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north EDITION
09 MAR-15 MAR 2012
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Lawyer’s double deal
Squat cleared 45 people – including seven children - were evicted from a notorious Benidorm squat this week p3
Discover the passion of Andulucia SAMPLE THE beauty and traditions of historic Andalucia this May with Gandia Tours’ five day excursion into the region’s heartland p15
Going green Moraira hosts a weekend music festival to celebrate St Patrick’s Day later this month p37
Showbizz goss Find out why Betty White is getting a roasting this week with Peter Taylor p50
Gadget Inspector This week the Gadget Inspector takes a look at the Kogeto Dot iPhone lens. Find out more on p59
Protests against the plans in January 2007
by jack troughton ANGRY VILLAGERS are demanding an investigation into how a lawyer advising their local council also worked for a developer threatening to build hundreds of homes around the Marina Alta community. A neighbourhood group has called for an urgent anti-corruption probe into Rosa Olcina’s role within Parcent Town Hall while working for promoter Terras de la Horta SL – a subsidiary of the giant Ballester group.
Plans for three highly controversial developments were before the Parcent in 2006, involving the construction of some 1,800 homes it was claimed would swamp the community and concrete over vast swathes of land and mountainside surrounding the village. The lawyer began working at the town hall that year. Ironically, Ms Olcina’s twin role was exposed this week after she gave evidence in the Brugal case before an Alicante judge in the ongoing corruption investigation. It was revealed that while working for the local
authority, she also worked for lawyer Javier Gutierrez, a Ballester lawyer. She was called as a witness into the case involving Mr Gutierrez and Jose Luis Castedo – brother of the Mayor of Alicante – and alleged rigging of the city’s general plan. Veins de Parcent, the community protest group formed to fight the development, has called for the anti-corruption prosecutor to take action. In a statement, the group said: “What is being investigated in Alicante was already a modus operandi in Parcent. Continued on page 5