Mallorca Olive Press - Issue 63 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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Attacked in action AN Olive Press journalist has been attacked after exposing a ‘violent’ gypsy family allegedly squatting and stealing electricity. Simon Wade was chased down the street and headbutted as a young man tore off his glasses and tried robbing his camera in broad daylight on the Costa Blanca. The dedicated journalist was photographing alleged squats, next to expat homes, when the man flung open the door with chest exposed and a tattoo reading ‘I die for my family’. “My specs can be replaced, and the bruising will fade, but decent people here are living with this 24/7,” Wade said. A denuncia was made to the Civil Guard, who revealed the perpetrator was a ‘wild beast’ with a string of convictions. It comes after British resident, Ena Cummings, 53, contacted us claiming gypsies had thrown ‘dead rats’ into the Virgen del Rosario complex’s pool and repeatedly set terraces on fire. “They're stealing electricity and water,” the Formentera del Segura resident told the Olive Press. Opinion Page 6

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Vol. 13 Issue 63 www.theolivepress.es September 13th - September 26, 2019

Turn to page 7 to find out which were the biggest stories this fortnight and how to get the most up to date info

WE WON’T GO QUIETLY Expats take to streets as Boris shuts Parliament and exclusive Olive Press poll reveals unflinching Remain support EXCLUSIVE By Timothy McNulty

BORIS Johnson has managed to silence Parliament, but British expats in Spain have shown they will not be cowed into a harmful no-deal departure from the EU. Brits around the country are mobilising to oppose the shutdown and stand up for their EU rights. Protests have spread to the Costa del Sol where pro-remain campaigners are

planning a Protect Our Rights march in Malaga on September 22. It comes as an exclusive online poll by the Olive Press revealed an astonishing 73% of expats are staunchly in favour of remaining within the European Union past the October 31 deadline (Pages 6-7). The Facebook poll shows that had they been able to participate fully in the biggest ‘democratic exercise for generations’, the expat vote would have proved decisive.

Storms batter Mallorca. For full report turn to page 4

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“We are the people most affected and we didn’t get a say, that is what is most unfair,” said protest organiser Valerie Lawrence, 68, based in Torrox, near Malaga. “Most of us could not vote and postal votes went missing.” It comes after an alarming treasury report issued two weeks ago spelt extreme danger for expats in various ways. The leaked Yellowhammer document warned of issues over pensions, healthcare and crossing borders, particularly in Gibraltar. The government has since sought to downplay the warnings in the document, which was published in full on Wednesday night. Government minister Michael Gove has described them as a ‘worse case scenario’. A five-week shutdown of Parliament began on Monday, amid angry protests in the House of Commons by opposition MPs. Scuffles broke out around speaker John Bercow’s chair as Labour’s Lloyd Russell-Moyle made a symbolic bid to pin Bercow in place late on Monday night. Commons doorkeepers intervened as other opposition MPs including Green MP Caroline Lucas held up signs emblazoned with the words ‘silenced’ amid cries of ‘shame’. Johnson has claimed the government will use the suspension to press ahead

COUP: Protesting MPs surround Speaker Bercow with negotiations with the EU to reach a deal, while still ‘preparing to leave without one’. “No matter how many devices this Parliament invents to tie my hands, I will strive to get an agreement in the national interest,” he said. “This government will not delay Brexit any further.” The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier told MEPs that he had yet to see grounds upon which to reopen the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Meanwhile, the UK PM was warned he could face legal action if he chooses to ignore new legislation passed by Parliament blocking a no-deal Brexit. The law received royal assent on Monday and forces Johnson to seek a delay until January 31 2020, unless MPs approval a deal by October 19 (See Brexit countdown, page 6). Opinion Page 6

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SPAIN’S listeria outbreak, which has killed three people, has now reached Mallorca, the Ministry of Health confirmed. A cancer patient, the first reported to have caught the virus on the island, is recovering in a private clinic in Palma. It comes after samples of the bacteria were sent to be tested in Madrid to confirm if it is the same strain as the recent outbreak in Andalucia. Continues on Page 18

CRIME

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You dope A FATHER of a prisoner has tried to smuggle 60g of hashish into prison during a visit and when stopped by guards he claimed he had a cheek infection.

Creep shot A GERMAN man has been arrested after a security guard caught him filming up a youngster’s skirt in a shop in Palma.

Dirty dog A TEENAGER caught masturbating behind two youngsters on Mallorca’s Playa de Muro has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Wedding plan fraudster arrested after Olive Press expose finds her living it up in Spain A DISGRACED wedding planner wanted in the UK has been arrested after the Olive Press pictured her ‘sunning herself’ in a Spanish swimming pool. Dana Twidale was photographed at the Aquarium 2 apartments pool, in Benidorm, despite being wanted by British police. The mum-of-two, 42, is facing nine counts of fraud after allegedly charging happy couples ‘tens of thousands of euros’ for weddings that never materialised. “The pictures are 100 percent Dana,” her husband, Carl Twidale, told the Olive Press, this week. “They were sent to me from a girl holidaying around the same pool with her family,” he added from his home in Yorkshire.

Well stocked A PIRATE taxi driver in Ibiza has been arrested after a ‘supermarket of drugs’ was found in his cab, including LSD, ketamine and illegal magic mushrooms.

Scot out

ONE of Scotland’s mostwanted men has been jailed after being caught in Spain as he met his wife at the airport. Joseph Lindsay, 34, has been flown back to the UK to face justice after he was traced to Tenerife by police. He has been jailed for four years, and was arrested in December. Detectives linked Lindsay to a gang jailed for a total of 87 years after an investigation into violence, drugs and firearms offences.

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

Spotted

EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

“Police contacted me at the weekend confirming she had been arrested. “However, I don’t know where she is exactly or if she has yet been charged.” We had contacted Carl after a tip off from a reader that Dana was holidaying in Benidorm. While he was unable to confirm it at the time, he got back in touch with the paper, after the holidaymaker spotted Dana living it up and sent him photos. The barber, from Kingston upon Hull - who was able to identify her from her tattoos was defrauded of over £4,000 (€4,100) during the three-year marriage, before splitting in 2017.

He only became aware of a ‘web of lies’ from the alleged con-artist earlier this year. “She has conned dozens of people, stealing tens of thousands,” Twidale said. “At this point, my only concern is getting Dana’s daughter back safely. “The 18-year-old is going through sexual transition and is vulnerable. “She has been missing for around six weeks and is believed to be with Dana.” Humberside Police told Carl, Dana had fled the UK after scores of people came forward claiming they had been conned by her. Among the victims was one couple from Harrogate who were left in turmoil when Dana allegedly went missing 24 hours

Husband cleared

THE husband of a British woman who was found floating in a Menorca harbour has been released by police and has returned home. Andrea Leadenham, 53, was found dead in the water near the couple’s yacht, with her partner Andrew Bulmer being held by police until the autopsy proved there were no signs of violence.

Police now believe the tourist slipped when trying to board the yacht after having too many alcoholic drinks. Bulmer, 54, called the police when he returned to the yacht and found his wife not there after she had left the bar before him. After a 45-minute search, her body was found in the water nearby.

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POOLSIDE: Crook Dana Twidale (right) before their big day in July. Nicky Thorpe reported that she had paid ‘well over £2,000’ but was distraught to find an empty marquee two days before her wedding. Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es if you have met Dana or been affected

EXILED

A PAIR of convicted robbers have been handed hefty fines after they defied a court order kicking them off the island. Police discovered the two, aged 26 and 29, enjoying the fiestas in Sineu some 16 days after a court in Palma gave them 24 hours to leave Mallorca. This ruling had been made after the men were convicted for multiple robbery offenses in Magaluf.

Vandals VANDALS have continued attacks on mass tourism in Palma – this time defacing a marble sculpture on the Passeig Sagrera with graffiti. The Arca Heritage Association has denounced the graffiti that reads ‘tourism is a disease,’ and rejects the attacks on the city’s culture. Whoever painted their message, Arca adds, loses all credibility ‘when they are capable of mistreating a marble sculpture.’ “We all have our ideas, and (almost) all are respectable, but expressing them by attacking the city’s heritage you are disavowing yourself,” said the Palma Police regarding the vandalism.

Respect

“If you want respect, you must be civil” the headquarters continued. The graffiti was quickly removed by Emaya, at the taxpayers expense. In recent weeks, numerous messages against tourism in graffiti have appeared around Palma, and Arca has started a campaign to collect signatures against the vandalism. The Arran group campaign against mass tourism and what it sees as the problems its creates such as Mallorca’s housing crisis. Alongside graffiti tags the group has also been known to pelt holiday buses with eggs, and violently storm restaurants and squares with smoke bombs.

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Buck up your ideas INBETWEENERS Star James Buckely has joked about visiting Spain in a rant that saw him brand Europe a ‘f***ing s**thole.’ Buckely has blasted Spain as somewhere ‘you can’t drink the water’ or ‘flush paper down the toilet,’ on his Youtube channel. “I don’t wanna talk about politics,” he said, “but there’s a whole Brexit thing going on at the moment. I’m sure there’s more to it, but when-

ever I go to Spain or Greece or whatever I’m like... let’s just leave this. Look at it. “You can’t drink the water, you can’t flush paper down the toilets,” continued the 32-year-old comedian.

NEWS No one’s getting at our kid Molly

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

LIAM Gallagher has ramped up his personal security as he tried to build bridges with his previously estranged daughter. The Oasis star, 46, was snapped by the Olive Press hanging out with his child Molly, who he only met for the first time last year, at the Gibraltar Calling festival (see page 16). Burly security men led the Gal-

TIGHT: Security ramps up for Gallagher and daughter

lagher entourage to the ‘locked down’ stage, while model Molly was heard shouting, ‘I thought there’d be no pictures’. Molly is the daughter of Kill City singer Lisa Moorish, who Liam had an affair with, while married to Patsy Kensit. Liam admitted, ‘there were tears’ as he and Molly met last year and ‘got really drunk’.

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Not your father ‘You’re not mine,’ Julio Iglesias tells new son as he launches legal action against paternity ruling

FALLEN: Spacey out and about amid abuse claims

Spaced out DISGRACED actor and producer Kevin Spacey has been filmed playing guitar and singing along with a local band on the streets of Sevilla at 2 am. Footage emerged showing the 60-year-old jovially playing the mandolin with band Tuna de Derecho de Sevilla, a group who study at the University of Sevilla. Speaking to ABC Sevilla, one of the band members, Francisco Rodriguez, said: “I knew that he is fond of music and that he has a group, but I did not expect him to take the guitar and play with us."Just a few weeks ago the Hollywood star had a groping charge against him dropped in Massachusetts - but he is still facing charges in London and Los Angeles over sexual assault allegations.

Gone but not forgotten VALENCIAN singer and ballad composer, Camilo Sesto has died aged 72, his family have said. One of Spain’s biggest pop stars of all time, the Alcoyborn star scored a string of number one hits in a decade-spanning career.

BBC Brexpats LOTHARIO: Julio Iglesias takes ‘new son’ Javier (inset right) to court after paternity battle rules he is 100% the love child Iglesias shares with Maria Edite (inset left)

JULIO Iglesias’ lawyer has filed an appeal against the controversial sentence that named him as the father of 43-year-old Javier Sanchez Santos. The Quieres ser mi amante? crooner passed away after suffering a heart attack at a Madrid hospital. “Dear friends, we are very sorry to inform you that our great and dear artist Camilo Sesto has just left us. Rest in peace,” a family statement read. The Spaniard recorded his first solo LP, Algo de Mi in 1971, and in a glittering career sold more than 70 million albums.

The star singer’s defence reportedly hurried the legal timeframe in which an appeal could be lodged to challenge the ruling from Valencia’s Court of First

Instance no. 13, on July 10. It comes after the Olive Press exclusively interviewed Maria Edite, the mother of Javier Sanchez Santos, in Valencia following the successful sentence. In that court case, judge Jose Miguel Bort cited Julio Iglesias’ refusal to agree to a ‘paternity test’ despite evidence he met Maria Edite during the ‘approximate time of the conception’ of Javier - whom he has refused to ever meet. The night of passion took place in July 1975, in a party room located in the Girona town of Sant Feliu de Guixols, when both Julio

were Maria were performing - Julio as a singer, and Maria as a ballerina. The conception would scandalously have come two months after the birth of Enrique Iglesias, while Julio was still married to Filipina socialite Isabel Preysler. The judge also reached his conclusion based on ‘physical similarities’ between Julio and Javier. The Spanish crooner’s legal team will reportedly argue against the sentence on the grounds that two previous paternity cases were dismissed - repeated proceedings on the same issue are not allowed.

BRITISH expats living in Spain have shared their Brexit concerns with millions of viewers. Presenter Tim Muffet was on the Costa del Sol to talk to members of the expat community, including residents battling illness among uncertainty over post-Brexit healthcare arrangements. Pensioner Dave England, living in Almeria, said his Parkinson’s medicine would cost ‘€1,700’ a month and was only available via prescription. “I can’t afford it, sometimes I wonder if it’s worth going on,” England said live on Breakfast TV. Meanwhile President of Brexpats, Anne Hernandez, reminded viewers that Spain issued a Royal Decree on March 1 saying Brits would be able to access healthcare as normal for 21 months, in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

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Teetotal sands as fines imposed ATTRACTIVE Caló des Moro, near Santanyi, has been declared smoke and alcohol-free. Fines ranging from €50 to €3,000 will be issued for anyone caught smoking

or drinking alcohol on the beach. There will be further fines handed out for graffiti and noise in a bid to curb uncivil tourism.

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

Around 18,000 students were left without classes after at least 59 schools were closed Roads were cut off, trees were uprooted, shops and houses were flooded and even some beaches like Portocolom

A TOTAL of 17 people had to be rescued as heavy storms rocked Mallorca this week. In the freak storms - caused by a so-called ‘gota fria’ - an incredible 23 trees were uprooted, 72 buildings were flooded and dozens of roads were cut off. It comes after the authorities issued a red alert, as a trio of waterspouts and mini tornados also skirted the island. Passengers in six cars had to be rescued in Campanet, Capdepera and on the Formentor peninsula, near Pollensa, as downpours almost submerged their vehicles. Meanwhile three people had to be rescued from their home in Caimari, as rapidly rising flood water rushed in. The emergency services were called to flooding in various other areas, including Calvia and Arta. A total of 56 officers were joined by dozens of firemen to attend to 148 incidents scattered around the island. The sea was so choppy that ten boats were set adrift, while lorries overturned on a couple of ferries. In one instance a Balearia ferry saw three trucks overturn blocking the embarkation of other vehicles. The incident led to protests from fellow passengers, who insisted the company should have taken heed of the red warning and better secured the vehicles. Schools were closed meanwhile in many towns, including Alaro, Deia and Alcudia.

Nearly 20 rescued as storms bring heavy rainfall to Mallorca

HAVOC: Storms rip through Mallorca

PARADISE: Calo des Moro to be protected

FIGHT CLUB TWO men have been arrested on Irish soil after they caused a ruckus on a flight from Mallorca. The two passengers, both in their 30s, had landed at Dublin Airport when a fight broke out between them, at the bottom steps of the plane. Airport police were called to the scene and promptly arrested the pair, who were then handed to the Garda Síochana. The Garda said they have now released the men, pending further investigation into the altercation. Via The Journal, an Aer Lingus spokesman confirmed that the flight landed safely in Ireland’s capital.

Husband beats up wife A WOMAN who was brutally struck several times to the head and chest by her husband remains in critical condition at Son Espases Hospital, Mallorca. The assailant, 50, a Cuban known as Juan PR, severely injured his former partner, 44, on Wednesday afternoon, just outside the Campos district. The assailant then handed himself in to a police patrol on the streets, before going to the Guardia Civil headquarters. The assault took place after a heated argument broke out between the pair, who together have two small children.

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

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Money spinner TOURISTS spend more money in Palma than any other Spanish city. And the Mallorcan capital is the third-highest grossing tourism hotspot in Europe. An incredible €11.4 million euros was spent in the city in 2018, compared to just €7.1 million in Barcelona and €4.7 million in Madrid. The city has also cemented its place in the top 20 most popular tourist destinations in the world. It is 19th in the list, with 8.9 million tourists, with only Barcelona coming higher at 17th place with 9 million visitors. Bangkok comes top with 22 million tourists a year, with London and Paris, second and third with 19 million tourists. Spain also does well for overall tourist earnings, coming in second only to America for money spent in the country. Spain is also the second most visited country in the world, just behind France and ahead of the US and the UK.

Caging opinion Locals defend so-called expat owned ‘zoo from hell’ after it was exposed in the UK and EXCLUSIVE Mallorca press By Gillian Keller

A CONTROVERSIAL Mallorca zoo has hit back after angry tourists complained about the ‘poor physical and mental condition’ of the animals. One holiday-maker described, ‘emaciated tigers, a bald monkey, injured birds and animals in poor condition, physically and mentally’ at Safari Zoo, in Sa Coma, near Porto Cristo. Her claims were printed in both the Sun newspaper and followed up in Mallorca paper Ultima Hora as well as the Euro Weekly News, that does not have a journalist on the island.

Sick

Although Brooklyn Webber, from Suffolk, was outraged at what she described as the ‘zoo from hell’, others were quick to defend the park, which is 50 years old. “People tend to forget these animals are almost always rescued or injured before

coming to a zoo or safari park like this,” Anne-Marie Walker, a retired zookeeper in Palma, told the Olive Press this week. “Many of the bigger animals have been rescued from circuses or other dangerous situations,” the expat from Boston continued. The German zoo owner also hit back at the negative press. “The photos and comments shared on Facebook and TripAdvisor do not accurately represent conditions at the park,” said director Henning Mentz, who is based on the island.

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trade union, she has also brought in a lawyer to appeal on her behalf. It comes as Catalan separatist leaders reiterated their goal of breaking from Spain at an annual independence march in Barcelona. Protests have taken place on Diada day (September 11) for the last few years and are likely to continue, while nine Catalan leaders are still in prison over the unauthorised referendum of two years ago.

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the impact of the glass suggesting that the window is likely to have been hit by a 'forceful object’ instead.

Catalan ban A WOMAN has been banned from her job working at Palma Airport for speaking Catalan to a policeman. Employee Paula Rotger has denounced the 30 day ban insisting she is the victim of language descrimination. She insists it is ‘completely unfair’ for AENA the airport authorities to withdraw her pass, after she was accused of failing to talk in Castilian Spanish to a Guardia Civil officer. As well as speaking to her

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mother. Meanwhile, five were killed during the raid while others suffered broken spines. Mia said: “Despite everything, I am just happy that those 16 lives are free from harm. They make everything worth it. “The farmer was extremely aggressive and attacked us, strangling activists and smashing their heads with metal poles. “The police came and told us to leave peacefully, which we did. After we left the farmers chased us down the motorway at 200km for an hour.” It comes after Catalunya police said it was unlikely a shotgun was fired, with

CONFUSED: Row over whether zoo animals are mistreated ger’ was actually a photo taken “ O n e key’s back to be shaved.” claims to He continued: “The zoo has a 10 years ago. show a vet on-site at all times to tend Part of the reason the safari m o n k e y to the animals should they suf- park was originally opened in Mallorca in 1969 - 50 years losing its fer injury or become sick.” hair when in fact, he had re- And, most alarmingly, he ago - was that the climate is cently undergone surgery that insisted one of the photos very similar to the animals’ required a section on the mon- shared this week of a ‘sick ti- native homes in Africa.

A BRITISH expat vegan has been blamed for the death of up to 100 rabbits after a so-called ‘rescue mission’ backfired in Catalunya. ‘Mythical Mia’ - as she is known to her thousands of followers - broke into a farm in Osona and drove off with 16 of the animals before posting a video of herself on social media with a bloodstained face and legs. In the clip, she told her 40,000 Instagram fans that farmers had pursued her and shot at her through the car window. But according to local sources, 90 rabbits had to be put down because they were left without a

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BREXIT CRISIS

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

AS the world’s oldest democracy came to a shuddering halt thanks to Boris Johnson’s peroguing putsch the Olive Press carried out its own democratic exercise. The results of our exclusive online poll of more than 2000 readers revealed that 73% of expats would vote to remain if given the chance again. This is pretending as if most of us got much of say last time round. The burning truth is most of us could not vote despite the fact we stood to be most affected. The ‘Will of the People’ to not extend to the pueblos of Axarquía or Calpe despite friends, family and business links we as Brits residents in Spain have with the UK. The expat vote in Spain alone could have tipped the result of the referendum, but why stop there. Give the right to vote to some 5.5 million Brits living abroad and put this Brexit bollocks to bed for a generation.

In the line of duty NEWS that one of our own has been attacked while covering a story has shocked us, fortunately it is not something that happens often. Not that that fact will console poor Simon, only weeks into his new job as Costa Blanca South reporter. Simon was attacked while looking into a case of out of control squatting after an expat called in with tales of an urbanization overrun. Headbutted and glasses snatched, he was nevertheless determined not to be intimidated and continue his report on behalf of the expat community. He himself brushed off the affair as simply more evidence of the harassment the expat residents of Formentera del Segura have had to suffer 24 hours a day. We will not be put off, the sooner the squatters are turfed out the better. PUBLISHER / EDITOR Jon Clarke jon@theolivepress.es

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BREXIT

after all the arguing, where do you stand now?

OPINION We would make the difference

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

With the Brexit D-Day looming and battle lines drawn, the Olive Press takes the temperature of expats around Spain, three quarters of whom would vote to remain if given the choice again. Research by Jacque Talbot and Laurence Dollimore

N Olive Press online poll has revealed that almost three-quarters of expats in Spain would rather remain in the EU than leave. However, in an exclusive poll of over 2,100 readers, we discovered that an eye-catching 27% still want Britain to leave the union, despite having a potentially detrimental effect on their healthcare, pensions and freedom of movement. As the UK edges ever nearer to our supposed departure on October 31, anxiety levels are rising among many of the hundreds of thousands of British expats around Spain. So concerned are the estimated three million Brits, who live around Europe, that the British Foreign Office has just launched a €3.2m campaign to help calm fears - and coordinate advice. Despite the Spanish government and Junta insisting the rights of British expats will be respected, nothing has been set in stone. The continuing uncertain status of expats in Europe is already limiting our ability to plan or make life-changing decisions, while some expats have already been turned down for everything from mortgages to job interviews, claims Germany-based expat group, The British in Europe Coalition.

Families

“Confusion over immigration status, the British settled status scheme, and the right to return to the UK or the continent with our families is causing turmoil to Brits in Europe and EU citizens in the UK,” explained spokesman Rose Newell. “Many families now face the risk of being forced to choose between loved ones back home and partners or children. “A no-deal scenario is a disaster for British citizens in the EU, who will face 27 different no-deal solutions across the EU. “ The loss of freedom of movement, a right many of us freely exercise, is something many British citizens will mourn. “Many people’s livelihoods, especially those of frontier workers in Gibraltar are already at risk – and this will worsen in the event of a no-deal Brexit.”

DRAGGING IT OUT: Boris Johnson is hellbent on forcing Brexit on Ocober 31

Expats voting would have changed result If the huge number of British expats abroad (estimated at 5.5 million) were allowed to vote in the 2016 poll - and given that at least 73% appear in favour of remaining in the EU, as the exclusive Olive Press poll conducted on Facebook over a week suggests - this would have firmly tipped the referendum the other way. She also estimates that over 80% of all Brits living outside the UK have lost their right to vote, which - if true - makes a mockery that it was a democratic vote, as local British businessman. A leaked report from the UK Treasury two weeks ago, called Yellowhammer, backed this up warning of potential four hour queues getting in and out of the Rock. It also warned that British citizens travelling to the EU could be limited to 90-day stays and subject to tighter passport controls. It added that in the worst case scenario British expats will lose associated rights and access to services, which may include health-

BOOST FOR CRIMINALS A NO-DEAL Brexit could turn see Britain become a 'safe haven' for dangerous foreign criminals, according to classified police documents.

BREXIT IN BRIEF It could also make it harder to pursue dangerous British gangs, rapists and paedophiles, who flee to Europe to evade justice. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) raised concerns that if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, police officers could lose tools which help them track and trace suspects. Alongside the International Crime Co-ordination Centre (ICCC) it believes the UK ‘could be seen as

a safe haven for foreign criminals.’ It believes that a hard Brexit could impede on the police being able to access EU databases, meaning the hunt for “missing persons” or “wanted offenders” could become “slower, less effective, and more bureaucratic.” The news comes just one month after the government's Operation Yellowhammer, which revealed that law enforcement data and ease of information sharing between the UK and EU will be disrupted.

care. What grates many expats is the fact that so many were unable to vote in the last referendum due to a soon to be scrapped 15-year rule. To gain deeper insight into the issues facing us all as we approach deadline day, we spoke to ten expats across the spectrum of ages and backgrounds for their views.

“

Karen Livermore, 55, ex-Editor Woman and Woman’s Own

My partner and I only moved here nine weeks ago, and it was a joy to escape the ridiculousness of the UK government and the whole Brexit shambles. I think at the time of the referendum much was made of the horrors of belonging to the EU, migration and of course the tactics of Nigel Farage, that the whole issue became clouded and the British public did not know what they were voting for. Since then, global economies have changed and people in the UK are now becoming fully aware of what leave will mean for them. If there were a second referendum the outcome would be very different, I’m sure of that. And anyone thinking Trump will be there to hand the UK massive trade deals… really?”

BREXIT CRISIS

www.theolivepress.es

COUNTDOWN

7 Olive Press online

September 13th - September 26th, 2019 that’s the

Spain’s best English news website

ON TOP: Olive Press website traffic for last four weeks

FIGURE IT OUT : CHECK, CHECK AND CHECK AGAIN REBEL ALLIANCE: Opposition leaders plot grand no-deal Brexit escape plan

David Giles, 61, concert promoter, Marbella:

“ Peter Langdale, 64, farmer, Axarquia:

“

It’s a complete farce. They talk about it being a democratic decision, but it clearly wasn’t as only a quarter of the country voted. Us expats, who are as British as anyone back home, were not allowed to vote if we’ve lived in Spain for 15 years. We were denied a vote - that in itself is anti-democratic. The people who live here and voted leave, they think it’s a golf club. They have no idea what Brexit will do to our economy. It will impact our import business as bringing in food to the UK will go through custom entry, meaning further delays for our clients and the British public. They say they voted leave because of immigration. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m an immigrant, and like most other immigrants, when I moved country, I just wanted to work. If they all leave the UK, what will happen to the NHS?”

Dean Holie, 60, owner of boat charter business Norton Charter, in Duquesa:

“

I voted leave, and I feel even more strongly about that now than before. Of course it is going to be tough for the UK, but I believe the country will come back stronger than ever before. I believe us expats will be fine after a couple of years of small issues.”

I would have liked to remain. If something is not broken, why bother to try and fix it? To remain in the EU makes sense in every way - both economically and strategically for the UK. I think the reason people in the UK want to leave is because of this old ideology. This post-World War 2 idea about the country being a global superpower, which just isn’t the case anymore.”

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

But beware, there are many tricksters out there: Media owners far too willing to cut corners by buying links to their websites, followers to their Twitter feeds and likes to their Facebook pages. The moral however, is cheats never prosper. As any IT or SEO specialists worth their salt will tell you; Google and other search engines soon find out and they will be punished. The way to be sure is to ask for an actual Google Analytics report. The Olive Press is always happy to send out one for whatever period a potential client might want. We can give you an audience breakdown by age, sex and nationality at the touch of a button. Always, always ask for actuals and be VERY wary of any sites or social media pages that show sudden, suspicious surges in popularity or likes. As the Olive Press has discovered through exclusive investigations in Spain, numerous suspect businesses have set up offering Facebook likes, Twitter followers, or say Trip Advisor reviews … for a fee! One company CGI, based in Benalmadena, offered to do 50 reviews ‘of any business’ for €400 – with payments made by cash or PayPal. See story here: https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2018/08/31/ exclusive-costa-del-sol-business-selling-fake-reviews-on-tripadvisor/

Alan David Ashley, 75, retired factory manager, Malaga:

“

I was torn. I wasn’t sure whether it would be good or bad to leave the EU. The thing is, I didn’t have all the facts, so I couldn’t make a fair decision. However, I don’t believe that the UK will leave because there are too many ifs and buts. It’s not like the old days - we don’t have a strong enough prime minister to see us right.”

Lindsey Honey, 63, film producer and actor, in Orba:

“

From a moral point of view, I thought it was a good thing to leave. When we joined, we joined a common market - but now we’ve got these unelected bureaucrats running things like a mafia. Our country’s like a little Italian deli, telling them ‘we’re not going to pay your protection money anymore’. And they’re like, ‘No, we can’t let you out because everyone else will want out’. We can’t leave - these people are too powerful. It’s like Hotel California.

THE Olive Press website has had a veritable summer of love. Www.theolivepress.es is now definitively Spain’s Number One news website. In August we had an amazing 1.4 MILLION visitors and an incredible 1.7 MILLION page views, and we continue to climb the Google analytics and Alexa.com charts. We’re growing all the time - due to an increased investment in real journalism - and are now at 72.000 position in the world, according to Alexa.com. This is enhanced by our 21,000 Facebook followers, 7,200 Twitter followers and our rapidly increasing in-roads on Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. We are getting around 50,000 unique visitors a day and the numbers are soaring.

FACEBOOK FIDDLES

A simple check is to have a look at individual posts on Facebook and count the number of ‘likes’. The Olive Press is averaging about 40 to 50 likes per story, while many of our rivals are getting single figures, unless, of course, they boost (advertise) the post.

Ed Allison-Wright, 31, director at World Trade Center, Gibraltar:

“

Gibraltar has the potential, resilience and determination to actually come out of Brexit very well. It brings lots to businesses and the talent within the area remains globally competitive. Despite the uncertainty associated with Brexit, the lifestyle choices between Gibraltar and northern European destinations remain clear and compelling.”

THE MEDIA GROUP WITH REAL NUMBERS

Online stats are easily to manipulate, but if you do your checks you should find the best place to promote your business. All in all, we are the media group WITH THE NUMBERS! Don’t forget it. Send us an email today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 so we can find you a better, more effective way to market your business.

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

- CONFIRMED: Government will uprate UK State Pension

for those living in the EU until March 2023 in event of nodeal Brexit (45,872)

2 3

- ‘Europe’s best theme park’ just opened in Spain and it looks AMAZING (37,310)

(36,042)

- WATCH: Secret filming reveals Goldcar staff ‘BULLY’ tour-

5 Continues on Page 8

- WORTH IT? First findings emerge after Benidorm Mirador destroyed in search of ruins that ‘might not exist’

ists and charge ‘€300 for scratch’ on Spain’s Costa del Sol and Costa del Sol (30,715)

- BAD CALL: Wanted Italian mafia boss rumbled on Spain’s Costa del Sol after making rookie mistake while driving (27,711)

Visitors: 702,122

Page views: 915,298

BREXIT CRISIS

www.theolivepress.es

BREXIT IN BRIEF President prepares for nodeal Brexit

Property prices to fall if the UK leaves the EU

PRESIDENT of the Junta de Andalucia, Juanma Moreno, has been making plans to alleviate the effect of a hard Brexit. Moreno has stated that the area is liable to be affected because of the high number of British people living in Andalucia and the large quantities of tourists who visit each year.

PROPERTY prices may fall if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal. According to global accountancy firm KPMG, Northern Ireland will see the biggest drop in the next 12 months, of around 7.5%, while London may suffer a 7% decrease.

Paul Kingham, 47, owner of Novas bar, in Javea:

“

Following my dreams, I opened my first bar/restaurant in Javea two weeks before brexit was announced. Year on year, it has been increasingly obvious that the UK tourists are spending less and less on going out. The conversation points to people still visiting, but staying more in their villas, stocking up at the supermarkets and saving their everdecreasing pound sterling. I think we will have a couple of years while we wait for stability in the currency to reset. When people know the value of their hard-earned cash then they will venture out again. I suspect it will take a decade for the pound to be strong again.”

From Page 7

Christine Wibbett, 68, Estepona, retired:

“

I didn’t vote but I am happy to leave the EU. We’ve gone too far down the line for anything to be reversed now. But, at the moment, it’s just a bloody mess. Theresa May tried her best but, like the rest of them, politicians are more concerned with their own status than anything else.”

Oscar Gonzalez, ex diplomat, based in Marbella

“

“The arguments put forward by the three Brexiteers on your article last issue boil down to the usual vague, populist, stubborn and provincial reasons lo leave the EU: Proud to be British, regaining sovereignty, etc. On the other hand one could write a 500-page book with solid reasons to remain such as certification of medicaments, fast movement across EU countries of human organs for transplantation and of short life isotopes for nuclear medicine! The ailments of the UK (like de-industrialization, the selling of important and strategic assets i.e. the remains of the once proud automotive industry to foreign interests, immigration, etc) have little to do with the EU. Churchill once said that democracy was the second best way to run a country, the first best not yet found. The same with the EU.

Read more on what Brexit means for you at www.theolivepress. es Have your say: email us at newsdesk@theolivepress.es Agree or disagree with our poll? Join the debate... follow us on Facebook, Twitter or our website

September 13th - September 26th, 2019 Guy McCrow, 35, owner of the Beach House Marbella:

“

Brexit is a perception thing and as a business owner, I’ve tried to stay out of it as much as possible. It’s really a load of hot air. Some of our customers ask us about it, whether we are worried what it will do to our business - but, no I don’t - it’s all perception. Our English customers seem to have put the whole thing out of their heads, too, partying harder this summer than ever before.”

Company warning AROUND 90,000 Spanish companies have received letters from the government warning of the potential effects of a nodeal Brexit. The country’s tax agency, Hacienda, has recommended the atrisk businesses take steps to adapt to the possibility that the UK could leave with EU without an agreement on October 31. The letters list the new customs, tax and health-related requirements that businesses will have to meet to engage in cross-border trade. The industries which will face the biggest challenges will be those which export agri-food and animal products to the UK, thanks to the new health and quality requirements which could be imposed.

PENSIONS IN PERIL

BRITISH expats living in the EU may only have their state pension uprated for the next three years if a no-deal Brexit takes place. After March 2023 it is unknown if expats will see uprat-

ing continue on a long-term basis, confirmed the UK government. Currently, State Pension is uprated each year by either the standard 2.5%, the Consumer Price Index or average wage.

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LA CULTURA

Do you have a what’s on?

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

what’s on Classic cars

Red alert

A THOUSAND-year-old fortress in Spain has been flagged up on the risk list over fears it is on the verge of collapse. The Hispania Nostra heritage association has included La Popa castle near Barcelona on its ‘Red List’. The database keeps track of all national monuments and sites in Spain that may disappear if urgent measures are not taken. The ancient complex, on top of a 100-metre long rock formation in Castellcir, is reportedly ‘in a very bad state’. It comes after technicians labelled the condition of La Popa’s ancient walls and chapel as ‘catastrophic’.

ACT TWO

Sword in the stone A SWORD from the bronze age has been unearthed in Puigpunyent by local archaeologists. The sword was dug up while a team of archaeologists were preparing to open the Talaiot del Serral de ses Abelles archaeology site as a museum. The 3,200-year-old sword was a ‘huge surprise’ to the team as it is the first such relic found at the site. It came after a member of the team saw a tip of the handle peeking out of the ground. After digging and removing boulders they were able to pull out the sword in almost perfect condition. The artefact is assumed to have belonged to an aristocratic family.

TripAdvisor’s ‘best theme park in Europe’ opens sister park in Spain

EUROPE’S top theme park, according to TripAdvisor, receives more than two million annual visitors despite having no rides - and Spain is about to find out why. The famous French theme park Puy Du Fou has opted to open a second site on the outskirts of Toledo. Puy Du Fou Espana is modeled on its French counterpart, which is the second most popular theme park in France after Disneyland Paris. The park attracts two million visitors a year through its

Send your information to newsdesk@theolivepress.es

EPIC: Shows re-enact scenes from Spanish history gates with historical set piece to enjoy the El Sueno de Toreenactments featuring vi- ledo performance, which is king ship battles and warring based on 1,500 years of Spankings - all set in the Middle ish history. Ages. Spread across 30 hectares, From 2021, visitors to Spain’s Puy du Fou Espana will put latest theme park will be able on four shows every day.

Horsing around A CHARITY equestrian event is set to entertain all ages while raising funds for the Allen Graham Charity 4 Kidz. The Riding Academy Mallorca has been working with Heike Rigbers, an awardwinning horse trainer from Germany, and together with support from Dahler and Company Real Estate have put together a family-friendly charity event. On September 14, more than 60 riders of varying levels will compete in a skillful dressage tournament. The event is free but there will be many opportunities to donate to the charity including bidding on spectacular prizes. The event begins at 10 am at Hipica Son Magraner and all proceeds help children in orphanages and children’s homes around Mallorca.

MALLORCA Classic Week returns to Port Adriano with parades of classic cars and the popular ‘Miss Pin-Up’ contest with retro-styled women and American muscle cars from September 18-22.

Fair play MENORCA’S annual autumn fair returns from September 14 to 16, filled with live music, art exhibits, markets and a special craft-beer tasting event.

Night Art FOR over 30 years Palma has hosted La Nit de l’Art, a weekend full of cultural and artistic events including museum specials and film premieres, on every evening from September 19 to 21.

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LA CULTURA

NEWS

A TURN TOO FAR September 13th - September 26th, 2019

Jack Gaioni explores a notorious Civil War concentration camp, why a Republican turned fascist and how Franco controlled the Spanish press

F you were hoping to read a pleasant ‘feel good’ article, read no further. If you were hoping to read some logical, ‘moral-to-the story account’ - again, read no further. What follows is illogical, disturbing, and, at times, horrendous. It will leave you with more questions than answers. If you choose to continue reading, consider the enigmatic life of Carlos Rodriguez del Risco… Born in 1901 in the Catalunyan pueblo of Vilanova i la Geltru, Carlos Rodriguez del Risco grew up sympathetic to the Republican (anti-Franco) cause. At the close of the Spanish Civil War, like thousands of other defeated Republican soldiers and sympathizers, he fled to France to avoid the revengeful wrath of Franco. He was interned in a barbed wire ‘enclosure’ camp along the French border. The conditions were dreadful. Hundreds died due to exposure, brutal treatment, pneumonia and malnutrition. For a young military man like SLAVE LABOUR: Republican prisoners forced to pull rocks up hill

Carlos, there was an al- the Mauthausen camp. Roternative: join the French driguez del Risco was also Foreign Legion. He did an eye-witness to the Nazis exactly that but his timing performing pseudo-scientifcould not have been worse. ic experiments, lynchings, This was the start of World lethal injections, beatings War II and his battalion and sadistic humiliations was used as cannon fodder from guards, gold-tooth exagainst the Germans. He traction, starvation, electrowas captured by the Na- cution, hypothermia, and zis and, along with 7,000 malnutrition. Most died other Spanhowever from ish Republiexceptionally cans, sent to hard labour as As many as the notorious Mauthausen M a u t h a u s e n 20,000 Jews were was primarily concentraa slave labor subject to the tion camp in camp. Five Austria. From thousand of gas chamber on Carlos’s Span1940-1945 Rodriguez ish Republithe spot del Risco witcan companessed untriots did not imaginable survive. horrors. The camp was used On May 5,1945 the Mauto imprison ‘the incorrigi- thausen concentration ble political enemies of the camp was liberated by Reich’: socialists, commu- American forces. Most of nists, freemasons, homo- the surviving Spanish Resexuals, anarchists, gypsies, publicans returned again to AND Spanish Republicans France fearing retribution whose ideology was espe- for their fervent anti-Franco cially anathema to Nazi fas- politics. Rodriguez del Riccism. As many as 20,000 co chose a different trajecJews were subject to the gas tory. One year after he was chamber on the spot even freed from the horrors of before being registered in Mauthausen, Carlos was in

Madrid and began writing a series of accounts entitled: ‘Yo he estado en Mauthausen’ (‘I was at Mauthausen’) in Arriba - the officially sanctioned newspaper for the Franco regime and the voice of the Falange. Carlos recounted his eyewitness accounts of the aforementioned Mauthau-

sen nightmare in a series of 28 installments. Stylistically, his articles were non-fiction, part adventure story, part diary, and part political. He is detailed in his descriptions of the torment and horror that he and other Spanish Republicans suffered at the hands of the Nazis. His narrative

has been deemed original and factually accurate by Holocaust historians. For example, Carlos was able to observe the high-ranking officer Heinrich Himmler’s

SAVED AT LAST: Mauthausen survivors cheer the soldiers of the Eleventh Armored Division of the US Third Army a day after their liberation. Photo Donald R. Ornitz

Jakin Boor (aka dictator Franco) Arriba was the official newspaper of the Spanish State under Franco for the next 35 years. Carlos’s Yo he estado en Mauthausen was not the only serialized set of articles spewing vitriolic anti-semantic sentiment. Interestingly, it was Franco himself, writing under the pseudonym Jakin Boor, who would begin to write a series of articles which would continue to rant against freemasonry, Communism and Jews, but additionally the formation of the State of Israel. In August, 1949 Arriba carried an article written by Franco entitled ‘Alta masoneria’ (High Masonry) which declared: “The recognition of Israel and its entry into the United Nations is hypocritical and [its] unjust conduct towards Spain, obeys exclusively the dictates of free masonry.” An earlier Arriba article put forth: “The international JewishMasonic conspiracy is the creator of the great evils that have arrived for humanity; such are capitalism and Marxism”. During Spain’s transition to democracy soon after Franco’s death, the Spanish Council of Ministers ordered the closure of the newspaper Arriba. In June of 1979, Arriba’s final issue was published.

FASCIST: Rag that featured General Franco’s articles

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

DID YOU KNOW?

“Mauthausen concentration camp is to the Spanish Republicans what Auschwitz is to the Jews”

The Photographer of Mauthausen is a 2018 Spanish biographical/ historical film. The movie, starring Mario Casas (left), tells the life of photographer Francesco Boix during his imprisonment in Mauthausen. Based on real events, Boix was able to smuggle photographs that were later used as evidence of Nazi crimes during the Nuremberg trials. The movie is free on Netflix.

Dr R.Wheatley, author Hitler and Spain

PHOTOGRAPHER: Francesco Boix’s tale told in Netflix biopic

inspection of the camp. and a little more or less food (1941). He identified by would result in scenes of a name individual S.S. guards son beating his own father.” who were particularly bru- He blames the Jews as guilty tal. He was able to detail for their own slaughter while the little-known account he calls Hitler a ‘true patriot of a train-load arrival of who feels the pressing need entire Spanish Republican to work for the resurgence families. He was witness to of his country - a man withthe ‘astonishment, anger out a doubt, extraordinary.” and terror’ of Spanish boys According to Rodriguez del as young as 10 being im- Risco’s account, the real prisoned ‘despite the des- masterminds behind the peration of the cruelties he women, mothsuffered and ers, sisters observed were Carlos and wives Hitler’s adviwho stayed on sors and Mauannounced the train’ and thausen’s SS his complete were sent back guards. to Spain to an Curiously, devotion to unknown fuRodriguez Franco ture. del Risco also Yet, in the wrote of his same serial‘political conized articles Rodriguez del version’ when he began Risco writes of a political to renounce his long-held about-face. He obscures his defense of Republican ideconcentration camp expe- ology. He condemned his riences with virulent anti- fellow captive compatriots Semitic diatribes. Parts of claiming they ‘had stained Yo he estado en Mauthausen their hands with blood’. Carare wildly unsympathetic los announced his complete to the extermination of the devotion to Franco and the Jews that he witnessed. His Nationalistic cause when he hardened portrayal of the declared in his last article: Jews is revealed when he “Catholic by conviction. I states that: “They (the Jews) am a soldier of the Church; lack humanity and are hypo- a fervent Spaniard. I will crites, fakes and egotists always be a loyal servant of

my country. And my country is now, whether or not the communists and renegades like it, unanimously represented by Franco - a man providently chosen to liberate it from the most tremendous loss of life of all time.” It would be easy to dismiss Yo he estado en Mauthausen as purely Francoist propaganda. But the author’s political about-face raises some interesting questions: Was Rodriguez del Risco forced at gun-point (figuratively

and maybe even literally) to write this account? Was Carlos subject to what psychologists have called ‘Stockholm syndrome’ where by prisoners often identify with their captors? Was he sane? Was Carlos the first example of what would later be called a ‘Holocaust denier’? Was this typical of the political climate in Spain in 1946? Even though Carlos’s narrative is grounded in historical fact, how much can be trusted as something other than politi-

cal propaganda for the Franco regime? We will probably never know the answers to these questions. Carlos Rodriguez del Risco would never be heard of publicly again after his articles were published. He would die less than three years later with no direct descendants. His story remains complicated, contradictory, fascinating, incomprehensible yet always horrific. Remember…you were warned.

Another famous survivor to emerge from the Mauthausen concentration camp was Simon Wiesenthal. He would dedicate his life to tracking down Nazi war criminals - most notably, Adolf Eichmann. The clinical definition of the Stockholm syndrome reads: “A psychological condition where prisoners express positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with their captors.”

PATH: Route Republicans took through Pyrenees

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As Brexit tensions boiling point, John reach Culatto explores why Gibraltar National this could be the Rock’sDay significant one yet most

MINISTRY of Defence workers could soon receive similar wages to civil servants on the Rock. It comes after Chief Minister Fabian Picardo backed the union pay claim, saying he would bring it up with ministers in London. Picardo pledged his ‘full support’ for all MoD employees against what he called UK ‘austerity’. "It is remarkable that it is now those working as locally employed civilians in the Ministry of Defence, who are being negatively impacted by UK austerity as they have been,” said Picardo. “Historically, Gibraltar has really turned a corner when we see our people having to seek parity of wages with Gibraltar Government salaries, and not the other way around as was the case almost 40 years ago.”

ET ready for the biggest the year when Gibraltar party of Spanish aggression. declares With it is red, white and Brexit tensions free. There is no latest National Day running high, this is bound to be bigger Rock in all its vibrantbetter time to see the than ever. than National Day character and colour Gibraltar has always stood Every year since at Casemates Square. September 10, 1992 throughout its 300-year history.by Britain the people of Gibraltar have assembled National Day is a celebration of what to show their desire Theto be British and defy Continues

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Mallorca Issue 62

one English news consolidates its reign as the number s.es IT’S OFFICIAL: exclusive content visit www.theolivepres site in Spain…. see page 7. For more

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The British expats who are proBrexit and proud SEE PAGE 7

August 30th - September 12th 2019 Vol. 3 Issue 62 www.theolivepress.es

KICK IN THE STOMACH preparing Health authorities are reportedlyhandling of heavy sanctions for failures in the food and ‘structural deficiencies’. at 6ft 2, A top scorer in his club and standing be signed by Baunbag was last year tipped to English Premier League club Liverpool. Reds said the In November, agents from the well’ in Eng19-year-old’s qualities ‘could fit were trackland and made it known that they ing him. off the pitch The rising star will now be firmly while he recovers from sickness. was first outbreak Salmonella the of alarm The

A RISING football star is one of at least 51 customers believed to have been poisoned at a Japanese restaurant in Mallorca. de Real Mallorca B footballer Victor Baunbag is among the dozens to have fallen ill this week after eating at Dragon Sushi on Calle Blanqerna in Palma. in MaThe Cameroonian forward, born already drid, is one of many who have bacteria tested positive for Salmonella - the found in uncooked meats and seafood.

Hair

Malaga-based pharmaceutical company Farma-Quimica Sur SL has been found to be the source of the batch. lot The affected batch is from re11072/10/42 and most have been are called while any missing packets being tracked down. Parents have been advised to seek medical help if their child has been given the formula and check with their an pharmacy if they have purchased as affected lot. Hypertrichosis, known ‘werewolf syndrome’, is a rare condition characterised by excessive hair growth anywhere on a person’s body. Those with the condition have historiand cally been subject to great interest in in somes cases forced to perform travelling circuses and freak shows. inSpanish authorities have said this cident is isolated to children’s formula and that adults taking omeprazole capsules should not worry about developing symptoms. When the children their prescription the stopped taking hair growth subsided. Opinion Page 6

when raised 19-year-old Carlos Mora the entered emergency the restaurant. room the morning after eating at later that However it wasn’t until two days safety inspecDragon Sushi was closed by food tors, who ordered tests to be performed. stands at While the current number of victims could climb 51, authorities believe that figureremain closed much higher. The restaurant will until the case is complete.

VICTORY! Rental websites which scammed British holidaymakers out of thousands FINALLY shut down following Olive Press exposes

May 9th - May 22nd

CRIME

2019

Vox 4 blocked www.theolivepress.es

Dream Killas

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Introducing News Editor Laurence Dollimore and Reporter Joshua Parfitt any Contact them with on stories or newsemail 951 273 575 or newsdesk@theolivepress.es

NEWS

April 25th - May 8th 2019 for BeniVOX’S top candidate been replaced dorm mayor has he received a after revelations sentence A BRITISH for expat is being handed a prestigious British gong by the Queen for her two-year prison in February services to tourists in Alicante. domestic violence Candida Wright will receive an MBE for two years ago from the British Ambassa2018. banher charitable work as an interpreter in dor to Spain. Brigido was Perez Davidparty THE socialist (PSOE) largest hospital in the Marina Alta, on Though she is a professional interpreter, election,thedespite the ned Candida often represents victims of sexual will hold on to from the Valencian May 16. MYSTERY surrounds the sentences sometimes government in the upcoming 58-year-old, known as ‘Candy’, has violence in Spanish courts for free, as well The if two-year the apparent suicide of an elin Spain offering financial support through her regional elections, according volunteered being waived derly British resident on con- with HELP of Denia & Mari- as charity. to a marketaccused research company. na Alta since it launched in 1984. has no previous the Costa Blanca. Sigma Dos revealed PSOE will During that time she has helped expats “One of the hardest things is when someofew The 84-year-old expat victions. to lung cancer a to have through cancer, bereavement, bureaucra- ne comes to the desk saying ‘my husband take between 29-30 seats, whiwas found threw herself from a bridge Brigido is helping mother Perez died and I don’t know what to do’,” expcy and court battles. Party (PP) will le the Popular ex-wife, his years ago. THE Olive Press in Javea after being seen legal action “My nephews and nieces were ‘repeatedly fallabused’ from As the president of the charity, she runs lained Candy, who lives in Ondara with see its representation her threw victims take ‘pacing frantically’ by the to it as 31 seats to 22-23. helphair desk at the Marina Salud hospital her Spanish husband. Her two children, rental comafter he ‘shoved and theher looking forward against a holiday railings. 35 and 25, live in Madrid and Valencia But with the totalground, seats inpulled in Denia. abroad,” holiday- really to the face’. A neighbour, who asked pany that scammedfor rental they have never been Valencia’s Generalitat at 99, “The most exciting thing was the pink in- respectively. While she helps with hospiher in the punched Olive Press. andneed dis- I was posted with the words tal procedures, burials and repatriation, not to be named, told the the card PSOE will again to form vitation Deleslie told the makers thousands Blanca. alsoa found saving up The judge Olive Press he saw the wohad coalition to reach the absolute politician BP (Buckingham Palace),” Candida told she’s often called upon to just be a ‘helping villas on the Costa paper was “I spent two years conned Brits abroad we just can’t graced man ‘peering over the edge’ hand’ to someone in need. majority of 50 seats. far-right Press. theand Olive‘deVillas Spain site It comes as the victims of for this trip, and new villa. after squeezing between a The poll suggests the PSOE‘insulted’ will it meant British Petroleum at “You’re sometimes dealing with people “I thought SCAM: Dream frequently 2014 to 2017. who was contacted by new following afford to pay for Ro- returns from phone the woman, who are cancer patients, or need amputamake a pact meaned’ with Valencianist first.” she joked. fence and a steel support ‘general manager’ stress kids are devastated.” There is no available Dream Villas Spain, Compromis seats)post-traumatic and The expat, who has lived in Spain for 45 tions, and it just gives you a wonderful feweb- (17-18 pillar at one end of the brion the plight The helped the family make whichAlba Gutierrez has shut left with (the one on the last issue’s report years, received a ‘Points of Light’ award eling to think ‘I really helped them today’.” MEETING QUEEN: Candida left-wing populist Podemos dge. House number been disconnected) who lost We after De- sella (6-7Alba seats). disorder. site has a police denuncia, lose ‘more Spain’s Companies of the Bolton family, rental. It was about an hour befoRosella Dream Villas The regional re police were alerted to a leslie said she willflights were and reveals that registered as and the name €2,000 on a Moraira in elections will fall 42, has now on May 26 the same day as the appears nowhere suicide attempt over the Petra Deleslie, after losing than €12,000’ asand her bank Spain, which is was incor- Gutierrez European elections. dry Gorgos riverbed while the list of employees. contacted us a villa in Mo- already booked claim their Digital Dream SL, Olifor ‘data pro- Another victim told the See children played on a nearby election porated in 2014 hosting’. €6,000 booking for her ex- were unable to hadour football pitch. on page 6 this week she guide and web money back. raira later this year Press cessing Carrer de la Fe, in ve Pressa villa in Marbella as “She was holding a white 18. in showed the Olive tended family of paper bag and kept looking for four after she She it filed tax booked Dream Vi- Based a surprise getaway We agreed to help‘desperate’ emails asking refund, after Palma, Mallorca, in the bag and then leaning 18-year-old have scammed a friends and five told us she was losing her llas Spain for a over the edge,” the neighLevels CON artists out of €300 bour told the Olive Press. daughters as a post-A for a break after British pensioner help him reto “I wanted to ask her what present. in Lon- after pretending she was doing, but I womoney left at a cashpoint Sarah Adam, based is convinced cover rried she spoke only SpaSaturday. don, told us she scammed. in Javea last proceTHE owners of a bike shop are 77, was approanish and assumed she was Town Hall beganthat the she has also been appealing Brian Stokes, families scammed out of not res-for witnesses a British feeding stray cats.” has begun the ‘20-something’ two byof- in The company has JAVEA Town Hallagainst the edings after learning reforfor ched theft of €40,000 of stock the Sa- from requests thousands EXCLUSIVE ponded to email just one minute! Spanish men outside legal proceedings who cut off owner had intentionally access la Nau By Joshua Parfitt Cabo deholiday Quickly bank Bikes in onfake The theft at Xabia’s the stairs, closing Calle comment. badell owner of a property in Coombes heritage fi- med bikes stolen he had left €20 saw ninePla Just after 7pm last Tuesday ancient site from claiming Meanwhile, DarrenMoraira public access to a thenwho booked villa, in Moraira, before transDream al Mar. to the thieves mor- A at 4am last Wednesday The BRITISH family another Spanish eyewitfrom Alicante-based the cashpoint. shing ground in Balconwho has Samuel Adler. Olive ning. Press a week’swithdraw holiday on the Costa ferring the deposit. ness revealed she had seen represent a very they couldn’t Villa Spain told the One The unknown owner, of the in bikes, claimed a Trek LR10, Blancaand villa “These works wereasked shocked to see She has now confirmed that cashing a heritage the woman jump from the the fraudsters areand cash themselves a luxurious four-storey built serious attack on to us all,” wasdrawing worth €13,000. their villahis advertised card, as avai- her family have been scammed eastern of two bridges on corresponds in andtoin re-insert on his credibility “Two thieves lable on a completely different over the holiday due for June. Stokes overlooking Cala Ambolo, pro- broke the Avenida de Augusta. for Jávea with ‘metal that just a minute andwhich a half they stole stole. “We were this close to leaving website. users from his legitimate a ‘stone staircase’access to the said a spokesperson “I was walking to MercadoInstinine bikes,” Martin Stadlhofer, Susan Bolton, 61, soon realised for our holiday that never perty business website. railings’ that cut fishery. Oceanographic Research na when I saw her take off 40, co-owner of Xabia’s Bikes, she had lost the ₤1,300 depo- existed,” Bolton told the Olive SCAM: Brit family caught by fake villa website her shoes, climb the railing, Llavadora del PinetBolufer said tute (IROX). He told the Olive Press they tations’. told the Olive Press. sit when Dream Villas Spain, Press. and no more,” the woman Councillor Isabel

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Your reporters, here to help on the Costa Blanca

Mystery suicide

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“I’m not sure they knew what they were doing as they knocked over a bike worth €12,000 and didn’t take it—which is great for us.”

based in Mallorca, shut off all contact. The mother-of-two from the West Midlands had spent weeks finding the perfect holiday

Animal horror A BRITISH expat called in police after finding a group of dogs chained in an abandoned house without food. Roger Ballantine contacted the Guardia Civil after finding the dogs while out walking near Orba. Ballantine had decided to investigate when he noticed a ‘pungent smell’ coming from the ruin. Inside he found scenes worthy of a horror film with dogs kept on short chains surrounded by trash and their own excrement. “It was despicable,” Ballantine told the Olive Press. “It is clear that farmers have chained these four dogs.”

“I knew we had been conned when I contacted them regarding an airport pick up and got no response. It made me become suspicious.” She added the company is now not responding to any calls or emails. Meanwhile, celebrity chocolate taster Angus Kennedy lost ₤5,000 when his family discovered a German man living at the Mallorcan villa they had booked through Dream Villas Spain. Kennedy, from Kent, revealed that when the family arrived this month, the owner, who gave his name as Klaus, was completely baffled and knew nothing about the rental or website.

had chosen the villa out of 780 different homes for rent on the site. They only realised they had been scammed when an airport pick-up never arrived, and he caught a taxi to the property to find the bewildered German. “What was different in our case is I was determined to get to the house, and then contacted the press” Angus told the Olive Press. “I think many more have been duped and the scam could be worth millions.” The website he used to book the trip, dreamvillasspain. com, claims its goal is to ‘create your dream holiday experience and exceed your expec-

The scam comes almost two years since the Olive Press exclusively exposed a string of fake holiday websites duping tourists coming to Spain. In a series of investigations we found dozens of tourists had been scammed millions of euros from the various sites, which illegally uploaded villa photos from legitimate sites. Among those scammed were British Rugby Union star Dean Schofield, who lost €50,000 on a fake villa in Mallorca. Spain Dream Villas, who operate as Digital Dreams SL, declined to comment. JWe were unable to contact anyone at Dream Villas Spain as we went to press.

told the Olive Press. “It all happened so quickly.” Three police cars and an ambulance raced to the scene to retrieve the body. Police confirmed the cause of death as suicide, while a spokesperson for the Town Hall said the lady was British and had lived in a block of flats next to the river ‘for many years’. Neither police or the town hall would reveal her name, suggesting it was proving problematic to contact her next of kin in the UK. None of the residents in the area by the bridge knew the octogenarian.

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A FRAUDULENT villa rental web952 147 834 site that tricked British holidaynailed after Olive makers out of thousands has finally family LAST: Scammers Dreamvillasspain.com while (right) victim Angus and shut down following an extensive AT Press campaign (inset left), the scam Olive Press campaign this year. bogus achs lurch as they read of in lost fielding calls concerning Dreamvillasspain.com was behind it It soon dawned on Angus he’d a rentals from Tenerife, to Marbella tactics of dreamvillasspain.com countless tales of heartbreak as heart- the Olive Press. his €5,500 and urgently needed seduced holidaymakers into pur- place to stay with his wife and five and Moraira. One of the most The way the scam operated was that breaking was from Petra Deleslie, prospective renters would receive chasing villa rentals that never ex- young children. 42, and the collapse of her €6,000 an email from ‘general manager’ isted. “I think many more have been the Costa The first case was reported by the duped and the scam could be worth month-long villa rental on Rosella Alba Gutierrez offering disOlive Press to the Guardia Civil in millions,” Angus told this paper at Blanca, booked for this October. counts for up-front payments on reThe mum-of-two from Kent was all spective villas. April when professional chocolate the time. family taster Angus Kennedy turned up at With mounting cases, this paper set to travel with 18 extended break’ But once paid, Gutierrez would shut members for a ‘much-needed out the a villa he had paid for in Mallorca. made a collective denuncia at the mother to off all contact, as it turned He was met with bewildered Ger- Guardia Civil in Moraira on behalf following the death of her company’s phone was a fake. had no 15:36 16/06/2017 lung cancer. 1 who owner, Klaus, heard - unmanUntitled-1.pdf of UK-based victims. were re- For months nothing was knowledge of ever putting his house Soon after, the Olive Press was “My nephews and nieces forward til a major UK news network got in ally looking up for rental. the website had been SUFFERER: Of hypertrichosis to it as they have never touch saying been abroad,” Deleslie shut down. Press can also reveal a The Olive told the Olive Press. - named and shamed in “I spent two years sav- second sitearticle - is also no longer ing up for this trip, and a separate C I just can’t afford to live. operated pay for a new villa. The Travelvacationtour.com M with exactly the same layout and kids are devastated.” UK BASED as dreamvillasspain.com, Deleslie added the cu- houses Y Brit Donna Archer mulative loss of flights and scammed for a Tenerife villa CM would cost her family out of €5,500 booked as a post GCSE gift to her €12,000 in total. his best mate in May. MY Then there was Sarah son and yet clear if legal action has Adams, who booked It is not for Spanish CY against the companies, taken been getaway a surprise residents are listed as ‘active’ on CMY to Malaga for four as both Companies House. friends and their joint- Spanish Civil could not comment www.globelink.co.uk K five daughters as a Guardia went to press. we before post-A Levels present. Find out more on page XX Both Deleslie and AdOpinion Page 6 96 626 5000 ams felt their stom+44 (0) 1353 699082

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Costa Blanca Issue 12 Avenida Rey Jaime 1, Santa Ponca 0034 871 510 277

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FLOG IT: Mark Stacey in Javea

Going going gone!

RAID your jewellery boxes and plunder the garage because Flog It! is coming to the Costa Blanca! Mark Stacey, renowned British auctioneer, will be in Javea on September 14 to value your trinkets and even give you a juicy offer. The TV personality has appeared on Bargain Hunt, Flog it!, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is and Antiques Road Trip - but this trip the will be raising funds for charity Guardian Angels.

“Six years ago Mark came over we had over 400 people through and door,” Sue Nutbrown, president the Guardian Angels, told the Olive Press.of “If your items are worth something, Mark will make you an offer and then livestream you its auctioning back in the UK.”

Help

The charity afternoon will take place at the Palacio de la Paz, 20 Calle de Salvia, and floggers will be charged la €5 for a valuation. Guardian Angels operates from Gandia down to Torrevieja guiding families, particularly expat Brits, through separation and divorce. “Our work is so important. In the UK families tend to have aunts and uncles around for support, but in a foreign country situations can get complicated,” Sue said. “We try to help in any way we can.” Sue said the event six years ago raised €6,000, which went to everything from ‘counselling’ to ‘medical care’ and ‘repatriation’. Pianists Lola Smolokowski will appear ‘jingling the keys’, while animal shelters and children’s charities would also be on site.

COSTA BLANCA

Your expat

voice in Spain

Rental websites which scammed British holidaymakers out of thousands FINALLY shut down following Olive Press exposes

CRIME

www.theolivepress.es

mother to lung cancer a few years ago. “My nephews and nieces were really looking forward to it as they have never been abroad,” Deleslie told the Olive Press. “I spent two years saving up for this trip, and we just can’t afford to pay for new villa. The kids are devastated.” We helped the family make a police denuncia, after Deleslie said she will lose ‘more than €12,000’ as flights were already booked and her bank were unable to claim their money back. She showed the Olive Press emails asking Dream Villas Spain for a refund, after

SEL-FISH

(Personal contacts on page 6)

JAVEA Town Hall has begun legal proceedings against the owner of a property who cut off public access to a heritage fishing ground in Balcon al Mar. The unknown owner, who has a luxurious four-storey villa overlooking Cala Ambolo, built a ‘stone staircase’ with ‘metal railings’ that cut access to the Llavadora del Pinet fishery. Councillor Isabel Bolufer said

the Town Hall began proceedings after learning that the owner had intentionally reformed the stairs, closing access to the ancient site from Calle Samuel Adler. “These works represent a very serious attack on a heritage that corresponds to us all,” said a spokesperson for Jávea Oceanographic Research Institute (IROX).

NEWS

VOX’S top candidate for Benidorm mayor has been replaced after revelations he received a A BRITISH two-year prison sentence for expat is being handed tigious British gong a presdomestic violence in February services to tourists by the Queen for her in Alicante. 2018. Candida Wright will Davidparty Perez Brigido was ban- work receive an MBE for two years THE socialist her charitable ago (PSOE) will hold on ned the election,thedespite largest hospital inas an interpreter in dor to Spain. from the British Ambassato from the Valencian the Marina Alta, on government May 16. two-year Though she is a professional in the sentences sometimes regional elections, upcoming The if58-year-old, interpreter, Candida waived in Spain the according to a marketbeing volunteered with known as ‘Candy’, has violence often represents victims of sexual research company. HELP of in Spanish has no previous Sigma Dos accused na Altaconsince it launched in Denia & Mari- as offering financialcourts for free, as well revealed PSOE will 1984. victions. support through take between During that time 29-30 seats, whiher she has helped expats charity. le the Popular through Perez Brigido was found to have cancer, bereavement, “One Party (PP) will bureaucra- ne of the hardest things is when someosee its representation cy and court battles. ‘repeatedly his ex-wife, comes to the desk fall abused’ from 31 seats to 22-23. As the president died and I don’t knowsaying ‘my husband after he ‘shoved and the threw her of the charity, she But with the total what to do’,” runs help desk at the Marina seats inpulled to the ground, her hair Salud hospital lained Candy, who lives in Ondara expValencia’s Generalitat in Denia. her Spanish husband. with at 99, and punched her in the face’. PSOE will again Her two children, “The most exciting thing 35 and 25, live in to form Madrid and Valencia SCAM: Dream Villas Spain site conned Brits abroad coalition to reach vitation Theneed judge alsoa found the card dis- I was postedwas the pink in- respectively. the absolute While she helps with with the words majority of 50 BP (Buckingham graced had tal procedures, burials hospiseats. far-right politician Palace),” Candida which ‘general manager’ Ro- returns from 2014 to 2017. The poll suggests theand and told she’s often Olive‘dePress. frequently the PSOE‘insulted’ called upon to just repatriation, will sella Alba Gutierrez has shut There is no availablemake phone “I thought it meant a pact meaned’ be a ‘helping hand’ to someone with Valencianist the woman, who was British Petroleum Compromis first.” Spain’s Companies House number (the one on the web- (17-18 at “You’re sometimesin need. she joked. seats)post-traumatic and left with stress dealing with people left-wing populist The expat, and reveals that Dream Villas site has been disconnected) who are cancer patients, who has Podemos (6-7 seats). disorder. years, received a lived in Spain for 45 tions, and or need amputaSpain, which is registered as and the name Rosella ‘Points of Light’ The Alba award eling to it just gives you a wonderful feregional elections think ‘I really helped will Digital Dream SL, was incor- Gutierrez appears nowhere on Mayin them today’.” MEETING 26 the same day as fall the porated in 2014 for ‘data pro- the list of employees. European elections. QUEEN: Candida cessing and web hosting’. Another victim told the OliSee our election Based in Carrer de la Fe, in ve Press this week she guide had Palma, Mallorca, it filed tax booked a villa in Marbella as on page 6 a surprise getaway for four friends and five 18-year-old daughters as a post-A Levels CON artists have scammed a present. British pensioner out of €300 Sarah Adam, based in Lon- after pretending to help him redon, told us she is convinced cover money left at a cashpoint she has also been scammed. THE owners of ain Javea last Saturday. bike shop are The company has appealing not res-for witnesses Brian Stokes, 77, was approaa British theft of €40,000 families scammed ponded to email requests for ched byof- in two ‘20-something’ of stock just one minute! Spanish out of comment. thousands men outside the Sa- from The theft at Xabia’s Meanwhile, DarrenMoraira Coombes badell Bikes bank Cabo de la Nau in onfake EXCLUSIVE saw nine bikes stolen By Joshua Parfitt from Alicante-based Dream Pla claiming he had leftholiday €20 in at 4am last Wednesday mor- A ning. Press Villa Spain told the Olive the cashpoint. The thieves then BRITISH family who booked a week’swithdraw of the in the fraudsters are One cashing they couldn’t bikes, claimed holiday on the Costa villa, in Moraira, before transa Trek LR10, wasdrawing ferring the deposit. Blancaand worth €13,000. wereasked on his credibility and cash themselves shocked “Two thieves broke their villa advertised to see She has now confirmed users from his legitimate pro- Stokes in andtoin re-insert card, as avaithat just a minute lable on ahis completely different her family have been scammed and a half they perty business website. stole stole. nine bikes,” Martinwhich over the holiday website.

Socialist win

Gong for Candy!

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2019

Mystery suicide

CATCH THESE CONMEN

Swallow the bait

Wheely fast!

Stadlhofer, 40, co-owner of Xabia’s Bikes, told the Olive Press. “I’m not sure they they were doing knew what as they knocked over a bike worth €12,000 and didn’t take it—which is great for us.”

Rose Moore sees the EU essen a y as a po ca d c a o sh p Leave and p oud ssue 62 pg 7 The ea y s he oppos e The e a e 28 sove e gn s a es nc ud ng he UK wh ch vo un a y chose o become assoc a ed S eve Dunne be eves ha he UK wou d a be e on WTO e ms No so m no go ng o we gh down you e e s page by quo ng chap e and ecommend ha S eve ooks n o he ve se bu spec fics o any ndus y ha he knows Tha T ump s y ng o ge a ade dea w h an EU ee UK shou d e you a you wan o know T ump s ade dea s have US fi s abe s F na y B en Mah e speaks o a numbe o UK c zens wa y o an EU a med o ce and an eve c ose un on Howeve hese a e deas floa ed by spec fic peop e and no EU po cy am mo e wo ed a he ns d ous 40 p us yea s o p o paganda aga ns he EEC/EU by he Ma Te eg aph Exp ess T mes and o cou se The Sun Wha d d Mu doch say when he was asked why he was so an EU? Some h ng a ong he nes o “When go n o No 10 hey do wha say when go o he EU ” The mp ca on s ha he had o ask o an appo n men

MYSTERY surrounds the apparent suicide of an elderly British resident on the Costa Blanca. The 84-year-old expat threw herself from a bridge in Javea after being seen ‘pacing frantically’ by the railings. A neighbour, who asked not to be named, Olive Press he saw told the man ‘peering over the woafter squeezing the edge’ between a fence and a steel pillar at one end support of the bridge. It was about an hour before police were alerted to a suicide attempt over the dry Gorgos riverbed while children played on a nearby football pitch. “She was holding paper bag and kept a white in the bag and then looking leaning over the edge,” the neighbour told the Olive “I wanted to ask Press. she was doing, her what rried she spoke but I wonish and assumedonly Spafeeding stray cats.” she was

Quickly

Just after 7pm last another Spanish Tuesday eyewit-

ness revealed she due “We were this close for June. Susan Bolton, 61, the woman jump had seen from the she had lost the soon realised for our holiday to leaving eastern of two that never bridges on sit when Dream ₤1,300 depo- existed,” Bolton told the Avenida de Augusta. the Olive SCAM: Brit family based in Mallorca,Villas Spain, Press. caught by fake “I was walking to shut off all “I knew villa website He told the Olive contact. we had na when I saw herMercadowhen I contactedbeen conned had chosen the villa Press they tations’. The mother-of-two take off out her shoes, climb West Midlands had from the ding an airport pickthem regar- different homes for rent of 780 The scam comes almost the railing, up and got spent wee- no response. on the years ks finding the perfect since the Olive two and no more,” the woman It made me beco- site. Press told the Olive holiday me suspicious.” They only realised exclusively exposed Press. “It all they had fake a been scammed She added the company holiday websitesstring of happened so quickly.” when an airduping Three police is now port tourists coming to not responding to cars and Spain. any calls or and pick-up never arrived, In a emails. he caught series of investigations ambulance raced to the an sceproperty to find a taxi to the we found dozens ne to retrieve the Meanwhile, celebrity the bewildebody. chocola- red German. had been scammed of tourists Police confirmed te taster Angus millions of the cause euros from the ₤5,000 when hisKennedy lost “What was different of death as suicide, various while a covered a German family dis- case is I was determinedin our which illegally uploaded sites, spokesperson for the Town at the Mallorcan man living to the house, and then to get photos from legitimate villa Hall said the lady was Britibooked through villa they had ted the press” Angus contac- Among those scammedsites. Dream Villas Olive told the British were sh and had lived in a block Spain. Press. Rugby of flats “I think many more Dean Schofield, Union star many next to the river ‘for Kennedy, from Kent, years’. that when the familyrevealed duped and the scamhave been €50,000 on a fake who lost Neither villa in Macould be llorca. arrived worth millions.” police or this month, the hall would reveal the town Spain gave his name asowner, who The website he used to book rate asDream Villas, who ope- suggesting it washer name, completely baffled Klaus, was the trip, dreamvillasspain. Digital Dreams SL, proving de- problematic to contact clined nothing about the and knew com, claims its goal her is to ‘crea- JWe to comment. rental or te your next of kin in the website. were unable dream holiday expeUK. rience and exceed anyone at Dream to contact None of the residents in your expec- as Villas Spain area by we went to press. the bridge knew the the octogenarian.

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Six-year-old battles suspected blood poisoning after terrifying ordeal trapped in pool filter

A BRITISH father whose little girl is in hospital on the Costa del Sol after being sucked into a pool filter pump has called it an ‘accident waiting to happen.’ Doctors fear Zara Clarkson, six, from Manchester, may have blood poisoning after her tiny arm was trapped for more than three hours. Her father, Zack, 46, battled to keep his daughter’s head above water as firefighters raced to the scene with jackhammers and smashed apart the poolside to

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19/3/19 16:51

A WOMAN has been arrested for the attempted murder of her sleeping boyfriend after leading police to the knife she allegedly stabbed him with. The Spanish suspect, 41, is believed to have plunged a kitchen knife into the chest of the 51-year-old, also Spanish. Police arrived on the scene of the bloody attack in Mijas at around 00:40am after a neighbour reported a man and woman screaming.

Hypocrites to the max This is 100% Hypocrisy. “I love Europe but hate the EU.” Freedom of movement has allowed us to travel, live and work in this 952 wonderful country. It’s made us more not less! I 147 weep for834 these people and all that we may lose. * O f f e r

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It’s just democracy

Olive press, what are you trying to say. They have the freedom to vote in a democratic election do they not? The sooner we are out of this bankrupt dictatorship the better. How many billions in debt is Spain? How many billions in debt is Italy. How many billions in debt is Greece? Southern Europe needs to wake up. Budgie McInally, Glasgow

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

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PRESS

TANTRIC Feria TOshooting RTOIS

App a aun h d o a ap om B

Moral of the story...

Just assume for Y ha W minh W ute that this was justM a W stupid accident (‘Audid m you manage that’, Issue W 325 Andalucia, pg 40). The father and kid were obviously in shock, the dad’s first reaction was to grab his child whilst angry people shouting in a foreign language they didn’t understand. This was and probably will be one expensive holiday. The insurance won’t cover anything because the kid was under 25 and the damages are in the €12,000plus range. Not to mention that the car is totalled. The lesson to be learned here is don’t leave a child unattended in a hot car, for one reason or another! Alex Brown, Malaga TM

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c o n d i t i o n s .

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We just need the driving W instructors to do their job properly now and teach them how to use the inside lane on a roundabout (Driving force, Issue 62, pg 6). It is not ‘easier and safer to use the outside lane for every exit Do your job properly!

3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 .

21/6/19 13:30

DRIVING FORCE

David Burden Sa Calobra

Reasons

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Across 1 Utterly senseless (6) 4 Dry red Spanish wine (5) 8 Plain variety (7) 9 Operated by sound waves (5) 10 Wander (4) 11 Galilee native (7) 13 Unworkable (13) 15 Largest penguin (7) 17 Legal instrument (4) 19 Minor actor in crowd scenes (5) 20 Aardvark (3,4) 21 Sum (5) 22 Israeli currency (6)

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TWO bin men are being investigated after footage emerged of them tossing rubbish bags into the river while on the job. The unnamed municipal workers have been suspended without pay after they were filmed picking up several bags left next to a full bin and throwing them into a nearby stream in Marbella. The 90-second clip, which has since gone viral on social media, was filmed on Calle Bronze. Both workers believed no one was watching as they worked in the black of night, tossing at least six bags into the riverbed. A local was perched behind a lampost across the street, filming them the whole time. Marbella town hall has described their act as illegal and a ‘very serious’ offence. Mayor Angeles Munoz said she was ‘tremendously ashamed of the behaviour’ of the workers.

SCARY: Zara in hospital and (right) swollen arm ducted blood tests to ensure tor in Manchester told the Olive there was no damage to her Press. kidneys. “Zara was panicking He added: “Something with and screamed out ‘daddy the that kind of suction would have pool is sucking me and it won’t easily pulled a smaller child unstop’,” Zack, a building contrac- der the water and they would have been killed. “It's incredible her little arm has swollen up so much it is now three times the size. “What has the doctors most running a Malaga-based couconcerned is that the force of rier service, which also disthe suction may have forced tributed to Denmark, Poland toxins to be released into Zara’s and Sweden. bloodstream.” Zack stayed According to police the Brit ‘cheek to cheek’ with Zara keepsuspects would frequently ing her calm as emergency ser- A MAN has been change their rented cars and m arrested vices attempted to apartments to keep officers saw open the mwith nine rounds of ammum pool’s drainage system. off the scent. nition stuffed down “I am a tough lad but my first after shots were firedhis pants In May 58kg of drugs were near the thought was to go to the cor- Feria de Malaga. intercepted at a courier ofner of the pool and have a quiet Police in Malaga cuffed fice, with another 17kg disthe sob,” added the distraught fa-m 43-year-old Spaniard covered in August. M N m who ther-of-two. Once identified, police then was bleeding from Zara’s mum Claire added: “It Five gunshots werehis mouth. conducted raids on the suswas unbearable, I felt helpless ter a man reportedlyheard afpects’ homes, in which they shouted: and just wanted her out.” found a further 28kg of “Do you want shots? Well, drugs. you are going to have shots.” Opinion Page 6 No one was injured. m

Erika Stanbury, San Roque

c u s t o m e r s

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Still a be-leaver!

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FIVE British men and women have been arrested after police busted a cannabis ‘delivery service’. The three men and two women, aged 38 to 62, are being held in prison after 100kg of drugs, intended for the UK and other countries, was seized. Policia Nacional officers found a mix of 52kg of hash and weed, along with 51kg of vacuum-packed marijuana buds. Around €23,000 in cash was also recovered by police. The detainees are accused of

Clark Douglas Bowie, Palma

Julie Ann Plank, Barcelona

Why? (Trash, Issue 325 Spain, pg 2) Their job is to toss it in a rubbish lorry, it makes R no sense. If they can’t do the job right then Mu they oshould be ou sacked. There aare plenty of High m five others that would be grateful M M for the job.

EXCLUSIVE By Timothy McNulty

free the youngster. The dad and daughter were enjoying their first family holiday at the luxury villa in Estepona with Zara’s twin sister Lucy and their mum Claire, 42, having only bought the property in the Villas de Santa Maria urbanization at Christmas. Zara underwent treatment at the Hospital Costa del Sol in Marbella where doctors con-

I have never read so much rubbish. The three people in your paper who voted to leave they say there will only be a short term economic impact. Even the Leader of the House and leading Brexiteers says there will be a 40-year economic impact. Also, Britain can never be great again, as we have no industry and are really just a service country thanks to another great Tory leader. To finish this, I said in 2016 that 40 years ago we made a big mistake when we disbanded the Commonwealth as our main trading partners. I never thought that my generation could make such a stupid mistake twice.

Kate Ferry Altea

Animal horror

A WORLD CLASS

v a l i d

A SPANISH man, 43, has been arrested in Velez-Malaga for allegedly masturbating in front of and groping two women, one of whom is a minor.

Codswallop

GET EDUCATED

A BRITISH expat dogs chained in ancalled in police after finding a group of Roger Ballantine abandoned house without food. the dogs while outcontacted the Guardia Civil after finding walking near Orba. Ballantine had decided ‘pungent smell’ coming to investigate when he noticed a from the ruin. Inside he found scenes worthy of kept on short chains a horror surrounded by trash film with dogs excrement. and their own “It was despicable,” clear that farmers Ballantine told the Olive Press. have chained these “It is four dogs.”

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THE Olive Press is helping victims take legal action against a holiday rental company that scammed holidaymakers thousands for rental villas on the Costa Blanca. It comes as the paper was contacted by new victims of Dream Villas Spain, following last issue’s report on the plight of the Bolton family, who lost €2,000 on a Moraira rental. Petra Deleslie, 42, has now contacted us after losing €6,000 booking a villa in Moraira later this year for her extended family of 18. We agreed to help after she told us she was ‘desperate’ for a break after losing her

www.jbholiday.com

May 9th - May 22nd 2019

Dream Killas The Olive Press helps victims take action following skyrocketing reports of holiday rental scam

Your reporters, here to help on the Costa Blanca Introducing News Editor Laurence Dollimore and Reporter Joshua Parfitt

Contact them with any stories or news on 951 273 575 or email newsdesk@theolivepress.es

VENDORS

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HOLIDAY RENTALS SALES

A FRAUDULENT villa rental website that tricked British holidaymakers out of thousands has finally shut down following an extensive Olive Press campaign this year. Dreamvillasspain.com was behind countless tales of heartbreak as 952 147 834 it seduced holidaymakers into purchasing villa rentals that never ex- AT LAST: Scammers Dreamvillasspain.com nailed isted. after Olive Press campaign (inset left), while (right) victim Angus and The first case was reported by family Olive Press to the Guardia Civilthe his €5,500 and urgently needed a the Costa Blanca, booked for this an email from ‘general in place to stay with his wife April when professional chocolate and five October. manager’ young children. Rosella Alba Gutierrez offering distaster Angus Kennedy turned up The mum-of-two from a villa he had paid for in Mallorca.at “I think many more have been set to travel with 18 Kent was all counts for up-front payments on extended fam- respective villas. He was met with bewildered Ger- duped and the scam could be worth ily members for a ‘much-needed But once paid, Gutierrez millions,” Angus told this paper man owner, Klaus, who had at break’ following the death would no the time. of her shut off all contact, as it turned knowledge of ever putting his house With mounting cases, this paper mother to lung cancer. the company’s phone was a fake.out up for rental. “My nephews and It soon dawned on Angus he’d lost made a collective denuncia at the ly looking forward nieces were real- For months nothing was heard to it as they have until Guardia Civil in Moraira on behalf never been abroad,” Deleslie told got a major UK news network in touch saying the website had of UK-based the Olive Press. been shut down. victims. “I spent two years Soon after, the trip, and I just saving up for this The Olive Press can also reveal a can’t afford to pay second site - named Olive and shamed Press for a new villa. The kids are devas- separate article - is also no longer in a was fielding tated.” live. Travelvacationtour.com calls concern- Deleslie added operated the cumulative loss with exactly the ing bogus rent- of flights would same layout and als from Tener- €12,000 in total. cost her family houses as dreamvillasspain.com, and scammed Brit Donna Archer ife, to Marbella Then there was Sarah Adams, out who of €5,500 for a Tenerife villa and Moraira. booked a surprise One of the aga for four friendsgetaway to Mal- booked as a post GCSE gift to her and their joint- son and his best mate most in May. heart- five daughters as a post-A Levels It is not yet clear if legal action breaking was present. has been taken against from Petra De- Both Deleslie and Adams felt their as both are listed the companies, leslie, 42, and stomachs lurch as they read of the Spanish Companies as ‘active’ on The British expats who are pro- the House. collapse scam tactics of of her €6,000 com in the Olive dreamvillasspain. Guardia Civil could not comment Brexit and proud SEE PAGE 7 before we went to press. m o n t h - l o n g The way the scamPress. operated was that villa rental on prospective renters would receive Opinion Page 6

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YOUR PROPERTY IS OUR PRIORITY. YOU ARE IN EXPERT HANDS

VICTORY! Vol. 1 Issue 12 www.theolivepress.es August 29th - September 11th 2019

LEAVERS: Trio of Brits in Spain

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CASES of ‘werewolf syndrome’ have grown after 16 children were given contaminated medication on the Costa del Sol. exInfants developed hypertrichosis cessive body hair growth - after taking omeprazole which had been contaminated by minoxidil – the active ingredient for alopecia medication. Some 13 babies had initially been diagnosed with the condition before three more cases linked to the tainted drugs were discovered earlier this month. Officials believe the contamination could have affected up to 30 Andalu50 cian pharmacies and more than batches of the drug.

Sexual assault

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With Brexit around the corner Gibraltar National Day has never felt more important. Check out our FREE guide inside on everything you need to know about the celebrations.

He was referring to the fight for wages parity led by the founder of his party the GSLP, Sir Joe Bossano. The Chief Minister gave special mention to Gibraltar Defence Police officers LEAKED: Report warning of four-hour border queues sees Keith Azopardi and the soldiers of the Roy(far right) tell Picardo (left) to ‘get radical’ al Gibraltar Regiment. A Government spokesperson said that the ‘real pay of these individuals has fallen very significantly’. “The impact of this gap in Gibraltar has been even worse considering our outstanding economic growth during the same period,” said the Government. Picardo said: “We will fully support our colleagues in all By John Culatto sectors of MoD employment in Gibraltar in their claims for better remuneration and FOUR hours of queuing to get terms and conditions.” The main Gibraltar union, in and out of Gibraltar could Unite, is leading the charge be the norm in a no-deal Brexalong with the Gibraltar it scenario. General Clerical Associa- That’s one of the many stark revealed the document was the EU will create cannot warnings predicted in the tion. be published on August 1. underestimated or indeed re- especially given how those It followed Opposition criticism “I will raise this issue myself leaked Yellowhammer docu- But Picardo has been quick to solved by a new arrangement issues would affect frontier that not enough was being done with ministers in London," ment, prepared by the UK dismiss the claims as ‘planthat anyone is able to negoti- flow.” said Picardo, who regularly government in the case of a ning for worst case scenarios.’ The Government hopes the to plan for what many fear could ate. meets with top UK Govern- no-deal. “I maintain it will not be a ‘Memorandums of Under- bring Gibraltar to a standstill. “It is obvious we should be planment representatives in the Although Chief Minister Fa- of roses,” the Gibraltar bed “We have repeatedly stated standing’ signed last Gov- that we are working with year bian Picardo declared the leak UK capital. the could become ‘a non-legally ning hard for a no-deal Brexit,” was ‘out of date’, it was later ernment said in a statement. “The many problems leaving United Kingdom and Spain binding basis’ for a no-deal said GSD Leader Keith Azoparto address a no-deal situation, di. scenario. “The election of Boris Johnson has brought that prospect much closer. “The Government needs to invest more time and resources on no-deal planning and do so in a ALL AREAS much more radical way. UK BASED COVERED “Time will tell whether those preparations have been effecLettings | Sales 4G UNLIMITED tive.” Investments The Yellowhammer report highINTERNET Reliable private hire transfer lights the risk of disruption to IDEAL FOR STREAMING TV Relocations services for any occasion the supply of goods, including ALSO IPTV, for Spanish Commercial • Luxury vehicles food, medicine and the shipSATELLITE TV • Door to door service ment of waste. and Residential residents • Airport collections Picardo added: “As a responTel: +350 200 44955 • Weddings transport sible Government, we plan for www.globelink.co.uk enquiries@seekerspropertygibraltar.com • Sightseeing day trips the worst case scenarios, even • Restaurant shuttles though we are confident they tel: (0034) 952 763 840 will not occur.” Find out more at: 96 626 5000 info@theskydoctor.com With Gibraltar being on the EU’s www.simply-shuttles.com 10 Engineer Lane, +44 (0) 1353 699082 www.theskydoctor.com most southern frontier, delays tel: 951 279 117 Gibraltar GX11 1AA are likely to be substantial. info@simply-shuttles.com www.seekerspropertygibraltar.com The UK is expected to leave the EU on October 31.

REuse REduce REcycle

A PAIR of legal cannabis smoking clubs on the Costa del Sol have been shut down over drug trafficking.

Celebrating

August 28th - September 10th 2019

TRASH!

Readers react to a group of Brexitsupporting Brits in Spain who said Slashed in they would vote Leave again his assleep no-deal moves closer (Leave and proud, Issue 62, pg 7)

RED, WHITE AND PROUD www.theolivepress.es

A ROBBER on the run from the law since 2015 has been captured by police in Benahavis where the 56-year-old had been working as a labourer.

Pool shocker Ungrateful sods OLIV E

WE WANT OUT

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NEWS IN BRIEF

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LETTERS

1 Paid announcement (13) 2 Tanner’s aid (7) 3 Depend (4) 4 Confine (8) 5 Unit of weight (5) 6 Relating to building design (13) t Born in early December, perhaps (11) 12 Affliction of cats and other fur-lickers (8) 14 Violently frenzied (7) 16 Small in number (5) 18 Home of Salt Lake City (4)

All solutions are on page 23

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Bolted on FOOT FETISH: Tortoise gets stuck in

‘randy’ tortoise British centre

m Greece, and has been David Priaulx’s care for last 30 years. ve had so many escades with him over the rs,” David, who lives in on, told the Olive Press. e escaped once in Broad-

SSING: Torte

stairs, Kent, and went to stay two nights in a local B&B. “When we picked him up the owner gave me an invoice, saying ‘no one had ever stayed for free and he wasn’t going to be the first’. “Torte’s like my nemesis, but I love him and so does the whole family.” David added that Torte answers to his name. He said, however, that the randy tortoise will ‘pick on anyone’ and is known to make a loud ‘shrilling noise’ when mounting the shoes of his victims. Have you seen a tortoise around Jalon? Contact the Olive Press at newsdesk@theolivepress.es

A WOMAN has been filmed riding naked upon a red Ferrari as its cigar-chomping driver cruises the streets of Ibiza. The woman appears completely oblivious as she dances to reggaeton music blaring from the slow-moving supercar. The incident was filmed at the Marina Ibiza on the Balearic island, and was later widely shared on social media. But the driver is now being pursued for reckless driving. A city council spokesperson said the authorities hope to track down the culprits soon as ‘there are not many cars like this in Ibiza’.

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September 13th - September 26th, 2019

Palma designer to lose crown Spanish ceramics national awards gets underway By Timothy McNulty

PALMA’S intermodal station is set to lose its architectural crown as the Tile of Spain Awards has begun its search for a new titleholder. Joan Miquel Segui Colomar had won last year’s competition for his use of Spanish ceramics for the new en-

Sign of the tiles trance to the transport hub on calle Placa d’Espanya. Judges had particularly valued Colomar’s use of tiles to create a bold latticework effect that created ‘a filter between exteriors and a more enclosed, user-friendly area.’ Architects, designers and students have now been now been invited to submit projects to the 2019 event, in its 18th year. The competition is held by the Spanish Ceramic Tile Manufacturers Association to celebrate projects from

Keys Isl nd to the

across the globe that make use of Spanish-made ceramics. Winners The €39,000 prize will be split between three categories: Architecture, Interior Design and Final Degree Project, which is awarded specifically to architecture students. The winners of the two main categories, Architecture and Interior Design will each receive €17,000, and the winning final year project will

PROPERTY

TOP DOG: Palma’s Intermodal Station, the winner of last year’s competition by Joan Miquel Segui Colomar

be awarded €5,000. Dutch architect Jacob van Rijs will head this year’s judging panel and will be joined by architects Ines Lobo, David Lorente and Eugeni Bach. Tomoko Sakamoto, the cofounder of graphic studio Spread, and the president of the Castellon Region College of Architects, Ramon Monfort will also be on the panel. Entry to this year’s awards is free and submissions are being accepted until October 24 2019.

By Amanda Butler

Bare ownership property Amanda Butler explains the pros and cons of ‘bare ownership’ and what it means for property buyers and sellers

ITH all the madness and mayhem going on in the UK regarding Brexit, and the fact that we are all just trying to get back into normal work mode after the heat and busy

period of the summer months, I thought it would be best to focus my column this week on a topic I was asked about recently - ‘Bare Ownership’. I have to admit that although I had heard of it, I really didn’t know the full legalities, so I thought I would put the question to Javier Cases of Cases and Associates. According to Javier Cases ‘bare ownership’ or ‘usufructo’ is a form of equity release of selling the ‘bare property’ of your home, whilst retaining the lifetime right of use, or usufruct, to stay living in your home until you die. Apparently this is proving an increasingly popular alternative amongst the elderly who seek financial solvency or a supplement for their retirement. This of course has to be a good investment opportunity for the buyer which would clearly be more attractive if you’re 70plus rather than 60-plus, so you need to be realistic. For older people with no heirs or who need extra income to improve their quality of life it appears an interesting solution. However the owners have to agree an attractive rate for the buyer - up to 50% of the value of the property at the market rate, dependant upon the age and health of the owner. The price can be received in one single payment or in monthly instalments. In the UK the market value is easier to gauge, but in Spain valuations can vary substantially in any direction. My recommendation would be to get a trusted estate agent to give you a modest valuation, or maybe three for comparison, and take the middle ground. You should also do your own market research on the web. From the legal point of view, it is a special real estate operation, where both parties, seller and buyer, have to have the maximum guarantees and be

duly advised by a lawyer. As for the price of the home (without the usufruct), its value is determined by the market price of the home and the age of the future usufructuary (seller) and their life expectancy. The longer the life expectancy, the larger the discount will be and vice versa, since it is necessary to deduct the benefit that the buyer does not obtain from the house, as it cannot be used or exploited in lease until the death of the usufructuary. The rights and duties to be taken into account by each party are:

as long as it does not involve a change in the structure of the property. - If at any given time, it is not desired to continue making use of the house, the usufructuary can sell the usufruct to the buyer or rent the house and obtain the full rent. • Advantages for the seller - It’s a great way for an owner to have a lump sum in cash rather than sitting on a big asset (we would recommend a chat with the family first !!). - The owner can remain in their home for the rest of their lives, and leave the remaining agreed percentage to their family. - The owner can use the equity right now and perhaps gift it to an heir to pay for a wedding / college education etc. - The owners usufructo or the ‘right to live in the property’ has a real calculable value. They can cash in early and sell it or even renegotiate with the investor to sell it early to the investors.

• Buyer or investor: - You are obliged to take care of the extraordinary community expenses of the property, the IBI (Real Estate Tax) and the insurance of the property, as well as the majority of expenses associated with the purchase. - If the transfer of the property is made in exchange for the payment of a monthly rent, • Advantages they are obliged for investors to pay this in- A great way for an (buyers): come through a the buyer owner to have a -orForinvestor, Resolutory Conthe dition, for which lump sum in cash purchase of the they would lose bare property the property in rather than sitting implies the favour of the acquisition of a on a big asset usufructuary if real estate asset they failed to for a price lower comply with the than its market payment. value, up to a 50% reduction. - When the right of usufruct - An investor only cashes in ends, that is, upon the death when the owner passes away. of an elderly person, the buyer - It can be a very long term risk receives full ownership of the if the owner is healthy and in property. their 70s. • Usufructuary or seller: - You have to pay any ordinary community expenses, and supplies (electricity, water, telephone, gas ...) -If it were the usual home, you would not pay capital gains. - You can make any kind of redecoration work in the house

• Disadvantages - The original owner is still responsible for the upkeep of the property - Negotiating can be difficult, although not impossible. - A bare ownership deal is not as attractive to an estate agent, preferring a clean purchase.

For more information about real estate in Mallorca, or if you require assistance with selling or buying a property, you can contact Amanda on ajb@mjcassociates.net or tel: +34690075169

PROPERTY VALENCIA ON TOP

THE World Design Organization (WDO) this week designated Valencia as the World Capital of Design in 2022. In the lengthy battle, the Spanish city managed to unseat the Indian city of Bangalore, and is expected to re-

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

ceive €10 million in funding and sponsorship. Strategic director of Valencia World Design Capital 2022 (WDC2022) Xavi Calvo, said the designation will be a ‘megaphone’ for the wonders of Valencian design both past and present. “Key professionals in design and architecture have created buildings in Valencia that are capable of earning a national and global presence,” Pau Rausell, economic

director of WDC2022, said in a statement. “Valencia now has the opportunity, through design, to commit to action for a better world.” Valencia’s mayor, Joan Ribo, was on hand at the video conference to announce the winner, where he said Valencian architects had ‘made history’. Valencia will hold the spotlight for the whole of 2022, taking over from Lille WDC2020.

Bank mortgage plummet Bank restrictions blamed for reduction in mortgage loans across Spain

MORTGAGE loans in Spain have plummeted by almost 10% in June. The month of June had seen only 5,966 mortgage loans applications signed with the average value also 18% down at €100,431. Real estate agents have blamed the 9.7% drop on the reluctance of banks to grant mortgages. “The banks look at the mortgage loan seekers with a magnifying glass,” said a spokesman at Spain’s real estate regulation body API. Banks have only granted 70% or 80% of the amount of the price of the house, forcing

buyers to have the remaining 30% in cash, according to the group. They added: “It is difficult to have that money saved and when buyers get it through family loans, the bank does not grant the loan if the monthly fee exceeds 30% of the sales of the applicant.”

Decreased

The regions of Andalucia where the greatest falls have been recorded were in Cordoba, Sevilla and Malaga. In Cordoba, mortgages on homes decreased from 732 in May to only 475 in June,

which represents a 36% drop. In Sevilla and Malaga, 1,183 and 1,498 home mortgages were signed, 15% and 11% less than the previous month, respectively.

The only areas to see a bump in mortgages were Huelva and Jaen but they saw only modest gains of up to 464 and 271 respectively.

Contraception

PLANS to build a new-five star hotel in Palma have been grounded amid concerns the project’s original design was signed off by unqualified engineers. The ambitious plan to convert the listed building on calle concepcio into a luxu-

ry hotel must now undergo a second review by technicians from the city’s college of engineers. The planning commission has placed the building’s licence application on hold while the second inspection takes place.

A breathtaking sea view apartment for sale in Florymar – 395.000€ ref: IP2-9776 • Build: 100 m²

A breathtaking front line apartment for sale in Santa Ponsa with some of the best sea views we have seen. The property benefits from a large terrace offering the most picturesque open sea and beach views, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a spacious living room and a fully equipped kitchen. The community is extremely desirable and has a communal pool and direct sea access meaning you can nearly jump from the swimming pool right into the sea, it also has communal parking which in this area is very valuable.

Contact us now for full details Avenida Rey Jaume 1, No. 111, Local 5, 07180 Santa Ponsa (Calvia), Mallorca info@imperial-properties.com +34 971 692 434 www.imperial-properties.com

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

BUSINESS

Goldcar ‘bullies’ and ‘lies’ to extract thousands of euros from its customers, investigation reveals

Driving down

SPAIN has seen the biggest decline in new car registration since the 2008 economic crash. The sharp decline has been attributed to the introduction of new emission tests, which deflated car sales by 48% last August. Car registration has decreased by 30.8% to 74,490 units compared to the same month in 2018, according to industry groups. This is the biggest drop for August in terms of commercialization of cars since 2008, when levels collapsed 41.27% in the middle of the economic crisis. Spain’s automobile employers association Anfac has called for urgent measures to reverse this trend as soon as possible. In particular Anfac would like to see ‘a crash plan with stimulus measures to encourage the purchase of new vehicles’.

AN undercover investigation has revealed that rental firm Goldcar uses ‘criminal lying and bullying’ as sales tactics. Consumer publication Which? said it caught the car hire company ‘red handed’ using ‘pressure-selling’. In secret filming at Malaga and Alicante airports Goldcar threatened to charge journalists posing as holidaymakers ‘€300 for a tiny scratch’. The notorious firm also offered an excess and deposit of just €1,100, while it said drivers who broke down would be charged €8.50 for every kilometre on a tow truck. Goldcar told several lies, including ‘if you don’t buy our insur-

FOOL’S GOLD Brexit bite

CAUGHT: Which? probe found mis-selling by Goldcar in Malaga and Alicante ance, you’re only covered for cies wouldn’t be valid, and that tional insurance when renting a third-party damage’, according unless they accepted Goldcar’s, car and are covered with ‘basic’ to Which? they would be unable to hire the insurance by law. Other untruths included that vehicle. In Europe, customers It comes after numerous comcustomers’ own insurance poli- are not required to buy addi- plaints have been made against Goldcar, including claims of customers having €1,200 frozen on their credit card for refusing to pay an extra €100 insurance payment. SPAIN’S Iberdrola has sold part of its substantial offWhich? advises customers to shore wind farm operation in the UK in a €1.8 billion ‘never rent from Goldcar’. deal. Some of the best-rated car hire The energy firm has completed the sale of the East Anfirms in contrast include Enterglia ONE wind farm after receiving the necessary apprise, Hertz and Avis. A Goldproval from the Crown Estate. car statement read: “Goldcar The move will see a 40% stake in the North Sea wind would never condone the use farm go to the Australian Macquarie group through of misleading statements that Iberdrola’s British subsidiary Scottish Power Reneware not aligned with our terms ables. East Anglia ONE will be one of the largest in the and conditions. Where we find world when it enters into operations in 2020, supplyunaligned practice we will take ing 600,000 British homes with clean energy. firm action.”

STRONG GUST

BREXIT has been blamed for the second consecutive summer fall in British tourist numbers to Spain. For the second year in a row, July has seen a decrease in the number of foreign visitors to Spain. The fall of the British economy and the devaluation of the pound due to uncertainty over Brexit has seen fewer Brits seek the Spainish sun in favour of cheaper alternatives. In total, 161,000 fewer British tourists have visited Spain in the last two years while a fall of 1.6% has already been registered so far this year.

Worrying times

THE Bank of Spain has warned of the risk of an upcoming economic crisis. Governor Hernandez de Cos has warned ‘urgent’ progress needs to be made to reform the European Banking Union before another financial crash hits. De Cos has defended the need to create a fiscal stabilization instrument in the eurozone. He described the situation as ‘very worrying’.

You know that €11 million you owe us... Rags and riches FOOTBALL club RCD Mallorca has been ordered to pay the Treasury €11 million after it went broke. The newly-promoted La Liga side filed for voluntary bankruptcy in 2010 with an accumulated debt of around €80 million. The Government agreed to bail out the club and become its creditor in a ‘special case’ - but payments were set back when Mallorca were relegated to the Segunda Division in 2013. The team has only had to pay half of what was agreed since moving down a league, on the condition that it repaid the discounted pay-

ments when they moved back to the first division. The annual payment, along with the remaining debt from the past six years, amounts to €11 million and is due to the Treasury by the beginning of October. Luckily, the club is flush with funds after promotion to Spain’s top flight has brought in more than €40 million from TV rights. After the €11 million payment is made, the club will only owe a final balance from the bankruptcy bailout of €7 million to be paid by September 2021 if the team remains in the first division.

WEALTH inequality in the Balearic Islands has been laid bare after a new study listed Palma’s neighborhoods as some of Spain’s poorest. The highest annual average income in Mallorca can be found in La Teulera, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics. While at the opposite end, the likes of Corea and Son Gotleu have been listed as having among the lowest

average income levels in the whole country. These neighborhoods include households where the income levels do not even reach €5,000 per year.

BUSINESS

Spain’s multimillionaires surge by 74% in a decade as the poor get poorer

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

RICH GET RICHER

THE number of Spanish ‘super rico' millionaires tripled during the last decade, new Government figures have revealed. In 2017 Spain had 611 ‘super rich individuals - those taxpayers whose r e p o r t e d wealth is more than €30 million. Hacienda(Tax Agency) data identifies this LOADED: Inditex founder Amancio Ortega, Spain’s richest man, is among the expanded group of super ricos as a 74% in-

BREXIT BREAKWATER Jonathan Holdaway recommends that Brits in Spain begin financial preparations for Brexit as soon as possible My wife and I were relieved to get back to Although a very proud Engour little part of Spain after two weeks back lishman - having served my in the UK to see family and friends and, country and even graced amongst other things celebrate our young- the hallowed turf of Twickest granddaughter’s first birthday, and a few enham (admittedly only in a days later my own. touch rugby tournament) - I Firstly, we had very much missed our two am mildly embarrassed by dogs Toby and Robbie and our newly ‘ad- the current political situation, especially opted’ kittens Punta and Lara. when quizzed by newly made friends More importantly we were pleased to get and business contacts of all nationaliback to the more consistent summer weath- ties. er - although it was noticeably cooler than I am not sufficiently equipped to know when we had left and the therfor sure whether ‘in’ or mometer was touching 40 de‘out’ of the EU will be the grees. best option for the UK in Political Even the usually delightful the long term – I mean shenanigans cooling breeze had started who can you actually to feel like you were walking trust? in Westminster around with a hairdryer being Whatever happens, the getting more blown in your face! unprecedented social and This maybe explains why al- farcical by the day economic turmoil that has most half of the UK’s state been caused by the outpension-drawing population, come of the referendum who have elected to move in June 2016 – and the abroad (121,000 according to the ONS) many more years of the same to come, choose Spain as the place they wish to is likely to have a lasting impact on the spend their Autumn years. country. With the UK’s imminent exit from the EU, My wife and I have returned even more these people may no longer be able to take keen to push ahead quickly now with for granted some of the things they have be- our residency applications; to become come accustomed to enjoying. 100% legal here in Spain, pay our taxes With the political shenanigans in Westmin- and contribute to the social security sysster getting more and more farcical by the tem. day, it is possibly going to take some time Although we do fear for the future of our before they receive clarity about how much four grown up children and three grandtheir lives will change. daughters still living (currently) in the UK. Politics aside, many see moving to another country as the chance to ‘start again’ or undertake some sort of adventure as the catalyst for change. It’s very important to know as much as possible what you are going into - but even some people with experience of their destination country encounter unexpected bureaucracy and legislation that can derail their plans (more so in Spain than a lot of countries).

Send your comments and feedback to Jonathan at jonathan.holdaway@chasebuchanan.com or call him on 00447723027864

crease on 2011 when this exclusive group counted just 352 people among its ranks. This was the same year former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero brought back property tax as Spain was hit by economic crisis. In the same period the number of millionaires with wealth of over €1.5 million also shot up by 35% to 60,337. Meanwhile the estates of Spain’s 202,400 most well-off taxpayers - who pay wealth tax - totalled €669 billion, a 55% surge compared to eight years

ago. Even more alarming is the 110% increase in the total combined wealth of those in the €30 million-plus category since 2011. However this year’s Hacienda figures will again raise questions over the lenient policies Madrid has for its super rich. The Capital is the only Spanish autonomous community where taxpayers pay no ‘estate tax’, thus depriving public coffers of

€955.6 million a year. The good news for the rich comes against a backdrop of stark inequality, with the net wealth of Spain’s poorest 50% having decreased by 4% since 2008, according to the Oxfam Intermon report. Inditex founder Amancio Ortega is Spain’s richest man and the world’s fourth richest with a fortune of around €62 billion.

Benefits Consultancy KIM CLARK If you suffer from... • Mobility problems • Pain / Breathlessness • Falls / Stumbles

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Contact Amanda J Butler your one stop property advisor in Mallorca email: ajb@mjcassociates.net or tel: (+34) 690 075 169

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

HEALTH

FAKE NEWS EXCLUSIVE By Joshua Parfitt

A MOTORING information group has called ‘fake news’ on recent reports that taking Ibuprofen and antihistamines will lead to drivers ‘testing positive for drugs’. The N332 driving and traffic information group for British citizens in Spain issued a statement claiming the information was ‘false’. It comes as both Spanish and English-language press reported a raft of common

English-language driving information group sets the record straight. prescriptions which drug tests in Spain register as having ‘similar effects’ on the body to ‘cannabis and cocaine’. “You can drive while taking Ibuprofen and antihistamines,” the statement read. “Drug tests are designed to detect cannabis, MDMA, cocaine, THC, LSD, amphetamines and derivatives. “If for any reason the drug test is positive and you have

not taken any of these substances, don’t worry. “The police officer will carry out a second drug test that will be sent to a laboratory for verification test.” The N332 group urged drivers, however, to check the red triangle featured on the packaging of common medicines. The warning sign indicates mixing different types of medicines could affect

Howling for justice

your driving. “You can get advice from your doctor while you are on prescription medicines affecting your ability to drive,” the statement continued. Drivers were also encouraged to read information contained within prescription medicine packages. Narcotics It comes after as many as 5,000 drugs were claimed to make drivers liable to lose ‘six points’ from their licences as the medicines are confused with narcotics in saliva and urine samples. They include Valium, Diazepam, Buproprion, Ibuprofen, Fenergen, Ranitidine and others.

ADHD drive

UNDIAGNOSED ADHD has been blamed for reckless driving on Spain’s roads. Some one in five drivers who lost their licences had the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, according to a medical study in Barcelona. The research, carried out at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, found almost a quarter of banned drivers had the disorder, compared with 5% of the general adult population. “ADHD causes impulsive behavior and the possibility of having an accident, with or without injuries, is greater than that of individuals who do not have this disorder,” said research leader Miquel Casas. The psychiatrist added: “It doesn’t mean they can’t drive but untreated ADHD causes more problems.”

THE parents of a group of babies and toddlers who developed ‘werewolf syndrome’ due to a drug mix up have sought legal action against the pharmaceutical company responsible. It comes after at least 20 children began growing abnormal body hair after Malaga-based Farma-Quimica allegedly mixed up the packaging for omeprazole and Minoxidil. The former treats stomach problems while the latter helps treat alopecia sufferers. The mislabelled medicine was recalled in July and the company has been closed down until an investigation into the error is completed. A mother of an affected 10-month old baby has said families are preparing to file a joint lawsuit against manufacturers. While the hair is expected to fall out eventually, some families have been warned of possible long-term side effects - including the widening of blood vessels, which could impact the children’s hearts, kidneys and livers in the future. All mislabelled batches are now off the market, according to Health Minister Maria Luisa Carcedo.

Think of the children

PTICIANS are using the start of the new school year as an opportunity to inform parents and children of the importance of regular eye tests. At the start of term, they recommend that parents take their children to a professional who can check their vision and take the right measures to ensure that their eyesight is not holding them back. Poor vision can inhibit learning and hold them back from performing well in sports. Juan Carlos Martinez Moral, president of the General Council of Colleges of OpticiansOptometrists (CGCOO), said: “As vision can often change during your school career, it is important to have regular eye examinations by an optician-optometrist. “By having your eyes tested at least once a year, you can rule out refractive problems such as long-sightedness, short-sightedness, or astigmatism; binocular vision abnormalities such as strabismus, or amblyopia, popularly referred to as ‘lazy eye’. Francisco Jurado from optical group Specsavers Opticas agreed: “We have seen a high number of children needing glasses across our opticians in Spain and experts around the world are reporting a sharp increase in myopia in young children.

Parents should check that poor eye sight is not holding their children back, says Specsavers Opticas

“The difficulty with children with poor eyesight is they often don’t realise there is anything wrong before it is identified in an eye test. “This means they struggle unnecessarily at school and can be misdiagnosed with learning difficulties simply because of their poor vision. “To avoid issues like these, we also recommend yearly eye tests for children before they go to full-time education and incorporating an eye test into the ‘Back to School’ routine to pick up any changes early, before it starts to affect their learning.” According to charity ONCE, they have 4,245 members aged 18 and under who are suffering from low vision or blindness and studies show that one out of every four children has an undetected vision problem that may inhibit their progress. Common eye conditions can all be identified with a complete eye test. The sooner that vision problems are detected, the better the outcome. Conditions such as squint and amblyopia (lazy eye) can be treated more effectively if they are picked up earlier. Book a Back to School eye test at Specsavers Opticas during September and see their range of glasses which are specially designed for children, including a new range of Toy Story glasses.

For more eye health information for you or your grandchildren, pop into the store the Fuengirola store on Avenida Ramon Y Cajal 6, or see the eye health section of the website www.specsavers.es

PAGE SPONSORED BY

HEALTH

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

ABORTION WARNING

From Page 1

Fresh pregnancy advice issued to all women after first ‘listeria abortion’ on Costa del Sol

AVOID: Listeria found in Carne Mechada products

Contaminated meat

It is extremely likely given she had recently arrived from a break in Granada. So far three people have died and seven women have aborted babies in southern Spain. The total number of cases confirmed around the country has already hit an alarming 214, according to the Junta de Andalucia. On Wednesday, three new cases of infection were reported in Andalucia. A pair were pregnant women, one of whom has given birth. The newborn is receiving treatment. The other woman is still pregnant and remains in care. Listeria rarely kills healthy individuals but can kill those who are medically vulnerable, such as cancer patients and pregnant women.

The infection is often passed to their babies, as it can travel through their blood and reach the fetus. The dangerous bacteria is spread through food and can cause severe illnesses including sepsis and meningitis. Most listeria cases across Spain were confirmed to have come from a type of meatloaf - known as carne mechada - produced by Sevilla-based firm Magrudis. A second company, Sabores de Paterna, has also been shut down, while it undergoes an indepth inspection. Balearic residents are being warned to avoid the product at all costs. It comes as the local government in Malaga advised all pregant women ton get checked.

THE Government has said all pregnant women must be assessed after Malaga’s first abortion due to listeriosis. A woman 22 weeks pregnant lost her baby at the Hospital Costa del Sol last week, amid the spread of listeria in contaminated meat products. This is the sixth abortion caused by Spain’s biggest ever listeriosis outbreak, which has so far killed three people. Four abortions were in public hospitals in Sevilla, with another in a private medical centre in Madrid. It comes as a child with ‘very evolved cancer’ became the latest recorded case, taking

Andalucia’s total to 205 and the number nationwide to 213. The number of hospitalised patients has also increased to 46, while the total of pregnant victims has dropped to 14. Meanwhile, the Junta advised ALL pregnant women to be checked by their GP or gynecologist, according to Diario Sur.

Officials had previously said that only pregnant women with symptoms needed to consult medical advice. But this new advice, issued to all doctors, recommends that even ‘asymptomatic’ women who have eaten the contaminated meat should be checked. Doctors will contact pregnant women in their care to decide

WAIT IN LINE

THE Costa del Sol has had the worst increase in waiting times to see an external medical specialist, new data has revealed. The number of patients from the region had to wait more than 60 days went from 43 in December 2018 to 2240 in June 2019. On social media, the General Secretary of the PSOE of Malaga, Jose L. Ruiz Espej, vented his fury at the sharp increase. He said: “Enough of announcing crash plans that don’t exist. Enough of deceiving Malaga and Malaga.”

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OlivePressMallorca_13-09-19_170x256

if they need to be prescribed the antibiotic amoxicillin. In this new protocol, which is backed up by eight different scientific groups, recommendations will be based on risk. Pregnant women will be asked if they have eaten the infected La Mecha brand of the popular Spanish meatloaf’ from Sevilla-based firm Magrudis. The Junta has now extended the health alert to another brand of meat products, Sabores de Paterna, based in Cadiz. If patients are unable to remember they will be given the drug, which in the last 10 days has successfully reduced the symptoms of 61% of victims. A British man returning to the UK after a holiday in Spain was among the other suspected victims. A German family of six people in Germany was also added to the list of those infected.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL SCHWEPPED

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

Meals on wheels

SPAIN’S online food delivery market, which includes UberEats and Deliveroo, has grown by over a quarter. The sector’s 26% growth in 2018 means it is now worth €900 million, according to data from Just Eat. Takeaway food delivery contributes €2.4 billion to the Spanish economy, with €600 million of that comprising internet orders. A stronger economy and a 2% increase in coastal business are among the reasons for the booming sector. Although Barcelona tops the rankings during summer, Cadiz sees the largest increase in the Autumn, with a 173% boost in online trade.

AWAY

Court prevents Coca-Cola Schweppes company in Spain importing tonic from UK

COCA-COLA has been banned from selling Schweppes tonic in Spain. A court has prevented the Red Parallel company from importing the drink from the United Kingdom and distributing it in Spain. It comes after a judge ruled the Japanese firm Suntory was the only company with the right to sell Schweppes tonics in the country. Barcelona-based Red Parallel had profited hugely from importing the tonic from the UK and selling it in Spain at

a lower price. This lucrative business model saw the company shift 17.3 million bottles and net €5.9 million between 2009 and 2014. “The only thing we did was buy English Schweppes tonic from English wholesalers, therefore merchandise was already in free circulation in the European Economic Area,” said the company following the ruling by the Commercial Court Number 8 of Barcelona. This sentence has ruled Red

Cooking the books

PLEDGE: Andres to pay up

SPANISH chef Jose Andres has vowed to reimburse his staff after a ‘glitch’ left employees a little lighter come payday. The 50-year-old celebrity cook faced backlash after a bartender at the food hall Mercado Little Spain in New York alleged ‘systematic’ underpayment. Andres, who runs the business with the Adria broth-

ers, said he would ‘offset any difficulties’ for those underpaid. However another bartender Cindy Martinez rejected his claims of a ‘payroll glitch’, while a lawsuit said ‘it is plain underpayment of wages’. Andres, who was famed for his Washington tapas restaurant Jaleo, and has since been working with those affected by Hurricane Dorian.

What’s on for foodies!

a n d w i c h route

SANDWICH lovers rejoice as the Ruta del Llonguet food festival is back in Palma every Wednesday – the Mallorcan subway sandwich is on offer with a beer for only €3 at over 40 locations

BOTTLE BAN: Coca-Cola handed drinks court order Parallel must pay compensation to Suntory for damages amounting to €293,480. The tonic Schweppes was born in 1783 but was a late arrival to Spain, only entering the Iberian market in 1957. The brand quickly became a market leader, with a 54.8% share, and experienced a strong increase in sales as the popularity of gin and tonic soared. Suntory’s legal director

María Rodríguez said: “The rights of the Schweppes brand in Spain are not exhausted. “The only Schweppes tonic that can be marketed in Spain is that manufactured by Schweppes Suntory Spain or another company of our same group.” The legal dispute, which began in 2014, looks set to continue with an appeal expected to be launched with Spain’s Supreme Court.

Amateurs get taste of big time AN AMATUER cooking competition took place at the Grup Serra printing factory in Son Valenti on Monday. A Chef at Home sees contestants send a panel of judges a home-cooked meal for the chance to win some decent prizes - one of which included a meal for two at a Michelin star restaurant. The contest, which is now in

its seventh edition, has an array of talented individuals on the panel, such as Pinxo Gonzalez of Katarsis restaurant, Miguel Navarro of Es Fum restaurant and David Ribas of Daica restaurant. The winner of the evening was Llorenc Sanso, whose jelly lasagna, stuffed with crispy Mahonés cheese and tuna tartare, wowed judges.

Benefits Consultancy KIM CLARK If you suffer from... • Mobility problems • Pain / Breathlessness • Falls / Stumbles

Or you need... • Help with washing / dressing • Supervision

ine time

FESTA des V e r m a r , Binissalem’s famous wine festival, returns with grape-stomping, wine tasting and more from September 16 29.

ish fest

SEAFOOD is all the rage at Palma’s seafood festival – find fresh fish dishes and plenty of paella at the Gran Fiesta del Marisco, now on until September 29.

Even Brits hate Brits BRITS have rated themselves as the worst-behaved country abroad, a recent YouGov survey shows. Participants from 26 countries were asked how favourably they viewed their fellow natives while on holiday. Brits were one of only two countries holding a negative view of their compatriots with 57% disapproving of behaviour abroad. This is compared to Filipinos, 85% of whom rated their overseas citizens positively. Indians had an 83% selfapproval rate, followed by residents of the United Arab Emirates with 82%. British people also fared badly when the poll asked to select which foreign countries had the worst tourists. Almost half of Spaniards polled named Britons as the worst-behaved, with Germany also naming UK citizens as the least loved.

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

Red carpet treatment There is a double deal for your social calendars at the OD Port Portals this month, writes Gillian Keller

F you’re looking for a couple of thrilling events to fill this month’s social calendar look no further than the OD Port Portals Hotel. The first big event is the seasonal event from the Joyron foundation – The Red Carpet Charity Party on September 20. The charity, founded by expat Ronald Hawes, helps children in need around the Balearics and all proceeds from the ‘red’ event go to local youngsters. Reserve a ticket with a €50 donation to the foundation – and wear your best and boldest red outfit. Later in the month, a swingdancing extravaganza is set to fill the night of September 27 with music and moves from the 1950s. Put on your best poodle skirt or retro suit and of course the best dancing shoes and head over to Portals. Music, dancing, food and drink will fill the night for the throwback party, complete with contests and competitions.

The OD Port Portals hotel also offers a unique ‘tasting’ style brunch every Saturday and Sunday with hoards of small plates so everyone can try a bit of everything. The picturesque roof-top sky bar remains open until September 15 – so be sure to stop by for one last sunset view before the season is over.

GOOD TIMES: Port Portel charity ball

Friends.

Reset.

Music.

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

Horizon.

Sunset.

Memories.

COLUMNISTS Ignorance is bliss

Mallorca DIARIES

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

AS usual I’ve left the writing of this column to the very last minute. I’d like to say that it’s so that I can comment on the latest world events and occurrences etc. but let’s be honest, it’s not that, sadly. No, I would be a contender for the Olympic procrastination team if there were one. It’s a family trait and although I absolutely know it would be so much better if I just got on with whatever it is I just don’t. I imagine being a procrastinator is fine if you have a laid back personality but if you’re as uptight as I am at the moment it’s a nightmare. It causes me a ludicrous level of stress and certainly adds to my insomnia as I lie there thinking ‘I must do that’ or ‘why haven’t I sorted this?’ One of the best modern innovations to help anyone overcome this affliction is the internet. I can set reminders, I can answer queries in the middle of the night and best of all I can send personalised cards at the very last minute. Yes, as a serial birthday date forgetter I can organise a lovely personalised and appropriate card at the eleventh hour to anywhere.

By Lesley Keith

Lesley Keith explores why she procrastinates and why NOT watching Spanish news is the key to happiness It’s a dream come true and of- how I feel about whatever it is ten cheaper than buying and that’s becoming necessary. The more urgent or important sending to the UK from here. No desperate last minute trip the thing I’m putting off is, the to the shops, no scrabbling for more other stuff gets sorted. stamps because the post of- For instance, I hate doing food fice is closed, no driving miles shopping, I always wait until to their house as you’ve left it we’ve reached the last tea too late for the post and there- bag or slice of bread so if I refore no fibbing about why it ally, really need to go, I do all hasn’t arrived i.e. ‘our post this other stuff instead to put office is under siege’...well it off the actual deed. isn’t on the news because... There must be some underlying basis umm... befor this, some cause they’re instance in trying to quell If you want to my childhood panic in the reduce your where I did area...no not that post of- stress levels then something too soon or unnecfice... you’re don’t watch the essarily. breaking up Or maybe it’s sorry...I’ll call news that little fuback... tile hope that I No, now I can won’t actually sort things at the ‘n’th hour and delegate have to do whatever it is. the responsibility to the card Maybe I’m just lazy? Surely website. Simples! You can not? The crazy thing is I can’t even include a gift. How good stand this trait in other people. is that? The strange thing with pro- My partner for instance ancrastination is that it seems nounced he was going out at to be in direct proportion to 8pm on the night before my

SWITCH OFF: Spanish news can make for gloomy viewing

birthday, returning 45 minutes later with what looked suspiciously like a card in his hand and a bunch of flowers. Hmm, not very impressed I can tell you. He’d had 364 days since the last one to get this sorted. Someone told me years ago that if you want to reduce your stress levels then don’t watch the news. I have to say I think that’s very good advice and tend to follow it as you get a disproportionate level of tragic information. On a normal broadcast you get about 90% doom and

gloom with only the remaining 10% good news and weather. Before we had UK TV here we had no choice but to watch Spanish TV. Well if you haven’t seen it, Spanish news is all bad but read by highly coiffed supermodels whose good looks will hopefully detract from the tragedies unfolding. At that time I spoke virtually no Spanish so just watched the accompanying newsreel films of various disasters. This made it even worse because you could see all these catastrophes and not know

what it was or where it was happening. Now we have UK TV which is actually broadcast from Northern Ireland and their news is so depressing. For some reason all channels seem to broadcast news at the same time so I can’t even watch anything else and to be honest I don’t want to know. Plus, I’m determined my life is going to be a Brexit-free zone, sorry Boris. The phrase ‘ignorance is bliss’ certainly works for me in so many ways.

The paper NOT to miss on Mallorca island THE Olive Press is now distributing all over the island in an incredible 500-plus locations. Found at golf courses, tourist offices, museums and petrol stations, it has become the most sought-after English newspaper in MalAlaro Alcanada Alcanada Alcudia ALGAIDA Andratx Andratx BENDINAT BENDINAT BENDINAT Binissalem Cala Estancia

lorca every fortnight. Look out for one of our many stands, as seen here at Santa Catalina market, in Palma, and in Andratx town centre. We print between 7,000 to 8,000 copies every issue and take our distribution very seriously,

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RAFAEL Nadal has held off Daniil Medvedev in a five-set classic to win the US Open and move within one place of Roger Federer’s 20 grand slams. The Spaniard, 33, beat the Russian 7-5, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4 in front of a buzzing crowd of 24,000 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. Second seed Rafa was two sets up, before his 23-yearold opponent forced a decider, but Nadal clung on to clinch his 19th major. The match that lasted four hours and 50 minutes - just four minutes shorter than the longest ever US Open final. “It was the most emotional night in my tennis career,” said Nadal post-match, “the nerves were so high, it was a crazy match.”

United we stand Ex-Red Devil Ander Herrera among all-star football lineup in court over match fixing allegations

PLAYERS and staff at Real Zaragoza and Levante have lined up in court as Spain’s first major match-fixing trial got underway. A former Man United midfielder was among the 42 defendants charged over over a suspect match in 2011 between the two sides. Real Zaragoza’s 2-1 win in the last match of the season, spared the club relegation from the Spanish first division. But the match triggered an anti-corruption probe and investigators have since alleged the result had been pre-arranged between the clubs. Ander Herrera and the oth-

Bet in play LIVE Sports betting has become the clear winner with online gamblers in Spain. The average number of online players in Spain has tripled from almost 280,000 in 2013 to 830,00 in 2018. While classic casino games such as poker, blackjack and roulette have also grown, betting on sporting events has become an obvious favourite. In terms of the volume of money placed, live sports betting has seen an enormous growth rate in recent years, reaching a high of €537 million in November 2018. The start of LaLiga and Spanish participation in an international tournament have also been seen to have a sizeable impact on market behaviour.

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Squatting the years away A MIDDLE-aged man from Mallorca has seen off younger competitors to be proclaimed the crossfit champion of Spain. Javi Garcia achieved the feat after winning the fifth edition of the Spanish Throwdown crossfit tournament in Madrid. The three-day event is Spain’s largest functional fitness and

weight lifting competition. The 47-year-old said it was ‘a difficult success to achieve with my age; there are not many people my age who can do it at this level’. He said: “Two months ago, I won in Rome and I have to admit that it has cost me more here; the level has been very high and the score very tight.”

IN THE DOCK: Herrera with old teammates in court

er accused made no comments as they arrived at the court in Valencia for the start of proceedings. The official file put forward by prosecutors had named players, coaches and directors from across the two clubs, and claimed €965,000 had changed hands. Pictures from inside the courtroom show both sets of players, and club officials sat in a manner resembling an awkward team photo.

Terminated A PREMIER League winner’s stint on Spain’s Costa del Sol has come to an abrupt end with his contract terminated after just four weeks – but Shinji Okazaki has now found a new club in northeastern Spain. The former Leicester striker left Malaga CF without playing a single league game having joined on a free transfer in July, but the 33-year-old will remain in the Segunda Division, signing for SD Huesca. Malaga has suffered financial problems off the pitch and had not budgeted properly for the Japan international’s wages. This has left the 2016 titlewinner back hunting for a new club after he left the King Power Stadium earlier this summer. Okazaki had been Malaga’s marquee signing when he joined on July 20. He had hoped his move to Spain would boost his chances of making the Japan squad for the 2022 World Cup. Malaga had to publicly apologise to Okazaki and his

September 13th - September 26th, 2019

OFF: Okazaki forced out

agent after owner Abdullah Al Thani took a week to sanction the deal. La Liga then barred Okazaki’s registration as his contract would have taken Malaga over their salary cap. Before leaving, Okazaki had only been able to play three pre-season games and did not feature in any of Malaga’s opening league fixtures. A club statement read: “Malaga CF wants to thank the player for the commitment shown in this journey.”

The Prosecutor’s Office has requested two years in prison for each defendant and six years of disqualification for players and former executives. As well as a fine of more than € 1 million, if the accusations are proven. The case is expected to carry on through to September 30 with sentencing to follow within the following two months.

ROCK: Mallorca’s Javi Garcia has been crowned the crossfit champion of Spain, despite being 47

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FINAL WORDS

Bottom of class SPANISH school children receive 130 teaching hours per year above the OECD average but still score worse results than pupils in Finland, despite the Finns getting 246 less hours.

Caught high A MARIJUANA farm has been rumbled by police in Catalunya after being spotted by a helicopter crew filming the Vuelta Espana.

Stags stuck A GERMAN stag party got stuck in a Metro lift and missed the entire La Tomatina festival. The 12 overloaded the a station lift (meant for eight) in their rush to attend the festival.

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Vol. 13 Issue 326 www.theolivepress.es September 13th - September 26th, 2019

COME FLY WITH ME!

SUMMERTIME, and the living is easyJet! This image shows the moment an off-duty pilot flew himself to his own holiday in Alicante. EasyJet captain Michael Bradley piloted the plane

Cruzing for a bruising A MAP of Spain’s favourite beers has angered Andalucians after it was implied they only drink Cruzcampo. A graphic by Data Centric, compiled from public surveys shows the basic brand as the most popular in the southernmost region. One social media user said: “Cruzcampo is only drunk in Sevilla,

the rest of Andalucians drink Alhambra.” Another commented: “In Granada, we don’t drink piss.” Meanwhile in other autonomous communities, Estrella de Galicia reigned supreme, being the top tipple for Asturians, Cantabrians, Castilian-Leonese, Basques, Riojans, and Valencians.

ons found ‘to prevent their proliferation and the risk of them becoming a potentially invasive species.’ The small predator could have drastic changes to the ecosystem if each one is not found and removed as a matter of urgency.

Cent-imental

TAKING FLIGHT: Off-duty pilot

Off-duty pilot wings to the rescue after two-hour flight delay

from Manchester Airport after passengers - including Bradley’s wife and son - faced a two-hour delay due to a

A DEATHSTALKER scorpion has caused panic after being found for the first time in the Balearics. The non-native species, which can kill and is one of the world’s most dangerous arachnids, was discovered in Ibiza. Environmental agents stressed the importance of reporting any yellow scorpi-

missing pilot. Phoning up his airliner before passing security, Bradley offered his services as he was still carrying his licence and ID. “They phoned me back and said ‘please, please pretty please with a big cherry on top’, can you fly the aeroplane to Alicante?’,” he explained to passengers in a now-viral video. Commenting on his casual dress, he said: “If you’re alright for one of your pilots to look like this today, we’ll go to Alicante.” The decision was met with cheers from passengers. Michelle Potts, from Denton, said: “It could only happen to me.

“I get to boarding and guy at the desk casually says, ‘oh your pilot’s gone missing but a guy that’s going on your flight is going to fly the plane’. “Luckily the guy was actually a pilot! It probably would have been cancelled if it wasn’t for him. Legend.” A spokesman for easyJet said the flight’s delay was ‘due to the knock on effects of the French ATC failure on Sunday’ which meant crew had to rely on standbys. “This is fully in line with regulations as he had his licence and ID with him. Safety is always our highest priority,” he added. He said the incident was ‘exceptional’ and added Michael was well rested, having previously had four days off and was legally permitted to fly the aircraft.

A BAR has left a customer shell-shocked after charging her 10 cents extra for an ice cube for her drink. Marcelle Richardson, 56, went to Bar Ballesta for a drink with a friend when she was left aghast at the bar ‘s peculiar policy. She said: “I ordered a coffee. “The waitress there mentioned that, because I ordered a coffee, they charge 10 cents per ice cube. “I was absolutely shocked, but I didn’t want to cause a fuss so I agreed to pay.” The manager of the bar in Benidoleig, Alicante told the Olive Press: “The charge for ice is only for our cold drinks. “For Coca Cola, juice, mineral water etc., there is no charge.” Have you been charged for ice? Get in touch at newsdesk@theolivepress.es