Property Fears
Mixed messages concerning the property market continued last week as the president of the Building Constructors Association, Juan Roig, confirmed that buildings were continuing to be erected at a similar rate to that of the last two years. He claimed that new builds were still the most popular, with the second hand housing market recording substantial falls. His statements were backed up by several leading estate agents who confirmed that although the housing market remained strong, it had been slightly affected by the recent rise in interest rates and increases in prices over the last few years. One agent claimed that prices on new builds would in fact increase this year by three per cent, although an apartment that previously took three months to sell would now take six months.
However their views were not shared by all agents, some of who claimed that the housing market was on the cusp of significant falls. They revealed that prices in second hand properties were already starting to decrease, and would continue to do so in the immediate future. Their views were shared by the financial institutions, who reported that mortgage requests had fallen significantly during 2007.
Cristina Faura, of Banca March, said that the high price of property was discouraging people from buying, which would inevitably bring prices down due to a lack in demand. She said that the average mortgage within the Balearics was 170,346, resulting in repayments of 903 per month. This works out at 52.8 per cent of an average familys annual salary, the highest in Spain after Madrid. She said that the current high interest rates would lead to mortgage re-payments not being met and an eventual decrease in price.

AROUND THE ISLAND

Gas Route
The gas duct, which will bring natural gas to the island, is set to expropriate around one hundred and seventy fincas on the island. Although no houses will be affected by the project, which is on public display until 25th September, it will mean the Govern forcefully buying several pieces of land, as the pipe snakes its way across the island, from its starting point in Cala Gracio to the GESA-Endesa energy centre in Ibiza Town. The gas will then be used by the company to create far cleaner energy. However, the plan has been criticized by several groups, including the president of the neighbors association in San Antonio, Carmen Munoa, who said that she would be filing an official complaint about the project she deems as illogical.
The pipe, which will be coming from Denia, will begin its journey on the island at Cala Gracio. The municipal most affected will be San Antonio, with 15,348 metres of pipe passing through the area. Its initial journey will lead the pipe towards Stella Maris, crossing country paths and streams. It will then carry on to Buscatell, from where it will run parallel to the San Antonio road until San Rafael. This will be where it leaves San Antonio and enters, for a distance of 2,165 metres, in the municipal of Santa Eulalia, around the Puig de ca na Ribes, from where it will continue towards Sa Blanca Dona and its entrance into Ibiza. Ibiza Town will be the least affected municipal, with just 656 metres worth of piping.
The mayors of both San Antonio and Santa Eulalia announced that they would be making a formal complaint about the plans presented by GESA-Endesa, claiming that the pipes should pass adjacent to main roads instead of crossing so much private land.
In answer to their critics, the Consell Insular promised on Friday that they would study the matter further and if necessary ask GESA-Endesa to redo their plans. A spokesperson for the Consell claimed they understood the concerns of the public, and promised that, if possible, the pipe would cross public land.

Flight Increase
Air Nostrum are to run a total of 30 per cent more routes from Ibiza this winter, it was announced by their managing director Miguel Angel Falcon. From 28th October, Ibiza will be connected to Madrid, Majorca, Minorca, Alicante, Malaga and Paris. The amount of inter-island flights will also be increased with the company maintaining the summer programme to Majorca all through the winter (ten flights per day each way), as well as offering a service four times a week to Minorca. The announcement was seen as a great boost to the island in its attempts to increase winter tourism.
The announcement came on the back of figures released by AENA that showed a 9.2 per cent increase in passenger numbers at the airport in August, with a total of 960,999 passengers using the facility.

Girl Recovering
The Italian girl who was severely injured in her right eye in an incident outside the DC-10 club was making good progress. Although she is no longer in hospital, she is still receiving treatment, and has so far recovered 50 per cent of her vision. Sources at Can Misses said that they were happy with her progress, and hoped that, in time, she would recover 100 per cent of her sight.
The incident occurred in the club car park, when a small car accident led to a confrontation between two groups. The exact details of what occurred are still not clear, but it is believed that a Majorcan man, angered by the accident, threw a glass at the window of a car. The glass shattered and a tiny piece flew into the girls eye. The man was later arrested and is currently on bail.

Drug Arrests
More details were released throughout the week concerning the arrest of 18 men who, according to police reports, were involved in the biggest drugs organization on the island, controlling up to 70 per cent of the drugs sold. The men arrested included nine Moroccans, seven Columbians, one Spanish man and a Slovakian. The arrests were made after a huge surveillance operation was mounted, which carried on for months, and involved over 30 plain clothed officers infiltrating the many discos on the island.
After compiling enough information to be sure exactly who was behind the ring, police raided eleven properties across the island. Eighteen people were arrested in the raids, none of whom put up any resistance due in part to the surprise element of the raids and their timing (they were made in the early hours). In total 10,700 ecstasy tablets were discovered, along with 1,807 grams of cocaine and 4,518 grams of hashish. Police also discovered 90,000 in cash, as well as $2,700.
The suspected gang leader was a Colombian man who police believe has connections with dealers in his country of origin. After being interrogated for several hours, police began looking for the mans car, which they eventually found in San Antonio. After a thorough search, police discovered another kilo of cocaine hidden inside the car.
Of the arrested men, nine have been sent to prison unconditionally, whilst they await trial, whilst five have been granted bail of 10,000 each, and four have been released.

High Cost
The Govern Balear revealed on Monday that they had so far spent 1million as a result of the sinking of the Don Pedro. The Govern immediately took control of the situation after the vessel sank off the coast of Ibiza on 11th July. Due to oil leaking from the boat, the Govern was forced to mount a clean up operation, the like of which had not been seen in Spain since the sinking of the Prestige off the northern Spanish coast in 2003. The costs have so far well exceeded the initial figure suggested of 300,000. This does not include money spent in the operation by the Town Hall of Ibiza and the Consell Insular. However, all three administrations admitted that they would try and recover the costs from Iscomar, the company which owns the vessel, and the sole culprit in the incident.
The extraction of fuel that has been carried out over the last six weeks was completed on Friday, and all that is left is for solid material containing toxic liquids to be removed (i.e. car batteries). This will take a further month and it is hoped that the entire operation will be completed by the end of October. It will then be decided what to do with the remains of the vessel, although opinion remains divided.
A spokesman at the Govern said that their first choice would be to re-float the vessel, but that they understood that the risks involved were great and for that reason they would leave the final decision up to the experts. Technicians from the Central Government have made it clear that they feel that the re-floating of the ship, and its transport to a scrap yard present far too high a risk. They claim that the age of the vessel would almost certainly mean that it would break in two during the process.
For their part Iscomar said that they had no preferences as to what should be done afterwards, and that for the moment they were concentrating on extracting the fuel from the vessel. After this had been successfully completed, they would then sit down with the different administrations involved and discuss the different options available.

Federation Target
Roberto Hortensius, president of the Hotel Federation, confirmed last week that occupancy of the islands hotels was up by an average of five per cent, until the end of August. He said that figures had been helped by an extremely good July and August. However, he claimed that talk of all year round tourism was precipitant, and that there was too much competition from the mainland of Spain and Majorca for Ibiza to be competitive in the market. He said that the goals of the Federation had to be more realistic, and would start with trying to ensure six good months for hoteliers.
His sentiments were backed up by a number of hire car associations who claimed that the tighter security on illegal car hire firms, which the Consell promised last year, had ensured around 6,000 less of these vehicles on the road, which had resulted in the best year, so far, for most companies. This was helped by an August in which the majority of hire companies had their entire fleets rented out for the entire month. Initial reports calculate that the increase in rentals will be 20 per cent this year, a great boost after years of declining sales.

Eroski Promise
The director general of the supermarket chain Eroski, who own all of the SYP supermarkets on the island, has announced that they will introduce the price rises in cereal products gradually. Santiago Izaguirre confirmed that they were already paying 18 per cent more for most cereal based products, and 19 per cent more for dry pasta. However he said that the company fully understood the impact that the rises would have on a great deal of households, and for this reason they had decided to stagger the rises over the next six months.
The market price of cereal has risen dramatically over the last few months due to the increasing popularity of cereal based bio-fuels.

Domestic Care Centre
The care centre which was set up in 1997 to house women suffering from cases of domestic violence is currently 80 per cent full. The centre offers a wide range of facilities, from psychological care to shelter, for women and their children. The 23 apartments were donated by the Consell Insular several years ago to make it easier for women to report violence at home. The co-ordinator at the centre, Olga Guerra, revealed that at the moment they were coping admirably and only on very few occasions had they crept over the 90 per cent occupancy level. She revealed that the majority of women who made official complaints had the support of family members, and did not need to take up the offer of accommodation. She continued by saying that the accommodation was just a temporary measure (maximum stay nine months), in order to ease the pressure on the women and allow them to integrate slowly back into society. She said that she was happy with the progress that had been made over the last ten years, and that domestic violence had now become a social crime that few were now willing to put up with.
Guerra continued by saying that during the summer months there were many more incidents involving families working here for the summer, and that the amount of official complaints made by resident women very much dropped off in July and August.

Education Investment
The education minister at the Govern Balear, Barbara Galmes, has promised to invest more than 15million into education in Ibiza over the next few years. She claimed that the investment needed to be made to try and reduce the historic deficit that had always existed on the island. The vast proportion of the money will be awarded to the building of two completely new primary schools in sa Bodega and ses Paisses (San Antonio). The two projects will cost a total of 61million and will be able to hold a total of 400 pupils each.
The rest of the money will be spent building extensions and improving facilities at Poeta Villangomez, Vara de Rey in San Antonio, l´Urgell in San Jose, Can Misses (Ibiza Town) and Can Canto (San Antonio), amongst others.
Golmes continued by revealing that as well as a primary school, she was also finalising plans for a secondary school in ses Paisses, which should get underway by the end of this year.

Minorca Connection
The Air Nostrum service between Ibiza and Minorca will be maintained during the winter, it was revealed last week. The company has so far transported 6,900 passengers between the two airports, an occupancy level of 60 per cent. Although the level was described by the company as slightly disappointing, they continued by saying that they were committed to improving both the level and quality of transport between the islands, and for this reason they would be keeping the connection. During the winter it is to run four times a week, from Thursday to Sunday.

Pavement Plea
Antoni Mari Carraca, the mayor of San Joan, has made an urgent appeal for the main roads leading into the municipal to be improved. In a recent press conference, the transport minister at the Govern Balear promised that the only roads that would be renovated over the next four years would be the two roads which lead into San Joan. However, Carraca said that he had heard these promises before, and described the roads as those befitting a third world country. The two roads in question are the Ibiza-San Juan and the Ibiza-San Miguel roads. The latter was the scene of a fatal accident several months ago, when a pedestrian was knocked over by a car as he walked along the road late at night.
As well as the roads being widened to support the flow of larger vehicles, Carraca also called for pavements to be built to improve the security of pedestrians. He also said that the Govern should take advantage of the road works and change the overhead electricity and telephone cables, so that they are underground.

Gas Reduction
The Balearic Islands are set to reduce the greenhouse gases which they produce by up to 40 per cent by 2012. The ambitious plan has been agreed in compliance with the electric provider, GESA-Endesa, who currently produce 90 per cent of contaminated gases within the Balearics. The reduction will be done with the help of the gas duct, which is due to be completed by the end of 2009, and will enable GESA-Endesa to work electricity centres and turbines using natural gas. In 2006 the islands produced a total of 5,595,286 tonnes of greenhouse gases.

Dental Care
The Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that they would attempt to introduce free dental care to all children between the ages of seven and 15 years of age. The project is hoped to be launched next year, after exhaustive discussions have taken place with the different autonomous governments across the country. The plan will benefit four million children and enable them to have free check ups and basic dental care.

Shopping Slump
Forty-five per cent of retail stores surveyed claimed that the summer sales had been worse than 2006, whilst just ten per cent said that they had been better. The results were not unexpected, and are due to the fact that tourists have far less money to spend this year. A spokesman for the small and medium business association, Pimeef, said that the slump had been caused by the recent increases in interest rates and the subsequent pinch that this is having on the spending power of the average tourist. While numbers of tourists continue to increase, their spending power has been dramatically reduced, and retail outfits are the first to feel the pressure.
By municipals, however, both San Antonio and San Jose showed a marked improvement, as they both cement themselves as firm favourites with tourists looking for shopping bargains. Ibiza Town and Santa Eulalia both showed losses in general. However, the general forecast looks good, with more than half of those surveyed expecting results to improve during the autumn/winter season.

IBIZA TOWN

Cavallet Crisis
Businesses in the es Cavallet area announced last week that they had given up any chance of a recovery this season, due to the amount of algae remaining on the beach. Unfortunately, there were signs of fuel mixed in with some of the algae which was washed up on the beach during the last week of August. Normally it could be cleaned up and removed immediately, but due to the presence of the fuel it cannot be touched until tests at the Balearic University reveal if it is fact contaminated. If this turns out to be the case then the algae will have to be removed and taken to a special treatment plant on the mainland. The result is that the algae has remained on the beach and continues to discourage tourists from going to the area. Businesses are barely surviving with an average of just ten per cent of the sunbeds being rented, and the main restaurants at just 20 per cent capacity.
It has not been ruled out that the businesses affected, firstly by the oil spill and subsequently by the contaminated algae, seek compensation from Iscomar, the company responsible.

New Station
The new Guardia Civil station located in Can Sifre, Ibiza Town, is set to be completed by the beginning of next year. The installation was supposed to have been completed by June 2007, but various problems have delayed the work. The new offices, which will become the focal point of this service on the island, are to be finished soon and will also offer housing for nine families and 30 single officers.

Two Lane Road
The final part of the Ibiza-Airport road will have only two lanes, instead of the planned four, it was revealed on Wednesday. The minister in charge of public projects at the Govern, Jaume Carbonero, having met his counterpart at the Consell, Albert Prats, told a press conference that they had been in contact with a civil engineer to offer them alternatives to the original plan drawn up by the previous PP-run administration, who had favoured four lanes as the road makes its way towards the airport. This will not now be the case, and the road will change from four lanes to two just after the last tunnel.
Carbonero also revealed that work would be carried out on the drainage system of all the tunnels which were affected by floods during the first rains of August, to ensure that the problem does not occur again.

Rat Problem
An infestation of rats is causing concern in the marina area of Ibiza Town, after complaints from several shop owners during the last two weeks. The area has always been popular with rodents due to its closeness of the port and the large proliferation of restaurants in the area, all creating a great deal of rubbish. However the situation has grown out of control and shopkeepers are pleading with the Town Hall to take action. The administration, on the other hand, is unsure what more they are able to do, revealing that rubbish is cleared from the bins in the centre five times per day during high season.

SAN ANTONIO

Man Jailed
A man accused of the attempted murder of his former employer was sentenced last week to three years and four months in jail. The incident occurred in July last year when the defendant, on seeing his ex-boss driving his moped along a road in San Antonio, made an abrupt turn and sped after the bike, eventually forcing the victim to crash into a lamp post. He then got out of the car and threatened the victim.
The incident resulted from a dispute the two men had whilst working in the Hotel Arenal in San Antonio, which led to the victim sacking the aggressor.
As well as the prison sentence, the defendant, who suffers from mild schizophrenia, was ordered to pay his former employer 13,740 in compensation.

Road Improvement
The councillor in charge of town planning at the Town Hall in Ibiza, Vicent Torres, has called on the Consell to improve the access roads into the town. Torres continued by explaining that the recent work on the San Antonio-Ibiza and airport access roads had simply worsened the situation and that traffic jams were now common place at the entrance to most of the towns bottleneck entrances. He continued that the situation needed to be looked at urgently, and that it would be a top priority for his administration.

SAN JOSE

Brown Patch
The normal crystalline waters of Cala Bassa have been affected in recent days by a dark, brown patch which first appeared at the beginning of last week. According to the Town Hall the patch is due to recent weather conditions and algae, and they have refused to liken it to a similar looking patch that appears every year in Cala Tarida. However, whatever the cause, it was clear that tests need to be done to find out the cause, as it has started to affect the popularity of the beach.

Court Again
The ex-mayor of San Jose, Jose Serra Escandell, was in court once again on Friday to answer questions concerning a house built in the ses Salinas natural park. The owner of the house never sought permission for the building, whilst the mayor turned a blind eye to the situation, despite being told about the construction by the Consell Insular. It was officials at this institution that eventually made an official complaint about the house, after Escandells submissive approach. It is believed that he will not be facing charges for the incident, but was simply called as a witness in the case, and also because the judge wanted to know why Escandell had not done anything about the building he knew was illegal. On leaving court, the former mayor refused to make any comment.

SANTA EULALIA

Alzheimer Centre
The care centre, Can Blai, which looks after patients suffering from Alzheimer disease, is to begin to accept new patients once again for the first time since April. The residence had a string of problems at the beginning of the year as doubts over the care provided were expressed by families of patients. The Consell was forced to take over the running of the centre and after months of hard work, the centre will once again start to accept patients under the watchful eye of the new general manager, Jaume Roca. It is hoped that the centre will fill its 94 room capacity by November.

FORMENTERA

New School Promise
The minister for education, Barbara Galmes, took advantage of her trip to Ibiza last week to pay a fleeting visit to Formentera, where she met up with the president of the new Consell on the island, Jaume Ferrer, and the councillor for education, Sonia Cardona. During the meeting it was agreed that as soon as the Consell had acquired a suitable piece of land and transferred it to the Govern, they would immediately begin with the building of a primary school. The construction was high on the list of priorities during Ferrers election campaign, and although the location has still not been decided, it looks likely that it will be on land just to the south of San Ferran.
Galmes revealed that she was extremely happy to have seen the educational facilities at first hand and said that she had a number of proposals to try and help the system in the long term. One would be the implementation of some type of financial bonus for teachers based in Formentera, to try and lure teachers from outside the island.

Jail Threat
The owners of a popular apartment complex in Formentera were facing a three year prison sentence after building a swimming pool without the necessary permission, inside protected land, which led to the destruction of species with high environmental worth. The pool was built near to the beach in es Migjorn, in the Las Dunas apartment complex. However the construction was soon discovered by the authorities, who were quick to report the illegal pool and experts were sent in to evaluate the environmental damage that had been caused. Their findings revealed that irreversible harm had been done to the s´Arenal dune which could eventually result in considerable parts of the beach being lost.
The case, which results from the construction in 2002, has been held up several times in court due to the delaying tactics of the defendants lawyers. However the case got underway on Monday, and is set to conclude within the next few days with both defendants set to give their side of the story. However it has already been made clear that no permission was granted and that the pool will have to be removed.
The husband has already been found guilty of assaulting the then councillor of Urban Planning, Jose Ramon Mateos, as well as the Town Halls surveyor, Antono Calvo, after they arrived on the premises to seal off the swimming pool.

Formentera Change
The councillor in charge of tourism at the new Consell of Formentera, Josep Mayans, revealed on Wednesday that they would concentrate their tourist campaign this winter on something different to the sun and sea tourism that swamps the island every summer and, in particular, they would promote the island in countries including France, Switzerland and Russia, with special emphasis placed on Russia. Mayans said that it was important that the island did not become too reliant on one type of tourism, and that there was a substantial need to improve the months outside of July and August. There have been complaints during the last few years that the type of client the island is now attracting has a significantly lower spending power, which has affected complementary services like shops, restaurants and bars.

CRIME & INCIDENTS

Brutal Attack
A Frenchman, resident on the island for several years, has died after being attacked at his home in Cala Tarida. The emergency services were called to the ground floor residence at around 4p.m. by a man claiming that the injuries had been caused in a suicide attempt by the victim. As well as multiple facial injuries to the eye, nose and jaw, the victim also had several cuts on his hands. The blows to the head had caused the man to have a huge brain haemorrhage. After initially being taken to Can Misses, he was later transferred to the Vilas private clinic, which specialises in head injuries. On reading the initial report of how the injuries occurred and after further studies, medical staff at the hospital contacted police, saying that it was impossible that the injuries had been self-inflicted. This led police to launch an immediate investigation.
They said that at present there were no official suspects, although they did say they wanted to speak to the mans boyfriend who appeared to have left the island hurriedly after the incident had occurred, destined for Barcelona. He was eventually detained at the port in Barcelona and was being sent back to the island. They confirmed that he was not, at the moment, under suspicion but that his testimony would be crucial.
Police revealed that the victim was an extremely tall, thick set man and that the injuries would have had to have been caused by someone equally as large.
In a thorough search of the house and surrounding area police found two objects that they believe could have been used in the attack. They also found half a kilo of cocaine in the safety deposit box of the apartment, which meant police could not rule out the involvement of drug traffickers in the attack. However they confirmed that the partner of the man remained the chief lead.

Attempted Get Away
A man suspected of stealing 30,000 in a robbery in San Antonio was arrested on Monday, after he had initially escaped from police. The incident began early on Monday morning when plain clothed officers noticed a car parked in avenida Ignacio Wallis, they believed had been used in a robbery in San Antonio. As the occupant was nowhere to be seen, they decided to let down one of his tyres and wait for the suspect. Half an hour later the man arrived and nervously got into his car. Three officers immediately circled the vehicle, with one of the officers actually climbing on to the bonnet. However the man was determined not to make it easy for police and after starting the car, he sped off, throwing the officer to the ground. One of the officers then fired warning shots into the air, but this failed to frighten the suspect, who drove towards the San Antonio roundabout at high speed. However his passage was soon cut off by a police car, but before officers could arrive at the vehicle the man had continued his escape on foot. In the ensuing chaos, police lost sight of the man.
However, he was soon located and arrested after staff at the Tax Office buildings reported a man acting suspiciously inside the building.

Jail Break
A young Norwegian man made the most of some shoddy police work over the weekend by escaping from the cells at the local police station. The man, who had been arrested under suspicion of committing a robbery in an hotel in Cala San Vicente, could not be taken to the normal lockups of the Guardia Civil, due to the high number of suspects who had been arrested in the various drugs raids over the past weekend. The Guardia Civil therefore asked for the man to be held at the local police station, with several other suspects. However, the station in San Antonio has not possessed proper cells for several years, and only has a detention centre where the arrested are temporarily held, before being handed over to the Guardia Civil. Because of the large numbers of suspects held, an adjoining room was opened to give everyone more space. However it was later revealed that one of the doors in this room had a broken lock and was easily opened by the man.
The man took advantage of several call outs that officers were forced to answer, and made his get away when there was just one officer remaining at the station. However, the man did not last long on the run, and was rearrested on late Tuesday afternoon.
The incident could actually have been a lot worse as several of the suspects in the drugs raid were also held in the same room. It is unclear why no-one else tried to escape.

Swimmer Critical
A 65 year old Swiss man remained in a critical condition over the weekend, after encountering difficulty whilst swimming in the sea off es Pujols, Formentera. It appears that the man had been bathing in the sea for a considerable amount of time, when he suddenly became tired and started to swallow large quantities of water. Two men on the beach, one a sun-bather, the other a worker in a beach café, swam out to help the man, whom they dragged back to the shore unconscious. The emergency services were quickly called and the man was rushed to Formentera Hospital. However, due to his critical condition he was later flown by helicopter to Can Misses where he remains.

FINANCIAL NEWS

Wage Deficiency
The average gross monthly wage in the Balearics is 1,700, which is below the national average. The fact that the islands are a tourist destination means that the cost of living is far higher than in other areas. This has caused experts to describe the figure as insufficient and has meant a far greater pressure on families to meet their mortgage repayments.

High Euro
The euro reached its highest level against the dollar on Wednesday as a consequence of the predicted interest rate cuts in the United States. The credit problem in the US, which has battered world markets over the last few weeks, is also weakening the dollar considerably against the euro. The official rate on Wednesday was 1.3094, its highest level against the dollar since the currency was introduced. The euro has remained strong due to interest rate rises by the European Bank in March and June.
However the weak dollar was seen as a problem for the tourist sector, as it would mean a lot less Americans traveling to Europe.

Economy Fall
The economy of the island suffered a decrease of 3.8 per cent in 2006, according to financial experts working at sa Nostra. The fall was the ninth in a row and was blamed on the lack of professionals on the island. The director of the economic centre of sa Nostra, Toni Riera, said that the decrease was similar to other islands, and was caused by the islands reliability on the service and construction sectors. He said that so many falls in a row meant that there was a structural problem within the system that needed to be changed. He added that the authorities needed to take serious measures to try and encourage youngsters to continue with their studies, with only four per cent currently continuing on to further education.

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