Costa de Almeria 20 – 26 April 2023 Issue 1972

MORE EMPLOYMENT

ALMERIA has reason to celebrate as the region sees an impressive surge in job opportunities. Figures from the first quarter of 2023 were re ‐leased on Tuesday, April 18, showing a whopping 30,808 new permanent contracts were signed in Almeria

The figures represent an increase of 9,798 new jobs compared to the same period last year. The service industry topped the list with 16,183 new contracts, followed by agricul‐ture and fishery industries, with 10,245 contracts signed.

It’s not just the job growth that’s impressive, but the region’s han ‐dling of employment throughout and after the pandemic is similarly reputable. Almeria recorded only 43 workers on temporary layoff, the lowest since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Almeria has come a long way since the pandemic hit, and these employ‐ment figures reflect this. In the past

ALMERIA’S rich culinary scene took centre stage at the prestigious ‘Salón Gourmets’ gastronomy event in Madrid, and it’s all thanks to the 24 com ‐panies of the ‘Sabores Almería’ who showcased their products at the event.

The exhibition, which began on Monday, April 17 is one of the world’s most significant high ‐ end

three years, the SEPE (Public Em ‐ployment Service) has paid out a to‐tal of €122,234,254 to temporarily unemployed people in the region.

This positive news is a testament to the hard work and resilience of the people of Almeria to find jobs in the face of adversity.

Taste of success

food and drinks fairs, and with an advanced luxury cuisine scene, it’s no sur ‐prise that Almeria was one of the main attrac ‐tions.

The event took place at the Cosentino City Madrid facilities on Paseo de la Castellana, where repre ‐

sentatives of the 24 com ‐panies gathered to show‐case their products and creations. Following open‐ing speeches, attendees were treated to a cocktail featuring delicious flavours from Almeria.

The 36th edition of the luxury cuisine event

aimed to highlight the lat‐est trends in the luxury food industry, as well as the challenges facing it. Almeria stepped up to the plate, presenting its own brand, ‘Sabores Almería’ at a spacious stand at the exhibition.

Culinary professionals developed important partnerships at the event that are likely to lead to lucrative business deals.

GOOD NEWS: Employment in Almeria is soaring.

Photo credit: Ground Picture / Shutterstock

Season kicks off

FIVE Los Bandidos runners participated in the first race of the season, Circuito de Carreras Populares Diputacion de Almeria 2023, in Olula del Rio on Saturday, April 15.

The race was advertised as 10 kilometres, but the actual route, which went through the town and along the Via Verde, was just under nine kilometres.

Once again the Los Bandidos ladies came away bandtrophies!

Los Bandidos was set up in June 2018 with a small group running the five-kilometre Mojacar Paseo, and now the group includes road cycling, sea swimming and

triathlon groups.

All ages, nationalities and speeds are welcome, whether permanent residents or holidaymakers.

Los Bandidos are keen to integrate and support the local community and is currently collecting non-perishable food and toiletries for the Red Cross Food Bank.

They are very sociable and most sessions are followed by a post-activity coffee, cake or breakfast, depending on the time of day.

Follow the group on Facebook to keep up-to-date with their latest activities (face book.com/groups/490933409244200).

Rubik’s Championship

ALMERIA has now crowned the new absolute Rubik’s Cube Champion in its second Rubik’s Cube Championship.

The championship brought together 75 cuberos (Rubik’s Cube players) from all over Spain.

Last weekend, April 15 and 16, the test was held in the speciality of ‘Speedcub-

ing’, which consists of solving the Rubik’s Cube in the shortest possible time.

The winner, Carlos Mendez from Huelva, managed to complete the 3x3 puzzle test in an average of 8.79 seconds. Additionally, Carlos took two first places in the Skewb and Square-1 categories and second place in the 3×3 Fewer Moves

category.

Tomas Hidalgo, a member of the Spanish SpeedCubing Association, stated: “We consider that we have left with a very good impression of Almeria and the participants have been very happy with the city.

“We would like to thank the city council for the support it has given us.”

Lucrative Lidl

THE German chain Lidl, which has 14 hypermar ‐kets in the province of Almeria, signed an agree‐ment on Thursday, April 13 with the Almeria‐based company Joisan to build on the commercial plot of 7,000 metres in El Toyo.

Star Flyer

ON Saturday, April 15, the port of Almeria re ‐ceived the first cruise ship of 2023. The cruise ship was the Star Flyer, of the Star Clippers shipping company. The ship has a capacity for 177 passen‐gers plus crew and will in‐augurate the Almeria dock this year.

Direct to Granada

THE train journey from Almeria to Granada will be direct again after the con‐clusion of the works of the interchange that connects with the high‐speed trains. Since last March, passen‐gers have had to change trains and travel by bus between Iznalloz and Granada.

Parking resolved

TORRECARDENAS Hospi‐tal is considering options to solve the parking short‐age. The historical prob‐lem is growing with the in‐crease in population and care services. A multi ‐storey underground car park and a new esplanade on municipal land near the shopping centre are some of the options on the table.

No speeding

ADRA Local Police will car‐ry out a Special Campaign on speed control and surveillance from April 17 to 23. Speeding not only affects road safety but also has a negative influence on the environment, quali‐ty of life and fuel con ‐sumption.

Happy Earth Day

AS we celebrate Earth Day 2023 on Saturday, April 22, we are reminded of the impor‐tance of our collective respon‐sibility in safeguarding our planet.

Earth Day is a global event celebrated annually by more than one billion people to raise awareness about environmen‐tal issues and encourage action to protect the planet. The pur‐pose of Earth Day is simple: to promote a greener, more sus‐tainable future for the planet we call home.

This year, we rally behind the theme of ‘Invest in Our Planet’, which reminds us of the impor‐

ABRUCENA paid its most affectionate tribute to the olive tree on Sunday, April 17, in a celebration which makes olives and olive oil the protagonist (al‐though this year also included a wine tasting).

Homage to the olive

ent stands with local and artisan prod‐ucts, one of the great attractions of this event.

tance of dedicating our time, re‐sources, and energy to solving the climate crisis.

The EWN suggest four ways you can make a difference:

1. Plant a tree.

2. Reduce your plastic con‐sumption. Try the plastic calcu‐lator at: www.earthday.org

3. Plan your own event. Organise a community cleanup, march,or workshop using the Earth Day 2023 Action Toolkit and register your event on the official Earth Day Map.

4. Donate. Support envi‐ronmental campaigns.

Happy Earth Day to all our readers!

healthy breakfast with olive oil as the main ingredient, be‐fore a talk given by Gema Molina, who spoke about the health benefits of olive oil.

STORIES IN THIS WEEK’S

Moors and Christians Mojacar

THE ‘Moors and Christians’ highly anticipated event will take place from June 16 until June 18. This is Mojacar’s biggest festival, and the entire town partic‐ipates along with adopted residents. They divide themselves into various guilds, called cábilas, who parade through the town dressed in colourful cos‐tumes as Arab or Christian soldiers and captains.

The mayor, Ismael Gil Salmeron, was in charge of welcoming all those attend‐ing the event and later toured the differ‐

Throughout the day the village was very busy, which was helped by the good weather.

The Las Chinas restaurant hosted a

Footballer’s day off

FOOTBALL Club UD Almeria managed to sneak a day off on Tuesday, April 18 as they began the week with preparations for Saturday’s fixture on April 22.

Almeria will be playing host to Athletic Club de Bilbao from 4.15pm.

The team were given a day off so they could take a break be‐fore facing a new challenge such as trying to beat Athletic in a bid to take a new step towards First Division safety.

Pozo, who finally did not join the squad list in Madrid due to discomfort experienced during the last training session, as well as Akieme, have trained on the sidelines.

Mendes, who was forced to withdraw against Atletico de Madrid, is currently undergoing medical tests.

UD Almeria ‘B’ keeper Mer and Marciano, who played with the ‘B’ team against UD Torre del Mar on Sunday, April 16, joined the senior players in Monday’s session.

The footballers were back to work training on Wednesday, April 19.

The Lauricius winery’s turn came next, with an explanation of how its wines are made, followed by a tasting for the at‐tendees. This company has been making wine in the traditional way since 1984.

Tapas Championship

ELEVEN brave chefs are set to compete in the very first Almerian Tapas Champi ‐onship.

The winner of the compe‐tition will represent Almeria at Madrid Fusion 2024.

The Provincial Association of Hotel and Catering Busi‐nesses of Almeria (ASHAL) has launched the champi‐onship in order to select its representative in Madrid Fu‐sion 2024 or a similar contest decided by the Spanish Na‐tional Federation of Hotel and Catering Businesses.

All the chefs who are from various establishments in the city will compete against each other on May 15 in the Gastronomic Space of the Central Market Square in Almeria from 5.00pm on ‐wards.

Each contestant will have a maximum of 30 minutes to prepare and plate the tapa in full view of the public.

The jury will evaluate the tapa that best represents the values of the championship, which are none other than to encourage the continuous improvement of the gastro‐nomic offer and to reinforce the concept of Gastronomic Tourism as a differential ele‐ment in Almeria.

The event is held to re‐member the peaceful ne‐gotiated surrender of Mo‐jacar and the surrounding villages to the Christian King at the end of the 15th century. There are no win‐ners, the idea is to support mutual respect between all cultures and religions.

The preparation for this Fiesta is all year long and they combine the public with actors, musicians, horsemen, dancers, and many more to offer the large crowds a colourful spectacle.

Even better, our news online and in print is FREE and we promise to always keep it that way.

REST DAY: Before facing their next challenge.

Image: UD Almeria

Millions of people take environmental action on Earth Day.

Hitting the right notes High figures Nerve

THE tourist season is well and truly underway in Mojacar.

Easter Week generat ‐ed very high occupation figures with 100 per cent full capacity over the Easter Weekend.

Global occupancy fig ‐ures have surpassed the best year recorded pre ‐pandemic in 2019.

Over Easter, Mojacar Municipal Tourist Office dealt with 1,951 en ‐quiries in person at its offices in the village and on the beach, to which must be added hun ‐dreds of phone calls and other indirect enquiries via social media, Google etc.

According to the

records kept by the Mo ‐jacar Council Tourism Department the Easter visitors were mainly na ‐tional, those with the greatest volume being visitors from Madrid at 23 per cent, Valencia at 14 per cent, Andalucia at 7.5 per cent and Cat ‐alonia at 7.3 per cent.

The British market produced figures of 5.5 per cent.

Visitors to Mojacar were able to enjoy not only the beautiful and meaningful processions in an incomparable set ‐ting but also the fantas ‐tic beaches, where a rescue and lifeguard ser ‐vice was provided from April 1 until April 9.

EXCITEMENT is building in Almeria’s music scene thanks to a new collabora‐tive agreement between the council and ‘Crash Music’, a festival organiser and pro‐ducing company. The agree‐ment, announced on Mon‐day, April 17 will promote Almeria as a destination through the Cooltural Fest music festival.

The festival, one of the most important music events in the country, will be used as a platform to showcase the city as a top tourist destination.

‘Crash Music’ announced a new advertising campaign with the slogan ‘En Almeria

la vida te sonríe’ (In Almeria, life smiles at you) which will be available in various forms including billboards, the offi‐cial website, social media, press releases, and posters, as well as on the main stage cover banners.

Additionally, promotional videos provided by the Almería Turística Municipal Company (EMAT) will be shown on the festival’s giant screens during artist changeovers, which are ex‐pected to reach an estimat‐ed audience of 15,000 peo‐ple.

The four‐day music event, which starts on August 17, will take place at different locations across the city, in‐cluding the fairground, the beach, and the city centre. Over 75 artists have been confirmed to perform.

League winners Costa de Almeria

THE woman’s handball team, Costa de Almeria Roquetas, finished first in their group (group D) of the Silver Division of Honour. They finished the league one point above second place BM. Sanse and two points above third place Ikasa Madrid. They will now

go on to the playoffs to be promoted to the Gold Divi‐sion of Honour. After the match coach Agustín Collado praised the team “we got a great prize for the whole season which makes dream‐ing of promotion still possi‐ble. Undoubtedly the objec‐tive has been achieved, we

PROVERB OF THE WEEK

only have to continue to grow and enjoy the opportu‐nity.”

Costa de Almeria Roque‐tas will face the second‐place team from group B Anaita‐suna of Pamplona in the first leg of the playoffs on Satur‐day, April 22 followed by the second leg on April 29.

FROM April 21 to 23

Huercal‐Overa will be‐come the nerve centre of gastronomy and tourism with the celebration of the Degustho Gastro‐nomic Festival and Cara‐vaning.

The two events are ex‐pected to attract numer‐ous visitors from the mu‐nicipality as well as from the region and province, with a wide‐ranging pro‐gramme.

The councillor for Tourism, Belen Martinez, confirmed: “During these three days hundreds of people from different parts of our country will come together, actively participating in the pro‐gramme.”

The main attractions of the programme in‐clude show cooking as well as chocolate work‐shops for children, an Asian cuisine workshop, a cocktail workshop, a gastro stand, exhibitors, food trucks, wines, chil‐dren's entertainment, concerts and DJs.

In addition, attendees can win a weekend in a motorhome.

The Mayor of Almería joins forces with a music company.

Photo credit: Ayuntamiento de Almería

“Each peddler praises his own needles.”

This is a medieval Spanish saying and is used ironically when someone boasts about his own qualities.

IN great tourism news, Easter Week in Almeria reached occu‐pancy peaks of 90 per cent and visits to the Tourist Office in‐creased by more than 31 per cent.

From an economic point of view, hotel occupancy aver‐aged 85 per cent, with peaks of 90 percent throughout the week, according to data collect‐ed by the Association of Hote‐liers of Almeria, (ASHAL).

In addition to the proces‐sions, bars and restaurants have been full, with the conse‐quent satisfaction of the hote‐liers, which will mean an in‐crease in turnover of 5 per cent compared to last year.

In the case of commerce, the Almeria Centro Association af‐

TWO chefs from Almeria, Francisco Ramón Gómez Guerrero and Juan José Grande Berenguer, are in the final of the ‘Cordon Bleu Promis‐es Award’. Both chefs are students from the CPIFP Almeraya School of Hostelry and they will compete against eight other finalists

Busy Easter

EASTER WEEK: Figures described as 10 out of 10.

firmed that “sales have been good, there has been a large in‐flux of people, that we haven’t seen for a long time, similar to what happened last Christmas, and the presence of customers coming from abroad.”

The councillor for Culture,

Diego Cruz, confirmed: “With figures in hand, this year’s Holy Week in Almeria can be de‐scribed as a 10 out of 10, both for its development and for the mobilisation and presence of people in the streets eager to see the processions.”

Cordon Bleu final

from eight different provinces to win the presti‐gious award.

They will have to present their dishes before a profes‐sional jury made up of Michelin‐starred chefs, Abel Valverde one of the best and most awarded maîtres

in Spain, and a team of Le Cor ‐don Bleu chefs from Madrid. The four ‐ hour final will be broadcast live.

The winner and the run‐ner‐up will receive a schol‐arship valued at more than €23,000 and €8,500 respec‐tively. The winner will also win €1,500 in financial aid.

Penultimate round

ON Saturday, April 15, the Al‐munecar Municipal Swimming Pool hosted the penultimate round of the Provincial Winter Swimming Circuit.

The penultimate event of the Winter Swimming Circuit was organised by the Al‐munecar Municipal Sports De‐partment with the collabora‐tion of the Sports Delegation of the Provincial Council of Granada.

Hundreds of swimmers from all over the province of Granada participated in this event.

The best swimmers from the event will be in the final to be held in Armilla on May 5.

Image: Thomas Cristofoletti / Shutterstock.com

ALMERIA’S Beach Plan 2023 starts on May 1.

Almeria City Council has awarded a wave of contracts, of which works will already be evident, with an invest‐ment of almost €200,000.

One of the contracts is for the improvement of the in‐formation totems along the promenades to Cabo de Ga‐ta, at a cost of €45,012.

Their renovation, due to the deterioration caused by their proximity to the sea or acts of vandalism, will be used for the inclusion of a LED‐SOLAR backlighting and electrification system, as well as the new corporate image of Almeria Ciudad.

Another contract, valued

at €47,432, is for the im ‐provement of the 20 toilet modules on the beaches.

The contract also includes the repair of pergolas, plat‐forms and walkways and the improvement of the accessi‐bility of shaded areas on the

beaches of El Palmeral, Costacabana, El Toyo, Reta‐mar and Cabo de Gata.

The sum of €48,098 will be used to repair the lifeguard buildings on the beaches of Cabo de Gata, Retamar and Nueva Almeria.

Beach Plan Los Angeles aid

ALMERIA’S Los Angeles Market is seeking European aid to boost its development.

The city council is asking the government for more than €1m in European funds to modernise the ‘lungs of the neighbourhood’.

With the name given to the project: Reacti‐vation of the Los Angeles Market, commer‐cial lung of a neighbourhood, this market‐place, the second most important in the

municipality, aspires to have a new boost to its modernisation, both the facilities them‐selves and the operation in the sector of tra‐ditional retail markets.

The total budget is €1,467,730, of which €1,174,184 correspond to the aid requested, while the remaining €293,546 would be as‐sumed by the city council if these funds are granted.

Tackling loneliness

THE mayor of Almeria, María del Mar Vázquez, signed an agreement on Monday, April 17 with the Teléfono de la Esperanza (Telephone of Hope) organisation with the aim of improving the quality of life of the elderly.

This is an initiative that offers tools to combat situations of isolation and loneliness through telephone guidance, professional advice, support groups for personal development, workshops and talks.

Vázquez pointed out that the Telephone of Hope “is essential because it does commendable work

and has managed to ensure that these workshops and initiatives are enjoyed by more than 600 people.”

The president of Teléfono de la Esperanza, Isabel Orland, thanked the city council for its support “to reach so many corners

of Almeria and see the tenderness that older people arouse.”

Founded 22 years ago, the organisation is blessed with 40 volunteers who help the emotional health of some of the city’s most vulnerable people.

Fatal hit and run

A MAN who fled the accident but was located on the same day, Sunday, April 16, has been ar‐rested for the fatal hit and run of a 69‐year‐old British cyclist in Turre.

The accident occurred at the entrance to Turre.

According to sources of the investigation, the alleged perpetrator of the hit‐and‐run was ar‐rested shortly after he collided with a 69‐year‐old British cyclist causing his death, after which he fled.

The driver has been charged with the of‐fences of reckless homicide and leaving the scene of an accident.

Lion’s Den

ONCE again, it’s time to en‐ter the Lion’s Den as the Vera and District Lions Club hosts its fourth Party in the Park on Sunday April 30.

Running from noon to 6.30pm at El Palmeral Park tickets cost just €10 per person (although those un‐der 12 will be admitted free).

This promises to be an ‐other huge fun packed day suitable for all ages with various musical artistes, stalls, food and tea rooms open for all to enjoy.

Tickets are available now by sending a WhatsApp to Jackie on 642 829 269, call‐ing Zoe on 639 036 051 or by visiting the Lions shop in Turre.

The events occurred at 10.30am at kilometre point 0.950 of the AL‐6113 road in Turre, a few metres from the Levante Fire Station.

On Monday, April 17, the arrested man, of Spanish nationality, was taken to court in Vera.

Mojacar Marathon

MOJACAR Town Hall and C A Nogalte has organised a Marathon that takes place on Saturday, April 22 from 6pm on the Paseo del Mediterraneo.

There will be four different types of marathons dur ‐ing the event, a 10km and 5km race, a half marathon on rollerblades, and a children’s marathon. All partici‐pants must be registered and there are various inscrip‐tion fees. You can register on the website alcanza tumeta.es.

Museum of Tales

THE Casa de la Cultura is holding a special event aimed at children from April 17 until April 28. It is the sixth edition of their ‘Museo De Los Cuentos’ ( Muse ‐um of Tales ) event, an activity that invites children to read. They use these storytelling events to encourage their interest to read and to stimulate their imagina ‐tion. The children from the local schools will partici ‐pate in this event but it is open to all members of the public.

TELEPHONE OF HOPE: Signing of the agreement.

Credit: Almeria Council

Man arrested.

Image: pinholeimaging / Shutterstock.com

Griezmann denies Almeria

ATLÉTICO MADRID’S An‐toine Griezmann dazzled at home in the Metropolitano Stadium against Almeria on Sunday, April 16 in a 2‐1 vic‐tory. Making it Atlético Madrid’s 13th consecutive win creating a new record in La Liga.

Almeria, who before this game were unbeaten in three, are still two points above the relegation zone after their defeat. They will have to turn things around quickly and get another win if they want to stay out of the relegation zone.

It won’t be an easy task as they face Athletic Club Bil‐bao next, followed by a trip to Getafe and then Real Madrid.

Griezmann scored both goals against Almeria with assists from Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco. Alme‐ria’s goal came from some good attacking play but was registered as an own goal as it was diverted in by the

Beach art

THE rescue and lifeguard modules on the beaches of Mojacar are coming to life thanks to the artists who, commis‐sioned by Mojacar Council, have man‐aged to bring the seabed and its most emblematic species to life.

At the moment whales are the main subject of the first set of work found on the Piedra Villazar beach in front of the Parador.

Over the next few days, works will be completed on the Venta del Bancal beach in front of the Hotel Indalo and another on Lance beach.

All the works have themes of the sea and its inhabitants.

Maria Angeles ‘Maki’, a photographer specialising in cultural events, and Nico‐las Rodriguez, have the job of adding beauty and a life of their own to the new rescue and lifeguard modules, a beauty and spectacularity which does

As you can expect it was a physical battle and there were some controver‐sial decisions with Almeria convinced they should have had two penalties toward the end of the match.

not go unnoticed by bathers or passers‐by.

This project is a Mojacar Council ini‐tiative that highlights the artistic charac‐ter of the locality, evident in all corners of the municipality.

The beach art is complemented by characteristics of the beaches and ser‐vices which every year the local council improves, supplements and updates.

Spam calls in Spain

ARE you fed up of receiving unwanted spam calls?

To avoid receiving advertising from entities or companies in Spain to which you have not given your express consent, you can register on the Robinson list at: https://www.listarobinson.es/

If an entity or business wishes to send you personalised advertising and you have not given your express consent to do so, it is legally obliged to consult the Robinson List and, if you have registered, it will not be able to send you the advertising.

The Robinson List Service allows you, easily and free of charge, to avoid advertising from companies to which you have not given your consent to receive advertising. It works

for telephone, postal mail, email and SMS/MMS advertising.

Anyone may register for the Robinson List service, voluntarily and free of charge. In the case of children under 14 years of age, parents or guardians must register on their behalf.

This service is protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD) and allows for quick and free registration with the aim of reducing the reception of commercial communications (calls, SMS, post and email).

Two months after registration, if you continue to receive advertising, you can file a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency.

Atlético defender Jose Maria Gimenez.

Almeria battled it out against Atlético Madrid.

Photo credit: UD Almeria official Facebook page

ON THE BEACH: Modules coming to life.

Image: Mojacar Town Hall

Unmanned aircraft patrol

THE Mossos

d’Esquadra is to de ‐ploy an unmanned air ‐craft to monitor mari ‐huana plantations, train lines and other critical areas across Catalonia.

The Mossos

d’Esquadra will strengthen its Drone Unit with a new de ‐vice, an unmanned, drone‐style, fixed‐wing aircraft.

This new aircraft will be used to patrol criti ‐cal areas such as the AVE train lines, the coastline, and also in water areas to prevent marihuana planta ‐tions, which are often connected to rivers and ponds, due to the need for constant irri ‐gation.

According to a news

source on Thursday, April 13, this unit, made up of a dozen of ‐ficers and pilots works throughout the territo‐ry of Catalonia, as it’s expected to further ex ‐pand its operational capacity.

Officials have now started a process to is ‐sue tenders in order to purchase this fixed ‐wing drone.

Police in Spain have decided to start using these drones due to shortcomings in the present multi‐rotor de‐vices that they use.

Coastal patrols can also be planned to de ‐tect and anticipate dangerous situations such weather phenom‐ena or potential waste spills at sea or on the banks of rivers.

THE British embassy in Spain has issued an appeal to search for the most wanted criminals in the UK, who are believed to be living in Spain.

The list includes seven criminals, who are believed to be living in different parts of Spain.

This includes Asim Naveed, who has been ac‐cused of supplying “Class A drugs”.

The second fugitive is named Mark Francis Roberts, who has been ac‐cused of “grievous bodily harm”.

The third fugitive is named John James Jones and is wanted for “grievous bodily harm” as well.

Calvin Parris from Cardiff is the fourth fugitive, want‐ed for “supplying Class A drugs”.

Callum Michael Alan is the fifth fugitive, who is accused of “trafficking in controlled drugs”.

CrimeStoppers stated that he is wanted for “supply of cocaine and possession with intent to supply heroin”.

Jack Mayle is the sixth fugitive and is wanted for

UK’s MOST WANTED

“supply of MDMA, Methy‐phenidate (a pharmaceuti‐cal drug) and diazepam”, as per CrimeStoppers.

Alex Male is the seventh fugitive, who is wanted for “supply of Class A drugs”.

CrimeStoppers states “anyone with information about any of the men is urged to call anonymously on 0800 555 111, while callers in Spain should call the freephone number 900 926 111, which will be an‐swered by CrimeStoppers in the UK.

Warning of drug shortages

THE Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Prod‐ucts (AEMPS), which reports to the Ministry of Health, has re‐ported supply problems with medicine used in the treat‐ment of severe hypertension. Specifically, it is the drug ‘Loniten 10 mg tablets, 30 tablets’, from the company Pfizer.

According to the AEMPS, this drug will have until at least July 1, a ‘controlled distribution’ through the Medicines in Spe‐

cial Situations Service due to the fact that there are ‘limited units’ currently available in pharma‐cies throughout Spain.

Loniten belongs to a group of medicines called vasodilators. It is used for the treatment of very high blood pressure or se‐vere hypertension.

Currently, the AEMPS lists on its website problems with the shortages of around 750 differ‐ent medicines. The AEMPS is responsible for ensuring no pa‐tient’s treatment is interrupted.

Largest man-made beach

THE construction of the largest artificial beach in Europe is nearing completion. Alovera Beach is being developed in the municipality of Alovera, in the province of Guadalajara, only 50 km along the A­2 from Madrid. It is expected to be open for the summer of 2023.

The project has the initial approval of the government of Castilla­La Mancha.

According to the calculations, between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors are expected to visit the attraction annually.

There will be an initial entrance fee of around €10 per person with separate charges inside the facility for the use of its activities. Grupo Rayet shares the project with Crystal Lagoons, a firm specialising in the construction of artificial beaches all over the world.

The complex will include a large car park, areas for water sports such as sailing and surfing, children’s pools, zip lines, and various restaurants.

More than 300 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created in Alovera Beach.

Teenager hit at crossing

A TEENAGER was rushed to hospital after he was run over by a vehicle at a pedestrian crossing in Las Tablas, located in the neighbourhood of Valverde, in the district of Fuencarral­El Pardo, Madrid.

According to official reports, cited by a news source, SamurProtección Civil medics received a call about the incident and rushed to Calle Quintanavides. Emergency services said that after arriving on the scene, they discovered that the boy had suffered from a traumatic brain injury.

The medical staff intubated the injured boy, and he was rushed to Hospital Niño Jesús in a serious condition. Meanwhile, an investigation has been started by the Madrid Municipal Police after the incident.

Nine million sterile males released

THE Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition announced that it will increase the release of male tiger mosquitoes this year to nine million specimens.

This is part of a pilot project of biological control through the Sterile Insect Technique (TIE) that the government department has been promoting since 2017 in the Ribera Baixa region of Valencia.

In previous years, this technique has reportedly managed to reduce the population of tiger mosquitoes by up to 75 per cent.

Eight million insects were released in the Ribera Baixa in 2022. The release of sterile males was resumed at the end of February in this new sea­

son in order to anticipate the appearance of the first wild individuals, which usually occurs in springtime.

The Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is a method of biological pest control that consists of the mass breeding of male insects of the same species that are intended to be combated. They are sterilised by irradiation and subsequently released in the area of action.

These sterile males mate with wild females, which causes the eggs they produce to be inviable. As a result, no offspring are produced, resulting in reduced levels of the pest.

This is the same technique that the department has used in the past in the fight against the Mediterranean fly in citrus fruits.

Construction is nearing completion.

Credit Alovera Beach

Roaring into action

Betty Henderson

SPAIN played a pivotal role in pressuring Germany to authorise the delivery of Leopard combat tanks to Ukraine. The revelation was made by the Ukrainian Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov during a press conference held in Madrid with his Spanish counterpart, Margarita Robles, on Wednesday, April 12.

Reznikov revealed he had spoken to Robles privately about the need for the tanks earlier this year. Robles informed him Spain could not authorise the delivery without

Spain’s Defence Minister has met with Ukrainian defence representatives several times in recent months.

Germany’s approval, as they manufactured the tanks. However, Robles offered to allow Ukraine to use the Leopard 2E tanks deployed in

THE former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, is making a surprise return to Spain, without seeking permission from the Zarzuela Palace. Sources close to the monarchs claim that he not only failed to ask for permission to travel, but also did not inform the Royal Palace of his intentions until a date for the visit was announced on Thursday, April 13.

His decision to return has raised eyebrows and has been seen by some as a snub to his son Felipe VI. The pair had a four hour conversation on the subject last year, which led to the cancellation of a previous trip.

Latvia for training Ukrainian soldiers. The German Defence Ministry subsequently authorised the delivery of 18 Leopard tanks to Ukraine, following Spain’s offer.

Spain is currently finalising training for operatives on the first six tanks that will be sent to the front. During the press conference, Reznikov also requested Spain’s help in enhancing Ukraine’s military abilities, including resources like drones and aircraft to support the Ukrainian navy in protecting its national territory and maritime interests.

Royal snub

Despite ongoing legal investigations, there have been no new developments that would warrant further investigations into the former king's finances or evidence of any other tax violations.

Despite his return to Spain, Juan Carlos I is now registered fiscally in the United Arab Emirates, where he has been living for over two years.

EXCLUSIVE

Legendary musician talks to Euro Weekly News

IT was some 60 years ago that a young Paul Jones hit the limelight as the singer for the hugely successful Manfred Mann group and he is still singing today.

Things have changed in one particular way for Paul and his wife of 38 years, singer and actress Fiona Hendley ­ Jones and the pair, who are now commit ted Christians are travelling to Denia in Costa Blanca to entertain and share their Christian testimony.

Entitled Story and Song Hear how faith in God has changed our lives they will be appearing at 7pm on Sat urday April 29 at the Evan gelical Church Bautista de Denia, Calle Erminta de Santa Maria 13, Denia Montgo.

The event will see the couple performing a number of songs, some of which are from their album

Personal and they will of course speak about how they came to Christianity and how it has guided their way of life.

Paul is not a regular visitor to Spain and was last over when the Manfreds (a band made up of some close friends and former band mates) performed a spectacular concert at Benidorm Palace last year and he received a handwritten note from Brenda Muckley asking him about his faith.

It was after several exchanges that Paul and Fiona agreed to come over and not only entertain but promote their view of Christianity.

Many years ago, the then atheist Paul, who formed the Blues Band (which released some 20 albums) and also became an actor, songwriter and BBC DJ appeared on a TV discussion show with Cliff Richard who was encouraging people to welcome evangelist Billy Graham to the UK.

In his own words Paul explained “Looking back I was quite unkind to Cliff about his religious beliefs and I wasn’t a fan of his music but he was very generous and never turned his back on me.”

Several years later, Paul received a call from Cliff asking him and Fiona to at­

tend a presentation at the White City Stadium in London being hosted by Argentine evangelist Luis Palau with the promise of a good meal afterwards if they attended.

Attend they did and during the event “we both shed tears of joy at the positivity of the entire evening and it was then that we both gave our lives to Jesus!”

Now 81, Paul who now admits to being a fan of Sir Cliff, doesn’t believe that age should ever be a barrier and said “I intend to live to at least 120.”

His first musical love, the Blues, attracted many young musicians in the 60s because it came from a poor working class African American centre and many saw the Blues as a major artistic achievement.

Whilst not accepting for a moment that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in order to become a great guitar player, he now recognises that there can be a darker side to some parts of the music which should not be ignored.

Whatever happens, Paul still relishes being a musician and recently played with the Manfreds on a Caribbean Cruise and continues to sing and play his harmonica with the band as regularly as possible.

Paul and Fiona will visit Denia.

Credit: Paul Jones

Never forgotten

THE Hillsborough disaster will never be forgotten, as Liverpool players and staff remembered the 97 sup ‐porters who lost their lives that day.

Saturday, April 15, was ex‐actly 34 years to the day when the tragedy took place during the FA Cup semi‐final against Nottingham Forest.

And on Saturday the

Arrests at Grand National Royal quiche feast

whole of Liverpool FC held a minute’s silence in respect‐ful memory of the children, women and men who died as a result of the events that happened that day in Hills‐borough, as reported by Liv‐erpoolfc.com.

Visits to the Hillsborough Memorial at Anfield were made by club officials, man‐agers and players from the men’s, women’s and Acade‐my squads to lay wreaths and pay their respects.

On Sunday, April 9, at Liv‐erpool’s match against Arse‐nal, the stadium held a minute’s silence before kick‐off and the Kop displayed a mosaic showing the Eternal Flames along with the num‐ber 97.

Tributes were displayed on LED boards around the pitch, while the team played wearing black armbands as a mark of respect, and fans bought special edition matchday programmes commemorating the tragedy.

Betty Henderson

KING CHARLES and Camilla have chosen a mouth‐wa‐tering dish as the signature dish for their upcoming coronation ‐ the ‘coronation quiche’! The pair hope the dish will be enjoyed at street parties on Saturday, May 6 to celebrate their big day.

Their regal recipe was published on Royal Family social media on Monday, April 17 and features spinach, broad beans, cheese, and tarragon, and can be served hot or cold.

The delectable dish is per‐fect for sharing, and suits dif‐ferent dietary requirements.

The King and Queen Con‐

sort chose this dish because it’s not too complicated or costly to make, and can be adapted to different tastes. The recipe was created by royal chef, Mark Flanagan, who was even caught on video preparing the dish.

The dish was released as part of the Royal Family’s ‘Big Lunch’ initiative which is a chance for communities to come together and cele‐brate occasions. Camilla has been a patron of the initia‐tive since 2013, and has at‐tended Big Lunches across the UK and beyond.

This dish follows in the footsteps of other royal sig‐nature dishes.

FOLLOWING threats from radical animal rights activists, police arrested three people at the Grand National which was held on Saturday April 15.

The newly named Animal Rising group planned their ‘biggest action yet’ at the Grand National, vowing to ‘end horseracing’ reported a news source.

Well‐briefed police arrested two women aged 33 and 25 and a man.

The 33‐year‐old unnamed London woman was arrested in Greater Manchester and charged with suspicion of con‐spiracy to cause a public nui‐sance in regard to the planned coordinated protests at Ain‐tree.

Meanwhile at Aintree, a man and a 25‐year‐old woman from London were detained outside the racecourse also on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance.

An Animal Rising, volunteer Dora Hargitai, 37, said, “I do be‐lieve we can have non‐violence on both sides. The race has to stop. Today and forever.”

A coronation quiche is King Charles III’s signature dish.

Photo credit: royal.uk

Bear hunt intensifies Taiwan tensions

Betty Henderson

ITALIAN authorities are still in pursuit of a bear that viciously attacked and killed a 26 ­ year ­ old jogger, Andrea Papi, in Trentino ­ Alto Adige last week. Dubbed JJ4 by experts, the bear was identified through genetic testing as the same one that attacked a father and son in June 2020.

The tragic event has sparked grief and mourning across the region, with hundreds of locals attending Andrea’s funeral on Wednesday, April 12. Andrea was a keen athlete and loved the outdoors, according to his girlfriend who shared a heartbreaking tribute on Instagram.

The provincial government ordered the killing of the female bear last year, but a court overturned the decision. This time, however, authori ­

ties have decided to euthanise the bear. “We are doing everything we can to locate the bear and ensure the safety of local residents,” said Maurizio Fugatti, the President of Trentino province.

The attack has rekindled the debate about the coexistence of humans and wildlife in the region. Despite being a protected species, bears pose a risk to human safety, especially in resi­

dential areas. Locals are also calling for changes to a plan to reintroduce brown bears in the Alps.

THE French President, Emmanuel Macron, caused a stir with his recent comments about Taiwan. Macron declared that France should not be caught in the middle of a conflict between the US and China over the weekend.

He stood by the comments during a press conference in the Netherlands on Wednesday, April 12, insisting that being a US ally did not mean being a “vassal”, and that France had the right to think for itself.

While his comments have been met with criti­

cism from politicians on both sides of the Atlantic, Macron stands by his words, asserting that nothing has changed in France’s support for the “status quo” in Taiwan.

However, his remarks have left some analysts feeling puzzled, as they suggest the US is to blame for rising tensions over Taiwan, making it difficult for the EU to take a hardline with Beijing.

Flight averts disaster

DUBLIN airport was the scene of a near disaster on Thursday April 13 as a passenger plane was forced into an emergency landing, just minutes into the flight. En route to Chicago, Aer Lingus Flight EI123, had to make an emergency landing after a flock of pigeons was sucked into the aircraft’s engine, according to a news source.

The aircraft took off from Dublin Airport at

around 11.30am but just 15 minutes into the flight it had no option but to turn around. The first sign of trouble was when passengers noticed the plane start to vibrate.

Video footage taken by those on board showed the plane getting up to speed on the runway, but landing soon after with emergency vehicles rushing toward them.

Andrea was an avid runner and loved the great outdoors.

Photo credit: Andrea Papi (via Instagram)

75% of the world population consume meat or by-products.

Back to his roots

Betty Henderson

THE President of the United States arrived in Dublin on Wednesday, April 12, but it’s his visit to his ancestral roots that stole the headlines.

Joe Biden, a proud Irish‐American, returned to the land of his forefathers, and the Irish rolled out the green car‐pet for him. Crowds lined the streets of Carlingford in Coun‐ty Louth, where Biden’s great‐great‐grandfather Owen Finnegan once lived, to catch a glimpse of the presidential

open arms. Biden also met with distant relatives in the Cooley Peninsula, where he visited ancestors’ graves.

But it wasn’t just a personal visit. Biden met with political leaders in Northern Ireland before crossing the border and called for the restoration of the power‐sharing govern‐ment at Stormont.

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motorcade. Heavy rain could‐n’t dampen the enthusiasm of the locals, who welcomed their long‐lost relative with

And he made time for a joke too, telling embassy staff he couldn’t qualify to be a cop, firefighter, or priest, so “here I am.”

Private jet from Portugal

A LUCKY air passenger was left in astonish‐ment when he realised he was the only pas‐senger on board a scheduled Jet2 flight.

As reported in a news outlet, Paul Wilkin‐son, 65, from St Annes, Lancashire arrived at Faro airport in Portugal on March 30, only to be informed that he was the only passen‐ger. Hailed as a ‘king’ by Jet2 staff, Paul was literally treated to a luxury private jet experi‐ence.

On arriving at the airport, Paul’s initial re‐action was panic when he got to the depar‐

ture gate with no queue in sight. Asked if the flight had been delayed or cancelled, air‐port staff told him that he was their VIP guest.

He said "The service was second to none. They did a one‐on‐one safety demonstra‐tion; we took photographs, and the captain came out and spoke to me.

Paul paid £130 for the three‐hour flight, and had three cabin crew at his 'beck and call'. He added, "It was like being on my own private jet.”

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President Biden thanked Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for the welcome.

Photo credit: President Joe Biden (via Facebook)

PRESS EUROPEAN

DENMARK

Staying home

QUEEN MARGRETHE of Denmark, 82, who recently underwent major back surgery, will not attend her grandson’s Confirmation in Paris next month. She will also miss the coronation of her distant relative King Charles III on May 6, but will be represented by Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary.

THE NETHERLANDS

Their choice

ACCORDING to Statistics Netherlands, (CBS) 8,720 requests for euthanasia were approved last year, revealing that 5 per cent of recorded deaths were the result of legally assisted dying 2022. Euthanasia in the Netherlands is allowed only when requested by the patient, not their family or friends.

BELGIUM

Flying high

FIVE US paratroopers were stuck in a tree during a training exercise at the Hechtel-Eksel military base in Limburg province. Two were soon freed using a ladder lorry, but three others who were too high up in the tree had to wait for firefighters using specialist treeclimbing equipment.

GERMANY

Shut down

GERMANY has abandoned nuclear power, taking the last three plants off its national grid after the government decided not to keep them operative. Two thirds of the population opposed the shutdown and advocates of nuclear technology argued that abandoning it was “premature.”

FRANCE

On watch

A 2013-2017 survey by France’s public health service found that two-year-olds spent 56 minutes a day in front of a screen, increasing to 80 minutes by the time they were threeand-a-half. The survey also found that 13.7 per cent of parents admitted ignoring recommendations restricting screen time.

NORWAY

On their way

MORE than 30 Norwegian billionaires and multimillionaires left Norway in 2022 after the wealth tax rose by 1.1 per cent, the Dagens Naeringsliv newspaper reported. This was more than the total number of super-rich people who left Norway during the previous 13 years, the newspaper said.

FINLAND

Name-calling

AS in 2021, Olivia and Leo were the first names most often chosen for the country’s Finnish-speaking children in 2022. “There has been little variation in names in recent years, and traditional names continue to be the most popular,” Finland’s Digital and Population Data Services Agency said.

IRELAND Bard on display

THE only copy in Ireland of the first edition of William Shakespeare’s collected plays has been put on public display, 400 years after it was published, at Trinity College Dublin. The exhibition can be visited in the Long Room of the Old Library at the college until June.

ITALY

Deadly attack

A BEAR that killed 26-year-old Andrea Papi earlier this month while jogging in woods close to his home in Caldes in northern Italy, has been identified as a 17-year-old female that had previously attacked two people. Papi was the first person to die in a bear attack in modern times.

PORTUGAL

Money spinners

A TOTAL of 59,470 Portuguese families declared incomes of more than €100,000 a year in 2021, a 14 per cent increase on 2020, the country’s tax authority (IRS) revealed. These households declared a combined income of €9.4 billion, amounting to approximately 8.8 per cent of the taxman’s gross 2021 income.

UKRAINE

Ikea helps

UKRAINE has received household supplies worth €9 million from Ikea, the Swedish home furnishing chain, and Ingka, the group’s largest retailer. Approximately 200 lorries have now delivered 850,000 items to UN’s Refugee Agency to assist relief efforts in Kyiv and Lviv.

SWEDEN

Wrong choice

SWEDEN’S biggest pension fund, Alecta, sacked chief executive Magnus Billing after his confidence in failed US lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank left the fund with losses of almost $2 billion.(€1.8 billion). Alecta, said on April 11 that these losses had “seriously damaged confidence” in its investment strategy.

Spend big

THE TUC, which represents 48 UK unions, called for a “radical increase” in investment in public transport. More spending on the trains, trams and buses that are needed to cut down on car use could give the economy an annual boost of £50 billion (€58.6 billion) a union report claimed.

Scant interest

SPAIN’S banks save an annual €1.5 billion by paying lower interest on savings accounts than their Eurozone counterparts, according to the European Central Bank (ECB). As a result, Spanish families lose €924.16 million on their savings accounts, while non­ financial bodies lose €548 million, the ECB found.

Never-never

YOUNG Britons and Millennials aged up to 42 are four times more likely to take on debt to meet rising costs this year, credit broker Credit Karma found. Unlike those aged between 59 and 69 who use credit cards, the young tend to choose an overdraft or a pay now, pay later arrangement.

IT blip

COMPUTER sales are at their lowest in 10 years, falling worldwide by 29 per cent to 56.9 million systems during the year’s first quarter. “Demand has slowed but we expect it to overtake pre­ pandemic levels in the second half,” said Alberto Ruano, Lenovo’s director general in Spain.

Co-op hiccup

CUSTOMERS threatened to leave the Co­operative Bank after its mobile app stopped working for three consecutive Fridays recently. After the latest incident a Co ­ operative spokesperson apologised and said the bank “would put right” any problems clients might have encountered when making payments.

Linda

Hall

ACCOUNTANCY firm Ernst & Young (EY), which is London­ based, has abandoned proposals to restructure its global operations.

Plans to separate the consultancy and audit divisions were scuppered by EY’s New York office following disputes over the future structure of the new businesses.

Spadework for what was codenamed Project Everest began last year, as the big four accounting firmsDeloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers

KPMG and EY ­ faced increasing criticism regarding conflicts of interest between their two divisions.

Politicians and regulators, particularly those in the UK, questioned whether EY’s ability to challenge audit clients could be conditioned by the possibility of securing juicy consulting, tax and deal­advisory contracts from

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted that the UK would be one of the world’s worst­performing major economies this year.

Popularly known as the G20, these 20 countries include sanctions­hit Russia.

The IMF expects the UK economy to shrink by 0.3 per cent in 2023 and to grow by 1 per cent in 2024, according to the World Economic Outlook report presented on Tuesday April 11 in Washington.

The IMF had already forecast that the UK would experience a downturn in 2023, descending to the bottom of the G7 group of

Padua exit

ANTONIO CATALAN, chairman of AC Hotels by Marriott, continues to reduce commitments in destinations he does not view as priorities.

Sources close to Catalan confirmed to the Spanish media that he is negotiating the sale of a hotel in Padua (Italy).

This will be his second Italian disinvestment following the 2008 sale of an hotel in Rome to the Spanish chain H10.

The same sources emphasised that the AC Hotels by Marriott sale was not linked to asset rotation but to the strategy of relinquish ownership of a hotel while continuing to run it after reaching agreement with the new owner.

STAT OF WEEK €38 billion

is the amount that Europe’s telecommunications companies have recovered via improved business, a series of mergers and, prompting operators to foresee a slight increase in revenue and new dividends.

BUSINESS EXTRA Chain sold FINANCE

No change at EY

and advisory divisions worldwide.

But, bearing in mind the strategic importance of the now­unhappy US member firm to Project Everest, EY halted the project.

FULHAM SHORE, owner of the Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurant chains, is selling them for £93.4 million (€106 million).

the same companies whose books they were scrutinising.

The UK’s accounting and audit regulator, the Financial Reporting Council, said that auditing operations should be isolated from the rest of EY’s businesses. In the event, EY went further still with a restructuring operation that would have separated audit

“The global executive remains committed to moving forward with creating two world­class organisations that further advance audit quality, independence and client choice,” explained a note to staff from EY’s global executive committee.

“We will begin taking actions based on what we have learned from the work done over the past year, actions that will both benefit our businesses today and better prepare us for a new transaction,” the executive committee added.

Ups and downs

ic recovery in 2022.

Despite the sobering outlook for UK economy, this latest prediction is rather better than the IMF’s January prediction of a 0.6 per cent contraction.

Buyer is the Japanese giant Toridoll which is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange, owns 5,500 restaurants and has worldwide sales of £1 billion (€1.13 billion).

Toridoll already runs the Marugame Udon, Shoryu and Wok to Walk chains in the UK and is teaming up with Capdesia, the private equity company behind Wasabi Sushi & Bento, for the Fulham Shore deal.

Shares in Fulham Shore soared by a third to 15p (approximately 16 cents) when the deal was announced.

Shared out

countries regarded as the world’s seven most advanced economies. The UK topped this group, which dominates global trade and the international financial system, during the pandem­

Meanwhile the IMF has raised Spain’s 2023 growth forecast by four­tenths of a percentage point to 1.5 per cent but lowered next year’s prediction by another fourtenths, to 2 per cent.

This year’s improved forecast matches those of other organisations, especially af­

Could do better

LADBIBLE GROUP, part of LBG Media, made light of a disappointing financial performance.

The group, which is based in Manchester, pointed out that it is now the leading news publisher on TikTok, and by December 31 last year the number of its followers had grown by 72 per cent compared with 2021.

LadBible’s global audience grew by 39 per cent year­on­year to 366 million, with 98 billion content views, 56 per cent more than the previous year.

Nevertheless, pre ­ tax profits dropped 10 per cent to £7.3 million (€8.3 million) over the same 12­month period, while a 15 per cent revenue increase to £62.8 million (€71.3 million) missed forecasts.

The year’s adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was also down 6 per cent at £15.7 million (€17.8 million).

ter Spain’s 2022’s strong 5.5 per cent growth. Two months ago the Organisation for Economic Co­operation and Development (OECD) raised its 2023 forecast to 1.7 per cent, while the Bank of Spain upgraded its own from 1.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent.

Despite these reasonably encouraging figures, they fall short of the Spanish government’s overestimate of a predicted 2.1 per cent growth announced in its Budget.

Stepping stone

MULTINATIONAL natural stone company Cosentino continues to diversify production beyond its Silestone brand.

After launching Dekton in 2013, the company has now opened a new €120 million factory covering 40,000 square metres in Cantoria (Almeria).

This brings up to 140,000 square metres the area allocated to Dekton, with everything in place for a fourth production line in the near future.

Despite announcing plans to float the company in the first quarter of 2023, Cosentino said that its board had not made a firm decision.

“All options are on the table but it is not true that this has delayed until next year,” a statement insisted.

ELEVEN top executives at Inditex received 202,500 shares that are worth more than €6 million. This corresponds to the second and last phase of the company’s 2019­2023 incentive plan, which makes up part of the variable salary for senior executives and other personnel and is linked to meeting specified targets.

The volume of this year’s shares was 21 per cent lower than that distributed during the incentive plan’s first phase which ended in April 2022, although each share is worth €30.39, a 20 per cent increase on their 2022 value.

More to go

BARCLAYS announced that it intends to close 15 more branches across the UK this summer.

The high street bank revealed that it will be pulling down the shutters on two locations in Northern Ireland, one in Wales and 12 in England next July.

These latest closures bring a total of 73 Barclays branches that have closed, or will close, this year.

The industry routinely justifies closures by pointing out that fewer people now use branches after learning how to bank from home during the pandemic.

EY LONDON: Headquarters are located near the Thames.

TOBIAS ADRIAN: IMF’s Financial Counsellor and director of the Monetary and Capital Markets department.

Photo credit: CC/Arpingstone

DOW JONES

Stretching it

DISCOUNT shopping

chain Poundstretcher has reportedly hired advisers to look into the possibility of a stock market float after sales boomed during Covid. The group, created in 1981, now has around 350 outlets and announced in February that it would open another 50 stores across the UK in 2023.

Sea change

BANCA is preparing to sell a majority stake in frozen food company Nueva Pescanova. The financial institution, which owns 97 per cent of the fishing group’s capital, is negotiating the transfer of 80 per cent of its shares to Canadian company Cooke Inc, which also specialises in seafood products.

Simply the best

THE Good Money Guide recently held its annual awards ceremony, celebrating the best in financial service organisations.

This year the UK­based guide to trading, investment and currency accounts, welcomed more than 160 guests at Plaisterers’ Hall in the City of London for a black­tie, 20­table gala dinner.

Currencies Direct won Best Currency Broker in recognition of their commitment to a fivestar experience for all their clients. This includes great rates, exceptional services, and

swift, simple transfer solutions. What are the Good Money Guide Awards?

For the last six years, the Good Money Guide has been running an annual awards

Bank branches lopped

BANKS in Spain’s rural areas are becoming hard to find.

Over the past year, Spain’s high street banks left another 121 municipalities without branches despite agreeing to provide financial inclusion for vulnerable groups.

According to the Bank of Spain, 4,618 of the country’s 8,131 municipalities ­ 57 per cent ­ no longer have a bank branch al ­

though in practice, a few still have banking facilities.

Following the Unicaja­Liberbank merger, the Andalucia­based bank has maintained offices under its own name through a franchise system which did not show up in the Bank of Spain statistics.

Meanwhile, the province of Palencia in Castilla­Leon is Spain’s worst­hit province.

A tough year

event to highlight outstanding firms in the financial services sector.

It its own words, “The Good Money Guide Awards aim to champion financial services firms that excel in innovation, product, and customer service.

“Each year thousands of clients tell us what they think to help others make smarter decisions about who to invest, trade and transfer currency with. They also provide valuable feedback to improve the online investing, trading, and currency transfer industry.”

Deciding the winners is based on professional testing, data and pricing analysis, together with customer feedback survey results. This year, 17,000 votes were cast to pick the final winners from the 62 companies that took part.

Currencies Direct is also up for the Business Moneyfacts Awards in April, where they’ve been shortlisted for two more accolades. Will the winning streak continue?

TESCO’S profits halved to £753 million (€852 million) in 2022.

The year was “incredibly tough for customers,” Tesco admitted as it dealt with “significant operating­cost inflation” and wrote down the value of some properties.

The UK’s biggest retailer said sales rose 7.2 per cent to £65.7 billion (€74.3 billion) in the year to February 25. This included a 3.3 per cent increase at Tesco’s UK supermarkets, although it sold fewer items as shoppers chose their products carefully.

UK food sales rose by 4.6 per cent over the last year, led by the group’s own­label ranges, while sales of its premium Finest products increased by 7 per cent and its cheapest ‘Exclusively at Tesco’ items grew by 6 per cent.

The chain said the volume of items sold had fallen, partly because customers wasted less and used up leftovers but once Covid restrictions were eased, they were visiting restaurants and cafes more often, buying less to eat at home.

GALA EVENING: Award-winning Currencies Direct.

BUSINESS EXTRA

Time to read

WATERSTONES managing director James Daunt, a former JP Morgan banker, said the pandemic was both negative and positive for many retailers although it was “fantastic” for booksellers worldwide. “It made people pick up books again,” said Daunt, who has 1,000 bookshops under his control.

Jobs boost

SPAIN’S Cabinet approved a €2.8 billion allocation for the country’s autonomous regions this year to implement employment policies that promote hiring the long­term unemployed. This would be the largest investment of public funds to improve employability since 2011, said Minister of Labour, Yolanda Diaz.

Switchback

ALMOST one million people in the UK switched their current account in 2022, as banks competed to offer the best perks, cashbacks and bonuses. Last year’s 985,000 switches were 20 per cent up on 2021, said the Current Account Switching Service, which simplifies the process of moving to another bank.

Situations vacant

RECORD Easter occupancy accentuated difficulties in finding qualified staff to attend to the needs of Spain’s tourists. The problem, worsened by the pandemic and still unresolved, would become more noticeable as tourists returned en masse, warned Gabriel Escarrer, CEO of Melia hotel chain.

Nectar deal

SAINSBURY’S has taken on Tesco’s Clubcard with key changes to its Nectar loyalty card which include discounts on 300 products.

The supermarket chain has introduced ‘Nectar Prices’ in major stores and online although discounts are not available in Sainsbury’s local stores or petrol stations.

SSE goes deep

Linda Hall

THE world’s deepest wind turbine foundation has been installed off the Angus coast.

The Scottish energy company SSE installed the 2,000­ton foundation ­ or jacket to use the industry term ­ that will support Seagreen’s 112th turbine at a depth of more than 58 metres.

The record­breaking turbine is part of SSE’s £3 billion (€3.4 billion) project in partnership with French energy company Total. Due to be completed this summer, the windfarm’s 114 turbines will be able to power the equivalent of 1.6 million homes.

This latest installation was a significant step towards completing a project

The Seagreen windfarm is included in SSE’s plan to invest £12.5 billion (€14.1 billion) by 2026 in projects that have been designed to speed up the UK’s target of becoming a net zero economy.

By the end of the decade, SSE, which is also developing the world’s largest offshore windfarm at Dogger Bank in the North Sea, intends to invest a total of £24 billion (€27.2 billion) in the UK alone.

London plans

BUSINESSMAN and socialite

Bruce Colley, whose family owns multiple McDonald’s franchises in the US, now plans to open luxury hotels and restaurants in London.

The 69 ­ year ­ old who is cochairman of Park Lane, the company that is leading the project, is joining forces with New Zealand financier Rayo Withanage to raise an initial $200 million (€181.6 million).

that demonstrated how the company was able to innovate and push the boundaries of the technology of change in power production, SSE’s chief executive Alistair Phillips­Davies, said.

SSE, one of the UK’s biggest renewable energy producers, has increased its full­year profit forecast for the financial year ending on March 31 on two occasions, thanks to its money­making gas power plants.

Juan Roig lowers prices

MERCADONA, Spain’s largest supermarket chain, is cutting the price of 500 items by 10 cents to ease the cost­ of ­ living crisis.

The initiative should bring an annual saving of €150 for each client, Mercadona said.

The family­owned company would remain faithful to its commitment to lower retail prices as cost prices fell, Mercadona sources added. These were already falling but because it was a slow process, they explained that the company had decided to get ahead by lowering the price of 500 staple products, which would be singled out in the shops.

The chain also plans to take advantage of market opportunities to lower the price of fresh produce.

The initiative will cost the company around €200 million with a 0.6 percentage point effect on its profit margin, which Mercadona calculates has shrunk by 1.1 percentage points since 2020.

Presenting last year’s accounts and announcing net profits of €718 million, Mercadona president Juan Roig admitted that prices had increased “tremendously” but pointed out that these

AMAZON’S proposed takeover of iRobot, makers of Roomba vacuum cleaner, is under scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets authority (CMA).

Amazon is keen to expand its smart home appliances operation, but the CMA is looking into whether the deal could lead to what it described as a “substantial lessening of competition.”

rose by 10 per cent while the company’s overheads increased by 14 per cent. The discounts were not a temporary measure, Mercadona said. Nor were they a “shopping basket” of products with fixed prices like those of French supermarkets but were permanent reductions.

Checking out

Amazon announced that it was buying Massachusetts­based iRobot last August in a $1.7 billion (€1.5 billion) takeover agreement but a month later the US authorities announced that they would review the deal.

In February 2023, the Financial Times revealed that European competition au­

thorities also planned to examine the takeover.

Both Amazon and iRobot said they were “working cooperatively” with the regulators over the merger.

The CMA is also investigating Amazon’s fake online reviews while another probe centres on anti­competitive practices.

Striking a balance

WHEN anti­Covid restrictions were at their strictest in Spain, three million people began working at home.

They accounted for 16.2 per cent of the working population, compared with 4.8 per cent in 2019, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s official statistics office.

By late 2020 the number of teleworkers had decreased and fell to 9.5 per cent throughout 2021, Eurostat said.

At the same time, the digital transforma­

tion brought work­life balance and co­responsibility to the forefront, with the option of remote working creating a new generation gap.

“The younger generation has embraced the idea that teleworking is a must,” Josep Capell, a lecturer in Human Resources at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Reconciling work and family life is now recognised as crucial by employees and recruitment experts alike, he said.

They also intend to raise further funds to finance investments in London and elsewhere worldwide over the next two years. Colley and Withanage have already earmarked two London sites, UK media sources revealed.

“The goal is to capitalise on development and consolidation opportunities in the luxury sector,” Colley said.

Scent success

PZ CUSSONS, which owns the iconic Imperial Leather brand, achieved its sixth successive quarter of revenue growth.

Like­for­like sales rose by 6.2 per cent to £166 million (€188.4 million) for the quarter that ended on March 4, boosted by growth in Europe and the Americas thanks to more demand and higher prices.

Despite higher raw material, labour and logistics costs, turnover rose by 13 per cent thanks to favourable currency movements and sales from Childs Farm, the skincare brand that Cussons bought for £36.8 million (€41.8 million) in March 2022.

Power shock

ITALY’S government announced that Francesco Starace, president of Enel, is to be replaced.

The company will now have Flavio Cattaneo as chief executive, while Paolao Scaroni was named president. Enel is the country’s principal electricity producer and also owns Endesa, which is Spain’s biggest electricity supplier. These substitutions were already being discussed in the sector in a change that is expected to have a direct impact on the Spanish company.

Starace had been in charge since 2014 and Endesa has until now played a significant role in the group’s strategy.

SEAGREEN WINDFARM: Jackets waiting at Dundee harbour’s quayside.

Photo credit: Flick/Tobias Verfuss

MERCADONA: Spain’s largest supermarket chain.

Photo credit: mercadona.es

LEAPY LEE SAYS IT

OTHERS THINK IT

LAST week I had a post removed from my FB pages. The short video was indeed distasteful, but one I felt deserved as much publicity as it could get. The film showed a naked white man being kicked and stoned to death by a number of black youths on a busy street in South Africa. This horrific act was taking place in broad daylight with no assis‐tance whatsoever from any law en‐forcement or indeed passers‐by.

The whole incident made me sick to my stomach and in normal cir ‐cumstances I would never have dreamt of passing it on to friends and pursuers of my Facebook page, but these are not ‘normal’ times, are they?

Not only did the piece make me wonder how the public, particularly the ‘diversity’ brigade, would have reacted had it been a black man be‐ing kicked to death by a gang of whites, but it made me seriously wonder where the priorities of the faceless individuals who control the social media actually lay.

At any given time, on many of

Truly horrified

these outlets you can see women stoned to death and if you delve deep enough the goriest executions imaginable, so why, can anyone en‐lighten me, do they find the murder of a white man by blacks so abhor ‐rent they deem it necessary to take down?

Would it, I wonder have anything to do with the fact that South Africa has been a democratic disaster and a place of danger and injustices for white people for years, far worse in fact than it was for the black resi ‐dents during apartheid? I have regu‐lar contact with a number of friends, who are among the dwindling num‐bers of those whites who still try to exist in this most dangerous and bla‐tantly anti‐white racist country.

Basically, the terrorists are now in charge and, like Saudi Arabia, which is also run by an undemocratic bunch of cruel dictators, control so many of the world’s natural rich re‐sources, they literally get away with murder on a grand scale and are never brought to book.

I am subsequently truly horrified but not too surprised, by the news

GRUMPY OLD MAN OUR VIEW

that the new series of ‘I’m a Celebri‐ty’ is also coming from that disgrace‐fully run country. No doubt the hier‐archy running the TV and advertising will be delighted to show their huge‐ly biased brainwashing diversity pro‐paganda and will gain a wonderful reception from the crooked SA au ‐thorities and the relatively small numbers of the British public who are in agreement with their policies, including participants in a show; which will undoubtedly be crammed with diversity.

Personally I think presenters Ant and Dec should have refused to par‐take at all. Sandy Shaw and I only agreed to an SA tour during apartheid if we could work to mixed audiences. We too were supporting the black citizens, but would never have even contemplated doing so had they been attacking and mur ‐dering the white population!

WITH the Coronation of King Charles III just a few days away, it does seem that the new monarch is do‐ing his best not to heal rifts within the family but in‐stead is relying upon protocol to act like a grumpy old man.

First and foremost, whilst Harry has announced that he will be attending his father’s coronation, he will be kept very much on the periphery, is not likely to wear any ceremonial costumes and will be expect‐ed to keep a low profile.

It appears that his wife and children will remain in the USA and he will simply make a token appearance before jetting back for son Archie’s fourth birthday.

Prince Andrew who has made a total fool of him‐self over the past few years (although has not been convicted of any criminal offence) may or may not attend, but if he does, he will be precluded from any official role and although his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie will attend, they may not take part in any of‐ficial capacity as they are non‐working royals.

Sarah Ferguson is not invited although it has been suggested that she, like Prince Andrew was a favourite of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

When one considers that apart from Prince Ed‐ward, every other member of the Queen’s immedi‐ate family has been divorced or involved in some scandal or other, surely now would be the time to try to bring the family together and present a united front to the world at large rather than continue to highlight the rifts?

Stoned Age Man

NORAJOHNSON BREAKINGVIEWS

BRONZE Age partygoers were getting high on hallucinogenic drugs 3,000 years ago. Scientific analysis of strands of hair from a cave in Menorca give the clearest direct evidence yet of hallucinogenic drug use among ancient civilisations. So, hair today, high tomorrow?

Some may complain that a report about ancient civilisations using hallucinogenic drugs normalises drug use. You may as well say a report about the Trojan horse normalises war! Mind you, one glance at the cave’s eerie stalagmites and even eerier stalactites would convince anyone it wouldn't take much hallucinogen ingestion...

You have to wonder if the plants/sub­

stances involved played a part in the invention and formulation of religions. A person might have a very vivid hallucination of a stick turning into a snake, and then back into a stick, if they were off their head on mushrooms, for instance. (Though doesn’t sound like the start of Methodism...) Trepanned skulls, with holes drilled into the bone, were also found with indications the individuals involved survived for months afterwards. Maybe listening to the Grateful Dead? Trepanation instruments weren’t complex, made out of flint, obsidian or stone. And, hopefully, easy to acquire. With no bank holiday queues at the local B&Q...

Nora Johnson’s 12 critically acclaimed psychological suspense crime thrillers (www.nora­john son.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

The ‘charity of last resort’

THE mission of the British Benevolent Fund is to act as a ‘charity of last resort’ for those Britons in Spain who have nowhere else to turn and face extreme financial hardship.

With the growing number of British nationals who we help returning to the UK ­ many of whom are vulnerable people with long term illnesses ­ the BBF plays a vital enabling role. For people with serious illness or impairment travelling alone is impossible.

We are indebted to volunteers who give up their time to help others. Unfortunately travel these days is more of a challenge than ever ­ however nobody could have foreseen the ordeal that one went through to help a vulnerable British lady be repatriated from a Malaga hospital so she could be moved to a UK medical facility. The volunteer, a retired police officer, left her home at 6pm on a Wednesday to go to Malaga Airport. She arrived at 7.30pm and left her car at the airport and took a taxi to the hospital to collect the patient. She obtained the paperwork

from the ward nurse and were taken to the airport by ambulance. On arrival at 9.00pm we went to Sin Barreras Assistance Team who escorted them through security to the boarding gate at 9.30pm for the 11.25pm flight. At 9.51pm she was informed by the airline the flight was delayed until 11.55pm. At 9.52pm she was informed the flight was now delayed until 02.55am on the following day. At 10.59pm she was informed the flight was cancelled. Airport Assistance rebooked them on an 11.20 the following day.

The patient could not stay overnight at the airport or in a hotel as she was in a wheelchair and could not walk and needed personal hygiene products.

They were sent to Malaga A

& E where they stayed in a small side toom until 07.00 the following day and repeated the process of the previous day.

On boarding the aircraft they were informed there was a four hour wait before takeoff. They eventually landed and the volunteer handed over to her relative and the airport care team. She is now in a residence receiving 24­hour care.

The journey was a nightmare, but we were able to get the patient to the care she needed. The BBF can only do this with your generosity. If you would like to support our work helping others who have nobody else to turn to please visit our website to donate. www.britishbenvolentfund.or g

Thank you.

Olaf Clayton, Chair, BBF.

Olaf Clayton of BBF.

Noraistheauthorofpopularpsychological suspenseandcrimethrillersandafreelancejournalist.

Nora’s latest thriller.

NoraJohnson’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

SHORT SNOOZE: Better for one’s health than a long siesta.

Keep it short

WE live in the country that has enshrined the siesta, but doctors warn that a daily 30­minute nap can cause atrial fibrillation.

This heart condition causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate, a condition that affects more than 40,000 million people worldwide and increases the likelihood of having a stroke.

After analysing data obtained from 20,000 people without an irregular heartbeat, doctors found

Fast talking

Linda Hall

SKINCARE fasting has had 205.8 million TikTok views to date.

This involves abandoning all skincare products for periods that can last from 24 hours to a week or even longer.

A cuppa tea

TEA has the potential to benefit 40 different areas of our health, a review of 96 different studies found. The authors of the review, published in the Molecular Nutrition and Food Research Journal, linked drinking two to three cups a day to better gut health and a reduced risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.

that napping for more than half an hour daily more than doubled their risk of developing atrial defibrillation.

There was no increase in people who napped for less than 30 minutes and those who didn’t sleep at all during the day, the investigators found.

Meanwhile short daytime naps of between 15 and 30 appeared to improve the body clock, lower blood pressure levels and reduce stress.

Washing your face with water can help to soothe breakouts and eliminate redness, fasting proponents maintain, a pronouncement that has prompted an immediate reaction from dermatologists.

Scrapping skincare would be fine if we never went outside or if we didn’t have blue light from screens or pollution to contend with, skin expert Kate Kerr argued.

“All these things damage our skin if we don’t take steps to protect it,” she said.

“If you see benefits from skin fasting, that’s because the products you were using weren’t working for you.”

Photo credit:

SKINCARE PRODUCTS: Eliminate them, skincare fasting proponents say.

Copper copout

CAN a copper bracelet really bring relief from sore muscles, joint pain or carpal tunnel syndrome?

“People think that copper is absorbed through the skin and that this will help arthritis, but there is no strong evidence for it,” Dr Wendy Holden said. A consultant rheumatologist at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust, she is also medical adviser for the charity Arthritis Action. “Neither is there any evidence that copper bracelets can help with fibromyalgia and carpal tunnel,” she said. “But wearing a copper bracelet will not cause any harm, so if patients feel better because of it, then that’s good and could have a placebo effect.”

Drinkers of ordinary ‘builders’ tea also appeared to have a reduced risk of certain cancers, and there were additional benefits for bone health and brain power.

It’s allergy time

APPROXIMATELY 30 per cent of Spain’s population have some type of allergy, generally caused by pollen.

Tree and grass pollen are the main culprits, but as well antihistamines and nasal sprays, Vaseline can also help.

“A barrier of petroleum jelly around your nose will help to trap pollen and relieve dry and uncomfortable skin resulting from repetitive nose­blowing,” Dr Nisa Aslam said in the UK.

Pexels/silviarita

Photo credit: Pexels/Karolina Grabowski

Neck and neck

Linda Hall

NECK skin ages faster than almost anywhere else on the body, dermatology professor Dr Theodora Mauro said.

Poor posture, insufficient skincare, sun exposure and natural weakening and decline of the

Too much of a good thing

DRINK coffee for a headache.

When your head pounds, blood vessels swell, producing greater blood flow around the brain. This increased blood flow pressures surrounding nerves, which send pain messages to the brain, bringing on the headache.

Caffeine has vaso­constrictive properties so blood vessels narrow to restrict blood flow, alleviating the pain.

Be careful, however, because the body becomes dependent on caffeine and reducing or eliminating consumption triggers withdrawal symptoms.

neck muscles all combine to accelerate ageing.

“Sun is your neck’s enemy,” Dr Mauro added.

“Once exposed to the sun, ultraviolet A waves can reach the skin’s inner layer, damaging the cells responsible for producing collagen and elastin.

“As we grow older, the skin on the neck becomes dull, dry and less smooth,” she explained.

“It is essential to moisturise morning and night, avoiding anything alcohol­based which will only dry your skin out even more.”

Health benefits

RACHEL GARRICK, who is a Monmouthshire county councillor was criticised for knitting during a council meeting.

She began knitting in 2012 to alleviate the pain of osteoarthritis and Ehlers­Danlos Syndrome which affects tissues supporting the skin, bones, blood vessel, she explained. Making an uncomplicated item like a baby blanket also helped her to concentrate during meetings.

“Workplaces should be more accepting of knitting as a way of focusing,” she said.

DON’T spurn the humble potato. Rich in antioxidants, potatoes supply beneficial vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C, B6, and potassium, although nutritional content depends on the variety chosen and its preparation.

Studies have linked potatoes to impressive health ben­

Spud love

efits which include improved blood sugar control, reduced risk of heart disease and boosted immunity.

They can also improve digestive health and combat signs of ageing.

HEARING aids could reduce the risk of dementia in the hard of hearing, a study published in the Lancet suggested. Analysing the health records of thousands of people with varying levels of deafness, researchers found that those without hearing aids had a 42 per cent higher risk of developing dementia. “Our study provides the best evidence to date that hearing aids could be a minimally invasive, cost­effective treatment to mitigate the potential impact of hearing loss on dementia,” the study concluded.

Photo credit: Pexels/Karolina Grabowski

NECK CARE: Sun is the enemy.

Listen to this 27.5% of revenue generated by beauty and personal care is from online purchases.

Wrong context LETTERS

IN your Issue No 1970 (6‐12 April) in Euro‐pean Press, you carried a piece on Ireland, with a caption of Welcome Home, which as an Irishman I was very pleased to see.

However we would never use the Gaelic word, Eíre in this context. Instead we would say, Ballina, situated in County Sligo.

Moreover, most people, particularly Irish would not use Eíre, only because most other nationalities wouldn’t recognise it!

On the other hand the name, Ireland, in the caption is very acceptable.

Always enjoy your paper.

Hi Linda,

Regards

Bernard Butler

Many thanks for your speedy reply.

Actually whilst on the subject of Ireland. In Mijas Pueblo, on the building beside the Council Offices, wall plaques have been erected to acknowledge various nationali‐ties’ presence in the area.

I recall some years ago, Ireland was one of the first countries to be honoured in this way, however on a recent visit to the Peublo I noticed that someone has removed the plaque. Vandalism no doubt?

Perhaps you might consider following up this matter?

Thank you for you time and attention to this matter.

Kind regards Bernard

Dear Leapy

I take objection to the letter printed re Jed‐dah. I worked in the King Fahad Hospital there in those years and found the Saudi people nothing but respectful. Please don’t use that term r s for those people Mr Kite. Have you not been to British beaches over the last 50 years? You can hardly sit down without all the rubbish left by selfish people of all nations.

Carole Burton

Dog park

While it is good to see the Euro Weekly News back, I would like to point out an incor‐rect statement in the news about the dog park. It was not built on waste land, but on a park area that the garden group had spent a lot of time, effort and money to gravel and maintain for the last 20 years. But no one thought fit to liaise with the garden group about where would be the best place for it. Perhaps not near the medical centre and the play park. It will be also interesting to know who is going to maintain it and empty the bins?

Yours sincerely, Marion

Hi Leapy

I am not sure you get to glance through the Sun newspaper where you are situated but I have been following this guy for some time now. His name is Lee Anderson and I am sure what he says in this article (page 16/17 Sunday 16/04/2023) is just what we have been trying to tell people for ages, but do they listen NO!! Because they are all too steeped in woke and human rights etc etc to see the wood for the trees. Now I know you can’t reply because so many people contact you, be it agreeing or disagreeing with your views, but if you can get it up on your screen see what you think. Keep up the good work trying to educate the uneducated.

Joe

Mixed up

Four words used in Loopy Lee’s latest col‐umn but used inappropriately in conflicting ways in the wrong order. Firstly he calls the Johnson partying as Mere Bagatelle words meaning petty triviality and unimportance, does he really think that the charlatan who was eventually ousted from office through his law breaking and continuous lies is petty, trivial and unimportant? Try telling that one to the thousands who stayed at home unable to hold the hand of loved ones suffering in hospitals and care homes. Secondly in his continuous weekly bias towards the opposi‐tion party he calls, simply because they have more female members, an armoury of Schemes and Skullduggery against the Tories, words of course meaning artful and sharp practice, as I have pointed out he has got the words mixed up and used in the wrong order.

Ramon Osborne, Los Alcázares.

No benefit

Brexit, the gift that just keeps on giving. Still no benefits to Brexit. If you voted for it, you’re part of the problem called, Brexit Bro‐ken Britain. The whole world is laughing at the UK!

Andrew Cremona

Big brother

How sad that big brother is bringing such a wonderful historic way of travelling to an end. As for providing education details when travelling ‐ what on EARTH has your educa‐tional history have to do with travelling to an‐other country. It’s time people stood up to this BS and told the so called authorities what they can do with all this unnecessary data harvesting. It’s just spying on people for no good reason.

Naimah Yianni

PETS

Sitters stay with pets for free!

IT can be reassuring to find pet minders who will care for your pets and maintain their rou‐tines. It keeps the pets happy and you can have peace of mind on holiday.

If you are planning a trip later this year, reg‐ister now to find pet‐sitters in time. Even if it’s just a short trip, you’ll know that sometimes you just have to leave pets at home. Young and senior pets in particular benefit from staying in their own home, so they can follow their routines undisturbed. Let us help. Choose Housesitmatch.com for affordable travel, home and pet care. These are the steps to take:

1. Register as a homeowner on HouseSit Match.com

2. Choose a Premium account (£89 per year) to ensure you can help online when needed

3. Create a profile with photos of your pet and the house

4. Post an advert for the dates when you want to go away. Sitters apply and you choose.

How does it work?

HouseSitMatch can help you find suitable sitters. Join our network for a small annual

Adopting advantages

WITH approximately five to seven million compan‐ion animals given to ani‐mal shelters worldwide each year let’s have a look at some of the best rea ‐sons to adopt your furry friend.

fee. You get ID checked for safety and then build your advert saying when you are going on holiday. House‐sitters see your advert, they respond and you choose the sitter who’ll care for your pets.

Trustpilot Testimonials ‐ 4.9 / 5 Excellent 10 out of 10 for housesitmatch.com

I have had nothing but good and helpful service from the people who run this site, and my experience has been excellent. Tristram Cosgrave ‐ Dog and cat owner, Malaga

How do you join?

Please register online via our website www.Housesitmatch.com.

Do you need a housesitter? Get in touch. House-sitting can be a win-win for both parties, free house and petsitting, and the experienced and checked sitters get free accommodation! Register as either housesitter or homeowner with a 50% discount using coupon code 20EWN – an exclusive offer for readers. To find a house pet-sitter go to www.HousesitMatch.com

Most popular pets

THE Spanish have shown the world how devoted they are to their animals by creating a law that states animals are not things but sentient beings and your pet should be considered a member of your family. Not only that they have recently re ‐leased a new animal wel ‐fare law, reported in the last edition of the Eu ‐roWeekly News, with strict rules on their care and heavy fines in place for those who do not comply with the law.

With that in mind let’s have a look at the most popular pets in Spain.

Top of the list are dogs,

no surprises there, with the most popular breeds being the Yorkshire Terri ‐er, the Labrador, the Ger‐man Shepard, and the Bulldog.

Next up are cats, the preferred pet for people living in apartments. After cats, another good option for apartment living is birds with most Spanish pet owners opting for ca ‐naries and parrots. Other animals high in the ranking in Spain are turtles, a very popular option for kids.

Notable mentions go to hamsters, rabbits, and lizards, all great pet choic‐es for children and very popular in Spain also.

Adoption associations are really helpful and they help match families to their pets making sure that everyone will be hap‐py together. You can even ask them if you can foster the pet for a while to make sure you are right for each other.

The cost of adopting your pet is much lower and usually just covers the cost of sterilisation and the vaccinations they have received.

I know puppies are cute but sometimes an older dog can be the right choice as they are usually toilet trained and calmer

and you can teach an old dog new tricks don’t wor‐ry!

By adopting you help to reduce the inhumane pet breeding trade.

Usually, mixed ‐ breed dogs what people usually refer to as a mongrel, not designer puggles or cock‐

apoos, are healthier and less vulnerable to diseases unlike purebred animals or the designer cross ‐breeds mentioned before. With pet adoptions down 36 per cent since the pandemic think about adopting a pet from a shelter near you.

OLDER DOGS: Can sometimes be a better choice.

Puffin loves playing on the beach, the pet minders take her every day.

Photo credit: Flickr Jackie Newman

Spain’s favourite pet.

Photo Credit: Flickr Jon Sharp

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TURRE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

We meet every Sunday at 10.30. For worship. We believe you’ll find us ‘relaxed’, welcoming’ and ‘informal’. Find us on Turre’s main street, towards the motorway at the far end on the left. To know more contact 617 914 156 (10021)

ROYAL BRITISH LEGION - Why not make this year the year you volunteer? Call and see how you can help either as a caseworker (with full training) or as a Telephone Buddy. We also visit beneficiaries who are housebound or in hospital. If you feel you could support us here in Spain, and you have a Spanish phone number then why not email us for more info tbuddyhhvis its@gmail.com. If you or your partner served or are serving, and you feel you need help or support then contact us using the details on the card, we are here for the small things as well as the big, sometimes talking to someone is the first step to feeling more in control. It can be a personal need or some help with your home or information on what or who to speak to on a medical issue, we help with signposting if we cannot help directly, just call and have a chat with Pam who will try to guide you to where you need to be. If you would like to go to a branch meeting then find your nearest one at,

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MOTOR INSURANCE

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

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

ABBOTT ELECTRICS .

From a Light Fitting to a Full Rewire. Tel: 950 137 208 / 638 010 691 (301356)

VOSS HOMES are a professional, British familyrun Estate Agents with an office in Huercal-Overa town. They specialise in selling and renting properties in the Huercal-Overa,

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

OTHERS PETS

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PLUMBERS

KNOWLES PLUMBING

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PROP FOR RENT WANTED TESTIMONIALS

Hyundai i20 a lot of car for not much money

ROAD TEST

byMarkSlack

WITH the imminent demise of Ford’s Fiesta, the choice of small hatchbacks continues to diminish in favour of an SUV style. Thankfully there are still manufacturers with tempting offers in the sector and Hyundai is one of them.

The diminutive i10 might conceivably be a little small for some, but the larger i20 slots in nicely size‐wise for those wanting maximum space in compact form.

A smart looking car, if com‐ments on my test model are anything to judge, the i20 range starts at €22,270/ £19,725 and encompasses the entry level through to the luxury and sporty and finally the very sporting i20N.

My Ultimate model sits at the top of the normal tree with a €27,633/£24,475 price tag and seven‐speed auto‐matic transmission.

Standard fare across the line‐up is very good with alloy wheels, air conditioning, high beam assist, powered and heated door mirrors, cruise control, rear parking sensors and camera, Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

My Ultimate added climate control, heated seats, privacy glass, rain sensing wipers, wireless charging, navigation, keyless entry and start, pow‐er fold door mirrors and a

Facts at a Glance

• Model: Hyundai i20 Ultimate

Bose sound system.

The range uses a three ‐cylinder, 1.0 ‐ litre tur ‐bocharged petrol developing

speeds and automatics a sev‐en‐speed double clutch type of automatic. It’s a very effec‐tive power delivery

ing a 60/40 split folding rear seat and good rear legroom when the rear seats are in po‐sition. Cer‐

being a second quicker to that benchmark speed and arguably allows you a bit more control. That said the automatic isn’t bad and provides a more re ‐fined change than many pseudo au‐tomatics.

• Engine: 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder, turbocharged petrol electric 48V mild hybrid

• Gears: 7-Speed DCT automatic

• Price: €27,633/£24,475

• Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) 11.4

seconds/Maximum Speed 185 kph (115 mph).

• Economy: 5.3l/100km (53.3 mpg) Combined driving.

• Emissions: 122 g/km

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

aided by a 48v battery to make a mild hybrid that ben‐efits emissions, power and economy.

It’s a practical car too with even the lead‐in version hav‐

TRAFFIC lights will soon have a fourth signal ‐ a white light for self‐driving cars.

Transport engineers at the University of North Carolina (USA) have devised the new symbol that will help control traffic when autonomous ve‐hicles become common on the roads.

The aim is to facilitate the

tainly not a performance model though when 62 mph takes 11.4 seconds, but in normal use the i20 doesn’t feel pedestrian. The manually geared versions fare better

Most i20s will spend their life pottering around towns and cities with the occasion‐al long run. Which is a shame as it handles rather well on cross country roads and especially with the nicely slick manual gearbox that would be my recommendation on the gearbox choice. Overall the i20 is refined, comfort‐able and very well equipped. It offers rather a lot of car for not a lot of money.

White after red, green and amber

processing of data of these cars to guarantee safety, as well as improving crossing times at intersections and re‐ducing fuel consumption.

According to the re ‐searchers, when a certain number of self‐driving vehi‐cles arrive at a crossing, the white light will come on to alert drivers of conventional cars that if the vehicle in front of them stops or continues to cross, they must do the same.

No date has yet been set for the introduction of the new signal in Spain.

HYUNDAI i20: Refined, comfortable and very well equipped.

For self-driving cars.

Image by ako photography/Shutterstock

Not so smart

NEW smart motorways are to be removed from UK government road‐building plans

Future of freight

DRONES will be used to deliver packages on remote Scottish islands as part of nine new in‐novative freight projects which have been awarded £1.2m in UK government funding.

The funding is one part of the govern‐ment’s Future of Freight Plan launched last year, setting a strategy to work closely with in‐dustry to deliver a world‐class freight system.

The system is hoped to support economic growth and build on the measures already taken to tackle the global HGV driver short‐age.

UK Roads Minister, Richard Holden, said: “Whether it’s drones for deliveries on remote

islands or zero emission buggies, we want to invest in future technology that could trans‐form how we move goods around the coun‐try while reducing emissions and traffic and creating skilled jobs.

“The Freight Innovation Fund gives innova‐tors the opportunity to test their ideas and help our freight industry become greener and more efficient unlocking better connectivity and boosting growth across the country,” confirmed the Roads Minister.

The Plan is a three‐year £7 million pro‐gramme designed to make delivering freight across the UK more efficient and cleaner.

The news comes due to financial pressures and lack of confidence felt by drivers the UK government confirmed on Saturday, April 15, delivering on the Prime Minister’s summer campaign pledge.

New smart motorways ‐including the 11 already paused from the second Road Investment Strategy (2020 to 2025) and the three earmarked for con ‐struction during the third Road Investment Strategy (2025 to 2030) ‐ will be re‐moved from government road‐building plans, given financial pressures and in recognition of the current lack of public confidence felt by drivers.

Initial estimations sug ‐gest constructing future smart motorway schemes would have cost more than

£1 billion and cancelling these schemes will allow more time to track public confidence in smart motor‐ways over a longer period.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “All drivers de‐serve to have confidence in the roads they use to get around the country.

“Many people across the country rely on driving to get to work, take their chil‐dren to school and go about their daily lives and I want them to be able to do

so with full confidence that the roads they drive on are safe.”

SMART MOTORWAYS: Being removed due to lack of confidence.

DRONES: Investing in future technology while reducing emissions and traffic.

75% of UK adults can’t read a map.

Favourite wins Grand National Paul Ince contract terminated

READING football club an‐nounced on Tuesday, April 11, it has terminated the contract of manager Paul Ince. The former Manch‐ester United and England legend will leave the Cham‐pionship strugglers with im‐mediate effect.

A statement released by the club read: “Reading Football Club can confirm that the contract of first‐team manager Paul Ince has been terminated with immediate effect.

“Ince was appointed ini‐tially on an interim basis with his assistant Alex Rae in February 2022 and, alongside the likes of Academy Manager Michael Gilkes and Under‐18s manager Mikele Leigertwood in the dugout, he did an admirable job in helping the club stave off the threat of relegation with four wins from the fi‐nal 14 fixtures last season.

“Ince took the reins on a permanent basis in the summer and, having to

cope with strict transfer embargo restrictions, he helped to piece together a new squad on a much‐re‐duced wage budget ‐ and with five wins from our first seven home games, the season began brightly.

“However, without a win in our last eight match‐es and with a relegation battle to fight following a six‐point deduction im‐posed last week, owner Mr Dai Yongge has decided that a change is needed.

“Assistant Manager Alex Rae has also departed the club. Our Under‐21s Man‐ager and former Royals striker, Noel Hunt, has been installed as Interim First Team Manager until the end of the season.”

Head of Football Opera‐tions, Mark Bowen, said: “I would like to thank Paul and Alex for their efforts through a frustrating and exceptionally challenging season so far. We would like to wish them well in their future endeavours.”

THE 2023 Grand National at Aintree in Liverpool held on Saturday April 15 was won by the 8‐1 favourite, Corach Rambler, ridden by Irish jockey Derek Fox.

After a delayed start thanks to ani‐mal rights activists staging a protest at the Aintree racecourse in Liverpool, the Grand National was eventually won by the 8 ‐ 1 favourite, Corach Rambler.

The win comes six years after Fox first teamed up with Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell to ride One For Arthur past the finishing post at Aintree.

Last year’s winner, Noble Yeats, had to settle for fourth on this occa‐sion. Second place went to Vanillier while Gaillard Du Mesnil cantered home in third.

The big event was sadly marred by the intrusion of a group of protesters from ‘Animal Rising’ onto the famous track. Merseyside Police finally made a total of 23 arrests, causing the race to start 12 minutes late. Two of the activists went so far as to attach themselves to one of the jumps by applying glue and lock‐on devices.

“We are continuing to work with The Jockey Club and other partners to keep people safe during the Grand National Festival,” said Merseyside

Police. They continued: “We are aware of people who planned to protest at to‐day’s event. This has been factored into our plans. We respect the right to peaceful protest and expression of views, but criminal behaviour and dis‐order will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly.”

Peta UK was quick to react and publish a statement after three hors‐es died during this year’s Grand Na‐tional races. Envoye Special died after an incident on Thursday April 13, fol‐lowed by Dark Raven during Satur ‐day’s third race. Hill Sixteen also fell at the first hurdle and had to be put down.

HORSE RACING: A race at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool.

Credit: Google maps - David Stoddart