News
The people’s paper Issue No. 1886
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
On tap WATER consumption soared to a daily 27 million litres in Denia in August, compared with 11 million litres during the winter months, and similar to amounts used prior to the pandemic, revealed water company Aqualia.
COSTA BLANCA NORTH • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
COMBATTING HUMAN HUNGER
Stay away SPECTATORS were banned from the Balcon de Alicante climb on the seventh stage of the Vuelta a España cycle race, not because of social distancing but to reduce the fire risk in the tinder area.
Private land JAVEA Town Hall put up signs along rural roads and paths in the Pla area, asking the public not to help themselves to fruit and vegetables or walk across the plots of unfenced agricultural land.
Photo credit: Spread Some Sunshine
HELEN DAVIS: Fundraising for several years for those in need.
Hot stuff ALICANTE Province has experienced 71 ‘tropical nights’ between June 1 August 18, when the minimum temperature did fall below 22 degrees, twice as many as those registered in 2020, according to Alicante University’s Climatology Laboratory.
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FREE • GRATIS
Imserso impasse solved IT looks as though pensioners will, after all, enjoy state‐sub‐ sidised holidays on the Costa Blanca this winter. Spain’s Institute for Senior Citizens and Social Services (Imser‐ so) has now agreed that hoteliers should receive a daily rate of €25 per person instead of the original €21. The future concessionary companies that will carry out the programme on behalf of Imserso have been asked to take the increase into account. Despite falling short of the hoped‐for €27, they will accept this so long as the concessionaries do not impose other conditions, announced Nuria Montes, secretary general of hoteliers’ associ‐ ation, Hosbec. “But we shall still be operating at a loss,” Montes warned. When the Imserso specifications were announced, Hosbec complained to the Contract Appeals Tribunal, bringing the pro‐ gramme to a temporary halt until the conditions were declared within the law. The association had also presented a costing study prepared by the Alicante University which found that to break even, ho‐ tels should receive between €27 and €33 per person per day. “Without a doubt, it’s going to be cheaper for Imserso tourists to spend the winter in a hotel instead of at home for what they will save on electricity bills alone,” Montes said.
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DURING the first fortnight of August, the Denia beach cleaning service has collected a record amount of rubbish, 15,300 kilos. Litterlouts dumped bags, bottles, and even mattresses and furniture on the beach. Denia Council is calling on residents and visitors to be more civil.
Record rubbish From August 1 to 15, 2020, 12,930 kilos of non-natural garbage were collected on the beaches of Denia. On the same dates in August 2019, a summer without a pandemic, 13,969 kilos were collected.
Gandia beach drones THE mayor of Gandia, Jose Manuel Prieto, and the Minister of Justice, Interior and Public Administration, Gabriela Bravo, have launched a pilot programme ‘Stop drownings’. The initiative promotes the use of drones, which work together with the Red Cross rescue services to carry out surveillance support tasks in the bathing area and launch floats to bathers in risky situations if necessary. Councillor Gabriela said the pilot project is an “an effective instrument” to prevent deaths and it improves the rescue system. “We have incorporated new technologies with these unmanned aircraft into the ‘Safe Beaches’
TORMOS RC AERO MODELLING CLUB members love anything connected with building and flying model aircraft. “Essentially anything that flies - aircraft, helicopters, gliders, drones - literally anything that can take to the sky,” Pete Carrigan told the Euro Weekly News. “We are located in a wonderful quiet environment and our flying field, the size of a football pitch, is located amongst orange groves in Tormos, about 10 minutes inland from Ondara’s shopping centre.” Conscious that model aircraft have in the past been consid-
plan,” she said. The councillor also said that these drones are used to monitor the state of the beach and provide a lot of data. “The Generalitat wants to lead this project and given the level of satisfaction we have, we want to extend it to other beaches because each life that we save justifies the investment made. “We have to continue working to educate citizens that they must act with sanity and prudence to avoid dangerous situations, raising awareness of reckless behaviour that can lead to fatal outcomes,” she added.
Tormos club flies high ered noisy, the club is all-electric, making them virtually silent and environmentally-friendly, with no petrol fumes or noise pollution. “Thankfully, due to advances in battery technology we can still have flights of the same duration, but in a manner that allows us to be good neighbours,” Pete added. Everyone is welcome and whether they have a back-
ground of modelling or are new to the hobby, they will be welcomed and helped by existing members. “It’s a very social club with members who come from all walks of life, a very mixed bag that makes for lively conversation over refreshments at the local bar when flying ceases for the day.” “Anyone interested in joining our merry band please visit our https://www.facebook.com/To rmos-RC-Aero-Modelling-Club111352150350486 Facebook page, where they will also see a spectacular aerial video of our flying field,” Pete said.
NEWS
Get moving JAVEA Council has announced it has launched a new programme to encourage more physical activity among adults. The municipal sports department launched the new programme ‘On the move,’ which will involve a series of training events of different sports activities allowing locals to improve their physical form and health. The council’s aim is to promote sports among adults and they will be offering general sports training, zumba, therapeutic swimming, adult swimming and aerobics. Also included is the Supera’t option, intended for people with functional diversity and which in addition to having a school-age group is also available for adults. Councillor for Sports, Alberto Tur, emphasised the importance of physical activity to be in good health and prevent illness. The activities will have a quarterly fee of €62.82, and registration can be made through the Sporttia app or www.sporttia.com until September 10.
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NIBS EXTRA Park pretty
Cross now DENIA Town Hall began adding pictograms to pedestrian crossings to assist persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The initiative is being carried out with input from the APROSECO association, who advised on the icons for ‘stop, look, cars and cross’ accompanied by brief texts in Spanish and Valenciano.
Bad road THE mayor of the inland mountain town of Bolulla, Adrian Martinez, again asked the Generalitat to resurface the CV-715 road connecting the municipality to neighbouring Tarbena. The asphalt is in bad condition, Martinez insisted, and was responsible for yet another traffic accident on the August 15 national holiday.
Street wise CALLE PIC TORT in Javea, where a villa costs around €3 million, is the Valencian Community’s most expensive road, revealed the online property website Idealista. Spain’s most expensive road, according to Idealista, is Calle Sant Carles located in Calvia (Mallorca) where a property costs an average €7.043 million.
USAR-13 aid ALFAZ has renewed its collaboration agreement with USAR-13 and will again donate €3,000 to the independent humanitarian association. Well known for the dogs that assist USAR13 volunteers in rescue operations following accidents and natural disasters, the association also takes part in social projects to help the most vulnerable.
Going ahead THE majority of Gandia’s district fiestas commissions voted to hold the Fallas fire fiestas in September. Twice suspended owing to the pandemic, the pared-down fiestas will centre on the ‘planta’ or setting up the Falla monuments, prize-giving, offering of flowers, the procession and ceremonial burning of the bonfires.
ANDREW MAKEPEACE LADD III and Melissa Gardner, both born to wealth and position, are child‐ hood friends. Their lifelong correspondence begins with birthday party thank‐you notes and summer camp postcards. Romantically attached, they continue to ex‐ change letters through their boarding school and college years.
Stubbed out Photo credit: Villajoyosa town hall
LA NUCIA launched ParkTime, an app for smartphones and tablets that provides information in real time regarding the parking spaces that are available for specific users, including those with reduced mobility. The same app also lets users know where and when spaces are free at electric charging stations.
S M O K E-F R E E beach flags now fly on 13 Villajoyosa beaches. Isaura Navarro, regional secretary for Public Health, presented the flags which have been hoisted at the Carritxal, Xarco, la Caleta, l’Esparrallo, Bol Nou, Paradis, Puntes del Moro, Centro, Varadero, Estudiants, Tio Roig, Torres and Raco Conill beaches. La Cala de Finestrat, Gandia, Denia and Elche have also banned cigarettes from their beaches in a campaign that
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
IT’S OFFICIAL: No smoking on Villajoyosa beaches.
Power of the pen The correspondence covers a period of nearly 50 years, during which they discuss their hopes, ambitions, dreams and disap‐ pointments, victories and even defeats. Love Letters is an inti‐ mate drama with amusing inter‐ ludes which gains steadily in power, as life keeps ripping
Waste not WATER drained from the swim‐ ming pool at Benidorm’s L’Illa sports complex will be used to hose down streets. “We do this each year when the pool is emptied for mainte‐ nance so that the water isn’t wasted,” explained Jose Ramon Gonzalez de Zarate, councillor responsible for Water and Street Cleaning. “Between them, the pool’s two sections contain more than 400,000 litres of water, which is enough to clean the streets for around a week,” he added. “The town hall should be the first to set a good exam‐ ple by reusing water, as this will have more effect on pub‐
lic awareness.” De Zarate also pointed out that the FCC services conces‐ sionary habitually used recycled water to clean the town’s streets. “All neighbourhoods have hy‐ drants giving access to the recy‐ cled water that is used each day.” The councillor also an‐ nounced that by mid‐Septem‐ ber and in October, his depart‐ ment would once again ask residents’ communities to noti‐ fy the town hall when they in‐ tended to empty swimming pools, so that the water could be collected and used for street‐ cleaning.
away at the seams of its charac‐ ters’ well‐tailored existences. It etches a deep portrait of life’s painful vicissitudes. Written by A R Gurney, and directed by Cherry Cabban, Love Letters celebrates the power of the written word. Performances on September
La Vila first joined last year in a double bid to promote healthy habits and protect the environment from cigarette filter-tips that can take up to 10 years to biodegrade. Attending the flag presentation that was also attended by councillors and Teresa Revilla, the Marina Baja’s Public Health director, Villajoyosa’s mayor Andreu Verdu stressed the town hall’s “total commitment” to measures that benefit health and the environment.
22‐24 and September 29‐Octo‐ ber 1 at the Studio Theatre, with 50 per cent audiences to allow adequate social distancing. For tickets (€11) see the www.javeaplayers.com web‐ site. La Cocina offers a pre‐theatre dinner at 6pm with a tapas menu and a large glass of wine for €17. Bookings are essential on 965 795 140.
Lazy litterbugs BENITACHELL’S Environment department lamented the ‘an‐ tic‐social behaviour”‘ of some visitors to the town’s coves and beaches. Photos on the town hall’s social media showed the ravine leading down to Cala dels Testos littered with cool boxes, deckchairs, sleeping bags, shoes, clothing, leftover food and plastic bottles amongst other things. According to the local Span‐ ish media, it was also possible to make out the remains of a bonfire, which is particularly reckless at this time of the year. The Environment depart‐ ment reminded residents and visitors that municipal by‐laws
ban camping or sleeping on Benitachell’s coves and beach‐ es, with fines awaiting in‐ fringers. Town hall notices warn that accessing Cala dels Testos is complicated and difficult as it involves descending three ver‐ tical rockfaces measuring up to seven metres with the help of ropes. Whoever spent the night there, clearly had no intention of taking their rubbish with them on the perilous ascent, municipal sources said. “Here at the town hall, we are asking users to avoid leav‐ ing rubbish on our beaches,” the Environment department said. “Let’s protect our privi‐ leged surroundings.”
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Quarry visit for Alfaz’s mayor ALFAZ’S mayor Vicente Arques recently visited the Sierra Helada’s for‐ mer quarry which was be‐ ing cleared in a fire‐pre‐ vention operation. “This helps to conserve and protect the natural spaces that are such an important part of our her‐ itage,” the mayor said. “And the best way to protect them is by pre‐ venting forest fires by clearing and maintaining our green zones,” added Arques, who was accom‐ panied by Technical Ser‐ vices councillor Oscar Perez. The disused quarry was converted into a leisure area in 2016 with a play corner for children, picnic tables and a lookout point with spectacular views. There is also a via ferrata, a protected route equipped with steel ca‐ bles and other fixed an‐ chors to help climbers scale the 30‐metre cliff that soars above the quarry. The site has been planted with native plants and trees that are more fire‐resistant than pines and which also assist the quarry’s ecosystem and prevent soil erosion. The quarry was named a Blue Flag centre in 2020, bringing Alfaz’s total up to five, a national record, together with Albir’s beach which has re‐ ceived a Blue Flag ever since the awards were in‐ troduced 35 years ago, Arques pointed out.
A photo to remember Lucky escape A VALENCIA couple who had booked paella at a Denia restaurant decided to enjoy the view beforehand. With time to spare before their lunch they drove up to Les Rotes and left their van, intending to take some photos with a spectacular backdrop, but to their horror saw it begin to move downhill. Realising he had left the handbrake off, the man jumped into the vehicle but failed to stop it from rolling over the side of the road while he
was still inside. It overturned and landed amongst some pines and although techni‐ cally speaking he was not trapped, the van was unstable and could have plunged downhill. Firefighters managed to free him and after strapping him into a stretcher, hauled him up to the road, using a fire en‐ gine ladder as an improvised track. He was later transferred to hospital where a check‐up revealed that he had suf‐ fered only minor injuries.
A TWO‐YEAR‐OLD survived an accidental fall from a second‐floor holiday apartment in Calle Nicaragua in Benidorm. Although his parents were present at the time, they were unaware that the toddler had climbed onto a chair and fallen after leaning over the balcony railing. His fall was broken, first by an open sunblind and then by a passerby who opened his arms to catch him. Although he did not succeed in grasping the child, who slid to the ground, he helped to deflect the fall and saved him from serious injury. After attention from paramedics, he was transferred to Villa‐ joyosa hospital to rule out internal injuries that had not come to light during the initial examination.
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NEWS
Denia Barbarians Rugby Host Visit Karunawa Charity 7s This Saturday from Front page »
A RUGBY festival awaits players and spectators alike at the Barbar‐ ians Rugby ground, Denia on Satur‐ day August 28. In aid of the Nacho Barbera Foun‐ dation, the ‘Torneo Pollo’ will run from 4pm to 10pm and consist of three categories of 7’s rugby. The event is supported both by the Denia Town Hall as well as the Valencia Rugby Federation. There is a men’s section featuring teams from Murcia, Albacete, La Vi‐ la and Gandia, as well astheir own Barbarians. The Ladies are repre‐ sented by teams from Valencia, Ali‐ cante, Albacete and Murcia, whilst the S14’s group will include the Bar‐ barians together with teams from
RUGBY FESTIVAL: Supporting a well-established charity foundation. Inter/Gandia, Alicante and Murcia. In true Barbarians’ tradition, the Senior team have invited several players from Valencia whilst the S14s have invited several players from the Javea Aguilas rugby club to join in what is hoped to be a superb
festival of rugby and one that sup‐ ports a well‐established charity foundation. Refreshments and food will be available, so bring along all the fami‐ ly. All spectators are welcome.
EURO WEEKLY NEWS’ readers looking for a bargain should try the Karunawa charity shop in Javea Park. The shop, just a few doors away from Digby’s Bar, is a joint venture be‐ tween Spread Some Sunshine and Pro‐ ject4All. “Our prices will be low and our mes‐ sage clear,” said Spread Some Sun‐ shine’s Helen Davis. “Let’s help combat human hunger.” The pandemic has worsened the on‐ going problem of providing food for those desperately in need, Helen said. This applies equally to the homeless who are currently living on the streets on the Costa Blanca and to the children and impoverished families on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka that Spread Some Sunshine has helped
since 2018. The other half of Karunawa is Project4All, a self‐funded non‐gov‐ ernment organisation that delivers hot meals to the homeless and those in need on the Costa Blanca. “It’s simple. The money we raise buys food for those with no income or ability to feed their families on a regu‐ lar basis,” Helen told the Euro Weekly News. “But we need your help, so please visit our friendly shop, spend just a few euros, bring along donated items or maybe spare a few hours a week to help us get organised,” she said. “We have lots of bargains in ladies and children’s clothes, shoes, toys, chil‐ dren’s books, bric‐a‐brac and much more. We have lots of children’s sum‐ mer clothes, many from just €1.” Karunawa is open from 10.30am to 1.30pm, from Monday to Saturday.
Arrested for illegal rituals THE Guardia Civil have arrested a 42 and 38‐year‐old couple in Callosa del Segura for allegedly performing rituals with illegal psychotropic substances such as ayahuasca or bufo toad scales. The effects of inhaling the amphibian venom became more publicly known as a result of the controversy which hit the news involving the porn ac‐ tor Nacho Vidal last year, who was accused of a reckless mur‐ der while performing this shamanic ritual, together with the photographer, Jose Luis Abad, who collapsed after 20 seconds and subsequently died. The couple had formally reg‐ istered an association in June 2019, but came under suspicion for including among the sub‐ stances offered, some that are prohibited by the United Na‐ tions Convention on Psy‐ chotropic Substances of 1971, while it became clear that nei‐ ther party had a professional qualification that would give them the validity to offer these drugs to anybody.
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Back to nature Hiking routes have been spruced up.
PayPal work cryptocurrency PAYPAL is to allow users in the UK to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency through the payment platform for the first time in the companies history. The firm said its new service would allow customers to choose from four types of digital cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash and will be available both via the PayPal app and website. A new crypto tab will be added to the PayPal platform, showing real-time currency prices as well as offering educational content to help answer common questions and learn more about cryptocurrencies, including the potential risks, PayPal said.
SPAIN’S incidence rate over the last 14 days has registered a new decrease according to reports issued on Monday, August, 23, with figures standing at 317.36 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The communities which registered the highest number of new infections after the weekend are Andalucia, which totals 4,930; Catalonia, which adds 3,498 infec‐ tions; Madrid (2,661); and the Valencian
OVER the last few months hiking routes and facilities found in the mountains, coves and hills across Alicante have been spruced up. This has made the routes better for hikers and provide some stunning views across the city. This work has been carried out since the first contract for maintenance of the areas was awarded to Eulen which was put in place late last year and covers the maintenance of urban and peri‐urban forest areas. So far the work has seen improvements to hiking paths including picnic areas, improved signage and wooden fences. The councillor for the Environment, Manuel Villar, explained that: “the work carried out over the last few months by this new forestry brigade has allowed us to enjoy the trails that run through privileged enclaves of the capital safely and in the best conditions, from which we can contemplate privileged views of the city and its bay, as well as recovering wooded areas in the neighbourhoods that needed to be cleared, cleaned up and enhanced with the incorporation of furniture such as picnic ta‐ bles.” Villar has encouraged all: “Alicante residents and visitors to enjoy the forest areas, their paths, and the flora and fauna present in these environments, always with responsibility, es‐ pecially during the summer when we have to be especially cautious due to the high temper‐ atures.”
Spain’s rate falls 27% Community (2,340). On Friday August 20, the rate stood at 345.18, which is a fall of almost 28 points over the weekend and of almost 100 from the pre‐ vious Monday. The contagion rate is based on all communities, but excludes Extremadura and Melilla, areas where it has risen slightly.
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Spanish exports rise over the last year SPANISH exports rose 23.3 per cent January‐ June 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. Exports for the first half of 2021 stood at €152.9 billion. Imports also increased by 20.3 per cent to €158.3 billion. Spain’s trade deficit for the first six months of the year was €5.3 billion, 28.7 per cent
lower than that registered in the same peri‐ od in 2020. “In June the recovery of Spanish foreign trade was consolidated. Imports and exports increased notably compared to 2020 and also grew more moderately compared to 2019,” said Secretary of State for Commerce, Xiana Mendez, on August 19.
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NO LIMIT: Some people believe you should stop driving.
NEWS
Driving age limit debate
Whatsapp phone scam
SPAIN is debating whether the driver age limit should be re‐ vised after a spate of fatal wrong direction accidents involving el‐ derly people have been report‐ ed. On Thursday, August 19, a hit‐ and‐run driver in Ponferrada, León, killed a 61‐year‐old woman and injured three other women. The driver was 85 years old and he was driving in the opposite di‐ rection. Several people believe that at a certain age you should stop driving, although others believe that you have to look at the men‐ tal and physical capacity of each person and not the age. Despite the opposing views, there is still
NATIONAL POLICE are warning of another telephone scam that is mainly being used through WhatsApp and has been taking place throughout the year. The scam is related to false advertisements on websites that of‐ fer sexual services from women in exchange for payment. The scammers upload fake advertisements to various contact pages showing women offering sexual services. They contact the victims via telephone or through messaging apps and inform them that because they did not meet the girls they have contact‐ ed, they have wasted time so therefore accrued a debt with them. They intimidate the victims by telephone with the aim of gen‐ erating sufficient fear for them to accept to pay the debt they nev‐ er contracted and request financial compensation. Once the victims make a first payment, there are always subse‐ quent requests for money. The receipt of the money by the scam‐ mers is done immediately upon entry through ATMs. In case of being contacted by telephone in this way, the Nation‐ al Police has urged not to make any payments and to contact the police via www.policia.es/colabora and their social media pages.
no age limit for driving in Spain. Medical Recognition Centres are those that assess whether or not a person is qualified to drive a vehicle, regardless of their age. This is measured through psycho‐ technical tests and these tests are the same for all ages and are nec‐ essary to renew the driver’s li‐ cence. A total of 15.5 per cent of those with a driving licence in Spain are over 65 years old, which is equivalent to 4.1 million people. In 2019, 491 elderly peo‐ ple died in a road accident, ac‐ cording to the General Direc‐ torate of Traffic (DGT) and this figure represents 28 per cent of the total victims.
THE EU will provide €41 million in funding to help low and middle‐income countries facing an unprecedented health, humani‐ tarian and socio‐economic crisis as the Covid‐19 pandemic continues to persist, combined with the imbalance in the deliv‐ ery of vaccines. To help countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia tackle the consequences of the pandemic, the EU has allocated €31 million for, among others, health assistance to vul‐
Millions in funding nerable populations, support for the man‐ agement of Covid‐19 cases, and for build‐ ing resilience in the local health systems in view of future surges. In addition, €10 million in funding is al‐ located to support the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in delivering vaccines to children under the
COVAX Humanitarian Buffer. Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic, said, “The EU has been leading the multilateral response against the coronavirus pandemic, in several ways. Team Europe is a leading contribu‐ tor to the COVAX, which works to ensure that no country is left behind.”
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Spanish humanitarian emergency operations BETWEEN January and July 2021, the Humanitarian Ac‐ tion Office of the Spanish Agency for International De‐ velopment Cooperation (AE‐ CID), which is responsible for the management and im‐ plementation of Spain’s offi‐ cial humanitarian action abroad, managed 11 emer‐ gency aid operations worth more than €6 million, most of which went to vulnerable populations in countries without sufficient resources to treat extremely ill pa‐ tients or the means to es‐ tablish basic disease preven‐ tion measures. These Covid‐19 respons‐ es took place in Lebanon, Bolivia, Brazil, India, Nepal, Guatemala, Paraguay and
Tunisia. Among the crises caused by non‐natural events, the one resulting from the ex‐ plosion of a military arsenal in the city of Bata, Equatori‐ al Guinea, led to the largest operation for AECID in 2021. In March, at Equatorial Guinea’s request, the Agen‐ cy deployed 14 members of the Spanish Technical Aid Response Team, the Spanish Emergency Medical Team, to Bata. The team supported local health workers in car‐ ing for the injured and con‐ tributed to the rehabilita‐ tion of the affected health facilities. The bulk of these opera‐ tions, carried out between January and July 2021,
Four tolls to become free ON August 31, the concessions of some of the most used high‐ ways come to an end and, as of September 1, the barriers will be lifted on three out of four existing tolls. Motorways that cross the re‐ gion from end to end, such as the AP‐2 between El Vendrell and Zaragoza and the AP‐7 be‐ tween La Jonquera and Tarrag‐ ona, will become free, continu‐ ing a process of freeing tolls
that in the section from Tarrag‐ ona to Castellón has already been in force since January 1, 2020 ‐ both roads are state‐ owned. There are also two roads be‐ longing to the Generalitat which will cease to be toll roads: the C‐32 in the Maresme region (Montgat ‐ Palafolls) and the C‐33 between the Catalan capital and the Vallès region (Barcelona ‐ Granollers).
amounted to more than €6 million and were carried out either through direct bilater‐ al relations ‐ country to country; through the activa‐ tion of emergency agree‐ ments with Spanish NGDOs ‐ or by contributing to inter‐ national humanitarian aid organisations that assess and estimate the costs of the emergency and make in‐ ternational appeals for aid adapted to alleviate the ef‐ fects of a given crisis on the population.
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Ronaldo’s hair triumph CRISTIANO RONALDO’S hair‐graft business has triumphed in Spain with a staggering €1.8‐million profit, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Insparya, based in Madrid, has made a profit in its second financial year. Ronaldo has a 50 per cent share in the company and it is going from strength to strength. Accounts which were re‐ cently filed with the registry show that the Por‐
tuguese footballer’s company made nearly €2 million in profit during 2020, seeing its revenue double to million euros. This is said to be an in‐ crease of around 130 per cent. The Insparya brand is going from strength to strength and recently announced that a second hair graft clinic will be opened in Malaga’s Mar‐ bella.
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THE community of Madrid has called on blood donors as the summer period has yet again hit reserves hard, having fallen to 18 per cent below what is need‐ ed, which means that the situa‐ tion in hospitals could become complicated. The Spanish region only has 4,100 bags of blood at the moment, when they really need to have at least 5,000 bags available to those who need it.
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Blood donor appeal A Place in the Sun returns They are looking for around 900 donations to enable them to maintain healthcare activity. The Regional Minister of Health, En‐ rique Ruiz Escudero set out to en‐ courage the public to donate blood and on Monday, August 23, he headed to the Transfusion
Centre and gave blood himself. It is important to maintain blood reserves and every dona‐ tion can benefit up to three pa‐ tients. According to the Regional Ministry of Health blood dona‐ tion is perfectly safe and not a cause for concern with the virus.
ALL-NEW A Place in the Sun re‐ turns on September 10 with the opening episode taking place in Marbella. Jean Johansson heads to the stunning town of Marbella in Malaga with house hunters Clement and Tracey‐Anne. The playground of the rich and fa‐ mous, it’s the glitziest town on the Costa Del Sol. Can she find them their dream holiday home? Clement and Tracey‐Anne are a married couple from Croy‐ don, in South London. The pair have a family of three children and often visit Clement’s broth‐ er in Jerez, Andalucia, where he owns a property. With his brother having lived out there for almost 15 years, Clement has been inspired to purchase his own place. Clement and Tracey‐Anne dream of a luxury Spanish bolt‐
Jean Johansson is heading to Marbella.
hole within a short walk to the beach and shops. However, they know that houses become more expensive the closer they get to the beach. They have a budget of £250,000. Jean said, “I am delighted to be part of the Black to Front pro‐ ject, championing Black talent on and off screen. This is an impor‐ tant day in broadcasting and I’m
extremely excited to be hosting this very special episode of A Place in the Sun.” For the rest of the team, Jas‐ mine, Jean, Danni, Laura, Lee, Scarlette and Ben they’ll be heading to the Canary Islands, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus determined to help their house hunters find their dream properties.
Squatter cheek! POLICE officers were called to a property in the city of Zaragoza on Thursday, August 19, by a squatter who was occupying a home, where she informed them that she was actually living there illegally, and that the owner had just put a padlock on the entrance and she wanted them to remove it. The woman asked the officers to cut the chain so that she could gain access to her ‘home’, explaining that the owner had earlier snatched the house keys from her in a violent manner, which meant that all her belongings were locked inside and she had no way to ac‐
cess them, including her insulin, as she was a di‐ abetic. With the help of firefighters, the police finally managed to access the building through the bal‐ cony, where, once inside, it was found that the owner had put a chain with a padlock to prevent entry to the squat, so the police proceeded to cut it off, and allowed the squatter back inside. It is possible that the police could now open proceedings against the owner for coercion be‐ cause the law states that squatters become the legal residents of a property, and they cannot be evicted without a court order.
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Village hits back at townie tourists A SPANISH village has hit back at urban tourists who have little to no clue about rural life. After a small number of tourists rang Ribadesella’s town hall to complain about the noise of roosters, donkeys, and to let the au‐
thorities know that wan‐ dering cows had left a mess behind them, the town hall decided to put up posters around the village warning tourists that country life is noisy and if they cannot handle it, they should leave and holiday somewhere else. The poster said, “Here we have church bells that ring out regularly, roost‐ ers that crow early in the morning and herds of livestock that live nearby and at times carry cow‐ bells that also make noise. If you can’t handle all this, you may not be in the right place,” it added. If, however, tourists can appreciate and un‐ derstand rural life the poster added, “If on the other hand you’re one of the privileged ones who can bear all this, you’ll en‐ joy the wonderful sur‐ roundings and the excel‐ lent products made by our fantastic farmers, ranchers or artisans. En‐ joy Ribadesella!”
NEWS
Understanding new electricity bills A CAMPAIGN to help people understand electricity bills has been launched in Malaga by the council, as both Spaniards and expats alike are feeling the pinch with the new elec‐ tricity pricing system which began at the start of June. The initiative has been designed to set out to help everybody understand the new sys‐ tem and save money by developing a cam‐ paign to help understand the new electricity bill. The aim of the initiative is to clearly ex‐
ELECTRICITY: New pricing system.
Spain misses its vaccination target SPAIN has missed its August 18 vacci‐ nation target as promised by President Pedro Sanchez. On May 10, President Pedro Sanchez vowed that Spain would reach herd immunity with a target of 70 per cent of the population vaccinated against Covid‐19. However, 100 days later, just 63 per cent are vaccinated, a shortfall of at least three million peo‐ ple. According to data from the Ministry of Health, 29,968,303 Spaniards have already received their first Covid vacci‐
nation, that is 62.79 per cent of the population. Spain’s incident rate stands at 398.94 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, some autonomous re‐ gions are still waiting for vaccines to be delivered. The Delta variant currently accounts for 85 per cent of Covid‐19 cases in Spain. Deaths in Spain over the last 14 days are however three times the Eu‐ ropean Union average, according to the European Centre for Disease Pre‐ vention and Control.
plain to people how the changes, which took place to the electricity billing system on June 1, affect them. According to the town hall: “An information leaflet has been designed and distributed in the 11 districts of the city through the District Councils and the municipal offices for citizen attention (OMAC), as well as the Consumer Office. “A website https://nuevafacturaluz.com has also been created.”
EU authorises GMO crops THE EU Commission has authorised seven genetically modified crops ‐ three maize, two soybeans, one oilseed rape and one cotton ‐ and renewed the au‐ thorisations for two maize and one oilseed rape crops used for food and animal feed. All of these GMOs have gone through a compre‐ hensive and stringent authorisation procedure, in‐ cluding a favourable scientific assessment by the Eu‐ ropean Food Safety Authority, the Commission said on August 17. The authorisation decisions do not cover cultiva‐ tion. Member States did not reach a qualified majori‐ ty either in favour or against at the Standing Commit‐ tee and at the subsequent Appeal Committee. The authorisations are valid for 10 years, and any product produced from these GMOs will be subject to the EU’s strict labelling and traceability rules.
NEWS
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Cruelty beyond belief A DOG in Jaen has died after being tied up by his owner on a house terrace and left screaming for help in a 43‐degree heatwave, without any water or food. According to a report by Jaen City Council, residents in the Puente Tablas area, in the capital, alerted police at around 4.00pm on August 15, that the dog had hardly any shade, and was left without food and water. There was no sign of the owner, al‐ though residents could hear the poor an‐ imal’s screams due to the high tempera‐ tures that afternoon. When the officers arrived at the scene, they verified, from outside the plot, that the animal was tied to a tree, without any shadow to protect it from the sun and without food or drink to help it cool off. After ringing the bell several times with no response, they found an open door and discovered the poor animal in the garden of the property. Shocked at the state of the dog, they immediately contacted the veterinary services of the municipal authorities, who took over. The veterinary doctor re‐ ported that nothing could be done to save the dog’s life and sadly, was eu‐ thanised so as not to suffer any more pain from the severe sunburn.
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Praise for Pedro THE President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has praised Spain’s effort to rescue European and Afghan citizens from Kabul. Speaking at a joint press conference with President Pedro Sanchez at the welcome hub for evacuated Afghan EU Delegation staff and their families at Torrejon Air Base, she said, “I first of all also want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, dear Pedro, for inviting us to the reception hub here. And I want to thank you for having taken the initiative and I also want to thank the High Representative, Josep Borrell. “The two of you having taken the initiative, with the respective Minister for Foreign Affairs and Development, to coordinate the reception of incoming Afghans here, who have worked for the European Union, and to coordinate their arrival here with their families.
PRAISE: For Spain’s rescue efforts. “And indeed, as you said Pedro, you can feel it today: In the times of need, Spain has shown humanity and Spain has proven a great sense of solidarity. So, Spain is here an example for the European soul at its best and I really want to thank you,” she added on August 21.
Morocco to rebuild with Spain THE King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, called on Friday, August 20, for the need to “inaugurate an un‐ precedented stage” in relations with Spain, in his speech delivered on the occasion of the 68th an‐ niversary of the King and People’s Revolution. Admitting that relations with Spain “have recently gone through an unprecedented crisis, that has
KING: To rebuild relations. strongly shaken mutual trust, and raised numerous questions about
their fate,” Mohamed VI affirmed that, “we have worked with the Spanish side in a climate of total calm, transparency, and responsi‐ bility. In addition to the traditional constant points, which constitute the plinth of relations, today we ensure that they are consolidated, by jointly understanding the inter‐ ests of the two neighbouring coun‐ tries.”
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Princess Leonor in Wales IN just over one week’s time, Spain’s Princess Leonor will ar‐ rive in Wales, where for the next few years she will study at the exclusive UWC Atlantic College, a boarding school that is one of the most prestigious institutions in Europe. It means she will be separated from her family for the first time, which means a big change for all concerned for a family that is so closely knit, with her mother Queen Letizia, her father Felipe VI, the King of Spain, and sister, Infanta Sofia, all resigned to Leonor de Borbon making her way alone. The Princess of Asturias is due to start her studies in Septem‐ ber, and she is looking forward to meeting, and making, new friends from around 100 coun‐ tries at the facility, where, on October 31, she will turn 16, and with the strict rules enforced by this prestigious school, it is very unlikely that she will be allowed any special guests, and will have to celebrate with her new‐found friends in Wales.
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Brit family’s death
Tragedy is a mystery.
IT remains a mystery as post‐mortems fail to find out why British Google engineer Jonathan Gerrish, his wife Ellen Chung and their one‐year‐old daugh‐
ter Muji were tragically discovered in an out of the way area of the Sierra National Forest on Tuesday evening, August 17. Police initially suspected that carbon monoxide could be to blame for the deaths due to disused goldmines in the local area, but according OFFICERS from the National Police have seized a staggering 25,000 anti‐ to the Mariposa County gen tests and a health alert has been opened by the Medicines Agency. Coroner toxicology reports Officers from the National Police working with the Provincial Inspec‐ could take three weeks. torate of Health Services of the Andalucian Regional Government in According to California po‐ Malaga were able to crack down on a criminal organisation which were lice officers the deaths are distributing antigen tests. The antigen tests breached the basic health considered as a “very unusu‐ regulations regarding storage, sale and distribution. al, unique situation,” due to Officers seized 25,000 tests and they also believe that 10,000 tests the fact that “there were no have already been distributed. Four men were arrested, three of Pak‐ signs of trauma, no obvious istani nationality and one Moroccan. They had been running three com‐ cause of death… no suicide panies in Malaga under the umbrella of a fictitious company, and dis‐ note and post‐mortems have tributing products including antigen tests, amongst other products. The failed to show how the family tests are believed to be a risk to public health. tragically died.
Dodgy antigen tests seized
NEWS
Minister visits Afghan transit camp DEFENCE Minister Mar‐ garita Robles has visited the transit camp for Afghan aid personnel and their families located at the Torrejon Air Base. “The situation is very dra‐ matic, but we have a duty to those people who collab‐ orated with Spain and we will continue to do so. These people leave their country, they leave their lives, but this desire to seek freedom compensates them and we are trying to give them the most human, affectionate and emotional support possible,” she said. Speaking about Kabul, the Minister said, “The situ‐ ation to access the airport is dramatic, chaotic, there are truly emotional human cas‐ es, entire families crowding to enter, many surrounded by Taliban. We want them to know Spain is not going to leave the people who worked with us for 20 years.” “The whole of Spain, as the minister said, can feel very proud of the work they are doing. The best tribute we can make to those who died in this mission is to try to get those who collabo‐ rated with us and their fam‐ ilies out of the country,” added the head of Torrejon Air Base, Brigadier General Pablo Guillen Garcia.
Secondary schools delay SADLY, students have seen the last two academic years hit by the ongoing pandemic, but this year too could be hit after the Department of Education an‐ nounced that schools will stag‐ ger the dates on which pupils start. This is to allow pupils to be tested for the virus. New guide‐ lines mean if children test posi‐ tive for the virus their close con‐ tacts will need to be traced. If they test positive, they will need to self‐isolate. Parents are being warned by the Depart‐ ment of Education this school year will not be ‘business as usu‐ al’. Many secondary schools will not be able to start as normal.
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
October London Marathon THE London Marathon 2022 date has been announced for Sunday, October 2, and has been moved from its traditional date in April for the third year running. Event director Hugh Brasher has announced that the race has been moved to give the “best chances” of an event of full‐ca‐ pacity and crowds. “The London Marathon is an extraordinary and unique cele‐ bration of the family of hu‐
mankind coming together,” said Brasher. “We believe that by moving the 2022 event to October we give ourselves the best chances of welcoming the world to the streets of London,” he contin‐ ued. The 2021 race will take place on October 3 and is due to be the biggest marathon in the world to be staged. Up to 50,000 runners will compete on the traditional
Blood pressure drug recall THE Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps) which reports to Spain’s Ministry of Health, has ordered that a batch of Karvezide 300mg is recalled. The drug is a blood pressure medicine and it has been found to contain impurities that are said to be above the acceptable limits. The impurities have been found in the active ingre‐ dient which is called irbersartan. The Agency warns that batch FT015 of Karvezide 300mg/12.5mg, with an expiry date of 28 February 2023, is affected. The medicine comes in film‐coated tablet packs of 28 tablets.” Anyone worried about the medications that they are taking should head to see their doctor or their nearest pharmacist.
course and up to 50,000 partici‐ pants will complete the 26.2 miles on a course of their choos‐ ing, BBC Sport reports.
Ryanair launch new routes IN something sure to delight hol‐ idaymakers, Ryanair has an‐ nounced the launch of new win‐ ter routes which mean that its UK winter 21/22 schedule will see holidaymakers head off to more than 400 stunning destina‐ tions on over 2,000 flights each week. The new routes include Birm‐ ingham to Bucharest, Milan, Turin and Vilnius. Ryanair will also be adding flights from Bristol to Barcelona and Madrid and Bournemouth to Budapest and Wroclaw. Something that is sure to delight many expats who want to see their relatives, is that the winter route from London’s Gatwick to Malaga has also been added.
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FEATURE
The risk of not having an independent Lawyer in the purchase or sale of a property in Spain WE occasionally receive en‐ quiries from clients who have suffered wrong advice and even abuse from some of the professionals who have been involved in the process of buying or selling their properties in Spain, in‐ cluding the agents, consul‐ tants, and banks, etc. For this reason and to ensure the legality of the transac‐ tion, we understand that it is essential to hire the ser‐ vices of an independent lawyer, so if there is any problem you would be able to claim for liability. Always remember to ask your lawyer to confirm their registration number on the territorial Law Society they belong to. You can check if a lawyer is properly registered by looking on the following website: http://www.aboga cia.es/servicios‐abogacia/ censo‐de‐letrados/ You should also know that to register with the Spanish Law Society, lawyers must
have professional liability in‐ surance. Many clients inform us that on some occasions they have been recommended a lawyer by the real estate agent or the seller or pro‐ moter. We believe that in these cases there can be a clear conflict of interest. It is essential that the lawyer chosen only looks after the client’s interest and rights. Here at White Baos Lawyers we advise against contract‐ ing a lawyer who has a pro‐ fessional relationship or rep‐ resents any of the other parties of the transaction. In addition, an indepen‐ dent lawyer can avoid un‐ necessary economic dam‐ ages. Without going into great detail today, we can re‐ late that recently we warned an expatriate client buyer of
an abuse that a bank wanted to commit against him, as he had been informed by this bank that as a necessary part of the mortgage loan applied for, the client had to sign a life insurance, which was unique and carried a pre‐ paid premium of €30,000, more than 10 times the nor‐ mal cost of a premium in the open market. Clearly, this was a real abuse. Apparently the bank was introduced to the client by the agent as the best possible bank in Spain to get a mortgage loan. An independent lawyer will tell you that you should compare between different banks’ offers, before agree‐ ing a mortgage loan, or opening an account, and even if the lawyer can rec‐ ommend some banks they will always advise you to
Carlos Baos (Lawyer) - White&Baos Tel: +34 966 426 185 info@white-baos.com White & Baos 2021 - All Rights Reserved.
compare between as many as possible, to be able to contract what is the most suitable for you, the same applies to insurance compa‐ nies, currency exchange companies, etc. An independent expert lawyer can provide you with information about the pro‐ cess of buying or selling in Spain, drawing up the con‐ tract that best suits your cir‐ cumstances and protect your rights, and will ensure that the property you want to buy is in the correct land reg‐ istry, urban, planning, cadas‐ tral, etc, status. And they will warn you about the possible risks of the purchase or sale, etc. Contact us (www.white‐ baos.com) and we will help you. The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to le‐ gal issues.
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NEWS
Advertising Feature
THE RIGHT CAR INSURANCE
CHECK IT OUT: Shop around for car insurance and find out what’s included. BACK ON THE ROAD As Spain eases restrictions due to Covid, many drivers are looking to get their car back on the road. But before turning the key we recommend you check your vehicle is good to go. Fluid levels may have dropped. Check your oil, windscreen wash and coolant. Before checking the brake fluid, drive your vehicle for a short period, braking several times to fill the system. Top up with more brake fluid if the level is below the minimum. If the battery is flat you may need to jump start your car. Once running keep it turning over for 20 minutes. Check tyre pressures and any abnormal wear and damage. Take your vehicle for a drive and listen to the engine sound for any grinding, grumbling, whining or knocking. BASIC INSURANCE Shop around for car insurance and find out what’s included. Does your insurance company have a national network of repairers that can collect your vehicle, undertake repairs and then return the car to you on completion? How does your No Claim discount work? If no claim is made against your policy, your re-
newal premium will be adjusted accordingly. If a claim is made, then your No Claims discount may be reduced. Línea Directa’s team of customer service experts can guide you through all your queries and provide clear answers. OPTIONAL EXTRAS Travel Assistance from Línea Directa provides extra protection when you need it most. On-the-spot emergency repairs will be carried out on the vehicle if it is immobilised. If you run out of fuel, then your vehicle will be towed to the nearest petrol station. In the event of loss or theft of the vehicle’s keys, then Línea Directa will do everything in its power to obtain duplicates and dispatch them as quickly as possible to you. WHY LÍNEA DIRECTA? Línea Directa has been providing comprehensive car, motorbike and home insurance to British expatriates and residents in Spain for over 20 years. Backed by a leading Spanish financial group Bankinter, with over three million customers nationwide. All services and documentation is in English. Call their English-speaking customer service staff on 952 147 834 and get a competitive quote today.
BEST PRICE. BETTER COVER.
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NEWS
Eating more plants EATING a plant‐centred di‐ et during young adulthood is associated with a lower risk of heart disease in mid‐ dle age, according to a long‐term study with about 30 years of follow‐up. A separate study with about 15 years of follow‐up found
that eating more plant‐ based foods that have been shown to lower choles‐ terol, called the ‘Portfolio Diet’, is associated with lower risk of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women. In two separate studies analysing different mea‐ sures of healthy plant food consumption, researchers found that both young adults and postmenopausal women had fewer heart at‐ tacks and were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease when they ate more healthy plant foods. The American Heart As‐ sociation Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations suggest an overall healthy dietary pattern that emphasises a variety of fruits and vegeta‐ bles, whole grains, low‐fat dairy products, skinless poultry and fish, nuts and legumes and non‐tropical vegetable oils. It also advis‐ es limited consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, red meat, sweets and sugary drinks.
IN the latest list published on Wednesday, August 18, by the prestigious New York‐based showbiz magazine Variety, the 53‐ year‐old James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, is currently the world’s high‐ est‐paid movie star, earning a whopping total of $100 million (£117.5m or €88.5m), while Julia Roberts, and Jennifer Lawrence tied in first place as the top female
SHELL: Was still live.
Civil War mortar shell A FA R M E R in the Toledo municipality of Navaher‐ mosa ‐ a small village with under 4,000 inhabitants, in the autonomous community of Castile‐La Mancha ‐ had a very lucky escape when his dog started dig‐ ging up what turned out to be a live mortar shell, left over from the Spanish Civil War. The man immediately contacted the Guardia Civil to inform them of his find, who deployed a team of experts from its Group of Specialists in Deactivation of Explosive Devices (Gedex) unit, to deal with the unusual, but potentially extremely dangerous situa‐ tion at the farm. Upon arrival, and on examining the mortar shell, it turned out to be an 81‐millimetre‐calibre mortar shell and in perfect working order, with its explosive charge still intact. The shell could have exploded at any moment had the farmer not stopped his dog from digging around it, miraculously without triggering the explosive de‐ vice.
Daniel Craig is highest paid earners, both with a juicy $25 mil‐ lion (£29.3m or €21.3m) each. Craig beat other A‐list stars like Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Den‐ zel Washington, and Will Smith, who also earned huge eight‐figure salaries, but his earnings were not from his 007 role, instead, they
came mostly as a result of his ap‐ pearance in the Netflix streaming services smash, ‘Knives Out’, in which he starred opposite the late Christopher Plummer, in a who‐ dunnit‐type mystery series, play‐ ing a Southern detective character called Benoit Blanc.
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FEATURE
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
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Balancing the Chancellor’s books… could your pensions be affected? The UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, like his counterparts in Spain, has a difficult balancing act to find ways of raising revenue while still keeping public support strong for the government. And pensions and property are being brought into sharp focus in the media when it comes to the options he has available. With the pandemic having caused governments to provide huge financial support to keep their economies afloat, they will now need to raise money to pay what effectively is massive government debt – and taxation is one of the most obvious routes. But what does that mean for you? Changes that may be made by the Spanish government could, over time, make tax-efficient investing trickier and capital taxes more encompassing. So careful planning with expert advice becomes even more important now to legitimately avoid paying any
By Brett Hanson, Senior Partner, Blevins Franks
more tax than necessary. And if you have a pension fund or other UK assets (such as property) they could be adversely hit by changes the UK government may bring in over the next years to start repaying its pandemic debts. Property in the UK Property has already been targeted in terms of second homes in the UK and the council tax applied.
And UK rental income is taxable; selling it can attract capital gains tax as it is not your principal home, and stamp duty is set to return to its pre-reduction level. You may want to hold onto a UK home for emotional reasons and as somewhere you could move back to. Many people, however, opt to downsize, so that if they retain a UK home it is a smaller one they can easily nip back to at will, rather than need to rent it out to pay the bills. Pensions lifetime allowance Those with established pension funds (final salary or money purchase) built over their working life may be concerned about speculation that the lifetime allowance – which has been cut several times – may be further reduced. This would bring many more people into the higher taxation regime. The lifetime allowance is the maximum amount of tax-relieved pension savings an individual can build up over their lifetime.
Currently £1,073,100, tax relief on any pension benefits taken over this amount is recovered by applying a charge to the excess – 25% if taken as pension income or 55% if taken as a lump sum. The lifetime allowance normally rises in line with inflation, but in March the UK government froze it for the next five years. And recent press speculation suggests that one option being considered is potentially cutting the lifetime allowance to £800,000 or £900,000. Do you know how much your pension fund is valued at? It may be worth checking. The UK’s 25% Overseas Transfer Charge And with the UK’s Overseas Transfer Charge not having been extended yet – enabling suitable pension transfers to be made within the EU without the penal 25% tax being applied as it would for outside the EU – maybe now is a good time to review your position.
Our next article will look at the UK State Pensions ‘triple lock’ and whether it will be maintained for EU expatriates, and Spain’s 2019 ruling that non-EU pension plans do not qualify for the wealth tax exemption. The latter means British expatriates here may find that their pension fund now pushes them into the wealth tax net. If you haven’t reviewed your financial affairs recently with your adviser, this may be an excellent time to do so. Tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; individuals should seek personalised advice. Keep up to date on the financial issues that may affect you on the Blevins Franks news page at www.blevins franks.com.
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Asylum applications rise EU and Schengen area coun‐ tries, known as the EU+ area, received substantially more asylum applications in June. A broad range of national‐ ities lodged more applica‐ tions than in May, often ap‐ proaching or exceeding pre‐Covid‐19 levels. In the case of Afghans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, the in‐ creases continued a rising trend from previous months.
The top origin countries in June 2021 were Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mo‐ rocco and Iraq. Afghans lodged over 6,000 applica‐ tions in June, almost 1,000 more than in May and the most since February 2020. While Afghan applications were still not exceptionally high, they increased for the fourth consecutive month. This rising trend over time contrasted with most other nationalities but was similar
for Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who might of‐ ten use the same migration routes as Afghans. Increas‐ ing arrivals of Afghans would likely affect a range of EU+ countries given that in June, many received a substantial number of Afghan applications (100 or more). Increasing applications by Iraqis (1,800) were partly due to the new irregular mi‐ gration route via Belarus.
Spanish aid to Haiti SPAIN will send 10 tons of medical sup‐ plies by the end of the week to Haiti and the government will contribute €250,000 to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies appeal to assist with the humanitarian crisis. The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) will provide a direct response in the field of water and sanitation to support the man‐ agement of water purification equipment
previously provided by the Spanish Coop‐ eration to the Haitian National Water and Sanitation Agency, with which it maintains cooperation projects. “This action will be aimed at providing the most vulnerable population with ac‐ cess to safe water and sanitation and thus prevent the spread of diseases such as cholera, which could aggravate the situa‐ tion of the population,” the government said.
NEWS
Kate Garraway heads off AN emotional Kate Garraway took the difficult decision, as she revealed on Good Morning Britain, to head off on holiday for a few days without husband Derek Draper, with Susana Reid returning from her own holiday to cover her.
Susanna has been supporting Kate throughout Derek’s illness. Kate will be heading off with chil‐ dren Darcy and Billy for a much‐ needed rest. “Derek’s family are descend‐ ing to take care of Derek while I take the kids away,” said Kate.
30 million vaccinated against Covid SPAIN has 30 million people, 63.8 per cent of the population, fully vaccinated against Covid-19. In the age group over 80 years, 100 per cent of people have been fully vaccinated; in the 70-79 age group, 99.1 per cent have received at least one dose and 98.2 per cent have been double jabbed; in the 60-69 age group, 97.5 per cent have received at least one dose and 93.9 per cent fully vaccinated. In the 50-59 age group, 92.9 per cent have received one dose and 89.7 per cent have been double jabbed; in the 40-49 age group, 85.1 per cent have received one dose and 81 per cent are fully vaccinated. In the next age group, 30-39 years, 71.8 per cent have received one dose and 58.5 per cent the full course. Finally, in the 20-29 age group, 68.4 per cent have had one dose and 35.8 per cent have both, and in the 12-19 age group, 49.1 per cent already have one dose and 9.3 per cent both.
“I want to say a massive thank you to Susanna, she has been very kind. “I had a very tight window where I could get everybody to come and look after Derek. “Obviously he’ll have nurses as well, but I also needed friends to help us because I think the three of us are quite emotional about going away without him.” Kate added: “We wondered whether that would be too strange to do. “It feels like a bit of a moment. In fact my son Billy is concerned. It feels strange to do it, but we need to do it, so we can have a few days and come back re‐ freshed.”
KATE: A difficult decision.
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Minister Robles meets Military Emergency Unit THE Minister of Defence, Margarita Robles, has visited the Headquarters of the Military Emergency Unit (UME), at the Torrejon de Ardoz Air Base, Madrid, to review the fight against forest fires that blighted many Span‐ ish provinces this summer. Robles, who was accompanied by the Secretary of State for Defence, Es‐ peranza Casteleiro, was met by the head of the UME, Lieutenant General Luis Manuel Martinez Meijide, his sec‐ ond in command, Major General of the Air Force Jose Manuel Cuesta, as well as by the head of the Torrejon Air Base, Brigadier General of the Air Force Pablo Guillen. Robles said, “Wherever the UME arrives, a lot of tranquillity reaches the citizens.” She also expressed, “my apprecia‐ tion and gratitude and that of all Spaniards for their great work.” Since the summer campaign began on June 15, teams and battalions of the UME and 43 Group have partici‐ pated in the extinction of nine fires in Spain, the most recent in Avila, Las Palmas and La Rioja, and in two in abroad, in Turkey and Greece.
NEWS
‘Tesla Bot’ will do your chores E LO N MUSK has said the ‘Tesla Bot’, which is around 5ft 8in tall and weighs 125lbs, may have “profound implications for the eceonomy”. Musk claimed Tesla is likely to launch a humanoid robot prototype next year that is designed to do “bor‐ ing, repetitious and dangerous” tasks. Musk said the Bot would also fea‐ ture a screen where a human face would give “useful information”. He described the Bot as an exten‐ sion of Tesla’s current designs of self‐ driving cars. Musk said the robot would use a computer chip and would be navigated using eight different cameras in a similar way to the Tesla vehicles. Speaking at Tesla’s AI Day, Musk said the Bot would have “profound implications for the economy” and address the shortage in labour. He stressed the importance of mak‐ ing sure the robot was not “super ex‐ pensive”. Some, though, have questioned whether the billionaire, who has fre‐ quently talked of big technology ad‐
ELON MUSK: Launching a robot. vances at showcase events only to end up scaling back the plans, will be able to deliver on what he has promised for the robot. “Is the ‘Tesla Bot’ the next dream shot to pump up the hype machine?,” Raj Rajkumar, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, said to Reuters. “I can safely say that it will be much longer than 10 years before a humanoid bot from any company on the planet can go to the store and get groceries for you,” he concluded.
Free lifesaving checks FREE life‐saving NHS checks are coming to those aged 40 years and over on the high street in the UK and are some‐ thing that could save many lives. Pharmacies in England from October will be offering blood pressure tests according to Health chiefs. It is expected that over the next five years around 2,000 lives could be saved and they also believe that over 3,000 strokes and 2,500 heart attacks could be prevented too. The NHS believe that one third of adults in the UK suf‐ fers from high blood pressure, but many of those people do not know it. The programme has been in pilot mode for a while, but it is set to be rolled out fully, which according to NHS national medical director Professor Stephen Powis will provide “more rapid detection of killer conditions and quicker treatment for patients who need it.”
FEATURE
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Photo cred it: Paul Stath am
Paul Statham describes himself as a sound artist.
PAUL STATHAM is a musical polymath who plays piano, keyboards, drums and guitar and even teaches song writing courses and production at Solent University. Although he lives in North London where he has his own home studio, he has been a visitor to Spain for the last 20 years and his dream is to own a home in Salobreña in Axarquia. He is currently staying near Motril after spend‐ ing a week with former flat mate and best friend Rob Downes, guitarist with the band Then Jerico who also lives in Axarquia. Often musicians tend to stick with one style of music, but Paul certainly embraces a huge range and his career has seen a number of major changes, mostly to his benefit. He was (and still is) in a band called B‐Movie from his teen years and they obtained a record‐ ing contract which then saw him form Peach with Lisa Lamb and producer Pascal Gabriel and had a sizeable hit in the USA with On My Own which was part of the soundtrack for the movie Slid‐ ing Doors. From there, he was signed to the Warner Chappell com‐ pany as a songwriter and got together with Dido, co‐writ‐ ing a number of songs for
Paul Statham Multi-talented UK musician her smash hit album No Angel which sold more than 20 million copies. He was then approached and asked if he would like to write with Kylie Minogue and they spent two weeks together, producing a number of songs, two of which were on her hit album Fever and Paul says “she was a delight to work with.” From there he has worked regularly with Jim Kerr and Simple Minds as well as writing with for‐ mer Spice Girls Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Rachel Stevens, Natalie Im‐ bruglia and Will Young. At the same time, he has recorded no less than seven albums with former Bauhaus singer Pete Murphy and they had some success in the States where Goth music was popular, playing for up to 7,000 people at a time. Another side is his record label Loki (pronounced Low Key) that came about as he explained “I’m a huge Marvel Comics fan and years ago I thought that it would be great to have a name connected with one of my heroes, so I was lucky enough to snap up lokirecords.com.”
The name laid dormant for some time, but now he releases tracks from some of the bands he plays with as well as selected material from other musi‐ cians. When asked who his influences are, Paul said “All time favourite is Another Green World by Brian Eno but I’m also very fond of David Bowie, especial‐ ly Blackstar, his album released just before he died. “Other favourites are Leonard Cohen who taught me how important lyrics are and Tom Waits as well as Bacharach and David.” We spoke about Spotify (a site to listen to music at a price) and whilst agreeing the concept was good, he explained that on average for every mil‐ lion plays of a number, the record company re‐ ceives around €4,500 and the composer €500 which is being contested at the moment. In the meantime, he has just released the second Dark Flowers album Radioland featuring Jim Kerr and singer The Anchoress, as well as other top mu‐ sicians which he describes as electro ambient coun‐ try and would love readers to give it a listen on Spo‐ tify.
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€1bn funds MINISTRY of Transport has launched the first call to distribute €1 billion in EU funds and the objective of this line of aid from the Re‐ covery Plan is to decar‐ bonise cities, mitigate noise and improve air quality. A second call is scheduled for next year, to complete the €1.5 billion planned for this line. The call is aimed at mu‐ nicipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and provincial capitals, includ‐ ing the possibility that mu‐ nicipalities with between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabi‐ tants that have public col‐ lective transport services. The municipalities can apply for the aid aimed at digitising their transport services, the sustainable re‐ newal of the fleet and the promotion of modal change in urban environ‐ ments, prioritising active mobility and collective public transport. The municipalities have until September 30 at 2pm to apply for the subsidies.
Child deportation
NEWS
Electric scooter ban A NEW proposal aimed at limiting the use of electric scooters through the south‐ ern region of Cordoba will come into law next year. Specifically, the new law is aimed at the thousands of scooters that permeate daily by both locals and tourists through the historical centre of the town, taking to the pavements, zip‐ ping past pedestrians at high speed. With this global self‐mobility trend growing all the time, new legislation to protect pedestrians and other road users was in‐ evitable. Personal mobility vehicles such as electric scooters are now officially considered vehicles across Spain and their ‘drivers’ are obliged to comply with national traffic laws in the same way drivers of cars or motorbikes do. Vehicles for people with reduced mobility are not included in this group.
Former MP on fraud charge YOUNG MIGRANTS: Often suffer abuse in their homeland. HUMAN rights groups have denounced Spain’s expulsion of unaccompanied chil‐ dren to Morocco, calling the deportations illegal with ministers urging the Spanish government to call an immediate halt to the process. Amnesty International spokesman Angel Gonzalo said the deportations of minors began on Friday August 12 and continued on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14. The Interior Ministry and Spanish police did not imme‐ diately respond to requests for comment or confirm the exact number of children af‐ fected. Spain is legally obliged to care for young migrants until their relatives can be located or until they turn 18. Save The Children, meanwhile, urged Span‐
ish authorities to assess the needs of each child and not deport them en masse, about a quarter of the migrant children it interviewed in Ceuta had suffered abuse in their home‐ land, according to the organisation. Hundreds of unaccompanied minors were among a massive surge of over 10,000 people who tried to enter Ceuta in May by scaling a border fence or swimming around it. Morocco has since taken back the bulk of the migrants.The mass exodus took place after Spain agreed to provide medical treatment for the Sahrawi leader heading the fight for an independent West‐ ern Sahara, which was annexed by Moroc‐ co in the 1970s. Rabat reacted furiously by recalling its ambassador in Madrid.
FORMER MP Jared O’Mara has been charged with fraud by the Crown Pros‐ ecution Service (CPS) in the UK.
The politician has been charged over alleged fraudulent expenses made in 2019. Mr O’Mara was elected an MP in 2017 before stepping down in 2019. His former aide, GERMANY announced that it has re‐ Gareth Arnold, also faces accu‐ moved Catalonia, the Canary Islands, sations of fraud. Rosemary Asturias, Castilla‐La Mancha, and Va‐ Ainslie at the CPS, said: “The lencia from its list of high‐risk travel des‐ CPS made the decision that tinations, but that it will keep the rest the three men should be of Spain in this classification for now. charged after reviewing a file The change means travellers over 12 of evidence from South York‐ years old from these autonomous com‐ shire Police. The news comes munities will no longer have to quaran‐ after Prime Minister Boris tine for 10 days when arriving in Ger‐ Johnson was accused of per‐ many, however, a negative PCR test, or suading Tory donors to pay for a vaccination certificate when entering fiancee Carrie Symond’s the country is still mandatory. £200,000 (€233,800) redecora‐ tion costs.
Germany removes regions
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NEWS
Insurers face bar claims Welcome
T H E ongoing coronavirus pandemic has affected many businesses badly, but many are recovering well now that the summer season is here and tourists are back. Last year the State of Alarm was declared in March after the coronavirus pandemic made itself felt in Spain. The State of Alarm had many conse‐ quences for the Spanish economy as it caused many businesses that offered face‐ to‐face services to cease ac‐ tivity. This included bars and shops which saw their in‐ comes drop dramatically. As reported, “Many are
asking their insurers to cover part of the losses by appeal‐ ing to a business interruption cover that is not clearly in‐ cluded in their policies, and the companies’ refusal has al‐ ready reached the courts.” So far two different judges have ruled in favour of two hoteliers. According to ex‐ perts this could create a legal precedent, which could usher in a new wave of claims against insurance companies. Juan Maria Gonzalo Lasheras, partner of Legal Services in the Financial Sec‐ tor at EY told Invertia: “I think that we are going to have
something similar to what we have here with banks, for ex‐ ample, in cases such as pref‐ erence shares, floor clauses or mortgage arrangement fees, but perhaps it will not be as voluminous as in these other cases.” He does however believe that the number of cases will be smaller than those seen against banks as the State of Alarm mainly affected SMEs and self‐employed people. He believes the decision on who is correct will be down to the exact cover offered by the policy and how it is writ‐ ten in the contract.
Ryanair partners with Greece RYANAIR has announced its latest partnership with the G reek N ational Tourism Organisation (GNTO) in a bid to boost tourism recovery in the Hellenic country. R yanair and G N T O will partner in a joint communications campaign with the aim of strengthening Greece’s positioning as a tourist destination in the British, German and Italian markets and attract more tourists from here. The campaign ‘All you want is Greece’ will promote the Greek Islands as a must destination for a summer getaway through Ryanair’s owned channels as well as external digital platforms. Famous for their amazing beaches, clear-blue waters, incredible sunsets, ancient temples and mouth-watering food. The campaign is sure to attract many hol-
idaymakers eager to enjoy a long-awaited sun break. Ryanair’s Director of Marketing, Dara Brady said, “We are delighted to partner with the Greek National Tourism Organisation and work together to rebuild Greece’s leading tourism industry. “We have significantly increased connectivity to and from the Greek Islands with new routes and additional frequencies from all across Europe. This partnership will promote the wonders of this beautiful region and highlight each of Ryanair’s routes to the Islands, which have proven to be a clear favourite among our customers. Europeans can now enjoy a well-deserved sun break travelling on the lowest fares to the likes of Mykonos, Santorini, Chania, Kos and Rhodes.”
to the world
A 36-YEAR-OLD woman gave birth on Saturday Au‐ gust 21, to her second daughter. The location of the birth was rather unexpected though as she gave birth in a street in the Madrid neigh‐ bourhood of Villaverde. She gave birth at around 4pm on Saturday August 21, in Calle Lillo. The woman had experienced labour pains earlier in the day and headed to hospital that morning, but she was sent home as it was too early to have the baby. Only a few hours later her waters broke and her contractions began. She had been having con‐ tractions every three min‐ utes. As reported, “When the Samur medics arrived at the scene, the contractions had accelerated and were re‐ peated every minute and a half, so doctor Alicia Martin decided to put her in the ambulance to proceed with the delivery.” Baby Sofia made her en‐ trance into the world with‐ out any problems and mother and baby were safe‐ ly transferred to the Hospi‐ tal 12 de Octubre.
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Exports to USA SPANISH olive oil exports to the USA have soared as the trade barriers have now been lifted. Biden made the deci‐ sion to lift the trade barriers which were put in place pre‐ viously by Trump. So far this year olive oil ex‐ ports have grown by 37.5 per cent. This amounts to over 57,000 tons of olives and comes at a staggering value of over €150 million. When Trump imposed trade barriers it meant that Spanish olive farmers could not afford to sell to the North American market as it became unprofitable. The market has recovered fantasti‐ cally since Biden took over and removed the barriers.
NEWS
Black fly invasion AN alert has been an‐ nounced for Aragon, Catalo‐ nia, the Community of Va‐ lencia and Madrid for an increase in black fly. According to the National Association of Environmental Health Companies (ANECPLA) Aragon, Catalonia, the com‐ munity of Valencia and Madrid will be the most af‐ fected by plagues of black fly. The flies reproduce on the banks of rivers and due to the current heatwave that has affected Spain, the direc‐ tor of ANECPLA, Jorge Galvan has explained this could pro‐ duce a peak in the volume of the fly population.
Bites lead to infections. Because the black fly is in‐ digenous, it is not an invasive species, however, over the last several years attacks on humans have increased, and their bites in the shape of a saw can lead to ‘infections and allergic reactions’ that can, in some cases, require ‘hospitalisation’.
Students visa chaos IT is only weeks before British students are set to begin studying in Spain but many are facing visa chaos. Universities have called on the Spanish em‐ bassy to let students in as they have been prepar‐ ing for months and some undergraduates are said to have waited more than a month to get their ap‐ pointment to get the documents they need to en‐ ter the country. Both the Spanish embassy and the foreign office
BREXIT: Caused the rules to change. have been approached by UK universities in a bid to convince them the students should be allowed to complete their applications once they arrive in Spain.
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NEWS
Traffic deaths down SPAIN registered its lowest num‐ ber of traffic accident deaths ev‐ er in 2020. Covid‐19 restrictions prevented people from driving frequently. In 2020, 1,370 people lost their lives in traffic accidents. The number also includes peo‐ ple who died within 30 days af‐ ter the accident occurred. According to the government, “The decrease in the death toll occurred in a context of a reduc‐
tion in long‐distance trips caused by mobility restrictions imposed due to the Covid‐19 pandemic.” The death rate stood at 29 deaths per million inhabitants, one of the lowest in the Euro‐ pean Union in 2020, only behind Sweden (18), Malta (21) and Denmark (27). The average rate for the countries of the Euro‐ pean Union was 42. In the Euro‐ pean Union as a whole, the mor‐ tality rate per million inhabitants
Help for Tunisia
TO help Tunisia cope with the impact of the Covid‐19 pan‐ demic and the worrying health situation within the country, the European Union including Spain continue to mobilise emergency aid via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Close to 1.3 million vaccine doses, and almost eight million face masks, along with antigen tests, ventilators, oxygen con‐ centrators, nursing beds and other vital medical equipment have been already delivered. More deliveries are expected to arrive throughout the month. Janez Lenarcic, Commissioner for Crisis Management said, “I thank all the EU member states who promptly responded to Tunisia’s request for assistance and the European Civil Protec‐ tion Mechanism that made this possible thanks to a swift co‐ ordination.”
decreased by 17 per cent be‐ tween 2019 and 2020, while in Spain this reduction was 22 per cent.
$100 million for lie detector IAN HALPERIN, the Canadian bestselling author and docu‐ mentary filmmaker, has made an offer of $100 million to Prince Andrew, to take a lie detector test live on television, to try and prove or disprove, once and for all, the allegations of sexual abuse made against him by Vir‐ ginia Roberts Giuffre. In her recent civil lawsuit against the Duke of York, Ms Giuffre claims to have been the victim of sexual abuse brought about by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, who allegedly of‐ fered her to the Duke, who she claims abused her at least three times when she was 17 years old.
NEWS
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
Italian on the run arrested
CAUGHT: The man had a European Arrest Warrant.
Fallen out of the sky IN the last 20 days, in the Cadiz municipality of Ubrique, eight young Griffon vultures have simply fallen out of the sky, being found by concerned residents as they lay in the road, or on ter‐ races and patios ‐ one even discovered on the stairs of a house, as it searched for shade from the heat. All of the birds are just five or six months old, and have flown down from the surrounding mountains. An officer from the Local Police advised that “Due to the lack of water and food, which causes them weakness and dis‐ orientation, they fall where they can.” An officer from the Seprona Guardia Civil, familiar with these occurrences, after rescuing several birds and nursing them back to life by rehydrating them, commented, “Normally they suffer heat strokes.” Some of these chicks who fall from the sky are saved, thanks to the speedy intervention of the neighbours who find them, and contact the emergency services, but many sadly die, due to the lack of feeders and water that help them overcome the rigours of summer.
OFFICERS from the National Police have successfully ar‐ rested an Italian national who was on the run. The ar‐ rest was made in Malaga and the man had a European Ar‐ rest Warrant (EAW) for crimes of illegal possession of weapons and breach of pre‐ cautionary judicial measures which had been issued by the Italian authorities. The man is considered by the authorities to be an Italian far right supremacist and an ultra‐right‐wing extremist. He is thought to have been acting on his own. Intelligence ser‐ vices in Italy have been inves‐ tigating what his targets could be. He was wanted for events which happened in June in the Piedmontese town of Brescia. As reported by the Italian authorities, the fugitive had caused an explosion during the making of an explosive device. He was arrested in Italy but managed to evade the justice system before flee‐ ing to Spain.
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NEWS
Swedish Mafia’s fortune THE National Police, in one of their most successful investiga‐ tions of the year, have uncov‐ ered an illegal drugs operation that involved the transfer of sub‐ stances by removal lorries be‐ tween Spain and Sweden. The profits generated in the Nordic country reverted to the purchase of super‐luxury real es‐ tate in some of the best areas in Marbella, Estepona or Benahavís, in the province of Malaga. The Swedish removals compa‐ ny Roslagen, with offices in Stock‐ holm and Gothenburg, pros‐ pered until opening small
branches in Marbella and Torre‐ vieja (Alicante), two destinations where they found most of their clients. Swedish authorities put the Spanish National Police on alert in 2018 and eventually led the Udyco Central officers to a ware‐ house in the San Pedro Alcántara industrial estate, which while un‐ der observation, was found to be carrying out some ‘very strange’ activities. Under close surveil‐ lance, officers let the suspects continue their operations until the first drugs shipment arrived. One of the most famous drugs
operations was carried out in Stockholm where 55,000 units of an opiate drug used as a substi‐ tute for heroin were transported to the Swedish capital by one of Roslagen’s lorries. Simultaneously, in Sweden, the two owners of the company were arrested and investigators seized 12 properties in the provinces of Malaga, Alicante, Ávila and Granada. During the operation, 64 luxu‐ ry properties and land have been seized and the total assets and property recovered exceed €55 million.
Twelve companies fined THE National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) has sanctioned 12 companies with fines worth €61.3 million, including subsidiaries of Acciona, ACS, OHL, Ferrovial, FCC, Elecnor and Sacyr. The companies formed a cartel for bids on road maintenance and operation ser‐ vices convened by the Ministry of Devel‐ opment from 2014 to 2018.
The Competition body revealed that the cartel’s operation was carried out through meetings ‘to have coffee’ where the companies ‘periodically established the criteria for coordinating the econom‐ ic offers to be submitted in the bids of the Ministry of Public Works for the road maintenance services of the State High‐ way Network.’
EUROPEAN PRESS
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EUROPEAN NIBS DENMARK
FRANCE
Fairy Tales
Fake passes
A NEW museum designed to look like the hollow tree in The Tinderbox is now open in the writer’s old home town of Odense and is dedicated to the work of Hans Christian Andersen. Covering some 18,000 square metres, visits are currently restricted due to the pandemic.
FOR those who want to be able to visit bars and restaurants as well as use public transport but don’t want to be vaccinated, there are now a number of online offers of fake passes available for several hundred euros even though vaccination is free.
THE NETHERLANDS
NORWAY
Electric scooters
Tragic accident
IN many Dutch cities it is possible to rent an electric scooter and then drop it off when you are finished with it. Sounds a good idea, but you can’t solve mobility problems by causing mobility problems, as too many people just leave them on pavements blocking pedestrians.
A 78-YEAR-OLD farmer and his 52-year-old son who were moving their free-grazing livestock from one area to another are believed to have been attacked and killed by their own cattle according to information released by the police in Sykkelven investigating the case.
BELGIUM
FINLAND
Free furniture
Fewer police
WHEN the Belgian Government decides that furniture needs to be replaced in its ministries it normally sells it online but rather than do this, it is now donating all of its used furniture to those who lost everything in the July floods.
THE National Police Board of Finland has said that some police departments will be forced to reduce staff if the government does not allocate more funds for law enforcement, as the police budget for 2022 is between €35 and 40 million less than expected.
GERMANY
SWEDEN
Camping not Glamping
Bright idea
IN the centre of Berlin there are some 13 official campsites where owners of vans can park up and enjoy a holiday without all of the normal trimmings of pretty views, grass or even lakes, but there are occasional views of the former Berlin Wall.
IKEA is to sell renewable energy generated from solar and wind parks to Swedish householders who sign up to pay a fixed monthly fee and if they don’t use all of the power that they are contracted for, they will be able to sell it back to the Swedish company.
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FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA New boss GLOBAL giant American pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson is appointing a new CEO effective from January 3, 2022, as current vice president, Spaniard, Joaquín Duato will replace the incumbent CEO Alex Gorsky. This appointment will make him one of the most powerful international Spanish executives.
Second bite AS the battle to take over UK supermarket Morrisons continues, the Sunday Times has reported that with plenty of money available, whichever US investment fund loses out, there will almost certainly be a bid for Sainsbury’s which could be as high as £10 billion (€11.5 billion).
Redundancy WITH the loss on August 31 of the concessions to collect funds from three toll roads in Catalonia, operator Abertis has managed to come to an agreement with unions concerning termination of employment of 340 staff who worked in the booths and offices.
Borrowing down UK Government borrowing at £10.4 billion (€12 billion) in July 21 was down £10.1 billion (€11.6 billion) on the amount borrowed in the previous July, thanks mainly to the easing of restrictions which saw a boost to the economy, but is the second-highest amount since records began.
New flights LOW-COST Norwegian passenger airline Flyr is introducing new flights from Oslo to Alicante and Malaga. Founded in August 2020 partly in response to the demise of Norwegian Air, Flyr which has its HQ in Oslo and operational base at Gardermoen/Oslo Airport initially only flew within Norway itself. Currently, the airline has just two Boeing 737-800 aircraft in its fleet, but is confident that it will be possible to add to both the number of aircraft in service and the staff of 70 and is now expanding to fly to European destinations from Oslo. Effective from August 21, it will operate a weekly flight to Alicante and twice weekly flights to Malaga and Nice.
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is the amount of additional tax that the Spanish Government will STAT OF earn this year from the rise in the price of electricity according to €3.3 billion Partido Popular leader Pablo Casado. WEEK
Morrisons bidding war THE Morrisons bidding war has taken a twist as a US offer arrived worth £7 bil‐ lion (€8 billion) but from a different investment firm. On August 19, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice whose ear‐ lier bid for Britain’s fourth largest supermarket was rejected, announced that its newly created division, Market Bidco Limited had offered £7 billion to take over Morrisons and that the supermarket’s board
had accepted the offer. This is now the third of‐ fer that the Board has ac‐ cepted, the first two being from rival US bidders Fortress, which is not nec‐ essarily out of the running. Any offer has to be ap‐ proved by the majority of the company’s sharehold‐ ers and this latest offer is approximately 60 per cent up on Morrisons’ share closing price on June 19, 2021.
LEGALLY SPEAKING
This values each share at £2.85 (€3.28), but with‐ in 24 hours of the offer be‐ ing accepted by the Board, the share price in London had climbed to £2.91 (€3.35) which suggests that the market believes there is still considerable room for improvement on the offer. Fortress in the mean‐ while is advising sharehold‐ ers not to take precipitate action and it seems likely
that a further bid could be imminent, but no decision on any bid will be made until a shareholders’ meet‐ ing due to take place in Oc‐ tober. British companies are at the moment considered by many to be underval‐ ued and there are a num‐ ber of overseas invest‐ ment companies looking to snap up bargains as the UK recovers from the pan‐ demic.
Digital legacies
Are tree roots included? A root from a tree has damaged a sewerage pipe under my bathroom. I read thoroughly my insurance policy and was frustrated to see that nowhere in its 48 pages does it mention this eventuali‐ ty. So I telephoned them and was told that my policy did not cover removal of roots which block sewers un‐ der my house. I pointed out that the definition of a house in the home insurance policy included the sew‐ ers but they said no. I ask then, what about the risks to your house not described in an insurance policy as ei‐ ther included or excluded? N S (Costa del Sol) Your frus‐ tration is understandable but YOU AND THE LAW we find that dam‐ IN SPAIN age from tree roots blocking drains and sewers is basically never covered by any home insurance policy. Many complications arise in assigning blame such as whether you have maintained your pipes in good condition and determining where the roots come from. As to risks not listed as included or ex‐ cluded, of course a detailed description of all the thou‐ sand ways things can go wrong would be impossible. You can be quite sure the insurance company will decide they are excluded.
DAVID SEARL
Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
AS the stadium undergoes com‐ plete refurbishment and the team play at the Alfredo de Ste‐ fanos stadium, the Real Madrid merchandise store at Bernabeu was ramraided. The attack on the store which saw three vehicles involved took place at 6am on the morning of Thursday August 19 according to eye witness reports.Ironically,
A social media will. A DIGITAL legacy is anything which a person created or owned in digital format: social me‐ dia profiles, conversations and comments, photos and videos, profiles on online gaming sites and streaming platforms, blogs or websites, downloaded Apps, music, e‐books, documents on the cloud, online banking, etc. It is becoming more common to make plans for what will hap‐ pen to them after you die. It is usually handled by giving access to someone you trust, pro‐ viding a list of your accounts with the usernames and passwords, and explaining if you want them closed, cancelled or memorialised. You should legitimise your digital legacy in a ‘social media will’, ideally kept separate from your existing will so you don’t have to keep updating it every time you create a new account or change your password. Your digital legacy is something you should consider when pre‐ planning your funeral. With Golden Leaves Funeral Plans, you can arrange your funeral in advance, so that you family will not have to deal with it.
www.goldenleavesinternational.com enquiries@goldenleaves.com Facebook: goldenleavesspain
Real Madrid ramraid earlier that day, members of the first team had been taken by coach to the stadium to inspect the renovation work which was started some time ago, as no crowds were allowed in the sta‐ dium for live matches. The two‐storey shop remained
fully stocked during the work and it appears that a single vehi‐ cle drove into the glass doors and then the robbers emerged from two accompanying cars and literally swept the shelves clear of very expensive team clothing and other branded souvenirs.
Spanish success THE latest Spanish business success sees installation of railway signals in Cairo under‐ taken by the Talis Group. On Friday August 20, the Spanish Ambassador to Egypt, Ramon Gil Casares met with Egypt’s Minister of Transport Kamel El‐Wazir to inspect the work currently being under‐ taken to upgrade the railway signals on the Cairo‐Alexan‐ dria railway line. In a statement released by the Egyptian Transport Min‐ istry, El‐Wazir said the signals project is being carried out by Talis Group of Spain in Sidi Gaber and Alexandria railway stations and the minister ob‐ served that the work is ex‐ pected to be completed by December 2021.
Copper lines THERE are still plenty of peo‐ ple alive who will remember telephone exchanges and manual switchboards, but as‐ sumed that these had com‐ pletely disappeared. To some extent this is true and younger people may well have been amazed to see how calls in Spain were handled many years ago if they watched the Netflix series Ca‐ ble Girls. Now, Telefónica has announced that it has closed down 1,000 telephone ex‐ changes which used lines made from copper and these have been replaced by more reliable fibre lines. The company celebrates its centenary in 2034 and plans to have completely replaced all copper lines by then. By the time that the police ar‐ rived following an alert from a member of the public, the rob‐ bers had disappeared with their haul. There is a huge market for this time of branded material and as it is genuine (rather than coun‐ terfeit) it will probably sell quickly and at reasonably high prices.
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C LOSING P RICES A UGUST 23
COMPANY PRICE(P) 3I Group 1.321,00 Abrdn 263,90 Admiral Group 3.670,0 Anglo American 2.908,5 Antofagasta 1.419,50 Ashtead Group 5.490,0 Associated British Foods 2.012,0 AstraZeneca 8.678,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 638,60 Avast 596,60 Aveva 4.097,0 Aviva 418,70 B&M European Value Retail 574,80 BAE Systems 575,60 Bank VTB DRC 1,342 Barclays 180,58 Barratt Developments 710,00 Berkeley 4.811,0 BHP Group 2.208,00 BP 293,55 British American Tobacco 2.727,5 British Land Company 520,52 BT Group 167,80 Bunzl 2.688,0 Burberry Group 1.884,0 Carnival 1.458,8 Centrica 50,64 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.654,0 Compass 1.498,50 CRH 3.765,0 Croda Intl 9.222,0 DCC 6.040,0 Diageo 3.534,0 DS Smith 442,20 EasyJet 811,40 Experian 3.198,0 Ferguson 10.185,0 Flutter Entertainment 13.750,0 Fresnillo 833,80 GlaxoSmithKline 1.508,80 Glencore 317,25 Halma 2.987,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.476,26 Hikma Pharma 2.536,00 HSBC 395,25 IAG 162,32 Imperial Brands 1.562,50 Informa 530,20 InterContinental 4.500,0 Intermediate Capital 2.177,00
CHANGE(P) 1.330,50 266,80 3.693,0 2.917,0 1.422,00 5.536,0 2.037,0 8.773,0 643,20 603,60 4.135,0 420,40 576,20 580,20 1,348 183,10 726,60 4.937,0 2.219,50 293,65 2.731,5 528,40 174,45 2.704,0 1.902,5 1.478,4 51,20 2.679,0 1.502,00 3.808,0 9.304,0 6.054,0 3.550,0 447,90 821,80 3.225,0 10.256,3 13.805,0 842,00 1.525,60 317,70 3.042,0 1.489,00 2.592,00 399,10 163,12 1.569,23 537,20 4.548,0 2.212,00
% CHG. 1.318,00 263,90 3.659,0 2.881,5 1.403,00 5.480,0 2.012,0 8.674,0 635,20 595,40 4.095,0 416,70 571,60 575,00 1,324 180,48 710,00 4.811,0 2.191,00 291,10 2.712,0 518,60 167,55 2.685,0 1.847,5 1.441,8 50,50 2.650,0 1.490,50 3.758,0 9.220,0 6.024,0 3.529,5 441,30 806,00 3.195,0 10.175,0 13.700,0 829,60 1.508,80 314,30 2.986,0 1.471,50 2.536,00 394,90 160,60 1.560,00 527,40 4.477,0 2.174,00
NET VOL 44,51K 386,92K 16,10K 440,18K 85,53K 37,36K 216,96K 94,03K 186,56K 89,51K 8,11K 1,29M 105,58K 385,45K 62,56K 3,07M 100,27K 12,33K 935,86K 3,77M 244,71K 52,27K 2,78M 24,87K 158,45K 114,66K 736,34K 18,45K 289,89K 16,77K 8,53K 8,09K 269,96K 248,22K 457,75K 50,68K 0,96K 14,54K 160,38K 376,47K 5,50M 22,48K 35,35K 12,75K 2,19M 4,14M 16,05K 196,45K 46,96K 9,03K
COMPANY
PRICE(P)
Intertek ITV J Sainsbury Johnson Matthey Land Securities Legal & General Lloyds Banking London Stock Exchange Meggitt Melrose Industries Mondi National Grid NatWest Group Next Norilskiy Nikel ADR Ocado Persimmon Phoenix Prudential Reckitt Benckiser Relx Rentokil Rightmove Rio Tinto PLC Rolls-Royce Holdings Rosneft DRC Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell A Royal Dutch Shell B Sage Samsung Electronics DRC Sberbank Schroders Scottish Mortgage Segro Severn Trent Smith & Nephew Smiths Group Spirax-Sarco Engineering SSE St. James’s Place Standard Chartered Taylor Wimpey Tesco Tui Unilever United Utilities Vodafone Group PLC Whitbread WPP
5.256,0 116,25 328,12 2.970,0 709,00 265,50 44,11 8.080,0 839,11 164,10 2.038,00 966,40 212,00 7.960,0 32,00 1.946,80 2.830,0 619,60 1.501,00 5.600,0 2.172,00 583,60 704,60 5.233,0 112,18 7,26 1.410,2 1.410,90 1.404,8 733,00 1.564,50 17,68 3.662,0 1.353,60 1.287,00 2.815,0 1.417,00 1.427,50 15.935,0 1.642,50 1.588,00 448,50 173,73 251,15 313,90 4.105,4 1.064,00 122,52 3.080,0 975,40
CHANGE(P)
% CHG.
NET VOL
5.300,0 117,30 332,00 3.002,0 721,00 266,60 44,72 8.112,0 839,60 167,00 2.059,00 982,00 215,40 8.022,0 32,09 1.949,50 2.890,0 629,00 1.502,00 5.681,0 2.190,00 589,10 712,60 5.277,0 112,80 7,26 1.412,0 1.411,11 1.406,0 738,02 1.565,50 17,73 3.697,0 1.370,00 1.295,00 2.880,0 1.440,50 1.433,50 16.125,0 1.672,00 1.609,50 452,30 177,80 252,15 317,00 4.149,0 1.089,50 123,64 3.105,0 981,40
5.250,0 115,75 302,00 2.968,0 706,00 265,00 44,08 8.040,0 832,20 164,00 2.039,29 965,60 211,80 7.940,0 31,79 1.936,10 2.828,0 617,40 1.486,00 5.594,0 2.167,00 583,00 703,60 5.190,0 111,10 7,19 1.398,0 1.397,75 1.390,4 733,20 1.556,50 17,59 3.655,0 1.351,50 1.283,50 2.810,0 1.415,50 1.425,69 15.920,0 1.635,00 1.587,50 448,00 173,65 247,75 309,60 4.099,5 1.062,00 122,50 3.057,0 973,40
7,98K 343,89K 7,33M 10,80K 91,60K 911,60K 5,03M 34,60K 371,27K 469,42K 3,40K 445,74K 1,34M 5,58K 130,06K 25,03K 52,43K 427,99K 568,94K 78,34K 185,72K 13,16K 75,64K 49,84K 8,01M 54,18K 378,91K 344,59K 832,70K 20,94K 1,64K 271,54K 4,98K 449,94K 87,86K 49,20K 129,22K 8,22K 7,42K 137,21K 48,84K 623,50K 580,13K 3,02M 580,47K 258,80K 114,17K 3,77M 26,39K 137,19K
1.16423
0.85895
Units per €
US dollar (USD) ......................................1.17278 Japan yen (JPY)......................................128.952 Switzerland franc (CHF) .........................1.07285 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4370 Norway kroner (NOK) .............................10.5085
currenciesdirect.com/moraira • Tel: +34 966 265 072 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER
DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES A UGUST 23
COMPANY 3M Alphabet C Amazon.com Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Facebook Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com Tesla UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walmart Walt Disney
PRICE 194,16 2.768,7 3.199,95 223,53 148,19 212,67 204,94 94,30 58,22 56,64 359,37 395,87 329,24 227,70 139,11 52,01 179,44 154,72 238,49 78,68 304,36 167,79 145,09 256,13 680,26 429,71 55,52 231,36 151,45 175,12
CHANGE CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 195,13 193,37 2,39M 2.772,3 2.729,3 772,97K 3.207,81 3.175,76 3,32M 226,24 222,01 2,71M 148,50 146,78 59,51M 214,74 210,94 9,16M 207,26 203,59 2,75M 94,88 93,21 9,52M 58,33 56,85 21,83M 57,03 56,58 10,38M 359,99 353,31 8,53M 396,45 391,00 1,57M 329,68 322,47 2,92M 228,73 226,51 2,07M 139,38 137,27 2,63M 52,38 51,42 25,59M 179,92 178,07 5,29M 154,90 153,16 6,76M 239,39 236,32 1,96M 79,20 78,22 5,97M 305,84 298,06 40,66M 168,01 165,42 3,78M 145,98 144,78 5,01M 257,87 252,61 5,47M 692,13 673,70 14,72M 431,36 426,91 2,38M 55,71 55,20 10,61M 232,16 230,30 5,43M 151,72 149,75 6,42M 175,21 172,65 6,12M M - MILLION DOLLARS
NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES A UGUST 23
COMPANY
CHANGE NET / %
VOLUME
Most Advanced Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Cl A NVR Inc. Large Cap Growth Index-Linked ETN due 2028 Cable One Inc. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Biglari Holdings Inc. Cl A RH UBS AG FI Enhanced Large Cap Growth ETN Credit Suisse FI Large Cap Growth Enhanced HubSpot Inc. ServiceNow Inc.
0.24% 1.74% 9.92% 1.29% 1.11% 2.26% 2.60% 2.31% 2.25% 2.40% 2.32%
849 11.21K 1.14K 32.5K 124.77K 360 329.34K 277 1.99K 377.78K 1M
-1.05% -4.57% -3.67% -0.72% -1.63% -1.70% -2.10% -3.38% -13.15% -1.58% -1.07%
783.49K 13.19M 4.81M 91.06K 391.22K 761.15K 3.5M 1.42K 754.7K 279.65K 216.62K
Most Declined Shopify Inc. Cl A Snowflake Inc. Sea Ltd. ADR Mettler-Toledo International Inc. Boston Beer Co. Cl A Domino's Pizza Inc. Deere & Co. Colfax Corp. Tangible Equity Un Rafael Holdings Inc. Lithia Motors Inc. Fair Isaac Corp.
www.euroweeklynews.com
First UK class action
Credit: Kārlis Dambrāns flickr
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
ANTI-COMPETITIVE: Mastercard to contest class action. HAVING now lost a final appeal against the validity of the claim, Mastercard is being sued for £10 billion in the first UK class action. In 2007, the European Com‐ mission declared that Master‐ card’s multi‐lateral interchange fees were anti‐competitive. These are fees paid by busi‐ nesses when transactions are made using a Mastercard, which the Commission decided resulted in higher prices being charged to consumers. The then UK Chief Financial Ombudsman Walter Merricks considered that there was clear evidence that British cardhold‐ ers had suffered to the tune of some £14 billion (€16 billion) be‐ tween 1992 and 2008. Since 2015, he has been bat‐ tling to bring what is known in the USA as a class action where‐ by consumers do not have to be named individually and this
right was granted in the 2015 Consumer Act. Understandably Mastercard have attempted to block this case and have been successful in various UK courts, but now the Supreme Court has ruled in favour of bringing this class ac‐ tion to court saying that the Competition Appeal Tribunal had been wrong in rejecting the claim in the first instance. The action has been changed in as much as it no longer in‐ cludes claims on behalf of the deceased, but is said to be worth around £10 billion (€11.5 billion) and if the action is suc‐ cessful refunds could be expect‐ ed by around 46 million con‐ sumers who probably aren’t even aware of the case itself. Mastercard will be contesting the claim according to a report by City AM and observed “This claim isn’t being brought by UK consumers, but is being driven
Raw material prices AS the world’s economies try to rebuild following the financial problems of the pandemic, a World Bank report suggests that raw material prices are spiralling upwards. According to this report, prices of some materials such as aluminium have tripled since 2019 whilst others have exceeded the prices forecast to be likely in 2035 already. Add to this, the disappearance of many workers such as HGV drivers in the UK which is causing shortages and it is clear that consumers are going to experience a barrage of price hikes for a whole range of items for some time to come.
by lawyers, backed by organisa‐ tions primarily focused on mak‐ ing money for themselves.”
BUSINESS EXTRA Currying favour IN a bid to curry favour with its vegetarian and vegan employees, the Volkswagen HQ in Wolfsburg has confirmed the wurst news possible for meat eaters as after the summer holidays, currywurst (German sausage favourite) will be removed from the canteen menu.
Sky Showtime A NEWCOMER to Spain’s online TV supply industry, Sky Showtime which is due to start streaming in 2022 has reportedly signed a series of deals which will allow it to screen thousands of hours of movies, documentaries and kid’s programmes. No prices have as yet been revealed.
UK inflation THE latest figures released by the UK Office for National Statistics shows that inflation in July had fallen from 2.5 per cent to 2 per cent, in line with Bank of England expectations with lower prices for clothing and footwear being a major factor.
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
EWN 37
38 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
USA HAS LOST IT
LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT I TRULY do believe America has lost the plot. Bumbling Joe Biden rather reminds me of a movie I once saw. In the film the general is killed. To keep up army morale, his dead body is propped up on a horse with a pole stuck up its back as he leads his troops into the battle. I think Biden is actually demised and his carefully coiffured body is being worked with a remote control ‐ probably operated by Kamala Harris! And it’s not in the least bit funny. Because of his, and a few other naive so‐called American leaders’ decisions, hundreds, probably thousands of people will die, and the terrorist will now govern a stronghold which will ultimately prove more dangerous to the West than all the other Islamist countries put together. It’s also worth remembering that the Saudis (who have been very quiet!) are predominately Sunni, as are the Taliban. Bin Laden came out of Saudi Arabia ‐ and the Americans have been selling the Saudis the latest military hardware for years! Should we be worried ‐ well what do you think? Personally I believe we need Trump back; he would have made a more intelligent withdrawal than the Biden
JOE BIDEN: Worked by remote control.
administration that’s for sure. Mind you, any one of us with half a brain could have done better than Jurassic Joe! Just recently this man instigated the presentation of the squared off American flag to the relatives of George Floyd, declaring him to be ‘a
fallen hero’! You really couldn’t make it up. Let me remind you of Floyds ‘heroic’ record. Six burglaries. Two violent home invasions. Three armed robberies, beating four of his victims senseless. Passing counterfeit money and being arrested 23
times. And Biden considers him an American hero! What an insult to the true heroes of the US, whose tearful relatives accepted the folded flag after burying loved ones who had given their lives for the country.
FEATURE
As a further point of interest, after a year of burning the city and tearing down the statues of patriots and Columbus, New Jersey has erected a 700‐pound bronze statue of George Floyd in his ’honour’ outside of City Hall. His family have received over $50 million (you ‘eard) from compensation and ‘go fund me’! And the man, who runs what is purportedly the most powerful nation in the world, thinks this thug is a national hero. Heaven help us all. Just to round off this week’s column of utter disbelief. The society of transgender folk have now come up with a real peach. ‘Neopronouns’. Apparently you should now choose how you want to be referred to. For example you may hear ‐ ‘Hello my name is Petal and my pronouns are they/ them. Subsequently, when talking about Petal, you should use the pronouns they, them, their etc. For example Petal is at ‘their’ desk. Before entering ongoing interaction, you should always ask, ‘what are your pronouns at the moment’? But you should avoid asking somebody about their preferred pronouns ‐ it implies their gender is a choice, rather than simply a part of who they are! Confused? Faith the keep Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
FEATURE
www.euroweeklynews.com
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
EWN 39
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EW YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: www.euroweeklynews.com Views expressed and opinions given are not necessarily those of the EWN publishers. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of information, errors, omissions or statements.
BAD PLANNING
From our Facebook
NEW CLUB: How was planning permission given to build on the beach?
Beach Bars I have been coming to Estepona for many years now, and have been impressed by the constant improvements that the Junta has implemented over the years, beautiful flowers and a feeling of a town on the up. One recent change however does not fit into that category. It had been rumoured that a chiringuito was to be built on the Costa Natura naturist beach, the first beach in Spain to be designated as naturist by royal charter in 1979, but before the lockdown I heard that planning permission had been refused. You can imagine my surprise on visiting again that what can best be described as a beach club (not a chiringuito) had been built, directly in front of the new high end ‘The Edge’ properties, replacing the previous sea views that some of these properties had with the view of a wall, and a constant heavy beat music track for the whole development and the surrounding area. What is worse is that the club is built directly on the naturist beach, will not allow naturists in, or even allow them to hire a sun lounger on the beach in front of their club, and the ‘waiters’ have been telling Spanish families that they have bought the beach, and they should go elsewhere. The beach is actually public land, and cannot be bought. This seems to me to be a spectacularly bad case of planning,
What happens next? AT the time of writing, it has become clear that a number of people are worried about which way the British Government is going to jump with regards to Spain and the traffic light system. Rumour abounds that we could become a red light country and this has clearly resulted in a number of people, both British residents and visitors either curtailing their holidays or bringing forward a return to the UK. Considering that British children start to return to school at the beginning of September, many parents understandably want to make sure
CORRECTIONS
and I cannot understand how this club, which is completely cross threaded with both the Edge development, the neighbouring Costa natura village, and the naturist beach has been allowed to build here. Or am I just being naïve? Tony Worswick
REFUGEES: Should they be granted asylum in the EU?
I agree!
David Sánchez
I completely agree with the letter entitled ‘Racist propaganda’. So very noticeable all of a sudden. I believe this was kicked off by the situation in the US when the policeman held the perpetrator down with his knee on his neck. May be wrong, but am sure it was around that time. Love Leapy’s articles, usually agree with his look on life too. Regards, DM
It shouldn’t be any debate. They had to leave their home because of an unacceptable war...t he whole EU and the others countries of the world should help them. No debate.
Love the paper Thanks for all the informative and entertaining news, keeping us abreast of changes both here and abroad. Regards, S Brown
OUR VIEW
that they and their kids aren’t suddenly required to go into quarantine and those living here who want to see their families seem to believe ‘better safe than sorry’. Looking at the situation dispassionately, there seems little genuine justification for the British Government in effectively penalising Spain, as the number of new infections is clearly on a downward trend and hopefully this will continue to be the case. Some believe that the British Government wants to encourage British holidaymakers to remain in the UK and to spend their money there
rather than in European hot spots and if that logic prevails, then Spain may well suffer for economic rather than protective health reasons. Under normal circumstances, such a conspiracy theory would be treated as nonsense, but the British Government hardly has a record of rational thinking as far as the pandemic and travel matters are concerned. Let’s hope that the status quo remains and that relatively free movement between Spain and the UK is allowed to continue after Sunday August 29, when any change is likely to be imposed.
Tina Fisher This is a bit late as they already have. But yes of course they should. With Spain already overflowing with economic refugees, how could they refuse real refugees in their hour of real need.
Betty Purves All countries, should be a united nations problem.
Mark Spain Yes I’m sure the EU will take many refugees, but the majority should be taken by the USA and the UK.
Patricia Keery All countries should help and not be left to the usual ones.
Agnes Gillespie All countries should help, the men were trained up to be soldiers, they need to stand their ground. Get the elderly out and women and children, the Taliban have no respect for women !!!!!
Margaret Mc If they are people who have worked for another country in whatever role, then yes.
Dominique Ramsey No and they should take responsibility for themselves.
At the EWN, we pride ourselves that reports are accurate and fair. If we do slip up, we promise to set the record straight in a clear, no-nonsense manner. To ask for an inaccuracy to be corrected. Email: editorial@euroweeklynews.com
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HEALTH & BEAUTY
www.euroweeklynews.com
AESTHETIC TREATMENTS HYALURONIC ACID OR BOTOX?
BEFORE & AFTER: Treating wrinkles. formed, such as those found around the eyes or between the eyebrows. The most important thing when doing the treat‐ ment and deciding which is ideal for each person, is to have all the possible information and be treat‐ ed with a specialised and prestigious professional, who will advise us on the option that best suits our case.
Appointments Landline: 965 837 553 / 965 837 851 • 24H/365D Emergency Number: (+34) 607 255 755 • Opening Times: Mon - Fri: 9:00am / 5:00pm
Clinica Britannia Calpe Av. Ejercitos Españoles 16 BIS, 1st Floor, Calpe THE humble cucumber is a summer must have offer‐ ing a number of health and beauty benefits as well as helping to beat the heat. The vegetable is made up of 95 per cent water and is therefore incredibly hydrating with the added bonus of helping to detoxify the body. It can even treat bad breath. During long, sweaty days and punishing heat, it’s im‐ portant to take care of your diet and while certain foods can ensure you stay cool from the inside, others may end up aggravating your body and increasing your body heat.
EWN 47
By Clinica Britannia
By Clinica Britannia
MANY people think that hyaluronic acid and Botox have exactly the same effect, but they do not. Although both substances have the main objec‐ tives of rejuvenating the face, they are not equal. Each one has a specific composition and function. What is this aesthetic treatment and how does it work? Hyaluronic acid is found naturally and perma‐ nent on the skin, and is the substance in charge of maintaining hydrated skin. Its main function is to retain liquid, to refill the dermis from inside. But over time, this substance decreases its concentra‐ tion, and wrinkles develop. The use of creams with this substance can help, but it is much more effective if injected into the skin. Botulinum Toxin (popularly known as ‘Botox’) What is this aesthetic treatment and how does it work? Botox is a toxin that aims to paralyse the mus‐ cles temporarily. By paralysing the facial muscles, movements that cause wrinkles are not per‐
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
Menopause & Osteoporosis I AM a 55‐year‐old woman going through menopause. I have been told that during this period bones weaken, and I am really concerned about this. Could you give me some information on what I should do? Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones, increas‐ ing the risk of sudden and un‐ expected fractures. Literally meaning ‘porous bone,’ os‐ teoporosis results in an in‐ creased loss of bone mass and strength. Many times, osteoporosis is not discovered until weak‐ ened bones cause painful fractures usually in the back or hips. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help prevent osteoporosis from ev‐ er occurring. The bone mineral density (BMD) test is the primary test used to identify osteoporosis
Bones weaken during menopause. and low bone mass. There is a direct relation‐ ship between the lack of oe‐ strogen during peri‐ menopause and menopause and the development of os‐ teoporosis. Early menopause (before age 45) and any pro‐ longed periods in which hor‐ mone levels are low and men‐ strual periods are absent or infrequent can cause loss of bone mass.
If you have a question, you want answered e-mail Dr Mera personally on 545152@gmail.com.
Cucumber: beautiful inside and out Cucumber is one of the recommended daily addi‐ tions to the plate, cleaning the body internally and keeping skin healthy and beautiful on the outside. With its high water content, the veggie is an effective system cleanser that can expel waste products. While it’s doing its work on the inside, it can be put to use on the outside, too. It’s no secret that cucumber soothes and refreshes the skin. When applied to the face, the juice can make skin look refreshed. It is especially great for peo‐
The type of Hormone Ther‐ apy your doctor prescribes may depend on what menopause symptoms you have. Hormone Therapy will not only prevent osteoporo‐ sis, but also heart disease, strokes, premature ageing of the skin, Alzheimer’s disease and will generally protect the body from ageing too quickly. Contact your GP to give you advice.
ple with dry skin. Slices have been used in many beauty treatments, and are particularly effective in reducing dark circles and treating puffiness around the eyes. You can even put grated cucumber on your face for a fresh skin. Simply put them on your eyes for eight to 10 minutes daily. Not as many people know this, but cucumber helps in reducing excess heat in the stomach, which is a primary cause of bad breath. Just holding a piece of cucumber in your mouth can kill the bacteria that
cause stinky breath. And while the green vegetable, available all year round, is a complete beauty food, it is not just great for the skin, but also for the nails and hair. It can help in re‐ ducing tanning and the silica in the vegetable can pro‐ mote hair growth and make your nails stronger. It also promotes weight loss. High in fibre and low in calories, the cucumber is a great snacking option for people wanting to reduce weight. And, owing to its high potassium, magnesium and fi‐ bre levels, it is effective in controlling blood pressure.
48 EWN
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
HEALTH & BEAUTY
Advertising Feature
COLORECTAL CANCER
CO LO R EC T A L C A N C E R is a dis‐ ease in which abnormal cells in the colon or rectum divide un‐ controllably, ultimately forming a malignant tumour. The colon and rectum are parts of the body’s digestive system, which takes up nutrients from food and water and stores solid waste un‐ til it passes out of the body. Most colorectal cancers begin as a growth, or lesion, in the tis‐ sue that lines the inner surface of the colon or rectum. Colorectal polyps are more common in people older than 50 years of age, with most not be‐ coming cancerous. However, a certain type of
ABNORMAL CELLS: Can form in the colon or rectum. polyp known as an adenoma is more likely to turn cancerous if
left untreated. Several screening tests have been developed to de‐
tect adenomas and polyps at an early stage so they can be re‐ moved successfully. Nearly everyone diagnosed at the earliest stage will survive bowel cancer, but this drops sig‐ nificantly as the disease devel‐ ops. Being aware of the key symptoms and visiting your GP if things don’t feel right can help increase chances of an early diag‐ nosis. The GP may recommend the following screening tests for col‐ orectal cancer: • Stool tests. Both polyps and colorectal cancers can bleed, and stool tests check for tiny amounts of blood in faeces (stool) that
cannot be seen visually. • Septin 9 methylated DNA is a sensitive and specific blood test for diagnosing colorectal cancer. • Virtual colonoscopy, also called computed tomographic (CT scan) colonography, is a screen‐ ing method that uses special x‐ ray equipment. • Colonoscopy. In this test, the rectum and entire colon are ex‐ amined using a colonoscope, a flexible lighted tube with a lens for viewing and a tool for remov‐ ing tissue. Contact your Health provider who can give advice on what treatment plan would be best suited for you.
Appointments Landline: 965 837 553 / 965 837 851 • 24H/365D Emergency Number: (+34) 607 255 755 • Opening Times: Mon - Fri: 9:00am / 5:00pm
Clinica Britannia Calpe: Av. Ejercitos Españoles 16 BIS, 1st Floor, Calpe ON average we lose 50 to 100 scalp hairs each day, but this is normal and new hairs grow in their place. The hair’s programmed life cycle consists of three phases: the growth phase, the shedding phase and the resting phase. When this cycle has been dis‐ rupted or when the hair follicle has been destroyed, excessive hair loss
More than a bad hair day or thinning of the scalp can begin to happen, and receding hairlines, bald patches and complete bald‐ ness can occur. Hair loss mainly affects men, but women are still susceptible, and there are normally certain triggers. According to dermatologists, ex‐
periencing a highly stressful event such as a physical injury or severe anxiety can cause shock to the hair cycle, pushing more hair into the shedding phase. Also, fewer hair follicles are available to grow new hair during the growing phase. This can trigger telogen effluvium, a type of hair loss that sees as many as 70 per cent of the scalp hairs be‐ ing shed, usually in handfuls. It be‐ comes noticeable about two to six months after the shock occurs. The body begins to go back to normal once the stress is over, which will then kick start your hair’s growth cycle. Hair loss can run in the family. Androgenetic alopecia, or female‐ pattern hair loss (FPHL), causes thinning on all areas of the scalp. This leads to increased diffuse hair shedding or a reduction in hair vol‐ ume, or both. It’s the most com‐ mon form of hair loss, affecting 40 per cent of women by age 50. Fac‐ tors tied to hormones also play a major role, so FPHL can also occur after menopause or pregnancy. Minoxidil is the preferred medi‐ cation to use to treat FPHL, as you can easily apply it to your dry scalp. Hair thrives on a diet rich in vita‐ mins, minerals and antioxidants. A
lack of vitamin C can make your hair dry and brittle. Protein powers growth in hair cells, but an absence of it results in less new hair growth. Iron helps red blood cells to carry oxygen, once your iron levels are low you become anaemic and your cells struggle to function, causing you to lose your hair. Zinc is important for tissue growth and repair, plus it keeps oil glands around the hair follicles in good working order. But if your zinc intake is low, you’ll experience slow hair growth and dandruff in addi‐ tion to the hair loss. Start eating foods that contain these vital nutrients. Oranges, mangoes, cauliflower and toma‐ toes contain Vitamin C, whilst pro‐ tein can be found in meats, eggs, fish, yoghurt and beans. Whole grain cereals and dark green leafy vegetables are great for providing you with iron, plus you will need zinc‐rich foods like nuts, chickpeas and sweet potatoes. A sudden or excessive loss of weight can result in the thinning and loss of hair. It can be a shock to the system, which can trigger telo‐ gen effluvium. Stress from dieting can cause more hairs than usual to fall out during the shedding phase.
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HEALTH & BEAUTY
The rewards of rooibus IT’S a well‐known fact that rooibos is better for you than normal tea, but just how much better is surpris‐ ing. And once you’ve heard about these ‘extra’ health and beauty ben‐ efits, chances are you’ll be sipping rooibus in favour of your regular cuppa. An added bonus is that you can get all the beautifying effects with‐ out the herb, which originates from South Africa, even touching your lips. Acne sufferers will be interested to hear that rooibos is rich in alpha hydroxy and zinc – both vital nutri‐ ents for healthy skin. Alpha hydroxy reduces the signs of ageing and revi‐ talises skin, while zinc heals wounds, protects against UV rays and has an‐ ti‐inflammatory properties, which can help with acne, random monthly pimples and sunburn. Sip on a cup, or even apply the tea straight to your skin! Rooibus, also known as bush or redbush tea, is also said to help with hair loss. A cup a day not only keeps your locks healthy and strong, but may also help prevent hair loss. Ap‐
BENEFITS: The positive effects of a cup of rooibos are far reaching.
parently, its active ingredients actu‐ ally help remove dead skin cells that block hair follicles and prevent hair from growing. It’s also packed with zinc, calcium, copper and potassium (essential for hair growth), and polyphenols (an‐
tioxidants), which promote shiny, soft tresses. It’s easy to prepare your own tea rinse at home. Steep for 30 minutes in boiled water. Once cooled, pour over freshly washed or conditioned hair, or sim‐
ply spray it on. Allow to sit for 20 minutes before rinsing. As mentioned, the antioxidants in rooibos have anti‐inflammatory properties, which assist in prevent‐ ing cardiovascular disease, while its antiviral properties boost your im‐
mune system. It also has a hypogly‐ caemic effect on the body, helping to balance blood sugar and improve insulin resistance, which may help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. The tea has also been proven to remedy irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The antispasmodic agents in rooibos help ease stomach aches and pains, and aid digestion. It is re‐ ported that this is because it smooths out the muscles in the gut. Sufferers should try drinking a cup about half an hour before a meal to get the most out of this effect. Apparently, rooibos can also help with asthma. It’s a bronchodilator (a substance that dilates the bronchi and bronchioles in lungs to increase airflow) and many researchers be‐ lieve the tea can alleviate the symp‐ toms of asthma. And finally, although there are bound to be even more health and beauty benefits, rooibos can help lower your cholesterol. Chrysoeriols, a flavonoid in rooibos, aids in blood circulation and has also been linked to reducing cholesterol.
Well groomed men A GOOD skin care regime is not exclusive to women, men need one too. Only cleansing and moisturising is not enough to keep male skin healthy and clean. To avoid dry, dull and brittle skin, it’s important to follow a skin care plan.
Men tend to have oilier and thicker skin, so it’s advisable to choose a good facial cleanser that works on all kinds of skin. Cleansing sanitises and elimi‐ nates dead skin cells without dry‐ ing. It also helps to avoid white‐ heads, blackheads and acne.
Toning balances and tightens. Moisturising prevents cracks and dry and dull skin, as well as of‐ fering protection and healing ben‐ efits. Sunscreen is a must, with a minimum SPF of 30, applying 15 minutes before heading out so that it is well absorbed. Exfoliation is crucial to eliminate dead skin cells from accumulating and causing bacterial infection. Used once a week, a gentle but granulated face scrub will smoothen the skin, eradicate dull‐ ness and soften hair follicles for a smoother shave. The skin around the eyes lacks in sweat and oil glands, making it highly susceptible to under‐eye dehydration. This shows itself as fine lines and wrinkles. Dabbing a little hydrating eye cream each morning and before bed can help. A good lip balm with a high SPF is a must to help keep them soft, supple and protect from the sun. Clean beards are more likely to be soft beards. Beauty experts ad‐ vise using face wash or shampoo when cleansing facial hair, taking care not to over shampoo as this can strip the hair of natural oils.
SOCIAL SCENE
www.euroweeklynews.com
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
Montgo Chorale recruits THE Montgo Chorale is recruiting new members to join its choir. The pandemic has prevented the choir giving its regular performances for the last 17 months but they have continued to rehearse online and, when restrictions allowed, in a member’s garden. However, they have been back rehearsing live in Bar Mediterraneo, Teulada on Monday evenings from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The staff there have provided a large room and a
friendly welcome. The choir is currently taking a break from full rehearsals but will reconvene next month when they hope to have a ‘Come and Sing’ evening for people interested in joining the choir to attend. Montgo Chorale has members from a range of nationalities and ages. However, they welcome new members and especially hope to recruit more tenors. They sing a range of classical choral works and their current
repertoire includes Schubert Mass No 2, and Faure’s Requiem. They sing under the experienced baton of Musical Director Aileen Lightfoot and they have just appointed a new accompanist, Kirsty Glen. Since its founding 15 years ago, the choir has, through its many acclaimed concerts in Pedreguer and Javea amongst other venues, raised considerable funds for local charities such as Caritas and the Convent Day Centre in Javea
RECRUITING: The choir always welcomes new members.
Gandia cycling event GANDIA will be hosting a 140‐kilometre cy‐ cling event through some of the area’s most beautiful spots, including the port of Margari‐ da. Taking place from 8am on Sunday, September 25, the event leaves from Gandia
Avenida dels Esclaves. Organised by SLT Marxa Internacional, the route passes through La Safor, La Vall de Gallinera, El Comtat, and La Costera in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante. For more information, visit www.gandia.es.
which cares for the elderly and Alzheimer’s sufferers. The choir is now recruiting new members. For further information please contact Sally Merrett by email on montgochorale@gmail.com.
EWN 51
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SOCIAL SCENE
Marquesa concerts
Presenting the concerts. GANDIA Council has an‐ nounced a series of con‐ certs by some of Valen‐ cia’s most popular artists. The ‘Marquesa Con‐ certs’ will be held on September 11 and 25 and October 23, with perfor‐ mances by Manel, El Dilu‐ vi and M Clan. Councillor for Culture, Nahuel Gonzalez, accom‐ panied by the director of the Casa de la Marquesa and music programmer of the city of Gandia, Eudald Gonzalez, presented the
concerts at the Casa de Cultura. Councillor Gonzalez in‐ vited the public to pur‐ chase tickets, while the musical director of the Casa de la Marquesa said: “We wanted to take ad‐ vantage of the natural en‐ vironment of the Jardí de la Marquesa and the atti‐ tude and people’s desire to enjoy live music.” The concerts begin on Saturday September 11 with Manel, an interna‐ tionally known band and
headliner at various festi‐ vals held throughout the area. On Saturday, September 25, one of Valencia’s most famous bands El Diluvi will perform. They will be followed by M Clan, who will perform on Saturday, October 23. The concerts will take place at the Casa de la Marquesa at 9.30pm and tickets can be purchased at instanticket.es/cultura gandia and at the Casa de Cultura.
SOCIAL SCENE
www.euroweeklynews.com
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
Javea Players THE Javea Players will be performing ‘Love Letters’ at the Studio Theatre. The play will be staged from September 22 to 24 and September 29 to October 1. Love Letters is about Andrew Makepeace Ladd III and Melissa Gardner, both born to wealth and position and childhood friends whose lifelong correspondence begins with birthday party thank-you notes and summer camp postcards. Romantically attached, they continue to exchange letters through the boarding school and college years. Andy goes on to excel at Yale and law school,
whereas Melissa flunks out of a series of ‘good schools’. While Andy is off at war Melissa marries, but her attachment to Andy remains strong and she continues to keep in touch as he also marries, becomes a successful attorney, gets involved in politics and, eventually, is elected to the US Senate. Meanwhile, her marriage in tatters, Melissa dabbles in art and gigolos, drinks more than she should, and becomes estranged from her children. The correspondence covers a period of nearly 50 years during which they discuss their hopes, ambitions, dreams and disap-
pointments, victories and even defeats. Love Letters is an intimate drama with amusing interludes which gains steadily in power, as life keeps ripping away at the seams of its characters; well-tailored existences. It etches a deep portrait of life. Written by A R Gurney, and directed by Cherry Cabban, it celebrates the power of the written word. Tickets priced €11.00 are available at www.javeaplayers. com from the box office. La Cocina offers a pre-theatre dinner at 6.00pm. Bookings can be made on 965 795 140.
LOVE LETTERS: An intimate drama with amusing interludes.
Spanish music in the park LOS ARCOS in Pedreguer is hosting an evening of Spanish music in its garden from 7pm. The concert, which will take place on Satur‐ day, August 28, will include a selection of dif‐ ferent styles of Spanish music. Group Alendoy will be performing along‐ side guitarist Vicente Ballester and Vicente Giner on piano. The musicians will play samba and tango songs as well as movie tunes in the garden of Los Arcos restaurant in Pedreguer. Tickets, priced at €15, are available from the La Montagne French cheese specialist stand at the market hall, and at Konzertfre‐ unde. During the break, food and drinks will be available at the restaurant. For more information, contact 956 788 840 or info@konzertfreunde.com.
CONCERT: Will feature a selection of different styles of Spanish music.
STARTERS Soup of the day Mousse of trout, cucumber and raspberry dressing Oriental salad with duck Beef carpaccio with pine nuts, bacon, capers, rocket salad, Parmesan and pesto Pear with Serrano ham, Gorgonzola, rocket and honey dressing Tuna carpaccio, bacon, capers, rocket, Parmesan and tomato (+€3.00)
MAIN Fish stew with salmon, hake, shrimps, mussels and mashed potatoes Cod fillet 'Tandoori style' raita cucumber Pasta with chicken, bacon, tomato and mustard sauce Dutch steak with mustard or peppercorn sauce Pork schnitzel with onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and au gratin with blue cheese Beef tournedos stock with sauce of your choice (+€12.00) Sirloin steak with sauce of your choice (+€8.00)
DESSERT Key lime pie Mango sorbet ice White chocolate mousse Coffee icee cream with cof coffee liquor fee liqu uor uor Cheese plate Port (+€7.00) late with red Por rrtt (+€7 .00) 00) Coffee orr tea
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THE EUROWEEKLY NEWS urged its readers to support local busi‐ nesses in the community by go‐ ing local through the lockdown and for your all your shopping this year, instead of feeding on‐ line giants and superstores. During lockdown, we chal‐ lenged you to rediscover your lo‐ cal high streets, markets, butch‐ ers, greengrocers and all of the wonderfully quirky independent
GO LOCAL
businesses in your area. Due to the Covid‐19 pandem‐ ic, you may have to support many local businesses by order‐
ing online and making use of any click and collect services they can operate if you are unable to get out due to health reasons or lockdown restrictions. The joy of shopping local means that independent busi‐ nesses can help support the local community. Although it may be a euro or two cheaper elsewhere or on‐ line, consider where your money is actually going. By shopping at an indepen‐ dent store you’re putting food on a local family’s table, and there is no better time than now to give back to your community by mak‐ ing a small gesture and shopping in this way. Many local stores support lo‐ cal charities, support and sponsor local sports teams and in many cases the small independent stores are actually much more than just a small high street shop, they’re a family’s legacy, often passed down through numerous generations and support not just
the current owner but the gener‐ ation before. For those stores which are new, that extra couple of euros spent there are supporting someone’s dream and ambition, and also the courage it took them to step out alone, which is no easy task. It takes quite a large chunk of money to set up an in‐ dependent store and compete with the multinational and chains. So be sure to pre‐order your meat from a local butcher and get your spuds from a local greengrocer, let us revive that community spirit and get to know our neighbours again. You could also consider pur‐ chasing gift vouchers from local businesses to help them over the coming weeks, thinking outside the box can often lead to some fantastic ideas. Why not buy a meal for two, an hour’s tattoo time at a local studio, a hair cut at a local salon or an online study course for someone looking to
change their career path. As people are struggling with finances thinking about what friends and family may actually need is important too. Whilst it’s nice to give a glamourous gift perhaps pre‐paying a family member’s phone bill for the month would actually be a better gift. Helping people alleviate stress and worry , give the gift of peace of mind through these dif‐ ficult times. Choosing to spend your money locally will really make a difference in the recovery of the local economy. When we buy local, our money stays lo‐ cal, and it strengthens the local economy in two ways. First, buy‐ ing local keeps money circulating within the local economy. Stud‐ ies have shown that local busi‐ nesses recirculate a greater share of every euro as they create lo‐ cally owned supply chains and in‐ vest in their employees. Data shows that local retailers return 52 per cent of their rev‐ enue back into the local econo‐
FEATURE
my, compared to just 14 per cent for national chain retailers. Money circulating through the local economy benefits everyone who is a part of each transaction. For example, let’s look at a local farmer growing produce. First, they sell to a local restaurant, which in turn prepares the fresh produce and sells it to local cus‐ tomers. The farmer pays its local employees and the restaurant uses revenue from sales to buy supplies from a neighbourhood hardware store. This example illustrates how the recirculation of money in the local economy leads to a stronger financial foundation for our neighbours and communi‐ ties. Buying local also fuels new employment and job opportuni‐ ties for people within our com‐ munity. Studies show, locally owned businesses employ more people per unit of sales and retain more employees over time. A fantastic example of how to support your local community is with a Charity Gift certificate, why not donate to your loved one’s favourite cause. Just remember to follow the latest government advice and any guidance businesses have to keep everyone safe.
FEATURE
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
EWN 55
A FEW OF LIFE’S IRRITATIONS NORA JOHNSON BREAKING VIEWS Nora is the author of popular psychological suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist. To comment on any of the issues raised in her column, go to www.euroweeklynews.com/3.0.15/nora-johnson
GOOD morning, class. No talking at the back, please. I’d like to begin with another few moans. For me, everyday irritants include: sticky price labels that don’t come off, selfies, photographing food in restaurants, people who use an upward inflection at the end of sentences and automated phone systems that claim “your call is important to us” while putting you on hold for an hour. Calls like: “We apologise for the delay in an‐ swering your call ‐ we are experiencing a higher call volume than expected” seem to greet you ev‐ ery time you have to phone one UK media group I won’t name and shame. When will they adjust their ‘expectations’ and provide more ‘customer advisers’? They then tell you their website more than likely has the answers you need. I mean, where do they think you’ve spent the last 20 min‐ utes looking for the answer to your query before you had to ring them?
ON HOLD: Automated phone systems are just one everyday irritant. Other irritants include food packets that re‐ quire a magnifying glass to read the instructions. Getting a new toothbrush out of its packet. Jar lids that you need the strength of Tarzan to prise open. And as for opening ‘child‐proof’ containers,
I’m going to have to wait until the two‐year‐old next door is four before I have a reliable ‘opener’. Let alone the packaging on scissors that require scissors to open. In fact, packaging generally. First world prob‐
lems, I know, but even so... Finally, where are all the UK GPs? A relative re‐ cently called into her GP surgery which has nu‐ merous doctors and health assistants to find it completely deserted apart from one patient wait‐ ing and a receptionist sitting behind a glass screen so massive she couldn’t hear anything, so any chance of patient confidentiality was scuppered. But try booking an appointment! This involves a 30‐minute wait on the phone to be informed there are no doctors available because the surgery is (still) enforcing the same Covid‐restrict‐ ed service it was a year ago. Where have all the doctors gone? Gone to golf courses every one. Nora Johnson’s psychological crime thrillers ‘The Sentinel’, ‘No Safe Place’, ‘Betrayal’, ‘The Girl in the Woods’, ‘The Girl in the Red Dress’, ‘No Way Back’, ‘Landscape of Lies’, ‘Retribution’, ‘Soul Stealer’, ‘The De Clerambault Code’ (www.nora‐johnson.net) available online as eBook (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, paperback and audiobook. All profits to Costa del Sol Cude‐ ca cancer charity. To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Nora Johnson’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
56 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
EMMA WALLSWORTH THERE are many different causes and sources of foot pain: Sprains, arthritis and joint pain, bunions, plantar fasciitis, blisters, calluses, and corns swelling. What essential oils we use and why... Peppermint oil: Peppermint essential oil can serve as both a pain reliever (anal‐ gesic) and a mild anaesthetic. It’s also an‐ ti‐inflammatory, antiseptic, and is anti‐ spasmodic (prevents or lessens cramps and spasms). Eucalyptus oil: Eucalyptus essential oil could help as a pain reliever and anti‐in‐ flammatory. It’s also antibacterial, anti‐ septic, and antispasmodic. Ingredients: 1) ½ cup organic olive oil 2) ¼ cup infused nettle oil 3) ¼ cup coconut oil 4) 17g beeswax 5) 5 drops of vitamin E oil 6) 15 drops of peppermint oil 7) 15 drops of eucalyptus oil 8) Wooden skewer 9) 4 x 60ml glass jars with lid Method: 1) Prepare a bain‐marie, you can use a pan, add water ¼ way, add two wooden skewers to the bottom, place in glass heat proof jug (also known as a water bath or double boiler)
How to make a soothing foot balm at home...
FEATURE
Or contact The Simply Natural Group to purchase directly from our Facebook eco shop. Join Our New ‘Simply Flora & Fauna’ page on Facebook. We aim to build a map to track local nature in different areas throughout Spain. We will share findings, share information and photos. Please contact us at email: thesimplynaturalgroupltd@gmail.com. Facebook ‐ The Simply Natural Group Facebook community page ‐ Simply Flo‐ ra & Fauna You Tube Simply Back 2 Basics The Simply Natural Group products may contain oils and butters from natural nuts, seeds and fruits. If you have any allergies please read the product label carefully. We recom‐ mend that people with sensitive skin per‐ form a patch test first to ensure there is no reaction.
ESSENTIAL OILS: You can make your own Eucalyptus oil to help as a pain reliever. 2) Add beeswax to the glass jug and be‐ gin to melt 3) Add nettle oil, coconut oil and olive oil to the jug, use a wooden skewer to stir (melting point of beeswax is 65ºC)
4) Once melted remove from the heat, add vitamin E and other essential oils 5) Lay jars on to paper towel to catch spills. Add balm to the jars. Leave to cool.
Emma Wallsworth’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
PETS Enter our 2021 Funny Pet Photo Competition
26 August - 1 September 2021 • www.euroweeklynews.com
Advertising Feature
OCELOT OPERATED FOR A SERIOUS FRACTURE IN ALFAZ DEL PI
Surgeon José Rial preparing the ocelot to be operated on. AN ocelot suffering from a serious elbow fracture was operated on at the Marina Baixa Veterinary Hospital. Before the surgical interven‐ tion, because of the suspicion of a possible heart problem due to the distended abdomen and symptoms of fatigue and the age of the ocelot, several tests were performed, including blood tests and ab‐ dominal ultrasound and echocardiography in order to assess various organs. The ultrasound was performed by the veterinarian David Ni‐ eto del Centro Veterinario de Diagnostico por Imagen de Levante, who confirmed that there were no heart problems. The need to at‐ tend the injury of his limb is due to the impact that it can generate in his daily routines over time. The Terra Natura Park veterinarians per‐ formed anaesthesia on the ocelot and the CT scan and complicated elbow surgery was performed by the veterinarian José Rial, an AVEPA accredited specialist in traumatology and orthopaedics.
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OUR pets are adorable, and we all love them to bits. Sometimes they do the funniest things. Have you ev‐ er snapped your pet doing some‐ thing funny or remarkable? Send your photos to us to enter our Hous‐ eSitMatch Funny Pet Photo Compe‐ tition and you could win an 18 month free Premium membership as either a house‐sitter or a home‐ owner. You choose the prize you want! To enter the competition Send us your photos to email ad‐ dress ‐ admin@housesitmatch.com Please include your full name and your pet’s name. How does HouseSitMatch work? You join as a pet and homeowner member, for this there is a small an‐ nual fee. You get ID checked for safe‐ ty and then build your advert saying when you are going on holiday. House‐sitters are mailed your advert, they respond and then you choose
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57
house‐sitter while we were away in Canada and we were delighted with the care and attention that HouseSit‐ Match took in helping us find the right person. Ros Morris ‐ Dog owner How do you join? Please register online via our
website www.Housesitmatch.com ‐ Choose a membership plan ‐ Please note prices go up soon so sign up now on subscription to secure these prices: • Standard (DIY option) = £69 pa • Premium (with support at each step) = £89 pa
58 EWN
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AIR CONDITIONING
PLUMBERS
BUILDERS
REMOVALS & STORAGE
SERVICES
SERVICES PLUMBERS
TV & SATELLITE
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60 EWN
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BUY & SELL PRIVATE collector will buy your Gold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662) I BUY RECORDS 50’s to the 90’s. Best prices for good records. Tel: 622 750 117 / 962 851 809 (287794)
THE SALVATION ARMY English Speaking Church of Denia Worship Service. Sunday 10:30 am Followed by a time of Fellowship Everyone is welcome. Come as you are! For more information: Dieter Zimmerer +34 698 609 658 or Barbara Zimmerer +34 652 319 810 Email dieterzimmer er@hotmail.com, www.centro saron.com (10008) www.helpbenidorm.org and on Facebook VOLUNTEERS NEEDED, particularly Spanish speakers for interpreter service, and car owners. Tel President 607 387 040, Welfare 607 386 964, Interpreters 607 385 842, Equipment 663 495 396. We are an English speaking charity that assists residents and tourists of all nationalities in times of crisis, we also organise social events for members. We meet every Thursday at 10.30 in Jose Llorca Social Centre C. Goya s/n. Benidorm. It is opposite the Foietes Car Park where there is a Wednesday market. Everyone welcome. It is 400m from Benidorm tram station and on bus routes 1 and 8. We loan out mobility and medical equipment including oxygen concentrators on a short-term basis. (288658)
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
ROAD TEST by Mark Slack I’M frequently told that all cars look alike nowadays, the only differentiator being the badge on the bonnet. Well there’s no mistaking Hyundai’s latest SUV, the Tucson. It has a very imposing front which reminds me a little of the 1960’s Dodge Charger RT. The lights are shielded at the outer edge of the dominant front grille and provide an excellent level of light in terms of both spread and distance. It’s a neat styling touch that certainly makes drivers do a double take in their rear view mirror. The range starts with the SE Connect powered by a 150 hp, 1.6‐litre petrol engine, across the range, and priced at €33,746/£28,710. There are petrol and mild hybrid models along with hybrid and plug‐in hybrid versions. More tech op‐ tions include manual or auto‐ matic gears and there’s all‐ wheel‐drive options too. Standard equipment across the board includes heated and height adjustable front seats,
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MOTORING
Hyundai Tucson - bold styling! The latest Tuscon has a very imposing front.
Facts at a Glance Model: Hyundai Tucson Ultimate Engine: 1.6-litre, turbocharged, petrol, 48v mild hybrid, developing 150 ps Gears: 7-speed automatic Price: €41,596/£35,390 Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) 9.6 seconds/Maximum Speed 188 kph (117 mph) Economy: 6.4 l/100km (44.1 mpg) combined driving - WLTP Emissions: 144 g/km - WLTP Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets. .
climate, automatic lights and wipers, high beam assist, LED headlights with cornering, cruise, heated and pow‐ ered folding door mirrors, automat‐ ic dimming rear view mirror, parking sensors with rear camera, keyless entry and start, navigation, Bluetooth and wire‐ less charging. It’s an im‐ pressive list. The test model was an Ulti‐ mate trim with mild hybrid power mated to a seven‐speed automatic gearbox. Priced at €41,596/£35,390, the Tucson carries off this higher price be‐ cause it not only looks quality, but feels it in the way it drives and the interior has an upmar‐ ket aura. Thankfully in an age of digital
mania Hyundai have sensibly retained traditional dials in the driver display and separate controls for things such as the climate control, rather than burying them in the digital menu of the large 10‐inch touchscreen. Seating is very comfortable with multiple adjustment, in‐ cluding on the premium model luxuries like heated rear seats, ventilated and heated front seats along with power adjust‐ ment and heated steering wheel. Driver and passengers will not complain about space as there is plenty of room for all along with their luggage. On the road the Tucson has plenty of power from its 1.6‐ litre engine and is both smooth and refined, but it’s never go‐ ing to set your driving pulses alight. Then it isn’t meant to be a driver’s car, this is a family and work machine capable of everything from the school run to chauffeuring for a black tie dinner. It’s a very big tick in the box for the Tucson!
MOTORING
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26 Aug - 1 Sept 2021
VW Group on the electrical throne AC CO R D I N G to data from Jato Dynamics, 26 per cent of all electric cars sold in Europe during the first half of 2021 were from the Volkswagen Group, which is an increase of 4 per cent more than in the corre‐ sponding period last year. The Renault‐Nissan‐Mit‐ subishi Alliance was the market leader in sales of electric cars in Europe be‐ fore, but, in the first half of 2021, the Alliance ceased to be the largest European seller of electric cars, over‐ taken by the Volkswagen Group, thanks mainly to its large supply of electric vehi‐ cles in several of its brands. This result not only put the German consortium on the electrical throne, but al‐ so meant increasing its ad‐ vantage over Tesla, which maintained third place in the European market, with a share of 14 per cent, 3 per cent down on last year, while Stellantis, the consor‐ tium resulting from the
merger between the FCA Group and the PSA Group, was the second European seller of electric cars with a 16 per cent market share, up by 4 per cent on last year. The big loser, according to data from Jato Dynamics, was the Renault‐Nissan‐ Mitsubishi Alliance, leader until 2020, but now lan‐ guishing in fourth, seeing its market share reduced from 23 per cent in 2020 to 13 per cent, who would seem to have lost out while wait‐ ing for the launch of their Nissan Ariya, or Renault’s electric futures, while the Leaf and the Zoe have not been able to compete against heavyweights such as the Volkswagen’s Model 3, or the ID family, as well as the electric models from Stellantis. Despite the success of the Volkswagen Group and Stel‐ lantis, who both surpassed Tesla in total sales, the Model 3 of the Californian
brand was by far the best‐ selling electric vehicle in Eu‐ rope, while Volkswagen had their ID 3, the ID 4, and the e‐Up!, along with Audi’s popular e‐tron, the Porsche Taycan, and the Seat Mii
electric. Elon Musk’s Model 3 saloon car topped the in‐ dividual electric car sales in the first six months of this year, with 66,010 registered units, with the others as shown above.
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