THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 18 22 Issue No. 1934
28 Jul - 3 Aug 2022
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Credit: Almuñecar Town Hall
JAZZ ON THE COAST Tamsin Brown EXPECTATIONS were high for the Jazz on the Coast festival in Almuñecar, held in the El Majuelo Park from July 19 to 24, and the electrifying performances from some of the top names in jazz did not dis appoint. Just one of the spectacular performances came from the Havana born singer Daymé Aroce na. Despite being small in stature, Daymé’s onstage presence is huge. Her songs, which are her own, combine traditional san tería songs, rumba and guaguancó, and are heavily focused on percussion and pulsating bass lines. She captured the hearts of the audience so fully that by the end of the festival all of her records had been bought. Barefoot and dressed in white, she began her per formance by calling on a blessing from Yemayá, the goddess of the sea and
Rincon de la Victoria is sponsoring the racing team.
Estrella del Viento RESOUNDING SUCCESS: The Cuban singer Daymé Arocena and her band.
women from the santería faith. She was joined on stage by a percussionist, a bass player and a very live ly keyboard player. Daymé expressed her joy at being able to sing again, especial ly at an event as big as the Jazz on the Coast festival. Despite only having had a few days to rehearse, the band connected well with the audience and the per
formance was a resound ing success. Song after song, the singer showcased her wideranging and varied vocal abilities in Spanish and English. She has been dubbed by some as the next Celia Cruz, but she al so has influences from Aretha Franklin, Sade, La Lupe, Nina Simone and Di ane Reeves.
had 350 participants, fol lowed by Kenpo, which had around 100. Other notable schools were handball, basket ball, padel, volleyball, BMX, athletics, table ten nis, badminton, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronised swimming, judo, tennis, cycling and chess. At the closing ceremo ny of the schools on July 22, the young athletes re
She easily won the audi ence over with her spirit, her great sense of humour, her goodhearted ness and her desire to connect and even make the people in front of her dance (which she managed to do). The audience was left with the feeling that this woman is destined to be a huge figure in internation al music. Credit: Almuñecar Town Hall
A thousand athletes THE 202122 sports schools run by the Al muñecar Municipal Sports Department, in which almost a thousand young athletes have par ticipated, have been cele brating a successful year of sports as it comes to an end. There is a total of 16 municipal sports schools. The most popular one is the football school, which
Credit: Rincon Town Hall
CLOSING CEREMONY: The cycling school.
ceived their diplomas from the councillor for Sports, Luis Aragón, and the heads of each of the sporting activities.
THE Malaga boat racing team Estrella del Viento, sponsored by the Rincon de la Victoria Town Hall as part of its strategy to encourage tourism and sports, participated in the Puerto Sherry Classic Week Boat Race in Cadiz from July 20 to 24. They participated with the Seventy ESP770, a historic boat dating back to 1935. Estrella del Viento will now participate in the Copa del Rey in Mahon, Menorca, from August 24 to 28, where they will once again represent the Costa del Sol in the Mediterranean as a desti nation closely linked to the sea and nautical sports. The classic yacht races encourage a competi tive spirit based on values that aim to respect the ocean and preserve the traditional sailing style. The team is led by Manuel Martínez, world and Copa del Rey champion, and has the Olympian Félix Gancedo as its coach (three world champi onships, four European championships, 21 Span ish championships).
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28 July - 3 August 2022
Tamsin Brown MORE than 132,000 visits have been received by the new official Almuñecar‐La Herradura tourism website, www.visitalmunecar.es, in its first year of operation. According to the Munici‐ pal Tourism Board, 82.45 per cent of the website’s users
Almuñecar tourism website visits are accessing from within Spain and 17.55 per cent are accessing from abroad, from more than 90 different coun‐ tries. Regarding the origin of the Spanish visits to the website,
41.3 per cent are from An‐ dalucia, 16.5 per cent are from the Community of Madrid and 7.7 per cent are from Catalonia. At the inter‐ national level, 15.1 per cent of visits come from the USA,
13.9 per cent come from Sweden, 13.1 per cent come from the UK and 9.7 per cent from France, among others. Speaking on Friday July 22, the deputy mayor for Tourism and Beaches, Daniel
Barbero, said: “This strategy is allowing us greater interac‐ tion with the visitor, substan‐ tially improving the quality of the service offered and the level of satisfaction of our tourists.”
Marine conservation COCA‐COLA and the Aula del Mar (‘Classroom of the Sea’), which is dedi‐ cated to promoting ma‐ rine conservation, held an environmental awareness day on Burriana Beach on Thursday July 21. The initiative had the collaboration of Nerja Town Hall and was part of the Circular Seas pro‐ gramme and the Sub‐ merged Forests project. The activities included a clean‐up of the beach and environmental education workshops. The mayor of Nerja, José Alberto Armijo, as well as
RAISING AWARENESS: Environmental activities on Burriana Beach.
the first deputy mayor and the councillors for the En‐ vironment and Beaches, visited the stand on the beach, where they met with Alejandro García, head of communications at Coca‐Cola, and Juan An‐ tonio López, representing the Aula del Mar. “The involvement of the private sector and its
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Hate crimes
Credit: Nerja Town Hall
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collaboration with gov‐ ernment administration and NGOs in raising awareness and caring for our marine ecosystems in the face of climate change is essential,” said the mayor, who thanked Coca‐Cola and the Aula del Mar for choosing Ner‐ ja to carry out these ini‐ tiatives.
TO mark the occasion of the European Day for the Vic‐ tims of Hate Crime, held on July 22, the Social Welfare Department of the Rincon de la Victoria Town Hall high‐ lighted its commitment and adherence to the manifesto of the Movement Against In‐ tolerance, a Spanish non‐ government organisation (NGO) that works to fight in‐ tolerance, racism and vio‐ lence in defence of human rights. The second deputy mayor of Rincon de la Victo‐ ria and councillor for Wom‐ en and Equality, Elena Aguilar, said: “We cannot ac‐ cept behaviour that leads us off the path of tolerance and respect for the fundamental rights of all people. Our mu‐ nicipality is characterised by its interculturality, by being welcoming and by being a place where people live freely. “We have to intervene ef‐ fectively in all areas and cir‐ cumstances to protect peo‐ ple from any aggressive behaviour,” she added. Ac‐ cording to data from the Ministry of the Interior, the number of acts registered as hate crimes in Spain has in‐ creased by 26.8 per cent since 2016.
Emergency landing THE pilot of a light aircraft managed to escape unharmed after a wheel came
off his aircraft mid-flight on the morning of Saturday, July 23. He was forced to make
Night photography UNTIL tomorrow, Friday, July 29, young people who are between the ages of 14 and 35 and are residents of Rincon de la Victoria can register for a free night photography course, which will take place from August 1 to 5. No previous knowledge is required, as the course will cover basic concepts and is aimed at young people who are interested in exploring the world of photography. Participants in the course will be introduced to night photography, learn how to correctly handle the camera, have field practice and learn the basics of editing photographs using specific software. The course comprises a total of 20 hours, divided into theory and practice. At the end of the course, there will be an exhibition of all the work done. The course will be given by local photographer Rafael Roldán, a specialist in landscape photography, astrophotography and night photography. Registration can be done at https://www.rincondelavictoria.es/taller-de-fo tografia-nocturna.
an emergency landing at the Leoni Benabú Axarquía Aerodrome in the district of El Trapiche in the municipality of Velez-Malaga. Members of the Provincial Fire Brigade, National Police and Civil Protection arrived on the scene, as did a team of medical professionals. The firefighters prepared the main runway with a large quantity of firefighting foam in order to prevent any type of incident should the aircraft suffer a mishap upon landing. Fortunately, the pilot manoeuvred the landing perfectly and was completely unharmed. No details of the pilot’s identity have been released. As was reported by the Provincial Fire Brigade, the professionals who were sent to supervise the manoeuvre were pleased that everything went well.
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NIBS EXTRA Funds for Nerja THE Nerja Town Council will receive €150,000 of funding from the Provincial Council of Malaga as part of the Mu‐ nicipal Economic Assistance Plan 2022 (PAEM). The may‐ or, José Alberto Armijo, said the funds will go towards “important projects aimed at improving the quality of life of our residents.”
Car fire A CAR parked next to the El Ingenio shopping centre in Velez‐Malaga caught fire and caused a huge column of smoke on July 21. The smoke was visible from sev‐ eral kilometres away. Fire‐ fighters extinguished the flames before any damage was caused to nearby vehi‐ cles. There were no injuries.
Almuñecar race THE six‐kilometre Carrera de la Vega is back after two years and will take place on August 11, with registration open until August 8 at www.global‐tempo.com. The fee will be €5 for adults and €3 for children. The first 400 people to register will receive a commemorative t‐ shirt.
Nineties summer ON Saturday, July 30, at the marquee of the Torre del Mar fairgrounds, the free ‘Summer of the ‘90s’ party will take place. The fun at‐ mosphere will be sure to get everyone dancing and remi‐ niscing about the music played on the summer nights of the ‘90s in Torre del Mar.
School project AROUND 4,000 pupils from 25 schools in Almuñecar took part in a project organ‐ ised by the school libraries and the town hall in which they produced various infor‐ mation panels around the Río Verde area. The pupils carried out historical re‐ search, wrote poems and translated the information into other languages.
28 July - 3 August 2022
Electric scooter service Tamsin Brown VELEZ-MALAGA Town Hall, on July 22, presented a new electric scooter service as part of its commitment to more sustainable alternatives for mo‐ bility. There will be 21 parking points and a total of 150 scooters for hire. The service can be managed through the app Superpedestrian Link, which allows people to see the real‐time location and availability of scooters and manage payments. The vehicles will only work in areas where permitted. If a user tries to cir‐ culate on a pedestrian street, the scooter will automatically stop.
Credit: Velez-Malaga Town Hall
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NEW SERVICE: An electric scooter parking point in Velez-Malaga.
The mayor of Velez‐Malaga, Anto‐ nio Moreno Ferrer, the councillor for
Transport and Mobility, José María Domínguez, and the general manager of Superpedestrian in Spain, Manuel Ortiz, visited one of the parking points in Plaza de Las Carmelitas. The 21 points are distributed between the centre of Velez‐Malaga (11), Torre del Mar (8) and Caleta de Velez (2). José María Domínguez said: “We have become one of the first medi‐ um‐sized cities in Andalucia to imple‐ ment this shared‐use electric scooter service, taking another step towards becoming a modern and sustainable European city.”
Project funds Painting town white ON July 19, the mayor of Rincon de la Victoria, Fran‐ cisco Salado, and the president of AMIRAX, an Axar‐ quia association for people with intellectual disabili‐ ties, Ángeles Rodríguez, signed the renewal of their agreement to keep working together to facilitate the employment of those with such disabilities. According to the agreement, the Rincon Town Hall will provide an annual amount of €60,159 for a project in which people with intellectual disabilities will receive training and will get experience doing landscaping and gardening work. They will perform tasks such as cleaning, pruning, watering and plant‐ ing. Salado highlighted the importance of the work carried out by AMIRAX, which assists some 400 families in Axarquia. Rodríguez expressed her satis‐ faction at receiving the funds once again so that the project, which has been running for 10 years through the Occupational Centre of Gardening, can continue to employ people with intellectual disabili‐ ties. “We make them feel valued by allowing them to achieve social recognition, no matter what their lim‐ itation,” she said.
New equipment THE first deputy mayor of the municipality of Velez‐ Malaga and councillor for Beaches, Jesús Pérez Atencia, presented the new equipment for the mu‐ nicipality’s accessible beaches on July 20. The equip‐ ment was financed by the Next Generation funds. Pérez Atencia said: “Since 2015, our commitment is clear and we have managed to expand our acces‐ sible beaches, with different points along the coast‐ line of our municipality.” He went on to describe the new equipment, which is already available to all beachgoers who re‐ quest it. The equipment includes a Hippocampe beach wheelchair for children, a snorkel board, a baby walker, an XL beach walker, a Rollator City walker, eight amphibious crutches and a stand for the crutches.
THE aftereffects of the intense Sa‐ haran dust that fell over the Costa del Sol in March were extreme, es‐ pecially in the villages of Axarquia, which have always been proud of their traditional white façades. Getting rid of the dust has re‐ quired a lot of hard work. One such village is Canillas de Aceituno, where municipal technicians have been cleaning and painting for weeks to remove the brown dust from public spaces and restore the traditional white colour. The town hall launched its special cleaning
and painting operation to get the village back to its usual splendour in preparation for the large num‐ bers of visitors and tourists expect‐ ed during the summer. “Canillas de Aceituno is once again the white village full of light that appears on all the postcards,” said the mayor, Vicente Campos, on Monday July 25. “Our village is slowly recovering after the pan‐ demic, and for months now, hun‐ dreds of international and national tourists have begun to visit us again,” he added.
Summer fiestas THE Department of Fairs and Fes‐ tivals of the Rincon de la Victoria Town Hall has presented the pro‐ gramme of activities for the up‐ coming summer festivities in Torre de Benagalbon, to be held from today, Thursday July 28 to Sunday July 31. The councillor for the area, Clara Perles, praised the huge amount of effort that the Torresol Residents’ Association has put in‐ to organising the event. She high‐ lighted “the family‐orientated and participatory nature” of the festiv‐ ities and invited residents, visitors and tourists to take part. The activities that will take place over the four days of festivi‐ ties include a lunch for the elderly, entertainment and games for chil‐ dren, concerts, dance perfor‐ mances, volleyball and football tournaments, a paella tasting and fireworks.
All performances are free and take place on the esplanade of the old Torre de Benagalbon rail‐ way station. Check out the Rincon de la Victoria Town Hall website.
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‘Used Cars’ concert THE Youth Department of the Rincon de la Vic‐ toria Town Hall has an‐ nounced that a concert titled ‘Used Cars: Springsteen revisited’ will be held on Friday, July 29, in the Plaza Gloria Fuertes in La Cala del Moral. The band is led by José Gallardo and will be playing songs from Bruce Springsteen’s al‐ bum Nebraska, which stands out from his other albums for its unique style of produc‐ tion and its simplicity. Recorded in 1982 at his home in Trenton, New Jersey, on a sim‐ ple four‐track recorder, the album tells stories from everyday life, with Bruce’s voice sup‐ ported only by an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Nebraska Band is the result of a year’s work. Gallardo, who is well‐ known on the Malaga music scene, will be ac‐ companied by highly experienced musicians on the drums, bass, vo‐ cals, keys, lap steel gui‐ tar and mandolin. The lyrics of the songs will be translated and pro‐ jected. The concert starts at 10pm, with free admission until full capacity is reached.
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28 July - 3 August 2022
Play for your beach THE councillors for the Environment and Tourism and Beaches of the Almuñecar Town Hall, Luis Aragón and Daniel Barbero, present‐ ed a new campaign called ‘Play for your Beach and the Environment’ on the beach of La Her‐ radura on July 22. The campaign has the aim of ‘raising awareness and encouraging good habits to take care of the environment’. Stands will be set up on various different beaches in Almuñecar from 10am to 2pm on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays until September 11, where people can learn about taking care of the environment and the impor‐ tance of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Participants can also win prizes made from recycled materials in a game of ‘sustainable roulette’. “Beach cleanliness is the responsibility of ev‐ eryone, both visitors and residents. We have to take care of our unique seabed,” said Bar‐ bero. He also highlighted the fact that from next summer, the municipality will have beaches where smoking is not permitted.
New theatre Tamsin Brown ON Tuesday July 19, the mayor of Velez‐Malaga, Antonio Moreno Ferrer, and the first deputy mayor of the municipali‐ ty of Velez‐Malaga and deputy mayor of Torre del Mar, Jesús Pérez Atencia, performed the ceremonial laying of the first stone of the foundation of the Rocío Molina Theatre in Torre del Mar. The mother and daugh‐ ter of the dancer Rocío Molina, whom the building will be named after, were also present. Pérez Atencia said: “Today is a historic day for our town. This will undoubtedly be Torre del Mar’s great architectural project of the century. The fact that Torre del Mar did not have a stage was a total injustice. “Getting this far has not been
Credit: Velez-Malaga Town Hall
HISTORIC DAY: Torre del Mar will have its own theatre.
easy. The Torre del Mar theatre is the result of a government team that was able to save, work and be constant. It has al‐ ways been clear to us that the theatre had to be built,” he added emotionally. He spoke of the numerous ob‐ stacles that arose and were overcome along the way. The works are scheduled to be com‐ pleted by early June 2024.
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‘Flamencura’ exhibition THE exhibition hall of the Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana in Rincon de la Victoria is hosting an exhibition by the international artist Andrés Mérida titled ‘Flamencura’, which consists of 25 colour‐ ful works in pencil, oil paints and mixed media. Andrés Mérida was born in Algeciras (Cadiz) and has lived in Malaga since 1970. He began his professional artistic career in the 90s and has had many exhibi‐ tions throughout Spain and as far afield as New York, Mexico City and Hong Kong. Andrés Mérida said the
exhibition reflects his “per‐ sonal vision of flamenco” and “pays homage to fla‐ menco artists such as En‐ rique Morente, Camarón and Israel Fernández. It is a technically varied exhibi‐ tion, with the multiple themes of music, song and dance, the three pillars of flamenco,” said the painter. The exhibition can be vis‐ ited free of charge until September 4 from 11am to 1.30pm and from 6pm to 10pm from Tuesday to Sat‐ urday and from 11am to 1.30pm on Sundays. The exhibition hall is closed on Mondays and holidays.
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La Herradura Puppet festival LA HERRADURA will celebrate its 24th Puppet Festival from today, Thursday July 28 to 31 at the Plaza de la Independencia. The festival will be free and include four puppet shows and a puppet workshop. La Herradura Council said of the festival: “This 24th edition brings to gether the most outstanding com panies in the world of puppets, not only from Andalucia but from Spain, as we try to do every year.” The La Herradura puppet festival has become a benchmark for fami lies with young children who choose the region to enjoy their holiday nights. Mayor Juan Jose Ruiz Joya said: “We have been committed for a long time to continue giving this event a lot of quality, which has be come one of the most important cultural events of its kind and is en joyed by the whole family.” Due to the festival running over the past 20 years, many of the peo ple who used to watch the shows as a child now bring their own chil dren to the shows! Find out more at almunecar.es.
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Jazz in Almuñecar MAYOR of Almuñecar, Juan Jose Ruiz Joya, has said that Almuñe car will continue betting on making the Jazz Festival on the Coast one of the most impor tant in the world as he present ed the city medal to American musician Kenny Garrett. This year was the 35th edition of the festival that takes place “in a unique and emblematic setting such as the auditorium of the El Majuelo botanicalar chaeological park, and it is also carried out with the collabora tion between administrations (City Hall and Provincial Council) so success is guaranteed,” said the mayor before presenting the medal to the American musi cian. Kenny Garrett is a jazz saxo phonist and flutist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and the Miles Davis band. Since then, he has pursued a success ful career and has been de scribed as “the most important alto of his generation” by the Washington City Paper and “One of the most admired alto
Ayuntamiento de Almunecar
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MEDAL: The legendary Kenny Garrett performed in Almuñecar.
saxophones in jazz after Charlie Parker” by The New York Times. His concert in Almuñecar
more than fulfilled the expected expectations and was a total artistic and public success.
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ALDI employs staff THE ALDI supermarket chain has begun the selection process for staff at its estab lishment in Almuñecar. Given the imminent opening of the AL DI supermarket in the area, the company has begun the process of selecting person nel. The company has requested the col laboration of Almuñecar Council in order to use municipal facilities of the House of Culture for the employment process. ALDI’s human resources representa tives, led by Area Manager Elizabeth Leon, participated in the selection process that will form the workforce. The deputy may or and Employment delegate, Beatriz Gonzalez, met with representatives of the company to see the process carried out by the workforce. The store is due to open at the end of September.
Celebrating Disco Yo THE Department of Culture, Fairs and Festivals of Rincon de la Victo ria has organised a music show from the 90s to pay tribute to Disco Yo, which became a benchmark in the national scene, with great so cial and media impact. The tribute night will take place in the Municipal Auditorium of Rin con de la Victoria on Friday, July 29,
starting at 10pm with free access until full capacity is reached. The mayor of the area, Clara Perles, has shown her greatest enthusiasm for the event “which comes to revive the importance that the Yo disco had, inspired by the best in Ibiza, where great artists such as Monica Naranjo, Mikel Erentxun, Celtas Cortos, and even The Prodigy per
formed. The disco also broke the Guinness record for people danc ing to Whigfield’s ‘Saturday night’.” Perles has also reiterated the im portance of the movement “which was such that Portillo buses even created a transport line to move people from Malaga to the night club that opened in winter and summer.”
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28 July - 3 August 2022
Pandemic risk “IN one generation we could be at risk of a new pandemic,” said Sevilla’s Head of Infectious Dis‐ eases. Jose Miguel Cis‐ neros, Head of Infectious Diseases at the Hospital Virgen del Rocío in Sevilla, southern Spain is also the coordinator of a book en‐ titled ‘Infectious Diseases in 2050’ by the Spanish Society of Infectious Dis‐ eases and Clinical Microbi‐ ology (SEIMC). “In addition to approv‐ ing the fourth dose against Covid, it is neces‐ sary to promote it. Other‐ wise, what will happen to us will be the same as what happened with the third dose,” Jose Miguel Cisneros said according to local media confirmed on Sunday, July 24. With the Covid pan‐ demic seemingly on its way out, the general de‐ sire is to return to normal‐ ity, in which major infec‐ tious diseases seemed a thing of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth.
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Mobile phone merger IN a joint statement released on Friday, July 23, two of the biggest mobile operators in the Spanish market have an‐ nounced their merger with which they will create a sin‐ gle mobile and fixed service provider for consumers in Spain. Orange Spain and MasMovil have signed a binding agreement to form a new company valued at €18.6 billion.
This merger between the second and fourth‐largest operators in Spain will cre‐ ate a serious economic threat to Telefonica, whose Movistar brand is currently the biggest provider. It also leaves the third‐ placed company, Voda‐ fone, in a tricky situation. Analysts have already sug‐ gested that this could well pave the way for similar
mergers in the telephone markets of the UK, Italy, and Portugal. It remains to be seen what the European Com‐ mission makes of this latest collaboration, as it has al‐ ways wanted markets to thrive fairly with at least four options available to consumers, and this deal cuts Spain’s market to just three main operators.
Home delivery robots ZARAGOZA is destined to be the first city in Spain in which four‐wheeled autonomous robots will be in charge of making home deliveries. They reach a maximum speed of 5kph and have the capacity to carry up to 30 ki‐ los. Their technology allows them to avoid any obstacle in their path, including navigat‐ ing around potholes and kerbs on the pavements where they will circulate. Goggo Network is the start‐
Credit: Twitter@GoggoNetwork
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A Goggo Network robot.
up of Yasmine Fage and Mar‐ tin Varsavsky, and they have chosen the Aragonese capital to launch their autonomous
logistics project. It will be im‐ plemented in phases, with the aim of validating its safety, as well as public, technical, and commercial acceptance, to finally deploy up to 80 robots in Zaragoza over the next few months. In the first phase ‐ which will last until the beginning of September ‐ several test sim‐ ulations will be carried out in order to demonstrate the safety and operation of the robots.
Credit: Twitter@saludand
WITHOUT SMOKE: Jesus Aguirre in Estepona.
Smoke free beaches AS reported by the Junta de Andalucia, Jesus Aguirre, the Minister of Health and Families, on Friday, July 22, delivered their accreditations to the 15 smoke‐free beaches and eight swimming pools in the province of Malaga that have joined the ‘Beaches and Swimming Pools Without Smoke’ cam‐ paign. In total, Andalucia has 52 beaches incorporated into this network, the majority being in Cadiz, Malaga, and Almeria. In the case of municipal swimming pools, 67 facilities are in‐ cluded. Most of them in the province of Jaen, Sevilla, Huelva and Cadiz. This initiative of the Andalucian Network of Health Ser‐ vices and Smoke‐Free Spaces, is promoted by the General Directorate of Public Health and Pharmaceutical Manage‐ ment of the Ministry of Health and Families. It seeks to raise awareness of the negative consequences of this habit on the beaches of the autonomous community. The full list of Smoke‐Free Beaches and Pools in Andalucia can be found on the portal of the Ministry of Health and Families: https://juntadeandalucia.es.
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28 July - 3 August 2022
Andalucian conquers K2 LINA QUESADA, a moun‐ tain climber from Sevilla Province has become the first Andalucian to conquer the notorious K2 in the Hi‐ malayas. According to the Andalucian Federation of Mountaineering (FAM), the mountaineer herself con‐ firmed that she reached the summit at 11.30am on Fri‐ day, July 22. Quesada began her climb on June 8, accompanied by Pakistani, Ali Noorani. In a statement to FAM, the
climber from the Sierra Sur de Moron Club in Sevilla described her experience as “very hard”. She confessed to being “exhausted”. By completing the ascent of this mythical 8,661‐me‐ tre peak in the Karakorum mountain range in the Hi‐ malayas, Quesada has made her own little piece of history. K2 is the second‐ highest peak in the world after Mt Everest, and lies just behind Kangchenjunga as the deadliest.
“July 22, 2022, is another date for the history of An‐ dalucian mountaineering. Lina Quesada takes the An‐ dalucian flag to the summit of K2, the second highest on the planet. Congratula‐ tions Lina, congratulations, you have just achieved a pending challenge for the FAM, that you are the first person from our Federa‐ tion to reach this highly prized summit,” said Julio Perea, the president of the FAM.
Sadness at sea
EMERGENCY service 112 Canaries reported on Friday, July 22, that a 12‐year‐old boy died after being pulled out of the sea at Las Alcaravaneras beach, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The incident was confirmed by the gov‐ ernment of the Canary Islands. According to the report, it was an 18‐year‐old boy who rescued the youngster from the water and took him to the beach, apparently already in cardiorespiratory arrest. Medics from the Canary Emergency Service (SUC) spent al‐ most one hour attempting to revive the boy, but he was confirmed dead at the scene. The incident occurred at around 7pm when the young boy was enjoying time at
Credit: Google maps - Giovanni Para Siempre
LAS ALCARAVANERAS: Where the tragedy took place.
the beach with a group of friends. Accord‐ ing to witnesses, he entered the water but did not know how to swim. After a few minutes, his companions were worried because they did not see him in the water. It was another of the young boys who noticed the presence of his body and raised the alarm.
Reforestation wildfire A DUTCH company involved in reforestation started a wildfire in Spain which has caused damage to 14,000 hectares of land in Ateca (Aragon) and seen thousands evacuated. The fire started on Monday July 18 at the reforestation project undertaken by Land Life, while one of their con‐ tractors was using a retro‐spi‐
der excavator to prepare the soil to plant trees later this winter. The operators alerted the emergency services and teams started working non‐ stop to control the fire and quickly established the fire perimeter. In a statement a spokesperson for the compa‐ ny said “We sympathise
deeply with the feelings of the local community who had to be evacuated from their homes and see their land‐ scape severely damaged. “Since the beginning of the emergency, we have offered our help and collaboration to the authorities. We will con‐ tinue to follow up on anything we can do in this situation”
Iberian lynx numbers are highest ever
ACCORDING to the latest annual report from the lynx working group, which is run in coordination with the Ministry of the Environment (MITECO), the population of Iberian lynx (lynx pardinus) has reached its highest level ever. In 2020, a total of 1,111 of the species had been registered, but the latest figure stands at 1,365, an increase of 23 per cent. This includes
all the adults and cubs born in 2021. This is an amazing achievement con‐ sidering 20 years ago in Spain they numbered less than 100. Even though their numbers are rising, the Iberian lynx is still considered an endangered species and is included in the Spanish Red List of Threatened Species. It would appear that these latest numbers suggest that the critical moment has at least passed.
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28 July - 3 August 2022
Comarca Rally spectator revealed Sources close to the race organisers have assured that the young man remains in hospital where he has undergone surgery but is reported to be out of danger. The tragic accident occurred during the eighth edition of the rally. As reported by local media, one of the cars participating on the Canary island of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria lost con‐ trol and mounted a bank of around three metres in height, where spectators were positioned in apparent safety.
Albanian terrorist arrest SPAIN’S Guardia Civil have arrested an Albanian na‐ tional wanted for terror‐ ism. The detainee has an In‐ terpol red notice issued by the Albanian authorities for his arrest for incitement to commit terrorist attacks. At the time of his arrest on the street, a handmade firearm was found on him, the Guardia Civil confirmed on Tuesday, July 26. Security officers of the Guardia Civil in the town of Roquetas de Mar in Alme‐ ria identified an Albanian citizen who was carrying out suspicious activity on a
public road on July 20. Members of the Guardia Civil patrol found a hand‐ made 22mm calibre hand‐ gun and, in addition, they verified that he was want‐ ed for terrorism by the Al‐ banian authorities. The detainee was brought before the courts on Thursday, July 21, and remanded in custody.
Uber parking preference SPAIN’S capital city of Madrid, has charged Uber 50 per cent less parking fees than its own residents for spaces in the San Epifanio public car park, as reported by Spanish press. The car park has two underground floors that will now reportedly house the largest fleet of Uber cars in the south of Madrid, owned by the company Moove Cars, which has rented 308 parking spaces out of the 501 avail‐ able. The Empresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid, (EMT), the company charged with the planning of public urban transport in the city of Madrid, directly managed the arrival of the Uber cars. For the spaces it will pay the equivalent of €40.58 per parking space. Madrid residents on the other hand, are expected to pay €100 to €80 a month for a parking space, depending on the term of their contract.
Image: Guardia Civil/Twitter
A SPECTATOR who was killed when a car left the road during the Rally Comarca Norte of Gran Canaria has now been identi‐ fied. The young spectator who died on Saturday July 23, when she was run over by a car during the race, has been identified as an 18‐year‐old female. A second person who was also in‐ jured in the accident has been identified as a 19‐year‐old male.
The Guardia Civil arrested an Albanian national wanted for terrorism.
NEWS
Image credit: Lutsenko_Oleksandr/Shutterstock.com
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PARKING FEES: Uber paying less.
Asian algae suspected RESIDENTS woke up to hundreds of dead fish that had washed ashore on the beaches of Los Caños de Meca, in the municipality of Barbate (Cádiz). The fish, which were found on July 20, washed ashore to the left of the Trafalgar lighthouse on a beach known as Cala del Va‐ radero or Marisucia beach. Locals who found the fish said there seemed to be no apparent reason for their death, which must have occurred overnight. Some of the residents have speculated A FORMER Mexican beauty queen and her accomplice were arrested in Croatia on Wednesday, July 20, by Span‐ ish police, in connection with the theft last year of 45 bottles of wine from a restaurant in Spain. The rare bottles of wine which the couple allegedly stole are thought to be worth an estimated $1.7 million (€1.65 million). In a statement from the Na‐ tional Police, 29‐year‐old Priscila Lara Guevara, and 47‐ year‐old Constantin Gabriel Dumitru, of Romanian‐Dutch origin, are accused of commit‐ ting their crime on Oct 27,
that it is down to the large amounts of algae which have appeared in the area, algae that originates from Asia and which is an invasive species. Residents that were spoken to by local press said that it is likely the fish suffocated from a lack of oxygen in the water. Appar‐ ently the fish don’t eat the algae and so they may have been pushed into the area by the tides or the winds, leaving them without oxygen and consuming food that may have poisoned them.
Wine theft 2021, at the famous Michelin‐ starred restaurant El Atrio Restaurant Hotel, in the me‐ dieval quarter of Caceres. Their haul of 45 bottles from the establishment’s wine cellar included one par‐ ticular ‘unique’ 19th‐century Chateau d’Yquem sweet white wine 1806 vintage, said by the owners to be worth about €310,000, according to local news sources. The former ‘Miss Earth’ contestant is believed to have
ordered room service after the restaurant had closed, as a way of distracting the waiters. Her accomplice then sneaked downstairs, and entered the cellar using a master key he is thought to have stolen during one of three previous visits to the premises. They were cap‐ tured on the hotel’s CCTV cameras the next day check‐ ing out of the hotel. It was lat‐ er discovered that they had signed in using false Swiss identity documents.
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Family ‘pass on’ price drop easyJet new initiatives A FAMILYRUN petrol sta tion in Abergavenny, South Wales has been over whelmed after it discounted its fuel by 20p. According to a report by local press on Monday, July 25, Bailey’s Garage is selling its fuel for just £1.69 a litre (€1.98) with owner Ian Bai ley saying: “We want to pass on the price drop.” Explaining how he is able
to drop the price, Bailey said that he buys fuel every day on a system which sets the cost of petrol and diesel based on the fluctuating prices of crude oil. So he buys when it is best to do so and as an independent, he can then set his own price. He added: “I’m wonder ing as well why other peo ple haven’t dropped their prices,” he said. “We’ve al
ways been cheap. I could put it up to be the same as other garages and we would be laughing. But times are hard and we like to pass on the drop to the customer.” The RAC and others argue that if a familyrun petrol station can discount its fuel by up to 20p then so should the big boys with their buy ing power.
Belgium keeps lights on THE UK ran out of power over the week end due to global demand, soaring wholesale prices and the hotter weather. A UK news source said on Monday, Ju ly 25 that an emergency appeal had to be made to Belgium as surging prices played havoc with the electricity market ahead of a “looming winter crisis.” By all accounts, the ESO (Electricity System Operator) failed to secure suffi cient supplies in the normal market re sulting in the SOS for help from Belgium. Fortunately, Belgium was able to oblige by sending more down the Nemo cable
that runs between the two countries. The ESO said that despite some warn ings that demand nearly outstripped supply, it was confident that it has suffi cient supplies to cope. The organisation continued by saying that it was in the ad vanced planning stage to make sure that the country did not run short during win ter when typically demand rises. The current problems are an eye opener for many as the UK ran out of power. Few outside the industry knew of the UK’s reliance on the continent for energy.
EASYJET, on Monday July 18 announced the introduction of a raft of new initiatives to help customers flying abroad this summer. These include a new dedicated customer hotline for young families travelling abroad. As schools across Britain broke up on Friday, July 22, for the summer holidays, the airline was expecting 6.2 million passengers to take to the skies across Europe. A new helpline has been launched for families with children under 12 years old, enabling them to get through directly to dedicated customer service team members. Head office team members are in place, working alongside ground crew at key airports across the UK. The new ‘Helping Hands’ will provide extra support to customers at several UK airports between Wednesdays and Sundays until
September 4. Johan Lundgren, CEO of easyJet, commented: “Delivering a reliable operation this summer and providing a positive experience and the help our customers need when
we take them away on their holidays is easyJet’s highest priority.” For further information, you can contact the easyJet Press Office on 01582 525252, or log onto www.easyJet.com.
Cricket Board resigns THE Directors of the Board of Cricket, Scotland, sent their letter of resignation to the Interim Chief Executive Officer on Sunday, July 24. The news broke on Twitter from Cricket Scot land in a tweet that read: “NEWS UPDATE: The Board of Cricket Scotland has resigned. We will work in partnership with @sportscotland with immediate effect to ensure appropriate gover nance, leadership and support is in place for sport in the days ahead.” Part of the resignation letter stated: “When the review into racism in Scottish cricket was an nounced last year we were fully supportive... “The Board have been totally committed to im plementing the findings of this review in full to make the sport of cricket in Scotland a truly wel coming and inclusive place for all. We are all tru ly sorry and have apologised publicly to every one who has experienced racism, or any other form of discrimination, in cricket in Scotland….”
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UK emergency plans Rugby player retires HOUSEHOLDS could be asked to turn down their thermostats on their heating and switch off their lights under government plans to avoid winter blackouts. Emergency contingency plans for a gas or elec‐ tricity supply shortage include public appeals to use less energy it was revealed on Saturday evening, July 23. A document seen by a British media outlet states that via radio, television and social media as well as posters and leaflets, public appeals to
Peter McLaren‐Kennedy THE NHS is risking patient safety according to a new report from the cross‐party Health and Social Care Committee. The report made public on Monday, July 25 high‐ lights the massive number of vacancies in health care and the astronomical num‐ ber of days being lost to ill‐ ness and absenteeism. According to the report the NHS is in crisis with a shortage of more than 12,000 doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.
cut electricity and gas usage could be delivered at regular intervals. A deal could also be struck whereby the Na‐ tional Grid pays large users to switch off to avoid cutting supply elsewhere in a bid to try and avoid blackouts. The director of the Energy Intensive Users Group, Arjan Geveke, which represents the in‐ dustry, said calls on the public to reduce demand would be made before National Grid started paying the industry to shut down.
Patient safety risk Image Photoroyalty / Shutterstock.com
The NHS is in crisis.
With millions of days being lost to absen‐ teeism, MPs can only see the situation worsening saying the NHS has “no credible plan” for resolv‐ ing the issue of lost hours
or staff shortages. “The workforce plan promised in the spring has not yet been published and will be a ‘framework’ with no numbers, which we are told could potentially fol‐ low in yet another report later this year.” Health and Social Care Committee Chair and Tory MP Jeremy Hunt said the country was facing “the greatest workforce crisis in history in the NHS and in social care.”
GLOUCESTER RUGBY announced the news that Ed Slater has made the decision to retire on Twitter on Thursday, July 21, in a post that read: “Gloucester Rugby is deeply pained to announce that Ed Slater has been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND).” A statement has been released by Gloucester Rugby which reads “Following six months of testing, Ed’s diagnosis was confirmed last week and as a result, with
Image: Gloucester Rugby/Twitter
Sad news as rugby player, 33, retires due to illness.
the support of his family, friends and Gloucester Rugby, he has made the difficult decision to retire from professional rugby with immediate effect. “Everyone at Gloucester Rugby - players, manage-
THE Heathrow airport strike due to begin on Thursday, July 21 was suspended after Aviation Fuel Services (AFS) revised its offer. Unite ‐ the union involved in the strike, said that a revised pay offer had been received and that the strike would be suspended to allow members to be balloted on the new offer. The revised offer comes following negotia‐ tions held at the conciliation service ACAS on Wednesday, July 20. According to Unite a sub‐ stantially improved offer was made and as a consequence, the strike was suspended. Unite Regional Officer Kevin Hall said on their website: “Unite has consistently said that AFS
ment and staff - are entirely committed to supporting Ed, his wife Jo and his three children in whatever way required. “The direction of these funds will be determined in due course, whether it be supporting Ed and his family directly and/or a selected MND charity.” Fans were quick to respond. One posted:”Ed is without doubt one of the nicest guys in rugby, a gentleman. He’s a battler for sure. All the best Ed.”
Heathrow strike suspended was capable of making an offer more likely to meet members’ expectations. Following the as‐ sistance of ACAS, an improved offer was made. The strike was originally called by workers em‐ ployed at Aviation Fuel Services (AFS), which is responsible for refuelling half of the non‐British Airways traffic at Heathrow airport affecting many airlines including Virgin Atlantic, KLM, Emi‐ rates, Air France and Delta.
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Tamsin Brown AS of Wednesday July 20, the Euro pean Food Safety Authority’s cam paign titled ‘Stop African Swine Fever’ has been extended for the third consecutive year. It is run in partnership with local authorities in 18 countries in Europe. “The spread of African swine fever continues at an alarming rate, with recent outbreaks in Italy and two sporadic outbreaks in Ger
28 July - 3 August 2022
Stop African swine fever many, close to the borders of France and the Netherlands,” said EFSA’s Executive Director, Bernhard Url. “It is a global issue that poses a significant threat to pigs, farmers and the pork industry and needs to be tackled by all of us together.”
With the assistance of local farm ers’ groups, veterinary organisa tions and other relevant bodies, the campaign aims to raise aware ness about preventing the spread of ASF. African swine fever is a viral dis
ease that affects domestic pigs and wild boars. It is harmless to hu mans, but is causing significant eco nomic disruption in many coun tries. An outbreak can lead to the slaughter of large numbers of farm kept pigs.
Record fires
Grain deal assurance
MORE than 30,000 forest fires have been recorded in Italy over the last month, with the prolonged drought and the high temperatures affecting Europe all playing their part. On Friday, July 22, the Italian fire service said that be tween June 15 and July 21 they dealt with 32,921 fires easily surpassing last year’s number. Experiencing the worst drought in 70 years, Italy has lost some 160,000 hectares to wildfires according to the Italian Institute for the health of the planet. (IIIPH). Firefighters in the country have been pushed to the limit with the weather conditions making containment challenging. Strong winds are said to be driving the fires in some areas, whilst the dry countryside is allowing fires to spread quickly and easily. Authorities have said that: “Most forest fires are caused by superficial and often malicious behaviour” again appealing to Italians to take more care in prevent ing unnecessary fires.
SERGEI LAVROV, Russia’s Foreign Minister gave assurances, on Sunday July 24, that he had: “Reaffirmed the commitment of Russian grain ex porters to meet all their commitments.” Speaking in Egypt which imports around 80 per cent of its annual requirement from Russia he said: “We discussed specific parameters of coop eration in this area, agreed on further contacts between the relevant ministries, and we have a common understanding of the causes of the grain crisis.” A blockade of Black Sea ports brought on by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a world shortage of grain, pushing prices up globally and creating supply bottlenecks across the world. A deal brokered by the UN and Turkey was sup posed to bring an end to the problem, but all of that was put in jeopardy after Russia bombed the port of Odessa within hours of signing the deal.
IN a statement released on July 14, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs urged Chi nese authorities to act against malicious cyber activ ities allegedly undertaken by Chinese actors. They said: “Belgium ex poses malicious cyber activi ties that significantly affect ed our sovereignty, democracy, security and so ciety at large by targeting the Federal Public Service Interi or and the Belgian Defence. Belgium assesses these mali cious cyber activities to have been undertaken by Chinese
Cyber activities Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). “Belgium strongly de nounces these malicious cyber activities, which are undertaken in contradic tion with the norms of re sponsible state behaviour as endorsed by all UN member states. We contin ue to urge the Chinese au thorities to adhere to these norms and not allow its ter ritory to be used for mali
cious cyber activities.” The Chinese embassy in Belgium responded: “China opposes and fights all forms of hacking in accordance with the law. We reject the Belgian side’s irresponsible assertion that ‘Chinese hack er groups’ carried out the ‘malicious cyber activities’ when it had neither put for ward any request related to the issue nor presented any factual evidence.”
Save gas for a safe winter THE European Union faces the risk of further gas sup ply cuts from Russia, with almost half of its Member States already affected by reduced deliveries. Acting now can reduce both the risk and the costs for Eu rope in case of further or full disruption. On Wednesday July 20, the Commission proposed a new European Gas De mand Reduction Plan. The
plan is to reduce gas use in Europe by 15 per cent until next spring. All consumers, public administrations, households, owners of public buildings, power suppliers and industry can and should take measures to save gas. By substituting gas with other fuels and saving en ergy this summer, more gas can be stored for win ter. Where possible, priori
ty should be given to switching to renewables or cleaner, less carboninten sive or polluting options. Another important pillar of energy saving is the re duction of heating and cooling. The Commission is urging all Member States to launch public aware ness campaigns to pro mote the reduction of heating and cooling on a broad scale.
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NEWS
African swine fever can cause significant economic damage.
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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
euroweeklynews.com
FEATURE
Motivational speaker Tim Storey
AMERICAN author, life strategist and international motivational speaker Tim Storey has spent weekly viewers. great, so they asked if I would be three decades turning people’s “During lockdown, Reach TV interested in setbacks into comebacks, and re‐ started finding a lot of people launching the first mains as passionate and ener‐ Oprah Winfrey getic as when he first began his quest to make a positive life‐ changing impact on people’s lives. In an exclusive interview with the Euro Weekly News, Tim Storey shared some of his m Storey. sion of Ti latest and upcoming projects, by permis d se U : its Photo cred while enroute to LAX airport to catch a flight to Estonia, where his next project awaits. “I’ve been to 77 countries now, so travel is kind of in my DNA,” laughed Storey. wney Robert Do “This will be my second time TIM STOREY: His dedication in Estonia. I am going to be to helping others began at a young age. working with a platform called Mindvalley, speaking to a group of were struggling with mental ever talk show to be shown at air‐ about 1,500 people over a 10‐day health due to the limitations and ports.” period, to create a masterclass restrictions Covid‐19 was bringing, The talk show, set to premier on that will be shared across the so one of the owners reached out August 1, is called ‘Tim Storey Pre‐ world.” to me to create a series of five‐ sents’ and will feature a wide vari‐ Tim Storey is also launching a minute inspirational videos that ety of guests, including celebrities, new show with Reach TV, the would be played in 90 airports as well as people with life changing largest airport network in the Unit‐ around the world,” he stated. stories. ed States, with over 40 million “The feedback we received was His first episode will feature
Rachel Uchitel, and together they will discuss her controversial claim to fame, and the dif‐ ficulties Kanye W est of facing a society in which ‘Cancel Cul‐ ture’ is on the rise. As Tim states: “Just
because we have made bad deci‐ sions, it does not mean we have to stay in bad places.” Tim Storey’s dedication to help‐ ing others began at a young age: “When I was in high school somebody handed me a book on the life of Mother Teresa and
when I read what she did and how she influenced the lives of or‐ phans, it really touched my heart, so much so, it changed my plans to study communications, to the point where I ended up getting a doctorate in world religions,” he explained. Legendary American record pro‐ ducer Quincy Jones spoke of Tim as “today’s pop prophet” stating: “Tim Storey is the voice of inspira‐ tion to this generation.” Robert Downey Jr called him “THE comeback coach,” and Smokey Robinson described him as “wonderful at walking people through the best and worst of times.” But celebrity life coaching is just one side of Storey’s work, as he is now also dedicating his time as a bridge to support refugees escap‐ ing Ukraine to Bulgaria. In his most recent book ‘The Miracle Mentality’, Tim Storey pro‐ vides a ‘road map to transcend negative thinking and renew your mind, leading to a transformed life with bigger adventures, more op‐ portunities, and deeper meaning’.
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Artefacts returned Tourist left in coma ON July 20, New York’s Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg, Jr announced the return of 142 antiquities valued at nearly $14 million (€13.7m) to the people of Italy. In December 2021, the Manhattan DA’s Office con‐ cluded a multi‐year, multi‐ national criminal investiga‐ tion into Michael Steinhardt, one of the world’s largest ancient art collectors, seizing
180 stolen antiquities valued at $70 million (€68.5m) and imposing a first‐of‐its‐kind lifetime ban on acquiring an‐ tiquities. Of the 142 objects re‐ turned, 60 were recovered from Royal‐Athena Galleries, 48 were recovered from Steinhardt, and an addition‐ al 34 were seized pursuant to other ongoing investiga‐ tions. All the antiquities were re‐ turned during a repatriation
ceremony in New York. “Though the pieces being repatriated today have a written price tag of millions of dollars, the historical, artistic, and cultural values attached to each of the relics are immeasurable and price‐ less. These artefacts deserve a place in their homeland, where the people of Italy can jointly appreciate the marvels of their country’s past,” said District Attorney Bragg.
Interest rate rise
THE European Central Bank has raised its interest rates for the first time in 11 years, and on Thursday, July 21 issued an official statement on their hike of interest rates stating: “Today, in line with the Governing Coun‐ cil’s strong commitment to its price stability mandate, the Governing Council took fur‐ ther key steps to make sure inflation re‐ turns to its 2 per cent target over the medi‐ um term. The Governing Council decided to raise the three key ECB interest rates by 50
basis points and approved the Transmission Protection Instrument (TPI).” Their decision is reportedly based on an assessment of inflation risks and the “rein‐ forced support provided by the TPI for the effective transmission of monetary policy.” The move hopes to support the return of inflation to the Council’s medium‐term tar‐ get by “strengthening the anchoring of in‐ flation expectations and by ensuring that demand conditions adjust to deliver its in‐ flation target in the medium term.”
A BRITISH man is lying in a coma in the intensive care unit of a hospital on Portugal’s Algarve. As reported by Welsh media on Sunday, July 24, father-offour, Joel Collins, was in the popular holiday resort of Albufeira attending a stag do with some friends. It is claimed by his family that 35year-old Joel was assaulted - without provocation - and allegedly stabbed, while walking home after getting separated from his friends on Monday, July 4. The Welshman’s unconscious body was discovered lying in the street by one of the locals who immediately drove Joel to a hospital in the nearby
town of Faro. His injuries included lacerations to his stomach, lungs, intestines, and pancreas. Multiple separate operations have left him lying in an intensive care unit, and he was scheduled to undergo another operation on Monday, July 25. Joel has limited recollections of what happened to him according to his sister Heidi Collins. He remembered taking his mobile out to try and search for directions back to his accommodation on Google maps she said. It would appear that he was mugged said nurses at the hospital, because Joel was admitted without any ID on his person or a mobile phone. Credit: Google maps - Hubert
Tamsin Brown
PORTUGAL'S ALGARVE: The man was on holiday in the rest of Albufeira.
The new normal THROUGHOUT July, Europe has been suffering from heat‐ waves and other effects of the rising temperatures. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), this alarming situa‐ tion will probably continue until around the end of the month and the summer is far from over. These temperatures are ex‐ pected to become the norm if we do not act now. “In the fu‐ ture, these kinds of heat‐ waves are going to be normal. We will see stronger ex‐ tremes,” warned Petteri Taalas, secretary‐general of the WMO, on July 19. Taalas hopes that this will be a wake‐ up call for governments. According to reports from the United Nations Intergov‐ ernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Europe will be the region most affected in the short term by rising tem‐ peratures. Along the Mediter‐ ranean, increased forest fires, droughts and rising sea levels are expected by 2050.
These heatwaves have a significant impact on health. “When a heatwave goes along with high levels of pollu‐ tion, it exacerbates respirato‐
ry and cardiovascular dis‐ eases, especially in large ur‐ ban spaces,” said Maria Neira, the WHO director of Environ‐ ment and Health.
Teacher training THE professional development of teachers and trainers can be an essential driving force for high‐quality and inclusive education and training in Europe, a new series of compre‐ hensive, country‐by‐country reports from the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cede‐ fop) say. The reports cover 29 European countries and illustrate the importance of the professional development of teach‐ ers and trainers, who are at the frontline of vocational edu‐ cation and training (VET) delivery. The European Year of Youth 2022 focuses on young peo‐ ple’s voices for co‐designing a peaceful, greener, digital and more inclusive continent. Thus, it is essential that teachers have the opportunity to train to develop future‐oriented skills, which they can then pass on to students. The reports address information gaps and provide sys‐ tematic national approaches to the continuing profession‐ al development of VET teachers and trainers, both at school and in work‐based settings. They also discuss the persisting challenges VET teachers and trainers face to per‐ form their complex roles, and how policy priorities are shaped in each country to address such challenges.
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EUROPEAN PRESS
EUROPEAN PRESS DENMARK
FINLAND
Top restaurant
Fishy story
AFTER prize-winning Noma becoming ineligible to take part in this year’s World Best Restaurant awards, another Copenhagen based eatery, Geranium situated in the Copenhagen FC stadium has taken the top spot even though the tasting menu which doesn’t include meat costs around €400 per person.
NOT everyone in Finland was happy with the arrival of the now deceased female walrus. After it left Hamina it travelled about 30 kilometres to Suulisniemi and became entangled in the net of fisherman Antero Halonen eventually capsizing his small boat and doing some €10,000 of damage.
THE NETHERLANDS
IRELAND
No room
Rwanda effect
RENTAL accommodation for students in Amsterdam is becoming increasingly more difficult and with more than 5,000 applications for just 2,416 available rooms, the University of Amsterdam has told students to stay away unless they can find somewhere to stay privately by mid-August.
THE Irish leader, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin, has said that he believes that the reason for there being a jump in the number of asylum seekers applying to enter and remain in Ireland is because of the UK government’s Rwanda policy.
BELGIUM
ITALY
Bones apart
Nun too happy
NEW human bones, some of which appear to have been amputated, have been uncovered in Waterloo by a British-led archaeological dig in an area believed to have been used as the main allied field hospital set up for those wounded in the battle.
AT a photoshoot in Naples which had two actors from an Italian TV programme kissing in the streets, an elderly nun dressed all in white interrupted their kiss shouting in Italian “What are you doing? This is the Devil. Jesus, Joseph, Saints Ann and Mary” before walking off.
GERMANY
PORTUGAL
Speed limit
Classical gas
BOY racers beware and other Europeans give a sigh of relief as it appears likely that in order to try to save fuel, Germany may finally introduce a temporary speed limit on autobahns and if coalition party Greens have their way this will become permanent.
WITH landfill becoming increasingly unacceptable, a Portuguese energy company in Mirandela has started producing biomethane from rubbish dumped in an existing site and for the first time the recycled gas has entered into the gas network, supplying some 80 households.
FRANCE
UKRAINE
Beautiful skin
Papal visit
AS the heat in France intensifies, those in the know who still want to go clubbing but without overheating have taken part in a naturist event known as Beautiful Skin at a Paris nightclub where nudity isn’t frowned upon but is a requirement.
IN an interview with Italian new group ANSA, the Vatican’s de facto Foreign Minister Msgr. Paul Gallagher confirmed his belief that at sometime following his return from Canada, Pope Francis would be sure to visit Kyiv although when and how is yet to be decided.
NORWAY
SWEDEN
Superyacht
Metallica museum
BELIEVED to be on a private visit, the Emir of Qatar flew into Kristiansand’s Kjevik airport in his private jet on Saturday July 16 before boarding his 123-foot superyacht Al Lusail which is one of world’s largest and is valued at around €500 million.
IN 1986, Cliff Burton, bass player with American band Metallica was killed when the tour bus he was travelling in crashed near the town of Ljungby. Now housed in a small room in a hotel, a museum dedicated to the musician and the band is attracting visiting fans.
FINANCE US Secretary of Labour Marty Walsh and Spain’s Minister of Labour Yolanda Díaz Pérez met in Washington on Wednesday July 20, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that reasserts both countries’ commitment to addressing a wide range of concerns affecting workers and underserved populations.
Falling sales RETAIL sales in the UK fell in June amid the cost‐of‐living crisis, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics despite a hoped‐for bounce thanks to the Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Sales dropped by 0.1 following a confirmed 0.8 per cent fall in May
Crypto crazy BIT2ME, a Spanish cryptocurrency exchange, announced that the deal it aimed to complete with 2gether, another Spanish exchange, fell through due to internal discrepancies after customers of the latter organisation complained that they were being charged €20 for what used to be a free service.
Digital health AMAZON is to move into healthcare as it has announced that it will acquire the technology‐powered national primary care organisation One Medical for €3.9 billion since it believes that with its knowledge of customers and the ability to combine in‐person and digital services it can make a difference.
Milking it LATEST news to confirm the strength of UK inflation has seen the price of milk rise so dramatically that two pints cost as much as four pints did at the beginning of the year according to Assosia data, although Lidl was the cheapest supermarket.
€350
is a one-off payment that Spanish insurer Mapfre is making to all of its employees at the end of July to help tackle the rising cost of living.
GHOST KITCHENS PROVE POPULAR THREE Spaniards involved in the food delivery sector founded Cuyna in 2020 which now owns a number of ghost (or dark) kitchens throughout Spain. Their concept was clear and was to make it possible to cre‐ ate a way for new and estab‐ lished brands to access more markets quickly and economical‐ ly without compromising the quality of their product. By opening these kitchens across the country, they were in a position to offer existing and new business the opportunity to expand by moving into ready built kitchens (a bit like serviced office spaces) where everything was available including Apps for delivery. They now have 55 specially designed kitchens across Spain which even include space for de‐ livery personnel and are looking to not only increase the number of outlets here but also to ex‐ pand to Italy and Portugal. They have obtained two types
“SPANISH families are not going to suffer gas cuts or power cuts in their homes; and no matter what happens, we are going to defend the position of the Spanish industry” were the strong words of Spain’s Teresa Ribera. Speaking about the European Union call for all member states to reduce gas usage voluntarily due to the situation with Russia on Wednesday July 20, the Min‐ ister for Ecological Transition was very clear about the Span‐ ish response to this suggestion. “The proposal of the Euro‐ pean Commission is not neces‐ sarily the most effective, nor the most efficient, nor the fairest. “We are supportive and we will continue to be so; in fact, in the last month, 20 per cent of the gas we imported was ex‐
FINANCE
Credit: Cuyna Instagram
US visit
STAT OF WEEK
euroweeklynews.com • 28 July - 3 August 2022
NEW CONCEPT: One of the Cuyna ghost kitchen interiors.
of funding, firstly to allow them to invest in staffing and digital technology which is absolutely essential to ensure that those using their services remain at the cutting edge of their mar‐ kets. In addition, thanks to a fund‐ ing campaign on crowdcube, in‐ dividuals can invest in the com‐ pany from as little as €12. Secondly, they need access to
properties, often in industrial parks, in order to continue with their expansion. The concept really works for smaller restaurants and chefs who are making a name for themselves but can’t offer a de‐ livery service from their own premises and want to expand to new areas without the cost of setting up a stand‐alone restau‐ rant or kitchen.
No power cuts Credit: Ministry for Economic Transition
BUSINESS EXTRA
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Minister Ribera made Spain’s position clear.
ported directly or indirectly to other EU member states.” Although the concept is cur‐ rently voluntary and would run until March 2023, it has been suggested that the EU could
make this mandatory for all members and she made it clear that Spain does not rely on Rus‐ sian gas and therefore she ex‐ pected to debate this matter on July 26 at the next meeting of the European Energy Council. She said “Spain is a pro‐Euro‐ pean country, with a pro‐Euro‐ pean and supportive society; therefore, I deeply regret say‐ ing that Spain does not support this proposal,” before adding that “it is proposed without pri‐ or discussion, without a general debate in the European Council, even when the economic conse‐ quences and in terms of impact redistributive is particularly im‐ portant.”
Online fraud SPECIALIST fraud protec‐ tion company Fraugster has issued its first ever Payment Intelligence re‐ port which suggests that the cost to merchants of online fraud international‐ ly in 2021 totalled a mas‐ sive €80 billion. One of the biggest losers was the airline industry as air fares are generally much higher than the cost of products and most book‐ ings are made online. Fo r a f r a u d s t e r t o p u r ‐ chase a cloned credit card it can be as cheap as €23 and an EU passport would cost around €5,000 on the dark web, which when combined with the credit card would soon pay for itself. Finally, the majority of t h o s e c a u g h t a n d s a n c‐ tioned for online fraud come from Russia, Iran and Syria.
Pension fears NEW research in the UK re‐ veals that 93 per cent of em‐ ployees surveyed said they are worried about their finances post retirement, with 80 per cent citing the rising cost of liv‐ ing as a key concern. As many as 56 per cent felt that their pensions and savings won’t be enough to last their retirement years. In research carried out by Renovo, specialists in support‐ ing employers and employees through redundancy and re‐ tirement planning, 43 per cent of those surveyed facing retire‐ ment predict they will work beyond the state pension age, (due to rise to 67 by 2026), as they are increasingly con‐ cerned about financial, health and lifestyle issues in their lat‐ er years.
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C LOSING P RICES J ULY 25
COMPANY PRICE(P) 3I Group 1.234,00 Abrdn 159,25 Admiral Group 1.713,9 Anglo American 2.690,0 Antofagasta 1.068,00 Ashtead Group 4.186,0 Associated British Foods 1.695,0 AstraZeneca 10.830,0 Auto Trader Group Plc 607,80 Avast 508,00 Aveva 2.361,0 Aviva 393,70 B&M Eur Value Retail SA 419,90 BAE Systems 768,80 Bank VTB DRC 0,612 Barclays 159,10 Barratt Developments 500,00 Berkeley 4.169,0 BHP Billiton Ltd 2.190,50 BP 378,15 British American Tobacco 3.431,5 British Land Company 486,40 BT Group 182,05 Bunzl 3.032,0 Burberry Group 1.740,0 Carnival 671,8 Centrica 87,78 Coca Cola HBC AG 1.928,5 Compass 1.843,50 CRH 3.005,9 Croda Intl 6.982,0 DCC 5.226,0 Diageo 3.705,0 DS Smith 268,22 EasyJet 373,60 Experian 2.818,0 Ferguson 9.950,0 Flutter Entertainment 8.140,0 Fresnillo 669,40 Glencore 421,20 GSK plc 1.761,80 Halma 2.270,0 Hargreaves Lansdown 848,20 Hikma Pharma 1.722,00 HSBC 521,40 IAG 114,14 Imperial Brands 1.850,50 Informa 584,20
CHANGE(P) 1.237,00 161,40 1.743,9 2.690,0 1.071,50 4.190,0 1.696,5 10.870,0 611,00 512,00 2.385,0 393,70 421,10 778,40 0,612 159,16 500,20 4.204,0 2.194,00 380,55 3.438,0 487,40 182,35 3.056,0 1.741,0 690,0 88,32 1.950,5 1.852,00 3.010,5 7.056,0 5.262,0 3.728,0 268,80 380,90 2.836,0 9.986,0 8.190,0 675,40 421,40 1.765,20 2.283,5 866,20 1.725,00 522,30 115,32 1.858,50 589,40
% CHG. 1.223,00 157,60 1.712,0 2.641,0 1.058,00 4.138,0 1.678,0 10.722,0 605,60 504,40 2.346,0 388,70 414,90 766,60 0,612 156,26 493,40 4.117,0 2.143,00 374,30 3.413,5 482,30 177,80 3.028,0 1.723,7 669,0 86,82 1.926,5 1.832,00 2.964,5 6.960,0 5.220,0 3.695,5 263,90 369,30 2.813,0 9.908,0 8.066,0 666,20 414,60 1.737,40 2.268,9 846,20 1.699,00 514,40 113,72 1.847,50 580,80
NET VOL 217,20K 542,18K 9,94K 334,27K 141,23K 83,93K 38,54K 116,33K 94,11K 42,51K 14,88K 371,57K 269,84K 676,61K 0 5,23M 218,28K 16,92K 414,56K 4,15M 219,63K 104,16K 1,87M 37,30K 2,82K 190,88K 1,79M 35,68K 243,30K 69,73K 13,27K 7,63K 181,83K 457,61K 873,64K 74,79K 32,20K 32,17K 114,41K 704,05K 728,82K 10,25K 236,26K 30,41K 4,29M 1,80M 145,65K 143,45K
ºCOMPANY
PRICE(P)
InterContinental 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 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
4.740,0 1.418,00 4.468,0 70,94 220,30 2.086,9 727,20 255,90 43,55 7.858,0 789,60 163,57 1.412,00 1.111,50 227,60 6.651,9 1,89 779,20 1.847,0 606,40 993,80 6.284,0 2.352,00 513,60 625,40 4.819,8 91,83 0,75 701,20 1.166,50 2.764,0 818,22 1.069,50 2.920,0 2.019,5 1.179,50 1.500,00 11.275,0 1.736,00 1.176,00 585,40 126,08 260,30 132,00 3.898,5 1.075,50 129,20 2.661,0 873,40
CHANGE(P)
% CHG.
NET VOL
4.758,0 1.420,50 4.529,0 71,04 220,80 2.112,0 731,80 256,25 43,57 7.874,0 793,20 164,10 1.414,50 1.116,00 228,10 6.676,0 1,89 797,80 1.862,5 606,40 998,60 6.310,0 2.372,00 515,60 628,80 4.822,0 92,52 0,75 704,20 1.168,00 2.764,0 835,00 1.079,50 2.941,0 2.030,5 1.188,50 1.500,50 11.360,0 1.744,00 1.179,00 585,40 126,15 260,70 134,63 3.941,0 1.084,00 129,34 2.681,0 873,40
4.712,0 1.393,50 4.468,0 69,80 218,40 2.077,4 719,20 252,90 42,84 7.822,0 789,00 161,95 1.378,50 1.103,00 224,50 6.598,0 1,89 769,80 1.829,0 602,20 981,20 6.236,0 2.350,00 512,40 623,20 4.741,0 90,96 0,75 698,60 1.163,50 2.734,0 811,80 1.063,50 2.903,0 2.002,5 1.178,00 1.488,00 11.250,0 1.715,50 1.163,00 573,00 124,15 258,50 130,75 3.895,0 1.072,00 127,78 2.651,0 862,20
17,34K 43,81K 11,95K 1,03M 238,30K 1,57K 114,97K 265,93K 15,50M 36,51K 78,12K 1,38M 278,00K 418,53K 1,20M 5,99K 0 253,75K 85,24K 137,86K 406,46K 63,72K 225,89K 146,01K 83,83K 340,64K 3,95M 0 178,58K 1,06K 33,21K 530,58K 7,56K 38,42K 805,60K 197,93K 154,47K 8,97K 170,89K 57,06K 518,50K 464,41K 1,21M 165,11K 296,21K 145,82K 8,16M 19,77K 248,86K
1.17576
0.85024
Units per €
US dollar (USD) ......................................1.02052 Japan yen (JPY) .........................................139.1 Switzerland franc (CHF) ...........................0.9839 Denmark kroner (DKK) .............................7.4441 Norway kroner (NOK) ...............................10.135
currenciesdirect.com/marbella • Tel: +34 952 906 581 THE ABOVE TABLE USES THE CURRENT INTERBANK EXCHANGE RATES, WHICH AREN’T REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RATE WE OFFER
DOW JONES C LOSING P RICES J ULY 25
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 134,12 153,01 245,95 154,09 158,16 178,62 144,19 44,46 61,59 50,85 323,93 306,59 181,47 128,25 39,20 172,12 114,76 253,99 90,11 260,36 109,12 143,02 182,47 156,42 521,41 44,45 213,70 38,66 132,21 102,72
CHANGE +0,17 +2,83 +0,17 -1,26 -3,25 -2,37 -1,21 -0,12 +0,23 -0,55 -2,61 +1,59 +1,44 +1,10 -1,41 +0,81 -0,56 +0,52 -0,03 -4,48 -2,50 +2,25 -2,88 -0,41 -1,05 -3,21 -2,49 +0,20 -0,34 -1,46
CHANGE% VOLUME(M) +0,13% 1,72M +1,88% 9,28M +0,07% 1,84M -0,81% 66,31M -2,01% 7,56M -1,31% 1,95M -0,83% 5,85M -0,27% 14,83M +0,37% 11,57M -1,07% 5,07M -0,80% 1,82M +0,52% 2,39M +0,80% 2,32M +0,87% 6,45M -3,47% 41,12M +0,47% 4,24M -0,49% 7,56M +0,21% 2,21M -0,03% 6,34M -1,69% 21,81M -2,24% 6,02M +1,60% 5,28M -1,55% 3,76M -0,26% 879,57K -0,20% 1,83M -6,74% 57,85M -1,15% 5,05M +0,52% 4,43M -0,26% 4,52M -1,40% 7,76M M - MILLION DOLLARS
NASDAQ C LOSING P RICES J ULY 25
COMPANY
CHANGE NET / %
VOLUME
+234.65% +118.88% +103.70% +67.57% +48.39% +39.51% +30.38% +29.45% +28.48% +27.91% +24.95%
2.42M 66.40M 11.13M 17.43M 72.84M 139.24M 122.47K 41.74M 0.65K 50.97K 21.54M
-85.99% -54.27% -54.26% -43.19% -40.55% -39.76% -39.08% -35.59% -31.63% -29.33% -26.21%
163.36M 23.77K 30.11M 370.67K 17.15K 10.62M 330.99M 1.14M 676.32K 50.70K 474.89K
Most Advanced AMTD Digital Pagaya AMTD IDEA Kidpik Yoshitsu ADR Toughbuilt Industries Mercurity Fintech ADR Guardforce AI Gold Royalty Wnt Altisource Asset Management Hanger
Most Declined VistaGen Therapeutics Revelation Biosciences Unt RA Medical Systems Virax Biolabs Meihua International Medical Kiora Pharmaceuticals Snap AKA Brands Holding Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Greenwave Tech Solutions Lulu's Fashion Lounge Holdings
22 EWN
28 July - 3 August 2022
euroweeklynews.com
FINANCE, BUSINESS & LEGAL
Advertising Feature
HAVING to think about what will happen after you die is not something many of us like to do, however Golden Leaves knows that living abroad can present various obstacles to your loved ones when it comes to your funeral. There are various reasons why having a funeral plan in Spain protects you and your loves ones and is an important part of your financial planning process. Firstly, not only are funerals conducted very differently in Spain, there is also a language barrier to consider in many cases, making a funeral service often difficult to organise. However, this is where Golden Leaves can help. A Golden Leaves funeral plan offers multiple benefits, including allowing your wishes to be set out ahead of time as well as the benefits of a Spanish-speaking team who will take care of all the arrangements for your family.
Credit: NKM999/Shutterstock.com
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not have any costs. Golden Leaves have three funeral plans available, each of which will allow your loved ones more time to prepare for your service than the traditional 48 hours allowed for in Spain. This in turn will allow you more time to get any family and friends you would wish to attend your service over to Spain from abroad. The Opal Plan is designed for those who just want a simple cremation service. It provides a simple funeral service that covers the essential items, including the removal and disposal of the deceased. This plan is suitable for single people, couples, or small family units. This funeral can be completed within 72 hours. The Pearl Plan is designed for those who would like a traditional funeral service for cremation or burial. The plan provides a comprehen-
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BUSINESS EXTRA
NEW AUTONOMO RATES Credit: La Moncloa
Looking up FRASERS GROUP set up by former Newcastle United FC owner Mike Ashley and in corporating numerous retail outlets announced unaudit ed profits before tax for the latest year at £344.8 million, compared to a pandemic in duced loss of £39.9 million.
Rate hike ALTHOUGH it had previous ly indicated that it intended to increase interest rates for the first time in 11 years, the European Central Bank deci sion on July 21 to return to zero from 0.5 per cent caught many by surprise as it struggles with inflation.
Good news THE 46 stores run under the banner of TOYS’R’US in Spain and Portugal have been saved from closure as a deal has been done with Italian company PRG Retail Group.
Minister Escrivá explained his plans.
REVIEW of taxation levels on Spain’s self employed may see reductions in the amount of taxes paid for some with effect from 2023. It was an open secret that the self employed (autonomo) in Spain, espe cially the least well paid, were having to contribute more to Social Security than almost any other EU country yet were receiving some of the lowest benefits if sick or retired. On Thursday July 21, the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Immigra tion José Luis Escrivá told the Cortes
(Parliamentary) Commission for Moni toring and Evaluation of the Agree ments of the Toledo Pact that after 10 months of negotiation a deal with unions representing autonomo work ers has been agreed in principle. Accepting that there are some final details to be agreed, he explained that this was part of the agreed Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan to make it fairer and also simpler as it will be possible to access the system and change their status online. This is a longterm programme
which will commence with effect from 2023 which will effectively see a steady reduction in charges for those at the bottom end of the income scale and an increase for those at the higher end. This still means however that any one earning the minimum wage will still have to pay nearly €300 per month for the foreseeable future and the only real drop will be for those who earn around €600 per month, although they will still have to pay almost 50 per cent of their earnings to the State.
Kids eat free THE latest supermarket to offer a special deal for chil dren during the summer is Morrisons with their Kids eat Free campaign. Unlike the Asda deal highlighted in issue 1933, this offer requires an adult spend of £4.99 and only one child is eligible to take a free meal from the kids menu, although they will also be able to enjoy a piece of fruit and a soft drink with their lunch. A number of UK food outlets also have special free deals but the majority require some form of adult spend, so in pure value for money terms the Asda of fer may just attract parents with a limited budget.
FEATURE
euroweeklynews.com
LEAPY LEE SAYS IT OTHERS THINK IT I NEVER had much respect for the majority of politicians. Back in the 60s I witnessed a number of these ‘Old boys’ club members with their trousers down, both metaphorically and in reality. Well I remember one prominent London MP rushing up to me at a friend’s Chelsea party. Clad in a string vest and very questionable Yfronts, he implored me to ‘take over upstairs’. Apparently, the nubile and extremely attractive London theatre agent he was ‘engaging with’, had become too much for him. I didn't take on his request I may add! That same evening another serving minister informed me he thought ‘smoking marihuana was such fun!’ No I’m afraid politicians in general have never impressed me much. (Bearing in mind a couple of recent examples, not much appears to have changed!) There is one overriding problem that especially seems to impregnate the elder male occupants of the Westminster corridors of power. The majority attended public school. These predominately male dominated institutions meant that its students never really learned to mix with the female of the species. Their only experiences with the opposite sex were
28 July - 3 August 2022
No respect annual college dances and overbearing Nannies. The outcome of this involvement resulted in the total absence of respect for those of a gender they considered not only mere objects of sexual titillation, but also intellectually inferior and subsequently gained no important standing in the male dominated corridors of their future political ambitions. Many of these elder statesmen and even a number of new ‘bench’ members, still fall into this category and subsequently consider the Westminster gathering of members nothing more than an extension of their public school debating societies. As attitudes change, and more and more women are elected into the house, large expanses of these ex public schoolboys are slowly becoming the dinosaurs of the political arena. Frankly, apart from serious offences and somewhat innocuous schoolboys sexist innuendoes, many of these parliamentary ancients are turning into a complete waste of space and energy. Time to get back to more serious issues; like running the country for example! I notice the Labour Party in particular are now cramming ladies on to their front
bench, yet another weapon in their armoury of schemes and skullduggery to keep the opposition on the back foot till the next General Election. Hold on a sec, the Conservatives are also encouraging the ladies, and could still in fact have a victorious Truss in their game plan! Can’t wait to see her and Rainer locked in mortal feminine conflict across the parliamentary garden wall, now that really would be a forerunner to hanging the dirty washing out in public. Hope the male members know how to cook! Interesting to see the Board of Cricket Scotland resigning after reports of being institutionally racist. Haven’t noticed any public controversy concerning the British World Athletic Board who were responsible with the BBC for presenting over 85 per cent of nonwhite UK athletes in the recent World Series, including the programme’s anchor squad! Keep the faith Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com
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Leapy Lee’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
EWN 23
24 EWN
euroweeklynews.com
28 July - 3 August 2022
Timely tips to topple your fear of public speaking over Buxom Brenda from Human Re‐ sources. Another rule is to stay sociable but NOT sozzled and speak before 11pm. BREAKING VIEWS Nothing’s worse than seeing your audi‐ Nora is the author of popular psychological ence slide off the edge of their seats before suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist. you do. At 10pm they’ll be mellow. By Congratulations! You’ve been 11pm, totally knackered. invited to give a speech for a And one final rule, wedding (like Brooklyn Beck‐ don’t outstay your wel‐ ham’s recent extravaganza), come, otherwise you’ll anniversary or business be nodding off long be‐ event. But public speaking’s a fore they do. Simply put: doddle, nothing at all to wor‐ “Be interesting, be brief ry about. and be gone.” Fortunately, there are A bit like crime writ‐ ways to make your speech ing: keep your audience both memorable and enter‐ guessing with unexpect‐ taining. Simply remember ed cliffhangers that these tips to grab your audi‐ make it tough to put ence and leave them begging your book down until for more. the very last page... Nora’s latest thriller. Use whatever reason Nora Johnson’s criti‐ you've come together for the cally acclaimed psycho‐ occasion as fodder for your speech. If it’s logical crime thrillers (www.nora‐john for business, use personal anecdotes son.net) all available online including about work and colleagues. But best avoid eBooks (€0.99;£0.99), Apple Books, audio‐ recalling that episode in the mailroom books, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits when the lights failed and you stumbled to Cudeca cancer charity.
NORA JOHNSON
Nora Johnson’s opinions are her own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
FEATURE
Tech travel hacks for an easy life WITH the stress of airport se‐ curity and baggage checks, it’s easy to dread travelling, which can set your holiday off to a bad start! To avoid the chaos as much as possi‐ ble there are several travel hacks holidaymakers could use to make the journey much more enjoyable and stress‐free! Their first tip is to take pho‐ tos of your travel documents so that you always have a backup… just in case! On an iPhone, there is a document scanner built into the native notes app. Or for android users, take photos and ‘favourite’ them in your cam‐ era roll so they’re easily ac‐ cessible when you need them. Use a digital tracker to keep track of your luggage. These can be used on lap‐ tops, phones and keys etc and work through Bluetooth, so you never have to spend your time waiting round at an airport because your luggage is somehow not where you are. Having your boarding pass
Image: Tero Vesalainen/shutterstock
Digital boarding.
on your phone will also mean you have it on you at all times and it’s easier to displace.
Download it from your book‐ ing on the airline’s website so that you have a digital copy.
Stay cool with a pool WITH the hot weather well and truly upon us, a refreshing dip in the ocean sounds divine. That’s all very well if you happen to live near a beach, and don’t mind the sand or being tussled about by waves. If a nice, chilled‐out dip, maybe with a cocktail in one hand and a good book in the other sounds more your thing, a garden pool could be a great addition to your home. However, there are a few things you need to do to make sure it stays clean and safe. Even though you can get away with re‐using swimming pool water during the hot weather, cleaning experts rec‐ ommend draining your pool at least once a month, even if it looks clean! This will flush out nature and reduce the likelihood of catching an illness from bacteria in your pool. Make sure to keep on top of your chlorine and check your pool’s PH levels to make sure your pool is safe to use all through summer.
LETTERS
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28 July - 3 August 2022
EWN 25
YOUR PAPER - YOUR VOICE - YOUR OPINION Letters should be emailed to yoursay@euroweeklynews.com or make your comments on our website: 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.
PLANE SAILING
Dear Sirs AN awful lot has been said and written recently regarding flights to the UK. My wife and I have just trav‐ elled from Alicante to East Midlands Airport via Jet2 on June 29. The whole journey could not have been better. Being old and finding it diffi‐ cult to walk we did request ‘as‐ sisted travel’. Wow! What ser‐ vice. It was like a military operation. Our Son explained to the Jet2 booking‐in desk our situation. The lady said “No problem” ‐two assistant travel staff immediately arrived ‐ sat us in the airport wheelchairs, and whisked us straight to se‐ curity ‐ then to a waiting sec‐ tion and to our boarding gates. I do not know how they did it, but the plane managed to land at East Midlands Airport on scheduled time! Arriving at East Midlands we were transferred to a new bus unit at plane height ‐ seated, and the whole unit lowered it‐ self to road level and was driv‐ en to passport control. In our wheelchairs we were rushed through to passport control, case collected and taken out‐ side by the ‘Assistant Ambas‐ sadors’ to link up with our rela‐ tives. Just felt that I must congratulate all concerned in making a difficult journey into such a pleasant experience. Bob Jarvis
Water fountain Greetings. Could anyone tell me if, or when, the public drinking fountain in the centre of Torremolinos is going to re‐ open? It was moved during the redevelopment of the new Plaza del Sol to the junction with Calle San Miguel and apart from a short period be‐ fore lockdown it has remained
out of use. This was an ameni‐ ty used by local people to fill their containers and tourists to top up their drinking bottles. The fountain is currently sur‐ rounded by chairs and tables from the Clock House bar which suggests that the au‐ thorities, for undisclosed rea‐ sons, have put the interests of the bar ahead of those of the rate payers of the town. Derek Halstead
Crystal ball Dear Sirs, Is Leapy prescient? He looked into his crystal ball again this week, and unlike
many commentators he again found crystal rather than the b**ls often seen. He was slightly off the ball, but who (except Leapy) could have imagined, it would be the eth‐ nic minority of the Conserva‐ tive party doing the work of the left. I often feel that politics is all the poorer, since the dominance of career politi‐ cians, life experience is lacking. What a shame Leapy isn’t a couple of decades younger, we might have been able to persuade him to cast aside his beachwear, bucket and spade and return to the UK to help out in government. Barry Morgan BA BSc FCIOB MBPsS
OUR VIEW BORDER SKIRMISHES
THE current problem for drivers leaving the UK by ferry to France has sparked a backlash of complaints from people furious at both the long delays and blame the French authorities for not having enough staff to cope. Sadly, it seems that our former friends are not going out of their way to make life easier for Britons travelling abroad, but then again why should they? The UK used to belong to a club whereby it spent a lot and earned a lot but thanks to an ill-advised decision by David Cameron to call the Referendum, a small majority voted to leave the club, although large numbers of UK passport holders living abroad were not allowed to be involved in the decision making. The British government is still arguing over the deal it struck with the European Union, has closed the door to many EU citizens who would have been happy to work in the UK but can’t get permission and has not yet managed to deliver the promised rewards from Brexit. Many of us have been accustomed to crossing borders without problems and whilst it may be irritating and frustrating to be delayed by having to comply with EU entry rules, is it surprising that the French government isn’t prepared to employ more border staff? Some say stuff the French, if they don’t want our money then we can go somewhere else, but France is our nearest neighbour and has land borders with eight different members of the EU, with Italy and Spain being important destinations for British drivers, so a boycott probably wouldn’t help.
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28 July - 3 August 2022
IN my 40s, when I could still re member my father’s name (it was ‘Dad’) and whether I still had a car, I took a course in so cial psychology. And, as we ap proach summer, I thought I could offer a little light holiday reading for the beach. The course introduced us to the musings of the great Ger man philosophers Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. And to this day, I am still fasci nated by the similarity of the conclusions among these cele brated thinkers. In their different ways, they all exhort us to achieve our full potential through discovering our true selves and thus becom ing free. Immanuel Kant’s philosophy was transcendental idealism, meaning that your concepts of what exists arise from impres sions formed by the senses. Ev erything you see and sense are mere appearances. The good
FEATURE
SOME LIGHT READING FOR THE BEACH Photo credits: J. Schaefer (1859) and Tino Calvo
DAVID WORBOYS
Photo credits: J. Schaefer (1859) and Tino Calvo
28 EWN
Schopenhauer would have had neither the time nor the inclination for a beach party in Benidorm.
news, therefore, is that Putin and Boris Johnson don’t actually exist. Kant also believed that universal personal freedom is achievable through the simple practice of human rights. Suffer ing punishment for sin or crime is justifiable if proportionate to the wrong. And that, to fulfil our maximum potential, we should live not to make our selves happy but to make our selves worthy of happiness. Arthur Schopenhauer main tains that the purpose of our ex istence is to find ourselves in
solitude. We should be pre pared to remove the causes of suffering by sacrificing most re lationships, and, while we need to be compassionate, the more sociable we are, the less we can develop our intellectual capaci ty. We need to reflect more on the meaning of our existence. He regards happiness not as joy or ecstasy but escape from boredom and negativity. Schopenhauer would hardly have participated in a beach party in Benidorm and I respect him for that.
Friedrich Nietzsche, the father of existentialism, warns against following the herd, dwelling in the comfort zone and resisting change. Only by being individu al, and taking responsibility for who we are can we find our true selves. This can mean the difficult choice of being a loner but, only by confronting the un known and embracing suffering as part of life, can we be truly free and thus achieve our full potential. We should accept even embrace suffering as part of life, as the price for avoiding
living in a social prison imposed by the control of society’s max ims. This does not mean rejection of all accepted standards of so ciety but it does mean question ing them. Such standards de clare it unacceptable to gun down defenceless children and teachers in a school or to en slave vulnerable young girls into prostitution. But society can and does also dictate the sub sumption of individual charac teristics and beliefs into the herd mentality. More recently, the conclu sions of these distinguished thinkers has been further devel oped by Albert Camus (one of my favourite novelists of my younger days) and, of course, Eckhart Tolle, about whom I have already written.
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David Worboys’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
Incapable of coping MIKE SENKER IN MY OPINION Views of a Grumpy Old Man THERE was a terrible incident in a local nightclub recently and it got me thinking about the thought process of going out for the evening. I imagine it now goes something like, Ok got my phone, keys, money, credit cards. Have I forgotten anything? Ah yes my gun, some knives, drugs for personal use and some for spiking innocent people’s drinks. Don’t wait up for me Mum ‘cos I might not ever be home again unless of course they don’t let me in because I’m wearing trainers! For the first few days of last week I thought the war in Ukraine was over as it was not mentioned on any mainstream news I watch. The only news was the fact that the UK was very hot. In fact it was the hottest it’s ever been for one day. It was like people were totally incapable of coping. Actually it’s quite easy to deal with if you have a bit of common sense. Don’t go out in the blazing sun or coat yourself in pure virgin olive oil. Take all the right precautions and you
will be fine. It’s not rocket science to know you have to sip water all day long. Anyway most survived and that was it. The banks here have got worse. I turned up for one appointment last week and was told that the person I needed to see wasn’t there. Why didn’t they call me and let me know? I got the shrug, then someone spoke to someone else, and by the way, there were about eight desks behind me without one member of staff at any of them. A lady came out and informed me she was a mortgage advisor but she would try and help but not at a desk. She wanted to discuss my personal business from behind the counter in front of everyone. It didn’t happen - I left. I then sent an email to my other bank to make an appointment. I got an automated reply saying she was out of the office till August 8 and finished off with the usual salutation and, just for good luck, also wished me Merry Christmas. I emailed the bank again and said their out of office messaging could do with an update - no response yet. Oh and to everyone that sent me emails about how I should invest in Bitcoin and I should stop questioning it - still feel the same? Email: mikesenker@gmail.com
Mike’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors.
euroweeklynews.com
28 July - 3 August 2022
EWN 29
How to house Which bird is your pet frog right for you?
ALTHOUGH they are am phibians, there are some species of frog which make great pets. Mainly this is because they are easy to care for. If you fancy a frog friend instead of your run of the mill pets like cats and dogs, here’s some tips on how to properly house one in your home. Frogs need a terrarium. These are easy to assem ble and should remain closed and secure so that your pet frog can’t leap
out. It’s also recommend ed that you get an adult size terrarium from the getgo so that your frog can grow into it. Their terrarium should also be kept at around 26 27 degrees through the day and 20 degrees through the night. Frogs also have semi permeable skin which can dehydrate if the terrarium environment is too dry. Make sure your terrari um’s substratum is humid and that water is available for your frog to sub merge itself in.
Image – pet frog: Linas T/shutterstock
Frogs make a great pet.
Making sure your cat and your child get on
IF you want a pet but you’re not overly enamoured with the furry friends usually people’s first choice you might consider a pet bird as a colourful and affectionate addition to your family. Parakeets (aka budgies) are an especially good choice if you’re new to bird ownership. They are small and low maintenance and with the right training can even learn entertaining tricks. For a slightly more unique pet bird, a cockatiel will stun with its yellow and red mini mohawk. They are also ex ceptionally intelligent, often learning to mimic house hold noises like doorbells or telephones. When handfed as babies and raised with love and attention, they make great pets. If you want something with a bit more gusto, a hy acinth macaw could be right for you. They are a startling rocket blue colour and are known as ‘gentle giants’, as the biggest parrot species. Hyacinth macaws are friendly and love a cuddle. If
you have the time and space to care for one, they are a wonderful addition to the family.
HYACINTH MACAWS: Love to have a cuddle.
Cohabitation may be possible THE fraternal relationships between differ ent species of pet animals depends on the socialisation that they had growing up. It is the owner’s job to raise their pets so that they can socialise with other animals. For dogs for example, this is possible during dai ly walks. Dogs are naturally social animals. For them it’s often fairly easy to introduce the presence of another family member into the house, whether this is a new child or a new pet.
Vet Juan Carlos Molina recommends intro ducing new members when your pet dog is a puppy as adaptation is much easier. During their first few months of life, your puppy will still be learning to recognise different species and to make sense of their environment. The security of your animals should be pri oritised during these first meetings and it’s important to pay attention to your dog’s be haviour. You should recognise early on if the cohabitation is not going to work.
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ALTHOUGH they are known as solitary creatures, cats are capable of forming strong social bonds as part of a family. Raising a cat can encourage chil dren’s social and emotional development. Howev er, children can be very overwhelming for cats and can lead to them retreating from the family alto gether. To ensure that your cat and your child get on, make sure your child doesn’t get over excited around the cat. This is likely to aggravate your fe line friend and make them more likely to scratch your child by accident. As cats generally have free reign of your home, your child might be tempted to share their food with the cat when eating at the dinner table. Try and discourage this sort of behaviour as cats are al lergic to a lot of human food. Your cat could also get used to being at the table and taking things from your child. It’s also not very hygienic to have your cat to dinner, no matter how much we love them!
PETS PAGE
Image – Hyacinth macaw: Vaclav Matous/shutterstock
PETS
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MOTORING
euroweeklynews.com
28 July - 3 August 2022
EWN 31
Cupra Formentor - impressive, individual and a premium performance ROAD TEST by Mark Slack WITH so much integration of platforms car makers are increasingly looking at dif‐ ferentiating their products from the competition, and within large groups like Volkswagen Audi it is ar‐ guably even more impor‐ tant. SEAT has progressed the idea though with the Cupra range. Originally Cupra were the sports orientated models within the SEAT line‐up but the name is now a brand in its own right, having dropped the SEAT name, with a complete Cupra range. There’s also signs of the brand’s EV direction with the new all‐electric Cupra Born. While some Cupras are very obviously SEAT models, the Spanish carmaker is in‐ creasingly producing indi‐ vidual models unique to the
Cupra brand. The Formen‐ tor is one such model and despite the fact that even the largest engine in the range is only 2.0‐litres it sounds fan‐ tastic on start‐up. Although this is ‘man‐ ufactured’ sound it does add to the appeal and make it feel something spe‐ cial. With a top power out‐ put of 310PS the perfor‐ mance lives up to the soundtrack. Prices start from €35,006/£29,880 and much of the kit in the top‐of‐the‐ line versions finds its way in‐ to the lead‐in models too. There’s a 12” touchscreen, full LED lighting, auto‐dim‐ ming rear view mirror, cor‐ nering lights, wireless phone charging, adaptive cruise control and keyless
Facts at a Glance
CUPRA RANGE: A very individual model.
entry and start. The engine line‐up starts with a 1.5 TSi, 150PS, through to the 2.0‐litre 310PS mentioned earlier. There are manual and auto‐ matic transmission choices, all‐wheel‐drive and petrol/ electric hybrids. As ever, especially with VAG products, there is rather too much digitalisation, and
Credit: volkswagen-newsroom.com
Volkswagen dismisses CEO IN a statement released on Friday, July 22, the Volkswagen automobile group’s supervisory board reported that its CEO Her‐ bert Diess had been dis‐ missed, by mutual agree‐ ment. He will be replaced by Oliver Blume as of September 1, 2022. Blume is already the president of sports car manufacturer Porsche, and will continue to oper‐ ate that position in con‐ junction with his new role as head of the Wolfsburg‐ based group. Hans Dieter Potsch, chairman of the VW group’s supervisory board, said: “During his tenure as Chairman of the Board of Manage‐ ment of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand and as Chairman of the Group Board of Management, Herbert Diess played a key role in advancing the transformation of the
VOLKSWAGEN: A new CEO will take on the role as head of the Wolfsburg-based group.
company.” He added: “The Group and its brands are viable for the future; its innova‐ tive capabilities and earn‐ ing power are strength‐ ened. Mr Diess impressively demonstrat‐ ed the speed at which,
MOTORING
Model: CUPRA Formentor 2.0 TSI VZ3 310PS 4Drive DSG Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol Gears: 7-speed automatic with allwheel-drive Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) Petrol 4.9 secs Maximum Speed Petrol 249 kph (155 mph) Economy: Petrol 8.6 l/100km (32.8 mpg) WLTP Emissions: 193 g/km WLTP Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.
and consistency with which, he was able to car‐ ry out far‐reaching trans‐ formation processes. Not only did he steer the com‐ pany through extremely turbulent waters, but he also implemented a fun‐ damentally new strategy.”
a consequent lack of but‐ tons, but familiarity would over time make life easier. That apart it’s a very nice place to be with, in my top line model, extremely com‐ fortable seats, an impressive build quality and the general feel of this being an upmar‐ ket car. At €51,021/£43,550 it may seem expensive, but look at some of the rivals
and it begins to look com‐ petitive. Despite the lack of a premium‐badge it has the advantage of being some‐ thing different to the usual premium crowd. On the road it handles ex‐ tremely well for such a large machine, with sports sus‐ pension and four‐wheel‐ drive that’s perhaps not sur‐ prising, and the ride is
comfortably firm compared to similar less compliant sports models within the VAG stable. This is an impressive ma‐ chine and for my money still the pick of the Cupra range, being a very individual mod‐ el rather than a bespoke, or tailored pick straight from the pages of the SEAT cata‐ logue.
Fuel wars intensify AFTER the recent announce‐ ments by both Repsol and Cepsa that they will extend the fuel discounts at Spanish pumps to 30 cents per litre over the coming months, BP Spain has gone one step fur‐ ther. The oil giant has an‐ nounced a special summer promotion that offers up to 40 cents per litre discounts on fuel at its network of petrol stations. Their offer started on Thursday, July 21, and runs until September 30. On top of the mandatory govern‐ ment discount of 20 cents per litre, BP Spain is offering an additional discount of 15 cents for private customers who refuel using the ‘My BP'’ loyalty card. If a motorist refuels with more than 40 litres of its ‘Ul‐ timate’ fuel then they can gain an extra five cents per litre discount. The extra five cents offer is only applicable on the Spanish mainland,
not on the islands. With the prices of both petrol and diesel hitting record highs this year, all dis‐ counts at the pumps are a welcome bonus to motorists.
During the last three or four weeks, fuel prices have actu‐ ally started to fall slightly, but they still remain around the €2/litre mark across the country.
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32 EWN
euroweeklynews.com
28 July - 3 August 2022
SPORT
REIGNING F1 world cham‐ pion Max Verstappen won the French Grand Prix at the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet on Sunday, July 24. In the process, the Red Bull driver roared into a com‐ manding 63‐point lead at the top of the driver’s table. LeClerc had originally led by 46 points after the first three races of the season. Whether he would have won the race if Charles LeClerc hadn’t spun his Fer‐ rari off the track while out in front is anybody’s guess. The Ferrari driver had start‐ ed from pole position and
Credit: Twitter@F1
Verstappen Grand Prix win Atletico to sell Griezmann Driver's podium at the French Grand Prix.
weathered the Dutchman’s attempts to pass him. It all went wrong on Lap 18 as the Frenchman lost control at the Beausset dou‐ ble right‐hander and spun into the tyre wall at around 100mph. In fairness to the Ferrari driver, he later admitted his own fault in causing the crash. “Not good enough. I am performing at a very high level since the begin‐ ning of the season, but if I keep making these mistakes it is pointless to be perform‐ ing at this high level, I will try to get better but this is not good,” he commented.
SPORT
With LeClerc out of the picture, Max Verstappen took the lead and was nev‐ er in danger of relinquishing it.
FRENCH international striker Antoine Griezmann was put up for sale by LaLi‐ ga club Atletico Madrid on Saturday, July 23, according to reputed sports journalist Duncan Castles. The Spanish club are believed to be interested in signing Portuguese su‐ perstar Cristiano Ronaldo and remov‐ ing Griezmann’s hefty wage bill from their books could pave the way for a potential move back to Spain. Ronaldo is on a reputed £360,000 weekly at Manchester United, al‐ though it has been suggested that he is prepared to take a cut in wages to
play in the Champions League again this coming season. According to the UK press, PSG have already declined Atletico’s offer of taking the French‐ man to the capital. One thing that is certain is that should he make the move to Atletico, it will not endear him to the Real Madrid fans. They still recognise Ronaldo as one of the greatest players to ever wear their famous white shirt and one has to wonder if Cristiano would want to shatter that legacy. He has until the end of August to make a decision.
Football legend dies ages 85 UWE SEELER, one of West Germany’s greatest‐ever football players has passed away at the age of 85. His death was con‐ firmed on Thursday, July 21, by the Ger‐ man national team on its official Twitter profile in English. Seeler was in the West German team that lost to England in the 1966 World Cup final. When the two sides met again in the Mexico 1970 World Cup quarter‐fi‐
nals, he placed a back‐header beyond England keeper Peter Bonetti to level the scores at 2‐2. West Germany went on to win 3‐2. At the national level, Uwe Seeler played his whole career for Hamburger SV, where he notched up 137 goals in 239 Bundesliga games. Before his retirement from football in 1972, the prolific forward became the first
player to score in four World Cup tourna‐ ments. He was also the first football play‐ er to be honoured with the Great Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. An astounding total of 404 goals in Ger‐ man Oberliga and Bundesliga matches is a record that still stands today. In German league games overall, he stands second on 406, behind all‐time great, Gerd Muller.
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