An alarming number of stories are appearing in the Spanish press linked to these three main forms of trafficking and the Spanish coastal authorities have warned that jihad terrorist groups are now financing their operations with massive shipments of cannabis from North Africa. This may not come as any surprise as the first cannabis plantations in Morocco appeared in the 15th century and some historians such as Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy say it could have been as early as the 7th century. Certainly, it is clearly documented that in the 19th century Sultan Moulay Hassan authorized the cultivation of hashish in limited areas and for local consumption but as the years went by, the growing of this cash rich crop developed particularly in the northern mountains of the Riff. By the 1960’s, under the rule of King Hassan II, international exclusion of the Rif region from any economic development, following an uprising, caused the hashish market to accelerate, to the point where now it is one of the largest producers in the world.

Spanish customs officers are working closely with their counterparts in France, Portugal, Italy and the USA to combat the organised smuggling rings. Their latest intercept being on the 24th January this year when a fishing boat bearing an Italian flag was captured 138 nautical miles south east of Cartagena in Murica, carrying 8.9 tonnes of hash with a street value of 14 million euros. Arrests were made of seven Italian nationals and one Egyptian. An earlier operation involving the National Police broke a smuggling ring and captured 55 individuals. The police confiscated 22 tonnes of hash plus firearms obtained in Libya and over 2 million euros in cash all of which has been shipped to Spain from North Africa. Police believe the money, drugs and weapons were destined to finance jihad cells.

Transportation by boat is the preferred option for the smugglers, since France commenced its military operations in Mali. This military action meant the Sahel route, which runs through the middle of the triangle between the north of Malia and Niger, the south of Libya and Algeria and the east of Mauritania, running through the desert was no longer viable. The old Sahel route is now largely controlled by Islamic terrorists. Such as Ansar Dine, Al-Qhaeda´s outpost in the Islamic Maghrib and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in Western Africa. This trade is big money to the terrorist. In the past year the European “coastal coalition” has intercepted 19 vessels carrying hash and cocaine. The hash alone had a street value of 381 million euros. Although two of the ships carried European flags, the remainder carried standards from African countries.

In the midst of this mass trade and on the reasonable assumption that the money is going to fund terrorist attacks, you may think that the law would allow anyone, thought to be smuggling drugs, to be arrested and dealt with harshly. Spain has never been scared to “get wired in” as we say and in 1998 they raised an indictment for human rights violations, using the Law of Universal Justice, this led to the arrest of General Augusto Pinochet the Chilean dictator while on a visit to London. He was held for a year and half by the UK, then returned to Chile where he died before he stood trial but the furore caused by the Spanish indictment, certainly pressured Chile to strip him of his immunity and make court action possible in his homeland.
The Law of Universal Justice allows a state to claim criminal jurisdiction over an accused person regardless of where the alleged crime was committed, and regardless of the accused’s nationality, country of residence, or any other relation with the prosecuting entity. But Spain voted last year to limit the power of Spanish judges to pursue criminal cases outside of Spain. This little twist lead to 50 smugglers caught red handed at sea with large quantities of drugs on board to be released. The Spanish Coastguard did an excellent job, tracking the smugglers, boarding the ships and arresting the accused but due to some confusion about the new legal implications, all were set free from the Court when they came to trial. The decision was quickly over turned by the Supreme Court of Spain, who ordered all 50 to be re-arrested, but most had legged it by the time the order was given. A case of butter fingers I would say.

While the transport of large quantities of drugs is worry enough, the transport of human beings, held against their will and sold in to modern day slavery is a crime beyond any other. Spain has recently made a public appeal to the people of Spain to reduce the demand for sexual services, an industry which generates five million euros per day in Spain and sells thousands of women from all over the world into sexual slavery. But Spain is not the only guilty party, the country is used as a transit country for thousands of people being trafficked to Northern Europe. Jorge Fernandez Diaz, Minister for the Interior, said that the fight against human trafficking was “one of the state´s priorities” and that the National Police would be redoubling its efforts to dismantle the networks responsible. The head of the National Police Force, Ignacio Cosido, announced that there will be increasing pressure on clients of prostitutes “to the point of making life really uncomfortable for them”. The Minister for the Interior went on to say that the government wants to make Spain an international model in the fight against human trafficking, as it is in terms of safety, being placed third, as one of the safest counties in Europe when it comes to crime.

Where are these men women and children trafficked from? Many come from Nigeria and other parts of Africa, some from South America, China and also from Romania and Bulgaria. Not only are they trafficked in to the sex trade, but also to be used as forced labour. Many are lured with the promise of well-paid work in Europe and leave their homelands willingly in the belief that they are going to a better life in Europe. The majority are required to “pay their way” being charged large sums for transport, relocation etc. Those who cannot pay are told that they can repay the “loan” when they start work but in many cases, the sum due gets larger and larger, preventing them ever being free from the gang who smuggled them in the first place.

The figures are very worrying, the first European Commission report on human trafficking in Europe published in 2013 states that between 2008 and 2010 23,632 known victims were trafficked. Of that figure, 61%, mostly women, were trafficked for sexual exploitation, 25% were trafficked for manual labour and the remaining 14% were trafficked for other uses such as organ removal. This is not a purely Spanish problem, although Spain´s geographical location provides the gateway, this is a European problem. It is a growing and highly lucrative trade for organised crime syndicates. Many crime syndicates have taken to trafficking people rather than drugs because the financial gain is higher and the risks lower. The police recently rescued a 19-year-old Romanian woman from traffickers who had tattooed on her wrist a bar code showing the amount she still owed them, it was more than $2,500.

While some victims are controlled by financial burden, others such as some of the Nigerian women trafficked are controlled by threats. Deputy Inspector Xavier Cortés Camacho, the head of the regional anti- trafficking unit, said the Nigerian groups moved women through north Africa to Spain, and then controlled them by threatening to rape or kill their family members back home. Another Columbian girl was sold in to slavery with a Columbian gang by her parents. The gang paid 650 dollars per month to the family for their daughter. When she escaped, she contacted her patents for help but was told that if she did not go back to the gang, they would send her sister in her place.

The Spanish police work tirelessly to combat the gangs and to rescue the men, women and children from them but the tide gets higher and higher. When the first phase of the anti-trafficking programme was launched, 1450 people were arrested in 462 separate operations with 11,751 potential victims and a total of nearly 23 million euros confiscated. Spain is not alone in this fight, Europe woke up to the problem of trafficked women in the 1990s, as young women from the former Soviet Union began to arrive in large numbers, and it has spent much of the last decade developing legal frameworks to address the issue. But, some advocates say, this decade will test Europe’s commitment to enforcing its new laws. “The structures, by and large, are in place,” said Luis CdeBaca, the ambassador who leads the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. “Now it’s time to take them out for a drive.”

Not only people are trafficked through Spain to Northern Europe, also exotic species have their price tag on the black market. One woman stopped and searched at a Spanish airport was found to be carrying in her shoulder bag, a tiny monkey bound in plastic and gagged with its arms and legs strapped to its body to prevent it moving. In another case, two chimpanzees were saved from a dingy basement in Spain where it is thought they had been kept for up to 10 years. Probably originally trafficked for a customer in Europe who did not go ahead with the deal. These are the victims of the illegal animal trade which is plaguing Europe. Sadly, many of the animals are brought up through Africa, Morocco and Spain especially through the port of Algeciras. Trafficking of animals is the fourth largest global illegal trade after narcotics, humans and counterfeit products. The sums changing hands for the rareist of animals are massive.

Berta Alzaga the communication and education spokeswoman of Primadomus Rescue Centre Spain says, “There are two types of animal trafficking. The first is where people visit the animal markets of Morocco and see animals kept in small cages, sometimes in poor conditions. They feel sorry for the animal so they buy it and bring it back with them on the Ferry to Spain”. The second group are the Mafia types who have realized that smuggling animals is easier and less risky than drugs and even preferably to people trafficking. The illegal wildlife trade is booming globally. A two year old World Wildlife Fund report estimates its value to between 7.8 billion dollars and 10 billion dollars per year”.

Some illegal cargoes are intercepted before they reach Spain, for instance when Argentinian police were called to an airport when a passenger headed to Spain was found to be carrying a moving suitcase. The case contained 250 animals including 10 boa constrictors. The species included spiders, lizards, snakes and snails all native to Argentina or its neighbouring countries. Due to the variety and quantity of animals found, it was decided that the man must be a courier as he had only arrived in the country two days previously and could not have collected the haul in that time. His journey to Spain was only the first leg of his intended trip. Evidence was found that he was in fact headed to Prague, using Spain as a gateway in to Europe.

The trade generates profits of around 500 million and demand outstrips supply, with collectors paying anywhere from 500 to a million dollars for a large macaw. Miguel Angel Vallardes, spokesperson for the World Wildlife Fund in Spain said “The illegal trafficking of animals coming from throughout Latin America uses Spain as its main entry point. From there they are re-exported to the remainder of Europe”. More than 38 million wild animals are captured annually in Brazil, but a staggering 90% die in the process of being caught or during transportation. Of the survivors, 40% of them come from the most rare and endangered species”. The people making the money are not the hunters, who earn very little for capturing the animals. A melro bird can be purchased for 27 dollars on the street markets of Brazil but they are sold in Europe for 2,500 dollars. Likewise, a pink macaw can be obtained for 15 dollars in the jungles of Brazil but would fetch around 2,000 dollars in Italy.

Spain has its work cut out to tackle these very organized forms of trafficking. Like it or not, Spain is the place where all these illegal trades come together, it is truly the “Gateway to Europe” and the place where the front line against these horrendous crimes must make a stand.

Amongst the best Carnival´s in Spain is Cadiz. A competition is held annually in the week before the Carnival to find the best musical groups to entertain the crowds. These can be choirs of 3 – 40 people or groups of ten who sing in close harmony and are accompanied by drum box and guitar. The songs generally flows to the beat of a tango or pasodoble and they vie for first place in the Music Festival at the Gran Teatro Falla in the old town area of Cadiz City. The event is taken very seriously and televised across Spain. The words to the songs generally ridicule the establishment, religion, public figures and celebrities. Some of the lyrics are written by professional writers but many are steeped in history and passed down from generation to generation.

Carnival has been a big part of the Cadiz social calendar for centuries apart from the 40 years when General Franco banned it. Whether that was for fear of being ridiculed or he felt it was not an appropriate part of Spanish life nobody knows but since it recommenced it fills 6 months of many Cadiz citizen´s lives with practising and preparing for the those few precious days in February.

Where did this strange event begin – well, that is a good question. Always held immediately before Lent, some believe it dates back to the Roman festival of Saturnalia held in honour of Saturn. Floats would be taken through the streets, the wine flowed and normal behaviour was turned on its head. It is even documented that slave owners served their slaves at the table during Carnival in a strange twist of social etiquette. Others believe it dates back to the 17th century when the Spanish tried to mimic the Carnival of Venice which was hailed as the finest in the world. Certainly Cadiz was a seafaring port and many traditions were brought to the country through its trade routes along with the silks and spices which filled the ship´s holds. The great galleons returned from the four corners of the earth laden not only with treasure but also the music of foreign lands. In the music of Carnival you can hear African, Creole and Columbian tunes mixed with the traditional flamenco music of Spain.

Some say Carnival is a Catholic festival and a signal to end the eating of meat for Lent. It is a possibility as the word for meat in Spanish is carne and valle means farewell so the two words together could certainly have formed the word Carnival. However, the very essence of Carnival; the permissiveness, the turning upside down of the rules of established order, the dressing up of human beings as animals, males as females, the fireworks, alcohol and general merriment seems a bit pagan for the church. Certainly the timing of the Carnival fits well with the church calendar. Carnival ends with La Miercoles de Ceniza and another festival at this time is El Entierro de la Sardina or the burial of the sardine. It is a strange site to witness as a woman dressed as a widow in black carries a tiny coffin (the coffin of the sardine) down to the beach and buries it in the sand amidst crowds of spectators. This signifies the end of the fun and the start of the fasting and praying for Lent. Even now many Spaniards do not eat meat on La Miercoles de Ceniza.

I think it would be hard to say that Carnival comes solely from a Christian background. Many of the elements are indeed pre Christian especially the mimicking of animals and birds but here it came from and why does not really matter. The fact is the Carnival provides a few days of wild entertainment during the coldest part of the year to cheer us all up. So maybe we should just enjoy it and not worry too much about the where, the why and the what for.

What is surprising though is the incredible variety of fish the Atlantic provides and nobody can cook fish better than the Spanish. Our coastline is dotted with numerous fishing ports such as Barbate, Conil de la Frontera and El Puerto de Santa Maria.

Many people associate this area with the very fine tuna which is still fished using the Almadraba technique and is hard to beat when served as Atun Encebollado or Tuna with onions. Some of the restaurants along the beach at Bolonia served the best I have tasted so if you have a Sunday afternoon free pop down there and try some.

I did not you know just how many types of unusual fish the Atlantic offered but there are so many species to enjoy and many of them get the green light from conservationists.  Like the Gallo which is a type of flat fish and often served just plain grilled with lemon, olive oil and parsley or breaded and lightly fried in olive oil then served with some lemon wedges. If you are really lucky and Chef is in a good mood the ultimate for me is Gallo with green sauce. A olive oil, garlic and parsley combo which is hard to beat.

Then there is the quite sublime Cazon en adobo. For those who have not sampled it. The fish is cut into little chunks, marinated in olive oil, wine vinegar, garlic, cumin, oregano and paprika normally overnight then patted well dry, coated in flour and fried in olive oil. My favourite dip for it is lemon mayonnaise. It did however come as a shock when my friend Jose at Las Perdices restaurant in Vejer de le Frontera who makes an excellent Cazon en Adobo pointed out the large set of what looked like dog teeth on the gantry above the bar. “That is what you are eating” he said. It was then that I realised I had been eating a very close relative of a shark! Still it was delicious.

Another one of my favourites is the Mero or Grouper. Generally a big fish with nice firm flesh. I like it oven baked with a seafood sauce and El Faro in Cadiz do a particularly good Mero with Carabiñeros. The bright red shells of the Carabiñeros look fabulous on the plate although the plate does look a bit of a fright when you have finished the meal with all the bits and bobs piled high.

We also have the Pez de San Pedro or St Peter fish. So called after the dark spots on it´s body which were said to have been left by St Peter when he lifted the fish out of the sea to take a coin from its mouth. Personally I have never found money in its mouth but it is very delicious with a saffron sauce.

Lastly, it would be wrong of me not to mention the good old Merluza or Hake. It really fills the Haddock bill here in Spain and can be used for almost anything from fishcakes to plain fried with some chips. I like to make fishcakes mixing the fish with some parsley sauce or when the need for spice comes upon me as it does us ex pats. I whip out a bag of Merluza and make Thai fishcakes served with a little Thai salad and a nice spicy dip.

As a Brit I always feel bad at the lack of respect we show to fish. Considering our island is surrounded by water it seems odd that we do not eat more fish than we do but prefer to export it to the four corners of the globe. Thank goodness our Spanish cousins take up the slack on that front and if it swims in water and blows bubbles they just cannot get enough of it!

People were looking for ways to keep their nest egg safe for the future and many believed there was nothing safer than bricks and mortar, especially bricks and mortar with some sun thrown in. Why did they choose Spain? Well, there were three main choices at the time, France but the weather was not so good and property prices were higher, Italy but the bureaucracy was enough to put most off and good old Spain where it was easy to buy, the Spanish were very welcoming and without much effort you could make a very nice little life for yourself and live off your pensions when the time came.

Added to the heady mix were programmes about foreign travel. We all remember Judith Chalmers on Wish You Were Here and even the most staunch couch potato found it difficult not to pick up a travel brochure after Miss Chalmers had visited and by her presence endorsed the country. Even the traditional Sunday papers started to add travel supplements to their usual offering and new magazines specialising in overseas travel and investment started to appear on the news agent shelves. Our love of all things foreign was fuelled by Floyd on the Med showing us around Spain and making us think this was the place to be.

On a more mundane but nonetheless important level, the exchange rates were excellent and you could buy a property off plan and sell it on the day it was completed for a good profit. The tax rules also were more favourable then and many made a bit of cash just buying and selling new properties.

We had the desire to do it and we were being told at every turn that we were doing the right thing so it is no surprise that so many people invested in buying a Spanish property. Whether you wanted it to live in it or just use it for holidays it made sense in those days to put your hard earned cash into some bricks and mortar in a country you thought you knew.

All went along swimmingly for about 10 years and then there was an almighty bang! The bubble which had become more inflated than a pregnant whale´s belly, popped and we all landed in a pile of brown sticky stuff.

Why did it go bang? Quite simply the world turned upside down and people got the jitters. Our economy took a bashing and our exchange rates plummeted. The terror attacks in America and the UK meant that people were not so keen to travel and suddenly they started to remember that foreign counties, even the ones we knew and loved were just that – foreign. They wondered where the terror threat would end, how it would affect the economy etc. The financial pressure changed how people thought and all of a sudden they were more concerned with keeping their jobs and paying the mortgage on the house they lived in than buying foreign property. We went from being a county of spenders to a country of savers something which had not really been seen since the second world war.

The market for overseas property plummeted accordingly and the glut of properties already built lost their value over night due that basic economic thing called supply and demand. When you have lots of the first and none of the second the thing that gives is the price. Prices tumbled and negative equity soon came in to being to a level never seen before in Spain. What should have been a sound investment turned in to a bad investment which will take several years to regain its true market value and a large amount of patience and nerve is required to get us through these difficult market conditions.

The moral of this story – no matter how good things are always remember that they can change overnight so be prepared for anything.