Costa Blanca North 24 - 30 November 2022 Issue 1951

THE Original Charity Shop and Library in Javea has recently purchased seven bags of children’s clothes from Helen Davis, the founder of a local charity organisation called Spread Some Sunshine.

The proceeds will be spent on food and other essential supplies for people in need in Sri Lan ka. Helen was delighted to accept a cheque for €500, which she says will go a long way to purchas ing food and other basic items that have not been available to these people due to the recent floods affecting the country and a lack of government funding.

Helen founded Spread Some Sunshine to raise funds to support children in care in the Ambalango da area on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka. These children are vul nerable due to family breakdowns and are sometimes referred by the probation services because their parents are incarcerated or unable to cope. The organisation al so provides financial as sistance to families in dif ficulties, most often due to health issues. Many people in Sri Lanka have still not recovered from the devastating tsunami in 2004 and are living in appalling conditions.

In turn, Maica and Lorena from Javea Red

Cross were delighted to receive the donation of children’s clothes from The Original Charity Shop. Maica explained that the Local Red Cross provides humanitarian assistance and is always in need of children’s clothes which are sup plied to immigrant and refugee families.

The Original Charity Shop is in Carrer de Nan cy 1, in Javea’s Arenal area, and the Library/ Bookshop is in Javea Park and opens from Monday to Saturday from 10.00am to 1.00pm and

stocks an enormous se lection of men’s and women’s clothing, as well as curtains, bedding, kitchenware, bric­a­brac, jewellery, shoes and much more.

The bookshop in Javea Park sells second­hand books for prices as low as 50 cents. Call in if you

want to grab a bargain and help worthy charities.

SPREADING SUNSHINE: Seven bags of clothes were donated to the Red Cross.

Image: Spread Some Sunshine

Collecting for Akira

SPECSAVERS ÓPTICAS in Calpe is collecting food, blankets and toys for the dogs at Akira Animal Sanctuary in Benissa and is a drop­off point for do nations of items for the sanctuary’s charity shop.

The shelter cares for up to 50 dogs at a time and depends on donations, sponsorship and fundrais ing to cover the costs of looking after and finding homes for the dogs that are in their care.

The team at Specsavers Ópticas in Calpe are all animal lovers and are ask ing customers and local residents to pop into the store with donations until Saturday January 7.

Store Director Chantelle Hayward explains, “Akira does such a great job looking after stray and unloved dogs and finding them a forever home. With up to 50 dogs at any one time, costs for food,

medicines and veterinary care can be very high. So, we want to help them this year, by inviting peo ple to drop off dog food, blankets, toys, leads, col lars and treats. We will al so be fundraising and welcoming donations of €1 for an eye test for the shelter.”

Specsavers Ópticas Calpe is located in Aveni da Ejércitos Españoles (opposite Repsol). Com prehensive eye tests are free, but a donation to Akira Animal Sanctuary for the test would be gratefully received and you’re welcome to drop off items during open hours.

Billie­Jo JohnsonRoberts from Akira com mented, “We want to say a big thank you to Spec savers Ópticas Calpe for choosing to support us. We’re a non­profit associ ation and rely heavily on

donations and fundraising to keep the shelter run ning and make sure the dogs are well cared for. Please do pop into Spec savers in Calpe with any

donations for our dogs or charity shop.”

Find out more at www.akira­animals.com or visit www.specsavers.es

Lovely ladies lunch

CALPE U3A Ladies’ din ing group ‘JUGS’ (Just us Girls) meet for a ladiesonly lunch every second Thursday at different venues each month. The last outing was on November 10 with a great lunch at ‘Makarpi’ restaurant Calpe. Twenty­two ladies at tended and it was an af ternoon full of fun. The last lunch of the year is on December 15 at Restaurant Patio Fuente

Enjoying a natter and great food.

Calpe, if you would like to join the ladies who lunch, check the U3A website for more infor mation www.u3acalpe. org.

Image: Calpe U3A JUGS

NIBS EXTRA

Lucky scratch card winner

PEDRO MARTÍN DURILLO sold one of his customers a winning ‘Rasca 7 y Media’ ONCE scratch card in Benissa. The lucky customer will have a better Christmas than ever thanks to the €7,500 prize. The ONCE foundation raises funds for the blind and dis abled.

For equality

ALTEA has been commemo rating International Day for the Elimination of Gender Vi olence since November 18, when a banner was hung to raise awareness of the need to prevent and eradicate vio lence against women.

Wall restoration

ALICANTE is giving Teulada a €374,210 grant to restore the Iberian wall on Cap d’Or as part of a programme of grants that focuses on con serving the historical and ar chaeological heritage of small towns and villages.

Works postponed

JAVEA Town Council has postponed a tender to con vert a 464­metre lighthouse and its 3,500 sqm site into the Interpretation Centre of the Marine Reserve of Cabo de San Antonio to analyse whether more funds are re quired to complete the pro ject.

New team

DENIA hospital is to become a reference unit for chronic medullary conditions, mean ing patients will no longer need to travel to Toledo or Barcelona for the care they need. A new specialised team will be recruited for this area.

Eco-friendly shop

MASYMAS supermarkets avoided emitting up to two million tonnes of CO2 be tween 2018 and early 2022 by installing LED lighting, smart control systems, constructing Class A buildings and installing solar panels for 30 per cent self­consumption.

Carry on cruising

NEARLY 30,000 cruise passen gers will visit Alicante in the last two months of 2022 onboard 10 ships scheduled to call at the city.

The month of November has been positive in terms of the arrival of cruise ships, with eight ships that have already visited Alicante or will do so before the end of the month. This will generate an economic impact of around €1.4 million and will reach €2 million if the two cruise ships which will ar rive in December are added in to the equation.

“These cruise ships con tribute to the off peak season

RESIDENTS of the Alicante Region will be delighted to hear that another issue of shopping vouchers is on the way. Your local authority will provide a website where you can log in and purchase vouchers that entitle you to a 50 per cent discount in local shops and on meals in your local restaurants.

Alicante Regional Govern ment is making a total of €9 million available to all the

towns in the province to en courage people to spend in lo cal businesses at Christmas and reduce the cost of shop ping for the holiday season during the holidays.

The success of earlier shop ping campaigns of this type has led the government to

Winter warmers

FROM Sunday November 20 Terra Natura in Benidorm is taking extra care of its older residents now that winter has come. The park has a cold weather protocol to protect its vulnerable animals, one of these is a squirrel monkey called Ojito.

The little chap came from a zoo in the Netherlands in 2007, aged three. He re ceives a vitamin C supplement and extra protein, and his shelter is heated at night. At 18 years old, he is a senior, although these animals can live to the age of 25.

Ojito has coat problems and has lost some teeth, so he is monitored daily to ensure that he is healthy and happy. He does not groom enough and is taken to the veterinary clinic for regular check ups and given a bath. After his check­up, this sociable little chap goes back to the enclosure with the other squirrel monkey friends. Squirrel monkeys are not an endangered species and definite ly do not make good pets.

provide more funds to cover schemes between November 1 and December 31, 2022, which will be paid to local au thorities in advance.

The shopping scheme was to be postponed until the new year, but has been brought forward to help con

tourism in the city,” according to the Alicante City & Beach Tourist Board.

At the moment, the cruise ship calendar for 2023 foresees the arrival of 80 ships after the MSC Cruceros shipping com pany doubled its commitment to the city as a port of em barkation after the good re sults obtained this year.

The expenditure of cruise passengers who call at the city is mainly divided between restaurants, shops and excur sions. The average expendi ture in the case of stopovers amounts to around €70 per visitor per day.

Cartoonist in conversation

A CAPTIVATING cartoon presentation will be the lat est edition in a series of presentations from the Marina Alta Arts Club. Award­winning cartoonist, comedy writer and per former, Harry Venning is set to give an entertaining presentation in Teulada on Friday December 9.

The morning presenta tion will get underway from 11am in the Salones Canor in Teulada and will give guests a chance to lis ten to a fascinating talk by Venning. He will trace the history of the cartoon pro fession as well as highlight ing the legacies of impor tant cartoonists on cartoon language, culture and their influences on him.

sumers with the burden of in flation, which will require a huge effort from local coun cils, since the last edition took three months to organise.

For more information visit https://bonoteuladamoraira. es.

Fiddlers’ fundraiser

FIDDLERS PUB in Moraira are con tinuing their fabulous support of El Preventoria de Gandia Children’s home. The fundraising was started by the pub landlady, Lisa Le Mehaute, who sadly passed away and now Lisa’s husband Tim O’Brien and administrator Chris Lee are con tinuing the fundraising in her mem ory, and for the love of Lisa.

The Fiddlers are hosting a fundraising day which will include various events and several local artists who will be playing live music throughout the day. The event is be ing held on Sunday, November 27 and will start at 12 noon.

Their aim is to provide milk, breakfast and a daily snack for each of the children, any additional mon ey raised will be used to buy other essential items the children may

need especially at this time of year. Everybody is welcome so please go along and show your support.

Venning’s work has ap peared in an eclectic mix of publications from newspa pers The Guardian and The Telegraph to The Radio Times, Mathematics Today and The Stage. His longrunning Guardian strip ‘Clare in the Community’ was turned into a Radio 4 sitcom, winning him ac claim as the 2016 UK Strip Cartoonist of the Year.

Members and guests can enjoy a coffee from 10am, before the presen tation at 11am. The pre sentation will also be fol lowed by a social between the speaker, committee, and audience with compli mentary refreshments.

SWEET CRUISING: Eighty ships are expected in 2023.

Image: shutterstock.com/ Ritu Manoj Jethani

Festive Dinner Dance

THE U3A is delighted to an nounce it will be holding its Christmas dinner dance at Sa lones Canor in Teulada on Fri day, December 2. A special Christmas menu and a vegetari an vegan menu have been ar ranged for the evening, along with music by the Ges Rogers’ Union Gap.

Tickets are now available to non­members and cost €40 for members and €50 for non­mem bers. They must be paid for in advance and accompanied by a reservation form containing membership numbers and meal choices for every course.

For more details and reserva tion forms, contact the organi sation’s Social Events Officer by writing to tonyold14@outlook. com.

Ahead of expectations

ALICANTE’S airport is flying high and is expecting the preCovid-19 traffic recovery to happen sooner than antici pated.

The Spanish Airports and Air Navigation group (AENA) expect to recover the prepandemic traffic levels in 2024 (about 275 million pas sengers), ahead of the initial estimate. The number of travellers in its network in Spain is expected to be a whopping 300 million by the end of the period covered by the Plan.

This recovery is already underway and is taking place across the AENA net work without the opera tional problems severely im pacting other European airports where the recovery

figures are lower.

AENA’s CEO, Maurici Luce na, confirmed: “This growing traffic will be managed at the quality levels that have suc cessfully been delivered throughout the challenging summer of 2022.

“Spain’s recovery has been more robust than at our Eu ropean peers’ airports. Any disruption we have suffered has partially been driven by the operational problems suf fered in the European sec tor.”

Sweet treats

MONTGO members played at Oliva Nova Golf Course on Sunday November 19 for the James Randall Trophy sponsored by Neil Carter, James Randall’s Grandad.

James encourages Neil to buy confec tionery each year, hence the array of sweet goodies on offer for all.

Taking top spot was Dirk Knappe with 39 Stableford points, in second place was Simon Fox with 36 points and in third place was Gerian van Ooijen with 35 points.

There were three nearest the pins prizes on offer with Helmut Pettier and Susann Budnik taking home the spoils on the 3rd and 16th holes and Dirk Knappe claiming the prize on the 18th in two, Dirk also tak ing home a coveted Montgo ball with the only two of the day on the 16th.

I think it can be said that it was Dirk’s Day, well played Dirk.

Next week’s competition is the St An drew’s Day Trophy sponsored by Sue Bur man.

ALICANTE AIRPORT: Recovery is already underway.

Image: Shutterstock.com/ Sonia Bonet

Digital Denia

DENIA Town Council has a plan to harness new technologies and artificial intelligence to improve its tourist sec tor. The plan contains a total of 21 measures to be deployed between 2023 and 2025.

These include a set of measures to improve connectivity in the town, such as installing sensors in parking spaces in the town cen tre, traffic sensors and tourist flow sensors, as well as along the coast.

Next year, Denia town centre will have a smart system that will show drivers where there are free spaces to park their vehicles.

The general idea is to drive the digital trans formation to make the tourism sector more sustainable. The local government will be able to compile useful data to improve its resilience to climate change. Both the public and private sectors will be involved in the plan.

Improvements like these are essential for a town like Denia, which wants to diversify its tourism away from an exclusively sun and beach type of tourism.

Nail biting game

THE Barbarians took on Moncada, the first divi sion league leaders, on Sunday November 20 in what turned out to be a pulsating game with a nail biting finish.

The match swung be tween both sides for 79 minutes and going into the last 60 seconds, the Barbarians were winning by 20 points to 15 and all they needed to do was to hold onto the ball to se cure a historic win.

Unfortunately it wasn’t to be and following a line out, the visitors went over in the corner for a try to seal victory by 2220.

An incredible game that literally did go down to the wire.

The seniors have to bounce back from this dis appointment as they look to take on UVC of Valen cia this coming weekend.

If you played before in the UK and still fancy a

game and live in the Mari na Alta area, you are very welcome to have a run out at training with the squad every Tuesday and Thursday.

For further information please call Santi (Spanish) on 676 612 357 or Mac (English) on 609 646 349.

Benicom weekender

AROUND 1,200 fans of popular ITV pro gramme ‘Benidorm’ flew in on Friday November 18 for Benicom. Both the series and the event were created by Derren Lit ten. Cast members and the production team were there to celebrate the hit sitcom. Al though it was cancelled in 2018, it still has followers, hence this trip to Benidorm to re visit some iconic locations.

From Friday to Sunday, fans, actors and crew met at a hotel in Rincón de Loix. The UK fans were joined by local enthusiasts to enjoy the fun.

‘Benidorm’ was set in a fictional resort called Solana (the Sol Pelicanos Hotel) and featured a host of well­known faces includ ing Joan Collins.

During the weekend there were Q&A ses

sions, prizes for the best outfits, and trips to places like Old Benidorm and Les Fonts de l’Algar.

There was also a massive fancy dress par ty… another reason why so many British tourists have decided to visit Benidorm in November.

PULSATING GAME: Barbarians played against Moncada.

Image: Barbarians club

ICONIC LOCATIONS: In beautiful Benidorm.

Image: Shutterstock.com/photovideoworld

TikTok tourism

Betty Henderson

VERSATILE Gandia Tourism has shown its incredible marketing expertise with a new TikTok account. The Department for Tourism has joined the app to promote local opportunities to young people as well as through traditional channels.

Gandia’s Palau Ducau played host for a special pre sentation from Valencia Tourism ‘Tourism marketing through TikTok: How to pro mote your town’. The talk covered the ways that towns can harness their marketing potential through the app and its exciting fea tures that reach younger au diences with a passion for travel.

The younger generation is an important audience with in the tourism market, since

habits formed now will con tribute to future tourism trends in the town.

Councillor for Tourism, Vi cent Mascarell highlighted the versatility of the town’s digital strategy saying “We have had this ambitious commitment to marketing through social networks for some time now. If there is

one social network that stands out for popularity among young people right now, it’s TikTok.

“In joining this platform we want to reach new audi ences and potential visitors by promoting our town in more creative and enter taining ways than through conventional ways.”

Taking its toll

THERE’S no question that the poor economic situation in the UK is taking its toll on Benidorm’s hotel industry.

Recent figures released by Benidorm’s Hoteliers’ associ ation HOSBEC show that oc cupancy is down eight points compared to 2019 due to the struggling British economy, but that Valencia and the Costa Blanca are doing bet

ter as a whole.

The first fortnight of the au tumn-winter season (Novem ber 1 to April 30) has been quite positive in the Valencia region.

Despite Benidorm exceed ing 75 per cent average occu pancy, it is still eight points low er than in 2019, showing the difficulties faced by the sector in this first winter of post-Covid

normality, but directly affected by inflation and the Spanish, European and particularly the British economic situation.

On the upside, the Costa Blanca and Valencia region have better data compared to 2019, although none of the destinations in the Valencian Community have an average occupation of more than 80 per cent.

Busy bees

LOCAL honey producers want to create their own brand of Marina Alta hon ey. The idea was proposed by the Montgó Beekeep ers’ Association at a meet ing held on November 15, to address the difficulties facing the sector. Although beekeeping is experiencing a renaissance, it is also fac ing some big challenges due to climate change, heatwaves and a lack of fi nancial support. Hence the meeting called by several local organisations.

The beekeepers decided to work together to create a brand identity to repre sent products from the Ma rina Alta and to establish a series of specific quality control measures. The idea is to work for long-term sustainability and success.

Staff from business de velopment organisation CREAMA presented the Xarxa Agricola project, de signed to breathe new life into the local farming sec tor, particularly beekeep ing, with specific measures to improve sales and raise the profile of locally pro duced honey. Meanwhile, the Passport Marina Alta project could include ‘hon ey’ tourism, as a new expe rience to offer in natural surroundings.

TIKTOK: The latest marketing tool adopted by Gandia Tourism to encourage future generations of tourists to visit the town.

Photo credit: DANIEL CONSTANTE / shutterstock.com

EVERY Sunday morning, a few craft stalls are set up at the end of the Avenida Jaime I in the port of Javea. However, on De cember 3 and 4, they will be there all day long since the port’s shopkeepers’ as sociation has asked the ar tisans to spend all day there to kick off the Christ mas season.

Around 20 original stalls will be decked out for Christmas. Shoppers can buy original (and even cus tomised!) Christmas and Three Kings presents.

The fair is organised by craft association Amata, and everything on sale is made by the participants. You’ll find leather work, ceramics, wooden and soft toys and jewellery.

Artisan Fair

Image: Artisan fair

A portrait and pet painter, a water colour artist and a papier­mâché specialist will also be there. And as all partici pants are artisans, they can make something spe cial for you if you don’t find what you are looking for.

Open all day on Saturday 3 and Sunday December 4 from 11am till 8pm. Find them on Google Maps at https://goo.gl/maps/rx5u WDjHiYs. Last minute changes are announced at https://www.facebook.co m/feriaartesaniajavea/.

New conservation area

BEAUTIFUL parts of Javea, Benitachell and Teulada have been de clared an Area of Region al Importance. Now called ‘Penya­segats de la Marina’ it been declared a special conservation area (ZEC), and a bird pro tection area (ZEPA).

The protection order covers approximately 980 hectares in the towns of Javea, Benitachell and Teulada. This means that symbolic areas like Cabo de la Nao, the Moraig and Granadella coves are now part of Red Natura 2000, a European net work of biodiversity con servation areas that re

ceive special protection.

Penya­segats de la Ma rina is a magnificent ex ample of a rocky Mediter ranean coastline with semi­sunken caves and islets like Portitxol and el Descubridor. It is inhabit ed by local plants such as the marine juniper, and in terms of animal life, there is the Bat Cave in Teulada and birds like the cor morant and the fishing eagle.

This new status will make it possible to prop erly conserve the habitats and species, analyse the threats to which they are exposed and measures to protect the area.

• Diagnostic imaging and ultrasound Rx

• Clinical tests and serological tests, internal medicine, parasitology

• Soft Tissue Surgery and Traumatology

• Ethology, behavioural disorders and animal behaviour

• Physiotherapy, acupuncture, custom recovery and Healing touch

• Ophthalmology

• Dentistry and dental surgery & more

• Import - Export

Festive fun at the craft fair.

A REPORT published in the national news press on Satur day November 19 said that rocky soil and recent heavy rainfall will help the Vall d’E bo to recover from the sum mer’s devastating fire. The blaze in the north of Alicante Province razed 20,000 hectares in August, threaten ing several villages, but caus ing no personal injury.

Fire aftermath

The president of the Span ish Society of Soil Science Jorge Mataix­Solera recently visited the area, where water and the rocky structure of the soil are contributing to the rapid recovery. He stressed

the devastation proves that forest fire prevention must be year­round. “In Spain, and the entire Western Mediter ranean, the forest area is growing,” said the researcher, adding that Spain has been fortunate because there have been no fires with a large

number of deaths, as has happened in Greece or Portu gal.

Three months on, the veg etation is recovering, partly because of the rainfall and partly because of the nature of the soil in the area which is somewhat water repellent.

EVENTS: Carol concerts and Christmas readings.

Historical findings Church Christmas programme

ON Friday November 18, it was announced that an archaeologi cal dig in Portitxol by the University of Alicante and the Soler Blasco Museum had recovered more than 1,000 historical ob jects. These findings suggest that there was once a Roman set tlement, perhaps the holiday home of a wealthy family, proba bly during the Byzantine period.

The island was radically transformed in the last century for farming; however, the Roman stones and ceramic have been found within these modern walls. The researchers also found a section of a Roman wall and a burial site filled with stones to gether with a sixth century ceramic cauldron.

The tombs suggest there was a permanent settlement, since nobody buries their families where they cannot be visited.

The excavation of the island came after three underwater campaigns whose findings were impressive. More than 1,000 objects recovered include over 200 anchors from all periods of history. According to the historians, it is the best collection of pre-Roman anchors in the Mediterranean.

JAVEA International Bap tist Church Christmas Pro gramme has announced its Christmas events, which will start with Carols in the Port at midday on Friday, December 16 in Plaza Adolfo Suarez opposite the Miramar Hotel. Take your seat in a nearby café and listen to your favourite car ols. All monies collected will be donated to Graham and Sarah in Mazwi, Zim babwe.

On Sunday, December

18 at 5pm there will be a carol concert with Christ mas readings in the Church Centre in Calle Favara 8, Javea Pueblo (no morning services that day).

On Christmas Day, at the Church Centre in Favara 8, there will be a service at 10.30am to which everyone is wel come to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

The congregants would like to wish everyone a blessed Christmas!

The cost of living longer

BY making the lifestyle choice to retire in Spain, you’ll want to make the most of what the coun try has to offer, hopefully well in to the future. This may be longer than you expect. Thanks to medi cal advances and a better quality of life, people are generally living longer than before.

Living to a ripe old age does sound appealing, provided we are healthy enough. There are, howev er, implications at both personal and government levels, with the key issue being: can we afford it?

The longer we live, the longer we need our savings to last. For peace of mind, assess whether your re sources are on track to last through out your lifetime.

Income and inflation

The inflation levels we have seen this year are certainly an eye-opener on how it can impact our monthly living costs, but even low levels, compounded year after year, will re

By Brett Hanson, Senior Partner, Blevins Franks

stretch in the future.

Say, for example, you spend €5,000 a month. Assuming an in flation rate of 3% a year, in 10 years’ time you could need €6,720 a month to maintain the same spending, and €9,030 in 20 years. Your capital and income would need to grow by the same amount to maintain the same standard of

Making your savings and in vestments last

Many retirees favour safer invest ments like bank deposits in their later years. But with a potential 30 years or more to fund in retirement, this can be a risky strategy.

British expatriates also need to factor in exchange rate risk. If you receive income in pounds while spending euros daily, depending on currency movements you may find your money does not go as far.

By following some key invest ment principles and taking special ist guidance you can invest your capital to give it the opportunity to keep pace with inflation, while keeping risk to a comfortable level. Start by establishing your risk pro file then carefully build a well-diver sified portfolio to suit your circum stances, needs and objectives.

A taxing problem – not just for governments Rising life expectancy is expen

the proportion of older people, the greater the costs of services like state pensions and healthcare – and with fewer taxpayers to fund it.

The solution usually lies in pen sion or healthcare reforms and tax increases to finance these escalating expenses.

Higher taxation can be a threat to your financial security in retirement as it also erodes income. Person alised tax planning is vital to make use of available opportunities so you do not pay more tax than nec essary.

With many arrangements you can combine your tax and invest ment planning in one exercise, al lowing you to tackle the twin threats of tax and inflation.

Getting the most from your pensions

Pensions are often the key to fi nancial security in retirement. Care fully weigh the pros and cons of all your options. Consider your in

and risk, currency risk, tax implica tions and what happens on death.

There may be ways to make pen sion funds go further, but take reg ulated advice to avoid pension scams and establish the best ap proach for your objectives and cir cumstances.

Leaving wealth behind

Estate planning is complex –more so for expatriates who have to consider the inheritance regime of two countries and how they inter act, and navigate foreign inheri tance taxes and succession laws. Spain, for example, imposes forced heirship. If your family includes children from previous marriages, be particularly careful to ensure ev eryone benefits in accordance with your wishes.

Whatever your stage of life, good financial planning can help you af ford the lifestyle you want, for as long as you need, so you can focus on enjoying your retirement in

Glorious galleon

A MAGNIFICENT copy of a galleon­ ‘Galeón Andalucía’ ­ is spending a few days at Marina Denia until Sunday November 27. This amazing vessel, a replica of the leg endary Spanish galleons of yesteryear, will be in town a week later than originally planned.

A total of 55 metres long, and made of iroko and pine, the ship has six decks and almost 1,100 square metres of sails. It has been built with great historical accuracy.

While it is in Denia it will be open to the public, who

Castle restoration

are invited to go on board and roam the decks, marvel at the details, and learn about the lives of the crew and the history of the Span ish galleons that sailed the oceans for more than 300 years.

The ship travels the world with a young crew who will be happy to en tertain you with stories about their intrepid adven tures.

Tickets cost €7 for adults and €4 for children (five­10 years). Family tickets cost €18. Buy your tickets on site or visit www.velacuadra.es.

Fusion flamenco

FUSION flamenco star Sara Baras and her company Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras will per form her new show entitled Alma at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia on December 12 at 7pm.

The Cádiz­born bailaora has been touring with this fusion of bolero and flamenco to rave reviews. Imaginative choreographies, endless

costume changes and the charisma of Sara Baras make this a treat for flamenco fans. Born in 1971, Sara is one of the best­known names in the world of flamenco. She has been called ‘the greatest Flamenco dancer ever’ and was the first to master footwork previ ously danced only by the best male dancers due to its speed and power.

THE Ministry of Culture an nounced on Tuesday Novem ber 15 that more than €1 mil lion will soon be spent to restore the landmark castle in Forna, a tiny mountain town in the Marina Alta area, to its for mer glory.

Closed since 2019 and with one of its towers shored up, the town council applied for a

grant to recover the castle, which will be of great interest to tourism and a driving force for the local economy.

The restoration project has already been drafted, and now is the time for archaeologists to carry out research into its origin and evolution. One of the building’s towers dates back to the 12th century. It is

mainly gothic in style, and the hall, sometimes used as a dun geon, still has drawings by pris oners on the walls showing sailing ships and scenes of war. The mayor of Forna showed the Minister for Culture around the building, both agreeing that once restored, the castle will be a magnificent tourist attraction.

Sting operation

ON Saturday November 19, police offi cers acted in La Nucia to find tools and supplies used to manufacture counter feit €500 notes. Officers seized equip ment from a warehouse belonging to the suspected mastermind and are now raiding homes and businesses connected to the accused to find a tonne of paper and printing plates imported from Chi na.

Investigators believe that a suspect identified as Tomás M J has been using people in his entourage to avoid contact

with other members of the network to try to outwit the security forces. Four searches were ordered in Altea and Pi cassent. Investigators are concerned that the network will destroy the mate rials to eliminate incriminating finger prints on notes found in a rucksack in Barcelona that match those of the ac cused.

So far the investigation has found printing machinery, but no evidence that these devices have been used for the manufacture of banknotes.

Galeón Andalucía while docked in Puerto Banus.

Image: Shutterstock.com/ Robalito

Thankful for Thanksgiving

POPULAR American holiday Thanksgiving is becoming in creasingly fashionable across Europe too, both with US expats and those who just want to get involved in the festive fun.

This year it is celebrated on Thursday, November 24 and the day has a fascinating history.

In the United States, Thanks giving history is almost always traced back to 1621 and the event is commonly known as the First Thanksgiving. It was cele brated by the Pilgrim Fathers, a group of European settlers of the Plymouth Colony, which is today part of the state of Mas sachusetts.

The Pilgrims were celebrating their first harvest in the New World and marked the occasion with a lavish three­day feast, which was attended by both Pil grims and Native Americans. It is believed that the Pilgrims were influenced by similar prac tices in Europe.

In the aftermath, many other colonies set aside specific days for giving thanks to God for their blessings. A proclamation

from George Washington in 1789 led to Thanksgiving becoming a national celebration and it was made into a federal holiday, on the fourth Thursday of November, by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

Today, in the United States, the Thanksgiving celebration largely centres around eating a large meal, which almost always in cludes turkey. Other traditional foods eaten on Thanksgiving in clude pumpkin pie, mashed pota toes, sweet potatoes and cranber ry sauce.

Typically, Americans will spend the day with their family or a group of friends and give thanks for the things they feel fortunate to have in their lives.

This sometimes has a religious element, with many people at tending religious services or say ing a prayer before eating their meal.

While Spain itself does not cele brate Thanksgiving, there are an incredible 38,812 American expats living in the country, sparking a rise in the number of businesses and individuals finding their own way to mark this special day.

Roast turkey is traditional.

Pumpkins are popular too.

Pies Shutterstock.com/ Oksana Mizina

Anti-corruption agency

Betty Henderson

A MAJOR international organisation hosted its General Assembly in Madrid from November 15 to 17.

The GLOBE network (Global Operational Net work of Anti­Corruption Law Enforcement Au thorities) brought to gether more than 120 professionals in the field for the crucial interna tional event.

Madrid played host as the conference was held

outside of Vienna for the first time in its history. Spain also currently holds presidency of the organisation through its Guardia Civil, National Police and Antifraud Ser vice, and will hold this role for the next three years.

The GLOBE network was created in 2021 by a United Nations agency to fight the scourge of cor ruption, as a network of corruption experts that investigate possible cas

es of corruption and fraud. To date, 125 agen cies from 69 countries have signed up to the network.

During the conference, a Plenary meeting was attended by more than 170 experts, discussing current and future cor ruption threats faced by member states.

THE Spanish Data Protec tion Agency (Agencia Es pañola de Protección de Datos), on November 19, has fined a courier firm €70,000 for delivering a parcel to a neighbour of the addressee, absent from his home, without his consent.

The claimant had placed an order over the Internet which, due to his absence, was delivered to one of his neighbours,

No one home

without prior notice and, therefore, without his ex press consent.

The owner of the pack age originally filed a claim against the online seller, which the court rejected, and so he lodged an ap peal, accusing the deliv ery company of breaching his personal data rights.

Finding in his favour,

Licence agreement

HUGH ELLIOTT , British Ambas sador to Spain, announced some positive news for British expats in Spain and the Balearics affected by the driving licence headache, which left many Spanish residents from the UK unable to drive in the country, unless they sat a driving test.

The ambassador said on Friday, November 18: “Today we have made a significant step forward. You may recall that we have been in discussions with the Spanish for

some weeks over two outstand ing, complex issues.

“I’m pleased to be able to tell you that we have now reached an agreement on those two points.

“So we will now take forward the remaining steps including le gal checks, securing ministerial approval on both sides, and the necessary treaty processes and formal exchanges.”

While no exact time frame has been given, it appears that it is just bureaucracy that stands in

the AEPD held that the courier company had transferred the com plainant’s data to a third party without his con sent, which entails a breach of the principles of integrity and confidential ity in the General Data Protection Act and fined the courier a total of €70,000.

A significant step forward.

the way of licences being ex changed.

Once sorted, British residents in Spain will have another six­month grace period to exchange their li cence for a Spanish one, in which time they can continue to use a valid UK licence.

Shutterstock.com/mundissima

More than 170 experts in anti-corruption attended the GLOBE network’s Plenary in Madrid.

Photo credit: GLOBE network (by email)

COEXISTENCE between neighbours is not always easy. On several occasions we have talked about the problems that arise in communities of owners. In today’s article we analyse a subject that we have been asked about a lot re cently, and that we have already explained in previ ous articles. The disputes

Problems with neighbour’s trees. Rights and obligations. Maximum distance and height. Spanish Civil Code. Municipal ordinance. Legal advice.

that arise when the neigh bour’s trees are planted too close to the bound aries of our property. What rule applies in these situations? Is it the Spanish Civil Code or the Municipal

Ordinances? In addition to the minimum distance...

Should height also be con sidered? We discuss all these questions below.

• What regulation has priority. Spanish Civil Code, Municipal Ordi nances or local custom?

To solve a problem of this type, the first thing we must do is to identify the applicable regulation. The answer can be found in the Spanish Civil Code. Art. 591 states that the trees planted near the bound aries must be situated within the distances estab lished:

Firstly, by the Munici pal Ordinances.

Secondly, and in case there are no municipal bylaws, in the local customs. However, it is not always easy to prove them.

Finally, and in the ab

sence of the two previous ones, the provisions of the Spanish Civil Code will ap ply.

• Regulation of the Spanish Civil Code: Art. 591 and 592

What are the exact dis tances provided for in the Civil Code? Tall trees must be planted, at most, two metres away from the boundary. In the case of bushes or low trees, the distance is reduced to 50 centimetres.

In addition, if the branches extend over the property of another neigh bour, the latter has the right to demand that they

are cut down. If, instead of branches, it is the roots that invade his property, he has the right to cut them himself.

• Let’s look at a practical case. Ordinances for the protection of trees and conservation of plots of land in the town of DENIA

The distance at which trees should be planted from the boundary is regu lated in the Tree Protec tion Ordinance (Art. 7.7).

In this case, its regulation is the same as the one foreseen in the Spanish Civil Code. That is, two me tres for high trees, 50 cen timetres for low trees.

What about height? Is it regulated in any way? It will depend on each mu nicipality. Continuing with the example of the city of Denia. Ordinance for the Conservation of Plots of

Land foresees what hap pens with height. Art. 43 and 44 of said regulation state that when someone fences off his plot with a vegetal fences/living hedge (ie a row of trees planted one next to each other.) the maximum height of the trees must be two metres.

•Conclusion

If your neighbour’s trees are causing you problems, please do not hesitate to contact us.

At White­Baos Abogados we will carefully study your case: applicable regu lation, viability of your claim, etc and offer you ex pert advice on the subject.

The information provid ed in this article is not in tended to be legal advice, but merely conveys infor mation related to legal is sues.

Baos (Lawyer) - White&Baos Tel: +34 966 426 185 • info@white-baos.com White & Baos 2022 All Rights Reserved.

Carlos

Everyone needs a Marie Carmen

BUYING a home in Spain is different from the US. Here, it is nor mal for the house to come completely fur nished. Great, if you are moving from overseas and have nothing but suitcases.

Not so great if you have lived here and fur nished an apartment before buying your for ever home.

When we moved to our house, we were un aware that when our moving vans arrived from our apartment in Valencia that they would be unloading our personal furniture into a fully furnished home. Surprise! There was no room for it in the house. Luckily, a superhero would arrive at the

scene in the nick of time.

Our new neighbour, Marie Carmen, popped over to welcome us with a wheelbarrow full of vegetables from her garden.

She swiftly diagnosed the problem and got on her mobile phone. A man arrived in a lorry pulling a trailer. Then she worked magic, or ganising the movers, the trailer guy, and me.

Via sign language, Google translate and my broken español, Marie Carmen, with whom we had been acquainted for less than an hour, whipped us all into shape, extracting the furniture we didn’t want into the trailer, while marshalling the movers to unload our furniture into the house

and the overflow into the barn.

It took a few hours. Afterwards, Marie Car men smiled then left. As we sat on our sofa, Jeff shook his head.

“How did all that just happen?” he asked, amazed.

I had no answer. All I know is that everyone needs a Marie Carmen.

Do you know a Marie Carmen?

Has someone in Spain done you a good turn?

Say thank you by nominating them for Age in Spain’s Good Neighbour Award.

The winner will re ceive a formal letter of recognition from the UK Ambassador to Spain... and enjoy a celebration dinner for two. To nomi nate someone, click on www.ageinspain.org

Joint effort

Peter McLaren­Kennedy

A SPANISH and British ship building consortium has won a £1.6 billion contract to build three supply ves sels for the UK Navy.

Announced by Ben Wal lace the Minister of De fence on Wednesday, November 16, the con tract has special signifi cance given Brexit and the sensitivity of defence con tracts. Navantia’s British subsidiary will complete the work in partnership with Harland & Wolff and BMT, and is said to include the technology transfer of the latest in digital equip ment. The ships will be second only to the aircraft carriers in length measur ing some 216 metres each and will be built in the Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast (Northern Ire land) and those of Apple dore (west of the United Kingdom).

Key work will also be undertaken in the Navan tia shipyard in Puerto Real

in Cadiz, however the inte gration of the ships and their systems will take place entirely in Belfast.

The three ships, on which work will begin in 2025, will supply supplies and ammunition to Royal Navy ships deployed on missions.

Righting history

THE first lawsuit under the new Law of Histori cal Memory has been brought in Spain. The case announced on Wednesday, November 16 by a Spanish news outlet sees the National Police Station in Via Lai etana in Barcelona being sued for its involvement in Francoist crimes.

The new law is hoped will bring closure for many who suffered at the hands of Franco.

Franco remains a con troversial figure in Spain with his reign marked by brutal repression that

saw tens of thousands murdered.

But he is also credited with greatly improving the quality of life in Spain, the country hav ing fallen from grace and into poverty.

The dictator allowed social and economic re form, but remained in full control from the centre with a highly au thoritarianism and na tionalistic approach.

Many expect to see a flurry of cases that may help to bring some heal ing, but which also may open old wounds.

DESTROYER: Three new vessels are to be built for the UK Navy.

Credit Navantia website

Powerful protest

A HUGE protest in Madrid saw at least 200,000 people take to the streets to de mand improvements to the public healthcare system and defend it against pri vatisation.

The protest on Sunday November 13 was organ ised by health unions and workers, community groups and left­wing political par ties.

Protestors expressed their concerns at increasing privatisation of the public healthcare system and its restructuring by the regional government. Some medical professionals in the region are already on strike over the new model for health care, with 5,000 GPs expect ed to join them.

The restructuring of the public health system in

Madrid has been criticised for the heavy workload it gives doctors, and lack of patient­oriented care it gives.

Madrid’s regional rightwing government dismissed the protest calling it ‘a re sounding failure’, also accus ing left­wing political parties of taking advantage of fears about changes to the sys tem.

Train operator launches

THE red­coloured Iryo passenger trains belong ing to Spain’s third high­speed train network company will begin their commercial operation on Friday, November 25.

With an investment of €800 million made in this new enterprise, they join Renfe’s AVE and Ouigo convoys, along with the low­cost brand operator AVLO, in offering competitive rail trav el to passengers in Spain, according to a nation al news outlet.

Unlike AVLO and Ouigo, which took eight and 17 months, respectively, to reach their sec ond destination of Valencia, Iryo will do so al

most immediately on December 16. They then plan to continue inaugurating more connec tions throughout the country in 2023. Iryo plans to arrive in the Andalucian cities of Sevilla, Malaga, Antequera, and Cordoba, on March 31. Alicante is scheduled for June 2, 2023.

Spain’s newest train operator stressed that it comes with a proposal that is complementary to the current one: “of high quality, with com petitive prices, and with a sufficient number of frequencies, to try to be one of the favourite companies for both leisure and business trav ellers.”

Peter McLaren­Kennedy

BORIS JOHNSON has a new and very lucrative career according to a filing of MP additional income published on Friday, November 18.

The former prime minister has joined the speaking circuit with his first paid appearance netting him a cool £276,000. That’s more than £30,000 an hour for what was a

Top earner

little over a day’s work.

Johnson who is in the USA at present on a trip paid for by news mogul, Rupert Murdoch, gave a speech at an association of insur ance agents and brokers in Col orado Springs.

The visit paid for by Murdoch

cost around £11,600, the total val ue of which far exceeds a similar invitation by Theresa May, who was paid less than £100,000.

The excessive fee comes at a time when many people are strug gling to make ends meet, further highlighting the gap between those at the top end of the earn ing spectrum and those at the bot tom.

Off the menu

GORDON RAMSAY’S three­star Michelin restau rant in Chelsea, London, was occupied on, Saturday, November 19, by a group of climate change ac tivists. At around 6pm, members of Animal Rebel lion entered Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and sat at reserved tables and produced mock menus. Their aim was to highlight the environmental cost of dish es like veal and steak that were listed on the Hospi tal Road restaurant’s menu, as reported by a na tional news outlet.

“This restaurant is the perfect example of the in equality we face in the UK right now. Whilst Gordon Ramsay serves food costing a minimum of £155 per person, more than two million people are relying on food banks in this cost­of­living crisis,” said one of the activists, 39­year­old Lucia Alexander, in a state ment from the group.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinions and be liefs,” commented a restaurant spokesperson. “However, to force your way into a restaurant, dis turbing hard­working staff and ruining the evening of guests is incredibly inappropriate and deeply dis respectful.”

The police arrived on the scene, but no arrests were made.

A WARNING has been is sued to all British passen gers flying to Spain ahead of the Christmas getaway.

London Stansted air port has informed pas sengers that if anyone is deemed unfit to fly, they may be denied boarding.

In particular, this re lates to those who drink too much before or dur ing their flight ­ disrupting a flight is an offence that can lead to a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Additionally, those who delay a flight from taking off due to how much they have had to drink could be slapped with a £5,000 (€5,770) fine.

More serious offences include an £80,000 diver sion fee if you cause a

Fit to fly

mid­air incident, and an outright airline ban if you cause the flight to be can celled.

These warnings form part of the One Too Many campaign, which urges all

passengers to fly respon sibly or pay the price.

All passengers from any airport are urged to fol low the rules relating to alcohol consumption ­ not just from Stansted.

Unsettling event

POLICE in Northern Ireland are investigating the attempt ed murder of two officers in Strabane in County Tyrone.

The attack happened late on Thursday November 17, however, according to a po lice spokesperson neither of the officers were injured in an explosion that damaged their vehicle.

Local residents told a na tional news outlet on Friday,

November 18 that they heard a loud bang at around 11pm in the Mount Carmel Heights area.

According to a statement issued by the police they are treating the incident as an at tempted murder, with suspi cion falling on dissident re publicans.

The new IRA who have never given up their arms are known to have a small base of

support in the area.

Liam Kelly, Chair of the Po lice Federation for Northern Ireland said: “The terrorist goal was to cause heartache and misery and return North ern Ireland to the dark ages.

Dissident republicans re jected the peace process and the Good Friday agreement, continuing their attacks at the same time calling the Provi sional IRA ‘sell­outs’.

Blackmail plot Help yourself

A LONDON Guess store is on alert after the famed artist Banksy suggested on In stagram that people should shoplift there.

By Saturday, November 19 more than 1.3 million had liked his post with many commenting that the post is probably the most publicity the store will ever get.

Others suggested that maybe it is a ploy by the artist and the company to raise awareness of the brand, whilst other said they did not think he would stoop that low.

The situation arose after the Guess store used his image in their shop window with the tagline: ‘Guess x Brandalised with graffiti by Banksy’.

In response Banksy said that the com pany did not have his approval to use the image or his name.

The post said: “Attention all Shoplifters: Please go to Guess on Regent Street.

“They helped themselves to my art work without asking, how can it be wrong for you to do the same to their clothes?”

PAEDOPHILE millionaire Jeffrey Epstein planned to extort money from the Queen by blackmailing Prince Andrew, claimed Sarah Fer guson’s former lover John Bryan.

According to claims made by the American businessman and financier, John Bryan, the late Jeffrey Epstein had planned to use his relation ship with Prince Andrew to extort money from the Queen.

Bryan made his shocking claim during an ex clusive interview with a national newspaper which appeared on, Sunday, November 20.

“People always ask how Epstein made his mon ey. He was supposed to be this tax wizard. But it was all a con,” he told the publication.

“He blackmailed rich men and then made them pay to avoid scandal. He made hundreds of millions of dollars this way.”

He added: “I believe Andrew is innocent. If he genuinely was involved in ‘orgies’ as has been al leged, then Epstein would have used that to try and bribe the Queen into paying out millions to protect her family.”

Advertising Feature

NEW REGULATIONS

SPANISH DRIVING LICENCE: Now mandatory if you live in Spain permanently.

MANDATORY SPANISH DRIVING LI CENCE

New regulations governing the manda tory issue of Spanish driver’s licence for British citizens is an issue that’s causing concern for some of our English expatri ate customers.

Our Legal Assistance service will keep you fully updated on all the latest news and provide details on driving schools closest to your home, where you can pre pare for the exam in English, consult the registration fees and raise any questions you may have.

In this article we’ll explain the regula tions and procedures that you’ll have to follow, and the possible sanctions for non-compliance. If you need more infor mation or you’d like to speak to our Legal Assistance team, please call 919 180 022 and we’ll be happy to assist and advise you.

AUTOMATIC LICENCE EXPIRY AFTER APRIL 30, 2022

As of December 31, 2020, the UK ceased to belong to the Euro pean Union, and regula

tions that allowed driving in Spain, with a British driving licence, ceased to be appli cable.

UK issued driving licences were only au thorised to drive in Spain until April 30, 2022, and are now not valid. All existing agreements on highway regulations that protect the Member States of the Euro pean Union have ceased to be valid and applicable. However, those British drivers who do not have their main residence in Spain and travel for periods of less than six months (tourist type), may continue to drive in Spain, during that period, with their original permit.

ENGLISH FOR SPANISH LICENCE SWAP

Residents with a British driving licence, had until December 31, 2020 to swap and redeem theirs for a Spanish licence. Con sequently, they must now obtain a new Spanish driving licence from scratch, sub mitting to the requirements and tests es tablished in Spain for obtaining said li cence.

Call their English-speaking cus tomer service staff on 952 147 834 or get a competitive quote now at lineadirecta.com

Shutterstock.com/

HANDSOME

Made the list

LONELY PLANET has se lected only one UK city for its list of must­visit destinations in 2023.

The annual Best in Travel list features 30 destinations in five trav el categories that offer guidance to those bitten by the wanderlust bug.

According to the trav el expert, the list offers a “comprehensive set of itineraries to help you explore the world.”

For the first time, the list is ordered by trip type, which includes five categories ­ eat, journey, connect, learn, and un wind.

The list for 2023 offers up just one UK city in its ‘learn’ category ­ and it may or may not surprise you that it is Manch ester, lovingly called the Second City by locals due to its economic growth.

The only other UK destination ­ not a cityto make the list was southern Scotland.

Not on the cards UK has many faults

RISHI SUNAK said that a Swiss­style Brexit trade agreement is not on the cards in response to a ques tion from ITV’s Harry Hor ton.

countries to abide by certain rules, most of which are sup ported in the UK.

It also comes as the Con servative Party hits its low

est support levels in decades and polls showing that the majority of the population think leaving the EU was a mistake.

BRITISH expats have re vealed a list of surprising things they hate most about living in the UK.

Perhaps the most surpris ing outcome of the InterNa tions Expat Insider survey is that the UK’s famous lousy weather is not always the biggest bugbear.

According to UK Abroad, there are more than 5.5 mil lion British expats currently living outside of the United Kingdom.

The survey asked expats around the world to rank their homes based on a number of key factors.

The UK ranked particularly

badly when it came to hous ing and 60 per cent of expats thought Britain was unaf fordable, reports a national news outlet.

A further issue that Brits had with the UK is its Nation al Healthcare Service, with almost a quarter of expats telling the survey it was diffi cult to access the health ser vices they needed in the UK and were unhappy with the availability of healthcare.

Elsewhere, almost 20 per cent of expats said that they felt the UK population was unfriendly ­ although this is not far off the global aver age.

Speaking on Monday, November 21, Sunak gave his strongest response yet to the idea of a Swiss­style agreement that would give UK business better access to the EU.

He said: “On trade, let me be unequivocal about this. Under my leadership, the United Kingdom will not pursue any relationship with Europe that relies on align ment with EU laws.

“Now I voted for Brexit. I believe in Brexit and I know that Brexit can deliver, and is already delivering, enor mous benefits and opportu nities for the country.”

The statement is signifi cant in that it effectively rules out any beneficial deal for British business with its largest market. All the EU’s trade agreements require

Flight tragedy

A PASSENGER tragically passed away on Thurs day, November 17, while travelling on an easyJet flight from Cyprus to London Gatwick Airport. At tempts by cabin crew to resuscitate the man with a defibrillator sadly failed.

The flight departed from Paphos at 2.20pm lo cal time and at around 3.40 GMT concerns were raised when it appeared that a passenger, be lieved to be flying unaccompanied, in his 50s was not waking up.

As the aircraft was passing over Paris at around 4.28 GMT, a message from the pilot informed ev erybody of a ‘medical incident’ that had occurred. He asked for dignity to be shown towards the dead man. On arrival at Gatwick, paramedics boarded the plane and pronounced the man’s death.

A spokesperson from easyJet confirmed “Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the customer and we are offering support and assis tance at this difficult time.”

UK LIVING: What are the Brits not happy about?

Shutterstock.com/Melinda Nagy

Celebrity round up

AFTER two weeks in the jungle the contestants are just coming to terms with their new way of life, and as things settle down the evictions start with the viewers deciding who they want to stay in camp. Three celebrities have al ready been evicted with Loose Women presenter and journalist Charlene White the first to go. It came to light that secretly, the campmates were all terrified of being the first to leave. This was not be cause of the shame of go ing first, but due to the fact that nobody could stand the humiliation of leaving before Matt Han cock.

The public had voted Matt to do six consecutive trials as the show entered its second week. He was so successful though that eventually the viewers stopped choosing him.

The prize for the biggest failure so far must surely go to DJ Chris Moyles. He came out of the ‘Boiling Point’ trial with only one star, although he had col lected two but dropped one of them and lost it.

Mike and Jill totally smashed the show’s fa mous disgusting drinking challenge, collecting all the stars by downing ev erything that was served to them. Mike even said one of the mixtures tast

ed nice!

Sleeping in the comfort able beds inside the RV has caused a lot of headaches. Firstly, Char lene refused to share with Matt, claiming that a big spider had scared her. It was later revealed that she felt it went against her principles to sleep in the same space as the politi cian.

Sue and Mike were next to be given the luxury ac commodation. After one night, Sue could not stand Mike’s snoring and chose to sleep outside instead.

Television presenter Scarlette was the second celeb to be evicted from the jungle. She was fol

Local skill base

IMMIGRATION Minister

Robert Jenrick has told UK business that they should be training locals and not look ing to foreign talent to plug skills gaps.

Speaking at the Confeder ation of British Industry (CBI) on Monday, November 21, Jenrick said that there are more than five million un employed people in the UK and that businesses should be looking to provide them

with the skills rather than im porting people who already have them.

Tony Danker, the CBI Di rector General, had called on government to allow for businesses to attract the tal ent they need to grow their businesses, making refer ence to the more than one million vacancies currently advertised.

But Jenrick said the gov ernment did not agree with

the need to attract skills from abroad and that they are committed to reducing net migration and that busi ness needed to do more to build the local skills base.

In principal businesses agreed with the immigration minister, however many will say that either a lack of more fundamental skills and moti vation amongst the unem ployed make the task easier said than done.

lowed out on Monday, November 21, by Corona tion Street actress Sue. When Ant and Dec in formed her that she was leaving, she was delighted.

I’M A CELEBRITY: At the ‘Speak Uneasy Trial’.

Credit: ITV

• November 24, 10pm, Alex Tipping, Stray Sod Irish Bar, Centro Commercial La Fuente

• November 26, 9pm, duo act Vic and Chloe bring you songs we all know and love with a sprinkle of Moonshine acous tic sparkle, Grand Cafe Marin, Denia

• November 28, 10pm, Kenny Rodgers tribute, Peter Warke, The Pub, Benidorm

• November 28, 11:45pm, Kenny Rodgers tribute, Peter Warke, Tommy’s Bar

• December 1, 7pm - 1.30am, Stevie Spit, cabaret show, Benidorm Palace

• December 8, 1-4pm, Christmas Fayre, Stray Sod Irish Bar, Centro Commercial La Fuente

• December 14, 7pm Costa Blanca Male Voice Choir, Christmas Carol Concert, Benitachell Church Free entry - collection on exit

TKE your family out for a Christmassy Sunday.

Santa will be at the charming Raco del Pastor in Orba, Partida del Pas tor 2 (near Orba petrol station) on Sunday, De cember 11 for a day of Christmas family fun and entertainment.

Come along between 10am and 5pm and enjoy food stands, artisan craft stalls, gifts, and clothing.

DJ Darryl will provide the sounds and there will be toys and games, Santa’s Grotto, a Kids’ Corner,

Visit Santa

face painting to entertain your children.

Sing along to some Christmas carols and en joy a performance by an LED light dancer. There are some stall spaces still available.

While you are there, take advantage of the hot food and bar… en trance is €5 for adults (children are free) and in cludes a drink.

A CHRISTMAS CRACKER

THE Teulada Moraira Lions will be in the Church Square in Moraira on Sun day, December 11, to fill the air with Christmas songs and celebrations.

All the money the TM Lions raise goes to help those in need in the local area. The current initiative is to pur chase additional defibrillators, work ing with the town council to see where the gaps are in the current availability.

Access to a defibrillator when some

one suffers a heart attack can mean the difference between life and death, and when the town is busy with holi daymakers at peak times of the year, this can happen anywhere. Modern defibrillators are designed to be used by people who have no specific train ing.

The organisers would be delighted if you would show your support on the day. There is no need to book in ad vance, and everyone is welcome.

Visit Santa’s grotto.

Shutterstock.com/ Pressmaster

THE latest episode in a spate of attacks on famous art work by climate activists saw protestors throw an oily black liquid at a Gustav Klimt painting. Climate activists threw the black liquid over Klimt’s Death and Life paint ing at the Leopold Museum in Vienna on November 15.

After throwing the liquid on the painting, one activist glued himself to the glass covering the painting. Ac tivists were purportedly part of the Letzte Generation Österreich, Last Generation Austria group. The group is sued a statement via Twitter

Oily objection

Photo credit: Letzte Generation Österreich (via Twitter)

after the protest saying that they targeted the painting to raise awareness about the Austrian government’s use of fossil fuels.

The painting was not damaged due to the glass covering the frame, but members of the art commu nity were outraged by the action.

Austrian Minister for Cul ture expressed concern for the planet, but criticised the form of protest saying, “From my point of view, ac cepting the risk of irrevoca ble damage to works of art is the wrong way to go.”

Anger in Albania

PROTESTORS in Albania clashed with police during demonstrations on Saturday November 12. Demonstrators protested peacefully for around three hours before breaking a police cordon and throwing paint.

Protestors demanded an end to corruption and increasing poverty in the country. They gathered outside Prime Minister, Edi Rama’s office in the country’s capital of Tirana to make their demands. As the protests became heated, one arrest was made by police on the scene.

Other peaceful protestors held a vigil for two men that reportedly died while in police cus tody earlier this year. Outrage has been sparked in the country due to the spiralling in flation rate which has seen an 8 per cent price rise in essential products this year alone. The war in Ukraine has been blamed for the price hike, while the government has been ac cused of mismanagement and corruption. Young people are also increasingly leaving the country for better chances.

Generous gift

Betty Henderson

A PIONEERING plan an nounced by the Ger man government will offer Germans turning 18 a ‘cultural pass’ to stimulate the country’s arts industry. Young people will be encour aged to visit cultural at tractions using a €200 voucher.

The scheme which was announced on Monday November 14 is set to provide much needed support for the arts industry which suf fered during the pan demic. A total of 750,000 young people will turn 18 during 2023, so the scheme could bring droves of people back to the theatre, gal leries, concerts, and oth er cultural attractions.

Announcing the scheme, German Minis ter for Culture, Claudia Roth, described the pass as “equivalent of a birthday present.”

The country’s minis ter for Finance, Christian Lindner, explained that the pass can be used at any point during a twoyear window. In addi tion to live arts, the voucher can be used to purchase books and music. The scheme also aims to stimulate local business so vouchers exclude sales on Ama zon and Spotify.

ANOTHER ATTACK: Climate protestors threw an oily liquid at Klimt’s Death and Life painting at the Leopold Museum in Austria.

INTERVIEW with aspiring comedian Lucy Amans who arrived on the Costa del Sol just six years ago.

Having decided that she needed a fresh start, Lucy was persuaded by a friend to spend Christmas and the New Year on the Costa del Sol and literally within a matter of days, she found herself a job in Gibraltar and a place to live.

She is still in the same job but has lived in a number of different towns along the coast be fore finally settling on Es tepona.

Lucy said “Whilst I en joy working in Gibraltar, I don’t think I want to live

Raising a laugh

course to help people be come stand­up comedi ans.

“The comedy course with Nik was absolutely fantastic. In just two days I went from a quivering anxious on­stage mess to a confident new stand­up at the final showcase. Some people even laughed!

panded to take in differ ent parts of the Costa del Sol and are holding shows every three months at three or four Spanish venues as well as Gibraltar.

There seems to be a re al hunger for British com edy in Gibraltar as apart from their regular shows, the Rock has welcomed Alan Carr, Jimmy Carr, Russell Kane and Sara Millican and Lucy went to all four shows not only to have a laugh, but to study the comedian’s dif ferent techniques.

there as it is a bit confin ing and I just love living in Spain and enjoying the way of life.”

When asked what made her decide that she wanted to become a co median, Lucy explained that she had always been a bit of a joker at school and made people laugh, but had some problems with self­confidence so never saw herself getting up in front of an audi ence.

That all changed how ever when she attended a one­off comedy event in Torremolinos before the pandemic and started chatting to British come dian Nik Coppin who was also running a special

“Nik and I became great friends and I sug gested to him that there was a definite hunger for regular English comedy here on the coast and if he could organise the co medians, I would find venues and cover front of house.”

Their first event took place at the Louie Louie club in Estepona and was a sell out which encour aged them to keep going and they ran a total of four shows in 2019 be fore the pandemic brought everything to a halt.

Not daunted however as soon as it was consid ered safe and comedians could travel over from the UK, it was ‘game on’ again and Lucy even joined in for number of shows.

By now they have ex

As she has become more confident, she has travelled back to the UK to take part in stand­up shows and plans to take part in the Brighton and Edinburgh fringe next year.

“My comedy is based on my life, it’s rather selfdeprecating but not in a sad way and so far, it has been well­received and because the audience at the shows tend to return regularly, I’ve not had to cope with any heckling, although I have a few put downs ready just in case.”

Although Lucy won’t be performing in the Decem ber shows, she will be there on the door ready to meet and greet so visit https://www.facebook.c om/standupcomedy spain / for details of the forthcoming shows.

Lucy Amans on stage at Louie Louie Estepona.

Credit: Lucy Amans

Sad news

MEHRAN KARIMI

NASSERI , the inspiration behind iconic 2004 Spiel berg film ‘The Terminal’ has passed away at Charles de Gaulle airport. The Iranian man who claimed to be British, died of a heart attack in the airport on Saturday November 12 after previ ously living there for 18 years.

Nasseri was stranded there from 1988 until 2006 due to residency is sues. After spending time in a homeless shelter, he

recently returned to the airport, where he died.

Nasseri lived a fasci nating life, born to a doc tor father who worked at the Anglo­Iranian Oil Company in the Iranian province of Khuzestan. Upon his father’s death, Nasseri was informed that his real mother was Scottish.

He travelled to Britain where he studied a de gree at the University of Bradford, participating in a protest against the Shah, causing his Iranian

citizenship to be re voked.

After throwing away his citizenship papers, he

Airspace support

AN agreement was reached on Monday, November 21, that the German Air Force would provide Eurofighter jets to patrol Polish airspace. The deal was announced by Christine Lambrecht, the head of the German De fence Ministry, on its official Twitter profile.

She pointed out that Poland is a friend and ally, and, as a neighbour of Ukraine: “is not particularly protected. Together with my Polish colleague Mariusz Blaszczak, we agreed to send Patriot missile systems to Poland and support the defence of the Polish

airspace with Eurofighter fighters.”

On Tuesday November 15, two rockets fell on the Polish village of Przewodow in the Lublin Voivodeship, as a result of which, two peo ple were killed.

Kiev immediately blamed Russia for what happened, although it subsequently came to light that the mis siles that fell on Polish soil were in fact fired at incom ing Russian missiles by the Ukrainian defence forces.

The incident was allegedly written off as an ‘accident’ by the US and its western al lies.

became stuck in limbo at the Parisian airport until 2006. His plight inspired a multitude of artwork.

Iranian Mehran Karimi Nasseri who inspired hit film ‘The Terminal’ starring Tom Hanks died at a Paris airport.

Photo credit: Tom Hanks (via Instagram)

Caught after 20 years

A PROLIFIC mafia member was arrested at a Rome air port on Tuesday November 15 after almost 20 years on the run. Bruno Carbone was arrested by Europol forces at Rome Ciampino Airport on charges of international drug trafficking.

The exact details of the ar rest remain unclear with con flicting reports from the Unit ed Arab Emirates and Syria claiming to have deported the mafia man.

The 45­year­old has been evading police for nearly two decades for his crimes as the right­hand man of Raffaele Imperiale, a drug lord from

the Naples mafia group, the Camorra. Carbone was want ed by officials in Sicily for a 20year prison sentence for inter national drug trafficking.

Reports from Europol state that Carbone was a crucial point of contact in distributing vast quantities of cocaine throughout Europe, as well as importing drugs from Colom bia and the Netherlands. Po lice have also issued warrants for 28 more members of the Camorra.

First female president

A RECORD­BREAKING re sult in Slovenia as the coun try elected its first ever fe male President. After taking to the polls on Sun day November 13 in a runoff vote, Liberal candidate, Natasa Pirc Musar beat her conservative opponent, Anze Logar by 54 points to 46.

Speaking after the elec

tion win, Pirc Musar ex pressed her priorities saying “My first task will be to open a dialogue among all Slovenians.” Pirc Musar hopes to find middle ground in the country which has a deep left­right divide.

Pirc Musar added “All my life I’ve advocated the same values: democracy, human rights, tolerance.

It’s time to stop dealing with the past. Many things have to be done in the fu ture.”

The 54­year­old is an ac claimed lawyer who has worked on high profile cas es including representing Melania Trump. She will be Slovenia’s first female Pres ident since it became inde pendent from Yugoslavia.

A joint force from Europol arrested an Italian drug lord who was on the run for 20 years.

Photo credit: DCStockPhotography / shutterstock.com

PRESS EUROPEAN

DENMARK

World Cup

EVEN though Denmark is taking part in the World Cup Finals in Qatar, there will be no official Danish presence as the politicians are still trying to form a government and the Royal Family has decided to watch the matches at home.

THE NETHERLANDS

Not funny

LAUGHING GAS (Nitrous Oxide) has become the high of choice of young Dutch partygoers, but it will become much more difficult to obtain from the start of 2023 as possession, trade and production of the drug (except for medical reasons) will become illegal.

BELGIUM

Robot treatment

STUDENTS at the Vrije Universiteit in Brussels have designed a prototype robot to help treat patients who need physiotherapy. With a shortage of technicians and a tireless robot that can adjust to patients’ needs, this could be a major breakthrough in recovery treatment.

GERMANY

Gassed up

THE European gas storage association GIE said that natural gas storage facilities in Germany have reached full capacity as the country has been building its reserves in order to ensure that there is sufficient to see it through the winter after Russia cut deliveries.

FRANCE

Bullfighting ban

SPAIN is not the only European country that allows fatal bullfighting and on Thursday November 24, French MPs will for the first time consider a total ban on bullfighting, although followers and young matadors in the south are campaigning against any ban.

NORWAY

Rainy days

HEAVY rain is heralding good news for Norwegian consumers and business as reservoirs are filling up much more quickly than expected and as the bulk of Norway’s electricity comes from hydro-electric plants, prices this winter are likely to be much lower than expected.

FINLAND

No entry

A GERMAN man riding a bicycle and without a passport or visa was stopped trying to cycle into Russia by Finnish border officials, but he was so determined that he jettisoned his bike and tried to walk though a forest before being caught and arrested.

IRELAND

Trade deal

THE much-heralded trade deal between the European Union and Canada may not be ratified as the Republic’s Supreme Court has ruled in support of Green Party politician Patrick Costello that it breaches the Irish constitution, although there may be a loophole to allow it.

ITALY

Tree saved

A 200-YEAR-OLD tree which was due to be sent to the Vatican for Christmas had a reprieve as no environmental impact study had been carried out and it wasn’t actually situated within the boundary of the council that wanted to chop it down.

PORTUGAL

Cheap gas

WITH Spain about to cut the cost of bottled gas, there will be even more reason for Portuguese residents who live near the border to cross over to buy their gas, which is currently approximately half the price of that charged in Portugal.

UKRAINE

Banksy surprise

SECRETATIVE Street Artist Banksy who is believed to originate from Bristol has not only never revealed his identity, and rarely admits to where he is working, has now admitted that seven murals in Ukraine are his work with one possibly showing Putin.

SWEDEN

Grammy awards

THE decision by Sweden’s most successful pop group ABBA to reform and release a set of songs, 40 years after their last studio album, has not only topped up their bank balances, but has seen them nominated for three Grammy Awards including Best Single and Album.

Zara strike FINANCE

BUSINESS EXTRA

Exchange approved

EVEN though there has been something of a hiatus in the val ue and trading in cryptocurren cy recently, Bitstamp, a Luxem bourg­based cryptocurrency exchange, has gained a virtual asset service provider registra tion in Spain and can now offer crypto­to­fiat and electronic wallet custody services here.

Great value

TRAVEL website Omio has ranked the hundred best desti nations in Europe for travellers on a budget based on number of free attractions, affordability of local transport, food and drink prices, free WiFi and even water fountains. The city of Granada with its large student population was Spain’s winner.

Excise duty

CAR manufacturers were disap pointed with the announce ment that with effect from 2025, British drivers who pur chase electric vehicles will have to pay vehicle excise duty which they believe will discourage drivers to go electric, even though the government wants to phase out petrol and diesel.

Football benefit

THE Spanish economy could re ceive a massive boost if the na tional football team does well at the World Cup Finals in Qatar. Reports suggest that many Spaniards, male and fe male, who support the team enjoy doing this in company, so bars and restaurants will bene fit.

Retail sales

ACCORDING to the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes in the UK are estimat ed to have risen by 0.6 per cent in October 2022 following a fall of 1.5 per cent in September, but are still lower than both last year and 2019 pre pandemic.

STAT OF WEEK £1.8 billion

In sports money talks

THE British government recog nises in sports money talks and is therefore taking action to try to protect fans’ access to the biggest global attractions.

As technology expands, so it is having to review its policy con cerning free­to­air ‘listed events’ rules as they affect public ser vice broadcasters (PSBs), includ ing the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

They are currently protected as far as broadcast TV is con cerned, so that viewers may have access to the biggest sport ing events which include 13 dif ferent tournaments including Football, Olympics, Paralympics, Horse Racing, Wimbledon and Rugby.

As more people tune in via catch­up and streaming services to watch sport, the review will assess whether including digital rights can ensure as many peo ple as possible can continue to access events.

Currently if, for example, the Olympic 100m final was broad cast live in the middle of the

night on the BBC, but all stream ing and catch­up rights were sold to a different broadcaster and kept behind a paywall, a wide audience may not be able to watch this important event.

Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said: “As we saw during the Women’s Euros and with the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, we know that enjoying blockbuster sporting events together means

so much to many people.

“Everyone should be able to watch these incredible moments of national unity, no matter how they choose to tune in.

“As viewing habits shift on line, it is right that we review our rules and consider whether updates are needed to ensure our brilliant public service broadcasters can continue to bring major events to the public at no extra cost.”

South Korea charm offensive

SPANISH President Pe dro Sánchez held a sec ond meeting this year with Samsung execu tives, this time during his official visit to South Ko rea on Thursday Novem ber 17.

This follows a meeting held in Madrid on August 31 as Sánchez wants help to grow the new tech in dustry in Spain, whilst Samsung has not only the technology, but looks to receive a sizeable chunk of the European Recov ery Funds allocated to technology.

After visiting the facto ry in Pyeongtaek with Minister for Industry and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, he held a meeting with

Samsung executives be fore getting ready for an other meeting the fol lowing day, this time with the CEO of the com pany, Lee Jae­Yong.

During the meeting, Sánchez highlighted the government’s “ambitious strategy” to turn Spain into a relevant player in

the semiconductor value chain through: a wide range of incentives and aid, attractive financing mechanisms, an ecosys tem in rapid growth, and the ability to attract tal ent and highly qualified personnel.

He dangled the carrot that Spain is going to al

locate €12 billion which includes €9 billion of pub lic money for manufac turing facilities and re minded his hosts that some large companies such as Cisco have al ready announced their investment plans in Spain, with new chip de sign centres.

Later during his first day in South Korea he paid a visit to the facili ties of the future Cer vantes Institute in Seoul, which is intended to facil itate closer links between the two countries and closed the 14th meeting of the Spain­Korea Tri bune, an event organised by Casa Asia and the Ko rea Foundation.

FOR years Spain’s international fashion giant Inditex appears to have had good industrial relations with its employees, but this is likely to change, with one union calling for a Black Friday strike.

There are actually three unions in negotiations over pay and all want to see shop workers gain substantial increases in order to bring them on par with those working in Inditex’s offices and dis tribution centres.

On November 17, the unions confirmed no agreement had been reached, and the smallest, the CIG which represents the 1,000 shop assistants who work in A Coruna is calling for the Black Friday strike.

No Deliveroo

THE sudden closure of Deliveroo in Australia saw around 120 staff and 15,000 riders out of work and an estimated 12,000 restaurants unable to make deliveries.

Although one of the reasons for closure was due to new federal laws concerning the rights of workers, many fear that the cur rent financial crisis worldwide will see other food and grocery deliv ery companies closing down in Europe.

In addition, as competition re duces, so global organisations such as Uber Eats may be tempt ed to up their prices which will in turn have a financial impact upon restaurants and consumers.

Prison dragons

SEVERAL local entrepreneurs and ex­offenders with their own busi nesses stood in as ‘Dragons’ at HMP Thorn Cross, in Cheshire where prisoners were invited to pitch for start ­up funding once re leased.

Proposals that were put before the attendees included a graphic design consultancy and personal fitness business and the en trepreneurs chose which business should receive the first prize of £400, with runners up receiving £300.

The money will be transferred to the prisoners by Entrepreneurs Unlocked, an organisation that is dedicated to help prisoners to stay on the straight and narrow following release.

is the amount that 27 million households in the UK shared in October in the first month of the government’s reduction of energy bills.

Credit: Andrew Parsons No 10 Downing Street flickr

WATCHING SPORT: The thrill of international football.

Credit: Pedro Sánchez Twitter

NEW TECH: A less than informal meeting with Samsung.

3I Group 1.308,50 1.313,00 1.299,50 117,96K

Abrdn 204,20 204,50 201,20 1,46M

Admiral Group 2.059,0 2.077,0 2.055,0 97,17K

Anglo American 3.124,5 3.132,0 3.078,0 338,15K

Antofagasta 1.306,00 1.309,50 1.288,50 134,58K

Ashtead Group 4.969,0 5.004,0 4.930,0 64,75K

Associated British Foods 1.500,0 1.525,0 1.495,5 29,14K

AstraZeneca 11.038,0 11.078,0 10.938,0 204,65K

Auto Trader Group Plc 564,80 566,60 560,20 303,43K

Aveva 3.167,0 3.169,0 3.162,0 628,62K

Aviva 454,80 455,10 452,40 883,79K

B&M European Value Retail SA403,60 411,30 400,80 531,73K

BAE Systems 783,94 785,60 771,40 743,71K

Barclays 158,40 158,46 157,32 3,40M

Barratt Developments 400,10 401,90 395,90 535,54K

Berkeley 3.751,0 3.751,0 3.692,0 17,64K

BHP Group Ltd 2.418,50 2.435,00 2.395,50 259,71K

BP 469,95 477,60 468,85 8,07M

British American Tobacco 3.342,0 3.343,5 3.296,0 185,42K

British Land Company 412,80 412,90 405,20 406,46K

BT Group 122,91 123,20 120,70 1,38M

Bunzl 3.045,0 3.048,0 3.007,0 182,45K

Burberry Group 2.099,0 2.113,0 2.075,0 48,46K

Carnival 700,8 711,6 697,6 132,46K

Centrica 94,20 94,52 93,12 2,12M

Coca Cola HBC AG 1.990,0 1.990,0 1.974,0 37,99K

Compass 1.824,00 1.831,00 1.769,00 546,35K

CRH 3.302,0 3.325,5 3.283,0 57,08K

Croda Intl 6.810,0 6.916,0 6.768,0 32,07K

DCC 4.315,0 4.339,0 4.299,0 16,29K

Diageo 3.690,5 3.692,0 3.669,5 267,00K

DS Smith 303,40 307,70 301,70 583,99K

EasyJet 375,20 385,30 371,40 871,22K

Experian 2.880,0 2.890,2 2.859,0 17,97K

Ferguson 9.684,0 9.794,0 9.630,0 85,02K

Flutter Entertainment 11.450,0 11.535,0 11.350,0 0,56K

Fresnillo 867,80 871,00 857,20 113,90K

Glencore 499,95 500,40 491,80 7,52M

GSK plc 1.386,40 1.387,20 1.368,60 668,75K

Halma 2.185,0 2.207,0 2.162,0 114,33K

Hargreaves Lansdown 826,80 837,80 814,60 234,69K

Hikma Pharma 1.428,00 1.438,00 1.427,00 4,07K

HSBC 485,40 485,55 478,10 2,65M

IAG 129,62 130,84 129,22 3,02M

Imperial Brands 2.149,50 2.151,00 2.116,00 271,53K

Informa 593,60 595,40 591,40 264,15K

InterContinental 4.763,0 4.787,0 4.685,0 65,36K

Intermediate Capital 1.191,00 1.206,00 1.177,00 225,58K

Intertek 3.894,0 3.911,0 3.863,0 28,97K

ITV 73,80 74,40 73,10 1,31M

J Sainsbury 215,80 217,10 215,10 507,49K

Johnson Matthey 2.001,0 2.052,0 1.996,5 32,23K

Land Securities 630,40 631,60 619,60 173,05K

Legal & General 260,80 261,30 258,50 1,91M

Lloyds Banking 45,66 45,81 45,32 17,72M

London Stock Exchange 8.056,0 8.108,0 8.048,0 43,29K

Melrose Industries 127,00 130,40 127,40 187,72K

Mondi 1.554,50 1.568,50 1.541,50 101,03K

National Grid 1.025,00 1.030,00 1.015,00 558,97K

NatWest Group 258,40 259,40 257,50 1,38M

Next 5.654,0 5.676,0 5.622,0 41,45K

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

Ocado 623,78 671,40 620,20 555,74K

Persimmon 1.295,5 1.306,5 1.283,0 184,13K

Phoenix 598,20 598,40 590,40 250,13K

Prudential 957,60 967,00 947,80 674,60K

Reckitt Benckiser 5.846,7 5.852,5 5.824,9 17,29K

Relx 2.309,82 2.310,00 2.272,00 421,16K

Rentokil 538,40 538,80 531,40 338,50K

Rightmove 539,20 543,20 534,60 369,60K

Rio Tinto PLC 5.319,0 5.328,0 5.263,0 342,12K

Rolls-Royce Holdings 84,39 85,90 83,45 5,17M

Sage 808,20 809,00 796,80 345,62K

Samsung Electronics DRC 1.120,50 1.128,00 1.115,00 2,73K

Schroders 458,9 462,0 455,3 293,22K

Scottish Mortgage 782,18 792,20 782,40 439,68K

Segro 831,40 835,80 822,80 378,96K

Severn Trent 2.738,0 2.756,0 2.721,0 85,04K

Shell 2.328,0 2.351,0 2.310,5 1,43M

Smith & Nephew 1.065,50 1.067,50 1.061,00 139,61K

Smiths Group 1.584,50 1.584,50 1.567,50 196,32K

Spirax-Sarco Engineering 11.315,0 11.400,0 11.165,0 14,10K SSE 1.691,50 1.717,24 1.681,50 45,22K

St. James’s Place 1.180,50 1.186,00 1.169,50 76,71K

Standard Chartered 583,00 584,40 577,60 511,42K

Taylor Wimpey 103,55 104,05 102,40 2,77M

Tesco 230,60 231,60 229,70 1,27M

Tui 139,25 142,50 138,00 941,88K

Unilever 4.085,0 4.085,0 4.034,0 362,18K

United Utilities 1.030,50 1.035,00 1.014,00 167,56K

Vodafone Group PLC 97,43 97,98 96,88 12,47M

Whitbread 2.514,0 2.524,0 2.483,0 48,35K WPP 864,60 868,40 861,60 627,10K

3M 126,76 128,34 3,15M

American Express 152,50 153,76 150,94 2,63M

Amgen 287,29 288,73 284,43 2,37M

Apple 151,29 152,70 149,97 74,33M

Boeing 173,89 175,19 171,53 4,68M

Caterpillar 231,43 231,84 227,63 2,80M

Chevron 182,99 183,41 179,65 7,64M

Cisco 47,79 48,04 46,86 30,76M

Coca-Cola 61,14 61,37 60,80 10,38M

Dow 50,07 50,52 49,36 3,75M

Goldman Sachs 379,20 382,83 377,39 2,37M

Home Depot 313,18 316,00 310,26 3,55M

Honeywell 214,53 217,35 213,16 2,97M

IBM 147,64 148,31 145,94 4,66M

Intel 29,87 30,26 29,61 26,84M

J&J 176,20 176,64 174,62 6,47M

JPMorgan 133,84 134,67 132,28 9,42M

McDonald’s 273,37 275,10 272,12 2,69M

Merck&Co 104,23 104,60 102,63 11,55M

Microsoft 241,22 243,74 239,03 27,49M

Nike 105,42 107,72 104,17 5,37M

Procter&Gamble 142,57 142,76 141,27 5,63M

Salesforce Inc 148,04 152,32 145,65 7,50M

The Travelers 184,56 185,87 183,24 1,47M

UnitedHealth 530,00 532,99 519,46 3,52M

Verizon 38,55 38,77 38,29 17,55M

Visa A 210,80 214,17 209,74 5,52M

Walgreens Boots 39,75 40,95 39,26 6,94M

Walmart 150,23 150,24 148,77 6,30M

Walt Disney 91,80 93,16 90,91 9,82M

Most Advanced

Most Declined

Farfetch Limited -11.27% 31.601M

Vertex, Inc. -10.12% 902,388

BellRing Brands, Inc. -9.55% 2.866M

Weibo Corporation -9.43% 934,625

360 DigiTech, Inc. -8.74% 1.224M

Trupanion, Inc. -8.41% 818,062

GDS Holdings Limited -8.19% 1.558M

Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. -7.85% 15.283M

Tencent Holdings Limited -7.46% 4.215M

BUSINESS EXTRA

Recovery Fund

THE Spanish government has formally requested the third tranche of the Recov ery and Resilience Fund to talling €6 billion from the European Union thanks, it says, to the fact that it has fulfilled 23 milestones and six objectives set by the EU earlier this year.

Arena saved

FOLLOWING the collapse of the WASPS Rugby Union Club which moved to Coventry in 2014, the via bility of the Coventry Build ing Society Arena which is also home to Coventry City Football Club came into question, but it has now been purchased by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group.

Bulgaria beckons

SOME 80 Spanish compa nies have created bases in Bulgaria, investing €800 million and employing 3,000 staff according to Economy and Industry Minister Nikola Stoyanov, who chaired a special breakfast meeting and briefing for Spanish fi nanciers in Bulgarian capi tal Sofia on November 17.

No Saturday delivery

HAVING recorded a £219 million operating loss in the first six months of 2022, the Royal Mail which created the concept of the penny post with almost same day delivery, now wants to save money by stopping Saturday postal deliveries. It still intends to deliver parcels six days a week, but has to obtain government permission to change its delivery sched ules. With strikes on the horizon and likely opposi tion to the change from publishers who aim to have many of their maga zine subscriptions arriving on a Saturday, the priva tised Royal Mail may find losses increasing.

UK autumn statement

JEREMY HUNT is going to hit the British public in the pocket as he announced his cuts and increases in tax for many, on Thursday November 17.

As first glance, it doesn’t seem to be quite as drastic as first anticipated and for pension ers the good news is that the triple lock will remain in place for next year, meaning that state pensions will rise by 10.1 per cent in April 2023.

He admitted that the UK has entered into recession and vows that his actions will help to make this as short and painless as possible, although many will still find themselves hit where it hurts most, in their pockets.

He announced a freeze on income tax thresholds, meaning millions of people will pay more in tax as their wages rise and Labour declared this a stealth tax as it doesn’t hurt immediately, but will affect tax payers in the coming years.

Unlike the previous, short­lived Chancellor, he is not going to protect the general public completely from rises in energy bills although there will still be some support, but expect to pay an additional £500 per year from April.

Highest earners who had earlier this year expected the 45 per cent top rate of tax to be scrapped, will not only have pay it, but at a new threshold of £125,140 rather than £150,000, although bankers will be able to benefit from big bonusses.

Benefits and tax credits will stay in line with inflation at 10.1 per cent and there will

be extra payments of £900 for those on means­tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and £150 for those on disability benefits.

The windfall tax on the big energy compa nies will increase from 25 to 35 per cent, al though it seems likely that if they plough their profits back in to new energy or new ex ploration, they will be able to avoid some or all of that tax.

Generally speaking, the majority of budgets previously agreed with government depart ments will remain, but as inflation will dra matically increase their costs, there is effec tively a reduction in the value of the budgets and in the case of overseas aid, this will re

Raising prices

TELEFONICA has announced that it will increase Movistar prices with effect from Jan uary 1 following an earlier announcement by Avatel and Vodafone.

There will be no change in the special offer rates that consumers may have been signed up for until the agreed period ends, nor will there be an increase on O2 tariffs.

Basically, it is using the op portunity allowed to in crease prices due to the cost­of­living crisis which has meant that overall operat ing costs have risen sharply, so its action are not in breach of any Spanish regu lations.

Indeed, it argues that the average price increase of 6.8 per cent is less than the cur rent inflation rate and de spite the fact that clients will not be receiving any addi

tional benefits on services to offset the cost, the company insists that it offers good val ue for money.

Each package will poten tially see a different rise, with some as low as 5.6 per cent and some will be much higher than the average, so the company has undertak en to contact each customer over the coming weeks to outline the new charges.

Many customers of the

two largest internet and mo bile telephony suppliers be lieve that a price rise would be much more acceptable if the companies involved of fered a better service and as communications companies made it easier, especially for expats, to communicate.

As technology takes great leaps and bounds forwards, these giant organisations still seem unable to cut through their endemic bureaucracy.

main reduced until such time as the country can afford to pay more.

One area that he continues to support, (against the wishes of some members of the Tory Party) is the HS2 high speed rail project which has already cost £100 billion and con tinues to be a drain on the country’s re sources with an estimated £7 billion a year until the end of the decade being spent on it.

Following his statement, the Office for Bud get Responsibility (OBR) (which had been ig nored under the Truss administration) re leased its latest forecasts for the UK economy and government spending.

It believes that continued soaring prices will reduce consumer’s disposable income and taking into account inflation it will be the most significant drop since official records be gan.

In summary, the OBR expects hard times ahead, suggesting that GDP will continue to shrink by around 1.4 per cent next year which will see the national debt climbing by an un expected £400 billion boosted by the need to support up to 500,000 newly unemployed.

Things are expected to get worse before they get better with increased reduction in GDP in 2024 and 2025.

Only time will tell how effective the Chancel lor’s plans may be, but all could change dra matically if the Russian invasion of Ukraine ei ther intensifies and brings in NATO or if an acceptable settlement is found which helps to bring down energy and basic food prices.

Clucked off

CAUSED in part by Avian Flu and also because some farmers are finding it too expensive to continue, there appears to be a short age of fresh eggs in the UK.

Already Asda and Lidl are said to be rationing the number of boxes of eggs customers can buy and Sainsbury’s which normal ly only sells British eggs has confirmed that it is currently import ing some from Italy and they are labelled as such.

Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told the BBC that some supply chains get eggs from particular farmers, “But across the country we still have nearly 40 million roosting hens. As a consequence, I’m not concerned about the overall supply.”

Buyoyant tourism

THE

Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, said on Thursday November 17 “this data is very positive, since one in three new jobs in October was generated in the tourism sector, which demonstrates the decisive contribution of this in dustry to the recovery of the economy and employment in our country.”

In addition, there are 22,441 more foreign workers than the previous month, bringing the increase in this group across all industries to 155,445 and the total to 2,462,109.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt leaves for Parliament.

Credit: HM Treasury flickr

Spanish tourism sector closed October with 2,543,749 workers registered with the government which was the best month ever and almost 110,000 more than in October 2019 before the pandemic caused lockdowns.

NEW CHARGES: Supporting sport at customer cost.

Credit: Movistar Spain Twitter

OTHERS THINK IT

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT On the edge

SOMETIMES I think I’ve lost track of the plot. (I can hear a number of readers chortling with glee!) Most of you will know only too well what my opinions are regarding the face less committee of individuals who in my opinion run the planet from their secret domains of power.

What I actually fail to understand is why they are allowing a minority in the UK to run slipshod over the public arena under allegations that they are not given the same impor tance as the majority, a ridiculous summation.

All the power happy leaders re quire, is to keep the citizens perma nently worried and on edge. This of course maintains them rushing about and fearful as to their actual survival, which categorically holds them under control.

I have always actually maintained the Saudis are very highly placed in the world hierarchy scheme of things.

The eight years I spent there was certainly an eye opener in my opin ions as to who actually runs world

affairs. One rumour that abounded was that when slavery was out lawed in 1962 they built a large town in the middle of the desert to accommodate the relinquished slaves. A few years later they bombed it out of existence; prob lem solved.

Could never prove it of course, but I was very friendly with a Saudi pilot who enjoyed a drink!

I was also proven exactly correct when I wrote that the murder of Ja mal Khashoggi in Turkey’s Saudi embassy would result in so­called perpetrators standing private trial and disappearing into a mid­east haze; which is precisely what oc curred.

It was publically announced that five were sentenced to death (later pardoned of course) the Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, professed to know nothing about it (ha).

All the so­called perps were im prisoned and, when all the scandal died down, were secretly released and now live lives of luxury with

the promised millions they subse quently discovered in their bank ac counts.

And that my friends is how our world is governed today.

Those who have more money than they ever dreamed of have won that race. The only success left for them to achieve is power and the faceless mob knows exactly how to attain it.

If anyone gets too close, assassi nation awaits, even if it doesn’t look like it. Dr Kelly, Stephen Ward are cases in point.

Even I occasionaly glance over my shoulder!

Keep the Faith. Love bLeapy. Leapylee2002@gmail.com. Expatradioscotland.com Mon Fri. 1pm till 4.

NOT SO BEAUTIFUL OUR VIEW

ALTHOUGH football is probably the most popular sport in the world, not everyone will be glued to the TV over the next few weeks as the World Cup Finals unfold in Qatar.

What used to be referred to as the ‘beautiful game’ has be come tarnished over the past couple of decades with money gushing into the sport and top officials accused of either giv ing or taking bribes.

Rather than alternate between Europe and South America as was the case in the past, it makes sense to ensure that the finals do take place in different parts of the world and the suc cess of South Africa as well as Japan and South Korea speak for themselves.

There is a real interest in football in the Middle East as well as huge amounts of money from there sunk into clubs around Europe, but the decision to choose Qatar for this year’s finals is questionable. It is already clear that the country just can’t cope physically or emotionally with the World Cup and is already breaking its agreements with, for example, the decision to ban sponsor Budweiser from selling beer at matches. Accommodation for fans in overpriced, noisy con tainers is also not helping to highlight the positive aspect of attending the matches.

Whilst figures such as David Beckham and Robbie Williams are criticised for taking Qatari money, it should be noted that organisations such as the BBC and Sky have no obvious com punction about sending teams of commentators there and broadcasting the matches.

Hopefully England, Spain and Wales do well as the hospi tality industry in particular will benefit from showing their team’s matches.

Run rabbit run rabbit

LINDA HALL

I CAN’T eat rabbit, and not only because we once had a rabbit called Harry whose full name was Harry Houdini because he was an escape artist.

As it happens, Harry, whom we loved dearly, turned out to be Harriet. But Harry or Harriet ­ he or she ­ is only one of the reasons I don’t eat rabbit.

The other is that it doesn’t taste of much.

My grandmother made us in credible rabbit stew that tasted of a lot of things and since the Spanish ate, and still eat, a lot of rabbit I was looking forward to ‘conejo con tomate frito’.

It arrived, heavy with fried tomato sauce and industrial quantities of garlic, plus half a severed head, still with its poor little buckteeth. After that intro duction, rabbit was usually off the menu and once we had Harry, eating it was unthinkable.

To tell the truth Harry eventual

ly caused us a great deal of trou ble because we lived in an apart ment at the time.

He (we still believed she was a he) had the run of the terrace but soon became bored and started to shimmy under the partition to go next door and eat Maria Luisa’s plants. She was a good friend, but over the year and a half that Harry lived with us she became less affable and more frosty.

A solution was soon found. An other neighbour, Lucia, had a smallholding up in Callosa.

Harry, she promised would have fresh air, wide open spaces and a natural death.

So off to Callosa he went, where he soon revealed himself as a she, ruling the roost in the corral, living happily ever after with many suitors and lots of ba bies.

We won’t go into details about the offspring though, as I’m well aware that they probably ended up at the table, no doubt accom panied by lots of garlic and to mate frito.

LeapyLee’sopinionsarehisownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

By Clinica Britannia

Be confident with your smile

ARE you looking to boost your confi dence now the festive season is on its way, then why not visit your Den tist who can help you do just that. It is amazing how your confidence grows when you are happy with your smile.

Your Dentist can offer various treatments to give you that dazzling smile you have been dreaming of.

Professional whitening, whether in house or at home can make your teeth up to 10 shades lighter, giving dramatic results that can shave years off your age.

Dental crowns are caps that are placed over your teeth to restore teeth that are damaged, cracked, or worn down, giving a more unformed look to the teeth that are treated.

Porcelain veneers are thin shells made of porcelain and are bonded to the front surface of the teeth. They are custom­made to create a uniform and symmetrical smile.

What is the best option for you?

Lastly, many of us have ugly black fillings which we can see when we talk or laugh, these are easily re moved and replaced with a white composite filling material which is matched to the natural shade of your tooth, giving you a natural­looking smile.

Contact your Dentist to see what the best options for you are to create that perfect smile to be proud of.

Appointments Landline: 965 837 553 / 965 837 851 • 24H/365D Emergency Number: (+34) 607 255 755 • Opening Times: Mon - Fri: 9:00am / 5:00pm

Clinica Britannia Calpe Av. Ejercitos Españoles 16 BIS, 1st Floor, Calpe

Boost energy levels

THE winter can bring a drop in our usual energy levels. Lower temperatures and shorter days can affect our daily rou tine, making us feel more tired than at other times of the year. Here we consulted some expert advice to find out how you can boost your energy during the winter.

1.

Eat a balanced diet

The busy Christmas season with lots of parties can some

times cause us to abandon our healthy diets, but it is crucial to eat a balanced diet to give our bodies the energy they need.

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are especially important during this season.

2. Boost your vitamin intake

Vitamins are crucial for our well­being. Try to boost your intake of vitamins, particularly Vitamin C which is essential for the immune system and warding away winter colds. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables

to naturally increase your vita min intake, or take a supple ment if necessary, after con sulting with a doctor.

3. Exercise in the morning

Take advantage of natural light during the morning to get your body moving, this can wake up your system naturally, helping you stay in a routine. Maintaining your usual exercise routine throughout winter can also help you to prevent a dip in energy levels.

By Clinica Britannia

Help to lose weight

I WANT to lose weight before the New Year as have a wedding to at tend, I have failed miserably when trying to do it alone, any sugges tions?

There is now a new revolution ary medication available on the market, which when used alongside diet and exercise, helps to control the blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes and aids with weight loss in obese people who do not suffer with the disease.

Importantly, it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the risk of major car diovascular (heart and blood vessel) events such as heart attack, stroke, or death in adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease.

The medicine is administered in in jection form weekly and works by

Get a suitable diet plan.

binding itself to the di gestive hormone found in the pancreas, this stimulates the release of insulin, reducing the amount of sugar released by the liver. This chemical reaction slows down the food leaving the stomach, leaving the feeling of full ness for longer periods of time.

Advice from a Nutritionist is also very beneficial, they can personalise a suitable diet plan for you, enabling you to get the maximum results pos sible.

Winter hair woes

WINTER affords our hair some respite from summer humidity and beach trips, but that doesn’t mean that this season is without its own hair troubles. Here we walk you through some of the most common hair

problems during winter and how to combat them.

• Dry scalp During winter there tends to be less moisture in the air, which can translate to dry and flaky skin on your scalp. Combat it by switch

ing to a moisturising sham poo or trying a deep condi tioning treatment. A creamier shampoo can keep your scalp moisturised and also keep dandruff at bay.

• Static hair

The lack of moisture in the air combined with win ter clothing like woolly jack ets, scarves, collars can make hairs stand up on end.

Hairdressers recommend using moisturising products throughout your hair to fight fly­aways. Use a condi tioner on the ends of your hair, but also on the middle section.

• Hat hair

Hats are needed during the winter to stop heat es caping from our heads. But they can crush your hairstyle and sap the mois ture from your hair. Experts recommend waiting until your hair is completely cool from blow­drying before putting on your hat. You can also flip your hair upside down when you take off your hat to revive it.

Contact your doctor for advice on whether this treatment would be a suitable option for you.

Betty Henderson

Photo credit: marilyn barbone / shutterstock.com

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.

GOD HELP US

TROUBLED , confused, clueless are just three words associated with dis orientated. Has your columnist Loopy Lee com pletely lost the plot? The current chaos in the UK that everyone knows is down to the mismanage ment of the Tory Party over 12 years of austerity with no economic growth, not to mention the dam age done by Johnson’s dis astrous Brexit deal and the recent Truss bombshell, yet his misguided ideology it is all the fault of the Labour Party and just re cently according to his lat est rants it is also down to the BBC, god help us.

Ramon Osborne Los Alcazares

Spot on

Just read your article in this week’s EWN which was abso lutely spot on as usual .

Best wishes, Brian

Supporter speaks out

You should be ashamed of yourselves for printing the ar ticle about Celtic supporters. They have a fantastic reputa tion throughout the world. Ask the city of Sevilla, 80,000 fans were there for the UEFA Cup final. Yes they left trash but not one arrest. I am not condoning leaving rubbish, but come on it is hardly trash ing the place. Celtic fans have an amazing reputation!

G McPhillips

Blue badge petition

Thank you Euro Weekly News for your petition relating to the issue of blue badges. I appreciate that this is another tan gled mess relating to Brexit and it may not be simple to resolve, but once again it is the UK expat community suffer ing. Many people with poor mobility are living a restricted life, parking close to hospitals and shops can be near on im possible. The beach is a no go, especially on weekends as it is so busy all the parking spaces are taken, although there al ways seems to be blue badge bays available and when you cannot walk far, the idea of a day at the beach is just a dream. I totally under stand why expats are moving back to the UK.

B Byrnes

Still ranting

Having picked up your paper whilst staying here for a month, I was im pressed to see how infor mative and interesting it was and the insight it af fords into the local expat culture. And then I read the rant by Loopy, sorry, Leapy Lee. I found his ar ticle chilling and it made me question what type of narrow­minded bigots live here. Please remove such politically extreme

commentary from your paper. He is clearly uned ucated and taints your otherwise useful and helpful paper, which should surely aim to be inclusive to unite all ex pats.

Diana Harrington

Voicing how I feel

I am 75 years young and have been coming to the Costa del Sol for over 30 years. I have read your newspaper for sev eral years while visiting Spain and online and I cannot help but agree with the comments made by Mr Lee. I live in Bat tersea and have seen my community change so much over the last few years, unfortunately not in a good way. The Na tional Health system is totally overstretched, my wife has been waiting for knee surgery for over 15 months and after having a fall waited for an am bulance for eight hours.

The police take hours, if not days, to respond when you report a crime and when they do come they make you feel like you are wasting their time. Our community is growing with immigrants who stretch the re sources, which I have paid into the system for over 50 years for. Thank you Leapy for voicing how I feel.

N Harman

The good, the bad and the bonkers

NORAJOHNSON BREAKINGVIEWS

the NHS, HMRC, DWP, local govern ment, banks etc, where the failure to do your job results in a very poor or non­existent service to the public.

THE latest social media trend is ‘quiet quitting’, or doing the bare minimum in your job.

Two different viewpoints seem to exist: those who believe quiet quitting is taking a step back from burnout (in which case it’s a pos itive thing) and those who think it’s checking out from your employ ment responsibilities (in which case, it’s, well, skiving).

Nothing new. There’s always been a mix of hard workers and shirk ers. Only now we have social media to make it a ‘trend’.

I get it completely when you’re in market ing or similar roles. However, the conse quences of quiet quitting are much more profound in sectors including

When your failure to do a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay has a signifi cant impact on others, that’s unfair on colleagues and makes life even harder for those needing those ser vices. Little wonder things are so bad in the UK.

Everything is blamed on understaffing and underfunding (which both exist) but nobody accepts the creeping lack of application which also affects those services...

Nora Johnson’s 11 critically acclaimed psychological crime thrillers (www.norajohnson. net) all avail able online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, paper backs, audiobooks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

SALLY UNDERWOOD POLITICAL ANIMAL

OF all the jobs around, being an MP may eas ily be the one most likely to prompt the ques tion, “why in the name of god would anyone do it?”

Of the top reasons why this is an odd, frus trating and ultimately often futile job (most political careers don’t end because some thing’s gone right after all) the first has got to be that of its very nature, it’s a job where every four years you have to beseech roughly 30,000 people simply to let you stick around.

Apart from that, being an MP presents you with the somewhat unique opportunity to be hated simultaneously by the press, the general public, your opponents, everyone living within a five­mile radius of your home, and even your own colleagues. Add to that the fact that if you do ever climb the greasy pole to a ministerial position you’re often thrust, from the first mo ment of appointment, into leading the gov ernment on a topic you know almost nothing about ­ and then having to repeatedly talk about that very topic, in detail, live on TV with someone with the approximate sympathy of a rottweiler (this is of course unfair to rottweil ers, which are very affectionate animals). All this while, inevitably, a number of your col leagues will be trying to grab your job.

Why do it?

Yes, it’s difficult to work out why anyone would actually want to be an MP even if it was handed to them; let alone spend years actively campaigning to do it.

But yet.

Despite its inarguable weirdness, it’s also dif ficult to imagine another career that presents quite the same level of genuinely awe­inspir ing opportunity.

The chance to help people on both a local level as well as on a national or international level by changing a law that improves thou sands of lives (the Clean Air Act, National Mini mum Wage Act and NHS spring most obvi ously to mind). The chance to be a part of the tipping point that moves the world forward (the 1967 law to decriminalise homosexuality, for example, was only narrowly voted in by 57 votes). The chance to be a tiny part of history.

That’s got to take some beating.

Perhaps occasionally then, instead of spending so much energy trying to trip each other up, our elected representatives would like to remind us of this very unique privilege.

It certainly couldn’t hurt bridging the (cur rently vast) gap between the electorate and politicians in an increasingly cynical world. And you never know ­ it might even inspire the very next person to do something truly great.

Sally’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

NoraJohnson’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

Noraistheauthorofpopularpsychological suspenseandcrimethrillersandafreelancejournalist.

Nora’s latest thriller.

Efficient, effective and economical

OVER many years Neater Heaters have be come the first choice of many expats living in Spain.

Behind our stylish Scandinavian designs are a modern state­of­the­art convector heater that can match any on the market for econo my and efficiency, and beats all the serious competition hands down on price.

The real secret of these heaters is the com puter­age technology in the form of extruded aluminium in the construction of the heating element. This material and the design creates a huge surface area for heat transfer, which means more air can be heated for less cost.

Neater Heaters use convection principles and are designed so that the electricity you put into the heater is converted to heat as cheaply as possible. When you turn on the heater the element warms up rapidly and heats the air around it, this air rises and draws more cold air into the heater. Be cause the element is extremely efficient and is designed to have a huge surface area, a

large quantity of air is heated very quickly. If your room has the correct sized heater it will take about 20 minutes to warm up from cold, after which the heater eases off and works at about two thirds capacity, (de

God speed

THE British Benevolent Fund receives many applications for financial help from British na tionals in Spain. Many in des perate situations.

A life in the sun for some, be comes a nightmare trap with seemingly no way out for all too many. This is particularly so for the many Britons who retire to Spain in the hope of exchanging the damp cold north for the warm balms of the Med.

For those who come unpre pared for the many hidden as pects of day to day living this can be a rude awakening.

We were alerted to a couple in their early 70s. He had worked in the Post Office and she in a school. They had known Spain from many family holidays over the years and had decided that this would be the perfect place to settle down af ter a long life of daily grind ­ in addition their children and grandchildren could visit in the holidays ­ it all made sense.

They sold their house and with the proceeds bought a property in Alicante Province and planned to live off their

modest pension and some savings.

On arrival in 2017 they did their paper work and registered for both NIE and padron.

Within a short time however things started to go wrongwith the first heavy rain they discovered the roof was unfit for purpose and had to re placed.

In 2019 she slipped and broke her hip. The replacement surgery caused additional trau ma in addition to the expense.

Both their medical situations deteriorated and they entered lockdown in March 2020 in an overwhelming sense of isola tion and vulnerability.

Their electricity was cut off in June 2021.

A house in the sun was now a house without light to see, nor warmth in the winter or cool air in the summer ­ and no hot food.

One day he went to the bank to draw some money.

To his horror his bank had without his knowledge paid the

year’s house insurance causing the account to be overdrawn and demands for repayment.

Neither utilities nor bank lis tened to plea for a repayment plan.

In June of this year, they made the decision to leavehowever difficult that would be ­ and that’s when the BBF got involved.

We were able to put them in touch with a partner charity, one of many that are listed in https://www.supportinspain.in fo/ a vital resource supported the British Embassy.

We cleared their utility ar rears. The lights went back on in June ­ one year in the dark.

They are in the process of selling their house and return ing to the UK.

God speed.

For more information about the British Benevolent Fund contact olaf.clayton@british benevolentfund.org

and economical, but as you would expect from a Scandinavian product, they are ex tremely stylish and practical. There is a model

that will suit anyone, from the BEHA, (Blue tooth option or Wi­Fi option) and the NEO Wi­Fi, so that you can control your heaters easily via a Wi­Fi app but still being able to control them manually if preferred, or the trendy original style Neo with digital controls and a choice of colours and if you are limited for wall space, then available for purchase are factory designed feet to enable the heater to be freestanding.

However, a few years ago we went one stage further and added the Turkish made Vi go heater. This heater shares the design tech nology and ethos of the current Neater Heaters, but it has two differences: The Vigo comes with a carrying handle, wall bracket, and feet included in the price; The larger Vigo models take up less wall space and go up to 2.5kw. They also have a digital display that in dicates the reduced wattage that the heater regulates once the room has reached desired temperature, thus saving more money through reduced running costs.

Leaving sedition behind

CASSANDRA NASH

SPAIN’S government, headed by Pe dro Sanchez, intends to eliminate sedition from the country’s Penal Code.

Instead it will be redefined as ‘ag gravated public disorder’ carrying a maximum sentence of between five and 15 years.

We all know about sedition: think Guy Fawkes. Nevertheless, more than five centuries later sedition earned prison terms of between nine and 13 years for the men and women respon sible for declaring Catalonia’s ex tremely short­lived republic on Octo ber 27 in 2017.

That it was a farce doomed to end in tears was obvious from the shell shocked faces of the regional presi dent, Carles Puigmont and vice­presi dent Oriol Junqueras. The independent republic never did get off the ground, and Puigdemont made a run for it a couple of days later, selfexiling himself in Waterloo (Belgium), of all places.

Junqueras and eight others who re mained received prison sentences of between nine and 13 years.

They were pardoned in June 2021, a move not to everybody’s liking, espe cially the Partido Popular and Vox. As opposition parties, they oppose on principle any legislation not their own, but their mistrust of eradicating sedi tion is ideological and visceral.

Sanchez has insisted that with or without sedition, his government is no more receptive to Catalan indepen dence than previously, but did say that he hoped this would herald dia logue and understanding.

That won’t be out of the question with Pere Aragones, Catalonia’s re gional president whose party, Esquer ra Republicana de Catalunya (Republi can Left of Catalonia), is less radical than it sounds and has eased up on in dependence demands.

The same can’t be said of Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), re motely controlled from Waterloo by Carles Puigdemont.

Will he return to Spain to face the music once he can’t be accused of sedition but will still face gaol? Proba bly not. He dismissed the modification as a publicity stunt, doubtless because he prefers a comfy billet bankrolled by wealthy separatists. Even if it’s called Waterloo.

Olaf Clayton of BBF.

WINTER is nearly upon us, and that means mak ing some changes for our pets too, to keep them warm. Pets feel the cold too, and it is crucial to keep them feeling com fortable as your home is their home too. Here we share some advice from pet lovers on how to keep your pets cosy dur ing the winter.

• Blankets

Blankets are an excel lent option to keep your dog or cat warm during the colder months. Lots of pet companies offer

blankets in plenty of shapes and sizes, so you’re sure to find some thing that is perfect for

your dog or cat’s size. Blankets can protect your upholstery from claw marks and fur as well as keeping your four­legged friend cosy.

• Sleeping arrange ments

If your pet normally sleeps outdoors, or if you have a pet like a rabbit, ensure that its pen is pro tected from wind and has extra bedding to keep their paws warm. During the coldest weather, bringing your pet’s enclo sure into a conservatory or porch could be perfect to keep them warm.

•

Insulation

Check for draughts in the area where your pet sleeps. It is easy to miss draughts from the bot tom of doorframes and windows in the rooms we don’t sleep in. Protect your pet by keeping them away from cold draughts.

Kidney disease

FIRST of all, it is very impor tant to distinguish acute from chronic renal failure. The acute ones are usually due to intoxication or infec tion while in the chronic ones a gradual failure occurs and is related to chronic dis eases and old age.

Dogs with severe acute renal disease often produce less urine than normal and as the condition progresses, may ultimately produce none at all. Producing large amounts of dilute urine is one of the first signs of chronic renal disease in dogs and makes it necessary to urinate very frequently.

Dogs with chronic renal disease try to compensate by drinking more water, but they can’t drink enough to replace what is being lost and become dehydrated.

They lose energy and may want to rest rather than take part in the activi

ties they used to love.

Compromised kidney function results in increased blood levels of metabolic waste products like blood urea nitrogen and creatinine and makes dogs feel sick. Erythropoietin is a hormone produced by the kidneys that stimulate the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. In cases of chronic renal disease, the kidneys no longer produce enough Erythropoietin caus ing anaemia and worsening of lethargy. They can lose their appetite and weight.

Dogs with advancing re nal disease will often start to vomit and have diarrhoea.

When a dog has severe advanced renal failure, they can have dementia, breath ing problems, collapse, bleeding and seizures.

At any sign, see your vet. The sooner they receive treatment the better.

Fishy friends

KEEPING fish as pets can be ideal. Fish are very clean pets, and are also very qui et, instead bringing a feel ing of calm to your home. Fish might not require as much of your attention as other pets, but it is still es sential to invest time in car ing for your fish. Here we share some top tips from fish owners on how to care for your fish.

• Do some research

Before rushing out to buy a new pet, make sure to re search the breed of fish, its needs, food likes and dis likes. There are some fish that don’t like to be alone in a tank, and there are oth ers which can’t be together.

• Prepare a space

As well as buying a tank, you will also need to pre pare it for habitation.

Gabriela Gúzman, a pet ex pert, recommends cycling water in a tank for a month before introducing your new fish. The water tem perature is also crucial, and depends on the breed of fish. The tank must have a thermostat as well as a fil ter to protect the fishes’ health.

• Decorate the tank

In addition to a filter, adding some natural or arti ficial plants, a cave, some stones or sand can improve your fishes’ well­being.

WANTED

693

CHIROPODIST/PODIATRIST, Philip Mann, clinics in Benissa, Moraira, Javea, Calpe and Albir. 686 912 307 (287331)

WIGS

WWW.WIGS-R-US.ES Indoor Market Rincon de Loix, Benidorm. Monday-Satur day 10-3. We also have Scrunchies, Exten sions, Ponytails. Catalogue orders. Private appointments after 3pm. 681 049 502

RELAX CENTRE in BENIDORM - Excel lent atmosphere. Expert Masseuses. 24/7 Outcalls - Tel: 603 324 564 (302452)

MAN IN DENIA 49yrs give sensual massage for men, women or couples. Private premises Tel 641 938 338 (302481)

FED UP OF NOT BEING SENT YOUR RENEWAL? CUT YOUR INSURANCE COSTS AND STILL HAVE 100% COV ER. YOU HAVE TRIED THE REST NOW TRY THE BEST WITH SOS IN SURANCE. WE CAN EVEN INSURE YOU FOR UP TO A €1,000 OF WA TERLOSS. CALL 686 116 297 (WHAT SAPP TOO) OR VISIT www.sosin suranceinspain.com or email tracey@sosinsuranceinspain.com

BENEFICIAL INSURANCE SERVICES. Car, Home, Business, Travel, Life, Funeral, all insurances available. Policies in English. BEST rates, covers & service. Immediate quotes. Tel 961 129 215 / 622 275 561, (WhatsApp) info@beneficialinsurancein spain.com or visit www.beneficialinsuran ceinspain.com for online quote.

MOTOR INSURANCE. For the most competitive quotes in English call Linea Directa on 952 147 834, you could save as much as 30% and you can transfer your existing no claims bonus. Call Linea Directa on 952 147 834 for motor insur ance with a human voice in English from Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and save money now! (200726)

STAY SAFE! Abbeygate Insurance Call 971 277 455 For your security www.abbeygateinsure.com

GOLD & SILVER Bought & Sold, Rolex & Patek Philippe Watches Tel - 678 716 693 (288662)

VIAGRA / KAMAGRA / CIALIS. BEST PRICES. FREE DISCREET DE LIVERY. ALL AREAS COVERED. TEL: PETER 644 139 274 (301419)

MALE/FEMALE viagra, cialis, kamagra jelly, mixed trial packs available, all areas mail order. 604 385 476. viagra4you19@gmail.com

FREE VIAGRA? (Sildenafil) 100mg Buy 3 Packs get 1 pack FREE. 1€ each tablet, packs of 10. All areas covered. FAST Mail Order GUARANTEED plus postage or discreet personal delivery available. WhatsApp your order to 665 503 333 or e-mail for details viagra@glais.com (302034)

RETIRED couple looking for long term rental in La Marina Baixa - prefer two beds. Needed urgently - call Janice on 0044 7736 251 800 (279523)

FRENCH, ELÉGANTE, SLIM SOPHIE, 3 languages spoken. Experienced in a large variety of full body massages. Villa martin apartment or can travel to all areas. 693 357 526 (295411)

RELAXING MASSAGE FOR MENMario qualified masseur in Alicante - Special Massage for Men - 7 days 10am to 10pm - APPOINTMENTS visit: www.masajeyrelax.es/en or WHATSAPP 649 761 607 (296490)

Peter Zwaan Motorbikes, A+ Occa sions showroom, Harley Davidson Road king Police, 1700 cc, yr 2009, 53.000 kms, Euro 13.500. CostaBlancaMo torbikes.com (302078)

DECORATORS W.D. GILMOUR. Painter & Decorator. Established 35 years in Moraira. ESTIMATES FREE. Call William on 609 691 776 or 966 490 602 (301307)

BENIDORM and surrounding areas. Two-man removal. 678 067 163

MAN & VAN for hire, cheap & reli able. Jalon Valley & surrounding area. Call/WhatsApp 636 100 873

ROLLER SHUTTER REPAIRS, awnings, motors, mosquito blinds. Calpe + 50 kms. 659 464 992 www.toldosalchemy. com (293808)

MARK PADDON BSc Hons. MCIOB, CAAT – for buyer’s survey & defects ad vice. Tel: 653 733 066 / 962 807 247 www.costablancasurveyors.com

NEED YOUR PETS TAKEN CARE OF? Not kennels, just a friendly home. Large fenced area. 699 790 080 Altea (294597)

SPANISH INTERPRETER for all your appointment needs, has car. Effective, Friendly & Affordable service. Call 609 679 808 (290313)

AUTO BASTIAN mobile mechanic. Tel 608 860 725. (294743)

WE are currently the market leader in our country in the sale of direct car, mo torbike, home and company fleet insur ance. Since we started out in 1995, our philosophy has always been to offer an excellent service with the best prices in the market. For the most competitive quotes in English, call Linea Directa on 952 147 834. (200726)

OTHERS

ROAD TEST

byMarkSlack

WITH so many marques owned by single corporate entities it’s perhaps no surprise that eco nomics dictate a cer tain commonality.

So Skoda’s Enyaq shares it’s under pinnings with the VW ID range and in particular the ID.4. Howev er, there are some subtle but noticeable differ ences that set the two apart on the style front.

The all­electric Enyaq is big, very big, so one of the first proper all­electric, allconsuming family vehicles. With even the entry level model claiming up to 246 miles of range, and from my week it’s pretty close to achievable given the right circumstances, this is one of the most useable EVs I have tried. It’s also one of the more affordable, albeit elec

Skoda Enyaq - a star EV

and Wi­Fi hotspot through to keyless stop/start, cruise control, dual zone climate control and both light and rain sensors.

Facts at a Glance

Model: Skoda Enyaq iV60 Loft

tric cars are still expensive compared to petrol pow ered equivalents.

With five trim levels, two power options and allwheel­drive on offer, there’s no shortage of choice. Prices start from €44,819/£38,970, other battery options and trims can push the final price

north of €56k/£50k for the vRS Coupe model that is eye catching without the usual aggressive style that seems to abound these days.

The entry level Loft spec comes with 58kwh battery, that 246­mile range and a decent array of standard kit from Bluetooth, navigation

The Enyaq is an imposing vehicle that lacks some of the styling oddities that have previously beset EV de signs. It also has an impressive interior, with my test car having swathes of cloth across the facia rather than the usual plastic. Quite how durable this would prove I don’t know but it makes an im pact. One of the first things you notice about the interi or is the space, the sheer amount of it, from legroom to height to load area.

On the road the Enyaq is typically EV quiet with wind and tyre noise very well in

Engine: 58 kwh electric developing 179PS

Gears: Automatic Price: €44,819/£38,970

Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) 8.4 seconds/Maxi mum Speed 159 kph (99 mph)

Economy: 395km/246 miles combined range6.4km/4 miles per kwh - WLTP

Emissions: 0 g/km

Model tested was UK-specification and equipment levels and prices may vary in other markets.

sulated. It’s comfortable too and on a 200 mile journey we emerged with range to spare (no charging re quired), quite comfortable and relaxed. It also rides well, soaking up the worst excesses of our potholed tarmac, and the handling is decent rather than excep

tional. To be fair it’s not the type of car you would buy for excitement.

The Enyaq is genuinely useable in range terms alone, as a whole package it’s a winning EV choice. It’s only let down only by the still poor EV infrastructure in the UK.

THE ENYAQ: As a package, it’s a winning EV choice.

Leading the way

Betty Henderson SPAIN is set to be the biggest manufacturer of electric cars in Europe by 2030. The country currently takes second place, after Germany, but leads over other manufacturing hubs including France and the UK. A new report by Inonvev made the remarkable pro jection alongside some oth er predictions for the indus try.

Spain will become a pio neer in the electric car indus try thanks to mega invest ments from electric car manufacturers, such as the Stellantis group. The compa ny currently has three elec tric plants in the country for the production of Citroën, Peugeot, and Toyota cars. Mercedes­Benz, Ford and Volkswagen are other mo toring giants whose invest

ment in the country will pro pel Spain to first place in Eu ropean figures.

Spain’s production of elec tric vehicles is set to reach 1,640,000 units by 2030. The factors driving this trend in clude the low costs of labour and wide availability of ener gy from renewable sources.

The transition will make Spain a leader in electric ve hicle production in time for the European Union’s re quirement for all new vehi cles sold to be electric in 2035.

In the statistics, Spain will be followed by Germany with 1,208,000 units pro duced and France with 827,000 units produced per year. However, Tesla is yet to announce the extent of its plans to expand its German plant, which could affect the rest of the standings.

Photo credit: Basilico Studio Stock / shutterstock.com

PIONEERING: Spain could become Europe’s largest producer of electric vehicles by 2030.