Mallorca Olive Press - Issue 51 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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Vol. 3 Issue 51 www.theolivepress.es March 29th - April 11th 2019

HOUSE RULES

What drove this expat to cut off his member? Page 6

Celebrating the end of the Spanish Civil War Page 12

sive anti-Brexit protest in London at the weekend. “It was great to be there making history I hope,” said Sue Wilson of pressure group Bremain in Spain. “It is not the first time we have voted with our feet, but it was our biggest ever march contingent,” she added. “It was a sign of commitment that so many members joined us in London.” MPs used Monday night’s vote to ex-

Nazi swoop Continues on Page 8

SNARED: Moment cops arrest Stiegler

By Timothy McNulty

Police seize wanted terrorist in Calvia, while confirming ‘resurgence’ of far right which could endanger the island

A DANGEROUS neo-Nazi has been snared after a right wing bomb plot was foiled in Germany. The device comprised various powing ‘Host’) and managed to trace 4 4 NEWS Police swooped on Michael Leopold ders and metal compounds and was the fugitive, who reportedly went to EU PHEW Stiegler at a luxury villa he was stay- being carried in a glass vial. great lengths to avoid detection. ing at in Peguera, Calvia, which has Police in Germany and Spain The wanted terrorist only left his a large German expat community. launched Operation Huestes (mean- rented hideout once a day to put out The 28-year-old - described as ‘very dangerous’ - had fled Germany after a powerful homemade bomb, containing mercury, was discovered in Site for sore eyes! the Bavarian town of Burglengenfeld this year. A European arrest warSolar secrets rant was issued for Stiegler after the potentially devastating deDeath of a giant Untitled-1.pdf 1vice 16/06/2017 15:36 was spotted by neighbours See page 2 Page 5 and defused. THE EUROPEAN DENTAL PRACTICE www.theolivep ress.es

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Stand together

March 14th - March 27th 2019

Authorities join forces to stop construction of ‘controversial’ shopping centre

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PROTEST: Puns, pets and expats were all in attendance at the antiBrexit march in London at the weekend

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By Gillian Keller in Playa de Palma

A no deal Brexit was last night dramatically ruled out by MPs by just four votes in excellent news for expats in Spain. In yet another defeat for the government , MPs ruled by by 312 votes to 308 that the country should not leave the EU without a deal in any circumstance. The Spelman amendment vote comes after the Prime Minister's withdrawal agreement was heavily defeated in the commons on Tuesday. Yesterday, May said: “Voting against leaving without a deal, and for an extension, does not solve the problems we face. “The EU will want to know what use we want to make of that extension. The house will have to answer that question.” MPs will now get the chance to vote on possibly extending Article 50 in another vote today.

PALMA city council, the Consell de Mallorca and the Balearic Government have joined forces to try and stop construction of an ‘outsize’ shopping centre in a valuable COMING SOON?: New shopping centre green area near Palma. de Palma. in the natural They have been joined They have agreed to fight Fontanelles. wetlands of Ses by local expats and green together groups to prevent the Palma versial to stop the contro- The 80,000 square metre SPECSAVERS in Santa Ponsa scheme after Madrid’s centre was has been spreading awareSprings project from being Supreme Court turned down a licence originally granted ness during World Glaucoma built in a green area in Playa an appeal to stop the scheme did not in 2014, but works Week – with an estimated start within the timeone million people suffering line and it expired. Later a new license was re- from the eye disease in Spain alone. jected as laws had changed, The local optician, part of the better protecting the area largest in Europe, warned - south Mallorca’s largest that around wetland area - from develop- glaucoma dohalf of those with not know they ment. have the degenerative eye disBut developers Unibail Ro- ease that can cause blindness. damco Westfield have con- Stop by an optician to discuss tinued to fight for the licence any vision concerns. taking their case as far as the Supreme court. Its lawyers argued that it should have a similar perPROTESTORS: Fighting the solar panels mit to that of the nearby Fan shopping centre, that opened in 2016. "We are continuing the process to make this great projA PLAN to build a huge solar power park ect a reality," said a spokesHeritage Site in Mallorca has ‘angered’ beside a UNESCO World The 35,000m2 project in Selva, in the locals and expats. man for the firm, this week. foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana, will feature 12,600 solar panels Environmental group Amthat will each be 3m high. ics de la Terra Mallorca have So far, over 300 residents of the idyllic major concerns, not only for valley - recognised as a ‘cultural landscape’ - have signed alegaciones the environmental impact forms to object to the proposals. but because of the traffic They are now set to protest in the town problems on nearby roads, of Selva this weekend. Finnish architect, Evi Wager, 67, originally already congested due to the from Helsinki, was ‘shocked’ when she realised the site nearby airport. would be just 20m from her porch.

“Nobody has been informed,” the mum-of-three told the Olive Press this week. “This has been going on behind “The location is wrong, you can’t just placeour backs. a large industrial site in a rural area like this. “It is not only going to ruin the views, it will act as a precedent for 20 other sites in mallorca.” It comes after consultancy firm Podarcis lead to the ‘destruction of vegetation and found that the plans will the disappearance of animal species’. Evi, who is an ‘avid gardener’, also alleges that politicians have flouted the rules governing development on rural land, by classifying the solar park as a site of ‘general interest’. Swathes of farmland, and the celebrated to be divided by the green energy site. hiking trail to Lluc, are set Madrid-based green energy firm, Good Wind Entertainment, which is behind the solar park, was not available for comment to the Olive Press. The company has also planned two other solar parks, each costing €2.5 million, in nearby Alaro, and Sant Rafael, in Ibiza. The Balearic Islands government failed to comment before HATED: Proposed solar farm we went to press.

Ashamed

Fellow green group GOB, added that the scheme ‘makes us feel ashamed to be citizens of these islands’. Local expats such as Jamie Foster, from Nottingham, agreed. “Parking is already atrocious in this area, I dread what it will be like if this mall opens up,” he told the Olive Press. “Traffic on the road by Palma Springs is already gridlocked every afternoon, adding thousands of people to the area will just cause chaos,” the 33-year-old teacher added. Another expat Nicky Bowdidge added: “Tourism has encroached on most of the dunes that used to be along the seafront, the ecological impact of this wasn't understood at the time. “We mustn’t lose more valuable virgin land.”

TRAGIC: Man dies

IT was meant to be a joyous parade celebrating the 120th anniversary of the death of the founder of a church in Campos. But joy turned to tragedy when one of the men, carrying a giant figurine, collapsed and died during the event. The local, 35, died of a heart attack while carrying the socalled ‘gegant’ which is 3.4m tall and weighs 38kgs. He was rushed to hospital, but died before he arrived. The annual parade for the Sor María Rafela foundation was suspended until the next day when a minute’s silence was observed for the victim.

the rubbish, which is when police made their move. Stiegler is believed to be a member of the radical Reichsbuerger movement, which has often been involved in violent clashes with German police. Reichburger or ‘Citizens of the Reich’ is a collective of neo-Nazis who insist the German Reich, which ended after World War II, is still in existence. The growing movement had around 16,500 members in 2018, according to Germany's domestic intelligence agency. Police in Mallorca said they are monitoring the resurgence of right wing terrorism with ‘growing concern.’ “They could cause incidents as tragic as the recent attack perpetrated against a New Zealand mosque, committed by a far-right nationalist Australian, that caused 50 fatalities and 50 wounded," a spokesperson said.

NEWS

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Soldier shot A YOUNG Legionnaire from Palma de Mallorca Has been shot and killed during a training exercise in an investigation has been opened by the Ministry of Defence.

Brexodus MORE British immigrants left Spain last year than any other nationality (4,318), according to government NIE statistics released this week.

No thanks SPAIN has rejected Mexican president Lopez Obrador’s request to ‘accept errors and ask for forgiveness’ for its colonisation of the South American country.

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Please don’t jump!

Untenable By Charlie Smith

Campaigning expat brings back awareness of balcony dangers for the second year A BRITISH expat is back in Mallorca to reinforce her campaign to stop balcony deaths. Georgia Hague launched the campaign after her pal, 19-yearold Natalie Cormack, fell to her death from the seventh floor of

Data with destiny A COURT in Madrid has accused an American, Mexican and South Korean of being part of a 10-member group, which broke into the city’s North Korean embassy and offered the FBI stolen data from the raid.

EXCLUSIVE By Gillian Keller

the Eden Rock hotel, in Magaluf. The expat, who worked with Hague in nearby Mambos would be the first of three to fall to their deaths at the A MASS grave thought to contain vicsame hotel last tims of Franco, has been uncovered in year. Madrid’s largest cemetery. Dozens more The remains of 3,000 people were diswere seriously covered in La Almudena after heavy injured or died rains, exactly 80 years since the city after falling finally fell to Franco. from balconies Thousands of people were executed across Mallorca in the capital by Franco era military last year and courts between April 1939 and Februshe is pleading ary 1944. that more is The grisly discovery comes as the done to highSpanish government approve the exlight the issue. humation of the dictator’s remains, “I had always with the reburial set for June 10. heard of holiday balcony They did not pass, page 12 falls but it was

Grave news

MISSION: Hyde brings campaign back to Mallorca never something I took much notice of,” Hague told the Olive Press. “I feel this is the same attitude many other holidaymakers have, it's just not taken seriously enough.” Hague is determined to make sure as many people as possible in Mallorca know the probability of being hurt or dying by a misjudgement. The Hertfordshire expat is back working in the popular Mambos bar this season, and has brought her campaign back too. She has been going round filling hotel lobbies and bar washrooms with the important reminder on large posters she has had printed.

The message on the poster is simple and to the point: ‘Do not leave a friend behind,’ it reads! “I am so pleased with their support,” said Hauge of her workplace Mambos. “And dozens of other bars and hotels in Calvia are also proudly supporting the cause. “I’ve also had many different charities and other prevention campaigns contact me since last year to collaborate” she continued. The Calvia town council have also supported Hague and her mission, helping to fund the printing and lamination of the posters as they too see first hand the seriousness of issue.

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A BRITISH octogenarian living in Mallorca has revealed that he is being grossly overcharged for his tiny apartment. Edward Whyte - who turns 90 in June - told the Olive Press he has stopped paying his weekly €100 community charge in protest. The father-of-three from Southend, Essex, pays the same maintenance fees for his single bedroom flat as the huge three double-bedroom apartments in the building in Port d'Alcudia. “It’s unfair and unreasonable,” said the former toolmaker who has lived in Spain for 20 years. “The administrator says there is nothing I can do to change it, but €100 is far too high.” The community charge at the flats goes towards painting, repairs and other odd jobs, but is not calculated per square metre for each flat. The manager of the building, who imposes the charge, was not available for comment.

OVERCHARGED: Edward and pet Blanco

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COUPLED-UP: Romeo and Millie

Stranger fling STRANGER Things star Millie Bobby Brown has been dating Romeo Beckham. The Marbella-born starlet was introduced to Romeo’s famous family at charity Unicef’s 70th anniversary gala in December 2016. Romeo’s mum Victoria has given her ‘seal of approval’ to the young couple and is said to think highly of Millie, who is a regular on the Costa del Sol, where her parents used to work. The 15-year-old British actress, who earns €257,000 per episode for the hit Stranger Things series, posted a message on instagram last year wishing Romeo a happy birthday.

10 years younger PEOPLE in Spain don’t suffer from age related health problems until they reach 75, a new study has claimed. That’s a full 10 years later than the global average of 65. A study, published in The Lancet, analysed the rate at which people across 195 countries developed agerelated diseases - including 13 cardiovascular diseases, 35 cancers and six respiratory diseases.

Problems

Those living in the UK won’t experience the problems of a 65-year-old until they reach the age of 70. Japan and Switzerland topped the list with residents there not expecting to experience such health issues until they are 76.1.

Olive Press features in hard-hitting Maddie documentary 12 years after the toddler vanished THE Olive Press has played a starring role in the new hit Netflix documentary about missing Maddie McCann. The paper's editor Jon Clarke features in various episodes of the eight-part series just released by the global streaming giant. The makers behind the €20 million series, the Disappearance of Madeleine Mccann, spent two days with the Olive Press team in Malaga. They then travelled with Clarke to the Algarve, in Portugal, where the British three-year-old went missing on May 3, 2007. The Olive Press editor, 50, was the first journalist on the scene in Praia da Luz the day after police began their disastrous attempt to find the toddler.

Vanished

In the hard-hitting series he takes the crew around the resort, and reveals his shock at how laid back the police operation was and how he met the McCanns in those early hours. "Initially there was just a small bit of tape in front of the apartment, and then a bit at the side where the patio doors were," he revealed in the film. "It wouldn't have been difficult to walk in and have a look around. It certainly wasn't Fort Knox," he added.

NEWS

EXPERT: Attenborough and Cruz

ADVISOR: Editor Jon Clarke (right) with film crew

Hoping for answers

Spain features heavily in the doc, with shots of the Olive Press head office in Manilva and the Costa del Sol. The series looks into dangerous paedophiles around the area and many new leads that were not followed up. One investigator from detective agency Metodo 3 in Barcelona revealed how he spent nine months probing dozens of ‘sick’ paedophiles in both Portugal and Spain. It is expected to be watched by

Voices of reason

BRITAIN’S most famous wildlife expert has teamed up with Spain’s most famous actress for a new Netflix documentary about the natural world. Our Planet is the latest series form the streaming giant, which gives viewers the option to have Sir David Attenborough or Penelope Cruz as a voiceover. The team responsible for the BBC’s award-winning Planet Earth are behind the new eightpart wildlife show, which is released globally on April 5.

March 29th - April 11th 2019

The pair of national treasures are among 10 local narrators of the series, which has taken four years to make and was filmed in over 50 countries, involving over 600 crew members.

millions and puts to rest long term rumours that the parents killed her. One local British expat NOT featured is conspiracy theorist ex-detective Peter MacLeod, based in Nerja. The former Nottinghamshire copper has long trolled that the parents were guilty and even produced a libellous pamphlet on why they did it. Friends of Maddie’s parents slammed him after he told an Australian TV channel this month that the way Kate McCann described her daughter’s bedroom window as wide open on the night she disappeared could be a ‘red flag’. They insisted he was merely ‘spouting off’ and that they were 'spurious allegations'. MacLeod, who used to run a B&B business in Ronda, once tried to claim that Olive Press editor Clarke could not have been in Praia da Luz on the morning after Maddie’s disappearance. In a disgusting blog post he also somehow suggested that Clarke may have been in some way involved.

NOT AMUSED: Benidorm’s Madge would be quite upset

Madge-mobile clamp down THEY have famously been dubbed ‘Madge-mobiles’ after one of hit TV show Benidorm’s most popular characters. So it is with great irony that the tourist resort itself has decided to ban mobility scooters on the majority of its pavements. The move, which carries a fine of up to €450, will also see Segways, hoverboards and motorised scooters barred from the town’s pedestrianised areas. They are also banned in cycle lines and along the paseo. The vehicles, a favourite among British tourists, have been branded a ‘menace’ and will be set a new speed limit of 12mph in other areas. The new laws have come into effect after a two-year battle and seven attempts and follow a similar ban in Alicante. Raunchy t-shirts are also banned as part of a crackdown on ‘uncivic tourism’. It comes after officials seized 500 ‘offensive’ items - including lighters adorned with naked women - in raids on five shops on Calle Gerona and Avenida Europa.

Dressing down

SHE travelled the world as a global ambassador for Spain. But now 1996 Miss Spain has been arrested at Madrid airport after failing to pay a traffic fine. Maria Jose Suarez was seized as she got off a flight from the Dominican Republic. The model and TV presenter was flagged up for two

HELD: Maria Suarez unpaid fines, one of which was for driving without a licence.

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March 29th - April 11th 2019

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The Olive Press: Costa del Sol / Gib / Mallorca editions – 342mm x 256mm

27 March

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Cop-gap AN alarming shortage of police could affect crime fighting capacity in Mallorca this year. It comes after it emerged that a total of 130 officers could take early retirement this Spring. Nothing has been done to address the understaffed ranks since 2012 when 35 new officers were hired. While Mallorca’s 800-strong force currently complies with nationally set requirements, that there must be 1.5 officers per 1,000 people, this number is set to drop. The key issue is that once new officers are hired, they take two years to train, meaning that those soon to retire cannot be immediately replaced.

Brakes on the bus strike NEARLY two thirds of all buses did not run in a strike this week. Some 70% of all journeys were stopped for a two hour period on Tuesday after the EMT drivers walked out over the issue of replacement cover. A second strike planned for the afternoon was called off after bosses agreed to a new recruitment drive to bring in more drivers. A high level meeting including Palma’s mayor Antoni Noguera helped to bring a suitable compromise.

March 29th - April 11th 2019

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Olive Press thanked after controversial solar panel scheme likely to be scrapped EXPATS have thanked the Olive Press after it was confirmed that an unpopular solar panel scheme in a virgin spot near the Tramuntana mountains is likely to be scrapped. It comes two weeks since the Olive Press launched a campaign to halt the 35,000m2 project in Selva, which would have meant the installation of over 12,000 panels. “I’m so glad the Olive Press got all over this story right from the beginning,” said Finnish architect Evi Wager.

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“It has definitely had an effect and completely galvanised the HAPPY: Evi local community.” Her comments come just days after councillor Joana Maria Coll revealed that Selva’s Urban Planning Commission is expected to ’knock were opposed to the condown the project’ next week. troversial scheme of 12,600 It comes after a damning three-meter high panels, report on the project’s enviclose to a UNESCO World ronmental impact was subHeritage Site. mitted by technicians. Over 300 residents of the As we reported in our March idyllic valley - recognised 14 issue hundreds of locals

Ferried away

A BRITISH man who fell from a ferry between Valencia and Mallorca is believed to have died. Rem Kingston, 31, was last seen on March 22 at 5am after boarding the Balearia line's Hypatia de Alejandria ship in Valencia with his mum. A huge sea and air search was called for the former company director from Essex, after the vessel arrived in Palma. He and his mother had flown to Malaga from the UK to pick up a car they were taking to a holiday home in Mallorca. However Rem’s sister Megan said her brother could have disappeared on purpose, because he has ‘mental health issues’ and ‘sometimes gets scared of people’. 'All the security forces and the British Consulate staff have been really helpful and are doing

MISSING: Rem vanished from ferry all they can. Should anyone spot Rem, please call the police straight away,” she said. It emerged that Rem had become the subject of a missing persons' appeal by police in the Scottish Highlands in 2014.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Stand PSOE party togethSPAIN’S would win the April 28 er general election by 122

Authorities join forces to stop construction of ‘controversial’ shopping centre

March 14th - March 27th 2019

Hypothetical EU PHEW

seats, but fall short of a majority, if it were held now, an El Pais poll has found, Site for as Spanish eyes! PrimesoreMinister Pedro Sanchez unveiled the PSOE manifesto.

By Gillian Keller in Playa de Palma

PALMA city council, the Consell de Mallorca and the Balearic Government have joined forces to try and stop construction of an ‘outsize’ shopping centre in a valuable COMING SOON?: New shopping centre green area near Palma. de Palma. in the natural They have been joined They have agreed to fight Fontanelles. wetlands of Ses by local expats and green together groups to prevent the Palma versial to stop the contro- The 80,000 square metre scheme after Madrid’s centre was Springs project from being Supreme Court turned down a licence originally granted built in a green area in Playa an appeal to stop the scheme did not in 2014, but works start within the timeline and it expired. Later a new license was rejected as laws had changed, better protecting the area - south Mallorca’s largest wetland area - from development. But developers Unibail Rodamco Westfield have continued to fight for the licence taking their case as far as the Supreme court. Its lawyers argued that it should have a similar perPROTESTORS: Fighting the solar panels mit to that of the nearby Fan shopping centre, that opened in 2016. "We are continuing the process to make this great projA PLAN to build a huge solar power park ect a reality," said a spokesHeritage Site in Mallorca has ‘angered’ beside a UNESCO World The 35,000m2 project in Selva, in the locals and expats. man for the firm, this week. foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana, will feature 12,600 solar panels Environmental group Amthat will each be 3m high. ics de la Terra Mallorca have So far, over 300 residents of the idyllic major concerns, not only for valley - recognised as a ‘cultural landscape’ - have signed alegaciones the environmental impact forms to object to the proposals. but because of the traffic They are now set to protest in the town problems on nearby roads, of Selva this weekend. Finnish architect, Evi Wager, 67, originally already congested due to the from Helsinki, was ‘shocked’ when she realised the site nearby airport. would be just 20m from her porch.

Solar secrets

as a ‘cultural landscape’ signed alegaciones forms to object. “It was a disgrace as no-one was informed until the last minute,” continued Wager, 67, from Helsinki, who has lived in the area for years. “You can’t build a huge industrial project in a small rural area like this. It would set a precedent for 20 other sites in Mallorca.” The mother-of-three continued: “We are not in the clear yet though although all the neighbours are really happy, because it was quite simply too close to all our homes. “We hope a historic home with a centuries-old irrigation system which sits in the way will also have an affect. “The Olive Press was the first paper to cover this story and I hope you will continue covering it until the end.”

“Nobody has been informed,” the mum-of-three told the Olive Press this week. “This has been going on behind “The location is wrong, you can’t just placeour backs. a large industrial site in a rural area like this. “It is not only going to ruin the views, it will act as a precedent for 20 other sites in mallorca.” It comes after consultancy firm Podarcis lead to the ‘destruction of vegetation and found that the plans will the disappearance of animal species’. Evi, who is an ‘avid gardener’, also alleges that politicians have flouted the rules governing by classifying the solar park as a site of development on rural land, ‘general interest’. Swathes of farmland, and the celebrated to be divided by the green energy site. hiking trail to Lluc, are set Madrid-based green energy firm, Good Wind Entertainment, which is behind the solar park, was not available for comment to the Olive Press. The company has also planned two other solar parks, each costing €2.5 million, in nearby Alaro, and Sant Rafael, in Ibiza. The Balearic Islands government failed to comment before HATED: Proposed solar farm we went to press.

SPECSAVERS in Santa Ponsa has been spreading awareness during World Glaucoma Week – with an estimated one million people suffering from the eye disease in Spain alone. The local optician, part of the largest in Europe, warned that around half of those with glaucoma do not know they have the degenerative eye disease that can cause blindness. Stop by an optician to discuss any vision concerns.

Clocks change

CLOCKS in Spain will move forward one houraDeath on ofMarch 31 to giant mark the beginning of Daylight Saving Time.

Ashamed

TRAGIC: Man dies

Walk on NORDIC walking has been added to the general program of PalmaDona, held on March 24, to encourage more women to take up the sport.

Drowned PALMA residents consumed more water taken from reservoirs last year than in the previous decade, draining lakes that were previously overflowing and in some cases could not be managed.

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A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than 500,000 people a month.

OPINION Wake up! IT has not even been a year since scientists declared we have just 12 years to take climate change seriously before we reach a ‘point of no return’, and already we are seeing direct consequences. Rising sea temperatures are having a negative impact on residents in Alicante, bringing more tropical nights and making it harder for people to sleep. Meanwhile, more than 30,000 square kilometres of land has become so dry it has changed the climate to semi-arid and aquifers are drying up. This is just a taste of things to come if no meaningful action is taken to reverse global warming. We need real divestment from fossil fuels and more investment into green energy. On a personal level, we need to cut down on our intake of red meat and there is no excuse for not recycling and cutting down on plastic use. At the Olive Press we use mostly recycled paper and maintain a strict policy of less than 1% returns. We also keep the number of pages to a minimum and keep the stories tight. The current government of Spain has taken some positive steps over recent months and seems to be very focused on the environment. Let’s hope this legacy continues after the elections in April, whoever wins.

FEATURE

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Dys-membered Did gender dysphoria drive an Oxford Universityeducated expat to hack off his own penis in an act of extreme self-harm in Zaragoza this month? The Olive Press investigates EXCLUSIVE By Timothy McNulty in Zaragoza

HE ‘bloodied’ expat staggered down Zaragoza’s narrow streets close to Goya station in a nightmarish scene worthy of the great painter himself. Shocked onlookers enjoying a Friday evening stroll along the popular Gran Via saw the 33-year-old unnamed Brit bleeding heavily from his crotch and raised the alarm. Police recovered the man’s amputated penis in a grisly visit to his central apartment located on Calle Calatayud. They then raced man and penis to

SUFFERING: The British man who cut his penis off may have had gender dysphoria

Miguel Servet Hospital where doctors successfully reattached it in a complex operation, although they were unable to

rule out future complications. While the unidentified man was recuperating in the plastic surgery and urology department, police had the hard task of piecing together what series of events had led to this bizarre incident. The Londoner, who we are not naming for legal reasons, told police the wound was self inflicted, sparking theories about drug use and hysteria-induced self-harm. “We don’t know if we had a sick person here living with us or if someone tried to kill him. Now he is in hospital and no one knows how he is,” Reyes, a neighbour complained to the Olive Press. But Zaragoza police were quick to sus-

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Already well established in Andalucia, Gibraltar and Mallorca, our website has covered the whole of Spain for over a decade and counts on over 15,000 visitors a day. The fourth newspaper in the (now) fast-growing Olive Press stable, we launch with a number of promises to our readers there, which we fulfill every fortnight in our other patches. We vow to serve up an original and varied mix of articles and our team of fully-qualified NCTJtrained journalists will be on the ground to cover everything from corruption, the environment, politics, nuisance neigh-

March 2019

Know what this is? It’s just helped an architect win the world’s most prestigious prize

March 13th - March 26th

2019

See Legacy on page VI

Spanish maestro celebrated for five decades in the business, see STARchitect page XII

or a

The Brits have not stopped in Spanish property with investing a 12% rise in purchases last year

due to other nationalities flooding the market, it is expected again this year. to rise According to property expert Mark Stucklin, of Spanish Insight, the weakness of Sterling Property against the Euro was the leading cause of the drop in demand. “Once the Pound stabilised at a lower level British demand bilised and then began to grow also staagain,” he explained. Continues on Page

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Vol. 13 Issue 313 www.theolivepress.es March 13th - March 26th 2019

ROMANIAN SWAP

FIGHT THE POWER! Pylon the pressure

British expat trades in his British Romanian one to keep freedom passport for of movement

Established

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SIMPLE, INTRICATE mixture, of the three AND STYLISH: Bofill’s works are all,

RITISH buyers in Spain dum records despite the have beaten pre-Brexit referendoom and gloom, new figures have revealed. Shrugging off the the sale of homes to plucky UK’s imminent departure from the EU, Brits rose 12% in 2018 to 10,178 ing the 2016 record of 10,156. - beatWhile UK buyers declined last year. referendum in June 2016, significantly in the quarters after the steadily It means the UK’s share of the foreign market has ter of 2016, they started and by a massive 28% in the last quar- to 17% increasing from a low of 14% in the first quarter of been at recovering to increase by 2017 double-digits Although the end of 2018. this is not yet back to the levels prior to the referendum

A BRITISH citizen has swapped his UK passport for a Romanian one because of Brexit.

T has only taken five years, but the Olive Press Costa Blanca edition has finally arrived. Half a decade of research and planning - and with something of a recession to contend with in the interim - our investigative, community newspaper brand, designed for expats of ALL nationalities, has landed in Alicante and Valencia. With a dynamic mix of news stories, investigations, features, reviews and columns, we will, once again, be offering a much better product than our rivals just like back here at home.

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As spring blooms in Spain, don’t miss Andalucia’s Property most King of cool colourful Property Magazine FREE INSIDE STILL HOT

Expat Nenei Newman, who has lived in Spain for 15 years, revealed he made the move to guarantee his right

1 See page 5

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UK BASED

EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

to freedom of movement. The builder, whose mother is Romanian, told the Olive Press last night: “I want to travel around Europe freely, and I have a life here, I don’t want to have to get a visa or become a third national.” The 41-year-old, who lives in the Axarquia, added: “Never in my wildest dreams would I have applied for Romanian citizenship before the referendum, but when Leave won and after seeing the mess being made by politicians I thought it was the best option for me. “I don’t regret it.” Newman insists he still loves the UK and hopes it will recover from Brexit’s side effects - despite the daily racism he suffered there.

THE Olive Press is this week launching a campaign to protect two of Andalucia’s most emblematic areas from a destructive electricity project. Our ‘Fight the Power’ battle comes as more than 4000 written allegations were submitted in opposition to the massive electrification scheme that will see 80m-high pylons spanning the Lecrin and Alpujarras valleys of Granada. This is despite a joint study by Granada and Cambridge universities estimating that a loss to businesses in the area will amount to €16 million a year. “We’re delighted the Olive Press is taking up our cause and I really hope we can save this stunning area,” said celebrated British writer Chris Stewart, of Driving Over Lemons fame, who lives in the Alpujarras.

NEW WORLD: Romanian passport deemed more useful

“I was so disappointed by am still the result, but I unders- grown proud to have tand why Leave won,” he I still up in London and admire the British added. and will always support “So many people who them 100%.” wanted to cut down im- His decision migration have been in- nightmare comes as a no-deal scefluenced by the biased nario media, who only wrote come is still a likely outnegative things about UK is just days before the scheduled to leave people like me. the EU. “Yet I worked incredibly Some hard every day to be on believed 700,000 Brits to be living in building sites for 6am Spain are particularly and never complained. at risk, “That was despite me pensionswith healthcare, and travel all and my mother both points of concern. receiving regular racist abuse” Brexit Shambles, He added: “That said, I page 5

Passport power

Support

Fellow expat Michelle Howard, who has lived in Lecrin for almost 20 years, added: “It’s great news that your paper will be mounting a campaign to support Di No A Las Torres against these destructive plans!” Their allegations were presented by the campaign groups last week in Granada. Under the scheme, the 220-kilovolt cables will cover a distance of 182 kilometres between Almeria and Granada, with 362 pylons and with a 14,000 square metre substation built in Saleres. A spokesperson from Red Electrica insisted it was a positive project, telling the Olive Press last night: ‘the better the electricity network, the better the tourism’.

In the 2019 Global Passport Ranking, compiled by the CEOWORLD magazine, the UK ranked below Spain, the UAE and 16 other European and Asian countries. The list ranks the passports of 193 countries and six other territories by counting the number of countries each passport can access without an advance visa. Romania was only 16 places behind the UK but that could change if visas become a requirement after the UK leaves the EU.

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March 13th - March 26th

2019

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Brexit shambles FABIAN Picardo has suggested revoking Article 50 and remaining in the EU after MPs rejected Theresa May's deal for a second time. It comes after MPs roundly defeated the Prime Minister’s deal by 149 votes despite May’s pleas to ‘get the deal done’. Immediately after the vote, May announced Parliament will get a vote today (March 13) on whether to leave the EU without a deal. “This result makes the possibility of our staying the European Union more likely than it has been since the Article 50 notice was given,” said Chief Minister Picardo. “What will happen is still not clear, but I believe it is likely Parliament will tomorrow take a 'no deal' exit off the table.”

2/8/18 17:01

There is a ‘gender imbalance’ when it comes to running Gibraltar, claim female politicians

2 GIBRALTAR’S echelons of power have been compared to those in Iran due to its lack of female representation. It comes after the Rock ranked 154th out of 191 countries in a study on women in power by the International Parliamentary Union. “The study says we are only slightly better than countries like Qatar, Congo and Iran,” said Together Gibraltar leader Marlene Hassan Nahon. “We look back over the last 50 years and there is only a handful of women that have graced Parliament with their presence. “As a result there is a void of female role models as we haven’t been there to add our perspective.” Speaking on International Women’s Day, Nahon also re-

By John Culatto

vealed she was once advised to ‘find a man’ to lead her new party. “For them, the visual is that a man has to lead,” she added during a debate at City Hall. “It’s all about awareness and Humiliating changing these visuals.” Brexit Secretary Stephen Rival GSLP MP Samantha Barclay had told MPs the Sacramento agreed, saying deal would deliver the prothere was ‘obviously’ a ‘gentections they had asked for, der imbalance’ on the Rock. including on the status of “Overnight, I became minisGibraltar. ter for equality and I rememIn his closing remarks, Barber quite a hostile reaction clay said: “The PM has been when we first started cel- BEHIND: Study said Gibraltar only ranked clear that the government ebrating International Womalongside Iran stands behind sovereignty en’s Day,” she said. “Instead, we want for Gibraltar, and that will “I had to explain that the rea- that it is because of to show Mayor Kaiane Aldorino Lo- In one of her last public never change.” these bar- pez, a former Miss son we are raising awareness riers and biased that World speeches before she is women winner, believed however, due to If MPs reject the no-deal is not to give a particular ad- are at a disadvantage opal- that gender roles had begun step down from her position, tion, there will be a further vantage to women. ready.” she said: to change. “Children should understand vote on a potential extension that women are not made of Article 50 on Thursday. only to handle household A total of 75 Conservative chores or take responsibility MPs rebelled against the deal whereas three Labour of home and family. “Instead, both men and wom- MPs rebelled against their en are responsible of home leader by voting in favour. and family as well as the In a statement the EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel UK BASED working world. Lettings | Sales “Women should identify their Barnier said: “The impasse strengths and abilities and can only be solved in the UK. Reliable private hire transfer Investments | Relocations move toward a world of em- Our “no-deal” preparations services for any occasion are now more important powerment.” Commercial and Residential • Luxury vehicles than ever before.”

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paid for) Vol. 3 Issue 50 www.theolivepress.es March 14th - March 27th 2019

Lying scum By Gillian Keller

ACTIVISTS from far right political Vox, have been caught fabricating party a hoax about 'radical feminists' beating young girls. It comes after the leader of the Mallorca branch told a 8M Women's Day event the trio, including his own daughter, that were attacked by a group of 'radical feminists' in Son Servera. He claimed the girls were lefts with 'knocked out teeth, a split lip and possibly a broken jaw', at the event in the town. One of the teenage youths was apparently still at the hospital with the jaw injury. The story duly made front pages around Mallorca, but despite public doubts, anti-feminist party kept up the charade, the telling and posting details of the 'attack' reon social media. 'Witnesses' even came forward describing the 'brutal attack'. However, the Guardia Civil soon discovered that no such incident had been reported, and no medical centre had received a patient matching the injuries. Finally, on Saturday, they confirmed story to be false, with Vox admitting the they had been spoofed. The news led to Son Servera town host a protest on Sunday against hall to the party and against spreading 'fake news' about the town. “We regret that a celebratory day for en has been overshadowed by an womalleged aggression,” said a spokesman. He assured the town would not ‘attitudes that harm the good nametolerate of Son Servera’. While the party has since denounced ‘activist’ for making the story up, a local another protest was due to be held in the town last night as we went to press.

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MPs join battle to get millions back for expats who lost out to rogue FX firm EXPATS in Mallorca have EXCLUSIVE slammed the lack of action over By Tim McNulty a foreign exchange firm collapse, despite British authorities claiming an investigation is ‘a matter their funds since then. One expat, based in Cas Catala, of priority.’ Dozens of clients, most of them Pam Gardner has grown frusBritish expats, lost millions of trated at attempts by the UK’s euros when the Palma-based Financial Conduct Authority company Premier FX suddenly (FCA) to ‘wriggle’ out of responstopped trading in July last year. sibility. Victims have demanded answers “People in the UK just think it but have been left completely in was a case of rich expats with the dark and unable to access too much money, they don’t realise it was people’s life savings that were lost, money they planned to retire on,” she told the Olive Press this week. She added she was ‘upset’ that local boss Nick Jones has apparently washed his hands of the case and ‘fled’ the island. She has now launched a civil case against the firm, lodged in Palma. It comes despite British MPs now stepping in to demand the FCA probes the case ‘as a matter of priority.’ UNDER FIRE: Local boss Nick Jones MP for Dover, Charlie

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www.theolivepress.es or paid for) The Olive Press September 13th celebrates its - September 26th 300th issue on mainland... find EXCLUSIVE 2018 the out By Elisa Menendez English newspaper why we are Spain’s best in our supplement inside AN expat business demanding action owner is after neighbours put up ‘illegal’ bollards blocking his shop. Martin White, 54, business Hot Springclaims his has been forced to Mallorca Is Bilbao tastfor almost three cease trade the series of 15-inchweeks, after ier than San Page 6 posts were installed. Sebastian? As well as blocking Page 12 delivery trucks, it is putting off clients, Page 20 he insists. “I’m suffering a loss a day. Delivery vansof €1,000 can’t get through to drop White, from Hull, off stock,” told the Olive Press. He has now called Alcudia town hall, in police and to demand answers.via a lawyer, The problem began when White, who is co-owner of the business with David EXCLUSIVE 56, arrived to find Camping, By Elisa Menendez bollards blocking the series of his shop on August 27. After contracting EXPATS in Mallorca a legal firm may have he was told by both lost millions town hall that the police and cious collapse over the suspiposts were of ‘illegal’. change firm beinga foreign exThe businessman ‘criminal activity’. probed over is now set to take the community Dozens of victims have lost up bours to court for of neigh- to €400,000 each in life savtion and loss of discrimina- ings after Premier business for FX Limited €30,000 in compensation. was forced into administration The posts have by the UK’s Financial “The Conduct moneynext thing I knew, the amount stalled in front ofalso been in- Authority (FCA). was gone. of money’ the Muslimowned supermarket It comes after the about it,” added the I feel sick collapse, according from the next to operated firm - which “I pensioner. to a close him, although ‘mysteriously’, friend. just don’t understand from make financial why no The Portals-based not the garage the transfers via tugal and LondonPalma, Por- other media organisations other side. Barclays even after expat pal, “It’s totally illegal,” on who has also stopped trading - suddenly the island are tackling the company had ceased trading. he said. lost “You can’t just put following the deathon July 27, In particular, she this.” sisted Jones had money, in- boss Rexstrew, who them on one The FCA been of director, know also lived wants side without the other.” Peter Rexstrew. of the whereabouts to to ‘go into hiding’ after advised the Algarve, she was given in that the has since discovered he was warning company, To make matters no of ‘lambasted’. Since then hundreds Nick Jones, the island’s of the collapse. worse, three 2006, was operatingset up in of clients, director, former “I know days after the bollards many of them “I simply found out without who has him closely and expats, have when I tried full authorisation. one of the neighbours went in, been left he to for over a month. not been seen said all employees completely in the were in total onemake a transaction but no It was forced into administrabucket of water over threw a dark and unable She is angry that shock with the news. would answer him from tion to access their above. funds. then emailed and the phone. I debtsafter being unable to pay out an assurance he had sent “He is not in hiding I received this email of the advised he has been automatic and was ‘cash flow He has also denounced company’s financial insolreply saying they vent’ following Rexstrew’s the incistability while to keep a low profile ceased dent to the police. on June 20, just the investigation trading and there’dhad den death, sudAssurance is on- no leaving his two chil“I’ve had the shop be death of Rexstrew.days after the going. And while dren as joint directors. a director, in “I further transactions. and I’ve never had for five years Victims have now formed However, reality, immediately smelt an derstands the Olive Press un- main he had no access to the added. a rat,” she Victims have so far action group with “The administratora problem. accounts.” nearly 200 that very little information received ing told us this wasof the build- members - many of When worked out of an Jones, who She added: “All this from the them in a personal the Balearics office on Pal- tressing is very dis- tion she called the UK’s Ac- company’s appointed vendetta from residents,” ma’s prestigious Calle - demanding imadminFraud, an operator istrators and he mediate answers. La Ram- He has for him and his family. plained added. bla, has also lost he knew nothing ex- they will neverBarclays and fear been completely ‘a substantial basted. One British expat, about lam- it. get their money I understand back. Palma, told the Olive based in angry but there have people are “I’ve been stuck for two months been some without has no idea what has Press she really nasty comments. that money which happened to the €30,000 she I need “It is quite clear Criminal was holdthat Peter’s “It’s for my business. ing with Premier children were taking not just affecting “It’s a real mindfield FX. “I had used them and like business, not Nick.” over the buying holiday homes, people banging your for many it is also head years and there affecting Another victim told a brick wall,” added against were never the Olive can’t pay business owners, who any problems,” explained Press she has lost British retiree, who another staff or clients.” the 69-year-old, who has lost €400,000 due to a staggering Most victims had money. Premier the collapse. FX and Barmain anonymous. asked to reised by Premier been prom- clays failed The UK-based businesswoman, “I had transferred money was being FX that their for press. to comment in time who lived for decades Untitled-1.pdf An FCA spokesperheld in ‘segreBAFFLED: By 1 16/06/2017 15:36 and was waiting the money gal, has made three in Portu- gated, personal accounts’ son bollards for the exmonthly Barclays, change rate to improve. with are told the Olive Press: “We transactions with very concerned that but administrators Premier FX now MISSING: Nick there for 12 years. think this was not was criminal activity Jones the case. taking It is Despite being a friend place at Premier of former clientsalso believed that many tion to missing FX in relawere still permitted funds. “We to are investigating the business and will take action against any individuals we broken the law in find to have order to return money to customers of the firm.”

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Elphicke, has now met with the authorities to check on progress of the case. He said, this week: “The FCA must treat this investigation as a top priority. Innocent people have been left in terrible financial hardship. “The authorities need to get to the bottom of this urgently.” The move comes after the firm Three Lions - which operated from Palma, EXPOSED: In a previous Hot Portugal and London - suddenly issue Hot water water stopped trading on July 27. Victims told the Olive Press deposit funds, to be used as a last year that they had lost up type of savings vehicle. to €400,000 each in life sav- It did not have a licence to ofsince ings after the company was fer this service, it has Pipe ban Pipe ban forced into administration by emerged. The company appeared to the UK authorities. An action group was formed have got into trouble after its and now has well over 200 owner Peter Rexstrew died members - many of them in suddenly in Mallorca. the Balearics - demanding im- The Olive Press can reveal that he had recently started renting mediate answers. One claimed an initial inves- a new property in the exclusive tigation by Surrey police had Portals area, with a new girlapparently been scrapped due friend, when he passed away. The pair had been seen out to ‘insufficient funding’. The company had been regu- enjoying expensive meals and lated by the FCA for money ‘living the high life’. transfer services but its cus- The FCA did not get back to tomers were encouraged to the Olive Press before deadline. Expats demand the return of millions after FX company collapses amid fraud probe

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SEESOME MORE 14 IN fire bosses have been arrested for THE RESTAURANT allegedly embezzling SOME SECTION

FRUIT growers quia are facing ain the Axar60% reduction in water FRUIT growers usein from the the La AxarVinuela quia are reservoir facing a 60% with no solution tion sight.use from reducinin water the La The Junta Vinuela has with reservoir decided to no solimit its lution inuse as the reservoir sight. is already The at 22.7% Junta has capacity decidedand couldits to limit drop use even as thelower reservoir if the dry weather is already at 22.7% keeps up. could drop even capacity and dry weather keepslower if the up.

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‘He deserves it’ Not ‘He deserves it’ Not enough enough stars stars December 6th December 19th 2017 December 6th December 19th 2017

From Page 1

DOOMED: Costa

hotel

DOOMED: Costa

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than permitted. Although the town hall and developer than permitted. maintain this excess was later Although the town corrected, hall and the judge ruledmaintain developer that the rectificathis extion would cess was later have corrected, taken place the after the judge ruled granting that theof rectificathe licence, tion would so does have nottaken count. place The building after the granting has 61 of the apartliments so cence, and does 46 not parking spaces. building has count. The 61 apartThe original ments and 46 parking building spacwas granted planning es. permission by The original then mayor building Enrique was Bolin in 2001. granted planning sion by then mayor permisEnrique Bolin in 2001.

SMUGGLERS’ SMUGGLERS’ WALL WALL

POLICE officers along a beach in have formed a human wall deter La Linea to ensure drug smugglers construction that the as a drop POLICE from using the beach of a have officers beachformed wall went off zone. The wall, ahead.wall A combined a human along between a beach in La Linea deter drug smugglers the church police presence to ensure Senora del Carmen of Nuestra construction that the as from of Guardia local using of a beach andwall and off Civil, the beach a drop thewent national perimeter of thewall, zone. officers were present The ahead.wall A fishing port of Lachurch fears between grew that combined as Atunara, drug police Senora del Carmen the smugglers of hopes presence Nuestra to local and disrupt the of Guardia would try Civil, work. of the fishing port and the perimeter wall fears and national officers were present of La Atunara, hopes grew as to and disrupt that drug smugglers would try the work.

He even got himself known radio station, a financial advice slot on a well through which he From Page 1 ing victims. He snared unsuspecteven got himself a financial advice However, known a comprehensive radio slot on a well station, Olive posed Press which ing his scams that through investigation he snared victims. unsuspectinvolved stamps, exWe also revealed However, coins and gold. a comprehensive how he and his close wined his Olive posed Presspal andscams Barry Nathan dinedthat investigation up to a dozen involved excriminals, through stamps, We also the food column. revealed and gold. how he and his closecoinsanonymously, He eventually wined and dined pal Barry Nathan fled up the to a country dozen criminals, but we soon followinganonymously, through our expose, tracked the food him down to the column. changed He UK, where he had his name eventually fledbythe deed poll andfollowing country antiques was selling but we soon on eBay ourcoins from tracked and expose, a small him downBerkshire He was quickly to the UK, changed cottage. his name found where he had guiltypoll by deed under people and andEnglish antiques was selling law ofcoins givenfrom on eBay conning a suspended and a small Berkshire prison cottage. sentence He was quickly only due to health found guilty reasons. “And because under English law people and given he apromised of conning suspended to prison go back toonly never sentence his due online cons,”reasons. to health one of the Britishbecause “And victim explained. he promised to Butback this to go never is apparently his online cons,” not theone caseofwith two victims British the victimclaiming explained. he is still using eBaythis But to is sell ‘dodgy’ coins apparently and not the stamps fromvictims case two his unpaid with flat in claiming he Brighton, is still using ing the useBay tonames sell ‘dodgy’ ‘gqtrading’ coins and and ‘gqtrading2’. his unpaid stamps from flat Brighton, us“Wethe arenames ing pretty sure heinhas broken his and bail conditions‘gqtrading’ ing2’. and will have to‘gqtradfinally go back “We areto prison,” pretty suresaid one broken he has victim. his “Theconditions bail nerve of this man and willishave unbelievable.” Hisback to finally landlord go to prison,” last night said one insisted something victim. he should have “The nerve was up man of this known fromisthe start. unbelievable.” “When His we metlast landlord to sign theinsisted night contracts slippery, I went thoughthave something heI should he was to pay was up a bit known fromfor my the coffee only for the tell me he start. “When we had barista met left without to sign paying his the contracts He continued: slippery, bill.” he was to I thought I went“He paid to pay a bit forfor the my first only thenme coffee couple tell just hestopped. months forofthe had left without He told us baristabut to his account paying duecontinued: to a money“He He his bill.”had been frozen laundering paid for the investigation, ably true. first couplewhich then “He thenHe just stopped. of months is probtold us us but to his told stopaccount cused contacting due of harrassment. tous a money had him beenand laundering investigation, acfrozen “Nowtrue. ably he is claiming “He which is probthen told he is seriously ill make payments. cused and can’t us of harrassment.us to stop contacting him work and acto “We’ll he “Now seeishim in court.” claiming he is seriously ill make payments. and can’t work to “We’ll see him in court.” Opinion Page 6 Opinion Page

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14 fire €7 bosses millionhave in public arrested been funds. INSIDEfor allegedly The Policia embezzling Nacional €7 million found in that funds. public the Consortium of Bomberos The Policia Cadiz Nacional tookfound out mass early A HOTEL is to that the retirement insurbe knocked of ance policies.Consortium down for not having Bomberos Cadiz took out But when mass class! A HOTEL is to be enough early retirement their employees knocked insurretired ance early, chiefs siphoned Benalmadena’s down policies. for not having Vista off the But money from the de Rey must be Hotelenough when class! paydemolished outs. early,their employees retired within three months, Benalmadena’s chiefs siphoned Hotela court Authorities Vista off the money also found hasRey de ruled, must be demolished disthe paycrepancies in from outs. Andalucia’s the consorwithin three months, Superiora Court tium’s training courses. Authorities court of Justice has ruled, ruled that the found disLarge sums also crepancies howere in tel falls shortSuperior Andalucia’s thepaid to a consorcompany of its four-star tium’s to provide training courses. requirement. training of Justice ruled that Court courses, Large but no sums the hoevidence were paid tohas tel falls short of been found a company its four-star tothat thesetraining provide courses requirement. took place. courses, Probing but no evidence has Meanwhile, been found that these It began probing irregularities courses were place. the three took also found Probing star hotel and apartment subsidies, whichin grants and Meanwhile, cops believe block It irregularities began in 2011 probing after it were also usedfound the was to pay three denounced in for star private grants hotel overand and trips. planning subsidies, apartment rules which cops believe whichin block set2011 The irregularities aside were after theitplot used to pay for wasfor dea date four star hotel back nounced private to 2008 and over planning trips. only. cops believe rules According which least irregularities set aside to thethe The €7 million has been at PGOU plot town for date back stoplan star four len2008 an apartment by those to hotel only.block wasa andatcops the top. not permitted According least €7 million hasbelieve at to the and PGOU it town also breached plan len by those at the been stoan apartment rules by being blockover top.

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PEDRO Corral’s extraordinary retelling of Nationalist folly during one of the final battles of Spain’s bloody civil war is cause for reflection against the backdrop of Brexit. Franco’s generals at the siege of Madrid, 80 years ago, believed their bid for glory would ‘be a literal walk in the park’. It is rather like former prime minister David Cameron’s idiocy of believing that the UK would very happily vote to stay in the EU. He forgot there was such a thing as a ‘protest vote’. With MPs doing their own rendition of the famous cry ‘no pasaran’ in the face of Theresa May’s repeated attempts to force through her Brexit deal, a million expats face uncertainty over their pensions, properties and healthcare. This week MPs managed to wrestle back control over the Brexit process and here’s to hoping they’re able to find a majority for a milder alternative. Should a deal be struck for the UK to stay in the EU it would provide a less fleeting victory than that enjoyed by the Republican defenders of Madrid - one that would see Brits and Spaniards breathe a huge collective sigh of relief.

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FEATURE

7 olive press online

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Spain Spain and and Gibraltar’s Gibraltar’s best best English English daily daily news news website website

The top three most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:

- Dead body dumped on Spain’s Costa del Sol

was of young foreigner, 23 and had at least 10 gunshot wounds (21,413)

- DRUG HILLS: British expats in upmarket

urbanisation on Spain’s Costa del Sol wake up to disgraceful graffiti (14,866)

- Gibraltarians fuming after Ronnie

O’Sullivan says he’d rather sleep in pig sty than play snooker in Gibraltar (8,969)

Visitors: 270,691

Page views: 370,548

Average time on site: 5:04

NIGHTMARE: The unamed Brit (top left), Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son (right), the Miguel Servet hospital (left) and (below) Dr Lago

pect the Brit did not carry out the horrific act himself. As the investigation progressed it was suggested the man had posted online prior to the incident, advertising for someone to perform the amputation. And almost a week on from the atrocity, the expat’s housemate was arrested amidst reports of a gruesome pact between the two friends. Policia Nacional announced the flatmate had been arrested on suspicion of ‘wounding’ and was being held for questioning at a police station in the city. At first the story was compared to the high profile case of John Wayne Bobbitt, castrated by his vengeful wife in 1993. But that was before Spanish press began reporting that the victim, who is believed to have moved to Spain in 2014, was ‘not happy’ with being a man and

DARK: Goya’s Two Old Men

struggled with his gender identity. are not happy Something appears to have driven this with their genseemingly ‘normal’ thirtysomething to der identity. ‘ask a friend’ to cut off his own penis. Speaking from LIke Goya’s paintings which grew pro- his clinic in foundly more troubled in the artist’s Madrid, Dr later years, this British expat may have Lago said: “Of experienced his own personal descent course it is a into darkness. Whatever the true story, very complitragically that evening in Zaragoza, life cated problem seemed to imitate art. to solve, we Though a rare event, acts of genital are only startself-mutilation have been reported ing to open around the world and throughout his- our minds just tory, going back to religious practice in a little. ancient Rome. “You will find A recent incident in 2016 saw a man in people in India chopping of his penis in a fit of Spain with rage at the fact his wife had not slept those problems without the possibility with him in 10 years. of finding any help. THE Olive Press web statistics are nothing short of amazAccording to research carried out in We will see stronger changes not only ing. 1979 by Harvard Psychologist James in Spain but also in other countries as Our rapid growth over the last six months shows no sign E Groves, the majority of we recognise that these of abating as our regular daily visitors nudges a figure of recorded cases have inpeople need help.” 20,000 a day. volved people with psychoDr Lago takes pride in his It is perhaps, what you might expect from a media group Acts of genital work and sees sex change sis. The rest can be attribthat invests in journalists, not scared to ask questions uted to either bizzare autooperations as the only way and investigate stories properly. self-mutilation erotism or crude attempts to help people with ‘genProviding original content on an almost hourly basis, sevhave been at sex change. der dysphoria’ get better. en days a week, means that our Alexa ranking (above) Transgender individuals He added: “Nowadays - created by Amazon.com, the world’s biggest online rehave consistently been reported around surgery is the most importailer - has continued to soar. As well as zooming into the top 200,000 sites in the shown to have higher rates tant thing we can do for the world world, we are in the top 13,000 in Spain, while our bitter of many psychiatric conditrans people, I have treatrivals languish outside the top 20,000. tions, often worsened by ed many and I can say And, if you were to doubt Amazon’s own statistics (believsocietal discrimination now that 99% of people ing they were in some way manipulated) then you could and trauma. after surgery felt like they had a comuse Google’s very own analytical programme to verify our http://www.theolivepress.es It appears this ‘well liked’ University of pletely new life.” Analytics www.theolivepress.es claims. Oxford-educated English teacher could FYI, they show that our worst day over the last fortnight have be driven to Audience Overview was 11,300 unique visitors (users), while our best day act by a condition (see below) had 26,780 unique visitors (users). All Users known medically as Users Average100.00% time on the site OVER three minutes. THE EUROPEAN DENTAL PRACTICE ‘gender dysphoria’. Is it any wonder that we were voted the BEST expat paGender dysphoria is Overview per in Spain and second best in the world at the London a condition where TESCA awards? For appointments: +(34) 971 681 439 a person identiWe don’t pay for our awards, we don’t buy followers for fies with the sex our Users Twitter feed and we don’t acquire ‘likes’ for our FaceDra. Mónica Bonet Hempel. Uni. de Barcelona 3,000 opposite to that to book pages. http://www.theolivepress.es Dr. Yasmina Adebibe. Uni. of London.  Go long to report Olive Press it is all 100% organic. And may it which he or she was Analytics www.theolivepress.es At the 2,000 Susan Taylor-Vickers. B.Sc. E.D.H.A remain that way. biologically born. In Audience Overview other words, people 1,000 19 Mar 2019 - 19 Mar 2019 don’t identify with http://www.theolivepress.es All Users Analytics 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 100.00% Users … 01:00 02:00 03:00www.theolivepress.es their own biological sex. Audience Overview Overview Dr Jesus De Lago Users New Users Sessions All Users has been treating 100.00% Users 26,780 11,573 32,088 patients with gen Users der dysphoria for alOverview 3,000 most two decades. Number of Sessions per User Page Views Pages/Session 2,000 He shared with the 1.20 41,881 1.31 Users Olive Press how, 1,000 3,000 despite Spain’s Avg. Session Duration Bounce Rate progressive stance www.theeuropeandentalpractice.com … 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00 10:00 2,000 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 00:03:46 26.21% on the issue, life is C. Cial. Mercadona, 1º loc. 17/18, Son Caliu. hard for people who

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Stanford student in death fall AN American university student has plunged to his death in a tragic climbing accident. Stanford graduate Mischa Nee, 20, fell 12 metres from a cliff in Deia, while hiking with a group of four other students. They apparently lost sight of their friend while he was ‘exploring a nearby hill’ situated in ‘rocky terrain’. The tragic accident happened on March 22, but it wasn’t until the following day that search teams located Nee’s body. Nee was studying computer science at the famous SF University, and had been on the Bing Overseas Studies Program, which saw him travel to Madrid.

Rescue rush A STRING of dramatic mountain rescues took place on Sunday as rescue services rushed to help injured hikers The morning saw a rescue helicopter called out to the Gorg Blau reservoir after a women hurt her shoulder in a fall. The Guardia Civil air ambulance also saved a rambler who had fractured an arm in a fall near Cala Falco. Meanwhile firefighters raced to save a suspected heart attack victim from a remote wooded area in Cingles de Son Rullan.

March 29th - April 11th 2019

End of the line

Million march

€15,000 military operation as fish and chip shop owners return to the UK with 50 dogs and cats in tow

A BRITISH couple have returned to Blighty with 50 dogs and cats in tow. Fish and chip shop owners Jacqui and Tim Kerswell, 44, spent €15,000 to get their beloved pets home to the UK after making the decision to relocate. The pair, who ran Tim’s Fish & Chips, in Manilva on the Costa del Sol, have returned to their farm in Devon with 32 cats and 18 dogs, over two legs and with a van completely full. “Pets are like children: if you can’t take care of them, then don’t have them,’’ Jacqui, 54, told the Olive Press.

The military operation took months to prepare, particularly as they had to carefully place the pets in cages to avoid them fighting on the route. “Spain is a prime spot for abandoned dogs and cats, but many expats also abandon their pets because they don’t want to fork out for transport,” added Jacqui. “We haven’t got a lot of money, but I would rather go without food than see my animals suffer.”

LOADED UP: Jacqui in van with pets and (inset) with Tim in Spain

The pair rescued every one of their pets from around their home over the last

THE Spanish Supreme Court has put animal rights over ancient rites to end the torture and killing of bulls at a historic festival. Animal rights activists are delighted that Spain’s top court has refused to overturn a ban on bulls being lanced to death by a spear-wielding crowd at the Toro de la Vega feria, in Castilla y Leon. Judges insisted that the tournament, that was previously watched by 40,000 fans on the banks of the River Duero should stay outlawed. It comes as PETA have claimed that over 100 towns have now banned bullfighting, while an Ipsos Mori poll found that 80% of Spaniards are now against the tradition.

d e cade. Each w a s given a microchip and pet passport and they have all been vaccinated against rabies - a process costing between €80-€150 each. Both journeys to the UK took 36 hours, with the dogs needing to be walked every four to five hours. The animals travelled in 28 separate cages that were fitted with ‘non-spill water bowls’, while the cats had special hiding spaces to relax.

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press their discontent at Theresa May’s stubborn refusal to set a fresh approach to Brexit. Parliament will now hold a series of ‘indicative votes’ today (Wednesday) in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock after the Government lost the vote by 329 votes to 302. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said: “Another humiliating defeat for a prime minister who has lost complete control of her party, her cabinet and of the Brexit process. “Parliament has fought back and now has the chance to decide what happens next.” A softer Brexit will likely be one of the options to be voted on as will staying in the customs union and even another referendum.

EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

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FINNING MYSTERY A DEAD shark and dolphin have washed up on two separate beaches with their fins ripped off. The shark appeared to have stab wounds, while the dolphin had its left pectoral fin sliced off, as if by a knife. Both mammals washed up in the same week, either side of the Balearic sea, one in Calvia and the other in Denia, on the Costa Blanca. The 4.1 metre female shark was found washed onto a breakwater at Puerto Portals, from where it was towed to the docks nearby for an autopsy. The Bluntnose sixgill shark usually lives and

Real change REAL Betis has become the first La Liga club to go carbon neutral after it signed up to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now initiative. The Sevilla-based club will now install on-site renewable energy generation as well as waste collection and treatment systems. “We will become a channel for communicating the urgency and the opportunities for taking climate action, starting in-house with our players and staff,” said the club’s business director business director Ramon Alarcon. It comes after fellow La Liga side Real Sociedad FC revealed it would sustainably collect the sunflower seed shells that football fans in Spain traditionally discard like confetti on the ground and turn them into fertiliser.

hunts alone. “It cannot be guaranteed, but the injuries correspond to damage that could have been caused by trawling,” said Debora Morrison, of Palma Aquarium. Meanwhile, police are studying the dead dolphin found on Les Bovetes beach in Denia. Experts have described the incident as ‘very strange’, which could lead to a full inquiry. The process of finning sharks and dolphins has been outlawed for many years. The fins are often used in a highly illegal Shark Fin Soup, which is popular in parts of China.

Sahara-ville Desertification continues to creep across Spain as climate change makes Alicante residents ill DESERTIFICATION has crept across 6% of Spain’s land mass over just four decades, alarming new figures have shown. A semi-arid climate, previously only prevalent in southern Spain, has taken a grip on 30,000 square kilometres of the country, according to weather agency AEMET. Some 32 million people - or two thirds of the population - now

have to deal with higher temperatures, longer summers and more frequent tropical nights as a result of climate change. The areas most affected by this increase are CastillaLa Mancha, the Ebro valley and the southeast, including Alicante. These are all areas of classical, continental Mediterranean climates that have become semi-arid and have suffered a reduction in rainfall. The number of tropical nights, AROUND 30 million sparrows have disappeared where temfrom Spain in the last 10 years it has been revealed. peratures don’t The Spanish Society of Ornithology (SEO), fall below 20C, claims the decline over the last decade have tripled represents a 21% reduction in the bird’s in Alicante populations. since 1980, the “This decline is alarming, because if we do not AEMET figures change this trend we could find ourselves show. It has very soon with cities without sparrows,” a also led to an inspokesperson of the group said. crease in short, One fifth of the ‘common sparrow’ intense storms, species now live in bringing more cities and are conseextreme floodquently threatened ing to Alicante by toxic insecticides, high city, Torrevieja, noise levels and pollution. Benidorm, De-

Who killed the sparrow?

ALARM: Average summer growth in a decade

nia and Javea. AEMET spokesman, Ruben Campo, also says summers have extended by an average of ten days per decade and are now five weeks longer than in the early 1980s. The climate change data, fed by 58 ob-

servatories, will be available from April. Last year scientists warned the whole of southern Spain could be turned into a desert by the end of the century if no meaningful action was taken to tackle global warming.

Plastic problem THE Gulf of Alicante is one of Spain’s most polluted coastlines. An 11-year study has revealed it has one of the highest levels of plastic pollution in the country. “The three areas with the largest presence of plastics are the Alboran Sea, the Gulf of Alicante and Barcelona,” said author of the study Santiago Garcia Rivera. “Although there is generally a smaller proportion of plastic than in other Mediterranean areas, the presence is very high.” Of the more than two tonnes of litter collected, 29.3% was plastic, 28.4% was slag, while the rest was made up of wood (10%), metal (9%) and glass (6%).

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LETTERS Not Fine! LE T T E R S

yo va We ur l u vi e ew s

www.theolivepress.es

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Check out our other issues at our website www.theolivepress.es

Spain Issue 314

NUISANCE: Stag and hen do’s now face fines

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Pride of Britain Imagine giving your passport up and taking another one on (British expat trades in his British passport for Romanian one to keep freedom of movement, Issue 313). That is a proud Brit right there. Callum Gregory, Gibraltar

Readers react to news that party-goers in Mallorca and Magaluf could be fined up to €3,000 for disorderly behaviour this summer

Milking it This is not completely different from the UK, where people move to the country and then complain about the smell, the dawn choNEWS 4 Girl rus, church power Save the bells, etc. cows! (Hundreds of animals f a c i n g death after generational farm ‘cut off’ after ‘offending’ new residents, Issue 313) The cows were there first, so if the newcomers don’t like it they can p**s off.

Voted

Mijas Costa

Letter

April 9th 2019 Vol. 13 Issue 314 www.theolivepress.es March 27th -

HOUSE RULES

ANXIOUS expats breathed a sigh of relief this week after Parliament voted to wrestle back control of the Brexit process in yet another humiliation for Theresa May. The fresh blow for the British Prime Minister has put the future of a million expats in Europe firmly into the hands of MPs, who are expected to avoid a hard Brexit. It comes after thousands of expats joined a million marchers at a massive anti-Brexit protest in London at the weekend. “It was great to be there making history I hope,” said Sue Wilson of Bremain in Spain. “It is not the first time we have voted with

Graffiti masterpieces by Spain’s own Page 9 Banksy

Continues on Page 4

Celebrating the end of the Spanish Civil Page 10 War

Michelin muppet makes an enviro-faux Page 35 pas

all in attendance at the anti-Brexit march in London

at the weekend

I saw your article about Pedro Sanchez leading tributes to the 14-yearold child killed in a crash on a bike in Spain. I’ve never understood why a child is not allowed on the road with a motorcycle, yet they are allowed to ‘race’ one on a track against others while mums and dads cheer them on. Motorcycles are dangerous enough on the road ridden by adults. This is the result and for what? My sympathy to his family who must be heartbroken. This all just shows why they don’t let 14-year-old children out on dangerous roads. Motorcycles aren’t dangerous on their own, but ‘racing’ them is dangerous, very dangerous. In this case the child didn’t need any cars.

Backpacker vanishes from Malaga as sister is convinced ‘something bad’ took place

Olive Press reviews Madrid’s hottest new Page hotel TM 40

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902 123 282 See page 2

MISSING: Swedish Tea

A DISTRAUGHT sister is pleading to Olive Press readers to help find her missing sibling who vanished while backpacking in Malaga two weeks ago. Madelene Tammi, from Sweden, fears her little sister Tea Nico-Lee Tammi, 23, who was last seen in Nerja on March 3, may have been kidnapped or taken somewhere ‘against her will’.

“My heart is bleeding,” concerned Madelene insisted. “The circumstances and details from friends she was with at the time make me believe something bad has happened.” Madelene added that her sister had lost her passport and mobile phone and has no means of income. Most worryingly, Tea, who is affectionately called Nico,

deleted all her social media, which Madelene thinks means she may have been taken somewhere against her free will. “She definitely would have contacted me if she had moved of her own free will,” added Madelene. She revealed that an initial search by police in the area has ‘not yielded any leads’ and Interpol are now set to get involved.

Vanished

Police in Sweden confirmed to the Olive Press that the case is being investigated by the Swedish Police Authority. “National police are investigating this case but we cannot comment any further at this time,” a local officer from Eskilstuna, where both girls are from, told this paper. Nico has several large stars tattooed on her left arm. Anyone who thinks they may have seen Nico please get in touch with newsor desk@theolivepress.es call 951273575. Also call Madelene on +46 739 257 141 or contact the Swedish police on +46 771 141 400.

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Vol. 4 Issue 93 www.theolivepress.es March 27th - April 9th 2019

Pig ignorant EXCLUSIVE By John Culatto

THE government pulled no punches when it hit back at snooker pro Ronnie O’Sullivan for his incendiary comments about the Rock this week. The world n u m b e r one, 43, had mocked the Gibraltar Open snooker tournament, saying he would ‘rather sleep in a pigsty’, than take part. His inflammatory comments enraged those in the Ministry of Culture, who said O’Sullivan ‘does not speak from any firsthand experience’. “Ronnie O’Sullivan has never played in this tournament in Gibraltar before,” a spokesperson told the Olive Press. “This is feud that he has with the snooker authorities and we have been caught in the middle. “If you check reports by other players who actually came to Gibraltar, they are very positive.”

PROTEST: Puns, pets and expats from Spain were all at the anti-Brexit march in London, as Fabian Picardo calls for article 50 to be revoked

Michael Bath, London

HOUSE RULES

Failed

It comes after O’Sullivan also blasted the facilities of the competition, which was held at the Tercentenary Hall from March 13-17. He was joined by scores of online critics who pointed out that organisers of the Gibraltar Open had failed to provide a warm-up table. However the Government spokesperson said: “The event is produced by World Snooker and it is therefore up to them to provide the table and not the Ministry of Culture. “With all the new facilities we are building, we will soon have more options and first class venues to host all these and more tournaments of this sort.” Stuart Bingham was the eventual winner of the Open.

UK Parliament takes back control as MPs seek to break Brexit deadlock, in an unprecedented move for the House of Commons

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Ed. Hi Michael, thank you for your letter. We agree that motorcycles are potentially dangerous vehicles if not used properly. This is a tragic tale indeed, and hopefully there may now be more safeguards put in place so that this doesn’t happen again.

It comes after thousands of expats the vote by 329 votes to 302. joined a million marchers at a mas- Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir sive anti-Brexit protest in London at Starmer said: “Another humiliating the weekend. defeat for a prime minister “It was great to be there making his- lost complete control of who has her party, tory I hope,” said Sue Wilson of Bre- her cabinet and of the Brexit promain in Spain. cess. “It is not the first time we have voted “Parliament has fought back with our feet, but it was our biggest now has the chance to decide - and what ever march contingent,” she added. happens next.” “It was a sign of commitment that A softer Brexit will likely so many members joined us in Lon- options to be voted on as be one of don.” MPs used Monday night’s ing in the customs union will stayand even vote to express their another referendum. discontent at Theresa Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian May’s stubborn refusal Picardo claimed Brexit options are to set a fresh approach getting ‘starker and starker’ as he to Brexit. renewed calls to revoke Article 50. Parliament will now “The land of milk and honey which hold a series of ‘in- was presented to the voters has not dicative votes’ today materialised,” Picardo insisted. Lettings | Sales (Wednesday) in an “As we all know, the best trading reattempt to break the lationship, the best deal, that can be Investments | Relocations Brexit deadlock after secured with the EU is clearly conCommercial and Residential the Government lost tinued EU membership.”

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Answers on page 22

Grounded

THE EU has suspended the use of the new Boeing 737-MAX 8 planes, after nine Britons and two Spaniards were killed when an Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed after taking off from Addis Ababa.

Oh yes, because it’s just British people right? Bull****. I have seen more pissed Spaniards than Brits in Mallorca.

Brexpact

A SPECIAL committee has been formed, comprising the 11 departments of the Junta de Andalucia, to introduce measures that will reduce the impact of Brexit on Andalucia’s 70,000 British residents, citing that the UK is the region’s top customer for tourism.

€100m on public projects moESTEPONA Council has spent €100 million on public works since 2011, it has been claimed. Mayor Jose Maria Garcia

Mercadona

MERCADONA has unveiled in Valencia its first macro warehouse exclusively dedicated to online orders, with plans to open a dozen more in a bid to challenge internet retailers Carrefour and Amazon.

Keith Pepe Churcher, Magaluf

Priorities Please can we also fine the holidaymakers for not picking up their dog poo.

NEW: Hospital

Michele Fowler Nolan, Benahavis

Urbano has spent the ney on several large projects, including the new athletics stadium, which cost €6 million. A further €10.5m has been spent on the gardens and plants, leading to the ‘greatest transformation the city has ever experienced’. This year’s budget will see more money going to the construction of Estepona Hospital, to the tune of €15 million.

By Joshua Parfitt

“Cutting off the water supply is just cruelty to animals,” Crowson told the Olive Press. “I don’t care if the mayor comes after me, I don’t want the cows and a family to be destroyed.” It’s not Crowson’s first battle with mayor Javier Arana after she thwarted his efforts to bring back bullfighting to the town two years ago. The expat, who has lived in the town for 30 years, famously kissed a bull as part of her campaign to raise awareness.

FARMER: Jose Real

with endangered cow CAMPAIGNER: Julie Crowson my farm,” he told the Olive She has now taken up the cause Press this week. of farmer Jose, who has worked “I don't have that kind of moon the farm since he was 12. ney.” According to the town hall, Mayor Arana, from the PSOE, complaints of smell by nearby defended the decision, teurbanisations, which have lling Rota al Dia he had given sprung up over the last decade, Sanchez a ‘month’s warning’ led to a court order forcing his about imminent cuts to prorelocation. visions. However, farmer Real insisted However the warning letter the council was merely plan- shown to this paper, dated ning to ‘slaughter’ his cows, November 29, did not specify give him money for the meat any dates. and charge him €31,000 for the “With elections coming up on service. May 27 I imagine the mayor “They are threatening me, yet is hoping to fulfil a campaign my cows have the best genetic pledge,” Crowson, who will indices in all of Andalucia. And be creating an online petition, while I know I must leave, it will added. cost me €1.5 million to rebuild

Maurice Plant, Malaga

Booze and more booze

Follow through

Tourism is down on last year due to uncertainty over Brexit and now they’re having a crackdown on boozy Brits? After trying to tempt boozy Brits over with... booze?

This is fine, as long as they regulate it better in Palma than they did last year with the supposed introduction of fines for people walking around the town centre in swimming attire (British tourists face €3,000 fines for drinking in streets of Marbella and Mallorca this summer while happy hours banned, Issue 313). I never saw anyone being fined.

Neil Measures, Laxey

Not enough I don’t think imposing fines on boozy Brits goes far enough. These low lifes are a national embarrassment for us. People who vomit and fight in the street should be prosecuted. We already have a bad enough reputation internationally as it is, thanks to Brexit. Christine Charlton, Palma

Audrey Johnston, Palma

Not the only one

Mind-boggling

Why was a two-year-old toddler CRIME allowed to off on his Julen UT Lydia Taylor, Nerja BRwander AL case own? (Malaga judge picke rejects report from apartd uncle’s lawyers claiming little JuMarco was a marked man len who died in well was killed by rescue That’s it for the economy then I guess. Whilst some worker’s pickaxe, of those among us expats like to cause trouble, Issue 313) It beats Spain needs us. Mallorca especially. Sad as it is, me, as you would English hen and stag parties do bring in money to make sure they our island. were 1right next 14:57 to Page 1 Olive Press 2018_Layout 16/04/2018 Tim Franks, Alcudia you.

March 13th - March 26th 2019

NEWS IN BRIEF

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WOMEN across Spain have organised 500 protests across the country on International Women’s Day. Students in Madrid and Barcelona went on strike at midday A BRITISH expat is campaigto highlight the crucial role of ning to save a herd of cows after women in society. a local farmer’s electricity and Feminist group, Comisión 8M, water supplies were ‘cruelly’ cut said the aim of the marches off by the town hall. was ‘subverting the world or- Julie Crowson, 59, is supporder and the pervading hete- ting Jose Luis Sanchez Real, ro-patriarchal, racist and neo- 56, whose 485 dairy cows are liberal rhetoric’. facing ‘almost certain death’. Meanwhile, in the Andalucian It comes after the farm in Rota parliament the 12 deputies of which has been in Jose’s family the far-right Vox party are the for generations - had its water only politicians to reject the supply cut off without warning calls of the left-wing PSOE for following ‘a string of comppolitical groups to join the stri- laints’ from neighbours. kes. To make matters worse, electriIt comes as President of the re- city was severed a few days later gion, Juan Manuel Moreno, is leaving the family desperate for set to create a working group to a generator to milk their cows. tackle gender violence.

THE Roman ruins of Italica, near Sevilla, are expected to become a candidate for elevation to UNESCO world heritage status following a campaign by civil association CIVISUR.

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Roman relics

This will also be implemented in other countries, I hope. After seeing videos last summer from Marbella and Puerto Banus I know there is no way they are all English people! 2

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Hundreds of animals facing death after generational farm ‘cut off’ after ‘offending’ new residents

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Across 8 Its capital is Kiev (7) 9 Jewelled headdress (5) 10 Pawnbroker (5) 11 Ignorant (7) 12 Deep-pitched band instrument (4,4) 15 Fourth Gospel (4) 17 Above (4) 18 E.g. Germaine Greer (8) 21 Glass containers (7) 23 Cutting instrument (5) 25 Vision (5) 26 Advantage (7) Down 1 Urban commuter belt (6) 2 Voracious aquatic reptile (Abbr.) (4) 3 Fruit drink (7) 4 List from which to choose (4) 5 Water vapour (5) 6 Tubular pasta (8) 7 Collapse (4,2) 13 Dearth (8) 14 Exploit (3) 16 Going down (7) 17 Surprise attack (6) 19 Agreement (6) 20 Roofing stone (5) 22 Weeps (4) 24 Gen (4)

When life throws limes

BRAZILIAN authorities in Santos have confiscated 1.7 tonnes of cocaine hidden among boxes of green limes on a cargo ship bound for Algeciras.

Economic suicide

Running again

CARLES Puigdemont, the former Catalan premier who fled Spain to avoid charges of rebellion in October 2017, has announced he will run as a candidate in the European parliament elections on May 26.

High-lying

LUXURY cars, a villa in Sotogrande, jewellery and wanton €5,000 purchases - the lavish lifestyle of Antonio Tejon drug mogul wife led police to the alleged drug trafficker’s door in a raid on Tuesday.

Uncovered

POLICE have arrested in Marbella two Spanish men, aged 35 and 40, for stealing 375 manhole covers across Torremolinos, Benalmadena and Fuengirola. The covers are valued at more than €160,000.

Neighbours in shock after British man allegedly murders muchloved Spanish wife of 30 years

TRIBUTES have been pouring in for a ‘kind and generous’ Spanish mother, allegedly stabbed to death by her British husband in Estepona. Neighbours told the Olive Press how Gloria Tornay, 58, had been round for a drink with her husband Geoffrey Elton, 55, on

POLICE believe a popular Marbella businessman killed outside his villa had been a money man for Ireland’s biggest mafia gang. Spanish detectives have told an Irish newspaper that Marco Yaqout, 49, who was shot at more than 20 times in San Pedro, worked for the Kinahan clan. Investigators initially believed Marco, who co-owned popular bar Linekers and other nightspots in Puerto Banus, was targeted after he was suspected of stealing from the cartel, led by Daniel Kinahan. However detectives now suspect another motive after learning the entrepreneur had an ‘excellent’ relationship with the Kinahans, based in Estepona for many years. A source told the Irish Sun: “It

EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

the eve of the brutal murder, adding that ‘nothing seemed wrong’. Retired satellite technician Elton went home at 7pm to ‘put a lamb’s leg in the oven’, befo-

SLAIN: Marco

has been established beyond doubt that he was acting as a money launderer for the Kinahan cartel.” There is no suggestion that any of Yaqout’s business partners or the nightclub itself were involved in laundering or aware of his criminal activities. Police are also exploring reports the murder was linked to the 400 million timeshare ‘pyramid scheme’ operated by murdered gangster, John ‘Goldfinger’ Palmer.

TRAGEDY: Elton ‘killed Gloria after losing his mind’ re Tornay was found dead at runs a maintenance company. 11:45pm in the couple’s bed. During the vicious attack the Elton, who spoke fluent Spaniweek of International Wo- sh, used to run a business insmen’s Day she received 10 stab talling satellite dishes along the wounds to her chest and back, Costa del Sol. He had lived in the same urbacuts to her arms and hands. He then attempted to kill him- nisation with his wife for more than 20 years and had supporself by slashing his wrists. Police sources confirmed there ted her through significant trahad been so much blood throu- gedy over recent years, inclugh the house in the leafy Forest ding the death of her sister and Hills area that police could not brother, both allegedly from figure out where the attack be- suicide. An ex-associate described Elton as ‘lacking humour’ gan. and ‘not the kind of person you “Gloria was my best friend. I could confide in her about could sit down with a beer and everything. She was generous, take the mickey out of’. Reports kind, hard-working,” the Spa- suggested Elton had locked his nish neighbour, who gave her 15-year-old son out of the house name as Carmen, told the Olive around 11:30pm before police were alerted by neighbours to Press. “It’s incredible that we had been a heated discussion that ended socialising with them just a few with Tornay dead. hours earlier and he had even Elton was rushed to hospital been cradling my granddaugh- where his critical condition stabilised on Sunday and he has ter in his arms. “He must have completely lost now in custody awaiting trial as an investigation into homicide his mind.” Tornay, from Montejaque, used is underway. to run a bilingual school for Estepona observed three days children in Cancelada, before of mourning while her homechanging jobs to work for El- town of Montejaque held a fiton’s mother, Carol James, who ve-minute silence on Sunday in remembrance.

LAWYERS for the family of well victim Julen Rosello have appealed against a judge’s decision to reject evidence he could have been killed by a rescue worker’s pickaxe. Antonio Flores, from legal firm Lawbird, believes that little Julen’s fatal injury was caused from a pickaxe blow. His report, based on the preliminary autopsy, rules that at least four blows ‘penetrated at least 35cm’ into the earth covering Julen in the well.

Illegal

However, the judge in Malaga said the report was not based on the findings of an ‘expert’, as the final autopsy has not been presented. Lawbird is representing uncle David Serrano, who owned the land in the Axarquia on which

the illegal well had been dug and is facing charges of ‘reckless homicide’. Serrano’s team responded insisting the report was made ‘in good faith’ and is also based on reports by the Guardia Civil. The report claimed that eight hairs from the minor were found on the end of the pick. Lawbird argues the judge’s decision to reject it puts Serrano at a ‘clear disadvantage’.

Marion Germaine, Athens

Embarrassing The fines are defintely needed. I have been coming to the island for years and this behaviour must end! Sue Brian, London

Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@theolivepress.es or alternatively message us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress

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Calvin in the house!

GLOBAL superstar Calvin Harris is to become the resident DJ at Ushuaia, in Ibiza this summer Harris will perform at the luxury hotel every Friday from August 2 to September 6. He will be presenting his latest new single, Gigant, a collaboration with English singer Rag ‘n’ Bone Man. The single was released in January and reached the Top 10 in various charts, including a Number 2 in the UK. The Dumfries born artist is currently the highest paid DJ in the world, with a net worth of around £140m.

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Send your informa newsdesk@theolive tion to press.es

Beach Banksy Local ‘Banksy’ attracts world attention replicating masterpieces on the streets of Spain A SPANISH artist is proving just how beautiful street art can be with his jaw-dropping replicas of some of the world’s most iconic works.

Julio Anaya Cabanding, 23, recreates the works of maestros like Vermeer, Rembrandt and Lucian Freud - complete with trompe l’oeil gilded frames - in derelict and neglected spaces. The former Malaga University of Fine Arts student, who began drawing from the age of six, replicates classic paintings with incredible accuracy, complete with painted frames. “I like the idea of ‘stealing’ a painting and putting it in another place, a desolate place

CLASSIC: Graffiti covered

RETURN: Dama de Elche

it received 400,000 visitors in just six months, 80% from outside Valencia.

Paris

He has vowed to take up a campaign to have the Lady of Elche - which is currently in Madrid - returned following the upcoming elections. The masterpiece is made of limestone and was found in

what’s on

ammin’

FOLK music is centre stage in Palma as 15 different musical groups from around the globe join Mallorca's World Folk Festival on April 2 and 3.

sla race

DERELICT: Cabanding’s art in unlikely spots that you never relate to it because it does not belong to that world,” the artist revealed. “I like to create that conflict.

The face to launch a million tourists SPAIN’S oldest sculpture would bring one MILLION tourists to Alicante city if it was returned, its mayor has claimed. Carlos Gonzalez believes that the Dama de Elche would have an ‘enormous impact on the national and international visibility’ of the city. When the historic bust which dates back to 5BC was last in the city in 2006,

11 11

March 29th - April 11th 2019

1897 by a young farm worker in a field near the town of Elche. The same year it was found it was sold to the Louvre museum in Paris, until in 1941 the Vichy government returned it to Spain as a present to Franco. It was exhibited at the Prado until in 1965 it was moved to Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum, where it currently resides.

I usually visit these places with a friend who paints graffiti. I am a studio artist and I do not know many places; it was my friend who one day said to me: ‘Hey, let’s paint the street.’ — and I said, ‘Ok!’” His works, now plastered across Andalucia and Europe, are created with acrylic paint that he mixes himself to make sure his replica is as faithful to the original as possible. He added: “Until recently I had a studio at the university, but I do not need it anymore; my studio is now the street, it is the place I paint at that moment.” To find out more about his street paintings and upcoming exhibits visit julioanayacabanding.com.

PORT Adriano's popular Isla Race returns with both a 6km and a tricky 12km obstacle course around the marina on April 7.

a n d y floss

C A R NIVAL rides, tricky games and plenty of food carts are at Mallorca's biggest fun fair, the Fira del Ram through April 28.

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12 www.theolivepress.es 12 March 29th - April 11th 2019

They did not pass!T

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Historian Pedro Corral reveals the gripping truth about how Madrid held on in an extraordinary last-ditch battle over fascism as the Spanish Civil War drew to a close 80 years ago. By Heather Galloway

FIGHTING SPIRIT: No Pasaran rally cry

HERE are no media reports or photographs of the last battle of the Spanish Civil War - a Republican victory - not fascist Franco’s - won on the banks of Madrid’s Manzanares River exactly eight decades ago. The Nationalist attack on Republican lines was top secret, unknown even to dictator Franco, and had consequences that the war’s victors have preferred to forget … until now. Only three weeks before the end of the bloody war on April 1, 1939, it perfectly typifies the fighting spirit of the Spanish, who refused to be beaten by a vicious nazi sympathiser. With the city nearly surrounded by the Nationalist enemy, they fought on under one last rallying cry of ‘No Pasaran!’ (They shall not pass) and even took hundreds of prisoners as part of the victory. The story of the battle was naturally buried by the victors of the war, which saw half a million dead,

HEROINE: Dolores ‘La Pasionaria’ Ibarruri

It was an absolute paradox. That the Republicans should have won this battle when the war had all but been won by Franco. Pedro Corral

and quashed the dreams of three vainglorious colonels who wanted to be the first through the gates of the capital after a long three-year siege. According to historian Pedro Corral, the trio, Alberto Caso, Eduardo Losas and Joaquín Rios of the 20th, 16th and 18th divisions had hatched their plan behind Franco’s back. “If they had managed to enter Madrid, Franco would not have ticked them off,” Corral explains. The only clear instructions issued from Franco’s headquarters in Burgos were to enter Madrid WITHOUT conflict – probably to avoid a repeat of the Nationalists’ humili-

ating defeat there in November, 1936. “Franco didn’t want another propaganda victory for the Republicans,” he adds emphatically. But ignoring their leader’s instructions the colonels went into battle mode and managed to compound the humiliation of 1936 and the later years of inactivity. According to Corral, their loss had much to do with the ‘contagious spirit of ‘No pasarán!’, which was coined by celebrated communist leader Dolores Ibarruri, a Spanish heroine well worth celebrating in the month of International Women’s Day. “She galvanised the Spanish and

harnessed their passion. ‘They shall not pass!’ she screamed. And they didn’t!” he says. Only the timing of the episode allowed it to be conveniently swept under the carpet. And declarations from 19 of the 57 Nationalist prisoners seized by the Republicans have been buried for 80 years in the Civil War Archives in Salamanca. Only now have they finally seen the light of day. “It was an absolute paradox that the Republicans should have won this battle when the war was all but won by Franco,” says Corral. Indeed, by March 1939, Franco’s troops had taken all of the north of Spain, including the Basque Region and Catalunya and only had a third of Andalucia and Castile, as well as Murcia and Valencia, to seize, plus of course the capital. The three colonels, whose troops were entrenched in the hilly areas west of the city, including Casa de Campo and El Pardo, believed their

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CULTURA

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FEMALE FIGHTER: Mans a post to the east of Madrid overlooking Casa de Campo (Photo by Robert Capa) bid for glory would be a literal walk in the park. Britain and France had declared their support for Franco; food and supplies were running out and moral among the Republican forces, led by communist leader Juan Négrin, could not have been lower. “Négrin thought he could keep the resistance up until the democracies fighting in the war in Europe came to their aid,” says Corral. But Segismundo Casado, who was commanding the Republican Army in 1939, thought otherwise. Deciding the time had come for the Republicans to lay down their arms, and with the socialists and anarchists on his side, he carried out a coup d’état on March 5, deposing Négrin and setting up the National Defence Council

to see if he could strike a deal with they were in good spirits and ‘believed Franco. the war would not last much longer as The communists staged a counter the Reds were fighting among themcoup however, and by March 7 the selves’. streets of Madrid were Meanwhile, the decfilled with the bodies laration of Marcelino of the various RepubSánchez, 21, “The courage of Alonso lican factions fighting a bricklayer from Salaamongst themselves. It the Republican manca, said they exwas a disaster. pected a ‘quick end to soldiers “The colonels were getthe war’. ting news from inside But the news reaching was really Madrid that the enemy Franco’s three colonels impressive” trenches had been dewas false. serted,” says Corral. Despite mostly being Franco Salinas Rico, conscripts, Négrin’s 27, a peasant from Logroño, de- communist forces mustered the enscribed the upbeat mood among the ergy to man two fronts simultaneously, Nationalists to his later Republican fighting the anarchists on one and the interrogators. Nationalists at bay on the other. In a record from the archives, he said Far from a walk in the park, the offensive proved arduous. In El Pardo, the Nationalist’s 20th division attacked the Republicans under Illiterate and no interest in politics the command of Colonel Guillermo AsCorral who believes a lot of myths and canio and while they reached the first Intriguingly of the 19 statements takromanticism has grown up around line of enemy trenches they lost 45 en of the Nationalist prisoners availthe Spanish Civil War due to propaable today, almost all insisted they men with 229 more injured. s. volunteer the by d generate ganda had no interest in politics. In the Casa de Campo, the Nationalwho people of full were fronts “The According to Corral, the most educatists’ 16th division lost another 335 know even didn’t ed was a man who men while 117 were injured and 52 gun a fire to how could type. The rest taken captive. been had who and peasilliterate were Though the cost was higher, they made their from hauled labourers ants and slightly more headway, advancing a kifight. to villages drafted in from Galilometre into Republican lines around who those of Half cia, Andalucia and the lake, where they were stopped. were drafted in Extremadura. “I spoke to one high-ranking officer on either fled or hid. “But by then the That was the civil Franco’s side who told me that from fighting soldiers war. It wasn’t two the moment they emerged from their on both sides were ideological blocks. trenches the air that was filled with bulmore than 90% lets,” says Corral. conscripts,” says CONSCRIPTS: Soldiers in Madrid It was chaotic.” “It was a deluge, the likes of which

BATTLE SCENE: The trench network attack at Casa de Campo

Accidental hero Little is known about the curious defection of disgruntled Lieutenant Colonel Ramón Lloro Regales, 33, from Franco’s 16th division who is thought to have warned the enemy of the imminent attack. His actions took place after he had turned up drunk to the meeting on March 7 that the colonels had called to plan the three-pronged offensive on Madrid. Seeing the state he was in, Colonel Losa however, stripped him of his command and told him to await further orders. Infuriated, Lloro promptly deserted and vanished, with Republicans later recalling seeing him walking past their trenches in the early hours of the morning on March 8, advising them to prepare for the assault.

he hadn’t seen in his life and he had spent three years in the war.” Less is known about the 18th division’s Villaverde assault to the south, but the total cost of the escapade to the Nationalists was 94 dead, 364 injured and 57 prisoners. “The courage of the Republicans was really impressive,” says Corral. With their tails between their legs, the trio of colonels tried to hide the losses from Franco, but were eventually forced into confessing nine days later naturally blaming the entire fiasco on a Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Lloro, who is said to have defected to the Republicans to warn them a night before the attack (see pull out box). By that time, the battle alone between general Casado and the communists was over with almost 2,000 dead. On March 12, having executed various

figures in the communist high command, Casado communicated to Franco that he wanted to negotiate peace. Franco replied on March 19 that he would only accept unconditional surrender and Casado gave the order to disarm on March 27. The following day, Franco’s forces entered the capital, 20 days after the colonels’ bid for glory was thwarted. According to Corral, the trio of colonels and their troops were relegated to the back of the procession down the Paseo de la Castellana and the embarrassing episode was never referred to again. Three days later the entire war was over. Pedro Corral is author of Eso no estaba en mi libro de la Guerra Civil, published by Almuzara.

BUSINESS

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YOUR LEGAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED BY ANTONIO FLORES

Cheeky tax paying

In the wake of the Cuatrecasas revelations Lawbird’s Antonio Flores explains the different types of company expenses

ESS than a week has passed since we learnt that Emilio Cuatrecasas, owner of the largest fiscal advisory firm in Spain, just hired former Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santa Maria. In 2015, Cuatrecasas pleaded guilty to eight counts of tax fraud in exchange for a rather lenient two-year suspended imprisonment suspended - conviction agreed with both the Prosecutor and the State Lawyer, the latter working on direct instructions of Mrs Saenz de Santa Maria, when the PP party was in power. What’s interesting in this case - besides the fairly obvious connection between Cuatrecasas’ favourable court ruling and the hiring of the instigator of such advantageous outcome - is the nature of the tax fraud: deducting personal outlays as company expenses. In this case, it was done in a grand scale where, for example, servants hired for his homes or his yacht, electrical appliances, decoration and generally, maintenance of his personal assets, were all introduced in the company balance sheet as deductible expenses. In the end, Cuatrecasas had to pay over €3 million plus €1 million in interest to avoid doing jail time. Spain is no different from any other country when it comes to tax deductible expenses. But what are they? Broadly speaking, they are those deemed helpful and appropriate for a business, as well as necessary and reasonable. More specifically, this is what the law says:

Deductible expenses Employees’ salaries and social security, rentals (office or part of a home used to work from) and associated expenses, equipment and supplies, repair and maintenance, stationery, external advisors, VAT (where it is not claimed) and uniforms not susceptible of private use, to name a few. Vehicles not exclusively used for business purposes will be deductible on prorate, with a maximum of 50% (save for cargo, transport and similarly used vehicles which will be 100%). Travel expenses, meals (maximum of 1% of turnover) or Christmas presents can be deducted if they are associated with business and this can be proven when required.

Non-deductible expenses Directors’ salaries, dividends, fines, services provided by people based in a tax haven, guard dogs, clothes (including lawyers’ suits), perfumes, beauty treatments, sunglasses or mobile phones (where it is not possible to show that they are exclusively used for a business purpose), weddings, weekly ‘Mercadona’ personal shopping and many other non-expenses habitually picked up by tax inspectors. Finally, deductible expenses must be provable by means of regular or simplified invoices, as mere receipts will not be valid.

Email Antonio at aflores@lawbird.com

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Everybody wins

Bonuses for every employee after company which owns Zara rakes in €26 billion

SPAIN’S richest man has raked in €1.6 billion from his clothing empire this year and has made sure every employee is rewarded with a cash bonus. Amancio Ortega, (pictured left) owner of the Inditex group, which includes Zara, saw his earnings increase by almost €300 million year-onyear when the fiscal year ended in January. And in keeping with tradition, every single employee who has worked at the company for more than two years got a

share of 10% of the profit increase. It means 92,000 workers shared a huge €32 million - or in other words they each received a bonus of just under €350. Ortega’s wealth of around €65 billion now equals 5% of Spain’s GDP and makes him among the top five richest men in the world. It comes after Inditex increased its net profit by 2.2% to €3.4 billion in 2018. Sales across the whole group’s

Airport chaos AIRPORTS in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza could collapse after Brexit, officials have claimed. Concerned workers say the baggage system for non-EU residents won’t be able to cope with the huge number of Brits arriving during the summer season. The fears come as British tourists will soon have to collect their suitcases in a different area. According to the Customs and Excise office of the Balearics, Mallorca’s main airport of Son Sant Joan in Palma only has 18 conveyor belts

for luggage which would be saturated given the arrival of flights from the UK on an hourly basis during peak hours. Miguel Morey, head of the Regional Customs and Excise Unit of the Balearic Islands, said: “There are no infrastructures to deal with this situation. “The airport has 18 belts for luggage, and the British flights are crowded into hourly peaks, so it will be very difficult to deal with these situations. “In Ibiza and Menorca, it will be even worse.”

BOSS: Amancio Ortega brands, which also include Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Pull&Bear, Oysho and Uterque, increased by 3.2% to a whopping €26.1 billion.

Profit

The main money makers continue to be Zara and Zara Home, which last year brought in €18 billion, a 3.2% increase on the year before. Bershka invoiced €2.2 billion, Pull&Bear and Massimo Dutti both brought in €1.8 billion while Stradivarius, Oysho and Uterque cashed in €1.5 billion, €585 million and €101 million respectively. Inditex, which already has 7,490 stores around the world, will add 300 new locations this year while profits are forecast to increase by up to 6%.

THE paper not to miss on Mallorca island THE Olive Press is now distributing all over the island in an incredible 500-plus locations. Found at golf courses, tourist offices, museums and petrol stations, it has become the most sought-after English newspaper in MalAlaro Alcanada Alcanada Alcudia ALGAIDA Andratx Andratx BENDINAT BENDINAT BENDINAT Binissalem Cala Estancia

lorca every fortnight. Look out for one of our many stands, as seen here at Santa Catalina market, in Palma, and in Andratx town centre. We print between 8,000 - 10,000 copies every issue and take our distribution very seriously,

Acros Bar Alcanada Golf Spar Tourist Information EROSKI Tourist Information CCA Andratx CAN NATURA Lindew Hotel Real Golf at Bendinant Eroski Aqua Restaurant

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and need you, the readers to keep us informed of numbers... and more importantly if each location needs more or less papers. We also want to know where you would like to see it and where you don't think we should

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bother. Here are a select group of a few dozen key drops. Please get in touch at Newsdesk@theolivepress.es to find your nearest drop or suggest another.

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Guess who’s barack

BARACK Obama is coming to Andalucia next month. The former US President is attending the World Travel & Tourism Council World Congress (WTTC), the travel industry’s biggest annual conference. Put on by the World Travel & Tourism Council, this year it will take place in

March 29th - April 11th 2019

VISITING: Obama

Barack Obama to speak at tourism conference in Spain Sevilla from April 2 to 4. Obama will give a keynote speech on the theme of ‘Changemakers’ to celebrate the people and ideas that will change the future of the sector.

WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara said: “During his tenure, Obama embodied the notion that travel and tourism are a factor for economic growth and job creation.” Obama is allegedly paying a debt with the city after a scheduled visit in July 2016 was cancelled when five police officers were killed in Dallas.

Changemakers

BOOM: Balearic hotel investment keeps growing

Be our guest

WE ARE

INVESTMENT in Balearic Islands hotels represents 20% of Spain’s total, new figures have revealed. Consultancy CBRE reported that in 2018, 47 different hotel transactions in the region totalled €976 million. In Palma alone, there were seven new hotels built last year, adding a total of 275 rooms to the city. The data also showed that

Balearic hotels beat their records for the fourth competitive year, receiving 10.3 million guests, a 2.3% increase on 2017. The groups are paying on average in Mallorca €650,000 per room. One example includes the Belmont La Residencia in Deia. The hotel was sold by tycoon Richard Branson to the Orient-Express group in 2002.

According to Forbes, issues that will be discussed include ‘extolling seamless global travel through the use of biometrics and digital identity in an era of heightened security concerns’. Investment in community tourism and social entrepreneurship will also be on the docket. How the industry can make a positive impact on communities and how increasing female roles can reduce poverty and support empowerment will also be discussed. It comes after it was revealed this month that Spain raked in €178 billion from tourism last year, accounting for 14.6% of the country’s GDP and 14.7% of all jobs.

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PROPERTY

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March 29th - April 11th 2019

Tourist rentals down

THE number of tourist rental properties in Mallorca has fallen by 20%, according to new findings. The report, by company inAtlas, showed 32,089 tourist rental homes were sold in Mallorca in 2016, while this figure dropped to 25,686 in 2018. Palma saw the greatest fall in the number of available holiday rentals with a 54% reduction. It comes after the city implement a ban on non-registered apartment rentals in 2017. Other areas with tough restrictions also saw higher reduction, such as Ses Salines, down 45.2% to 342 and Calvia with a 45% decrease to 841.

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Cash magnets

Spain’s islands are still attracting wealthy overseas buyers as the second home market grows

COSTA CASH: Coast still attracts wealthy buyers

Keys Isl nd B-day blues to the

By Amanda Butler

Brexit seems to have caused a property dip across the board, not just with with the Brits, writes our Mallorca property expert Amanda Butler

‘

B DAY’ has now been delayed…so there’s a surprise! Goodness, it does seem our British Parliament are making an incredible hash of it with profound inter and cross-party political fallout that will outlast whatever might eventually happen. However, in defence of Theresa May, would anyone have done better with what was handed to her in the first place by dear Mr Cameron – remember him? A raw deal for any PM, for whichever side they were batting, with her head now likely to role with the solution. Now what remains to be seen is whether ‘peoplepower’ will force a referendum – and so the merry-go-

round continues. In the meantime, business has to continue - although the British property market in general does seem to have ground to a halt. Fortunately, other nationalities are still active, but there still seems to be a dip in enquiries from all nationalities according to my industry associates. Buyer’s Agent Blog Fortunately for me, I do work quite differently to most real estate agents, predominantly working as a buyer’s agent on a referral basis, so although I don’t get volume, I do get some very exciting enquiries from clients unaffected by global politics.

THE Balearic Islands are continuing to attract wealthy foreign buyers, leading estate agents have confirmed. Increasing numbers of international buyers are coming to Ibiza and other areas of Spain, according to Lucas Fox. The luxury property agency claims that mid to high-end foreign buyers are being lured to Spain as the second homes market continues to boom. Their reports show that Spain’s most desirable spots, which also include the Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca, saw a 51% rise in the proportion of buyers in 2018. Scandinavian and French people were the most common foreign buyers, making up 86% of that group. “The increase in sales volume

on the Costas in 2018 compared with 2017 was much greater than anticipated,” said Lucas Fox partner Tom Maidment. “While some other regions have seen a drop in sales volume in 2018, the likes of the Costa Brava and Costa del Sol seem to have bucked the trend and are attracting a very specific profile of buyer – the wealthy second home lifestyle investor.” He added that Palafrugell and Begur on the Costa Brava, as well as Sitges, have seen the greatest demand for second homes. The price of homes sold in coastal areas has also been rising rising, with Lucas Fox’s average increasing from €951,253 in 2017 to €1,181,724 in 2018 - a 24% increase.

Schindler’s de-list-ed SIGN OF THE TIMES: Brexit appears to have hampered growth

Over the last two weeks I have been dealing with two enquiries from different sources, one around €10 million and the other €20 million (ED: You’ll get a reasonable size house for that, eh Amanda?). That would get any real estate professional’s heart pumping, as it’s always exciting to scour the market for the best properties around. The downside is that it can be equally quite frustrating, often dealing with these

kind of clients’ ubiquitous ‘gatekeepers’, and rarely getting the full story that allows the minutiae of the advice to be communicated properly. So it can all end up being a wild goose chase, albeit quite an exciting one. One thing is for sure – there are some truly incredible properties out there for those able to afford these lofty fairytale heights. That’s it from me for the time being – so see you in April!

Contact Amanda J Butler to buy or sell your home: Tel: +34690075169, www.mjcassociates.net. Your professional one stop property shop around the Island!

THE forgotten villa of ‘Spain’s own Schindler’ has been torn down despite more than 500 people finding refuge there during the Spanish Civil War, which ended 80 years ago this month. Villa Maya in Malaga was owned by the honorary consul of Mexico, Porfirio Smerdou, who hid both Nationalists and Republicans who were under threat of assassination. The villa, in El Limonar, had no protection, despite its historical relevance. “Porfirio Smerdou was a very important character, a human being who tried to avoid what was happening on both sides and who even suffered reprisals from the fascist troops when they entered Malaga despite having helped many of their own,” historian Francisco Espinosa said. The consul used his contacts to help people escape, lead-

DIGNITY: Smerdou ing journalist Diego Carcedo to name him the ‘Schindler of the Civil War’. German Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories and bribing Nazi officials. His acts were turned into a film Schindler’s List, starring Ralph Fiennes. When Smerdou died in Madrid in 2002 at the age of 97, his son Luis said: “Greatness without reward, honour without fame, dignity without brightness, that was his life.”

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL www.theolivepress.es

Red light

THE red light district of Palma has officially left its dark days behind and been replaced by bars and restaurants, a leading academic has said. Marc Morell, a social anthropologist at the University of the Balearic Islands in Palma said that the gastronomic scene of the neighbourhood has attracted ‘new residents’ who have helped restore its reputation.

Famous

“The red-light district of Sa Gerreria was a no-go area just a few years ago, but people still came to the Chocolateria,” he said. He is referring to the famous family-run chocolate shop in the area, Chocolateria Ca’n Joan de s’Aigo, which has remained in Sa Gerreria since 1700.

A SPANISH man has broken the Guinness World Record for the most hot dogs eaten in three minutes. Joshua Montero, 24, gobbled up a staggering nine bangers in buns against the clock, ticking off his ‘bucket list’ aim of ‘having a world record’. The Youtuber, known online as ‘Esttik’, up-

Mallorca has a shining star among the five lucky restaurants to win three suns in this year’s Repsol Guide

A RESTAURANT in Mallorca is among five new restaurants to have been awarded three suns in the 40th edition of the coveted Repsol Guide. It was Maca de Castro’s moment in the sun, the Mallorcan chef who runs a restaurant of the same name in Port d’Alcudia. Remarkably, the Balearic cook is one of only two women who currently have three suns, the other being

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Repping it!

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What’s on for foodies!

ira de Taronja

SOLLER'S Orange Fair returns March 29 through 31, with special menus all weekend and citrus centred market on Saturday.

WINNING: Javea’s Alberto Ferruz (left) and the rest of the winners

Elena Arzak. De Castro said: “I have been working with a very

Top dog loaded a clip of his foodie feat onto the video-sharing platform. Originally from Malaga, the new recordholder revealed his achievement was intended to be a ‘practice’ attempt, but he ended up doing it first time.

strong team for a long time. “Our work is recognised and we are valued, that is something that gives you the strength to continue.” Another chef worth noting among the three sunrecipients is Alberto Ferruz of BonAmb in Alicante, whose restaurant was celebrated by Repsol for its ‘unclassifiable’ dishes.

Stunning

The outlandish kitchen, which this season is basing its menu on ‘ideological interactions’ is now even offering customers a

10% discount to celebrate their award. Paco Morales of Noor in Cordoba also won three suns, awarded for cuisine which draws on the inspirations of ‘Al-Andaluz’. The Cordoba-born chef, who opened restaurant Noor in 2016, has an impressive CV, including a Michelin star, and a training background with Spanish culinary legend Ferran Adria at El Bulli. In this anniversary edition of the Repsol Guide, launched at foodie hotspot San Sebastian, 53 new chefs are given recognition.

eat-free

VEGFEST returns to Mallorca on May 26 to Palma's Sa Possessió with a plant-based food festival with fun for the whole family.

Reset.

Music.

Horizon.

Sunset.

pair-

W I N E from around Mallorca is the highlight of Inca a Taula, a festival with 14 restaurants and 14 vineyards pairing up for unique menus from April 11 through 14.

Friends.

At OD Port Portals we have our own star rating. In fact, we have all the stars of the Mallorca sky and we will enjoy them all together every summer night at OD Sky Bar, on our spacious terrace and at our restaurant On Top. A hotel full of local experiences, music, art, gastronomy, yoga, pre-parties, flea markets, brunches, concerts, Pilates, tardeo, sea, sun and all the stars. A hotel full of life.

ine ing

Memories.

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March 29th - April 11th 2019

Brexit food map

Brexit means Brexit for the fresh Spanish produce making its way to the UK, writes Charlie Smith

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Galicia - fish If the UK leaves the EU with a hard Brexit, the Galician fishermen employed by the UK could be forced to leave British waters immediately. Around 66 Galician boats operate in the Gran Sol, west of the UK, and another 30 Galicianmanned UK vessels in the EU could be prevented from docking at European ports come B-day. Around 1,700 jobs in Galicia hang in the balance, while the economic blow could be €500m to an area that provides octopus, shrimp, crab, lobster and more to the UK.

Guijuelo, Salamanca - jamon iberico The UK Government has said 13% of Spain’s products could be subject to import tariffs under a no-deal Brexit, including jamon iberico at €10.2 per 100 kilos imported. Guijuelo is among four denominations of origin recognised by the EU for jamon iberico production. The others are D.O.P. Jabugo (Huelva), D.O.P. Los Pedroches (Cordoba) and D.O.P. Dehesa de Extremadura (Caceres and Badajoz). The D.O.P. Jamón de Guijuelo area is responsible for 60% of Spain’s jamon iberico. Across the country, there are around 30 million pigs being reared at one time, with the pork industry worth about €6bn annually.

Huelva - strawberries and soft fruit More than 85% of all of Spain’s strawberry exports are grown in the province, worth a total of €437m in 2018. The UK is the second biggest market for Huelva’s soft fruit, having imported 16% of the area’s strawberries, 34% of it raspberries and 26% of its blueberries in 2018. The main Brexit worry in the province is ‘border hold-ups’, according to Rafael Dominguez, manager of Freshuelva, the industry association for Huelva’s strawberry market.

Balearic Islands - almonds

Last season, between August and October, Spain produced around 60,000 tonnes of almonds, with the majority from Ibiza and Mallorca. On Mallorca alone there are estimated to be 5 million almond trees, covering 55,000 hectares of land. A study by the Institute of

Agro-food Quality of the Balearic Islands found that 52.4% of almond consumers said that Mallorcan almonds were a superior quality to other types, most respondents citing rich taste as the reason. Tariffs could damage farmers.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL www.theolivepress.es

RED wine, cheese, cured meat...they’re just the obvious ones. Spain exports a wealth of fantastic produce to the world, and especially to the UK - €4 bn-worth if we’re counting. When the British Isles shiver - which is often - the population relies on a harvest-load of fruit and veg from Spain. But Brexit looks set to seriously threaten UK imports, affecting everyone from hipster London ‘foodie’ enclaves to budget supermarket vegetable aisles. Waiting times at borders, import tariffs and working restrictions could all see the inflow of Spanish food and drink into Britain dwindle to a trickle. The decline was already in motion in the months following the 2016 EU referendum. In the first year after the vote, sales of Spanish goods to Britain fell by 6%. According to the Bank of Spain the ‘agri-food’ sector, along

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with car manufacturing, represented almost half of the overall decline in sales. Things look even worse when you delve into what an increasingly likely no-deal Brexit would mean for food crossing the border. A National Audit Office report found that customs declarations would have to increase from 55million to 255million and at least 145,000 traders would have to declare for the first time. While customs trouble and border delays may not destroy longlasting Spanish gems like wine and jamon, perishable items like fresh berries and salads are in real danger. However Luis Planas, Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said a royal decree protected Spanish food, despite warnings that food safety and quality could decrease after Brexit.

The minister said he expected Brexit to be ‘as least traumatic as possible’ for the EU and the UK once it leaves the 27-nation bloc. But the cost of products would definitely ‘increase’, according to the Organisation of Entities of the Andalucian Social Food Economy. Of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities, Andalucia - known as the ‘garden of Spain’ growing produce as diverse as mangos and avocados, - would be the region worst-hit, especially as the UK is its fourth-largest customer. The next would be Murcia, which sends thousands of tonnes of salad to the UK every year would. Alicante is also badly affected. Here, we round up the Brexit clouds hanging over the Spanish regions putting food and drink on British tables.

La Rioja - wine North of Madrid, this tiny region ships more vino to the UK than any other wine-producing area of Europe. From January to October in 2018, its wineries sold 32 million litres of the good stuff to the British market. This came before news that the Spanish Wine Federation had advised producers on how to deal with Brexit, telling firms to ensure wine is correctly labelled and make advanced travel plans. It then emerged that one winery, Bodegas Riojanas had already completed 90% of its trade for the first half of 2019 ahead of Brexit.

Castilla-La Mancha - manchego The UK is the third biggest importer of Spanish Manchego after the US and Germany, buying around 1 million kilos a year, according to the Regulatory Council of Manchego cheese. But the cheese is definitely under threat from Brexit after the British Retail Consortium revealed its price had risen sharply since the UK’s decision to leave the EU. UK managing director of Arla Foods, Ash Amirahmadi, warned that specialist cheeses like Manchego which have limited production could become ‘very scarce’ after Brexit. Also, last April, the EU failed to grant Spanish Manchego farmers protected status following their hard-fought battle with Mexico. The country has retained the rights to make the cheese, despite not using sheep’s milk like the Spanish version.

Alicante oranges and lemons

Murcia - lettuce, celery, broccoli, lemons, melon, grapes This small region is a food industry powerhouse, providing 32% of the UK’s fruit and veg imports, but it would be the Spanish region second most affected by Brexit after Andalucia, according to consultancy firm Oliver Wyman. This percentage increases during winter, when up to 80% of the fresh produce sold in the UK comes from Murcia. Over 517,000 tonnes of fresh produce, costing €580m, made their way from Murcia to the UK in 2018, with 400 lorries full of food making the journey every week.

The total agricultural output of the province exceeds 1.4 million tonnes, while its speciality is citrus fruit, 60% of which comes from the Vega Baja area. Fruit trees account for 31,391 hectares of the 131,389 total devoted to agriculture in the province. Business manager of fruit and veg firm Caja Rural Central, Juan Vicente Gonzalez, confirmed that while his firm is expanding in Alicante, Brexit does pose ‘instability’ for the region.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

20 www.theolivepress.es 20 March 29th - April 11th 2019

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Fit for an Englishman

Eye on Madrid

Madrid’s born-again Gran Hotel Ingles is the lap of Belle Epoque luxury, discovers Olive Press editor Jon Clarke

T was once one of Madrid’s ritziest places to stay, serving up high-class hospitality to the likes of Virginia Woolf, Henri Matisse and the arty set. But somewhere along the line the Gran Hotel Ingles lost its pizazz, eventually falling into disrepair and

RELAXING: Roll top baths

lived in by squatters a decade ago. So it is a joy that Madrid’s oldest and most distinguished hotel has been brought back to life after a ravishing €17 million refit. Downsized from an original 72 rooms to a boutique 48, making them effectively suites, this 1886 gem oozes the elegance of a bygone age and its central location makes it a great choice for a long weekend in Madrid. Romantic in the extreme, it has hung on to its elegant Belle Epoque interiors but now with a dash of Art Deco in the mix. The seductive lobby sets the scene and you really imagine yourself sliding into one of the wide banquette booths and ordering a Singapore Sling while being offered a freshly-ironed copy of the Herald Tribune or London Times. Many original features have been

ELEGANCE: The grand lobby and some premium guests including Matisse and Virginia Woolf

saved, from time-faded photos of guests to vintage postcards and an ancient typewriter by the lifts. The original iron pillars soar up to reconstructed wall mouldings extended across the ceiling, creating a pattern resembling electric circuits. Our handsome young bartender quizzed us on tastes and zipped off to produce a cocktail to match our moods. The rooms are equally sumptuous although understated, nothing fancy - unless you count the top quality linens (500 thread-count Egyptian, don’t you know) and, in many, dreamy roll-top baths. The Lobo 8 restaurant is the place to wolf down a hearty breakfast, welllit and with an enticing choice

WELL LIT: Great start to the day in Lobo 8

- perfect for starting the day, although the Eggs Benedict were not quite the best I’ve ever tasted. With a Barrio de las Letras address - the intellectual home of Madrid you are a short walk from from everything, including The Prado and Plaza Mayor (five minutes). But what is perhaps most commendable about the Gran Hotel

Ingles is the staff, who make guests feel relaxed and at home. They are there the moment you need them, and not when you don’t. Now, that’s what I expect from a good capital city five star! C/ Echegaray, 8 - 28014 Madrid www.granhotelingles.com (+34) 91 360 00 01

And here’s a trio of interesting things to do in Madrid this Spring, and a restaurant tip (above right):

A museum Done the Prado and the Thyssen? Seen Sorolla and Guernica? How about the Museum of San Isidro, a relatively new showcase on the origins of the city and its saint. Filling a 16th century townhouse, it houses three floors of exhibits from the days of the Visigoths, Muslims and Mammoths.

A stroll Take a walk from here into Madrid de las Austrias, which skirts around the bottom of Plaza Mayor. Taking its name from the days of the Habsburg dynasty, it’s a dreamscape of stunning buildings and interesting shops. The street, Cava Baja, has maybe two dozen excellent (and very busy) places to eat on weekends.

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March 29th - April 11th 2019

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3 CHEF: Cesar Martin

La la Lakasa

T A marvel TO BEHOLD Few people bother to visit Madrid’s Sistine Chapel, a work of art undertaken by Spain’s very own Michelangelo, Francisco Goya, in the 18th century. Down by the much improved Manzanares river area of the city, the dome and interior of San Antonio de La Florida chapel was painted in just 120 days and depicts a murdered man being brought back to life. It is coincidentally also where the painter is buried (minus his head!). Entrance is free and if you time it right (let’s say, lunch time) you might get it all to yourself.

ake a French maiden and a local Madrileno grafter and you get this wonderful new spot, Lakasa. While a little out of the way, it emerges as a stylish and original addition to the fast burgeoning Madrid restaurant scene. Cesar Martin has been a jobbing chef in the capital for years, now finally out on his own, with his girlfriend Marina, from Brittany, out front. It has a cool look with its vertical green wall partitions and an equally hip reggae-jazz fusion soundtrack on the speakers. Its main USP is that every one of its two dozen or so dishes come in a half portion, meaning for food freaks like me, you can have double the number!

LUXURY: Diners enjoy a noght at Lakasa (above) and (right) some of Martin’s remarkable dishes

The mackerel in curry sauce and the artichokes with pork belly were two good picks. I also got to finally try Lampreys, in a cress sauce. Now they are something else. To look at, too... There are also loads of wines by the glass, and thanks to Marina, a superb cider from Calvados. Restaurante Lakasa www.lakasa.es Plaza del Descubridor Diego de Ordás, 1 28003 Madrid, Spain Phone: +34 915 33 87 15

ARE YOU A UK NAT ONAL LIVING IN SPAIN? As the UK prepares to leave the EU, there may be changes that affect you. From residency rights, to work and pensions and local healthcare, you can find the latest information in the UK Government’s Living in Spain Guide. Sign up for email alerts and get the latest information at gov.uk/living-in-spain

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COLUMNISTS

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March 29th - April 11th 2019

I’m not Cinderella! Olive Press Mallorca columnist Lesley Keith looks back at the good old days and a cherished pair of shoes she just couldn’t throw away

N my last column, which I’m sure you read and hung on every word. Oh OK, well in that case I was wittering on about the weather, (being British, it’s the law). By Lesley Keith Since that time we’ve actually had some decent rain and I’m very pleased Surely people realise it can’t be sunny about it. The garden has had a proper watering, all day every day because if it did we’d my car has been returned to its actual be in a desert and nothing would grow colour (boring old man grey) and every- at all. Or maybe that’s what people want? If thing smells wonderfully fresh. As I headed towards the coast through so, why not move to Almeria! the storm I had to pass the Boquer Val- I like a bit of variety in everything perley, which has beautiful low-lying rocky sonally, spice of life and all that and if the weather wasn’t bad occasionally, hills which often trap the clouds. how would we know to Well it was magnificent, appreciate the good rocky outcrops sticking days. out from the white cotMy feet are a I don’t know if anyone ton wool layer nestling will relate to this but I in the base of the valley. It was like a scene from problem, they’re had a pair of shoes that a science fiction film small and seem I loved. I don’t have a lot of but you’re going to have to be changing shoes like some ladies to take my word for it as as let’s just say my feet I was late as usual and shape are a problem, they’re there was no time to small and seem to be stop and take photos. changing shape. By the time I’d finished what I had to do the clouds had moved I own this ‘special’ pair of shoes which I bought in USA and I’ve had them quite on and normal service was resumed. I went to post my awe and wonder of a few years. They were very expensive this on my Facebook page but was by my standards, I don’t buy designer absolutely shocked to see everyone stuff and can never justify high price tags but these were totally worth the moaning that it was raining. Not holidaymakers you understand, cost as they seemed to fit nearly every smart occasion. residents.

Mallorca diaries

SCIENCE FICTION: The Boquer Valley after the storms and (top) rogue shoe They never aged or went out of fashion. They were really comfortable and I always felt good in them.They had a heel, not so high as to look stupid or so low to look frumpy and I brought them over from the UK as I wanted a pair of smart shoes for those special times that I knew would be coming along. Well I never got the chance to wear them because a strange and hard lump appeared on the back of my left left heel soon after I got here. I endured months of horrendously uncomfortable and undignified electropulsation treatment which made no difference, the lump stayed unchanged. This meant I could only ever wear backless shoes or flip flops which is no joke

in the Winter or pouring rain, but I just couldn’t bear anything against that lump. Then one morning recently, a little miracle happened. The lump reduced, I woke one morning to find it almost gone. I tried on a loose pair of boots, they were actually quite good. I tried trainers, yes with socks that would work. So, out came ‘The’ shoes. Rather dusty but looking good after a rub down. I tried the right one first, tighter than I ‘d like but possible. Then I tried the left. No. Not a hope. I’m having to face the fact that I’m never going to be able to wear those shoes

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again. Probably never able to wear any smart shoes again. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me, not only have I lost an old friend but this is absolute confirmation that I am not as young as I used to be, if you get my meaning. I’ve put them at the the side of my bed like a faithful puppy, they won’t be going anywhere just yet. No one would love them like me, they’re my old friends, so I think I’ll keep just have to keep them here. They still look beautiful to me. ED: How about we have a competition for our readers Lesley? Can you think of a good question?

Three reasons why you should buy life insurance

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ence of €700 as the products offered by the bank can be up to 300% more expensive. 2. Starting a family It should be taken into account that raising a child in Spain can be expensive. It has been estimated that a baby can cost 14,266 euros during its first year of life and 14,056 euros during the next two. On average, a child can represent the disbursement of 1,183 euros per month during

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its first three years, which represents 80.78% of the average monthly net salary of a worker. It will depend on each person’s standard of living, but before the child turns 18 the parents could have spent between €115,000 and €350,000. If at any time one of the parents dies, it will be difficult for the family to maintain the same rhythm of life. In those cases, although the personal loss will be irreplaceable, life insurance could guarantee the necessary capital to meet family expenses. With Liberty Seguros, even if the insured dies

in an accident along with his/her spouse and they have children younger than 18, the beneficiaries will receive double the sum insured. 3. Protect your income level Last year there were 3,796 serious occupational accidents in Spain. Of these, 618 had fatal consequences. The possibility of suffering an accident at work or outside that causes a permanent or temporary disability exists, so it is a wise choice to protect your income level. It will depend on each policy, but the insured can receive an advance payment of the contracted capital in case of temporary or permanent incapacity that prevents them from working and, therefore, affects their income, whether as a result of an accident or illness. In fact, with Liberty Seguros, the insured will be advanced the sum insured for death if he/she is diagnosed with one of the following serious illness or needs one of the following operations: cancer, heart attack, cardiovascular accident, kidney failure, bypass surgery, paralysis and transplant of vital organs, in accordance with the terms established in the special conditions of the policy. With insurance, not only for life, but also car, home, business, commercial, funeral, etc., Liberty Seguros is considered the preferred expat insurer in Spain today. Liberty Seguros has an extensive network of over 300 brokers and agents that are dedicated to providing unbiased, friendly and expert advice, because every home is different and such an important decision deserves a face to face chat with a professional insurance advisor, in your own language, to discuss the most suitable cover for you.

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New kid

RAFAEL Nadal’s young tennis protegee has said he is ‘excited’ to be returning to Mallorca for the ATP Challenger Tour. Jaume Munar, 21, and a native of the island, will be back in his homeland for the competition in August. The rising star has trained with 17-time grand slam winner Nadal, and will link up with him again for the tournament being held at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor. Munar is currently ranked 61 in the ATP rankings, but will hope to emerge victorious in Mallorca, where the total prize money is €46,600.

Women winning A WOMEN’S football match watched by 60,700 people has broken the 99-year world record for the largest crowd ever for two female clubs. The record-breaking event saw Atletico Madrid lose 2-0 to Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in the quarterfinals of the Copa de la Reina. Not since 1920 have so many people watched a woman’s club match, when Dick, Kerr’s Ladies and St. Helen’s Ladies played at Goodison Park in Liverpool on Boxing Day. The largest ever turnout for any female match was in 1999 between the US and China, watched by 90,185 people.

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March 29th - April 11th 2019

A BRITISH expat has been reunited with his signed football shirt in a chance pub encounter, 20 years after putting it up for auction. Pete Carter, 50, recently rediscovered the well travelled Crystal Palace strip in an irish pub in Coin after dropping in to watch Palace games The lifelong Palace fan had raffled off the shirt in the 1990s to raise money after the club went into administration.

Well-travelled

A shocked Carter, who moved to Spain in 2003, told the Olive Press: “ I last saw the shirt when I handed it over to whoever won it on that night back in ‘99 and now it’s found its way to the bar that I drink in fifteen hundred miles away, 20 years later.” Carter helped organise the fun-

Batman battle A ROW has erupted between Valencia football club and DC Comics over the use of their new bat logo. It came after Valencia released a centenary logo, which DC Comics claims is almost identical to the iconic Batman symbol. The US publishing house has now submitted a complaint to the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUI-

It’s Coming Home

Brit expat discovers his old football shirt 1,500 miles away in Spain

draising event in 1999, entering the signed shirt as a raffle prize to help raise money for club staff who had been made redundant. The night, held at the Fairfields Hall in Croydon, made more than €23,000 and featured stand up comedy acts from the likes of Jo Brand, Eddie Izzard PO). Valencia argues it has and Phil Juused the bat - a mam- pitus. mal typical to the area The owner - as a symbol since of the Molly 1921, while DC cre- Malone pub in Coin, Mike ated Batman in 1939. “We are not going to F i t z g e r a l d been stop using the bat be- had cause DC Comics says holding the so,” insisted the club top in storage along with spokesperson. “There is no commer- some other cial brand that has a sports memworldwide exclusive orabilia. Fitzgerald on bats.” only brought

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Confused?

If the UK’s departure from the EU is giving you a headache, Linea Directa is here to help you get the right insurance SOFT Brexit, hard Brexit or no-deal. What does Brexit mean? TM

Soft Brexit People who voted to remain in the EU are hoping for a soft Brexit. In this scenario, the UK could stay in the single market or the customs union, or both. This would ensure a continuing close relationship with the EU in return for some EU payments to be made, some EU rules to be followed and continuing the free movement of people.

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Hard Brexit In the case of a hard Brexit, the UK may have to give up access to the single market and the Customs Union. EU payments would probably end as would free movement of people, meaning that UK citizens would lose their automatic right to live and work in any European country. The UK would be free to make its own rules and regulations, and negotiate their own trade deals with countries around the world. Trade between the UK and the EU would continue but with more restrictions and new rules on how it would work.

REUNITED: Pete (left) the shirt down to show Carter after the two discussed the idea of having creating a ‘wall’ of football shirts for the pub. The english language teacher said: “I was sitting at the bar and has soon as he came down the steps of the storeroom, I said ‘that's my shirt.’ “I can’t explain it, it's one of those weird things."

No-deal If a new set of rules and regulations for a hard Brexit cannot be agreed, then the UK could leave the EU with no deal. In this scenario, the UK may have to defer to the World Trade Organisation rules on international trade when doing business with EU countries. UK exports would be subject to taxes and customs checks. The legal status of UK expats in Europe and EU expats in the UK would be uncertain. Would people require visas? Would the price of food imports rise? Would business be thrown into chaos? Did you know? Whatever the final scenario, the UK is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29 2019. Given that negotiations have started, we understand that it is of vital importance for expatriates to stay informed about the outcomes and how it affects them.

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2/8/18 17:01

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Deposit A DRUNK driver has been arrested after crashing his car straight through the front of a CaixaBank in Palma, completely taking out the front window.

FINAL WORDS

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Smellyjelly DOZENS of beachgoers in Puerto Soller reported a bad smell after thousands of ‘velella velella’ jellyfish washed up on the shore.

Foolproof RESTAURANTS in Palma will now be able to obtain grants for soundproofing after the Government has now made funding available for the first time.

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Vol. 3 Issue 51 www.theolivepress.es March 29th - April 11th 2019

March 29th - April 11th 2019

Top Trumps

Objections

A WEDDING in Palma was cancelled after police arrested the bride and groom at the altar on suspicion of smuggling drugs The would-be groom, 34, had been temporally released from prison to attend the wedding, which was held

Couple arrested as they tied the knot at Palma wedding over suspicions of drug dealing in the Sa Gerreria de Palma courts. Given his past offences as an

armed robber, police were present during the proceedings alongside the bride and

Strip off… but not on all beaches! A RULING to protect naturism around the Balearics has been unanimously approved. However, the regional parliament stopped short of allowing nudists to strip off on all beaches. They also shied away from allowing nudists to sit in all restaurants and cafes, as long as they had a towel on. The plans to protect the islands’ popular nudist sites were passed however during this week’s meeting. Regional President Francina Armengol insisted the motion would ‘recognise the tradition of the

two women acting as witnesses. Officers became suspicious after the groom went to the bathroom and the bride was spotted putting something in the suit jacket he left behind. A closer investigation of the jacket led police to find two condoms with 57 grams of heroin and, bizarrely, Vaseline, as well as tiny phone.

Smuggled

Balearics.’ It comes after expats joined locals near Alicante to protest development at a virgin beach that has been used by naturists for 40 years. However, instead of protecting their rights, the local town hall and police sent in police to arrest a group of women who had stripped off as part of a demonstration against the development.

They were understood to be inserted in his body to be smuggled back into prison. Police moved in and halted the wedding, which did not go down well with the groom who attacked the officers and even tried to steal one their guns. Despite everything, the groom since stubbornly insisted the union was still valid and he is fact legally married.

THE dust has more than settled on the famous Fallas festival in Valencia. But one image is expected to be remembered for years. The burning of the effigy of a naked Donald Trump in Valencia’s streets a fortnight ago was met with raucous cheering. It was even more popular than ones of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Francisco Franco burnt alongside him. The festival celebrating the patron saint of carpenters dates back to the 18th century, and was recognised in 2016 as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.

Holy phallus! PROTESTERS have slammed a new play entitled God has a vagina. A group of Catholics prayed with rosary beads outside the Matadero centre in Madrid as the show was being performed. The production by the theater collective Vertebro features actors performing naked in reenactments of religious and cultural traditions.

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