Olive Press Newspaper - Issue 317 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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Mijas Costa

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Vol. 13 Issue 317 www.theolivepress.es May 8th - May 21st 2019

Blunder land II EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

A BRITISH expat has been arrested at gunpoint and interrogated for over two hours after the UK government ‘accidentally’ cancelled his passport. Mijas-based Geoffrey Saunders, 61, was dramatically cuffed at Eindhoven airport in the Netherlands when a border control officer saw his visa and passport were no longer valid. Saunders was returning from Moscow in Russia, where he is in the midst of securing a £200 million (€233 million) business deal, which is now at threat. “It was terrible,” father-of-three Saunders, who was born in Ghana but grew up in the UK, told the Olive Press: “Armed guards arrested me and walked me through a hall of 300 people who were all pointing at me and taking photos.

Russian

“Luckily they let me fly back to Spain as it’s in the Schengen area, but now it’s going to cost me €1500 to fly to London to get another Russian visa which takes several days to clear, meanwhile me and my business partners are in the middle of negotiating a €230 million deal. “I have already had to cancel meetings this week.” Saunders is close to sealing a deal to buy Castorama Russia Ltd, which is being sold by Kingfisher PLC, owner of B&Q in the UK. It is a huge deal which has taken months of negotiation between his business partners and Russian bank Sberbank, which is set to loan the expat and his associates the 200 million purchase cost. “If someone is paying hundreds of millions of euros then they want to look us all in the eye when they do it,” Saunders added, “this is really affecting everything.” The expat, who has lived in inland Mijas for two years, believes his background in Africa caused the error. Saunders holds two British passports, Continues on Page 8

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Issue 29

A tour of Spain’s most prolific ‘pavilion’ creators, SEE PAGE XII

May 2019

The places they SHOULD have filmed

Game of Thrones in Spain... ...Plus our pick of the best castles for sale in Spain this year

See free Property Magazine inside

See page XVIII

Winter isn΄t coming Agents report good start to 2019 as confidence from Brits returns

ONE of the Costa del Sol’s leading agents believes the stalling of Brexit has brought an excellent window to buy. The six-month delay of the UK leaving added to Parliament effectively ruling Europe, Brexit, has left a healthy situation out a hard for British buyers, believes Ben Bateman, of Holmes Property Sales in Sotogrande. Not only is the pound approaching its level against the euro since 2016, but strongest growing anxious to sell, having often sellers are had properties on the market for longer than expected result of the Brexit uncertainty and delay. as a “While the pound has strengthened prices haven’t really increased,” explains the boss togrande’s longest-established agency. of So“Many buyers who put their homes on ket towards the end of 2017 have not the marto sell as quickly as we had forecast been able and now been on the market for 4 to 6 months have longer than they had hoped for, due to a paralysis in the market. “With months of uncertainty regarding Brexit

and with the pound staying low at around so many people failed to make a decision 1.10, “But now that a hard Brexit has been to buy. ruled out and the markets are seeing practically hood of staying in the customs union the likelithe pound has strengthened a lot. “With it being steady at around 1.16 weeks now it means you can get a lot for a few your pound and also take advantage more for ralysis and maybe get a better deal onof the pawhat you want.” He believes there are many buyers hovering and waiting to buy… and as an analogy he cites the weather and swimming. “They’re already in their shorts and ready for a swim. They’re dipping their toe in the will they jump in right away or wait pool, but an hour or so? It’s just a matter of time. “All I would say is don’t miss this window, the best time to buy is now.” Other agents have reported similar findings, such Continues on Page III

Blunder land

Popular expat nursery Wonderland forced to shut after six years due to council error A POPULAR expat nursery has been forced to close and layoff all its staff after a town hall mistakenly rejected its licence application. Wonderland co-owners Emma White, 50, and Ashlie Walker, 32, were told to apply to become a ‘centro de educacion’ after running the successful play school in Marbella since 2012. But their application was denied despite the pair spending

€25,000 on major refurbishment works and on recruiting new staff. The vibrant San Pedro nursery, based at La Colonia, was forced to close earlier this year despite having over 50 children as clients. Emma, originally from Hounslow, in London, told the Olive Press: “We jumped through hoops and crawled over shards of glass for that licence.

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“We entrusted a project manager to make sure all the rules and regulations were met, but after all that effort it transpired that he hadn't.” After learning their application had been rejected, Emma and Ashlie tried to salvage what they could from the business and find new places for their infants. Then, in a cruel twist, only two weeks after closing, Marbella Ayuntamiento contacted Wonderland to ‘congratulate’ Emma on successfully gaining the necessary licence. It is unclear what spurred the sudden u-turn but the mother-of-four said she was sickened to receive the news. “The call just rubbed salt in the wounds,” she said.

GUTTED: Expats Emma and Ashlie close nursery business

“When we received the call I just felt like that the town hall had made a spectacle out of us.” The expats said they will not try to open the school again after being left so out of pocket. It would also be a huge ‘uphill battle’ to open again. Marbella town hall did not respond to our request for comment. Opinion Page 6

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CRIME

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Animal caged A MAN has been given seven years in prison for attempting to rape a woman at knifepoint at a Marbella bus stop.

Old tricks FORMER Marbella mayor Marisol Yagüe has been given two years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement of public funds and unlawful use of municipal material.

Ousted A SQUATTER has been arrested after breaking into the Estepona house where British expat Geoffrey Elton allegedly stabbed his Spanish wife to death.

Uber bad A TAXI driver has been sacked after a passenger stole his car at a petrol station in Cadiz and took it for a joy ride to Marbella.

Beggars belief! British expat claims tyres were slashed by malicious beggar in underground Mercadona car park

A BRITISH expat has revealed how she was assaulted by an ‘aggressive’ beggar in a Mercadona car park on the Costa del Sol - after a slew of complaints to the supermarket. The woman claims the man slashed her tyres in the Alhaurin el Grande supermarket after she refused to pay him €1

for the use of a trolley. He allegedly tried to charge the woman on three separate previous occasions as she was unpacking her shopping into her car boot, and became aggressive when she refused. “The third time was so violent, I ordered one lady customer to run upstairs and get me

Voted BEST

Mijas Costa FREE

A Estepona A KIND OF MAGIC ll about

Vol. 13 Issue 316

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April 2019

Estepona has managed to avoid the mass market tourism of the rest of the Costa del Sol, writes Charlie Smith

(Free or paid for)

Vol. 13 Issue 316 www.theolivepress.es April 24th - May 7th 2019

A WOMAN holding the world in her hands above the blue Mediterranean sea. and This is a fitting image for Estepona is the subject of the town’s latest mural. the Called Atlantis, it is the 49th work in up town’s series of street art, located the steep hill of Avenida de los Reales, to which offers unparalleled views down the sea (see page 20). But this new painting by Jose Fernandez Rios, unveiled on International Women’s Day, reveals more than just a celebration of female contributions to society. natuIt captures the constantly evolving re of Estepona and its impressive global credentials, despite being a medium-sized town. Within Estepona’s mural series alone, in you have the largest vertical mural Europe, and even the first braille mural in Spain, using ceramic pieces, to assist the learning of the visually impaired. Perhaps one of the most unusual examis ples of Estepona’s worldwide appealearDisney’s discovery of the area in the

A town in bloom... Estepona special inside

Continues on Page 18

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MÁLAGA CALLE CARIDAD, 46, 29680 ESTEPONA,

We’re here to stay! HUNDREDS of new British residents have registered to live in southern Spain. The number of registered UK nationals in Malaga has zoomed up despite the spectre of Brexit. A sizeable 600 more people were registered at the end of last year compared to 2017. And the numbers are expected to have risen further over the last quarter, believe experts. “I think many people are worried, so that has increased registrations,” Anne Hernandez, president of national support group Brexpats in Spain told the Olive Press. “And a lot of Brits are currently moving to Spain, because they don’t want to leave their dream move any longer. “Some of them just say they ‘want to escape the UK’.” Continues on Page 4

Opinion Page 6

CRIME SPREE: At La Cala supermarket

Expats demand action after spate of robberies at Mercadona

SPAIN’S biggest supermarket chain has refused to up its security despite a string of British expats claiming they were robbed at one of its stores. It comes after half a dozen British shoppers told the Olive Press how

My Brexit vision

The Olive Press meets British art genius Mat Collishaw at his new exhibition Brexit brushstrokes, Page 14

EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

they had fallen prey to brazen thieves in the La Cala de Mijas branch of Mercadona. The group, who are appealing for action, warned that the same problem is occuring at various other branches of the store along the coast. One expat, Dee March, 55, from Portsmouth, claimed she was robbed a shocking TWO times in 10 days at the same branch. The mother-of-three, who lives near to the store, lost hundreds of euros alongside ‘priceless’ mementos of her dead daughter. “I was so upset yet they didn’t even take me to an office or offer to call the police,” she said.

Appalled

“By the time I had gone out they had jumped into a waiting car and been driven off.” Another Brit, Laureen Pye, who splits her time between Mijas and the UK, said she was targeted in November last year. “My purse was tucked in right at the bottom of my bag,” said Pye, who works at the Lions Club charity shop. Finally a fourth victim revealed she was robbed at the same supermarket by two eastern European men while a third distracted her by asking her about ‘the sugar levels in the bread’. “I never take my bag into any store now, everything I need is in my pockets,” she said. Meanwhile, Teresa Jane Sykes, revealed she had been robbed at a Mercadona store in nearby Coin. But when she asked for the store for CCTV footage, it was refused, despite insisting she would be able to identify the assailant.

“The female manager simply couldn’t care less. I was appalled.” “The thieves took my purse with €180 and all my credit cards the CCTV first time and €30 the second time, as well as priceless mementos from “Even the Guardia Civil in Coin refumy daughter who passed away three sed to let me see the CCTV. And Mercadona wouldn't look at the CCTV years ago. “One was a card from her funeral without police authorisation.” which I can never replace, it’s terri- Despite the complaints, a spokesman for Mercadona insisted that current ble.” She insists the supermarket should measures are sufficient. now erect barriers at tills, introduce He added that the company would more cameras and hire more security not be introducing more cameras, erecting barriers at tills or hiring seguards to deal with the problem. Another victim, 64, who has lived curity guards. in Spain since 1972, added: “I was “When we get a report of a theft we targeted in the same hand over CCTV to police to deal shop when two wo- with,” he added. men stole a purse and Dee March meanwhile has decided to vote with her feet and will shop elmy mobile phone. “I realised instantly sewhere from now on. what had happened “I’m now going to Lidl and Carrefour, and ran to an assis- which are no dearer in any case, and tant who called a co- with much better security,” she adUK BASED lleague for help. He ded. watched two women Have you been a victim at Merstroll out of the shop and said it was them, cadona? Contact newsdesk@ but made no effort to theolivepress.es stop them. Opinion Page 6 for

FLASHBACK: Last issue GATES OF HELL: Mat’s Madrid show has parallels with Brexit

help from the manager, at that point there was NO security guard,” said the woman, who Tel: 952 147 834 TRAVEL INSURANCE

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Monument-al scam

EXCLUSIVE

THE former boss of Spain’s most visited monument has been accused of embezzling millions of euros from the sale of its audio guides. Maria del Mar Villafranca is set to be prosecuted after a four year investigation into irregularities in the running of Granada’s Alhambra Palace. Villafranca, who was director of the monument from 2006 to 2015, will stand trial alongside former secretary of the site Victoria Chamorro and the head of the company contracted to provide the audio guides. Investigators believe between €7-12 million may have been siphoned off in the scheme after finding evidence of embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering.

A PAIR of retired British pensioners are sounding the alarm after being robbed of €300 in a ‘bird poo’ attack. David Knight, 79, and his wife of 56 years Eileen, 77, from Yorkshire, were walking home on the A-368 road towards Benalmadena when they were showered in a brown liquid. A ‘Spanish’ passerby indicated it was bird droppings, and began to help them clean their clothes. But when David got

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home he realised all his cash had been removed from his wallet. Eileen, a former teacher, thought she saw a woman on a ledge parallel to the road, who could have shot the substance at the couple. “We both couldn’t believe what happened,” he told the Olive Press, “people should be aware!” Been a victim? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es

IMPLANT BRIDGE

2/8/18 17:01

EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

asked to remain anonymous. “I threatened to hit the man if he did not let go of my shopping trolley, I told him I went to work and paid for my goods and was not about to share it under threats from him!” A shop worker returned and the man left after she threatened to call the Guardia Civil. “Apparently it was the fifth time he was ordered to leave,” she added. “Two weeks later, thinking this man had vanished finally, I was accosted again by him in the very same car park, I ignored him and went shopping anyway. “Upstairs I told a cashier the man was back, but no action was taken, when I returned to my car I discovered two of my car tyres were slashed! “The man had clearly decided to teach me a lesson and left.” The shocking tale comes after the Olive Press revealed Mercadona would not be investigating its security measures despite a string of robberies in its Costa del Sol stores last issue. Mercadona has not yet responded to our request for comment on the latest incident. See Cult of Mercadona on page 7

EX CL PI USI C VE

NEWS IN BRIEF

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Photo by Jon Clarke

LEG IT: Men with bags

Caught in the act? THIS is the moment a group of men were recorded running from a small boat loaded up with fully packed sports bags in the port of Duquesa in Manilva. The four men can be seen exiting a tiny motor boat in a hurry to leave the port before one realises he left a rucksack behind. He runs back to collect it as the boat and its young driver are seen leaving the port. Guardia Civil told the Olive Press there have been no arrests and that the video does not prove illegal activity.

Hotel rape

A HOTEL employee has been arrested in Granada for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl. The unidentified foreign man was allegedly known to the parents and investigators believe he may have been abusing her for some time.

IMPLANT DENTURE

NEWS

www.theolivepress.es

Mads for it DAVID Beckham has spoken of his love for Madrid after returning to Spain’s capital to launch a new watch. The former England international returned to the city he called home for four years to promote luxury Swiss brand TUDOR. The style icon appeared at the VP Plaza España Design hotel in a dark suit with a mottled green tie while a blue pocket square completed the look. “Great night in Madrid, it is always a pleasure to return to this beautiful city,” the 43-year-old said. The father-of-three is reported to have taken the opportunity to dine at his favourite restaurant in Madrid, the award-winning Asador Donostiarra.

MADRID FAN: Beckham

Sporty Spice

How a local girl stormed onto the Catwalk and into the heart of F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

Cindy Kimberly spent last weekend in London refuelling rumours of a love affair between her and British racing star Lewis Hamilton, a best friend has revealed. Spain’s most followed woman on Instagram was first spotted with the five-time Formula 1 world champion in February disembarking from Hamilton’s private jet in Barcelona. But Kimberly, 20, has downplayed the rumours of a love affair, saying her heart is ‘70% occupied’ with her cats and her mum, but with the Barcelona Grand Prix coming up on May 12 all eyes will be on the Spanish city, where Kimberly also lives. The best friend, who asked not to be named, for the first time revealed Kimberly’s real name as Cindy Kimberly Rubira Adsuar, and said she used to babysit for €4 an hour to help single-mum Candi, who owned a bar in Villajoyosa on the Costa Blanca. Kimberly went to the Maria Ibars institute of secondary education in Denia, and ‘always dreamed’ of being a model until Justin Bieber suddenly retweeted a picture of her asking his 47.5 million followers ‘OMG who is this??’ in December 2015, when Cindy was 17. “Justin posted the picture

Costa del Dion A BIG money biopic is to be partly filmed on the Costa del Sol this summer. The Power of Love tells the story of Canadian singer Celine Dion, who bagged an Oscar for My Heart Will Go On in smash film Titanic. The film, which will cost €23 million to make, will start with the birth of Celine Marie Claudette Dion in Quebec in 1968, and go on to chronicle the singer’s amazing rise to fame as a teenager.

May 8th - May 21st 2019

It also depicts the role of Dion’s collaborator Canadian artist Rene Angelil, who later became her husband until his death in 2016. Made by Sevilla’s Aralan Films, some 150 people are set to be involved in the production of the movie. French actor Valerie Lemercier stars in and directs the movie, which also uses locations in the USA, Canada and France.

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 

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Model formula VA VA VROOM: Lewis Hamilton has been repeatedly linked to Cindy

during the night, but by morning all the massive Spanish TV channels were outside the school,” the friend, who was in Kimberly’s class, told the Olive Press. Kimberly ‘never went back’ to school, instead seeing her Instagram following jump from 65,000 followers to ‘two to three million’ within 48 hours, before she was snapped up by Uno Models in Barcelona and onto a globe-strutting modelling career. “She and her three best friends always dressed really eccentrically, sometimes in full army gear, sometimes bordering on the ridiculous,” Kimberly’s former hairdresser Tito Merchito, from Peluqueria Venus in Denia, told the Olive Press. “But she’s reached her lifelong dream - the only thing that’s changed are the size of her lips.” The best friend, who dro-

pped out of school a week after Kimberly and has since become a famous model and brand ambassador herself,

said: “Denia used to be famous for bull-running and red prawns, but now we’ve made it famous for models.”

SPICE Girl Mel C will DJ in Gibraltar this summer it has been announced. The Lancashire-born pop princess, 45, will be spinning tunes at the Gibraltar Calling Festival on September 8. Sporty Spice will host the Club MTV after-party once fellow 90s British heartthrobs Take That have performed their headline set. The mother-of-one, singer-turned DJ and BBC Radio 2 host will be fresh off the back of the Spice World 2019 reunion tour, which concludes in London in June. This year’s festival has moved to Europa Point Leisure Complex and takes place from September 7 - 8 with tickets available from £75.

DRESSING UP: Stars Madonna and Maluma in custom Palomo designs

STUNNER: Cindy in bikini

QUEEN of pop Madonna and Reggaeton star Maluma have become the latest celebs to be dressed by Palomo. The Cordoba designer, 27, took on wardrobe duties for the Latin-themed music video Medellin, named after Maluma’s home city.

Medellin kids Madonna stunned in a silk gown with red and green ruffles, from Palomo’s SS18 collection, previously worn by actor Rossy de Palma. But Maluma steals the show,

in a custom-print silk red suit, paired with gold jewelry, while the duo also don revealing white shirts for a brothel scene, and later sip champagne in bed.

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NEWS

May 8th - May 21st 2019

NEWS

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Body in sea THE body of a woman has washed up in a port in southern Spain. Police said she was aged between 50 and 60 and her corpse had not been in the water for long as it was not in a state of decomposition. A passerby found her at the breakwater of the port of Atunara in La Linea on Monday afternoon. An autopsy is underway.

Lakey escape A MISSING British tourist has been found in a lake with hypothermia. The 32-year-old solo traveller, known only as Sandy, was mysteriously found in Malaga’s La Viñuela reservoir after she disappeared from her hotel at around 6:53am. She was found 24 hours later after a 40-strong police search. She is recovering in hospital.

Paupers INCOMES in Andalucia are 26% less than other parts of Spain, figures have revealed. The average wage in the region is €19,132, some €6,722 less than the national average of €25,854. In Madrid the average wage is €34,916. The regional economy is expected to grow by 2.1% this year however, and unemployment is likely to drop to 21.2% from 23%.

How much?!

MALAGA city’s most exclusive apartments have gone up sale for €3.5 million. The price tag on the beachfront pads gets you four bathrooms, four be-

drooms, sea views and 287 square meters of floor space. The 19th floor apartments are located in the new ‘Picasso Towers’ in the city’s Torre del Rio area.

MALAGA’S iconic ‘ferris wheel’ landmark is set to be demolished to make way for a car park. Despite only being erected four years ago, the 230ft Mirador Princess is set to be removed within days. The Costa del Sol’s answer to the London Eye is said to be ‘interfe-

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Feeling blue Circle of life ring’ with a multi-million euro plan for office development in the Muelle de Heredia area of the provincial capital, which includes a car park.

Bad vibrations EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

A FORMER mechanical engineer is being forced to sleep in his car due to a mystery noise sending vibrations through his apartment. John Ewin, 73, from Surrey, claims he has not slept at his €280,000 apartment in Riviera del Sol, Mijas, since a loud humming noise began some six weeks ago. The pensioner, who worked on Hong Kong’s Shanghai Bank, once the most expensive building in the world, said he cannot pinpoint the exact source of the noise and that administrators are doing nothing to help. “I believe it’s coming from the cistern pump room, which has been turned on to run 24/7 instead of just during the day time, which is when the pool pumps come on,” Ewin, who also worked for the Hilton

Expats furious as ‘mystery noises’ keep them up at night

group, told the Olive Press this week. “I am becoming very ill with often only an hour of sleep a night and some nights none at all. “I’ve not played golf in months or been able to mountain bike from the exhaustion, the vibration from the noise comes through my pillows.” Ewin, from near Croydon, bought his home in Golf Gardens, Miraflores, in Mijas, two years ago.

CANCER

“I spent over a year locating the perfect place,” he added, “now it’s just a nightmare.” Despite countless complaints and offering to advise on solving the problem Ewin, who is being treated for prostate cancer, claims his calls have fallen on deaf ears.

Various neighbours have now made a denuncia to the Guardia Civil. The complaint includes the substantial piles of duck faeces around the swimming pool, making it inaccessible to residents and holidaymakers. In a letter to maintenance company Cygamest, which looks after the area, one resident said she was ‘absolutely disgusted’. She claimed that when she brought up the duck poo with administrators, she was told the pool was not to be used until June and that ducks are a ‘protected species’ so ‘cannot be shot’. “It is no excuse to not deal with the problem as I am sure there are other means,” she wrote in a scathing letter. “I think we pay more then enough community fees so

ANDALUCIA has lost more blue flags for its beaches than any region in Spain, with tighter restrictions to blame. The region now has 18 fewer certified sandy strips, with Malaga and Huelva among the worst affected provinces. The Association of Environmental and Consumer Education has blamed illegal building, including some beach bars for the shocking news. Spain’s most southern region now has 98 blue flag beaches, behind Valencia with 150, Catalunya (120) and Galicia (119). Spain lost 24 blue flag beaches this year, a 4% decrease, but it still has the most worldwide, with 566.

Jack in the Vox NIGHTMARE: Mystery sound victim John Ewin part of it can be used to pay for the specialist company to deal with this problem!” Cygamest, the company behind the maintenance of the urbanisation, which has received dozens of complaints from Ewin and others, told the Olive Press: “We can offer no comment at this time as the matter is in the hands of our lawyers.”

THE wealthiest town on the Costa del Sol has seen a ‘shock’ Vox triumph. Benahavis turned green for the far-right party in last month’s general election, a shocker in a town which has more expat residents than Spaniards. The town has the highest GDP in Malaga and is home to more than 5,000 foreign residents including hundreds of Brits, Germans and Norwegians. The hard right-wing party secured 364 votes while its conservative rival PP won 356.

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FEATURE

www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than 500,000 people a month.

OPINION Cut the red tape THE sad fate suffered by the popular Wonderland play school will put many expats off ever starting up a business in Spain. The incompetence of faceless bureaucrats forced the vibrant San Pedro nursery to close after mistakenly rejecting its licence application. Owners, Ashlie and Emma strived hard over six years to build a successful business and had great fun while doing it. This is what makes the news of its premature closure so sad, not only for the owners and staff but also for the kids and their parents. The bureaucratic nightmare that saw Ashlie and Emma jump through hoops only to drown in unnecessary red tape will deter even the hardiest entrepreneur from setting up shop. Small expat businesses like Wonderland are key community assets and are testimony to years of hard graft. The fact such worthy enterprises can be crushed by such arbitrary town hall decrees is both disheartening and sickening.

Up up and away THE news this week that more Brits are registering on the padron is both pleasing and perhaps a little surprising. Data from the Junta showed a fantastic 2% surge in the number of Britons who registered on the padron in 2018, compared with the previous year. This is especially good news, as it comes just weeks after it was revealed that more Brits are also registering in Spain overall, despite fears over Brexit. But these latest Andalucian census findings are somewhat surprising, given that other sizeable foreign groups have shown declines. Germany, which has a huge expat population in the region, saw a 0.02% decrease in the number of its foreign nationals joining the census. Added to that is the 3.19% slump in Romanians filling out their padron paperwork. We must therefore be cautious, as well as celebrate, the British boost. Experts believe Brexit has pushed more Brits to fill out their paperwork, something which will hopefully continue after B-day, unlike the Germans and Romanians.

Publisher/ Editor Jon Clarke jon@theolivepress.es

Laurence Dollimore laurence@theolivepress.es

Charlie Smith charlie@theolivepress.es

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AWARDS

2016 - 2019 Best expat paper in Spain and the second best in the world. The Expat Survey Consumer Awards.

2012 - 2019 Named the best English language publication in Andalucia by the Rough Guides group.

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Trump coined it but what is the role of journalism in stopping fake news? Asks Charlie Smith

STORY about a Good Samaritan who was viciously attacked online after helping out a sick neighbour in Spain has revealed the personal consequences of fake news. Usage of the term - popularised by US President Donald Trump - has risen 365% since 2016, and when focused on a single person, fake news can have a damaging impact. This shocking incident, reported in the Olive Press (see back page), saw an innocent man publicly shamed for apparently ‘abandoning’ two dogs in a supermarket car park. The shocking part is that, far from dumping the pets which belonged to his neighbour, he collected them just minutes after making them wait outside. This series of events was made possible TRUMP: King of spouting ‘fake news’ claims at world’s media outlets thanks to a busybody with a keyboard who slammed the innocent man on Facebook where she posted a picture of his car and called him a ‘son of a b****’ (see picture). Police were even notified, tracking the accused man to his home where they discovered…two happy-as-Larry dogs, both microchipped and expertly trained. The doggie debacle is just one cause and effect of the lies spread online. Twitter was caught up in controversy in April after the parents of little Julen who died down a Malaga well were targeted by fake news. The grieving mum and dad are now fighting a court case against three social media users. If found guilty of inflicting ‘degrading treatment’ they could be jailed for up to two years. On a wider scale, Facebook has been accused of allowing Russian-backed posts on its site to reach 126 million Americans during the 2016 US election campaign while CamVoted Dope cookie alert bridge Analytica, a consultancy firm hired BEST expat by Trump, was found to have harvested depaper in tails from millions of profiles. Spain But this year Mark Zuckerberg’s €4.2 billion company hit back, pointing to research that found the amount of fake news spread through its platform had declined dramatically. It claimed that since 2016 there had been a 75% decrease in the amount of fake news Floating unicorns! viewed by Americans. The site insists it is ‘working to fight the spread of false news’ which it says is ‘harmful’ to the community. But what actually is fake news? Well, that depends who you listen to. CLASSIC: Example of epidemic (see back page) Trump would tell you it was anything written by CNN, The Washington Post, the New York Times and maybe even the Olive Press. equally active against, as it not only dange- lling us in order to ensure our sources are Named as their word of the year in 2017, rously misinforms the public but facilitates valid. the Collins Dictionary defines the phenome- a decline in quality journalism. You may be surprised to learn that a large non as: ‘false, often sensational, informa- A recent example of this spread of false- amount of the stories we are sent (well over tion disseminated under the guise of news hood comes from another local paper’s half) are never published, especially when it reporting’. online story that claimed involves conspiracy theories. The key word here is ‘reporpolice in London had war- Look at the Maddie McCann case and the ting’, implying that news orned against people speaking humerous crazy claims made by the wacky The Olive ganisations have a responsiSpanish in public, following a brigade, many of whom are expats based Press, has a bility to deal with fake news. rise in hate crime. here in Spain, one even a former British poSo what is the role of jour- responsibility to ‘A new warning has been lice superintendent with far too much time nalists here? And are newsgiven by police officers to on his hands. rooms still the last bastion of disseminate true those who speak Spanish on There have been so many wild, unsubstantruth? their mobile phones’” the ar- tiated claims, including that her parents kiinformation Local papers, like the Olive ticle claimed. lled her and kept her body in a freezer or Press, have a responsibility When the Olive Press contac- the boot of the car for 20 days, while former to disseminate true informated the City of London Police, Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral tion to their readership. British Transport Police and the Metropoli- even claimed that MI5 spies helped to cover From a newspaper’s perspective, that is tan Police to clear up the claims, all three up the disappearance. both a long-term strategy and one which forces categorically denied issuing such In an interview with the Telegraph, the Mcachieves the main job of a local newspaper a statement, commenting that ‘no police Cann’s PR guru Clarence Mitchell recently - serving the community. force’ would have warned against speaking explained: “One of the most ridiculous theoIn a race to the top … or to the bottom … Spanish in public. ries I have heard was that Madeleine was other local newspapers which shall remain This recent example is typical of how the Oli- born as the result of a government cloning nameless, actively promote false material ve Press operates and investigates. project.” on their platforms. We receive information, and we carefully Crackpots have even reported online - and This is something which the Olive Press is take the time to fact-check it before we re- on Twitter and Facebook - that Olive Press port anything. editor Jon Clarke (as recently seen on the This is only possible becau- Netflix documentary) could not have arrived se we have professiona- in the Portuguese resort to investigate on lly-trained journalists and behalf of the UK press when he claimed. are very well-connected in This further developed into a bizarre online Spain, with over a dozen re- diatribe that even hinted that he was soporters around the country. meway involved in her disappearance. The Our libel lawyer is frequent- trolls never give up. ly consulted on tricky sto- The way the Maddie McCann story blew up ries, and we always give is perfect fodder for the fake news age. those we write about a right People love to speculate on whether the pato reply, however difficult it rents ‘did it’ etc. etc., and it is lazy journalism can sometimes be. that allows rumours to swirl unchecked. When the public feed us From time to time, the press does get things information, we firstly cross wrong. But where fake news is concerned, SOCIAL MEDIA: Helps spread fake articles reference what they are te- in this newspaper it’s a non-starter.

Fake news

Citizen Spain

ALTEA council is organising two courses to prepare foreigners for the Spanish citizenship exam, taking place from April 29 to May 13 and May 14-27 at the Centro Social.

Fine

AIRBNB has been hit by a €30,000 fine imposed by the Valencian government for advertising tourist apartments without showing the necessary registry numbers.

FINAL WORDS

Elections

SURVEYS suggest the socialist party (PSOE) is set to lead Valencia’s regional elections on April 28, estimating they will take 30 of 99 available seats.

Fried chicken

A FIRE that broke out in a chicken factory at 11pm on a Sunday in Redovan, Alicante, led to the death of 20,000 birds.

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Vol. 1 Issue 3

Good Samaritan accused of abandoning dogs outside supermarket collected them minutes later

POLICE have warned social media addicts about fake news postings in the Costa Blanca. It comes after a Good Samaritan who helped an ill neighbour home from a supermarket became the centre of a vicious online attack leading

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FAKE NEWS SHOCKER

to a police investigation. It happened after the Gandia local was spotted by a young woman leaving two dogs in the car park of Mas y Mas in the town. Jumping to conclusions - in classic fake news fashion - she posted a picture of his car and

Fly away

DENIA is the municipality that has lost the most population, 15.3%, in the last 10 years in the whole of Spain. Experts believe it is largely down to foreign workers and expats returning home.

NOT everyone was upset with the torrential rains that led to flooding and chaos over Easter. A group of teens in Elche jumped into the Vinalopo river with rubber rings and dinghies and even a blow up unicorn.

April 25th - May 8th 2019

Videos show onlookers stunned as two young men tried to surf through the town centre, until one fell head first into the muddy torrent. In another video, two boys were spotted commandeering a pink unicorn.

number plate on Facebook. Under the claims of abandonment, she described him as a ‘son of a b****’ and appealed for ‘help’. Police were soon called and traced the car to his home, finding his ‘abandoned’ dogs at home, well-cared for. They also had obligatory microchips and up-to-date vaccinations. The man explained that since dogs were not allowed in the supermarket he had expertly trained them to wait in the car park. And they were there waiting patiently when he returned ten minutes later. He had simply taken the neighbour home and was caring for her when police called around. Police have now warned Fa-

cebook users to be careful of publishing un-checked facts online. This is exactly what newspapers and journalists are carefully trained to do.

THE Food Safety agency has issued a warning over cannabis found in children's cookies from the Netherlands. The Girl Scout Cookies Chocolate Kush and Girl Scout Cookies Ginger Cookie Kush, by Dutch company Dr Greenlove, are made with '100% real cannabis bud'. The alarm was first sounded in the Canary Islands during a routine check, in which health authorities queried the products for not correctly labelling the type of flour used. Despite having a large marijuana leaf on the package, it was later discovered that the cookies contained an unauthorised ingredient: cannabis. The Spanish Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide investigation and believes the cookies are likely to be in establishments around Spain. Other products advertised on the Dr Greenlove website include Cannabis Bears, Cannabis High Tea, Cannabis Lollipops and Cannabis Instant Chocolate.

FEATURE

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May 8th - May 21st 2019

The cult of

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ERCADONA fancies itself the epitome of the successful family-friendly supermarket. The largest chain in Spain is presented as a role model for entrepreneurs by Javier Alfonso in his book, Historia de un éxito: Mercadona, and his numbers definitely add up: Mercadona dominates nearly a quarter of the country’s retail food market, turning a profit of €593 million in 2018 alone. Yet, along with this kind of large-scale prosperity, there are always one or two flies in the ointment … Take our last issue as an example when The Olive Press reported a string of robberies experienced by expats at the Mercadona store in La Cala de Mijas, brushed off by a spokesman who insisted the current security measures were sufficient. Bad form.

Entry aisle So what do you need to know about Spain’s most successful supermarket? Mercadona currently employs around 85,000 people at just over 1,600 stories in Spain and has made its owner Juan Roig a billionaire many times over and Spain’s second richest man. His family’s story began in 1977 when they transformed eight butcher shops in Valencia into supermarkets which they named Mercadona. In 1981 Juan Roig, along with his wife Hortensia Herrero and two of his siblings, bought out his parents’ shops. A few years later, he bought most of the shares from his brothers. Takeover complete. Mercadona remains a family business with Roig’s wife the company’s vice-president, while brother Fernando Roig owns nine percent of the company, in addition to owning the football club Villareal.

Meat counter Much of the company’s success has been put down to a constant investment in innovation. It was the first Spanish supermarket to use scanners to read bar codes, and the first to offer gluten-free foods - a range that has expanded to over 850 gluten-free products, and a lactose-free range. Over the past year alone, Mercadona has introduced so many changes and new services that it’s hard to keep up. As well as an ex-

MINTED: Boss Roig is Spain’s second richest man

Overview

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Mijas Costa FREE

A Estepona A KIND OF MAGIC ll about

Vol. 13 Issue 316

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April 2019

Estepona has managed to avoid the mass market tourism of the rest of the Costa del Sol, writes Charlie Smith

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Photo by Jon Clarke

Following a series of robberies on expats, Claire Leibovich and Pablo Balbontin shine a light on the murky side to a Spanish supermarket success story

Voted

Vol. 13 Issue 316 www.theolivepress.es April 24th - May 7th 2019

A town in bloom... Estepona special inside

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SHOP HORROR #GOODVIBESONLY

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ESTEPONA, MÁLAGA CALLE CARIDAD, 46, 29680

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Expats demand action after spate of robberies at Mercadona

My Brexit vision

The Olive Press meets British art genius Mat Collishaw at his new exhibition Brexit brushstrokes, Page 14

EXCLUSIVE By Laurence Dollimore

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Price wars Mercadona might claim that ‘el cliente es el jefe’ - the client is the boss to use its motto, but this doesn’t necessarily help the consumers’ pockets. The supermarket is only the ninth cheapest in Spain, according to consumer body OCU (Organización de Consumidores y Usuarios), with only a few chains such as Carrefour, Supersol and Leclerc weighing in as more expensive. And, in addition, these rivals appear to spend more in store security, which will be of interest to expat readers.

McJobs It is the subject of employment that has garnered the chain the most controversy over the last two decades. While it creates over 1,000 jobs a year and pays well for shop work (a minimum of €1,328 euros a month, not including performance bonuses) the company has been accused of exploitation, anti-union policy and harassment of its workers. As its CEO Roig once said: “We need to work the Chinese way to live the Spanish way”. Alarming to say the least, he has also urged staff to think more about their duties and less about rights. He also once insisted: “First give, then ask, finally demand”. While the company professes certain essential values for its staff to grow on a ‘personal and professional’ level, there are numerous reports suggesting otherwise. Aside from a claimed 1,000-plus dismissals every year, ex-employees cite the pressure of the job, an unhealthy work atmosphere, long hours, very little holidays and too much to do. And don’t think about getting ill...Mercadona has its own company doctors, who according to staff hardly ever grant employees sick leave. It is frowned upon to go to a public doctor, claim ex-employees, and those who present a request for sick leave

risk getting sacked, it has been claimed. Instead, ill or injured employees will typically be moved to another section - for example at the till, where they can sit down. Unfortunately you don’t get to hear about malpractice much as workers have to sign extremely limiting confidentiality agreements as part of their job contracts. Under these, employees cannot criticise the company to the media or on social media. And if you want to join a union, be careful. In 2013 Francisco Enriquez Martinez was laid off shortly after becoming a CGT union rep, despite working at his Malaga store for seven years.

Checkout So all in all, while Mercadona might be the most popular supermarket in Spain, with one on almost every high street, it is not all happy shopping! Think carefully about going there… and as we reported last issue, keep a close eye on your handbag and purse at all times. And in more ways than one.

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“The female manager simply couldn’t care less. I was appalled.” “The thieves took my purse with €180 and all my credit cards the CCTV first time and €30 the second time, as well as priceless mementos from “Even the Guardia Civil in Coin refumy daughter who passed away three sed to let me see the CCTV. And Mercadona wouldn't look at the CCTV years ago. “One was a card from her funeral without police authorisation.” which I can never replace, it’s terri- Despite the complaints, a spokesman for Mercadona insisted that current ble.” She insists the supermarket should measures are sufficient. now erect barriers at tills, introduce He added that the company would more cameras and hire more security not be introducing more cameras, erecting barriers at tills or hiring seguards to deal with the problem. Another victim, 64, who has lived curity guards. in Spain since 1972, added: “I was “When we get a report of a theft we targeted in the same hand over CCTV to police to deal shop when two wo- with,” he added. men stole a purse and Dee March meanwhile has decided to vote with her feet and will shop elmy mobile phone. “I realised instantly sewhere from now on. what had happened “I’m now going to Lidl and Carrefour, and ran to an assis- which are no dearer in any case, and tant who called a co- with much better security,” she adUK BASED lleague for help. He ded. watched two women stroll out of the shop Have you been a victim at Merand said it was them, cadona? Contact newsdesk@ but made no effort to theolivepress.es stop them. Opinion Page 6 for

pansion of its Ready to Eat takeaway section there is an online service called The Hive, beTel: 952 147 834 ing tested in Valencia, and new ‘ergonomic’ uniforms for staff costing a cool €29 million. 902 123 282 That’s not all. In 2018 Mercadona announced the opening of 10 new stores in Portugal, the first of which will open in Oporto on July 2. There’s now a distribution centre in the UK… and the company has hinted at plans to open more stores outside Spain.

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THE Olive Press has broken the one-million-aPages/Session month barrier. Page Views Number of Sessions per User 81 ever, we1.31 In 1.20 April, for the first time had 1.07 mi41,8 llion page views from visitors from around the world andDuration Spain. Bounce Rate Avg. Session Just over half a million 26.21% visitors came to read 00:03:46 about floods in Alicante, robberies in Mercadona, the latest on missing father and son Daniel and Liam Poole and much, much more. e With1.aLanguag quarter of our users coming from Spain, a en-gb quarteren-usfrom the UK and Ireland, a quarter from 2. the rest of Europe and 15% from Gibraltar and en-ie 10% 3.from the US, we’ve got all markets covered. 4. es-es Our exclusive stories, helped bring in 330,000 en-ca NEW5. readers from across Europe. 6. en And the average user spent more than five mi7. nl-nl nutes on our site. 8. sv-se Meanwhile, our Alexa ranking continues its 9. nb-no upward trajectory as we enter the top 7,000 10. en-au websites in Spain (10,000 above our nearest rival) and in the last three months we have moved up by more than 34,000 places globally to 169,700th. © 2019 Google

SPECIAL ONLINE OFFER To celebrate this landmark achievement we have decided to offer an unprecedented deal for annual or half year contracts online. Join us now and we will offer a 300×250 pixel banner on our homepage (normally €300 a month) for just €75 a month plus iva if you book a year and €100 plus iva if you take six months. Or a smaller 300×30 for just €40 a month. NOTE WELL: Your ad will be seen by a minimum 20.000 people a day! Meanwhile a permanent sponsored or native post, with a permanent link, promoting your business and edited by our team of journalists costs from just €175 mas iva, or €150 if you book two or more. Can you afford NOT to sign up to Spain’s definitive market-leading English website? Contact us today at sales@theolivepress.es or call 951 273 575.

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Border drama From front

one of which he uses for work and has a Russian visa attached. But when he applied to have his non-work passport renewed after misplacing it, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, unbeknownst to him, cancelled both of his documents. “I specifically told them of the situation and they ensured me that both would not be cancelled,” added Saunders. “But I think as my passport says I’m born in Ghana and my sponsor has an Indian name, it might have raised a red flag for them.” The Foreign & Commonwealth Office did not respond in time for press.

Sky’s the limit

Chubby cherubs SPANISH six-to-nine-yearold girls are the second most obese in Europe, new research has revealed. Around 17% of girls in this age group in Spain are obese, while Cyprus had the worst prevalence with 19%. Meanwhile Spanish boys of

May 8th - May 21st 2019

the same age are the fourth most obese in Europe, after Greece (20%), Italy (21%) and Cyprus (21%). The UK, France and Germany were left out of the study. A ‘decline’ in the Mediterranean diet was cited for the poor results in Spain.

SPAIN’S first outdoor skydiving simulator has opened in Malaga. The special piece of equipment was used by Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Fallout, before being brought to Spain. A column of air allows thrillseekers to fly without a parachute, and experience the free fall of a skydive. Located at KartCenter

Brits ahoy!

in Campillos, the attraction by Fly4Real can be combined with Andalucia’s longest kart track for an action-packed day. Prices start from €52 for a 24,000 ft free fall, up to €400 for the ‘Pro Flyer’ pack for more experienced skydivers.

Dirty tactics

Brussels probes trade of dirty electricity between Spain and Morocco THE Spanish energy company behind plans to construct a line of giant pylons across the stunning Granada countryside has been probed by the European Commission. Red Eléctrica de España (REE)

Stop the Doñana rot! THE World Wildlife Fund has pleaded with Spain to stop a controversial gas project in Andalucia’s most important nature park. The general secretary of WWF, Juan Carlos del Olmo, has urged the Junta and central government to implement the European Parliament’s demand to ‘put an end’ to the gas extraction and storage project at Doñana National Park. In a letter to both, Del Olmo writes: “The defense of Doñana has been

has been denounced for allegedly importing dirty energy generated from coal power stations in Morocco in a breach of European emissions directives. It comes as anti-pylon campaigners wrote to the Minister of Ecological Transition and Spain’s European Commissioner to demand an end to all electrification projects. They insist the huge importation a priority of our organization for of dirty coal more than 50 years. generated “It is a place of exceptional environelectricity since Nomental value and enjoys an intense vember 2018, is ‘ouprotection at European level.” trageous’ and flies He added that the WWF has in the face of Spain’s spoken out against any hydrocarrenewable electricity bon extraction and storage project intentions. for six years. They add that the un-

EXCLUSIVE By Timothy McNulty

derwater lines between Spain and North Africa were put in exclusively for renewables, but the equivalent of 471,000 tons of carbon dioxide had been imported so far. Part of the electricity comes from the huge Safi power plant, near Casablanca, where 10,000 tonnes of coal is burnt daily, they claim. “Just because the coal fired stations are outside the EU, it does not excuse Spain. Future electric highways, such as those in the Alpujarras and Lecrin Valley need to stop until this situation is addressed,” Tanya, a retired University lecturer from Orgiva, told the Olive Press. It comes after this paper launched its Fight the Power campaign to stop the Alpujarra project in February. “An investigation is required to

Fight the power!

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On the eve of Andalucia day, we look at the history of one its most famous group of residents, gypsies

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Vol. 13 Issue 312 www.theolivepress.es February 27th - March 12th 2019

ELECTRIC SHOCKER Celebrities join furious expats and locals to stop ‘abomination’ of pylons set to ruin series of celebrated tourist valleys

CAMPAIGN: E In previous issue POWER STRUGGLE: Christ

Stewart and Dr Robert (inset

Mijas Costa

POWERLESS: The Holdups

Black out

A BRITISH expat couple are facing a ‘disaster’ after they learnt one of the ‘monstrous’ electricity masts (left) is to be built in their back garden. Steve Holdup, 62, and wife Karen, 61, who live on a self sufficient farm near Orgiva, could ironically even lose their sole source of power from solar panels, which are in the way. The retired teachers, who moved from Cumbria a decade ago, claim they have been kept in the dark by energy company REE, and only found out about the pylon from a friend. Steve told the Olive Press: “From having a fantastic house we rebuilt from scratch ten years ago, we’ve ended up with a disaster. “We put all of our life saving into it and now we face having to live with a 220 volt tower directly behind our home.” If built, the tower and adjoining service road will cut right through their field of 13 solar panels. “So somebody in Germany gets a load of electricity from Morocco as a result of putting a tower at the back of our house and we end up losing the little electricity we have for ourselves.” He added: “It has been done in the most chevalier fashion you could imagine.

above) join long, snaking protest against pylon project Over Lemons novel made the EXCLUSIVE gion famous - added his name toreWhile supposedly necessary to take By Tim McNulty growing collective of campaigninga electricity from Morocco to Europe, Howard, who has lived in the Lecrin expats battling the proposal. it is set to ruin the untouched beauty Valley for two decades, told the Olive Press: “The These include former 80s star Doc- again private financial interests are of the area, enjoyed by tens of thou- massive pylonsproject to take these tor Robert, from the Blow Monkeys, riding roughshod over the will and sands of nature lovers across our valley is each year. an abomination. It will have devasthe rights of the people, leaving, as The Di No A Las Torres (Say No To tating who li- ever, a wake consequences ves in the tion,” Stewart of heedless destruc- The Towers) group argues high vol- lly and economically. environmentatold the Olive Press, tage towers would have n e a r b y this week. a ‘devastating effect’ on tourism and agricul- “It’s a magical place, a ‘Vale Of HaL e c r i n “One day the ppiness’, as the Moors called it, V a l l e y , reasonable, tide will turn and more ture, as well as health. place of natural beauty and conser-a which is prevail; but sustainable ways will A petition has been launched, while vation. seemingly not yet; so... a protest saw over a thousand peoalso set to it’s back to ple march near the village of Con- “These giant pylons will scar the be badly The outragethe barricades again.” landscape, could destroy the local a f f e c t e d vealed energycomes after it was re- char on Sunday. tourist businesses and ravage company Red Electri- The protest, which included the by the ca de España (REE) many environment. plans to install expats and children, is the start project. See pages 40 of “There are no benefits at all a network for local “ O n c e across the of some 211 giant pylons many to stop the scheme. two valleys. Blow Monkeys singer Robert people - we must fight to stop them.” Ecotourism is vital to the region, which was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2017, mainly for having some of the world’s oldest oli*Offer ends 30/11/18. Not ve groves. valid for renewals. Subjec t to conditions. Some 245 businesses work in UK BASED rural tourism and the valley which is set to have 109 of the pylons - receives an estimated 8,000 visitors every weekend. Reliable private hire transfer The figures for the Alpujarras, 2/8/18 17:01 for any services occasion which will see pylons stretfor Spanish • Luxury vehicles ching all the way to the Alme• Door to door service ria border, are certainly much residents • Airport collections higher. • Weddings transport Scottish expat Teresa Mcwww.globelink.co.uk See page 2 • Sightseeing day trips Keon, 49, who has been at the • Restaurant shuttles forefront of the campaign, told the Olive Press: “The whole Find out more at: 96 626 5000 place is going to be destroyed www.simply-shuttles.com it is just awful... it really is aw+44 (0) 1353 699082 tel: 951 279 117 ful.” www.eliteglasscurtains.com X-GENESIS drummer Chris Stewart has joined the fight against a ‘motorway’ of power lines planned for Andalucia’s iconic Alpujarras region. The British author - whose Driving

THE number of Brits registering on the padron in Andalucia is increasing, it has emerged. Data collected for 2018 now shows that the number of Britons on the census has increased by 2%. A sizeable 1,498 more British nationals filled out their paperwork to take the padron total in the region from 75,372 in 2017 to 76,870 in 2018. Meanwhile Germany, another country with which Spain is popular, saw a 0.02% decrease in the number of people registered on the padron. Its number of foreign nationals dropped from 15,753 to 15,750, while Romanians dipped by a huge 3.19% from 81,873 to 79,264 in 2018. Morocco still has the largest number of its people registered on the Andalucian census, and also saw a big increase of 6.5% from 136,222 to 145,076 .

902 123 282 explore what these companies have been doing and if any further rules have been broken.” In a letter obtained by the Olive Press, EU Commissioner *Offer ends 30/11/18. Not valid for renewals. Subject to conditions. for climate action and energy Miguel Arias Cañete said: “The European Commission is aware that Spain had recently begun to receive electricity from Morocco, which is a change from previous trends. “The EU is firmly committed to the fight against climate change.” Canete confirmed talks at the ‘highest political level’ are planned for the Two Shores energy summit in Marseille on June 24. Tel: 902 123 282

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The SG Kleinwort Hambros Gibraltar Occupational Retirement Plan Notice to deferred members of the defined contributions pension scheme who were previously employed by, SG Hambros Bank and Trust (Gibraltar) Limited, SG Hambros Bank (Gibraltar) Limited or SG Kleinwort Hambros Bank (Gibraltar) Limited and have retained pension benefits in this Pension Scheme (minimum 2 years pensionable service), please contact the administrator, Sovereign Pension Services (Gibraltar) Limited as follows: By email to localpensions@sovereigngroup.com or by post to (marked Private & Confidential) Sovereign Pension Services (Gibraltar) Limited, Suite 2B, 143 Main Street, Gibraltar providing your name, current address, date of birth and the dates of your employment with SG Kleinwort Hambros.

LA CULTURA

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Exciting pop art show featuring legendary Mark Ryden coming to Malaga despite museum tensions

Rolling clone ROLLING Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has revealed a Picasso-inspired painting that he hopes would have ‘shocked’ the Spanish master. The 71-yearold British rocker titled his work featuring Mick Jagger, Abstract Stones, inspired by the Malaga artist’s The Three Dancers. “Looking at the original, I was inspired to do my own take featuring the boys,” the London-born father-of-six said. After attending art school in the 1960s, Wood has turned countless celebrities into portraits, including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jim Morrison and Madonna.

MALAGA Town Hall has announced a new pop art exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CAC) despite an ongoing management crisis. The venue, which has recently seen a takeover by the town hall, is set to host the event from mid-May to the end of June. American painter Mark Ryden, a prolific figure of the 1970s Pop Surrealist movement, is one of dozens of the international talents to be exhibited at the show.

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Send your informa newsdesk@theolive tion to press.es

Popping off

what’s on ABBA to Gaga THE The Salon Varietes Theatre in Fuengirola hosts Flashback from May 17-19, at 7:30pm - a theatrical blast through the music of the past, from the 1950s to 2000s.

Ballers

POP STAR: Mark Ryden’s The Pumpkin President Known as ‘the godfather of and even meat. pop surrealism’, his mys- Not one to be confined by terious work draws on medium, Ryden also produeverything from 17th century ced an album, The Gay NineFrench literature, to old toys, ties Old Tyme Music (2004),

Give it a Goya

IRONS: Give me Goya

BRITISH actor Jeremy Irons has revealed he ‘would like to play Goya’ during a speech at the Barcelona Film Festival. The Dead Ringers star, 70, made the comments while introducing the documentary, Painters and Kings of the Prado, an in-depth look at the Madrid gallery. The classically trained Os-

MATRICULATION OPEN – PLACES GOING FAST

car-winner said he is ‘fascinated’ by the bleak themes in the Spanish Romantic painter’s later work. Particularly of interest to Irons are Goya’s ‘homosexual relationships, the abandonment of his family, Satanism and other extraordinary things that explain his dark paintings’.

featuring Tyler The Creator, Katy Perry and Nick Cave, among others. Ryden, whose previous CAC exhibition was the most popular ever at the gallery, with 102,800 visitors, will be joined by KAWS, James Jarvis, Erik Parker, Hajime Sorayama and more. One of the main highlights of the show will be work by London-born Jarvis, an illustrator, toy designer and pioneer of the soft vinyl designer toy revolution. It comes after a row broke out at the CAC, as 17 staff from its Oleo restaurant were sacked, while 22 workers have denounced the town hall over contract disputes. The Ayuntamiento takeover prompted employees to issue a joint statement, in which they accuse city chiefs of ‘violating their rights’ by leaving them out of contract negotiations.

BALL gowns and dickie bows are a must at the Marbella Masquerade Ball on June 2 at the Gran Hotel Benahavis, beginning with bubbly by the pool at 7:30pm.

Money magic AN expert panel dishes out the latest financial advice on current markets, inheritance tax and expat funerals at a May 10 lecture at 10:30am in Pepe’s Restaurant, Coin.

Checkmate TWO chess tournaments, for adults and kids, will be held in Estepona on May 12 from 10am at the Palacios de Exposiciones y Congresos, with a top prize of €300.

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True survivors

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May 8th - May 21st 2019

A middle-aged Englishman on his 20-plus exhibitions on the Rock, the local talent and getting old

JAMES Foot is showing off his collection of watercolours based on Gibraltar at the John Mackintosh Hall. The Greece-based Brit is a well-known figure on the Rock with his expressive watercolours fetching as much as £2,000 on the open market. He first came to Gibraltar in 1991 and has returned to hold exhibitions on twenty occasions since. “I am not a person who relates terribly with my own race,” the artist, who lives in Greece most of the year and is currently selling his former home in London, told the Olive Press. “At first I saw Gibraltar as a nasty colonial backwater. “It was only when I came that I realised it has amazing architecture and so many different ethnicities that I realised that it was paintable.” As a result, two-thirds of the paintings at his current exhibition until May 10 are from what he called a ‘strange 18th Century time-warp’. But he is also proud of the local talent, including former Sky Portrait Artist of the Year Christian Hook, who now sells his work at around a hundred times the prices he charges. “He is really talented and still a

Fallen Apollo PICTURESQUE: (Inset) James Foot and his work

nice guy,” said Foot. “With all his marketing he has really made the big time and kept it going. “Most artists get another job and go under. I am an unusual one as I am still living off the work I sell.” And despite the longevity of his career, he has not taken to aging. “An old lady said I looked like the statue of Apollo when I first came to Greece,” recalled Foot. “But now she says that I am just old and fat. “People even give me their seats on the metro, which makes me feel even worse!”

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May 8th - May 21st 2019

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In Gibraltar - Issue 95

Readers react to news that supermarket giant Mercadona has refused to step up in-store security despite a spate of expat robberies (Shop horror, Issue 316, pg 1)

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Brits flocking to Spain

Vol. 4 Issue 95 www.theolivepress.es April 24th - May 7th 2019

Eyes in the sky

MILITARY drones will be patrolling the Strait of ready for action later this Gibraltar this year after year. Spain signed a huge €216 It comes as the Guardia Civil has struggled to million deal with the US. tackle the surging drug Four MQ-9 Reaper epidemic drones are to carry out trafficking surveillance to tackle ille- which has seen outbursts gal immigration and drug of violence along the coasts over the past two trafficking. The unmanned aircraft years. will soon be arriving at It has been suggested this their new base in Tala- summer will see even vera la Real in Badajoz, more drug activity than last year.

HUNDREDS of new British residents have registered to live in southern Spain. The number of registered UK nationals in Malaga has zoomed up despite the spectre of Brexit. A sizeable 600 more people were registered at the end of last year compared to 2017. And the numbers are expected to have risen further over the last quarter, believe experts. “I think many people are worried, so that has increased registrations,” Anne Hernandez, president of national support group Brexpats in Spain told the Olive Press. “And a lot of Brits are currently moving to Spain, because they don’t want to leave their dream move any longer. “Some of them just say they ‘want to escape the UK’.”

Growth

STILL IN DANGER

By the end of 2018 there were 47,193 British nationals registered in Malaga province, the first growth since 2013. That year, there were 76,000 Britons in Malaga - the highest of any year while 10 years ago 63,000 Brits wereaccounted for in the area. The large drop of expat numbers mostly happened over the following couple of years due to the deep six-year recession, which was the worst in Spain’s history. This now looks to be in reverse, despite Brexit. “I know many British people who are continuing to move to Spain,” said British councillor in Manilva, Dean Tyler Shelton. “At the same time I think Brexit has A RIGHT wing coalition government been a factor in pushing more British EXCLUSIVE people to register in Spain. Most have that includes Vox could cause difficulBy John Culatto ties on the border with Spain, former no intention of going back,” he added. Almeria had a total of 15,000 British Chief Minister Sir Joe Bossano has their jobs here,” Bossano, who was expats registered by the end of 2018, warned. knighted last year, told the Olive making it the second-largest British The Minister of Economic Develop- Press. ment’s stark words come after population in Andalucia. the “The PP has proven that before and I Meanwhile, Alicante had 69,289 regis- rising political force vowed to close think there will be an tered Brits in Spain in 2018, compared the border if it got elected into gov- right wing, because advance of the they have taken ernment in the April 28 national elecwith 66,397 in 2017. advantage of the disenchantment tions. There are 330,911 Brits registered as there is.” ing in Spain, as of 31 December 2018.liv- This would be a disaster for the Gi- Vox’s aggressive stance on Gibraltar STARK WARNING: From former leader Joe Last month, a royal decree was passed braltar economy that relies on thou- would turn the clock Bossano back 50 years sands of workers from Spain to cross giving Brits living in Spain until 1969 when General Franco orderedto Britain’s ‘colonisation’ of the Rock. Andalucia last December. De- the frontier every day. a “We are fed up with the pirates cember 31 2020 to apply for a Foreignborder closure. who In a wide-ranging interview, harass our fishermen and Bossano er Identity Card, granting them legal “If there is a right wing majority gov- The party, led by former military ernment of- compatriots as hostages,” use our also warned that Spain, like all EU they would not care about status in the country after Brexit. Abascal member states, could the 15,000 people who would lose ficer, Santiago Abascal, has consis- said about those ruling still veto legisGibraltar. tently been critical of what it sees lation on the future relationship as “While we recover Gibraltar bewe will tween make them pay taxes This the UK and the EU. or go live with the mon- ping is despite the Government stopSpain from having a Clause keys,” said the contro- 24-style veto that would allow the versial leader during his Rock to remain in a Brexit transition election campaigning. stage. Vox had previously “We do not know what that future rehelped unfurl a huge lationship will be, and even if we want UK Spanish BASED flag Lettings | Sales on the to be in that future relationship at all,” Rock, before gaining Bossano said. “But what we do know Reliable private hire transfer Investments | Relocations their first 12 regional is services for any occasion seats in neighbouring it that the veto is when Spain believes can corner Commercial and Residential us.” TM

Border problems loom if Vox gets into a coalition government, warns Sir Joe Bossano

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Onus on shoppers

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902 123 282 53 In Mallorca - Issue www.globelink.co.uk

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Close but no cigar

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We’re here to stay! HUNDREDS of new British resiin dents have registered to live Spain. naThe number of registered UK the tionals has zoomed up despite spectre of Brexit. In Mallorca there were 119 more last Brits registered at the end of year compared to 2017. to And the numbers are expected have risen further over the last quarter, believe experts. “I think many people are worried, registrations,” so that has increased naAnne Hernandez, president of in tional support group Brexpats Spain told the Olive Press. “And a lot of Brits are currently moving to Spain, because they don’t any want to leave their dream move

TheOlivePress-256x170-BIKE-4.indd 1 A

Is this Mallorca’s

Santa Catalina

TALENT: Masterchef Arber at Tema

hippest barrio?

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April 26th - May 9th 2019

THE BIG CAT

HIVE: A market trader with his wares and an impromptu exercise class in a Santa Catalina square

One of Spain’s most cosmopolitan neighbourhoods, Santa Catalina is a true melting pot for foodies and people watchers, writes Jon Clarke and Gillian Keller

DESCRIBED by locals as ‘the village in the city’ Santa Catalina has the same charming feel of Montmartre in Paris or Hampstead in London. At the same time Palma’s trendiest neighbourhood has the sort of hip locals you would more normally expect to find in Ibiza or New York’s Greenwich Village. With the city’s best food market, some of its most exciting restaurants and, bit by bit, some of the coolest shops, it is little surprise that this achingly cool barrio has become - by the square metre - one of the most expensive places to buy in Spain. The area may be small - only seven streets wide, stretching from Feixina park to busy Calle Joan Crepsí - but it has literally explod-

ed over the last few years. There has been a huge influx of expat buyers, in particular Scandinavian over recent years, and Santa Catalina today is vastly different to the area that Palma residents remember a decade ago. “It’s amazing how much it has changed in such a short time,” explains estate agent Miguel Llinas, from First Mallorca. “We have seen houses selling there for up to two million euros and it is not just the international market that loves Santa Catalina. We are increasingly getting local Mallorquins also looking to buy,” he explains. This is perhaps no surprise, as the suburb increasingly becomes THE place to eat in Palma and more and more hip and trendy

FELAFEL KING: Ronan at Simply Delicious

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The Olive Press spends a week in fashionable Santa Catalina

Continues on Page 12

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CATCH THESE CONMEN British families scammed out of thousands from fake holiday rental sites

found dozens of tourists had been scammed out of millions of euros from various sites, which illegally uploaded villa photos from legitimate sites. were British the press” Angus told the Olive Among those scammed Schofield, Rugby Union star Dean Press. a fake villa in “I think many more have been who lost €50,000 on duped and the scam could be worth Mallorca. This time, the website used to book millions.” ex- the trip, dreamvillasspain.com, was Sadly this seems true, after we remarkably similar to those created posed a string of fake holiday webto sites duping tourists coming last before. Among its claims is the goal to ‘creSpain two years ago and again year. Continues on Page 4 we In a series of investigations

family a Kent, revealed that when his who A BRITISH TV star has slammed arrived this month, the owner, bogus Palma based travel company gave his name as Klaus, was comthat stole ₤5,000 for a non existent pletely baffled and knew nothing rental. about the rental or website. they Professional chocolate taster Angus lost Kennedy told the Olive Press villa Kennedy seven-bedroom the money when had chosen the 780 different homes his family dis- in Arta out of site. covered a Ger- for rent on the they had been man man living But he only realised an airport pick-up at the Mallorcan scammed when and they caught a taxi villa they had never arrived, property to find booked through to the €600-a-night German. 15:36 the bewildered Villas 16/06/2017 1Dream the Untitled-1.pdf “I was determined to get to Spain. contacted See page 32 Kennedy, from house and immediately

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We’re here to stay! HUNDREDS of new British sidents have registered to live rein Spain. The number of registered UK nationals in Alicante has zoomed up despite the spectre of Brexit. Around 3,000 more people were registered at the end of last year compared to 2017. And the numbers are expected to have risen further over the last quarter, believe experts. “I think many people are worried, so that has increased registrations,” Anne Hernandez, of support group Brexpats in Spain told the Olive Press. “A lot of Brits are currently moving to Spain, because they don’t want leave their dream move any longer.to “Some of them just say they ‘want to escape the UK’.”

Recession

By the end of 2018 there were 69,289 British nationals registered in Alicante province (In 2017 there were 66,397), the first growth since 2013. The large drop of expat numbers mostly happened over the years following 2013 due to the deep sixyear recession, which was the worst in Spain’s history. This now looks to be in reverse, despite Brexit. “I know many British people who are continuing to move to Spain,” said British councillor in Malaga, Dean Tyler Shelton. “At the same time I think Brexit has been a factor in pushing more British people to register in Spain. Most have no intention of going back,” he added. Almeria had a total of 15,000 British expats registered by the end of 2018, making it the second-largest British population in Andalucia. Meanwhile, Malaga had 47,193 registered Brits in Spain in 2018, and there were 330,911 Brits registered as living in the whole of Spain. Last month, a royal decree was passed giving Brits living in Spain until December 31 2020 to apply for a Foreigner Identity Card, granting them legal status in the country after Brexit.

Vol. 1 Issue 3

The Olive Press meets British art genius Mat Collishaw at his new exhibition

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April 25th - May 8th 2019

FLOODY HELL

Brexit brushstrokes, Page 14

Continues on Page 2

STRANDED: Fireman inspect submerged car as (inset) a home became an island when Javea’s Gorgos river burst it’s banks at the weekend

Opinion Page 6

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Keith Beynon, Cardiff Has anything piqued your interest in this week’s Olive Press? Have your say on the matter by emailing letters@theolivepress.es or alternatively message us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ OlivePressNewspaper or Twitter @olivepress

Drag disgrace Bloody sunday

A FORMER US marine has been arrested in connection with an attack on the North Korean Embassy in Madrid after a mysterious dissident group broke in and assaulted staff.

A POPULAR drag queen has been attacked in the heart of gay-friendly Torremolinos. Satin Greco, one of the best-known performers on the Costa del Sol, was attacked by a group of ‘foreign men’ as he walked home on Saturday morning. The men reportedly shouted ‘fag’ at Greco before trying to rob him in La Nogalera, a neighbourhood deemed a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community. Luckily the commotion was heard by nearby staff from the Eden Copas bar, who all rushed over to help. Greco was taken to the local health centre where he was treated for scratches and bruises.

Nice try A JIHADI prisoner has set fire to his cell at a maximum security prison in Cadiz. Prison guards fought the blaze which is believed to have been started to destroy evidence.

POLICE have arrested two men after they found a pair of violently mutilated corpses in a well in Huelva. One of the bodies is that of 25-year-old Samuel Vizcaya, who disappeared at the weekend, before his car was found burnt out next to Huelva Cemetery. Police are treating his death and that of another 37-yearold man as a case of score-settling between gangs.

Airport scare

“We hope to finally get some POLICE have arrested a man justice,” she added. over a double knife attack at Policia Nacional in Marbella Madrid airport. confirmed they had received One woman, 47, was stabbed several denuncias over Hmit- in the ear, while another, 24, tou and that they had handed received a wound to the hand it over to an investigative judge. at the Ryanair check in area. Glow & Bubbly owner Corrine Correa added: “She spent four hours in our salon and we were having banter. That’s how she gains people’s trust. And the whole time she knew she was going to do us over.” Another salon owner in Mar- AN IRISH expat was sprayed bella said: “We have also been with date rape drug ‘devil’s breavictims, she left without paying th’ during a robbery in Tenerife. €180 and I found two more David Nelson, 27,was forced nearby salons where she did the to empty his bank account and same, we have put joint denun- lost his phone and €600 in cash cias in.” Meanwhile three other after being attacked in Playa de hair salons in San Pedro, a pi- las Americas. A woman approazzeria in Diana Park, a beauty ched the man and accused him salon in Banus and two other of trying to seduce her, and then salons in Marbella have all clai- sprayed the drug in his face. med to have been scammed by “She emptied all my accounts Hmittou. She did not respond until the cards declined,” said to our request for comment. Nelson.

Devilish deed

Times have changed How awful 952 147 834 the news about the drag queen being attacked in Torremolinos is (Drag disgrace, issue 316, pg 2). Nobody chooses to be gay. It’s genetics. You are born as you are. In this day and age, it’s time all people understand that. TM

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19/3/19 16:51

Valerie Benchetrit, Mijas

Retail therapy Madrid airport makes me feel like stabbing people too (AirLA CULTURA port scare, Issue 316, pg 2). But the matuSaints and re adult soldiers brave the rain that I am, I just hit the duty free shops for chocolate instead. SHADOWS: Like Goya, Collishaw explores the darker side of life to animate miniaturefigures engaged in- Hailed as one of the most influential arorgies of debauchery, inspired by the pas- tists coming out of Britain, Mat sage from The Book of Ecclesiastes, “Eat naged to carve himself a very has madifferent drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die.” niche from his contemporaries. Death, is clearly something Mat spends he hasn’t deliberately distancedWhile himtime brooding over, an self from the YBA moobsession one can only vement, he says: “Any assume is shared by his label is inherently a way partner, taxidermist artist Death, is clearly of generalising, which Polly Morgan who lives is helpful for easy consomething Mat sumption, with him, their small son but not deep Cliff and Mat’s son Alex understanding. And I’m spends time from a previous relationsdefinitely not hip, above his studio in brooding over, an anything I’m a ‘young’ afraid.” Camberwell, London. At the end of the day, obsession But when I ask him what there is nothing giminspires his work, he tells micky or frivolous me, “It could be anything about Mat. He from a conversation on a bus, to a TV depend on shock tactics for does not show or a book. I am always looking for a and avoids the personal andattention confesconnection, matching subject matter with sional. form; and seeking novel ways to present “Like Goya,” he tells me. “I like to lurk in ideas – ethical ideas that are pertinent to the shadows.” the present day.”

April 24th - May 7th 2019

THE Spanish Legion (top right) were among those marching during Holy Week up in Setenil, near Ronda. Soldiers took part in the Semana Santa processions and managed to avoid the rain which cancelled events in other areas. Meanwhile, processions in Malaga (top left) continued until 2am in the morning, and even featured Spanish Hollywood star Antonio Banderas (see page 3). Estepona also set a precendent during this Semana Santa by introducing the first all-female Los Pasos.

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We watched this amazing display of skill and discipline in Antequera (Saints and soldiers brave the rain for Semana Santa, Issue 316, pg 15). We we were very impressed with the entire display, including the Spanish Legion. Joyce Hollowbread, Antequera

OP Sudoku 3

8 1 7 2 8 4 7 4 5 7 6 2 8 3 6

19 21

Across 1 Bay (5) 4 Serious collision (5-2) 8 Group within a group (7) 9 Sort of line dance (5) 10 Large town (4) 11 Capsize (8) 13 Track (5) 14 Anaesthetic (5) 18 Left-hander (8) 20 Worry (4) 22 Electromagnetic telecommunication (5) 23 Flagellate (7) 24 Brings up (7) 25 Entice (5)

It comes as Hmittou, from Casablanca, was accused of racking up bills and vanishing without paying at several beauty salons and restaurants between Estepona and Marbella. Stafford-born Mitchell, who was due to give evidence to an Estepona court doctor this week, claims she knows of scores of other victims.

Gran and grow A YOUTH has been arrested after installing a huge marijuana farm on his 85-year-old grandma’s property. The drug grower was nicked after police discovered 260 plants inside a ‘labyrinth’ greenhouse system featuring lighting, extractors and humidifiers in Jerez.

Christine Stearns, Rota

Be aware of where your wallet, phone and keys are. Keep bags done up and wear them in front of you. My wife had her bag cut open, but luckily we noticed and followed the thief around the store and drew attention to them. Stores know that thieves operate, and even know who they are, but still choose to do nothing.

sed of multiple failures to pay at different salons on the coast. “She ran up a bill of €200 and then disappeared,” explained Mitchell, 45, who has lived in Spain for 22 years. “But then I spotted her a few days later dropping her kids off at a bus stop and insisted she pay up only to be punched in the face.” She added: “She attacked me in front of my nine-year-old daughter who has been traumatised by it.”

Your Pattaya Property

OP CRYPTIC Crossword

Plot thickens

AN alleged bill dodger is being investigated by police after allegedly punching a British hairdresser in front of her daughter. Jyhane Hmittou (pictured right) is accused of attacking Rose Mitchell, 45, when she was confronted over an unpaid haircut and treatment a few days before. The Moroccan woman is due in court to answer claims over the attack and failure to pay at Glow & Bubbly, in Benavista, Estepona. It comes as the Olive Press discovered she has also been accu-

April 24th - May 7th 2019

Bill dodger to face justice after allegedly attacking British mum after running out on salon bill

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Eye spy VENEZUELA’S former spy chief has been detained in Spain on drug charges after he fled the country to escape the government of President Maduro.

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CRIME

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Unhappy Catholics COMPLAINTS by ultra-Catholic groups in Spain against artists and entertainers they deem ‘offensive’ have increased dramatically in recent years, according to civil rights groups.

Send your information to newsdesk@theolive press.es

This has been going on for decades. My friend was also robbed at Mercadona in Torrox years ago. She never felt a thing. When she got to the check out, she found she had no purse. Beware!

Ed. Hi Jane, we are so sorry to hear that, it must be infuriating for you. However we did run quite a number of stories towards the end of last year and in January about voting eligibility and the electoral census. We frequently publish articles to help our readers stay up to date on the required Spanish documentation. It is a shame you missed them.

IT will go down as the heaviest Easter rain in a century. An incredible half a year’s rainfall fell in just four days across Semana Santa, with Javea hit by a record 330 litres/m3 of rain in just 12 hours on Sunday night. Houses were flooded, cars were washed away and trees uprooted as firefighters received more

NEWS IN BRIEF

Do you have a what’s on?

Age-old problem

Jane Brooke, Malaga

Thousands of homes flooded, hundreds left homeless... and dozens of roads scenes rock Spain’s celebrated blocked as Biblical holy week

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Anne Germain, East Grinstead

Thanks for your article on the elections (A guiri’s election guide, Issue 316, pg 6-7). If only you had published the piece on voting eligibility and the electoral census two months ago! Two days before the election I went to my local Centro Civico with my certificate of Empadronamiento and DNI, both fully up to date, hoping to vote in the municipales, only to learn that the voter census closed a month ago. I was told I should have filled in an additional form to be enrolled on the census. Sadly, there has never been a poster in the Centro Civico to advise us expats of this requirement, and there has been nothing in the Olive Press either, as far as I know. So I’ve ended up losing my vote, and in such a tight contest - damn! It might be interesting to know how many others find themselves in my position.

2/8/18 17:01

PALMA DE MALLORCA SANTACATALINA-MALLORCA

TU PA RN GE TO 11

Brexit

2017. Last month, a royal decree was passed giving Brits living in Spain for until December 31 2020 to apply a Foreigner Identity Card, granting TM them legal status in the country after Brexit.

ll about

Vol. 3 Issue 53

longer.

to “Some of them just say they ‘want escape the UK’.” By the end of 2018 there were 10,315 British nationals registered in Mallorca, compared to 10,196 in 2017. The drop of expat numbers mostly the happened since 2013 due to deep six-year recession, which was the worst in Spain’s history. in This now looks to be in reverse Spain as a whole, despite Brexit. “I know many British people who are continuing to move to Spain,” said British councillor in Malaga Dean Tyler Shelton. has “At the same time I think Brexit been a factor in pushing more Brits no to register in Spain. Most have intention of going back,” he added. There are 330,911 Brits registered the as living in Spain. Alicante has highest number with 69,289 regin istered in 2018, up from 66,397

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May 8th - May 21st 2019

Down 1 Invertebrate creature (6) 2 Seafood choice (7) 3 Playthings (4) 4 Record cover (6) 5 Free from error (8) 6 Member of the Indian majority (5) 7 Type of Chinese cracker (5) 12 The exact middle of the day (4,4) 15 Aural membrane (7) 16 Falls into disuse (6) 17 Thoroughfare (6) 18 Fragment (5) 19 Mammary gland in cows (5) 21 Baptismal bowl (4)

Across 1 Subcontinental flower business loses score (5) 4 Ample gold Frenchman’s quietly acceptable with blueblood in the money (9) 9 A bird speaking to American equipment (9) 10 Socialite mapped by Benson! (5) 11 Two women, one lacking direction, kept a diary (6) 12 Mineral mountain (8) 14 Shot mad French king in boxing match (5,4) 16 Drug chain letter? (5) 17 Woman sounds low (5) 19 Brute in at dissolution in London (4,5) 21 Pidgin description of Pegasus in action - a pest (8) 22 River wrote about pier (6) 25 Spanish stream German agreed to drink (5) 26 The best result for the CPO? (3,6) 27 Agree turbulent year with honour before now (9)

1 2 4 9 5 6 1 7 5 2 8 3 5 1

Puzzle by websudoku.com

The solutions to our puzzles are located on page 52 28 Near thing truncated period from day to day (5) Down 1 Dying to cry, say, or rip up newspapers? (2,1,7,5) 2 String stroker up in endless dream (2,3) 3 Queen stayed in and got lost (7) 4 Axed quarter’s sweet (4) 5 Unorthodox boys are for last of line’s mother’s soubriquet (4,2,4) 6 Release is tight (7) 7 Freeze lawyer, so to speak, or hot food (9) 8 Headlamp, for example, going unencumbered (10,5) 13 Suggested duel to Pat’s tormentor (10) 15 Downtrodden types, where paws are (9) 18 State period in the middle (7) 20 Amphibian loses park land (7) 23 Stretching out city without capital (5) 24 River Tom’s mate doesn’t like the sound of! (4)

Property

be Ma s m t p laga ag ro ’s az pe in rty e

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Issue 29

A tour of Spain’s most prolific ‘pavilion’ creators, SEE PAGE XII

May 2019

The places they should have filmed Game of Thrones in Spain... ...Plus our pick of the best castles for sale in Spain this year

See page XVIII

Winter ΄ isn t coming Agents report good start to 2019 as confidence from Brits returns

ONE of the Costa del Sol’s leading agents believes the stalling of Brexit has brought an excellent window to buy. The six-month delay of the UK leaving Europe, added to Parliament effectively ruling out a hard Brexit, has left a healthy situation for British buyers, believes Ben Bateman, of Holmes Property Sales in Sotogrande. Not only is the pound approaching its strongest level against the euro since 2016, but sellers are growing anxious to sell, having often had properties on the market for longer than expected as a result of the Brexit uncertainty and delay. “While the pound has strengthened prices haven’t really increased,” explains the boss of Sotogrande’s longest-established agency. “Many buyers who put their homes on the market towards the end of 2017 have not been able to sell as quickly as we had forecast and have now been on the market for 4 to 6 months longer than they had hoped for, due to a paralysis in the market. “With months of uncertainty regarding Brexit

and with the pound staying low at around 1.10, so many people failed to make a decision to buy. “But now that a hard Brexit has been practically ruled out and the markets are seeing the likelihood of staying in the customs union the pound has strengthened a lot. “With it being steady at around 1.16 for a few weeks now it means you can get a lot more for your pound and also take advantage of the paralysis and maybe get a better deal on what you want.” He believes there are many buyers hovering and waiting to buy… and as an analogy he cites the weather and swimming. “They’re already in their shorts and ready for a swim. They’re dipping their toe in the pool, but will they jump in right away or wait an hour or so? It’s just a matter of time. “All I would say is don’t miss this window, the best time to buy is now.” Other agents have reported similar findings, such Continues on Page III

Mark Stucklin

May 2019

www.spanishpropertyinsight.com

What would each political party mean for Spain’s property market? By Mark Stucklin

PAIN is going through a period of political instability with three general elections in the last four years, followed by a censure motion some months ago that brought the current Socialist Government into power on the back of a fragile coalition that has since fallen apart and forced the Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call another General Election. While PSOE won the most seats, they will still need to form a pact with another party to form a government, unless Sanchez tries to go it alone with a minority government. Either way, what do the main parties propose in terms of housing policies at a time when rising housing costs in Spanish cities and some coastal areas are a political hot potato? Here are the main points from each manifesto:

PODEMOS Far left

PROPERTY

Left turn Help young people get on the property ladder

PSOE

Socialists centre left • Establish a basic emancipation income for young people on low salaries to help them afford housing • Make public land available to build more social housing for rent

Empty homes for council housing

• Impose rent controls and indefinite rental contracts • Limit mortgage debts to the value of the property for borrowers in distress • Make banks pay past and

Allow owners to defend their homes with violence

VOTING MAP KEY - PSOE - PP - CIUDADANOS - VOX

VOX

Nationalist far right • Deregulate the rental market • Reform the laws governing Real Estate Investment Trusts, known in Spain as SOCIMIs • Liberalise the planning process for all building land unless protected for some reason • Allow owners to use violence in the defence of their property

DIVERGENCE: The parties have different outlooks for Spain’s property market, while (above) voting map shows PSOE dominance in April’s general election

CIUDADANOS

Liberal centre right

POPULAR PARTY - Centre right Tax breaks for landlords

present mortgage related taxes • Prohibit evictions with no alternative housing • Confiscate empty homes for social housing

• Increase tax breaks for landlords and insurance protection from late or non payment of rent • Harsher punishments for squatters and more support for landlords to re-

Speed up eviction process

cover their property from squatters • Scrap stamp duty (AJD) on mortgages for main homes • Provide public land for building new homes

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• Centralise housing laws to replace regional laws • Increase the supply of social or public housing for rent • Create a register of rental contracts • Introduce new laws against squatters to speed up evictions and make it easier for Communities of Owners to initiate eviction processes

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III

May 2019

Should be a hit

DREAMERS: Bilton and Lisa B’s Ibiza winner

Good year ahead From front

as Adam Neale at Terra Meridiana in Estepona, who has seen a strong first quarter. “It is holding up well this side of Marbella,” he explained. “There is a lot of competition from new agents, but there are plenty of buyers out there and many of them are British.” Meanwhile coastal analyst Campbell Ferguson, of Survey Spain, is insisting buyers are now ‘just getting on with it despite Brexit’. “There is still concern at the uncertainty of the effects of Brexit, for both the UK and the EU as a whole, but many are just carrying on hoping that they’ll be able to deal with what is decided,” he explained. He added that certain markets, such as those in Estepona, Sotogrande and Benahavis, are ‘definitely on the up and up’, while Marbella has the strongest Spanish demand and worldwide appeal. “New properties in the right locations are selling immediately after they are announced, with Nordic, Dutch and Belgian clients also being strong,” he added. It comes after new data from national agency Lucas Fox showed that the property market has been regaining confidence with first quarter figures for 2019 showing prices on the rise and a growth in overall sales.

A BRITISH property mogul married to model/actress Lisa B is behind a hip new development in the Balearic Islands. Anton Bilton has drafted in a raft of globally-known architects to create an ‘eclectic community’ for the White Island of Ibiza. The development, which features its own nightclub and spa, is being created for a staggering €360 million. Designed for the super-rich, its collection of 50 cutting-edge homes sit in the sizeable 42-acre

Sabina estate. The amazing properties, which are around 1,300sqm in size, feature infinity pools and stunning grounds. Renowned architects, such as Sir David Chipperfield, Ami Szmelcman and Rick Joy have designed some of the homes. “I imagined an eclectic community of like-minded owners, attracted to Ibiza and its environment of freedom without prejudice,” explained Raven Property Group founder Bilton, who was listed as the 892nd richest man in the UK, according to the Sunday Times. “We are creating a place where children can run around the gardens or play tennis with friends, in a family and luxury environment.

Belle review A SECLUDED Villas resort has been recognised as the ‘best project of the last decade’ by the College of Architects in Tenerife. Abama Luxury Residences’ Bellevue Villas (above) has been honoured

Return of confidence After 2018 saw Spain’s property market stutter, this year shows early signs that confidence is slowly returning around the country

THE Spanish property market has been regaining confidence with figures for the first quarter of 2019 showing prices and sales on the rise. Data from national agency Lucas Fox has shown a more buoyant property market in places such as the Costa del Sol, the Costa Brava, Barcelona and Madrid. Sales by the agency saw the average

Spain fees among lowest SPAIN has some of the cheapest estate agent fees in Europe. According to analysis by comparison site GetAgent home sellers pay on average 2.75% in agency fees in Spain. The UK has the cheapest fees with an average of 1.2% of the sale price, compared with a top rate of 6% found in Romania. “Estate agents in the UK have a tough time when it comes to justifying their fees,with the predominant

opinion being that they charge too much for the service provided,” said GetAgent’s CEO Colby Short. “This really isn’t the case, the UK is actually home to the lowest estate agent fees in the EU and therefore you could argue, the best service as well.” Short added: “So while you consider if 3000 to 4000 pounds is a justifiable spend in the UK, remember you could be paying upward of 10,000 if you live in other parts of Europe.”

price increase by 9% to €997,675 while the total value of sales more than tripled. Meanwhile new development sales in the first three months of 2019 increased six times compared to the same period in 2018. According to government statistics, Malaga province saw a 35% spike in sales of new homes in the first quarter of 2019 compared to the same period last year. In Barcelona, which is fast becoming Europe’s Silicon Valley, international buyers made up just under three quarters of all sales. “The positive market trend we saw in 2018 has continued in 2019, reflected in some excellent first quarter results in both Girona and the Costa Brava,’ said partner Tom Maidment. According to data from the Spanish Property Registry, in 2018 almost 65,500 homes were sold to foreigners. Maidment said: “The volume of closed sales rose by 13% with local buyers accounting for a third of sales and French and British buyers each accounting for just under a quarter of all sales. With a very healthy pipeline of business, we expect the year to continue on a positive upward trend.”

with the first ever Manuel de Oraa and Arcocha Architecture Award in the ‘new housing’ category. The Association of Architects in Tenerife awarded the prize to Virgilio Gutiérrez Herreros and Eustaquio Martínez, who jointly designed the eight home complex. Judges were impressed by the way the minimalist project ‘moved away from a traditional approach, giving prominence to gardens, terraces and shaded areas.’

SIMPLE: First council house

House of remembrance SPAIN’S oldest council house is to become a museum to commemorate 190 years since a ‘devastating’ earthquake struck the Costa Blanca. Authorities in Almoradi built the small house four years after the 1828 quake destroyed the town and killed 200 inhabitants. “We wanted to protect this house because it is the last one left standing,” said historian Jose Antonio Latorre, a councillor in the town. “The intention is repurpose it as a place to remember the earthquake as there is nothing to chart this important event in history.” The council has bought the property in Calle La Reina including its original key for just €46,000. The modest one story dwelling is the last of the 124 homes that were built to shelter families following a Royal Decree.

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PROPERTY

Standing tall S

PANISH architects have won the Best Tall Building under 100 metres award. Fermin Vazquez Arquitectos claimed the prize at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat awards for the Itaim Tower apartment block in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The CTBUH Annual Awards, this year held in Shenzhen, China, recognise projects that have ‘made extraordinary contributions to the advancement of tall buildings in the urban environment and that contribute in a broad way to sustainability.’ The Itaim Tower looms over Itaim Bibi, a neighbourhood in deep transformation that is moving from the traditional network of horizontally-spread detached houses to a skyline of high buildings, mainly homes that meet the growing residential demand of a prosperous upper-middle class in the country’s financial capital. The building comprises 123 small apartments – of about 30-sqm each – distributed along 85m in height, that are built over a platform of communal areas (squash court, indoor pool, restaurant, common room, etc.) and a basement parking area.

Standing small

A SHELTER used by hikers, hunters and mountaineers in southern Spain has received quite the make over. Architect Martin Lejarraga completely renovated the small refuge in Murcia’s Sierra de Jumilla mountains to ‘improve its functionality and enhance opportunities for users to engage with nature.’ The Casa

del Angel received a new concrete roof to provide better insulation while the walls were clad in red tiles and a new terrace was created. “The project aims to open the hut up to the outside, to the people and to the mountains,” said the architect. “Besides maintaining the key use of the construction, the programme is also developed through shades, nooks and benches onto the open space.”

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May 2019

PROPERTY

Houses of cards

Where Spain’s political leaders lay their heads at night after a stormy session in the Senate

UXURY pads in Madrid, cosy apartments in Barcelona and a holiday home in Almeria. These are just some of the properties, homes and cash cows owned by the men vying for political

BY Laurence dollimore

control of Spain. As the dust settles on last month’s snap election, we take a look at the property portfolios of Spain’s political leaders.

Pablo Casado

Pedro Sanchez

HOLIDAY: Home in Almeria while (above right) Moncloa palace and (inset above right) Pozuelo de Alarcon

As a perk of the top job in Spain, Sanchez and his family spend most of their time at the stunning Moncloa Palace in Madrid. But when the official residence of the prime minister gets too much, the PSOE leader has two other properties in the capital he can retreat to. His first home was purchased in 1992, an apartment in the centre which he now rents out for a cool €800 per month. But it is his second home in upmarket Pozuelo de Alarcon where he is most likely to be seen. Bought with his wife María Begoña Gómez Fernández in 2008, the property sits in the Prado de Somosaguas urbanisation, and is very close to La Finca, where the majority of the Real Madrid stars reside. Pozuelo de Alarcón is the richest municipality in Spain, with the highest per capita income, while the average price per m2 is €2,700. The father-of-two also owns a holiday home in Mojacar in Almeria. The small apartment in the Victoria Buildings acts as a retreat from the rat race for the Sanchez family most summers, when you can spot the fit Socialist leader dining at the nearby AkuAku chiringuito or taking a dip in the sea, exiting the water James Bond style with body guards posted nearby.

THE Partido Popular leader has just seen his party through its worst general election performance EVER. Casado will be working hard in Madrid to face off calls to resign and come up with a new image for his critically injured conservative party, now jokingly known as the Partido Impopular. Luckily he has a luxury flat in the upmarket Salamanca district where he can retreat to lick his wounds each night. Valued at more than €500,000, he shares the swanky pad with his wife, Isabel Orts, and children Pablo and Paloma. But during the summer, the 37-year-old retreats to Avila family in tow - to wind down in a house he has rented for the past five years. Worth €300,000 (a lot considering the area) the pine forest retreat in Las Navas del Marques, less than two hours from Madrid, is part of the primo Ciudad Ducal urbanisation the perfect setting for planning his party’s comeback. There’s no pool but with a natural lake on the doorstep, who needs one? RETREAT: Casado’s Avila pad while (top) Salamanca in Madrid

Albert Rivera

LUXURY: Rivera has moved to La Finca while (below) his old apartment building in Madrid housing €2 million pad

The leader of centre-right Ciudadanos is doing well for himself having just moved to La Finca, Spain’s most exclusive neighbourhood. He recently began renting a luxury apartment with his partner, the singer Malu (pictured below) where he has Gareth Bale, Juanfran and Simeone for neighbours. The leader of the Cs had been living in an apartment worth €2 million in the nearby barrio of Somosaguas, but reportedly he wanted more privacy. La Finca has 24/7 security and is inaccessible to everyday citizens. You must earn at least €86,000 per year to live in the upmarket neighbourhood which Rivera just clears with his €89,000 declared salary. His girlfriend Malu, meanwhile, rakes in tens of thousands of euros per concert. Before moving to Madrid, Albert Rivera lived with then-girlfriend Beatriz Tajuelo in a modest home in L’Hospitalet, close to Barcelona, a property he still owns. The father-of-one also shares ownership of a home in La Garriga with his ex-wife.

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May 2019

Pablo Iglesias

Oh, and in case your interested...

Ceilings with exposed wooden beams, natural stone floors, underfloor heating and a neocolonial style is the mood at casa Pablo Iglesias - the new house that the Podemos party leader bought with his wife Irene Montero for €615,000. Set in the town of Galapagar, in Madrid’s Sierra de Guadarrama, close to the historic hunting grounds of Spanish royalty, the drop dead gorgeous property’s hefty price tag was a red flag to the leftist leader’s bullish opponents with many branding him a hypocrite. Nonetheless, the family and their three dogs have been enjoying the home which is ideally close to alternative schools where the Podemos boss would like to send his future twins. They are set to arrive this autumn. At around 268 m2 on a plot of 2,000 m2 there’s plenty of room. The house boasts three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fireplace, a garden with an orchard and ‘zen area’ where Iglesias can meditate away his political woes and a small guest house for schmoozing VIPs.

King Felipe and Queen Letizia Although not leaders of any political party, Felipe and Letizia are part and parcel of Spain’s Realpolitik. The good-looking couple and their daughters spend most of their time at their mansion in the grounds of the Palacio de la Zarzuela in Madrid. Known as the Prince’s Pavilion, access to their residence is gained via a simple garden boasting a pond and three fountains. A spiral staircase shooting off from the main lobby leads to the private quarters of the family. Felipe and Letizia enjoy a master bedroom with two dressing rooms, two bathrooms and a living room with fireplace. Three further bedrooms are occupied by Princess Leonor and the Infanta Sofía who have use of two bathrooms, a living room, large terrace and office. When Madrid simmers in summer, the whole family takes off for Son Vent, their palatial holiday villa in Mallorca. Set in the grounds of sumptuous Marivent Palace, the official summer residence of ex-King Juan Carlos and his wife Sofía, the gardens are open to the public.

PARADISE: Podemos leader’s mansion outside Madrid, featuring ‘zen zone’ and stunning swimming pool

PURE CLASS: The Zarzuela palace

Santiago Abascal The new Vox leader is not a man of property. When he quit the PP party in 2013 and lost his €80,000+ salary, he hit financial hardship. The far right leader, struggling to support four children by two different women, was forced to give up his beloved home in the Basque country when it was reposessed by the bank. And apparently it’s still hurting. “I have lost my home. I lost the property in a bad time,” he recently revealed.

“I know perfectly what it is to have your house, the savings of your whole life remain in the power of a bank. “Nobody has to explain it to me, but I also assume responsibility for committing to a mortgage that I could not pay.” He is now believed to be renting in Madrid, exact whereabouts unknown. But the way politics are going, his fortunes could look up.

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May 2019

PROPERTY STYLISH: Palma’s hottest new hotel

Hot listing

Mallorca hotel a ‘must-visit’ this year, global magazine declares

NEW Mallorca hotel has made it onto Conde Nast Traveller’s coveted ‘Hot List’ for 2019. Palma’s Can Bordoy was praised for its leafy and tranquil vibes by the magazine, which every year compiles a list of the best hotels to visit around the world. “You’ll love this spruced-up secret-garden hideaway in Palma’s most characterful neighbourhood, on an island that just keeps getting better,” said the Hot List judges.

Fairway L AW Y E R S

C/Nuestra Señora de Gracia 28, 1C 29602, Marbella (Malaga)

The boutique hotel was created inside an old building that sits in the largest private garden in the Old Quarter. The mansion was a family home for many years before becoming a convent school with nuns in the 1970's before finally opening as a hotel this year. “There’s a shady courtyard and a long, stone bar with a low-key reception area; a living room with beautiful creeping vines across the ceiling connects to a dining room and a library with views out to the back,” the judges

raved about the hotel. Inside the hotel is a dramatic mix of both vintage and new furniture and designs. Many of the rooms boast custom-made walnut beds and in-room cocktail bars that play guests’ favourite music. The basement spa, rooftop sun deck and secluded garden make this hotel a must see for visitors and locals alike. The Mallorcan hotel is one of only two 'Hot Spots' in Spain – a new Barcelona beach house made the list as well.

MORTGAGE THINK TANK by mortgage broker Tancrede de Pola

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NO WIN, NO FEE. Get in touch and we will check your mortgage deeds for free and let you know if you have a claim against your bank.

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HE latest figures for 2019 suggest Spain’s property market is enjoying a continued period of sustainable growth. According to valuations firm Tinsa, newbuild and second-hand properties have seen their values increase year-on-year for the past 10 consecutive quarters. The average price of a home stood at €1,349 per sqm in the first three months of this year, while March saw the third consecutive monthly rise. Typical hotspots such as Madrid and Catalunya are still leading the way, but prices across the country have soared by 12.4% on average since the plummet after the Prices on a national level are still 34.1% crisis. below the highest ever recorded in 2007. National averages don’t mean much howe- Andalucia remains one of the biggest atver, due to the increasingly tractions investment wise, different performances of enjoying a 5.2% year-on-year coastal and city areas comThe growth has residential property price pared to inland and island rise in the first quarter of been strong but 2019, slightly above the nadestinations. Backing the continued boom tional average. This is sigin tourism, Malaga, for exam- stable and seems nificantly lead by the surge ple, has joined the ranks of in interest in Malaga, home to be avoiding Barcelona, Madrid, Palma of the Costa del Sol,which 2007’s bust cycle and San Sebastian in enjoregistered an inter annual ying a 30% rise in average price increase of 10.6% at property prices since 2007. an average house price of The growth has been strong but stable €1,635 per square metre. and seems to be avoiding the fatal boom In other words, if you are looking for a and bust cycle which lead to the meltdown sound investment, look no further than Ansome 12 years ago. dalucia and it’s Costa del Sol. To contact Tancrede for all your mortgaging needs call: 666 709 743 or for insurance queries call: 951 203 540 Email: tdp@thefinanacebureau.com The Finance Bureau Centro Commercial Guadalmina, 2nOffice No. 7 Guadalmina, 29670

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Rute, Cordoba 4 bed, 1 bath Build: 375m2

Puente Salia, Malaga 3 bed, 2 bath Build: 145m2 This single story rural Chalet style Villa sits in the middle of a level plot and is situated in an elevated position with stunning views over the valley of Alcaucin in the Malaga region of Andalucia. A ten minute drive from Puente don Manuel and Zafarraya it is within easy access of all amenities.

This spacious townhouse sits on a generous size plot of 457m2 is located in Las Piedras on the edge of the wonderful Sierras Subbeticas Natural Park and close to the Lakes of Iznajar in the Cordoba region of Andalucia. It boasts a private garage, extensive gardens and outbuildings, priced to sell.

59.000€ CJ324

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Venta Baja, Malaga 3 bed, 3 bath Build: 191m2

Fuensanta de Martos, Jaen 3 bed, 2 bath Build: 1117m2 This beautiful property has a large driveway leading up to the house with a fountain where you can use the free water and spectacular views. As you walk into the property off the road you are greeted by a large kitchen and dining room area which features a large fire place with wood burner.

This beautiful spacious town house was built in 2003 and is situated in the heart of the village in inland Andalucia and comes with a generous 380m2 private and mature plot. Being only 20 minutes from Velez Malaga and the lovely Torre del Mar, and only 45 minutes from Malaga airport.

43.000€ TH4048

135.000€ CH145

Marchena, Sevilla 3 bed, 2 bath Build: 209m2

Tozar, Granada 2 bed, 1 bath Build: 32m2 A well presented townhouse being sold furnished so move in ready. Situated in the Spanish town of Tozar, only a 30 minute drive to Granada, the property has a sunny patio at the front from where we enter into your fitted kitchen/diner and there is a good size storage room.

This lovely property sits on a rural urbanisation just a short drive from the bustling town of Marchena which offers all the local amenities schools, medical centre, shops, bars and restaurants and good access to rail links. The property sits within a plot of over 1500m2 of land.

55.000€ TH4041

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Badolatosa, Sevilla 3 bed, 1 bath Build: 101m2

Mollina, Malaga 4 bed, 3 bath Build: 120m2 This townhouse is just a short walk to all the local amenities including shops, bars, restaurants and the local municipal swimming pool and public gardens. The property has a gated entrance which opens to the front patio and gives access to the private garage which runs along the side of the property.

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Calle de la Villa 14, 29532 Molina, Malaga

This is a reformed townhouse located just off the main street of Badalotosa, within walking distance to all the local amenities. Entrance leads straight into a good size lounge/diner with access to a small separate utility room and newly fitted kitchen with plenty of storage space.

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PROPERTY

May 2019

Climate effect How climate change should impact how you view properties in southern Spain, writes Survey Spain’s Campbell Ferguson

OW that the Spanish general election has passed and it looks likely that a government will be formed around the PSOE, the recently announced changes in the Rent Act are likely to proceed. Accordingly, buyers, sellers and lenders will have to be very sure that a property is not let, as where a tenancy is created, the tenant may be able to stay in the property for five years or more, no matter what the lease says. Note that an 11 month contract is not, and has not been, a way to avoid Rent Act legislation. Also, Andalucia may find that changing from a left to a right wing government, at the time when national government changes the other way, will see a less positive attitude to investment.

Climate change FUTURE: Making your house green is good for your wallet and the planet

With the dire predictions of major climate change in the next 10 to 20 even fines in the future. Increased inyears, within the lifetime of most rea- sulation, solar heating of water, and ders and certainly of their children, photovoltaic generation of electricity what can each person and family are essential. do to help reduce the effects? Yes, it’s going Water supply to be expensive, but With rising not doing anything is The prediction for going to hurt a whole southern Spain is that sea levels, is lot more. it will become warmer beachfront really and dryer. With coEnergy certificate the best place to rrect water management, that should not be? be a problem, but inThis now becomes an creased sea levels and even more important less rain coming down item to study when considering buying a property and from the mountains, will permit salby law must be provided with initial twater to enter the underground reproperty details. Poor energy and serves close to the coast. It happecarbon dioxide ratings are going ned in the 1990s when there was a to be penalised by higher costs and drought, and nothing can be done

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to stop that, so many coastal wells will become unusable. Location With rising sea levels and greater storm surges predicted, is beach front really the place to be? Surges will travel up rivers, to be met by flash floods from the mountains, so that the map that shows flooding once in 100 years, may see their occurrence come down to a 10th of that. Other matters Do you really need that second car, especially if it is a diesel? Using taxis, increasingly electric and eventually hydrogen powered, uses less

resources and causes less pollution. The money saved can be used to improve the house or even buy a bicycle, with health as well as carbon benefits. Within cities, simple alternatives such as electric scooters, are effective now. Go to Malaga to see it in action. Climate change makes all the world’s other troubles insignificant. So think, what can I do to reduce my energy use and carbon footprint? As consumers and investors, we are responsible for the mess we are in, and we are part of the solution. No matter personal wealth or celebrity, we all have to eat and breathe. There is no planet B. www.surveyspain.com

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May 2019

PROPERTY

20 not out

BEAUTIFUL: Martell pavillion in France

Celebrating Spain’s most prolific pavilion creators celebrating two decades of jaw-dropping work

ENTION the word ‘pavilion’ to any posh Brit and it will likely conjure up schoolboy memories of cricket-filled

summers. But for those well-versed in the world of architecture it means just one thing: SelgasCano. This Madrid-based architectural studio has been creating jaw-dropping private and public projects in Spain and Europe since 1998. Silicon House (2007) and the Office in the Woods (2009) in Madrid, the El ‘B’ Cartagena Auditorium and Congress Centre in Murcia (2011) and the Mérida Factory in Extremedura (2011) are all the work of Jose Selgas and Lucia Cano whose colourful, avant garde designs regularly go viral on Instagram. But it is their work on pavilions - architectural joys, annexes or complementary additions to existing spaces, usually

with a leisure focus - that’s winning them most accolades. They were first featured at the Spanish Pavilion during the Venice Biennale of architecture within the collective exhibition SpainLab in 2012. The following year they won the Kunstpreis prize awarded by the Academy of the Arts in Berlin and were named ‘Architects of the Year’ by the German Design Council. In 2015, they designed the pavilion for the Serpentine Gallery in London while more recently they installed the Pavillon Martell in France. Check out our round-up of some of their most eye-catching works.

LUCKY: SalgosCano workers inside their ‘immersed’ office in Madrid

CHARITABLE: The Konokono project in Kenya provided much-meeded shelter for a school

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May 2019

POPULAR: Serpentine has been around the world, including London

WHEN IN BRUGES: This floating pavillion was star of the show at the Trienniale Bruges event, which invites artists from around the world to produce temporary structures to float along the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous canals

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PROPERTY

May 2019

m1 'heroes' on a roll Advertorial

There’s been some great news for 10 more timeshare owners FOLLOWING on from our article in the last issue where a couple from Lanark won €20,684 in the Spanish courts, we have another 10 victories to report. It comes after M1 Legal recently secured SIX victories

against the resort Palm Oasis with a contractual name of Tasolan S.L totalling £58,923 and Anfi Group another FOUR victories totalling £49,294. The main reason the judge declared these contracts null and void was due to the lack of accommodation description and in some cases perpetuity which also includes those contracts that did not have any end date. In 2019, M1 Legal so far have secured 46 victories totalling £702,089

with a further 21 won on jurisdiction whereby these cases have now been re-submitted for judgement. For any timeshare enquiries regarding this story cal 0034 951 562209 or email pr@m1legal.com Maxima 1 Legal S.L. is regulated by the Claims Management regulator in respect of regulated claims under registration number: FRN 836561

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PROPERTY

XVI

Retreat to Paradise

May 2019

Looking for a romantic rural hideout on the Costa del Sol? Award-winning DDG Retreat is just ten minutes inland from the coast, writes Jon Clarke

AKE a look inland. Yes, up into those shimming hills high above you. With the right bit of advice you can find yourself in a paradise not dissimilar to the landscapes of Africa, the Caribbean or Thailand.

IDYLLIC: DDG’s remote mountain getaway includes baths, jacuzzis and (right) luxury interiors

Thinking of Buying or Selling?

Take the DDG Retreat: While hardly known around Andalucia or Gibraltar, it has been voted one of the world’s most romantic hideouts by no less than the Sunday Times, the Telegraph and Conde Nast Traveller. “There is everything here you’d want from a high-end holiday – privacy, infinity pool, and ambitious architecture,” wrote the Daily Mail. And it is not hard to see why from the splendid way the owners, who bought the estate two decades ago,

have carefully created half a dozen private suites, each maximising on breathtaking panoramic views and unforgettable sunsets. This is nature at its very best and yet you are only 15 minutes from Estepona or half an hour from Gib. High in the stunning Sierra Crestellina, above Casares - not far from celebrated five-star hotel Finca Cortesin and the famous ‘restaurant road’ (more of which later) on the way up - and you can be guaranteed peace and quiet. There are no screaming kids or motorbikes and the clever design of the hotel means you will feel as if you are on your own.

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May 2019

GREEN: An ozone pool cleaning system is in place

This is hardly surprising given that the suites - including two ‘ultra-cool’ tented suites - are spread around no less than four hectares. The expat owners bought the old mountain farm and have transformed it into a worldly kingdom, of antiques, artefacts, and even plants, picked up on their many adventures around the world. The architecture is enhanced by tropical gardens so guests are surrounded by the aroma of nature, be it pine, lemongrass or orange blossom. The owners wanted to create something rare and unique in Europe, not just small hotel rooms with balconies, but an exclusive residence… and it needed to be as environmentally-friendly as possible. "We endeavour to give something back,” explains the owner. “We use our own well for water and we plant many new trees each year. And the pool has an ozone cleaning system instead of chlorine. “We love sharing our beautiful natural setting with our guests - with the birds singing and the chirping of cicadas and the rare vultures flying overhead, the wealth of butterflies, the profusion of flowers." But this is no sparse eco-retreat either. Scattered around the estate you will find a tennis court, massage huts, as well as communal areas, where you can borrow CDs and DVDs. You choose from a series of stylish casitas or the super-suites (each with

their own hot tub or plunge pool). Each have marble floors, chandeliers and even have air conditioning for very hot days or chilly nights. When it comes to food and drink you can hole up and be catered for by the team, with a decent mix of dishes and meals. Or you can take the Olive Press’ advice and head down the hill to one of the many excellent restaurants clustered in and around nearby Casares village. Dubbed ‘Restaurant Road’ by the paper a few years ago, this is one of the best places on the Costa del Sol to eat.

There are half a dozen excellent places to eat on the road between the coast and Casares and include amazing Arroyo Hondo, the evocative Forge and the innovative and hip Sarmiento, right in the village. So, all in all, combine a short romantic break with some of the best food in Andalucia and you’ve got that special escape trip under control… and all within an hour of where you live, by car!

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May 2019

PROPERTY

Cinematic Nine stunning Spanish locations that SHOULD have been used in Game of Thrones

ROM the frozen wastes of Iceland to the rocky shores of Ireland and on, as the dragon flies, through Croatia, Morocco and Malta, Game of Thrones has featured dramatic landscapes and impressive architecture from all over the world. Spain is at the top in the list of countries visited by the HBO blockbuster, and southern Spain especially has come under the spotlight. More than ten Spanish locations appear in all eight seasons of the show, with five in southern Spain. Many articles have reviewed the series´ Spanish highlights

but there are other natural beauty spots and architectural wonders that Queen Cersei of the Seven Kingdoms would have killed for. We’ve put together a list of places we feel would have added to the stark alien beauty of Westeros and Essos. Hopefully they will inspire in your personal and creative endeavours. Who knows - you could be the next George R. R. Martin!

Loarre Castle, Huesca This majestic 11th-century fortress in the province of Huesca is considered to be Europe’s best-conserved Romanesque castle. Sitting up on a rocky ridge 1,071 metres above sea level it was highly important to King Sancho III the Elder in the Christian Reconquest against the Moors. Together with nearby Marcuello castle, both were strategically significant in the Aragonese defence system against the iron strength of the Moors in Bolea. Although it didn’t make the Game of Thrones cut the castle did feature in Ridley Scott’s 2005 epic, Kingdom of Heaven.

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This immaculate property is situated in Sotogrande Alto. The villa nestles in a mature and very private garden. The extensive grounds include 2 separate guest accommodation. The entrance hall features a stained glass window. To the right there is a modern kitchen with a family dining area and separate scullery. The kitchen leads to a dining room that opens onto a wrap-around covered terrace.

Build: 112m2 Garage: 2 spaces

A fantastic 3 bedroom townhouse with breathtaking views of Gibraltar, Morocco and Sotogrande Marina. Only a few minutes’ drive from the local top 18-hole golf courses and minutes away from the Santa Maria Polo Club. Three spacious en-suite bedrooms, internal lift from basement garage to house, upper bedroom with access to solarium, large lounge area, fully fitted kitchen, air conditioning/heating units and swimming pool.

Build: 164m2 Garage: 1 space

Imagine living in an idyllic climate at the foot of the majestic Andalusian mountains with serene views. This fabulous apartment in a modern complex, a great property for its privacy, quality and open green views over the neighbouring golf course and picturesque lake. It offers 139m2 of space with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (master en-suite), living and dining areas, a minimalist fully-fitted kitchen with premium appliances and clean lines.

Build: 107m2 Garage: 1 space

The Campanario Hills is located in Estepona, just a few kilometers from San Pedro de Alcántara, Puerto Banus and Marbella. A complex of only 29 apartments it offers you the option of incorporating a small pool on the terrace. In addition, its fabulous duplex penthouses feature extraordinarily high ceilings and a large swimming pool on the solarium. Incorporating large swimming pools in their private gardens, connected to the apartment by means of large glass walls.

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May 2019

Fortress Malaga Malaga is an old hand in the movie business. Its imposing Moorish walls that once protected the alcazaba (citadel in Arabic) have provided the setting for countless historical dramas and biblical epics. The ruins of a Roman Theatre still stand at the entrance to this imposing fortress overlooking the bay. Built by the ruling Muslims in the early 11th century, it is considered a prototype of military architecture from the Taifa period, combining defensive towers and concentric walls with gardens, pools and fountains. A stone passage called the Caracho leads from the palace to the Castillo de Gibralfaro, built in the 14th century to protect the citadel.

Olvera Castle, Cadiz Commanding 360 degree views and perfect for frontier defence, the Moors first built this castle in the 12th century to defend the border of the The Kingdom of Granada against the Spanish Kingdom of Castile. Around it, the medieval town of Olvera grew. In 1327 it was taken by the King of Castile, Alfons XI. The Christians then completely rebuilt the castle into the strong fortress we see today.

Mezquita de Almonaster la Real, Huelva The only remaining mosque of its type in rural Spain, it was built by the Moors between the 9th and 10th centuries on top of a 6th-century Visigoth basilica and also combines Roman, Almohad and Gothic elements. After the Reconquista it was converted into a hermitage and was listed as a historical monument in 1931. Today, it is principally used as a church but also doubles as a cultural centre promoting diversity and interreligious dialogue.

Besalu, Catalunya This stunning town has kept many of its medieval structures intact so the set designers could take a well-earned break. The fortified citadel is laced with narrow cobbled streets that link to its iconic medieval bridge which is spectacularly illuminated at night.

May 2019

PROPERTY

Cinematic! continued... Segovia Alcazar A castle fit for a princess or the fair Daenerys, this famous fairytale fortress in Segovia is an hour from Madrid was rumoured to be the inspiration behind Cinderella’s Castle in Walt Disney World. It stands on an imposing rock promontory shaped like the bow of a ship. This rocky outcrop has been shaped, over time, by the waters of the Rio Eresma, which flow around it and a walk along the Camino de la Cuesta de los Hoyos below it reinforces the illusion that the castle is sailing towards you.

Guadalest Castle, Alicante A bendy road from Benidorm leads to this picturesque mountaintop village 30 minutes from the Costa Blanca coast. It’s no longer a best-kept secret but the views are amazing. The castle, built by Muslims in the 11th century, can only be accessed through a 15ft tunnel hewn into the rock while the Torre de Peñon de Alcalá watchtower perched on the highest rock has become an iconic motif of the village. Commanding aerial views of the valleys and rivers below and all the way to the sea, no throne-stealing warrior hoard could hope to plan a surprise attack on this vertiginous mountain eyrie.

Almodovar del Rio Castle, Cordoba Visible for miles around, it perches atop a sheer-walled monolith, lording it over the town of Almodovar del Rio and the Guadalquivir Valley. It has had many loving owners, hence its reputation as one of the best-preserved castles in Spain. Originally a Roman fort, rebuilt by the Moors in 760 and reclaimed by the Christians in 1240, under Pedro I and Enrique II it was done up as a royal residence. Later the fortress was handed to the knightly order of Calatrava and then on to the order of Santiago. Finally, in 1903, then-owner the Earl of Torralva began a restoration project that took until 1936 to complete. This castle was built to last - perfect for withstanding attack from battling warlords and fire-breathing dragons.

Butron Castle, Gatika Butrón Castle transports visitors to the Middle Ages, when it was continuously fought over by rival families...Sound familiar? Located on a hill in Gatika in the Basque Country, the unique fortress is surrounded by a 100-year-old forest and could have easily been the backdrop of another Lannister - Stark feud. In fact for hundreds of years, the castle was the cause of non-stop warring between two sides of Bizkaia’s nobility, with the Lords of Butron holding fort. The castle was abandoned in the 16th century before being restored some 300 years later.

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Own your very own castle

Here’s your chance to live out your wildest Game of Thrones fantasies, unfortunately no dragons included

May 2019

Segovia

Classified as a monument of cultural interest, this unique property boasts a rich mix of both Arab and neoclassical architectural styles. The castle was the abode of the 14th Century Kings of Aragon and could be now be yours for €15,000,000.

La Garrotxa

Trujillo

Superbly situated in the medieval village of Santa Pau near Olot, this historic 12th century castle in La Garrotxa was recently home to an order of nuns. The €1,450,000 property dates back to 1147 and has undergone numerou s modifications and extensions over the centuries.

T: +34 956 793 200 E: info@sotograndesales.com www.sotograndesales.com

Bristow Property Group SL Locales 16/17, Galerias Paniagua Sotogrande 11310, Cadiz

SOTOGRANDE COSTA - REF S364

This seven bedroom castle built into the walls of the historic, hilltop town of Trujillo close to the Portuguese border, is being offered for sale at €1,600,000. The 820 square metre property sits on 1 hectare of land and offers exceptional views of the surrounding Caceres countryside.

Bedrooms 5 · Bathrooms 4 · Build 455 m2 · Plot 1760 m2 €2.450.000

advice

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May 2019

PROPERTY

From tax-crippled to tax haven? Andalucia’s new right-wing coalition is good news for taxpayers, writes Adam Neale

HOUGH Spain is a middle-income country by European standards, it has long been associated with high

taxes. Most home buyers are drawn here by the quality of life rather than the tax breaks. But now there is good news on the horizon and with the rise to power of a new coalition, the regional Junta seems intent to change taxation for the better. In fact, in record time Andalucia has gone from being a place of crippling taxes to one that could even be described as something of a tax haven! First came the virtual abolition of inheritance tax by a coalition of parties on the right that have made good on election promises to lower the fiscal burden that has crippled individuals and sma-

ll-to-medium businesses for so long. The change in direction is designed to make Andalucia more attractive to investors, both national and international, as well as to give businesses and entrepreneurs a much-needed respite from the traditionally heavy tax yoke. A new broom The end of 40 consecutive years of Socialist rule in Andalucia means a sweeping reduction in taxes is in the offing - great news for homeowners, investors and business people. Suddenly, fiscal matters in the region have gone from being a deterrent to an asset, with conditions that are actually more attractive than those on offer in Portugal, Britain or even Madrid.

Inheritance Tax The first levy to be significantly slashed, since April this year spouses, children and parents have been enjoying a whopping 99% reduction in tax due on inheritances and gifts. In fact, smaller amounts are effectively not taxed at all, and a property received in this way will now be subject to just 1% taxation, not 8-to-10% of its market value as was the case until now. Income Tax Income Tax, too, is set to be effectively lowered thanks to a revised income bracketing, with the qualification of ‘low’ incomes raised so that they benefit from lower rates.

This means that across the salary brackets, income tax rates will be reduced gradually over the coming four years to bring them in line with the current levels in Madrid. Income from investments Income accrued from private pension plans, investments, capital gains and property rentals affects foreign residents and locals alike, and in this regard Spain is already attractive and there is no need for much change. Currently, top rates for these categories of income range between

19% to 23%, which is favourable compared with other countries in Europe. Wealth Tax This tax was introduced in the early days of Spain’s new democracy as a way to raise much-needed public resources, and it has stubbornly hung around ever since. Although there has been no official announcement yet, the plan is to eliminate it from January 1 2020. Whether or not this will happen regionally or nationwide remains to be seen. Watch this space!

Terra Meridiana, 77 Calle Caridad, 29680 Estepona • Tel: +34 951 318480 Office Mob: +34 678 452109 • Email: info@terrameridiana.com • Website: www.terrameridiana.com

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THE

MEWS THE DEVELOPMENT

The Mews, Town Range – a rare opportunity Within metres of the Governor’s Residence, The Mews is an enclave of 7 boutique houses and apartments each meticulously designed and built to a flawless standard, drawing on its unique gated location in the heart of the old town. Four contemporary mews-style houses will be built on the foundations of the 19th-century stables, at the rear of the original, grand Victorian house, which will itself be refurbished to provide 2 thoughtfully designed apartments and a stunning duplex penthouse, commanding spectacular views. Mews houses are, by their nature, located in the very best parts of town. Providing a safe, traffic free environment that is both practical, and hugely charming.

PROPERTY DETAILS MEWS HOUSES Prices start from £750,000 Roof terrace with stunning views & optional jacuzzi hot tub. Master suite comprising Juliet balcony, fully fitted walk-in wardrobe & a luxury en-suite. 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms 1 guest toilet Apartments & Duplex Penthouse details & POA

These carefully crafted prestigious homes have been designed to capture and celebrate the unique aesthetic of Gibraltar’s Old Town, melding light, space and structure to provide a traditional, yet contemporary interior design scheme that compliments its unique heritage.

EXCLUSIVE ESTATE AGENT Seekers Property Solutions tel: 200 449 55 email: info@themews.gi www.themews.gi

PROPERTY

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May 2019

Green

Spanish architects with designs on saving the planet

USTAINABLE builds are becoming the hottest thing since global warming and dozens of architects in Spain are at the grass roots of the green boom. Millions of people around the world are waking up to climate change and taking an interest in where their food and household products come

tel: +34 952 741 525

PROPERT Y OF THE WEEK

VL902

175.000â&#x201A;Ź

ViĂąuela, Malaga This detached 3 double bedroom Villa property is located on the popular urbanisation of Lomas de Sabato in the Malaga region of Andalucia, with outstanding mountain views and parts of the lake, plus only being a 4 minute drive to all shops, restaurants and amenities.

info@inlandandalucia.com www.inlandandalucia.com

New wave of Catalan sustainability

CATALUNYA home whose undulating Gaudi curves would have raised the eyebrows of the great architect himself has set the bar for sustainable homes of the future. Villa Stgilat Aiguablava in the Emporda region has just been completed for a wealthy Swiss family who wanted a modern property which adapts to its environment. Crafted by Enric Ruiz-Geli and his Cloud 9 studio, the home features a main house, adjacent pavilion and incredible swimming pool. Advanced fiberglass engineering was used to form the enormous sweeping Catalan vault stretching across the main residence interior, a feature echoing the view outward. The structure and materials recreate the properties of a natural cave to keep things cool during hot summers and cosy during the winter, while their porosity keeps the air inside fresh, making for a highly energy efficient home. Meanwhile, outside, the preexisting community of pine trees are complemented by an integrated native foliage, filtered rainwater swimming pool and adjoining wild native plant garden.

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team

from and - increasingly - the fabric of their homes. And with the clock to climate catastrophe already ticking, homebuyers are demanding energy efficient properties and have a low-to-no carbon footprint. Luckily, architects are already coming up with ingenious designs and ideas for energy efficient homes which don’t cut back on the cool factor. We’ve singled out four stunning green houses in Spain that are taking the concept of ‘eco-friendly’ to the max.

May 2019

Zero to hero

HIS Cantabrian holiday home is so energy efficient it generates more power than it consumes. Villa Slow, as it has been christened by Laura Alvarez Architecture, is built from the walls of a stone ruin and offers the perfect hideaway in the nature reserve of Valles Pasiegos. The home relies on an air-heat pump with a low-temperature heating system while its top-notch insulation keeps energy use at an all time low. “The house is connected to the electrical network, as in Spain you are not allowed to build without this connection,” studio founder Laura Alvarez told Dezeen. “The heat-pump is connected to the grid and produces five kilowatts of energy for each kilowatt that it takes from the network. So, it produces more energy that it consumes, therefore you can call it a zero-energy home.” The property is a replica of a cabaña pasiega barn house typical of the Cantabrian mountain region. A slate roof and stone walls are paired with huge windows offering jaw-dropping views, while the interiors have a minimal look with an open-plan kitchen and living space.

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May 2019

PROPERTY

Green team continued...

Look No Ems

NE Barcelona firm is so committed to the planet it ensures all of its homes produce no more than 5% of the carbon dioxide emitted by traditional homes. NOEM, an abbreviation of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;no emissionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, builds each project with natural materials - so no glue or paint - while rainwater is collected for its toilets. All houses consist of prefabricated wooden modules but are highly customisable, allowing the firm to create designs with a range of different looks and functions.

PREFAB SPROUT: Largely wooden homes aid low CO2 use

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May 2019

SHIP AND SLOT: The drop box home is easy to set up

Drop box to revolutionise your land or garden

orget mobile homes as you knew them. Spanish architectural studio In Tenta has created a prefabricated ‘instant home’ that can be dropped into almost any location you choose … local planning laws permitting! Dubbed DROP Box N-240, the tiny modular dwelling is ready to use as a pop-up house or hotel suite any time, any place, anywhere. And like Dr Who’s Tardis it’s much roomier inside than it looks. Every 18.5-m2 box comes with a fully-equipped wall kitchen, living space with sofa bed;

compact bathroom with shower and toilet; double bedroom with panoramic views; and outdoor terrace. The space-saving interior design features built-in cupboards and shelves, concealed under-bed storage and a sofa bed in the living area for additional guests. Designed to be transported via trailer or container ship and ‘dropped’ into the location, the base is elevated above ground to minimise site impact or can be raised on steel stilts to provide a treehouse option. “It’s designed to be placed in a natural spot, and easily removed without any ecological da-

mage as a consequence of its presence,” says architect Marta Gordillo. “The aim of the modular suites is to meet the growing demand for ecotourism with customers who like traveling but don’t want to stay in hotels and demand sustainable architecture mixed with quality design.” Utilising sustainable and renewable materials, each DROP Box N-240 is constructed with a wooden frame, laminated wood beams and thermal fiberglass insulation. The roof is built using trapezoidal steel sheets with an inner lining made from wooden groove planks.

SELLING PROPERTY | MULTI AWARD WINNING | INDEPENDENT EXPERTISE | GLOBAL EXPOSURE FINE & COUNTRY – PUERTO BANUS, MARBELLA Centro Plaza, Local 1, Avda Manollete 1, 29660 Nueva Andalucia +34 952 930 532 / +34 670 673 472 marbella.puertobanus@fineandcountry.com www.fineandcountry.com

PROPERTY Easter resurrection

XXVIII May 2019

i n s t a l a c i o n e s info@instalacionesemasur.com www.instalacionesemasur.com

Semana Santa has marked a return to form for Sotogrande’s property market, says Paul Bristow of Bristow Property Group

Air Conditioning Electricity Solar Panels – Plumbing Automatic Doors Swimming Pools Renewable Energy

HE Sotogrande property market has experienced an Easter resurrection of its own, and Bristow Property Group’s Paul Bristow sees no reason why that should change. Confidence is slowly returning to a market grateful for the temporary shelving of Brexit with buoyant prices and sales giving people reasons for optimism. “Since Easter the market in Sotogrande has picked up and the recovery has spread over every price bracket. T:been +34 956 793 200 E: info@sotograndesales.com “Before www.sotograndesales.com that any movement was limited to smaller value properties as peo-

tel: 952 89 25 15 C/Espinosa – Edif Manisabi, Local 12 Ctra Sabinillas, 29692, Manilva (Málaga)

20 years of experience Dr House – Costa del Sol In association with

ple were less willing to take any risks. Scandinavians, Germans and French “But now we are also advising clients with many buyers being keen golfers with their eyes set on the higher end of of course.” the market,” explains boss Paul. Even after Spain’s inconclusive elecIt comes as the housing market ove- tion result risked more uncertainty, SOTOGRANDE COSTA -for REFthe S364first rall posted healthy results Bristow’s hopes for Sotogrande in the Bedroomsof 5 · Bathrooms Buildback 455 m2of · Plot 1760 three months 2019 on4 ·the yearm2ahead have not been dimmed. €2.450.000 strong sales in Barcelona and Madrid. “To be honest, if there was going to be “Buyers have been coming down from a change in regime now was probably the capital which is a clear sign the not the time. With PSOE remaining in market is returning to form,” adds government you know what to expect Bristow, who founded Bristow Property and there is a feeling of ‘right, ok’, we Group more than 25 years ago with his can deal with this. wife Tracy. “It is a case of better the devil you “We are also attracting a broad ran- know and for us at the moment stabilige of international clients including ty is the key word.”

Bristow Property Group SL Locales 16/17, Galerias Paniagua Sotogrande 11310, Cadiz

To contact Paul and the team, visit www.sotograndesales.com or call +34 609 544 818

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XXX

May 2019

PROPERTY HISTORIC: Antique facades on the Rock and (below) famous airport

Colonial mix Gibraltar is dotted with architectural wonders reflecting its unusual, historical past, discovers John Culatto

ITH all the excitement of seeing red post boxes and British bobbies it is easy to miss the many centuries old architectural gems that make Gibraltar unique. The small enclave is surprisingly packed full of interesting buildings with its Mediterranean and British colonial influences combining in an often wonderful way. Ignore the scruffy buildings on the way into town across the runway and you will soon be at Casemates Square at the bottom of Main Street, probably arriving via a fas-

History, adventure and romance. That’s just the setting.

cinating tunnel. One of the most interesting buildings is, without a doubt, the Convent located on the southern end of Main Street. It includes the colonially decorated King’s Chapel. Originally built by Franciscan friars in 1531, it stretched to what is now known as John Mackintosh Hall. Then, after Gibraltar became British it became the home of the governors in 1728 and was rebuilt in a Georgian style. The first monarch to visit the Rock, King Edward VII, stayed at the Convent on his stay in Gibraltar.

GLORIOUS: Office of Fabian Picardo and (inset) King’s Bastion

The building is said to be haunted by the so-called ‘Grey Lady’. The story goes she was walled up alive as punishment for trying to escape with her lover while serving as a nun. Opposite the governor’s house is the No. 6 Convent Place where the government is based. After signi-

Join us for a celebration of history, art, heritage and pageantry in a unique part of the world.

With a UNESCO world heritage site offering 120,000 years of human history and only short drive from the Costa del Sol, enjoy the warmth of the British Gibraltarians and splash out VAT-free in Sterling. Gibraltar. Sun, sea and history served with a very British twist. PROUD

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For further information call: Gibraltar Tourist Board +350 200 74950 Or to download a brochure go to: www.visitgibraltar.gi

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XXXI

May 2019

Mews for the (very) few Select buyers are being offered bijou homes with a London mews look in the heart of Gibraltar’s Town Range

THE

MEWS

THE DEVELOPMENT

The Mews, Town Range – a rare opportunity

Within metres of the Governor’s Residence, The Mews is an enclave of 7 boutique houses and apartments each meticulously designed and built to a flawless standard, drawing on its unique

HEY have the look and feel of Mediterranean-style gated location in the heart of the old town. townhouses and the ethos of classic mews houses in Mayfair. Four contemporary mews-style houses will be built A gavel’s-throw from the law courts, it’s not surprising on the foundations of the 19th-century stables, at the this brand new ‘character’ development has got property hunrear of the original, grand Victorian house, which will itself be refurbished to provide 2 thoughtfully designed ters excited in central Gibraltar. apartments and a stunning duplex penthouse, The boutique project at Town Range comprises four spacious commanding spectacular views. Mews houses are, by their nature, located in the very best parts of town. mews houses and three well-appointed apartments. Providing a safe, traffic free environment that is both practical, and hugely charming. Due to begin construction this month, the striking development has been modelled on the ‘most exclusive mews houses in upmarket London’ - prime Monopoly board zones like Mayfair, Kensington and Marylebone. PROPERTY DETAILS Each three-bedroom house will offer modern open-plan living MEWS HOUSES Prices start from £750,000 on the ground floor, a master suite with walk-in wardrobes, Roof terrace with stunning views & optional jacuzzi hot two and a half bathrooms including one with a full-size bath, tub. Master suite comprising Juliet balcony, fully fitted walk-in wardrobe & a a utility room and a roof terrace where a jacuzzi hot tub is an Within metres of the Governor’s Residence, The Mews is an enclave of 7 boutique houses and luxury en-suite. 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms optional extra. Exceptional views across Gibraltar are built in 1 guest toilet apartments toeach meticulously designed and built to a flawless standard, drawing on Apartments its unique & Duplex Penthouse details & POA the price. Meanwhile the original 18th century front façade is being regated location in the heart of the old town. furbished to a high standard to provide two spacious, light-fiThese carefully crafted prestigious homes have lled apartments. been designed to capture and celebrate the unique Each will have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, spacious openficant refurbishments the during the Great Siege of aesthetic of Gibraltar’s Old Town, melding light, space and structure to provide a traditional, yet plan living space and balcooriginal guardhouse grew in 1779 to 1783. contemporary interior design scheme that nies plus, at the top, a dreamy compliments its unique heritage. size with its combination of Land created from the sea three-bedroom duplex penthounew and old. You’ll enjoy the meant it was no longer useFour contemporary mews-style houses will be built se with its own huge roof terrace ful as a defensive rampart cannons outside. on thea foundations at the 360-degree views power ge- of the 19th-century stables, commanding Further up Main Street and it became STYLISH: The AGENT Mews at Town Range EXCLUSIVE ESTATE Seekers Property Solutions 1896. toward the centre of town nerating station rear ofinthe original, grand Victorian house, whichacross will two continents. tel: 200 449 55 oasis of tranquility in charmingly secluded cobbled munity an power plant to provide 2 thoughtfully designed is the Gibraltar Parliament After a larger email: info@themews.gi itself be refurbished lanes, relatively immune to the clamour of city centre living. Mews musings www.themews.gi building. Overlooking the was demolished it was redeThe first mews stable to be converted to modern living was in andina stunning duplex penthouse, a leisure centre Piazza and John Mackintosh signed as apartments The history of the traditional appropriately-named Street Mews, in Mayfair. Square, this is where all the 2005. commanding spectacular views. Mews houses mews are, house is an interesting The resulting home was described at the time as ‘the best bijou It is now open to the general hard decisions take place. one. by their nature, located in the very best parts of town.The origin of the word house in London’. Built in 1817, it was a li- public with a bowling alley, ‘mews’ was used to describe a However it was not until the swinging 1960’s that mews housafe, both where a hawk would be ses came into vogue. As the larger houses were divided into brary until 1951 when it was ice-skatingProviding rink, gymaand ci-traffic free environment that is cage converted into a legislative nema inside. flats, they emerged as relatively spacious options. kept during its molting season. practical, and hugely charming. council. Under the 1969 Another interesting building Its current usage dates back Racing driver, James Hunt, famously bought a mews house is the Garrison constitution it so he could live above his cars! Since then the to the reign of Library, located became the mews has been considered highly desirable and King Henry VIII, among the most fashionable residences. The list on Governor’s House of Aswhen he moved Built on top More and of writers, musos and luvvies who have lived in his hawks’ mews sembly, where Street. of Moorish mews houses is long and eclectic and includes out of London’s more people 15 members of Officially opeNoel Coward, Johnny Depp, Sean Connery, Charing Cross to ned by the the government and Spanish want to PROPERTY live in Madonna, John Cleese and the Rolling Stones! build stables for DETAILS Duke of Kent and opposition ‘The Mews’ at Town Range continues this illushis beloved stathe centre for met to govern fortifications in in 1804, its MEWS HOUSES trious past, occupying a site that was levelled llions, so he could membership Gibraltar. 1773 better access Great Siege of Gibraltar. quickly access the Prices startduring fromthe £750,000 was open only It was upgraIt was rebuilt in the late 1820s as a two-storey passion of his life, ded to a parto military offiwith stables behind. Two further floors hunting. Roof terrace house with stunning views & optional jacuzzi hot liament in 2006 after a new cers right up until the current Copying the king’s actions was were added in the early 1900s, and the stables were conconstitution was approved century. tub. Master suite comprising Juliet balcony, fully fitted common at the time, so many verted to living accommodation before the second world war. by the UK. With over 45,000 books The main house at &the of the aristocracy followed suit, walk-in wardrobe a front was converted into apartments The King’s Bastion is another it has some rare books on thus also giving their stabling and lived in until quite recently but needs TLC to reclaim its 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms building that cleverly combi- history, travel and culture formeren-suite. glory. areas the upmarket name of luxury nes the old with the new. with a lot of records on Giis atoilet fantastic opportunity to live in a community of new ‘mews’. 1“This guest Located at the City Walls it is braltar. mews houses as well as renovate and restore an elegant old Throughout the 18th and 19th Apartments & Duplex Penthouse details & POA one cannot sandwiched on the east and Elsewhere, century, mews houses continued property,” explains Maggie Traverso, of Seekers Property Soluwest by Line Wall Road and speak of Gibraltar architecto be built behind many grand tions, the exclusive agents for the mews. ture without mentioning the Queensway. houses around the city to stable “We are delighted to be bringing this project to market, where horses and provide living quar- it will bring benefits not only for the building itself, but as part Built on top of Moorish and world-famous airport and of the regeneration of the Old Town and the area as a whole.” ters above for servants. Spanish fortifications, this World Trade Centre, both They were traditionally built She continues: “More and more people want to live in the coastal bastion was cons- impressive works of the motructed in 1773. dern era. All thesecarefully wonderful These crafted prestigious homes have around paved courtyards, pro- center as it allows them to have easy access to all the local viding a safe, traffic-free com- amenities. Its arrowhead shape helped buildings been help tell the story designed to capture and celebrate the unique “The tired building at the front together with the new mews defend Gibraltar from the of how Gibraltar went from houses at the back will be transformed into a small and viaesthetic Old Town, melding light, floating gun batteries that colonial outpost to ofa Gibraltar’s mobrant gated community that provides an amazing opportunity community. sailed over from Algeciras dern, thriving space and structure to provide a traditional, yet for people to live in a house in the centre of town, that can be customised to provide their perfect home”. contemporary interior design scheme that With this unusual development you get character as well as compliments its unique heritage. modern design and construction in a unique boutique setting. Mews living is not just a quirky address, it is a quality of life and ‘The Mews’ at Town Range offers a very rare opportunity indeed to acquire an individual home in the heart of downtown Gibraltar.

THE

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Please contact Seekers on 200 44955 or email on info@themews.gi and visit the website www.themews.gi

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03/05/2019 14:09

BUSINESS

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Expanding by popular demand Blacktower Financial Management (International) Ltd is continuing make inroads in Spain, offering excellent advice to expats of all nationalities

BY Tim Govaerts

ESPITE Britain's imminent departure rred to us through local communities. from the EU, Spain is still an expat And it's not just the British we assist. Natiodestination of choice for many Brits. nals from around the EU, including France, The lifestyle, the climate, the cultu- Holland and Scandinavia, as well as quite a re - they all play a part in making Spain a few from South Africa and the USA, are sigunique and desirable place that stirs hearts ning up to work with us. and minds. We pride ourselves on haEven with the spectre of ving multi-lingual members Brexit looming, the influx who, in almost all cases, Spain offers much opportunity for investors are expats themselves, of newcomers has anything and retirement planners so their understanding of but dwindled if you go by who are seeking the best expat life has been built the recent growth of British expats on the official pa- for their wealth. Having lived through personal knowleand worked in Spain for over dge of their region, and dron. a decade, I have witnessed However, newcomers, as they can offer advice and well as long-established ex- first hand numerous, dramatic recommendations in a lanchanges and therefore pats, are realising that getguage our clients will unappreciate how it is now more derstand. ting their financial affairs in important than ever to be able order is a priority right now. to offer our clients services The tax system in Spain As one of the leading wealcan still be favourable for they can trust. We pride th management companies ourselves on working with our expats, providing profesin Spain, and with offices in clients, for our clients and in sional and accurate advice Barcelona, the Costa Blan- ensuring they are our number is given enabling growth ca, the Costa Cálida, and potential of capital, assets one priority.” the Costa Del Sol, Blackand investments. tower is able to provide exTim Govaerts, It is our core mission to pats with the trusted finanAssociate Director in Spain understand our clients' ficial solutions they need. nancial situations fully, so So, with the EU landscape when you come to Blackchanging around us, we have put the infras- tower we provide a full review of your finantructure in place to ensure we can offer full cial circumstances, while also gaining an assistance to our existing clients and the understanding of your needs and long-term new clients who are continually being refe- goals.

“

Clarity, transparency and trust are key

planning and pensions. Our clients are able to benefit from unique investment opportunities through the Nexus Portfolio Range: three expertly managed portfolios, all carefully designed and fully regulated to provide diversified, highly liquid investment opportunities. The portfolios make the most of global markets, including rising prospects, and are managed by a British asset management company with more than 200 years of experience to provide robust risk management and active investment management.

Excellence in communication is at the forefront of our service philosophy – we believe that speaking with clarity and transparency is one of the most important things we can do to help clients make the most of our services and to assist them in the most effecSecurity and regulation tive way. Many people feel the financial services industry is rife with complication, contra- Client protection is another of our key mandiction and mystification – we believe this tras for service provision: Blacktower is highly regulated in all the doesn't need to be the jurisdictions we work in, case, so we base the ethos It is really rewarding to we hold relevant licences, of our service provision on be able to help clients and all our advisers are simplicity, suitability and achieve their goals highly qualified and accomtrust. and, as Blacktower’s plished in their relevant Our expertise and holistic experience spans more attitude to wealth mana- than 30 years, we have been fields. gement means we don't through good times, bad times We hold key skill sets and upheavals of all sorts. which help our clients ever apply a one-size-fitsall approach to our clients' We understand how volatile achieve their goals, and the markets can be, but our the more we increase our needs. We know that listening independent outlook means client base, the more we carefully and developing we can work to smooth out the broaden our expertise. Exstrong relationships are the bumpy times for our clients.” pansion means we win and our clients win. It's a very best ways to offer the most Christina Brady, positive situation to be in. appropriate advice. Associate Director in Spain With Brexit looming, we Alongside helping expats have seen understandable to settle in and understand Spain's legal system in relation to tax and apprehension and anxiety among new and finances, we also look at how residency sta- established expats alike. tus can impact upon investments, estate This is natural and we have been spreading the message that - even though no one can possibly identify the final effects of Brexit putting financial matters in place sooner rather than later will be in your best interests. It might explain why increasing numbers of expats are coming to us from across Spain to ensure they are as prepared as possible. It's obvious however, that there will be challenges ahead, but at Blacktower we have worked hard to ensure we are as Brexit-proof as possible. Our continued expansion means we can help more clients who need our dedicated services, and we are currently growing our teams around the regions to maintain our levels of service for everyone who wants and needs assistance with their wealth management in Spain.

“

Blacktower Financial Management (International) Ltd has been established for over 32 years and has worked with clients through the good and the bad times offering sound, independent financial advice. We will be by your side both now and in the future. We know you have a choice about who helps you look after your financial security. Blacktower represents a strong, trusted and progressive choice in Spain. The above information was correct at the time of preparation and does not constitute investment advice and you should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity.

Blacktower Financial Management Ltd is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority and is registered with both the DGS and CNMV. Blacktower Financial Management (Int) Ltd is licensed in Gibraltar by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and is registered with both the DGS and CNMV in Spain

with DINING SECRETS of ANDALUCIA.com

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL LEGEND: Paul Hickling

Food awakening SPANISH parents have slammed school dinners amid a child obesity crisis, a study has revealed. Some 94% of mums and dads said school canteens ‘need improvement’, while nine out of 10 called for more fruit at lunchtimes. A poll of 2,000 parents was conducted by consumer advice group to the Government, Kantar, in a study called ‘Assessment of parents on school feeding in Spain’. It comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed that Spanish girls aged six to nine were the second most obese in Europe, while obesity among boys of the same age was the fourth most prevalent.

Reign of Spain SPAIN is still the number one holiday destination for Brits, despite a general EU decline due to Brexit fears, Thomas Cook has said. It comes as the travel giant revealed that 48% of its holiday sales up until the start of March were to non-EU countries - a 10% increase on 2018. Turkey is creeping up on Spain, as it is now the second most popular location for Thomas Cook customers, overtaking Greece in third. The tour operator cites Brexit as a reason behind the shift, while more favourable exchange rates for the pound against the Turkish Lira have also played their part.

POPULAR expat restaurant The Roman Oasis has announced it will close as its owner is entering retirement. Founder and British expat Paul Hickling, 74, announced the end of his 36-year reign, saying that now is a ‘fitting’ moment hang up his chef’s hat. The father-of-three and restaurateur told the Olive Press:

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Rome and away “I have no plan to sell the restaurant unless we sold it as a whole with house. “I Couldn’t have anyone else running my Roman Oasis could I?” Located in Manilva, the renowned Costa del Sol eatery, known to be the favourite

of TV chef Keith Floyd, was much more than just a restaurant. Over the four decades since its inception in 1981, The Roman Oasis attracted hundreds of thousands of guests, with its quirky decor, fantastic food, and charming host Paul.

Beached job

British expats and locals fuming as celebrity chef Dani Garcia gets go ahead for chiringuito on protected land

A PETITION to stop the construction of a celebrity-backed chiringuito has received more than 178,000 signatures. It comes after Dani Garcia’s Bibo Tarifa beach club and an adjoining car park in Valdevaqueros, Cadiz, got the go ahead and began construction over a month ago. According to campaigners, Valdevaqueros is one of Spain’s last wild beaches and is part of a Special Conservation Area and Biosphere Reserve for birds. “Valdevaqueros is one of Spain’s last wild beaches and both locals and visitors alike want to protect it from urbanization,” British campaigner Harry Stevenson told the Olive Press. “The construction of Dani Garcia’s ‘BiBo’ restaurant proceeds without an Environmental Impact Assessment while the previous SL1 project for this same site (2012) was last year declared illegal by the Tribunal

CONTROVERSIAL: Garcia’s chiringuito near Tarifa

Superior de Justicia de Andalucía for this exact reason – a lack of Environmental Impact Assessment. “ He added that environmentalists have reported a ‘series of infractions’ to the authorities but have not yet heard a response. “How can the destruction of this cherished natural paradise be ignored?!” added Stevenson. It comes as the main structure of the ‘BiBo Tarifa’ restaurant on the beach of Valdevaqueros has already been completed. The beach bar will have no foundations and is instead built on a wooden platform. The Junta has previously rejected claims by green groups such as Equo that protected species, including the osprey, would be threatened, giving the 43-yearold Marbella-born cook the goahead.

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The three Michelin-starred chef (pictured abvoe) has forecast that his new eatery, named after his Marbella and Madrid branches, will open in June.

RURAL RAMBLINGS ‘Golden orioles and all’ Hotel boss Andy Chappell on the delights of Spring in outback Andalucia

HE sap is rising. It’s that Running a small hotel and restime of year again – at taurant inevitably means lots of least it is up here in in- bureaucracy and form-filling – land Andalucia. 24 staff bring all kinds of issues While the coast is lovely in of their own to be discussed spring to really get the best of another day. the region you need to head Hours in front of screens are into the mountains, particularly pleasantly balanced though by around Ronda. getting out there in the natural I’ve just been out with the world. pooch (remember Eddie from As the end of April saw fire lihis column last year?) from our ghting season come to an end, rural hotel Molino del Santo, in we found ourselves in a race to Benaojan, and within minutes prune as many olive trees as I see a golden possible and oriole - one burn the offof the world’s cuts. We found most elegant The hotel garourselves in a dressers - flash dener is the guy before my with the chainrace to prune as eyes. saw while I’m The wild many olive trees the pyromaniac flowers are – a vice inheas possible breathtaking rited from my with the hillsidear old dad. des covered in To do physical delicate purple blooms of cistus work is the perfect antidote to like thousands of butterflies flu- form-filling and negotiation with ttering in the undergrowth. employees. Banks of yellow bee orchids Under that clear blue sky and compete for attention with the amazing light that only deep blue iris and blood-red happens after rain, our faithpoppies. ful hound is there too chasing And, if you know where to go – sticks. I’ll tell you if you promise to look It all reminds me of the rural life after them – you can find shady we chose up here in the Campo bowers filled with stunning wild over 30 years ago now. peonies. Long may it remain!

Visit www.molinodelsanto.com for more info

UNFORGETTABLE FOR YOUR SPECIAL OCCASION BIRTHDAY? ANNIVERSARY? CELEBRATION? FAMILY REUNUION? OR JUST FANCY A CHANGE OF SCENE?

Whether you are visiting the restaurant or treating yourself to a night or two in our comfortable rooms, Molino del Santo near Ronda has an amazing reputation for high quality service in a beautiful setting. Molino has been delighting visitors for over thirty years. And we guarantee we’ll do the same for you. It’s always best to book tables and rooms in advance. Email info@molinodelsanto.com or call - and speak in English if you like 952 16 71 51. Let us give you an experience to savour. Visit soon!

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www.molinodelsanto.com | info@molinodelsanto.com | 952 16 71 51 ESTACIÓN DE BENAOJÁN, NEAR RONDA, MÁLAGA

Las Brasas Specialist in

seafood, Rice and Flame Grilled Meats

FOOD,DRINK

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Oh my Goat! Goat meat may be the latest food trend in the UK, but Andalucia makes it better

Málaga Suckling Goat

Ingredients needed: Suckling goat shoulder or leg Garlic Lemon Olive oil Wine Thyme Orégano

I Monday to Wednesday and Sunday: 12.30-23.00 Friday & Saturday: 12.30-23.30 tel: 952 893 198 Calle Espinosa, Sabinillas, Manilva

T’S the latest UK food trend baa none and that’s the bleating truth. Capra aegagrus hircus is making its way from top London restaurant tables to supermarket aisles where you’ll soon be able to get your goat in sausage, meatball or ready meal form. Don´t worry though, you won’t be missing out in Andalucia. No kidding - goat meat is the star of a whole flock of Andalucian traditional dishes, and over the last few years it has become increasingly popular in the province of Málaga and beyond. Better still, goat is a healthier alternative to red met

Preparation: Put the suckling goat pieces in an earthenware baking dish. Season them with the spices and garlic, and leave to marinate for 12 hours. Add the olive oil and bake at 180º for three quarters of an hour. Every 15 minutes, baste with a mixture of water, wine and lemon juice.

- a low-calorie source of protein and iron that’s also relatively low in saturated fats and cholesterol. Goats have grazed in the south of Spain since pre-

historic times, as local cave paintings in Ardales, Nerja and La Pileta testify. Nowadays, Spain has the second largest goat population in Europe after Greece, while

Roasted Kid-Goat with Potatoes RECIPE for 4 servings:

restaurant | lunch and dinner restaurant | lunch and dinner

3 ½ - 4 pounds kid-goat Salt and pepper Thyme ½ cup olive oil 2 onions, sliced 8 medium potatoes (about 2 ½ pounds), peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick 2 green bell peppers, cut in strips 4 tomatoes, peeled and sliced ¼ cup chopped parsley 2 bay leaves 1 head garlic, roasted 1 teaspoon saffron threads ½ teaspoon coarse salt 10 peppercorns 2 cloves ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1 ½ cups white wine ½ cup chicken stock or water Preparation: come to room Sprinkle the meat with salt, pepper and thyme and allow it to ature. temper of onions on Spread half the oil in a roasting pan or large cazuela. Place a layer pepper and green of strips s, potatoe sliced of layer a Add pan. the of the bottom Continue parsley. the of half and salt with usly sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle genero Sprinkle with with remaining onions, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and parsley. vegetables. Peel salt. Break the bay leaves in half and tuck the pieces in with the too. les vegetab the under them the cloves of roasted garlic and push and cloves. Stir In a mortar, crush the saffron with the coarse salt, peppercorns the vegetables. in the cinnamon. Stir in ¼ cup of the wine. Pour the spices over the vegetables. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Place the meat, skin side down, on top of , then reduce Pour the remaining olive oil over the meat. Roast for 15 minutes more. hour 1 Roast 350ºF. to oven temperature

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it with some of Remove the pan from the oven. Turn the meat skin side up. Baste the pan Return water. more add away, cooked has liquid If the liquid in the pan. d and potatoes to the oven. Roast 30 minutes longer, until the meat is browne are cooked. s will absorb Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before serving. The potatoe les to a vegetab and meat remove , desired If juices. pan ing some of the remain serving platter.

the province of Málaga has the largest concentration of livestock in Europe with more than 1,500 goat ranches. Andalucia is home to the Málaga goat, famous for its cheese and suckling goat meat, which is more mild-flavoured and tender than mature goat. The cabra malagueña is a protected breed and the product of two ancient ancestors: the Pyrenean goat from the north of the Iberian peninsula,and the Maltese goat from Africa. Chivo Lechal Malagueño (suckling goat) is the first in Spain to have its own high-quality certificate from the Asociación Nacional de Criadores de la Cabra Malagueña (ACREM). To be certified, the cabrito malagueño must amongst other things have been fed exclusively with the breast milk of female Málaga goats. Common traditional dishes with Málaga suckling goat include paletilla asada (roast shoulder) and Chivo a la Pastoril, made with Malaga wine. But as it has become more fashionable, restaurants are getting creative. Diego del Río, chef at El Lago in Marbella, was one of the first to introduce Málaga suckling goat in a high-end menu in 2009. For an encore, in 2016 he added Payoya suckling goat, a breed from the province of Cádiz. The Michelin-starred restaurant is part of Slow Foods, a network of Andalucian restaurants tcommitted to offering healthy dishes made with local products. These days many more restaurants offer Chivo Lechal Malagueño, especially in the province of Málaga. Companies are also trying out new products like goat sausages and goat paté in Muscatel wine. Since 2008 a Fiesta de la Cabra Malaguena has been held annually each September in a different town, with competitions and free tastings. Goat-to-town with one of these recipes!

& TRAVEL

May 8th - May 21st 2019

Claire Leibovic sinks her teeth into the World’s First Carnivore Retreat

ARRIVE at the gorgeous Finca Monasterio, near Sotogrande, on a sun-washed Saturday morning. The place seems deserted - it's only 11am, after all - but luckily I spot two carnivore-looking men who are clearly wondering what little old me is doing there. “Are you the guys who only eat meat?” I ask. It’s Phil Escott and Graeme Norbury, two of the speakers I would have the pleasure of hearing that day. They usher me inside and introduce me to the lovely Dr. Lynn Hardy from Sotogrande, who organised the event. While a small affair of around 50 people, they had travelled from around the world to hear how ‘spinach is poison’ and ‘oats are the enemy’ - some of the views held by speakers at this, the world’s ‘first ever carnivore retreat.’ From Hungary, the UK, Canada, America and even Australia, no nonsense meat eaters were treated to a range of talks from speakers of varying backgrounds - from a clinical researcher specialised in nutrition to a drummer turned health instructor (carnivore-looking Phil). Talks tackled a range of subjects, including the benefits of eating

Meatandgreet meat - obviously - to the alleged ‘anti-nutrients’ in plants, sun exposure and even spiritual awakening. While some arguments seemed reasonable (for example that vitamin supplements are useless and can even be detrimental to our health), others rang tenuous to say the least. To quote just a few: ‘Plant-based products carry potential or proven harm’, ‘sun burning has nothing to do with cancer’, ‘it is our subconscious that makes us sick after eating fat, because all our life we have been told that fat is bad’, ‘eating plants is more harmful than smoking’. Presentations are thought-provoking nevertheless, and some raise legitimate questions: are the

vegetarian and vegan diets really now has around 9,500 members. that healthy? Who is telling us There are many carnivore groups that they are? (Yes, I did hear se- out there on the web, but this one veral times: ‘I don't want to go all is open to all kinds of diets. “I conspiracy theory on you, but…’) won't chuck you out if you post a At lunch I gorged on delicious, al- broccoli on the page,” joked page though undercooked - ‘more nu- admin Phil Escott. trients’ - grilled chicken and chat- All in all, the event was a hotted to the friendly chpotch of lovely, crowd. fun people set in Most of them told a lush location They travelled me how they had offering a range from around the of entertaining been on non-carnivore diets for a talks. world to hear long time before I left with raised falling ill. They how ‘spinach is awareness of the blamed those importance of poison’ ‘unhealthy’ diets diet and lifestyle for their illnesand a desire to ses and attribute educate myself their full or partial recovery to more on the matter. However I am their new carnivore diets. not convinced by the many quesMost already knew each other tionable claims from speakers after meating on the Facebook who almost all have a health-regroup ‘100% Carnivore and Be- lated business to promote. 100% yond’, created about a year ago - it carnivore? Not just yet!

Closed 12.00 until mid February Open Tuesday to Sunday. until 22.00