The week has gone fast, but still not. Every day it happens something new, we receive two new villas and two new apartments for sale, new reports of Malaya in Marbella, economic reports in the world, and other news. I have written little about it, here are this week’s blog:

Its clear that Malaga have not done what they must do, protect the hundreds of private homes in the forest fire risk zone who not have any protection plan. You only have to glance at recent aerial photos taken of the province of Malaga to see how in the last few years houses and residential estates have sprung up quite literally like toadstools: in an uncontrolled fashion and in or very close to forested areas. At the presentation of this year’s Infoca forest fire fighting campaign, the head of environmental affairs at the Junta de Andalucía, Cinta Castillo, spoke of 680 residential areas in the province of Malaga that are located in the so-called ‘interphase’ zone (between forested and urbanized areas, or even inside woodland) which puts them in the high fire risk category. Many of the properties in question are illegal only makes matters worse as these do not have their own forest fire protection plans.

Marbella has still not a local emergency plan.

Marbella, Mijas and Estepona, almost the entire western Costa del Sol that borders mountainous areas, and the Genal Valley are the black spots when it comes to forest fires. We all remember past fires in Mijas where the proximity of some properties to forested areas has put human life in danger and meant that the fire fighting work had to focus on saving people and property.

Castillo announced last week that her department has put an expert at the disposition of residential estates to help draw up forest fire protection plans (and the ten or so local authorities that have still not produced a local emergency plan).

Infoca offered the example of two residential areas in Mijas that have set up a mini fire station with a small tanker lorry containing 500 liters of water at the ready.Castillo explained that this summer Malaga was on maximum alert for forest fire as the abundant rainfall in recent months has produced a lot of pasture which burns quickly when dry. As usual the risk depends on the weather conditions with strong, warm winds and low humidity being the most dangerous combination.

Malaga region has a good backup for fire.

Recent statistics are favorable. Last year Malaga lost a total of 245 hectares to forest fire, not a high figure bearing in mind that in 2001 600 hectares burned in one night alone in Mijas. So far this year there have been seven small outbreaks of fire, each damaging less than a hectare.

Nevertheless Malaga is always a forest fire risk area in the summer and this year’s Infoca campaign boasts 642 people at the ready. Of them 452 are forest fire specialists and 152 are staff from the Environment Department. They have the back-up of 2,992 volunteers who can be called upon if required. Three Junta de Andalucia helicopters are based in the province, at the Forestry Defence Centres in Ronda and Colmenar and at the specialist Brica base in Cártama. Meanwhile two amphibious planes supplied by the Environment Ministry wait at Malaga Airport.

Who is stealing from whom? The thief’s in “Operation Malaya is:

José Antonio Roca, who was town planning advisor.

Marisol Yagüe, former mayor of Marbella

Julián Muñoz, another former mayor of Marbella

Isabel García Marcos, (Marisol Yagüe, her deputy)

Plus 100 more people in Marbella community, Marbella police, councilors and business people.

These people did plundering Marbella in to the bone. Marbella community continues to suffer very hard and try to get back some of the stolen items, including over 1.200 expensive paintings that Roca have bought for his corrupt and stolen money.

Marbella have try to get the paintings back many times, byt the Junta de Andalucía want to keep them and here is the latest news is that there is no room for them in the museums of Andalucia.

Marbella Ayuntamiento has asked for the works of art seized in the Operation Malaya corruption case to be returned to the town of Marbella. The Town Hall said in a press release on Wednesday that Félix Romero, spokesman for the governing team, has invited the Junta de Andalucía to study how the Town Hall can assist the regional museums directorate in the conservation of the paintings seized.

It comes after the news on Wednesday that there is no room in the museums of Andalucía for the 1,200 paintings. As Félix Romero says in the release, ‘It would be a shame if, simply for lack of space, assets allegedly stolen from the town of Marbella were to go to ruin’.

Roca, Munoz, Yague and the rest of the gang sold illegal Marbella community land to builder and promoters, and also gave them building licenses, so they could sell the apartments, townhouses and villas with very good profit.

No, give us (Marbella residencies) the paintings back, so the Town Hall can sell them and we can get a little better economy in the town.

The Sales of new one-family houses in the U.S. rose by 0.3 percent in April compared with the month before, to an adjusted annual rate of 352,000 units, shows statistics from the Department of Commerce.

Analysts had expected an annual rate of 360,000 units in April, which would mean an increase of 1.1 percent compared with March month provisional figure. March figure was revised to an annual rate 351,000 units (356,000).

The availability of new home for sales fell to 297,000 in April compared with the revised 310,000 the previous month (311,000). “House layer” is enough to cover sales in the 10.1 months, compared with the revised 10.6 months the previous month (10.7).

Viagra, lottery and miracle pill for weight loss. Do you think this fantastic offer in your spam basket is more than usual? It is true – the last days of spam traffic has actually beat all records.

On Tuesday was it sends over 250 billion spam messages. It is 50 billion more than the previous peak measured. An average day in April was just over 140 billion messages a day, according to Cisco IronPort, which maps out the global spam traffic. Cisco IronPort produces security products for web and email.

- It can be simplified comparing spam traffic on the Internet with the weather. Sometime it is bad weather, but right now the storm, “says Stefan Grinneby, head of Sitic, a unit of network security department at PTS.

It is about botnet, network of computers that have been taken over, is activated. Your computer can fall into a botnet by clicking on a link in a spam message. Then, software can seamlessly be downloaded to your computer and it becomes “hijacked”.

These networks are not always activated. But when they are activated so suddenly sent it a mass e-mails simultaneously. Say that 10 000 computers as part of a network, and they all send 1 000 e-mails each one day. Then it will be very many emails, “says Grinneby.

In October, could the judiciary catch the organization behind the bot-network McColo, and it shut down. There was a drastic decline in the spammer. But now have networks bandits catch up.

Other network has improved its structure and become much better. We believe that growth will continue to do this, fears Henrik Davidsson, Nordic Manager at Cisco IronPort.

How protect you your computer:

Never open a spam message. There has been that computers are infected only by a mail opened. Throw it away.

Never click on links or open attachments in an email. That is how your computer is infected.

Get firewall and antivirus software. Update them continuously.

Do you Notice that your computer is behaving strangely – it going slow or sending things on the Internet – leave it for service.

You discover that your information such as account information, spread on the net – block card.

As it turns out, many people have no real idea what they’re looking for when they decide it’s time to buy a house.  They know nothing about square meters, land, mortgage payments, and sometimes things such as inspections.  Here’s a brief guide in how you should shop for new villas or apartment.

The very first thing you need to do is determine how much house you can afford based on your current salary.  You know how much you make going in, which is very important to keep in mind.  Some real estate salespeople will put together figures and then tell you amounts that, realistically, you know are way out of your range, but you sometimes believe exactly what they say.  The first time my wife and I looked at a house many years ago, our yearly total income was around 30,000 euros but the realtor told us we could afford a house as much as 200,000 euros.  Don’t be fooled by numbers like that.

The next thing is to determine what you want in your property, before you start to look at anything.

If you’re thinking about buying a house, you’ll want to know more than how many bedrooms and bathrooms.  Things like how many garages, regular basement or finished basement, attic and separate laundry room might be something you want to consider.  Do you want a two-story or a bungalow, old Spanish stile or modern?  Want to be on the Beach side or mountain side? How much space would you like between you and your neighbors?  Which town will your house be in, as this will determine what your town taxes might be?  Are there certain zoning laws in one town as opposed to another that determine the types of changes you want to make to your home?  Is it a planned community or a different type of established community, or even a brand new housing development?

Take a lawyer to help you.

And, of course, after you’ve looked at anything, if you’re considering it, you’ll want someone to inspect the house, and it should be someone you hire rather than someone the realtor hires.  Even if it’s regular property, you want an inspector to look at it all and give you a full report on what’s seen.  You might be purchasing property that’s has problem with the license, or, if you’re buying a house, the wiring might be problematic, or there might be signs of flooding that’s somehow been covered up.  Its best that you have a lawyer who control everything.  If you remember these few tips, your house shopping efforts will go smoother, and you’ll feel more comfortable throughout the process.

This is what the resident and tourist have asking for over the last 20 years; way can’t anyone of the local police speak English or any other language, when over 50 % of the resident and 80 % of the tourists is foreigner from rest of Europe. The bad thing is when people need contact with the local police is it often a crime have happen, a housebreaking, robbing, ect. Now have Marbella community starting to train the new local police in English so the can in English help and give advices to us so our apartments, villas and other properties can be safer here in Marbella.

Sur in English write this article the 26.05.09. about it.   

As well as language-learning their training will include making contacts with residents’ associations and charities.

Last Monday was the first day of classes for the 24 new Local Police trainees who gained a place on the force in the latest recruitment exams. After already getting through tough physical tests, theory exams and medical check-ups, they now face ten months of training in the Marbella Police Academy, in the basement of the police station.

This new intake will eventually go out onto the streets with an extra skill their predecessors were not required to acquire: English. Language classes have been added to the compulsory theory and practical syllabus approved by the Andalusian Public Security School (ESPA).

“English has never been part of the Academy’s compulsory basic training before. It was only taught as an extra option, but English is ever more necessary in a tourist town like Marbella where there are a lot of foreign residents”, explained the councillor or Citizen Security, María Francisca Caracuel.

Another novelty this year is that the trainees are to make contact with local residents’ associations and charitable organizations. They will get work experience in the local courts and their teachers include public prosecutors, judges, Malaga University lecturers, psychologists and Guardia Civil officers, among others.

As from July they will also gain hands on experience by accompanying some of the most veteran officers on patrol.

Some 1,310 applicants took the exams to gain one of the 24 places available. Only one of the successful candidates is a woman. The new officers should take up their posts on the force in March or April 2010.

The house prices in 20 metropolitan areas around the United States fell 18.7 percent in March compared to the same month in 2008, according to S & P / Case Schiller index. Compared with February, prices fell by 2.2 percent in March.

The largest price falls in March 2009, compared with March 2008, reported with Phoenix -36.0 percent, Las Vegas, -31.2 percent and San Francisco, -30.1 percent.

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Lowest price falls reported from Denver, -5.5 percent, Dallas, Boston and -5.6 percent, -8.0 percent.

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In New York fell the prices with 11.8 percent in March, compared to the same month in 2008. In Los Angeles fell the prices with 22.3 percent and in Chicago was the price drop of 18.6 percent.

S & P / Case Schiller index based on repeat sales and give therefore a more accurate picture of price trends than indicated in the context of sales statistics for existing homes. The limited sample size could lead to the index overstates price increases in prices as compared to the broader measure of progress for the American house prices.

The Property market in Dubai leads the current financial crisis league. Nowhere has real estate values plummeted as steep as in the previously booming Persian Gulf coast. House prices dived in Dubai by 32 percent during the last twelve months. The properties prices on the artificial island of Palm Jumeirah (Dubai Palm Island) outside Dubai is now down to its lowest level in three years. It costs only 2.450 dollar/square meter to buy a house among the luxury villas, hotels and shops on the palm-shaped island.

It is 60 percent less than for only six months ago and the lowest square meter prices in three years. Meanwhile, rents in the area has lost a third in the spring since March. Previous twelve-month period was a red-hot market, where the prices rose by 48 percent. This means that Dubai in a year has gone from being the world’s fastest growing real estate market to the world’s second worst. Only depressed Latvia house prices fell more.

Shortly thereafter came the U.S. and the UK with house price falls of around 18 percent.

The much smaller list of markets with rising property prices, top the report with Israel, which increased by 11 percent during the period. Deuce and three in the list is the Czech Republic and tax paradise Jersey in the English Channel.

Marbella Town hall is working on whit the entire illegal properties problem in the community who they to over after 15 year with Gil party and the corruptions in the Town hall. The latest news did I found in an article on Amlaspain blog.

Twenty seven homes on the coast in Marbella on the Costa del Sol are being looked at by the Coasts Authority asking for the householders to prove to them that the land which they have enclosed with walls and fences is actually theirs.

Some land on the Costa del Sol is actually public land but over the years the boundaries have been blurred as the public land has been encroached upon by private householders. If they are unable to provide documented proof of their boundaries then they will have to draw their boundaries back to what they ought to be.

One property belongs to the Duchess of Alba who it seems might have 32 square meters of land which is not hers. Others include part of the Hotel Marbella gardens plus a property belonging to Marbella Town Hall.

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The Coasts Authority will next look at more recent properties that could be contravening the 1988 coast laws. If they all go to plan they could be returning over 63,000 square meters of coastal land to the public, who truly own it.