Mallorca Olive Press - Issue 96

Merry Xmas to our readers...

...and in your Olive Press stocking this year don’t miss: Stunning, but was it worth €1.2 billion?

The Spanish chefs with new ‘green’ stars See page 3

See page 10

The

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Festive check before the revelry begins

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MALLORCA

Your expat

voice in Spain

Mijas Costa

Vol. 4 Issue 96 www.theolivepress.es December 24th - January 14th 2021

Down to the wire Johnson and von der Leyen hold secret talks to try to thrash out a trade deal

HAPPY CHRISTMAS: May 2021 be a better year for us all!

BORIS Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen have been locked in last-ditch secret talks to secure a Brexit deal.

This was after expats in Mallorca and the rest of the EU were left in a Brexit limbo after the crucial deadline for a trade deal between the UK and EU was missed.

Despite negotiators inching towards an agreement, Sunday’s deadline passed with France sticking to its ‘red lines’ over fishing rights in British waters.

However, as the clock ticks towards the UK’s departure from the EU on January 1, there still remains hope that continuing negotiations could avoid a nodeal Brexit.

One of the main concerns for negotiators - and the vast majority of British expats in Spain - is that all 27 EU nations must agree to the deal... and France has the right to veto it.

The EU Council of Ministers had given midnight on Sunday as the cut off point if they were to have time to ratify the deal in the EU parliament before

SECRET: Johnson and von der Leyen have been in contact with the fundamental princiBy Dilip Kuner ples we brought into the negotiations.”

UK health secretary, Matt the end of the year.

Since then Prime Minister Hancock claimed that ‘unreaJohnson and the von der Ley- sonable demands’ from the EU en have been holding regular over fishing rights had thrown ‘secret’ phone calls in a bid to a roadblock across negotiations. break the deadlock.

British and EU negotiators are He said: “I’m sure that a deal today trying to thrash out an can be done, but obviously it agreement over trade before needs movement on the EU side.” they break for Christmas.

Unless a spectacular break- If a deal is agreed then there through is made, Britain will remains the possibility of it fall under World Trade Organ- being ‘provisionally applied’ isation rules, with a range of from January 1 until the EU tariffs being imposed, in just parliament can meet later in the month. over a week’s time.

“Talks remain difficult and UK ministers meanwhile, have significant differences re- firmly ruled out extending the main,” a source said this week. Brexit process into 2021.

“We continue to explore every It comes after a group of MPs route to a deal that is in line from all parties, plus London Mayor Sadiq Khan, had called for the Brexit transition period to be extended due to the coronaSee page 16 virus pandemic and slow progress on negotiations.

Tel: 952 147 834

147 834

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Opinion Page 6

No where to go for Xmas

THE Government of the Balearic Islands has announced that the Level 4 coronavirus restrictions in Mallorca will likely be extended until January 11.

This level is deemed the most serious in the COVID-19 tier system and includes the harshest restrictions.

These include a 10pm curfew and a ban on the use of the interior areas of bars and restaurants which also must close by 6pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

President Francina Armengol had said previously that the epidemiological situation would be assessed on December 28 and that the island could return to Level 3.

However, Armengol today revealed her plans to extend the Level 4 restrictions until at least the second week of January.

She said: “Only a drastic drop in cases would make me rethink this plan, but this is not likely.”

Balearic Health Minister Patricia Gomez has also asked residents to avoid travelling to mainland Spain over the festive period.

She said: “We recommend that you do not travel and ask for maximum responsibility in the face of an increase in coronavirus cases.”

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CRIME

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NEWS IN BRIEF Gunpowder plot OVER 7,000 fireworks have been seized from a shop in Santa Ponsa due to the owner not having the correct license to sell the items. The businessman also failed to keep the fireworks in ‘optimal conditions’.

Don’t wrap up DRIVERS are being warned that a bulky overcoat could cost them a fine of €200 under new regulations.

Red handed A MAN, aged 28, has been arrested for burgling a home in Palma.

The thief had entered the property while the homeowner was asleep but was caught by officers when escaping over the garden fence.

How shellfish A 48-year-old Spaniard has been arrested for breaking into a Marbella restaurant and stealing a live lobster and 24 oysters as he prepared for a slapup Christmas meal.

December 24th - January 14th 2021

Russian mob exposed CORRUPT cops and politicians are among two dozen arrested in a major operation against the Russian mafia.

Several police officers and two local Partido Popular (PP) politicians were among the 23 cuffed in what has been described as the biggest sting against the Russian mob ‘for a decade’.

Operation Testudo focused on the money laundering gang that mostly worked in the Marina Baixa area of Valencia.

A series of 18 raids led to arrests in Valencia City, Altea and Finestrat, while gang

members were also rounded up in Alicante, Ibiza and Madrid.

The investigation was launched in 2013, alongside Europol, after a tip off that a series of shady Russian businessmen were influencing politicians to land lucrative real estate deals.

The gang is said to have created shell-companies as a front for laundering money out of Spain to be used for international crimes include murder, drug-trafficking, human-trafficking, and extortion.

Among those arrested were

Burning issue A MANHUNT has been launched to find an arsonist who set fire to multiple rubbish bins across Palma.

Police are actively searching for the pyromaniac after three separate fires raged across the capital on Tuesday night.

The first rubbish containers were set alight on Carrer de l’Heura and within an hour, five more were burned at the beginning and end of Carrer Fabrica.

The flames quickly spread, causing damage to four parked cars.

Policia Nacional believe that the suspect is responsible for a similar arson spree that destroyed seven rubbish dumps in Palma in October.

In recent years, arsonists have terrorised the island, where in 2019, more than 300 dumpsters were set alight.

Mafia corruption probe ends in dozens of arrests of police and politicians in Valencia

By Alex Trelinski

PP councillor for Benidorm, Lorenzo Martinez, and former PP president in Altea, Jaime Selles.

They have been charged with ‘peddling influence’ alongside an Altea council official who was also detained.

Alarmingly, two Guardia Civil officers and a Policia National

Drugs handyman AN EMPLOYEE at Palma prison has been arrested for smuggling drugs into the jail.

Management had been suspicious that the maintenance worker had been supplying narcotics to drug dealing inmates.

Police were notified and a search of the employee uncovered various amounts of hashish, steroids and heroin in his pockets and bag.

He has been arrested and charged with drug trafficking.

The investigation continues as officers believe that the detainee did not act alone.

detective were also arrested in the raids.

The operation appears to have been run by a Russian solicitor, who masquerades as an Altea real estate agent.

The 38-year-old was said to have ‘extensive local contacts’ and was seeking to build a luxury motorhome park in the area.

A Ukrainian IT expert, based in the San Juan area of Alicante, was also visited in the police raids.

Luxury

The so-called ‘hacker’ was previously arrested in 2018 for being the mastermind behind a gang of cyber thieves who stole over one billion US dollars from banks around the world.

“The organisation planned to control key sectors of the Spanish economy and infiltrate state institutions, counting on lawyers, officials, politicians, businessmen and hackers,” said a police spokesman.

“Profits from these criminal activities were invested in Spain in various businesses, mainly in leisure, hospitality and the real estate sector,” he added.

Fascists caged A WHITE supremacist planning to launch a race war has been arrested in Ronda.

The suspect - whose house was filled with Nazi memorabilia - was cuffed as part of an intensive year-long investigation.

He and an accomplice on the other side of Spain in Pamplona are charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation.

The pair had been ‘trying to set up isolated and armed white communities’, claim police.

According to their manifesto, seized by investigators in 2019, the group wanted to create armed communities in rural areas in preparation for a race war.

Nazis in our ranks A TRIO of soldiers have been arrested for singing a Nazi song and giving raised Fascist salutes at their barracks.

The group from Spain’s elite Parachute Brigade were filmed at the Paracuellos military base near Madrid chanting the song, Primavera.

The tune became the infamous rallying cry for Franco’s Blue Division that fought for the Nazis against the Soviet Union in the second world war.

Friends.

Reset.

Music.

At OD Port Portals we have our own star rating. In fact, we have all the stars of the Mallorca sky and we will enjoy them all together every summer night at OD Sky Bar, on our spacious terrace and at our restaurant On Top. A hotel full of local experiences, music, art, gastronomy, yoga, pre-parties, flea markets, brunches, concerts, Pilates, tardeo, sea, sun and all the stars. A hotel full of life.

Horizon.

Sunset.

Memories.

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HOLY SITE: Antonio and Maria paid their respects

Holy visit MALAGA heart throb Antonio Banderas has been busy filming a new show for Amazon Prime, together with journalist Maria Casado.

They took a break from filming to visit one of his passions - the Cofradia de la Esperanza de Malaga brotherhood, which dates back to 1641.

Banderas often joins the brotherhood on their famous Easter processions parades to carry the statue of Mary that they take their name after. This time he brought colleague Maria to view the impressive figure on the festival day of the Esperanza de Malaga.

STILL TOP: Quique Dacosta

New stars are born, and only one lost, as the celebrated Michelin foody bible reveals its picks for 2021 IT must have been one of the hardest years in the food bible’s hundred-year history.

But somehow the Michelin guide - which launched in 1910 in Spain - has managed to wheedle out a few new stars for Spain for 2021.

A total of 22 new winners

Royal greetings SPAIN’s royal family have released a Christmas card with an optimistic outlook for the New Year.

Princesses Sofia and Leonor have been captured smiling in casual but chic outfits in Pravia, in Asturias.

Wearing a khaki gilet and houndstooth coat the princesses look cheerful in front of the Spanish countryside.

The decision to include only the princesses in the card is an unusual one, as recipients traditionally expect festive well wishes from Queen Letizia and King Felipe too.

NEWS

Star power were selected for the guide this year, with a pair in Catalunya and one in Galicia being the highlight.

While no new three-star restaurants emerged, for the first time in five years, Cinc Sentits, in Barcelona, Bo.Tic, in Girona, and Culler de Pau, in O Grove, all grabbed a brace.

Meanwhile, the leading Andalucian restaurants maintained their star status, with Aponiente, in Cadiz, keeping its three stars, while Noor, Skina and Bardal kept their two stars in Cordoba, Marbella and Ronda.

In total, only one restaurant in Spain lost a star (Albora, in Madrid), as the inspectors were told to be fair given the myriad of issues with COVID-19 this year.

Chef Benito Gomez, of Bardal, in Ronda, was extremely grateful for this, having been forced to close in March and not opening all year.

“It’s been a nightmare year, very tricky and so it’s great the inspectors have been lenient,” he told the Olive Press.

Quality

The winners, announced at the much delayed online ceremony at the Royal Casa de Correos in Madrid, included a record 19 new one-Michelin starred joints.

Meanwhile there were 53 new Bib Gourmands - or

DOUBLE DELIGHT: Jordi Artal (Cinc Sentits), Albert Sastregener (Bo.TiC) and Javier Olleros (Culler de Pau)

OLIVE PRESS OPINION

Names to trust

The chefs behind the 21 new Michelin ‘Green Stars’ are among the true heroes of Spain - see story right.

This select, forward-thinking group have been championing sustainability in the catering industry for, in some cases, over a decade.

The Olive Press first came across Angel León in 2009 before he won his first Michelin star at Aponiente, which now has three.

Back then, in a small backstreet joint, in the heart of el Puerto de Santa Maria, he was only listing unfashionable types of fish on his menu.

Boycotting cod and tuna, he used almost all local ingredients and even gave a lecture series on sustainability to Cadiz university.

Now, he is finally being recognised for his zeal and passion for the environment.

As is rightly, Diego Gallegos, at Sollo, in Fuengirola, another thoughtful and endearing young chef, who we first met him cutting his teeth at the eccentric Algarinejo restaurant in the wilds of Cordoba a decade ago and knew he would go far.

The pair were among the first chefs to feature in Olive Press editor Jon Clarke’s book Dining Secrets of Andalucia.

Not secret anymore. And thankfully so. restaurants that have great quality to price ratios - with three new ones in Andalucia.

SPAIN’S golden boy, Rafael Nadal, has shared his love for Mallorca by enjoying a hike in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains and posting this gorgeous family snap.

The sporting hero, born and raised on the island, posted a picture on his social media accounts alongside his wife, Mery Perello, and friends, including former tennis player and coach Tomeu Salva.

ARE YOU A UK NATIONAL AND STRUGGLING WITH YOUR RESIDENCY APPLICATION?

The region now has a massive 38 restaurants in this category, with 16 starred joints.

There were new stars in Alicante and in Murcia making up a total of 203 starred eateries.

A new category was introduced this year to celebrate sustainability.

Called the Estrella Verde, or Green star, it went to 21 restaurants around Spain, including one in Malaga, Sollo, in Fuengirola (see sidebar right).

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Green award for top Costa joint

By Jon Clarke and James Warren

GOLDEN BOY

UK NATIONALS

December 24th - January 14th 2021

A SPANISH restaurant has scooped a prestigious new environmental gong in the annual Michelin awards.

Sollo, in Fuengirola, has been handed a so-called ‘Green star’, or Estrella Verde, in the latest innovation from the celebrated food bible.

The restaurant, bossed by ‘king of caviar’ chef Diego Gallegos, is one of 21 around Spain to be recognised for its sustainability.

Gallegos has long championed the Slow Food movement and is very careful where he sources ingredients.

“Sustainability is no longer fashionable, it is essential,” said Gallegos, adding: “Around 90% of our ingredients we produce ourselves.”

Another Andalucian restaurant Aponiente, in el Puerto de Santa Maria, also garnered the award.

Its three-Michelin star chef Angel León (below) has long campaigned against overfishing and doesn’t use endangered fish, such as cod and tuna.

“We know we are not going to change the world, but we try hard to share our sustainable practices with as many people as we can,” he said.

Get in touch to find out how we can support you CONTACT DETAILS UKnationalsSP@iom.int spain.iom.int Murcia y Almería (0034) 648 642 543

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GREAT IDEA: Recycling works

Green cashback RECYCLING in Spain is about to become rewarding, literally.

Following successful trials, a waste management company, is setting up ‘yellow slot machines’ for recycling bottles and cans, which pay out a list of benefits.

The company Ecoembes is starting with 100 machines, having already installed 10 machines at railways stations in Barcelona.

Punters download an app and use a QR code to collect credits, which are later redeemed for rewards.

This includes discounts on public transport, or the chance to win prizes such as an electric bicycle.

Punters can also use the credits to make donations to charities such as Medicos Sin Fronteras (Doctors without borders), which has received €2000 through the scheme this year.

Unlike in other countries, including Germany and Norway, you cannot currently convert the bottles or cans for cash.

NEWS

December 22nd January 12th 2021

Kings dethroned A BAN has been slapped on people attending the traditional Three Kings Parade in Palma.

Palma City Council announced its decision to keep the public away from the iconic parade which will be televised on IB3 instead.

Mayor Jose Hila said the route

Parade will be cordoned off to stop people watching of the January 5 parade has been completely redesigned to ‘avoid areas where there is a congestion of people’.

It will also be kept cordoned

off at all times to prevent any member of the public getting close to the floats.

“Even if someone wants to see the parade, they will not be able to and only be able to watch it on television at home,” said Hila.

He added that children would be disappointed, but that it would not be right to deceive them about the COVID-19 crisis.

“They must not see a parade full of people, but one that reflects our current reality.”

Hila explained that due to the change in format the budget for the parade has been reduced from €200,000 to €135,000.

The council is however working to organise activities that will allow children to enjoy the festive period.

Bottom shelf by choice

Get shopping

A SPANISH sommelier has created a vino to hit back at wine snobs who only value bottles on a scale of one to 100.

Enrique Lopez, from Malaga, has created his Cero (Zero) Puntos Parker brand in a direct snub to global wine guru Robert Parker, an American lawyer, who invented the 100 scale for wines.

His bottle from Cigales, near Valladolid, is made from 100% Tempranillo grapes and has been selling like hot cakes.

Its label is simple and to the point: ‘On the nose: it smells of wine. In the mouth: it tastes very very good. That’s it.’

The wine, the label of which features a group of friends at a party, is 14.5% in strength, and getting rave reviews in Spain.

PEOPLE can still Christmas markets despite COVID. Families can enjoy activities such as musical performances, children's workshops, dance, circus acrobatics and special cooking shows.

The Puerto Portals Christmas Market is one of the most popular on the island and will be open until January 6. The artisanal markets in Palma are also to stay open.

FREE QUOTE info@sghaulage.com www.sghaulageltd.co.uk

+44 1522 702 443

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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 No Christmas fantasy TRUTH can be stranger than fiction. Take the downfall of a Russian-run mafia operation (see page 2) with multiple arrests including local politicians past and present.

The fact that the Policia Nacional have worked since 2013 to expose the gang says a lot about how far it had 'got into every aspect of Spanish society'...the very words of a police statement!

It's said to be the biggest mafia ‘take down’ in Spain for a decade. All the elements of a novel or a big TV series are here.

There's the alleged 'kingpin' of a Russian solicitor who also runs a real estate business. The Russian was a member and financial backer of the Partido Popular who showered local politicians and police with gifts.

The mix gets juicier with an Alicante-based Ukrainian described as the world's 'biggest-ever' crypto-currency thief, who was arrested in 2018 for stealing €200 million from banks around the world.

Chuck in bribes, gun-running, dodgy land deals, and international money laundering, and there's a basis here for a full Netflix series.

In fact Spain's excellent international hit, La Casa de Papel might struggle to keep up with this lot. You can't make this up and we certainly didn't!

NEWS FEATURE

Feliz navidad ‘Tis the season to give help’

As the festive season is upon us the Olive Press has rounded up a pair of refugee charities in need of some Christmas cheer

Catch the spirit at Christmas Help the Olive Press give hope and cheer to those in need this season

I

T’S easy to forget when surrounded by tinsel and festive feasts that Christmas began with a heavily pregnant woman trav e l ling

Get on with it AS the game of brinkmanship continues between the EU and UK over Brexit, we wish both sides would put their petty differences aside and just reach an agreement.

The word is that 99% of a trading deal has been agreed. But both sides are intransigent – for stark political reasons – over the remaining ‘loose ends’.

The politicians should remember that these talks will have an impact on the lives of millions of people and finally come up with a solution.

And sooner rather than later.

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

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Office manager Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es

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AWARDS

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

2012 - 2020

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

down long and dusty roads from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Riding a donkey for 90 miles along the River Jordan in pounding rain, it was only the heartwarming kindness of strangers that kept her safe as she and her husband welcomed their baby into the world.

So, as much of a cliche as it has become, Christmas is a time for giving to others. That’s why each year the Olive Press selects a good cause or two that need the support of the expat community in Spain.

Humble beginnings

At its core, the Nativity is a tale of a family seeking refuge.

So, this year, the Olive Press has chosen two fantastic refugee charities to give a helping hand to over the Christmas period.

Spain has seen more refugee and migrant arrivals than any other European country in 2020.

Over 36,000 people have made the desperate and dangerous decision to travel across seas in the dead of night to escape hardship and conflict.

In many cases, their journeys have ended in disaster and tragedy, with the worst shipwreck of the year seeing 140 people lose their lives on the crossing from Senegal to the Canaries.

How you can help Madrid for Refugees is running a Christmas campaign to help families who have just arrived in Spain with limited funds. Moving is stressful under any circumstances but is twice as hard in a new country with a small budget, as many expats can understand. When you donate to the charity’s Moving Home Fund you will provide a family in need with basic household necessities like sheets, plates, cutlery, towels and hygiene items so they can

focus on building their new lives in Spain.

“Madrid for Refugees gave us a new opportunity to start over,” said Andrea, a refugee from Honduras.

“Thanks to donors, we were able to have basic clothes and kitchen items to start our future here. We will always be grateful to everyone who made that possible.”

Next steps Once settled, many refugees forge a future for themselves in Spain with their skills as chefs and cooks.

With the slogan ‘Build Appetites, Not Walls’ the Chefugee charity hosts events, supper clubs and food festivals to help refugee chefs find employment in restaurants or start their own.

“The Chefugee fund supports small business and culinary services of refugees and asylum seekers,” founder Natalia Diaz told the Olive Press.

“Your donations will help Chefugee’s mission of ensuring integration, employment and well-being of refugees and asylum seekers.”

Getting a pizza the action

A RESTAURANT in Ibiza has launched an inspiring campaign to feed hundreds of struggling families over the festive period.

Every Monday until Three Kings’ Day, the restaurant will donate a pizza to the needy for each one bought by customers.

Aptly named ‘Pizza is a right’, the initiative for Caritas was conceptualised by Marco Simonella, owner of iPizza, and Carlos Miranda, deputy director of fashion powerhouse Zara.

“Almost every day I go to the bank opposite Caritas and was beginning to notice that the queue for food was getting longer”, explained Marco to the Olive Press.

“Then I began to see that it was not just homeless people lining up, but people that I knew with their children. It broke my heart.”

Marco then decided that something had to be done to help, and that he would be the one to do it.

Unbelievably, this is the first initiative of its kind on the island during the entire coronavirus pandemic and has been so well received that the Consell d’Eivissa has asked Marco to run the campaign for them on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. “I want to inspire other business owners from Barcelona to New York to do the same – so many peo-

Isha Sesay investigates an inspirational campaign ple need help right now,” said Marco.

This has already been highlighted in the Balearic Islands, with a recent study estimating that over 33,000 people are suffering from extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis.

The report by the Balearic Social Observatory revealed that the pandemic has increased poverty and exclusion exponentially in the region as well as worsening pre-existing cases of vulnerability.

GREAT IDEA: Marco (left) and Carlos (right) and Carlos with Ish

December 24th - January 14th 2021

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Spending Christmas in Spain? These are a few of the customs you need to know about

C

To help those in need find work and support their new lives in Spain, head to donations. chefugee.org

To donate head to madridforrefugees. org/en/ mfrwelcomekits

ha’s donations (above)

HRISTMAS is celebrated in many parts of the world and each country adds its own festive twists.

Spain, for example, likes to display figures of famous people ta-

king a poo and everyone eats 12 grapes at midnight on New Years Eve… oh, and there will rarely be a turkey or sprout in sight. Well not many.

Check out these cool local traditions and a few tips - that make Navidad unique.

Scarlet fever

12 lucky grapes Grape guzzling is probably the best known Spanish festive tradition. During the last 12 seconds of the year before the stroke of midnight we attempt to chew or swallow a dozen grapes timed with the dongs of the church clock. It’s not as easy as you think but there’s an imperative to eat the lot in order to guarantee 12 months of good luck in the coming year.

You might not have realised it before but many Spaniards make sure to wear a scarlet pair of pants or knickers on New Year’s Eve as an extra guarantee of joy and good luck. It can also be a bra or socks but it can never be on show. You can stock up at a Chinese store where the rails turn red at this time of year as Asians too believe it’s a lucky New Year colour.

Don’t poo poo big day In Spain a Christmas tree in the plaza is not enough. Most towns also have at least one Belen de Navidad. These scale model nativity scenes are perfect in every detail, from the stable in Bethlehem to the baby Jesus, his parents’ animals, the three kings and shepherds. Despite the religious theme some visitors are shocked by the touches of irreverent humour which may come in the form of a ‘caganer’ - usually one of the shepherds caught with his pants down in the act of defecating. And, on that subject, carganars are huge in Catalunya and every year there is a prize for the best one. Everyone from the Queen to Muhammad Ali has one.

CHRISTMAS SHOCKER: President Trump as a ‘caganer’

Festive food

Sing to win

Forget turkey, the Spanish prefer seafood, particularly prawns and lobster, as well as good jamon, and occasionally lamb or roast suckling pig. We also like the more traditional yuletide treats that you won’t find anywhere else. There’s turron, a honey and almond nougat in brittle or chewy versions - either way, tough on teeth; mazapanes, also made with an almond dough moulded into different shapes; polvorones, a crumbly cake that melts in the mouth; and Roscon de reyes, a big circular cake with a hole in it filled with sugared fruit and cream, and the highlight of the family table on Three Kings Day.

Forget Christmas carols and those schmaltzy Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin numbers. In Spain we have our own festive songs known as ‘villancicos’ which are the true soundtrack of Christmas.

Some, like ‘Alepun’, ‘Los peces van a beber al rio’ and ‘Pastores venid’ have been sung in the same way for centuries. They may be performed by a children’s choir or adults sitting around a brazier playing traditional instruments like the zambomba (earthenware friction drum), pandereta (tambourine) or improvised with a bottle of anis and a spoon. It’s a tradition on the verge of extinction but it still survives in small towns.

December fools December 28 commemorates the biblical King Herod’s plan to slaughter all babies under two years old, hoping the infant Jesus would be among them. Despite its gruesome religious origin, Día de los Inocentes, is the equivalent of April Fools Day. If you hear of any strange news stories on this day, you’d best take them with a very large pinch of salt.

Yule handout It’s a tradition on the verge of extinction but it still survives in small towns - COVID permitting. In the build-up to Christmas, children roam the streets, stopping at every door to sing a villancico in return for some yuletide pocket money known as an aguinaldo.

Olive Press online ‘Spain’s best English news website’

Wills you believe it?

British royals smash their way into the top stories on Olive Press website in 2020

T

HE British royals have gatecrashed a list of the Top 10 stories on the Olive Press website this year.

A story about future king Prince William thanking a school for hitting back at Americans who bullied their son George’s love of dancing, made No.8 in the chart.

Proving the continued star appeal of the British royal family, the story has been read by over 100,000 visitors so far this year.

The heart-warming tale reported how Wills and Kate (above) sent a thank-you letter to the Hurchillo School on the Costa Blanca, after its head wrote to them supporting George’s passion for ballet.

Perhaps predictably, all the other top stories of the year were linked to the Coronavirus.

Popular

Proving www.theolivepress.es is now - by far - the most popular English website in Spain, we had over 80,000 views each for all our Top 10 stories.

The most read was about tourists cancelling holidays in Mallorca, while the second most viewed was about where airlines were still flying into in the Spring.

The only other stories in the Top 25 of the year that did not involve COVID included the shutting of Alicante airport by a snowstorm and a British fugitive who escaped from police by jumping off a Benidorm hotel balcony.

Meanwhile 61,000 visitors read our story about how organised squatter gangs were running riot on the Costa del Sol and 62,000 dipped into our tale about an alarming TIE card hold up on the Costa Blanca.

All in all, it has been a record year for our website now in its 15th year.

A staggering 22 MILLION VISITORS read a total of nearly 40 MILLION PAGES this year so far.

Despite introducing a metered paywall in September, the average visitor reads at least two pages and spent well over a minute reading them.

Here’s to 2021 and the chance to raise a toast to a better range of top stories.

Here are the www.theolivepress.es Top 10 stories for 2020 season in Mallorca crippled by coronavirus 1-asTourist major events cancelled and scared tourists cancel holidays (129,023 views) Brits can fly to on Ryanair, Easy2- Spain’s airports jet, Jet2 and Tui (125,493) puts country on lockdown confining citizens 3-toSpain their homes - except for these 8 reasons (116,919) memes bringing comic relief to the 4- 10 hilariouscorona outbreak (115,545) We have toilet roll and gin as British holiday5- makers on Costa del Sol are enjoying the lockdown (112,087) del Sol declared special containment area as 6- Costa cases in Andalucia top 100 (106,828) industry won’t reopen until end of the 7- Tourism year as initial plans to lift restrictions are revealed (102,324) Kate and Will thank school on Costa Blanca for 8- support after Prince George was mocked on US TV (100,194) worries as holiday bookings plummet 9- Coronavirus in Spain with 35 now dead (86,433) residents flee to Costa del Sol, Valencia 10- Madrid and Murcia despite advice to stay at home (84, 609)

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8

LA CULTURA

Damped down

THE island’s most popular festival, Sant Sebastia, has changed formats due to the coronavirus crisis.

The two-week long January fiesta usually sees hundreds of bonfires lit across the capital and a number of open-air concerts attended by thousands in Palma’s parks.

However, Minister Alberto Jarabo said: “This year, it will not be a typical Sant Sebastia, but we will run some very small cultural events.”

This will include concerts at Teatre Principal and Palma Auditorium under a limited capacity.

Tickets are on sale for €5 and proceeds will be donated to charities assisting those impacted by the pandemic.

“We understand that we are living in an exceptional moment, but we want to show that our culture is safe,” added Jarabo.

The budget for the festival has thus been drastically reduced, from €242,000 to €153,000.

December 24th - January 14th 2021

Olga’s Plastic Problem A ‘FLOATING island’ sculpture consisting of 3,612 plastic bottles is on display in Alicante to highlight the problems of environmental pollution in the world’s oceans.

The idea was conceived by local artist Olga Diego.

It was originally going to be a large floating plastic sphere placed in the waters of La Albufereta beach for a few days in March.

Pandemic restrictions put paid to that idea, so Diego decided to go for an indoor alternative. The fruits of her labour have been on display in Alicante’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Olga Diego said: “Art is a way of sending out a message over things that can improve our lives and I hope that the floating island can do just that.”

The inspiration for the piece came several years ago when she heard that a large area of plastic pollutants had gathered in the Pacific Ocean.

“If the Earth continues the way it is, it will not last for long,” commented Olga.

PLASTIC: Highlighting environmental pollution

By Alex Trelinski

The ‘floating island’ was created with the help of students from the Miguel Hernandez Institute, who put together the plastic bottle collection, all of which is recyclable.

The three-dimensional exhibit encourages people to use less single-use packaging and has lighting within it.

Olga Diego enjoys pushing the boundaries in art, and often making it come alive.

She created a square hot air balloon out of plastic in 2015 which she then took for a journey over Elche’s Carabassi beach.

Three years later, she spent 58 hours locked away in London’s SCAN Project Room in a non-stop drawing marathon to see how far she could stretch her creative process.

Sore losers Madrid Naval Museum banishes its most popular painting because it glorifies a Spanish defeat ... but who are the real losers, wonders Cristina Hodgson

I

T seems that some people can’t out of ammo after days of intense take defeat - even hundreds of battle, was forced to strike the coyears after the fact. lours of surrender.

A painting depicting the brave but Admirers of El Glorioso say the paintultimately doomed final battle of a ing portrays a heroic action against a Spanish warship against British priva- greater force that won even the enteers has been removed from public emy’s praise. For many, the picture display at the Madrid Naval Museum. depicting the ship and its brave crew The reason? Museum directors think who fought to the last bullet and canit ‘disrespectful’ to the defeated cap- nonball is an inspiring story of human tain to show the losing fight when it courage against the odds. But bosshad gloriously beaten the Brits in four es at the museum hold a different previous actions. opinion. They are of the In place of the offendview that in an instiing artwork they have tution set up to showNeither the hung a ‘more appropricase great milestones ate’ painting of an Enand leading figures in Glorioso or its glish ship sinking...

Spanish naval history But the removal of captain should - a collection of 3,000 the iconic painting in pieces in total - there is preparation for the mu- be remembered no place for a painting seum’s re-opening has themed on defeat. for defeat sparked a furious spat “El Glorioso won four between directors and battles against the the general public. El British and lost one.

Glorioso, as it is affectionately known, Neither the Glorioso nor Captain Don has been the painting most admired Pedro Mesia de la Cerda deserve to and photographed by visitors since it be remembered for that defeat,” inwas acquired in 2014. sisted Juan Rodríguez Garat, admiral The reform of the formidable mar- director of the Institute of Naval Hisitime museum, one of the most im- tory and Culture, in defence of the portant in Europe, has been marred artwork’s removal. by controversy over its glaring omis- “The painting does not reflect a sigsion. nificant event in the history of El El ultimo combate del Glorioso by Glorioso or the Navy. It has been the current military history painter replaced with a picture by Augusto Ferrar Dalmau, to give Cortellini which depicts an the painting its full title, shows English ship sinking,” addthe eponymous 74-gun warship ed Garat. shortly before its capture in a Returning from Havana in battle with a squadron of no less 1747, El Glorioso had not than 12 British privateers off only fended off three othPortugal in 1747. er attacks but landed her The large-scale work revaluable cargo safely on calls the moment Spanish shores before dowhen the ship, ing battle against 12 battered and British warships

CONTROVERSY: This picture of El Glorioso’s last stand against British privateers has been removed from gallery (top) alone for three days and one night.

It was a feat even British chroniclers, not usually given to praising the Spanish, greeted with respect, describing it as ‘honourable and extraordinary’.

With tragic beauty, the magnificent painting portrays the ship in its final moments, stripped of its masts but still flying its flag, with the men fighting like beasts on the splintered and smoke-filled deck, surrounded by En-

glish ships.

Spanish novelist and journalist, Arturo Perez-Reverte Gutierrez (pictured left), who often draws on numerous references to Spanish history and colonial past in his novels, reproached the museum decision to remove El Glorioso, tweeting: “Please take this opportunity to explain why they (the Navy) have removed a painting by Ferrer-Falmau on El Glorioso. Is it some-

thing personal against the painter, or is it simply stupidity?”

Ironically, as Reverte also pointed out, in trying to hide the painting the museum has made it even more famous than it was before.

“I am happy for Augusto Ferrer-Dalmau and for the memory of El Glorioso,’ he tweeted. ‘The naval museum that acquires it is going to be filled with visitors.’

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I

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

December 23rd - January 13th 2021

T’S undoubtedly Valencia’s unique selling point, a surreal city of swooping white concrete and glass undulating along the banks of the old Turia riverbed like a CGI creation from Star Wars.

Calatravaland​ , as it’s sometimes called, was envisaged at a time when the cities of Europe were vying to make their mark on the international stage.

Once, majestic cathedrals were erected to show a city’s worth. In 20th century Spain it was the spectacle of structural gymnastics like the City of Arts and Sciences that changed the city skyline.

Similarly to its medieval counterparts it was built by the taxpayers and it continues to be maintained by the same today. So is it worth it? ​La Ciutat de les Arts de les Ciencies​, to give it its proper Valencian name, is truly a sight to behold. Tourists flock in their droves to visit this spectacular vision which brought in €314.4 million in 2018 and has raised Valencia’s cultural status to near that of Barcelona and Madrid.

UNREAL CITY: Dubbed ‘Calatravaland’ after its homegrown architect, is Valencia’s €1.2 billion City of Arts a world wonder or a monumental waste of taxpayers’ money, asks expat architect Kevin Cash

ANCIENT AND MODERN: El Palau de les Arts i l'Hemisfèric and Ciutat vella by Kevin Cash

Arctic Monkeys

Each year (with the obvious exception of 2020), it attracts tens of thousands of international tourists enticed by events such as free MTV concerts headlining major acts like The Cure and The Arctic Monkeys.

In many ways this is important, with cities attracting the biggest mass migration of our times. Their benefits are power in numbers, jobs, municipal facilities, hospitals, schools and the arts. Their downside, overcrowding, rush-hour traffic, inequality, lack of access to facilities and suburban malls killing local trade.

Good sustainable management of urban spaces is definitely the key to their success. And the ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy has worked to a point creating new spaces and allowing new neighbourhoods to gain a foothold within the city limits, such as Calatravaland, which sits just outside the city centre.

However, it is my belief that this overpriced development was created at the expense of the existing urban structure, which has been sadly neglected for a quick return. In particular, the old town of Valencia - ​Ciutat Vella - ​where I reformed my own flat and have been living and working since 2003.

December 24th - January 14th 2021

Did Valencia need Calatravland?

It was the PSOE who envisaged it in the late 80’s, to the condemnation of the PP. But when the party took power in the mid 90’s the scheme mushroomed to even greater heights.

As a result of the ‘too big to fail’ syndrome, costs spiralled four-fold from the original budget of €300 million to well over a billion euros.

During its construction the old town was largely neglected and the rot

set in, with drugs and anti-social behaviour becoming more commonplace. Just think what the city could have done with this amount of money?

Sure, the architecture is impressive…

The Palau de les Arts ​dominates the site allowing the city to host major international events. But after the obligatory photos to show off to your social media friends, what else does Calatravland offer? ​L’Hemisfèric, ​a

FISHERMAN: One of the few people seen at the City of Arts and Sciences this month, while (right) and dog walker

cinema, albeit 3D; an arboretum and disco where young V ​ alencianos strut their stuff, and an opulent opera house where the moneyed older demographic splash the cash, paying up to €130 a seat.

But behind the glitz, there are glitches. It’s been prone to flooding in the past. And what is the true value of a

science museum where the permanent exhibition hasn’t changed in 20 years. To a scientist, maybe that’s the nature of permanent, but only now are there new exhibitions in the pipeline.

Upwards and onwards to Calatravaland’s crescendo, a mussel-like coruscation of a building yet to be finished, closed to the public after host-

11

A MARVEL: But by night it ‘dies a death and becomes cold and clinical and without depth’ ing a couple of tennis matches and a fashion show. The Àgora, a classic oxymoron populated by ghosts. It too is to get a facelift by bringing the Caixa Forum here to match Madrid and Barcelona.​ This can only be topped by the twisted apartments in the sky project (design fees €15 million) that is still on hold, although housing may

well give Calatravaland back some much-needed function over form.

Therefore, do we blame the architect for all its shortcomings? Being one myself, I stand in solidarity with my fellow professional and say no.

Calatravaland is a product of its time and the cultural psyche - Nero fiddled while Rome went down the pan.

It may have satisfied our immediate

craving for new, shiny objects to raise us up, while giving us a quick fix of so-called high culture.

The big question remains, what is needed to give it purpose in an age where sustainability is the new buzz word.REDUCE, reuse and only then recycle.

After the tourists have overdosed on Calatravaland, the magnet which may have drawn them to Valencia in the first place, they must be enticed to venture further afield and discover its polar opposite, the old city where people live and work and raise their kids.

A pleasurable bike ride along the old riverbed, the amazing green lung of the city, leads to a world of total contrast to Calatravaland. You can still meander along the narrow streets, albeit many are interspersed with vacant lots, like missing teeth, and decaying buildings covered in green construction mesh But beneath the cobbles, medieval and Moorish imprints still underpin the core of the city, and under these the Roman city that began it all. This is the Rome to Calatravaland’s Nero.

Nowadays, the streets tracing the old city walls are almost devoid of traffic and manage to retain their tranquil charm. The grand palaces with their quiet and reclusive internal courtyards and the less noble buildings that tie in the whole urban fabric give a real sense of place. This has been a gradual evolution over millennia, not one man’s vision built over a few decades, devoid of the life blood of a living, breathing city.

So why is the old town not being treasured as it should be and what will be the consequence of this?

Private development here is at a standstill if not regressing, stifled by

red tape and the additional costs and restrictions that come with free zone. developing in a historic neighbour- But it is time that neglected plots hood. There are new build opportu- were addressed. Redesign would nities elsewhere in the city that are encourage community ownership of more lucrative and less hassle. neighbourhoods through ‘passive Like many cities, there is also an surveillance’. For example more element of antisocial behaviour in semi-private spaces are needed to some areas, especially in August protect private domains, such as when most people leave the highs simple front gardens for existing of 40 degrees celsius for the beach ground floor social housing projects. or mountains and a less discernible All this would be for the greater good, element frequents the area, includ- creating an environment for everying the most vulnerone, as Calatravaland able of society, the continues to draw in homeless, drug addicts the tourists to the widCould and drunks. Although er city. it’s not as bad as the In conclusion, is CaCalatravaland, 1980s and 90s when latravaland, just too a heroin epidemic left be too modern? modern? Is that why most of the old town it’s so intriguing, beIs that why it’s cause no one really and the riverbed off limits. it? In my so intriguing? understands Before the pandemopinion the main dific, tourist rentals and ference is that ‘it just noise pollution plagued ain’t got soul’. the sleep of residents and the build- No doubt in architectural terms it’s a ing works, though desperately need- marvel, a sculpture to behold. But at ed, caused tension between home night it dies a death, becomes cold, owners within apartment blocks. clinical, without depth. It’s people inMoving forward, how can the char- side looking out, unlike the old town acter of the old town be preserved which is outside looking in. whilst being regenerated, along with The charming ruin of the much nethe wider city (​La Cabañal, Beni- glected c​ iutat vella​is a more human machet, Russafa, Patriax)​ ? Some scale, an area that carves out places measures have been put in place to as opposed to Calatravaland being address the situation, for example, objects within space. The old town is public consultation. Unfortunately, given life by its inhabitants and, even this is slow and small scale as the through this surreal time, it contintown hall is strapped for cash. ues to delight and give hope for the Some positive initiatives have also future. borne fruit, such as the traffic engi- The pandemic has given us pause for neering project to reduce vehicles thought. Let us use this opportunity and increase bike travel city-wide. to focus on our built heritage and reThe old town has benefitted the most invigorate what we have here in Vafrom this and is now an almost traffic lencia, the existing old and the new.

Photos by Jon Clarke

December 24th - January 14th 2021

12

PROPERTY

December 24th - January 14th 2021

IT has put up the Dalai Lama, Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill.

Now, one of Spain’s most prestigious hotels has been sold for a massive €165 million.

Grand Dame of Mallorca, Hotel Formentor - that has also catered to the whims of John Wayne and Mijail Gorbachov - has been sold to the Emin Capital group.The five-star joint in Pollensa, is set to reopen as

PROPERTY sales in Spain fell by 13.4% in October over a 12-month period according to the College of Notaries.

The drop was significantly more than the 0.7% drop in September, but still far less than at the height of the pandemic in May, which saw a 53% decline in house sales.

Unsurprisingly, property mortgages granted in October stood at 36,167, down by 6.7% compared to a year earlier.

The Notaries pointed out significant regional variations in home sales with the Balearic Islands down by 24.1% in October compared to September, followed

by La Rioja, Madrid, and Catalunya.

In contrast, the Extremadura region saw a 15% hike in

Real estate slowdown deals.

The largest year-onyear fall was in the Balearics at 31.2%.

The Brainsre.com real estate website says that the pandemic has also seen a fall in property prices.

After analysing over a hundred online property sites and real estate agencies, they point out that before the State of Alarm began in March, the average Spanish house price stood at €1,760 per square metre.

Fall Now the average price is €1,753 per square metre based on figures compiled for July to September this year.

a Four Seasons hotel after a comprehensive upgrade.

The 90-year-old hotel, which opened in 1929, was described as the ‘chicest place I’ve never been to’

by Hollywood star Jane Birkin.

Recent guests have included King Felipe and Queen Letizia, who were pictured in the Eden-esque grounds with their daughters Leonor and Sofia. From launching a literature prize that acclaimed Samuel Beckett and Jorge Luis Borges, to running a classical music festival starring conductor Daniel Barenboim, the Formentor has evolved way beyond just a stylish place to stay.

No Wimpey-ing out Key UK property developer planning 2021 growth A BRITISH developer says that ‘lockdown misery’ is helping holiday home sales in Spain as they launch five developments for 2021.

Taylor Wimpey Spain also claims that the new properties will ‘boost the economic recovery of the country’.

Mallorca is getting three new developments, along with one each at Marbella Lake on the Costa del Sol and in Javea on the Costa Blanca.

Taylor Wimpey Spain marketing director, Marc Pritchard, said; “We’ve seen plenty of interest in BOOKINGS for Airbnbs in remote parts of Spain have soared in the past 12 months as tourists turn away from busy cities during the pandemic.

The average price of a night in the small towns of Ferrol and Ourense, in Galicia, rose 28% and 9% respectively in the third quarter, according to AirDNA, which analyses data on vacation rentals.

Meanwhile bookings and rental rates plummeted in major cities as high COVID-19 infection rates and restrictions kept holidaymakers away for

Spanish second homes during 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Many buyers are waiting out the travel and lifestyle restrictions and spending this time planning their property purchase,” he added.

“We’re going to be fully prepared when that pentup demand is suddenly released in 2021.” In spite of the push to get British and other foreign buyers, the company said that Spaniards have led the demand for properties this year at 18% nationally.

That figure is even more

Remote working

dramatic on the Costa Blanca with 50% of all reservations coming from within Spain. ber of visitors over 2020.

Both cities were hard hit by the pandemic and data suggests Airbnb guests will now pay more to stay away from crowds in more rural areas.

months at a time.

Barcelona and Madrid, two of Airbnb’s biggest markets globally, both saw a drop in the num-

In Barcelona, occupancy fell by an average of 45% while owners in Madrid reported an annual occupancy rate fell 58%.

Comparably, Gaucin a picturesque hillside village near Ronda - saw the occupancy rate jump by 27% this year.

Nevertheless, Marc Pritchard believes that lockdown misery in the UK and across Europe will get buyers flocking in to get a taste of Spanish sunshine.

“Sitting on a terrace in the sunshine during a lockdown is a very different experience from being stuck indoors in the rain.”

“That has been a driving factor for several of those who have purchased homes from us during the pandemic,” he added.

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December 24th - January 14th 2021

13

On the up

HOUSE prices, sales transactions and rentals have all skyrocketed in parts of Spain this year, with international buyers driving the market.

Some areas have seen a growing demand from international buyers, especially from Asia, many of whom aspire to live a Mediterranean lifestyle.

However, Asian interest is primarily fueled by the Golden Visa Program, which allows non-EU nationals to gain permanent residency by buying property worth €500,000 or more.

Golden

From January to June 2019, 848 residency visas were granted - 132 more approvals compared with the same period in 2018.

The figures for 2020 are likely to be as high..

“The inquiries we have received from Singapore have tripled in recent months. Many are interested in the Golden Visa Program and the local property-buying process,” said Conor Wilde, CEO of Found Valencia estate agency.

THE Government of the Balearic Islands has announced that it will increase penalties on businesses in Mallorca that fail to adhere to the Level 4 coronavirus restrictions.

President Francina Armengol said that establishments that fail to follow the new rules could now receive a fine up to €600,000.

This penalty was previously set at a maximum of €60,000.

They may also be forced to close for a set period of time.

Armengol said: “During Level 4, any infraction will be considered very serious and the consequence will therefore be matched.”

Level 4 is deemed the most serious in the Balearic COVID-19 tier system and includes the harshest restrictions.

These include a 10pm curfew and a ban on the use of the inMOBILE phone network Lobster has celebrated its second anniversary by pledging to take the pain out of Brexit - at least in terms of phone services.

During its first two years the company has grown rapidly with its formula of an allin-English service, which has made it the go-to phone company for British expatriates, and other English

Severe penalties for businesses that flout coronavirus rules

terior areas of bars and restaurants which also must close by 6pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Meanwhile, the Balearic government has stated their intentions to extend the Level 4 restrictions in Mallorca until January 11.

Armengol had said previously that the epidemiological situation would be assessed on December 28 and that the island could return to Level 3.

Balearic Health Minister Patricia Gomez has also asked residents to avoid travelling to mainland Spain over the

Painless Brexit speakers, living in Spain.

With Brexit just around the corner British expatriates are facing a lot of uncertainty going forward. But Lobster has pledged to offer the same stan-

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WARNING: Businesses must follow opening rules festive period unless for a justified cause.

In anticipation of an increase dards of service, saying: “No matter what happens with Brexit our tariff plans and our service will not be affected in any way. Lobster customers will continue to enjoy a great mobile service with no changes.

“We are closely connected to the British expatriate community and know that there is a lot of concern about surprise roaming charges.”

in infections at Christmas, the government has hired 377 people to be ‘COVID-19 mediators’.

Task

These new employees will be tasked to speak to the general public about the restrictions and how they can protect themselves from the virus.

Aremengol said: “They will be out on the streets and their work will be explanatory.

“This means that they will inform citizens on the best practices to follow to fight coronavirus.”

Cashing in A MERGER between CaixaBank and Bankia will generate a return on investment of 200%, according to estimates

by Alvarez & Marsal.

When the two organisations merged in September this year, the collaboration became the largest banking institution in Spain.

Together, the super-company now has assets totalling €664 billion.

But, despite the merger’s success, Alvarez & Marsal’s suggest that Sabadell, Unicaja and Liberbank are the most attractive due to their low pricebooks.

Merger In fact, they predict the merger between Unicaja and Liberbank, which is taking place in the coming weeks, could produce even higher returns than CaixaBank and Bankia with 270% .

According to the firm’s report, “the opportunities for mergers and acquisitions must be evaluated based on the profitability provided to each of the entities; as well as the risk of integration, the net added value and any other qualitative, strategic assessment or politics.”

Hospitality heartache SPAIN’S bars, restaurants and hotels will suffer a revenue fall of at least €67 billion this year with a quarter of them shut for good.

The claim comes from the Spanish Hospitality Business Confederation.

Their statistics show an average 50.3% drop in hospitality trade turnover over the first nine months of 2020, com- EMPTY TABLES: €1 billion less revenue this year pared to the same period last year.

At least 85,000 businesses have

By Glenn Wickman folded so far in 2020, according to the Confederation.

They add that the tally could rise to 100,000 if the national ERTE 70%. furlough scheme is not extended The Confederation says it fears that up to 680,000 jobs within the beyond February 2021.

Confederation general secretary, hospitality trade will have disapEmilio Callego said: “If we reach peared in 2020.

100,000 closures then we are The sector has been promised an talking of something close to a aid package from the Madrid govthird of the total hospitality indus- ernment but there are fears that it may be too little and too late. try in Spain.”

Hotels and accommodation lost Spanish Hospitality Association 65.2% of their revenue between chairman, Jose Luis Yzuel said: January and September, with ca- “We need around €8.5 billion in tering establishments suffering a direct aid but after two months of the government saying that it was 42.8% drop.

The biggest overall fall was in working on a plan, we have heard the tourist-dependent Balearic nothing. There appears to be a toIslands with a reduction of over tal lack of empathy.”

COLUMNISTS COLUMNISTS

14 14

A

December 21st - January 12th 2021

Lisa Burgess

S a child, Alastair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge scared the bejesus out of me.

My mother, Ann Burgess, created the most magical Christmases every year and my memories are splendorous but I wondered youthfully how life would be without her as I watched him with utter fear.

In Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol, Scrooge said: “I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link and yard by yard and I girded it of my own free will”.

I never understood that till I lived my own life. Rather than the material part of Christmas, I think forgiveness is the greatest gift we

I

Bah humbug!

December 24th - January 14th 2021

All I want for Christmas…

Lessons from Christmases past

Goodbye and a good riddance to 2020

can give to all.

If we were all visited by the Ghost of Christmas past, present and future let’s wonder where we would all be? We have all made mistakes, nobody is infallible. Yet we can change the paths of our life with small steps.

If you are alone this Christmas and I will be too then these tips may help: Try volunteering on the day to help out at a shelter, wrap up and take yourself for a brisk walk so you see other people and most of all never fail to treat yourself.

It doesn’t have to be all the

Well what a year! No-one can say it’s not been different! And as we’re all preparing for some kind of Christmas, but not as we know it, I feel nostalgic for the old normal. I don’t want a new normal thanks, and if this year is anything to go by, then all I want for Christmas is the good old days back.

We flew back to the UK to spend Christmas with family, or that was the plan at the time! We travelled with Ryanair via Madrid to Manchester on a full plane. There was no social distancing going on, apart from if you needed to go to the toilet you had to press the call bell and wait to be summoned up by one of the cabin crew. Then you’d return to your seat, sat either side to a complete stranger’s overhang!

The first couple of days of being back in Harrogate were great, we got the Christmas tree up, hung the wreath on our front door and generously nailed the garland around the fireplace (we’ll get some filler on all those holes later). As I sat back with the wood-burning stove glowing and our Christmas lights twinkling, I felt joyful. Fast forward

turkey and trimmings with sparkly people around you.

Enjoy what you love.

Ruined

I hosted a huge Christmas once with my great aunt Lily. She had lost her husband and was so dreadfully unhappy. She ruined Christmas dinner because I had been given a car for Christmas and she didn’t think I appreciated it enough, never mind that it was on my credit card and though the big red bow was wrapped around it, I felt I had been had.

I miss her and all those who have gone before her, especially my dear mum. So I say let’s raise a glass to Christmas present and future. As Scrooge said: “Can you forgive a pig-headed old fool with no eyes to see with and no ears to hear with all these years?”

Yes, we can and I say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to one and all!

Requiem for the Christmas card

DON’T know about you weddings, christenings and but I’ve got three solitary holidays abroad … such as Christmas cards to display they were, in 2020 …. Far on my mantelpiece this more interesting than a card Christmas. It’s nothing like ye from someone indecipherable, old yuletide’s past when cards scrawled in the handwriting of were sent from ‘The Becketts’ a drunk, although it does leave to all and sundry, from great one’s mantelpiece bereft. aunts twice removed to Dad’s But who can blame them? No office caretaker. one wants to stand outside Throughout the the post office month of Dein a slow-movcember, the ing queue for The postman postman rang stamps when rang at least at least twice they can press daily and recipSend from twice daily rocal Christmas the comfort mail avalanched of their own as cards through our lethome office. My avalanched in thoughts go out terbox like the owl letters in to anyone beHarry Potter. hind me in the Cards not only decked the queue at Los Barrios post ofhall but covered every surface fice last week. I got the trainee area, littering occasional ta- who spent 13 minutes and 26 bles, festooning the fireplace seconds finding out the price and hanging like bunting from of a stamp to the USA and had the pelmets, an impressive never heard of Nueva Zelanda testament to my parents’ wide … or maybe it was my Spansocial circle. glish accent … and thought it These days everyone’s Zoom- was probably in Europe. ing, emailing virtual Moon Pig Mind you, with the recent cards or composing Christ- lockdown confining us within mas newsletters embedded borders, there were precious with live video links to family few decent card shops you

OP Puzzle solutions Across: 5 Mermaids, 8 Awed, 9 Weightlifting, 10 Miscarriages, 13 Music teacher, 16 Dairy products, 19 Bali, 20 Relished.

Down: 1 Selenium, 2 Historic, 3 Ragtag, 4 Sean, 6 Magic, 7 Ski, 11 Ice lolly, 12 Sweet pea, 14 Sprain, 15 Chums, 17 Ajar, 18 Par.

SUDOKU

Quick Crossword

forty-eight hours later and I was totally depressed. The glow of the fire and lights had worn off quickly. No-one was planning anything because we were all a bit clueless as to what we

The ping of the inbox will never replace the postman’s knock, writes Belinda Beckett

Terenia Taras Telling it like it is

could do. The Tier system was changing by the day and everyone was even more fearful than before, due to a new strain of Covid. Great! So we came home in time for the virus to decide to mutate just before Christmas putting half the country into full lockdown, and the rest teetering between tiers.

How I miss just being able to pop in to a bar or pub for a few cheeky glasses of fizz whilst out Christmas shopping.

Now you have to eat something ‘substantial’ if you want to have an alcoholic drink. Like we all need to be eating any more this year! What about the obesity epidemic which will hit home after all of this? People generally overindulge at Christmas normally, so we’re all going to end up fatter, because all we’re really allowed to do this Christmas is sit in our own homes and eat and drink as much as we want. Is that any healthier in the long term than Covid? The UK-wide NHS costs attributable to overweight and obesity are projected to reach £9.7 billion by 2050, with wider costs to society estimated to reach £49.9 billion per year. And that’s just the food! Alcohol-related harm is estimated to cost the NHS in England £3.5 billion every year.

Cheery stats aren’t they?

Banquet

could legally go into. Luckily I found some from last year at the back of a drawer so if you get one from me, you got leftovers!

COVID has changed almost everything but it would be a

shame if the Christmas card became another casualty.

Like Charles Dickens, plum pudding and the 1951 Alastair Sim movie, Scrooge, they’re part and parcel of a tradition that goes back longer than you think.

The commercial Christmas card was invented by Sir Henry Cole in 1843 but Queen Victoria was not, as is commonly thought, the first to send one.

She was pipped at the post by learned German alchemist Michael Maier who sent one to James I of England in 1611.

Only discovered in 1979, his long-winded message laid out in the shape of a rose read: ‘A greeting on the birthday of the Sacred King, to the most wor-

shipful and energetic lord and most eminent James, King of Great Britain and Ireland, and Defender of the true faith, with a gesture of joyful celebration of the Birthday of the Lord, in most joy and fortune, we enter into the new auspicious year 1612’.

In short, have a good one!

But despite all of the restrictions and this unprecedented year (how sick are we of hearing that word!) we all just have to make the best of it. My take on it is, if you can’t have a normal Christmas, do whatever you normally wouldn’t. So what if you choose a Chinese banquet over turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas Day. Another plus is Boris has given us all an easy get-out for many who would rather avoid some of their relatives.

So as we say goodbye and good riddance to 2020, let’s hope that this time next year, Christmas as we know it, (in the words of Take That) will be back for good.Hope you all have the best Christmas you possibly can.

PLEASE FOLLOW ME

@tereniataras

HEALTH

F

December 24th - January 14th 2021

15

estive check

R

With the run up to the rich foods and boozing of Christmas looming, Gabriella Chidgey (left) decided to go for a full health examination, with wine and a vegan diet brought to the fore

EACHING 50 and already While the advancement of heart losing friends to cancer disease follows a more predictthis year, I was anxious to able pattern, requiring screenfind out if I had anything ing every five years, cardiologist untoward lurking beneath the Henrik advises yearly screening surface. for cancer.

With the festive season set to In our consultation immediately begin, I knew I’d be polishing after the test, he thankfully reoff double the usual calories for ported that he could see no obweeks on end, as well as prob- vious signs of disease or injury. ably tripling the recommended Nonetheless, the following week, alcohol rates. Would this set off he promised a more studied rea domino effect of pain and suf- port of the MRI scans alongside fering in the new year? the laboratory results of the I was particularly concerned blood, urine and stool tests. since I have been suffering from And then, perhaps predictably, debilitating digestive complaints the subject turned to diet, which that were beyond the range of according to his research should the familiar IBS symptoms this be our overwhelming priority. year.

Now I am a pretty healthy eater I chose a full medical check at and have to be due to my stomExecutive Health, in Marbella, ach issues, but he surprised coordinated by me by suggestheart scientist Dr ing that I follow Henrik Reinhard Eating poultry a largely vegan, in the hope that plant-based, increases your wholefood diet. it would enlighten me. was more acrisk of prostate Icustomed The annual to rescreening inceiving platitudes and colon volves a thorough from doctors cancer MRI examination about reducing of the thorax, abstress and avoiddomen and pelvis ing the obvious alongside a clinical evaluation dietary irritants, namely cafof my heart, balance and coor- feine, spices and alcohol. dination, a lung function test, However Henrik claimed that and analysis of blood, urine and this would be much more than stools. a salve for the stomach. He exMagnetic Resonance Imaging plained that a vegan diet can (MRI) uses a powerful magnet- ‘modify our natural history and ic field combined with specific actually reverse the process of radio frequencies to create de- atherosclerosis’ (the dangerous tailed images of internal body calcification of the arteries that structures (organs, bones and can lead to heart attacks and tissues) with the aid of a sophis- cardiac arrests) a claim supportticated computing system. ed by scientific research.

By detecting abnormalities, Since 40% of the population are cancerous and non-cancerous at risk of cardiovascular disease growths, damaged tissues, in- then this is revolutionary inforflammation, infection and much mation. more it can help diagnose the He added that other studies presence of disease or injury. revealed that eating poultry in-

MIX: Cut down red meat and eat more pulses, grains and nuts creases your risk of pancreatic, prostate and colon cancer by 72%.

Red meat is considered even worse for your health, with pork slightly better than lamb and beef, while fish also has its dangers.

Dr Henrik recommended following the approach to nutrition as outlined by Dr.Greger in his excellent book ‘How Not to Die’, which I conveniently have on my bookshelf.

Greger advocates the consumption of a ‘daily dozen’, which includes servings of beans, fruit,

greens, grains, flaxseed, berries, spices, nuts, and also 60 to 90 minutes of exercise every day.

As for the vast array of supplements I have bought over the years, Henrik advised just two; vitamin D3 and B12 cyanocobalamin.

Wine

He also mentioned - and this was the good bit - that medical evidence supported the benefits of a couple of glasses of wine per night, so long as there are also a couple of days of abstinence a

INSIDE OUT: An MRI scan can detect cancerous growths, inflammation and infection, and even more imbalances in the body

week. He did stress that.

I took note and went home to pore over my copy of Greger, relieved to discount the many other diet books taking up valuable shelf space.

About 10 days later, we met again to discuss the laboratory results and full MRI report. All of which were also given to me on a memory stick for future reference.

Fortunately, nothing of any significance had appeared in the detailed report so no further consultations with specialists

For more information and to set up a health check contact Henrik at Executive Health on 603840984 or info@executivehealth.es

nor treatment programs would be necessary.

The laboratory tests also confirmed that there were no infections present in my body and that my levels of good cholesterol were high and the bad cholesterol low .

Eggs

Using all the data gathered, Henrik was able to calculate my overall risk of heart disease to be just 20%. I was thrilled.

For my part, since then by following a weekday vegan regimen with meat on the weekends, I have improved my symptoms by about 80%!

The main culprit for me is probably dairy (including sheep and goat products) however Henrik suggested that I also continue avoiding gluten due to the general sensitivity of my digestive system. And then the good doctor threw down the gauntlet by suggesting I give up meat, fish and eggs completely.

In his opinion this would lower my cholesterol from 115 to below 100, which in turn would reduce my risk of cardiovascular disease to just 5.8%, the lowest rate imaginable...one that practically no-one he knows has got down to.

With Christmas coming, I may just make this my New Year Resolution!

OLIVE PRESS

Windy night

RUDOLPH and his flatulent reindeers will ‘emit’ up to 22 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Spain alone this Christmas Eve. Professor Phil Garnsworthy, from the University of Nottingham, has calculated Santa will cover 419,000 kilometres as he travels around the UK, with a similar figure in Spain.

While the country has fewer households, it has more distance to cover.

It also has to deal with the Three Kings and their ‘windy’ camels contributing to the climate crisis when they visit for the Epiphany.

FREE Vol. 4 Issue 96 www.theolivepress.es December 24th - January 14th 2021 Professor Garnsworthy, who conducted the study to publicise Fiat’s

By Alex Trelinski COVID queue E-Ducato electric van, said: “Rudolph, Vixen, FORGET COVID, one long Dasher and co have a AN injured grey seal which standing Christmas tradivery busy night of work surfaced in the waters of the tion held firm on Monday ahead of them and the Costa Blanca has been given when people stood in line methane they will be a dose of antibiotics via a Globe-trotting Sammy gets much needed TLC after for hours to buy an El Goremitting, while considblowpipe. arriving in Valencia, via Gibraltar and Portugal do lottery ticket at Madrid’s erably more potent than Vets from the OceanografDoña Manolita shop, reCO2, is respectable conic Foundation, in Valencia, Wales and Scandinavia. nowned as a lucky store. sidering the work they’ll tracked the elusive mammal He is believed to be the be doing. down to the Javea area after same seal that was spotted “They’re a lot more efit had been spotted off Altea Girl power at a jetty in Gibraltar in late ficient than your averand Moraira.

November, and a month beage diesel van and they Mystery surrounds how the A GROUP of six womfore that off the Algarve, in wouldn’t be subject to grey seal reached the area as en who used to run cyPortugal. any congestion charges, it is native to the north Atcle tours in Barcelona Apparently on a global tour, but the sleigh they power lantic, with its main breedhave decided to take on the adventurous animal sadis still a fair way off being ing grounds in Scotland, ON THE MOVE: But Sammy needed urgent treatment ly injured himself when it Amazon and Deliveroo zero emission.” by setting up their own appears he got tangled in a ‘ethical, sustainable fisherman’s net.

A BRITISH photographer has captured the and inclusive’ delivery Vets boarded a Javea police alignment of Saturn and Jupiter, aka the Star service based on two boat and got close to the seal of Bethlehem, from his Costa Blanca balwheels. who was bobbing along in In the year 7 BC, the so-called Star of cony. the waters off the Portixol Bethlehem - or Christmas Star - ocAlexander James (left) caught area, clearly in discomfort. curred on three occasions, in May, the remarkable moment Till rings Knowing it would be exSeptember and December. from his Torrevieja The Olive Press tremely difficult to capture The story goes that its first appearhome.

A VALENCIAN businesswishes all our readers him, it was decided to use a ance, visible ‘in the east’ before The last time the man has been awarded blowpipe to give it an injecand clients a very sunrise, began the three Magis’ so-called ‘great €25,000 in damages after tion to reduce any infection journey to Bethlehem. conjunction’ oca photo of him standing Merry Christmas and caused by the injury.

The final showing took place on Decurred is believed next to a picture of a fichopefully a happier Oceanografic Valencia cucember 5, just as they arrived to meet to have been in tional mafia clan in 2016 rator Jose Luis Crespo said: New Year ahead. with King Herod in Judea.

1623.

The galactic wonBen Affleck movie The Ac“We are still hopeful of trying Herod was the king who gave orders to find der was seen by the majoriWe are out again on countant was used by a film to capture the seal as we need the baby Jesus. ty of planet Earth in 1226. company.

January 15 to make sure it recovers.”

The FINAL FINAL WORDS WORDS

MALLORCA

Your expat

voice in Spain

Heal the seal Christmas Star

Seasons greetings

TM

952 147 834

* O f f e r v a l i d f o r n e w c u s t o m e r s o n l y. S u b j e c t t o c o n d i t i o n s . E n d s 3 1 / 1 2 / 2 0 .

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20/7/20 13:08