Axarquia 13 - 19 October 2022 Issue 1945

DROUGHT HELP

A REPRESENTATIVE of the Junta de Andalucia, Patricia Navarro, has visited La Viñuela, which is currently at only 10 per cent capacity, to set out what the govern ment is doing to help the drought.

Navarro explained the Junta had invested nearly €61 million in aid to Malaga Province in its fight against drought but called on Spain’s central government to do more. The politician al so called on locals to use wa ter responsibly.

She said: “We must all be aware of the urgent situa tion we are in and the water shortage we face, thinking of water that comes out of the tap as gold dust.”

Navarro also confirmed that despite the total restric tion on water being used from La Viñuela, farmers of the area will still be able to have irrigation water through other means.

She added: “We have act ed since day one, bearing in mind that we are 15 years behind schedule. Previous governments did not fore see the necessary infrastruc

ture work or take care of ex isting infrastructure, and we have had to deal with every thing at the same time as a persistent drought.”

The recently created Comisión de Seguimiento de la Drought para Andalucía is

also studying the Next Gen eration funds that the com munity needs to tackle the drought. Measures could in clude allocating more re sources to prevent water loss from leaks in the supply networks of municipalities

with fewer than 20,000 in habitants.

The Junta has taken other measures to ensure water supply this winter, including agreeing 25Hm3 in Axarquia, or using water from the Rio Chíllar in Nerja if necessary.

Celebrating Day of the Pedal

VELEZ-MALAGA and Torre del Mar are looking for ward to celebrating a new edition of the Day of the Pedal ‘Día del Pedal’ in November.

The event will take place on Sunday, November 6, from 11.30am.

The councillor for Sports, J Hipolito Gomez, and the councillor for Finance, David Vilches, announced the sporting event which will have prizes for the most original bike and the largest participating group.

Registration is complete

ly free and is open until Fri day, November 4, at the Casa del Deporte, the Velez­Malaga indoor swim ming pool, the Torre del Mar indoor swimming pool and the Paseo Marítimo sports courts.

Leading ladies

THE Mancomunidad of Axarquia will present eight special awards to women and groups for Interna tional Rural Women’s Day 2022.

The coordinator for Equality, Juan Penas, ex plained that with this event they want to recognise “the women of our region who have been so impor tant over the years in each of our villages.”

Juan recalled “The idea arose during the ‘Rural Women Entrepreneurs’ conference organised in 2020. We realised that it was not enough to know the important role that women play despite the dif ficulties they face, but that we had to make them known.”

International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holi day celebrated annually on October 15.

It is a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

RURAL WOMEN’S DAY: Eight awards will be given.

Emotional well-being

THE activities that will take place during Octo ber in Torrox will revolve around emotional wellbeing.

Councillor for Health, Ana Perez, announced

that a workshop will be held to ‘Learn to manage stress’ in which it in tends to offer tools both to young people and adults to be able to face the stress and anxiety of

everyday life.

The workshop will be carried out in the Sala Almedina on Friday, Oc tober 21, from 10.30am until 12.30pm. If you are unable to attend the workshop it will be repeated on Wednesday, October 26 from 4.30pm until 6.30pm.

Those interested in participating can use the form to access the town council’s web site and use the QR codes of the poster or call (+34) 952 532 526

The councillor also announced that the month of November will be dedicated to the care of alcohol de pendency and to low ering alcohol con sumption.

After celebrating World Day of Health on April 7, Torrox spent the month dedi cated to promoting physical activity.

Real-time tourism

THE department for Tourism has created an in formative and easy to use website in real­time to improve the experience for tourists involved in the Magna of Velez­Malaga.

The guide was presented at the town hall on Tuesday, October 11, and contains all the infor mation about the processions, and a complete itinerary guide. The mayor, Jesus Perez Atencia, said: “The Tourism Department has confirmed their new initiative that we are launching. It is an important milestone focused especially on the event of the Magna of Velez­Malaga.

“The municipality of Velez­Malaga is one of the five in Spain certified by the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE) as a Smart Tourism destination.”

The mayor added: “We try to improve the experience of tourists, residents and neigh

WEBSITE: Easy to use for tourists.

bours through new technologies adapted to this sector. We can now present a website that will allow you to access tourism in the palm of your hand, on your mobile phone. The address is turismomapas.velezmalaga.es

“You will also be able to find parking areas, bars, restaurants, buses and all the services that will be available to those who visit us.”

Hero police officers

ON Friday, October 7, the plenary session of the Corporation congratulated officers of Ner ja Local Police, Juan Jose Paniagua and Fran cisco Javier Romero, for their intervention in a fire which started in a house on Calle la Cruz on July 28.

The councillor for Security, Francisco Arce, reported that “this recognition is motivated by the report of the Chief of the Local Police,

Francisco Iranzo, in which he recounts the in tervention of the officers, who acted with dili gence and professionalism. They put in value the basic principles of the public function.”

A request to the Andalucian Government’s Ministry of the Presidency has been made to include officer Romero in the Order of Merit of the Andalucian Local Police for his interven tion in the fire after putting his life at risk.

Queen’s Gala

THE Grand Gala of the Queen added the finish ing touch to the first day of the Nerja Fair on Sun day, October 9.

As Nerja tradition dic tates, after the proclama tion of the Fair, the Grand

Gala for the election of the Queen of the Fair 2022 was held at the Mu nicipal Booth, in which Rocio Moreno was pro claimed as Queen. Shadya Macías and Laura Segovia were announced as First and Second Lady.

The mayor of Nerja, Jose Alberto Armijo, con gratulated those chosen as Queen and Ladies, as well as the rest of the participants.

He also thanked the Festival Commission and all the people who self lessly collaborated with the Festival Mayor’s Of fice, for having made it possible to enjoy such a great show.

Likewise, Miss Conge niality and Elegance were chosen and went to María del Carmen Guerra, Miss Photogenicity was awarded to Rocio Moreno, and Miss Social Networks, by popular vote through Instagram, to Laura Medina.

Grand Gala of the Queen.

Image: Nerja City Council

Image: Velez-Malaga City Council

Clean protest

THE cleaning team in Torrox are protesting to demand a salary increase of 6.5 per cent. Sixty­two employees got to gether for the first protest on Friday, October 7. Other protests have been scheduled for October 10, 13, 17 and 20 between 2.00pm and 3.30pm in front of the council offices.

Fruit attraction

TORROX mayor Oscar Medi na, showed support for the agricultural sector at the fruit and vegetable fair Fruit Attrac tion on October 6 in Madrid. The mayor confirmed his sup port for farmers adding that their costs have increased by 35 per cent and government regulations are too strict.

Elderly choir

THE Nerja Fair began on Sun day, October 9, with the bril liant proclamation by the El derly Choir ‘Con otro Aire’ accompanied by the Nerja Music Band, which was very well received by the public. The event took place in the Balcon de Europa.

Excel course

TORROX Youth Council is to offer its young people an Excel Training Course. The course will be done online. The gov ernment will subsidise 90 per cent of the course and it will cost the student €60. Anyone interested needs to sign up before 2.00pm on October 21.

Fair fun

THE Nerja Fair was an oppor tunity to live to the rhythm of the traditional, popular and typical festivals of the Axar quia. Four days of fun took place from Saturday, October 8, with street parades, con certs, fireworks and musical and dance performances.

Birds of a feather

THE town council of Canillas de Aceituno has considered the celebration of their sec ond International Bird Day to be a great success. More than 50 people gathered on Sun day, October 9, to learn about the wealth of birds in the area.

María Zambrano Foundation

VELEZ-MALAGA is to be the protagonist in Geneva today Thursday, October 13, and Friday, October 14, in an interna tional congress on thought and exile.

The mayor of Velez­Malaga, Antonio Moreno Ferrer, is also president of the María Zambrano Foundation.

The María Zambrano de Velez­Malaga Foundation is organising an international congress in Geneva that will be held with the aim of continuing to promote the life and work of the world­renowned philosopher of thought, both inside and outside the borders of her hometown.

Maria Zambrano Alarcon’s extensive

work between civic engagement and poetic reflection started to be recog

Image: Velez-Malaga City Council

nised in Spain over the last quarter of the 20th century after living many years in exile.

The international meeting is consid ered an important activity for the Foun dation in the countries where she lived and left her mark.

The congress will feature top­level topics and speakers, all of them experts in the life, work and exile of Zambrano. It will also include the participation of some patrons of the Foundation as well as professors from Geneva and other foreign universities such as Italy and Ger many.

Bricklaying competition Park life

RIOGORDO will celebrate its traditional masonry compe

The greatest days of art

TORROX is preparing for one of its big days, the Fiesta de las Migas, which will reach its 41st edition on December 18, the Sunday before Christmas.

As part of the celebrations, an art competition is being hosted with a single prize of €1,000 for the winning piece of work, the results of which will be announced at the gas tronomic festival on Decem ber 18.

The art competition enti tled One of the Greatest Days of Torrox runs until Novem ber 17. All entries must be sent to fiestas@torrox.es be fore then. The competition is open to all artistic disciplines, not just photography or digi tal arts as in previous edi tions.

The mayor is excited about the celebration of the 41st edition, trusting that, after the Covid­19 health crisis, it will be ‘the most spectacular in recent history.’

He also pointed out that the government team has been working so that the Fi esta de las Migas recovers all its splendour, being consid ered a great gastronomic day not only within the province but throughout Andalucia.

tition on Saturday, October 15, with 25 teams from all over Spain competing.

The ‘Puebla de Riogordo’ Bricklaying Competition, which celebrates its ninth edition this year can be watched at the municipal swimming pool, where 50 bricklayers from all over Spain, divided into 25 teams, will compete for the first prize.

Malaga’s mayor, Francis co Javier Quero, confirmed that: “the event is held with the aim of testing masonry professionals to encourage them to improve their tech nical knowledge, skills and abilities.”

“It is a competition be tween teams, each made up of a bricklaying official and an assistant labourer. Each team will have to make a piece of brickwork that re quires some kind of layout and layout operation.”

The mayor added: “We will unveil the task at 8.30am and will also pro vide the construction mate rials.

“The participating teams will work with their own tools and will have four hours to complete the work, although the jury may ex tend or shorten the time de pending on the difficulty of the piece to be made.”

Cancer awareness

OCTOBER is Breast Cancer Awareness month and World Breast Cancer Day is on Wednesday October 19, an inter national campaign to raise awareness for the detection and treatment of breast cancer, raise funds for research, treatment and survival. To mark the occasion, we found some facts and figures about breast cancer in Spain and the UK.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in both Spain and the UK. In Spain, there are 35,000 new cas es of breast cancer a year, in the UK the figure stands at around 55,000. Breast cancer rates have risen by around 18 per cent since the early 1990s.

However, breast cancer has higher overall survival rates than some other cancers. In Spain 87 per cent of women survive breast cancer for more than five years after diagno sis, in the UK 88 per cent of women survive for five years.

Breast cancer can also be prevented, in up to 23 per cent of cases in the UK. Breast Cancer Awareness month is cru cial in raising awareness about early detection.

THE councillor for the Environment, Anto nio Ariza, has an nounced plans for a complete refurbish ment of the chil dren’s playground in Calle Hojalateros in Velez­Malaga.

The works will be gin the week com mencing Monday, October 10, and will consist of the renova tion of the floor and furniture. There will also be the installa tion of a multigame with three towers, a swing and a seesaw.

The budget for the transformation of this park is €30,000 and the deadline for completion is two weeks.

Cultural centre turns 30

AN iconic cultural site in Rin con de la Victoria is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana has become integral to El Rincon and will hold a special programme of events to reflect this.

Activities will get underway from Friday October 14, until October 23. The first event will be an art exhibition provided by the Artistic Heritage Fund on Friday at 7pm, followed by a round table discussion and musical performance.

The celebratory programme is being organised by the local council’s Department for Cul ture. Local councillor for Cul ture, Clara Perles, announced the programme of events say ing “it ranges from children’s workshops to flamenco per formances, classical music, the atre performances and the art exhibition.”

Perles expressed the coun cil’s excitement for the pro gramme, to celebrate the cen trepiece of local culture. She added “we cannot underesti mate the importance of Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana in bringing together national and interna tional figures over the last 30 years from all cultural disci plines including authors, writ ers and artists.”

Even the building of Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana has cultural significance. It is the only re maining fortress of its kind on the Axarquia coast.

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María Zambrano Foundation

Tourism photography competition

THE Tourism Council of the Rincon de la Vic toria Town Council has confirmed the 2022 Tourism in Rincon Photography Contest.

The chosen images will be featured in the new tourist calendar of Rincon de la Victoria 2023 which will be officially pre sented at the International Tourism Fair in Madrid. The images, in addition to starring in the calendar, will be used to promote the municipality in different campaigns throughout the year 2023.

The councillor for Tourism, Antonio Jose Martin, confirmed that: “Each year we re

NERJA’S mayor, Jose Alberto Armijo, and the Minister of Public Works, Marifran Carazo, laid the first brick of the 11 VPO homes for young people on Zurbaran Street on Friday, Oc tober 7. The Vivienda de Pro teccion Oficial (VPO or HPO, al so known as Home with Public Protection or Protected Home) is a type of home with a limited

IMAGES: Will be featured in calendar.

ceive more images of greater quality show ing the spectacular corners and spaces in our town.”

Any Spanish resident over the age of 18

can participate with images of landscapes, moments, parties, sports, gastronomy and any theme that covers the goodness of the town.

Each participant may submit an unlimit ed number of photographs as long as they are original and unpublished and not previ ously submitted in other contests, websites or any other digital or printed media.

The works must be entered before Octo ber 31 in a minimum horizontal jpg format of 1920×1080 by email to turismo@turis moenrincon.es.

Brick laid

price and, almost always, par tially subsidised by the Spanish public administration.

Jose Alberto Armijo high lighted the fulfilment of the town council’s commitment to

building VPO housing for young people and thanked the munic ipal groups involved.

This first municipal promo tion, with a budget of €1,450,269 is co­financed by

the town council with €1,232,139, and the Andalucian Government, which subsidises €218,130 through the govern ment of Spain.

Nerja was the only munici pality in the province that ob tained a subsidy from the re gional administration through the Programme for the Promo tion of Rental Housing Stock.

First time host

TORROX with a small German community in the south of Europe was chosen to host the German Film Week. It is the first time the screening of a film for German Film Week has occurred outside Albeniz (Malaga).

German Film Week ran from Monday, October 10 and runs until Monday October 17.

The mayor of Torrox, Oscar Medina, thanked the Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Mala ga, Arnulf Braun, and the director of the German newspaper Sur, Uwe Scheele, for having chosen the municipality for the special screening of the film ‘Lieber Thomas’.

Medina has placed value on the ties forged be tween Torrox and Germany.

Scheel confirmed that: “Torrox is a place of lively exchange between Spaniards and Germans and therefore it was the ideal place for German Film Week to leave Malaga for the first time and I trust that in the future more cultural activities can be or ganised.”

Braun stressed: “It is important for all European countries to remain united to face the difficult situa tion we are living. We must cultivate our personal relationships and the best way is through culture.”

Image: Rincon de la Victoria City Council

€3m irrigation investment

THE government signed an agreement to invest €3 million in modernising irri gation on the coast of Nerja and Granada on Tuesday, October 11.

The investment action entitled ‘Plan for the improvement of efficiency and sustainability in irrigation’ will affect 856 hectares and will benefit 747 com munity members of the Young Farm ers Irrigation Community.

Francisco Rodríguez Mulero, Presi dent of the State Commercial Society of Agricultural Infrastructures (SEIASA), confirmed: “The improve ment project for the use in irrigation of reclaimed water from the La Her radura Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) will benefit 747 irrigators from the Community of Young Farm ers, and from the communities of La Marina 1, San Jose and Rio Jat.”

The modernisation will allow the re claimed water from the La Herradura WWTP to be used for irrigation, through the construction of a new pumping station and a new delivery pipe that will connect an accumula tion pond next to the WWTP with an

THE Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana in Rincon de la Victoria is to celebrate its 30th anniversary as an exhibition hall with a range of activities running from Friday, October 14, until Sunday, October 23.

The Bezmiliana Fort House Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana is an 18th-century building declared as a Site of Cultural Interest, the only one of these characteristics that are still preserved on the coast.

The councillor for Culture, Clara Perles, said: “With great enthusiasm, we have organised a cultural programme of

other pond at the head of the Jate riv er.

This will mean a significant improve ment in the quality of the water that the irrigable area has in the summer allowing reclaimed water to be used for irrigation.

Clean beaches commitment

TORROX Town Council main tains its commitment to work 365 days a year in taking care of its beaches and continues to work, out of high season, on the conditioning and improve ment of its beaches.

The mayor, Oscar Medina, together with the councillor re sponsible for Beaches, Veroni ca Munoz, announced that they already have the new toi let modules in El Penoncillo which were requested by the public.

The mayor confirmed: “The municipal government made a great commitment to en hancing the value of El Penon

cillo beach and we are equip ping it with the necessary fur niture."

The councillor for Beaches added: “We have the best cli mate in Europe and we know that in October we receive a lot of German and Nordic tourism.”

She also pointed out that for the coming months the fore casts of visitors from neigh bours in central Europe have increased. Because of the in crease in the prices of gas for heating homes, it is expected tourists will choose Torrox to escape the harsh winter of their cities she confirmed.

Fort House anniversary

the highest level that ranges from children’s workshops, fla menco, classical music, presentations and of course an exhi bition of 30 works selected from our municipal fund.”

The councillor also expressed “the magnitude of this cul tural space where national and international artists from different disciplines have passed, and also as a meeting

point for authors, writers and artistic expressions for public use which open permanently throughout the year.”

Among the events planned, the Education Department of Rincon de la Victoria Town Council has organised a series of visits by the schools in the municipality to Casa Fuerte on the occasion of its 30th anniversary.

AGREEMENT SIGNED: To modernise irrigation on the coast of Nerja and Granada.

Image: Nerja City Council

Sophisticated fakes

ON September 21, Europol lead a joint operation with the Spanish National Police and the Catalonian Mossos d’Esquadra to dismantle an organised crime group in volved in printing and dis tributing counterfeit €500 notes.

During the operation a clandestine print shop was dismantled and 12 people were arrested. Nine loca tions were searched in Ali

BUSINESSES and schools closed in order to join in the celebrations for Spain’s National Day on Wednesday October 12.

Spain’s National Day commemorates the ar rival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas and is also sometimes known as Dia de la His panidad (Hispanic Day).

Italian‐born Christopher Columbus set off from Pa los de la Frontera in south west Spain in 1492 on Au

cante, Barcelona, Malaga and Valencia. €4.3 million in fake €500 banknotes were seized and a large amount of equipment (several printing presses, an insulation ma chine, a hot stamping ma chine, a paper guillotine and raw materials).

Investigators identified the main suspect behind the print shop as an individual al ready known by authorities detained for similar criminal

activities in 2009. These counterfeits were of better quality but had similarities to the 2009 counterfeits, which lead to the same suspect.

The investigators estimate that in as little as three months, the criminal net work printed more than €8 million.

The fake money was used for different criminal activi ties including drug traffick ing.

Spain’s National Day

gust 3. Just over two months later he arrived in the ‘New World’.

Columbus, who was sponsored by the Spanish monarch, Ferdinand of Aragon, was actually look ing for a western route to India, but instead stum bled upon the Americas, a continent that had been largely unknown to Euro peans.

The discovery led to a period of rapid explo ration of the continent.

Día de la Hispanidad was first celebrated in Madrid in 1935 and was made an official public holiday in 1981. In 1987, its name was changed to Fiesta Nacional (Spain’s National Day), removing any reference to Spanish colonialism.

Bill Diamond’s first novel

AUTHOR, Bill Diamond, left school at 15 with little formal education and served a full

apprenticeship as a bricklay er. After educating himself he learned most facets of the

building industry and prop erty development. He started a property manage ment company in 1979 which is still going strong.

During the early months of Covid, with no golf to oc cupy him, Bill started to write his first novel on an iPhone as he had no laptop or tablet to use.

He lives in Javea, Costa Blanca and has had a long‐time love affair with Spain and lived in Denia for many years before moving to an apartment on the Arenal in Javea four years ago.

His writing is carried out in Javea on the balcony of his apartment overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and it is the sound of the waves and the beautiful ambience of Javea which gives him so much inspiration for his books.

Bill has a passion for horses and has ridden the Bad

Park courses on his competi tion horses, many of whom he bred himself.

Bill also has a passion for golf and through practice and dedication has managed to achieve a single figure handi cap.

Author, Bill Diamond.Image: Bill Diamond

Recently he had the privi lege of flying in a Spitfire over the white cliffs of Dover which remains one of his most memo rable experi ences.

As an avid reader of spy/ thriller novels, Bill has often criticised books that have too much “padding out,” even though the story line may be strong and enter taining so with this in mind Bill has created a gripping novel packed with adven ture, intrigue, danger and ro mance on every page.

His first novel due to be re leased shortly, Max Catt ‐ The Beginning, is the first in a hoped series. The novel fol lows Max‐Catt who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth but broke away from the easy life of the landed gentry.

He became a one‐man killing machine whose skills and rouge modus operandi attracted MI5, the anti‐ter rorist unit and MI6 who all wanted to recruit Max, but it was the SAS that he chose.

An expert with a sniper ri fle coupled with his animal instinct, he caused havoc within terrorist groups so much so that a huge bounty was put on his head by the newly formed and danger ous Islamic Republican Front

From a young age danger and death have followed Max from a family hostage crisis to blackmail and mur der!

PRESSEUROPEAN

DENMARK

Bargain capital

ACCORDING to a survey carried out by UK price comparison site Confused.com, Copenhagen is the best city in Europe for those seeking bargains, be they antiques, collector’s items, food or clothes from street and flea markets, as well as antique and specialist shops.

THE NETHERLANDS

Stowaway

A WOMAN, said to be Russian, outwitted security controls at Rotterdam airport and managed to board a Transavia flight headed for Malaga as a stowaway, although when flight crew discovered her presence, the plane was diverted to Madrid where she was removed and arrested.

BELGIUM

Short temper

A COACH for Futsal team Herental, is in trouble with the Belgian Football Association when, in a fit of temper over decisions made by the referee he pulled the ref’s shorts down, resulting in the game being abandoned and his team losing.

GERMANY

Dreary Munich

DESPITE the fact that it was cancelled for two years due to the pandemic, Munich’s Oktoberfest (which actually runs for two weeks in September) didn’t attract the expected high numbers with a reported 5.7 million people downing just 5.6 million litres of beer due to bad weather.

FRANCE

Football protest

THE City Fathers in Paris have decided they will not allow the broadcasting of World Cup matches on giant public screens due to perceived violations of foreign workers’ rights in Qatar and as a protest about the environmental impact of the tournament with air-conditioned stadiums.

NORWAY

Bhangra style

A NORWEGIAN dance group Quick Style has taken the internet by storm as a video of the members dancing to a 2018 Bollywood hit song Kala Chashma at a wedding has received millions of views and spawned numerous versions by dance groups around the world.

FINLAND

Lenin removed

FOLLOWING the Russian invasion of Ukraine, local residents in the city of Kotka called for a statue of Vladimir Lenin (the last on public display in Finland) to be removed and on Tuesday October 4, it was taken to a warehouse.

IRELAND

Epic voyage

FORMER rugby player Damian Browne became the first Irishman to row from New York to Galway, but after 112 days at sea and just short of his final destination, he ran aground on some rocks just outside of the port and was helped ashore.

ITALY

Iran protests

TWO art institutions based in Milan and Rome have invited visitors to cut off and tie up a small lock of hair to place in containers as a symbolic mark of respect following the death of 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini and the demonstrations in Tehran.

PORTUGAL

Motor homes

AS more people take advantage of vehicle tax reductions on gas guzzling motor homes, the Portuguese government has proposed that the 30 per cent reduction on new vehicles and the zero rate on those built before 1970 should be scrapped from January 1, 2023.

UKRAINE

Gift for Putin

SET up in the Czech Republic, a website called 'A Gift for Putin' has reportedly raised more than $1.2 million through crowd funding which will allow it to purchase for Ukraine a number of upgraded T-72 battle tanks originally supplied by the Russians to the Czech Army.

SWEDEN

IKEA House

SUPERGROUP, the Swedish House Mafia have worked with designers at IKEA to create and market OBEGRÄNSAD, a limited edition of furniture designed to appeal to and help inspire those starting off in music and digital arts, allowing them to build the perfect home studio on a budget.

More money

THE Spanish government’s 2023 budget looks to in crease the amount spent on the Tax Agency to €1.4 billion which is an overall growth in funding of 15.2 per cent when compared to the 2021 figures and takes into ac count cost of collecting the temporary wealth tax.

Mortgages up

THE cost‐of‐living crisis in Spain is now hitting mort gages and although Euribor rates (to which three quar ters of Spanish mortgagees are linked) are comparatively low when compared to the UK, it will now rise from 2.363 per cent to 2.47 per cent.

Pension fragility

THE Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Sir Jon Cun liffe has told Parliament that without the Bank stepping in to buy long term bonds fol lowing the mini‐budget it is perfectly likely that a number of Britain’s pension funds could have gone under.

Building woes

DESPITE protestations that they were unable to obtain sufficient numbers of skilled workers to meet the demand in the UK and with excep tional order books, the over all feeling from Britain’s con struction sector according to a report by S&P is that reces sion is just around the cor ner.

Most customers

NOW that the merger be tween CaixaBank and Bankia has been completed it can claim to have almost five mil lion more customers than nearest rival Santander de spite the fact that it may have lost as many as one mil lion accounts who banked with both organisations

2.33 billion

the forecast profit to be made by Spanish Government owned organisations such as the State Lotteries in 2023.

Musk moves FINANCE

Fishing restrictions

THE ‘will he, won’t he’ conundrum over Tesla Boss Elon Musk and his takeover of Twitter for $44 billion has taken a new turn as after back ing out and being hit with a $1 bil lion lawsuit he has now confirmed that he wants to go ahead at the original price.

Twitter shares jumped some 25 per cent on the US stock exchange and at the same time, the billion aire has been dumping Bitcoin (al though a single piece is still valued at around $20,000 compared to its record high of $68,000).

He is now supporting crypto cur rency newcomer Marscoin which has been issued to help fund a mis sion to Mars and currently a single piece is valued at around 5c.

Shoppers down

FISHING is an important aspect of the Spanish economy as well as play ing a part in the menu of the average household.

For this reason, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis Planas confirmed on October 5 that Spain will appeal to the European Court of Justice over new restrictions concerning fishing rights.

The European Commission has put a stop to fishing in 87 areas con sidered vulnerable marine ecosys tems, which the minister says “is ab solutely disproportionate and unfair” as he believes that data used

in making the decision is out of date and the decision should comply with economic, social and environmental points of view.

No sooner had he had made this announcement but he returned the following day, Thursday October 6, to confirm that following discussions with the European Commission, Spanish fishermen were to be per mitted continued access to 41 of the 87 fishing areas in question.

The minister said “this is good news,” although he made it clear that Spain will still go ahead with the presentation of the appeal to the Eu

ropean Court of Justice concerning the entire edict as previously an nounced.

Commenting on the way forward, he added “The government under stands that we all must protect the seas and oceans, but we have to do it in such a way that fishing activity can continue to be carried out, re spectfully and selectively.”

He also announced that at the be ginning of July 2023, the Spanish Presidency of the European Union will organise an informal Fisheries Council in Vigo to promote the coun try’s leadership role in fishing.

Reason for financial turmoil

UNDER‐FIRE Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng blamed the Queen’s death for the bud get shambles as he tried to shift the blame for the finan cial turmoil.

PM Truss has signalled she still wants to scrap the higher rate, while rumours continue to circle that she intends to cut benefits and pensions by extending the retirement age.

Explaining the run‐up to his September 23 statement, Mr Kwarteng claimed: “It was a very quick time that we did it, and you have got to remember the context.

“What was extraordinary about that month was that

we had a new government and also we had the sad passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, so we had a nation in mourning

and then literally four days, I think, after the funeral, we had the mini‐budget.

“It was a high‐speed, high‐pressure environment.”

So, for the time being, the decision to reverse the cut of the top level of income tax in the UK from 45p to 40p has been reversed, although time will tell whether the Conservative government manages to slip it in to the next financial statement due on November 23 (or possibly earlier as he tries to save face).

There was little mention of the economic problems triggered by the mini‐budget during the recent Conserva tive Party Conference but Liz Truss, slipping into Tony Blair language said that her target was “Growth, growth, growth.”

UK shops continue to see a reduc tion in footfall with September fig ures just 6.8 per cent up on the same month in 2021, but this has been dropping since July blamed mainly on the cost‐of‐living crisis.

These figures were released by retail analysts Springboard who note that up to 50 per cent of em ployees still work from home at least part of the time, so that they are not then commuting or visiting shops during lunch hours or after work.

Even though Christmas buying should act as a fillip to the econo my, it is feared that continued in flation, higher interest rates as well as energy costs will mean less visits to high streets and a subsequent reduction in spending.

AMERICAN Fintech company Square which has had some suc cess in Spain with its easy to access payment systems and credit card readers is using its Spanish experi ence to target Hispanic businesses and consumers in the USA.

Last month it bit the bullet and translated all of its documentation and websites into Spanish to offer a seamless and understandable service within Iberia and has now transferred all that information to its targeted marketing campaign.

Para Tu Proximo Paso (For your next step) is being run on TV, YouTube and social media in Dal las, Houston and Miami and if suc cessful will be rolled out further.

MINI-BUDGET: PM Truss and Chancellor Kwarteng finalised their plans on September 22.

PROMOTING

Minister Planas at Conxemar

Vigo.

3I Group 1.129,00 1.147,50 1.128,50 1,72M

Abrdn 136,55 138,45 135,75 1,48M

Admiral Group 2.011,0 2.039,0 1.999,0 106,50K

Anglo American 2.763,0 2.880,0 2.752,0 786,26K

Antofagasta 1.117,75 1.157,00 1.115,50 757,05K

Ashtead Group 4.378,0 4.417,0 4.340,0 531,51K

Associated British Foods 1.266,0 1.298,0 1.263,5 217,84K

AstraZeneca 9.802,0 10.000,0 9.789,0 585,71K

Auto Trader Group Plc 541,00 549,60 539,40 824,99K

Aveva 3.160,0 3.171,0 3.148,0 255,51K

Aviva 404,20 409,50 403,00 2,01M

B&M European Value Retail SA316,00 323,66 314,30 88,23K

BAE Systems 820,00 830,60 816,40 4,70M

Barclays 144,80 149,20 144,54 12,47M

Barratt Developments 352,67 360,90 350,75 527,87K

Berkeley 3.391,0 3.436,0 3.361,0 391,82K

BHP Group Ltd 2.303,04 2.340,00 2.298,00 220,26K

BP 452,10 460,80 450,57 14,43M

British American Tobacco 3.260,0 3.333,0 3.262,6 1,38M

British Land Company 341,90 347,00 338,90 764,99K

BT Group 125,78 127,47 125,15 751,68K

Bunzl 2.751,0 2.812,0 2.748,0 177,63K

Burberry Group 1.906,5 1.940,0 1.906,0 372,15K

Carnival 567,2 573,6 553,4 527,21K

Centrica 68,91 71,28 68,82 8,44M

Coca Cola HBC AG 1.912,5 1.931,5 1.900,0 27,24K

Compass 1.818,00 1.848,50 1.816,00 1,95M

CRH 2.977,0 3.060,0 2.977,0 457,92K

Croda Intl 6.720,0 6.776,0 6.694,0 62,92K

DCC 4.773,0 4.827,0 4.773,0 46,54K

Diageo 3.747,9 3.817,0 3.746,7 107,93K

DS Smith 249,00 251,70 246,90 1,87M

EasyJet 295,00 298,40 289,30 1,63M

Experian 2.745,0 2.779,0 2.742,0 2,28M

Ferguson 9.994,0 10.095,0 9.914,0 274,52K

Flutter Entertainment 10.520,0 10.602,2 10.459,0 7,76K

Fresnillo 815,80 829,00 808,80 144,68K

Glencore 490,72 506,70 487,95 17,32M

GSK plc 1.317,40 1.335,80 1.316,00 4,69M

Halma 2.152,0 2.174,0 2.150,0 107,02K

Hargreaves Lansdown 899,20 925,20 897,40 407,85K

Hikma Pharma 1.275,50 1.311,50 1.273,00 200,13K

HSBC 469,95 478,45 469,75 25,88M

IAG 99,91 102,20 99,64 1,29M

Imperial Brands 1.938,00 1.987,00 1.930,50 883,43K

Informa 541,40 544,20 532,60 1,27M

InterContinental 4.459,0 4.527,0 4.459,0 345,10K

Intermediate Capital 1.085,50 1.097,50 1.067,00 679,18K

Intertek 3.791,0 3.817,0 3.790,0 104,46K

ITV 58,80 59,44 58,42 2,00M

J Sainsbury 170,90 174,90 170,70 2,10M

Johnson Matthey 1.898,0 1.922,5 1.887,5 61,89K

Land Securities 514,00 518,80 510,60 702,55K

Legal & General 225,50 229,80 224,30 9,17M

Lloyds Banking 42,40 43,54 42,37 60,64M

London Stock Exchange 7.710,0 7.850,0 7.706,0 340,75K

Melrose Industries 102,45 105,20 102,45 6,18M

Mondi 1.374,50 1.395,50 1.373,50 259,67K

National Grid 919,00 927,37 917,73 239,21K

NatWest Group 228,40 231,50 227,70 4,09M

Next 4.712,0 4.867,0 4.709,0 101,54K

Norilskiy Nikel ADR 9,10 9,10 9,10 0

Ocado 457,90 471,70 456,70 814,51K

Persimmon 1.261,0 1.296,0 1.251,5 534,08K

Phoenix 536,20 548,60 536,20 3,17M

Prudential 945,00 952,40 929,65 209,13K

Reckitt Benckiser 5.932,0 6.032,0 5.914,0 796,81K

Relx 2.268,40 2.305,00 2.268,00 1,14M

Rentokil 492,80 501,80 492,20 31,49M

Rightmove 483,00 489,65 481,15 47,11K

Rio Tinto PLC 5.026,0 5.145,0 5.016,0 955,72K

Rolls-Royce Holdings 71,49 75,23 71,44 2,85M

Rosneft DRC 0,20 0,20 0,20 0

Sage 719,40 724,00 716,20 325,94K

Samsung Electronics DRC 995,20 1.005,00 990,20 4,20K

Schroders 388,5 397,2 388,5 674,55K

Scottish Mortgage 788,19 793,60 784,80 506,91K

Segro 745,60 751,20 731,80 4,44M

Severn Trent 2.357,0 2.394,0 2.354,0 105,06K

Shell 2.270,0 2.323,0 2.259,0 8,19M

Smith & Nephew 1.043,00 1.049,50 1.033,50 652,94K

Smiths Group 1.552,50 1.579,50 1.551,50 371,79K

Spirax-Sarco Engineering 10.830,0 10.935,0 10.760,0 161,57K

SSE 1.513,00 1.545,00 1.511,50 699,24K

St. James’s Place 1.008,00 1.040,00 1.004,00 418,60K

Standard Chartered 570,60 591,80 570,40 3,79M

Taylor Wimpey 93,22 95,00 92,26 5,12M

Tesco 200,30 205,10 200,20 5,90M

Tui 113,10 116,75 110,70 2,01M

Unilever 3.932,0 3.989,5 3.929,5 685,69K

United Utilities 875,00 889,20 874,40 303,11K

Vodafone Group PLC 102,28 102,78 101,46 46,62M

Whitbread 2.501,0 2.534,0 2.474,0 467,70K

WPP 776,80 782,60 774,00 725,11K

DOW JONES

3M 114,58 114,92 138,95K

American Express 144,33 145,04 142,40 149,83K

Amgen 232,64 233,14 231,24 82,37K

Apple 147,08 147,36 145,81 6,92M

Boeing 132,49 133,30 130,66 509,20K

Caterpillar 179,75 180,98 176,89 248,01K

Chevron 160,22 161,12 157,28 961,47K

Cisco 41,97 42,06 41,58 1,03M

Coca-Cola 55,86 56,10 55,84 916,40K

Dow 45,86 46,10 45,58 255,33K

Goldman Sachs 307,48 309,08 305,47 80,82K

Home Depot 289,15 289,97 287,85 191,20K

Honeywell 176,43 177,69 176,29 155,23K

IBM 124,98 125,25 124,55 308,04K

Intel 27,59 27,76 27,29 2,69M

J&J 163,63 165,00 163,63 358,16K

JPMorgan 109,24 110,19 108,96 787,83K

McDonald’s 238,76 239,88 238,15 139,37K

Merck&Co 87,69 87,94 87,49 499,84K

Microsoft 249,40 250,34 247,99 1,95M

Nike 91,75 92,62 90,58 1,11M

Procter&Gamble 128,29 129,06 127,97 306,60K

Salesforce Inc 156,85 158,23 155,60 507,12K

The Travelers 159,48 159,84 158,73 42,28K

UnitedHealth 526,62 528,33 523,90 107,07K

Verizon 39,36 39,66 39,15 4,02M

Visa A 187,38 188,05 186,51 391,27K

Walgreens Boots 33,20 33,25 32,93 354,54K

Walmart 134,31 134,46 133,14 418,09K

Walt Disney 101,08 101,45 100,14 465,93K

Most Advanced

Code Chain New Continent Ltd +119.45% 32.36M

Statera Biopharma +106.78% 33.06M

Motus GI Holdings +44.18% 4.38M

Pineapple Holdings +37.68% 26.41M

Revelation Biosciences +31.72% 4.36M

Heartbeam +31.02% 19.35M

Provention Bio +28.48% 3.15M

Green Giant +27.78% 2.87M

Healthcare Triangle +16.67% 31.23K

Wisekey International Holding AG +19.11% 3.52M

Clever Leaves Holdings +22.39% 0.13K

Most Declined

Avanti Acquisition -85.00% 480.75K

Cyclerion Therapeutics -32.68% 415.40K

Chardan Nextech Acquisition 2 -29.63% 157.13K

UWM Holdings -22.53% 1.37K

Top Ships -21.26% 1.52M

Crown Electrokinetics -21.05% 1.19M

FingerMotion -17.74% 1.43M

Applied Therapeutics -17.81% 205.95K

Chardan Nextech Acquisition 2 -16.15% 0.49K

Gold Royalty -15.55% 639.48K

Gold Royalty Wnt -14.73% 2.70K

2023 budget

ADDRESSING the House of Deputies on October 5, Spanish President Pe dro Sánchez explained that the 2023 budget in creases social spending by 35 per cent compared to 2018, reinforces the sustainability of the pub lic pension system and raises regional financing to an all‐time high.

Best bars

THIS year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list was an nounced at a live awards ceremony held in Barcelona on October 5 with the host city not only winning Europe’s best bar and coming first with Par adiso, but had two more bars placed in the top 10.

Libyan problems

THE Governor of the Cen tral Bank of Libya, Al Sidiq Omar Al Kabir, for mally received the Am bassador of Spain to Libya, Javier Qarsa Larac ci to discuss a number of matters including the dif ficulties facing Spanish companies who want to resume their operations in Libya.

Deliveroo HOP

FOOD delivery company

Deliveroo seems to have turned the tables upon it self by opening a store in partnership with Morrisons situated in London’s New Oxford Street.

Although it will employ some 19 staff dedicated to preparing groceries to be delivered, it will also wel come members of the pub lic to browse its shelves but on Monday October 3, just two people were waiting for the Deliveroo HOP store to open its doors for the first time.

Deliveroo say that situat ed where it is, those visiting other nearby shops and de partment stores will be able to pop in and pick up groceries to go.

Bad debt provisions

BANK OF SPAIN Governor encour ages new bad debt provisions by commercial banks in order to en sure that they are not caught out if economy falters.

Although not quite as dramatic as the apparent rift between the Bank of England and the UK Gov ernment, there appear to be signs of disagreement between Spain’s economy minister Nadia Calviño and Bank of Spain Gover nor Pablo Hernandez de Cos.

He delivered a long speech at the El Economista Forum on Tues day October 4 in which he warned banks against the possi bility of defaulting loans due to high energy costs and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On the same day Minister Calviño suggested that there were currently no signs of an eco nomic slowdown even though on

the previous day, the forecast for 2023 growth had been reduced from 2.7 per cent to 2.1 per cent.

One of the highlights of the

Governor’s speech was this state ment “We find ourselves in a highly complex macro‐financial situation, characterised by high

Greenwashing in the UK

inflation, tightening of financial conditions, and increased uncer tainty, which has already led to a slowdown of economic activity.”

He highlighted the fact that there would be a downturn in economic growth, later forecast ing a 2023 growth of just 1.4 per cent due to the cost‐of‐living cri sis and the unresolved situation with Russia and Ukraine.

Although he accepted that the current debt situation in Spain is good, he anticipates the situation deteriorating should there be higher inflation, as well as soaring interest rates since the majority of mortgages are at variable rates.

Some Spanish banks have strengthened through mergers, but could still be vulnerable to in creasing bad debts and significant increases in operating costs.

Dearer fuel

AS the world economy enjoyed some respite from the rising cost of living thanks to a drop in the price of crude oil, members of the main oil producing nations group OPEC+, which includes Russia, have announced that they will reduce production.

With two million less barrels being produced each day, this decision has been made in order to push the price back up again and is of course of spe cial interest to the Russian Govern ment.

This is the largest cut in production since 2020 and comes despite the knowledge that most of the world is facing economic crisis fuelled in part by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

GREENWASHING is a viable mar keting plan for businesses who want to persuade the public that their product is environmentally friendly.

As consumers become more alert to the need to preserve the environment, many companies have come up with PR strategies which range from ‘varnishing the truth’ to simple fabrication and this process is known as green washing.

In late September 2022, Envi ronmental Social and Governance (ESG) communications agency, Clearly PR polled 1,500 senior UK executives asking whether they

understood their sustainability aims and whether they were achieving them.

Astonishingly almost half (44 per cent) of these UK businesses admitted that they are failing to deliver on their sustainable com mitments, with nearly one in five (18 per cent) admitting to publicly exaggerating their green creden tials.

A further one in four (24 per cent) admit they do not know if their sustainability efforts are making any positive difference at all, and 20 per cent were even un aware as to whether their busi ness had any system in place to

measure the effectiveness of their environmental initiatives in the first place.

To put this into perspective, just 19 per cent of respondents be lieved that their business was making genuine progress on its sustainable initiatives.

The findings of the poll could suggest that the rise in businesses guilty of greenwashing may partly be the result of a lack of under standing among businesses of how to measure the impact of their sustainability initiatives in the first place but equally a good num ber cynically distort the truth in or der to benefit their companies.

Tesco figures

BRITAIN’S largest supermarket chain Tesco has seen an increase in turnover, but a significant drop in profit in the first half of 2022.

It has announced that profit before tax plummeted by 64 per cent to £413 million during that period, but still ex pects to hit the low end of forecast for the year at around £2.4 billion thanks to recent innovations.

In addition, it is to increase staff hourly rates for the second time this year from November to help staff cope with the rising cost of living, bringing their annual pay rise to 8 per cent and increasing club card discounts.

GOVERNOR PABLO HERNANDEZ DE COS.

GREENWASH DEMONSTRATION: Many companies fabricate the truth.

MANY moons ago, when I began writ ing for this wholly unique, free think ing publication, I often wrote of the impending national disaster should the UK continue to allow immigra tion, particularly from countries out side of Europe, to continue virtually unchecked. This resulted in the emer gence of the phrase ‘Another Leapy Rant,’ which became one of the most oft uttered observations in a whole multitude of derisory mail that subse quently found its way into the EWN postbag.

Although many agreed with my sentiments, laughter and derision was, at that time, very much the or der of the day. Well, they’re not laughing now are they? I can quite categorically state that Great Britain as we knew it has changed ‐ forever. Sure, the country areas are, for the time being, reminiscent of our great culture and heritage, but in the cities, particularly parts of London, British values are virtually non‐existent. Don’t take my word for it. These are a few observations from an article recently published by a female jour

Prophecies proved right

nalist who has, for 17 years lived in Acton Vale, London, one of the areas most affected by immigration.

She writes. “So many Muslims in the area insist on their separateness there are not even any attempts to in tegrate into British society.” She goes on to say that her neighbours ‘flap by’ in full niqab, so heavily veiled she can’t see their eyes. When she smiles and tries to communicate, they won’t even look her in the eye.

She claims most of the shops have been taken over by Muslims and even her fish and chip shop has become Halal. A nearby shop, which advertis es ‘no alcohol’, has recently added that alcohol is also banned in streets near the shop!

Muslim patrols are also allegedly in creasing, with white ‘normally clad’ Western girls, being admonished for ‘exposing themselves’ near a mosque.

The members of these ‘patrols’ have also been heard shouting ‘this is a Muslim area’ at other white Britons. Openly gay men have reportedly been attacked on the streets. The list simply goes on and on.

So, despite wishful thinking from multi culturists, wilful segregation has

resulted in, among other unaccept able practices, the term ‘White Flight’. Nearly two million white Britons have left London over the last 10 years.

Furthermore, police have apparent ly been ordered not to enter certain areas in uniform and advised it is also considered unwise to wear any part of their uniform (ie blue trousers) anywhere at all when off duty.

Most of the old Leaper’s ‘rantings’ have been realised. So, all you snowflakes out there, despite your well‐intentioned, but unbelievably naïve aspirations for us all to all live side by side as one big happy family, the unforgivable fault is mass uncon trolled, alien immigration. An error of judgement that unfortunately is mak ing reluctant cynics of just about ev eryone.

Keep the faith.

Love Leapy leapyee2002 @ gmail.com

from our

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.

CLOCKS CHANGE

WE will soon have to turn the clocks back an hour, on October 29/30.

It is time to say enough is enough and say “No more changing of our clocks.”

Let us at least have one thing in this troubled world stay as it was meant to be .

I don’t know who con trols these clocks, but we should let them know that there are many out here who do not agree with them.

Inga Mojacar

Thank you

Hello, yet again EWN we would like to thank you for getting the FULL answers to the Nonogram into your solutions page. I know we’ve been asking for a while and you have always told us that you’d try and you have eventually man aged to do it.

Many thanks from us (and maybe a ‘few’ others that may have wanted the same).

It’s nice to know that you do actually take notice of your reader’s comments and also take action when you can.

Again, many thanks for providing that extra bit of information. We obviously will continue to collect and enjoy your paper each week, as we have done for many years.

J & S & Friends

UK’s choice

I still find it difficult to

comprehend why some people still don’t under stand Brexit, Susan Han nah’s letter complaining about the ridiculous 90 ‐day rule.

I wholeheartedly agree with her except one thing, it was the UK that insisted

and introduced it not Spain, we are a third country now totally our choice, maybe English ex ceptionalism is still alive and kicking.

Alan Robinson Moraira

OUR VIEW

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

ALTHOUGH there was some talk of cancelling this year’s Nobel Peace Prize Awards, due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and other smaller yet still deadly conflicts taking place, this was soon discounted.

The actual shortlist for those nominated is a closely kept secret which is not revealed until 50 years after the event but perhaps unsurprisingly, the 2022 Awards are associat ed with the Ukraine but not as directly as might have been expected.

One of the three recipients is the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties which was established in 2007 to promote human rights values and has played an important part in trying to gather support for Ukraine and the rights of its citi zens following the invasion.

As an interesting side line, the team governing the or ganisation is almost exclusively made up of women, although this may be because so many male members have been conscripted or volunteered to fight.

Next on the list of recipients is a Russian organisation Memorial also dedicated to the support of human rights which was founded some 30 years ago in memory of the millions of Russians who suffered during the Soviet era.

Last of the Peace Prize winners is Ales Bialiatski, a hu man rights advocate from Belarus, an outspoken supporter of democracy and was for many years associated with the now banned Minsk based Viasna Human Rights Cen tre.

Bialiatski has been in jail since July 2021 having been found guilty of ‘tax evasion’.

Hopefully by the time next year’s Peace Prize is awarded the Ukrainian situation will be resolved and the current winners will have a greater measure of freedom.

The grand old party

“ONE of the things that made this coun try great is our freedom to go around killing each other. We can thank the Gun Lobby; thank Republicans; thank Texas.” A perhaps not unreasonable as sessment of his country by a disillu sioned American Democrat?

I don’t know whether it’s possible to teach a penguin to play the piano, but I imagine it would be extremely difficult. It would surely be incapable of tackling the final movement of Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto. But probably not as hard as trying to persuade certain Re publican congressmen and Trump fanat ics that global warming is a human‐cre ated threat, that immigrants have human rights, there needs to be gun control and their idol is unfit to be Presi dent. That really is impossible. It’s more like trying to teach a lawn mower to play the banjo.

The ‘Grand Old Party’ formed 62 years after the Democrats, was the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Eisenhow er and Reagan. Look at it now!

Under Trump, the United States gov ernment was hardly a true democracy

any more than Russia. It was saved by the Speaker and the intervention of common sense among a narrow majori ty of the electorate. But the danger has not gone away. Even today there is the vague possibility of a mentally unfit, dis honest egoist running again for office. A proven liar who allegedly incited a re bellion against Capitol Hill and removed official state documents, many classified as top secret, to his private home.

How could this happen? Even if 10 million Americans vote for Trump, it suggests a serious malaise in the coun try. In any Western European country,

he would be at least on trial by now and probably in jail.

The problem with racism must lie in the inherent nationalist nature of indi vidual Americans, including many Democrats. This is borne out in media reporting and interviews which suggest that, despite the presence of 23 million non‐Americans resident in the country, only Americans matter. For example, CNN announced: “Almost a million Americans have died of CV.” What of the non‐Americans living in the USA who have died? Are foreigners not hu mans? Chief Medical Officer, Dr Pritesh

Gandhi, declared: “We have 90 million Americans infected! We can get all Americans vaccinated.” On another theme: “We will get every American out of Afghanistan.” “It is so that all Ameri cans may benefit.” “American families have suffered enough already.” And so it goes on.

I met one American who said “English has always been the international lan guage. If it was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me.” It’s a mystery to me that a country that has achieved so much and produced so many wise, talented and successful people should harbour so much ignorance among its voters.

To persuade millions of diehard Re publicans to look at alternatives to Trump would be like trying to beat Us ain Bolt while wearing Wellingtons.

For more from our columnists please scan this QR Code

Republican voters idolise Trump while their congressmen defer to the NRA.

David Worboys’s opinions are his own and are not necessarily representative of those of the publishers, advertisers or sponsors

Photo credits: celebrityinsider.org and www.gulftoday.ae

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Another action-packed week

IN a wonderful game of Women’s WF, Benalmadena Ladies over came Competa Chicas 4­1 in a first.

Competa Chicas played nice passing, Benalmadena responded well. Ten minutes in, Benalmade na scored, a goal from Julie Prince. Competa scored only for the ref to blow his whistle, a penalty, Sam Kite stepped up to slot home the penalty.

The game was turned on its head with sensational, 20 yard swerving, dipping shot from Be nalmadena’s Ange Hynds.

In the second half, a further goal from Ange and Alarna Wright completed the score line for Be nalmadena. Competa continued to play attractive football but were unable to create clear goal chances.

The most important aspect of the game was the spirit both teams played, brilliantly support ed by refereeing by David Coverdale.

El Cañadon travelled up the mountains of Competa to play Bo ca Seniors. Boca ran away very quickly to a 3­1 lead, El Cañadon clawed it back in the final minutes finishing strongly to earn a 3­3 draw. Pedrin Barrionuevo, manag er of El Cañadon said “I am happy we managed to take a point home after our slow start.”

Aston Vińuela played hosts to Malaga over 50s and quickly stunned after five seconds, Rober to Carlos from 20m out scored.

He added a second with Gary Seymour adding another.

Viñuela played quick interacting passing and threaten the Malaga goal, Malaga held strong, Fran picking off Viñuela final passes.

Malaga’s quick passing found Perdrin who added the fourth. Roberto made his hat trick with a penalty, 5­0 at half time.

In the second half, Roberto added his fourth. Viñuela awarded a penalty which they converted.

Malaga pushed on to add more which they did with a fine shot from Sean McVitty.

Dave Johnstone added four more, Roberto chipping the goal keeper to make five.

Final score Aston Viñuela 1 Malaga 50s 12.

Other Games ­

Walking Dead 50s won 7­1 v Nerja

Walking Dead 60s won 5­1 v Nerja

MALAGA OVER 50s: Had a great win over Aston Viñuela.

WOMEN’S WF: Benalmadena Ladies beat Competa Chicas.