The
OLIVE PRESS
Your expat
voice in Spain
VALENCIA / COSTA AZAHAR FREE Vol. 1 Issue 4 www.theolivepress.es January 14th - January 27th 2021
Peri-less crossing A BRITISH expat has branded Spanish border officials ‘ridiculous’ and ‘clueless’ after they confiscated his Nando’s Peri Peri sauce at the Gibraltar border. Joseph Lathey, 27, was left fuming when much of his weekly shopping was binned as he tried to cross back into La Linea. This meant seeing his bananas and leeks being tipped into a customs officer’s bin. It also included his vegetable samosas, one of his favourite weekly treats he buys from Ramsons, on Waterport Road. Meanwhile, his chili and cloves were deemed acceptable. “I was completely stumped. I had a chicken which I thought might have been stopped but not the Peri Peri sauce,” Lathey told the Olive Press. “The officials said it contained onion puree, meaning it contained processed veg and was therefore not allowed over. “I said that that was ridiculous as most of my shopping would not be allowed in.”
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See page 16
Deathbed threat
British wife of seriously-ill husband cannot return to Spain ‘unless he is close to dying’
EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore
A BRITISH expat stranded in the UK has been told she can only return to her chronically ill husband ‘if he is on his deathbed’. Carole Clarke, 68, is pleading for help after she got stuck in Belfast after flying out on December 19 to deliver Christmas presents to her daughter and grandchildren. Her husband Frederick, 81, is chronically ill back at home near Almuñecar, suffering lung disease COPD and diabetes. Despite this, the former nurse and aerobics instructor, who has lived in Andalucia for 20 years, was refused boarding on her easyJet flight back to Spain after new coronavirus measures demanded she must prove her residency. “I have been trying to get an appointment since December to start the process but it was impossible, ” Carole told the Olive Press. “There were none available anywhere.” She added: “If I had known bike rentAL • e-scooters I would • BIKE TOURS repairS not be allowed back I would not have flown in the first place.” It has turned out to be a total night-
CONCERNED: Carole is desperate to get back to husband Frederick
mare for the pensioner, who has long lived with her husband, Frederick, 81, both from Portsmouth, in a villa at La Herradura, in Granada. Despite having a negative PCR test, which set her back €120, Carole was told that having a dependent husband did not qualify as an exemption. Her situation reflects that of many people on
the Costa Blanca and Valencia who have not been able to return home - even in some cases those with the correct paperwork in order. “The Spanish Embassy told me that unless he is on his deathbed, I won’t be allowed back,” Carole said.“It’s horrific, my husband should not be going out but he is alone and has no choice.” It comes after Spain brought in tougher restrictions on UK arrivals following the discovery of See page 9 a more contagious coronavirus strain, dubbed the UK variant. Anyone returning
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from the UK must be either a resident or a Spanish citizen. A British Embassy spokesperson told the Olive Press they would be looking into it, as we went to press.
Compassion She said: “We have raised the issue of compassionate cases with the Spanish authorities, who have confirmed they will consider, on a case-by-case basis, the circumstances of nationals who wish to enter the country on compassionate grounds to support a vulnerable family member.” Opinion Page 6