The heat is on

Barcenas, who himself got 33 years prison in the Gurtel kickbacks-for-contracts scandal, had been hiding numerous documents that linked many former colleagues.

The aim of Diaz’s operation was to seize and destroy this compromising material.

He is facing charges of misuse of €60,000 of public funds, concealment of a crime and privacy offences.

backs, as well as bribing firms in the farming sector in exchange for positive inspections. It also ensured that those involved would receive payments from European

Union funding. Compromising photos of Fuentes with hookers have been published in the press, causing an outrage in the run up to International Women’s Day.

Fuentes trip to Club Sombras came as his boss, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned prostitution to coincide with International Day Against Sexual Exploitation and the Trafficking of Women and Children in September 2020.

Police also launched a campaign that day targeting men who pay for sex. A Tenerife court is now tasked to probe the scandal.

JAVEA police officers returned 325 sea urchins to the water after detaining two poachers. The creatures have been a protected species in Spain since 2005 and are considered a delicacy by some foodies. They can only be harvested in a limited three month season between December and February.

Diving is prohibited as a means of catching them, but passers-by saw a diver exiting the water at Portitxol with a bag.

Poached urchins Gone to pot

POLICE raids involving 150 officers have brought down a Teulada-Moraira gang that exported marijuana to the United Kingdom

They arrested 17 men and two women of various nationalities during 21 raids across Alicante province.

One man was immediately jailed as he was a Serbian fugitive who had a European Arrest Warrant issued against him for violence.

Broadway Picasso

STAR of innumerable Hollywood movies Antonio Banderas has revealed that he is starting negotiations with several Broadway companies about staging a musical in English about Pablo Picasso. If the negotiations materialise, Banderas aims for the world premiere to be held at the Soho Theatre in Malaga, the city where Picasso was born 141 years ago.

The 62-year-old, Oscar-nominated actor is busier than ever, having recently completed 240 performances of the hit musical Company