Costa Blanca South Olive Press - Issue 2 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

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Vol. 1 Issue 2 www.theolivepress.es

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November 21st - December 4th, 2019

JAILED: Grinan and Chaves finally face crimes

Justice at last

IT is the biggest public money scandal in Spanish history, estimated at nearly €1 billion. Now, finally, two former Andalucia leaders are heading to prison and banned from office for their links to the disgraceful ERE scandal. Ex-Junta president Jose Antonio Grinan has been sentenced to six years jail and banned from office for 15 years, while predecessor Manuel Chaves has been banned from office for nine years. The pair oversaw the scheme, which saw the shocking theft of at least €680 million - dubbed the ‘Reptile fund’ - meant to go to companies in trouble and to stimulate employment. A further 17 politicians and businessmen who worked with the Junta received a total of 86 years in prison between them, a Sevilla court has ruled.

Bent

This included eight years for former Employment minister Javier Guerrero, who helped set up the scheme which embezzled money from 2000 to 2009. The bent politician was particularly guilty, having set up two bogus companies with his former driver - dubbed the ‘Cocaine Chauffeur’ - defrauding over €700,000 between them. The pair are said to have spent much of their afternoons spending the money taking cocaine with prostitutes at brothels near Sevilla. The final 1,700-page report, issued by a panel of judges, announced that 13 of those accused received six to eight years in prison while all have been banned from public office for at least 10 years. A further three, José Antonio Viera, Francisco Vallejo and Carmen Martínez-Aguayo were also ministers. In a major embarrassment for the PSOE party, Chaves and Grinan led the Junta for a combined 23 years, two thirds of the regional parliament’s history. The pair had been icons of the party, while Chaves went on to become a minister in both the SpanContinues on Page 3

How a Cartagena naval officer’s ‘land of submarines’ made waves around the world see pages 12-13

IT’S ON after years of complaints about perceived under-spending, Rojales Town Hall promises €600,000 will be spent in Quesada EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade

TOWN hall bosses have promised the Olive Press that works to clean up Ciudad Quesada will begin in the new year. Finance councillor, Fernando Lorenzo, admitted much work needed to be done and blamed the delay on the serious flooding this autumn. But he promised the instructure improvements would begin on January 7. In total, €600,000 will be spent on resurfacing the roads, widening pavements as well as improving parking and lighting. “It will be the perfect welcome to Quesada,” he told the Olive Press this week. The move comes after years of claimed neglect by locals, who complained of bad lighting, poor pavements and a lack of events and entertainment. This week an Olive Press investigation also found problems with overflowing bins and neglected play parks, as well as serious issues with parking. However the town hall insists that much of this could be down to the huge number of expats who have failed to register on the Padron.

Three Kings clean up NEGLECT: Overflowing bins in Quesada It believes around 19,000 foreign- Lorenzo continued. ers are NOT officially registered “We could have more of everyand this leads to considerably less thing.” national funding. “Imagine the funding we would You Register, we Spend, See inveshave to spend if they all registered,” tigation on page 4

FIRST DATES: Take a trip to Elche’s UNESCO World Heritage site See pages 18-19

WELCOME

It’s out!

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November 21st - December 4th 2019

Murcia and south Alicante are finally served by Spain’s most popular English newspaper

Contact them with any stories or news on 951 273 575 or email newsdesk@theolivepress.es (Personal contacts on page 6)

HORRIFIC: Millions of fish died

OLIVE PRESS

Demands for €80m flood aid

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A VEGA Baja mayor has demanded €80m in flood aid for the devastated Murcia region. Los Alcazares leader Mario Perez Cervera insisted a major flood retention project should be implemented urgently to prevent the sort of serious flooding that happened in September. He told the government in Madrid this week that it is also vital to preserve the Mar Menor, which was badly hit by the so-called Gota Fria. The week of heavy rain led to deaths of millions of fish and the the destruction of dozens of homes. He insisted future floods needed to Continues on Page 10

Right turn A DANGEROUS lurch to the right could see Spain’s anti-immigra nt Vox party becoming the kingmakers in this weekend’s general election. The massive surge - off the back of the recent Catalan crisis and a fear of Islam - could see the party seizing 15% of the seats in Parliament. The expected gains will seriously damage centre-right Ciudadanos, which could lose over half its seats, while the ruling PSOE and left wing Podemos are also expected to suffer. Vox, which has pledged to ‘defend’ Spain from immigrants, is predicted to finish third in the country’s fourth general election in as many years. The latest polling suggests Vox, led by Santiago Abascal, will increase its 24 seats in Spain’s 350-seat parliament to 46.

Failed

Meanwhile Albert Rivera’s Ciudadanos will be reduced from 57 14. In the 40dB poll Vox is set to gain 14% of the vote, alongside to the PP in second place with 21.2% and 91 seats and the PSOE coming first with 27.3% and 121 votes. The PSOE’s predicted victory would see the party with two less seats than in April’s last election, prompting another headache for leader Pedro Sanchez as he tries its to form a government. Opinion page 6

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA Vol. 1 Issue 1 www.theolivepress.es

Your expat

voice in Spain

November 7th - November 20th, 2019

VANISHED!

Duty of care claims after missing British great-grandfather was allowed to leave police station at 3am in clearly disoriented state EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

POLICE on the Costa Blanca have been slammed after they allowed a confused and disorientated British great-grandfather to walk out of a police station into the dead of night alone. The family of pensioner Philip Pearce, 68, are demanding answers from Benidorm police over why he was released on September 10, at 3am. They now fear for his life after he has been missing for an alarming two months. And in a shocking email from the British Consulate, seen by the Olive Press this week, there are suggestions of a breach of duty of care. The official email reveals the pensioner had clearly told police he ‘did not remember where he was staying’ nor where he was from in England. Wallet

The consulate email also stated Philip was carrying neither his passport nor his wallet when he was taken by a stranger to Benidorm’s Policia Nacional station in the Old Town just after

midnight, as CCTV footage confirms. However, what is not clear is how and why he was allowed to leave the station three hours later. “The police are simply not answering our questions,” son Lee Pearce, 41, told the Olive Press last night.

DISAPPEARED: Philip Pearce (above right) the last picture enjoying a drink (above), while of the pensioner in Alicante Airport

“It’s absolutely gut-wrenching for us as a family, not knowing where ther-of-three. Owner of Alicante Transfers, he is and why he disappeared. David McQueen, said he “I just want him home so badly. I spent ‘four to five’ hours has miss him so much.” every Philip was known to be suffering day scouring abandoned buildfrom the early signs of demen- ings and traveller communities around the Costa Blanca. tia, but was ‘happy and smiling’ “I even sent my dog out with when he left for Alicante with a friend and travelling partner. a GoPro camera to search in every bush and in every corner, but He was having a good holiday we’ve found nothing,” McQueen until he left his Playa Levante said. hotel at 5.30pm on September 9 “I’ve got 130 taxi to buy cigarettes before he lost drivers who his bearings and was taken to at 4am and start finish police. at 2am, but Two months on, Lee told the Ol- the hotels none of ive Press a request for ‘a ground tablishmentsand eshave search and sniffer dogs’ has gone seen a sign of Philunanswered, while the family are ip.” left searching for answers. The family “We just need closure on wheth- spent weeks has er my dad is still alive or not,” ting up posters putand Lee said. handing out flyers “But apart from claiming to have of his missing father sent out some drones to look, around Benidorm the police don’t seem to be doing with contact details. anything at all.” A spokeswoman for It comes as scores of British res- the British Consulidents have spent weeks search- ate told ing for signs of the grandfa- Press it the Olive ‘does not

along. As well as being an investigative community newspaper that campaigns on crucial local issues, the Olive Press is packed with quality features and longer reads. Be sure to join our smiling readers, who were up bright and early a fortnight ago to get their hands on one of our 10,000 first editions. It will go to all the main places where expats gather in the area, including

At Consum in Quesada

comment on individual cases’ such as Philip’s. A Policia Nacional spokesman claimed ‘helicopters’ had been scrambled to search for Philip on various Benidorm hillsides. However, he failed to answer questions about the exact details of his release from the station or whether sniffer dogs and ground searches had been deployed or would be soon. Have you seen Philip? Get in touch at newsdesk@ theolivepress.es

You total doughnut! Find out what’s eating Paul Hollywood on Page 3

Overseas/Iceland, Mas y Mas, Consum, DFS and Dialprix, plus many many more. And we’re catering for tourists too, as you can see from the smiling faces of the team at San Fulgencio Tourist Office. As well as looking into local issues, we vow to keep an eye on the rise of the Vox party, the Mar Menor crisis and, of course, any grumpy celebrities out there, like Great British Bake Off star Paul ‘hooligan’ Hollywood. If you want to be part of the Olive Press adventure, follow our social media accounts or website www. theolivepress.es, which is Spain’s leading English website by a long way. Or maybe you have a story — write to us at newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call us on 951 273 575, particularly if you want to advertise.

HAPPY: a manager at DFS in San Javier

Em at Em’s Dreams

Maureen at La Marina Services International

Tracey at The Angel

Jim at Our Plaice

OLIVE PRESS

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Your reporters, here to help on the Costa Blanca

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Reporters Simon Wade and Joshua Parfitt

T only took us 14 years to get here… but now you can find us EVERYWHERE! The Olive Press’s second Costa Blanca South and Murcia edition is out. From Mazarron to Gran Alacant and everywhere in between, the region’s hottest new English newspaper represents your voice in Spain. The fortnightly paper - already available in Alicante north, Andalucia, Mallorca and Gibraltar - can be found in hundreds of key distribution spots around your area. Golf courses, cafes, supermarkets, estate agents and tourist offices are all getting bundles of Spain’s most popular English newspaper. After the highly successful launch of our Costa Blanca North edition in March, it was only a matter of time before its southern sibling came

COSTA BLANCA SOUTH

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Cancers caged

Embezzled

Hundreds of illegal ERE payments were made to allegedly struggling firms to make severance payments to laid-off workers, many who didn’t exist, the probe discovered. Millions were also handed out to companies and friends via grants which prosecutors described as ‘totally opaque’. The Olive Press first revealed about the ERE scandal in 2015 when a total of €1.3 billion was believed to have been embezzled by corrupt officials over a 12year period. In a front page report in May, that year, we revealed how 16 politicians at the employment ministry were behind the scheme. President Chaves was warned about the fund as long ago as 2004 by a union complaining about bogus redundancy payments to miners in Huelva who did not exist. In a letter published in national newspaper El Mundo, the group complained that these people had ‘not been near the mine, neither inside or outside’.

FAR right party Vox has hit back at Spain’s biggest pop star Rosalia after she announced ‘f*** Vox’ in a tweet. The 26-year-old star made the outburst after the party took a historic 52 seats in parliament. But Vox hit back with a photo of Rosalia on a private plane, insisting: “Only millionaires like you who have private planes can permit themselves the luxury of not having a homeland.” The party has campaigned on a platform of anti-immigration and pledged to repeal gender violence laws. The Catalan singer had the last laugh though when she took home three trophies at the Latin Grammy Awards. The 26-year-old Flamenco pop star picked up the best album gong and best contemporary pop vocal album award for El mal querer, as well as best urban song for Con Height. She is the first female winner of the album prize since 2006, when Shakira won.

Brexit brings me home HE is Malaga’s most famous son. As Antonio And now Antonio Banderas may be Banderas celebrates coming home for good… all thanks to Brexit. the launch of a The famous actor - who has just new theatre in his opened a new theatre in Malaga - rehe is ‘worried’ about continubirth city, he may vealed ing to live in the UK, where he has be seeking to move been based for four years. Legend of Zorro star insists that home from the UK The Brexit may ‘force’ him to move back

KING Felipe and Queen Letizia didn’t seem to know what to make of a self-portrait by Spanish artist Goya during their historic visit to Cuba. It came as the royal couple visited a Francisco de Goya exhibition in Havana during a four day trip to the former colony, the first by Spanish royalty in 500 years. The pair seemed bemused by the pallid self-portrait completed in 1815. Cuba is Spain’s third-biggest trading partner after China and Venezuela. See Greatest Goya, page 11

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A HOST of big names from Spanish cinema and beyond attended the debut of musical A Chorus Line, in Malaga. Academy awardwinning director Pedro Almodovar (left) led the guests for the musical, which will go on tour to Madrid, Barcelona and the United States next year. Former Real Madrid defender Miguel Torres and Malaga-born bullfighter Javier Conde (left) also made appearances at the star-studded event.

to his home city of Malaga, where his new Teatro del Soho CaixaBank has just opened. He revealed that the continuing ‘uncertainty’ about Britain’s departure from the EU made him pine more for Spain. Banderas currently lives in the Surrey town of Cobham, with banker girlfriend Nicole Kimpel, but said he is ‘worried’ about the ‘uncertainty’

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November 21st - December 4th 2019

POP versus POPulism

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ish governments of Felipe Gonzalez and Jose Luis Zapatero. The pair had overseen the set up of the €855 million slush fund, intended for retired and unemployed workers and struggling companies. Under Chaves’s presidency between 2001 and 2008 more than €576 million was diverted into the fund. It is now nine years since judge Mercedes Alaya first began investigating the more than 200 companies and dozens of politicians. A total of 507 people were investigated across an amazing 146 separate probes. The scandal is named after the so-called ‘expediente de regulacion de empleo’, or ERE, which means a collective dismissal procedure for companies which need to downsize.

NEWS

caused by Brexit. “There is the possibility of moving back to Malaga,” he said. “Malaga is just the size of city I love and I’m coming here more and more.” The 59-year-old inaugurated his new Malaga theatre with a performance of A Chorus Line, attended by Spanish film legends including Pedro Almodovar at the weekend. Banderas won Best Actor at this year’s Cannes Film FesMISS Gibraltar was given tival for his performance in a final gift to help her on Almodovar’s Pain and Glory, her way to the Miss World in which he plays a ruined beauty pageant. Celine Bofilm director reflecting on his lanos was crowned Miss life choices. Gib last summer and she The Hollywood star, born will now take part in the in Malaga in 1960, also reMiss World event in Lonvealed that his Swiss-Gerdon. Bolanos will be hoping man girlfriend Nicole has to emulate fellow Gibraltarian Kaiane Aldorino who begun learning Spanish in became the first Gibraltaripreparation for a possible an to clinch the Miss World return to his home country.

DOING THE DOUBLE?

title in 2009.

NEWS

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NEWS IN BRIEF Coalition petition THREE separate protest groups have combined forces and presented a 360k signature petition to the Murcian government, demanding solutions to the Mar Menor environmental crisis.

Orcas spotted KILLER whales have been spotted off the coast of Cartagena and are thought to have strayed from their usual hunting ground near Gibraltar, as they hunt for bluefin tuna.

Ferry to France? THREE shipping companies have begun talks to introduce a ferry service for HGVs, cars and passengers from Cartagena to the south of France, avoiding congestion on the AP-7.

New airport station? A STUDY has been commissioned into the possibility of an underground train station at Alicante-Elche airport, replacing the outdated Torrelano site 2km away, for a direct link from Murcia.

November 21st - December 4th 2019

You register, we spend EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade

CONTINUAL claims of a ‘terrible’ lack of spending in Ciudad Quesada is down to more than just a lack of communication, local councillors have claimed. A groundswell of opinion has built up over the last two years, with what many believe to be a bias over public service investment in the Costa Blanca town. Locals - a large percentage expats - believe Rojales Town Hall has been ignoring their pleas, while spending the vast majority of council cash elsewhere. An Olive Press investigation this month certainly confirms their claims, with a clear lack of road maintenance, overflowing bins, as well as neglected play parks. "Parking is a massive issue, and there seems to be very little for kids to do,” said Jo Christian, of Villas Blanca estate agents. “Why does it seem like nothing is being spent on Quesada?” Another Quesada agent, who preferred not to be named, added: "The lack of funding is terrible, especially when you consider the extra thousands that must be coming in from the government, thanks to all the padron registrations by expats.

Rojales promises to spend ‘much more’ than €600,000 on Quesada if an 19,000 expats get officially registered

"We don’t even get a decent fiesta, whereas Rojales seems to have something going on every day and night.” Kelly Aspbury, at The Treasure Chest, insisted: "All our customers seem to ask about is when the road outside is going to be improved, and where is the extra parking?" When confronted on the issue, Rojales councillors Derek Monks and Finance boss Fernando Lorenzo, believed the claims were unfair, but promised that they would soon be rectified.

Shocking

While they admitted there has been a delay to longplanned works they insisted they would begin again in January. The problems began, they confirmed, when the roadworks on Quesada’s main thoroughfare, Avenida de los Naciones, were suspended in 2018. “We found solid rock under the arches at the entrance, which meant we had to start again with plans and costing,” confirmed Lorenzo this week.

Ethical Investing - It is no longer just something for a few tree-hugging individuals. By Tracy Storer, Senior In a world that is becoming more and more focused about the environment and ways to protect it, it is no wonder that I am being asked more and more about ethical investments. Ethical investors were historically driven by their focus on doing what was best for the environment and communities and often this meant their investment could sometimes suffer. But times are changing and investing ethically can now be very rewarding. When a company owned by Warren Buffett (one of the world’s most successful investors) bought a stake in BYD, then a little-known Chinese car company, some sceptics were ridiculing the 2008 deal. Car and Driver, an industry magazine, commented that it was “hard to take BYD seriously” because many of its cars seemed to be copies of older Japanese models, while their performance was lacklustre. “We drive faster in our driveways,” the magazine said. But Mr Buffett is now more than vindicated and the Chinese company’s focus on electric cars and

Partner

“We couldn’t start again in the summer because of the disruption to businesses, and since September we’ve been dealing with the aftermath of the gota fria.” But he confirmed works would begin again on January 7, next year, the day after the Reyes. He promised that €600,000 would be spent on resurfacing the roads, widening pavements, improving parking and adding new lighting. “It will be the perfect welcome to Quesada as you enter the arches,” he promised. The works will include the installation of LED street lighting throughout La Fiesta and improvements to the irrigation channel along Avenida de los Regantes. However, the councillors insisted that a lot MORE cash could be spent on public services and infrastructure in Quesada, if everyone was registered on the town hall padron. They claimed that a shocking 19,000 locals, the majority expats, were not registered. “About 11,000 people are registered in Quesada,” re-

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vealed Lorenzo, “but we know from the amount of rubbish we collect, there is closer to 30,000 living there.” He continued: “As a result we are seriously under-funded because of the low registration numbers. “If the other 19,000 registered, imagine the funding we would have to spend.”

Monks, a councillor for eight years, also stressed the ‘open door policy’ at the Centro Municipal in Quesada. “If anyone has any comments, suggestions or remarks about spending, they’re welcome to come and see me,” he explained. “I can also take you through the registration process.”

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There is mounting evidence that funds which observe environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in their strategies tend to outperform those that don’t by a significant margin.

CAST ASIDE: Closed parks, cracked pavements and overflowing bins

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www.theolivepress.es EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade

A BRITISH couple have called in police after being charged DOUBLE for a meal they thought was below standard. Expats Wayne Clarke, 34, and partner Natalie, were left stunned after staff at Wok Asia 5 restaurant also then physically and verbally abused them. The pair told the Olive Press they were ‘assaulted’ for merely refusing to pay for four people when only two of them had eaten at the buffet-style restaurant, in La Zenia. “The food was over-cooked and dry and appeared to have been heated up from the night before,” explained Clarke, a builder who is originally from the Midlands. “But when we asked for the bill they charged for four people, and when questioned said it was because we had left food on our plates! “Obviously we refused to pay double, but they wouldn’t accept paying for two.” To make matters worse, when they started to leave the staff got aggressive and started shouting at them. “The owner’s son grabbed my wife by the arm and shouted abuse at both of us,” he continued. “I then called the police, who were luckily on the scene quickly.” Police backed up the couple and told the restaurant staff to accept the offer of the couple paying for ‘what they had

NEWS

November 21st - December 4th 2019

STIR FRIED

Police called after expats charged double the price - and then assaulted - for failing to finish a meal at Wok restaurant

Reconquest begins THE far right Vox party has seized the province of Murcia in this month’s general elections. The extreme party, which wants to clamp down on immigration and repeal gender violence laws, took three of the region’s 10 seats in Madrid’s parliament. While Murcia was the only autonomous community in which Santiago Abascal’s party came top, the party came second in Andalucia and third overall in Spain. The PP party and PSOE each took three seats in Murcia, with Podemos

taking the final seat. “In Murcia the reconquest begins,” insisted regional boss Lourdes Mendez. The centre-right Ciudadanos party, which had one of its worst ever elections failed to get a single seat in Murcia. Its leader Albert Rivera has now resigned after the party picked up just 10 seats across the country. Turnout at the general election, which was narrowly won by the PSOE, was only 73.53%, three percentage points down from the April elections.

Here are the young men

DISGUSTED: Expats Wayne and Natalie, while (right) the offending Wok Asia 5 eatery eaten’. “While they told us we could report the assault, we just wanted to pay and go home,” added Clarke. However, that wasn’t the end of the saga, as later that night, at 3am, the couple awoke with what they believe was food poisoning.

It is also apparent that their experience isn’t unique, as online reviews give similarly low opinions. On Tripadvisor, Wok Asia 5 is rated 42nd out 45 restaurants in La Zenia, with all but one of this year’s reviews being rated with one or two stars.

Comments include, ‘Worst garbage ever presented with’, ‘Dreadful, no wonder it was empty’ and ‘Horrible food, very rude waitress’. Understandably, Clarke has one word of advice for Olive Press readers, “AVOID!”

ORIHUELA and Guardamar councils have received grants to offer work for 50 unemployed youngsters. Along with €200,000 from their own coffers, Orihuela will receive nearly €650,000 to provide employment for 40 people, and Guardamar will get €100,000 to help ten locals. The coastal resort will have all ten people focus on repairs to damage caused by the storms in September. Orihuela’s new-starters will also work on infrastructure improvements as well as the environment and heritage projects. City Mayor, Emilio Bascunana said: “It is a great opportunity for them.”

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than one million people a month.

FEATURE

November 21st - December 4th 2019

IT’S WARMING UP... ...and SHE’LL be there...

OPINION The reptiles have finally been caged It’s thanks to the unshakable determination of one woman that this week 19 Andalucian politicians and business leaders were sentenced to a total of 86 years in prison for swindling the public out of millions of euros. The iron lady of the Spanish justice system, judge Mercedes Alaya, has devoted almost a decade of her life to uncovering the gross corruption of the former PSOE leaders. And it is she who should be remembered as the unsung heroine of the sorry ERE saga. The €1billion-plus slush fund that paid for ex-employment minister Javier Guerro’s cocaine-fuelled afternoons in brothels has been dubbed the ‘reptile fund’.

Fag

And this 63-year-old alleged socialist can only be described as reptilian, seemingly unable to arrive or leave a single court hearing without a fag hanging from his mouth or gripped between his fingertips. Hopefully his eight year jail sentence will give him ample time to reflect on why splurging money meant for laid off workers and the unemployed is a bad look for a politician meant to be on the people’s side. It is a further kick in the teeth to those who voted these politicians into power that ex-Junta president Chaves - who incredibly avoided jail - turned a blind eye when miners in Huelva tried to warn politicians of the bogus payments in a letter published in El Mundo. Let’s hope the sentences today serve as a reminder to our elected representatives that they may help make the law, but they’re not above it. Publisher / Editor

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Charlie Smith Joshua Parfitt charlie@theolivepress.es joshua@theolivepress.es Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es

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Heather Galloway on how hosting the climate change summit COP25 could be a game-changer for Spain

ADRID will be front page news next month when 25,000 of the world’s environmental experts fly in for the UN’s COP25 climate change summit. And not only because teen activist Greta Thunberg will be among them (and she’s sailing in, not flying). Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stepped up to the plate when social unrest forced Chile to pull out as host at the eleventh hour, giving Spain front row seats and a golden opportunity. Chilean president Sebastian Piñera will continue to preside over the proceedings, which will be staged at the IFEMA conference centre from December 2-13. But Spain’s Ecology Minister, Greenpeace spokesperson Teresa Ribera, a prestigious Tatiana Nuño is also positive. figure on the global scene, “Our country is a rough diawill also take a leading role. mond when it comes to renewAnd she has had to employ able energy,” she tells me. “And the same sense of urgency people here are aware; they required to reduce CO2 emiswant to act and participate. sions to prepare for the deluge “We have the potential to be up of experts and negotiators in there with the most progressive record time. countries. But we need a stable Among those guaranteed to government, one that puts enattract global attention during ergy transition at the centre of the summit is Swede Thunberg, its agenda.” 16, who has droves of followers There certainly should be an in Spain, where Fridays for Fuincentive, Spain being on the ture strikes have taken off. frontline when it comes to the She does however, have her deimpact of climate change in Eutractors, such as rope. the far-right Vox A 2016 report naysayers who published in have attacked the Spain is already Science preactivist, branding dicts a range experiencing her ‘a puppet’. of scenarios for Having already the south, dealarming embarked on her pending on the developments zero emissions rate at which journey, Greta are like flash floods emissions found herself checked... the stranded on the worst possibility wrong side of the is being a ravAtlantic until Australian couaged ecosystems of semi-desple Riley Whitelum and Elayna ert for much of Andalucia and Carausu came to the rescue Murcia and poor prospects for and offered her a passage on those living along the coast as their catamaran, back the way sea levels rise and temperashe came. tures increase by five degrees So will the summit act as a catby 2100. alyst to Spain’s fight against Spain is already experiencing climate change, perhaps turnalarming developments such ing the country into a European as an unprecedented increase leader on the issue? in flash floods, blamed by the Ribera has high hopes and Observatory of Sustainability

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“The world may already have gone down the toilet in terms of emissions. That is what is moving Extinction Rebellion. That’s what I see on Greta’s face. Somehow she symbolises the cock-up of our generation. What we need to do is to sell emerging economies the truth; that sustainable economies are the most economically viable, bringing quality jobs, reduced energy insecurity and reduced foreign control.

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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW There will be climate-change demos almost every day, with the biggest march (see left) going from Atocha to Nuevos Mi nisterios on December 6, organised by various groups including Fridays for Future COP25 will cost €90 million to host and is predicted to bring a cash injection of €200 million

on climate change, economic growth and unbridled urban development which increases impermeable surface areas. Murcia’s Mar Menor is also acting as a wake up call. Fish are being starved of oxygen and Europe’s largest salt-water lagoon is turning into a graveyard, due in large part to intensive farming and flooding. It didn’t happen overnight of course. As former renewables journalist, Anthony Luke, points out, “Everyone was surprised when tonnes of fish were washed up on the shores of the Mar Menor this autumn following years of pollution from agricultural pesticides. “The warning signs,” he said, ”have been there for years but nobody took the blindest bit of notice. The Mar Menor has now become synonymous with environmental disaster. But it could occur on a far larger scale anywhere in the world if the signs are not heeded.” Ignoring the signs is a major issue. Less than 2% of Spaniards listed climate change among their top three political concerns in a survey carried out by the Centre for Sociological research (CIS) in the run-up to the November 10 general election. Coupled with the gains made by the extreme right wing party Vox, which remains sceptical about climate change, this is somewhat at odds with Ribera and Nuño’s optimism. However, when the current PP-led Madrid council tried to dismantle the low-emissions scheme ‘Madrid Central’, it was stopped in its tracks after thousands came out in protest, prompting a court ruling. Nuño is also encouraged by the fact that climate activists have called for demonstrations against Black Friday at the end of this month and believes people power will be a significant factor during COP25. “The demonstrations will put pressure on Madrid not only to maintain Madrid Central but to expand it and get the emissions within the city down to

There will be an alternative summit called the Social Climate Summit held at the Complutense University from December 7-13 The Paseo de la Castellana will become the Green Castellana – the focus of cultural and citizen activity In IFEMA, COP25 will occupy seven pavilions. The Blue Zone will host the multilateral UN negotiations The Green Zone will raise environmental awareness among the public with open dialogue and workshops Some 400 volunteers will be working at the event Madrid will host a Youth Conference from November 29 to December 1 and the young people are set to play a significant role in the conference zero,” she says, adding that it will force the government to be more ambitious with its targets for 2030. She hopes to see it aim to reduce emissions by 55% as opposed to 20% with respect to 1990. Meanwhile Sergio de Otto, of the Renewables Foundation in Madrid, believes Spain does not have the weight to become a leader in Europe in the fight against climate change. However he does see Spain’s hosting of COP25 as a positive means of raising awareness. “We can feel optimistic that we have someone like Teresa at the head of the Ecological Transition Ministry,” he tells me.“But there is a lot of resistance. The government is going in the right direction but there are obstacles slowing things down when the only thing we need right now is to go fast.” Whether or not we can pick up the pace depends on the consumer. “If we as individuals act,” he says, “then we can demand more urgent action from the authorities, pushing them to legislate.” The ball is in our court, it seems.

November 21st - December 4th 2019

FEATURE

The Berlin Wall fell 30 years ago this month, but populism and far-right groups like Vox are building another one that is dividing our response to the climate crisis, writes Jon Clarke

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Another brick in the wall

AS the Olive Press continues to grow around Spain - having just opened its FIFTH paper in Murcia and the Costa Blanca south this month - so does our community footprint. Thanks to our huge - and genuine - social media following we have an enviable head start. Yes, our REAL 22,100 Facebook followers and our TRUE 7,250 Twitter fans means that we are already known in the new region. While we get hundreds of thousands of engagements each fortnight, it is our website that takes the biscuit. For www.theolivepress.es leads the way in Spain in English by a country mile. Indeed, it is bigger than any rival by nearly FOUR TIMES. Yes, you read that. Thanks to our dozens of stories every day about Spain - not celebrity tittle tattle in the UK, or accidents in France - we are the ONLY English website in the Top 1000 in Spain. This is definitive and comes from an official ranking by Amazon’s Alexa.com, and backed up by legitimate Google analytics.

ANTI-IMMIGRANT: HERE was never any quesFar right partion where we would aim for. ties are making It was my university’s hitch inroads around hike for charity and it beEurope today, whigan exactly 30 years ago, during the le (below) the wall week the Berlin Wall started to fall. opens in 1989 A precursor toOctober my future9th career as a - October 22 2019 journalist, there was only one place in the world that I wanted to be. Just 20 years of age and half way through a degree in Geography at Manchester University, the opportunity to see this momentous world event close up had incredible allure. And despite a later 15-year career covering numerous big stories – including Chernobyl, Maddie McCann and the death of Princess Diana – it presidents, Bill Clinton and George still leaves a bigger imprint on my Bush heard what the defeated formind. mer rival had to say, but went ahead So much still sticks in the memory, with what they planned anyway. from the edgy faces of young East Millions of eastern Europeans also German border guards standing took the promises of a bright new nervously on top of the wall, undawn at face value, only to pay a sure what to do, to the families of heavy price in unemployment, ecoWest Germans, standing by Checknomic collapse, and social turmoil. point Charlie handing over wads of And despite Germany investing banknotes to total strangers as they some two trillion euros, unemployarrived through the wall in their batment and social problems are still tered Trabant cars. higher in the former communist Deeply interested in the rift bepart. tween communism and fascism It took Hungary and Poland, the from studying the Spanish Civil War richest Iron Curtain countries, a full during my history A-level, it was indecade to recover economically from credible to think that this formidawhere they were when the ble barrier to world wall came down. peace, which saw 239 There has also been a people shot dead tryDresden in sharp rise in racism in ing to cross it, was these former Eastern the east of finally coming down. Bloc countries, a problem The unbreakable which has spread around Germany has spirit of people who dared to dream came declared a ‘Nazi’ Europe. Dresden in the east of to a head at Berlin’s Germany has just deemergency Brandenburg Gate on clared a ‘Nazi’ emergenNovember 11, 1989. cy, saying it has a severe That night, at around problem with the far 11pm, the border guards finally right. The city has long been viewed started letting its citizens leave East as a bastion of the far-right and Germany. In the following days, is the birthplace of the anti-Islam cracks started appearing in the Pegida movement. wall, as the exodus swelled. By the Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative weekend after it became a deluge as fur Deutschland is now Germany’s thousands made their dash for freeofficial opposition, having won 94 dom, aided by thousands of West seats in the 2017 elections, while Germans chiselling away at the hatAngela Merkel’s party shed 65 seats. ed barrier with hammers, pickaxes, In this month’s Spanish elections, shovels and even hydraulic drills. the far right Vox party which calls Nobody seemed to be working. for the ‘reconquest of Spain’ I joined them, arriving back in the has made huge gains everywhere, UK five days later with a suitcase full including the expat hotspots of the of souvenir chunks. It was an amazCosta del Sol and Murcia, to become ing time to be in Berlin. the third force in parliament. As former British prime minister Vox took 52 seats in Congress, a maGordon Brown later told up to a million Germans: “Because of your courage two Berlins are one. Two Germanys are one, and now two Europes are one.” Yet, once again all is not well in Europe. While the reunification of Germany eventually ushered in a new, larger and more powerful Europe, it had a double-edged meaning. Millions regained their basic freedoms but various promises made to Mikael Gorbachev at the time were never kept. In particular, the Russian leader was promised that NATO would not expand into the bases left by departing Russian troops in East Germany. US

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jor increase on the 24 seats it previously held. Many believed Spain was immune to the far right because of memories of life under Franco. But Vox’s anti-immigration stance aligns it with many right wing parties across Europe, and it has sought to change legislation aimed at protecting women from gender violence, claiming it discriminates against men. These are worrying times. Over my nearly 20 years in Spain I have seen a horrifying disregard for European laws, protecting both human rights and the environment. The tsunami of cement that has seen its coastlines almost completely destroyed over the last two decades has made the country a watchword for excess, while wide scale corruption has allowed the real estate sector to steamroller its way over thousands of protected green spaces. Thousands of foreigners have seen their homes in danger of being knocked down, despite acquiring the correct licences. Many more lost out in off-plan schemes, only now finally being rectified by law. It’s 10 years ago since the Auken Report into environment and human rights abuse was issued by the EU demanding action. But despite the millions in taxpayers’ money spent compiling, interviewing and investigating the excesses, little has changed. That is where the European Union, as a higher authority, should have stepped in. And indeed it would have done, if a crucial vote to withhold €185 million of benefits from Spain hadn’t been shelved at the final hour. There is much speculation about why this was allowed to happen, some claiming it was the Spanish government threatening to block further EU legislation. Either way, if such blatant disregard for European laws remains unpunished, what then is the point of the EU? Certainly, it is vital that issues like this are addressed, particularly with the spectre of climate change likely to hit Spain a lot harder than northern Europe. Madrid is hosting the UN Climate summit next month when world leaders and climate change activists, Greta Thunberg included, will discuss how to stick to the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement promise of keeping global warming below 2 degrees. But actions speak louder than words. Having seen the fall of the Berlin wall it is vital that we Europeans, whether from the East or West, harness that same spirit of unity to solve the environmental crisis. It is going to be painful financially and difficult socially. But if we don’t work together on this one, it will create a wall dividing not only Europeans but the whole of mankind.

THE PAPER WITH THE REAL NUMBERS And what can you learn from this. Well firstly we are ranked globally at 12,854th position, putting us above the Liverpool Echo and Scotland’s prestigious Daily Record. Thanks to our high traffic figures - between 30,000 and 50,000 visits a day - we are at 593rd position in Britain and 870th in Spain. Meanwhile we have zoomed up to 638th position in Ireland and are 79th in Gibraltar.

OUR RIVALS Other local English newspapers Sur in English, Euro Weekly News and the Costa Blanca News fail to get into the top 2,000 in the UK, Spain or Ireland. The Mallorca Daily Bulletin ranks at 853,331, while the Costa Blanca News ranks at 2.93m, Costa-news at 1.84m, Alicantetoday at 11.04m and Murcia Today at 832,706.

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The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:

1 2

- Grumpy Bake Off star Paul Hollywood threatens to fill in Olive Press cakehole for asking a question (42,369) - Storm Cecilia from the Atlantic to blast southern Spain this week as Costa del Sol, Murcia and Costa Blanca on alert for strong winds ahead of FIVE DAYS OF RAIN (30,999)

3 4 5

- ‘Fake bus driver’ who made €3.2 million from tourists and kids on Costa del Sol and across Spain arrested and has his 19 buses seized (24,721)

- Shocked beach-goers watch as drug boat carrying migrants runs ashore on Spain’s Costa del Sol (21,605) - REVEALED: This is the restaurant in British tourist hotspot in Spain accused of treating staff ‘like slaves’ with €2.80 per hour salaries (20,619)

November 21st - December 4th 2019 Check out our issues online at www.theolivepress.es

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Andalucia Issue 331 The

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Vol. 13 Issue 331 www.theolivepress.es November 20th - December 3rd 2019

A journey you won’t forget

AUTUMN DREAM: The road to Ronda through the Genal Valley

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November 20th - December 3rd 2019

Bewitched by fairytale Ronda Y This picture-perfect mountain town has charmed many an artist in time past and many famous people recently yet still retains its mythical appeal. Robert Firth shares the magic

OU don’t have to be writing the next award-winning novel or screenplay to appreciate Ronda, but it helps. Artists from Ernest Hemingway to Orson Wells – both commemorated with busts in the town – have made pilgrimages to Ronda for centuries in search of artistic inspiration. And it’s easy to see why from the moment you begin your journey here in the south east – just outside the town’s walls. For this is the only place you should begin your trip to Ronda. To really understand this historic medina, you have to first leave it and start again outside the town’s walls. From this vantage point, Ronda – dripping with history – perches monumentally above the olive and auburn countryside it overlooks. And through winding dirt tracks by ramshackle farms tended by shepherds with crooks in the shadows of the fortress and up stone steps towards the town, you catch a glimpse of the mythic beauty that transfixed so many artistic geniuses. So stunning is Ronda’s puente nuevo, bridging the canyon the town is built over, that Germany’s most famous poet, Rainer Maria Rike, credited his stay at the Reina Victoria hotel overlooking the ravine with curing his writer’s block.

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Around almost every corner is tucked a stunning church, immaculately preserved historical ruins or a viewing point over postcard landscapes. If entering the town the proper way from the south, a stop-off at the Arab Baths is almost obligatory. Indeed passing through the exceptionally well-preserved 13th century hammam was mandatory for visitors to the Muslim medina when the town was a stronghold of the Emirate of Granada. It was one of the last places to fall to Catholic rule. After the conquest, its remote location in the Sierra de las Nieves National Park made it a refuge for Muslims fleeing per-

It’s time to head to the hills for

a classic

This included eight years for forwinter break... our 16-page Ronda mer Employment minister Javier special gives you the inside track Guerrero, who helped set up the scheme which embezzled money from 2000 to 2009. The bent politician was particularly guilty, having set up two bogus companies with his former driver - dubbed the ‘Cocaine Chauffeur’ - defrauding over €700,000 between them. The pair are said to have spent much of their afternoons spending the money taking cocaine with EXCLUSIVE prostitutes at brothels near Sevilla. By Laurence Dollimore force. The final 1,700-page report, issued “Moroccans, mainly Dutch Morocby a panel of judges, announced cans, are taking over the cocaine that 13 of those accused received THE Costa del Sol is facing a Christbusiness,” journalist Tuelings told six to eight years in prison while mas drugs war. the Olive Press. all have been banned from public A vicious battle between rival gangs is seeing a new breed of Dutch gang“The Dutch are a new generation that office for at least 10 years. sters take over the lucrative trade, doesn’t mind using extreme violence. A further three, José Antonio it Vi- can be revealed. “The bosses are in their 30s and era, Francisco Vallejo and Carmen mostly live in Dubai, while their Martínez-Aguayo were also minis- According to a hard-hitting new solbook, Irish and British mafia gangs diers are a lot younger, sometimes ters. are being supplanted teenagers. In a major embarrassment for the of Arabic descent fromby Dutch gangs “They are working together with PSOE party, Chaves and Grinan Amsterdam. coast. the The book, Costa del Coke, reveals As Irish mafia, the Kinahans, the majorled the Junta for a combined well as spending time 23 that legendary Irish years, two thirds of the regional mafia clan the they also joined Policia in Morocco ity of whom have moved to Dubai.” Nacional pa- It comes Kinahans have been forced to strike parliament’s history. at a time of increasing trols in La Linea and the coastguard drug-related violence along the Costa KILLED: The pair had been icons of the par- a deal with one of the groups. operations in Algeciras. Three murders have del Sol, with ty, while Chaves went on to become Journalists Ivo Teulings, 52, and Ar- They talked to hundreds of criminals week of an a suspected murder last occured in recent months a minister in both the Spanish gov- thur Van Amerongen, 60, have spent involved in the drugs Arabic man in Marbella. trade, including over a year researching the traffick- gypsies, Moroccans, retired smug- This followed the discovery of a body the gangs and the Kinahans mostly Continues on Page 5 ing business along Spain’s southern glers, but also members of the police of a 39-year-old man in a ditch in moved their operation to Dubai. Mijas in September and the body of It was this lack of Irish presence, exa Bulgarian dumped on perts believe, which the Istan road with sev- vacuum in the drug caused a power trafficking busieral gunshot wounds ness, leading to the situation today. two weeks ago. “Competitors are coming in from all The new gang war over the world, as everybody wants comes three years since a piece of the cake,” continued Teulthe infamous Kinah- ings. “While the Dutch an-Hutch feud between have had the edge, they Moroccans are now intwo rival Dublin gangs volved in their own saw several killed in now with a huge civil drugs war right war going on in Malaga and Ireland. The Netherlands right now.” However, things slowed A Dutchman killed in down massively after last year is believed to Torremolinos Ireland’s Gardai and tim of that struggle. be the first vicSpanish authorities Hamza Ziani was reportedly launched a special task conflict with the Netherlands’ in a most force to crack down on wanted criminal Ridouan Taghi, who allegedly ordered around 20 deaths to protect his €100 million cocaine empire. “I would say the Ndraghetta from Italy and rival Colombian gangs – who work with the MoSee pages 5 & 45 roccans – are set to become the biggest forces at play.” Costa del Coke is set to be translated for an English edition in the new year. RECENT VISITORS: J.K Rowling, Anne Hathaway, Gordan Ramsay, Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker and Ricky Gervais

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GOING DUTCH ‘Ruthless’ Irish and Dutch gangs have teamed up on the Costa del Sol as third suspected murder occurs in three months

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November 8th - November 21st 2019 Vol. 3 Issue 67 www.theolivepress.es

UNSAVOURY An investigation uncovers Mallorca restaurant serving up ‘contemporary slavery’, threats and worse EXCLUSIVE By Jacque Talbot

Right turn

A DANGEROUS lurch to the right could see Spain’s anti-immigrant Vox party becoming the kingmakers in this weekend’s general election. of The massive surge - off the back the recent Catalan crisis and a fear of Islam - could see the party seizing 15% of the seats in Parliament. The expected gains will seriously damage centre-right Ciudadanos, which could lose over half its seats, while the ruling PSOE and left wing Podemos are also expected to suffer. Vox, which has pledged to ‘defend’ Spain from immigrants, is predicted to finish third in the country’s many as in fourth general election years. led The latest polling suggests Vox, by Santiago Abascal, will increase its 24 seats in Spain’s 350-seat parliament to 46.

reAN Olive Press investigation can veal the identity of a now-notorious over restaurant owner, who presided alleged ‘slave-like’ conditions. After local media reported this week that Failed about a restaurant in Escorca employed staff on just €2.80 an hour Meanwhile Albert Rivera’s Ciuto Sa Calobra beach for up to 14-hour shifts, we can reveal dadanos will be reduced from 57 to work 14-hour days metres from seven ‘slaves’ were forced to the restaurant is Es Port, in Sa Calo14. In the 40dB poll Vox is setthe Pe- IDYLLIC: Yet bra, owned by local businessman gain 14% of the vote, alongside and his pending court date - we claims. facts are simple: seven people dro Vicenc. PP in second place with 21.2% and this spoke to other local restaurateurs The allegedly found to be workWhile he refused to comment 91 seats and the PSOE coming first who backed up the shocking wereunder ‘inhumane’ conditions. week - merely confirming his arrest ing with 27.3% and 121 votes. According to a police investiga- las said it was an embarrassment The PSOE’s predicted victory two less tion they received just €40-a-day for the resort and that Vicenc had would see the party with election, without proper breaks and under been known for his ‘modus ope- seats than in April’s last another headache for its a ‘climate of fear’. randi’ for some time. His downfall prompting as he tries to The restaurant ‘took advantage’ of came a few days after plainclothes leader Pedro Sanchez form a government. the seven ‘immigrants’, who felt cops had staked out the joint. Opinion page 6 forced to accept the slave-like con- Official court documents show ditions and work, usually six days that the staff were under constant lie to forced and dismissal a week. of threat One local restaurant owner, who about any accidents at work. They asked not to be named, told the were also refused holidays and ofto Olive Press: “I don’t recall seeing ten had to juggle multiple jobs as the a single Spaniard or Mallorquin cooks, cleaners and maintenance working there. All workers looked staff. Staff were forced to sign off like they came from Morocco. their criminally-low payslips or “There were always a lot of strange face the threat of being sacked. goings-on at that restaurant. It’s been very unsettling.” Court Another, who has known the ownwhich is in the er for years, said: “It’s a disgrace The restaurant, of scenic Sa Caloand has been going on for years, heart of the port bra, is administered under the along with various other things. Colobra SL. “I am so pleased it is finally being company nametold the Olive Press Owner Vicenc dealt with.” anything say can’t “I dozen a night: over last He revealed how 15:36 the restaurant now. People can hear what I have 16/06/2017 1 on police swooped Untitled-1.pdf to say when I’m in court.” He about three weeks ago. was arrested along Mayor of Escorca Antoni Solivelwith two other bosses, who have Amanda Butler also been charged wonders who on with crimes against workers’ rights earth to vote for in C Police rumbled the the forthcoming UK operation following M a tip off in Septemelections UK BASED Y ber. See page 14

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IT is the biggest public money scandal in Spanish history, estimated at nearly €1 billion. Now, finally, two former Andalucia leaders are heading to prison and banned from office for their links to the disgraceful ERE scandal. Ex-Junta president Jose Antonio Grinan has been sentenced to years jail and banned from office six for 15 years, while predecessor Manuel Chaves has been banned from office for nine years. The pair oversaw the scheme, which saw the shocking theft of at least €680 million - dubbed the ‘Reptile fund’ - meant to go to companies in trouble and to stimulate employment. A further 17 politicians and businessmen who worked with the Junta received a total of 86 years in prison between them, a Sevilla court has ruled.

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A journey you won’t forget

AUTUMN DREAM: The road to Ronda through the Genal Valley

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November 20th - December 3rd 2019

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It’s time to head to the hills for a classic winter break... our

This included eight years for former six-page Ronda Employment minister Javier Guerspecial gives you the inside track rero, who helped set up the scheme which embezzled money from 2000 to 2009. The bent politician was particularly guilty, having set up two bogus companies with his former driver - dubbed the ‘Cocaine Chauffeur’ defrauding over €700,000 betweenthem. The pair are said to have spent much of their afternoons spending the THE new money taking cocaine with prostigovernment is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030, its tutes at brothels near Sevilla. EXCLUSIVE By John Culatto The final 1,700-page report, issued new minister for climate change by a panel of judges, announced that has revealed to the Olive Press. 13 of those accused received six to John Cortes told this paper how “I have to eight years in prison while all have drive that very, very despite the challenge, a Green hard to make a real difference in been banned from public office for at Gibraltar is ‘realistic’. least 10 years. “I have never said it’s not a chal- everybody’s work and life patA further three, José Antonio terns.” Vi- lenge,” Cortes said. era, Francisco Vallejo and Carmen With New Harbours “I think Martínez-Aguayo were also minis- changes we have to make many estate already drapedindustrial in solar in the way that we all ters. behave but I think it is possible panels, he is hoping to unveil a In a major embarrassment for whole raft of renewable energy PSOE party, Chaves and Grinan the to achieve it. projects in the next few months. led “In some African countries the Junta for a combined 23 years, it’s already illegal to even import “I think that society now has a ‘hydrofluorocarbon’ (HFC) by two thirds of the regional parliaa plastic bag or carry one with clear picture of what we have to 2047. ment’s history. do,” Cortes concluded. According to the Environmental you.” The pair had been icons of the party, “With the support of govern- Investigation Agency, ‘hydroHe called the Climate Change while Chaves went on to become minister in both the Spanish govern-a portfolio ‘overarching’ after de- ments, together with NGOs and fluorocarbons, are super greencrucially with businesses, we house gases, manufactured ments of Felipe Gonzalez and Jose claring a Climate Emergency. for Luis Zapatero. “All areas of government work will achieve the carbon neutrali- use in refrigeration, air conditioning, foam blowing, aerosols, The pair had overseen the set up will be influenced by commit- ty we need.” of the €855 million slush fund, intendments to climate change,” he It comes as the Kigali Amend- fire protection and solvents’. ment to the Montreal Protocol Unlike most other gases, these ed for retired and unemployed work- said. was extended to Gibraltar by the substances are ‘intentionally ers and struggling companies. RECENT VISITORS: J.K Rowling, Anne Hathaway, Gordan Ramsay, Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker and Ricky Gervais

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To the future

LEAVERS: Trio of Brits in Spain

Holiday horror After reading the article about animal cruelty in Paloma Park I just wanted to add that during my holiday to d chasing and edu Get teenagers also I saw cate dena in July Benalma

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Warm welcome

Readers react to news that Spaniards are worse at speaking English than Romanians, Serbians and Greeks, according to a new study Oh the irony

UK BASED

Government. The amendment to the global agreement, which was made in 1987, calls on countries to reach an 80% reduction in the consumption of dangerous greenhouse gas

for Spanish residents

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produced’. “I am delighted that this amendment to the Montreal Protocol has been extended to Gibraltar,” EXPERT: John Cortes Cortes added. “This is one of the steps we need- other international agreements ed to take in order to continue to on environment being similarconform to international envi- ly extended to Gibraltar in the ronmental standards even when coming months.” Meanwhile, the minister also we leave the European Union. “I am grateful to DEFRA in the hopes to continue to raise stanUK for their support and their dards in the culture portfolio he work on this and look forward to took over from Steven Linares. “I will improve the way we record and archive our culture,

Tel: 952 147 834

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including our cultural heritage and promoting our culture outside Gibraltar,” he added. As a dramatist, one of his main tasks will be to create a new national theatre at John Mackintosh Hall over the next two years.

3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 .

1 21/6/19 13:30

Great read

No-go in the Campo

I picked Issue 1 up from Quesada and found it a great read, covering everything you need to know. It is very informative. We live in La Siesta (Torrevieja) and my question is could you tell me if there would be a nearer pick up point for the next issue? Many thanks, I look forward to reading it some more. Shirley Forrest, Torrevieja

On the defensive

Game of chess

Selective hearing

Nationalists are the foolish pawns of the wealthy, blindly working against their own self interest in support of the very people who oppress them (How populism is the new divide that’s endangering our response to the climate crisis today, Online, November 10). Brenda Sherman, San Francisco

Actually English people who have lived in Spain for years take the prize! Karen Young, Nerja Spaniards who work in the tourist industry are more likely to speak English. Not just for the benefit of the British, but also Germans, Dutch and others who usually use English as their second language. In the countryside it is a different story. Teresa Tracy Ramsey, Fuente-Tojar Why don’t they do a study in the UK to see how well people do with any other language apart from English? I don’t see the point of the article. Jessica Marina Dos Santos, Malagan I disagree. Some Spaniards don’t like the English and although they can speak our language they choose not to....according to my Spanish friends. Angie Knell, Malaga

Best from the east

Russians are the best nation for speaking a second language. It’s something to do with their dialect that makes it easier for them to learn a second language. James Cottnam, Cardiff

Rock to be carbon neutral by 2030 as new initiatives set to be launched

TRAVEL INSURANCE

It was good to find the Olive Press in San Miguel on Wednesday. We picked up the last copy! Congratulations on your continued success, and to your welcome arrival in our neck of the Woods. Robert W Barnes, Pilar de la Horadada

Cracking column I am loving your light hearted and amusing narrative (The Elche Three, Issue 1, pg 22). Count me in as a reader! Good luck for the future. Lynn Constantine, Cartagena

Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@ theolivepress.es or message us on at www.facebook.com/OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress

OP QUICK Crossword Across 1 Thin soup (5) 4 Aided (6) 10 Efflux (7) 11 Cram (5) 12 Set down (4) 13 Turned around (8) 14 Murder (11) 18 Unusual (8) 20 Applications (4) 22 Pale pinkish-violet (5) 23 Arousing intense feeling (7) 24 Renter (6) 25 Forest god (5)

Down 2 Keeps (7) 3 Scrabble game piece (4) 5 Oriental (7) 6 Saint ---, Wren’s masterpiece

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All solutions are on page 22

THERE are almost one million Spanish millionaires and the amount has risen five-fold in less than a decade. An incredible 979,000 Spaniards meet the definition, a number that rose by 33,000 people in 2018 alone. Spain is now 10th in the world rankings for excess wealth, according to bank Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2019. It discovered that Spain has seen an increase of millionaires by 470% since 2010. The number of Spanish millionaires will grow by around 42% over the next five years. However it has emerged that 92% of the current number have less than €5 million.

www.theolivepress.es

Jailbirds

Reporters Simon Wade and Joshua Parfitt

Your reporters, here to MORE than 80% of Spain’shelp on egg-laying hens are still lockedthe Costa up in cages, new governmentBlanca

fety by helicopter Hospital. The runner is a technician to Benidorm at Gata’s department of sport.

were able to take off and It is unsure how the fire started, land. but a bundle of clothes in a landfill site is thought to be the main source of the fire.

Let’s help Greta! By Charlie Smith

SHE’S galvanized children across the world with her impassioned speeches on climate change. Kids in 4,000 cities staged mass walkouts to protest against adults and politicians polluting the planet. But now celebrity activist Greta Thunberg is facing her biggest challenge yet as she bids to cross the Atlantic for a critical climate summit, just announced for Spain. The 16-year-old Swede, who

PLEASE SAVE OUR PUPPIES

AN urgent appeal has gone out to Costa Blanca charity faces losing save 20 dogs as a it’s home. Pet charity, APAH, of Pilar de Horadada , is pleading with animal lovers to help house the dogs, many of which are puppies. If they are not given homes soon, forced to take them to the municipalthey will be dog pound, where it is likely they will be put It comes after a court ruled that down. the charity must leave the rented property after a four year dispute. “We need to find people that are willing to foster dogs and give them a good home,” ident Yvonne Colby, who founded pleaded pres2000. “Our solicitors spect four the charity in reason with the owner, and then theyears trying to now deemed unsuitable for animals”.banks, but it’s If you can help please call Yvonne gently on 616 210 850 or 630 422 or Natasha ur563

data has revealed. In total 30 million birds live in Contact them with any the ‘stressful’ and ‘overcrowd-stories or news on 951 273 575 or email ed’ conditions provided by thenewsdes k@theol ivepress.es ‘furnished cage system’. (Personal contacts The hens are in ‘constant on page 6) stress’ and are forced to lay around 470 eggs in a 100-week period, according to El Pais. Hens’ beaks are also allegedly trimmed, and the birds are kept without sunlight, each liv- ALICANTE’S food waste ing in a space the size of an A4 plans appear set to fail, as piece of paper. Spain houses only SIX municipalities out 82% of its hens in these kinds of 81 currently comply with of cages - the highest percent- government plans. age across the European Union January 2020 had been the (EU), along with Portugal. date set for a full rollout of The EU average stands at just organic waste bins across 52%, while other countries the Valencian Community, in the 28-member bloc, like but new data suggests the Germany and the Netherlands region will fail to hit the have just 10% of their total eggs target. coming from furnished cages. Despite the seemingly shock- Currently, only Alicante, ing statistics from the Ministry Elche, Sant Joan, San Viof Agriculture, Fisheries and cente, El Campello and Elda Food, there is evidence that at- comply with new rules set out in the Plan Integral de titudes in Spain are changing. Welfare-conscious egg produc- Residuos (PIR) by the Gention increased from 7% in 2016 eralitat. to 17.6% in 2018, according to Measures state that ‘all mudata from the Spanish Egg Pro- nicipalities and local entiducer Society (Aseprhu). ties responsible for waste Furnished cages were original- collection services must ly designed to be an improve- have a separate collection ment on the ‘battery’ method for bio-waste’ by the deadof hen farming. line. But, according to the RSPCA, But eight months later the the cages are still a problem, as vast majority of municipalihens’ natural behaviour is ‘not ties are still scratching their able to be expressed’.

Teen activist needs YOUR help to make it across the Atlantic to Spain for key climate summit

GREEN

refuses to fly or drive, instead preferring greener transport like trains and boats. But her green footprint has left her in trouble after the was nominated for the Nobel location for the UN Peace Prize, is currently stuck COP25 climate sum- STRAND in Texas, as she aims to make mit was switched at campaig ED: Environmental ner Thunberg needs a it to the Madrid conference the last minute from lift to Madrid by boat and train South America to over land and sea. Famed for her low carbon Spain. plement the 2015 Paris agreefootprint, she is looking Her plans to head to Chile ment, will take place from for help from expats across have had to be shelved, with December 2-13, leaving the showdown America and Europe as she now moved to with a little over three Greta weeks Madrid, after a series of mas- to make it to Madrid. sive protests scared off organ- She already has an offer from isers in Santiago. Spain’s Minister for the EnviBut after Thunberg made her ronment, Teresa Ribera, who way to New York City by boat said: in August, en route to South you “We would love to help to cross the Atlantic. America, she found herself “It would be great to have you stuck 5,700km from the here in Madrid.” Spanish capital. After “It turns out I’ve traveled way she had made it all the to LA, Thunberg is now halfway around the world, heading back towards Amerthe wrong way,” the teen ica’s wrote on her Twitter ac- stopseast coast, having made count, which has three mil- Britishin South Dakota and Columbia. lion followers. Thunberg will be one of “Now I need to find a way 25,000 to cross the Atlantic,” she Spain’s people to attend first ever climate sumwrote, this week. “If anyone mit, could help me find transport €90 which will cost around million to hold. I would be so grateful.” It comes as Spain’s governThe Olive Press has stepped ment may be locked in political in to offer her a lift in an elec- crisis again, as the latest polls tric car from any of the ports suggest that no party will seshe can make it to on the cure an overall majority in the Iberian Peninsula, that could November 10 general election. include Cadiz, Lisbon or A Coruna. Can you help Greta? Contact The summit that aims to im- newsdesk@ theolivepress.es

November 21st - December 4th 2019

People power prevents puppies from perishing

OVER half the dogs threatened with an ‘unknown future’ from the closure of a Costa Blanca refuge, have been rehomed after an Olive Press campaign. It comes after our launch issue reported that the APAH charity, in Pilar de Horadada, was being threatened with closure after eight years in business. A four-year long dispute with the property owner, eventually revealed he had not been paying the mortgage - despite APAH paying rent.

Yvonne Colby, who took over the charity as president in 2006, confirmed, "After our plea two weeks ago, we're delighted to say that half the dogs now have stable, safe homes." She added: "We still need to rehouse the remaining ten, as we're so unsure exactly what will happen to them if they're taken away.” Contact APAH urgently on 630 422 563 and 616 210 850 or go to http:// apahrescue.org/

Time wasters

You beauty! A COSTA Blanca pooch has been one of Spain’s most beautiful dogs. The Almoradi pero A Blaser de Mil Lunas, was crowned as Spanish champion of the ‘Young’ class (age 9-18 months) in the ‘Beauty’ category. The German Bracco breed won the national competition at the Palace of Fairs and Exhibitions (IFEPA) in Torrepacheco (Murcia).

Most areas of Alicante set to fall short of new year food waste targets

heads at how to install the new containers – known as the ‘fifth’ bin – for organic waste. The brown-coloured bins will recycle the food waste that previously was sent to rot in landfills or be incinerated via grey-coloured ‘general waste’ bins. Several town halls have complained that the Valencian government was ‘not

inclined’ to offer any assistance to regional waste collection firms. One municipality in the Marina Baixa region said it was still ‘preparing documents to award the new contract and include all new modifications’ of the PIR. Many town halls said they were planning to roll out the new food waste containers some time in 2020.

Fighting the vandals!

SECURITY guards are set to be employed to protect one of Guardamar’s key ancient sites. It comes after the walled castle became a target for late-night treasure hunters.

A SERIES of big-hearted council workers who helped during the flooding crisis in September have been awarded. Orihuela’s Civil Protection coordinator Jose Andugar and councillor for emergencies Victor Valverde were honoured in Alicante. The pair and their departments were recognized for their work during the got fria that devastated the Vega Baja region, killing seven and leaving hundreds homeless.

Culture boss Pilar Gay, confirmed the pillaging at certain archeological sites and revealed that two locals had recently been arrested for theft. Both have been fined €6000 after being caught with metal detectors and

Green streets GRANADA has been declared the most vegetarian city in Spain, according to a new study. It is joined by Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Palma de Mallorca in the Top Three of Spain’s ‘most veggie’ destinations. Barcelona beats Madrid for the most non-meat restaurants and is also the fourth most veggie city overall. Meanwhile, Catalunya and Valencia are Spain’s top veggie regions, according to research by vegan and veggie website www.hap-

Emergency workers honoured

pycow.net. Salamanca is the fifth most anti-meat metropolis followed by Santiago, Girona, Tarragona, Valencia and Alicante. Calculations were made by comparing population sizes against the proportion of city eateries with vegan or veggie menus. Granada has one of these restaurants per 17,905 inhabitants, which according to researchers is a ‘pleasant surprise’, given the city’s fame for meaty delicacies. Researchers also found

SERIOUS DAMAGE: Pilar Gay (left) points out damage to the archeological dig at Guardamar’s ancient castle in possession of several pieces of pottery. “They are stealing from us the public,” insisted the councillor, who promised to increase security at the castle and other key sites.

that 7.8% of Spaniards claim to have reduced their meat consumption. They discovered that 6.3% of the country claims to be ‘flexitarian’, meaning they opt for a plant-based diet with the merest nod to their carnivore origins. It comes as just 1.3% of those polled said they were vegetarian, while just 0.2% identified as

vegan. The report also highlights changing Spanish food habits, such as plantbased snack foods like cabbage chips and seaweed products. Research was conducted for World Vegan Month in November, when thousands of carnivores take the Veg Pledge and switch to plant-based diets.

LA CULTURA

Do you have a what’s on? Send your informa newsdesk@theolive tion to press.es

Greatest Goya

INSPIRED: Witches Sabbath (left) and his Caprichos (right) will go on show

November 21st - December 4th 2019

HE is the giant of Spanish painting who haunts every corner of Madrid. So it is fitting that global great Francisco de Goya should be honoured with the largest ever retrospective of his work. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Madrid’s Prado Museum, curators have pulled together a once-in-a-lifetime exhibition of over 300 of his paintings and engravings. Among the gems are the 80-piece Caprichos collection, as well as the Notebook, which has never been seen by the public before. It will also feature the mystical Witches Sabbath (above). Goya, who was born in Fuendetodos, near Zaragoza, in 1746, lived for much of his ilfe in Madrid, before dying in Bordeaux, in 1828. Prado director Miguel Falomir said: “I do not think there is another contemporary artist who has addressed violence against women or social inequalities as Goya did.” The exhibition, which launches this week, will run until February 16 next year.

Ride to meet Santa!

The cast of Treasure Island are organising a trip to meet Santa. The Rojales Pantomime Group are taking the funpacked ride on the Torrevieja wooden train on November 30 at 11am at LA SIESTA. Organised by Lucy of The Christmas Shop, all children and families will get the chance to meet the dastardly gang of pirates and other members of the cast.

On the up and up

Heritage hotspot to get €50,000 upgrade

IT’S one of the genuine HIGH-lights of the Vega Baja region. Now, Orihuela’s San Miguel Seminary is to get a key €48,000 spruce up to make it even better. The 18th century church will be given better parking, new safety features and improved planting in the comprehensive upgrade. “It has the best possible viewpoint of the Vega Baja and deserves this key upgrade,” said heritage chief Rafael Almagro.

MULTILINGUAL: Joan Margarit

Ode to a poet

The emblematic spot will be closed at night to avoid ‘vandalism and other unde-

sirable practices’. The month-long project is being co-financed by the

Stony reception A DISPUTE has broken out between a local heritage group and a university over the age of an aqueduct. The Los Milagros aqueduct in Merida, Extremadura, was thought to be from the Roman era. However, two engineers from the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid say that tests carried out on a brick from the aqueduct show it is in fact Byzantine and

European Regional Development Fund (Feder), alongside the town hall.

was built in the fourth century. But the ancient city’s archeological committee disagree. They have slammed the study as being ‘without archaeological rigour.’ The committee’s director, Felix Palma, said: “They have come to the theory without taking into account the rest of studies and knowledge about the aqueduct.” Merida’s mayor, Antonio Rodríguez Osuna, also dismissed the findings.

AN 81-year-old Catalan poet has been awarded Spain’s most prestigious literature prize. Joan Margarit won the annual Miguel de Cervantes award which has a prize pot of €125,000. But Margarit may be less than impressed, having previously said ‘́poetry is not literature; it’s another thing.’ The octogenarian poet and architect published his autobiography To have a house you have to win the war earlier this year. He has described the book as ‘the epilogue of my complete work.’ Announcing the prize winner, Minister of Culture Jose Girao, described Margarit as ‘a great poet in Spanish and Catalan’ who was ‘worthy of the prize.’ The award’s jury said the Catalan poet was deserving of the accolade ‘for his poetic work of deep transcendence and lucid language, always innovative.’

Tragicomic award

AN ILLUSTRATOR has won a prestigious Spanish Comic Award for a graphic novel telling the story of the 2006 Valencia metro disaster, which killed 43 people. Cristina Duran’s partner Miguel Angel Giner - who cowrote the novel - took the call announcing her victory as the 49-year-old was undergoing surgery for breast cancer. It is the first time the gong has been awarded for a piece of journalism. El dia 3 recounts the events of the 2006 Valencia metro catastrophe and the ensuing battle of victims’ families for justice. The jury praised the novel for its ‘narrative in which emotion, graphic excellence and the use of powerful visual metaphors are balanced.’ The comic was published in February 2018 in Spanish and later in Valencian.

EVENTS GUIDE Thursday 21 Nov

FORMENTERA DEL SEGURA, Sunleys. Jammin’ with house band, Spirit of 69, plus guests. All singers and musicians welcome. From 4pm to 7pm LOS ALCAZARES, La Zona Bar MiniGolf. Bonus Ball Quiz from 3pm

Friday 22 Nov

FORMENTERA DEL SEGURA, Rumours. Community information meeting, hosted by Avalon and Chorus financial. Regarding Brexit, pensions, tax, funerals etc. Call 966 792 800 to reserve a table and enjoy a FREE afternoon tea whilst learning more about life in Spain. Starts at 12 noon.

Saturday 23 Nov

FORMENTERA DEL SEGURA, Floyds Lounge Bar. Shannon Campbell sings from 9pm, come and have an entertaining evening with a fantastic singer. DONA PEPA, Coopers Arms. Xmas Fair & Family Fun Day from 11am to 4pm. Stalls, face-painting, music, mince pies, sherry, raffle, tombola. ROJALES, La Marquesa Golf Clubhouse Restaurant. Kenny D plays saxophone from 7.30pm QUESADA, Aurora Bar & Lounge. Super Saturday with Rob Sweeney. Entertainment for all the family.

Sunday 24 Nov

QUESADA, Aurora Bar & Lounge. Jojo returns, singing all your favourites from 8pm

Tuesday 26 Nov

ROJALES, Hotel La Laguna. Lady Jazz and her ‘Brunch Set’ from 12.30 to 3pm QUESADA, Buda Cocktail Club. Expressive, modern, jive and blues dance lessons with Cat & AJ. Only €6, 4pm LOS ALCAZARES, La Zona Bar MiniGolf. Charity Bingo, eyes down from 4pm QUESADA, El Toro Bar. Fun quiz, Rock n Roll Bingo, karaoke from 4pm ALGORFA, Jilly’s Bar. Tuesday Supper Quiz at 7pm. Fish & Chips only €7 inc. drink. LA FINCA GOLF, Chandelier Sports Bar. Karaoke Night with Heidi from 8.30pm

Wednesday 27 Nov

LOS ALCAZARES, The Garden Bar. Reportedly the ONLY Charity quiz league in Costa Blanca South. Another six heats are to be contested with a €50 cash prize for winners, 5pm start every Wednesday.

Want your event to feature in the Olive Press? Email us now at newsdesk@theolivepress.es

November 21st - December 3rd 2019

In the Land of (Spanish) Submarines

Jack Gaioni dives deep and reveals how a visionary Spanish naval officer could have changed history and how his legacy is still making waves today

hen asked about the meaning of the lyrics to Yellow Submarine, Paul McCartney and John Lennon called it a “fun song” - a children’s song. They simply wanted kids to sing along. Many music critics weren’t so charitable. Some called the lyrics “nonsense, illogical and meaningless”. One critic used the Latin descriptive “Reductio Ad Absurdum” or “reduced to the absurd.” After all, no one really lives in a yellow submarine. But for one Spanish sailor, his life in the land of submarines converges with “absurdity” in a rather bizarre chapter in Spanish Naval history. Many of us would be surprised to learn that the modern submarine was invented in Spain. Granted, many throughout history have envisioned an underwater vessel (e.g. Leonardo Da Vinci) but a Spaniard named Isaac Peral is credited with the first prototype of today’s modern submarine. He was born in 1851 into a naval family in Cartagena — home to Spain’s Mediterranean fleet. Isaac had sea travel in his DNA. His father was a naval officer and later taught at Spain’s prestigious naval academy in Cadiz. Isaac would enter that academy at 14 years old and went to sea

at 16 years old. He was decorated for bravery in Cuba and The Philippines. What separated young Isaac from his fellow officers however was his expertise in hydro-graphics - the study of oceans as it relates to maritime travel. He would be awarded the chairmanship of the physics and chemistry departments at the naval academy. There, he committed himself to submarine navigation. By 1884 Peral had designed an advanced torpedo launching sub that was state-of-the art both militarily and scientifically. It featured advanced periscopes, a chemical system to oxygenate and the ability to launch torpedoes while controlling depth.

Enthusiasm

These were major breakthroughs. Under Isaac’s command, a series of trials were conducted publicly in the Bay of Cadiz. Thousands of spectators cheered wildly as Peral’s creation would submerge, resurface and fire torpedoes successfully at simulated targets. A wave of enthusiastic pride swept Spain. Isaac found himself at the center of attention

MAKING WAVES: Isaac Peral (above) was born to sail

LA CULTURA

November 21st - December 4th 2019

“In the town where I was Lived a man who sailed toborn sea And he told us of his life In the land of submarin We all live in a yellow sub es marine, a yellow submarine…”

and his story ran in all the major newspapers. He became a national hero. After all, this is the country that brought us the Spanish Armada and long legacy of naval superiority. Could Isaac Peral become the restorer of Spain’s faded naval glory? The excitement was shortlived. Many of his fellow officers viewed him as an upstart. His peers became jealous and envious as they tried to delay trials and downplay the submarine’s abilities. They even tried to sabotage construction. His rivals were able to convince the top naval brass that submarines were a useless curiosity and there was no future in underwater naval power. Ultimately, all funding of Peral’s prototype was cancelled. The navy believed that their future was in “above surface” armoured battleships. Heartbroken, Isaac left the navy in 1891 and died four years later. The Spanish Navy has since got serious about building submarines. In 2003, the Spanish company Navatia was awarded the contract to build a new class of submarines at their ship yard in Cartagena. Isaac’s legacy resurfaced (pun intended) as Navantia’s lead ship was named The Isaac Peral in honour of the “man who lived in the land of submarines”. Production has not gone well. Monumental miscalculations at the engineering stage has “reduced to absurdity” the construction of the Isaac Peral series.

Embarrassing

In 2013, (already (10 years behind schedule and millions of euros over budget) officials disclosed that the Isaac Peral was 75 to 100 tons too heavy. Were it to go out to sea, it would not be able to surface! According to El Pais, “the fatal flaw was the result of someone in the design process placing the decimal point in the wrong place.” Rafael Bardaji, Spain’s Defense Minister, said: “It was a fatal mistake from the very beginning - nobody paid attention and reviewed the calculations.” The solution? Lengthen the submarine by 7-10 metres to increase the buoyancy metric. This project was contracted to an American defense contractor Electric Boat Co.

Three years and millions of euros later, The Isaac Peral was successfully made sea-worthy. Mission accomplished? No…. It gets worse. Now 15 years after the submarines were ordered there is a new problem. The Isaac Peral is too long to fit in its home port at Cartagena. It is even more embarrassing than the original buoyancy issue because Spanish authorities had five years to ponder the ramifications of enlarging the sub’s design. Cartagena authorities have proceeded to enlarge the port, construct new piers and dredge the harbor. Full commission of the vessel is planned for 2022 - a full 15 years after construction began. It is perhaps a stretch to intersect the Beatles’ “land of submarines” with the concept of absurdity. But in the case of Isaac Peral that case could be made. He was a man who sailed the seas… in the land of submarines but because of some ineffectual and foolish actions of the Spanish Navy, his legacy is borderline absurd.

DID YOU KNOW? The Queen Regent Maria Christina was so excited about Peral’s project that she ordered her naval aide-decamp to ride along during the test trials. She later sent Isaac a jeweled sword in appreciation. There is speculation that had Peral received proper funding, his submarine would have revolutionized the Spanish Navy and perhaps changed history. For example, had Peral’s submarine been in Manila Bay and Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish American War (1898), the superior American fleet would have been sitting ducks to Peral’s invention. The outcome of the war might have been different. After Peral’s launch in 1888, his prototype ended up in a junkyard. Thanks to some dedicated naval aficionados who recognized its value, it became an exhibit in the Seville World Fair of 1992. Today Peral’s sub is on permanent display in the Naval Museum in Cartagena.

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November 21st - December 4th 2019

Emergency design A COSTA Blanca student has won a Valencian Community design award for her plans to improve her local ambulance base. The project – dubbed ‘Department 13’ – by Nelly Carrio intends to improve the efficiency of the key emergency service in Denia, while honouring the region’s cultural history. To expand the current base, Nelly, from Pedreguer, opted for shipping containers to honour the region’s maritime history and provide much-needed space for ambulances that serve the Marina Alta region. It comes after authorities issued new measures earlier this year to stop ambulances attending minor emergencies in rural areas that could be dealt with by local health centres.

PROPERTY

Clear off

Finance famine A SHORTAGE of finance available for smaller construction firms is leading to a Spanish house building crisis, industry leaders have warned. More and more banks are turning off the funding taps and refusing to provide the 100% finance above land acquisition costs that small and mid-sized house builders need, according to Carolina Roca from the Asprima builders’ association. The belt tightening means that, increasingly, only the biggest developers who can afford to stump up between 30% and 40% of the money for projects themselves are able to secure the necessary funds to build. Spain has significantly fewer large developers than its European neighbours, meaning that the lending restrictions are having a disproportionate impact on house building on the mainland. Some 150,000 new homes per year are needed across the country to keep up with demand.

ANGRY residents have taken Javea Town Hall to court over a development set to be approved on one of the last stretches of virgin coastline. The association in defence of II Muntanyar announced the legal move ahead of Javea’s expected approval of plans to build a restaurant on the beach Segon Muntanyar. The organisation branded the works ‘illegal’ after the town hall’s own technicians deemed the site ‘environmentally important’. Neighbours added that town planning councillor Isabel Bolufer granted a work license in breach of her own plenary agreement for the suspension of such licenses. Denuncias made against the works last year led to an order suspending the works on the controversial plot of land. However, the association insists the development is ‘going ahead illegally despite the decree of work stoppage’. “The continuation of the work without a license – and in

New restaurant development set for unspoilt coastline angers locals

breach of the repeated suspension and stoppage orders – must be prosecuted.” Residents say Javea Town Hall has declined to respond

Golden smile

MARBELLA’S longest established real estate firm has been crowned ‘best real estate agency in Spain’. Panorama Properties, which has two offices on the Golden Mile, received the prestigious prize at the Eu-

to their concerns, and they hope the legal actions will facilitate the ‘immediate stoppage of the work’ near their homes.

ropean Property Awards. The firm was founded by American expat Christopher Clover over five decades ago. Panorama’s victory means that it is now automatically nominated for ‘best real estate agency (single office) in Europe’. The winner will be announced at the International Property Awards in London on December 2. Clover, whose children Alex and Katinka also work in the company, said: “Winning the award for best real estate agency in Spain is a reflection of our team’s joint effort, and of our commitment to clear and transparent communication and providing an unbeatable service to our clients.”

Family Ties

Despite working together as a family

KEEPING it in the family has been the key to the success of local estate agency Casas Manuel. “You’d think that working with your mum, dad, sister AND husband would be a nightmare, but it isn’t,” explained Sophie Rodriguez, who runs the Benijofar office. “We just work together with a common goal, the same purpose, and that’s to have an enjoyable life doing the job that we love.” She and her sister having been working in the same office for eight years, while their father Manuel, 62, runs the other offices. While you might think he is the boss of the family, the patriarch confirms that the real boss is Liverpudlian wife, Linda! Well known in the local community, they sponsor donkeys at the Easy Horse Care Rescue

CLIENT SUPPORT: The Olive Press and Manuel Rodriguez of Casas Manuel worked together on some new branding. Centre in Rojales, as well as sponsoring an annual fun run in the town. They also raise thousands for different charities each Christmas. But, most importantly, they have sold hundreds of homes to expats in the area and plenty of colourful ones. These include one woman whose main priority was that of her parrot’s welfare. Despite a long list of demands for the bird, Casas Manuel still

found the ideal home, eventually. While the family already have three branches in the Costa Blanca South and Manuel insisting it is ‘enough’, daughter admits: “You just don’t know though, never say never!” Casas Manuel Estate Agents can be found in Benijofar, La Zenia and in Los Alcazares. Contact the team on 966 714 719 or visit www.casasmanuel. com

We need more immigrants BUSINESSES in one of Spain’s most unpopulated areas have called on the Government to make it easier for immigrants to work there. The northern province of Soria is one of the most deserted areas in Europe. Companies there are in desperate need of workers, but the legal paperwork needed is making it hard for them to source potential employees. “The lack of workers has never been so staggering,” said president of Soria’s Chamber of Commerce, Alberto Santamaria, who has asked for help from the Secretary of State for Migration. The Chamber of Commerce estimates that some 1,700 workers will be needed in Soria three years from now - and if none come, there is concern companies will have to close or put their expansion plans on hold.

BUSINESS

Bad for business

TURMOIL in Catalunya is turning British companies off investing in Spain. UK firms believe the political instability in the pro-Independence region will lead towards an ‘unstable’ future, according to recent data compiled by International Financial Analysts (AFI).

November 21st - December 4th 2019

The report suggests that 51% of British companies believe that political unrest in Catalunya will continue over the next two years, while 28% expect the instability to escalate. Only 21% believe it will reduce in that time. The survey also indicated that three out of ten British firms have considered changing their current and future investments in Spain, owing to the recent crisis in the northeastern region.

Time out for overtime SPANISH companies have been fined €1.26 million for failing to maintain records of staff working hours. New rules introduced in May forced employers to register the hours put in by workers and store them for four years. The PSOE government brought in the measures in a bid to crack down on unpaid overtime. Between May and October, investigators had over 5,000 complaints submitted to them relating to inadequate completion of paperwork. The Ministry for Labour has begun investigating 2,000 cases related to oversights in recordkeeping and 107 compa-

Companies who fail to pay employees for working overtime will get hefty fines as a new law comes into force

nies have so far received fines of up to €113,000. Next year, in conjunction with local councils, the government is launching a crusade against

Making tracks FIVE firms have bid for the new high-speed rail service from Malaga to Madrid. Train bosses at Adif have confirmed that several firms have made bids for the line, which is set to open in 2021, with state operator Renfe being one of them.

Flying again

Dear Jennifer: Why do I need travel insurance and will Brexit make any difference?

When you take out an advertising campaign with the Olive Press, you get a lot more than just the printed newspaper

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y advice would be to always take out travel insurance, because accidents and illness can happen at any time, and you could find yourself with a very large medical and repatriation bill. We can provide travel policies, which include loss of luggage, special cruise ship cover, medical and repatriation cover up to £10 million with over 200 pre-existing medical conditions covered for free. Europe-only cover, or worldwide cover is available for both short and long trips. The travel cover is available for vacationers up to 85 years old. The company that I have selected to work with has over 20 years’ experience and is extremely secure. You can pay in either Sterling or Euros. With regard to Brexit, the likelihood of the EH1C remaining in place is very optimistic. But if, as I think, it will be withdrawn, then travel insurance becomes even more vital – even for those travelling to the UK. When opting for a travel insurance company, please make sure they are Brexit friendly. This means that if they are a British company, make sure they are allowed to sell their product in a European country. Many aspects of travelling are going to change, as the British will no longer have all the benefits when travelling in Europe. For those driving, it will be necessary to have a Green card and for the vehicle to comply with the traffic laws in the country that you are visiting. When we are on holiday, we tend to relax more, and this, of course, is when accidents occur. It is important to know that you have the protection you may need, which will allow you to fully relax and enjoy your holiday. For more information or a quotation, please contact one of my offices or visit my website

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WITH successful military backgrounds behind them it’s perhaps no surprise that Gary and Kate Russell would launch a business in Spain with flying colours. After 10 successful years running Carpet Heaven, in Los Montesinos, the couple are looking forward to the next decade. After 48 years of service in the RAF between them, the pair decided it was time for a new challenge in their lives. “After living on the Costa Blanca for a while, we noticed there was a gap in the market for a much larger choice of quality carpets and rugs,” explains Gary, 60. Once a prime site was found to sell their wares, they started Carpet Heaven with only 20 rugs, but continually reinvested into the business – with the sole focus being on the customer. Kate, 57, adds: “We never pressure customers into looking at certain things, we just let them browse and take their time, but we are always there if they need any advice with colours and sizes etc. “It wasn’t long before we were flying again.” Their customers include a healthy mix of Spanis, English and Scandinavian expats. The language barrier is never a problem either, explains Gary. “A Russian family once came in, and we ended up with their young son drawing diagrams to explain exactly what was needed – despite not having a common language.” Kate adds: “We love doing home visits, especially if we can be of help to the elderly or infirm, it’s all part of the service.”

Currently Renfe has the monopoly on rail services from the Costa del Sol to Madrid, but new government legislation will see that all change, as it aims to keep up with EU rules. The bidders’ names have not yet been announced but even foreign firms such as Virgin and Avanza may enter the bidding war.

put in 2.6 million unpaid hours per week, down slightly from a peak of 3.5 million in 2015. When the law was announced in May, several organisations representing employers criticised the new rules, saying they would drag Spain back into the past when workers had to clock on and clock off. At the time acting labour minister Magdalena Valerio dismissed these concerns, saying that modern technology has made it easier to keep records electronically.

STRUGGLING Vodafone Spain has bounced back from a poor start to the year, gaining customers and reducing losses. The phone network added 112,000 customers across its mobile, internet and TV services in a three month period. While turnover dropped 8.7% between July and September, it was an improvement on the 9.3% reduction it recorded between April and June. Vodafone attributed the fall in profits to a temporary increase in costs, linked to its decision to leave the football streaming sector. The phone giant’s income from its services was €978 million between July and September. Vodafone started in the UK in 1983 and won the license to build Britain’s first mobile phone network. It broke into the Spanish market in 2000 when Vodafone Spain was founded. It is now the world’s number one mobile network, with 444 million customers in 26 countries.

From the RAF to a ‘flying’ carpet business – Brit couple still enjoying life after a decade of business on the Costa Blanca

businesses which fail to adequately document employees’ working hours. Spanish workers are thought to

Lining up Growth

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November 21st - December 4th 2019

As the first dates fall from Europe’s only date palm grove – in Elche – Joshua Parfitt uncovers their Islamic origins

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

First

OTHING could better describe Spain than ‘devils on horseback’ – the food, I mean. Dates wrapped in bacon are the epitome of Moorish cultural advancement smothered with the proud, sweaty pork of the Castilian reconquest. They symbolise the celebrated Moros y Cristianos festivals – so popular in the Valencian Community, but found in various places around Spain – in just one bite. It is no coincidence, then, that Spain is home to Europe’s only date palm grove, in the city of Elche on the Costa Blanca. It even has UNESCO status and - yes - against all the odds, Europe produces Medjool dates using a Yemenite tradition of irrigation. This ancient and innovative Arabic watering system allowed cultivation of a cornucopia of crops, from pomegranates to citric fruits and vegetables to grains in one of Spain’s most arid and inhospitable climates.

Muslim

Through this irrigation system, 30-minute intervals of water were auctioned off to Muslim farmers each day. And it still survives intact in the centre of this 200,000-strong city today. The thousands of 30ft-high palm trees – though emblematic – were actually deployed as sort of large masculine parasols cuckolded by the stumpier female shrubs enjoying shade, attention and pruning beneath. The Palmeral de Elche follows so closely its Muslim engineers that the UN named it a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Dubbing it a ‘cultural landscape inherited from the days of Al-Andalus’ it celebrates the ‘transfer of landscape and agricultural practices from Moorish North Africa to Christian Europe’ – but

A date with destiny

THE first bunch of dates has been ceremoniously cut from a date palm in Elche. Dozens of people, including the Greek consul, joined town hall bosses in La Hoya to witness the historic event, organised by the agricultural collective Datelx. The municipality’s date palms date back to the fifth century BC, when they are believed to have been planted by the Carthaginians. Those gathered at the cutting were even treated to a lunch, which used local dates as the star ingredient. shh, they wrapped it in bacon so no one will ever find out! Each autumn – October 18, to be precise – the Elche date harvest begins (see above) and it goes on for weeks in the 100-odd palm groves that take up 3.5 km2 of prime land – about 40 football pitches – in and around the city of Elche. Incredibly, until very recently the thousands of trees were actually pollinated by hand – despite date palms being both male and female. But now, modernity has finally moved in with Norwegian company DatElx planting 8,000 laboratory-germinated specimens that yield a

heavier crop, but the company only just this year learned how to refrigerate the dates yearround, so don’t expect any to appear in Mercadona any time soon. For now the best way to pick the grapes is to basically shin up the tree like a monkey. There are few crops as dangerous to harvest as a date palm. One 75-year-old ‘palmero’ from Elche, Pascual, told me he was first forced up a 30ft palm tree when he was seven. “It was pretty terrifying,” he told me from a market stall selling woven white palm fronds – the other crop from Elche’s Palmeral, used in Sem-

ana Santa celebrations. “My brother actually fell down and has walked with a limp ever since.”

HEALTH CROP Dried fruit is a misnomer for dates – they are berries from one of the world’s tallest plants in the grass family. They can be eaten fresh, dried or confit, in the same order of increasing sweetness. “Dried, they are perfect for people practising sports,” insists Miguel Angel Sanchez, president of the Elche Asociacion de Palmeros. Dates feature large quantities of calcium, copper and potassium, all wrapped up in a nice bundle of fibre.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

dates

Devils on horseback

1717

November 21st - December 4th 2019

Veal tagine with dates

XMAS FEAST

The slow-release sugars and portable shape make them a real sportsman’s friend and the dark-brown delicacies (whose name comes from the Greek for ‘finger’) have been claimed to aid heart trouble, intestinal issues, diabetes and anemia, as well as combating stress and aiding weight loss. But science and statistics aside, what other foods are so naturally sticky, gooey and sweet you could feed it to a child without a sugar coating? And you can feed them without worry too: they contain just 0.2% fat.

The Spanish traditionally give dates at Christmas time, and of course eat them as devils on horseback. The vast majority may be from Egypt (the world’s largest exporter with one million tonnes, compared to Elche’s paltry 15 tonnes) but with every date harvest come new calls to create a domestic and international market. If they succeed, it would be a cultural accomplishment in these days of globalisation. Though potatoes, corn and rice have all moved around the world through trade, no one grows potatoes like an Andean, corn like a Mesoamerican, nor rice like a south-east Asian. Likewise, no one could locate with certainty the precise patch of Irish dirt where the first South American potato was planted. But in Elche, ever since its first Christian ruler, Don Manuel insisted in 1270 that any new settlers ‘should use the same irrigation system as the Moors’, the tradition has continued unbroken. With threats coming from a string of urbanisations, climate change and a decline in farmers, the city faces a task to keep this rare multicultural success story alive.

Get educated Rose Moore sees the EU, essentially, as a political dictatorship (Leave and proud, Issue 325, pg 7). The . There opposite is thers reality n are 28 sovereign states, of baco · 12 rashe UK, which voluntarily chose to become including the dates · 2 dozend.ripe Steve Dunne believes that the UK would associate ndsso. I’m not going to almoNot eled unpe 2 dozen ·fair terms. WTO on better chapter and by quoting page letters your weigh down . dates 1. Remove pits from the into the verse, but I recommend that Steve looks meoverTrump dsThat thehealmon brown pan, knows. that 2. In a frying industry of any specifics they asshould soonUK As oil. little very with EU-free heat an with dium deal trade a get to is trying the pan from trade them remo deals ed,want Trump’s know: have to ve all you youbrown tell s. towel paper labels. Finally, Brent Mahler speaks for onto US-first have ing wrappforce of an forarmed fit EU citizens a size of UKrashe r towary a3.number Cut bacon an ever closer union. However, these are ideas and a date. I am EU, policy. specific floated by almon replacing dates the not insideand dspeople 4. Place worried at the insidious 40-plus years of promorepit. the Telegraph, paganda against the EEC/EU by the Mail, . Fix bacon a slice did dateofwith What each and, TheofSun. course, 5. WrapTimes Express, to ul caref being stick, ail cockt ana so was with he why her asked toget say when he was Murdoch stick theI go d. (The into “When the almon of:that lines is avoid Somethin theidea g along ti-EU? does that bacon of the The EU.”not the to it I go whenso holds I say: do what theyends 10 the No. g.) bakin g ent! durin appointm an loose for ask to come had he that is on implicati

6. Preheat the oven to 190ºC, put the skewers in and leave them to cook for 8-10 minutes.

· 3 cloves of garlic · 2 bunch of spring onions Rose sees ther EU, essentially, as a politi· 40g Moor unsaleted butte cal dictatorship (Leave and proud, Issue 325, pg 7). ·The 1 ½kg veal reality is the opposite. There are 28 sovereign · 1 pinch saffro n states , including the UK, which voluntarily chose · 1becom to teaspeoon assoc cinna iated. mon Steve Dunne believes that the UK would fairpepp better · 1 pinch black er on WTO terms. Not so. I’m not going to weigh down your letters page by · 2 pinch es salt quoting chaptfine er and verse, but I recommend that ·Steve 150glooks honeinto y the specifics of any industry that · 250g dates he knows . That Trump is trying to get a trade deal with an blanc EU-freehed · 125g UKalmo should telltoast you all nds, edyou want to know: Trump’s trade deals have US-first labels. FiPeel the garlic clove s and cut very nally, Brent Mahler speaks for a numbfine the er ofwith UK citispring onion s. EU armed zens wary of an force and an ever closer Add butte r and oliveare oilideas to a floated cast-iron union cassec. Howev er, these by specifi role pan, and once hot add the mince ddgarlic people and not EU policy. I am more worrie at the, onionus s and veal. insidio 40-plu s years of propaganda against the Add saffro n, cinna mon, pepp er, salt and honEEC/EU by the Mail, Telegraph, Expre ss, Times and, ey.course Moist, en pan with enou gh water to cover of The Sun. What did Murdo ch say when thewas meat and simm er for 90 minu tes. he asked why he was so anti-EU? Something Add dates andof:almon and cook along furthe the lines “WhendsI go into No. for 10 they dor 30 minu what I say:tes. when I go to the EU.” The implic ation is Serve with cousc ous. that he had to ask for an appoin tment!

November 21st - December 4th 2019

Porky pies

FEARS have emerged that fake Chinese jamon will scupper Spanish exports as the country is granted access to the product for the first time. Carlos Tortola, Chief economic and commercial advisor at the Spanish Embassy in Beijing, said Chinese authorities have a ‘great commitment’ to protect consumers from fakes. He cited ‘greater awareness’ to the ‘dangers of counterfeiting agrifood products due to health problems’ as a key reason for optimism. It comes as Spain has finally been granted approval to export shoulders and legs of the pork delicacy to the east Asian country – its biggest export market for luxury goods. Measures were approved in October, after years of lobbying by Spain’s Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Ministry to convince Chinese authorities to give the green light. The Chinese export market for Spanish ready-sliced ham was already worth €2 million in 2014, according to the Chinese Customs Department. This year, those figures are expected to sky-rocket. Tortola said the typical Chinese consumer of jamon will be Beijing or Shanghai-dwellers ‘from the middle to upper classes, open-minded and well-informed’.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Brits behaving badly

BOOZY Benidorm-bound Brits are back in the spotlight after figures revealed they have made Alicante Airport Spain’s most disruptive destination. Alicante’s main El Altet airport received 216 criminal complaints this year due to rowdy, drunk and abusive passengers flying to the Costa Blanca. And British flyers were behind 163 (75%) of these complaints, according to Spain’s air safety agency AESA. The numbers contrast wildly, with just eight denuncias made against Spanish nationals – the second-most complained about nation – followed by Italy with seven. The aggressive holidaymakers also turned Alicante’s El Altet airport into Spain’s number one for disruptive passenger removals, with 31 this year.

A spokesperson for AESA said ‘disruptive-inappropriate-conflicting passengers’ can cause the diversion of an aircraft and, by extension, affect safety. Bad behaviour is now a sanctionable offence for passengers flying to Spain, with fines up to €5,000 handed out to offenders. Since 2017 a total of 729 people have been fined, adding €580,300 to the Spanish coffers. And no surprises that Brits were the most-fined nation with 311, followed by 153 Spaniards and 103 Germans. AESA has reportedly made a video about the dangers of drunk and disruptive behaviour on board a Spain-bound aircraft, and plans to release it in English in the United Kingdom.

Grapes of wrath

Big cheese A SPANISH cheese has been voted among the top three best in the world at the World Cheese Awards. The annual event, considered the ‘Oscars’ of cheese awards, compiled a list of the top 16 best in the world and put Spain’s Torta del Casar Virgen del Prado in third place, behind Nazionale del Parmigiano Reggiano of Italy in second and the United States’ winning Organic Blue Cheese Rogue. Virgen del Prado was made by Queseria Dona Francisca, a company founded in 2011 in the town of Casar de Caceres, Extremadura. The award-winning cheese can be purchased in wheels of 350g for €8, 600g for €12 and 900g for €17.

Full steam ahead FOR eight amazing days the Transcantabrico Gran Lujo will be your lounge, bar and bedroom - a hotel on wheels - in which you sleep and wake up in a different place every day. The landscape passing by the window of your deluxe suite or social carriage with upholstered sofas means each coffee is a new adventure. It makes the San Sebastian to Santiago de Compostela route unique and unlike any other experience in Europe. The original 1923 Pullman coaches, evoking the nostalgia and charm of early 20th century grand express trains, will take you back decades while a jam-packed itinerary will keep you up to date with all the goings-on in Northern Spain. The cherry-picked route will take passengers through the verdant Basque Country, Castilla y Leon, Cantabria, Asturias and on to Atlantic-fringed Galicia. Through the Costa Blanca-based Falken Tours, a Deluxe Suite aboard the unforgettable train can be yours for €5.500 per person. Departure dates for 2020 are: April 25; May 9, 23; June: 6, 20; July: 4, 18; August: 1, 15, 29; September: 12, 26; October: 10, 24. Or, the returns from Santiago towards San Sebastian are: April 18; May 2, 16, 30; June 13, 27; July 11, 25; August 8, 22; September 5, 19; October 3, 17. Suites include a la carte and buffet breakfasts every day, as well as the finest cuisine in hand-picked restaurants en route. Passengers are also treated to entertainment on board, including music and live performances, parties in the pub car, show cooking and cocktails, dancing, and more. Gastronomy, landscape, culture, glamour, entertainment and relaxation come together to make this journey a unique and unforgettable experience. www.falkentours.com

THE climate crisis is drying up Spain’s wine industry. Production this year has fallen more steeply than any other country in Europe, according to the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. Spain saw a 24% drop compared to an average 10% decrease across the rest of the world, The country produced 34.3 million hectolitres of vino in 2019, compared to 46.6 million hectolitres in Italy and 41.9 million in France where output fell by only 15%. Portugal was the only country in Europe where wine production increased, rising from 10% to 6.7 million hectolitres.

Early Christmas

THE Three Kings have sprinkled some early magic in the Sierra Nevada. Spain’s top ski resort has invested €9 million as it gears up for another exciting season on the slopes. Cash injections for restoration work and new runs promise to make this one of the best winters ever. The announcements were made by Cetursa boss, Jesus Ibañez at the presentation of the 2019/20 winter season in Madrid. In terms of tracks there will be a new route from the summit of Veleta to Pradollano, linking tracks on the south slope. While a second route has been created through Loma de Dílar, following popular demand. A total of 33 new snow cannons are set to produce the same amount of snow in half the time, meaning the environment benefits as well as skiers. There will be around 30 events, including Snowrunning, Potholes, School, and Veterans. But perhaps the most exciting will be the Snowboardcross event, on March 6 and 7, next year, featuring legendary athletes like Lucas Eguibar and Regino Hernandez.

HEALTH In-fighting 20

November 21st- December 4th 2019

Patients at cash-strapped hospital treated in car park as privatisation row erupts

Dietary demands DEMANDS to re-nationalise one of the northern Costa Blanca’s biggest hospitals have grown after exposes have revealed bizarre outsourcing practices. Last month it emerged that patients at Denia’s Marina Salud hospital were being sent to a ‘lorry in the carpark’ for MRI scans as waiting lists for inhouse procedures were overwhelming doctors. And now a leading campaign group has denounced the hospital, which has treated patients with dermatological conditions via photographs. A statement from La Plataforma en Defensa de la Sanidad Publica de la Marina Alta said nurses were taking pictures of skin-based medical issues

and sending them to ‘an unknown third party’. The photographs were sent ‘without the consent or knowledge’ of the patients to an out-sourced private company due to a chronic lack of specialist doctors. The Plataforma campaign group met last week with Denia’s councillor for health, David Fernandez, to discuss the Valencian Generalitat’s pledge to re-nationalise the hospital. A statement said the town hall was ‘deceiving’ voters as no ‘concrete steps’ had been taken to purchase the hospital from its private owners. “The councillor was unable to answer most of the questions we had pre-

pared. It is not known how or when the hospital will return to being a public company or with direct government management,” La Plataforma’s statement read. A spokesperson for the HELP de Denia and the Marina Alta charity, however, said the new practices had little to do with ‘privatisation’ and more to do with ‘efficiency’. “Marina Salud in Denia has to deal with MRI scans for the whole Marina Alta region. There’s nothing wrong with scans in a carpark laboratory, they’re saving time and patients’ health,” the spokesperson said. “If more patients are getting treated faster, then what’s the issue?”

OBESITY is on the march in developed countries and Spain is no exception. That’s the warning that has been issued by the president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (SEEDO) Francisco Tinahones. The expert said it has become a ‘worrying problem’ in Spain where a QUARTER of adults are obese and more than half have an unhealthy weight. “This is the most important health problem of the century,” said Tinahones, on World Obesity Day last month. Being overweight or obese can lead to diabetes and puts people at risk of developing endometrial, gastrointestinal and breast cancer, among others.

It also leads to cardiovascular diseases, sleep apnea, gallbladder problems and can affect your joints. What’s worse, said Tinahones, is that childhood obesity is now increasingly common. In Spain, around 32% of children aged between six and 13 are classed as obese, with 45% of kids having an unhealthy body weight. Tinahones has called on politicians to address the chronic disease and offer it the same consideration as conditions such as cholesterol, diabetes or high blood pressure. “Politicians must take this issue more seriously, because obesity is a disease and must be treated as such,” he said.

HEALTH

October 24th - November 6th 2019

November 21st - December 4th 2019

COLUMNISTS

Love at Keys in the Facebook Bowl long last GetTING ConnectED By Loraine Gostling

Farm Flash By Susan Weeding

A swingers request on Javea Connect Facebook group sends admin scratching their heads at the rulebook

damned if we don’t. But the one thing that many of the members don’t realise, is that often there is nothing more tempting than actually being ourselves. In these occasions we have to top up the G&T, find three more people to play Cards Against Humanity with, and hope that that temptation to speak our minds quickly subsides. So… we let the swingers have the stage, and 106 comments later (and still going) I think we made the right decision in not giving in. My fellow admin, Gwenda Robinson, (the one who owns the broom and cauldron) did finally comment: “There’s a question earlier on asking why/how admin are allowing this thread, well here’s my take. We are all adults and not ALL judgemental (albeit the usual ones will out themselves) but for me it makes a change from how wonderful your plumber/ mechanic/manicurist is, moaning about dog crap, rubbish, the weather and cyclists. Vive la differencia I say! And so say all of us.

Two ponies left disabled by violence and abandonment find friendship at the Easy Horse Care Rescue Centre in Rojales, writes Susan Weeding These two little ponies are deeply in love and they go everywhere together. They're both disabled, and they are inseparable. Fudge was the first rescue – he came two years ago on the 21st of September in another shocking rescue. We were called out by the police, who took Rod to where this little pony was tied up literally in a bush. He had his head in the bush to keep the flies off of his face, because they were devouring every inch of him. Once Rod got him out of the bush, he saw what was inviting the flies: his eye was punctured and rotting away. Fudge was skeletal, very weak, but we got him back to the rescue centre and our vet, Dorothy, came to examine him. It became evident that due to a very heavy blow, most likely from a human, the eye had been severely damaged, and the impact had fractured the second vertebra in his neck. It was causing neurological problems, and meant the pony could barely walk. He also had a sexually transmitted dis-

ease. He was probably owned by gypsies, who do unselective breeding, so they put any mare with any pony. (Believe it or not, horses, ponies and donkeys can transmit STDs). Anyway we treated 18-year-old Fudge. We got him as strong as we could and castrated him. Unfortunately, this little guy will never be able to go out in the yard with the other ponies because of his disabilities. He rolls when he walks and if he has another blow to the neck it might paralyze him. So here was Fudge all lonely in the yard, when fate took a hand. The following year, in May, we were called out again by the police to another skeletal pony. She'd been abandoned on the street, tied up and left. She was covered in parasites, very near death. Her hooves were so long she could barely walk. We suspected she'd probably been used for breeding and been kept inside a stable her whole life. When she got weak, her owners likely just dumped her in the street and left her. Annie was about 17 years old when we got her. Again, obviously, we got her to the rescue centre, and slowly managed to get food into her. We cut up to 30cm of growth from each hoof to enable her to walk again, but due to her sheltered life this was another disabled pony unable to ever be in the yard with the others. And so, it became a match made in heaven. They are together 24/7 and sleep in the same stable. When you consider the terrible lives these two must have had in the past, it’s a miracle neither of them are in pain any longer. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about these little two. I just hope when their time comes they pass away together, because they would be lost without each other.

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Broth, 4 Helped, 10 Outflow, 11 Stuff, 12 Laid, 13 Reversed, 14 Assassinate, 18 Abnormal, 20 Uses, 22 Lilac, 23 Emotive, 24 Tenant, 25 Satyr. Down: 2 Retains, 3 Tile, 5 Eastern, 6 Paul’s, 7 Dyfed, 8 Pools, 9 Sweepstakes, 15 African, 16 Testify, 17 Islet, 18 Allot, 19 Nylon, 21 Sofa.

SUDOKU

Before I begin, I just have to give you a quick update on the new KFC in Ondara (avid readers will remember last week’s food fight over whether we should celebrate or protest). Signs are now up and this week many workmen were on site standing about admiring said signs, and seemingly little else, which could be why there is no opening date yet. So, sorry, KFC fans… but keep your eyes peeled on the Javea Connect Information page for updates! So, what else has been happening on my beloved Facebook group this week? Well, it was all rather ‘same old, same old’, that is, until yesterday evening when a lady from Belgium (where the chips are far superior to KFC I might add) announced quite openly that she was ‘looking for couples in the swingers world’. You can imagine, within minutes admin’s phones were dinging, with prudent users reporting the post as a violation of rules. After a little giggle, I checked the rules and it appears we have nothing explicitly banning swinging – oh the dilemma! I know many members on Javea Connect who would recoil in horror at this post, but I also know the vast majority would have grabbed the popcorn, a glass of wine and sat down to watch how this one progressed. There are also the few ‘devil may care’ members who, I pretty much knew, would be flexing their fingers to get a few laughs. But, what about us admin? As usual, we are damned if we do and

6 9 5 7 4 2 8 3 1

1 7 3 9 5 8 6 4 2

2 8 4 1 3 6 5 7 9

7 2 8 4 6 9 1 5 3

3 5 9 2 1 7 4 8 6

4 6 1 5 8 3 2 9 7

9 1 6 8 7 4 3 2 5

8 3 2 6 9 5 7 1 4

5 4 7 3 2 1 9 6 8

Puzzle by websudoku.com

If you have a sports story, newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call 0034 951 273 575

SPORT Clawing Striking out ahead 23

November 21st - December 4th 2019

Lionel sum

LIONEL Messi has been revealed to be the highest paid sports star of the year, according to Forbes, surpassing Juventus star and footballing rival Cristiano Ronaldo. The Barcelona ace earned €115 million this year, while Ronaldo made €100 million and Neymar, who spent four years at the Camp Nou before moving to Paris Saint-Germain, received €94 million. On the list, too, was Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez and tennis superstar Roger Federer. Former Barca playmaker Andres Iniesta was the only Spaniard to make the top 50.

David Villa waves adios to the sport that brought him adoration across Spain SPAIN’S all-time leading goalscorer, David Villa, has announced his retirement from football at the end of the season, ending his spellbinding 20-year career. One of the least appreciated players in modern football, Villa earned his first international cap in 2005 and went on to score 59 goals for his country - 15 more than second-place Raul, and 22 more than third-place Fernando Torres. The striker started his career at Sporting de Gijon, before

moving to Zaragoza, then to Valencia, where he made his mark as one of La Liga’s most prolific goal scorers. Barcelona brought Villa to the Camp Nou in 2010 for €40 million and he enjoyed three seasons in Catalunya before heading to Atletico Madrid.

Nada for Nadal

RAFAEL Nadal crashed out of a major tennis tournament, only four hours after lifting a world number one trophy. The 33-year-old Spaniard was beaten by Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the ATP Finals in London on Friday. It was the third time he has been knocked out of this season-ending spectacle in the group stages. Nadal, winner of 2019’s French and US Opens, tipped Djokvic to the number one title for the fifth consecutive year. He will now be setting his sights on the trophy at the Davis Cup, which is taking place in Madrid this week.

For the later stages of his career, he moved to the USA, to play for New York City, and then Japan, teaming up once again with Andres Iniesta, this time at Vissel Kobe where he is finishing his esteemed career. The 37-year-old has scored 12 goals so far this season, his career total being 376 goals in 752 games. Villa will be best known for his time at Barcelona where he, Lionel Messi and Pedro made up a devastating attacking trio under Pep Guardiola at Barca, in what’s often labelled as the best club side of all time. For his national side, Villa helped Spain emerge victorious in the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup.

LOBSTER customers can now surf the internet more and for longer at no extra cost, as we have increased data by up to double across all tariff plans. The Small Plan now has 4GB per month, the Medium Plan 10GB, and the Large Plan 25GB. All Lobster tariff plans continue to include unlimited calls and texts in Spain, as well as the UK and other countries. Everyone gets the increase in data, both new customers and current customers. Our tariff plans are tailor-made for British expats and other English speakers who reside in Spain. Our prices start from just 12€ per month VAT included. We pride ourselves on being the only mobile operator in Spain to offer a service completely in English, and in addition to unlimited calls and texts in Spain and the UK, all our tariff plans also include unlimited calls and texts to Denmark, Germany, Gibraltar, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the USA. Our brand was created to establish and maintain an emotional bond with British values and service. So far, our winning formula that has appealed to over 10,000 happy Lobster customers in just nine months and we’re growing rapidly. Tony Watts, marketing director of the company, said: “We are always listening to our customers’ feedback and it is important to us that our customers have the highest levels of satisfaction.” Signing up for the service can be done through any one of the over 600 retail stores. Customers can also easily find the closest store to them using the store finder our website Lobster.es. If customers prefer, they can also sign up online or by calling us at our contact centre for free on 1661, where all our agents are English-speaking. To top it off, we have extended our promotion of ‘first month for free’ for a limited time.

Farseical DOCTORS have apologised ‘profusely’ after a patient undergoing a rectal exam in Valencia complained that consultation room doors were ‘broken’ leaving him exposed.

FINAL WORDS

Economy class AFTER Rosalia’s social media slanging match with Vox, in which it slammed her for flying on private planes, the singer has returned to using commercial air travel.

Lucky dip A SPANISH Euromillions lottery winner has taken home €122,766,852 following a lucky draw last on November 19.

Have a crack BREXIT has been selected as the topic for Alicante’s first round of the Debate Lope de Vega tournament, with local schools tasked with answering: ‘is Brexit beneficial for the UK?

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November 21st - December 4th, 2019

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My mate Marmite SUN, sea and sangria are all very well but most expat Brits still yearn for a taste of home, a poll has revealed. A Great British cup of tea, along with crumpets and Marmite top the list of comfort foods and beverages they crave after moving abroad. Other delights, such as Heinz salad cream, Bovril and Scotland’s speciality drink Irn Bru are also firm favourites. The poll of 1,000 expats by

New poll reveals the food and drink British expats just can’t live without

the British Corner Shop also found marmalade, custard, back bacon, mustard and Twiglets on the list. And an incredible two thirds said they missed foods from home, while 52% said they missed traditional British pubs. “Moving abroad can be tre-

Sail away for €300m A SUPERYACHT, currently based in Malaga, has gone on the market for €300 million. The 100-metre long megayacht Octopus, which has eight diesel engines, is owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who passed away last year. It is the fourth time the 9,000 ton yacht has docked in Malaga.

mendously exciting,” explained the company’s Alex Kortland. “But often it’s only once you’ve settled somewhere else you realise there are certain things which are much harder to get hold of. “They may seem small and insignificant but sometimes you want that little taste of home. “Short of making extra visits to the UK or forcing guests to bring jars of Marmite out with them, we’ve been helping Brits satisfy their cravings for over 20 years.” While some said they missed Tennent’s lager and cod roe, one expat insisted it was Whiskers Crunch for her cat.

CRAVINGS: Expats miss the taste of crumpets Among the Top 30 favourites are: Tea Marmite Gravy Biscuits Baked beans Pies Pickles Sausages Crumpets Squash Bovril Mustard Salad Cream Marmalade Irn Bru Custard Malt Vinegar Scones

Couch potato A DOZY burglar has been nabbed watching television at a mayor’s country home in the Costa Blanca. Denia mayor Vicent Grimalt (above) called police after arriving home to find his gate and front door broken into. Local police were quickly on the scene to confront the thief, who was sitting on the sofa drinking a can of Coke. According to cops he had not stolen anything and had merely picked up a couple of pens, although he was wanted for breaking into another house in the area last month.

Ham fisted

A SHOPLIFTER has been charged with stealing a leg of ham from a supermarket. The Calpe local reportedly used ‘baggy clothing’ to hide the cured jamon Iberico, which can weigh up to 8kg and measures almost 90cm. She was arrested along with three others involved in a ‘Christmas campaign’ to steal chocolates, perfume, makeup kits, turrones and cockles worth more than €500 from supermarkets.