Three Valencia residents were saved from death by the family dog.It appears that a fire started in a downstairs room while the family was asleep.The family dog was upset by the smoke and barked and barked until someone wakened and realised what was happening.The house was evacuated immediatly and the emergency services were called.The building was very badly damaged and a woman living on a higher floor was treated for smoke inhalation as was a police fficer.

It is thought that the fire may have started because of candles being left burning in the downstairs dining room.The three who evacuated the building had to betreated for minor burns but thanks to their pet they are all alive and well.

Domestic violence takes many forms,usually it is not premeditated.However in Elche last week a 32 year old Moroccan woman attempted to cut the throat of her Algerian boyfriend in what appears to be a premeditated fashion.

They had been arguing but needed to get to El Altet airport in Alicante .A third party was driving them to the airport where the woman was going to get a flight to Belgium.The man sat in the front of the car with the driver and just before the car drove off the woman said that she had forgotten something and returned to the house.She brought a kitchen knife back to the car with her it seems.

During the drive the woman attacked the front seat passenger,her boyfriend ,and cut his throat.The car stopped and the man fell out of the car with blood gushing from his throat.Paramedics and police were called and the man was rushed to hospital.

The attacker was very calm and gave herself up to the police ,admitting to what she had done.She was arrested at the scene.It appears that there had been previous problems and they each had restraining orders ,one against the other but had got together again.She has been sent to prison without bail and charged with attempted manslaughter.

A drunken driver in Gandia ran over and killed one cyclist and seriously injured two others last week.The victim was a longshoreman from Gandia .He had retired and enjoyed cycling.He was with two of his friends when he died.One of the injured men managed to take the license number of the car which had hit them.

After the hit and run the driver of the car was picked up by the Guardia Civil drinking at a bar in Tavernes de la Validigna.When the suspect was arrested he confessed to causing the accident.He had already had a conviction for drink driving in 2006.At that time he had his license taken away for one year.

A judge has allowed him to be free pending his trial.He must report to the court each week.He stands accused of negligent manslaughter,two counts of causing grievous bodily harm and failing to stop after an accident.One would imagine that drink driving might be on the list too.

From the results of a recent report it is thought that 40% of foreigners who are registered as residents in any one of the 141 towns in Alicante province do not have a legal permit to live in Spain.This amounts to more than 185,200 people .There are 1,917,012 people registered in the province and 460,965 are foreigners.Most of them arrived in Spain illegally.

What many do not know is that they can register as residents in the town whetre they live regardless of whether they are there legally or not.If they do this they can access healthcare and education for free.If they manage to avoid deportation for three years and prove with a certificado de empadramiento that they have been there for that amount of time then they can request legal residence in Spain.

What is justice and who “wins” in cases such as these when a Valencia lawyer is sentenced to 14 years in prison for a custody case?In 1999 Maria Jose Carrascosa married an American and lived in the USA.They had a child the following year.In 2004 the couple parted because Maria was classified as an abused woman.She returned to Spain with her daughter and in 2005 a Spanish court granted her custody and the child´s passport was taken away so that she could not leave the country.

Her husband reported Maria for kidnapping and a US court granted him custody.Maria returned to the States with a copy of the ruling issued in Spain but was told that it was worthless and she was reported to hand over the child.This she refused to do and in 2006 she was arrested and sent to jail on a 500,000 euro bail.She has remained in jail until November 2009 and in December was sentenced to 14years in prison.If her daughter is returned to the USA the sentence could be revised.

It appears that the chances of this couple coming to any agreement over custody are remote and the father states that he is unable to visit Spain for economic reasons.The fact tyhat the mother had been abused by this man seems to have made no difference to the American court.If a man abuses his wife is he a fit person to be a fatheris a question which doesn´t seem tohave been asked or answered.Maria´s family now want the Spanish authorities to become involved.