THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 36 - 39 Issue No. 1910 10 - 16 February 2022
Tourist tax
NOBODY in the Valencian Community wants a tourism tax. The only exception are the minority partners in the re‐ gional government’s PSOE‐ Compromis‐Podemos coali‐ tion, who are forcing a vote in Les Corts, the regional parlia‐ ment. Before this can happen, rep‐ resentatives from all sectors of the tourist industry headed by Hosbec, which represents Va‐ lencian Community hoteliers, created the www.noalatasat‐ uristica.com platform to fight the proposed tax. Within 24 hours there were 1,400 signatures on the online document and one of them belonged to Francesc Colomer, a member of the regional gov‐ ernment who heads Valencian Community’s Tourist Board. Colomer, from the PSOE party, makes no secret of his outright rejection of the tax in any form. “Collecting signatures is a democratic gesture against a tax that I am opposed to. What’s more, this has come during the sixth Covid wave,” Colomer said.
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FREEDOM CLOSER Turn to page 2 » FACE MASKS: No longer required in most outdoor spaces.
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Time saver THE Denia Health District (DSD) is now five times faster in responding to patients’ queries. With Telegram, ChatWeb or WhatsApp users can contact an operator to carry out administrative pro‐ cedures and also make appointments. If the DSD handled 2,300 enquiries in November, it was able to deal with 13,000 during the last week in January, announced Susana de Gea who is in charge of the scheme. “Users are very satisfied because this service al‐ lows them to carry out or initiate procedures with‐ out having to go to their Health centre or waiting for a phone call to be answered,” Susana said. “What’s more, we promise to answer within 24 hours on working days.” Instant messaging is fast becoming people’s pre‐ ferred way to contact the DSD, she added. “Most contact us via WhatsApp,” Susana revealed. “Mainly they want to clear up doubts about Covid‐19 and make appointments for Primary Care or the hos‐ pital. They also ask for documents regarding their clinical history and information about SIP cards.”
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A welcome change for many
BUSINESSES and residents across Spain are celebrating after masks will no longer be legally required in most outdoor spaces from today, Thursday, February 10, bringing the country one step closer to normality. Spain’s Minister of Health, Carolina Darias confirmed the move, with face coverings no longer mandatory in most spaces including school playgrounds, in a statement on Tuesday, February 8. The minister also announced that the Public Health Commission is studying shortening the quarantine period for positive cases to between three and five days. While a welcome change for many, the law still requires masks in two out‐ door situations, including at crowded events when standing, and when social distancing cannot be observed, for exam‐ ple, when sitting. Regional governments across Spain al‐ so recommend wearing masks in crowds. The measure was agreed at a govern‐ ment meeting where officials also decid‐ ed to increase capacity at sports events, including the Football League and the ACB basketball, which will go from 75 per cent to 85 per cent capacity if held in
outdoor venues and 50 per cent to 75 per cent if indoors. Spectators will also be required to re‐ spect measures including mandatory masks and social distancing. The issue of masks has been a con‐ tentious one throughout the pandemic, splitting opinion over balancing the need to protect public health, while upholding some of Spain’s most‐valued civil liber‐ ties. Advocates of face coverings argue they are a small inconvenience to wearers but a vital step in protecting others. Mean‐ while, many against mandatory masks accuse the government of interfering with civil liberties. Regardless of personal views, many businesses across Spain are rejoicing at the news, hoping that this move towards normality will signal an increase in tourist numbers this year. Michala Larsen Aguilera of restaurant group Da Bruno told the Euro Weekly News: “I’m delighted that we can finally take them off and hope this means we can enjoy a great summer without people afraid of going out. “Hopefully the tourism will pick up and we can go back to business as usual.”
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NIBS EXTRA Drive through TRAFFIC finally returned to normal in Benidorm’s re‐ modelled Avenida del Mediterraneo on February 7 after the Plaza Triangular was reopened to vehicles now that work is almost fin‐ ished on Technohito tower. Access to the Old Town via Avenida Doctor Perez Llorca has also been restored.
More homes ALTEA Town Hall will spend €57,000 on restoring a mu‐ nicipally‐owned property in the Old Town, built in 1920 and originally catalogued as a ruin. Found to be structurally sound, it will be turned into three small apartments to be rented as social housing or to provide emergency accom‐ modation.
Come hither CONFRIDES (population 270) is abolishing Capital Gains Tax, fees for processing build‐ ing licences, occupying public property, putting up phone masts and issuing official doc‐ uments. Mayor Ruben Pico explained that the town hall wants to attract investment and, consequently, more jobs by cutting down on bu‐ reaucracy and red tape.
Fire away WORK finished on a fire‐ break protecting the Puig Campana mountain in Fines‐ trat’s Realet, Sima and the Font del Moli districts. This cost the town hall €31,145 to carry out, prompting mayor Juanfran Perez Llorca’s com‐ plaint that the project had re‐ ceived no financial help from the regional government.
Board games VILLAJOYOSA’S Parks and Gardens department in‐ stalled three exercise ma‐ chines in the Barbera del Aragones park, together with three tables with incor‐ porated chairs. These have built‐in boards for playing chess, parchis (similar to lu‐ do) and the Juego de la Oca, whose various pitfalls are not unlike snakes and lad‐ ders.
CALPE resident Hille Beckers is again organis‐ ing a flea market to raise funds for the local street cats’ sterilisation programme. This will be held at Carrio Alto 3F in Calpe from 11am until 4pm on February 19 and Febru‐ ary 20, telephone 865 950 069. There will be a large selection of puzzles, jazz CDs, vases, dishes, glass‐ ware, bags (large and
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Flea market helps strays small), electric house‐ hold items as well as bric‐a‐brac and much more. As always, the total proceeds from Hille’s Rastro will go to the
Tourists trickle back
MONTHS later than originally hoped, the first Imserso tourists are arriving on the Costa Blanca. Normally pensioners would have begun arriving in October via the government‐subsidised scheme. Instead, there was a four‐month interval owing to the central government’s delay in allocating contracts to the travel firms that organise the holi‐ days. As February began, the first Imserso tourists began arriving in Denia and Benidorm, where hoteliers believe that the boost re‐ ceived during the Benidorm Fest Eurovision selection galas is not going to lose momentum. Twelve Costa Blanca hotels, some of which have been closed since the onset of the pandemic are reopening. By February 11, the total will have reached 100, and by the end of the month there should be 6,000 Imserso tourists on the Costa Blanca. “We decided to open because we couldn’t stay closed, with losses mounting up,” sources at Benidorm’s Hotel Bristol told the Spanish media. “Our market studies revealed that with the Im‐ serso tourists now arriving and the rooms that we can fill at weekends, we should be able to hold until Easter Week.”
Spending on schools PASSAGES at Calpe’s Mediterrani primary school are to be to‐ tally enclosed. At present these are only protected by latticework screens which provide no protection for pupils in bad weather. The €131,623 improvements will be financed by the regional government’s Edificant scheme where the Generalitat provides funds and town halls deal with the paperwork and permits. Other Edificant projects in Calpe include a second Instituto high school, Wi‐Fi for the Ifac high school, a new building for the Gargasindi special needs school and remodelled toilets for the Olta primary school.
Trap, Neuter and Return sterilisation programme introduced to control the number of cats in the local colonies and al‐ so ensure the animals’ well‐being.
Photo credit: Hille Beckers
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HILLE BECKERS: Benefactress raises money for Calpe’s cat sterilisation programme.
Man in a frock
PIP UTTON is no pan‐ tomime dame. This British professional actor, remembered for his renditions of Einstein and Churchill in pre‐Covid times, transforms himself into a variety of totally‐be‐ lievable characters in the next Javea Players’ produc‐ tion. Pip portrays Charlie Chaplin, Maggie Thatcher, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Alfred Hitch‐ cock, featuring a different character each week. Pip told Javea Players how popular the Maggie production had been. The British press enthused: “Pip’s portrayal is incredi‐ bly respectful and gener‐ ous to Margaret T, and to the miners and to the actor who plays her. He is com‐ pletely non‐judgemental about any side at all.” Expect a riveting perfor‐ mance, whichever the character, including inter‐ action with the audience.
Ramblars closed
JAVEA Town Hall has temporarily closed the Ramblars recycling site for tree prunings and gar‐ den waste. This will allow the fire brigade, plus a team of town hall operatives with heavy machinery to clear the site in order to completely extinguish the fire. This has now been burning for more than two months, prompting complains from environmentalist groups and nearby residents affected by smoke from the slow‐burning fire . In the meantime, the town hall announced that a plot of municipal land in Catarroges will be made available for garden waste until Ramblars can be used again.
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“Did you ever have a question you would have liked to ask the Iron Lady? Maybe she could answer it on February 10 or 11,” the Players’ Gillian Ashworth said. “Pip will perform one character on two nights each week over a four‐ week period so you can see one show or book for all four.” Chaplin (already played on February 3 and 4); Mag‐ gie (February 10 and 11); Hunchback (February 17 and 18); Hitchcock (Febru‐ ary 24 and 25). The performances in Javea Players’ Studio The‐ atre start at 8pm. Tickets €13 are available only on‐ line. For everyone’s safety, seating will be spaced and please bring Covid certifi‐ cate and mask. For more information see the www.javeaplayers.com/jp /box‐office/ website.
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Looking after Estell
ESTELL, an osprey that spends part of the year on the Pego Marsh, starred in Pego’s International Wet‐ lands Day events. Activities were organised by the Migres Foundation, the driving force behind the project to reintroduce os‐ preys to the Marsh, in col‐ laboration with Pego Town Hall and Magic & Nature. Sessions on February 5 and 6 included conducted tours of the Marsh and an introduction to some of the birds living there. Later, a Migres expert explained the project to reintroduce os‐ preys and give details of the progress made. These talks were timed to coincide with the time when Estell came to feed, giving participants an op‐ portunity to observe the impressive and endangered osprey from a discreet dis‐ tance. Meanwhile, Migres members are constructing nests and perching places at strategic points on the Marsh so that Estell has somewhere to nest and al‐ so rest after long‐distance flights. They are building these on top of the Marsh’s un‐ used electricity towers. “They are perfect for what we want,” explained Mi‐ gres member Itziar Colodro. “They are high up and situ‐ ated in places far from hu‐ man interference.”
and finally... OH DEER! Seprona, the Guardia Civil’s Nature Protection unit, rescued a roe deer that appeared on Altea’s Cap Blanc beach. Several concerned members of the public contacted Seprona on seeing the deer, which was swimming amongst rocks near the shore when the Guardia Civil officers reached Cap Blanc. Startled by the large crowd that had begun to gather, the ani‐ mal emerged from the water and galloped off before anything could be done to help it. The officers eventually found the deer on the N‐332 main road and were able to capture it before it could cause a traffic accident or injure itself. In line with standard procedures, Seprona contacted Environ‐ mental officials from the Wildlife Recovery Centre in Santa Faz, who checked the animal, whose origins are unknown, and found that it was in good health. “The deer was later released in suitable surroundings in Sier‐ ra Bernia,” Seprona sources said.
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Free Spanish classes vALFAZ Town Hall is organising free Spanish courses for foreign residents. Two of the courses focus on basic Spanish, while the other is more ad‐ vanced. There are also two Needle‐ work courses and, again, these are free. Classes began in the last week of January and continue until May, each morning from Monday to Friday at the Casa de Cultura in the centre of Alfaz and the Centro Social in Albir. Places are still available for all the courses and Other Nationalities coun‐ cillor Martine Mertens called on all those keen to learn Spanish, to im‐ prove their knowledge or learn to sew, to register as soon as possible. Enrol at the Centro Social in Avenida Corts Valencianes 3 in Albir or ring 965 887 328 between 9am and 3pm.
Baring all for charity
M I R A M I R R O R hair and beauty lounge in Moraira teamed up with American Bike Rental & Bar to raise much needed funds for Its All About The Children ‐ Pre‐ ventorio De Gandia chil‐ dren’s home by getting in‐ volved in this year’s cheeky but tasteful calendar. The calendar features lo‐ cal women brave enough to bare all to raise money for orphans and children in need. American Bike Rental & Bar announced on its Face‐ book page that an amazing €5,310 was raised which will be used to help the chil‐ dren’s home. Both businesses have also
BRAVE WOMEN: Raising money for children in need.
collaborated in their King & Queen promotion, which in‐ cludes a pamper session that offers something for both ‘him’ and ‘her’ and a four‐ hour ride on a Harley. More information can be found on this charitable offer by con‐ tacting MiraMirror.
MiraMirror said the team “will be continuing to work closely with the fabulous Lauren and Danny from American Bike Rental & Bar on further exciting events… We are proud to be part of the community here in the beautiful Costa Blanca.”
Montgo Golf Society report
TWENTY‐EIGHT Montgo Golf Society members played a Bo‐ gey competition at Oliva Nova Golf Course on February 4. It was sponsored by Caz Welch and there was an array of prizes. Three members ‐ Glen Morgan, Georgie Turner and Barry Butler ‐ returned af‐ ter a long absence although Barry’s wife Liz was unable to join them as she needs to builds up her strength, rather like her favourite football team, Newcastle United. The two Butlers who played were not related, although the younger Butler did manage to hit elder statesman Barry with a flying golf ball. Glen Morgan was declared the winner with a score of two up on the course, while Montgo’s spon‐ sor was second. Unable to claim her own prize, this went to Stella Fox, who was one up on the course. Georgie Turner took third place with a level par score, just beating Keith Cot‐ trell on countback.
Sally Burrowes and Geoff Willcock won the Nearest the Pin prizes but there were no twos. The next competition will be the first trophy match of 2022, the Santana Shield sponsored by old Evertonian Steve Crossan.
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Vaccine donations
THE number of vaccines that Spain has donated to COVAX, the WHO organi‐ sation dedicated to help‐ ing developing countries fight against the pandem‐ ic, has reached a total of 50 million. Spain is one of the top five countries in the world in terms of donations through the COVAX mech‐ anism and the second‐ largest donor to Latin America. Of these doses, 22 mil‐ lion have been allocated to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 16 million to sub‐Saharan Africa and 7.5 million to the EU Southern Neighbourhood countries. Recently, deliveries have been accelerated in several countries. On Fri‐ day, February 4, a new batch of vaccines donated by Spain through the COV‐ AX mechanism was deliv‐ ered to Colombia. On Saturday, January 29, 244,800 and 381,600 single doses of Johnson & Johnson were delivered in two Team Europe opera‐ tions to Mauritania and Syria, respectively.
TV star set to divorce
A PLACE IN THE SUN’S Laura Hamilton has broken her si‐ lence after her shock split from husband Alex Goward. According to the A Place In The Sun presenter, the deci‐ sion to split was mutual. The separation was announced last month shortly before Laura headed off to Spain for a break. She is now setting up house alone. Laura told one publica‐ tion: “It was a chapter of my life that I am now closing, and I have so many happy memories.” Despite having separated the pair are determined to en‐ sure that their children are happy. Laura said that she is not looking for love right now. The split has not put her off relationships in the future even though it has been difficult. Laura commented: “There have been times I have been so overwhelmed with sadness.” Laura had been married to Alex Goward for 10 years. The couple had been together for a total of 13 years. The pair have two children together, Rocco, eight, and Tahlia, six.
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GUTO HARRI, the Prime Minister’s new communications director said that Boris Johnson is “not a complete clown.” Harri described day one in his new role, revealing: “Although I haven’t seen him for years, we picked up where we left things in terms of the tone of our friend‐ ship. I walked in, I saluted to the PM and said: ‘Prime minister, Guto Harri report‐
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Boris ‘not a complete clown’
ing for duty’.” Speaking to Golwg.360, Harri contin‐ ued: “He stood up from behind his desk and started to take the salute but he said: ‘What am I doing? I should take the knee for you.’ The two of us laughed. Then I
Clarkson ‘out of his depth’ JEREMY CLARKSON has been left feeling ‘out of his depth’ running a business. The former Top Gear presenter has delight‐ ed fans recently with his Prime Video series Clarkson’s Farm, but he admits that despite numerous business deals he still feels out of his depth. Clarkson decided to buy a farm in Oxford‐ shire in 2009. The purchase led to a popular TV series, and in 2019 Clarkson decided to take over the farm and run it himself. Clarkson said: “Over the years I’ve done some business stuff, and every single time I vow that I’ll never do it again, because I’m al‐ ways out of my depth. “I never know what anyone is talking about until someone comes round and tells me I’ve got to hand over a quarter of a mil‐
CLARKSON: Locals opposed his plans.
lion pounds.” Clarkson had planned to build a 60‐seater restaurant and car park on his farm, but local residents were opposed to the plans and the council ruled the development was ‘out of keeping’ within the Cotswolds Area of Out‐ standing Natural Beauty.
New Covid drug recommended THE European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recom‐ mended the use of Paxlovid ‐ the first oral antiviral drug available to treat Covid ‐ as soon as the first symptoms of the virus appear. Marco Cavalieri, the EMA’s head of Strategy for Biological Health Threats and Vaccines, stated that the treatment is authorised
for people who are not un‐ dergoing medical treatment, and who have an added risk with the virus, due to some conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, or lung diseases. This approval came after observing that it significantly reduced hospitalisations or deaths in patients who had at least one underlying con‐ dition that put them at risk
of severe Covid. “Paxlovid is more effec‐ tive in the early stages of the disease, when virus replica‐ tion is more pronounced and it begins to spread to the lower respiratory tract,” explained Mr Cavalieri, adding that both this drug and ‘Veklury’ (Remdesivir) can be used to treat Omi‐ cron infections.
asked: ‘Are you going to survive, Boris?’ And he said in his deep voice ‐ slow and purposeful ‐ starting to sing a little while finishing the sentence and saying: ‘I will survive.’ “I inevitably invited him to say: ‘You’ve
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got all your life to live,’ and he replied: ‘I’ve got all my love to give,’ so we had a little blast from Gloria Gaynor.” After that, the pair got down to serious business. Harri explained that he and the Prime Minister had: “a serious conversa‐ tion about how we get the government back on track and how we move for‐ ward.”
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Harry and Meghan blasted HARRY and Meghan have been blasted for their ‘ra‐ dio silence’ on the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Social media users criti‐ cised the pair for keeping silent on the special day after they made no ac‐ knowledgement of the Queen’s decades of ser‐ vice. One Twitter user was most upset and comment‐ ed: “Would it have killed
RADIO SILENCE: Harry and Meghan have kept quiet.
WhatsApp scams DO you use WhatsApp? Be warned: WhatsApp scams jumped 2,000 per cent in 2021 to become the ‘fastest‐growing form of impersonation fraud’, according to an analysis by Lloyds Bank. Victims lost an average of £1,950 each. Traditional scams where fraudsters im‐ personate a bank, the police or an institu‐ tion like HMRC still account for the vast majority of reported impersonation fraud, however the number of those dropped by around 14 per cent last year. The rate of growth in WhatsApp scams
shows how organised criminal gangs are always changing their methods and the speed with which they can adapt. Almost all scams now start online, through social media or via a phone call or message. Liz Ziegler, Fraud Prevention Director at Lloyds Bank said “Never trust a message from an unknown number without first independently verifying the person’s identity, even if it claims to be from someone you know. Always insist on speaking to someone before sending any money.”
them to offer their con‐ gratulations for a job well done to HM! Despicable!” Another social media us‐ er though saw the bright side and said: “About time these two learnt to be silent. Hope it lasts.” To mark her Majesty’s 70 years on the throne Prince Charles commemo‐ rated the special day and said: “On this historic day, my wife and I join you all in congratulating Her Majesty The Queen on the remarkable achievement of serving this nation, the realms and Common‐ wealth for 70 years. “The Queen’s devotion to the welfare of all her people inspires still greater admiration with each pass‐ ing year.” The Queen used her Platinum Jubilee celebra‐ tion to announce that Camilla will be able to be‐ come Queen Consort when Charles takes over the throne in the future.
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Anti-vax parents refuse urgent care THE parents of a two‐year‐old boy with heart disease needing an urgent and delicate heart operation at the Sant’Orsola hospital in Bologna have rejected blood transfusions from donors vaccinated against Covid. The parents instead contacted anti‐vaccination movements to find ‘volunteers’ willing to donate blood. The Sant’Orsola hospital, according to the transfusion centre, is opposed to this because blood donations must follow very strict and precise legal protocols to guarantee safety. The National Blood Centre (CNS) has reiterated the importance of these protocols: “The blood of those vaccinated is absolutely safe. From the moment a person is vaccinated, 48 hours must pass be‐ fore they can donate blood because we must be sure that they do not have reactions to the vaccination and that they are in good health,” said the director of the CNS, Vincenzo De Angelis. The case is now in the hands of a Modena judge. The magistrate has listened to the parents, who said: “The blood of the vaccinated is dangerous.” A decision from the judge is expected shortly.
and finally... A PASTOR in the US state of Tennessee livestreamed a bonfire in which he and his churchgoers could be seen burning books such as Harry Potter and Twilight, and saying “it’s witchcraft 100 per cent.” Global Vision Bible Church leader Greg Locke led the book‐burning bonfire in Nashville, the state capital, on the night of February 2. This incident was the latest to occur as part of the growing trend of book censorship that is rising in the country.
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Your starter for 10
TRIBUTES: Poured in for TV presenter Bamber Gascoigne.
Volcano tourism THE Canary Islands government and locals are considering the possibility of volcano tourism after La Palma’s Cumbre Vieja eruption lasted for a staggering 85 days. The volcanic eruption began last September and saw thousands of people evacuated and hundreds of homes de‐ stroyed by molten lava. Earthquakes also shook the island of La Palma. Canary Islands tourism chiefs are looking into taking ad‐ vantage of 70‐metre lava walls to entice tourists to the is‐ land and tourists are readily clamouring for volcano themed tours. Hawaii and Iceland also turned to volcano tourism after they were hit by volcanic eruptions. Some people fear though that the sight of tourists taking in the lava flow sites could be painful to local residents who lost everything. Mariano Hernandez Zapata head of the island’s govern‐ ment explained to Reuters that the volcano has created op‐ portunities. She explained: “Despite unleashing so much de‐ struction, the volcano has created opportunities and tourism is one of them.”
WHICH British TV presenter has sadly died at the age of 87? It’s Bamber Gascoigne, the original host of BBC’s University Challenge. The popular quizmaster passed away at his home in Rich‐ mond, southwest London following a short illness. Gascoigne hosted the hit ITV show for 25 years from 1962 to 1987 before it was re‐ booted in 1994 with current host Jeremy Paxman. He was the originator of catchphras‐ es, such as “your starter for 10,” “fingers on buzzers,” and “I’ll have to hurry you.” Gascoigne was also known as a writer, and wrote Quest for the Golden Hare, an ac‐ count of the national treasure hunt sparked by the 1970’s book Masquerade, which contained clues to the where‐ abouts of a precious pendant buried ‘somewhere in Britain’. Tributes to the former quiz host have been flooding into social media. “Very sad to hear of the passing of Bamber Gascoigne. A legendary quizmaster from another time,” said one user. The Chase quizzer, Paul Sin‐ ha, wrote: “It seems that Bamber Gascoigne has passed away. His effortless erudition, making whole swathes of impenetrable knowledge seem cheerfully accessible, was totally inspir‐ ing to this kid of the 80s. “Sadly we may never see his like on our screens again.”
THE National Police are warning people in Spain to be aware of a phishing scam. The scam begins by people receiving a text message on their mobile phone warning the user that they are logged on from a different device. The message then asks the user to ver‐ ify their details and follow the link. According to the police, the message reads: “You are logged in from a new device, if it wasn’t you, verify immediately.” The message is followed by a link that the criminals hope you will click. The police have warned that you should
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Don’t bite
not follow the link and that the SMS messages should be deleted. Cybercriminals are increasingly using phish‐ ing scams to extract people’s details. The Na‐ tional Police have also said that you can re‐ port any phishing scams to them so that officers can warn other people. This will allow the police to prevent more people from falling for the scam.
SAS hero saves combat dog AN SAS hero who ‘ran through a hail of bullets to save his wounded combat dog’ has now been nomi‐ nated for a bravery award. The heroic soldier saved his dog from being shot by the Taliban in firefight in Afghanistan around nine months ago. Speaking to one publica‐ tion, a source revealed how the SAS hero had protected his dog during a “kill or cap‐ ture” mission. He then kept the wounded dog alive as a helicopter sped them to safety. The source revealed: “The dog was very badly injured ‐ it was limping and bleeding profusely. “It was moving so slowly it was at risk of suffering fur‐ ther wounds. “The handler ran across open ground, picked it up and carried him back to a safe area. “Once the target was neu‐ tralised, the SAS withdrew to a rendezvous point and
were picked up by the chop‐ pers. “The dog was in a very bad way but he was kept alive during the flight then operat‐ ed on back at a British base and survived.
“He was later sent back to the UK and given further treatment.” No details are known sur‐ rounding whether the dog will be able to return to ac‐ tive service in the future.
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Buyers sold stolen rental cars NATIONAL POLICE have ar‐ rested 10 people in Barcelona and Madrid suspected for the misappropriation of high‐end rental cars. Nine vehicles were initially obtained through rental or as‐ signment contracts, using stolen documentation, and
forged driving licences. They were subsequently bought in good faith by third parties, who became victims of a scam. This investigation began when officers were informed of the misappropriation of two vehicles in the provinces of Malaga and Madrid. In both
cases, they were high‐end pas‐ senger cars, and, moreover, had been rented by the same person. The officers were able to identify the person who had rented the vehicles, as well as one of his accomplices, and this led them to the network. Three of those under inves‐ tigation were detained in Barcelona, while the other members were arrested in Madrid. All 10 are accused of committing criminal acts, among which is the theft of ve‐ hicles valued at more than €300,000. One of the recovered vehi‐ cles had already been illegally re‐registered after having its chassis number changed and sprayed a different colour. Two others were recovered in Girona and Malaga, having been sold to bona fide buyers.
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Famous play banned A SCHOOL in New York has taken the decision to ban Shakespeare’s famous play The Merchant of Venice for being ‘antisemitic’, following a series of complaints from parents. First, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was cancelled at Seattle Uni‐ versity. Then, the University of Northampton declared George Or‐ well’s 1984 ‘an offensive and disturb‐ ing book’. Tennessee schools recently banned the Holocaust comic book Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. There are many more examples of the growing numbers of literary works that can be found on the Unit‐ ed States’ banned book lists. Such books typically deal with issues of race, gender or diversity. In fact, cancel culture is resulting in once popular books being banned all over the world, and determining which new books get published. Last year in the UK, children’s book pub‐ lisher Scholastic rejected a Captain
Nobel Peace Prize THE leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, Une Bastholm, has nominated Sir David Attenborough for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. The 95‐year‐old broadcaster and environmentalist should be nominated, says Bastholm, because “he has taught us not only to see the intrinsic value of the whole diversity of life that exists on the planet, but also how vulnerable we humans are to the balance of ecosystems.” She also believes that the International Panel on Nature (IPBES), an intergovernmental agency founded in 2012 to im‐ prove environmental policies and services, should also win the prestigious award. The Green Party leader said: “They should receive the award for their work in developing a common international knowledge base about the nature of the world with broad professional sup‐ port and credibility. This work makes it impossible for world leaders to ignore the natural crisis without being noticed…”
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.
Underpants spinoff for perpetuating ‘passive racism’. The Merchant of Venice features Shylock, a Jewish moneylender who threatens to take a pound of flesh from the body of one of the other characters if a loan is not repaid.
Record petrol prices PETROL prices in Spain skyrocketed at the beginning of February, reaching a new historical high. A fifth consecutive price rise saw fuel on the fore‐ courts rise to its most expensive level so far in 2022. According to data from the European Union Oil Bul‐ letin, prices have gone up by another 5.6 per cent. Specifically, the average price of petrol this week stood at €1.538/litre, which represents an increase of 1.18 per cent compared to a week ago. This is a histor‐ ical record, exceeding the €1.522 of September 2012. Also, the average price of a litre of diesel this week stood at €1.422, making it €1.35 per cent more expen‐ sive compared to last week. This is not a record for this fuel, although it remains close to the historical maximum of €1.444 set in September 2012.
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Covid prevention drug supply THE Spanish Ministry of Health and pharmaceu‐ tical company AstraZeneca have signed an agreement for the supply and distribution of a Covid prevention drug. Evusheld is currently the only prophylactic drug available to be used pre‐ ventatively before exposure to the Covid‐19 virus. According to an official statement released on February 4 by the Ministry of Health, the drug
is recommended for the passive immunisation of patients who are at higher risk of contracting Covid‐19 and of progressing to severe forms of the disease. This group includes people with im‐ munodeficiencies, organ transplant recipients and patients being treated for blood diseases with specific drugs that make it difficult for them to generate immunity to antigens.
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Starmer clash THE Metropolitan Police con‐ firmed that two arrests were made at around 5pm on Monday, February 7 after po‐ lice officers protecting Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer clashed with protestors in Westminster. A statement from the force read, “Shortly after 5.10pm on Monday, February 7, a man who had been surrounded by a group of protesters near to New Scotland Yard, was taken away from the scene by a po‐ lice car.” Adding, “A man and a wom‐ an were arrested at the scene for assault of an emergency
Insults hurled at Starmer. worker, after a traffic cone was thrown at a police officer. They have been taken into cus‐ tody.” Demonstrators had gath‐ ered, some holding placards
voicing their disdain at the Covid restrictions, and oppos‐ ing mandatory vaccinations, while hurling insults at Mr Starmer. He was hurriedly es‐ corted from the scene and driven away in a waiting patrol car, after being surrounded by the crowd of protestors. Prime Minister Boris John‐ son took to Twitter and con‐ gratulated the police for “re‐ sponding swiftly,” while condemning the “absolutely disgraceful” behaviour of the protestors. “All forms of ha‐ rassment of our elected repre‐ sentatives are completely un‐ acceptable,” he added.
Electricity bills slashed THE UK government will provide £179 million in funding for energy efficiency upgrades, which will allow electricity bills to be signifi‐ cantly reduced in 20,000 homes while making them warmer. On February 7, the UK govern‐ ment announced that it would provide the funding for thousands of people who live in social housing. According to the official statement from the government website, the funding “will see 20,000 social housing properties with an Ener‐ gy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D or
lower receive upgrades to improve their ener‐ gy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. This includes fitting external wall and roof in‐ sulation, energy‐efficient doors and windows, heat pumps and solar panels.” Minister for Business and Energy Lord Callanan said: “The UK has a strong track record in improving the energy performance of its homes and this funding will continue that as we deliver huge benefits for social housing residents ‐ ensuring they keep more of their cash.”
Lack of rain in Spain R ES E R V O I R S across Spain are reported to be at around 45 per cent of their capacity due to the
drought. With tempera‐ tures rising again this week and no substantial amounts of rain predict‐ ed by AEMET, the situa‐ tion is causing concern. Worst affected are reservoirs in the area of the Guadalquivir, south‐ ern Spain’s major water‐ course which runs over 650km from the moun‐ tains of Jaen to Sanlucar in Cadiz, which are less than one‐third full on average.
Reservoirs all along Andalucia’s Mediter‐ ranean basin are low. The only water re‐ serve in Spain that is above 90 per cent of its capacity is in the Basque region. The drought will affect hotels and tourism busi‐ nesses close to reser‐ voirs, but is also expect‐ ed to have a big impact on farming, especially in the south and east of Spain.
and finally... A GROUNDBREAKING fat‐busting drug that has helped pa‐ tients shed stones is set to be available on the NHS. To be eligi‐ ble for treatment though patients will need to be suffering from a minimum of one obesity‐related issue. During trials of the drug participants lost around two and a half stones in only 15 months. The patients were given a weekly jab of the new drug.
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£109m Lottery jackpot ONE lucky Brit has claimed a staggering £109 million from Friday night’s (February 4) mega‐draw. The lucky winner had opted for numbers 3, 25, 38, 43 and 49 and the Lucky Star numbers 3 and 7. Senior winners’ advisor at The National Lottery Andy Carter previously said: “What an amazing night for a single UK ticket‐holder who has scooped tonight’s whopping £109.9 million special EuroMillions Super Jackpot. “Players are urged to check their tickets and give us a call if they think they are tonight’s lucky winner. “National Lottery players make a huge difference to Na‐ tional Lottery Good Causes across the country generating more than £30 million every week.” He went on to add: “Thanks to National Lottery players, over £1.2 billion has been distributed to date across the UK to help tackle the impact of coronavirus.”
Minimum wage rise
THE Spanish government has proposed raising the mini‐ mum wage to €996 a month, €31 above the current rate (€965 per month over 14 payments). After the meeting held at the Ministry of Labour, Mari Cruz Vicente explained that the government’s proposal is in the middle range of the recommendations made by the Committee of Experts on the SMI, which had recommended an increase of between €24 and €40 for this year. The government’s proposal is below the €1,000 the unions have demanded. In any case, Workers Commissions trade union leader Mari Cruz Vicente has warned that “whatever is agreed”, the increase will have to be applied retroactively from January 1 this year. The proposal is under discussion, with a decision due this week.
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Flights get quicker
SPACE TOURISM: Passengers will enjoy a speedy suborbital flight.
A CHINESE company called Space Transportation is developing a combina‐ tion of aircraft and rocket that is de‐ signed for space tourism and conve‐ nience on planet Earth. In something that sounds like an ex‐ tract from a science fiction novel, the company has assured that this plane will be capable of flying from Beijing to New York in only one hour. Passengers will board in a conventional manner with the aircraft parallel to the ground. At this point, the supersonic plane will be attached to a large structure designed to glide, and will have two pro‐ pellant rockets, located one on each side. These rockets will only be used only for
the take‐off. The aircraft is then moved into a vertical position, similar to a space launch, and the passengers will enjoy a speedy suborbital flight. Very speedy (no time for films): Beijing to New York, for example, is approxi‐ mately 11,000km. Sources from the Chinese company Space Transportation, have stated that this avant‐garde initiative will have lower operating costs than those involved in launching rockets to transport satellites. The company plans making its first full test flight in 2024. If development contin‐ ues, its forecasts are for the first manned flight to take place in 2025. No tickets on sale yet.
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Dutch want to party FRUSTRATED by Covid restric‐ tions, clubs and venues across the Netherlands are planning to break the rules and reopen on Saturday, February 12. Dozens of venues from Ams‐ terdam to Utrecht and Rotter‐ dam have joined a campaign to open up. Last month, restric‐ tions were relaxed for cafes, bars and restaurants, but late‐ night spots were told to remain closed until further notice. A representative from Ams‐ terdam venue Doka, called the reopening campaign a “protest” to “protect our culture.” He added: “We feel that Dutch politicians failed to recognise the significant value of nightlife over the past two years.” The owner of another club said they were facing bankrupt‐ cy after only being able to open three times after midnight in the past two years. It’s current‐ ly unclear what the repercus‐ sions will be for anyone taking part.
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NHS backlog plan LIKE millions of non‐emergency treatments, the government plan for tackling the NHS England backlog has been put on hold. Instead of a roadmap and relief for the record six million people currently waiting for treatment, on Monday February 7, the government announced the launch of an online plat‐ form allowing patients to track their delayed appointments. The service, My Planned Care, is due to be launched at the end of the month. It is alleged that the decision to withhold the full NHS plan comes after an intervention by the treasury.
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Australia rebuilds tourism ALMOST two years after closing its borders to the rest of the world, the Australian government has announced that from February 21 double‐jabbed people from any part of the world will be able to visit. While Spain has been able to wel‐ come tourists and begin to return to normality, Australia had continued with its strict border policy. This an‐ nouncement will end two years of ut‐ ter misery for Australia’s decimated tourism industry. Speaking in Canberra, Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, com‐ mented, “If you’re double‐vaccinated,
BORDERS OPEN: Tourists welcome.
we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia.” Peter Shelley, the Australian Tourism Export Council Managing Di‐ rector said, “Over the two years since
the borders have been closed, the in‐ dustry has been on its knees. Now we can turn our collective efforts towards rebuilding an industry that is in disre‐ pair.” But, said Margy Osmond, CEO of Tourism and Transport Forum, “It’s not as simple as just turning on the tap and we see numbers of international tourists back where they were pre‐ Covid.” According to the government body, Tourism Research Australia, since the start of the pandemic, international and domestic tourism losses have amounted to almost €63.4 billion.
RSPCA footballer complaints THE RSPCA has been flooded with com‐ plaints after West Ham’s Kurt Zouma was filmed kicking his cat at his £2 million man‐ sion. The footage of Zouma kicking and slapping his pet was initially released on Snapchat and hit the headlines on Febru‐ ary 7. The footballer has apologised for the incident but people are not impressed and animal lovers and football fans alike have called on the RSPCA to take action. The RSPCA’s official Twitter account
commented on the complaints received and said: “We’ve had lots of messages re‐ garding an upsetting video of a cat and would like to reassure people we’re aware of it. “We will always look into any com‐ plaints made about animal welfare, but we can’t comment on individual matters for legal reasons. “Thank you for understanding.” One animal lover had commented:
“Kurt Zouma must be prosecuted. “No one should be allowed to get away with such vile behaviour! An apology isn’t enough.” Another person said: “Zouma must be banned from owning animals again. This is cruelty. Pure evil. “I hope you do something about this. “Kids look up to and idolise these play‐ ers and then think this behaviour is ac‐ ceptable.”
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Mosquitoes see red WANT to avoid getting bit‐ ten this summer? Read on. New research shows that mosquitoes looking for blood head towards cer‐ tain colours including red, orange, black and cyan. They’ll ignore green, pur‐ ple, blue and white. Scientists at the Universi‐ ty of Washington have in‐ vestigated how mosquitoes decide who to bite, and published their findings in the Nature Communica‐ tions journal. The study’s lead author, Jeffrey Riffell, said: “One of the most common ques‐ tions I get asked is ‘What can I do to avoid being bit‐ ten by mosquitoes?’ “It’s often said that there are three main signals that attract mosquitoes: your breath, your sweat and your skin temperature. In this study, we found a fourth signal: the colour red, which can not only be found on your clothes, but also on everyone’s skin. “No matter your skin
tone, we all emit a strong red signature. Filtering out those attractive colours on our skin, or wearing cloth‐
ing that avoids those colours, could be another way to prevent a mosquito bite.”
Nurses demand care NURSES will take to the streets across Spain this week to protest against the ‘collapse and abandonment’ of the health system. The series of protests is planned to start today, Thursday, February 10, and continue until politicians show a “firm commitment to change,” said SATSE, the union representing nursing professionals. SATSE members want action to be taken to stop the continued deterioration of primary care, which has resulted in the serious over‐ load and saturation of health centres. Not only are patients suffering increased waiting times, worse quality attention and care, they say, but the lack of resources is taking its toll on the physical, psychological and emotional health of the nursing staff. “The objective,” said a spokesperson for SATSE, “is that the public administrations and political parties react, once and for all, and allocate the necessary resources and means to what really matters to citizens, which is their health and general well‐be‐ ing.”
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WHITE BAOS Abogados have extensive and success‐ ful experience in claims against banks. Today, we want to share a new court success. We have won on ap‐ peal, before the Provincial Court of Alicante, a claim for a mortgage swap or financial exchange of interest, against Bankinter bank. You can con‐ sult the court decision on our
Claims against banks. The mortgage swap or the interest financial swap. New legal success against banks. Spanish banking law. website. What are swaps or finan‐ cial interest swaps sold by Spanish banks?
Swaps, Clips, etc, they were sold by the Spanish banks to their clients, as something that assured them that if the variable interest rates on their mortgage loans rose, they would not be affected. But, the banks did not ex‐ plain, that with these swaps, the variable loans are refer‐ enced to a fixed interest rate. Thus, although it is true that if the variable interest rate of the mortgage loan rose, above the new fixed rate, the bank would compensate the client, and the client would never pay more than the new reference rate. It is also true, that if the variable interest of the loan fell, the client had to pay the difference to the bank. Thus, these products that were sold as insurance to cus‐ tomers, in the event of a pos‐ sible rise in interest rates;
they also had a risk, because in the event of a fall in the reference rate of the loan, the client must compensate the bank. They are complex financial products These products have been qualified by Spanish courts as complex financial products. Therefore, banking entities had to provide customers with sufficient information about the product, its opera‐ tion, risks, etc. However, banking entities normally did not provide clients with all the informa‐ tion required by the specific regulations applicable to this type of contract.
Burden of proof of Spanish banking entities Thus, in these cases, it is up to the banking entities to demonstrate that they have complied with their legal obli‐ gations, and provided cus‐ tomers with the information set out in the regulations. In addition, banks have a greater facility to prove what has been agreed, and infor‐ mation provided to cus‐ tomers. Error in the consent or nul‐ lity due to lack of trans‐ parency Therefore, in these cases, when the bank does not pro‐ vide sufficient information about the characteristics of the product, its mechanical risks, etc. And/or when the clauses of the agreement are not clear, the clients of the banks can request the annul‐ ment of the product.
FEATURE
Either by error or vice in the consent. That is, because they agreed to sign the con‐ tract thinking that the real characteristics were different. Due to lack of information. Or also, nullity can be re‐ quested due to lack of trans‐ parency, when the client could not know reading the clauses of the product, the consequences of it. Consequences of nullity The Orihuela court in its court decision now confirmed by the Provincial Appeal Court of Alicante, has agreed, as requested by our law firm: 1. The nullity of the interest rate swap contract 2. The bank must return to the client everything paid by the client, plus interest. 3. And the bank must pay the court expenses of the client; lawyer, procurator. If you want legal advice in Spain regarding claims against banks, contact us and we will help you. The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys information relating to legal matters.
Carlos Baos (Lawyer) - White&Baos Tel: +34 966 426 185 • info@white-baos.com White & Baos 2022 - All Rights Reserved.
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Tom Cruise too small
LEE CHILD, author of the Jack Reacher books, has hinted that Tom Cruise was too short to play his hero. Many Reacher fans would agree. When the first film, ‘Jack Reacher’, was re‐ leased in 2012, hardened
fans of the books voiced their outrage over Cruise playing the starring role. The same happened in 2016, when ‘Jack Reacher: Never Go Back’ hit the big screen. The character of Jack
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Reacher in Child’s books is described as a huge and hulking 6’ 5” towering pres‐ ence, who physically intimi‐ dates all those he meets. Cruise is undeniably a pow‐ erful screen actor, one of the biggest movie stars in the world, but at 5’ 7” tall, he can hardly be called ‘huge and hulking’. The new eight‐part series ‘Reacher’, released last week on Amazon Prime, has a new lead: the muscu‐ lar 6’ 2” Alan Ritchson. Ahead of the launch, Lee Child spoke candidly to Metro about Cruise’s in‐ volvement in the previous movies. “Reacher has got to scare people, and you can do that so much easier with one glance of this huge ani‐ mal, rather than a normal‐ sized actor.” Making an eight‐part se‐ ries, he said, allowed him “the opportunity of think‐ ing, ‘Alright, we can get a much bigger guy, so the book fans are going to be happy’.”
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Facebook and Instagram blackmail MARK ZUCKERBERG has threatened to ‘shut down’ Facebook and Instagram across Europe if the EU does not meet its de‐ mands. EU regulations mean that data from European users cannot be transferred, stored or processed on US servers ‐ and that’s data his company, Meta, wants. The annual report states: “If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted... we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most important products and services, including Facebook and Insta‐ gram, in Europe.” The company does add a hopeful note, saying that as the General Data Protection Regulation preventing data transfers is still
FACEBOOK: EU regulation problems.
new, interpretation of the law is “still evolv‐ ing.” It appears they believe an exception might be made.
Blue Beer! What next? A FRENCH brewer has started producing blue beer in an effort to give his beers a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’. Hoppy Urban Brew joined forces with a company growing algae as a dietary supplement and (perhaps after a few pints), decided to launch a new line of beer with
algae in it which they have called ‘Line’. The algae have no ef‐ fect on the flavour but the natural pigment does turn the beer a distinc‐ tive blue. Sebastien Verbeke of the brewery said: “The beer is selling well. It’s getting an enormous
amount of interest and curiosity from the pub‐ lic.” The beer is currently only available in northern France, but with algae production ramping up in Spain, don’t be surprised to see something shock‐ ing in your pint glass soon.
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Closed after 1,229 years
BRITAIN’S oldest pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St Albans, Herefordshire, has been forced to close ‘after 1,229 years’. The pub had survived plagues and wars, but has finally been beaten by the coronavirus pandemic and gone in‐ to administration. Landlord Christo Tofalli made the sad announcement on Facebook: “Along with my team, I have tried everything to keep the pub going. However, the past two years have defeated all of us.” Ye Olde Fighting Cocks started op‐ erating in the year 793, although the building is only 1,000 years old. It was named as the oldest pub in Britain by Guinness World Records. The landlord has been left heartbroken
OLDEST PUB: Made sad announcement.
by the closure. Christo said: “It goes without saying I am heartbroken: this pub has been so much more than just a business to me, and I feel honoured to have played even a small part in its his‐ tory.”
52 million fewer tourists THE pandemic has had a devastating effect on Spain’s tourism industry, with 52 million fewer visi‐ tors in 2021 than in 2019. Figures published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show visi‐ tor numbers dropped by almost 63 per cent during
this period. However, there are signs of a rebound. The number of international tourists registered in 2021 was up by 64.4 per cent on 2020 and their total spend, €34,816 mil‐ lion, represents a 76 per cent year on year in‐
crease. Forecasts sug‐ gest that tourism will begin to recover quickly as Covid‐19 related re‐ strictions are relaxed, but it will take many years for businesses within the sector to re‐ coup the losses made over the past two years.
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Flea market purchases A D R AW I N G originally bought for $30 in a yard sale in Massachusetts has been valued at well over $10 million. It turns out the nice sketch is a previously undiscovered drawing by the 16th century German master Albrecht Dürer. The buyer, a second‐ hand dealer, almost sold the drawing on to someone who only wanted the frame. Two years later, art collector Clifford Schorer, who was on his way to a party and needed to buy a gift, stumbled across it. He told the previous owner: “I think it’s either the biggest forgery I’ve ev‐ er seen, or it’s a master‐ piece,” and bought it for $100,000. The gamble has paid off. The artwork is now in the hands of London‐based auction house, Agnews Gallery, and “the subject of great interest.”
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Camilla for Queen
HER Majesty the Queen has confirmed that when Charles becomes King, Camilla will become Queen. According to royal sources, the 95‐year‐old monarch made the deci‐ sion in honour of the happi‐ ness that Camilla has brought her son, and for her good work. Addressing the British public in a statement to mark her accession day, February 6, the Queen said, “I remain eternally grateful for, and humbled by, the loyalty and affection that you continue to give me. “And when, in the full‐ ness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have giv‐ en me. And it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort, as she continues her own loyal service.” The Queen looked back to the day, 70 years ago,
that she started her reign, and to the future: “As I look ahead with a sense of hope and optimism to the year of my Platinum Jubilee, I am reminded of how much we can be thankful for.”
Will be Queen Consort.
NATIONAL POLICE officers in Sevilla have dismantled a marihuana farm hidden inside a warehouse on an industrial estate. A 42‐ year‐old man was arrested for drug trafficking and electricity fraud. Inside the warehouse on La Red Norte estate, Alcala de Guadaira, officers dis‐
BAFTA luvvies Forbidden
SCIENCE-FICTION epic ‘Dune’ dominates the nominations for this year’s BAFTA awards with 11 nods. ‘The Power of the Dog’, a dark western, is just behind with eight nomina‐ tions, while Sir Kenneth Branagh’s semi‐autobio‐ graphical black and white comedy‐drama, ‘Belfast’, rounds out the top three, with six. Among the acting talent, nominees for leading ac‐ tress include Lady Gaga for ‘House of Gucci’, the fash‐ ion drama; Emilia Jones for ‘CODA’; and Alana Haim for ‘Licorice Pizza’. Tessa Thompson is also on the list for ‘Passing’, along with
Joanna Scanlan for her role in ‘Af‐ ter Love’. Best actor nominees in‐ clude Benedict Cumber‐ batch for ‘The Power of the Dog’; Leonardo DiCaprio for ‘Don’t Look Up’; Will Smith for ‘King Richard’; Stephen Graham for ‘Boil‐ ing Point’ and Mahershala Ali for ‘Swan Song’. The BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Tele‐ vision Arts) awards will be presented at a live ceremo‐ ny in London on March 13.
TWO Spanish nationals aged 39 and 67 years old have been arrested for sell‐ ing elephant legs on the in‐ ternet. If found guilty, they could face a prison sen‐ tence of between six months and two years or a hefty fine. The investigation by the Guardia Civil, under the auspices of the Ministry of Ecological Transition’s Prevention and Action Plan against the illegal sale of protected species, was be‐ gun following the discovery of the online listing in November 2021. The elephant legs had been turned into stools and were priced at €600 each.
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Gone to pot
covered around 250 mari‐ huana plants more than one metre high. Marihuana was hanging from clothes lines to dry in preparation for selling. The street value was es‐
timated at €70,000. The building had been fraudulently connected to the electricity supply, pos‐ ing a serious fire risk, as well as endangering the safety of the affected area.
ELEPHANT LEGS: Were being sold as stools.
and finally...
MOSCOW Zoo pandas have predicted the Winter Olympics medal table and they ought to know as they are Chinese! Pandas Ruyi and Dingding ventured out into snow at Moscow Zoo to give their predictions. Each was given access to traffic cones bearing the national flags of the favourite nations at the Beijing Winter Olympics and with no treats inside any cone, they used their knowledge to predict the winners. According to the Moscow Zoo Twitter account the leaders as decided by the pandas will be Russia, China, Germany and the USA.
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THE US Department of Home‐ land Security is seriously consid‐ ering the use of robot dogs to patrol its border with Mexico. The idea is to collaborate with Ghost Robotics and use metal skeleton quadrupeds from the Ghost Vision 60 range. While they can be operated by remote control, the metal dogs can also work without the need for hu‐ man intervention.
10 - 16 February 2022
Robot dogs as border guards “The Southwest of the United States is a region that combines a harsh landscape, extreme tem‐ peratures, and other non‐envi‐ ronmental threats, that can cre‐ ate dangerous obstacles for those who patrol the border,” explains the Department of
Homeland Security. The robot dog was developed specifically for this kind of job said Gavin Kenneally, the Ghost Robotics product manager: “It’s a robust, quadrupedal robot. It tra‐ verses all kinds of natural terrain, including sand, rocks, and hills, as
UK Levelling Up Fund THE National Audit Office (NAO) has criticised Boris Johnson’s £4.8 billion flagship Levelling Up Fund, saying
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money will be wasted as min‐ isters fail to analyse what works, picking projects that are too small to have any sig‐
Step forward in pandemic SCIENTISTS have taken a step forward in eradicating Covid glob‐ ally after Afrigen Biologics in South Africa used the publicly avail‐ able sequence of Moderna Inc’s mRNA Covid‐19 vaccine to make its own version in a world first. Tests could begin before the end of the year according to Afrigen’s top executive. The vaccine would be the first to be produced without the as‐ sistance and approval of the developer, and would be the first mRNA vaccine designed, developed and produced at lab scale on the African continent. The World Health Organisation (WHO) last year picked a consortium including Afrigen for a pilot project to give poor and middle‐income countries the know‐how to make Covid vaccines. The market leaders of the mRNA Covid vaccine, Pfizer (PFE.N), BioNTech (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O), agreed a WHO request to share their technology and expertise. The WHO and the consortium partners hope their technology transfer hub will help overcome inequalities between rich nations and poorer countries in getting access to vaccines. The move could help to increase vaccination levels globally, bringing the end of the pandemic a step closer.
nificant impact. The Levelling Up Fund is to bridge the gap between rich and poor areas in the UK which, say the NAO, are ‘among the largest’ of any de‐ veloped nation. The white paper sets out 12 legally‐ binding ‘missions’, including to increase pay, jobs, invest‐ ment, transport connections, home ownership and school results in poorer areas, while cutting crime. But the Local Government Association warned that councils’ efforts are being hin‐ dered as they are forced to bid for ‘small pots’ of cash, which leaves them unable to ‘plan strategically for their communities’. There are growing con‐ cerns that ‐ once again ‐ much‐needed funds are be‐ ing misdirected. The Head of the Commons Public Ac‐ counts Committee, Labour’s Meg Hillier, accused the gov‐ ernment of having “turned on the taps without really knowing where to direct the hose.”
well as man‐made environments like stairs.” The robotic dogs will be equipped with night‐vision gog‐ gles and thermal sensors allow‐ ing them to detect people illegal‐ ly entering the country. What they do after that isn’t clear.
ROBOT DOG: Would be equipped with night-vision goggles and thermal sensors.
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Higher energy bills PRICE CAP: Protected customers over the course of winter.
OFGEM, the UK energy regula‐ tor has said that the cost of failed firms has cost each household around £68, with more than 25 companies hav‐ ing gone bankrupt. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Jonathan Brearley said that about 10 per cent of the energy price cap rise of £693 covered the cost of firms going bust. The energy regula‐ tor now wants to review the price cap every three months, instead of every six months, which it does at present. More frequent reviews will, Brearley said, help to bring some stability for consumers and firms in fast‐moving mar‐ ket. He added: “That money was focused on making sure everyone in the country, even if their supplier went bust, had access to energy at that price cap. That price cap has protect‐ ed customers over the course of winter.” With 28 energy companies having failed, more than four million customers have been forced to change their supplier, prompting criti‐ cism of the energy watchdog.
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Certificate valid till 2023
THE European Commission has pro‐ posed extending the validity of the EU Covid Certificate until June 30, 2023 ‐ one year longer than its current ex‐ piry date. The document was intended to be a temporary tool, but the virus is still prevalent in the EU and the appear‐ ance of new variants cannot be ruled out. More than 1,200 million certificates have been issued since July 1, 2021, and it has become the standard docu‐
ment for worldwide use. The exten‐ sion to 2023 is intended to provide continued ease of travel within the bloc. Many countries in Europe use the certificate to regulate access to cul‐ tural shows, hotels, restaurants, gyms and other indoor spaces. Although Brussels does not have power over how the certification is used, it does ask the European States that the na‐ tional expiration date is aligned with European rules.
PM’s tribute to HM
THE Queen made history on Sunday, February 6, as she celebrated 70 years on the throne. Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid tribute, say‐ ing: “Today marks a truly historic moment as Her Majesty The Queen be‐ comes the first British monarch to celebrate a Plat‐ inum Jubilee. “Throughout her seven‐ decade reign, she has shown an inspirational
sense of duty and unwaver‐ ing dedication to this nation. “I pay tribute to her many years of service and look forward to the summer when we will be able to come together as a country to celebrate her historic reign.” Earlier in the week, speaking in the Commons, Johnson had said: “I know that the whole House will want to join me in thank‐ ing Her Majesty for her
tireless service.” Justin Welby the Arch‐ bishop of Canterbury praised the Queen’s leader‐ ship in a BBC interview. “The clearest moment for me, the absolute summit of that,” he said, “was that at the funeral of her husband of 70‐something years, she sat alone. “That was leadership, it was doing the right thing, it was duty, it set an exam‐ ple.”
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Hotel bills for UK refugees
THE UK government is spending £1.2 million a day on placing asylum seekers and refugees in hotels instead of long‐term housing. More than £438 million a year is being spent on accommodation for about 37,000 individuals who are claiming asylum or have been evacuated from Afghanistan, according to a Home Office official. Delays in the system caused by the pandemic have heavily increased the number of asylum seekers being placed into temporary locations and the government has not secured enough dis‐ persal housing across the country, adding to the issue. Maddie Harris, the director of Humans for Rights Network, told local British press: “At huge expense to the taxpayer and to the health of tens of thousands of asylum seekers, private contrac‐ tors are profiting from Home Office contracts to provide accommodation that is frequently un‐ safe.” Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, said housing people in hotels was a “failed strategy,” adding: “We want to work with the government to urgently support people into suitable housing so they can start to rebuild their lives. This is about finding an effec‐ tive solution that supports people, including granting them the right to work, not about quick fixes that make their lives even worse,” he said.
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Lionel not saying ‘Hello’
LEGENDARY American artist Lionel Richie has cancelled his European tour, blaming the decision on the spread of the Omicron variant. Sev‐ enty‐two‐year‐old Richie had been due to appear in Marbella on July 26, at the Starlite Festival. “As Covid and its variants continue to impact the world, I have decided to hold off on my European tour this summer. The most important thing to me is the health of my fans, band, and crew,” the singer explained on Twitter. Adding, “I hope you all un‐ derstand, and I hope to see you very soon when we can all gather safely.”
European tour now cancelled.
Sea spillage kills fish
A FLOATING carpet of 100,000 dead fish covering an area of 3,000 square metres has been spotted floating off the coast of France after a spillage by the world’s second‐ biggest shipping trawler, the Dutch‐ owned FV Margiris. France’s national fishing surveil‐ lance authority has launched an in‐ vestigation. The spillage happened on Thurs‐ day, February 3 and was caused by a rupture in the trawler’s net, said the Pelagic Freezer‐Trawler Association
(PFA), the fishing industry group which represents the vessel’s owner. Marine Traffic data shows the ves‐ sel, which sails under the flag of Lithuania, continued its fishing activi‐ ties in the Atlantic off the French coast. Campaign group Sea Shepherd was first to alert authorities to the in‐ cident. Trawlers like the Margiris use drag nets more than a kilometre long and process the fish in onboard factories, a practice heavily criticised by environmentalists.
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Arrests for illegal wells THE Guardia Civil’s nature protection unit, Se‐ prona, has arrested 133 people for having illegal wells, boreholes and ponds. The unit worked with hydrographic confederations and local organisa‐ tions in a joint mission (Operation MIZU II) and carried out 1,512 inspections across the country. In addition to the illegal extraction and collec‐ tion of water, arrests were made for crimes in‐ cluding water fraud and territorial planning. With Spain facing a drought, siphoning and hoarding water was the driving factor, but the death of Rayan, the boy in the well in Morocco, is further evidence that illegal water collection often repre‐ sents a risk to life as well as the environment. In total, 74 per cent of the illegal activity related to wells and boreholes that had been drilled with‐ out surveys and authorisation. Most facilities lacked security measures, making them a danger to both people or animals, especially after use, when abandoned. The majority were detected in Spain’s most sensitive and vulnerable areas, such as the Doñana National Park and the basins of the main rivers. Those found guilty of illegal water extraction could find themselves barred from working for a period of up to two years, and facing fines and prison sentences which, in the most serious cases, could be up to five years.
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NEWS
Huge flasher T H E world record flash crossed three US states in April 2020, crossing Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi beating the previous record of 704 kms that crossed Uruguay into Northern Argentina earlier in the year. The flash lasted 17.1 sec‐ onds beating the previous record of 16.7 seconds. Both regions are amongst the few places in the world prone to the type of intense storms that can produce what are called ‘megaflashes’, said
Randall Cerveny of Arizona State University, Head of Records Confirmation for the WMO. Cervney added that lightning does not usually stretch further than 16 kms and usually lasts less than a second. “These two lightning flash records are absolute‐ ly extraordinary,” he said. He continued saying that both were cloud‐to‐cloud happening several hun‐ dred metres above the ground, so no one was in danger.
RECORD FLASH: Crossed three states in the USA.
Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic dis‐ charge during which two electrically charged re‐ gions, both in the atmo‐ sphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neu‐ tralise themselves. That can cause an instanta‐
neous release of energy at an average of one giga‐ joule. Lightning occurs commonly during thunder‐ storms as well as other types of energetic weather systems, but volcanic light‐ ning can also occur during volcanic eruptions.
Casino refunds gambling addict
A Y O U N G gambling addict in Murcia, is to receive €6,000 from a casino in compensation for al‐ lowing him to enter, although he will not receive the almost €18,000 he claimed to have spent. The client, aged 25, was on the Tax Agency’s list of ‘self‐exclud‐
ed’ gamblers. As a result, the company which owns two gaming and betting parlours located in Alcantarilla (Murcia) has been or‐ dered to pay the amount in com‐ pensation for not having prevent‐ ed him access to the premises. The man was able to gamble at the casino on several occasions.
The Murcia Provincial Court con‐ firmed that he had made more than 140 transactions at the gam‐ ing machines, and the bank state‐ ments show a series of charges on his card. However, it was not possible to determine the exact amount he spent on the bets, nor what he won from them.
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ONE of pop music’s most successful groups of all time, The Spice Girls, is re‐ portedly finally over for good. There had been plans for a new movie, and a tour, but it has all been called off, and the girls have gone their own ways ‐ again. The group who coined the term ‘Girl Power’ had
Pop breakup completed a huge 13‐date reunion, with the Spice World ‐ 2019 Tour. Four of the original members took part ‐ minus Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice) ‐ playing to 700,000
fans, with the tour culmi‐ nating on June 15, 2019, with the third of three sell‐ out concerts at Wembley Stadium. The tour report‐ edly amassed £80 million. On that final night, with
the tour an unrivalled suc‐ cess, Mel B (Scary Spice) had announced on stage that the group was plan‐ ning some Australian dates. Simon Fuller, the music mogul, was reported to be behind the project, as a fol‐ low‐up to their previous cult classic film in 1997 ‐ Spice World.
Ex-Khashoggi bodyguard tries hold-up A FORMER bodyguard for arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi tried his hand at a bank robbery in Gijon on Thursday February 3 ‐ and was promptly arrested. Julio SG en‐ tered a Caja Rural on Paseo de la Infancia shortly before 1.30pm, stood in front of one of the bank’s employees and, brandishing a small knife, told him, “Give me the money or I’ll cut you up.” Thanks to the calm action of the bank worker, a silent alarm was activated unnoticed by the man, and the National Police were on the scene in three min‐ utes. A native of Gijon, Julio SG was recognised by the office employ‐ ees. The one‐time heavy for the Marbella‐based Saudi arms deal‐ er had granted an interview to ‘El Comercio’ in 2017, a few days after the death of his employer of five years, in which he’d ad‐ mitted he had fallen on hard times, and had no income. The Judicial Police Brigade is now investigating whether he could be involved in other rob‐ beries.
NEWS
SPICE GIRLS: All the plans have now been called off.
Computer says ‘Yes’ A SINGLE parliamentary vote which secured approval for labour reform in Spain, unlocking billions of euros in European Union aid, is a computer error, said the opposition. The conservative People’s Party (PP) is cry‐ ing foul, saying there was a technical glitch during the parliamentary debate on Thursday February 3 which led to a member who voted ‘no’ having their vote appear on the screen as ‘yes’. The legislation was passed by 175‐174. The reform grants more power to labour unions in bargaining contracts and also lowers the num‐ ber of Spanish workers on temporary con‐ tracts. The landmark reform is a long‐standing campaign promise of Spain’s Socialist Presi‐ dent Pedro Sanchez. “This is the most important law of the legis‐ lature,” Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz told parliament before the vote. She added the legislation would counter the country’s chronic unemployment problem which was 14.1 per cent in November, double the eurozone average. The approval of the bill was a condition for aid from the EU’s €800 billion ($917 billion) coronavirus recovery fund. However PP President, Pablo Casado, said the party will challenge the legislation in the Constitutional Court. It was an “anomaly” and should be “recti‐ fied,” PP party spokesperson Cuca Gamarra insisted.
NEWS
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UK airport eGate chaos
GOVERNMENT inspector David Neal has slammed the Home Office over chaos caused by eGates at UK airports. Issues around lack of training, constant Covid rule changes and insufficient numbers of staff have resulted in mayhem and five‐hour queues for travellers. eGates are a common sight at many UK airports. Stansted has 30 eGates, while Heathrow has 69 and Gatwick has 50.
Speaking to the British press a Home Of‐ fice source explained that eGates have re‐ ceived updates that will “improve security and efficiency.” The source went on to add: “We are com‐ mitted to making further improvements and ePassport Gate technology continues to be part of the overall strategy to make our bor‐ der as efficient, smart, and responsive as possible.”
One in 50 with long Covid
OFFICIAL data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) re‐ leased at the end of January, shows a record one out of 50 Brits have been living with long Covid since the start of Jan‐ uary. Long Covid is defined by the ONS as when a person has symptoms for four or more weeks after infection, the most common of which is fatigue. The ONS estimates that 1.33 million adults were suffering from symptoms on January 2. The figures include only the ear‐ liest effects of the Omicron vari‐ ant, and it remains unknown what long Covid effects the vari‐ ant might produce.
The estimates are based on a survey carried out on 306,000 people who reported suffering from long Covid. Experts have
cast doubt over the ONS’s find‐ ings saying symptoms such as fatigue and headaches could be linked to a variety of conditions.
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Road tax rise
MPs in the UK say that a new tax is required to plug the £35 billion short‐ fall in taxes from fuel and excise duty that is being created by motorists switching to electric cars. The call was made by the Transport Select Com‐ mittee who said that mo‐ torists should be taxed on mileage and that if noth‐ ing is done this year the government faces a black hole in its finances. However the Treasury
Dangerous new viral challenge A VIRAL challenge on social media is seeing young people disappearing for days. Sectors of the police have warned of the dangerousness of the challenge that involves young people leaving their homes and disappearing for 48 hours without notifying their family or friends and without leaving a trace or communicating. Young people are ‘nominated’ by social networks and if they accept the challenge they must get going. The objective is to generate as much concern and panic as possible to score points with the reactions that are provoked on social media channels and emergency services. The destructiveness of this challenge is not only the concern of families, or that it can end up in mobilising police forces that could be dealing with real cases, but also the fact that the child is putting themselves in serious danger of getting into an accident with nobody knowing their whereabouts.
FUEL DUTY: Government faces a black hole in its finances.
has said that tax revenues would keep pace with changes prompted by electric vehicle take‐up. Sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans will be banned in the UK from 2030 prompting a rise in the sales of electric cars. Taken together, vehicle
excise duty, ‘car tax’, and fuel duty that motorists pay at the pump, raise around £35 billion a year, but neither tax is levied on pure electric vehicles. Tax that will no longer be collected from existing vehicles by 2040 accord‐ ing to the committee.
and finally... A SEYCHELLES giant tortoise living on the remote South At‐ lantic Ocean island of St Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cun‐ ha, is believed to be an incredible 190 years old. His name is Jonathan, he weighs 200kg, and experts think he could well be the oldest living land animal on the planet. There is talk that the island might even commission a commemorative stamp in his honour, or even name a national holiday after him in 2022.
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NEWS
Ryanair worst, Jet2 best Robot throat surgery ACCORDING to consumer watchdog Which?, Ryanair is the worst short‐haul air‐ line for refunding people unable to fly during the pan‐ demic, and Jet2 is the best. Ryanair performed badly in the watchdog’s short‐
Ryanair performed badly.
haul survey. While refunds due to Covid issues were available from Ryanair, more than one in five peo‐ ple taking part said they took over a month to pro‐ cess. One flyer also complained about the “total lack of transparency about costs, and treating passengers like cattle to be squeezed for the last penny.” Another commented on the customer service: “Ryanair is the most awk‐ ward airline to deal with that I have ever come across. It seems to be proud of being difficult.” Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary told RTE Radio 1: “everyone that has request‐ ed a refund for us has re‐ ceived it.” Low‐cost airline Jet2 was voted the best for refunds and also scored highly in a number of other categories, such as punctuality, cabin cleanliness, customer ser‐ vice, value for money and Covid precautions.
THROAT cancer surgery was carried out for the first time by a robot at the Queen Eliza‐ beth University Hospital in Glasgow on Monday, January 31, using the pioneering Transoral Robotic surgery (TORS) technique. Use of the robot allows the surgeon to perform highly precise surgery, enabling movements in tiny spaces and with the capa‐ bility to gain access to areas in the throat previously only possible with open proce‐ dures. Using a remote console, that doesn’t have to be in the same room or even the same hospital, the operator guides the surgical tools whilst surgeons and nurses support the operation from the patient’s bedside.
FIRST TIME: Using a remote console.
The NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde hopes to perform around 30 operations in the first year, with the current aim being the removal of cancerous tumours, with the pro‐ cedure likely to extend into other types of surgical procedures in time.
Galician Rambo caught A FUGITIVE dubbed the ‘Galician Rambo’ has finally been arrested in north‐west Spain. Guardia Civil officers in A Coruña arrested 63‐year‐old Alfredo Sanchez Chacon in the early hours of Thursday, February 3, thanks to the col‐ laboration of local citizens. The fugitive made the mis‐ take this time of breaking into
a woman’s house in O Cal‐ vario, in the Coruña munici‐ pality of Valdoviño. As he tried to enter through a win‐ dow, he was apprehended by her two young sons. They chased and overpow‐ ered the former legionnaire, and held him until a Guardia Civil officer arrived. The officer fired two shots in the air after which ‘Rambo’ calmed down
enough to be arrested. Police had been looking for Sanchez Chacon since March, 2021, when he absconded during a temporary leave of absence while serving a prison sentence for murder in Monterroso, Lugo. Until his failed house break‐in, he had been hiding in the mountains of the Ferrol region.
NEWS
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Endeavour confirmed EU’s highest unemployment AUSTRALIAN National Mar‐ itime Museum chief execu‐ tive Kevin Sumption has con‐ firmed that British explorer James Cook’s ship HMS En‐ deavour has finally been dis‐ covered by archaeologists. The scientists have been combing the water in search of the wreckage for more than two decades. HMS En‐ deavour has been lying at the
Wreckage found on seabed.
Madeleine chief suspect PHONE records have shown that the suspect in the Madeleine McCann case was no more than five minutes from the apartment. A new documentary about the disappearance of three‐year‐ old Madeleine McCann from an apartment on Portugal’s Algarve in 2007 makes startling new claims about the chief suspect Chris‐ tian Brueckner. The British youngster went missing from the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, and despite many investigations, has not been heard of since. Bruecker, aged 44, was named by German prosecutors in June 2020 as their main, and only suspect. Convicted paedophile Brueckner has always denied being re‐ sponsible, and is currently serving time in a German prison on un‐ related sex and drugs charges. He has always said that the police have no concrete evidence linking him to Madeleine. He has always maintained that there are several people who can offer him an alibi, and who will testify to his whereabouts on the night of Maddie’s disappearance.
bottom of the ocean for near‐ ly 250 years. Sumption confirmed that the discovery was made in Newport Harbour, Rhode Is‐ land. He also confirmed that the shipwreck has been iden‐ tified. This has caused some controversy though as anoth‐ er expert believes that it is ‘premature’ to say it is the En‐ deavour. Sumption revealed: “It’s ar‐ guably one of the most im‐ portant vessels in Australia’s maritime history. “I am satisfied that this is the final resting place of one of the most important and contentious vessels in Aus‐ tralia’s maritime history. “Based on archival and ar‐ chaeological evidence, I’m convinced it’s the Endeav‐ our.” He went on to add: “It’s an important historical moment, as this vessel’s role in explo‐ ration, astronomy and science applies not just to Australia, but also Aotearoa New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.”
FOR the last seven consecutive months, Spain has recorded the highest level of unem‐ ployment in the EU. An unemployment level of 13 per cent was recorded in De‐ cember, a figure that is only close to Greece at 12.7 per cent, and which, moreover, is double the European average of 6.4 per cent. December was the seventh consecutive month in which Spain l e a d s w i t h t h i s s t a t i s‐ tic in Europe. Last June, the level of un‐ employment reached 15.3 per cent, a level which no other Euro‐ pean country has ex‐ ceeded. Greece ‐ the only other state to start the pandemic with un‐ employment in double figures ‐ has seen a faster recovery in un‐ employment levels.
Sixteen other mem‐ bers of the EU still register unemploy‐ ment figures higher than before the pan‐ demic started. Unemployment in Spain fell from its pre‐
pandemic level for the first time in November 2021, and in Decem‐ ber, it was eight‐10ths below the level of February 2020 ‐ the last month not affect‐ ed by Covid.
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FEATURE
of amazing live music
THE world‐famous venue Benidorm Palace will be hosting a spectacular weekend of enter‐ tainment this Valentine’s on Saturday February 12 and Sun‐ day February 13. Hosting both their new show Terra and the world’s best ELO tribute band, ELO Again, on the same weekend, Benidorm Palace is offering its guests a ro‐ mantic weekend of electrifying entertainment and world‐class food. Benidorm Palace burst onto the scene in 1977 and has been bringing a special blend of elec‐ trifying entertainment and world‐class cuisine ever since. From the Miss Spain Contest to the European Arts Forum, its iconic stage regularly welcomes renowned international artists like Lola Flores and Julio Iglesias. Now, offering all the glitz, glamour and entertainment Benidorm Palace is famous for, their latest show Terra, on Satur‐ day, February 12, is an amazing event for all ages. A new production uniting artists from all over the world to‐ gether on one stage, Terra pays tribute to planet Earth and Mother Nature. Choreographed by David Moore under the direction of Joanna Climent, Terra takes the spectator on a journey to some of the most emblematic places across five continents. A dinner show with live music, visual attractions, comedy, and magic, Terra is the perfect night to mark Valentine’s. Meanwhile, band ELO Again, who are performing on Sunday, February 13, will be rocking the house with classic hits from one of the world’s best‐loved bands. Back with their stunning ‘Re‐ Discovery Tour,’ ELO Again are celebrating the truly universal music of Jeff Lynne and the Elec‐
ELO AGAIN: The large band is offering a Valentine’s spectacular at Benidorm Palace.
tric Light Orchestra. Giving you a dramatic taste of what a legendary ELO concert would have been like back in their heyday, the whole experi‐ ence is professionally re‐enacted with a great sound reproduction, light show and visual effects. As the UK’s number one trib‐ ute show, ELO Again provides the spectacular live effect of ELO’s famous orchestrations, soaring strings and vocals. They certainly know how to entertain too, as the hits just keep on coming, while their version of
ALL THE HITS: They will perform classics including Mr Blue Sky.
Mr Blue Sky is stunning. A night at the Benidorm Palace not only offers the high‐ est quality performers, spectacu‐ lar costumery and great music, it also serves up beautiful food. On the menu for Terra is mari‐ nated chicken salad with bacon, crunchy croutons and Gran Palace sauce, pumpkin cream soup, Iberian pork steak with five pepper sauce, potato gratin and sautêd vegetables, as well as the Chef’s special dessert and wine. Or for Menu Gran Palace Plus ticket holders, a main course of grilled fillet steak with port sauce, potato gratin and sautêd vegetables is on the menu Meanwhile, for ELO Again a meal of chicken or fish and chips is available. The Euro Weekly News spoke to ELO Again’s lead singer Colin Smith, who performs as the leg‐ endary band’s front man Jeff Lynne. Speaking out coming to Spain, he said: “We’ve performed across Europe in Germany and Poland and I’d heard about the Benidorm Palace from other great acts who had performed there before, who said what an amazing place it is.” Colin added: “We’re really looking forward to coming out and performing to an amazing audience and a great venue and having a great night.”
ELO Again are performing on Sunday, February 13 at 8.30pm. Tickets are available from the Benidorm Palace Box Office for €30 with an option available for chicken or fish and chips for €8. Terra takes place on Saturday, February 12 at 8pm. Tickets are €34 to the show, €54 to the show and dinner, and €64 for the show and the menu Gran Palace Plus. Benidorm Palace is also offering a special Valentine’s promotion of tickets to both Terra and ELO Again for the show only for just €55. Upgrades for a meal are available.
For more information or to book tickets, contact 965 851 660 or go to https://www.benidormpalace.com/en/tickets/
NEWS
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A CYBER attack on oil transport and storage com‐ panies across Europe has caused ‘some delays in exe‐ cution,’ according to re‐ ports. IT systems have been dis‐ rupted at Oiltanking in Ger‐ many, SEA‐Invest in Belgium and Evos in the Nether‐ lands. Dozens of oil termi‐ nals have been affected, with firms reporting that the attacks occurred over the weekend of January 29 and 30. But experts caution against assuming this is a coordinated attack. It’s un‐ derstood that all three com‐ panies’ IT systems went down or were severely dis‐ rupted. The company is working to get a backup IT system online but said that most liquid transportation is op‐ erational. The spokeswoman said SEA‐Invest is aware of the cyber‐attacks against other companies, but investiga‐ tions have not determined if there is a link. On January 31 Oiltanking Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, which stores and trans‐ ports oil, vehicle fuels and
10 - 16 February 2022
Oil delays
other petroleum products, said it had been hacked. The company was forced
to operate at a ‘limited ca‐ pacity’ and was investigat‐ ing the incident, it said.
Canine CPR A LOS ANGELES man has been called a hero after sav‐ ing a dog’s life by performing cardiopulmonary resuscita‐ tion (CPR) when the animal passed out and stopped breathing. Jay, full name un‐ known, noticed that the dog had collapsed while out walking with his owner and that it has stopped breathing. Witnesses say he didn’t hesitate in dropping to the ground before starting to perform the life‐saving mea‐ sure. Stone, the nine‐year‐old dog had stopped breathing, with a video loaded on to Tik‐ Tok showing Jay performing
Saved the dog’s life.
CPR and saying to the dog “Come on baby, you already have it.” Jay has achieved interna‐ tional recognition with the video going viral, being seen by more than a million peo‐ ple. The many comments praise Jay saying “Who is he? He deserves recognition for being so amazing,” “You are a hero,” “Best dog, dad. I’m glad you posted this video.”
STATS
5
Iceland grows 5cm per year due to its tectonic plates.
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NEWS
NASA to destroy ISS Stamps with barcodes THE International Space Station (ISS) is being lined up for the ‘space‐ craft cemetery.’ NASA has announced plans to kill off the iconic space station in January
2031. At this time, it will be sent plunging into an ocean known as the ‘spacecraft cemetery’, a place called Point Nemo, in the South Pacific. The ISS was launched
by NASA back in 1998, which means it has been circling our planet for around 23 years. When it was built, the ISS had an estimated lifespan of 15 years, so it has al‐ ready outlived its ex‐ pectancy. The ocean is reported‐ ly where all rockets and satellites are sent to their final resting place, and is located in one of the most remote regions of the planet. Most of the giant 930,000lbs spacecraft will burn up as it re‐enters the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA assures that the craft is in good condition still, but that its contin‐ ued use has started to increase the number of problems that have cropped up. Over the next decade, to alleviate the issues, NASA intends to add a number of commercially operated modules.
ROYAL MAIL has announced that postage stamps are being brought into the digital world with barcodes, transforming the 180‐ year‐old means of sending letters. The change will allow people to scan the stamps which will redirect them to videos or greetings from senders. The first of these will be a redirect to a Shaun the Sheep animation. The change does mean that all existing stamps will need to be used by January 2023 or swapped for new ones. Non‐coded stamps ‐ in‐ cluding Christmas stamps ‐ will now only be valid until January next year. However, they can be exchanged for the new ones through Royal Mail’s Swap Out scheme, which opens on March 31.
DIGITAL: Stamps will feature barcodes.
The codes will be available on so‐called ‘definitive’ stamps ‐ the everyday stamps fea‐ turing the profile of the Queen. The idea is that people will be able to choose which video the recipient sees when they get their mail.
HRT gets welcome boost
ACCORDING to reports, hor‐ mone replacement therapy (HRT) could shortly be avail‐ able over the counter, depend‐ ing on the outcome of a De‐ partment of Health and Social Care consultation. HRT is used by millions of women during menopause, the drug being used to offset the symptoms that for many severely impacts their quality
of life. The intention is to reclassify the medication to allow wom‐ en to obtain the tablets with‐ out a prescription from a phar‐ macy, however it is not known at this stage exactly which HRT product will be part of the pro‐ posal. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We understand that for some
women menopause symp‐ toms can have a significant im‐ pact on their quality of life, and we are committed to improv‐ ing the care and support they receive. “That’s why we’re develop‐ ing the first ever government‐ led Women’s Health Strategy, informed by women’s lived ex‐ perience. Menopause will be a priority under the Strategy.”
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World’s 1st 0-carb beer THE world’s first zero‐carb beer is on the way at only 80 calories. Budweiser has spent 10 years design‐ ing the new drink and it was to be launched in the USA this week. Bud‐ weiser has named their new drink Bud Light Next. The company say the drink is a “brewing breakthrough” that took 10 years in the NEW: making. Bud Light Next is Bud lower in alcohol than a stan‐ Light Next. dard Bud and comes in at just 4 per cent ABV. Andy Goeler is the marketing vice presi‐ dent for Budweiser. Commenting on the first‐ever zero‐carb beer he said: “As Bud
IONE BELARRA, the Minister for Social Rights and Agenda 2030, has put for‐ ward a proposal to include a minimum of seven days of paid care leave in Spain as part of the Families Act. The Minister plans that the care leave would be used for looking after children, parents and other cohabi‐ tants. The proposal was put forward on Thursday, February 3. Belarra commented on the proposal and explained: “Covid has taught us
Light enters 2022, we are pushing the beer category to new heights with the launch of Bud Light Next, our first ever zero‐ carb beer. “Today’s con‐ sumers are all about breaking barriers, being trail‐ blazers and setting their own path. “We are proud to intro‐ duce this new, super crisp beer, which is brewed to meet their evolving taste prefer‐ ences.”
Paid leave how important it is to take care of our‐ selves and to have time to take care of others, and these are lessons that are here to stay. “For this reason, we think that Spain needs to begin to bring itself into line with other European Union countries and establish care leave, of at least seven days per year per person, which is 100 per cent paid.”
10 - 16 February 2022 SCIENTISTS are working on technology that allows them to turbocharge im‐ mune cells in the blood. So far they have ‘cured’ two adult patients suffering from leukaemia. The patients have re‐ ceived Car‐T therapy and have been in remission since 2010. During Car‐T therapy, medics take blood from a patient and then genetical‐ ly modify it. The scientists target white cells in the blood which then go on to attack cancer. The Car‐T cells are then reinjected in‐ to the patient. The technol‐ ogy is a type of im‐ munotherapy. The Car‐T therapy tur‐ bocharges the body’s im‐ mune system which then attacks the tumours. The University of Penn‐ sylvania’s Dr Carl June com‐ mented on the therapy and said: “Based on these re‐ sults, we can conclude that Car‐T cells can cure leukaemia.” The US‐based scientist went on to add: “These cells continued to demon‐ strate tumour‐killing char‐
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Cancer cure acteristics.” Car‐T therapy is available on the NHS. The treatment is only available to some children with leukaemia. Adults suffering from lym‐ phoma may also receive the treatment.
Therapy attacks tumours.
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EUROPEAN PRESS
EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK
ESports
Not so Green
ACCORDING to a report from the Esports index, Dane, Johan Sundstein, 28, who competes under the name ‘N0tail’ was the world’s biggest earning player, amassing $7 million (€6.21 million) in 2020 from sitting in front of a TV screen playing Dota 2.
WHEN the Danish Government unveiled its ‘Denmark Forward’ transport programme, it inferred that it was CO2 neutral, but after much digging the Ingeniøren newspaper cast doubt upon this. Now it transpires that the transport minister wrongly stated that no CO2 emission figures for the plan existed.
THE NETHERLANDS Troubled waters
Dog ends
GREEN politicians in Rotterdam say “it’s a bridge too far” after learning that the historic De Hef bridge which is considered a national monument is to be dismantled and then replaced in order to allow a new super-yacht built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to sail through.
DUTCH environmentalists want to see the use of micro plastic in cigarette filters be banned as they are the second most common form of litter in Holland and do not degrade, but leach plastic particularly at beaches. Politicians propose to make manufacturers pay towards cleaning up.
BELGIUM Royal visit
Macabre find
MAKING his first trip outside of Europe since the start of the pandemic, King Filip and Queen Mathilde travelled to the Middle East, first visiting Oman and then moving on to attend the Belgium Day ceremony at EXPO 2020 in Dubai.
JUST two days after it arrived from Spain, rescue dog Olympia, an Ibizan hound and greyhound cross was scared by a football and bolted from its new owner in Ghent. The following day its body was found weighed down in a water tank.
GERMANY Virtual bobsled
Rude posters
DUE to the pandemic, there has been very little chance to practise on the specially built Beijing bobsled course. The German team however, with the help of BMW have their own virtual course using an adapted sled and latest technology installed in a Munich office block.
A WHOLE new breed of advertising concepts for billboards has appeared which not only uses English for its message but often adds a swearword such as one from the German transport ministry about bicycle helmets that says “Looks like sh.t. But saves my life.”
FRANCE Day pass
Yves St Laurent
WORRIED about the environmental damage being done to the Sugiton pebble beach in the Calanques National Park close to Marseilles, the French authorities are to trial daily permits to reduce the number of visitors (which can reach 1,500 per day in the summer) allowed on the beach.
SIX museums in Paris including the Louvre and Pompidou Centre are banding together to stage a series of couture items from their collections to celebrate the work of the late fashion designer Yves St Laurent who presented his first catwalk show 60 years ago
NORWAY Diesel surge
Salmon sales
IT seems that the ever-rising cost of electricity and the wait for delivery of electric cars is affecting the Norwegian support for cleaner vehicles as a survey in Nationen found that 2.3 per cent more people than the previous year intended to purchase a diesel car.
THE relaxation of pandemic regulations in the USA and Asia has had a welcome bonus for the Norwegian Salmon industry as exports soared by 41 per cent in January 2022 and now the government is considering allowing industrial fish farming closer to the Norwegian coast.
EUROPEAN PRESS
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EUROPEAN PRESS FINLAND
Russian letter
Dirty snow
ALTHOUGH Finland is not part of NATO, it has, like many other European countries, received a letter from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov concerning the situation in the Ukraine. Local political observers suggest that this is in the hope of dividing European opinion.
THE Finnish team expects to do well at the Beijing Winter Olympics, but may be facing one obstacle that it didn’t expect and that is dirty snow. A report suggests that the machine producing artificial snow also deposits dirt and sand which can slow down skiers.
IRELAND Good tip
Dog dilemma
THE Irish Government is going to make it easier for staff working in the hospitality industry to receive tips added to debit or credit cards and owners may not use such tips to get round paying minimum wage, although this does not cover service charges.
THE Dogs Trust Ireland needs foster homes as some 297 dogs have been given to the charity in the first month of the year, an increase of 73 per cent over last year when people were more likely to be staying at home.
ITALY Long penance
Joke backfired
A COURT in Rome has sentenced a former priest, said by his defence to be mentally unstable, to seven and a half years in jail for extorting money from a Bishop and impersonating someone else, but he was acquitted of a number of other alleged crimes.
WHAT started as a laugh ended in a military court as a female naval officer was accused of bringing the Italian navy into disrepute by leading cadets in a dance which was then shown on TikTok. The court in Naples found her not guilty.
PORTUGAL Lithium mining
Twitter hack
RESIDENT and environmentalists’ protests have resulted in the Portuguese government deciding to only approve open cast mining for lithium in six out of eight proposed areas. With the need for lithium in both medical and industrial industries, Portugal is one of the few European countries with deposits.
THE 80,000 followers of the Twitter account of Portugal’s national air carrier TAP were bemused by the appearance of a number of tweets on Tuesday February 1 which simply said ‘awesome’ and the airline confirmed on Facebook that it had been the victim of a cyber-attack.
RUSSIA Food for thought
Big Mac index
A RUSSIAN artist, Yevgenia Skovart, has created a portrait of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin using only food worth around €12 which is the average increase in the cost of living to highlight the increasing financial strain that inflation is adding to Russian households.
THE Big Mac Index produced by British magazine The Economist compares the price of the burger across the world to decide whether national currencies are undervalued or overvalued and latest news is the Russian rouble appears to be the most undervalued out of 55 currencies.
SWEDEN Feathered cleaners
Looted art
A NEW company Corvid Cleaning is training crows to pick up cigarette butts by giving them rewards every time they drop one into a special disposal unit. Crows are believed to be highly intelligent and if they take to the training will soon be cleaning up.
ALTHOUGH purchased innocently in auction in 1970, the Swedish National Museum has at the request of the Polish Government returned The Lamentation of Christ, a 16th century painting to Poland after being shown that it was looted during the Second World War.
10 - 16 February 2022
EWN 35
FINANCE BUSINESS EXTRA More unemployed AFTER 10 months of decline in un‐ employment, the Spanish Ministry of Labour revealed that it has risen slightly in January 2022 with an ad‐ ditional 0.55 per cent (17,173 peo‐ ple) registering as unemployed, but this figure was much lower than the usual January numbers.
Significant debt NEW MILLENNIUM SPORTS, the distributor of the Kelme brand in Spain having entered into volun‐ tary bankruptcy owes a total of €7.5 million to two public bodies, the Valencian Institute of Finance, to which it owes €6.36 million, and €1.14 million to the Tax Agency, alongside other debts.
Fuel duty ALERT to the fact that as more people switch to electric vehicles, tax income from the sale of diesel and petrol will drop, the UK Com‐ mons Transport Select Committee has called on the government to look at scrapping fuel duty and charging for actual miles travelled.
Funding expansion CONFIDENT that public exhibitions and trade fairs will be back with a vengeance, Fira 2000, the compa‐ ny that owns the Gran Via fair‐ grounds outside of Barcelona has approached the European Invest‐ ment Bank (EIB) for a loan of €115 million (roughly half of the expect‐ ed cost) to expand.
Wordle game WORD game enthusiast, English born Josh Wardle who now lives in New York developed an online game which he named Wordle whilst in lockdown with his part‐ ner. It’s a bit like the old master‐ mind game or sudoku with words, where you have six moves to dis‐ cover a daily five letter word. He gave free access to those with sim‐ ilar tastes and attracted so much interest that the New York Times after writing about it, decided to purchase the rights for an undis‐ closed seven figure amount. It will remain free for the time being, but there is a possibility that it will be used to encourage online sub‐ scriptions to the paper.
36
www.euroweeklynews.com • 10 - 16 February 2021
STAT OF WEEK
€1.231
billion is the net profit made by Naturgy, Spain’s largest gas company at the close of its 2021 financial year.
Santander Bank profits jump SANTANDER Bank saw a huge rise in turnover and profits in 2021 accord‐ ing to a statement from Executive Chairman Ana Botín. “The group achieved a record profit before tax of €15.3 billion thanks to disciplined capital alloca‐ tion, prudent risk management, and further improvements in our effi‐ ciency and balance sheet strength, combined with a material increase in customer activity during the year,” she said. Profit after tax was €8.1 billion from a turnover of €46.4 billion, thanks to an increase of five million
customers worldwide and improved efficiency. Looking forward, the group ex‐ pects this trend to continue as it ex‐ pands its digital consumer banking service and focuses on investing and supporting green programmes and technology. As a truly international banking organisation, it has seen very strong performances from its American and British arms as well major growth in both Brazil and Chile. Despite the pandemic, Santander is on course to meet its medium‐ term targets which were set out in
2019 and has been able to write back €750 million which was set aside to reserves to meet potential bad debt which has not materi‐ alised. These figures compare to a de‐ clared loss of €8,771 billion in 2020, when the bank made a non‐cash ad‐ justment to the valuation of good‐ will and deferred tax assets and show an increase of 25 per cent over the 2019 reported profit. Shareholders will continue to ben‐ efit from ongoing dividends as well as a share buyback and the forecast looks very positive for the future.
The benefits of a Will their timing work? prepaid funeral plan LEGALLY SPEAKING
Can you clarify for us the ruling of 90/180 days? When we contacted the Spanish Embassy re‐ cently we were told we need to count backwards. These are the dates of our visits to Spain in 2021 and our plan for 2022. We arrived in Spain June 6, 2021, and we departed Spain for UK July 29, 2021, for a stay of 54 days. Then we returned to Spain on October 14, 2021 and departed from Spain for UK November 11, 2021, for a stay of 29 days. This gives a total of 83 days in our 180‐day period. Now we plan a new visit in 2022, arriving February 13, 2022 (can we stay for the 90 days?) and is February 13 okay to depart? S W (by email) Your plan DAVID SEARL should work. Your visits in YOU AND THE LAW 2021 are correct. IN SPAIN Now, in order start a new period of 90 days in 180 days, you need to be absent from Spain for at least 90 days. If you left Spain November 11, 2021, and you plan to return February 13, 2022, this gives you 97 days outside Spain, thus meeting the requirement. My guess is that the Spanish embassy meant that you must count backwards from February 13 to see if you have been absent 90 days. Send your questions for David Searl through lawyers Ubeda-Retana and Associates in Fuengirola at Ask@lawtaxspain.com, or call 952 667 090.
NOW that Britain is beginning to emerge from the pandemic, the time has come for households and con‐ sumers to pay the bill. The energy price cap is to rise by 54 per cent meaning that the average household can expect to have to find a minimum additional £700 this year to cope with increased gas and elec‐ tric costs and this doesn’t take into account that the cap is likely to be in‐
HAVE you ever thought about the difficulties your loved ones may have after your death? Taking out a prepaid funeral Find out how we can help. plan with Golden Leaves may be the solution. Below we give you just some of the reasons you should consider taking out a prepaid funeral plan with Golden Leaves. Relieve pressure on loved ones Your grieving relatives may not know how to deal with legal matters in your foreign place of residence. A prepaid funeral plan can help them through the funeral arrange‐ ments in Spain. No concerns about the language barrier The language barrier can be an added source of stress. Pre‐planning with Golden Leaves can free your relatives of this problem. Avoid the rising prices of funerals You can plan your funeral as you wish and the costs will be taken care of today, regardless of how much prices rise in the future. Get in touch with Golden Leaves today to find out how they can help you. For more information, visit their website: www.goldenleavesinternational.com, send an email to info@goldenleavesinternational.com, or call for free on 800 098 309.
Time to pay the debt creased again in October this year. In crude terms it means that 2022 will see significant inflation increases and the Bank of England now ex‐ pects Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to drop as people have less money to spend and wage rises are unlikely to be anywhere near inflation.
Indeed, the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has re‐ cently asked workers not to demand large pay increases as that would hurt the already beleaguered econo‐ my and base interest rates have been raised for the second time in two months.
Gender equality BUSINESS women in Spain continue to come up against a glass ceiling mentality de‐ spite the efforts of the cur‐ rent government to try to im‐ prove their situation. Speaking to guests at an event hosted by PR group Hill and Knowlton in Madrid, Spain’s Minister of Finance, Nadia Calviño said that she would no longer attend events if she was the only woman present and that be‐ cause she is a minister. The Spanish Cabinet now has more women than men making up the front‐line team, but women are poorly represented in business, with some of those who do have very senior positions actually appointed in the first place as part of a family dynasty, al‐ though they have proven their undoubted worth.
Labour Reform Bill SPAIN’S Labour Reform Bill, which looks to unwind legisla‐ tion passed by the previous Partido Popular (PP) govern‐ ment and give more power to unions as well as reducing the number of temporary work contracts, scraped through parliament. Ironically, it was thanks to ei‐ ther a mistake by a PP mem‐ ber voting remotely or an error in the computer system that what should have been a no vote became a yes. As a minority, the existing coalition normally relies on one of the Catalan parties for support, but it refused and on this occasion the vote of 175 in favour and 174 against couldn’t have been closer but will be contested by the PP. Chancellor Rishi Sunak has had to step in and announce financial assis‐ tance to try to alleviate the cost of energy, but there will still be many who don’t qualify for any support. So far, since the departure of for‐ mer Governor Mark Carney, the Bank of England has regularly got its forecasts wrong and the expectation is that consumers will be worse off in real terms than they were in 2008.
38 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
10 - 16 February 2022
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MONEY WITH US
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C LOSING P RICES F EBRUARY 7
COMPANY PRICE(P) 3I Group 1.346,50 Abrdn 240,60 Admiral Group 2.980,0 Anglo American 3.361,5 Antofagasta 1.208,00 Ashtead Group 4.901,0 Associated British Foods 1.902,5 AstraZeneca 8.236,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 655,40 Avast 620,60 Aveva 2.879,0 Aviva 439,52 B&M European Value Retail 551,19 BAE Systems 571,60 Bank VTB DRC 1,072 Barclays 203,15 Barratt Developments 612,00 Berkeley 4.124,0 BHP Group 2.464,50 BP 399,29 British American Tobacco 3.201,7 British Land Company 539,20 BT Group 190,59 Bunzl 2.717,0 Burberry Group 1.884,0 Carnival 1.339,1 Centrica 76,90 Coca Cola HBC AG 2.476,0 Compass 1.720,50 CRH 3.734,0 Croda Intl 7.696,0 DCC 6.404,0 Diageo 3.772,2 DS Smith 366,15 EasyJet 625,80 Experian 3.047,7 Ferguson 11.177,6 Flutter Entertainment 10.721,1 Fresnillo 623,80 GlaxoSmithKline 1.629,80 Glencore 405,75 Halma 2.408,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 1.309,50 Hikma Pharma 2.000,00 HSBC 551,20 IAG 156,46 Imperial Brands 1.752,80 Informa 548,40 InterContinental 4.836,7
CHANGE(P) 1.362,00 242,10 2.988,0 3.391,5 1.240,50 5.070,0 1.917,0 8.289,0 661,80 621,40 2.918,0 440,20 559,40 574,60 1,082 204,15 619,60 4.179,0 2.477,50 406,65 3.217,5 541,40 193,05 2.740,0 1.897,5 1.368,2 78,14 2.496,0 1.748,50 3.782,3 7.806,0 6.444,0 3.782,3 372,50 640,80 3.069,0 11.355,0 10.735,0 629,60 1.646,00 407,45 2.453,0 1.312,50 2.020,00 551,20 159,54 1.755,00 561,00 4.900,0
% CHG. 1.342,50 238,70 2.946,5 3.343,0 1.207,50 4.900,0 1.887,5 8.214,0 654,80 617,40 2.869,0 436,10 550,20 570,60 1,064 200,80 601,60 4.105,0 2.452,50 398,00 3.193,0 534,20 188,50 2.711,0 1.876,0 1.332,6 76,70 2.466,0 1.715,50 3.729,2 7.686,0 6.366,0 3.727,2 366,10 624,00 3.039,0 11.160,0 10.530,0 612,60 1.627,60 402,15 2.406,0 1.300,00 1.991,00 545,20 155,68 1.741,00 547,80 4.819,0
NET VOL 123,60K 942,69K 11,24K 502,56K 189,39K 171,29K 186,30K 371,58K 180,79K 656,63K 76,89K 1,89M 357,51K 524,50K 102,36K 6,13M 656,53K 35,18K 1,33M 11,57M 577,73K 697,62K 15,13M 55,67K 104,65K 28,45K 2,01M 33,24K 399,37K 13,64K 30,81K 59,39K 47,20K 453,98K 955,78K 109,84K 80,60K 18,01K 396,66K 3,21M 5,51M 70,21K 131,65K 35,50K 4,48M 5,19M 254,30K 214,55K 93,68K
COMPANY
PRICE(P)
Intermediate Capital 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 Sage Samsung Electronics DRC Sberbank Schroders Scottish Mortgage Segro Severn Trent Shell 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
1.852,50 5.242,0 115,20 284,55 1.780,5 787,00 287,00 52,17 7.212,0 747,80 150,30 1.851,00 1.071,43 246,70 7.250,0 28,37 1.406,00 2.374,9 664,00 1.240,00 5.813,0 2.288,00 514,00 649,41 5.429,0 114,16 7,57 708,60 1.517,50 13,65 3.332,0 1.074,00 1.279,00 2.817,0 2.047,0 1.251,84 1.547,00 12.910,0 1.553,50 1.525,50 560,20 150,04 292,00 252,78 3.850,0 1.028,75 135,26 2.979,0 1.164,00
CHANGE(P)
% CHG.
NET VOL
1.860,50 5.308,0 115,70 290,10 1.820,0 798,00 291,30 52,31 7.264,0 749,00 151,25 1.872,00 1.081,60 249,00 7.336,0 28,37 1.425,00 2.379,0 664,96 1.242,50 5.950,0 2.292,00 515,60 650,20 5.455,0 115,42 7,63 716,40 1.523,00 13,80 3.363,0 1.089,00 1.283,00 2.847,0 2.050,5 1.258,84 1.563,50 13.194,2 1.571,00 1.535,00 561,80 150,35 297,32 256,30 3.852,5 1.042,00 135,85 3.003,0 1.188,50
1.836,50 5.238,0 114,10 283,60 1.777,5 785,60 285,60 51,60 7.154,0 747,20 149,45 1.850,00 1.070,60 244,80 7.170,0 28,15 1.398,00 2.346,0 657,00 1.222,00 5.808,0 2.263,00 511,40 640,60 5.379,0 113,24 7,45 705,80 1.514,50 13,37 3.317,0 1.068,82 1.271,50 2.814,0 2.024,0 1.246,75 1.540,50 12.910,0 1.550,00 1.518,50 553,60 147,40 291,25 250,30 3.797,0 1.028,50 134,30 2.968,0 1.161,00
100,36K 27,16K 2,25M 476,47K 102,32K 226,77K 638,88K 37,32M 85,68K 80,74K 975,79K 84,38K 791,16K 3,19M 118,82K 0,65K 144,09K 206,27K 80,57K 931,51K 250,72K 686,33K 410,22K 371,09K 1,73M 3,55M 195,46K 197,79K 2,99K 1,18M 23,74K 565,54K 445,43K 34,07K 5,10M 51,23K 190,96K 21,77K 272,56K 80,67K 1,22M 2,21M 377,25K 215,15K 2,86M 166,35K 103,34M 56,80K 444,54K
1.18419
0.84614
Units per €
US dollar (USD) ........................................1.1423 Japan yen (JPY)........................................131.36 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................1.0558 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4442 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.098
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 F EBRUARY 7
COMPANY 3M American Express Amgen Apple Boeing Caterpillar Chevron Cisco Coca-Cola Dow Goldman Sachs Home Depot Honeywell IBM Intel J&J JPMorgan McDonald’s Merck&Co Microsoft Nike Procter&Gamble Salesforce.com The Travelers UnitedHealth Verizon Visa A Walgreens Boots Walmart Walt Disney
PRICE 160,73 185,85 222,11 172,39 206,45 198,41 135,88 55,15 60,96 60,60 367,60 359,67 191,50 137,15 48,01 171,63 152,56 260,06 78,56 305,94 145,39 161,53 219,23 171,90 483,17 53,31 228,39 48,60 139,33 142,02
CHANGE 164,74 188,68 224,76 174,10 208,25 201,01 137,00 55,62 61,68 61,72 370,95 364,67 192,79 138,82 48,24 172,98 153,50 261,73 79,55 308,80 146,48 164,49 221,67 173,47 489,63 53,83 230,22 49,40 141,00 143,19
CHANGE% VOLUME(M) 160,10 4,03M 184,18 4,05M 220,97 3,08M 170,68 76,97M 203,10 5,71M 196,49 3,52M 135,01 12,71M 54,39 19,47M 60,57 17,28M 60,54 4,74M 361,02 3,69M 354,25 3,39M 188,03 5,45M 136,21 4,12M 47,13 31,91M 170,12 6,22M 148,77 16,47M 257,79 1,98M 78,20 9,72M 299,97 33,09M 143,64 4,28M 161,41 7,50M 213,19 5,84M 171,18 1,62M 480,19 2,97M 53,22 14,76M 224,95 10,51M 48,17 6,40M 138,35 6,75M 139,53 7,65M M - MILLION DOLLARS
NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES F EBRUARY 7
COMPANY
CHANGE NET / %
VOLUME
+102.84% +58.82% +36.05% +31.17% +30.23% +26.82% +23.66% +22.78% +22.48% +22.15% +22.11%
0.01K 308.60M 9.63M 86.07M 23.97M 1.70M 201.72K 394.58K 3.37M 5.45M 53.31K
-48.84% -35.00% -31.68% -23.24% -22.37% -21.80% -18.61% -17.90% -17.88% -17.79% -15.18%
32.07M 1.48M 3.18M 81.96K 2.53M 1.39M 213.00K 248.73K 4.28M 63.39K 449.05K
Most Advanced Forbion European Acquisition Snap Bill Com Sphere 3D Indonesia Energy eGain Iradimed Co Anghami De Brickell Biotech Aurora Innovation Nuverra Environmental
Most Declined RA Medical Systems Nuvectis Pharma Lannett Navidea Biopharma SkyWest G Medical Gelesis Holdings Battalion Oil Vanda Duos Tech Charles&Colvard
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
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Pret price rise
Credit: Pret Twitter
COFFEE CHAIN: Check in with your favourite Pret barista.
ANXIOUS to win back cus‐ tomers, coffee and quick snack chain Pret a Manger UK introduced a monthly coffee subscription service in 2020, which for £20 a month al‐ lowed members to have up to five barista drinks a day without extra cost. Now, having found that the service has become the suc‐ cess it hoped for, it has in‐ creased the cost to new members by 20 per cent to £25 per month and will be up‐ ping the price to existing users in March. Considering that a drink can cost between £2.30 and £3.25 and you can have five a day (provided you leave 30 min‐ utes between ordering) this still seems like good value, but many subscribers are com‐ plaining about such a huge percentage rise. According to the company however, it is simply adjusting the price to cope with a num‐ ber of prices rising, many of
which are beyond its control. Somewhat disingenuously it has explained that from March 31, UK VAT on its prod‐ uct will be 20 per cent and therefore £2 out of the £5 in‐ crease will be surrendered as VAT. What it doesn’t mention is that it was already paying 5 per cent when it introduced the subscription service and from October 1, 2021 the VAT rate had been increased to 12.5 per cent. Of the balance of £3, it needs to offset significant pay rises to staff announced in January of this year, which will account for £1.50 and the balance will offset the rising costs of Arabica beans and milk. One subscriber tweeted that if they took five drinks a day and paid normal prices, overall costs would be some £150 a month, so the sub‐ scription still remains a bar‐ gain.
Inflation slows INFLATION is something of a double‐edged sword as too high too quickly causes financial difficulties for consumers and manufacturers but too little can suggest economic stagnation. Spain has been struggling with continued increas‐ es for most of 2021, although the January 2022 fig‐ ure of 6 per cent showed a 0.7 per cent drop on the December figure which was the highest for some 30 years. Inflation is judged by the rise (or reduction) in cost of a number of items and for the first time, Spain has included the cost of face masks in its bas‐ ket of consumer items.
BUSINESS EXTRA UAE visit SPAIN and the United Arab Emirates agreed to establish a strategic part‐ nership in various fields, ranging from upgraded political consultations to an enhanced framework for investment and eco‐ nomic cooperation fol‐ lowing a visit to the UAE by Spanish President Pe‐ dro Sánchez on February 2.
BT Sports ORIGINALLY expected to be put up for sale, the owners of the BT Sports channel have had a slight change of heart and are now to form an alliance with the Discov‐ ery channel which could soon make the new business a very serious competitor to Sky Sports in Europe.
ECB policy SPEAKING to Onda Radio, Spain’s Economy Minister Nadia Calviño said she saw no reason for the Eu‐ ropean Central Bank (ECB) to change its mone‐ tary policy with inflation expectations staying be‐ low its mid‐term target even though Spanish in‐ flation is well above the target.
10 - 16 February 2022
EWN 39
40 EWN
10 - 16 February 2022
LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT THE problem with most of the woke brigade is that they are generally so far up their self‐righteous soap boxes they categorically refuse to entertain the opinions of others. When arguments or discussions tend to veer away from their points of view, they are always the first to accuse their dissenters of right wing ideals or racism. They then sit smugly back; fully aware that the discussion is now over and the onus is now on those that disagreed with their rhetoric to explain why they themselves are not racially motivated! It’s a clever ploy, designed to crush the freedom of speech and encouraged by many a political despot over the course of history. Well I don’t buy it and categorically refuse to yet again waste this short narrative explaining my very strong views on the subject. I believe in live and let live. As long as it causes no harm to others and doesn’t weaponise my points of view, frankly I really couldn’t care less how anyone handles their current manifestation. I also have no problem with how people wish to be addressed. Tom, Dick Harry,
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A clever ploy
Fem, Those, Them or Wottsit. It truly is all the same to me. What I do care about however is reserving the right to also refer to myself as I choose. Being pressured to adapt to another individual’s views and opinions is what sticks in my craw. Unfortunately this is often the problem with disgruntled minorities. Many of them suffer from insecurity or inferiority complexes. Consequently the more of us they can inveigle into embracing their philosophies, the more secure they feel (The mentality of cult!) To achieve this they need to convince others to either join them or amend their own beliefs. Sooner or later however the majority begin to resent their often lame‐ brained intrusions and demos and their actions begin to achieve the reverse effect (The public taking the law into their own hands when ‘insulate Britain’ demonstrators decided to block the motorways was a case in point!) One of the real casualties in this whole diatribe of politically correct ‘uman rights is common sense. Just recently another couple of ‘woke goodies’ came to light. The University of Salford has recently issued a
subject matter warning for Dickens’ Oliver Twist, in case it causes ‘distress or anxiety’ among literature students. Recently the University of Northampton also issued ‘alert warnings’ to their students about Orwell’s 1984, Dickens’ Great Expectations and, of all things ‐ Bronte’s Jane Eyre! The University stated that it has the responsibility to ‘prepare students for potentially sensitive topics of child abuse domestic violence or racial prejudice’. They probably don’t allow winners or losers either! This is of course not all quite as ridiculous as it sounds. The more they relieve the young of responsibility, the easier they are to manipulate toward their nanny state ideals. Left wing political control is always hovering behind all this undemocratic PC rhetoric. And incidentally, shoving floral bouquets down the barrels of Chinese and Russia’s silos won’t work either! Keep the faith 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
TV & Film Review by Laura Kemp
Separated by Nazis in My Best Friend Anne Frank
MY BEST FRIEND ANNE FRANK tells the story of the real‐life friendship between Anne Frank and Hannah Goslar, from Nazi‐occupied Amsterdam to their harrow‐ ing reunion in a concentra‐ tion camp. This Dutch movie has a 67 per cent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but is cer‐ tainly worth a watch. This is the story of the girls’ friendship before Anne and her family famously went in‐ to hiding and before Hannah, her father and younger sister were taken to Bergen‐Belsen concentration camp. The relationship between the girls is cheerful and they keep each other going, de‐ spite threats around every corner and the fact that the Nazis were rapidly overtak‐ ing Amsterdam. All around them, Jews are being beaten in the street, shops are being destroyed, families are being pulled from their homes and carted
away like cattle, Jews are banned from establishments like theatres and teachers are beginning to disappear. The story flits back and forth from before their cap‐ ture to the concentration camps. Shots of the girls in Amsterdam are warm, colourful and humorous, while the shots of Bergen‐ Belsen are grey, dark and dirty ‐ contrasting the two periods in time perfectly. The whole film builds up to impending doom, with Han‐ nah trying to save Anne when she finds out that the Frank family didn’t escape but were captured and taken to the camp over the fence. Hannah hears a familiar whistle and discovers that Anne and her sister, Margot, are slowly being starved to death and risks her life in an attempt to save her best friend. My Best Friend Anne Frank became available to stream on Netflix on February 1.
42 EWN
10 - 16 February 2022
NORA JOHNSON BREAKING VIEWS
www.euroweeklynews.com
THE MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE
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
THERE are now so many different forms of communication. Anything ranging from textspeak (imagine Jaws from the movie texting a fellow great white shark: “Hi, gr8 white here ‐ strvng. Cn we mt 4 lunch? C U l8er”), email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram to journalese and estate‐agent jargon. In the world of journalese, tabloids could never be accused of being long‐ winded, could they? Remember that infamous New York Post headline: ‘Headless Body in Topless Bar’? Politicians, too, are always described as ‘making a difference…in these tough times’. They don’t simply get on with the job in a timely way like the rest of us but ‘in an 11th‐hour decision follow‐ ing marathon talks, hammer out an agreement on blah, blah, blah…’ And after a month of the in‐depth sofa‐based research otherwise known as Dry January, I can confirm that the present UK government needs to do more than just deliver catchy slogans. Nora Johnson’s opinions
FEATURE
property boasts a reasonably‐sized garden, although there is no warranty as to its exact size, as all the fences have blown down. The charming garage also has its uses. Price on appli‐ cation to wesawyoucoming.com. We will append the appropriate number of zeros when we reply to you.’ Ah, jargon ‐ in a world of its own? I guess it’s like Louis Armstrong once said, “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.”
COMMUNICATION: Anything from textspeak to journalese and estate-agent jargon.
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Promises like ‘build back better’, ‘level‐ sale, best seen late at night in mid‐win‐ ling up’ and taking ‘big, bold decisions’ ter, with the lights dimmed. For lovers to ensure every part of Britain emerges of heritage, the kitchen and bathroom stronger from the pandemic need to will delight, no improvements having be implemented if only to get over the been made for 30 years. Main lounge ‘Partygate’ scandal. has three and a bit outside walls and To read more articles from our columnists And finally estate agent jargon, a lan‐ can usefully double up as a fridge in and to have your say in the comments go guage you never learned at school. winter. Utility room is a renowned to www.euroweeklynews.com Take this: ‘1920s suburban house for structure, as it is still standing. The are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
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FEATURE
www.euroweeklynews.com
I H AV E seen many in‐ stances this week of self‐victimisation com‐ ing from people with a level of privilege so high that I doubt they really even know what it is like to be an actual victim. A great example is Jimmy Carr, an un‐ funny man who has somehow made his way to the top of the pre‐ senting tree through a mix of misogyny, racism and ‘purposeful‐ ly’ wooden delivery. Punching down is his comedy’s lifeblood. A joke told in a Net‐ flix special has been brought to the head‐ lines for its racism and complete lack of empa‐ thy or tact. Speaking about the Romani and Traveller populations that suffered numerous horrific murders during the Holocaust doesn’t sound like a jokey sub‐ ject to most minds. However, Carr took it upon himself to create what he thought was a comedic skit from a very sensitive topic with little regard for anyone but himself. Saying that people don’t talk about the
CLAIRE GORDON FINDING BALANCE IN AN UNEVEN WORLD hundreds of thousands of Romani lives lost be‐ cause no one ever wants to point out the ‘positives’ of the Holo‐ caust really is scraping the barrel for a cheap laugh. It isn’t funny, it is a shock tactic to get a hit of dopamine for a small man’s ego. And yet, when called out on this obvious truth, the now ubiqui‐ tous response of the delicate privileged per‐ son is brought out, so they don’t have to think for one second the trouble they are in is of their own making. Cancel culture is out to get him! Comedy is dy‐ ing! (That is an actual quote, laughable, hon‐ estly). You can’t say anything anymore! These woke snowflakes just don’t get my edgy ways! Everyone is just too sensitive! It is getting very bor‐ ing to hear the people who are standing up for themselves and others
10 - 16 February 2022
EWN 45
Manipulation are the fragile ones in this situation. It is even more tedious to hear that we are the ones apparently closing down discussions around difficult sub‐ jects because racists, homophobes and misogynists are ‘afraid’ to speak their minds in case they are ‘bullied’ for their views. These people say what they want, when they want if they think they won’t be held to account over it. But believe me, it is‐ n’t because of cancel culture that views like this are held back in polite conversation. If you have an opin‐ ion, air it. Be open to discussion. Be confi‐ dent enough in your opinion to stand by it and speak your mind about it. If someone wants to talk to you about your reasonings for holding that opin‐ ion, why be afraid of that conversation un‐ less you know your rea‐
To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com Claire Gordon’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
sons are rooted in prej‐ udice? Shouting down others who want to en‐ gage in these debates and then crying victim is the work of a manip‐
ulator. Adam Grant, a renowned psychologist, said: “Constantly claim‐ ing to be a victim is not a sign of virtue. It is a strategy for narcissists
and psychopaths to get ahead.” I n t h e s e c a s e s o f a c‐ countability, I can’t say I disagree with that at all.
46 EWN
www.euroweeklynews.com
10 - 16 February 2022
FEATURE
Pets and the law in 2022
CONSULAR MATTERS REGULAR readers will know that I have a rescue galgo and podenco so this particular post is close to my heart. We have had some good news re‐ garding how pets are treated according to the law here in Spain. Now the law has recognised what we knew all along that pets have feelings which is a step forward so they cannot be mistreated or abandoned. Al‐ so, pets are part of the family in case of a divorce, so the de‐ cision of the Court has to take into account the custody of the pet and consider what is best for them. You can also leave instructions in your will as to what happens to your pet after you pass away. Also, if you find a lost pet you are legally obliged to look after it for their owner, with the only exception being if you have evidence of the pet
PET TREATMENT: A step forward so they cannot be mistreated.
being mistreated. As I have said at the start of the article I am particularly concerned as to what happens
regarding hunting dogs. We will have to wait until February 2, 2022 for the government’s decision regarding these dogs
(not known at the time of go‐ ing to press). Further in 2022 a new law is planned which will state that pets in Spain will have to have an identity document to stop them being abandoned. Span‐ ish pets will have an Animal DNI for 2022. This animal iden‐ tity document will be compati‐ ble with the microchip, there will be basic information such as the name of the pet, the date of birth, the vaccines it has and all the owner’s infor‐ mation. In this way, the owner of the animal can be easily lo‐ cated in case of abandonment. The bill also includes other measures in favour of animal rights. It is envisaged that peo‐ ple who want to have a dog as a companion animal must take a training course which will al‐ low them to have an animal in their care. In addition, there is a network of domestic vio‐ lence shelters that will wel‐
come the animals of female victims of domestic violence so that abused women can main‐ tain their bond with their pet. At the time of writing I don’t know the cost of the training course for people living in Spain who wish to adopt an animal. I also do not know if the course will be done in English like say the driving theory test. I will of course publish this information once I find out. The maximum number of an‐ imals in a house will be five, al‐ though it will not be a retroac‐ tive measure. Therefore, when this rule comes into force, peo‐ ple who have more than five animals will be able to contin‐ ue with them, although they will not be able to acquire more. To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Marisa Moreno Castillo Consul for Denmark and Senior Lawyer at Just Law Solicitors . www.justlawsolicitors.com • contact@justlawsolicitors.com
First Covid case hospitalised on La Gomera LETTER FROM
CANARIES
DEAR reader, I hope the sixth wave, as its dra‐ matically dubbed, hasn’t hit you? I’m writing this with what was called ‘a nasty cold’ before the pandemic. Yes, I’ve done a test. No, I haven’t got Covid, but I al‐ most wish I had. Begging pardon to those be‐ reaved or ill because of it, haven’t we had enough of all this? Can’t we all just get on with it? I’m vaccinated after all, as is everybody who wants to be. Ex‐ cept, as is traditional, the Third World, where vaccines are so scarce even the option of refus‐ ing them is denied the popula‐ tion. The unvaccinated must take their chances like the rest of us, although there’s an unfortunate,
ISLAND HOSPITAL: Made international news due to Covid.
and international, tendency for them to exercise intensive care units and medical staff to their limits. So, why don’t we isolate Covid patients elsewhere, as we used to with TB? Isolation Hospitals were once commonplace and the infected stayed there for specific treat‐ ment, safely removed from the general population, other health problems and normal hospitals.
BCG vaccines and improved general health have made these units a thing of the past in Eu‐ rope. Therein lies an obvious parallel but ‐ leaving that aside for fear of upsetting sensitive anti vaxxers ‐ why not treat Covid away from mainstream health care? Better to create new modular facilities fast than to deliver this sad coup de grâce to Europe’s
beleaguered public health sys‐ tems. The NHS, born in 1948, is old, underfunded, tired and being un‐ dermined by ‘interests’. (See rise of private health in UK) All this springs to mind be‐ cause two years ago on January 30, a German tourist from Mu‐ nich was Spain’s first Covid case and one of the first in Europe. He was hospitalised on this very small island where I, and 20,000 other unsuspecting individuals, live. La Gomera made interna‐ tional news, bringing press from everywhere to the island’s small Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe hospital. The German had arrived in Hermigua, on the north of the is‐ land. He was holidaying directly after doing a work‐related course in a Bavarian car factory. The course teacher from Shanghai had been visited by her parents from Wuhan, where the virus supposedly originated, just before she (and Covid) flew to Munich for the course.
Guacimara Barrera, now hospi‐ tal director, remembers Janaury 30, 2020: “It was so fortunate that we had IPE left from the Ebola scare. In reality nobody knew how to deal with Covid. We waited two days for the result to come back from Madrid. It was positive and we upped security and isolation as best we could. We used an up‐ per floor room with a big terrace, in view of the press. There was lots of shouting whenever the Germans appeared on the ter‐ race.” La Gomera’s two year anniver‐ sary further coincides with a rise to Level 3 Covid restrictions. The limited emergency capacity of the island hospital, rather than a high percentage of infected pop‐ ulation, has caused this latest pandemic development. I rest my case.
Barbara Belt’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
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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.
NEW TIMES DEAR Euro Weekly, Late last year I visited the UK. I was carrying a small suitcase up the Metro steps, when a young Indian gentleman took my case up to the top, and waited for me to get there. Leapy and his woman in Mallorca would have wet their pants. At the top, I thanked him and told him, that his parents would be proud of his action today, and that I was an OLD lady and unable to climb stairs quickly. He thanked me and left. At the top there were two senior ladies, they asked me “What do you have that we do not have, the help of a handsome young man.” We laughed and I explained that it was my blue coat and beret. HAAAA we will buy a blue coat and beret,and we will have young men helping us. PS. It was refreshing to read Clare Gordon’s article ‘SILENCE’ and ‘Pause for thought’ by Tony Noble.
Loved Grumpy Old Man After reading the usual moan and groan Sweet Irony, and the woman visiting Mallorca, this is old news. People are not worried about it. Now what they are worried about is the cost of electricity and gas. Eat or heat. How sad to hear a gentleman say that he has to take cold showers. My heart went out to him. People who have never used the food bank are forced to ask them for help - they feel ashamed.
From our Facebook
ELDERLY HELP: Parents would be proud of the youth of today.
So Leapy get real and move with the times. Regards SA
Pedestrian Spain? Dear Editor, I lived in or near Torre del Mar for several years and found no trouble parking if I was willing to walk a little way (Letters). Last July I moved to Benidorm and parking here is a nightmare. If you are not paying to park, you are probably illegally parked and the traffic
wardens here are very zealous and you get to wait an hour to pay a €40 parking ticket in a bank, or a taxi ride to the back of town to pay a €60 towing fee to collect your car. Traffic lights everywhere and they are red most of the time. Unnecessary speed bumps are everywhere too. Speed limits of 30 kph, even 20 kph on good roads, so bicycles overtake us. Benidorm hates cars, and come July-August, the town parking garages and spaces fill up with cars, and not forgetting the dangerous pedestrians who wander about in hordes. Michael
FACE MASKS: Have people generally had enough?
Robert Seuss Nope. Will continue to wear and avoid any crowded places.
Tony Welsh I won’t be wearing one outdoors and will be first to take off once they do, indoors sooner they stop the measures all the better.
David Wardell I think it’s too soon, I shall still be wearing mine best to be safe than sorry
Janice Lewis
GET ON WITH LIFE SOME of the most recent pronouncements concerning coping with the pandemic give the impression that the authorities have been using Paul the Octopus to choose a card showing their next step. Masks on outside and then off just over a week later, but the leader of the Junta de Andalucia Juanma Moreno says he doesn’t really agree with the decision although the Autonomous Community will have to abide by it. He still wants those attending events with large crowds to wear masks, but at this stage that won’t be enforced, so it is down to the individual to make their own choice. You have to feel sympathy for those in the hospitality industry, shops and other service industries who have to wear masks for long periods of time and apart from some finding breathing difficult, others complain of chafing and sores.
CORRECTIONS
OUR VIEW
The EU Covid passport was going to expire and now it seems likely to be extended for another year although individual countries (as is the case with Spain) may decide to require that a booster shot has to have been administered if the second vaccination was more than 270 days earlier. As far as use of the passport to enter bars and restaurants, the reality is that the majority of privately owned hospitality outlets don’t even bother to ask whether customers have been vaccinated let alone demand sight of the passport even though they risk significant fines for not doing so. There is nevertheless a great deal of infection still about, but if 80 per cent of the population of Spain is inoculated and the majority of those who catch coronavirus now have relatively mild symptoms, surely the time has come to follow the UK lead and get on with life.
I shall continue to wear a mask in crowded places and inside shops etc. I don’t really care what other people think it just gives me a feeling of security.
Theresa Attwood We’ve never had them outdoors in the UK, don’t understand why in the fresh air you’d need it
Paul Kelly Never bothered me to fit one in crowded places. Did not believe the anti hype regarding masks, nor the issue of keeping my masks clean or replace when dirty.
Glynis Jones It has to happen at some point but it’s a personal choice - if I feel the need I will continue to wear one.
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
HEALTH & BEAUTY
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By Clinica Britannia
Stop the middle age spread caused by Menopause MANY women find it hard to control their weight during menopause, but most put this down to poor diet or lack of exercise. In fact, the hormonal changes that menopause brings are an important factor in weight gain and can make losing weight more difficult whilst eating the same diet as before. As we start with the change, the produc‐ tion of our body’s two major hormones, oe‐ strogen and progesterone start to fall, this is completely natural, but can cause many symptoms with one being weight gain, of‐ ten seen around the abdomen area. Other factors are lack of exercise, unhealthy eat‐ ing, genetic factors and not getting enough sleep causing us to snack more. There is no magic formula for preventing or reversing menopause weight gain. We need to simply stick to the weight‐control basics:
Regular visits to a GP are important.
• Move more. • Eat less sugar. • Limit alcohol. • Seek support.
Make an appointment with a GP who can organise for the necessary tests to check on the hormone levels and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Also seeking advice from a Nutritionist is a great weight loss tool as they give advice and can create personalised diet plans to suit everyone’s needs. Regular visits are advised to monitor progress and to keep up motivation.
Five places in your home you may not know are covered in bacteria E V E N if you think your home is pretty clean, you may be overlooking cer‐ tain items. Read on to learn about five places that you may not know are covered in bacteria. • Kitchen sink The kitchen sink is not clean just because it is in contact with water all day. Bits of food and bacteria can accumulate in the sink, and it should be cleaned every day. The sponge used to wash the dishes can also end up covered in bacteria and should be re‐ placed every two weeks. • Toothbrush Dentists have always recommended changing toothbrushes around ev‐ ery two months, but not everyone does. If you want to ignore this advice but kill the germs on your toothbrush, you can disin‐ fect it by leaving it to soak in white vinegar for a few hours. • Door handles
When was the last time you cleaned the door han‐ dles? Despite being touched by many un‐ washed hands over the day, we tend to forget about them when it comes to cleaning. It’s a good idea to spray them with disinfectant at least once a week. • Switches Just like the door han‐ dles, light switches are rarely cleaned despite be‐ ing touched multiple times a day. The bacteria and dirt on our hands are transferred to a switch ev‐
ery time we turn the light on or off. They should be cleaned regularly with dis‐ infectant. • Computer keyboard Studies have shown that the average computer key‐ board has more bacteria than a toilet seat. Most of us rarely clean our hands before using the comput‐ er, and grease and bacteria get transferred straight from our hands onto the keys. The keyboard can be cleaned by gently wiping it with alcohol or disinfec‐ tant while the computer is off.
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Go to bed at this time and reduce the risk of heart problems WE all know the wonders of a good night’s sleep, but did you know that the time you go to bed actu‐ ally influences your risk of suffering heart problems? Read on to find out the best time to hit the sack. It is a well‐known fact that the quality and quan‐ tity of our sleep have a di‐ rect impact on our overall health. A lack of sleep has been associated with im‐ munological, psychologi‐ cal and cognitive prob‐ lems. We are tired and irritable the day after a bad night’s sleep, and studies have shown that we are more likely to take risks and make mistakes. We have also always known that there was a relationship between heart disease and sleep, but only recently did a study, carried out by the European Cardiology Soci‐ ety on 80,000 people, dis‐ cover that going to bed
POOR SLEEP: Can have an impact on our health.
between 10.00pm and 11.00pm is associated with lower risks of heart problems. Over a period of 5.7 years, 3,172 of the partici‐ pants had serious cardio‐ vascular problems. The analyses show that those who went to bed between 11.00pm and midnight had around a 12 per cent higher risk of suffering this type of illness. The risk increased even further, to 25 per cent, for those who went to bed af‐ ter midnight and was at 24 per cent for those who
went to bed before 10.00pm. “The body has a 24‐hour internal clock, called circa‐ dian rhythm, that helps regulate physical and mental functioning. While we cannot conclude cau‐ sation from our study, the results suggest that early or late bedtimes may be more likely to disrupt the body clock, with adverse consequences for cardio‐ vascular health,” said David Plans, a neuroscien‐ tist at the University of Ex‐ eter and the main author of the study.
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HEALTH & BEAUTY
Six reasons to get up off the sofa right now
W H E T H E R you choose to spend the day watching TV on the so‐ fa or you are at a desk job all day, the nega‐ tive effects of being sedentary are the same. Read on to find out why you should get up off the sofa right now. Our society is be‐ coming increasingly sedentary. Even though we all know exercise is good for us, sometimes the temp‐ tation to stay at home gets the better of us. However, being seden‐ tary is much more dangerous than you think ‐ here are six reasons to get up off the sofa right now. 1) Regular physical activity reduces the risk of depression by helping our bodies to secrete endorphins, which improves our mood, and being sedentary can often have the opposite ef‐ fect. 2) Being active does‐ n’t have to mean in‐ tense physical activity. Experts say that mod‐ erate physical activity three times a week is much better than something intense just once a week. 3) Just because you are not overweight or obese does not mean that a sedentary lifestyle is not taking its toll on your health. A slim person who is sedentary may be in much poorer health than an overweight person who is active. 4) Being sedentary is not our natural state as human beings. The human species has evolved and adapted to be physically active over our lifetime, which means that a sedentary lifestyle just does not suit the hu‐ man body. 5) People who have
REGULAR EXERCISE: Helps our bodies to secrete endorphins.
sedentary lifestyles are likely to have more difficulty sleep‐ ing. Specialists in
sleep medicine recom‐ mend physical exercise to guarantee a good night’s rest, as physi‐
cal exercise helps us fall asleep more easily and wake up feeling more refreshed.
By Clinica Britannia
Advice on seeing a Podiatrist MY 14‐year‐old daugh‐ ter has clumps of black spots on the bottom of both her feet, which are multiplying rapidly. Can you give some ad‐ vice on what it could be? Your daughter may be suffering with verrucae. These are a tiny black wart type of growth that is found on the soles of the feet and is caused by the Human Papilloma virus (HPV). They are highly conta‐ gious through direct person to person con‐ tact. Although, very com‐ mon verrucae are very persistent and challeng‐ ing to treat, so it is es‐ sential to seek advice
Treat foot problems.
from a Podiatrist (Chi‐ ropodist), as if left un‐ treated can spread quickly. Some can per‐ severe for years, grow‐ ing deeper and impact‐ ing more and more on daily activities, causing it to become painful when walking. Most people have tried some form of treatment avail‐
able from the pharmacy without success. Podiatrists can also successfully treat and alleviate day‐to‐day foot problems such as: • Thickened toenails, fungal nail infections or ingrown toenails. • Corns and calluses, which can cause pain when walking. • Athlete’s foot. • Dry and cracked heels. • Flat feet. • Unsightly bunions. Make an appointment for her as soon as possi‐ ble with a Podiatrist who can assess the problem and treat it promptly and safely, al‐ so taking into consider‐ ation her age.
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
56 EWN
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SOCIAL SCENE
25 years of vacations ARTIST Joan Castejon has donated two pieces of art to Denia Council, which he created in 2019 to be part of the collective exhi‐ bition ‘25 years of vaca‐ tions’ to commemorate 25 years since the death of singer‐songwriter and actor Ovidi. The pieces, which have been created using a vari‐ ety of mediums, can be visited in the Espai d’Art Castejon in the Denia House of Culture. The mayor of Denia Vi‐ cent Grimalt, and the councillor for Culture Raul Garcia de la Reina, joined Castejon for the opening of the exhibition on Febru‐ ary 7, where the artist said that “the idea that this work stays in Denia is im‐ portant to me because I am excited that it is in a land that welcomed me like a son when I arrived.” These works dedicated to Ovidi have been titled ‘Cremant el blau,’ which
DENIA COUNCIL: Works will be exhibited for a season.
alludes “to the political struggle of those years,” said Castejon. The artist’s wish is that the works “be exhibited for a season at the Espai d’Art Castejon and, after‐ wards, the council places them where it deems fit.” Both the mayor and the councillor for Culture have thanked Castejon for the donation of the pieces, “which go on to enrich the municipal funds.” Other upcoming events
at the Espai d’Art Castejon include a screening of the documentary ‘Pinazo, notes i pensaments’ at 7pm on Thursday February 17, with the participation of the director, Ignacio Es‐ trela, and the screenwriter and producer, Laura Grande. A poetry recital is also scheduled on World Poet‐ ry Day, March 21, that has been organised with mem‐ bers of the Association of Poets of the Marina Alta.
SOCIAL SCENE
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Magic of the Musicals
SOUNDS FAMILIAR: The show is filled with colour, music and some fun and laughter.
AFTER a two year absence, Sounds Familiar are back on stage with a new musical the‐ atre show entitled ‘Magic of the Musicals.’ After various delays caused by the Covid pandemic, the theatre group is ready to per‐ form their show at the Audi‐ tori Municipal in Ondara on Thursday, March 31. The show starts at 8pm with the doors opening at 7.15pm. Tickets are priced at €13
and are available by phone on 965 581 483, or online at www.philipashley.com/box office.php. The show is filled with colour, music and some fun and laughter, from Broadway and West End Musicals. You will enjoy extracts from Les Miserables, Le Cage Aux Folles, Phantom Of The Opera, Sunset Boulevard, West Side Story and others that have graced the stage and screen.
With multiple costume changes, and some surprising outfits, the cast are keen to get back on stage to entertain you! All Covid restrictions in ef‐ fect at the time of the show will be adhered to. The cast and crew have also been fully vaccinated. You can find more informa‐ tion about Sounds Familiar, including clips and pictures from past productions at www.soundsfamiliar.es.
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National aerial photo event THE Cable House Exhibi‐ tion Room in Javea is run‐ ning the first national aerial photography exhi‐ bition ‘From Heaven to You, Not Forever...!!!’ un‐ til Saturday, February 12. The aim of this exhibi‐ tion from photographer Manel Salmeron B is to make audiences see the richness of the environ‐ ment surrounding us. The Cable House is open 10am until 1pm and 5pm until 8pm. Salmeron said of the meaning behind the exhi‐ bition: “Not everything is forever, everything around us will disappear.
CABLE HOUSE: From Heaven to You, not Forever.
The view from above helps us to have better views of our living space. And maybe it can help us open the door to our full consciousness. “It is essential that we enjoy our life, we have no
other! Valuing what we have will also help us pro‐ tect our environment and its future. “I hope you enjoy the exhibition and that, like a good wine, it leaves a good memory.”
SOCIAL SCENE
Amata craft fair returns AFTER a two year absence, the artisans of Amata will return to the port of Javea from February 13 onwards. The fair will take place every Sunday morning at the Paseo Marítimo (look for ‘Feria de Artesania, Javea’ in Google maps). Every Sunday morning, starting at 11am and finishing at 2pm or even later, there will be stalls with soft and wooden toys, watercolours, ce‐ ramics, some very original jew‐ ellery made from recycled beer tins and seashells. Every week will host various stalls, providing it is not raining. Amata, the regional craft associ‐ ation that organises this small but select craft fair, guarantees that everything is hand made by the participants themselves ‐ nothing imported, nothing fac‐ tory‐made, everything carefully and lovingly made by people who have chosen this way of life ‐ and it shows! For more information, ring Elvira on 639 979 678 (she speaks English). Last‐minute changes and other news items about this fair will be published on the Feria Artesania Javea Facebook page.
FEATURE
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ROBERT SHALLIS I’VE always been rather fond of the phrase by Dr Norman Vincent Peale; ‘Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.’ In other words, have very high expectations or ambitions. Always set your sights high. We often hear of people achiev‐ ing some amazing things in life but how do they do it and why do so many fail to get there? Well contrary to the above quote, people tend to aim ‘too’ high and focus too much on the end goal. It’s great to have an end goal, a dream, a vision of where you want to get to, but as much as it can be an exciting prospect initial‐ ly, it can soon dissipate, but why? Fear, limiting beliefs and a nega‐ tive mindset can disable you before you even begin, however, I will cov‐ er these elements in another arti‐ cle. Firstly, everything starts with a thought; our dreams, ambitions or goals which can be incredibly excit‐
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Reach for the stars!
AIM HIGH: What’s the worst that can happen?
ing at first, but the problem is we don’t take action because the reali‐ ty of getting there can be too over‐ whelming for many of us. However, taking action is paramount and can help cement the belief we have in our dreams and can help drive us forward.
So, the key is to set small achiev‐ able goals each day in order to help steer you towards the bigger end goal. By taking much smaller steps, by making smaller goals and ticking them off each day will give you little bursts of motivation to take you to the next goal. Just like stepping
stones, moving onto the next one and the one after. Once you get so far you have less incentive to go back and more incentive to contin‐ ue. Every step forward is like a little reward to yourself. Look at these small steps as a ‘to do’ list and tick them off as you go. That way, the feeling of being overwhelmed is less likely to raise its ugly head. These mini goals are like small in‐ vestments that will eventually grow over time. After a period when the end goal and dream are relooked at, you’ll be surprised how much further you are toward reaching it. Believing you can achieve your end goal is of primary importance and the closer you get to it, the stronger it becomes, but it’s impor‐ tant to try and have that belief from the outset. The famous Phycologist William James’ quote sums this up very nicely when he said ‘Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful un‐ dertaking is the one thing that en‐ sures the successful outcome of your venture.’
So, keep believing in yourself and your amazing ability to achieve so much more. Imagine how it would feel to finally achieve a lifetime goal. Whatever the goal is it’s per‐ sonal to you, it’s your goal, your dream and your choice to start the process and make it happen. Make a decision, take action! If it’s the wrong choice then at least you’ll find out a lot quicker in order to move onto the next one. So, ‘reach for the moon,’ aim high, what’s the worst that can happen? Maybe you’ll ‘land in the stars’ but either way the journey to‐ wards your new found goals and dreams will give you renewed vigour along the way and strength to get from where you are now to where you want to be. Rob Shallis (Certified Life Coach) www.robshallis.com To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Robert Shallis’ opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
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TONI C. EASTWOOD OBE, MBA
#TheWomanBeyond TODAY I am introducing you to Steven Kotler, bestselling author, and peak perfor‐ mance expert. Plus get this, the creator of The Flow Genome Project. In his great book called The Rise of Superman, I know I have told you before that I get my research wis‐ dom from everywhere, but this is not from the film!!! It is, however, fascinating. Steven shares how to bridge the gap be‐ tween extreme and mainstream and un‐ locks the code of ultimate human perfor‐ mance. Drawing on 15+ years of research, including first‐hand reporting with dozens of top action and adventure athletes (Laird Hamilton, Travis Rice, Ian Walsh, Danny Way, Dean Potter, among many others), RISE explores the frontier science of ‘flow,’ an optimal state of consciousness in which we perform and feel our best. By using what seems to most of us like ‘impossible’ athletic feats as case studies, the book deciphers what these athletes are do‐ ing to harness flow so successfully, he shows us how we can apply this knowledge across
FEATURE
THE RISE OF SUPER YOU
all domains of society. In other words, despite the unusual ‘them’ at the centre of this book, this story is really about ‘us.’ You and me. Who doesn’t want to know how to be their best when it mat‐ ters most? To be more creative, more con‐ tented, more consumed? To soar and not to sink? Yeah me, I do!!! As the deeds of these athletes prove, if we can master flow, there are no limits to what we can accomplish. He also challenges some myths of mastery, he tells us that it’s not so much about having the right DNA or the willpower to delay gratification for 10,000 hours (more about that another time). For this week, I’m sharing my favourite piece of wisdom from Steven. He was asked what ONE piece of wisdom he’d share with someone looking to opti‐ mise their life and actualise their potential. His answer? “No pressure, no diamonds.” He tells us that we need to be willing to exit our comfort zone if we want to catch a glimpse of our ultimate potential.
“No pressure, no diamonds.” That’s become one of my favourite new mantras. No pressure. No diamonds. No pressure. No diamonds. No pressure. No diamonds. This mantra cuts through fear like a razor‐ sharp, diamond‐bladed sword. Try it, next time you’re feeling a little pres‐ sure. One more time: No pressure. No dia‐ monds. Here’s to the Rise of Superyou! Stay Focused, Keep Positive and Choose to +1 in Every Moment. Love, Hugs, High Fives and Fist Bumps Toni x Ignite Your Passion, Fulfil Your Dreams and Awaken Your Greatness!
PS. Talking of your super you! Imagine how great it would be to get clarity on your Purpose, your key goals for the next year. How would it feel to break down the barri‐ ers and limiting beliefs that have been hold‐ ing you back ‐ FOR YEARS!!!
Think about the impact that achieving those goals, being clear on what YOU WANT could have on you and doing the work could have on everyone else. Start to believe that it is possible and fall in love with the outcome. Are you ready, let’s get down to it... here’s a chance to absolutely do all of that, sign up to my 5 Ways to A Better You ‐ Mastery Class Be sure to book your place for just £147.00, why not bring a friend for half price. Join my three hour, jam packed session, with scientifically proven tips and tools and real‐life experience and other likeminded women like you over Zoom. Feb 11, 10.00 ‐ 13.00 (GMT) OR Feb 16, 18.00 ‐ 21.00 (GMT) https://quantumvantage.co.uk/5‐ways‐ to‐a‐better‐you I am so excited to see you there. To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
Please do get in touch if you have any questions. Follow me, chat and share your thoughts and network with other fabulous women in my Visionary Women Facebook Group.
@tonieastwood
@SixSecretsToSuccess @VisionaryWomen
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sixsecretstosuccess
I don’t listen to stuff I don’t like MIKE SENKER IN MY OPINION
Views of a Grumpy Old Man SO now supposedly healthy diets aren’t so healthy and can give you heart attacks. I’ve also seen articles that say shaking the duvet too vigorously, missing breakfast, eating the wrong breakfast, the energy price hike and even shovelling snow could bring on a heart attack. The list is becoming ridiculously long! This one surprised me - diets that exclude gluten could increase the risk of a heart attack. I had my heart attacks a week after my 60th birthday and can safely say it wasn’t anything to do with shaking a duvet or eating the wrong yoghurt or muesli. I went for a more traditional approach of too much red meat, smoking 40 ciggies a day, drinking too much and maybe a little too much experimenting with drugs. I had a triple bypass and I’m 72 now and I don’t drink or smoke and try to eat healthier or at least I thought I was. Only time will tell. I only use Facebook to check on certain groups I’m interested in, but there is one thing that I really don’t understand and that’s 15 odd minute videos on my timeline that start
as an interesting story but go nowhere. I have twigged them now so I just delete them. Can anybody tell me the idea behind them as they don’t seem to be selling anything? There is a bloke called Joe Rogan and he has about 10 million subscribers on Spotify which is a music/entertainment podcast app. He also has eight million followers on Twitter. So who is he? Well he’s an Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) commentator, comedian, actor, and former television presenter. Spotify obtained exclusive rights to The Joe Rogan Experience in 2020 for US$100 million. His podcasts cover absolutely everything and some of his conversations are pretty controversial and in the last week or so have upset some old pop people like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell so much they wanted their content removed if Spotify didn’t remove his content. In October Spotify said ‘The Joe Rogan Experience is the No1 show in its Englishspeaking markets’ and ‘it outperformed our audience expectations’ after the podcast was added to Spotify in September, so I doubt he will be going anywhere. What works for me is I don’t listen to the stuff that I don’t like or find annoying. I’d be much more concerned that Spotify still stream Gary Glitter, R Kelly and Rolf Harris music. Email: mikesenker@gmail.com
Mike’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
FEATURE
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DAVID WORBOYS
10 - 16 February 2022
GREATEST OF ALL TIME (GOAT)?
THINKING ALOUD THERE is a difference between the greatest tennis player and the most successful. The latter is de‐ termined by fate, including avoid‐ ance of illness and injury. Think of Murray and del Potro. Emma Radukanu’s victory at the US Open was one of the great achievements in sport. So was the victory of Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open. But there is a difference. Nadal’s achievements span a period of 17 years. At 35 years old, his preparation for the tournament consisted of six months of injury and surgery. And yet he played superbly all the way to the final where he faced the world number two, 10 years younger and in magnificent form. Perspiring profusely and two sets down, Nadal found a way to win. Rafa has won 21 majors and, like Djokovic, each of them at least twice. Since 2015, he has been ranked among the top 10 for 854 consecutive weeks.
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Can Nadal be caught by Djokovic and can either catch Steffi Graf?
Is he the most successful tennis player of all time? Not yet. First, if allowed to play, Djokovic could still catch and even overtake his 21 majors this year. Novak did win Roland Garros and Wimble‐ don last year. But would this make him a greater player than Nadal or Federer. Is his game as spectacular and dramatic to watch? Personal‐ ly, I think that, whatever the statis‐ tics, Nadal is the greatest male
player of all time. Second, because of the unavail‐ ability of Rod Laver to compete in the majors from 1963‐67, we shall never know how many he would have won. Considering he won all four in 1962 and 1968, probably at least 25. Third, the greatest achiever is, surely, Steffi Graf. As a player, she had the measure of the other all‐ time greats; first Navratilova, then
Seles and, at the end of her career, the Williams sisters. She has won 22 majors, each of them at least four times. She has a calendar Grand Slam, which included an Olympic winner’s medal, making it a Golden Slam. For 377 consecu‐ tive weeks she was world number one. Since Steffi, we have had three decades of screaming and ‘wham, bang, thank you, ma’am’ tennis,
mainly from the USA and Eastern Europe. Now, at last, there may be hope for a return to watchable women’s tennis, thanks to a new world number one. Australia’s Ash Barty reminds me of the great Stef‐ fi Graf, relying more on strategy, superb stroke play and self believe than raw power. Barty avoids gamesmanship, snarling, roaring and confrontation. The world’s best female player is a modest, multi‐talented athlete. An engaging and an interesting per‐ sonality with genuine charisma. She is a role model and a delight to watch in interview and on the court. As she abandoned tennis, aged 18, for two years in favour of crick‐ et and is now 25, it is unlikely that she will equal Steffi Graf’s achieve‐ ment. It is much less likely that Nadal or Djokovic will do so. To read more articles from our columnists and to have your say in the comments go to www.euroweeklynews.com
David Worboys’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
PETS IF you are planning a trip later this year you still need to plan early for pet and house‐sitters. Perhaps you are already making plans for a staycation get away. Even if you are planning just a short trip, you’ll know that you sim‐ ply can’t travel with some
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SPONSORED BY
Are you planning pet care? Don’t delay pets. Young pets in partic‐ ular may benefit from staying behind so they can follow their routines at home. So, plan ahead.
Take a moment to plan ahead for pet and house‐ sitters, if you have trips planned later this year. Now is the time to get ready. We will help you as much as we can. Our phi‐ losophy is that we are all in this together. These are the steps to take: 1. Register as a home‐ owner on HouseSitMatch. com 2. Choose a Premium account (£89 per year) to ensure you can help online when needed 3. Create a profile with photos of your pet and the house 4. Post a house‐sit ad‐ vert stating your plans for next year’s holiday Covid permitting Do you need a pet‐sitter
GOING AWAY: Find a reliable and caring pet-sitter from a trusted source for peace of mind.
in 2022? Then get started right now. How does it work? HouseSitMatch can help you find suitable sitters. Join our network for a small annual fee. You get ID checked for safety and then build your advert saying when you are going
on holiday. House‐sitters see your advert, they re‐ spond and you choose the sitter who’ll care for your pets. Trustpilot Testimonials ‐ 4.8 / 5 Excellent rating (New Trustpilot rating scale) Here’s what members
have said about us ‐ HouseSitMatch found us a perfect house‐sitter… HouseSitMatch found us a perfect house‐sitter while we were away in Canada and we were de‐ lighted 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 member‐ ship plan ‐ Please note prices go up soon so sign up now on subscription to secure these prices: • Standard (DIY option) = £69 pa • Premium (with sup‐ port at each step) = £89 pa
Do you need a house-sitter? Get in touch. House-sitting can be a win-win for both parties, free house and pet-sitting, and the experienced and checked sitters get free accommodation! Register as either a house-sitter or homeowner with a 50 per cent discount using coupon code SUPER50 - an exclusive offer for readers. To find a house or pet-sitter go to www.HouseSitMatch.com.
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Advertising Feature
Xylitol poisoning danger to dogs IT’S regularly found in sugar‐free chewing gum, toothpaste, mouthwash, vitamin supplements and other sugar‐free products. Xylitol can cause in dogs hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels) because the dog’s pancreas will confuse it with real sugar and makes it release more insulin. The insulin then removes the real sugar in the body, leading to plummeting blood sugar levels. The clinical signs that may appear are: vomiting, disorientation, lethargy, collapse, seizures and tremors and coma. • The signs of poisoning can appear rapidly or be delayed, but you should never wait before seeking veterinary help; this can put your dog’s life at risk. • If you suspect that your dog has eaten something containing xylitol, you need to get them to the vets straight away because it can be absorbed into the blood stream rapidly. If the decrease in blood sugar levels is prevented or brought under control quickly, the prognosis is good, but delays in veterinary inter‐ vention can cause further complications, irreversible damage and increase the likelihood of xylitol poison‐ ing becoming fatal. In Costablanca Norte: Anicura Marina Baixa Hospital Veterinario www.veterinariamarinabaixa.com
CAT owners in Spain may have seen their pet chase, maim or even consume a cockroach or two, but just how good are creepy crawlies for our pets? Cats have a natural prey in‐ stinct and there is often very little that can be done to stop them from hunt‐ ing.
A vet said: “It is normal for a cat to chase down and eat its prey. It is their hunting instincts. They might eat cockroaches and vomit the exoskeleton. It can be gross to see, but it’s al‐ right. All in all, you should not be worried about your cat.” If a pet eats a roach which may be poisoned with insecticide, it should be taken to the vet to be on the safe side.
CATS: Have a natural prey instinct.
GRANDPARENTS: Often look after pets and children.
the over 55 age range. Just like parents of human children, pet owners must weigh up the disruption and expense of leaving someone else to take care of matters.
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Horrible thought, but it’s not fatal
Work in the way of being a pet owner? WOULD you skip work or a prior commit‐ ment if your pet was ill? It seems there’s a trend emerging where our animals are tak‐ ing priority, and some employers are en‐ abling this too. A report by Animal Friends pet insurance, which surveyed 2,000 British workers found that 42 per cent told their boss it was a family member that they had to stay home and look after, whereas it was actu‐ ally their furry friend. When breaking down the statistics, it seems this reluctance may be a generational trend, 40 per cent of 18 to 24‐year‐olds compared to just 18 per cent of people in
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Dog sitters, pet taxis and cat visitors are not an insignifi‐ cant cost if friends or family are not able to help. Grandparents are often called to look after animals as well as children.
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AIR CONDITIONING
CONSTRUCTION
AIR CONDITIONING
AIRPORT TRANSFERS
ELECTRICAL
INSURANCE
PLUMBERS
SERVICES
SERVICES
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PLUMBERS
REMOVALS & STORAGE
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REMOVALS & STORAGE
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SERVICES
SERVICES
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REMOVALS / STORAGE
TV & SATELLITE
SOLAR ENERGY
WINDOWS
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CLASSIFIEDS ARCHITECTS
BUY & SELL
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CARS FOR SALE
PRIVATE collector will buy your Gold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Telephone – 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 (293823)
APPLIANCE REP. WASHING MACHINE BROKEN? Call Bluesky Repairs for ALL your domestic appliance repairs. 626 430 671 (Whatsapp) (292063)
BUILDER BUILDER, ARCHITECT, NEW HOUSES, EXTENSIONS,PLANNING PERMISSIONS, 697 834 934 (295169)
CAMPING
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
If you can read it, so can your clients. Contact us and have your business grow at + 34 951 386 161
CHARITY EL CAMPELLO CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY - Life and Family Sunday Service in English at 10.00 a.m. and a Spanish Service at 11.45am. C / San Bartolomé 35 bajo, No.6 campellocc@gmail.com www.elcampellochristian community.org For more information call Juan Zuniga – 686 203 183 (Spanish) or Sue Bishop - 610 63 94 26 (English)
10 - 16 February 2022 • www.euroweeklynews.com SPONSORED BY
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 dieterzim merer@hotmail.com, w w w. c e n t r o s a r o n . c o m (10008) www.helpbenidorm.o rg 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)
CHURCHES English church in Benidorm – check out our website http:// www.englishchurch benidorm.com (292067)
INSURANCE
CLEANING SERVICES
GARDEN MAINTENANCE
COSTA BLANCA AREA. EXPERIENCED & RELIABLE CLEANERS. WEEKLY & DEEP CLEANS, KEY HANDOVER, LAUNDRY SERVICES. 634 176 318 (292066)
PALM pruning & treatments. Palm & tree removal. Garden & plot clearance. CHANDLER GARDENS. Facebook & Instagram. +34 634 716 703 (292071)
COMPUTERS
GOLD WANTED
COMPUTER REPAIRS – Laptops/PCs Qualified Technician –648 065 224 No Call Out Charge No Fix No Fee andy@wizard-com puters.biz (290467)
DECORATING
KITCHENS
ELECTRICIAN MB ELECTRICS. Approved electrician. Any electrical repair. Iberdrola paperwork. Affordable prices. Miquel 655 282 175 www.mb electrics.es (291516)
FOR SALE/WANTED WANTED Gold, Silver, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662)
If you can read it, so can your clients. Contact us and have your business grow at + 34 951 386 161
THE Stonehouse Kitchen Company High Quality imported Kitchens at LOW PRICES www. stonehousekitchenco .com Or call Steve: 683 31 77 65 (292079)
HEALTH & BEAUTY CHIROPODIST/PODIATRIST, Philip Mann, clinics in Benissa, Moraira, Javea, Calpe and Albir. 686 912 307 (285241)
WIGS WWW.WIGS-R—US.ES Indoor Market Rincon de Loix, Benidorm. Monday-Saturday 10-3. We also have Scrunchies, Extensions, Ponytails. Catalogue orders. Private appointments after 3pm. 681 049 502 (294518)
INSURANCE FED UP OF NOT BEING SENT YOUR RENEWAL? CUT YOUR INSURANCE COSTS AND STILL HAVE 100% COVER. YOU HAVE TRIED THE REST NOW TRY THE BEST WITH SOS INSURANCE. WE CAN EVEN INSURE YOU FOR UPTO A €1,000 OF WATERLOSS. CALL 686 116 297 (WHATSAPP TOO) OR VISIT www.sosinsur anceinspain.com or email tracey@sosinsurancein spain.com (294938) BENEFICIAL INSURANCE SERVICES. Car, Home, Business, Travel, Life, Funeral, all insurances available. Policies in English. BEST rates, covers & service. Immediate quotes. Tel 961 129 215 / 622 275 561, (WhatsApp) in fo@beneficialinsurancein spain.com or visit www.ben eficialinsuranceinspain.com for online quote. (294254)
CLASSIFIEDS MOTOR INSURANCE. For the most competitive quotes in English call Linea Directa on 902 123 309, you could save as much as 30% and you can transfer your existing no claims bonus. Call Linea Directa on 902 123 309 for motor insurance with a human voice in English from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and save money now! (200726) STAY SAFE! Abbeygate Insurance Call 971 277 455 For your security www. abbeygateinsure.com
LAWYER/SOLICITORS SOLICITOR. CRIMINAL LAW, drug cases, Private investigations, debt collection. 30 years’ experience. Mob 697 834 934 office 865 970 169 spancrimlaw @outlook.com (294976)
METALWORK
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NAUTICAL
GOLD & SILVER Bought & Sold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel – 678 716 693 (288662)
INTERNATIONAL SKIPPER LICENCE, VHF / DSC-Radio or Radar Courses held in English individual or small groups starts soon. 626 245 098 (294950)
MOTORBIKES A+ Occasions showroom Peter Zwaan Motorbikes BMW R1150RT yr 2002 45.000 kms Euro 5.200,- www.CostaBlanca Motorbikes.com (292070)
MOTORS FOR SALE RETURNING to UK? Need a van? Peugeot Boxer Dec 2016 335 L3H2 Blue hdi, RHD, 83,000 miles. Excellent condition. Rhino roof rack. €15,000 (or equivalent GBP) PX Spanish considered. Tel 697 624 618 victoriabran di@yahoo.co.uk (294578)
MOTORING
10 - 16 February 2022
AUTO BASTIAN mobile mechanic. Tel 608 860 725. (293070) CARS WANTED Quality LHD & RHD Vehicles bought & sold. All paperwork undertaken quickly & professionally. Immediate payment for all purchases. Mobile / WhatsApp +34 600 726 221 Office +34 965 687 976 www.fwreu rocars.com info@fwreuro cars.com (294576) WE ARE currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, motorbike, home and company fleet insurance. Since we started out in 1995, our philosophy has always been to offer an excellent service with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 902 123 309. (200726)
PAINTERS/DECORATORS DECORATORS W.D. GILMOUR. Painter & Decorator. Established 35 years in Moraira. ESTIMATES FREE. Call William on 609 691 776 or 966 490 602 (294549)
PETS NEED YOUR PETS TAKEN CARE OF? Not kennels, just a friendly home. Large fenced area. 699 790 080 Altea (291399) PET / HOUSE sitting, your house or mine. Benidorm area. 637 160 545 (294755)
PROPERTY
RETIRED couple looking for long term rental in La Marina Baixa – prefer two beds. Needed urgently – call Janice on 0044 7736 251 800 (279523) WE have buyers for Villas in Denia. Contact André on 629 185 343 Stirling Ackroyd (295312)
INSURANCE
STRUCTURAL SURVEYS
DOGS & ALL PETS VERY WELCOME- 500 year old beamed cottage set in beautiful valley of the charming Jesus Pobre village, Javea. Beautiful pool & garden. www.littlehouseinspain.com (293790)
MARK PADDON BSc Hons. MCIOB, CAAT - LOCKDOWN REMOTE WHATSAPP VIDEO ADVICE available for reduced fee Tel: 653 733 066 / 962 807 247 www.costablancasurveyors.com (289671)
REMOVALS/STORAGE
FED UP PAYING TOO MUCH FOR YOUR MOBILE PHONE CALLS? THEN CONTACT TELITEC TODAY. CALLS TO SPAIN 7C PER MINUTE INCLUDING MOBILES. CALLS TO UK 5.3C PER MINUTE. NO MONTHLY FEES, NO CONTRACT. WWW.TELITEC.COM TEL: 902 889 070 (2001)
SOC PINTURA. House painter and decorator. All Costa Blanca North covered. Call 641 642 669 (292073)
PROPERTY WANTED MOTORING
PROPERTY TO LET
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TRANSLATIONS BENIDORM and surrounding areas. Two-man removal. 678 067 163 (292512) MAN & VAN for hire, cheap & reliable. Jalon Valley & surrounding area. Call/Whatsapp 636 100 873 (286328)
SPANISH INTERPRETER for all your appointment needs, has car. Effective, Friendly & Affordable service. Call 609 679 808 (290313)
WANTED
ROLLER SHUTTERS ROLLER SHUTTER REPAIRS, awnings, motors, mosquito blinds. Calpe + 50 kms. 659 464 992 www.toldosalchemy.com (293808)
SITUATIONS VACANT ONDARA Part time general assistant required. For full details www.securistore.com /Work_With_Us.php (295311)
XXX RELAXATION Please note that in Spain there is NO legislation banning adverts in this section. Neither regional nor national governments are able to pass such a law due to rules governing freedom of publication and printing. READERS OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION MAY FIND SOME OF THE ADVERTISEMENTS IN THIS SECTION OFFENSIVE.
XXX MALE RELAXING MASSAGE FOR MEN - Mario qualified masseur in Alicante - Special Massage for Men - 7 days 10AM to 10PM - APPOINTMENTS visit: www.masajeyrelax.es/en or WHATSAPP 649 761 607 (294722)
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10 - 16 February 2022
ROAD TEST by Mark Slack WITH ever more new mod‐ els being launched the de‐ mand for SUVs continues. However, it’s easy to forget that some of the long famil‐ iar names in SUV world have also been trans‐ formed. Ford’s Kuga has been a familiar sight since 2008, in‐ deed before that the Kuga name (spelled Cougar) was at‐ tached to a coupe, and you see many older Kugas still look‐ ing good. The very latest Kuga has a refresh‐ ingly smart and smooth visual presence compared to many of the overly aggressive looking newer entrants. Think of the Kuga like a grown up Ford Puma, which when I tested it had many people thinking it had stylistic echoes of Porsche’s Cayenne. Praise indeed! Prices for the Kuga
Ford Kuga a smart and smooth visual presence
The Kuga has an appealing presence.
start from €33,533/£27,895 with standard equipment in‐ cluding sliding rear seats, navigation, Car Play and An‐ droid auto plus powered and heated door mirrors, front and rear parking sen‐ sors, air conditioning, cruise, rear privacy glass and a heated windscreen.
The two engine op‐ tions are a 1.5‐ litre EcoBoost with six‐ speed manual gearbox or, the pick of the duo in my book, a 2.5‐litre petrol hybrid with CVT automatic trans‐ mission. You can have either a self‐charging or plug‐in hy‐ brid with 190 PS and 225 PS
respectively. In plug‐in mode the Kuga will cover around 30‐35 miles (in the real world) on pure electric, the full hybrid can utilise electric power automatically, such as at low speed, and as‐ sist the petrol engine to avoid using excessive com‐ bustion power.
An ST‐Line X Edition was my test model and priced at €45,686/£38,005, in addi‐ tion to that hybrid power it gains significantly more standard equipment such as LED lights, hands‐free pow‐ ered tailgate, parking cam‐ era, climate control, keyless entry and start along with subtle styling adornments including red brake calipers. On the road the Kuga is as smooth as its flowing
MOTORING
lines, and unless pushed hard the CVT gearbox does‐ n’t cause much of an audible ruffle ‐ it is a trait of these boxes to raise the revs thereby increasing cabin noise ‐ and changes smoothly. For a large SUV the Kuga handles well de‐ spite its taller stance and weighty battery pack, thanks to a comfortably stiffened sports suspension and excellent steering feel. Inside there is rather more ‘scratchy’ hard plastic than one would like, but a welcome presence of but‐ tons and a logical layout with clear displays are big plus points. The driving ‘feel’ just adds further to the Ku‐ ga’s already appealing pres‐ ence.
Facts at a Glance Model: Ford Kuga ST-Line X Edition Engine: 2.5-litre petrol/electric plug-in hybrid Gears: 7-Speed CVT automatic Performance: 0-100 kmh (62 mph) 9.2 seconds/Maximum Speed 200 kmh (125 mph) Economy: 1.1l/100km Combined driving (WLTP) Emissions: 25 g/km (WLTP) Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.
New DGT fine involving playing music from your mobile FOR many years now, the Di‐ rectorate‐General for Traffic (DGT) assures that data shows the number of acci‐ dents and fatalities on the road has increased notably and constantly, mainly due to mere distractions. These distractions they say, include drivers using devices in their vehicles, when their gaze and attention should in‐ stead be focused on the road, and on the rest of the road users. A new regulation of the DGT provides among other is‐ sues, a notable tightening of certain fines that will affect both the driver’s licence points, and the finances of any offender. Hence, the pos‐ sibility of being fined for han‐ dling a GPS or mobile phone while driving has been ex‐ panded. With the entry into force of the future modification of the revised Traffic Law, traffic offi‐ cers will have the power to open a sanctioning file to any
MOBILE PHONES: Cannot be held whilst driving.
driver who has an electronic device in their hand. Under the previous laws, the fine was only issued for the use of a mobile while driving. In that instance, the Guardia Civil, or a police offi‐ cer, had to prove the exact moment in which the driver had used the mobile phone, or the GPS. Under the revised law, whether it is used or not, simply having the device on display in the vehicle can be reason enough to get fined.
If a traffic cop detects that a driver is listening to music from their mobile phone, they will not be fined, as that is not a crime. But, if they no‐ tice the driver holding the de‐ vice while driving, for any rea‐ son, then they will be punished. The officer will proceed to process the new fine, which in these cases is stipulated by the DGT to be the loss of six points from the driving li‐ cence, and a €500 fine.
MOTORING
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Car sales in Spain at their worst level THE automobile industry in Spain continues to struggle. Ac‐ cording to registration data from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), 2022 has start‐ ed with one of the lowest numbers of car registrations since data records began. Specifically, in the month of January, just over 42,000 cars were registered, which is one of the lowest figures in the last 25 years. Until now, it was last January 2021 that was the month with the worst car reg‐ istration records, with nearly 42,000 units sold. January 2022 has continued along the same path with about 42,400 units. This time last year, the coun‐ try was still in the midst of the pandemic, and gripped by storm Filomena, whereas this January, there is more free‐ dom of movement, yet sales are not increasing. Until the arrival of the pan‐ demic in Spain, and the current global lack of semiconductors, the worst January in data his‐ tory saw around 50,000 cars
registered. This means, there‐ fore, that both January 2021 and January 2022 have ac‐ counted for about 10,000 few‐ er cars than in the worst years of the crisis. In 2019, nearly 95,000 cars were registered in Spain. Therefore, if we compare the current data with this year pri‐ or to the pandemic, we find that the drop is approximately 50 per cent. Despite this statistic, numer‐ ous directors pointed out that the times are not comparable because the crisis now is not structural, but rather that sup‐ ply does not match demand. These managers affirm that there has never been a situa‐ tion like the one we are cur‐ rently experiencing, in which there is more demand than supply. Some of them point out that in 2022 the chip crisis will continue, and that al‐ though the second half will im‐ prove, registrations will contin‐ ue without reaching the value of those prior to the crisis.
CAR SALES: Figures are at an all-time low.
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