northern Spain is the place to go

Spain ranks as one of the most mountainous countries in Europe because – and this isn't obvious – the heart of the country sits on a huge plateau. Madrid is 2,100ft above sea level (which explains why the Spanish capital is so cold in the winter and roasting-hot in the summer).

 

But for impressive mountains, northern Spain is the place to go. If you're arriving here direct from the UK with Brittany Ferries – when you can bring your car to explore the region far and wide – the first thing to strike you as you approach the coast is the range of huge mountains that rears up behind the port of Santander.

The snow-capped peaks you're looking at are the Picos de Europa, one of the wildest and most unspoilt regions of Europe – superb walking country and a wonderful place for spotting wildlife.

Bears and wolves are said to roam here still, and you will almost certainly spot eagles soaring high in the sky. It's 'secret Spain', a holiday place far from the madding crowds of Benidorm or Torremolinos.

Here the accent is on a gentler-paced rural way of life. This is a Big Country in lots of ways – the coast, which runs from the French border in the east to the frontier with northern Portugal in the west – covers a distance of some 500 miles.

The northern provinces include some of the country's most historic places: Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Pais Vasco (Basque Country).

Saints alive: San Sebastian can boast beaches - such as Concha Beach - every bit as inviting as the southern Costas

Together they make up what is known as Green Spain – green thanks to the large amounts of year-round rain. Unlike southern Spain, where good, unspoilt beaches are at a premium, along the northern coast you'll find endless stretches of long sandy ones, many of them hidden down coastal valleys of the sort familiar to anyone who has holidayed in Cornwall.

And inland, you'll be seduced by sweet countryside – small villages with traditional farms on green rolling hills flanked by mist-covered mountains. These are places steeped in Celtic tradition where the local version of the bagpipes provides a soundtrack to festivities, which are further enlivened by the region's potent cider and strong-smelling cheeses.

Northern Spain is also great wine country. This part of the country is, after all, home to the famous rioja grape variety. Rain in Spain actually falls mainly in the north and this helps produce some of the world's finest grapes – Professor Higgins would no doubt have been delighted.

Here are my five tips for a great holiday in northern Spain...

1. Paradors

The Spanish paradors are hotels offering good accommodation, most in buildings of historic or architectural interest, including former castles, palaces, fortresses, convents and monasteries.

Ones particularly worth seeking out in northern Spain include the Hostal dos Reis Catolicos in Santiago de Compostela – the finishing point for those who walk the Pilgrim's Way across northern Spain – and the popular Hostal San Marcos in Leon.

2. Seaside delights

In Santander, the seaside has a delightful Edwardian feel. Further along the coast to the east is San Sebastian, which has a Victorian elegance (it has been a favourite summer-escape destination for the Spanish royal family). All along the coast are a huge variety of small towns and fishing villages with great beaches (many with excellent surfing), lovely restaurants and good-value accommodation.

3. Great attractions

Bilbao has its own extraordinary outpost of the Guggenheim Museum; Santiago de Compostela boasts a cathedral with relics of St James; in the province of Cantabria you'll find arguably the best collection of cave paintings in the whole of Europe, with more than 50 sites, including some of enormous artistic quality and historical importance. They include Altamira, famous for paintings of boars, bison, deer and horses dating from the end of the Ice Age.

4. Take the train

Catch the FEVE narrow-gauge railway, one of the most spectacular lines in Europe. It runs along the coast between Bilbao in the east and El Ferrol in the west, travelling over dramatic viaducts and offering stunning views of the coast. The fares are cheap and travellers can jump off the train at picturesque bays and fishing ports.

A load of old bull: Ancient paintings adorn the Altamira cave near Santander

5. Wonderful history

Discover cities that have fascinating historical connections with the UK.

Charles Wolfe's The Burial Of Sir John Moore After Corunna used to be a poem that British school children learnt by heart: 'Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, As his corpse to the rampart we hurried; Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where our hero we buried…'

Nowadays Corunna is known as A Coruña. The city is a perfect short-break destination in its own right with great hotels and plenty of good restaurants and bars.

Travel Facts

Brittany Ferries (            0871 244 1400      , www.brittanyferries.co.uk) operates luxurious cruise ferries to Spain with a choice of routes from Portsmouth and Plymouth to Santander and Bilbao. Travel to Spain with a one or two-night cruise on a luxury ferry and enjoy comfortable cabins and plenty of entertainment, including cinemas, swimming pool and quality restaurants.

Return fares for a car plus two people cost from £470 including en suite cabin accommodation.

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Carnival says caring for cruise disaster victims

 

Carnival Corp & plc, whose luxury liner Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy last week, said it was providing lodging, refunds and other support to people affected by the accident, even as some public relations executives criticized the company's handling of the situation. "I give my personal assurance that we will take care of each and every one of our guests, crew and their families affected by this tragic event," Carnival Chief Executive Micky Arison said in a statement late on Wednesday - five days after the incident that left 11 people dead and 22 missing. Costa Cruise Lines, a unit of Carnival and operator of the ship, has been arranging lodging and transportation for passengers and crew members to return home, and has offered assistance and counseling as needed. It has also begun refunding passengers their cruise fares and all costs incurred while on board. The company also said it was contacting every passenger and crew member or their family and will be addressing personal possessions lost on board. Public relations experts have chastised Carnival for being slow to address the disaster and vague about its response and efforts to prevent similar incidents in the future. On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being "outstanding," Carnival's public relations strategy in the immediate wake of the disaster gets a four, said Allyson Stewart-Allen, director of International Marketing Partners, a consulting firm. "It wasn't quick, it wasn't specific, it wasn't reassuring," Stewart-Allen said, noting that Carnival's first statement, released on Saturday nearly 24 hours after the Costa Concordia liner struck rock causing it to capsize, did not quote a specific person. Subsequent statements on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday quoted Arison, who has been in continuous contact with executives in Italy, but has not flown there himself. Arison, who also owns the Miami Heat NBA team, has written six messages on Twitter mentioning the tragedy, but Evan Nierman, founder of Florida public relations firm Red Banyan Group said that was not enough. "If he's the point person, I would want a constant flow of information - Twitter, Facebook, talking to reporters, letting them know what's going on. I would have him out there in a real way. He needs to be in front of cameras, he needs to be meeting with people, he needs to show that he's in charge of the situation." A statement on Wednesday from Costa Cruises, owned by Carnival, said the Italian company commissioned salvage experts in the hours after the accident to draw up a plan to recover the fuel reserves from the ship before they leak into the water.

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New guidelines for Ascot dress code

 

The fashion stakes are always high at Royal Ascot but organisers are now raising the bar by banning fascinators in the royal enclosure. The decision is part of a move to tighten and clarify the dress code at the annual summer event and comes amid criticism of sartorial standards which have been more loosely enforced in recent years. Thousands of visitors who flock to the less formal grandstand enclosure during the week-long meet in June will also be obliged to adhere to strict new guidelines. Organisers have defended the changes and insist the revised dress code is designed to restore formality rather than encourage "elitism". Ascot spokesman Nick Smith said: "It is probably fair to say that the dress code hasn't necessarily been enforced quite as rigorously as we might have liked. "It is stretching a point to say standards have collapsed but there is no doubt that our customers would like to get back to a situation where it is universally acknowledged that this is a formal occasion and not an occasion where you might dress as you would at a nightclub." In the royal enclosure, this means fascinators - which are often favoured by the Duchess of Cambridge - are no longer deemed acceptable. The new dress code states: "Hats should be worn; a headpiece which has a base of four inches (10cm) or more in diameter is acceptable as an alternative to a hat." Women will also be expected to wear skirts or dresses of "modest length" which fall just above the knee or longer. This clarifies previous guidance which stated miniskirts were "considered unsuitable". For men, a waistcoat and tie are now compulsory in this area of the course and cravats will not be allowed. Black shoes must also be worn with morning dress. In the grandstand, which is open to the public and subject to less stringent rules, a hat or fascinator will be compulsory for women. This marks a significant change to previous years, when female racegoers were simply advised that "many ladies wear hats". Strapless or sheer-strap tops and dresses will be banned. For men, a suit and tie will now be imperative. The less formal Silver Ring will not be affected by the changes. Charles Barnett, Ascot's chief executive, said the overarching intention was to be "as helpful as possible" to visitors and to assist racegoers in understanding what is "cherished" about the dress code at Royal Ascot. He said: "It isn't a question of elitism and not being modern in a world where there is less and less requirement to dress smartly - far from it. We want to see modern and stylish dress at Royal Ascot, just within the parameters of formal wear, and the feedback we have received from our customers overwhelmingly supports that."

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Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino told he will 'pay for this' by coast guard

 

As the Costa Concordia cruise liner lay stricken on its side, and with people still scrambling to evacuate, an Italian Coast Guard chief raged at the ship’s captain to get back on board and direct the rescue efforts. But the captain, Francesco Schettino, who was in a lifeboat, refused to return to the ship. A partial transcript of the dramatic conversation between Schettino and Gregorio De Falco, the Coast Guard official, as released by newspaper Corriere della Sera. National Post CLICK FOR LARGER GRAPHIC Coast Guard: Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat. Under the bow of the ship, on the right side, there is a ladder. You climb on that ladder and go on board the ship. Go on board the ship and get back to me and tell me how many people are there. Is that clear? I am recording this conversation, Captain Schettino. Captain: At this moment the ship is listing. Coast Guard: There are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. Go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship, and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. Tell me if there are children, women and what type of help they need. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea, but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board! Captain: Please … Coast Guard: There is no ‘please’ about it. Get back on board. Assure me you are going back on board! Captain: I’m in a lifeboat, I am under here. I am not going anywhere. I am here. Coast Guard: What are you doing, captain? Captain: I am here to co-ordinate the rescue … Coast Guard (interrupting): “What are you co-ordinating there! Get on board! Co-ordinate the rescue from on board! Are you refusing? Captain: No, I am not refusing. Coast Guard: Are you refusing to go aboard, captain? Tell me the reason why you are not going back on board. Captain: “(inaudible)… there is another lifeboat … Coast Guard (interrupting, yelling): You get back on board! That is an order! There is nothing else for you to consider. You have sounded the ‘Abandon Ship’. Now I am giving the orders. Get back on board. Is that clear? Don’t you hear me? Captain: I am going aboard. Coast Guard: Go! Call me immediately when you are on board. My rescue people are in front of the bow. Captain: Where is your rescue craft? Coast Guard: My rescue craft is at the bow. Go! There are already bodies, Schettino. Go! Captain: How many bodies are there? Coast Guard: “I don’t know! … Christ, you should be the one telling me that! Captain: Do you realize that it is dark and we can’t see anything? Coast Guard: So, what do you want to do, to go home, Schettino?! It’s dark and you want to go home? Go to the bow of the ship where the ladder is and tell me what needs to be done, how many people there are, and what they need! Now! Captain: My second in command is here with me. Coast Guard: Then both of you go! Both of you! What is the name of your second in command? Captain: His name is Dmitri (static). Coast Guard: What is the rest of his name? (static) You and your second in command get on board now! Is that clear? Captain: Look, chief, I want to go aboard but the other lifeboat here has stopped and is drifting. I have called … Coast Guard (interrupting): You have been telling me this for an hour! Now, go aboard! Get on board, and tell me immediately how many people there are! Captain: OK, chief. Coast Guard: Go! Immediately!

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'Neurology time bomb' on the cards for NHS

 

The NHS could find itself facing a "neurology time bomb" as more people develop conditions such as motor neurone disease and Parkinson's disease. According to the Neurological Alliance, which represents 70 groups and charities, the rising number of cases is being compounded by the poor quality of services. The alliance's criticisms follow a report by the National Audit Office, which questioned the level of care on offer, bringing particular attention to delays in diagnosis and muddled follow-up care. In response, the government has acknowledged that more needs to be done. Steve Ford, chair of the alliance and chief executive of Parkinson's UK, said: "The situation can only get worse. A crisis is looming but the government has its head in the sand. "When it comes to helping vulnerable people with a neurological condition, the government is floundering around in a fog of its own making." It is estimated that more than 200,000 people in the UK have long-term progressive neurological conditions, according to the BBC.

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Captain ordered back onto boat by port officials

 

 Mr Schettino 'attempted to take a taxi away from the scene' • Crew 'began evacuation before captain's orders' • Number of missing passengers and crew rises to 29 • Navy blasting holes in hull to improve access to divers • Captain due to appear in court this morning • Minister warns of ecological disaster According to reports in Italian media, Captain Francesco Schettino was attempting to catch a taxi away from the scene. “What do you want to do, go home?” one official asked him, according to transcripts of the increasingly frantic exchanges between port authorities and the captain, who allegedly refused a direct order to return to the ship and take charge. The transcripts reveal the mounting anger and frustration of port and Coast Guard officials as they began to realise the full extent of the disaster, despite the commander’s repeated insistence that the situation on board was “all OK”. When officials told the captain that there were reports of bodies in the water, the commander allegedly asked: “How many?”.

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Property owners not impressed by Junta's decree on irregular property

 

The regional government’s plan to regularise the dozens of thousands of illegal properties is not proving successful. Owners of the properties are refusing to pay the costs of bringing their properties into legality. In most cases the regional council for public works and housing have offered a ‘recognition’ of the properties – a legal device to allow them to come out of limbo and gain access to power and water. But this needs the collaboration of the citizens, and their money. Many Town Halls have discovered the process does not get underway, and El País reports that two of the most interesting cases are in Córdoba and Chiclana in Cádiz. These two localities have about 25,000 homes build outside the regulations, 15,000 in Chiclana and some 9,000 in Córdoba. In both cases the property owners are refusing to meet the costs of the regularisation process; in Chiclana only 56 have applied. In Córdoba none of the 42 illegal urbanisations has brought itself into legality. Meanwhile in the Axarquía where many foreigners have purchased such property in good faith, say they are against the latest decree from the Junta last week. President of the Save Our Homes association, Philip Smalley, says the formula will just leave thousands of properties in the district in limbo. He says there is no judicial guarantee after the process because the Junta will be able to do what they want with the properties in the future. The Junta has identified 12,760 irregular properties in the Axarquía. In the Almanzora valley in Almería, again there are many foreign property owners affected. The AUAN protest group there says the decree does not help those with ongoing court proceedings against demolition. President Maura Hillen considers that only 16% of their members will benefit from the decree.

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Nine in every 10 Spaniards feel uncomfortable speaking English

 

A new survey has shown that nine in every ten Spaniards still feel uncomfortable speaking English, despite the fact that 37% of them have spent more than 15 years studying the language. Thirty five percent said they felt insecure and embarrassed, and 4% said they would not make the attempt in case they seemed ‘ridiculous’. Europa Press reports that one in two, although knowing that their grammar was not correct, would however try and speak the language. The survey by ‘Pueblo Inglés – More than English’ also revealed that 98% of those questioned felt that the standard of teaching English in Spain’s schools was not the best. Many felt that more time should be spent on the subject in schools, with particular emphasis on conversations with English speakers and on role playing for real life situations. Language schools and academies were the most popular method of learning English, but more than half said the best way was spending time abroad in English-speaking countries.

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British peer calls for abolition of time limit on expat voting

 

Britons who live abroad currently have no voting rights if they have been out of the country for more than 15 years An estimated 5.6 million Britons currently live abroad but, under UK law, those who have been out of the country for more than 15 years have no right to vote in British elections. There has been support for changes to the law in a recent debate on electoral reform in the House of Lords. The Telegraph reports this week on a comment from Lord Lexden, the Conservative Party’s official historian, that the time limit is, ‘a problem which has been allowed to go on for far too long.’ He proposed that the government’s plans to reform the electoral system could provide the ‘perfect vehicle’ to abolish a limit which he said has been ‘chopped and changed’ ‘without rationale.’ It was originally set at five years in 1985, was extended to 20 years in 1989, and was then reduced to 15 in 2002. Brian Cave from the website www.votes-for-expat-brits.com, which campaigns for the right to vote for Britons abroad, told the Telegraph, ‘To have Lord Lexden make such a long speech and make such telling comments was a milestone in our campaign.’ The newspaper however notes a comment by the Labour peer Lord Lipsey during a radio debate last month that there was, ‘no chance’ of the limit being abolished.

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Shark attack at South Africa's deadliest beach

 

Mr Msungubana was swimming with a group of friends in shallow water off Second Beach in Port St Johns, a town on the country’s southeastern coast, when the attack took place. John Costello, local station commander for the National Sea Rescue Institute, said he sustained “multiple traumatic lacerations to his torso, arms and legs” where the shark bit him repeatedly. His death marks the sixth in just over five years at the beach, making it the most dangerous in the world for fatal shark attacks. In South Africa, one in five attacks by the ocean predators ends in the death but every single attack at Second Beach has proved fatal. Zambezi or bull sharks, known as the “pitbulls of the ocean” for their ferocity, have been blamed for most of the incidents. Experts from the nearby Natal Sharks Board have been brought in to investigate the phenomenon and the town authorities have closed the beach to swimmers. Pictures taken on Sunday show lifeguards wading nervously into the sea to pull the badly-injured Mr Msungubana to safety. They placed him on a surfboard to bring him to shore where, Mr Costello said, he was treated by a doctor who had been on the beach before paramedics arrived.

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Anthony Read was found dead in the sea in the port town of Puerto De La Duquesa

Anthony Read was found dead in the sea in the port town of Puerto De La Duquesa – on the country’s Costa del Sol – the morning after a night out drinking with friends in March last year.

Yesterday, at an inquest, mum and dad Jacqueline Jenkins and Martin Read criticised the investigation into the tragedy carried out by the authorities in Spain.

Anthony, 33,  had visited a number of pubs during the evening and took a taxi back to a pal’s home ten minutes’ drive away in the early hours.

But it is thought he may not have had the correct fare when he arrived and was driven back to the port, between Marbella and Gibraltar. Hours later, his body was found in the water.

Spanish authorities said there had been no signs of violence and that Anthony had drowned, concluding that the death may have been the result of an accident.

But at the inquest in Portsmouth, Anthony’s mother Jacqueline Jenkins hit out at the “vague” report drawn up by local officials as she attempted to piece together what had happened.

Dad Martin Read told the inquest he wanted confirmation from Spanish police that they were satisfied the taxi driver had driven away and was not involved in the tragedy. The inquest also heard how Anthony may simply have fallen in.

However, it remains unclear as to how he came to be in the water.

Coroner David Horsley said it was unlikely Anthony had been robbed as he was still in possession of his wallet and mobile phone when his body was discovered.

But he agreed that he had been faced with a lack of evidence in preparing the inquest.

He told Anthony’s parents: “It is possible that he fell in by accident but I cannot say that that is the most likely scenario because it is possible that he was pushed in – it may have been some kind of simple assault or he may have been trying to evade an assault.”

He added: “If there were any witnesses they did not come forward – or were they asked?”

Mrs Jenkins broke down in tears as she read out tributes to her “kind, thoughtful and wonderful son”, who was working as a financial controller in Gibraltar and was enjoying living in Spain.

In the run-up to his death, Anthony had been studying to become a chartered accountant.

Mr Horsley recorded an open verdict.

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Days of the Costa del Crime could soon be over

 

THE days of the Costa del Crime could be seriously numbered. Or at least, so say the Spanish police. Detectives in Malaga have revealed that a year-long crackdown on British and Irish fugitives is paying off and Malaga is no longer an ideal hideout for wanted criminals. The clampdown, which came in a series of on-the-spot raids on pubs, bars and shops on the Costa del Sol, has drawn considerable success. In total, dozens of wanted fugitives have been caught in the raids after six roving teams of national police were set up at the end of 2010. The teams entered establishments closing off exits and demanded identification from all those present. In one day alone, last year, they made a staggering four arrests, while in total 117 Irishmen were arrested last year, using the method. The moves were spurred on by the murder of Irish tourist John O’Neill, 40, who was shot near a pub in Benalmadena by a man wanted by British police. Police insist that due to the crackdown there were fewer gangland shootings and ‘settling of accounts’ last year. “The recession could also have had an influence but things are definitely a lot quieter,” said a spokesman for the UDYCO organised crime unit.

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Fire, power failures, crime and tragic overboard deaths are common on cruise vacations

 

A luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side after running aground the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, 

They're often billed as the ultimate in worry-free vacations. But cruise critics say these floating hotels -- some as high as 12 storeys tall -- aren't nearly as safe as claimed.

Fire, power failures, crime and tragic overboard deaths are common on cruise vacations, said Ross Klein, a Memorial University sociologist and author of two books on the cruise industry.

The ships, which can carry more than 4,000 passengers, are as big as towns, Klein said, packed with strangers often bent on having a good time. Many passengers wrongly let their guard down.

"People should go on cruise ships with their eyes wide open, to be aware that there can be accidents." Klein told CTVNews.ca.

Last year, 22 people fell overboard on cruise ships, Klein said. Some were accidents. Others were suicides. The vast majority were fatal, said Klein, who compiles cruise accident data for his website www.cruisejunkie.com.

Fires and power failures are also common, though rarely reported in the mainstream media.

Incidents include:

• In September 2010, an explosion aboard the Cunard's Queen Mary 2 caused a power failure as it approached Barcelona, causing it to drift off the Spanish coast.
• In November 2010, a drunken passenger dropped an anchor on a cruise enroute to Tampa from Mexico.

According to data Klein collected, the risk of sexual assault is nearly 50 per cent greater on a cruise ship than on land in Canada. He used data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and internal industry documents used in lawsuits between 2003 and 2005.

"I believe passengers should go on to a ship well informed," Klein said.

"The industry markets itself as . . . . one of the safest modes of commercial transport in the world. And they want passengers to believe that if they come on a cruise ship they are virtually safe."

An umbrella group for the cruise industry says it's monitoring the latest accident off the Italian coast, where three people have died and dozens are missing.

The website for the Cruise Lines International Association said the group "would like to reassure other cruise passengers that all CLIA member lines are subject to the highest safety standards around the world and according to international maritime requirements."

CTVNews.ca called the association on Saturday, but there was no answer at its Florida office.

U.S. maritime lawyer Jim Walker once represented the cruise industry but switched sides about 15 years ago. Since then, he's represented dozens of passengers and crew members in lawsuits against cruise lines.

Mr. Walker represented the family of George Smith, who vanished from a Royal Caribbean ship while on his honeymoon in 2005. His family suspected foul play and claimed the cruise ship failed to properly investigate the disappearance. His family won a US$1.3 million suit against the cruise line.

Walker also represented a 35-year-old woman who said she was sexually assaulted by a crew member on a Royal Caribbean vessel. Walker said the woman's case resulted in tough reporting rules aboard cruise ships.

Walker urged passengers to be vigilant about crime and safety.

Despite potential dangers, Klein said he loves ocean travel and has taken 30 cruises.

"I love being at sea," he said. "I like to look at the horizon." At sea, he said, "time stands still. It's a wonderful feeling."

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Michael Brown: From £1.6m villa to prison yard, downfall of the Lib Dem fraudster

 

The knock at the door did not unduly disturb the man relaxing on the terrace of the £1.6 million villa overlooking the Caribbean. Even when his wife opened it to discover members of the Dominican Republic’s armed police outside, Darren Patrick Nally was unfazed. He was sure his secret was safe: he was not Nally, a man who said he was an Irish singer and had already been detained in prison on charges of failing to pay his debts. In fact he was Michael Brown, a 45-year-old British fraudster whose web of lies and deceit had made him millions – £2.4 million of which he had donated to the Liberal Democrats for their 2005 election campaign, becoming their biggest single donor. As he was arrested for unpaid rent at a former apartment, Brown was nonchalant. At the police station he told the local assistant prosecutor, Elizabeth Rijo, that he would pay the debt and be back home in time for dinner.

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Passengers fought over lifeboats, a mother crawled up almost vertical corridors in pitch blackness with her daughter, and elderly couples sobbed as icy decks slipped under water.

 

A harrowing picture is emerging of the chaotic evacuation of more than 4,000 people from the luxury cruise ship that sank into the Mediterranean off the coast of Tuscany, killing at least three and leaving several others critically hurt.

As divers continued to search for possible missing or trapped passengers and crew of the Costa Concordia, survivors described scenes of total panic and confusion aboard as crew were at first unwilling then unable to launch lifeboats while the ship listed into the freezing sea. Survivors described climbing down ladders and ropes to escape.

Kirsty Cook, one of eight British dancers working on the cruise, said that she was "lucky to be alive" after using a rope ladder to climb down to a rescue boat. Another dancer, Rosie Metcalf, 22, from Dorset, had to cling to a fire hose before being winched to safety by a helicopter crew. The liner was only three hours out of port and passengers had not yet been given a safety drill. There was also confusion over some 50 to 70 people who were still unaccounted for, but the picture remained unclear as rescuers struggled to keep track of survivors who were being ferried to different ports.

By Saturday night the seven-year-old Costa Concordia lay almost flat on its side off the tiny island of Giglio, about 18 miles off the coast of Tuscany, with a 50m gash in its hull. The captain was praised by shipping experts for trying to bring his stricken vessel as close to shore as possible. But there was also anger about the lengthy delays in evacuating the £375m ship.

"The crew couldn't unhook the lifeboats," said Giuseppe D'Avino, a pastry cook from Modena, who eventually got aboard a boat after waiting for about an hour. "There was a lot of panic. There were people screaming. There were children bawling. And even some fisticuffs among the passengers."

A party of German survivors said the messages relayed to passengers were misleading. "It was just 'Not to worry. Not to worry'," said one.

Then, said a man who would give only his surname, Schmitz, passengers were left alone to queue for the lifeboats: "For more than three hours, we did not see any member of the crew."

Some passengers were apparently stranded on the lower decks of the ship. "I and my friends lifted up 13 or 14 people," Schmitz said. His friend, who also asked to be identified only by her surname of Gottschalk, said that she reached a lifeboat by lowering herself hand over hand down a rope.

As the ship listed to starboard, submerging almost half of the vessel, the lifeboats on that side became unusable and people leapt into the water. "Some of my colleagues had no option but to jump," said John Fernandes, 28, a waiter from Goa. "They were on the tilted side. They saw that the water was very close. They survived."

Usable lifeboats were then high above sea level. "We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats," said Mike van Dijk, 54, a South African. "We were standing in the corridors and they weren't allowing us to get on to the boats. It was an absolute scramble."

Nareen Faured, also from South Africa, said: "We were suspended for 45 minutes in the lifeboat in mid-air."

Other passengers did not know where their muster stations were. "It was so disorganised, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 5pm," said Melissa Goduti, 28, of Connecticut in the US. "We had joked what if something had happened today." Waiting for up to three hours for rescue, passengers were cold and traumatised. Five Italian military and coastguard helicopters joined local fishing boats in the area to help pluck survivors to safety.

"Have you seen Titanic? That's exactly what it was like," said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was with her sister and parents. "They all had dark red bruises from crawling up corridors that were nearly vertical."

"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest flashing," her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61, said. "We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."

She said that an Argentinian couple had handed her their baby daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship lurched. They were left standing on a wall, unable to crawl further.

"He said 'take my baby'," Ananias said, sobbing. "I grabbed her, but then I was being pushed down. I didn't want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I thought that was the end and that they should be with their baby."

Valerie whispered "I wonder where they are?"

The family were some of the last off the ship, shimmying along a rope down the exposed side of the ship to a waiting boat.

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The Italian captain of a ship that sank off the coast of Tuscany was placed under arrest after one of the most dramatic holiday cruise disasters

The Costa Concordia lies on its side after running aground off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island. Photograph: Reuters

The Italian captain of a ship that sank off the coast of Tuscany was placed under arrest after one of the most dramatic holiday cruise disasters ever seen in the Mediterranean. Three passengers died and 69 were still unaccounted for after the 114,000-tonne Costa Concordia smashed into rocks amid scenes of panic and chaos.

Local prosecutors said Francesco Schettino was being investigated for manslaughter and abandoning ship following reports his stricken vessel failed to raise a mayday alert as the disaster unfolded.

There was speculation that a power failure on board the ship could have led to it losing navigational control and crashing into the rocks. Experts said that passenger reports of a power blackout and large blast indicated the vessel could have suffered an explosion in the engine room.

As the ship came to rest half submerged on its side, yards from the coast of the island of Giglio late on Friday, anger rose among the thousands of passengers who had swum or been ferried and flown to safety over what they described as a botched evacuation by crew members who panicked.

Italian police confirmed that two French tourists and a Peruvian crew member drowned in the accident. About 30 people were reported injured, with three critically hurt.

A British embassy official said not all the Britons on board the vessel had yet been accounted for. He said consular officials had so far confirmed that "around 20" survived.

Survivors described extraordinary scenes of panic, confusion and fear as the ship tilted on its side following what sounded like a loud explosion. Kirsty Cook, one of eight British dancers working on the cruise, said she was "lucky to be alive" after using a rope ladder to climb down to a waiting rescue boat. Another dancer, Rosie Metcalf, 22, from Dorset, had to cling to a fire hose before being winched to safety by a helicopter crew.

The Costa Concordia, which was built in Italy and launched in 2006, set off from Civitavecchia on Friday for a Mediterranean cruise, carrying 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew. As the ship slid between Giglio and the coast, passengers sitting down for their first dinner on board felt a shudder before the lights went out.

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Ciudad de la Luz film studios in trouble in Alicante

 

Another of the large projects in the Valencia region is in trouble as the company which runs the Ciudad de la Luz film studios in Alicante, Agua Amarga de Gestión S.L., has applied for bankruptcy protection. It comes as the regional government has failed to pay four million € as the promoter of the project. Mercantile Court 2 in Alicante accepted the application on December 16 2011. The centre has amassed a total debt of more than 190 million €, and now the Valencia Government wants to privatise the operation despite spending 160 million € on it. The project was an idea of Eduardo Zaplana, an ex Partido Popular President of the Valencia Government who thought it would compensate the city for the Terra Mítica park in Benidorm. The studios cover a 320,000 square metre site. El País reports that a new agreement between the regional government and the company could be round the corner. The company says that would need the payment of the debt. They note that in 2005 when the first productions were carried out at the facility, there were in that year 59 productions in total which brought an income of 174 million €, saw jobs for 4,757 workers and more than 3,000 contracts with other companies. It also gave rise to some 150,000 overnight hotel stays in Alicante.

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Iberia pilots announce more strike action

 

Pilots from the SEPLA union who work for Iberia have announced three more days of strike action on January 25, 27 and 30. It follows four days of previous action in protest at the plans by Iberia to establish a new low-cost carrier, Iberia Express. SEPLA say that they have picked the dates with care, so as not to affect the Spanish tourism fair, FITUR, which runs in Madrid between the 18th and 22nd of this month. Meanwhile cabin crew and ground staff are also considering taking action, and are reported to be looking at striking on Mondays and Fridays from February 2. A meeting will be held on Tuesday to confirm that action which could affect 21,000 workers on the ground in handling, cargo, maintenance, trade and operational activities.

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The Decree to regularize houses in Andalucia

 

According to Hillen “It’s possible that this fireworks display will dazzle some but if you look at the detail of the Decree you will see that it does not help those with ongoing court proceedings, where perhaps the majority could face the chop”. “If what the Junta wants is more cases like the Priors, the decree certainly does nothing to prevent that” she added. “Actually, I sometimes despair at how little the administration is in contact with the real problems of its citizens. They must know that what looks nice on paper is not always workable in practice. It appears that they don’t and all they want to do is inundate us with a byzantine tangle of laws and, whilst they are about it, completely destroy foreign investment in Spain”. Hillen asks “What shall I tell elderly retirees who have demolition orders against their homes? Can I tell them that the Decree will save them? I can’t because it doesn’t”. “What can I say to hundreds of retired couples who live on irregular urbanisations without escritura for their land? Can I tell them that the Decree will give them their escritura? No I can’t, and indeed some of those who currently have escritura are at risk because, according to the Decree, escrituras can be annulled because of the possible illegal segregation of land.” “On the other hand, the regularization of these developments still has to go through an unrealistic, expensive, arduous and painful process which will take a very long time” she added. Regarding the new provision for isolated houses she states that “I regret to say that these houses are relatively blighted, since according to the decree they are not entitled to a licence of occupation or use; are subject to yet to be defined future regulations and some theoretical minimum standard of habitability; Furthermore, the decree states that these houses can only be repaired and preserved; that they should have self sufficient supplies of water, electricity and waste treatment and that only in exceptional circumstances can they be connected to mains services; In other words they are of dubious legality” “That is to say that the Junta, instead of making an important legal change , and by that I mean changing the LOUA, to resolve a major problem has instead only created more confusion in addition to creating a category of second class housing”. She concluded by saying “I hope that not too many people are lured by this bait because I think that it doesn’t fix very much. In fact among our members we think that only 16% of them will benefit in any way from this Decree”.

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Government to bring in changes to the 'Ley de Costas'

 

The current and controversial ‘Ley de Costas’ has been in force since 1988 with hardly any modifications. Now the new Minister for Agriculture, Foodstuffs and the Environment, Miguel Arias Cañete, has indicated that ‘very deep reforms’ are on the way to bring value to the coast. El País reoprts that at an event to welcome top civil servants in his department, he gave a speech which indicated that the environment cannot stop economic development, and said that environmental legislation needs to be simplified. Sources at the ministry have noted that there is a problem of judicial insecurity with the current legislation and that they have received pressure from countries such as Britain and Germany, and complaints from EuroMPs as there are foreigners who have been affected by the compulsory purchase aspect of the legislation. The law, which was left untouched by the Aznar government, declares all the beach to be of public use, but does not use a fixed distance, following geographic concepts instead. That extends the area into dunes and marshlands, to where the sea has reached in the worst of storms. Many people have purchased property without the notary or the bank telling them it is located in land for public use, and these people have been granted a 30 year concession of use, but no longer own the property. A legal change now is complicated by the fact that there has already been compulsory purchases and demolition of some properties, so their owners will now be able to claim compensation. The new legislation is expected to extend the concessions, as ‘thousands’ of them were to expire in 2018.

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Extra Virginity: The Sublime And Scandalous World of Olive Oil, not all virgins are as pure as they might seem — and the world of olive oil is increasingly beset with fraud, smuggling and even poisoning.

According to Tom Mueller, author of a new book on the subject, Extra Virginity: The Sublime And Scandalous World of Olive Oil, not all virgins are as pure as they might seem — and the world of olive oil is increasingly beset with fraud, smuggling and even poisoning.

The problem is that where there’s money, there’s crime, and olive oil is a very valuable commodity. 

Olive oil is graded into several different types for sale, the most common of which is extra virgin

In July, Spanish police arrested the leader of a gang responsible for the theft of more than a million litres of the stuff, siphoned from storage tanks in Murcia, and shipped under false paperwork to Italy for sale. 

Italian newspapers regularly report producers being robbed at gunpoint by drivers who arrive in the middle of the night with tankers.

A few years ago, Bertolli, the biggest olive oil brand in the world, suffered a multi-million euro theft at its plant near Milan — with sophisticated thieves using jammed security cameras, guns and lorries to secure their bounty. 

 

 

Olive oil occupies a unique place in culinary history. Humans have been eating the fruits of these gnarled and tenacious trees for as long as the two of us have coexisted on this planet. 

But since then, too, the olive oil industry has been dogged by fraud. 

Clay tablets found at Ebla, in Syria, describe the activities of a 2,500  year-old anti-fraud squad who were responsible for ensuring the purity of oil, while the classical philosopher and doctor Galen complained of unscrupulous traders adulterating their olive oil with liquid lard to make it go further. 

But ancient foodies were lucky — the Roman Empire had strict controls in place to minimise such double dealing. 

Two thousand years later, olive oil regulation is back in the Dark Ages. 

Olive oil doesn't come cheap - beware of anything under about £6 a litre

As Mueller’s book observes, when you buy wine, you can usually trust that the contents match the label: if it says Chateau Margaux 1949 on the bottle, you’re not going to find last year’s Chilean Malbec inside. 

Olive oil labels, by contrast, give very little information to the consumer: an oil costing £20 a bottle will look, on the shelf, very similar to one retailing at a tenth of the price.

And with one former producer claiming 98  per cent of what is sold in Italy as extra-virgin olive oil is actually nothing of the sort, how on earth can shoppers tell what they’re getting?

In theory, it should be easy: olive oil is graded into several different types for sale, the most common of which is extra virgin. 

Extra virgin olive oil is the highest quality, made from the very best olives. 

Virgin oil, meanwhile, is made with slightly riper olives and so is deemed to have a less superior flavour.

European legislation dictates that any oil labelled virgin must have been extracted from the olive by physical means, such as pressing, rather than by chemical refinement. It also has to pass a taste test conducted by EU experts.

Rigorous enough, you might think — if only the law was properly enforced.

Olive oil doesn’t come cheap —beware of anything under about £6 a litre — and many have succumbed to the temptation to cut a few corners.

The most common fraud involves diluting extra virgin oil with a lesser grade — such as lampante, or lamp-oil, judged unfit for human consumption because of its high acid content.

Another option is to substitute a different type of oil entirely, often originating outside the EU where production is cheaper. 

Last year, two Spanish businessmen were sent to prison for selling extra virgin olive oil that turned out to be 75 per cent sunflower oil, while Mueller recounts the story of a shipment of Turkish hazelnut oil which, after a voyage around Europe, arrived in southern Italy in September 1991 with papers declaring it was Greek olive oil. 

There it was mixed with the real thing, and sold to unsuspecting customers including Nestle, owners of Buitoni oil, and Bertolli for use in their products. 

The substantial profits associated with such fraud, Mueller says, enable crooks to bribe low-paid customs officials and police to turn a blind eye to such arrivals. But this deception isn’t just confined to smugglers and gangsters. 

In 2004, an olive oil producer called Andreas Marz, concerned about the declining quality of Italian olive oil, decided to conduct his own test. 

He bought 31 different kinds of extra virgin olive oil from German supermarkets, and sent them to three expert tasting panels in Florence for analysis. 

Only one was judged to meet extra virgin standards, nine were downgraded to virgin, and the rest, including offerings from several major Italian brands, were graded as lampante.

When Marz published the results, those involved in the revelations found themselves hit with lawsuits by Carapelli, makers of ‘Italy’s most beloved extra virgin olive oil’, who seemed to have friends in some very high places indeed. 

In fact, ‘intimidation’ is the word used by one of the experts concerned. 

No wonder, then, that Marz’s shocking findings changed absolutely nothing. Such adulteration is deceitful, certainly, but pales in comparison to the toxic oil scandal which killed more than 1,000 Spaniards, and seriously injured 24,000 others, in the Eighties. 

They fell ill after consuming rapeseed oil intended for industrial use, which had been rendered inedible by the addition of a toxic compound called aniline, used in the production of plastics.

Only virgin oils can claim the full range of health benefits attributed to olive oil, because the refining process strips lesser oils of its vitamins

Unscrupulous traders had taken advantage of the low price-tag, repackaged it as olive oil, and sold it for culinary use.

Even companies which act within the law are happy to appropriate the premium image of Italian olive oil for lesser blends. 

Don’t be fooled by Italian flags or Tuscan olive groves on a label. Italy is one of the world’s largest importers of olive oil, much of which is then blended, stuck into suitably Italian packaging and re-exported.

About 80 per cent of the oil produced in Jaen, southern Spain, for example, is shipped to Italy, where it can be packaged and sold by Italian brands as ‘packed’ or ‘bottled in Italy’, for a far higher price than poor old Spanish brands can get. 

Indeed, Bertolli, for all its rustic Italian advertising, tells Mueller it actually imports about four-fifths of the oil it uses, mostly from Spain, North Africa and the Middle East. 

While it doesn’t really matter, from a health point of view, whether our olive oil comes from Tuscany or Tunisia, the much vaunted advantages of this cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet — its apparent ability to help protect the body from some forms of cancer and cardiovascular disease — depend very much on the quality of the oil. 

Only virgin oils can claim the full range of health benefits attributed to olive oil, because the refining process strips lesser oils of its vitamins.

But until the EU imposes tighter controls of the kind in place for wine, there seems little incentive for the olive oil industry to clean up its act.

In the meantime, there are a few things the consumer can do to help ensure that the oil they’re buying is of the quality that they’d expect it to be. 

Go for virgin or extra virgin oil, where the golden rule is that sadly, if it seems too cheap to be true, it probably is. 

Look for dark bottles, which will protect the contents from damaging UV rays that make it rancid, and search out the longest sell-by date you can.

Olive oil may be sacred to many British foodies, but it’s not immune to corruption.

It seems that, for the unwary consumer at least, healthy eating is a very slippery business.

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SHIP AGROUND: COAST GUARD CONFIRMS 3 DEAD

 

At this time, 3 people are confirmed dead in an accident involving the cruising ship Costa Concordia. The ship left Civitavecchia for Savona yesterday at 7:30 PM and ran aground near the Isola del Giglio. According to Coast Guard sources, the situation is still confused. The ship has been boarded by Coast Guard rescue personnel, firefighters and a Costa officer and checked top to bottom to confirm that everybody has been evacuated. A portion of the passengers was taken on other vessels to Porto Santo Stefano while other went to Livorno by helicopter. The cause of the accident has not yet been ascertained. The grounded ship suffered a blackout just before running aground. . .

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'Six feared dead' and thousands evacuated as cruise ship hits rocks off coast of Italy

 

Holidaymakers from France, Italy, Germany and Britain were forced to flee the 1,500-cabin Costa Concordia in lifeboats when it hit a reef less than two hours after leaving port. Some leapt overboard and swam to shore as the ship started to sink into the waters near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast. Francesco Paolillo, the coastguard spokesman, said that at least three bodies were retrieved from the sea and at least three more were feared dead. Pregnant women and young children were among the 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew on board. Passengers' dinner on Friday night was interrupted by a loud boom at around 8pm and a voice over the loud-speaker system initially claimed that the ship was suffering an electrical failure, before ordering everyone on-board to don life-jackets.

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Thornton Heath man in South American jail after being caught with £20k of coke

 

A young man has been jailed in South America for attempting to traffic drugs just three weeks after sneaking out of his Thornton Heath home without telling his mother. Former Stanley Technical School pupil, Nishit Patel, 21, left his home in Attlee Close, in secret on Christmas Day before flying 4,500 miles to Guyana. The next time his mum, part-time Tesco worker Amita, heard from him was on January 3 phoning from a Guyanese jail after being caught boarding a plane with 29 pellets of cocaine worth more than £20,000 inside him. On Monday, January 9, he was sentenced to four years in jail after he admitted drug trafficking. He was also fined $30,000 Guyanese dollars, about £95. Mrs Patel, 46, said she last saw her son, who changed his name to Nikesh after being teased at school, after lunch on Christmas Day. She said: “I came home and he had bags packed. I asked if he was leaving and he said no. I never know where he is going, he tells me nothing. “I didn’t even know where Guyana was. I asked why did you do it, and he said for the money.” On December 31 Guyana’s Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) at Cheddi Jagan International Airport saw Patel acting suspiciously and arrested him. Dennis Mahase a senior supervisor with CANU said Patel, who has spent his whole life in Croydon, missed his earlier flight home and was picked up by officials while he waited. He said: “When the officials began questioning him he complained about feeling unwell. After further question he admitted swallowing the pellets.” Taken to Woodlands Hospital in Georgetown, the country’s capital, Patel, was x-rayed and the pellets, containing 352 grams of the drug with a street value of around £20,000, were found. Mr Mahase added: “He admitted to us he had done this before in November and got away with it.” Mrs Patel said Nishit went off the rails after his grandparents and father died in quick succession four years ago. She said: “He was such a good boy. Very caring. It changed him. A son listens to his father but to his mother, not so much. It was very hard.” The family will now fight to have him extradited to the UK. She said: “I want to be able to see him. I know he has done wrong but he is my son. I have no idea what a jail out there is like.” A foreign office spokesman said: “We can confirm the arrest of a British national on December 31 in Guyana. “We are providing consular assistance.”

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Outspoken Moroccan rapper awaits assault verdict

 

A Moroccan rapper who has become one of the monarchy's boldest critics on Wednesday awaited a verdict after a trial on assault charges which his lawyers and right activists said were a ploy to muzzle the popular singer. Mouad Belrhouat, better known as El-Haqed, or "The Sullen One", has become the singing voice of a protest movement inspired by Arab uprisings, demanding a constitutional monarchy, an independent judiciary and a crackdown on corruption. The judge adjourned the case on Wednesday after an all-night hearing to consider his verdict, expected on Thursday. The 24-year-old rapper has been in jail since his arrest in September after a brawl with a monarchist. Bail requests by his defence team have been rejected and the trial has been adjourned six times. "The charges are a farce. El Haqed is being persecuted for his critical songs. The state is keeping him in jail and repeatedly adjourning his trial to silence him," said Khadija Ryadi, who chairs Morocco's main human rights group, AMDH. The rapper's cutting lyrics telling Moroccans to "wise up" have angered many monarchists. In one song he raps that the king spends so much time giving orders that he has little time to count his money in Switzerland. However, he has struck a chord with young Moroccans who are disenchanted with poor or non-existent jobs and one song "Bite just as much as you can chew" has received more than 600,000 hits on Youtube. ALL-NIGHT SESSION Belrhouat's trial is a test for the Justice and Development Party PJD.L, which like its Tunisian peers is a moderate Islamist party leading a government for the first time after it won elections in November. In a Casablanca court packed with Belrhouat supporters, the judge begun to hear the case in an unusually late session on Tuesday which continued through the night. Mohamed Bouawine, one of the 24 lawyers who have volunteered to defend the rapper, said his client faces up to three years in jail if found guilty. AMDH's Ryadi says Belrhouat has become yet another case among "dozens of prisoners of conscience" in Morocco. Local and international right groups say hundreds of Islamists have been jailed in what they said were politically-motivated trials rushed through after suicide attacks in Casablanca in 2003, that killed 45 people. Morocco's judiciary is meant to be given more independence under reforms crafted last year by the Arab world's longest-serving monarchy as it sought to preempt a popular revolt. The man whom Belrhouat is alleged to have assaulted said the injury left him incapacitated for 45 days but defence lawyers produced evidence suggesting he recovered far more quickly and was being used as a political pawn. Belrhouat's father Mohamed told Reuters he would not be supporting his son in court had the rapper done anything wrong. "My son was set up. The police and the ambulance turned up five minutes after the incident: This never happens here."

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5 UK men on trial for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for gay people to be killed

 

Five men are on trial in Britain for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for gay people to be killed, charged under a new law that makes such actions a hate crime. The men allegedly gave out flyers titled “The Death Penalty” that showed a noose and said gay people would be punished. Two other leaflets were used to publicize a protest against a gay pride march in the central English city of Derby in 2010. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare The Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday this was the first prosecution for stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, under the law that took effect in March 2010. It has long been illegal to incite hatred over disability, race or religion. The maximum penalty for the crime is seven years in jail. Prosecutors said Ihjaz Ali, 42, Mehboob Hussain, 45, Umar Javed, 38, Razwan Javed, 27, and Kabir Ahmed, 28, handed out leaflets near a mosque in Derby and also stuffed them into mailboxes. Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema called the leaflets “frightening and nasty.” “These five defendants were part of a small group of men who distributed horrible, threatening literature, with quotations from religious sources and with pictures on them, which were designed to stir up hatred and hostility against homosexual people,” she said.

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Switch to olive oil for better health

 

Indian households should completely switch to olive oil as a cooking medium as its nutritional value is very high, it is rich in monounsaturated 'good' fats and, when used daily, can bring instant and easy wellness to a family's diet, celebrity chef and noted cookery expert Nita Mehta says. "Even though we have such a wide range of olive oils in our market, people don't seem to use them because of their mental block that the flavour of olive oil doesn't gel with Indian flavors," Mehta said at the launch here Satuday her latest book, "Indian Cooking With Olive Oil".

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