Olive Press Costa Blanca South/Murcia Issue 55

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to all our readers The

OLIVE PRESS

tel: 966 46 38 45

WWW.JAVEABLINDS.COM

FREE

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 2 Issue 55 www.theolivepress.es December 16th - January 12th 2022

All the fun of the slopes 2021 - 2022

A Sierra Nevada

BEST VALUE RENTALS ON THE SLOPES

ll about

AWAY

SLIDE

tel: 669 770 404 www.rentalsnow.es

Photos by Telemark

Nothing beats a weekend in the Costa del Ski, writes Jon Clarke

the magical architecture And if you fancy a change, Alhambra, why the Sierra Nevada of Spain’s most visited monument, the of the T’S not hard to work out Europe's top skiing is only half an hour away, while the beaches is often dubbed ‘southern beckon in an hour. nearby Costa Tropical sunbathe resort’. in the Alps this week The famous adage of ‘ski in the morning, and it’s While you’ll be shivering lunch is very much game on Pyrenees, I’m eating and it’s foggy in the the top of Spain’s second in the afternoon’ many times. the Sibeen tried and tested in bright sunshine near interests me. I like visiting usu- But none of that the sport, but also the food and highest mountain. the Sierra Nevada is for It’s mid-December and and a few of the regulars erra Nevada watchthe people. ally warm during the day while everyone looks There is simply nothing more amazing than drive are actually skiing in t-shirts, on the skyline as you ing the resort appear Malaga or tanned. washed down with an from around Spain (or fly over to land in that Even better, my light lunch, to just over €10…and Gibraltar).

Mulhacen obligatory caña, comes up the slopes! peaks of Veleta and as far as is at a restaurant halfway not the number of ki- The snow-capped miles around (in fact of can be seen for 120 miles as the crow flies) and “Here we sell the weather, Luis Hernandez, boss gone Grazalema, somesteep, often single-carriageway to lometres,” explains Juan the prices have hardly winding up the EOE ski school. “And any drive in the country. the top is as exciting asout with timeless views and up for years.”

This is a wonderful day

I

Continues on Page 2

THE iconic Iberian Lynx could soon be on the prowl in Murcia.

An agreement has been reached between the Murcia regional government and the Junta de Andalucia to reintroduce the endangered Lynx to Lorca - a territory where it used to roam in large numbers until the activity of man drove it out.

One million Euros is going to be put towards the project, with the regional government contributing 40% and the rest provided by the European commission.

The territory of Europe’s biggest cat species has been steadily increasing in recent years following massive conservation efforts.

The aim of the plan is to establish a new breeding population to not only increase the cat numbers, but also to engineer genetic diversity.

Continues on Page 5

PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS

the sierra

This is England star Andrew Shim faces jail over unpaid drugs charge fine ACTOR Andrew Shim has pleaded with Spanish police to sell off his Mercedes Sprinter and avoid jail following a €88,655 fine for drugs trafficking.

Shim was running a business renting out luxury motorcycles at Spanish race tracks before Granada police found 60kg of marihuana in his transport van at a petrol station in October last year.

Prison

A Malaga court let Shim off with a suspended sentence in July after an eight-month stay in prison, on the condition the Nottingham-based actor paid a fine equal to the drugs’ black-market value.

But now Shim, 38, has pled poverty and asked if police can sell his Mercedes. It had been impounded leading to the collapse of his Trackside Hire Ltd business.

If he does not pay, police could issue an international ar-

By Joshua Parfitt

rest warrant to bring Shim back to Spain and face jail.

“Shim is insisting he doesn't have the money to settle the fine and has asked for the van that was confiscated to be auctioned off and the proceeds put towards payment,” a judicial source told the Daily Mail.

“The state prosecutor has been asked for a report before the judge makes a final decision.

“If the judge agrees to the money made from any auction of the van being put towards what he owes, and it's a big if, it's only going to get him out of a hole for a bit because there’s no way that vehicle is worth anything like €88,000.”

Prices of second-hand Mercedes Sprinter vans begin at around €25,000, however Shim is known to be a car enthusiast and has posted upgrades to his Sprinter on social media.

It comes after Spanish police busted Shim and two associates for handling 59.88kg of marihuana with a black market value of €88,655 on October 20 last year.

Police found 19 packets of the drug after stopping Shim and Michael Regan at a petrol station in Huetor Santillan, near Granada.

The actor, who made his name age 15 in the

CHARGERS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

952 147 834 +34 965 085 888

See page 9

NOT FINE! SNOW TREKKING: Across

CAT’S RETURN

See our special 8 page Sierra Nevada supplement, which tells you all you need to know to get the best out of Europe’s most southerly ski resort

autoconsumo@solarworks.es

SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS

STARS: Shim with co-star Thomas Turgoose (left) Shane Meadows’ film A Room for Romero Brass, confessed to being a drug addict and pled guilty to a drug trafficking charge after being warned he could see five years in jail if the case went to full trial.

Convicted

A second British man convicted alongside Shim asked for imprisonment due to incapability to pay the fine, and the Malaga criminal court warned Shim would also be imprisoned for not paying up.

Shim is most famous for his role as Milky in the 2006 cult classic This is England, in which Milky is violently beaten by a white supremacist.

He also appeared in several adver-

Tel: 952 147 834

Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea

96 649 1883 www.moraira-hamiltons.net

tisements, such as for a South Africa-based shoot for Orange Mobile.

He is an amateur MMA fighter and has a passion for buying and selling luxury cars and motorcycles.

The social media accounts of his Trackside Hire busiSee page 19 ness show shots of Shim with his Mercedes Sprinter and luxury motorcycles at race tracks around Spain.

TM

2

CRIME

www.theolivepress.es

NEWS IN BRIEF Lost trolleys SOME 366 supermarket trolleys were retrieved around Alicante this year. They were recovered from beaches, coves, and roads.

Poor deal NINE people have been arrested in Los Alcazares for exploiting illegal foreign workers. An agricultural company paid low wages and didn’t register employees for social security.

Too close A TRAIN seriously injured a Cartagena man who stood too close to the track. The 47-year-old was taken to the Santa Lucia Hospital.

Pole position A POLISH motorist from Pilar de la Horadada, 46, was arrested for driving at 194km/h in a 100 km/h zone in Torre Pacheco.

A DRUG user from Iceland has been jailed for 17 years after he fatally stabbed his mother’s partner 21 times.

The 41-year-old’s frenzied attack on his 65-year-old countryman happened in January 2020.

In a disturbing hearing, the jury was told that the killer ‘unnecessarily and consciously

Bloody attack increased the suffering’ of his victim by repeatedly stabbing him and leaving him alive and bleeding.

A court heard that the convicted man had gone to the Torrevie-

December 16th - January 12th 2022 ja home of his mother and her partner while they slept, and entered after climbing a wall armed with two long-bladed knives.

After being woken by a noise and going out into the property’s courtyard, the victim met his killer and suffered the grisly prolonged attack.

WATER CRIME A JUDGE says there is evidence of an environmental crime in a probe of agricultural businesses accused of dumping 5.9 billion litres of desalinated water into the Mar Menor.

Judge Angel Garrote is also pursuing charges against ex-Murcia government ministers and the former head of the Segura Hydrographic

FOUR people have been jailed and given a total of €13 million in fines after a plan to sail into Torrevieja with 2.4 tons of hashish went badly wrong.

The smuggling trip met a sudden end as the gang’s rented yacht sank due to the weight of the load which had a market value of €4,128,440.

The men were saved

by Maritime Rescue some 15 miles out to

Judge says there is evidence for criminal charges over Mar Menor pollution Confederation.

His damning words said regulatory officials had a ‘permissive attitude’ and ignored the need for mandatory inspections of agricultural enterprises. He said there’s plenty of evidence to suggest

the nitrogen-based water dumping caused severe pollution in the lagoon.

A document detailing every transgression committed by 38 businesses and a desalination company has been published as preparations con-

SINKING FEELING

for six years and fined over €8 million - double the market value of the hashish consignment.

A second man got an 18 month prison term and a €4.3 million fine. The owner of the Santa Pola warehouse was sentenced to four years and fined €890,000 while a warehouse employee was sentenced to two years and a €161,900 fine.

sea off Cabo de Palos.

They were arrested by the Guardia Civil when the drugs were discovered.

Further inquiries uncovered an illicit transport base inside a Santa Pola port warehouse.

One offender was jailed

tinue for oral testimony to be heard by Garrote in Murcia.

The judge makes it clear in a written paper that ‘agricultural discharges were likely to create catastrophic, irreparable or irreversible damage’.

The high nitrogen content of water coming in from the Campo de Cartagena into the Mar Menor lagoon has had a severe negative impact on its eco-system.

Dead marine life unable to survive in the polluted water has floated to the shore with the last incidents occurring in the summer.

The judge said that ‘a good part’ of the surplus nitrated water ended up in the lagoon via aquifiers or through excess irrigation. He added that the 38 agricultural firms used ‘clandestine, unauthorised wells’ and many desalination plants were ‘buried, hidden, or very well camouflaged’.

Pump pilferers A MURCIA couple have been arrested after a spree of petrol station visits that saw them fill up their car without paying.

The man, 47, and woman, 39, took things to a new level when they stabbed an employee on a forecourt.

The duo were already on the police radar after a series of fuel thefts around Murcia City. On November 25, they drove onto an unnamed forecourt and filled up their vehicle. A station worker tried to stop them driving away until they paid him. One of the couple produced a knife and stabbed him, before fleeing the scene.

The victim was not seriously injured and reported the crime to the Policia Nacional.

The assailants were identified and were arrested separately at two different locations.

They’ve both been charged with crimes of robbery with violence and intimidation.

ARREST: Suspect nabbed

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es www.theolivepress.es

DecemberJune 16th3rd - January 12th 2021 2022 - June 16th

TIME TO PARTY SUPERSTARS Duran Duran are heading for Ibiza as part of their 40th anniversary tour.

Simon Le Bon, 63, Nick Rhodes, 59, John Taylor, 61, and Roger Taylor, 61 will play three nights in the Spring as part of the Ibiza Music Summit.

Called Touch the Sunrise, the Duran Duran event will run from April 29 to May 2.

Le Bon said: “Everyone in the band has a tremendous love for the island and over the years I have personally spent many sum-

Incredible survival movie about Andes plane crash filming in Spain’s soaring Sierra Nevada IT is one of the most harrowing tales of survival ever told.

The incredible 1972 ordeal of the Uruguayan rugby team who managed to survive a plane crash in the Andes of Chile, in part by eating their dead colleagues.

Now, thanks to Spanish director JA Bayona (Jurassic World and the Impossible), a block-

DIRECTOR: JA Bayona

A BIG HIT!

mers there with friends and family – so it’s become somewhat of a home away from home for us.

“People often think of Ibiza as just a party island – which of course it can be – but there’s a side to it that we really hope our fans get to explore while they are there, that’s about the natural beauty of the place, the incredible food and the warmth of the people who live there year-round.

HOME: Le Bon

The hills are ALIVE! EXCLUSIVE

By Jon Clarke

buster movie is being made on their story in the heart of Andalucia.

Largely set in the soaring Sierra Nevada mountains, filming will begin near the resort of Pradollano early next year.

As well as taking over a number of hotels in the resort and in Granada, producers at Netflix will be taking over a small part of the isolated Laguna valley.

“They are taking over various areas in the resort, but it is all very much in secret,” said a source.

“It is definitely a very big production costing millions and it is very good news for the skiing resort.”

The most exciting development so far has been the construction of the crashed plane inside a

huge hanger at the top of the resort.

“They have built the hanger entirely for the film and are set to shoot various scenes inside it,” added the source.

While the main actors are from Argentina and Uruguay, producers of the film, Society of the Snow, have also been looking

FATHER FIGURE: Santana with Nadal

in Mexico, and overall, he won 72 singles titles, the last one coming in Barcelona in 1970.

After his playing career, he became a coach and was captain of Spain’s Davis Cup teams in the 1980s and 1990s.

Destination Relaxation

Properties to rent and buy in the sunny Costa Blanca

We have beautiful homes for sale and luxury villas to rent Commission fee is only €2500 tel: (+34) 965 074 546 | email: info@azul-homes.co.uk www.azul-homes.co.uk

SPANISH actor and star of Netflix smash hit series Money Heist Ursula Corbero looks to be moving into the big time.

One of the signs of heading into the A list category and following in the footsteps of Spanish acting royalty like Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas is being invited on to American late night chat shows.

And that is what has just happened to Corbero, who appeared alongside Nicole Kidman on The Tonight Show, Show, hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

Corbero - pictured in Madrid at the unveiling of the next episodes of Money Heist, Heist, titled La Casa de Papel in Spanish – has already made it to Hollywood.

She appeared in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins earlier this year, although the film got modest reviews.

It is the 32-year-old’s role as Tokyo in the Netflix series which is propelling her to stardom and earned her an invite onto The Tonight Show.

Show.

CRASH SITE: The wreckage of flight 571

Adios to an ace

ONE of Spain’s greatest tennis players, Manuel Santana, known as Manolo, has died aged 83.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who helped to popularise the sport in Spain, passed away at his home in Marbella after suffering heart failure on Saturday.

Santana, a pioneer of Spanish tennis, became a national hero after leading Spain to victory over the US in the Davis Cup in 1965 following his 1961 and 1964 Grand Slam successes in France.

Santana won the US Open in 1965 and went on to become World Number 1 after scooping the 1966 Wimbledon men’s singles title.

He also scored gold at the 1968 Olympic Games

3

out for extras from the Granada area.

An advert has been seeking local men ‘with long hair and with heights between 166 (5ft, 5ins) and 188cm (6ft, 2ins)’.

They also want ‘walkers, mountain climbers between the ages of 18 and 43’.

Based on the book La sociedad de la nieve by Pablo Vierci, the film charts the true story of Uruguayan Air Force flight 571 which crashed on a glacier.

Famous from the 1993 film Alive, only 29 of the 45 passengers survived the crash, finding themselves in one of the world’s most hostile environments.

Barcelona born director JA Bayona said this week he was ‘happy to face the challenge that lies ahead’.

“It is great to be telling one of the most remembered events of the 20th century, with all the complexity of a story that gives so much relevance to the survivors as well as to those who never returned from the mountains,” he said.

Who’s looking at you A PICTURE of a Spanish police dog looking lovingly at his handler has scooped top spot in a Europol photo competition.

Professional and amateur photographers working with law enforcement authorities were invited to submit photographs which show the varied nature of their daily work during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

In the ‘Making Europe safer’ category, Antonio José Pedrosa Padial’s photo of the police dog was chosen as the winning entry. The police officer and her dog are part of the border control team at Valencia port.

4 www.theolivepress.es Surf survivor A PADDLE surfer clung onto a buoy for an hour after winds blew her out to sea off Guardamar del Segura.

The Dutch woman, 61, was rescued by the Guardia Civil and diagnosed with mild hypothermia after her ordeal.

She was reunited with her husband when the Guardia vessel, the Rio Ladra, docked at Santa Pola.

The woman was paddle surfing off Playa de la Marina when a westerly wind took her 500 metres away from the coast. She frantically tried to change course several times but with no success.

In fear of drowning, she spotted a buoy to grab.

Her husband raised the alarm when he saw his wife was unable to reach the shore.

Brave sea rescue TWO brave policemen stripped off to rescue a woman who accidentally slipped into the sea in Torrevieja.

The pair of brave Guardia Civil officers ran to her rescue in a rocky area known as the Piscinas Naturales by the Paseo Maritimo Juan Aparicio.

It came after people heard cries for help from the woman, 44, who was trapped by strong currents.

She lost consciousness in the cold sea after suffering several injuries including a wound to her head.

She was taken ashore and transferred to Torrevieja Hospital.

NEWS

December 16th - January 12th 2022

More restrictions HOSPITALITY and catering businesses will again be hit by the latest rise of infections in some parts of the Murcia region.

Businesses will have to reduce their indoor capacity to 30% in 14 municipalities that are deemed ‘very high risk’, which include Murcia city and Cartagena. In response to the rising number of infections and a 50% increase in the incident rate over the past week, a COVID Monitoring Committee was called which decided on the new rules. Juan Jose Pedreno, the Regional Minister of Health, announced the new measures on

Monday.

The municipalities now at ‘very high risk’ are: Murcia, Cartagena, Alcantarilla, Alhama de Murcia, Abaran, Cieza, Fortuna, Fuente Alamo, Jumilla, Lorqui, San Pedro del Pinatar, Torre Pacheco, Totana and La Union.

The region of Murcia does not set the level for the whole region, but sets it according to the rates of infection in each municipality.

The 14 day cumulative incidence rate for the whole Murcia region is at 434 cases per 100,000 putting it at a medium risk level.

SHARPE-EYE

Man U star launches Costa Blanca sports bar HE’S traveled the world as a professional footballer winning European trophies and Premier League titles.

Now Manchester United and Leeds legend Lee Sharpe is to open an exciting new business on the Costa Blanca.

The father-of-two, who is also a TV star and professional golfer, is launching his first Spanish sports bar this weekend.

Bar

Alongside his wife Lucy, the recently established expat, will open Sharpey’s Sports Bar in Javea next week.

After a year of settling into

Helping Hands Caring since 1989

Earn up to £675 per week as a live-in carer in the UK!

Apply today and join our free assessment week in Malaga on a number of dates throughout November and December 2021.

To find out more, please email spanishrecruitment@helpinghands.co.uk

life on the Costa Blanca with his two young children, aged four and five, he finally spotted the perfect opportunity.

“It’s going to be a real community hub, high on service and atmosphere.

And perfect for all the family,” he told the Olive Press.

With his wide network of contacts from sports and showbiz you can expect to find plenty of famous faces dropping in.

Lee, 50, made the decision to move to Spain during the COVID pandemic in the UK last year.

He revealed that he had moved to Javea in October with a new lockdown threatening in the UK last winter.

Cooking up a treat THE Michelin Guide has awarded six new restaurants across the Valencia region with coveted stars confirming its place as one of the culinary hotspots of Spain.

Murcia though has missed out with no new stars awards to the region’s restaurants.

The 2022 Michelin Guide to Spain and Portugal was launched on Tuesday evening with a gala ceremony at Valencia’s Palau de las Artes opera house.

Whizz

HAPPY FAMILY: Lee with wife Lucy and kids

He also quickly realized that with the Brexit deadline looming they would need to get residency status set up.

“It took quite a while but we finally got it sorted and

FAMILIES living in Pilar de la Horadada are being given €30 to spend locally in the run-up to Christmas.

The local council is offering each registered family a voucher in a bid to boost local business.

The vouchers can be collected up until December 23 from the Tourism Office and the main Town Hall, and must be spent by Sunday, December 26.

A budget of €214,000 has been allocated, enough to handle requests from more than 7,000 families.

Martinez highlights the importance of local

got the kids into school.

“I’m loving the Spanish lifestyle and the Javea area is a really cool place. It’s nicely understated and without too many knobs in Ferraris and Lamborghinis.”

FREE CASH

commerce and hospitality from a socio-economic viewpoint, which is expected to benefit the 178 businesses involved.

A council spokesman said the in-person collection, without any online processing, avoids the technical problems associated with similar campaigns in neighbouring towns.

Council staff will receive two of the €30 vouchers, in place of the Christmas basket that is traditionally delivered by hand.

It was hosted by culinary whizz Quique Dacosta, whose eponymous restaurant in Denia already has three stars and whose El Poblet in Valencia city maintained its two stars.

The chef, who showcases Valenciano dishes, was awarded another star for his recently opened Deessa at Madrid’s Mandarin Oriental Ritz, making him one of the most decorated chefs in Spain.

Stars

Six of the 31 restaurants that received new stars in the current edition of the guide are in the Valencia region with four female chefs among the winners.

Lienzo with Maria Jose Martinez at the helm and Fierro with Carito Lourenço are both in Valencia city, while Arrels (Vicky Sevilla) in Sagunto and Atalaya (Alejandra Herrador) in Alcossebre are within Castellon province.

The two other restaurants that won new stars in the Valencia region are both run by male chefs: Kaido Sushi Bar (Yoshikazu Yanome) in Valencia city and Peix & Brases (Tomas Arribas) in Denia.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

On the prowl From Front

The Iberian Lynx remains the most endangered cat species in the world; numbers in Spain and Portugal are 1,111, including both adults and cubs, which is a massive improvement compared to a mere 100 in 2002.

The loss of natural habitat, snares, illegal hunting and being hit by cars have all factored into creating an environment which is extremely challenging for them to live.

The European Life Lynx connect program was given €18.7 million over a period of five years to create two new lynx areas, one in Lorca and the other in Sierra Arana (Granada).

Decline Due to the decline in the species, they have not been seen in many parts of Spain, such as in Catalonia and Aragon, for over a hundred years and the populations have been focussed around breeding sanctuaries and controlled areas.

Bounced back The Vega Baja area has seen property sales back to pre-COVID levels

PROPERTY sales have rebounded back to near pre-pandemic levels across Alicante province, but one area has seen investment AHEAD of 2019 levels.

Figures show that the Vega Baja area is enjoying the biggest rise in sales.

An incredible five out of six of the top hotspots are in the area, with Pilar de la Horadada coming top.

Current data shows a resurgent market that hasn’t been seen since the first few months of 2019.

The 1308 homes sold represent an increase of 190% since the third quarter of 2020.

Some 34,000

homes have been sold on the whole Costa Blanca this year, according to a report from the Association of Real Estate Agents (API).

This has brought business worth over €5.1 billion to the province.

Additional demand has meant a surge in prices of 15% on average.

Factors such as low interest rates, a lack of the right housing stock, more expensive land and dearer building materials have helped the rise.

Volatile stock markets and unstable fiscal investments means an investment in property is seen as more secure.

Although British buyers have dropped due to the fallout from Brexit, purchasers The top six Alicante from China, France, hotspots are: Belgium, Holland and Russia are stepping in. ada rad Ho la de ar • Pil Not everywhere has • Alicante seen a big boom, with • Orihuela buyers in Elche, for • Santa Pola example, only seeing s • San Miguel de Salina 137 sales, a drop of • Torrevieja 63%.

HEMORRHOIDS, RECTAL FISSURES & VARICOSE VEINS

NO HOSPITALISATION, NO PAIN, NO DOWNTIME, NO SURGERY, NO ANESTHESIA, NO CHANGE TO YOUR LIFESTYLE

LET US SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM without the need for surgery

BEFORE

AFTER

Your 1st consultation is FREE! No Obligation Call us on 629 62 62 25 or email us at info@imadspain.es For more information – www.imadspain.es We have clinics in Madrid, Alicante, Murcia, Valencia Av. Maisonnave, 36, 03003 Alicante

December 16th - January 12th 2022

Fail!

RED faced exam bosses have had to amend a handbook on the Spanish citizenship test after it was found they had got answers to their own questions wrong.

Mistakes included listing Mariano Rajoy as the current prime minister despite him having left office in 2018, as well as stating that the death penalty is still in place, despite it being abolished in 1978.

The test, which consists of 25 multiple choice questions on all aspects of Spanish life from cultural traditions, national history to the working of political institutions, forms a part of the exam people wanting Spanish citizenship have to take.

The Cervantes Institute, which designs the tests, claimed that errors were caused by a ‘computer glitch’ which meant 12 of the possible 300 questions had incorrect answers.

A DINER has choked to death while eating octopus at a Santomera restaurant.

The 63-year-old woman was having lunch with a relative when she complained of feeling unwell.

Witnesses told local media that ‘she was eating octopus when she suddenly put her hands to her throat.

She could not breathe or

Octopus death cough’.

They phoned emergency services as her fellow diner tried to revive her but neither she, nor paramedics were able to save her.

LUCKY ESCAPE AN Almoradi woman escaped with barely a scratch as the first floor wall of her Calle de la Reina home collapsed into the street.

She was on the ground floor at the time and walked out unharmed to witness the devastation. There was nobody else in the building and no passers-by on the pavement when the rubble hit the ground.

5

Sad farewell SHE rose to fame as one of Pedro Almodovar’s famous muses.

Veronica Forque, the Spanish actress who rose to fame after starring in Pedro Almodovar’s dark comedy Kika, has been found dead at her Madrid home in Chamartin.

Police confirmed that the 66 yearold actor had taken her own life.

Goya

She won the best actress prize in 1994 at the Goya Awards, Spain’s top film honours, for her role in Kika.

She had also starred in Almodovar’s 1984 film What Have I Done to Deserve This? and the 1986 film Matador alongside Antonio Banderas.

Forque was a regular in Spanish theatres and on television and in 2018 won a lifetime achievement award for her huge contribution to Spanish cinema.

6

FEATURE

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

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

OPINION A XMAS MESSAGE TO YOU THIS time last year we were all looking forward to turning our backs on 2020 and wishing good riddance to what was for many of us the most difficult year of our lives.

A year that at times veered on apocalyptic, when we were confined to our homes and prevented from travelling, when many of us lost loved ones as the pandemic took hold and countless others suffered isolation and anxiety.

But 2021 looked set to be brighter with hopes pinned on a vaccine that promised to open up the world once again to travel and once again reunite families separated by national borders and government imposed restrictions.

Well a year later and 2021 hasn’t been quite as rosy as we all hoped, despite the vast majority of those in Spain having received full vaccination there are many of us facing a second Christmas of cancelled travel plans as uncertainly brought by omicron variant brings new complications for family reunions.

It’s also been the year when Brits in Spain saw the real consequences of Brexit bite with new travel rules, a host of new bureaucratic hurdles from driving licence swaps to residence applications, and a loss of freedom of movement that has curtailed visitors and those with second homes in Spain staying beyond 90 days at a time.

We have covered all these issues in the pages of the Olive Press alongside some of the more positives stories this year, such as the joys of discovering some of the most beautiful spots in Spain without the usual hordes of tourists.

A big thank you to all our readers, subscribers and advertisers for sticking with the Olive Press and supporting independent community journalism, we just couldn’t do it without you!

From all of us at the Olive Press, we wish you a very merry Christmas and an even better 2022.

W

HAT comes to mind when most people think of Andalucía is the warm Mediterranean, stretches of olive groves and palm tree-lined white beaches. The heat defines the region, where even the structure of the working-day revolves around a siesta.

I was escaping the dark damp days of London for a winter break in Andalucía and I knew it wasn’t going to be sunbathing weather but I was quite unprepared for just how cold it would be.

Scorching

I found myself in a traditional home in a pueblo blanco with views across rolling hills down to the coast.

While these houses are designed for the scorching heat of summer and do a fantastic job of retaining the cold, they utterly fail to be comfortable in winter when the mornings and evenings can be surprisingly chilly.

But with tile floors and no carpets, little roof insulation and no central heating I soon discovered I would need jumpers, scarves and slippers to keep warm inside.

When Olive Press intern Tallulah Taylor arrived on the Costa del Sol in December she discovered she was entirely unprepared for winter in a house better designed to keep out the summer heat

Was it just me feeling the cold? How do the locals keep warm? I started to ask around and even rea-

ched out to readers of the Olive Press to share their tips.

My colleague Elena Goç-

men, a 25 year-old who lives in Marbella, described an ingenious piece of furniture that has pride

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD: Christmas delicacies in all their historical might from English traditions to Spanish alternatives (right)

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Fiona Govan fiona@theolivepress.es

Kirsty McKenzie kirsty@theolivepress.es

Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es

Simon Wade simon@theolivepress.es

Cristina Hodgson cristina@theolivepress.es

Elena Goçmen Rueda elena@theolivepress.es

Rob Kiteley rob@theolivepress.es

OFFICE MANAGER Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es

ADMIN Sandra Aviles Diaz (+34) 951 273 575 admin@ theolivepress.es

DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES (+34) 951 273 575 distribution@ theolivepress.es

NEWSDESK: 0034 951 273 575 For all sales and advertising enquiries please contact 951 27 35 75 HEAD OFFICE

Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5, Calle Espinosa 1, Edificio cc El Duque, planta primera, 29692, Sabinillas, Manilva

C

HRISTMAS dinner for Brits means Brussel sprouts, pigs in blankets and a stuffed (and hopefully not-too-dry) turkey taking pride of place at the feast.

Bon viveur Henry VIII allegedly talked us into turkey in the 16th century, as the first English

Deposito Legal MA 1650-2019

AWARDS

2016 - 2020 Best expat paper in Spain and the second best in the world. The Expat Survey Consumer Awards.

2012 - 2020

Named the best English language publication in Andalucia by the Rough Guides group.

Happy eat

LIGHT DELIGHTS: Perfect nibbles

How to cook a merry Spanish Christmas and the difference from back home monarch to choose it for the festive occasion at court. Hitherto, roast peacock or swan were the meats of choice among the rich and fashionable, or boar and goose as cheaper alternatives.

While Brits are used to stuffing their birds with sausage, onion and sage, Andulacians who have adopted our turkey tradition prefer a much fruitier affair involving prunes, raisins and apples.

So what else do the Spanish do differently?

Christmas Eve, not December 25, is the big event when family and friends get together to eat. Known as ‘Nochebuena’ - literally ‘good night’ - the feast starts in the evening and lasts for several hours, after which everyone

goes out … to the bar, to the disco, to midnight mass...

In Andalucia where the sea laps the doorstep, fish start the celebrations off with a splash.

Think langostinos, prawns and sopa de pescado y marisco (fish and shellfish soup) for starters. If fish isn’t your dish, Picadillo soup with noodles, ham, boiled egg and fried bread cubes is a tasty traditional alternative.

Nibbles in between courses often come in the form of huevos rellenos, boiled eggs stuffed with potato salad, seafood or tuna, creatively presented in festive shapes.

While a Christmas turkey is no longer unheard of in Spanish homes, more traditional mains are roast lamb or Rioja-style salt cod. For te

www.theolivepress.es

December 16th - January 12th 2022

7

WE HAVE A OF A DEAL FOR YOU, BUT THE PROOF IS ALWAYS IN THE FULL ACCESS TO OLIVE PRESS ONLINE COSTS AS LITTLE AS: ● Per month - €5.99 ● Per week - €1.50

P

● Per day - €0.14 ● Per story - €0.007

UBLISHERS the world over, from the New York Times, to The Telegraph decided the way forward was to charge for their content a few years back.

Here in Spain it is also seen as the way forward, with all the big media groups adopting paywalls, from giants like El Mundo and El Pais to local publications such as Diario Sur and Ideal.

The Olive Press joined them a year ago. And now with more than 30,000 subscribers we are definitely on the right track.

With hundreds more signing up each month, it is gratifying to know that readers share our obsession with quality.

After all, for less than 14 cents a day - or €1.50 a week - readers can join our online revolution.

And with our current HALF PRICE SPECIAL OFFER UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR readers can help us keep real journalism alive and flourishing in a world of fake news.

of place in her grandmother’s village house during the winter.

C a - lled a ‘mesa

Camilla’, this table has a specially designed base with a hole cut out to store a brazier for hot coals

ting cod, three days of soaking and three water changes are required to remove the salt before cooking it with the key ingredient of the dish: dried red choricero peppers. Grown in northern regions of Spain and air-dried to preserve their flavour, the pepper gives the fish a sweet and tangy taste.

Around an hour prior to cooking, the dried peppers must be placed into a jar of water to rehydrate, after which the inner flesh is used and the papery skin disgarded.

If that sounds like too much work, never fear as most local shops sell it pre-prepped ready for cooking.

Orginating in Estepa, Andalucia, the crumbly cakes called mantecados and polvorones are served up for the sweet course rather than Christmas pudding - but they are equally as delicious.

or a more modern electric much to warm these ceheater. A heavy blanket ment walls.” is draped over the table Fellow expat Jenny also trapping in the warmth so wraps herself up. “A vest, that those seated around two sweaters, fleece trouit can ensure their feet sers, knee length socks, and legs are kept toasty. furry slippers and a scarf Other tips from Spanish which does a good job of friends inclukeeping the ded ‘constant heat in. Pretsupplies of ty much what A gas fire, thick hot drinks’ I used to do w h i l e pyjamas, a hot in the UK as others inI didn’t have water bottle sisted on central heaswathing and an electric ting there eithemselther.” blanket ves in dresJanice Groom sing gowns revealed she and blankets had made an when at home, and one ingenious alteration to admitted she wears bed her drapes: “Thermal bacsocks that sometimes ked curtains have made a stay on her feet for days. big difference in my cold One young Spanish man apartment.” said his family do put car- While Sonya Llewellyn pets down in winter as a admitted to using every protective layer against available tool in the fight freezing cold stone floors against the cold: “A gas - but roll them up again fire, a blanket, thick pycome spring when they jamas, a hot water bottle are packed away in stora- and an electric blanket.” ge until the autumn.

Kevleigh Bastin said he I also reached out to the had to use more drastic expat community to see measures to keep warm what advice I could glean in his home: “There is nofrom those who had ex- thing worse than being perience of swapping we- cold and I did not come ll-heated homes back in here to be so,” he wrote.

Blighty for a villa in the sun.

Insulation Expats Maureen Croft and “Most Spanish houses do Anne Crosskey agreed not have insulation in the that the best investment roofs, we made sure that they made was an electric we bought a house that blanket. “After 14 years needed a new roof and in Spain and a recent made sure that good insubout of sciatica, I have lation went in when it was just bought one and it is reformed, otherwise you absolutely the best thing are just throwing money for the winter.” away trying to heat a plaJennifer Santolla admi- ce that has nothing in the tted to wearing ‘hoo- roof and fighting a losing ded PJs as a winter battle. uniform’. “My flat is One thing that seemed SO COLD in winter we to be universally agreed skip showers often. upon was to spend as it’s an ice box in here,” much time as possible she wrote on The Olive outside with your face turPress Facebook page ned to the sun. in a discussion about “Go out more as it’s warkeeping warm in Spain. mer outside,” was the fi“A heater doesn’t do nal word from one reader.

● Per month - €2.99 ● Per week - €0.75

● Per day - €0.10 ● Per story - €0.005

Yes, quite a lot less than ONE cent per article!!

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es over the past 12 months:

Fury at Spain’s Alicante airport as 40 brits 1- deported back to UK after clearing customs at Manchester (62,211 views) You will not be permitted to travel to 2- meet close friends in Spain’s Andalucia this Christmas (30,285 views) - EXCLUSIVE: German and Portuguese cops 3wanted meet to swap evidence on prime suspect who to catch something small in Madeleine McCann case (29,322 views)

IN PICS: Inside Novak Djokovic’s €10 million 4-nently villa as tennis world number 1 moves permato Spain’s Marbella (28,420 views) BREAKING: new COVID-19 restrictions an5-nounced for Spain’s Andalucia as two phase plan revealed (23,729 views)

Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for more info

Calle Los Arcos 7, Ciudad Quesada, 03170 Cycle Sales, Repairs, Hires, Accessories & Clothing

LARGE SELECTION OF E-BIKES IN STOCK OVER 250 CYCLES IN STOCK • NEW AND USED The Costa Blanca’s No.1 Pinarello Road Bike Hire Centre

www.roadbikehirespain.com COMPLETE RANGE NOW AVAILABLE

ROAD BIKES OPENING HOURS: Monday to Friday 09.30-17.30 Saturday 10.00-14.00

For more information call Gary or Lynn on: 637 487 377 Find us on Facebook

www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com

8

www.theolivepress.es

GREEN

December 16th January 12th 2022

National park status would help protect these beautiful areas

Save the planet and save money with Solar Works

I

recently had the pleasure of taking tea with a delightful couple, Clive and Shami, on the terrace of their beautiful house just north of Benidorm.

They are regular avid readers of the Olive Press and in particular the Green Page.

COP26 had just come to an end and we were discussing the outcome and progress made.

Clive commented: “Real action will have to come from individuals and private industry. Governments have proved themselves consistently incapable of tackling the issue of climate change effectively.”

I have to say he is 100% right.

T

HE preservation of the environment along with the relentless rise in electricity bills has put solar energy to the fore when it comes to the urgently needed move away from fossil fuels.

Clean energies, those that do not produce waste or emit gases during their procurement process, are the perfect replacement for fossil fuels - such as coal, oil or natural gas.

In particular, solar energy is a renewable, inexhaustible and totally clean source of heat or electricity, as it is obtained purely from the sun’s radiation.

In Spain, due to its climate and characteristics, these installations are very profitable as the hours of light that the country has are greater than those of neighbouring European countries. Solar photovoltaic energy is also the most developed source of solar energy at the moment, as explained by the Alicante-based company Solar Works.

The company, with more than 15 years of experience, has a 30 member team with a wide experience in the whole field of renewable energies.

“Solar Works was created with the growing need to provide a personalised service adapted to the construction needs of our clients” they explain in their official website www.solarworks.es.

As key points, Solar Works explains that the self-consumption of the panels allows people to be insulated against electricity price rises.

In fact the savings outweigh the investment, as the initial outlay of between €3,000 and €7,000 is paid back in just four to six years, with a guaranteed lifetime of the panels of 20 to 25 years.

The installation is connected to the internet and, by means of an app, the customer can monitor the plant’s production plant in real time. Solar Works offers a Full Service concept, taking care of the whole process so that the customer can focus on what really matters as soon as possible: enjoying solar photovoltaic energy. Its services include the installation of solar panels in homes, industrial photovoltaic installations and the installation of electric vehicle chargers. chargers for electric vehicles.

Help your planet and save on your electricity bill thanks to photovoltaic energies with Solar Works. info@solarworks.es - 965 085 888 8am to 3pm Pol. Industrial Pla de la Vallonga. Calle Viento, 14 03006 - Alicante

Green

IT’S DOWN TO US!

When you consider what was actually agreed at COP26 the obvious conclusion in my view is that we are planning to fail.

So what was actually agreed in Glasgow ?

It was agreed all countries will meet again next year to pledge further cuts to CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions. Wow….that must have been hard.

It was agreed to significantly increase financial support to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change. Haven’t we heard that before?

World leaders agreed to phase out subsidies that artificially lower the price of oil, coal or natural gas. However, no firm dates were agreed.

Plus governments love noth-

ing more than cutting subsidies.

The world’s biggest CO2 emitters, the US and China, pledged to cooperate more over the next decade in areas including methane emissions and the switch to clean energy. It will be interesting to see how that goes. China and the US fall out more than warring siblings.

Leaders from more than 100 countries promised to stop deforestation by 2030. This is seen as vital as trees absorb vast amounts of CO2. However, there is no mention of how this will be policed. This year, Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has seen more deforestation than ever. Over 14,000 square kilometres of forest has been lost. Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro (straight out

of the looney Trump mould) actively encourages mining and agriculture in the Amazon.

A scheme to cut 30% of methane emissions by 2030 was agreed by more than 100 countries. However, the big emitters (China, India and Russia) didn’t commit.

So, you can see why I remain cynical.

Next year’s COP27 is in Egypt.

We can all look forward to hearing the ‘same same’ pledges again with insufficient action.

Will we be convinced more then with the magnificent pyramids as the backdrop, or like the resident camels get the hump?

Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638145664 ( Spain Phone ) Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es

By Alex Trelinski

SPAIN is being taken to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg over its slow response in stopping nitrate pollution in areas like the Mar Menor lagoon in Murcia.

The European Commission says that Spain has flouted the provisions of the EU’s Nitrate Directive in several regions including Murcia, the Valencian Community, Andalucia, the Balearics, and Aragon.

Complaint

It accuses the country of not controlling nitrogen fertilisers used in agriculture that cause water contamination and has filed a complaint to the EU’s top court.

The Nitrate Directive drawn up in 1991 obliges EU member CAR manufacturers are not noted for their green credentials, despite their move towards an electric future.

But now Spanish company Seat is taking a step forward in its ‘Move to Zerø’ strategy with a new rail service linking its Martorell (Spain) plant with

In the dock

Spain taken to court over nitrates pollution states to monitor their waters and identify people affected or likely to be affected by pollution caused by nitrates originated from farming.

The accord demands the use of ‘good agricultural practices’. Excessive nitrate levels damage freshwater and the marine environment, which is the case with the Mar Menor lagoon where thousands of fish have died in several ‘mass death’ events over the past few years.

TRAIN DEALING

the Volkswagen Autoeuropa factory in Palmela (Portugal).

The new service is operating once a week, and is expected to transport more than

DISASTER: Dead fish on the Mar Menor shore The European Commission sent a formal notice to Spain in 2018 that it needed to 20,000 vehicles per year to a distribution depot, which will avoid 2,400 truck journeys and reduce CO2 emissions by 43%.

The return train journey will take vehicles manufactured in Palmela to the Port of Barcelona, from where they will be distributed by road to different regions of Europe.

SAVE MONEY ON YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL

toughen up measures against nitrate pollution.

In December 2020, the Commission gave the country three months to adopt an action package to stop it breaking the Nitrate Directive.

Increased measures have started to be taken in Murcia and elsewhere but it appears to be too little, too late for the Commission. An EU spokesman said: “The measures have been insufficient to reach the objective of the Nitrate Detective.”

100% Certified Green Energy

Switch with Mariposa Energía Cheaper tariffsCHARGERS FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC INSTALLATIONS

Matters

By Martin Tye

100% green energy

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

GUARANTEED SAVINGS

Excellent service autoconsumo@solarworks.es +34 965 085 888 customer Contact our friendly team for a FREE no obligation quote today! +34 951 120 830 | GOGREEN@MARIPOSAENERGIA.ES | WWW.MARIPOSAENERGIA.ES

A Sierra Nevada

2021 - 2022

ll about

SLIDE

BEST VALUE RENTALS ON THE SLOPES

AWAY

tel: 669 770 404 www.rentalsnow.es

Photos by Telemark

Nothing beats a weekend in the Costa del Ski, writes Jon Clarke

I

T’S not hard to work out why the Sierra Nevada is often dubbed ‘southern Europe's top skiing resort’.

While you’ll be shivering in the Alps this week and it’s foggy in the Pyrenees, I’m eating lunch in bright sunshine near the top of Spain’s second highest mountain.

It’s mid-December and the Sierra Nevada is usually warm during the day and a few of the regulars are actually skiing in t-shirts, while everyone looks tanned.

Even better, my light lunch, washed down with an obligatory caña, comes to just over €10…and that is at a restaurant halfway up the slopes!

“Here we sell the weather, not the number of kilometres,” explains Juan Luis Hernandez, boss of EOE ski school. “And the prices have hardly gone up for years.”

And if you fancy a change, the magical architecture of Spain’s most visited monument, the Alhambra, is only half an hour away, while the beaches of the nearby Costa Tropical beckon in an hour.

The famous adage of ‘ski in the morning, sunbathe in the afternoon’ is very much game on and it’s been tried and tested many times.

But none of that interests me. I like visiting the Sierra Nevada for the sport, but also the food and the people.

There is simply nothing more amazing than watching the resort appear on the skyline as you drive from around Spain (or fly over to land in Malaga or Gibraltar).

The snow-capped peaks of Veleta and Mulhacen can be seen for miles around (in fact as far as Grazalema, some 120 miles as the crow flies) and winding up the steep, often single-carriageway to the top is as exciting as any drive in the country.

This is a wonderful day out with timeless views and Continues on Page 2

2

2021 - 2022 From Front

A

ll about

Sierra Nevada

Costa del ski

right down to the resort of Pradollano, which sits at 2,100 metres.

At the same latitude as Cyprus and just 30 miles from the beaches of the Costa del Sol, it is nothing short Plaza Andalucia where there are of amazing really that you can usu- new credit card machines now installed so you shouldn’t have to ally ski here in early May. This is all to do with the altitude of queue for long. the Sierra Nevada, which has its A day’s skiing is not cheap, costing highest peak in Mulhacen, a stag- €51 to €54 on most days, but just €42 on a wednesday, while those in gering 3,482m above sea level.

Named after a 15th century Arabic their 70s get free passes. king Muley Hacen (Abdul Hassan It certainly pays to pick your days Ali), who is said to have been buried with Christmas and Semana Sanat the top, this is the highest peak in ta seeing the resort rammed, with sometimes big queues for the ski mainland Spain. lifts. My tip is to visit for the Reyes From the top of the when 99% of the highest ski lift, at 3,300 Spanish will have remetres, the views make The apres ski turned home for their the Mediterranean bepresents and family low look like a small at this resort get togethers. pond, with half the Then there is Semana of fun is coastline of Morocco Blanca (literally 'white clearly in view. amongst the week') – or half term It is an amazing place, best in Europe at the end of Februalthough it can be a ary – when school little nippy up there children can learn with the wind whistling how to ski, while bank past, so make sure to bring a coat holidays can also be very busy and and jumper.

From here, competent skiers access getting up to the resort can be slow. the amazing runs of the Laguna de That said, problems can be missed las Yeguas area, including the cele- by arriving by 8.30am or by waiting brated Olympic run, which is full of till midday.

While a modern resort, Pradollano twists and turns.

And believe me, you can sometimes itself is a pleasant place to simply find yourself skiing alone midweek take in the air or a spot of lunch, and and the sheer nature and land- there is a fair amount for children to do, with entertainers and Disney figscape are spectacular.

It is incredibly easy to have a few ures wandering around, particularly days skiing and you can always park around Christmas. in the underground car park right It has also got a good reputation as being a resort for fun, with the below the main square.

You come up to the ticket office in apres ski being some of the best in

HIGH LIFE: Spectators and media watch a competitor on the Olympic run, while (right) snow cannons at work

Europe, once you know where to find it (tip: it’s most uphill).

The place really started to evolve quickly from 1995 when the World Skiing Championship was scheduled to be held there (it actually took place the following year due to poor snow).

“Since then the infrastructure changes were huge and it is now a big resort,” explains resort marketing boss Santiago Sevilla, who has worked there for well over a decade.

“When the weather is favourable, and that is most of the time, this is

a fantastic place to be skiing.”

Giles Birch, who runs the well-established British Ski Center, estimates that Pradollano has one of the longest seasons in Europe, opening at the start of December and often going through to mid May. “There have even been snowfalls in June and when the snow and weather are favourable, which is more often

then not, the openness of the ski terrain provides some of the most exhilarating off piste skiing to be found anywhere.”

He continues: “Off piste skiing here has made a great name for itself with easily accessible zones all over the terrain, very little avalanche risk and wide open expanses for all to enjoy.”

Sierra Nevada

Native English Ski & Snowboard Instructors

www.skisierranevada.co.uk Holiday Arrangements: sierraessence@skisierranevada.co.uk

info@britishskicenter.co.uk T: 670 461330 / 646 178406

3

2021 - 2022

PISTE TO PLATE! WHERE TO EAT

Bar Tola

No uphill battle to find good places to eat in the Sierra Nevada, writes Jon Clarke

Y

OU might think you have walked into a scene out of a skateboard video.

They call it Rebel Food, but the team at Ci Vediamo, quite frankly, cook some of the most classic food in Granada.

Yes, there is plenty of creativity here too, but the simple dishes of young chef Stevie Silva are often the best.

Take the tartaki of Galician beef served in a yuzu sauce with chives and flowers, or an amazing soft crab tempura they are mountain fresh and delicious to boot.

And when he gets all arty you find dishes like a ceviche of scallops in a bloody Mary sauce and an amazing false risotto with coconut milk, kimchi

and prawns.

With over a dozen years on the slopes, he and his partner (and Maitre d) Luna keep getting better and better.

Thanks to a wanderlust that takes them around the world in summer time (to the Far East and around Europe) there are plenty of new dishes each season.

And on top of that the pair have a new restaurant to go with their collection, a simple joint, Bar Tola, which sits in the heart of the resort’s nightlife sector.

While nothing fancy, it has a simple, good value menu that includes lots of hearty tapas dishes.

More exciting is their Asiatic

CREATIVE: Stevie with Luna (right) and dishes joint Shimbuya, that takes its inspiration from classic Japanese minimalism, with its wood and electric blue interior.

My top tip, go for the California Roll with a king prawn, salmon and sesame seeds.

Next door, keep an eye out for the excellent local Swell, which is a cool place to grab a burger, salad or wok and watch the football.

Another great place to eat, particularly if meat is your thing, is La Muralla, run by Argentinian Gonzalo Funes.

The steaks are surely the best in the resort, while the meltin-the-mouth carrillada is also stunning.

The ‘tostas’ are also great and come in various guises, while I loved the milhoja of foie gras and a courgette carpaccio with fig sauce.

He and his brother Luciano also run the brand new Muralla Burguer, almost next door, which specialises in Continues on Page 4

Ci Vediamo The Sierra Nevada’s most elegant restaurant

Michelin trained chef Esteban Silva produces classic Italian style dishes with a modern twist Open 7 days a week Monday to Sunday 12.00-16.00 & 20.00-24.00 Plaza Andalucía, Edf. Salvia s/n, Pradollano tel: 958 480 856 civediamosn@gmail.com FInd us on Google Maps with 360° degree view

tel: +34 695 19 91 84 Calle Virgen De Las Nieves, 18196 Sierra Nevada, Sierra Nevada National Park

A

4

ll about

2021 - 2022

Sierra

WHERE TO EAT

RE-FIT: La Muralla Burguer has the best gourmet burgers in the resort From Page 3

TREATS FOR THE TASTEBUDS

the best quality burgers on the slopes.

It’s hard to disagree when urged to try his ‘gourmet’ burger, which is actually made from oxtail ‘rabo de toro’ with a thin slice of cheese and mayonnaise and cooked in its own juice.

The brothers also own the famous Las Gondalas restaurant right in the heart of the resort, next to the slopes and excellent for some apres ski light bites, a hot drink or a beer.

Also look out for the two joints owned by Yolanda, one of them a Swiss joint called La Fondue de Noa and the more exciting La Braseria.

Recently renovated it has a great mix of dishes, particularly specialising In things on the bbq.

I loved the Portobello mushrooms stuffed with provoleta cheese and tomatoes and even the basic onion soup which had the surprise of a whole egg yolk in the middle.

Another great simple joint, but with great home cooked food, is Telesilla Burger.

It is one of the most popular joints with workers in the resort and that is no surprise both for its great value prices, and the fact that owner Maria works in the kitchen.

Buzzing

Cleverly designed using ski lifts as tables, you can get everything here from hot coffees in the morning to superb desserts at tall times of day.

By far the most fun tapas joint is Bar Ski, set up by the funniest man in the Sierra Nevada, Nichi, two decades ago.

His place is always buzzing at lunch and in the evenings and comprises a classic soul kitchen concentrating on hardy, simple dishes.

Just up from here, look out for the amazing Bodega Casablanca run by Jose Carlos Villanueva, who grew up on the slopes, with his father opening one of the first hostals in the 1960s.

The historic photos add to the atmosphere (as does a framed Olive Press article!) and the heart-warming soul food is always excellent, and includes stews, lentils as well as prawns wrapped in potato with a soya mayonnaise and lovely lamb chops with whisker-thin wild asparagus.

Another excellent place overlooking the slopes is Tia Maria, which has a good mix of dishes and is a great place for breakfast.

A total institution run by Carlos (part of the Tito Luigi family) this is the spot to chill out and enjoy the sun for the afternoon and early evening.

Rated

TEAM: At Antorcha and their ‘sausage tree’

For coffee, breakfast, and in fact just about everything, Vertical is hard to be beaten and also has a great range of snacks and light bites, including hot dogs for the British clientele.

Finally, few places get as busy as the highly-rated Antorcha, which sits by the Kenia Nevada hotel.

Run by Antonio and Maite for over a decade, each table gets its own ‘sausage tree’, while its speciality of the house is the ‘hot and spicy platter’ on which you can cook your own rump steaks, up to 400gr.

Nevada

5

2021 - 2022

STALWARTS: Big cheeses at Tia Maria and Vertical, while (below) the recently opened Bar Tola

QUIRKY: Telesilla (left) and (above) Nichi at Bar Ski

KINGS OF PRADOLLANO: Xavi and Luis at Tito Luigi

ROYAL DINING

I

N the heart of the resort the most established restaurant is easily Tito Luigi, run by two long term pals Luis and Xavi (above).

At least two kings of Spain have eaten at this seminal joint and the walls pay tribute to their long list of established and famous clientele, including American film stars, bullfighters and politicians.

You will need to book in high season

even though it can sit 250 covers a night, but you will be rewarded with splendid Italian fare, my favourite dish being the squid-ink spaghetti with prawns.

The pair have another, hipper restaurant Tito Tapas practically next door and a third joint up the hill in the middle of the resort.

A

6

ll about

2021 - 2022

Sierra

WHERE TO STAY

SNOW DREAMS

There are hundreds of places to stay in the Sierra Nevada, but only a handful are really reliable, writes Jon Clarke

I

T is hard to describe Pradollano as an authentic mountain village.

But, with a metre of snow on the ground and the sun finally out, it certainly has its charms.

There are lots of places to stay but easily one of the most charming has got to be the authentic Hotel Kenia Nevada, which is well located near the centre of town and open most

of the year.

Run by the friendly Don Pedro – who used to ski for the country as a youngster - it is clean, well run and serves up one of the best breakfasts in Spain.

It also has a gym and spa, with an in-house masseur, and plenty of communal areas, filled with charming old furniture.

You could also go upmarket

and splurge on one of the two wonderful Melia hotels, right in the heart of the resort.

The rooms at the Melia Sierra Nevada have been recently renovated and the New Premium rooms have been built on floors 7 and 8.

Meanwhile the nearby Meliá Sol y Nieve hotel offers The Level experience, which is the hotel group’s most exclusive commitment to luxury and personal service.

Shock

SPLURGE: At luxurious Melia hotel

Another popular option is to rent an apartment in the resort, of which there are many.

Be careful, of all the many deals on the likes of airbnb and Booking you could be in for a shock when you arrive, being stuck out in Babylon or find the place much smaller and dirtier than it initially looked in photos.

A much better option is to trust the long-time local specialists, Snow Rentals, which has up to 50 apartments on its books, which start from €80 a night

AUTHENTIC: Kenia Nevada

and go up to well over €1,000 if you want something really exclusive. It even has some chalets to rent to boot.

A more upmarket apartment agency is Imeda, which has been situated in the resort for over a decade.

All come with kitchens and are fully air conditioned, and each has a parking space. Best of all, pets are welcome which is a good draw for many expats.

MELIÃ

SIERRA NEVADA

MELIÃ

SOL Y NIEVE

MELIÃ | SIERRA NEVADA

–

MELIÃ | SOL Y NIEVE

(+34) 902 144444 // www. melia.com

Nevada

7

2021 - 2022

Festive fun MAGICAL: Three kings trudge up the slopes on January 5

T

he resort is one of the most festive places to be in Spain, and the Spaniards know it, as they arrive in their droves for Christmas and New Year.

‘Nochebuena’ or Christmas eve, when the Spaniards celebrate the festive season with a huge family meal and lashings of turron, is usually a sell out. Meanwhile ‘nochevieja’, or New Year’s Eve, where

massive screens show the countdown in Madrid’s iconic Puerta del Sol, with grapes galore, is a riot. For the eve of the Reyes on Jan 5 the three kings duly arrive on skis. Kids will love it.

Carnival, from February 6-14, also sees a mass arrival for the fancy dress competition, snowsport contests and spectacles from Granada University.

THRILL-SEEKERS: Get their kit off every year

But would he approve?

A COLLECTION of Sierra Nevada’s bravest and silliest thrill seekers rush down the mountain in swimsuits for t h e last day of the season.

Next year, the unusual downhill event will start at Borreguiles where participants hand in their clothes to take to the slopes into Pradollano where drinks and hedonism awaits.

Budding nudists often get a discounted ski pass if they sign up to the official page.

However, space is normally limited to 500 people and prizes are given to the best and most outrageous outfits.

One regular visitor to the slopes, King Felipe, is not expected to take part. In former years he normally drops in around Christmas time with friends (pictured left).

LIVE AND KICKING Rock up to Spain’s highest music venue, Edelweiss, as it launches in the heart of the Sierra Nevada

I

T eventually had to happen.

And now, as the sun finally sets over the main square of the Sierra Nevada resort, there is music - and often a live band - to dance to.

Thanks to the ingenuity of music fan Antonio Huerta, over 100 concerts are now planned for the late afternoons and evenings in Pradollano’s Plaza Andalucia.

His new venue is called Edelweiss, a name not normally associated with rock n roll, but it is one you are soon going to struggle to forget.

With an amazing sound system and stage (both inside and out) and a lineup of bands scheduled for the season, make sure to rock up for the best apres ski fun on the slopes.

“We’ve got 70 concerts planned for the winter and 30 in summer,” explains Antonio, a softly spoken chef by trade, who heralds from Sevilla.

“I realised there was a gap in the market here and I love my music, particularly rock and pop and anything from the subculture from the 1980s onwards.

It was all too obvious spending an afternoon at the venue, firstly listening to the strains of classics from the likes of Joy Division, Elvis and Nirvana, before a live band came on to play

a variety of Amy Winehouse covers.

But that’s not all. Thanks to Huerta’s profession as a cook, he has an excellent kitchen specialising in Americana-style dishes.

This means amazing ribs, fabulous burgers, but also a nice mix of salads and cakes to follow.

Make sure to pop inside to see the amazing bar, painstakingly created by Antonio out of an olive tree, using a cornucopia of nic nacs and stickers he’s collected over the years.

introducing...

SHIMBUYA RESTAURANT

REBEL SUSHI AND MUSIC

For more information, visit www.edelweissapresski.negocio.site

tel: 958 88 55 06 Virgen de las Nieves, Edifico Bulgaria (local 7), Monachil

8

2021 - 2022

A

ll about

W

Sierra Nevada

HEN four friends set up Telemark in 1991 they were only the fourth skiing school in the Sierra Nevada.

Some three decades on they count on 21 teachers, five admin staff and well over 100 years of experience of teaching on the

slopes.

“It’s great to have made it this far,” explains Luis Casanove, one of the resort’s true village elders.

“What a different world it was back then with so few schools.”

He continues: “We wanted to be the pioneers of the new world offering a much more private, personalised service and doing it in various languages.”

English, in particular, was a key requirement for the team (and still is) and among their first clients were various British expats from Marbella, as well as many Scandinavians and Portuguese.

The name of the company comes from the style of skiing known as ‘telemarking’.

This can be seen in a photo on the wall of the company… a grainy black and white picture of Luis’s grandfather skiing in 1912 in the Guadarrama mountains near Madrid.

“Telemark skiing was the original way before Alpine skiing became more fashionable later in the century,” he explains.

Be it hiking, Telemarking, cross country, snowboarding or off-piste skiing, there are not many inches of the Sierra Nevada that Luis and his business partner Jesus Fernandez don’t know.

They can arrange everything from accommodation to ski passes and are well known for their famous off-piste mountain adventures that last from a morning to two days.

“Our knowledge and know-how is ideal for families who want the perfect personal one to one break,” he adds.

The company also runs amazing wilderness trips that literally end up in another world... the charming cobbled villages of the Genil valley, in the Alpujarras.

These one or two-day adventures take you through deep off-piste snow onto narrow mountain tracks.

Another popular pastime for those who don’t fancy risking life and limb on the pistes, is to have a day of cross-country skiing on two or three well established paths around the resort.

“It is great fitness and you do get to enjoy the fabulous views and nature at the same time,” he adds.

The company can also help organise hard-core uphill climbing for mountaineers to a half day soft snow walking trip with snow rackets.

HAPPY HATRICK

While Sierra Nevada ski school Telemark hits its 30th anniversary this year, its roots go back to 1912, writes Jon Clarke

PROUD: Luis shows off photo of his grandfather

BEFORE AND AFTER: The team in 1991 and 2021

Contact the team on telemark@telemark.es or call 958 48 11 53.

ting Celebra on 30 years es the slop

WE ALSO ORGANISE ACCOMMODATION AND SKI PASSES

LA CULTURA

Feel the beat

THE most listened to artist on Spotify Spain during 2021 has been Puerto Rican musician Rauw Alejandro.

The Reggaeton star has had 34.2 million monthly listeners on the platform compared to his girlfriend Rosalia who racks up a mere 23.6million listeners.

Other artists in the top five include Bad Bunny, Myke Towers, J Balvin and Anuel AA in that order.

But in terms of most popular artist streamed on Spotify worldwide, Bad Bunny holds the crown for the second year in a row.

Bad Bunny, who is also from Puerto Rico, has notched up a whopping 9.1 billion plays this year.

Second place in the global rankings is American singer Taylor Swift, followed by South Korean group BTS, then Canadian hip hop artist, Drake and finally pop superstar Justin Bieber.

December 16th - January 12th 2022

Historical nuggets A GOLD coin struck 1,400 years ago been found during home improvement work in Leon has been seized by police.

An even older coin was also intercepted by cops in the Ciudad Real area after it was advertised for sale on a social media site.

Both coins come from the Visigoth era which was a time of French-based rule sandwiched between the fall of the Roman Empire and the

arrival of the Moors.

The Leon coin was struck during the reign of Visigoth king Sisebuto between 612 and 621 AD. It’s only the third-such Visigothic coin to be discovered and had an engraving that suggested it was minted in what would these days be Lorca in the Murcia region. It has now gone on display at Leon's Provincial Museum. The second coin was truck between 491 and 518 AD.

A STAR IS BORN Barcelona skyline has a new feature

A STAR has been born as the final piece was placed atop a tower on the Sagrada Familia cathedral, changing the skyline of Barcelona The giant five-and-a-half tonne star was lifted into place to complete one of the Antoni Gaudi designed towers, just in time for Christmas.

Architects have been labouring to finish the basilica for close to 140 years and it was slated for completion by 2026 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.

The visionary architect began work on his most ambitious project in 1882 but his death in 1926 beneath the wheels of

GIRLS ON FILM BELGIAN artist Dieter de Greef will be the focus of a new exhibition in Malaga.

More than 200 works, which he has produced over four years specifically for Malaga’s Centre of Contemporary Art will be on show until February 20.

The works are a mixture of surrealism, comedic, neo-expressionism, all reflecting on happiness, love and unsatisfied desires.

Coup de théâtre is inspired by the internet, where the artist obtains photos of women to whom he wants to give ‘another life and another identity’, in the form of original art.

AFTER a year-and-a-half of partial closure, Madrid’s Prado Museum is finally fully open.

Many parts of its exhibition space had been closed down to comply

Full glory with COVID social distancing measures. Since lockdown it has gradually been opening up again, and now the process is complete.

With almost one million visitors since the start of 2021, it has averaged over 100,000 a month since July.

Visit

By Fiona Govan

a tram in the Catalan capital meant completion of his opus was entrusted to future gen-

Inky fingers

BIZARRE: Tattooed models

17

A BIZARRE new exhibition is celebrating the art of the tattooist.

CaixaForum Madrid has put on an unusual display of more than 240 pieces celebrating everything about the tattooing world and its history.

The exhibition goes back to the origins of body art and showcases how its popularity has surged in recent years.

A special feature of the exhibition is the bizarre sight of of 20 silicone torsos tattooed by masters of the art, as well as models of other body parts.

Tattoo.

Art under the skin can be visited until April 17, 2022

erations.

Known as ‘God’s architect’ for his pious yet visionary obsession, Gaudi died penniless after sinking all his money into the project when public funds dried up.

During the Spanish Civil war of 1936-39 anarchists burned the original plans for the project leaving modern architects struggling to remain true to Gaudí’s vision.

You can now visit the Treasure of the Dolphin and the Still Lifes of Clara Peeters as well as the works of Rubens, Jan Brueghel and David Teniers, plus painters of the Dutch school including Salomon de Bray and Gabriel Metsu.

Toll

However, as the target completion date of 2026 edges closer, the coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll.

Without the huge numbers of tourists visiting the unfinished site – which is Barcelona’s most popular tourist site and the second in Spain after the Alhambra – resources are dwindling.

Before the pandemic hit, the site attracted 60,000 visitors a day and filled the coffers with around €100m in 2019 alone.

CONTACT +34 711 00 49 70 – howieuk99@googlemail.com

18

LA CULTURA

December 16th - January 12th 2022

A taste of the divine

Get thee to a Spanish nunnery for the best sister act in homebaking since Two Fat Ladies. Karethe Linaae gets an exclusive cookery lesson in Ronda

I

T’S beginning to smell a lot Ages, guarding their recipes with like Christmas, here in Spain, the secrecy of the confessional. when the buttery aroma of So it was with a fair degree of exmantecados warm from the citement that the Olive Press got oven wafts from bakeries and to spend a morning baking with abuelas’ kitchen windows, filling a group of group of nuns at the the chill December streets with Convento San Francisco in Ronfestive expectation. da… and the results were divine!

Sinful homebaked sweetmeats Convent pastries - such as Huehave been a sos de Santo guilty Christmas (Saints’ Bones), pleasure in these Trufas de Madre Taste of home parts since Moorde Dios (Mother ish times and evof God Truffles) cooking, old ery town, village, and Corazones peña and brother- village kitchens (Sacred Hearts) hood has its own de Santa Clara and a bit of traditional reci- are often chrispes – frequently tened to reflect heaven jazzed up with a their saintly ornaughty nip of igins. And the cider, sherry or aniseed liqueur. nuns work their culinary alchemy But who could have guessed with the humblest of ingredients. that some of the nicest (and Augustine nuns at Sevilla’s Connaughtiest) are produced behind vento de San Leandro have been convent walls by nuns! baking since the 16th Century Some sisterhoods have been and their most famous pastry, tempting mortals with their con- Yemas de San Leandro, contains vent confections since the Middle only egg yolks, sugar and a few

drops of lemon.

They are among a heavenly host of artisan reposterias made in Andalucía’s convent kitchens.

Carmelite, Cistercian and Franciscan are among the orders now busy at their devotions to produce seductive sweetmeats for Christmas.

While initially selling to the surrounding communities, some convents now have websites, offer gluten-free alternatives, and can ship anywhere in the world.

Our local nuns in Ronda have also gained quite a reputation for their blessed dulces.

We are led in to meet them in their wonderful authentic kitchen in the bowels of their wonderful home, just off the mountain town’s historic Plaza de San Francisco.

We are soon watching ancient Sister Natividad cracking a sack of almonds on a tree trunk in the convent patio with a giant hammer.

As December begins, the sis-

Christmas Gift of the Year

FIRE-PIT

TABLES

FREE DELIVERY ALL LOCATIONS MAINLAND SPAIN

Spains largest selection of fire-pit tables | Quality and design at the best prices Direct from factory | Most of the products are in stock Many exciting furnitures for outdoor areas | Exclusive dealer for Spain

We give your outdoor space an exclusive touch Call us: +34 744 616 333 Open: Monday-Saturday, 10.00-15.00 email: post@cerudesign.com Partida Cap Blanc 43, ES-03590 Altea, Spain

www.cerudesign.com

TEAM EFFORT: Nuns sit and prepare their Christmas treats at the San Francisco de Ronda convent

ters can be found rolling dough around the clock, kneading their love, care and culinary traditions into every bite-sized treat.

They are baking an incredible 35 kilos of mantecados – meaning a few thousand cookies – by hand in a single day!

Originating in Antequera and brought to fame in the tiny town of Estepa, mantecados have gone nationwide to become synonymous with a Spanish Christmas. What’s the secret? Could it be the generous amount of lard?

In their industrial-sized 19th-century kitchen, the sisters chat softly as they fill tray after tray with neat round dough balls which one of the novices will top with sesame seeds. After baking, each mantecado is individually wrapped in a silk paper with the convent’s seal.

“Working and praying is our life”, Sor Isabel tells me.

Madre Nieves, the Abbess, adds touchingly: “With all the bitterness in the world, we pray that our treats will sweeten the lives of those who eat them”.

When I ask them where they keep their recipes, they look down at their busy hands, pretending not to hear.

Each convent has its own specialties and the recipes are sacrosanct.

What I can disclose is that no pastry is made with more than a handful of ingredients and contains no preservatives or artificial flavourings; just ground almonds or wheat flour, butter or lard, cider or sugar and a touch or cinnamon, lemon peel or orange zest.

Most ingredients are grown locally, some in the monastic gardens. Some closed convents still sell their confections clandestinely through a revolving Lazy Susan embedded in the wall so as not to show their faces, but our nuns now sell them from their little store, albeit still behind bars.

People here say that the nun’s reposterias taste of home cooking, old village kitchens and a bit of heaven.

Thanks to the income from their baking, the sisters can continue their simple lives and maintain their convent.

By purchasing their artisan pas-

PROCESS: A patient nun watches her mantecados bake tries, you are not only sharing in a best-kept Spanish gastronomic secret but also keeping alive an important part of the country’s culture.

And when you get to eat them -

believe me - heaven can wait!

The convent in Barrio de San Francisco is open for purchases from 10.00 to 18.00.

For more information call: 952 872 177

Among the most typical Christmas pastries are Roscos de Vino. Andalucian children will keep three to give to the Three Kings on Dia de los Reyes, known as Roscos de Reyes. While the grandmothers of every household used to bake these ring-shaped pastries infused with sweet wine for the whole family, today that task is often left to the local nunneries.

Borrachuelos are a traditional Christmas treat from Malaga’s villages - miniature empanadas filled with cabello de angel (angel hair, a spaghetti squash marmalade).

Borracho means drunk, and these tipsy treats are laced with a generous glug of cider. Each piece is then deepfried and dunked in sugar for extra naughtiness.

It’s no surprise that some pastries date from the Al Andalus era. For example alfajores (from the Arabic al-fakher, meaning luxurious), have been found in the Spanish dictionary since the 14th Century, and are a particular speciality in the Cadiz pueblo of Medina Sidonia. Alfajores were also exported to the New World and have become a traditional Christmas treat in South America.

DID YOU KNOW?

Why not try for yourself?

They may not taste as great, but it’s always fun

Mantecados

1 cup lard ½ l sweet sherry 5 gr salt 850 gr pastry flour Sugar to sprinkle on top

to try:

Alfajores 1 kg Almonds 500 gr sifted pastry flo ur 100 gr sugar + 100 gr icing sugar ½ l water

In a bowl, mix lard, she and salt. Gradually add rry Put the two types of sugflour until the dough wothe ar in a saucepan, adding stick to the hands. Forn’t the water. Make a syrup small identical balls m mixture without letting it and change colour. flatten them slightly. Pla the mantecados on a ce Remove from heat and pre- cover the balls greased oven tray. Ba with syrup at 180* C for 15 minuteke and icing sugar. s.

Form the balls into tub Remove and sprink ular abundantly with sugar. le shapes.

Cool before ser ving.

952 147 834 * O f f e r

v a l i d

TheOlivePress-256x342-HOME1021.indd 1

f o r

n e w

c u s t o m e r s

o n l y .

S u b j e c t

t o

c o n d i t i o n s .

E n d s

3 1 / 1 2 / 2 1 .

27/10/21 18:50

THE INTELLIGENT CHOICE FOR ALL THINGS GLASS iq windows and glass curtains

GLASS CURTAINS WINDOWS AND GLASS CURTAINS

Covering the whole of the Costa Blanca

GLASS CURTAINS • PVC WINDOWS GLASS FENCING • ALUMINIUM

tel: 965 973 307 tel: 603 874 006 enquiries@iqglasscurtains.com www.iqglasscurtains.com

20

BUSINESS

New and old

A €720 million package to help Spain’s pandemic-hit tourist sector has been approved by the Council of Ministers.

New technologies as well as historic heritage areas feature as part of the investment.

Reyes Maroto, said: “These funds will allow the modernisation plan to go forward for tourism which in turn will allow the whole economy to recover and modernise.”

Tourism accounts for 12% of the country’s economy. Some €565 million will fund innovative projects that seek to improve the competitiveness of the sector. That includes ramping up digital and smart technology as well as energy efficiency in tourism-related businesses.

PEOPLE in Spain are in their most precarious financial situation for 30 years, according to data which combines the unemployment rate and inflation.

The estimated annual inflation of the Consumers Price Index in November 2021 was recorded at 5.6%, according to a flash indicator prepared by the National Statistics Office (INE).

Inflation has become the most serious threat to the Spanish

THE MOST PROFESSIONAL DISTRIBUTION NETWORK ON THE COSTAS ENSURES AN EFFICIENT AND GREEN SERVICE FOR THE OLIVE PRESS

THE pay gap is still having a devastating effect on women in Spain, with four in 10 female workers making less than €1,336.60 per month, compared to just one in five men.

The average female salary stood at €1,852 per month in 2020, an increase from the €1,773.30 average in 2019.

Meanwhile, the average salary for men increased in 2020 to €2,210.30 per month but the wage gap still reduced from 22.5% to 19.3%.

PAIN IN SPAIN economy as the increase not only puts the recovery of companies at risk it also hits the purchasing power of citizens.

Significant increases in the price of electricity have had a fundamental impact on the inflation rate and the price of fuel is at a record high with petrol exceeding €1.50 per litre.

Public expenditure is

Women remain lower paid than men

Finance and insurance executives earned the most, with 64.8% taking home more than €2,295.2 a month, according to new stats from the Nationalso linked to inflation, such as contributory pensions, which will rise by 2.5% in 2022.

Despite falling significantly in recent months, unemployment in Spain still stood at 14.57% in the third quarter and is the second-highest unemployment rate of all EU states.

Overall, the data revealed that of all the developed countries, only Brazil and Turkey are worse off than Spain.

al Institute of Statistics (INE).

What they didn’t say is how much more than that they earned.

The majority of teachers and public workers also took home well over €2,000 per month.

Meanwhile cleaners had the lowest monthly wage, pocketing an average of €997.30 total per month while hospitality workers bagged an average of €1,119.50 and agriculture employees earned €1,373.6 each month on average.

Salaried

Some 30% of Spain’s salaried employees, around 4.88 million people, earned less than €1,350 per month.

Another 40% of employees (6.44 million) earned between €1,336.60 and €2,295.20 gross per month in 2020, while 30% (4.8 million people) earned salaries of at least €2,295.2 monthly.

OP QUICK CROSSWORD Across 7 Her tan, uniformly distributed, is unlikely to have been acquired here (6) 8 Part of a service (6) 9 Site of Pendennis Castle (8) 10 Waiters wait for them (4) 11 Shut with force (4) 12 Wracked with pain (2,5) 14 Falkland Islands capital (7) 16 Cramped (4) 19 Storage containers (4) 20 Most likely to get a laugh (8) 21 Thin layer of wood (6) 22 Went off (6)

T

Down

OP SUDOKU

For up-to-date information on your nearest distribution point, please visit www.theolivepress.es or read our digital versions online. For more information on our fantastic ditribution partner, please visit www.selfselectmedia.es

Not valued

Most

In the workforce as a whole, bankers are among those who earned the most in 2020, followed by teachers and those working in public administration - with domestic, hospitality and agriculture workers at the opposite end of the scale

STAND BY ME!

he Olive Press has always invested heavily in ensuring that our copies are readily available for our growing legion of readers.

We work hard to achieve our target of zero returns, ensuring we do not waste money or paper, which is an ever important factor for our environmentally-conscious readers.

Since 2019 we have employed the services of Self Select Media, the UK market leader in charge of distributing hundreds of free papers and magazines, including the Evening Standard, Metro and Time Out! BOSS: The team that now has a company in southern Spain has analStewart ysed the region and strategically placed our stands within the main Leece supermarkets and major expat hangouts around the costas. This highly targeted process ensures that you can conveniently pick up your favourite read easily every two weeks. To keep in line with our green philosophy it also allows us to closely monitor our distribution and how it ebbs and flows depending on tourism and trends.

We receive detailed photo reports of each of the drops, timed as they happen, and the number of copies left over.

As Stewart Leece, the boss of Self Select explains: “We have 125 years of publishing and distribution experience and know Spain well having had a home here for three decades.

“It is a pleasure to work with the Olive Press, one of the market leaders in Spain, to ensure that the company maintains and expands its reach around the country.”

He continues: “The basis of our service is that every copy is taken by personal choice. We offer publishers and advertisers a controlled fully quantifiable media distribution route to market, via a network of displays placed within high footfall retail outlets, and targeted miscellaneous distribution points across the North and South Costa Blanca region, and now Valencia.”

December 16th January 12th 2022

1 Throw off course (6) 2 North was the one who lost America (5,8) 3 Pakistan’s chief river (5) 4 Really ready (7) 5 Places offering good looks? (7,6) 6 Enter enthusiastically (4,2) 13 Go onstage (7) 15 Big families (6) 17 Barely touched (6) 18 Nasal grunt (5)

All solutions are on page 22

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

December 16th - January 12th 2022

Rich food

Get pedalling A PROJECT linking 289 different cycle paths throughout Valencia is being planned.

Some 3,360 kilometres of track (2,100 miles) will stretch from Vinaros in Castellon to Pilar de la Horadada in the south of Alicante province. Currently, cycle routes number 199 with a total distance of 1,017 kilometres (636 miles). Paths range from the 300m of cycle lane in a roundabout in Novetle to the 76km track of the Greenway of Ojos Negros, the longest in Spain.

HIGH COOKING

IT brings new meaning to the term ‘haute cuisine’.

A new restaurant has opened in a Madrid skyscraper to become the highest eatery in all of Spain.

Elkar opened on the 33rd floor of the Torre Emperador in the capital’s business district at the northern end of the Paseo de la Castellana.

Diners can enjoy panoramic views through floor to ceiling windows of the city stretching below them to the snow-dusted mountains of the sierra beyond.

The restaurant, whose name means ‘together’ in Basque, is probably not the place to take a date who suffers from vertigo as tables are located at 160 metres above ground level.

But its location promises to be a lure for Instagrammers as much as for foodies drawn by the promise of exquisite dishes designed by celebrity Basque chefs Sergio Ortiz de Zarate and Beñat Ormaetxea who have teamed up in the kitchen at Elkar.

21

Improve

DINERS with exceptionally deep pockets should head to SubliMotion in Ibiza which has been recognised as having the most expensive tasting menu in the world.

The restaurant located at the Hard Rock Hotel on Playa d’en Bossa is only open during the summer season from June 1 to September 30 and charges a whopping €1,500 for a 20-course tasting menu accompanied by wine and champagne.

But as the price-tag suggests, this is no ordinary meal. ‘If Willy Wonka had a restaurant, this could be it,’ says the Michelin Guide in its description of a

The Ibiza restaurant that is officially the most expensive dining experience in the world totally immersive dining experience that includes a sound and light show for which virtual reality goggles are required.

The entire restaurant seats just 12 diners for a meal that includes a course served up in Faberge eggs and is designed under the watchful eye of molecular gastronomy genius Paco Roncero and a team of chefs who at one point boasted eight Michelin stars between them. The restaurant, which opened in 2014, was identified

as the world’s most expensive Michelin-starred tasting menu in a recent study by Chefspencil, an international food magazine that reports on industry trends.

Chefs

Although many of the chefs who collaborate in the kitchen there have Michelin stars for other restaurants in Spain, SubliMotion itself hasn’t won any of the coveted awards.

Now, the Valencian government aims to improve that further.

The XINM (Network of Non-Motorised Itineraries of the Valencian Community) has recognised that many paths are still unconnected, meaning cyclists have to move on to dangerous roads at times.

The new plan is designed to complete existing cycle routes, connect previously-unconnected areas, allow people to do daily commutes on two wheels and encourage recreational cycling.

The long-term plan is to connect the Valencian network with long-distance recreational and tourist routes.

With cold therapy* we remove - painless - local body fat and we make your skin tight, smooth and beautiful again, on your body, wherever you wish.

Immediate and permanent result - no surgery - no side effects.

More “before” and “after” pictures on our website and on our Facebook page

*High Tech Cryolipolysis

Contact us for more information or make your appointment now.

+34 699 500 734

www.institutocarmenmaria.com

C/Richard Wagner 2 blq 5

Orihuela Costa (Villamartin)

Appointments only

🇪🇪🇪🇪 🇬🇬🇬🇬 🇳🇳🇳🇳 🇧🇧🇧🇧 🇫🇫🇫🇫 🇩🇩🇩🇩 🇷🇷🇷🇷

22

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

December 16th - January 12th 2022

PEAKS OF PERFECTION Set your sights higher than the festive food mountain this Christmas and scale one of Spain’s Awesome Nine

C

HRISTMAS is an opportune time to fill your boots with food and drink and veg out around the family fireside but extreme measures may be called for later when your trousers don’t fit … like climbing a mountain!

That’s not such a tall order in Spain, Europe’s second most mountainous landscape after Switzerland. And with scaleable sierras in easy reach of the costas (no need for crampons), there can be no excuses.

To celebrate International Mountain Day on December 11 we bring you Spain’s Awesome Nine!

Happy hiking!

Towering Teide - 3,718m Standing tall at number one with the most vertiginous vital statistics in Spain, Tenerife’s Mount Teide in the Canaries is glued to the landscape like a giant limpet. UNESCO describes it as Earth’s third-tallest volcanic structure and this mythological mountain is steeped in folklore. The native Guanches believe that Magec, their God of Light, is trapped inside and erupts when angry, releasing a molten tide of rage over the landscape. However, the last time Magec got hot under the collar was in 1909.

These days he’s a lot more chilled.

Awesome Aneto 3,404m Despite being outside Andalucia, this geological giant deserves recognition for standing guard against the French along the Pyrenees. But its reputation as the ‘needles of ice’ is under threat as its impressive glacier is rapidly shrinking due to ever-increasing summer temperatures and scientists estimate it could completely disappear by 2050. The icy heart of Spain can still be scaled in under 12 hours by both experienced and novice climbers alike.

The Amazing Alcazaba - 3,371m Almost a quarter of Spain sits a kilometre above sea level and Alcazaba, whose north face is the backdrop to the city of Granada, is no different. A walkers’ paradise with one of the longest climbing seasons in Europe, nimble ibex are a regular sight. But if the going gets too tough, you can take refuge in the Poqueira hut at a height of 2,500 metres. If that’s full, there are a few stone huts on the western side of the mountain but book well in advance, they’re popular.

Competent climbers take on the north face challenge while novices stick to the gentler south.

Sublime Cerro de los Machos - 3,327m Often overshadowed by its siblings, Veleta and Mulhacén, this mini mountain is the perfect to hone your mountaneering skills, taking 2 hours 30 minutes to reach the top.

The Mighty Mulhacén - 3,479m This monster massif is named after another captive of his environment, Muley Hacén, the penultimate Muslim King of Granada. In the 15th century, according to legend, he was buried at the foot of the mountain, the loftiest in the Sierra Nevada. In a country flanked with reigning peaks, Mulhacén stands above all of them and is the highest peak in western Europe after the Alps.

But the path to the peak is well-signposted and can be reached in a day so forget the satnav and add a sturdy pair of hiking boots to Santa’s list.

Pico Posets - 3,369m

Vertiginous Veleta - 3,398m Back in the Sierra Nevada, this steely champ protects and inspires skiers from all over the world. Having gained fame for hosting the World Ski Championships in 1996, southern Europe’s de facto ski resort is celebrated as the place where you can ski in the morning and be back on the coast, mojito in hand, in the evening. The highest ski lift, Puerta Laguna, arrives just shy of the summit offering one of the longest ski runs down to Pradollano for a flying finale.

OP Puzzle solutions Across: 7 Tehran, 8 Teacup, 9 Falmouth, 10 Tips, 11 Slam, 12 In agony, 14 Stanley, 16 Poky, 19 Bins, 20 Funniest, 21 Veneer, 22 Rotted.

Down: 1 Derail, 2 Prime Minister, 3 Indus, 4 Itching, 5 Vantage points, 6 Jump in, 13 Perform, 15 Tribes, 17 Kissed, 18 Snort.

SUDOKU

Quick Crossword

Also known as Punta de Llardana, it is the second highest peak in the Pyrenees, after Aneto. The spectacular mountain is located in the north of the province of Huesca (Aragon) and forms part of the famous Pico Posets, Pico Perdiguero and Pico Aneto route undertaken by serious hikers.

Lofty La Maroma 2,066m This rocky gem has its own claim to fame as the highest peak in Malaga province. Taking nearly six hours to scale, but travellers are rewarded with some of the best views of the Mediterranean on reaching the summit.

Luscious La Concha 1,200m Named for its conch shell shape, Marbella’s La Concha mountain is the defining feature of the Costa del Sol, whose beauty has been revered by settlers for millenia. The walk is not difficult and caters for families and climbers of all abilities.

The

OLIVE PRESS

REuse REduce REcycle We use recycled paper

Swapped at birth

FINAL WORDS

THE biological parents of a woman accidentally swapped at birth 19 years ago have told their daughter they will ‘take her in’. The blunder was only discovered when a judge ordered a DNA test in a paternity case.

Dino bolt EXPERTS studying a series of 120 millionyear-old fossilised dinosaur footsteps in La Rioja have calculated that it could run at 28 miles per hour - the same speed as sprinter Usain Bolt.

Defrocked BISHOP Xavier Novell i Goma who made headlines after he abandoned his calling to marry the erotic novellist Silvia Caballol has formally been stripped of his powers by the Church.

FREE

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Real softies Your expat

voice in Spain

Vol. 2 Issue 55 www.theolivepress.es December 16th - January 12th 2022

HOT FOOTED

Thief picked wrong man to steal trainers from A THIEF who nicked a coveted pair of Nike Air trainers probably thought he could get away with a clean pair of heels.

Unfortunately for 19-year-old Charles Alex Baglietto, he had picked on the wrong victim – a Gibraltar plod.

The teen had swiped the footwear from outside a home on the Varyl Begg Estate on the Rock before making a run for it.

But the unnamed policeman

was not surprisingly security conscious and had fitted a motion-sensitive camera to his home.

Camera

When the next morning the hopping mad officer found his £130 trainers missing, he checked his camera’s footage and immediately identified the culprit, who was well

known to the Royal Gibraltar police.

Later that same day, officers found Baglietto in Edinburgh Estate.

He didn’t have a leg to stand on when questioned as he was wearing the officer’s trainers.

He was arrested on suspicion of theft and the shoes were seized as evidence.

At Gibraltar Magistrates’

Licking their wounds

A GANG of teens are licking their wounds after being bitten by a dog following a boozy street brawl.

The group of five youngsters were seen throwing bottles at people and taunting a passerby’s Belgian Malinois.

Police rushed to the scene in Malaga city centre at around 4am after concerned witnesses raised the alarm that the teens were wreak-

ing havoc in the streets as tempers flared.

The louts confronted a man walking a large dog and taunted the animal by attacking and prodding it.

A fight was then sparked as the dog lashed out and bit two of the boys, according to police.

Five youngsters were then arrested and two were hospitalised for dog bites to their legs.

PHOTO: The evidence Court Baglietto, of Edinburgh Estate, pleaded guilty and was fined £80.

It is not known if the policeman has had his footwear returned to him.

In a separate case Baglietto was given a £200 fine after pleading guilty to Possession of Cannabis after police found him puffing away on a joint in a storeroom in Mid Harbours Estate.

And in yet another case Baglietto was fined £400 after pleading guilty to three counts of Criminal Damage at Charles Bruzon House, Eurotowers and Edinburgh Estate in offences dating back to August.

REAL Betis’s match against Real Sociedad saw a pitch invasion in their last home game of the year.

But there were no hooligans in sight as the Sevilla team’s supporters carried on a ‘tradition’ of showering the pitch with cuddly toys.

They have been doing so since 2018, with the soft toys being donated to disadvantaged children over Christmas. This year fans rained a record 19,000 of the cuddly presents from the stands during half time, which were quickly collected by volunteers at the Benito Villamarin stadium.

Around 52,128 fans were in the stands, watching the soft toys thrown as Bobby Helm’s classic ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ was played.

Merry Xmas to all our readers... back on Jan 13