Mallorca Olive Press - Issue 86 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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Vol. 4 Issue 86 www.theolivepress.es August 7th - August 20th 2020

Page 3

Celebrities flock to Ibiza as they search for coronavirus relief...

MALLORCA

R C O ST

Paradise in peril

Yet anotheer virgin beach under threat as developers plot a new resort...

Page 6

Bye bye UK hola España!

Sunken treasure

The fight is on as Spain tries to claim a multi-billion euro fortune discovered on the sea bed...

Page 15

Numbers of Brits making a new home in Spain jumps 500% as time runs out BRITS have been scrambling to make a new life in Spain with the numbers registering the country as their new home jumping fivefold in the run up to Brexit. New research has revealed that over 20,000 expats applied for a residency card (residencia) as part of the rush to stay in the country following the referendum in 2016. Spain is the most popular place for Brits to move to, according to the data, with thousands of Brits fleeing to the costas for sun, sand and

The great expat escape is part of a wider trend seen across Europe, with researchers revealing that the number of Brits hurrying to take certainty following the Brexit vote. up citizenship in an EU state has Research from the WZB Social Sci- soared by 500%, with a whopping ence Center showed an average of 73,642 people moving away from 2,300 people from the UK sought the UK in 2016-18. residency in Spain each year be- While Spain was the most popular destination for Brits, Germany and tween 2008 and 2015. But after the referendum in 2016, France also saw a significant rise the number rose by five times the in the number of expats arriving amount, with 21,250 Brits regis- from British shores. The spike suggests that the refertering between 2016 and 2018. endum results vote prompted Brits to make their move official before Brexit was finalised and freedom of movement came to an end. Co-author Daniel Auer said: “The uncertainty surrounding Brexit has certainly caused large If you suffer from... Or you need... numbers of people • Mobility problems • Help with to pack their bags in both directions.” washing /dressing • Pain / Breathlessness He added: “These • Falls / Stumbles • Supervision increases are of a magnitude that you would expect when a You could be entitled to extra income By Simon Wade & Kirsty McKenzie

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by claiming UK sickness/disability benefits while living in Spain

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country is hit by a major economic or political crisis.” His colleague Daniel Tetlow said that the rise was a ‘striking commitment to integrate or socially embed’. He continued: “We’re observing a phenomenon and a redefining of what it means to be British European.” During the research, half of interviewees revealed they chose to leave the UK quickly, showing ‘increased impulsiveness, spontaneity and risk-taking.’ Brits voted to leave the EU back in 2016 and while the country officially left in January, Britain remains bound by EU rules during a transition period that lasts until the end of 2020. For years, many Brits have lived and worked in Spain without formally registering, but uncertainty over new rules means thousands are scrambling to preserve their residency and employment status. Despite 21,250 Brits successfully securing a residence card between 2016 and 2018, registering in Spain has now become an uphill struggle for many as Brexit looms closer. Torture by red tape: Page 6

Tel: 952 147 834 See page 13

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NEWS IN BRIEF Council conned A HACKER has successfully stolen 68,000 euros from the Maria de la Salut city council after one staff member fell for a phishing scam email claiming to be from the bank

Caught TWO paedophiles accused of abusing an eight-year-old and 12-year-old girl in Mallorca have been detained.

Bad boss AN ECUADORIAN farm owner has been arrested for crimes against workers rights after one of his Nicaraguan labourers died of heat stroke in Lorca health center.

Joy ride A GERMAN man faces four months in prison after crashing his motorbike into an EMT bus in Platja de Palma while on drugs and almost five times over the legal alcohol limit.

CRIME

Catch him if you can! Police are investigating a Instascammer who blagged free meals from restaurants and bars across the Balearic Islands by posing as a food influencer. The peckish fraudster would allegedly email various establishments across and turn up demanding free dishes in exchange for promoting their business on social media.

The social media savvy crook tricked businesses into giving him free nosh

Busted An organised crime sting in Palma resulted in 12 arrests and over €1million of drugs linked to a Columbian drug gang being seized. Police intercepted more than 4.5kilos of cocaine in a series of raids after law enforcement managed to hack into the Whattsapp chat used by the drug thugs. Detectives say the seizures have punched a massive hole in the gang’s criminal operation, believed to also have connections in mainland Spain.

Drugs

Scammer

The not-so-skinny swizz, who reportedly dined out on free meals from a bar in Minorca and swindled more than 70,000 euros worth of food, gifts and hotel stays, told business owners he had more than 127,000 followers on Instagram. But the crook was caught out by the owner of a well-known pizzaria in Santa Ponsa who realised the man’s claim to foodie fame was all waffle The Italian restauranteur, who initially was taken in by the trickster charms and agreed to work with him before realising the deal for free food was a pizza non-

August 7th - August 20th 2020

TRUE STORY: The fake influencer was caught out By Kirsty McKenzie

sense - and the scammer only had a slice of the follow-

ing he promised. He said: “After analysing the profile, I found that more than 80% of the followers were fake.”

The Citizen Security Brigade and officers from the Organised Crime Group were able to find messages sent between gang members – giving them unprecedented access to their plans to flood the country with Class A drugs. After months of working to bust the group, police uncovered drugs with an estimated street value of over €1million in safehouses in Palma and Madrid.

Hot water THE president and executives at the Balearic Port Authority (APB) have been arrested in an anti-corruption operation. This morning president Joan Gual de Torrella woke up to being cuffed alongside three other high-ranking officials. The other arrested are APB’s vice president Miguel Puigserver Lloberas, its director Juan Carlos Plaza and the Head of Projects Armando Parada Gonzalez. The arrests were confirmed by the APB itself this morning which reported on social media that its offices in Palma, Mahon and Ibiza were being searched by the Guardia Civil. All employees have been prohibited from entering the three sites while the police carry out their investigation. Officers are also searching the headquarters of the Yacht Club in Ibiza as part of the operation. Although the proceedings are being kept secret, the arrests are reportedly linked to the awarding of moorings in Menorca and public contract tenders. Here, large sums of cash were exchanged in order to receive preferential treatment, it is alleged. It comes after a similar anti-corruption sting into the APB in 2010 led to its former president Gerardo Diaz-Ferran receiving a seven-month prison sentence. After his indescrepencies came to light, Diaz-Ferran was replaced by the current detainee Joan Gual de Torrella.

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August 7th - August 20th 2020

SUMMER OF FUN

The stars have fled to Ibiza for the summer

BUNS OF STEEL: Love Island star’s Georgia (left) stays loyal to her jetsetting lifestyle

REAR VIEW: Georgie Shore star Charlotte Crosby stuns in sultry holiday snap

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Dele Alli and James Maddison toasted the end of the season with a break in Ibiza

THE biggest names from the world of sport, music and reality TV have proven that nothing can stop them from having fun in the sun. Celebrities from the A-Z list jetted to Ibiza in a bid to heat things up this summer after a glum start to 2020. Caprice, Rita Ora, Rebekah Vardy and former Boris Becker WAG Lilian de Carvalho were all among the stars soaking up the rays on the famous party isle. Of course the celebs weren’t shy splashing snaps of their luxury trips across social media. Posing poolside, Love Island gals Georgie Steel, Arabellla Chi, Kaz Crossley and Elli Brown all wowed fans with pictures of them sunning themselves on the White Isle. Fellow reality star Charlotte

Crosby, from TV series Georgie Shore, claimed she nearly “snapped my back in actual half” trying to take a sultry shot of her tanlines at Ibiza’s Bless Hotel.

Boys on tour

Meanwhile England football stars Dele Alli, James Maddison and Jake Grealish have all been spotted enjoying the end of the Premier League season with beers and a bevy of beauties during their Ibiza break. Despite their worldwide fame, all the celebrities will have to quarantine for two weeks when they fly back to the UK.

SUNS OUT: Rita Ora strikes a pose on the White Isle

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Rock off Tommy FAR right extremist Tommy Robinson says he will be ‘moving to Gibraltar’ after weighing up a permanent move to Spain following an alleged arson attack. The EDL co-founder, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, shared the announcement social media platform while climbing to the top of the Rock in flip flops on Monday night. The 37-year-old anti-immigration figurehead previously announced that he was ‘fleeing’ the UK after arsonists allegedly attacked property owned by his wife and left his family feeling ‘unsafe’. Extremist Robinson has been hinting for weeks about making a permanent move through videos posted to Russia’s VK platform. In a recent livestream, filmed at posh Marbella rackets club Manolo Santana Racquets Club, Robinson revealed he had secured places at local schools for his three children but was still ‘in the process’ of finding a permanent place for them to live. In another video he contradicted himself, pledging to return to the UK. Taking to Twitter one user said: “We embraced refugees during the Civil War. We rejected Franco. Many of us marched in a show of anti-racism on July 4. Our history is nothing without anti-fascism.”

Balcony plunge A BRITISH man has fallen from the third floor of an apartment block in Palma de Mallorca. The victim, 26, plummeted from an apartment complex on Calle del Vi. According to the emergency services, a local resident found the young man lying on the floor with serious injuries. Once on the scene, paramedics confirmed that the Briton suffered severe multiple injuries. It comes months after an Irish expat fell to his death from the eighth floor of an apartment block in Magaluf.

NEWS

August 7th - August 20th 2020

Kill Bambi!

A DEATH sentence has been passed on a herd of escaped fallow deer. The news has come after a farmer on nighttime stake out discovered the animals were responsible for eating his almond tree saplings. According to residents of the area, the pilfering deers have been on the run from a farm situated between Porreres and Llucmajor for years. Since their escape, the mob has populated a large section of Massís de Randa mountain. They have also been spotted in the Llucmajor Marina. The deer’s invasion and ravaging of the area has prompted a flurry of complaints from various neighbourhoods’ residents. Now, the wily deer may be in trouble as the hunting director Jaume Tomas assured outraged locals that the environmental agency is closely monitoring motion activated cameras to locate and cull the herd.

Give us our pensions

TARGET: Escaped deer are to be culled

Into exile

Brits win ruling in legal battle to recover lost funds in CWM case

EXPAT pensioners hit by a Spanish-based scam could get 70% of their money back. The leader of a group of British victims trying to recover money lost with the failed Costa-Blanca based

pensions advisory company, Continental Wealth Management(CWM), has welcomed a major ruling from Malta. The country´s Arbiter for Financial Services has ordered Momentum Pen-

COURT DATE: Kirby

mer CWM boss Darren Kirby knowingly put up to €35 million of clients’ pensions Malta to compensate sion pots into high-risk for 70% of losses suffered investments, and that he by their clients who took took responsibility for getout high risk investments ting the consent of clients, with CWM, which operat- which included pensioners ed from Denia before fold- signing ‘blank form’ dealing in 2017. ing instructions. Momentum have said that Money was then put into they intend to appeal the high-risk assets that netArbiter´s decision which ted large commissions for criticised them for dealing CWM. with an unlicensed compa- CWM used QROPS ny. schemes to attract the penIn February, a 17-strong sion pots of around 300 group of expat claimants expat residents by promlaunched a private pros- ising high returns for risky ecution in Denia against investments. CWM, with a number of The private prosecution ex-employees testifying in hearings were suspended court. because of A n g e l a the State of Brooks, Alarm, but REuse REduce REcycle who spearare expectheaded the ed to relegal move, sume next told the Olm o n t h , ive Press: with a “This is an summons extremely issued for Who’s important paying us? Kirby to appiece of pear.. news from A n g e Malta and la Brooks a massive said: “It boost in shows that e Lions Threpub our bid as even a repthe Arutable firm biter has like MoFOLLOWING THE confirmed mentum was STORY: Since 2017 that CWM taken in was unliand it incensed. dicates “The law in how easy Spain clear- Power it has been grab ly states that for indifirms and viduals to individuals be hooddealing with winked.” advice, inOne pensurance and sioner on investments the Cosmust be lita Blancensed.” ca told A number of the Olive ex-CWM-emPress he GUIDE ployees gave had lost evidence €210,000 during the after transferring first part of the hearings €470,000 despite saying this year. he had only a ‘low to mediThey told a judge that forum’ attitude to risk. By Alex Trelinski

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WHILE her husband has announced he is going into self-imposed exile, Queen Sofia has been in Mallorca. She has been seen out and about including heading off on shopping trips, while there has been no sign of King Juan Carlos 1 - who is presumably out of the country. He announced he is leaving Spain following the latest scandal surrounding alleged corrupt business practices. The royal Juan Carols de Borbon will not be giving up his title but will be leaving the Zarzuela palace, and the country. In a letter to his reigning son King Felipe VI, he said his ‘thoughtful decision’ to live outside Spain came in the face of ‘public repercussions over certain past events’ in his private life. He also said he wanted ‘to contribute’ to his son being able to carry out his role ‘with tranquillity.’ The self-imposed exile comes after several investigations opened by Swiss and Spanish prosecutors into the fortune of Juan Carlos in Switzerland and alleged corrupt business practices. His lawyer said that he will continue to make himself available to Spanish prosecutors despite leaving the country.

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BACKING DOWN: Carles

Confusion reigns

SPAIN’S prime minister has accused Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont of causing ‘confusion’ after signing a declaration of independence. Mariano Rajoy demanded he clarify if he had really declared independence following Tuesday’s nail biting address to the Catalan parliament. If so, Rajoy insisted he could trigger Article 155 of Spain’s constitution to allow Madrid to take direct control of Catalunya. “There is an urgent need to put an end to the situation that Catalunya is going through - to Continues on Page 7

EXCLUSIVE

CONFUSION reigns over who should foot the bill for Mallorca hotels hit by the collapse of airline Monarch. Balearic hotels are facing a €10million bill over the collapse that saw the emergency

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They’ve been getting stoned for centuries. Now UNESCO is interested in Mallorca walls. SEE PAGE 6

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PENSION OUTRAGE

Expats lose millions in life savings through failed investment scheme

through the company,

Brits’ life savings.

SEE PAGE 20

whose boss Darren Kirby has now allegedly moved to Australia. One Costa-del-Solbased expat told the Olive Press he sunk £59,000 through CWM, only realising he had lost £39,000 when his pension trustees sent a statement. “I couldn’t believe it. I have lost thousands of pounds,” revealed the victim, asking to remain anonymous. “The adviser kept telling me, ‘This is guaranteed, it can’t go below a certain level’.” His money, and that of others across Spain and France, was put into high-risk ‘professional investor only’ assets, it has been claimed.

EXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan

repatriation of over 110,000 back to the UK, many from HUNDREDS of BritPalma. Administrator KPMG told the ish expats are battling Olive Press ‘the debt owed by to retrieve their penMonarch to hoteliers will rank sions after losing up to as an unsecured claim’ against £20 million in a failed pension investment OFF TO OZ: Boss Kirby the defunct airline. and (above) team at “They will have to file a claim to scheme. the joint administrators for all Spanish-based finan- March charity bash the money they are owed,” said cial advisory firm Continental Wealth Mana spokesman. “It has not been determined agement (CWM) folded Many of them had (yet) how much money will be last month obliterat- transferred their private UK Untitled-1.pdf pensions available to creditors.” 1 16/06/2017 ing many 15:36 heartbroken

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It is believed at least 300 of CWM’s 900 clients have had their pension pots decimated, with victims shocked to later dis- to end up back in Britcover the value of their ain on benefits.” investments had plum- “I have nothing but praise for Tony Barnett meted dramatically. However, a source [Trafalgar MD] and close to the case in- Stewart Davies [Mosisted: ‘There are still mentum chef execumany customers who tive]. They have been are happy with their magnificent in trying to recoup people’s pension portfolio.’ A n d a l u c i a - b a s e d money.” tax specialist Angie The Olive Press unBrooks, a leading ex- derstands it is highly pert on pension lib- possible legal action eration schemes and may be taken by some the founder of Pension parties against CWM, Life, has now launched a fight to help get victims’ money back. She is working alongside pension trustees Trafalgar International and Momentum Pen- based out of headquarters in Alicante, and its sions. “People are terribly executives. distressed,” Granada- Both the office in Javea based Brooks told the and the website have Olive Press. “They have recently shut. lost large amounts of When the Olive Press their retirement sav- spoke to boss Kirby he ‘definitively’ ings.” denied She added: “Some of responsibility over the these people are going crash. “I have lost my world,” he said. A close associate of Kirby’s told the Olive Press former CWM staff were all ‘very upset’. “It is still quite raw for them, and they are working out what to do next,” he said. Opinion Page 6

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SPAIN’S PP party has set out audacious plans for a power grab to take control back from Valencia and the other autonomous regions. Leader Pablo anCasado his nounced commitment to strengthen the up central government’s role in the run to the national elections in a fortnight. He insisted that such a move would prevent corruption and lead to a drop in taxes. see It comes as the party attempts to off the threat from an insurgent Vox the Party, whose leader has described autonomous parliaments as the ‘cancer of Spain’. Under the plan, the PP wants to increase resources for regional government delegations and paralyse any further transfer of power to the regions.

Supremacy

see Casado insisted the move would Spain being administered ‘more effectively’. his The election hopeful stated that reparty would carry out a sweeping view of how the regional authorities operate looking at ‘efficiency and equity.’ Spain’s quasi-federal political system to added was states’ of ‘autonomous the constitution in 1978. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose party drafted the opposed strongly the constitution, plan, insisting the PSOE would defend ‘tooth and nail’ the principal of regional self-government.

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However, he added ‘at the very least, the data suggests that the Spanish property continued to grow last year.’ Mortgage lending to home buyers meanwhile was up 6.1% in January to 19,390 new loans, according to the Association of Spanish Notaries. The average new loan made in January had a value of €135,616, an increase of 0.9% in a year. As long as mortgage lending for residential acquisitions continues to increase, as it has done for the last few years, the Spanish property market is set to grow.

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2017

director What do Fatboy Slim, Travolta, Paul Haggis, John Asbaek Dean Norris and Pilou They’ve have in common? all had links to the Balearics this week

Govt in exile

BACKING DOWN: Carles

Confusion reigns

FIND OUT WHY INSIDE

beleaguered CATALUNYA’S to fight on leader has vowed from abroad. PuigdeIt came after Carles in to mont handed himself a EuroBelgian police when was ispean arrest warrant sued. politicians He and four other of reare accused on charges misuse of bellion, sedition, disobedience public funds, and breach of trust. now has A judge in Belgium to decide if up to two weeks the group they will extradite to Spain.

Expats who lost millions rage at ‘unauthorised’ deals involving ‘worrying’ signing of blank sheets

Fight

EXCLUSIVE By Joe Duggan

who lost up BRITISH expats a failed pento €20 million in believe their sion advisory firm been phosignatures may have onto investment docu-

Pension peril

tocopied living extradition ments. Given the whole up to 60 Around 300 Brits, mostretrieve rying’. are battling to very essence process can take may have in Spain, “This negates the are meant to they were days, it means he election their funds after Alicante-based of the service they “It is a blank me they knew what Wealth Manto run his entire the Catalan firm Continental offer,” said Flores. wherever, doing.” folded in Sepsome of campaign for Party agement (CWM)reported in the cheque to invest He added: “I believe European Democratic were made tember, as first whenever. the investments this is I think from Belgium. him to fight Olive Press a month ago. “If standard practice, without my knowledge.I do not left for AusHis party wants of Boss Darren Kirby of very worrying. that is the case because for all the documents for continued leadership in tralia following the closure ofhalf and I Javea “Signing blank recall signing sheets has gone down by to get it the regional parliament would be seen the company’s main elections. investments I had.” need compensation the December 21 by the Olive as irregular in a he had fices. An email, seen asking a cliback on track. who are spread across Puigdemont denied court of law. The to avoid jus- Victims,as well as in Ibiza, MalPress, shows CWM “But some people with a blank fled to Brussels left because problem Spain, ent to sign and return France and have lost everytice but that he these firms is that was lorca, Portugal, dealing instruction. thing and don’t 55, who fear illegal practices the Spanish government they were all inof oppres- Turkey, Another British expat, around to sign blank have enough to preparing a ‘wave vesting in highly against after being asked is trying to recover pensionlive on. One rePENSION risky investments sion and violence’ dealing instructions. were then €200,000, said some pots tired victim only the cliseparatists. OUTRAGE without convinced Their pension assets ers ‘have lost everything’. has €50,000 left that I sent “I’m absolutely preparing invested in high-riskout large ents knowing.” “My paper work my risk level from €480,000.” that the state was repression which promised to pay He claimed that has been altered, ‘medium’ to Andalucia-based a harsh wave of losses sustained have all commissions. pensioner was changed from lawyer Antonio instrucinvestors for which we would by he One 69-year-old whose he lost ‘high’ and my dealing Flores, been held responsible,” photocopied would hopefully told the Olive Press Lawbird tions have been firm after transferring and sellrecoverable said yesterday. be is com- €210,000 despite stating he BOSS: Kirby now in representrepeatedly for buyingauthorise,” are that failed “The Spanish state repression… €470,000 aversion Australia as the investments bust, were ing assets I didn’t ing some CWM mitting a brutal repression had a ‘low to medium blank inor went he said. to investment. victims, said signing ‘very wor- to perform, insurance policies. money left if we don’t battle state to risk’ attitude linked to life looking “I still have some enough to you sign this he said. vestment sheets was Momentum together, the Spanish “I was asked, ‘Canwill fill in the “They should have been Pension trustees now attemptwere just and I am still young 15:36 We may win this fight.” but my fund 16/06/2017 1 out for me but they to the blank form. and Trafalgar are Untitled-1.pdf that trusting they feathering their own nests. To get compensation, clients’ In a show of supportaround details.’ I did ing to recoup CMW interests,” deposed president, would act in my best losses. so far been 200 Catalan pro-indepentravelled to The Olive Press hasif CWM was dence mayors to stage unable to discover investBrussels on Tuesday registered to provide Spain’s offia rally. SPECIALIZING IN: ment advice with CNMV. cial financial regulator LAW Voted

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BACKING DOWN: Carles

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They’ve been getting stoned for centuries. Now UNESCO is interested in Mallorca walls. SEE PAGE 6

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Who’s paying us?

Expats lose

millions in national and Momentum PenEXCLUSIVE life savings sions. “People are terribly disthrough failed Granada-based tressed,” CONFUSION reigns over who investment Brooks told the Olive Press. should foot the bill for Mallorca “They have lost large amounts hotels hit by the collapse of air- scheme of their retirement savings.” line Monarch. She added: “Some of these EXCLUSIVE Balearic hotels are facing a people are going to end up By Joe Duggan €10million bill over the colback in Britain on benefits.” lapse that saw the emergency “I have nothing but praise for expats repatriation of over 110,000 HUNDREDS of British their Tony Barnett [Trafalgar MD] back to the UK, many from are battling to retrieveup to (above) team at March and Stewart Davies [Momenpensions after losing OFF TO OZ: Boss Kirby and Palma. tum chef executive]. They pension Administrator KPMG told the £20 million in a failed charity bash have been magnificent in tryIt is believed at least 300 of ing to recoup people’s money.” Olive Press ‘the debt owed by investment scheme. adviexpat remain anonymous. it CWM’s 900 clients have had Monarch to hoteliers will rank Spanish-based financial Wealth One Marbella-based kept telling me, their pension pots decimated, The Olive Press understands as an unsecured claim’ against sory firm Continental folded told the Olive Press he sunk “The adviser go Management (CWM) only ‘This is guaranteed, it can’t with victims shocked to later the defunct airline. many £59,000 through CWM, discover the value of their inlost £39,000 below a certain level’.” “They will have to file a claim to last month obliterating that of others life savings. realising he had the joint administrators for all heartbroken Brits’ transferred when his pension trustees sent His money, and France, was vestments had plummeted across Spain and the money they are owed,” said Many of them had pensions a statement. ‘profession- dramatically. to their private UK a spokesman. believe it. I have put into high-riskassets, it has However, a source close company, whose “I couldn’t of pounds,” al investor only’ the case insisted: ‘There are is highly possible legal action 15:36 “It has not been determined through the lost thousands Untitled-1.pdf has now1al- 16/06/2017 been claimed. still many customers who are may be taken by some parties (yet) how much money will be boss Darren Kirby revealed the victim, asking to legedly moved to Australia. happy with their pension port- against CWM, based out of available to creditors.” folio.’ headquarters in Alicante, and Andalucia-based tax specialist its executives. Angie Brooks, a leading expert Both the office in Javea and on pension liberation schemes the website have recently shut. and the founder of Pension The group were pictured celLife, has now launched a fight ebrating at a charity ball as reSPECIALIZING IN: C to help get victims’ money cently as March this year. back. CRIMINAL LAW When the Olive Press spoke M She is working alongside pen- to boss Kirby he ‘definitively’ CIVIL LAW sion trustees Trafalgar Inter- denied responsibility over the Y crash. “I have lost my world,” BANKING (FLOOR CLAUSE) he said. CM FAMILY LAW A close associate of Kirby’s said former CWM staff were MY all ‘very upset’. “It is still quite raw for them, CY and they are working out what to do next,” he said. CMY

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is facing 18 A PALMA thief stealingCY a months in jail for leg of ham. requesting CMY Prosecutors are for taking the lengthy term leg of 'CinK the eight kilogramfrom a shop co Jotas' ¡ jamon in the capital. is valued at The Iberico ham to be recov€685, and has yet ered.

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EXCLUSIVE

CONFUSION reigns over who should foot the bill for Mallorca hotels hit by the collapse of airline Monarch. Balearic hotels are facing a €10million bill over the collapse that saw the emergency repatriation of over 110,000 back to the UK, many from Palma. Administrator KPMG told the Olive Press ‘the debt owed by Monarch to hoteliers will rank as an unsecured claim’ against the defunct airline. “They will have to file a claim to the joint administrators for all the money they are owed,” said a spokesman. “It has not been determined (yet) how much money will be available to creditors.”

SPECIALIZING IN: CRIMINAL LAW CIVIL LAW BANKING (FLOOR CLAUSE) FAMILY LAW

They’ve been getting stoned for centuries. Now UNESCO is interested in Mallorca walls. SEE PAGE 6

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It is believed at least 300 of CWM’s 900 clients have had their pension pots decimated, with victims shocked to later discover the value of their investments had plummeted dramatically. However, a source close to the case insisted: ‘There are still many customers who are happy with their pension portfolio.’ Andalucia-based tax specialist Angie Brooks, a leading expert on pension liberation schemes and the founder of Pension Life, has now launched a fight to help get victims’ money back. She is working alongside pension trustees Trafalgar International and Momentum Pensions. “People are terribly distressed,” Granadabased Brooks told the Olive Press. “They have lost large amounts of their retirement savings.” She added: “Some of these people are going

to end up back in Britain on benefits.” “I have nothing but praise for Tony Barnett [Trafalgar MD] and Stewart Davies [Momentum chef executive]. They have been magnificent in trying to recoup people’s money.” The Olive Press understands it is highly possible legal action may be taken by some parties against CWM,

based out of headquarters in Alicante, and its executives. Both the office in Javea and the website have recently shut. When the Olive Press spoke to boss Kirby he ‘definitively’ denied responsibility over the crash. “I have lost my world,” he said. A close associate of Kirby’s told the Olive Press former CWM staff were all ‘very upset’. “It is still quite raw for them, and they are working out what to do next,” he said. Opinion Page 6

former member of staff. “It was a prestigious place but one she day they just shut the door,” said, asking not to be named. Victims had raised fears about being asked to sign blank dealing instrucintions and their pensions being vested in high-risk assets which paid large commissions. One pensioner based on the Coshe ta Blanca told the Olive Press lost €210,000 after transferringa €470,000 despite stating he had low to medium risk attitude. “I was asked, ‘Can you sign this blank form. We will fill in the detaiact ls.’ I did that trusting they would in my best interests,” he said. out “They should have been looking for me and they were just feathering their own nests. To me they knew what they were doing.” Lawyer Antonio Flores, whose firm Lawbird is representing a number of victims, said signing blank investment sheets was ‘very worrying’. of “This negates the very essence financial advisory services,”said Flo-

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Vol. 1 Issue 13 www.theolivepress.es October 12th - October 26th 2017

HUNDREDS of British expats are battling to retrieve their pensions after losing up to £20 million in a failed OFF TO OZ: Boss Kirby pension investment and (above) team at scheme. Spanish-based finan- March charity bash cial advisory firm Continental Wealth Man- Many of them had agement (CWM) folded transferred their prilast month obliteratvate UK pensions Untitled-1.pdf 1 16/06/2017 ing many heartbroken through15:36 the company, Brits’ life savings.

reports

England.” The Olive Press exclusively revealed how CWM abruptly folded in 2017, salosing hundreds of expats’ life vings in the process. the The firm, which was based out of Marriott Hotel, in Denia, had ‘eight to ten’ telesales staff and clients sca-a ttered around Europe, revealed

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EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

THE beleaguered boss of a failed wealth management company which allegedly lost expats more than €20 to million has ignored a summons court. Darren Kirby, of Alicante-based Continental Wealth Management (CWM), failed to turn up at Denia court on March 26. he According to Olive Press sources was due to turn up, alongside former business partners, who did turn up. The case involves a trio of investors, of who lost substantial amounts in folded money when the company 2017. foKirby allegedly fled to Australia llowing the collapse, finally returning to Alicante last year. “Darren has been sent a Burofax court which he didn’t sign for, so the will now have to pursue him in other ways,” a source said. “A judge is dealing with this and it’s under legal review,” he added. in “We understand he is currently

See pages 26-29

www.moraira-hamiltons

DREAMY: Period home restored by British couple in Spain

Balearic Islands. “Prices have been rising most years since the recovery began, but nothing like they did in the boom years, and nowhere near enough to claw back the ground lost in the bust,” explained respected analyst Mark Stucklin, of Spanish Property Insight.

FACE THE MUSIC

VENDORS

SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS

April 2019

Prices rise for two consecutive years, while mortgage values continue to grow

after expat Judge set to take further steps fails boss of suspect investment company to turn up at court

Pointing the way to two great Easter travel excursions from the hills of Javea to the wilds of Galicia

96 649 1883 .net

HE average property price in Spain has grown for two consecutive years for the first time in a decade. The national average house price rose from between 3.9% to 8.4%, according to various sources. Along the Mediterranean coasts and on the islands, where most foreigners buy, the average price hike has been 4.06%, according to Tinsa, Spain’s leading property appraisal company. But the figures have mostly not yet made up for the big drops during the long six year recession, with the exception of the

See Property Magazine inside

April 11th - April 24th 2019

www.theolivepress.es

Issue 28

WOAH: Emerging from the rock, this stunning home in Valencia is trademark Fran Silvestre, a Spanish architect who is continuing to make his mark in the architectural world. See Fran-tastic page VI

ROCK STEADY

NO SHOW: Darren Kirby res. “It is a blank cheque to invest wherever, whenever. “It is very worrying as they were investing clients’ money in highly risky investments as well as dubious hifunds just because they paid the gher commissions.” by He added that losses sustained investors should however, be recofaiverable as the investments that led to perform, or went bust, were linked to life insurance policies. got When the Olive Press finally he hold of Kirby in October 2017,lost denied all responsibility. “I have my world,” he said.

Are you a victim or former staff member? Do you know more about at the case? Contact the Olive Press newsdesk@theolivepress.es

ADIOS: Juan Carlos

No show MORE than 9,000 British tourists have cancelled plans to holiday in Mallorca in just the first two weeks of August. The blame is being laid on the British government for its decision to impose quarantine restrictions on people returning to the UK. Miguel Cifre, President of the Balearic Association of Tourist Holiday Home Entrepreneurs, said the decision was political and the island was safer than the UK. Just 28 of the 88 hotels in Palmanova and Magaluf are open for the peak season.

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es FOOTAGE has emerged of Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner driving a battered VW campervan across Spain soon before the little girl disappeared. The convicted sex-offender is seen laughing and joking in the T3 Westfalia, which has long been regarded as a potentially vital piece of evidence in the case. In the video clip released by the Mail Online he is seen giving three young German travellers a lift from Malaga on the Costa del Sol to Vera in Almeria. He had started his journey from his base in Praia da Luz before taking the trio on board. Just five weeks later, on May 3, 2007, Maddie vanished from an apartment in the Portuguese resort, where Brueckner lived for seven years. One of the men in the video, identified only as Tomas, told the Mail Online of his horror when years later he realised that

Laughing monster

Convicted rapist and Maddie case suspect videoed joking on Spain trip five weeks before she vanished By Dilip Kuner

the ‘good Samaritan’ who had given him and his two friends a lift was in fact a convicted rapist and the prime suspect in the Maddie case. The three people – two prize winners and a DJ – had accepted a German radio station

challenge to transport a caravan trailer from Faro in the Algarve to a destination in the German region of Saxony, surviving on just €10 a day. They could only use vans and trucks to tow the caravan that were volunteered by members of the public. Brueckner got involved when a friend tipped off the trio that he might be able to help. The then 30-year-old told the men

Alive and kicking

FAN: Frank turns 102

August 7th - August 20th 2020

LIFELONG Liverpool fan, Edmund ‘Frank’ Francis Woodhouse turns 102 at the end of the month - and says the secret to a long and happy life is ‘moderation and football’. Born on August 23, 1918 ‘Franky Boy’ has lived his life to the full even serving as a flight engineer for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He married sweetheart Selina in 1952 after a chance meeting in a lift at the Post Office where he worked. The pair remained happily mar-

ried for over 66 years and had a son and daughter together. After Selina passed away in 2018, Frank moved to Malaga where he enjoys the company of friends - and cheering on Liverpool from his armchair.

NEWS IN BRIEF Stung at sea

EVIL: Rapist Brueckner

he sold cars in Portugal and had borrowed the Westfalia. The Olive Press has revealed that Brueckner was no stranger to Spain and had several times visited the hippy community in the remote Granada municipality of Orgiva. For the past few days German police – who believe Maddie is dead – have been excavating a vegetable plot in Hanover to uncover a ‘secret cellar’. The Olive Press website last week revealed that Maddie may still be alive and never left Portugal. The sensational claim was made in a Portuguese national TV documentary. In the incredible claims, a Portuguese teacher told the ‘Sexta as 9’ programme that she is convinced she saw Maddie as a teenager in 2017. “She told me she is sure she is alive,” RTP journalist Sandra Felgueiras, who anchors the Panorama-style show, revealed. “It’s an amazing interview and the Portuguese police are not discounting it. They say it is not impossible,” she added. “In fact they have confirmed to

me that a line of investigation has been opened on the sighting,” she added. The claims centre around the female teacher, named Maria, who is convinced that she saw a 13-year-old Madeleine in a supermarket on the Algarve, in July 2017. She became convinced a week ago when she discovered that the supermarket Apolonia, in Praia da Gale, near Albufeira, was just 200 metres from where main suspect Christian Brueckner and his then-girlfriend Nicole Fehlinger, both German, were accused of stealing €100,000 in November 2007. The teacher, who studied German, said she had been standing three feet from the girl in the supermarket and had a very good look at her. “I remember perfectly as I looked her straight in the eye, they were blue, maybe a little green, but I completely fixed on the right eye and its imperfection.” Did you see Brueckner in Spain? If so, contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es.

A WOMAN enjoying a day on a catamaran in Golondrinas Pier in Port de Palma was rushed back to shore to receive medical attention after a wasp stung her on the tongue leaving her unable to breathe.

Closed doors IBEROSTAR Club Cala Barca hotel has become the first hotel in Mallorca to close because of a coronavirus outbreak with 10 employees and four of their relatives infected.

Dog attack A PITBULL has attacked and seriously injured a policeman trying to investigate a fire on a road near Son Fusteret, Palma.

Search is on POLICE are looking for 38-year-old Sebastian Salva after he disappeared on July 29 wearing a gray T-shirt, blue shorts and driving a gray Seat Ibiza.

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Voted top expat paper in Spain

NEWS FEATURE AS

www.theolivepress.es

S ND O

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.

R C O ST

OPINION

Paradise

Missing the point NO stranger to the courts, alt-right extremist Tommy Robinson caused a stir online last week when he served up the news that he was ‘unsafe’ and ‘fleeing’ to Spain after an alleged arson attack on his wife’s car in the war-torn county of Bedfordshire. Speaking from the padel net at Marbella’s plush Manolo Santana Racquets Club, the 37-year-old whined that his family no longer felt secure in the UK and grumbled that relocating with his wife and children ‘was pretty hard to do’. It’s all pretty rich coming from a full time rabble-rouser and former leader of the English Defence League. Robinson – real name, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon - is well known for taking aim at people who dare to escape dangerous situations and who strive to make better lives for themselves. He may well be a dab hand at padel - but it looks like when it comes to immigration, he is completely missing the point. And while there’s a chance he wouldn’t know hypocrisy if it whacked him in the face, we also have a sneaking suspicion he is playing a game with us all. There’s no doubt that Robinson is extremely childish, as evidence by his puerile online insults and the elaborate game of hide and seek he’s been playing across Spain in recent weeks. Listening to him bang on is a surreal experience. We don’t, as it happens, struggle with the idea of a British expat taking an anti-immigrant stance - it’s not exactly rare. But the zeal with which he blasts his critics as ‘snowflakes’ is near comical. An attention seeker first and a right-wing activist second, Robinson previously stated that if a person ‘does not speak our language, he should not be in the United Kingdom’. If he wants to convince us that he’s any smarter than the bumbling monkeys he came across while shuffling his ‘fat little legs’ up the Rock in sliders, then the next time he thinks about blasting minorities or thumping padel balls at luxe resorts, we hope he instead puts himself in a shaded corner, shuts up and downloads Dialingo. It’s time for him to stop playing the court jester - he now needs to listen and learn. Publisher / Editor

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

Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es

Kirsty McKenzie kirsty@olivepress.es

John Culatto johnc@theolivepress.es

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Lydia Spencer-Elliott lydia@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.

T’S one of the last unspoiled paradises along the Cadiz coastline. A four-kilometre crescent of soft white sand and Caribbean blue water, fringed by a scattering of beach bars and surf schools.

Until now, this little piece of heaven has managed to dodge the scheming plans of humans. But that could soon change as the wildlife haven is under threat from property developers plotting to build

60 houses and a 240-room hotel along its pristine shore. This February, revised plans were approved by Tarifa town hall for ‘Montevaqueros’. Due to be completed in Spring 2025, the project by Valdeva-

queros Pueblo SL has sparked outrage ever since it was originally approved in 2012. Demonstrations attended by 20,000 protestors prompted legislative change that completely forbid the building of

Torture by red tape Lydia Spencer-Elliott finds out what Brexit really means for Brits trying to stay legal in Spain and becomes ensnared in bureaucratic horror story

By Lydia Spencer-Elliott

HERE are certain things in life that simply don’t make sense: Donald Trump’s speeches, tomatoes being a fruit and the fact that Beyonce still hasn’t divorced Jay-Z. But nothing leaves me more completely flummoxed than the Spanish bureaucratic system. I thought I empathised with the frustrations of immigrants in Britain. But like childbirth or being kicked in the balls, you can never fully understand the pain until it happens to you. To permanently live, work and eat patatas bravas in Spain, expats must have a TIE residence card, which automatically assigns a foreigner’s identity number (N.I.E) alongside it. In 2019, 365,967 Brits officially registered in Spain. But since the UK collectively gave EU membership the boot, our VIP pass through the paperwork maze has been ripped from our self-entitled clutches and red tape has become an instrument of torture to garrot us with. First I visit Estepona police station, but in the current corona climate, walk-ins are a no-go. Online, the only appointments available are in Ronda, so I accept my fate and fill up the car with petrol. It becomes apparent on arrival that Manuel from Fawlty Towers has left the hospitality industry and taken up a position processing immigration paperwork. Here, ‘I know nothing’ isn’t an excuse but a solemn promise. Every person has the memory of an Alzheimer’s patient, the personality of a door knob and the attitude of Lauren Cooper. Bothered? They are not. With a deadpan glare, Manuel tells me to

CROSSROADS: Expats left struggling with Spanish red tape go to Malaga. When I enquire as to why, his reply stings: “Because you chose Brexit,” he claims. I assure him, I did not. Anyway, isn’t Britain in the transition period until December 31? “Please leave my office,” he says. Of course, the trouble began in England. Somewhere amongst the onslaught of debates and negotiations, I had been sold an optimistic lie: Brits could break up with their European partners, keep the perks of a multinational relationship and live our merry lives while taking back control of our country - whatever the hell that really means. This type of lie is called an ‘informational cascade’. In other words, it is repeated so many times it is spoken into existence. The lie gains

credibility, yet it is actually an avalanche of misinformation. And, in the Comisaria de Policia, there’s a stick of reality dynamite ready to blow it to smithereens. When I call the office in Malaga, they tell me to go back to Estepona where my quest began. And so, the bureaucratic tumble dryer starts up again, hurtling me round in circles while bashing my head against the sides with a Catch-22. There is no semblance of sanity to this procedure and it progresses at the speed of a three-toed sloth; a snail moves faster. Alas, it is already time to face the consequences for our country’s democratic choice. When looking in at the EU members club from outside in the cold, it is clear life is going to get a lot tougher for Brits wanting to remain abroad.

www.theolivepress.es

August 7th - August 20th 2020

in peril

As plans for a hotel fronting the beach biosphere reserve of Valdevaqueros rear their ugly head yet again, Lydia Spencer-Elliott heads to Tarifa to take a closer look

‘homes or any other type of constructions, buildings or facilities,’ apart from those relating to conservation or education. Undeterred by public outcry, the developers re-submitted their proposal, scaled down from the original plans for a 1,400-room hotel and 350 homes. This 90% decrease in the buildable DETERMINED: Tarifa residents fight to save Valdevaqueros area has been promoted as a ‘benchmark for ecological urbanisation’. But locals remain cion will also affect the nearby during lockdown, allowed dozless than convinced. “Even if they want to disguise Rio Vaya, where wildlife such ens of previously banned deit as sustainable, their project as flamingos rest on their mi- velopment projects to begin is doomed to failure. It’s clear- gratory route from the Sahara. up and down the Andalucia ly illegal because endangered Tarifa mayor Juan Andrés Gil coast. has been ac- Claiming that it will blend bats and other cused by those aesthetically with the enviwildlife live on against the proj- ronment, the Montevaqueros that land,” says It is not ect of pushing development consists of lowNoelia Jurado plans ahead de- rise, low-density buildings of the protest Marbella and spite their neg- with tourist facilities and pubgroup Salvemos it should not ative environ- lic amenities. But residents Valdevaqueros. “Building on look like it say mental impact. are more concerned with preEconomic down- serving the area than profit or grassland where protestors turn in the town commercial growth. bats hunt jeophas prompted “It is absolutely outrageous ardises the enthe relaxation of that these plans have been tire colony no matter how many homes they construction restriction laws approved,” says Jurado. “They build. Tarifa is an attraction in order to grow tourism and just aren’t in the public interfor its nature. It is not Marbel- increase employment levels est. Salvemos Valdevaqueros la and it shouldn’t look like it.” in the area. It comes as the has collected tens of thouThe heavily protected beach so-called ‘LISTA law’, passed sands of signatures, received has a high ecological value and is home to endangered horseshoe bats and lesser mouse-eared bats, amongst other wildlife. Listed by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve, the land joins together two natural parks: El Estrecho and Los Alcornocales. Construc-

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

We lead, others follow

hundreds of messages from supporters and sent mass emails to the Junta de Andalucia government. From people inside and outside Andalucia, support for the cause has been overwhelming.” Refusing to be defeated, protestors have taken their objections to the European Union. Aside from wildlife preservation, residents are concerned by the overpopulation that more homes in the area could bring. “Tarifa’s infrastructure is already hugely stretched,” a local business owner told the Olive Press. “Traffic, water, sewage issues - the area simply can’t handle any more people.”

e at the Olive Press like to think we are at the forefront of English language investigative journalism in Spain. And we are glad to see that the mainstream British media seems to agree with us. When they need to find out more about what is affecting visiting Brits and the expat population in Spain, the Olive Press is more often than not the first source they talk to. Over the past few weeks our reporters have been called on by such publications as The Daily Mail, The Sun, Mail on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph to investigate and delve deeper into the hot topics of the day. Editor and owner of the Olive Press, Jon Clarke together with Digital Editor Laurence Dollimore have broken some of the biggest stories about Madeleine McCann in recent weeks. Where they led, not just the British press but also media outlets world-wide have followed. They tracked down prime suspect Christian Brueckner’s former best friend to the Andalucian town of Orgiva, identified his former home in Portugal and uncovered sensational details about his ex-girlfriend and their life together. TV too has recognised the authoritative nature of our journalists. Sky News turned to our News Editor Dilip Kuner (above left) when they needed first hand reaction to the news that returning UK holidaymakers would have to self-isolate for 14 days. We at the Olive Press recognise there is only one reason we are respected so much by the British press – and that is the quality of our staff. We hire professional journalists and give them the chance to do what they do best – dig deep to get to the heart of the matter. And so we are delighted to introduce our latest two recruits. Kirsty McKenzie (above right) is a talented and committed reporter who has many years experience on the Daily Record in Scotland. Lydia Spencer-Elliott (left) is at the start of her career but already has experience as an intern with The Times, Sky and Reuters. We wish them a big welcome as the latest in a long line of quality journalists to work at the Olive Press.

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are: woman arrested after lying that €140 had 1- British been illegally withdrawn from her bank account (21,901) British expat on Spain's Costa del 2-SolEXCLUSIVE: has card details hacked losing nearly €500, but bank refuses to refund amount (20,363) Police in UK and Spain reopen case 3- ofEXCLUSIVE: Costa del Sol bar owner who vanished 27 years ago (18,001) Two arrested in Benidorm after robbing foreign 4-cars at ‘40 golf courses’ across Spain’s Costa Blanca (17,958) From June 8 you can travel throu5- BREAKING: ghout whole of Spain's Andalucia, Government announces (14,853)

THREATENED: Flamingos could soon face construction disruption as the bulldozers move in to start a property scheme

Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for a special quote

GREEN

www.theolivepress.es

August 7th August 20th 2020

Winds of change

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San Pedro-based team of 10 is on a double mission: to save the planet and to save you money at the same time. Mariposa Energía launched at the end of last year and it’s shaking up the electricity market by providing cheaper energy tariffs, while also providing 100% certified green energy, coming exclusively from Spanish wind farms. In fact the Mariposa Energía team is so confident it can save households and businesses money that they will prove it. Simply send them a recent energy bill and they will calculate the amount you would have saved if your electricity was supplied via Mariposa Energía. Consumers who switch with Mariposa Energía, not only benefit from cheaper bills, they also have the knowledge that they are reducing their carbon footprint with one of the cleanest forms of electricity available. Electricity from wind farms creates among the lowest levels of environmental impact of any source of electricity. Unlike traditional fossil fuels, there are no emissions that pollute the air and cause greenhouse gases, the wind turbines take up far less land space than a traditional power plant and they do

not consume large quantities of water for either generating electricity or for cooling purposes. Plus wind energy is a renewable source of energy, meaning it is constantly replenished and will never run out. CEO and founder of Mariposa Energía, Martin Tye, said: “Saving the planet is something that myself and the whole team at Mariposa Energía are passionate about. We know it can often be difficult to prioritise our planet but our cheaper electricity tariffs give everyone the opportunity to save money and also to do their bit to help protect the future of our planet at the same time.” While switching energy suppliers is common practice in many European countries it is a relatively new concept in Spain and it can often be difficult to imagine how it can be achieved without the need for a lot of work to be done. But the process of switching with Mariposa Energía is really straightforward. The team simply make the switch at the source and send their cleaner, greener energy down the same cables, meaning there’s no

need for any new cables or equipment or for any work to be done. “It’s literally easier than flicking a switch. You won’t even notice it’s happened, until you start receiving cheaper energy bills,” Martin said. And you can expect those energy bills to be a lot easier to understand, which was a key point for Mariposa Energía. “Electricity bills are notoriously difficult to understand and it’s often challenging to know how much energy you have consumed. That’s why we’ve made our bills simple, straightforward and easy to understand.” Another unique point about Mariposa Energía is their approach to customer service. Instead of having to deal with a faceless call centre, all Mariposa Energía clients have their own named point of contact, who knows their account and will support them through the process. “We’re helping businesses and households alike to save money. As long as you spend €25 or more per month on your electricity we’re confident we can save you money. Some of our clients are saving as much as 35% on their electricity bills. “If you’re a business that consumes a high amount of energy, such as a restaurant, that could make a big different to your monthly fixed costs and overheads.”

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region

Ex-

reservoir becomes power station

tremadura is Soria, the Edificio site of Mariposa Energía, Calle Alcantamar 16, Local Bajo 4, San Pedro de Alcántara, 29670, Marbella Spain’s first grid-connected FLOATING photovoltaic solar power plant. Guillermo Fernández Vara, President of the Junta (Regional Government) of Extremadura, and Renewable energy group ACCIONA’s President José Manuel Entrecanales today officially opened the plant on the Sierra Brava reservoir. The demonstration facility consists of 3,000 photovoltaic modules of different types, distributed across five floating structures with different layouts, orientation and inclination. The aim is to analyse their performance and find out the installation and maintenance costs of the different solutions. Theplant is off the southern shore of the reservoir in the municipality of Zorita (Cáceres) and covers 12,000m2, or just 0.07% of the total surface area of the reservoir. The environmental protection measures in the project include the installation of two floating ‘islands’ to encourage birds to nest and the provision of nesting boxes for the lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni), a protected species that lives in the area. The monitoring programme will examine the interaction between the birds and the

fish stock in the reservoir with the plant and the support measures. ACCIONA’s new floating plant has been designed to test a range of solar panels, inclinations and floating systems in a com-

bined manner and in a real environment. Among the most novel elements are the double-sided panels, modules with a transparent rear surface to allow sunlight to act on the reverse side.

LA CULTURA

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

August 7th - August 20th 2020

Culture or cruelty

Missing link

TWO sharp stones discovered at the Atapuerca archeological site in Burgos are being hailed as the missing link in a chain of events going back nearly 1.5 million years. The quartzite stones were carved by a hominid about 600,000 years ago and provide the evidence that humans have lived in the area for 1.4 million years. Spanish paper El Pais reported Maria Martinon-Torres, director of the National Research Centre on Human Evolution as saying: “Thanks to this discovery Atapuerca is the only site that can tell the entire history of human evolution in Europe with all of its human species.” The two tools were found at the Gran Dolina dig and are believed to have been used for cutting meat.

By Lydia Spencer-Elliott

BULLFIGHTING represents a contentious part of Spanish culture. Some think it is tradition, while others consider it pure cruelty. As the first bullfight since lockdown took place last week near Madrid in Avila, the debate on whether the ‘sport’ still deserves its place in Spanish culture rages on. Matador Octavio Chacón pranced around the bullring

As crowds are sparse at the first corrida since lockdown, activists claim there is no demand for the sport in modern day Spain with abandon as he enticed the animal left and right. Many cheered but activists were also present to film the event and highlight the gruesome reality for others online. This was not the only reason there was a strange atmo-

sphere in the stands. Social distancing measures were in place, meaning all spectators stood one and a half metres apart and wore masks for the duration of the event. The arena, as seen in the video, was mostly empty on July

Action! Festival defies virus THE coronavirus pandemic may have dealt a blow to cultural events in Mallorca, but one festival has managed to find a novel way round the restrictions. The Atlantida Film Fest worked hard to bring together actors, directors and other film makers for its 10th edition but opportunities for viewers were limited. Disappointed movie buffs may have thought their chance to see some wonderful independent productions ended on the festival’s August 2 closing date, but organisers have found a way to ensure audiences are not disappointed. By using the online

STAR: Honor Swinton Byrne leads in movie The Souvenir

Filmin platform the festival is actually continuing until August 27. “This is without a doubt the most ambitious edition in the history of Atlantida due to the quality of the programmed titles and at the same time the most complex given the global health situation and the absence of film festivals that have preceded us since the pandemic broke out,” explained Jaume Ripoll, director of the festival. He added: “We accepted the challenge and responsibility of carrying out an event of this magnitude with more than 110 films and series online.”

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anta Candida

A spectacular weekend of celebrations honouring of the patron saint of Llucmajor kicks off with a parade of ‘xeremiers’ (local musicians) on August 8.

arty Time

Mare de Deu d’Agost will see Sencelles come to life with music concerts followed by fireworks on August 14.

19. Many live events have struggled to adapt to a new normal since the pandemic. However, protestors say this lack of interest in the event reaffirms their argument that the sport should stop receiving government funding. The National Association for the Defense of Animals (NAFA) claims bullfighting is increasingly rejected by society. Currently, bullfights receive funding from the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Autonomous communities, municipalities, the European Union (EU), and city/town councils. Videos taken by the group and posted online show the matador repeatedly stabbing the bull before the animal slowly dies from injuries to its nose and mouth.

ilver Screen

Enjoy movie nights al fresco this month at the stunning cathedral in Palma. Book your free tickets at www.culturalpalma.com

plash of Colour

Immerse yourself in the imaginary world of mythological Arcadia through Jaume Prohens’ stunning watercolours at The Museu d’Història de Manacor. The exhibition ends on August 31.

Looking for the perfect escape once the lockdown finally ends? A weekend of fresh air, mountain scenery and walks will revive your senses

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LA CULTURA

Resurrecting August 7th - August 20th 2020

By Lydia Spencer-Elliott

F Braveheart taught us anything, it’s that a rebel with a vendetta against the English monarchy must be fearless, persistent and pretty nifty with a sword. In the mountains of 16th-century Ireland there existed such a man; a warrior with determination, valour and Spanish soldiers on his side, who lost his life in the pursuit of freedom. The story of ‘Red Hugh’ has huge importance for Spain and the northern city of Valladolid, where he was believed to be buried in the chapel grounds of a Franciscan convent. But when the monastery was leveled in 1836, the convent and the bones of Red Hugh were not there. Now, archeologists are searching for the skeleton of the eight-toed Irish rebel beneath a branch of Banco Santander in the city centre. The red-headed rebel was born into the powerful O’Donnell dynasty in County Donegal and fought valiantly for control of his nation against Queen Elizabeth I. But, rather than a Mel Gibson historical fiction epic, the chieftain’s bravery in the Nine

Years’ War would be immortalised by the 1960s Disney film - The Fighting Prince of Donegal. Based on the novel Red Hugh: Prince of Donegal by Robert T. Reilly, the film depicts the Irish leader’s ascension to the throne after the death of his father. Like all good heroes, the fictional Hugh successfully multi-tasks his preparation for battle while simultaneously courting his love interest, Kathleen McSweeney. Some critics thought the tale was predictable and simplistic, others embraced it as unostentatious fun. Whatever the reception, one fact remains indisputable: the reality was more grisly than Disney audiences could have stomached.

Warning

At just 15 years old, Red Hugh was kidnapped by the English army and imprisoned in Dublin Castle. His abduction served as a warning to the O’Donnell clan: if you rebel against the English monarchy you will face the consequences. But after five years of captivity, he escaped with help from a loyal friend of his father. The journey home during a bleak Irish winter nearly cost the renegade his life. Red Hugh recovered from severe fatigue, but lost his two big toes to frostbite. The chieftain was quick to begin invasions to reclaim Irish land that had been commandeered by the English in his absence. As a fellow Catholic territory fighting to rid itself of protestants, Spain’s King Phillip III supported the effort and sent boats of warriors to Kinsale. When Spanish ships docked at County Cork, English troops surrounded the armada and killed hundreds of men in a bloody battle. A persuasive nego-

tiator, Red Hugh ventured to Spain after the siege to plead with the king to continue his support and send further soldiers to Ireland. But the mission proved fatal. Before help could be granted, Red Hugh mysteriously died a few miles from the city. Some said an infection killed the 29-yearold warrior, others claimed he was poisoned by a British spy.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

anem, it is 64 years before The Hunger Games trilogy and the country is still rebuilding following its bitter war with the districts. Eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow, the future tyrannical president of Panem, comes from an influential family that has fallen on hard times. With their fortune almost gone they are surviving on good name alone. On the morning of the reaping for the tenth annual Hunger Games, Snow hopes to regain glory by mentoring the winning tribute, however, when he is given the female tribute from district 12, he realises that the odds are not forever in his favour. Snow must do everything in his power to climb the ladder of success at all costs. Collins proves she is a master of world building and character development in this long- awaited Hunger Games Prequel. €24.90 The Bookshop San Pedro, www.thebookshop.es

His body was taken to the royal palace in Valladolid with pomp and ceremony. A four-wheeled hearse drove the corpse to its resting place, surrounded by guards, state officers and flaming torches to signify admiration. As a mark of respect, the king honored Red Hugh with a special burial in the Chapel of Wonders - a Franciscan convent where explorer Christo-

Train of thought BBC TV viewers got a taste of Spanish culture when former UK Secretary of State for Defence Michael Portillo launched his latest programme. Sporting his trademark colourful clothing, he travelled to Spain for the first episode in a new series of Great Continental Railway Journeys. It was a deeply personal journey for Portillo. He carried with him a copy of Bradshaw’s guide book, from 1936 – the year that the Spanish Civil War erupted and most travellers to the country were volunteer soldiers or war reporters. He stopped in Salamanca, where Portillo’s father, Luis, worked as an anti-fascist law-

TRIP: Michael Portillo yer before seeking asylum in Britain. There he was shown his father’s secret political file before he headed off to Madrid and Aragon. Here he explored and shared with viewers different aspects of Spanish culture.

LA CULTURA

Do you have a whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on?

Red Hugh

Send your informa tion to newsdesk@theolivepr ess.es

August 7th - August 20th 2020

The bones of a fearless Irish chieftain could be entombed beneath a branch of Banco Santander in northern Spain

HERO: Red Hugh is regarded as one of

LEGEND: Archaeologists are trying to find Red Hugh who has been remembered in statues (left)

pher Columbus would be buried a century later. Now, nearly two centuries after his remains were reported missing from the site, the dig for answers and the true location of his burial chapel continues beneath a street in Valladolid where 16 skeletons have been unearthed.

Relatives of the rebel have offered DNA samples to help identify which belong to the chieftain. Archeologists will also have to study the height, sex, and age of each skeleton for clues - unless one is discovered with two toes missing. An escapologist even in his

afterlife, Red Hugh has become an Irish symbol of Gaelic resistance. The discovery of his bones could finally confirm whether infection or English cunning brought the chieftain to his suspicious demise in Spain.

Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest heroes

PROPERTY

August 7th - August 20th 2020

Village bargain

VISTAS: Breathtaking city skyline is just one of the advantages of Madrid

Spanish city is the best place for working Brits in lockdown MADRID has been named the best place for Brits to move post-lockdown to save money. The Spanish capital beat the likes of Istanbul, Warsaw and Budapest to claim the title of the place to work from remotely during the pandemic. The study by CIA Landlord revealed the best cities to move post-lockdown to save on expenses while still earning your current salary and living abroad in a similar time zone.

Marvellous Madrid! Researches weighed up a variety of cost and popularity factors to highlight the best place to work from home. Madrid soared into first place thanks to low prices for Airbnb, transport - and post importantly - pints. With an extremely high amount of annual tourists, cheap flights and a low cost of living – Madrid comes out on top as the best location to move to for remote working

based on a variety of cost and popularity reasons. Despite its relatively high rent for a 1-bed (£895), flights to and from the Madrid from London will cost you nothing short of a £46 return. Meanwhile, Monaco was ranked officially the worst city to relocate to for remote working due to high rent costs of £3,499.

OP QUICK Crossword Across 7 Skirt worn by ballerinas (4) 8 Having ability (8) 9 Average (3) 10 Heap (4) 11 South American boa (8) 12 Leaf box for drinkers who don’t use bags (3,5) 14 Woman’s dress (4) 16 Stuff (4) 17 Surprised (8) 19 Burn without flame (8) 21 Boozer (4) 22 Wane (3) 23 Lackadaisical (8) 24 Lasting power (4)

Down

OP Sudoku

FOR the price of a luxury home on the up-market Spanish costas and islands you can buy a whole village in the charming northern region of Asturias. Granted the price tag is still a substantial €1.87 million, but it could be seen as something of a bargain having been reduced by 21% from €2.37 million. Being sold through property portal Idealista, it has been for sale for more than two years . The village has a 1,115m2 built area, of which 950m2 are usable and the total area it covers is 130,000m2. Surrounded by fields, forests, mountains and with views of the Picos de Europa mountain range, El Mortorio has 12 buildings, eight of which are rural cottages. There is also a traditional granary and more than 20 building plots. Each cottage has two to four bedrooms with a living room, kitchen and dining room. They were renovated between 1995 and 2004, have private access, individual heating and more than half of them also have a fireplace. It is currently being run as a hotel.

1 Military rebel (8) 2 Powerful number cruncher (13) 3 Run aground (6) 4 Squalid (6) 5 Persistently memorable (13) 6 Feat (4) 13 Speck (3) 15 Crash debris (8) 17 Abrupt (6) 18 Take into custody (6) 20 Flesh (4)

All solutions are on page 14

BUSINESS

Travel restrictions will lead to catastrophic decrease in seasonal employment By Lydia Spencer-Elliott

GRIM: Poor conditions

Slim pickings

FURIOUS UN officials have demanded Spain improve living conditions for seasonal farm workers before somebody dies. Three fires erupted and injured four people in worker shanty towns near Huelva last week. Troops were deployed on Saturday, July 25, to build a migrant camp after concerns were raised by local officials. Mostly without running water, electricity or sanitation measures, the current workplace accommodation is squalid and a breeding ground for COVID-19. The Spanish defence ministry hopes that the army logistics team will be able to prevent possible coronavirus outbreaks in settlements made vulnerable by fires.

SPAIN’S unemployment rate could soar by 2.3 million if countries such as the UK and Norway continue to impose quarantine on people returning from holiday resorts, a new study has revealed. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has estimated that, globally, 76.4m people could lose their jobs as a direct result of travel restrictions. Seasonal employment in Spain represents a total of 15% of the GDP in the summer months but, with increasing numbers of holiday-

August 7th - August 20th 2020

Jobs misery beckons BLEAK PROSPECTS: Unemployment in the tourism industry is set to soar

makers reluctant to travel to popular hotspots such as the Costa del Sol and the Balea-

Profit pandemic SANTANDER has reported a €11 billion loss for the second quarter and blame COVID-19 for the sharp drop in revenue. According to the bank, the sharp exchange rate devaluation amidst the pandemic has distorted a year-on-year comparison of the figures. European operations decreased by 8% due to less banking activity overall and pandemic regulatory changes affecting the income from Santander Consumer Finance in the UK. Wholesale banking business in Europe has, however, increased its net fee income by 58%.

rics, many hotel, restaurant and hospitality workers will find themselves surplus to requirements. Under this ‘worst case scenario’, the WTTC estimate there would be a 62% decrease in GDP compared to 2019. This reduction would represent a financial loss of more than €8.7 billion to Spain’s tourism industry. These figures are backed up by research and statistics from Exceltur, Spain’s Alliance for Tourism Excellence. At the very best, the WTTC expects restrictions to be lifted by autumn but, according

to Spanish economist Nadia Calviño, this will require a new tourism model to be put in place. Calviño hopes that the rebirth of the tourism industry will create a ‘modernisation’ of the Spanish economy. “The process should allow growth over a long period of time without generating imbalances such as those carried out in the past and achieve more inclusive and sustainable growth,” she said. Currently, anyone returning to the UK from Spain must self-isolate at home for 14 days.

Chain reaction RECOGNITION by a major Blockchain advisory group could help Gibraltar continue growing its economy after COVID-19, the government claims. Despite the gloomy forecast as Gibraltar sails into an unwanted Brexit and unexpected post-pandemic recession, its finance minister is remaining upbeat. Gibraltar Finance recently announced it is becoming a member of the International Association of Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA). INATBA is a global forum to lobby European authorities to increase the use of DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) at every level of public life. Minister for Financial and Digital Services Albert Isola believes this will serve to promote Gibraltar as a business hub. “In Gibraltar, we are committed to maintaining our status as a leading hub for blockchain innovation in the global sphere,” said Isola. “Through collaboration and knowledge sharing, we believe that we can work with other INATBA members. “Together we can create the best possible environment for users of DLT to grow and thrive.”

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COLUMNISTS Figs and Fings

IG season has just finished as I write, which means for the past couple of weeks I’ve been enjoying breakfast on my lakeside terrace with fresh fruit plucked straight from the tree. Before you all start to get romantic visions of my pastoral lifestyle, however, it’s best to note that the fig picking is best done first thing in the morning, otherwise you end up fighting a losing battle against the residential wasp population. It is also a good idea to have a

Giles Brown finds out that his favourite fruit has certain drawbacks... quick look around to make sure there are no early morning fishermen or kayakers in the vicinity. Stumbling around in shorts that you have just thrown on is nev-

er a good look and, as I have normally had just the one cup of coffee – saving the rest for breakfast – I am certainly in no mood to make pleasant conver-

Muzzle It!

To mask or not to mask? That’s not a question, just please put one on, writes Belinda Beckett

August 7th - August 20th 2020

IRST we were told not to bother, then they became advisable, swiftly moving to compulsory in certain locations (no one was sure where). Now in Andalucia, they’re obligatory outdoors too, on pain of a €100 fine. It’s no secret why the science was slow to concede that masks protect others from coronavirus and, by virtue of that, ourselves. The politicians hadn’t bought enough to go round. Now they have, a more nuanced debate over when and where they should be worn rages on. Maskit has become a hotter topic than Brexit. I’ve been wearing a face covering THROWBACK: A vintage accessory since before the WHO declared the pandemic, taking my lead from the Chinese who know a thing or two about respiratory viruses. Sure, masks aren’t 100% safe. Not if you keep yanking them up your nose with unsanitised hands while attending a protest march/ rave interspersed with umpteen visits to public loos and maybe even a furtive snog with a stranger. The statistics are skewed by those who get coronavirus while wearing their mask like a chin strap. Or over their eyes, like Donald Trump, who was worried he’d look like the Lone Ranger! But after months in denial, even the Leader of the Free World has come around to them. “Sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute Desk wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens … somehow, I don’t see it for myself,” was his first thought on the subject. Later he conceded they were ok ‘in hospital where you’re talking to a lot of soldiers and people that just got off the operating tables’. Now, to save face, he has adopted a presidential cover-up because it’s ‘patriotic’ although, sadly, it hasn’t stopped him mouthing off. If the 1918-20 Spanish Flu pandemic taught us anything it’s that we’ve learned nothing. ‘Obey the laws and wear the gauze, protect your jaws from septic paws’ was one government slogan referring the heavy-duty six-ply cotton gauze masks people wore back then. Those who had the bare-faced cheek not to wear one were branded “slackers” – a derogatory WWI term for draft dodgers. In some American states they were slung into jail. According to a recent YouGov survey, while 86% of Spanish and nearly as many Italians and French were cool about mask wearing, only 19% of Brits agreed and Americans and Canadians were similarly reticent. A revealing insight into the Mediterranean character versus the Protestant Ethic, perhaps? It’s certainly not the British stiff upper lip getting in the way, as fear of looking foolish was one of their reasons. Personally, I would wear Micky Mouse ears and a curly pig tail if it meant we could all get our lives back. But if you’re really that worried about being a laughing stock, let’s all wear one. No more debate. Just muzzle it!

sation. The other golden rule is to take your footwear off before you head back into the kitchen, or back to bed. Otherwise you run the risk of depositing squashed figs on the floor. If you don’t pick the discarded fruit up quickly enough, you run the risk of attracting enough insects, assorted bugs and crawlies that will make your kitchen look like a scene from a Pixar animation. I also lost a couple of kilos in the first week of August. No, it has nothing to do with the cleansing properties of figs. The weight loss came as a result of standing in the supermarket queue as the newly arrived Madrileños did their traditional ‘first weekend of August’ shop. With multiple shopping trollies piled high with every considerable provision known, I pondered that Scott of the Antarctic probably took less stuff with him. I would have swapped places with the doomed explorer as

BAREFACE: Beards are the latest COVID victim the heat rose and my beard became ridiculously itchy under the mask.The thought of having to endure this all summer was too much. I grabbed a packet of razors and once back

at the Casita quickly took my beard off. Who would have thought that the latest victim of COVID-19 would be my facial hair?

Banking woes! Terenia Taras is making the move to Mallorca - but things are not going smoothly

Terenia Taras

FTER getting back to Mallorca I had to Telling it like it is pick up where I’d left off with the legal stuff after going back to the UK for lockdown. My partner Paul and I had sorted blocked because I wasn’t able to transfer money out our NIE and social security numbers before into my account. I couldn’t get on to online bankleaving and used a Spanish lawyer for this, which ing because I’d forgotten my password! cost €400 for both of us. Paul has a Spanish Thinking it would be easy to transfer a lump sum, work contract which is gold when it comes to any proved not so simple. Paul had advised me to kind of bureaucracy, but for me it’s a little more get a Revolut card which some of you may use complicated to get residency because I have a as it avoids having to pay the high exchange business which is UK based. commission which banks charge. But I’m quite Therefore I had to have over old school when it comes to a €6,000 in a Spanish bank aclot of things and I guess I trust count and get private medical old-fashioned banks where cover. I’d gone along to my you can usually get to speak local Santander branch before to a person. However, the exlockdown and with the help change cost with my UK bank of an English-speaking bank was going to be over £300, so teller I’d managed to open an time to join the financially savvy account. But when I returned expats. I pressed send on over to Mallorca to collect my bank €6,000 that was required for card, my local branch was my residency application to go shut. I naively thought that I from my UK bank to my Spanwould be able to go into a main PROBLEMS: What a headache! ish one. Now, usually when you branch in Palma, but oh no, as transfer money it disappears they repeatedly pointed out to me in Spanglish, from one account and appears in another acI needed to go to my local branch. Which as I’ve count soon afterwards. But can anyone explain already mentioned was closed. to me where your money goes for days when it Ok, so let’s have a go with telephone banking. I leaves your bank account but fails to show up in have learnt a very useful trick when it comes to another? I tried asking my Spanish bank where automated messages, and that is, if you cannot my money had vanished, but they were clueless. understand what the options are in Spanish, Perhaps it was floating about in the ether along simply hang on the line and eventually you will with those mystery single socks which never rebe put through to someone. I managed to ask appear! if an agent spoke English and thankfully they As I’ve learnt with any kind of bureaucracy did and discovered that my account had been here - it’s to be continued! @tereniataras

OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword Across: 7 Tutu, 8 Talented, 9 Par, 10 Pile, 11 Anaconda, 12 Tea caddy, 14 Gown, 16 Cram, 17 Startled, 19 Smoulder, 21 Alky, 22 Ebb, 23 Careless, 24 Legs. Down: 1 Mutineer, 2 Supercomputer, 3 Strand, 4 Sleazy, 5 Unforgettable, 6 Deed, 13 Dot, 15 Wreckage, 17 Sudden, 18 Arrest, 20 Meat.

SUDOKU

SPECIAL FEATURE

August 7th - August 20th 2020

Lawyers, Guns and Loadsamoney S

URELY it was a typo. Or yet another shameless attempt at clickbait. But something in the headline just didn’t ring true: Spanish Shipwreck Found - Treasure Worth $20 Billion! While the discovery of yet another Spanish shipwreck was plausible, $20 billion – a number that exceeds the GDP of many countries – seemed inconceivable. I did the math: $20 billion equals 20,000 million! From what I know about Spanish shipwrecks, even $20 million sounds like an exaggeration. But in fact, the Spanish galleon San Jose, sunk in 1708 and recently discovered off Columbia in South America, is regarded as ‘the Holy Grail of all shipwrecks’ for its incredible sunken treasure. Although this is not so much a story about the booty or the naval conflict involved. It’s more about how these battles, once waged by gunships on the high seas, are now fought by

Three centuries after the British blew it out of the water, the booty battle for Spain’s most valuable treasure ship has shifted from the high seas to the high courts. Jack Gaioni reports.

lawyers in the high courts. In June of 1708 the San Jose set sail from Cartagena, Columbia, with a cargo whose value exceeded Spain’s annual income. The gold, silver and emeralds aboard, mined by slaves in Spain’s colonies, was vital funding for its expensive War of Spanish Succession against the British. So bountiful was San Jose’s cargo that, had it arrived safely, it might have changed the course of Spanish history. The British knew this and had other ideas. They viewed the San Jose as a ‘bank vault with sails’ and ventured to capture the ship and ‘appropriate’ its treasure for English coffers.

HIDDEN DEPTHS: Wreck contains tonnes of priceless treasures

British Commodore Charles Wager and crew, armed with pistols, swords and knives tried three times to board the ship and were repelled. Wager then fired a cannon blast across the bow of the San Jose as a warning to surrender. That one mis-shot scored a direct hit on the ship’s gunpowder store.The galleon exploded and went down with 600 Spanish sailors and all of its treasure. For the following three centuries it has rested on the floor of the Caribbean, 16km off the Columbian coast. Then in 2015, the US-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute ‘officially’ discovered it, identifying the wreck in 600 metres of water via a hightech robotic submarine. The bronze cannons, engraved with unique dolphin images, were proof positive that it was indeed the San Jose. And yet, 300 years after the gun-battle at sea, and five years after the ship’s discovery, the modern-day battle over its valuable cargo has just begun. Columbia claims the cargo is theirs. After all, it had set sail from a Columbian port and was found in their territorial waters. Columbia’s president considers it an important part of his country’s cultural heritage.

SUNKEN GALLEON: Divers inspect a wreck in their search for treasure

The US salvage company, how- there are some legal preceever, is claiming ‘finders’ keep- dents. ers’. They make the case that In a similar case (2007), the the entire discovery was only American firm Odyssey Maritime made possible through their Exploration made an interesting own due diligence and funding. discovery. About 160km off the Indigenous groups from Peru, coast of Portugal, they manColumbia and Bolivia are also aged to salvage a ‘sizeable but staking a claim since their an- undetermined’ quantity of silver cestors mined the minerals as coinage from the wreckage of slaves. a Spanish frigate, the Nuestra Enter Spain, whose legal team Señora de las Mercedes. claim ‘not-soThey transportfast’ - there was ed her back to no entity known Tampa, Florida, Spain cites as Columbia for further asinternational when the San sessment. Not Jose went down. long after, the maritime law It was then part Spanish governto claim the of the Spanish ment challenged Empire. Furtherthe ownership of treasure more, Spain is the silver within citing Internathe US district tional maritime court system. A law which states that if a wreck bitter five-year court battle enis proved to be a warship, the sued but ultimately the courts cargo remains the property of ruled against Odyssey and the its country of origin (i.e. Spain). $357 million worth of silver Columbia has countered with was returned to Spain, where assertions that the ship was it remains under the auspices on a commercial, non-military of the Museum of Underwater venture. Archeology. Complicated? No doubt, but In yet another Spanish ship-

DRAMATIC: A depiction of the British attack that sent the San Jose and its cargo to the bottom of the sea

wreck wrangle, the courts ruled another way. In 1622 the Spanish treasure ship Señora Atocha sank somewhere between the Florida Keys and Havana, Cuba. It was heavily laden with copper, gold, silver, gems, indigo and, perhaps its most valuable cargo, tobacco. Once again, an American maritime salvage company identified and recovered some of Atocha’s booty. Spain, the State of Florida and even Cuba all claimed title, trying to force Treasure Salvors into a contract, giving them a 25% finders’ fee but no more. The salvage firm demanded full recompense and for eight years the case was adjudicated in international maritime law courts, state courts and even the US Supreme Court. Ultimately, the finders were awarded the rights to the entire treasure. Granted, legal rights to Spanish shipwrecks can get confusing. When there are over 1,000 documented Spanish ships wrecked en-route home from the New World, the stakes can be pretty high.

Coins

International law covers a spectrum of legal precedents making questions of ownership, national sovereignty, and finders’ fees even more speculative. Are the salvage companies pirates or archeologists? Are they plundering for profit or playing an important part in Spain’s cultural heritage? These questions are for the courts to decide. Recently, beachcombers along the east coast of Florida, armed with nothing more than handheld metal detectors, found a few Spanish coins which had washed ashore. The coins have been valued at $7,000 - a modest sum when compared to the San Jose treasure but not bad for a day at the beach. Florida’s law states that if the coins were found on dry land, the possession goes to the finders. If the coins were found in the water - even one centimetre of water - then they might be property of Florida or Spain or Cuba ... The beachcombers aren’t saying. My advice? Call a lawyer.

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FINALWORDS WORDS FINAL

Pride and prejudiced CATALAN Dragons player Israel Folau has outraged fans after not taking the knee for the Black Lives Matter movement when playing against St Helens in Sunday’s Super League rugby match.

Sky-high scrap TWO men have been arrested after a fight broke out on a flight from Amsterdam to Ibiza. Tensions rose between passengers, one topless, after several drunk men refused to wear facemasks.

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Vol. 4 Issue 86 www.theolivepress.es August 7th - August 20th 2020

Dirty Minks

Brits on top

Spain may have a reputation for being a country full of passion and fiery lovers. But it seems that when it comes to bonking, it is the Brits that come out on top. Prudish Brits have defied expectations as new stats reveal that

Latin lovers not the lotharios they are made out to be couples in the UK are having the most sex in Europe. To collect the data BettingTips4You.com asked 2,729 adults in a relationship from

11 countries how often they slipped between the sheets. British lovers claimed to get randy around 12 times a month. Germany came next, with 11 sessions a month followed by the Netherlands This is Spain’s most ‘handsome’ man 2020. and Belgium Manuel Romo, from Extremadura, has been named the most on nine. handsome man in Spain. The 24-year-old has won the title of Meanwhile Mister International Spain 2020, after entering the beauty competition held in Castellon, on July 24. latin lovers Contrary to the ruling of the competition, a poll held by El limped beHuffington online revealed that 96% of 3009 voters, dishind with agreed with Romo being the best looking man in Spain. couples from The six foot three beauty pageant winner wore a national Italy, Spain costume, a gold swimming speedo, and an evening outfit for and France the categories in the competition. admitting Romo has a degree in Administration, Business management, that they did and Law, and is currently living in Portugal. the horizontal In an interview with ¡Hola! he said his new title gives him a tango just two chance to be an ’ambassador for the 21st-century man, who to four times cares for himself on the outside but also on the inside.’ a month.

Who’s looking good?

Stitch in time CLEANING staff at the Ministry of Justice have been awarded the Cross of San Raimundo de Peñafort after turning the basement of the government building into a hand-sewn face mask workshop.

The average love-making session for Brits was said to last around 19 minutes, with 15% saying they usually did the dirty after drinking alcohol. Over a quarter of respondents said they preferred to bonk before breakfast, while some 21% said they preferred sex before going to sleep. Of those who preferred sex in the morning some 36% said it was because it set them up for the day and 38% said it was because they were too tired in the evening. Spokesman John Pentin said: “Surely, this survey dismantles the myth of the Latin countries being hot-blooded lovers. “The EU should be worried that with Brexit they are losing the best-performing sex country in the whole continent!”

SCIENTISTS have begun research to see if humans can catch coronavirus back from minks after an outbreak in a farm in La Puebla de Valverde during the height of the virus. At the time, 14 employees tested positive for COVID-19, with two others becoming infected after the operation was closed down. Currently researchers say it is “plausible” that some workers caught the virus back from minks but are uncertain of the extent of the threat. Over 92,000 minks were killed at the farm in Aragon as approximately nine out of 10 of the animals had contracted the virus.

Teen surprise TRAFFIC cops who pulled over a driver found he was a 13-year-old barely able to peek over the steering wheel. Alicante Policia Local agents got early morning reports of a car driving erratically around the Lo Morant park area of the city and intercepted the vehicle.

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.