'Gibraltar', a film by Julien Leclercq, with lots of familiar sights

This is the official trailer of a film that was shot in the Campo de Gibraltar in May last year. Directed by Julien Leclercq and originally called L'aviseur, it is scheduled for release on September 11. Campo readers will see a lot of familiar sights in La Línea and Algeciras, among others. Based on a novel by Marc Fiévet that is itself based on a true story, 'Gibraltar' stars such well-known French actors as Vincent Lindon, Gilles Lellouch and Ricardo Sacarcio and tells the story of a French man living in the South of Spain in the 1980s, who cooperated with French customs as an informer on drug trafficking operations in the Strait.

Spain and five other countries investigate Google's privacy policy

(Image: ZDNet)

MADRID According to the communications authorities in Spain, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK, Google has not revised its privacy policy to reflect European regulations, so they are in the midst of planning measures against the Internet giant. Apparently, Google hasn't made any move since it was told to on October 27 last year, to adapt to the Euro rules nor to explain clearly and precisely what exact data it collects. Among many other more technical services, Google owns and runs the famous search engine, YouTube, Google+,  Gmail, Picasa, Android, Blogger, etc. etc. (A more detailed article on this subject will soon be available on SpainInformer.com)

HSBC whistleblower out on bail

BARCELONA Hervé Falciani, who identified 3,000 French tax evaders when he stole data from the bank he worked for as an IT specialist, was released on bail last month pending extradiction proceedings to Switzerland. He had been arrested in July last year in Barcelona and had been in prison since then, charged with stealing data from the HSBC Private Banking in Geneva. He then handed over the list to France's then-Minister of Finances, Christine Lagarde, who now heads the IMF. The list of tax evaders has been called the Lagarde List and details and identifies over 3,000 French and other citizens or residents (659 of whom are Spanish, including members of the Botín family that owns Banco Santander) with accounts in Switzerland that at that time remained undeclared during the period between February 1997 to December 2007.(A more detailed article on this subject will soon be available on SpainInformer.com) 

French 'Spitting Image' says there was no need for Spanish doping

Some time ago, the French version of Spitting Image had the characters accuse Spanish sportsmen and women of doping themselves to achieve the remarkable heights they had at the time. Now, the French are at it again, only this time pointing out that it wasn't necessary for Spain to dope themselves against France. This, of course, in reference to last Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the Euro 2012 quarter finals. The main characters here is Iker Casillas (often referred to as Saint Iker in Spain) and another indeterminate player. We have been unable to find subtitles in English.

France accuses Spanish sports of doping - again

France's version of Spitting Image has Rafa Nadal stopping at a petrol station but instead of having the tank filled with petrol, he a reaches for a bottle of something bought elsewhere, then takes the petrol cap off and proceeds to pee in his fuel tank. The car takes off at an incredible speed. Further down the road, he is stopped by the gendarmerie, who say, "Speeding! Cut the contact!", to which Nadal answers, "What for? What the hell?" After that appears a subtitle and a voice over that says, "Les sportifs espagnols. Ils ne gagnent pas par hasard." That is: "Spanish sports people. They don't win by chance." Among other complaints from the Spanish sports fraternity (which is fed up with France forever accusing it of doping - see the latest on cyclist Alberto Contador) Spain's Tennis Federation (RTFE) announced via Twitter that it would be suing CanalPlus France for using its logo without permission. The Federation's president says, "That's enough!"

France supports central Pyrenees tunnel for Algeciras-Paris railway

ALGECIRAS (Agencies) A meeting held last week in Paris was aimed at moving ahead with work, plans and projects on the Algeciras/Sines-Madrid-Paris railway that is to run though Spain and is included in the TransEuropean Transport Network under the number 16 (there are other planned connections). Known as the Central Axis, it is to connect the eight provinces of Andalucía with the rest of the continent via existing lines. The meeting included representatives from Portugal, France, Spain, Switzerland and Moroco, as well as the EU. One of the important conclusions coming out of the meeting was that >