Axarquia 27 October - 2 November 2022 Issue 1947

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REMEMBRANCE events

got off to a flying start in Nerja as the local branch of the Royal British Legion held its annual Poppy Walk. The walk covered more than four kilometres from Al Andalus Hotel in Maro to Nerja town centre.

This year’s commemora tive walk saw 26 walkers, and even three dogs, unite to raise a whopping €2,300 for the Poppy Fund.

One participant was 84‐year‐old Dave Roy, a for mer Warrant Officer with the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders. The walk was followed by a buffet and excellent live music at the Chapel Bar.

The Nerja branch of the RBL will also host its annual memorial service on Re membrance Sunday, taking place this year on Novem ber 13. The service is sched uled to take place at the Al Andalus Hotel in Maro

from 11.30am, where members of the communi ty will unite to pay their re spects to British and Allied Armed Forces.

A commemorative lunch

will also be held after the memorial service.

To book a place at the lunch, call Kim Bowe on 711 077 576 or email at: kim_bowe1@hotmail.com

before November 10.

Please support the Pop py Appeal as funds have been depleted due to limit ed fundraising during the pandemic.

lessons

AN affordable learning opportunity is being of

fered this autumn in Velez Malaga with a var ied learning programme, ‘Autumn Online School’. A collaboration of organi sations including the council and local universi ties launched a whole host of learning courses on October 19.

The courses are de signed to help students develop a range of skills and enhance employabili ty and are available to all local residents at a frac tion of the price of pri vate courses. The courses cost between €25 and €125, depending on the discipline chosen.

The programme offers more than 29 classes in

industries including hos pitality, emergency ser vices, marketing and IT, languages, health and ad ministration.

To register or for more information about the courses available, this can be found online at: www.velezmalaga.es or by phone: 661 830 502.

SOLIDARITY was on show in Nerja as more than 500 locals gathered to mark International Day Against Breast Cancer on Saturday October 23. The group walked the streets of Nerja to show solidarity with breast cancer sufferers and demand more resources and research into the disease.

Representatives from Nerja Council, including the mayor, José Alberto Armijo, and councillor for Social Services, Daniel Rivas participated in the walk to support the cause. This year’s slogan for the walk was ‘Pink is more than a colour’, raising awareness about the particularly aggressive Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Armijo thanked volunteers from the Spanish Asso ciation Against Cancer, who organised the walk. “We thank them for their efforts to raise awareness about this awful disease, reducing the impact it has and improving the quality of life for sufferers and their families.”

Armijo also highlighted the importance of research into cancer to prevent and diagnose more breast cancer cases as soon as possible.

Walkers proudly wore breast cancer t‐shirts and met at the Balcón de Europa before taking to the streets of Nerja for the solidarity demonstration.

Betty Henderson

Women, men and children showed out in droves in Nerja to express solidarity with breast cancer sufferers.

Photo

de Nerja

Photo credit:

Halloween Horrors

THRILLING Halloween celebrations are set to begin shortly in Rincon de La Victoria, with ac tivities for all age groups.

Local organisations

have come together with the council to put on a family fun evening on Monday October 31, to celebrate the spooki est time of the year.

Activities will be held

at different locations across the town includ ing the iconic Casa Fuerte Bezmiliana, the Plaza de la Constitución, and the Sala de Las Musas in an evening ex travaganza that will run from 5pm until midnight.

Engaging activities have been designed to suit all age groups including a ‘labyrinth of terror’ maze, themed bouncy cas tles, a ‘terror trail’, a children’s Halloween party, pumpkin carv ing and freaky science experiments.

The evening will end with a special throwback concert, playing top hits from the 80s and 90s, as well as Halloween themed music and singalongs. Organis ers described the con cert as “a guaranteed party for all the fami ly.”

Stimulating activities

COMPASSIONATE healthcare groups in Nerja announced a pioneering initiative on Wednesday October 19, designed to support elderly people.

The well‐being classes aim to stimu late the brain and encourage exercise and are back by popular demand after their initial success last year.

Local health organisations including the council Department for Health and the Spanish Red Cross have joined forces to create a custom health and well‐being class for elderly people in Nerja. Classes

and activities have been designed to promote physical and mental well‐being for older people.

Focusing on mental stimulation with activities such as maths, logic and rea soning among others. The workshops are thought to deter the onset of condi tions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia by keeping the mind active.

Workshops will be held in Maro on Tuesdays from 4.30pm to 6.30pm and on Wednesdays in Nerja at the same time.

November with Lux Mundi

Betty Henderson AN entertaining social programme by Lux Mun di Ecumenical Centre brings two exciting events to the Torre del Mar community this November. Get your

thinking cap on for a quiz night on Wednes day November 2 or dis cover a past civilisation on a historical excursion.

Lux Mundi is hosting a quiz night on November 2 at its centre in Torre

del Mar from 6.30pm. Organisers promise an entertaining evening of fun general knowledge quizzing. Tickets for the event cost €7 for guests and €6 for members.

After a successful re cent excursion to Mur cia, Lux Mundi is already planning its November edition, a day trip to Marchen in the Andalu cian countryside. The trip costs €35 for guests and €32 for members.

Marchen is a Roman civilisation built as a communication point between Sevilla and An tequera.

Tickets include return coach transport as well as a guided tour of the monuments and a tast ing session of local prod ucts. The trip is set to leave Torre del Mar at 8am and leave Marchen at 4pm for the return journey.

The centre will remain closed on November 1 for the national holiday.

PIONEERING: A collaboration of Nerja health organisations launch a health initiative to keep elderly people mentally and physically active.

Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Nerja

Clocks back

ON Sunday October 30, at 03.00, Daylight Saving Time ends and the clocks will be turned back one hour to 02.00. There will be more light in the morning, however the dark nights will be drawing in.

Rapid response

MALAGA authorities swiftly found a local woman after she was reported missing from Churriana on Saturday October 22. A coordinated re sponse effort by emergency services located the woman in a field close to where she went missing and adminis tered medical care on site.

Worth it

TORROX locals who have waited more than 30 years for a football ground will soon have the facilities of their dreams as work begins on the first phase of construction. The first stage of the project will cost over €4.6m in con struction and material costs.

Mountain rescue

EMERGENCY services per formed three mountainside rescues on Sunday October 23 in regions with limited road access. Resources including a helicopter were deployed to bring the people back to safe ty in two incidents which in volved a cyclist participating in a competition and two walk ers who became stranded.

Hot talent

NINE Axarquia residents made it to the final of a hotly contested talent show, ‘The Greatest Star’. The show saw more than 156 over 55s take to the stage to showcase their talents. Finalists were chosen during live shows.

Security award

A CIVIL PROTECTION group in Nerja received a prestigious award from the regional gov ernment in Malaga. The vol untary group was recognised on its 25th anniversary for ex cellent collaboration with au thorities and members’ dedi cation to providing services which have increased com munity security in the town.

Spine-chilling spending

Betty Henderson

THE real Halloween horror is the council’s excessive spend ing, according to a scathing report by the Velez Malaga Partido Popular. The political party released a report on October 19 criticising ‘poor planning’ and ‘wasteful spending’ on Halloween cele brations in the area.

The centre­right PP dis missed Halloween spending by the PSOE council as frivolous and wasteful, given the economic state of affairs.

The party acknowledged that events would bring muchneeded cheer to the local community, but suggested they would damage the al ready­unstable economy.

Having calculated the local budget for the festivities as in excess of €300,000 the PP considers that the events are ‘out of place’ and unjustifi able in the current economic climate.

The announcement that the city council was due to borrow €150,000 to make up

Local heritage uncovered

RINCON DE LA VICTORIA’S iconic caves will receive interna tional recognition at a heritage conference that is set to take place in November. Events including talks and lectures will take place every Friday throughout the month inside the caves, after the scheme was launched on October 26.

The first Rincon de La Victoria and Cuevas del Tesoro con ference aims to inform local people and visitors about an amazing feature of the town’s landscape and preserve its in credible heritage.

Talks given by experts in the fields including university pro fessors and architects will inform guests about how the caves were formed as well as their prehistorical and modern histor ical uses and the potential of becoming recognised as a UN ESCO landmark. The Cuevas del Tesoro is a popular landmark that receives around 60,000 visitors annually, and organisers want the community to discover more local history.

The community, and particularly young people, are a focus of the conference, and organisers will offer free tickets to lo cal schools.

Breast Cancer History

EVERY year countries across the world observe Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.

The month is marked with events to raise awareness about breast cancer and its detec tion. Breast cancer can occur throughout any stage of life, including in men and pregnant women. Do you know all of the symptoms to be aware of?

Symptoms include thickening or swelling in a part of the breast or the armpit, irritation or dimpling of breast skin, pain in the nipple area, discharge from the nipple, redness or flaky skin in the nipple area and changes in the shape and size of the breast.

There is no exhaustive list of breast cancer symptoms and self­examinations can be tricky, so make sure to check out any concerns you might have with a medical professional and at tend any breast examination appointments you are offered.

Early detection of breast cancer can save lives, so don’t delay in checking out any potential symptoms.

The

this budget attracted particular disdain from the PP who say that the council should have ac counted for festivities long ago in their bud get, accusing them of poor planning.

The PP also criticised the scope of the events, saying

festivities don’t even ex tend to the whole town area, despite the large budget.

International sports venue

RINCON DE LA VICTO RIA is gearing up to host beach volleyball matches and test rugby matches in the all­important Euro pean University Sports Championships next September. Up to 500 high level and amateur athletes are set to com pete in the tournaments.

Delegates from the Eu ropean University Sports Association visited the town on October 20 to in spect facilities for beach volleyball competitions as well as training and ac commodation options for athletes and visitors.

The championship looks to bring the eyes of the sporting world to Rin con de La Victoria with an opening and closing cere mony, hosted in local venues as well as the competitions themselves.

The University of Mala ga was crucial in launch ing the bid to host the championships and ulti mately in bringing the prestigious competitions to Axarquia. The events will be a crucial source of income for the tourism industry, towards the end of the summer season.

Local councillor, José Martín, highlighted “This

Rincón

A SPELLBINDING pro gramme of events is about to get underway in Maro to celebrate Hal loween on October 31. Maroween has grown in popularity in the past few years, becoming a staple of the local calendar.

Local mayor, Elena Gálvez described the planned activities saying “Maro’s streets will be full of partygoers in colourful costumes, pumpkins, skeletons and festive deco rations.” Events will kick off from 5pm in the town with entertainment, work shops, performances by lo cal dance and music groups and a harvest season arti san market, selling tradi tional craft products and delicious local produce.

Family fun Halloween activities will take place throughout the evening in cluding face painting, cos tume competitions, photo booths and tasting sessions of traditional har vest products, including chestnuts and sweet pota to delicacies.

Scary Halloween activi ties are also planned for the daredevils, including a ‘Terror Trail’ and a ‘Terrify ing Parade’.

European competition contributes to our longrunning goal of stabilising the seasonal economy by running events out of the summer season.”

The celebrations will al so be easy to get to thanks to extra bus services be tween Nerja and Maro which will run from 5pm until 2am during the festiv ities.

Tourism venues’ excellence

PRESTIGIOUS tourism certificates were handed out to 16 hospitality venues in Axarquia by regional author ities, cementing Axarquia’s status as a popular tourist destination for quality experiences.

The Mancomunidad regional au thorities awarded the esteemed SICT ED certificates of tourism excellence to 15 private hospitality and tourist expe rience venues in six Axarquia towns as well as the Local Police in Competa for their services to tourism.

The venues which received the SICTED certificate passed rigorous testing including reviews by guests and inspections from regional au thorities.

The venues had to prove that they offer quality experiences that are dis tinct to the Axarquia region such as language learning classes, traditional cuisine or cultural heritage tours.

The accreditation will help the venues to attract more visitors, boost ing the local economy.

Secret saviour

AN annonymous donor has footed the hefty bill for a twoyear­old boy to be flown by air ambulance to have a life­sav ing brain operation in Spain.

The unknown philanthropist has paid €196,400 for the trip from Mexico to Barcelona af ter little Oliver’s health was so poor on Monday, October 24, he and his family, originally from Malaga, were not able to board a commercial flight.

But thanks to the generosity of the businessman, who has paid for him to be flown in a special medically­equipped plane from Cancún to Spain for his brain tumour operation, Oliver arrived in Barcelona on October 26, where doctors from the Sant Joan de Déu hospital are treating him.

His father Alejandro

Romero, who has been docu menting Oliver’s journey on In stagram, confirmed the “unbe lievable” news in an emotional post on Monday.

He said: “WE ARE FLYING TO BARCELONA.

“We have been put in touch with a person who will cover

the cost of the flight in an air ambulance. Unbelievable but true. We are speechless and crying happy tears.

“We are so infinitely grateful to you all and without your help, we would not have been able to organise all this so quickly.”

Neighbourhood improvement

AN essential roadworks programme was announced by Nerja Town Coun cil on Friday October 21. The major in frastructure upgrades include changes to electricity, water and sewage net works on the Avenida Chiminea and surrounding areas.

The roadworks plan includes up grades to electricity, water, sewage, telephone and optical fibre networks, as well as road and pavement resur facing and new lampposts.

The estimated start date for the ma jor roadworks is the beginning of 2023, with the project expected to last around one year. Property owners in the affected area will be contacted in the next few months and will be re quired to contribute towards the roadworks on their roads.

Local property owners that are out of the country, or that do not receive a letter informing them of the project in the next few months are advised to contact the council’s Department for Town Planning at: mescobar@ nerja.es and to provide the following details: your name, the address of your property in Nerja, your email ad dress, and any phone contact num bers. You should also provide any al ternative addresses you have to Nerja Town Hall.

Benajarafe remembers

A SPECIAL Remembrance Day service will be held to honour those who served in the First and Second World Wars in Benajarafe. The local Roy al British Legion will bring the community to gether in a memorial service on Sunday Novem ber 13.

Fallen and surviving troops will be commemo rated during the service which will be held at 11.30am in the Puerto Niza Restaurant in Bena jarafe. The service will also be accompanied by the Phoenix Singers choir, who will pay their re spects. Following the service, attendees can en joy a commemorative lunch in the restaurant to celebrate the lives of troops. The lunch costs €25 and must be booked in advance by contacting David at 653 108 415 or by sending an email to: benajaraferblspainsouth@gmail.com.

Benajarafe Royal British Legion is a branch of the largest British Armed Forces charity. The group meets on Fridays at the Puerto Niza Restaurant at 12.30pm to socialise, fundraise and unite to provide welfare activities for cur rent and ex­military members and their families. All who wish to pay respects and celebrate the lives of military members are invited to attend the service.

Tantalising Tapas Trail

A MOUTH­WATERING display of locally sourced and created dishes will be on offer for one day only in the Axarquian town of Almachar. The sixth Almachar Tapas Trail will be held on Saturday October 29 with six local restuarants showcasing their unique creations.

Guests can enjoy a varied menu of exquisite small plates for just €1.50 with high quality drinks available for a small supplement. Local wines from the iconic Muscatel region will be on display along side the delicious food choices.

Guests who complete a ‘full menu’ by eating a dish from all six participating restaurants and bars will also receive a commemorative souvenir and be entered into a prize draw for restaurant meal vouchers.

Regional Representative for Tourism, Aroa Palma, expressed delight that the culinary event is back after being cancelled during the pandemic.

Palma said “This is the perfect opportu nity to visit Almachar this Saturday be cause as well as enjoying its beautiful streets, landscape and local charm, you can taste delicious dishes made by local restaurants, washed down with an excel lent wine from the region.”

OLIVER, 2, to receive life-saving brain surgery in Spain.

Credit: Alejandro Romero/Instagram.

Festival fundraising

AN electrifying atmosphere will be felt by all at a charity rock festival in Velez Malaga on November 19. The ‘Axarkía Rocking’ festival brings together more than 100 professional and ama teur artists for a special event, while raising vital funds for the Red Cross.

The festival afternoon will get guests rocking in María Zambrano Park from 5pm on Saturday November 19. Con

firmed acts include a volun teer rock band, the Stella Maris Choir from Torre del Mar and the Velez Malaga Municipal Band.

Velez Malaga mayor, An tonio Moreno Ferrer backed the initiative saying “We are grateful for the excellent work that the Red Cross does, both in Velez and in Axarquia, with the sole pur pose of helping the most needy people and improving

A BUMPER plan of Halloween events has something to entertain everyone in La Caleta de Velez. The varied programme of events in cludes activities for children and a terrifying event for adults.

Activities for children include a long‐await ed Halloween costume competition and plen ty of stalls and workshops including face painting, a photo booth, and themed biscuit stall.

The afternoon will start at 5pm with a mag ic show, followed by the spooky costume competition. Registration for the contest starts from 4pm, which is sure to be popular as more than 130 children competed last year. Halloween events for adults will kick off at

their quality of life, a value that we firmly share here in the city council.”

Ferrer added that the Red Cross does crucial work be yond the capabilities of the council and encouraged local people to attend the festival or even perform!

Tickets for the concert cost €10 and are available from the Velez Malaga Tourist In formation Office or online at: www.axarkiarocking.com

Terror Trail

10pm on October 31 with a fearsome ‘Terror Trail’ leaving from the Mayor’s Office.

The mayor of Velez‐Malaga, Jesús Pérez Atencia, explained “the events we have planned are in line with our plan for social and economic revival following the pandemic” and highlighted the town’s Halloween pro gramme as an “outstanding” achievement of the PSOE’s council administration.

The council has come under fire from critics in opposition party, the Partido Popular, who described the Halloween programme as “wasteful.”

Speed safety

AUTHORITIES are fighting dangerous driving in Torre del Mar with the installa tion of new speed bumps on two local streets. The council announced the deci sion on Thursday October 20, saying it is committed to keeping neighbourhoods safe for residents.

The council announced a catalogue of road safety measures on Calle San José and Calle Enmedio which consists of new road signs, speed bumps and new road markings. Other traffic calming measures could also be introduced to make the neighbourhood safer.

Mayor of Velez Malaga, Jesús Pérez

Atencia, explained “We selected these two roads for increased safety measures due to reports of speeding in the area by law enforcement and local residents.”

Juan García, the local councillor for Infras tructure, added “The council continues to serve the community. In neighbouring streets we listened to residents’ concerns and pedestrianised the space. Here we are acting in response to complaints about speeding and will reduce the risk of future accidents with speed bumps.”

The council have invested around €2,400 in the measures which are due to be carried out.

Photo credit: Fedor Konoplin / shutterstock.com

SPEED BUMPS: To be installed on two Torre del Mar streets to combat dangerous driving.

Inflation ‘cushion’

RELIEF has been shown at a suggested financial ‘cushion’ of €20 million to counteract the effects of spiralling infla tion in the Spanish govern ment’s new budget. The Spanish government sent their 2023 budget to the Eu ropean Commission on Oc tober 15 and are now await ing its approval.

The left‐wing govern ment has introduced an in crease in various taxes to fund special measures to see the country through the cost of living crisis, and aims to raise an extra €10 million in tax in 2023 to fund measures including

the inflation ‘cushion’.

Part of the inflation ‘cush ion’ could be used to fund social services including pensions and minimum wage, but the majority of the funds will be used to fund subsidies including for energy bills, fuel costs and direct aid to the agricultural sector.

The government has not yet revealed its complete plans for the financial cush ion and critics have ex pressed concern that funds raised through borrowing and increased tax will not be sufficient to fund the proposed measures.

End of endangerment

A GROUNDBREAKING rewild ing project in areas of eastern Spain is bringing back ancient and near‐extinct species. The revival project is introducing animals including semi‐wild horses, the Iberian lynx, black vultures and ‘tauro’ cattle to rural areas in the Iberian

Chain. Rewilding Europe is carrying out its first project in Spain, in the Iberian Highlands Rewilding Landscape project, which aims to increase biodi versity and nature tourism opportunities.

Project leader, Pablo Scapi ra explained “Spanish cities have a lot of people who are

Square transformation

Chris King THE British Netflix series ‘The Crown’ turned Plaza de Francesc Macià in Barcelona into a film set for scenes of the sixth season on Satur day, October 22. Filming had originally been inter rupted in September due to the death of Queen Eliza beth II.

Specifically, scenes were being shot in which a replica of the car in which Lady Di died in Paris in 1997 ap peared. It was recreating a paparazzi chase of the princess, played by the ac

tress Elizabeth Debicki.

There were more than 20 cars, four motorcycles, and a bus from the era, as well as other props that trans formed the street into a boulevard in Paris, along with extras dressed as French police officers. The filming caused traffic cuts in a part of Plaza de Francesc Macià, in the uphill lane of Avenida Pau Casals, and in some sections of the adjoin ing streets.

Filming continued on Sun day October 23, until late in the evening.

looking for special places to see nature, so the tourist po tential of this area is huge.”

The area in the Iberian Highlands is located around two hours from Madrid and two and a half hours from Va lencia. The space was selected due to its low population den sity, where there are just two

residents for every square kilometre, as well as the natu ral landscape, featuring ex pansive valleys and canyons with pine and oak forests. Scientists are releasing the species in small groups and will track them to monitor breeding developments and movements.

Disaster alert test

THE Spanish government is to test its disaster alert system by sending messages to mobile phones over the next three weeks.

The Civil Protection service said from October 24 to November 16, that it would start the ES‐Alert system tests in different regions on different days.

They have assured residents they should not be alarmed by the test nor should they think that it is a scam, but they should take note of how the test will work.

Phones that receive the alert will hear their device whistle and vibrate until the user confirms receipt of the message. The alert will contain a written message which once acknowledged, the alarm and vibration will stop.

Apart from acknowledging receipt, you don’t have to do any thing else. The government initially considered using text mes sages, however, they settled on a cell broadcast which has better, faster and wider coverage.

The only downside of the system, is that it only connects to smartphones.

Betty Henderson

REWILDING: The Iberian lynx was the world’s most endangered cat 20 years ago.

AGE IN SPAIN: Moving across Spain

IT’S one thing to move to Spain, find your dream home, and stay put. Learning all the ins and outs of an area is exciting and frustrating at the same time. Eventually, it becomes like muscle memory, and you barely have to think about it.

But what if the first place you land in Spain is n’t your forever home? If you thought moving to Spain proved interesting, moving to another Span ish region will throw you for a loop. Because now you have experience and expectations.

Moving to Galicia from Valencia meant we need ed to relearn all those things we took for grant

ed. Changing the address on our driving licences was almost more chal lenging than getting the permit in the first place. And locating peanut but ter in an unfamiliar gro cery store chain? Good luck. But the most diffi cult is completing our visa renewals in an area where we struggled to find the correct office to begin the process.

After determining how to submit the paper work, we celebrated our visa approvals. But our revelry would be shortlived. We needed the fin gerprint appointment with the National Police and to determine what we should bring to the meeting to obtain our new NIE cards. Each re gion is different.

I turned to Google, found the office, and made the cita previa on line. Even criminals leave Google reviews for the police in Spain. And I was pleasantly surprised to see they gave the place 4.3 stars. I eat at places and stay in hotels with fewer stars. Welcome news since the province where we lived previous ly had an Oficina de Ex tranjeria with a wellearned rating of 1.9 stars. Personally, I would have gone lower.

At last, the day arrived, and our NIE appointment in Galicia lived up to the Google hype. Who knew bureaucrats could laugh? Surely, the quickest and friendliest appointment in Spanish bureaucratic history.

Age in Spain. www.ageinspain.org Email: info@ageinspain.org - Tel: +34 932 209 741

Restrictions scrapped

THE Spanish Ministry of the Interior announced on Thurs day, October 20, that from 00.01am on Friday October 21, all remaining Covid re strictions for travellers from non‐European Union/Schen gen Area countries entering the country are now scrapped, as reported by SchengenVisaInfo.com.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Ministry of Health said that such a decision had been made after taking into consideration the Covid‐19 situation in the country and further in the world, as well

as the vaccination rates.

“Taking into account the evolution of the pandemic at a global level and the epi demiological situation, it is advisable to leave without effect the sanitary control measures for people from countries not belonging to

THE government of Catalonia on Thursday, October 20, fined budget airline Ryanair €40,000 for making it difficult for users to re imburse flights that were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sources from the agency confirmed that fol lowing a complaint by the Federation of Ur ban Areas of the Canary Islands (Facua), the fine was imposed by the Agencia Catalana del Consum (ACC). The autonomous body ex plained that the sanction responds to ‘unfair’ commercial practices by action or omission practised by the airline that caused, or may

the European Union or with the consideration of coun tries Schengen partners,” the Ministry stressed.

With the UK half‐term holidays this week, it means that holidaymakers were free to come and go at liber ty without the need to be vaccinated, prove their vac cine status, or present a Covid test.

Most of Europe had al ready done away with entry requirements, leaving Spain as one of the few destina tions still asking for entry re quirements post‐pandemic.

Airfare fines

have caused, economic issues for users that they would not otherwise have had.

Facua denounced Ryanair in March 2020 for ‘excessively stretching’ the maximum term for the refund of the amounts. This came after the airline informed them that it could take up to 28 days after the refund request, despite the fact that European regulations (Article 8 of European Regulation 261/2004) require it to be done within seven days.

Pipeline plans

PEDRO SANCHEZ, the Spanish President, announced on, Thursday, October 20, that an agreement had been reached between Spain, Portugal, and France to construct a pipeline between the Iberian peninsula and the rest of Europe.

This decision sees a huge U‐turn by French President Emmanuel Macron, who had until recently refused to admit the need for such a pipeline to be built.

The new project has been dubbed a ‘Green Energy Corridor’ by President Sanchez. Speaking on his arrival at an EU en

ergy crisis summit on Thursday October 20, Mr Sanchez explained: “We have agreed to a new project to be called the Green Energy Corridor to link the Iberian peninsula to France and therefore to the European ener gy market between Barcelona and Mar seille.”

These facilities are an asset that will now help the rest of Europe boost imports once the link is completed. France already has a large network of gas connections through out Europe but Spain currently only has two low‐capacity connections to that network.

Record temperatures

AN autumn heatwave has brought record temperatures in parts of Spain with average temperatures running at 2.9ºC higher than usual

A meteorologist said on Tuesday, October 17 that the day was the hottest on record with temperatures set to reach near highs in the south, centre and north of the country.

The highest temperatures previously recorded on this day were in the Andalucian capital Sevilla in 2017 when the thermometer hit 35.7ºC.

The weather site says that tropical nights have continued into October with tempera tures remaining above 20ºC in many parts of the country since May. Both the high tem peratures in the day and the night are said to continue, although storms are set to ar rive.

Experts say that global warming remains a threat as an autumn heatwave in Spain brings record temperatures.

Star magic

LEONARDO DICAPRIO visit ed Barcelona last week in a visit that largely went unno ticed as per the actor’s re quest.

According to a national news site, on Monday, Octo ber 24 the actor had visited a number of venues in the city along with friends and stayed on a luxury yacht rather than in the city.

The actor’s security team ensured that no photographs or news of the actor’s visit were published prior to his departure. He apparently asked that people respect his privacy and allow him to en joy the city without interrup tions or being mobbed.

DiCaprio attended a small 30‐minute magic show that was performed at El Rei de la Màgia store. It is understood that DiCaprio also visited the Basilica of the Sagrada Família, and Gatsby restau rant and nightclub.

News of the visit only came to light after images started to appear online, the main one being published on the magic store’s Twitter feed.

SPAIN:

BARCELONA: DiCaprio visited various venues in the city.

When Dolly met Dolly

A BRITISH tribute act laud ed by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers love to per form in Spain, but their last tour was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Married couple Sarah Jayne and Andy Crust were delighted when Dol ly said “I wish them the best and appreciate them doing Dolly and Kenny so well for so long,” whilst Kenny said “Europe’s lead ing Dolly and Kenny.”

Speaking to Euro Week ly News , Sarah Jayne ex plained that she had sounded a lot like Dolly since she was a child and joined the great legends show aged 17 in Jersey and has been perfecting her style ever since.

After several years as a solo Dolly tribute, she started working with her husband Andy as a duo

and then expanded the act to create the Country Superstars fronting a sev en‐piece band who be tween them pay their re spects to their favourite country superstars.

“For some of the Christ mas shows, our 11‐year‐old daughter Lucy who loves to perform will be joining us on stage as the young Dolly Parton,” the proud Sarah Jayne ex plained.

They are so popular that their current UK tour is confirmed until Christmas 2023 and they are already taking bookings for 2024.

“We enjoyed our solo dates in Spain and were so looking forward to coming back, but the current de mand for the show in the UK means that we just don’t have any spare time at the moment and whilst

it is relatively easy to tour with the band here in Britain, the difficulty and cost of bringing the whole show over is prohibitive,” Sarah Jayne told us.

Dolly met Dolly as she and Andy performed for her on the BBC One Show a few years ago and since

then, they have been sponsored by the Ten nessee Tourist Board in the USA and raise funds for several charities in cluding the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.

When Dolly was grow ing up the family was poor and she realised that her

father could not read and write and as she became wealthy, she decided to do what she could to help children learn to read.

From a local Tennessee programme started in 1995, the library has grown to include Aus tralia, Canada, Republic of

Ireland, United Kingdom, and the United States of America and amazingly, the Library has for some years been sending books to every child up to the age of five living on the re mote volcanic island of Tristan da Cunha.

Having been the voice and face of Dolly for more than 28 years, Sarah Jayne recalled that one of the many highlights in her professional life was to be invited to the O2 in Lon don to be part of Dolly’s Better Day tour in 2011 and Blue Smoke tour in 2014 meeting and greeting guests.

In the words of one of Dolly and Kenny’s song You Can’t Make Old Friends, but it’s clear that Sarah Jayne and Andy are spending their time mak ing plenty of new ones.

PRESSEUROPEAN

DENMARK

Flight tax

IT appears that the Danish people are in favour of a green air strategy as a recent survey by Epinion on behalf of DR Nyheder showed that the majority are happy to pay the new tax of 13 kroner (€1.75) with more than half prepared to pay even more.

THE NETHERLANDS

Polly gone

ALMOST as bizarre as the Monty Python dead parrot sketch, a court in Den Bosch fined a balloonist €55,000 plus costs as compensation to the owner of three rare parrots which died of fright as the balloonist fired up his burner just 50 metres above their aviary.

BELGIUM

Car sharing

IN order to try to reduce car ownership in the centre of Brussels, the city council now allows short term rentals (locally referred to as car sharing) of up to 14 days rather than the previous three and is encouraging new companies to offer their fleets.

GERMANY

Royal visit

HAVING had to postpone their state visit to Germany planned for last year due to the pandemic, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia finally arrived to a wet welcome in Berlin on Monday October 17, where they met with both the German President and Chancellor.

FRANCE

Red card

REPORTS have appeared in French media that Qatari owned football club Paris St Germaine appointed an agency to recruit expert hackers and Twitter users in order to carry out a campaign against anyone who criticised the club and targets included PSG’s own Kylian Mbappé.

NORWAY

Shaman shame

THERE is controversy in the Norwegian Royal Family as Princess Martha Louise, fourth in line to the throne, has been accused of exploiting her title to help promote the work of her American fiancé Durek Verrett, a selfproclaimed healer and shaman who sells a coronavirus ‘cure’.

FINLAND

Raking it in

IGNORING Halloween, there is another tradition in Helsinki where volunteers are invited to the pretty Kaivopuisto Park between 11am and 3pm on Sunday October 30 where they will be issued with garden rakes and bags and asked to rake up the tons of dead leaves which have fallen.

IRELAND

Safer Xmas

IN anticipation of a cold winter, the Irish government has introduced a ban on evictions should tenants fall into debt and although notice of termination may be issued now, the earliest date that tenants will be required to leave will be April of next year.

ITALY

Cemetery shock

LUCKILY there were no visitors to the Poggioreale cemetery in Naples on Monday October 17 after a huge wall collapsed (said to be caused by vibrations from subway work) and left a number of coffins literally hanging in mid-air for the second time this year.

PORTUGAL

Showtime

NO need for a dish as SkyShowtime, which arrived in Portugal on October 25 allows those who pay a flat fee of €4.99 per month to view a whole raft of different content including popular series and blockbuster films from a range of studios online.

UKRAINE

No arms

IRANIAN Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has publicly declared that Iran takes a stance of “active neutrality” in the Ukraine war and was opposed to the continuation of the war from the beginning. In addition, he denies that Iran is sending arms to Russia.

SWEDEN

Green shock

THE new right-wing government in Sweden has decided to reduce the power of the Ministry of Environment and the green movement by scrapping it (previously its minister sat in the cabinet) and making green matters subject to control by a department within another ministry.

is the amount that Credit Suisse hopes to make through the sale of its shares in Spanish investment company Allfunds.

BUSINESS EXTRA Power surge

Pandemic funds not frozen

Wooing Madrid

WITH an eye not just on Spain but also the potentially lucrative Latin American mar ket, a group of business peo ple representing 20 compa nies from Monaco visited Madrid for two days to ex plore avenues of cooperation following a recent meeting between Prince Albert II and King Felipe VI.

Foreign workers

THE number of foreign work ers registered with the social security system in Spain con tinues to rise and by the end of September totalled 2,439,668, an increase of 19,791 on the previous month which represents slightly more than 12 per cent of the total of registered workers.

Zara seconds

FOLLOWING a trend set by a number of other clothing companies, Zara has an nounced that with effect from November 3, customers in the UK will be able to take advantage of an in‐store ser vice to sell, repair or donate second‐hand clothes to help the environment.

Profits down

INSURER Línea Directa’s in come from premiums charged increased by 4.1 per cent in the first nine months of 2022, to €710.7 million but net profit of €58.3 million was 32 per cent down from the previous year, caused in part by increased repair costs.

Sephora returns

IT was 17 years ago that French retailer of personal care and beauty products Sephora exited the UK, but it now intends to return to one of the top three European markets for these products, firstly online and then by opening a flagship store.

CLAIMS that the EU has frozen Span ish pandemic funds are false accord ing to EU Commission spokesperson Veerle Nuyts. For more than a week, there were claims on social media and even through some news outlets that because Spain had not complied with certain audit deadlines, the Euro pean Union had decided not to make any further payments from the Re covery Fund. It is suggested that re spected US news outlet Bloomberg had inadvertently fuelled the rumour after publishing the fact that Spain had missed a deadline last month to implement a new auditing system re

ORDINARY investors can see which banks have green roots and which are continuing to invest in environmentally un friendly operations.

There is a fine line to follow when one consid ers that regardless of long‐term plans for the future, there is still a cur rent need for companies to produce petrol and diesel for vehicles and heating as well as for those who still wish to fly.

Some of us don’t really care about the affect on the environment whilst others want to take a stand and try to support green initiatives wherev er possible and a new website MotherTree has just created a ranking of

quired to unlock money from the EU’s Pandemic Recovery Fund.

Each country is required to supply evidence that they are using the mon ey received in a manner in accor dance with agreements put in place to ensure that they are complying with the laid‐out procedure.

In the event that they don’t then the Commission has the power to freeze the funds until such time as the terms have been met.

According to a statement by Veerle Nuyts, Spain has so far received all of the money that it has requested al though when it asks for the third

tranche of payment, the European Commission will review the situation at the time.

Her actual words were “Spain has satisfactorily fulfilled all of the mile stones and targets linked to all pay ment requests submitted to date, and the financing linked to these has been disbursed, after approval by the Member States.”

It is currently expected that the next request will be placed before the EU sometime in the second week of November and that is when a deci sion concerning payment will be made.

Green roots

and is also the equivalent of the emissions caused if you ate a cheeseburger every day for a year.

MUCH has been said and written about Bitcoin over the years and the price has risen from the cost of a pizza to that of a decent luxu ry car and then bounced back.

Its latest problem comes from the European Commission which is considering inviting Member States to ban the mining of Bit coins (this is done using linked computers to create new Bitcoins) as there is a tremendous use of electricity to do this.

Energy consumption world wide in this mining has more than doubled in the last two years and some miners have resorted to tapping into public cables to steal electricity thanks to the energy cri sis.

Meta sale

GIANT social media group Meta (owner of Facebook) appealed a decision by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) which instructed them to sell American company Giphy as it ar gued that the takeover would lim it other social media platforms’ ac cess to GIFs. Having taken an in‐depth review of the situation, the CMA is sticking to its guns con cluding that by denying or limiting other social media platforms’ ac cess to Giphy GIFs it could push people to Meta‐owned sites.

In addition, it could require Gi phy customers, such as TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat, to provide more data from UK users in order to access Giphy GIFs.

Britain’s banks and their green credentials.

It might seem strange to accuse a bank of being a creator of CO2, but it’s all to do with where they invest or lend the money that they look after for their customers and it turns out that according

to MotherTree, Barclays Bank creates the equiva lent of 0.29 tonnes of car bon a year for every £1,000 in a current ac count with them.

To put this into con text, flying from the UK to Rome and back seven times produces less CO2

Most of the big banks fare badly and in fairness, the free service does pre sumably receive some form of financial advan tage when it highlights green investments, which it says can offer better interest rates than the ‘big four’.

It should also be noted that MotherTree makes it clear on its website that it does not offer fi nancial advice, but sim ply points out options that exist.

IF you are irritated with all of the ads that pop up on Facebook and other social media platforms, the next step will be when you are being transported by Uber.

The ‘mini cab’ company is up grading its software to create Journey Ads which will target your mobile application prior to the arrival of your car as well as during your journey with differ ent adverts from a single compa ny. This coupled with other new advertising formats means that the company hopes to increase annual worldwide advertising revenue to $1 billion by the end of 2024.

EU FUNDING: Pedro Sánchez and Ursula von der Leyen agreed terms.

3I Group 1.085,50 1.105,50 1.084,50 101,60K

Abrdn 149,75 152,50 148,85 590,97K

Admiral Group 1.949,0 1.975,0 1.943,5 57,06K

Anglo American 2.663,0 2.717,5 2.647,5 336,09K

Antofagasta 1.103,00 1.145,50 1.096,50 47,62K

Ashtead Group 4.253,0 4.347,0 4.234,0 48,56K

Associated British Foods 1.317,5 1.348,5 1.314,5 69,19K

AstraZeneca 9.660,0 9.747,7 9.630,5 8,14K

Auto Trader Group Plc 502,60 505,40 493,10 540,54K

Aveva 3.143,0 3.154,0 3.139,0 70,51K

Aviva 408,40 417,50 407,10 717,54K

B&M European Value Retail SA301,39 308,90 300,60 369,08K

BAE Systems 802,00 813,40 799,20 808,33K

Barclays 146,88 150,50 145,44 5,38M

Barratt Developments 350,90 359,90 349,90 608,71K

Berkeley 3.340,0 3.412,0 3.330,0 42,77K

BHP Group Ltd 2.158,00 2.193,00 2.146,00 323,74K

BP 461,05 467,85 458,29 403,37K

British American Tobacco 3.330,0 3.347,5 3.314,5 234,18K

British Land Company 342,80 353,50 341,50 297,36K

BT Group 124,20 126,55 124,03 630,63K

Bunzl 2.720,0 2.741,5 2.724,0 4,30K

Burberry Group 1.830,5 1.839,5 1.805,5 103,08K

Carnival 622,4 636,6 620,6 60,24K

Centrica 67,34 68,80 66,96 1,73M

Coca Cola HBC AG 1.935,0 1.950,0 1.930,5 30,12K

Compass 1.841,00 1.853,00 1.829,50 198,62K

CRH 2.980,5 3.023,5 2.962,5 73,92K

Croda Intl 6.606,0 6.652,0 6.554,0 27,41K

DCC 4.766,0 4.822,0 4.752,0 8,57K

Diageo 3.589,0 3.624,5 3.581,0 259,45K

DS Smith 282,40 285,30 278,30 403,87K

EasyJet 320,90 332,20 319,37 163,06K

Experian 2.704,0 2.735,0 2.699,0 128,10K

Ferguson 9.226,0 9.308,0 9.166,0 38,48K

Flutter Entertainment 10.665,0 10.880,0 10.625,0 16,04K

Fresnillo 704,20 724,40 700,60 172,87K

Glencore 492,30 501,60 489,45 5,43M

GSK

1.373,70

89,09K

Intermediate Capital 999,40 1.018,50 993,40 50,83K

Intertek 3.709,0 3.744,0 3.697,0 16,06K

ITV 65,36 66,70 65,05 242,81K

J Sainsbury 185,35 189,80 184,70 434,11K

Johnson Matthey 1.917,0 1.942,0 1.903,0 104,23K

Land Securities 527,40 545,40 526,00 248,76K

Legal & General 230,00 235,60 229,50 637,83K

Lloyds Banking 42,05 43,01 41,94 26,70M

London Stock Exchange 7.370,0 7.516,0 7.318,0 58,28K

Melrose Industries 103,95 106,50 103,35 3,04M

Mondi 1.473,50 1.479,00 1.447,00 85,14K

National Grid 905,00 916,20 902,00 1,01M

NatWest Group 237,70 242,70 236,00 3,86M

Next 4.790,0 4.897,0 4.783,0 33,15K

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

Ocado 478,30 495,80 472,80 473,29K

Persimmon 1.241,5 1.268,0 1.227,0 338,94K

Phoenix 537,20 546,00 536,40 228,97K

Prudential 828,80 867,60 820,00 1,87M

Reckitt Benckiser 5.909,0 5.964,0 5.888,6 4,81K

Relx 2.241,00 2.255,00 2.222,00 282,40K

Rentokil 508,00 510,20 503,60 477,90K

Rightmove 470,20 472,70 464,80 259,37K

Rio Tinto PLC 4.710,0 4.765,0 4.674,0 32,52K

Rolls-Royce Holdings 73,26 75,94 73,10 3,54M

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

Sage 712,60 720,00 710,00 103,38K

Samsung Electronics DRC 987,40 996,00 986,00 1,88K Schroders 380,0 386,9 380,0 8,17K

Scottish Mortgage 732,29 748,98 731,00 309,69K

Segro 734,40 753,20 731,40 766,44K

Severn Trent 2.348,0 2.396,0 2.329,0 136,96K

Shell 2.290,0 2.308,5 2.268,2 204,00K

Smith & Nephew 1.007,50 1.016,50 1.004,00 171,24K Smiths Group 1.509,50 1.523,00 1.501,00 66,81K

Spirax-Sarco Engineering 10.480,0 10.530,0 10.370,0 5,82K SSE 1.472,50 1.489,50 1.467,50 283,66K St. James’s Place 1.001,50 1.025,00 1.000,50 51,63K

563,20 552,00 154,13K

88,90 2,89M

3M 116,81 116,94 3,34M

American Express 140,04 141,32 132,21 11,67M

Amgen 251,94 252,38 247,01 3,53M

Apple 147,27 147,85 142,65 85,64M

Boeing 141,32 141,33 136,62 5,35M

Caterpillar 190,22 190,41 179,21 3,47M

Chevron 173,19 173,84 168,85 7,96M

Cisco 42,80 42,97 41,81 23,27M

Coca-Cola 55,96 56,10 54,99 14,90M

Dow 46,87 46,92 44,95 7,43M

Goldman Sachs 325,10 325,77 309,49 3,49M

Home Depot 275,53 275,71 268,00 3,43M

Honeywell 182,81 183,31 176,52 2,96M

IBM 129,90 130,85 127,59 7,18M

Intel 26,97 27,05 25,79 52,05M

J&J 168,71 169,37 164,43 8,12M

JPMorgan 122,23 122,39 116,33 20,37M

McDonald’s 254,55 255,36 249,50 3,25M

Merck&Co 95,67 95,96 92,64 10,23M

Microsoft 242,12 243,00 234,50 25,91M

Nike 88,50 88,78 86,71 7,85M

Procter&Gamble 128,58 128,95 126,48 6,30M

Salesforce Inc 160,17 160,43 154,82 6,13M

The Travelers 176,23 176,38 171,10 1,47M

UnitedHealth 533,73 536,53 518,01 2,80M

Verizon 35,35 35,70 34,55 50,20M

Visa A 190,37 190,95 185,05 7,57M

Walgreens Boots 34,30 34,54 33,21 9,80M

Walmart 136,80 137,41 134,00 6,04M

Walt Disney 102,04 102,30 97,89 9,82M

LMF Acquisition Opportunities -27.48% 4.84K

Sientra Inc -26.40% 7.24M

SVB -23.95% 5.60M

Starry Holdings -22.72% 1.55M

Xos

-21.33% 11.68K

Windfall tax

FORMER Spanish Minister of the Economy and now Vice‐President of the Euro pean Central Bank, Luis de Guindos has called in a team of experts to study the sol vency of Spanish banks and expects to issue a non‐bind ing opinion on the proposed banking windfall tax.

Greenwashing

IN what is believed to be the first action against a bank for so‐called green washing, the UK Advertising Standards Authority has told HSBC that it may not run advertisements claim ing it is active in reducing harmful emissions as it ‘omitted material informa tion’ about its activities.

Fishing aid

ALTHOUGH announced ear lier in the year, the granting of aid totalling €49.5 million to compensate Spanish shipowners and aquacul ture companies for the ad ditional costs they have had to face due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine will now be allocated to those eligi ble.

Baking money

INSURANCE companies in the UK will be worried about an initial Court find ing in favour of a claim by Greggs the Bakers against Zurich.

The claim revolves around business interrup tion insurance and the amount that should be paid out due to closures during the pandemic.

Zurich argued that there should be a one‐off payment under the policy with a maximum of £2.5 million, but lawyers for Greggs successfully con tested this, claiming that each time there was a change in government pandemic policy that a further £2.5 million claim should be accepted.

The next step is to agree the final pay out but this could be as high as £150 million.

Wasting energy

ON Sunday October 30, Spain will waste €300 million by putting the clocks back by one hour according to calculations by the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy (IDAE).

By abandoning this move from Summer Time to Winter Time, the evenings (when people are more ac tive) would remain lighter for one hour and could ensure a reduction in energy consumption of around 5 per cent.

In theory the decision to intro duce Summer Time was to give more light to farmers at the height of their sowing and harvesting times, but there are two interest ing facts about Spain, as during the Civil War, both sides observed dif ferent time zones and even today, the Canary Islands are one hour

ahead of the rest of Spain.

Well before the current energy cri sis, the European Union had studied the time changes and in 2018, the

European Parliament voted to give each country the right to decide if it wished to continue to change time zones twice a year.

Good and bad news for Spain

With Spain championing a green energy revolution, investing billions in subsidising energy costs and cur rently rumoured to be about to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), which protects invest ments in fossil fuels and other ener gy infrastructure, a simple decision to stay in Summer Time would be another way of saving energy.

There is a move in Italy to take the same action and a petition on web site change.org which concentrates on the Spanish situation already has nearly 250,000 signatures.

There is also a health issue as ac cording to US medical research, the number of people suffering heart at tacks on the day following the start of Summer Time can jump by 25 per cent compared to other Mondays in the year.

New stores

UK supermarket Asda plans to open some 30 Asda Express stores during the next year which will create some 500 new jobs.

Until now Asda has not owned any stan dalone convenience stores, but believes that there is a market for small shops situated in convenient neighbourhood locations and each will stock around 3,000 products.

Customers will also enjoy a range of hot and cold ‘food for now’ options from Asda and partner brands as well as ‘food for later’ choices such as ready meals and a selection of £10 meal deals for two people.

Stores will also offer parcel collection and return services and shortly after the first two are opened this year, they will also offer a rapid delivery service through Uber Eats.

Royal visit

SPANISH exports and imports both reached record highs in the period January to August 2022 according to a recent statement by Xiana Méndez, Secretary of State for Commerce.

Compared to the previous year, exports increased by 25 per cent to €252 billion and Méndez said “Spanish foreign trade continues to show dy namism despite the uncertain ty in a less favourable global context, reaching historical fig ures in the value of exports and imports.”

Conversely and equally im

portantly for the economy, im ports rose by 40.5 per cent to €298.5 billion so there is a sig nificant negative balance of trade which needs to be ad dressed especially as the cost of living continues to rise.

The bulk of the statement was devoted to information concerning exports with the biggest market being the Euro pean Union (62 per cent of the total) which was up by 26.1 per cent.

It was notable that the bulk of growth was to other mem bers of the euro zone with

much lower growth to those in the European Union who still keep their own currencies al though in August the situation had started to reverse.

The main positive contribu tions to the annual variation rate of exports came from the sectors of energy products, capital goods, food, beverages, tobacco, automobiles.

The autonomous communi ties with the highest year‐on‐year growth in their exports were the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and the Com munity of Madrid.

KING FELIPE VI visited the European Central Bank in Frankfurt on Wednesday October 19 during his State Visit to Germany.

Accompanied by Spanish Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, Minister for Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares Bueno, and the Governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos he met President of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde.

After discussions concerning the current state of the world’s economy and its impact on the eurozone, the king accompanied Christine Lagarde to the ‘Holocaust Memorial’, which is located under the offices of the European Cen tral Bank and is a basement in which Jews were held before they were to be taken by train to the extermination camps.

ADJUSTING CLOCKS: Changing time zones also affects the body.

Credit:

XIANA MÉNDEZ: Issued a statement regarding Spanish foreign trade reaching record highs.

Labour attitude; always attack adversaries when their prob lems run high. Rather like a boxer endeavouring to compete in the ring after his rival has sprained a wrist or twisted an ankle. They are actually fully aware that their chances of winning a general elec tion on their own are virtually non‐existent. The best result they could possibly expect is a coalition with a couple of other parties, all piling in to number 10 in an effort to gain as much power as possible.

They accuse the Conservatives of ‘in fighting’; believe me, if a coali tion occurred it would be akin to WW3! You could forget the poor old British public. Things would be crumbling around them for years. Can you imagine this whole mob of power happy, cross party individu als, screaming at each other around the number 10 ministerial table, or brawling for positions in the house as the country went to the dogs?

Give us a break. The lefties don’t actually care of course. They are in reality, at this present moment, ful

Complete chaos

ly prepared to let the country sink into chaos while they concentrate their whole resources on at least three months of electioneering. Starmer has stated that should he be elected they could fix some of the worst problems in one day!

How ridiculous to expect the long suffering British public to vote them in because they offer to repair many of the enigmas which are ac tually affecting the whole global economy, in 24 hours? Typical left wing propaganda slurry of course.

The last time they won an elec tion they took the country and its public for mugs and ultimately fin ished up on the floor. That same re sult of a left wing communistic atti tude, which is also as we speak crushing the American constitution under the Biden administration.

That is of course one of the rea sons he keeps decrying the UK. They too want a lefty government to prevail as political partners in global affairs; making it easier to adopt the attitude of Republican crook George Bush when he sided with ‘New Labour’ Blair to nick the

Iraqi oil. This resulted in thousands of our troops dying in a war that finished up precisely nowhere.

Don’t get me wrong, as stated re cently I don’t really give a toss for any of them. Having stated that I wouldn’t have minded Penny Mor daunt, already leader of the house getting in; I truly do enjoy the pre sentations of highly intelligent beautiful ladies. If I had the oppor tunity and was 30 years younger, I probably would have voted to elect her. Ah well, dream on Leapy. Sunak is in. Never fancied him of course! Ah well. Keep those mails arriving; I promise I do read every one.

Keep the faith. Love Leapy. leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com Mon. Wed and Fri. 1pm till 4. (Noon UK time)

products and great offers to meet customers’ real needs!

WHEN it comes to choosing an insurance policy, price will (of course) be a significant factor, but you really need to consider what you’re going to get for your money.

Are you paying for what you actually need? Will you have the backing of a reputable company that really understands your re quirements ‐ and can they offer the right advice on the right product(s) for you?

The insurance market is now more competitive than ever be fore, so it’s not surprising that consumers are increasingly look ing for more competitive pack ages that can be tailored to their own circumstances. Liberty Se guros understands this, which is why it continues to innovate its range to be able to offer prod

ucts that can be personalised to suit customers’ real needs.

Furthermore, it regularly offers fantastic deals not only to new customers, but also existing cus tomers to reward their continual loyalty.

For example, from now up un

til November 24, 2022, Liberty Seguros existing clients will re ceive €60 Cashback on each new policy that they take out.

New clients can make great savings too, with €30 Cashback on their first Life, Home or Car policies and €60 Cashback on

subsequent new policies there after*.

Best of all though, their com petitive products now come with more benefits and advantages than ever before!

As an example, all your car’s extras are covered as standard,

for free, if they have been fitted by the vehicle’s manufacturer.

When it comes to Home poli cies, for example, you can get compensation for additional wa ter costs due to a broken pipe up to the value of €1,000; and up to €600 per claim/year to help with the unblocking of pipes.

With regard to Life policies, you have the option of taking out Level Term Life Insurance with no premium increase for 10 years, guaranteeing the same death benefit and the same level of payments for the full length of the term.

Liberty Seguros really does have you covered and always has your real needs in mind, so it’s not surprising that it is still the expat’s preferred insurer in Spain.

LIBERTY SEGUROS: The expat’s preferred insurer in Spain.

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.

TAXI FIASCO

WE went to Frigiliana on October 20, by bus.

Being our first visit there we went sightseeing, had lunch and decided to re turn to our hotel by taxi.

We waited for over one hour and not one, I repeat not one taxi came.

The couple in front rang all the numbers suggested on the rank board.

And was told “he’s on his way.”

“He’s a minute away,”

What sort of service is this?

Very angry. A good day spoiled

We shall not be return ing.

Steve Wagstaffe

Fed up

Absolutely fed up and shocked by Leapy Lee’s continued enabling of the racist LL. Presumably you will justify this hate speech all in the name of free speech.

Your disclaimer does not convince.

A Fowles

Correcting confusion

Am glad you printed Alan Robinson’s letter cor recting the confusion which some people seem to have regarding the re strictions that have arisen since Britain left the EU. Previously you printed an earlier letter (30 June this year) in which it offensive ly accused Spain of ‘pig headedness’.

Clearly, this person has still not got the message! Please do not print any more of the informed let ters... it would be much more helpful to use the

Our View column to set the record straight and prevent further misunder standings.

OUR VIEW

FACT NOT FICTION

OLDER readers will probably remember TV comedy The New Statesman starring Rik Mayall as Conservative MP Alan B’Stard which ran from 1987 to 1994.

According to Wikipedia, B’Stard was a selfish, greedy, dishonest, lecherous, ultra-right-wing Conservative back bencher who intentionally mismanaged a Tory election campaign so Labour would be blamed for an economic crisis.

During the period that the comedy was first on TV and then took to the stage, almost anything and everything happened to take the rise out of the Tory Party and politi cians in general, but even the writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran would have been hard pushed to dream up what has now become reality.

In 1865, politician and reformer John Bright said “Eng land is the mother of parliaments” and certainly until re cently, Westminster was considered a beacon of democra cy around the world for centuries, but sadly no longer.

The last 10 years or so have seen so many scandals and misjudgements by the UK parliament especially with the Brexit referendum that for many of us it reinforces the fact that we are lucky to have found a new home in our adopted country of Spain.

Naturally, not everything is perfect here and there have been plenty of allegations of corruption, nepotism and simple mismanagement, but things don’t appear to be as bad as they are in the UK.

There will be a general election in Spain before the end of 2023 and there could well be some changes, but whilst many are calling for a British general election now rather than another leadership competition, it seems unlikely when so many Conservative MPs face losing their seats according to opinion polls.

Hispanophile Cabopino

Ashamed about sex

IN the interests of political correctness I have a confession to make. I have always regarded myself as male (boy‐man‐masculine‐he). I re alise now that such thinking is deeply offen sive to millions of sensitive snowflakes, (snowdrops, buttercups or butterflies) and I fi nally have to admit that I am simply a person. Perhaps I should start by changing my name.

David is clearly a name associated with what we used to call men, as in firemen and postmen. Surely, nobody should be offended if I call myself Pat or Sam which can apply to persons of either sex. And my surname should in future be Worchildren.

When I was young, we enjoyed the clear distinction between the male and female sex es and could joke about them. Why would there be any shame in being referred to as a ‘he’ or ‘a woman’. The differences between the sexes created a kind of mystery which added romance and joy to the attraction of making love.

Today’s Western society seems to be afraid of sex. There is reportedly a diminishing inter est among younger people in having sex at all. We are even discouraged from distin guishing between the sexes, and have to take

care to avoid using the wrong pronoun or any word connoting male or female.

For example, John Allan is chairman of Tesco. Why was he introduced on a recent TV programme as ‘Chair, Tesco’? A chair is some thing we sit on. And why have actresses be come known as ‘actors’, while a princess re mains proudly feminine?

In the 50s there was a cheeky magazine called ‘Men Only’ ‐ or, in today’s terminology, ‘People Only’. As for my mother, she (or it?)

preferred ‘People’s Own’, then known as ‘Woman’s Own’. The small red insect we have to call a personbird was known as a la dybird and Wycombe Abbey was an eminent girls’ school attended by schoolgirls (rather than a school attended by students). A fe male cat was known as a she‐cat (whoops, is this offensive?), and a handyman would come round and fix things.

Men were protective and courteous to wards women, offering seats, opening doors

and raising their hats to them. They enjoyed pursuits such as boxing and rugby. They drove buses, conducted orchestras, became prime minister and swept our streets. They had conservative haircuts, wore trousers and occasionally had tattoos. So different from women!

Women had no problem with being ad dressed as Mrs or Miss, rather than Mzzz. They wore earrings, jewellery, ponytails and granny buns, and they had husbands ‐ all the preserve of women. They dressed in frocks or skirts and wore nylons and high heels.

Today, the distinction between male and female humans is evaporating as the sexes seem to be merging. And the new rules about vocabulary are not only reflecting but also ac celerating the process.

Oh! And before the arrival of Andy Murray, I used to follow the tennis career of Tim Hen person.

Advertising Feature

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Continuing the legacy

The brothers may be new company di rectors, but they are not new to commer cial debt collection. “Gavin has been in the industry for 30 years, and I’m still the new boy with ‘only’ seven years’ service,” laughs Richard. “But in reality, this business has al ways been part of our lives and it is an hon our to continue our father’s legacy.”

Brian O’Sullivan Daredevil brian.osullivan@daredevilpr.com

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

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Well done keepers

60+ LEAGUE : After intense pressure from Benahavis in the first half, Torrox Tornadoes broke away with some good inter passing to go 1‐0 up from an Andy Downing strike and took the lead into the break. Within a minute of the sec ond half starting Benahavis cut through the midfield and defence to equal the scores 1‐1, Torrox Tornadoes went ahead again after being awarded a run ning penalty taken by Andy Downing 2‐1.

Benahavis were awarded a running penalty but that was blasted over the bar, they then went on to apply pres sure and were awarded a penalty again as a defender stood in the box this time saved by Johnny Basket, the Torrox keeper, who made some remarkable saves during the match. Benahavis man aged an equaliser after some quick pass ing. Final score 2‐2.

Boca Seniors 2 ‐ 6 Walking Dead

The third game in this league cam paign saw Boca Seniors take on the very experienced and successful Walking Dead 50

Both teams started well with Walking

Walking football league tables.

Dead edging possession and territory.

Image: Walking football

These goals were mainly due to Boca Seniors being stretched with some fine inter passing from Walking Dead.

The two Boca Seniors goals came from well taken penalties by John Hamilton and Gary Sanderson conceded by Walking Dead for eight running of fences.

It was a good spirited competitive match and it was nice to see some of the Walking Dead join us for a post match beer.

New leadership

RICHARD GOULD has been announced as the new England and Wales Cricket Board CEO. The 52‐year‐old will take up the post at the end of January 2023 moving from his current role as Chief Ex ecutive Officer (CEO) of Bristol City Football Club.

Position starts end of January 2023.

It wasn’t long before they opened the scoring through a well worked free kick.

From then on, Walking Dead scored four further well taken goals at regular intervals.

We look forward to playing you in the rematch. Last year’s league winners travelled to Nerja in the 50 league, Nerja Utd were very well organised and thor oughly deserved the 4‐2 win, assistant Malaga manager Terry Norrington said “well deserved, they were snappier to the ball and the smaller pitch suited them.” Malaga 60 drew 1‐1 in the other game of the day. Plaudits to all goal keepers who pulled off some amazing saves. Malaga are currently bottom of the league having had three points de ducted after Viñuela left the league.

For all other walking football news vis it walkingfooty.com on Facebook.

He brings significant leadership experience from major organisa tions across sport, having served as CEO at first Somerset County Cricket Club and then Surrey County Cricket Club before taking up his current role in 2021, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed on Sunday, October 23.

The Nominations Committee unanimously recommend ed Mr Gould to the ECB who ratified the decision. Clare Connor will continue as Interim CEO until Mr Gould’s ar rival.

As CEO, Mr Gould will work to deliver the vision set out by ECB Chair Richard Thompson to make cricket the most inclusive sport in the country.

Richard Gould said: “I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead our game forward in England and Wales.”