Mallorca 8 - 14 December 2022 Issue 1953

CHRISTMAS KINDNESS VITAL FUNDS

A FABULOUS night was had by over 200 people who danced the night away during a nostalgic club night on Friday, De cember 2 to raise much needed funds for the homeless and hungry at Christmas.

Zambezi (the house club) was a nightclub in Molino 3, Calle Industrial back in the early 2000s and was very popular with the Yacht Crew and is still talked about today amongst the deckhands of yesterday who have be come the captains of to day.

When new club Momos opened in San Agustin, YGB asked the owners if they could hold a one off charity Zambezi club night to raise funds and for nos talgic reasons.

Zambezi at Momos was a huge success with plen ty of people attending, in cluding many old faces from the good old Zambezi days. A fantastic night was had by all!

Most importantly a huge amount of money was raised which has been split between YGB and another good cause.

The funds will be spent on Christmas treats for all the homeless shelters and food banks in Palma.

Hats off to the DJ of the night, Jim Hance, he has been dropping off a week ly car boot full of pasta for the food banks without fail for the last two years.

He’s donated a grand to tal of 4,000 kgs of pasta! That’s fed a fair few fami lies in need. Amazing man with a huge heart and evi dently a talented DJ to boot!

The superyachts, luxury villas and performance cars provide a stark con trast to an altogether dif ferent side of the Balearics, and that’s poverty.

Yachting Gives Back was founded from the under standing that there was a gulf between the privi leged and the less fortu nate on Mallorca.

The YGB Team comes from all walks of yachting life we have worked as

crew members, captains, chefs, yachting en trepreneurs, office all rounders and high tech specialists, but at YGB they are, above all, volunteers. They bring their particular skill sets and personalities to the pro ject, roll up their sleeves and get on with it.

YGB’s activity is now fo cused around their ‘head quarters’ at STP, open

three mornings a week.

Yachting Gives Back now collects food, toiletries, cleaning materials, meals prepared by the yachts’ chefs, clothing, bedding and other useful items to deliver to various charita ble organisations on the island.

Financial support from companies and individu als allows YGB to respond to specific needs like

washing machines, fridges and other equipment in the soup kitchens and homeless shelters.

CHARITY Cancer Sup port Mallorca is remind ing residents they can provide bridging funds to help expats affected by cancer.

The charity said: “What happens if you live on the island, and you are told you have cancer, but you do not speak or understand Spanish well?

“Apart from the dis tress caused by the news, you would strug gle to deal with treat ment options, social se curity, and insurances, making funeral plans, sorting out legal papers and so on. The Cancer Support Group Mallorca was founded in order to offer help to those peo ple and their families.”

To donate, or to apply for funding, visit cancer supportmallorca.com.

YACHTING GIVES BACK (YGB): The team comes from all walks of yachting life.

OVER the next few weeks, Palma City Council will launch an awareness campaign to promote better behaviour among users of personal mo bility vehicles (PMVs), known as electric scooters.

Joana Adrover, the council lor for Citizen Safety, con firmed the campaign will in clude simple messages on the traffic rules surrounding scooters, including the prohi bition of two people riding at the same time or of its use on pavements.

The mayor reminded the audience that the work of the Local Police in this regard is constant. “More than 500

complaints were filed in just one month,” she said.

“We believe in this type of new vehicle, in fact, many of us are users, but it has to be done safely.” The councillor confirmed, “It is normal for re sistance to arise with new technologies, as with compul

HAVING a property in Mal lorca seems a safe invest ment. In 2022 house prices saw a massive increase of 10 to 15 per cent. Whilst it is expected that prices in tourist regions in Mallorca will continue to rise in 2023

Image: Palma City Council

Xmas comp

DO you own a business? Would you like to win a cash prize? All businesses in the municipality of Calvia that decorate a shop win dow or facade for Christ mas can participate in the Christmas Window Dress ing Contest 2022.

sory seat belts or motorbike helmets.

“Both the public and the council have to work to har monise and normalise their use in a city where both pedestrians, who must be the main priority, and other types of vehicles are used.”

Registrations can be made until December 16 through the Town Hall website or their Facebook page. Once registered the town hall will make an ap pointment to take a photo. Photographs will be dis played on Facebook.

To register or to vote go to www.facebook.com/ ajuntamentdecalvia/

The prizes will consist of: First prize €500, second €300 and third €150.

Anti-social scooters On the rise

it will be at a slower pace.

Natalie Bueno, the presi dent of the Association of Estate Agents of the

Balearic Islands (API) con firmed that “demand for purchase and for rent will remain significant, mean ing that prices will not be coming down, but increas es in price will not be no table.”

Ferran Font, the Director of Studies at the property website Pisos.com con firmed that property prices have fallen slightly in cer tain regions of Spain such as Cantabria and Extremadura, but he isn’t concerned for the Balearic Islands.

“It is a very attractive re gion for foreigners, either to buy a second residence or as an investment. Proof of this is that in the third quarter of this year, one in three houses were sold to foreign nationals. The Balearic market is one of the most stressed in the country,” he said.

CAMPAIGN: Councillor for Citizen Safety, Joana Adrova.

NIBS EXTRA

Making millions

HOLLYWOOD actor, Michael Douglas, has, according to new estimates by FanBolt, a fortune of $350 million and one of his key assets is his Mallorca home, which had been valued at $60 million. Back in 1990 the actor paid $3.5 million for the house.

Princess Diana

FRESH claims have come to light that the late Princess Di ana was planning on buying a property in Mallorca after her divorce from Prince Charles. Princess Diana spent many summers on the island before and throughout her marriage to Prince Charles.

Good business

BIEL HORRACH, the council lor for Urban Planning at Pal ma Town Hall, said: “Much of the Balearic economy has gone from being tourist busi ness to a residential business; the main economy in the Balearics has now become the real estate business.”

MICE tourists

TOURISM councillor, Andreu Serra, said: “The Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) sector is important. We used to be off the circuit for large interna tional events, but now we have the facilities and have positioned ourselves world wide and are already ahead of other destinations in Spain.”

33 Immigrants

THE Guardia Civil Maritime Rescue intercepted a total of 33 immigrants who arrived in the south of Mallorca on Monday, December 5, in two small boats. So far this year 151 small boats with 2,202 immigrants have been detected off the Balearic coast.

Labour fun

THE British Trade Union Congress paid for a three day visit to Spain for three Labour MPs which allegedly cost £7,000 which follows a trip earlier this summer by Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who enjoyed a holiday in Soller.

IN a bid to say thank you to the city’s hotel workers who contribute so much to its tourism, Palma has re named a park after them. Chambermaids, also known locally as ‘Kellys’, have been honoured with a plaque after renaming the Platja de Palma.

The mayor of Palma, Jose Hila, confirmed: “We want to recognise the work done by the cham bermaids. Thanks to you, our main economic activi ty, tourism, has been able to grow. From now on, you are part of Palma, this is the way the city pays tribute to you.”

The councillor for Cul ture and Social Welfare,

THE Calvia Tourism Forum had some very positive words about this year’s tourism when it met to take stock of the 2022 season and analyse the prospects for 2023.

“A good, even excellent season,” said mayor, Alfonso Rodríguez Badal, “taking into account the complexity of the previous two years, due to the pandemic. An assessment

Kellys’ Park

from an initiative of the Department of Culture.”

In September, the art exhibition ‘Exposed but In visible’ went on display and one of the pieces in this exhibition was a plaque with the name of Les Kellys, exactly like the ones that Palma City Coun cil uses on its streets.

THE 25th Palma Ancient Music Festival, held be tween October 8 and November 26, has now become an unmissable classic on the city’s cultur al calendar.

The Festival continued to offer concerts in her itage venues. The total number of people at tending the series of con certs on the Festival’s pro gramme this year was more than 1,000.

Antoni Noguera, ex plained: “This change of name serves to pay tribute

to the Kellys and their struggles. It is a sincere recognition that comes

This piece was a vindica tion of the Kellys to get a street with their name, a cry to vindicate a deserved recognition after years of struggle.

that has confirmed that, com pared to 2019, the entry of tourists and the diversification of nationalities has improved.

“There has also been posi tive data in terms of market ing and average spending per tourist. This data has led to an

improvement in unemploy ment and Social Security reg istrations.”

With a view to 2023, the Di rector General of Tourism, Xavier Pascuet, pointed out that in the case of the British market, the tour operators

are already putting the 2023 2024 season on sale, and that, from December 16, they ex pect an increase in demand outside of package holidays.

He also stressed the impor tance of offering the British market the sports product, as was done at the last World Travel Market, as a strategic focus for mid and low season activity.

Son Busquets Works completed

A NEW section of Carrer del Pare Rafael Serra, in the area of Ca denes de l’Arenal, was opened to the public on November 30, fol lowing works which began at the end of October and which has al lowed this street to be extended to Carrer d’Amílcar.

The work’s aim is to improve the connection between the streets in this area. This work, carried out by the Infrastructure and Accessibility Department, consisted of creating a new 250 square metre stretch of street with railings, lighting and signs, which has been paved. The councillor for Infrastructures and Accessibility, An gelica Pastor, and the general coordinator of the area, Luis Sureda, together with the vice president of the Associacio de Veïns S’Are nal Platja de Palma, Alain Carbonell, visited the completed work which involved an investment of €60,000.

We hope you never need it, but this Christmas the Euro Weekly News would like to remind all readers of Spain’s emergency services number for police, fire, ambulance and coastguard.

MALLORCA is in need of more affordable housing, it’s hoped that a new housing project in the old military districts of Son Busquets will provide just this.

The councillor for Housing and Sustainability, Neus Truy ol, said of the project: “The de sign of the future Son Busquets is based on three key axes: sus tainability, affordable public housing and quality facilities.”

The councillor explained the urgent need for more public and affordable housing in the city to those in charge of the State Government. He also re called that “there is a great so cial expectation, many entities and neighbours are very inter ested in reconverting the old military district into a neigh bourhood with housing.

OFFICERS speak English, as well as many other European languages, and are your first port of call in an emergency.

“Son Busquets has to be an example of a modern neigh bourhood with its own identi ty, but also with a memory of what it was.” Francisco Javier

Martín Ramiro, the councillor of Housing added: “Son Bus quets is a very important eco nomic and technical invest ment that will transform a space that has been abandoned for more than 20 years into a neighbourhood with vi tality and services.”

Highlights included concerts such as that of the internationally renowned soprano Raquel Andueza, with an extensive professional ca reer, at the church of Sant Felip Neri, with 124 spec tators and a capacity of 95 per cent, and that of the great cellist Josetxu Obregon, with his show Cello evolution, at the monastery of La Real, with 108 attendees and 94 per cent occupancy of the hall.

The concert by Harmo nia del Parnas, which pre sented Per Dolce Ardore at the church of La Merce was attended by 200 people, with an occupan cy rate of 80 per cent.

On the other hand, the show Danses del Renaix ement by SimfoVents Palma, at the church of Santa Creu on November 21, attracted 240 people, with 80 per cent of the capacity occupied.

THE KELLYS: A deserved recognition after years of struggle.

Image: Palma City Council

Bellver Forest BELLVER Forest is current ly undergoing a facelift. The mayor of Palma, Jose Hila, confirmed: “A total of €3 million has been in vested in the Bellver For est, including work to re forest trees, paths and other projects such as the Polvori children’s play ground, a new stretch of perimeter road and path demarcation work.

“The transformation of our city also involves tak ing care of the city’s green space and we are carrying out major projects to take care of our green space,” the mayor added.

The councillor for In frastructures and Accessi bility, Angelica Pastor, added: “We are restoring fences, walls and pas sages.

“We are also upgrading the paths indicating

Bellver Forest

where people can and can’t go, and this is also one of the most impor tant actions, because hu man pressure is one of the causes of the degradation

of forest soil and this has to be recovered.

“The city council is also working to treat the pines affected by the tomicus plague. We are removing

the trees that are dead and we are treating the wood from the trunks and thereby recovering the forest floor,” the council lor added.

CALVIA is on the up as its budget for 2023 grows by 6.98 per cent reach ing a whopping €109.439.823.

The debt continues to decrease and no tax, no fee and no municipal public price has increased for the last eight years, even though in vestments and services for the citi zens of Calvia have either been maintained or increased.

Parking galore

TWO plots of land have been located in Palma that will be used as temporary car parks, with a capacity for 950 vehicles.

A new car park will be created on Carrer Federico García Lorca, with a capacity for 150 parking spaces. Palma City Council is carrying out a series of im provements so that it can be operational by January 2023.

In addition, on a 30,000 square metre site on Carretera Dic de l’Oest a car park with capacity for 800 park ing spaces. The admin istrative procedures will now be set in mo tion to enable it to be

used as a temporary park and ride facility for access to the west ern fringe of the city.

The Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) will also create 108 parking spaces on the seafront throughout phase 1 of the work (end of 2023) and phase 2 (first half of 2024).

This will mean, 92 car parking spaces will be created, nine drop off and pick up spaces and seven spaces for people with reduced mobility.

The Golondrines car park, with a capacity for 80 vehicles, will al so be open to the pub lic in the near future.

Massive budget

Social welfare has also been im proved since the start of the pan demic with support for families and the most vulnerable groups, as well as for those affected by the war in Ukraine.

Strong investment is predicted

for 2023 for the improvement and replacement of pavements on pub lic roads, sports facilities, educa tional centres, seasonal and cultur al activities, as well as a firm commitment to active training and employment policies.

FOREST FACELIFT: Transforming the city’s green space.

Image: Palma City Council

Brit found Police presence

THE body of a 20 year old British man was recovered from the sea off Mallorca on Tuesday, December 6. The incident occurred in the resort of Can Picafort in the northeast of the is land, near the Mar y Paz Hotel.

His death is believed to have been a suicide with

the Guardia Civil allegedly finding a notebook on his person containing suicidal references.

A local resident alerted the emergency services at around 9.40am. Patrols from the Guardia Civil and Santa Margalida Local Po lice were immediately sent to the location. One of the

police officers reportedly jumped into the water to bring the body a few me tres back to the shore.

CPR was attempted, but it was too late to save the young man’s life and he

Playing ball

BASKETBALL fans in Palma will be pleased to hear that work has now been completed to fit out a new basketball court on the esplanade lo cated in Parque Krekovic.

This work, which has been carried out with funding from the depart ment of parks and green spaces, is in addition to improvements to the wi fi park.

The work to mark out the court and install new basketball goals has involved an investment of €3,000.

In addition, an access ramp has been installed to improve accessibili ty and new benches have been installed in the area.

was pronounced dead at the scene. An investigation has been launched by the Guardia Civil to determine the man’s identity and the circumstances surrounding his death.

THE Palma Local Police will be carrying out its usual Christmas operation between December 12 and January 8 with the aim of responding to the special needs of the Christmas festivities, when there is usually a considerable increase in commercial and leisure activity.

The service will be di vided into two main areas of action: traffic control and flow, and public safe ty and congestion.

Joana Adrover, the councillor for Citizen Safe ty, said that “as it could not be otherwise, the members of the Palma Lo

cal Police will once again be working to ensure the safety of Palma residents on these important days.”

She also took advantage of the occasion “to ask cit izens to pay attention when there are a lot of people on the streets and to drive with caution.”

The Palma Local Police’s Christmas campaign will also focus mainly on Breathalyser checks and speed checks in the evening and night time hours. With this service, the aim is to contribute to the peaceful coexistence of citizens and also to guarantee the flow of traffic.

CAN PICAFORT: The man’s body was found in the sea.

LOCAL POLICE: Working to ensure residents’ safety. Image: Kennerth Kullman/Shutterstock.com

Credit: Google mapsAnno K

Anna Ellis

NEW COURT: For basketball fans.

Credit: Google mapsAnno K

Suspicious packages

THREE more suspicious letters con taining animal eyes were intercepted in Spain on Monday, December 5. Police sources confirmed that they were detected by the security sys tems of Post Offices, who subse quently informed the National Po lice.

The shipments were reportedly ad dressed to the Ukrainian Consulate in Malaga, along with the Ukrainian embassies in the cities of Barcelona and Madrid.

It was verified by the police that each envelope contained animal eyes, but they ruled out the presence of explosive or explosive substances. These packages bore similar charac teristics to those received on Friday December 2 they added.

Other envelopes intercepted and

Antibiotic shortage

tion centre CIMA that there are 22 shortages of differ ent amoxicillin drugs in tablets, powder, and hard capsules.

Amoxicillin oral suspen sion has arrived at pharma cies in Alicante such as Malluguiza, while amoxi cillin plus clavulanic acid in suspension, also for chil dren, has been out of stock for two days, reported local Spanish press.

The antibiotic is one of the 627 medicines that are suffering from supply prob lems in pharmacies amid a wave of respiratory viruses, especially among children, with shortages also report ed in Portugal and France.

Amoxicillin is a broad spectrum antibiotic medi cation widely used to treat bacterial infections, such as sore throat, sinusitis, tonsil litis, pharyngitis, and pneu monia in children.

Laboratories are begin ning to release batches, es pecially for children, al though it will still take time for the situation to nor malise after weeks of shortages of the drug in pharmacies, this has coin cided with the wave of bronchiolitis in Spain, which is collapsing hospital emergencies.

containing gunpowder and small shrapnel balls were sent to Pedro Sanchez, the president of the govern ment; Margarita Robles, the Defence Minister; the embassies of Ukraine and the US, Torrejon de Ardoz air base, and to the arms manufacturing

company in Zaragoza Instalaza. Sources indicated at the weekend that these six envelopes came from Valladolid and from the same au thor, although he has not yet been identified, as reported by the Span ish news.

THE Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products has announced on the online drug informa

SECURITY BREACH: More suspicious packages have been intercepted.

ANTIBIOTICS: New batches are being released.

SPAIN are pioneers in gen der equality as the country registered the fourth largest proportion of fe male inventors in Europe, setting an impressive precedent. Figures re leased on November 30 re vealed almost 24 per cent of people registering new patents in Spain are wom en, soaring ahead of most European countries.

In data collected by the European Patent Office, women register just 13.2 per cent of patents on products, but Spain stood apart with a rate of 23.2 per cent. Data revealed that Lithuania topped the list of female inventors, with more than 30 per

Female first

Analysts explained that although this is good news for gender equality in Spain, there is still a re markable gender disparity in patent registrations throughout the continent. There has been a signifi cant growth in women registering patents since 1978, when just 2 per cent were requested by wom en.

The organisation say more must be done to ‘promote inclusion’ in in vention.

Glittering business event

IF you are struggling to find the perfect Christmas gift then look no further as the JoyRon Foundation Diversity 2023 calendars showcasing the beautiful island of Mallorca in all its glory are now on sale.

The A3 sized calendar features photographs tak en by professional photog

Perfect present

raphers who have kindly donated their images, the calendar is in both English and Spanish and contains notable dates for both countries.

The calendar makes an

ideal Christmas or New Year gift for corporate clients, friends or family members back home, de picting the various scenes of the wonderful island of Mallorca.

One hundred per cent of all the money donated for each calendar contributes towards the support, of underprivileged, seriously ill, impoverished, or in care children in the Balearic Islands.

Since August 2015, when the foundation was founded, JoyRon has led the effort to bring a new sense of hope to the chil

dren in need within the Balearics. The foundation raises funds, that are ap plied to bring levels of joy, comfort and essential sup port to the children in need.

As all Foundation ad ministration expenses are privately funded and Sup port Services are being un dertaken by Voluntary Ad visory Associates, the Foundation is in a position to ensure every euro raised is 100 per cent for the benefit of the chil dren

For more information or to order your calendar head to the website /www.joyronfoundation.o rg / or email info@joyron foundation.org

THE Euro Weekly News is marking the end of another busy year with a sparkling business event in collabora tion with the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain at Puente Romano, Marbella, on Friday December 16.

Bringing together their clients from across Spain, the Andalucia business event will see guests served canapes and cocktails alongside live entertainment, a rare mo ment for the business com munity to come together and simply celebrate the year’s achievements.

The Euro Weekly News is a proud member of the British Chamber of Commerce in Spain, an organisation which works tirelessly to promote vital trade links between

Spain and the UK.

Founded in 1908 as an ini tiative of the British Embassy, the British Chamber of Com merce in Spain is one of the largest chambers of com merce in the world.

It is the only independent British Spanish business or ganisation in Spain, and still works with the British Em bassy, holding regular meet ings with British Ambassador to Spain Hugh Elliott, as well as British commercial ser vices (UK Trade and Invest ment) and Spanish comercial abroad (ICEX).

The chamber has offices in Barcelona, Madrid, Marbella, and most recently Bilbao, and a total of 300 members, including multinational com panies as well as SMEs.

Its work includes organis ing business events, publish ing research studies,creating committees to support the interests of members, and promoting the business activ ity of its members through media platforms and com munication channels.

British Chamber of Com merce Regional Vice Presi dent Derek A Langley said: “We greatly look forward to welcoming you to our very enjoyable event, where you can meet old and new busi ness contacts and friends from across the Costa del Sol business community, and have a chance to mingle, net work, and celebrate the end of a successful business year at one of Spain’s most glam orous locations.”

DEREK LANGLEY: The regional vice president works to promote business across Andalucia.

Betty Henderson

cent of new patents regis tered by women. Portugal came second with 27 per

cent, followed by Croatia with 25 per cent, before Spain in fourth place.

Spain in fourth place for women registering new patents.

Photo credit: ALPA PROD shutterstock.com

The UK Autumn Budget

Having taken the decision to scrap the September mini budget, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt released his Autumn Statement 2022 on 17 November, with key aims to promote stability, growth and public services.

This budget focused on stability and fiscal sustainability – with plans to ensure the national debt falls over the medium term. The reduced debt should allow for more significant in vestment in public services, support the Bank of England’s efforts to curb inflation, and give greater confidence to businesses as they continue to in vest and grow in the UK.

Income tax, National Insurance Contributions and other relevant tax rates

The income tax personal al lowance, higher rate threshold, na tional insurance contributions (NIC), upper earning limit and upper profits limit were already frozen at 2021 lev els until April 2026 – this has now been extended to 2028.

By Cathal Rochford, Partner, Blevins Franks

Freezing allowances and thresholds is often referred to as ‘tax by stealth’ since it increases taxation without putting up tax rates. Thousands more people will now pay more tax as wages increase alongside inflation.

The NIC threshold was raised from £9,880 to £12,570 in July, and the Social Care Levy (a 1.25% tax to help tackle NHS waiting lists and aid health care) has now been reversed.

As previously confirmed, from April 2023 corporation tax will in crease to 25% for businesses with profits over £250,000.

Additional tax rate threshold, dividend allowance and capital gains

The autumn budget states that “the fairest way to restore the public fi nances is to ask everyone to contribute a little, with those on the highest in comes and those making the highest profits paying a larger share”.

With this principle in mind, the additional rate tax threshold will re duce from £150,000 to £125,140 from 6 April 2023.

The Dividend Allowance will re duce by half – from £2,000 per tax year to £1000 from April 2023 – and halved again to £500 in 2024.

The Capital Gains Tax Annual Ex empt amount will be more than halved – from £12,300 to £6,000 on 6 April 2023 – and similarly reduced again to £3,000 in 2024. Selling in vestments before the 2023 tax year

would allow you to take advantage of the higher threshold.

Inheritance tax

The inheritance tax thresholds will also remain frozen for a further two years until April 2028. The general nil rate band remains £325,000 (un changed since 2009) and residential nil rate band at £175,000. More fam ilies will get caught in the IHT net and lose more of their inheritance to tax.

Property considerations

The cuts in Stamp Duty Land Tax announced in September in creased the threshold from £125,000 to £250,000 for residen tial property purchases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to £425,000 for first-time buyers. These changes have now been de clared temporary and will end on 31 March 2025.

The Annual Charge for Enveloped Dwellings will be uplifted by 10.1% for the 2023-24 charging period.

ATED is an annual tax typically paid by companies that own UK residen tial property above £500,000.

Looking ahead

With a new Prime Minister, new Chancellor and a fresh budget de signed to tackle the various economic challenges, hopefully these tough measures will achieve the growth and stability the government is aiming for. It will, however, be a difficult winter for many.

With regards taxation, even if tax rates do not go up over the coming years, the fact that so many al lowances and thresholds are frozen will have long-term implications. Getting reliable financial advice is more important than ever.

Tax rates, scope and reliefs may change. Any statements concerning tax ation are based upon our understand ing of current taxation laws and prac tices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; in dividuals should seek personalised ad vice.

Anne Hernandez of Brexpats in Spain International

BREXIT had repercussions for all Brits in Spain, from holidaymakers to resi dents and business own ers to snow birds.

This is why Anne Her nandez MBE, founder of Brexpats in Spain (now Br expats in Spain Interna tional) wanted to create a place to tackle some of that misinformation and help those whose lives and livelihoods had been affected by Brexit.

The Euro Weekly News sat down with Anne to dis cuss the inspiration behind the group which now has more than 40,000 mem

bers what it does, and its plans for the future.

Anne explained: “I came here in 1999 with my mum and daughter.

“My mum used to go to a local social group in Mi jas and over time she would pass queries people had in the group about liv ing in Spain on to me. I ended up with so many I created a Facebook group to help people.

“After my mum died, Brexit happened. I was never political, but I want ed to do something to help and I went to speak to for mer Mijas mayor Juan Car

los Maldonado, who said we should set up a local group, which became Br expats in Mijas. Within a month, we had 1,000 en quiries from across the country, so we made it Br expats in Spain.

“When we first started, we sought experts in dif ferent fields including tax ation, insurance, medical, legal, education, to help tackle misinformation and give people the help they needed.”

After helping expats with issues with every thing from driving licences to residencia, Brexpats has for the last year been cam paigning hard on local vot ing rights for foreigners.

GO LOCAL

She explained: “For many of us, if we’ve been out of the country for 15 years we can’t vote in UK, EU, Spanish national elec tions. For many this will be the only election they can vote in.”

While British residents in Spain will now be able to vote in next year’s local

elections, Anne warned: “You had to have proof of residency at the time of registering. If you don’t, we know that some peo ple are being sent away and told to go to the Na tional Police station to get extra documentation. We have forms to prove you are a permanent resident.

“The problem is the win dow to register is only un til January 15. Keep an eye on the group for updates

as the window is short.”

The group is also now joining together with other international expat groups to push to get the UK’s Votes for Life bill through to secure life long voting rights for expats.

Alongside voting rights, Brexpats is continually in novating and finding ways to bring the expat commu nity together; as well as to tackle some of the biggest issues facing Britons in Spain.

She told the EWN : “Many people can find themselves isolated here, which is why we now have seven groups overall for all sorts of different issues, in cluding a support group.”

The organisation also now has Brexpats Buddies following the tragic death of an elderly expat who was not found for several days.

The WhatsApp group asks members to check in every day before 12pm just with a simple emoji or hello. If not, a local repre senatative will be sent to check if they are in need of help. The initiative has even spawned an offshoot group in Nerja, where lo cals are now meeting reg ularly as a social group.

Speaking about the work of Brexpats in Spain, Anne said: “There are groups to help with all kinds of things. We’re also in regu lar contact with the British Embassy and can pass on your concerns for you.

“If you’re looking for support or information, join us.”

ANNE HERNDANEZ: Created Brexpats in Spain following queries after Brexit.

Credit: Anne Fernandez

No more lords

THE Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to abolish the House of Lords in his first term if he is elected, saying that the institution is inde fensible in its current form.

Speaking to a national news outlet on Mon day, December 5, Starmer said the abolish ment of the House of Lords was one of the rec ommendations contained in the report by Gordon Brown, who he had asked to look at how the economy and British politics could be fixed.

He said: “It’s one of the recommendations, as you know, in today’s report.” The report forms part of Labour’s blueprint for a ‘New Britain’, put together by a commission under the leadership of former Prime Minister Gor don Brown.

When asked directly whether that means the House of Lords will abolished, he replied:

INCREASED strike action on the UK’s rail system was an nounced on, Monday, Decem ber 5. RMT union boss Mick Lynch said additional industrial action will start from 6pm on December 24, and end 6am on December 27.

Speaking at a press confer ence, Mick Lynch stressed that an improved pay offer had not

“Yes, I do.”

Not everyone is sold on the idea, however, with Tory peer Lord Norton urging caution in a recent interview with a national news outlet: “The nation’s got problems, people must come up with constitutional reform because it’s a fairly simple, straightforward proposal, rather than actually getting down to the real issues.”

More action

been presented to his union. This gave them ‘no choice’ but to continue with the industrial action. He described the reject ed offer from the train operat ing Rail Delivery Group as ‘ex tremely detrimental'’

“I am sure the travelling

public will be really disappoint ed, irritated and angry,” he said, while reaffirming the strikes by Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union mem bers for January 2023. The two 48 hour strikes planned for next week will still go ahead.

Parliament could be very different.

• December 8, 3pm, Alma Acoustic Duo Concert, Mirador Muleta, Soller

• December 8, 8pm, 2022 Alternatilla Jazz Festival, Municiple Theatre

• December 8, 12 am, Juan Direction, Shamrock, Palma Mallorca

• December 9, 11.45pm, Mama Kin, Hogan's Live Music, Sports Bar & Restaurant, Palma Mallorca

• December 9, 9pm, Cool Cab and Fluxia, Shamrock, Palma Mallorca

• December 10, 9pm Juliette and the Rockers, Madona, Shamrock, Palma Mallorca

• December 10, 11.45pm, Mama Kin, Hogan's Live Music, Sports Bar & Restaurant, Palma Mallorca

• December 11, 12am, Jaime and Pep, open mic and Jam

• December 12, 12am, Secret Sons, Shamrock, Palma Mallorca

• December 13, 12am, Glasford and The Providence Reggae, Shamrock, Palma Mallorca

• December 14, 12am, Mama Queen, Shamrock, Palma Mallorca

• December 25, Xmas Day Dinner, María 5 Beach Bar, Palma Mallorca

Advertising Feature

Home-made Spanish food

EL GORDITO in Maga luf is the perfect spot to enjoy local, home made Spanish food in a warm and friendly at mosphere with family and friends. Having been open for four months, El Gordito is a family run restaurant where you will be welcomed with open arms to celebrate birth days, private events and spe cial occasions or simply visit to play a game of pool or darts!

Along with their amazing daily offers in cluding their Menu of the Day and ‘Happy Tapas’ on Fridays, you can also enjoy their a la carte menu and wonderful tapas bar. The kitchen creates traditional home made Mediterranean and European cuisine, with authentic dishes that have been adapted to the current time, using the freshest flavours and ingredients.

With Christmas just around the corner, El Gordito is offering an extensive menu at a

Enjoy your Christmas celebrations at the warm and friendly El Gordito!

great price. Book now to enjoy their Christmas menu for two people at just €65, three people for €90, four people for €110, or celebrate the arrival of the New Year with a two person menu for €75, three people for €110 or a group of four for €130.

Owner of El Gordito, Lory, said: “My hus band and I have worked for a year and a half to completely reform El Gordito and make it our own. We wanted to create a family place where you can feel relaxed and happy. Our house is your house and we are waiting for you to enjoy it with us!”

Celebrate any occasion at El Gordito or just pop in to enjoy a drink on their terrace, where you will arrive as strangers, but leave as friends.

Address: Calle Blanc 5, Avenida S’Olivera 11, Edificio Sol Y Vera Telephone: 603 475 360, - Email: elgorditomagaluf@gmail.com Facebook and menu: @elgorditomagaluf

Opening hours: 11am until 11.30pm, Kitchen 1pm until 11pm, Menu of the Day 1pm until 4pm, Friday ‘Happy Tapas’ 7pm until 11pm

Swashbuckling fun

A SAINT who saved Mallor ca from pirates is being cel ebrated in a festival on Sat urday, December 17 at 6pm.

Legend says that Capde pera’s patron saint, Esper

anza the Virgin, saved the population from a pirate attack and is therefore revered in this part of the island. It is said that Esperanza was able to bring down a mysterious fog to

protect the town from a swashbuckling invasion.

This annual fiesta in cludes a popular procession in which the image of the Virgin is carried to the Cas tle of Capdepera from the church as well as an exten sive programme of cultural activities for all the family. The procession lasting ap proximately an hour before the music and celebration takes place in the castle walls.

A solemn mass takes place the following day in the church at 11.00am to bring the festival to a close.

Image – El Gordito

Last judgement

ON Saturday, December 24, an ancient tradition dating back to the middle ages will be marked at mass across Mallorca and is a sight to be hold.

The Cant de la Sibil la is list ed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage event. At midnight a mass will be held across the island in which a woman or child and a chorus perform a song of Gregorian origin while holding an up right sword which they use to draw a cross in front of them. They represent the sibyls singing the prophecy of the Last Judgment.

The Cant de la Sibil la refers to prophecies, the arrival of

the Redeemer and the Last Judgement. The song was reintroduced by King Jaume I after his conquest and is per formed without instruments except for during the pre ludes between each verse and is sung in Catalan.

To witness the Cant de la Sibil la head to La Seu, the

EVERY year, Pueblo Espanol holds a festive market at Christmas time. This unique model village represents some of the most emblem atic buildings and monuments in Spain, its streets and squares an evocative setting for this special event.

This year, the Christmas Market returns to the precincts of the Spanish Village on De cember 17 and 18 and from December 22

magnicifent 14th century Cathedral of Palma, a must visit.

It’s impossible to miss this imposing golden sandstone building: it’s one of Europe’s tallest Gothic structures, perched above Parc de la Mar and a superb sight for those arriving by sea.

Christmas market

until December 29 (except December 25).

Opening times are every day from 10.00am until 8.00pm.

The entrance fee is €11 and includes a glass of hot wine! Children up to four go free!

Pueblo Espanol is less than one kilometre from Palma’s seafront, with free parking.

Twinkling stars

PALMA has switched on its Christmas lights with twin kling stars around palm trees and sparkling baubles lining the main av enues. It sets the scene for Palma’s Christmas markets which provide festive cheer with its smells, flavours and tempting gifts.

Palma city is the capital of the Balearics and the holiday island of Mallorca, offering a memorable holi day experience for both tourists and residents.

The market at Plaza Mayor is usually the first to open and this year will run until January 7. Here you’ll find figurines for the nativi ty, Christmas trees and garlands, candles and arti san toys.

Plaza Espana and La Rambla also fill with stalls selling a tempting array of original goods. Ceramic, glassware, handmade jew ellery and leather bags

demonstrate the creativity and scope of Mallorca’s ar tisan scene.

The aroma of roasted nuts and sweet potato wafts in the air. There are

vans selling churros and chocolate to be eaten from paper cones as you explore the offering of the mar kets, which open every day from 10.00pm until late.

PALMA CATHEDRAL: A superb sight if arriving by sea.

Image: Anna Lurye/Shutterstock.com

Stepping down

FORMER Chancellor and Tory leadership candidate Sajid Javid announced on Friday December 2, that he will step down as an MP at the next general election.

The shocking announce ment from the MP for Bromsgrove in Worcester, on the outskirts of Birming ham, came just hours after the Labour party won a his toric majority in the Chester by elections.

It also came after reports

Arrests made

OFFICERS have arrested a 58 year old Russian busi nessman on suspicion of money laundering, conspir acy to defraud the Home Office and conspiracy to commit perjury.

According to a national news outlet on Saturday, December 3 the National Crime Agency (NCA) arrest ed the unnamed man along with two others be lieved to be co conspira tors. The first is a 35 year old who is believed to have worked in the Russian’s multi million pound home in London and the second a 39 year old was arrested at his home in Pimlico.

Officers pounced after

the 35 year old was seen leaving the home with a bag containing thousands of pounds in cash. He is al so accused of obstructing an officer.

Some 50 officers were involved in the raid under taken by the Combatting Kleptocracy Cell, which re sulted in a large amount of cash and a number of digi tal devices being seized.

The men have since been released on bail and will be required to appear in court at a later date. They are according to the NCA the latest to be target ed in the efforts to disrupt activities of corrupt international business.

that the Conservative party told its MPs to decide their future and declare whether or not they intended to run by Monday December 5 with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson having de clared his intention to stand again for his Uxbridge and South Ruislip con stituency in London.

Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak invoked Star Wars in paying tribute to his ‘good friend’, saying “May the force be with you, Saj”.

Announcing his decision not to stand in the next general election, which is to be held at some point be fore January 2025, the 52 year old said it had been “an incredible privilege” to serve his constituents.

Sweeping the UK

A 12-YEAR-OLD boy from a school in Lewisham, South East London, is the first pupil of secondary school age to die from the Strep A bug that is cur rently sweeping the UK. He is reported to have contracted the more seri ous invasive Group A Strep bacteria which caused blood poisoning.

An illness which usually only causes a mild sore throat and temperature has now claimed the lives of at least six children since September, as con firmed by UK health offi cials.

The previous deaths oc curred in pupils of primary school age. Health chiefs in the UK have urged par ents to be on the alert for symptoms, and to act promptly if they believe their child is affected.

Kids being shut away at home during the pandem ic lockdowns is one factor being blamed in many quarters.

This has subsequently lowered their immune systems, making them more susceptible to infec tions.

SAJID JAVID : Will not run for MP at the next election.

Calvia Mallorca

CALVIA, located on the beautiful island of Mallor ca, is one of the most pop ular destinations for tourists and expatriates to want to either move to or visit for holidays due to its warm climate, stunning white sand beaches, sparkling crystal clear sea, historical value, and abun dance of amenities.

With various beaches to visit all throughout Calvia and more than 10 beaches having been awarded and flying the blue flag for quality from the Founda tion for Environmental Ed ucation.

The beach is the perfect place to go to relax and en joy the sun, sand, and sea while you are visiting.

Go for a walk around the town and experience Calvia in its traditional way. With many of the buildings dating back to the 17th century, the homes are a delightful ochre colour and are well

Supporting local business.

known to the area. The Cruz del Descubrimiento is a beautiful monument to visit with top class views of the coast surrounding you.

Spend time at the port, with the luxurious yachts and boats coming in and out of the harbour, take the day to people watch and shop.

The adventures in Calvia are endless with the per fect spot for hiking on the CR1 Peguera Cap Andritxol Trail. With the trail for all abilities, take the after noon and enjoy what Calvia’s mountains and coasts have to offer. With ideal spots along the coast

Image - Bobex-73/Shutterstock

for snorkelling, enjoy the wildlife and seas, see if you can spot some of the fish from Finding Nemo while snorkelling and discovering the bays.

Another top spot to visit to get your heart rate go ing is Jungle Parc Mallorca. A tree top adventure park with zip lines and climbs for an unforgettable and once in a lifetime experi ence in Calvia. A perfect date or family daytime ac tivity to keep everyone in high spirits.

With various delicious restaurants and exciting clubs, there is no shortage on what to do in the

evenings. One of the best clubs to visit while you are in Calvia is Nikki Beach, this trendsetter club has incredible food, glorious views, the most comfortable cabana beds and day beds to enjoy throughout your stay.

The best restaurants to visit all depend on your taste and what you are hungry for. If tapas, seafood or a real home cooked meal is on your mind here are just a few of the best restaurants to go to while staying in Calvia.

Many bars also serve creative cocktails and tasty small plates, with nights of live music as the sun is set ting on the terrace. This is a must do while in Calvia.

ENJOY everything you are looking for in Calvia, with the added bonus of discount vouchers in your favourite establishments!

People over 16 years of age can easily apply for dis counts at establishments such as restaurants, hair dressers, beauty salons and much more through the win ter months even do your Christmas shopping and re ceive discounts!

The campaign aims to sup port small local businesses in Calvia and is a fantastic eco nomic effort from the town halls.

Sound good? Here is all you need to know about this amazing campaign!

• How does it work and where do I get the vouchers?

Every resident in Calvia can purchase four ‘bonos’ each from the town hall website at a cost of €10, with a value of €20. Check the web page comercio.calvia.com for in formation, but the scheme is now up and running.

• How do I get my vouch ers?

To get the vouchers, regis ter in the Calvia marketplace website comercio.calvia.

Get your shopping discounts in Calvia!!

com, buy the voucher for €10 and exchange it for a value of €20 in shops that accept vouchers.

To apply, you will need to be a resident of Calvia munic ipality and input your ID into the website.

• Where can I use my vouchers?

Many types of establish ments will be involved in the campaign, including veteri nary clinics, health and beau ty shops, cafes, book shops, restaurants, opticians, retail shops, bars and more.

You can find out which shops are taking part by checking on the Calvia mar ketplace website, here in the Euro Weekly News, and es tablishments will also display a fuchsia ‘C’ sticker on their door.

• How do I redeem my vouchers?

To make things easier, no physical vouchers will be is sued, so you will not need to download or print anything.

The voucher will be a QR code that will be shown at participating establishments.

For example, if you get a pedicure costing €20 you will give the business one vouch er, and you will have just paid €10!!!

If you go out for a meal at a participating restaurant and it costs €25, pay with a voucher plus €5, which means the meal has only cost you €15!!

If your neighbour or friend is a resident of Calvia and doesn’t use their vouchers, simply apply with their ID and use them yourself to en

joy the discount!!

These vouchers are limited so make sure you keep checking on the Calvia mar ketplace website to see how many are still available. The vouchers will usually be avail able until January February next year.

Head to the website com ercio.calvia.com, and click on the image to choose your language. We will also be printing some of the busi nesses involved each week in the paper!

Football fraud

THE Ukrainian bid for the 2030 World Cup has been scup pered, as top officials from the country’s football association have been arrested after accu sations of money laundering and fraud.

The President of the Ukraini an Football Association, Andriy Pavelko and the General Sec retary, Yuri Zapisotsky, were arrested on November 29 for the ‘embezzlement’ of nearly €700,000.

The funds were allegedly laundered under the guise of building an artificial grass facto ry, when the officials moved money sent to their associa tion from a company in the UAE without permission.

Pavelko and Zapisotsky are being held on bail following their arrests in Kyiv, and are barred from communicating with witnesses.

Last week as the charges were announced, the Ukraini an Football Association had ac cused investigators of acting on behalf of Russia.

Football experts expect the development to end the coun try’s bid to hold the World Cup in 2030 with Spain and France.

German goal

GERMANY has signed a new 15 year contract with Qatar for a supply of liqui fied natural gas. German in dustrial experts signed the deal with the Gulf nation for approximately two million tonnes of gas, as they rush to reduce dependence on Russian pipelines.

State owned Qatar Ener gy announced the partner ship at the end of Novem ber, saying that supplies would begin from 2026.

American company, ConocoPhillips will be re sponsible for transporting LNG deliveries from Qatar to the German LNG termi

nal at Brunsbüttel.

There have already been mixed reactions to the poli cy, with some saying the de cision undermines Ger many’s criticism of human rights abuses in Qatar and what this means for Ger many’s environmental stance.

In response, German Eco nomic Minister and Green Party Member, Robert Habeck said in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Germany’s de cision to stop relying on Rus sian gas, the country needs to take gas from a variety of energy sources.

Medieval revival

AN ambitious proposal will see a team of French histori ans and designers team up to create a reconstruction of William the Conqueror’s boat that was used by the monarch when he arrived in England in 1066.

The La Mora project was launched at the end of November with a budget of €13 million to recreate the ship.

The vessel was memori alised in the famous Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the events which followed William of Normandy’s arrival in England from France, and the ensuing Battle of Hastings. William of Normandy was victorious during the battle, becoming King William I of England just days later.

The boat was thought to have been a 34 metre long

longship, modelled on Viking longships. An issue that de signers will face is creating a sturdy boat that complies with current seafaring regula tions.

Members of the project want to see the boat sail in time for the anniversary of William the Conqueror’s 1,000th birthday, in 2027. It would then become a tourist attraction.

Electric car ban

THE Swiss government an nounced on, Friday, Decem ber 2, that it will ban electric cars from the country’s roads if the energy crisis worsens. In the event of Switzerland run ning out of energy this winter, then ‘non­essential’ journeys using electric vehicles will be prohibited. Because the coun try is dependent on imports, the government fears there could well be a shortage of en ergy in the coming months.

Around 60 per cent of Swiss energy is generated via hydro electric power stations. Anoth er 30 per cent comes from nu clear facilities but the government is already com mitted to phasing this out as an energy source. Wind farms and traditional fossil fuels pro vide the remainder of Switzer land’s energy.

Although, as statistics show, enough energy is produced annually to keep the lights on,

the fluctuation of the country’s seasons leads to an unpre dictable situation. An excep tionally dry summer in Europe has caused the levels in lakes and rivers to drop, resulting in less energy being generated by the hydro plants as a result. Further measures could in clude sporting facilities and stadiums being forced to shut and Christmas lights being turned off, as reported by a national news outlet.

Purge on plastic

A BLANKET ban on more plastic products is set to advance the European Union’s environmen tal policy. In a new move announced at the end of November, the EU wants to ban plastic prod ucts including disposable cups in restaurants and cafes and mini shampoo bottles in hotels.

The ban is set to fight excess waste in Eu rope, but will need to be approved by the Euro pean Commission as well as EU member states.

Other new measures have also been pro posed, including to introduce compulsory de posit and return points for single use plastic

bottles and metal cans, and a ban on excess packaging on online purchases. The EU also wants to make recycling easier by simplifying the system for the public.

The Executive Vice President for the Euro pean Commission, Frans Timmerman, ex plained the policy, “The way goods are pack aged can and should be done a lot better. Such overpacking is a nuisance to us and is increas ingly damaging to our environment.”

The move follows a 2019 ban from the supranational body on disposable cutlery, straws and coffee stirrers, as packaging waste continues to rise across the continent.

NO CHARGING: If there is a shortage of energy.

Credit: Smile Fight/Shutterstock.com

Betty Henderson

Germany is set to take deliveries of gas from Qatar in a new 15-year contract.

Photo credit: dragancfm / shutterstock.com

Making it on Broadway

BROADWAY is for many people the pinnacle of a career in the atre, but to master that when you come from a disadvantaged background is quite an achieve ment.

Sheldon Epps, speaking exclu sively to Euro Weekly News about his new book, said that the theatre business had and was continuing to evolve both in the USA and abroad.

This he said was in large part being driven by money with the cost of staging a production having risen dramatically, run ning into millions on Broadway and in London’s West End.

That he said meant benefac tors were increasingly difficult to find and those that are still willing to fund productions, need and want to know that their investment is safe and will bring a return.

In that respect he said theatre had become like cinema, but maybe more worrying is that

Speaking about his own ca reer, he said it has taken a de

sire to succeed, hard work, cre ativity and perfection.

But he said it has all been worthwhile with the industry now fully integrated and provid ing more and more opportuni ties for people from all back grounds.

Although staging mainstream theatre had become more cost ly and risk averse, he said there remained many opportunities for other forms of theatre and for exploring new topics. Speak ing about the future he said he will be bringing new, previously uncovered stories to theatres, an area that he said is bursting with opportunity as audiences evolve.

Sheldon’s book ‘My own di rections A black man’s journey in American theatre’ is a must read for its insight into Ameri can culture and for what it takes to be successful in the creative world of theatre and film.

The book is out now and available online, you won’t be disappointed.

Peter McLaren Kennedy

the high costs are pushing top theatre out of the reach of the average person, as ticket prices

rise along with costs.

Sheldon is, however, not daunted by the challenge. As a

black man in an elite world, he has risen to the top and has many awards and successes to his name, including three Tony Award nominations.

SHELDON EPPS: Spoke exclusively to Euro Weekly News.

credit Jonathon White PR

NEW BOOK: An insight into American culture.

PRESS EUROPEAN

DENMARK

Netflix deal

FOLLOWING almost a year of hard negotiation, Netflix has reached an agreement with Danish film and TV producers which will ensure that the global giant will purchase Danish produced productions again after a dispute over payment which has cost the industry some €200 million.

THE NETHERLANDS

Friendly wolf

WOLVES are a protected species in Holland and a court has ruled that a plan by authorities to use paintballs to try to frighten an apparently tame juvenile wolf from approaching humans in the Veluwe national park is unacceptable following an appeal by conservationists.

BELGIUM

Harry Potter

THE Magical Music of Harry Potter tour came to Liège late November and was well received thanks to an exceptional performance by the Ukrainian Khmelnitsky Orchestra and actor Chris Rankin (who played Percy Weasley in the films), who was the presenter and host.

GERMANY

Dearer holidays

GERMANY is likely to become a more expensive destination for tourists from nonEU countries if they book holidays from local travel agents, as from January 1, those operators will have to charge VAT on their invoice and make tax returns in Germany.

FRANCE

Heritage bread

AS French as a man on a bicycle with a string of onions, the baguette, the Eiffel Tower of French bread has gained UNESCO recognition after being named on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage for ‘artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread’.

NORWAY

Not spruce

THE aptly named Richard Wood, British Ambassador to Norway has taken to Twitter to say that this year’s Christmas tree sent to Trafalgar Square was perfect when it left the country in response to criticism by other Twitter users, including Larry the Cat, calling it tatty.

FINLAND

Internet use

INTERNET supplier Valokuitunen Oy commissioned a poll of internet users to see how aware they were of the environmental effects of using the internet and some 70 per cent of those contacted admitted that they hadn’t even thought about it, let alone reduced usage.

IRELAND

Strange reward

A WHISTLEBLOWER who revealed information about Irish Rail eight years ago is still employed by the rail company at a salary of €121,000-a-year, but complains that because his work load has been reduced so much, he spends most of his time reading and eating sandwiches.

ITALY

Leaning Tower

THE iconic landmark in Tuscany, the Leaning Tower of Pisa isn’t leaning as much as it used to according to a new report from the local heritage protection agency. Its tilt was last corrected in 2001 and since then has straightened by four centimetres.

PORTUGAL

Welcoming city

LISBON has been named the second happiest city in the world for expats according to the latest German organisation Internations Expat City Ranking 2022. It came fourth overall when compared to 49 other cities around the world thanks to the welcoming locals, weather, culture and nightlife.

UKRAINE

UK assistance

THE UK and Ukraine have entered into a groundbreaking new Digital Trade Agreement (DTA) that will help Ukraine rebuild its economy. This deal is the second such agreement and follows a decision to cut tariffs on all goods from Ukraine to zero.

SWEDEN

Greta Thunberg

TEENAGE Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg intentionally chose Black Friday to join with more than 600 young environmentalists to bring a class action against the government of Sweden alleging that it has failed in its Constitutional duty to take positive action to tackle climate change.

FINANCE

BUSINESS EXTRA

More jobs

SPAIN’S unemployment fell by 33,512 people in Novem ber to 2,881,380, the lowest figure in a month of Novem ber since 2007 and the main beneficiaries of the drop have been women and young peo ple who have been the two sectors most affected by un employment.

Inflation slows

THE news that Germany, Spain and Belgium reported that inflation in November appeared to be slowing down could be good news for con sumers in the eurozone as apart from anything else, it may well encourage the Euro pean Central Bank to recon sider new interest rate hikes.

Lorry drivers

THE Spanish Ministry of Transport has approved the National Road Transport In spection Plan for 2023, which confirms that carriers work at a fair price, that the driver does not carry out, in general, the loading and unloading of merchandise and receive prompt payment.

HSBC closures

EUROPE’S largest bank by as sets, HSBC, has announced that it will close another 114 branches in the UK starting next April, as customers using them have fallen significantly since the pandemic and whilst it will try to redeploy staff, some 100 will lose their jobs.

Digital success

DIGITAL restaurant Vicio, which was founded in Barcelona by a former Mas terChef winner during the pandemic, offers a range of gourmet burgers with side dishes delivered to cus tomer’s doors and in its first year has generated a turnover of €4 million.

STAT OF WEEK €5 billion

Brexit food bill

BREXIT cost UK households an extra £5.8 billion for food ac cording to a report issued by the Centre for Economic Perfor mance (CEP) at the London School of Economics on Thurs day December 1.

This only covers the period from January 1, 2020 until the end of 2021 and according to the report, this was the equiva lent of £210 per British house hold.

It goes on to say that because low income households spend a greater share of their finances on food than richer families, these Brexit driven price rises had a proportionately greater impact on the poorest people.

The latest study confirms that food prices increased by 6 per cent and finds that for the poor est households, this equates to a Brexit induced rise in the overall cost of living of 1.1 per cent, which is 52 per cent more than the 0.7 per cent rise felt in the top 10 per cent of house holds.

While the Trade and Coopera

tion Agreement, which came in to force in January 2021, en sures that trade between the UK and the EU remains tariff free, post Brexit, there are more non tariff barriers (NTBs) be tween the UK and the EU which include new comprehensive cus toms checks, rules of origin re quirements and sanitary and phytosanitary measures for trade in animals and plants.

The study concludes that it is

these NTBs that have affected prices. The rise in consumer prices was driven only by prod ucts with high NTBs and there was no significant rise in prices for products with low NTBs.

The changes have benefited domestic producers of food, who now have less competition from European imports, but un like regular tariffs, NTBs do not generate any revenue for the government.

Competition for Amazon

WATCH out Amazon, Mi ravia is out to beat you in Spain as the Alibaba sub sidiary opened its website on Thursday December 1.

The unveiling ceremony took place in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid the pre vious day and was a mix ture of hard sell and musical entertainment.

Alibaba is one of China’s biggest online presences and was set up in 1999 to offer a huge range of goods initially to the Chinese mar ket.

Since then, it has gone from strength to strength and is now said to be one of the largest companies in China, but it has fallen foul of US regulations and in or

der to operate in Europe, it needed to be more trans parent and also offer an effi cient speedy service.

Thus, Miravia was born and chose Spain as the first country in which it will oper ate and CEO Yann Fontaine, when speaking at the launch (according to Mar

keting4Commerce), said “Spain is one of the Euro pean markets with the greatest potential in the e commerce sector.

“It has great penetration on the internet and in mo bile technology, which means enormous potential for a platform like Miravia.

“We hope to cover all the needs of Spanish con sumers, while offering local and international brands greater tools to sell and en gage with their customers.”

Apparently, what makes it different to Amazon and other online shopping out lets, is that Miravia will not only be working closely with influencers and Artificial In telligence to create exclu sive content, but will also al low brands to design their own virtual stores and even operate affiliate pro grammes.

Time will tell, but to en courage customers to visit the new site, there will be introductory discounts for new clients.

Diversification

THE John Lewis Partnership has agreed a £500 million multi decade joint venture with global investment company abrdn to de liver around 1,000 new homes across three UK communities.

It will use part of its existing port folio of properties which are no longer in use to provide 1,000 new homes in Bromley and West Ealing where stores will be redeveloped to allow for housing and in Reading it will convert a disused ware house. The build to rent sector has a key role to play in addressing the shortfall in rental homes, which is set to increase further with the government’s help to buy scheme now coming to end and in London alone there is a shortfall of 75,000 rental properties.

Fewer iPhones

WITH consumers around the world gearing up for Christmas and other holidays, Apple Inc continues to appeal to many looking to either buy phones as gifts or hoping to use money given to them to make a purchase. It rather looks howev er that there will be a shortage of iPhones this year as workers at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhouin, China who produce these products have been protesting about their conditions and walking out.

Whilst they have now reported ly been offered a better deal, there is still likely to be a holiday shortfall which consulting firm UBS suggests could total 16 million phones.

ITALIAN energy company Plenti tude is looking to invest €1 billion in Spanish renewable projects over the next four years, according to recently appointed CEO Stefano Goberti.

The first step has been to ac quire 100 per cent of PLT (PLT Ener gia Srl and SEF Srl), another Italian company subject to approval from the relevant authorities which is al ready installing wind farms on the Spanish mainland.

The existence of the European Recovery Fund has seen both Italy and Spain receiving the lion’s share of funding either as direct grants or low cost loans which is allowing ac celerated investment in renewable energy in both countries.

is the amount that energy company Cepsa will be spending using Spanish government Recovery Fund Money to finance a huge hydrogen production project in Andalucia.

SPENDING UP: Food price rises hit every UK household.

3I Group 1.320,50 1.324,50 1.306,50 112,65K

Abrdn 205,31 206,20 201,40 1,97M

Admiral Group 2.031,0 2.037,0 2.018,0 66,12K

Anglo American 3.396,5 3.401,7 3.313,5 81,64K

Antofagasta 1.456,50 1.463,50 1.439,00 177,14K

Ashtead Group 5.034,0 5.044,0 5.006,0 51,38K

Associated British Foods 1.660,0 1.676,0 1.650,5 155,72K

AstraZeneca 11.174,0 11.232,0 11.162,0 190,67K

Auto Trader Group Plc 581,00 581,60 574,00 268,63K

Aveva 3.185,0 3.188,0 3.183,0 50,32K

Aviva 446,25 448,80 442,30 467,68K

B&M European Value Retail SA420,90 422,90 418,30 216,21K

BAE Systems 812,00 815,40 806,00 673,07K

Barclays 158,38 158,42 156,06 4,71M

Barratt Developments 411,80 413,20 405,80 374,45K

Berkeley 3.858,0 3.864,0 3.832,0 41,01K

BHP Group Ltd 2.611,00 2.619,00 2.577,50 340,30K

BP 481,85 482,00 477,40 5,51M

British American Tobacco 3.414,4 3.434,5 3.401,5 257,58K

British Land Company 405,40 406,30 399,00 171,21K

BT Group 121,38 121,65 120,60 1,43M

Bunzl 3.044,0 3.050,0 3.022,0 25,63K

Burberry Group 2.141,0 2.161,0 2.135,0 188,88K

Carnival 713,4 714,2 701,2 210,97K

Centrica 95,58 95,84 94,70 1,36M

Coca Cola HBC AG 1.997,7 2.035,0 1.996,5 77,48K

Compass 1.870,00 1.877,50 1.854,00 223,24K

CRH 3.295,5 3.299,0 3.260,5 65,63K

Croda Intl 6.920,0 6.998,0 6.910,0 15,56K

DCC 4.413,0 4.421,0 4.376,0 14,12K

Diageo 3.810,0 3.850,5 3.809,5 214,13K

DS Smith 308,60 309,20 305,70 386,64K

EasyJet 392,30 399,40 391,50 290,16K

Experian 2.960,0 2.966,7 2.944,0 22,63K

Ferguson 9.590,0 9.620,0 9.501,5 10,24K

Flutter Entertainment 12.105,0 12.125,0 11.985,0 52,23K

Fresnillo 931,47 933,20 900,80 245,39K

Glencore 570,20 571,80 561,70 7,20M

GSK plc 1.405,94 1.413,80 1.403,80 109,63K

Halma 2.244,0 2.258,0 2.221,0 81,56K

Hargreaves Lansdown 867,20 871,20 858,00 216,07K

Hikma Pharma 1.542,00 1.543,00 1.518,00 78,32K

HSBC 499,79 500,49 494,85 328,57K

IAG 133,22 134,30 132,78 1,59M

Imperial Brands 2.108,00 2.117,00 2.090,00 220,19K

Informa 621,60 623,40 619,80 247,52K

InterContinental 4.767,0 4.783,0 4.744,0 35,04K

Intermediate Capital 1.255,50 1.262,50 1.240,00 80,30K

Intertek 4.131,0 4.152,0 4.109,0 42,65K

ITV 77,50 77,58 75,66 1,75M

J Sainsbury 224,40 224,60 220,80 370,25K

Johnson Matthey 2.130,8 2.134,0 2.097,0 30,55K

Land Securities 630,00 630,20 620,00 109,51K

Legal & General 258,70 259,20 253,60 1,34M

Lloyds Banking 46,72 46,84 46,31 8,20M

London Stock Exchange 8.122,0 8.268,0 8.120,0 94,37K

Melrose Industries 126,95 128,55 126,05 1,71M

Mondi 1.555,50 1.560,00 1.542,50 110,28K

National Grid 1.025,27 1.025,50 1.018,00 632,70K

NatWest Group 262,30 262,70 260,30 2,24M

Next 5.877,6 5.886,0 5.824,0 13,16K

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

Ocado 683,80 685,60 663,40 231,25K

Persimmon 1.289,0 1.293,0 1.245,0 229,44K

Phoenix 602,00 602,60 593,40 218,63K

Prudential 1.099,50 1.109,50 1.048,50 2,88M

Reckitt Benckiser 5.976,0 6.040,0 5.970,0 116,68K

Relx 2.329,00 2.335,00 2.313,00 385,77K

Rentokil 540,20 543,40 539,40 570,64K

Rightmove 568,00 568,60 560,74 23,19K

Rio Tinto PLC 5.784,0 5.790,0 5.651,0 497,75K

Rolls-Royce Holdings 89,24 91,07 89,22 4,10M

Sage 796,20 800,40 793,40 168,76K

Samsung Electronics DRC 1.158,00 1.163,50 1.154,00 3,28K Schroders 466,2 467,9 459,9 163,09K

Scottish Mortgage 792,79 796,60 786,00 340,85K

Segro 831,00 832,20 817,00 381,72K

Severn Trent 2.745,0 2.748,0 2.720,0 30,27K

Shell 2.377,0 2.378,5 2.344,0 1,50M

Smith & Nephew 1.086,23 1.093,50 1.079,00 234,07K

Smiths Group 1.592,00 1.594,00 1.582,00 97,58K

Spirax-Sarco Engineering 11.420,0 11.435,9 11.357,8 1,21K SSE 1.729,00 1.730,50 1.718,75 25,74K

St. James’s Place 1.183,50 1.194,00 1.181,00 84,06K

Standard Chartered 596,60 597,20 588,40 545,37K

Taylor Wimpey 105,75 105,90 104,20 1,38M

Tesco 229,95 230,00 227,00 280,77K

Tui 145,51 146,75 144,95 431,47K

Unilever 4.138,0 4.177,0 4.138,0 423,73K

United Utilities 1.053,00 1.053,50 1.048,50 203,67K

Vodafone Group PLC 91,68 93,18 91,04 17,06M Whitbread 2.608,0 2.622,0 2.599,0 47,96K WPP 877,80 879,40 869,40 345,82K

3M 126,99 127,25 1,82M

American Express 156,75 157,28 155,00 2,28M

Amgen 285,51 286,12 283,19 2,25M

Apple 147,81 148,00 145,65 65,30M

Boeing 182,87 183,45 172,85 10,50M

Caterpillar 236,13 238,47 233,59 2,21M

Chevron 181,03 183,63 179,93 6,78M

Cisco 49,70 49,84 48,92 12,31M

Coca-Cola 64,35 64,52 63,40 13,56M

Dow 51,55 51,70 50,43 4,85M

Goldman Sachs 380,58 382,52 378,40 1,92M

Home Depot 327,99 328,48 320,33 3,63M

Honeywell 219,08 219,86 214,72 2,18M

IBM 148,67 149,16 147,73 2,87M

Intel 29,41 29,43 28,71 31,49M

J&J 178,88 178,96 176,96 5,79M

JPMorgan 135,16 135,35 133,34 8,92M

McDonald’s 273,40 273,45 269,62 2,79M

Merck&Co 110,04 110,09 108,71 6,89M

Microsoft 255,02 256,06 249,69 21,33M

Nike 112,20 112,71 108,34 5,87M

Procter&Gamble 150,61 150,77 148,08 4,90M

Salesforce Inc 144,56 145,21 142,78 15,04M

The Travelers 189,54 189,94 187,79 1,28M

UnitedHealth 536,16 538,61 532,44 2,33M

Verizon 38,18 38,30 37,70 21,57M

Visa A 217,66 218,48 214,24 5,13M

Walgreens Boots 41,48 41,63 40,85 4,85M

Walmart 153,22 153,24 151,48 6,88M

Walt Disney 99,43 99,69 97,01 12,60M

Most Advanced

Most Declined

Cracker

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. -11.58% 915,309

Zscaler, Inc. -10.73% 9.665M

Asana, Inc. -10.45% 12.786M

Veeva Systems Inc. -8.63% 2.551M

HF Sinclair Corporation -7.26% 4.431M

PBF Energy Inc. -7.08% 5.982M

CVR Energy, Inc. -7.00% 868,001

CyberArk Software Ltd. -6.96% 446,395

Polestar Automotive Holding UK PLC -6.51% 4.155M

Graham Holdings Company -6.42% 73,694

BUSINESS EXTRA

Genuine leeks

WELSH leeks have become the latest addition to the UK Geographical Indication (GI) Scheme, which protects the name, authenticity and characteristics of regional products. Shoppers will be able to clearly see a logo on the label showing they are buying the real thing,

Dearer mortgages

ALTHOUGH the Spanish government has indicated that it will make the cost of mortgages affordable, de spite increase in base rates, CaixaBank has raised the in terest rate on its 30 year fixed mortgage from 4.31 per cent to 4.79 per cent making it the most expen sive Spanish lender.

New law

MONEY from fines handed out to water companies in the UK that pollute rivers and seas will now be re in vested in schemes that ben efit the natural environ ment. Since 2015, the Environment Agency has concluded 56 prosecutions against companies, gener ating fines of over £141 mil lion.

Primark expands

PRIMARK, the international fashion retailer, has con firmed its commitment to Spain by announcing a capi tal investment of €100 mil lion in its Spanish business. The investment includes €80 million in eight new stores and one store exten sion and €20 million invest ment in upgrades and refur bishments in stores.

Over 1,000 jobs will be created over the next two years as part of the compa ny’s ambitious growth plans in the market.

Primark opened its first store in Spain 16 years ago in May 2006, in Plenilunio, Madrid and today has 56 stores across the country which makes it the second largest market for the Irish group.

Spanish State Deficit

THE Spanish State Deficit contin ues to head in the right direction after being a major bone of con tention with the European Union for many years.

In essence, prudent fiscal poli cy should see a country earn more than it spends on an annu al basis, but this has been a real problem for successive Spanish governments since the 2008 eco nomic crisis.

Clearly the pandemic didn’t help the current position as so much money was spent on sup porting business and families in need, but since 2021, Spain has seen a downwards turn as indus try started to recover after strict lockdown and isolation rules were relaxed.

According to Minister of Fi nance Maria Jesus Montero, in October 2021, the deficit stood at 4.93 per cent of Gross Domes tic Product (GDP) and totalled €59.468 billion, but at the end of October 2022 this had dropped

Comparing the inflation impact

INFLATION, Covid 19, and the Ukraine war have affected consumer behaviour in Eu rope, according to new data.

But there’s good news for people living in Spain, where people are spending less, and saving more, despite record inflation.

To mark World Savings Day, online bank N26 sur veyed customers to find out how Europeans are dealing with the impact of inflation.

The data shows which countries are still spending big on vacations and restau rants, whose incomes are growing, and the changes to spending habits.

Spending data and saving data of over 380,000 con sumers in five European mar kets (Spain, Germany, Aus tria, France, and Italy) were surveyed between January and August 2022.

Despite record inflation, customers in Spain saved the

most between March and August this year. Of all the countries studied, Spain ex perienced the highest infla tion rates overall.

Despite this, customers in Spain increased their savings, on average, from 4.6 per cent (of their average income) in January and February to 7.2 per cent from March on wards a relative increase of 57.2 per cent.

Following the overall EU trend, Spanish users were al so able to save the most in March 11.1 per cent of their

income, or €177.89 on aver age.

Of all the markets studied, customers in Spain have the highest savings ratio overall, setting aside, on average, 6.6 per cent of their income be tween January and August.

Elsewhere in Europe, signs of inflation were especially noticeable in the ‘food and groceries’ and ‘transport and cars’ categories but Spain saw a downward trend with Spaniards spending 1 per cent less of their average in come in this category.

by a significant 69.7 per cent to a much healthier €18.016 billion, equivalent to 1.37 per cent of GDP.

This has mainly been achieved by a combination of a 25 per cent increase in sales of non fi nancial products and a much smaller growth in expenditure of just under 2 per cent.

Tax collections on both pro duction and imports have helped considerably with VAT collec tions rising by 18 per cent in the period under review and Income Tax for both residents and non residents shooting up with tax on dividends making a big contri bution.

As companies earn more, so they pay more and the sale of shares and other assets has added to the amount of Capital Gains Tax being collected as well.

The payments to Spain from the European Recovery Fund have also helped the country to invest for the future.

Toy story

IN 2020, the Spanish government undertook a study into the way that children’s toys were advertised and whether they promoted gender stereotypes.

The conclusion was sufficient for the government to introduce strict new rules, effective December 1 this year, in time for Christmas and Three Kings.

The intention is that adverts should not target girls with traditional toys such as dolls, make up and cook ing, whilst there should be little use of the colour pink which is also associated with young females.

Equally, blue should not be used when promoting traditional boy’s toys, such as cars and similar ‘ma cho’ goods, as the intention is to ensure that young sters feel equal and not directed down one particular road.

Stop bullying

TUC figures show that nearly a third of people (29 per cent) in the UK believe that they have been bullied at work, with more than one in three (36 per cent) leaving their job because of it.

Research by employment and partnership law spe cialists Fox & Partners, reveals the number of cases heard by the Employment Tribunal which contain alle gations of bullying has increased 44 per cent from 581 in 2020/21 to a record high of 835 in 2021/22.

Some of those who claim to have suffered from such bullying are now lobbying MPs and Parliament to have workplace bullying recognised as a crime in UK law as is the case in countries such as Sweden.

President Sánchez with Minister Montero following 2023 Budget approval.

Credit: La Moncloa flickr

SURVEY: Euros real value continues to shrink.

Credit: Alexandra Koch CC

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT Friend and foe

DELIGHTED to not be mentioned in the recent Diana Dors TV documen tary. I knew her extremely well for many years, probably better than anyone. We were very close during her difficult times, when she was struggling to keep her financial head above water, including the upkeep of her two young sons she had organ ised for her ex husband Richard Dawson; also an out of regular work actor, to look after in America. This was of course later rectified, when in 1965 he obtained a starring role in the highly successful series Hogan’s Heroes, but his was also a terrible struggle before he clinched the role. She had engaged a new, fairly low key agent who began to book her in cabaret dates, mainly in the north of England.

This was some years before this ol’ boy cracked it with Little Arrows, so I was free to accompany her to many of these venues, which were spring ing up all over the country. After she had completed the appearance, we would leave for the hotel which she always booked for one! I would sub

sequently then sneak in and share the room for the night. She was earning £100 to £150 an appearance, out of which my share would be around 15 quid. Although that does n’t sound particularly copious, in those far off days it meant I could at least provide my own family with some security.

As a struggling actor myself, I was also discovering showbiz optimisms fraught with difficulty. She would then send most of what she could af ford to her husband in America. This went on for a number of years, dur ing which she occasionally managed to pick up a cameo role in a movie or TV appearance.

We shared some great times, until one day she told me she had been offered a starring role in a new West End play entitled ‘Three months Gone.’ Apparently, she wasn’t sure whether to accept it as she hadn’t been offered a wage, but only a per centage of the door. It was only after I had almost twisted her arm up her back with the insistence that she simply had to take on the role due to

the amount of publicity that could ensue, that she finally accepted.

The show was a resounding suc cess and suddenly she was back, earning really well. Life was good again and our friendship and social life grew even stronger. One day she told me she had met a ‘wonderful man’ named Alan Lake, who was al so appearing in the production, and thought she could be falling in love. She introduced me and frankly, I did n’t like him at all.

A few years later she conspired with him in an injustice, which ulti mately cost me my freedom and al most my career. It’s all in the books. Available on Amazon.

Keep the Faith Love Leapy leapylee2002@gmail.com expatradioscotland.com Mon, Wed, Fri. 1pm.

OIL OR ELECTRIC OUR VIEW

IN order to combat climate change, the perceived view is that the world should ban diesel and petrol engines and re ly on electricity. In theory this seems like a sensible idea, but there are a few problems with this, the foremost currently being the West’s ability to generate electricity and the prob lems that may occur in creating and later disposing of bat teries that will be strong enough to power vehicles.

With the European Union and other countries deciding to place a cap on the value of Russian oil that can be import ed and Russia’s indication that it just won’t supply those countries that implement such a ban, it immediately focus es our attention on how it will affect us.

The USA still has huge underground reserves and allows fracking which rightly or wrongly means it can generate even more oil so it won’t be hurt by the ban.

Some Scandinavian countries generate huge amounts of power using hydroelectrics and Norway of course has both oil and natural gas in abundance, but what of the others?

Already Switzerland has indicated that if it is short of elec tricity then it will seriously consider banning electric vehicles from its roads and other countries are advising owners of electric cars to stagger charging for fear of overloading their electric grids. This is hardly an encouraging start to the ush ering in of a new age of transport, especially when currently the costs of electric cars are higher than petrol or diesel and the vehicles themselves still don’t have the same range and take longer to charge.

At the moment, it seems that the safest way to proceed is with a hybrid vehicle which hopefully gives the best of both worlds.

SINCE moving to the island of Mallorca 37 years ago, Anthony Dunn opened his first business in Portals before selling up and opening AA Dunn in Santa Ponsa.

Over the past 20 years of trading, AA Dunn has be come known as the best butchers in Mallorca to get fresh meat joints, home made cooked meats, sausage rolls, traditional sausages, black pudding, bacon, cheddar cheese, pork pies and other types of meat products that are par ticularly well loved by British expats.

Anthony passed on July 7, 2022 at the age of 77, having built up great rela tionships with his cus tomers through his love of being a butcher and looking after clients. The family has

continued his legacy and still offers customers a wide range of meat products in cluding a huge variety of sausages such as classic Lin colnshire, pork and leek, chilli and garlic, lamb, beef, ginger, spring onion and even gluten free!

With BBQ season now officially over, make this year your best spread yet by getting all of your Christ mas meats from AA Dunn from turkey crowns to a huge range of meats, quali ty cheeses to traditional pork pies, and snacks for

your buffets! Or why not try a different joint of meat this year and pick up a beautiful goose to lovingly roast, or perhaps some gammon or duck to accom pany your potatoes and gravy? If you’re looking for an excellent steak or some succulent lamb to go with your mint sauce, AA Dunn has incredibly fresh New Zealand racks of lamb, black Angus fillets and juicy American rib eye steaks (Australian and Spanish) at a great price, all you need to do is cook them to per fection!

Catering for all require ments and open six days a week, pop into AA Dunn to see (and taste!) their wide variety of quality foods or get in touch to arrange your Christmas orders.

LeapyLee’sopinionsarehisownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

LETTERS

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.

FOUL PLAY

I WAS stopped on the week end by the police for walking my dog along the beach. They said that they could see that I was a responsible dog owner as I had my bottle filled with water and washing up liquid and poo bags so I was sent on my way without any penalty. I do not have a problem with this and applaud them, it is just a shame that there aren’t more areas along the beach which are dog friendly.

David, Costa Blanca

Another con

I’M a long time reader and lover of your column and have emailed you in the past. Might I suggest a commen tary about the fraud that is the man made global warm ing con? Please see https://cli matediscussionnexus.com / for some down to earth facts. Either way, keep up the great work!!

Your fan

Not a supporter

SO Lee is not a supporter of the Conservative party but would support any others apart from Labour. I find this very strange that anyone who is not a supporter of a Tory government chooses to attack week after week the only credible opposition and not the party he purports not to support who are in government, and has never once condemned them.

try is drowning in, these anti Labour rants should be aimed in a different direc tion.

Ramon Osborne, Los Alcázares

Freedom of speech

Kite

His obsession of hate for the left is currently very much in the minority as Labour are miles ahead in the polls. His latest pathetic comment that their new idea of scrapping the House of Lords is a bumbling effort to gain popularity shows how completely out of touch he is as Labour promised this proposal 12 years ago if they ever got back into govern ment. Perhaps as he says the swamp of despair the coun

FULL marks to your newspa per for giving Leapy Lee the freedom to express opinions with which, I believe, most open minded people would agree. It takes courage these days of woke to tell it as it is when, according to the so called rules of today, you should avoid upsetting any one at all costs! Reading the bleeding heart criticism from some of your respondents, I truly wonder which fairy tale planet they presently occupy! Please keep telling it as it re ally is, and is likely to be come, Leapy.

Ken, San Fulgencio

Max

DOG FRIENDLY: It’s just a shame there are not more dog friendly beaches.

Awe-inspiring

SALLY UNDERWOOD POLITICAL ANIMAL

THE first time I ever visited the Houses of Parliament I was going to see my dad in court in the House of Lords (back when it was England and Wales’s highest court and before the Supreme Court we have now).

I bought a pack of colouring pencils with teeny portcullises on before immedi ately leaving them in the chamber, caus ing a minor bomb scare.

There were men in long wigs (“daddy, why’s that man dressed as a spaniel?”), the place seemed mystical and ancient, and everything just felt as if I was part of something… well, big. The half day off school didn’t hurt either.

In short, I fell in love with parliament that day.

Fast forward 14 years and I was once again in the same building for my very first job interview for a researcher posi tion, starting a career that lasted several years.

In that time I can genuinely say that

A ROAD trip is an amazing way to see new places, but how do you go about planning one? Here we share some advice from road trip experts on how to build your ideal camping road trip.

1. Decide on a format

How do you want to travel on your road trip? Do you want to travel in a linear way, going from point A to point B? Or will you travel on a circu lar route, ending up where you be gan? Will you break up the journey by stopping for long periods, or sleep in a different place each night? These questions are a great starting point.

2. Transport

ONE of the best things about camping is getting to enjoy a meal surrounded by nature. But it isn’t always easy to know what to cook once you arrive. If you love cooking but aren’t sure of how you can transfer your skills to a camping trip, we have some top tips for you. Here we bring you a list of three camping staples, so you can have your tastiest trip yet!

• Smoky beans

Take advantage of the rustic camping atmosphere by cooking with smoky bar

however long the hours, however diffi cult the boss or however weird the work (and some of it was pretty weird), I never had a bad day in that extraordinary build ing.

From the very spot where the trial of Charles I took place (one for republicans) to the robing room where every monarch since Queen Victoria has donned the crown we see at the state opening of par liament, every corner of the Houses of Parliament is steeped in awe inspiring history. They also serve some of the best sausage sandwiches around (in one of their approximately 57,000 cafes).

Yes, parliament really is one of the most remarkable buildings in the world.

And better still, it’s all ours.

House of Commons debates are open to members of the public for free and you don’t even need tickets for most of them in advance. You can also book tours.

If you still have UK voting rights and write to your MP, they may even invite you for tea on the terrace.

So whenever you’re next in the UK, please go. You’re unlikely to regret it.

Oh and if you do visit, enjoy a sausage sandwich for me.

DINNER PARTIES FROM HELL

NORAJOHNSON BREAKINGVIEWS

‘VLEATHER, we’re told, is still one of the hottest trends. In other words, vegan clothes made of oil industry plastics, with PVC the world’s third most widely produced syn thetic plastic polymer. Great! That’ll help the climate and the oceans. The irony! No animal died making these clothes, but many will when the clothes are discarded. Plastic particles are killing animals that are choking on the stuff.

Virtue signalling clothes made by peo ple jetting across the world, made in sweat shops by children, like most of the fashion in dustry products. And inevitably, VLeather’s found its way into all the major fast fashion stores. Plastic

Rural road trip

Your choice of vehicle will depend on how far you want to travel, your bud get, how many passengers you have and the weather.

3. Plan ahead

Decide on a method of transport. Will you use a car, a caravan, a van, or even active travel like cycling?

It can be helpful to draw up a list of places you want to visit on your trip such as national parks, beaches or cultural attractions. This can help you to book into campsites or plan con nections if necessary, like a ferry or train tickets for a day trip.

Rustic staples

• Halloumi

Camping is a great excuse to whip out your favourite barbecue recipes. Soak up the delicious barbecue flavours by cooking hallou mi on the grill. Serve up with burgers or in a salad.

•

becue flavours like paprika. Simple black beans are an excellent ingredient to take camping as you can cook them at any time of day. Try

a bean burrito for breakfast or jazz it up with some eggs, sausages and tomatoes for a filling and comforting one pot dinner.

Chorizo

As this Spanish sausage is already cured, it is the per fect camping staple. Cut it into slices for a snack or add pieces to an omelette.

shoes? Just call them vegan and they’ll be fashionable! Just don’t ask about the Greta Footprint...

But let’s get to the meat (sorry, couldn’t resist) of the issue. The problem with veganism (and vege tarianism) is that it seems to turn what simply amounts to a food choice into, basically, a religion. One which apparently requires its adherents to try to make converts of the rest of us in a hu mour free, hectoring fashion with about as much warmth and brio as a dinner party jointly hosted by (pol itics aside) Nicola Sturgeon, Keir Starmer and Theresa May.

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

Carry on camping

AN exciting camping initiative that was launched back in Febru ary this year has made excellent progress and is now set to move to its next stage.

The Spanish Camping Experi ences project is one branch of the Spanish Tourism Experiences Programme which seeks to boost tourist numbers by devel oping strong relationships be tween private and public desti nations in the tourism industry.

The latest stage of the Camp ing Experiences plan was an nounced at the National Camp ing Congress held in November in Gijón. The next phase of the plan has a budget of €400,000, using European Funds to devel op a more sustainable, inclusive and accessible camping policy nationwide.

Here are the key proposals in the plan, which are sure to make camping more accessible to all audiences:

• Designing an online platform to promote and market national camping experiences and devel

oping a stronger social media presence.

• Creating a professional net work of camping industry figures to encourage better collabora tions between accommodation and activity providers and enrich tourism opportunities.

• Developing further experi ences for camping tourists in cluding wine tours, cultural activ ities, cycling trips, and active and nature experiences.

• Promoting year round expe riences to prevent seasonal de pendence on tourism.

• Creating more green camp ing experiences in line with sus tainability goals.

NoraJohnson’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

Noraistheauthorofpopularpsychological suspenseandcrimethrillersandafreelancejournalist.

Nora’s latest thriller.

Sally’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

Betty Henderson

With a road trip you can discover plenty of new places on the move.

The camping industry in Spain is set to become more accessible for 21st century travellers with a new digital policy.

Photo credit: Jose Luis Carrascosa / shutterstock.com

Photo

Beans are the perfect addition to any dish to keep your energy levels up while camping

SUZANNE MANNERS

MY bathroom scales are lying to me. I can’t possibly have put on that much weight. Can I? OK so I stopped swimming and I now walk only sporadically . I eat chocolate, drink Cava and enjoy a full English now and then, but don’t the cherry tomatoes and Rucula make up for that? Doesn’t lettuce cancel the calories in bread? So I lie to my self and say that it must be water weight, not the sausages or the bacon butties.

But where does the water come from I ask? As I once again neglect to drink a litre of the stuff. My clothes feel tighter surely because the humidity has shrunk them over the summer, not because I’ve sprawled on the sofa watching Netflix all day (again!) thrusting sweaty claws into bags of low fat crisps (baked so therefore good for you) and sipping Cava (made from grapes so one of my five a day).

When I get really depressed about weight gain I stop weighing myself, ‘out of sight out of mind’ as they say, unfortunately waist bands do not play along. I like food. Good food, good company and a lovely restaurant are among the greatest plea sures in life. The thought of having to curtail

Water weight

those pleasures because my bathroom scales shakes its supercilious head, rolls its eyes and tuts at me, makes me sad and conversely hungry. It is a known fact that di ets make you hungry and that’s even be fore starting one. Just the thought of dieting makes me reach for the Walkers. The an noying thing is that I know exactly what to do and whose fault it is. I try blaming the thyroid medication or the stress but ulti mately I am fat because I eat too much and too much of the wrong foods. Full stop.

So on a bloody diet I will hop. I will re duce portion size, cut back on the carbs and munch lettuce and cruciferous vegetables until I resemble an angry farting goat.

Wish me luck and a following wind.

Here to help

THE British Benevolent Fund tries to help British nationals in Spain who have found themselves in very difficult financial situations.

Often this is compound ed by difficulties with a challenging social security and health system.

One such case was John.

John lives in rural Spain. He moved there af ter his wife died and en joyed the tranquillity. He quickly settled in, made friends, learned the language and found part time work.

He also registered as an official resident and had a modest income freelanc ing.

On a routine medical check up, they discovered a suspected tumour and needed to do more tests.

As a legal resident he was covered, but he had n’t reckoned with the bu reaucracy and the long

waiting list.

The doc tors ad vised surgery to re move a malignant tu mour close to his spine.

Within weeks the dam age caused to the spine left him with debilitating back pain and mobility is sues. He was soon finding it very difficult to walk.

As an official Spanish resident, he was entitled to healthcare and disabili ty payments.

However, he had to wait nearly six months for the surgery and was un able to work.

His savings were soon depleted.

Local social services contacted the local British Consulate who referred the case to us.

The BBF was able to pay for mobility and a

modest sum to cover liv ing and travel expenses to and from the hospital.

The surgery was a suc cess and John was able to receive disability pay ments.

He wrote to us after ward to say he was back to living a full life and to thank us.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the help you have offered me. After having fallen ill with cancer I was in a very dark place. I now have help from social se curity after a long wait. The BBF lifted a heavy weight.”

John is now working again and, in every sense back on his feet.

Riding high

CASSANDRA NASH

PEDRO SANCHEZ, president of the Spanish government, is riding high on the crest of a wave that has swept him to reassuringly shal low waters and the safe shores of a voted through 2023 Budget.

Sanchez has now heaved and strained to pass three Budgets on the trot since June 2018 when he first entered the Moncloa palace following a vote of no confidence in his beleaguered Partido Popular predecessor, Mariano Rajoy.

Budget approval came at a price, as always happens with political arm twisting, and re quired the support of MPs from 11 different parties.

This gave the PP leader Alberto Nuñez Fei joo, the opportunity of dragging up Basque party Bildu’s past as the political arm of the now extinct, disbanded and decommis sioned ETA terrorist group.

As for the Catalans, the government con cessions were just a few steps short granting them independence, according to the oppo sition, with extreme right wing Vox galloping at their head.

Feijoo, the former, and very successful,

president of the Junta de Galicia, accused Sanchez of giving in to separatist demands. If he had said “nationalist” he would have been nearer the truth, and he was also choosing to forget that those MPs’ 11 parties represented 12 million voters.

And they will come in handy after Sanchez goes to the country in December 2023.

(In)Trans(igent) Law

EQUALITY minister Irene Montero is not having much luck with her hobby horse laws.

First the Sexual Liberty law has retroac tively reduced the sentences of sexual abusers and now the PSOE socialists are re fusing to back her Trans Law unless there are legal safeguards for under 16s who want to transition.

Montero, who represents Podemos in the Unidas Podemos alliance that governs Spain, the PSOE, refuses to budge.

In fact, with an average fortnight’s wait for a primary care appointment in some re gions, many of those gender questioning teenagers will probably be in their 20s and could have changed their minds by the time they actually manage to see a consultant.

Olaf Clayton of BBF.

Suzanne Manners

Suzanne Manners’ opinions are her own and are not necessarily

of those of the

Most popular pets

Betty Henderson CATS are independent, and less de manding and easier to care for, but they can be cold towards people. Dogs are intelligent, affectionate and playful, but they require a lot of attention and time.

Ever wondered how people around the world choose between the popular pets? A new study has revealed the popularity of cats and dogs as pets in each European country, and had some fascinating results.

Cat loving countries: Cats are more popular in more European countries than dogs, with 27 coun tries choosing cats as their favourite pet. Top European coun tries for cats include Italy, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Scandina vian countries, Switzerland, Greece and, Romania.

Dog loving countries: Dogs were the pet of choice in 11 European countries including Spain, the UK,

Ireland, France, Croatia, Serbia, Al bania, and the Czech Republic. So, it looks like cats have the pop ularity vote in Europe. Reasons for the results include factors such as people living in apartments without space to exercise a dog, or working long hours, making cats smarter

choices for a pet. Global data similarly revealed that cats were more popular pets than dogs in 91 countries, with dogs more popular pets in 76 countries. But trends are changing all the time and the debate over which pet is our favourite is far from over!

Puppy power

THE festive period is one of the most popular times of year to get a puppy, but there are several challenges with getting a young pet that are important to keep in mind. Here we share some ad vice from vets on how you can prepare yourself and your home to wel come a puppy, so that the task doesn’t become overwhelming or too dif ficult.

1. Think about space

Getting a puppy is a hugely exciting decision, but it is important to con sider the situation from a

puppy’s perspective as well. Key things to consid er include whether you have a safe and secure space that a puppy isn’t going to run away from or

get stuck in and whether you have enough space for a separate eating and sleeping area.

2. Consider lifestyle Do you have the time

to look after a puppy? Puppies need plenty of social activity, entertain ing, and exercise, as well as training. They also can’t be left alone for long periods. Being able to commit quality time to your puppy is an impor tant factor when deciding about getting a puppy.

3. Puppy proof your home

Puppies can be destruc tive, which can also be harmful for themselves. Move all hazards at a puppy level including electric cords, chemicals, and houseplants.

Pet preening

THE winter brings par ticular challenges for pet owners thanks to wet weather and mud dy puddles. Keeping your pet clean and well groomed is crucial to its overall well being and happiness. Follow these tips from pet lovers to keep your pet having fun while keep ing it clean and healthy.

1.

and can help you to catch shedding hair, as well as helping you to keep your home clean!

2. Tend to paws

Bath your pet

A bath can help your pet to feel refreshed, just as we do after tak ing a bath or shower. Not all breeds love bathing but it is still im portant for your pet’s hygiene and to prevent parasites like ticks go ing unnoticed.

Regular baths can keep your pet’s fur from getting matted

Paws are particularly sensitive to cold weath er, wet surfaces, and fallen leaves. Tending to your pet’s paws with a cloth and some warm water can help you to catch dried or cracked skin, which could end up being painful for your pet if left untreat ed.

3. Brush their fur As well as giving your pet regular baths, brushing their fur is a quick and easy way to keep your pet feeling fresh and clean. A quick daily brush of the fur can keep it looking glossy.

Photo credit: Bachkova Natalia / shutterstock.com

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ROAD TEST

byMarkSlack

AS marques go, few can match Sir William Lyon’s Jaguar, especially when you consider he began building sidecars in Blackpool. In its mod ern incarnation Jaguar is now one of the companies that’s leading the charge to electrification. Their range already encom passes pure electric, plug in hybrid and mild hybrid models, including a mild hybrid diesel power unit.

The lead in XF is the R Dynamic S which is priced from €40,909/£35,100 with a 2.0 litre, four cylin der, mild hybrid diesel power unit. Even in this entry level model Jaguar don’t stint on the standard equipment with adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking and rear cam era, LED lights, auto lights and wipers, auto dimming

Refined with a sporting stance

an eight speed

automatic

I’m a fan of more tradi tional, lighter and arguably more British interior style rather than the dark hues of many modern cars.

Facts at a Glance

• Model: Jaguar XF R-Dynamic S

• Engine: 2.0-litre, turbocharged diesel with mild hybrid assistance developing 204PS Gears: 8-speed automatic

• Price: €40,909/£35,100

• Performance: 0-100 kph (60 mph) 7.1 seconds/Maxi mum Speed 235 kph (146 mph)

• Economy: 4.99l/100km (56.6 mpg) combined driving –WLTP

JAGUAR XF:

This car is a delight and still retains a special feel that some German marques lack.

rear view mirror, powered front seats, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated and powered door mirrors and more. Of course consult the options list to say it’s big is some what of an understate ment and the price can escalate dramatically.

Although only a 2.0 litre,

four cylinder mild hybrid diesel propels the XF past the benchmark 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and returns very decent fuel economy. The XF can also be speci fied with all wheel drive rather than the standard rear wheel drive along with a range of petrol en gines. All the XF range has

Much to their credit Jaguar offer a range of both light and dark interiors at no extra cost.

I criticised the original XE and XF for what I saw as a drop in quality. That has certainly been recti fied and the XF feels like it is back where it belongs on that side of the quality equation. There’s also a lesson for digitisation ob sessives in car design, it doesn’t have to be compli

• Emissions: 131 g/km – WLTP Model tested was UK-specification and equipment lev els and prices may vary in other markets.

cated and can be intuitive, as the XF demonstrates perfectly.

On the road the XF doesn’t disappoint and despite a mere four cylin ders retains a commend ably refined air. With ride options ranging from sport to waft mode it’s a delight and still retains a special feel that some

German marques lack..

On the debit side the XF isn’t that spacious consid ering its size. There are al so still traces of cheaper plastics that should never be allowed inside a Jaguar! Overall though this is a car that acquits itself with considerable aplomb and which can happily park on my drive anytime.

Car friendly countries

A FASCINATING new report has unveiled the best countries in Europe to drive in, and in sev enth place, Spain makes the top 10.

The International Drivers Association com missioned the report which compared driving experiences in 33 European countries along a criteria including fuel prices, quality of roads, traffic rates, and general road safety.

Topping the list was Switzerland, thanks to its low mortality rate from road traffic inci dents, with 1.71 deaths per 100,000 residents, as well as the third highest road quality score,

WINTER is coming, and that means some extra car care is in order! Although Spain doesn’t get as cold as many other countries, common winter issues including low temperatures, frost, and heavy rainfall can take a toll on your car. Here we share some top tips from mechanics on how you can ensure your car runs without a hitch dur ing the winter.

1. Consider parking solu tions

Moving your car to an in door garage is a smart choice during the winter. Inside, your

and a low number of vehicles at just 604 per 100,000, which contributes to low traffic rates.

Switzerland is followed by the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, before Sweden in sixth place and Spain.

Spain came seventh due to a relatively low accident mortality rate at 15 per 100,000 resi dents, and low number of cars at 627 per 100,000 residents. Spain excelled in the road quality indicator, with a score of 5.7, only beat en by Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Aus tria. Spain’s low fuel cost also contributed.

Winter ready

car won’t be exposed to the elements which can speed up the wearing down process of your car. If you can’t store your car indoors, consider a cover which can protect the windshield from frost and stop your engine fluids from freezing, saving you time.

2. Prepare for frost

In the coldest months of January and February, frost can appear in many regions in Spain. Be prepared by stock

ing up on anti freeze and pur chasing a scraper so you can get going in no time!

3. Tyre care

If you live in a mountainous area or plan on travelling to a snowy or icy area, consider switching to winter tyres, or ensuring that you have all seasons tyres ready to go. These tyres are better equipped for wintery weath er, protecting you against acci dents.

Hello hybrid

THE hybrid car market in Europe is bigger than ev er before, with more and more people thinking about switching to elec tric power without the high costs of a fully elec tric vehicle. As more in frastructure goes in across Spain to support the electric transition, hybrid cars are also get ting more affordable. Here we share the three most cost effective hybrids in Spain right now. These three cars all made the category B for sustainability in Spain.

• Renault Clio E Tech

Similarly at the top of the list for affordability is the Clio E Tech, Re nault’s answer for a compact hybrid car. With two separate elec tric motors this car is al so particularly powerful. The car starts at the af

fordable €21,192, mak ing it slightly cheaper the others in this catego ry.

• Toyota Yaris

After becoming a pio neer in the market, Toy ota sits at the top of the list for affordability and efficiency with hybrid cars. The Toyota Yaris hybrid model starts at €21,350 in Spain, which

is one the cheapest on the market for a car of its kind.

• Honda Jazz

The most spacious hy brid making the list is the Honda Jazz. The car has a large fuel tank as well as lengthy electric capability. In Spain, the car starts at €21,950, lower than many compa rable models.

Photo credit: Ground Picture / shutterstock.com

RENAULT CLIO: Their compact hybrid car.

SPAIN’S National Police force launched the second phase of the ‘Coniferous’ operation at the end of November, which was originally launched to in vestigate allegations of match fixing in football leagues in Spain and Gibraltar to facilitate illegal betting.

The indictment of about 20 people is scheduled to be added to the 27 that were al ready being investigated by the Sanlucar de Barrameda’s No4 court in Cadiz Province. The in dividuals face charges of be

Will the lions roar Match-fixing

longing to a criminal organisa tion and corruption among indi viduals in the sports field.

It is believed the network could have manipulated the re sults of more than 30 first, sec ond and third division RFEF matches, as well as games in the Gibraltar National League. A total of €500,000 is estimated to have been profited.

The main focus was report edly placed on active players who could have executed the fixes on the pitch. Various other individuals who sold their per sonal data to the leaders of the group so that they could open accounts with no prior records in different betting operators were also placed under investi gation.

Grand Prix cancelled

NEXT year’s Chinese Grand Prix has been can celled due to continuing strict Covid measures imposed in the country.

The Formula 1 race was due to return to the country’s most populous city of Shanghai in April next year for the first time since 2019, in the fourth round of a record 24 race season.

But Chinese President Xi Jinping’s continu ing zero Covid policy, which has seen the country in perpetual lockdowns since the be ginning of the pandemic, has caused F1 to de cide the race will no longer go ahead.

In a statement released on Friday Decem

ber 2, a spokesperson for Formula 1 said: “Formula 1 can confirm, following dialogue with the promoter and relevant authorities, that the 2023 Chinese Grand Prix will not take place due to the ongoing difficulties presented by the Covid 19 situation.

The cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix, held at the Shanghai International Circuit, re duces next season’s schedule to 23 races still a record number for F1. Meanwhile, the up coming season will also see the debut of a race on the strip in Las Vegas, in the western state of Nevada in the United States.

AFTER an impressive performance against Senegal, England set up a mouthwatering clash against current world champi ons France.

On Saturday, December 10 at 8pm on ITV, Gareth South gate’s England square up against a French side led by arguably the star of the World Cup so far, Kylian Mbappe.

With highly sought after midfielder Jude Bellingham powering the Three Lions with his lung and goals flowing freely among an impressive attacking front line, the clash with France is a must

If England can beat the French, their next match would be on Wednesday, December 14, where they will face either Spain, Morocco, Portugal or Switzerland.

On the other side of the draw, Argentina and Brazil are one match away from setting up a potential ‘clash of the titans’. However, Netherlands and Croatia will be looking to prevent this. In fact, the Netherlands have been one of the surprises of the tournament and will be hoping to cause an upset against Messi’s Argentina on Friday, De cember 9 at 8pm.

Prior to the Netherlands vs Argentina match, Brazil take on a Croatia side fresh off of a dramatic penalty win over Japan. Brazil strolled past South Korea and established themselves as the team to beat.

Croatia will aim to stop Neymar and co when the two sides meet on Friday, December 9 at 4pm.

A semi final between two of the aforementioned four teams will take place on Tuesday, December 13 at 8pm.

The Qatar World Cup final is scheduled for Sunday, Decem ber 18 at 4pm.

ENGLAND: Play their next match against France.