The Courier 323

THE WEATHER

Edition 323

B

Friday 26th May 2017

SCHENGEN SHAMBLES

ig hold ups, that began last weekend at AlicanteElche airport, have caused passengers to and from the UK to faint, due to long delays caused at passport control, after a new system of security checks ordered by the European Union.

Three police unions have blamed their bosses for the delays, saying that not enough officers had been deployed to cope with the increased number of travellers that have to be checked.

UK passport holders are the biggest group hit at Alicante-Elche airport, because the EU directive calls for stricter checks between passengers travelling to and from the Schengen Zone. The Zone is essentially a passport-free borderless area of the EU, which the UK refused to be

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part of, due to security concerns. Now rather than a passport being gently waved at a control, Spanish authorities are now having to carry out a full check on every holder via a computer database.

The Courier received a number of calls from UK travellers complaining about the massive hold-ups, especially last weekend, with the police unions saying that at least two women fainted in the heat, and needed medical attention. The unions slammed their chiefs for not having any forward planning in dealing with the EU directive, especially as it was put into place at the start of April. The officers say that the large number of passengers cannot be coped with by the limited staff, and that whilst passenger numbers have rocketed at the facility

over the last few years, police numbers are exactly the same as a decade ago.

The unions added that last weekend just one or two National Police officers were on duty to check the passports of people involved with several flights at the same time, leading to a massive backlog.

Meanwhile there could be additional misery on way for travellers using AlicanteElche, with news that the three main airport unions are planning industrial action over the busy summer period, if no further progress is made with airport owner AENA over wage and contract negotiations.

BRITS IN SEA ALERT

British father and son were rescued from the waters at La Zenia beach on the Orihuela Costa on Monday, after they got into difficulties during the strong afternoon tides.

Sunbathers and swimmers at the beach, along with staff at the La Zenia Hotel, noticed at around 3.00 pm that a 46-year-old man and his 13-year-old son were struggling in the waters not far the complex, and called the emergency services.

Orihuela local police officers, a Torrevieja fire crew,

and the fire emergency helicopter based in the Alicante area at San Vicente del Raspeig, all rushed to the scene when they got a midafternoon call that the bathers were in trouble because of swelling caused by the Levante winds, making it difficult to get to shore.

In the end, the helicopter was not required to help out.

Two La Zenia Hotel workers got into the water first to help the father and son, with the youngster caught by the currents in a rocky area by the cliff, whilst the wife/mother looked on anx-

iously. The bathers were able to get to stagger to land with the help of the hotel employees and fireman, with the father suffering cuts due to being grazed by some rocks and the boy being sick due to the amount of sea water that he had taken in. Otherwise the duo were fine, but exhausted by their efforts to get out of the water.

Other swimmers reported that the strong current and swelling in the waters had made things dangerous for them in getting back to shore over a number of days

during the afternoon. There is no lifeguard cover for Orihuela Costa beaches until the service starts in mid-June.

See page 2 for the week´s forecast

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Friday 26th May 2017

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Ex-San Javier Mayor, José Hernández, had 15 million euro tied up in real estate including homes, land and beach bars in La Manga and the Orihuela Costa, according to anti-corruption investigators who have examined details on a personal computer dating back to 2010.

Prosecutors are claiming a "clash of interests" as part of their investigation of the former Partido Popular mayor, as they continue to look at corruption allegations stretching back a number of years involving the awarding of local building contracts.

Hernández appeared in front of the investigating judge in San Javier at the end of March under the threat of arrest, after failing to previously appear in court on previous occasions. The

investigations have included the seizure of documents from building firms Urdemasa, Inmoworld, and the Roda Beach Golf Resort in an attempt to uncover the business relationship between them and the mayor.

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Editorial Tuesday 12:00

Campaigners against a housing development at Cala Mosca on the Orihuela Costa say they are pleased that the Valencian government has decided to reverse an earlier decision, which would have excluded the area from its new coastal protection plan.

The southern section of Cala Mosca, accounting for a third of the area, has now been put into the plan, as a transitional move to stop any construction work happen-

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ing if the developer failed to start the project within five years.

Campaigners, including those from the CLARO political party, have welcomed the Valencian move but say the remaining two-thirds of the area remains unprotected from building development.

They have also voiced concerns concerns that the developer may choose to accelerate plans in the southern section.

Mass Arrests

The National Police have arrested 24 members of a drugs smuggling gang which was growing and smuggling marijuana "bound for Liverpool".

In a joint operation with Merseyside Police, the National Police said the gang was led by two brothers from Liverpool and their son-in-law. 21 one of those held were in Spain, eight of which were arrested in Alicante Province, and three others were detained in the UK. A number of those arrested in Spain were British men aged in their mid-twenties, who were said to living in high-end rented villas in the Barcelona and Marbella

areas, as well driving in expensive cars. That was despite the fact that they were not registered as being in work. The marijuana was hidden in packages that were supposed to have contained marble tiles. They would have been shipped to the UK in lorries which the National Police said, would have ended up in Liverpool.

Four marijuana plantations containing more than 1,600 plants, including a marijuana farm in Alicante Province, were dismantled.

Several shipments of up to 400 tons a time had already been made to the UK before the authorities had moved in for their arrests.

Manchester Minute

Councils like San Pedro del Pinatar (pictured), provincial administrations, as well as national and regional government departments held a minute’s silence on Tuesday

lunchtime in memory of the victims of Monday night’s terrorist attack in Manchester.

Flags flew at half-mast on all of Spain’s public buildings until last night.

Bad Pills

Five members of a gang that made and sold unlicensed medicines, mainly nutritional and body building supplements , have been arrested by the National Police in the Murcia City, Alcantarilla, and Orihuela areas.

A large laboratory in Murcia was raided, which had the capacity to make six million illegal pills a year using over one hundred potentially dangerous drugs that were shipped in from China. Two health shop owners were detained, including one in Orihuela.

Pool Death A three-year-old British boy has died after falling into a swimming pool at a villa in Denia nine days ago.

Police managed to revive him using a defibrillator and he had been undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of the Clínico de València.

Threat Level Remains The Spanish Interior Minister, Juan Ignacio Zoido, announced on Thursday that the current security threat level in Spain will be maintained at Level 4, the same as it has been since 2015.

The announcement came after a meeting of the Evaluation Committee of the Threat.

Stop Press Thursday 18:00 Published by TKO Media & Entertainment S.L. Printed by Localprint S.L Depósito legal A - 188 - 2014 ISSN 2530-6146 The Courier (Torrevieja) The Courier, its publishers, members of staff and its agents do not accept responsibility for any readers letters or claims by advertisers nor can it be held responsible for any errors in advertisements which are reproduced from poor artwork, low quality electronic data or inadequate instructions for text or other layout features. Further no responsibility is accepted for any loss or damage caused by an error, inaccuracy or nonappearance of any advertisement, although all advertisements produced are checked prior to insertion. We regret that we cannot accept responsibility for more than ONE incorrect insertion and that no re-publication will be granted in the case of typographical or minor changes which do not affect the value of the advertisement. E&OE. NO PART OF THIS NEWSPAPER MAY BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE PUBLISHERS.

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Pedro Returns

One For The Road

A coach driver who was six times over the drink-drive alcohol limit was pulled over at a Murcia region service station, after a previous stop at another resting place aroused the suspicions of a gas station employee.

The bus was carrying 40 Chinese tourists en route from Granada to Valencia, and was intercepted by Guardia Civil officers after a service station worker in the Jumilla area tipped them off that the driver was drunk.

Kiosk Controversy

A former Partido Popular mayor of Dolores could be jailed for four and a half years over allegations that he gave permission for a bar kiosk, owned by a relative, that was illegally built in a green zone of the Vega Baja municipality.

The anti-corruption prosecutor Pablo José Romero wants Gabriel Gascón to be tried over events going back to 2008, along with the kiosk owner and the municipal officer who granted planning permission for the structure

at La Alameda park.

Investigations over the kiosk started after José Romero received a complaint from the Renovación company. The kiosk has also been the subject of a long-running row between the council and the owner over operating fees that he has not paid amounting to nearly 13 thousand euro. The authority ordered its closure last October, but it is still open to a legal appeal having been lodged.

Beach Surprise

Guardia Civil bomb disposal experts were called to a Mar Menor beach last Friday after a sunbather spotted what he thought was a bomb.

It was in fact an

unfired phosphorus signal flare lying on Playa Estacio in La Manga, with the device still potentially dangerous.

The Guardia took it away and neutralised it at their barracks in Cartagena.

The coach was pulled over by traffic officers on the motorway and guided into the La Paz service station on the A7 in Sangonera, with the breath test revealing the driver was well over the limit.

Pedro Sanchez is back as leader of the PSOE Socialist party, just seven months after he was ousted in a coup by party chiefs who didn’t like the fact that he wanted to carry on strongly opposing Mariano Rajoy’s Partido Popular, including forcing a third general election within a year if need be.

Sanchez, who got the backing of over half of party members, is likely to move

Butts Out

Three thousand portable ashtrays are to be made available across Torrevieja's beaches to deal with the increasing number of complaints over cigarette butts that are being found in the local sands.

Torrevieja councillors Fanny Serrano and Javier Manzanares gave a demonstration of the new units which can take up to 20 fag butts. They have also

launched a campaign encouraging people to use the ashtrays which will be available from beach bars and kiosks, as well as being distributed on the actual beaches themselves during the high season.

Orihuela residents might remember this being an initiative first launched in the area in 2013 by the then councilor for the coast of Orihuela, Martina Schreurer.

the party further to the left, presenting a new challenge to the current minority PP government, with little or no parliamentary deals set to be done, which increases the likelihood of yet another election.

Sanchez won with 50 percent of the votes, 73,503 ballots representing an increase of 3,000 over his previous win in 2014. His main rival, Andalucian

regional president Susana Diaz, who had been instrumental in Sanchez's resignation last year, received 40 percent of the votes, whilst ex-Basque Country president Patxi Lopez won 10 percent of the ballots.

"We are the vanguard of the political system in Spain," Sanchez told supporters at the PSOE Madrid party headquarters on Sunday night.

New Bins

120 new waste collection containers are to be put into place across the Orihuela Costa as part of a package of replacing the bins across the municipality, which amount to 250 new replacement units in total.

Road cleaning councillor for Orihuela council Dámaso Aparicio added the the summer cleaning contract for the beaches will start on June 15th, and that a “pruning” contract has also been extended.

Crash Landing One of the American military planes seen and heard over Spain last week, a Lockheed C-5M Galaxy, met with an unfortunate incident when landing at the La Rota airforce base in the Province of Cádiz, Spain, when the

front undercarriage failed to depoy.

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Down But Not Out

Alicante Province continues to be the busiest area of Spain for foreign property buyers, despite pessimistic fears that last year’s Brexit vote would cause a major slowdown in the market as far as British purchasers are concerned.

Though actual nationalities are not reflected in the various regions of Spain in the Association of Property Registrars

Hospital Award

Elche’s Vinalopó hospital has become only the third public hospital in Spain to be given the Joint Commission International (JCI) award for maintaining the highest possible internationally recognised patient care standards.

Hospital manager Dr. Ramón Navarro said:-“It is a real milestone in the history of Vinalopó hospital, and the most gratifying recognition in my 40 years of working in medicine”.

statistics, they do say that British buyers continue to dominate the market locally whilst there has been a UK slowdown nationally by two percent, based on the first quarter of 2017 figures, compared to the last three months of 2016.

Almost eight and a half thousand homes were bought by non-Spanish purchasers in the Costa Blanca region between

January and March of this year, which was more than the Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia City areas all put together.

One of the attractions of Alicante Province for British and foreign buyers, according to the Association, is that average property prices are considerably lower compared to areas like Malaga, Barcelona, and the Balearic Islands.

Steady Does It

The DGT traffic authority is considering reducing the alcohol limit to zero for new and young drivers in Spain and those who do so professionally, including roadhaulage, bus and taxi drivers.

General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) chief

Gregorio Serrano says the move will 'remove potential killers from Spain's roads' and said that the zero rule already applies in other countries.

The alcohol limit for motorists currently is 0.25 milligrams per litre in a breath test, which amounts

to a small glass of wine.

Serrano’s comments come on the back of news last week that the government is going to get tough on regular drink and drug-drivers by ordering them to have medical tests in order for them to get back their licenses.

Busier Venue

Dune Deal

Just over a million euro is to be spent excavating the dunes in Guardamar del Segura in an announcement made by Valencia's Heritage director, Carmen Amoraga, during a visit to the municipality.

Amoraga said that historical sites dating back to the Phoenician in the Rábita and Fonteta areas would be

excavated, and that a visitor centre would also be built.

Plans for the area were announced nearly two years ago, but were delayed due to budgetary constraints.

Amoraga stated that work would start by the end of the year, with everything set to be completed in two years time.

Torrevieja's sparsely-used International Auditorium is set to get busier over the next two years under plans by the Valencian government to invest one point seven million euro in staging events at the 54 million euro venue.

Antonio Rodes of the

Sociedad Proyectos Temáticos de la Generalitat (SPTCV) says the Auditorium ought to become the cultural centre of the Vega Baja region, and that the SPTCV wants to hold two big events there every month for the next two years.

The annual bill to run the venue comes in at 360 thousand euro, with Rodes telling the Informacion newspaper that there had also been a number of enquiries about staging conferences there including the Partido Popular's Alicante Province assembly.

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Persistent Thief

A habitual robber, who specialised in 95 car thefts since being released from a Murcia region prison at the start of April, has been put in front of an Alicante judge, and granted bail.

The 41-year old man, who has been arrested a total of 111 times, mainly for burglaries, was picked up by the National Police in connection with the car break-ins that have taken

place over the last six weeks in Alicante City. His actions alone led to a 54 percent rise in car thefts in Alicante last month.

The prosecutor did not request custody, with the judge demanding the man appear every 15 days in court, after the police caught him after reports of him smashing four car windows in one night last week.

The thief is nothing but consistent, as he was arrested on April 24th on the back of police reports from Benidorm and Villarreal over a variety of vehicle thefts, and when he was searched, a large selection of car keys was discovered on him. He’s also got court appearances beckoning in Castellón and València City.

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Wrong Image Ex- Barcelona president Sandro Rosell was arrested on Tuesday in a money laundering operation related to image rights involving the Brazilian national football team.

The operation was mainly carried out in the Catalunya region, with the detainees including Rosell and his wife.

Businessman Rosell, 53,

was manager of sporting goods giants Nike in Brazil and oversaw the contract for the national team to wear the US brand, before taking over as president of Barcelona in 2010, before he quit four years later after being charged over alleged tax fraud relating to the club's signing of Brazil striker Neymar from Santos. He was later cleared.

Throw Them Out Thousands of people took to the streets of Madrid at the weekend to support a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and the ruling Partido Popular.

The left-wing Podemos party organised the demonstration to boost its no-confidence vote against the PP, which has been hit by a series of corruption scandals.

The rally under the slogan "We have to throw them out" was held in the Puerta del Sol. Many protesters held signs that read "Enough!" or "Corruption!"

Podemos registered its intent last Friday to bring the no-confidence vote to Parliament. It is presenting the party's leader, Pablo

Iglesias, as an alternative candidate to replace Rajoy.

No date has been set for the no-confidence vote but the move appears designed to fail. With only 71 members in parliament, Podemos would need help from other parties to reach the majority needed of 176.

No other major party says it will back the move to topple Rajoy.

Iglesias struck a defiant tone at the rally, calling the Partido Popular "a mafia-like party."

"The people are not afraid. They are telling the corrupted to 'get lost, we want a Spain of the 21st century," Iglesias said. "This country is better than its parliament and we are showing the way to the future."

Rajoy has been dragged into the most damaging of the corruption cases involving the Partido Popular, an alleged kickbacks-for-contracts scheme to finance

party activities.

Spain's National Court has called Rajoy as a witness in the case. Like his party, Rajoy has denied any wrongdoing.

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Busy Ladies

Money is continuing to come in to help the cancer awareness group, Maria and the Pink Ladies, who pass on the donations to the AECC (Contra el Cancer) charity.

A fun afternoon charity event at JJ’s Café Bar, Via Park 5, Dream Hills raised 730 euro, whilst the Ladies also picked up a 150 euro

donation from theTorrevieja area, thanks to the La Siesta Ladies Friendship Group (pictured).

Next up is the annual Walk for Life at the Playa Flamenca promenade on Sunday June 4th with the five euro registration starting at 9.00 am and the walk starting at 10.30 am.

All proceeds will go to the

Panto Money

AECC, and normally the event raises a five figure sum.

A five kilometre route will once again ben used around the area that people can choose to walk, run, or even skip, with entertainment being staged at the promenade, as well as a selection of food, drink, and market stalls.

The Rojales Pantomime group have been distributing the fruits of their labours earlier this year, namely two thousand euro raised from their production of the Sleeping Beauty.

Rojales mayor Antonio Pérez (pictured secondright) picked up a cheque for 700 euro from the group led

by President Mike Smith (far right), which will be used for local social services. A similar donation went to Los Montesinos, which saw the group also buy a new flute for the town’s music school, which is used as the venue for the panto.

Pictured below is Julia Kennedy, manager of the

SAT kennels in Dolores, who got some money for their new kennel construction project.

The Rojales Pantomime group are always looking for new members, with rehearsals starting this

September for next January’s show. Anybody of age is welcome in any capacity, and you can phone Thelma for more details on 634 339 588 or email rojalespantomime@gmail.c om

Raising Awareness Residents in the El Banet area of Almoradi donned green and purple clothes recently to raise awareness concerning Huntington's Disease.

Sangria and tapas was enjoyed in the sunshine and pleasant surroundings, whilst raising 351 euros towards the Huntington’s charity. HD is a hereditary disorder of the central nervous system, and is a terminal illness that causes a wide range of symptoms, and currently there is no cure.

If you would like to get involved with organising a fundraising event in your area, or know someone who is affected by the condition, please contact Marion Smith on 651 043 681

The Pilar de la Horadadabased APAH animal charity has been give the green light to stage a fund-raising dog show at the Carpa Municipal venue in Pilar on Sunday July 9th.

The venue offers lots of parking and because it is uncover, protection against the strong July sunshine.

APAH is now looking for people who would like to have stalls at the event to boost the charity’s fund-raising.

Potential stallholders can

Stagestruck Success Three thousand euro was presented to the Torrevieja Alzheimer’s Association after the curtain came down on the final night of the latest Stagestruck production, Carry on Pompeii, writes JULIE DAY. It was the crowning moment after three successful nights this month for Stagestruck at San Fulgencio’s Cardenal Belluga theatre.

This fun adult show was an incredible production for an amateur group, and was set in 79 A.D., just before Mount Vesuvius erupted.

The script by Stagestruck director Leigh Humphries had it all. There was stellar acting from the whole cast; tear-jerking and moving renditions of well-known songs including “I Am What I Am” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”; a tight storyline that kept us enthralled and

entertained right from the start until the very last word; and some of the most jawdropping comedy lines that made us howl with laughter and often left us asking, “Did they really say/do that on stage?”

The mere uttering of the

character names like Hernia, Sextus Magnus, Insania, Frigida, Purvio and Geriatricus had the audience in stitches. And like the Carry On films, the mix of farce, double entendre, slapstick, parody, and mild nudity was abundant – just

perfect for a night of entertainment!

Let’s hope that Stagestruck keep up their good work, and I’m already looking forward to their pantomime later this year, Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood.

Stalls Please

call the APAH Charity Shop in Pilar on 966 766 555, between Monday and

Saturday between 10.00 am and 1.30 pm for more details.

Summer Fair

Age Concern Costa Blanca South will be putting on their annual summer fair at their Torrevieja headquarters on Saturday June 10th.

The event starts at

11.00am at the charity’s building in La Siesta on Calle Paganini, with a raffle and tombola, plus some Morris Dancing. More details on 966 786 887.

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Cannabis Call Murcia's regional parliament has voted to look into the possibility of legalising cannabis for medicinal purposes.

The motion proposed by Juan José Molina Gallardo of the Ciudadanos party suggested that sufferers from cancer and MS would benefit from smoking cannabis, and called for a strictly regulated provision of the drug from government regulated suppliers.

The effects on patients of taking cannabis would also be monitored under a

scheme, but no indication was given as to what the

Temper, Temper

next move would be by Murcia legislators.

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technically faces a six month prison sentence, but since he has no criminal record, it is likely that his term will be suspended for two years. No

indication was given as to what caused him to loose his temper, or whether he was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

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A violent passenger looking to board a flight for Copenhagen at AlicanteElche airport ended up in a Guardia Civil cell after assaulting a number of Guardia officers.

The man, said to be Italian, was said to be in an “aggressive” state, and so airport staff alerted the Guardia that something might be up. He then proceeded to flay with punches and kicks at the officers, who restrained him and locked him up.

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Catalunya president Carles Puigdemont has rejected the Spanish government's offer to present his proposal for a regional independence referendum before Parliament.

Puigdemont says that if Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy changes his position and agrees to allow the referendum, he would present such an agreement to the Catalan regional parliament.

Puigdemont has pledged to hold a vote on secession for the north-eastern region

by September even without clearance by the central government.

Rajoy's government has consistently said an independence referendum is illegal. Deputy

Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria invited Puigdemont to debate the issue before Parliament, but her suggestion was turned down.

Parliament would need to amend Spain's constitution to allow the referendum take place, a couple of years after an illegal plebiscite was

held in Catalunya.

Meanwhile the El Pais newspaper reported on Monday that the Catalan regional government has drafted a secret bill that is designed to oversee the region’s transition to an independent state with or without a secession referendum.

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Triple Lock v Double Lock Keith Littlewood, International Financial Adviser at Blacktower, Costa Cálida In 2010, the Conservative government introduced what wasa cast iron protection for people with state pensions so that they would no longer have the concerns that their standard of living would decrease regardless of what was happening in the UK economy. The 'Triple Lock' means that the state pension increases in line with the higher of the: Increase in the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), the increase in National Average Earnings (NAE), or 2.5%.

At the last general election, David Cameron promised this triple lock would stay in force until at least 2020, and Theresa May is honoring this by saying the triple lock will stay for three years (until 2020) but after then a new double lock will come into force.

This means the state pension in the future will only increase in line with the higher of the increase in the CPI or the increase in NAE. The 2.5% buffer would be scrapped.

You might argue that the 2.5% is not providing any

In today’s financial climate, it is essential you do everything you can to make sure your money is safe and secure and what you want to transpire in the future has the best chance of happening.If you need advice or if have any questions regarding the above you can contact me, Keith Littlewood DipPFS, on 657 684 094 or email keith.littlewood@blacktow erfm.com

protection anyway if inflation and earnings are not increasing, but this extra benefit was a way of recouping the lost ground of previous years when it had fallen behind earnings drastically from when the link to earnings was replaced by the inflation-only link.

State pensions have undergone drastic changes in the last three years and

people retiring now, in most cases, have much bigger state pensions. From April 2017, everyone retiring on their basic state pension will get a flat rate of £159.55 for a full contribution history (35 years contributions).

In some cases, under the old system there may be a situation that an individual could be better off and if so, the higher amount applies.

The flat rate category A pension under the old system is currently £122.30.

Anyone over 18 can get an estimate of their own pension entitlement by going to www.tax.service.gov.uk/chec kmystatepension, or if you are over 50, you can request a paper statement by going to www.gov.uk/checkstatepension or call the Future

Pension Centre on 0345 3000 168.

What this means is that you should always be making sure you are getting the best returns from your savings and pensions. If you are not sure that you are, you should contact an Independent Financial Adviser, like myself, to confirm you are not missing out.

The above information was correct at the time of preparation and does not constitute investment advice and you should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity.

Blacktower Financial Management (Int.) Ltd is licensed in Gibraltar by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and is registered with both the DGS and CNMV in Spain.

Pets

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Friday 26th May 2017

Adoption Corner

Home Alone Dogs

BELLA Bella is a four-year old Spaniel cross and is a happy, lively little girl. She is great with other dogs and loves to be around people. Bella is chipped and sterilized and ideally suited to someone who likes to go for long walks. If you could give her a forever home, then please phone Pets in Spain on 645 469 253. www.petsinspain.com

CHAD Chad was dumped in a box with his two siblings, and is currently being looked after at the SAT kennels.

He is just two months old and is currently having the relevant puppy vaccinations; he will then be ready to go to his new home. He is a small crossbreed who is a happy, healthy little boy. For further information please contact the SAT kennels on 966 710 047 or email info@satanimalrescue.com

CLEO Cleo is a beautiful medium-sized female dog that is aged around two years, who is really good with other dogs. Cleo is currently being fostered in a home with other cats and dogs and she gets on well with both.

She is a happy dog who loves life and everyone, and is very affectionate. For more details about Cleo, please call PEPA on 650 304 746 or Email: p.e.p.a.animalcharity@gmail.com

HENRY

Born 14 months ago, Henry and his brothers and sister were found by the side of a bin when they were just 10 days old. He is a gentle giant, very calm and lovely with people, but he doesn't always get along with other male dogs, so would be better in a home on his own. To arrange to meet Henry please call APAH on either 630 422 563 or 616 210 850.

Separation anxiety is a disorder that causes dogs to panic at the idea of being left home alone. The panic is so overwhelming that when you leave, dogs tend to become destructive, bark like crazy, and have housebreaking accidents. When you return home, their greetings are often frantic. This condition is stressful for both dogs and owners, especially because regular obedience training does little to ease it. The good news is that something can help reduce your dog's anxiety. It is referred to as systematic desensitization, and it is a method of gradually allowing your dog to get used to being left home alone. The following will guide you through the process:Rule Out Boredom People often mistake boredom for separation anxiety. Both are accompanied by problem behaviours, such as destructive chewing and excessive barking. The difference is that boredom can be overcome by adding more exercise and mental stimulation to your dog's day, while those things have little or no impact on separation anxiety. Try adding an extra walk, games of fetch or tug-of-war, an obedience class and a variety of toys. If boredom is the reason for the barking and chewing, you should see a big change in your dog's behaviour. If none of these things help, then you should continue to follow the steps to treat separation anxiety.

Change Your Behaviour Most of us have a routine we follow before we leave the house - shower, dress, grab keys, and walk out the door.

Once he has recognized your routine, your dog's anxiety may start building from the first step. This means his anxiety is not just beginning when you walk out the door.

Instead, it starts when your alarm clock goes off or you turn on the shower, and by the time you leave the house he is in a full blown panic. To prevent this building anxiety, make some changes to your own behaviour. Pay attention to the things you do before you leave your home, and begin doing them randomly throughout the day. For example, you can grab your keys and sit down to watch television, and then feed your dog. Within a few weeks, your dog should no longer see these things as signs that you are about to walk out the door, and some of his anxiety should be eased.

Keep Coming and Going Low-Key Most of us hate leaving our dogs almost as much as they

JACKSON Jackson was rescued at the start of the year and is aged around ten months. He is in a loving foster home with lots of other cats and dogs and gets on very well with both, but now needs a place of his own. Jackson is the sweetest boy who behaves very well and has a gentle soul and is very affectionate. For more details on this adorable boy, please phone PEPA on 650 304 746 or email p.e.p.a.animalcharity@gmail.com

hate seeing us go. This often leads to us lavishing our dogs with affection and attention right before we leave home and immediately when we walk in the door. Unfortunately, this can add to your dog's anxiety. To prevent this, the best thing you can do is ignore your dog before you leave and for several minutes after your return. In this way, you are telling your dog that your coming and going is really no big deal. For mild to moderate cases of separation anxiety, these steps may be enough to ease your dog's anxiety.

Work Your Way Up to Long Periods Away This step can be time consuming, and requires a real commitment on the part of the dog owner. Once this process is started, it is important your dog is never left alone for extended periods until his anxiety is completely gone, and that might also needing to hire a pet sitter to lend a helping hand. Plan on spending at least 30 minutes on each training session. To start, step out the door for a short amount of time, and step right back inside. You cannot step out long enough for your dog's anxiety to begin building, so in cases of severe separation anxiety you may only be able to step outside for a second. When you step back inside, keep things quiet, and give your dog a few minutes to relax.

Once he is relaxed, step back outside again, and repeat this step until your dog is showing no signs of anxiety - no panting, pacing, drooling, etc.

Next, it is time to slowly increase the amount of time you are gone. Again, this might mean only moving up to two seconds, then three, and so on for severe cases. Once you start adding time, you can mix up the lengths of time you step out during a training session. For example, if you are able to step outside for five minutes, step out for five minutes and then three minutes. Change it up, but do not go beyond the five minutes until your dog is showing no signs of anxiety. Once you have worked up to leaving your dog alone for about 45 minutes, you should be able to begin adding time more quickly. In this way you can work your way up to leaving your dog alone for an hour, then two, and then so on. If you are able to devote an hour or more each day to training, your dog's anxiety should be greatly improved within a few weeks. If you have followed all the steps, and your dog is still showing signs of anxiety, you may need to seek more help from your vet or a dog behaviourist.

LOUIE This Spanish mastiff is a real gentle giant, who is loveable and likes a good belly rub. He is good with people and in excellent condition. Louie appears to have been well looked after, but was found wondering around with no microchip. He is well house- trained and would make an excellent family dog. If you are able to give Louie a home, then please call Bev/Alan at K9 on 600 845 420.

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Seagate Wealth Management

Concerned about QROPS????

QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes) have become very popular for expatriates since their introduction.

They are a tax efficient way for expatriates to hold their pensions outside the UK and offer a whole host of benefits for the client when executed correctly.

However, in years gone by we have seen several Financial Advisers not only here in Spain but worldwide, poorly manage such plans and in some cases offer inappropriate advice with very little on-going advice or direction.

Here at Seagate we are in a unique position and can offer UK Regulated Pensions along-side Internationally based plans, giving our clients the peace of mind that their pension is being regulated under the watchful eye of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA regulate all UK based Financial Services companies.

In addition to this we use recognised UK Investment providers such as Prudential to look after the growth of your pension. We meet with our clients on a six monthly basis giving flexibility and control to ensure the best outcome for their pension fund.

If you feel that your e x i s t i n g QROPS/Pension isn’t performing or you want to review your Pension Options, please contact me for a free consultation and advice on the best way forward.

To book your consultation call 965 704 338 or e m a i l : chris.shaw@SeagateW ealth.es

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Friday 26th May 2017

Health Boost The Spanish healthcare system has been ranked eighth-best in the world, with the UK lagging behind in 30th place, according to the Healthcare Access and Quality Index, which measures death rates from cases that should not be fatal if effective medical care is given.

In the study, the number of deaths from some 32 diseases and conditions were analysed between 1990 to 2015. Andorra, Iceland, and Switzerland were rated as the top three countries.

Illegal Trap

Members of the Friends of Sierra Escalona group have slammed the illegal trapping of foxes in the area, after a female that had recently given birth was found in the trap wiring at Finca Cabezo Mortero last Saturday.

Group members say that her youngsters are in trouble because they need to be fed by her, and they have condemned the illegal practice which they say hunters continue with across the Sierra Escalona.

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La Mata Money

The Spanish cabinet in Madrid has approved extra money for emergency repair work to be done in the La Mata area of Torrevieja after the winter storms.

Extra cash, over and

above the original budget, will be provided to complete the repair work on the Paseo de La Mata (damage pictured) hit by the December storms, which was further disrupted by bad

weather in March.

Extra funding has also been provided by the central Government to repair la Torre de la Mata with the project running there until September.

Let’s Go Latin Ryanair has announced a new flight partnership with one of Spain's biggest airlines, Air Europa.

The agreement will allow its customers to book Air Europa long-haul flights on the Ryanair website, spanning 20 routes from Madrid, to 16 countries in North, Central and South America.

Destinations include Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Mexico and the USA.

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Friday 26th May 2017

Sweeping Clean Representatives of the global anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International met Spain's Prosecutor General in Madrid to lobby the government to tackle what they say is the endemic corruption in Spanish political institutions.

“Corruption in Spain distorts decision making and hurts people’s basic rights for the benefit of a few. Just looking at a whole raft of recent scandals gives a sense of the scale of the problem,” said José Ugaz, Chairman of Transparency International.

Last year's Corruption index produced by Transparency International, saw Spain getting just 58 points, seven points lower than in 2012 and lower than

most

Western

European

democracies.

Loads Of Lolly A 41-year-old Hungarian man was stopped by Guardia Civil officers from boarding his Budapestbound flight at AlicanteElche airport, after he was found to have nearly 70 thousand euro stashed in different compartments in his suitcase.

Besides the undeclared euro, he also had nearly eight thousand euro of Hungarian currency in his case.

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Friday 26th May 2017

Ingredients Nonstick cooking spray 8 large eggs Salt One 16-ounce can refried black beans 1 ripe avocado 2 jarred roasted red peppers 8 tostada shells 1 cup salsa verde 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese Method Position an oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the grill. Meanwhile, coat 8 cups of the muffin tin generously with cooking spray. Crack an egg into each, sprinkle with salt and grill until the tops are golden brown and the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny, 4 to 5 minutes (a small knife inserted into the egg helps to check doneness).

Remove the muffin tin from the oven and set aside.

Food & Drink

15-Minute Bean, Egg and Avocado Tostadas

While the eggs are cooking, put the refried beans in a small bowl, cover and microwave until hot, about 2 minutes. Dice the avocado. Slice the roasted red peppers into strips.

Arrange 2 tostadas on each of 4 plates. Spoon and spread some of the beans on each tostada. Use a small off-set spatula or spoon to scoop out the eggs from the muffin tin and place one, browned-side down, on top of each tostada.

Spoon salsa verde over each egg and top with roasted pepper, avocado and cheese.

Ingredients 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 tablespoons tomato paste 1 chipotle in adobo, smashed with a fork into a fine paste 3 tablespoons chilli powder 1 teaspoon dried oregano Two 16-ounce jars mild salsa (about 3 1/2 cups) Three 15-ounce cans beans, such as kidney, black and pinto beans, or your preference, drained (but not rinsed) One 15-ounce can hominy or corn, drained (but not rinsed) 1 cup long-grain white rice 1/4 cup cider vinegar Serving Suggestions: Tortilla chips and sliced pickled jalapenos Method Heat the oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the tomato paste and cook, smearing and stirring

constantly with a heat-proof spatula or flat-edged wooden spoon, until dark and aromatic, about 90 seconds. Add the chipotle, chilli powder and oregano, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the salsa and 1 1/4 cup water. Stir in the beans and hominy.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a small saucepan with a lid. Stir in the rice, reduce the heat to medium low, cover and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.

Remove the chili from the heat, stir in the cider vinegar and let stand 1 minute. Fluff the rice with a fork, divide it among 6 serving bowls and top with the chili. Serve with pickled jalapenos and tortilla chips, if desired.

Spicy Three-Bean Chilli

Food & Drink

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Spinach and Feta Pie

Ingredients 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 medium onion, chopped 1 small bunch Swiss chard, stems and leaves chopped and reserved separately 100g long-grain white rice Salt 560g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 1 large egg, beaten 170g feta cheese, preferably Greek, crumbled 5 tablespoons coarsely chopped dill 4 tablespoons golden raisins 3 tablespoons pine nuts 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 12 to 14 sheets phyllo pastry 120ml melted butter For the tomato salad 3 ripe medium tomatoes, cut into wedges 150g sliced pepperoncini

80g halved pitted olives, such as Kalamata 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper Method Preheat the oven to 200°C. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat and cook the garlic, onions and chard stems until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and 1/2 teaspoon salt to combine. Add 240ml water, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook without stirring until the rice is tender but not mushy, about 12 minutes. Uncover, add the spinach, chard leaves and 3/4 teaspoon salt.

Cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted, about 3 minutes.

Transfer to a large bowl to cool (stirring with a large spoon will speed this up).

When the filling is cool, stir in the egg and then the feta, dill, raisins, pine nuts and lemon zest.

Place a large piece of parchment paper on a work surface.

Lay out one sheet of phyllo and brush all over with some of the melted butter. Lay another sheet crosswise on top

and brush with butter again. Working to form a large round of phyllo layers, lay an additional 6 sheets of phyllo dough diagonally over the first 2 sheets, brushing each sheet with butter, so they overlap in the center. Spread the filling in the center of the sheets and bring all the loose ends of the phyllo to rest on top to make a free-form pie, using the butter to help the pieces stick to each other. Lay 4 of the remaining 6 sheets of phyllo evenly over the top of the pie, tucking the edges under the bottom to form an enclosed disk and brushing each piece of dough with butter. Use the last 2 sheets, if necessary, to cover the filling or enclose the circle. Brush the outside of the pie with butter.

Lift the parchment with the pie onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the phyllo is golden brown and crispy, about 40 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature with the tomato salad on the side.

To make the salad: toss the tomatoes with the pepperoncini and the olives in a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Healthy Aubergine and Kale Parmesan Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced Salt One 28-ounce can no-salt whole tomatoes, crushed well by hand 1 small bunch curly kale, stripped from the stems and chopped (about 6 cups) 1 cup torn fresh basil leaves 1 cup almond flour 1/2 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs 2 large egg whites 2 medium aubergines, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds, ends discarded (about 2 1/2 pounds) Freshly ground black pepper 1 cup shredded light mozzarella 1/4 cup grated Parmesan 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves, chopped Method 1. Position 2 oven racks in the middle and upper third of the oven, and preheat to 220°C. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment.

2. Cook the oil, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large frying pan over medium heat, stirring, until the garlic just starts to turn golden, 4

to 6 minutes. Add the tomatoes; rinse the can with about 1 1/2 cups water, and add the tomato water to the pan. Add the kale and basil, bring to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, about 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, combine the almond flour and breadcrumbs in a medium bowl until evenly mixed. Whisk the egg whites and 3 tablespoons water in another medium bowl until frothy.

4. Lay out the aubergine slices on a clean surface, and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Dip the aubergine slices in the egg whites, then press into the almondbreadcrumb mixture to coat.

Place the aubergine pieces on the baking sheets. Bake until the aubergine is tender

and the crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Rotate the baking sheets if the top one is browning too quickly.

5. Turn the oven to grill.

Spread a little of the sauce on the bottom of a broilersafe 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange half the aubergine in the dish in as close to an even layer as you can without overlapping too much. Spread half the remaining sauce on top, then 1/4 of the mozzarella.

Top with the remaining aubergine, sauce and mozzarella and the Parmesan.

Place the baking dish under the broiler until the cheese is melted and browned, about 1 minute. Serve immediately, while the cheese is still warm. Sprinkle the top with the parsley.

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Food & Drink

Friday 26th May 2017

Banana-rum souffle

Ingredients

uncovered, over a medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the bananas begin to soften, about 7 minutes. Mash the bananas with a potato masher or large fork until mostly smooth; continue cooking to make a thick puree, about 8 more minutes. Cool to room temperature.

1 tsp softened unsalted butter 2 tbsp granulated sugar, plus additional for dusting 3 large ripe bananas, peeled and sliced 43g dark brown sugar Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 tbsp dark rum 5 large egg whites Pinch fine salt Cocoa powder for dusting, optional

3) Position the oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 220C/Gas 7.

Method

4) Whip the egg whites and salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until foamy. Increase the speed to high, gradually pour in the 2 tbsp sugar, and whip until the whites hold soft peaks. Fold a quarter of the whites into the banana mixture and then fold in the remaining whites. (Don't dally here; timing is everything with souffles. Whip, fold, and get the souffle in the oven without missing a beat.)

1) Lightly butter the insides of 4 (240ml) ramekins, then dust with sugar. Space the ramekins evenly on a baking sheet and put in the freezer.

2) Put the bananas, brown sugar, lemon juice and rum in a medium saucepan. Cook

5) Evenly divide the batter among the prepared ramekins. Bake the souffles until well puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Dust with a light sprinkling of cocoa powder, if desired. Serve immediately.

Ingredients 4 oz coconut rum 4 oz light (white) rum 10 oz frozen strawberries 8 oz pineapple juice 8 oz cream of coconut2 cups crushed ice fresh pineapple wedges, for garnish

Lava Flow Cocktail Instructions

In a blender, combine coconut rum, light rum, and strawberries. Blend to a puree. Transfer to a clean pitcher.

Clean and wash out blender. Add pineapple juice, cream of coconut, and crushed ice. Blend until smooth.

Divide strawberry rum puree among 4 serving classes.

Slowly pour pineapple coconut mixture into the glass.

The red mixture will evenly swirl with the white mixture.

Garnish with a pineapple wedge and serve immediately.

Food & Drink

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Health

Friday 26th May 2017

Without action on antibiotics, medicine will return to the dark ages When Prof Sally Davies published The Drugs Don’t Work in 2013, it wasn’t some allusion to a Verve number from the 1990s, but a sombre warning of the growing threat posed by bacteria evolving resistance to life-saving antibiotics. If this were left unaddressed, she argued, it would lead to the erosion of modern medicine as we know it.

That was four years ago.

Doctors and scientists had long warned of the problem, but few outside medicine were taking real heed.

Consumption of antibiotics rose 36% between 2000 and 2010. When I started working at No 10, the words “antimicrobial resistance” were certainly not on the lips of those walking the corridors of Whitehall.

It was Davies who pushed the agenda – meeting the then prime minister David Cameron, to urge the government to wake up to the fact that, without effective antibiotics, we could see an end to life-saving transplants, chemotherapy and routine operations such as caesareans and hip replacements; and that continued misuse and overuse of antibiotics could, within a generation, see the global death toll from drug-resis-

tant infections rise from 700,000 today to 10 million – more than currently die of cancer.

As soon as we understood the scale of the challenge in Downing Street, it became an international priority.

Cameron raised it at every bilateral meeting with world leaders for about a year, and in 2014 he announced the launch of Jim O’Neill’s International Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, which was supported by the Wellcome Trust.

A year ago this week that review was published, offering the world a 10-point action plan to prevent healthcare returning to the dark ages. The world is now listening. Leaders accept what’s at stake and that the solution lies in global unity.

But 12 months on from the review, talk is yet to turn to action. We urgently need new antibiotics. No new classes of antibiotics have been approved since the early 1980s. Between 1940 and 1962 about 20 classes were produced, but industry backing has decreased significantly since that golden age. The pipeline of new treatments is all but dry, the void fast exploited by resistant bacteria. A concerning number are now resistant to

drugs reserved as the last line of defence, and the most vulnerable are in greatest danger – the young, old and critically ill.

Blood infections caused by drug-resistant microbes kill more than 200,000 newborn babies each year.

The reason for the lack of interest from the pharmaceutical industry is simple: the economics don’t add up.

Developing new antibiotics is scientifically challenging, time-consuming and costly.

The medicines we so badly need cannot be allowed to be sold in volume; they must be conserved for real need, with fair access guaranteed.

This limits their retail value.

Many early-stage projects will fail, making them a risky bet. Even those that are successful will take at least a decade to produce medicines that are safe for human use.

A new public-private partnership, CARB-X, led by Wellcome and the US government, is beginning to address this seemingly intractable problem. Over the next five years, up to $450m in funding will be given to biotech firms and research teams to develop promising antibiotics and diagnostics to combat the most difficult and deadly

multi-drug-resistant pathogens.

CARB-X is an answer to the global action called for by the O’Neill review. But it will not be enough on its own.

We need concerted action on many fronts, and on all O’Neill recommendations.

• Fixing the broken antibiotic market, but also ensuring fair access to new, and existing, medicines – particularly in low – and middleincome countries where need is greatest.

• More hospitals implementing measures to stop infection spread.

• Better sanitation and basic

hygiene in communities to prevent infection taking hold in the first place.

• Better understanding of the environmental impact of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

• Stopping antibiotic pollution.

• Robust national plans to reduce the spread of drugresistant infections.

• Restrictions on the use of antibiotics in farming and agriculture.

The clock ticks on all of these. Since last year’s O’Neill review, political will has rallied. But the world cannot wait any longer for decisive action.

Last September the UN general assembly committed itself to fighting the problem together, followed by the announcement this year of a taskforce to address the issue. It needs to gain momentum fast and draw in the disparate groups across human and animal health, food and environment.

At July’s G20 summit and the next UN general assembly is September, the opportunity must not be missed for those who have listened and have shown intent to now act boldly in the fight against drug-resistant infections.

Lack of sleep knocks your social appeal Beauty sleep is a real thing, according to researchers who have shown that people who miss out on sleep do appear less attractive to others.

A couple of bad nights is enough to make a person look "significantly" more ugly, their sleep experiments suggest.

Dark-circled "panda" eyes and puffy lids can even put others off socialising with you, they say.

People were rated by strangers as less healthy and approachable when they had tired faces.

Are you getting enough sleep?

Five things that ruin a good night's sleep The experiment The researchers asked 25 university students, some male and some female, to be the guinea pigs in their sleep experiment.

The volunteers - who were given payment for their help - were sent home with a kit that would measure their night-time movements to check that they had not cheated and slept when they should not have.

They were asked to get a

good night's sleep for two consecutive nights.

A week later, they were asked to restrict themselves to only four hours sleep per night for two nights in a row.

The researchers took make-up free photos of the volunteers after both the good and the bad sleep sessions.

Next, they asked 122 strangers - women and men living in Sweden's capital city, Stockholm - to have a look at the photos and rate them on attractiveness, health, sleepiness and trustworthiness, as well as ask-

ing them: "How much would you like to socialise with this person in the picture?"

The strangers were good at judging if the person they were looking at was tired, and, if they were sleepy, their attractiveness score suffered.

The strangers also said they would be less willing to socialise with the tired students, who they also perceived to be less healthy, Royal Society Open Science journal reports.

The Karolinska Institute researchers says this makes sense in evolutionary

terms.

"An unhealthy-looking face, whether due to sleep deprivation or otherwise, might activate diseaseavoiding mechanisms in others."

In other words, people don't want to hang around with people who might be ill, whereas someone who looks energetic and fit will hold lots of appeal.

Lead researcher Dr Tina Sundelin added: "I don't want to worry people or make them lose sleep over these findings though.

"Most people can cope

just fine if they miss out on a bit of sleep now and again."

Dr Gayle Brewer, a psychology expert at the University of Liverpool and member of the British Psychological Society, said: "Judgement of attractiveness is often unconscious, but we all do it, and we are able to pick up on even small cues like whether someone looks tired or unhealthy.

"We want our partners to be attractive and energetic.

"This study is a good reminder of how important sleep is to us."

ADVERTISE WITH US TODAY CALL 966 921 003

Health

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Your right to Physician-assisted suicide?

Do we have the right to put an end to our lives? And if we do, shouldn't society provide facilities that make the process easier for us?

In the last few years, the term physician-assisted suicide has cropped up to define the legal assistance of a person to take their lives.

The law governing Euthanasia or Physicianassisted suicide differs from place to place, but in general, it allows a patient considered fit enough to make healthcare decisions and with two doctors confirming that the patient has a chronic disease that will end their life in 6 months, to request and receive an injection to do so. The patient administers the drug in Physicianassisted suicide, unlike in Euthanasia where the doctor administers the drug.

The idea that individuals have the right to assistance should they wish to take their lives elicits deep emotions in many people. The same sentiments however are not felt when people put an end to their lives without assistance.

A common argument around Physician-assisted suicide is that most people have wished for death at some point or another but are grateful they never went through the act, but would they have done so if help was readily available?

However, appalled one is with the idea of assisted suicide, it becomes insignificant in the face of someone with chronic pain with absolutely no hope of relief.

We, humans, do not allow our animals to suffer unreasonably without having the sense of compassion to end

help someone unable to cope with the process of living?

Studies show that most people seeking assisted suicide do so not out of chronic pain, but out of fear of becoming a burden to others. Is it possible that improving our social services will reduce the clamour for assisted suicides?

While the debate on Physician-assisted suicide rages on, the medical profession at the centre of it all, still has to deal with the moral issue of going against the Hippocratic oath which demands that all doctors respect life and refuse to assist in ending the life of a patient. their lives and put them out of misery. Why then should we allow our fellow human beings to go through pain

without the compassion to end their life, especially if they make such a request?

But then where does our

compassion to assist in suicide end? If we can help someone in chronic pain to end their life, should we also

For A Full Body Diagnostic Scan Call MedB Diagnostics – 965 071 745, 966 189 074, www.medb.es

Mindful eating can help weight loss, study shows Eating mindfully, choosing and savouring food away from the distractions of computers and televisions, can help people lose weight, a study has shown.

A programme in the US tells people they can eat

what they want, including their favourite high-calorie, fattening foods. But they must eat it mindfully, thinking about nothing but the enjoyment of eating their food – although not necessarily eating all of it.

“We instruct people to eat the foods that they love, and not give them up, but to eat them in a mindful way,” said Dr Carolyn Dunn from North Carolina State University in the US, one of the authors of the study presented at the

European Congress on Obesity in Porto, Portugal.

“For example, if one of us was going to eat a food that has very high calories, we would tell them to eat one or two bites, but to eat those one or two bites with awareness, so they are getting the most pleasure out of those one to two bites.

“Other research has shown that those first two bites are associated with the most enjoyment – eating more will certainly give you more calories but not more enjoyment.

“So a chocolate mousse, for example ... we would advise them to eat it with mindfulness and with purpose and to enjoy those first few bites.”

They don’t have to waste food. “We instruct them to share it or take it home for another day or buy it in smaller amounts,” she said.

The commercial programme, called Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less, lasts for 15 weeks. Dunn and colleagues trialled the results by enrolling 80 people, 42 of whom went immediately on to the programme. The remaining 38 became the control group while waiting to join.

Those on the mindfulness programme lost a mean of 1.9 kg over the 15 weeks.

The others on the waiting list were keen to join and assumed to be trying other ways of losing weight; they too lost a small amount – 0.3kg.

“Mindfulness is paying attention to your surroundings, being in the present moment,” said Dunn.

“Mindful eating is eating with purpose, eating on purpose, eating with awareness, eat-

ing without distraction, when eating only eating, not watching television or playing computer games or having any other distractions, not eating at our desks.

“We talk about these aspects to get people to move away from eating with distractions and towards eating with purpose and eating with more awareness.

“People did increase their mindfulness and they did absolutely decrease their weight.”

Mindfulness is also about the way people shop for food and the choices they make in restaurants, she said. “Are you letting your emotions drive your eating?

Are you eating out of fear or depression? Are you letting external cues drive your eating because you are in line in the grocery store and that food is being heavily marketed to us?”

Participants in the study were not offered any type of diet sheet or even asked to count calories. Each week

they had a talk on a different aspect of food and nutrition.

They were encouraged to walk and increase their physical activity levels.

At the end of six months, around 75% of the participants had not regained the weight they had lost and some had lost more. The results were similar for the control group, once they had joined the programme themselves.

While mindfulness has become popular and is of great interest for health improvement generally, little research has been done on whether it could help in weight loss or prevention.

“Results suggest that there is a beneficial association between mindful eating and weight loss. The current study contributes to the mindfulness literature as there are very few studies that employed rigorous methodology to examine the effectiveness of an intervention on mindful eating,” say the authors.

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Friday 26th May 2017 ADVERTORIAL

Peñiscola Peñiscola , a delightful little coastal town situated north of Valencia carved its way into history as the third Papal seat in history following Rome and Avignon. Pedro Martinez Luna who was born in Zaragoza was to rise through the ranks of the Catholic church to become first a cardinal and then Pope.

Peñiscola

The town has its own water supply within the walls and withstood a heavy siege by the French in 1812, before finally surrendering, the castle walls showing cannonball damage today.

Morella

Morella is an extraordinary example of a Gothic city and has the designation of Property of Cultural Interest.

Legend has it that Pope Luna was a miraculous man, and that one night he spread his cloak over the Mediterranean and walked to Rome with the help of his walking stick in order to declare to Martin V: “I am the true Pope”. It is also said that in a single night he built a staircase down to the sea, in order to flee in his galley, the Santa Ventura, once his followers had deserted him. That night, he lost his papal ring in the sea: an exceptional treasure that nobody has been able to find, as the sea has concealed the precious offering Modern Peñiscola has a very relaxed feeling to it. Two long golden sandy beaches are separated by the very well preserved Peñiscola castle. Some of you may remember Charleton Heston as el Cid marching his troops to the walls of an impressive castle. This was none other than the castle at Peñiscola.

The castle however had fallen into disrepair over the years and the producers arranged for some refurbishment of the walls. This refurbishment has continued until recent times and the castle today is in quite a remarkable restored condition. The film and publicity undoubtedly started the growth of Peñíscola into the resort it is today Surrounding the castle are the narrow cobbled streets of the old town.. A visit can be made to the interior of the castle. With long golden beaches, seafront cafes, a traditional fishing port and mini cruises on the Med, Peñiscola is the sort of place you would go for a pleasant relaxing short break. Even the journey up is pleasing to the eye with a series of medieval castles, interesting towns and lush green orchards surrounded by mountains.

The highlights are, first of all, the castle and medieval walls, erected in the 14th century.

Within the old enclosure, there are notable churches, like the Santa María la Mayor Archpriest (1263-1330 Gothic with Baroque details); the old San Francisco Convent (13th century); the San Juan Churches (15th century - Gothic with Neoclassical decoration, the San Nicolás Church (Gothic); and the San Marcos and San Pedro Mártir Chapels. In civil architecture, the Casa de la Villa (14th and 17th century), and the Ciruana, Piquer, Rovira and Cardinal Ram Houses are all worth mention, as well as the hospital (15th century).

Likewise, walking through the group of streets full of staircases and by the porticos of Blasco de Alagón, completing a loop around the mountain on Alameda and contemplating the outside of the medieval Santa Llúcia aqueduct are essential for getting to know this city. Two points of interest stand out in the municipality of Morella: the cave paintings of Morella La Vella, and the Sanctuary of the Virgen of Vallivana. Every six years since 1673, a procession climbs to the virgin of the city. On the edges of the highway there are many chapels where pilgrims perform prayers and supplications on their 22 kilometre march.

David’s Coachtrips are offering you this opportunity at the very reasonable price of only 235€ half board with wine & water. The large comfortable 4* hotel sits right on the first line of the beach. An excursion to Morella is included.

This 4 day excursion is offered from 13-16 June. You can book online at www.coachtripsonline.com or call us direct on (0034) 966785910.

Travel

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Guide to Some of Spain’s Oldest Cities By Julie Day People from many other parts of the world came to Spain and settled here. Some came peacefully, while others in battle to conquer this beautiful country and make it their own. The first wave of settlers, the Phoenicians, crossed the Mediterranean Sea and arrived in 1100 BC. It is believed that they founded Spain’s oldest continuously lived-in city – Gadir (Cádiz) – as well as many others along the coast near Malaga. Many believe that this south-western sea port is actually the oldest city in Europe.

After the Phoenicians, the Greeks came in around 600 BC and settled in the northeast of the peninsula, also preferring to settle along the coast. The Carthaginians followed, in 228 BC, and they founded Cartagena in southeast Spain.

The Celts also invaded the Iberian Peninsula, who together with the native tribes, battled against the invading Romans around 200 BC. The Romans took over Gadir and Cartagena and established their empire across Spain. Even though the Romans were expelled in the 5th century, they still managed to develop infrastructure, farming methods and leave their mark. And didn’t they invent taxes, too?

The Visigoths came from the north, but their reign didn’t last long, and they were soon usurped by Arab and Berber tribes from Northern Africa in 711. The Moors christened Spain ‘Al Andalus’ and brought with them science, mathematics, architecture, the power and art of water and gastronomy.

It wasn’t until the 11th century that the Christian kings from the northern half of the country began to reclaim their land and started what was to become a massive holy war between Moors and Christians, which finally ended in 1492 when Granada, the last city under Muslim occupation, fell.

Over the years, since the first invaders landed on the peninsula, various tribes have established their own settlements in different locations. The following is a brief description of some of these very first continuously inhabited cities in Spain, which are amongst some of the oldest in Europe.

Cadiz

Cadiz As mentioned previously, Gadir, the original name for Cadiz, was colonized and established by the Phoenicians, who were an ancient maritime population from around the

Mediterranean Sea area, today comprised of Syria, northern Israel and Lebanon. Due to its location between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Cadiz flourished, becoming an important and prosperous commercial port, which it still is today.

Huelva Huelva is perhaps a slightly less well-known modern city to the non-Spaniard. It lies in southwest Andalusia, partly along the Gulf of Cadiz coast rising up to between the Guadiana and Guadalquivir Rivers. It is thought that Huelva is the site of the settlement called Tartessus, which was known as Onoba by the Phoenicians, trading partners of the Tartessians. When the land was conquered by the Moors, it was renamed Walbah, yet in today’s modern world, the inhabitants from Huelva are known as ‘Onubenses’ in Spanish. Huelva, or Onoba, was founded more than 3,000 years ago, and its rich mineral deposits have been the main reason why so many settlers came this part of Spain to live – and exploit this wealth.

Seville Seville was founded in the 8th century BC by the Tartessians, who are thought to have come from Huelva and the area around the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. Today Seville is renowned for its Moorish architecture, as well as being the birthplace of Flamenco and the Sevillana, and bullfighting. It is a land of colour, culture, dance and song and tourists from all over the world flock to this magical city in their millions.

Malaga Malaga, or Malaka as it was referred to by the Phoenicians, and Malaca, during Roman times, has been one of the most important cities situated on the Mediterranean coast since its foundation in 8 BC. Today, with more than half a million inhabitants, it is the second most populated city in the region of Andalusia, and the sixth in the whole of Spain. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations with international visitors, who are mainly attracted by its idyllic location on the southern Mediterranean coast, its climate and its gastronomy.

Granada Granada, another one of Spain’s major cities in the region of Andalusia, was founded in the 6th century BC. It has been populated by the Romans, the Visigoths, and most famously, by the Moors, who built the stunning Alhambra Palace, the symbol for the whole of the city, and the most visited historic monument in the country. Granada was the last kingdom in Spain to be reconquered by the Christians in 1492, and therefore, the one that has been most influenced by the Muslims during their 700-year reign. However, while the spectacular Moorish palace is well worth a visit, there is so much more to see and experience in Granada. Many visitors immediately fall in love with the city, situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, because of its rich culture, art, architecture, modern shops, and not forgetting its great tradition of tapa-eating, also referred to tapa-hopping. It is possible to hop from bar to bar across the city, ordering a drink and filling up on free tapas!

Roses The less well-known holiday resort of Roses is located on the Costa Brava in the northeast of Catalonia, just 30km from the French border and 160km from Barcelona. It is an important fishing resort and tourist destination. This is another city where the year in which it was founded is in doubt. Some say that it was founded as early as the 8th century BC by Greek settlers from Rhodes, however, a greater majority believe Roses was first populated in the 5th century BC by the Greeks from Marseille.

Cartagena When discussing the oldest cities in Spain, one cannot omit the beautiful, ancient city of Cartagena, located on the Mediterranean coast in the region of Murcia, in southeast Spain.

This port city and naval base was founded by the Carthaginians, led by Hasdrubal, around 223 BC, and it was named Quart Hadas, or ‘New City’. It wasn’t long, however, before this strategic settlement was invaded by the Romans, who took the city in 209 BC and renamed it Carthago Nova. It flourished under the Romans, and also during the Muslim reign from the 8th century to the 13th century. It was the Moors that began the industry of building warships in their city, which they called ‘Cartajana’. The construction of ships eventually declined, yet today, Cartagena is an important naval base, and tourist activity thrives in the port area where many important ships and cruise liners come to dock for several days at a time. One of the most impressive sites in Cartagena is the remains of the Roman amphitheatre, which was built in 2,000 BC Tarragona This settlement on the Mediterranean Costa Dorada was first occupied by the Romans, who, in 218 BC, christened it Tarraco. This was the capital of Tarraconensis, the base from which they masterminded their plan to conquer the whole of the peninsula, which practically covered the whole of modern-day Spain. The Romans were expelled by the Moors, who arrived in 714 A.D., but they too were ousted by the Christian conquerors in 1089. Today many Roman remains and ruins are still standing in Tarragona, which has been recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site for its patrimonial and artistic heritage, which, as well as the numerous Roman ruins, also include the 12th-century Cathedral or the Modernist Central Market.

Tarragona

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Friday 26th May 2017 Events Calendar

Thursdays in May Guardmar Take the tourist train on a guided tour through the town, in English, departing at 10:00 on Thursdays.

Friday 26 to Sunday 28 May, 2017 Alicante Semana de la Música Negra [Black Music Week] Murcia Antique and Classic Car Show.

Friday 26 May, 2017 Orihuela XVI Gala de la Juventud, gala for young people at the Gabriel Miro square.

Santa Pola “The Red Velvets” in concert. A trio of girls who sing Dixieland, Swing, Jazz y Doo-Wop, at the Casa de Cultura.

Saturday 27 May, 2017 Rojales “Queen of the Fiesta” coronation gala.

Orihuela Art and craft market in La Matanza.

Concierto de guitarra.

Guitar concert at the Casino Orcelitano de Orihuela.

Santa Pola Operation “Summer Beach Clean”, special event promoting cleaning the beaches with music, entertainment and paella.

Guadalajara Día de las Fuerzas Armadas.

Armed forces day celebrated at Guadalajara, showcasing the work of the Spanish military, with various displays arranged by the army, navy and air force.

Sunday 28 May, 2017 Orihuela Costa Decabike. Annual bike-based events day at the Decathlon store at Zenia Boulevard.

Torrevieja “Noray” – El gran concierto II, at the Virgen del Carmen.

Thursday 1 to Monday 5 June, 2017 Elda Moors and Christians.

Saturday 3 June, 2017 Guardamar Classical concert, “Tribute to Pop” at the music school.

Torrevieja Cantabile Ladies Choir at La Siesta Church.

Let yourself be surprised by the Cathars and follow their trail in the Region of Valencia

Cathars were part of a Gnostic religious movement that spread about Western Europe halfway through the 10th century and thrived in France around the 12th century. Catharism believed in a duality of creation, God and Satan, and preached salvation through asceticism and the strict rejection of the material world.

They were deemed heretic by the Catholic Church, which asked for the support of the French Crown to face their increasing influence and extension and eventually eradicate them. At the end of the 13th century, the movement –already weak– went into hiding and disappeared. Before this happened, when Cathars were defeated in France, they sought refuge in Spanish enclaves –in Valencian areas specifically.

‘The Cathars Route’ in the Region of Valencia is a fascinating tour in which you will discover the history of the last Cathars –also known as Bons Hommes– by visiting their refuge destinations: Morella, Sant Mateu, Castellón and Valencia.

What was their influence and what remains from their legacy? Cathars' integration in the Region of Valencia allowed for the development of some key economic areas, such as the livestock sector, the textile sector, the Gothic architecture or the medieval art. The result was a notable commercial and cultural expansion of the Valencian settlements.The Region of Valencia embraced this first European exodus. In return, they left a medieval cultural heritage that you can now see in detail along the route. Do you feel like discovering it?

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TRELI ON THE TELLY WITH ALEX TRELINSKI

It’s been quite right that a lot has been made of the late Sir Roger Moore playing James Bond, but the suave star will forever for me always be regarded as one of my first British TV heroes back in the sixties, along with Patrick McGoohan, who ironically turned down the chance to be the first big screen Bond.

Most of the tributes to Sir Roger seemed to ignore that he was the first British actor to become an international star through the medium of television, with his first starring role being in the swashbuckler Ivanhoe in 1958, followed by the US western show Maverick in which he played Beau Maverick, a role rejected by Sean Connery:- I love the Bond connections!

It was as Simon Templar in The Saint, that Moore created the blueprint for the way he would play Bond in the seventies, and it was a Friday night treat for me in the mid-sixties for me to be allowed to stay up to watch it on ATV in the Midlands, who always ran it straight after Take Your Pick. Once

Marvellous Moore

The Saint finished, Lew Grade paired him up with Tony Curtis for The Persuaders, which along with The Saint, still does the enjoyable rounds around various UK satellite channels. Yes, I enjoyed Sir Roger as the fun Bond, but for me it was his television work that left a massive impression on me as a young viewer.

Monday night’s horrific events in Manchester exposed the serious problems the BBC have with their under-funded news channel, which at the UK stroke of midnight simply joins the BBC World News service every night for a bunch of irrelevent reports for British viewers. Despite this massive story, the Beeb still did that (why?), with two “unknown” presenters floundering their way deep into the night, with a minimum of on-site reporting. The contrast with Sky News was astonishing, who kept one of their most experienced and best anchors, Anna Botting, working into the night after her evening shift, and reporters were filing live

on camera from Manchester (None of that on BBC World News). The most telling point was a statement from the Manchester Chief Constable that Sky News carried live at 3.00 am, whilst the BBC scrambled a recording nearly half an hour later, whilst their presenters waffled in the studio. It was not good enough and some of my former BBC colleagues in London have made it clear to me that, to put it politely, they were less than happy. By the way, Sky’s Sunrise presenter Sarah-Jane Mee, who went to the University of Manchester and knows the area well, was outstanding in hosting from the city and showing how a presenter should think on their feet.

If American Horror Story is bonkers, then the muchheralded return of Twin Peaks is simply the most baffling television series I have ever seen, making The Prisoner back in the sixties easily comprehensible. 25 years on, Twin Peaks is back (Sky Atlantic), and the twisted minds of creators David Lynch and Mark Frost

have created something even more bizarre compared to the first outing.

That’s largely because of the freedom given to them by the US cable channel Showtime, and it looks fantastic, with black humour abounding, but also to be honest, some unintentional laughs due to the craziness of it all. I was hooked, especially with the two versions of Dale Cooper(Kyle MacLachlan) and one of the unscripted laughs was a talking tree in the Black Lodge netherword. Told you that it’s nuts! Don’t ask me to explain anything because I don’t know, but there is one problem. Twin Peaks rewrote the TV playbook on drama in the early nineties, but now with the likes of Fargo (which returns to Channel Four next week), I wonder if it has anything really new to say these days?

I admit to being a fan of Count Arthur Strong, which returned to a more sensible slot on BBC 1 last Friday night. Sadly the show was ruined for me by the producers going to the production

team of Still Open All Hours and pinching their awful canned laughter track. It was an awful move that totally distracted me from

enjoying the show and the excellent performances of Steve Delaney and Rory Kinnear.

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Friday Laurel gets a surprise.

Meanwhile, Marlon takes action.

Meanwhile, Jai is pleased when Nell reveals that she has arranged a meeting with social services to discuss finding Rosie. He books a depressed Nell a pampering session ahead of her Friday A visibly scared Ken appointment. shows Peter the trainers, revealing that he knows who Elsewhere, Lawrence is his attacker is. stunned.

Shaken, police...

Elsewhere, Emma is comforted.

Later on, Rebecca experiences stomach pains and Chrissie rushes her to hospital, fearing she may be about to lose the baby. Will everything be okay?

Meanwhile, Marlon is troubled when he spots Carly and Matt being playful together. Should he be worried about his relationship?

Elsewhere, Bernice reprimands Kerry for her poor running of the salon in her absence. Kerry fibs to Jai to get time off to make it up to Bernice. As she runs out the factory, Kerry knocks over a chocolate order but Nell later takes the blame for her.

Wednesday Carly is speechless when Matt confesses his true feelings for her.

Later on, Matt asks Carly to help him with one last money-making scheme. She reluctantly agrees, but when Marlon asks her about it, she lies.

calls

the

Elsewhere, telling Gina how much she cares about her, Sally begs her to come home. Will Gina agree?

Matt leans in for a kiss with Also, Roy mocks Brian’s Carly and asks her to leave superstitious beliefs. with him, but will she reciprocate?

as he saw Peter himself that night.

Tuesday As Ken faces up to his attacker, he demands answers. Is Ken in danger?

Meanwhile, Leanne tells Nick that Peter and Steve aren’t the problem, he is.

Leanne realises their relationship is over and Nick is devastated. Leanne and Toyah head home, leaving the men to sort out their differences.

Telling Nick the best thing he could do is walk out to sea as they’d all be better off without him, Peter and Steve also go. As Nick trudges along the beach, he suddenly finds himself sucked into the quicksand. Will his cries for help be heard?

Friday Jack reaches breaking point and takes drastic action.

Meanwhile, newcomers Ted and Joyce move to Walford.

Things get off to a bad start when Joyce realises that Ted has broken a promise for a fresh start by bringing a piece of the past with him.

What is he hiding?

Elsewhere, Mick meets with Fi. Can he find a way out of the contract that Shirley signed?

Also today, Denise attends her final exam.

Also today, Nicola and Monday With his memory Jimmy get carried away. returning, Ken pieces together the argument he Finally, Chrissie gets had on the night of his Lachlan involved with the attack. business and when Sookie – an attractive intern from Ken realises in horror that it another agency turns up – was indeed one of his family she encourages Lachlan to members who pushed him, get a photo with her, espe- but who? cially as Belle is looking on.

Meanwhile, determined that they should all bury the hatchet, Leanne orders Peter, Toyah, Nick and Steve to meet her in the Bistro. Nick arrives with Simon and in an effort to impress Leanne, he suggests they put their differences aside and all have a day out at the seaside instead.

Later, a kick-about on the beach quickly descends into a petty squabble. Unaware that Leanne is in earshot, Nick reveals to Peter that he knows Leanne’s alibi is a lie

Wednesday As Nick is sucked deeper into the quicksand, he pulls out his mobile but drops it and watches in anguish as it sinks out of reach.

Meanwhile, Stacey tries to get through to Jack about the reality of his situation with Matthew. Later on, Jack makes a drastic move.

Thursday Steven’s plans for a romantic home-cooked meal with Lauren are ruined when Josh brings her home as she’s feeling unwell.

Over-enthusiastic Steven suggests that Josh should stay for dinner, leaving him and Lauren uncomfortable.

How will it go?

Meanwhile, Max discovers Jack’s latest plan and confronts him, but Ricky and Amy are listening in.

Monday Whitney’s subdued behaviour arouses concern from Johnny and Kathy, but what’s next for her?

Meanwhile, Charlie approaches Honey after she helps Jack out by taking the kids to the playground.

Honey warns Charlie to back off, but it’s not long before he tells Jack that he’s notified social services of his plans to apply for residency of Matthew.

Elsewhere, Nell is feeling emotional.

Meanwhile, Jimmy and Nicola get amorous at the factory but end up destroying an important order of chocolate swans. They stay up all night trying to reproduce the swans to hit the deadline but when the staff arrive, Nicola feigns outrage and diverts the blame onto the workers. How will they react and will they be out for revenge on Nicola?

tions and pays a supportive visit to Denise, but can they get back on track?

How will Leanne react to the realisation that Nick could have cleared Peter’s name but chose to keep quiet?

Meanwhile, Laurel sympathises with Marlon and tries to reassure him, but he also leans in for a kiss. How far will things go between the former couple?

Thursday Carly, Matt, Marlon and Laurel all feel guilty after yesterday’s events, but how far did things go for all of them?

Tuesday Marlon is once again preparing to propose, but he feels uneasy when he spots Carly and Matt in conversation.

Ken

Meanwhile, Peter and Toyah are furious when Steve says he’s had a change of heart and refuses to sell his pub.

When Steve tells Leanne about Nick’s interference, she’s incandescent with rage and confronts Nick about his crazy plan.

Monday Robert is still insisting that he doesn’t want anything to do with Rebecca’s baby, but Aaron is already starting to back down and tells Robert that he’ll support him over being a dad.

At the same time, Lawrence is still disappointed in his two daughters after recent events and has an argument with Robert.

SOAPS

Friday 26th May 2017

On discovering Mr T’s lack of faith in her professional ability, Mo is prepared to forgive.

However, when an unimaginable event unfolds on Darwin, Mo’s fight for survival has far-reaching consequences.

Elsewhere, Patrick returns to Walford and he comforts Denise after realising that all is not well with her.

Now up to his waist, a panicking Nick notices the rapidly rising tide. Will help get to him before it’s too late?

Thursday A furious Nathan punishes Bethany for her drunken behaviour. Contrite, he then apologises and tells her that he loves her, begging her to give him another chance.

Bethany returns to the party and Nathan encourages her to go to the bedroom followed by three of his mates, from whom he has collected cash.Meanwhile, a bloodied Shona turns up at the salon, having run away from the hospital where Craig took her and warns David that Bethany is in danger.

Also today, Abi plants more doubts in Steven’s mind about what Lauren is up to, so he starts researching ways he can track her.

Tuesday Patrick tells Kim what Denise has been going through and gives her a harsh reality check for not being there for her.

Kim is upset by the revela-

Meanwhile, aware that Matteo has his eye on her, Nina is determined to be the consummate professional on her first day as locum on AAU. But when she and Matteo receive devastating news, is Nina fully prepared for a future at Holby?

Elsewhere, when Essie helps Dominic recruit a team for the Holby Half Marathon, Raf makes a startling discovery.

Friday TV 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Going Back, Giving Back 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 A1: Britain’s Longest Road 12:45 Close Calls: On Camera 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 !mpossible 16:00 Escape to the Country 16:45 RHS Chelsea Flower Show 17:30 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 18:15 Pointless 19:00 News

07:00 Flog It!: Trade Secrets 07:30 Going Back, Giving Back 08:15 A1: Britain’s Longest Road 09:00 The World According to Kids 10:00 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Two Tribes 14:30 Family Finders 15:15 Red Rock 16:00 Hairy Bikers’ Best of British 16:45 Coming Home 17:15 Caribbean with Simon Reeve 18:15 Antiques Road Trip

20:00 Election 2017: The Andrew Neil Interviews Andrew interviews Jeremy Corbyn.

19:00 Live: Great City Games Athletics Gabby Logan presents live coverfrom Manchester.

20:30 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Sophie Raworth and Joe Swift are back with the latest news and highlights.

20:30 Great British Menu The two remaining chefs must cook their entire taste of summer menus again.

21:00 EastEnders Jack resorts to drastic action.

21:30 Count Arthur Strong Some of John The Watch’s old criminal associates take an interest in Bulent’s cafe.

22:00 Have I Got News for You Team captains Paul and Ian are joined by host Ed Balls and guest panellists Janet StreetPorter and Henning Wehn.

22:30 Hospital People Helena Steel MP is coming to open the new ward and manager Susan Mitchell is desperate to impress.

23:00 News 23:35 The Graham Norton Show 00:25 Film - She’s Out of My League (14) 02:05 Weather 02:10 News

21:00 RHS Chelsea Flower Show The team looks to the future of gardening and guest Ellie Harrison gives her tips and advice for gardening for wildlife.

22:00 Versailles Debauchery is banned when Marie-Therese takes charge while Louis is away at war.

22:55 Inside Versailles Professor Kate Williams and Greg Jenner explore the use of aphrodisiacs and potions.

23:00 QI 23:30 Newsnight 00:15 Later ... with Jools Holland 01:20 The People v. O.J. Simpson 02:20 British Jews, German Passports 02:50 Doctor Who 03:40 This Is BBC Two

Vic and Bob back for more Big Night Out Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are bringing their surreal stage show back to BBC Two for a special.

Vic & Bob’s Big Night Out will be a reimagining of the original Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out, which was a seminal force in British comedy.

First broadcast in 1990 it was an original, maverick and very silly stage show which transferred to television and introduced the world to the comedy duo, who still have the ability to constantly innovate and surprise.

In this one-off show they will introduce us to new characters as well as reuniting us with some old favourites.

There will be sketches shot on location as well as songs, skits and stunts performed in front of a studio audience.

There will be some surprise cameo appearances and a very well-known television show will get the Vic & Bob makeover treatment.

With a healthy helping of their trademark slapstick humour, this half-hour show will celebrate the best of this legendary comic duo, who show no signs of slowing down or growing up.

From Shooting Stars, through Bang Bang,

Catterick and House Of Fools, Reeves and Mortimer have entertained generations of comedy fans and they are not about to stop now. Their unique brand of surreal humour and ability to take a wry sideways look at everyday situations has not mellowed with time.

Vic and Bob say: “This is the show we wanted to perform back in the 1980s. Now the time is right. We will be increasing our respective heights in order to perform some of the more intricate and challenging moments.”

Shane Allen, Controller Comedy Commissioning, says: “In this special, Vic and Bob go back to their live stage show roots to mark three decades as the most pioneering, surreal and unique pairing in British comedy.

Transmission date hasn´t been announced yet.

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07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 Jeremy Kyle 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 News 15:00 Dickinson’s Real Deal 16:00 Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 Babushka 19:00 News 20:00 Emmerdale Laurel gets a surprise.

20:30 Coronation Street There is a row brewing at the Rovers.

21:00 River Monsters Jeremy responds to reports from one of the US east coast's most popular vacation destinations, the Florida Keys. A creature is attacking it´s victims so violently it is slicing open flesh and even smashing bones.

21:30 Coronation Street Leanne has had enough.

22:00 Lethal Weapon Riggs and Murtaugh investigate a series of violent crimes with one thing in common - the victims are all members of the same church. While working on the case, Riggs faces more personal anguish as the first anniversary of Miranda's death sends him to a new low. Elsewhere, Roger and Trish disagree with Roger Jr about his future.

23:00 News 23:50 The Keith and Paddy Picture Show 00:20 Benidorm 01:15 Jackpot247 04:00 Storage Hoarders 04:50 ITV Nightscreen

07:20 3rd Rock From the Sun 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 10:05 Frasier 11:05 Ramsay’s Hotel Hell 12:00 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 13:00 News 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:05 Posh Pawnbrokers 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Fifteen to One 17:00 Coast vs Country 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 News 21:00 Posh Pawn At Silverstone, James Constantinou test drives a high-performance motorbike on sale for £35,000.

Designer handbag expert Claudia Valentin meets `human Ken doll' Rodrigo Alves who is selling his designer luggage and watches so that he can learn to drive. Plus, memorabilia expert Lawrence Pickett appraises a guitar owned by Alvin Stardust's widow signed by members of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

22:00 Gogglebox The armchair critics share their opinions on what they have been watching during the week. The programme captures their instant reactions and lively discussions from the comfort of their own homes.

23:00 The Last Leg 00:05 Britain Today Tonight 00:40 The Fake News Show 01:10 8 Out of 10 Cats 01:55 Film - Footloose (12) 03:40 Loaded 04:30 Location, Location, Location

Call The Midwife Christmas special and S7 start filming

Made by Neal Street Productions for BBC One, the award-winning drama series has begun filming for a Christmas Special in 2017 and new series of eight episodes in 2018.

Joining as a new cast member is Leonie Elliott (Wonderous Oblivion, Danny And The Human Zoo, Black Mirror), who plays Nurse Lucille Anderson, the first West Indian midwife to feature as a regular character in the series. Elegant, funny and clever, Lucille is swift to settle in and brings a fresh new energy to life at Nonnatus House. Through her eyes we explore the experiences of Caribbean nurses who came over in the 1960s to support the growing NHS. Written by Heidi Thomas, the Christmas Special opens with Poplar under a thick blanket of snow, as the

midwives face the challenge of the coldest winter for 300 years. The winter of 1963 saw temperatures plunge to a record low and the whole country brought to a standstill due to the severe weather. Battling against snow, ice, power cuts and frozen pipes, the midwives strive to provide the best possible care for their patients.

Valerie helps a young couple, newly arrived in London, who experience a traumatic birth, and Sister Julienne strives to reunite a family torn apart by a tormenting father.

Anita Dobson guest stars as Mabel.

Call The Midwife has been one of Britain’s most popular drama series since it launched in 2012, and it continues to be one of the most watched dramas in the UK

07:00 Milkshake 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:15 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 News 13:15 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away! 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS 16:15 Film - Fatal Defense 18:00 News 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 News 20:00 The Gadget Show Ortis tests the latest in automated housework gadgetry, while Jon heads to Wales for a drone-off between a fixed-wing device and a more traditional quadcopter. Georgie peeks behind the curtains at Hursley House, a Hampshire stately home housing IBM’s super-computer, Watson.

21:00 Secrets of Henry VIII’s Palace: Hampton Court South-west London's Hampton Court is the ultimate royal pleasure palace, embodying the indulgent and grandiose kingship built by Cardinal Wolsey and developed by Henry VIII now a thriving tourist location but what secrets does it hold?

22:00 Great British Royal Ships Rob Bell examines RMS Queen Mary, the most famous ocean liner ever built and the first merchant naval ship ever to have been launched by a reigning sovereign.

23:00 Live Championship Boxing: Andrew Selby v Cristofer Rosales 01:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Top 20 Funniest 05:00 GPs: Behind Closed Doors

07:00 The Hot Desk 07:10 You’ve Been Framed!

07:35 Below Deck 08:20 Ellen DeGeneres 09:00 Emmerdale 10:00 You’ve Been Framed!

10:35 Scorpion 11:25 Below Deck 12:20 Who’s Doing the Dishes?

13:25 Emmerdale 14:30 You’ve Been Framed! 15:00 Ellen DeGeneres 15:50 Jeremy Kyle 18:00 Judge Rinder 19:00 You’ve Been Framed! 21:00 Two and a Half Men 21:35 Two and a Half Men 22:00 Film Burlesque (PG) ITV 3 07:00 In Loving Memory 07:25 Heartbeat 08:30 Where the Heart Is 09:30 Wild at Heart 10:30 Judge Judy 11:55 Road to Avonlea 12:55 The Return of Sherlock Holmes 14:00 Heartbeat 15:05 The Royal 16:10 Wild at Heart 17:15 On the Buses 18:20 In Loving Memory 18:55 Heartbeat 20:00 Murder, She Wrote 21:00 Doc Martin 22:00 The Street 23:15 Law & Order: UK ITV 4 07:00 Ax Men 07:45 Cash Cowboys 08:35 The Saint 09:40 Ironside 10:45 Minder 11:50 Ax Men 12:50 The Car Chasers 13:50 The Sweeney 14:50 The Saint 15:55 Ironside 16:55 Minder 18:00 The Sweeney 19:00 Cash Cowboys 20:00 Pawn Stars 21:00 Road Racing Series 22:00 Caught on Camera 23:00 Tour Series Cycling

First Dates Hotel set to return Channel 4 Factual has commissioned a second series of ‘First Dates Hotel’ . Once again Maître D’ Fred Siriex and his team will welcome a host of hopeful singletons to the exquisite First Dates Hotel which this time will be in Southern Italy.

As in the first series, the First Dates team are inviting guests still looking for “the one” for a more intensive and tailor- made matching making experience. If you have ever reached the end of an episode of First Dates and thought “but I want to see what happens next!” – then this will offer up the chance to find out.

The format will allow those where the answer is ‘Yes’ to extend their stay in the hotel and enjoy the stunning Italian countryside. And for some who don't meet with success on their first date, they will be re-matched for a second chance at finding love.

The idyllic setting will see both guests and viewers transported to the destination of their dreams with dates such as pool side lunches or a candle-lit meal under the stars.

Series Editor, Adam Chapman said: “We’re so

excited about the gorgeous location in Southern Italy.

This hotel has the perfect mix of luxury and old fashioned romance in arguably the most passionate country in the world. “ Commissioning Editor, Madonna Benjamin adds: "This beautiful hotel will offer the perfect setting for a blind date to remember and the holiday atmosphere will enable daters to be relaxed and ready to meet the love of their lives.”

For the past four years, First Dates has brought to us a contemporary but romantic alternative to the frustrations of modern dating.

Now, for daters looking to take the next big step, First Dates is once again opening up a hotel for a variety of people from all different backgrounds and ages.

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Friday 26th May 2017

The Durrells

MOTD Live: FA Cup Final - Arsenal v Chelsea

Saturday - BBC One Gary Lineker presents live coverage from Wembley Stadium of the FA Cup final between London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea.

It has been a tumultuous season for the Gunners, with manager Arsene Wenger firmly in the firing line after a difficult campaign in both the Premier League and Europe. However, the FA Cup has provided salvation for the Frenchman in

recent years and victory over Chelsea would be a record seventh win in the competition by a manager. In contrast, Blues boss Antonio Conte is competing in his first FA Cup final, but the Italian has proven his managerial nous in what has been a sensational debut season at Stamford Bridge.

Gary will be joined in the studio by Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Frank Lampard, while commentary comes from Guy Mowbray and Danny Murphy.

The Handmaid's Tale Sunday - Channel 4 Based on the 1985 novel by Margaret Atwood, the story tells of life in the near future, in a totalitarian society, Gilead.

After environmental disaster and a plunging birthrate, society operates under a military-style return to ‘traditional values’. New social classes have been created, where females are not allowed to work, own property, control

money or read.Those few women who are still fertile are assigned to the homes of the ruling elite, where they must have ritualised sex with their male masters so they can become pregnant and bear children for them in place of their barren wives.

Elisabeth Moss stars as one of these women, who struggles to cope with her repressive existence and the resentment of her owner's wife.

Sunday - ITV Louisa comes downstairs to find a very pregnant girl cleaning the kitchen. She reveals that she is Lugaretzia’s daughter, Leonora, and she’ll be taking Luga’s place as her back is sore.

While Leslie is tending to the animals he hears screams as Leonora’s water has broken. Lugaretzia tells him that the baby is coming and he needs to deliver it. Larry arrives and Leslie immediately sends him back out to get Dr Petridis A flustered Dr Petridis opens the door to Larry. He rushes back inside to Florence, who is also in labour and says he can’t leave Florence.

Meanwhile, Louisa is with Hugh at his house. He has a proposition for a startled Louisa which she promises to think about it.

In the meantime, Donald attacks his love rival Zoltan, which pleases Margo greatly as she says that she’s never had men fight over her before. And, at the otters den, Theo and Gerry also make a pleasing discovery.

In the orchard, an altercation with Vasilia ends in near tragedy for Louisa and Hugh, who seek help from Spiro.

Last in the series.

Saturday TV 07:00 Breakfast 11:00 Saturday Kitchen Live 12:30 Raymond Blanc: How to Cook Well 13:00 Football Focus 14:00 News 14:15 Pointless Celebrities 15:00 The FA Cup Show 17:00 News 17:15 Match of the Day 18:15 Live: FA Cup Final - Arsenal v Chelsea

07:15 Film - City Beneath the Sea 08:45 Talking Pictures 09:20 Film - The Prisoner of Zenda 11:00 Great Halls’ Monty Hebridean Escape 12:00 Homes Under the Hammer 13:00 Great British Menu 14:30 Film - Camelot 17:20 Flog It! 18:00 Natural World PGA BMW 19:00 PGA 20:45 Doctor Who An Championship, “ancient’ pyramid appears European Tour Golf overnight, every clock in the world begins counting down 20:00 Mexico: Earth’s to the Earth’s destruction, Festival of Life In the and three opposing armies deserts of northern Mexico lie ready to annihilate each life has found clever ways other. It”s a terrifying race to survive against the odds. against time to save the Prairie dogs fight snakes, world! bats hunt scorpions and tiny owls live in giant cacti.

21:30 The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins 21:00 Chelsea RHS Nick Knowles hosts the quiz Flower Show Horticulture where two teams of expert Monty Don and garstrangers compete to win den designer Joe Swift up to £100,000. revisit a selection of highlights from the BBC’s week22:15 Mrs Brown’s Boys long coverage of this year’s Baby fever hits the Brown Chelsea Flower Show, household as a pregnant which concludes today.

Maria prepares for motherhood, and Agnes is keen to 22:00 Austen: Jane give her new daughter-in- Behind Closed Doors law her unique brand of Lucy Worsley explores the advice about raising chil- different houses in which dren. Maria is grateful when Jane Austen lived and Agnes offers to look after stayed, to discover just how the robot baby she has much they shaped Jane's brought home from her pre- life and novels. The result is natal class, but it turns out a revealing insight into one that Mrs Brown’s babysit- of the world's best-loved ting techniques are not authors. exactly orthodox.

23:00 Film - Quartet (PG) 22:45 News 23:05 Clique 00:30 Versailles 01:20 00:35 Match of the Day Inside Versailles 01:30 Film 01:10 Film - Swingers (15) - Easy Money (15) 03:30 02:45 Weather 02:50 News This Is BBC Two

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07:00 CITV 09:25 News 09:30 Weekend 10:25 The Home Game 11:20 Judge Rinder 12:15 Tipping Point 13:20 News 13:30 Bigheads 14:30 The Chase 15:30 Film - Mission: Impossible (PG) 17:35 Catchphrase 18:20 Britain’s Got More Talent 19:15 News 19:45 Take Me Out Hoping to impress Paddy’s 30 girls this time are Jonny from Leeds, Gee from Belfast, Declan from Portsmouth and Dee from Exeter.

21:00 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec host the talent competition as the judges take in the final auditions, before whittling them down for the live semi-final shows.

07:05 British Rally Championship 07:30 Historic Grand Prix of Monaco Motor Racing 08:30 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:20 Frasier 10:55 Live: Formula 1 Motor Racing 12:25 F1 Meets...

12:55 Live: Formula 1 Motor Racing 15:30 World’s Most Expensive Cars 16:30 A Place in the Sun: Summer Sun 17:30 Big House, Little House 18:35 Location, Location, Location 19:30 News

07:00 Milkshake 11:45 Dogs Make You Laugh Out Loud 12:10 Police Interceptors 13:05 Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole 16:05 The Nightmare Neighbour Next Door 17:00 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away!

20:00 The Restoration Man Thirty years after starting to restore a Georgian gazebo tower built on top of Pembroke’s medieval city walls, retired businessman Bruce Woodall finally takes on the challenge of finishing it.

21:00 News

22:20 The Keith and Paddy Picture Show Keith Lemon and Paddy McGuinness recreate the classic blockbuster Jaws in just 30 minutes.

21:00 Walks with My Dog Ben Fogle walks the banks of the River Thames.

Emma Kennedy visits the Lake District, and Helen Skelton discovers Dumfries 22:50 Film - Jaws A New and Galloway.

England seaside town's tourist season is turned into 22:00 Film - The World’s a nightmare by a giant killer End An immature 40-yearshark. The local police old convinces his childhood chief's efforts to protect the pals to join him in an epic public are thwarted by the pub-crawl, but as they greedy mayor, forcing him make their way toward their to join forces with a grizzled final destination, a battle for fisherman and a marine mankind emerges. (14) biologist to hunt and kill the monster predator. (12) 00:10 Film - Die Hard 2 (14) 02:25 Ramsay’s 01:25 Jackpot247 04:00 Kitchen Nightmares USA Who’s Doing the Dishes? 03:20 The Last Leg 04:15 Hollyoaks Omnibus 04:50 ITV Nightscreen

20:00 Cricket - England v South Africa: Second ODI Highlights from the Rose Bowl of the second One Day International between England and South Africa.

21:05 NCIS: Los Angeles Callen and the team confront their vengeful adversary, the Chameleon, when an undercover case ignites a deadly mind game orchestrated by the criminal mastermind.

21:55 NCIS The NCIS team, alongside the FBI and MI6, continue an international manhunt for an escaped British spy who has left one colleague fighting for their life in ICU. 22:50 NCIS Kate’s colleagues have a difficult time coming to terms with her death but they are determined to track down the man responsible before he does any more damage.

00:40 Undercover Benefits Cheat 01:10 SuperCasino 04:10 Film The Punisher (15)

07:00 Emmerdale Omnibus 09:25 Coronation Street Omnibus 11:55 Britain’s Got Talent 13:10 Britain’s Got More Talent 14:10 Take Me Out 15:25 Take Me Out: The Gossip 16:25 You’ve Been Framed! 17:30 Film Space Chimps 19:10 Film Red Riding Hood (12) 21:15 Scorpion 22:20 Britain’s Got More Talent 23:20 Celebrity Juice ITV 3 07:00 Judge Judy 07:20 Murder, She Wrote 09:05 The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes 11:20 Columbo 12:50 Film - Jane Eyre (PG) 15:05 Film - Carry on Loving (PG) 17:00 Lewis 19:00 Rosemary and Thyme 20:00 Midsomer Murders 22:00 Foyle’s War ITV 4 07:00 Nijinsky’s Triple Crown 07:05 Bundesliga Football Highlights 07:55 Motorsport UK 08:55 Road Racing Series 09:55 Tour Series Cycling 11:00 ITV Racing 12:00 The Classic Car Show 13:00 British Touring Car Championship 14:30 ITV Racing Live from Haydock 17:30 Pawn Stars 19:00 Storage Wars 20:00 The Sweeney 21:00 Better Late Than Never 22:00 Film - Gascoigne 23:55 Aviva Premiership Rugby

Sunday TV 07:00 Breakfast 09:25 Match of the Day 10:00 The Andrew Marr Show 11:00 The Big Questions 12:00 Sunday Politics 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 News 14:15 Homes Under the Hammer 15:15 Money for Nothing 16:00 Flog It! 16:45 Shop Well for Less?

17:45 Points of View 18:00 Songs of Praise 18:35 Escape to the Country 19:05 News

07:15 Around the World in 80 Gardens 08:15 The Instant Gardener 09:00 The Beechgrove Garden 09:30 Countryfile 10:30 Saturday Kitchen Best Bites 12:00 Great British Menu 13:00 Live: Great Manchester Run 15:30 IAAF Diamond League Athletics 16:30 European Championship Rowing 18:00 Great Manchester Run 19:00 BMW PGA Championship, PGA European Tour Golf

07:00 CITV 09:25 News 09:30 Weekend 10:25 Best Walks with a View with Julia Bradbury 11:00 Peston on Sunday 11:55 Judge Rinder 14:00 News 14:05 Tipping Point 15:05 The Chase 16:05 Britain’s Got Talent 17:15 Film - The Spy Who Loved Me (PG) 19:40 News

21:30 Damilola, Our Loved Boy Damilola Taylor was attacked and fatally wounded in Peckham, south London, a death that shocked the nation. This feature-length drama reveals the personal stories behind the headlines.

20:00 Bigheads The five winners from previous shows battle it out in a bid to be crowned the champi20:00 Dragons’ Den The on and have a chance of Den’s five investors probe winning the top prize. the money-making potential in wearable maps, interfer- 21:00 The Durrells Hugh ence-free guitar cables and poses a life-changing quesan entrepreneur with a tion to Louisa, only to find business selling manhole himself a victim of Vasilia’s cover keys that has come jealousy. back from the brink of bankruptcy.

22:00 Grantchester Sidney has lost his faith in 21:00 The Life Swap the church, so decides to Adventure A struggling resign so he can marry farmer from Malawi is Amanda. His decision is a dropped into the life of an crushing blow to Mrs overworked fire officer from Maguire, while Leonard Essex. fears the arrival of a less tolerant vicar. Sidney soon 22:00 Paul Hollywood’s finds the community needs Big Continental Road Trip him more than ever when a Paul visits Italy to find out boy is abducted, while what makes the country tick Geordie's behaviour grows when to comes to cars. more and more unstable.

23:00 News 23:35 Room 10100:15 Murder in Successville 00:45 Women’s Football 01:20 Film - Lucky Them (15) 02:50 Weather 02:55 News

23:00 White Gold 23:30 Film - The Damned United (14) 01:00 Film - Easy Money II (15) 02:35 Question Time 03:35 Holby City 04:35 This Is BBC Two

19:30 Countryfile Matt discovers how cutting edge technology is helping the return of tulips to Lincolnshire’s farmland on an epic scale.

20:30 Antiques Roadshow Fiona and the experts head to the banks of the Cyde to meet visitors bringing family heirlooms to the 18th-century cotton mill of New Lanark.

23:00 News 23:20 Peston on Sunday 00:20 Rugby 01:15 Lethal Weapon 02:00 Jackpot247 04:00 Motorsport UK 04:50 ITV Nightscreen

06:55 Weekend of a Champion 08:30 Frasier 10:00 Sunday Brunch 13:00 Live: Formula 1 Motor Racing 13:35 Live: Formula 1 Motor Racing 16:10 Live: Formula 1 Motor Racing 17:30 World’s Most Expensive Cars 18:30 George Clarke’s Old House, New Home 19:30 News 20:00 The Supervet Labradoodle Mitzi is rushed in after being hit by a car.

Professor Noel Fitzpatrick is concerned she could have nerve damage and Sheila and her daughter Catherine fear the worst.

21:00 Cabins in the Wild with Dick Strawbridge Two more pop-up hotel cabins battle it out to go through to the final. Dick champions a luxury design inspired by a Welsh coal pit and Will meets the builders of a modernist unit made of slate.

22:00 The Handmaid’s Tale Offred struggles to survive as a reproductive surrogate for a powerful figure and his wife.

23:15 Gogglebox 00:15 Micky Flanagan: Back in the Game 01:50 Arnie 50 Schwarzenegger’s Greatest Ever Stunts 03:15 Film - Blue Ruin (14)

07:00 Milkshake 11:25 The Gadget Show 12:20 Police Interceptors 15:15 Film - Open Season 3 16:45 Film - Pudsey the Dog: The Movie 18:30 Most Shocking Talent Show Moments Countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments from TV talent shows, including Rylan’s outrageous antics on The X Factor in 2012 and lifechanging first appearances on Britain’s Got Talent by Susan Boyle and Paul Potts.

07:00 Totally Bonkers Guinness World Records 07:25 You’ve Been Framed!

07:45 Emmerdale Omnibus 10:15 Coronation Street Omnibus 12:50 Take Me Out 14:05 Film - Richie Rich (PG) 15:55 Film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore 17:40 Britain’s Got Talent 19:00 Britain’s Got More Talent 20:00 Film Despicable Me 22:00 Take Me Out: The Gossip 23:00 Family Guy ITV 3

20:55 News 21:00 Holidays Make You Laugh Out Loud Iain Lee narrates an entertaining compilation of the most amusing and outrageous holiday-themed videos.

22:00 When Kids TV Goes Horribly Wrong Nostalgic romp through classic kids TV disasters.

Scary puppets, rampant inappropriate animals, behaviour and unpredictable kids are just some of the things that have left viewers through the years shocked, confused or just howling with laughter.

01:25 01:00 Football 02:15 Drivers Dumb SuperCasino 04:10 Top 20 Funniest

07:00 Film - Jane Eyre (PG) 09:00 Heartbeat 11:05 Murder, She Wrote 13:15 Film - Carry on Loving (PG) 15:10 Columbo 16:45 Foyle’s War 19:00 Midsomer Murders 21:00 Royal Stories 22:00 By Royal Appointment 23:05 Law & Order: UK ITV 4 07:00 British Touring Car Championship 08:30 World Rugby Sevens Series 09:05 Pawn Stars 09:35 Storage Wars 10:30 Live: The French Open Tennis 22:00 Film - Last Man Standing (15) 00:00 Family Guy 00:30 American Dad!

32 07:00 Breakfast 10:00 Countryfile Spring Diaries 10:45 Homes Under the Hammer 11:45 Rip Off Britain: Food 12:30 Close Calls: On Camera 13:00 Bargain Hunt 14:00 News 14:30 !mpossible 15:15 Escape to the Country 16:15 Money for Nothing 17:00 Yes Chef 17:45 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 18:30 Pointless 19:15 News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 RHS Chelsea Flower Show Sophie Raworth and Joe Swift look back on the highlights of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017.

21:00 EastEnders Two residents are forced to face the reality of their actions.

21:30 Would I Lie to You? The guests joining Lee and David are Alan Davies, Richard Osman, Germaine Greer and Jermaine Jenas.

22:00 Doctor in the House Dr Rangan must solve the mystery of Kiki, a sporty 11-year-old who is 11 stone and almost diabetic. He also tries to help Hoshi, a 16-year-old with an unusual eating disorder.

23:00 News 23:45 Have I Got a Bit More News for You 00:30 Radio 1’s Big Weekend 01:30 The Graham Norton Show 02:20 Weather 02:25 News

Friday 26th May 2017

07:05 Flog It!: Trade Secrets 07:35 Film - Old Dogs 09:00 Earth’s Seasonal Secrets 10:00 The Big Debate with Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 Film - Secretariat (G) 14:00 IAAF Diamond League Athletics 15:00 PGA European Tour Golf 17:00 Elephant Diaries 17:30 Natural World 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Debatable 19:45 Celebrity Eggheads Can a team of singers and performers triumph over the general knowledge goliaths?

20:30 Great British Menu The entrants representing Scotland prepare starters battling it out for a place in the national finals.

21:00 Springwatch Chris Packham and Michaela Strachan are joined by Gillian Burke and Martin Hughes-Games to bring an intimate look into the daily lives of the animals we know best.

07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 Jeremy Kyle 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:45 News 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 You’ve Been Framed! 19:25 News 20:00 Emmerdale Rebecca makes a big decision.

20:30 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec host the first semi-final of this year's contest, with the audition process having left judges Amanda , David , Simon and Alesha with many acts to pick from.

Tonight, eight of them will be performing live in the hope of impressing both the panel and the TV audience to win one of the two spots in the live grand final.

22:00 Coronation Street Ken gets a confession.

22:00 The Fifteen Billion Pound Railway: The Final Countdown Engineers must construct and fit out a new station at Paddington..

22:30 Britain’s Got Talent The act with the highest public vote will go through to the grand final, but which of tonight’s two runners-up will join them?

23:00 Detectorists 23:30 Film - Song for Marion (PG) 01:00 Rugby Union 02:00 Film - Easy Money III: Life Deluxe (15) 04:00 Countryfile

23:00 News 23:20 Don’t Ask Me Ask Britain 00:20 Joanna Lumley’s Postcards 00:45 Tipping Point 01:35 Jackpot247 04:00 Jeremy Kyle

07:00 3rd Rock From the Sun 07:25 Film - Astro Boy (PG) 08:55 Film - Captain Ron (12) 10:50 The Simpsons 12:15 Film Clueless (12) 14:10 Posh Pawnbrokers 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Fifteen to One 17:00 Coast vs Country 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 News 20:30 Food Unwrapped Kate investigates alternative milks and meets a scientist who hopes his genetically engineered goats’ milk will save lives. Jimmy investigates reports the fish we’re buying may not be what we think it is, and a look at what spreadable butter is.

21:00 The Fake News Show Team captains Katherine Ryan and Richard Osman help to dissect the spin and outlandish claims of fake news.

21:30 May v Corbyn Live: Jeremy Paxman interviews Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn individually.

23:00 Loaded 23:45 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown 00:50 The Great British Skinny Dip 01:45 Bodyshockers: Nips, Tucks and Tattoos 02:40 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA

Monday TV 07:00 Milkshake 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:15 Pets Make You Laugh Out Loud 12:40 Home and Away 13:10 Neighbours 13:40 News 13:45 Film The Cowboys (12) 16:10 Film - The Searchers 18:30 News 19:00 Neighbours 19:30 Home and Away 20:00 Cricket on 5 Highlights from Lord’s of the third One Day International between England and South Africa.

21:00 JFK’s Secret Killer: The Evidence Documentary examining the events during and directly after the assassination of US president John F Kennedy in November 1963, when he was shot and killed in Dealey Plaza, Dallas. The programme uses modern technology combined with rigorous investigative techniques to present a theory as to the identity of JFK's assassin.

22:00 The Kennedys: Decline and Fall Drama about the USA's first family over the three decades following Bobby's assassination in 1968 through to 1994.

00:25 Football 01:10 Film - Revolver (15) 03:10 SuperCasino 05:00 Britain’s Greatest Bridges 05:45 House Doctor

07:00 The Hot Desk 07:10 You’ve Been Framed!

08:00 Britain’s Got Talent 09:00 Emmerdale 09:30 Coronation Street 10:35 Scorpion 11:30 You’ve Been Framed! 11:55 Film Richie Rich (PG) 13:50 Emmerdale 14:20 Coronation Street 15:20 Jeremy Kyle 18:40 Film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (14) 22:00 Family Guy 22:30 The Great Indoors 23:00 Britain’s Got More Talent ITV 3 07:00 In Loving Memory 07:25 Heartbeat 08:30 Where the Heart Is 09:30 Wild at Heart 10:30 Judge Judy 11:55 Road to Avonlea 12:55 The Return of Sherlock Holmes 14:05 Heartbeat 15:05 The Royal 16:10 Wild at Heart 17:15 On the Buses 18:20 In Loving Memory 18:55 Heartbeat 20:00 Murder, She Wrote 21:00 Agatha Christie’s Marple 23:00 Endeavour ITV 4 07:00 Football’s Greatest 07:05 Ax Men 08:00 The Saint 09:05 Counting Cars 10:00 The Car Chasers 10:30 Live: The French Open Tennis 22:00 The Isle of Man TTPG 23:00 Tour Series Cycling

Tuesday TV 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Countryfile Spring Diaries 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Rip Off Britain: Food 12:45 Close Calls: On Camera 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 !mpossible 16:00 Escape to the Country 16:45 Yes Chef 17:30 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 18:15 Pointless 19:00 News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 EastEnders Kim gets a harsh reality check.

21:00 Holby City When a personal emergency strikes, Mo makes a heart wrenching decision. Plus, when Nina oversteps the mark with a patient on AAU, her judgement is called into question.

22:00 Broken As the repercussions of Christina's actions start to hit home, Father Michael makes a discovery and must act fast to help her justify what happened to the authorities and her sister, Mariella. Meanwhile, new parishioner Roz attends confession to share a huge secret, prompting the priest to share a dark confession of his own in an attempt to dissuade her from the desperate course of action she has planned.

23:00 News 23:45 Election 2017 00:30 Doctor in the House 01:30 Weather 01:35 News

07:00 Flog It!: Trade Secrets 07:30 Rip Off Britain: Food 08:15 Yes Chef 09:00 Great American Railroad Journeys 10:00 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 The Super League Show 14:45 Coast 15:15 Red Rock 16:00 Hairy Bikers’ Best of British 16:45 Elephant Diaries 17:15 Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Debatable 19:45 Celebrity Eggheads Can a team of triumph over the general knowledge goliaths?

20:30 Great British Menu The atmosphere in the kitchen gets even more heated and the veteran chef is expecting perfection from the fish course.

21:00 Springwatch Chris and Michaela are live in Gloucestershire with the latest from the nest cameras.

07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 Jeremy Kyle 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 News 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 News 20:00 Emmerdale Marlon grows concerned.

20:30 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec host the second live semi-final, which sees eight acts compete for the chance to win a huge cash prize and a coveted slot at the Royal Variety Performance.

Judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams give their verdict on the returning hopefuls.

22:00 Coronation Street Ken is at the mercy of his attacker.

22:00 The Chillenden Murders Independent experts examine the killings of Lin Russell and her daughter Megan, along with the attempted murder of nine-year-old Josie.

22:30 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec host another nail-biting results show. The act with the most public votes will go straight through to the grand final, but which of the two runners-up will join them?

23:00 Later Live 23:30 Election Spy 23:35 Newsnight 00:40 Big Continental Road Trip 01:40 Richard and Jaco: Life with Autism

23:00 News 23:55 Car Crash Britain: Caught on Camera 00:55 The Chase 01:45 Jackpot247 04:00 Loose Women 04:45 ITV Nightscreen

07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:35 Frasier 11:05 Ramsay’s Hotel Hell 12:00 A Place in the Sun 13:00 News 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:05 Posh Pawnbrokers 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Fifteen to One 17:00 Coast vs Country 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 News 21:00 Grand Designs Kevin McCloud returns to Somerset to see Ed and Vicky and their off-grid cowshed conversion which they turned into a home and a business space.

Kevin finds out what it’s like living in an off-grid home designed for animals.

22:00 Grayson Perry: Divided Britain Grayson Perry set out to make art about Brexit. He wanted to seek suggestions, dig into the data and visit the two sides' heartlands. In this one-off, he tries to uncover the emotions, beliefs and desires that drive peoples' loyalty to one political tribe or another.

23:00 First Dates 00:05 Gogglebox 01:05 Music on 4 01:35 The World’s Weirdest Weather 02:30 The Secret Life of the Zoo 03:25 The Supervet 04:20 Location, Location, Location

07:00 Milkshake 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:15 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 News 13:15 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away! 14:10 Access 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS 16:15 Film Death al Dente: A Gourmet Detective Mystery 18:00 News 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 News 20:00 Police Interceptors A car thief careers across Mark’s path, the interceptors engage in a highspeed pursuit through Lincoln city centre and a member of the public helps them track a drunk driver.

21:00 The Yorkshire Vet Julian gets dragged around a barn by a one-ton bull, and operates on police dog Thor. Peter helps a baby goat open its eyes and fixes a cat with loose teeth.

22:00 Diana: 7 Days That Shook the Windsors Recalling the aftermath of one of the most tragic events in modern memory, the death of Princess Diana. This highly-revealing account features interviews with Diana’s Personal Security Consultant.

00:05 Film - Diana (PG) 02:10 SuperCasino 04:10 Wentworth 05:00 Witch Hunt: A Century of Murder

07:10 You’ve Been Framed! 07:35 Below Deck 08:20 Ellen DeGeneres 09:00 Emmerdale 09:30 Coronation Street 10:00 You’ve Been Framed!

10:35 Scorpion 11:25 Britain’s Got Talent 12:55 Britain’s Got Talent 13:25 Emmerdale 13:55 Coronation Street 14:30 You’ve Been Framed!

15:00 Ellen DeGeneres 18:00 Britain’s Got Talent 19:30 Britain’s Got Talent 20:00 You’ve Been Framed! 21:00 Two and a Half Men 22:00 The Keith and Paddy Picture Show 22:30 Family Guy 23:00 Britain’s Got More Talent ITV 3 08:25 Where the Heart Is 09:25 Wild at Heart 10:30 Judge Judy 11:55 Road to Avonlea 12:55 Sherlock Holmes 14:05 Heartbeat 15:05 The Royal 16:10 Wild at Heart 17:15 On the Buses 18:20 In Loving Memory 18:55 Heartbeat 20:00 Murder, She Wrote 21:00 Agatha Christie’s Marple 23:00 Endeavour ITV 4 07:00 Minder 08:00 The Car Chasers 08:30 The Isle of Man TTPG 09:30 Tour Series Cycling 10:30 Live: Open Tennis 22:00 The Isle of Man TTPG 23:00 Tour Series Cycling

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Advertorial

Friday 26th May 2017

ANIMAL RESCUE NEEDS RESCUING! Andrea's Animal Rescue and the Henrietta Foundation are desperately seeking funding to continue their unending challenge of rescuing ill treated donkeys, and other animals. The charity based in Murcia was set up in 2008 and is presently overwhelmed with mistreated, injured and abandoned donkeys and other animals, so they are trying to raise 100,000€ to purchase further land to add to the premises they already have.

The charity is funded by Andrea and her husband Kevin, and by the generous people who donate money and items to support 2 charity shops manned by loyal volunteers in Roldan and Mazarron, plus auctions set up on social media, but with Vets bills costing up to 3,000€ for a severely injured donkey, and in excess of 9,000€ a year for feed, bedding, farriers fees, livery and much more including the running and maintenance of transport, they are struggling to raise the money needed to buy extra land.

They have helped many injured and distressed donkeys, mules and ponies. One in particular the smallest and thinnest donkey they have seen was being ridden by 3 drunken youths, whilst being beaten by a fourth until the donkey collapsed. This poor animal was saved by a witness who actually paid the owner for the donkey and then contacted the charity.

Another donkey was literally being eaten alive by a pack of dogs and had a 25cm hole in his leg, and had to be hospitalised. He was treated at the Hospital Veterinario San Vicente, in Alicante, who provide enormous help and support to the charity.

These are just a small example of cases the charity has dealt with, and there are many more out there waiting for someone to help them.

The Charity also works with Seprona the animal welfare section of the Guardia Civil and is on call for USECO in Cartagena, the animal welfare section of the Police Local. At the moment any abandoned donkeys, mules or ponies reported to them have to be fed and watered, if possible, where they are found, so the purchase of more land is becoming more and more critical.

The most recent case being a donkey abandoned in the fields just outside of Cartagena which they travel to on a daily basis with food and water.

With extra land they can provide permanent sanctuary to animals that cannot be re homed due to their earlier mistreatment and injuries. For example one donkey is totally blind, another has an eye missing, and several had hooves so overgrown for so long that they now have deformed legs and difficulty in walking.

Mr Gray, attacked by a pack of dogs.

Re homing is another issue as Spanish legislation is making it more and more difficult for anyone to adopt or foster equines.

At the moment they are overwhelmed. Apart from the 21 donkeys, mules and ponies at the Rescue Centre they have several in livery, and foster care and at least 8 donkeys and ponies on a waiting list. They want to help them, but they desperately, desperately need more land.

The Charity has also helped many dogs suffering in the Murcia area. One dog “Toby”was found in Los Vivancos. He was a bundle of skin and bone weighing no more than 5kgs, and suffering from Leishmania, a parasite infection caused by sandflies. He was so ill he had to have 24 hour care, but after 4 months Toby now weighs a normal 15kgs, and although he still has health issues and will be on medication for the rest of his life he is a happy boy, as he now has a forever home with Andrea and Kevin.

Since 2008 they have re homed hundreds of dogs. Many in Spain, and the UK and also many in collaboration with other associations throughout Europe, in Canada and in the USA. Andrea's Animal Rescue and Henrietta Foundation's aim is also to educate families and children in the care and treatment of animals, by arranging open days and activities to provide more understanding and to help stop the continuing mistreatment of animals.

Take a look at their Facebook page www.facebook.com/andreasanimalrescue to see the tireless work they do.

Andrea's Animal Rescue and the Henrietta Foundation Charity no: 9.980/1a Donations can be made via: PayPal: andreasanimalrescuemurcia@hotmail.com Please mark donations with reference Sanctuary Land. If possible Or direct to the bank: Account name ASOC Andreas Animal Rescue and the Henrietta Foundation Bank: Caja Rural IBAN: es9830185740682015846617 BIC: bcoeesmm018 Please mark donations with reference Sanctuary Land. If possible

Mr Gray, being treated at Veterinario San Vicente.

Toby found in Los Vivancos

Salvador with overgrown hooves

Toby 4 months later and now with a forever home

Maria waiting for their help

CAN YOU HELP?

Wednesday TV 07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Countryfile Spring Diaries 11:00 Homes Under the Hammer 12:00 Rip Off Britain: Food 12:45 Close Calls: On Camera 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 !mpossible 16:00 Escape to the Country 16:45 Yes Chef 17:30 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 18:15 Pointless 19:00 News 20:00 The One Show 20:30 BBC Election Debate Mishal Husain chairs the BBC Election Debate live from Cambridge, with seven senior party politicians debating the issues that count ahead of the 2017 general election.

22:00 The Met: Policing London Documentary following officers from Britain's biggest and busiest police force as they deal with life, death, crime and its victims across London. In the first episode, police constables Laura Walker and Oz Bhatti patrol the streets of Westminster, but are later called upon as back up when an impromptu summer party in Hyde Park descends into chaos.

Meanwhile in Stratford, East London, Sergeant Vicky Kneale responds to concerns from local residents about the borough's prostitution problem.

07:00 Emergency Rescue Down Under 07:30 Rip Off Britain: Food 08:15 Yes Chef 09:00 Gardeners’ World 10:00 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Two Tribes 14:30 Family Finders 15:15 Red Rock 16:00 Hairy Bikers’ Best of British 16:45 Elephant Diaries 17:15 Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Debatable 19:45 Celebrity Eggheads Can the classical crossover group triumph over the general knowledge goliaths?

20:30 Great British Menu The North East chefs go all out to impress with their main courses.

21:00 Springwatch Gillian Burke is exploring some of the smaller creatures on the estate, and Lucy Cooke introduces how a simple object can connect us to the natural world in surprising ways.

22:00 Bake Off Crème de la Crème Angus Deayton presents the second semifinal, which begins with the teams having to create six perfectly uniform Buche Entremet.

23:00 White Gold 23:30 Election Spy 23:35 Newsnight 00:20 The Fifteen Billion Pound 23:00 News 23:45 A Railway 01:20 The Question of Sport 00:15 Women’s Football Show The Truth About... 01:15 01:55 The Truth About...

Weather for the Week 02:55 Trust Me, I’m a Vet Ahead 01:20 News 03:55 This Is BBC Two

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07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 The Jeremy Kyle Show 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 News & Weather 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 News & Weather 20:00 Emmerdale Carly is left speechless.

20:30 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec host the third semi-final of this year's contest, with the audition process having left judges Amanda Holden, David Walliams, Simon Cowell and Alesha Dixon with 40 acts to pick from. Tonight, eight of them will be performing live in the hope of impressing both the panel and the TV audience to win one of the two spots in the live grand final.

22:00 Coronation Street Nick’s hopes of survival are sinking fast.

Britain’s Got 22:30 Talent Ant and Dec host another nail-biting results show. The act with the most public votes will go straight through to the grand final, but which of the two runners-up will join them?

23:00 News & Weather 23:55 On Assignment 00:30 British Touring Car Championship 01:55 Jackpot247 04:00 1000 Heartbeats 04:50 ITV Nightscreen

07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:40 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:35 Frasier 11:05 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA 12:00 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 13:00 News 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:05 Posh Pawnbrokers 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Fifteen to One 17:00 Coast vs Country 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 News 21:00 Location, Location, Location Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer are helping two sets of first time buyers struggling to find a home in Southampton and The New Forest.

22:00 24 Hours in A&E Three young men from different walks of life are brought in to the A&E department of St George's Hospital in London, including 17-year-old Shea, who has serious stab wounds and is sent to a high dependency unit. Fellow 17-year-old Bob arrives after impaling his leg on a fence while taking a shortcut home from his boys' school, and 33-year-old James is brought in by ambulance after fainting at home.

00:25 999: What’s Your Emergency? 01:25 Naked Attraction 02:15 Film Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (14) 03:45 Location, Location, Location 04:40 Selling Houses 05:40 Shipping Wars UK

07:00 Milkshake 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:15 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 News 13:15 The Gadget Show 14:10 Access 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:20 NCIS: Los Angeles 16:20 Film Saved from Sorrow: Mysterious Grace 18:00 News 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 News 20:00 Police Interceptors Dogged determination helps Dan to track down a driver who has given him the slip in the side roads of Spalding, and Suzie comes to the rescue of a motorist with a rather large passenger.

21:00 The Great Fire Dan Jones visits the exact location of the bakery where it started, Suzannah Lipscomb reveals how Londoners tried to save their belongings, and Rob Bell investigates 17th-century building materials and the prevailing weather conditions.

22:00 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away! Matt unravels the complex case of a shopkeeper, and meets a single mum struggling to cope with mounting debts.

23:00 The Butcher Surgeon: Why Hasn’t He Stopped 00:05 Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords 01:05 Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole 02:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Wentworth Prison 05:00 Witch Hunt: A Century of Murder

07:00 You’ve Been Framed! 07:25 The Cube 08:20 Ellen DeGeneres 09:00 Emmerdale 09:30 Coronation Street 10:00 You’ve Been Framed!

10:35 Scorpion 11:25 Britain’s Got Talent 13:25 Emmerdale 13:55 Coronation Street 14:30 You’ve Been Framed!

15:00 Ellen DeGeneres 15:50 Jeremy Kyle 18:00 Britain’s Got Talent 19:30 Britain’s Got Talent 20:00 You’ve Been Framed!

21:00 Two and a Half Men 22:00 The Keith and Paddy Picture Show 22:30 Family Guy 23:00 Britain’s Got More Talent ITV 3 07:20 Heartbeat 08:25 Where the Heart Is 09:25 Wild at Heart 10:30 Judge Judy 11:55 Road to Avonlea 12:55 The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes 14:05 Heartbeat 15:05 The Royal 16:10 Wild at Heart 17:15 On the Buses 18:25 In Loving Memory 18:55 Heartbeat 20:00 Murder, She Wrote 21:00 Agatha Christie’s Marple 23:00 Endeavour ITV 4 07:00 Minder 08:00 Tommy Cooper 08:35 The Isle of Man TTPG 09:30 Tour Series Cycling 10:30 Live: The French Open Tennis 22:00 The Isle of Man TTPG 23:00 FIM World Superbike Series Motorcycle Racing

966 843 498

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Friday 26th May 2017

07:00 Breakfast 10:15 Countryfile Spring Diaries 11:00 Homes Under the HammerG 12:00 Rip Off Britain: Food 12:45 Close Calls: On Camera 13:15 Bargain Hunt 14:00 News 14:45 Doctors 15:15 !mpossible 16:00 Escape to the Country 16:45 Yes Chef 17:30 Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 18:15 Pointless 19:00 News 20:00 The One Show

07:00 Emergency Rescue Down Under 07:30 Rip Off Britain: Food 08:15 Yes Chef 09:00 Bake Off Crème de la Crème 10:00 Victoria Derbyshire 12:00 News 13:00 Daily Politics 14:00 Two Tribes 14:30 Family Finders 15:15 Red Rock 16:00 Hairy Bikers’ Best of British 16:45 Elephant Diaries 17:15 Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve 18:15 Antiques Road Trip 19:00 Debatable

20:30 EastEnders Lauren finds herself in an awkward situation.

19:45 Celebrity Eggheads Can a team from “Strictly Come Dancing” triumph over the general knowledge goliaths?

21:00 Kat & Alfie: Redwater Kat is finally reunited with her son, is this her happy ever after?

Family tensions rise as Eileen realises how much she and Keiran have missed by moving to the states.

22:00 Frank Skinner on Muhammad Ali The comedian learns more about his hero, boxing icon Muhammad Ali, by visiting key locations and people in his life. In Ali's hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, he meets the boxer's brother Rahman and his former wife Khalilah, who was alongside him in the turbulent years when he was banned from the ring for refusing to fight in Vietnam. contributions from Nicola Adams, Larry Holmes and Ali's manager Gene Kilroy.

23:00 News 23:45 Question Time 00:45 This Week 01:35 Weather 01:40 News

20:30 Great British Menu Dessert is the last chance for the chefs to secure a place cooking for the judges and the pressure in the kitchen is intense.

21:00 Springwatch Martin Hughes-Games is on a mission to report live from some of the more far-flung areas of the British Isles.

He is in North Wales today, meeting up with Iolo Williams to track down the elusive sand lizard.

22:00 Paula Paula struggles to come to terms with Philip’s death and Mac’s superior seems determined to believe that it was suicide.

23:00 QI 23:30 Election Spy 23:35 Newsnight 00:20 Jane Austen 01:20 Road to Mandalay 02:20 Second Chance Summer 03:15 This Is BBC Two

07:00 Good Morning Britain 09:30 Lorraine 10:25 Jeremy Kyle 11:30 This Morning 13:30 Loose Women 14:30 News 15:00 Judge Rinder 16:00 Masterpiece with Alan Titchmarsh 17:00 Tipping Point 18:00 The Chase 19:00 News 20:00 Emmerdale Carly is spontaneous.

20:30 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec welcome another eight acts onto the stage, competing for the next two slots in the grand final. Only the most impressive among them will have a chance of performing for royalty later this year, and to add to the tension, judges Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon can still buzz off a disastrous contestant at this point in the competition.

22:00 Coronation Street Bethany pushes herself to prove her love.

22:30 Britain’s Got Talent Ant and Dec announce the results. The act that wowed the public the most goes straight through to the final, while the second and thirdplaced contestants are left at the mercy of the judges who choose which one they want to go through.

23:00 News 23:55 Car Wars 00:55 Tipping Point 01:50 Jackpot247 04:00 Jeremy Kyle 04:55 ITV Nightscreen

07:00 Countdown 07:45 Will & Grace 08:35 Everybody Loves Raymond 09:35 Frasier 11:05 Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA 12:00 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun 13:00 News 13:05 Come Dine with Me 14:05 Posh Pawnbrokers 15:10 Countdown 16:00 Fifteen to One 17:00 Coast vs Country 18:00 Four in a Bed 18:30 Come Dine with Me 19:00 The Simpsons 19:30 Hollyoaks 20:00 News

Thursday TV 07:00 Milkshake 10:15 The Wright Stuff 12:15 The Hotel Inspector 13:10 News 13:15 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take it Away! 14:15 Home and Away 14:45 Neighbours 15:15 NCIS: Los Angeles 16:15 Film Alone in the Wild: Deadly Survival 18:00 News 18:30 Neighbours 19:00 Home and Away 19:30 News

20:00 Secrets of Great British Castles This episode takes Dan behind the battlements of Dover 21:00 The Supervet A Castle, where he descends three year-old into an underground lair to Newfoundland needs sur- discover how a vast netgery for his bent front legs. work of tunnels has been Caroline is paralysed in her used to defend both the arms and legs and requires castle and the country for 24-hour care. Her German centuries.

Shepherd has a painful degenerative spinal dis- 21:00 The Great Fire The ease that needs fixing. team continues to walk the path of the infamous infer22:00 Catching a Killer no, uncovering what really Documentary about happened on the worst day Thames Valley Police's of the four-day rampage. investigation into the disap- Dan Jones charts the pearance of mother of destruction of the city's three Natalie Hemming on buildings, including May 1, 2016. The pro- London's spiritual home St gramme has extraordinary Paul's Cathedral, which access to the officers as burned so fiercely its they try to work out stones exploded. whether Natalie is alive or dead, and to her family and 22:00 Nightmare Tenants, friends, struggling with the Slum Landlords Susan situation unfolding around and Gary’s too-good-to-bethem, before an arrest is true letting agent broke into made and the case reach- their house and changed es its conclusion. the locks. Paul learned that his father’s tenant owed a 23:45 One Killer Punch staggering £20k in rent.

00:45 First Dates 01:45 Bizarre ER 02:40 23:00 Extraordinary Ramsay’s Kitchen People 00:05 Restless Nightmares USA 03:30 Legs: Desperate for Help Location, Location, 01:00 SuperCasino 04:10 Location 04:25 Loaded Wentworth

07:00 You’ve Been Framed! 07:25 The Cube 08:20 Ellen DeGeneres 09:00 Emmerdale 09:30 Coronation Street 10:00 You’ve Been Framed!

10:35 Scorpion 11:25 Britain’s Got Talent 13:25 Emmerdale 13:55 Coronation Street 14:30 You’ve Been Framed!

15:00 Ellen DeGeneres 15:50 Jeremy Kyle 18:00 Britain’s Got Talent 20:00 You’ve Been Framed!

21:00 Two and a Half Men 22:00 The Keith and Paddy Picture Show 22:30 Family Guy 23:00 Britain’s Got More Talent

ITV 3 07:00 Judge Judy 07:20 Heartbeat 08:25 Where the Heart Is 09:25 Wild at Heart 10:30 Judge Judy 11:55 Road to Avonlea 12:55 The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes 14:05 Heartbeat 15:05 The Royal 16:10 Wild at Heart 17:15 On the Buses 18:20 In Loving Memory 18:55 Heartbeat 20:00 Murder, She Wrote 21:00 Agatha Christie’s Marple 23:00 Endeavour

ITV 4 07:00 Minder 08:00 The Chase 09:00 Pawn Stars 09:30 The Isle of Man TTPG 10:30 Live: The French Open Tennis 22:00 The Isle of Man TTPG 23:00 TT Blues

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Properties wanted, all areas. We have clients waiting.

38

Friday 26th May 2017 What grows up while growing down?

Answer at the bottom of the next page.

FILL IT IN

CODE CRACKER

Fit the words into the boxes.

Code Cracker is a crossword puzzle with no clues; instead, every letter of the alphabet has been replaced by a number, the same number representing the same letter throughout the puzzle. All you have to do is decide which letter is represented by which number.

DOUBLE CROSS-WORD Solve the Double Cross-Word puzzle using either the standard or cryptic clues, the answers are exactly the same.

3 letter words Ace Add Ado Aft Ape Are Ash Ass Bat Din Dot Eft Elf Ere Foe

Got Ion Lad Nay Nor Pie Pip Rag Rib Rig Roc Sac Sat Set Sop Tam

Tee Ten Toe 4 letter words Aide Aria Brut Cola Cope Dare Foal Gran Horn Idol Loot

Mane Nape Sari Spat Stag Stop Suds Tons Trio

7 letter words Almanac Lasagne Steeple Tidings

5 letter words Assay False Midst Taser

9 letter words Analgesic Botanical Impatient Permeates

Standard Clues

Cryptic Clues Across

Down

Across

1 Have doubts about club’s upsets (7) 5 Five taken into care are cut up (5) 8 An opening of rice I made (7) 9 Advert contains strong emotion when shown on television (5) 10 Choose the Spanish city’s temperature (5) 11 Impress deeply the drunk avenger (7) 12 Someone who takes pot-shots at a bird, right (6) 14 Credit is double big trouble (6) 17 What the Poles wear that give them head colds?

(3,4) 19 Get hold of a government file (5) 22 Musical passage will return in a fortnight (5) 23 Smoothing things out at the end of the day (7) 24 Fake sweetheart’s embarrassment (5) 25 Strangely, less sat for adornments (7)

1 Copes with broken down range (5) 2 Prepare to be shot? (5) 3 A long letter, sleep it off (7) 4 Waver first the entire evening’s terrible entertainment roster (6) 5 A loud noise in a Celtic language (5) 6 Readers re-order proofs (7) 7 Found weekend less like a conveyor belt (7) 12 Fairies’ drinks (7) 13 A tinier change of idleness (7) 15 Regrets swapping a casual shirt for a shilling, so goes back (7) 16 Sent as disguised approval (6) 18 Quarters a sailor and a poem (5) 20 Being lissom, I get a leg around (5) 21 Leaves attendants (5)

1 Doubt (7) 5 Slice (5) 8 Opening (7) 9 Broadcasted (5) 10 Choose (5) 11 Inscribe (7) 12 Hidden marksman (6) 14 Emergency (6) 17 Polar coverings (3,4) 19 Hold (5) 22 Beginning (5) 23 Nightfall (7) 24 Humiliation (5) 25 Adornments (7) Down 1 Range (5) 2 Beam (5) 3 Formal letter (7) 4 Move unsteadily (6) 5 Ringing sound (5) 6 Reads again (7) 7 Infinite (7) 12 Strong drinks (7) 13 Motionless (7) 15 Deteriorate (7) 16 Agree (6) 18 Home (5) 20 Nimble (5) 21 Sheets (5)

Quiz Word

Across 1/6d Irving Berlin musical featuring the songs There’s No Business Like Show Business, My Defences Are Down and You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun? (5,3,4,3) 7 Swiss electronica band with 1988 top 10 hit single entitled The Race? (5) 8 Which American singer’s Here In My Heart, in November 1952, was the first British number one hit single? (2,7) 9 Which part of the human body is affected by Ménière disease? (3) 10 Large low-pitched brass instrument, usually oval in shape, conical tube, cupshaped mouthpiece and range an octave lower than that of the euphonium? (4) 11 Which verse form of Italian origin consists of 14 lines with a fixed rhyme scheme? (6) 13 Anaconda, python and boa are types of which limbless scaled reptiles? (6) 14 Name of the butler who was played by actor Robert Guillaume in the US television comedy series Soap? (6) 17 What was the surname of the British graphic satirist who is best-known for his

cartoons of the girls at an imaginary school he called St. Trinian’s? (6) 18 Surname of the actor who was best known for his portrayal of Hopalong Cassidy in a series of western films? (4) 20 See 19 Down 22 American weekly magazine, famous for its varied literary fare and humour, was founded by Harold W Ross in 1925? (3,6) 23 Nickname comedian Terence Alan Patrick Sean Milligan known? (5) 24 What name is applied to the New Testament group sent out to preach the gospel and made up especially of Christ’s 12 original disciples and Paul? (8) Down 1 Which nautical command means ‘to stop or cease’? (5) 2 Windhoek is the capital of which country in SW Africa? (7) 3 River in NE Spain, flows 909 km from the Cantabrian Mountains into the Mediterranean? (4) 4 What was the surname of the American inventor who, singly or jointly, held a world record 1,093 patents? (6) 5 Frozen or partly frozen rain? (5)

QUICKIE Across

Down

1 Mite (4) 4 Meads (5) 9 Angrier (7) 10 Phase (5) 11 Peaks (5) 12 Reviles (7) 13 He'd met (6) 15 Please (6) 19 Dopiest (7) 21 Rinse (5) 23 Roost (5) 24 A Gemini (7) 25 Pests (5) 26 Rite (4)

2 Gamer (5) 3 Tickler (7) 4 Gets ID (6) 5 Emirs (5) 6 Disease (7) 7 Bidets (6) 8 Teem (4) 14 Premise (7) 16 Taverns (7) 17 Pernod (6) 18 Itches (6) 19 Toed (4) 20 Poles (5) 22 Limes (5)

SPANISH-ENGLISH CROSSWORD

Improve your Spanish - Clues in Spanish, answer in English or vice versa.

Fill It In

Soduko

Across

Down

1 Seguro (convencido) (4) 3 For (intended for) (4) 9 Eiderdown (7) 10 Ceiling (of room) (5) 11 Mediodía (4) 12 Shoemaker (8) 14 Serpientes (6) 16 Hervidor (6) 18 Restar (matemáticas) (8) 20 Abbot (4) 23 Muñecas (juguetes) (5) 24 Flores (botánico) (7) 25 Cobertizo (para animales, útiles) (4) 26 Motorbike (4)

1 Deaf (unable to hear) (5) 2 Grosero (descortés) (4) 4 Day before yesterday (8) 5 Antiguo (civilización) (7) 6 Combs (for hair) (6) 7 Wave (in sea, lake) (4) 8 Little (not much) (4) 13 Behind (in or at the rear) (6,2) 15 Trees (7) 17 Mayor (de más edad) (6) 18 Silk (hilo, tela) (4) 19 Puño (costura) (4) 1 Heather (plant) (5) 22 Broken (object) (4)

Span - Eng

Ridley´s Riddle A goose.

Code Cracker

6 See 1 Across 7 Surname of the four Midwestern American outlaws of the post-Civil War era (Cole, John, Jim and Bob) who were often allied with Jesse James? (7) 12 French painter viewed as a founder of modern painting? His works include The Bathers and The Card Players. (7) 13 Nationality of five-time Wimbledon singles champion Bjorn Börg? (7) 15 What name is given to the breathing device consisting of a bent tube fitting into a swimmer’s mouth and extending above the surface that allows the swimmer to breathe while face down in the water? (7) 16 1966 film starring David Hemmings and Vanessa Redgrave, a London photographer witnesses a murder? (4-2) 17 Damascus is the capital of which country located on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the south-western fringe of the Asian continent? (5) 19/20 Doris von Kappelhoff was the real name of which American singer and motion-picture actress? (5,3) 21 What is the nickname of Aberdeen FC? (4)

SUDOKU

Last Week’s Solutions Quizword Across: 1 McCarthy, 7 Blade, 8 Mayflower, 9 TNT, 10 Sett, 11 Aeneas, 14 Daphne, 17 Supper, 18 Bush, 20 Rap, 22 Lavoisier, 23 Tiara, 24 Gratuity.

Down: 1 Mumps, 2/13A Crystal palace, 3 Rill, 4 Hawser, 5 Darts, 6 Lettuce, 7 Braemar, 12 Scapula, 13 Pro rata, 16 Beaver, 17 Sprat, 19/15 Harry Houdini, 21 Fiat.

Double Crossword Across: 1 Scared, 4/15 Adding machine, 9 Maestro, 10 Email, 11 Lathe, 12 Nastier, 13 Containment, 18 Agitate, 20 Cease, 22 Elite, 23 Chicane, 24 Tenets, 25 Delete.

Down: 1 Simile, 2 Avert, 3 Entreat, 5 Dress, 6 Italian, 7 Galore, 8 Coincidence, 14 Opinion, 16 Lament, 17 Revere, 19 Alert, 21 Aware.

Quickie Across: 1 Vapid, 4 Peak, 8 Undress, 9 Rifle, 10 Peace, 11 Atheist, 12 Suffer, 14 Gossip, 18 Garbage, 20 Sober, 22 Image, 23 Narrate, 24 Meet, 25 Sleet.

Down: 1 Vodka, 2 Precede, 3 Dismal, 4 Perch, 5 Affairs, 6 Rumpus, 7 Neat, 13 Furnace, 15 Observe, 16 Parcel, 17 Tennis, 18 Gain, 19 Adept, 21 Boast.

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CLASSIFIE SITUATIONS VACANT Admin Assistant required, must speak English and Spanish, full time in summer, part time in winter. Please email CV’s to zjames@compass-ps.com Tel 965 060 252 Solar Power - Sunlife Solar Solutions have vacancies for both a Solar Installation Engineer and a Solar Thermal Engineer (or plumber with pool heating experience). Call 965 271 717 or send your CV to info@sunlifesolarsolutions.c om Insurance Sales - The EasyCover Group have a full time vacancy available in their Torrevieja / La Zenia offices. You must have previous sales experience and have lived locally for at least 5 years. A full time contract is offered to the right candidate. Send your CV and enquiries by email to martin@easyoption.com Head To Toe, La Zenia.

Looking for fully experienced qualified hairdresser for busy salon with contract Tel 966773216 Radio Sales - RADIO COSTA MEDIA needs selfemployed salesperson for Torrevieja & surrounding areas. Call 685 901 265 or please email info@radiocosta.eu Realtor vacancy - Proven track record, experience, local knowledge all essential.

Car essential, multi-lingual desired. Send CV to: office@easybuyproperties.com CHURCH SERVICES Torrevieja Christian

Fellowship at Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas 68, Torrevieja 03183, all welcome to their friendly and lively 10.30 am. Service each Sunday morning.

Tele: 966700391 or visit our website on www.tcfspain.org.

International Christian Assembly, Calle Pilar de Horadada 5, Torrevieja.

Evangelical non-denominational church. Sunday services 11am.

Children's church 11am.. For more information lease Telephone today: 966 799 273 or 660 127 276.

PETS PET TRAVEL UK Family pet transporters Spain/UK. Travel with your pets for free. All air conditioned vehicles (no vans) www.pettraveluk.co.uk. Removals also arranged in other vehicles.

Tel UK 0800 612 4922 or Spain 960130537 QUIZ MASTER Experienced quiz-master /question setter with personality. If you would like a quiz master that is entertaining, and is available to host quiz nights in local bars. Tel: 664 838 581.

REMOVALS SPANISH MOVES Small removals and deliveries.

Spain/UK Budget prices.

Last minute jobs undertaken. www.spanishmoves.net.

Pet transport also arranged in our air conditioned pet/people carriers.

Telephone UK 0800 612 4922 or Spain 960130537

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Friday 26th May 2017

Technology

RICHARD CAVENDER

BlueMoon Solutions www.bluemoonsolutions.es

BlueMoon Solutions is the computer and IT services company on the Costa Blanca.

BlueMoon Solutions comes to you at home or at work. Their personal service covers from Alicante to Pilar de la Horadada.

Richard moved to Spain ten years ago having left his management background behind in the UK and decided to use his IT skills to help home users and small businesses with their PC problems. Now a relaxed 'computer man' he is out and about in the Spanish sun every day, making house and shop calls and using his vast experience and qualifications to sort out the problem there and then.

Computers are his hobby as well as his work so don’t be surprised to get an answer to your email in the early hours!

ADVICE: Garry wanted to know whether he could use bits ALERT: Denise wanted to make us aware of a new scam from his old laptop doing the rounds

Q

Hi Richard, I am not technically minded, I had a Toshiba which was about 3 years old which crashed, my neighbour bless him, said I can fix that for you and then said oooohhh there is no reset button inside and handed back my laptop, which cannot be repaired at all................it is in such a mess...............so I was wondering, this may be a stupid question, but can I remove the hard drive and connect the hard drive via a USB cable to another laptop, will this work? Keep up the good work.

A

Hi Garry, yes its certainly possible, and pretty easy, to remove the hard drive from your laptop and place it in a ‘caddy’ for use in any USB port as an external drive, most computer shops will sell the kits to do this for around 25 euro, alternatively, if you are not confident in removing the hard drive from your laptop you should ask a computer technician to supply the caddy and fit the hard drive into it for you. This sort of recycling is a great way of re-using parts of a failed computer.

Q

Hi Richard,I thought you might like to learn of this latest scam I received this morning, a foreign person telephoned me, said she was ringing from the hospital, so I listened, then she said, your computer is badly infected, I cut her off in her prime, others may like to learn this, especially if they regularly have calls from the hospital etc. RegardsDenise

A

Hey Denise, what an awful thing for them to do, thanks for letting me know, I shall spread the word.

Website:www.bluemoonsolutions.es Email: office@bluemoonsolutions.es Mobile: 655 044 970 NEW: Tel: 965 987 032 Don’t forget, you can follow me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/bluemoonsolutionsspain/ Alternatively, why don’t you sign up for my newsletter. You can do this by going to:www.bluemoonsolutions.es/newsletter .

Motoring

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44

Sport

Friday 26th May 2017

For amateur players, a round of golf can expose some classic mistakes, which everybody has been through, writes JOHN FARMER. Here’s a check-list of some things that all of us can relate to:1. Not checking the equipment before playing Life generally runs smoothly and most of the time we get to the course and take our bags out of the car, trundle down to the putting green to begin our warm up without even thinking to check our clubs. When you are stood at the first tee, that you realise that your putter is gathering dust in a cupboard!

2. Using the wrong ball As a beginner and high handicapper, you really need a ball that offers distance, so use a more durable ball that offers additional distance over control. Not only are they cheaper to replace when you lose them, but they offer a tad more distance with every shot you play.

3. Overestimating how far you can hit a club We may all marvel at Rory McIlroy hitting a 5-iron 220 yards, but when you are stood over a shot of similar distance, don’t assume that because they took that club, you should too! Many amateur golfers wrongly assume that because they hit one drive on the range 270 yards, that they will hit the ball this far on every shot. A good rule of thumb is to judge the distance to the hole and depending on weather and course conditions, either play a club more, or even 2-clubs more if the wind is against you.

4. Keeping the grooves on your clubs clean and effective One of the biggest frustrations for amateur golfers is when they do hit the ball cleanly onto the green, they see it race on through the green without any spin being applied. Often they may blame their ball or poor technique for this, but often it is simply a case that the grooves on their clubs need redoing. Clean, crisp grooves help grip the golf ball when the head hits the ball.

5. Teeing the ball up in front of the tee box.

One of the most common mistakes is players who tee their ball up just in front of the imaginary line between the two tee boxes. This is a penalty stroke and in strokeplay is a two-shot penalty and the player must retake the shot behind the tee box (if they continue to play and fail to rectify this, that player should be disqualified).In matchplay, the rules are slightly different however. If a player tees off in front of the tee box then their opponent can ask them to play the ball again, or accept the shot.

6. Dropping a lost or unplayable ball from the rough.

If your ball is unplayable or lost, do you just drop a ball from your bag on the fairway and play from there?

Many amateurs do but this is wrong. If your ball is unplayable, then you have three options. You can either go back to where the ball was originally played and play the shot again (penalty one stroke); play the ball from a position two club lengths from where it lies but no nearer the hole (penalty one stroke); or take a line from the hole to where the ball lay unplayable and drop the ball on this line two club lengths or more behind where the ball was unplayable (again for a one shot penalty).

7. Grounding your club in a hazard Many amateurs will unintentionally ground their club in a bunker or water hazard when considering their shot and this is actually a penalty. Grounding the club in a hazard is not allowed and players must not do this.

8. Lack of Etiquette Good manners are vital on a golf course, so it is crucial for amateurs to remember some key rules. Play at a decent speed. If you lose a ball only spend five minutes maximum looking for it (and wave the group behind through). Don’t talk or have your phone on loudly while on the course, especially when others are taking shots and don’t walk on the line of others putts.

Cobras Lesson

Costa Cobras RFC entered their first ever tournament on Saturday, with the Alan Davies memorial 7’s in Elche. The Cobras were taught a lesson about the harsh realities of a big step up in class, as they had a baptism of fire playing against U20’s international players in one contest.

They got the backing of everybody in their last contest, as they broke free for a race to the try line, with all of the other teams willing them to score! It was tough stuff, but the Cobras could hold

their heads up high, especially as a year ago, over half the team had never played rugby before. Other tournaments pencilled in for them include one in Murcia on June 10th, and a return to the San Juan’s beach 7’s in August.

The Cobras train at the San Fulgencio football ground every Monday and Wednesday evening from 8.30 pm, and players of any standard are more than welcome.

More details from Dutch on 692 767 242.

Race Returns

Orihuela hosts the start and finish today of the first stage of La Vuelta de Alicante, which returns after a decade break.

20 of Spain’s leading cycling teams will be taking part in the 22nd staging of the race, which will finish in Alicante City on Sunday.

Today’s 137 kilometre first stage will see the competitors start at San Bartolome and do a big circuit which will see them finish in Orihuela City, as they take in the municipalities of Redovan, Benferri, Torremendo, Los Montesinos, Callosa, and

Jacarilla.

The second stage on Saturday will go from Rojales to Ibi over 136 kilometres (Rojales council presentation pictured), going via Daya Vieja, Dolores, and San Isidro before taking in the high ground of Hondón, Maigmó and Les Revoltes.

The final stage this Sunday is over 135 kilometres with the competitors doing a big circuit which begins and concludes in Alicante City, and includes some hill tests, as well as taking in populous areas like Elche.

Golf’s Major Mistakes Walking Success

The Los Montesinosbased Monte Mentals walking football team held their annual May tournament with two teams from the Birmingham area (Coleshill and Beechcroft) hooking up with sides from Moraira, Campoverde (Portobellos) and Lo Crispin for the three day event.

The first day kicked off with Moraira winning the daily Cup, whilst the Monte Mentals took the second day

cup with The Portobellos coming second.

The Mentals added to their success by taking the third daily cup as well as winning the overall tournament cup.

The tournament was rounded off by a farewell lunch at Tutos in Torrevieja for the Birmingham lads, who thanked the Mentals for a fabulous three days of fair, entertaining and enjoyable football.

Sport

Proud Lloyd's Hopes

Rojales-based football side CD Thader has literally been part of Lloyd Dummett's psyche for half of his life, and the Newcastle-born 25-yearold has plenty to look forward to yet (writes ALEX TRELINSKI) with a promotion finale that kicks-in from tomorrow.

The amiable Geordie moved to Spain when he was eleven, and coming out of Newcastle, football was very much part of his blood, He's delighted with what the Magpies have done in bouncing straight back to the Premier League under Rafa Benitez, and he tries to make it back to his native North East to check out a match whenever he can at St. James' Park. His old home was within striking distance of the club, being based in the Fenham area of the city, a few minutes drive away, Barely weeks after touching down on the Costa Blanca, Lloyd joined his local side CD Thader as a junior, and 14 years down the line, the defensive midfielder, who captained the side half a dozen times in this season's Valencia Preferente Group Four campaign, now has the play-off matches to look forward to.

He's the only British player in the Thader setup, and has been an omnipresent in the side.

Not surprisingly his command of Spanish is absolutely perfect, but there are no Hispanic lilts in his laid-back Geordie tones!

For defensive-midfielder Dummett, who works for a real estate company in Quesada, the progress of the team this season has come as a pleasant surprise to both himself and his teammates.

“Back in August, most of

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the squad was hoping for some mid-table respectability and avoiding relegation,”, smiled Dummett. That was in stark contrast to being in a position in recent weeks to replace the already-relegated CD Torrevieja and CD Almoradi in the Valencian section of the national third division. It's a part of the football ladder that Thader have not graced since the middle of the last decade.

“There's a great team spirit”, said Dummett. “It's been created by our coach Jose Francisco, and our squad is full of local players, as opposed to teams that finished above us in the table that have had a lot more money to play with”. Those teams being Villajoyosa and La Nucia, though interestingly the play-off system means that the top two teams are treated exactly the same as third-placed Thader in the next stage of the competition. It's certainly an interesting quirk of the system!

“The longest distance a couple of Thader players come from is Elche, with the Vega Baja region very much at the heart of the club”, Lloyd added. Jose Francisco recently won the best coach honour for Preferente Group Four at the Golsmedia awards, whilst ex-CD Torrevieja player, Dani Lucas, was nominated for Thader in the best player category, but lost out to La Nucia's Chupe.

“I was disappointed that Dani did not win “, added Dummett. “He's been excellent all season and a real example to everybody.”

Lloyd Dummett has literally grown up with some of his team-mates, as he has climbed up the ranks over the years:- “Our goalkeep-

er Jovi started with me as a junior player at the same time, and I have made some great friendships down the line”.

Interest in CD Thader has increased as the season has progressed and the team's comeback from a two-nil deficit against promotion rivals Hercules in early May, was witnessed by around 800 supporters. But what about British fans?

“It's on the up”, commented Dummett.

“Through the help of places like the Bridge Bar at Rojales, we are getting up to 150 Brits coming along, but the club is very much Spanish-run and owned. There is excitement building up around the Rojales/Quesada area about what has happened, and of course we still have the play-off matches to look forward to”.

Asked about whether CD Thader could cope in a higher division, and avoid what happened to neighbours CD Almoradi and their season of toil and relegation, Dummett took the sensible view that if as a team you are not interested in making progress, then there's no real point in playing. His enthusiasm for the club in our conversation was plain to see, grounded in intelligent realism, and his view that a successful football team lifts a community and also brings people of different nationalities together on the terraces.

Whatever happens in the play-off matches, and there is a potential for four more games yet this season starting tomorrow, Thader have made their mark, with the help of players like Lloyd Dummett who passionately care about a club that has been so important to him for a long time.

Kid Kuhn’s First

Torrevieja tennis teenager Nicola Kuhn has joined the elite list of juniors to win a men's professional title – just two months after his 17th birthday, writes DONNA GEE. Blond-haired Kuhn from La Mata, youngest player in the entire draw, thrashed Davis Cup star Attila Balasz 7-5 6-0 in a one-sided final to take the 15 thousand dollar Hungary F2 Futures crown on the shores of picturesque Lake Balaton.

Top-seed Balasz, 11 years older than the 6ft 1in Kuhn and seven times champion of Hungary, had no answer to Nico's versatility and confidence as the Spanish teenager powered to victory in just 104 minutes.

During his run, unseeded Kuhn had seen off four other experienced east European pros, all of them at least three years his senior. Last Saturday’s great achievement came just two weeks after Nico produced the shock of the Madrid Open in beating world number 61 Nikoloz Basilashvili 7-5 6-0 in the qualifying competition.

The Basilashvili win cata-

pulted him exactly 100 places up the ATP ladder to world number 612 – and the 18 ranking points he earned for Saturday's Futures victory in Hungary will lift him to the fringe of the top 500 when the new rankings are announced.

Kuhn, who has targeted a top 200 ranking by the end of this year, has been virtually unstoppable since severing his six-year tie with the prestigious Equelite Tennis Academy in Villena earlier this year. The academy, run by former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, was a major influence in Innsbruck-born Nico's development – but constant commuting between La Mata and Villena took its toll on him and his parents, who moved to the Costa Blanca when Nico was three months old.

The family eventually decided to put Nico's future into the hands of Torreviejabased Pedro Caprota (pictured below), the man who coached him before he moved to Villena, along with a new fitness coach, Cristian Ramajo, a new nutritionist and a new physiotherapist.

Nico is now playing the

best tennis of his life and becomes only the second player born this century to win a pro title.

He began the year as the world's fifth-ranked junior, but is now concentrating on climbing the ATP rankings list and thus avoiding the qualifying rat-race at senior level.

“I wanted to make a change because I thought it would be best for me and my tennis,'' he says of the decision to leave the Ferrero set-up. “At the moment it is proving so. These things happen, there are times when you need a different direction and look for a change.''

Nico, who is seeded number five at this week's F3 Hungary Futures tournament at Balatonalmadi, plans to compete in only two junior competitions this year – the French Open and Wimbledon.

His lack of recent action at junior level has seen him drop from number five to 28 in the world rankings.

However, he's more than happy with the compensation of having climbed almost 200 ATP places this month.

Balasz was ranked almost 400 slots higher than Kuhn before Saturday's final - but the ease of Nico's victory in Hungary and the earlier win over Basilashvili suggests that the Torry teenager is a far better player than his current ranking suggests. ''Right now the biggest handicap for me is the physical one,'' he confesses as he prepares to take on the biggest, strongest and most experienced stars of men's tennis. “It is something that the team and I are training to improve. The opponents I have faced recently are already men - and I am still a child. My priority is to win the maximum possible matches and to keep improving.

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Sport

Friday 26th May 2017

Real Champions!

To No Avail

More Of The Same

GETAFE 2 ELCHE 0

BARCELONA 4 EIBAR 2

MALAGA 0 REAL MADRID 2 Real Madrid won their first La Liga title for five years after beating Malaga at La Rosaleda on the final day of the season on Sunday, meaning that Barcelona’s fightback against Eibar(see right) was irrelevant.

Zinedine Zidane's side made the perfect start when Cristiano Ronaldo fired them ahead after only two minutes, the Portugal international's 14th goal in his last nine games.

The points, and the title, were then wrapped up 10 minutes after half-time as Karim Benzema scored from close range as the first part of what could be a league and Champions League double.

“I am so happy now and I am happy to win the league”, coach Zinedine Zidane said after the game.

“Our consistency has been fundamental; we played every game like it was our last. I just feel so happy”.

Barcelona fought back to beat Eibar on the final day of the season, but could do nothing to stop Real Madrid winning the La Liga title.

Takashi Inui's double put the minnows in charge at the Nou Camp, but a David Junca own goal got Barcelona back into it just after the hour mark, while Luis Suarez equalised after Lionel Messi missed a penalty.

Ander Capa was then dismissed for Eibar as he brought down Neymar in the box with 15 minutes to go, and Messi redeemed himself from the spot before sealing the win with a fine solo effort in stoppage time.

At least Barca will be hoping for some silverware tomorrow, when they hope to retain the Copa del Rey by beating Alaves in this year’s final at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, with a 9.30 pm kick-off.

Not since the early nineties have Elche suffered six straight league defeats, and it was no surprise that they lost at promotion-chasing Getafe last Friday. The Ilicitanos stand second from bottom in the Segunda division, and with three matches left, time is almost up as relegation looks an odds-on certainty unless something changes quickly and dramatically.

Anything else but victory at home to Reus this Sunday evening will almost seal the deal for Elche, and even if they win, they have to hope that teams above them oblige with dropping points. It’s a woeful condemnation of a side that back in December were looking for some consistency to get them into the play-offs.

It was all comfortable for Getafe with goals from Jorge Molina in each half, with Elche barely troubling the home side, as a meek first-half Pelegrin header was all that they could offer.

Division 2B beckons.

Thader’s Opponents

Brazilian Bagged

In The Frame

CD Thader have been paired up with Paiporta CF in their Preferente play-off semifinal, with a total of three places at stake in the National League third division, Valencia section, for next season. The draw was carried out at the Valencia FA headquarters on Monday.

In their section of the draw, if Thader beat the Valencia province side over the two legs, they would then face the winners of the showdown between UD Benigànim and CD Onda over a two-legged final.

Thader have the first leg against Paiporta at their stadium in Rojales this Saturday evening, with a 7.00 pm kickoff. The club are looking to

better their best gate of the season of 800 for what is their most important match for a decade. Tickets are 10 euro at the gate, but if prebought at outlets like the Don Carlos in Quesada and the Bridge Bar in Rojales, the price comes down to five euro.

Bigger To Come

Real Madrid are to sign 16-year-old Flamengo forward Vinicius Junior in a deal worth over 40 million euros.

The transfer will go through in July 2018, when Vinicius turns 18, although he could remain at the Brazilian club for a further season on loan, Real say.

Vinicius has played only 17 minutes of senior football, having made his Flamengo debut on May 13th.

In March, he finished as top scorer and was voted best player as Brazil won the Under-17 South American Championship.

It is the first transfer Real Madrid have announced since the end of their ban on signing players imposed by Fifa as punishment for breaching rules over the transfer of foreign players under the age of 18.

Barcelona will name its new coach this Monday, two days after the Copa del Rey final against Alaves, according to president Josep Bartomeu.

Reports suggest thatsaid the club have already agreed a two-year deal with Athletic Bilbao aoch Ernesto Valverde (pictured) after Luis Enrique confirmed a few months ago that this would be his last season in charge of the club.

Bartomeu also said he was not concerned with the contractual situation of star Lionel Messi, whose current deal is set to expire after next season. He said that negotiations were continuing with the star striker.

CD THADER 2 JOVE ESPANOL 4 This Thader loss to the San Vicente del Raspeig-based side was of little consequence, with Thader having pretty much all eyes turned towards tomorrow’s first-play match against Paiporta(see above).

Rubén Sanz levelled matters up for Thader with a 34th minute penalty, and Valentín got a last-minute consolation, as Thader gave a run out to a number of younger players and substituted some of their older hands as well, like Lloyd Dummett (pictured during the match). An interview with Dummett, the only British player in the Thader team, is on page 45.

Sport

Maverick Leads

Spain's new MotoGP star Maverick Viñales retook the lead in the world championship standings after winning Sunday's French Grand Prix in Le Mans, during which Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez bit the dust. It was the third win of the season for Viñales.

Viñales beat the field after reigning champion Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda) was forced to retire due to a fall. A neck-andneck battle with Yamaha's Valentino Rossi ended when the Italian fell on the last lap, giving Viñales his third victory of 2017 after Qatar and Argentina and putting him in the lead in the standings on 85 points.

Rossi's fall cost him more than his number one ranking – thirdplaced Dani Pedrosa, who came in just behind France's Johann Zarco on the podium, has now risen to 68 points and second in the standings, putting the Barcelona-born rider six points ahead of the Italian veteran.

Afterwards Viñales said:- "Keeping up with Johann in the early laps of the race was hard, he was really fast and with the full tank we were not so strong as him. He was exiting from the corners really good and really fast. Then his tyre started to drop a little bit and our tyre started to work good on the rear, and lap by lap I was feeling better. Until the end, in the last lap, I gave everything I had here in the French GP and, honestly, I'm so happy and so pleased. The team was working on an incredible level this weekend, I hope we can continue like that. For sure the tyres were working really good here, we hope we can work like this also in Mugello in Italy."

Marc Márquez, 24, will be hard-pushed to scoop up his fourth world championship as things stand: having only failed to take the number one slot once, in 2015, he currently sits fourth on 58 points after having been forced to retire twice due to falls, the first being in Argentina.

Pedrosa's performance in Le Mans was one of the most thrilling for spectators, as he hauled himself up from 13th off the grid to fifth position in just 10 laps, before finishing third. Álvaro Bautista and Héctor Barberá (Ducati) both had to pull out due to falling off their bikes, and Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) had to retire due to engine failure.

The remaining Spanish riders just squeezed into the points, with Mallorca-born Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) coming sixth; Tito Rabat (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) 11th, and Pol Espargaró (KTM) 12th.

It's off to Italy for the next GP on June 4th, before a return to Spain and the Barcelona circuit on Sunday June 11th.

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Howzat Then?

Leading figures from the cricket world headed to La Manga Club last week for the official opening of the resort’s new European Cricket Performance Centre – the first of its kind in Europe.

National cricket board chiefs joined dignitaries, county cricket representatives and members of the media at the Mar Menor-based sports and leisure resort for the official inauguration of the stateof-the-art facility.

The centre at La Manga Club has been created in partnership with Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland as part of a new ten-year agreement to develop an exclusive warm-weather overseas training base in continental Europe.

Designed to help prepare men’s and women’s teams for international cricket as well as assisting with the development of players and coaches, the first phase of the jointly-funded project was completed this spring, and both Ireland and Scotland’s senior first-team squads have taken advantage of the chance to use the centre’s facilities ahead of the 2017 season.

Ireland have had a busy start to the summer, including one-day international series against England, Bangladesh and New Zealand this month, while Scotland will host Zimbabwe for two one-day internationals in June.

Richard Holdsworth, performance director for Cricket Ireland, said: “Given the short season in both countries, Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland have prioritised the provision of warm-weather, high-quality outdoor practice and playing facilities for our international and domestic teams.

“This world-class new European Cricket Performance Centre will aid the development and preparation of our players ahead of international series and ICC world cup events."

“There will be no other facility in Europe which boasts such good all-year-round weather, has two grass pitches as well as 24 grass and artificial nets. It will allow schools, clubs and international teams from all over Europe to train and play in great facilities only a couple of hours flight away".

“Both boards are extremely grateful to the ICC for its generous support to the development of this facility which will benefit not just Irish and Scottish teams at all levels, but all European member countries."

“We are looking forward to a long partnership with La Manga Club who must be congratulated for developing such an outstanding facility.”

Under the terms of the partnership, Cricket Ireland and Cricket Scotland will have exclusive booking options for using the centre as a warm-weather training and playing base for its men’s and women’s national and provincial senior and youth teams.

Work on the artificial pitches was completed this spring, with the grass net and pitch areas scheduled to be in use by early next year.

When the centre is finished, the facilities will include six updated first-class grass pitches and two artificial wickets on two existing grounds, plus 18 grass and five artificial net lanes – all with 25-yard run-ups.

In addition, there will also be specialist grass fielding, catching and wicket-keeping areas.

Chad Harpur, director of sports at La Manga Club, said: “La Manga Club prides itself on being one of the world’s elite sporting resorts, making it the obvious choice to build Europe’s first cricket performance centre.

“State-of-the-art facilities such as this demonstrates the resort’s desire to keep on improving and investing in the future, and we’re looking forward to welcoming cricket’s present and next generation of stars to La Manga Club over the coming years.”

Bowls Galore

The first week of the 2017 Linea Directa Lawn Bowls championships at the Greenlands Bowls Clubsaw the 2016 losing finalists in the Ladies Pairs, Peta Rhodes and Carol Broomfield (Quesada) battling their way through to meet Val Collier and Ann Eagle (San Miguel) in the first of the semis, with Gail Willshire and Lynn Greenland (San Miguel) contesting the second semi final against Gill Atkinson and Jan Dando (Indalo).

In the Mens pairs, Paul Parkes, one of last year’s champions playing with new partner Pat Heaney (Emerald Isle) were slated to take on Chris Brazier and Graham Phillips (Quesada), whilst the other semi saw the father and son team of Gary and Johnny Raby (San Miguel) play Drew Gerrard and Colin Highland (Emerald Isle).

The Mixed Triples saw some fancied teams not making it through, though the defending champions, Grace, Robert & Graham Cathcart (Teide - Tenerife) are still there and have been pitched against the San Miguel trio of Brian Allen, Brian and Lin Miller in the quarter final.

In the other quarter-finals, Noel Davis, Gail & Fred Willshire (San Miguel) were paired against Jan and Brian Pocock & Suzi Cooper (San Luis), while Peta Rhodes, Peter Morgan and Fred Roberts (Quesada) are up against Mel and Colin Highland and Colin Lindgren (Emerald Isle). In the last of the quarters, Debbie Colquhoun, Graham Marlow & Jenny Thompson (Indalo) were scheduled to play Kevin McKenna, Deidre Leeming and Barry Armstrong (Quesada). News of those matches next week.

The ultimate clashes of the first week’s play were the premier events of the Ladies and Mens singles, with both producing some real nailbiters in the early rounds which kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. The 2016 finalists in the Ladies Singles were both eliminated with the semis to be contested by Nina McKenzie (Mazarron) against Carol Broomfield (Quesada), with an all- Quesada semi of Peta Rhodes against Jacqui Johnston.

Last year’s Mens champion Martin Foulcer (Vistabella) is still in with a good chance of retaining his title, something that has only been achieved in previous years by Keith Jones (twice) and Pete Bonsor. He has been paired with Brian Robertson (Mazarron) in one semi- final, while the other match features National Team Manager Graham Cathcart (Teide-Tenerife) against John Rimmer (Country Bowls).

The finals will be played at Quesada Bowls Club tomorrow (Saturday), with presentations slated to take place towards the end of the afternoon.

MONTE CARLO OR BUST

Formula 1 championship pacemakers Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel will pick up their title battle around the tight and unforgiving Circuit de Monaco in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Hamilton comes into the weekend just six points ahead of Vettel, and both will know the importance of pole position at a circuit whose very nature severely restricts overtaking opportunities, meaning that tomorrow’s qualiyfing session could be one of the most exciting of the year.

INDY HOPE

Spain’s Fernando Alonso says he expects to find the Indianapolis 500 "difficult" as he attempts to win the prestigious race for the first time on Sunday.

The McLaren Formula 1 driver is missing the Monaco Grand Prix to race in the US and has qualified fifth on the grid.

"Anyone can win the Indy 500 of the 33 drivers because it is an unpredictable race," the 35-year-old said.

"You cannot plan in advance. You need to keep improvising. I know I will lack experience in critical moments."

UP FOR THE CUP

Forget Arsene Wenger packing up his bags to leave Arsenal after tomorrow’s FA Cup final clash with Chelsea tomorrow, writes ALEX TRELINSKI. The Frenchman has told friends according to UK newspaper reports that a new two-year deal will be announced after the Wembley showdown, and with new money available to him though that comes with a string attached that he will have to work with a new sporting director, Laurent Koscielny will miss out on the 6.30 pm kick-off (live on BBC 1), after the Gunners lost their FA appeal over the defender being dismiised early on in his side’s Sunday home win over Everton, after his tackle on Enner Valencia.

Wenger can become the first manager in English footballing history to win seven FA Cups, but to do so he must stop league champions Chelsea from completing the Double.

Having failed to make the Champions League for the first time in 20 years Arsenal need to win the FA Cup to add a silver lining to what has been a gloomy season around the Emirates.

Antonio Conte insisted after his Chelsea side lifted the Premier League trophy that it was Arsenal who would start as favourites at Wembley on Saturday but few neutral observers – or bookmakers – would agree with his assessment.

It’s a bit of kidology from the Italian, and I would be amazed if Blue isn’t the Wembley colour come Saturday midevening.

TEN TIME BID

The year’s second Grand Slam tournament, the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris gets going on Sunday, and all eyes will be on clay ace Rafa Nadal as he attempts to win a record-breaking tenth French Open title.

With the world’s top two, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, both battling poor form in the first half of the season – and Roger Federer announcing he would bypass the tournament for the second consecutive year – Nadal will start the hottest of favourites to regain his crown at Roland Garros.

The Spaniard has already claimed titles in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, and was on the verge of claiming his eighth title in Rome until he was upset in the quarter-finals by Dominic Thiem.

Could it be a Spanish double, as Garbine Muguruza looks to defend the title she won in Paris last year? Her fitness in recent months though has been a big issue and casts a massive question mark over her chances.

Simone Halep and Caroline Wozniacki are also harbouring injury worries, and with ex-Slam winners Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and mostly likely Petra Kvitova as well missing the event for various reasons, the contest is wide open.

Johanna Konta anybody?