Costa Calida 27 April – 3 May 2023 Issue 1973

RECORD HIGH

THE best year ever for tourism in Murcia, was the prediction made by the President of the Mur ‐cia Region, Fernando López Miras at the begin ‐ning of the year.

During the FITUR tourism fair in Madrid

López Miras made these grand statements an ‐nouncing during a TV in ‐terview that it will be the best year for tourism not just better than the year before.

So far these predictions are coming through with Murcia exceeding 2019 figures by 6.1 per cent in the first quarter. Exceltur, who has released these results, anticipates that in the second quarter, the Murcia Region is on track for an increase of 8.4 per cent.

This increase is credited to a very successful Sem ‐ana Santa but also to oth‐

EXCITING TIMES: Tourists love parades.

er factors. Many businesses used the quiet period after the pandemic to make im ‐provements to their prod‐ucts or services, impact ‐ing revenue. Credit is also given to the labour re ‐

THE waters of the Mar Menor have been declared excellent quality for bathing this summer but we have been advised that the lagoon still has a fragile ecosystem. Eleven million euros has been allocated to the removal of biomass in the Mar Menor and this project will be ongoing until the end of summer.

The biomass is removed to avoid decomposition protecting the sand so it doesn’t lose its tex‐ture, as many beachgoers com ‐plained about the sludge ‐ like quality of the sand last summer. A total of €13 million was also as ‐signed to sanitation and purifica ‐tion in the entire lagoon.

The Scientific Advisory Commit‐tee of the Mar Menor has advised that there may be another ‘bloom of algae’ as the amounts of ‘nutri‐ents’ that enter the Mar Menor in

Unemployment figures down

UNEMPLOYMENT has fall‐en by 776 people in the Cartagena area over the past year. This is mainly due to the hotel and catering in‐dustry and the construction industry. The hospitality in‐dustry created 515 new jobs in the last year and construction also contribut‐ed to hiring 170 profession‐

als, mostly for jobs in Es‐combreras and Navantia.

Tourism has also helped as the La Manga region pre‐pares for the summer sea‐son. The Torre Pacheco re‐gion also stands out in the number of contracts signed in March 2023, mostly mo‐tivated by the agricultural activity in this area.

form with 91 per cent of the workforce in the re ‐gion with stable fixed contracts creating a more content workforce lead ‐ing to an improvement in service and therefore an increase in revenue.

Exceltur also spoke about how the region is recovering its volume of visitors and this shows that even though there is added economic pressure this year people are still choosing to travel.

Mar Menor

EXCELLENT QUALITY: Enjoying the Mar Menor.

certain areas affect the balance of the ecosystem. Care will need to be taken when removing the

biomass as this helps control the balance and removing too much can also be harmful.

Catherine McGeer

Sports4Cancer Stadium upgrades

THE SPORTS4CANCER took place along the coast of the Mar Menor from Los Alcazares to San Pedro del Pinatar.

This event which was arranged to raise money and awareness for cancer also highlights the importance of exercise and sport.

All along the beaches and the promenades of the Mar Menor, you could see a multitude of sports activities taking place for both young and old.

There were spinning classes, Judo and Karate exhibitions, beach football, beach hockey, the ultimate frisbee competition, and many more. Some of the activities also took place on the water with sailing competitions, radio control boats, and scuba diving activities.

The events took place from April 21 until April 23. It was co­financed by the European Union.

Coastal wildlife

Catherine McGeer

ALONG the coast of the Costa Calida lies the protected natural area of the Regional Park Salinas and Arenales of San Pedro del Pinatar.

It became a nature reserve and protected area in 1985 and then was given the title of Regional Park in 1992. It connects

with the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean Sea. There you can find pink salt lakes, reed beds, salt marshes, and dunes.

As you take a stroll through this beautiful natural park you can spot a lot of different wildlife, the most famous being the flamingos but you can also see

Avocets with their long curved beaks, Kentish Plover, little terns, curlews, and another famous local the Archbebe or Redshank among many more.

People come from all over Europe to birdwatch and take pictures of the rich wildlife in this area.

THE town hall of Murcia plans to build a hotel and a conference centre beside the Nueva Condomina Stadium. These plans were part of the original project but not completed and have been revisited now that Murcia forms parts of the 2030 World Cup bid. There are also plans to extend the stadium so

that its capacity would be 42,000 and therefore because of this the parking facilities would be extended.

The sports minister Pedro García Rex said “It is a preliminary project and we are working so that all the requirements that FIFA is asking for can be covered in 15 days.”

Aguilas’ red prawn

THE Hotel and Tourism Association of Aguilas in collaboration with the town hall of Aguilas and 1001 Sabores Region of Murcia and Estrella Levante presented the ‘Gastronomic Days of the Red Prawn of Águilas’. It runs until April 30 and its aim is to promote and boost gastronomic products of the area. During this tour held in selected restaurants in Aguilas you can taste a variety of different menus which highlight Red Prawn of Aguilas. For more information check out the town hall Facebook page.

THE San Pedro del Pinatar

Town Council has begun implementation of its project

‘Plan de Reasfaltado Municipal’ (The Municipal Resurfacing Plan). More than 60 streets and avenues will be recovered in the town. Paving and signage in more than 100,000 square metres

Road reforms

will be improved and replaced. Some of the work has already been carried out in the neighbourhood of Los Antolinos, Avenida El Pilar and work continues in the town centre. The plan has a budget of €1.2 million.

PROTECTED AREA: Flamingos in the regional park.

Photo credit: Flickr L S Monaghan

Musical theatre

PETER THE MUSICAL, the acclaimed show by Theatre Properties, will be on in the El Batel Auditorium on the docks of Cartagena Port on Saturday, May 27, and Sun‐day, May 28. There will be two showings each day.

Electric scooters

MOBILITY MURCIA reported on their Twitter account that they have inaugurated their mobility service in Murcia. They plan to place 1,000 electric scooters at various points throughout the city for rent, but you must be over 18 to do so.

Coldplay music

CALLING all Coldplay fans! The Coldplay Live Broadcast from Buenos Aires experi‐ence is at a cinema near you. Cinemas along the coast of the Costa Calida including the Neocine in Dos Mares, San Javier, and the Cines Mandarache in Cartagena will show this special con‐cert.

La Manga tapas

LA RUTA DE LA TAPA be‐gins in La Manga on April 28 and will finish on May 14. It is organised by the As‐sociation of Commercials from Los Belones. Enjoy a tapa with your drink for just €3.50 in 17 different es‐tablishments.

Football lovers

PINATAR ARENA FOOTBALL CENTRE will host a Football Jersey exhibition as part of their 10th anniversary on April 29 and April 30 from 10am until 2pm. This is a free event.

Tree planting

YOUNG volunteers in the San Javier area planted trees as part of the Fan Fu‐tura Festival. They added another 44 new trees in or‐der to offset the carbon footprint. They are promis‐ing to break records this year for the number of trees they will plant as part of this project.

Heatwave coming

Catherine McGeer

TEMPERATURES are to reach summer highs this week with some areas reaching 45 de‐grees. This intense heatwave will affect most of Spain but Murcia and Extremadura are the two regions that will re‐ceive the highest tempera‐tures. According to AEMET who have given weather warnings regarding this heat these temperatures are to last all week gradually increasing throughout.

Meteorologists explain that although this is unusual weather for this time of year it

YOUR EWN HAS

has happened before with temperatures soaring during a heatwave in April of 2011.

Murcia City and Caravaca de la Cruz will be the two areas to feel the highest temperatures but the entire region will en‐dure this heatwave with an av‐erage temperature increase of between three and six degrees throughout the region.

With drought already a wor‐ry in the region, as March was the driest in 20 years and the reservoirs are 15 per cent be‐low the average in the last decade, these temperatures won’t help.

Luxury superyacht

DECSRIBED as an ultra‐luxury adventure su‐peryacht the Scenic Eclipse II arrived in the port of Cartagena on its maiden voyage from Lisbon, Portugal to Barcelona.

This ‘Discovery Yacht’ has therapy rooms, saunas, steam rooms, plunge pools, relaxation lounges, a manicure studio, an integrated ice fountain, a Sky Bar on the sky deck, a large pool with swim jets, a helipad with two helicopters on board and a sub‐marine for custom excursions!

It is 168 metres and can accommodate 228 passengers.

The ultramodern design features an ice‐strengthened hull as it voyages through Antarctica and the Artic among other desti‐nations. The Scenic Eclipse II has 114 state‐rooms that are all suites. They have their own private balcony and a butler.

The superyacht also has nine restau‐rants, four bars, and a theatre.

Clean energy hub

THE Murcia Region as‐pires to become one of the most important green hydrogen hubs in Europe.

Green Hydrogen, also referred to as ‘clean hy‐drogen’ is produced by using a renewable ener‐gy source such as solar power or wind power.

Murcia has more than 3,000 hours of sunshine per year and it has the infrastructure and pro‐

Tax refunds

ject to become one of the most important in the manufacture and distribution of this clean energy. They are calling it the Green Hydrogen Valley project.

The association is al‐ready working with the government of the Re‐gion of Murcia to begin strengthening training in the green H2 sector that will be needed in the coming years.

STORIES IN THIS WEEK’S EDITION

Strike action

RYANAIR warns of delays to Irish and UK holiday‐makers travelling to Spain as certain Spanish Air‐ports have announced strike action.

Other UK airlines have also warned there will be delays and possibly can‐celations in relation to the strikes.

The strikes will affect 16 airports across Spain including the Region of Murcia Corvera Airport and Alicante Airport.

The Spanish air traffic controllers will strike ev‐ery Thursday and Mon‐day until the end of the month for two hours each day. Meanwhile, Air Europa have announced they will strike at the be‐ginning of May, and Vuel‐ing cabin crew at certain bases have also an‐nounced they will strike, but this strike seems to be affecting only French cities at the moment.

The staff members in‐volved in these strikes are in dispute with their em‐ployers over pay and work conditions.

THE San Javier Town Council re‐turned €800,000 in capital gains tax improperly charged. Half of this went to property owners who purchased property before 2021 and paid a tax on the ‘In‐crease on the Value of Urban Land’. They refer to it as the IIVT‐NU tax. The constitutional Tri‐bunal then declared this tax null and void in 2021. For more infor‐mation about this tax, you can vis‐it the following website: simar roabogados.com.

WEATHER WARNINGS: The AEMET temperature map.

Credit: AEMET Murcia’s official Twitter account

ULTIMATE LUXURY: The superyacht has nine restaurants, four bars and a theatre.

Photo credit: Official Scenic Eclipse II website

Top monuments

MURCIA is famous for its beautiful coastline and rural destinations, but it is also rich in historical buildings and monuments. The most famous is probably the cathedral in Murcia City and the Roman theatre in Cartegena, but there are many more. While the Cathedral in Murcia is definitely worth the trip so is the Royal Casino in Murcia constructed in 1847 as the headquarters for a private club. The private club still exists but it is now open to the public view.

The Royal Basílica ­ Santuario de la Vera Cruz a catholic basilica is another stunning historical attraction located in Caravaca de la Cruz. Construction began in 1617 in an early Baroque style and was completed in 1703.

And finally, the Jumilla Castle built in the 15th century by the Marquis of Vilena has dungeons and ruins of an old flour mill among other rooms. It was built on an ancient Muslim fort and was declared a National Monument.

PROVERB OF THE WEEK

A Historical year ahead

WITH rock icons like ‘Kiss’ and ‘Iron Maiden’ performing in Murcia this year as well as ‘Simply Red’ and Rod Stewart, it is lining up to be a historical year for festivals in Murcia. This year with 137 days of music programmed Murcia is expecting more than 350,000 music fans to attend these festivals which they predict will have an economic impact of €43.1 million for the region.

The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports Spokesman Marcos Ortuño commented on the yearround effect these events

Mobile unit

Meaning don’t try to do too many things at the same time, focus on one thing at a time. This proverb dates back to the mid-1500s and is derived from the trade of blacksmithing.

have on tourism in the region. This positive effect on businesses such as hotels, restaurants, and bars boosts the local economy and employment in the Region.

Coming up the region will host the ‘Warm Up Estrella de Levante’ festival which takes place at La Fica from April 28 to 30. The line­up includes international bands such as Franz Ferdinand and

Hot Chip. From June 23 to 25 the region will host one of the highly anticipated festivals in Cartagena the ‘Rock Imperium’ which will feature 50 international groups including ‘Kiss’, ‘Deep Purple’, and ‘Europe’. The ‘Murcia On’ festival will bring huge stars such as Alejandro Sanz, Joaquín Sabina, Pablo Alborán, Manuel Carrasco, or Morat to the region also.

IN an effort to support and increase the prevention of breast cancer the minister for Health María Dolores García is raising awareness about the mobile unit that will be next to the Health Centre in Aguilas Sur. It will be there from Monday to Friday from 9am to 11am until May 19. They recommend all women aged between 47 and 69 years old make use of this facility. This is part of the Programme of Breast Cancer Prevention (Programa de Prevención del Cáncer de Mama). Some people may have already received an appointment. If you have not you can call the following number to make one: 968 226 474.

Car park

PLANS to develop a 1,000space car park near Corvera airport have been dashed as the Minister of Development and Infrastructure refused the project saying the land was undevelopable and prone to flooding. TSJ the company that had planned to construct this parking lot brought the decision to the High Court of Justice in Murcia and they dismissed the appeal agreeing with the earlier decision. The courts said that the airport already had a large parking area and if they wanted to extend it has vacant plots to use.

MUSIC FANS: More than 350,000 are expected to attend.

“Don’t put too many irons in the fire.”

51% Amount of monthly salary you need to buy an iPhone 14 Pro Max in the UK.

Annual event

PILARMONICS Female

Barbershop Chorus competed in the annual Convention, in Calpe, with fellow ‘Barbershoppers’ from all over including the UK, Ireland, Israel, and of course Spain.

The Pilarmonics chose a colourful 60s/70s theme for their costumes and sang ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’ and ‘Side by Side’ to reflect the strong bond between the members.

The Pilarmonics chorus meets weekly in Dolores at 6.45pm on a Wednesday evening and always welcomes new members. They sing at events throughout the year and at Christmas.

If you would like to join you will be made welcome and given support and training. To make contact email sec retary.pilarmonics@gm ail.com or find them on Facebook www.face book.com/pilarmonics.

Cross Festival

THE festival called Las Cruces de Mayo (the Crosses of May) takes place in Cartagena from May 5 until May 7.

The festival is more like a competition where each of the businesses or family groups construct and decorate large crosses made of beautiful flowers. Alongside this celebration, the town hall of Cartagena has arranged lots of events on different stages constructed around the city in plazas

San Francisco, Icue, Juan XXIII, del Rey, en los Juncos, La Cuesta de la Baronesa and finally the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

During the celebration, there will be 11 concerts including Filiu y Cia, well known for his time on the TV show Operacion Triunfo.

The feast of the crosses is celebrated in lots of other towns and cities not just throughout Spain but in South America also.

Rock Imperium

THE Rock Imperium Festival will take place in Cartagena from June 23 until June 26 in the El Batel Auditorium. Over 50 rock bands will take part in the festival headlined by Kiss, the iconic American rock band as part of their final tour. Deep Purple, the English rock band is also part of this festival along with the Swedish rock band Europe and the German metal band Helloween. With some of the most influential rock bands performing as part of this festival, it’s lining up to be an epic night for rock fans. Tickets are now available. For more information or to purchase tickets visit the Rock Imperium website www.rockimperiumfestival.es.

New Housing Law 2023

THE Spanish government proposed a new housing law in February 2022. This new law, which is the first of its kind, has finally been agreed upon and is pending approval from the Spanish Parliament. It focuses on rental properties in what they are calling ‘stressed areas’.

A ‘stressed area’ under the new law is an area where the cost of the mortgage or rent, plus bills and other basic property costs, exceeds 30 per cent of the average income or where the rent has risen by 5 per cent above the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

This new law has redefined what a large and small landowner is. A large landowner is now someone who owns five properties or more, it used to be 10. A small landowner owns less than five properties. The most controversial part of this new law is the fact that

the tenant will no longer pay the real estate fees.

To ensure there are no loopholes in this new law they have prohibited the inclusion of extra charges (community fee, garbage removal, etc) and you cannot come to an ‘agreement between parties’ contrary to the housing agreement. They have included tax benefits that will help offset these extra costs for the owners.

Another big change is the elimination of the CPI when calculating the cost of the rent, it is capped

and cannot increase by more than 2 per cent in 2023 and 3 per cent in 2024. They have also included new measures to protect against evictions.

NEW LAW: Focuses on rental properties.

950,000 metric tons of sunflowers are grown in Spain.

Sánchez to visit the White House

SPANISH President Pedro Sánchez is scheduled to visit the US to meet President Joe Biden, according to an official statement by officials on Wednesday, April 19. The announcement was made by White House press secretary Karine Jean­Pierre, who said that Sánchez will be meeting Biden for talks on May 12.

Jean ­ Pierre said, “The leaders will coordinate on is­

sues including climate change and expanded cooperation with Latin America and the Caribbean, as Spain

prepares to take on the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union,” as cited by a news agency.

In a statement, she stated that “The two leaders will review our efforts as NATO allies and close partners to strengthen our bilateral defence relationship, transatlantic security, and economic prosperity”.

She also added, “They will

Charging ahead

SPAIN has taken a major step towards reducing electronic waste and promoting sustainability in the technology industry by adapting the EU’s universal charger law to fit its own regulations.

On Friday, April 21, the country announced its adoption of the EU’s universal charger law, but with some unique regulations of its own. This move is set to revolutionise the way we charge our devices and could save consumers and retailers millions of euros.

Customers will now have the option to choose whether they want a new charger to come with their electronic devices. This means

that people who already have chargers compatible with their new devices can opt­out of purchasing a new one, reducing unnecessary electronic waste. The law will also ensure that manufacturers provide clear information on device charging capabilities.

Spain’s adaptation of the EU regulations will help to promote the reuse of cables and chargers, reducing electronic waste and saving consumers approximately €26 million per year. Retailers and distributors are also set to benefit from an estimated increase of €48 million saved annually.

discuss our unwavering support for Ukraine and our efforts to impose costs on the Kremlin as Russia continues its brutal war of aggression.”

Prime business success

Betty Henderson

GLOBAL giant, Amazon registered record profits in Spain once again in 2022. The multinational retail corporation reported a whopping €6.4 billion in sales for 2022 in figures released on Friday, April 21.

The figures represent an income increase of almost 7 per cent compared with last year.

Amazon’s earnings include revenues from its physical marketplaces operating in Spain, as well other branches of the business including Amazon Web Services.

The company credits its Spanish success to investments totalling €3.7 billion in the country, which includes the opening of two new logistics centres in Zaragoza and Girona. With 22,000 employees and over 40 facilities throughout Spain, Amazon is among the top 10 employers in the country.

However, the company isn’t without its critics, particularly as it announced some 9,000 layoffs globally, earlier this year which caused concern. Amazon later clarified that the layoffs are not exclusive to Spain, saying that it actually plans to expand its workforce to 25,000 employees in the country by 2025.

Despite its immense success, Amazon said that its profit margins remain low due to the competitive market and increasing operating costs.

Sanchez to visit Joe Biden at the White House.

THE European Union (EU) has issued a stern warning to Spain over a controversial environmental law that seeks to legalise irrigation in thousands of hectares of land around Doñana National Park, one of the most important wetlands in Europe.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for Environment, wrote a letter on Thursday, April 20, expressing his concerns about the proposed law and threatened to take legal action if it violates environmental legislation.

In deep water

The EU has already requested clarification from the Spanish government about the law change, but no formal response has been given yet.

According to technical estimates by the European Parliament, the fine for noncompliance could be as much as €300m. Spain has previously faced environmental fines in the Basque Country.

Doñana in southern An­

REYES MAROTO has caused controversy by suggesting introducing a tourist tax to Madrid, something that local hoteliers are already getting steamed up about, according to a news source on Monday, April 17.

For five years, Maroto was in charge of Spain’s tourism. Now she is standing for mayor of Madrid, which every year attracts millions of visitors, including lots of British holidaymakers.

A tourist tax was first proposed for Madrid in 2015 and 2018 but was never implemented.

“The most important thing is to know why,” Maroto said.

Speaking during a breakfast meeting

dalucia has been suffering from water shortages due to the expansion of irrigated agriculture in surrounding areas. A local ecological research centre, reports that 59 per cent of the major lagoons in Doñana have not been filled with water since 2013.

The situation has been attributed to the increase in irrigated land, which has expanded by 30 per cent in the last decade.

New tourist tax

in Madrid, the Ex ­ Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism said she liked the idea of introducing a tourist tax, which visitors to the city would have to pay per night, but added, “The tourist tax does not have to be merely a tax, it has to be a tax that reverts to the tourism industry.”

On hearing her comments the Madrid Hotel Business Association (MHBA) made clear its opposition to the idea without any hesitation, claiming that it would have a detrimental effect on the hotel sector and visitors.

ONE speed camera has been revealed to be Spain’s biggest issuer of fines according to a study released on Friday, April 21.

A speed camera in Tarragona issued a whopping 67,582 fines last year. This ruthless device, located on the AP ­ 7 at kilometre 325, has been causing chaos for speeding drivers across Catalonia.

However, the region is also home to the country’s most lenient speed camera. A camera located on the N­340 in Barcelona issued just 8,227 fines last year.

The news comes as the country battles a worry ­

Fast and furious

ing rise in road fatalities, with 1,145 people losing their lives on Spanish roads last year alone.

Authorities are keen to tackle the issue and have recently cracked down on speeding drivers and in ­

stalled more speed cameras on Spanish roads. The DGT has increased the number of speed cameras by 7 per cent since January 2022, bringing the total to over 2,000.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

HOLLYWOOD CALLING

BRITISH actress Rachel Warren on mega success, new releases, and the tough road to the top.

They say the course of true love never did run smooth, and as it turns out the course of mega successful careers isn’t that different either.

Despite its glamorous exterior, acting is one of the notoriously harshest of careers to make a name in, with a remarkable only 2 per cent of actors ever even mak ing a living.

For those who do tread that path though ­ undeterred by the knock backs, the low pay and the often far­from­glamorous hours the payoff can often be some thing quite extraordinary.

Now 38 and about to star in not only a new Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde remake but also her own series, the actress and producer sat down with the Euro Weekly News to talk US success, the importance of backing yourself, and the long road to the top.

Originally from Buckinghamshire, Rachel told the EWN acting has been practically a lifelong passion: “At five I pointed at the TV screen and I said ‘mummy that’ and I knew that’s what I wanted to do in life.”

“None of my family are in the industry and my parents really wanted me to have an education rather than going straight into acting.

“I compromised and I told them I would get an acting degree, which I ended up doing in London.”

At one point things took a particularly dark turn when Rachel even had to take out a restraining order against someone else in the industry. Those experiences, which would have (understandably) seen a lot of aspiring actors run for the hills, saw Rachel do the opposite, working out how to create her own way within a sometimes brutal profession.

The result was RWI Creative, her own film and TV poster design company, which allowed her to stay within the industry on her own terms while paying the bills and still having time to audition for acting parts.

Rachel told the EWN her big break came with the hugely successful Rise of the Footsoldier franchise.

From there, as Rachel explains, everything else fell into place. She has since starred in The Last Heist alongside Terry Stone and has just shot multiple films, including Dragged Up Dirty ­ due

for release in 2024 ­ alongside Nick Moran, Michelle Ryan, Peter Andre, and Junior Andre.

With multiple films under her belt, and often no longer having to audition for roles, Rachel’s star is now rising even higher with a seriously exciting new project in the works; a high concept comedy series that she describes as a “mixture between Fleabag and Bridget Jones.”

Not content with simply reaping the rewards of her own hard work though, Rachel explained she now wants to help other actors, particularly in dealing with some of her industry’s darker sides.

“I wanted to open doors for myself and now for others.

“That is one of the things I am fiercely passionate about; erasing manipulation and gaslighting in the industry and bringing up new and young filmmakers in a safe environment and working with some of the big beasts in the industry.

Rachel’s latest film Ripper’s Revenge, following a journalist who covers the famous murderer’s crimes before finding himself the target of a series of letters from Jack the Ripper, is out now.

Rachel attended the Marbella International Film Festival.

Credit: MIFF

PRESS EUROPEAN

DENMARK

Stay clear

DENMARK has lifted restrictions on sailing in waters near the Nord Stream gas pipeline which was sabotaged by a series of blasts last September. At the same time Denmark’s Maritime Authority advised against anchoring or fishing within one nautical mile (1.85 kilometres) of the site.

THE NETHERLANDS

Happy talk

EIGHTY-FIVE per cent of the Netherlands’ population told an official poll they were happy with their lives although 62 per cent believed things “were going wrong” with the country. A further 60 per cent were dissatisfied with the country’s political policies, compared with 49 per cent in the autumn.

BELGIUM

Early occupiers

DURING excavations in Elewijt near Zemst, archaeologist Kylian Verhaevert and his team discovered evidence of an Iron Age settlement with circular ditches and a burial ground. They also uncovered a Roman cemetery with up to 30 graves and signs of an open-air temple and sanctuary.

GERMANY

Second term

AS the 2024 EU elections approach, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has not said whether she wants to stand again. If willing, and she receives government backing, her re-election is a certainty as Germany wields significant influence regarding Brussels’ top jobs.

FRANCE

High up

ALAIN ROBERT, a free climber known as the French Spiderman, recently scaled a 38storey tower block in Paris in support of demonstrators opposed to the new pension law delaying the age when people can retire. Aged 60, he habitually climbs without a harness, using only his bare hands.

NORWAY

Open again

NORWAY’S Trollstigen winding road with its many hairpin bends, which is closed by the government each winter, has reopened to traffic. This area receives an average of 450 inches of snowfall and is impassable until April when snow ploughs clear the scenic route, ready for the tourist season.

FINLAND

Happy Birds

FINLAND-BASED Rovio, maker of the Angry Birds video games, has been bought by Sega Sammy Holdings. The Japanese gaming giant responsible for the Sonic the Hedgehog character is paying €760 million for Angry Birds, which was the first mobile game to be downloaded one billion times.

IRELAND

Short-changed

THE 10-kilometre Great Ireland Run accidentally became an 8.5-kilometre run as runners were accidentally sent the wrong way by marshals. The race, organised by Great Ireland Run and Dublin City Harriers, was held in Dublin's Phoenix Park but all results were afterwards declared void.

ITALY

Milan getaway

ITALY’S Justice Minister Carlo Nordio was summoned to parliament to explain why Russian businessman Artem Uss, under house arrest in a luxury apartment in Milan, was able to abscond. He was due to be extradited to the US to face charges of evading sanctions and money-laundering.

PORTUGAL

Sea rescue

SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Erica Vicente was blown far out to sea while paddle boarding off the Vila Real de Santo Antonio beach. Twenty hours later the MSC Reef, a container ship waiting to enter Tangier (Morocco) harbour, spotted her in the water, alive but suffering from hypothermia and sunburn.

UKRAINE

Shooting star

A MYSTERIOUS flash lighting up Kyiv’s night sky on April 21 was originally identified as a Nasa satellite falling to Earth. After the US space agency revealed that it was still in orbit, Ukrainian space officials announced that the flash was probably a meteor entering the earth’s atmosphere.

SWEDEN

No Tweets

SVERIGES RADIO (SR) has stopped using Twitter, referring to its concerns over the company’s “recent turbulence” and questioning Twitter’s ability and willingness to fight fake news and hate speech. SR’s decision follows similar moves by the US National Public Radio and Canada’s CBC.

BUSINESS EXTRA Done deal FINANCE

Outlook cloudy

SUPERDRY no longer expects to make a profit this year and may have to raise new funds. Poor weather had resulted in less demand for the company’s new spring­summer collection and sales had been hit by the cost of living crisis hit, the British fashion brand admitted.

Tax facts

MULTINATIONAL companies pay corporation tax averaging 21.8 per cent in Spain, more than seven percentage points below the European Union’s 29.03 per cent. Meanwhile, more than half of large Spanish groups pay corporation tax amounting to less than 20 per cent according to tax authority Hacienda.

CBI shamed

THE British Insurance Brokers’ Association, representing 1,800 insurance brokers and intermediaries, left the scandal­hit Confederation of British Industry (CBI) following sexual assault allegations against senior staff. The CBI admitted that some members had left but stressed this was only in “single­digit” numbers.

Gas cash

SPANISH engineering and construction companies Tecnicas

Reunidas, FCC and Turkey’s Enka secured a €1 billion contract to build one of Germany’s three planned regasification plants for liquid natural gas (LNG) near Hamburg. Another Spanish company, Sener y Cobra, will be responsible for another in Brünsbuttel.

Charge sheet

LESS than 12 years before the first ban on diesel engines comes into force, the UK has no public electric chargers or hydrogen refilling station for lorries. Lack of infrastructure makes it impossible for operators to decarbonise their fleets, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) warned.

is the amount that Inditex was worth on April 17 as shares rose by 1.22 per cent, putting the fashion chain ahead of power company Iberdrola and Santander bank.

Deflating inflation figures

INFLATION in the UK fell less than was hoped, hampered by food and drink prices rocketing by 19.1 per cent.

The annual rate measured by the consumer price index (CPI) dipped to 10.1 per cent in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, continuing its downward path after February’s 10.4 per cent.

Economists had expected a fall to 9.8 per cent but instead inflation remained in double figures as food and drink prices rose at the fastest annual rate since 1977.

Britain was the only country in western Europe with double­digit inflation in March, compared with an average of 6.9 per cent in the euro zone and 5 per cent in the United

FC BARCELONA is putting the finishing touches to plans for financing its Espai Barça project with a €1.5 billion bond issue.

Amongst other plans, this will finance a complete remodelling of the club’s Camp Nou football ground.

As investors will expect an interest rate of around 6 per cent costing the club an annual €90 million, the market is waiting to see how and where it will seek the funding to meet these extra payments.

Little has gone smoothly for the club since announcing its plans to finance the Espai Barça project.

Flat batteries

MTE Power, a small producer of lithium ion batteries, initially intended to build its first factory capable of large ­ scale production in Dundee.

The company recently told Sky News that it was considering whether to switch from the UK to the US where it would benefit from American subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Unless we can make the UK a competitive place for battery manufacturers, we probably won’t end up with a battery manufacturing industry in the UK,” AMTE Power’s chief executive Alan Hollis said.

States.

It looks as though the Bank of England will again raise the interest rate with financial markets now betting on

a 97 per chance that the Bank will increase the base rate by a quarter of one percentage point to 4.5 per cent on May 11. There were indications, insiders said, that this could hit 5 per cent by the autumn.

Referring to the March figures, Grant Fitzner, the chief economist at the ONS, said the principal drivers of the reduction were motor fuel prices and heating oil costs.

“Both fell after sharp rises at the same time last year. Clothing, furniture and household goods prices increased, but more slowly than a year ago. However, these were partially offset by the cost of food, which is still climbing steeply, with bread and cereal prices at a record high.”

Barça’s on the ball

vate placement of bonds on Wall Street, split into three €500­million tranches. The first would have been due on June 30, 2032, and the second on June 30, 2045. The club would have paid interest on the third tranche only until 2045 despite maturing on June 30, 2052.

the club had to rethink its plans.

This involved reducing the number of bonds and taking on a bank debt that will be guaranteed by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

EL CORTE INGLES has paid a total of €500 million to finalise its deal with Sheikh Al Thani.

With this transaction, the department store group acquired 4.2 million of its shares, representing 5.53 per cent of the group’s capital and half of the 10.33 per cent owned by AI Thani through Luxembourgregistered Primefin.

El Corte Ingles repurchased these shares in June 2022 in an operation originally valued at €385 million. The final amount was increased to €500 million to include compensation and interest, principally as compensation to Primefin which granted a €1 billion loan to El Corte Ingles in 2015.

Home help

THE Bank of Spain (BDE) revised the number of mortgages eligible for social protection measures agreed with the government and finance sector in late 2022.

Initially, Barcelona had hoped for a €1.5 billion pri­

These plans came to nothing. Beset by the Negrerira scandal over bribes to the vice­president of the football referees’ committee, which coincided with last March’s banking crisis,

A smooth ride

NATIONAL EXPRESS reported a rise in first ­ quarter revenues thanks to its UK buses and German rail improvements.

Overall earnings rose by 25 per cent to £774.4 million (€879.7 million), consistent with expectations, while Spanish subsidiary ALSA reported solid growth, especially on long haul and Morocco routes.

UK earnings rose 27 per cent year ­ onyear, with scheduled coach revenue up 87 per cent on 2022, reflecting the recovery from the Covid ­ related restrictions 2021 and the impact of rail strikes.

Thanks to its first ­ quarter results, National Express shares immediately rose 4.25 per cent after having fallen by around 48 per cent over the 12 months.

The company’s German rail interests rose 10 per cent on 2022 while it expects a 13 per cent price increase on the US bus contracts once these expire.

Some finer points have still to be decided, including the final amount of both the bonds and the bank loan. Sources close to the process suggested that ultimately the bond issue would be somewhere under €1 billion and the loan somewhat over €500 million.

Meter pact

ENERGY FIRMS agreed to ban forcible installation of prepayment meters in the homes of customers who are over 85.

Representatives must in future wear body cameras as part of a new code of conduct, the Guardian revealed.

Suppliers reached agreement with the government regarding new guidelines for installing the meters in situations where householders have run up an energy debt. There will be no repetition of agents brandishing court­approved entry warrants to break in to install them, power companies pledged.

They must now make at least 10 attempts to contact a customer and then conduct a ‘site welfare visit’ before a prepayment meter is installed.

The updated and extended Code of Good Practice was expected to benefit one million vulnerable households and those at risk of defaulting on mortgage payments.

Instead, Spain’s supervisor calculates that this would assist 550,000 families should the interest rate rise from the current 3.5 to 4 per cent.

Nevertheless, past figures for households accessing the 2012 Code also suggested that only 200,000 households would benefit, according to Bank of Spain’s latest Financial Stability Report.

Cheers Heineken

HEINEKEN has finished the first quarter of its fiscal year with buoyant sales in Spain.

The multinational brewing company reported that its net income grew by more than 20 per cent owing to increased volume and the combination of channels and brands.

Sales of the 0.0. non­alcoholic brand performed exceptionally well in Spain, together with the entire premium range led by El Aguila.

In addition, Spain is one of six markets that have completed the transition to Eazle, one of the largest e­commerce platforms in the world, the company said.

MARCH INFLATION: In double figures owing to food and drink prices.

CAMP NOU: FC Barcelona plans to remodel iconic football ground.

Photo credit: Pexels/Gustav Fring

LONDON - FTSE 100

DOW JONES

Bagged it

MULBERRY GROUP

sales improved in the second half of its financial year, partly due to demand for luxury goods as China’s economy reopened. The firm slumped during the first half on reporting £4 million (€4.5 million) losses for the six months ending 1 October 2022.

AI is best

ROUGHLY half of Spanish bosses said they would prefer artificial intelligence to make decisions for them, a study by technology firm Oracle found. Forty ­ five per cent of managers said that an over­abundance of data and their inability to handle it efficiently had led to a greater reliance on machines.

Housing for all

Linda Hall

SPAIN’S government will use European funds to finance 43,000 new homes for use as social housing at reasonable rents. This will add up to a total of 93,000 properties when taking into account an additional 50,000 properties which now belong to Sareb, Spain’s ‘bad bank’.

Speaking in parliament on April 19, Pedro Sanchez, president of the Spanish government, explained that some of the properties would be newbuilds while others would be renovated.

The cost would be covered by €4 billion in EU funding which will be made available

through Spain’s Official Credit Institute (ICO).

“Public and private develop­

In-person preferred

A RECENT survey found that a third of the UK population prefer to do their banking in person. Meanwhile, high street banks maintain in­person services are underused although the survey found that people wanted person­toperson advice even when they were computer­literate and could obtain it online.

Forty­four per cent of over­55s said they would rather visit a branch but the survey by

professional services company, Accenture, found that not only older generations were averse to change as the 18­34 age group also hesitated to switch entirely to online banking. More people were using the Post Office to manage money as a result of branches closing, which often made it the only location where consumers and businesses could do their banking.

EY cull

ers will have access to this funding on the understanding that the properties will be available as social housing for at least 50 years,” government sources said. Not all of the 50,000 properties acquired by Sareb when the 2008 property bubble burst will be immediately available, however.

Twenty­one thousand of the Sareb homes are finished and the bank possesses enough land to build 15,000 more, but a further 14,000 are at present occupied by squatters. Raquel Sanchez, Transport and Urban Agenda minister, explained during a La Sexta television interview, that where possible the government hoped to be able to “legalise the situation” of the squatters.

The minister did not mention that only 2,230 of Sareb’s properties were located in Madrid, Valencia, or Barcelona whose respective rents had risen by 10.4, 18.4 and 19.1 per cent since March 2022.

LONDON­BASED accountancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) is cutting 3,000 US jobs, citing overcapacity. Days earlier, EY abandoned plans to separate its auditing and consulting divisions although the company maintained that the reductions were unrelated. The cuts affecting approximately 5 per cent of its US workforce were part of its ongoing management of the business, said EY, promising “comprehensive support” to those affected.

Cheap deal

THE National Competition and Markets Commission (CNMC) is investigating 35 of Spain’s small and medium­sized electricity suppliers. The CNMC suspects that Holaluz, Cox, Fenie Energia, Alpex Iberica, Alterna, Neuroenergia and Som Energia amongst others, have taken advantage of the Iberian exception, buying cheap electricity on the Spanish market and selling it to France. As always, the CNMC said it could not provide any further details.

RAQUEL SANCHEZ: Spain’s Transport and Urban Agenda minister.

Photo credit: Pool Moncloa

BUSINESS EXTRA

On the cards

DEMAND for paper money around the world is at its lowest in 20 years, banknote manufacturer De La Rue said. The company, which designs a third of the banknotes used worldwide, explained that the demand for cash had fallen since the pandemic when central banks stocked up on currency.

Stone profit

MARBLE multinational Cosentino had a turnover of €1.7 billion last year, 22 per cent more than in 2021 and the company’s third consecutive year with a turnover topping €1 billion. Operating profits grew by 13 per cent to €312 million while net profits also advanced by 13 per cent to €117 million.

Tomato blow

THIS year could see the lowest production of British tomatoes since 1985. The National Farmers Union warned that steep rises in production costs, including energy to heat and light greenhouses, had forced many growers to make cuts, mothball greenhouses or shut down altogether.

Speeding up

CAR production by 19.6 per cent during the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022, manufacturers’ association Anfact announced. A total of 658,282 vehicles left Spanish factories thanks to a renewed supply of chips, although production was 13 per cent lower than in 2019.

Quids in

PEPCO GROUP, which owns Poundland, posted strong sales growth after rising prices and inflation drove shoppers to seek out bargains. Turnover grew by 22.8 per cent to €2.39 billion for the six months ending March, following solid trade at its Pepco outlets where revenues soared by 36.9 per cent.

Grenadier goes to Austria

INEOS, the company founded and run by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will build an electric version of its new Grenadier off­road vehicle.

Despite Ratcliffe’s staunch backing for Brexit, the latest version of his 4x4 will be produced in Austria, using car parts from the Canadian manufacturer Magna.

With production due to begin in 2026, the UK has once again missed out on building a second Ineos vehicle after Ratcliffe chose a French factory for the original Grenadier.

Ratcliffe, who transformed Ineos into one of the UK’s biggest private companies by taking over chemicals businesses, has since launched unrelated projects

which, together with the Grenadier, range from clothing to sports clubs.

These include the Nice football team in France, the Ineos Britannia sailing team as well as the for­

Mammoth Aena contract

mer Team Sky cycling team, since renamed the Ineos Grenadiers. He has also put in a bid for Manchester United.

With a personal wealth which the Sunday Times Rich List put at £6 billion (€6.8 billion), Ratcliffe lives in Monaco for tax purposes.

He named the Grenadier after his favourite London pub, which he later bought, but despite the vehicle’s ostensible Britishness, the first version was built in Hambach in eastern France.

This came as a disappointment for Bridgend in south Wales where Ratcliffe had originally planned to build the Grenadier following the closure of the Ford engine plant.

Another London acquisition

INDITEX founder Amancio Ortega paid £82 million (€93 million) for another London property in Foley Street, via his Pontegadea real estate company.

The 1920s building close to Oxford Circus and the British Museum, was originally built as a printer’s and later housed the BBC’s overseas service.

This was the Zara billionaire’s second impressive property deal in recent months, following the €100 million purchase last March of an apartment building in Dublin’s Hanover Square.

The Foley Street building was bought from Abrdn ­ formerly Standard Life Aberdeen ­ in a transaction overseen by property advisers Savills.

Abrdn bought the 4,000­square metre Foley Street building for £70 million (€79.5 million) in 2017, leasing it for 25 years to the Kier Group in 2018.

Undeterred by Brexit, Ortega continues to invest in the London property market with assets worth approximately €3 billion. His biggest purchase, The Post Building, was acquired in 2019 for around €700 million.

He owns properties in Oxford Street, St James’s Street and St James

US investment fund, Apollo Global Management, has the John Wood Group in its sights.

Usually referred to as Wood, the multinational engineering and consulting business headquartered in Aberdeen turned down four previous offers, maintaining that they did not reflect its real value.

Matters changed with

Square as well as Devonshire House, the former townhouse of the Dukes of Devonshire in Piccadilly.

The Foley Street sale was one of London’s few largescale property transactions in recent months, after sales slowed owing to the Bank of England's increased interest increase.

An American suitor

the fifth, which valued Wood at £1.66 billion (€1.84 billion), 59 per cent more than the share price before the first offer was made.

The board of directors listened to Wood’s investorsmainly big institutional funds ­ and decided to open the books to Apollo.

This follows a steady de­

STATE

OWNED airports operator

Aena is putting out to tender a fiveyear, €1.5 billion contract for private security.

What is possibly the Administration’s largest­ever services contract, seeks approximately 5,500 security guards and 2,000 assistants for Aena’s 45 airports, two helipads and Murcia aerodrome.

They will be required to provide adequate security at Aena airports which foresee 286 million arrivals during 2023, rising to 288 million in 2024, 301 million in 2025 and 315 million in 2026.

Insiders familiar with the contract specifications said in the Spanish press that this offered the option of an additional year, to provide the chosen companies with as much stability as possible.

Getaways

DESPITE the cost­of­living crisis, spending on flights and holidays rose in the first three months of 2023.

Details from more than 24 million UK bank accounts showed a 27 per cent year­onyear rise on package holiday bookings, and a 36 per cent increase in spending on airfares, according to analysis by digital advertising platform Cardlytics.

cline in Wood’s share price, partly to the problematical £2.2 billion (€2.5 billion) takeover of US engineering giant Amec Foster Wheeler, and attempts to diversify from oil and gas.

The original deadline for a decision has now passed and has been moved to May 17.

A health unto His Majesty

NYETIMBER, which produces English sparkling wine, predicted bumper sales for this summer.

Eric Heerema, Nyetimber’s chief executive and chairman, said the Sussexbased company was expecting “strong demand” over the Coronation bank holiday.

Sales had already surged in recent years, Heerema pointed out, thanks in part to warmer weather which favoured production and shot up by 60 per cent over the late Queen’s Platinum

Jubilee weekend.

Glasses of Nyetimber wines, which have been served at numerous royal events, will be raised again throughout Britain during and after HM King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday, May 6.

Nyetimber, like rival Chapel Down, is launching a £39.50 (€44.83) limited edition wine for the Coronation, made from West Sussex grapes.

“Consumers are always proud to champion and celebrate British goods and craftsmanship,” Heerema said.

While all the travel industry has enjoyed a post ­ Covid rebound, figures suggest a trend towards low ­ cost options as budget airlines are up 42 per cent year ­ on ­ year compared with 29 per cent for more expensive carriers.

Best start

BANKINTER had an excellent start to 2023.

The bank reported first­quarter profits of €185 million, 20 per cent more than the same period last year and Bankinter’s best­ever January­March figure.

It also takes into account the €77 million that Bankinter paid as the first instalment of the temporary windfall tax. This was introduced last year to fund government measures brought in to ease the costof­living crisis.

The stock market immediately responded with a 5 per cent increase in Bankinter shares although these later fell back to around 2 per cent.

INEOS GRENADIER: Electric version will be built in Austria.

Photo credit: Flickr/Mario AP

AMANCIO ORTEGA: Inditex founder continues to add to property portfolio.

ONCE again the festival of Ramadan has drawn to a close. Ten years ago, your average Brit in the street wouldn’t have had a clue as to the meaning or origins of Ramadan.

This year you would have to be a recluse in a moon cave to miss out on what is actually the most important Muslim celebration of the year. In fact, it now comes in as the UK’s third biggest religious event after Christmas and Easter. Apparently some four million Muslims have been fasting this month, and consequently the news has been carried on just about every media outlet you care to mention; including of course the projections and decorations that have flooded the West End of London.

There has been a positive deluge of programmes on TV, explaining the custom and how it affects its followers. A number have shown special diets. Times to eat and sleep, and even a series of exercises designed to help the followers get through, what can obviously be an

draw the line

extremely taxing period. I did slightly twitch at one interview however when the interviewee suggested it would be thoughtful if non ­ Muslims would try and avoid eating openly in front of anyone close by who was obviously Muslim!

Well I’m afraid I draw the line there. The idea of hiding yer actual ice cream or fish and chips, because you may ‘offend’ someone who is fasting, is just a step too far. Sorry about that. I actually spent eight years in a Muslim country, and consequently saw the festival completely close up as it were.

I do remember one fellow Brit walking through a supermarket in the day during Ramadan, scoffing bananas and telling me he couldn’t care less because he wasn’t actually a Muslim himself. I did feel this somewhat disrespectful, as we were guests in their country, but frankly being asked to refrain from eating openly in my own country because it may offend someone, in my opinion is a total liberty and the sort of inflammatory remark that

TRAFFIC JAM BLUES OUR VIEW

does nothing to improve understanding and acceptance of other people’s beliefs whatsoever.

Incidentally, I do remember, during my experience of those far off Saudi days, the whole month being great fun for those of the privileged elite, who would simply party it up all night and sleep all day. Nice work if you can get it.

Even I enjoyed visiting offices and helping a somewhat devious associate deliver illegal alcohol in the middle of the night. After all most of us enjoy a drink at Christmas, I can categorically assure you that in the 70s, Ramadan was no exception.

It may have changed now, but I very much doubt it. In fact I was informed that during the 70s Saudi Arabia was the world’s biggest importer of JW whisky. This couldn’t be shown on any books so they always paid cash. I wonder where all that disappeared to!?

AFTER years of pain following the 2008 banking crisis, much of Spain has seen a remarkable recovery as far as housing is concerned and in many parts of the country the sight of towering cranes indicates the amount of new accommodations that is being built.

It’s good news for the economy as it creates employment and also generates income for local councils especially as many of the buyers, particularly in popular holiday areas, are foreigners either purchasing a holiday home or moving to Spain permanently.

Whilst there are fewer British buyers there are large numbers of Germans and other Europeans who don’t need to follow the 90/180 day rule, so the market is currently very buoyant. There is however a major problem that certainly affects the Costa del Sol and we believe many of the areas where the seven editions of Euro Weekly News are distributed. Basically, the more new builds on previously vacant land, the more traffic and in many cases, the infrastructure is not keeping up with the developments, so that whilst each new urbanisation has brand new roads, they simply lead to existing roads which can no longer cope with the volume of traffic hitting them. In addition, whilst the government is encouraging drivers to take public transport, there are whole areas where there are no trains and buses of course get caught up in the ever­growing traffic jams.

Spain has a huge amount of EU funding and is investing left, right and centre, but with pressure to add or increase costs on toll roads, the country will see empty motorways and even more traffic on the free roads.

The ‘charity of last resort’

The British Benevolent Fund was established over a century ago to act as a “charity of last resort” to provide financial assistance for Britons in Spain facing extreme distress and with no other recourses to help.

Margaret was a lady in her 50s who applied for a grant to help her get back on her feet.

She had moved to Spain with her husband, but they separated shortly after moving her in the late 90s and she decided to stay here where she lived alone and worked as an administrator for a real estate office close to where she lived.

She made a small but sufficient salary to make ends meet and provide a little bit more for herself.

She was diagnosed with a serious illness which was aggravated by a growing multiple sclerosis problem which made it difficult to move around.

She was officially resident in Spain and would receive

treatment for these.

The issue was that was unable to take early retirement and any medical benefits would not cover her living expenses – she might be able to wait for a mobility scooter to get around including going to work but that would take time.

Through one of the BBF´s many charity partners https://www.supportinspain.info/ we were contacted to see if we could help with the expenses of a mobility scooter so she could go to work.

By enabling her to continue working she would be able to earn and not be reliant on handouts and charity.

The BBF was able to pay for the mobility scooper along with the insurance to

NEWS FLASH: NEW FOREIGN SPECIES SPOTTED IN SPAIN!

NORAJOHNSON BREAKINGVIEWS

keep her on the road.

With that she was able to go back to work and continue earning.

The BBF can only help people like Margaret with the generosity of others. If you would like to support our work with a donation please go to www.britishbenevolentfund.org. Thank you on behalf of all those your money helps with. Olaf Clayton, Chair

IT’s that time of year when you first really start to see them. Tourists, that is. They’re the pasty­looking white blobs on the beachunless it’s been unusually hot and they’re red as lobsters and being given the kiss of life by paramedics.

With all the Roman ruins ­ villas, roads, marketplaces ­ uncovered in Spain, the Romans could be considered the earliest tourist species. Just imagine them: charging along the carreteras to the nearest encampment in their horse­drawn chariots. Before advancing over the Alps into Italy, Hannibal first got the show on the road in Spain when he breezed in from Carthage with his, err,

caravan of nose­to­tail elephants.

Give a final thought to Strabo, an unlucky general who not only took a pasting from the locals, but died of the plague during one catastrophic campaign. Just as he was about to expire, lightning struck his tent and reduced it to ashes. So, not a happy camper either...

Not to be outdone, though, the worst UK campaign was in 1216 when King John, marching about dealing with a rebellion and a couple of invasions, caught dysentery in Norfolk, lost the Crown Jewels in the Wash, and died in Nottinghamshire. Nuff said.

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.

BBF

Olaf Clayton of BBF.

Noraistheauthorofpopularpsychological suspenseandcrimethrillersandafreelancejournalist.

Nora’s latest thriller.

NoraJohnson’sopinionsareherownandarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeofthoseofthepublishers,advertisersorsponsors.

Good luck with that LETTERS

THIS is just a precursor to fully‐fledged, no go zones for the police, which will mirror the goings on in ‘culturally rich’ Sweden.

Birmingham City Council’s website says that “Birmingham is one of the first ‘super di‐verse’ cities in the UK where citizens from ethnic minorities make up more than half the population.” The headline to the article is “Why Birmingham’s super ‐ diversity is a strength, and not a surprise.”

We’ll see how that strength plays out.

Schengen

David

I read in your April 20‐26 edition that the UK along with France are the big spenders in the Valencian region. I wonder if the authori‐ties are aware that thanks to Brexit and the Schengen 90‐day Agreement that they are missing out on even more UK income. Al‐though I own property here I am now not coming over as much as I did and there are many more like me.

Manuel de Falla Villamartin.

Alan Morgan MD

Hello again

Do you think you could write something about this?

I have just read an article which has re‐duced me to tears of laughter, and it is seri‐ous. I tell you, 100 years down the line peo‐ple are going to look back to now and very recent times as lunacy. Political correctness is like an Orwell novel, as is woke etc.

This article refers to ‘larger‐bodied’ people and ‘people of size’. How bloody ridiculous. By normalising fat people, who are fat be‐cause they eat too much or do not exercise, we make life uncomfortable and more ex‐pensive and (health) less efficient for ‘nor‐mal‐sized’ people.

Currently, it is always the norm, the major‐ity, who have to suffer and subjugate them‐selves to the will of any minority.

The article is about Australia charging for two seats for a fat person. My opinion is that if that person can produce a valid medical certificate as to why they cannot reduce their weight, they should not be charged for two seats; otherwise, fair play ‐ two or even three seats charged.

If these people were shamed, perhaps they would do something about it. Go back 100 years, were there so many huge people about? No!!! Mostly it’s nothing to do with a medical condition. It is eating too much and laziness.

I have struggled with weight during my life and, because it is ugly and unhealthy, I have always tried to diet, exercise and keep it down.

Nowadays we are forced to watch ex ‐

tremely fat, mostly plain women, on our TVs in varying states of undress; in dramas or ad‐vertisements etc. It is unpleasant.

I agree with acceptance, of any person, but why do we have to aggrandise absolute‐ly every deviation from the norm?

Once again, sorry for the rant.

Jane

PS. Oh, and don’t start me on this bullying rubbish!!

Help needed

Dear Sir

I have a problem that I hope you or your readers can help me with.

I am an 86‐year‐old woman and I travel quite a lot .

I am quite fit, I go bowling two or three times a week. I also work one day a week in a charity shop.

I have always had travel insurance when‐ever I go away.

Since Covid the travel companies will not insure a person of my age.

The one I usually use stops at 85 years.

I have tried other companies, some stop at an even earlier age.

I might add I have never had to make a claim with any company.

I hope you can help me. I do have the card which entitles me to emergency medical treatment in some countries.

I can’t be the only older person who likes to travel.

I am hoping you can help me .

Kind regards.

I believe

Gwendoline Ottley

I was very interested to read your column in EWN April 20‐26 as I also believe “what you think is what you get.”

My bracelet is engraved with my motto ‘Think it, feel it, have it, be it’.

I followed the Law of Attraction for years then spent a long time studying a book on quantum physics. I was even compiling data to write a book about it all, then discovered that Pam Grout had already done one ‐ E2 ‐that gives you nine experiments to prove your thoughts create your reality.

When I talk to friends about it and the way that I can do things “because I believe I can”, I do get some strange looks, so it was great when I learned that the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to the men who proved the key supposition of quantum the‐ory: that local realism is fake.

Thanks again for sharing the information so clearly ‐ I do hope others who read it will learn more and change their lives for the bet‐ter.

Kind regards,

Tricia Gabbitas

PETS

Sitters care for pets at home

MANY pet­sitters are used to being in charge while petminding. However, when Talisker the cat has sitters in, he keeps an eye on them. It is good to find someone who will play with your pets, as well as look after them. House sitmatch can help you find such a pet­sitter and companion at very little cost.

If you’re planning a trip register now to find pet­sitters in time. Whether your trip is short or long, you’ll know that sometimes you must leave pets at home. Young and senior pets in particular benefit from staying at home, so they can follow their routines undisturbed. Join our pet and house sitting network, and the sitters come for free!

Choose Housesitmatch.com for affordable travel, home and pet care. These are the steps to take:

1. Register as a homeowner on HouseSitMatch.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 fee. You get ID checked for safety and then build your advert saying when you are going on holiday. House­sitters see your advert, they respond and you choose the sitter who’ll care for your pets.

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10 out of 10 for housesit match.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.

Paw-ty Time

DID you know that ‘puppy parties’ are getting more and more popular with families opting to throw a party for their poodles on their birthday? If you would like to plan a pet party celebration but you don’t know where to start here are some tips.

You should take into consideration the size of your dog and the invitees when picking the location for the party, you wouldn’t want your living room overrun with greyhounds for example.

Take into account the personality of your pup, if he scares easily, a small gathering that won’t be too stressful is best.

Don’t forget the refreshments with plenty of fresh water on hand, doggy snacks, and a pupcake

of course. Don’t forget to check with the humans before giving out treats and don’t forget human snacks!

Party favours like frisbees and tennis balls are very popular along with

some party hats if you can get them to keep them on.

Don’t forget the dogthemed decoration and take lots of photos so you can turn it into an album to remember the day.

pets

WHEN a loved one passes away your pets may grieve this loss as well. Research shows that dogs and cats show signs of grief following the loss of a family member or even another companion animal. Your pet may begin to sleep in a spot where the deceased pet or person did.

Experts say you shouldn’t scold or discourage them from doing this. During this period your pet is not only suffering a personal loss but an upheaval in their daily routines and so they may act out. Cats tend to vocalise their emotions by meowing more and loudly. Research has also shown that they will experience a loss of appetite and they may spend more time sleeping. Experts recommend taking them on long walks and hikes if they can manage it and you should distract them with puzzle toys. The main thing is to be

patient and kind to them as they process this loss.

If their behaviour contin­

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2-1 Home victory

FC CARTAGENA triumphed over Real Sporting de Gijon on Saturday, April 22 by 2­1 at home in the Cartagonova Stadium. Real Sporting gave the home side an advantage in the 18th minute when their French midfielder Jonathan Varane got sent off for a second yellow card. Luis Carrión’s team went on to score in the 31st minute with a goal from forward Dario Poveda and again in the 40th minute with a goal from forward Alfredo Ortuno.

Real Sporting got a goal back just before the break when Pablo Insua tucked one away. Cartagena managed to get through the second half without conceding another goal but their fans voiced their unhappiness at the second­half performance. Cartagena sits in seventh position, two points behind Albacete and the playoff positions and they face Albacete on Saturday, April 29 in what can only be described as a real six­pointer.

Heavy defeat

MAR MENOR FC had a Sunday to forget. They travelled to Malaga to face Juventud Torremolinos CF in the El Pozuelo Stadium but were beaten by three goals to nil. The three goals came from forward Javier Amaya, defender Jose Manuel Urbina Parrado, and midfielder Alejandro Machuca. It was an important win for Torremolinos as they are battling to get out of the relegation zone. After their win, they are in 15th position and Mar Menor stays in eighth. Meanwhile, UCAM of Murcia drew 0­ 0 at home to Granada B and so kept their spot in fourth in the playoff positions.

Driver killed in horror crash

A HORRIFIC crash during the Rallysprint San Bartolomé de Pinares in the Spanish province of Avila resulted in the death of rally driver David López Tomico.

The incident occurred on Saturday, April 22, while he was competing in a round of the Castilla and León Rallysprint Championship.

Tomico and his co­driver Natalia Rios Diaz were on the first downhill section of the course between San Bartolomé de Pinares and the Port of El Boquerón when tragedy struck at around 3.15pm. Their Fiat Abarth Grande Punto left the road at high speed and subsequently rolled about 50 metres down a steep ravine.

Diaz was rescued from the wreckage by firefighters who had been deployed to the scene and transferred to a hospital for treatment. Sadly, they were unable to save the

Alcaraz retains title

Even-steven

life of the driver. The race was abandoned for the rest of the day by its organisers as a mark of respect to Tomico, as reported by a news source .

The deceased driver’s team, Vallejo Racing, posted a poignant tribute to him on Twitter. It read: “Again, this sport hit us where it hurts the most. Vallejo Racing is in mourning because we have lost one of our own: David López Tomico, a passionate lover of motorsports, a leader in his work and an example of perseverance and love for his people.”

It continued: “He joined the team in 2022 and his encouragement and strength were essential for the Dakar 2023 project to come to fruition. Today we not only lose a mechanic or a member of the team, but a real friend is gone. David, your strength will always be with us.”

REAL MURCIA tied 2 ­ 2 with Osasuna B in the Tajonar, Aranguren stadium in Navarre on Sunday, April 23.

Pedro Leon gave his team the lead in the 16th minute but Osasuna B equalised in the added time just before half­time, Jorge Herrando scoring the goal. Osasuna took the lead in the 60th minute when their forward converted a penalty, but Real Murcia was able to claim a point when Alberto Toril Domingo scored in the 63rd minute. The draw keeps them in the playoff positions and they host CF Intercity on Sunday, April 30.

CARLOS ALCARAZ retained the Barcelona Open title without dropping a set. The 19­year­old ‘Murciano’ tennis superstar beat Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas 6­3 6­4 on Sunday, April 23. This is the third title for Alcaraz so far this year winning in Rio de Janeiro in February and Indian Wells in March. He now adds the Barcelona Open to the list for 2023.

Alcaraz said “It’s incredible to feel this energy and lift the trophy in Barcelona in front of my family and friends, and most members of my team are here as well. Playing this level and to lift the trophy in front of them is a good feeling for me.”

After the win, Alcaraz threw himself into the pool as part of the Barcelona Open iconic tradition where the champions jump into the pool along with the ball kids to celebrate. Alcaraz shared the video on his Instagram with the caption ‘tradition’.

Pro-Pool No.1

YET another top sportsman and world number one to add to the list for Murcia. Murciano Fran Sanchez Ruiz now ranks as the world’s numberone as a professional pool player. He has now competed in and won two World Championships, one US Open Championship, and one Mosconi Cup.

He began by watching his father, who was also a pool player, at four years of age and then when he was just six years old he began playing himself.

As a teenager, he began to win competitions becoming the Champion of Spain and it wasn’t long before he went on to win European competitions before conquering the world. He has travelled a lot over the years with eight competitions in 2022 and two so far in 2023, now he would like to come back and spend some time in Murcia his hometown.

Real Murcia had an away draw at Osasuna.

Cartagena won 2-1.

Alcaraz wins Barcelona Open.

Photo credit: CF Cartagena Official Facebook page

Photo credit: Carlos Alcaraz official Facebook page

Photo credit: Real Murcia