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Vol. 1 Issue 7
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
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Proud to be expats AN overwhelming majority of our readers are not offended by the term ‘expat’. That’s the initial result of our online poll which asked ‘Do you find the use of the word 'expat' to describe British and foreign nationals living in Spain offensive?’ The vote came after a barrage of emails to the newsdesk complained of the Olive Press’ use of the word, requesting that it be switched out for ‘resident’ or
We look at Britain’s worst expat exports Page 6/7
‘Vile’ animal abuser jailed after British-run shelter wins landmark legal victory EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt
Is this Alicante’s most haunted house? Page 10
Bandits, Moors and goats... the perfect holiday escape just 4 hours away Page 22
Keep your eyes peeled for the best value wines in Spain Page 26
A FIVE-year legal battle has led to a ‘landmark’ sentence under Spain’s animal abuse laws. A British-run animal sanctuary claimed victory after it stepped in to help a group of dogs from starvation in 2014. The Spanish owner of the dog pound, near Zaragoza, has received a six month prison sentence, a heavy fine and is banned from keeping animals for three years. A. R. G., 39, was also ordered to pay all legal costs, by the judge at court Number 4, in Zaragoza. It comes after Alicante animal charity SCAN (Society for the Care of Animals in Need), based in El Ver-
RUFF JUSTICE
ger, near Denia, saved five dogs and reported the Spanish owner to police. President Barry Caufield, 71, was so outraged by the state of the animals (pictured top right), he insisted something had to be done. The dogs were found abandoned in plastic boxes without food, while the remains of dead ‘half-eaten dogs’ lay nearby. Huge amounts of excrement were scattered around the plot, in the village of Fayon. dog away from the “It was vile food shouting: ‘I deand disgusting cide when I feed my and we simdog’. ply had to do When arrested he adwhat was rimitted he had not fed ght,” Caufield the dog for three days, told the Oliso he didn’t have to ve Press this clear up after him. week. The dog has now been “I’m delighted rescued by members that justice of the Protectora de has been serAnimales of Denia. ved and that we have had a
You total sh*t A MAN has been arrested in Denia for animal abuse after starving his dog so he ‘didn't have to pick up its poo’. He was cuffed after neighbours were attacked for attempting to feed the ‘weak’ and ‘dehydrated’ dog. The 34-year-old Spanish owner kicked the
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positive affect. “If you’re only interested in making a noise about it, nothing will ever change,” added Caufield, a former director of an insurance company in the UK. According to SCAN’s lawyer Raquel Lopez, the shelter’s intervention has made legal history in Spain. Although R. will not go to prison as sentences under two years are waived for first-time offenders - the
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case has set a ‘legal precedence’ as abandonment is now written into article 337 of the Spanish penal code. “This is a landmark, because at the time of trial the law did not consider ‘abandonment’ of animals a criminal offence,” Raquel Lopez, one of Spain’s top animal rights lawyers, told the Olive Press. When the man was first charged in 2014, article 337 of the penal code only considered direct physical harm against animals as a crime. “Despite the law not mandating it, we managed to get the maximum sentence for a ‘basic’ crime of animal abuse,” Lopez added. “Without legal action taken by SCAN, this case would almost certainly have been archived.” In total, SCAN managed to find new homes for two griffon cross-breeds, Chicho and Carbon, while the others were rehomed near Zaragoza. The charity spent a total of €14,000 in legal costs and rescue and rehoming. Opinion Page 6
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CRIME
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NEWS IN BRIEF Sagrada Finally BARCELONA city hall has finally issue a work permit for the Sagrada Familia church designed by Antoni Gaudi. Work on the basilica began 137 years ago, and builders believe it will be completed by 2026.
Sunday best SHOPS on the Costa Blanca that have been granted zone of great tourist influence (ZGAT) status by the Valencian Generalitat are now open every Sunday and bank holiday until the Christmas holidays.
Milestone THE number of women killed by present or past male partners has hit 1,000 following the death of a 29-yearold woman in Valencia. Records began in 2003, a year before the gender violence law that enshrined greater legal protections for women against male abuse.
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Down-Hill Expat hotelier jailed in UK after living the life of Riley on stolen tax money in Spain
A BRITISH expat has been jailed after evading tax in the UK to the tune of almost €400,000. Isle of Wight hotel owner Martin Hill, 51, was given 30 months after lying about his takings and illegally pocke-
CAUGHT: Martin Hill ting €393,000. The Alicante-based Brit had concealed the real number of bookings at his Burlington
and Shanklin Beach hotels. Hill, who lives in Sant Joan d’Alacant, under-declared bookings for the two hotels between 2014 and 2016. However, he pocketed the VAT he charged guests, leading tax inspectors to begin prosecuting. “He lied to steal and cheat honest taxpayers,” said an HMRC spokesman. “Instead of enjoying the proceeds of his crime, he will now be spending time behind bars. “Tax fraud steals money from our public services such as
Picking on pirates!
Property terrorists
A TRIO of ‘pirate taxis’ have been confiscated from their drivers during a sting operation at Alicante-Elche Airport. The vehicles were found to have no authorisation to work at the airport. The cars were impounded and drivers denounced, with heavy fines needing to be paid before the vehicles are returned. Dave McQueen, owner of Alicante Transfers Ltd, told the Olive Press that official VTC licenses cost ‘from €15,000
A PAIR of Irish terrorists have been jailed after laundering money in a trio of costa apartments. The former IRA bombers were caught investing £850,000 of black money from smuggling into the properties in Nerja, Manilva and Orihuela, in Alicante. Leonard ‘Bap’ Hardy, 57, and his wife Donna Maguire, 52 - once dubbed the ‘Angel Of Death’ - were given two-year sentences by the High Court in Madrid.
to €50,000’. He said VTC licenses allow a private car to be used in a professional capacity, and that a legal car’s rear number ‘should be blue’. Colin, who runs A2B Taxis from Pedreguer, said: “There’s a special zone for legal taxis at Alicante-Elche Airport. “But I’ve seen drivers in the car park illegally picking up passengers without them knowing.”
hospitals and schools.” Hill was arrested in September 2016 following searches at his home and hotels, with investigators seizing computers, business and personal records. Hill, who has been banned as a director for seven years, pleaded guilty to three charges of VAT evasion at Southwark Crown Court. Shanklin Beach Hotel has been under new ownership since June 2017. Confiscation proceedings are under way to recover the stolen money. Anyone with information about suspected tax fraud can report it to HMRC online or call the Fraud Hotline on 00 +44 800 788 887.
Migrant surge A THREE-year-old girl was among 79 illegal immigrants intercepted by boat when Guardia Civil arrested an Alicante-based trafficking gang this week. A heavily pregnant woman was also among the illegal immigrants, brought from Algeria to Almeria on 'premium' boats. Seven members of the criminal group, all from Algeria, were arrested for crimes against foreign citizens and for organised criminal activity.
TRAGIC: Mum butchered
Beheading hunt continues
POLICE are hunting the brutal murderer who beheaded a Romanian woman on the Costa Blanca. Isabel Elena Raducanu, 36, was found decapitated in her apartment in Xativa last week. The perpetrator left significant 'traces' at the murder scene, leading police to believe he knew the victim. The mother-of-two, who was six months pregnant, was found naked on the floor by Spanish partner Juan Vicente, 32. Raducanu's daughter was not yet back from school, while another child reportedly lives overseas. Raducanu's partner was ruled out of the investigation as CCTV footage placed him at the agricultural warehouse where he works when the murder took place. Tributes to the woman poured in online, while the town hall declared a day of mourning.
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NEWS
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
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Girls on tour
GAME of Thrones star Sophie Turner was spotted partying it up with pals on her hen do in Benidorm. The English actress, 23, was joined by co-star Maisie Williams, 22, and ten of her best friends, who all flew on a private jet from Luton Airport. In a series of pics uploaded by pal Blair Noel Croce, the girls rocked multi-coloured wigs, which Turner paired with a tiny army shirt worn as a dress. Williams, who played Sophie’s onscreen sister Arya Stark in the cult Fantasy series, was pictured in a pink wig. Northampton-born Turner married US Disney star Joe Jonas, 29, in a last-minute Las Vegas wedding in May. However the pair will have an official
Monarchies collide THRIFTY Queen Letizia was snapped sporting a bargain €280 dress during a visit to meet the British royals. The Spanish queen, 47, looked stunning in the Cherubina dress, with a matching veil and black headpiece, while taking a carriage ride with Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, 37. She and husband Felipe, 51, were being hosted by the Queen at Windsor Castle. The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, and wife, Queen Maxima, also attended the ‘Knights of the Garter’ event. British royals present included Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Prince William.
Royal honour THE president of a well established charity shop on the Costa Blanca has been named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Georgina Harvey started volunteering at Javea’s Original Charity Shop, which has been going for 55 years, more than 20 years ago, before becoming president in 2005. During her tenure she has overseen the donation of more than €500,000 to good causes including cancer charities, animal associations and homeless shelters.
Dani Garcia cooked for the Beckhams at celeb wedding of the year worth €500k THE biggest wedding of 2019 was a who’s who of Spanish football, complete with a Michelin quality menu. David Beckham, 44, and wife Victoria, 45, joined Alvaro Morata, Luka Modric and Roberto Carlos, to celebrate the nuptials of Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, 33, in Sevilla. A host of Real stars past and present joined Ramos as he wed sweetheart TV presenter Pilar Rubio, 41 at Sevilla Cathedral. Around 500 guests then celebrated with the newlyweds at a €500,000 reception on Ramos’s nearby La Alegria farm. Rubio donned a €30,000 Zuhair Murad jewel-encrusted gown with full train, which was previously worn by model, Heidi Klum at the Cannes Film Festival. Victoria Beckham made the biggest fashion splash, pairing her own chain link print dress with fuchsia pink high heels - a colour apparently banned from the wedding. Those not invited included teammate Gareth Bale, as well as former Galactico pal Cristiano Ronaldo, who instead jetted off to Greece for a family holiday. Other notable absences included Real boss, Zinedine Zidane, who was in Bilbao, and Barcelona defender, Gerard Pique and his wife Shakira. Those who did turn up were treated to a five-course masterclass from three-Michelin-star Marbella chef Dani Garcia (pictured above). First up was salted lobster with mimosas and avocado, followed by spaghetti with truffled beef stew, and a third dish, ‘monkfish Dani Garcia-style’. A kobe burger with togarashi chips
HAPPY COUPLE: The Ramos’s and (inset) the Beckhams
Posh
ceremony in France this summer to celebrate their love with family and friends. Turner and Williams have famously been best friends for 10 years having met as children on the set of Game of Thrones.
Dropping in SEALED sewers, packs of sniffer dogs and dozens of private security guards. All combined to ensure high-level security measures were in place for the latest visit of the Obamas’ to Andalucia. They had been in town for a short visit to Marbella, where Barack was making a speech for executives of German tech company SAP. The ex-president’s family enjoyed the five-star luxury of the Gran Hotel Miramar, in Malaga… for a day at least!
Convoy
The only picture of the family on the coast was one of Sasha exiting the hotel, where she was staying with mum Michelle and sister Malia, during the day. The former US President arrived half an hour late to the event held at the Puente Romano hotel, before giving a 45-minute speech. He arrived in a convoy of six police vehicles and one provided by the US embassy before entering the heavily armoured resort donning dark sunglasses at 16:45. The family returned to Malaga airport immediately after the speech and headed to France for a short holiday.
...& posher rounded off the mains before diners tucked into ‘Frescor Andalusi’, a signature Garcia dessert, flavoured with tea, orange blossom, mint and pistachio. Revellers washed it all down with Dom Perignon champagne and €116-a-bott-
le wine from Bodega Emilio Moro. Soundtracking the day were band Ketama, Flamenco singer Niña Pastori, DJ Gianluca Vacchi and 17-time Latin Grammy Award-winner, who appeared via videolink.
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Expat equestrian centre owners face eviction after rescuing dozens of horses for 13 years
Your reporters, here to help on the Costa Blanca News Editor Laurence Dollimore and Reporter Joshua Parfitt Contact them with any stories or news on 951 273 575 or email newsdesk@theolivepress.es (Personal contacts on page 6)
AN expat riding stables has been left with just four weeks to rehouse 11 horses and three dogs. The British owners of Hipica Ondara have been handed an eviction order demanding they vacate thier finca by July 8. David Hayter and daughter Jodie Darrick-Hayter, 37, were handed the notice by Denia Court, after the landowner accused them of attempting to ‘build houses’ without his permission.
NEWS
Don’t hoof them out! EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt
The pair - who have rented the land for 13 years - insist this is totally untrue and the real reason is he wants to sell the land to developers. The pair, who have rescued over 70 horses since setting up in 2006, have discovered the Spanish owner has already listed the 13,000m2 plot on website Idealista for €230,000. “She could have at least given out-growing its owus a year’s ners’ conscientiousw a r n i n g ness. to move,” Mislata, near VaHayter, 73 lencia, has already who is also seen a 90% decreasuffering se in dog waste after from cancer, implementing DNA told the Olive analysis in 2016. Press. The municipality “Now I am gave all dog owlikely to get ners a free ticket arrested on to have their dogs’ July 8 becauDNA recorded, bese there is no fore imposing fines way we can of €200 for fouling legally move and €300 for not the horses having a pet regiswithout piles tered. of paperwork
Poo-dunnit? A COSTA Blanca town is to analyse the DNA of dog faeces to catch unsanitary owners. Elche’s department of hygiene wants to introduce the high-cost tracking technology alongside an increase in fines to put an end to its soiled streets. Councillor for hygiene, Hector Diez, described Elche’s estimated 20,000 dogs as a ‘social phenomena’ that is
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
DESPERATE: Expats David and Jodie at stables before then.” He added that the owner is ‘falsely listing’ the land for sale as urbanizable, or ‘developable’, which Ondara town hall confirmed is not the case. “The land is rustic land. At best a purchaser could build a small bungalow - but certainly nothing more,” the councillor for public services, Pere Picornell, told the Olive Press. “It looks a bit like a scam.” The Hayters insisted they had used up ‘every penny’ they own during their 13-year tenancy at the riding stables, with many horses rescued ‘literally at death’s door’. They have invested €130,000
in savings for the animals and €150,000 on improving the property, not to mention €130,000 in rent. “The horses have a better wardrobe than I do,” said Jodie, who holds British Horse Society qualifications, including in veterinary medicine. “We’ve even paid up to €5,000 for a horse’s medical bills, and he still died in hospital.” She continued: “We’ve been here seven days a week, 365 days a year caring for abandoned horses. “All the owner sees in us is money, but to us this is our whole lives.”
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Brits behaving badly BRITS are to blame for a sharp spike in in-flight incidents to Spain. UK passengers were behind 300 incidents last year, while the Spanish were a close second on 264, and the Germans just 61. A total of 800 incidents were reported in 2018, up by 50% on the previous year, when there were only 549 reports. Rowdy holiday makers, mostly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, were to blame, with a number of flights turning back due to them.
Consequences
Alicante airport saw the most incidents with 186, followed by Madrid on 180, Mallorca on 116 and Malaga on 105, with 20% of those involving Brits. New regulations are now being studied with fines possibly set to increase from the current maximum of €5,000. According to the airport authorities AESA, a special in-flight and online video about the consequences of behaving badly onboard may need to be improved. AESA has now joined forces with the European Aviation Safety Agency to cut down incidents.
NEWS
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DIGGING IN THE Spanish Supreme Court has halted the reburial of former dictator General Franco just days before the deadline. Spain’s controversial Fascist leader was due to be dug up on June 10 from his grave at Madrid’s Valley of the Fallen monument. Five top judges ruled in favour of Franco’s family, freezing the move to transfer his remains to the El Pardo cemetery, where his wife is also buried.
Twist
This latest twist in the Franco saga comes after 12 months of work by Pedro Sanchez’s PSOE administration to exhume his body. The National Francisco Franco Foundation and the former dictator’s relatives have, along with hundreds of protestors, tried to stop the plans. The Supreme Court has suspended the process until all of the legal appeals filed by the Franco family are definitively ruled on. This could take months, even a year.
Help find Mark Have you seen him? Get in touch
FAMILY members of a missing British expat have asked the Olive Press for support after he was sighted on the Costa Blanca. Mark Palmer’s family have confirmed sightings near both Sax and Elda-Petrer, inland from Alicante, after returning home from a campaign that saw them plaster posters and drop flyers in dozens of towns and villages. Family members of the 32-year-old spent five days in Spain - their third trip in their search for Mark, who has ‘suicidal’ tendencies and disa-
ppeared on April 27. “Getting his picture and news out will be a huge help,” his sister Claire Elek, told the Olive Press this week. His family have raised ₤3,725 through GoFundMe, without which Mark’s dad would not ‘be able to afford another trip out to Spain’. Policia Nacional have reportedly been out every Sunday searching along with a team of 30 volunteers and a dog unit. It comes after his father, also Mark, expressed worry about his son’s mental health, saying Mark ‘sent his friend what we
Terror alert - NOT
THE British authorities have NOT issued any new warnings over terror threats to tourists in Spain. It comes after a number of downmarket English newspapers in Spain reported a new alert this week. However the Foreign & Commonwealth Office denied this entirely, pointing out that they had merely been copied word for word from the website of the Daily Star in London. These articles come via a Daily Star article,” said a spokesman in London. “The article was founded on existing language which can all be found in our travel advice, and has been the case for some time. “There's no sudden increase on our part.” Spain, meanwhile, has ramped up security for the summer season, as it has done for several years now.
believe is a suicide note’ on the morning of April 27. “He has always suffered with a bit of depression, in the past we would help him get through it. “He moved to Spain in December, we thought it was a fresh start for him, and when we spoke to him he seemed to be doing well. “But we think black thoughts got in his head recently and he started drinking and the things may have started spiralling out of control.”
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
No gas!
DUSTMEN have hit out against ‘laziness’ after three gas canisters nearly caused a fire in a rubbish truck. The Weber bottles were thrown into an ‘organic waste’ bin, in Benitachell, which caused a ‘leak’ when crushed in the truck. When workers began to smell gas they had
5
to call in firefighters from Denia, who secured a perimeter around the truck due to the homes nearby. “These gas bottles cannot be thrown into any kind of rubbish container,” a spokeswoman told the Olive Press. “They must be returned to the place of purchase, and not thrown in with kitchen and garden waste.”
Toll free TOLL charges on the AP-7 motorway are to be scrapped, it has been announced. Drivers between Zaragoza and Alicante, as well as Malaga and Sotogrande are likely to get free access to the motorway from December 31.
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Olive Press Alicante - 20th June 2019 - 170 h x 256 w
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FEATURE
www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain
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 Take steed IT really is Brits and other expats that take as lead on animal welfare in Spain. That is why the news this week that an expat-run horse sanctuary forced to close is so sad (pg 1). The eviction notice served to David Hayter and his daughter Jodie Darrick-Hayter has nothing to do with animals. They face eviction by Denia Court after the owner of the land where the stables is located, accused them of trying to ‘build houses’ without permission. The plot had even been advertised online by the angry owner for €230,000. This is typical of Spain, where regulations around land and property ownership are loose at best. Foreigners really have done their bit to push for changes to animal welfare law here. So the bigger picture of this news is that future do-gooders may now be deterred. If the Costa Blanca and Spain care at all, then they will take heed and make it easier, not harder for animal-lovers to do what they do best.
Brits behaving badly IT should come as a shame that Brits are behind the majority of incidents on aeroplanes travelling to Spain. From a total of 800 incidents recorded by this country’s airport security agency, AESA, Brits were behind nearly 300 of them. British tourists do travel to Spain in the greatest numbers, but this is not something that should be passed off as statistics of scale. Behind each of those incidents was a conscious choice to cause disruption. And we must condemn those choices so that we do not feed stereotypes of British tourists being loud, loutish and a general annoyance. Hundreds and thousands of British residents have chosen to make Spain their homes. Far more than mere economic injections, they bring business expertise, animal shelters, sports clubs, fantastic restaurants, a love and support of cultural events and much, much more. They also bring parties and alcohol - behind many aeroplane incidents reported in this newspaper - but the fun must not be allowed to tarnish the whole group.
Publisher / Editor Jon Clarke jon@theolivepress.es
Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es
Charlie Smith charlie@theolivepress.es
Joshua Parfitt joshua@theolivepress.es
Timothy McNulty tim@theolivepress.es
As infamous British killer Kenneth Noye is released this month, and could be on his way to Cadiz, Claire Leibovich presents 12 expat criminals captured in Spain
F
OR decades Spain was a notorious playground for the most depraved criminal masterminds and gangland enforcers. With no extradition treaty with the UK between 1978 and 1985, the Costa del Crime became a gangsters’ paradise for wily villains like Ronnie Knight, the ex-husband of actress Barbara Windsor, and Freddie Foreman, who was behind the £26 million Brink’s-Mat bullion robbery at Heathrow. Operation Captura changed all that.
Office manager Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es
Cop killer Kenneth Noye was on licence from a previous jail term when he fatally stabbed Stephen Cameron, 21, on London’s M25 slip road, in 1996. The brutal murder, following a road rage incident, took place in front of the victim’s 17-year-old fiancee Danielle Cable. Already well known to police and knowing he would be rapidly caught, Noye immediately fled to France by helicopter and then hired a private jet to fly to Madrid. He travelled on to the Canaries and the Ivory Coast before choosing the Costa del Crime to lie low, going into hiding in Atlanterra, near Zahara de los Atunes. He soon had a Spanish girlfriend and was posing as ‘Mickey the Builder’. When police eventually traced him, they flew Danielle Cable to Spain to ID him, taking her to a restaurant where he was
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for minor crimes and extradited back to face the more serious crimes at home. On top of Operation Captura’s ‘Most Wanted’ s uspects, numerous British fugitives are arrested each year in Spain for serious crimes including murder, child sexual exploit ation, fraud, drugs and firearms offences. Check out our rogues gallery of fugitives flushed out of their hideaways on Spain’s balmy shores.
eating. ‘That’s the man who killed Stephen,’ she whispered. The story goes that the cops took various tables in the restaurant and let him order his food and drink but before he could take a sip of his caña, they stormed in and arrested him. The former gangster served nearly 20 years in the UK before being released earlier in June, after it was ruled he was no longer a ‘significant risk to the public’. He still owns a property in Atlanterra (above), which has been cared for by his son since his arrest in 2000. He is certainly expected to come back.
Mark Lilley - 2013
Christy ‘Dapper Don’ Kinahan - 2010 In 2010 the ‘Dapper Don’ was arrested in his Marbella villa as the alleged mastermind behind a global drugs and weapon business. Together with his sons Daniel and Christopher, he was banged up in Alhaurin prison under Operation Shovel that caught up with 30 criminals from his gang throughout Europe. Irishman Kinahan is regarded as one of the most intelligent criminals involved in the international drugs trade. He moved to Spain after his release from prison in 2001. The investigation focused not only on drug-trafficking but also on the money-laundering and property investments in which Kinahan was allegedly involved, many of them
in Estepona. But after being held briefly, Kinahan and his associates were released without charge, as not enough direct evidence was found to link them to specific crimes they could be charged with.
Described as one of Merseyside’s most dangerous crooks, the heavily tattooed bodybuilder was arrested at his villa in the Alhaurin de la Torre in July 2013. Footage shows Spanish police storming into the villa and handcuffing the half-naked criminal, who had hidden in a safe room behind a bedroom wardrobe after being alerted to the raid by his three hunting dogs. Also known as ‘Fatboy’, ‘Mandy’ and ‘Big Vern’, Lilley skipped bail during a trial for drug trafficking in 2000 where he was sentenced to 23 years in jail. He was found guilty of conspiracy to supply cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and cannabis, as well as possessing a firearm. The 41-year-old was hauled out of the villa and helicoptered to Madrid before being extradited back to the UK.
Brian Colin Charrington - 2013
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Launched in 2006, two years after the introduction of the European Arrest Warrant, it is a joint initiative between the UK’s National Crime Agency, the Spanish authorities and Crimestoppers to capture Brits on the run in Spain. The message sent is clear: Spain will no longer be a safe haven for expat crooks. According to Jago Russell of UK charity Fair Trials International, most of the foreign nationals arrested in Spain are actually arrested
Kenneth Noye - 1998
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
The former car dealer from Middlesbrough was apprehended in 2013 at his fortress villa in Calpe, on the Costa Blanca. At his trial in 2018, he was found guilty of shipping 192 kilos of cocaine from South America. Together with his son Ray Charrington, he was also convicted of money laundering. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay €31.2 million in fines. The police impounded assets worth €5 million, including a dozen luxury properties, high-end vehicles, six recreational craft and bank accounts. He was known as ‘el narco de Wikipedia’ because he apparently wrote and updated his own entry on the website. Charrington had previously been arrested in Spain in 1997 for allegedly participating in the purchacination with firearms’, se of four tons of hashish. and even changed his appearance with plastic surgery to avoid capture. from Spanish police after In November 2012, he a sophisticated roadAGAIN esc a p e d block was set up along one of his regular routes. Footage of his arrest showed armed officers swooping down on him and tackling him to the floor at his villa. Moran eventually pleaded guilty to drugs, firearms and road traffic offences while on the run and received a prison sentence of six years and six months.
Andrew Moran - 2013 In classic Hollywood style, cops burst in and arrested 31-year-old Most Wanted Andrew Moran as he was relaxing in his shorts by the pool, in Calpe, Alicante, in 2013. He had been wanted for four years since being found guilty of robbery in 2009, but managed to escape his security guards at the trial, before fleeing to Spain on a false passport. Originally from Salford, Moran went on the run, travelling across Europe with his girlfriend. He is said to have had a ‘fas-
David Mather - 2014
David Mather, 57, was held by armed police as he drove through La Linea in 2014. He had been on the run since being sentenced to 18 years in prison the year before for smuggling heroin into the UK.
‘OVERJOYED WITH MY
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Toni Muldoon
Podemos boss in massive comeback
Mark Acklom
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Get on with it
THE family and friends of missing Lisa Brown have been stuck in a living hell for the last year. While Lisa’s brother Craig Douglas has praised the efforts of the police, the drawn-out nature of the investigation cannot be ignored. Simon Corner has now been languishing behind bars for more than six months and yet we still appear no closer to an answer. If Stephen Jackson is the key, then investigating officers must listen to his call and visit him in the UK. Waiting for his release in October 2018 will only delay the investigation and put Lisa’s loved-ones through more unnecessary torment.
Dining time!
WITH the sun dipping down before dinner time and the speedos well and truly tucked away for another year, there is no better time of year to explore Andalucia’s exciting inland restaurant scene! Looking to learn about the best of the region? Wanting to find its very best gems? Look no further than our fabulous new Dining Secrets of Andalucia website just relaunched in time for Autumn, Bon appétit!
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A lifetime of deception is finally catching up with notorious conman Mark Acklom, with the Olive Press joining the hunt for Britain’s most wanted
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By Rob Horgan, Joe Duggan and Laurence Dollimore
E’S posed as an MI6 agent, seduced dozens of women out of millions of pounds and been on the run for much of his life. Well-spoken and privately educated Mark Acklom drives expensive cars (Porsches, BMWs and Bentleys), watches Ascot from the Royal Enclosure - kitted out in top hat and waistcoat - and dines at the world’s top restaurants. To all intents and purposes, he is a wealthy businessman who lives the highlife with a perennial smile stretched across his face. The reality: Acklom is one of Britain’s most wanted fugitives and his catalogue of scams is rivalled only by Hollywood’s greatest fraudsters. A compulsive liar and professional swindler, Acklom, from Bromley, UK, has created a false reality in which the world is at his feet. And, unwaveringly convincing, dozens of people have swallowed his tall stories and fallen for his devilish tricks. He probably even believes it himself. Depending on who he’s talking to, he is a property developer, a banker, event manager or gynaecologist. And for each new profession, there are two or three different names: Marc Ros, Mark Ross, Zack Moss, Dr Mark Ros and Don Marc Ros are just some of the aliases he is known to have given. At the helm of countless property and investment scams around the world, Acklom has most recently been operating in Murcia and on the Costa Blanca, the Olive Press has discovered. But his time is running out after being placed on a list of Britain’s Most Wanted fugitives. Of the 10 named in the latest installment of Operation Captura last month, Acklom has garnered the most intrigue, taking up countless column inches in national newspapers in the UK and Spain. Sought over defrauding an ex-girlfriend out of €950,000 after posing as an MI6 agent, there is now a European Arrest Warrant on his head, as well as a €22,000 reward for his arrest. Unlike the paedophiles, rapists and drug dealers that appear on the list, Acklom’s criminal activities are in a completely different league… in fact, he is not even playing the same sport. After tracking down, staking out and helping police capture most wanted suspected paedophile Matthew Sammon last issue, the Olive for them to club until she left in January this year, them here. It’s an address Press went straight on the Rodriguez claims that her new real es- pick up their mail,” he said. scent of Acklom. I have tate venture has links with an estab- “I have heard a lot of complaints. Following a tip-off that he was still involved not happy with lished Swiss racing-car team. Unsur- heard that their clients are with his Spanish wife Maria Yolanda Ros prisingly, that team had them. In recent weeks there have been Rodriguez, we linked her to never heard of Ros or many people looking for them. I decided a new real estate company to stop picking up their mail two weeks Acklom when contacted. in the centre of Murcia. Their clients are not When the Olive Press ago.” he last saw the pair together over Registered under the name visited the registered of- He said happy with them. of Yolanda Ros - adopting fice in Murcia there was the summer at the golf resort. her hubby’s trick of mixing There are many no sniff of the couple or In fact, the Olive Press can reveal that up her name - Ross Luxury people looking for in even a sign on the door they were staying in a rented property Estate Agents was set up in them for Ross Luxury Estate La Manga as recently as last month. April, conveniently just one A former colleague of Ros told the Olive Agents. month after Acklom was A financial adviser in the Press ‘they left two weeks ago’. released from prison in the firm at La adjacent office said he collected the Agents at an estate agents UK for a Chelsea apartments con. come in lookcompany’s mail for Ros, who he met a Manga said the couple hadresort over the On LinkedIn, Facebook and other social year ago when she still worked for La ing to buy a house in the media sites, Ros names herself as the summer. Manga club. Managing Partner of the company, which a lot of money. “I helped her to set up the address “He was pretending to have house in Switalso ‘operates’ in Madrid. here, but there was never a place for He said he had a massive A sales member of staff at La Manga golf
olive press Vol. 7 Issue 177
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December 23 2013 - January 8 2014
PLAN: Skyscraper
Sky’s the Limit to keep Russians happy
RACING AWAY: Acklom and Ros at the Royal Enclosure at Ascot
zerland but I knew he did not have any money,” an agent told the Olive Press. “He said he was a marketing director at the big advertising firm McCann Erickson. But he used a completely different name. He called himself Mark Long.” A barman at nearby pub The Last Drop told the Olive Press that when Acklom fled the family’s rented flat at La Manga’s Buenavista ‘he didn’t pay his rent’ and ‘left behind a lot of debt’. The Olive Press also discovered Acklom’s wife owned a flat on Cartagena’s Calle Bodegones before selling it in February 2014. Neighbours were unaware of her current whereabouts. Acklom’s ties to Spain stretch back over 20 years. It was the late 1990s when Acklom first came to Spain, but he quickly left his mark on the country and by 1998 he had HAUNTS: Murcia office and (below) Yolanserved two years for a fraud involving un- da at La Manga sales office paid hotel rooms on the Costa Blanca. The Brit was arrested again six years later in Benidorm for a con in which he posed as the head of a real estate consortium, when he did not own the land he said he would build on. Court documents also show Acklom appeared in a Alicante court in 2006 over an art fraud. Most recently he was locked up by Cartagena court for a €14 million property scam in 2015 for conning two brothers out of €225,000. Prosecutor Miguel Pouget Bastida confirmed that Acklom changed his name to Mark Long by deed poll in Britain last year, the third time he has done so. Pouget’s clients, Francisco Legaz Cervantes and Domingo Legaz Cervantes, worked with Fundacion Diagrama, a Spanish non-profit organisation that helps vulnerable people. Acklom met the men in 2008, claiming to be the son of an incredibly wealthy Lloyds banker. Boasting he had three London flats worth €9.8 million in Chelsea Wharf’s Cheyne
Apartments to sell, Acklom used a fake sales price list he had forged from a Knight Frank property list to convince the brothers of his credentials. Operating alongside his then-girlfriend Josefina Rebollo Munoz, Acklom was hauled before a Spanish court in 2009 along with his accomplice after Pouget discovered the deeds to the flat sale were fake. The lawyer recommended an eight-year sentence, but before he could be tried and jailed Acklom fled. Court documents show that while on the run he married Maria Yolanda Ros Rodriguez in Totana, Murcia on March 4 2009, changing his name again the following month to Marc Ros Rodriguez. An Interpol warrant was issued for Acklom’s arrest and he was finally tracked down to the Italian port of Genoa in November, 2014 and deported to Spain where he served 18 months behind bars. “I love so much catching conmen,” said Pouget. “But this is the case has had me working even harder. “Mark has an incredible capacity for fantasy. But I think he talks too much.” While in prison, Acklom revealed to a fellow convict that he had gold bars buried in Spain as a ‘form of insurance’. A serial fraudster, the 43-year-old scams began in childhood when he stole his mum Diana’s mink coat so he could sell it. At 16, he stole his father’s American Express card and racked up a €12,000 bill before posing as a stockbroker in a €1.2 million fraud. In a career that has spanned four decades he has left a trail of broken hearts as he targets vulnerable women. One former associate said: “He loves making women fall in love with him. He gets a kick out of having them buy wedding dresses for a ceremony he knows will never take place because he’ll have vanished. In the decade I knew him, he fooled more than 50 women.” In blog posts, Acklom repeatedly denies many of his crimes and moans about harassment from the law and from ‘people pretending to be the police’. He pleads: “I have paid my time and it is absurd to be paying for that again and again.” Insisting he has ‘a life-threatening illness’ he claims to live a quiet life working on his autobiography. Wherever he is, that autobiography is sure to be one hell of a read.
THE UK’S MOST WANTED FUGITIVES
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VICTIMS in Spain have fresh hope after Nigel been given Goldman was found guilty of fraud in the UK. A jury heard how the Olive instrumental in bringing Press was old, now called Howard the 58-yeardel Monte, to justice. After spotting our reports men who failed to receiveonline, two they had purchased from gold coins him called in police. A year later, he was found guilty on two counts of fraud and now faces jail.
to all our Seasonal wishes To long-time Olive Press readers and advertisers readers, notorious Nigel ‘Naughty’ Goldman will be a familiar figure. The three times imprisoned Where’s naughty conman, continued a string Nigel? of scams in Spain, including selling dodgy gold coins and stamps on eBay, as well as taking millions in bogus investment fraud. He was eventually handed a 12-month suspended sentence in January 2016 in the UK, but has so far failed to face justice in Spain, where he has many victims. Abortion: Back to the dark ages
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ANGRY: Protesters
A BITTER war of words has broken out between Marbella’s new and old guard over plans to erect a 50-storey skyscraper off the Golden Mile. Prince Pablo von Hohenlohe, whose uncle built the Marbella Club hotel, insists the project is totally out of keeping with the town’s low-rise, low-density housing. “You can’t mortgage the future of the town for the benefit of a few,” said Hohenlohe of the first block that would be built on the Istan road, overlooking the palace of the Saudi royal family. The scheme, designed by architect Ricardo Bofill, could be the first of six to be allowed in the Marbella area, after the town hall published a new proposed PGOU town plan.
By Claire Wilson
PROTESTS have erupted around Spain after the government approved abortion laws that take the country back 30 years. The new abortion law will permit the procedure only in cases of rape, mental or physical risks to the mother, or lifethreatening foetal deformities. Hundreds gathered outside parliament in Madrid and burnt an effigy of Minister of Justice Alberto Ruiz Gallardon who masterminded the law. Protesters took to the streets in around 20 other cities, including Malaga, Bilbao and Barcelona, while the Socialist party has already announced further protests.
Winter and wonderl arrived when he a massive to ski in Andalucia he has become it was possible had no idea as a keen snowboarder, Liam Kirkaldy ago. Now, here six monthsfan Sierra Nevada
was once it that there with his EGEND haslord who lived casa wealthydaughter in a remote southbeautiful Alpujarras, on the tle in the Sierra Nevada. he of the and because ern slopes off to a felwas controlling, away The lord to marry his daughter her hidden planned he kept could not meet she low landowner world so had from the daughter anyone else. to him, his at night, someBut unknown out the house in love with been sneaking already fallen and had – a local shepherd. her father’s one else two learned of through the When the decided to elope mountains plans, they Sierra Nevada if it meant even snow-bound to the north, and flee accordhis lover, into their deaths. bumped to way to meet But on his the shepherd him a broom ing to legend, who offered in the snow. the devil, lord, the hide his tracks by the richuntil they Pursued fled of Alcazayoung couple the peak reached sits at 3,371 meba, which a few less than its tres, just rivals Veleta and two nearby(3,482m). Mulhacen they dropped the by But whenbegan to sweep broom it an avalanche itself, causingtheir pursuers. and burying goes that the The storybroom’ was left ‘devil’s where it still landslides there forgotten, causing sweeps, to this day. at the base When I arrived Nevada last by jutting of the Sierra patches week, greeted scattered hills withlandslides were the of snow, on my mind. last thing mountain range The tallest Europe, the Siin southern is higher than erra Nevada and has one the Pyrenees
L
Turn to
page 17
No donkeys, sledges or snowboards...the three kings trudge up the snowy slopes of the Sierra Nevada... see our annual skiing supplement on page 15
HIDDEN ASSETS:
Goldman with Suzanne Couling
HE has been one of the coast’s most colourful characters for years. Regularly hosting charity auctions and appearing on radio phone ins, he even had his own restaurant column in a local newspaper. But now things appear to
the Olive Press INVESTIGATES
have come unstuck for ‘Sir’ Nigel Goldman with police and lawyers actively seeking his whereabouts. The self-styled poker wizard, who dealt in gold and coins, has allegedly fallen foul of regulators by offering bad financial advice and leaving investors empty handed. Spanish police are now probing two of his financial companies - Harvard Private Client and International Fi-
nancial Investment - with Goldman allegedly fleeing the country back to the UK. A separate police report has now been filed with Action Fraud UK. Two victims alone, expats Roy and Jennifer Feather, claim to have lost €550,000, while another Geoffrey Whitton claims to have lost over €20,000. “I’d like to find him and get my money back,” said Whitton, a writer, from Cornwall, currently based in Madrid. According to Marbella lawyer Antonio Flores of Lawbird,
At a heated meeting on Friday at El Fuerte hotel, a mix of locals, including aristocrat Beatriz de Orleans and environmentalist Javier de Luis, vowed to fight the plans, setting up a new platform. They warn that the skyscrapers would destroy the charm of the town and thousands have now signed a petition against the building. Developer Pedro Rodriguez however, insisted the scheme would be positive for the town, which is rapidly becoming more popular for Russians and Eastern Europeans. He said: “The British and Scandinavians like old style architecture, but the Russians demand modern apartments.” Pablo Moro, who is responsible for town planning in Marbella, also dismissed the outcry. He said: “There was opthere are ‘likely to be’ many position in Paris when then more victims. they built the Eiffel Tower.” Public school educated Gold- However, the town hall has man - who lived in an up- agreed to set up a public conmarket Elviria development sultation body and listen to and drove a Mercedes - cer- the views of its people. Indeed, tainly had pedigree. Visit www.change.org to sign the petition See page 2
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This heinous paedophile was snared by the Olive Press just hours after his mugshot went out across the media in the annual 2016 Crimestoppers Most Wanted appeal in Spain. FOR 1 Working on a tip-off from an 2eagle-ey ANTed HONreader, our YS reporters tracked down Sammo n in Fuengirola be59€ fore calling the Guardia Civil to arrest him in a dramatic midnight raid in November 2016. The story hit national headlines in the UK. Mafia town
BANGED UP: Sammon bundled into police car and (inset) his campervan
How the CEO of organized crime corrupted a town hall PAGE 8
EXCLUSIVE: Expat tip leads Olive Press snare one of UK’s most team wanted paedophiles to
Secret Malaga
It’s a true city of culture, Malaga has so much morebut PAGE 16
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errania de
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Ronda
26th - November
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8th 2016
deep,high River mountain
Rob Horgan native in the goes Serrania de Ronda and discovers the backroad the Genal gems of Valley
T
SOARING
HIGH: The
view up to
the city from
the Tajo gorge
and (top)
a typical town
scene
HERE are beer with few places in the world an army general where general stands … and even you can drink all the rounds! Ronda, fewer where the Celebrating however, is one bar El Porton,a recent promotionof those places. ish Legionnairean olé away from with friends in quintessential After introducingCarlos Velo is Spain’s oldest bullring - Spanme to the eager to include me quail eggs town’s signature - Carlos (above) in the party. Iraq, Afghanistan tapa regales me with tales - jamon and the ‘best place and Bosnia from “I have been in the world’. before explaining why tours to Ronda is says, taking all over the world a swig from and seen back into many his been to.” his face. “But Rondacana and pushing things,” he his glasses is the best Originally place I have ever ago whenfrom Madrid, Carlos moved he joined its two national the Spanish to Ronda some 35 years Legion, which naires at present.bases here, counting on around has one of “The quality 800 legioncan live like of life in Ronda is like nowhere a gentleman everyone else. here, in Madrid else in “Everything I would justSpain. I is affordable, be like ing from tapas if you in your pocket. bar to tapas bar like you can spend the day goand you will “And the still have change scenery is breathtaking,” he adds. “The walks Continues
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PAGE 19
19 19
EAGLE-EYED Olive readers helped snag one Press WORDS AND PICS of Britain’s most wanted fugitives By Rob Horgan and in Laurence Dollimore Spain, just hours after he had been named. al Crime Agency, Following a tip off to the paper, the scene after who arrived at suspected paedophile Matthew the arrest. “Well done Olive Sammon was dragged from his thanks to the expat Press and campervan in a dramatic community time raid and whisked night- for tipping us off, this is the reaan unmarked police car.away in son we run these campaigns.” Working closely with informant The dramatic day had started when Crimestoppers issued Daniel Reid, we were its able to annual list of firstly track down Sammon most wanted tives in Torremolinos on fugito Fuengirola, then call Thursin the day morning. Guardia Civil to arrest him. Leading to hundreds of press On the run for two years, Sam- stories around mon - a blackbelt in Jujitsu the world and - on national television, was wanted in the UK for the hunt shar- was immediately ing indecent images of children. on. But, it was to popular His seizure came just 10 local after he was named in hours newspaper the Olive Press tion Captura and is the Opera- that expat plasterer Reid, 40, quickest reached out recorded arrest in the joint to, trusting us to SUCCESS: Reid, UK ‘do the job properly’. Horgan, and Spanish police operation. Reynolds and Brunt In a series of Facebook “It was a fantastic result,” mes- as a labourer said sages, he announced and was currently Steve Reynolds, from the that Sam- living Nation- mon, 45, had worked for him the in a campervan around Mijas and Fuengirola area.
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Within an hour, the Olive Press car, Sammon covered team scrambled to Fuengirola, and remained silenthis face learning from another when that he was currently builder questioned by the Olive Press. out at the feria ground. camped He was then bundled into the BMW and taken to Madrid After a day working nearby, to the be fingerprinted Londoner duly arrived in his for extradition. and prepared English-plated cream Moncayo Following the arrest, father-ofcampervan. two Reid said he was ‘relieved’ Parking up, he looked as he took his dog for relaxed to see Sammon taken away. a walk “As soon as I saw his around the feria ground and the most wanted Iface among spoke with neighbours. felt said Reid, from Blackpool.sick,” Once identified, we called the “I let him hang around Guardia Civil and Crimestopmy children, we took him in with pers and so began a tense open hour waiting game, withthree- arms and at first were none the Reid wiser. sitting in the car beside us. “But we always thought Sky News crime reporter he was tin Brunt was soon there Mar- a bit weird, he’s a real loner and never talks about his family. Eventually, as night hadtoo. well “He creeped my family and truly fell, an unmarked much that I fired him.” out so black BMW arrived and two Incredibly, police did plain clothes detectives not take any moved in for the arrest, swiftly evidence from his campervan incating his passport and confis- cluding his computer and other Frisking him at the sidephone. CONTINUES ON PAGE of the 2 Est 1984
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GOLDMAN GUILTY
GOLDMAN: Awaiting
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Colourful Costa character ‘Sir’ Nigel Goldman sought in fraud probe
Freedom
movement, Femen The which staged a topless protest at parliament in October, warned on Twitter: “If they take away our right to decide, we’ll have to abort the Church and everything that limits our freedom.” The ruling PP party had promised to change the law in its run up to the 2011 election. Currently women can abort without restrictions until the 14th week of pregnancy. In a 2012 poll, 81% of Spaniards said they were opposed to changes to Spain’s abortion laws. The PP was keen to empha-
One way ticket to jail! Page 4
December 10th - 22nd
TV debate minus the PM
INCISIVE: Malaga PP boss points out another Olive Press exclusive to Rajoy OME say the Spanish Prime Minister is out of touch Readers of La has taken his finger off and While debate still the pulse. rages But Mariano Rajoy proved Vanguardia went was clearly engrossed about his ability to speak English, he in our last front page, before priorities straight in the doubters wrong by getting his minute flicking even stronger in spending a run-up to the most exciting through the issue. their support, giv- eral election in Spanish history. gen- Finding plenty of interest, with Malaga’s ing him an aston- While the other party leaders engaged PP boss Elias Bendodo a crucial TV debate on looking over his shoulder, he then pointed out ishing 55%, ahead Monday, the PP boss was preoccupied in something apparwith the more important ently intriguing on the cover. matter of... what’s happening in Andalucia. of Rivera (16%), Perhaps he was making And his choice a note of the website for Sanchez ence on his return to Madrid? future refer(16%) After a keynote of reading matter was spot on! campaign Or maybe, just maybe, and Saenz de San- he he was imagining himself found time to catch upspeech for party faithful in Estepona, cover pictured on the tamaria (13%). of on our expat next news edition by following a landslide victory own, decade-old, super-reliable reading your very 20. Dreams can come true. on December Olive Press. Election fever sweeps nation Page 6-7
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MARIANO Rajoy begins his second term in a completely different political landscape to five years ago. In 2011, Spain was still in the darkest days of a savage recession. Jobs and securing a path to economic recovery were the priority. But with Spain’s economy powering on - albeit with 18% of the country still jobless - Rajoy has switched his focus to the issue of Catalunya. The appointment of pragmatic lawyer Soraya Saenz de Santamaria indicates Rajoy is keen to pursue better relations with the key region. Santamaria has a reputation for fixing crises. She will need all her powers of diplomacy to resolve her government’s headache of Catalan independence claims.
November 9th - November 22nd 2016
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The Olive Press went on the hunt of fugitive Mark Acklom, one of Britain’s Most Wanted, for a few months in 2017, linking him to numerous scams in Spain. We traced his wife to a business address in Murcia and found his rented home. Catch However, he had H me... just moved to IF Madrid, before YOU heading to SwitCAN zerland, where he was arrested MOST WANTED... last year. FEATURE
see page 13
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Monkey bites fox
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BOTTLE: (From and Santamarialeft) Three leaders
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...while Rajoy brushes up on his expat news
A BEAMING Pablo Iglesias came both parties. out swinging during a leaders’ debate to blowcrucial TV “This is the reason Mr Rajoy the Span- not here: is ish general election wide he too received illegal open. payments,” roared Iglesias. With Prime Minister Mariano Ra- Also insisting joy absent - and watching he would ings in his pyjamas - the proceed- bomb Syria, he clearly got not the Podemos upper leader’s popularity received hand on his nervous boost in front of a record a huge main anti-corruption rival Al9.2 mil- bert Rivera, lion viewers, Spain’s of Ciudadanos. largest TV The end audience of 2015. result was ‘una ba’, as the Spanish wouldbomGoing for the jugular, haired leader slammed the long- coming out on top by a milesay, in and PSOE - over a raft the PP - various polls yesterday. tion scandals, that haveof corrup- These included the right-leanengulfed ing El Mundo, their parties. with nearly half of the paper’s readers In a damning final (42%) 51-second siding round-up of why he should be- Soraya with him, while PP rep come Spain’s new PM, Saenz de Santamafive key cases that havehe listed ria got 30%, Rivera 22% and rocked PSOE’s Pedro Sanchez, just 7%.
See page 2
The Olive Press first exposed the timeshare-style cons conducted by infamous fraudster Toni Muldoon and his Costa del Sol cronies way back in 2008. We continued to monitor their scams with regular stories until Muldoon was finally put away in 2014 for running a bogus escort service. ‘Timeshare Toni’, as he became known to Olive Press readers, wrote a string of books on his scams before passing away this year.
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After a tip-off to the paper, the Olive Press tracked down and photographed one of Crimestoppers Most Wanted Daniel Johnston, in Pruna, Sevilla, who had been sought for a string of violent robberies in the UK. Despite informing the authorities it amazingly took a month for them to finally pick him up.
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Terry Wright The Olive Press has been investigating boiler rooms in Spain from day one. In 2011 we revealed that blacklisted British businessman Terry Wright had earned millions of euros by persuading unsuspecting investors to part with their hard-earned cash. We found a series of lists of his scams and his victims names and addresses and literally banged him to rights, before he fled to France, buying a castle with his ill gotten gains.
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
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PECKING ORDER: Olive Press website at 7,501 in Spain and 157,658 in the world, with EWN well below us according to Amazon’s Alexa.com
Updated daily The Olive Press online www.theolivepress.es The website is conveniently accessible from your desktop computer to your laptop, tablets and smartphones throughout the day wherever you are. www.theolivepress.es
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Christopher Mealey - 2014
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Christopher Mealey was held by armed police as he walked down the beach in Marbella in 2014. Originally from London, the 38-year-old was wanted in connection with importing cocaine worth millions of pounds into the UK. His father-in-law John Reed and six others have already received prison sentences totalling more than 130 years in connection with the drug smuggling investigation. Hank Cole, head of international operations for the NCA, said that Mealey’s capture ‘demonstrates the NCA and its partners have the capability to pursue fugitives relentlessly’.
Shane Walford - 2015
Paul Monk - 2015 The 54-year-old fugitive was arrested in 2015 as he oversaw workmen laying a marble patio around the swimming pool at his luxury villa near Benidorm, Alicante. The Guardia Civil issued dramatic video footage showing armed officers swooping on the property. Detectives found written notes pertaining to the supply of 997 kilos of cocaine with a street value of €66 million, as well as an imitation firearm, €125,000 euros stashed in a plant pot and a fake Slovenian passport. Originally from Romford, near Essex, Monk fled to Spain in 2013 while on licence from a nine-year sentence for a €3.3 million cannabis smuggling racket. He obtained false identity documents and continued to run a €67 million international drug supply network from his home in Spain. Police said he never left the villa for fear he would be shot dead by rivals, or arrested. He relied on friends to bring him food as he led the life of ‘an authentic fugitive’.
Joseph Lindsay - 2018 The Glaswegian ganglord was arrested in 2018, near South Tenerife airport where he was meeting relatives. Police had prepared the ambush after discovering that relatives of Lindsay had booked flights to spend the New Year in Tenerife. The 34-year-old was wanted by Scottish authorities for a tally of 29 crimes, punishable by 100 years in prison. He is accused of member-
ship of a criminal organisation, drugs and weapons trafficking, money laundering, computer crime, homicide and serious assault, kidnapping, unlawful detention and the taking of hostages, as well as armed robbery. His gang stood out because of the level of violence they employed, including the use of firearms. Lindsay was jailed in Spain before being extradited to the UK.
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Jamie Acourt - 2018
Green means go!
The 42-year-old drug smuggler - one of the gang accused of killing black teenager Stephen Lawrence - was arrested in 2018, as he was leaving a gym in Barcelona. He fled the UK in 2016 after police raided his home in Kent. He had been living in Spain for two years, under the alias ‘Simon Alfonzo’. At his trial last December, Acourt admitted his role in a multi-mi-
Walford was convicted for the manslaughter of an off-duty fireman while on leave from the army. The former soldier killed father-of-two Paul Gibbons with a single punch outside a bar in Coventry. The former boxer was imprisoned for four-and-a-half years and released after serving half of his sentence, but was recalled to prison in August 2013 after breaking the terms of his licence. The 42-year-old fled the country but was eventually tracked down and arrested in 2015 in the Canary Islands.
James Quinn - 2016 Irish hitman Quinn was arrested in September 2016 while trying to board a plane in Madrid. The 36-year-old was accused of gunning down Gary Hutch in Fuengirola in 2015, allegedly on the orders of ganglord Christy Kinahan and sparked by the infamous feud between the Kinahans and the Hutch clan that has seen 18 killings so far. A yacht and Bentley believed to have been used in the operation were seized in Spain. While in Dublin, Gardai found €23,000 in cash, along with computers, phones, false IDs and financial documents relating to property purchases and foreign bank accounts. Quinn, a former boxer, had already served time behind bars in Ireland for a string of more than 70 convictions. In 2019, the father-of-one was convicted by a Spanish court and sentenced to a record 22 years in prison. llion pound cannabis smuggling operation and was sentenced to nine years behind bars. Prosecutors believe that Acourt, together with his brother Neil, enlisted family members to the scheme that saw drugs transported between London and the north. Both brothers were prime suspects in the racist murder of Lawrence (right) back in 1993, but always denied involvement. In 2012, 19 years after the mur-
der, pals Gary Dobson and David Norris were finally convicted and jailed for life.
ONE local newspaper insists on dressing up its staff in red and telling the coast how it is the definitive best free media group in Europe. What it fails to realise is red also means ‘stop’... which is almost exactly what has happened to its website over the last few months. So bad have been the hits to our ‘rival’s’ website this year, that the paper has gone from shouting about its amazing site on page 4 to burying its statistics on page 73. It comes as their website sunk in position by around 30,000 places globally and its stories garnered around 70,000 page views a week - or roughly what the Olive Press online is now getting a day. This, dear readers is all about content and investing in journalism. It is also about looking after your staff, not insulting your readers and not delivering the same story twice in the same edition.
Reporting
Above all, it is about spending money on actual reporting, as we have been doing at the Olive Press for the last 13 years. All in all, green means go as we head up to 7,500th position in Spain, according to Amazon.com’s Alexa ranking, out of two million sites, as well as 157,000th in the world, out of billions of websites. Meanwhile, the EWN sits at 220,000 and at a paltry 21,000th position in Spain. Google Analytics delivers a similar story, showing clearly how we are frequently outpacing our rivals. When it comes to Facebook, Twitter, breaking news, analysis, features, travel and culture, remember: Olive Press online. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, delivering the best English news website in Spain.
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Butt it out SCHOOL children have picked up 4,050 cigarette butts on Javea’s Arenal as part of an environmental campaign. The ‘sea without plastic campaign’, organised by the Valencian Oceanographic Foundation, saw 50 children sweep the iconic beach last week. The plastic-filled cigarette butts were picked up in just 45 minutes - meaning 90 butts were discovered each minute. “You must be the ones who become aware of the environment and follow good habits, because this world will be yours and it depends on you,” Maria Araceli Poblador, sub-delegate of the Alicante government, told the school children. More than 70 earbuds were also discovered.
Flat-plastic furniture
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Charity in taters Costa Blanca expat donates ‘solidarity potatoes’ to help struggling families CHIPS, patatas bravas or crisps - it’s clear that potatoes were made for sharing. But Dutch resident Herman Sinnema, in Pedreguer, has taken the potato’s potential further this year by donating 3,000kg of them to help 70 families in Javea struggling to pay their bills. The ‘solidarity potatoes’, enough for more than 15,000 portions of chips,
IKEA has announced a new collection made of ocean plastic recovered from Spanish coastlines. The Musselbromma line, manufactured in Alicante and Valencia, will consist of tablecloths, cushion covers and bags. The collection is in collaboration with the Seaqual initiative, which uses a network of 1,500 Spanish fishermen to collect marine waste caught in nets. For every 1kg of recycled plastic used in the range, 9kg of other materials, metals, rubber, glass a are retrieved from the ocean.
are donated through the charity arm of the Nuestra Señora del Loreta church in Javea, and are sold in the Sunday market outside the church.
Harvest
Proceeds go towards supplementing the costs of school fees, food, transport, health and electricity bills for the Costa Blanca town’s poorest families.
GREEN FINGERED: Herman Sinnema on his plot
Sinnema, 73, told the Olive Press that the work keeps him ‘very busy’, and
Turtle rescue
THE Red Cross has rescued a turtle that was unable to dive due to plastic bottles being attached to its body. The sea turtle was sighted by kayakers near Mazarron, before Maritime Rescue alerted the localised Red Cross unit. The turtle was freed after removing polyester string and bottles attached to its fins, mouth and neck. The string had wounded the turtle and appeared to have been attached for some time.
he also uses his 4,000m² plot of land to teach volunteers about organic farming. Alongside potatoes, he also grows blood oranges, tangerines, strawberries, cabbages, broad beans, kidney beans, aubergines, onions and chili peppers. Around 90% of all his harvest is given away to support charitable causes through the charity arm of the local church.
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Organic leaders ALL towns in the Valencian Community will be required to have organic waste containers by the end of 2020, it has been revealed. Environment councillor for Denia Josep Crespo said this week that an EU recycling grant will pay for 12 new containers in Jesus Pobre and La Xara in the upcoming weeks. Crespo added, however, that funding will stop if the Valencian Generalitat fails to reach each of its municipalities in the designated time. Organic waste bins are brown in colour, and take both kitchen waste and soft plant material. Crespo added that Orba has become a poster town after a home collection service saw organic waste recycling shoot up from 16% to 80%. A similar scheme is hoped for La Xara and Jesus Pobre.
Caving in A CAVE in Javea will be the first beach in the Valencian Community to have its access restricted this summer. Cova Tallada, in the Montgo National Park, will be open to just 482 visitors per day from June 15 until September 30. Visitor numbers will further be limited to just 71 at any one time in the cave. Reservations will be made through the Montgo National Park website.
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MORAIRA has commemorated the reconquista of Spain from the Moorish Empire, which held the Iberian Peninsula from 711 until 1492, with processions of warriors dressed in wooden masks, gothic makeup and even taxidermy wolves.
Oh my Gogh THE gun artist Vincent Van Gogh ‘killed himself with’ has gone to auction, as an exhibition of his work tours Spain. The pistol, which he is thought to have shot himself with, is in France, where it is expected to sell for €45,000. Experts believe that the Dutch post-impressionist painter ended his own life with the weapon, in 1890. He died in a field near the French town of Auvers-sur-Oise, where the revolver was located some 70 years later. It comes as the world’s most visited multimedia exhibition, displaying Van Gogh’s work, has been touring Spain. After passing through Malaga, Sevilla, Alicante and Madrid it will be in Valencia from July 27 to October 20.
BENISSA
Davy Jones’ crockery
Historic British tea set on show at unique Costa Blanca exhibition AN exhibition displaying British-made plates, bowls and a tea set from a steamship that sank off the Costa Blanca 150 years ago has opened in Denia. The Parthenon, built in Sunderland, went down in the breakwaters just north of Denia’s port during a violent storm in November 1869 on its way to buy raisins. The history of the ship was only discovered this year
Breaking free
after a diver found the British-made plates, and the hull of an iron ship, and matched it to Spanish newspaper reports of the shipwreck. “Denia had a glorious golden age from around 1850 to 1890 when we exported raisins all over the world,” the director of the Museo Arqueologico de Denia, Josep Gisbert, told the Olive Press. “Victorian Britain was also the world power at the time,
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
SUNK: Steamship The Parthenon
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A FEMINIST mural has won an art competition in Jesus Pobre. Tardor Rosello’s design beat other candidates aged 1830, who were asked to create a design based on themes of ‘youth’ and ‘female visibility’. The mural, entitled ‘Feminism is the Key’ depicts a woman reclining on a cushion holding a glowing key. “I am very happy to have won this contest,” Tardor Rosello, 22, from La Xara, told the Olive Press. “In this mural the chains wrapping the women’s legs represent oppression and the lack of women’s rights - and the way to break free is the key.” He said the key depicts the symbol of the feminist struggle, and represents the education necessary to bring about equality between women and men. The mural is in Plaza del Pueblo and measures 28 metres wide by 6 metres high. The competition was sponsored by the Alicante government.
“The ‘blue willow pattern’ Chinese imitation plates were a symbol of prosperity, and that’s what the Parthenon was carrying when it sank.” The plates are now on display at the newly opened Museo del Mar, which opened in Denia on June 14. Gisbert said the largest two plates of the collection were likely used for roasting ‘turkeys’ and pheasants’, a smaller plate was for ‘soup’ and two bowls held ‘cakes’ to be eaten with tea. He added he was looking into obtaining British-made tableware from the area to recreate an ‘authentic’ Victorian meal using the historic finds.
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The Phantom of the Gallery As an illegal art exhibition takes over one of the Costa Blanca’s most-haunted buildings, the Olive Press undertakes a paranormal investigation
I
T was one of Spain’s most sought-after hotels. Elites from across Spain came to relax in its hot springs and dine upon plush carpets beneath shimmering chandeliers. During the day, bathers splashed and sculled in the sculpted pools, while at nightime billiard balls cracked among the velvet-upholstered armchairs. Even the King and Queen of Spain visited the 19th century Hotel Miramar in a sleepy village in the hills near Villajoyosa on the Costa Blanca. But now the Preventorio Aguas de Busot, as it became known, is remembered for something else: souls of the dead. The legendary mirror that once reflected the rich and famous has become the abode of the haunting ‘White Lady’, who’s laughter brings
SPOOKY: Abandoned corridor in the former sanatorium, said to be inhabited by restless spirits
good omens, and whose cries brings death swiftly in its wake. Disembodied voices have been CHILLING: Joshua Parfitt unspooked heard cackling through the broken floorboards while apparitions wander the grounds where many are rumoured to have ended their troubled lives. The paranormal pull of the Preventorio stems from the period during and after the Spanish Civil ALL FURNITURE AT THE BEST PRICE. QUALITY SERVICE. War when the MORE THAN 2000 m 2. BIG STOCK. hotel was converted into a 80% FROM THE SALES CAN BE DELIVERED IN 3 DAYS tuberculosis sanatorium. Up until 1965, sick children
from across Spain were taken to Aguas de Busot where nuns were rumoured to sew shut the mouths of children who talked after lights-out, and force the disobedient to clean their shoes with their tongues. Though only three deaths were ever recorded at the Preventorio - one of which was a nurse burnt alive by a brazier - numerous paranormal TV shows have reimagined the Preventorio’s past. In a RTVE Cazando Fantasmas broadcast from 2011, Spanish medium Ángeles Cánovas stalks the grounds hearing the ‘cries’ and ‘screams’ of children who pe-
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EERIE: Hidden entrance into the haunted ruins
rished in the throes of the ‘white plague’. In 2002, renowned ghost hunter Pedro Amoros made the Preventorio a national name when he published a photo showing the spectre of a monk cradling a baby on the staircase. And it was these stories that inspired Swedish occult artist Czon to come, to talk to the spirits, and paste spine-tingling images across the walls of one of the most-haunted rooms in the abandoned building. “The first time I came to the Preventorio, it was a dark night in the twilight zone, and I was lucky to meet the White Lady,” the artist, who wears a skull mask to hide his identity, told the Olive Press from Sweden. “She appeared to me, telling me a former hotel owner gambled with the devil, and lost both the hotel and her soul. “The devil was kicked out. Meanwhile she died alone, fragile and scared. Her body is still there, somewhere, and she will haunt it until the Preventorio is brought back to its former glory.” Czon told the Olive Press how, returning to Sweden after exhibiting in Murcia last month, the White Lady came to him again in a dream, begging him to put the Preventorio back into the minds of the nation. And if the exhibition does one thing, it certainly stays in the mind. “The sensation of visiting a haunted building will follow you home,” captions one image of a woman surrounded by ghostly apparitions, plasted on the wall at the bottom of a multi storey staircase. Another image shows someone impersonating the White Lady in a
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SCRAWLED: Warnings on the walls greet daring visitors
HOUSE OF HORRORS: The crumbling facade of the once magnificent hotel Miramar has been said to hide a paranormal past
dress outside the Preventorio. the claws of an awoken skeleton; the wind Others tell the stories of legendary ghosts whispers malevolent messages. all up and down the Iberian peninsula. Czon’s images seem to lurk in the shadows But the images are just part of a much behind every ruined shutter.The question more terrifying exhibition. that keeps returning is: do you believe? Spatterings of graffiti, no doubt from local kids over the last few decades, Moving around the Prevenare scrawled all over every ruitorio, the lines between imaned wall. gination and reality seem to Imagination and They read messages such as become as thin as the alleged ‘don’t look in mirrors’, ‘death reality become veil between the living and the will catch you’ and ‘welcome’ dead. The notorious artist’s next to distorted faces and up- thin like the veil work seems to draw you into side down crosses. a wider exhibition in which you between the A ouija board covers the wall become a part of - the gooseliving and dead bumps you feel and the noises of a basement room, while ‘don’t go up the stairs’ greets you hear all become the evolintrepid visitors journeying to ving story. the second and third floors. In these circumstances, everything becoFinally leaving its enchanted grounds, you mes a threat. ask yourself if it was really a ghost? Or just Pigeons scraping on the tin roof become a genius act of creativity? What’s clear is that so long as the building remains abandoned, neither of the two will rest.
OUIJA BOARD: Graffiti on the walls of the crypt like basement
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
While immigration stirs heated debate, two photographers cast a more neutral light on a natural phenomenon that also brings hoards of expats to Spain
T
Incoming
HE history of humanity has been one of migration. As hunter-gatherers, we roamed here and there in search of food and shelter. This went on for thousands of years and then farming came into the equation and we became more territorial. But still we moved about, particularly when crops
failed or natural disasters occurred. Nowadays migration carries negative connotations. How are we going to contain it? Curb it? Or assimilate it? Although it is seen as a problem with a capital P, two photographers are altering the perspective with their PHotoESPAÑAO-
ffland exhibition, showing until July 23 in Madrid’s Centro Galileo. Part of the Futures TransEuropean project exhibiting in Madrid, Helsinki and Athens, Alessia Rollo and Eirini Vourloumis have zoomed in on the sensitive subject with a wider angle. Through their pictures they de-
monstrate that migration is a natural human activity unlikely to be stopped in its tracks by Trump’s walls or Vox’s rhetoric, but talking about it in negative terms shapes our thinking and turns it into something to fear. “We always use negative vocabulary to describe immigration,” Alessia tells me. “For example, in
SOMBRE: An empty refugee dinghy drifts on the water between the coast of Lesbos and Turkey. PHOTO: E. Vourloumis
Italy, we use the military word for the boat that picks up the refugees, instead of the word for a civilian vessel, which gives the impression we are being invaded.” One of Alessia’s photographs shows graffiti-like markings on a tower in Salento, southern Italy, where migrants arriving 600 years ago left their mark.
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MOVING: Watermelons represent the plight of refugees and migrants on the beach in Salento, Italy. PHOTO: Alessia Rollo
Eirini, meanwhile, has focused on ted migrations with magic realism. the 15 km stretch of coast on the “SkalaSikaminias is a village built Greek island of Lesbos where the on refugees and my work is a memajority of Syrian ditation on the village refugees were arriand its experience – ving in mind-boggling and it’s not a negatinumbers during the ve one,” she tells me. ‘Cursed is the height of the crisis in According to Eirini, land that does 2015 – at the rate of due to the lack of im2,000 a day. mediate action from not feed its It is an episode that the Greek governmirrored the waves of ment and the Eurochildren’ refugees coming from pean Union in 2015, Turkey in the 1920s the locals were the due to a forced popufirst to help refugees lation exchange. Eirini’s picture se- land safely and provide food and ries, entitled The Mermaid Madon- shelter, forcing them to remember na, imbue the backdrop for repea- their own family histories.
PERSPECTIVE: The road to the refugee camp that the refugees walk after coming ashore. PHOTO: E. Vourloumis
Both photographers show the lives of the new settlers evolving. And though Alessia explores the harsher aspects of the experience, she insists she has tried to avoid invading the privacy of immigrants
at crucial moments in their journey. Instead she uses the image of smashed watermelons on a beach to represent those who come ashore in desperate circumstances. These sensitive portrayals of the
Celebrity migrants These 10 British celebrities and notables all migrated or semi-migrated to Spain Carl Fogarty
AKA Foggy, the most successful World Superbike racer of all time, has a home in Javea, Costa Blanca. Best-selling author Chris Stewart, the original drummer for the rock band Genesis, lives in the Alpujarras of Granada and has set up a walking tour that provides the backdrop to each of his four books. Concert pianist and writer James Rhodes lives in Madrid. The 44-year-old told El País: “I love this country. I look up to her. Metaphorically and literally.” Joe Strummer of the Clash carried on a love affair with Spain – particularly Granada and San José in Almeria – between 1984 and 2002, when he died unexpectedly from a heart defect. When asked why in an interview with a daily Granada paper, he said, “Obviously because I
Michael Robinson, 60, former Liverpool striker and TV personality in Spain, lives in Madrid and is another to have taken Spanish nationality. Mark Thatcher may still be keeping a low profile in a rented home in Marbella. If so his strategy is clearly working as he’s been off the radar for eons. James Bond actress Honor Blackman, 93, famous for her unforgettable role as Pussy Galore in the Bond movie Goldfinger, has a villa in Moraira, Alicante, and once said that Spain was her favourite destination.
The matador El Inglés, otherwise known as Frank Evans, 76, the son of a Salford Butcher, lives in Marbella and has taken Spanish nationality. The iconic British comedian Freddie Starr lived in Mijas for years before he passed away earlier this year. Cilla Black This British TV legend was a well known part of the expat community in Mijas before tragically dying at her home there a few years ago. am obsessed with Andalucía. Secondly, because the atmosphere in London is depressing, the people are depressed. Thirdly, and most importantly, I have come here to think.” In 2013, the authorities in Granada honoured Joe with a square in his name
phenomenon of migration, perhaps the most compelling political issue on the global agenda today, stand in stark contrast to the views of parties like Vox in Spain, the Brexit Party in the UK, the National Rally in France, Italy’s League and Golden Dawn in Greece. “We need to know who is coming in. I need to know if they have a criminal record, if they are ne’er-do-wells or murderers,” Vox Algeciras counsellor Antonio Gallardo bluntly told me in the run-up to the elections in May. “We can’t let people in with no documentation just because they have arrived on a dinghy or under a lorry. Once they’re inside Spain, we take them in, we give them food, we take them to the detention centre and try to find a solution. Why? What obliges me to allow them to enter? Where do you get the idea they are dying of hunger?”
Memorable
Spain has itself, of course, been a country of economic emigres, with many shipping out during the 1960s and 1970s to find work, and again during the 2008 crisis. Take My Eyes director Icíar Bollaín who documented their plight in the 2014 film En Tierra Extraña – In a Strange Land, which focused on the lives of Spaniards trying to make a living in Edinburgh. It features the memorable line, ‘Cursed is the land that does not feed its children’, uttered by the protagonist’s grandfather. Bollaín is married to Scottish scriptwriter Paul Laverty whom she met on the set of Ken Loach’s 1995 Spanish Civil War film, Land and Freedom. They subsequently made the heavily ethnic district of Lavapies in Madrid their home before moving to Edinburgh in 2003. Paul would not be the first high-profile Brit to migrate, albeit temporarily, to a country whose politics and culture called George Orwell to arms in 1936 and inspired Laurie Lee’s When I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, which ends with the poet trapped by the Civil War. Here are 10 other interesting immigrants who arrived in Spain from the north of Europe… and have certainly enriched the lives of the local Spanish since.
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019 Check out our issues online at www.theolivepress.es Andalucia
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A BRITISH businessman - who attended Eton with David Cameron and Boris Johnson - is seriously ill in an Andalucian prison having been accused of drug smuggling. Robert Anthony MansfieldHewitt, 51, was arrested after police swooped on his rental home during a short business trip to Gibraltar two months ago. The consultant engineer, who insists he is innocent, has yet to be charged over the 1.5 tonnes of hashish police found in the garage of the villa he rented through Airbnb. He insists he has absolutely ‘no connection’ to the drugs that were being stored at the rental in Campamento, in San Roque. The owner of the villa, the Olive Press understands, was charged for importing cocaine into Gibraltar last year. In the case, that has strange parallels to the plight of Scottish student Robbie McMiller, MansfieldHewitt was woken up and ‘dragged out of bed practically naked at gunpoint’ by police officers at 8.30pm
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CAGED: Notorious prison while (right) Mansfield-Hewitt and (above right) ETA terrorist daily for his illness.” After spending two days in a cell, he appeared in front of a judge at San Roque court before being sent to Botafuegos prison. Ford is concerned he has not been receiving the correct medication, after he collapsed in shock as his ‘body started to shut down’ on the way to prison. He was rushed to ICU at Hospital Punta de Europa where his survival chances were described as ‘touch and go’.
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Costa del Sol hotel has three months to fight decision before it is demolished
A HOTEL is to be knocked down for not having enough class! Benalmadena’s Hotel Vista de Rey must be demolished within three months, a court has ruled, Andalucia’s Superior Court of Justice ruled that the hotel falls short of its four-star requirement.
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a wall.” Hewitt continues to be held despite his deteriorating condition and a lack of evidence. One bizarre reason for the denial bail was that investigators found a of panese ‘Katana’ Samurai sword in Jahouse, which they said constitutedthe a lethal weapon. Shockingly, it wasn’t until May 27, last month, that he finally had a court hearing. However, despite attending the court in San Roque, the Olive Press was unable to get into the hearing. In a document now seen by the Olive Press, prosecutors are seeking four years and eight months of jail time and an €8 million fine. However a verdict was meant to have been delivered within 10 days, but has yet to be made. “They offered to let him go if he pleaded guilty,” added friend Ruffle, “But Robert refused, he is a man of great ethics and will fight this to the very end.” Meanwhile, friend of 20 years, vicar and RAF Padre Rebekah Cannon has also described the ‘hopeless’ situation as ‘a stalemate’. Hewitt’s PA Pillie Ford told the Olive Press: “This is now not just a joke, it has gone beyond limits. This is an innocent man… the real man in question is hiding in Gibraltar.” Robert’s lawyer, Jose Maria Castro Escudero, failed to comment in time for press. Available exclusively at Eroski
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He even got himself a financial advice slot on a well known radio station, through which he snared unsuspecting victims. However, a comprehensive Olive Press investigation exposed his scams that involved stamps, coins and gold. We also revealed how he and his close pal Barry Nathan wined and dined up to a dozen criminals, anonymously, through the food column. He eventually fled the country following our expose, but we soon tracked him down to the UK, where he had changed his name by deed poll and was selling coins and antiques on eBay from a small Berkshire cottage. He was quickly found guilty under English law of conning people and given a suspended prison sentence only due to health reasons. “And because he promised to never go back to his online cons,” one of the British victim explained. But this is apparently not the case with two victims claiming he is still using eBay to sell ‘dodgy’ coins and stamps from his unpaid flat in Brighton, using the names ‘gqtrading’ and ‘gqtrading2’. “We are pretty sure he has broken his bail conditions and will have to finally go back to prison,” said one victim. “The nerve of this man is unbelievable.” His landlord last night insisted he should have known something was up from the start. “When we met to sign the contracts I thought he was a bit slippery, I went to pay for my coffee only for the barista to tell me he had left without paying his bill.” He continued: “He paid for the first couple of months but then just stopped. He told us his account had been frozen due to a money laundering investigation, which is probably true. “He then told us to stop contacting him and accused us of harrassment. “Now he is claiming he is seriously ill and can’t work to make payments. “We’ll see him in court.”
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THE success of the Brexit party in the European elections could bring the no-deal scenario Gibraltar is dreading. This is the message from Sir Bossano, whose party has been Joe focussing on cutting down costs and creating a rainy day fund. “The result of the European ParliaFREE Vol. 4 Issue 99 www.theolivepress.es ment election is considered by many June 19th - July 2nd 2019 in the EU, including Spain, to have increased the probability of a no deal Brexit in October,” said Bossano in his annual budget speech. “Last year in the face of such uncertainties the GSLP took a policy decision there should be a limit placed on the pay rise of public sector workers by not more than 60p an hour.” This decision received criticism from Unite the Union leader Len MacCluskey earlier this year, which he branded ‘austerity’. Despite the uncertainty the GDP of Gibraltar is now at £2.1 billion, the fourth highest per capita in the world. He stressed the importance of the gaming sector, where a few companies were helping the growth of the private sector. In case there was a shortage of funds after Brexit, Bossano has reserved a Community Care and Rainy Day GIBRALTAR police have blasted Fund. social media users for ‘falsely They would be boosted by the claiming’ £85million surplus recorded during an off-duty officer was the last financial year. behind a late-night bar brawl.
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in the first place.” The RGP statement added: “We are acutely aware of how these defamatory expressions can have a negative impact on the public’s confidence in the police, and are not prepared to stand idly by while our integrity and good name is unfairly smeared. “The RGP does not normally intervene in ‘debates’ of this sort, but these particular comments are so misconceived and injurious that we have deemed it appropriate to make a public statement to categorically refute them.” Lettings | Sales The fight was so raucous it could be heard by nearby Investments | Relocations residents, with many takCommercial and Residential ing to social media to ask what was happening. Various posts on FaceTel: +350 200 44955 book site Speak Freely, enquiries@seekerspropertygibraltar.com claimed emergency services were also attacked during the fracas. “Numerous people were 10 Engineer Lane, arrested, a situation esGibraltar GX11 1AA calated and emergency www.seekerspropertygibraltar.com services personnel were assaulted,” wrote one.
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June 2019
BALE-ING IN
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EXCLUSIVE nudged out E might be getting but Gareth Golden Mile, which along the famous of Real Madrid, his ties to celebrity homeowners, features other Bale is strengthening midfielder Tim including ex-England southern Spain. Welsh wizard drive Sherwood. new The much-maligned is just a 20-minute fortune on a reThe penthouse the luxury golf despite has spent a small Costa del Sol, from Finca Cortesin, Bale, 29, loves to property on the return to the UK this where his sort in Casares stayed at several times expectation of tee up and has years. striker, summer. can reveal the he has over the last few The Olive Press Los Blancos for €100 Trinidad well as He knows La Jonathan Barnett’s who signed for ago from Tottenham, stayed at his agent a number of million six years a stunning three-bedhome in the urbanisation comes after Bale has snapped up in Marbella for just if the times. The purchase and play golf’ room apartment threatened to ‘stay Real contract is not under €2 million. managed to knock his remainder of said: “I’ve got The Welshman the price of the properIf they paid. The father-of-three around 10% off the market for around on my contract. three years left they’ll need to pay me ty, which was on want me to go, season. If not, I’ll stay to €2.2 million. closely linked €17 million per to play golf, I will.” According to sources pad is situated in here. And if I have the deal, the modern Trinidad urbanisation the exclusive La
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related to noise. of single-family houses Vacation rental if they are loban rentals of the will also be prohibited Spanish city to rural land, near to become first areas. cated on protected will be the first Palma airport, or in non-residentialsaid: “We short tourist apartments FROM July, Palma and it also affects Mayor Antoni Noguera Spain to limit basis of the genSpanish city in single-family homes, it and neighborhoods, on this on the it will city after Barcein the agreed we believe that they term rentals to second Spanishspend the most on social harmony’. a significant rise when eral interest, and several it the has been announced. There has been filed by resi- create a trend in other cities key.” has come after city of lona where residents is of complaints The decision by the chief numberdue to problems with tourists see that finding a balance tour- rent. Hila, the local typically studies commissioned the effects of mass According to Jose tourist accommoda- dents,rent these apartments, Palma showed who and workers. planning, of buildings prices of city ism on local residents ‘affects the makeup average rental Since 2013 the 40% in Palma, making tion have soared by
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June 7th - June 20th 2019 Vol. 3 Issue 56 www.theolivepress.es
of the Cruise ships make Palma one most polluted ports in the world
Walk in the park
Mr and Mrs Russell, Torre Pacheco, Murcia
&
By Jon Clarke, in Madrid
THE largest police operation in Spanish sporting history has ended successfully in Madrid. A combination of restrained policing and good-natured fans turned a potential Champions League final in nightmare into a game of cricket the capital. of The statistics are nothing short
amazing. got As the huge clear up operation it underway on Monday morning, emerged that only 11 arrests were made out of an estimated 100,000on plus British fans who descended the capital at the weekend. of The 4,700 cops tasked with the job policing the all-British final generally to behaved admirably, in comparison their counterparts in Sevilla and Barcelona over recent years.
Hooliganism
By Laurence Dollimore PALMA is among the five most polGillian Keller luted ports in Europe. the An alarming study has found huge number of cruise ships that times as much toxic sulphur dioxide visit the city are leaving an indelible as all the cars in Europe combined. afmark on the environment. The report comes out just days The Mallorca capital joins Barcelo- ter the company agreed to pay a na, Venice, Civitavecchia and South- $20m (€17m) fine and undertake ampton in being crowned the most increased monitoring after it conpolluting ports on the continent. tinued to dump sewage and plastic The research, published by green waste in the sea. group Ecologistas en Accion, exam- The company, the world’s largest ined air pollution in ports with high cruise operator, is also guilty of leaklevels of passenger ships. ing gas and dirty water and falsifyCarnival cruise ships - which num- ing records of incidents in the US. ber nearly 30 in total - are the worst Florida-based company, which The 10 than more offenders, producing
big Their aim was to contain the groups of rival fans from Liverpool and Tottenham, the vast majority who arrived without tickets and many without accomodation. of Far from the feared predictions widespread ‘hooliganism’ in the Spanalish press, the weekend, passed off most entirely without incident. just “The fear of hooliganism has been that; fear, as the British fans behaved rewith enthusiasm and cordiality,” ported El Confidencial. the With the exception of a few idiots, mood was extremely friendly with fans mixing well and the police generally playing their part admirably. There was only one report of brutalgot ity where, allegedly, 50 Spurs fans Puerto ‘battered’ outside a bar near
KILLER: Cruise ship billowing controls 50% of the global market, claimed in a statement: “Carnival remains committed to environmenthe tal excellence and protecting
Bin arsonist snared at last...
...His reign of terror - all because he couldn’t take his dog off the lead
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smoke off Palma environment in which we live, work and travel. “Our aspiration is to leave the places we we touch even better than when first arrived.” in Royal Caribbean Cruises, founded is Norway, but also based in Florida, the second most polluting fleet globally. According to the latest study, Spain, Italy and Greece are the countries most exposed to pollution from emissions of sulphur dioxide. imThis is mainly because they are but portant tourist destinations, also because they ‘have less strinof gent regulations on the limitation sulphur in marine fuels.’ Another problem in ports is that marine fossil fuel is not taxed, whilea shore-side electricity is under 2003 EU energy tax directive. run It makes it cheaper for ships to the electricity needed for their restaurants and on-ship entertainment by burning fuel while docked. Not enough European ports have ininvested in shore-side electricity
frastructure. This includes Gibraltar, which also particularly suffers from the arrival of cruise ships, plus the hundreds that sail past the Straits each year. Policy director of European campaigning group Transport & EnContinues on Page 4
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I hope with all my heart that Dengue and Zika don’t make an appearance as well. Dengue symptoms are BRUTAL and will escalate when contracted multiple times while Zika is quite silent in regards to symptoms, but the consequences for the neurological system can be severe to deadly. Zika was most probably what gave my dad (and one other patient) an unidentified encephalitis which cruelly killed him in two months according to local neurologist working closely with PAHO.
Margaret Wever, Aruba
Bedroom bandit I found one of these mosquitoes dead on my dressing table last year in San Pedro, during my last trip to Spain.
Denise Davies Smith, Southport
Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@ theolivepress.es or message us on at www.facebook.com/OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress
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Outrage as millions of protected birds are killed and secretly served up in restaurants in Spain
A SHOCKING two-and-a-half million birds are killed in Andalucia every year during the olive harvest. Millions more songbirds get vacuumed into machinery during intensive night-time harvesting across Spain and Portugal. Birds including goldfinches, greenfinches and wagtails are among the worst affected during the harvest season between October and January. At least 17 species are affected by the practice, which was brought to light by an Ecologisbrought against any farmers tas en Accion study in January or hotels, however the Junta 2018. confirmed it was looking at The green group estimated banning ‘super-intensive’ harthat 100 birds were being kivesting at night. lled per hectare of farmed land, of the birds are being sold to “It will prevent migratory birds leading to around 2.6 million restaurants as a dish, long po- from being caught by the madead birds per season, just in pular in inland Spain. chine’s spotlights,” he added. with presAndalucia. The dish - known as pajarito “It is a real problem, The shocking statistics con- frito - has been outlawed for sing and serious environmenfirmed by the Guardia Civil’s many years, especially when tal repercussions. environmental arm Seprona, the birds in question are en- Pressure has grown on Spain, are now being probed by the dangered species. after a number of British suthey are Junta. “This practice is illegal and hi- permarkets confirmed The Sevilla-based body is now ghly condemned due to a lack also probing the practice with under pressure to outlaw the of sufficient health guarantees an eye on banning olives or oliharvesting, night of in this way. practice for public health,” said a Junta ve oil produced it was investisince publishing a report on spokesman this week. Tesco confirmed are collected the problem in October. No charges have yet been gating how olivesmany buyers Worse still, tens of thousands after oils its for expressed concerns, following the publication of the report in journal Nature last week. “We’re currently looking into how we pick these olives so, by the time it comes to harvest
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Lázár Gergő, Murcia A BRITISH conman on the run for 15 years has been cuffed on the Costa del Sol. Woodhead Christopher (pictured right), 66, from Huddersfield, preyed on the vulnerable and elderly in construction scams totalling €1.6 million. After being detained by police in San Pedro de Alcantara, Marbella, the Yorkshireman now faces a sixyear prison sentence for the Leeds-based crimes. The judge in the case labelled him an ‘amoral fraudster’ as he was found guilty of swindling a dozen clients by taking on building jobs, which he didn’t carry out. Woodhead was thought
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and is said to have committed a dozen crimes of fraud in the UK while he was in charge of several firms which sold products to other construction companies. “The fraud consisted of charging for labour and not carrying out jobs. “He also diverted cash to another company through the fictitious supply of materials and creation of frauto have moved to Canada or dulent invoices. Spain, after first disappearing “He used the income he he money the with 2004 in obtained for his own benehad extracted from firms. fit, on holidays and mainA Policia Nacional spokesper- tenance payments to his son said: “He was officially ex-wife.” made a wanted man in 2008
It is not just visitors to Spain that get taken in by false claims on Airbnb. My husband and I are in Shrewsbury, house hunting and booked what was listed as a luxury apartment with two bathrooms and a dishwasher. It did have a dishwasher, but it did not work (my husband fixed it) and in the second bathroom the basin was taped up to stop you using it. The whole apartment was filthy and the electrics in the kitchen were frighteningly dangerous. I took photos and sent them to Airbnb and they couldn’t care less. We cannot believe the false claims made by these owners! We moved out, but needless to say, we lost money and feel very cross to have been taken in - never again. Jennifer Howells, Nerja
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them, all the necessary changes will have been made,” said a spokesman. Numerous olive oil firms in Spain - the world’s biggest producer of what is termed ‘liquid gold’ - harvest at night as the cooler temperatures better preserve the aroma of the olives. The issue is the bright lights of the tractors, which dazzle th
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Please alert anyone changing money using currency exchange shops. People are being watched entering, then being followed afterwards. A man had €400 stolen from his wallet in Mercadona Alcazares. He didn't even know it was stolen until he went to pay at the checkout. If you could warn your readers about this nasty trick it would be a real help. Perhaps people should go with a friend and keep a hand on their wallet in a front pocket at all times. I always share the stories in your paper about security to remind people to be extra careful. It's about time Mercadona got some kind of security and banned persistent offenders. Thieves must be captured on the in-store security cameras. Keep up the the great work.
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MISS Gibraltar Celine Bolanos has been presented with her £1,000 first prize after winning the local beauty pageant. Minister for Culture Steven Linares also presented cheques for £1,000 and £500 to first and second princesses Janice Sampere and Jyza Balban respectively. The competition was held at the Alameda Open Air Gardens and was well attended by the Gibraltarian public. Linares also presented a £1,000 cheque to last year’s Miss Gibraltar, Star Farrugia, as she made way for Bolanos. He thanked her for ‘wonderful work she had done throughout the year’ and wished Miss Gibraltar and the two princesses all the best in the year ahead. Miss Gibraltar will now take part in the Miss World pageant to be held in Thailand on December 7.
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Police issue angry statement one of its officers was behind denying late night
POPULAR 90s pop band Lighthouse Family will take part in MTV Gibraltar Calling festival. the The biggest cultural event of year will be held at Europa Pointthe on June 7-8 with Take That and Liam Gallagher also playing. Tynesiders Lighthouse Family will be publicising their comeback bum Blue Sky in Your Head on alSaturday evening performance. the Lighthouse Family are best known for their Lifted single from Ocean Drive album released the in 1995. After 18 years away from the musicscene they have got back together for this latest offering and they have a few surprises up their sleeve. With the festival already more than half sold out, tickets can be bought online or at a number of outlets around Gibraltar.
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Life in the laid-back East (of the Costa del Sol) has never seemed more appealing, ‘West End Boy’ writes Laurence Dollimore
‘
WELCOME to the most beautiful in Spain,’ toothless town local Jorge calls out in broken sweat from myEnglish as I wipe the brow. (OK, so look like a tourist, I still despite four years Spain.) in I had just hiked liana which has up to the top of Frigiindeed been crowned one of the country’s pueblos, as plaques most picturesque through the village will tell you at every turn. A 10-minute drive up from the coast from Nerja, it’s white-washed the pearl in a string of villages glistening hills of the Axarquia in and its nearby the nada neighbour, GraEither way, this the Costa Tropical. eastern end of is the very laid-back boy, take it fromthe Costa del Sol, and near Marbella, me a ‘westie’ based it really is a breath fresh air. of “This is our little paradise,” grandfather Jorge, beams who has lived here
ESTABLISHED
The RGP issued an unprec- fracas that saw five arrests edented statement, insisting claims that a fight leading to five arrests was caused by one of its football 10-0 against Belarus. violent disorder that occurred Scotland, Northern Ireland and officers was totally untrue. at the weekend in the WaterThe affray took place outside Wales were also playing in key gardens area,” a statement read the Pig and Whistle pub in the qualifying games that night. from the RGP. Watergardens area on Saturday The problems began when a lo- “Although we are aware that the cal woman claimed on social June 8. incident in question Sources told the Olive Press that media that a drunk policeman investigation, we must is under emphatian 80-year-old man was one of had started the brawl. cally deny that this was sparked those arrested but has not yet off by an off duty officer who been charged. Violent was under the influence. However, at least four other “The RGP takes note “These are baseless allegations. men were arrested following rious, false accusationsof the se- “Neither the trouble was sparked made in the fight, which took place af- social media against off by an off duty policeman unter Gibraltar Under-21s lost in isation in connectionthe organ- der the influence, nor was there with the a policeman under the influence
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Strong arm of the law See page 9
Garry Richardson told the Olive Press. “There were so many requests for us to be in Moraira, and we’re still looking to put more shops in the Costa Blanca this year.” The shop stocks Iceland-brand frozen products, as well Waitrose home-brand cheeses and food from other staple British businesses, such as Greggs. Store manager Averline said customers can ask for products usually found in Benissa, which can be delivered to Moraira the next day. “Many customers have also been asking for a range of veggie meat-replacements, like Quorn and Iceland-brand burgers,” she told the Olive Press. “We will have all of them within a few weeks.” Averline added the store will offer sales and discounts, such as a current deal on limited edition Twix white chocolate fingers. The shop on Avinguda de la Paz is open 9am to 9pm.
How can people call this fake news if they don't even bother to do some research (A song of sorrow, Issue 6, NEWS W pg 8)? Who would you have to read it from in order to believe it? Natuof g A son re maybe? Or the Junta de Andalucia? Just besorrow cause you don't want to believe it, or you didn't see it yourself, it doesn't mean that it’s a lie.
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2/8/18 17:01
FRESH: New Moraira Iceland
I'm a food factory for them all. I had Zika a few years back, all I can say is be prepared. Take garlic tablets, eat garlic, take vitamin-B, use protective spray on your skin, burn citronella candles when you sit outside, and if you can, wear something light, but cover up in the evenings. I live here and it’s actually easy to prevent being bitten. You will always have the one or two that come through, but you can take measures without too much effort.
NESTLE Spain has earmarked €17 million for a boiler that uses coffee grounds to power a factory in northern Spain. The main objective is for the Girona facility to have zero landfill waste by 2025 before the multi-national expands the scheme worldwide. The boiler will be up and running by mid-2020 and will reduce the natural gas consumption of the factory by 25%.
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bly a side-dish for dunking.” He added the pizza is still on the menu and can be tailored to suit the ‘customer’s choice’.
Fake news
festive lights
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than permitted. Although the town hall and developer maintain this excess was later corrected, the judge ruled that the rectification would have taken place after the granting of the licence, so does not count. The building has 61 apartments and 46 parking spaces. The original building was granted planning permission by then mayor Enrique Bolin in 2001.
deter drug smugglers from using the beach as a drop off zone. A combined police presence of Guardia Civil, local and national officers were present as fears grew that drug smugglers would try and disrupt the work.
cept was a random creation more for a joke. “But at the end of the day presentation is key - the
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SMUGGLERS’ WALL
POLICE officers have formed a human wall along a beach in La Linea to ensure that the construction of a beach wall went ahead. The wall, between the church of Nuestra Senora del Carmen and the perimeter wall of the fishing port of La Atunara, hopes to
creative offering. Ben Brown said: “What annoys me is that it’s a good idea, but why the bloody hell have they left the sausages on whole?” Harry Shorrock said the bar should cut the toppings ‘into smaller bits’. Paul, manager of Good CONTROVERSY: Pizza fry up Times Bar and Grill, told sausages should have been the Olive Press: “The con- sliced, and the beans proba-
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Probing
It began probing the three star hotel and apartment block in 2011 after it was denounced over planning rules which set aside the plot for a four star hotel only. According to the PGOU town plan an apartment block was not permitted and it also breached rules by being over 700 square meters bigger
More than 200 wineries and cooperatives participated in this year’s FENAVIN, representing wines from all over Spain. Nearly 20,000 buyers attended the fair, with a quarter coming from overseas. Both garlanded wines are made from the Moscatel de Alejandria grape, which is traditionally grown in the Marina Alta with some vineyards nearly 150 years old.
HAVE A PIZZA THAT!
ICELAND has opened a new express store for Brits who want a taste of home on the Costa Blanca. The shop, operated by British-run Overseas Supermercados, stocks everything from British back bacon to Robinsons squash and is open seven days a week in Moraira. It complements larger supermarkets in Benissa and Javea, as well as further down the Costa Blanca in Benidorm, San Fulgencio, Torrevieja, Lomas de Cabo Roig and Pinar de Campoverde. “We have listened to our customers demands,” Overseas Supermercados managing director
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SAUSAGES, eggs, bacon… everyone knows that Brits love a good fry up, but what about when it’s on a pizza? One bar in Benidorm has been slammed for concocting the so-called ‘English breakfast pizza’. Good Times Bar and Grill takes a traditional margherita before smearing on a dollop of beans, two greasy eggs, a pale tomato, sausages, mushrooms and two rashers of bacon. The pizza has been lambasted online by food fans, with many pointing out that the sausages are left on whole. Andy Hurst said it ‘looks rank’ while Lucy Anderton said it combined her ‘two favourite things’ but still looked ‘minging’. Steven Harrison said: “It looks terrible and typically British hangover food, not sure what time of day it would look appetising.” However, not everyone was completely against the bar’s
GANDIA restaur the 45th edition de Gandia Comp day. The traditional fo is similar to pael pasta called fideo The 30 participan
English breakfast pizza is great (Have a pizza that!, Issue 6, pg 25). We cook them our barbeque. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. Ice ice baby! I thought the same - that it was ‘minging’ - at first too. Denise Fernandes, Mijas
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SOME 14 fire bosses have been arrested for allegedly embezzling €7 million in public funds. The Policia Nacional found that the Consortium of Bomberos Cadiz took out mass early retirement insurance policies. But when their employees retired early, chiefs siphoned off the money from the payouts. Authorities also found discrepancies in the consortium’s training courses. Large sums were paid to a company to provide training courses, but no evidence has been found that these courses took place. Meanwhile, irregularities were also found in grants and subsidies, which cops believe were used to pay for private trips. The irregularities date back to 2008 and cops believe at least €7 million has been stolen by those at the top.
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ding to a close friend and neighbour By Laurence Dollimore back home in the UK. cites, who has not been getting his me- And worse than that, he faces losing dication regularly, if at all, it has been his home, as the rent has not been paid for months. 365 days of hell. “It’s just awful and the authorities Police had been alerted to the garage in the rental property in Campamentoof Spain are burying their heads in the which Robert claims he never stepped- sand,” said Cliff Ruffle, 57, who has foot inside - when a Moroccan man known Mansfield for years. was seen trying to break in. As the Olive Press reported last year, Sensitive the home was owned by a man with previous convictions for drug dealing “Rob is a lovely, lovely guy who and Mansfield had a business he wor- wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s a sensitive soul, it’s just awful what is happening.” ked with in Gibraltar The teacher added that Mansfield But that seemed irrelevant when is was taken in front of a judge at San he ‘just a hair’s width’ from losing his renRotal home in Emsworth, Hampshire. que court 48 hours later, who sent him “We have just been able to stop to prison to await trial. the He has since been denied bail three repossession order, but the courts are times, despite suffering serious health saying if they don’t hear news shortly it will have to happen,” he said. issues, which led him to be rushed to “I’ve written so many emails to hospital on two occasions. diffeHis health is still ‘touch and go’, accor- rent government departments and feel like I’m banging my head against
expat paper in Spain
Vol. 13 Issue 307
FRIENDS and family are rallying round a seriously ill British man EXCLUSIVE set to spend Christmas 15%’ having collapsed By Elisa Menendez behind following sion bars in Andalucia. his incarceration in for our visits, June. the garage of the Robert Mansfield-Hewitt, can’t talk to him but since we rental home in “Robert is not well - he and none of 51, sti- Campamento. needs a us speak ll insists he known walking stick and Spanish, nothing about His PA, a €5.5million haul Pilar given one. He also he’s not been know what to do.” we just don’t of hashish Olive Press Ford, 54, told the to told found in a San she has now organigo back into hospital.me he has She said one friend has managed rental property heRoque Airbnb sed a raffle and raised €200 Meanwhile, friend to stayed at on a him to buy for Vicar of 20 years, fly get in touch and is planning to business trip six months books, to Spain in the New Rebekah pens as Christmas shampoo and in Chichester, Cannon, based sit him Year to viThe Chichester engineer,ago. presents. in prison. has also described (pictu- “He’s locked red right) who has the ‘hopeless’ situation According to his severe liver is absolutely up in a hell hole and colleagues he as ‘a sta- may disease ascites, is finally be charged ‘miserable’ and Christmas devastated to spend lemate’. this week ‘confused’ at having there,” said Ford and could face up who to six years in festive season lockedto spend the works alongside the Brit prison if found guilty. at electrical company Neither an appeal up. Letters He has been denied from his local Ltd in Gibraltar. Genco Holdings bail twice, MP or UK press reports She is exasperated with one reason ped him get bail over have hel- “He’s been stuck in solitary not reach him on that she can- panese ‘Katana’ being that a Jaconthe telephone Samurai sword for which he has the offence, finement. Imagine that, an inno- and while her letters have arrived was allegedly found in the house, still not been cent man charged. in Spain, they are and keeps all returned to the Olive Press has learnt. am I here?’ We just asking ‘why sender without Mansfield-Hewitt, The judge refused don’t know being opened. bail in OctoPhD, has been in who has a what to do.” “It’s all one way, he sends us le- ber given the ‘quantity of drugs tafuegos prison - Algeciras’ Bo- Ford, who visited him seized, which were a fortni- tters but we can’t get in touch. which houses ght ago, located in the ETA terrorists - since I is extremely concerned don’t even think his family have garage, and the presence of a KaJune after about his health, 1.5 tonnes of drugs tana weapon in the after doctors got their letters through were found in said his ‘liver living room’, was functioning at son,” she told the Olive the pri- stated in court documents TM obtai“Robert has to requestPress. permisTurn to page
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FRUIT growers in the Axarquia are facing a 60% reduction in water use from the La Vinuela reservoir with no solution in sight. The Junta has decided to limit its use as the reservoir is already at 22.7% capacity and could drop even lower if the dry weather keeps up.
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WHILE it’s foggy in the Pyrenees and they’re shivering in the Alps, I’m taking the sun near the top of Spain’s second highest mountain. It’s early December and yet the Sierra Nevada still remains warm during the day. Some people t-shirts and everyone is looking tanned. are skiing in Even better, my elevenses of a croissant, apple and a Coke come to less than €10 euros... and that is at a restaurant halfway up the slopes! “Here we sell the weather, not the number of kilometres,” explains Juan Luis Hernandez, boss of EOE ski school. “And the prices have hardly gone On top of that you are just over an hour up for years.” from the beaches of Almunecar and half an hour to the celebrated Alhambra. That is hard to beat. What is certainly changing in the Sierra Nevada though is the dedication to move forward. Believe me, I’ve been coming for 15 years... and this is the 10th anniversary of the Olive Press’ special supplement on the resort. New kilometres of pistes are added every year and this year - by amazing fortune - it snowed so heavily in November, the resort opened a week earlier than expected, with a record 40,000 skiers enjoying the De-
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Jon Clarke (right) returns for his 15th season in southern Europe’s top skiing resort
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Friends send festive gifts to ‘innocent’ Brit spending Christmas in solitary confinement in Algeciras prison
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aboutthe olive press - October 30 - November AXARQUIA 12 2014 ierra Nevada
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on June 27. Colleagues and friends told the Olive Press that Mansfield-Hewitt, who has a PhD and no criminal record, is an ‘innocent man’ and has been wrongfully imprisoned. They added that the Chichester-raised engineer is currently in a critical condition and is being held in the medical wing at Botafuegos prison in Algeciras - a dangerous jail, which notoriously houses a number of Basque ETA terrorists. The Brit, a consultant at electrical company Genco Holdings Ltd in Gibraltar, who regularly travels to the Rock, suffers from severe liver disease Ascites and walks with a cane. His PA, Pilar June Ford, 54, said she was ‘horrified’ when she received a call from her boss screaming at La Linea police station. She told the Olive Press: “He was at the station shouting ‘please help me, help me, bring me clothes, there’s loads of drugs in the house.’ It was horrible. “I rushed there with a huge bag of medication, which he needs to take
FLASHBACK: Our previous •
S A Sierra
19www.ll about theolivell
LIGHTING THE WAY: A new lighthouse
THE EGG TEST
Everyone has heard of the claims that it is hot enough in Andalucia to cook an egg on the pavement... we visited Ecija, the ‘Frying pan of Spain’, to test out the theory, CRACKING JOB PAGE 6
TRAPPED IN HELL
Seriously ill Briton locked up with terrorists after being fingered for 1.5 TONNES of hashish found at holiday rental home
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Vol. 12 Issue 298 www.theolivepress.es August 15th - August 28th 2018
EXCLUSIVE By Luke Madeira
It comes after the Rabobank in London warned that a no-deal Brexit could end in euro-sterling parity, while last week saw the pound plummet to an eight-month low. British expat Karen Watling, from Sheffield, claims she has lost as much as a third of her monthly budget. “Over two years this has caused us problems financially,” she told the Olive Press. “Prices and commodities have also risen so it has been like a double hit.” The exchange rate was an average 1.24 in 2014 before climbing to an average 1.38 in 2015. However the year of the referendum saw the average fall to 1.22 before falling again to 1.14 in 2017. This year so far has been lower at 1.13 and it currently stands at 1.12. Brexpats in Spain has called for a government-run internet bank offering basic current accounts, debit cards and the option to carry out international and national transfers online. The group even suggests ordering RBS - the only bank in the UK in which the government has a stake -
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WELCOME to the most beautiful in Spain,’ toothless town local Jorge calls out in broken sweat from myEnglish as I wipe the brow. (OK, so look like a tourist, I still despite four years Spain.) in I had just hiked liana which has up to the top of Frigiindeed been crowned one of the country’s pueblos, as plaques most picturesque through the village will tell you at every turn. A 10-minute drive up from the coast from Nerja, it’s white-washed the pearl in a string of villages glistening hills of the Axarquia in and its nearby the nada neighbour, GraEither way, this the Costa Tropical. eastern end of is the very laid-back boy, take it fromthe Costa del Sol, and near Marbella, me a ‘westie’ based it really is a breath fresh air. of “This is our little paradise,” grandfather Jorge, beams who has lived here
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Life in the laid-back East (of the Costa del Sol) has never seemed more appealing, ‘West End Boy’ writes Laurence Dollimore
YEAR OF HELL! BRITISH pensioners in Spain claim to have lost more than a fifth of their spending power over the last two years as a direct result of Brexit. Richard Hill, vice president of Brexpats in Spain, claims plummeting exchange rates, taxes and a rise in the cost of living have caused significant income losses. It comes as the pound sunk to a new low of just 1.10 to the euro last week, as worries of a hard Brexit magnified. The pensioner, who claims he’s around 22% ‘worse off’ since the referendum, believes expats will struggle regardless of whatever deal is reached ahead of Britain’s exit from the EU. The pensioner added: “The significant problem at this stage with Brexit is the fluctuating exchange rate. “Obviously fluctuations are normal, however the steady downward trend is seriously affecting people.”
LOCKED UP: Robert Hewitt
June 2019
Nerja coastline
EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt
Readers react to news of Spain’s first chikungunya outbreak on the Costa Blanca as three tourists infected (Online, June 15)
www.theolivepress.es
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Pension shocker
IT was supposed to be a run-of-the mill business trip. Robert Mansfield-Hewitt had rented A CRAFTY new traffic camera raked a room in what seemed an ordinary in more than €600,000 in fines from apartment in San Roque and was set to attend meetings in Gibraltar. unsuspecting drivers in its first five What the 51-year-old engineer months, new figures have revealed. didn’t The camera on Ronda’s famous know was that someone was using the Puente Nuevo (above) issued 18,000 adjoining garage to stockpile 1.5 tonnes of hashish, worth a whopping €5.5 fines to drivers going into the old million. town at restricted times. The Chichester man found out The town hall is €650,000 better the after the site registered an averageoff, hard way when he was cuffed in a draof matic raid on the property last 120 offences a day. June. Tickets are €70, reduced to €35, And despite urgent appeals from family and friends - as well as his local if offenders pay early, but the MP ppy-snapping camera has caused ha- in the UK - he has been locked up in wi- Algeciras’ notorious Botafuegos despread outrage. prison “Both my husband and I were fined since then. in the same week, and we both alre- Home to ETA terrorists and murderers, Hewitt - who has a PHD ady have official passes into the old avid poet in his spare time and is an town,” one local expat, based in Ron- will have been held for exactly one year on June da, told the Olive Press. 27. For a man with severe liver disease as-
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See page 17 After being locked up for a YEAR evidence against him, the Olive alongside terrorists without any charge and with no Press demands to let Robert Mansfield go…
AN overwhelming majority of our readers are not offended by the term ‘expat’. That’s the initial result of our online poll which asked ‘Do you find the use of the word 'expat' to describe British and foreign nationals living in Spain offensive?’ The vote came after a barrage of emails to the newsdesk complained of the Olive Press’ use of the word, requesting that it be switched out for ‘resident’ or ‘immigrant’. However a snapshot of our readers’ opinions revealed that two thirds were not bothered by the term. On our Facebook poll, there have so far been 881 votes. Out of those, 656 said ‘no’, while 223 said ‘yes’. The results were repeated on Twitter, where 68% of 80 votes said they did not find the term offensive.
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Can the eastern Costa del Sol and Costa Tropical rival Marbella and Estepona? Find out in special pull out inside
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Bar responds after English breakfast pizza causes controversy online
Disease outbreak
Issue 320
PROUD TO BE EXPATS
A JALON bodega has won two awards at a national wine fair considered the most prestigious in Spain. Bodegas Xalo was on the list of winners in two categories at the Feria Nacional del Vino (FENAVIN) wine fair in Ciudad Real last week. One of their iconic wines, Bahia de Denia (2018), was awarded a gold medal in the white wines section, while the sweet mistela Riu Rau won a ‘great gold medal’ - the highest distinction of the contest. “We are extremely proud that our winemaker Sergio Balaguer also got a special mention,” a spokesperson for Bodegas Xalo said.
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Scooter warning
A CHINESE electronics giant is launching a massive recall after some of their scooters have been found to be defective. The fault is related to a screw in the folding mechanism, which ends up loosening and causes the vertical bar of the main body of the scooter to break. The default is on the Mi Electric Scooter M365 from Xiaomi. Although it is not a serious defect if the scooter is stationary, it could be dangerous if the unit is moving when the weakness occurs. The affected serial numbers range from 21074/00000316 to 21074/00015107 and from 16133/00541209 to 16133/00544518, produced between October 27, 2018 and December 5, 2018. The withdrawal schedule has already begun in the UK and will start in Spain in July 1.
VODAFONE has taken the lead over rivals with the rollout of 5G networks across Spain. The communications giant confirmed that the new ultra-fast mobile technology is now available in 15 Spanish cities. In Andalucia, Malaga and Sevilla benefit, while other sites include Barcelona and Madrid, although coverage in areas is only 50%. The fifth generation network will have a download speed of 100 Mbps with the 700 MHz band, and in theory could reach
Black market costing Spain billions of euros each year FAKE products are costing Spanish businesses the equivalent of more than 10% of their sales, a new EU report has found. At least €6.7 billion worth of sales are lost in Spain each year to counterfeit goods, according to the European
Costa lot less SPAIN has been voted the fourth best value for money holiday destination by Brits. A huge 87% of holidaymakers said Spain had the best bang for one’s buck in a survey released by Post Office Travel Money. Bulgaria's resort town of Sunny Beach came top of
the poll for the sixth consecutive year. Affordable local prices and favourable exchange rates helped to boost the spending power of UK tourists last year. Portugal's Algarve coastline came in a close second with prices down by over 16%, while Turkey came in third.
5-G that’s fast! Good deal never-before-seen speeds of 10 Gbps. Vodafone also said it would not yet use 5G infrastructure from Huawei, the embattled Chinese tech firm, which saw the sacking of UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson. It comes as Vodafone’s competitors, Telefonica, Orange and MasMovil, are not set to unveil their 5G networks in Spain until 2021 or 2022.
Faking it
Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The global trade in fake goods rose to €452.9 billion in 2016 from €338 billion in 2013, representing 3.3% of world trade. The fashion industry is the worst hit, with losses totalling €28.4 billion in Europe (9.4% of total turnover). Pharmaceuticals are the second hardest hit, suffering losses of €9.6 billion, followed by cosmetics on €7 billion. Counterfeit wines and spirits cost companies 5.9% of their business or €2.4 billion. The impact of fake products is worse in Spain than the EU average in several sectors. The country’s fashion industry sees 14.9% of sales lost to counterfeit goods, pharmaceuticals 4.5%, wines and spirits 8.3% and smartphones
UNLUCKY: Man on Spanish beach selling fakes 10%. In real terms, analysts say it costs the EU 480,000 jobs, which in turn leaves the bloc missing €16 billion a year in
tax revenue. Across the EU, the total economic impact of fake products is estimated at around €92 billion.
BRITISH budget store Dealz has opened a new outlet in Denia. The chain is part of the Poundland family and stocks a range of low-cost brands of groceries, clothing and stationery products. The store is the company’s fourth on the Costa Blanca, and its 13th in Spain. It is situated next to the McDonald’s on the main Ondara road into Denia, and is open seven days a week from 9am to 12am. The opening has created 25 new jobs.
Up and out FOOD supplements have been removed from shelves in Spain after they were found to contain viagra. The Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps) ordered the withdrawal of six products containing sildenafil, the active ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drug. Sildenafil can react harmfully with other drugs and cause adverse side effects such as heart palpitations and chest pain. The affected pills are all distributed by the same Tenerife-based company, Marco Cordone-Spain. They are Bioacvit, Bioacvit Extra Forte, Torexan, Devit Forte, Devit Solo Piante and Bull Extreme tablets.
Something to declare? EU blasts Spain’s strict penalties for failing to declare foreign assets properly
T
HIS month the European Commission issued a press release with an update on its position with regards to the Modelo 720 (Declaration of Foreign Assets), and more specifically, to the fines that apply. The Modelo 720 was introduced in 2013, following a tax amnesty period for undeclared assets in 2012. Since then, Spain has required fiscal resident individuals and companies to submit information on the assets they hold abroad. This includes properties, bank accounts and financial assets. The failure to submit this information on time and in full is subject to sanctions that are higher than those for similar infringements in a purely domestic situation, and which may even exceed the value of assets held abroad.
BY Christina Brady
These sanctions consist of a €5,000 fine per undeclared asset, with a minimum of €10,000. However, this is just the starting point as in addition to this, the value of the undeclared assets can be taxed as income in the earliest available tax year (maximum income tax rate is around 45%, depending on the autonomous region you reside in). Further interest of 5% and penalties of 150% of the tax due can be imposed. The European Commission denounced Spain this month before the Court of Justice of the EU, for the disproportionate sanctions that can be imposed for not submitting or for submitting late the Modelo 720 of certain assets and rights located abroad, penalties that may exceed the value of the assets and leave the owner of the asset with a considerable debt. The Commission considers that such sanctions for incorrect or belated compliance with this legitimate information obligation are disproportionate and discriminatory. They may deter businesses and private individuals from investing or moving across borders in the Single Market. Such provisions are consequently in conflict with the fundamental freedoms in the EU, such as the free movement of persons, the free movement of workers, freedom of establishment, the freedom to provide services and the free movement of capital.
Spain had already received a reasoned opinion by the EU Commission requesting to change the fines in February 2017, but failed to take any action. While the Commission takes the view that Spain has the right to require taxpayers to provide its authorities with information on certain assets held abroad, the fines charged for failure to comply are considered disproportionate. Many local foreign residents will have assets abroad that need to be declared. Certain assets may negate the need to report, for example Spanish compliant investment portfolios that are structured inside a life assurance contract with an insurance company that operates in Spain under the scheme of free provision of services and where the fiscal representatives provide the Tax Administration the necessary information about the policy. Pensions where the member is not allowed access to the funds due to his or her age, or
other restrictions, do not need to be reported either. To find out more about how you could be affected by Modelo 720, give us a call today.
www.theblacktowergroup.com
Blacktower Financial Management Ltd is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and is registered with both the DGS and CNMV. Blacktower Financial Management (Int) Ltd is licensed in Gibraltar by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and is registered with both the DGS and CNMV in Spain
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Mega brands to battle on the Costa Blanca as the European Union’s Intellectual Property wides in on dispute. THE Adidas three bands trademark registration has been cancelled by the Costa Blanca based EU intellectual property watchdog. The Intellectual Property Office of the European Union (EUIPO) in Alicante had previously registered the distinctive three parallel bands as a signature of the german footwear brand. However EUIPO has now decided to annul the decision on the
BUSINESS
Three stripes and out
grounds the sign lacks distinctive character. The decision has been confirmed by the General Court of the EU following the rejection of an appeal by Adidas. The sports brand had described the trademark has consisting of ‘three parallel equidistant bands of equal width applied in to a product in any direction.’ However the court, based in Lu-
Speedy boarding ALICANTE airport will be able to handle 4,500 passengers per hour through security from July 1. New automatic gates have been installed as part of a €7 million plan, bringing the number of gates to 24. Special channels for families with children, as well as for the disabled, will help to speed up boarding The airport predicts 12 million passengers will pass through between April and October this year. It follows from a record-breaking May, with numbers growing 7.2% to hit 1.4 million passengers through the fifth-busiest airport in Spain.
xembourg, ruled that the logo use deviated from the essential character of a trademark. The decision came after Adidas failed to present EUIPO with evidence that the ‘three stripes’ branding had acquired distinct consumer recognition across european member states. It comes as EUIPO settled another dispute, this time between the italian football giant AC Milan and the AC Marriot hotel group. Hotel owner Marriott Worldwide failed in a bid to block a trademark registration owned by AC Milan, on the ground there was a risk of a clash. In the judgment laid down this week the EU General Court ruled that theEUIPO had been correct to grant registration of the Italian club’s logo. The court also ordered Marriott to pay costs to the EUIPO.
PROPERTY
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Fit for a king
A STUNNING historic estate on the outskirts of Barcelona will go up for auction next month. The 16th century Villa Argentona has been fully restored and features all the modern cons, including a climate controlled wine cellar with storage capacity for 2,500 bottles. There is also a wellness centre including a weights and cardio room, an indoor swimming pool, sauna, hammam and massage room. Last valued at €12.5 million, the property features three guest houses, staff accommodation and a 16th century chapel. The spacious grounds boast stables, an eight-car garage, outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, football pitch, an English garden, vegetable and fruit garden and woodland trails. Some 50 pieces of art and a large antiques and sculpture collection will be incorporated within the final auction price when it goes up with Concierge Auctions on July 18. The main home is 18,255sqft with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, grand hall, library and a number of drawing rooms.
Residents in Calpe are calling for protest as developers polute a blue flag beach RESIDENTS are fuming after a development has left a popular beach in Calpe dirtied with white foam. The developer of two 14-storey apartment blocks near Calle Alemania has been pumping out the dirty water while foundations and under construction. The Arenal-Bol beach, where the foam has accumulated, is extremely popular with tourists and has a blue flag award. “It smells terrible. They’re contaminating the sea, and I have a terrible feeling that no one cares,” commented Noa THE growing appeal of Marina Alta to potential property investors has been reflected in booming population figures. The population of the Marina Alta increased nearly fivefold during summer, according to figures from the Observatori Marina Alta. While areas such as Dénia, Xàbia, Teulada-Moraira, Orba or Benissa have been found to be some of the most popular destinations for homeseekers, according to research by BBVA. Drawing on figures from
HUGE: Estate outside Barcelona
DUMAS
Under Construction
D Garcia on social media. “We do not want a second Benidorm - we want quality tourism for all the people of Calpe,” commented Susanne Schütt. Another, named Ras Hafeez, called for a ‘protest’. Both the Ayuntamiento de Calpe and the Guardia Civil’s environmental arm have ordered the developer to stop pumping out the water. The company behind the apartment blocks has claimed the water purely ‘sea water’ sinking into the foundations.
A statement from the Ayuntamiento said the developer has nevertheless ‘not obtained authorisation’ for discharging the water. An inspector for Guardia Civil’s Seprona unit also concluded that the spills were not allowed.
On the up
On social media videos and pictures have been circulating showing children bathing near to the white blotches on the beach. The developer has reportedly not yet ceased pumping out the water, claiming it is vital for construction to go ahead.
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2017, the census showed 169,327 year-round residents shooting up to 785,641 during the hottest months. Potential buyers are said to be drawn to the quality of life that Marina Alta’s beaches and natural environment provide, as well as an extensive sports and gastronomic offerings. Calpe experiences the biggest migration, with its population increasing eightfold from 20,804 to 167,707.
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18
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
PROPERTY
Architects Cadaval and Sola-Morales (right) and their open plan garage (below)
Pure theatre Spanish architects take centre stage with their dramatic conversion of a historic playhouse
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CURTAIN-RAISING design has transformed a 19th-century Barcelona theatre into a stylish contemporary home guaranteed to get
rave reviews from buyers. Aged brick walls and ceiling beams set the scene, hinting at the dramatic history of The Theatre House a short walk from iconic Avinguda
Diagonal, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. Barcelona studio Cadaval & Sola-Morales are the whodunnits taking curtain calls for this theatrical thriller, which has seen the playhouse transformed into two individual work studios with lofty living spaces. “The project aims to recover and capitalise on the constructive values of the old theatre, expose its essence and exploit the amplitude that gives great height to its large diaphanous central space,” explains architect Eduardo Cadaval. The studios flank an indoor car parking space, allowing the owner to display a classic car ‘like a sculpture.’ “It’s a piece of art in direct relationship with the central space of the house,” he adds. Adjacent to the studios lies a huge open-plan living area where an oversized orange daybed and contemporary prints play leading roles. Sleeping quarters are at the back of the house, with two bedrooms on the first floor and a third bedroom on the second, with its own terrace. Cadaval said: “The idea was to build without affecting the existing; understanding that, over time, the theatre will surely have another use and another life.”
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
HAVEN: New centre for cancer charity helps patients rehabilitate in clean, comfortable surroundings
Shelter from the storm Barcelona Unesco treasure hosts Scottish cancer charity’s first care centre on the continent
A
NEW haven for cancer patients - the first of its kind to be built in mainland Europe - has opened in the stunning grounds of Barcelona’s Sant Pau Hospital, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Spain. The Kalida Sant Pau Centre is part of the Maggie Centres network, a Scottish charity that creates uplifting spaces to help anyone affected by cancer.
Adorned with honeycomb-shaped ceramic tiles, the centre’s red-brick facade complements the decorative, art nouveau hospital. “The whole project has been inspired by the richness of materials, textures, colours, geometries, drawings and greenery of the original hospital complex,”explains architect Benedetta Tagliabue. A garden lined with patios, trees and pergolas offers patients an es-
cape from a medical environment while maintaining direct access to the hospital’s oncology department. Alongside counselling rooms and communal spaces, the centre contains a kitchen area, small library and dining area. Tagliabue adds: “The building scale, the design of the facades and the garden establish a respectful dialogue with this outstanding environment.”
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
PROPERTY
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ETTING out to find the right contractor to construct your new home or property extension can be a daunting task if you are not familiar with the building trade, or already know of a great professional builder in your area. Undertaking extensive renovations or creating the villa you have always dreamed of is an exciting project in life, but the dreams can turn to misery if you end up choosing the wrong firm. The process is even more complex if your property is located in Spain and you live overseas, or are an expatriate that is new to the country. Terra Meridiana recently sat down with Chris Warren of Renson Management, a professional project management company based in Sotogrande, to ask his advice about how best to approach choosing the right builder for the job. Question 1: Is there a great difference in the type of builder that you choose to undertake different types of works? E.g. a new house, large extension or refurbishment of a room? And if so, what particular credentials would you look for, for each one? You can really divide
the contractors here into Question 2: How many three categories: small, companies would you medium and large, and ask to quote for each when tendering for any job? building work you will need to assess what your Depending on the size requirements are, and of the project, between which suits the scope of three and six companies. your project. There are many contrac- Question 3: What kind tors that can happily un- of references and credertake smaller projects dentials do you ask like refurbishing a living for? and dining area,which do not require any struc- The two most important tural works. things to establish are When deahow long ling with the company has extensions Make sure you been traor a new ding for, build, this have a written and to ask will require both an ar- contract with the for referenchitect and ces from builder aparejador previous (a technical clients. architect) as your drawings need to be Question 4: Would you meeting passed by the College of recommend Architects or Aparejado- each prospective conres, in order to obtain a tractor with a friendly building licence for the architect/interior designer at your side? works. Under normal circumstances the architect will Again, it depends on the propose the contractor size of the project, but in they wish to tender for general we, as the prothe works; if you have a ject manager, would preproject manager then it pare a tender list of five will be their responsibility or six contractors for larger projects, and would alongside the architect. In such cases the profes- introduce the client to the sionals should be gui- last three. ding the client towards the most appropriate Question 5: Is it suitable to discuss sourcing contractors. Once the tenders are materials and subconreceived your architect tractors with the builand/or project manager der? will conduct a tender analysis and they will When discussing matenegotiate with the con- rials and suppliers, they tractors on price, pro- should first be talked gramme content and the through with the architect contract conditions. to establish the client's
requirements, and the sourcing of materials can then be done with either the subcontractor or the contractor. Question 6: How do you ascertain what is a reasonable schedule for the job? This will be down to experience, and the architect or project manager negotiating with the contractor. Question 7: What kind of payment plan should be agreed? Payments should be made each month after the works are completed and approved by both parties via a monthly certificate; no payments should be made upfront, otherwise you will find you are financing the contractor! Question 8: What paperwork should be drawn up to provide protection against issues that might arise? Make sure you have a written contract with the builder that includes all the necessary applicable clauses. Question 9: Do you have any general advice or tips that you think people should be aware of? If any contractor is asking for money upfront, BEWARE! You will be financing them!
Terra Meridiana, 77 Calle Caridad, 29680 Estepona Tel: +34 951 318480 Office Mob: +34 678 452109 Email: info@terrameridiana.com Website: www.terrameridiana.com
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
Root applause
Spicy Wasabi has been grown in Spain for the first time. The Japanese plant, commonly found in sushi restaurants, is being cultivated in Viladrau, Catalunya. It is the first time the root, which produces an intense green paste, has been grown in the Med. Gardener Arnau Riba and engineer Pau Gelman are behind the production. Experimentation to bring wasabi to Spain began three years ago with a 30-square-metre test plot, in which they mimicked the climatic conditions of Japan.
Report warns 20% of Spain’s olive farms could disappear within a decade MORE than 240,000 Spanish olive estates could vanish in the next 10 years. Olive oil giant Deoleo has warned that international competition and the stagnation of prices are making it hard for smaller producers to retain their position in the market. The study - titled Salvemos el buen aceite (Save the good oil) - looked at Andalucia, Castilla La Mancha, Valen-
Oil or nothing
cia, Aragon and Catalunya. It found that 320,000 acres of traditional olive tree farming had already been abandoned. Experts suggest the decline is down to the fact 64 countries now produce olive oil compared to 46 some 15 years ago. Every second, 10 olive trees
Ramsay’s kitchen dream
STAR: David Munoz
GORDON Ramsay (right) has confessed his love for one of Spain’s top chefs and his London restaurant. The Hell’s Kitchen star (right), 52, said Street XO in Mayfair, owned by three Michelin-starred chef Dabiz Munoz, 39, is ‘one of his favourites’. “I’ll often head there when I’m after something special,” he added. “Chef Dabiz Munoz has an exciting and original approach to food.”
Munoz owns his native city Madrid’s only three Michelin-starred restaurant DiverXO, as well as Street XO Madrid.
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are being planted somewhere on the planet. Meanwhile, almost 40% of the total quantity of olive oil comes from intensive farming, which yields almost 50% more than traditional farming at half the cost. In recent weeks, prices of extra virgin olive oil in Spain have sat around €2.20 per kilogram, which is already below the profitability threshold, according to the agricultural organisation COAG.
Intensive
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21
The study predicted Spain would lose 20% of its olive groves in a decade, hitting 240,000 small farmers and almost 300,000 families. Traditional farmers are now being pressured to take the intensive route, producing higher amounts of lesser quality. However, these methods are also bad news for the environment. Traditional olive orchards preserve land from desertification
and absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide, mainly thanks to the age and size of the trees. Intensive farming mainly uses younger and smaller trees with less foliage and shorter roots. Juan Vilar, the study’s author, said: “It is possible and necessary to reverse the situation, it takes the commitment of the agents of the sector to maintain a type of olive grove that has an important social, economic and environmental role, which is typically Spanish and which, due to its uniqueness, provides a huge richness and variety to the offer of olive oil.”
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Old habits die hard ONLINE food shopping is failing to take off in Spain, new figures have revealed. Despite significant investments from major supermarkets including Mercadona, more than 75% of the population still never use the internet to buy food, drink or cleaning products. Only a tiny 2% exclusively go online to buy such items while 20% do a mix of online and in-store shopping. Spaniards care more about buying their fresh produce in person than most other countries, according to the report from the Observatory for the Evolution of Electronic Commerce in Food, carried out by the Complutense and Autonoma Universities of Madrid.
NO: Spain shops in store
FOOD,DRINK
22
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Touch of the Tropical Something different this summer? Life in the laid-back Axarquia and Costa Tropical has never seemed more appealing, writes Laurence Dollimore
‘
WELCOME to the most beautiful town in Spain,’ toothless local Jorge calls out in broken English as I wipe the sweat from my brow. (OK, so I still look like a tourist, despite four years in Spain.) I had just hiked up to the top of Frigiliana which has indeed been crowned one of the country’s most picturesque pueblos, as plaques DRAMA: Rugged Nerja coastthrough the village will tell line (left) and Frigiliana mill (above) you at every turn. A 10-minute drive up from the coast from Nerja, it’s a whole world of stunning the pearl in a string of whi- mountain villages, underte-washed villages gliste- ground caves and beautiful, ning in the hills of the Axar- unspoilt hidden coves. quia and its nearby Granada Jorge recommends a visit neighbour, the Costa Tropi- to the outer walls of this cal. old Moorish fortress town, Either way, this is the very and a break at his friend’s laid-back eastern end of the tapas bar, but it’s 300 meCosta del Sol, and boy, take tres back down the ancient it from me a ‘westie’ based cobbled street. near Marbella, it really is a I opt for the closer Las Chibreath of fresh nas, having air. just toiled “This is our liup the EveA wonderful ttle paradise,” rest-steep slobeams grand- building, it is the pe in searing father Jorge, heat, the car only molasses who has lived parked a good here his entire kilometre factory left in life. “We have down the road. Spain a great local The food didn’t c o m m u n i t y, disappoint: amazing food a dorada as and sunshine, what more do meaty as chicken, the whole you need?” three-course menu del dia Some of the views inland typically for the region, chewouldn’t look out of place in ap as chips. Jurassic Park - minus the di- For something sweeter, nosaurs - and hidden in that head to the only sugar cane jaw-dropping landscape is factory still functioning in
Spain. Still chugging out deliciously sticky molasses (treacle), the El Ingenio miel de cana factory operates from the magnificent 16th century Nuestra Senora del Carmen mansion in the heart of Frigiliana. Delve deeper into its maze of whitewashed alleyways - maybe after a restorative
•
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...Stun
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and ...Drinks
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• Festive dinners • Business lunches • A drink and aperitif at the bar • Cocktails at the skybar • Business drinks • Receptions • Communion parties • 2 suites and 6 spacious rooms, all with sea views • For events see our calendar on
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N-340, Km. 325, from Malaga first exit to Salobreña • Tel. +34 958 617 228 info@hotelmiba.com • www.hotelmiba.com
& TRAVEL
23
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
UNEVEN: Narrow streets - here in Comares - are part of the appeal while (below) Salobrena castle is a crown of the Costa Tropical
caña or two - and you can sense the pride here, with abuelas tending to their prize-winning geranium pots and not a scrap of rubbish blowing down the streets. It’s a recipe that’s repeated across the hills of this region - fantastic food, incredible views, charming villages with Arabic ruins and just as friendly people - just ask the expats, who have set up in Sayalonga, Comares, Competa or Salobrena. If you’re not set on staying quite so rural, Vélez-Málaga the Axarquia’s capital, which offers a faster pace and its own brand of charm. On arriving, there’s only one direction to go – and that’s up! From the ruined Moorish castle you can map the town with its busy roads, coffee shops and bars and a historic quarter typical of so many white hilltop villages embedded throughout a region that was once a jewel of Islam. The route to the castle will take you to the Jardin de los Remedios, a park that sits parallel to the castle and overlooks a church with a spire that protrudes from the white-washed Lego-stacked houses below. With its streams, miradors and benches, the park is the perfect escape from the
bustling centre, offering up fisheye lens views from the Med to the mountain tops. The statue of Jesus - Velez’s answer to Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer - has the best panorama, watching over the action from his lofty perch next to the Ermita de la Virgen church. Head over to the castle and watchtower for a glimpse into the Moorish past which shaped the Axarquia region. Although parts of the building date back to the 10th centur y, its heyday came 400 years later, when it was one of a chain defending the mighty Arabic Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The entire city played a part in subduing a notoriously turbulent zone, hence the old Moorish name for it: Ballix-Malaca – or Fortress of Malaga. With 1,500 metres of defensive walls and numerous solid turrets, the castle provided such strong
defence it was used in a military capacity right up to the 19th century. The mountain towns and villages of the Axarquia from Competa to Comares and Archez to Algarrobo are full of signs of their Moorish past and olden days in general. Each has a wonderful crop of white houses stacked higgledy-piggledy around quaint plazas and along timeless cobbled streets. But no trip to the Axarquia is complete with seeing the charming Nerja. It’s famous Balcon de Europa jutting out into the Med offers theatrical views while the popular town has managed to retain its Andalucian credentials and its rocky coves, sandy beaches and pueblo vibe are the envy of its more westerly Costa del Sol rivals. Nerja was left untouched by the massive tourism develo-
pment boom which hit the likes of Torremolinos and Marbella from the 1950s onwards. But that all changed when five boys on a bat-hunting trip stumbled upon the opening to a cave on a hillside above the tiny fishing village of Maro, a few miles east of Nerja. Vast caverns were revealed, with spectacular rock for-
CORTIJO BRAVO
B { } bou Hotel Cortijo Bravo, is a typical Andalusian cortijo rehabilitated in hotel, where its 21 comfortable rooms combine an elegant decoration, typically Andalusian, with cosmopolitan and romantic touches of the 19th century Málaga, in an incomparable natural setting that includes a magnificent pool and a restaurant where from its magical terrace, our clients can enjoy the magnificent temperatures of the Costa del Sol all year round, as well as its wonderful views of the Sierra de Tejeda and Almijara, the white villages of the Axarquia bathed by the sun and as a backdrop, the blue Mediterranean Sea. In B { } bou Hotel Cortijo Bravo, you can enjoy an oasis of peace and tranquility among a sea of subtropical trees, ideal for pleasant meals and events enjoying the absolute calm that is breathed in the place. Our renovated restaurant with contemporary and traditional cuisine, puts at the service of our customers the best dishes of Andalusian cuisine, as well as the best meats of our territory. A Mediterranean cuisine with modern and creative touches with the ability to delight the most demanding palates. It will be a pleasure to receive you. B { } bou Hotel Cortijo Bravo, where your dreams come true ...
PERCHED: Castle in Velez-Malaga (left) while (above) surfer enjoys shores of the Axarquia coast
Telephone for reservations: 951 550 048 Booking email: info@hotelcortijobravo.com
FOOD,DRINK
24
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
FORTRESS: Roman aqueduct of Almunecar has survived to this day
STUNNING: The view inland of Archez and the Axarquia mountains, while above a classic Arabic tower in Archez village
mations showing evidence of Paleolithic man. General Franco himself came to view the ‘Cueva de Nerja’ and coach-loads of visitors subsequently followed suit. And when Nerja was chosen as a location for the 1980s TV series, Verano Azul, its future as a tourism destination was set. The series left an indelible mark. Now, whe-
rever you go in Nerja, you’ll come across the name, which means blue summer.
There is a Verano Azul travel agency, bus company, park, block of apartments ... you may even find a bar serving a Verano Azul cocktail. But if you want to get away from it all - the disco bars, the tourist shops and the bustle - head for one of the small coves just below the town, or nearby in Maro. Nerja’s beaches are cut off from the town and roads, backed by sheer cliff-face. You can sit on the sand
for hours in solitude, lose track of time, without seeing a sign of civilisation, just coastline colliding with blue sea in both directions. It is just so un-Costa del Sol! But then again, I am from the western end. And, sitting alone on my rock, toes in the sea, watching the sun set over Malaga, the sleepy, do-nothing lifestyle of the laid-back ‘East’ has never seemed more appealing.
WHERE TO STAY
A complete dream
LA VIÑUELA & SPA
The Axarquia and Costa Tropical have a great selection of places to stay, discovers Jon Clarke
W B { } bou Hotel La Viñuela & Spa is one of the most special boutique hotels on the Costa del Sol, located in a natural environment of the most beautiful in Andalusia, on the shores of Lake La Viñuela and at the foot of the Sierra de Tejada and Almijara, a few minutes from the beach, a unique location. Everything adds up so that your stay at B { } bou Hotel La Viñuela & Spa is a mixture of emotions and sensations to be enjoyed, surrounded by 15,000 m2 of beautiful gardens, in 37 exclusive rooms, with two swimming pools and a private spa, among many others services. Savoring the best traditional cuisine in the area, in its rooms or terraces, is an incomparable experience. B { } bou Hotel La Viñuela & Spa draws a gastronomic route through Andalusia, which starts with the fresh fish and seafood from Málaga, continues with the important tropical mango and avocado from the Axarquía, as well as the incomparable goat from Canillas . A unique Mediterranean traditional cuisine, a delight for the palate and the senses. It will be a pleasure to receive you. B { } bou Hotel La Viñuela & Spa, a place to lose yourself and meet again ...
Telephone for reservations: 952 519 193 Booking email: hotel@hotelvinuela.com
ITH stunning views across emblematic Vinuela lake and up towards the formidable peak of Mount Maroma, Hotel Vinuela is one of the most scenic places to stay in Andalucia. With stylish bedrooms, an amazing restaurant and peaceful grounds, it is hardly surprising that it is already the stand out place to stay in the Axarquia. Now 20 years old, this four-star spot has the region’s most exclusive spa and massage centre. Set in the hotel’s grounds with views across the lake, the Mei Wellness & Spa is a new concept in exclusive well-being therapy. Perfect for individuals or for couples, the spa which counts on a jacuzzi, sauna and hammam - is rented out privately by the hour. “You will experience feelings of complete serenity and harmony: a unique and unparalleled experience that you will never forget,” promises hotel manager Maria Herrero, of the B Bou chain. The company has also recently taken over another amazing hotel Cortijo Bravo nearer the coast near Velez-Malaga. This wonderful place was once one of the homes of the Larios family, who grew sugar cane for their rum factories along the coast. The converted mansion is style personified and each room offers lovely views inland towards the mountains or along the coast. Now a boutique hotel, many of its 21 rooms count on four poster beds and balconies. In Nerja you are spoilt for choice for good places to stay. In pole position is Hotel Toboso, which couldn't be in a better location in the heart of town by the emblematic Balcon de Europa. The rooms are fantastic in size and you are right next to the excellent Cochrane's Irish restaurant
and bar, which is good for a local meal and has the best terrace in Nerja. You might also check out Hotel Carabeo in one of the best parts of the town. Looking to stay in a charming inland village, look no further than Meson Mudejar, in Archez. Recently taken over by a charming Polish couple, it is a sleepy spot with simple, clean rooms, that sit above the vegan restaurant downstairs. It’s good value and you can head out for a range of walks from the door as well as enjoy experiencing the typical Axarquia life. Along the Costa Tropical perhaps the best place to stay is the recently renovated Hotel Miba, in Salobrena. This wonderful eight-room hotel, recently taken over by the team at Villas Colores, perches on an escarpment overlooking Salobrena town. Every inch of this modern hotel maximises on the incredible views, be it across to the breathtaking nearby town, which soars up like a wedding cake from stage left, or stage right to the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains. The rooms are spacious and each have their own private terrace. It also has an excellent restaurant and rooftop bar and swimming pool with stunning views up the coast. This is a great place for an evening cocktail Up in Motril look out for Casa de los Bates, which is an amazing 19th century Italianate mansion, with sumptuous bedrooms and well appointed dining and sitting rooms. The places oozes history and the family home, now owned by two charming brothers Borja and Inaki, is full of antiques and photos of its illustrious guests, which have included Nelson Mandela and the King of Spain.
& TRAVEL
June 20th - July 3rd
One-eyed bandit! David Baird follows in the footsteps of the bandoleros, who made the Axarquia infamous
CAPTURED: Infamous bandit El Tempranillo was finally captured and kept at Venta de Alfarnate (below)
A
BOUT the biggest hazard you will meet on the back roads of the Axarquía is a herd of goats, a lorry overloaded with farm produce or a hostelry inviting you to dally for a lazy hour or so. But it was not always so. Bandoleros – or bandits - were once a major feature of life in this area. Colourful types though they were, it did not make the experience of having your valuables purloined at the point of a blunderbuss any pleasanter. In the years following the Napoleonic Wars, so lawless were the roads that the English writer Richard Ford advised travellers to bring along ‘a decent bag of dollars’ to appease any highwaymen you might meet. He also suggested carrying an impressive-looking watch, noting; “The absence of a watch can only be accounted for by a premeditated intention of not being robbed of it, which the ladrón considers as a most unjustifiable attempt to defraud him of his right.” One of the most notorious 19th-century bandits was El Bizco (the one-eyed bandit). They remember him in his birthplace, El Borge. Take a ride up there and witness how the landscape becomes steeply undulating, clothed in olive groves and vineyards. Several streets are named after revolutionary heroes such as Che Guevara, the legacy of a leftwing, anti-monarchy mayor who often made headlines with his controversial decisions. The Mudejar-Renaissance Rosario church is impressive, with immense pillars supporting its three naves. Look for two holes in the weather-vane atop the church. They were allegedly made by El Bizco’s shotgun. The vane had never worked but — after he blasted away — it functioned perfectly. Otherwise El Bizco’s record is pretty gruesome. With his comrades in crime, Frasco Antonio and Manuel Melgares, he terrorised the whole area. At times, these cut-throats were used by unscrupulous ‘caciques’, powerful land-owners, to sway local election results. Wander down a maze of narrow streets and at the bottom end of
the village you find the olive mill Puerto de Frigiliana, lie the ruins where El Bizco was born. It has of the Venta Panaderos. Once been converted into the Posada this inn was a welcome rest del Bandolero, combining an at- stop for muleteers en route to tractive hotel, restaurant and mu- Granada and a meeting place of seum. At the side of the bar you footpads, smugglers, guerrillas — can see the original mill-stones and Civil Guards. and a deep well. Locals tell anecdotes about how El Bizco’s chum, Melgares, the guards would suddenly arrive, meanwhile is said to have com- discover meals which the guerrimitted one of his most daring cri- llas had ordered and proceed to mes in Frigiliana (six kilometres scoff the food themselves. inland from Nerja). Just east of Nerja is the Río de la Disguised as a priest, he entered Miel valley, a delightfully peaceful the Ingenio, the mansion owned spot but once a refuge for smuby the Counts of Frigiliana, poin- gglers. ted a pistol at the manager and When guerrillas landed from Normade off with around 100,000 th Africa, they trekked up this vapesetas. lley to their bases Today the Inin the mountains genio houses and Río de la Miel El Tempranillo’s became such a the last factory in Europe probreeding ground claim was: “In ducing miel de of resistance that caña (molasses), it was called ‘LittSpain the king on sale in local le Russia’. rules, but in the Almost every vishops. Frigiliana was llage has some sierra I do” a flash point in tale to tell about the 1940s when smugglers or anti-Franco guebandits. Such as rrillas based in the adjacent sie- Benamargosa, up a well-watered rras sought to provoke a general valley northwest of Vélez-Málaga. revolt. In a bid to discredit them, A couple of centuries back it was Franco’s tightly controlled media dubbed Gibraltar Chico (Little Gilabelled them ‘bandoleros’. braltar) because the inhabitants If you hike into the mountains were renowned as smugglers, with their abrupt inclines and particularly of tobacco. deep gorges riddled with caves, These days Benamargosa likes to you can see how difficult it was think of itself as the Oasis of the for the Civil Guards to track the Axarquía. The sheltered environguerrillas. ment and benign climate allow High up, near a pass called the tropical fruits such as mangoes and avocadoes to flourish on the fertile lands bordering its river. Perhaps most famous for its association with the lawless past is a lonely inn standing on a crossroads at one of the highest points of the Axarquía. To reach it, you take the old road from Málaga to Granada, the A6103. It weaves its way through the forested Montes RUINED: An old mill in the Rio de la Miel valley once used by smugglers de Málaga then
past limestone crags to the Venta de Alfarnate. First opened in 1691, this inn, standing beneath the rocky buttress of the Tajo de Gomer, claims to be the oldest in Andalucia. At weekends it is crowded as ‘domingueros’ (trippers) tuck into roast kid, partridge and pork. In the past all manner of travellers stopped here. A plaque notes: “In this Venta on April 21 1850 the Mail on the way to Málaga was stolen by a group of 12 armed men. The bandits took particular care to seize a packet of Government prosecutions and criminal lawsuits coming from the Granada chancery.” On one occasion in the 19th century, a horseman rode up as the customers were tucking into gazpacho from a common bowl. Told there were no spoons left, he used the crust of a loaf to scoop up the cold soup — then produced a pistol. “Now,” he commanded, “do the same as I do. Eat your spoons!” They recognised him as El Tempranillo, Andalucia’s most notorious bandolero, whose claim was: “In Spain the king rules, but in the sierra I do.” They were forced to chew their wooden spoons. On other occasions, El Tempranillo was more gallant. Always courteous, if he stripped a lady of her best jewellery, he would kiss her hand and assure her: “Such a pretty hand needs no adornment.” Truth to tell, those bandits were hardly a bunch of Robin Hoods. Most would have robbed their own grandmothers given the chance. But time has cast a romantic aura over them, popular mythology has embroidered their characters and their memories have been enshrined in everything from museums to the names of gourmet dishes. Ford maintained that travellers often exaggerated the bandit peril. When he inquired about thieves, “according to all sensible Spaniards, it was not on the road that they were most likely to be found, but in the confessional boxes, the lawyers’ offices, and still more in the bureaux of government.” Bless my soul — some things don’t change.
Learn more about the outlaws in Francisco Montoro Fernández’s book Bandoleros de la Axarquía (Acento Andaluz). David Baird is the author of East of Malaga (Santana Books), the definitive guide to
the Axarquía, as well as Sunny Side Up — The 21st century hits a Spanish village and Typhoon Season. These are distributed by Maroma Press (http://maromapress.wordpress.com/).
Closed 12.00 until mid February Open Tuesday to Sunday. until 22.00
FOOD,DRINK &
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Superwines After giving you Spain’s most expensive wines, here we offer you the 10 best value chestnuts at supermarket prices by Claire Leibovich
LAST issue we looked at the 10 best-scoring Spanish wines that combined the highest quality and prices. This week our theme is bodega bargains as we select the best of the cheapest wines you can find in Spanish supermarkets, such as Alcampo, Carrefour, Lidl, Dia and El Corte Inglés. There is an overwhelming choice of supermarket wines in Spain, so we went to the reference guidebook, Los Supervinos (Linde Editions) by oenologist Joan C. Martín. For the ninth year in a row Martín has hand-picked 110 superwines that cost less than €7 and another 40 under €15. He evaluates each wine according to 10 different criteria, including display, taste, colour, information to the consumer, aroma and quality-price ratio. The final average score ranges from one to five ‘eyes’. So keep your eyes peeled too...
Dominio de Tares Marqués de ‘Cepas Viejas’ Riscal Finca Mencía, Bierzo Montico, Rueda This subtle and elegant red is produced from Mencía, the characteristic grape for the Bierzo D.O. It is well-structured and balanced, with a vibrant acidity, silky tannins and a hint of wild berries. Clove and liquorice on the back palate. It pairs well with flavor rich recipes and dishes like slow cooked stews, roast beef or baked lamb.
€13
This white wine, made from hand-picked Verdejo, does not have a powerful nose, but rather reveals a more elegant, complex varietal character. The colour is greenish-yellow and the nose has a medium intensity with hints of fennel, herbs, white blossom, pear and peach. It has a fresh, unctuous, very smooth mouth-feel, with a long, round finish. It matches well with fish, shellfish, white ham, €14,20 meat, pasta, chicken or cold meat.
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Freixenet Elyssia Brut Rosado
Martín describes it as ‘refined, elegant with an intense aroma, frank and natural’. This superwine is made from Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It goes perfectly with red meat, stews, Iberian pork sausages, goat and s h e e p cheese.
In 2018 it was named Best Superwine for the second c o n s e c u t i ve year by Los Supervinos guide. The prize goes to the wine with the best quality, price, singularity and origin. This one comes from the Sierra Salinas, in southeastern Spain, a landscape as green as a Swiss valley in the midst of a very dry region. It is well structured with a balanced acidity.
A ‘very glamourous’ wine, says €13,95 Martín, ‘because it maintains its intensity while having the texture of English marmalade’. It is almost exclusively made from Pinot Noir, but has a small percentage of Trepat to keep it fresh. The colour is a clean and shiny pale pink with tints of blue. It tastes fresh, light, with a refreshing acidity and slightly bitter notes.
€15
€5,95
All the above wines are the most outstanding of this edition, but others are more affordable - less than €4.
WHITE WINES Montblanc 362, Conca de Barberà This wine from Tarragona, in Catalunya, is fresh, fruity and voluptuous with some acidity. ‘The climate of the region and its Gascon and Occitan heritage make this wine very French,’ says Martín.
€3,29
Riesling, Alicante
€3,99
Taste the history
Pazo Ribeiro, Galicia
Marqués de Monistrol, Cava
This wine tastes a bit like kiwi, ‘that marvelous g r e e n fruit, exotic but not warm or tropical’.
This rosé cava is ‘fresh, fruity (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries), and slightly acidic with notes reminiscent of sweet cake.’ Pair it with rice dishes, salads and all types of seafood.
€3,93 For bookings and more info visit www.alcantarilla.co.uk or call 654 152 122
Acidic yet, at the same time, fresh and mellow. According to Martín, this wine from the Monóvar winery is particularly good this year.
CAVA
€3,36
TRAVEL
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Estola Reserva, Castilla La Mancha
Bodegas Ontañón Comportillo Crianza, Rioja
This rich and intense wine is made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo. F u ll-bodied and well-structured, it presents complex aromas with spicy and balsamic notes, and is velvety on the palate. It goes well with lamb.
€3,70
ROSE WINES
RED WINES
Babalà Negro
This blend of Tempranillo and Garnacha combines aromas of fruit and wood. It’s the perfect partner for lamb, veal and poultry.
€3,15
Enterizo, Utiel - Requena Categorised as a ‘gastronomic rosé’, it’s the ideal companion for Mediterranean dishes, especially seafood rice dishes, recommends Martín, adding: ‘A nectar, undoubtedly’.
€2,39
Alicia en el País de las Uvas, Valencia
This Catalan wine from the Celler Cooperatiu d'Espolla is made from two native grapes, the Lledoner negro (85%) and Lledoner rojo (15%). It has a cherry red colour and the aroma of fresh fruit with aniseed and nuts. The mouth is very sweet, with tannins present and a slightly bitter finish that gives it elegance. It is ideal for drinks between hours, as an aperitif and accompanying light dishes.
€5,75
Solar Viejo Tempranillo, Rioja This classic red wine from Rioja Alavesa presents notes of ripe fruit, red fruit and spices. ‘Really good, like those historic reds from Riojan harvests, but modernised in process and taste,’ says Martín.
€3,49
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Calle Móstoles, Moraira tel: 965 74 43 66 Made from the Bobal grape variety, this wine has a fresh aroma with blackberry and fruit jelly notes. It is sweet, fresh and easy to drink with a low alcohol volume. It goes well with salads, pastas and cold dishes.
€1,90
Clot, Terra Alta, Catalunya A ‘bright and luminous vermilion’ wine with notes of raspberry, blueberry and basil. Goes brilliantly with suquet, fish, fish broths and mellow rices.
€3,95
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Bodegas Hidalgo La Gitana Manzanilla Sherry, Andalucia This is an iconic but affordable Manzanilla, recognizable with its label in homage to a gipsy woman who ran the Málaga bar in which the drink became particularly popular. Made from Palomino Fino, its nose has yellow apple and lemon aromas with of floral notes and a touch of sea breeze. It tastes light and dry at the start and becomes saltier, with subtle hints of liquorice and salted almonds. It goes best with tapas and appetizers, fish, shellfish, white meat and salads.
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28
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
HEALTH
Miracle dad CRYPTIC: Proscription
What’s up doc? A DOCTOR’S note has gone viral on social media as it was so illegible the patient had to ask the internet for help. Twitter user Loeflingia posted a picture of the doctor’s note, which is made up of seven words that are completely indecipherable.
Decoding
He asked the internet: “Can anyone say what the doctor has prescribed me? I think I’m going to need the Rosetta stone for this one.” The post received humorous responses, saying it read ‘croquetas’, including attempts at decoding from Spanish healthcare professionals. It turned out the doctor had prescribed an asthma inhaler.
Doctors in Spain perform ‘miracle’ work on British dad after he was hit by TWO cars, breaking 26 bones
A BRITISH family have praised the Spanish health system after performing ‘miracle’ work on a father-of-two who was hit by TWO cars while on holiday on the Costa Brava. Dean Millers, 29, is still recovering in hospital in Lloret de Mar after the shock crash saw him break 26 bones - including both his legs, right elbow and nose.
Bang
Millers, who was holidaying with his partner Emily and their two young children, will now have to learn to walk again after also breaking his pelvis in several places. “Dean is making massive
Rural care cuts A SPANISH healthcare union is fuming at the Valencian Generalitat’s plans to stop ambulance services to rural areas. The Sindicato de Enfermeria (SATSE) opposed the move, which from June 1 has seen the emergency lifeline cut in 47 municipalities, including in the Marina Alta and El Comptat. The regional Ministry of Health instead expects ‘localised healthcare professionals’ to attend to calls for help. “These plans do not only seriously endanger the health of rural residents, but also contravenes the rules of out-of-hospital emergency services of the Ministry of Health,” a spokesperson for SATSE said.
Emergency
OUCH: British dad ‘lucky to be alive’
progress,” the family said on a Just Giving page, which has raised around €5,000 to help pay for flights for family to fly back and forth, “He’s awake and talking although he’s talking slower and is a bit confused ... it's a miracle he’s still with us.”
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In describing the horrific accident, the mother-inlaw said the all-inclusive trip was the family’s first. “On the evening of the May 24 my daughter's partner Dean decided to nip across the road to the shop for juice and biscuits for the two children. “Dean was gone less than five minutes when Emily and the rest of the hotel heard an almighty bang... Emily went out onto the veranda she could see a lot of commotion outside and could see someone on the floor but couldn't see who but her gut instinct told her it was Dean. “Next thing she knew the telephone in the room
rang it was reception saying please can you come down...Dean was crossing the zebra crossing when he was hit by a car which threw him in the air then a second car drove over him. “The emergency services arrived very quickly and gave Dean 100% the best care possible ...We can’t thank them enough!” He was airlifted to hospital while Emily followed in a taxi. “The doctors told Emily that dean is lucky to be alive.” Dean is hoping to be driven home this week after having had another operation on his pelvis on Monday.
The statement particularly ridiculed the idea that health professionals ‘abandon their consultations’ with scheduled patients attend to emergencies, potentially ‘by bike or on foot’, and with equipment weighing ‘20kg’. Furthermore, criticism was laid upon orders to ‘assess the severity’ of the situation and then request the Centre for Information and Coordiation of Emergencies (CICU), reached on 112, to request an ambulance. “This will mean prolonging the response in the case of a vital emergency,” the spokesperson continued. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health clarified that ambulances will still attend to ‘emergencies’, but would delegate less serious incidents to ‘primary care centres’. Affected municipalities in the Marina Alta include: El Rafol d’Almunia, Sanet y Negrals, Sagra, Tormos, Parcent, Murla, Fontilles, the Vall de Laguar. Orba, Benimeli. Benigembla and Castell de Castells.
Spec-tacular SPECSAVERS Opticas in Javea and Calpe has visited a charity glasses recycling centre that it supports. The Melvin Jones Glasses Recycling Centre, founded by the Lions Club, was set up in Alicante in 2007. It handles 100,000 pairs of glasses each year, employing two full time staff, and are also assisted by six volunteers. Javea and Calpe Specsavers director, Mike Stone, learned that frames from the centre travel to 30 countries, for communities in other parts of the world who cannot afford luxury specs.
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www.weekender.news
29
Health & Beauty
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Look better in the buff: Get your sexy back without giving up everything you love Johnny be good THE Government has launched a new condom campaign amid a huge gonorrhea increase. Among 15-18-year-olds, there has been a 9% decrease in usage of the contraceptive since 2002. The ‘#AlwaysPreservative’ campaign is a response to the 26.3% increase in average annual rates of gonorrhea between 2013 and 2017. The goal is for Spain’s youth to ‘always use condoms during sex, in any situation or circumstance’, according to Spanish Minister of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare, Maria Luisa Carcedo.
Pharma shame PFIZER hid stats which suggested one of its drugs could help in the fight against Alzheimer’s, it has been claimed. According to The Washington Post, the pharmaceutical giant discovered as early as 2015 that taking Enbrel, a drug which treats rheumatoid arthritis, could reduce the risk of developing dementia by up to 64%. “Enbrel could potentially prevent, treat and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease safely,” reads a presentation prepared by Pfeizer’s internal committee in early 2018, three years after the same discovery in the laboratory.
In the genes
A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy has Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, been cured of cancer thanks to Esplugues de Llobregat (Bara new gene therapy in Spain. celona), one of the only three The young child, from Alican- pediatric centers in Spain to te, was suffering from acute offer the CAR-T treatment, toB-type lymphoblastic leukemia gether with the Vall d’Hebron and was not responding to con- Hospital, also in Barcelona, ventional treatment. and the Niño Jesús Hospital, Looking sexy, svelteHowever or built by but additional treatments he BPT will now return in Madrid. in your clothing is one may be required for hope optimal to thing. a normal life after receiving The treatment will give CAR-T gene therapy in Barto many families in Spain giand yoga enthusiasts Looking better in the buff is a19runners sculpting results. celona, paid for bythe the country’s ven that“TruSculpt acute lymphoblastic topping list. whole other ballgame. Clothing iD is a very National System (SNS). leukemia is the most common in According to board- even low-cut necklines, short- Health exciting new development This child was treated at the type of cancer in children. plastic surgeon non-surgical body contouring. shorts or tight-fitting tees - can certified
Reykjavik reeling
hide your flaws and accentuate your assets, but when you are nude, there’s nowhere - or way - to hide anything. If you want to look better naked, you are not alone. Far from it. More and more people are into healthy living and getting fit these days. The good news is that there is finally something you can do about it that doesn’t involve giving Icelandic up carbs and sweets, doing tourists on excessive crunches or having invasive cosmetic surgery. Costa Blanca Fully one-third of first victims of Americans opt for minimally chikungunya invasive fat reduction or body sculpting treatments to look outbreak in better in the buff, according to Spain a new survey of 500 men and women from Cutera, Inc. And THE first recorded chikun- those who exercise regularly gunya outbreak has been are most likely to have a recorded in Spain as three www.weekender.news tourists on the Costa Blanca body-sculpting treatment, with
were confirmed infected. The infection was confirmed by one insect: the tiger mosfrom Reykjavik, where the quito (Aedes albopictus). three Icelandic tourists re- The virus is characterized by turned after holidaying in the sudden onset of fever, Trail chills, conjunctivitis, low Alicante at the end of May. Pfizer argues it didn’t believe The first case was recorded back pain, stiffness and inthe evidence was strong enou- as a 37-year-old woman en- tense joint pains. gh to launch a clinical trial. tered a Reykjavik hospital The incubation of the disease But research experts claim suffering a high fever on can be up to 12 days. It usually occurs in a period the €207 billion company June 1. did not pursue the eviden- By June 8, analysis confirmed ranging from one to two weece or share it with other the virus to be chikungunya ks, although about half of scientists because Enbrel’s - the first localised transmis- sufferers experience discomadditional iD fort intruSculpt the extremities lasting recorded treatments in Spain. loving their by BPThad almost run outbut sion patent months. may The be required forsister optimal a separate study woman's andresults. nie- In – suggesting the decision runners and yoga enthusiasts sculpting There who is nohadvaccine or speresults. individuals the ce also tested positive toofthe was influenced treatment, so topping the list. by the drug’s “TruSculpt iD isis ararely very fatal, procedure,cific 100antiviral percent said virus, which ability to maketomoney. ised, focused on palliating According board- exciting new development in they werecare satisfi would get according to the WHO. The collected fromnon-surgical the pain. certifidata ed was plastic surgeon The Generalitat Valenciabody contouring. it done again and would refer medical Spain's Public Health body is Walter L. insurance Bernacki, claims MD The na received lower abdomenthe andhealth love aalert friend for truSculpt iD. And from of thouto- launch from Spain's Coordination of Ohiohundreds Plastic Surgery in handles can be treated in just a everyone planning felt better in or out an active sands people in the US. singleCenter surveillance plan in primary for Health Alertsofand Central ofOhio, “The newest 15-minute comfortable - their clothes. Pfizer said body the contouring allegationstreatment care centres, and the HospiEmergencies non-surgical session. Our(CCAES), patients unSo, if you’re thinking about tal de are notis‘accurate’ and thathaveder system Cutera’s truSculpt beenthe very Ministry pleased withoftheHealth, looking into a Alicante new kindwill of remain on alertbody to detect possible new its were based onbodylast Thursday. iD decisions that uses radiofrequency sculpting results they can personalized sculpting science and not ‘financial Chikungunya is transmitted (RF) technology to target and achieve with this innovative without cases. resorting to drastic permanently destroy fat in your system,” says Dermatologist measures, find a truSculpt iD trouble spots (think muffin tops Jeffrey S. Dover, MD, FRCPC provider near you by searching and love handles) - in just 15 of Skincare Physicians in https://trusculpt.com/find-acomfortable minutes with no Chestnut Hill, MA. provider. downtime. We have found that By and large, people are the treatment works all skin hen on does worr- Anxiety disorders can be distypes, sizes ying and end physiques, and an tressing and make it difficult anxiety disorder for you to live your life the way including individuals who begin? Anxiety you want. However, there are were previously not considered disorders the most com- effective treatments available candidates forare body contouring mon mental health problem and effective ways to prevent procedures.” in the whole with anxiety. Mental illness is treaWhat’s more, world, truSculpt 1 in of us suffetable and there are lots of ways iDaround produces an 3average fat ring anofanxiety disorder reduction 24 percent, and at to get help. Just come and visit someimprovements point in our are lives. They our psychiatrist for a consultavisible seen beweeks defined as a the disor- tion. in can 6 to 12 following when your anxiety gets Clinica Britannia is a British firstdertreatment. Multiple areas control andsession, starts to medical and dental centre canout be of treated in one affect your life. established in Calpe in 1997. English, German, Russian, French and, of course, Spanish are also fluently spoken by the staff. Visit our clinic for help You can always contact them in and advice. case of emergency 24/7/365. With no waiting lists, Clinica CLINICA BRITANNIA Britannia has at your disposal 16BIS (next to 16) FIRST the best surgeons and anaes- (not Ground) Floor thetists under the supervision Ejercitos Españoles Av of a consultant physician. Tel 965 837 553
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Walter L. Bernacki, MD of Ohio Plastic Surgery in Central Ohio, “The newest non-surgical body contouring system is Cutera’s truSculpt iD that uses radiofrequency (RF) technology to target and permanently destroy fat in your trouble spots (think muffin tops and love handles) - in just 15 comfortable minutes with no downtime. We have found that the treatment works on all skin types, sizes and physiques, including individuals who were previously not considered candidates for body contouring procedures.” What’s more, truSculpt iD produces an average fat reduction of 24 percent, and visible improvements are seen in 6 to 12 weeks following the first treatment. Multiple areas can be treated in one session,
The lower abdomen and love handles can be treated in just a single 15-minute comfortable treatment session. Our patients have been very pleased with the body sculpting results they can achieve with this innovative system,” says Dermatologist Jeffrey S. Dover, MD, FRCPC of Skincare Physicians in Chestnut Hill, MA. By and large, people are
loving their truSculpt iD results. In a separate study of individuals who had the procedure, 100 percent said they were satisfied, would get it done again and would refer a friend for truSculpt iD. And everyone felt better in - or out of - their clothes. So, if you’re thinking about looking into a new kind of personalized body sculpting without resorting to drastic measures, find a truSculpt iD provider near you by searching https://trusculpt.com/find-aprovider.
June 20th - July 3rd 2019
Loraine Gostling has some advice for the Costa Blanca locals as tourists flock for the summer
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ELL, it has been a long time coming eh? It seems like that old devil called summer is about to smack the Costa Blanca with its annual few weeks in the baking spotlight. As many would say, ‘the silly season’ looms and we can probably expect repeats of the moans and groans from many of the hot and bothered, sun-seeking locals, who live in Spain, but who either: 1. Take-off in July for their yearly couple of months in the UK, where they can still sit inside without air conditioning, drink some ‘proper’ beer in a pub with some ‘proper’ grass and head for shoppers’ paradise (or what remains of them in the wake of the Amazon flooding!) OR, 2. Stay in Spain and go into hibernation until early September while the tourists flock in and take up all the car parking spaces; extend the waiting time at the checkouts in Mercadona from 30
COLUMNISTS
Silly season seconds to three minutes; the world, our towns and viinvade the local bar and llages would suffer horribly, (shock-horror) take ‘your’ and in turn, so would we. seat; bump into you on the Yes, we know that there is walk from the car (now par- more noise, rubbish and ked at least a two-minute waiting times but there is walk away) with their blown also far more money going up pink flamingos/crocodi- into the coffers that keep les; and finally...drive at a our local businesses afloat. snail’s pace as they are to- Those who have read my cotally lost or going the wrong lumn before will know that I try to keep way round a things rather roundabout! light-hear ted A good reason It would do all and tongueto moan? in-cheek, but Well actually, us long-term this week, I in my humble residents good would like to opinion, no, be just a little not really, but to ‘be kind to more serious on my Facetourists.’ in the run up book group, it to summer happens year and quote a in, year out. The first ‘damn tourists’ post that a friend of mine post usually appears early made last year on this very July time, whereupon the subject. defence and prosecution “The silly season’ has beteams arrive in full force to gun again, all along the debate the pros and cons of Costa Blanca, and it would the Alien Landings. Perso- do all us long-term resinally speaking, without the dents good to ‘be kind to tourists heading in from in- tourists’. land Spain and the rest of 1. Be patient in traffic.
By Loraine Gostling
BEDLAM: Beaches are best avoided in favour of the beautiful villages and towns found inland
Tourists are often driving unfamiliar cars and don’t know the area, the traffic rules and in some cases are driving on a completely different side of the road. 2. Be friendly. If you see someone struggling to find the cereal aisle in the markets/wanting their photo taken/have a child who’s having a meltdown, at least smile and maybe offer to help. 3. Keep your cool. Yes, your favourite beac h/restaurant/ cafe is very busy, noisy and maybe overrun with small
children or inebriates. Don’t let it get to you, it’s only for a few months and your favourite oasis will soon return to normal. 4. Remember this Is their holiday. Tourists might have two weeks or only a few days to enjoy this beautiful place, they want it to be special/ memorable/fun. I’d really like to see other positive suggestions for how we can ‘stop moaning and learn to love the tourists’. And my advice to the vocal locals?
OP Puzzle solutions
Quick Crossword
Across: 6 Alpha, 8 Litter, 9 Finn, 10 Soulless, 11 Unfair, 13 Atoms, 15 Bah, 17 Glory, 18 Exodus, 20 Lengthen, 22 Rite, 23 Uranus, 24 Alibi. Down: 1 Rational, 2 Upon, 3 Aloud, 4 Stiletto, 5 Eels, 7 Absorb, 12 Arrogant, 14 Mountain, 16 Hernia, 19 Those, 21 Ears, 22 Rein.
SUDOKU
30
GetTING ConnectED
Don’t go to the beaches during July and August...head inland and support the local businesses that do not see so much of the holiday season money. There are some beautiful towns and villages which are so close to the coast and have much more to offer than sand and cocktails. Explore the caves, waterfalls and just the sheer quaintness of the inland gems. Even travelling just half an hour by car, you will find places where the food is delicious, the wine is equally as good and both are probably half the price of the packed chiringuitos! Finally, for any tourists reading this, we are a friendly lot of ‘Costanatives’, really, so give us a wave when you see us. You will find us all in the supermarkets at 9:27pm, on the beaches at 4am, lurking in bushes with large pins to deflate those flamingos, and travelling from gas station to gas station emptying the freezers of ice stocks, but mainly you will see us all with our parasols, bodega-crawling in the Jalon Valley. If only we could harness the forthcoming rays and bottle them up in storage for next February when we moan how dead the bars are and how bloody cold it is! 6 9 5 7 4 2 8 3 1
1 7 3 9 5 8 6 4 2
2 8 4 1 3 6 5 7 9
7 2 8 4 6 9 1 5 3
3 5 9 2 1 7 4 8 6
4 6 1 5 8 3 2 9 7
9 1 6 8 7 4 3 2 5
8 3 2 6 9 5 7 1 4
5 4 7 3 2 1 9 6 8
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SPORT WINNERS: Canada
Yes we Canada THE NBA has been won for the first time by a Canadian team, with the help of a trio of Spanish stars. New champions Toronto Raptors, have in their team, Spaniards Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, and assistant coach, and Spain national coach, the Italian Sergio Scariolo. Raptors beat the two-time reigning champions Golden State 144-110, to lift the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. The club, which is just 24 years old, also became the first Canadaian side in any sport to bring a major trophy to the city and country since the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team in 1993.
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Golden oldie Chris Froome could be crowned Vuelta a Espana champion from his hospital bed
BRITISH cyclist Chris Froome is in line for the 2011 Vuelta a Espana title after its winner has been caught doping. Spanish rider Juan Jose Cobo was stripped of his title by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) after abnormalities in his biological passport were found. Froome finished second in the race, eight years ago, meaning the 34-year-old may now be retrospectively awarded the victory.
MAESTRO: Sergio Garcia
Master class
It would also go down in history as Britain’s first Grand Tour win, as Froome’s victory would be prior to Bradley Wiggins lifting the Tour de France trophy in 2012. It comes after Froome recently underwent an eight-hour surgery following a horror
League of Spies LA Liga has been fined after the league's official phone app was discovered to have used popular phone app to eavesdrop on illegal match broadcasts. Recordings would be secretly compiled and then cross checked using the devices’ geolocation to determine if the venue hadn't paid to screen the game.
Spain’s data protection agency has hit La Liga with a €250,000 fine and called the ‘spy’ app ‘very serious breach of transparency.’ The official match-following app has been downloaded by more than 4 million fans, who were not informed it could remotely activate their device’s microphone.
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June 20th - July 3rd 2019
national titles to his name, including the Zurich Classic. A big crop of British talent is also among the 144 golfers teeing off on Spain’s most famous course for the €3 million prize. From England, come 2015 British Masters champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and 2018 Hong Kong Open-winner Aaron Rai, while Scotland sends Richie Ramsay, the first Brit to win the U.S. Amateur for almost a century. Tickets are €18 for adults and €7 for young fans and can be bought from www.andaluciavalderramamasters.com. There will be plenty of sun with highs in the late 20s currently forecast for the tournament from June 27 to 30. PITCH PERFECT: Valderrama
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crash that leaves him out of this year’s Tour de France. Team Ineos, which rebranded from Team Sky this year, confirmed its rider suffered a fractured right femur, broken hip, fractured elbow, fractured ribs and lost consciousness during the Criterium du Dauphine race. The four-time Tour de France champion was travelling at 37mph and hit the deck whilst attempting to blow his nose in high winds outside the town of Roanne. His team have now said a sixhour operation was a ‘success’ and that they are ‘very happy with his progress’. Meanwhile, 38-year-old Cobo, who doped between 2009 and 2011, could now appeal the UCI’s decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
SPAIN’S Sergio Garcia will bid for a hat trick of back-toback wins in Andalucia as the Masters lineup has been announced. The 39-year-old world number 30 won the Andalucia Masters, held at Real Club Valderrama in 2011, 2017 and 2018. Standing in his way of a consecutive triple, is his countryman Jon Rahm, the world number 11, who has six inter-
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Money for nothing AN octogenarian who lost €300 at a supermarket in Gandia tried to recover the money by faking a robbery at her apartment block. The plan was foiled when ambulance staff found ‘no injuries’.
FINAL WORDS
Hot dogs POLICIA Nacional have denied responsibility for a viral message claiming that smashing a car window to save a dog will not result in criminal charges. A spokesperson urged people to instead call 091 to save animals stuck in cars in the summer heat.
Flop A BRITISH holidaymaker tried to claim back a €37,000 hospital bill from his hotel in Magaluf by saying he had slipped by their pool. The claim failed when the hospital’s insurance agency found a viral video showing the man attempting to jump from a stairwell into a tree, before breaking his collarbone and ribs.
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Still loading… Brit fuming as new Bentley is towed away in Spain thanks to slow government database A BRITISH driver has been left furious after his new UK-plated Bentley was towed away by six police officers in Spain because of a slow online database. The officers in Benidorm
EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt
took the car away after they checked a UK Government website and could not find evidence that Dave McQueen
Toast!
TWO brothers have been arrested after trying to nick 11 champagne bottles from a supermarket. The Romanian pair, aged 41 and 42, attempted to hide the bottles in a cycling suit worn by one of the men under a jacket. The men thought they had gotten away with it after removing the security tags from each bottle before stu-
ffing them down the cycling top. However they were being watched all along on video surveillance cameras by security guards.
&
BENT COPS: Took McQueen’s supercar had paid UK tax, instead be- supercar ‘did not fit onto’ a lieving the twin-turbo Conti- tow-truck, and so two police nental GT ‘was stolen’. cars and six officers stopped McQueen explained to poli- traffic to escort him through ce that the website states it Benidorm. can take ‘five working days’ The next day his solicitor reto update, and vowed that he trieved his car ‘without any bought his car ‘just four days charges’. ago’. McQueen later found he was “Surely if the police are going driving home on two flat to check your car they must front tyres, which cost €650 use a better system that to repair and another week doesn’t take five days to up- without his car. date,” McQueen told the Oli- He said he may have been stove Press this week. pped due to his ‘BE04ORM’ He added his twin-turbo numberplate.
WE all remember the flamingos and unicorns of summers gone by. Well this year there's a new inflatable hero - a huge blowup speedboat capable of holding six people. Available on Amazon, the must-have item comes complete with a drinks cooler and will no doubt make you the envy of the seas. It's not the cheapest of lilos coming in at around €300 online, but can you really put a price on looking this cool?
Ball buster A RECEIPT from a Spanish bar has gone viral for billing a customer €10 for ‘taking the piss’. The bizarre surcharge appeared on a bill from Bar Eguzki, in the Basque Country, alongside charges for various wines. Tocar los cojones means ‘to touch the testicles’ and roughly translates as ‘taking the piss’ in English. Waitress Anka told Espejo Publico the customer was a ‘joker’ and ‘always messing’ with her.
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