Olive Press Costa Blanca South Issue 56

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COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

AN alarming number of reservoirs in the Alicante and Murcia areas have been polluted by toxic algae.

The Segura water board (CHS) says high concentrations of algae have been detected in five reservoirs at Argos, Azud de Ojos, Judio and Santomera in Murcia.

High levels have also been recorded at Crevillente reservoir.

Argos, Azud and Judio have the highest concentration of bacteria caused by water polluted with nitrates, similar to the problems faced by the Mar Menor lagoon.

They are believed to be coming from farmers allowing pig Continues on Page 5

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Vol. 3 Issue 56 www.theolivepress.es January 13th - January 26th 2022

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Sweet sixteen dream escapes for 2022.

See our five-page Spain travel special inside

IN THE DARK Costa Blanca town shamed as it is found to be one of the most secretive in Spain

ROJALES town hall is among the most secretive in Spain.

The socialist-run council scores just 4% in a national transparency survey.

Rojales comes a shocking 479th in the probe of 491 town halls around the country.

Out of 162 key indices, the local town hall only makes SEVEN publicly available.

This means that most information about budgets, salaries and spending is impossible to gauge.

In addition expenses incurred by staff, its job selection

CHARGERS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

autoconsumo@solarworks.es

By Simon Wade

process, the number of vehicles owned and key information about subcontracting is missing.

It has even failed to provide a code of ethics.

It is likely that the majority of residents, who are from northern Europe, will be furious with the result.

Some 6,000 of the town’s 17,000 residents are British, many of them living in Ciudad Quesada, while a further 6,000 are also foreign.

Incredibly nothing has been done, since it’s long term PSOE mayor Antonio Perez Garcia was criticised over rs to ica ind e th Some of his party’s expensmeasured included: es policy, and yor ma the of ; Past career history including his councillors p a y i n g all officials ; Income received by rred by all offim o b i l e ; Travel expenses incu phone bills cials s ces pro selection of family ; The town hall staffvalue of vehicles members, ; The number or owned or leased in 2016. orts rep ts, oun acc ; Annual budgets, Local busiand audits ness encontracting and ; Information about cedures trepreneur subcontracting pro con owned or and owner ; Real estate agents of The Exnected to the council and historical rent pat Centre ; The amount of cur in Quesamunicipal debt nt ide res per ng ndi da, Moi; Overall council spe of Ethics’ de ; A municipality ‘Co l of public docura Carosa ; Policy for disp menate, ments and records lamented the poor

SHAMED: Rojales Mayor Antonio Perez

1 GOOD 1 BAD

results achieved by the town hall.

She said: “On the face of things, they seem to do quite well on the limited budget they have, but withholding such important information as they have is plainly wrong.

“It doesn’t take a genius to see the connection between their secretive financial dealings, and the fact that local police are basically operating a work-to-rule.

“One policeman at a time for a whole city is pitiful and concerning.”

However, Rojales is not the only town hall in the area to score badly, with Pilar de la Horadada coming 437th with 11.73% and Guardamar del Segura coming 402nd with 16.67%.

Doing far better is Alhama de Murcia, which comes 11th in the table, scoring 87% for its transparency, while Denia comes in 48th with 72%.

Meanwhile, Valencia scored 71%

GOOD EFFORT: Alhama Mayor Mariola Guevara

coming in 52nd, while Alicante had 64% and Murcia city just 59%.

Torrevieja got 47%, while Calpe got 41%, Benidorm 36% and Javea a lowly 23%.

The worse scoring town halls in the country are all in Andalucia, while polemically top of the pile are the Costa del Sol resort of Fuengirola with 93%, and Pozoblanco (Cordoba) with the same score.

Experts

The table is compiled by analyst firm Dyntra, using public data managed by a ‘broad and representative community of experts involved in the measurement and analysis of public bodies’.

The town hall had failed to comment at time of going to press…

See Lonely Patrol page 4 Opinion page 6

2

CRIME

www.theolivepress.es

NEWS IN BRIEF Stall loss A WOMAN lost part of her hand when it got trapped in a meat grinder at a Cartagena market stall. The seller lost consciousness and was taken to hospital for emergency surgery.

Tragic toll SOME 83 people died in Valencian Community road accidents last year - nine more than in 2020 but 16 fewer than in 2019.

Young jabs VACCINATION against COVID-19 of children aged between 5 and 8 years starts today (Thursday) in Valencian Community schools. On-site jabs will be given with prior parental permission.

Price hike USED home prices in Alicante Province rose by 5.3% in 2021 in the second-largest price rise in mainland Spain. The largest increase was in Toledo with 7.2%.

A CRIMINAL gang ran a racket that seized homes from people who struggled to repay loans.

Seven Spaniards have been arrested and charged with falsifying documents and money laundering.

The group included a practising lawyer who won the trust of clients seeking money.

Police have so far identified 18

Homes scam victims of the scam. They believe that up to 13 properties were illegally taken by the gang.

The group advertised themselves in local media as a firm that granted loans and they targeted people with serious financial problems.

January 13th - January 26th 2022 When a loan was arranged, the pre-condition was that a property had to be put forward as collateral.

People getting the money did not know they were signing away their homes to a third-party company controlled by one of the criminal gang members, which then foreclosed and sold them.

Cosmetic horror

A MOTHER of two who went into a clinic for liposuction treatment has died after suffering multiple organ failure.

Now her cosmetic surgeon has had his passport confiscated while police investigate the death of Sara Gomez, 39.

Her family’s lawyer said the

Liposuction treatment tragedy as mum of 2 dies

By Alex Trelinski

operation left her with injuries which were ‘akin to being in a knife fight’.

The investigating judge took

Sex fiend jailed A 21-year-old rapist has been jailed for 32 years after admitting to two sexual assaults on Alicante women in one night.

A plea bargain with prosecutors means 13 years has been taken off the sentence originally demanded. The victims will also get a total of €32,000 in compensation.

The attacks took place over four hours on December 9, 2020 in Alicante City. At around 2am, a 23-year-old woman was about to enter her home when the knife-wielding man approached her, raped her and stole her mobile phone.

At 6am, the attacker struck again . A passer-by phoned authorities to say that a woman was inside a car and shouting for help. The 52-year-old had been raped and stabbed.

away the passport of surgeon Javier Alejandro Masso but turned down a plea by Sara’s family for him to be suspended. Mother-of-two Sara paid €5,700 for her liposculpture work to suck out body fat at the Virgen de la Caridad Hospital in Murcia City.

But she suffered severe multiple organ injuries and spent 29 days in Cartagena’s Santa Lucia Hospital ICU before dy-

ing.

Ignacio Martinez of the Patient Defender association said: “Many cosmetic surgery cases come to my association but what has happened here is incomprehensible.”

Alejandro Masso, said Sara’s five-hour procedure initially went well, but she lost a lot of fluids and blood. He transferred her to Santa Lucia where an emergency operation was performed.

The liposculpture procedure resulted in damage to her kidneys, liver, colon, intestine, and duodenum.

Alejandro Masso’s lawyer, Pablo Martinez, said: “We need to see that justice is done and that includes the presumption of innocence for my client, who has already been publicly condemned and only needs now to be executed.”

You’ve been Googled!

POLICE have tracked down one of Italy’s most notorious mobsters via Google Maps.

Gioacchino Gammino, who has been on Europol’s wanted list for 20 years, was spotted on an online image outside a shop he owned in Spain.

Gammino, 61, who was jailed for murder and drug trafficking, escaped from an Italian prison two decades ago and fled to Barcelona where he changed his name to Manuel.

But several years ago the mafia chief relocated to Galapagar, near Madrid, where he ran several stores, including a pizzeria, a hairdresser and a greengrocer.

Detective

It was here, standing outside the shop, El Huerto de Manu, overseeing a delivery of fruit and vegetables, that he was captured by Google Street View.

The image was spotted by an Italian detective who for years had been on the lookout for him.

He alerted his Spanish counterparts who moved in to arrest him.

Clearly stunned, the first thing he asked the police was: “How did you find me? I haven’t even phoned my family for the last 10 years.”

Incredibly he hadn’t even been rumbled despite being accused of attacking the local mayor Angel Camacho in 2018.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

January 13th - January 26th 2022

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All about my Mother-tongue SPANISH movie legend Pedro Almodovar will make his first feature film in English with Cate Blanchett in the lead role.

The Oscar-winning director confirmed the adaptation of Lucia Berlin’s A Manual for Cleaning Women is already in the early stages of development.

The original book features 43 stories that navigate the lives of several women who work in low-paid, demanding jobs.

Sad farewell AN expat film-maker, who worked with The Beatles on their debut movie A Hard Day’s Night, has died at his Almeria home.

Brit Denis O’ Dell had a long association with the Beatles and Cabo de Gata where he had a property.

In 2013, he was given the Almeria Short Film Festival’s highest honour, the Almeria Land of Cinema award.

His Beatles connection started as an associate producer of A Hard Day’s Night in 1964 and he took the same role three years later on How I Won the War. The World War II satire saw John Lennon appear as a supporting actor.

O’Dell persuaded Lennon to take part and the whole movie was shot on location in Almeria.

His visit inspired the Beatle to compose the legendary hit Strawberry Fields Forever.

It came after taking regular trips past farms full of the popular red fruit.

O’Dell also produced the 1967 Beatles TV film Magical Mystery Tour as well as The Magic Christian, which had Ringo Starr in the cast.

PALS: Denis with George Harrison

Millionaire footballers feature on Spain’s €29.6 billion tax defaulters list

By Dilip Kuner

SPAIN has published its annual list of tax shame and footballers continue to be targeted by the tax man.

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti and Barcelona stars Dani Alves and Samuel Eto’o owe Hacienda (Inland Revenue) a total of more than €3 million.

Many of those on the list of those that owe more than €600,000 and football stars.

Superstar

Almodovar, who won an Oscar for his 2002 film Talk to Her, Her told Variety magazine that he is writing the new script in Spanish, which will then be translated into English.

He has previously made a short film in English - the acclaimed The Human Voice starring Tilda Swinton.

TAX SHAME

Leo loses Titanic auction battle A PAINTING of Mona Lisa as a bullfighter has sold at auction for nearly one million euros.

The painting by Mallorcan Domingo Zapata was snapped up for €906,000 with all the money going to charity.

Among those bidding was Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio (right), already a Zapata collector, although he lost out to the anonymous American collector.

The sale makes New York-based Zapata, one of Spain’s most successful living artists.

“A new auction record for my career!

This fills my heart,” he wrote on Instagram.

“100% will be donated to help children in need,” he added.

Zapata has sold to billionaire philanthropist George Soros as well as Johnny Depp and Diana Picasso - granddaughter of Pablo.

Brazilian superstar Neymar was said to owe an COUGH UP: Alves and (top right) Ancelotti eye-watering €34 million million.

Ancelotti is said to owe in unpaid taxes, last year.

It is not the first time he €1.4 million while former Cristiano Ronaldo and Li- has appeared on the list Barca star Eto’o - now onel Messi have both been - in 2016 he was featured president of Cameroon’s heavily fined, given sus- with a tax debt of more football federation - owes pended jail sentences and than €1.2 million. €1 million. ordered to pay tens MANY readers will remember their of millions early laughable attempts at speakover unpaid ing Spanish on arrival in Spain. tax.

A new TV show The Language of explained former Big Brother preThis year’s Love takes this to a new level, hop- senter McCall. list includes ing a group of Brits and Spaniards It certainly didn’t matter for Brit7,277 taxcan find love while living together. ish supermodel Naomi Campbell payers, who In the show, hosted by Davina Mc- when she fell in love with Spanish owe a total Call, a dozen girls and boys were flamenco singer Joaquin of €29.6 deposited at a dreamy Andalu- Cortes a decade ago (see billion. cian finca to see if they could find right).

Brazilian love… despite not speaking each On the differences beAlvez, 38, other’s language. tween the nations, Mcwho recent“The idea of the show poses the Call added: “We’re quite question: is it possible to find love self-conscious as a nation, ly returned just through body language and we Brits… Spanish people SWOONING: McCall with to Barceinstinct and a vibe off someone?” are very liberated physicalMerino lona, owes around €2

Tongue tied

ly. They’re not embarrassed.”

She also noted the importance of learning a language: “I think we are universally known for not making an effort in other people’s languages because so many people speak ours.”

Spanish actor Ricky Merino co-presents the show alongside McCall.

You can watch the contestants soul gaze, angrily search dictionaries and meet each other's families at 10pm every Tuesday on Channel4.

4 www.theolivepress.es Lonely patrol A COSTA Blanca town has been left with just one Local Police officer patrolling the streets at times due to a pay dispute.

Rojales officers have refused to work overtime or perform extra duties, because the town hall still owes overtime from 18 months ago.

The refusal, combined with absences due to COVID, has left the service at near breaking point.

Often just one officer and a duty boss at Rojales Police Station, have had to take calls and respond to the needs of a municipality of around 17,000 residents.

Action

The situation has been described by a local union as ‘unsustainable’ and warned legal action is likely.

The force’s officers are believed to be owed a total of almost €45,000.

The overtime pay backlog started when the mayor’s office ordered men to work overtime from March 2020 during the pandemic due to the State of Alarm.

Some 20 policemen and women are ready to return to duties, ‘if they are paid’, claims their union, which slammed the town hall for not coughing up when it has healthy accounts.

NEWS THE first freeze of 2022 is predicted to hit Alicante and the wider Valencian Community today (Thursday).

Towns in the mountainous interior of Alicante, Valencia and Castellon were expected to see temperatures plunge as low as –4°C during the small hours of this morning.

Coastal areas will also experience a chilly 4°C–5°C in certain areas.

January 13th - January 26th 2022

Temperatures in the interior will rise just above freezing over the weekend, though nowhere will enjoy temperatures above 10°C at night, according to Spain’s met office (AEMET).

The biggest chill will be experienced in Villena and the surrounding towns of Sax and Biar.

Torrevieja will enjoy higher nighttime temperatures of 9°C, while Alicante will see

WRAP UP! 6°C and Moraira in the north 5°C. Night temperatures will fall an extra degree over Saturday and Sunday across the region.

Residents in Denia, Javea, Parcent, Moraira and the Marina Alta region should be on alert for showers throughout the week.

Side by side THEY were sisters, both left wing, facing the death penalty for fighting against dictator Franco during the Civil War in 1939.

But Rosario and Carmen Soriano had one major difference, Carmen was pregnant.

Showing the power the church had during the nationalist uprising that brought Franco to power for nearly 40 years, Rosario was shot immediately, while Carmen was allowed to give birth, before being dispatched two years later.

The delay to the later exe-

Cash floods in

Two sisters shot by Franco’s forces finally exhumed from mass grave

By Jon Clarke and Simon Wade

cution came after the local priest insisted she could not be shot while pregnant.

Instead the Callosa resident was allowed to give birth, then suckle the child for its first year before being given to her widower.

While she was summarily shot on August 1, 1941, at

just 22 years old, her partner managed to flee the village and raise their child alone.

Now the bodies of both women have been dug up during the exhumation of dozens of bodies at Alicante’s Municipal Cemetery.

The pair had been dumped in a mass grave that had 13 other bodies, mostly from the nearby villages of Aspe and Ibi. So far dozens of corpses have

REUNITED: The sisters been exhumed from various mass graves at the municipal cemetery.

Many of them had bullet holes in the head or chest, revealed the association Cinco Ojos that is behind the dig.

Their identities are being confirmed via DNA analysis of teeth and bone fragments.

Dignified

Regional Minister, Rosa Perez Garijo, described the finds as ‘very positive’ as the remains can now go to the families of the deceased to get a ‘dignified’ burial.

But she continued: “We still have a lot of work to do and will continue in the name of dignity for our country.”

Throughout Alicante Province, some 400 people from various municipalities disappeared as victims of Franco’s repression, many believed to have been executed after a summary trial.

EMERGENCY flood defence payments have finally landed in the coffers of 27 Vega Baja town halls.

A total of €16 million will go towards preventing a repeat of the severe flooding from the 2019 DANA storms.

Emergency drainage and various retention systems are to be built with the cash from the Generalitat.

Thousands of homes were flooded, roads destroyed and businesses forced to close when the drainage system in parts of the region collapsed.

WRONG WAY!

GUARDIA Civil are trying to track down the kamikaze driver of a car that drove more than 35km in the wrong direction on the AP-7 motorway.

Shocked road users filmed the black Smart car driving in the fast lane of the northbound AP-7 close to the Benissa exit.

Despite repeated calls to 112 and blaring car horns of other motorway users, the car continued its reckless course before eventually evading Guardia traffic cops.

One driver crashed near the Altea exit in the Marina Baixa region of Alicante province. The driver was unhurt.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es THE TRADITIONAL Kings Race fun run returned to the streets of San Fulgencio after an enforced absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 450 local people joined in for the VI edition on Sunday 9, running five kilometres around the municipality.

Councillor for Sports, Ana Maria Villena, beamed: “We are so glad we could resume this activity that is so characteristic of our municipality.”

Steps to recovery Organised by local and provincial councils and Ginssa, the race consisted of two laps of the town, starting and finishing in the Plaza de la Constitución.

Pig poo From front page

slurry and crop fertilisers to leach into the water supply. Concentrations of harmful algae have become ‘more frequent and more intense over time’, confirmed CHS head of water quality Silvia Gomez. “It is important to find the origins and know how we can stop this proliferation,” she said.

A CHARITY for disabled children and their families is due to benefit from the release of a charity single performed by United Voices of Orihuela Costa.

Their version of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill has been produced

by The Blue Lagoon Com-

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NO PORKIES

A FURIOUS row has broken out after a government minister blamed the growth of ‘mega farms’ as a disaster for Spain.

Alberto Garzon came under calls to resign after he told the Guardian newspaper that their rapid expansion in depopulated areas was causing a ‘very serious problem’.

The Minister of Consumer Affairs said the poor practices of the livestock industry was causing a triple crisis of biodiversity loss, pollution and climate change.

“It would be the end for a country like Spain,” he said.

“Desertification is a very serious problem for our country because it depends so much on tourism.

“Visiting a desert isn’t quite as attractive as visiting the Costa del Sol,” he added.

In particular, he slammed the meat production giants that were buying up large tracts of land in rural Spain in areas dy-

Singing for the kids munity Food Bank.

The release is considered to be the first of its kind on Orihuela Costa, and aims to raise thousands of euros for the APANEE Society in Torrevieja.

January 13th - January 26th 2022

Some 19 local expats joined together to record their version of the 1985 Number One hit by Kate Bush.

Other charitable projects are planned for the future, with even more artists be-

Furious backlash after minister takes to UK media to slam quality and environmental problems of Spanish meat from ‘mega farms’

By Joshua Parfitt

ing out as people move to the cities.

Describing the mega farms as ‘unsustainable’ he said: “They pollute the soil, they pollute the water and then they export this poor quality meat from these ill-treated animals.”

Anger

However, his comments sparked anger from PP party leader Pablo Casado, who called the remarks ‘unacceptable’ and ‘untrue’, while Ciudadanos insisted Garzon had caused ‘irremediable damage’ to the Spanish livestock indus-

ing involved, claim The Blue Lagoon.

A source said: “Of course, we could have organised the usual fundraiser but we wanted something bigger and we wanted something everyone could physically own as a souvenir and be proud of it.”

try and export market.

The president of the Basque Country’s veterinary association called for his immediate resignation.

IU party boss Garzon refused to resign however, and even added to his criticism in local Spanish interviews, insisting people should eat less meat.

His comments came as Spain shot into the world’s top five exporters of meat products between 2016 and 2020.

Pork was the biggest export seeing growth of 21% in those four years, with the largest buyer being China (37%).

It translates to a whopping €4.6 billion in pork sales each year coming from around 32 million pigs, with around 93% of them living in megafarms, according to Greenpeace.

What is more alarming is that some 66% of Spain’s entire cultivated areas are used for the production of food to feed the livestock industry.

And worst of all is the large levels of nitrate pollution that is being allegedly caused by slurry from the farms entering the water table.

It is one of the reasons the Mar Menor, in Murcia, has become polluted, according to local ac-

tivists and scientists.

It led to the EU commission to start taking Spain to court over ‘poor application’ of directives on nitrate pollution, last month.

Warnings first arrived back in 2018 over Spain’s failure to control nitrate pollution in waterways and marine environments, where eutrophication can cause algal blooms and mass fish die offs.

Nitrate pollution, often from livestock farms, can affect drinking water which has also been linked to cyanosis in humans as well as gastric cancer.

Part of the EU’s urgency to take Spain to court follows the mass death of fish in the Mar Menor, last year.

Slurry

While the Murcia government banned the use of fertilisers within 1.5km of the lagoon, central government studies have found around 450 pig farms in the catchment area.

Some 10% of these farms break regulations on allowing pig faeces to decompose in open slurry pits, which are not ‘waterproof’ and leach nitrates into waterways.

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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 LET’S MAKE THIS CLEAR IT’S perhaps no surprise that a town hall in the Valencia region should be among the most secretive in Spain.

This is the region, after all, which launched the giant Gurtel scandal and has seen a succession of ex-PP bigwigs caught up in sleaze probes.

With ex-leader of Valencia, Eduardo Zaplana, accused of laundering €20million via a series of opaque offshore companies in Andorra and Luxembourg this month, what example is being set?

So the fact that Rojales town hall hides most of its sensitive information, as does Pilar de la Horadada, Guardamar, Javea and many more, is sadly par for the course.

After all, when the money comes rolling in from the Generalitat and central government once a year, transparency is the last thing on the minds of most mayors and councillors.

Working out schemes to syphon it off for themselves, their friends or their families has long been the way things worked.

Nepotism, bumping up invoices, backhanders for contracts, fake expense claims and paying for jobs that don’t exist are just some of the ways to use the revenue.

So it’s great to discover that there are some towns and cities in the region (Denia and Valencia city, in particular, both scoring over 70%) that are actually leading the way in Spain for openness and honesty.

Let’s be clear, this has nothing to do with political allegiance… It's entirely about the people in charge and whether they want to open up their town halls to public scrutiny.

The good ones clearly understand that their citizens, the taxpayers, have a right to know where their money goes.

It’s a shame that there are still so many dinosaurs still lining themselves up for a fall.

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

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NEWS FEATURE

LEGAL ODDITIES Weird laws that could leave you steamed up

SPANISH law says new rules By affecting business can only Joshua Parfitt come into effect in January or July – which makes a lot of sense, right?

But as it’s January, we’re thinking of all the laws that don’t make a lot of sense.

Like France’s bizarre ban on calling your pig ‘Napoleon’, Samoa’s ban on forgetting your wife’s birthday or the Milanese legal requirement to smile at all times (except at funerals or hospitals) Spain also has some strange laws.

Here are eight that will make you say ¿qué?

No Spanish Castle Magic The Canary Islands are well known for their tropical temperatures and shimmering seas – perfect for a day at the beach.

Except in Tenerife, where it’s illegal to build sand castles.

Similar laws exist on the Costa Blanca in the Valencian Community, where you’re allowed to build sand castles, but only if you use sand from the spot where you’re building and you destroy your structure before you leave.

It sounds like a killjoy law, but stems from local conflicts, like someone who staked out a huge area to build a 1:12 reproduction of the Alcazar de Segovia medieval fortress.

In this case, it was one of us who ruined it for the rest.

1

Name of the game

2

It would appear that the state should keep out of how you name your baby. Your baby is yours, after all.

Except in countries like Denmark, where you must choose a baby name from a pre-approved list.

Spain doesn’t go so far as prescribing a list to name your child, but bans you from naming your child Cain, Judas or Lenin (above).

No mops allowed

3

In the town of Villanueva de la Torre, in Castilla–La Mancha, residents are prohibited from keeping a mop on the balcony.

They are also also banned from hanging out their clothes on balconies, windows or terraces situated above public roads or in sight of public areas.

The draconian laws even call for a fine up to €750 upon the parents of children playing in the street.

NO YEAR’S EVE BAH HUMBUG: Spanish town that hasn’t celebrated the New Year in 25 years

G

OOD luck is the reason why tain village came out to protest the faulmillions of Spaniards eat ty electricity supply, exacerbated by a storm, which ruined their their 12 grapes hopes of eating the 12 on New Year’s uvas de la suerte (grapes Eve – but a stroke of bad More than of luck) and begin 1995 in luck has seen one Spanish town refuse to celebrate 10,000 people good spirits.

New Year’s Eve in Berchuthe new year at all in 25 have visited les, on the slopes of the years - at least not on New Sierra Nevada, has not Year’s Eve. each year for been the same since with It was the last night of 1994 when a power cut the summer fun villagers turning their back on traditional celebrabrought New Year’s Eve tions. celebrations to a halt in But perhaps the village is the living the village of Berchules in Granada.

Nearly all 800 inhabitants of the moun- embodiment of the Spanish phrase no hay mal que por bien no venga (there’s no bad that doesn’t bring good).

If it wasn’t for the bright idea of the village’s nightclub owner, Berchules wouldn’t be known across Spain as the village that celebrates New Year’s Eve smack in the middle of summer.

In 1995, the inhabitants of Berchules decided to hold their New Year’s Eve celeFELIZ FIESTA: But in the summer not winter brations on the date

HOT KINGS: The Three Wise Men arrive in the

least likely to see a powercut: the first weekend in August.

By 1997, the Berchulean Association of New Year’s Eve in August (ABNEA) was founded to oversee the festival – complete with Three Wise Men, nativity scenes and the 12 grapes at midnight – and it's become one of the most popular festivals of the entire Alpujarras mountain region.

In the last four years, more than 10,000 people have visited Berchules each year to take part in the summer fun.

“We get called by the media from all corners of the world, and visitors come in their cars to eat the grapes of luck with us,” one inhabitant said.

So popular is the festival that the An-

January 13th - January 26th 2022

www.theolivepress.es

7

WHO’S BEHIND THE HEADLINES

T Absolutely barking Villanueva de la Torre has a rather strange ban on dogs – no barking at night or during siesta hours (2pm to 4pm).

How disgruntled neighbours should go about fining the offending dog is unclear.

The absurdity doesn’t stop there, however, as the rules also dictate rules of behaviour in lakes, lagoons, hospitals and museums.

4

This is despite the municipality having none of these spaces.

Residents are also prohibited from disposing of their radioactive waste in the town’s garbage bins.

The rules are something the town’s opposition party, the leftwing PSOE, has been fighting since at least 2012.

No dominoes please The game of dominoes is extremely popular in Spain – except for the city of Sevilla in Andalucia, that is.

A local law against acoustic contamination, noise and vibrations puts a ban on anyone playing dominoes on the terraces outside bars in case the noise offends residents in the area.

The same ordenanza also bans anyone from rolling barrels of beer around the street, and prohibits you from eating or drinking next to bar or restaurant terraces.

5

Get a room

e summer heat

dalucian government declared New Year’s Eve in August an official festival of cultural interest.

Though they wouldn’t have known it that dark evening of December 31 in 1994, Berchules’ worst luck has turned out to be the village’s biggest blessing.

And now that power has returned in adequate supplies over the festive period, it means that Berchules is probably the only village in the world that gets to see in the New Year twice, even if it is in the privacy of their own home on December 31.

No tap dancing please

6

Keeping the peace is huge business in Spain – the country leads the E U ’ s ranking for shared living spaces with 66.5% of the population living in apartments and urbanisations.

Neighbourly disputes have no doubt caused a slew of ordenanzas regulating what you can and can’t do, especially in the capital of Madrid.

Madrid joins the cities of Mojacar in Andalucia and Ciudad Real in Castilla–La Mancha in banning anyone from running, jumping, skating or tap dancing inside apartment blocks and urbanisations.

7

A quick roadside romp in the car seems like a harmless affair, provided there's consent of course.

But in the cities of Granada and Malaga it is a crime to have sex in your car in accordance with laws that also ban sexual acts in public places.

A man was fined €750 in the Costa del Sol capital of Malaga after police caught him having sex in his car near to a public road – on appeal, the man pleaded the fine be reversed as ‘vegetation’ blocked the illicit act from public view.

Generally in Spain, it is also a crime to perform sexual acts while driving, as a man in Valencia found out after receiving a €200 fine for masturbating at the wheel.

He also lost three points for ‘distraction’ while driving, probably along with his pride.

Get a room in Bilbao, seriously While less benign, it is still a crime to sleep in your car in the northern city of Bilbao.

The rule that regulates public spaces extends the ban to caravans, motorhomes and tents, adding that you can't sleep in them within the city's boundaries during night or day.

The ban goes further still, banning anyone from sleeping on benches, bathing or washing clothes

8

HE media, more than any other, is a people business.

It’s all about communication and that can not be done by robots. At least not yet.

So aside from the Olive Press’ A-team of full time journalists, who work around the clock to provide the best English news service in Spain, we can rely on a big squad of additional talent.

Over the last decade and a half, the Olive Press has assembled a skilled group of writers, who look behind the headlines to bring you in-depth and original features from around the country.

We have also acquired an impressive team of experts and specialists who are ahead in their fields and who always have a finger on the pulse.

These include our property insider Adam Neale, our legal eagle Antonio Flores, our mortgage man Tancrede de Pola and our insurance guru Jennifer Cunningham.

Each of them comes up with regular incisive analysis… and a few of them have done so for well over a decade.

The same could be said for columnist Giles Brown, one of the funniest expat writers around, while Bill Anderson, Martin Tye and Sue Wilson MBE more than know their onions in the world of politics and the environment.

And then there are our history and culture writers like Jack Gaioni, David Baird and Heather Galloway, who always file original - and often quirky - features on a regular basis.

But sadly many of our brilliant writers’ articles don’t quite make the paper.

Take Jo Chipchase’s colourful look at the alternative scene around the Alpujarras region, published on the website this week. Or Joshua Parfitt’s insightful view on Spain’s important skiing industry…sadly, neither of them have made the printed paper.

So yes, there is so much more going on behind the scenes in our engine room, the website.

With over 20 stories and features a day, it more than justifies its cost of just under €6 a month… or under €60 for the whole year.

What are you waiting for?

Visit www.theolivepress.es now.

OLIVE PRESS ONLINE: FULL ACCESS:

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

in municipal fountains, or cooking in public places.

As a caravan user in one forum suggested, if you want to sleep in your motorhome in Bilbao, bring a book to pretend you’re just reading.

measures and restrictions to re1- COVID-19 turn to Spain’s Andalucia in the New Year Holidays in Spain 2021: full list of 2- Bank dates for every autonomous community restrictions in place in Spain’s 3- COVID-19 Andalucia ahead of New Years Eve

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

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1 9 .

E ns d s 3 1 3/ 11 2/ 1/ 12 9/ . c od ni td i i ot ni os .n s .E n d Sb uj eb cj te c t t o t o c o n . t oe mr se r s o n ol yn . l y S u s m rf o r n e nw e w c u cs tu o f ef rf e r v a lv i a dl i d f o * O *f O

13:30 13:30 21/6/1921/6/19

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1 1 TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.indd TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.indd

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Se ep ag es 2,4 ,5 ,6 ,7 ,8

January 13th - January 26th 2022

MORE THAN A VIRUS

T was a year marked yet again by the coronavirus pandemic, with much of our daily coverage focusing on the ever changing rules, updates on infection rates and the progress of Spain’s vaccine drive.

We also reported on some extraordinary natural disasters beginning with Storm Filomena in January, which left much of Spain, including Madrid, under a blanket of thick snow.

Natural disasters OLIVE continued PRESS with flooding, summer heatwaves, one of the most devastating wildfires to hit the Costa del Sol and finally a volcanic eruption on the Canary Island of BIG HEARTED: Expats rallied around La Palma. after Estepona fire

Mijas Costa

NEWS

A phoenix from the flames as thousands of northern European residents rally to the fire call!

X

clears AS THE embers cool and the smoke hillabove the vast swathes of blackened is sides in the Sierra Bermeja, a phoenix rising from the ashes. is deThis is the spirit of a community that those termined to pull together and help close affected by a blaze which ravaged between to 10,000 hectares of woodland a young Estepona and Ronda - and killed p a n i s h S fireman.

So quickly have expats rallied to ALL AREAS COVERED the call to help the victims 4G UNLIMITED the of INTERNET six-day IDEAL FOR blaze, STREAMING TV t h a t AmeriALSO IPTV, can fundSATELLITE TV raising giant Gotel: (0034) 952 763 840 FundMe info@theskydoctor.com contactwww.theskydoctor.com the ed

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HELPING HANDS: Graham’s daughters gave pocket money

Olive Press to praise them. the The Californian company lauded unprecedented number of campaigns dozen - already numbering over half a launched by expats over the last week.

They include British resident Graham somePagden, 51, who felt moved to dowildfire thing to help having watched the his come dangerously close to ravaging valley home.

The Casares-based property manager of particularly wanted to help the family41, Haro, Martinez dead fireman Carlos from Almeria.

Ferocious

are “I looked at my two daughters who we about the same age as his and thought he left have to do something for the girls week. behind,” he told the Olive Press thishas alThe ‘Go Fund Me’ drive he set upfamily. ready raised €6,600 for the Haro his wife “Someone who says goodbye to the and daughters and travels across country to stand in front of a ferocious is a fire to save people and their homes, sad little bit special,” he said. “It’s very indeed.”

Picture by David Lopez / Olive Press

Spain

EXPAT AID

TRAGIC: Dead fireman Carlos pocket His daughters have donated their money to the cause along with hundreds felt of others around Andalucia who moved to do something.

As the fire raged, the expat community rushpulled together with volunteers by the ing to those who were threatened blaze.

Members of the equestrian communithe fire ty offered to take in horses from dogs zone, animal lovers took in over 100 were from ADANA, while voluntary vets Continues on Page 8

OLIVE PRESS

The FREE

Vol. 5 Issue 115

Brits in the frame unAT least three British expats are der investigation into a €50 million fraud case following police raids across Mallorca. in The British landlord of a crew flat by Santa Catalina, which was raided armed Spanish and German officers to has been questioned in relation the fraud.

Others under investigation include two Britons with a business in Puerto Portals that may have been used almost exclusively to launder large amounts of money.

The simultaneous raids in Mallorca cities, and various other European by primarily in Germany, were led a the Prosecutor's Office in Palma in joint operation with German police. deBritish yachtie Dandelion Sharp, scribed the terrifying raid by police her at the crew house in Palma when door was kicked down by police with assault rifles and pistols.

“There were about 20 of them, some and rifles with armed in uniform others in plain clothes with hand guns,” described deckhand Sharp, 21, from Somerset.

“I was really scared and had no idea what was happening and whether they intended to harm me. It was like waking up in a movie.”

Spain in review: The biggest and most important stories covered by the Olive Press during 2021

We also dedicated many stories to environmental issues during 2021,

By Fiona Govan from the continuing plight of the Mar Menor in Murcia, to the tragedy of Spain’s disappearing wetlands as living in Spain and we covered the aquifers were plundered to irrigate ongoing complications from strugfarmland. gles to exchange driving licences and Plus we delved into protests against complications with residency applicamass solar farms that threaten to tions, to the scandal of extra post ofdestroy some of the fice fees and limitations most beautiful corners of the 90-day-rule. of Spain.

We wrote articles about Went in for Later in the year, a the thousands of Brits a gallstone team of campaigners left vulnerable thanks - who were fighting to Brexit and uncovoperation and to reinstate the protective ered a massive fraud status of an ancient came out minus investigation involving valley near Granada's a gestor service on the a leg Alhambra - thanked the Costa Blanca that saw Olive Press for bringing expat British pensionmuch-needed and imers arrested and left in pactful awareness to their story. limbo over residency applications..

But beyond these wider issues we fo- We followed the trials and tribulacused on the stories that most affect- tions affecting our readers thanks to ed our readers and the expat commu- a combination of travel restrictions nities in Spain. and Brexit including a plane load of This was the first year that the ram- British visitors being turned away ifications of Brexit were felt by Brits from Alicante airport because a bor-

MALLORCA

Network

not The exact nature of the scam has yet been revealed, but it is understood that the international network deceived customers with products online that did not exist. isThe ‘frontman’ of the fraud on the land is another foreign citizen, whose nationality has not yet been divulged, per who was allegedly paid €1,000 month to act as the CEO of a large international investment company. of But it’s reported he was unaware any fraudulent activity.

The man lives in the Gomila district of Palma, one of the properties raided. an Police sources indicate that he is alcoholic and was used by the fraudsters who had power of attorney.

Various companies in Ireland were name, his using closed opened and but he claimed not to know about them.

In February 2020, Germany requested the man’s extradition.

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Expats must stay in Spain in limbo for two years while alleged residency scam is probed by police EXCLUSIVE

By Simon Wade

How one organised community of expats is putting El Raso on the map

See page 12

EXPATS caught up in a fraudulent OLIVE residency scam run by a gestor on PRESS the Costa Blanca have been told by police that they can’t leave the country while the case is investigated.

Dozens of people are facing a life in legal limbo for up to two years while police investigate the alleged fraud before it is decided if they face deportation or can legally stay.

It comes after the Olive Press reported on a group of expats who had been detained by police over padron certificates that952 Tel: 952 147 appear 147 834 to SCOOP:834How the Olive Press have been doctored by one particular gestor they hired to process their broke the story last edition TIE applications. lice Station and questioned over her part in ‘an alleged fraud’.

The 53-year-old said she and her Grilled They included 71-year-old wid- husband Nigel had confronted Matt ow Lily Higgins and friend Jay Smith, owner of One Way Services, Elliott, who were grilled over about why a doctored certificate their town hall registration had been submitted on their behalf. STUCK: Jane Long (above) has been told by police that she can’t travel while forms, which were handled by “Smith said he was only trying to Elliott were ‘treated like criminals’ after using Lily Higgins and Jay One Way Services help people,” she told the Olive One Way Services. she was told by detectives at the Several more have since come for- Press.

Policia Nacional that ward to complain about the British “He said he’d already admitted his considered ‘guilty, untilshe will be proven ingestor, in Ciudad Quesada, which is guilt to the police, before shredding nocent’. my fake padron in front of my eyes” at the centre of the investigation.

Mrs Long despaired: “I was told I These include Jane Long of Torre- she added. couldn’t even travel back vieja who was taken to Alicante Po- He added that she should ‘expect a because I’m a criminal!” to the UK phone call from the police merely to The Kent answer a police hadwoman revealed that the informed her, ‘another few ques- 40-plus people will also be arresttions’. ed.’

However, Fellow Brit, after be- us he also Brian Williams, 63, told had to give a statement at See page 23 ing taken Alicante police station last week. away in It involved a police has lived the property owner, who car, held having hisin Spain for seven years, fingerprints taken, as for two well as getting photographed. h o u r s , “It was astonishing,” he told the Olf i n g e r - ive Press. p r i n t - case could “I’m now told the court t o take 18 months to two c o n d i t i o n s .

E n d s ed and years, possibly 3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 . p h o t o - He continued:more.” graphed, on September “I started all this When the Olive Press called Matt sponse to written questions.

1, but it became ap- Smith for an explanation he refused He sought 21/6/19 13:30 parent as time to answer questions. to reassure One Way went on there lawyer,” he said before“Speak to my clients that they would not be held hanging up. criminally responsible. was something National Police confirmed to the Olamiss. ive Press that detectives are work- “So it is totally clear now that the The highest quality ladies or criminal investigation is being fo“I feel this can ing alongside the mens wigs available and can be purchased from our go two ways: now investigate Guardia Civil to cused only against my client so for retail shop in the all residencia ap- sure the fiscal centre of Benidorm and also I'm will not start found plications in Alicante made on our online store in 2021. actions against his clients criminal guilty and desadly afELLE WILLE COLLECTIONS fected,” he said. ported or after CHANGES • PERUCCI • HAIR Cleared If it emerges that any other of One possibly SOCIETY • HAIR POWER two PRIME POWER • POWER PIECES years I'm grant- The lawyer later confirmed to the Way clients were to be detained • HAIR FOR MANCE PURE EUROPE • PURE POWER over the matter, the lawyer said: “Mr Olive Press that Smith had made ed residencia.

COLLECTION a “I put all my statement to police clearing his cli- Smith will proceed immediately to Visit us online faith into One ents of any knowledge of the alleged clarify in front of police or/and the Way Services fraud. “My client explained [to the court that these clients have no relaSALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS and have been police] that none of the clients had tion at all with any criminal activity.” so let down, a produced the applications themMoriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea Av. Ametlla de Mar, 9, 03502, very stressful selves [but] only paid my client to Have you been affected?

Benidorm, Alicante (+34) 604 time for me and apply for the TIE on their behalf,” Please contact us on news285 367 countless oth- David Guijarro Mayor from ABC desk@theolivepress.es www.moraira-hamiltons.net solicitors told the Olive Press in reers,” he added.

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‘Hellish and humiliating’ as British expats over ‘fraudulent’ arrested residency applications

HUMILIATED: A GROUP of British Lily and expats Jay were questioned have been detained EXCLUSIVE after their padron by police even deportation.

By Simon Wade proving they livedcertificates “I’ve never been in trouble in Spain appear to have before been doc- derly expats described the treated but here I am, being tored. situation as ‘humiliating’ like a common crimand At least eight people have ‘hellish’, after they were held inal,” said Higgins. “It’s hubeen grilled over miliating.” for the town tion.questioning under cau- They hall registration added that the same were all handledforms, which They told the gestor is being Olive Press how for investigated gestor company by the same they were carted changing the date on the Costa Blanca. te police station to Alican- least 22 more British on at appliNational Police about falsifying and grilled cants. the Olive Pressconfirmed to submitted with documents Another couple, tives are workingthat detec- card applications. their TIE not to be named, who asked told the Olthe Guardia Civil alongside “We were wrongly ive Press how they to now investigate all residencia for submitting fake arrested questioned when had been they went appli- even padrons, to collect that his is anything cations in Alicante their TIE cards. made in rect though we put the cor- “We only gestor businessbut the 2021. were ones in with our to be dragged into the paper- read our taken into a room, work for residencia,” rights and investigation Elliott, 66, of Orihuelasaid Jay explain why our 2021 told to Fraud padron “Nobody has been Costa, had who has lived arrested, in Spain for 2020been doctored to show a It comes after that is a fact,” date - it was hell.” ‘widespread over five years. fraud’ was allegedly adding: “Other he insisted, All those She gestors are in over 22 Britons detected gins,and her friend Lily Hig- One Way detained had used also being brought 71, had planned Services, a gestor in as part to become residentattempting peaceful of an ongoing investigation for a based in Quesada, here. retirement in near TorThis week a number into TIE applications.” the of el- sun but are now living with revieja, to process their apA police spokesman plications - including the threat of a court told the Olive Press: “All case or padron. the residencia Owner Matt Smith insisted Continues on Page 5

3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 .

21/6/19 13:30

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Transport secretary Grant Shapps the said it was not possible to scrap adsystem sooner because scientific vice did not favour it.

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By Isha Sesay THE UK’s controversial traffic next system will be officially scrapped reTheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.ind month - and airlines have already are now set to seed a1 healthy and Ibiza ported a surge in bookings. book- autumn and winter season.

Ryanair reports an explosion of end The majority of their bars and restausee ings to Spain after news broke of the rants rely on British tourists to of the hated COVID testing system.busi- them through the difficult winter In what is excellent news for expat is months. green nesses in the Balearics, this weekend The current red, amber and set to be the busiest for UK bookings country rankings will be replaced with since 2019. one red list only from October 4. loosening “We are seeing extraordinary bookings flights It also means a significant and entering for the mid term break. All our people for are of travel rules to Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain leaving the UK, from around Europe. filling up very rapidly,” said Ryanair Passengers who are fully vaccinated to present a boss Michael O’Leary.

Calvia will also no longer need Popular destinations like Palma, negative test to travel into England from countries not on the red list.

See page 5 The red list, which features 62 countries at present, will be reduced

The Olive Press helps TV investigation into the death of Kirsty Maxwell

See page 3

952 147 834

the UK as the traffic light Get set for rush of bookings from

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‘simHe said the changes would mean a one pler, more straightforward system, alwith less testing and lower costs, loved lowing more people to travel, see the ones or conduct business around the world while providing a boost for travel industry.’ is British demand for foreign holidays level highest its reach to now expected for since 2019 after the main barrier travel to Spain was removed.

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UPBEAT AND INVESTIGATING: From good news of a tourist boom to a probe into an expat gestor fraud der guard refused to acknowledge that their paperwork was in order.

We also caught up with the Brexit refugees who moved to Spain from Britain while they still could.

Our coverage in 2021 included the shocking experiences of patients at Torrevieja hospital with Brits reporting that they had been either ignored or mistreated and abused at the hands of staff including one Brit who went in for a gallstone operation, and came out minus his right leg after disastrous post-op complications.

Our year included reporting on nu-

merous scams perpetrated against expats in Spain.

We covered several stories about the plight of readers from a man who had to pay to have his dream home demolished after falling foul of planning rules to a single mother evicted from her home after council notices were sent to the wrong address.

Then there were the horror rental stories, from the traumatised mother who moved her family into a cockroach infested home after being hoodwinked by rental agents in Malaga, to the couple who returned

Don’t Look Up! Jo Chipchase, a Brit living in Spain, looks back on 2021, a year marked by the continued pandemic and the fallout from Brexit

A

S I slumped on the sofa on Boxing Day, ge-hued populist at the White House. Biden had wanting background distraction, I clic- already won on November 30, 2020, but Trump ked dismissively on the Netflix home was denying the result and didn’t want to handoscreen and selected ‘Don’t Look Up’, ver in good grace. By January 6, he had invoked which looked like a naff disaster movie requiring a riot at Capital Hill, in which five people died zero attention. To my surprise, what unfolded and one fake ‘Qanon shaman’, Jacob Chanswas an excellent metaphor for the whole year – ley, was splashed across the media in his bison costume, highlighting the ongoing problem and the state of the world.

If you haven’t seen it, ‘Don’t Look Up’ is a star-stu- with the ‘Cosmic Right’, who have been drawn dded Hollywood take on what would occur if in by conspiracy theories and are campaigning a large ‘planet destroyer’ comet was hurtling against vaccines. towards earth. The protagonists, a pair of highly While many people celebrated that ‘number qualified scientists, try to warn the Whitehouse 45’ was finally out of office – and the Qanon and public of the destructive power of the comet. supporters soon disappeared, tails between legs However, they are initially scorned, before the is- – some Brits felt miffed that we still had Boris Josue is taken up for political gain. hnson as our clown-like prime minister.

To summarise, one of the world’s richest men We could at least be smug that it wasn’t a great (with Elon Musk overtones) stops an attempt by year for Boris. Notable highlights were Dominic the US government to divert the Cummings dishing tons of dirt comet and save earth, so he can on the PM and his cabinet during break it up using his own techMay, endless sleaze enquiries, Meghan and nology and harvest its valuable questions about undisclosed dominerals. I won’t add spoilers, but Harry behaving nations - some of which paid to redecorate Boris’ flat - the Ranthere are nods towards populism, like petulant dox lobbying corruption, and the capitalism and political corruption, science-denial, inequality, teens for a PR recent ‘partygate’ scandal, where misogyny, fake news, and how it emerged that Boris and buddebacle dies necked wine and chomped people are far more interested in cheese together during Christcelebrities, pop culture and social mas 2020, while UK resinetworks than serious issues… to see their such as climate change, coming in a year when dents weren’t even allowed relatives.

Cop 26 was a damp squib.

The plot also includes the super-rich escaping on Also embarrassing re public a spaceship, with a nod to Jeff Bezos wanting to figures were Meghan and commercialise space tourism and Richard Bran- Harry behaving like petulant son jetting off in his phallic-shaped rocket in July. teens and creating a PR debacle, Until they are about to die, many people in the Prince Andrew and his ties to paemovie try to claim the comet doesn’t exist (re- dophile Epstein, and the grismind you of anything?) and run a campaign ly trial of Ghislaine Maxwell. saying ‘don’t look up’ into the sky, hence the title. None of these showed ‘Great’ It is also apt that critics disagree massively about Britain in a good light. the film. One critic moans: “This end of world During 2021, many Brits comedy should just have been more fun.” in Spain were heard to say, I strongly suspect that some critics who hate ‘thank heavens we live in ‘Don’t Look Up’ are secret Trump supporters or Spain and not the UK’. Despite experiencing another Cocannot stomach difficult themes.

Speaking of Trump, by the start of 2021, we vid-ridden 12 months, we didn’t were lucky enough to see the end of the oran- have food or supply chain issues, or

PERFECT OVERVIEW: Film Don’t Look Up well reflects 2021 a ‘pingdemic’ with a COVID app running riot, and we had a summer of relative freedom, without the need to announce a stupid ‘Freedom Day’ that would serve to infect people and divide opinion.

The Spanish vaccination programme started exactly a year ago and is still ongoing. With third doses appearing now, we begin 2022 with the Covid vaccine certificate required to enter bars and restaurants – a controversial move, causing riots in Barcelona - and the same arguments taking place as a year ago. Not a day goes by without anti-vaxxers trying to claim that ‘the jab’ is the real killer or angry debates about masks.

Having kicked off 2021 with the Alpha variant, progressed through Delta, and now having Omicron (anagram for ‘moronic’, said the anti-vaxxers with glee), the pandemic isn’t ending anytime soon, although a milder Omicron seems to be turning COVID into a cold.

I think we are stuck in Groundhog Day – at least, regarding people’s social interactions.

With rules tightening again, the expat forums remain full of smug people who want to police others, and armchair warriors who did their ‘research on YouTube’ and want to invoke their ‘nurenberg (sic) rights’.

Have we ever been more divided?

2021 also had something of a Groundhog Day vibe re Brexit and

the impact on Brits in Spain, as well as Brits in Britain. I wrote a year ago about ‘swallows’ with second homes in Spain coming unstuck with the 90-day rule, the problems with UK-originating parcels and Spanish customs, and exchanging UK driving licenses to Spanish ones.

Some 365 days later and we are besieged with the same silly questions, such as ‘why did I pay €15 to receive my UK eBay parcel’, ‘do I have to take a Spanish driving test’ or ‘can I stay here beyond 90 days without passport control noticing’.

Unfortunately, many Brits have had their passports wrongly stamped by Spanish airport officials. This problem persists, despite repeated attempts to flag it to the British Embassy. It recently happened to my son, who is the only member of my family to be shown leaving Malaga but not re-entering. That said, we were grateful to make it to the UK, after the travel restrictions loosened in late October (requiring a day two lateral flow test instead of PCRs), only to be reintroduced in early December because of Omicron.

I think these will all be trivial issues to residents of La Palma, who had a spectacular but terrifying volcano erupt for 85 consecutive days, until Christmas, and destroyed around 3,000 homes.

Last year, I concluded that 2021 would be better than 2020.

For many people, it was – with no house confinement and the hospitality sector not completely mullered - although some divisions will be hard to heal.

From polarisation over Leave/Remain, masked/ unmasked, vaxxed/unvaxxed or COVID pass/ no COVID pass, I personally think we can sort the wheat from the chaff over who likes ‘Don’t Look Up’ and who slates it because they want a “more slapstick” approach to the world ending.

NEWS

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January 13th - January 26th 2022

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Madrid Spain Fiona Govan in schools around INTERNATIONALhigh alert after a British have been put on at one of Madrid’s most idenman began teachingmonths after being conafter creating a new language academy exclusive colleges post tity, using forged documents. sex offender revicted in the UK. Lewis got teaching colleagues of the raised after Ben Lewis, dodge Questions have beenat the school despite be- Formerthat he created a new name to sum- DANGER: vealed to run as an English teacher 31, was able to workoffenders register. record checks in order classes to 2017 he accepted a job (concertado) secprivate ing on the UK’s sex discovered that Lewis, criminal from camps and teach at a leading semi-private receives subsidies The Olive Press has trial for child sex of- mer children. after ondary school that V, young who is now awaiting his name to Ben David by Penitenciario Madrid name Ben David a He had changed in June 2016 of taking and the state. fences at Centro TWO schools and in “He was going by the the job after another being convicted images of children managed to hoodwink then and was offered mid-term,” a former possessing indecent England.

Olive on teacher dropped out Fitzsimons told the As well as being placed and be- colleague Natasha the sex offender list posisus- Press. desperate to fill the ing handed a two-year as he was “I think they were weren’t as thorough pended sentence, the tion so maybe they barred from leaving with they should have been. country or working children.

Horrified he had 18 Yet within weeks found at the school for worked together classes together gomoved to Spain and as a live- “We took on private work in Zaragoza with months, homes of some of the children for in au pair to a family ing to the and ran a summer the three young children.he re- extracurricular teaching during 2018,” said The following yearand be- camp at the school is filled with horror at who located to Madrid at a Irish colleague, to children. gan teaching children the access he had that the day NAMES: two Press has discovered well-known language his get- The Olive the UK he changed different passports academy after after sentencing in Ben David Lewis ting a criminal record name by deed poll from that takes just 15 in a process check from Zaragohe to Ben David, za police to show in minutes. a British for and received also prehad no convictions He then applied while he Spain over the previ- passport in his new name, Israeli photocopy of his ous 12 months. sented a doctored and verified by a Then in December passport stamped firm that showed non-existent law Rose. his name as Ben David seen photocopThe Olive Press has a teaching degree ies of these, plus Status (QTS) and Qualified Teaching in the name certificates presented as well as certifALL AREAS COVERED of Ben David Rose name. icates in his originalis that by April What is amazing 4G UNLIMITED for a teaching 2019 he had applied school in the INTERNET job at a leading private Soria district that IDEAL FOR upmarket Arturo curriculum to the STREAMING TV teaches the British elite. children of Madrid’sa DBS certificate ALSO IPTV, By now he also had SATELLITE TV 6 Opinion Page

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...and our team of long-term writers, recall their decade and a half living in the world’s most exciting country.

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Vol. 15 Issue 365 March - April 2021

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ROM its very first issue in 2006 the Olive Press has been campaigning for its community.

Whether fighting for the environment or digging into crooks, we have taken some big scalps.

Starting from Issue One (see top right) we highlighted the ridiculous plans to build 2000 houses, two golf courses and two hotels on UNESCO-protected land near Ronda, as well as exposed the madness of building a 350-room monstrosity on a virgin beach in Almeria’s Cabo de Gata.

Both schemes - Los Merinos, in Ronda, and the Algarrobico hotel, in Almeria - went into reverse after our stories made the UK AND Spanish national newspapers and green groups including Greenpeace and Ecologistas en Accion joined our protests.

And then there were the crooks, like Crimestoppers’ Most Wanted Daniel Johnston, a bank robber, and Matthew Sammon, a dangerous paedophile, who we single-handedly tracked down to a village near Sevilla and a car park in Fuengirola.

And fraudsters like David ‘the dogman’ Klein, pet transport DON’T MISS OUR

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And it was nice to chat to Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera, as well as the only newspaper to be able to pose a couple of questions to Michelle Obama on her visit to Marbella a few years ago.

Indeed, the positives far outweigh the negatives and we would prefer to be judged over 50 rather than 15 years.

As far as we are concerned we have only just begun.

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The English language press plays a vital role in keeping UK nationals in Spain informed. And we very much appreciate your help in getting key messages out to UK nationals here.

After an incredibly difficult year for so many of us, including many businesses, it is great to see the Olive Press thriving. We look forward to seeing what the next 15 years bring.

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AND COASTS

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UPROAR: Beach protestors in Tarifa and virgin Cala de San Pedro (below)

La Cala Cougar moves inland

The hulking shell of concrete - once set for a 311-room mega SWATHES of rural Andalucia remained an eyesore resort - has are in for years after danger of being concreted work was halted by the over after a new planning law Bunkers are also being courts. was brought in by the regional government.

700-home golf course dug to stop a Green groups including Nerja, which will see scheme, near Ecologisthe developtas en Accion and Greenpeace ment of one of the Costa have joined with hundreds del Sol’s final stretches of pristine ciations to fight on a of local assoAnd protesters in Mijascoast. series of new fronts opened up during are also digging in to stop the COVID SOON the law being crisis.

LEGAL?: Algarrobico used to build in woods overlooking They are up in arms the sea at called LISTA law - over the so- one, but TWO new hotels on virgin The first El Chaparral. the lockdown - that passed during beaches in the supposedly protect- took placeof many planned protests outside council offices dozens of previously is set to allow ed natural park of Cabo de Gata. in la Cala de Mijas this outlawed proj- The first involves the week. ects to go ahead. a 30-room hotel neargreen light for It could also see the controversial In particular, activists the globally Valdevaqueros project of hundreds about a controversialare outraged famous Bahia de Los Genoveses of homes go up on a heavily-pronew golf beach, while the second course in Nerja, as is for a two- tected stand of woodland inwell as a final star hotel close to the pristine Cala Under virgin beach, near Tarifa.

Mijas. the recently resubmitted de San Pedro bay (pictured They are also furious about not Protestors fear the new law above). project, backed by TV celebrity now allow the legalization will also Rosa Quintana, the stunning Ana area of nearby between Bolonia and Tarifa would El Algarro- see a series of hotels get bico hotel, Ecologists built. are also worried that built dis- Los Merinos the project for two-golf gracefully courses on a virgin es on and hundreds of housUNESCO-protected beach, near land near Ronda could be virgin Carboneras, despite revived, due to a preme being quashed by the SuCourt. planning mix up.

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Cartel behind Putin’s mystery costa home

When it comes to corruption we were the first English newspaper to write about the ERE scandal at the Junta de Andalucia that cost an estimated billion euros to the taxpayers, while we also tackled town hall theft on a local scale on dozens of occasions.

Animal cruelty has been a continual bugbear and we have exposed so many evil abusers, as well as the scoundrels who allowed hunters to kill innocent circus lions and tigers at a finca in Extremadura (see below).

On a more positive front, it was great to interview everyone from Princess Diana’s ex-lover James Hewett to cooking

maverick Jeremy Griffiths, and Nigel Goldman, a degenerate gold-dealing dirt-bag, who had a restaurant column in a local newspaper, which he used to cover his tracks.

We also tackled timeshare crook Toni Muldoon, who certainly deserves a mention for conning thousands of people and eventually went to prison for setting up fake escort websites.

Meanwhile, our crime reporting on missing teen Amy Fitzpatrick ‘blew open the case’, to use the words of her grandmother, while our continuing investigation into missing Maddie McCann has yielded exclusive after exclusive, with its frequent links to Spain.

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They’re all in our new Property magazine out this week PAGE 13

BANGED UP: Sammon bundled into police car and (inset) his campervan

How the CEO of organized crime corrupted a town hall PAGE 8

EXCLUSIVE: Expat tip leads Olive Press snare one of UK’s most team wanted paedophiles to

Secret Malaga

It’s a true city of culture, Malaga has so much morebut PAGE 16

In the Serrania Don’t miss our 12-Page Ronda supplement

PAGE 19

EAGLE-EYED Olive readers helped snag one Press of Britain’s most wanted fugitives Spain, just hours after he in had been named. al Crime Agency, Following a tip off to the paper, the scene after who arrived at suspected paedophile Matthew the arrest.

“Well done Olive Press Sammon was dragged from and his thanks to the campervan in a dramatic night- for tipping us expat community time raid and whisked away off, in son we run these this is the reaan unmarked police car. campaigns.”

Working closely with informant The dramatic day had started when Crimestoppers issued Daniel Reid, we were able its to annual list of most firstly track down Sammon wanted tives in Torremolinos on fugito Fuengirola, then call Thursin the day morning.

Guardia Civil to arrest him.

Leading to hundreds of On the run for two years, press Sam- stories around mon - a blackbelt in Jujitsu the world and - on national television, was wanted in the UK for the hunt shar- was immediately ing indecent images of children. on.

But, it was to popular His seizure came just 10 local after he was named in hours newspaper the Olive Press Opera- that expat plasterer tion Captura and is the quickest Reid, reached out to, trusting 40, recorded arrest in the joint us to SUCCESS: Reid, Horgan, UK ‘do the job properly’. and Spanish police operation.

Reynolds and Brunt In a series of Facebook “It was a fantastic result,” mes- as a labourer and said sages, he announced was currently Steve Reynolds, from the Nationthat mon, 45, had worked forSam- living in a campervan around him the Mijas and Fuengirola area.

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Within an hour, the Olive Press car, Sammon covered his team scrambled to Fuengirola, face and remained silent learning from another when builder questioned by the Olive Press. that he was currently camped He was then bundled into out at the feria ground.

BMW and taken to Madridthe After a day working nearby, to the be fingerprinted and prepared Londoner duly arrived in his for extradition.

English-plated cream Moncayo Following the arrest, father-ofcampervan. two Reid said he was ‘relieved’ Parking up, he looked relaxed to see Sammon taken away. as he took his dog for a walk “As soon as I saw his face around the feria ground among and the most wanted I felt spoke with neighbours. said Reid, from Blackpool.sick,” Once identified, we called the “I let him hang around my Guardia Civil and Crimestopdren, we took him in with chilpers and so began a tense arms and at first were noneopen hour waiting game, withthreethe wiser. sitting in the car beside us. Reid “But we always thought Sky News crime reporter he was tin Brunt was soon there Mar- a bit weird, he’s a real loner and never talks about his family.

Eventually, as night hadtoo. well “He creeped my family and truly fell, an unmarked much that I fired him.” out so black BMW arrived and two Incredibly, police did plain clothes detectives swiftly evidence from his not take any moved in for the arrest, confiscampervan cluding his computer and incating his passport and phone. other Frisking him at the side of the

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and failure to so is a criminal ofIN the United Kingdom a person fence which could result in a term does not need to follow an official not exceeding five years imprisonprocess to start using a new name, ment. but they require a ‘deed poll’ to However, evidence demonstrates apply for or to change official docu- that not every registered sex offenda ments such as a new passport. er will act with honesty and report This can be done simply and easily change of name as required. online for little or no cost in a pro- The Safeguarding Alliance discovcess that takes no longer than 15 ered through Freedom of Informaminutes to process and can even be tion requests to 16 of the UK’s 46 completed from a prison cell. police forces that 913 people with OfSexual the of 84 section Under sex offence convictions had gone fences Act of 2003, an offender missing after changing their names must report a name change within without informing the police. three working days to the police,

The Rock will, as in other years, be a glory of red and white as residents proudly display their national flag and the Moorish Castle is lit up in the colours for the occasion.

In an improvement to last year, residents will be treated to a spectacular fireworks display.

National Day is a chance to reflect on the sacrifices of the last year and the resilience of the locals.

And with the very real hope that this time next year, National Day will be back, bigger and better than ever before.

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TRIBUTE: To Rock's strength

THE Rock once again is unable to mark its National Day with big celebrations.

But that doesn’t mean that spirits will be dampened.

With the pandemic in its second year, Gibraltarians are being asked to mark the day with muted celebrations with friends and at home.

A message from Chief Minister Fabian Picardo (above) to Olive Press readers, sums it up: “This year, we are once again forced to tone down the popular events and restrict them to television and online, together with family reunions on a small scale.

“Despite this, the spirit of National Day remains deep within Gibraltarians and our friends.”

ACCOMPLICE:Brueckner was out with mystery friend who vanished

time at the ...meanwhile, we spend most famous home of the world’s he’s plumber as he announces citizen, after becoming a Spanish losing €15m to 15 years here and his ex-wives...

OU

f o r

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reaches its 15th As the Olive Press a few of our birthday, we recall and remember favourite interviewsreaders, such a couple of our top Rajoy (above) as ex-prime minister Gascoigne... and prime joker Paul

WHO IS HE?

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21/6/19

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THE START: The first

6th 2021

MINISTERIO DE JUSTICIA

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Vol. 15 Issue 365

after a school warningto Spain, EXCLUSIVE: Private paedophile moved convicted Britishrecord checks and found dodged criminal

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a his identity and find work as teacher in several Madrid schools where he was arrested for abusing at least 36 children.

31, We reported how Ben Lewis, had changed his name by deed poll, applied for a new British repassport, and dodged criminal the cord checks despite being on register. offenders UK’s sex Police in Spain issued a stateLewis ment last week describing evilo

Vol. 5 Issue 156

X

Spain.

The campaign follows an investiregation by the Olive Press that vealed how easy it was for a convicted UK sex offender to change

children,” she continued.

DE REGISTRO CENTRAL SEXUALES “This loophole is arguDELINCUENTES ably the biggest safeguarding scandal the world has ever seen and there is an opportunien ZARAGOZA ty for Spain to lead the Gerente Territorial way in tackling it at a CERTIFICA: Delincuentes Sexuales, Registro Central de la Base de Datos del fecha, consultada global level,” she said.

Que, en el día de la penal relativa a: NO CONSTA información Her charity wants Spain nº 22807454 ROSE con Pasaporte D./Dª BEN DAVID to need the Sick to introduce a la organización de 26 de febrero, relativa 2009/315/JAI del Consejo entre los Estados miembros, en la Decisión Marco antecedentes penales present an original birth impuestas por otros de los registros de Conforme a lo dispuesto en su caso, las condenas sin He then disseminated the sick maintercambio de información certificado incluye, hayan sido notificadas, y al contenido del alongside españoles, el presente the certificate en que tales condenas y los tipos delictivos tratándose de ciudadanos en los mismos términos del Estado de condena terial on paedophile forums on de la Unión Europea, los tipos delictivos Estados miembros una equiparación entre a passport and crimique exista necesariamente dark web around the world. nacionales. checks that en la fecha de su expedición. del titular interesado/a refleja la situación Emily Konstantas, CEO of The nal record El presente certificado potential agosto de 2017 sserp Safeguarding Alliance, applaud- would allow Zaragoza a 29 de a unearth to highlightemployers for ed the Olive Press ing the issue: “The Ben Lewis change of identity. way to procase as revealed by the Olive “It’s a simple check,” extra that loophole vide G this O L D M A Press highlights OLIVE N YTLIUG “The severand as shocking as this is, it is she insisted. this loopPRESS DANGER: Lewis got teaching Mijas Costa 15 YEARS nothing new and unfortunately ity and dangerto the whole world post, with help of ‘fake’ iceOF FUN presents the of hole tip the just represents papers berg as to the magnitude of this cannot be underestimated.”

An extensive report by The Safeproblem.” is being used to as the offender already has the She warned: “Whilst the status guarding Alliance to commit very serious parliament for a le- propensity electrónicamente quo remains in situ this signif- lobby the UK by Documento firmado in the management of crimes,” states the report, seen icant and very dangerous safe- gal change offenders.

Press. guarding loophole will contin- registered sex the current system the Olive extensive research and Through ue to pose a threat, not just to It explains how The Safeguarding Alliregistered sex offendUK Nationals, but to the rest relies on thethe police with details case law identified that offenders 13:30 ance has er to notify of the world, putting children and she of any name change, alongside any are not notifying as required and EXCLUSIVE: OP splash those most vulnerable at risk,” change of address and passport are continuing to abuse children 3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 . warned.

E n d s obby changing their names and information. + + “There are potentially hundreds solely lies the onus sex fuscating their identities as seen - if not thousands - of known ra- “Currently it through the case of Ben Lewis/ with the offender and although offenders slipping under the to connotify, one to seek work abroad is an offence to fail to deterrent Rose absconding overseas 21/6/19 13:30 dar in the UK a not is this tinue to abuse. where they can continue to abuse could argue - or Ben David Rose, as he is now known - as ‘a dangerous child sexual predator’.

The National Police press release ruled that he had used his position as a teacher at private schools in Madrid to gain access to children whom he photographed and filmed.

By Fiona Govan in Madrid

GIBRALTAR

Brave WPC confirms she hunted for a potential ‘blonde accomplice’ McCann suspect Christian Brueckner on night he was last arrested of Madeleine in 2017

OLIVE PRESS EXCLUSIVE investigation leads to child protection plea from United Kingdom charity

THE UK’s leading child protection to group is calling on authorities of tighten the recruitment process English teachers abroad.

AlThe plea by The Safeguarding liance aims to protect the country against a British legal loophole that has allowed potentially hundreds of British paedophiles in to find work abroad including

By A ex Tre nsk

ibraltar NATIONAL Day

We uncovered the ease OLIVE Things with which a convicted Britwill only PRESS get better ish paedophile was able to change his name and find work in schools in Ma? drid where he was arrested for committing sex crimes against children. Our investigation won praise from the 834 952 147 UK’s leading safeguarding 147 834 charity and was952mentioned T: 952 147 834 in reports to952 both British and 147 834 Spanish legislators.

THE DEED POLL LOOPHOLE 952 147 834 We exclusively revealed the identity of a cake making ex952 147 834 pat accused of using her baking business to make quick cash before vanishing and THE B G ONES The Estepona fi e top and a paedoph e expo leaving 'dozens' of wedding se and a Madd e sto y p us a cake audste be ow made ou clients out of pocket. ont pages The Olive Press has also been continually leading the world's among the most read last OLIVE media over the Madeleine Mcyear, in fact the exclusive, PRESS Cann case.

German and Portuguese cops Looking for Following its many twists and meet to swap evidence on Cinderella THE GREAT turns, we published exclusive prime suspect who ‘wanted after exclusive on the missing to catch something small’ in SPANISH British toddler, who vanished Madeleine McCann case, was TAKE from the Algarve in 2007. the second best read story of OFF As well as revealing many the year. new details on the prime susMost recently, in December, Winners! pect Christian Brueckner, we Clarke revealed that Bruecklooked into other possible ner would be charged in Febcriminals linked to the case. ruary with the rape of an Irish Our research saw editor Jon girl in 2004 in Portugal.

Clarke, visiting He will also be Portugal over charged with two half a dozen separate counts 2021 saw times in 2021 of child molesthe launch as well as distation, and later covering links in the spring his Plus we shared some of the of our online to Brueckner in involvement in most interesting tales we Granada and Vathe Maddie kid- came across in 2021 from the dedicated lencia. napping. mystery of how the Cold War travel section It is expected to spy who met the Kennedys Jon even went to Germany on be a busy year ended up dead in a ravine in two occasions to ahead on the Spain to the extraordinary stotrack down Brueckner's family Madeleine front. ry of the man who dedicated and to grill Chief Prosecutor But it hasn’t all been doom his life to building a cathedral Hans Christian Wolters. and gloom. 2021 saw the out of scrap.

In a hard-hitting interview, launch of our dedicated travel We sought to explore the conwhich features in detail in section where we publish fea- text behind Spain’s biggest his book My Search for Madtures and reviews from across news stories, following the eleine, Wolters revealed how Spain. continuing scandals plaguing Brueckner was being probed This year saw us undertake Spain’s royal family, looking over 'at least six separate cashorse riding adventures in An- into why Prime Minister Pedro es'. dalucia, culinary discoveries Sanchez wants to ban prosHe added he expected him to in Extremadura and hang out titution, and what the hell is be arrested and charged in in the coolest venues in Ibiza going on with Spain’s rat pop'early 2022' and that he was as well as try out some of the ulation. 'certain' he took Maddie. best new restaurants in Spain. Overall it’s been a busy year!

Our Maddie stories were Thank you to all our readers 15 and subscribers for your FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL 14 FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL continued support of OOD DR NK & RAVE what we do I at the Olive Press.

TOHP reipaN anoI :O

of “As a result, the effectivenessOfimportant legislation, the Sex Sex fenders Register, the Child the Offender Disclosure Scheme, Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, the DBS are undermined and effectively rendered redundant,” it states.

“The case of Ben Lewis/Rose highlights why Spain should be aware of this very serious safeguarding an loophole and should pioneer international movement to protect its children from those abusers the who slip under the radar using name change loophole,” Konstantas added.

Opinion Page 6

VALIANT: Quick-thinking Vanessa Viera apprehended Brueckner after he flashed at kids in a play park (above) A PLUCKY policewoman who arrested Madeleine McCann suspect Christian following the case closely for a decade.

Brueckner in 2017 says police tried She had actually been stationed outside to lo- Her grilling of the the cate a ‘blonde man’ with him that night.

German came after forced to hold off four angry dads she was apartment at the Ocean Club, in Praia da Luz, Off-duty officer Vanessa Viera revealed of kids he where Madeleine, 3, had been snatched in in a new book that she and her colleagues had allegedly flashed at under a slide.

May, 2007. And she never thought She eventually for a secsearched around the area trying to find the aged to call in calmed them down and man- ond that the McCanns were involved. potential accomplice. colleagues.

“I saw first hand the tragedy and trauma “I asked him where his friend was It came after she arrested dangerous that and he just the poor fender Brueckner, 44, in a children’s sex of- smiled and wouldn’t say anything. He wouldn’t the book.family went through,” she reveals in park “It was in awful.

I could tell really see their us where he was staying either.”

Messines, on the Algarve, at 2.15am pain and suffering.” during a She continued: local fiesta.

“We searched all his friend, but it was clear he had around for The book tracks the sex offender’s movements “He looked so familiar and I knew completely since first arriving in Portugal in 1994. Apart him before,” she revealed in the I had seen vanished. He must have taken the car or van.” from spending over a decade in book, My After being Portugal, Search for Madeleine, by Olive Press handcuffed he was taken to a editor police van, where Brueckner spent many months Jon Clarke. her colleagues discovered living in Spain, in particular in the * O there was a warrant for his arrest over f e rI realised “It wasf then v a l he i hadn’t d f come o r alone sex ofn e w Granada province, near Orgiva. s t o m e r s fencesc inu Germany. o n l y . and I’d seen him and his friend at S u b j e c t t o one of the He was then c o n d i t i o n s bars in the square. taken to prison, from My Search for Madeleine, he was extradited a fortnight later. where “Other parents also remembered The Porby Jon Clarke, is available on been chatting to another tall blondehe had tuguese WPC, who had been out with her TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.ind man.” five-year-old daughter d 1 Amazon in print and e-book that night, had been I’m sure he did it, Page 6

EXCLUSIVE

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National Day special, p4

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21/6/19 13:30

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VALENCIA / COSTA AZAHAR FREE Vol. 1 Issue 19 www.theolivepress.es

voice in Spain

August 12th - August 25th 2021

Relax with a book this summer with our guide to the best reads on Spain See page 14

POLICE have issued an appeal for ‘Cinderella’ thief who left his trainer a at the scene of a crime.

The wanted man ran away from officers after he was caught drinking alcohol on the streets in Chipiona, Cadiz.

He was in such a rush he forgot one of his shoes, as well as a bottle of rum and a bag of ice. Police tweeted a photo of the trainer, hoping someone might recognise it.

They joked that they were on the hunt for the ‘little princess’.

“We don’t know if the shoe jumped off due to the acceleration of his departure or it was a logistics failure (it was not properly on) but the reality is that that shoe is being well cared for.”

They also joked that a man who wears ‘€140 trainers drinks cheap rum from an €8 bottle’.

However they added: “Running is cowards and bad bullfighters andfor uncomfortable with a single shoe. is “If you run it is because you know you have done something wrong”.

Cake maker vanishes leaving ‘dozens’ of wedding clients out of pocket

LOST: Cinderella’s shoe

WE have winners of our competition to see the fabulous Paul Maxwell in The Elton John Experience, playing alongside the Malaga Symphony Orchestra.

John Cahill and Kirsten Prydz each win a pair of tickets to the show at the Marbella Arena on August 21.

They both answered correctly that Elton John has had 69 UK Top 40 hits.

You can get tickets for the show at www.corteingles.es or call 0034 633647260 for more information.

A POPULAR cake maker has vanished after being accused of taking EXCLUSIVE

By Kirsty McKenzie deposits from ‘dozens’ of wedding clients in Spain.

The self-professed ‘Queen of amaz- good chunk of money. It was a big ing cakes’ Omaya Koreitem dis- cake. appeared after deleting her social “Now we can’t get in contact with media accounts and failing to fulfil them and have had no reply on Facebook, Instagram or by email. orders.

One client of her company Cake “She (Koreitem) is continuing to Couture Marbella claims to have take deposits and make false promises to couples. This is fraud and paid €350 for a cake for his big is day ruining people’s special day.” this summer.

A Facebook page now set up dediRyan Archie has taken to social media for advice after he heard nothing cated to those affected suggests that dozens ‘at least’ have been left out from Koreitem as the big day of ap- pocket. proached. Another person affected by the “This is scandal, who asked to remain anonbike rentAL • e-scooters leaving us ymous, first contacted w i t h o u t Facebook when she Koreitem on BIKE TOURS • repairS paid a deposit a cake on for a client’s cake but then couldn’t our wed- get hold of Koreitem. ding day,” “No one seems to know what hapsaid the pened,” she said.

B r i t i s h Another Marbella wedding planner, groom. who wished to remain unnamed, “I paid told the Olive Press she and a 50% ents had been left ‘devastated’her cliby the d e p o s - scam. it, which The 45-year-old wedding organiser was still a first started working with Koreitem

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CRUMBS: Koreitem vanished Deception with the cash “My clients are devastated as am extravagant cakes,” she said.

I. We really don’t need this kind of “I am aware of five wedding compadeception and thieving at any point nies who have clients who booked but even less so when everyone has cakes with her. had such a tough time.

“I just don’t understand why she was “It makes us look bad on the coast.” taking deposits and final payments While a Twitter page and website but hadn’t arranged for anyone to still exist for Cake Couture, which take over the cakes which would was set up over two decades ago, the have been the right thing to do.

Instagram and Facebook pages for “I know many businesses are sufferthe business have been taken down. ing particularly in the events sector Another wedding planner, who had but there are ways of not letting clicommissioned the company to make ents down. She should be letting cliseveral cakes, told the Olive Press ents know rather than ignoring calls that she has apparently changed her and messages for weeks.” phone number to a new one in Gua- The Olive Press was unable to get deloupe in the Caribbean. a comment from Cake Couture “It is such a shame as Koreitem was despite various attempts over the the go-to cake designer for very large past week.

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in 2012 after she came highly recommended. The British wedding planner only became suspicious when she received an automated message this year that said Koreitem had changed her number.

Two of her clients are waiting on cakes, with a total loss of €725 in deposits.

She said: ‘I asked her where she had moved to and she said Saint Martins and that I was welcome to visit anytime. I mentioned Monica was looking for her and she acted surprised but then I said that I also had cakes booked with her and she asked me to send the details as she didn’t recall.

‘Since then she has unfriended me on Facebook, taken down her page on Instagram and is not answering any messages on WhatsApp or email.’

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

T’S approaching high Spring and the beaches of Ibiza would normally be filling up and the hip boutiques of Ibiza town inundated with English, American and German accents.

Instead there is merely a gentle trickle of European tourists circling the White Isle and you’re more likely to hear the cries of a curlew or the flapping wings of a flamingo, than a persistent house beat.

Best of all, you hardly need a reservation for a single restaurant, and you’ll be surprised to find more than a dozen people on any of its wonderfully varied beaches and coves.

The island has never looked more beautiful and the interior is awash with wild flowers and blossom, and the comprehensive series of countryside walks and bike trails are better marked than coast a little to the salt back in vibe and historic in heart ever before. fore taking a look around pans, where you can find BACK TO BASICS Liberal Ibiza is laid your heels for trainers.

This is the Ibiza that ofwhen a the ancient citadel above With nobody about, it the Archaeological Muse- not just an impressive ten gets forgotten, with so za of the Sixties, trav- Ibiza Town, with nobody feels somewhat eerie, um (www.maef.eu), with area of natural beauty, many associating the is- handful of bespoke its impressive collection of sticks from in front of you. actually edgy, strolling Phoenician relics, said to but some incredible wildland with pumping house ellers upped to set up This Unesco protected life and a splendid walk around. At least one part music and partying to ex- northern Europe World Heritage Site is a of it, just outside the main be among the best in the with lunch bundled in. homes on the island. take cess. world. nearly emp- true gem, which will of the Ses SaForget the beach parties The roads are sightsee at at least an hour to wan- wall at the Look out for This is part and tunnels lines Natural parkSal de and concrete blocks of ty and you can spots with- der about, its warren of extreme east, the With nobody San Antonio, head inland, forts or beauty of tourists narrow cobbled streets is almost a that take you where the famous from. with slum, or to its lesser known cor- out a crowd up and down Ibiza comes feels it and tunnels (yes, tunnels!) squatters and driving about, sticks continuselfie green with best its ners, to find into the heart Salt has beenhere since amazing in the extreme. spaces, many designated you up the wall. of a once- Chances are, towards drug dealers eerie, actually of the alca- ally exploited the PhoeniTake advantage around, so be as Natural Parks. zar and ide- 600 BC by chance to sunset, you will almost strolling edgy, cians - the commodity has careful. of and Visiting Ibiza this Spring, in-a-lifetime try many ally Dalt Vila, see nobody, yet wealth to But once inis like returning to the Ibi- clamber up into end up head- brought great about the galleries and muse- side over the centhe ing out of the the island there is some ums will still be open and walls proper, turies - and to then set and soon back are restaurants historical evidence today you will be stay open until 10.30pm amazed at how well it has down the ring road back including an old milling (early by Spanish stan- been maintained and how to the centre. wheel.

When you get back down What is also very much in dards, but positively late much there is to see. for the Brits and certainly Head in via the Portal de you will be in the ritzy evidence is the impressive part of town with all the range of birds including Scandinavians).

Ses Taules, an impressive A fortress within a for- ramp and drawbridge, hip boutiques, including sandpipers, curlews and tress, this is a solid stone that you can imagine the likes of Paul Smith, stalks, that share the wetredoubt that was once would have been any- Tous and Mayurka (www. lands.The most exciting the centre of Ibosim, one thing but easy to scale mayurkaibiza.com), which by far though are the flahas been around for 30 mingoes, when in season, of the key Mediterranean during a time of battle. ports, first built by the Once inside, make sure to years and stocks the likes that can be watched from Kenzo and Phoenicians. the top to see of Balenciaga, to right a number of hides alongwalk Town’ Marc Jacobs.

Meaning ‘Upper side the colourful pans. the Cathedral de Nuestra Dalt Vila is certainly not Senora de las Nieves and For a totally different ex- There is even a special for the faint hearted and it some incredible views, be- perience, head up the is decidedly hilly, so swap

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Eventually you will reach you may have to avert visitor centre dedicated to your eyes. It is also a keen the interpretation centre at the Church them. area for the of Sant FranThe place to start your gay scene and worth cesc, saline adventure is near a bar called for stopping Restaurante La Escollera, Chringay, that You can eat a drink at and where you will eventually can only be at tables to take in the have your lunch or sup- accessed by flamingoes. per. From here you walk foot has long overlooking final Your down the stunning Platja catered to this is the to des Cavallet beach the beach or on stretch market. the along ancient Torre de ses Portes From the 16th round day beds s o m e t i m e s watchtower, from where century towisthe see busy Cami des clearly you can er you head Cavallet, but land of Formentera. about south Be warned, the beach was two kilometres through it is not far so bear with the first in Ibiza to be de- a fascinating stretch of it, as you are nearly at one of the island’s coolest clared a nudist beach so coastline full restaurants. hidden Restaurant La Escollera of and ( w w w. l a e s c o l l e r a i b i z a . coves and com) really is something inlets fronded by a special, a true locals’ fapine forest. vourite and I heard that Ibiza at its time after time. best It sits in an incredible povery with no con- sition at one end of Cavelstruction, just let beach, with amazing nature, with views towards FormenPluma tera.

Cala cove the real Now two decades old you standout. can eat at tables overWhen you fi- looking the beach or on nally hit the round day beds in any El-900 road, way you so choose, with head east, un- sea bass in a salt crust my til you reach top pick. the salt pans The tradition is to drink that can be a cold flute of Cava on partly walked arrival, although I was through, past happy with a iced Mahou. huge It’s not cheap but the peotwo piles of salt, ple-watching is free and en route to there is plenty of that to com- enjoy. being mercialised. as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO

ibiza.com) Finca Legado (www.legadojust 10 minutes is set in a secret valley Set up by a pair of outside Ibiza Town. it has a very laidcreatives from Austriaon 3.5 hectares of back feel and counts grounds full of cacti, extremely verdent wild asparagus and palms, fruit trees, are ‘eclectic, artisan flowers. The rooms comfortable, vintage’ and all extremely sheets and focusing on top quality vibe is very hip. The mattresses and the saltwater pool is awesome.

TO STAY IN IBIZA

iza.com) is a Hotel Mikasa (www.mikasab Ibiza Town overlooking stone’s throw from the main Botofoc Marina.

Vila old town are The views of the Daltcould spend all day wonderful and you coming in and out, watching the ferries excellent food in its plus graze on the Kasamore. There terrace restaurant of varied sizes and are only 16 rooms don’t have balconies, standards and some so do ask before booking.

.com) is a luxury Cas Gasi (www.casgasiof the island, a heart agriturismo in the secret, that is the genuine address book of famous models escape for dozens cheap, but the and actors. It’s not farm grows much of organically-certified all its olive oil and its vegetables, produces on hand. Familyhas a superb restaurant and friendly. See run, its staff are charming page. the over review

OPEN BEACH RESTAURANTS THREE GREAT ALL YEAR IN IBIZA (www.

Restaurant La Escollera sits in a privileged laescolleraibiza.com) of Es Cavallet beach. location at the end seafood, this is the Focusing heavily onback and plan a day of place to really kick and chilling. sunbathing, reading action, Hip and near the (www.

Club Nassau Beach sits on nassaubeachclub.com) to Ushuaia close Playa d’en Bossa, Hard Rock hotel. nightclub and the with loads It’s a very cool vibe the beach. of day beds right onsushi.

There’s some great Es Boldado (www. com) restauranteesboldadoibiza. spots that is one of those secret

two by accident. Some you could not find dirt track, the prize kilometres down a most breathtaking, is easily one of the eat in Spain. Simple romantic places to the amazing Es food, giant views towards Vedra islands.

“

“

from holiday to find the locks changed, the contents of their home removed by the landlord and their cat stolen.

Our journalists worked on the ground on some of the biggest cases of the year, starting with the mysterious death of Scot, Kirsty Maxwell, who plummeted from a 10th floor apartment while on holiday in Benidorm with her friends.

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

FREE

TOP T PS We pub shed dozens o bespoke o g na t a ve a t c es n 2021

21/6/19 13:30

2022 is a year of decision for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over calling an early General Election.

The leader of the coalition PSOE-Unides Podem government has squeezed through two budgets in Congress by wheeling and dealing with small regional parties. It's something that he doesn't really want to do again come the autumn. The thought that a small Catalan party might have torpedoed his plans simply because they wanted streamers like Netflix to produce more Catalan language material may lead Sanchez to review his options.

Sanchez doesn't have to go to the country before December 2023 but there's always an advantage to hold a poll on your own terms, rather than waiting until the last minute.

You never know what might happen - something I'm convinced cost Gordon Brown his job back in 2010 when he should have gone to the electorate in 2007, just before the banking crisis hit. If circumstances look good and there's even the chance of getting say 20 extra PSOE delegates into Congress, then Pedro Sanchez might go for it, say this autumn.

Despite the COVID pandemic, Sanchez is one of the few Western European leaders not to see his party's poll numbers slump.

There's no Boris Johnson-style collapse here and no questions being asked about the PSOE leader, who resigned back in October 2016 when in opposition to a minority Partido Popular (PP) Mariano Rajoy-led government. Remember that a lot of the party hierarchy wanted Sanchez out and that duly happened at a party assembly when Sanchez issued a 'back me or sack me' challenge. After a ten hour bad-tempered meeting, he lost the vote and stood down. Sanchez then immediately put himself forward for re-election and beat hot favourite, Andalucia's Susana Diaz, to regain the top PSOE position. It was a gutsy play from Sanchez who over five years later has not looked back.

Backlash

The current opinion poll numbers from the normally-reliable Centro de Investigaciones(CIS) are astonishing in their sheer consistency. Give or take a percentage point here and there, the CIS surveys in the last 18 months keep predicting an almost identical result to the second election of 2019. For a ruling government and Prime Minister not to get some kind of a COVID backlash is no mean achievement. That of course may well be as much a view on the main PP opposition as anything else.

Despite not having a Congress majority, the Sanchez government has pushed through or is pushing through a whole range of radical reforms. That includes labour law, housing rule changes, animal welfare, euthanasia legalisation, an increased minimum wage and the repeal of the controversial 'gag-law' plus plans to ban prostitution.

Egged on by his junior partners, Unides Podem, Sanchez has been the one of the few Western leaders to slash tax on power bills to buffer consumers against massive wholesale rises- you can hear the screaming in the UK! He's presided over one of the world's best COVID-19 vaccine roll-outs, where despite record virus infections, hospitalisations and deaths are well down on levels seen this time last year.

As many countries appear to have lurched to the right, Sanchez has held his 'leftist' ground and can perhaps sense an electoral opportunity. New variants not withstanding, the worst of COVID might be over come by March. EU recovery fund money will continue to pour in for new 'green-led' projects like electric car manufacturing. Employment levels are vastly higher compared to the Rajoy 'austerity' years.

If some kind of 'feel-good' or perhaps 'feel-better' hits Spain, Sanchez might go for an autumn date. In the worst-case scenario of a status quo result, he knows that most of the small regional parties would rather do business with him, than with a PP-Vox administration.

LETTERS

10

January 13th - January 26th 2022

PANDEMIC PROBLEMS Brexploitation

As people desperately try to return to a normal life, readers have had differing experiences

Dear Olive Press,

Mask concerns

Liz Henry by em

WITH the question of mask-wearing very much in the news, let me have my say.

In my view, masks could very well be the reason for future illnesses. On top of that, landfill will be creaking with mask bits when we are supposed to be cutting down on waste!

I am fully vaxxed and boosted plus have been given the flu and pneumonia jabs. I don’t know anyone who has had COVID and I wear a mask only in supermarkets.

I am also deaf, do you know what it is like to be deaf? When you lip read, everyone is wearing bloody masks!

Omicron is mild, just the same as a cold. Since when has any government caused so much damage because of colds, even flu, which kills thousands and yet is not seen as such a big deal?

The next big illness will be mask related and once again Big Pharma wins.

Paul Bateson, Loja (71, deaf and never been ill)

...jabs congrats CONGRATULATIONS to the health authorities for getting the booster jabs out. Myself and my wife have just had ours and it is a great sense of relief for us, even though we are only in our 50s.

The service has been fast and efficient, and the nurses were friendly too.

Many thanks to them all.

John and Irene Jones, Mijas

Get your act together

Vaccine woe I HAVE just returned from La Lobilla Health Centre, Estepona. Four of us had made appointments three weeks ago for the over 40 booster jab. We were all turned away and told that they had been given a direction that only those over 58-years-old could have a jab. They couldn’t explain why.

This suggests to me a lack of vaccines and an official response from the Junta should be sought.

IF the Spanish authorities are going to insist on people having COVID passports to enter restaurants and bars, then they really should make sure the technology is up to it.

We were visiting Fuengirola for a short break and went to one of our favourite restaurants with our UK COVID passports.

My QR code was scanned no problem, but my husband’s was rejected, despite us both being fully vaccinated at the same time.

We were turned away and we had exactly the same problem at the next place we tried. It was a very disappointing end to our evening and will be a blow to the restaurants themselves who no doubt can not afford to lose trade in this way.

Mike Prendergast, Estepona

Mary Williams, Coventry (UK)

OP QUICK CROSSWORD Across 5 Switzerland doesn’t have one (3,5) 8 To an archaeologist, three stones in a row make one (4) 9 As well (2,4) 10 Maidenhair tree (6) 11 National anthem? (7,5) 13 Ruthless way to prepare land for cultivation? (5-34) 16 Without (4,2) 18 Music award (6) 19 Volcanic outflow (4) 20 Rolled into a ball (6,2)

Down

OP SUDOKU

icles I’VE seen in your paper artafter ed loit exp ng bei ts on Bri the Brexit - and I think one of n is atio loit exp of as are biggest s. the delivery of mail and parcelares kag pac l era sev had I have ghrive from the UK for my dau ay, thd bir her to due ly ter recent e and I had also ordered som y. pan com UK a m items fro cusUPS has double charged me L, DH th Wi . €40 of s rge toms cha cost! admin fees were 90% of the only ce offi t pos the st, tra By con takcharged me €5. So UPS have n’t wo and nts me pay ble en dou have give me a refund and DHL s. fee in adm e ssiv ma d charge had For example, my daughter the m fro t sen d car ay a birthd t to UK and it cost me €3.95 jus d it han to ver dri ry ive del get the over to me. misThe whole system has been inmis h wit managed and is rife formation. ail

1 Move us on in a panic, like an adder (8) 2 Old coach driver perhaps, operating behind the scenes (5,7) 3 Often seen with roundabouts (6) 4 Online diary (4) 6 Yorick or Coco, for example (5) 7 Time for an accessory?

(5,3,4) 12 Essential ingredient of stainless steel (8) 14 Gladiators’ workplaces (6) 15 Prepare for a crash (5) 17 Sheltered stretch of water where ships may safely anchor (4)

All solutions are on page 17

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GREEN

www.theolivepress.es

Spain has its first road made from non-recyclable plastic waste A NEW road surface has been unveiled in Barcelona using non-recyclable plastic waste in the first project of its kind in Spain.

The environmental pilot project in the Bon Pastor neighbourhood is one of many experimental and radical innovations to address plastic waste that comes amid warnings that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the sea than fish.

The new material is said to be more resistant than traditional road surfaces to heavy traffic, as well as helping cut greenhouse gas emissions during the manufacturing process and the subsequent handling process.

If widely adopted it could help tackle the problem of the huge amount of plastic ending up in landfills, illegal dumps, waterways or burnt in open pits.

Spain produces over two million tons of plastic waste every year, with only 43% being recycled.

Estimates indicate that using

Electric start SEAT has opened a new €7 million battery research and development centre for electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

The centre (known as TCE) at the carmaker’s Technical Centre in Martorell, is part of the Volkswagen Group’s global R&D network and is the group’s first such centre in Europe outside Germany, alongside those already running in China and the United States.

The TCE is intended to become a key element of SEAT’s project to lead the electrification of the Spanish car industry and is part of the €5 billion investment plan announced by the company to electrify not just its vehicles but also its factories.

PLASTIC HIGHWAY

non-recyclable plastic to build roads uses less than 17 tons of CO2, far less than traditional techniques.

This particular stretch of road surface along the Paseo de la Verneda used a total of 4,500 kg of plastic, equivalent to 3,000 household garbage bags full of plastic, which would have otherwise not been recycled.

If the pilot project is successful, the type of road surface will be used in other parts of the city.

SOLUTION: Plastic road in Barcelona

January 13th - January 26th 2022

Strong arming CAMPAIGNERS are calling for the world’s first octopus farm to be closed down.

To keep up with the world’s growing appetite for Octopus, Spain’s biggest seafood producer Pescanova has invested €65 million to build the farm at Las Palmas on Gran Canaria.

But activists are opposing the facility because of the ‘serious environmental and animal welfare impact’. They claim that the octopus´ carnivorous diet will put pressure on local fish populations to feed them, and the intelligent animals tend to eat each other in captivity.

Prices of Galicia’s Atlantic Octopus have escalated dramatically in recent years from €12 to €50 a kilo, meaning it makes up only 3.5% of all octopus consumed in Spain.

Most octopus sold in Spain comes from Morocco, which has agreements with Spain to allow Spanish boats to fish the waters.

Insane Sun Tax caused untold damage

T

HE government of Mariano Rajoy (The People’s Party) last decade was condemned for corruption. Fact.

In 2018 Spain’s High Court convicted 29 people, including senior officials of the PP, sentencing them to a total of 351 years in prison.

Public contracts were awarded at inflated prices, ‘kick backs’ were rife.

In this environment the former state owned monopolies Endesa and Iberdrola were able to influence the introduction of the completely insane Sun Tax, effectively preventing homeowners and businesses from installing solar panels.

Put simply…….if you produce your own electricity you are not buying from them.

The end result was that when this ludicrous law was repealed in October 2018 less than 1,000 rooftops in Spain had solar panels installed.

Compare that to Germany with more than 1 million installations at that point.

By now Spain should not still be reliant on fossil fuels to generate electricity.

This absurdity is now costing us all.

Inflation is back , largely fuelled by soaring electricity and gas prices: ● Inflation last year in Spain was 5.5%.it’s impossible for salaries and pensions to keep pace.

A WASTED DECADE Green

● The outlook for this year doesn’t look much better. ● Interest rates will rise (European Central Bank) ● In December Spanish consumers had to pay 6.7% higher costs than they did in December 2020. ● Eurozone inflation reached 5% in December. The highest ever on record. ● On Christmas Day electricity costs were 14 times higher than last year.

All this could have been mitigated if Spain’s progress in installing renewable energy had not been corruptly diverted.

Everywhere else in Europe citizens had the right to generate, consume, store and sell electricity without facing punitive taxes and fees.

The former legislation was muscled in by the PP who had a parliamentary majority at the time.

As always, corruption has cost us all.

Since the abolition of the Sun Tax, Spain has pushed forward in taking advantage of the two key free natural resources it has in abundance – sun and wind.

It’s criminal that so much time was lost. We can’t rewind the clock, but we can act quickly now.

No country in Europe is better located to take advantage of renewable energy technologies: ● We have over 300 days of sunshine a year. ● We have huge land mass.

● We have extensive coastal areas. ● We have wind.

By becoming independent we remove ourselves from the political shenanigans that surround energy supply such as the devious and questionable practices of Putin. (Russia supplies over one quarter of the natural gas consumed in the European Union).

Another threat is Algeria closing pipelines because of its dispute with Morocco.

In 2021 natural gas prices in the EU have risen as high as 800% from the beginning of the year.

Time to be independent and accelerate the use of renewable energy.

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

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LA CULTURA

Do you have a what’s on?

Send your informa tion to newsdesk@theolivepr ess.es

Researchers may have found the longlost Temple of Hercules SEVILLA University has found ruins of a temple in the Bay of Cadiz that could have housed the most famous sanctuary in ancient Spain.

Researchers used terrain modelling software to find a submerged rectangular

- and let off firecrackers in the annual Fests dels Enfarinats battle.

Last year the event, which is part of the Day of the Holy Innocents celebrations, a time in Spain for pulling pranks similar to the UK's April Fools Day, was canceled.

This time round participants were determined to have a messily good time while COVID restrictions still permitted them.

Ancient discovery structure between San Fernando and Chiclana de la Frontera in Cadiz.

The location fits with history and myth as the site of

TRAIN SPOTTING

FANS of trains in Valencia will soon be able to visit a new museum.

Linked to the Madrid-based National Railway Museum, it will be the first nationally-linked museum to have Alicante as a home. The new ‘sub-museum’ will be based in a warehouse next to the Casa Mediterraneo. An 11-year lease for the building and adjoining land took effect on January 1.

The facility will be branded as a Valencian Community rail museum with a partnership between the national and regional government in addition to Alicante City Council and the Fundacion de Ferrocarriles Españoles(FFE). FFE’s Madrid museum houses one of the largest historic railroad

L

OBSTER, the only mobile network in Spain to offer a service completely in English, is celebrating its third anniversary!

After just three short years Lobster has established itself as the benchmark mobile network for British expatriates, and other English speakers, who reside in Spain.

Brexit brought with it a lot of uncertainty for British living in Spain, but one thing for certain is that Lobster customers continue to enjoy a great mobile service in Spain with no changes. The same cannot be said for British in Spain using their UK SIMs. One of the changes that we are now seeing after Brexit is that many UK mobile networks are introducing mobile charges when roaming in Spain. These mobile

15

Drag Queen Carnival

The flour and the glory

IT was an opportunity to let off steam after the stress and depradations of the COVID pandemic - and the townsfolk of Ibi took full advantage.

In a 200-year-old tradition participants dress up in military outfits and stage a mock 'revolution' outside the town hall.

They pelt each other with flour and eggs - often by the tray load

January 13th - January 26th 2022

the Temple of Hercules Gaditanus, the 9th century BC sanctuary linked to all major figures until destruction in the 12th century AD. The temple is believed to house the actual tomb of Hercules, the belt of warrior god Teukros, as well as Pygmalion’s miraculous olive branch that fruited emeralds.

Oracles also received some of the most famous men of ancient history here, like Hannibal before he crossed the Alps and conquered Italy.

“We researchers are very reluctant to turn archaeology into a spectacle, but in this case, we are faced with some spectacular findings. They are of great significance,”

said Francisco Jose Garcia, the director of the department of Prehistory and Archaeology at Sevilla University.

The region around the Bay of Cadiz and the castle of Sancti Petri have for more than two centuries yielded marble and bronze sculptures of Roman emperors and deities, now on display at the Museum of Cadiz.

The team from Sevilla traced sea bed variations and erosion, before discovering a seemingly ‘large manmade building’ with an inner harbour.

The structure measures 300 by 150 metres and lies up to five metres underwater.

DOZENS of fiestas, concerts and other events will be crammed into the Torrevieja social calendar for the next three months.

Making up for nearly two years of lost events, they include a Drag Queen carnival early in February, which is expected to pull in thousands of visitors.

Some 40 musical and theatrical events are included in the calendar, starting with the National Orchestra of Spain, who play on January 15 at the Torrevieja International Auditorium.

A circus show called Parua

kicks off on January 22 at the Municipal Theatre, while opera fans will be delighted with a series of performances at the Municipal Theatre of Torrevieja.

The first one is for children, Operamida on January 30, with Nabucco by Guiseppe Verdi, on March 17.

“We want to instill the love of theatre and opera into the little ones,” insisted Culture Councillor, Antonio Quesada.

Tickets to all shows are available next week via www.entradasatualcance.com and www. bacantix.com

Three years of great deals Lobster, the mobile network made for English speakers in Spain, celebrates its third anniversary!

roaming charges can be very expensive and lead to bill shocks.

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At Lobster we are great believers in that our customers are the best ambassadors in Spain to offer a ser● Lobster, the only mobile network of the great service we prosince s year three rates celeb vice completely in English, vide. Lobster customers can launching service now earn money for recomLobster and join to time r bette a been r neve has ● There mending Lobster to friends! n!

Spai in get a local SIM For every friend you bring to g ducin intro are orks netw ile ● After Brexit many UK mob Lobster we’ll give you €5, and in be can you ter Lobs roaming charges in Spain. With your friends get €5 off their tariff plan as your use and like, you as long as for Spain first plan payment too. So, any t abou y worr to have r neve and much as you like, everyone’s a winner! So maks shoc roaming charges or bill ybe, this time next year you'll tariff ter Lobs all ded, ● Starting from just €12 VAT inclu be a millionaire! in Spain, to texts and calls ited unlim with e com plans Customers can choose from s deal data big and tries, coun r the UK and othe three simple and compecoun any or UK, the in roam ● With Lobster you can also titive tariff plans which all l tiona addi no at , Area try in the European Economic come with unlimited calls cost and texts in Spain, to the UK g ppin who a get mers custo ter Lobs all ● What’s more, and other countries, and big !

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THORNY ISSUE

SPAIN has granted protected status to a small oil painting worth €50m, that was on the verge of being sold for a mere €1,500.

An expert has stepped in with the suspicion that it could be a long-lost masterpiece by Caravaggio.

The protected status means it can no longer be sold to the highest bidder but must be kept in Spain and the government has the option, to buy it for the nation.

The Culture Ministry imposed a last minute export ban on the artwork after it was offered

Historic row A ROW over a ‘stolen’ 700-year-old document could end up in court with a Valencia region council taking action against the Catalunya government.

The Llibre del Repartiment dates back to 1310. It lists how lands were divided up in the area when Christian forces took over from the Moors. It’s regarded as one of the key historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries for the Orihuela area.

It was apparently stolen from Orihuela’s municipal archive in either 1907 or 1908 and eventually resurfaced two decades later in the Library of Catalunya.

A written request last year from Orihuela officials for the Llibre to be returned received no reply. Catalan authorities say they can prove they bought the document over 100 years ago.

A letter sent to the Catalunya parliament, signed by Orihuela mayor Emilio Bascuñana stated that the Library of Catalu

for sale by the Madrid auction house Ansorena.

The painting identified as The Crown of Thorns had been attributed to an unnamed artist within the studio of 17th century Spanish painter Jose de Ribera, but there was hope it could turn out to be an original Caravaggio and therefore worth upwards of €50 million.

The regional government of Madrid declared the work an item of cultural interest.

16

LA CULTURA

January 13th - January 26th 2022

AN ANCIENT EVIL

W

The Spanish inquisition may have raised a laugh for Monty Python, but it was no laughing matter for thousands of its victims, writes Joshua Parfitt

hen anti-semites spray-painted the town hall of a tiny northern Spanish town, their graffiti made disturbing reference to a Spanish priest now 500 years dead.

Torquemada era camarada (Torquemada was an ally)

read the black graffiti on sunbaked Spanish brick. To anyone in Spain, the name of Torquemada instantly means cruelty and religious fanaticism in the name of the Catholic church.

Thomas of Torquemada (1420-1498) was an intelligent Dominican Friar of Jewish descent, who became a central

figure of religious fervour as the first Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition and advocate for expelling Jews from Spain, torturing converts and burning heretics at the stake.

The tiny village of Castrillo Mota de Judios (population 50) is a new focal point for righting Spain’s historic wrongs after residents

NO ONE ESCAPES: Monty Python and (above) the graffiti

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changed its name from Cas- reconquered Spain. In the trillo Matajudios (Jew-killer name of ridding ‘false concamp) in 2014. verts’ to Christianity, the Though the citizens of the vil- Spanish crown received the lage hope to wash these re- Pope’s blessing to set up a cents stains away, the legend Court of Inquisition in 1478 of Torquemada is not so easy and properly oversee public CULPRIT: Torquemada tortured thousands trials of faith. to forget.

Tomas de Torquemada was At first, the Inquisition deborn on October 14, 1420, scended on the Andalucian treasurer of Toledo until in the city of Valladolid, the city of Sevilla in 1481 and 1449 when the mayor of the capital of Spain’s Castilla y burnt alive six Jewish converts. city rose up against Cota beBy 1483, Pope fore ransacking, burning and Leon, to a prestigious family Sixtus VI named murdering converts in the headed by the Torquemada as Jewish quarter la Magdalena.

Even their renowned theothe first Inquis- Cota was a prominent Jewish logian and conitor General de convert to Christianity of high garments fessor to King España (Span- intelligence and authority in marked them Juan II, Juan de ish General In- Toledo. the King of Castilla, Torquemada. as condemned quisitor), and When Thomas of he held the post Juan II, wanted to raise funds souls Torquemada’s with zeal un- for a war against the Crown ancestry also til his death in of Aragon, he asked for an outrageous loan from Toleincluded Jew1498. ish converts to Christianity, Accounts say that Torque- do and ordered mayor Pedro known as conversos, whom mada forced Jews who had Sarmiento to take up arms religious authorities began converted out of fear of retal- against Alonso Cota and his to view with increasing sus- iation to wear garments that possessions. marked them as condemned Cota narrowly survived the picion.

At the time of Torquema- souls, bearing images of slaughter. This pattern of da’s birth, the Catholic king- hell’s flames, dragons and events was seen prior to the nationwide pogroms of doms of Castilla and Aragon snakes. had conquered most of the Spanish historians estimate 1391, which began in cirSpanish peninsular but the the Inquisition burned alive cumstances surrounding the Muslim Sultanate of Grana- over 10,000 people during assassination of Jose Pichon, a senior treasurer in Sevilla da still ruled the south until Torquemada’s reign.

In 1832, just two years be- and extremely wealthy Jewish 1492.

The largest reconquered cit- fore the end of the Spanish convert. ies of Barcelona, Sevilla and Inquisition, gravediggers ex- The significant difference Valladolid had sizeable Jew- humed his body and burnt it, in 1449, however, was just as Torquemada had done the subsequent decree of ish and Muslim populations. ‘blood-cleansing statutes’ Periodic outbreaks of vio- to thousands of Jews. that disposbelence against these com- Religion sessed Jewish munities saw many Jews came the deconverts of culprit convert to Christianity for fining Mistrust, their positions personal safety and to ac- of the Spanish of authority and cess positions of authority. Inquisition, but jealousy and wealth in favour However, whether conversos the roots of anhatred of of Catholics converted to the Christian ti-semitism in century Jewish converts who could prove faith or continued practising 15th their Catholic Judaism became the princi- Spain are much abounded heritage. pal concern of religious au- harder to deBy 1492, misfine. thorities. trust, jealousy Torquemada meanwhile was Some accounts rising up the religious ranks say rural Spaniards accused and hatred of Jewish converts after Queen Isabel I de Cas- Jews of having a hand in the led to a decree expelling all tilla named him one of three Black Death of 1347, either practising Jews from Spain. A personal confessors to the poisoning wells or trying to rid similar series of events happened with Muslim converts crown in 1474.

Spain of Christianity.

One of Torquemada’s first Others factors were pure jeal- to Christianity and the expulsion of Moriscos in 1609. jobs was to investigate Jew- ousy. ish practices among conver- A prime example can be Pope John Paul II began maksos in the southern cities of found in Alonso Cota, the ing the first apologies for the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition in 2000.

In 2011, the president of Mallorca made the first official apology for the role of the Spanish government in International Bookshop the Inquisition and the persecution and murder of Jewish converts.

Quality Used Books since 1985 The central Spanish governPolly’s Bookshop in Javea Port is 35 years old. ment in 2015 then began “Polly’s is as old as me,” says Sam, her proud owner, “and to making amends for the expulcelebrate, we are opening a new Polly’s Bookshop in Moraira.” sion of Jews in 1492, when Torquemada was still chief Like Polly’s Javea, the new shop has thousands of quality used Inquisitor. books, fiction and nonfiction, in English, Spanish, German, French The government passed a and Dutch. Apart from the books that are extra special, they’ll still be law recognising descendents 3 euros each with a euro credit if you want to return it. of Sephardic Jews following We are continuing with our busy proofreading and editing services their expulsion from Spain, and our popular book finding and ordering services too. It feels great opening a legal path for them finding an out of print book for someone who has been searching for it. to apply for Spanish citizenship and return home up to 500 years later. By 2019, more Javea Port, Calle Santisimo Cristo del Mar 03730 – tel: 665 314 404 than 127,000 Sephardic Jews from Mexico, Venezuela, ArMoraira-Teulada, 237 Moraira Calpe Road gentina, the US and Israel had 03724 – tel: 711 010 439 applied for citizenship.

POLLY’S

BUSINESS Film action complex on the prestigious Calle Larios in Malaga from this month.

Some scenes will even be filmed in the new Soho Equitativa Hotel, considered to be the most trendy hotel in the area.

The hotel chain operates a number of hotels across Europe, with seven in Malaga.

All their sites are renovated old buildings combining traditional features with modern and functional decor.

Gloomy prediction THE Benidorm-based Hosbec hotel association says there’s still a long way to go before its members recover fully from the effects of the COVID pandemic.

A Hosbec report predicts that 2022 will be another tough year for the hotel trade with significant difficulties ahead including a proposed regional tourist tax, Reflecting on 2021, Hosbec said that only August’s occupancy figures among its member hotels came close to pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

Last August in Benidorm, 36,000 bookings out of a maximum 44,000 were taken- boosted by big domestic demand as travel restrictions kept many UK tourists away.

Benidorm’s average occupancy for 2021 was 61.3% compared to 84.2% achieved in 2019. The last week of 2021 achieved a 53.1% occupancy rate of those hotels that were open compared to forecasts of up to 80% before the Omicron COVID variant surfaced.

A number of Benidorm hotels closed down over the Christmas and New Year period due to cancellations from British customers and tour companies.

SPAIN’s labour market has recovered to pre-pandemic levels as unemployment fell faster than ever before.

But the jobless figure still stands at more than 3.1 million people or 13.5% of the country’s workforce.

Progress In 2021, around 776,500 people entered the workforce and another 782,000 left the unemployment roll, according to the Ministry of Labour.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez welcomed the figures, saying: “Once again, the data reflects the

Jobless figure plunges but is still 3.1 million

progress of Spain’s recovery.

“We will not stop. We will continue working to keep creating quality employment,” added Sanchez.

There were 10 straight months of net job creation for the first time in Spain as businesses recovered from a miserable 2020 that was severely affected by the COVID-19 lockdown and travel restrictions.

The jobless figure was down 20% over December 2020, which might be expected after the pandemic shock, but

Golden goose SOCIAL security contributions for self-employed workers in Spain (autonomos) will rise by €8 a month.

This means a monthly increase from €286 to €293.76 for self-employed workers paying the full social contribution rate – meaning autonomos will pay around €96 more per year.

First-time autonomos will still pay the reduced €60 for their first year of activity, rising to €150 monthly in their second year of activity.

New laws have also reduced corporate tax from 15% to 10% for newly-created entities. There is a minimum rate of 15% corporate tax on companies invoicing over €20 million annually or those in the banking and hydrocarbon industries.

GOING POSTAL SPANISH post office Correos is taking on the banking world by installing cashpoints just as traditional banks have started ripping theirs out.

The first two of its cashpoints arrived in Valencia city in January 2022 bringing unique benefits to many expats and immigrants.

It is planning to install 300 of the new cashpoints in rural villages (500 to 3,000 population) that either don’t have an existing bank or are about to be left without one.

Furthermore, the cashpoint allows users of the Correos pre-paid bank card (tarjeta prepago Correos) to take out cash.

17

OFF THE ROLL Telefonica cuts

These cards are particularly useful for expats, immigrants, anyone without permanent residency in Spain or anyone who has lost their bank cards or had their account blocked.

The Correos bank card doesn’t require you to link to any existing bank accounts, you don’t need to show any documentation like a NIE (foreigner’s number) and you don’t need to be on a municipal padron or show proof of address.

According to a Correos spokesman, the aims behind the cashpoints and pre-paid cards are to end ‘financial exclusion’ for those with trouble accessing these services in Spain.

Surprise rise SPAIN’S inflation rate hit 6.7% in December - the highest annual hike since March 1992. Official figures from the National Statistics Institute(INE) showed a 1.2% increase on November’s figures.

The rise was higher than had been predicted by some experts.

The INE says that rocketing energy prices and rising food costs are fuelling the increase.

Food inflation has risen by 5% over 12 months. Underlying or core inflation which removes food and energy prices stands at 2.1%.

the more encouraging news is that the number of unemployed people is at the lowest level since 2007 before the financial crisis hit.

The biggest gains were made in the service and hospitality sectors as tourism recovered, while the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors also saw small gains last year.

Spain’s Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz highlighted that jobless figures for young people and women also fell. Historically Spain has had some of the worst levels of youth unemployment in Europe.

Rise The pandemic saw unemployment rise by about 725,000 people in 2020.

But even that was considerably better than 2008 when the financial crisis saw the construction industry in Spain grind to a halt.

The jobless figure soared by a million and it took five years before the labour market began to recover.

SPANISH telecoms giant Telefonica will cut 15% of its workforce this year.

The reduction will be achieved through an estimated 2,700 voluntary redundancies. Offers for payoff packages will be made soon with Telefonica expected to make an annual wage bill saving of over €230 million from 2023.

The pay-off will nevertheless cost Telefonica €1.5 billion.

Workers who are 55 years or older in 2022 with 15 years service behind them will qualify for the redundancy package.

Redundancies

Telefonica is mainly branded in Spain as Movistar. It is Europe’s third-largest telecoms firm and has 18,500 Spanish staff. The redundancies follow similar moves by rivals Vodafone and Orange in recent months.

Telefonica and its domestic rivals have been fighting to slash costs in a competitive Spanish telecoms market as well as investing in 5G expansion. The company reported a net profit of €706 million for the third-quarter of 2021 taking in all of its worldwide operations.

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

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 5 Sea coast, 8 Wall, 9 To boot, 10 Ginkgo, 11 Country music, 13 Slash-and-burn, 16 Free of, 18 Grammy, 19 Lava, 20 Curled up.

Down: 1 Venomous, 2 Stage manager, 3 Swings, 4 Blog, 6 Clown, 7 After the fact, 12 Chromium, 14 Arenas, 15 Brace, 17 Road.

SUDOKU

SOME of Spain’s beleaguered hotels are to get a TV production boost with a Hollywood production company booking 10,000 nights accommodation.

Soho Boutique Hotels have hit the jackpot after Global Television Operations decided to move into Spain in a big way.

As part of a year-long project to make seven TV dramas in and around Andalucia, the rooms have been booked exclusively with the group.

Cast members and production crew will also work from a new 300m2 office

January 13th - January 26th 2022

18

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

January 13th - January 26th 2022

Where bandits once trod Jon Clarke heads on a riding adventure into the Andalucian outback of the Sierra Morena near Sevilla

NATURAL: Jon looks happy in the saddle

F

OR many people a trip to brave enough to take the jourMadrid or a week on the ney south from Madrid.

Algarve is an adventure So it felt exciting to be riding now the pandemic is, out from a 16th century trading hopefully, starting to ease. post, to test out part of an overAnd then there are those who land journey that can be exwant to stretch themselves and tended all the way to Portugal. do something really out of the Guided by expat equestrian ordinary.

George Scott, guests can opt Well saddle up and head for for anything up to a five-day a riding escape in the Sierra wilderness escape, following Morena, a rolling 450-km long ancient bridleways and staying wilderness that straddles the in rambling cortijos and even border of Andalucia and Ex- tents. tremadura.

My stay began at There are green George’s famidestinations… ly’s 3,000-acre It has billeted and then there Trasierra estate, are really green everyone from near charming destinations, Cazalla de la Siroyalty to with the Sierra erra, which has Norte de Sevilla billeted everypop stars and natural park, in one from royalty particular, about to pop stars and supermodels as wild as it gets supermodels to in Spain. politicians over This is a largely the last few deunknown expanse of rural Eu- cades. rope where wolves, Golden Ea- A great place to relax after a gles and the Iberian Lynx - the year of corona-stress, the highworld’s rarest wildcat - are ac- walled palace is more than tually in the ascendance.

1,000-metres square in size, Named after its distinctive with over a dozen distinct spots black rocks, the Sierra Morena to luxuriate and only the same was once known for a different number of rooms. sort of wildlife: its fabled ban- The very definition of Andaludits who preyed on travellers cian vernacular architecture, its jigsaw puzzle of pantile roofs drop down to arched entrances and wisteria-laden pergolas. The all-pervading smell of jasmine and azahar follows you around the grounds.

So relaxing you’ll never want to leave, I jumped with a start when George’s mother Charlotte suddenly appeared as I was settling into my third cafe con leche, with a decent biography on the go.

“Your steed awaits,” she trilled joyfully, handing me some gaiters and leading me to the grand front gate, where my ride - a mixture of Spanish Arabian and Anglo-Arabian - was literally chomping at the bit. We were PARADISE: For George’s horses soon heading off on a mix-

PRETTY: Cazalla de la Sierra where dictator Franco’s granddaughter and fashion designers Victorio & Lucchino live

Stunning Trasierra counts Bryan Ferry and Kate Moss as regular guests, while photographer Bruce Weber has been helping owner George Scott and his sister, chef Gioconda, produce a film series about the region. Another brother Jackson, a flamenco guitarist, who once dated actress Sadie Frost, is appropriately writing the soundtrack ture of ancient drovers paths - known as vias pecuarias, cordeles and caminos reales depending on their importance - which George knows like the back of his hand, having grown up in the sierra.

A keen advocate of keeping the

countryside open, he is also a fan of ‘rewilding’ and bans all use of pesticides from his estate. “The locals call our land sucio (or dirty) as we don’t clean it up and plough beneath the olive trees,” he explains.

“The birds and animals certain-

ENTRANCE: Grand front door and (above) Giaconda’s feast

VISTAS: George Scott looks across the wild Sierra Morena ly don’t mind.” is glamping with a capital ‘G’.

It took a full 30 minutes before These are Rajasthani safari we were even clear of Trasi- tents, in fact, with proper beds erra, riding along windy dirt and linen, as well as dressing tracks through woodland that’s tables, sinks, soaps and fresh as wild as it is beautiful. cologne.

When we did finally emerge To top it off there are hot wafrom the forest, the landscape ter bottles and a well stocked was gentle and rolling, not dra- bar and you get tea and coffee matic like the Sierra Nevada or delivered to your bedside table the mountains around Ronda, every morning. where I live.

I, however, have been invited But you certainly have to keep to spend my last night back at your wits about you with lots the ranch, where I am to be the of low-lying branches and the guest of the Scott family, who sudden startling of an escap- are getting together for the first ing partridge or the swoosh of time since the pandemic bea snake. gan.

My only real conI am delighted cern - apart from to be trying out A minion my aching thighs a ‘fire cooking’ profferred and a sore bum show by George’s - came from a sister Gioconme an ice pair of delinda, who has a quent foals runroaring outdoor cold glass of ning loose and bbq on the go by refreshing fino the time we get inquisitive in the back. extreme.

A true gourmet, My horse was, quite simply, not amused and Gioconda has long been an adspent the next ten minutes vocate of slow food and sourctrying to send them packing, es her ingredients as close to before rearing up and almost the ‘Km0’ ethos as possible knocking me into a tree. and we eat amazing belly of Thankfully, we were just a few free range pork from the nearminutes to lunch and suddenly by hills, as well as local lamb emerged into a clearing with a and much, much more. ruined farmhouse and the won- It is a wonderful night, which derful sight of a shady picnic rumbles on well into the small table brimming with goodies hours, a never-ending supply of from around the region. local wine and plenty of banter One of George’s minions prof- to boot. I almost forget that my fered me a glass of ice cold thighs have been bounced into fino, while a separate ice buck- oblivion and I can hardly feel et held lager and cava. my backside.

From here, we only had an Thank the lords there is a really hour or so to the tented camp, proper bed waiting for me when where most guests normally I finally flop. spend their first night.

It’s a remarkable place, care- For more information visit fully sited in a shady glade sur- www.georgescottrides.com rounded by oak woodland. or www.trasierra.com And forget the usual tents, this

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL THE BIG SPLURGE

OOKING for somewhere out of this world for the perfect escape in Spain this year?

Want a place to really luxuriate and properly treat a loved one? Already know the Costas

A N DA L UC I A

January 13th - January 26th 2022

and the capital city?

Well here is the Olive Press’ hand-picked guide to the sweetest of 16 places to check out in 2022…an amazing mix of mountain escapes, city palaces and wine estates.

la Donaira, El Gastor, Cadiz

The Sweet Sixteen exciting grand and aspirational places to luxuriate around Spain this year This Andalucian institution was opened for the Sevilla Expo of 1928 and nothing much has changed, especially its unrelenting luxury.

One of Spain’s grandest hotels, its corridors gleam with Moorish tiles and its lifts with gold trimming, while its grounds still hold a

AN eco-retreat of only nine suites (and two yurts), La Donaira’s medicinal garden alone is home to around 200 varieties of herbs and flowers, many going into its homemade soaps and lotions, as well as dishes in its kitchens.

Exclusive in the extreme, guests must leave their cars at a main gate and get brought up by 4x4s past its vineyards and olive groves. That is unless you heli-

copter in, as a few guests do.

A restored cortijo with a glorious central space and an open plan kitchen, guests watch the chefs’ culinary magic using local ingredients, almost all of it sourced from the farm.

Each suite is impeccably private with picture windows offering amazing vistas towards the Grazalema Natural Park.

You hike from the door, with

The Alfonso XIII, sevilla strong allure.

A perfect central location between the cathedral and Plaza Espana, its celebrated guests have included everyone from Audrey Hepburn to Rita Hayworth (whose father was from the city) and Jackie Kennedy

to Princess Diana. The 1962 movie Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here.

Many of the rooms have balconies and private terraces and the swimming pool area is the perfect place to relax after a day’s sightseeing in Andalucia’s most evocative city. www.marriot.com

vultures and eagles soaring overhead, and for those who love horses, it has its very own studfarm with a 90-strong herd of Lusitanos and an Irish horse whisper Seamus to take you on a hack. Wine tasting sessions are offered by the resident sommelier, while you can relax in the sybaritic spa, complete with sauna and hammam. www.ladonaira.com

Want an escape from the busy costas? A weekend in romantic Ronda will revive your senses.

Ronda Romantic Apartments is the answer

run to the hills

Visit amazing Ronda Romantica apartments - ranked 9.7 on Booking.com and 5* on airbnb - via www.alcantarilla.co.uk or call 654 152 122

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CA S T I L L A Y L E O N

f you are looking to combine a spot of wine tasting with a complete chill out, this stunning spa hotel in classic Ribera del Duero vineyard territory is the perfect option.

The 900-year-old former abbey is one of the most luxurious hotels in Spain and is priced accordingly.

Founded by monks in 1146, much of its original structure has been respected, although the former cells are anything but monastic and are now wonderfully smart rooms, while their former refectory is now the domain of celebrated chef Marc Segarra Saune.

Meanwhile its ‘spa sommelier’ appropriately offers guests a glass of

Abadia Retuerta LeDomaine, Sardon de Duero, Valladolid

wine before advising on suitable vinotherapy treatments, before running a

Castilla Termal Valbuena

wine bath, looking out on the nearby hills. www.abadia-retuerta.com

Santa Maria de Valbuena is one of the best-preserved 12th century Cistercian monasteries in Europe.

Now converted into a beautiful 79-room hotel, it stretches over 18,000 square metres, counting its own vineyards, a thermal spa built into the monastery’s arches as well as an outdoor pool.

The Cistercian monks who occupied the monastery are the fathers of the Duero wines, which are still served alongside the hotel’s carefully selected a la carte menu. The gastronomy is based on traditional and modern dishes, made with high-quality products from the region. www.castillatermal.com

FOOD & DRINK Marques Alava

de

Riscal,

January 13th January 26th 2022

21

PA I S VA S CO

I

t is fast becoming one of Spain’s most emblematic buildings, thanks to the design by globally recognised architect Frank Gehry, the man behind Bilbao’s Guggenheim.

Avant-garde, neoclassical style, this is a work of art, with tilted walls, zigzag windows and high ceilings peppered throughout its 43 rooms and suites.

Sitting in a famous vineyard that dates back to 1858 - the oldest in the region - it also counts a vinotherapy spa and fittingly a Michelin starred restaurant. www.marquesderiscal.com

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This is easily one of the most remote hotels in Europe… and you can understand why if you make it this far.

A stunning spot set in 220 acres, its nearest village is nearly 20 minutes away and the drive from the main gate takes five minutes alone.

Run by British owners, who know Spain like the back of their hands, it counts on luxurious accommodation, amazing views and landscape.

Set in the Mataranya hills, it is great for trekking, hiking and bird watching, while guests are spoilt with the most per-

fect swimming spot in an ice cool river that runs through the grounds.

Food-wise the restaurant is a delight with most of its produce coming from the grounds or extremely near. www.torredelvisco.com

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his luxury five-star hotel in the centre of Valencia has been designed with a chic, elegant and minimalist theme.

It has long been a favoured spot - going back to Roman times and later became a perfume factory dating back to the third century.

or email us at info@imadspain.es For more information – www.imadspain.es Marble walled bathrooms and a mirrored restaurant create an elegant atmosphere in which to luxuriate and live life to the full. www.hotelpalaciovallier.com Continues next page

We have clinics in Madrid, Alicante, Murcia, Valencia Av. Maisonnave, 36, 03003 Alicante

22

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

January 13th - January 26th 2022

From previus page

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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

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

STAND BY ME!

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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! OWNER: 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.”

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

Molino de Alcuneza, Alcuneza, Guadalajara

T

his is the perfect base to enjoy the wonderful rural region of Guadalajara, known for its nature and the medieval towns of Siguenza, Atienza and Medinaceli.

Comfortable rooms are complimented by a well known local restaurant that counts its own Michelin star.

Even better it is said to have one of the best breakfasts in Spain and its head chef Samuel Moreno, has grafted in many of the best known kitchens in the country.

And after a long day of walking or sightseeing you can chill out in its spa, which counts on a hamman and sauna. www.molinodelalcuneza.com

W

hy not explore Menorca this year, basing yourself in the traditional and rustic charm of this 21 room converted medieval mansion.

The outdoor swimming pool is located within tranquil gardens.

The nearby village of Alcaufar is an easy stroll and you can also hike along the woodland coastal trails, as well as having the option to swim at its nearby beach.

For those who want to travel further afield, bike rental is available and you have the option of staff packing you a picnic to take with you. www.alcaufarvell.com

La Caminera, Ciudad Real The options are endless at this very exclusive country estate, which counts its very own Michelin star restaurant.

Set in amazing countryside in the wilds of Ciudad Real, many guests arrive by plane and helicopter, which says it all.

There is definitely no shortage of things to do - with its own golf course, airfield, wine tasting events, outdoor yoga, traditional horse carriage ride, eagle spotting or you can even buy a special La Mancha Sunset experience.

The spa offers an Olive Oil treatment and tasting, as well as wellness courses for cancer treatments. www.hotellacaminera.com

Valdepalacios, Toledo

Valdepalacios is the only five-star Gran Luxe country hotel in Spain.

En route to emblematic Toledo, it counts on 600-hectares with many verdant meadows.

There are great walks around the estate and you will see plenty of wildlife, including stags and partridges and the hotel organises photographic tours to test your eye.

A restaurant is run by well known local chef Jesus Hernandez, who can give you a cookery class.

There are just 27 sizeable rooms split between the 19th century main house, or the grounds, allwith stunning views. www.valdepalacios.es

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL AS T UR IAS

A

January 13th - January 26th 2022

23

PuebloAstur, Cofiño

sturias is known as ‘the roof of the world’ and one of the greenest places in Europe.

But few places do justice to its breathtaking landscape like Puebloastur.

Once a small rural caserio, today it is one of the most original and luxurious places to stay in Spain with, deservedly, five stars. A massive multi-million euro investment brought dozens of original paintings and sculptures, including Salvador Dali’s striking giant ‘Newton’ in the main courtyard.

There is a spa, a variety of restaurants and a big wine cellar, with some of Spain’s top bottles, while the views of the Picos de Europa are maximised from just about every corner of the hotel.

www.puebloastur.com

CA T A L UN YA

Hostal Empuries, Costa Brava

GA L I C I A A Quinta da Auga, Santiago

Set by the Roman ruins of Empuries, this idyllic hotel is an iconic space set near rolling hills by the coastline of Catalunya.

First built in 1907 to house the archeologists digging at the nearby site, its location right next to the beach, couldn’t be better.

Known for its sustainability it was the first hotel

in Europe to win the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) award in 2010.

Full of linens, wicker rocking chairs and Spanish pottery you can make yourself completely at home and enjoy a taste of rustic Spain, right by the sea.

www.hostalempuries.com

Terra Dominicata, Tarragona

This is Priorat territory.

Spain’s biggest hitting red wine region, with its vinos reaching, famously, strengths of 16 degrees.

Needing a breathtaking hotel to match, the 12th century Terra Dominicata doesn’t disappoint.

As pretty as a picture, the

Serra de Montsant mountains soar over the historic hostelry and its wide expanses of vines.

Cypress trees flank the terracotta coloured hotel, which was originally set up by Carthusian monks, who were known to enjoy a tipple and only

wanted the finest - making sure they got it by developing their wine-making skills.

You can, of course, explore the working vineyard, before sampling its wines at supper in the fine-dining restaurant. www.terradominicata.com

It is the first time that the celebrated Xacobeo of Santiago de Compostela has been extended by a year.

Now you can make the most of it by checking into this historic hotel on the outskirts of Spain’s holiest city.

Surrounded by trees and the river Sur, this converted 18th century home is a wonderful rural escape incredibly close to the ancient old town and cathedral.

It boasts oodles of charm and counts an excellent restaurant, as well as leafy gardens.

You dine in a warm and charming dining room in winter, while the tables line the courtyards in summer. www.granhotelnagari.com

I B I ZA

Six Senses Ibiza, Sant Joan de Labritja This was one of the most exciting openings in the Balearics of recent times.

Finally launched last year, the hip Six Senses brand has chosen the perfect spot, near Cala Xarraca beach.

Nestled into the amazing surroundings, this was once an olive estate with a 400-year-old mill.

Most of the 100 suites have amazing sea views, while much of the restaurant’s food is grown on the estate. www.sixsenses. com

The REuse REduce REcycle

Flying high A CANADIAN tourist has been charged with illegally flying a drone over Sevilla’s Cathedral, and World Heritage site the Alcazar as well as a military airfield and the local airport.

Sell out ALL 7,000 tickets for a concert by French DJ David Guetta in Cadiz have sold in just three hours.

The world’s number one DJ, according to DJ Mag, will play in el Puerto de Santa Maria on July 24.

voice in Spain

Dig it!

Vol. 2 Issue 56 www.theolivepress.es January 13th - January 26th 2022

KNOW THE LINGO Furry friends can tell the difference between languages

DOGS can tell the difference between Spanish and Hungarian.

A study by researchers from Eotvos Lorand University in Hungary has demonstrated for the first time that a non-human brain can differentiate between two languages.

First author of the study Lau-

By Dilip Kuner

ra Cuaya was intrigued as to whether her Spanish ‘speaking’ dog would be able to tell the difference between Spanish and Hungarian when she moved to take up a job at the university from Mexico.

She explained: “Before, I had only talked to my dog Kun-kun in Spanish. So I was wondering whether Kun-kun noticed that people in Budapest spoke a different language, Hungarian.

“So we designed a brain imag-

Poached Parrot POLICE have rescued two Aratinga parrots, which were apparently about to be cooked in an Asian restaurant in the Usera district of Madrid.

The birds were seized by officers during a routine inspection.

The parakeets, native to South America, were found in the kitchen of the Chinese restaurant, crammed into a plastic container, without food or water and

next to the cooker where there were two cauldrons with boiling water and sauce. Police allege that they were going to be cooked alive.

The birds have been transferred to the Wild Animal Recovery Centre (CRAS).

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FINAL WORDS

CROWDS who gathered to watch the Three Kings arrive by boat at Oropesa (Castellon) got more entertainment than they expected when a wave capsized the dinghy and deposited the soaking wet Wise Men on the beach.

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Picture by Enikő Kubinyi

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ing study to find this out.”

She added: “Kun-kun and 17 other dogs were trained to lay motionless in a brain scanner, where we played them speech excerpts of The Little Prince in Spanish and Hungarian.

All dogs had heard only one of the two languages from their owners, so this way we could compare a highly familiar language to a completely unfamiliar one.”

When comparing brain responses to Spanish and Hungarian speech, two distinct brain activity patterns could be seen, showing the animals could tell the difference.

AN exceptional treasure trove of Roman coins buried for centuries in a cave in northern Spain has been unearthed thanks to a hungry badger.

The hoard of coins dating from between the third and fifth centuries were discovered in a cave outside Grado in Asturias just feet away from a badger’s den.

Experts believe that the badger dug up the ‘largest treasure trove of Roman coins found in northern Spain’ as it foraged deeper for food.

Visigoths

The coins were made in destinations across the Roman Empire and the largest coin, weighing more than eight grams and made from 4% silver, is believed to have been cast in London.

Researchers believe the coins may have been hidden during a time of political instability when the Roman hold on Iberia was crumbling as the Visigoths gained ground.

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