is looking to expand its European portfolio of solar parks and battery storage projects New financing from ten banks will enable the construction of projects in Spain The Chinese project developer Recurrent Energy has announced that it will receive new loans in several currencies totalling up to 1.3 billion euros from a total of ten banks for the construction of green energy projects in several European countries The contract with the participating financial institutions was signed in Seville (Spain) the financing will support the short-term construction of almost one gigawatt of solar projects with the majority in Spain and the rest in the UK This financing has a term of three years and can therefore be optionally extended but can be increased to around 1.3 billion euros The agreement includes financing for both fully developed and early-stage projects It allows loans to be taken out in both euros and pounds sterling See also: EBRD supports renewables in Romania and Moldova The financing is intended to implement a project pipeline of 26 gigawatts of solar power plants and 56 gigawatt hours of battery storage worldwide Banco Santander CIB acted as the global coordinator for this agreement and worked with several leading financial institutions ING acted as the sole issuing bank and sustainability coordinator monitoring compliance with the ESG criteria for green financing Also interesting: Financing for 59 MW PV projects in Poland secured by R.Power Natwest and NORD/LB are also involved in the financing With the subscription to this newsletter, I agree to be informed about interesting publishing and online offers of Alfons W. 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A podcast for investors on the opportunities and risks of the solar market The pv Europe editorial team offers their own analysis and discusses current topics with experts The marble tomb of a notorious truck hijacker is set to become one of the most famous attractions in the Spanish province of Granada because of two bronze eccentricities – a life-size statue of the man buried there the car he used to carry out his hijackings in also known as “The Pirate of Trucks” was one of the most successful criminals in the history of Granada having racked over 60 arrests over his fruitful career He was mostly known for hijacking trucks and getting away with millions in merchandise but he had also pioneered legal marijuana trade in the Spanish province as well as opened a supermarket to sell whatever he stole in soon after being arrested for allegedly stealing seven trucks but he remains in the memories of the people of his home town as well as through some pretty unique tomb decorations Photo: Granada Hoy The burial place of Antonio El Tonto first made news headlines in Spain last year when a life-size bronze statue of the known truck hijacker was installed there It depicts the highway pirate sitting on marble steps but what really drew people’s attention was the attention to detail in terms of clothing and accessories The bronze El Tonto wears a an expensive Monclaire jacket and sneakers made by the same company sports a 42,000-euro Rolex Yacht-Master watch on his left wrist and a Versace bracelet plus several gold rings on his right one Photo: Noudiari the tomb of El Tonto (the less than flattering nickname is engraved in marble) once again drew Spanish media attention as a missing accessory was recently installed next to the truck pirate’s bronze statue sits a life-size bronze Audi Q5 which is reportedly the car he used to hijack trucks in Antonio El Tonto was a beloved character in Pinos Puente as evidenced by the fresh flowers that people constantly leave at his grave Known in life for his daring truck hijacking El Tonto is now making headlines for his flamboyant tomb Full title: Travel restrictions in the municipality of Granada not applicable to work activities of UGR staff With regard to the “Resolution of 23 October of the Granada Provincial Delegation for Health and Family Affairs adopting preventive public health measures restricting mobility in the city of Granada and in the following municipalities of its metropolitan area: Albolote due to the epidemiological situation caused by Covid-19” the University wishes to inform of the following: The aforementioned order has been published in the Official Gazette of the Andalusian Regional Government (BOJA) no. 68, 23 October (extraordinary issue) The agreed measures will be in force for a period of 14 calendar days and may be revised depending on the evolution of the epidemiological situation These measures will consist of restricting the entry and exit of people in the aforementioned municipalities and those travelling through them which includes the fulfilment of work-related and professional obligations the work activities of the administrative and support staff (PAS) and teaching and research staff (PDI) of the UGR will remain unchanged Teaching and research staff, and administrative and support staff who require a certificate for work-related travel must request it through the UGR e-Administration Platform (an automatic procedure via the "certificado de pertenencia a la UGR" option in the "certificates" section of the platform). (Link to procedures: PAS - PDI) This certificate will serve as a document for all UGR staff (PAS and PDI) attesting that they are employed at the University and indicating their workplace precise instructions will be given to students residing outside Granada who have to travel to Granada to carry out activities covered in the "Communiqué on the measures published in the Official Gazette of the Regional Government of Andalusia (BOJA) in relation to the development of academic activities at the UGR." Three adults arrested on Tuesday in Granada over the fatal shooting of two people in Girona in June have been sent to provisional detention without bail by Girona's Court No As reported by the Catalan High Court (TSJC) the magistrate considers one of the arrested to be the perpetrator and the third to be an accomplice to the crime that took place in Girona's Font de la Pólvora neighborhood on Sant Joan's Eve.  with the juvenile court ordering six months of closed and therapeutic internment.  Last week, two men who turned themselves in to police in Figueres were also sent to provisional detention without bail.  The judge leading the investigation has lifted reporting restrictions on the case The perpetrators of the crime hid at the home of relatives and took measures to avoid being arrested hampering the operation that ended with the arrests on Tuesday The 32-year-old man who allegedly fired the shots was arrested along with a 27-year-old woman considered to have instigated the crime Andalusia by Catalonia's Mossos d'Esquadra Two more people – a 31-year-old man and a minor who are the brother-in-law and nephew of the alleged perpetrator – handed themselves in to police in Granada and were arrested.  a man shot at several people who were celebrating in the Font de la Pólvora neighborhood following an argument between two women.  Another person involved also allegedly fired a handgun died and two other people were seriously injured.  Those arrested were brought before the court on Thursday with a strong police presence deployed outside to prevent disturbances.  A few days after the shooting, law enforcement agents found the burnt-out car of the alleged perpetrator in Mont-ras a municipality in the Baix Empordà county A burnt-out car in the municipality of Mont-ras owned by the alleged perpetrator of a fatal shooting on June 23 The shooting triggered several violent attacks across Girona including Figueres' Sant Joan neighborhood where properties linked to the alleged perpetrator were set on fire Get the day's biggest stories right to your phone It is nine o'clock in the morning in the physical anthropology laboratory of the University of Granada (UGR) Professor Inmaculada Alemán Aguilera measures the remains of a skeleton that arrived at the department a few days ago from the excavations that have just finished at Moclín castle But what is the story behind this skeleton a site of execution during Spain's Civil War - the bullets can still be seen in one of the walls captured near Moclín and probably part of the resistance groups against Franco's troops who were taking refuge in the Sierra de los Olivares that of the laboratory and that of the young Maqui of 1947 in Moclín castle That could only be established if there was a match between his DNA and one of the samples in the Democratic Memory database This mystery will not be solved - if it is ever solved - for some time Yet it is possible to extract a great deal of information about the individual thanks to the analysis of the bones and above all thanks to the knowledge of prestigious professionals such as Inmaculada Alemán professor in Physical Anthropology at the UGR who collaborates regularly with the Barranco de Víznar and who is also coordinating the anthropological studies in the Valle de Cuelgamuros He died after receiving a blunt impact that fractured his right femur which at the time led to a lethal haemorrhage of the femoral artery "He also has defensive marks on his right hand," says Alemán he protected himself from blows to the face Because of another important relevant fact: from that year onwards autopsies became compulsory And an autopsy was carried out on this boy as can be seen in the marks on the frontal and occipital bones and the ribs They sawed through the cranial vault and opened up his chest cavity It is a theory that is reinforced by the fact that the clothes were not removed which was more complicated to carry out because he was still growing reveals that he was a male due to the characteristics of the pelvis "fifteen years old with a margin of error of more or less a year" can be deduced from the state of development of the third molar "There is also evidence of rickets in the forearm," says Alemán What is impressive - and humanising - are the material remains The team led by archaeologist Ángel Rodríguez has located the 'albarcas' (a traditional type of shoe) that the boy was wearing at the time of his death They were made of fabric with rubber soles fastened with studs two buckles and a belt with a cartridge case containing four seven-millimetre bullets from a Mauser rifle were also found Manuel López Moreno works in the culture department at Moclín town hall He is also a historian and co-author of the book 'Guerra Civil en los pueblos de Moclín' (Civil War in the villages of Moclín) together with Andrés Fernández Martín and María Isabel Brenes Sánchez Manuel has researched in depth everything that happened in the area between 1936 and 1939 and the subsequent dictatorship a contingent of three thousand soldiers loyal to the overthrown Republican government fled to the nearby Sierra de los Olivares Many of them ended up in the Búcor concentration camp located between Pinos Puente and Moclín and others organised themselves into parties to continue fighting It is quite possible that the soldier who has appeared in Moclín could be him The date - eight years after the end of the war - is also plausible no prisoners were to be taken and no one was to leave the sierras alive between 1936 and 1939 the castle was used by the rebels to protect the town from Republican attempts to recapture it the last attempt took place on 18 January 1939 Soldiers who were arrested in the course of these skirmishes were shot in the fortress "I heard from our forebears that they were buried in a mass grave although we have not yet been able to verify its existence," says López Moclín did not show much opposition to the occupation by the Brigada Mixta de la División número 32 (mixed brigade of the 32nd division) under the command of Colonel Lorenzo Tamallo on 4 October 1936 The battalions of the Republic crossed the River Velillos and fled to the Sierra del Marqués didn't take long to join forces in Pinos Puente and advance to Moclín which was the natural exit to Alcalá la Real and to the western part of Andalucía which was geographically a strategic location - it has been throughout history - they established a network of trenches in the castle taking advantage of the pre-existing construction in the quarries of the Cerro de Pital and in Tózar is also the story of a fifteen-year-old boy who was involved in Spain's Civil War and who was beaten to death in Moclín castle Comentar es una ventaja exclusiva para registrados AcademyWeekend full of triumphs recorded by UDA Academy youth sidesSeven wins and one draw UD Almería U12 'B' and UD Almería U10 'A' competed in international tournaments and both lost in the quarter-finals against Getafe CF and Atlético de Madrid It has been a weekend full of positive results achieved by the UD Almería Academy youth teams without any defeats the two youth outfits that played in international championships did well The UD Almería U10 'B' played the Linares Tournament and lost in the quarter-finals against Getafe CF tying with Real Madrid CF and beating Real Betis and Puerto Malagueño UD Almería U10 'A' competed in the Ciudad de Pinos Puente Trophy and lost in the quarter-finals against Atlético de Madrid yet they also had a good previous phase as they beat Elche and Sporting de Portugal although they lost to FC Barcelona The results of the UD Almería Academy youth teams in their respective competitions are the following: -CD HISPANIA DEL TORRECAMPO vs UD Almería 'B' (1-3) -UD Almería U16 'A' vs Polideportivo EJIDO (4-0) -CD TIRO PICHON CD vs UD Almería U16 'B' (0-3) -UD Almería U10 'B' vs CD VÍCAR CULTURAL B (9-1) -UD Almería U8 'A' vs CF RETAMAR EL TOYO (10-0) -UD Almería U10 'B' vs PD GARRUCHA B (11-1) Spain was shocked to discover that the constant buzzing coming from behind their bedroom wall turned out to be a massive bee colony numbering over 80,000 honey bees Spanish social media has been buzzing with the news of a couple in Pinos Puente who recently asked a local beekeeper to investigate the increasingly loud buzz sound coming from behind their bedroom wall They had been hearing it for a while and had long come to the conclusion that it must be caused by bees but it wasn’t until the buzzing got so loud that they couldn’t sleep at night that they decided to get professional help Beekeeper Sergio Guerrero had helped remove bee colonies from their properties before but what he found behind the wall of this particular house left him speechless – a hive of over 80,000 bees and honey combs over a meter long “To have a swarm this big, it could have been buzzing in its ear for a year,” Guerrero told La Vanguardia “I can not understand how they have been living with that number of bees for so long.” The beekeeper said that a queen can lay up to 1,400 eggs per day but he estimates that a hive this large must have taken the bees at least two years to build Although he has helped remove over half a million bees from people’s properties this year alone he admits that he has never seen anything quite like this before Guerrero advises people who notice signs of a beehive close to their homes to leave the insects alone and instead call a professional as soon as possible Drug trafficking in Spain is evolving rapidly. While recently released 2020 data lists the seizure in 2019 of a staggering 1.5 million marijuana plants, almost 38 tons of cocaine and nearly 350 tons of hashish along with 20,437 arrests*, drug traffickers are becoming masters at adapting to new circumstances, including those of the pandemic This is due in part to the broad-based criminal activities of the Eastern European mafias and the marijuana mega-boom The narco has ditched his iconic underworld status and the monikers that go with it and embraced anonymity in a bid to keep trade on track receiving and distributing the drugs is like a well-oiled machine According to narcotics prosecutor José Ramón Noreña who has spent 14 years dealing with drug crime “this is an area that has no boundaries and is only going to grow Drug crime is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed. “The system is as follows: due to its geographical position, Spain is a receiver – hashish from Morocco and cocaine from Latin America – and it’s also a big marijuana producer,” says a Civil Guard police chief involved in the fight against organized crime with trucks carrying all kinds of fruit and vegetables across Europe.” “We can dismantle stronger or weaker groups, but others will come behind and they will also try to impose themselves and fill the vacuum, as can be seen with the violent clashes between rival organizations on the Costa del Sol,” says a senior police chief of UDYCO the National Police’s Drugs and Organized Crime Unit “The only thing we can do is prevent this system from replacing and competing with the state itself The predominant trend noted by the latest Drug Trafficking Report from the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) is a spectacular increase in marijuana crops The report also talks about the clear South-to-North cocaine route with Galicia once again becoming the main gateway for the narcotic coming principally from Brazil and Colombia the first narco-submarine was intercepted off the Galician coast with 3,000 kilos of cocaine on board confirming a suspicion that narcotics officers had been harboring for years: that the drugs were coming in via submersible vessels with recreational yachts loading on the Moroccan coast and smuggling the cargo into any port in the south or east of the peninsula the boom in the cultivation and trafficking of marijuana is going from strength to strength Already grown in 13 of the 17 Spanish regions low-risk business that is mainly in the hands of Eastern European gangs With the first of at least three harvests a year they pay off the costs of the electricity installation required for indoor crops “They don’t even pay electricity bills because they hook up illegally to the grid,” says a police spokesman With swathes of the country depopulated and largely free of police surveillance the Spanish countryside is perfect for concealing these plantations Also providing cover are the many industrial parks attached to most mid-sized towns “They range from one to three years in prison,” says Noreña “If it is proven that you are a member of a criminal organization He goes on to stress that there is a general lack of awareness in society of the serious nature of the problem regarding marijuana which has been modified to contain an increasingly high concentration of its active ingredient – the marijuana produced in Spain and exported can no longer be classified a soft drug or to serious and irreversible psychiatric disorders,” he says the police and the Civil Guard point out that exploitation is a feature of these grow operations which are often looked after by undocumented foreigners working in conditions of slavery Although hashish continues to be the most-trafficked drug, followed by cocaine, marijuana is experiencing the fastest growth because of the number of organizations involved, according to National Police and Civil Guard sources. Attracting everyone from Spanish and British, to Chinese and Eastern European nationals the business has increasingly become a source of violence in the form of robberies between gangs ­– what the Spanish police call a vuelco – and score-settling Operation Verde (Green) was launched in early 2019 by the National Police after it emerged that many of the police raids against marijuana in European countries such as Britain Portugal or Serbia had Spain as the point of origin of the drug More than 2,000 specialized officers participated in this raid which led to the seizure of almost half a million cannabis plants in 800 grow operations amounting to 25.6 tons of the drug and more than €7.6 million between August 2019 and October 2020 It also included an electricity scam estimated at costing €7 million the explosion in Spain’s marijuana production and export industry is the next big challenge for the drug squads A second internal CITCO report on the type of organizations engaged in drug trafficking highlights the increase in groups dedicated mainly to marijuana trafficking in 2019 – a total of 71 But the data on most drug hauls and arrests is only half the story The other half is the nature of the organizations involved in a sector whose activity amounts to more than €6 billion a year the equivalent of 0.5% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) according to data from the Interior Ministry the number of gangs dedicated to drug trafficking in Spain continues to multiply 109 are dedicated principally to cocaine trafficking The CITCO report also points out that Málaga is the distribution and transportation hub for Spain’s drug traffickers: “In terms of the groups’ territory it is worth highlighting Málaga as one of the provinces where organized crime is most active.” with its river port – all of which are important logistics and communication hubs – are strategic points of entry for narcotic substances into our country The Costa del Sol is the departure point for distribution as this is where most of the drugs enter “In the same way that tomatoes can be sent to Europe anything else can,” says one investigator with the Civil Guard as he explains the organizations’ most-popular methods of moving merchandise Then there is the case of La Línea de la Concepción in Cádiz province; while this city merely receives and distributes hashish the seriousness of the problem lies in the fact that the money derived from the drug trade has become woven into the very fabric of its society “In a population with 30% unemployment rate – perhaps even more among young people – a guy can earn €1,000 just for being a lookout €3,000 for unloading packages from a boat on the beach and €30,000 for transporting drugs,” says one chief inspector of the National Police’s GRECO unit (Special Response Groups for Organized Crime) Try convincing them that they should look for alternative employment,” he says “The special plan came very late; what is needed here is an integral plan.” “The money that reaches the banks and the large and small businesses comes in large part from drug trafficking,” says another investigator with the Civil Guard “It is the economic engine of society here and in that sense CITCO’s internal report on drug-trafficking organizations categorizes them by nationality: the Spanish are the main players when it comes to cocaine and hashish Chinese nationals are involved in marijuana trafficking although this year their participation has dropped considerably and the slack has been taken up by other groups such as the British the violence of these other groups has driven the Chinese out arrests have risen by 12% from the previous year – these include arrests of Moroccans primarily engaged in hashish trafficking as a result of police strikes in the Campo de Gibraltar and nearby areas whose main criminal activity is cocaine trafficking arrests of Albanians have quadrupled; among other illicit activities they were involved in marijuana trafficking “But there is no point in making arrests if the judicial system is incapable of processing them,” says one Civil Guard chief The justice system is overloaded and there is an immense sense of impunity; many drug traffickers have their businesses running so smoothly that “they continue to operate behind bars and get out on bail using their drug money,” he adds There are also some Asians in Catalonia dealing in heroin and adding to the number of cannabis grow operations.” In short it’s a melting pot of criminal organizations all carving up Spanish territory into pieces of a pie Spain is choice territory for drug traffickers due to its geographical position its proximity to Morocco and its many large ports offering a gateway to Europe – namely Algeciras Add to that a smuggling tradition in the Campo de Gibraltar and Galicia the anonymity offered by tourist areas such as the Costa del Sol or the eastern coast including significant connectivity and shipping capacity in Andalusia If you factor in the enormous expanses of depopulated land in rural Spain and the many warehouses in the industrial districts of practically every town the result is an unprecedented boom in marijuana grow operations the numbers of which are breaking their own records The drug traffickers also mark out their territory although this is done with increasing anonymity “If you ask me what characterizes the narco in Galicia it’s the cosmopolitan nature of the network; the eastern coast is the narco’s Plan B; the Costa del Sol is the logistics platform; and the Campo de Gibraltar is ground zero,” says one Civil Guard chief “Compared to the notoriety of the traditional drug lords – Sito Miñanco Laureano Oubiña and El Pastelero in Galicia; or the Castaña brothers Messi and El Tomate in the south – the new ones keep a low profile although they use the same infrastructure,” says an official with the central UDYCO as seen in the raids in Campo de Gibraltar Efforts by police and politicians have targeted that area but the drug trade works like communicating vessels; when you squeeze one side Members of the Civil Guard with the narco-submarine seized in Galician waters The traditional Galician drug trafficker has been brought down Gone are the clans and the charismatic bosses who controlled the drugs that were smuggled into Spain along with tobacco 40 years ago The pyramid scheme of past mafia groups that opened the Colombian cocaine market to Europe has slowly crumbled and all but disappeared giving way to small and resilient groups that act as service companies offering their maritime infrastructure and their knowledge of the environment for transporting the goods according to the latest data from the Interior Ministry the main entry point* for cocaine into Spain When it comes to globalized cocaine trafficking powerful mafias from Eastern Europe are now in charge they use networks in North Africa for storage and shipment and networks in Belgium and the Netherlands for distribution They are the heirs of the historic Galician drug traffickers who once operated as authentic cartels emulating their suppliers – the powerful Colombian drug lords in Cali and Medellín These Balkan gangs have been able to take advantage of the vacuum left by the more ostentatious local drug lords some of whom are still in jail while others are either too old or too weary of media attention And although Galicia continues to be a magnet for cocaine shipments the profile of the new Galician cocaine trafficker – an almost anonymous secondary figure in the current hierarchy – is an indication of the ground they have lost in the international drug-trafficking scene where economic potential and minimal risk are prized above all else although they lack specialization in transporting drugs they rely on Galician seamen to get their merchandise into Galicia and have their own representatives in South America to negotiate the direct purchase of cocaine just as the former Galician drug lords did Their strategic advantage lies in the logistic chains they use to smuggle the drugs as well as clothing and weapons – but there are other aspects to their business such as gambling “We are looking at a new dimension of crime; in Galicia nothing works as it used to,” says Judge Juan Carlos Carballal Familiar with the fine detail of a number of police operations against notorious traffickers he explains that these mafias from Eastern Europe are not only operating in Galicia but also in Andalusia and throughout Europe “Their structure is impressive and difficult to control in the immensity of the ocean and within the intense traffic of the ports,” he says “They don’t aim to compete with the South American cartels but to cooperate with them Theirs is a trading empire within which the Galicians can unload shipments on commission While the actual number of drug hauls in Galicia has fallen compared with the past decade the shipments currently being intercepted are bigger and the purity of the cocaine much higher due to a surplus of cocaine stocks in Colombia The constant movement of merchandise was evident during the Covid-19 lockdown a period during which two consecutive operations led to the seizure of more than seven tons along the Galician coast “That came as a surprise,” says the head of the Organizational Unit of the Judicial Police of Pontevedra “And we have found that the traffickers had gone back to the old methods of transporting and bringing the drug in.” “The profile of the new drug trafficker is his experience and specialty as a transporter and cargo receptionist and even the building of boats in their own shipyards,” adds García who also highlights that new technologies are on the rise such as encrypted telephone networks that make it impossible to identify the lines and servers “Pontevedra and Algeciras are the two hot spots for drug trafficking in Spain,” he says “has not been the first and will not be the last.” He believes this method is being used a couple of times a year and is being perfected So there are more boatmen than ever,” he says and although they have run into trouble a fair bit they always fix things with another job.” He points out that there are still two groups with the capacity to operate at any time and that although fishing-boat transportation has declined container and merchant vessel traffic is on the rise the latter being almost impossible to tackle Galicia reflects the constant evolution of increasingly influential organized-crime gangs that are taking advantage of globalization to better manage local markets at strategic points Experts estimate that only 10% of shipments are seized in transit while the size of the drug hauls increased by 827% in 2019 over the previous year while the price of cocaine remains steady at around €30,000 per kilo on the black market explains the changes in drug trafficking in the context of an evolving international narcotics market and he points to Galicia as an essential component of this global system that has further strengthened the industry “Organized crime evolves just like society and the Galician organizations are no longer the same,” he says in which better-connected mafias share distribution channels and new computer-based tools.” A marijuana grow operation discovered by the police The drug has become the Catalan police force’s main headache, prompting an extensive report on the risks of the marijuana trade and the danger of ending up with a criminal economy similar to the one that holds sway in Campo de Gibraltar “Seventy percent of organized crime is also active in the marijuana trade,” says Rodríguez who insists that this crop has overtaken other drugs on the market “Burglary networks invest at least some of their ill-gotten gains in the drug to maximize their profits.” There is no police operation of any kind in which the Mossos do not come across marijuana it has been the most seized drug in the region; 10 years ago its presence in a market dominated by hashish was almost anecdotal Catalonia was the region to seize most of this drug – 12,398 kilos followed by 9,565 in Andalusia and 4,694 in the Valencia region Its popularity has also meant an increase in violence the Catalan police have attributed 11 murders to inter-gang theft and tussles over market control A recent incident took place on December 12 when two clans ended up shooting at each other in the border area between Barcelona and the district of La Mina in Sant Adrià de Besòs In the building where the shots were allegedly fired from – no injuries were reported – the Catalan police stumbled across a crop of 400 plants the Mossos have dismantled 150 criminal networks made up of different nationalities and even collaborating with each other and creating hybrid organizations all the mafias can coexist thanks to the balance between demand and supply They were remanded in custody for a month and a half Traffickers of other drugs are also doing good business in the region Cocaine continues to enter mainly through the port of Barcelona but also overland It is a more complicated drug to get involved with than marijuana “You need external contacts that you can trust and rely on and you need to pay a commission for transportation,” says Rodríguez who adds that there is not much specialization in the region you might find finishing laboratories here The drug is still in the hands of local clans and some organizations involved in petty dealing have been dismantled The last trafficker with direct communication with Colombia and a real capacity to negotiate with the cartels at source was arrested in 2016 and charged with smuggling in more than 300 kilos It is not the biggest cocaine haul to be intercepted by the Catalan police – they found 1,400 kilos during a raid on a warehouse in November 2018 – but Juan Carlos D was the player with the greatest capacity to move it The Port of Barcelona now has strict access control after developing better technical systems and video surveillance to record entries and exits there is no longer a guard at the door who asks for your documentation,” explains a Customs Surveillance source and the barrier is either raised or not.” Previously a person could enter or leave more easily carrying several backpacks that would be filled with drugs taken from a container This has now become more complicated as it is necessary to access the containers without being picked up by the new system the National Police and Customs Surveillance arrested two computer experts accused of manipulating the technology to allow two transporters to remove containers full of drugs and return them empty without leaving a trace in the port’s computer system more than 5,000 kilos of cocaine were seized But despite these technological developments the quantity of drugs coming into the port has actually increased “It’s no longer removed in backpacks; now you have to risk taking out the whole container which means they really fill the container up,” explains a police source “There is hardly anything under 1,000 kilos in ‘rip-off’,” he adds alluding to a method where drugs are packed in containers alongside legal merchandise without the owners’ knowledge – a trend that kicked in at least three years ago They have also detected cases in which attempts are made to remove the drugs from the ship before its containers are unloaded although there have been cases of marijuana being exported cannabis plants imported from the United States and Mexico with a consumer base associated with marginal groups It is sold mainly in the center of Barcelona where three macro-operations have been carried out against street sales since 2018 The drug can also be scored in traditional markets such as La Mina in Sant Adrià de Besós Bon Pastor in Barcelona and Marca de l’Ham in Figueres but we found no data to support that perception,” says Mossos superintendent Toni Rodríguez But something quite different is happening in La Jonquera in Girona “We are studying the crime model in border areas and how it is changing,” says Rodríguez who adds that that criminal activity has a social and economic impact on its surroundings but of continuous movement and trafficking.” The Mossos are still puzzling out the structure of the various criminal organizations along the border Officers with merchandise seized in the port of Valencia Drug trafficking works like communicating vessels it moves to another,” says a member of UDYCO The pressure in the Costa del Sol and Campo de Gibraltar from the special security plan launched by the Interior Ministry in July 2018 to combat drug trafficking has prompted the gangs to look for new routes into the eastern coast of Spain – mainly Almería Murcia and Valencia – causing this area to be described by one Civil Guard chief as “the narcos’ Plan B.” “We are seeing the gangs that traditionally operated in the south now using local organizations that have infrastructure in this area to bring in hashish,” says an agent from GRECO Levante (Special Response Groups for Organized Crime) 13 high-speed boats were intercepted in this area Officers have confirmed that the drug traffickers are using cranes at the marinas to put the boats in the water something that used to be done in the Campo de Gibraltar and Málaga “Now there’s a truck covered with tarpaulin that carries a zodiac [inflatable boat] with three or four engines wetsuits and the 5,000 liters of gasoline they need to reach Morocco,” the GRECO Levante officer explains “They arrive at a port with the help of a local operator and head to the Moroccan coast to load the hashish; they refuel again there return and roll up on any beach in the area.” In 2020 11 such organizations made up of Moroccans and Spaniards were dismantled the drug’s main routes of entry are Valencia whose large port is perfect for big cocaine shipments hidden in containers of fruit and other products coming from Latin America along with the 275 kilometers of Murcia’s coastline 3,000 kilos of cocaine were seized in 2019 police seized 4,000 kilos of the white powder hidden among sacks of sugar and pineapple pulp from Panama and Colombia which resulted in 11 arrests ranging from Dutch nationals to an individual from the Ivory Coast involved several Spanish truck drivers with authorized access to the port compared to 20 kilos seized the previous year – a rise of 646% – and more than 17 tons of hashish with a 155% rise* in marijuana plantations The eastern coast has become a kind of haven for drug-trafficking organizations hounded by the security forces on the Costa del Sol and the Campo de Gibraltar The mafia bosses are able to operate below the radar due to the large number of tourists and foreigners living in the area It is a good place for the traffickers to settle as it has cities and ports that are well connected to the rest of Spain and Europe for transportation and distribution Members of the Eastern European gangs – mostly Albanians and Kosovars – settling in the Marina Alta area of Alicante province are dedicated predominantly to cocaine and marijuana trafficking as well as arms according to one National Police investigator “The situation is getting tough around here.” “Organized crime is moving forward and expanding its workforce while ours has been the same for 20 years or getting worse,” says a Civil Guard source According to another UDYCO-Alicante investigator “we have a notable rise in Lithuanian and Polish citizens dedicated to marijuana trafficking And the French mafia – not all of whom are of Moroccan origin – are dedicated mainly to the ‘go-fast’ business of hashish: they land the stuff on beaches in Murcia and Almeria then send the goods to France directly and quickly in SUVs.” The eastern coast is also ideal for laundering drug money. One of the largest operations against the Russian mafia was carried out several weeks ago in Alicante and Benidorm including two security councilors from the right-leaning Popular Party (PP) – the current councilor of Benidorm Jaime Sellés – as well as a police inspector and two civil guards “There is less pressure on them here and the living conditions are very similar to those on the Costa del Sol; it’s a good standard of living there is ease of doing business and international schools for their children,” says the GRECO-Levante investigator who adds that they have recently noticed the presence of British organizations “settling mainly in Alicante and dedicated to the acquisition of marijuana which they transport to the United Kingdom where the price is six times as high.” He also mentions violent colonies of Swedish criminals that have settled in Altea and the surrounding area who are involved in the theft of goods between gangs and extortion they killed an Albanian citizen in a restaurant with five bullets,” says the GRECO-Levante investigator “He had been arrested for drug and arms trafficking only a year ago and was working a lot with the British.” according to a member of the Civil Guard’s Judicial Police Technical Unit the biggest risk posed by the mafias is that they could manage to infiltrate the country’s institutions “Fortunately corruption in Spain is sporadic,” he says “A decent democratic conscience prevails and the system has tools to root out the bad apples but we have to be aware that a single case can wreak havoc and wipe out years of investigation.” In the operation against the Russian mafia in Alicante leaks forced the investigation to stall three times and delayed arrests for years say that large-scale drug trafficking is driven by big investors who finance shipments and take a significant percentage of the profits without ever getting close to the drugs The last operation against the Russian mafia was certainly a case of bringing down big businessmen hiding behind real estate A billboard in Marbella displays the faces of some of the most wanted criminals on the Costa del Sol More than 100 gangs of drug traffickers from many different countries are concentrated along just 20 kilometers of Málaga’s coastline enjoying the climate and luxury the area has to offer as well as the facilities and infrastructure it provides for acquiring storing and distributing drugs throughout Europe “In no other part of the world do you find so many people dedicated to the same thing and with such intensity in such a small area,” says one police officer working on the Costa del Sol which takes place largely in the triangle formed by the towns of Estepona The players can operate all but anonymously within this area of coast and hills that forms one large drug market supplying the whole of Europe Most of the mobsters are dealing in hashish but the triangle is also home to those who smuggle cocaine through the port of Algeciras and to those who distribute marijuana to northern Europe – an extremely lucrative business that attracts gangs from all over the world It is a cocktail that inevitably results in periodic street shootings “This is an explosive situation,” insists the officer who has led operations against known drug lords such as the Castaña brothers Sito Miñanco and a group of Dutchmen who were arrested over six tons of cocaine seized in Málaga in 2018 International organized crime loves the Costa del Sol good communications and a luxury lifestyle that means they can show off and enjoy their money “Why live in a slum in La Línea when you can have a large luxury villa in Marbella and go unnoticed?” says another agent key strategic points of entry and money laundering as well as providing an ample offer of gangs specializing in car theft and hit men Sometimes dubbed the Costa del Crime by the UK media the area attracts a constant stream of criminals while there were 73 organized crime gangs known to be based in Málaga in 2012 that figure rose to 113 in 2018 – the latest data available which is usually smuggled in narco-boats from the Moroccan coast and then sent in luxury vehicles to northern Europe cocaine is moving an increasing amount of money and the marijuana business is clocking record growth: between 2018 and 2019 “Given the range of crime and the amount of money involved there is violence between organizations,” notes a report from the Andalusian Prosecutor’s Office in 2020 Málaga is not only a large drug marketplace it also acts as a warehouse from which the drugs can be distributed to the rest of Europe the gangs diversify their activity to increase revenue and minimize risk The Málaga area also accounts for a large proportion of Spain’s marijuana production with crops being grown in houses industrial warehouses and rural properties not to mention apartments: 21 apartment-based operations were dismantled last November by 300 officers in Rincón de la Victoria in the so-called Operation Gentleman Other growers travel to Málaga to buy buds and transport them in trucks as did a German gang that recently acquired 110 kilos of marijuana along with 20 tons of garlic to hide it under “It is a very profitable business,” says a source from the Civil Guard’s Organized Crime Team (EDOA) A kilo of weed in Andalusia costs about €1,700 compared to €6,500 in Germany and more than €9,000 in Sweden Photographs used internally by the National Police show parties in luxury villas extensive surveillance systems and security personnel armed with hand grenades The scenes are worthy of a Hollywood drama The main characters hang out at the luxury clubs of Puerto Banús get their exercise in state-of-the-art gyms and are on constant spending sprees Their henchmen also enjoy a high standard of living and Social Security payments are not on the agenda In the hashish-smuggling ventures that take place almost daily along the Málaga coast €3,000 for unloading bales and €30,000 for driving an SUV loaded with drugs to a storehouse where it is stashed until the owners arrive Anyone performing these tasks will be the first to be nailed by the police three tons of hashish were seized on the coast of Málaga and 36 individuals arrested Bringing down the people at the top is more challenging “It is difficult to prove their crimes and we also have ‘hyper-protectionist’ laws that make our work very difficult,” says an officer who believes that the support of judges and prosecutors is “basic” to the success of the war on organized crime Málaga boasts the highest number of hashish hauls “But the main drug is cocaine; it is what generates the most money,” says a police officer who discovered 1,500 kilos of the narcotic in an apartment on the Costa del Sol during lockdown It is cocaine that usually triggers the headline-grabbing settling of scores Deceit or theft between organizations is usually behind the murders which do not appear to cause undue social alarm as the rest of the community is rarely affected The last bullets to hit a stray target were fired in 2004 several innocent parties have been knocked down and injured during car chases with the police The recent escalation of violence has set off alarm bells among the security forces “You see more weapons than ever now,” says a Civil Guard officer based in Fuengirola One of the gangs causing alarm is Los Suecos (The Swedes) a group of young assassins who ramped up the violence in 2018 Gang member Amir Mekky murdered David Ávila as he was leaving his son’s communion ceremony at a church in Marbella full of bullets in front of his luxury villa in Estepona “We had never seen such a violent gang,” says a source from UDYCO which set up a unit last January to deal specifically with gangland shootings Sometimes Málaga is simply the battlefield for wars between mafias operating in other countries such as the one waged by the Kinahans – Irishmen who were linked to a dozen murders three of which were carried out in the area The nationalities of the drug traffickers include Spanish “We have the best of each,” says a member of GRECO drily Two Customs Surveillance agents move packages smuggled by a yacht docked in Algeciras Only two years have passed since the powerful drug lord Isco Tejón, aka Castaña, starred in a reggaeton video clip while being on Spain’s most-wanted list only to find himself in prison awaiting trial But it seems like an eternity in the hashish underworld of the Strait of Gibraltar where all the players are used to fast living Isco and his brother Antonio cultivated a kind of iconic status for themselves but are now just two names on a growing list of around 2,000 detainees involved in drug trafficking that have been rounded up since the Campo de Gibraltar’s special security plan was implemented in July 2018 The Castaña brothers’ rise and fall is an accurate reflection of drug trafficking’s recent history in the province of Cádiz which stood at 30% even before the coronavirus pandemic This was the context in which these two young men from the town of La Línea de la Concepción began bringing packages of hashish from Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar the drug has been flowing into Cádiz for decades The special security plan has secured startling arrest statistics since 2018 it has been responsible for more than 9,300 detentions in different Andalusian provinces – 2,000 of them in the area of Campo de Gibraltar alone 47 raids carried out in the province of Cádiz produced 1,523 arrests according to estimates by the Anti-drug Prosecutor’s Office Mena wonders if their estimates fall short In their bid to keep one step ahead of the police the drug traffickers have explored new points of entry La Línea had already been ‘taken’ by the police and [the traffickers] moved to Barbate,” says one investigator they went to Sanlúcar de Barrameda and then came back again to Campo de Gibraltar.” Now they are once again trying out areas used in the past as well as other parts of Andalusia such as the coasts of Granada and Almería In each of their traditional areas of influence the set-up is the same with small idiosyncratic differences – small clans usually consisting of families that hook up with each other to transport the goods “They work as cooperatives to get ahead,” says one officer What is increasingly alarming police is the escalation of violence – for example the score-settling episode in September 2019 between the 11 members of two mafias from Cádiz and Madrid who had joined forces to smuggle hashish from Morocco to Italy The Madrid mob hired five French hit men who tortured three of the Cádiz gang members and threw them onto a highway in September 2019 The gangs were dismantled by the police last November A civil guard from this region attributes the spike in violence to Antonio Tejón’s release from prison for a few days due to a judicial error. “The order to ram the vehicle in front while the car behind speeds away loaded with drugs bears his hallmark,” he says. “He made it clear in a meeting with his people that lost revenue had to be recovered.” Lost revenue is increasingly fraying the nerves of the organizations working out of Cádiz. Day in and day out, police are targeting money-laundering schemes associated with hashish, such as the one involving a civil guard known as Trini from Algeciras and her girlfriend, the manager of a car repair shop. Trini went from eavesdropping on the Castaña brothers to working with them in an operation that laundered at least €2.2 million of the drug lords’ profits. But so much investigative success can result in bottlenecks in the justice system. “The increase in police resources has not been in step with our own,” says Ana Villagómez, a narcotics prosecutor in Andalusia. The macro-cases are overwhelming the courts in Campo de Gibraltar to the point that Algeciras’ five courts are already dealing with an average of 50 pre-trial detainees each. Although the judicial headquarters have expanded, the lack of personnel is still evident and the cases at the epicenter of the hashish trade in Spain could be delayed for years, fuelling the drug traffickers’ sense of impunity. Meanwhile, it’s business as usual from behind bars for the drug lords whose cases will eventually be tried. As Villagómez says: “Even if it takes a long time, they will not go unpunished.” the alleged perpetrators of the Sant Joan's Eve shooting in Girona that left two people dead and two others injured.  The two people arrested in the town of Pinos Puente were a man and a woman the Catalan News Agency has learned.  A search was also carried out in Alcalá la Real The investigation is being coordinated by the Mossos' Criminal Investigation Department (DIC)  and the Civil Guard's Judicial Police Reporting restrictions on the case are in place.  Last week, two men linked to the shooting in the Girona neighborhood of Font de la Pólvora – the brothers-in-law of one of the alleged perpetrators – turned themselves in to the police The two men were arrested and kept in provisional detention without bail.  the first thing that comes to mind is the iron structure on the banks of the Seine river in Paris designed by his company and built for the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle the engineer's numerous works and buildings can be found all over Europe and even the world According to the Association of Descendants of Gustave Eiffel the distinguished engineer built more than 500 structures in 30 countries Some Andalusian cities and towns still preserve fragments of his work the Frenchman started working independently and created his own company known for his love of new means of communication Eiffel's workshops specialised in metal bridges and viaducts Gustave Eiffel sought various licences from Spain to create his designs during the peninsula's railway boom His little-known works can be found all over Spain: in Galicia His first bridge in Spain was built in 1878 in Girona It was nine years later that he built the iconic Parisian landmark The old Pont del Rellotge bridge was supposed to 'save' the River Güell river one of the most impressive Eiffel bridges in Spain is in Granada El Hacho Bridge takes us back to an era when trains were the main means of transport between the cities of Andalucía The extension of the railway between Jaén and Granada took place at the end of the 19th century The railway line connecting Moreda with Linares-Baeza was commissioned by Compañía de los Caminos de Hierro del Sur de España and built by the French company Fives-Lille The bridge was built between 1886 and 1895 between the municipalities of Alamedilla and Guadahortuna then the industrial centre of Granada province Guadahortuna was the main supplier of coal and wood to Granada and was also known for its glass industry.) with a span of 625 metres and a height of 50 metres is considered one of the largest metal viaducts created by the Eiffel School in Spain El Hacho Bridge is created using superimposed metal moulds It has been dubbed the "poor cousin" of the Eiffel Tower The inauguration of the Hacho Bridge was held in 1897 (some sources say 1898) and seven decades later the bridge fell into disuse as did the stations in the municipalities to which it belongs A modern concrete bridge was built alongside in the late 1970s El Hacho was saved from demolition by local residents Puente Eiffel is an iron bridge over the Genil river situated between the municipalities of Láchar and Pinos Puente It was built in the 1897 by the studio of Gustave Eiffel Don Julio Quesada-Cañaveral commissioned the bridge to connect the station of Íllora by the Decauville railway at Láchar with two important factories that the nobleman had in Láchar The bridge is considered the last vestige of the Industrial Revolution in Vega de Granada Although the bridge in Láchar is classified as a protected monument it is currently in an advanced state of neglect with no remodelling or refurbishment work having been carried out to make it suitable for use as a platform for pedestrians and cyclists the bridge acts as a dam when the river rises The 'Three Eyes' bridge (El Puente de los Tres Ojos) over the Guadalquivir River connects the town of Villa del Río and Cordoba on the A-3101 motorway Wikipedia recognises it as a bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel and gives an alternative name Although many articles have been published in local newspapers in recent years in the context of its long-term reform they do not mention that it is a creation of Eiffel or of any connection with his workshops there is another Puente de Hierro in Andalucía which is mentioned in some sources as a creation of Eiffel the wrought iron bridge was built in 1885 to cross the bed of the Río Genil during the extension of the line that connected Marchena with Écija and Cordoba riveted girders and consisted of two sections formed by reinforced straight beams with a double lattice resembling St Andrew's Cross The Andalusian capital also boasts a couple of legends associated with Gustave Eiffel and his work has long been thought to be the work of Gustave Eiffel It is believed that he and Eiffel exchanged some letters and thereby created the misunderstanding Thus was born the myth of the Eiffel Bridge over the Guadalquivir Apparently inspired by 'several' of Eiffel's Andalusian works the iron bridge over the Río Guadalmedina in the heart of Málaga is sometimes referred to as a project from Eiffel's workshops named after the church of Santo Domingo and also known as the Bridge of the Germans (Puente de los Alemanes) but excludes any reference to Gustave Eiffel The presence of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus has been detected in another three horses in Malaga province It comes after previous cases of the virus being registered in horses in Almargen and Antequera in the last fortnight According to the weekly report published by the Andalusian public health Service (SAS) the presence of West Nile virus has been detected in eight horses throughout Andalucía: one in Atarfe one in Pinos Puente and one in Valle del Zalabí one in Almargen and one in Alhaurín el Grande Jaén province; and one in the municipality of San José del Valle The virus has also been detected in two birds: an Egyptian vulture in Alcalá de los Gazules (Cadiz) and an Iberian imperial eagle in Almonte (Huelva) the regional ministry of health also reported on Monday a new case of West Nile virus in a human was confirmed this week in the Seville municipality of Dos Hermanas The person started to show symptoms at the start of July and was diagnosed in Catalonia In relation to the circulation of West Nile virus in the trapping stations of the regional ministry of health the real-time analyses carried out have detected the presence of West Nile virus only in the captures made in the first week of October in the municipality of Los Palacios y Villafranca in Seville update it to the latest version or download one of the following supported browsers: Probability of suffering an earthquake over a period Probability of suffering an earthquake over a period of 475 years these factors put more than 14 million Spaniards at risk something that history confirms; earthquake records over the last 1,000 years show a map of high-risk levels around the edges of the continental plates The Iberian peninsula is located at the point where the Eurasian tectonic plate the African tectonic plate and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – a volcanic mountain range that divides the ocean into north and south – converge The two tectonic plates draw closer to each other by four and five millimeters each year measured and documented since 1048 to 2015 1,000 years of earthquakes in the Iberian Peninsula But this geological “kiss” is only the foundation for the peninsula’s tremors. From December 2, 2020, to January 27 of this year, the National Seismic Network recorded more than 430 earthquakes of magnitudes between 3 and 4.5 on the Richter scale in Atarfe according to a report by researchers Julián García-Mayordomo and Raúl Pérez López for the Spanish Geological and Mining Institute (IGME) The movement of the plates (which are relatively rigid) and the deformation of the lithosphere (the rocky outer part of the Earth) produce a field of tectonic stress that impacts the faults – the fractured seams in the Earth’s floor that can be found throughout the peninsula particularly from Lisbon in Portugal to Ourense in Galicia throughout the Mediterranean arc and along the border with France such as the one recorded in Lorca [Murcia] in 2011 with a magnitude of over 5 the two different faults – Santa Fe and Pinos Puente – provoke one other.” She says that while the approximation of the tectonic plates has been the driving force behind the seismic activity the existence of associated faults in Granada has also been key These circumstances have been compounded further by the peculiar characteristics of the land “The area is a three-kilometer deep basin with lake and river deposits from five million years ago,” says Pérez López “These layers of sedimentary material are prone to amplifying the effects of earthquakes Source: The Geological and Mining Institute of Spain (IGME) On account of these geological peculiarities, Spain has what Pérez López terms an extensive “hot zone,” which stretches from Huelva to Alicante and includes the Pyrenees and part of Galicia In these areas that are home to more than 14 million inhabitants although there are not often large earthquakes “The rate of deformation is slow and the shocks are few and far between,” says Pérez López Ruiz Constán adds: “Andalusia and the east of the Iberian peninsula are at the plate boundary Taking into account areas in both the Iberian peninsula and northern Morocco more than 19 million people are living in an area at risk of seismic activity “due to the magnitude of the tremors recorded we can expect earthquakes of up to a magnitude of 6.” But while prediction and prevention mechanisms are urgently needed seismologists agree that it has not yet been possible to define the precursors of seismic movement acceleration and cracks allow us to get closer but we do not know when there will be an earthquake and while cracks allow us to make estimates we neither know when an earthquake is going to happen or if it will be a big one,” says Pérez López Pérez López stresses that plans must take into account the risk of human exposure arguing that the most important issue with respect to the earthquakes in Granada is “the presence of vulnerable people who require a response.” He explains: “The magnitude of an earthquake may not be important in geological terms “You don’t need a magnitude-8 earthquake like the one in Japan,” Pérez López continues. “Even if the seismic movement is of a lower magnitude and intensity, if it leads to 20,000 people sleeping in cars and forces the mobilization of civil protection resources It is not only about earthquake-resistant construction regulations which already existed in the times of Al Ándalus [711 to 1492 AC] and which were updated after the Lorca earthquake [in 2011]; the key is preparation knowing what infrastructure can be damaged or being aware that aftershocks can cause landslides that harm people; or that it should be located outside areas of aftershocks so as not to increase the anxiety of the population.” which affect day-to-day life on top of the damage they incur “We have to be aware that they happen every so often,” she says There is a part of the population that does not remember that Albolote [Granada] suffered a catastrophic one in 1956 We have to be aware that they will continue to occur and be prepared and make sure the politicians don’t forget.” English version by Heather Galloway It was 5pm Saturday on 20 April when Víctor Rivas a hairdresser from Trasmulas in Granada province Then he began to hear the rain getting heavier and heavier until it started to pour into his hairdressing salon "You can imagine all the equipment I have is electric so the danger of electrocution was huge," Victor said the drains were unable to cope with the amount of water coming down the street so they had to wait for the storm to subside before they could start cleaning up Victor's hairdressing salon looked as if nothing had happened but Victor himself hasn't recovered from the shock Victor estimated that the river reached a height of four metres and trees were being washed away "We could hear the trees breaking and falling into the river" adding that at one point they stood and watched as a refrigerator The town's fountain and old washing area was also flooded the water broke the columns and destroyed the roof Neighbouring houses were not damaged but the access road to the motorway was closed leaving the village cut off There were no casualties in Trasmulas but an eight-year-old boy in nearby Pinos Puente was killed in a road accident According to the mayor of Pinos Puente - the municipality to which Trasmulas belongs - the boy was well known in the area and played for the local football team visited the four places most affected by the storms on Sunday Cijuela and Valderrubio and also visited Láchar The Junta de Andalucía's representative for public works visited the A-92 motorway in the early hours of Sunday morning to assess the damage and to see how traffic was gradually getting back to normal "The Junta will make every effort to get the situation back to normal as soon as possible as this road is the backbone of the community but there is no infrastructure capable of sustaining nature when it manifests itself in full force," he added Francisco Rodríguez's tour began early on Sunday morning in Cijuela where he was able to see first-hand the consequences of the storm on homes in the village "We have been able to verify the inability of the drains in the streets to collect rainwater flooding many basements," said the president of the Diputación Housing projects in some of the towns and villages in the area grew chaotically during the construction boom of the 2000s The most common type of housing in the area have two floors and a semi-basement and both rainwater and sewage infrastructures are not prepared for eventualities like Saturday afternoon's storm When the pipes burst the water entering buildings from above is joined by water coming up from the drains below as SUR's sister newspaper Ideal was able to verify with Rodríguez at the home of Eva he was able to see how brown water was still pouring out of a drain and he helped the family and neighbours with the clean-up operation Many boxes of furniture and other belongings had to be thrown away and while he was there Rodríguez announced an aid package to help clean up the affected municipalities "We will provide the means at our disposal to ensure that the situation is reversed as soon as possible," he said No son pocos los cineastas que existen en el audiovisual español con talento para la comedia pero la lista se reduce bastante si a esa selección le pasamos el filtro de la personalidad autoral: Cobeaga Cavestany y Álex de la Iglesia (cuando se lo propone) estarían seguro.. pero el que no podría faltar tampoco es Vicente Villanueva el valenciano se ha labrado una carrera en el que aquellas que le dieron cortometrajes como La rubia de Pinos Puente Sevillanas de Brooklyn puede considerarse el largometraje de graduación de Villanueva sin renunciar a la mordacidad y al salero marca de la casa La película te atrapa desde esa primera secuencia musical en la que Carolina Yuste (alias Ana) enseña a los niños a bailar sevillanas ¡en inglés! te encandila gracias a unos personajes tan canallas como entrañables y te convence merced a una historia (escrita por Juan Apolo y por el también productor Nacho de la Casa) que funde lo idiosincrático el mestizaje y la lucha de clases para desembocar en la comedie romántica Ana (Carolina Yuste) es una joven cansada del barrio y su familia a la que sin embargo le sucede algo que le cambiará la vida: su madre tiene la brillante idea de acoger a Ariel Brooklyn un adinerado estudiante afroamericano con el que Ana hará buenas migas Veredicto: La comedia del año la dirige Villanueva y la baila Carolina Yuste Consulta los casos en los que 20minutos.es restringirá la posibilidad de dejar comentarios Queda prohibida toda reproducción sin permiso escrito de la empresa a los efectos del artículo 32.1 a los efectos establecidos en el artículo 33.1 de Ley de Propiedad Intelectual la empresa hace constar la correspondiente reserva de derechos por sí y por medio de sus redactores o autores.