In Brief

The British magazine World Finance has elected the Banca March as the best private Spanish bank in 2010 in the awards it concedes on financial institutions worldwide.

According to Banca March, the bank has the best solvency ratio in Spanish banking (19.7% in Core Capital and Tier 1 in December 2009) and one of the highest in European banking.

The family bank, now run by the fourth generation, started in the Balearic Islands where its head office is located and where a major part of its business is still generated.

Another cash injection for Camí de Cavalls

The Department of the Environment is to invest a further 1,754,211 euros in the second and third phases of the Camí de Cavalls' restoration project.

The second stage will be started in September and should be completed by the end of the year. This will involve clearing vegetation, removing litter, repairing dry-stone walls, constructing access ramps and erecting simple barred gates, railings and signposts. At a cost of over 800,000 euros, this stage should improve the condition of the path for hikers, riders and cyclists.

The third phase, which will cost 954,000 euros, will consist of erecting signposts in built-up areas, equipping rest areas and providing raised footbridges over streams.

In total the Department of the Environment will have spent 3.5 million euros on the 184-kilometre path.

Face of rape suspect on Facebook

Photographs of the man being held in police custody pending his trial in connection with nine sexual offences (including one rape) have been published on Facebook. Details of the suspect's private life, address, personal relationships and hobbies were included on the site, which has already attracted over 2,000 members, and have also been circulated by email.

News of the assaults was first spread around Menorca by email at the end of April. This led to a group forming on Facebook, created by a young girl whose friend had been assaulted in Es Castell. The site was used to warn of later assaults and give a description of the assailant.

However, a lawyer, Pedro Monjo, has warned that publishing pictures of the suspect is an attack on his privacy and could result in a civil action being brought by the individual in question or his family.