Gold Visas property purchases cleared €21 million of real estate in September despite the procedure being ineffective, according to those running using it.
"Unfortunately, the pressure of the judicial investigation led to the regulations became more bureaucratic, making the procedure ineffective" said Acacio Pereira, the president of the Association of Inspectors of the Foreigners and Borders Service.
The leader of Spain’s Podemos party has refused to talk of forming alliances with any party to form a new government.
Instead Pablo Iglesias said the party’s priority will be to help the poor by proposing an emergency law to stop families being evicted if they cannot meet their mortgage payments and to ensure pensioners can buy medication.
Seven people died in road accidents over the Christmas period, two fewer than in 2014, with the GNR reporting 19 seriously injured and 187 with minor injuries resulting from 589 accidents, 29 down on last year.
The usual array of drugs, hashish and heroin, plus five illegal knives and two firearms were found by officers, along with €781.
French authorities have said that police and ministerial archives related to the Vichy period during WWII will be opened for public scrutiny.
More than 200,000 documents relate to the regime of Marshal Philippe Petain (pictured) from 1940 to 1944 which headed up the Vichy government.
A man in the Münster area of Germany died on Christmas Day by being hit in the head by a piece of flying steel.
The 29-year-old man who has not been named together with two accomplices, aged 27 and 29, had attached a homemade bomb to the dispenser in an apparent attempt to steal the condoms and money inside.
Cross-Channel trade on Eurotunnel continued to grow during 2015, despite disruption from migrants as well as French protestors and striking workers.
Eurotunnel’s Le Shuttle Freight carried nearly 1.5 million lorries between the UK and Europe, making a record for the company.
The government has approved the Algarve Tourist Board’s (RTA) budget for 2016 which will be spent on repeating various successful activities and revamping its website.
"In 2016 the RTA intends to continue to implement actions to develop and enhance the tourism potential of the region, essentially upgrading regional tourism and strengthening the promotion of tourism activities," said Desidério Silva, the RTA’s chief.
Disgruntled buy-to-let landlords in the UK, caught by a surprise tax increase, are to challenge it in court.
A number of investors are banding together to oppose the tax hike by seeking a judicial review, the legal process by which a court reviews legislation of administrative decisions.
