The Spanish police have launched their "Tourism and Security - Summer 2009" campaign. To be honest, it's a bit half-hearted (perhaps because they have had considerable success in reducing crime against tourists in recent years), but becoming a crime victim is a sure way to have your holiday ruined, so do pay heed. Crime levels are not high in Spain, on the contrary, but sometimes they can seem so - almost everyone who visits Barcelona in particular either gets robbed or meets soneone else who has been. But don't be paranoid - as the British Foreign Office points out, millions of people have trouble-free visits every year, and common-sense precautions are usually enough.

UK "charity" Crimestoppers has announced Operation Captura 2, "ten new appeals for information concerning dangerous British criminals believed to be on the run... in Spain." While the original Operation Captura, begun in 2006, was centred on the Costa del Sol, Captura 2 is aimed at Alicante and the Costa Blanca. In this context, Crimestoppers is associated with SOCA, the Serious Organized Crime Agency, and to be honest, the two of them scare the s*** out of me a whole lot more than any of the supposedly dangerous criminals on their wanted list, as they seem to be laws unto themselves, if you will pardon the expression. And while there are decidedly unsavoury types on their list, most of them are wanted for fraud or drugs-related offences. Whatever, while the campaign mainly targets ex-pats who suspect they might be living next door to a mobster, maybe it could be the start of yet another kind of special interest tourism - what shall we call it? Grass tourism? Neighbourhood snitch?

ETA has announced a "permanent ceasefire," beginning on March 24, 2006. In a video communiqué members of the Basque separatist organization said that the intention of the ceasefire was to encourage a "democratic process" in the Basque Country, by means of “dialogue, negotiation and agreement." The text of the communiqué and a second, longer message have been published by the Basque newspaper Gara. Read on or visit the Basque Country.