News in brief - 12.06.2009

News in Brief

Good news on way for drivers
A CROP of new traffic laws being introduced by the Spanish government will spell good news for drivers in Tenerife as well.

Once the legislation has been passed, points will no longer be taken from drivers who break the speed limit, provided they are travelling no faster than 130kms/hour on motorway access roads to cities.

In addition, it will no longer be obligatory for drivers to carry all the relevant documents in the vehicle.

Instead, it will be up to the administration to verify that all the vehicle’s papers are in order.

The new regulations have been announced by a commission working as part of the Ministry for the Interior in Congress in Spain.
Other changes mean municipal tow trucks can no longer remove vehicles from blue zones, although fines will still apply. And drivers will no longer be docked points for parking in bus lanes or on bends.

A 200-euro fine will be imposed if you park in a disabled area, or if you are programming the GPS system while driving.
The term ‘negligent driving’ will remain, but will not result in the loss of points.
Radar detection systems will remain legal in Spain under the new rules, but installing apparatus which makes the DGT speed traps ineffective will be banned.
Current insurance cover will be required as an additional point of the ITV test.
Money generated by traffic fines will go towards financing more road safety, and discounts of up to 50% will be available for the ‘pronto pago’, with on-the-spot credit-card payments introduced as well.

Brit held over ecstasy charge

A BRITON, said to have more than 5,000 ecstasy pills in his Ibiza hotel room, has been detained by police.The 20-year-old man, identified only as David G., was held after trying to enter a San Antonio nightclub with, allegedly, 176 ecstasy tablets and three packages of crystal meth.
Police then searched the hotel room where he was staying and said they found another 5,248 ecstasy tablets, popular among club-goers.
Farmacia at Golf del Sur will be boost for residents

THE new parafarmacia on Golf del Sur, above the Excellent Medical centre, will have so much more to offer customers shortly.

At present, the company are unable to deal with prescriptions, but once their registration has been confirmed, they will convert to a farmacia.

Furthermore, the company intend to operate a 24-hour service, which will be a tremendous boost for residents of Golf del Sur and Amarilla Golf.

At present, if people need to collect prescribed drugs, they face a trip to Los Abrigos, or Las Chafiras.

But with the new business straddling both Golfs, and within walking distance from anywhere around there, life will be so much easier for residents and holidaymakers alike.

The magnificent white building, which was built in 1989 but never occupied, took a year to refurbish. It is situated on the left-hand side of the one-way street as you drive towards San Blas.

And you fancy having a peek, why not drop in for a cup of coffee in their on-site café.

The clinic, Excellent Medical, was opened officially by the Mayor of San Miguel, Valentin Gonzales Evora, on Saturday 23^rd May at a lavish ceremony.

The clinic is a private practice, so you can use it if you have private health cover or,alternatively, you can pay for your treatment.

The business is owned by Don José Vigo, with Juan Miguel Costa at the helm as Medical Director.

Interestingly Juan Miguel Costa originally practised in the social sector. His medical team are 60% female, including Alexandra Velaquez who is the women’s health specialist.

They are offering a multi-service clinic, catering for most specialities and tending to all your medical needs, with the help of multi-lingual interpreters.

Everything from blood tests, eye tests, dentistry, cosmetic surgery (they have something better than botox), ear, nose, throat, cardiology, and paediatrics to name just a few.

Owner Don Jose Vigo said, “The clinic is for everyone and we have no waiting lists. For example, if you need a blood test, your results will come back the next day.”

The clinic is the first of its type in Spain, incorporating all the medical elements under one roof.

Canarian pharmacist Jose Vigo had his vision when he was 18 years old ,visiting Andora and seeing a similar clinic.

The clinic is open Monday to Friday 9am – 9pm, closing at 2pm on Saturdays.

www.excellentmedical.es

 

We won’t abandon Cuba!

MIGUEL Angel Moratinos, Spain’s Foreign Minister, has told Barack Obama that his government will maintain its own policy towards Cuba, despite appreciating the US President’s attitude towards the country.

Moratinos referred to the Cuban situation last Tuesday during his appearance before the Spanish Senate’s Ibero-American Affairs Committee to report on Spain’s Latin American policy.

The head of Spanish diplomacy was adamant the current head of state would not have the same submissive posture tha ex-Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar had towards former US President George Bush.

He added that he would continue calling for a dialogue with the Castro regime, whatever the position of the United States and the European Union.

Despite everything, though, he felt Barack’s positive change of attitude as favourable to dialogue.

Moratinos said: “Whatever the policy adopted by the US and the European Union, I will not allow Cuba to be abandoned; nor will we be absent from Cuba, and nor will we be no longer involved with Cuba.”

He stressed that Spain would not repeat the mistake Aznar made in 2003 of “automatically” following Bush, “breaking off all dialogue with Cuba,” and opting for an isolationist policy.

The Foreign Minister added: “When the United States has the same policy as Spain, we welcome it; when it doesn’t, while respecting the relationship with an ally and friend, we say that we don’t share it and we don’t submit to it, as was the case with Aznar.”

But Moratinos said there had been advances in Cuba that showed the reform process undertaken by Raul Castro was alive

He noted that there was no longer so much “harassment” of dissidents, and there were 100 fewer political prisoners – though out of the 75 dissidents jailed in 2003, only 12 had been freed.

“As Cuban authorities have told us, there is a wish to continue with the economic reforms, despite the difficult situation the island is going through because of the crisis and the harm done by the 2008 hurricanes,” said Moratinos.

The Foreign Minister asked for the US to show time and patience for Cuba’s chances of joining the Organisation of American States (OAS).

Fake Viagra pills seized
MORE than 9,000 fake Viagra pills, sold over the internet without prescription, have been seized by Spanish police.
Four people arrested in Alicante were suspected of importing many thousands of the fake impotence-drug pills, which were produced in China and India.
The operation has already netted the gang some 50,000 euros say police, who warn that the pills could “cause a serious health risk”.

 

Road workers’ lethal discovery
AN arms cache, said to belong to Basque separatist group ETA, was uncovered by a road-repair gang last week.
The find, near Madrid, comprised a pistol and silencer, a kilo of bomb-making chemicals, four detonators, a shovel, plus a pistol and silencer.
There were also instructions written in the Basque language, all stored in hermetically-sealed plastic containers.,
“Police are working on the hypothesis that it is not a cache recently hidden by ETA,”  said the Interior Minister in a statement. “Investigators are working to determine its age.”
In the first attack by ETA on the Spanish capital for two years, a car bomb exploded in the Campo de las Naciones business district in February.

No one was injured, but the blast damaged office buildings during the morning rush-hour.

Las Palmas plane forced to make an emergency landing
AN Airbus A320 jet, carrying around 180 passengers, was forced to make an emergency landing at Las Palmas airport after experienced engine trouble shortly after taking off.
No one was hurt in the incident, which happened last Wednesday as the Spanish Iberworld airliner took off for Oslo, then turned around almost immediately.
Karen Martel, spokeswoman for Spain’s national airport authority AENA, said the plane was in the air for about ten minutes.
She denied reports that one of the engines had caught fire, saying only that it had undisclosed trouble.
The passengers were later put on a different plane bound for Oslo.
An Airbus A320 made headline news around the world last January when it hit a flock of birds and ditched spectacularly in the Hudson River.
It happened just six minutes after take-off from New York’s LaGuardia airport on its way to North Carolina.
All 150 passengers and five crew members were rescued, and there was only one serious injury.
They left the plane through emergency exits, some standing on a wing, before being rescued by ferry boat and police launches.
Pilot Chesley Sullenberger, whose quick-thinking turned him into an instant national hero, refused to don a life vest and left the aircraft last.
By coincidence, he was back in the spotlight the day before the Las Palmas emergency, testifying before a US National Transportation Safety Board about his splash-landing.
The 57-year-old credited his years of experience as a pilot for his ability to make the necessary decisions to avoid a major catastrophe.
The Airbus A320, which can seat 320 passengers, is the second best-selling jet airliner family of all time, behind the Boeing 737.