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The Very Important 2020 Flu Vaccine Vaccinations against the flu have been brought forward this year amidst worries that hospitals might face an influx of flu victims as well as COVID19 sufferers. For the vaccinations this year there are some major changes and the Junta de Andalucía (the governing body for Almería province) has increased the number of available doses by 69%, up to 2.3 million which is the highest number ever. In Almería province, the 92,000 doses last year have been increased to 177,000. This is because it is intended that additional sectors of the population are able to receive the vaccine. From October 14th the main target population who could have the vaccine applied to the elderly over the age of 65 who are covered by the Spanish health service. The aim is that everybody in this age group goes to be vaccinated and they hope that 75%-80% of people will do this. There were appointments available up to October 30th solely for this age group, along with some key workers, but elderly people can still have a vaccination after the 30th. The other groups of the population who should go to be vaccinated from November 3rd are pregnant women, people suffering from a chronic illness (this year from age six months upwards), and members of essential services such as police, civil defence workers, firemen and teachers. In addition, people with high blood pressure and their families, nursing mothers and their families, people recently discharged from hospital and their families, and people aged six months to 64 who live with an elderly person should be vaccinated. For all the vaccinations, appointments can be made at a medical centre with slots of 4-5 minutes and in many of them vaccinations will continue throughout the afternoon. In the case of small medical centres such as in Mojácar Pueblo, the vaccinations may start after the end of the morning surgery. The Junta is reminding people that they can make appointments using the Salud Responde webpage or app, by telephoning 955 545 060, or by contacting their health centre. A final category are people aged 75-80, people bedridden or seriously ill, or people with some mental impairment that stops them going to a health centre and they can be vaccinated at home. Elderly people who have not had a pneumonia vaccination previously will be given this as well, along with people who are at a par ticular risk of contracting pneumonia. In some municipalities where access to a health centre is difficult or not very practical, or to relieve pressure, there will be marquees set up in a communal area or streets and this has been done in Almería city, El Ejido and Roquetas de Mar.

A Different Christmas Salvador Illa, the Spanish Health Minister, recently gave an interview on a radio channel and he warned that even if a vaccine was ready early in the new year it would be several months before all the population could be vaccinated. Spain will receive an initial three million doses of the vaccine when the EU approve the purchase of 30 million doses once the Astra Zeneca company has completed all the tests. The EU has further options to purchase large number of the vaccine from other companies. Salvador Illa said that this Christmas would be very different from normal and there was likely to be a continuing ban on the numbers of people who could congregate together, with social distancing still in force. He stressed that the next six months is still a very critical period and the general public must not think that the virus will die out until there is mass vaccination. The sectors of the public who will be vaccinated first are identical to those that are being encouraged to receive the flu vaccine. A group of Spanish health professionals are working on the logistics of mass vaccinations.

An ‘AVE’ Row The ‘AVE’ (high speed train) is supposed to arrive in Almería city in 2023, but everyone agrees this is impossible to achieve as it assumes every section from Murcia city has been completed and certified. The work from Lorca to Pulpí has not yet been adjudicated or a contract signed with a contractor, which may take 12 months, and the work to this section, once it is started, has a completion time of 36 months, if everything goes according to plan. Marifrán Caraso, the Ministry of Transport delegate in the Junta de Andalucía, recently asked for an urgent meeting in Madrid, complaining that the

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work from Pulpí to Vera authorised in 2018 had ground to a halt. The 25.7km stretch has a budget of 146 million euros. ADIF, the Spanish rail company, immediately hit back, publishing a series of photographs showing work in progress. They stated that land clearing was well underway, and had only been stopped briefly for a safety investigation after one of the workers was killed when a tree fell on him. ADIf went on to say that work to provide drainage was also underway. The section has provision for 10 viaducts, 20 structures for roads to go underneath with 10 bridges above the line and 50 drainage points. They pointed out that since June 2018, work to the value of 768 million euros has been authorised and contracts awarded to the value of 693 million euros. When the line is finally complete there will have to be a testing programme and certification and a time period of 24 months was suggested, but the Minister for Transport has stated that the time period would be less. There was an outcry a couple of years ago when plans were published for work needed to be carried out at the main station in Madrid. In part of the plan a date of 2025 was given as the arrival of AVE passengers from the Almería to Murcia line. Cynics say that 2026 is a more likely date!

A New ERTE Scheme The ERTE scheme where the Spanish government pay 70% of a worker's salary if there is not sufficient work, and the employer keeps this person on their payroll, has been a lifesaver for hundreds of companies and the self-employed who have employees. Figures for October are not yet available but 83,000 people came of f the scheme in September, so they went back to work. The initiative finished on September 30th but after several marathon talks with the government, unions and employers it has been extended until January 31st. The government had proposed reducing the 70% to 50% but agreed to keep it at the 70% and an amended amount if the employee had some part time work, which is a new feature. Under the previous scheme, employers do not have to pay the full social security payments for people on the ERTE scheme, and for employers with less than 50 employees the discount has been extended to 100% in October, 90% in November, 85% in December and 80% in January. Slightly less discount applies where an employer has no work for more than 50 employees. There has been a problem with new self-employed persons as they had to prove their income this year was less than 75% of their income in 2019 to take advantage of the scheme. People who had only started up during 2020 could not do this. The new rules are that people in this category only have to prove that their income for the last quarter of 2020 is less than the minimum interprofessional salary that is 950 euros a month. Unions had asked that in some cases, such as workers in a hotel that has not opened this year, the scheme was extended until Easter. The government has stated that the whole situation and scheme will be reviewed before the end of January and in a television interview the Spanish Minister of Labour, Yoland Díaz, stated that the scheme would continue as long as it was necessary.

Almería En Corto The internationally famous ‘Almería en Corto’ (Short film festival), part of Almería International Film Festival, takes place from November 14th-21st in

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a format that takes into account restrictions because of the pandemic. 2,148 films from 92 countries were submitted and a jury whittled these down to 35. European submissions make up 26 with 19 from Spain and three from Almería. Four are from Latin America, one from the US, two from Asia, one from Africa and one from Australia.

More Taxes in 2021 & 2022 The EU are pressurising Spain to increase taxes in 2021, and this is also a very good idea in the current economic situation. Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish Prime Minister, has announced that the aim is to pull in 33.4 billion euros in 2021 through taxes and i m p r o v e d P I B ( G r o s s n a t i o n a l p r o d u c t ) . Manufacturers who produce drinks with a high sugar content will have to increase their price by eight or ten céntimos, depending on the sugar content, and IVA (VAT) will be increased from 10% to 21%. Apart from extra income this is to combat obesity, particularly in children. Overweight people in Spain make up 43% of the population compared to the EU average of 29%. This rise in IVA is expected to bring in 340,000 euros in 2021 and 60,000 in 2022. Other changes in IVA will be made increasing some zero-rated items to 4%, or 10% up to 21%. Extra tax on diesel fuel will result in petrol and diesel costing the same. A tax will be levied on s i n g l e - u s e p l a s t i c c o n t a i n e r s t o h e l p t h e environment, aimed at generating 491 million euros in 2021 and another “green” tax (not yet specified) will bring in 1.3 billion euros. Income tax for high earners will be increased and changes to corporation tax to generate 2.5 billion euros, along with the 3% digital services “Google tax” that should bring in 970 million euros per annum. A campaign will be mounted to stop tax fraud, and this is intended to bring in 6 billion euros in 2021 and 2.3 billion euros in 2022. COVID-19 masks bought from Spanish outlets have the highest 21% rate of IVA (VAT) at present. The government is under pressure to reduce this down to 4% or even 0%, as buying masks is a major expenditure when they have to be changed regularly. Apart from increasing tax income, paternity leave for fathers will be increased in 2021 to 16 weeks, the same as mothers currently receive, so this is an expense for the Social Services w h o p ay o u t t h i s m o n ey, n o t a n i n c o m e .

Rafa Nadal Award In the Roland Garros tennis final on October 11th Rafa Nadal was on top form and thrashed Novak Djokovic in three straight sets: 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in 2hrs 41mins which was his 13th win in Paris. He amazed commentators, a limited number of spectators and millions of the general public watching on TV, who were expecting a long duel lasting several hours. This win also took him into the category of winning 20 “Grand Slams” (the same number as Roger Federer) and winning 100 matches at the Paris s t a d i u m . S h o r t l y a f t e r w a r d s t h e S p a n i s h government announced that he was being awarded the highest sporting honour in Spain known as the ‘Gran Cruz de la Orden de Mérito Deportivo’. The Roland Garros authorities have announced that they intend to commission a bronze statue of him to be displayed in the entrance hall.

A Very Novel Partaloa Solar Farm A large photovoltaic solar panel farm to produce electricity on two adjacent plots of land in Partaloa is being funded by a large collective and will be the largest in Spain financed this way. The company ‘Fundeed’ are a crowdfunding company and intend to raise just over one million euros from individuals or companies who contribute a minimum of 500 euros and will receive a dividend every quarter of about 7% per annum over the lifetime of the project, which is given as being 30 years. In midOctober 900,000 euros had been contributed from 355 investors and the target was expected to be reached by the closing date of October 31st. The site of the installation is in the Paraje de Lentisco that is stated to be one of the areas with the most sunshine in Europe. The company L14 Renewable Energy Investment Services are in charge of the project, and the solar panels and installation are being provided by Triana Solar and Huawei who have a considerable experience in the computer control technology for these types of solar farms. A special feature is that the solar panels are double sided to maximise the amount of electricity

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generated. The total output is given as 1,300kW which is the electricity needed to power 1,300 water heaters with a 1,000 watt element. The electricity produced will be sold to Red España (The Spanish National Grid) and a conservative estimate is an income of 40 euros per Mw hour, although the selling price in past years has averaged 47 euros.

John McAfee Arrested In Barcelona The millionaire entrepreneur John McAfee who sold his anti-virus company to Intel was arrested at Barcelona airport in early October, and prevented from boarding a flight to Istanbul. This was because the US Department of Justice had issued an arrest warrant and allege that he evaded millions of dollars in taxes partly by promoting cyber currencies, and has bank accounts in a variety of names to avoid paying any tax from 2014-2018. In 2019 he is reported as saying that he had fled from the US because he had not paid any US tax for eight years, and didn’t intent to pay any in the future. He claimed the US taxes that he had refused to pay were “unconstitutional and illegal”. A Spanish judge remanded him in custody whilst extradition proceedings to the US take place, and the US authorities state that he could receive a prison term of up to 30 years. Last March he was subject to the Spanish state of alarm regulations when he was in Tarragona. He complained that this was “martial law” and posted videos clearly showing he was ignoring the restrictions.

Youtube Bans Roquetas de Mar Videos In mid-October Roquetas de Mar town hall uploaded videos of bullfights and the bullfighter ‘El Fangi’ to their Youtube page. Youtube blocked the page and videos with a further ban on up-loading bullfighting videos for seven days, and a possibility of a permanent block. This followed thousands of complaints from user s who considered that bullfighting is offensive and cruel. A town hall spokesperson, Francesco Gutiérrez, stated that they had 3,000 followers and there were hundreds of videos apart from the bullfighting ones, and he strongly criticised the “immoral” ban. There are people in Roquetas de Mar who are opposed to bullfighting and there was a major row in 2012 when there was a bull fighting class organised for children. In some parts of Spain bullfights are now banned

Subsidised Holidays in Andalucía Last month we commented on a new scheme called ‘Bono Turístico Andaluz’, in force until May 31st, that gives a 25% discount on holidays taken in Andalucía by people who are on a town hall ‘padrón’ (the official list of residents) in any town hall within Andalucía. The holidays have to be for three nights and booked through participating travel agencies with a register of apartments, rural hostals and hotels that have met strict health guidelines. The total discount is capped at 300 euros but people can go on up to three holidays if they wish to do so. A new initiative has been introduced with a 50% discount for families that have a total income of below 22,000 euros per year, and people who have a 33% or more disability. The vice-president and tourist minister of the Junta, Juan Marín, is now suggesting that the scheme could be extended to other autonomous communities and Portugal, to attract more clients. In 2019 some 32.5 million tourists came to Andalucía and 21% booked through a travel agent.

Equinac Court Case Dismissed The voluntary charity Equinac are called out when there are turtles or cetaceans, such as dolphins or whales, or sharks that are injured either in the sea or washed up on a beach. They assess the situation and deal with the emergency, or if they find that they are dead an autopsy is carried out. There are various volunteers including three in Mojácar and their recuperation base is in Almerimar. In August a video was taken on a beach in Roquetas de Mar when a live ‘pez luna’ (moonfish), a type of flatfish, was discovered in shallow water near the beach. In this case the fish was about one metre across. Calls were made to the 112 emergency services that in cases like this alert Equinac. It was killed when a man who looked after beach beds dragged it out of the water onto the beach and deliberately stood on it. A subsequent autopsy at the Costa de Almería

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aquarium revealed that it had died by being crushed and suffocated. An official complaint to the Guardia Civil police was made by Equinac and the case was c o n s i d e re d by th e ‘ Fi s c a l í a’ ( S p a n i s h C row n Prosecution Service). They ruled that killing the fish was totally reprehensible and cruel from every viewpoint, and was a brutal attack but there was no criminal case to answer. This was because pez luna are not a protected marine species and where it was killed was not a protected area with special regulations. It was also ruled that as it was not a domestic animal there was no offence that would normally apply if a criminal act had taken place. Equinac have launched an appeal to pay for roof repairs needed at the Almerimar centre as they have no official funding. There is a PayPal account: info@asociacionequinac.org or money can be paid into their Unicaja account: ES27 2103 0884 4900 3000 5165.

Recovering Driver Points The Spanish driver points system was introduced in 2006 and a loss of points occurs for various offences. Drivers have an initial 12 points and with no points lost for three years this goes up to 14 points and then 15 points after another year. New drivers start with 8 points for a period of three years. Points lost go from 2-6 with a maximum of 8 on the same day / occurrence. If you lose your licence because you have no points left this will normally be for a period of 3, 6 or 12 months if it is for a second time or more, or up to four years for very serious offences, or up to five years and a ban from driving for 6-9 years for reckless driving causing death(s). If you lose points and are worried that a further loss of points will take you down to zero, so you lose your licence, you can attend a course of road awareness and re-education to recover 4 points. This course is for 12 hours but you can only do this once every two years (or 12 months if you are a professional driver). If you have lost all your points, the corresponding course is for 24 hours in the period during which you have lost your licence and a driving theory test has to be done as well. Your regained licence then has 8 points, not 12. The courses for people in Almería province have to be done at a special centre in Almería city, or in Huércal-Overa. If you have lost all your points you have to get there by public transport of course, unless someone drives you there and back. The two-day 12hr courses at Huércal-Overa are held on a Friday from 3pm to 9.30pm and on Saturday from 8am to 2.30pm and this costs about 170 euro. If it is a 24hr course you have to go for two weeks running which costs about 320 euros. If you have lost partial points and decide to sit it out, you will get back the points lost after two years, or three years for a more serious offence. Points lost involve a fine (50% discount if paid within 20 days or on the spot if you are stopped by a Guardia Civil traffic policeman), and for serious offences there may be a period of community service, or in extreme cases s u ch a s th o s e l i s te d a b ove , a p r i s o n te r m .

Original Geode Discoverers in Pulpí The brothers Efrén and Adrían Cuesta from Asturias recently visited the Pulpí geode. Both of them are mineralogists and geologists and they discovered it 21 years ago in 1999 when they were exploring the area of the Rica mine. They were not expecting to find inside the largest geode in Europe, but recalled that it was an incredible moment. They congratulated the authorities with carrying out the work to make it into a very popular guided tour attraction for visitors, opened to the public on August 5th, 2019. The mayor of Pulpí, Juan Pedro García, welcomed them to the visitor centre where they met the guides and signed the book for important visitors.

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US Palomares Troops has agreed “in principle” that they would take the When the US bomber plane and tanker plane collided soil away. over Palomares in 1966, four nuclear missiles were jettisoned and came down with parachutes. Three A Policeman with Instant Recall landed in Palomares and one in the sea, but two of Emiliano Fernández is a retired Spanish policeman the ones that hit the ground dispersed plutonium living in Madrid who specialised in bomb disposal. dust when the nose cones split. Thousands of US He has a prodigious memory relating to events troops and a large flotilla of navy vessels came to throughout his life, and is also a self-taught expert the scene, and troops collected contaminated soil on religious art. If he goes to a church or cathedral, that was put in barrels and taken to the US. Hundreds he immediately knows the materials that have been of the troops who came to Palomares have been used in items such as sculptures, statues and tombs complaining for decades that they subsequently and whether they are very old or modern copies. developed cancer s or leukaemia. Claims for He recently watched a Spanish TV programme compensation have always been dismissed until last entitled “The guardians of heritage” that dealt with December when an appeal court ruled in their missing religious artefacts and current specialised favour. A “class action” (where all the claims are police investigations with some of them going back dealt with at the same time) will now be heard by to the civil war when many cultural items were a tribunal who are expected to award compensation. looted. One part of the programme depicted a Victor Saar, now aged 83, was a US sergeant at the missing fragment from a 15th century gothic tomb time and has led the campaign after he developed of the Archbishop Carillo Acuña in a church in the leukaemia that was ruled to be the result of radiation. Alcalá de Henares diocese in Madrid. The missing All the troops were told that removing the soil part that was about 1m tall was one of four highly posed no risk and they weren’t told to wear decorated towers made of alabaster, and Emiliano protective clothing or to change their uniforms remembered that in 1975, when he was aged 20, regularly. Over 100 people who claim they developed he had seen this exact missing piece in the wall of cancers or leukaemia are still alive, but a large a cowshed on an estate near Madrid that belonged number have already died. Their campaign was given to the family of a friend. He had studied it carefully a big boost in 2018 when the New York Times led as it seemed to be an entirely inappropriate setting. an investigation, and of the 41 members of the The main building is now a rehabilitation centre for military who had been sent to Palomares that they drug addicts, persons released from prison and interviewed, 21 were cancer victims. After the homeless people. After contacting the centre he disaster, various residents of Palomares went to established that the alabaster tower was still there, Madrid every year to be tested for a number of so he sent an email to the diocese who replied years, with the US paying the travel and testing asking for details of his professional qualifications costs. A few years ago, a university in Barcelona and specified a lengthy bureaucratic process for compared the cancer statistics in Palomares to a the reporting of discoveries of historical items. town of similar size where agriculture was the main Frustrated, he sent them his phone number and activity and determined that cancer cases over a told them to contact him if they had any interest long period of time were very similar, with no spike at all in the location of the missing tower. This in numbers from residents of Palomares. There is resulted in an almost immediate response from the still an on-going dispute as to whether the US, or priest in charge of cultural affairs. Having established Spain, will pay for the removal of contaminated soil that he was 100% correct, the missing tower was that was left behind. There is nowhere is Spain carefully removed by experts to be re-installed on where the soil can be taken to, but in the US the the tomb. Emiliano has complained that subsequent soil from Palomares is stored at a facility in the to his revelation, no-one from the church authorities Nevada desert. At various times the US government had thanked him for his discovery! . 24 Continued ....

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The Almanzora Motorway In another news item we comment on the major public work plan from the Junta de Andalucía until the end of 2023 entitled “Andalucía en Marcha”. This includes projects in our province including the Alamanzora motorway, often referred to as the “Marble motorway”. At the beginning of October the delegate from the Ministry of Transport, Mari Fran Carazo, came to see the progress on the section from El Cucador to La Concepción. This is 50% complete and she gave a date of spring 2021 when it would all be finished. A 300m viaduct is well on the way to being completed. There will be a link to Zurgena and La Alfoquía and the nearby solar farm. She promised that the work from La Concepción to the A-7 motorway would be put out to tender before the end of this year with a budget price of 33 million euros. Miniscule Port Numbers Between June 15th and September 15th every year there is an enormous number of people who travel to Morocco and North Africa from Almería port, who go there to observe an Islamic holiday. This is a very large logistic operation named ‘Paso del Estrecho’ (OPE), and in 2019 a total of 582,000 people with 130,000 cars travelled in multiple ferries to different ports. This year, the authorities in Morocco and Algeria closed their borders and only 12,000 lorry drivers using the Ro-Ro ferries to Nador were allowed in. This 97% drop in passengers also led to a 98% decrease in vehicles, with only 2,500 instead of 132,000 in 2019. Out of the 2,500 vehicles, 2,300 were lorries. From January 1st to the end of September total passengers on the ferries went down by 85%. Commercial figures for exports and imports at Almería port have not dropped par ticularly so far this year, but at Carboneras port the very large import of coal has ceased since the Endesa power station shut. A New Mojácar Police Vehicle The police in Mojácar (Policía Local) who have twentysix officers have taken delivery of a new all-terrain vehicle that can be used to convey any person who has been arrested. It has a special compartment fully equipped for this purpose but the vehicle can also be used for normal police work. The special vehicle has cost 39,000 euros and it brings the number of patrol cars up to six, apart from cars used by plainclothed police and motorbikes. Another recent

acquisition is a drone for surveillance purposes. Food Delivery Riders Are Employees The Labour division of the Spanish High Court with 17 judges has ruled that food delivery workers for companies such as Glovo (the most popular company in Spain), Just Eat and Deliveroo are genuine employees not self-employed persons. This is a definitive ruling that takes into account that there have been some conflicting judgements in lower courts. The ruling will also apply to Uber drivers and people who deliver parcels for e-commerce companies such as Amazon as their only occupation. A former Glovo employee took a test case to the High Court and the court accepted that riders were not an intermediary between the company and customers and there were formal and definite requirement for responding to calls and other considerations such as the riders having to provide a mobile phone with a special App to be given work. The ruling means that the food companies have to pay a wage, with holiday rights, sickness benefit and importantly pay social security payments. Following the ruling, the ‘Hacienda’ (Spanish tax authority) is expected to ask for the payment of social security going back for four years which is the longest period for claiming back payments. A spokesperson from Glovo stated that they accepted the court's decision but there needed to be a

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framework throughout the EU with the same laws. Last May, a labour tribunal in Watford in the UK ruled that riders for the Yodel Delivery Service were not employees. In general, self-employed persons who only bill one company for their services are considered by the Spanish Social Service department to be “false” self-employed persons and that the employer should be paying the higher amount of social security payments for them. Following the High Court ruling, the Ministry of Labour announced that 4,000 riders / drivers who work for Amazon in Madrid and Barcelona are false self-employed persons and they have told Amazon that they have to give all these people a work contract and pay 6 million euros in back social security payments. There is however, one exception to this that allows a self-employed person to only bill one company or another self-employed person. This is known in Spain as a 'Trade' relationship with a legal contract for fixed hours and holiday entitlement and an acceptance that the selfemployed person is economically dependent on the person they bill for at least 75% of their income.

More Fixed Term Mortgages Until five years ago, the number of mortgages with a fixed rate of interest, meaning every monthly payment from start to finish is the same amount, was only about 5%. Now, banks are making a concerted effort to sign clients up to these types of mortgages with competitive rates of interest. Variable rate mortgages are based on the 'Euribor' rate (an interbank lending rate) and the interest rate from a bank. The Euribor has been a negative rate of interest for the last three years and in September it hit minus 0.4%, the lowest amount ever and there are no indications that it will improve in the foreseeable future. When it does recover and becomes positive, people with variable rate mortgages will pay more each month. The fixed rate mortgages from various banks may have an interest rate that is only 1.5% to 1.7%, but the banks then tie customers into their own house and contents insurance, payment of a salary into their bank account and using this account to pay bills s u c h a s e l e c t r i c i t y, w a t e r, r a t e s a n d t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n . T h e r e m ay a l s o b e a requirement that a certain amount of money is spent each month using a credit and debit card. If a client does not agree to these conditions the interest rate will be higher. The attraction of a fixed rate mortgage is that monthly payments are always the same, and this gives a peace of mind that there will be no surprises. On the other hand, at present, they cost more than a variable rate one. If a person wants a mortgage they should shop around to find the best deals that the banks are currently offering to try and improve their liquidity. There are a lot of interest sites that compare the interest rates every month for new mortgage customers. We explain the current situation with variable rate mortgages in an article.

Tragic Fatalities On September 28th police received numerous calls to the 112 emergency number that a camper-van was speeding down the motorway in the wrong direction between Jerez de la Frontera and Los Barrios in Cádiz. Subsequently, it crashed head on with a heavy lorry and the camper-van was totally destroyed. Part of it penetrated the windscreen of the lorry and the driver was taken to hospital with serious injuries. Two bodies were eventually extracted from the camper-van by firemen. In early October the police revealed the result of a forensic autopsy on the two victims and their investigations. They stated that a 32-year-old French woman who was the passenger had died prior to the crash from a severe blow to her head, and the 28-year-old British driver who was her partner had a history of suffering from mental illness. They concluded that the woman died as a result of domestic violence and the man had almost certainly committed suicide by deliberately crashing the camper-van at high speed.

Working from Home Spain has become the first country in Europe to put into law regulations for people working from home, known as “teletrabajo”. These came into force on October 13th with a maximum of three months for its implementation, but there is a

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provision in the bill passed in parliament to allow for some modifications. This is because employers, unions and the government thrashed out the framework, but some parts are still a bit woolly. The working from home regulation does not apply to odd days worked, or to the situation due to the pandemic. It applies to people who will spend a minimum of 30% of their working hours at home over a period of three months. An agreed contract has to be signed but it allows either side to voluntarily pull out if they wish to. A contract period of 12 months has been suggested, with a maximum of 36 months. The employer has to provide necessary “equipment and tools” which have not been specified, and it is anticipated that the unions and employers will have further discussions. One suggestion, for office workers, is that this might have to include a laptop, a printer or scanner if necessary, along with office supplies. The person working from home does not have to provide anything that they need out of their own pockets. Working hours are flexible but an employer may set a time period when they have to be in contact with the employer or other workers, and the person working from home is required to keep time sheets. There is an agreement that a “digital disconnection” time has to be in force when work phone calls or internet contact from employers does not take place. An employer has to pay for “reasonable expenses” that will probably include part of the cost of electricity, gas, water and phone bills that currently applies to self-employed people who work from home and can deduct it from the income tax they pay. The worker has to have equal rights to any necessar y training, wage increases and promotion considerations.

Mojácar Nightclub Shooting On October 27th the court case started in Almería city of three men accused of serious crimes at a Mojácar nightclub dating back to August 2015. When they attempted to enter the Moma nightclub in the early hours of the morning they were refused entry because of disruptive behaviour towards some women outside. They returned an hour later and threatened the security guard with a shotgun. A shot was fired into the disco and after the gun was re-loaded by another of the men a second shot was fired. The third man was revving up a car outside the entrance and they all sped off. There are various criminal charges and the 'fiscalía' (crown prosecution service) is asking for prison terms totalling 31 years for each of the three men. There is also an order being sought that two people inside who were wounded receive compensation of 13,000 and 27,000 euros.

C & A Open in Almería City The current economic situation is affecting both small businesses and retail chains. Despite this, C & A went ahead with the opening of a store in Almería city at the Mediterráneo Commercial Centre on September 24th. This means that there is a branch of C & A in every province in Andalucía, with 80 throughout Spain, and 1,400 in Europe as it is a joint Belgian, German and Dutch chain. The opening featured Ana García Segundo, the 23 year old model who won the title Miss World Spain 2020 earlier this year and comes from Almería. Ana is also their main model for the autumn and winter fashion collections. The opening of the store has resulted in the direct employment of 13 people.

A Major Public Works Programme Juanma Moreno, the President of the Junta de Andalucía, has presented a major public works initiative entitled ‘Plan Andalucía en Marcha’ from now until the end of 2023 with budget of 3.4 billion euros. In presenting the plan he stated that this applied to every type of project to help revitalise the economy. Major projects in Almería province include a new external consultancy building annexed to the recently opened maternity and children’s hospital adjacent to the Torrecárdenas hospital. This has a budget cost of 14 million euros, and there will be a public-private collaboration to build a new hospital at Roquetas de Mar. New health centres will be built in Mojácar and Huércal-Overa along with four new schools. The work to complete the motorway from El Cucador to the A-7 motorway is also included in this plan to be started within the next 12 months. Work to modernise or build new

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sewage treatment plants is also included and there is 12.9 million euros set aside to build a new sewage plant in Mojácar that has been needed for some time. Another 11 million euros will allow for connections to the sewage systems of Bédar, Los Gallardos, Turre and Garrucha. The total capacity is for 55,000 inhabitants but at present there are only 37,000 inhabitants.

Banco Santander at Post Offices Banco Santander have announced that they have come to an agreement with Correos (The Spanish postal service) that in 2,500 post offices in towns and 2,200 rural ones, customers will be able to pay in or draw cash from their current accounts. This is to enable Banco Santander customers to access money in places where they have no branches. This will be possible via a Banco Santander credit or debit card with proof of identity. A further service is that the post office will deliver money to homes in Spain which is common in other countries, using the app from a mobile phone. This has been planned for some time but is being put into action as soon as possible in view of the merger of Bankia and CaixaBank. This will become the largest bank in Spain with many branches in rural areas. Banco Santander hopes that the post office service will stop clients leaving them and going to the new bank, which is currently the only bank in 300 municipalities. Another Film During October a team of 80 technicians came to Almería city to film parts of the episodes of the 1960s. on an industrial estate. Four Chinese people were arrested for manufacturing fake masks that did not comply with any of the standards and they s e i z e d 11, 0 0 0 m a s k s r e a d y f o r d i s p a t c h .

Pregnant Women and COVID-19 The new maternity and children’s hospital linked to the Torrecárdenas hospital in Almería city is dealing with any pregnant women from Almería province who are about to give birth and have tested positive for the virus. Children who have tested positive and need to be admitted to hospital are also being sent there. The director of the Torrecárdenas hospital, Manuel Vida, has stated that there are 22 individual rooms and two other areas set aside with extra staff, and the unit is completely isolated from the rest of the hospital. We explain in another news item that pregnant women and nursing mothers are ones that should

series “Jaguar” being filmed by Netflix. The heroine Mercadona Go Green is the Spanish actress Blanca Suárez and the film The Mercadona chain have announced that in stores concerns Spain in the 1960s with many Nazis having of over 6,000m2 they will plant gardens on the fled Germany and come to Spain and the hunt to roof and greenery on the walls, to combat CO2 find them. The company Bambú Productions stated emissions and encourage birds to settle. The gardens that they had chosen Almería city and the province will be maintained by paid workers who have some as being highly suitable for the series depicting the level of mental impairment. have the current flu vaccine. COVID-19 Tests At Home Fake COVID-19 Masks The Spanish company ‘MedicalNet’ based in Valencia Acting on advertisements on social media for bulk is marketing a test kit for the virus that can be done COVID-19 masks, police in Málaga raided a factory at home that is very similar to a diabetes test. For 32 Continued ....

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59 euros with free delivery, they send out an antibody kit that requires a drop of blood that is then mixed with a reactant. In 15 minutes, the result is available that indicates the present of antibodies, so if a person has had the virus previously or currently, the test gives a positive reading. If there is no antibody indication the person has not had, or got, the virus. If there is positive reading the test subject should quarantine unless they realise that they have experienced the symptoms two weeks ago. In mid-October there were an initial 2,000 kits available from medicalNET.es but their website crashed on the first day with the large numbers of applicants! Antibody tests are not 100% reliable as they can give a false reading, but the more reliable PCR test carried out by health professionals’ costs about 150 euros. Some private clinics offer antibody tests that require a visit, and these can cost from 3 0 - 8 0 e u r o s d e p e n d i n g o n t h e l o c a t i o n .

Mega Yacht In Cádiz The world’s largest mega yacht is now moored in Cádiz port, probably until Christmas. The ‘El Azzam’ is owned by the President of the UAE and was launched in 2013 at a cost of 500 million euros. It is 180m long on six levels with a helipad, anti-missile system, a 500m2 luxury lounge area, numerous self-contained suites each catering for up to 30 passengers and its eight motors give a top speed of 32 knots, 60k/hr. Essential maintenance is being carried out and the daily mooring fees come to 1,300 euros. This should not be a problem as Jalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the owner, has a fortune estimated at 15 billion euros. The cost of the maintenance and improvements is put at 500,000 euros.

A New Bank Fusion? The merging of Bankia and CaixaBank has created the largest bank in Spain once this takes place. It has emerged that Unicaja and Liberbank are having “exploratory” talks regarding a merger, but when the possible merger was announced no firm assessment by either bank had started. In midOctober both banks announced that were using firms of lawyers, experts from other banks and accountants to carry out a firm due diligence assessment. Liberbank have a large number of branches in northern Spain whereas Unicaja have most of their operations in southern Spain. Shares in both banks went up by about 14% when the announcement was made. The CNMV, the official Spanish government organization that looks at mergers and unfair competition, stated that they were aware of the talks. If this does go ahead the fusion will make the new entity the fifth largest bank in Spain.

An Award For ‘Seat’ The Spanish newspaper ‘ABC’ gives a vehicle award every year based on recommendations from 35 motoring journalists and readers’ experiences. The 2020 award has been given to the Seat Tarraco and a special ceremony was held in Madrid. The Seat Tarraco is Seat’s largest SUV with space for seven people.

A Bus Full of Drugs At the end of September, police in Almería city were alerted that a coach with a large trailer had caught fire on the A-7 motorway near Sorbas. The coach had a driver and five passengers and was almost completely destroyed along with the trailer. When the fire had died down enough for a recovery vehicle to take it away, an inspection revealed that there were large quantities of cannabis resin and cannabis heads in various parcels in the luggage compartment of the bus and in the trailer. When they were subsequently weighed there were 44kg of resin and 22kg of plant heads. The coach was on a journey from Málaga to Rumania and all the men from Rumania were arrested and remanded in custody.

Postponing Holidays A labour tribunal in Santander has agreed with a worker from the education department that holiday days that he had intended to take until he had to stay at home in the state of alarm could be postponed. The worker had booked a holiday from April 13th-17thbut the state of alarm prevented h i m f ro m l e av i n g h o m e , s o h e n ot i fi e d h i s

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department that he was postponing his holiday but this was denied. The tribunal ruled that compulsorily staying at home in a state of alarm was not a holiday and the man could not go out, undertake leisure activities or visit family and friends. They pointed out that under existing regulations a person who became ill during a booked holiday period could have these days postponed.

Historic Shakespeare Play Discovered “The two noble kinsmen” is one of the last plays written by William Shakespeare in collaboration with John Fletcher. It is based on “The Knight’s Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer and was first published in 1634. The largest collection of early English books and manuscripts in Spain is at the Univer sity of Salamanca and a copy of the play was recently discovered by chance. John Stone, who is a professor at the University of Barcelona, was looking for early manuscripts relating to Adam Smith when he found the play. A comprehensive library was inaugurated in Madrid in 1627 that was transferred to Valladolid and then Salamanca in 1985. This copy of the play printed in 1634 is the earliest work from Shakespeare found in Spain, and the previous oldest English theatrical play discovered in the same library dated back to 1720.

Almería Jazz Festival The 28th International Jazz Festival in Almería city has been renamed “Almeríjazz” and takes place until November 8th. We have more details in our “What’s On” section.

‘Subway’ Bread Isn’t Bread The Irish High Court has dismissed a claim by the company that own all the Subway branches in Ireland. They have ruled that some of their rolls and baguettes look like bread, are the colour of bread and smell like bread but they have a 10% weight of sugar. The legal allowance for additives in basic food bread from 1972 is that the total content including sugar cannot be more than 2%. The 10% level means that their bread is “a treated bread product” that applies to non-basic food items and is in the category between bread and cake-type products. Subway went to court to claim that they had to charge 9% VAT on this type of bread, but bread was zero rated in Ireland. They asked for a rebate on the VAT charged since 2004 that was denied. Subway have 45,000 branches in 100 countries.

Finishing the Sagrada Familia Cathedral Work to finish the Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona is set to be completed in 2026, the centenary of the death of the architect Antoni Gaudí. Money for the work comes from entrance fees from tourists but because of the pandemic income has dropped dramatically. For this reason, the date of 2026 may not be met. Updating 2019 figures when 4.5 million people paid for admission the anticipated income this year was 103 million euros, with 55 million for the construction work. The revised income in 2020 is estimated to be a mere 17 million euros. Work on the 138 metre Virgin Mary tower will be able to be completed in 2021 as the stone and steel has already been purchased, along with the materials for a huge 12-point glass and steel star at the top. At present the cathedral is only open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays as the low ticket sales only pay for the security and visitor health personnel costs for one day, with the remaining money coming from cathedral funds. Esteve Camps who leads the construction project is asking for public donations to try to keep some of the work on track.