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Mijas Costa
A Estepona KIN A D OF MAGIC ll about
April 2019
Estepona has managed to avoid the mass market tourism of the rest of the Costa del Sol, writes Charlie Smith
in her hands A WOMAN holding the world sea. above the blue Mediterranean Estepona and This is a fitting image for latest mural. is the subject of the town’s 49th work in the Called Atlantis, it is the art, located up town’s series of street de los Reales, the steep hill of Avenida views down to which offers unparalleled the sea (see page 20). Jose Fernandez But this new painting by Women’s Rios, unveiled on International a celebration Day, reveals more than just to society. of female contributions evolving natuIt captures the constantly global re of Estepona and its impressive a medium-sicredentials, despite being zed town. series alone, Within Estepona’s mural mural in you have the largest vertical braille mural Europe, and even the first pieces, to assist in Spain, using ceramic impaired. the learning of the visuallyunusual exammost the of Perhaps one appeal is ples of Estepona’s worldwide area in the earDisney’s discovery of the
Photo by Jon Clarke
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Vol. 13 Issue 316
Vol. 13 Issue 316 www.theolivepress.es April 24th - May 7th 2019
Continues on Page
18
A town in bloom... Estepona special inside
Shop horror
We’re here to stay! HUNDREDS of new British residents have registered to live in southern Spain. The number of registered UK nationals in Malaga has zoomed up despite the spectre of Brexit. A sizeable 600 more people were registered at the end of last year compared to 2017. And the numbers are expected to have risen further over the last quarter, believe experts. “I think many people are worried, so that has increased registrations,” Anne Hernandez, president of national support group Brexpats in Spain told the Olive Press. “And a lot of Brits are currently moving to Spain, because they don’t want to leave their dream move any longer. “Some of them just say they ‘want to escape the UK’.”
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MÁLAGA 29680 ESTEPONA, CALLE CARIDAD, 46,
CRIME SPREE: At La Cala supermarket
Expats demand action after spate of robberies at Mercadona
Continues on Page 4
Opinion Page 6
SPAIN’S biggest supermarket chain has refused to up its security despite a string of British expats claiming they were robbed at one of its stores. It comes after half a dozen British shoppers told the Olive Press how
My Brexit vision The Olive Press meets British art genius Mat Collishaw at his new exhibition Brexit brushstrokes, Page 14
EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore
they had fallen prey to brazen thieves in the La Cala de Mijas branch of Mercadona. The group, who are appealing for action, warned that the same problem is occuring at various other branches of the store along the coast. One expat, Dee March, 55, from Portsmouth, claimed she was robbed a shocking TWO times in 10 days at the same branch. The mother-of-three, who lives near to the store, lost hundreds of euros alongside ‘priceless’ mementos of her dead daughter. “I was so upset yet they didn’t even take me to an office or offer to call the police,” she said.
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GATES OF HELL: Mat’s Madrid show has parallels with Brexit
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“The female manager simply couldn’t care less. I was appalled.” “The thieves took my purse with €180 and all my credit cards the first time and €30 the second time, as well as priceless mementos from my daughter who passed away three years ago. “One was a card from her funeral which I can never replace, it’s terrible.” She insists the supermarket should now erect barriers at tills, introduce more cameras and hire more security guards to deal with the problem. Another victim, 64, who has lived in Spain since 1972, added: “I was targeted in the same shop when two women stole a purse and my mobile phone. “I realised instantly what had happened and ran to an assistant who called a coBASED lleague for help. He watched two women stroll out of the shop and said it was them, but made no effort to stop them.
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“By the time I had gone out they had jumped into a waiting car and been driven off.” Another Brit, Laureen Pye, who splits her time between Mijas and the UK, said she was targeted in November last year. “My purse was tucked in right at the bottom of my bag,” said Pye, who works at the Lions Club charity shop. Finally a fourth victim revealed she was robbed at the same supermarket by two eastern European men while a third distracted her by asking her about ‘the sugar levels in the bread’. “I never take my bag into any store now, everything I need is in my pockets,” she said. Meanwhile, Teresa Jane Sykes, revealed she had been robbed at a Mercadona store in nearby Coin. But when she asked for the store for CCTV footage, it was refused, despite insisting she would be able to identify the assailant.
CCTV
“Even the Guardia Civil in Coin refused to let me see the CCTV. And Mercadona wouldn't look at the CCTV without police authorisation.” Despite the complaints, a spokesman for Mercadona insisted that current measures are sufficient. He added that the company would not be introducing more cameras, erecting barriers at tills or hiring security guards. “When we get a report of a theft we hand over CCTV to police to deal with,” he added. Dee March meanwhile has decided to vote with her feet and will shop elsewhere from now on. “I’m now going to Lidl and Carrefour, which are no dearer in any case, and with much better security,” she added. Have you been a victim at Mercadona? Contact newsdesk@ theolivepress.es Opinion Page 6
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