Foreign residents who drive their cars on the roads of Malaga province enjoy an impunity which comes from the registration plate of their vehicle. The authorities have often failed to take action because of the difficulties in verifying their address in order to notify them of such penalties.

However, the Guardia Civil and the State Tax Agency (AEAT) have decided to put an end to this situation and have begun a campaign to tighten the net on foreigners who live permanently or part-time in Spain but who have not registered their vehicles here or paid the relevant taxes on them.

This initiative is the result of an EU directive which establishes that people are obliged to comply with the tax obligations of the country in which their vehicle is being used. It is based on two aspects: the fact that the vehicle is making use of the country’s infrastructure and the environmental contamination it produces.

Identifying offenders

Malaga, which has 283,498 official foreign residents, is one of the areas which suffers most from this problem. In this province, the Traffic Department began its campaign in November. The choice of date was not casual. The first requirement is that drivers of cars with foreign plates have been living in this country for at least 30 days. Because of the difficulties of proving their address – they usually say they are on holiday – the Guardia Civil began checking schools. “If their children are registered at a school and they were attending classes in November, their parents cannot argue that they are only here temporarily when we surprise them at the school gates”, explains an officer.

Since then, the Guardia Civil has identified about two hundred drivers whose cars bear foreign plates and who officers have been able to prove are living on the Costa del Sol. Most of them are living in Malaga city, Marbella and La Axarquía. More than half are British, followed by Germans, French and, although to a lesser extent, Romanian, Portuguese and Bulgarian.

These two hundred foreigners have been ordered by the Guardia Civil to put the situation of their vehicles in order within five days. At the same time, Spanish Customs, which is part of the Hacienda tax authority, has begun proceedings against them. If they comply and make their vehicles legal within the given period, the case is filed and no further action is taken. If they don’t, the police are authorised to intercept the car, immobilise it and place it at the disposition of the AEAT tax agency. It is reported that this has already begun to happen in the province of Malaga. But that is not all. The owners of the vehicles are also reported for driving without having obtained the relevant authorisation and this can result in a fine of 450 euros.

To avoid ending up without a vehicle, foreign drivers should comply with two obligations. First of all, they must pay the Impuesto Especial sobre Determinados Medios de Transporte, (Special Tax on Determined Means of Transport) which comes under Law 38/1992. If a vehicle is registered during the first month of the owner’s stay in Spain, it is exempt from this tax.

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An estimated 22,000 passengers who had booked seats on more than 220 cancelled flights have been left looking for alternative arrangements and instructions on how to seek reimbursements.

Spanair, owned by a consortium based in the northeastern region of Catalonia, shut down its operations late Friday because of a lack of funding.

The legal proceedings begun by Spain’s government could lead to Spanair being fined 9 million euros ($A11.14 million) for two ‘serious infringements’ of aviation security legislation, Development Minister Ana Pastor said. The alleged infractions related to obligations linked to continued service and passenger protection.

Chairman Ferran Soriano said the airline had failed to attract inward investment and consequently the regional government of northeastern Catalonia took the decision to stop providing funds. Spanair, whose hub was Barcelona airport, employed around 2,000 people and used the services of about 1,200 ground staff.

Spanair’s financial woes were exacerbated by a 2008 crash that killed 154 people. Eighteen people survived what was Spain’s worst aviation disaster in 25 years. The airline, which also ran a commuter service between Madrid and Barcelona, was in trouble financially before Spanair Flight JK5022 – an MD-82 jet – crashed on takeoff on August 20, 2008 as it tried to leave Madrid bound for the Canary Islands.

In 2010 Spanair, which was Spain’s No. 4 airline, reported an operating loss of 115 million euros and had survived thanks to finance provided by the Catalan government and some private investors.

The Catalan government cited the ‘current economic climate’ and ‘European legislation concerning competition’ as the major factors influencing its decision.

In Brussels, the European Low Fares Airline Association said those of its members flying overlapping routes with Spanair would offer specially discounted fares to enable stranded passengers to return home. Offers are subject to seat availability, said the organisation of budget airlines – which includes Ryanair and EasyJet.

The association’s secretary-general, John Hanlon, said in a statement the aim was to assist Spanair passengers who were experiencing difficulties with travel plans. National carrier Iberia Spanish Airlines SA said it had also offered to help.

via Sky News.

As George Orwell predicted, “Big Brother is watching you” and although video is involved, it has absolutely nothing to do with TV programming but all to do with Spain's most sophisticated video camera system. On Tuesday, 14 co-ordinators from Torrevieja Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) had the opportunity to view the system for themselves and learn how it is making the City of Salt one of the safest cities in Spain.

At the HQ of the Policia Local, NHW coordinators were treated to an overview of the ‘VYRIATO' traffic and radar system, which was attended by Councillor for Security and Police, Eduardo Gil Rebello, Councillor for Foreign Residents, Rosario Martinez, presented by Carlos Sala the ‘VYRIATO' system's Chief Coordinator and translated by Graham Knight from the International Residents Office.

The system not only records every single vehicle entering and leaving the city but 16 of the cameras also log details of number plates, allowing the Police to track where and when a specific vehicle has passed one of these specialised cameras. The Control room is manned 24-hours a day and contains ten large LED screens, banks of computers plus a team of trained operators.

The ‘VYRIATO' system consists of 75 traffic cameras, 57 fixed cameras for municipal buildings,15 cameras located within the national park and has options for expansion, including noise sensors, especially for scooters that have been modified! Check out lampposts and high points around the city and you'll find cameras capturing footage of the Town Hall, Tourism areas, the harbour, display screens, car parks, Sports city and all of the main arteries in the city.

Be assured that the illegal sellers of DVDs and dodgy goods are all on camera, as are those who buy something! As you make your way around Torrevieja, on foot, bike, car, bus or scooter or roller blades, just remember that someone in Blue, is watching you!

As all eyes looked towards the nautical disaster that unfolded off the coast of Italy, as the luxury liner Costa Concordia with 3,400 passengers and around 1,000 crew ran aground and ultimately sank to the ocean floor, a similar potential disaster was averted in the Straits of Gibraltar.

At around 8:00 PM on Friday evening, about 5 miles from the North African enclave of Ceuta, the Millennium Dos high speed ferry suffered a collision with a merchant freighter New Glory, causing a huge hole to be cut in the starboard side of the passenger ship.

Millennium Dos had left Algeciras at 19:00 hours en route to Cueta, carrying out her regular service across the strait, with 174 passengers, 37 vehicles and 4 freight units on board.

The ferry company Acciona issued a statement saying that the safety of the ship was not compromised and that she was able to continue to the harbour under her own power.

Miraculously, only one passenger had to be evacuated, suffering an open fracture of tibia and fibula in his right leg and a cut on his head.

The ship docked and passengers disembarked at around 4 in the morning and a full investigation has now been launched to determine what caused this potentially catastrophic incident.

During 2011, Alicante´s El Altet airport recorded 9,913,764 passengers, handled a total of 75,572 flights and 3011.6 tons of goods, according to the final report from airport operator Aena.

This figure represents a 5.7% growth in passenger traffic at the airport, and is the highest number of passengers carried in the history of the airport since it opened on 4^th May 1967, replacing the older aerodrome La Rabassa, that had served Alicante since 1936.

Aircraft movements during 2011 also increased by 1.5%, compared to the previous year, but goods traffic fell by 3.2%.

Alicante El Altet is Spain´s sixth busiest airport and serves flights from around the world as well as domestic passengers. In 2011 a total of 2,006,057 passengers were served from within Spain, which was a 2.5% drop on last year, but the number of international passengers increased by 7.9%, with 7,891,977 registered travellers.

The was a noticeable decrease in the number of passengers from Germany, with Air Berlin carrying 457,379 passengers, which was a huge drop of 26.3% compared to last year, although the total number of passengers from Germany was 656,954, a less dramatic decrease of 14%, but still holding the position of being second place in terms of international travellers.

Perhaps not surprising is the fact that the UK still holds the number 1 spot, with a total of 4,331,031 passengers coming through the airport, an increase of 11.1% on 2010. Easyjet had reduced their number of flights last year by 3.9%, with 9,032 operations, which meant that their passenger numbers were also down by 7.2% at 1,241,311. Air Nostrum increased their flights to Alicante by 4.1% last year, offering 3,709 operations.

We know that Ryanair had issues with the Alicante operation from previous stories, but they still increased their flights to 22,883, up by 6.8% and brought 3,442,744 passengers, an increase of 9.2%.

Within all of the most recent news, there is also one unsung hero in terms of passengers flying to and from Alicante. In 2011, Monarch increased the number of their flights to 3,288, which was a staggering increase of 24.4%. That also meant an increase in passenger numbers which saw them carry 617,558 passengers last year, representing the biggest increase of all at 27.6%.

This year has already seen an increase in requests for flight slots and to new routes, which many feel will only add to the growth of the airport and the entire area served by El Altet. The future of air travel is without doubt increasing and this will lead to more tourism, more property sales and an increase in the economy of everyone in this every fruitful region.

The Spanish airport authority AENA have offered what many consider to be the ultimate compromise to troubled airline Ryanair, in a bid to allow the airline to continue to serve Alicante El Altet airport.

The boss of the airport, Santiago Martínez-Cava, has announced that they are prepared to allow Ryanair passengers to be transported by bus from the aircraft to the terminal building. Therefore, Ryanair can continue to embark and disembark passengers on foot via stairs, which is the demand they are making, whereas passengers will be escorted directly to a safe zone at the terminal, thus ensuring their safety and security, the prime concern for the airport authority.

The move will still be most inconvenient for passengers with limited or restricted mobility, but the move is seen as a sure way forward for the airport to satisfy the demands of this one airline, whilst still maintaining their own position.

The head of Ryanair had said that the company will refuse to use the walkways and would ask passengers to walk to and from the terminal building, which the airport cannot allow "for safety reasons and there are reports made by technicians who have been accepted by all companies, including Easyet, other major low cost airlines operating in Alicante”.

The authority also accepted that there was more flexibility at the old terminal building, which is currently redundant pending a recent announcement that it may well re-enter service in 2013, but the operations of the new terminal are much bigger and there is a risk to passenger safety if old procedures are implemented there.

It is not yet known if Ryanair will accept this proposal.