Almeria

British brothers attack ambulance crew treating their relative before turning on police in Spain

Published

2 hours ago

October 29, 2026

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The crew reported what had happened when officers arrived. Photo credit: Fotomicar/Shutterstock

Imagine setting out to help someone who needs medical attention, only to have the people inside the house turn on you. Three emergency workers in Almería found themselves in that position when they went to treat a patient in Turre. The doctor, nurse and ambulance driver were attacked by the patient’s two sons and had to escape from the property, leaving their ambulance behind.

The incident happened at around 10.30pm on Tuesday, October 27, when the crew attended the family home to provide medical assistance. What began as a call to treat a patient ended with the healthcare workers fleeing the property and the Guardia Civil being called to intervene. The crew reported what had happened when officers arrived. The patient could not be transferred for medical reasons, meaning another ambulance had to be called to ensure he could receive the necessary care.

Guardia Civil officers also attacked

The confrontation continued when Guardia Civil officers went to the property to establish what had happened. One of the brothers came outside shouting and attempted to punch an officer. Officers tried to restrain him, but a struggle followed in which three officers reportedly fell to the ground.

The second brother then came out of the house and approached two officers who were occupied with restraining the first man. One officer used pepper spray to stop him, forcing him to retreat inside the property.

Officers call for reinforcements as brothers resist arrest

The first brother continued resisting arrest. He tried to headbutt and bite officers, making it difficult for them to bring him under control. Even after being placed inside a police vehicle, he continued struggling, kicking and headbutting the vehicle. The situation required further assistance from the Guardia Civil posts in Garrucha and Sorbas. Additional officers arrived to help deal with the brothers and bring the confrontation to an end.

When officers returned to the property to arrest the second man, he eventually came outside. However, he continued shouting and behaving aggressively before lunging at an officer and striking him. Officers then restrained him and placed him in handcuffs. Both brothers were arrested. The confrontation also led to medical assessments at a health centre in Vera, according to the local reporting.

Second ambulance called to treat the patient

The first crew had been sent to the home to provide medical care, but the incident left them unable to continue their work at the property. With the patient unable to be transferred at that stage, another ambulance had to attend to ensure he received treatment.

The circumstances meant that emergency medical staff and Guardia Civil officers were dealing with the same incident, with the initial call for medical assistance turning into a police operation involving several officers. The two British brothers were subsequently taken before the Juzgado de Primera instancia in Vera on Thursday, October 29.

Brothers released pending court proceedings

After their court appearance, both men were released provisionally. They must report to the court on the first day of every month while proceedings continue. The case concerns six alleged offences of assault on public officials: three involving the healthcare workers and three involving Guardia Civil officers.

The brothers have not been convicted of these offences, and the allegations will be dealt with through the judicial process. The proceedings will determine the legal consequences of the incident, which began with an ambulance crew responding to a patient in need of medical attention and ended with two arrests and several emergency workers requiring police intervention.

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AEMET alerts

Almeria floods: Red alert sent to phones as torrential rain hits

Published

2 weeks ago

October 17, 2026

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Residents and tourists along Spain’s Mediterranean coast are being warned to prepare for a weekend of heavy rain and thunderstorms, with parts of Murcia now facing an orange weather alert. The Cartagena and Mar Menor areas could see up to 50 litres of rain per square metre in just one hour on Saturday, October 17, while other coastal regions, including Alicante and parts of Andalucía, also face unsettled conditions.

State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) has issued a special weather warning, and the Ministry of the Interior has also warned residents and tourists to take the necessary measures to deal with the dangerous weather conditions.

The change comes after several days of unusually warm temperatures for mid-October. A developing weather system involving a DANA could bring intense and persistent rainfall to parts of eastern and southern Spain, although forecasters stress that the exact locations and intensity remain uncertain.

Almeria has been hit by torrential rain, with streets flooded in El Ejido and hail reported in Dalías, as Storm Adam brings intense downpours to southern Spain. The Poniente area recorded around 45 litres of rain per square metre at El Ejido by early Saturday afternoon, while the Junta de Andalucia activated its flood emergency plan. At 3.31pm, Civil Protection sent an Es-Alert emergency message to mobile phones after AEMET issued a red weather warning for Almeria city and the Poniente area. Residents were told to take extreme care, avoid unnecessary journeys and follow advice from emergency services.

The worst flooding reported so far has been in El Ejido, where powerful downpours left streets submerged and rubbish bins being swept along by the force of the water. Hail was also reported in Dalías, where rainfall totals had passed 20 litres per square metre. Further heavy rain remains possible as DANA Adam affects Spain’s Mediterranean coast over the weekend and into Monday, with the risk of sudden flooding in low-lying areas and normally dry ramblas. Residents should check the latest AEMET weather warnings, stay away from flooded roads and watercourses, and call 112 in an emergency.

Cartagena and Mar Menor face orange warning as emergency measures begin

Residents and visitors in Cartagena, Mazarrón, Fuente Álamo, Torre Pacheco and communities around the Mar Menor are being warned to prepare for potentially intense rainfall this weekend.

According to the Cartagena City Council, AEMET’s orange warning will come into effect at 12:00 on Saturday, October 17, and remain in place until 08:00 on Sunday, October 18.

Rainfall could reach 50 litres per square metre in just one hour, with accumulated precipitation of around 60 litres per square metre over twelve hours. Hail is also possible, with the most intense downpours expected between midday and 18:00 on Saturday.

In response, Cartagena City Council has activated its municipal services in the pre-emergency phase, preparing for possible flooding and disruption across vulnerable areas.

Residents have been advised to check roof drainage pipes, clear drains in garages and basements, and avoid parking in dry riverbeds or areas known to flood during heavy rainfall.

The authorities have also warned motorists not to attempt to cross flooded roads or ramblas, which can fill rapidly during intense downpours.

As an additional precaution, public parks are set to close, while large trees in public spaces will be cordoned off where necessary.

The Local Police have identified several roads particularly vulnerable to flooding, including the N-301a near the Rambla del Albujón and the RM-F35 towards La Aparecida.

Outdoor sporting events scheduled for the weekend have also been suspended, including the 10K Puerto de Cartagena race, which was expected to attract more than 1,000 participants.

The authorities are urging residents to avoid unnecessary journeys during the worst of the weather and to follow updated information from AEMET and local emergency services.

Spain weather warning: Which areas face the heaviest rain?

According to the official bulletin of the AEMET on October 15, the weather is expected to deteriorate from Saturday, with showers and thunderstorms developing in the interior, later spreading to the Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands.

Sunday, October 18, could bring some of the most difficult conditions, especially in coastal and near-coastal areas, where the rain may become both intense and persistent.

The forecasts identify several areas of concern, including eastern Catalonia, the Alicante coastline, parts of Andalucía and the Balearic Islands.

Ibiza and Formentera are among the places that will face particularly threatening conditions. An orange alert has been issued for the weekend. Parts of Barcelona and Girona are also under yellow alert, with the rainfall expected to reach 30 litres per square metre in one hour.

In the Valencian Community, the latest forecasts have also prompted orange warnings for parts of southern Valencia province and northern Alicante province, where particularly heavy rainfall could develop on Sunday.

AEMET has warned that some areas could receive between 150 and 250 litres of rain per square metre during the wider episode, potentially within just a few hours. However, forecasters stress that considerable uncertainty remains over exactly where the heaviest rainfall will fall.

The unsettled weather is linked to changes in atmospheric circulation over Europe. High pressure towards the British Isles and the North Sea is allowing colder air to move southwards, while an upper-level trough could develop into a DANA, the Spanish term for an isolated depression at high altitude.

This weather pattern can become particularly disruptive when colder air higher in the atmosphere interacts with warm, moisture-laden air from the Mediterranean.

Some meteorologists have described the possible system as a retrograde DANA, meaning it could move from east to west rather than following the more usual west-to-east direction.

Temperatures are also expected to fall from Saturday, with cooler conditions spreading more widely on Sunday.

In Valencia, daytime highs could fall from around 26°C on Saturday to 20°C on Sunday, while Barcelona could see temperatures drop from approximately 24°C to 20°C.

For residents and holidaymakers who have enjoyed the recent warm weather, the weekend is set to feel considerably more autumnal.

Spain’s Civil Protection authorities urge caution ahead of weekend storms

Spain’s Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies has also issued a warning following the latest forecasts.

In an official statement published on October 14, the Ministry of the Interior warned of the risk of intense rains in the Balearic Islands and Mediterranean coastal areas.

Authorities insisted that uncertainty over the weather system made it especially important to follow the latest forecasts and official warnings.

Residents in flood-prone regions are advised to take additional precautions, especially when travelling near rivers, ravines, and normally dry watercourses which may become inundated during heavy rainfall.

Motorists should avoid flooded roads, even if the water appears to be shallow, as its depth and force are not easy to judge.

People planning to go outside, to go to the coast or on a weekend trip are also recommended to check the weather conditions in advance.

In the Valencian Community, the emergency services have already warned local authorities to take all preventive measures in view of the expected rainfall. It is said that several events held in the Gandia area have been postponed as a precaution.

Although Saturday is expected to be the first day of the unsettled weather, Sunday and Monday may bring heavy rain to parts of the Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands.

Forecasts remain subject to change, and the areas experiencing the heaviest rainfall may shift as the weather system develops. Residents and visitors are advised to check the latest warnings on AEMET‘s official website and follow instructions from local emergency services.

Albox

Mystery Albox player wins €107,334 on the Eurojackpot

Published

3 weeks ago

October 9, 2026

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Seller Manuel Lázaro sold the only five-number ticket in Spain. Credit: ONCE Andalucía / FB

A single Eurojackpot ticket sold in Albox matched all five main numbers in Tuesday’s draw, and it was the only one in Spain to do so. It fell just two bonus numbers short of a €120 million jackpot, and the person holding it still hasn’t come forward.

One ticket in all of Spain matched the five numbers

The winning ticket was sold in the Almanzora valley town by Manuel Lázaro, who has been selling for ONCE (Spain’s national organisation for blind people, whose street sellers sell its lottery tickets) since 2011. Tuesday October 6’s draw came out as 7, 12, 19, 28 and 50, and the Albox ticket had every one of them. That’s a third-category prize worth €107,334.30.

Sixteen tickets across Europe hit that same tier on Tuesday night. However, according to ONCE’s official results, the one sold in Albox was the only one in Spain.

Two ‘suns’ away from €120 million

Eurojackpot players pick five numbers from one to 50, then two more from one to 12, which ONCE calls ‘soles’ (suns, the game’s bonus numbers). Tuesday’s suns were one and six, and the Albox ticket didn’t have either. Had it matched those two as well, it would’ve scooped the €120 million jackpot, the maximum the lottery can reach.

The draw takes place every Tuesday and Friday, and ONCE sells it in Spain alongside lotteries in 18 other European countries, so every ticket is up against millions of others across the continent.

The seller is now looking for the winner

So far, nobody has been identified as the ticket holder, and Lázaro is now trying to track down whoever bought it from him. He said he’s “very proud to be able to help”. Sellers elsewhere in Andalucía have had similar weeks recently too, with one in Estepona left searching for the buyer of a €500,000 coupon in July and a Torre del Mar seller handing out €1.235 million in prizes in September.

Albox is home to a large British community as well as long-standing local families, so the winner could just as easily be a Brit who’s made the area home as a lifelong ‘Albojense.’

How much of the €107,334 the winner actually keeps

Lottery prizes in Spain aren’t completely tax-free. The first €40,000 of a prize is exempt, but a special 20 per cent tax is taken off everything above that before the money is paid out.

On a prize of €107,334.30, that means roughly €13,467 goes to Hacienda (the Spanish tax agency), leaving the winner with about €93,867. Still an incredible sum for a single ticket, and a very welcome one with Christmas not far away.

So anyone who bought a Eurojackpot ticket in Albox for Tuesday’s draw should dig it out and check it against the numbers as soon as possible, as no one has yet come forward with the winning ticket. The €120 million jackpot rolls over again to the Friday October 9’s draw.

Almeria

Vera says goodbye to the Belgian woman who helped bring water and light to Puerto Rey

Published

3 weeks ago

October 8, 2026

admin

Vera’s coast wouldn’t have been the same without Lucía Lemaitre. Credit: Munteanu Valentin / Shutterstock

A newspaper advert in Brussels brought Lucía Lemaitre and her young family to a barely built stretch of the Vera coast in 1967. Almost 60 years on, the woman who helped give Puerto Rey its water, light and first streets has died aged 99.

She arrived when Puerto Rey was barely there

Lucía Lemaitre, who’s died in Vera at the age of 99, came from Belgium in 1967 with her husband, León Van Rentergem, and their two small children. At the time, the Puerto Rey urbanisation near Vera Playa was still largely to be built, with few of the comforts residents enjoy today.

León was a civil engineer from Ghent who’d run diamond mines in the Congo. So when the developer behind Puerto Rey placed an advert in a Brussels newspaper looking for a technician used to harsh climates, he answered it and the family packed up for the Almería coast.

The timing was important for locals too, as the developer’s plans had taken a knock from the Palomares nuclear accident just down the coast in January 1966, when a US bomber dropped four hydrogen bombs after a mid-air collision, and it was keen to get apartment sales moving.

Water, light and the first streets

The couple threw themselves into the basics residents now take for granted, bringing in water from the San Miguel well in Palomares, putting in lighting and opening up the first streets and gardens. They also helped get the Posada Real restaurant built, along with a supermarket and one of the area’s first swimming pools.

El Timón, the family’s summer chalet, soon became their permanent home, and it’s where Lucía spent her final years. It even had a famous guest in Orson Welles, with her son Pablo playing with the Hollywood star as a boy during his stay.

The first door newcomers knocked on

As Puerto Rey grew, Lucía became the person new arrivals turned to. For anyone turning up with a head full of questions along the lines of ‘where on earth do I find a plumber round here?’, she was the first door to knock on, helping with everything from the shopping to keeping the mosquitoes at bay.

It earned her a reputation as Puerto Rey’s “eternal Good Samaritan” and the matriarch of the development, long before Vera Playa became the popular home for foreign residents it is today.

A family still rooted in Almería

León died before her. And the memory of Lucía now lives within all of the residents of Vera who, thanks to her contribution to the community, enjoy what Puerto Rey is today. She leaves her children, including Pablo, who’s now the drummer with Los Puntos, the band formed in Cuevas del Almanzora that went to number one in Spain in 1976 with El sur.

Details of a funeral or memorial haven’t been made public yet, so neighbours hoping to say a last goodbye will need to look out for an announcement from the family.