routes the demand decreased by only a 15.5%.
To sum up, in what has passed of this year, Spanair has transported 7.3 million passengers.

Barcelona - Sagrada Familia

Interviews taken to over 500 European business persons have shown that, when it comes to best cities to live in we can find, as always, at the top of this ranking,  London, Paris and Frankfurt, followed by Brussels, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Madrid.

Barcelona and Madrid are amongst the ten best cities to start a business in and remain some of the most attractive European cities and Barcelona is on the first place when it comes to the quality of life.

At the question “What other business centres do you have activities in?” most of the participants to the poll have answered Valencia and Edinburgh and also the Spanish cities of Sevilla and Bilbao.

The criteria according to which they chose certain cities are the presence of qualified personnel, easy market access, high tech communications, international logistics and labour costs. Barcelona was chosen for its quality of life, the people’s language skills, and the quality of tourism establishments. It also scores points for its environmentally-friendly attitude and, in the eyes of many entrepreneurs, for the low labour costs.