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The neat black and white writing printed on the sides of cigarette packets announcing your impending death should you choose to partake of their wicked poison has been around for years, however Spain just recently upped their game in the smoking deterrent campaign. The sight that greeted smokers yesterday from the rows of cigarette packets in estancos across the country was not to be sneezed at, when images depicting extremely graphic smoking-related diseases were revealed to the public.

This drastic measure has come into effect only this week, but the actual deadline to abide by the law that has been passed is May 26th of this year. By this date all cigarette sales must be accompanied by these images, or the tobacconists will risk serious fines.

The question now is, do they really work? Do graphic pictures of smoking-related diseases deter anyone from smoking or do they just look disgusting?  Read more »

Sounds weird? Or perhaps even downright freaky?

Not so, say experts. In fact, it has been proven time and again that umbilical cords could even save lives as they are imbued with stem-cell rich tissue which has the potential to cure a vast number of diseases. These truly amazing blood stem cells can be used to regenerate bone marrow and this makes them unbeatable in the treatment of leukaemia, genetic diseases that cause irregular blood formation, server immunodeficiency disorders and other diseases that require stem cell transplants.

If you think this is a novel idea though, you’d be mistaken. Private umbilical cord banks are said to have proliferated in Spain since 2006 when the Prince of Asturias took it upon himself to preserve his eldest daughter’s umbilical cord in a private bank of this type in the United States. These banks are pricey, and can cost up to 2,000 euros – however, luckily there is a free public alternative. The difference between the public and private umbilical cord banks is quite simple: private banks save the stem cells for the exclusive use of the patient or client, whereby the cords which are donated to the public banks by law must be made available to anyone in the world.  Read more »

Spain tries everything to save fuel. Now that the oil prices went up again and jumped to 120 dollars a barrel in just one week the prices consumers are paying for petrol and diesel are now at record highs. The tensions in North Africa are no problem to supplies but the government said that something has to be done to fuel costs. To save fuel the government has announced that the speed limit on major roads will be brought down from 120 kph to 110 kph. With this drivers will save 10 to 15 percent petrol or diesel. From today, March 7th the maximum speed on motorways and dual carriageways will be reduced to 110 kph.

Despite the various problems that have plagued Malaga airport, including the volcanic ash cloud and the controllers’ conflict, the airport finished the year with a bang, concluding that in excess of 12 million passengers used the airport in 2010, which represents a considerable 3.8% increase over the previous year.

The launch of the new terminal at Malaga Airport, the T3, (as mentioned in my previous article) has raised the transit of passengers and flight traffic over the past year. Specifically, the airport in the capital of the Costa del Sol operated a total of 105,631 flights from January to December, a 2% increase over the previous year.

This is also the first time since the onset of the economic crisis in 2007 that passengers and flight movements have increased at all. Read more »

Planeta Animal are seeking a double horse trailer borrowed free of charge for an animal charity project, walking with dogs, donkeys and horses on the Saint James Trail for the Animal Rights in Spain as mentioned before from the 19th of March to the 29th of April.

Please contact: elcamino@planeta-anmimal.org or call 699 316394. Planeta Animal invites everybody to take part in ‘El Camino 2011′. Find more information on www.planeta-animal.org