Gibraltar Olive Press - Issue 70 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

Gib done May 9th lad - May 22nd 2018 good...

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Vol. 3 Issue 70 www.gibraltarolivepress.com May 9th - May 22nd 2018

It’s a matter of ‘moral conscience’ to explain £17.5 million deal with the ‘Butcher of Hama’

Question of ethics

A TOP website security expert fears official data could have been compromised after the government website was hacked twice by infamous cyber group Anonymous. The IT expert, who works at a leading gaming company, believes that the attack which led to the official website being down for three days was ‘very nerve-wracking’.

Continues on Page 4

Opposition slam Public interest questions lack of clarity over There are legitimate questions in the public interthe controversial est that fall to be investigated and answered in Assad Europort respect of the Assad Trust case. “Mr Al-Assad is facing serious historic allegations sale in relation to crimes in Syria. There are currently By Laurence Dollimore

OPPOSITION parties have blasted the Gibraltar government for failing to react to the controversial Rifaat al-Assad deal for the Europort building.

Independent MP Marlene Hassan Nahon insisted the government needed to explain the deal to show it has a ‘moral conscience’, rather than burying it under ‘layers of legal jargon’. Meanwhile the GSD has asked if an investigation is to be launched over the sale and purchase of the building, which is linked to the family of Gibraltar’s Financial Services Minister.

Killing

ATTACK: Site screenshot

In a series of key questions, its leader Keith Azopardi QC asked last night if the sale was being probed by legal bodies, given

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DEAL: With al-Assad

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BAD AIR: In Gib

CHOKING GREEN groups are warning that pollution from ships could be seriously damaging the health of Gibraltarians. A damning report by Ecologistas en Accion, alongside German ecological group NABU, claims that ultra-fine particles from boats in the Straits are up to 70 times higher than in cities. The study claimed that one recent reading measured 143,000 ultra-fine particles per cubic centimetre in the air near the Rock. While the local group Verdemar admitted the measure was taken just after the departure of a ship the difference between ‘normal’ city levels of approximately 2,000 particles per cubic centimetre is ‘alarming’.

international proceedings in France and Spain to freeze his assets and those of his family.’

Serious

It added such levels could cause ‘serious environmental and health problems’ to the local population. The European Commision has already calculated that up to 50,000 people die pre-

KEITH AZOPARDI

maturely from air pollution caused by ships, in particular due to emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxide. Both groups are calling for much stricter regulations on pollutants by these vessels, in a bid to cut back on pollution. Continues on Page 4

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Vol. 3 Issue 69 www.gibraltarolivepress.com April 25th - May 8th 2018

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

Trust linked to government minister buys key Rock property from Syria’s evil ‘Butcher of Hama’ By Laurence Dollimore

A GIBRALTAR office building owned by the uncle of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is being bought in a knock-down deal by a company linked to a government minister. Europort Trust, managed by Financial Services Minister Albert Isola and two of his relatives, is selling 6-9 Europort owned by ‘the Butcher of Hama’ Rifaat al-Assad for £13 million under a valuation price, a court judgement shows. The sensational ruling - which the Isola family tried to keep private - reveals that the property was bought for £17.5 million, well under its official £31 million value. And furthermore, the contro-

versial deal was brokered by a sister company - Fiduciary - also run by the family trusts of Lawrence, Albert and Peter Isola. The purchase is set to go through despite hundreds of Assad’s properties around France, Spain and the UK being currently embargoed by the authorities, while he is being probed for money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. It also comes to light in the same month that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad was accused again of gassing opponents

1982 - is currently under investigation in many countries. He is alleged to have invested hundreds of millions into property in France and Spain - with more than 500 properties in Marbella alone, it has been alleged. Spanish police raided 15 of his properties in Marbella last year after judge Jose de la Mata launched a money laundering investigation. Many of his Spanish properties were allegedly bought through trusts set up in Gibraltar. According to a high level Gibraltar source, Assad is ‘likely MAKING A KILLING: selling the Gibraltar property Rifaat cashing in via Isola to unlock some cash while his accounts and property have been embargoed in Spain and and his own civilians - includcourt ruling, the property is beFrance’. ing many children - during the ing sold to Glenthorne Trust, He added: “Whatever way you bloody civil war. which, again, is look at this, this is bad for GiIronically the build75% owned by the CRIME braltar PLC. It is not good for ing houses various family trusts of No bail for our reputation. key government Lawrence, Albert Spanish “It is surprising that the French jewel thief bodies, includand Peter Isola. and Spanish judges did not ing the Financial As revealed by the force an embargo in Gibraltar Intelligence Unit Olive Press, last istoo. (GFIU) and even sue, Rifaat - who “Ultimately where did this Albert Isola’s own earned the nickFOUND IN FUENGIROLA money come from in the first Ministry of Finanname ‘the Butcher place?” cial Services. of Hama’ when he 091 A legal source added: “This Under the deal, killed up to 25,000 is huge and the whole thing which has been people in a ruthstinks. It’s unlikely to go away revealed by a less crackdown on in a hurry.” public Supreme BUTCHER: Last Sunni Muslims in issue Opinion see page 6 2

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Trial set for exiled Syrian who used Gib companies to invest ‘stolen money’ into Spanish properties

NEWS IN BRIEF

Walk of shame

TWO Gibraltarian men have been extradited from Spain, via the land frontier, after a European Arrest Warrant sued for GBH last was isAugust.

Ganja getaway

A DRUG smuggler who rammed a Guardia Civil police leaving an officer car, pitalised, has beenhosarrested. The 60-yearold from La Linea was caught with 27 bales of cannabis.

Dole dupe

SOME 43 people have identified in a Social been Security racket that defrauded more than €15 Conspirators weremillion. in Cádiz, Granada, found Malaga and Sevilla.

Stories and features in this edition of Gibraltar’s original community newspaper

Washed out April 11th - April

24th 2018

A SPANISH thief

has been THE uncle of Syrian refused bail after being dent Bashar al-Assad Presicaught with watches is finally set to face trial ellery worth 50,000 and jewpounds. a Europe-wide probefollowing Builder Antonio Miguel leged ill-gotten gains. into alSanchez, from Marbella,Leon Dubbed the has ‘Butcher of his properties in Marbella been charged with Hama’, Rifaat al-Assad, theft at and from the property in 80, after Puerto Banus last year when Syria’s coffers by Rifaat amassed his fortune judge he was exiled Wharf, where he Cormorant in the during the 1980s, in Syria launched Jose de la Mata 1980s. was undera money laundering before altaking a renovation legedly using companies investigation. Rifaat and his job. The owners informed relatives are in Gibraltar and Panama police to pur- A total of 76 companies and believed to have bought 503 ‘BUTCHER’: of items missing chase more than 16 people properties, including Rifaat once the works had been completed. garages, ties in Spain and500 proper- property connected to the holiday homes, luxury hotel France. While chateaus in France. dozens of accounts empire, had their apartments Sanchez frozen. and country es- His largest property the theft forensic denied Spanish cops raided is the 3,000 hectare in Spain analysis 15 of Some €300 million is be- tates. lieved to have Most of the properties La Maquina, which estate of matched his DNA to DNA been looted in are found on the jewellery takes up the Marbella as well as in third of the area of Benahavisa es. boxand is worth a reported €60 The builder argued million. that he had merelyin court The total market moved value of the boxes all the family’s and other perproperties sonal belongings in Spain is reported stored in to be a wardrobe whopping €691 million. so he could replacea Last year, €862 flooring. confiscated by themillion was thorities, where French auScientific on trial later thishe is set to go However He may also faceyear. charges in with his this was at odds Switzerland, where initial police interhe has view when been under he denied seeing since 2013 for investigation them or touching war crimes allegedly committed inside the wardrobe.anything in the Stipendiary 1980s. Magistrate Rifaat’s brother Charles Pitto denied bail, from Syria in theexpelled him insisting his account was he feared he was 80s because odds with at the court’s evipolitical coup. Anorganising a dence ment on a trial is announce- scientificand the supporting evidence. the coming weeks.expected in

AN Irish expat wanted a dissident republican for the murder of for his trial and disappeared five years ago has been arrested on girlfriend. with his Dean Evans, fromthe Costa del Sol. Evans, along with men charged with Dublin, is one of three McGrathand 35-year-old Edward the murder and 46-year-old of-three Peter Sharif KelButterfly, who of father- ly, was due to stand dead in a car park was shot nected trial in County Meath with the murderon charges conMarch 2013. in Butterfly. of 35-year-old Butterfly Spanish police in a car park after was found collapsed arrested 27-year-old ans on Thursday he had Ev- from a car lunchtime in Fuengiand died shortly been shot at rola. after. It was alleged that A European arrest Evans shot Butterfly warrant was issued while he was sat in the by the Special Criminal McGrath and Kelly back of the car. Court in last year, after Evans failed to Ireland life in prison after were sentenced to show up Evans. standing trial without

Sanchez will next appear in court on May 2.

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Our reputation at stake

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marlene hassan nahon jority owned by trusts associated with the finance minister Albert Isola and his family. The Isolas deny that the building was sold at an under value. According to GBC, the Isolas’ company Fiduciary also partmanaged the sale for Rifaat, who is being probed for money laundering, tax evasion and corruption in France, Spain and the UK. The sale comes at a convenient time for Rifaat, who has seen hundreds of properties and bank accounts frozen around

Europe. “I believe this issue has to be explained in detail to the Gibraltarian people in a way that is understandable by all,” Nahon said in a statement. She added it should ‘not be buried under layers of legal jargon and coded language’. “It is the good reputation of Gibraltar PLC which is at stake here, and that has the potential to affect us all.” Nahon added: “Gibraltar should be a beacon of good practice and we should be able

OPINION

he Olive Press is dedicated to ensuring that its readership is informed of all matters of public interest. There is no doubt that the Assad/Isola affair is a matter of huge public interest, not just in Gibraltar but internationally. Suffice to say that the main opposition party in the Gibraltar parliament and independent member Ms Nahon have asked for an explanation. Our commitment to the free flow of accurate information is undimmed. Having read the letter sent to us today by the solicitors for the Isola family we will take legal advice and check and re-check all the facts. If we find that anything which we have reported on is inaccurate we will immediately rectify this. Similarly should we find out more information that we consider the public has a right to know then we will publish it. Gibraltar has a right to transparency and a right to know.

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This issue should be explained to the Gibraltarian people in a way that is understandable by all, and not buried under layers of legal jargon and coded language. “It is the good reputation of Gibraltar PLC which is at stake here, and that has the potential to affect all of us.’

the ‘serious historic allegations’ against the so-called ‘Butcher of Hama’, the uncle of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The case broke after it was revealed that Rifaat - who earnt his nickname after allegedly killing up to 25,000 Syrians - was selling the building for £17.5 million to a company ma-

Stays cleaner for longer

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Courtesy of GBC

By Elisa Menendez

Opinions see page 6

Galliano stuns NY with Rihanna outfit SEE PAGE 3

Hacking fears

Data “If they have a faulty process that allows someone to take over the government-controlled website, they can use the same process to hack key data stores,” the cyber professional, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Olive Press. His worries were backed up by shadow Minister for Finance, Roy Clinton, who confirmed he would be asking further questions in Parliament on the case. He told the Olive Press this week he has ‘concerns’ about the security of the website and how the shock attacks were able to happen. The GSD politician said: “I sincerely hope the hackers didn’t get any sensitive information. If they did it would be

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to show the world that we have a high standard of ethics and a moral conscience, as well as being a robust financial centre.” The GSD yesterday joined the fray when it insisted it would be raising questions in Parliament and wanted to know if the Attorney General was investigating the sale. It also asked if any ‘distributions’ to Rifaat from the sale were to be ‘frozen’ in Gibraltar. In a series of written questions, Azopardi asked: “What is the OCPL (Office of Criminal Prosecution) doing in relation to this case?”. He added: “Is the Attorney General investigating this matter? “In the light of current international proceedings are distributions to the Assad family to be frozen by local authorities?” The Government has yet to comment on the case. “We have spoken to Fabian Picardo about this and we don’t know yet if he is going to comment,” a spokesman told the Olive Press last night.

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MONEY FLOW: How Rifaat

Letter

and Europort link to Isolas

Meanwhile lawyers representing the Isola family have sent a detailed letter to the Gibraltar Olive Press demanding we remove our previous articles on the case and do not publish ‘any further inaccurate, sensationalist and or defamatory articles’. However, we believe it is a matter of public interest upon which questions need to be answered (see comment left). The controversy comes two weeks after the Gibraltar government website was mysteriously hijacked by hacking collective Anonymous.

CRIME

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Come forward Experts believe up to 80% of rape crimes go unreported in Spain, with only 2.65 sexual attacks per 100,000 inhabitants being logged with police according to Eurostat.

Pay up Manchester United manager José Mourinho has admitted to two charges of tax fraud and agreed to pay €800,000.

Law revision The Spanish government has announced it will consider imposing harsher penalties on perpetrators of sex crimes following the ‘Wolf Pack’ case.

097

Stories and features in this edition of Gibraltar’s original community newspaper

Campo police fear worsening of the drug crisis as family unites gangs together A DRUG cartel in Spain’s ‘narco town’ is growing stronger by the day thanks to the return of two ruthless brothers. Six Cadiz gangs have joined forces to form the Castañitas Cartel, allegedly headed by siblings Antonio and Francisco Tejon. The brothers are believed to be the lynchpins after managing to group together six gangs to form a successful international smuggling operation. The Tejon brothers have reportedly returned to La Linea after a brief exile in Morocco. Each of the gangs under their growing empire are said to

May 9th - May 22nd 2018

Growing concern BROTHERS IN ARMS: The Tejons

Drug gangs ‘will fall sooner than they imagine’ THE gangs of Cadiz will ‘fall and lose the battle one by one sooner than they imagine’, insists Madrid’s Andalucia delegate. Antonio Sanz has assured the people of the Campo de Gibraltar that there is no place for drug cartels and has given a stiff warning to those engaged in drug trafficking. Sanz stated that drug trafficking is not a

new problem for the area, recalling the epidemic of the nineties, and prefers to focus on the potential economic growth of the region. He insisted the police were doing ‘great work’ but admitted the problem was complex and difficult. He added a new draft law was soon to come in banning the use of ‘narcolanchas’ or ‘narcoboats’.

be responsible for different parts of the smuggling operation, including sea transportation, picking up cargo from the beaches and hiding the drugs in safe houses. The Tejon clan, including brothers, children and wives, are all allegedly dedicated to the smuggling of drugs, mostly hashish. Police estimate Antonio and Francisco have around €20 to €30 million in cash hidden around La Linea de la Concepcion. They also have at least 24 bank accounts and became known for allegedly throwing huge parties with prostitutes and paid-off police officers. They fled to Morocco to lay low last year after around 30 of their members were arrested. But police intelligence says they are back and have brought with them a rise in violence and brazen aggression against law enforcers, especially when they have detected a stash.

“We feel afraid,” said Juan Fernández, national spokesperson of the AUGC police union, “We cannot allow these gangs to organise themselves.” Fernandez has called for an education or employment plan in the area, given that 40% of the Campo are unemployed. Among the young it is even more startling, with 80% unemployed. It means the youth are easy targets for traffickers looking for new recruits. The AUGC union has warned that recent government promises to increase funding and officer numbers are little more than ‘sticking plasters’ and will not be enough. A whopping 80% of drugrelated arrests in Spain happen in Cadiz province, compared to 14% in Almeria and just 5% in Valencia. In La Linea, at least 3,000 of the 63,000 population are estimated to be working for drug traffickers. There are around 25 other gangs in the region, most of which operate on their own - for now. But authorities fear they could soon join the growing cartel. Meanwhile, the Guardia Civil of Algeciras, which covers the Campo de Gibraltar, has just 1,100 agents, a third of the size of the drug gangs’ 3,000-strong workforce.

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May 9th - May 22nd 2018

Spitting in Spanish ACTOR Chris Hemsworth knows he is in trouble when his Spanish wife, Elsa Pataky talks to him in her native tongue. “When I hear Spanish directed at me, it’s usually unfortunate, controversial, aggressive situations,” the Thor star said on US chat show, Ellen. Despite being married to supermodel Pataky since 2010, the Australian admitted he still only knows one sentence in Spanish. Hemsworth, 34, who lives with Pataky, 41, in Australia, added that when she is telling off their children he just stands around and adds the occasional ‘that’s right’. He is the only non-Spanish speaker in the family as his five-yearold daughter and four-year-old twin sons are all bilingual.

GIB DOC: On the island

Weight loss shock for Shereen! A GIBRALTARIAN contestant on this year’s Island With Bear Grylls appeared surprised by her weight loss during the latest episode. Doctor Shereen Saleh, aka Shereen the Machine, looked as shocked as her fellow campmates, when they were all shown their reflection for the first time in five weeks and told how much weight they’d lost. After leaving the Island, contestants were given their first proper meal in over a month which prompted one of the them to shout: “I could cry, this is better than winning the lottery.” They were then taken to a hotel where most made a beeline for mirrors to see how drastically they had changed. Shereen, who is a Gibraltar GP, soon became distracted by the comfortable bed in her hotel room.

Benidorm has NOT been axed! THE hit series Benidorm might not be over after all. Despite a slurry of headlines, followed up by local rags in Spain, the show’s creator has insisted the popular ITV show has NOT been axed. Fans across Spain and the UK were devastated after news broke that the comedy series’ 10th season would be its last. But creator Darren Litten, 47, has now said that may not be the case. He said he had merely sparked concern the long-running programme had been cancelled this week, after posting ‘Crazy to think Wednesday will be the last episode of Benidorm!’ Yet after the finale aired on Wednesday, Derren admitted he was only referring to the last episode of the season.

Skin cancer drama helps Gib local get more prime time on UK TV, writes Laurence Dollimore GIBRALTARIAN Katie Kane is set to brighten up British television with a bigger role in The Real Housewives of Cheshire. Kane, 43, is the identical twin sister of lead character on the reality show Rachel Lugo. They both grew up in Cheshire along with their other two sisters, before Kane moved to Marbella and more recently Gibraltar with her husband and two teenage sons. Kane, a keen showjumper, is making more regular appearances on the show’s seventh series, which recently began on ITVBe. The reality star has been in the news after she spoke out about her skin cancer battle, warning sun worshippers it’s ‘not worth risking your health for a tan’.

NO COMPRENDE: Hemsworth

The real deal

Diagnosis

She added she had felt ‘stupid and selfish’ after first being diagnosed with skin cancer 11 years ago. “The tumours on my chest were fairly superficial and once treated haven’t returned,” she said. “The tumour on my face has been more difficult, first of all they tried cryotherapy but it came back so we tried a cream called Aldara. “The benefit of the cream is that it kills the cancer cells and it heals without a scar. The negatives are that the side effects can be horrible. “I had a very large scab on my face for nearly six weeks, it was extremely sore and I felt incredibly dizzy and confused. I couldn’t drive for

Holy moly! SKIN SAFETY: Kane and tumour nearly four months until I felt normal again.” Two years later however, the tumour on her face returned

and Kane was forced to undergo surgery, which was documented on The Real Housewives.

French affair deepens cinema’s SPANISH golden couple have year’s this opened Cannes Film Festival. Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz officially began their French connection eight years after Bardem first declared his love for Cruz at the festival. The Oscar-winning actors both star in Iranian Asghar Farhadi's Spanish psychological thriller Everybody Knows,

CANNES: Golden couple

which kicked off the festival. Bardem proclaimed his love for Cruz in 2010 as he accepted the best actor award for Spanish film, Biutiful. "I share this joy with my friend, my companion, my love, Penelope. I owe you a lot and I love you so much," he said, leading to his now wife’s eyes welling up as she blew him kisses.

RIHANNA looked unholier than thou as she channelled the Pope at this year’s New York Met Gala. The 30-year-old stole the show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a silver mini dress and jacket designed by Gibraltar maestro John Galliano (right). The designer from the Rock designed the piece for fashion house Maison Margiela. The Barbados native finished the look with a matching hat, chunky necklace and Christian Louboutin heels.

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HACKING CONCERN From front page

of grave concern.” The hacktivist group is infamous for holding various international governments and terrorist groups to account. It comes after a year of financial scandal involving offshore enclaves, following the infamous Panama Papers, which exposed how many global leaders and business moguls hid their money. In the first attack, on Tuesday April 24, the website collapsed for over 12 hours. All government content was removed and replaced by the group’s AnonPlus logos and a mission statement in Italian, encouraging readers to join the organisation. AnonPlus is believed to be a social network branch of Anonymous which targets censorship. Although the site was restored some hours later, hackers took control again, with the site remaining offline for a further two days. A government spokesperson told the Olive Press no personal data had been accessed and the website had remained offline while technicians worked on the CMS platform. “The website is currently hosted in the UK and is totally separate to the Government Network and its systems, therefore no information or data was compromised,” she added. A new site with enhanced security measures is expected to be live before summer. “As part of the introduction of eGovernment and Digital Services, a complete review of government security infrastructure and plans for its implementation are both well underway,” she said. The security web expert however, was not convinced. “What I want to know is how on earth was a Government website hacked and taken over for three days in the first place? “It’s embarrassing. If these are the same people that are looking after my data then I would feel very nervous.”

May 9th - May 22nd 2018

Choker Est. 1946

Gibraltar fourth worst place for air pollution in the UK GIBRALTAR has been named the fourth most polluted part of the UK. It joins more than 40 towns and cities, which are at or have exceeded air pollution limits set by the World Health Organization (WHO). In a new report by the WHO, data shows 31 areas have fine particle air pollution levels above 10 micrograms per cubic metre, with another 15 at that limit. Gibraltar has 14 micrograms per cubic metre, making it the fourth most polluted place after Port Talbot (18), Scunthorpe and Salford (both on 15).

The government meanwhile hit back insisting that the high readings were due to contributing factors that could not be controlled, including sea salt and African dust. “Both sea salt and in particular African dust from the Sahara will be higher in Gibraltar than in the UK locations quoted in the report due to our geographical locations,” a spokesman said, adding that WHO guidelines are stricter than EU levels. Fine air particle pollution can penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system, causing diseases including stroke, heart dis-

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BAD AIR: In Gib

CHOKING

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at DEAL WITCaged H THE DEVIL last Vol. 3 Issue 69 www.gibralta rolivepress.com April 25th May 8th 2018

GREEN groups are warning that pollution from ships could be seriously damaging the health of Gibraltarians. A damning report by Ecologistas en Accion, alongside German ecological group NABU, claims that ultra-fine particles from boats in the Straits are up to 70 times higher than in cities. The study claimed that one recent reading measured 143,000 ultra-fine particles per cubic centimetre in the air near the Rock. While the local group Verdemar admitted the measure was taken just after the departure of a ship the differBy Laurence Dollimore ence between ‘normal’ city levels of approximately 2,000 particles per cubic centimetre A GIBRALTAR office building is ‘alarming’. owned by the uncle of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is beSerious ing bought in a knock-down It added such levels could deal by a company linked to a cause ‘serious environmental government minister. and health problems’ to the Europort Trust, managed by Filocal population. nancial Services Minister Albert The European Commision Isola and two of his relatives, is has already calculated that selling 6-9 Europort owned by up to 50,000 people die pre‘the Butcher of Hama’ Rifaat maturely from air pollution al-Assad for £13 million under caused by ships, in particular a valuation price, a court judgedue to emissions of sulphur ment shows. and nitrogen oxide. The sensational ruling - which Both groups are calling for the Isola family tried to keep much stricter regulations on private - reveals that the proppollutants by these vessels, in erty was bought for £17.5 mila bid to cut back on pollution. lion, well under its official £31 million value. Continues on Page 4 And furthermore, the contro-

Trust linked to government minister buys key Rock property from Syria’s evil ‘Butcher of Hama’

FLASHBACK: Warning last Washed issue out ease, lung cancer and respiratory infections. Around seven million people die each year from exposure to such pollution, with most of these deaths being in low and middleUK: +44 772 213 6148 SPAIN: +34 634countries, income mainly in Asia 682 048 and Africa. In London, levels fell from 17 to 11 micrograms from 2013 to 2015, while in the same period it fell from 17 micrograms to 12 in Sheffield. Worldwide, the WHO’s report estimated that nine out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants. Simon Gillespie, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation, said: “The UK government needs to show leadership by adopting WHO air quality guidelines into national legislation and in doing so, help to protect the nation’s heart and circulatory health.” 2

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ss.com

NEWS IN BRIEF

Walk of shame

TWO Gibraltarian men have been extradited from Spain, frontier, aftervia the land a European Arrest Warrant was issued for GBH last August.

Ganja getaway

A DRUG who rammedsmuggler a Guardia Civil police leaving an officer car, hospitalised, has rested. The been arold from La 60-yearcaught with Linea was cannabis. 27 bales of

Dole dupe

SOME 43 people identified in a have been rity racket thatSocial Secudefrauded more than Conspirators €15 million. were found in Cádiz, Granada, Malaga and Sevilla.

Stories and features in this edition of Gibraltar’s original community newspaper

Trial set for exiled Syrian who used Gib companies to invest ‘stolen money’ into Spanish properties

April 11th - April

24th 2018

THE uncle of A SPANISH dent Bashar Syrian Presirefused bail thief has been after being nally set to faceal-Assad is ficaught with watches a Europe-wide trial following ellery worth 50,000 and jewleged ill-gotten probe into alpounds. Builder Antonio Dubbed the gains. Sanchez, from Miguel Leon his properties Hama’, Rifaat ‘Butcher of and in been charged Marbella, has al-Assad, 80, Puerto Banus Marbella from Syria’s amassed his coffers by Rifaat last year fortune in Syria after judge Jose the property with theft at during the 1980s, de la Mata when he was exiled in Wharf, where in Cormorant before al- launched a money laundering 1980s. the legedly using he was underinvestigation. taking a renovation Rifaat and his Gibraltar and companies in A job. Panama to purtotal of 76 companies believed to haverelatives are The owners informed chase more than bought 503 ‘BUTCHER’: and properties, 500 proper- 16 people connected police of items missing ties in Spain Rifaat including garages, to the holiday and dozens of property empire, once the works had been chateaus in France. homes, luxury accounts frozen. had their apartments completed. hotel France. While Spanish cops and country His raided 15 of Some €300 million tates. es- is largest property in Spain the theft Sanchez denied the 3,000 is beforensic lieved to have been looted Most of the properties La Maquina, hectare estate of matched his DNA analysis in the Marbella which takes up are to DNA a found on the jewellery as well as in third of the area of Benahavis es. boxand is worth a reported €60 The million. builder argued in court The total market that he had merely moved value of the all the family’s AN Irish expat properties sonalboxes and other perwanted for the in Spain is reported a dissident republican belongings stored murder to be a wardrobe whopping €691 in a five years ago of for his trial and been arrested so he could replace disappeared Last year, €862million. Dean Evans, on the Costa del Sol. has girlfriend. with his million was flooring. confiscated by men chargedfrom Dublin, is one of three Evans, along with thorities, wherethe French auof-three Peterwith the murder of father- McGrathand and 35-year-old Edward he is set to go 46-year-old Sharif Scientific on trial later dead in a car Butterfly, who was shot ly, was due to stand Keltrial on He may also this year. However this nected with March 2013. park in County Meath was at the murder charges conin Butterfly. Switzerland, face charges in with his Spanish police initial police odds Butterfly was of 35-year-old been under where he has view when arrested 27-year-old interin a car found collapsed ans on Thursday investigation he denied seeing Ev- from a park after he had been since 2013 lunchtime in rola. car and for war crimes them or touching shot at Fuengi- It allegedly committed was alleged died shortly after. inside the wardrobe.anything A European that in the Stipendiary 1980s. by the Specialarrest warrant was issued while he was sat in Evans shot Butterfly Rifaat’s brother Magistrate last year, afterCriminal Court in Ireland McGrath and Kellythe back of the car. expelled him Charles Pitto denied Evans failed from were Syria in the 80s bail, to show up life in prison after standingsentenced to because insisting his account he feared he was Evans. trial without was at political coup. organising a odds with the court’s eviment on a trial An announce- dence and the supporting is expected in scientific evidence. the coming weeks.

Sanchez will court on May next appear in 2.

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ALMOST 500 migrants have been rescued attempting to cross from Africa to Spain. Spain’s maritime rescue service said it saved 476 migrants over the weekend, with no reported casualties. It comes as a Spanish charity dedicated to helping migrants at sea rescued 105 other migrants in waters near Libya on Sunday. The group Proactiva Open Arms found the migrants, from Bangladesh, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and other countries, drifting at sea in a motorless boat. The UN says 615 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year.

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STEPHEN Lawrence murder suspect Jamie Acourt has been arrested in Spain after being on the run for two years. The 41-year-old was snacthed by armed police at Barcelona airport in connection with a €4.5 million marijuana plot. He was captured as part of Operation Captura, an initiative between the UK’s National Crime Agency, Crimestoppers and Spanish police. Acourt will appear before a judge in Madrid next week fo an extradition hearing. “Acourt thought he could evade capture, but as a result of an intelligenceled operation his days on the run have ended,” said Ian Cruxton, head of the NCA’s International operations. mAcourt is alleged to have been involved in the murder of Stephen Lawrence in April 1993.A gang hurled racial abuse at Lawrence before stabbing him fatally in London. Acourt has never stood trial for his alleged involvement in the murder.

1982 - is currently under investigation in many countries. He is alleged to have invested hundreds of millions into property in France and Spain - with more than 500 properties in Marbella alone, it has been alleged. Spanish police raided 15 of his properties in Marbella last year after judge Jose de la Mata launched a money laundering investigation. Many of his Spanish properties were allegedly bought through trusts set up in Gibraltar. According to a high level Gibraltar source, Assad is ‘likely MAKING A KILLING: selling the Gibraltar property Rifaat cashing in via Isola to unlock some cash while his accounts and property have versial deal was brokered by been embargoed in Spain and a sister company - Fiduciary and his own civilians - includcourt ruling, the property is beFrance’. - also run by the family trusts ing many children - during the ing sold to Glenthorne Trust, He added: “Whatever way you of Lawrence, Albert and Peter bloody civil war. which, again, is Ironically the buildlook at this, this is bad for GiIsola. 75% owned by the CRIME braltar PLC. It is not good for The purchase is set to go ing houses various family trusts of government No bail for our reputation. through despite hundreds of key Spanish Lawrence, Albert includjewel thief “It is surprising that the French Assad’s properties around bodies, and Peter Isola. and Spanish judges did not France, Spain and the UK being the Financial As revealed by the force an embargo in Gibraltar ing currently embargoed by the Intelligence Unit Olive Press, last istoo. authorities, while he is being (GFIU) and even sue, Rifaat - who “Ultimately where did this probed for money laundering, Albert Isola’s own earned the nickFOUND IN FUENGIR Ministry of FinanOLA money come from in the first corruption and tax evasion. name ‘the Butcher place?” 091 It also comes to light in the cial Services. of Hama’ when he A legal source added: “This same month that Syrian dicta- Under the deal, killed up to 25,000 which has been is huge and the whole thing tor Bashar Assad was accused people in a ruthstinks. It’s unlikely to go away again of gassing opponents revealed by a less crackdown on public Supreme in a hurry.” BUTCHER: Last issue Sunni Muslims in Opinion see page 6

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OPINION Watch this space There is a well known phrase that ‘one man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist’. Anonymous, would presumably, place themselves firmly in the former. While it is obviously not a crime to be a member of the decentralized international hacktivist group, it is of course a crime to hack. And yet, history repeatedly shows us that many things we would determine as unthinkable today, only came about through a brave bunch of lawbreakers. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white person, Emily Davison threw herself in front of the King’s horse. They did this to change laws they felt were unjust - the segregation of people based on skin colour and the denial of votes for merely being born a woman. “Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to break a law,” once said Edward Snowden. Whatever your thoughts, it will be interesting to see what is released in the coming weeks.

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After more than half a century of waging war against Madrid ETA, the Basque terrorist movement, has laid down its arms. The bloody conflict is over, but how long will it take to heal the wounds?

Report by David Baird

T was a bizarre, nerve-wracking rendezvous. On a street near the San Sebastian waterfront a stranger had thrust into my hand a roughly scrawled map. “Mikel will meet you,” he said. “He’ll be wearing a blue jacket. Don’t worry. He’ll know who you are.” Now I was sitting in a cafe in Hendaye just across the border in France, waiting to meet a member of the terrorist group ETA (Euskadi ta Askatasuna or Basque Country and Freedom). Suddenly he was there, sitting down opposite me. ‘Mikel’ was young, goodlooking and quietly spoken. Nothing wild-eyed or revolutionary about him. Trained as an economist, he and three idealistic friends had joined ETA. Pursued by the Spanish police, five years earlier he had taken refuge in France. He denied that he had ever killed anybody, but admitted: “I carried out some operations. Nothing special, planting

‘He left for the office then I heard shots. I found him lying next to his car.’ bombs in government buildings, that sort of thing. But If I had been required to kill a policeman, yes, I would have done it.” Despite his mild manner, he was ready to defend violence - ‘it grows from a consciousness of national and social oppression, from concern about political-social problems.’ Finally however, his branch of ETA had decided to seek independence for the Basque Country through political rather than violent means. That was why he had agreed to meet me, to put across the so-called Poli-Milis’ point of view. “Armed struggle has reached a dead end,” said Mikel, for a 1982 dispatch I wrote for The Economist and later The Boston Globe. But ETA’s more fanatical followers did not renounce violence. Only this year, this very month, did ETA’s hard-liners finally lay down their arms for good - after a campaign which claimed more than 850 lives. To this day there are scores of unsolved crimes, unexplained disappearances, families whose lives were torn apart in what came to be known as ‘los años de plomo’ (literally ‘years of lead’ i.e. of bullets). ETA was formed back in 1959 by students determined to create an independent Basque state incorporating parts of northern Spain and southern France. In 1968 it carried out its first assassination, shooting a notorious secret police chief, Meliton Manzanas, in San Sebastian. Its most spectacular coup came in 1973 when it killed Fran-

The past is another country May 9th - May 22nd 2018

Expat journalist David Baird saw firsthand the tensions ramping up in the Basque region

POLICE PRESENCE: Basque streets under a curfew during the conflict

co’s prime minister and heir apparent Luis Carrero Blanco by blowing up his car. After the dictator’s death extremist groups piled on the pressure. ETA saw it as a chance to blast Madrid into granting independence to their region. In return, right-wing death squads killed alleged ETA supporters. Many innocents were caught in the crossfire. Inevitably, covering the turbulent days after Franco’s death, I met some of the victims, including fellow journalist José Antonio Martínez Soler, editor of a weekly magazine. On February 2, 1976, he was seized and driven into the country.

Demanding details of a banned military union, the kidnappers beat him on the head and soles of his feet. He was dumped in a forest, managing to free himself from his bonds before he froze to death. Less fortunate was José María Portell. He acted as a go-between in secret negotiations between Madrid and ETA. I interviewed him in the Bilbao office where he edited the paper, Gaceta del Norte. Not long afterwards I met his widow, Carmen. She told me: “It was a normal day. He left for the office and then I heard the sound of shots. I found him lying next to his car. ETA claimed he had somehow betrayed them but he was just trying to use his contacts to help reach an agreement.” That occurred on June 28, 1978. But the killing was far from over. To combat Basque terrorism the government secretly created its own terror group, GAL (Grupos Antiterroristas de Liber-

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3 OPPOSITION: An anti-ETA protest in Madrid and a farmhouse where arms were concealed. (Far left) ‘Longlive ETA’

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- FOUND: ‘Most handsome policeman in Spain’  Torremolinos to open Andafinally revealed and you will fall in love with him lucia’s biggest shopping and leisure even morecentre (2,350) - 3122 views Statistics for: April 24 - May 8 reaches semi  Gibraltar schoolgirl -final of Spanish TV talent show Unique visitors: 171,468 3065 views Pageviews: 194,789

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ación). Often it employed incompetent French gangsters to do the dirty work. They held a French furniture dealer, Segundo Marey, for 10 days thinking he was somebody else, and killed several people by mistake. Years later police officers Jose Amedo and Michel Dominguez and leading politicians José Barrionuevo, Rafael Vera, Julián Sancristóbal and Ricardo García Damborenea were convicted for running GAL. Left hanging in the air: how involved was prime minister Felipe Gonzalez? When I met Pedro Aristegui, Guipuzcoa’s Civil Governor, in his San Sebastian office, he emphasised that terrorism was an international business with involvement of everybody from the IRA to the KGB. But our talk was interrupted by a phone call. He rushed off to Bilbao where an ETA commando had just killed three people, including two policemen, in a restaurant. Aristegui himself suffered a violent end. A few years later, when as ambassador in Beirut, he was killed by a Syrian bombardment. For many Andalucians the País Vasco is another country, with its own language and customs. But they have suffered from the conflict because so many, fleeing the hardships of rural life, served there as Guardia Civil. To ETA members they were an army of occupation, a target. I recall a funeral in my village in Malaga province. One grey and rainy morning, briefly, unwillingly, the pueblo focused the attention of all Spain. Dignitaries

alighted from chauffeur-driven cars and stumbled about on the wet cobbles. Generals, politicians, clerics, officers, television cameramen, reporters and photographers arrived for the funeral of local boy Antonio. He was the pride of the pueblo when he was picked as a member of the Royal Guard. One morning, driving the top brass about, he halted at a Madrid traffic light. A motorcyclist drew up alongside. The pillion passenger dropped a plastic bag on the roof of the

Certain bars are still off-limits to the ‘traitors’ who collaborate with Madrid.

Homage is openly paid to the ‘patriots’, Etarras serving time for their crimes. Recently two off-duty Guardia Civil officers and their partners who entered the wrong bar in Navarra were violently attacked. Eight young assailants face jail sentences. Nearly 300 Etarras remain in prison (close to 90 in Andalucia, 53 in France). The Spanish government is not inclined to release them for they were found guilty of violent crimes. And what of Mikel? Long after our cloak-and-dagger meeting in France, I talked to him again. The years of clandestine meetings and open rebellion were over, but his basic beliefs had not changed. “Please don’t mention my real name and history,” he requested. “It may worry the clients.” Now he was managing a luxury hotel. Yes, the past IS another country.

car and the motorcycle took off at high speed. Seconds later, the bomb blasted through the roof, killing Antonio, a lieutenant-colonel and another soldier. Now the violence is over, but the scars of conflict are not only evident in the cemeteries. Peace has come but not reconciliation. The families of those who lost loved ones cannot forget. Neither can hardline ETA sympathisers. In towns like Hernani and Renteria, hotbeds of ETA support, certain bars and streets are still off-limits to the ‘traitors’ who support or collaborate with Madrid.

Foreign correspondent, author and photographer, David Baird worked on newspapers around the world, including The Telegraph and Sydney Morning Herald, before basing himself in Andalucia. Between Two Fires (published by Maroma Press), a poignant account of an anti-Franco guerrilla movement in Málaga and Granada, has won praise from historians Ian Gibson and Paul Preston. His other books include East of Malaga, a guide to the Axarquía and Costa Tropical, and Sunny Side Up, a nostalgic account of life in an Andalucian village.

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ine art, until May 23 A UNIQUE art exhibition at the Fine Arts Gallery on Casemates square will run until May 23. Monday to Friday 10am to 7pm and Saturday until 2pm.

ellow day, May 12 A DAY of live music and dancing in Casemates square in support of mental health, featuring several local bands and dance academies.

ar rally, May 19 THE annual international car rally will see a display of vintage cars at Casemates square on May 19 before embarking on a scenic 100km route through Spain May 20.

May 9th - May 22nd 2018

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Campo vibes Flamenco guitarists aim to create a special ‘campo de Gibraltar’ sound A PAIR of guitarists from Algeciras are attempting to set up a unique Campo de Gibraltar sound. The musicians, Jose Carlos Gomez and Manuel León, are playing a series of shows under the title Algeciras after Paco, in a tribute to the famous guitarist Paco de Lucia, who was born in the city.

The two guitarists have joined forces to showcase their distinctive style and to persuade audiences of the individual style of the Algeciras guitar. They are ‘defending the style’ and artists of Algeciras, which started Ramon de Algecrias and with Antonio Sánchez, the fa-

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ON the 80th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles of the Spanish Civil War a new book shines a light on the agony the city of Teruel endured. de Teruel: GuerDownload our app La nowbatalla and ra total en Espana, takes begin enjoying the readers best Spanish through the battle news on the go. that claimed the lives of over 140,000 people during the most severe winter the country had seen in 20 years. Through the experience of civilians and combatants, oral testimonies and historic archives, the new book, writSTRUMMERS: Jose and Manuel ten by David Alegre Lorenz, a the Doctor ther of Paco de Lucía, who longer sees or values The Olive Press of History at the Unicontribution of artists and versity of Barcelona, offers a died in 2014. styles from the area. They believe the public no of one of the TOP for newsnew in perspective Spain! This week they starred most brutal events of 20th at Granada’s celebrated century Spain.

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SINGER: Sutherland

HE is best known as Jack Bauer in smash TV series, 24. Now Kiefer Sutherland is bringing his second talent - music - to Spain. The actor, currently starring in Netflix series Designated Survivor, is bringing his band to play in Madrid and Barcelona next month as part of the Reckless Tour 2018. The Kiefer Sutherland Band will be presenting a series of songs from their album Down in a hole.

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Flamenco Viene del Sur, which as established in 1996 with the aim of elevating the value of flamenco.

Diversity

The artists are chosen through a public call which takes into account gender equality, the diversity of styles and the balance between established and novice performers.

Troops

From December 1937 to February 1938 Fascist and Republican troops took to one of the smallest cities in Spain, Teruel in Aragon. What the Republicans expected to be a victory by attacking the city, became the military turning point in the war as the recapture of Teruel removed the last obstacle for Franco to advance towards the Mediterranean Sea.

Property

MOVING IN May 9th - May 22nd 2018 Denise Van Outen has been spotted hanging out on the Costa del Sol after investing in her first home here

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May 2018

SEE PAGE III >>

Issue 20

SUP

DISNEY INSPIRATION: As Game of Thrones descends on Spain’s magnificent castles once more, we take a look at the country’s most enviable historic structures

Foreign affair M Brits make up the biggest foreign market in Spain and Malaga is booming

alaga was one of the most popular regions for foreign buyers last year, new figures have revealed. More than 460,000 sales were registered in Spain last year, with foreign nationals accounting for 13% of purchases. The total number of properties bought

last year was the highest number since 2008’s crash. Brits still make up the largest percentage of the foreign market at 15%, with Brexit seemingly doing little to put off investors. The numbers revealed Malaga was the fourth most popular area for foreign buyers in the country, following the Balearic Islands as the num-

ber one investment, and the Canaries and Alicante rounding off the top three. It comes as figures by Panorama Properties revealed Marbella, Estepona and Benahavis are officially the hottest and ‘most mature’ markets in Spain. Figures from the longest-running estate agent in Marbella showed the three towns

saw sales shoot up by 11.15% in 2017 compared to the year before, exceeding pre-2007 levels by 10.4%. And now, as a result of Spain’s booming market, the International Monetary Fund has raised the country’s economic growth forecast in 2018 to 2.08% - giving Spain the strongest economic growth in the Eurozone.

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II 10

Property

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May 9th May 22nd 2018 May- 2018

Things are looking up for the Spanish property market, with an increase in sales, writes Mark Stucklin of Property Spanish Insight

he number of Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Registry was up by 18% in February compared to the same month last year, the biggest February increase since the boom years more than a decade ago. There were 37,412 Spanish home sales inscribed in the Land Register in February, and 41,480 if you include homes subsidised by the Government, known as VPO, all according to the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), based on sales inscribed in the Land Registry. Home sales have grown by double digits in most months since March 2014, when the Spanish housing market recovery started. That said, sales are still down by 44% compared to the peak year of 2007. Sales in the boom years were exaggerated and unsustainable, so not a normal benchmark, but there still looks like room for more growth. Bear in mind these figures are based on sales inscribed in the Land Register, not sales completed in the month. As such they lag the market by a few months. More timely figures from the Association

ON A ROLL: Spain’s property market is seeing sale numbers near pre-crisis levels

STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

of Spanish Notaries for home sales that took place in February were up 2.7%. New home and resale transactions were up 17% and 16% respectively in February, showing that the recover is now firing on both pistons, having relied almost exclusively on resales between the start of the recovery in 2013 and May last year. New home sales have increased

by double digits almost every month for the last year, driven by the recovery in demand for new homes in Spain. Looking at the evolution of sales by region with a focus on areas that attract foreign buyers in significant numbers, year to date sales have increased strongly almost everywhere except Extremadura (where foreign demand is

not a big part of the picture) and Catalunya, where the constitutional crisis and political uncertainty are discouraging foreign buyers. Sales were up 59% in Castellón province, home to the Costa del Azahar, in what looks like the first signs of recovery in a coastal market that has suffered the crisis longer and harder than most.

The overall picture is one of surging sales in most areas of Spain that attract foreigners in significant numbers, with the exception of the Catalan provinces of Barcelona, Girona, and Tarragona. But even in those regions sales were positive, despite the political turbulence. www.spanishpropertyinsight.com

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May 9th May 22nd 2018 May- 2018

III 11

This is the life!

EXCLUSIVE

Van Outen moves in DENISE Van Outen has bought a property on the Costa del Sol, the Olive Press can reveal. The British TV presenter invested in a home in Mijas Costa two months ago, after putting her UK home on the market in January this year. The 43-year-old blonde bombshell announced last month that she was moving in with her long-term boyfriend Eddie Boxshell. The pair have been spotted taking in the sights of Mijas and eating at expat haunts, including Joffreys.

SPAIN is still the top choice in the EU for Brits looking to start a new life abroad, a new report has found. More chose to up sticks and move to Spain than any other European nation in 2017. Spain houses some 293,500 UK expats who make up 37% of the total British population living in Europe, revealed a study by the Office for National Statistics. France came in at second place, hosting 19% of Brits, followed by Germany with 12%.

Fair bnb? MALAGA politicians are considering introducing tourist rental bans to cope with rising tourism numbers. The city council is in favour of adopting restrictions in Malaga following a similar decision in Mallorca last month, which saw Palma become the first Spanish city to ban short-term tourist rentals. The legislation in the Mallorca capital aims to combat mass tourism on the island which has led to overcrowding and soaring rental costs for locals. During 2015 and 2017, the number of unregistered short-let apartments on the island grew 50% to reach 20,000.

Diverse

Out of the 20,000 available, only 645 properties were found to have the correct licenses. “Palma has always been a bold and diverse city,” said Mayor Antoni Noguera. “We believe it will create trends in other cities when they see that finding a balance is key.” Malaga, meanwhile, is soaring in terms of tourism numbers and is becoming one of the most visited cities in Spain. The ruling PP party in Malaga has yet to comment either way but PSOE spokesman Daniel Perez said it’s time to put caps on the quantity of tourist flats ‘to avoid bigger problems’. In Palma, there are roughly 180,000 homes, of which 23,000 are single-family and therefore potentially unaffected by the new law. “There is a parallel between the evolution of vacation rentals and the rise in rental prices,” said Jose Hila, the former Mayor of Palma. “This decision is meant to protect residents as tourist accommodation affects the makeup of buildings and neighbourhoods and it also affects social harmony.” The island’s Ombudsman has seen a steep rise in the number of complaints filed by residents complaining about tourists renting in their buildings. It soared from 42 in 2015 to 192 in 2017.

SOLD: Previous home in Marbella and (inset) the couple’s newest property nearby POWER COUPLE: Jon Olsson with his soon-to-be wife Janni

Billionaire expat thrown huge bachelor party in Marbella complete with mansions, five-star hotels and private jets

Jon-y Bravo

SWEDISH billionaire expat has given the world an insight into his lavish bachelor celebrations in Marbella. Jon Olsson, 35, shared a video to his 1.1 million followers on YouTube which showed the party begin with a staged kidnapping from his luxury Marbella pad. The Swedish professional freeskier and alpine ski racer will soon marry his glamorous partner, lifestyle and fashion blogger Janni Delér. His billionaire father-in-law Rickard Deler organised the party. Olsson was dragged to a helicopter hangar blindfolded where he was treated to a lapdance before boarding a helicopter which took the stag do over the Costa del Sol and to Ronda’s famous Ascari racetrack. “This is probably my favourite place in Spain — they have a lot of toys and a lot of fun things,” Olsson said before choosing a car and tearing up the track. The group then raced to exclusive property hotspot Sotogrande for a game of polo, before travelling to a nearby airfield, where they boarded an €60 million private jet and flew to Barcelona. “You guys are crazy in a fantastic way,” Olsson told his friends as they stepped on board the jet, complete with leather furniture, seafood and champagne. They then checked into a luxury suite at the five-star W Hotel in the Catalan capital, complete with a jacuzzi and rotating bed. “I feel like I’m in a movie in Vegas,” Olsson said. It comes after Olsson, who splits his time between Marbella and Monaco, recently put his old Marbella home, Casa Como, on the market for €1.7 million last July.

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IV 12

Property

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Buyers at the biggest man-made lagoon in Europe will be welcomed to a cinematic experience and plenty more, writes Elisa

s the day turns to dusk, grab the kids, hop on a boat and sail across the waters to watch your favourite film on a big floating screen. Welcome to Alcazaba Lagoon, the first Crystal Lagoon in Europe. The luxurious €200 million residential development, in the hills of Casares, next to Estepona Golf, opened its amazing Crystal Lagoon last summer, and it is already wowing visitors with its sparkling turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. And this summer is set to get even better as a brand new water-side chiringuito opens along with the giant floating cinema. “You will be able to sit, have a beer and something to eat while you watch a movie, or even a football match, with the backdrop of the lagoon,” said Pablo Chenevey, General Manager of Osim, which is developing the project. “We’ll be showing everything from kids films to World Cup games and cult classics,” he explained. “But there’s so many new things to offer... and some nice, big surprises,” added the Chilean

Life in film

May 9th May 22nd 2018 May- 2018

SURFS UP: You can kayak or paddleboard on your doorstep

walking distance from their homes, without having to drive to the coast. “So we said, why don’t we have a private beach for our clients? A space where people could walk to, sunbathe, enjoy kite-surfing or sailing - just like being at the beach. “And the best thing is you can relax EUROPE FIRST: The game-changing Alcazaba Lagoon knowing that your children are being watched by lifeguards in a protected area.” expat, whose company With a depth up to three metres freely use kayaks, stand up paddles, The lagoon is also environmentally friendly as it uses little water conis behind numerous de- and a surface area of 1.4 hectares, sailing boats and pedalos. velopments along the the private lagoon is a watersport Chenevey said: “We wanted people sumption, little electricity and next Costa del Sol. lover’s paradise, with the option to to feel close to the water, within to no chemicals. Chenevey added: “You might think that we use a lot of water but the great thing is that once the lagoon is full, you need just half of the water you would use for a lawn. “We use only 2% of electricity that you would use for a regular swimming pool due to the cleaning system here.” The grand complex also boasts two pools, a children’s pool and play area complete with a zipwire, beach volleyball nets, wood fire hot tubs and a sauna. So far 100 properties have alNine Lions is the ready been first Andalucian sold, while another 78 development by are currentglobal investment ly on the market and are set group UK & to be completed from June 2019. European Prices range from €220,000 for a two bedroom apartThis is a chance to take over the HEY have undertaken a ment, and up to €400,000 running of one of inland Andalucia’s series of high end qualfor a penthouse. Soon there ity investments in Catamost charming rural restaurants. will be the option of an onlunya, Madrid and the site sales and rental office, Award winning Quercus, near Balearic Islands. offering services for those So Marbella town hall was CUTTING THE RIBBON: Councellor Garre and Denton (left) Ronda, has been open for two renting out their apartment rightly happy to be cutting the for a fixed rental guarantee decades and comes with all its Ronda, the well appointed The investment commitments ribbon at the first development apartments are being built by by the group in Spain now total or by splitting rental fees. by the UK & European group in furniture and, most importantly, “We will take care of everya family firm from Ronda and €130 million. Andalucia. have been kitted out and Whilst the UK-based group is thing - check-in, cleaning, kitchen. Councillor Cristobal Garre furnished by local com- looking for similar schemes booking, maintenance, etc. Murcia welcomed the pany Blackshaw Inte- around Europe, Denton insists It will be hassle free for cliBritish group and its rior Design. he is ‘very positive’ about fur- ents as someone will be here director Fraser DenThe rent “We have been looking ther potential investments in in case anything happens,” ton at the launch of the is just 400/ for development sites Spain, particularly Andalucia. added Chenevey. 9 Lions Residences, in across the whole of “Even in times of crisis! Be- And it doesn’t finish there, Nueva Andalucia, and month. Spain,” explains Den- cause past experiences have with plans underway to build then cut the ribbon for ton, who lives in Barce- proven that the market always a further 222 apartments the development. lona. “But our criteria is comes back strong. Marbella, and a 40-room hotel over the “It’s great to have such strict as we seek only in particular, is consistently ap- next five years, Alcazaba Laan esteemed group prime projects. This pealing,” he added. joining the high-quality means that the de- The developers are part of the goon is set to be one of the end of the market in velopment must com- Lewis Trust Group, a family- most exclusive places to buy Marbella,” he said. bine a privileged location with owned company based out of on the Costa. In an enviable location with www.alcazabalaunique designs, styled with the London, which owns fashion Visit stunning views across the Med goon.com buyer in mind.” brand River Island. Call Mari Luisa on 952 180 041 - 625 233 670 and inland to the Serrania de

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May 9th - May 22nd 2018

VI 14

Property

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Sales are flowing fast at Riverside, the first project in Benahavis village for over a decade

ONSTRUCTION has begun on the first building project in Benahavis village for more than 10 years and it’s selling fast! Since going on the market just over a month ago, almost a quarter of the offplan apartments in the Riverside complex have been snapped up. Marketed by Propertiespain, the eco-

friendly homes are just a stone’s throw away from Benahavis’ buzzing restaurant and bar scene. “They’re perfect to live in all year round but can also make a great investment as rentals,” explains CEO of Propertiespain Scott Marshall. “It’s no secret that there is an incredibly high demand in Benahavis right now.” The homes are constructed by Quabit, a stock exchange listed company and one of Spain’s most trusted developers. “We have only the best working on Riverside,” adds Brit Marshall (right), who launched Properties Spain 10 years ago. “These are high-spec apartments with open plan kitchens, underfloor heating in bathrooms and huge doubleglazed windows.” He added that Dragados, the firm building the homes,

GROUND-BREAKING: Construction has begun on the environmentally friendly project is one of the most respected in the country. The modern dwellings have taken everything into account, including the environment, as they are run using Aerothermia systems. Aerothermia collects its energy from warm and atmospheric air and has been recognised as a renewable form of energy by the EU.

It means it’s up to 50% cheaper to heat your home as it uses only 25% electricity. The 75 apartments all come with parking and storage space included in the price and there is a communal pool for residents. Construction will be completed between the end of 2019 and January 2020. Anyone interested should call 952 85 54 89 or visit www.propertiespain.com.

May 9th May May-2018 March 201822nd 2018

Why Riverside? You’ll be surrounded by deeply forested mountains with stunning rambling paths. A golf paradise with six golf courses is just a seven-minutes drive away. Just 500 metres from Benahavis’ famous gourmet restaurant scene and its authentic laid back feel. Only 18 km to Marbella and Estepona for something different. Only 7 km from the beach.

Dream rural escape comes up for sale IT is a genuine secret spot, whose secrets unravel slowly to the untrained mind. High up in the soaring Sierras of the Alpujarras of Granada, Cortijo Poqueira is the perfect country estate for dreamers and adventurers. In the heart of the famous Barranco Poqueira, this is the perfect escape for hiking, biking and skiing. Either way, boredom it is not an option. Now, this amazing country estate with five separate residences, has come up for sale. Owned by Aurora Susino since 1983 she and her husband have developed the place into the perfect rural retreat. Each property is different, some

ideal for families, others for couples. “We also have a lot of writers who need peace to work on their novels, and in recent years many people who work online,” explains Aurora. This is great communication between the estate and the nearby towns and it is just five minutes by car to Pampaneira and 15 minutes to Orgiva. While the estate has just come on the market, it has plenty of holiday rentals and longer term clients booked in. “We are pretty full and we have plenty of new clients every weekend,” she adds. www.aurorasusino.es

Property

VII

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Rock-ing London THROBBING: Up to 10,000 visitors are expected at the show from May 11 to 13

Gibraltar property will make its mark at A Place in the Sun Live for the first time

GIBRALTAR estate agent will be the first from the Rock to appear at the A Place in the Sun Live expo in London. EFPG Estate Agents will be giving its expert advice on the advantages of buying in Gibraltar to more than 18,000 visitors at the London Olympia between May 11 to 13. It comes after the company, LOCAL: Branch in Irish Town

based at 15 Irish Town, announced a joint initiative with Raine and Co, one of southern England’s largest independent estate agents. ‘EFPG Raine’ aims to combine both companies’ strengths to promote property both in Gibraltar and the UK. They will offer selective developments in southern Spain and Portugal in the future. “It’s a really exciting time for us,” explains marketing manager Tanya Wilkinson. “Gibraltar is a great place to live and we are very proud to be representing the Rock in London.”

EFPG raine-international, will be showing a selection of Gibraltar’s new developments, attractive buy to let investment properties and resale properties. EFPG will be available offering their expert advice. A Place in the Sun Live is the official exhibition of the hit Channel 4 TV show and

one of the largest overseas property exhibitions in Europe. If you are interested in your property or development being included in EFPG’s portfolio, Email enquiries@ efpgestateagents.com or call 00 350 200 65065. www.EFPGestateagents. com.

May 9th May 22nd 2018 May-2018

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olivepressnews

Raking it in

Zara founder receives €693 +TheolivepressEs million in ONE DAY as clothing business booms BE ‘APPY!

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IT was a good day at work for Zara founder Amancio Ortega last week. The 82-year-old raked in a whopping €693 million in one day thanksto dividends on his stocks in Inditex, his umbrella company responsible If you’re heading off somewhere,for vetsbrands Massimo Dutti, Pull &agree Bear,that Zara and others. most pets are happiest at home. The company rewarded itshelps shareholders by paying them That’s why TrustedHousesitters Download our app now andgive €0.75 per share. pet owners peace of mind whilst they go on Shareholders received thewill first half begin enjoying the best Spanish holiday, by finding sitters who look after of the dividend last week, with and the rest coming their home pets free. news on for the go. on November 2. It will mean Ortega will have made €1.38 billion from stocks in his own company alone this year. This exchange allows the sitter to experience somewhere new and interesting, whilst giving Given that there are 3,113 shares on the market, it means the owner a peaceful night’s sleep knowing that their furry friends are in safe hands.

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BONUS: Massive share dividend for Ortega

the company will pay out €2.3 billion to its investors. Originally from Galicia, Ortega opened his first small Zara store in A Coruña in 1975. He is now worth €57.8 billion and has more than 2,266 stores around the world. Inditex recorded a net profit of €3,37 billion euros in its fiscal year 2017 (from February 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018), a 6.6% increase over the previous year (€3,16 billion). Taking into account the price of shares of Inditex in the Stock Exchange, which is at €25.78 euros after the close of the last trading session, the value of Ortega’s stocks amounts to about €47.6 billion.

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Pet sitters wanted A US house sitting company has arrived in Spain after expanding to more than 130 countries. TrustedHousesitters, which works like a free Airbnb for house and pet sitters, boasts more than 500,000 members globally. The service allows homeowners to advertise for house sitters for when they are travelling or on holiday. In return housesitters can stay for free in homes across the world.

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The company has proven a hit, growing at a rate of 80% year-on-year since its inception and saving its members more than half a billion euros in accommodation and pet care costs. Members must pay an €89 fee to join but it is nothing compared to the costs of paying directly for either service, and everything else is free going forward. TrustedHousesitters has more five star reviews than any other business of its kind after facilitating more than two million nights of pet sitting.

Less women in leadership BEFORE recession in Spain, just two out of ten women were in leadership positions at work, and not much has changed since. According to a study by ICSA Group and EADA business school, women in Spain only make up 7.5% of marketing managers and 5.4% of production managers. While they now make up 32% of managers in human resource jobs, men are still paid more for the same work. A male director receives an average €79,545 each year, while his female equivalent just €68.072, according to the report.

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By Christopher Cousins of Igniteratings.com

FINTECH

May 9th - May 22nd May 9th2018 - May 22nd 2018

Keep calm Solid foundations The Crypto correction and what it means for you

VER the past few months we have seen a boom and what seemed like a bust in the crypto markets. In a matter of less then 90 days we saw Bitcoin go from $20,000 to a recent low of $6,200 a coin in March. Rather then being asked what’s a good coin to buy, I am often asked if the market is dead or finished? The truth is, the market did have a correction.... a very big one, but keep in mind this time last year bitcoin was trading at $1,520 a coin. So while new entrants to the market might be in the red, longer term participants have still made a phenomenal profit. So what can you expect from crypto over the next few months? In short it seems the market will for the most part become more regulated, professional and less volatile for the following reasons. New Investors - There was a point I could not walk down the street without someone asking me about crypto investments. Stories of riches to be had turned this industry into a virtual gold rush. So much new money was entering crypto it drove up prices to unprecedented levels. When the market corrected it triggered an emotional response which re-

sulted in many investors to selling at a loss. These investors have now lost faith in the market and it will take time for them to reenter it. In one way it stifles growth but it also makes it less volatile. Institutional investors - The so-called smart money is entering the crypto industry this year at a rapid pace. Many large investors are still looking for more regulation clarity but a number of high profile banks and hedge funds are entering the industry with deep pockets. I believe this should fuel growth for crypto currencies and revitalise the retail investors’ interest in the industry resulting in exponential growth overtime.

Regulation - This world puts fear into the hearts of many in the crypto industry due to beliefs in decentralisation, tax implications and privacy. But the fact is it’s necessary for certain elements of the industry to be regulated to encourage growth. Regulation adds to investor confidence and results in more growth over time. In short I am a fan of it as it stabilizes and improves the markets for the benefit of all. I do believe regulators need to work with industry participants to develop practices that work long term.

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Fintech is keeping Gibraltar as a safe investment opportunity - insists UK newspaper

A TOP UK newspaper has praised Gibraltar’s Fintech sector for helping to make the territory a solid investment. London’s City A.M. praised the Gibraltar government for opening the doors to cryptocurrencies. “The message? The Rock is open for business,” it wrote in its opinion section. The article continued: “This open approach is expected to attract new investors in their droves, particularly fintech companies who understand the appeal of a decentralised – yet regulated – alternative currency. “This is further bolstered through the emerging Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX), which aims to be a world-lead-

ing institutional-grade token sale platform and cryptocurrency exchange, supported by its government.” It went on to say the property market is likely to benefit from the move as more job opportunities rise and the amount of workers travelling to Gibraltar increases. It added: “It would be impossible to talk property without mentioning the ‘B word.’ Despite Brexit uncertainty, Gibraltar’s property market is looking resilient with enquiry levels and sales transactions up, as many

take the view that Gibraltar remains a safe haven. “Equally, unlike many countries that have endured a boom and bust cycle, Gibraltar’s market is built on solid financial foundations. With limited and tightly controlled lending, the territory has never had access to cheap debt, the cause of most boom and busts that leave many projects incomplete – just look at Spain in the 2000s. “As a result, Gibraltar as an investment proposition is looking rock solid, just like its most famous geological feature.”

AGONY Property ANT YOUR LEGAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED BY ANTONIO FLORES

Faking it

The costly experience of using a phony driver’s license

T is a well-documented fact that the fender is unable to show evidence that Spanish Costas’ rich variety of foreign he did have a valid driver’s license from residents increases the complexity another country (it now appears that of legal issues and driving licenses only U.S. officially-approved “AAA” and - which turn out to be fake - is one of “AATA” associations can issue such inthem. ternational licenses). This same paper reported some months The are tens of online ‘businesses’ sellback that a US national was fined €500 ing fake driving licenses, along with for carrying a ‘bogus’ international driv- passports and IDs. One advertises its ing license, a lucky escape I should say business offer as having […] year of exconsidering that middle-eastern busi- perience producing original quality real/ nessman is facing prison time for using false passports, ID’s, drivers’ licenses. an ‘International Driver’s License’ is- Alongside these obvious clandestine sued by an entity named as Internation- operators, there is second tier of busial Automobile Alliance (IAA), purportedly nesses that -purporting to have a specifbased in New York. ic Government official According to the State approval- state they Prosecutor’s writ of accan issue valid interMijas Costa cusation, the license national driving licensExpats was deemed “fake in es pursuant to Annex 9 can stay! its entirety, having a of the Geneva Convenphotograph affixed by tion and Annex 6 of the the owner or a third Vienna Convention. person” and, based To sum up, a) internaon those findings, retional drivers’ licenses quested the Court that are generally only isthe alleged offender is sued by officially recsentenced to a miniognized agencies to The court that’s now a hotel mum prison term of drivers who already 19 months for forghave a valid license ing a public document from the country and 50% and plus an additional b) the agencies issuSALE criminal fine of 12 euing them must be apros/day for a period of proved by the specific 18 months if the of- FAKE LICENSES: A previous story Government. Voted BEST

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MAFIA Russians are the new costa crime kings

THUMBS UP But do you know what it means in Spain?

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SPAIN’s foreign minister Alfonso Dastis has said that expats will be allowed to stay in Spain if no deal is reached

between Britain and the EU. He said he would ensure that the lives of ordinary Britons in Spain are ‘not disrupted’ in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

Rejects

Dastis told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I do hope that there will be a deal. If there is no deal we will make sure that the lives of ordinary people who are in Spain, the UK people, is not disrupted. “Over 17 million Brits come to Spain every year and many of them live here or retire here and we want to keep it that way as much as possible.” According to the Office of National Statistics Spain hosts the largest number of British citizens living inside the EU. Meanwhile, Sadiq Khan has suggested holding a second Brexit referendum if Parliament rejects Theresa May’s deal with the EU. Khan said: “If Parliament decides to accept the deal that our Government makes then we are leaving the European Union. “If Parliament rejects the deal made by our Government then that opens up a whole host of questions.” Brexit negotiations have so far stymied progress to trade talks, despite Angela Merkel setting out a potential December start date.

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NO YELLOW Gifting yellow is a no-go in Spain

Fakin’ it EXCLUSIVE By Jed Neill

A PENSIONER is taking legal advice after being fined for using a ‘bogus’ international driving licence bought from a wellknown expat businessman. American Andrea Barnett, 60, is demanding a refund from David ‘the Dogman’ Klein, after he sold her the ‘suspiciouslooking’ document for €300. The Marbella-based motherof-two, from Illinois, is furious after police told her the licence wasn’t legal, and fined her €500. “They were completely certain that it was not real,” she told the Olive Press. “They told me it was dodgy, fake and I needed

SEE MORE P 14

SEE MORE P 22

Women threatened with jail after buying ‘fake driving licence’ from notorious expat

‘DOGMAN’: Klein

to pay the fine or I would go to jail. “They weren’t interested who had sold it to me. They just wanted my money.”

But expat Barnett, who by her own admittance was a little naive, has decided that enough is enough and has now called in two lawyers to investigate the case. “I want the police to change their attitude and to investigate those that sell these licences. I don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” she said. “If I had been told clearly that I could not just use this licence on its own I would never have paid so much.” As well as probe the legality of the licences, she hopes to get a full refund from Klein, who

The Olive Press judges Malaga’s most exclusive place to stay SEE

PAGE 32

Opinion Page 6

ANGRY: With ID

writes a pet advice column in a cences are made in Taiwan, the local newspaper and has a raOlive Press has discovered. dio show. “It is a fantasy document,” stat“It never occurred to me that ed a police spokesman, adding anyone here would sell me a the man had bought it off the fake driving license,” she said. internet for just €100. “I contacted Klein after seeing The Olive Press investigated an advert in a local paper and the same issue three years ago met him at a petrol station, after Spanish motoring writer near Benahavis and handed Brian Deller had his website over €300 in cash after showmysteriously hacked. ing him my American passport The site, www.spainvia.com and license. which warned of the dangers of “He looked successful and fake licences - was remarkably wealthy. You tend to trust peoredirected to Klein’s then webple like that.” site for the Costa del Sol Action Two weeks later BarGroup. nett, who has two Conveniently, all daughters, received the mentions of the lilicence (right), which cence issue were looks unprofessional erased from the weband badly printed. site. It has validated by the We reported that ‘O&E Auto Club AssoKlein had sold numerciation’, an organisaous permits – via clastion that apparently sified adverts with his does NOT exist. mobile phone number The language is strange and at – for many years. the bottom it states: “We are a When contacted by a prospecprivate organization not affilitive client as part of the invesated with the United Nations or tigation, Klein did indeed offer any other quasi government ora ‘10-year licence’ for €300, but ganization.” admitted it was ‘risky’. The licence is fake, as police in “I can get you an international Alicante confirmed after conlicence that will last for 10 victing a driver with a license years, but it is a risk (to use it in from the SAME organisation Spain),” he told our journalist. in 2013. Continues on Page 4 The vast majority of these li-

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May 9th - May 22nd 2018

PATIENTS from St Bernard’s Hospital have been relocated to a new floor of the John Mackintosh Home. Seventeen elderly people were successfully transferred to the recently refurbished third floor of the home. Fully fitted with specialised furniture and equipment the ‘dementia-friendly’ environment includes modern and spacious rooms as well as large common areas where residents can pass the time with family, friends and carers.

Next level care

Transfer

The transfer of the residents was the end result of a closely co-ordinated multi-agency effort organised by the GHA’s nurse management team and Elderly Residential Services, in collaboration with the Ambulance Service, the Care Agency, Pharmacists, Medical Consultants and MedDoc staff. Susan Vallejo, Manager for

NEW HOME: Successful move Elderly Residential Services, and instrumental in getting this project off the ground, was keen to highlight the safe and easy manner in which the move took place, saying: “I am pleased to say that there were

no incidents and residents all have settled in very quickly into their new environment. We have also received positive feedback from families and loved ones with regards to the newly refurbished premises.”

Pregnant warning Expectant mothers in Spain not eating well enough, doctors warning SOME 70% of pregnant women in Spain do not have good eating habits. According to a recent study by CinfaSalud only three out of ten pregnant women follow the correct lifestyle guidelines. Dr Julio Maset, Cinfa’s doctor, maintains that while awareness of the dangers of alcohol and tobacco during pregnancy is high, this same awareness does not apply to food and exercise. He did warn however, that 10% of pregnant women still continue to consume alcohol and tobacco despite knowing the dangers. Almost one in four women

We’re only human… just May 9th - May 22nd 2018

UR bodies are covered in microscopic creatures, including bacteria, viruses and fungi. Not surprisingly the vast majority of this microscopic life resides in our gut. Scientists have discovered that more than 50% of the human body’s total cell count is made up by microbes. Understanding this human microbiome is leading to new innovative treatments for many conditions including neurological diseases and allergies More interestingly, our ‘human’ cells only account for between 0.01 and 1% of the total number of genes in our bodies. Some scientists now say that by combining with our own DNA, the genes of our ‘microbiome’ augment the activity of our own cells thereby playing a pivotal role in health, wellbeing and disease. Scientists now believe that this resident microbial material effects how our bodies work and are studying the role the microbiome plays in digestion, regulating the immune system, protecting against disease and manufacturing vital vitamins.

Change

Whilst family history clearly plays a role, more importantly portion size, and a diet of burgers, sugary drinks, processed food and chocolate will significantly affect both your risk of obesity and the type of microbes that grow in your digestive tract. Research suggests that a bad mix of bacteria metabolizes food in a way that contributes to obesity. Experiments have shown that feeding lean sterile mice (without any bacteria) faecal bacteria from obese humans results in obese mice and that reversing the bacteria, makes the mice thin again! In the future, microbes could become a new form of medicine and it has been suggested that we should be taking bugs instead of drugs which has led to a growth in probiotic consumption. Research now suggests that repairing someone’s microbiome can actually lead to remission of diseases such as ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease. This might also be true in some cases of obesity In the future we may need to monitor our microbiome on a daily basis in order to record information about our health. The evidence clearly suggests that these tiny microbes transform our health in ways we are only just beginning to understand.

This revolutionary way of thinking about microbes promises to change medicine. Historically we have fought microbes with antibiotics, vaccines and gene focused therapy, but perhaps all that is about to change. Whilst many of these innovations have been good and saved lives, they may also have done untold damage to our ‘good bacteria’. Over the last 50 years there has been a huge increase in the incidence of autoimmune disease, allergy, and cancer which we now think may be linked to our microbiomes and which some now associate with specific diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson’s, depression and autism. Furthermore, there is clear evidence that gut bacteria may play a role in some cases of obesity. Visit cwpespana.es for more information.

Change your life today! WATCH: What you’re eating

do not improve their nutritional intake at all, with only six out of every ten pregnant women in Spain avoiding risky foods such as sausages, unpasteurised dairy or undercooked meat., and only three out of every ten women take adequate care of their hydration. And while more and more professionals are advocating moderate exercise during pregnancy only seven out of ten follow this advice correctly. Three out

Costly payout THE Gibraltar Health Authority may be forced to fork out hundreds of thousands of pounds after missing a series of court deadlines. A Supreme Court judge slammed the ‘appalling’ handling of the claim brought by a doctor, which has rolled on for more than six years after the GHA missed a key deadline, leading to a default win for the doctor. The payout in damages could cost the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds.

of ten women perform no exercise at all and 0.4% engage in intense physical exercise even though it is discouraged during pregnancy. The Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition (AECOSAN) advises women who are expecting to stay away from such foods as pates, sausages, sliced meat that has not been previously cooked to more than 71ºC, and undercooked meat, given the risk of infection by the parasite toxoplasma which can cause serious complications in the newborn baby. Although blue fish such as sardine, tuna and salmon can be consumed three or four times a week. other fish is to be avoided due to excessive levels of mercury and of course raw, smoked, marinated or fermented fish carries the risk of harmful bacteria.

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May 9th - May 22nd 2018

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Barca wins food battle BARCELONA has pipped Madrid in the food stakes. The city has come above the Spanish capital in the ranking of the best places to eat in the world. While the more celebrated foodie haunts of San Sebastian and Bilbao have been curiously omitted, Barcelona ranked fourth in the poll by TripAdvisor, while Madrid came in eighth. The Catalan city was noted for its contemporary cuisine fusion and a huge line-up of unassuming tapas bars, all-day eateries and upscale, Michelin-starred restaurants. Madrid meanwhile was praised for its hidden gems, Michelin starred joints and popular food tours. Incredibly, both cities were pipped to the post by Italian favourities Rome and Florence, which came in first and second. Paris came in third. The ranking is created based on data gathered using an algorithm that looked at bookings, traveller reviews and ratings from its 455 million visitors each month. “Foodie experiences are dominating traveller booking growth,” a spokesperson said. “Food tours are the fastest growing experiences category on our site based on traveller spend, which increased a whopping 61% last year versus 2016.”

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Raisons to be cheerful

THE humble Malaga raisin could help to regenerate the Axarquia region after being given special international status. The unique agricultural process that sees Moscatel grapes grown on steep slopes, before being dried and sometimes turned into wine, has been recognised by the United Nations. A committee formed to support international agriculture methods has now awarded the 2000 family growers of the region with a special status.

Produced The sun-dried raisins have been produced around villages, including El Borge, Cutar and Almachar, for centuries. Now a meeting of the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome, has confirmed the importance of this

Ancient Axarquia dried grape process is recognised by UN

BIG WIN: For raisin farmers in the Axarquia

method to the local economy. Awarding it as a so-called SIPAM, or system for the Promotion of Aquaculture in the Mediterranean, local growers are now set to capitalise by setting up a foundation to

promote it. The news comes as a UN study showed that food products linked to their place of origin are economically and socially beneficial to rural areas and promote sustainable

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RAJOY: Loves Maccies Download our app now and begin enjoying the best Spanish news on the go. IT’S known for its buzzing development. food scene and is home to a Food products registered with Michelin star, so when the a Geographical Indication prime minister of the country (GI) label boast an annual visited Ronda with his famtrade value of over €50 billion ily, you would have thought worldwide. he would pay them a visit. The study looked at nine spe- Not so for Mariano Rajoy, cific foods, including Man- who opted for greasy McOlive Press chego cheese, in Castilla laThe Donalds on Plaza de España Mancha, Taliouine saffron in instead, where he posed for with in fellow fast food Morocco and Tête de Moine TOPphotos for news Spain! lovers. cheese in Switzerland. In all nine cases, the price of Confirming his quest for a Big the final product, went up by Mac wasn’t just an ‘I’m just between 20% and 50% when like you’ moment, he was later spotted at 100Montaditos, they had GI status. One reason is that consumers a fast food tapas joint. One of Quercus restaurant in identify unique characteris- boss nearby Jimera told the Olive tics - such as taste, colour, Press: “The guy is a disgrace texture and quality - in GI - all those fantastic local resproducts, and are willing to taurants and ingredients and pay higher prices. he goes to McDonald's! "Geographical indications can “The prime minister of this be a pathway to sustainable country - shows how much he development for rural com- cares about good local organmunities," said Emmanuel ic food and businesses. Some Hidier, Senior Economist at support. Shocking.”

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May 9th - May 22nd 2018

VEGGIE DELIGHTS: At Califa and Corredera 55

Gourmet greens!

TOP SPOTS: Califa and 55

The rise and rise of vegetarian and vegan cooking is finally hitting Andalucia, writes James Stuart, of the Califa restaurant group

HE rise of healthy eating at home and abroad has taken vegetarian and vegan food into the mainstream gastrosphere and finally on to restaurant tables. Being a vegetarian in Andalucia has never been easy unless of course you are a fan of ‘ensalada mixta’ (order without the tuna!) and the ubiquitous tortilla Española the heavyweight cousin of the simple omelette. Local venta menus are meat heavy where even a ham bone will find its way into the stock used for what would otherwise be a simple pumpkin and bean stew. Meanwhile, most of the coast’s chiringuitos are simply fried food joints, where any real quality goes out of the window. All that changes however in Middle Eastern cooking where the soul of a meal is primarily vegetable-based dishes, with spices and grains to fill the flavour and protein needs of a meal. I have long sought to incorporate many of these dishes into my variety of restaurants on

the Costa de la Luz. Our Califa group of eateries in Vejer have become an increasingly popular destination for vegans and vegetarians with more than 50 dishes for them on our menus. The Jardín del Califa’s top-selling dish, for example, is our ‘Mezze’, which is entirely vegetarian and comprising a mix of Hummus, Baba Ganoush, Taboule, Feta cheese and a Marrakesh salad. Other favourites include the ‘Palmyra’ salad with roast aubergine, basil, red pepper, dill and a black garlic yoghurt sauce - full of flavour! Meanwhile, Corredera 55’s summer offerings include ‘Green Gazpacho with peas, mint, avocado and cucumber’, a ‘Beetroot Risotto with Manzanilla sherry and fresh goats cheese topped with toasted pine nuts’ or the ‘Fresh Cauliflower Fritters with turmeric and coriander and a yoghurt and honey sauce’. There are many more to boot. The top-selling vegetarian dish at Califa Tapas meanwhile, is the ‘Goats cheese from Grazalema, deepfried and served with apple compote’ followed by the beguilingly simple ‘Au1 green pepper bergine slices, fried 1 large avocado (stone with honey’, both an and peel removed) Andaluz and Moroc1 cucumber can cooks’ favourites. Half a cup of Making vegetarian mint leaves dishes at home is also Cup of packet incredibly simple. peas My 10-year-old 2 cups of daughter Isabella chilled vegewhizzes up a slick table stock hummus in less than Half a cup of five minutes and with coconut milk a big smile on her 2 tablespoons face. of lemon juice Add in some cubed 2 cloves of steamed beetroot garlic and you have a delicious vitamin and Whizz up all protein-rich dish altogether in a most at the drop of blender. a hat. Dress with Here, is one of my Apple vinegar favourite veggie and a slice of recipes. cucumber and Visit www.califaveserve straight jer.com for more away. information

EASY AS A,B,C Corredera 55’s Green Gazpacho with peas, mint, avocado and cucumber

Fresh, vibrant, healthy home cooking from the mediterranean Corredera 55, Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz Open every day tel: 956 451 848 www.CalifaVejer.com

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Once more unto the beach (club)

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BEACH BUM: Giles in his heyday and (right) as we know him now

OU know that the summer is finally on the way when the beach clubs finally open. Of course, when I drive down from the lake

and hit the coast – normally at some speed as my timekeeping is getting even worse as I get older, a result, I think, of my increasing love of ‘pottering about’

The pots of gold

KNEW there was a floral thing going on in Estepona but nothing quite prepared me for the botanical binge laid on for visiting Costa Press Club journos on the only sunny afternoon in soggy April, by invitation of the Mayor; a mayor who is clearly potty about plants. José María García Urbano didn’t hold back on his dream of transforming his town into the Garden of the Costa del Sol. Some astonishing stats were quoted on our perfumed promenade through town: 20,000 geranium pots and planters embellishing 100 cobbled alleys in the Old Town – painted and polka-dotted in rainbow shades, a different colour for every street; one million spring flowers bedded in along 16km of roads, adding to the olfactory overload; 1,500 species of rare orchid sheltering in a triple-domed designer hothouse with an indoor waterfall; and an unlikely trio of bulbous Argentinean baobab trees gracing one of 11 new public green spaces. The colourful cornucopia could move the dullest soul to poetry but for that there’s no need. Witty ditties penned by famous bards past and present are inscribed on 30 ceramic plaques throughout the streets and chocolate box plazas, including an excerpt from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. He’d love it, especially as every contributor has been honoured with a bust of their likeness in a newly-inaugurated Poets Corner.

Classical

A collection of 31 sculptures, from classical to Henry Moore modern, and 50 giant murals to brighten up unaesthetic tower blocks were commissioned by the Mayor to complete his vision of Estepona as a walk-through open air museum. Not since the Renaissance has a Spanish town seen such a flowering of art, literature and horticulture. In 2012, when the seeds of the project were sown, some might have questioned the sanity of spending €8.2 million on an urban garden in a beach resort. But it wasn’t such a potty idea. Last month, Estepona got the green vote from 500 national parks and gardens experts who came to town for their 45th conference – the first ever to be held outside a provincial capital. Licenses for eight new boutique hotels worth €40million of investment have replenished town hall coffers while Roman archaeological remains unearthed during the excavations have given Estepona an unexpected new tourist attraction. Meanwhile, far from being disgruntled at their parking spots being turned into picturesque pedestrian thoroughfares, proud residents are not only voluntarily tending the flower pots in their unpolluted, traffic-free streets but adding more of their own! Six years ago, Estepona was a resort without an identity, an also-ran to glitzy Marbella, LGTB-trendy Torremolinos and Sunshine City Fuengirola. Today it’s looking bloomin’ estupendo, not merely a garden but a Kew Gardens-come-Tate Modern-meetsthe Ledbury Poetry Festival. But perhaps even more impressive is the civic pride that that has been cultivated among an entire community by a local Mayor who believed in the power of flowers, and saw how a few terracotta geranium tubs could be transformed into pots of gold.

– the first metropolitan mass I hit is Puerto Banus. In Banus they define beach club a little differently from the way I do. I spent a considerable amount of time in the 80s as a teenage Marbella beach bum, all Keith Haring print shorts and occasional mother of pearl earring. A bottle of San Miguel in one hand and a mixtape in the other Sony Walkman on constant play – normally Led Zep or Van Halen - I sat in the shade, taking in the surroundings from behind my Wayfarers. Windsurfing and water skiing were always a no no, and if asked by some beach babe why I wasn’t out on the water, I would normally reply that I really wanted to get out there, but I was competing in the Nationals next week and my coach had forbidden me to do so…

Refined

Your modern Banus beach bar, however, is somewhat different. For a start they are all called Beach Clubs and offer a range of food and drink somewhat more refined – and considerably more expensive – than my 150 pesetas bottled beer. While my sole intention of ordering a drink was to imbibe, the modern beach goer often orders in champagne purely to spray on fellow beachgoers – an act that would have earned you a look of incredulity followed by a good kicking in the 80s.Mind you. I probably wouldn’t be able to make it past the security. The beach club crowd dress up rather than down, so a sleeveless tie dye T shirt, the Keith Haring shorts and my Converse sneakers would stand out somewhat. As for the openings - as opposed to the ramshackle scattering of beach beds at some point in May that would signify that your favourite beach shack was open – the modern opening is a much more flamboyant affair. The dress code is always White and Silver, White and Gold or White and even more White, with half the cast of Cirque de Soleil providing the entertainment and more high-powered explosive in the firework finale than the opening salvo of the First Gulf War. I don’t think I’ll be at the beach much this season. You’re much more likely to find me on my terrace by the lake, with an mp3 player rather than a Walkman – but still listening to the same music. If only I knew where I had put those Keith Haring shorts…

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