A teenage boy has been arrested in Murcia for making an estimated 15,000 hoax calls tot he emergency servces since last June .He has been remanded in custody at the order of the youth prosecution servce .

The National Police say that he has called 112 , 092  and 091 numbers from a variety  of mobile phnes reporting accidents which have never happened ..He has also insulted and threatened telephne staff .In some instances the police , fire and ambulance services have gone ot to these ” accidents ” to find no incident at all .

In some instances his calls have caused huge backlogs so that those with genuine emergencies have not been able to get through .Many of the staff have said that they have felt intimidated and then began to worry if they were once again sending the services ot to a hoax ..

The headline here sounds as though some criminal has been on the loose but this is not the case and it is a story of compassion .The brother and sister lived in Burjassot , near Valencia .He used to be a policeman and he cared for his mentally ill sister .

Then he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and could see no way forward for the care of his sick sister and himself .The man apparently attempted to kill himself a month ago and did not succeed .He was later spoken to in a bar and told people that everything was OK and that he was ” making arrangements ” .His friends assumed that he was talking about a new treatment or some form of care for his sister.

However his “arrangements ” meant suffocating his sister and hanging himself from a door .He left a suicide note for the family explaining that he was unable to cope and that he feared for the future of his sister when he died .The couple were discovered by one of the daughter’s of the sister .

It can only be dispair which causes this type of thing to happen .Too much pressure being placed on one person .Too little support from the State , family ,friends and  neighbours.It is almost impssible for an individual to bear such stress , with all of the ensuing results .A very sad tale .

The U3A in Oliva has a committment to communicating with the local community .One of the ventures which is going down well is an intercambio scheme designed to help the locals improve their English .The scheme is sponsored by the Oliva library and people usually have their meetings at the library on a Saturday morning .

The first cycle of meetings ended in January and now the second one is about to start , due to start on March 7.Apart from the obvious educational aspect it is also a very important socialising event .It is all about enjoyment and humour plays a very important role .

These exchanges form only a part of the programme for forging links .In June the U3A photographic group will be exhibiting work in the Casa Cultura .They will also have a stall at the Gastronomic Feria on the 18th to the 21st of June .They also have some very populas Spanish lessons for those who wish to learn or improve their language skills .

Having breast cancer is a life threatening condition and also affects people on a psychological level too .Having a mastectomy is also very demoralising for any woman and the hope of reconstructive surgery is a wonderful thing .However when this type of surgery goes wrong then the effects can be devastating .This is what happened to a woman who was living on the Costa del Sol and whose reconstructive surgery did not go to plan .This left her with a burst silicon implant , infection , inflammation and fever .She needed two operations to try and correct matters but they didn’t work and it left her with depression .

The court found no evidence of negligence or inadequate procedures on behalf of the surgeon but he did award the cost of the operation , which was over 5000 euros and he awarded her 60,000 euros damages for the angst and depression which she had to endure because of the failed operation .

The same clinic was in the headlines in 2005 when the Nigerian first lady was rushed back to the hospital after having a wight reduction procedure .Once back in the hospital her condition deteriorated and she died .

Tinsa is the country’s principal real estate appraiser and in its Spansh Property Market Index report for January the company states that prices have already plunged by 10.1% compared with January of last year which marks the first time they have shown a double digit year on year drop .

The largest fall was seen along the Mediterranean coast , where prices dropped by 12 .6 %.Metropolitan areas generally dropped by 10.9 %.The company forsees further price reductions due to a combination of factors including reduced demand , no availability of financing and a huge stock of unsold property .At the close of 2008 there were almost a million unsold properties and Tinsa expects this to rise  to over a million and a half by the end of 2009 .

A report from the central government confirms that the number of unsold homes is growing and is suggesting that it could take until 2012 for much of this stock to be sold .The Industry Ministry’s Spanish Commerce Information bulletin has said that if the level of sales was to reach the same level as in recent years then the stock could be absorbed by 2010.As it seems highly unlikely that the sales of properties are going to return to these levels in the forseeable future then they are going to be around for a while .Therefore continuing to build homes should not be an option in many areas in the opinion of many groups .Many see the present problem as being caused by the overbuilding of homes , particularly along the coastlines .

The Spanish Property MLS