Google Maps Mania update from Spain

Luistxo from Tagzania reports on the latest Google Maps buzz and cool stuff from Spain:

Main map-related news in Spain is the astonishing finding of a helicopter in a bullring in Móstoles, in the outskirts of Madrid. It just happens that the main opposition leader of Spain, Mariano Rajoy of the Popular Party, suffered an helicopter accident on Móstoles on Dec. 1, 2005. The chopper crashed just after departing from that bull-ring and, miracolously, occupants suffered only minor injuries (see Youtube video and read CNN story). So, when someone spotted this chopper there, the question surfaced: could it be that very same helicopter? And, according to this thorough investigation, the answer is YES: the image was actually taken minutes or a few hours earlier than the crash, on Dec. 1, 2005. Finally, that image got to Google Maps last weekend. Unbelievable.

Other items in Spain:

Guadawireless is a wifi user community in the city of Guadalajara (Spain), that has mashuped its wifi nodes, with realtime information of nodes active at any moment.

Like other cities, Madrid also got its metro lines mapped over Google Maps.

Two new map-maniac blogs in Spanish: TopoNorte, and Noticias Google Maps, which uses the very obvious URL Googlemaps.es. Ummm, maybe they'll get a call from a lawyer...

Google Maps now it's own Spanish address and functions, also viewable by mobile phone. The entering of Google in the local search area of continental Europe, has been accompanied in Spain by an alliance with the main yellow page provider in Spain, TPI (a subsidiary of Telefónica, big Spanish telco). The listings of Páginas Amarillas, the main product of TPI, are also listed as results in searches in Google Maps España, as while searching for Pizzas in Sevilla.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo is the first big media in Spain to make a mashup of its own, profiting from the new situation in Spain (as elsewhere in much of Europe), now that we have streetplans and roadmaps. It's Callejero or address finder is just that, for the moment. It works well, and it would be the same as Google Maps España itself, but it has a guided search, province by province, which is handy.

Interested in becoming a country correspondent for Google Maps Mania? We're looking for people to report on all the latest Google Maps mashups in Europe! Drop us a line if you're interested!