Mallorca 25 – 31 May 2023 Issue 1977

Temporary taxi licences

PALMA Council has launched 200 temporary taxi licences in a bid to prevent last year’s problem of lack of drivers during the summer high season.

The temporary permits will be available until September this year and current licence holders will have preference to obtain them, with the rest being awarded through a draw among all applications received.

Regarding the characteristics of the vehicles that may temporarily provide the taxi service, there is a six­year age limit for those that are joining the fleet for the first time or 10, 12 or 14 years depending on the category of the car for those that are already providing taxi services at present.

The Sustainable Mobility department of Palma Town Hall and the taxi sector will also draft a Regulatory Plan ready for 2024 that will define the conditions for temporary licences on a permanent basis for the coming seasons.

However, spokespeople for the taxi sector believe the measure is insufficient and that there are not enough vehicles or drivers available in the city to make it work.

Strike called off AN EXPENSIVE SWEET TOOTH

BAKERS and fliers are up in arms about the obligation enforced by airlines operating at Mallorca airport to pay extra to carry the famous local ensaimada sweet pastries on board.

Most travellers to the island, especially from other parts of Spain but also from elsewhere, make the most of their trip to purchase the traditional cake to take back home with them.

But increasing numbers of fliers are complaining that several airlines are demanding that they are paid for as if they were an extra piece of luggage ­ sometimes up to €45.

However, this reportedly only affects ensaimadas purchased outside the air­

port and not those bought in the duty ­ free shops, which manufacturers say places them at a disadvantage as increasing numbers of travellers are waiting to buy them at Son Sant Joan.

Airport managing body Aena has stated that “it is the policy of each airline whether they are considered extra carry ­ on baggage or not,” which has led the Bakers and Confectioners Association to call on

the regional government and the Island Council of Mallorca to step in and protect the traditional product by not leaving the decision up to the companies.

Spokespeople for the sector report that customers regularly ask them whether they will be able to take the ensaimadas on board with no extra cost and that they need clear information on the issue from the authorities.

PALMA lifeguards have called off the indefinite strike they had announced for this week.

As reported last week by the Euro Weekly News , the lifeguards had announced a walk­out from Sunday due to the failure of the company that manages the service and Palma Town Hall to carry out a series of improvements and salary increases that were promised under the new contract.

Finally, a last ­ minute agreement was reached with the firm to apply a 35 per cent salary increase, although spokespeople for the service warn that there are still many demands that have not yet been met.

€45 to carry a single Ensaïmada on board.

There are not enough taxis in the city.

Image by Palma Town Hall

THE direct flight between New York and Palma will be relaunched on Friday May 26 and is already having an impact on local businesses.

United Airlines first launched the connection in June last year, but the good results and positive predictions for this year encouraged the airline to bring the service forward by one week.

And the move seems to have paid off, as reservations for hotels and Michelin­star restaurants in the capital city by North American visitors have spiralled ahead of their arrival.

Spokespeople for the Palma Hotel Association have reported that reservations for the boutique hotels in the Casc Antic have outdone all expectations and many are already fully booked thanks to travellers on the New York­Newark flight.

SON SANT JOAN is currently among the 10 busiest airports in Europe.

From this month, Palma is one of the European airports with the most traffic and already registers more flights than before the pandemic with an increase of 7 per cent with regards to the same period in 2019.

This makes it, together with Istanbul International Airport, the only one in Europe to increase the number of flights in May compared to four years ago.

The figures were published this week by Eurocontrol, which reveal that from May 9 to 15, Son Sant Joan registered an average of 760 departure and arrival flights ­ a 1 per cent increase from last year.

This places Mallorca airport in ninth place above London Gatwick, that closes the top 10 with 746 flights during the same period and which is still at 9 per cent less air traffic than in 2019.

Busy airport

Be a star

CONSERVATIONISTS are warning swimmers and divers not to touch starfish or take them out of the water as it could kill them.

Taking these creatures out of the water for just a couple of minutes causes the animal to stop exchanging gases for breathing, which leads them to suffocate and die, say the experts.

Furthermore, simply touching them reportedly subjects starfish to intense stress that can also severely endanger their life.

The list is headed by Istanbul with 1,419 flights, followed by Amsterdam with 1,325, Paris Charles

de Gaulle with 1,310, London Heathrow with 1,287 and Frankfurt with 1,252. Madrid Barajas is in

sixth place with 1,091 flights and Barcelona ­ El Prat comes in seventh with 952.

Calanova Charity Fair success

THE CalaNova Cancer Charity Fair on Saturday May 20 was a great day. Although not as many people as expected turned up because of the forecast for rain, finally the sun came out and they all had lots of fun.

They were entertained by the beautiful Izzy Newman, whose fabulous singing took them right through the day. Sadly the Spanish dancers had to cancel due to the rain forecast.

A big thank you to Max Gustav and all their amazing staff that looked after them so well.

Also a big thank you to the wonderful people that came and shared their

beautiful jewellery, home ­ made crafts and cakes, and all the volunteers.

They took a total of €1,436 on the day. A special thank you to everyone who donated the prizes for the raffle.

More are currently being received and tickets will be on sale at the shop for another two weeks, when they will make the draw on their official opening and donate money to their cancer charities.

Please pop in and buy one!

Calanova Cancer Care Charity Shop is located at Calle Joan Miro 358. San Agustin (Palma).

These organisms pump water directly into their bodies through an aquiferous vascular system. This makes them highly vulnerable to any form of water pollution, as they have little capacity to filter out toxins and other pollutants.

Beach waters frequented by bathers often contain significant amounts of sunscreens, suntan lotions, insect repellents and other chemicals that are harmful to marine species, which makes it even more important to keep a distance with these creatures.

As a result, environmentalists are urging social media users to condemn the publication of photographs by posters showing starfish that have been taken out of the water in a bid to raise awareness and discourage others from doing the same.

BUSY TIMES: Travellers at Palma airport.

Image by Zi xi a/ Shut t er st ock

Erasing history

THE Cala Major neighbourhood in Palma has lost another of its historic buildings. A local association has reported the demolition of a traditional house on Calle Nicolau Alemany two months after another emblematic building known as Son Matet was torn down.

Dumpers caught

LLUCMAJOR Local Police has identified and reported a construction company for illegally dumping building refuse at various points throughout the town. The town hall warned that this offence is punished with fines of up to €1,000.

Surprise find

A PALMA resident this week discovered a box full of archaeological remains next to a rubbish container in Can Pastilla. A municipal expert examined them and ascertained they are most likely of Punic origin and came from the Na Galera islet.

Traffic jam

TWO serious accidents caused an eight­kilometre tailback on Inca motorway this week. A crash between a car and a motorbike and a second car that caught fire at the same time affected both directions near Santa Maria around 3pm on Monday.

Body shaming

AN airline has come under fire for forcing a traveller to weigh herself on the scales used for weighing luggage at an unidentified airport this week. Another flier filmed the incident and the video went viral on TikTok as the airline was accused of ‘fatphobia’.

Wedding brawl

A WEDDING in Alcudia ended in a punch­up at the weekend. The Local Police were called to the area outside Magic disco early on Sunday morning due to a fight between guests that left several people injured.

Watering hazard

THE regional government has increased the price of desalinated water for golf courses by nearly 23 per cent.

Clubs will now have to pay €1.90 per cubic metre (1,000 litres of water) instead of the previous €1.45, plus taxes.

Spokespeople for the Govern have explained that the price increase is due to rising production costs.

Desalinated water has nearly doubled in cost for golf courses over the last 10 years since the Balearic Water Agency (Abaqua) in 2013 set a price of €1 per cubic metre of water generated at the Alcudia and Andratx de­

salination plants.

Three years later in 2016 the price was increased to the €1.45 that was maintained until now.

Abaqua manager Guillem Rossello explained that golf courses are required to use treated water for their installations and are only authorised to access desalinated water in specific circumstances.

Sr Rossello added that the priority of desalinated water is to supply the population, although the Govern can authorise its use for golf courses that do not have access to treated water or when it is insufficient.

Back in time Hidden history

MORE than 30 people took part in a guided visit to Es Capdella (Calvia) at the weekend to learn about the area’s history as a concentration camp during the Spanish Civil War.

Participants learned that what is now one of the most idyllic spots in Calvia, Sa Coma, housed a camp managed by Franco’s troops for 150 Republican prisoners between the beginning of 1937 and the end of 1938.

Prisoners were reportedly sent there without

trial and forced to perform manual labour for exhausting periods, without basic hygiene or medical attention, with terrible food and sleeping on the floor in animal stables.

Under those conditions they reportedly built many of the roads in the area that are still used every day by drivers and cyclists. The camp in Sa Coma was one of many similar installations set up by the Fascist troops throughout Spain during the Civil War.

CAPDEPERA travelled back in time at the weekend as more than 30,000 residents and visitors enjoyed the yearly medieval market at the foot of the castle.

From Friday (May 19) until Sunday, the streets of the town became a hive of activity with stalls, demonstrations of traditional handcrafts, workshops and participants in full Medieval dress providing a unique experience.

Gastronomy also plays a big role in the event with stalls offering a wide range of traditional dishes, while a full programme of activities including games, music, dance, parades and historical reenactments kept everyone entertained. Capdepera medieval market is one of the most emblematic festivities in Mallorca and a major event on the island’s yearly events calendar.

Mallorca Natural project

MORE than 1,000 primary schoolchildren have taken part in an environmental education project in Son Serra de Marina.

This was the 16th edition of the programme ‘Mallorca Natural’ organised jointly by the Group of Friends in Defence of the Environment (Gadma) and private company Cemex, which has so far taught more than 27,000 young students from 59 schools in 37 towns about the local flora and fauna at different sites throughout the island and the importance of respecting and caring for the environment.

STORIES IN THIS WEEK’S

Solar hospital

MANACOR hospital car park is now covered with solar panels.

The more than 5,430 square metres of panels will enable the hospital to run almost entirely on renewable energy and save more than €146,000 on electricity bills, as well as preventing the emission of over 790,600 kilos of CO2 a year. The technology features double­faced panels that absorb light reflected off the ground as well as from the sun.

It is the second hospital in the Balearics to cover its car park with solar panels after Mateu Orfila in Mahon (Menorca) and also incorporates five double charge points for electric vehicles. The project included in the regional government’s Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, states all car parks of more than 1,000 square metres must be covered with solar panels by the year 2025.

Participants also took part in a series of workshops about biodiversity led by experts to learn about the main environmental challenges we face and how to build a better future together.

Bernat Fiol, president of Gadma, pointed out that “education is the key tool for promoting a change in social habits. That’s why, for the schoolchildren to learn the value of the ecosystems that surround them and why they must be safeguarded is a necessary step towards protecting the environment.”

For further information visit Gadma on Facebook.

Image by Kasakphoto/Shutterstock GOLF COURSES: Have to use desalinated water.

THE Balearic Islands Government could enforce access limitations this summer at Es Trenc­Salobrar de Campos nature park.

The park is located in the southeast part of Mallorca and is officially protected due to its highly valuable ecological and scenic characteristics.

Under the new Natural Resources Management Plan approved by the regional

government on May 8, the Govern has the authority to establish ‘specific access limitations’ to the park ‘for reasons of conservation or degradation of habitats or species’ or ‘to regulate public use and mobility’ in places deemed necessary by the park management.

In addition, camping, caravanning or organising parties, concerts or any other event is totally forbidden within the protected area. Access to the islets and the

exclusion zones will be prohibited except for scientific or site management reasons and mobility can only be done along public use routes on existing paths and roads. A series of studies will be performed to obtain valuable information regarding the main access points to the park, the most frequented paths and how many people can be concentrated in the protected area in a certain period of time, among others.

THE new storm tank inaugurated in Palma last November has so far prevented more than 200 tonnes of pollutant substances from being dumped in the sea.

According to municipal water and sewage company Emaya, the installations have also prevented the dumping of 425,000 cubic metres of wastewater mixed with rainwater from ending up in the bay ­ the equivalent of 122 Olympic ­ sized swimming pools.

Emaya reports that there has been no discharge into the sea during any of the 17 episodes of heavy rain registered in Palma between November 28 ­

Admission reserved Good job Slam dunk

when the storm tank was inaugurated ­ and the end of March.

This was not the case before the infrastructure was opened, as the existing Coll d’en Rabassa purification plant was unable to deal with the sudden surge of water.

The storm tank and collector will be further reinforced with a new purification plant and submarine outfall due to be built by the central Spanish government next to the Comm d’en Rabassa installations and which will double the current capacity, putting an end once and for all to the historic problem of wastewater discharges into the bay.

Walk ways

THE Mallorca Island Council has published a map with 20 walking routes to discover the towns of the Serra de Tramuntana.

The document focuses on cultural aspects and offers excursions through all the towns located in the mountain range from Andratx to Pollença for walkers to learn about the local culture and history.

In 2011 the Unesco declared the Serra de Tramuntana a World Heritage Site under the Cultural Landscape section.

Routes are classified according to their difficulty, estimated time of completion, distance and whether or not they are circular.

An initial run of 3,000 maps has been published.

Water study

NEARLY 4,000 basketball fans were blown away by a spectacular exhibition by the Harlem Globetrotters at the Palau Son Moix last week.

The legendary show team thrilled the audience, mostly children, with their contest­winning dunks, impossible backwards shots from the halfway line, juggling, long­range threepointers and many other tricks.

Everything was allowed to entertain and amuse the fans, who were eager to enjoy a unique and special afternoon of basketball. The Globetrotters’ historic rival, the Washington Cardinals, played the role of villain, taunting and playfully challenging the fans.

PROVERB OF THE

The score was unimportant and the clock did not stop for anything, even when a basket suffered a mishap after a dunk. The audience was an integral part of the show ­ every few minutes the game was stopped to ask a fan to dance, to play with children to steal the ball or even to parody The Lion King with a young fan.

The Washington Cardinals will have to wait to beat the Harlem Globetrotters, something they have achieved only four times in 70 years.

FARMERS in Mallorca have launched an experimental plan to study the humidity of the earth in order to make a more efficient use of water. The Association of Organic Producers of Mallorca has acquired several probes to take readings at plots in Son Macia, Manacor and Arta that will enable farmers to better organise their irrigation systems and avoid wasting water.

The project comes at a time of great concern over the lack of rainfall registered throughout Spain and which has led many areas such as Catalonia to declare an emergency over prolonged drought conditions.

Laughter relaxes the whole body, relieving tension and stress. This phrase originates from the Bible – Proverbs, Chapter 17, verse 22.

Image by Es Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Nature Park/Facebook

NATURE PARK: Is officially protected.

WEEK

“Laughter is the best medicine.”

21 nations speak Spanish on a daily basis.

It’s the law

PALMA Town Hall is re minding electric scooter users of the rules and reg ulations that apply to this mode of transport in an attempt to clarify confu sion.

Users are often unsure of the rules as they change from town to town with each local council in charge of regulating their use, as well as the fact that the regulations affecting the socalled Personal Mobility Vehicles (Vehiculos de Mobilidad Personal, or VMPs) change regularly.

In Palma, the main points affecting VMPs include the prohibition to circulate on pavements, in squares, parks, gardens and other public spaces intended exclusively for pedestrians.

They must have a bell, braking system, lights and approved reflective elements, and the person us­

ing them must stand up straight and wear a waistcoat or reflective element around their body.

They must have their lights on to improve their visibility to other road users, carrying a passenger is forbidden ­ only one person is allowed per

Bracing for invasion

LLUCMAJOR is bracing itself for the yearly ‘invasion’ of thousands of young students that flock to s’Arenal to celebrate the end of the exams.

The end of May and beginning of June is the highest point of the season for students looking for sun, sand and nightlife to let off steam after the end of the academic year.

As last year, Llucmajor Council has announced a reinforcement of the Local Police and Guardia Civil to clamp down on any cases of disorder or antisocial behaviour caused by the sudden influx of young partygoers.

has been working for the past few months on the necessary protocols to ensure that everything goes by without a hitch.

Llucmajor mayor Eric Jareño told a local press

source that the approach this year will mirror that of last year, which “worked well and was a good year due to the prevention work carried out by the Local Police.”

Naughty councils

UP to 85 per cent of local councils in the Balearic Islands have broken the national Transparency Law this year.

The Transparency Law was passed in 2015 and obliges all central, regional and local administrations to post ‘regular and updated publications of relevant information related to the functioning and control of public action’ on their institutional websites.

Eight years later, the level of compliance in the Balearics is said to be ‘very low’, according to a study by Barcelona Autonomous University (UAB).

scooter ­ and the minimum age to use them is 15 years old.

Users must not wear headphones or use mobile phones while using a VMP and circulating while under the effects of alcohol and/or drugs is punishable by law.

On previous occasions, such a concentration of young people has caused problems including vandalism, mass street drinking parties ­ known as botellones ­ noise and rubbish that have sparked complaints from residents.

As a result, the town hall

Research by the UAB has revealed that only 10 town halls out of a total of 67 have abided by the rules, among them Calvia and Inca, which were two of three to achieve the highest possible score. Also on the list but slightly lower are Marratxi, Felanitx and Palma.

For the first time this year the analysis assessed the various Island Councils, all of which passed except Formentera.

The UAB will carry out the next evaluation next year and reminds the authorities that those that fail to uphold the law can face fines or suspension from public office.

ELECTRIC SCOOTERS: Make sure you follow the rules

Image by Dmytro Zinkevych/Shutterstock

School dinner fail

SCHOOLS in Mallorca have the most expensive school dinners in Spain.

Not me guv

SUNDAY May 28 is election day in Spain with residents called to elect their local councils and, in some areas including the Balearic Islands, their regional representatives.

But Palma Town Hall has reported problems to form the municipal polling stations due to a surge in requests by potential members to be exempted from their duty.

In Spain the members of polling stations are chosen at random and it is obligatory to attend unless a plausible reason is given.

This week Palma Electoral Committee has been flooded with more than 1,300 exemption appeals offering all kinds of excuses not

to be forced to sit at the electoral tables on Sunday ­ many more than previously expected.

The appeals are being presented by residents who have been chosen against their will by the city council to man the 433 polling stations that will be set up throughout Palma.

Town hall sources report that the majority of the requests have been rejected, but at the time of going to press on Wednesday many cases were still not decided and the council could have been forced to extend the draw to choose new members.

According to a study carried out by the Mallorca Parents’ Association Federation in collaboration with several other organisations, public schools in the Balearic Islands charge an average of €7 for meals, which is the highest price anywhere in the country.

According to the study, four catering companies sup­

ply 70 per cent of public schools in Mallorca, with meal prices ranging from €4.70 to more than €8.

Furthermore, the research reveals that there is very little presence of local and ecological products on menus on the island, as the latest contract signed between the regional government and the catering companies placed price over quality due to the crisis.

Around 13,000 schoolchil­

PART of the work being carried out to install new water pipes at Palma’s Plaza de España has been put on hold due to damage caused to the ancient city wall.

The Heritage department of the Mallorca Island Council has ordered a temporary halt until an archaeologist works out the best route for the pipes to follow to prevent further damage to the historical remains.

A local architect raised the alarm when he saw that the channelling work had partially affected the remains and this week warned that despite the partial halt ordered by the authorities, workers are continuing to damage the wall and are even allegedly covering over new archaeological

dren in the Balearic Islands frequently use the dinner service, which constitutes 20 per cent of the total number of students enrolled at public schools ­ less than half the national average. Another point raised by the study is a widespread failure to uphold a decree by the Govern limiting the amount of processed and industrial food products on sale at school cafeterias and vending machines.

Oooops!

remains that they have found during their work. The remains are buried throughout the square and although work has been stopped at one point, it continues elsewhere.

Spokespeople for the Island Council insist that their technicians stationed at the site have not reported any further damage.

Conservationist association Arca have expressed their concern and insist that any intervention must be supervised by archaeology experts, with all discoveries recorded immediately.

POLLING STATIONS: Members are chosen at random to sit at the electoral tables.

Image by Roibu/Shutterstock

Exchanged at birth

TWO men who were swapped at birth at two hospitals in Guadalajara and Barcelona are now demanding compensation for damage. According to a news source, on Tuesday, May 16,

the two men were mistakenly exchanged at birth at the General Hospital of Guadalajara and the Val d’Hebrón Hospital in Barcelona during 1971 and 1972.

They are now claiming

Air Force jet crashes

about €3 million for damages from the hospitals where they were swapped.

The announcement about the claims was made by their lawyer José Sáez Morga, who is also handling the case related to one of the girls exchanged in 2002 at the Logroño Hospital.

The case was started after the girl made the discovery about herself in 2021.

The lawyer said that “The claim of €3 million is the maximum established by the Law of Consumers and Users for damages that are considered irreparable”.

The man from Guadalajara is claiming €2.9 million, while the man from Barcelona is demanding €3 million.

Sáez Morga also said “Last April the courts ordered the insurance company to pay compensation of €850,000 to the young woman who had been switched at birth.”

However, so far she has only received €215,000 as compensation.

A SPANISH Air Force F­18 fighter jet aircraft crashed at the Zaragoza airbase on Saturday, May 20.

Thankfully, the pilot managed to eject before the plane hit the ground.

As reported by the Air Force, the jet was participating in an aerial exhibition when the incident occurred just after midday.

The plane came down on one of the runways at the airbase in the Aragonese capital.

The pilot was immediately rushed to the Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza. He was said to have suffered trauma and injuries to his legs, hips and arms on impact.

According to a news

outlet, the pilot was a veteran captain with more than 1,000 flight hours experience.

At the time of the crash, he was conducting aerial manoeuvres in preparation for an exhibi­

tion that will be staged during an event at the facility in Garrapinillos on June 10.

The F ­ 18 Hornet was completely destroyed after exploding on impact with the ground.

New rules for holiday lettings

SPAIN’S holiday letting market faces new rules according to information compiled by Spence Clarke & Co.

Whilst there is a continued boom in new builds of all sorts, particularly in popular tourist destinations as well as a glut of abandoned builds handled by ‘bad bank’ Sareb, there never seems to be enough reasonably priced social housing.

A bit like Jekyll and Hyde the current Spanish government welcomes tourists many of whom want holiday lets whilst at the same time is making it more difficult for small home owners to let their properties out.

There are some new requirements to report information to the Spanish government for property owners renting on a holiday basis further to the Spanish Real Decreto 933/2021, of October 26 and in theory these changes are effective from June 2023.

This Royal Decree requires digital platforms and hosts to provide additional information about the reservations (hosts, guests personal details, property details, accommodations, etc.) to the Spanish national authorities (Ministry of the Interior).

This needs to be reported

within 24 hours from the booking and the information must be reported on the following website: https://sede.mir.gob.es/op encms/export/sites/default/e s/procedimientos ­ y ­ servi cios/hospedajes­y­alquiler­devehiculos/

So far it is only possible to complete this with a Spanish digital certificate (DC) and you have to apply for it in person at an appropriate Government Office, although agents such as Spence Clarke may well be able to assist if you are out of Spain. When complying with this requirement you need to have previously alert­

ed guests to the fact that you are transferring their information to the government in order to observe Data Protection requirements.

It appears that the Spanish government has indicated that it will provide the option of reporting the data without using this online procedure, although the details about this have not yet been released.

Incorrect reporting of guest information can attract a fine of between €100 and €600 whilst failing to appear on the registry is a serious offence and can be punished by a fine of up to €30,000.

Brits wanted

IF you would like to get your 15 minutes of fame, have an eye for a bargain and are a British expatriate living in Spain then here is your chance to get on TV.

This opportunity to get your face and story on the small screen is here so if you fit the bill it’s time to apply. The TV company are looking for contestants based in Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca.

Sofie Hegre Olsen is look­

ing for potential candidates for this Red Sauce TV production with this post on Facebook:

“Hi everyone! If you are interested in joining the next season of Bargain Loving Brits in the Sun please feel free to contact me on the email below or message on Facebook. sofie.hegre olsen@redsaucetv.com

Looking forward to hearing from you!”

F-18 HORNET: The aircraft was completely destroyed.

Credit: Bernardo Fernandez copado/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Too good to be true?

Are the investments being offered to you a little too good to be true? We look at some past examples where people have lost capital through fraudsters and failed schemes, and reveal some red flags you should look out for.

We’re all familiar with the saying, “If the investment is too good to be true, it probably is”, and there is a good reason for that. There is no shortage of individuals, even companies, that will try to sell you an investment under the false promise of large, guaranteed returns – often within a short period of time.

It’s happened before – it will happen again

You may remember the notorious Barlow Clowes case, where around 15,000 people, many of them retirees, were invested in the fund which was wound up by the high court in 1988 owing £190

By CathalRochford,

invested in low-risk government gilts but promised returns higher than gilts were paying.

Equitable Life carries another cautionary tale. This was a reputable company which came unstuck after offering customers higher than average rates – a move

ers to be caught out when inflation and interest rates dropped, leaving the mutual insurance society struggling to fund its commitments.

In 2009, there was the welldocumented fraud of Bernard Madoff – a ‘Ponzi’ scheme where money from new clients was used to pay older ones. Bernard lured investors through promises of between 10 and 12% annual returns on investment – by the time the US government caught up with him, he had cheated clients out of $65 billion.

These are just a few examples. As long as there are markets, there will be those trying to get rich by selling hope to the less informed. Those taken in by these schemes were intelligent people – victims often of misleading claims by an individual or company they believed they could trust. Renowned English cleric, author and art col

said,

“There are some frauds so well conducted that it would be stupidity not to be deceived by them”.

A statement that describes the cunning, charm and resourcefulness of fraudsters, and the vigilance and discernment we must maintain whenever we are asked to invest our money.

Avoid investments that sound too good to be true

Be wary of promises that guarantee high returns. There aren’t any absolute guarantees with investment, and you’ll likely get a lower return the safer your money is. Compare the yields that have been promised with current returns on well-known stock indexes. If the numbers don’t match up, where could such returns possibly be coming from?

Be wary of anyone pressuring you with a sense of urgency. There is never a reason to act

no reputable professional would push you to make an immediate decision.

To protect the financial security you have built for you and your family, consult the advice of an expert that is regulated by a reputable authority before committing to any investment being sold to you – and focus on the fundamentals.

You have probably worked hard over decades to build your wealth for you and your family – if something seems too good to be true, don’t put that wealth at undue risk.

All advice received from Blevins Franks is personalised and provided in writing. This article, however, should not be construed as providing any personalised taxation or investment advice.

Keep up to date on the financial issues that may affect you on the Blevins Franks news page at

Partner, Blevins Franks

ON Saturday June 3, the very popular From the Jam will make their first ever Spanish appearance at the Benalmadena Auditorium.

Prior to their arrival, one of the founding members of The Jam spoke exclusively to Euro Weekly News about his long career and how this band was formed.

It was in 1977 that The Jam obtained their first recording contract and the trio consisting of former Woking schoolboys, Bruce Foxton, Paul Weller and Rick Buckler burst on the scene.

They couldn’t really be categorised as punk but with their Mod image and biting music certainly ruled the record charts until 1982 when they broke up.

During that time, they had 18 consecutive top 40 singles before Paul Weller decided to call it a day in 1982 and they disbanded.

Bruce, the bass player spent 15 years in punk band Stiff Little Fingers and then formed another band Casbah Club with Russell Hastings and more by luck than judgement they

Bruce Foxton is From the Jam

sell for so long and having seen the reaction from fans who enjoyed the music so much, the pair decided to keep on playing the songs that they and their audience loved so much.

They are still going strong with literally hundreds of gigs booked through to 2024 but there was an opportunity to visit Spain for the first time, so the expanded band which has added Andy Fairclough on keyboards and Mike Reddon on drums decided it was time to bring their brand of music to a Spanish audience.

“The closest I’ve been to Spain is when my wife came as part of a hen party” laughed Bruce “but why ignore a chance to bring our music to both an established as well as a hopefully new audience.”

were booked to play a gig with a band which included former Jam drummer Rick Buckler.

Bruce explained, “we had no intention of forming a new band but thought it might be fun to play a couple of old numbers during the sound

check and it sounded and felt really good!

“There were a few more similar sessions and we kept in touch with each other and then in 2007 decided to form From the Jam.”

That lasted a couple of years but in

2009 Bruce said “I received an email from Rick simply saying he was leaving the band with no explanation and I still don’t know what happened, although he appears to have wanted to become a writer.”

Having worked with guitarist Rus­

When asked if he ever got bored with playing the same songs, Bruce said ”Although the set will be pretty much all Jam songs apart from a couple from my album with Russell Butterfly Effect there are so many Jam songs, we can change the set list every time we play.”

Tickets for the June 3 event (where they are supported by veteran British punk band The Wasps) are available at https://www.ticketsource.eu/wag-promotions and let’s hope for viewers of BBC 1’s Have I Got News For You that they play News of the World, a definite Jam favourite. If you can’t make the gig then visit https://www.fromthejamofficial.com/ to get their live album.

FROM THE JAM: The latest line-up on stage.

Credit: Steve White

AfterSun Market

THE seventh edition of the Aftersun Market opens at Port Adriano on Friday May 26 and will run until June 18.

This year the event continues its evolution and growth with more brands than ever: a total of 30 fashion, beauty and decoration proposals, most of them from the Balearic Islands and local commerce, and with a strong commitment to sustainability.

These brands are located inside 20 maritime containers, each one decorated by an urban artist. There will also be a careful selection of food trucks to enjoy

something to eat while shopping or enjoying the concerts.

The opening on Friday will feature an acoustic concert by Orovega, who is presenting herself to the public with her first album

Classic Car Club

and who promises to be one of this year’s revelation artists.

Every Saturday until there will be workshops for children, including urban art workshops led by two local artists.

The market will be open on weekends in the evenings from 7pm and will feature children’s workshops, musical entertainment, tastings, carefully designed lighting, a fountain with water games and much more. Visit www.portadriano.com for further information.

THE Classic Car Club end­ofthe­month meeting and drive will be on Sunday May 28 starting at the Hollister Bash Saloon (Avinguda de Carles V, 1, 07620 Llucmajor).

The meeting starts at 10.30 and they head off for their drive at 11.00.

Participants will be given instructions of the route both on the Whatsapp group and on paper along with some questions to answer along the way.

The drive will go from Llucmajor out on some beautiful roads to the east coast and then back to the restaurant close to Petra.

Love Ukraine

THE association Amar Ucraïna (Love Ukraine) is organising an exhibition to mark the first year of the invasion from Friday May 26 to June 2 at the Espai Son Quint (C/ Llacuna de Sanabria, 3. Son Rapinya)

Lunch will be at a new restaurant for the club which is at Terragust (Ma15, salida 44, Es Caparó, 07520 Petra). This restaurant provides a unique Mallorca experience bringing together agriculture and gastronomy serving food made with local products grown on their farmlands.

Lunch will be at 13.30/14.00 and will be a three­course meal with starters, three options for main and dessert including one glass of wine or beer, water and coffee or tea.

Visit www.ccc­mallor ca.com or Facebook for more information.

Photographs and objects from the combat zones will be exhibited to help visitors understand the horror that the Ukrainian people are still living through. This material has been donated or provided by relatives of Ukrainian refugees who are in Mallorca and who are still fighting.

The aim of the exhibition is also to raise funds to continue sending humanitarian aid and material to Ukraine and to appeal for continued international collaboration.

Entrance to the exhibition is free but any donations are kindly accepted.

Every Friday Amar Ucraïna distributes bags of food to the refugees who, to this day, continue to arrive on the island fleeing the war and helps them to integrate by helping to send their children to school and aiding the adults to find work.

Charity raising funds

CELEBRITY MAGAZINE

MALLORCA is organising a charity event entitled Gracias on Friday June 2 at Iroko Palmanova.

“Our mission on this occasion is to raise as

much money as possible to be able to buy an ECMO machine that will be donated to the Son Espases Hospital in Mallorca,” said a spokesperson for Celebrity

Mallorca.

“These machines cost approximately €40,000. Any remaining money will be donated entirely to the Hospital de Sant Joan de Deu in Mallorca.

“We will organise a raffle in which everyone will be able to participate, and a large part of the benefits will come from there. We need as many donations as possible to make this event something very big.

“As we all know, the Covid ­ 19 pandemic in 2020 shook our planet and, above all, our economy and public health. These have been very hard times for everyone and for this reason, once again, we want to help our public health services and with it our doctors so that they can take better care of us.”

For further information please visit www.celebritymallorca. es.

URBAN ARTISTS: Decorated the maritime containers.

MONTHLY DRIVE: Will take place on Sunday.

Image by Classic Car Club/Facebook

Bordering on change

GERMANY is grappling with a sizable increase in illegal border crossings, as pressure mounts for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to address the situation with stricter policies.

Authorities reported a significant rise in unauthorised entries since the beginning of the year on Wednesday, May 17, saying approximately 20,000 people entered the country illegally between January and March, a 50 per cent surge on the same period last year.

To combat the issue, Scholz recently unveiled plans to strengthen border controls on all nine borders of Germany. He also urged European Union partners to create asylum centres on the outskirts of the bloc.

However, these measures have faced criticism from a coalition of more than 50 humanitarian organisations. They argue that the proposed asylum processes at the EU border would undermine refugee protection laws and likened the planned centres to prisons. The news comes as leaked

reports from the country’s federal police’s migration analysis for April suggested that migrant arrivals to Germany are likely to rise considerably in the coming months.

The report mentions Turkey’s elections as a factor, with refugees from Syria being directed to Germany via Belarus, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

FOREIGN embassies in Beijing, including European embassies, have been instructed to remove what China’s foreign ministry calls “politicised propaganda” from their buildings according to reports released on Wednesday, May 17.

It is believed that this directive is aimed at the Ukrainian flags proudly displayed by several missions as a show of solidarity following Russia’s invasion. The notice, issued earlier this month, cautioned against placing provocative displays on the exterior walls of embassy buildings that could incite disputes between nations.

The UK, Canadian, US, and EU embassies, along with others, have been exhibiting the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of support. Embassies often display flags or banners to express solidarity with var­

Flag fiasco

ious countries or causes, such as the LGBTQ+ Pride flag.

However, at least one diplomat told Reuters that their mission has no intention of complying with the request.

China’s stance on the Russia­Ukraine conflict has drawn attention. While Western nations have condemned Russia’s actions, China, a staunch ally of Moscow, has remained notably silent.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has attempted to position himself as a mediator in the conflict while openly expressing support for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Race against nature

ITALY’S northern Emilia­Romagna region has been plunged into chaos as torrential rains triggered catastrophic flooding, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

The deluge has claimed the lives of nine individuals, with several others still missing. Desperate scenes unfolded as 10,000 residents were forced to evacuate, some desperately clinging to their rooftops until rescue helicopters swooped in on rescue missions.

The flooding caused fourteen rivers to burst their banks, submerging 23 towns in the region. Landslides have severed crucial roads, isolating communities and exacerbating the already dire situation.

The devastation came just days before the Emilia­Romagna F1 Grand Prix, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 20, which had to be cancelled.

With further rain on the horizon, Emilia­Romagna has

braced itself for the possibility of more devastation. Regional President Stefano Bonaccini has spoken out, urging residents to steer clear of rivers and seek shelter on higher ground.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also chaired a crisis meeting and expressed gratitude to the brave rescuers risking their lives to save others. Volunteers have flocked to the region to provide support to overwhelmed emergency services.

BORDER CROSSINGS: The German Chancellor’s immigration plans have caused backlash.

Photo credit: Olaf Scholz (via Facebook)

5th Spain has the fifth largest population in Europe.

PRESS EUROPEAN

DENMARK

Shook up

SEISMOLOGISTS could not understand why they recorded minor tremors on the Danish island of Bornholm on May 13. They called the recordings “acoustic pressure waves” and after ruling out earthquakes and explosions as the source, now believe that “some unknown atmospheric event” is the only answer.

THE NETHERLANDS

Short read

CHILDREN'S reading skills have deteriorated faster in the Netherlands than other countries, education experts found. They concluded that lessons missed during the pandemic were unlikely to be the only cause and believe the short texts used in Dutch schools do not prepare pupils for longer passages in literacy texts.

BELGIUM

On mute

BELGIAN workers now have the legal right to switch off their work phones outside working hours without fear of complaints from their employer. The new regulations apply only to firms with 20 or more employees and excludes those working in emergency services or the aviation sector.

GERMANY

Print job

HEIDELBERG will boast Europe’s largest 3Dprinted building, which will be 54 metres long, 11 metres wide and nine metres high. The ground-breaking project, which commenced on March 31 this year and should be completed by late July, will eventually house an IT company’s cloud and data centre.

FRANCE

Green scheme

FRANCE is promoting green initiatives and tax credits to attract billions of euros in investment, boosting French industry and countering Biden’s $369 billion (€422.3 billion) Green Plan. Measures include linking subsidies for electric vehicles to environmental restrictions that favour European manufacturers.

NORWAY

Wedded bliss

MORE couples are marrying in Norway and staying together longer than in the past, with approximately 21,000 people formalising their partnerships in 2022, an increase of 4,700 compared to 2021, the Norwegian Statistics Agency said. Although 17,000 spouses separated, this was the lowest number since the 80s.

FINLAND

War-torn

FINLAND awaits news regarding the European Union’s position regarding Russians who fled the country to avoid conscription. The Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) said 1,109 Russian citizens so far have sought asylum in Finland to avoid being called up to fight in the Ukraine war.

IRELAND

Cool it

JIM CHAMBERS, 62, and Stephen Cole, 40, who operate rival ice cream vans, appeared at Falcarragh District Court (County Donegal), the pair accused of fighting over the same beachside pitch. Both faced breach of the peace charges but were let off after agreeing to put aside hostilities for the summer.

ITALY

Fewer babies

FOR the first time, the number of annual births fell below 400,000 in Italy, averaging 1.25 babies per woman, official figures for 2022 revealed. The replacement rate is now negative, with the number of deaths currently exceeding the number of births, with 12 people dying for every seven babies born.

PORTUGAL

Home again

DOZENS of European Jewish community leaders attended a conference on communal strategies in Porto, whose 1,000-strong Jewish community has tripled in recent years. This was partly thanks to a 2015 law giving Portuguese citizenship to descendants of Jews expelled during the Inquisition, which began in 1536.

UKRAINE

Grain deal

AGREEMENT has been reached on extending by two months the deal allowing grain exports from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea. The agreement between Ukraine and Russia, signed last year and brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, would otherwise have expired on May 19.

SWEDEN

Smoke-free

SWEDEN could become one of the world's first ‘smoke-free’ countries, with less than 5 per cent of the adult population smoking. With smoking rates falling from 15 to 5.6 per cent over the past 15 years, it is on course to reach this milestone within months, 17 years ahead of the EU's 2040 target.

STAT OF WEEK €1.4 billion

will go to Spain’s rolling stock manufacturer for supplying a second delivery of 56 trains under the contract it signed with Germany’s rail operator Deutsche Bahn in 2019.

BUSINESS EXTRA Sorry about that

Tasty pasty

GREGGS announced that sales have increased by 17 per cent over the last year, saying its products remained “compelling” to customers in the cost ­ of ­ living crisis. The bakery chain, which first opened in Newcastle in 1951, opened 63 new shops this year and extended some opening hours.

Defence gambit

AEROSPACE, defence and security company, Escribano Mechanical & Engineering, acquired 3 per cent of Indra, Spain’s leading IT and defence systems multinational. The €65 million transaction makes Escribano’s Indra’s second industrial partner and strengthens its presence in the Defence sector.

Winter duels

STRIKES wiped out more than 2.8 million working days in the UK during the ‘winter of discontent’, with 566 lost in March alone, official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed. Industrial action between October 2022 and the end of March was the worst since 1989, the ONS said.

Main concern

DESPITE the cost of living crisis, 30 per cent of Spanish consumers are more concerned about sustainability than price, EY consultants found. The tendency to take environmental factors into consideration before looking at price tags was usually generational, and more common amongst the young, researchers said.

Helping hand

FAMILY members spent £38 billion (€43.76 billion) on assisting relatives over the last five years, according to a survey by insurance firm SunLife. The most common reason amongst the over ­ 50s was helping their children to buy a house, with 26 per cent contributing an average of £26,680 (€30,730).

Linda Hall

THE European Commission (EC) gave the go­ahead to Microsoft’s $69 billion (€63.21 billion) merger with Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.

Brussels made the proviso that Microsoft had to ensure that Activision’s game catalogue was freely available on other cloud gamestreaming providers over the next 10 years.

The decision was announced weeks after the merger was blocked by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), whose chief executive Sarah Cardell defended the watchdog’s earlier decision.

It was not her intention to

Game on, Brussels says

countable” regulator, maintaining the English Channel had never seemed wider for attracting businesses.

“There’s a clear message here, the EU is a more attractive place to start a business than the UK,” Smith declared.

HUW PILL, the Bank of England’s top economist, apologised for suggesting that people should accept they were poorer.

create a hostile environment for businesses in the UK, Cardell told MPs a day after the European Commission approved the merger.

The CMA wanted to “create and support” the best conditions for competition, enabling companies big and small to thrive, she insisted.

REPSOL and Italian energy company Eni could begin importing Venezuelan gas and gas condensates by June.

The news was announced by Pedro Tellechea, president of state­run Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), who confirmed that both companies wanted to increase the volume of their operations inside the Latin American country.

The agreement increases Europe’s supply options in the context of the energy crisis created by the Ukraine war, while bringing investment and royalties to Venezuela’s beleaguered economy.

The deal will allow Repsol and Eni to concentrate on their Perla gas field, a joint project located in the Cardon IV block in the Gulf of Venezuela. Regarded as having ‘enormous potential’, the offshore operation has increased activities reccently, up 30 per cent on 2019.

Apollo backs off

PRIVATE equity firm Apollo abandoned its £1.66 billion (€1.91 billion) takeover of the oil and gas services company, Wood Group.

The Aberdeen­based company said earlier that it would “engage” with Apollo’s final offer of 240p (€2.76) per share, after rejecting four earlier proposals which it said were too low.

Instead the New York firm announced on Monday May 15 that it would not make another offer for the business, two days before the deadline for making a firm bid or turning its back on the deal.

The European regulators said the commitments offered by Microsoft and Activision to maintain competition provided significant benefits for competition and consumers.

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s vice­chairman Brad Smith referred to the UK’s “unac­

“Global innovators will take note that, despite all its rhetoric, the UK is clearly closed for business,” Smith had said following the CMA’s decision to block in April.

Microsoft and Activision are currently setting up legal team to challenge the UK ruling.

Gas from Venezuela

stepped up sanctions against Venezuela.

Washington hopes this will encourage Nicolas Maduro’s government ­ regarded as a dictatorship ­ to allow more political freedom inside the country.

“Economic projects like these benefit both Europe and Venezuela,” said EU’s High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.

Censured by unions, businesses and the public, Pill’s critics included his own chief, the governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey, who said the economist’s choice of words “was not right.”

“If I had the chance again, I would use somewhat different words to describe the challenges we all face,” Pill said.

“Although we have some difficult messages to bring. I will try to bring them in a way that is perhaps less inflammatory than maybe I managed in the past.”

Google’s Spanish profits

GOOGLE SPAIN made a €44.7 million profit in 2021, a 79.5 per cent increase on 2020.

Income rose to €214 million, 44 per cent more than during the previous year, thanks to increased demand for the company’s services, according to Google Spain’s accounts filed with the Registro Mercantil.

The Venezuela exports also required US State Department authorisation as its oil­for­debt arrangement was halted two years ago when Washington

No quick solution

MARGHERITA DELLA VALLE, Vodafone’s new chief executive, confirmed on May 16 that the company would “strategically review” the future of Vodafone España.

The telecoms company faced stiff competition in a country that was “obviously very complicated,” Della Valle acknowledged on the same day that she announced worldwide staff reductions of 11,000, approximately 10 per cent of Vodafone’s workforce.

She was reluctant to specify whether this review envisaged a sale of Vodafone Spain, as analysts already suspect.

“We cannot jump to conclusions about the steps we will take,” she said, while admitting that there were no quick solutions for Vodafone’s Spanish business.

The company had a turnover of €3.9 billion in its fiscal year that ended on March 31, a 6.5 per cent reduction on the previous fiscal year’s €4.18 billion.

“Venezuela is at present burning gas it cannot use, although its gas is not subject to sanctions, only oil,” he told news source last month. “It is one of the countries that produces the most methane but this is benefiting nobody, while in the EU we need gas,” Borrell said.

Up for sale

THE Center Parcs chain of holiday villages has been put up for sale by its owners, the Canadian private equity firm Brookfield.

The company, which bought the business for approximately £2.4 billion (€2.77 billion) in 2015, expects to raise between £4 and £5 billion (€4.61 and €5.76 billion), the Financial Times said.

Center Parcs real estate was independently valued at £4.1 billion (€4.7 billion) in April and Brookfield has also spent £100 million (€115.19 million) on technology upgrades.

Revenues for the year ending April 21, 2022, reached £503.4 million (€571.9), with £245.6 million (€282.9) profits returning the company to the black following 20202021’s pandemic losses.

As is habitual with US technology multinationals who operate abroad, these figures do not reflect the company’s real business in this country.

Google Spain registers its sales in Ireland and only takes into account earnings from marketing and support services to Google Ireland and research and development services for Google LLC.

Bank offers

SPANISH banks continue to vie with each other to attract new customers.

Banco Santander, for instance, promotes online accounts by paying €50 for each recommendation resulting in a new customer whose salary is paid directly to the bank.

The new customer also receives €150 thanks to this offer which ends on June 12.

Another Santander offer, which continues until June 30, pays €150 to new customers who open an account and pay in a monthly salary of at least €600. This rises to €350 for salaries of more than €2,500.

SARAH CARDELL: Defended CMA’s opposal to MicrosoftActivision Blizzard merger.

VENEZUELA: Huge gas deposits will help to ease Europe’s energy crisis.

Photo credit: CC/British Government

Photo credit: Luis Noguera for PDVSA

DOW JONES

No break

SEAT plans to take on 900 temporary workers between June and September to ensure that production need not be affected during the holiday period. Above all, this should prevent the Martorell (Barcelona) factory from having to close in August and allow the plant to produce an additional 14,000 cars, principally the Cupra Fomentor model.

Going up

CURRYS increased its annual earnings outlook following better­than­anticipated sales across the UK after initially reducing its full­year prediction to £104 million (€120 million). The electrical goods retailer adjusted its forecast and now expects pre­tax profits of between £110 million (€126.8 million) and £120 million (€138 million) for the 12 months ending on April 29.

Royal Mail in red

ROYAL MAIL reported a £1 billion (€1.15 billion) loss for the year ending March 26.

Bosses blamed industrial action by employees and a failure to increase productivity during 12 months in which 10,000 jobs were cut.

International Distributions Services (IDS), Royal Mail’s owner, announced an overall loss of £748 million (€869 million) compared with a £577 million (€861 million) profit a

Home comforts

WORKING from the office should be employees’ default mode, according to the UK’s Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt.

Speaking on Wednesday May 17 to business leaders attending the British Chamber of Commerce conference in London, Hunt said that he believed working from home could stifle creativity.

He added that he felt firms were gradually reversing the shift to teleworking that began during the Covid ­

19 pandemic.

Despite the Chancellor’s conviction that employees would return to offices “unless they had a good reason not to,” flexibility was a top reason why employees accepted new jobs, post ­ Covid research confirmed.

In deciding between jobs with similar pay or benefits, the opportunity to work flexibly could become a deciding factor, investigators found.

Wind power

7

year earlier.

IDS said Royal Mail was in the red mainly due to strikes by “unionised staff” over pay and working conditions. This unrest ultimately led to the departure of Royal Mail’s chief executive Simon Thompson who resigned on May 12 after only two years in the post, although he will remain until October as IDS seeks a fourth chief executive in as many years.

Royal Mail’s owners also attributed the postal service’s losses to its “inability to deliver the in ­ year benefits of planned productivity improvements.”

Although the company has finally thrashed out a deal which the union agreed to put to its membership in April, Royal Mail has been affected by the consequences of a drop in demand for Covid test deliveries. There was also a dip in delivering online shopping, which had flourished during the pandemic.

ARDIAN, a leading private investment company, agreed to sell for an undisclosed sum its ASR Wind portfolio of 12 windfarms as well as a hybrid solar energy plant, to Naturgy, the Spanish renewable energy group. The windfarms, which are located in several regions across Spain and have 422MW of installed capacity, were all built between 2005 and 2012.

Boo-hoo!

ONLINE fast fashion retailer Boohoo.com plunged almost £91 million (€105 million) into the red as annual sales dived and the retailer had to cope with higher levels of returned products.

The label aimed at the 16 ­ 30 age group announced that sales fell 11 per cent to £1.8 billion (€2.1 billion) in the year ending on February 28.

POSTAL SERVICE: £1 billion (€1.15 billion) loss for last fiscal year.

BUSINESS EXTRA

All change

BRITISH American Tobacco’s finance director Tadeu Marroco took over immediately after the announcement of his appointment as new chief executive. Marroco, who has worked for the tobacco giant since 1992, replaces boss Jack Bowles, who stepped down after four years as CEO and 20 with the company.

Cloud cover

CAIXABANK and Google

Cloud signed an agreement to speed up the Catalan bank’s digital transformation. Under the deal the bank will use the cloud to boost data analysis technologies in the coming years while creating new products and services by personalising its commercial offer.

Worse off

BRITONS’ overall wealth fell to a 10­year low as a third had to dip into their savings over the last year, taking out an average of £3,500 (€4,033). More than half told LifeSearch insurance firm’s Health, Wealth and Happiness 2023 Index that they were worse off financially than last year.

Cheap labour

WOMEN residents born outside Spain account for 6 per cent of the population but occupy 160,000 ­ 44 per cent ­ of the 368,000 new jobs that were created over the last year. They earn an average €11,800 pre­tax, lower than the minimum wage and less than half the national average.

Course work

OVERHAULING apprenticeships would help to kickstart the economy, Tesco chief Ken Murphy said. Despite a huge increase in the number of courses equivalent to a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree between 2014 and 2022, courses equivalent to GCSEs had plummeted by 70 per cent, Murphy pointed out.

Negotiation needed

STELLANTIS, which manufactures Vauxhall and Fiat vehicles in the UK, called on the government to renegotiate Brexit rules.

“The UK must reconsider its trading arrangements with Europe,” Stellantis told a House of Commons enquiry.

Not doing so could mean closing some UK operations and endangering thousands of jobs, said the world’s fourth­biggest carmaker, which also produces Citroën and Peugeot vehicles.

Two years ago, Stellantis declared that the future of its plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton were assured, but it now warns that it can no longer meet Brexit trade deal requirements.

These stipulate that 45 per cent of

the value of a vehicle’s components should be sourced in the UK or the EU by 2024, but the manufacturer can no

Aussie takeover

longer comply with these conditions, owing to an increase in the cost of the raw materials used for electric car batteries.

This means the electric vans made at the Ellesmere Port plant will face 10 per cent tariffs when exported to mainland Europe in 2024 as they will have too few locally­sourced parts.

This would put the future of the plant in question, the company said.

Ellesmere Port, where electric vehicle production is due to start later this year, provides jobs for 1,000 workers, while another 1,200 make Vauxhall and Fiat vans in Luton.

Thousands more work in UK businesses dependent on the plants.

Rafa hits a winner

TENNIS legend Rafael Nadal is as successful off the court as on it.

The Mallorca ­ born sportsman’s investments in several companies made an €11.4 million profit ­ a 104 per cent increase ­ in 2021 via his Aspemir company, according to accounts submitted to Spain’s Registro Mercantil, equivalent to the UK’s Companies House.

Nadal owns, or has invested in, companies in the sports, real estate, hotels, renewable energy and brokerage sectors. He is involved in Netflix series like Soy Georgina and La Marquesa through Mabel Capital, in which he has a 33.3 per cent holding.

This company has also built luxury apartments in Madrid and owns restaurants in Madrid, Ibiza and Valencia as well as six other cities outside Spain, together with projects in the Costa del Sol, Portugal and California.

The holding company’s turnover improved by 15 per cent to €20.75 million, of which €12.6 million originated outside Spain.

The 2021 result also profited from currency fluctuations to the tune of €3.3 million.

THE GMB union wants the government to intervene if Australian banking group Macquarie gains control of a vital section of the UK’s gas grid.

The Macquarie Asset Management­British Columbia Investment Management Corporation consortium acquired 60 per cent of the equity in National Grid’s gas transmission and meter business in a £7.5 billion (€8.6 billion) deal last January. This covers 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometres) of gas pipes.

According to a UK news source, a clause in the deal allows the consortium first refusal to buy the remaining 40 per cent later this year.

Digi digs in

Aspemir’s principal holding is the Centre Esportiu Manacor, which runs the facilities and accommodation linked to the Rafa Nadal Academy. Centre Esportiu Manacor had a turnover of €19.7 million, a 40.9 per cent year­on­year increase, in 2021, and showed a profit of €2.3 million.

Taxed to death

SIR JIM RATCLIFFE, one of Britain’s richest men, warned that the UK government’s windfall tax could destroy the North Sea’s oil and gas industry.

“Taxes are so high that profits no longer fund future investments,” the Ineos chemicals group founder told a UK news

source.

The government resorted to ‘primitive politics’ when Rishi Sunak, who was Chancellor at the time, put an extra 25 per cent tax on industry profits following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was later raised to 35 per cent by Jeremy Hunt, who took over as Chancellor.

Ratcliffe argued that the levy ­ in effect a 75 per cent tax on North Sea profits which helps to fund government support schemes for household fuel bills ­ jeopardised the energy industry. No thought was given to the long­term consequences of this “tax it to death” concept he said.

Knotty Banco Popular tangle

THE European Central Bank (ECB) had never expressed concerns about the situation of the defunct Banco Popular.

José María Sanz Olmeda, a PwC audit partner who examined the Banco Popular books between 2009 and 2015, told an investigating National High Court judge that he detected “no anomalies” during this period. Meanwhile, the ECB decided on June 6, 2017 that Banco Popular was “failing or likely to fail” and noti­

fied the Single Resolution Board. According to the financial daily, Cinco Dias, legal sources familiar with the proceedings maintained that this was one of the cases “most relevant testimonies.”

This, they say, could clarify contradictions in various reports from expert witnesses regarding whether or not the Banco Popular should have reflected losses before the 2016 capital increase of more than €2.5 billion.

SPAIN’S mobile phone operators announced their first quarter accounts in a period that was dominated by fierce competition from the low­cost segment.

Romania ­ based Digi again demonstrated its strength compared with the bigger companies’ modest growth while the sector is at fever pitch owing to the MasMovil­Orange merger and the Vodafone crisis.

Digi, meanwhile, increased its earnings by 29.4 per cent to €143.3 million, owing to its aggressively low tariffs. At the same time, the company’s commercial aggressiveness also reduced the average spend per client by 4.1 per cent to €9.3.

Kid glove treatment

NEW regulations coming into force on July 31 will ensure that people receive better treatment from companies providing them with financial products.

Banks, building societies, insurers, investment firms and other businesses have been warned to prepare for one of the UK’s biggest­ever consumer­finance upheavals. The Financial Conduct Authority’s new regime will see the introduction of the ‘consumer duty’, which sets higher and clearer standards of protection, while explicitly requiring companies to put customers’ needs first.

The FCA want the initiative to produce ‘good outcomes’ for consumers, with reduced call­waiting times and an end to rip­off fees.

FIAT VANS: Manufactured by Stellantis in Luton.

RAFAEL NADAL: Savvy businessman as well as a tennis champion.

Photo credit: Flickr/Tanya Cicconte

TRULY don’t quite know where to start this week. So much has occurred I would need a couple of pages to achieve some kind of completion.

It actually started out with a number of letters (some obviously not for publication) thanking me for using subject matter that would simply not be allowed in the woke infested PC society that has now impregnated the UK.

One missive from a friend informed me that were my views publicised in a UK national I could be expecting a ‘knock on the door’­ What! Some PC authority knocking on my door presumably to threaten me for doing nothing more than applying my totally lawful freedom of speech?

Don’t scoff; I’m utterly convinced that if Starmer’s lot finishes up in Downing Street there will undoubtedly be an Orwellian department created to impose this devious control. The diversity dealers are already ensconced among the media hierarchy and they are not even in power yet.

The casting and presentation of TV programmes has now gone completely off the non­equality scale. Mixed mar­

Where to start

riage contestants are now being featured in a totally disproportionate number of quiz shows.

These special quizzers must be extremely difficult to find as the majority only actually make up 0.2 per cent of the population. Presentations such as ‘Rip Off Britain and ‘Front Line Fightback’ which are aimed at the seedier side of the UK, predominately feature the white populace appearing as investigators, victims and of course perpetrators.

Programmes displaying run down living accommodation and poorly treated tenants mainly depict nonwhite or immigrant residents. ‘Homes under the Hammer’ now primarily promotes property investors of non UK descent. If a news subject is considered ‘racist and possibly undermines black residents, it is given minimum coverage or ignored altogether.

This was exampled this week by the disgraceful attack on a fairly elderly teacher by a young black student after the teacher had confiscated his phone. Not only was he unassisted by any member of the now utterly brainwashed teenage youngsters that were

MASK SHAMING OUR VIEW

present, but the attack was actually filmed by a number of his classmates. Naturally none of this was featured on the main news media, but a considerable number of disgruntled observations were prominent on social outlets.

Recently I was informed from a very highly placed source that large numbers of immigrant staff employed by hospitals are so low in understanding that they are actually affecting the running of many establishments. As bosses are unable to sack any at the risk of being accused of racism (or the knock on the door!) they are promoting them to different departments, (bit like the civil service!) which is resulting in whole organisations teetering on the brink of disaster.

If you honestly don’t consider the UK in the grip of a conspiracy to reshape the whole of British society, then I truly believe that these faceless people will one day take over the whole shebang. Assuming they haven’t already done so.

AS fewer people are required to wear masks in public places, so at least one Human Resources Department has come up with new advice for employers as how best to deal with those who still want to wear a mask for a variety of reasons.

Employees are to be advised that they should be tolerant of those continuing to wear masks, as to make fun of them or comment about their decision is an example of what is now termed mask shaming!

Indeed, they go as far as to insist that anyone who needs to speak to someone who is wearing a mask should put their own mask on as a mark of respect and understanding.

Whilst it is difficult to see what anyone could gain from teasing or criticising someone who wants to continue to wear a mask, it seems surprising that HR advisors should actually go into print to require this and at least one entity requires individual staff members to confirm in writing that they will comply with the instruction.

There is no doubt that HR guidance in many areas is very useful, especially as far as bullying in the workplace is concerned, but nowadays it almost seems that some of these apparent professionals are creating rules that really aren’t needed just to justify their position.

Interestingly, during times of global depression, HR advisors aren’t particularly needed as staff are generally anxious to keep their jobs or management who can’t see the point of employing them but in times of financial growth, with staff more mobile and difficult to retain, a good HR department is useful for both sides.

Leapy Lee’s opinions are his

NORA JOHNSON BREAKING VIEWS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROCKY!

membered best about the show he shared two memorable events:

‘THE Rocky Horror Show’, the longest continuous run of a contemporary musical anywhere in the world ­ its influence seen everywhere from Halloween costumes to references in movies, TV shows and books ­ is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. Catch the sell­out special anniversary production at London’s Peacock Theatre!

Now, all my books are available in ebook/Apple Book/paperback and audiobook formats. But this wasn’t always so. Imagine my surprise when a well­known, celebrated British actor visiting Spain ­ Rayner Bourton, who in fact created the role of ‘Rocky’ in the original London productioncontacted me. He enjoyed reading my EWN column ­ especially my novels ­ and would I like him to record them as audiobooks?

With numerous TV/movie credits to his name, Rayner’s produced all my psychological suspense crime thrillers, each one expertly narrated with authentic accents. Listen yourself to free audio samples on Amazon/Audible of ‘Death in Windermere’ etc (my latest, ‘The Couple across the Street’, will soon be

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available too!). Additionally, Rayner does considerable ‘voice over’ work, ‘voicing’ The Unseen Elder in ‘Witcher 3’, one of the world’s best­selling computer games.

When I recently asked Rayner what he re­

“After the first night performance at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs the British Hollywood actor Vincent Price, who had appeared in countless horror movies and was in the audience, popped his head around the dressing room door and said in his unmistakable voice: “Thank you all very much” and disappeared as quickly as he arrived. He was the first of what would become a nightly procession of ‘star’ names to pop their heads around the dressing room door to offer congratulations and thanks for a truly unique theatrical experience.”

“While performing ‘Touch A Touch Me’ at the Theatre Upstairs (where our actual stage depth was less than three metres between the first row of the audience and the screen hiding the band), I was spinning around and around while holding Julie Covington (the original Janet) at arm’s length with her head inches from the floor while we were both singing the chorus when, over the music, I heard an enormous crack. I’d slightly got out of position and Julie’s head hit a concrete pillar, which was hidden by the screen. Julie just carried on singing and finished the perfor­

mance. The next day one side of her face was black and blue that make­up couldn’t disguise. My admiration for her professionalism and talent was and, remains, immense.”

Catch all Rayner’s unique, first­hand memories in his own audiobook/memoir: ‘The Rocky Horror Show: As I Remember It’.

One of the most enduring aspects of ‘Rocky’ is its music. The show’s score, composed by Richard O’Brien, features catchy, upbeat tunes instantly recognisable to fans. Songs like ‘Time Warp’, ‘Sweet Transvestite’ and ‘Science Fiction/Double Feature’ have become iconic in their own right and often performed at concerts and karaoke events. The show’s soundtrack has sold millions of copies worldwide and continues to be immensely popular with new generations of fans.

In brief, ‘Rocky’ has lasted because the music, lyrics and concepts are unique and the whole work was inspired by genius.

Nora Johnson’s 12 critically acclaimed psychological suspense crime thrillers (www.no ra­johnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.

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NORA’S LATEST THRILLER.

Nora is the author of popular psychological suspense and crime thrillers and a freelance journalist.

NO MORE JOKES ABOUT TEXANS?

I HAVE just heard of yet another tragic mass shooting in Texas; this time eight people gunned to their deaths in a shopping centre in Dallas. This is the city where President Kennedy was assassinated 60 years ago. And yet, the gun lobby enjoys majority support, nowhere more than in this gun­toting state. Explaining to Texans that universal gun ownership equals innocent deaths is like trying to teach a giraffe to play basketball.

An American acquaintance told me that there are proposals in some states to monitor and discourage jokes about Texans. If this is true then political correctness is alive and flourishing.

Jokes have abounded about other groups of people ­ often those of neighbouring nationalities. They have been directed against Dutch, Norwegians and Scots (for perceived meanness) and Americans, Irish, Poles and East Silesians (for alleged stupidity). And, of course, the Texans.

The foreman on a building site in Texas shouted “Hey Chip! Bring me a wheelbarrow.” Five minutes later Chip returned, wheeling a large wheelbarrow with a smaller one inside it. “Chip! I asked for one wheelbarrow, not two.” “Well, did you expect I was gonna carry the darn thing?” OK; this may or may not have happened.

However, I have personally met a Texan who believed that Jesus Christ was an American, and I know he wasn’t joking. Surveys

have shown that a disturbing number of Americans think that both Jesus Christ and Christopher Columbus were Americans. And then we had the reaction to Corona virus. In Texas there was a dramatic drop in the sale of Corona Mexican beer for fear that it would pass on the virus. But we have learned so much from our American friends, as we adopt their culture ­ not just by murdering people in schools. We eat hamburgers, drink beer from

Blame Hemingway

LINDA HALL

ERNEST HEMINGWAY has a lot to answer for, or at least as regards people of a certain age who visited, or went to live in, Spain.

Perhaps we can attach a morsel of blame to Federico García Lorca’s Lament for the bullfighter Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, but he was a Spanish person writing about someone and something he was familiar with. On the other hand, I’m not convinced that Lorca got the women right in the House of Bernarda Alba, but that’s a different matter.

I’m talking about bullfighting of course, and because I’d read Death in the Afternoon and the Sun Also Rises I’m now ashamed to say that when I first lived here, I went to a number of bullfights.

After all, if you’d read your Hemingway, you knew that’s what you were supposed to do when you were in Spain.

What’s more, if I were still an aficionada, I could proudly say that I’d

seen some of the best bullfighters of the day and had gone to Antonio Ordoñez’s last corrida. Not that he bore much resemblance by then to the handsome man portrayed in a nowiconic photo taken with Hemingway.

What do I remember about the bullfights I saw? Boredom most of the time, although sometimes a wave of enthusiasm would ripple through the plaza when the bullfighter managed to string together a series of passes.

Apart from that it was butchery, but not as skilled as the butchery you’d find in a slaughterhouse.

Instead, you were subjected to a depressing exhibition by a man dressed in pink stockings, tight satin pants and sequins who was trying ­ usually ineptly and often repeatedly ­ to plunge a sword into a panting, half ­ dead animal.

No doubt bravery was involved, but although it was death in the afternoon it was a slow death that had nothing glamorous or noble about it.

All of which makes me very grateful that football and not bullfighting is now Spain’s preferred national spectacle.

bottles, watch American football, become obese, hold hot gospel church services and address our friends as “you guys”.

We choose an American slavery song for England’s rugby world cup theme (‘Swing low, sweet chariot’). In 1996 Leeds rugby team was renamed Leeds Rhinos in deference to American football teams such as Chicago Bulls. And the once­stoic British now weep during television interviews.

There is a difference between

the evolution and the mutilation of a language. The British have amusing expressions such as “Everton are pants” and “Johnson is toast”. The misuse of a word or the invention of a new one is another matter. A loo or lavatory is not a ‘bathroom’ or ‘restroom’. ‘He sucks’ should not mean he’s unpleasant. ‘Woke’ should not mean socially aware. ‘And stuff’ should not mean etcetera. ‘Cool’ should not mean impressive.

Nevertheless, most of the ‘progress’ in recent years has been in technology. Through computers, smart phones, numerous information and communication platforms and space research, we can achieve so much without the intervention of humans. Here, Americans have been at the forefront.

For more from our columnists please scan this

Working to find a solution

THE British Benevolent Fund was founded over a century ago to provide financial help for those Britons in extreme difficulties and with no other resource.

For over 100 years the BBF has sought to help people with nowhere to turn ­ many times exasperated by ill health.

We presently have a case of a British family in dire straits. The father, in his 40s, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer late last year and has been unable to work. The mother, distraught is trying to keep everything together ­ helping him get through the day as well as their three young children.

The father was the only bread winner and although self­employed was behind on his social security payments and has been battling to get his full entitlement ­ which he can only do once his arrears have been settled.

In the meantime, the family have been applying for

other state support, but it doesn’t cover the bills ­ all of which are now in arrears.

The family are in a terrible situation where day to day family life has been ruptured by the lack of income, not to mention the awful diagnosis and medical situation that has taken over their lives.

Now the regular doctors’ appointments, tests and rounds of treatment are their weekly lives.

Working with partner charities such as those on the embassy supported www.supportinspain.info, the BBF is desperately looking for a longer­term solution. If his treatment is successful, it is hoped that he will be able to return to work ­ and if not ­ then planning should be in place for

the worst.

The BBF is clearing the utility bills and granted a subsistence amount so that basic necessities can be provided, and the family can keep their heads above water. In addition, money for the frequent round trip to the hospital and of course for the children.

But it’s a not a solution and it’s not enough ­ we are working to find a solution with the landlord to see if something can be done ­ and in the meantime our hopes and prayers for a recovery.

If you would like to help with a donation for this and so many other cases that we have at this time ­ please visit www.britishbenevolent fund.org to see how you can help. Thank you on behalf of all ­ Olaf Clayton, Chair BBF.

Olaf Clayton of BBF.

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

Texans are not afraid of guns but are terrified of catching a virus from Mexican beer.

Dear Leapy LETTERS

Everything you said is absolutely true. Yes, you are totally free to say what you believe to be the case, but at what cost? If you said this in Britain your ability to continue earning a living would be made almost impossible. The direction Britain is heading is very frightening.

Keep up the fight.

Justice

Phillip Walker

Having happily lived in Spain since 2003 my wife suddenly and unexpectedly passed away a little over a year ago.

I need to return to the UK to be close to family but have to realise the equity from the house sale.

This is proving to be a huge problem despite numerous viewings.

The problem is three noisy dogs next door, when would­be buyers hear the dogs they immediately write the property off.

I have spoken to the neighbours on several occasions but they choose not to take action.

Can you please help me with this health threatening predicament.

Paul Greswolde

Good morning Lee

I know you often get flack for your printed views. I would like you to know that I look forward to Thursdays to hear your latest rant. I moved to Mallorca in 1997 and I did meet you a couple of times and have seen you perform several more.

I think it’s a pity you never moved in to politics. You have some great ideas.

Greetings from the Spanish Aragonés Mountains.

Bruce

Mrs Feelgood

Something seriously amiss within the BBC. All part of the conspiracy I sometimes mention. Onward all.

With thanks

Thank you very much indeed, again, for including our article, about Celebrating the Coronation, in last week’s EWN!

It was good of you to have included our article and is much appreciated.

Thank you for your continuing support, also much appreciated.

From a very soggy Moraira.

Warmest regards.

James Bond

who only payed him once. After Roger Moore I gave up, they just didn’t have the authenticity.

Naimah Yianni

Intruder arrested

How can you get arrested when you are on public property, not on private property? you can go and stand in any street anywhere surely? As long as you are not committing a crime then how can you be arrested? No sympathy for these idiots as it goes.

Life of Brian

Symbolic of his struggle against reality. Absolutely says it all. What is going on in our country. Now we have a theatre that wants to put on a play for a black audience, no whites allowed. God help us all and I am not religious.

John Little

Good evening,

It is wonderful to have our own regional newspaper ­ thank you. But, it would be nice to have the two motoring pages which you print in the Costa Blanca South edition.

Best regards Annie

Busch

Dog attacks

Far too much of this is going on throughout the UK and Europe. Maltreated, fighting dogs that turn on their owners. I have no sympathy for the victim, only regret that the animal had to be destroyed. From my point of view, a huge crackdown on the breeders/owners of fighting dogs is long overdue.

Bob Saunders

Brexit fail

It must be something in the water, or the food, or the air. Or all three, to produce such brain­dead people. Sadly, though, Brexit was never about making the public more prosperous, only to bring more prosperity to a chosen few. And that doesn’t even appear to have been successful ­ yet.

Stephen Ashley

War on Wagner

Max, Aircrew Association

That makes it sound like Sean Connery only played Bond once, but it was George Lazenby

I as well as my guys were actually digesting the good ideas from your website then at once I had a terrible feeling I never expressed respect to you for those secrets. The men ended up for that reason warmed to read them and have really been enjoying them. Appreciation for actually being quite kind as well as for making a decision on certain amazing subject matter most people are really wanting to be informed on. My sincere regret for not expressing gratitude to you earlier.

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PETS

Dog-sitter entertains Tilly

A DOG-SITTER is a companion as well as a pet minder to your pets. The most important thing to note is that they care for your pets in their own home. Tilly is a smart black Labrador who needs entertainment and challenge, not just physical exercise. Her dog­sitter knows she loves playing and they tease each other constantly. With the live­in dog­sitter her routine stays the same, and she is stimulated and entertained.

Find a dog­sitter to care for your pets at home and help to minimise any separation anxiety by keeping them where they feel at home.

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 house­sitting network, and the sitters come for free!

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AUSTRALIAN fashion week is making the headlines this week as a new designer collaboration is turning heads. But it is not the usual designers like Dior or Chanel that everyone is talking about, this time it is Petstock. That’s right Petstock introduced their new designer collection with Australian designers THE UP ­

Model pups

SIDE, Romance Was Born, and Double Rainbou. To show off their collection the most adorable dogs strutted their stuff on the runway with models wearing matching outfits.

The collection features doggy jackets, jumpers, bow ties, leashes, collars, and bandannas. You can even purchase matching outfits to step out in style for your next dog walk.

There are three distinctive collections, a sporty athleisure style, a fancy glamourous style, and a beach babe coastal style. Twenty per cent of the Designer Collection will help pets and people in need with the proceeds of this limited edition collection being donated to the Petspiration Foundation.

PETS can suffer from allergies just like you and me, especially dogs and cats. They tend to be determined by their genes and their breed but in the last 20 years, we have seen an increase in pet allergies. This increase is due to an increasingly artificial diet, and a polluted environment. The most common types of allergies in dogs and cats are atopic dermatitis, food allergy, and flea bite dermatitis.

If your dog is scratching more than usual and you notice redness in the folds of their skin, especially around their armpits and neck areas, their paws, and ears it is possible they have an allergy. They may also have conjunctivitis.

Cats tend to have more specific allergic reactions, it is also called Feline Cuta­

neous Atopic Syndrome. They can have respiratory complications like asthma, which is rare in dogs, and digestive or food atopic syndrome which basically means they have an intolerance to certain foods.

Some breeds of dogs are more likely to suffer from allergies like the French bulldog, the West Highland

white terrier, the German shepherd, and the golden retriever.

If you suspect your pet has an allergy their vet can help you determine if they do and then take steps to find the cause. They will then look for a treatment that can ease the symptoms like a hypoallergenic diet.

Dog central

THE Ifema events, trade fair and congress centre in Madrid are hosting the 100x100mascota (100x100pets) show on May 27 and 28. This will be the 12th edition of the fair turning Madrid into the dog capital of the world. They expect to welcome around 3,000 dogs from more than 250 different breeds and more than 12,000 visitors.

Special guests at the event will be the Chongqing Dog, one of the rarest and most unknown breeds in

the world. They have a long history in China and have become the symbol of the area of Chongqing in the southwest of the country.

The fair is aimed at dog lovers but also cats and pets in general as there will be

20 different breeds of cats such as Russian Blues, Persian and British shorthairs. Fifty animal shelters will also be present at the fair as many people take their first steps to adopt a pet at this fair.

COMPLICATIONS: Cats can suffer from asthma.

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SEAT Tarraco FR Sport - a touch of style

ROAD TEST

by Mark Slack

MOTORISTS of a certain age might recall the days when we had the Morris Oxford and Austin Cambridge. SEAT has taken to the same idea with their Tarraco, the largest of their SUVs. Named after the Spanish city of Tarragona, apparently Tarraco is what it was called when Rome ruled this part of Spain.

The range comprises of six trim levels with both petrol and diesel power along with manual and DSG automatic gearboxes. The 1.5­litre TSi petrol engine comes with 150PS while the 2.0 ­ litre diesel also develops 150PS and both engines are available with either six­speed manual or seven ­ speed DSG automatic gearboxes.

Standard equipment across the range includes

MAY marks the fifth consecutive month­on­month growth as used EV values stabilise. The average used UK EV retail values are down over £4,000 since January and £9,000 since July, but prices are up 0.2 per cent monthon ­ month as the supply and demand balance improve.

According to the latest data from Auto Trader, the health of the used car market is continuing to build momentum, with growth recorded in consumer demand, sales and

seven seats, LED lights, powered, folding, heated mirrors, auto wipers, keyless start, trio­zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, auto dimming rear view mirrors, rear parking sensors and Apple Car Play and Android Auto plus Bluetooth.

With the Tarraco there’s a rather different ­ and welcome ­ approach to the usual somewhat brutish, huge ­ grilled look of many SUVs. The sharp styling looks classy and understated, and as ever with VAG products there’s

a feeling of quality throughout, both interior and exterior.

The Tarraco looks smaller and less intimidating

Facts at a Glance

• Model: SEAT Tarraco FR Sport

• Engine: 2.0 Turbocharged diesel developing 150PS

• Gears: 7-Speed DSG Automatic

thanks to that subtle styling but the result is a capacious family hold ­ all that mixes a touch of style to the job of getting on with

things in a world where reaching the school gates in time is more important than playing grand prix wannabe. There’s plenty of space inside the Tarraco

150PS, and riding on 20” ‘Cosmo’ Grey machined alloy wheels. The FR Sport adds rear privacy glass, front fog lights with cornering function, navigation, keyless entry and start, park assist and heated front and rear seats.

With its sporting credentials the performance is pretty decent with 62 mph reached in just under 10 seconds. Considering its size the FR Sport handles remarkably well too, with little body roll thanks to firmer suspension. It’s not at the expense of ride comfort though.

• Performance: 0-100 kph (62 mph) 9.9 seconds/Maximum Speed 196 kph (122 mph)

• Economy: 5.6l/100km (50.4 mpg) Combined driving (WLTP)

• Emissions: 147 g/km (WLTP)

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

seats are fine for an adult on short journeys.

The range starts at €38,466/£33,415 and my FR Sport was €48,567/ £42,190 with DSG automatic gearbox, 2.0 ­ litre diesel power, developing

Unfortunately, as with most VAG products there is an increasing amount of digitalisation instead of more practical and easier to use switches. That said time would soon bring familiarity and there is much to like in the Tarraco. It’s classy, spacious and generously equipped and makes a fine family holdall.

Magic of Mehari EV values

retail prices.

In fact, Auto Trader’s Retail Price Index, which is based on circa 900,000 daily pricing observations across the full retail market, shows the current average price of a used car is £17,946, which equates to a 3.6 per cent year ­ onyear increase on a likefor­like basis.

Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s Data and Insights

Director, confirmed: “This data not only shows the current strength of the used car market, but also how important it is to keep a close eye on live retail prices to drive the most profit out of every sale.

“With trade values not in line with retail, this further strengthening in retail prices is providing robust margin potential.”

IT was in May 1968, 55 years ago, at the heart of the French student protest movement, that Citroën revealed its new vehicle at the Deauville golf course: the Mehari.

The vehicle is an atypical pick­up offering from 28 to 32 hp, with an ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic body, designed by Roland de La Poype.

Built on a Dyane 6 platform, it was presented with the name Dyane 6 Mehari on its release.

Produced for almost 20 years between 1968 and 1987, 144,953 units were built (including 1,213 4x4 Mehari), making a

surprising success for this unusual vehicle.

The Mehari was produced, for the most part of it, in the Citroën factory in Forest, Belgium, but also in seven other factories in France, Spain and Portugal.

The name of the Mehari comes from the masculine name mehari which is the name given to dromedaries in North Africa and in the Sahara. These animals are known for their off­road ability, their resistance and their sobriety.

Citroën said, “the name is very representative of the Citroën Mehari model, known for its adaptation to all terrains. It’s a vehicle with many capacities.”

Anna Ellis

CITROËN MEHARI: A vehicle with many capacities.

Image: Citroën

Supply and demand is improving.

Image: buffaloboy / Shutterstock.com

Arsenal hand third title to Man City Champions League hopes destroyed for Juventus

SERIE A giants Juventus were hit with a 10 ­ point deduction on Monday evening, May 22. The news was announced just before Juve’s away game at Empoli.

Prior to the ruling, the Italian club was sitting in second spot, although a massive 17 points behind this season’s champions Napoli. Removing the 10 points has now demoted them to seventh in the table and out of the European qualifying spots.

The decision by the Italian Football Federation was the result of an ongoing examination that had been carried out into the club’s transfer activities.

A 15 ­ point deduction that was originally handed down to the Bianconeri last January was subsequently overturned by

the highest sporting court in Italy.

In a statement, Juventus said: “Juventus Football Club takes note of what has been decided by the FIGC Court of Appeal and reserves the right to read the reasons for assessing a possible appeal to the CONI Guarantee Board.”

It continued: “What was established by the judgement of the fifth instance in this matter started over a year ago, arouses great bitterness in the club and its millions of supporters who, in the absence of clear rules, find themselves extremely penalised with the application of sanctions that seem to take into0 account the principle of proportionality.

“Without ignoring the urgen ­

cy, which Juventus never avoided during the process, it is emphasised that these are facts that will still have to be evaluated by a judge,” it concluded.

Controversy has surrounded the club in the last 12 months. The entire board of directors, from the President Andrea Agnelli down, resigned last year.

Shortly after this, it was announced that Agnelli, and Fabio Paratici, who had become Tottenham’s Director of Football, could face criminal charges.

A 1­0 DEFEAT at the hands of Nottingham Forest on Saturday, May 20, saw Arsenal hand a third consecutive Premier League title to Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta’s side was in with a slim chance of taking the battle to the final day of the season, but a single goal from Taiwo Awoniyi was enough to condemn the Gunners to a well­deserved second spot in the table.

As a consequence, City’s match with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday would serve as nothing more than an early celebration of a stunning third title in three seasons under Pep Guardiola.

With an FA Cup Final to come in June against their cross­city rivals Manchester United, and a Champions League Final lined up with Inter Milan, a historic treble is well within Guardiola’s sights.

The pressure of leading the title race for the majority of this season appears to have se­

riously affected the Arsenal players over the last few weeks as the prize came within their grasp.

They played out far too many draws though, culminating in defeat today at the City ground by a team battling against relegation.

Forest played it calm in the first half and capitalised on a very rare mistake from the Gunners’ captain Martin Odegaard in the 19th minute. As the Danish international’s pass went astray, it was collected by Mogan Gibbs­White.

What appeared to be a failed pass from Gibbs­White suddenly ricocheted into the Arsenal net off Awoniyi’s boot after a sliding tackle from Gabriel to put the home side in front.

If Steve Cooper expected to face a late onslaught from the Gunners, he was in for a surprise. Arsenal offered very little by way of a threat and in the process handed the title to City on a silver platter.

Now demoted to seventh in the league table.

Manchester City crush Real Madrid Vinicius Jr racial abuse: Real Madrid call out hate crime

ON Friday, May 17, Manchester City not only went through to the Champions League Final, but they did it in style, beating a dejected Real Madrid 4 ­ 0 at the Emirates Stadium.

It’s a 5 ­ 1 aggregate win for Pep Guradiola’s side, with two goals from Bernardo Silva, one from Julian Alvarez and an own goal from Madrid’s Militao to cement Manchester City’s progression to the Champions League final.

This keeps them on track for a triple trophy haul this season as they lead the Premier League and they play the FA Cup final on June 3 against Manchester United.

But the Champions League is the one that evades them and they will be very hungry to take that trophy under Guardiola. They are now set to take on Inter Milan on June 10, at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey.

Mirror Football said on Twitter: “Man City have knocked Real Madrid out of Champions League for a place in the final.”

With a few domestic duties to see to on the way, we look forward to seeing you all for what could be Pep and Manchester City’s crowning glory in Istanbul.

REAL MADRID have filed a legal ‘hate crime’ complaint following abuse to star winger Vinicius Jr as they lost to Valencia on Sunday, May 21.

Racist abuse was hurled at the Brazilian which he highlighted to the referee. As he became more and more infuriated with the abuse he had an altercation with Hugo Duro and was shown a red card.

Luis Miguel Echaegary posted this post­match interview with Carlo Ancelotti on Twitter. The Real Madrid Manager only wanted to talk about the racist incident. Echaegary said:

“Interviewer wants to ask about the game itself. Ancelotti: “You want to talk about the game?” Interviewer: “Well yesI want to ­.” Ancelotti proceeds to use his time to talk about the disgusting racist abuse towards Vinicius Jr.

Ancelotti was quoted as saying in the a local news source:

“La Liga has a problem. For me, Vinicius is the most important player in the world. These episodes of racism have to stop the match.”

“It’s the entire stadium that is insulting a player with racist chants and the match has to stop. I would say the same if we were winning 3­0. There is

no other way.”

Real Madrid released a statement in which they said: “These events constitute a direct attack on the model of coexistence of our social and democratic State under the rule of law.

“Real Madrid considers that such attacks also constitute a hate crime, and has therefore filed the corresponding complaint with the State Attorney General’s Office, specifically with the Prosecutor’s Office against hate crimes and discrimination, so that the facts can be investigated and responsibilities can be established.”

It remains to be seen if the formal complaint will lead to any prosecutions, but it is the continuation of a problem that many footballing nations have suffered over the years. It is a problem that appears to keep rearing its ugly head.

VINICIUS JR: Ended up being shown a red card.