The Olive Press

A MURDER investigation is underway after an Irish couple were found dead inside the jacuzzi of their rented holiday home in Valencia. The man, 50, and woman, 45, were discovered by their two teenage children, aged 14 and 16, on Tuesday afternoon in the popular coastal resort of Cullera. The Guardia Civil’s Judicial Homicide Unit have taken charge of the investigation, with officers understood to believe that there is ‘some indication that something unusual may have happened’.

SPAIN’S Transport Minister, Oscar Puente, has accused Ryanair of using a global shortage of new aircraft as an excuse to pressurise governments to cut airport taxes. In a Europa Press interview, Puente says a delay in orders being delivered is leading to a lack of planes across the airline sector.

THE legal fight to convict Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner will reach a high-stakes climax early next year, The Olive Press can reveal. Germany’s highest court has officially scheduled the appeal hearing over the paedophile’s shock acquittal on five horrific sex offences. However, in a blow to those hoping for swift justice, the critical proceedings will not take place until January 11, 2027.

I HAD logged onto the weekly Olive Press editorial meeting from my home in Granada, my laptop perched on the desk as I scribbled notes. We were listening as new arrival Chris talked us through a few key editorial changes when, suddenly, a deep rumble thundered through the flat. Windows rattled, paintings swung wildly from their hooks and furniture creaked as it shifted sideways across the room.

THE average house price in Marbella has broken the €800,000 mark for the first time, leaving huge swathes of the local population unable to get on the property ladder. Marbella has seen property prices skyrocket by 38.3% since 2022 with average prices now sitting at €803,522 for a residential property – around €4,894 per square metre, according to the General Council of Official Notaries in Spain.

SPAIN is sending 45,000 vaccine doses to its North African enclave of Ceuta to prevent the spread of diseases among the migrant population. The emergency shipment will include 15,000 doses against measles, mumps and rubella, plus 30,000 doses covering diphtheria, tetanus, chickenpox and polio. Spain’s health ministry and regional governments agreed to send the doses through a solidarity scheme after more than 72,000 migrants arrived from Morocco on July 30 and 31.

SELF-DRIVING taxis are set to soon hit Spanish streets after Google’s sister company Waymo revealed plans to begin testing the technology in Madrid. The robotaxi giant, which like Google is owned by parent firm Alphabet, established a Spanish branch on the capital’s glitzy Calle Serrano on July 17. Waymo has also set up bases in other European countries – including Germany, France and the Netherlands – as robotaxis begin to spread around the world, with the technology already available in the US.

A WOMAN posing as a lawyer has been arrested in Marbella accused of scamming a property investor out of €100,000. Police say the 52-year-old posed as a legal intermediary working on behalf of major Costa del Sol real estate agencies, winning their trust so completely that several handed her the keys to high-end properties in the belief she was bringing them genuine buyers. She is accused of using that credibility, and a fictitious identity, to target a 43-year-old investor.

A HEALTH alert over a potentially deadly mosquito-borne virus has been lifted across the Costa del Sol after officials detected no infections despite weeks of surveillance. Andalucia’s health ministry made the decision on Monday after Fuengirola and Mijas, in Malaga province, were initially placed on alert for a West Nile virus outbreak on July 26.

A MOROCCAN propaganda platform has published a detailed scenario to conquer the Spanish city of Ceuta in under five hours using drones, special forces and electronic warfare. The plan, titled Ceuta Liberation, was published this week by an outlet called Defense Atlas, which describes itself as an ‘Atlantic Observatory for Defence and Armament’ and runs a website, forum, magazine and radio station.