Mallorca Olive Press Newspaper – Issue 2 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

www.theolivepress.es

May 11th - May 24th 2017

Mallorca’s original community newspaper

Alive in Spain? Olive Press probes the 10-year Maddie case

Page 6

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Help save Serena! Desperate need for blood type ‘O Negative’ to beat Mad Cow ruling

Waste of space Don’t bother visiting Palma Cathedral, so says TripAdvisor

Page 13

Courageous

Captain’s amazing scrapes with drug barons and CIA

Page 16

Forget stars

Olive Press interviews masterchef Ferran Adria

Page 27

By Laurence Dollimore

A BRITISH family have made a heartfelt plea for blood to help save their daughter’s life. They urgently need donors of the type O Negative, as Mallorca runs desperately low on supplies. It comes after 11-year-old Serena Chappell found out she had leukaemia following a random test last month. The Mallorca-born girl - a keen dancer, who is trilingual - had been complaining of having no energy and began to look increasingly pale. Doctors at Son Espases Hospital discovered the ‘normally energetic girly girl’ had leu-

Expat family’s urgent plea for blood donors for their cancerstricken daughter, 11

APPEAL

BRAVE: Serena and mum

Sacre Bleu! What has this jobsworth Ports’ Policeman got against this unfortunate teenager? FIND OUT ON PAGE 8

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kaemia in just four hours and she was immediately rushed in for a blood transfusion. But, now it has emerged there is a desperately low supply of her blood type and few people are eligible to donate due to a ruling over Mad Cow disease. Her father John Chappell, 34, has now appealed to big hearted Olive Press readers to come to the rescue. The removal man, from Yorkshire, who now lives in Valldemossa with wife Sarah, said: “Serena is doing amazingly, but needs as much help as she can get. “She is brave and strong and is facing many of her fears, especially needles, which have been a massive issue for her before.” The father, who has been by her side in hospital for the last two weeks, added: “We have started to cut her hair shorter as she will lose it from chemotherapy. She knows everything that is happening with her treatment and diagnosis.” As well as frequent blood

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transfusions she has had an eight-day chemotherapy course and bone marrow and lumbar punctures. “We are in intensive care 24 hours a day and treatment continues, but the hospital is now very short on her type of blood and she needs more,” added her father. The main issue is that getting the type has been hampered by legislation. Chiefly, if you lived in the UK for more than two years between 1980 and 1996 you can’t donate the blood in Spain due to a risk of carrying traces of Mad Cow’s disease, which rocked the UK back then.

Strong

“As they do not test the blood here they simply refuse to accept it,” explained Chappell, “Even if we pay privately for the tests they will not accept the blood.” Chappell says the whole family is remaining strong for Serena while having tests to see if they are a match for a potential bone marrow transplant. “Her little brother misses her terribly and juggling time is tough right now, but we are getting there,” he said. Serena, who attends school in Valdemossa, is said to be doing ‘ok’ after her chemotherapy and is hoping to be in her own room soon, but she still needs around the clock attention. “I hope people can find it in their hearts to donate,” added Chappell, “The blood that comes to the hospital can't be guaranteed for Serena but it does have a good chance. “In any case it’s not just for Serena, many other children in the hospital may also need blood, so this will help them too.” Blood donation can be done at the Hospital Son Espases on Thursdays from 8.30am to 3pm planta O module F, or at the Red Cross Palma from Monday to Friday. Opinion Page 6

Must stop the muggings

ROBBED: Tourist mugged EXCLUSIVE

EXPAT bar owners are demanding a crackdown on muggings by criminal gangs in Calvia. The group insist the problem is getting ‘out of control’ and the council must take action. It comes after a British tourist, 70, claimed he was attacked by a ‘gang of prostitutes’ in Magaluf. The regular visitor, who has a home in the area, is understood to have lost over €100. “The saddest thing is he knows not to take too much money with him as he can guarantee he will get propositioned on the way home,” said his friend Abbey Wright. Another expat Craig Beattie claimed that the problem is affecting tourism.

Let down

“Two ladies told me their friends have stopped coming due to the muggings… they don’t know if they will be back either, they have been coming the last 20 years or so!” One bar owner confirmed the problem. “I feel let down by the authorities’ inability to deal with the threat that is posed by the gangs posing as prostitutes.” Speaking anonymously due to fear of reprisals, he added: “There are victims every day, many of whom don't report the incident for fear of embarrassment.” The council failed to comment as we went to press. It comes after it introduced its controversial sound limiter policy that keeps sound in bars no louder than 62 decibels.

Flat wrong AN investigation has been launched over the rental of council flats to tourists. The probe is looking into how properties in the Sa Gerreria area of Palma are being rented via rental sites, including Airbnb and Booking.com, for up to €150 a night. Owners currently benefit from lower protected rents, and under rental rules, tenants are banned from renting to tourists. The Olive Press found that at least three properties in the area were being rented by the online sites. All of them are fully booked until September.

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Claim: Rugby death caused by cocaine A BRITISH rugby player found dead in Mallorca bought cocaine the night before his death, it has been claimed. Luke Hole, 29, from Wales, was found dead at the four-star Melia Sol House hotel last week after a night out in Magaluf with friends. He had just finished competing in the Mallorca Beach Rugby tournament, which involved teams from all over Europe. According to the Daily Mail, sources close to the investigation said Luke, who had a cardiac arrest, had purchased the A-Class drug during an allnight binge. “His roommates told police he had bought cocaine in the hours leading up to his death,” said a source. “It is likely the combination of drugs and drink played a part in his death. “Blood and tissue sample tests will detect if he took cocaine if it wasn't obvious from the autopsy. “It's a tragic waste of a young life.”

Brit’s plea to find alleged killer of her brother who fled to Spain 11 years ago A BRITISH woman is pleading for locals to help locate her brother’s alleged killer. Shirley Rice, 52, believes the murderer of her twin brother, David ‘Noddy’ Rice is currently living in Mallorca. Police want to locate Allan Foster over the shooting of Rice, 42, in Gateshead, near Newcastle, in 2006. They believe he is currently living in Spain - most likely Mallorca or Tenerife - and going under the alias Shaun Michael Wilkinson. “Everyone thinks Noddy was killed because of a drugs debt,” explained Shirley. “But I think it was over something trivial.” She added: “My brother was an absolute character, he was

May 11th - May 24th 2017

FIND HIM!

Busted!

cropped black hair. The National Crime Agency ask that anyone with information call Crimestoppers on 00 (44) 800 555 111.

Case closed KILLED: David Rice and sister Shirley while (top right) Allan Foster very loving and was always Foster - who has links to Malcracking jokes - that’s what lorca, according to police - is I miss most about him, his described as being around 5ft sense of humour.” 8ins, with a slim build and

A 23-YEAR-OLD Spanish woman who attempted to sue her parents for refusing to keep supporting her has lost the case. The judge deemed her ‘too lazy to earn a living’ after she left numerous jobs because they were ‘too much hard work.’

Caught red handed A BRITISH expat was caught attempting to delete 80,000 indecent photographs of children when he was arrested in Spain. The Welshman - named as Simon M.D was detained by the Guardia Civil as part of an international investigation into a 1,000-strong paedophile network. The 47-year-old, who was living in Malaga with a British woman, is believed to have been on the run from the UK authorities

since 2006 and is now facing extradition. The Titan II investigation has led to dozens of arrests around the world, with a second man arrested by Spanish police in Pontevedra. A Guardia Civil spokesperson said: “During his arrest he tried to delete more than 80,000 photos showing abuse of minors of a particularly hard nature. “Finding this person was complex because

he didn't have a fixed abode and the place he was living in didn't appear on any official register.” Last year, The Olive Press tracked down infamous paedophile Matthew Sammon - officially one of Britain’s Most Wanted to a caravan park on the Costa del Sol, last year. It led to the fastest arrest of a wanted felon in Crimestoppers 10 year history of making appeals in Spain.

MORE than 20 suspected drug dealers have been rounded up in a series of coordinated raids across Mallorca. In the operation on Tuesday night over 100 anti-drug agents swooped on a series of addresses across the island. The raids in Algaida, Soller, Sineu and Palma are aimed at cutting the supply of cocaine on the island. Guardia Civil officers in the capital were backed by a helicopter, which could he heard hovering above Palma from the early hours of yesterday. Raids were carried out in the San Gotleu and Corea neighbourhoods as police tighten the net on dealers in Palma. The major operation also involved officers from the Citizens Security Unit (USECIC) and the Judicial Police.

Unholy mess A 17-YEAR-OLD ‘devil worshipper’ has been arrested for allegedly scratching the numbers 666 on glass casing of a holy relic. She has also been accused of turning crucifixes upside down inside a church in Alicante.

Border crisis SOME 300 migrants tried to scramble across the fence separating the north African enclave of Melilla from Morocco. Several threw stones and other objects at police. Around 100 were able to make it into the Spanish city.

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Fair Lady A BRITISH royal has been soaking up the sun in Mallorca. Lady Amelia Windsor - often described as the most beautiful royal - shared a snap enjoying a drink in Palma. Referring to her yellow trousers, pink top and deep suntan, the 21-year-old, who is studying French and Italian at Edinburgh University, added the caption ‘polychromatic tangfastic’. Lady Amelia is the granddaughter of the Queen's cousin, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and is currently 36th in line to succeed to the British throne.

RIP DJ Robert LEGENDARY DJ Robert Miles has been found dead in the Balearic Islands. The trance producer, who scored a worldwide smash hit with Children in the 90s, passed away in Ibiza after a mystery illness.

MYSTERY: Miles

No bull

FILM star Javier Bardem has spoken out against bullfighting. The revelation marks a change of heart for the Grancanario, who grew up watching the controversial sport with his dad and grandfather, a former rancher. In an interview in El Mundo, Bardem, 48, said he was “not in favour of bull fights because they are completely outdated and cruel.” He added, however, that he still had respect for any person who would put themselves in front of a bull. Bardem will star as captain Armando Salazar in the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, due out on May 26.

Feeding John MUGARITZ staff had stars in their eyes when John Malkovich popped into dinner during one of their recent shifts. The Hollywood star dined at the Basque restaurant, after which the restaurant posted a photo with the caption: “When reality overcomes fiction. Thank you John Malkovich for visiting Mugaritz!” The restaurant is run by awardwinning chef Andoni Luis Aduriz.

It’s chilly here Tarquel! AS the Boddingtons lass, she should be well used to the cold. But TV presenter Melanie Sykes - famous for the Manchester Boddingtons beer ads in 1996 - couldn’t hold back from complaining during a Spring break to Mallorca. While she was excited to be wearing her ‘first bikini of the season’, she told her Instagram followers that it was almost too chilly to wear it out. “Thank god I brought my cardi , it's bloody freezing in Mallorca… come on sun please don't be shy #brrrrrrr,” she wrote. The 46-year-old mother-of-two posted a picture of her rock hard abs outside her huge Palma finca. In the series of famous beer adverts she told ‘Tarquell’ he had his ‘trolleys’ on the wrong way round.

COLD: Sykes and (left) in Boddingtons ad

Casino Royale star snaps up trendy Palma pad EXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan

RELAXED: Royal Amelia

May 11th - May 24th 2017

HOLLYWOOD heartthrob Mads Mikkelsen has bought a luxury pad in the heart of Palma, the Olive Press can reveal. The Star Wars and Casino Royale star Mikkelsen is believed to have recently snapped up the apartment in hip Santa Catalina. Locals told the Olive Press award-winning actor Mikkelsen, 51, and his wife Hanne Jacobsen, 56, have been spotted dining out in the area’s trendy restaurants near the market.

Mads for it

Spotted

“He bought an apartment here recently,” revealed a fellow Danish expat, who lives nearby. “I’m told its an amazing place.” He has also been spotted relaxing around beauty spots Andratx and Santa Ponsa. The Danish dynamo has been a long-time fan of Mallorca, and spent holidays on the island with his family in 2013 and 2014. Recently, Mikkelsen won critical acclaim for his role as Hannibal Lecter in the TV series Hannibal, reprising Anthony Hopkins’ role as the demonic doctor. Mikkelsen has carved out a niche for himself as a Hollywood ‘go-to’ bad guy, starring as James Bond villain Le Chiffre in 2006 blockbuster Casino Royale. This year, he returned to his native Denmark to shoot a Carlsberg advert in Copenhagen. Three-bedroom apartments in up-and-coming Santa Catalina are on the market for a cool €580,000.

Mental legs

MOVING IN: Mads Mikkleson

MEGAN McKenna is coming to the island. The fiery reality TV star, known as ‘Mental Megs’ due to her temper, will host the Poolstar party at the BH Mallorca in Magaluf next month. The 24-year-old Essex lass, of TOWIE and Celebrity Big Brother fame, first hit screens on the reality show Ex on the beach. The show follows the drama as a group of young Brits enjoying their party holiday have it repeatedly crashed by their ex-lovers.

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Mountain profits

ARE you are budding bloodhound? Can you help us sniff out the talented graffiti artist, who has been spray-painting this handsome pooch on walls around Palma? Who is his owner? Where else have you seen him?

Tragic A baby girl who fell from a fifthfloor flat in Palma has died from brain damage after being kept alive for possible organ donation.

THE regional transport ministry wants to introduce a flatrate, inter-island flight tariff, saying it would bring a 33% increase in passengers and have an economic impact of €24 million.

Power grab TOURISM promotion powers are to be transferred back to island councils. Each island will be able to allocate their own sufficient funding for promotion.

A mighty fine business ANYONE caught romping on the streets of Mallorca are faces a fine of up to €2,700 under new laws. Llucmajor is the latest to get tough on boozing tourists after Calvia Council recently brought in a 109-strong list of new infringements that lead to a €100 fine. The new set of bylaws have been approved by the council just in time for the summer season, with ‘very serious’ breaches punishable with a top limit of €2,700. The ‘serious’ category includes ‘offering, soliciting and accepting sexual services in public spaces’, ‘acts of exhibitionism, proposition or provocation of a sexual nature’ and ‘performing sexual acts in public spaces’. The councillor for police Gori Estarellas described the regulations as ‘practical’ and said they reflected complaints from locals. The laws are said to be designed to combat ‘noise, alcohol consumption and the concentrations of people on the street’. Ball games in the street will also be cracked down on. Anyone caught drinking from a bottle in the streets of El Arenal could also face a €1,500 penalty.

That’s your limit

WHO’S THE HOT DOG?

HOLIDAY rentals generated €280 million for the Tramuntana mountain region last year, €150 million came from cycling tourism.

Flight tariff

May 11th - May 24th 2017

MYSTERY: Find Fido’s owner

Please send us your comments and pictures of your other favourite graffiti works around Mallorca to newsdesk@ theolivepress.es

Stranded! EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

HUNDREDS of British holidaymakers have been left high and dry after arriving in Mallorca to find their hotel unfinished. The AluaSoul Mallorca hotel, in Cala d’Or, was allegedly due to open on May 1, but fell behind schedule. It forced Thomson Holidays to scramble to find alternative accommodation for arriving tourists. However, some holidaymakers

T has only been a decade in the making. But finally, a couple of the Olive Press team have actually been to see our paper making it off the presses. Publisher Jon Clarke and news editor Laurence Dollimore were on hand to welcome in the first few issues of our third edition in Mallorca. After an initial hiccup when one of the massive machines broke down, the talented team of printers at Omniprint oversaw a print run of 10,000 copies. Over in under an hour the first edition was pulled together, packaged and ready to go out of the door of the giant printworks in Santa Maria del Cami by midnight.

Brits’ holidays ruined after arriving to Mallorca to find their hotel ‘not ready for guests’ claim they were only told that their hotel wasn’t ready once they had arrived on the island. Others who were due to fly out in the early hours of the morning claimed they had not even been contacted. Jenny Bateman, from Manchester, told the Olive Press: “We were packed and ready to go then saw on Facebook that the hotel wasn’t ready!

“We were given a refund and £80 compensation - which I have refused. Less than 24hrs notice when they knew it wasn’t ready at the start of the week is appalling. “The most frustrating thing is they knew it wasn’t ready and could have given us more time to find an alternative break.” Another received a call the night before she was due to fly out.

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Ring any bells? Rocker’s villa going for a song on Mallorca

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Listen up

Expat bar owners protest over draconian sound limiters stopping music quieter than a vacuum cleaner

AROUND 100 island bar owners and entertainers are expected to stage a silent protest today after being forced to install new ‘THEY’RE KILLING US’: Singer Steffi (right) and bar owners €3,000 sound limiters. fear for the future marched down to Calvia town It comes after Calvia Council hall to petition the mayor, oped nodules, making them unimposed draconian new rules, where they were met by Guarable to perform. in effect from May 1, in a bid to dia Civil, police and a TV crew. “It’s affecting our work and ‘reduce noise pollution’. They plan to return at 3.30pm health,” she added, “It could But British and Spanish busiworks today (Thursday), when the ness owners say the new laws fine and I have never had a prevent us singing.” councillors discuss the new are ‘killing’ the party hotspot complaint,” said owner of During a meeting of 100 busilimiters, in the hope they can ness owners and performers, and are ‘prejudicing’ live music Stepps, Dave Woodward, 59. change their minds. and karaoke venues. Meanwhile, British singer Steffi attended by the Olive Press, the If unsuccessful, all venues The new limit is - incredibly Lorena, 25, claims the limits group blasted the council for Page 6 around Calvia will be ordered the level of an air conditioning are affecting the livelihoods of ‘giving in’ to tourists who come to install the limiters through unit at 100 feet and less than a performers. “It’s impossible to to the party areas for a quiet the same engineering company vacuum cleaner. sing within the new limits,” the holiday. by May 1. “This could put us out of busiowner of Santa Ponsa’s Retro “The council are protecting the Once installed, the device auwrong people,” one exclaimed, ness, it’s unreal,” Fennigan’s bar told the Olive Press. tomatically turns down music bar owner Mick Cormican, 55, “We opened in February and I “They are protecting two Brits if it goes over 62 decibels, detold the Olive Press. was forced to fork out €3,000 who come for a quiet holiday scribed as ‘restaurant conversa“A car going by is louder than on a new limiter and if we have and complain about the noise, tion or background music’ by the limit, it’s particularly prejua loud crowd or they start clap- it’s a disgrace!” industrialnoisecontrol.com. dicial to live music and karaoke ping the music goes down and One bar owner, on the island for Those going over the limit will 15 years, claimed the council is Editor Jon Clarke reviews Spain’s bars as they simply cannot peryou have to strain to be heard. face hefty fines, with some alalleged best restaurant form within the sound limit.” “It’s got to a point where it is being manipulated by hotels legedly already being fined A collective of 20 business ownactually damaging performers, and clubs who want to drive Page 28 €6,000. business away from the bars. ers and entertainers yesterday it’s not worth it.” “I already have a limiter that Some local singers have devel- “The new rules are twisting the spirit of EU rules, and instead of helping us, they are punishing us,” he said. “We will be forced to keep noise levels lower than in the indusDE MALLORCA trial areas… the rules are impossible to comply with and we fear police are likely to fine anyone who fights back!” He alleged that clubs sell tickets MORE from stands without the correct revenue with licenses but that the authorities German clients! look the other way. Put your ads in “The council knows that the sale Tel: 951 979 221 | sales@oaklandfurniturespain.com stands from the clubs break the EL AVISO rules as they use secondary linewspaper! censes known as ‘Licencia complementaria’ when the primary license operating the business is CONTACT US closed,” he added. 971 619 234 See our adverts inside 661 901 290 Ave de Gabriel Roca 4, Palma Opinion Page 6 Info@el-aviso.es

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Olive Press launch coincides with Palma boat show

t’s the most exciting launch to hit the island in a decade! The first edition of the Mallorca Olive Press is now on the loose… and totally free! Already voted the best expat paper in Spain, we now promise to deliver the news that really matters in Mallorca. Available in the four corners of the island, we also vow to deliver a blend of irresistible, entertaining and informative features… as well as campaigning on key issues and problems. Aimed at the huge foreign market in Mallorca, the readers will be a healthy mix of Scandinavian, Dutch and Germans… not to mention the British and Irish, of course.

Pride

By Laurence Dollimore

Page 4

Dirty dozen

The OP’s roundup of Spain’s most corrupt politicians

e Lions EL AVISO Threpub

After operating for a decade in Andalucia and Gibraltar, our team of professional journalists pride themselves on understanding the needs of our discerning readership. We also promise to ensure that our editorial takes up, at least, half of the paper and we will not jam it full of adverts, particularly of a sexual nature. Finally, we would like to thank everyone for making us feel so welcome from the moment we arrived. We now clearly understand why Mallorca is leading the way in Spain for property and tourism and why so many celebrities and dignitaries visit the island and make it their home. The incredible scenery, great local food, cosmopolitan feel, accompanied by the warmth of the locals makes it truly unique. It’s safe to say, we will be sticking around!

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PRINTED: First papers island a few days later and finding it in the lobby of a hotel in Soller and even in the Robert Graves museum in Deia,” added Clarke. The paper will be readily available in the four corners of the island and every town and village every fortnight from now on.

Talented

“It was a proud moment and by 10am the following morning there were hundreds of people seen reading the paper in Portal Nous, Andratx and Palma,” said Clarke, who previously worked as a news reporter at the Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail. After expanding around the whole of Andalucia and into Gibraltar two years ago, the Olive Press is now set to become firmly established on the stunning Balearic island. “The best thing by far was taking a drive around the

April 27th - May 10th 2017

Mallorca’s original community newspaper

CHUFFED: Clarke (left) and Dollimore (right)

‘It’s war’ TRADE unions have threatened an all-out ‘war’ against Mallorca hotel, bar and club owners looking to undercut 50,000 workers. Bosses across the island want to abandon a legal agreement to raise staff salaries next year as they will be ‘too high’ and ‘unacceptable’. “They will ignore this agreement over my dead body,” said UGT union leader Antonio Copete. Last year, the CCOO union denounced 36 hotels that upgraded from three stars to four but didn’t hike their employees’ wages, leading to the current agreement. But Balearic restaurant and club presidents Alfonso Robledo and Jesus Sanchez now claim the proposed pay rises would be unsustainable for smaller establishments. CCOO boss Silvia Montejano has labelled the move as a ‘declaration of war’, insisting unions ‘will have to stand up to them’.

Hard as iron

OUR BOAT’S COMING IN!

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A who’s who of the island raise money for expats

“I got my call at 5pm last night and I was due to fly out at 3pm today!” she said, “They offered us a place in a lesser-rated family hotel – we said no and they said the only option was to cancel.” Thompson apologised to its customers in a statement and blamed it on an ‘unforeseen delay’. They said all customers would be contacted to offer compensation. The four-star hotel promised ‘five pools, a trio of restaurants and a spa – along with a beachfront location’.

BAR owners in Calvia have been told the new draconian sound limiters must remain in place. It comes after a group of owners met with mayor Alfonso Rodríguez Bada on Tuesday in a bid to reverse the controversial ruling, which came into effect on May 1. The new laws are forcing venue owners to install sound limiters that restrict music levels to no more than 62 decibels - the same as a car driving past or an air conditioning unit. Each sound limiter costs €3,000 and must be bought through the same company. Bar owners from Santa Ponsa and Magaluf are expected to meet tomorrow (Friday), to decide on a plan of action.

Contact the team at 951 273 575 or distribution@ theolivepress.es to find out the nearest location to find your popular paper voted ‘Spain’s Best Expat Paper’ in the London TESCA awards.

A BRITON who was told he would never run again is to take part in the Mallorca Ironman Triathlon this Saturday (May 13). Rhys Jones, 46, from Manchester will defy doctors’ expectations when he completes a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike ride and 21.1km run on the Balearic island. The CEO of a recruitment investment business fell off a wall and dislocated every metatarsal in his foot. It took a year of treatment before he could even put a shoe back on. Doctors told him that he would never run again, that he would get arthritis and would probably have difficulty walking. But now four years later and after having to learn how to swim, he will take part in the Mallorca triathlon, which is notorious for its bike section, with a Category two climb of 7km. Jones is hoping to raise €1,650 for mental health charity MIND, you can donate here: https://www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ rhys-jones42 .

MIRACLE: Jones

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After talking to Spaniards in Britain last issue about Brexit we asked what are expats main concerns are here in Mallorca

Brits in Spain

ne ws f e atu r e

United May 11th - May 24th 2017

in fear

LYN and Kath Emerton have lived in Spain for 10 years. Since relocating from Luton, 67-yearold Kath has used the country’s health system for an operation on her leg. But with no deal on health care currently secured between the British and Spanish governments post-Brexit, the couple are FEATU RE olive press concerned for the future. online “We are living in limbo,” said Glyn, 64. Most read stories “Will we have our health care? Everybody IN FE AR 1 we talk to is worried about that. Lots of the 2 in ISH SPAN people we talk to retired here, and if they 3 THE UK 4 have to pay for health care it’s a problem. 5 “We do not want to go back to England. We are British but we came here under a set of rules.” J Although the British consulate has been ‘great’, says Glyn, even they have told him ‘we do not know the answers’. For thousands of British people in Spain, Useful numbers the lack of clear answers is adding to stress levels. Officially, some 300,000 Brits live in in Spain, but with many not registered on the padron the real figure is thought to be much higher. According to the Office for National Statistics, around a third (101,045) are 65 or over. Anne Hernandez, co-founder of campaign group Brexpats in Spain is advising the British community to ‘get CAUSE FOR CONCERN: Brits air Brexit themselves 100% legal’ fears and (above) Spanish in the UK before the divorce treaty is finalised. “People should make sure their residencia has written on it con caracter permanente,” she said. The Olive Press asked expats and tourists in Santa Ponsa if Theresa “It must be a permanent one. They need May is the best choice of Prime Minister in the forthcoming election to get on the padron in their local town hall. That registers you as a resident citizen. “Get your driving licence in order if you need to. If you’ve been here two years you really need to get a Spanish one anyway.” She added: “For some people it is now hitting home. But many are saying, ‘Well, nothing is going to happen until 2019’. Well, for the Ian and Margaret Shirley (67) and Mari McIlvenny, Diane (73) and Spanish in the UK, it is already happening Barrie, both 67, Ray (70) Wat- 53, Belfast Brian (80) Steto them.” Santa Ponca mough, Torrevens, Bristol With some 16,000 Brits registered in Malvieja “I think Theresa’s lorca and around 300,000 in Spain, ‘an “Theresa needs a just another Mar- Diane: “Lots of awful lot of lives are going to change,’ mandate and she Shirley: “Theresa is garet Thatcher and massive decisions warned Hernandez. knew there were few getting a lot of stick she holds very sim- need to be made The tones from the Spanish government good alternatives. from all sides, and ilar views! I hope and we will defiare at least encouraging. Corbyn is rubbish she has got to say to Corbyn can win or nitely be voting for Spanish EU secretary Jorge Toledo, Maand his ideas are the people, ‘it’s up to at least do some Theresa, between drid’s chief Brexit negotiator, told The too extreme, so we you, do you want me damage.” the three main parTimes: “We are broadly in favour of retainare going to vote for to lead or not? I think ty leaders she’s by ing a reciprocal agreement on questions Theresa.” she can.” far the superior! like healthcare and freedom of movement.” Currently, healthcare can be accessed for free by UK pensioners in Spain, with the cost reimbursed by Britain. But the con- or not use, the big UK expat community in system they enjoy today.” cerns over health could have been resolved other EU countries as leverage that scares If no deal is struck to secure those rights, the cost of insurance would be propeople the most right now,” he says, already, says Hernandez. hibitive for some. “ I am sure that EU will “There is a reciprocal, bilatThe Convenio Especial insurance use the UK expats as a eral arrangement that Britscheme costs €157 a month for part of the game if the ain pays Spain x amount per those over 65 and €60 a month for year per pensioner for health ‘We feel at home. UK government does those under 65. care. That is not reliant on But it feels like we not change their curPensioners are also being hit by rent attitude. “ the EU, it has nothing to do the post-Brexit drop in sterling. with the EU. They can guar- are being moved And echoing mainland The pound is now trading at €1.15 antee that. But they’re hold- by forces beyond Spain, healthcare is against the euro, down from €1.30 leading British expats ing out to use us as bargainour control’ on June 22. to fret. ing chips.” And the triple-lock whereby pen“Most UK expats in Mallorca-based Peter Redrin sions rise by either inflation, earnSpain lean on their (pictured right), who runs My ings growth or 2.5 per cent could Expats World, a collective of more than right to use the excellent Spanish be wiped after UK chancellor Philip 50,000 expats worldwide, fears the EU will public health system,” he explains, Hammond recently confirmed a re“Many would not like or could not use expats as leverage. view of state spending on pension“It is actually the UK government negotia- afford the cost to be excluded from ers. tion with the EU and how the EU will use, the free or very low cost health care WEBSITE

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Brexit is not just scaring expats in Spain. The Olive Press spoke to Spaniards in London facing a ‘nightmare’ residency process

OAN Pons Laplana has lived in Britain for 17 years. The 41-yearold Barcelona native works as an NHS nurse in Norwich. But despite having a British wife and three children feelborn in the UK, Brexit has left him ing ‘like a second-class citizen’. “I am conscious I am not as welcome eight here now,” he said. “In the last months, I have been verbally attacked and on social media for my nationality told to go home. was “A nurse friend of mine in Glasgowwant told by a patient recently, ‘I do not Brityou to care for me. I want someone ish’. That did not happen before.” is there He added: “I am here because this a chronic shortage of nurses. I love like country. But we are being treated garbage by Theresa May.” million Like Brits in Spain, the UK’s 3.2 about EU citizens are still no clearer sinthe their rights once Britain leaves gle bloc. Many like Joan are long-terma British taxpayers but all were denied living referendum vote, as were Britons how in Spain for over 15 years. Given close the final result was - 17,410,742 lost Leave to 16,141,24 Remain - theseother votes could well have swung it the

that weighed five kilos, dropped it on the table and said, ‘That’s half of what I’ve got to show’. “It seems to be deliberately obstructionist.” Spaniard Another living in London, Mañogil Susana Campoy, is currently navigating the process of applying for her permanent residency card. “I have to provide proof of every single personal detail and nothing will assure me that I will be successful, as criteria is changing every month,” said the nursery worker, way. originally from Murcia. the Parliament’s refusal to maintain “Rumours within the Spanpassing and rights of EU citizens when CONCERNED: Laplana (above) ish community here are that March’s Brexit deal has meant Spaniards protests a year ago applications like this safeguard. living in the UK still have no were granted within weeks and now fled the Many are younger workers who those already living in the UK, far are rejected for nonsenses.” For recession around to remain is also Spain’s savage economic Recent government figures showworkers crash. process of applying which hit with the 2009 property straightforward. 28% of applications from EU from Statistics UK for have been rejected since the Brexit vote, Spain’s Institute of National EU citizens who have lived in the (INE) reports the number of Spaniards five years or more must fill in an 85-page although a Home Office spokesperson 57,770 from living in Britain increased document to apply for maintained that ‘refusal rates have not in 2009 to 102,498 in permanent residency, a changed over the last year’. 2016. prerequisite for gaining Such stories are familiar to Brighton-based Many, like 26-year-old ‘They want my phone British citizenship. worker Luz Villarrubia who runs the charity Guildhall School of Music The labyrinthine docu- 3,000-member Facebook page, Espanoles bills from 2006, by described student Maria Jose Sole ment, en Reino Unido - Surviving Brexit. benefit records, Avila, are now concerned Laplana as a ‘night- Having lived in the UK for 24 years, the about their right to remain payslips, it’s costing mare’, requires financial Madrileno is also applying for permanent in their adopted homeland. records, letters from residency. a fortune’ as “I am always scared,” said employers and details of “They want my phone bills from the Almeria native. each time the person far back as 2006, benefit records “You need to be here five has left the UK since from 1998, all my payslips, letters years to get permanent from previous employers, although been first entering the country. residency, and I probably will have nego- “You need a solicitor to be able comone of mine has since died,” she chances of rehere three by the end of the Brexit said.“People are spending fortunes us plete it properly or the high,” said tiations. “The government is treating on lawyers.” are incredibly jection to gun a as us like criminals and using But despite the uncertainty, Laplana, a member of The 3 Milspoke at pressure the EU.” the number of Spaniards such lion protest group who in the UK increased to The sense that Britain is no longerof her last week’s huge Unite for Eu115,779 as of January 1, a welcoming place has led many to rope rally in London. 2017, up from 102,498 Spanish friends to consider moving Madrid-based journalist and has the year before, according another country. drop campaigner Giles Tremlett to INE. Since Brexit, there has been a 90% labelled the process ‘a disgrace’. in the number of EU nurses registering It is unclear how many of was at the House of Com“I Nursthe to Committee to work in Britain, according those arrived after June 23. Brexit With mons ing and Midwifery Council (NMC). But with the divorce clock when the person who was highlightshortage out this the 20,000 nursing running it’s unlikely those the explaining it brought of paper ed by the Royal College of Nursing, numbers will keep growing. shrink-wrapped pile figures are worrying.

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And who will sort this mess?

With many British pensioners in countries outside the EU having their pensions frozen, the UK may now have to strike individual post-Brexit deals with countries like Spain to ensure pensions continue to rise in value. One route increasingly being taken up is to apply for Spanish citizenship, which currently requires British people to renounce their UK citizenship. Official Spanish figures show a spike in Spain’s British expat community taking the citizenship test. While 70 took the test in the six months prior to June’s referendum, 423 have done so since. A challenge even for Spaniards, questions include who is responsible for calling a general election in Spain, what is the country’s highest mountain in Spain and why was Juan Ramon Jimenez awarded the Nobel Prize in 1956. The level of Spanish needed to pass (DELE A2), requires candidates to relay ‘basic information about themselves, and their families, shopping, places of interest, work.’ Richard Appleyard has lived and worked with his wife, Jean, in Spain for 30 years. Fluent in Spanish and fully integrated, he says he is fully considering applying for Spanish citizenship this year if ‘things look like they are going bad’. “Obviously no one wants to give up their nationality, but we do not want to go back to Britain as we feel more at home here,” he said from his home in Madrid. “The Spanish government are being very understanding, but it feels like we are being moved by forces beyond our control.” But whereas Spaniards living in the UK can apply for dual nationality after five years, British expats in Spain have to wait 10 years and must renounce their British citizenship. Madrid-based Guardian journalist Giles Tremlett is leading the campaign to change this, but agrees with Hernandez that some key fears could have been resolved by now. He said: “There is nothing bilateral or reciprocal about pensions. The UK government can deal with that any time and it hasn’t. Which is pretty daft really. “What I don’t think the Spanish know is what reciprocal rights should be included. “But the key question for the Spanish government is what rights do they think Spaniards in the UK should lose.”

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Fe at u r e / comm en t

A paedophile, parents killed

Mallorca’s original community newspaper

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 Please help her! SERENA’S story reminds us just how cruel life can be. A bubbly, intelligent and well-integrated girl, who spends her spare time singing and dancing, is now facing one of life’s most unforgiving diseases. Our thoughts go out to the Chappell family and we hope Serena can fight her way through this trialling time. Most importantly, we implore anyone with O Negative blood to please donate as much as you can, you are helping to save not only Serena’s life but potentially the lives of countless other children too. All of us have been affected by cancer, whether it has been a close family member or a friend, let’s give the Chappell’s as much support as possible. After all, it could happen to any of us, at any time.

Priorities CALVIA council has a lot to answer for. Rather than dealing with the serious issue of mugging by gangs, it prefers to suffocate the very bars that have made Magaluf a popular destination for young holidaymakers for years. The issue of mobbing of revellers by gangs masquerading as prostitutes, leading to theft, has been around for years. And it is apparently getting worse. This is the sort of problem the town hall should be looking to tackle. And fast, before the holiday season gets into full flow.

VIP visitors THE success of the Palma boat show is indicative at just how well the island is developing. With rises of visitors and exhibitors up across the board, is it any wonder a huge number of VIPs and celebrities continue to pour into the island. As well as actor Mads Mikkelsen buying, Richard Branson and Jeffrey Archer continue to spend more time and money in Mallorca. Good news all round.

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2012 - 2017

Named the best English language publication in Andalucia by the Rough Guides group.

May 11th - May 24th 2017

RECEIVED the call at 7.15am from the Daily Mail foreign desk. It was a Friday morning as we approached deadline for one of the first editions of the Olive Press, then in its early fledgling stage. The daughter of a pair of British doctors had gone missing on the Algarve the night before. Could I get over and investigate? I was on the road half an hour later from Ronda, where we had our office, based out of a cowshed next to my home. As a stringer for Associated Newspapers in Spain, I was long used to these early morning calls that invariably led to wild goose chases around the Iberian countryside…but this journey would lead to one of the biggest news stories in history. It was a tale as sad as it was intriguing, and it would keep me in Praia da Luz where four-yearold Maddie went missing for the best part of a month. It would lead to over a dozen stories in the Olive Press linked to sightings and possible culprits around Spain, with a number making the front pages in the UK. There were claims that she was put on a ferry in Tarifa, claims she had been sold in Barcelona and even claims that she was living in a small village in Malaga province. There was even the deluded former deputy chief superintendent, who trolled long and hard from his villa in Andalucia, ‘convinced‘ that the par-

As the case of missing Madeleine McCann reaches its tenth anniversary, Olive Press editor JON CLARKE – the first journalist on the scene – analyses why her parents were not involved... and nor was he!

PROBED: Malinka and Murat ents were guilty. Finally - possibly in part, thanks to him - I would even find myself accused, more of which later. Of course, the best whodunnits are always complex and far-fetched. But for a couple of loving parents to murder their daughter, bury

Decade of digging The Olive Press has investigated the Maddie case on many occasions over the last decade via our own leads and those fed to us by the UK national newspapers. After a series of initial articles in 2007, we reported on various suspects and photofits issued in 2008 and again in 2013. In 2009 we investigated whether a British woman may have been linked to the purchase of a child in Barcelona at the time of Maddie’s disappearance. Two years later we looked into the claims of an expat reader that she had seen Maddie in a supermarket in Alhaurin with a man who she described as ‘looking like a gypsy.’ She was also allegedly seen with a Swiss couple on a campsite in Cabopino, but we finally tracked down the holidaymakers to discover it was their own ‘lookalike’ daughter. We also probed whether she had been seen on an Axarquia beach in 2011 and in May 2012 our search intensified after another expat claimed to have seen her between Torrox and Nerja with a ‘party of Spanish people.’ In 2014, we again investigated a claim that she was spotted in Nerja by an ex soldier. We also probed whether she had been seen taking a flight from Ibiza to Munich by a German holidaymaker, who had contacted Scotland Yard. Like most of our articles it was heavily followed up in the global media and led to former Met detective Ian Horrocks to praise us for continually probing the case.

Whodunnit

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Top PP

MAYOR of Nerja, Jose Alberto Armijo, has been re-elected as president of the Partido Popular (PP) in Nerja for the fifth consecutive time, taking 97% of the vote.

Trashed THREE illegal settlements under the Nerja aqueduct have been dismantled and 200kg of rubbish removed from the site.

Sand savers TORROX council has asked the government to protect the town's beaches, two of which were badly damaged in the summer.

To visit the archive see http://www. theolivepress.es/spain-news/tag/ madeleine-mccann/

Thief caught THE main suspect in a string of summer thefts on Nerja's beaches has been arrested. It is thought the 23-year-old man hid in the rocky terrain waiting for opportune moments to strike.

AXARQUIA

Could it be Maddie?

AMBITIOUS: Checa

September 18 - October 1 201411 11 the olive press - October 2- October 15 2014

Ex-soldier claims he saw missing girl by a Nerja pool, in the latest alleged Axarquia sighting EXCLUSIVE By Tom Powell and Joe Chivers POLICE are investigating another reported sighting of Madeleine McCann in the Nerja area. Former prison worker and military man David Fullman (pseudonym) spotted a blonde girl speaking Spanish in an English accent at the communal pool at the Tropicana apartment complex in La Herradura and was immediately reminded of Maddie. After checking the online photo fit, he immediately contacted police in the UK. “A Spanish couple were by the pool with a very Spanish daughter and a blonde, whiteskinned girl who looked English and spoke with an English accent. “I tried to take a photo but the parents were keeping an eye on me, it was obvious I was watching them so I didn’t

SPOTTED: The pool in question, and (left) a digital photo-fit

want to make a scene or appear to be a pervert. “She looked similar to the digital construction, but more like her mother.” Fullman, added: “I felt like I had to report this, even if it leads to nothing.” Maddie disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007. The Olive Press has reported on previous alleged sightings of Maddie in the Axarquia.

No bull in Malaga THE man who tried to paint 300 Axarquia houses pink is offering Malaga residents a chance to ban bullfights. Mayoral candidate Javier Checa – representing the Andalucian Party of Malaga – will hold a referendum on January 11 on Calle Pedro Gomez Chaix.

and cover all traces in an hour while on holiday is stretching it just a bit too far. But this didn’t stop the Portuguese police from charging them… and to this day, one notorious ex-detective continues to publish books claiming they were involved. No care that Kate and Gerry McCann were educated doctors with not a blemish on their names. That they were on holiday with two other families. And that they had invited the world’s press to help in the search. These are just some of the reasons why I am convinced the McCanns did not kill their daughter. It is perhaps too obvious to point the finger at the parents. After all, they say that in cases of child molesting and abducting, more than half the time it is family members to blame. But accusing them had more to do with the ineptitude of the Portuguese police investigation, which didn’t bring in specialists to pick up vital strands of DNA evidence strewn around the flat, until THREE months later. Then they seized the hire car of the McCann’s, found so-called ‘key, crucial DNA evidence on the back seat,’ and finally allowed them to have it back to drive around. And, of course, they allowed dozens of local people, including one of the main suspects, Robert Murat - and even me - to wander around the crime scene. Nor did they shut the border with Spain until the next day. From the word go, they did not take this crime seriously. And, in a way, who can blame them? Praia da Luz sits in the sleepy south west corner of Europe, just short of Sagres. There had been no kidnappings, murders, or any serious crime reported for three years, as it turned out. The Mark Warner holiday club that charged thousands to parents like the McCanns, did not even have security cameras, or secure premises. There was no suggestion of putting families on higher floors and anyone could walk right into the complex through a small side gate. All the more perfect for a predatory paedophile who lived in the area. I was completely shocked by the laid back manner of the local authorities who were dealing with the case that Friday morning.

Checa has pledged to halt the bloody tradition if he is voted into government next year and the vote comes out against bullfighting. Checa remarked: “For the first time one political party takes the pulse of Andalucian society to hear their opinion about the national festival and find out if the majority wants to end centuries of animal torture.” Checa has a reputation for ambitious projects after attempting to paint 300 houses pink, rename roads in honour of gay icons and create a park designated for outdoor sex and 'cruising' in Moclinejo. Bullfighting has been banned in Barcelona since January 2012.

COLOURFUL: Exhibition

Colouring Competa NEW gallery Luz de la Vida in Competa is to host an exhibition of works by German artist Maren Wellendorf. Wellendorf, who has lived in Spain since 2008, is well known in Germany for her socio-critical paintings. Wellendorf uses colour to ‘produce sensation and emotion, distilling objects into perfect studies of shapes and colour’. The exhibition – also featuring sculptures by Dutch artist Lieuwke Loth – opens on October 3, with music provided by guitarist Rafael

British expat Rose Johnson, 70, believes she saw the missing girl playing on nearby Penoncillo beach – between Torrox and Nerja – in the summer of 2011. Another Olive Press reader, Yvonne Tunnicliffe, claimed to be ‘100% sure’ that she had spotted Maddie at a Mercadona store in Alhaurin el Grande in 2010.

COVERAGE: The Olive Press has followed up countless leads

When I arrived at about midday I was firstly able to walk into the apartment, where I introduced myself to the McCanns and told them I would do everything I could to help. The only reporter on the scene till late that evening - apart from Sky News reporter Kay Burley, who happened to be on holiday there - I spent time grilling neighbours, before noticing that a road crew was still digging up the street to lay sewage pipes literally right outside the apartment. The trench was nearly two metres deep and three men continued to shuffle around inside it. Nobody had stopped them. Incredibly, we had to wait till late afternoon before a couple of sniffer dogs had arrived, which was amateur to say the least, given that Maddie had been reported missing a full 18 hours earlier. I am not going to be able to solve the mystery, but I am convinced she was snatched by a local paedophile, who had been watching

Olive Press can be read in its entirety on www.theolivepress.es And our site is updated daily with the latest news, making it one of Spain’s May 11th - May 24th 2017 most visited news websites.

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NOT her Maddie

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paranoia that everyone felt in the resort that month. Whatever happened I am sure the McCanns could not have done it. Much has been made of the missing hourand-a-half window between 7pm and 8.30pm on May 3, between Madeleine being put to bed and the parents coming down to dinner. While Gerry was seen playing tennis, Kate was apparently in the flat . . . she must be guilty then? Not really. She was probably relaxing, having a bath, putting on her make up for the evening. One Portuguese tabloid claimed Kate had killed Maddie and then hid the body in the fridge of their apartment before ‘passing it through various locations’ and finally moving it in a hire car, perhaps on a ‘suspicious’ trip to Huelva three weeks later. But given that the apartment fridges are tiny, they would have had to chop her up first. Would they have then calmly sat at dinner with their friends at 8.30pm, showing no sign of a struggle or the anguish of murdering their daughter to their pals?

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Shovel

VANISHED: McCanns’ villa and Maddie (right) the family’s movements. It was sketchy and unsubstantiated, but It was coming to the end of their holiday. there was no doubt - as in any place where The fifth night they had put their children to northern European expatriates drift in their bed and gone down to have dinner with their hundreds - there were a number of bad eggs friends, all doctors bar one. among them. The apartment door was shut, but within Then, there was the Russian connection. Mueasy reach and in full view rat’s friend Sergey Malinka, of the road and the small vila handsome young man, lage had apparently very little who masqueraded as an escrime . . . until you scratched An English couple tate agent and had a numthe surface. ber of connections to boats. While there had only been told me there were I discovered he worked out one murder of any substance of a small office in Lagos, ‘half a dozen’ for nearly three years in the where the police had been area, there was, it turned out, paedophiles living the day before to find he had a seedy underworld inhabited suspiciously just wiped his there by numerous expatriates. computer clean. One woman told me how she He refused to comment, had been the victim of an atbut I discovered that he and tempted snatch at midnight in nearby Lagos Murat, who lived in direct sight of the Mada month earlier. A long term English couple, die apartment, allegedly talked a number who lived in a nearby hamlet, told me there of times within half an hour of the girl going were ‘half a dozen’ paedophiles living there missing. alone. While he was never charged, and Murat was One of these is still being sought. later exonerated, it summed up the sense of

FAMILY RESORT: Praia da Luz in Portugal

If they had killed Madeleine and then somehow driven her body away in the tiny time scale, they would have needed to have gone more than 25 miles – the distance from the resort sniffer dogs and police searched. That would mean driving for at least half an hour on the windy backroads inland from the Algarve. They did not know the back roads, nor a good spot to hide the body. How would they have hidden the body? Using a shovel? Hold on, would not there then be a shop somewhere that sold them a shovel? Is anyone still missing a shovel? If so, please call the Olive Press newsdesk. It is all so far fetched it is quite ridiculous. And then I got accused of being involved!!! It came after I inadvertently found myself interviewing a former nightclub bouncer in Huelva, who claimed he knew who snatched Maddie. A huge Angolan chap, he told me she had been taken on order and was now, most likely, in America. We double checked his credentials, ran it past Maddie’s family and published a carefully worded and, I believe, sensitive piece, which then of course got picked up by The Sun to be splashed on its front page. Not so sensitively. And all hell broke loose. Within a week there was a 5,000-word essay from an anti-McCann ‘troll’ named Tony Bennett, a solicitor, who was later found guilty of contempt of court over his repeated claims that the parents were guilty. In his article, still online, ‘Jon Clarke’s role in Maddie in US claim’, he made numerous wild accusations about me and my integrity, named my wife and children and even where I lived. He accused me of lying about the case, and crucially claimed I could not have got to Praia da Luz so quickly on the day after her disappearance. He suggested I was actually staying there. More alarmingly, it emerged, he had close connections to the aforementioned former UK police chief, who is still based in Andalucia. When I went to confront this ex-copper, who I vaguely knew, he refused to back down and thrust me a pamphlet entitled ‘What Really Happened to Madeleine?’, which gave 60 reasons insisting she was not abducted. It’s fair to say we do not see eye to eye, but he is sadly one of millions of people around the world who still think the McCanns are guilty. One thing for sure, it made me think long and hard about doing my job and how evil and pernicious the internet and its many trolls can be. I doubt the case will ever be solved, but I am certain the parents were not involved. And nor, should I add, was I.

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May 11th - May 24th 2017

Blown out of the water

BUSTED: French-style cop insists skater Toni Perez puts bags on his shoes

THOUSANDS of expats, children and even a few French gendarmes got into the spirit for the best Palma boat show yet! With the odd vintage car, a James Bond boat and a stunning female diver, not to mention plenty of parties, it was a marine festival not to be missed. The five-day event, which ended last week, saw 20% more boats and 10% more exhibitors than last year. The show was visited by around 35,000 visitors, a 10% increase on last year. More than €400 million is expected to have been turned over by the industry, while more than 2,500 were employed as a result. Around 4,000 national and international brands from more than 20 countries were present at the show, cementing it as one of the most important calendar events in the Balearics. “It was really good, real-

ly busy,” said one British exhibitor Russell Fenwick, CEO of Nauti Parts, which had a big stand at the show. “The weather was really good which definitely helped.” Yacht broker Hamish Goddard, from Baxter Marine added: “It just gets better and better each year. You can really feel that.” FUN: Revellers and kids

Wheel concerns Huge increase in cycling accidents a major concern for tourists and associations MOTORING accidents involving cyclists have more than doubled since 2009 across Spain. The number of serious crashes increased from 3,469 to 7186 from 2009 to 2015. The period has also seen an increase of 33% of hospitalisations from 489 people in 2009 to 652 in 2015. It comes after British rider and safety campaigner Bryan Stout, 86, was mowed down and killed in Mallorca just a few weeks ago.

RISE: In accidents

the cyclist. “We cannot go on like this... Last year saw 205 accidents How many people have to involving cyclists on the is- die for just laws to be put in place? Respect the cyclist,” land. Between 50 and 75 cyclists die said former professional road each year on Spanish roads racing cyclist Joaquim Rodriwith 664 having died between guez. “More cycle lanes need to 2006 and 2015. Palma has the country’s busi- be introduced and urgently est roads with the most cars around Spain,” added Amy per capita, making it one of Watton, who works for a travthe most dangerous places to el booking site. Much of the increase is due to ride. Around Spain, over 60% of the large increase is the rise crashes were not the fault of in cyclists, with 20% of Spaniards claiming they cycle. For this reason director of cyclists organization ConBici and Luis Montoro, Professor of Road Safety at the University of Valencia, A BRITISH pensioner has been urged caution to killed by a 4×4 car in Ibiza. ‘not spread alarm’. The victim, 73, who has not However a lack of been named, is the third forinfrastructure on eigner to be killed by a car in large roads and the Balearics in just two weeks. lack of road safety Traffic cops are investigatcampaigns has ing the incident but they are also been cited as a expected to report that the source of the prob40-year-old Spanish driver lem. braked as soon as she saw her Around 20% of and could do nothing to avoid Spain’s populahitting her. tion list the bicycle The driver did not test positive as their mode of for alcohol or drugs, unlike in transport, with citthe two other deaths in Malies like Valencia lorca, cyclist Bryan Stout, 86, and Zaragoza surin Alcudia and an Irish holipassing that figure daymaker in Magaluf. at around 45%.

Tragedy

Third car death

politics

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Crime pays ONLY 16% of funds stolen from the Balearics’ coffers under former corrupt president Juame Matas have been recovered. Of the €6.5 million that have been ordered to be paid back following corruption court cases, the Balearic government has only received €1.1 million. There are still millions owed from the Palma Arena case and the Noos case, which are expected to net €3.9 million. Matas’s honours were stripped and his portrait removed from the gallery of former presidents after the Supreme Court confirmed his sentence for trafficking influence.

May 11th - May 24th 2017

Legally sound AROUND 600 lawyers have signed a manifesto in favour of holding a referendum on Catalan independence. The lawyers say the Catalan Independence referendum conforms to the Spanish constitution, and gave full support to the calling of a vote. The signing took place at the Catalan Bar Association, with the lawyers declaring it ‘legitimate and legal’. UAB Constitutional Law professor, Merce Barcelo, stated that the signers are in a position to affirm that the referendum is not a legal problem, but a political one. Catalonia's Minister of Justice, Carles Mundo, was also present at the signing of the manifesto.

Barcelo eyeing up increasing tourism tax to boost revenue THE Balearic government is eyeing up increasing the tourist tax in a bid to bring in more revenue. Although the move was ruled out when drafting the regional budget for this year, many cabinet members believe the tax is too low.

Tax hike? The Balearic Eco Tourism Tax came into effect last March, and sees all visitors pay between €1 and €2 per day of their stay, depending on the rating of their hotel or type of accommodation the rates are lesser in the low

Hands off our election!

CORRUPT: Matas

Theresa May has accused European politicians of making ‘threats’ against Britain to try to influence the general election result. In a speech outside 10 Downing Street, Ms May suggested those in Brussels wanted Brexit talks to fail and that the European press had ‘misrepresented’ the UK’s negotiating stance. She said: “Britain’s negotiating position in Europe has been misrepresented in the continental press. “The European Commission’s negotiating

stance has hardened. “Threats against Britain have been issued by European politicians and officials. “All of these acts have been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June.” Ms May´s comments refer to reports in a German paper of a Downing Street dinner with EC President Jean-Claude Juncker, during which he said she was ‘delusional’ about Brexit.

season. Vice-President and tourism minister Biel Barcelo (left) has refused to rule out the increase, saying ‘now is not the time’ to discuss any such proposal. “We want to see how it has worked and what the social and economic implications have been,” he said, “Then will be the time to evaluate if any issue needs improving or modifying.” Cabinet members believe increasing the rate of tax will bring in extra revenue and will make the islands, including Mallorca, more upmarket. The feeling isn’t unanimous, but an increase will be up for debate once talks for the 2018 budget begin after this summer.

ACCUSED: PUJOL

Catalan leader had €70 million in offshore bank EX-Catalan president Jordi Pujol has been accused of placing €70 million in Andorran accounts. Pujol, his ex-wife Marta Ferrusola and their six sons are suspected of hiding the illegal cash between 1990 and 2014. Police have handed over a detailed report on the Pujols’ financial history to Spain’s High Court, in the lead up to a trial against the family. The report said: “The Pujols worked as an organised group developing a, presumably illegal, activity over a prolonged period from 1990. “They aimed to open bank accounts in a tax haven, to hide money of unknown origin, but presumably illegal.” Catalan figurehead Pujol was stripped of his political titles and honours in 2014 after he admitted hiding a multi-million-euro fortune to avoid taxes.

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Number crunching €0.85- The average price

per kg of Spanish grown tomatoes, compared to an EU average of €1.24

100

total number of goals scored in the history of the Champions League by Athletico Madrid

101 total number of goals

scored in the Champions League by Real Madrid’s Christiano Ronaldo

3,866 the number of reviews given on Tripadvisor to the Hotel Becquer in Sevilla, making it the most reviewed hotel in Spain.

263,903 number of

overseas voters on the UK electoral registers as of December 1st, 2016, despite an estimated 5.5 million living abroad.

3.4 million - number of vacant

properties in Spain

4,255,000 people are

currently unemployed in Spain according to the Institute of National Statistics

€8 million- The amount paid by

an anonymous buyer for a lost Diego Velazquez painting at auction in Madrid this month.

Not right Most nudists agree that pleasuring oneself in public is inappropriate (Woman in Mallorca shames man who pleasured himself next to her on beach, Issue 1). Once at a nude beach I saw a guy doing it, so I went over to him and said: “I would like to share something my mother taught me when I was young. She said that is something you do in the privacy of your own room at home, not in public.” The guy looked stunned, put on his clothes and left.

Unfair

Rich Pasco, UK

I have lived in Spain for 23 years now so can no longer vote. However, I have paid UK taxes since I first started to work at the age of 16 and continue to do so today and will do for the rest of my life. In these circumstances, I believe I should continue to have the right to have a say in matters that effect me and the running of my country of origin in general. P.S. During my time living out here I always used my vote whilst I had the right to do so. John Round, Madrid

Smoke and mirrors The only thing as good as a second EU referendum is a second EU referendum! But Madam May won’t give us one because the Brexit she has created is not what anyone voted for on 23 June. It’s a cunning earner for her and her millionaire pals in the upper echelons of the Tory party. It will be at great expense to the ordinary Brit in the street who is going to be several thousands of pounds out of pocket each year and lose several EU rights that protect his/her employment and free speech. The General Election is a smokescreen.

Warm welcome! Mallorcans and tourists react to our first ever issue hitting the island

Congrats Hey guys, I just wanted to congratulate you on the paper, it reads really well! Thank you for all the space in the first edition. Even Laura Stadler from the Daily Bulletin complimented me on it, so thank you and looking forward to working on it with you. Amanda Butler

Best of luck

Lordy Lordy!

A who’s who of the island raise money for expats

Page 3

Ring any bells? Rocker’s villa going for a song on Mallorca

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Expat bar owners protest over draconian sound limiters stopping music quieter than a vacuum cleaner

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Pride

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Page 4

Dirty dozen

fear for the future ‘THEY’RE KILLING US’: Singer Steffi (right) and bar owners oped nodules, making them unmarched down to Calvia town able to perform. hall to petition the mayor, “It’s affecting our work and where they were met by Guarhealth,” she added, “It could dia Civil, police and a TV crew. prevent us singing.” works They plan to return at 3.30pm fine and I have never had a During a meeting of 100 busitoday (Thursday), when the complaint,” said owner of ness owners and performers, councillors discuss the new attended by the Olive Press, the Stepps, Dave Woodward, 59. limiters, in the hope they can Meanwhile, British singer Steffi group blasted the council for change their minds. Lorena, 25, claims the limits ‘giving in’ to tourists who come If unsuccessful, all venues are affecting the livelihoods of to the party areas for a quiet around Calvia will be ordered performers. “It’s impossible to holiday. to install the limiters through sing within the new limits,” the “The council are protecting the the same engineering company owner of Santa Ponsa’s Retro wrong people,” one exclaimed, by May 1. “They are protecting two Brits bar told the Olive Press. Once installed, the device au“We opened in February and I who come for a quiet holiday tomatically turns down music was forced to fork out €3,000 and complain about the noise, if it goes over 62 decibels, deon a new limiter and if we have it’s a disgrace!” scribed as ‘restaurant conversaa loud crowd or they start clap- One bar owner, on the island for tion or background music’ by ping the music goes down and 15 years, claimed the council is industrialnoisecontrol.com. being manipulated by hotels you have to strain to be heard. Those going over the limit will “It’s got to a point where it is and clubs who want to drive face hefty fines, with some alactually damaging performers, business away from the bars. legedly already being fined “The new rules are twisting the it’s not worth it.” €6,000. Some local singers have devel- spirit of EU rules, and instead of “I already have a limiter that helping us, they are punishing us,” he said. “We will be forced to keep noise levels lower than in the industrial areas… the rules are imposDE MALLORCA sible to comply with and we fear police are likely to fine anyone who fights back!” He alleged that clubs sell tickets MORE from stands without the correct revenue with licenses but that the authorities clients! look the other way. German “The council knows that the sale Put your ads in stands from the clubs break the EL AVISO rules as they use secondary linewspaper! censes known as ‘Licencia complementaria’ when the primary license operating the business is closed,” he added. CONTACT US

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Opinion Page 6

Mike Deng, London

Unique Just wanted to say your first issue was great to flick through with my Sunday coffee! Good news with unique feature pieces, can’t wait to pick up the next issue! It’s nice to have something a bit different and new to read on Mallorca. Wishing you all the best. Cheers.

IDYLLIC: Local coast

Christine H, Palma

info@simply-shuttles.com Tel: 951 279 117 www.simply-shuttles.com

Alleged ‘child snatchers’ coasting the Costa del Sol on 10th anniversary of Maddie kidnap

PLEA: Ed Wilcox

Costa del Sol in the last month. Estepona resident Jacqui Chamberlain has also come forward about her son’s frightening experience on Good FriPARENTS are being urged to day. be on high alert after a number The 12-year-old, who has not of alleged attempted kidnapbeen named, was waiting for pings on the Costa del Sol. his sister outside her boyBritish expat Vicki Reid, 35, friend’s house near the Plaza has taken to Facebook to warn de Toros in the afternoon. people to be alert after she witWithin minutes, a car went nessed what she described as past and a man got out and ‘any parent’s worst nightmare’ asked him if he wanted any in Calahonda. sweets. In the week of the tenth anniChamberlain’s son immediateversary of missing Maddie McSCENE OF ATTEMPT: Calahonda and (below) Seat ly ran away. Cann, Reid, who was walking His mother reported the incinoticed son, her her dog with that corner at that precise moMost suspiciously of all, when dent to the police where she two men in a car closely watchment,” she said. she shouted out to the children says they told them there had ing a group of 11 to 13-year-olds She described the man she saw to be aware, the man stopped been around five similar cases playing in the street. as having shaved blonde hair, fleeing before tracks his in reported recently. The Riviera resident then spotwhile his friend had darker back to the vehicle and driving “We tried to play it down beted one of the men get out of hair. The car was black with off. cause he was petrified - it the black Seat and pursue the some paw print Reid then took the children scared the life out of him,” she group along Calle Siroco with a the on stickers back to her home where told the Olive Press. ‘very suspicious bottle of liquid boot. she called the police. “But we didn’t’ really know in his hand’. This is just “I’m still shakwhat to do – we didn’t have To Reid’s horror, he then one of what cannot and ing anyone to speak to because no darted behind some trees to is believed to what believe one we know has had a similar conceal his presence while the be several incould’ve hapexperience. other remained in the car with cidents to have pened if I had “What are you supposed to do, the engine running. the along reported been not been turning stop your kids from going outside? It’s hard when he has so many friends that live close to us. “You get this type of thing happening everywhere - I don’t think it matters where you are in the world. The most important thing is to spread awareness, because people just don’t believe it,” she added. Anyone who sees a car or men fitting the descriptions should Olive Press investigation call the police on 112 or contact the Olive Press at newsdesk@ See Page 6 theolivepress.es. EXCLUSIVE By Laura Duckett

Dr Frankpsychologist Knighted Spanish reveals incredible life

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AN EXPAT has urged police to do more to help tourists who become victims of crime. Ed Wilcox, who has lived in Duquesa since 1982, is appealing for more English-speaking officers to be recruited for the Costa del Sol. Wilcox, a retired computer repairman, believes the number of English-speaking tourists justifies the majority of beat officers speaking the language. His appeal comes after he was randomly asked to act as an interpreter in crime cases TWICE in two days. Although only a passer-by, he was firstly asked to help translate for a British family who had been burgled in the Los Hidalgos urbanisation last week. “Both the local police and Guardia Civil were on hand and were very pleasant and efficient, but none of them was able to speak English so I was asked to translate,” said Wilcox, 75. The next day he was dragged into another case after four Norwegians had their passports, and a laptop stolen from their car at Supersol, in Manilva. “I know we’re in Spain but this area is benefiting from a tourist boom again and something needs to be done about the language problem. “They need to employ translators like those that are available in hospitals. “While the police are obliged to provide translators for court cases, they are not forced to provide one to victims of crime - it’s absolutely ridiculous.” On a recent visit to Manilva Guardia Civil barracks, the Olive Press was brought in to translate for a tourist, who had had his wallet stolen, taking a full 30 minutes. Malaga Police failed to comment.

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OLIVE PRESS – 70mm x 40mm FRONT COVER 10 May

In Spain

Listen up

AROUND 100 island bar owners and entertainers are expected to stage a silent protest today after being forced to install new €3,000 sound limiters. It comes after Calvia Council imposed draconian new rules, in effect from May 1, in a bid to ‘reduce noise pollution’. But British and Spanish business owners say the new laws are ‘killing’ the party hotspot and are ‘prejudicing’ live music The OP’s roundup of Spain’s most corrupt politicians and karaoke venues. The new limit is - incredibly Page 6 the level of an air conditioning unit at 100 feet and less than a vacuum cleaner. “This could put us out of business, it’s unreal,” Fennigan’s bar owner Mick Cormican, 55, told the Olive Press. “A car going by is louder than the limit, it’s particularly prejudicial to live music and karaoke bars as they simply cannot perEditor Jon Clarke reviews Spain’s form within the sound limit.” alleged best restaurant A collective of 20 business ownPage 28 ers and entertainers yesterday

May 10th - May 23rd 2017

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Vol. 11 Issue 265

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Mallorca’s original community newspaper Vol. 1 Issue 1

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Me and my wife picked up your paper while on holiday in Mallorca and as ex-journalists ourselves we just wanted to say what a great read it was. Lots of original and quirky content. OUR BOAT’S We look forward to reading it COMING IN! again upon our return. FREE

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I just wanted to say how much we liked your new edition and how popular it has been with our customers. Lots of people have been in to pick it up and there have been plenty of comments, all positive. Wishing you lots of luck this year. Helen Jury, Nice Price, Calvia

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GIBRALTAR CULTURE

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GIBRALTAR GIBRALTAR 1 May 10th - May 23rd 2017 BUSINESS CLASSIFIEDS PAGE

17 THE German Government PAGE 18 believes Brexit marks an ‘historic opportunity’ to reach a ‘sensible’ agreement over Gibraltar. Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schafer said Spain and Britain’s dispute over the Rock had lasted centuries. However, he refused to state the German Government’s position on Spain’s claims over the territory. www.century21gibraltar.com “We want a friendly and sensible political agreement Century21 between the states that are Tele: 00 350 200 51020 politically facing up to each 202-204 Main Street Mob: 00 350 56523000 FREE Vol. 3 Issue 44 www.gibraltarolivepress.com May 10th - May 23rd 2017 other, in this case Spain and Gibraltar info@century21gibraltar.com the UK,” said Schafer. “Perhaps the process that starts now for the UK’s exit US rescue team’s from the EU is an historic mission to save opportunity to approach this question and clear it up once burned sailors on and for all.” Gib-bound ship Last week, a leaked document showing the Spanish Governhas ‘one of the ment plotting to axe Gibralriskiest ever’ tar’s tax status sparked fury. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo slammed the plans, blasting EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW the PP government’s ‘neo-coBy Joe Duggan lonial aggression’. “Gibraltar will, as ever, conIT was one of the most dangertinue to seek dialogue over ous missions they have ever had Spanish vetoes and will seek to undertake. cooperation and friendship Braving three-metre waves and over aggression,” he said. gusting winds, the rescue team Meanwhile, the Cross Frontier summoned iron nerves to paraGroup (CFG) has agreed to chute out of their military plane expand its membership to inin the dead of night. clude groups from the Campo Out to save a crew of badlyde Gibraltar and Cadiz. burnt sailors in the heart of the Atlantic, the risks could not have been higher. “This was definitely one of our from the Air National Guard most difficult missions,” exwere involved. plained Major Boughal, of the The first four-man team leapt at US Air National Guard. three-second intervals from the “There were definitely periods Hercules, using glow sticks to where things could have gone mark their landing spot in the south really fast.” waves below. Speaking for the first time, Wearing protective fluoresthe leader of the 106th Rescue cent suits to guard against the Wing mission, based in New Atlantic’s icy waters, the team York, told the Olive Press, how inflated their Zodiac dinghy, the perilous mission had to be gathered their equipment and carefully planned. travelled 500 metres to the After a five-hour flight Tamar. on an HC 130 Hercu“When we got there we found les plane, the crack the crew badly burned on their medical rescue face, arms, legs and hands. Initeam arrived at the tial report was they were mediGibraltar-bound tating, talking and were mobile. vessel the Tamar, But we knew the end state. Their HEROES: US rescue team, the Tamar (left), (below) control Kayley Mifsud completes Med centre lives were some 1,300 miles absolutely at risk. Steps charity challenge offshore. “They probably only had a few trained to use They had jumped hours to live.” Page 3 fear as an asinto action after an After securing the two patients’ set.” emergency call had gone airwaves and administering a Major Boughal out following a mystery cocktail of drugs, three PJs left explosion that killed two crew definitelyadded: “That was with the burned sailors on a members and left another two deployingthe risky part. We are Portuguese rescue helicopter toat an altitude half of badly injured. wards Lisbon 36 hours later. what we trained for. “We are trained to jump from “Once An inquest into the deaths of 3,000 ft, but we had to jump just the ramp opened it was the two Filipino sailors will be from 1,400 ft,” said Technical even blackness. You couldn’t undertaken by Gibraltar coroner see the water. We just Sergeant Jordan St. Clair. Charles Pitto after their bodies knew how low we were because “That is not a lot of time to get the pilot came ashore on the Rock last ready for hitting the water. The “Once told us week. you get to jump phase it moon was also not lighting up is all mission The US air rescue wing was born Darts star Peter Wright eyes focus. One step at “Collisions can be potentially fa- are my guys’, because it was so for us, so it was very dark. But a time. out of a World War Two rescue up Gibraltar you truly don’t have time for dark. Especially when it is that tal at that altitude. On our jump dark?” mission in Burma and was re‘Do I have a good chute?’, there were a couple of moments In total, five pararescuemen fear to set in. These guys are ‘Where Page 23 sponsible for saving downed piare the other jumpers?’ where I was thinking; ‘Where known as PJs - and two officers lots in Vietnam.

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Experts discover Columbus’ anchor and Mallorcan pottery in Caribbean

Download our app now and begin enjoying the best SpanishONE of Christopher Columbus’ anchors has been unnews on the go. earthed alongside centuries old Mallorcan pottery in the DISCOVERY: Columbus’ anchor and (right) MORE than 6,000 people are Caribbean. sailor Vicente Pinzon set to descend on Mallorca The anchor has an estimated for the second annual Cream- weight of between 1,200 and fields festival. 1,500 pounds, indicating it Following last year’s inaugu- was a ‘bower’ anchor from ral success, the festival has a 300-ton vessel, the typical announced its return with a size of a Columbus-era ship. star-studded Theline-up, OliveincludPressBroken pottery, an olive jar ing Tinie Tempah, Sigma and and pot from Mallorca were Axwell TOP & Ingrosso. also found, which date the for news in Spain! There will also be special wreck to the period between “That anchor is from Chris- story.” guest Tchami, among others. topher Columbus,” said his- Miklos used a space trea1492 and the early 1500s. The party will take place The discoveries will be re- torical shipwreck discovery sure map created by his again at the the BH Mallorca vealed in the next episode specialist Darrell Miklos, late friend, NASA Astronaut complex in Magaluf on July of the Discovery Channel who led the Caribbean ex- Gordon Cooper, to find a se20, with three stages set-up docuseries Cooper's Trea- pedition, “this is just the ries of Caribbean shipwreck for 16 hours of music. beginning of an amazing sites. sure. Former Swedish House Mafia members Axwell & Ingrosso will headline the open-air MARIVENT Palace’s royal gardens have offiSTAGE, while Tinie Tempah cially opened following a €217,000 makeover. features in the Island Beach It is the first time they have been opened to the Club for a Miami-style pool public, and will now come complete with new 15 and September 15. party. benches, waste bins, disability access and toilet Able to hold a maximum of 300 people, the facilities. gardens include 12 bronze sculptures by Joan Buy your tickets at Free of charge, visitors and locals alike will be Miro. http://www.bhmallorca. able to stroll through the botanical wonder all They were produced between 1969 and 1981 com/ year around, except at Easter or between July and were donated by the Miro family.

THE third of 22 weekly NBM Yacht Club parties at Nikki Beach in Calvia, starting from 11am. May 17

Wat-er find! Going green

acht party

The new discovery, off the Turks and Caicos islands, is believed to be linked to Vicente Yanez Pinzon - a Sevillan sailor who was part of the Columbus expeditions. Vicente was captain of the Nina on Columbus’ first voyage in 1492. In 1499 and 1500 Vicente Pinzon discovered Brazil and the Amazon River. In July of 1500, Vicente Pinzon’s fleet was caught in a hurricane while anchored near the Turks and Caicos islands and two of his ships were wrecked. It is believed the find could be one of these ships.

lassic

THE Formentor Sunset Classics classical music festival begins with Tenor Roberto Alagna and Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak. May 18

aw-fect

RIALTO Living's art gallery will host the Mis Amigos - My Friends exhibition by Damián Ramis, featuring brightly coloured life-sized animal sculptures. April 20 to May 23.

hoe party

WORKSHOPS devoted to shoemaking will be joined by exhibitions, traditional Mallorcan music and dancing and night time concerts at the annual shoe festival in Lloseta. June 3.

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Palau de l’Almudaina

Palma Cathedral Le Seu

“This place is far from a palace of any type. It took about 20 mins to walk through all the exhibits and cost €4. I can’t believe I paid anything to get in here as it should be free with how little is on display. The outside is cool to look at, but don’t waste any time/ money..” Ashleigh B, UK, February 15

“Waste of space...Nothing much to see except for a few dummy human brains and dummy turtles for decoration. Not my kind of thing!” Spaghetti L, February 2016, UK

Bad

“It is a very impressive structure inside, but other than that there is really not a lot to do.” One star in March 2016 from Leewho.

Caminito del Rey, Malaga

The Llotja “It’s basically a huge room with some pillars holding up the ceiling, nothing more. But it’s free, which is nice... if you want some shadow from the sun.” Johnny J, Sweden, September 2016

tourists

Mezquita Cathedral, Cordoba

13 13

El Tajo gorge, Ronda “Ronda itself was lovely but it took too long to get there on the bus.” Two stars in April 2016 from Waggajbnelly.

Palma cathedral is ‘a waste of space’ Alhambra is ‘boring’, and Sevilla’s Giralda is ‘pointless’ … It must be true though, we read it on TripAdvisor

pain is not all it’s cracked up to be. Or so it seems to a wealth of tourists who have taken to TripAdvisor to express their disappointment at some of the region’s top hotspots. After all, it’s always a let-

down to find an ancient Roman ruin that’s just a pile of old stones, a prehistoric cave without any natural light or a cathedral which offers no tourist activities other than … looking at the cathedral. But there’s just

“Fully fenced and protected and hardly the adventure it once was.” One star in December 2015 from Matt B.

no pleasing some folk. From the confused to the disillusioned to the just plain bored, check out our ‘dirty dozen’ of the daftest TripAdvisor reviews given to some of Spain’s most noted tourist attractions.

Nerja Caves, Nerja “Bit gloomy”. One star in August 2015 from Jennie W.

Plaza de Espana, Sevilla “This place has absolutely nothing to do or see except a large building surrounded by gardens.” One star in May 2015 from Asheesh1287.

Palace of the Countess of Lebrija, Sevilla

Giralda tower, Sevilla

“It’s just a collection of things the Countess bought.” Two stars in November 2015 from Steven S.

“Didn’t really understand what the point was – it’s a big tower.” Two stars in May 2016 from Gav C.

Cathedral, Sevilla “We didn’t go.” One star in July 2016 from Phil A.

Aeronautical museum, Malaga “It’s as though some of the museums have just been put there to give tourists something to do” Two stars in February 2016 from Mambo5Scotland.

Dolmen de Malaga, Antequera “Nothing there really, except a cave.” Two stars in September 2015 from Allan B.

The Alhambra, Granada “Boring ruin… I highly recommend the Alhambra to anyone who likes to stare at old walls, but to no one else.” One star in October 2015 from GrumpyGermanTraveller.

Roman ruins of Acinipo, Ronda “Disappointing piles of stone.” Two stars in May 2015 from Karen E.

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la cultura

May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

As Picasso’s masterpiece turns 80, a Madrid exposition sheds light on the Spanish artist’s dark journey. Laura Duckett reports

ICASSO was living in Paris when German bombs rained down on the Basque city of Guer-

nica. Stark black and white photographs plastered over the front pages of L’Humanité and other French newspapers were the first visual representations he saw of the bloodshed and devastation. Those images became his inspiration for one of the world’s most iconic paintings, a universal howl against the atrocities of war which brought 3.6 million visitors to its Madrid home at the Reina Sofia Museum last year. Picasso’s choice to paint it in

STRIKING: Haunting motifs puzzle academics

Guernica revisited

CELEBRATED: Guernica attracts millions to Reina Sofia Museum

monochrome has been cited as a deliberate ef for t to represent a photographic record of the genocide, despite its avant garde style. This year, as Guernica turns 80, the museum is marking the event with an exhibition delving into its role in Spanish politics and culture. Titled Pity and Terror: Picasso’s Path to Guernica, it will unite 180 of his ar tworks under one roof from now until September 4. Picasso had originally been commissioned to paint a mural for the 1937 Paris Exhibition. But he abandoned his original idea in favour of the muralsized painting on discovering what had happened in his homeland. Its unveiling that summer garnered little interest. Few people fully understood it as Picasso resolutely refused to discuss its symbolism.

Brutality

Destruction

In fact, the of ficial German guidebook to the exhibition advised against visiting Picasso’s ‘hodgepodge of body par ts that any four-year-old could have painted’. Later it would tour the world and become the focus of countless scholarly works analysing its striking motifs. The most haunting symbols are the bull and the gored horse. But look beyond those and you can learn about the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and peer into the mind of the Malagueno ar tist. Guernica scholar Anthony Blunt separates the painting’s central pyramid into two groups: the first containing the bull, horse and bird, the second with a dead soldier and various women in dif ferent manifestations of grief. The over whelming female presence is representational

motif throughout his pieces, and it’s said to represent his alter ego. However, he himself said that the bull in Guernica signifies brutality and darkness, and that the speared ‘workhorse’ represents the people of Guernica. Under the horse lies a dismembered soldier. On his palm is a stigma which symbolises martyrdom. In his other hand he clutches a broken sword out of which a ver y faint flower grows – of ten interpreted as a symbol of hope. Picasso’s choice to exclude colour has been cited as a deliberate ef for t to represent a photographic record, despite the painting’s avant garde style.

SYMBOL OF PEACE: Guernica was transported to Spain after Franco´s death

Grisly fragmented motifs remind us of a tragic moment in Spain’s histor y, but the canvas itself has a stor y of its own to tell. Beginning its life at Almost the Spanish Pavilion in Paris, as famous for it subsequently his biting wit as toured Scanhis artistic prowess, of the ratio of dinavia and when a German men to women was exhibited Gestapo officer looking in the town at in Whitechaat Guernica asked the time of the pel Ar t Galler y, him, ‘Did you do this?’, bombing. Most London. It was Picasso is said to have men were away then sent to the retorted, fighting. US to help raise ‘No, you did’. Ar t historian Pamoney for Spantricia Failing says: ish refugees and “The bull and the horse housed in New York’s are impor tant characters Museum of Modern Ar t bein Spanish culture. Picasso fore travelling around the himself cer tainly used these countr y and then to South characters to play many dif fer- America. ent roles over time. This has It was under Picasso’s exmade the task of interpreting press wishes that it was not the specific meaning of the delivered to Spain until the bull and the horse ver y tough. countr y became a Republic. It Their relationship is a kind of arrived here, weathered and ballet that was conceived in a worn, in 1981 – six years af ter variety of ways throughout Pi- Franco’s death – where it now casso’s career.” rests, a symbol of peace that Picasso used the minotaur will outlive us all.

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May 11th - May 24th 2017

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la cultura

la cult

May 11th - May 24th 2017 March 15th - March 28th 2017

Captain E.S. Geary’s extraordinary life on the open seas involved espionage, intrigue and danger, discovers Joe Duggan

S the sniper’s bullets cracked against a Caracas pavement, Captain Geary knew he was in trouble. The US Coast Guard captain’s work with the Venezuelan navy had led the CIA to make him an offer. It wanted to oust Venezuela president Rafael Caldera and replace him with Hugo Chavez. The CIA wanted Geary to spy on the Venezuelan navy top brass. Geary refused to betray his friends. Now the CIA wanted him dead, he says. “I was supposed to meet one of my contacts in a hotel in Caracas,” he says.

MUTINY: Marlon Brando aboard HMS Bounty Replica

“The day before I got a note under my door saying let’s meet in a restaurant. As I was walking to the restaurant at 7.30 that night a sniper started shooting at me. “Fortunately the guy was a lousy shot. I ducked and got out of the way. I ran for cover behind a car, got to my hotel room and changed my underwear.” Welcome to the extraordinary world of Gibraltar’s own man of intrigue and espionage. Some 25 years on from his Venezuelan escapades, Geary has swapped chasing South American drug cartels for the calmer waters of Spain and Gibraltar. A maritime chartered surveyor (among his many areas of nautical expertise is valuing yachts and ships), Geary is the best in the business. This month, Geary - who is in Mallorca on business many times a year - was awarded the prestigious Chartered Surveyor Expert of The Year award. “There are lot of maritime experts around the world,” said Geary, who describes himself as ‘I'm a bit over 50 and under 100’. “For someone from little Gibraltar to be considered the number-one expert is really

Captain co

ON DUTY: Le Geary with A Fossy of Vene Coastguard a on Venezuela guard US Coa operatio

Rubbing shoulders with Pablo Escobar´s informants...all in a day’s work an accolade.” It’s yet another outstanding achievement in a career where the incredible has become commonplace. Geary claims to have survived four assassination attempts during his time in South America. Rubbing shoulders with informants for Pablo Escobar, recovering a stolen yacht from Mexican drug lords and uncovering South America’s main funder for Hezbollah were all in a day’s work for Geary. But the California native’s career of derring-do began in the sedate surroundings of a Gibraltar office in 1973. “I was chief accountant for an engineering company in Gibraltar, J.J Mackley” he says. “I worked for a period of time until I realised this is not what I want to do.” Geary studied naval architecture and naval nautical science before going on to work as a marine surveyor in the Caribbean. From here, he joined the US Coast Guard, setting up all search and rescue teams in the Caribbean. Because of the success of that mission

Geary was asked to train the Venezuelan navy and coastguard division, and was instrumental in introducing women for the first time. He was then commissioned as a captain in the Venezuelan Navy and Coastguard. “That can’t be done by an American citizen,” he says. “I got hold of the US state department and said, ‘Can I accept this

commission?’ They said yes.” But Geary’s popularity with the Venezu admirals and generals had piqued the osity of US authorities. One day, he wa proached by a mysterious fellow Amer “He said, ‘I’m station chief of the CIA in cas. We are concerned President Rafae dera won’t follow Washington’s line. We to put a man in the Presidential Palace

tura

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May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

courageous HIGH PROFILE: From left Hugo Chavez and US astronaut Buzz Aldrin

eft, Admiral ezuelan and right, an Coastastguard ons

uelan e curias aprican. Carael Cale want e that

1717

we can control. That man is Hugo Chavez.’” Geary says the contact told him left-wing firebrand Chavez was being paid by the US to work with them. Geary claims he was offered a lump sum, plus a healthy monthly payment, to uncover incriminating information on the Venezuelan military. “Jason my son, who was about ten or twelve years old, was staying with families

of the admirals and generals while I did the training,” said Geary. “He became almost a family member of senior officers of families of the Venezuelan military. Because Jason knew the kids they sometimes say something that can be used for intelligence. “The CIA said, ‘We are afraid when we start promoting Chavez there could be a coup d-

etat by the military to overthrow the Chavez rican mercenaries to reclaim a boat stolen forces. If we have compromising informa- by Mexican drug lords. tion on these senior officers we can neu- “I told them, ‘I will give you five thousand tralise them if they cause problems’. dollars each if we are successful. If we “I said, ‘These are my friends, I are not we may all be dead,” he refuse to do it’. They threw told them. me out and discharged The group overpowered me. Then they emthe crew and sailed barked on a prothe boat back from gramme to try and Cancun. kill me.” Danger lurked Geary, who reat every corner fers to the CIA for Geary as as ‘the world’s he pitted his most dangerwits against ous terrorist a succesorganisasion of murky tion’, says he underworld survived two characters. assassinaOne man tion attempts named Abbas, by sniper fire. whom Geary Another time suspected of his car was alfraudulently most run off the claiming four milroad while he was lion dollars from driving from Carashipping underwritcas. ers, called Geary to his “His food was then poioffice one day. soned at the Hilton Hotel in “Every flight of stairs had Santa Margarita. two guys with shotguns,” said “I had so much information they did Geary.”He said, ‘Have you ever seen not want to get out,” says Geary. “I CAPTAIN: Geary 50 million dollars’? Behind him was had found that the CIA was paying a huge safe. He opened it up, floor boat captains to not challenge ships carry- to ceiling were hundred dollar bills. “I found ing drugs from Colombia and going through out later Abbas was the principal funding Venezuelan waters. source to Hezbollah in Central and South “I was aboard one ship when this hap- America. They would take brief cases of cash pened so I had this all documented. The and go to Beirut.” CIA is involved in drug trafficking. The drug As well as his South American escapades, money was being used to finance all their ships, he has valued Greenpeace’s Rainescapades in Central America. bow Warrior and a replica of the HMS “You disagree with the CIA and they will Bounty. In a 2005 court case, Geary testitake you out.” fied against astronaut Buzz Aldrin over a Following his discharge, Geary sued the NASA undersea lab being turned into an CIA and US Coast Guard in Federal Court underwater hotel. in Miami. He won, although a government Life may no longer hold the daredevil elegagging order -later overturned - initially ment it did in South America, but it is clear prevented him from speaking out about Geary loves his work in Spain and Gib. the case. “I enjoy the challenges. It’s just at that But the intrigue didn’t end there. stage of my life I had to deal with a lot of “My lawyer was mysteriously killed in a challenges that I don’t have to deal with road accident,” says Geary. “Nobody to this over here,” he said. day can explain what happened.” “One day I’m dealing with a superyacht in Geary’s life is worthy of a Hollywood film Algeciras or Mallorca, the next day I might (Geary has written about his experiences be surveying a passenger ship in Greece. in his book Cheque Mate - Fables and Tales “I meet fascinating people and work is never of the Unexpected and website www.ship- the same.” surveyor.com.”) None quite so fascinating as Captain EdOne episode saw him hire three South Af- ward Geary.

-final of Spanish TV talent show 3065 views

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Property Millen mansions Property miss 2017 May 11th Don’t - May 24th Roll on Remain our special Property supplement out soon Special report by Iona Napier

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Booming July predicted following ‘pause’ in run-up to EU referendum

A HUGE US property fund is splashing €45 million on three new Costa del Sol developments. The American bosses behind Real Capital Solutions have snapped up sizeable plots in Estepona, Mijas and Benahavis and continue to look at further opportunities along the coast. The company, based in Marbella since 2013, already has five other developments, including The Retreat, in Elviria.

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“We have spent around €86 million here so far and have a fund of €100 million to spend,” explained Managing Partner Peter Wells, based in Colorado. “We are one of the largest developers on the Costa del Sol and our emphasis is on distressed properties.” He added: “Also we do things transparently and always try and deliver on price and quality.” The company - which made hundreds of millions buying and selling distressed properties in the US - has 16 staff working out of its office at Centro Plaza. Local boss Taylor Cox, added: “The coast is really starting to come alive and it’s a pleasure to live in such a beautiful part of the world.”

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ESTATE agents in Spain and Gibraltar are lining themselves up for the busiest July on record. It comes as some British buyers put purchases on hold due to the forthcoming EU referendum on June 23. Most agents the Olive Press spoke to confirmed they had various sales currently ‘paused’ awaiting the result, despite the British market remaining strong. The majority believe that the expected result - to stay in Europe - will lead to the pound strengthening with a red hot summer of sales to follow. Ben Bateman, at Holmes Sotogrande, described the referendum lead up as a ‘pause for thought for British buyers’ due to concerns over the weak pound. “After a remain vote however, we expect to see a strong finish to the year - and a sudden wave of bids from British buyers,” he told the Olive Press. One agent in Gibraltar has gone one step further actually employing extra staff for July. Savills director Sammy Cruz-Armstrong said: “Everything is on hold due to Brexit, but I am convinced we will stay in Europe and am taking on extra staff in July to deal with the expected deluge of business.” Benahavis agent Scott Marshall of Proper-

tieSpain, meanwhile, described the pause as ‘very psychological’. He said: “It’s a combination of the uncertainty of the vote and the exchange rate right now.” While many agents have a couple of sales currently on hold, some have seen more. “We have up to ten sales currently on hold until after the referendum,” said Victor Witkowski, boss of Castles, in Manilva. “Buyers are not necessarily pulling out, but they are biding their time to see what happens.” Fellow Manilva agent, Shani Hamilton, also confirmed a slowdown, but added: “We are predicting a huge influx of business as soon as a decision is made.”

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Deals

Spanish property sales by nationality and quarter

www.spanishpropertyinsight.com Source: Registradores

Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2013 Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014 Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016

Either way, official statistics out this month confirm the British market remains strong and tens of thousands continue to look for their dream home. Respected analyst Mark Stucklin insists that foreign demand for Spanish property was up 16% in the first quarter with Brits the biggest group of foreign buyers at 22% of the market share. “The British still dominate the foreign market for property and there is no evidence of a noticeable decline in demand as yet,” he said. And certainly not everyone is suffering. One agent, Graham Govier of Inland Andalucia has seen ‘no negative impact’ at all during the referendum lead-up. “In fact it is the opposite. Prices are extremely cheap right now and we are selling two times as many properties as we were last year,” he said. He added: “My salesman Paul - already a bit of a local celebrity - has just completed his seventh consecutive sale and people are buying because they can see that the incredible deals won’t wait around for them forever,” he added. Paul made headlines in the Olive Press last year when he sold an impressive nine properties in a row.

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EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

KAREN Millen is continuing to build her Mallorca property despite THE Balearic's tax agency has filing for bankruptcy last notified those with holiday month. rentals that they must declare The 55-year-old fashion their tourism tax for 2016. designer was reportedly The agency sent out notificaunable to pay an outtions yesterday stating that standing €7million tax the period forDownload declaring our appthe now and bill and is already reporttax for last year has begun. edly selling her €4 milbegin enjoying the best Spanish Some 9,000 people own holilion mansion in the UK. the go. day rentals innews theonBalearics, Despite her financial with the tourism tax for 2016 woes, a source on the isexpected to bring €40 million land told the Olive Press into the coffers. the fashion mogul is still Owners who have been sent very much building her the amount that needs to be home on the northwest of paid will have a month to do the island. so. “It’s very much going

Troubled British fashion mogul holding on to dream Mallorca property after bankruptcy ahead,” he revealed, “I can’t say much as it’s all very confidential.” Millen founded her eponymous brand in 1981 with an initial investment of around €100 but was soon enjoying massive success. She sold the chain to the Icelandic corpora-

tion Baugur in 2004 for around €110 million. But when the financial crisis hit in 2008, the mother of three lost much of her fortune after Icelandic bank Kaupthing collapsed. She has remained in a legal battle with them ever since.

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She was also ‘caught out’ in 2010 after her accountants had advised her to use a tax planning

scheme, the validity of which was successfully challenged by HMRC in 2010.

Property sales rise Property sales in Spain have increased across the board. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the numbers of sales in the first two months of 2017 rose by 10% compared to the same period last year. Sales in Malaga rose by 12%, a rise above Madrid that saw rises of 11%, but considerably below Barcelona, where sale increases rose by 23%. The total value of transactions also rose significantly in the first quarter, up by 54% across all regions, by 62% in Barcelona, by 109% in Madrid and by 112% in Valencia.

Squatting growth OVER 87,000 families are living in squats in Spain. The figure equates to around 270,000 people, an increase of 75% in the last 10 years. The stark figures were revealed by research foundation Instituto Cerdà, which believes an increase in poverty, the scarcity of social housing stock and existence of empty houses have contributed to the rise. According to its report, up to 90% of the affected dwellings have been squatted peacefully, with many people living in houses that are either old, unfinished or without an occupancy certificate. Up to 60% make illegal connections to supply lines to obtain basics such as electricity and water. Around 35% of Barcelona’s Nou Barris neighbourhood’s housing stock has been squatted, one of the highest

Illegally occupied homes boom in Spain due to poverty and bad housing planning rates in Spain. In Andalucia, 1,465 homes are said to be squatted in Sevilla province, 1,200 in Granada and 646 in Malaga. So far, the Junta has attempted to deal with the issue by renovating some of its housing stock to make more affordable houses available by 2020. Social housing only accounts for 2,5 % of houses in Spain, much lower than the European Union average of 15 %.

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The Olive Press – 250 x 200mm (Junior Page)

12th April

A PROPOSED €2.2 billion euro super casino near Madrid could be given the green light after new plans were submitted by US developers. Regional authorities rejected the proposals in March, arguing the development needed €3.4billion of infrastructure investment. But developers The Cordish Company have come back with new plans, including a six-hectare artificial lagoon and beach 30 km east of the capital. Madrid’s regional PP gov-

ernment now has a month to analyse plans for the 134-hectare site. It is predicted the development, which includes a 500-room hotel, would attract around 1.6 million tourists to Madrid.

May 10th - May 24th 2017

Property

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May 11th - May 24th 2017

MORTGAGE THINK TANK January 18th - January 31st 2017

by mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola

Different mortgages in de Pola talks potential buyers Spain Tancrede through Spain’s mortgage maze

HE array of mortgages on offer by banks and savings banks (cajas) in Spain can at best be confusing. As they are loans that could take decades to pay back, understanding the best for your situation is vital. In Spain, an EU citizen (as well as English speaking countries such as USA, Canada etc) can normally borrow up to 70% of the purchase price of the property, with an average term normally up to 25-30 years. However, older borrowers may be have to accept a shorter borrowing term if the lender wants the loan to be paid off by the time the borrower reaches the age of 75. Russian and non-EU citizens can normally get a loan of up to 60% of the purchase price. Fixed rate mortgage Whilst not offered by all banks they have become much more widely available in recent years. Fixed rate mortgages are generally for the full term and available at competitive rates. Due to a low Euribor, which variable rates track, the fixed rates are higher than the variable rates but will provide long term stability. But with fixed rates at a historical low, now is one of the best times to consider them. Other good news is that most fixed rate loans don't have higher early redemption penalties than the variable rate products, while knowing how much you must pay each month will give you peace of mind. Variable mortgage The vast majority of mortgages sold both to Spaniards and foreigners fall under this category. Simply put, repayment rates will vary according to the base rate set by the European central bank. This means that borrowers cannot be certain what

their mortgage payments will be in the future. If the interest rate falls they will pay less, but if it rises they will pay more. The plus is that you could save money should interest rates drop, which could then free up more money to pay off a lump sum. Mixed mortgage As the name suggests, this is a combination of fixed and variable mortgages. The first few years of the repayment are fixed and under control, before changing to a variable mortgage where interest rates can vary, thus affecting the monthly repayment amount. Mortgages for S.L. & Ltd companies Some banks will allow you to purchase through a Spanish limited company if the company is set up as a shell company purely for the purpose of buying the property. Due to the additional work involved in assessing companies, banks are more reluctant to approve this type of operation. Generally, they will only look at such cases when the clients or companies have strong profiles. Tax advantages include the deferral of a large part of the transfer tax (ITP and IVA) but clients also need to be aware that there are administrative implications, such as the need to file quarterly tax returns and pay corporate taxes. Rustic Due to years of illegal builds on suelo or terreno rustico, banks can be reluctant to give mortgages on rustic land properties. If they do, it will generally be for no more than 50% of the purchase price and almost impossible when trying to release equity from an existing property.

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Mallorca remains buoyant despite British sales dropping by a third across Spain THE fall in the pound Sterling and uncertainty about the UK’s future has seen British demand for second homes in Spain plunge. Spain’s Association of Land and Commercial Registrars revealed last week that British demand is down nearly 30% on last year’s pre-referendum levels. From 2012, British property

Staying strong purchases were increasing in Spain by an average of 20% each year. But now, the new report shows sales to UK buyers were down for the first quar-

ter of 2017, from 2,800 to 2,000. The pound is down 10% compared to pre-referendum levels, meaning a €300,000 villa, which would have cost

Keys Isl nd to the

allorca is one of the safest investment locations in Europe. The dramatic global political situation, particularly in the Aegean Sea and Western Turkey clearly favours Mallorca. Low interest rates from the banks and more confident lending policies ensure that plenty of investment is being made in real estate. The Mallorca property market has undergone a dramatic revival, with property prices having risen quite significantly over the last three years. The housing market in many areas is now back to its pre-recession 2007 levels (and in some cases has exceeded this - particularly with seafront property). Although Brexit temporarily put some of the British demand for property into hibernation, interest from the Scandanavian, German and French markets is soaring, with additional interest from the emerging markets of the United States and the Far East.

May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

NOT AFFECTED: Mallorca market not hit by fall in pound Sterling

a UK buyer £229,000, will now cost them £254,000, a £25,000 increase. The issue is made worse in areas of surging prices, including Barcelona.

By Amanda Butler

Safe as houses

Mallorca, which is also experiencing an increase in prices, has managed to offset the damage, as the majority of its buyers come from the German market. Additionally, growing Swedish and Turkish investment has managed to offset the drop in British interest. Alfredo Millá of the Sonneil property agency, covering Alicante and Murcia, said the weak pound isn’t the only reason potential buyers are becoming reluctant. “There’s a general air of uncertainty, especially about whether they will be entitled to healthcare,” he said. British cash buyers looking for a relatively modest place in the sun are said to have been the hardest hit. “The pound-euro exchange

rate has a bigger effect on people at the lower end of the market, in the €200,000€400,000 price range,” said Chris Clover, head of Panorama Properties in Marbella. “Those with more money can take advantage of low interest rates to hedge against the weak pound.” Hence ‘hot markets’ including Ibiza and Marbella are still thriving, as luxury buyers remain largely unaffected. Spain is also benefiting from Chinese and Turkish investors. Both groups are interested in the new gold visa scheme, which grants residency for anyone who invests more than €500,000 into property, assets or business, and which brought €2.6 billion to the economy last year.

Why Mallorcan in Spain is one of the hottest places to invest, writes property writer Amanda Butler

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€

Luxury

Most interest from foreign buyers is in the luxury market with property priced from €1.5m to €8m. Attractive villas in the most privileged and sought after locations are no longer easy to buy, and in some of the historically cheaper areas - such as the old town of Palma and even the Santa Catalina district of the city - it is difficult to find anything for what may be perceived as a reasonable price. There is now a definite shortage of long term rental properties. It is predicted that prices in the luxury segment will continue to rise in the coming years and demand will continue to grow. With the current tourist boom, this year is estimated to hit all time records and the trend appears set to continue. Real estate hot spots on the island remain Bendinat and Puerto Andratx, where luxury villas boast an average price tag of €4 million, reaching up to €38 million at the very top end of the market. Formentor at the Eastern end of the island is another highly soughtafter location with houses selling at an average price of €6 million.

MAKEOVER: Santa Ponsa

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For further information and assistance, Amanda Butler has specialised in the Mallorca property market for 15 years. She offers a professional, discrete and personalised service as a Buyer’s Agent, guiding clients around the island and the property marketplace from enquiry through to completion - including the provision of after-sales service, advice on property development potential, architectural, construction and legal issues .

Contact Amanda Butler at +34 690075169 or by email: ajb@mjcassociates.net

SANTA Ponsa’s coastal walkway is to receive a €250,000 makeover. Calvia Council has approved the works on the Avenida Rei Jaume, which will see the area where the walkway meets the Gran Via Penyes Rotges receive new paving, improved lighting, new seating and an improved children’s play area. The works are expected to take ten weeks to complete. The area is popular with locals and tourists, offering stunning views of the Malgrats isles.

On the rung THE Government is set to give thousands of euros to young people to help them get on the property ladder. Requirements for the grants include being under 35 years old and on a monthly income of less than €1,600. The measure aims to boost THE Spanish property industry appears property purto be flourishing again after years of cri- chases in the sis. country after Profits tripled in the fourth sector in fiscal aid was 2016 to a total of around €1.4 billion. scrapped in This is a drastic increase from last year’s 2013. profits of 407 million, and isn’t far be- There are fears hind 2007’s registered profit of €1.6 bil- the housing marlion, signalling a return to the market ket could evenseen in the country before the financial tually implode crisis. again if young Profits recorded come from sales both adults are not in the residential and in the office and given the chance retail sectors along with price increases to own their first and rental income. home.

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Inspector sicky

Private eyes on the hunt for Download our app now and fake sickness begin enjoying the best Spanish claims on news on the go. Mallorca

RUNNING: Town buses

Bring on the buses!

THE controversial bus services between the airport A MAJOR holiday comand various key tourist sites pany has hired a team have begun again. of undercover detectives The A11 to Paguera, via to squash fake sickness Magaluf, and the A32 to Al- scams on all-inclusive cudia, Playa de Muro and holidays. The are Olive Press Can Picafort the first of Jet2holidays has made the many unpopular with taxi move after it was revealed driversTOP whofor seenews their in busiSpain! the amount hotels had to ness being undercut. pay out to sickness claims The routes take a little lon- increased by 700% last ger than the taxis but are year. much cheaper. The Olive Press is this The transport ministry has week helping ITN news stood by the move however, in London to research the saying it provides a quality problem. public transport service to We discovered that ‘amtourists who plan their trips bulance chasers’ are said online. to be luring and encouragResidents will also be able to ing Brits into making false enjoy more direct journeys. claims of food poisoning The A42 to Cala Millor and to receive payouts. Cala Bona will begin on The touts work out of June 1, with the A51 to Cala the main resorts, includd’Or, via Arenal, beginning ing Palma Nova, Magaluf on June 15. and Santa Ponsa, and ap-

SICK OF IT: Fake health tourism

proach tourists on package holidays. A dossier will be prepared but it is not known if companies will be named and shamed. “Private detectives will be in the main resorts in

Mallorca and on the Costa del Sol to spot those looking for business,” revealed a source. “These companies are peddling fraud and brazenly handing out leaflets and using social media sites telling holidaymakers they can cover the cost of their trip by just filling out a form. “Holidaymakers don’t realise what they are doing is fraudulent and if caught they will bear the brunt of the law – not the claims firms. “The Spanish are taking this very seriously and unless something is done to stop this practise, the British face a ban from certain package holidays.” Brits’ sickness claims are said to be costing the industry €59 million a year. Hoteliers across Spain are calling for a ban on Brits being offered all-inclusive packages.

NEWS IN BRIEF Full steam ahead SPANISH rail companies Talgo and CAF have made bids to supply trains to the UK’s High Speed Two (HS2) project. Entries into the contest to win a 3.28m contract to make 70 trains for the line in a contest will close in June.

Hacking it LEADING UK and US cyber security firm Hedgehog Security has opened a new office in Gibraltar. At its opening CEO Pete Bassill demonstrated how easily he could break into a fully hardened and protected Windows 10 laptop.

Going solo ANDALUCIA has seen the second biggest rise in self-employed workers in Spain. There was a 1.3% rise to 513,712 people in the first quarter of 2017.

Property AGONY ANT YOUR LEGAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED BY ANTONIO FLORES

Get the power

Lawyer Antonio Flores explains the difference between the two documents that grant lasting power of attorney in Spain

asting Powers of Attorney (LPA), well known and extensively used in common law jurisdictions, are legal documents which allow anyone aged 21 or over the ('donor') to appoint one or more people the (‘donee’) to act on their behalf as proxy decision maker in the event of lost mental capacity. In Spain, very few know that there are two almost identical legal documents that grant the same powers to a trusted person should that occasion arise. These documents are known as the ‘Poder Preventivo’, or Preventive Power of Attorney (PPA), and the ‘Autotutela’, or ‘Appointment of Tutor’, both of which are granted before a public notary. The PPA allows the proxy to deal with the financial affairs of the donor with immediate effect after a certain date, or once a

medical doctor has declared the person incapacitated. For its part, the Appointment of Tutor deals with health and care decisions, daily routine or where the affected person should live (but will require judicial approval where the sale of assets is concerned). It is recommendable to have both, to avoid the lengthy (and costlier) process of applying for a judicial decision following a clinically diagnosed incapacitation or intellectual disability because of disease or accident, a process that requires a separate procedure to sell real estate or other assets. It is worth noting that both appointments can be revoked by the donor whilst capable, and that public notaries in Spain have an obligation to communicate any such documents to the Spanish Civil Registry.

Email Antonio at aflores@lawbird.com

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Bankers under fire SEVEN current and former HSBC executives charged with money laundering and criminal organisation are being investigated by Spain’s national court. HSBC's Swiss banking unit has been investigated in several countries after leaked documents suggested it helped wealthy people around the world dodge taxes. A former IT employee, Herve Falciani, gave the data to French tax authorities in 2008 and France shared it with Spanish

Getting the job done UNEMPLOYMENT fell by 3.9% in April across Spain, the biggest ever fall in a one month period. Spain’s Labour Ministry said it came as the packed Easter holiday saw a boost in restaurant and hotel hires. The figures mean 129,281 people found work last month, but at least 3.57 million Spaniards are still out of work. Spain has the second highest unemployment rate in the European Union after Greece after a burst housing bubble ten years ago left millions out of work. But its economic recovery since 2013 hopes to see its jobless rate fall to below 12% at the end of the decade.

May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

ILLEGAL cannabis clubs are booming in Spain as marijuana users exploit a legal loophole. An underground market has seen some 700 ‘dope dens’ pop up around the country since 2011, as people take advantage of a loophole in Spain’s antismoking laws. The clubs rake in millions of euros each year as hundreds of thousands of smokers light up, despite possession and use of cannabis in the street being illegal and punishable by a large

authorities and other governments. Judge Jose de la Mata has now ruled to investigate the Swiss banking unit's chairman, Peter Widmer, as well as Clive Bannister and Christopher Meares, who were CEOs in 2006 and 2007, and four other employees. The judge found evidence that the executives worked with Banco Santander and BNP Paribas to transfer funds at least until 2008 to avoid taxation in Spain.

Party’s over? MAGALUF is slipping down the ranks among young Brits looking for the perfect place to party. Although still a popular choice, according to head of Party Hard Travel Nathan Cable, it is being undercut by cheaper destinations. Cable revealed sales for Kavos and Ayia Napa are up 400% on last year while Sunny Beach in Bulgaria and Greece’s Zante are up 300%.

Young Brits favouring Bulgaria and Greece over blowouts in Magaluf Malia and Ibiza remained the top choices for clubbing tourists. Cable said: “We’re pretty much flat for Magaluf this year, whereas everywhere else has

SOME 436 cruise ships are expected to dock into Palma during this year’s high season, a 10% increase on last year. The city council has sought to streamline this year’s arrival, with never more than six ships docking simultaneously. It comes after last year’s record of eight led to a saturation of tourists that forced the

We’re Cruising council to frantically find places for ships to dock. August will have the most stopovers, with 84.

To us it’s not just a box...

it’s Your Life FRANCE - ITALY - PORTUGAL

increased dramatically in holiday sales. “Students who want a cheap holiday – which is what they would have gone to Magaluf for – are going elsewhere.”

Spliffing up fine. In Barcelona, there are more than 300 such clubs which bring in around €60 million a year, according to a new report. Licences for the clubs cost around €1 million a year, with the majority of owners coming from abroad, it has been claimed. Mallorca has at least one club.

It comes as Calvia council introduced new sound limiters in Magaluf that don’t allow music to go above 62 decibels, which British bar owners say is ‘killing’ live music venues. BCM, Magaluf’s most famous and loved nightclub, was also ordered to close following building ‘irregularities’. Meanwhile Bulgaria’s Sunny Beach is exploding in popularity as its prices are hard to beat. “They can get 14 hours of free club time, including entry, all night free bars, a beach party and all you can drink club nights all paid off before they’ve even gone out there,” Cable explained. “The flight might be a bit more expensive – but you pay way less when you’re actually on your holiday.”

Fully booked IT’S the site that most hoteliers love to hate. Either way, Booking.com has overtaken all of its competitors in Spain. The company, owned by The Priceline Group, based in Connecticut, controls around 50% of business in the country’s big cities. And while the site doesn’t report the volume of reservations, nor does it provide data on its annual turnover, there is no doubt that Spain is a big business for its owners. Last year, 330 million hotel nights were registered in the country, 7.1% more than in the previous year, according to the National Institute of Statistics, many of them marketed from Booking.

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Wasn’t us! Doctors caught up in €600,000 ‘fake’ drug scam protest innocence

TWO Palma professors accused of touting fake ‘miracle’ cancer drugs have protested their innocence in court. Xavier Busquets and Pablo Vicente Escriba claimed their drug, called Minerval, was not sold as a medication. The pair, both teaching at the University of the Balearic Islands, added that they did not dupe anyone or receive any financial reward.

May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

They had merely imported the drug, while patients had only paid for the cost of transporting it, they claimed. Policia Nacional are investigating an alleged fraud involving €600,000 euros from the unauthorised sale of the drug still undergoing experimental trials. Judge Enrique Morell ruled no precautionary measures needed to be applied to Busquets and Escriba, who were released without bail. Lipopharma, the company from within the university of which the two professors were among its co-founders, has insisted that it has never marketed Minerval to any patient outside of clinical trials.

PROBED: Professors Busquets and Escriba

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Sperm like med diet SPERM quality can be improved by sticking to a typical Mediterranean diet. S p a n i s h scientists have disc o v e r e d that fish, s e a f o o d , poultry, cereals, vegetables and fruits, lowfat dairy and skimmed milk are associated with high sperm quality. Diets rich in processed meat, soy foods, pota-

toes, full-fat dairy and total dairy products, cheese, coffee, alcohol, sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets were associated with lower-quality sperm. The research, carried out by the Universitat Rovira I Virgili and the Pere i Virgili Health Research Institute, shows that diet can affect the quality of a man’s sperm.

simply Un-beer-lievable! A BRITISH study has found that drinking two beers can be more effective a painkiller than Paracetamol. Over the course of 18 studies, researchers from the University of Greenwich found that consuming two pints of beer can cut discomfort by a quarter.

By elevating your blood alcohol content to approximately 0.08 per cent, your body receives ‘a small elevation of pain threshold’ and thus a ‘moderate to large reduction in pain intensity ratings’. The researchers said: “Findings suggest that alcohol is an effective analgesic that

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delivers clinically-relevant reductions in ratings of pain intensity, which could explain alcohol misuse in those with persistent pain, despite its potential consequences for long-term health.” So next time you want to relieve a headache or recover from the night before, grab a couple of cervezas.

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notice FieLd/General Sales person We are looking for an outgoing self-motivated individual to fill this key position for the Mallorca edition. This is an important role that will command a basic, plus generous commissions. Key Requirements: ●● ●● ●● ●● ●●

A year of proven sales experience, preferably in media Good phone maner and strong work ethic Good at building key reliationships with clients Good admin and communication skills Spoken English and preferably Spanish Journalist and writers

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BRITISH Airways has delayed ending free food and drink on its short-haul flights from London’s City Airport after a British father launched a successful legal challenge. The controversial move was due to take place in August but has now been moved back to October. It comes after father-of-three John Barber spent €2,300 on eight tickets for his wife and kids and family members to fly from London City Airport to Mallorca this August. Barber, who bought the tickets weeks before BA’s announced changes, argued that it was

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unfair that the company would not be providing the service he had paid for. Barber calculated that if had purchased the same items as he was given for free on the same flight last year – a bottle of water, a small bottle of wine or soft drink, a sandwich and crisps – he would be charged an extra €185 on the new Marks & Spencer’s menu. He lodged a claim for €374 that included his added costs. BA pushed back the date its changes come into effect, likely fearing similar claims being repeated, claim consumer groups.

Out to lunch

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Top Spanish chef claims it’s a ‘privilege’ to work in kitchens for free A MICHELIN-STARRED Spanish chef claims it’s a ‘privilege’ for staff to work in his kitchen for free.

A NEW national report has concluded that Spain has a drinking problem. The report, Minors without Alcohol, found that the frequency at which young Spaniards are getting drunk has doubled in the last 20 years. It has led to an increase in unplanned pregnancies and the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and infections, according to the report. Health minister Dolors Montserrat said the findings will be used to guide future laws on young people and drinking. According to the study, 15% of 14-18 year olds are getting drunk every week.

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Kitchen staff work up to 16 hours a day without pay in many high-end restaurants, with Michelin es-

timating 50-80% of staff - known as stagiers - are affected. But Jordi Cruz, head chef

Cooking up a storm MICHELIN-STARRED chefs dazzled crowds at a top culinary festival. Dani Garcia, Angel Leon and Kisko Garcia were among 30 top Spanish cooks who descended on Malaga to take part in its fourth Gastronomy Festival. Centred on the Plaza de la Marina, they

flaunted their talents through cooking shows, cocktail-making classes and workshops. Budding young chefs went head to head in a contest, while visitors were treated to tastings of products bearing the Sabor a Malaga quality mark.

at Barcelona restaurant Àbac, believes his chefs are fortunate to work alongside him. “It bothers me when people talk about it being something negative, as if it was abuse,” said Cruz. “You are learning from the best and they give you accommodation and food. It’s a privilege.” He added: “A Michelin starred restaurant is a business that, if all the staff were on the payroll, wouldn’t be viable.” Cruz employs around 14 people with contracts and around 10-20 work experience chefs. But Spanish trade union officials are adamant working up to 16 hours a day without pay is ‘exploitative’. “A young person who works in a restaurant should work for a maximum of eight hour and have days off,” said Gonzalo Fuentes, secretary of union the CCOO.

A STUDY has found 19% of 15-year-old Spanish students skip breakfast before going to school. The Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) report on student welfare also found that 11% of boys miss the first meal of the day. Those who did make time for breakfast were found to perform better in Science tests compared to those fasting. However, these figures are lower than other countries examined in the report which show an average 26% of girls and 18% of boys going to school on an empty stomach.

Potato! THE annual potato fair is coming to Mallorca. Based in Sa Pobla, where potato crops dominate in terms of exports, the fair celebrates the classic spud. Local restaurants will set up stalls in the town’s main square, serving up both traditional and modern potatobased dishes. The Fira de la Patata runs from June 2 -3.

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Food, drink & travel

Herbivore May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

THE

Mexican quinoa INGREDIENTS:

SLIP UP: My one kebab error

1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 jalapeno, minced 1 cup quinoa 1 cup vegetable broth 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes 1 cup corn kernels, frozen, canned or roasted 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced Juice of 1 lime 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves

DIRECTIONS: Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about one minute. Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in avocado, lime juice and cilantro. Serve immediately.

E’VE all done it – rolled our eyes when a new acquaintance reveals they are vegan. ‘There goes future dinner plans’, you think. But as my favourite literary hero Atticus Finch said in To Kill a Mockingbird, you never really understand a person until you ‘climb into his skin and walk around in it.’ Of course mockingbirds, as all poultry and meat of any description (along with dairy) were strictly off the menu as I embarked on my trial week as a vegan virgin. Being a committed carnivore, the idea of living on a plant-based diet for seven days filled me with dread. But it did make me think more about what I was putting into my body. And while it takes some planning, I saw immediate results. Every morning began with porridge – made with almond milk of course – and assorted fruits, washed down with a glass of room temperature water containing half

The OP’s Laurence Dollimore survives on a vegan diet for a week ... almost

diaries

VEGAN PORRIDGE: Laurence’s way to ensure a good start to his day

a squeezed lemon. For someone who usually skips breakfast, I noticed a difference

instantaneously. Although I had to crawl out of bed 10 minutes earlier to make it’, my

Thai red veg curry INGREDIENTS: 1 tablespoon coconut oil 1 onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon grated ginger (or 1 inch ginger, minced) 4 tablespoons Thai Red Curry paste 1 (8 ounce) package white button mushrooms, sliced 1 orange bell pepper, sliced 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets 2 carrots, cut into coins 1 (10 ounce) package snap peas, trimmed 1 (5 ounce) can water chestnuts 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk 1 (14 ounce) can coconut cream 3 teaspoons coconut aminos 1 teaspoon paprika Juice of 1 lime Cilantro, optional

Instructions: Melt coconut oil in dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for five minutes, or until soft. Add the ginger, garlic and curry paste and stir for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, bell pepper, broccoli and carrots and stir-fry for three to four minutes or until the vegetables are coated with the curry paste. Cover with a lid for for five to seven minutes, or until the vegetables soften. Add the snap peas, water chestnuts, coconut milk, coconut cream, coconut aminos, paprika and lime juice. Stir until well combined. Garnish with cilantro if desired, and serve.

energy levels were constant, even on the most ‘gruelling’ days. I never miss my porridge now. Lunches were easy too: mostly avocado salads or, on the days I forgot to pack my lunch, Mercadona’s vegan-friendly tabbouleh came in very handy. But dinners were more of a challenge ... Trying to source all the ingredients from one supermarket proved impossible, so research where you can buy them before stepping outside or you’ll spend hours tracking down red Thai curry paste, turmeric and not-so-ubiquitous quinoa. I opted for one-pot recipes, which essentially involve chucking everything into a pan and checking it hasn’t burnt every five minutes. The Mexican quinoa was probably my favourite. Simple and quick to make, it doubled as lunch for the next day too. Thai red vegetable curry and vegan chilli were also easy and surprisingly tasty. By the third day of veganism my bloating had vanished. By the end of the week I had lost two kilos and my digestive system was running like clockwork. It’s not easy, and you will have your weak moments. Mine included a sinful late-night encounter with a chicken kebab after an evening out, although in my defence it was practically the morning of the seventh day … If you’re a sugar addict like me, you may get intense cravings too. Luckily, Oreos and jelly beans are vegan-friendly. Together with nuts and dried fruit, they became my go-to snack if I needed a sugar fix. As the week came to a close, it dawned on me how rubbish my diet had been. White bread with almost every meal, no breakfast and nowhere near enough fruit and veg. It hasn’t converted me, but I have changed my eating habits. I have banned bread, I never miss breakfast and I’m reserving red meat for high days and holidays. What’s more, thinking about what I eat has inspired me to start running to get in better shape, and I have hit the tarmac every other evening since the challenge ended. At the risk of sounding dramatic, dabbling in veganism has changed my life for the better. Why not give it a try yourself?

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Olive Press editor Jon Clarke meets Spanish superchef Ferran Adria

’D made a point of arriving an hour before the allotted time for the culinary love-in when two dozen Michelin-starred chefs descended on Marbella from around the world. Being a seasoned food and travel writer - spanning nearly two decades, since my first article on Burgundy for the Daily Mail in 1998 - I was not going to miss the chance to meet culinary geniuses Ferran Adria, Joan Roca and Joel Robuchon, all in the same room. I soon found myself chatting to Madrid’s two-star chef Ramon Freixa and friendly German Sebastian Frank, from Horvath, in Berlin, who was as happy as jamon. After catching up with Rodrigo de la Calle, who I had reviewed in Madrid last year, I had a laugh with Daniel Humm, the world’s Number one chef, according to Restaurant Magazine, from New York restaurant Eleven Madison Park, who was as excited as me to be meeting some of his culinar y heroes. T h e y w e r e h e r e for Dani Garcia’s A Cuatro M a n o s event and they were all in their classic white (or black) tunics, including Robuchon himself, who I chatted to in pidgin French, while holding court in the dining room. Well all but one! For prowling around the premises with nervous energy and a distinct glint in his eye, was one super-chef who didn’t need to wear a uniform. In a buttoned cardigan and slacks, he was immediately recognisable as THE chef of the 21st century.

Food, drink & travel

May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

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‘There’s a whole world past...

...Michelin’

SCIENTIST: Ferran at his former restaurant El Bulli (pictured below)

Extraordinary

Having held the World’s Best spot in Restaurant magazine’s annual awards for El Bulli from 2002 to 2009 (coming second twice), Ferran Adria, 53, can also rightfully claim to be Spain’s best cook of all time. But, as he explained to me, he isn’t fussed about awards or stars one bit these days, leaving that to his younger brother Albert, from Barcelona’s Tickets (who was also at the event by the way). These days running cookery schools and trying to encourage youngsters to be creative, he travels around as a kind of Spanish food ambassador… and he loves it, particularly the south, where it emerges his grandmother is from. “I love it in Malaga, particularly as Andalucia is in my blood, with my grandmother coming from Huercal Overa, in Almeria,” he explains. “The region really is extraordinary now and just keeps getting better and better. “There are at least five or six really amazing restaurants here that did not exist a decade ago and creativity is now very much at the fore, with some talented young

GRILLING: Ferran answers questions from Jon Clarke at event ous and tasty, unlike some of chefs like Dani Garcia.” It was at his sister restaurant the more modern, over-the-top near Sevilla, at Hacienda Bena- creative geniuses, I prefer not to name. zuza, that I was first It was my first threeintroduced to the Michelin starred greatness of Ferran, some 10 years It was sumptuous meal in Spain and it not disappoint. ago. and tasty, unlike did “But there is a Over a four-hour, 25-course master- some of the more whole world out there past Michelin class, I discovered over-the-top stars,” insisted Ferwhy Spanish chefs are now credited as modern geniuses ran. “People need to inspire and crebeing the most create and not worry ative in the world, about awards and having easily overwhat people think and say. taken the French. It was mind-blowingly original, “Just keep forging away and workbut not just that, it was sumptu- ing hard and you will get there in

the end.” There have never been truer words said… and it was one of the reasons I launched my book and website DiningSecretsofAndalucia.com six years ago… to locate, track down and encourage new and up-and-coming chefs around the region, which the Michelin guide never got anywher near. It is true to this day that dozens, even hundreds, of brilliant restaurants in Andalucia - and here, in Mallorca - are not even getting a look in from the so-called French food bible. So hopefully I am helping to make a difference. Visit www.diningsecretsofandalucia.com

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Mallorca diaries

By Lesley Keith

In the first of a regular new column, Lesley Keith explains the trials and tribulations of learning to drive on the island

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May 11th - May 24th 2017 May 11th - May 24th 2017

Getting in gear

AVING been living in Mallorca for a couple of months now I decided it was high time I got some independence by buying my own car. I researched prices and performance, checked out the lo-

The dark art of ‘chuletas’

cal car sales and web pages and then did the one thing you should never do - buy a car in the car park at El Campo from some random bloke. It was perfect though, despite being dented on all four corners and bonnet, scuffed wheel arch-

es and chipped paintwork. The inside was pretty much ok and it drove like a dream. I couldn't have been happier, the price was right and I'd never need to worry about spatial awareness again, how very liberating!

From the Olive Press bloggers section at www.theolivepress.es

Cheating in exams begins very young in Spain, discovers English teacher Sam Goodwin

OES anybody enjoy exams? First there’s the revision. Lonely nights stuck by a lamp reading through dogeared textbooks. Then there is the actual exam. Row upon row of frowning faces, racking their frazzled brains for answers. As an English teacher in an academy in Spain, I give out my fair share of exams to a variety of ages. The country’s education system is overwhelmed by exams. Young students tell me on a weekly basis of tests in their colleges and it only continues into adulthood. La Selectividad, for example, is a necessary exam to get into a Spanish university. It consists of six 90 minute written exams over three days. That’s before university! If only there was another way to pass an important test for those who struggle to knuckle down and study… Well, there is ‘copiar’, or cheating, as we say in English. There is no exact translation for the word ‘cheat’, but ‘to copy’ is the umbrella term for all forms of the dark art. I recently found a cheat note in the bin of my classroom, which sits just behind my chair and desk. The dastardly culprit must have said ‘goodbye’ to me after the exam, dropped the note in the bin and sprinted off. And this was an exam for eight year olds. The use of a cheat note is common enough in Spain to warrant its own name, ‘chuleta’ (which also means pork chop). The chuleta I found was a long, crumpled up piece of paper with a list of present to past verbs. Unfortunately for this culprit

the ink was red. This meant I could match the only exam paper I received that had answers written in the same colour. Caught red handed! But why did the student do it? Without the chuleta I am certain they still would have passed. But what is more striking is the age of the schemer. There seems to be a culture of ‘copiar’, both for young and older students, that may be a result of pressure. The amount of important exams to progress in a career in Spain is incredible, particularly in the fields of teaching and engineering. Anxiety to succeed can influence the noblest of students. However, experience tells me cheat notes better reflect a lack of studying and disregard for any consequential punishment. And it appears the chuleta is getting a 21st century technological upgrade in Spain. Instead of paper tucked into a pencil case, recent news reports claim students are inserting small microphones right into their ear. They can then listen to recordings of answers or formulae to aid them. After the exam, they remove the small black object with a magnet. This reminds me of an Spongebob of episode Squarepants when he inserts a walkie talkie into his head in one hopeless pursuit to pass a driving test. But in Spain, it appears this isn’t a joke. The companies that actually sell these tiny devices are themselves the real cheaters, raking in hundreds of euros for people who are desperate, and very likely unprepared, to pass a diffi-

It's a little Fiat Panda. Now as we all know in Spanish, although ending in an 'A' the word panda is masculino so I have named it and it shall hitherto be called El Pando. I now had to get my head around driving on the right - that took a bit of getting used to. Let's just say roundabouts were a challenge, apparently I'm told you have to go around the outside. I am religiously sticking to this and am finding I get a lot of encouraging toots from other drivers, which is very nice, thank you all! I had visitors so I thought I'd whisk them off to the Formentor viewpoint.

Toots

HAIRY: A typical island road

Together apart S O your significant other has decided to head for the hills, zooming off to some far flung land while you to stay behind to keep the home fires of passion burning. Yikes! I won’t pretend to be a great authority on a subject that involves different strokes for different folks. All relationships are different but there are some common problems I draw on from my own student romance, when one of us went abroad for a year and the other kept the faith at home, allegedly... That’s the disclaimer out the way. After bidding your loved one a fond farewell at the airport, hopefully brandishing a suitable handkerchief to dab at the tears streaming down your face, the first problem you will encounter is the physical separation. You were probably used to hanging out together every day. This can no longer happen. You are living completely separate lives. You will make friends your ‘other half’ will never meet, and they will too. (So who exactly is this Benedict?) They will start to do stuff you will never be able to join in, and you will too. (I know you’d love kitesurfing if you tried it.) Your lover is reduced to a ping on your phone, indicating the arrival of a new message. And some nights, just writing back ‘hug’ doesn’t cut it. The best way to get through this is to book an appointment to see them. That doesn’t mean every few days – some space is advisable – but having a meet-up date is helpful. As separation sadness kicks in, having something to look forward to is all-important. The meets will also tell you if the relationship is worth pursuing.

Jerez-based OP blogger Luke Andrews copes with the loneliness of the long-distance romance

During my own time of significantotherlessness (exciting new word there), I did wonder whether staying ‘together apart’ was a good idea, due to the pain, the missing, the hearing about things from which you are now excluded by dint of geography. What kept me going was knowing how happy we had been, so however hard things got I didn’t want to end it. Secondly, having an end-date to the separation was important. It meant we had a common goal, with something to plan for afterwards. If you’re trying both of these suggestions and you’re still unhappy – send a present! Who doesn’t love flowers? Or, if they suffer from hay fever, send champagne, caviar, perfume, a disgustingly-expensive item of jewellery … A gift can be more effective than a pleading Facebook message and speaks volumes about how much you care. Going through a long distance relationship is hard, I won’t lie to you, and there is no magic formula to get through it. Long distance has a habit of temporarily obscuring everything good about the relationship. It’s the occasional meet-ups and expressions of affection that get you through. At the end of the day, the overriding emotion is one of love … she loves you or she loves you not. Only time will tell...

‘Wow, maybe a step too far’, I thought, as we went up that sheer dropping, blind, hair bended road. Coming back down I decided to just go as fast as I was comfortable with. I must say that the one hundred plus cyclists behind me did look very stressed on my behalf, waving me a cheery farewell as they passed me at the bottom. A good experience for all perhaps. Finally here's a very positive note. On the way home from a lovely meal in a friend’s car we broke down. We checked the insurance documents and discovered that Spanish insurance includes breakdown cover. Within an hour we were at home having been taken in a taxi and the car transported to a garage of our choice. WOW, now that's truly impressive!

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How’s that for equality?

BE ‘APPY!On yer bike!

BRITISH Cycling and Team Sky may be parting ways. It comes after the former began an official review of the relationship last week. NADAL: Meets Garcia The review is expected to result in the professional road team, who are often seen training in Mallorca, vacating their Download our app now and at the National Cycling Centre. offices The two organisations have shared the begin enjoying the best Spanish velodrome in Manchester since the fornews on the go. mation of Team Sky in 2009, but that

Best buds

arrangement has come under strain in the wake of the Jiffy bag controversy and bullying and discrimination allegations. New British Cycling chairman Jonathan Browning has said the situation would be reviewed as part of their new 39-point action plan. He has already held preliminary talks with Team Sky boss Sir Dave Brailsford.

Coming home

COMPATRIOTS Sergio Garcia and Rafael Nadal caught up in Barcelona last week. Golfer Garcia, who recently won his first ever major - finally - watched Nadal march towards history as The Olive Press he beat Hyeon Chung in the quarter-final TOPofforthe news in Spain! Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. The 30-year-old Mallorcan would go on to beat Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the final to win his 10th HOMEBOUND: Victorious Nadal Barcelona title. Nadal and Garcia, who's THE King of Clay is return- Nadal returning to the island been a professional golfer ing home to Mallorca folsince 1999, plan to meet lowing another career mile- after record-breaking start to again during Wimbledon, stone in Barcelona. clay season where Nadal will be go- 30-year-old Rafael Nadal ing for his third title at the won his 10th title at the All England Club. Garcia Barcelona Open Banc Sab- his 10th Monte-Carlo Rolex best clay record than any other player from the Open also will be in the region, adell in a comfortable vic- Masters. preparing for the British tory over Dominic Thiem, He remains unbeaten in the Era. just one week after winning Barcelona finals and has the He now has now won 51 clay Open. tournaments, two ahead of previous record holder Guillermo Vilas, from Argentina. ARRANGING GOLF BREAKS JUST GOT EASIER! “I’m very satisfied. It’s been an emotional day for me. Winning a 10th title here is something difficult to describe. Playing in front of my crowd and my club and winning the 10th title here is something that’s impossible to even dream of. It’s very special and unique,” said Nadal.

SUNSHINE GOLF BREAKS THE FREE GOLF HOLIDAY APP AND WEBSITE

“I played my best match of the tournament this afternoon against probably the toughest opponent in the tournament, so I’m very happy.” The world No.5 added: “Now is the time for me to enjoy these two weeks that are very special. I’ll go home to Mallorca and have some rest, then start to think about Madrid and Rome. “They’re two very important events for me, so I’m excited about it.” Nadal has sought to avoid discussing the French Open at Roland Garros, where he will be vying for his tenth title. If victorious, he will be the first player ever to win a single major grand slam tournament ten times.

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MOVISTAR team leader Nairo Quintana is eyeing up a Giro D’Italia and Tour de France double. The Colombian pocket rocket, who won the Giro in 2014, leads the nine-man team for the Spanish outfit at the Italian Grand Tour, which started last Friday. Brit time-trial specialist Alex Dowsett is also part of the Movistar line-up, with Quintana one of the firm favourites. Quintana said: “This year’s route is a very tough course, a demanding one. “The last week has an impressive amount of mountains to overcome. Big gaps should be made there – I feel like this year’s course has sought for the strongest climber to win it.” Quintana’s main challenger for this year’s race will be Italian Vincenzo Nibali, who won the Giro in 2013.

BARCELONA has become home to Spain's first and only all-female cricket team. Established for Pakistani teenagers who emigrated to Catalonia, the team was set up for the girls “to promote their self-esteem, to favor social inclusion and their empowerment". Based in the Besos neighbourhood, the team is made up entirely of immigrants. The scheme, known as Project Ma'Isah, was set up to cover an “invisible group”. Founder Aïna Coscollolas said:”Sports allow us to to promote a series of values like group dynamics, respect, equality, cooperative dynamics, responsibility.”

OPTIMIST. Contesti

Not that bad THE former president of Real Mallorca has said relegation of the club is not be the worst thing that can happen. Miquel Contesti, who once saved the club from ruin during his ten-year stint, said the way the club is run is the more serious issue. The 83-year-old said: “The sporting situation is not easy, but I think the victory against Sevilla Atlético has once again proved important... I think the chances are good to avoid relegation, but that is not the most serious thing. “If you get off, you can get back up, but if the management is bad ... ". Contesti went on to say manager Maheta Molango lacked the experience necessary to do the job.

Bikini fitness MALLORCA’S Bikini Fitness competition was sold out yet again. In its 12th year, the competition sees women show off their muscles in Arnold Schwarznegger fashion while judges select the winners. Taking place in the Alcudia Auditorium, first place went to Sabrina Alvarez, followed by Lidia Karolina Kucharczyk and Nabila Lopez.

BODY PERFECT: Bikini fitness competition

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Share and shame A FACEBOOK page has been set up to name and shame Mallorca’s worst parking offenders. ‘How To Park Like an A***ole Mallorca’ sees locals share pictures of some atrocious parking, even by Spain’s standards! Here are some of this week’s worst offenders. Please send your own snaps and views to newsdesk@theolivepress.es

Expat sells ice cream truck featured in popular BBC drama

What a scoop!

EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

AN iconic piece of TV history could be yours for just €25,000. British expat Nina Holmes is selling her well known Soller ice cream truck, as seen in the BBC’s critically acclaimed series The Night Manager. Named the ‘Glace Moustache’, the fully functioning gelato pop-up has become a celeb in its own right since the hit show won various awards at the Golden Globes. “I love the truck, but with two kids and hotel to look after, I don’t have the time to do it justice,” Nina told the Olive Press. “The crew filmed with her for a whole day and served Tom Hiddleston and the cast, it was amazing to see, we watched them all day!”

Wife swap central

ON SALE: Truck, with Nina and (inset) Night Manager Filmed in the port of Soller, the scene sees Jonathan Pine - played by Hiddleston - take young Danny for a stroll in the resort. As they are queuing up at the truck, spy chief Angela Barr, played by Olivia Colman, si-

dles up to eavesdrop and Pine manages to divulge crucial information. Anyone interested in buying the truck should contact Nina at info@glacemoustache.com.

THE UK and Spain have been ranked among the top three sauciest countries in Europe. According to a website, which lists every wife-swapping club on the planet, the UK has 155 while Spain has the third highest with 113. Germany has the most in Europe with 193. Brit holiday favourite Mallorca has seven such clubs, while Alicante and the Canary Islands have 12 each. London boasts 31 clubs and the north of England 26. There are 61 in France, 36 in Italy, 29 in Holland and just six in sexually liberated Sweden. British tourists spend millions every year frequenting the clubs when on holiday, according to www.clubsandparties.com.

Seg this way COPS in Magaluf will be patrolling its beaches using Segways this summer. It comes after Calvia town hall announced it had splashed €34,000 on the vehicles as it presented its beach security plans for the season. There will be four new Segways and two quad bikes patrolling the stretch of sand between Magaluf and Palmanova. There will also be a tenstrong new community police force with a sole responsibility for beach security, with at least four on duty at one time. Some 40 lifeguards will watch the waves, with a small fleet of rescue ribs, two rescue vessels and two lifeguards on boats patrolling the waters.

As a company recently ar2017 rived inDecember Spain 21st we- January have 3rd been amazed by the service and quality of response to our advertisements in the Olive Press. Whilst we obtain a fantastic response to each advertisement we place, the service from the fantastic staff at the Olive Press is second to none, a full and proper professional service. As a company which operates globally and now nationally across Spain we fully recommend the Olive Press and its world class service! A service not beaten in any other country or Spain. Thank You Olive Press !

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WIPEOUT! THE mayor of Malaga has become an online sensation after being filmed falling off a BMX bike while on a skateboard ramp. The 74-year-old leader - a pal of actor Antonio Banderas - was the stuff of legends after he fell off while testing the circuit at a skatepark. Luckily, Francisco de la Torre suffered little more than a slightly bruised arm… and, of course, a wounded ego. Here he is riding a bear!

We are back on May 25th. In the meantime visit our website www.theolivepress.es for daily stories... and send comment to newsdesk@theolivepress.es

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