Olive Press Newspaper – Issue 231 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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EXCLUSIVE: Peter Hain buys stunning Estepona villa

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Mega-fusion January 20th - February

6th 2016

PAGE 19

Buying

‘‘

A very interesting fusion of two famous brands.

“

PAGE 16

“

It is surely win win for the coast.

“

of the most exT is set to become one projects in clusive golf development Europe. ValderraThe purchase of emblematic development ma golf course by Marbella the fusing of two company Zagaleta is prestigious Spanish giants. in 200 hectA new megaproject, taking near the faares of rolling virgin hillside, perfect sign that mous golf course, is the is truly ﬂourthe Spanish property market ishing again. is Spain’s Zagaleta, just outside Marbella, development, most luxurious residential and the mayor of counting Hugh Grant while SoMoscow among its residents,hosted the togrande-based Valderrama as the now de1997 Ryder Cup as well Who bagged top funct Volvo Masters. Limited, based in Zagaleta prize at the World Developers the Valderrama London, have purchased course, as well Travel Awards? group, including the golf Castellar as the new land in neighbouring municipality. to be worth €40 In an exciting deal, saidbecome the new million, Zagaleta has Golf Club, until at landlord of Valderrama least 2050. is to invest Alongside the deal, Zagaleta creating a new a further €200 million 2 - with a complex - dubbed Valderamma course, hotel and second championship high-end housing. of Holmes Local agent Ben Bateman, deal as ‘a very Sotogrande described thefamous brands.’ Who bagged top interesting fusion of two about the sale who has known prize at the World The agent,time and even shown potential for some “The added: Awards? Travel clients around the course, integral here, and quality of Zagaleta is of Sotogrande given the new ownership

PAGE 15

in Spain?

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Spain’s property comeback continues as 240m mega-fusion sees Zagaleta buy the Valderrama group, writes Iona Napier

PAGE 15

Who bagged top prize at the World Travel Awards?

Buying or selling property

for the whole itself, it’s very exciting news area.” of Terra MeFellow agent Adam Nealewin win for the ridiana added: “It is surely coast. a whole new net“You are going to get looking there.” work of high-end clients factor in the Security is set to be a major

of construcdevelopment, while quality tion will also be paramount.near Marbella, At Zagaleta, in Benahavis, from around €3 homes currently start

million. once owned An incredibly secretive place, its ownby arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, Rod Stewart ers are said to have included

of Russia. and even President Putin over the next deThe project will unfold group has excade, and La Zagaleta to collaborate with pressed its willingness to preserve the the Real Club Valderrama, the brand has privacy and exclusivity that to become a Eubuilt up over many years ropean landmark.

Spain? or selling property in

Enjoy bank beating exchange rates.

if HiFX could save Put us to the test. See you time and money. by the Financial Europe Limited is authorised services. HiFX Europe Limited. HiFX for the provision of payment en España is a branch of 2009, registration 462444, HiFX Europe Limited Sucursal the Payment Services Regulations Conduct Authority under

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Vol. 10 Issue 231

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January 20th - February 2nd 2016

Mix & Match

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Holland & Barrett Andalucía

Progress! Three more bent mayors in prison and a black MP in Spain at last

THE boyfriend of missing expat Lisa Brown is set to return to Spain to be questioned by police. Liverpudlian Simon Corner will fly into Malaga this week to ‘clear his name’. Corner - aka Dean Woods sparked suspicion after fleeing Spain days after Lisa’s disappearance in November. Olive Press sources have claimed he is either in Thailand or Portugal and that he is being sought by a number of local criminal gangs.

Three’s a crowd - Page 9

Colour blind - Page 6

PLEASE OWN UP

Officer hospitalised in border bust-up THE Chief Minister of Gibraltar has slammed a dozen Spaniards who left a customs officer in hospital after a border bust-up. An investigation is now underway after the men attacked three officers who confronted them attempting to smuggle a large consignment of tobacco across the border fence. The group reigned punches and threw stones at the officers having jumped the fence in the melee on Monday night. One officer was treated in hospital for broken ribs, while a police car was also damaged. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo described the incident as ‘deeply regrettable’.

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Expat fights for compensation after simple operation left her ‘paralysed’

STILL LIMPING: Emmett

A BRITISH expat is taking legal action against a hospital after a routine operation left her partially paralysed. Grandmother Carolyn Emmett was left with no movement in her left leg after an operation on her right femur went badly wrong, in December 2013. Two years after the procedure at Xanit International Hospital, in Benalmadena, the 61-year-old is still forced to walk with a stick and suffers from depression. “It has been a total nightmare. After the operation I suffered indescribable pain and had no movement in my left leg,” Emmett told the Olive Press. “I couldn’t walk for two months, drive for nine months and have still not had an apology from the hospital.”

EXCLUSIVE By Iona Napier The Ronda-based image consultant is now set to sue the hospital for failing to accept any responsibility for the injury. A neurologist’s report appears to back her view that the ‘accident’ occurred after she was administered an epidural without her knowledge. The report also states that Emmett suffered damage in the peroneal nerve, which she believes was due to metal leg supports used during the operation. The hospital has never accepted responsibility, despite the anaesthetist who administered the epidural personally transferring money to Emmett to make up for it.

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HAPPIER TIMES: Before op In total, she received €1,200 from his personal bank account, while he also part-funded her rehabilitation, paying €900 for ‘hyperbaric chamber therapy’. Indeed, the anaesthetist’s lawyer and insurance company have agreed to take 50% of the liability if Hospital Xanit accepts the other half. But the hospital insists Emmett’s predicament came about as a result of a ‘previous bone marrow injury’, a claim she strenuously denies. “It is completely untrue. I have never had such an injury,” added Emmett, from Stratford-upon-Avon. “I feel frustrated, but most of all annoyed, because the hospital continually ignores my claims. “Why, if the anaesthetist feels sorry, am I being ignored? It feels like the hospital keeps turning me down as a matter of course. “I am only asking for €10,000 which I have spent on treatment and need moving forwards,” she added. Emmett, who moved to Montejaque, near Ronda, five years ago with her husband, Kevin, 65, had to live in rental accommodation for six weeks after the operation. She claims she is still spending €300 per month on medicine alone and suffers from bouts of depression as a result. Xanit hospital refused to answer Olive Press questions, claiming ‘data protection laws’ prevented them from commenting.

Opinion Page 6 OLIVE PRESS – 70mm x 40mm FRONT COVER

20th January

CRIME NEWS

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Basil’s brush with law HE is the missing link from what has been described as the ‘heist of the century’. Known as ‘Basil’, he is the last of the gang behind the €31 million London Hatton Garden robbery to be apprehended. While six gang members are awaiting trial for the infamous heist last year, one of the so-called masterminds, has fled abroad. Police have now revealed they believe Basil, who has red hair, is hiding out on the Costa del Sol, where the ageing gang had planned to move. However, investigators admit they have little other information about ‘Basil’.

Cold blooded murder AN ICE cream shop manager has been jailed for killing a 62-year-old man and stashing him in the Sevilla shop’s freezer. The 44-year-old woman hit her victim over the head with an umbrella before strangling him. She arrived in court with heavy bruising around her eye, and claimed she ‘remembered nothing’ of the event because she ‘had been drunk’.

Expat couple slept with dead son for month AN AMERICAN couple have been arrested after police found the decomposing body of their seven-year-old son in their home. The couple, from Michigan, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter after the boy, who had asthma, allegedly died from respiratory failure. It is believed the family, based in Girona, were unable to come to terms with his death and slept on mattresses next to his body for up to a month, along with their two other children, 14 and 12.

January 20th - February 6th 2016

In ‘wrong place at wrong time’ A BRITISH expat accused of being the lynchpin behind the biggest onshore seizure of drugs for nearly two decades was simply in ‘the wrong place at the wrong time’. Sources close to the businessman, 41, insisted he was nowhere near a Galicia hotel at the time he is alleged to have negotiated the delivery of 3,000kg of cocaine to the Costa del Sol.

The man, who we are not naming for legal reasons, was arrested during a police raid on a bar in Marbella alongside the two suspected Dutch suppliers, as part of ‘Operation Sweet’. However, sources close to the alleged gang leader, now awaiting trial in Alhaurin prison, claim he just happened to be drinking in the bar at the time. In total, nine people have been arrested, includ-

ing two Spaniards responsible for transporting the drugs across the country in December. Police intercepted the first delivery in a van carrying 700kg of cocaine - the largest onshore seizure since 1999 - with the rest found in a warehouse near Santiago de Compostela. The Briton, who has a wife and young child, is alleged to have paid €500,000 at one meeting in a Santiago hotel.

Conman Nigel Goldman under house arrest and must wear electronic tag

By Joe Duggan COSTA del Sol conman Nigel Goldman has been handed a 12-month suspended sentence and placed under house curfew. Goldman - aka Howard del Monte - cannot leave his home after 8pm and will also have to wear an electronic tag, after being sentenced at Reading Crown Court on two counts of fraud. While describing him as a ‘completely dishonest character’, the judge took pity on the ageing conman, 58, and didn’t send him to prison after he presented medical evidence claiming to be suffering from diabetes, lymphedema and depression. However, under the sentence, which has been suspended for 15 months, he has to make a schedule of his assets to repay his UK

Tagged and bagged

victims and has been forced to surrender his passport. Now living in Notrees care home for the elderly in Kintbury, Berkshire, he needs ‘to have his leg drained’ twice a day and is living under the watchful eye of the local police.

The conman - who is wanted in Spain for defrauding over a dozen expats - was found to have stolen over €10,000 in an online eBay scam. One of the victims described the sentence as ‘far too light’ to stop him from committing further

HIGH LIFE: Goldman with James Hewitt crimes. “He is a disgusting character, who is not a great advert for a

life of crime,” the victim told the Olive Press. He added: ‘That said, he is finished now. He is coming up to 60 years old and will never be able to commit another fraud. a year in a case brought by HM Cus“The authorities toms and Excise. and myself are On getting out he launched a coin busikeeping a very ness and sold the dream to investors close eye on him.” using age-old high pressure sales techGoldman meanniques and dodgy funds. while failed to He was making €1,000s a week, travelattend an ‘invesling the world first class and eating caviar tigation hearing’ with high-class escorts. in Marbella on But the high-flying lifestyle didn’t last forevJanuary 5 over er, and he was jailed for six years in 1996 a massive Ponzifor ‘deliberately defrauding investors of type scheme he massive sums of money’. investigators off the scent. On release three years later, he headed to He got back to ‘work’, selling rare gold ran in Spain. the Costa del Sol (where else?) and was coins through eBay which - of course - He is now likely to face an arrest soon back in business, with sidekick lover never arrived. warrant, after Suzanne Couling. But his victims weren’t fooled. Thankfully, dozens of expats Again he played a dangerous game invest- a quick online search took them to our aring dozens of victims’ money in risky coin ticle exposing his attempt to disguise his lost up to €3 miland stamp deals to fund his footloose and criminal past and then they went straight lion in a series of elaborate investlurid lifestyle. to the police. Snaring them, via a string of methods, he 18 months later, Goldman was in court ment scams. The hearing was pretended to be a reformed character and charged with fraud. Sound familiar? spent time hob-nobbing with the likes of Now victims in Spain will be hoping that rapidly organJames Hewitt and Anthony Worrall Thomp- justice finally prevails and he is forced to ised after Spanish website El son. attend trial and give back up to €3milBut, almost inevitably he cut corners, sy- lion that disappeared into the pot of a C o n f i d e n c i a l phoning money into side deals in Morocco degenerate crook, who despite being poured scorn on how it could have and throwing it down at gaming tables. born with a silver spoon in his mouth And in December 2013 he fled, first to Mo- preferred to crawl the gutter with cock- taken over two years to even get rocco, then finally the small English village roaches. an initial hearing of Kintbury, where he changed his name for the victims. by deed poll to Howard del Monte to throw Opinion Page 6

What glitters is not Goldman...

HE son of a dentist, Nigel Goldman was educated at private Carmel College. But he was ultimately more interested in coins and gambling than studying, and it paid off...at first, at least! By his early 20s, Goldman was living in a luxury Birmingham hotel and driving a green Porsche, after making €12,000 at roulette. “I’m making a good living. I’m dressing well. I’m drinking well. I’m screwing well,” he wrote in a book about his life, High Stakes. But his brazen approach to business LIFE OF CRIME: Goldman didn’t go unnoticed, and in 1980 Goldin school, (below) making man was fined €80,000 for tax fraud. money and (right) with He escaped prison and fled to Los AngeWorrall Thompson les. He was soon making big bucks and bedding ‘blonde bombshells’ by the night (he claimed). But, surprise surprise, after just a couple of years he once again found himself fleeing a dodgy financial mess. Back in the UK and up to his old tricks, in 1986 the arrogant Lamborghini-driving conman was jailed for

NEWS

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January 20th - February 6th 2016

The man who sold the wine

Marriage SOS! THEY were the biggest celebrity couple to move to the Costa del Sol in years. But now Jessica Knowles will be left doing her own DIY after splitting from her BBC presenter husband Nick Knowles (both above). The couple have announced their separation after just three years of marriage. It comes after the DIY SOS presenter, 53, moved to a five-bedroom home in Sotogrande with his 28-year-old wife Jessica and their baby Edwin, in May last year. Making the snap decision based on his health, following a burst artery due to stress, things have clearly not been all plain sailing. “It is with sadness that we announce we are separating,” read a statement. “Our focus continues to be the happiness of our son Eddie,” they added.

HE was the man who sold the world, but now David Bowie’s memory is selling a Spanish wine. The rock star, who died on January 11 after an 18-month battle with cancer, designed a wine bottle label in 2013 as part of a charity project for Valencia’s largest bodega, Vicente Gandia. Bowie’s bottle of shiraz is now soaring in price as demand explodes following his death. The singer was one of 700 celebrities, including Pierce Brosnan, Charlize Theron and Penelope Cruz, taking part in the Whatever It Takes project to design a symbol of hope. The designs were used to raise more than €450,000 for projects in the Third World.

REFILL, REFILL: Bowie and shiraz

Down Syndrome star’s handwriting honoured

Cruzing with Ron

EXCLUSIVE By Tom Powell AN expat with Down Syndrome has become the unlikely star of an English cathedral. Reuben Coe, the man behind the recently launched Reuben’s World blog, has seen his handwriting used as the font for Norwich’s historic cathedral. Billboards and posters for its new educational programme will all use Reuben’s personal writing style, after it was

STAR: Reuben (left) with brother Manni was flown to Norwich Cathedral spotted on his blog. Torremolinos-based Reuben, 32, moved to Spain from the UK to live with his tour guide brother Manni three years ago. He has since lost weight, gained confidence and fallen

Rock ‘n’ Roll into 2016 Simply Med Brit fest A COSTA del Sol fortress will be holding back the years for Simply Red this summer. Mick Hucknall’s legendary soulsters head to Fuengirola’s Sohail Castle for a spectacular concert on August 18.The land around the 1,000-year-old castle will be transformed, with a giant stage, seating and a VIP area. Fans of the band’s many hits, including Money’s Too Tight t o Mention and Holding Back the Years, will be able to sit on the grassy slopes with the Mediterranean in the background.

MUSIC fans’ summer just hit a sweet note with the announcement of Territorios Sevilla 2016’s first confirmed artists. Liverpool trio The Wombats, whose single Let’s Dance to Joy Division won an NME award in 2008, will headline the event on May 20. Legendary group The Tindersticks is another confirmed act, with lead singer Stuart Staples’ distinctive style drawing comparisons with 60s crooner Scott Walker. Murcia rockers Neuman will also play at the festival, now in its 19th year.

With help from Manni, who runs Toma Tours, he launched the blog last year. The innovative idea to make Reuben’s handwriting a downloadable font (see headline) has proved very popular, picking up admirers overseas. “He is a little star!” comm e n t e d Manni. “His handwriting is carefully BRYAN Adams is crafted and playing a series of captures his concerts in Spain sparkling wit this month. The Caand charm. nadian rock star’s “So we European tour opens thought why in Granada on Janunot make it ary 24.Multi-million available as a selling Adams will font so peoplay further dates in ple can write Madrid, Bilbao and in his style, Barcelona before the filling their end of January. He written work released his most rewith Reuben’s cent album, ‘Get Up’, passion and last October. love.” See reubensworld.com

in love with ‘Spain, the food and the beaches’. So happy was he, in fact, that Reuben decided to start the world’s first blog directly written by someone with Down Syndrome.

Andalucia Adams

THE mercury may be dropping, but Penelope Cruz and Cristiano Ronaldo are sending Spanish temperatures rising. The Oscar-winning actress looked her red-hot best on the cover of February’s Vogue ahead of new film Zoolander 2’s release. And Ronaldo flaunted his abs on the front of GQ as smoking-hot Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio draped herself seductively over the Real Madrid star. Newsagents stocking the magazines may have to install flame-proof shelves this month.

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POLITICS

Just nit-picking A DREADLOCKED politician is refusing to cut his messy mane, despite claims he might be carrying nits. Newly-elected Tenerife MP Alberto Rodriguez sparked controversy when he strolled into Congress on January 13 sporting the unconventional hairstyle. While Prime Minister Rajoy appeared to mock the appearance of the Podemos politician, deputy speaker Celia Villalobos went one step further claiming she might get lice from him. An angry Rodriguez replied:

“There are many people who cannot make ends meet, who will be angry to see [politicians] arguing over superfluous matters rather than policies to improve their lives. “To me it’s just a hairstyle like any other, and I will only cut (the dreadlocks) off when I feel like it.” Rodriguez was just one of Podemos’ many showstoppers in Congress on its opening day. Carolina Bescansa breastfed her newborn baby, while leader Pablo Iglesias gave his customary raised fist salute.

January 20th - February 6th 2016

Anti-corruption party boss faces payment probe

Anything to declare, Pablo? Eye on

CORRUPTIO

PODEMOS leader Pablo Iglesias has laughed off claims that both he and his party received illegal payments from Iran. The anti-corruption radical insisted he would be ‘delighted’ to help a police in-

vestigation, after documents allegedly showed he received €93,000 from Iranian media mogul Mahmoud Alizadeh. In further revelations, it is claimed he failed to declare the income, which was trans-

Deal or no deal PP leader Mariano Rajoy is preparing his party for another general election. With no breakthrough in talks between Rajoy and Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist PSOE, Rajoy is resigned to being unable to form a grand coalition with his main rivals. The PP won 123 seats in December’s election, well short of the 176 required for a parliamentary majority, with the PSOE winning 90 and Podemos 69. “It is very difficult to negotiate with someone who refuses to talk,” said Rajoy of Sanchez. The PSOE leader is believed to favour a coalition of the left, probably involving Podemos and the IU party. Rajoy will attempt to be re-elected as Prime Minister at a vote during Congress’ first investiture session next week. If he is unsuccessful, a second vote will be called and if this fails to yield a winner Spain will be plunged into another general election in May.

Five years on... and yet another ERE judge SPAIN’S biggest political corruption scandal has taken yet another twist with the appointment of a new judge. Five years after the billion euro ERE investigation opened in Andalucia, a new magistrate Alvaro Martin has been brought in to take over the case from Maria Nunez Bolanos. Bolanos - who herself replaced judge Mercedes Alaya on the case in April 2015 - will now concentrate her efforts on the separate bogus training scheme scandal, also involving the Junta. Martin will be in charge of investigating how at least €855

million was used by Junta officials in kickbacks and slush funds over more than a decade. Those accused include former employment minister Javier Guerrero, while ex Junta bosses Manuel Chavez and Jose Antonio Grinan have also been implicated. In total, 51 political figures have been accused of corruption, the largest number of any Spanish political corruption case. Since the investigation was launched in 2010, seven of them have died, including Industry minister Francisco Mencia this month.

ferred through a number of accounts before landing in his personal account. He allegedly earned the funds between 2013 and 2015 for presenting talk show Fort Apache on Hispantv, a Madrid-based channel funded by the Iranian government. El Confidencial claims that inflated invoices for his work were used to disguise party payments from the Iranian regime. Under Spanish law it is illegal for political parties to receive funding from foreign governments. Iglesias is now under investigation by the tax authorities over the alleged failure to declare the income, while he is set to face a grilling over the case in Parliament next week. Among other claims levelled at Iglesias are that he uses a mobile phone to contact party members and journalists registered to Iranian Alizadeh’s company Global Media SL. The leader, whose party won 69 seats in Madrid in the recent elections, insists it is just further attempts by the establishment to smear him and his party prior to a possible pact with PSOE. The right-wing media has consistently tried to expose his party’s links to former Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez. Podemos number three Juan Carlos Monedero was accused of failing to declare €700,000 in earnings from consultancy work in Latin America, however charges were later dropped. Opinion Page 6 Under pressure Page 6

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Runaway teen THE family of a missing 14-year-old Dutch boy believe he could have run away to Spain. Basiel de Gouw (above) from Spanje, Holland, has been missing since January 4. A spokesman for the family said Basiel took toiletries and a Spanish dictionary with him and everything about his disappearance implies he has fled to Spain.

Miscarriage of justice OVER a dozen women have been arrested for claiming they had miscarriages in order to make insurance claims. Police in Almeria claim the women pretended to have lost their unborn babies during minor traffic accidents, when they had in fact undergone medical treatment to induce miscarriage. The ‘Aborto diez’ operation is expected to see further arrests - including those of doctors, who may have been part of the fraud.

January 20th - February 6th 2016

Deaf ears and deckchairs Residents take on hotel turning a quiet urbanisation into a ‘mini-Benidorm’

NOISY: Cancelada hotel and (right) Page

A PETITION has been launched against a noisy hotel that is turning a part of Estepona into a ‘mini Benidorm’. Disgruntled neighbours of

EXCLUSIVE By Rob Horgan the Pierre y Vacances hotel, in Cancelada, claim they are being kept awake at night by

Digging the dirt! UP to a million tonnes of allegedly hazardous waste has been transported from Gibraltar to a landfill site on the Costa del Sol. Spanish green group Verdemar has slammed an agreement between the Junta and Gibraltar, which allows the British enclave to use an unused quarry in Estepona to get rid of waste from construction sites on the Rock. Verdemar spokesman Antonio Munoz has criticised the Junta for making the agreement, while blasting Gibraltar officials for abusing the terms. The agreement allows 500,000 tonnes of hazardous waste - much of it coming from a tunnel being dug under the runway - and 330,100 tonnes of non-hazardous waste to be disposed of.

However Munoz claims that it is not being properly monitored and up to 30 trucks a day are leaving Gibraltar carrying waste with no restrictions or regulations. “There needs to be rigorous scrutiny,” Munoz said. “At the moment there is no form of regulation, the waste is not treated or tested before it is disposed of. “The Junta has no way of knowing what material or how much of it is being transported from Gibraltar.” Munoz’s concerns relate, in particular, to the removal of waste on the eastern side of Gibraltar, including materials removed in the excavation of the airport tunnel. Gibraltar government has so far not commented on the allegations, although sources insisted ‘no rules were being broken’.

late-night entertainment and noisy guests. They claim the Centerparcsowned hotel is allowing music to blare until two in the morning, with noise levels regularly exceeding the 45 decibels permitted by the Junta. Despite repeatedly asking bosses to better soundproof the hotel since it opened in 2014, their requests have fallen on deaf ears. “It has turned a quiet, gated community into a mini-Benidorm,” British resident Mary Page, 71, told the Olive Press. The former labour councillor, added: “I really don’t care what goes on as long as it doesn’t disturb other residents.” The petition, already signed by dozens of neighbours, is set to be submitted to Estepona Town Hall this month. The hotel meanwhile insisted it would ‘endeavour to come to an amicable conclusion with residents’ as soon as possible.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Scandi sale A GROUP of Scandinavian investors are investing €32 million in a lavish four-star, 247-bedroom hotel near Arenas in the Axarquia.

Malaga mess LACK of maintenance and funding are responsible for the death of 28 ancient trees and many species at Malaga’s famous La Concepcion botanical gardens.

Sex pest A RONDA primary school teacher, 45, has been imprisoned for 20 years and fined €30,000 for sexually abusing six underage students.

Bottle kill A BRITISH man has died after being stabbed with a broken bottle in Orihuela Costa, Alicante. Four Brits have been arrested in connection.

Starck mill

CHANGES to a town planning agreement could see the construction of an oil mill in Ronda designed by French designer Philippe Starck.

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OPINION Time to heal IT was a living nightmare for expat Carolyn Emmett when she awoke from a routine operation to find her left leg was paralysed. But her horrific experience has been made even worse with the hospital failing to accept any responsibility, despite its very own anaesthetist doing exactly that. Humans make mistakes and nobody is perfect, so when errors are made, the course of action is simple: Communicate properly, own up if necessary and make amends quickly and fairly. This is the best aid for healing.

Pablo, surely not! HAS Pablo Iglesias really pulled the wool over the eyes of a nation and carried off the greatest sleight of hand in history? As the leader of Europe’s most famous anti-corruption party, allegations that the Podemos boss could himself be corrupt are alarming in the extreme. If true, then it really is a damning blow for his party and a tragedy for a country that so desperately needs heroes - clean heroes - to tackle its biggest problem; corruption from the top down! But let’s be frank. Podemos has faced many a smear tactic since its formation two years ago, so these latest allegations must be taken with a pinch of salt until proven otherwise.

Crime doesn’t pay HE is the very definition of a ‘life of crime’. Nigel Goldman began conning in his early 20s, and no amount of fines and prison sentences have changed him. He once wrote of his younger days: “I’m making a good living. I’m dressing well. I’m drinking well. I’m screwing well.” Now he is 58, living in a care home with a tag on his leg, his passport confiscated and a trial in Spain looming. It’s fair to say his life of crime has NOT paid off. He’s not making a good living, his health is in jeopardy and any friends he once had have totally rejected him. If Goldman’s anything to go by, a life of selfish, arrogant crime certainly doesn’t pay.

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or admin@theolivepress.es or sales@theolivepress.es A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in southern Spain - 200,000 copies distributed monthly (130,000 digitally) with an estimated readership, including the website, of more than 500,000 people a month. Luke Stewart Media S.L - CIF: B91664029 (+34) 951 273 575 Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5 Calle Espinosa 1 Edificio centro comercial El Duque, planta primera, 29692 San Luis de Sabinillas, Manilva Printed by Corporación de Medios de Andalucía S.A. Editor: Jon Clarke jon@theolivepress.es Newsdesk newsdesk@theolivepress.es Tel: (+34) 665 798 618 Tom Powell tom@theolivepress.es Rob Horgan rob@theolivepress.es Iona Napier

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Colour blind

The election of Spain’s first black MP, Rita Bosaho, in December’s general election, was an important landmark. But why are black Spaniards so poorly represented in public life, asks Joe Duggan

MONG the many new benchmarks December’s general election set in Spain was the voting in of the country’s first black MP. Rita Bosaho’s triumph in Alicante as a Podemos candidate was a powerful moment in Spain’s race relations. The 50-yearold Bosaho was born in the former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea, but emigrated at the age of four. The significance of her ascent to Congress was underlined by a statement from Bosaho herself, who described it as ‘a symbol’. ‘Symbols are important in our culture, as was the election of Barack Obama in the USA’, she wrote. For many Spaniards, the comparison with America’s first black president is not misplaced. Lucia Asue Mbomio Rubio, a journalist, TV presenter with TVE and Telemadrid, described Bosaho’s election as ‘a great joy’. “It’s hugely important,” she told the Olive Press. “It shouldn’t be surprising that Bosaho - well-educated with a masters degree - is a deputy in Congress. However, it is not like that, and that is due to the lack of representation of black people in Spain. “I already knew there was a black community in Spain which was hardworking and conscientious - this will hopefully inspire IN THE BAG: Bosaho becomes first black MP other people.” Spain currently has 4,426,811 foreignborn residents, according to the Office Consequently, there is a much higher rep- in 1996 had a foreign population of 15,000 resentation of black and ethnic minority – around 0.4% of the total – most of whom for National Statistics (INE), 10.5% of (BME) figures in British politics (fol- were European. By 2003, that number had Spain’s 46,423,064 population. lowing the 2015 election, there risen to 440,000 or 9% – most of them Although there are no official figare 41 BME MPs in the UK). from outside Europe. ures for the number of black In contrast, Spain’s immigrant But black politicians are conspicuous by Spaniards, campaign group communities only started to their absence in Spanish society. Alto Consejo de la Comunidad expand in the early 1990s Consuelo Cruz Arboleda is one of the few Negra en España (ACCNE) as the country’s economy prominent black figures in Spanish politics. puts the number at between boomed. Up until the mid- Colombian-born Cruz is head of the PSOE700,000 and 1,600,000. 1980s, the racial makeup affiliated Grupo Federal Afrosocialista, So why are black people was still largely the same which campaigns for more black represenso massively under-repas it had been for the last tation in politics. She believes her organisaresented in public office? 500 years. The only immi- tion has helped pave the path for Bosaho’s Mass immigration into grant community of note election. Spain is certainly a relawere sub-Saharan Africans “I feel that in some way we opened a path tively new phenomenon. brought to work on farms of inclusion,” she tells the Olive Press. During the 1960s and around Maresme, near “This has been a fight by the Grupo Federal 1970s under Franco, it Barcelona. Afrosocialista PSOE that started 10 years was more often the opIn 1991,there were ap- ago. One of our principal objectives is the posite, with Spaniards proximately 360,655 visibility of the collective in institutions departing for England, foreigners living in where decisions are made.” Germany, Switzerland or Spain – just 0.91% of Of course, there is a widely-held belief France to find work. the population. The that Spain suffers more than many counIn the UK, West Indian huge growth in im- tries from racism. Political correctness is communities are far migrant numbers certainly something that many Spaniards more established folduring the 90s was have a loose regard for. The still-used term lowing the arrival of the most starkly illus- ‘trabajando como un negro’ (‘Working like ‘Windrush generation’ trated in the Valen- a black person’) would certainly not be acwhich began en masse cia region, which ceptable in the UK. The blacking-up ‘tradiafter World War Two. PROMINENT FIGURE: Cruz

Under pressure

Pablo Iglesias’ reputation at stake after damaging allegations

ODEMOS leader Pablo Iglesias’ may spend his debut debate in Congress defending himself. The allegations, outlined in a police investigation, purportedly conclude he received millions of euros from Iran in payments made through thirdparty countries. The explosive charges were revealed last week by the news portal El Confidencial, which published parts of the report compiled by the Spanish National Police Economic and Financial Crimes Unit (UDEF) last November. The findings have allegedly been turned over to prosecutors to determine whether charges should be brought against Iglesias and others in Podemos. Even though Iglesias may enjoy parliamentary immunity, the seriousness of the

alleged crimes – dealing with the Iranian government while international sanctions were still in place – could lead to wider implications. Spain’s Law of Parties, introduced to keep radical proBasque independence groups, such as Batasuna, from being legalised, specifically demands that all political organisations that want to register as legal groupi n g s m u s t show t h e y have no con-

nections to terrorism activities. Iran had been on international lists as one of the countries that sponsored terrorism. According to the scheme, Iran, with the help of Venezuela, set up HispanTV – a Spanish-language news network in Latin America. Iglesias had been invited to conduct a series of programmes. The money he received, an alleged €13 million, was transferred to him in Spain via thirdparty countries.Iran reportedly used HispanTV to help up-andcoming leftist groups such as Podemos to fnance their

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FEATURE

MADRIDS MATTER

c a m paigns, El Confidencial reported. The information was passed along to Spanish authorities by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Iglesias has not publicly responded to the charges, but the leaders of the PP, PSOE and Ciudadanos have said that he will have to answer to the allegations in Congress when it holds its first debates. Still in its infant stages, the investigation has scared off many inside the Socialist Party from joining any pacts with Podemos. Iglesias’ anti-austerity grouping has made certain offers in the past few days to Pedro Sánchez, who is under pressure himself to stay away from Podemos. But the ball is in his court.

FEATURE

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FIRST DAY: Bosaho takes seat at Congress’ opening session while (right) Lucia and (inset) Naomi Campbell

Number of black & ethnic minority MPs by country

UK: 41 tion’ during the annual Three Kings procession - recently banned by the Madrid council - is another affront to black and white race relations. At a fair in Arriate last summer, a sign on a ride read: “It makes me feel black,” by a picture of Naomi Campbell. Professor Sebastian Balfour from the London School Of Economics’ Canada Blanch Centre of Spanish studies believes this casual racism is ‘part of a wider structural problem’ in Spain. “There is of course racism in Spain, but there is also a more widespread and latent prejudice against blacks in general,” he tells the Olive Press. “Hence the enormous significance of Rita Bosaho’s election. In the case of blacks, I would suggest there is a residue of prejudice from colonial times. Also unfamiliarity. “I’m glad Podemos have made public opinion in Spain more aware of the embedded inequalities and prejudice in Spanish life and in particular in its institutions.” However, studies have shown that, overall, racism is diminishing as a cause for concern among Spaniards. In October 2015, the CIS annual poll of Spaniards’ top four worries showed just 0.1% of respondents seeing racism as the country’s fourth most pressing problem. That’s down from 2000 when 1.8% viewed racism as Spain’s second biggest problem. Nevertheless, clear evidence of a problem isn’t hard to find over the years. The booing of black English footballers during a friendly in Madrid 10 years ago was shocking to British audiences. In 1992, the racist murder of Lucrecia Pérez was a brutal rebuttal of Spain’s new forward-looking society. And the day-to-day experiences of Spaniards illustrate the indignities black Spaniards can endure. “Touching my hair in the street without knowing

France Germany 9 2 Italy Spain 1 1

me is a classic,” says Lucia. “Sporadic verbal aggression, not letting me in places like discos ‘for being of colour’. Throwing my food on the floor of a fast-food restaurant and telling me to ‘emigrate to Brazil or Nigeria.’” The lack of black figures in Spanish society to help challenge these prejudices is not limited to politics. Francine Galvez was one of the first black Spaniards to become instantly recognisable to people. In 1990, she became the first black presenter on Television Espanola’s weekend news programme, Telediario. In the music world, flamenco fusion star Buika, who has earned Grammy nominations and international acclaim, is one of the few black artists in a whitedominated field. And while La Liga fans are accustomed to watching black players from around the world, Marcos Senna - who is from Brazil - was one of the few high-profile black Spanish footballers. Prior to Senna’s first international cap in 2006, only three other black footballers had played for Spain. Hannah Soraya, a 20-year-old politics student from Madrid, says she faces ‘agression every day’ due to her colour. She is adamant that the battle to change the status quo needs to be fought first and foremost in the political arena. “Racism and ignorance towards black people in Spain has been rampant for as long as I can remember,” she told the Olive Press. “There’s this notion in Spain that black people are somehow new, that we all come from another country. “Under this view, we’re all immigrants and therefore we have little to say in national politics. We must fight that misconception first.” Rita Bosaho’s entrance into Congress this month is as an historic step in that fight.

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AXARQUIA

Dolphin rescue A STRANDED dolphin has been rescued by marine biologists on Torrox Costa. The eight-year-old creature was spotted beached on the shore by El Morche locals who raised the alert. It was rushed to the marine recovery centre (CREMA) in Malaga, where it will recuperate before being released back to sea.

Tree massacre ECOLOGISTS are slamming ‘irreversible damage’ done by deforestation near Almayate. GENA-Ecologistas en Accion claims a wooded hill, some 241m high, has been destroyed by loggers. The group says the ‘scenic landmark’ has been subject to a ‘brutal clearing operation, despite loggers being first stopped by police five years ago.

JAIL MATES: (From left) Mayors Lopez, Millan and Alba

Three’s a crowd

Third Axarquia mayor put behind bars for property offences A FORMER mayor has become the third in the Axarquia to be jailed for property fraud. Ex-Competa leader Leovigildo Lopez, 72, will join the former mayors of Alcaucin and Vinuela after being handed two years in prison, for approving the construction of an unlicensed warehouse on protected land The judge described Lopez, mayor of Competa for 16 years, as a ‘repeat offender’ having been regularly fined and given suspended sentences for breaching property regulations throughout his political career. He joins ex-mayor of Vinuela Juan Millan and Jose Alba, ex-leader of Alcaucín, in Alhaurin

By Rob Horgan prison. Expat-run campaign group SOHA (Save our homes Axarquia) described the sentence as a ‘further step in the right direction’ towards clearing up the region’s appalling property mess. “This latest sentencing demonstrates a change in attitude to breaches of property law,” a SOHA spokesman told the Olive Press. “It should serve as a warning to all other exmayors that no matter how old their crimes are, they can still be held accountable.”

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Blockhead! Algeciras mayor demands removal of Rock’s environmentally-popular concrete reef as Spanish fisherman is charged with theft of a block

AN artificial reef helping to regenerate vital fish stocks in the Bay of Gibraltar could be forcibly removed by Spain. The line of concrete blocks which aims to stop Spanish fishermen from trawling the area, has been raised in Parliament in Madrid. In his first act as a newly-elected MP, Algeciras mayor Jose Ignacio Landaluce demanded the removal of Gibraltar’s artificial reef, which he insists is located in Spanish waters. The 56-year-old insisted it was harming the local fishing industry, despite the area now ‘exploding with life’ in particular with a huge growth of tuna, bream, octopus and triggerfish. In his first demand since becoming an MP for Cadiz with 172,475 votes, Landaluce insisted he would fight to protect the local fishing fleet. “The colony (Gibraltar) should remove the blocks it threw into waters belonging to Spain,” he reiterated. The 70 concrete blocks dropped in British Gibral-

By Tom Powell

NIGHT-MAYOR: Landaluce tar Territorial Waters in 2013 caused furious protests from Spanish fishermen who claimed the artificial reef was damaging fishing. It led to right-wing group ‘Fundación para la Defensa de la Nación Española’ stealing a concrete block from the reef in June 2014. And now, the former head of a La Linea fishing guild has been charged over his in-

volvement in the theft. Boat owner Leoncio Fernandez, 70, appeared at New Mole House last week following his arrest in October, despite initially claiming he would not bother turning up. “I do not know anything about that block,” he insisted, before contradicting himself and saying: “It is true that I was there, but my boat was not used.” Fernandez’s bail was set at €3,300 and he will attend a hearing in April. Gibraltar’s environment department meanwhile insisted its decision to block the area had been vindicated and that the reef was ‘exploding with life’ in particular with octopuses and triggerfish. The move was part of the UK’s attempt to help bolster fish stocks globally. Landaluce has long been unpopular in Gibraltar because of his repeated comments in the media concerning disputed waters in the Bay of Gibraltar, which he calls the ‘Bay of Algeciras’.

Death on the Rock demand THE father of an IRA member shot dead in Gibraltar is taking legal action to force the UK government to release secret documents on the killings. It comes as fresh controversy has broken out over 1988’s Death on the Rock saga, in which three suspected IRA terrorists were killed by the SAS while walking unarmed. The deaths of Sean Savage, Daniel McCann and Mairead Farrell made headlines after an ITV documentary titled Death on the Rock suggested they were shot unlawfully without warning. The programme, aired a month after the shootings, was slammed by Margaret Thatcher’s government as inaccurate sensationalism at the time. Crucial government files on the case have remained secret despite a new 20-year ruling insisting they had to be released from the UK National Archives this month.

Courts

A cabinet spokesman blamed ‘administrative changes’ as a result of decreasing the classified period from 30 to 20 years for a continuing non-disclosure of some documents. However, many including the father of McCann, believe there may be an ulterior motive for not releasing the files. Mr McCann has written a letter to Secretary of State Theresa Villiers and two other senior cabinet ministers who were government advisors in 1988, demanding to know why these classified documents are being kept secret. The matter now looks to be heading to Belfast’s courts, and solicitor Paddy Murray believes legal action is the ‘only way’ to get disclosure. “I think this is an attempt by this government, which is obsessed with national security, to restrict access of information to families,” he said.

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GREEN NEWS

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It’s all just hot air THE world’s largest manufacturer of hot air balloons has launched an eco-friendly version of their product. Spain-based Ultramagic Balloons, has developed a two-layered, more eco-friendly design to tackle growing criticism of hot air balloons. Standard hot air balloons use up to 1,000 litres of natural gases every hour they are in the air. The new eco-balloon, costing around €100,000, reduces the amount of gas need by half.

‘AntiSemitic’ green ban binned SPAIN’S Supreme Court has issued a landmark ruling in favour of an Israeli university that was banned from a sustainable energy design competition. The court awarded Ariel University €70,000 after finding Spain’s Housing Ministry had acted illegally by excluding the Israeli institution from Solar Decathlon Europe in 2009. The compensation joins a previous €30,000 award in a major blow to Spain’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel.

Tree huggers

Environmentalists fight back as 1,000-year-old olive trees are ripped out of the ground and sold for six-figure sums

By Rob Horgan

Following the leader PASSIONATE ramblers have been marching to save their footpaths in the Serrania de Ronda. Arranged by green group Ecologistas en Accion, dozens of walkers and hikers marched to save 12.5 km of footpaths which the town hall plans to tarmac over. Talks are ongoing between the group and the town hall.

UPROOTED: Hundreds of olive trees

Whales under threat! KILLER whales are at risk of extinction in Europe’s waters. The population of the giant mammal is on the slide in Europe as the continent’s surrounding waters are riddled with poisonous chemicals. Despite being banned decades ago, a new study has found high levels of PCB chemicals are still being pumped into the seas - with the Strait of Gibraltar ‘especially bad’. Zoologists are now calling for tougher

regulations for those found to be disposing of man-made PCBs into the seas. “It’s really looking bleak. We think there is a very high extinction risk for killer whales as a species in industrialised regions of Europe,” Paul Jepson of the Zoological Society of London said. The study sampled killer whale populations off the Strait of Gibraltar, Spain’s Canary Islands, Britain and Ireland.

SALE

HUNDREDS of Spain’s oldest olive trees are being uprooted and sold to foreign buyers. Trees over 1,000 years old are being snapped up by rich investors for garden ornaments in the Middle East, northern Europe and the USA. Environmentalists are now fighting back to keep Andalucia’s oldest olive trees in Spain. With trees selling for as much as €100,000, the Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente Foundation is appealing to the European Parliament (EP) to push through a law change to ban the uprooting and sale of these trees. The group has launched a change. org petition addressed to the EP, which already has over 145,000 signatures. “We must stop this intolerable plundering of our natural and cultural landscape,” a spokesman said. “The business is only going to get bigger, men with big money bags are ruining our heritage.” He added: “The European Parliament must step in to protect these jewels from being ruined.” While no national law currently exists in Spain to protect ageing olive trees, France and Italy have both recently introduced legislation to protect their groves. The Valencian regional government has similarly prohibited the export of trees over 350 years old since 2006.

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The Best of Opera show at Da Brunol features songs from La Traviata, The Barber of Seville and the Marriage of Figaro. For more info call 952 90 33 18 or visit www.dabruno. es

erja, January 23

Flamenco show at Centro Cultural Villa de Nerja by the Antonio de Veronica Company and Sara Cortes. For more info visit www. nerja.es/cultura/villadenerja/

alaga, until February 7

and rollin’

THE Rockin’ Race Jamboree is stepping back in time again with its 50s and 60s-themed Costa del Sol music festival. The 22nd annual celebration of old-school rock and roll is moving this year to Torremolinos’s Auditorio Principe De Asturias from February 4-7. The Kaisers, Bobby Brooks Wilson,The Bellfuries and George Tomsco are among the star acts preparing to get people jiving in the aisles. A Johnny Cash and June Carter cover group, I Walk The Line, will also play over the weekend.

Battle erupts over ‘elitist’ UNESCO World Heritage art plans

A ROW has broken out over access to priceless Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain. The UNESCO World Heritage Altamira caves in Cantabria may soon be open to only the richest art lovers after the regional government proposed an auction system to limit visitors. Currently, five randomly

Miro magic

Free exhibition of the work of young Spanish artists Javier Map and Cristina Ramirez curated by Pedro Alcaron at Galera JM. For more info visit www.galeriajm.com/

A LONDON art gallery is recreating Spanish artist Miro’s Mallorcan studio 60 years after he first set it up. From 1956 until his death in 1983, Miro worked in the purpose-designed space on the Balearic island after moving from Paris. Random objects scattered around his canvasses included a tennis cap, an empty bottle of Cava, matchboxes, copies of the local newspaper and a mummified cat. Miró, who died at the age of 90, worked in ‘a very chaotic place where every single thing had to be in the right place’, said grandson Joan Punyet Miro. The exhibition runs from January 21 to February 12 at the gallery Bowman Sculpture.

alaga, until February 21

Poster exhibition at Museo Carmen Thyssen of work by artists like Jeff Koons and Toulouse Lautrec. For more info visit www.carmenthyssenmalaga.org/en

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chosen people per week are allowed to view the paintings, which date back to 35,000 BC. But local politicians have slammed the proposal to let in the highest bidders, claiming it would be elitist. PP politician José Antonio Lasalle said: “The proposal contravenes the policy of public prices that state museums operate on. In this country, access to culture is the same for everybody.” Francisco Martín, the Cantabria government’s tourism chief, claimed the move would promote Cantabria internationally and ‘wouldn’t affect the weekly lottery of visitors to the site’. The cave paintings, discovered in 1879, were closed to the public in 1977 following concerns over their deterioration. They reopened in 2014 with visitors required to wear special clothing.

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Farewell to charms ORSON Welles hated Ernest Hemingway’s macho interpretation of Spain, a previously unseen 1973 manuscript has revealed. Welles co-wrote the script, Crazy Weather, which features an unflattering bullfighting aficionado character based on Hemingway. “It’s really critical of that type of American aficionado of the bullfighting, seeking ways to display his masculinity,” according to Dr Matthew Asprey Gear, the academic who unearthed the document,.Welles and Hemingway traded blows during the making of film The Spanish Earth, after the author called the director ‘a faggot’.

Graphic growth SPAIN’S top awards ceremony for graphic designers is going global. In its 45th year, the Laus Awards are extending beyond Spain’s borders for the first time in their history. Run by the Association for Graphic Designers and Art Directors, the event has championed emerging Spanish designers for decades. Top international designers Milton Glaser, Bob Gill and Paula Scher will be among those at the ceremony.

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the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

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Sierra Nevada

la cultura

snow report

15 January 20th - February 6th 2016

SETTING AN EXAMPLE: Argentine ants could teach Rajoy, Cameron and Merkel a thing or two

Young guns and old pros Kids hit the slopes before the pros show them how it’s done on World Snow Day MORE than 180 budding Eddie the Eagles, headed down the slopes in the Sierra Nevada last week. As part of World Snow Day, keen young skiers took to the Borreguiles slopes in their droves. From six-12 years of age, the skiers came from wintersport clubs from across the country to show off their skills. Over the weekend, the youngsters watched their heroes compete in the 12th edition of the Maria Jose Rienda trophy. The alpine skiing event which has run in the Sierra Nevada since 2004 counts towards the overall Andalucian alpine skiing championships. The slopes themselves are starting to look white with light snowfall falling intermittently on the pistes. All green and blue runs are currently open in the Borreguiles and Rio zones. Higher pistes remain closed for the time being, although snow is expected in the next fortnight.

HILE the European Union was busy beginning the daunting process of drawing up its constitution in 2002, scientists down the road in Spain were about to discover an incredible super colony of ants. These were two unrelated and disparate events on the surface. However, there are links to be drawn which could go a long way to improving EU relations. The Swiss scientists discovered a ‘supercolony’ of ants that stretches for 6,000 kilometres, mostly along the Iberian coastline. It is populated by hundreds of billions of ants and has been labelled ‘the largest cooperative biological unit’ ever discovered. It is believed that this species of ants (Linepithema humile) was introduced to Europe about 80 years ago on imported plants from Argentina. Over the past few decades, the Argentine ant has dominated over the 20 or so indigenous species on Iberian soil. Argentine ants in their home country are particularly belligerent and will fight rival ants from different colonies to the death. However, Swiss researchers discovered that ants from opposite ends of the colony (often thousands of kilometres apart) did not show aggressive tendencies toward one another. Rather, they recognised themselves as members of the same colony, despite their great distance, dissimilar physical characteristics and different environments. Equally remarkable, this altruistic behavior

Bugs life

The EU could learn a lot from the Iberian peninsula’s smallest residents writes Jack Gaioni

resulted in an extremely high level of social organisation. Visiting ants and established members within the colony collectively searched for food, mated, nurtured their young and assumed complicated hi-

erarchical work tasks. Entomologists offer a few theories for this phenomenon. One explanation is that the entire super colony arose from a very small number of ‘founders’, resulting in the ants acknowledging something inherently common within their DNA. This is known as the ‘kinship selection theory’, whereby altruistic behavior occurs between ‘related’ individuals. A more likely theory is that the Iberian Peninsula is a ‘bonanza habitat’ – the plentiful food and lack of natural enemies precluding the ants’ need to defend territory by fighting unrelated ants. Instead, genes that recognised others as ‘nest mates’ tended not be bellicose but rather devoted their energies to the creation of efficient, highlydeveloped social systems. While Swiss researchers studied the Iberian ant super colony, authors of the European Union’s constitution were imagining a more developed cooperative of vastly diverse peoples. The free movements of citizens, the pooling of natural resources and the creation of efficient political, cultural and economic systems are all stated goals within the European Constitution. Providing for an element of security and territorial cohesion and a type of ‘European interdependency’ are common values sought by the EU. Are these not precisely the very same attributes proven successful by the Iberian ant super colony? Might Eurosceptics and EU supporters alike learn a thing or two from these remarkable insects?

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LETTERS

www.theolivepress.es 16 the Olive Press 16 November 11th - 25th 2015

POTTED POINTERS EMERGENCIES Police 199 Medical service 190 Fire 190 EURO EXCHANGE RATES 1 euro is worth 1.09 American dollars 0.77 British pounds 1.58 Canadian dollars 7.47 Danish kroner 8.42 H Kong dollars 9.60 Norwegian kroner 1.57 Singapore dollars ANDALUCIA RESERVOIR LEVELS This week: 60.70% Same week last year: 77.59% Same week in 2005: 57.44% AIRPORTS Gibraltar 00350 22073026 Granada-Jaen 958 245 200 Jerez - 956 150 000 Malaga - 952 048 844* *For English press 9 Sevilla - 954 449 000

Statuesque I CAN’T believe Estepona splashed out €50,000 on this golden statue. Talk about fools gold! Yes, it may look nice, and my circuit around the roundabout in question becomes momentarily more pleasurable for the two seconds I can look out of my window at it. I could even suggest, however, that a giant gold vanity project is something of a dangerous distraction to drivers as they navigate their way through the busy morning traffic. A much more pressing issue for me in Estepona would be the amount of dog dirt fouling the pavements. Why can’t the mayor of Estepona spend thousands addressing this public nuisance instead of a gold statue? In Percy Shelley’s poem Ozymandias, all that remains of a once mighty pharaoh is a crooked sculpture, laying useless in the sand. Food for thought.

George Evans, Estepona

Cat power AS far as cats are concerned, the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) system really works (British expat banned from feeding stray cats, Issue 214). Cats have lived outdoors near people for more than 10,000 years. They are a natural part of the ecosystem. They survive and thrive in every landscape. For decades, outdoor cats have been caught and killed

January 20th www.theolivepress.es

Barking mad for it!

DEAR OP,

We just wanted to wish you all a very happy new year! Please find attached a recent picture of our 18-year-old rescue dog Fang feeling left out while we were reading your paper so he decided to join in! Despite his advanced dog years, Fang is an avid ‘reader’ of your paper, as we all are. In fact, we would all be barking mad to miss our fortnightly copy of the Olive Press.

Alexandra Warren, Tracie and Fang, Mijas Costa in huge numbers—without success. Catch and kill is not a new idea, it’s inhumane, and it creates a vacuum effect. Populations rebound quickly. TNR is the only option for outdoor cats—it benefits the cats and helps educate communities about compassionate, humane approaches.

Robert Alexander, USA

Winter woes WE live in Spain because the weather is drier, not warmer, in winter. (Expats to lose winter fuel allowance, Issue 180). If we lived in the UK we would be putting a drain on housing benefits as we couldn’t afford to live there. We would be a drain on health care - I got bronchitis twice a year when I was living there. No bus passes are claimed here and there are other benefits we would be entitled to, so we are saving the government money by living here. I suppose it would be easier if,

when you reach a certain age, you just get put in a gas oven. That would save the government a load of money they could use for their pay rises.

Maggie Swaffield, Malaga

Taxing times IT was an interesting and timely article on expats not signing on to the padron (Expat exodus, issue 230). This situation isn’t unique to Andalucia or the Costa del Sol. The stories are rife that many expats are not just trying to stay ‘below the radar’ of the tax authorities however they can, but deliberately restricting their stays in Spain to below 183 days and refusing to renew their registration on the local population registry. So, commerce will suffer greatly. So will the prospects of sales to potential property buyers who might wish to take up residence in Spain and become aware of the tax traps. The real estate industry and other commercial enterprises who rely on expats for their livelihood should all collaborate in encouraging a review of Spain’s 2012 foreignheld assets declaration.

Charles Svoboda, Alicante

Job jump

Awareness is Power Female Empowerment Group Join us Every 1st Saturday of the month from 10:30 to 12:30 To find courage, encouragement and support to step into the life of your dreams

NURSES are still in demand in private practices (Job’s a plenty, issue 230). I personally know two, man and wife, and they have not been out

of work in the decade they’ve both lived here. There is demand in the state sector, but the pay is low of course. Spain’s brain drain is well known. Even though there is demand, it doesn’t mean people will stay in Spain to do the work and who can blame them? Even the minimum wage is 50% of what it is in the UK and many other EU countries. Spain’s employment situation is dire in just about every aspect and Andalucía seems so different to the rest of Spain in so many ways.

Fred Smith, Marbella

Wall of shame MOST readers already know that the ‘wall of silence’ among herdsmen works like the ‘wall of silence’ among other gangs: you talk at your own peril. (Cattle farming row to blame for forest fires in Spain, OP online) Neighbours don’t want trouble with these networks. I was warned by the person who sold me our finca, ‘Because you have planted trees on your land, there is talk of burning you out.’ I responded: ‘Tell them I come from Chicago and have a pistol’. Clearly, the stranglehold on rural land use by herdsmen, especially in Asturias and Galicia, will need to be broken. How long that takes is anyone’s guess. Currently, there are not enough people willing to speak out, so the old ways of bullying persists.

Chas Jones, Asturias

Economic upturn

Come together

SPAIN was on the brink of going the same way as Greece a few years ago and it took some very unpopular economic policies to get it back on the right track (Political chaos continues, Issue 230). Spain’s recovery is still very weak and their unemployment rate is still far too high and yes, there is much more work to do and it is far from perfect. But what was the alternative? If they had taken a different route, they would have gone the same way as Greece and been in an even bigger mess.

Jane Garrett, Axarquia

Good luck

Phone: +34 951 204 306 Email: info@martinawillis.com Find more information at: www.martinawillis.com/femalepower

Each print issue of the Olive Press can be read in its entirety on www.theolivepress.es And our site is updated February 6th 2016 daily with the latest news, making it one of Spain’s most visited news websites.

SPAIN now has Europe’s fastest growing economy. The real estate market has stabilised and is recovering strongly. Spanish banks were rated number one in Europe following the ECB tests. Even ‘official’ unemployment is finally starting to improve, not to mention the ever strong grey labour market. And incredibly, the once humiliated Spain now leads European GDP, surpassing even that of Germany. One can only hope that the unprecedented economic momentum of the last several years from hugely successful policies will be enough to overcome the disastrous consequences of the child-like promises of rainbows and money trees?

Rubicon Cross, Malaga Letters should be emailed to letters@ theolivepress.es. The writer’s name and address should be provided. Opinions are not necessarily those of the Editor.

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October 2015

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A run down of Spain’s top ecofriendly pads

Page 24

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PERFECT MATCH: Zagaleta (top) meets Valderrama (below)

T is set to become one of the most exclusive golf development projects in Europe. The purchase of emblematic Valderrama golf course by Marbella development company Zagaleta is the fusing of two prestigious Spanish giants. A new mega-project, taking in 200 hectares of rolling virgin hillside near the famous golf course, is the perfect sign that the Spanish property market is truly flourishing again. Zagaleta, just outside Marbella, is Spain’s most luxurious residential development, counting Hugh Grant and the mayor of Moscow among its residents, while Sotogrande-based Valderrama hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup as well as the now defunct Volvo Masters. Developers Zagaleta Limited, based in London, have purchased the Valderrama group, including the golf course, as well as the new land in neighbouring Castellar municipality. In an exciting deal, said to be worth €40 million, Zagaleta has become the new landlord of Valderrama Golf Club, until at least 2050. Alongside the deal, Zagaleta is to invest a further €200 million creating a new complex - dubbed Valderamma 2 - with a second championship course, hotel and around 100 high-end properties. Local agent Ben Bateman, of Holmes Sotogrande described the deal as ‘a very interesting fusion of two famous brands.’ The agent, who has known about the sale for some time and even shown potential clients around the course, added: “The quality of Zagaleta is integral here, and given the new ownership of Sotogrande

‘‘

A very interesting fusion of two famous brands.

Ben Bateman, Holmes Sotogrande

“

It is surely win win for the coast.

Adam Neale, Terra Meridiana

“

Page 20

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Olive Press Property Observatory launches

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Spain’s property comeback continues as €240m mega-fusion sees Zagaleta buy the Valderrama group, writes Iona Napier

Page 18

Page 19

Mega-fusion

Mark Stucklin on the year Spain left the crisis behind

Eco triumph for Valdevaqueros beach in Tarifa

January 20th - February 6th 2016

the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

Buying or selling property in Spain?

itself, it’s very exciting news for the whole area.” Fellow agent Adam Neale of Terra Meridiana added: “It is surely win win for the coast. “You are going to get a whole new network of high-end clients looking there.” Security is set to be a major factor in the

development, while quality of construction will also be paramount. At Zagaleta, in Benahavis, near Marbella, homes currently start from around €3 million. An incredibly secretive place, once owned by arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, its owners are said to have included Rod Stewart

and even President Putin of Russia. The project will unfold over the next decade, and La Zagaleta group has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the Real Club Valderrama, to preserve the privacy and exclusivity that the brand has built up over many years to become a European landmark.

Buying or selling property in Spain?

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Property

18 18 the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

Strength to strength UK construction giant Taylor Wimpey sold over 15% more properties in 2015 than the previous year. And of the 270 properties sold in Spain, the average price was €315,000, a big jump up from €250,000 in 2014. “This year should also be another great year,” Ignacio Osle, Taylor Wimpey’s regional director for Andalucia, told the Olive Press.

Beach bid

www.theolivepress.es

January 20thwww.theolivepress.es - February 6th 2016

Leaving the crisis behind

Spanish property pundit Mark Stucklin looks back at 2015 as the year that restarted the country’s property market

ITH one month to go before the full year figures are in, it’s already clear that 2015 was the year the Spanish property market bounced back to life after seven years of crisis. There were 25,979 home sales inscribed in the Property Register in November (not counting subsidised housing), up 15% year-on-year, and much higher than the 4% growth in sales recorded in October, suggesting that the

market expansion is b ack on track for now. On an annualised basis, home sales increased every month in the year to November, with an average monthly growth of 12%, according to figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE). In the first 11 months of the year, there were 293,100 home sales, up 11% on the same period in 2014, when the market bottomed out.

New vs. resale

Once again the market growth in November came from the resale business, up 33% year-on-year, compared to a 28% decline in new home sales. Resales now make up 80% of the market, down from parity at the start of 2014. The home building business in Spain is slowly coming back to life, but this trend of growing resales and declining new home sales will continue for some time to come.

Regional markets

Out of a selection of regions most relevant to foreign investors, Barcelona enjoyed the highest growth in sales in the first 11 months of last year, up 20% compared to the same period in 2014, followed by Valencia (+15%) and Cadiz (+15%).

A PRESTIGIOUS and rare beachside development plot being auctioned off in a fire sale is a long way from reaching its asking price of €4.8million. The land, in Manilva, was seized from disgraced company Forum Filatelico, which swindled 270,000 people in a bogus stamp investment scheme. However, so far the 17,543 square metre plot - valued at €17 million - has only received a bid of €150,000.

House prices

Spanish home sales were clearly up last year, but the picture was less clear when it came to house prices. The latest data shows prices more or less stabilised in 2015. Figures from Tinsa, a leading appraisal company, says the average price rose 1% last year, while the asking price index from Idealista shows the average price down 2%. Location made a big differ-

ence, with prices rising the most in Barcelona (+8.7%), but hardly budging in Valencia, up just 0.6% in the year.

Looking ahead

The trends in home sales, mortgage lending and house prices all look positive for the year ahead, especially in prime city areas and resort towns in coastal areas. It is likely that sales and prices will continue to increase in those areas, with new home building making a comeback as well. However, risks remain, especially in areas that depend more on local demand, as the Spanish economic recovery still looks fragile, and political uncertainty is now part of the mix since a recent general election failed to deliver a working majority to any party. Foreign demand could be affected by a weaker pound taking the wind out of the British market, or by clouds gathering over the global economy. On the other hand, the increasing perception of risks around the world could work in Spain’s favour, making it look like a safer bet for tourists and second-home investors. Mark Stucklin runs www.spanishpropertyinsight.com, a property information website

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The Olive Press – 170 x 256mm

20th January

The Expats’ No.1 Choice

Property On cloud nine! Decision at last www.theolivepress.es

up Expat salesman ties home ‘unheard-of ’ nine e... sales on the bounc and he could be in for a tenth!

MARBELLA is finally moving towards a resolution of its urban planning crisis after months of uncertainty. The town hall has decided to adapt the 1986 PGOU urban plan to avoid a standstill of the recovering construction industry. When the supreme court scrapped the 2010 general urban plan two months ago, over 10,000 homes were in danger of being illegal and the property sector was at risk with hesitant investors. The decision, which includes several changes to the 1986 plan, follows two months’ analysis which concluded it was a necessary stopgap while the new PGOU is created. The process could take several years.

Growing up JUST 20% of under 30-yearolds in Spain live away from their parents, a survey has revealed. Men are least likely to fly the nest with just 17% leaving home before 30, versus 26% of women. Some 93% of Spaniards live with their parents until the age of 25.

EXCLUSIVE By Rob Horgan is aiming to make AN Englishman 10 out of 10. it an unprecedented footsteps of PreFollowing in the an Jamie mier League marksm Andalucia’s very Vardy, is Inland Paul Barnett. own sharp shooter unprecedented After bagging an sales in a nine straight property be the envy of row, Barnett will across Andaestate agent bosses make it a perlucia. And he could imminent fect 10 with a decision l purchase potentia another yet on

November 26th

ress.es

www.theolivep

Property

l Properties making Pau Client Name

Town, Region

Type

Townhouse 1. Francisco & Antonia & Thomas Cortijo 2. Sean, Caroline Villa 3. Trudi Townhouse 4. Tony & Louise Villa 5. Victor & Cheryl Townhouse 6. Murial Townhouse 7. Jeff & Chrissie Villa 8. Mark & Lorraine Villa 9. Pillar & Jesus Townhouse 10.? Peter & Patricia

area. in the inland Malaga Govier said in His boss Graham of company his 15 years in charge no one agent has Inland Andalucia to Barnett’s curever come close

JUAN YOUR AVERAGE

a Spanish home is the average dream and drawbridges, and set in a modest 120m2. da FORGET turrets with a garage survey demande s in a European four-bedroom affair, 64% of Spaniard required green spaces While a massive prioritised a terrace and 47% garage, just half their ideal home in shoeboxes, withfor a larger 211m2. nearby. are happier to live Brits meanwhile while the average Portuguese opted survey res, the RE/MAX bedroom measuring 80m2, five favour Europeans, in general, vealed.

- December 9th

so happy Price

€ 75,000 Malaga € 87,000 Fuente de Perda, € 185,000 Iznajar, Cordoba € 79,000 Puente Genil, Cordoba € 125,000 Encinas Reales, Cordoba Lora de Estepa, Sevilla , Malaga € 45,500 € 36,000 Villanueva de Algaidas € 32,000 Casariche, Sevilla € 139,000 Marchena, Sevilla Casariche, Sevilla Pending Molina, Malaga

“ H e d o e s rent streak. able feat,” Govier things the “It is an unbeliev “A one-inway, told the Olive Press. conver- proper to know three viewings-to-sales good busi- gets buyers the sion ratio is deemed nine on the spin and doesn’t ness, so to tie upof. any is truly unheard heady days of the use to sign “Not even in the come near tricks up. them Costa boom did anyone deserves to that. in the property “He suc“I think a pick upof foreign buyers his and I’m market, a return the improved cess to Spain along with we have in- sure with all commisonline viewing system contributed to the sions coming troduced have all in he will have his success.” let’s not takeisanyone a pretty good He added: “But Paul him. thing away from a real old-fash- Christmas.” of the good guys, ioned salesman.

ONE of Andalucia’s sharpest real estate salesmen has proved that an incredible Autumn selling streak was no fluke. Inland Andalucia’s in-form agent Paul Barnett - who sold nine properties in a row from September - has started the new year with a bang, completing four sales in a

Four in a fortnight!

Quarter pounderby

prices rose SPANISH house quarter of 2015, 6.6% in the third transactions takwith over 92,000 ing the highest ing place, representquarters. result of the last 10

continu TENANTS in Spainwith rentto get a good deal, slide. A 1% al costs on the in Ocyear-on-year decline 31 straight tober represents in the months of decline sector. rental

Licence to build

Payment plan

mortgage THE average Spanishwith 75% of costs €760 a month, terms set over loan repayment g to bank 30 years, accordin Goldman Sachs.

Holiday homes

€9.2 billionSPANIARDS haves overseas, half worth of propertie the UK, France, of which are in . Germany and Portugal

Retail therapy

ent firm REAL estate investm launched a AEW Europe hasfund aimed European retailto €800 milat investing up cities, includlion in top tier ing Madrid.

fortnight. And the boss of his Mollina-based agency, Graham Govier, insists his form shows no signs of changing. “To have already bagged four sales this year shows real dedication,” he told the Olive Press. “It would take something special to eclipse the nine in a row, but you

never know with Paul. “He puts the hours in and is rewarded for it. While other agents went skiing or on holiday, Paul has kept at it.” For the record he has sold three town houses in Mollina, and a fourth in Marchena, in the Sevilla province.

Squatters out By Rob Horgan

Police evict 24 squatter families after court orders them out

A MASSIVE police operation has successfully evicted 70 squatters from an abandoned Marbella urbanisation. Tensions threatened to boil over as 24 families, including 20 children, were forced out of their homes in Nueva Andalucia. The eviction took under an hour, with police sources saying

IT was one of the most barbaric and badlyplanned developments of the last decade. A scheme to build thousands of homes alongside a virgin beach in Tarifa has finally been outlawed for good. In a massive victory for the environment, the town hall-supported Valdevaqueros

project has been officially turned down by the European Commission. A letter from Brussels’ environment chief to Verdemar-Ecologistas en Accion confirmed no development projects would be permitted for the pristine Costa de la Luz beach. The Junta has already insisted that the development should be scrapped, with all ‘natural spaces’ on Andalucia’s coastline needing to be protected at all costs. The definitive answer is a triumph for Verdemar, which has campaigned continually against the scheme for over four years. The Olive Press also backed the campaign, even splashing on Tarifa’s mayor’s attacking ‘expat troublemakers’ who he claimed were behind the sinking project. UNSPOILT: Valdevaqueros beach and (inset) map of planned development

Out of this world second. US President Barack Obama has passed a law which recognises the right to own asteroids, encouraging the commercial exploration of space resources. “This is the single greatest recognition of property rights in history,” said Eric Anderson, co-chairman of company, Planetary Resources.

19 19

NEWS IN BRIEF

Renters buoyed e

Tarifa saved!

FORGET the Golden Mile, there’s an ice-cool new property destination which doesn’t have a postcode, let alone an electricity grid, water supply or road network. And there is one other issue, it is not on earth, but high up in the sky. Yes, you can now buy an asteroid, the kind whizzing around the sun at 25km per

www.theolivepress.es January - February 2016 the Olive Press the Olive October Press 1st20th November - October 11th -6th 25th 14th 2015

NEWS IN BRIEF

“This legislation establishes the same framework that created the great economies of history, and will encourage the sustained development of space.” Experts predict the landmark Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act will be looked back on as establishing a ‘permanent foothold in space’.

it was a ‘resounding success’. Despite threats of protest, police sources told the Olive Press that all those being evicted came out ‘peacefully, without a fight’. “There was absolutely no problem with the evictions,” the source said. “Everything went smoothly, the squatters collected their belongings and left without any issue.” The police swoop was courtordered after a three-year legal wrangling, which saw two previous attempts thwarted by protests. At least 20 police officers and up to a dozen security guards were involved in the evictions. The occupants – Moroccan

and Spanish nationals – had been squatting in the abandoned houses in the Costa Estrella urbanisation for at least three years. Legal proceedings began when CajaMar – which owns the properties – decided to sell-off 26 of its abandoned properties. Despite protests, Marbella court ordered the evictions to take place. The families said they have not been given a solution or alternative housing plan and will be ‘left on the street’. Olive Press sources suggested that Marbella Town Hall had been trying to postpone the eviction until alternative housing had been arranged.

MARBELLA town hall has approved building licences worth a total of €6.4 million, spelling progress for the construction sector despite the urban planning crisis.

Hot hotels MADRID is surging ahead of Barcelona in terms of hotel investments. Last year saw Madrid take the largest market share with €582 million invested out of Spain’s total of €2,614 million.

Flat out A TOTAL of 37,497 apartment builds in Spain were completed in the first ten months of 2015, 5% less compared to the same period the previous year.

On the rise THE average price of housing in Spain rose by 1% last year, with the highest increases in Cataunya (5.3%), Madrid (3.3%), and the Balearic Islands (2.7%).

Property

20 20 the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

www.theolivepress.es

www.theolivepress.es January 20th - February 6th 2016

A new Olive Press Property Observatory has analysed what’s hot in property for 2016. Our panel of experts looked at key issues that continue to affect the market this year, writes Joe Duggan

A year of growth and more Arab and US buyers

PANEL: Olive Press publisher Jon Clarke with some of the experts

HE inaugural Olive Press Property Observatory drew together some of the Costa Del Sol’s most respected real estate experts to discuss the market and make forecasts for 2016. With the Costa del Sol’s property market continuing to grow, our panel of experts, including agents, surveyors and lawyers identified trends for 2016 and predicted possible pitfalls. Among the topics discussed were price

rises, nationalities buying, corruption, town planning, PGOU issues, the fusion of Zagaleta and Sotogrande’s Valderrama golf course and the Olive Press’ very own kickbacks campaign. On the panel this month were: Alex Radford from My Lawyer in Spain, Marbella agent Kristina Szekely, Scott Marshall from Properties Spain, Adam Neale from Terra Meridiana, mortgage expert Tancrede de Pola and Campbell Ferguson of Survey Spain.

SPECIALISTS: (From left) Radford (AR), Szekely (KS), Marshall (SM), Neale (AN), De Pola (TDP) and Ferguson (CF)

Property

www.theolivepress.es

www.theolivepress.es January - February 6th 2016 the Olive Press the Olive October Press 1st November - 20th October 14th 11th - 25th 2015

PRICES UP FOR 2016 Property growth to continue Prices up in Marbella driven by Madrid and Barcelona 2015 saw growth of 5% or more in the Marbella and Benahavis areas and prices started going up in the second half of the year. The trend will continue in 2016.

AR: A recent survey said average house prices

in Spain have increased 2.9% between December 2014 and December 2015, and by 1.1 % in the last six months. That’s across Spain, driven magnificently by Madrid and Barcelona and it’s positive. Generally, across the board, prices have stopped falling. They are definitely going up in Marbella.

KS: I think prices are going up, but not very fast. Above all, they stabilised in 2015 and it became the year when people stopped asking me ‘When will the crisis stop?’. In the latter part of 2015,

prices started to go up. This will continue in 2016.

TDP: Yes, I agree, with prime areas on the Costa del Sol beginning to see distinct shortages of supply it was only inevitable that prices would go up and we definitely saw evidence of this during 2015.

SM: I definitely saw growth of between five and

10% last year and I expect more of the same this year

KS: My figures were similar for sure.

GROWTH AREAS AND TRENDS - Marbella to continue growth, while western Costa and Axarquia to also grow - Exchange rates to affect 2016 trends - Modern properties in demand

PGOU MESS IN MARBELLA Uncertainty caused by Supreme Court ruling could take years to resolve PGOUs throughout Spain are not safe SM: It is a big mess, but I would say given it is the same political party (the PSOE) in at the Junta and in Marbella, it could take just a year to sort it out.

AN: No way, it will be five years or more. They are

going to have to go through the whole process again. They have to revise everything and give the public the chance to debate the changes.

AR: It means the only town plan standing is

1986, it’s ridiculous. The politicians should work harder to get this sorted out. They have to make the whole process a lot more agile. It’s such an important part of the future of Marbella.

TDP: Yes, the PGOU issue has definitely created

a great deal of uncertainty, not least, among estate agents and their clients. However, thus far,

the banks are continuing to value properties as before and work on the basis that this is an issue that will be dealt with.

CF: Some properties will be paralysed and the

bad publicity regarding that will affect some demand. No professional will be able to guarantee that any property younger than 1986 is completely safe. That said, no PGOU in Spain is safe until all appeals have been to the Supreme Court, and that will certainly be the case for Marbella's new plan.

AR: There is paralysis in the town hall. They are going back to a plan that was drafted 30 years ago. AN: At least it was a very good plan. There are plots which have more build volume than before and it is certainly fairly green and low rise.

ZAGALETA FUSION WITH VALDERRAMA - Excellent news for Sotogrande - Zagaleta looking to future - Initial issues for nearby areas during construction AN: It’s fantastic and great for Sotogrande.

You are going to get a whole new network of high-end clients looking there, hopefully. It is surely win/win for the coast.

AN: I think it’s pretty brave of them. They have

still got land to develop in the second phase of Zagaleta, so this is a big departure. That said they have had a very good last two years.

AR: I think it’’s very positive news. I agree with

Adam, they are looking for more growth down the line, when they’ve sold all their properties. There are only so many people who can buy multi-million villas up there. Will they do it cheaper or similar prices?

AD: The concept of Zagaleta is quite unique. There are country estates that you can’t really regulate anywhere. Madronal doesn’t really have the security, with five different entrances. AR: Valderrama having the golf heritage is very good.

CF: One issue though is that it will blight areas

near the construction for a few years and add competition for sellers of existing properties.

Continues over on page 22

GROWTH: Nerja and the Axarquia will grow in 2016

TDP: We have noticed that a

lot of the new building is taking place in the prime areas of the Costa del Sol so, on that basis, you would expect very good growth in the areas surrounding Marbella.

CF: Yes definitely… and all the way to and including Sabinillas (Manilva).

SM: If I was a builder I would

go to Axarquia.

AR: Yes, the Axarquia. Nerja

want to be in Marbella, near Banus, and there’s no land left.

area is also prime property. It’s the Marbella of the East.

KS: I think modern properties are still very much in demand.

AN: Marbella is a brand that sells around the world; Estepona isn’t. Benahavis isn’t. The problem is that brand has been tarnished to a certain extent by the PGOU ruling and that is going to cause problems. People

SM: There is always a scare

NATIONALITY TRENDS

with people who want to build from scratch. There is always a horror story in Spain. My clients generally prefer to buy something that is brand new but already there.

AN: I think with Russians, they want to buy but they can’t. We have certainly had a big increase in French buyers, and the Scandinavian market is huge. The French buy here because of the tax regime in their country I believe and because its so much cheaper than the south of France.

- Russian investment down - Arab investment up - US and European investment to remain steady

world and they like the idea of of a home in Spain to come to. For this reason I think the Middle Eastern market will get stronger and stronger.

Geopolitical issues such as oil prices, terrorism and a fluctuating world economy have a significant impact on Costa del Sol buyers.

dle East and it will continue to be strong. And where I have seen a massive increase - the third or fourth biggest in number of buyers - is the UAE.

TDP: Norwegians have big buyers until 2014,

CF: I agree. Marbella has long had a Saudi link,

due to their wealthy, oil-based economy. Last year, with the oil price collapse, they were largely replaced with Swedes, Danish and Finns. The market from the USA, Canada, the Gulf States and Kuwait remains strong.

KS: I agree. I think America will be a growth area because American funds are buying up big property developments here. One American I have been dealing with is going to take a house in Granada for a year. Quite a few more are sniffing around. AR: The Russians are certainly drying up due to problems with the Ukraine war.

KS: There is also still a lot of turmoil in the Arab

SM: Yes, we have also seen growth from the Mid-

so there is Sunni interest, but little from Shia. But it only takes one major terrorist incident and all buyers will have second thoughts.

AN: The British market is also definitely going to remain strong. It has been growing very nicely SM: Yes, that is definitely the case. AR: In terms of British buyers, I don’t think Brex-

it (the UK leaving the EU) will make a blind bit of difference so long as the euro remains weak, the property market should consolidate. What really pushed the market last year has been the exchange rate and prices hitting the bottom.

2121

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January 20th - February 6th 2016

From Page 21

CORRUPTION HAS NOT GONE AWAY - Corruption still an issue - Laws are confusing - All political parties are culpable Backhanders and town hall corruption have a long and unfortunate association with the Costa del Sol property market. it hasn’t gone away yet. AR: I think it has got better. There are no more brown bags in envelopes. SM: No, It’s exactly the same, just a little bit more clever. In the town halls, you have political parties that say, ‘We are going to help you’, but it’s all exactly the same. Both sides are as bad as each other. All the political parties are saying they are going to try to clean up and do things by the law. But sadly I don’t see that happening just yet. AN: I agree with Scott, it has not disappeared yet, despite all the horror stories finally coming out in the press. Central Government is going to have to work much much harder to eradicate corruption.

OLIVE PRESS KICKBACK CAMPAIGN - The Olive Press campaign has been a success - Backhanders from Urbanisation Administrators and Presidents a problem - Corruption needs to be stamped out The Olive Press launched a campaign to highlight the practice of lawyers giving estate agents backhanders of up to 20% for working on conveyance deals.

AR: I think the Olive Press campaign is great. It’s an unfair practice that needs to be stamped out.

KS: I agree, and always make a point of saying we don’t want money from architects, or lawyers, or anyone. I won’t take money from these people. It’s their job and they have to do a good job and that’s the end of the story. AR: I went to see an estate agent and he showed me a

pile of lawyers card is and said, ‘Would you give us commission?’ I said ‘no’ and he said,’That’s your card at the bottom then’ and put it there’. I walked out. The agency still exists.

CF: You need to also look at backhanders from building

contractors to lawyers, agents and especially urbanisation administrators and presidents. Also FX, insurance, advertising companies. It's only bad if it's not declared to the end client who is paying for the work.

AN: I’m not a fan of regulation but in this case it is about regulation. You need to create a level playing field. It needs to be stamped out.

HANDY TIPS: Debate rages for Adam Neale (left) and Alex Radford

Spain’s gain

Country crowned number one for Brits hoping to buy property abroad, says HiFX SUNNY Spain is very much the firm favourite for Britons looking to buy a place in the sun, according to leading currency experts HiFX. The bi-annual Property Hotspots Report, which analyses a decade of property data, reveals that Spain attracts more buyers than France, USA or Portugal. Over a third (37%) of Britons searching abroad, made enquiries in Spain, with France now only accounting for 34%. Mark Bodega, director of HiFX, said: “Spain’s housing market is recovering, amid gradually improving economic conditions. “The market dipped in 2014 when house prices dropped 3%, but increased investment from foreign buyers in resorts and cities, such as Barcelona and Madrid, has pushed prices back up.”

Country Percentage of enquiries (July 2015) Percentage of enquiries (March 2015)

1 Spain 37% 35% 2 France 34% 35% 3 USA 8% 7% 4 Portugal 5% 5% 5 Switzerland 4% 7%

CHARMING FARM HOUSE situated in Almogia – 325,000 euros Tel: 607 749 779

25 mins from Malaga, 70.300 m2 of land including almond and olive groves. The house is 435 and m2 consists of 2 kitchens, 6 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 living areas and many store rooms. Olympic size swimming pool, parking area. Perfect for a family or holiday home.

Property

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23 21

Property

SOLAR SAVINGS: Spanish-designed home

House, Wales It may be in Wales, but a Spanish brain is behind the UK’s first home that creates more energy than it wastes. Madrid architect Ester Coma-Bassas designed the house that sends €251-worth of energy back into the grid for every €144 of electricity it uses. Built out of solar panels, it uses several energy storage systems and insulation techniques.

Behind the green door With environmental issues uppermost this year, Joe Duggan takes a look at some of the eco-friendly hotels and homes around Spain (and one Spanish-designed house in Wales)

ROM poo-powered properties to tuna-bone heaters, Spanish homes are leading the way when it comes to the environment. Innovative new designs are proving a building’s green credentials can be enhanced without skimping on luxury or convenience. All over Spain, new ways of creating a dream home or hotel are ensuring ecoconscious folk are able to tread the green path. And anyway, who wants to sleep in a run-of-the-mill hotel when a new wave of eco-friendly establishments offer forest tree suites and grass carpets?

Marbella Real Estate Photos

BRANCHING OUT: Basoa Suites perched between the trees

NEW on the Costa Del Sol Prices from EUR 90 + IVA Get those all important viewings with good pictures

Basoa Suites, Navarra These ewok-style tree dwellings were developed with nature uppermost in mind. Tree surgeons supervised the development of the four suites to ensure minimum impact on the trees in the Ultzama Valley. A composting toilet system avoids the installation of pipes or drains and an elevated walkway ensures the surrounding soil and plant life remains free from human contact. NAVARRA NIRVANA: At Basoa Suites

www.marbellarealestatephotos.com

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the Olive Press October 1st20th - October 14th 6th 2016 www.theolivepress.es January - February

25 25

POO POWER: Horse manure heats Navarra house

Farmhouse, Navarra

CATALAN COMFORT: At Hostal Empuries

Californian designer Meghan Sapp’s farmhouse in Oskotz is believed to be the world’s first home to take all its energy from its waste. And it’s not just potato peelings and banana skins powering the dishwasher and underfloor heating. Poo -- both human and from the farm’s horses -is heating the house and providing hot water. And with four horses on hand, Planet Energy founder Meghan and and husband Iñigo have a ready-made supply of energy that can be turned into fuel.

Hotel Viura, Rioja Alavesa This luxury green hotel has installed innovative new systems to minimise its environmental impact. It was the first hotel in the Basque Country to introduce an eco-friendly biomass boiler. What’s more, it’s powered on dried, crushed tuna bones. The boiler heats the hotel’s water and allows for a 60% saving on the monthly energy bill.

Hostal Empuries, Girona Hostal Empuries’ clients will certainly be at one with nature. Its rooms are insulated with sheep’s wool and its hallway carpets are made from grass. And you won’t be walking away with a ‘complimentary’ bottle of shower gel here. All the rooms use soap dispensers rather than plastic bottles. The hotel’s solar-powered light will guide you to its natural therapy spa, while a water purifier and organic garden will keep you brimming with natural vitality.

HOTEL HEAVEN: At Viura in the Basque country

Property

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ADVERTORIAL

PR OP

ER TY

FO C

Be prepared... Improving market encouraging off-plan buyers

T STUNNING: Las Sirenas has permission for 42,000 m2 more construction

Siren sounds

WITH its Turkish hammam and spa, ornate colonnades and garden statues it is the very definition of opulence. Sitting in 20 hectares of wooded parkland, stunning Las Sirenas also counts a cinema room, gym, playroom, tennis court and a six-car garage. Comprising four buildings and an incredible 24 bedrooms, all recently refurbished, this is one palatial home perfect for a large, extended family. An outdoor and indoor pool are complemented by the spa, with a hot room, warm room and cold room, all guaranteed to make even the most stressed out executive relax. The grounds are amazing and the six acres of formal garden are inspired by Spain’s cultural past, with a distinctly Moorish feel. A walk around the grounds or a trip to the hidden grotto located by the main building is the perfect place to let your imagination run wild. And the fairytale could get even sweeter, with the town hall already approving planning permission for further construction of 42,000 m2 in case 24 bedrooms were not enough. “There is nothing like it around,” explained Bish Victor, of Castles estate agents, who has covered the local market since 1986. “There is a lot of land and there are so many possibilities to be had.” For more information visit www.castlesestateagency.com

January 20th - February 6th 2016

HE cranes have again started sprouting and moving on the Costas. Land buyers are active and, in the best locations, construction has already started. With activity resuming, these 10 points are important for off-plan buyers to consider before purchasing a property:

. Hire a competent, conscientious lawyer who is fluent in your language and who has no family/client connection to the developer.

only covers monies put forward after the licence is granted, so make sure your lawyer advises you accordingly. An outline is available at www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/2015/09/22/new-bankguarantee-legislation-explained

. Is this property for you to use or rent out? Whichever, make sure that it complies with the regulations that most authorities have already drawn up to control private property rentals.

. Don’t sign if you have to complete before the First Occupation Licence is granted.

7.1

. Visit developments previously completed by the developer and speak with the residents and the president of the urbanisation community. What sort of problems have they had and how effectively did the developer respond?

. Does the development already have a building licence from the town hall? Without that, any money you put forward is a gamble. The Bank Guarantee Law

. Make sure that the contract permits you to do so; many building promoters do not appreciate having to sell their properties in competition with previous buyers.

7.2

. Also, what happens if there is another financial crash or any of 1,000 things that could happen in the world before the prices have risen to make it worthwhile selling? Can you pay the full price for them all and will you

For peace of mind follow these property buying rules

. The Spanish courts have decreed Instruct Instruct that marketing Building documents, Surveyor webLawyer sites, etc, are part of the formal description of the property being sold to you. Check them against the detailed Knowledge specification attached to Buy thewith purchase & Confidence contract. General statements of ‘to the highest quality’ really have very little descriptive or legal power.

ALL PROPERTY MATTERS

RICS SURVEYORS & VALUERS BYBUILDING CAMPBELL FERGUSON

. Beware: in the last property boom, many buyers came to grief speculating by buying a number of apartments off-plan with the intention of selling all except one as the price rose nearing completion. This was encouraged by the ability to avoid the property transfer tax if the right to buy was sold before the purchase was notarised.

. Never sign anything without getting your lawyer to check all the details first.

years experience in

FindHow Your Property want to if prices have fallen? many buyers are thinking the same?

11+

+34 952 923 520 admin@surveyspain.com

Connect with us!

. The decennial surveyspain.com 10 year structural guarantee is just that. It only covers the structure, being foundations, pillars, floor plates and roof. It is nowhere near as comprehensive as the UK NHBC. It starts when the architect signs off the building construction as completed and not the date of the first occupation licence. . When you do actually buy, make sure you have the properties ‘snagged’ by an experienced surveyor who will know exactly the types of problems and flaws to look for and knows what you should be getting. The promoter will say that they have snagged the property, but their view will be less demanding than yours should be. After all, this will be your new home -- so why not make sure every little thing is perfect?

Contact Campbell and the team on +34 952 923 520 or email info@surveyspain.com

Property

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Property

January 20th - February 6th 2016

Great expectations The UK’s largest independent agency Winkworth is predicting an exciting year ahead in Spain

HERE is a buzz in the air at the Guadalmina office of Winkworth Spain. With a sharp increase in the number of enquiries over the last few

months, the team is set for a busy year. While the majority of Winkworth’s buyers are UK-based, international demand is also on the up.

“We are experiencing a huge increase in demand from Scandinavian, French, Belgium, Middle Eastern and UAE investors,” executive Christopher Vent told the Olive Press. While Europeans tend to seek a holiday home, thanks to competitive prices and an unbeatable lifestyle, the Middle Eastern investors are drawn by the weak euro and keen to acquire European assets safely. Vent adds that thanks to the new rules allowing pensions to be drawn out earlier, some UK residents are spending extra cash on a Spanish bolthole. Others are benefitting from the all-time house price high in the UK by remortgaging their UK home to invest here. Winkworth - the UK’s largest independent estate agency - has found a huge demand WO incredible Mansion apartments for properties priced between have come up for sale within San €200,000 to €300,000, and Roque golf resort. has a list of waiting clients. The enormous properties - that measure With Winkworth’s new internanearly 400m² in total size each - are up tional website launched later for sale at less than a third of their origithis month, enquiries from the nal price. UK are set to increase even Each well-appointed garden apartment further. offers three bedrooms (all with ensuite bathrooms), a fully-fitted kitchen, two To contact Winkworth Spain, huge terraces, a private garden, partial call 952 880 941 or email sea views and garage parking for two info@winkworth.es cars, two buggies plus two storerooms. The newly renovated pads are part of the exclusive gated community of San Roque Club, with four swimming pools, two golf courses, a clubhouse with gym and spa, restaurants and 24-hour security. The palatial homes are up for just €295,000 and €315,000 respectively.

T Palatial homes - at a bargain price!

Call 952 963 937 or email info@propertydirectors.com quoting the reference PD-063581 for further information www.propertydirectors.com

What record-low mortgagerates mean for you!

MORTGAGE THINK TANK

by mortgage broker Tancrede de

On the slide for eight years, a record-low Euribor rate has borrowers overjoyed

HE past 12 months has seen the Euribor rate bottom out at an all time low. And the lasting low interest rate has continued on into 2016 to the jubilation of mortgage owners across the continent. And the even better news is that it is showing no signs of shooting skywards anytime soon (no doubt, music to the ears of borrowers from London to Lithuania). The interest rate you pay on your mortgage consists of two elements: Euribor rate plus margin charged by the bank (its profit, soto-speak). The Euribor is a daily reference (base) rate, published by the European Banking Federation, based on the averaged interest rates at which Eurozone banks offer to lend. How it affects you is thus: the lower the Euribor rate is, the lower your mortgage interest rate which means (and this is the good news) the less you pay in mortgage

repayments. Likewise, the banks are reducing their margins so, again, rates payable are lower. For several years after the economic crisis in 2008, many mortgage borrowers will have noticed a sudden, drastic increase in their monthly payments due to bank margins, even as the Euribor was falling. Now both have been steadily falling across the board ever since. With each year the reductions are becoming smaller and it is getting harder to believe that the Euribor could drop any lower. But it has. Which is great news for all homeowners that owe money to their bank. Dipping below 0.1% for the first time last year, 2015 was a record year for the Euribor rate. In fact, the last 12 months saw the biggest percentage drop in the last decade - falling by 82% from 0.328% at the start of the year to 0.059% by the year’s end. So, now that we are in 2016, what’s the

outlook for the Euribor for the immediate future? (Good news, we hope). Well, the ECB has pledged to keep its monetary (loosening) policy the same until at least 2017, insisting that it is in no hurry to increase interest rates. This could spell ever further drops, with some experts believing the rate could plummet to as low as 0.04% over the coming months. While a good indication of how the Euribor will react is by looking at the European benchmark interest rate, there are other factors to take into consideration as well. For example, it is worth keeping an eye on the eurozone’s own economy and inflation. Despite the fact that there are a number of elements to consider, in general, there shouldn’t be any surprises on the market in the near future and borrowers can expect at least another year of low-interest payments. Happy New Year!!!!

To contact Tancrede for all your mortgaging needs call: 666 709 743 or for insurance queries call: 951 203 540 Email: tdp@thefinanacebureau.com The Finance Bureau Centro Commercial Guadalmina, 2nOffice No. 7 Guadalmina, 29670

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Property

30 30 the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

Lorraine Laguea, Director of NP Estates in Gibraltar, reveals her golden tips for selling a property

ELLING a property or a home can seem like a daunting task, especially in today’s market, but it doesn’t have to be. Don’t focus solely on the establishment at hand but consider selling the lifestyle as part of the package‚ particularly if your potential market might be to high-end buyers. Customers aren’t just choosing a house when they purchase, they’re also buying into the surrounding area and its amenities. Those new to the area especially will be keen to know what there is to do, outside and inside the property. You have to accentuate key assets such as the lighting system, music system, kitchens, views and external areas. In order to sell your property you must appeal to as wide a market as possible, find out if there is potential to expand or extend the property and capitalise on such areas by exciting buyers with the notion of what could be. An obvious example would be an increase in the number of bedrooms. Another great way to fully realise the potential is to have a local surveyor examine the property beforehand. Paul Gibson of Gibson Gale explains: “It is important to see if it is possible to enlarge rooms, increase the number of bedrooms or even extend into basements and attics as values are based on floor area, the larger the useable area the higher the value!”. Meanwhile, the quality of the photo-

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The market sadly waits for no-one!

graphs is of the utmost importance. Appoint a good local agent whom you Get the photography done when trust and like. Don’t make your choice the light is right for the interiors. For based on flattery (such as a high south-facing properties, make the guide price) or savings (a low commismost of the evening light, with sion), as you get what you pay for! the sunset creeping in, as Setting the right guide price Keep this could make for an is integral to a good sale. eye-catching aesthetic There are buyers around things photograph. Making as mortgage rates are the interior look imfavourable at present, as homely maculate and redecbut there aren’t very as possible so orate if required. many of them and they A show house might are price sensitive, so potential buyers not be entirely necbe realistic with the essary but a smart guide price and you can quickly comfortable and welmight end up pleasantly immerse coming family home is surprised. essential. Finally, be prepared to enKeep things as natural and sure a quick sale. Find a repuhomely as possible so that potentable lawyer who will act on your betial buyers can quickly immerse them- half as soon as you have a sale agreed selves in their surroundings and imag- and ensure that he/she is armed with ine themselves living there. That is the all relevant documentation; this will aim after all. assist in a swift exchange of contracts The agent will be the key to the sale. which is the most important thing for

www.theolivepress.es January 20th - February 6th 2016

a buyer in today’s market. There’s no need to wait until spring as the traditional seasonal marketplace has dissipated. Rather than leaving the house ‘in the bottom drawer’ during the winter months, keep your property active, online and open to viewings. To begin your journey contact NP Estates. We’re ready to assist you with our expert knowledge of Gibraltar’s ever-changing property market.

NP ESTATES The Old Bank, 17-21 Cannon Lane, Gibraltar 00350 200 48532 info@npestates.com www.npestates.com

essentialmagazine

E IV S U CL X E

Queensway Quay 4 Bedrooms | 3 Bathrooms Penthouse

16 years 1999-2016

£1,500,000

Property Ref: NPGIQQ1106 The Old Bank, 17-21 Cannon Lane, Gibraltar, P.O. Box 1418 T: +350 200 48532 F: +350 200 62050 E: info@npestates.com www.npestates.com

w w w. e s s e n t i a l m a g a z i n e . c o m

IN THE KNOW: Lorraine at NP Estates

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the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

STUNNING BALINESE STYLE VILLA GOLDEN MILE *Plot: 2.112m2 *Cellar *Sea view

*Built: 984m2 *Baths: 6 *Lift

*Beds: 6 *Jacuzzi *Domotic S.

Stunning Balinese style villa situated in Sierra Blanca, one of the most sought-after areas on the Golden Mile, on the outskirts of La Concha Mountain, offering total privacy and seclusion.

Price: 3.900.000€ 182

REF: 23125P

110 27

EXCEPTIONAL GENEROUS SIZE HOME NEW GOLDEN MILE *Built: 1.091m2 *Baths: 4 *Lift

*Plot: 2.880m2 *Solar panels *Heated pool

*Beds: 5 *Jacuzzi *Sauna

Generous size villa located in the hills of the New Golden Mile in an elevated plot position enjoying wonderful views to the garden, golf and mountains. Only a buggy drive away from the golf course.

Reduced Price from: 2.700.000€ to 2.300.000€ REF: 23077P

In process

SPLENDID FRONT LINE BEACH APARTMENT NEW GOLDEN MILE *Built: 179m2 *Baths: 2 *Lift

*Plot: 75m2 *Gym *Heated pool

*Beds: 2 *Jacuzzi *Alarm

This beautiful ground floor apartment is located in a 5 star complex in a front line beach location offering beautiful sea views. An outstanding property in a prime location.

Price: 1.250.000€ 72 17

REF: 22655P

We still have last minute availability of villas and apartments for Easter lettings!! El consumidor tiene derecho a que se le entregue una copia del correspondiente Documento Informativo Abreviado de la vivienda

M A D R I D - S E V I L L A - M A R B E L L A - G I B R A LTA R - S O T O G R A N D E

Tel: (+34) 952 81 01 02 · www.KSsir.com · Email: info@KSsir.com

Property

3222 the Olive Press November 11th - 25th 2015

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www.theolivepress.es October 1st - October 14th 2015

Experience the difference.

Are you becoming disillusioned with your current Estate Agent? Tired of not receiving feedback after viewings?

Ours is a different kind of agency. Our way of doing things just works. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all in the detail, from the unique approach we take to marketing each property, to the care and attention we give to our buyers and sellers alike.

Winkworth Spain is experiencing a huge increase in enquiries for properties on the coast.

We urgently need more properties for motivated buyers.

Call us now on 952 880 941 or email info@winkworth.es

Top Dollar www.theolivepress.es

Bitcoin boom A LACK of trust within the banking sector is fuelling Spain’s digital currency market. More and more people are leaving their banks and turning to the alternative online currency bitcoin. Bitchain, a Barcelona-based bitcoin company, says it continues to grow despite a dip in the online currency market worldwide. In fact, Bitchain is currently installing 20 bitcoin ATM machines across the country, allowing users to exchange bitcoin for cash, and viceversa.

David Cameron to slash tax credits for poorly paid British expat workers

December 10th - 22nd 2015 January 20th - February 6th 2016

Taxing times

THOUSANDS of British expats could lose tax credits for up to four years under plans by David Cameron. The British Prime Minister is reported to be offering the deal in exchange for

a ban on EU migrants claiming inwork benefits in the UK. Cameron’s plans to limit in-work benefits to migrants are the most complicated measures in his plans to renego-

BAKER’S DOZEN: 12 new cafes

NEWS IN BRIEF

Screen wars

SLASHER: Cameron

tiate Britain’s relationship with Brussels ahead of this year’s referendum on EU membership British workers who had lived out of the UK for four years would be affected by his propsals. People who would normally expect to top up low wages through tax credits once they return to the UK POPULAR Spanish fast-food would be restrictchain Pans & Company is celed from doing so. ebrating its 25th birthday with Tax credits are ambitious expansion plans for due to be re2016. placed by uniThe company, which sells over versal credit be20 million bocadillos in Spain fore chancellor annually – 4.4% of the market – George Osborne’s plans to open 12 new restaurants proposal for a this year. ‘national living The chain counted 192 restauwage’ of €11.68 rants at the end of 2014, of which an hour by 2020. 132 are in Spain.

Bocadillo boom

Great expectations ANDALUCIA’S economy is expected to flourish this year. A panel of experts agreed that 2016 is the year that the autonomous community will start to feel the financial recovery. GDP is forecast to grow by between 2.4% and 2.8% with a 5% drop in unemployment and 200,000 new jobs in the offing, the Unicaja financial analysts predicted.

33 33

NETFLIX is about to face stern competition as HBO plans to launch a standalone web streaming service in Spain by the end of the year.

Richy rich THE wealth of the 20 richest people in Spain rose 15% in 2015, while the assets of the remaining 99% fell by the same percentage, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation.

Big screen SPANISH cinemas recorded blockbuster figures last year, up 8%, total box office takings reached €571 million.

Tele vexed TELECOMMUNICATION companies received the most complaints of any sector last year, with 62% of all consumer complaints directed at telephone and internet providers.

Top Dollar

January 20th - February 6th 2016

Holidays help Tourism in 2015 boosted Spain’s economy by €124 billion

SUN, sea and sangria is still a bestseller, with tourism pouring €124 billion into the Spanish economy last year. And the largest contributor to Spain’s GDP also creates the most employment, representing one in seven jobs last year – a total of 73,343 posts – 5.5% up on the previous year.

Growth

Tourism grew by 3.7% in 2015 and currency company Exeltur forecasts 2.7% growth in 2016 if the unstable political situation continues. Some 84.7% of firms confirm their sales improved last year. “2015 was a great year, with every single autonomous community and destination improving its figures,” said Exeltur’s Vice-President, Jose Luis Zoreda.

HOT DESTINATION: Tourism up in Spain

Fashion wars SPAIN’S major clothing chains are engaged in a battle of the tills as the January sales get into swing. While Inditex, which owns Zara, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Oysho, and Pull and Bear, is making the most sales, Primark has beaten H&M to take second place with Mango in fourth position. A quarter of the Spanish clothing market is dominated by these top four chains. The average Zara shopper spends €266 per year while Primark’s standard patron spends under half at €105.

Roll out the barrel CONTROVERSY surrounds the proposal to open an Iranian oil refinery in Algeciras. Green groups are likely to oppose the development, that would cause more pollution to the Campo area and could be sensitive politically. It comes after government minister Jose Manuel GarciaMargallo confirmed he had held talks with Iran over the refinery. In a carefully worded statement, issued after sanctions were lifted this weekend, he said: “The refinery would create jobs in the Campo de Gibraltar, which was one of my concerns. “We’ve been ready to do that in the past with Rosneft, but talks with the Russian company were discontinued as a result of sanctions. “But Iranian investment can fill the void left and create jobs.” The reported deal comes as world leaders lifted sanctions on Iran’s oil in exchange for the regime hauling back its nuclear programme. Iran wants to invest in a Spanish facility, which would produce 200,000 barrels a day, according to the state-run National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company.

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HE title of this post infers the existence of a type of residential rental contract that lasts 11 months, no more but no less. And to a certain extent, if you had just landed in certain parts of Spain and you’d met up with property professionals (real estate agents mostly) there would be no reason to not believe that an 11-month contract – short term or holiday rental- is distinct from a 1-year plus contract in the long term. At the same time, there appears to be an informal network of non-legal practitioners who are routinely consulted by people with legal problems and have, by reiteration, created parallel pseudo laws (and even case law) that, quite simply, do not exist in real life. And the 11-month contract is one ‘legislative’ creation of these Costa lawmakers. The following bullet points will help understand the current situation with urban rental contracts: · There are only two types of urban rental contracts: residential rental contracts and nonresidential rental contracts (which includes short term/ holiday lets, commercial, etc.).

Tenancy agreements in Spain: the 11-month property rental contract · Duration of residential rental contracts can be freely agreed between the parties. If the agreed term is below 3 years, the contract will be automatically extended on expiration of contract term unless the tenant submits notice of termination of contract with at least 30 days. · The above rule is mandatory and cannot be waived by the parties by private

agreement. · Many residential rental contracts are disguised as short term, and consequently many short term contracts will be treated as residential by the Courts. · The Spanish Supreme Court has stated that irrespective of the name given to the contract or the term agreed by the parties, if the tenant had a requirement for a habitual and family domicile to take care of his/her permanent and essential needs (and that of the family), the contract will be deemed residential and therefore the 3-year rule will apply. · Likewise, the short-term nature of the contract refers to not the duration but to the reason and purpose of occupation of the property, it being determined by its brevity. · Means to prove that a short term contract is in reality a residential one are, for example, the tenant(s) having a job wherever he/she lives or running a company, children’s school enrollment, registration with the Town Hall (‘empadronamiento’) etc.

Email Antonio at aflores@lawbird.es

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No limits Victoria’s Secret billionaire docks one of world’s largest superyachts in Gibraltar

NO SECRET: Victoria’s Secret owner Leslie Wexner docked in Gibraltar

ONE of the largest superyachts in the world docked in Gibraltar, sadly minus a bevy of exotic supermodels over the Christmas period. Measuring 96-metres, the aptly named

Limitless was built in 1997 by German firm Lurssen and is powered by two engines of 5,420kW each. The owner is billionaire Leslie Wexner, who started a clothing store in his 20s which expanded to include Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch – although the latter was sold in 1996.

Combination

DOCKED: Lingerie mogul’s yacht lands in Gib

Wexner also owns one of the largest art collections in the world, including a Picasso painting worth £27 million. Limitless can reach a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h), and was the first yacht to feature a combination of diesel and diesel-electric propulsion. Gibraltar has long been a popular stop-over for luxury yachts, with Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich regularly refuelling on the Rock.

Road to Riches, by Richard Alexander

Decoding the world of acronyms

From QROPS to FADs, acronyms are everywhere in finance

ITH all that has been written about Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes, you are probably familiar with QROPS as an acronym and possibly have a vague idea that they are something to do with expat pensions, which is partly true. Their intention was certainly to allow people leaving the UK to be able to move their British pension funds overseas as well and, along the way, avoid the need to refer back to HMRC or pay any UK taxes. In fact, their use is much wider than that, but that’s another story. In April 2015, new pension freedom rules were introduced in the UK for certain types of pension scheme, broadly known as DC schemes but the flexibility does not apply to DB schemes – oh no, even more acronyms! DC stands for ‘defined contribution’ and describes the type of pension fund which has contributions invested, with the longterm benefits provided being determined by investment performance, the age of the individual when they come to draw on benefits and the financial climate at that time.

By contrast, a ‘defined benefit’ (DB) scheme will typically have a guaranteed level of benefits payable on death, or at retirement, which are determined by the length of service and salary level at the date of leaving or retiring, with the cost being met by the employer, whatever that cost may be. So where does FAD come into the equation? The new pension freedoms enable people with DC pension schemes to decide what level of benefits to take. This is known as ‘flexi access drawdown’ (FAD). No longer are you told how much you can have by way of income; you decide yourself, but care is needed to make sure you don’t run out of money. In the UK, with FAD, up to 25% of benefits taken will be tax free and the excess will be taxable as income, which enables excellent financial planning opportunities and creates some control over the overall level of tax payable. So what about QROPS

and does FAD automatically apply? The answer depends on where your QROPS is held as a jurisdiction. Most QROPS providers met HMRC requirements by agreeing that at least 70% of any transferred pension fund would be used to provide income and, if they are still bound by those rules, FAD cannot be applied. Malta is an exception as it has a regulatory regime very similar to the UK and, as such, did not need to rely on the 70% rule to get approval for their QROPS. Consequently, FAD is now widely available through Malta-based QROPS. If you have a QROPS which is not based in Malta and want FAD, you may be able to transfer to a new provider but that will need some careful planning because, in all probability, costs will be involved. And remember, the tax you pay will be determined by where you are tax resident.

Richard Alexander Financial Planning Limited is an appointed representative of L J Financial Planning Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK. Contact him at Richard@ra-fp.com

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Wishful shrinking

New Year fitness fads are for ‘losers’ and I don’t mean weight… writes Belinda Beckett

T’S the same old bah humbug every January. No sooner than you’ve scoffed the last sweetie in your Christmas tin of Quality Street than everyone you meet is on about getting back into shape. I am in shape. Round is a shape. So count calories, cut carbs, monitor your glycemic index or become a martyr to macrobiotics if you must. Just keep it to yourself. Dieting – whether scientifically by blood type or esoterically by star sign – is a fool’s game, unless you are a published ‘health guru’ churning out diet books by the dozen

and living - quite literally - off the fat of the land. But their advice should be taken with an unhealthily large pinch of salt. Even if half of Hollywood is endorsing it, no-one’s going to persuade me to don a wartime gas mask for a more heightened hypoxic workout, or down a beaker of bentonite clay for breakfast (a substance also contained in cat litter that swells in the stomach to curb hunger pangs). Then there’s the Cookie Diet, still huge DIETING: A fool’s game Stateside (as, no doubt, are many of its exponents). Rocket science it ain’t. On six cookies and one 300-calorie meal per day, who’s NOT going to lose weight and come out in spots from the low nutritional content? As for the fat-burning KEN Diet (Ketogenic Enteral Nutrition), it involves eating nothing at all. Victims are intubated and have to walk round with an electric pump and two litres daily supply of liquid protein. Fine, but can going out in public wearing a nose drip ever be considered a good look? The harsh truth is that over a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, the average female will actually gain 215 pounds for the 120 she sheds while expending 700 sterling pounds a year on diet books/spinning classes/ sports equipment she’ll have lost interest in by March. Hands up if, like me, you use PARTY TIME: But hedonistic Giles is feeling nostalgic this year your cross trainer as an indoor clothes dryer. So this January, forget weighing lettuce leaves and give your TURNED 48 this month and when you’ve lived house, who insisted that we partake of her own tummy muscles a workout with the kind of life that has mainly featured es- her own flavoured vodkas. a good belly laugh at my Top capades in Marbella and London that have The next morning the garden resembled a crash Five Fatuous Fitness Fads: involved epic late nights, enraged bouncers, an- site – bodies and furniture were spread over a large noyed bar tenders and long-suffering girlfriends, area and I woke up in the hedge. It wasn’t the first The Thigh Master the fact I made it past 26 is a minor miracle, but it time and I doubt it will be the last… caused me to reflect on my innings thus far. Of course, if you are crashing with friends who have Two pieces of metal tube bent The main change that I’ve noticed so far is that children and arrive late and/or ‘over refreshed’ they in a loop, connected with a hinge that you squeeze beI’m a classic case of the mind being willing but are likely to extract a subtle revenge. the body being weak. In the 80s, I was able to Such as putting you on the sofa bed in the kid- tween your legs to tone thighs. party until the dawn broke over Ipanema Palace dies’ playroom thus ensuring that you are woken Be careful it doesn’t fly out and - a club that, like my youth in Marbella, is now from your slumbers by a four-year-old jamming an knock the cat unconscious. long gone – grab a couple of hours sleep and eggie soldier in your ear while her two year-old still be able to hit the beach at Tramps that after- brother expertly sets the DVD to full volume and Stiletto noon. Now it takes an effort to crawl to the sofa, blasts you with the first five minutes of Ice Age. fumble for the remote and let something easy on At this point mammoths, sabre tooth tigers and the Calisthenics the brain wash over me. rest of the prehistoric herd are not the only thing Trash the Nikes and don your And if an evening of clubbing is enough to tire me that I wish were extinct and ‘Wicked Uncle Giles’ is best Jimmy Choos for a highheel workout. You’ll improve out, don’t even think of any sporting activity. The quickly sent staggering towards the taxi rank. main problem with sport is that everyone over 34 Then of course, there is the small problem that you balance and strengthen core is described as a veteran, whose legs are ‘not what still think that you are 17. This can lead to some em- muscles if you don’t fall flat on your face. they were’ I’m still pleased with my legs, thank you, barrassing, ‘oldest swinger in town moments’. but in a subtle change of sporting options, I’ve found myself loitering around golf shops. Eat Yourself Slim... Remember After all, Greg Norman, Sandy Lyle and Nick While you stuff your face at the Faldo are all in their 50s, so I’m a comparative My classic came at the 20th anniversary of Co- dinner table with the 1.5-pound media. As a young lounge lizard in the 80s I had, Knife and Fork Lift - a weighted youngster. Another sad fact of life is the amount of money I of course, been to the opening night. Standing cutlery set that makes every at the bar, I was treating a young lady to my full forkful a trial of strength. spend as I get older. Granted when I was 17 we used to buy a crate schmooze routine, when she remarked that she of 24 San Miguels, drag it down to Puerto Ba- didn’t remember the opening of Comedia. “Yes” I nus and sit opposite Sinatra’s, but I remember said, flashing my best George Clooney grin “It was Sauna Suits Connect with your inner Migoing out with 2,000 pesetas in my pocket, and a pretty wild evening, wasn’t it?” carousing through the Puerto Deportivo in Mar- “No,” she replied. “I don’t remember it because chelin man in a rubber workout suit. You’ll squeak like a bella, usually ending up in Joe’s Bar in Banus, at the time I was three years old.” and still having 500 ptas left to get me back The crashing and burning sound after that reply whoopee cushion but no pain, no gain. to the family home in Nueva Andalucia. Now it was my youth flying out of the window… seems that I can’t even break into a sweat for Even worse is if your friends have 20-year-old nannies, au pairs or nieces. Then you find your- The Shake Weight less than €200. Also, all of your friends are getting married and self desperately trying to appear a sort of hip, Ray Upper Body Ban wearing Svengali-like figure that has been are having babies. This, of course, makes crashing over at friends’ there and done that. They, of course, think that Workout you are a manically grinning weirdo who doesn’t A phallic-shaped dumbbell with houses more than a little difficult. In my twenties the cry ‘everyone back to mine’ know who Dizzie Rascal is, and keeps going on a thrusting action so hilariously suggestive, the infomercial would result in half the bar getting takeouts and about how he used to go to the gym. decamping back to someone’s villa to carry on But with age comes wisdom, and as I head to- clips went viral on YouTube. the party. Sleeping arrangements were simple – wards 50 I am struck by the sage observation The manufacturers were also you slept where you fell. At one memorable occa- that I’m finally turning into the kind of person my laughing – all the way to the bank. sion we went back to a Hungarian foodie friend’s parents warned me about…

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Cheap as chips

MALAGA’S world-famous La Consula cooking school has been temporarily closed and its restaurant shut down. It comes despite the regional employment department (SAE) promising that a solution will be reached by the end of January. The closure comes following months of conflict with regional authorities over funding for the institution, which has produced some of Spain’s best chefs.

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HOLIDAYMAKERS heading to Spain this year will pay some of the lowest prices in the world, a new survey shows. The Costa Del Sol was rated as 2015’s fourthbest value for food, drink and other holiday essentials. The Post Office Travel Money report visited 46 countries around the world. The shopping basket consisted of a cup of coffee, a bottle of local beer, a can of Coca-Cola, a glass of wine, a bottle of mineral water, suncream, a packet of Marlboro cigarettes and a three-course evening meal for two with house wine. An average Costa del Sol coffee cost €1.25 and a bottle of local beer comAssets from La Consula and La Fonda in Benaing in at €2.08. lmadena are due to be transferred to the SAE. The gap between prices Five of the eight Michelin stars held by Malaga on the Costa Del Sol and restaurants were won by alumni of La Consula, the cheapest destination including Diego Gallegos and Dani Garcia. has risen from €1.28 Students were notified by WhatsApp on the last year to €7.72. first day of the new term not to return to the Portugal’s Algarve was college in Churriana. the least expensive reThe young chefs have been told there will be sort, with an average no classes until the legal situation is clarified. cost of €37.68.

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SOS for Spanish chefs HUNDREDS of Spanish chefs are heading to the UK... to make pasta. Restaurant group Bella Italia has advertised for 300 Spanish cooks to work in its 90 British restaurants. The Italian chain wants Spanish chefs and kitchen helpers with good English and three years experience. Why Spanish chefs? As boss David Basilio explained it, they ‘know how to handle fresh produce from a young age’.

Grand opening down under

TALENTED: Turner to open Australian eatery

Tapas on tour FISH and chip Fridays may be in danger, with tapas on the rise in Britain. Spanish food is predicted to be a big hit in 2016, with market experts predicting more tapas bars will pop up throughout the year. And Londoners are said to be the keenest tapas consumers in the UK, according to British consumer group The Big Hospitality.

Pay and display DISPLAYING a food product’s nutritional information is no longer voluntary. A new law has been introduced to provide supermarket shoppers with greater information about what they are eating. Information required includes calorie count, ingredients, information on allergens and the source of the product.

AN Australian chef who honed his craft at Spain’s best restaurant is returning down under to set up his own fine dining eatery. Former El Celler de Can Roca chef Aaron Turner will set Aussie diners’ tastebuds alight when he opens Igni on January 20. Turner - who has also worked at criticallyacclaimed restaurant Noma, in Denmark - also owns a chicken shop in his hometown in Victoria.

Wining on THE price of wine exported from Spain was the second lowest among EU countries in 2014 after Bulgaria, according to a recent report. The European Commission study showed Spanish plonk prices cost on average €1.83 a litre for sales to non-EU countries and €0.91 for those in the EU. Spain also led the field during the same period for the most vino sold abroad, at almost a third of the total.

41 41

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Morcilla madness: Three top tips Morcilla with potatoes and paprika Boil potatoes before frying on moderate heat with thick slices of morcilla. Serve with generous sprinkling of paprika. Morcilla casserole Simmer vegetable stock with potatoes, carrot, peppers, garlic, oregano and cumin for 20 minutes. Fry morcilla chunks and fold into the bean stew. Garnish with pepper. Morcilla and chicken Roast cuts of chicken with peppers, onions and hunks of morcilla splashed in olive oil. Serve with Rosemary and a glass of red wine.

Bloody good sausage ONE of Spain’s top tapas dishes has made a surprise appearance on the world’s ‘superfoods’ list. Morcilla, or black pudding, is being lauded for its nutritional value and has been included on a list of superfoods by British nutritionist website MuscleFood. The humble sausage, principally made from pigs’ blood, joins the likes of avocado oil, seaweed and black beans on the exclusive list. Loaded with protein, potassium, calcium and magnesium, as well as being practically carb free, morcilla is expected to fly off the shelves in 2016. It is also rich in iron and zinc -

Morcilla hailed as superfood alongside blueberries and kale

two minerals frequently missing from modern diets. MuscleFood spokesman Dar-

ren Beale said: “2015 saw healthy eating reach a new level and this year we predict this trend is only going to get bigger. “Some of the foods have been on the up for a while like avocado oil and maca root, but others like mushrooms and black pudding have been a total surprise to us. “It’s great to have this new research available to find out the hidden qualities in food and we can’t wait to see how these new trends take off.”

Throwaway

nation

WAR: Between Rioja regions

Grapes of wrath WAR has broken out among the worldfamous wine bodegas of Rioja. The exit of Artadi from Rioja’s Denominación de Origen has opened the door for other bodegas in the Alava region to form a breakaway group. The three main wine-making regions in Rioja are the Rioja Alta, the Rioja Baja and the Rioja Alavesa. Of the 500 bodegas which make up the

€1.2 billion Rioja wine industry, 300 are in the Alava area. “This is a war of business models,” said Artadi owner Juan Carlos López de Lacalle. The call for a separate Alava label is backed by Basque nationalist party the PSV. Leading U.S wine critic Robert Parker has twice given Artadi’s wines his highest rating of 100 points.

THEY may be the least wasteful nationality when it comes to fast food, but Spaniards still throw out 76kg of food each year. With the average family binning around €250-worth of food each year, 42% of Spanish food wastage occurs in homes. But the Basque Country is actively fighting this waste, installing public fridges for unwanted food, following the successful German model. Globally, we bin a third of the food that is produced that’s 1,300 million tons of food, with more developed countries binning almost half the food they buy, and at their most wasteful at Christmas.

McMoney makes the world go round FAST food giant McDonald’s has a whopping 474 restaurants in Spain and makes up 40% of the country’s fast food market. And Spain’s consumption of fast food is set to increase by 50% in the next five years, according to a recent study by EAE Business School in MaON THE UP: Big Macs drid. Other fast food eateries in competition with the US chain are Burger King, which occupies 22.5% of the market, Pans&Co, repreANDALUCIA’S agricultural industry is at record senting 4.4%, Madrid-based highs. chain Rodilla, with 3.6% Over €9 million was spent on agro-food exports and KFC, at just 3.1%. last year, representing a record-breaking year The Good Burger (TGB) for the region. is showing great potential Cereal exports were up 22% while fruits (up after landing in 2013 and 19%) and vegetables (up 11%) also saw signifialready makes up 1% of the cant growth. market.

More agro

Capital gains DOUBLE Michelinstarred chef Dani Garcia is to replicate the recipe for his popular Marbella eatery in the big smoke of Madrid. Spain’s top celebrity chef has announced he will be opening a second branch of Bibo in the nation’s capital. The plan is to make Bibo Madrid similar to the original restaurant, retaining Dani’s ‘democratisation of high cuisine’ ethos of making Michelin-starred cuisine accessible to all wallet sizes.

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Organic food paradise at Spain’s American embassy defies US fast food stereotypes, writes Iona Napier

Fit for an ambassador

ORGET deep-fried Dunkin’ Donuts. Forget McNuggets and, whatever you do, forget the iconic Big Mac. Because even though the residents of the US Embassy in Madrid are fiercely American, fast-food stereotypes from across the pond are nowhere to be seen. Instead, an organic paradise of farmgrown, home-cooked, ‘zero-kilometre’ ‘slow food’ are on the menu.

Here, an abundance of vegetable patch-grown organic tomatoes, spinach and celery reign while cans are nowhere to be seen. And Massachusetts-born Ambassador, James Costos, aims to lead by example, eating produce grown in the small garden of the Paseo de la Castellana property, as well as growing organic vegetables in an allotment on the outskirts of Madrid. Costos, 52, and his long-term part-

FOODIES: (From left) Ambassador Costos, Carolina Herrera junior and chef Hogan

ner, decorator and designer Michael Smith, 51, who designed the Obamas’ private quarters and several others in the White house, live in an elegantly decorated space far from the fleshpots of Madrid. Together, they are a new face for America in Spain, attempting to foster good relationships in an informal, personable way. A case in point is that even the biggest political names that visit will meet Greco, one of their rescue dogs. Costos wants to promote the message that the US is undergoing a huge dietary transformation, impacting all areas of life, insisting that it is no longer a fast-food-nourished nation. And the figures stack up: whereas just one third of Spaniards eat organic, ecological food, the figure is a staggering 81% in the USA. An accomplice in the ambassadorial quest is head chef, Byron Hogan, whose mother is from Cordoba. Hogan, with his ginger beard and piercing blue eyes, admits the organic life is not as easy as it seems, but that fostering the organic tomatoes, peppers, lettuces, herbs and other vegetables in central Madrid is immensely rewarding. The embassy also rents a 20m2 plot on the Montecarmelo Foundation

AT HOME: Costos and Smith farm on the outskirts of Madrid , part of the Carmen Pardo-Valcarce foundation, where the vegetables are grown by disabled students. The chard, celery and endives that arrive on the embassy’s doorstep are therefore in season, 100% natural, and ethically sound. “We try to cook as organically as we can,” says chef Hogan. “My favourite foods are salmorejo and rabo de toro, and key concepts in my kitchen are slow food and zero kilometre food: eating more local, healthy, slow, low environmental impact food.” The chef, who has visited all of Spain’s autonomous communities, some several times. And from Murcian artichokes to Cordoban olive oil, he brings the best from different regions to enrich the Embassy. “We can’t really say we cook ‘American cuisine’ here at all,” jokes Costos, who was raised by Greek immigrants and was a senior executive at HBO be-

fore becoming ambassador. “In reality, American food is Italian, Greek, Asian, Hispanic... They are the cuisines of the melting pot that makes up the immigrant country that is the USA.” Chef Hogan laments how the world see’s American food merely as fast food, insisting that the ecological and organic markets are growing exponentially, ‘even more than in Spain’. Although the ambassador is not a vegetarian per se, meat is not a daily fixture. Ambassador Costos prefers the term ‘flexitarian’, as a fierce defender of animal rights. From Madrid schoolchildren touring the embassy to see the art, to entertaining Carolina Herrera (pictured) or hosting Junior Masterchef, the embassy is a hive of welcome positivity and learning. The healthy approach to food is just another way this modern-minded ambassador is leading by example.

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amino E C ................................. 45Press November 11th - 25th 2015 the Olive

www.theolivepress.es

n Buen

FINE MESS: Parking charge

Fine by me FROM speed demons to lazy parkers, it seems drivers in Spain are fine about fines. Just 1.15% of drivers in Spain are appealing their traffic fines from the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT), significantly lower than previously. Whereas 2.35% of fines were questioned in 2011 some 89,000 appeals - the number fell to almost half that last year, just 49,000. But only one in ten appeals were fruitful in 2015, with just 11.87% of appeals resulting in the fine’s rescindment. It is thought the 50% discount in paying your fine swiftly is a driving force in the drop in appeals which can be a lengthy process.

45 45 45

January 20th - February 6th 2016

Green genie

Volkswagen top in 2015 car sales, despite scandal THE recent scandal over Volkswagen’s ‘green’ engines didn’t stop it topping 2015’s Spanish sales market. The German-owned carmaker sold 88,300 vehicles last year, a 14.7% increase on last year, according to figures from the associations of factories (Anfac), dealers (Faconauto) and sellers (Ganvam). Volkswagen’s strong sales come despite the furore over its so-called green engines which

SMASHED: Eco-cars

Anti-eco warriors

omitted up to 40 times the permitted level of nitrogen oxide.

Driving a sale

CAR sales recorded a sevenyear high in Spain in 2015. The association of Spanish car producers (ANFCA) confirmed that last year was the best for

new car sales since 2009, with over one million sold. December alone saw 88,609 new cars sales, a 20% yearon-year increase.

On the road

RALLYING CALL: Porsche drivers

PORSCHE enthusiasts are gearing up for a trip around Andalucia’s countryside. Porsche Owners Club of Andalucia (POCA) is inviting all Porsche owners to join their rally on January 23. Starting in Istan, dozens of Porsche drivers will take on a 140km journey through the Andalucian mountains and countryside, stopping at Alcaidesa Golf Club and a restaurant in Castellar en route. For more information email Sally@porscheownersandalucia.eu

www.transmatic.es

ber of cars in Spain, with 77,529 units, 14.2% up on 2014’s figures. Renault were the t h i r d m o s t popular b r a n d December’s sales also represented 28 consecutive in Spain during months of increase, with a total of 1,034,232 cars sold in 2015 with 77,087 Spain last year. cars sold.

Seat, the Volkswagenowned company, sold the second highest num-

A SPATE of vandalism in Madrid has seen 50 electric hire cars destroyed. In an epidemic that started on December 22, the environmentally-friendly hire car company Car2go has seen its fleet damaged dramatically. From smashed rear view mirrors, broken windows and lights, many cars have gradually become unserviceable. One Car2go location manager, Orazio Corva, says he has been receiving news for 20 days now that the cars are being broken into ‘but we have no idea is doing it’. Police are investigating the crimes.

GOLF In the swing of it

Easy

Tiger AFTER a tough year, things look to be on the up for the biggest name in golf. Because Tiger Woods (above) is going to play in this year’s Spanish Open, according to the Spanish Golf Digest. Although he underwent two back operations in the autumn following a string of poor performances landing him 414th in the world, Woods has not yet hung up his golf boots. In his third ever trip to Spain and first Spanish Open, he will compete in the impressive PGA Catalunya resort, which would also have hosted the 2022 Ryder Cup if Spain had won the chance to host it. The club was also crowned the ‘best golf development in Europe’ in this year’s European Property Awards. The Spanish Open, held between March 31 and April 3 will take place just before the Masters competition.

23 46

Ryder Cup hero passes away on Spanish holiday

RIP Christy GOLFING GREAT: O’Connor Jnr

LEGENDARY Irish golfer Christy O’Connor Jnr has died suddenly while on holiday in Spain.

The Ryder Cup hero passed away in Tenerife at the age of 67 during a trip with his wife, Ann, and will be laid to rest with his son. O’Connor’s son Darren died in a road traffic FUTURE’S accident 18 years ago, BRIGHT: Golf numbers up aged just 17. The Galway man won two Senior British Open titles and helped Europe retain the Ryder Cup in 1989 after he defeated Fred Couples at the final hole.

Famous

Head count WE know Andalucia’s golf is unparalleled, but now we’ve got the numbers to prove it, because golf in Spain counted almost 300,000 players at the end of 2015. Although the figure is almost 8,000 less than last year, Spain’s 277,782 players is a massive 15% more than in 2004. England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Switzerland have seen their players decline over the last decade by between 20 and 30%. Meanwhile Germany, Holland, France and Spain have all seen the numbers of players on the green increase. Germany had the largest rise, with almost 40% more participants since 2004.

The 2014 Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley said: “We have lost a true Irishman, character and golfer - Christy O’Connor Jnr RIP.” O’Connor’s uncle, 91-year-old Christy O’Connor Snr, played in 10 Ryder Cups. Like his famous uncle, O’Connor started playing golf in his native Galway before turning professional in 1967. He won his fourth European Tour in 1992 and later started a career as a golf course architect, designing more than 30 courses.

Starting young LITTLE golfers will be testing their swing at La Cala resort as it hosts the 10th edition of the Graham Moore Spanish Open on January 23 and 24. It is the sixth consecutive year that the Mijas resort will host the prestigious tour which sees young female and male players from International Golf schools compete. Although the competitors are young, the conditions are identical to a professional tournament and they will compete on

BUDDING GOLFERS: Tee off in La Cala

the oldest and hardest course on the complex, Campo Asia. The winners will earn

a place on the IMG world junior circuit to be held in San Diego in July 2016.

sport Brits in the dug-out 47

January 20th - February 6th 2016

Moyes failed, Neville’s failing and now the other Neville wants a go… There was a time when bolshy British managers were actually La Liga’s most valuable commodity, writes Tom Powell

T’S a tough life being a British football manager these days. The big clubs – Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool et al – seem determined to pluck their bosses from continental leagues, preferring Juans to Johns and Joses to Joes. Meanwhile, poor old gum-chewing, tracksuited coaches such as West Brom’s Tony Pulis and Sunderland’s Sam Allardyce wonder why they are doomed to careers fighting relegation battles. But it wasn’t always like this. There was an era not too long ago when those same big clubs were nervously living in fear of Europe’s elite coming along and swiping the best British managers. It’s almost laughable to imagine the likes of ‘Allardicci’ and ‘Pulisio’ in charge of Real Madrid and Barcelona, suited and booted, speaking the lingo and heroes in the eyes of fans. But Bobby Robson did it at Barcelona, as did John Toshack at Real Madrid, then there was ‘El Tel’

EXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan KITESURFING world champion Liam Whaley is fixed on repeating his success in 2016. The 18-year-old won his first freestyle title in December to make it a double triumph for Spain, with his friend and occasional training partner Gisela Pulido conquering the women’s category. But Tarifa-based Liam, who was born in Ibiza to an English father and a Dutch mother, is keen to build on his win and fine-tune his extraordinary talent. “I worked very hard for this title and I had quite high expectations. I was training in Australia in January and February and had learned quite a lot of new tricks,” Liam told the Olive Press. “When I won the first two events I knew I was on the right track. I want to compete and train to defend my

Terry Venables

Venables, and the list goes on. And it appears Spain’s football clubs aren’t ready to give up on British managers just yet. Real Sociedad took a punt on former Manchester United boss David Moyes, albeit an unsuccessful one. And last month, Gary Neville was given his first managerial job at Valencia, with whom he is still searching for a first league win. Now his brother Phil, assistant at Valencia, has said he loves Spain and wants to manage in La Liga too, no matter what. Given the successes of Robson and Co, perhaps Phil could have the future he desires in La Liga management, and maybe – just maybe – David Moyes will return to the Iberian Peninsula and show everyone just what an ‘exito’ he can be! In the meantime, let’s take a trip down memory lane and marvel at how highly regarded British managers once were in Spain. Are we about to see the same thing happen again?

Tarifa-based world champion Liam Whaley aims to take kitesurfing to the next level

Whale of a time

title this year. But I also want to learn new tricks that nobody has ever done before.” Liam’s appetite for kitesurfing was first stoked at the age of

Ready to rumble MGM-Marbella’s Liam Smith looks set to defend his boxing world super-welterweight belt against former British olympian Amir Khan. Khan has been out of action since last April but has been offered a shot against WBO world champion Smith by promoter Frank Warren. Smith won his title after beating John Thompson in October before successfully defending it against Jimmy Kelly two months later.

eight and he had his first lesson in Tarifa. His prodigious talent led his father to take him out of school at the age of 11 to train in Brazil for a month.The family eventually relocated to Europe’s wind capital, Tarifa, when Liam was 13. “Brazil was an amazing place to kite,” he says. “But Tarifa is a better place to train. The wind is always between 25 and 40 knots and the lagoon is the perfect place for kiting. “Here in Tarifa, I try to kite five or six times a week.” And with 2016’s season beckoning, camera lenses will be fixed on Liam’s soaring figure.

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Successful spells at Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers saw Barcelona come calling for Venables in 1984. ‘El Tel’, as many still affectionately refer to him, was a resounding success during his three-year tenure, guiding the Catalan giants to their first league title in 11 years and also securing the league cup. His winning formula involved bringing British strikers Gary Lineker and Mark Hughes on board.

Winds of change

THE second half of the Gaelic football season kicked off in spectacular fashion, with all three sides still in the title race. The Costa Gaels produced back-to-back wins against hosts Gibraltar Gaels and Eire Og Seville to keep their title hopes alive. Meanwhile a high-scoring game between the Sevillian outfit and Gibraltar, saw the hosts come out victors and sent them top of the table with two more rounds of fixtures to be played. Six points behind both Gibraltar and Seville at the start of the day, the Marbella-based side put in two spirited performances to claw themselves back into title contention. Shutting the back door, the Costa Gaels conceded just one goal the whole day. The next round of fixtures will take place in Marbella, before the final round of games in Sevilla.

Scores:

Gibraltar Gaels 4-7 (19) vs Eire Og Seville 4-3 (15) Gibraltar Gaels 1-6 (9) vs Costa Gaels 2-11 (17) Costa Gaels 1-10 (13) vs Eire Og Seville 0-8 (8)

Sir Bobby Robson Arguably Britain’s most successful overseas manager and beloved by the entire footballing word, Robson won the Copa del Rey and European Cup Winners’ Cup while at Barcelona. During his Nou Camp tenure he also helped nurture a young translator who went on to become a half decent manager too. His name was Jose Mourinho.

Howard Kendall On the field, results didn’t go as well as Englishman Kendall had planned during his two and a half years at Athletic Bilbao. But the Everton legend’s death last year was equally mourned in Bilbao, because of the great impression he made on the club, fans and city. Quite simply, he loved Bilbao and Bilbao loved him.

John Toshack

The Welshman managed Real Sociedad not once, not twice, but three times, although he is best remembered for a further two separate stints at Real Madrid. He steered Los Blancos to the league title in 1990, and is still revered in the country to the extent that he is often linked to vacant managerial posts to this day.

Chris Coleman Clearly Moyes didn’t take enough advice from Coleman during his ill-fated Real Sociedad tenure, because the now Wales boss enjoyed great success there in 2007. A stunning record of 12 wins from 21 games saw his side fly up the Segunda Division table, but he unfortunately resigned in January 2008 after a fall-out with the club’s president.

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Telephone: 951 273 575

January 20th - February 6th 2016

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Fruit of the loins GOAT semen from Malaga is in high demand. The Malaga Goat Association has seen exports of its life seed go through the roof in the past 12 months. Exporting as far away as South America, Malaga goat semen has become sought-after as Spain’s goats produce up to twice as much milk as those elsewhere. Mexico, Peru and Cuba will be the first recipients of the flagship product, with the United States also showing an interest.

Foul play

FINAL WORDS

A SPANISH referee is embroiled in a sexism row after asking a professional female footballer out on a date during a first division match.

advice

More to come from pooch who went viral with numerical masterpiece

How much is that doggie?

Bulls out IMAGES of bullfighting could be censored or removed from Facebook after the social network included the tradition on its offensive list.

Rafa shock SPANISH tennis ace Rafa Nadal suffered a shock first round exit at the Australian Open against Fernando Verdasco.

STAR PAW-FORMANCE: Slush and Figueras

A NUMERICAL pooch has hit international headlines after stunning viewers with his knowledge of numbers. Gibraltar pet Slush went viral on social media after his owner Morris Figueras taught him to bark from one to 10. In a stunning performance the Airedale Terrier is able to bark according to numbers. So far his video - which can be seen on our new website www.gibraltarolivepress.com

- has received around one million views in total. His owner told the Olive Press that he is ‘shocked’ by the public’s reaction and has now promised ‘even greater things to come’. “I’m keeping the ace up my sleeve for now,” he said. “Slush can also add and subtract.” He added: “I originally started just as a way to play around with the kids. It took lots of patience but has been a great deal of fun.”

It’s no joke!

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A CRUISE-SHIP comedian has launched an appeal to find his lost iPad. It’s no joke that Stan Johns has not seen his treasured gadget since a stopover in Cadiz on Christmas Eve. The stand-up comic left the iPad in a black leather case, on a table at a city-centre bar. “It’s very precious because of some very sentimental family photos on it,” Johns, from Blackpool, told the Olive Press. “I believe the bar where I left it was in the square opposite the cathedral, and I think every drink is one euro.” Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es if you’ve found it.

Painting the town red CRISIS or no crisis, there’s been no belt-tightening in Spain’s booming sex industry. In fact, more cash is splashed on prostitutes here than in any other country in the world after China, according to Havoscope, a website which investigates the global black market. Of the 196 countries surveyed, the annual spend on prostitution in Spain totalled €23.5 billion, behind China’s €67.2 billion. The Spanish also spend more than any other nationality, with €343 spent per capita per year on prostitutes.

GET YOUR ROCKS ON! SEX addicts on the Costa del Sol finally have a way to kick the habit. A new Sex Addicts Anonymous group, the first outside Madrid and Barcelona, has been launched providing a 12-step programme for recovery. SAA meets once a week in San Pedro, with members from the entire community, regardless of age, gender or sexual orientation.

Sunshine and smiles IT’S official: Spain is the number one destination for expat happiness. A study of 30,000 British expats globally measured various happiness factors, with Spain top, followed by New Zealand and Mexico. Spain gained top brownie points for offering expats a more active social life than at home.

Dr. Bjørn Abraham-Nilsen, DDS Dr. Tonny Nielsen, DDS

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