Under Suspicion
The boyfriend of the man murdered in Cala Tarida last week was on his way to Ibiza, after being arrested getting off the boat in Barcelona port. Investigators made it clear that the man, originally from Argelia, but with a French passport, was the prime suspect in what they were now treating as a murder case.
The incident began last Friday when an estate agent arrived at the property to speak to the victim about another apartment that he had for sale in the area. On entering the ground floor flat she found the proprietor, a 42 year old Frenchman, slumped on the floor covered in blood, with his boyfriend standing over him visibly shocked. The suspect immediately asked for assistance, and told the agent that his boyfriend had tried to kill himself. An ambulance was called and the boyfriend travelled in the vehicle with the man to Can Misses hospital. He repeated his story to hospital staff on arrival.
While efforts were being made to save the life of the victim, the suspect took the opportunity to make his escape, and that night left on a boat destined for Barcelona. The victim was soon transferred to the Vilas private clinic in Ibiza, which specialises in head injuries. After further investigation they informed police that the injuries were not self-inflicted and said that the man had been brutally beaten with a blunt object. In an initial police search of the couples apartment (they had shared the house for a year) they found it covered in blood. They also discovered a Japanese sword outside in the dustbin of the apartment, along with a baseball bat, both splattered with blood. Suspecting foul play, they immediately issued a search warrant for the boyfriend of the victim, whom they soon realised had made his escape to Barcelona.
After further investigation the police revealed that the motive of the murder could be jealousy. The victim was apparently trying to break up with his partner when a quarrel began. The family of the victim have already contracted a private lawyer in order to ensure that matters proceed correctly, after confirming that the victim had recently told them that he was tired of the relationship and wanted to end it, claiming that it was only bringing him problems.
However, until the suspect arrives back in Ibiza, police sources said that they did not want to speculate any further. However, it appears it will only be days before the entire, horrific story is revealed.

AROUND THE ISLAND

GEN Riposte
The environmental group, GEN, has reacted angrily to attempts by the owners of the six restaurants threatened in ses Salinas and es Cavallet to legalise their establishments. The group has confirmed that some of the restaurants surpass the legal surface area in the area by over 450 per cent. The owner of the restaurants, Ibifor S.A., is trying to take advantage of some legal loopholes in a law dating back to 1988. However, the group has pointed out that the legalisation of the restaurants should have been carried out in the following twelve months of the legislation being put in place, and not nearly 20 years later.
The six restaurants in question, which include Malibu and the Jockey Club, are under threat after a report from the Coastal Authorities revealed that their situation and size were both having a considerable negative affect on the dunes in the area. The entire ses Salinas area has now been deemed an area of natural beauty, and attempts are being made to ensure that the environmental equilibrium is maintained. It seems that this will mean that the restaurants will have to abide by the guidelines in the report, which recommended that they are reduced to a total of just 150 square metres in size, a reduction of around 300 metres for some.

Overdose Death
As the paper goes to print, details remained sketchy about the death of a British tourist in Murphy´s Irish Pub in Playa den Bossa. The sixty year old man had only been on the island for a few hours, accompanied by a younger woman, when he collapsed in the popular bar. Emergency services were immediately called but could not do anything to save the mans´ life. Police suspect that the victim overdosed after taking the drug GHB, popularly known as liquid ecstasy. He had also been drinking for several hours before taking the drug. Investigations continued but all indications appeared that this was yet one more drug death on the island.

Consell Efforts
The number of Scandinavian tourists reserving holidays in Ibiza for 2008 looked set to increase after a Consell-backed campaign involving this market. One of the promises of the new administration during their electoral campaign was to try and increase the season both in length and quality. They have begun to fulfil this promise by trying to attract more Northern Europeans to the island in the months of May, June and October.
The reduction of the season has been a worry for the tourist sector over the last few years, as Ibiza has seen a seven month season reduced down to three. This has, in part, been blamed on the increasing club culture on the island. This increase in the youth market has come at the cost of the family sector, which has been allowed to dwindle over the last few years. However the new socialist led Consell seem determined to try and lure the families back to the island, starting with the once strong Scandinavian market.

Oil Slick
The beach at San Vicente, San Juan, had to be closed on Sunday after an oil slick of around 100 metres in length appeared close to the shore. Initial fears that the slick had originated from the sunken ship, Don Pedro, were soon ruled out due to the consistency and type of fuel. Experts revealed that it was more likely that it had come from a smaller boat harboured close to the area which had emptied its residual tanks. This is a process strictly forbidden by the Marine Authorities because of the damaging affect to the coastline. The slick was first spotted at around 4p.m. and the beach was immediately closed after oil began to wash up on the beach. However, authorities reported that the fuel was far easier to clean than that deposited by the Don Pedro, and the process lasted just 24 hours, with the beach opening up again late on Monday.

Salt City
As the collection process began last week, the company in charge of the salt mines on the island calculated that they would produce around 30 per cent less salt than in an average year. The bad weather in August is being blamed for the decline, although the antiquated collection process, due to the restrictions within the natural park, do not help. The basins were left ten days longer this year, before being drained last week, to try and increase the amount of salt, but this tactic had only limited success. The levels within the basins, according to the company in charge, Salinera Espanola, are at eight centimetres when normal levels are around ten centimetres. However, the process has begun, and salt is being collected at a rate of 1,200 tonnes per day. The process is predicted to take two months and will end with around 35,000 tonnes being collected.

PP Criticism
The opposing PP party this week heavily criticised the decision of the new Consell to keep the airport road down to two lanes for the final part of its journey. The PP were heavily criticised last year when they were unable to finish off the dual-carriageway, the anti-motorway association accusing the then president, Pere Palau, of having a conflict of interest in not completing the work, because the hire-car company, Betacar, (partly owned by Palau) was en-route and would possibly have to be moved. They were, in fact, not able to finish the road after the Airport Authority initially refused to release land that was needed to complete the work. They eventually agreed to give the land to the Consell, but the new administration, who entered on the back of the problems caused by the new roads, reiterated that they would not be finishing off the project as planned.
In a separate attack, the ex-roads minister, Stella Matutes, who was primarily behind the construction, hit back at claims that there were still people who have not been paid after their homes and land were forcefully purchased by the Govern. She insisted that the necessary funds had been left for everyone to receive payment this year, and demanded to know how the money had suddenly disappeared.

Gas Change
GESA-Endesa claimed in a press conference last week that they were willing to change the trajectory of the underground gas piping which will be laid over the course of next year, to ensure as little effect as possible on land owners. They said that although the current proposition, which is available to view in the town halls of Ibiza, Santa Eulalia and San Antonio, is viable, they had no problems in changing the route. Natural gas is to be brought to the island from the mainland of Spain via underground pipes. The main beneficiary will be GESA-Endesa, who will now be able to use the gas to create other forms of energy. As well as ensuring an economic saving for the company, it will also mean a reduction of nearly a third in the level of contaminated gases that are produced.
The current project would mean the pipe crossing over 700 different pieces of land. The Consell criticised the plan, and were immediately backed by the Govern Balear and the opposing PP party. They suggested that the route should run parallel to the San Antonio-Ibiza road, which is public land and would therefore cause far less inconvenience. It is a proposal that GESA-Endesa seem to have taken on board, and it seems likely that they will be changing their plans soon.

Successful Season
The president of the Hotel Federation, Roberto Hortensius, declared himself happy with results so far this year, as he revealed occupancy levels of around 77.80 per cent from May August. He claimed that these results were very similar to last year, a season that was deemed relatively successful by members.
August results were again very similar to those of last year with the north of the island again leading the way with a total occupancy level of 96.24 per cent. However, most of the other areas had similarly successful results, with the lowest being Formentera with an occupancy level throughout the month of 92.94 per cent.
Hortensius continued by saying that he was confident that September would be a successful month, but that October still remained a bit of a mystery, with many hotels closing around the middle of the month.

High Earners
The Balearic Islands come sixth on the list of the highest wages paid within Spain. The study carried out by the firm, Randstad, took into account 500,000 work contracts when compiling their results. They revealed that residents of Navarra are the highest earners, with residents within the Balearics earning 0.90 for every one euro earned in Navarra. There was also a difference in the wages of the two sexes, with women in the Balearics receiving three per cent less than their male counterparts.

Octopus Discovery
A video recorded on the seabed off the coast of Ibiza is causing a sensation in the marine world. The underground shots recorded by Xavier Martinell show an octopus emitting a sound as it escapes from what it believes to be a predator. The incident was captured whilst the diver was taking footage of marine life on the seabed. He turned to see a grouper fish being attacked by the octopus. The fish managed to escape, and Matinell continued recording. On seeing the diver the octopus emitted a squirt of ink. However it remained in the same position, and the diver noticed a luminous flash of light. The diver gave it no great importance at the time, and it was only when he was studying the footage later that he noticed the curious behaviour of the octopus. He sent the video off to marine experts in Barcelona, who later sent the footage on to London. The Journal of the Marine Biological Association printed an article last month about the incident, and explained that they believed the noise was a defence mechanism which the octopus emits only in cases of extreme danger to try and ward off predators. However they explained that further investigation would need to be undertaken.

Bed Promise
The health minister at the Govern Balear, who visited the island two weeks ago, declared in the first assembly of the Govern Balear after the summer break, that he was studying emergency measures which he hoped to put in place within weeks. He said that his first priority was to ensure, in the very short term, that the hospital did not lack beds, and on that note he announced that the hospital would be installing 24 new beds. He said that he hoped that this would ease the immediate problems facing the hospital.
He also promised to ensure that the new surgical unit being built within the hospital would be finished as soon as possible. This would enable the hospital to double the surgical operations currently take place. He also pledged to enlarge the accident and emergency unit, after personally witnessing the lack of space during his brief visit to the island.
He continued by adding that the lack of facilities and personnel were no secret, but that the problem had been caused by the previous administration not improving facilities whilst the population grew by 30 per cent during the previous six years. He said that his administration was definitely planning to build a much needed new hospital, and that he hoped that these temporary solutions would ease the pressure in the meantime.

Group Expansion
The expansion of the hotel group, Playa Sol, seems to know no boundaries after the purchases of four more hotels were announced. At the beginning of the year the hotel group, headed by the Catalan businessman Fernando Ferré, secured the Riviera Hotel in the bay of San Antonio. This has been followed up with the purchase of the Tur Palas, the Llevant, Mira Mola and the Sol Bay II apartments. This makes the group the number one hotel provider on the island with a total of ten thousand beds, ten per cent of the total currently on offer in Ibiza.
The group, which was founded 20 years ago, has been rapidly buying up properties of differing categories, especially within the bay of San Antonio and Playa den Bossa. At the time of publication the group owns 51 hotels/apartment complexes, a number which looks certain to increase in the near future.

IBIZA TOWN

Multi National
The cosmopolitan feel of the island was born out in new statistics unveiled by the Town Hall of Ibiza, which showed that the 11,880 foreign residents registered within the municipality were made up from 89 different nationalities. There are in total 48,495 residents in Ibiza Town, 24.5 per cent of which are foreign. The most popular nationality remains Ecuadorian, with a total of 1,820 now living in the capital. This is followed by Romanians, who have increased from 165 in 2003 to 1,704 currently registered. Moroccans are third on the list with 1,255.
The capital still remains an unpopular place for the British to live, with just 344 currently registered at the Town Hall.
The variety of nationalities has increased dramatically over the last four years with some of the newest representatives including Malta, Lithuania, Georgia, the Bahamas, Liberia and Kazakhstan.

Law Courts
Ibiza Town Hall has offered part of the new bus station being built in sa Colomina to the ministry of justice, to enable the law courts to be moved from their current installations in the centre of the town. The proposal offers 7,000 square metres of building, in addition to a 2,000 square metre car park. The ministry of justice has been looking to move the justice courts on the island for a while, and there were even plans to build a new installation in sa Graduada.
The mayoress, Lurdes Costa, said that this alternative would allow the law courts to move far more rapidly than they could have hoped. It would also provide them with more car parking space, an asset that is blatantly missing from the current installations, with police vehicles often having to double park whilst they unload suspects.
The bus station is set to be finished at the beginning of 2008, and includes a five- storey building as well as a separate bus terminal.
It is now up to the Ministry of Justice to see if they can agree with Ibiza Town Hall the finer details of the agreement, but it is an option that, at the moment, seems to have pleased everyone.

SAN ANTONIO

San Rafael Complaint
Neighbours voiced their complaints during the week about the continued street drinking which is taking place within San Rafael. The close vicinity which the town enjoys to two of the larger clubs on the island means that it has become the centre for many illegal gatherings of youngsters, keen to drink before they go into the clubs, therefore avoiding the high prices they will encounter inside. The Town Hall of San Antonio promised to eradicate this practice several months ago, but after delegating a police car to control the area, the presence of these parties, especially over the weekend, have been on the increase, forcing neighbours to once again make complaints. As one neighbour pointed out, the problem is that the revellers make a lot of noise and create a great deal of rubbish. They have no respect for peoples property and are a general nuisance.
The Town Hall for their part promised to increase security over the next two weeks in the build up to all the clubs closing parties.

Licence Probe
The town hall of San Antonio confirmed on Thursday that they had begun an investigation into the horse farm, Los Olivos, situated near San Rafael on the San Antonio-Ibiza road. Neighbours have constantly protested about the lavish building, complaining that it had far exceeded its original plans. The municipal administration claimed they had told the constructors that the main building of 481 metres would need a special social interest licence from the Consell Insular. It appears that this was never granted. The investigation is also concentrating on several accessories that have been added on to the house, including a swimming pool, porches and smaller buildings, without the necessary permission.
Neighbours complained that the new walls built around the property have closed access roads in the area. The building is next to the new motorway, and had to rebuild its walls at the beginning of the year, after the road encroached on part of the land.

Obscene Parade
The Town Hall of San Antonio revealed that they have sent photographs and an official complaint to the public prosecutor concerning a procession carried out by the club night, Home Club, celebrated in Privilege. The procession, which is a common publicity ploy by the more popular club nights on the island, consisted of four semi-naked women, crawling along the floor on all fours, chained together, covered in mud, being led along by a man. The councillor, Jose Ramon Serra Pilot, said that the exhibition was degrading to women, and certainly not what the municipal wanted parading through the town at eight oclock in the evening.
He continued that the organisers had been granted permission for the parade, but that the contents had not been revealed to the Town Hall. He warned that he would use every means possible to ensure that those responsible for the show were punished. However, he admitted that he did not hold the club responsible, saying that it was the responsibility of the promoters of that particular night.
For their part the organisers of the parade, the theatrical group la Fura dels Baus, said that the piece was in no way meant to be offensive, and it certainly did not degrade women. They claimed that the show merely consisted of actors playing out certain roles, and that they had performed a similar theme in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.

SAN JOSE

Building Proposal
The Town Hall of San Jose has proposed offering building licences in other areas of the municipality to those affected by the demolition caused in sa Caixota. The case concerns buildings built as part of a complex close to a cliff edge near to Cala Vadella in 2005. It appears that the promoters did not ensure that the area was stable, and after most of the properties had been sold, but none were in fact occupied, a landslide caused several of the buildings to collapse into the rocks below.
Disputes have continued until today, with no one wanting to take responsibility for what happened. The Town Hall, (under the previous administration), was blamed in part for allowing the buildings to be built on unsafe ground in the first place. It appears that the new administration is trying to solve the problem by offering licences in other areas.
The legal representative of the property owners said that he was happy that the present administration was at least willing to make proposals. He pointed out that none of the owners wanted the current building to be rebuilt unless they had assurances against similar landslides, and that each proposal would have to be studied carefully.

New Offices
Water provider, Aqualia, has finally opened its new offices in San Jose. The company, which has been distributing water within the municipality since 2002, hope that the offices situated in calle Pere Escandells, 21, will ensure a better service to the public. The delegate for Ibiza, Ferran Bosch, explained that the company had recently spent a total of 1.8million trying to improve the service within the municipality, which had included a new water deposit in Port des Torrent, 28 kilometres of new pipes, and most importantly a new system which allows technicians to section certain parts of the network, so that when there are problems, as few people as possible are actually affected.
The mayor, Josep Mari Ribas, said he was pleased with the advances being made but added that there was still a long way to go and described the water within the municipality as sub-standard.

SANTA EULALIA

Old Town Protection
New plans for the historic part of Jesus, put together under the previous PP-run Consell, have designated eight buildings/areas within the town as officially protected. These include the church, the cemetery, Can Calbet and ses Escoles. The protection means that the buildings cannot be demolished nor have any remodelling work undertaken. As well as the buildings themselves, the legislation also states that the areas around the eight sites are also protected, and ensures that the installation of wall mounted air-conditioning units is prohibited, as well as above ground cables and awnings. The new plans have been welcomed by the mayor, who said that the protection of the town would remain a priority of his administration. The Town Hall will now have five years to ensure that all the necessary work of removing cables, awnings and luminous signs is carried out.

Free Bus Service
Santa Eulalia is to study the possibility of introducing a free bus service around the city centre. The popular councillor, Carmen Ferrer, announced that they had used the World Day without Cars last Saturday to pilot the scheme, which had been a great success. The two buses that left from Siesta ran from 9a.m.-3p.m. every 15 minutes and included ten stop off points on their route. Their route included Can Guasch, the market, the car park, Tres Torres, and Cas Capita. Ferrer announced that the administration was thinking very seriously about the idea. However they would need time to work out the best way to carry out the plan, and to see how the system functioned on a normal working day. The plan is all part of the administrations attempt to become a greener municipal, an ideology that was unveiled by the mayor, Vicent Mari, during his election campaign.

Jesus Promise
The mayor of Santa Eulalia, Vicent Mari, eased neighbours fears in Jesus after promising that a plan announced by a neighbourhood association several weeks ago was not being considered by his administration. He said that the plan to redirect traffic from the centre of the town would be done by building a new road, preferably from Cala Llonga, joining the Santa Eulalia road at Cana Negreta. He said that this would help to take a lot of the heavy traffic away from the town centre. The plan presented by a neighbourhood association several weeks ago suggested the use of existing roads to try and ease the traffic, an option that has been discounted by the mayor.
Mari went on to make comments about plans to demolish the bypass at the entrance to Jesus, calling it preposterous, and claiming that politicians had to start being realistic and the option was simply not viable. He continued by adding that he had talked about his plans with the minister for roads, Albert Prats, and hoped the minister could put his ideologies to one side and try to do what was best for road users.

FORMENTERA

Consell Building
The president of the new Consell of Formentera, Jaume Ferrer, announced on Monday his intention of building new offices to house the new administration. The current Consell was set up in May of this year after the latest elections, and immediately moved into the offices of the defunct town hall.
However, as the face of politics begins to change on the island, so it has now become necessary, according to Ferrer, to improve the facilities to ensure that the new members of the Consell are located within an infrastructure that enables them to organise and coordinate far easier than it has been able to in the past. The change from town hall to Consell will include many new staff members who need to be accommodated.
An exact location has not been suggested, but Ferrer insisted that although they could cope in their current offices for the next few years, he hoped that the new building would be ready within his four year term.

CRIME & INCIDENTS

Moped Accident
A motorist was seriously injured in Formentera on Wednesday, after his moped collided with a car. The incident occurred on the sa Savina-la Mola road just after the petrol station. The moped overtook the car immediately in front, not realising that the vehicle had slowed down because the car in front was making a left turn. The moped collided into the side of the car as it made the turn, throwing the driver onto the ground. The emergency services were called and the man was rushed to hospital where he remains in a serious condition.

Victim Named
The dead body found by police in the old military building has been confirmed as that of a Romanian vagrant. The information arrived in Ibiza after the administration had sent photos to Interpol to try and confirm the identity of the victim.
The body of the vagrant was discovered by police on 15th July this year, after the newspaper, El Mundo, received an anonymous phone call from a man saying there was a bad smell emanating from the military building, which has been abandoned for several years and belongs to the Consell Insular. The police were, in turn, immediately contacted by the paper, and discovered the body lying on a bed of newspapers and covered by a curtain. The man had been shot through the eye.
The police investigation led them to interview several other vagrants in the area but their inquiry has so far remained fruitless. They believe the man who initially contacted el Mundo could hold the key to unlocking the mystery, but have so far had no luck in identifying him.

Youth Detained
A British tourist was arrested over the weekend after breaking the window of a bus as it drove past. The mini-bus had been contracted by a group of Spanish people celebrating a stag night. As they were being driven through San Antonio, one of the windows smashed, to the surprise of those inside. After the bus had come to a standstill, they realised that the window had in fact been broken by a youth standing on the side of the road. The occupants of the bus confronted the two British tourists and a fight broke out. Police were soon on the scene and a total of seven arrests were made, including that of the youth who had thrown the stone.

Out of Control
A man, his wife and their thirteen month old son were all left injured following a spectacular accident on Monday in Ibiza Town. The accident took place during the early evening, when a 4x4 Opel Frontera failed to stop at a zebra-crossing, knocking over the family who were in the process of crossing the road. However the incident did not end there, as the driver continued going at high speed before crashing into a parked car 20 metres further up the road, which in turn collided into two more cars. Emergency services were soon on the scene and the three were taken to hospital, the father and son both staying the night in the clinic, suffering minor head injuries. The driver of the vehicle was also taken to hospital complaining of chest pains, which meant that police were unable to carry out a breath test.

NEWS FROM THE MAINLAND

T4 Car Park
Thursday saw the re-opening of the terminal four car park at Madrid airport, nearly nine months after the ETA terrorist attack which saw two Ecuadorians lose their lives. Government Minister Magdalena Alvarez officially opened the car park once again, and unveiled plaques dedicated to the two victims, which will occupy places 614 and 403, the two spaces where the men were sitting in their respective cars when the blast went off on 30th December.
Alvarez said the reconstruction, in record time, was an indication that life moved on and that the terrorists would never win.
The work took a total of eight months and cost around 30million.

Eco-Tax Debate
The deputy mayor of Barcelona has refused to rule out a possible eco-tax being introduced within the city in the near future. The idea met with much criticism when first suggested by Inma Mayol during the election campaign in May. However, she has reaffirmed her belief that those visiting the city should have to pay an economic donation towards its upkeep. In a statement made over the weekend, Mayol said that the idea came to her when she was discussing the maximum tourist capacity of Barcelona. She continued that the city would eventually get to levels where so much tourism would have a negative effect, and the eco-tax would help to balance this out. Tourists planning to travel to Barcelona should not be too worried at the moment, as the plan is still only in its infancy and would be a few years off, if ever agreed.
The Balearic Islands have a great deal of experience in this area after the introduction of a similar eco-tax in 2002. The tax proved extremely controversial, lasted just one year, and caused its creators, the PSOE-socialist party, to be voted out of office a year after its introduction.

Immigration Surge
It was estimated that around 200 illegal immigrants tried to enter Spain over the weekend aboard several different boats. The most worrying instances occurred in Alicante, an area that has, so far, not suffered the problem before. In total five boats were discovered in the area over the weekend, three of which were empty. The Government immediately announced that they would be installing four fixed radars in the area, as fears grew that to compete against the growing security presence around the southern coast, the immigrants were first being shipped in larger vessels towards the coast and then being sent off in smaller boats towards the lesser controlled coasts.
The news came on the back of figures revealing that 31,678 people were captured aboard boats close to the Canaries in 2006, trying to illegally enter the country. This was an increase of 564 per cent on the previous year, and although it shows that the detection techniques are now starting to pay dividends, it also demonstrates that more and more people are willing to take this option in the hope of a better life.

Advert Criticised
Ryanair has decided to withdraw an ad campaign using the image of the president of the Government, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. The ad, which appeared in several magazines last weekend, used a photo of the president with a cartoon think bubble above him which read mmm, Ryanair are offering two million free seats.thats better than our baby-cheque. The advert is in reference to the legislation introduced by Zapateros administration that will give 2,500 to all new parents.
A spokesmen for the company said that they had received a complaint from official sources, and had decided not to use the image again. They said that it was common practice in Europe to use well known faces to promote their product, and that they had not meant for it to be offensive or ridiculing in any way.
The Government agreed they did not find the advert offensive, but added they preferred that the image of the president was not used to advertise products. They confirmed that they were happy with the action taken by Ryanair, and would not be taking the matter any further.

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