Many people in Torrevieja woke on Easter Saturday to find themselves isolated, as overnight rain brought extensive flooding to parts of the town, blocking off roads and resulting in emergency protocols to be launched. Public transport was shut down, Easter parades cancelled, and emergency workers struggled to free people who had found themselves in difficulties in their vehicles, whilst many …

Starting on Monday, the Guardia Civil traffic department, supported by their colleagues in the police, will be out in force to ensure the correct use and operation of seat belts and child restraint systems in vehicles. In 2014 (the last year of consolidated data), the number of unbelted deaths accounted for 24% of the total, …

There is hardly a more picturesque place, nor a more romantic setting, than watching the sun go down as the birdsong in the Natural Park of La Mata is echoed by classical music on Friday, 28 September, as the latest edition of “Música en el Parque” takes place. It´s the fourth time the musicians have gathered to perform their scores, …

A British resident of Spain was arrested in Torrevieja, and is amongst 24 people detained across Spain as part of a National Police investigation into the distribution of child pornography. Arrests have taken place across Spain, including 4 in Madrid and 3 in the Alicante province, as reported by the Ministry of the Interior on …

A major fire broke out in an industrial unit in Santa Pola on Tuesday. Fire crews from across the area attended the incident which totally destroyed one of the buildings. Many people shared images and...

In the financial year ending 31March, Low cost airline Ryanair recorded a net profit of 867 million euros, representing a 66% increase on the previous year, when it recorded just 523 million euros.

The Irish airline justified this improvement with their "the lowest cost model program 'Improving Always' ('Always Getting Better') that has attracted millions of new customers to the brand.

The airline increased its revenue by 12%, to 5.654 million euros, and increased its passengers by 11% to over 90.6 million, up from 81.7 million the previous fiscal year.

Fuel costs were down 1% to 1,992 million euros while handling and airport charges increased by 15%, to EUR 712.8 million.

This, the airline said was planned in advance and due to new routes and airport hubs.
Spending was increased in marketing and distribution (+ 21%), to 233.9 million euros, followed by maintenance costs (+ 16%), to 134.9 million euros. Operating profit stood at 1,042.9 million euros, 58.3% more than in the previous year, when it reached 658.6 million euros.

As a result of their continued success and expansion programme the group has ordered 183 new Boeing B737-800 aircraft due to be delivered by 2018 and 200 further aircraft between 2019-2023. The company expects to make further savings in the next two years amid falling oil prices.

Ryanair's ground handling staff have called an indefinite strike at the Madrid-Barajas Airport which got underway last Saturday in protest at the working conditions, abuse and threats to which they are subjected by the airline management.

The strike was endorsed by the unions including the CTA, UGT, CCOO and CGT which say that the company intends to cut handlers salaries by between 20% and 30% despite there being no collective agreement.

The unions also say that, despite the declaration of a 66% increase in profits announced just last week, the company is refusing to negotiate on the matter, either with the works council or with the union executive. They say that the conditions that are being affected include a salary reduction as well as changes to shift patterns, holidays and leave.

They are also extremely unhappy about the shortcomings in safety clothing and personal protective equipment which they say is putting their workers at risk.

“Poor tools will mean a poor job which will threaten the safety of workers as well as the passengers that they are serving” said a union spokesman.

The workers say that they want to denounce "the current poor organizational structure, the regular harassment of workers, threatening language, and the written penalty notifications they are subjected to while performing their duties".

They argue that the company intention of reducing the number of baggage staff to just two per aircraft will cause delays with the subsequent damage to the reputation of the airline and to the staff themselves and that they will be unable to unload and reload an aircraft in the time allowed.

Alicante General Hospital has introduced new technology that helps to improve the survival of those patients with malignant brain tumors.

It is a microscope that better displays a dyed fluid in the affected area so that neurosurgeons can better distinguish between diseased and healthy tissue during surgery enabling them to be more accurate in their techniques.

According to the head of the neurosurgery department, Dr. Pedro Moreno, "the problem we have, particularly with malignant brain tumors, is that when you open the skull it is difficult to distinguish different brain tissue, everything looks similar which requires the surgeon to err on the side of caution. As such there are occasions when not all of the damaged tissue is removed.

The new tool provides intraoperative imaging, allowing much better reproduction however it is a very expensive system because of the necessary installation of equipment in the operating theatre which must then be devoted exclusively to this type of intervention.

The patient is takes the substance by mouth, four or five hours before surgery, a drug that spreads throughout the cells which are deeply stained.

The neurosurgeon is able to see the dye through a special ultraviolet filter, unlike the classic white light that was previously used.

The direct consequence of this new technology is an improved rate of survival because the more of the tumor that is removed, the more years the patient is likely to survive.

Ten patients have benefited from this technique since March and is expected to use the procedure in another 30-40 before the end of the year.

"The Hospital management has made an extraordinary effort. It is an expensive technology, but now that we have it installed Alicante is able to compete with many other hospitals in the Region" he says.

In a pioneering procedure developed using the facilities at Elche's Rio Safari, forty women affected by breast cancer have been benefitting from therapy with sea lions.

The beneficiaries are all members of the Elche Association of Women Affected by Breast Cancer (Amacmec) and so far they have attended the centre's therapeutic baths on seven occasions, with each of the visits supervised by therapists and trainers.

A spokesperson for the project said that the main objective is to reduce the negative psychological symptoms, such as depression and anxiety, from which those affected by the disease inevitably suffer.
It also aims to improve other lifestyle aspects such as self-esteem and image as well as quality of life and emotional well-being.

Participants were divided into small groups of five to six women per session. On many occasions they were accompanied by their children or their partners who were also able to benefit from the treatment.

Each session was divided into three phases: socialization, relaxation and interaction with the sea lions, allowing the participants to play and carry out relaxation exercises with the mammals, either individually or as a group.

The therapies are adjusted to meet the needs of the individual patients. To enable this to happen the therapist receives information on the characteristics of each participant which allows them to focus the therapy on their individual needs

According to a Rio Safari occupational therapist with the Maria Galvañ Foundation, the sea lion is a "docile" animal that responds very well to interaction with humans. "It is a very motivating and innovative therapeutic tool that gets extremely beneficial results" all of which help these women to "improve their emotional well-being while they are having fun and by also raising lots of smiles."

According to a statement issued by the Department of Defence last week, the Spanish Naval Fisheries Patrol Vessel Arnomendi, based in Cartagena, has intercepted a fishing trawler, seven miles from the port of Alicante, on which they discovered between 30 and 40 kilos of "an alleged drug, apparently hashish".

Based in Villajoyosa, the trawler was crewed by four men, all of Spanish Nationality.

The Arnomendi has been employed as a fisheries inspection and protection vessel since last April 27. It carried out the interception on Tuesday morning and following discovery of the drugs it escorted the trawler, Sana, to Alicante where the boat and its crew were handed over to the authorities.

The patrol boat Arnomendi, of the Maritime Action Force (FAM), entered service with the Spanish Navy in December 2000, and is manned by a crew of 37.

18-year-old Alberto left the Spanish TV series Masterchef Spain in tears two weeks ago. The potato on his dish had three scoops and five blades and was supposed to look like a lions head.

In a Lion King-meets-Finding Nemo inspired dish, 18-year-old contestant, Alberto, presented "Lion eats prawn" to universal scorn from the judges.

"This is an insult to my intelligence," scoffed judge Pepe Rodriguez, a renowned Spanish chef.
"Humour is important in cooking, but looking at this… I don't find it funny at all."

"What is this supposed to be? An insult to cooking!" said the jury and sent Alberto home.

Meanwhile Alberto is receiving a lot of sympathy online. His potato head is going viral: the hashtag #leoncomegamba is trending and the photo shots keep coming back.

And one of the judges, Jordi Cruz, has apologised. "It wasn't my intention to insult anyone," he says

More than one million rounds of golf were played around the world last year with the "Expert Golf" iPhone app and this year it will once again be the essential companion for numerous golfers.

Just in time for the new season, the most popular golf app boasts a totally new and improved design. The look is fresher and the app is more user-friendly, making it even more fun to use.

The functions that make the app so successful have stayed the same: precise distance information via GPS, electronic score card with automatic calculation of the Stableford points, answers to all rules questions and tips for trouble shots.

Thanks to the systematic enhancement of the app, as well as excellent customer support and daily golf course database maintenance, "Expert Golf" has stayed in the App Store top ten for a number of years and is officially recommended by Apple.

The most recent update to Version 5.0 is now available from the iTunes App Store.