Costa Blanca Olive Press - issue 54 by Olive Press Newspaper Spain

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Vol. 3 Issue 54 www.theolivepress.es April 22nd - May 5th 2021

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COSTA BLANCA

IBIZA Spring travel special

Bare s e i t i s s e c e N

Where is our top rated secret watersports school ? - see page 16

EXCLUSIVE The expat helping to change Spanish law - See page 6

With national travel inching ever closer, the Olive Press offers a special guide to Ibiza, including an insider’s look at the trendy hotel that has welcomed the likes of Peter Doherty and Bryan Adams - see page 14

EXCLUSIVE By Alex Trelinski in Costa Blanca and Fiona Govan in Madrid

A COSTA Blanca expat has been forced to value each item of clothing - including her underwear - that she sent via a removal company from the UK. Patricia McKinley was stunned at having to list everything sent in packing cases as part of a permanent move to her new home in Guardamar. The businesswoman, from Leamington Spa, told the Olive Press how she ended up paying three times the previous quote she had been given for moving the 30kg package of clothes. “I was originally quoted €45 by a luggage-forwarding company, but ended up having to pay an extra €79, when I went back to wrap up my old house in January,” she said. The price hike from DHL

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Knickers in a twist

Spain was down to a ‘double-whammy’ of two unexpected charges. Firstly a €40 levy for ‘additional paperwork’ and then €39 in IVA (VAT) payments on her clothes. “I had no idea about this charge and of course I had to pay it,” Patricia continued. “Despite insisting they must be kidding, DHL said they had to follow the rules arising from Brexit. “I never thought I would be moving to Spain and having to itemise my T-shirts at 50p each or my underwear,” she added. “At least they arrived quickly and I didn’t have to wait long.” This however, was not the case for Madrid-based Jemi-

Expat shock at ‘exorbitant’ fees even on clothes - being levied on goods sent from UK ma Austerfield who was stunned when the postman demanded she pay €40.77 for a present that arrived TWO months after her birthday.

Doorstep demand The beaten up package, smaller than a shoe box, came late despite being sent by her mother from London two weeks before her birthday at the cost of £40 (€45). “My mother sent the packet with various gifts over ten weeks ago in the hope that the gifts would arrive in time for

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my birthday on February 6.” she told the Olive Press. But after several weeks the box arrived back in London with a note in Spanish saying they had been unable to deliver it in Madrid, presumably because the mother-of-two had not been at home to pay the fee on arrival. “My mother had to pay £30 (€33) pounds just to collect the package from the post office and then to pay the £40 again to resend it,” the caterer explained. It meant that over €160 was spent in order for Austerfield to receive the package, close to double the value of the contents within it. Under new rules that came in with the end of the Brexit transition period on January 1, all parcels, whether commercial or private, are required to have customs declaration forms.

in January as nobody really had a clue what to do and what the rules meant, but at least it is settling down now.” He continued: “The only way of avoiding tax on transferring goods like clothes from the UK is in the case of people moving permanently over to Spain.”

Costs

FURIOUS: Austerfield It means they may be subject to extra import taxes even if they are gifts. For packages being sent from the UK to countries within the EU, the rules now state that a CN22 or CN23 form is required to be displayed on the outside of the package as well as details of sender and recipient. Michael Smith, owner of Villamartin-based South Coast Removals told the Olive Press: “Things were really bad

To do this people emigrating would have to produce a recently-obtained NIE number; documented proof that they had sold their house; and a supporting letter from the Spanish consulate in the UK. For everybody else, costs have rocketed, admitted Smith. “You need inventories for everything and customs officers will charge tax. Additionally, the paperwork for removal companies and agents has doubled and that means a hike in costs plus time delays in making deliveries. “Customers are seeing these costs passed on plus plus tax on top of that. It’s been very hard for everybody.”

CRIME

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NEWS IN BRIEF Overload POLICE arrested a 30-year-old squatter who converted an empty Novelda finca into a marijuna farm. His excessive electricity use in nurturing a thousand plants blew up a local transformer leaving his neighbours without power.

New look WORK has begun on a €1 million upgrade to Avenida de Mallorca in Benidorm. New street lighting and paving are part of the changes being made in the Rincon de Loix area of the city.

Extension COVID restrictions are expected to be relaxed in the Valencia region next week which could see extended hours for bars and restaurants which currently have to close at 6.00 pm.

Granny con AN Alicante man has been charged with illegal withdrawals totalling over €2,500 from a bank card belonging to his 99-yearold grandmother.

People smugglers A CRIMINAL gang has been dismantled by police and linked to the death of four migrants off the Canary Islands. The people smugglers had safehouses in La Linea, Ceuta, Algeciras and Madrid. Over 150 police raided six properties leading to the arrest of 20 suspects for links to human trafficking of migrants through the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco. The network was made up of Spanish and Moroccan criminals, who charged around €2,500 per immigrant for a place on one of their many vessels. The immigrants, many of them children, were given no safety gear in boats that were poorly maintained and in many cases, stolen.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Serial killer fears

Police search for missing sex worker after three women murdered in Valencia region

POLICE are urgently trying to trace a prostitute who disappeared near Elche, where three other women have been murdered in recent months. The Argentinian who could be pregnant was reported missing by a friend last week. The missing woman reportedly worked the same strip of road - the ‘Silla slip’ – just outside the town

Clean sweep A COUPLE have cleaned up a staggering €9,000 from change machines at launderettes. The Alicante duo struck six times at three businesses according to police. They saw the boxes as easy targets, filled with banknotes put in by customers wanting coins to use in the washing machines. The 38-year-old man would go into the launderette with a large bag or shopping trolley, while his 41-year-old girlfriend remained outside. She unfurled a large towel to reduce the chances of people spotting what was going on inside. The man would rip the money box from the wall and then put it into his bag or trolley, cover it with clothes and stroll away.

of Catarroja, where a teenage hooker was found dead three months ago. Florina Gogos, 19, was discovered on January 30 between Silla and Albufera. She had been strangled and her body dumped in an irrigation channel. Police are investigating whether her murder is linked to that of Olga Pardo, 43, who had been strangled and dumped in a canal outside nearby Massarrojos two weeks ago. The hotel cleaner was discovered on April 6 with cops trying to determine her movements in the hours up

to her disappearance. There is no suggestion that she was involved in the sex industry. The two recent killings bear striking similarities to that of a third woman who was killed last November. Identified only as ‘Alicia’, the 45 year-old civil servant was found strangled in a ditch 200 metres from her home in La Hoya. Given the similarity and location of the three murders, all within Elche, police are investigating whether they could be linked and fear the Argentinian could be a potential fourth victim.

TRAGIC: Olga Pardo (left) and Florina Gogo

Facing the facts A SPANISH man has been arrested for selling fake lip cream that has caused serious injuries on a number of women. The Madrid man, 60, was snared after women around the country reported serious side effects after using the cream. The product, designed to increase the volume of the lips, was reportedly responsible for causing allergic reactions, necrosis which kills cells and even facial paralysis.

Tracked

The investigation began last year and tracked the website selling it to the Alcorcon suburb of Madrid. Police found that the medicine did not have an expiration date or a recorded batch number. The seller was also not registered to sell pharmaceutical products and the company that he operated under was not a legal entity. Most of the women affected had been told to simply apply chamomile to their faces. Toxicology reports are currently underway.

NEWS

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Howzatt!

On show FASHIONISTAS flocked to Madrid Fashion Week, after the 73rd edition of the show kicked off in style. Catwalk star Nieves Alvarez, 47, walked down the runway at the Maite by Lola Casademunt fashion show showcasing an array of stunning outfits. The Madrid-born beauty, who has modelled for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood and Prada during her career, was right at home walking the capital city’s catwalk.

WHILE many sports in Spain have been playing on a sticky wicket during the pandemic, one is booming – cricket. It may come as a bit of a surprise to many, but the quintessential English game is rapidly taking a hold in the land of sun and sangria. Traditionally, its strongholds are Catalunya and the Costa Blanca (with a special mention to Madrid and Murcia) but the game is now spreading. There are even set to be full blown international games soon with Almeria’s Desert Springs ground just being granted accreditation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to host one day internationals and ‘T20 matches’. Now the Costa del Sol is following suit with an interna-

EXCLUSIVE: Get your pads on for Europe’s fastest growing sport, writes Dilip Kuner

tional tournament designed to boost the profile of the game in Spain. Hosted at the picturesque Cartama Oval, near Malaga - where British ambassador Hugh Elliott once strapped on

his pads – the European Cricket Championship (ECC) will run from September 13 to October 8. In total, 15 nations will take part, including an England Amateurs squad and Scotland A. Speaking at the launch of the event at Benalmadena’s Sunset Beach By Jon Clarke Club, The European Cricket Network (ECN) CEO Roger Fiener told told the Olive Press after taking a trip up to San the Olive Press: “People Sebastian to pick up the gong. don’t realise it, but crick“I decided the legal profession was not for me, et is the fastest growing while working as a lawyer in Zurich and I always sport in Europe, and secwanted to come home and open a restaurant in ond fastest in the world. my home town of Marbella.” “In Germany there are He picked up the award in San Sebastian alongnow 350 clubs - there side Valencian and Murcian chefs, who were also were only a handful a honoured this year. few years ago.” They included the chefs from Cal Paradis in CasJay Wild (pictured), of tellon, Saiti, Arrels, Entrevins and Toshi in Valenthe Costa del Sol Cricket cia, plus El Xato and Casa Pepa in Alicante. Club, based at Cartama In Murcia, AlmaMater, Local de Ensayo, Odiseo added: “We see this as and Pepe Toma were honoured. an opportunity to de“It’s the first time I have left Malaga since the lockvelop the game not just down last year and it was amazing to travel again,” in Andalucia, but across said Alcala. Spain. He naturally made the most of his trip by pulling We need more juniors in a favour to get a table at legendary Asador Etxand want to diversify the ebarri, in the Basque country, which was voted as player base – and this the ‘third best restaurant in the world’ in the latest tournament will have an Pellegrino awards. impact on that. There are 618 restaurants listed in the Repsol “Many people don’t reguide this year, with 304 restaurants around alise that cricket is even Spain having one Sol, 126 with two Sols and 37 played in Spain – I am with three Sols. sure once they find out There are 53 restaurants with sols in the Valencian many people will come region, with Catalunya, the Basque Region and along, and bring their Madrid taking top spots. kids as well.”

I’m the law (in the kitchen) A SELF-taught chef with a Masters degree in law is lighting the way for a new culinary revolution on the costas. Lawyer Fernando Alcala, 30, has snared a ‘sun’ award in the annual Repsol Soles awards for his creativity and hard work at his Marbella restaurant Kava. It comes after the young chef also won a Red Meals (Bib Gourmand) award from the Michelin guide last year and became the stand-out ‘sensation’ at the Madrid Fusion event in 2019. “It’s a massive honour to win the Repsol award,” he

KIM CLARK

Benefits Consultancy

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

STEPPING INTO OBLIVION A THIRD of Spain’s flamenco venues have shut down due to the COVID crisis. An alarming 34 of the country’s 93 tablaos have been sythed by the pandemic. Their intimate set-ups, with a stage nestled between the tables and chairs, has meant that most have been unable to reopen since March last year. President of the tablao association Juan Manuel del Rey has warned that ‘tablaos are on the path to extinction.’ The knock on effect for flamenco artists will be huge as 95% of their work comes in tablaos. While the Spanish government donated more than €2 million in support of the sector during the pandemic it is too little, too late. “Tablaos have acted like a springboard for generations of flamenco artists to launch their professional career and without them Spain is in danger of losing ‘the universities of our flamenco,’ said Rosana de Aza, a producer from Sevilla.

READY, steady, bake!

AMAZON is investing its dough into a Spanish version of Celebrity Bake Off. With the pandemic leaving viewers stuck at home eager for new shows to devour, the global streaming giant is making a 10-part Celebrity Bake Off España. The show will see a

dozen famous faces compete each week to prove their are cream of the crop and come away with the coveted title of best celebrity amateur baker. The BBC has now licensed the show to 35 territories across the globe including Brazil, Kenya, Thailand, and France.

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Polly’s Bookshop in Javea Port is 35 years old. “Polly’s is as old as me,” says Sam, her proud owner, “and to celebrate, we are opening a new Polly’s Bookshop in Moraira.” Like Polly’s Javea, the new shop has thousands of quality used books, fiction and nonfiction, in English, Spanish, German, French and Dutch. Apart from the books that are extra special, they’ll still be 3 euros each with a euro credit if you want to return it. We are continuing with our busy proofreading and editing services and our popular book finding and ordering services too. It feels great finding an out of print book for someone who has been searching for it.

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NEWS

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NEWS IN BRIEF Sudden death A 47-year-old man died last Saturday just three minutes into a walk with his family at Javea’s Cala de Pope.

Tram crash A 16-year-old boy needed hospital treatment after his bicycle collided with an Alicante tram close to the Camp de Golf station in the city.

Shock catch A CALPE fishing boat caught a human body in its nets which police believe may have been in the water for months.

Pain Hope DENIA Hospital has launched a neurosurgery service using the latest non-invasive techniques to treat patients with severe back pain caused by joint and nerve system issues.

Camel horror A CAMEL ride through Valencia’s Turia Natural River park ended with the death of a 20-yearold tourist. It came after the man - and his sister - were thrown off the camel as it bolted after being shocked by a horse. The man, whose name was given as Christian BD, suffered irreversible brain damage and died in hospital three days later, while his sister, 22, suffered two broken legs. The pair had been thrown off, but their legs got caught up in the saddle and they were dragged for 200 metres. The drama unfolded in front of the victims’ shocked parents who were seated on a camel behind them. The loose animal was eventually stopped by a car that blocked its path. Neither sibling was wearing a helmet, which is not compulsory at the park. AN Alicante policeman has been suspended for 18 months without pay for refusing to wear a mask at work. Rafa Navarro repeatedly broke health and safety laws and could have been sus-

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

All bark, little bite IT might be to blame for a staggering 86% of new cases… but the so-called British variant of COVID is having very little impact in Spain. The B.1.1.7 strain has actually been described as a good thing by the nation’s chief epidemiologist. It is now responsible for the vast majority of the cases behind the current fourth wave spreading around the country, a huge increase on the 2% detected in January when the third wave reached its peak. Early fears over the new variant - that got its name as it was first detected in Britain - led to Spain closing its borders to travellers from the UK unless they were resident here. It was feared that not only was it more contagious, but it could prove more lethal, pushing Spain’s hospitals into a critical condition again. However, despite being responsible for almost all cases now detected, the nation’s hospitals are not being overwhelmed in the same way they

Un-masked crusader

pended for up to six years. It came after he took part in a series of protests against

While it’s nearly 90% to blame for the fourth wave, the British COVID variant has no teeth in Spain By Fiona Goven

were during earlier waves. What’s more, the effect on the Spanish health service is far smaller than in other countries, like France or Germany. Fernando Simon (pictured), Spain’s Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, predicted that the British variant could in fact be advantageous for Spain. “It’s now our variant,” Simon said, adding that it ‘could actually be benefiting us’ as ‘it’s leaving no room’ for the potentially more dangerous South African and Brazilian variants to take hold. Now it is hoped that the prevalence of the British strain could work in favour of loosening restrictions on travel between Spain and the UK sooner than mask-wearing. He also used social media to express his views including his belief that COVID-19 ‘is a hoax’. He has since gone on facebook to encourage people that share his stance to ‘not be afraid’.

later. In what would be excellent news for the tourist industry, it is now likely that British holidaymakers will be allowed to visit en masse over the summer. Currently Britain is considering the categorisation of countries under a traffic light system based on the level of risk, with Portugal and Malta currently most likely to open first. Those returning to the UK from ‘green light’ destinations won't have to undergo the compulsory quarantine that is currently required. The latest data from April 19 shows that the British variant is responsible for an average of 86% of cases across Spain while just three cases of the South African variant, and

32 cases of the Brazilian have been detected. Asturias has the highest prevalence of the British variant with 98.8% of cases detected, while Aragon has the lowest with 74%.

Good news

Meanwhile Andalucia records 96% of cases as British strain, the Valencia region counts 89%, Madrid 80%, Catalunya 79% and the Balearic Islands 78%. Further good news arrived this week showing that current vaccines in use in Spain are effective in preventing the British variant, something that may not be the case with the Brazilian and South African strains. Opinion Page 6

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THE remains of over 300 people executed without trial then tossed into mass graves are to finally be exhumed. The victims from Granada include teachers, labourers, dressmakers and political activists - men and women who fell foul of dictator Franco’s bloodletting during the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The graves are just 800 metres MASS GRAVES: 300 victims will be exhumed from where arshrine to the fallen. For many years it was chaeologists unsuccessfully Now, generations later, rel- believed Lorca was also searched for the remains atives are hoping to finally murdered and buried in of writer Federico Garcia be able to give their loved the same ravine, although Lorca, who was infamously ones a decent burial. other experts such as Irish buried along with a teacher Experts expect that the ex- author and historian Ian and two bullfighters, Fran- humations will continue Gibson, who has written cisco Galadi and Joaquin into three further known books on the Blood WedArcollas. graves in the area. ding writer, disagreed. Archaeologists, forensic Three attempts have been Pilgrimage experts, criminologists and made to locate the poet's The digs at two sepa- sociologists from the Uni- grave in 2009, 2014 and rate sites in a ravine near versity of Granada will then 2016. The first, in the GarViznar, have begun after begin the grim task of cat- cia Lorca Park; the second, two central government aloguing and matching the less than a kilometre from remains with their relatives the first excavation and the grants of €46,000. last, in Alfacar (Granada). For years the relatives of today. those who were shot have The Secretary of State for The unsuccessful searches made a pilgrimage along Democratic Memory, Fer- have fueled theories about the so-called ‘road of death’ nando Martínez said: “With his final whereabouts: the exhumations, the Gov- with many believing his to the village. At the sites now to be exca- ernment intends to close a remains may have ended vated, flowers and poems black page in the history of up in the Valley of the Fallen, near Madrid. already form an unofficial Spain".

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April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Getting legal

Farm uncovered POLICE seized 288 kilos of marijuana from a luxury Denia area villa that housed an indoor drugs farm. Two Lithuanian men were arrested during their raid on the property in Les Rotes. Neighbours became suspicious when the occupants barely left their home. They told police that they thought the villa was being used for criminal activities. They also noticed some small wooden storage units had appeared outside as an integral part of the villa. They contained air conditioning that was never switched off to keep the marijuana farm at an optimum growth temperature. A police check revealed that the power consumption was 15 times higher compared to a similar-sized property. Officers raided the villa and discovered 850 marijuana plants along with a gun that had its serial number scratched off. The 33 and 45-year-old detainees have a criminal record in Spain and abroad for similar offences. They were remanded in custody.

NEWS

Down the drain A MAN has been arrested for stealing 160 manhole covers worth €19,200. It comes after an unsuspecting pedestrian fell down a hole and broke his leg. The thefts have all come around the El Garroferal urbanisation in Javea, with the town hall making an official complaint to police, who launched a surveillance operation. Officers eventually detained a Spaniard, 24, over the thefts of the covers, worth €120 each. He made his money by transporting the stolen items to a scrap metal dealership on a Benissa industrial estate. The thief was caught ‘red-handed’ selling the covers. A search of the Benissa premises detected 35 stolen covers as well as numerous ‘irregularities’ in the dealer’s book-keeping. A Moldovan couple, as well as a Romanian were arrested for handling them.

BRITISH expats previously living illegally in Spain have helped the country to reach a record number of foreign residents. As of December 31, 2020, there were over 5.8 million foreigners living in Spain. The figure was boosted by a 6% rise in UK nationals getting residency

Registered Brits in Spain surged as Brexit deadline looked

ahead of a final Brexit deadline. Official government statistics put the total of foreign residents at 5,800,468 which is 137,120 more than in 2019. The number of registered UK

Bison are back

IT would have been a dream for cavemen holed up around prehistoric Spain. To have a farm specially breeding their favourite evening dish: that of grilled bison. Now a special conservation project is set to reintroduce the European bison back into Andalucia after an absence of thousands of years. The farmstead in Encinarejo, in the Sierra de Andujar natural park, a stunning area in inland Cordoba is already home to successful wolf and lynx colonies.

nationals in Spain is logged at 381,448, a rise of 6% over the 2019 total. Over 20,000 UK nationals got residencias/TIE cards ahead of the December 31 deadline, to officially increase the number of expats in Spain. Spain’s overall foreign population growth would have been higher had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant it was the smallest overall rise since 2016. Nevertheless, the country’s foreign residents figure has gone up by 19% over the last decade. Breaking down the numbers, 61% of foreigners in Spain come from the EU or member countries of the European Free Trade Association like Norway, Iceland, and Switzerland. UK residents are the third largest foreign group in Spain, with Romanians coming in top(1,079,726) and Moroccans in second spot(811,530). Seven provinces account for 57% of the total number of foreigners, namely Valencia, Alicante, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga. Valencia. From a percentage perspective, Alicante, Almeria, the Balearics, Girona, and Lleida have the highest foreign numbers out of their total population.

Jab hoax A SHOCKING 150 pensioners were left disappointed after they were hoaxed into turning up for a jab appointment in Denia. They received a bogus message on WhatsApp telling them that they should arrive at 8.30pm at the Llunatics building. Queues started to form from around 7.45pm to receive an initial dose.

No repeat

Denia’s health counselor Javier Scotto broke the news that they had been hoodwinked. “Everybody understood what had happened and within a few minutes everybody went home,” he said. “I hope this is not repeated,” he added. Denia’s health department says that people should only turn up for a vaccination if they have had an official text message from the Ministry of Health or a phone call.

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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 two million people a month.

Open up! THE big question on all our minds, from hotel and restaurant staff who fear the tourist industry can’t survive another COVID summer, to those desperate to see and hug relatives that they have been separated from since the pandemic struck, to holiday home owners keen to revisit their property in the Spanish sun, is when will we be able to travel freely to and from Spain? News that Spain is now in the grip of a dreaded fourth wave may have put a dampener on hopes that the country could open again in time for the summer season, but there is still reason to be optimistic. For Spain is coping rather better than it has when other waves hit thanks, in part, to the fact that the strain of the coronavirus that was first detected in the UK and is therefore known as the British variant is to blame for more than 80% of recent infections. Although that strain has lived up to its reputation and proved to be far more contagious than the original, it hasn’t proved more lethal and Spain’s hospital beds aren’t filling up to crisis occupancy with new cases. In fact, its prevalence is thought to be keeping out other potentially more dangerous strains. One of the criteria that could see destinations put on the ‘red’ list of a new traffic light scheme proposed by the British government that will determine whether travellers have to quarantine or not is likely to be based on the strains prevalent in that country. So countries with high incidence rates of dangerous new strains such as Brazil and South Africa are likely to automatically require enforced quarantine, most probably in designated hotels at huge cost to the traveller, those where the British variant is dominant may yet escape such a measure. So if the British strain is already rampant in Spain and with half of Britons already vaccinated with their first dose, it makes no sense to stop tourists from the UK from enjoying a trip to Spain this summer. Come on Spain ... do the right thing! Let them in ! Publisher / Editor

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

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The British Harrowing sexual abuse, addiction and self harm were all flagged up due to his campaigning for a new child protection bill, but British expat James Rhodes says the experience has only ‘deepened’ his love for Spain, writes Heather Golloway

OPINION

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NEWS FEATURE

ONCERT pianist, writer and sex abuse victim, James Rhodes is feeling both relieved and disconcerted: relieved that Spain’s new ground-breaking child protection law has finally been passed at last... and disconcerted that it has been labelled ‘the Rhodes Law’ – the first Spanish law to be

PUSH: Pablo Iglesias

named after a Brit. the bill agreed upon by the warring polit“I got such a shock when I heard,” he ical factions. tells the Olive Press. “I was like, ‘You “It should never have been a struggle,” should have told me first, Pablo!’”. he says. “This law started with the PP He’s referring to Spain’s deputy prime (conservative Popular Party). It’s the only minister, Unidos Podemos leader Pablo thing all the parties agree on.” Iglesias, who helped push through the But what is basically a humanitarian agenda. issue got turned into a A kindred spirit, who he met political football with the through his connections in right-wing press weighing Moved to act Madrid, where he has lived in and attacking Rhodes, for four years, he is decid- after becoming mercilessly picking over his edly modest about his role past and even ridiculing his aware of the in the law’s passing. Spanish. “It’s not about me. It’s a scale of sexual “I don’t hate journalists,” misconception that I got he laughs. “What I objectabuse in Spain ed to were the absolute the law done,” he continues before a busy book signing lies I had to read about session at a well known Mamyself, particularly when I drid bookshop. was sitting in the hospital with my dying “The NGOs have been working on it for mother.” years. But what the law is called is irrel- Now a household name in Spain, Rhodes evant anyway. The main thing is that we - already a celebrated pianist and TV prehave come out of it.” senter in the UK - was moved to act after After signing up to the child protection becoming aware of the scale of sexual crusade, Rhodes, 46, from London, abuse after moving to the country in spent three fraught years helping to get 2017.

You’ve been Jamie-d! Barnaby Bouchard serves up some food for thought: Chorizo in Paella?

HE other day, while treating dren playing with a paint box, mixing myself to a paella in Valencia’s and matching, creating and discovePlaça del Mercat, I asked a pas- ring. Food is not an object of pride for sing waiter for alioli. us, although never let it be said that it The horror on the faces of my fellow is not an object of love. diners was only comparable to that This could explain the British percepjaw-dropping scene in Back to the tion that the continental approach to food is picky, if not preFuture after Marty unwittingly insults ‘Mad Dog’ tentious. And why none Tannen. of us understood the They are not “You can’t do that!”, a fuss that had all Spain boy of about eight said baying for Jamie Olisaying you ver’s blood when he dato me, laughing increducan’t add lously. red to add chorizo to his “Why not?” I smiled, paella. If it tastes good, chorizo to “does it taste yucky?” what’s the problem? paella “Oh no”, the boy reBut I think that I’ve finaplied, looking left and lly got to the bottom of right before telling me the Spanish attitude to conspiratorially, “It tastes amazing. food. And it’s not unreasonable at all. But you can’t do it. It’s a crime!”. They're not saying you can’t add choriThis experience stayed with me be- zo to paella, any more than the French cause I had never felt more distanced are saying you can’t make a croissant from my adopted countrymen. At the that isn’t curved, or the Italians are saage of eight I’d quite happily have ying you can’t add pepperoni to pizza. poured ketchup on paella, given half Just don’t call it paella, or a croissant, or a pizza, because it isn’t; it’s sothe chance. In northern Europe, food is essentia- mething else. Here in Spain, adding lly something we enjoy putting in our alioli to paella mouths. We like it but we don’t identify is rather like with it. Of course we have traditional adding a sax dishes, like Yorkshire pudding and solo to Elgar’s Victoria sponge (emotional repression Nimrod; no with a side of empire guilt). But it’s one’s saying not like anyone kicks up a fuss if you you can’t do choose to diverge from the accepted it, just don’t recipe. dare call it We add fruit to traditional meat pies, Elgar anymake fish and chips from whatever more. could be trawled up that morning and The pillars slather roast potatoes in ever-crazier of any naconcoctions of herbs and goose grea- tional cultuse, all in the very reasonable pursuit of re - music, literature, art and so new things that taste nice. Our lack of cultural identification with on - are considered what we eat allows us to be like chil- such because they reflect

the essence of its people and their lives, and evoke feelings; specifically, the feeling of being Spanish, French, Italian, British or whatever. Few could deny that, just as music or poetry can move us, so can flavour and smell. Here, then, food is the same as any other expression of group identity. This is the real reason Valencians defend paella with the same watchful diligence as the British defend Shakespeare, the Russians Tchaikovsky or the Colombians Garcia Marquez. What they’re saying is, 'Here is a window into who we are. If you fog up this window, even a little bit, you won’t see us anymore'. Britain’s relaxed approach to food is, in its own way, admirable. But the next time you’re dining in Valencia, I invite you to forego the sax solo and enjoy your paella the way it was intended: as a beloved and proudly guarded expression of regional culture.

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Sign of The TIMES THE Olive Press is dedicated to providing quality journalism and providing a news source that readers can rely on to tell them what is going on in their local communities and what they need to know about the goings on in the country that they have adopted as or love to visit home. So we are delighted to announce a new addition to our growing team of journalists across Spain with the arrival of Graham Keeley, a seasoned reporter from London who has been covering the Iberian Peninsula for more than 15 years.

Correspondent

ABUSE: Child sex victim Rhodes (with close pal actor Benedict Cumberbatch) has helped change Spanish law

He should know. He himself suffered sex abuse between the ages of six and 10 at the hands of his PE teacher at his expensive prep school Arnold House, in St John’s Wood, insisting the only way of describing it is as ‘rape’. It is a subject that has consumed him for most of his life and the workings of the Spanish justice system angered him to such a degree that he told the media in 2018: “It makes me sick.” And he certainly had a point: Prior to Rhodes law, victims in Spain who felt unable to speak out within the specified time frame of between five and 15 years beyond the age of 18, would miss their window and the aggressor could not be prosecuted. Given that only a fraction of child abuse victims even tell anyone at the time, it meant that the vast majority of child abusers were getting away with their crimes scot free. In addition, the Spanish courts made it far from easy for a former victim to see his abuser prosecuted. Head of Child Policy and Sensibilisation at charity, Save the Children, Catalina Perazzo explains: “The justice system has not been child-friendly because it made children relive the whole thing, sometimes up to six times.” So bad was the system, she believes that victims who went to the police would often end up with considerably worse mental health problems than the child who didn’t. Rhodes himself can identify entirely with the silence to which many Spanish victims of sexual abuse have been condemned until now. “If you spend long enough thinking you

ANGRY: Catalina Perazzo says system is ‘not child friendly’

will die if you tell your secrets, then you end up believing it,” he wrote in Instrumental, a blisteringly raw book published in 2015 which flew off the shelves in Spain. “If a rapist tells a five-year-old child again and again what monstrous things will happen to him if he ever tells anyone, it is assimilated, unquestioned and accepted as absolute truth.” Once finalised, the Rhodes Law will revolutionise the way child abuse is dealt with in Spain while affording the pianist a modicum As Rhodes writes about the need to ‘proof peace, along with Bach, his son, as well as his fiancee, Ar- tect’ his new home, clearly this need has been fulfilled. gentinian actress, Micaela Breque. “To get the law passed was my way of rec- Due to the abuse he suffered as a child onciling with myself, forgiving myself and and its corrosive impact on his mental of having the fucking certainty that less health, Rhodes felt like an outsider in children would have to live through what London, taking refuge in composers I lived through,” he writes in his new book Bach and Beethoven and resorting to self-harm and addiction problems to bury Made in Spain, published this month. A love letter to his adopted land, the book his demons. is peppered with expletives and strong While Britain became synonymous with opinions, yet, in the flesh, Rhodes comes hell; Spain offered him the chance of renaissance. across as a gentle, almost It is the Spanish and their fragile soul with a disarming way of life that has made smile. ‘When I get him feel he belongs at “I chose the words I use in the last. book carefully,” he explains close to the Referring to the response at the book signing at Tipos city, I notice to Covid-19 last year, Infames this month; words Rhodes tweeted; “Britain that, impressively, were a wave of is united in its arrogance, mostly written in Spanish – “I emotion’ while Spain is united by think it’s so disrespectful not compassion. There’s a to learn the language,” he reason for the different insists. They are also words that express nothing uses of our balconies.” short of passion for everything from the Now, it’s back to his piano and fiancee public transport system to the arts in a Mica, an Eminem fan who sent him a country that honoured him with express message from Buenos Aires on Instagram in 2016 and who now shares his citizenship at the end of last year. At least, that’s how it begins. The second apartment in the upmarket district of half, which gives a blow-by-blow account Salamanca. of his participation in getting the Rhodes Back too to immersing himself in his muLaw to Congress and the abuse he suf- sic and in Madrid, a city he describes as fered at the hands of the press, reads ‘something else,’ in his book. like an ‘aha’ moment, as if he’s finally “When I get close to the city, I notice a morphed from being a tourist to being a wave of emotion that’s so intense, I feel like crying,” he writes. fully-fledged Spanish national. Author of two books, the second is out in “A soft voice inside of me tells me that, after everything, after running for so Spain this week. Asked by the Olive Press if the struggle to long, trying to escape, of feeling an unpass the Rhodes law detracted from his imaginable weariness, I’m home. I feel love of Spain, he says, “No, it only deep- as though I form part of a huge united family.” ened it.”

Based in Barcelona, Keeley served as correspondent for The Times between 2008 and 2019 during which time he covered the financial crash and deep recession that hit Spain. He has reported on the rise of Podemos and Ciudadanos which revolutionised Spanish politics and was on the ground for the Catalan independence drive of 2017 which sparked the worst political crisis Spain had experienced in decades. Since leaving the Times to freelance, he has been a regular contributor for The Independent, The Sunday Times, Reuters and Al Jazeera and will now be writing regularly for the Olive Press, keeping readers abreast of developments in northeastern Spain as well as providing news and analysis on national issues and dispatches with interesting tales from his corner of Spain.

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Dear Olive Press, for I MUST thank you and your team and tive rma info ual, delivering a fact to be honest newspaper, which seems rare. ! Last I read your opinion (Get a gripr overyou with e agre issue) and whilst . view I have a slightly different taketo go xit Bre ect exp ly Did anyone real s not smoothly? Seriously? The EU doe the lly ecia esp , ceed suc want the UK to nce fina of se hou er pow a as but , nch Fre the and with the pound trusted around ss. rdle rega will UK the ld, wor e here Rules seem to change all the tim point the to or ct dire ’t aren in, in Spa on and are often open to interpretati g is hin not as d fine g bein are ple so peo clear. ther This mess will go on for at least ano get just to e hav we k 12 months, so I thin on with it.

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had arrived from Manchester Airport were left upset, angry and confused - considering UK border officials AND airline staff had approved exit from the country. Stuart Miller, a 47-year-old offshore-worker from Manchester, described the situation as ‘absolutely diabolical”. “Even travellers who had letters from Alicante Foreigners’ Office asking them to collect their residency cards were turned away,” away by Spanish authorities Miller told the Olive Press. DIABOLICAL: Brits were turned “I mean what more proof do you need of residency?” that buying a Some of the others sent back in- Mr Miller’s wife, Caz, warned website to check of the ‘reason-f o r v a l i d f e r * O f one cluded a woman wanting to see other travellers: “Whatever pa- property was to Spain. her sick father, stranded and perwork you have with you, and able excuses’ for travel He described how he and six othalone in hospital. whoever tells you that you’re okay away at the gate So heavy handed was the arriv- to travel, be prepared to be cart- ers were turned 1 TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.indd they weren’t in possesals desk that border agents were ed back on to the plane and sent because of sion of a TIE card, regardless flanked by armed police, putting back. DISAPPOINTED: Stuart Miller ‘the terror of God’ into those “I think the airport policy depends their reason for travel. the arof “Ryanair staff had made waiting to be questioned. on nothing more than the mood bitrary decision to deny their “It appeared that only those the officials at the border.” DOZENS of Brits arriving at Alion behalf of who were actually on a list of le- Since the incident, other Brits passengers travel said cante airport have been refused to gal residents, possibly checked travelling from UK airports to the Spanish authorities,” entry to Spain and sent back only wanted who plane’s the 63-year-old the against in advance Manchester on the same plane Spain have been subjected to ‘arhis first name manifest, were allowed in,” said bitrary rules made up on behalf of to be identified by despite having evidence that they Alec. Miller. had residence status. another country’, according to one He claimed that staff had ‘no inany conOlive Press reader. in engaging B o r d e r of tention’ la Tension One expat based in Rincon deOl- versation and couldn’t back up or guards had Victoria, near Malaga, told the a erected their own ruling with any “The rest of us were sent back ive Press that a ‘staggering dozen justify in print or online. sign in the bike rentAL • e-scooters without even being able to ex- or so passengers’ were refused to evidence refused on board the terminal Others to plain our legitimate reasons.” board his flight from Gatwick stating, ‘NO FR4007 included a woman with BIKE TOURS • repairS As the 40 plus travellers Malaga yesterday (Monday). TIE CARD, citizenship who was travre-boarded, the flight was subse- The retired businessman, 60, who Italianback to her family home in ENNO quently delayed, adding further asked not to be named, described elling TRY’ to the Spain. to tension in the cabin. it as ‘running the gauntlet’. amazement Miller added: “There was no ad- “It was so traumatic. You just had travelof Embassy vice, no help and no good reason no idea who was going to be allers, some for us being turned back at Al- lowed on. whom of couple, where the icante.” “Everyone turned away had valid And a married TIE card, but not were flying Ryanair staff had assured every PCR tests or they had valid rea- husband had the to Spain to traveller that their documen- sons to travel, whether to see ail- his wife. collect their when making tation - including COVID tests, ing relatives or to secure or visit “It is crucial that to TIE cards. plans to travel from the UK letters and passports - was suf- their properties,” he said. 40 Some Spain, a UK National must make ficient to gain entry into Spain. people who Meanwhile, a retired IT sure that they meet both the reprofessional described quirements to leave the UK and how he was turned those to enter Spain, bearing in away from boarding a mind that they are not the same,” Ryanair flight to Ali- said a statement from the EmbasSee page 15 cante at Manchester on sy in Madrid. Monday. delivery service available He had specifically Opinion Page 6 932 433 007 960 227 +(34)693 (+34) checked the gov.uk www.bikEalao.com CALLE ABASTOS 5 info@bikEalao.com bikEalaovalencia 46011 VALENCIA

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NEARLY all of the COVID-19 restrictions in the Valencian Community are expected to be renewed today (April 8) but there’s a chance that bars and restaurants could be allowed to stay open for longer. The current package of measures is due to expire this Monday. The region is the only one in Spain that is classified as ‘low risk’ for the spread of the coronavirus. Health Minister, Ana Barcelo (pictured), said: “We will analyse infection figures to see if there is any scope for making changes and that will include bars and restaurants.” DISAPPOINTED: Stuart Miller The regional hospitality DOZENS of Brits arriving at Alicansector has a current closing te airport have been refused entry time of 6 pm. Valencian ofto Spain and sent back to Manchester ficials will almost certainly on the same plane despite having evextend the 10pm curfew and idence that they had residence status. regional border closure unBorder guards had erected a sign in til next month. the terminal stating, ‘NO TIE CARD, They are both expected NO ENTRY’ to the amazement of travto run through till May 9, ellers, some of whom were flying to which is the end of the secSpain to collect their TIE cards. ond national State of Alarm Some 40 people who had arrived from Manchester Airport were left upset, order.

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Brits ‘Fury’ at Spanish airport as 40 are deported back to UK, while dozens kicked off flight from Gatwick NEARLY all of the COVID-19 restrictions in the Valencian Community are expected to be renewed today (April 8) but there’s a chance that bars and restaurants could be allowed to stay open for longer. The current package of measures is due to expire this Monday. The region is the only one in Spain that is classified as ‘low risk’ for the spread of the coronavirus. Health Minister, Ana Barcelo (pictured), said: “We will analyse infection figures to see if there is any scope for making changes and that will include bars and restaurants.” The regional hospitality sector has a current closing time of 6 pm. Valencian officials will almost certainly extend the 10pm curfew and regional border closure until next month. They are both expected to run through till May 9, which is the end of the second national State of Alarm order.

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Vol. 2 Issue 53 www.theolivepress.es April 8th - April 21th 2021

from Manchester, described the situation as ‘absolutely diabolical”. “Even travellers who had letters from Alicante Foreigners’ Office asking them to collect their residency cards were turned away,” Miller told the Olive Press. “I mean what more proof do you need of residency?” Some of the others sent back included a woman wanting to see her sick father, stranded and alone in hospital. So heavy handed was the arrivals desk that border agents were flanked by armed police, putting ‘the terror of God’ into those waiting to be ques- DIABOLICAL: Brits were turned away by Spanish authorities tioned. “It appeared that only those who pared to be carted back on to the plane Meanwhile, a retired IT professional were actually on a list of legal resi- and sent back. described how he was turned away dents, possibly checked in advance “I think the airport policy depends on from boarding a Ryanair flight to Aliagainst the plane’s manifest, were nothing more than the mood of the of- cante at Manchester on Monday. ficials at the border.” allowed in,” said Miller. He had specifically checked the gov.uk “The rest of us were sent back with- Since the incident, other Brits travel- website to out even being able to explain our ling from UK airports to Spain have ty was onecheck that buying a properof the ‘reasonable excuses’ been subjected to ‘arbitrary rules FREE Vol. 4 Issue 103 www.theolivepres legitimate reasons.” for travel to Spain. s.es April 9th - April As the 40 plus travellers re-boarded, made up on behalf of another country’, He described 22nd 2021 how he and six others the flight was subsequently delayed, according to one Olive Press reader. were turned adding further to tension in the cab- One expat based in Rincon de la Victo- they weren’t away at the gate because in possession of a TIE ria, near Malaga, told the Olive Press in. card, regardless of their reason for Miller added: “There was no advice, that a ‘staggering dozen or so passen- travel. angry and confused - considering no help and no good reason for us gers’ were refused to board his flight “RyanairAstaff BACKLASH UK had made against new rules the arbitrary from Gatwick to Malaga yesterday being turned back at Alicante.” border ofpeople decisionforcing to deny their to weartravpassengers masks on Ryanair staff had assured every (Monday). ficials AND the beach el on behalf and by swimming of the Spanish The authori- pools retired businessman, 60, who ties,” said traveller that their documentation airline staff hasthe prompted the who 63-year-old Balearics only gov- including COVID tests, letters and asked not to be named, described it as wanted ernment had approved to contradict to be identified by histhe first national passports - was sufficient to gain en- ‘running the gauntlet’. exit from the administration. name Alec. “It was so traumatic. You just had try into Spain. country. no He claimed It hasthat said that staff masks had idea ‘no who intendo was not have going to be allowed on. Mr Miller’s wife, Caz, warned other Stuart Miller, tion’ of to be worn engaging inprovided any conversation that two contravellers: “Whatever paperwork “Everyone turned away had valid PCR and couldn’t a 47-yearditions back are up met. or justify their you have with you, and whoever tells tests or they had valid reasons to trav- own ruling old offThewith firstany is that evidence in print you must you that you’re okay to travel, be pre- el, whether to see ailing relatives or or online. shore-worker or with people from be alone to secure or visit their properties,” the same he Others household refused on board the FR4007 said. and second, that a 1.5 included a woman metre with Italian distance citizencan be kept from ship who was travelling another person orback to her group. family home in Spain.government The Spanish lished in the Official Statehad pub- DOZENS of Brits arriving at AlGazette icante airport have Jávea / Altea (BOE)Embassy EXCLUSIVE been that masks would be man- entry to Spain and sent refused By Simon Wade And a married datory couple, in all public back to where the hus- even Manchester spaces yorkshirelinencostablanca.com band had on the same plane where thesafety TIE card, distances but not hismet. were despite having evidence ed was the wife. they had residence status. that border agentsarrivals desk that “It is crucial that when making plans were flanked by Border guards had to travel from theSlammed UK to Spain, a UK erected a armed police, putting ‘the terror It would sign in the terminal stating, National have sure meant must make someone that they ly- TIE ‘NO of God’ into those waiting to be ing on meet both CARD, NO ENTRY’ deserted beach thearequirements stark na- amazement to leave to the questioned. ked could the UK be fined and those of travellers, some “It appeared that only those to enter for not See page 17 Spain, wearing of who mask. bearinga in whom were flying to SALES & RENTALS SPECIALISTS mind that they are not the Spain to were actually on a list of legal This collect their TIE cards. same,” said decision a statement Moriara•Calpe•Jalon•Javea•Denia•Altea residents, possibly checked fromwas the Emquickly in adslammed Madrid. by the Balearic govern- Some 40 people who had arrived vance against the plane’s mani96 649 1883 bassy inment with health minister Patricia from Manchester Airport www.moraira-hamiltons.net were fest, were allowed in,” said Miller. Gomez immediately Opinionappealing Page 6 for left upset, angry and confused flexibility on the measure. considering UK border Tension “We believe that masks AND airline staff had officials approved “The rest i d f o r n e w be worn on beaches if should not exit from the country. c u s t o m e r s of us were o n l y . S u b j e c t t o c o n d i t i o n s . without even being sent back people from the sameyou are with Stuart Miller, a 47-year-old E n d s 3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 . able to exhousehold offplain or if the safety distance our legitimate reasons.” shore-worker from Manchester, DIABOLICAL: Brits As the spected,” said Gomez. can be re- described the situation 1 were turned away as ‘abso- re-boarded,40 plus travellers by Spanish authorities A day later and after lutely diabolical”. the flight was subokay to travel, be prepared sequently delayed, adding with their legal team, discussions “Even travellers who 21/6/19 13:30 to be Spain. Gomez furhad letters excarted back on to the ther to plained that the new plane and He described national law from Alicante Foreigners’ Office Miller tension in the cabin. sent back. how he and six othdoes not override its own added: “There was no asking adregional idency them to collect their res- vice, no legislation. help and no good rea- “I think the airport policy depends ers were turned away at the gate cards were turned away,” because they weren’t on nothing son for us being turned “There is a sentence in Miller told the Olive in possesback at the officials more than the mood of sion of a TIE card, Alicante.” al law that mentions ‘inthe nation- “I mean what more Press. at the border.” regardless of proof do you Ryanair conformi- need ty with the health authorities.’ staff had assured every Since the incident, other Brits their reason for travel. of residency?” “Ryanair staff had made travelling from UK traveller that their Some of the others sent the arairports documen- Spain back in- tation - including have been subjected to bitrary decision to deny their Continues on Page cluded a woman wanting COVID tests, ‘arbitrary 4 to passengers travel rules her sick father, strandedto see letters and passports - was on behalf of suf- half of another made up on be- the Spanish authorities,” and ficient to gain country’, accord- the said alone in Mr Miller’s entry into Spain. 63-year-old who wife, Caz, warned ing to one Olive Press reader. ed to be identified only wanthospital. other travellers: One expat based in Rincon by his first “Whatever de la name Alec. pa- Victoria, near So heavy perwork you Malaga, told the He h a n d - whoever tellshave with you, and Olive Press that claimed that staff had a ‘staggering tention’ ‘no inyou that you’re dozen or so passengers’ of engaging in any conwere versation and refused to board his couldn’t back Gatwick to Malaga flight from or justify their own ruling up with yesterday any evidence (Monday). in print or online. Others refused The retired businessman, 60, FR4007 included on board the who asked not to be a ON THE WAY: An influx of tourists is hoped for as Gibraltar is expected to be put on the UK’s ‘green list’ woman scribed it as ‘runningnamed, de- Italian citizenship who with was the gaunt- travelling let’. back to her family GIBRALTAR is getting ready with the virus in hospital or home in Spain. “It was so traumatic. for a flood of tourists when the elderly nursing homes for the You just had no idea who was going to ban on UK residents travel- past two weeks, COVID-19 is be allowed on. ling abroad is lifted on May 17. no longer the threat it once Embassy “Everyone turned away UK authorities could green- was. And a married couple, where the id PCR tests or they had val- husband list The Rock in its proposed Almost the whole population had valid had the TIE card, but reasons to travel, whether traffic light system to rate have taken their vaccinations to see not his wife. ailing relatives or to countries that have the lowest too, so it is less likely that “It is crucial that when infections and highest vacci- there will be another outvisit their properties,” secure or plans making to travel from the UK nations. break. Meanwhile, a retired he said. to Spain, With active cases now at sev- All these factors point to Gifessional described howIT pro- sure a UK National must make Portals Nous, that they meet both he was en in Gibraltar and no-one braltar being placed on the turned away from boarding a quirements to leave the the regreen list, although its close Ryanair flight to Alicante UK and 07181, at those to enter Spain, bearing proximity to Spain could be a Manchester on Monday. in mind that they are Mallorca. problem. He had specifically checked not the the same,” said a statement from The Rock’s Minister for Tour- listeners about our intentions we are a safe destination for gov.uk website to the Embassy in Madrid. ism talked about handling of welcoming British tourists travel. buying a property wascheck that DISAPPOINTED: Stuart See page 16 COVID-19 on the BBC Five to Gibraltar as soon as the “As we continue to raise Miller ‘reasonable excuses’ one of the for travel Live radio programme recent- UK Government allows its awareness of Gibraltar, we to SP18206EN - Front page Opinion Page 6 Ewn adverts v2.indd ly. citizens to travel,” said Dary- will advertise our product in 4 14/02/2020 23:25 “This was an excellent op- anani. the UK news media as much portunity to inform UK radio “They were keen to know that as possible.”

Hottest new restaurants, secret escapes and hidden gems... Sevilla is the first in our new series of incisive Insider’s guides to the very best of Spain

The

Your voice in Spain April 8th - April 21th 2021

EXCLUSIVE By Simon Wade

had arrived from Manchester Airport were left upset, angry and confused - considering UK border officials AND airline staff had approved exit from the country. Stuart Miller, a 47-year-old offshore-worker from Manchester, described the situation as ‘absolutely diabolical”. “Even travellers who had letters from Alicante Foreigners’ Office asking them to collect their residency cards were turned away,” away by Spanish authorities Miller told the Olive Press. DIABOLICAL: Brits were turned “I mean what more proof do you need of residency?” that buying a Some of the others sent back in- Mr Miller’s wife, Caz, warned website to check of the ‘reasoncluded a woman wanting to see other travellers: “Whatever pa- property was onetravel to Spain. her sick father, stranded and perwork you have with you, and able excuses’ for he and six othHe described how alone in hospital. whoever tells you that you’re okay away at the gate So heavy handed was the arriv- to travel, be prepared to be cart- ers were turned in possesals desk that border agents were ed back on to the plane and sent because they weren’t of sion of a TIE card, regardless flanked by armed police, putting back. DISAPPOINTED: Stuart Miller ‘the terror of God’ into those “I think the airport policy depends their reason for travel. the arof “Ryanair staff had made waiting to be questioned. on nothing more than the mood bitrary decision to deny their “It appeared that only those the officials at the border.” DOZENS of Brits arriving at Alion behalf of Vol. 5 Issue 145 www.theolivepress.es April 7th - April 20th 2021 who were actually on a list of le- Since the incident, other Brits passengers travel FREE said cante airport have been refused to gal residents, possibly checked travelling from UK airports to the Spanish authorities,” entry to Spain and sent back only wanted in advance against the plane’s Spain have been subjected to ‘ar- the 63-year-old whohis first name Manchester on the same plane manifest, were allowed in,” said bitrary rules made up on behalf of to be identified by despite having evidence that they Alec. Miller. had residence status. another country’, according to one He claimed that staff had ‘no inany conOlive Press reader. B o r d e r de la tention’ of engaging inback up or Rincon in based Tension expat One guards had Ol- versation and couldn’t with any Victoria, near Malaga, told the a erected justify their own ruling “The rest of us were sent back ive Press that a ‘staggering dozen evidence in print or online. sign in the without even being able to ex- or so passengers’ were refused to Others refused on board the terminal to reasons.” Gatwick from legitimate our flight his plain with board stating, ‘NO FR4007 included a woman As the 40 plus travellers Malaga yesterday (Monday). TIE CARD, Italian citizenship who was travre-boarded, the flight was subse- The retired businessman, 60, who elling back to her family home in ENNO quently delayed, adding further asked not to be named, described Spain. TRY’ to the to tension in the cabin. it as ‘running the gauntlet’. amazement Miller added: “There was no ad- “It was so traumatic. You just had travelof Embassy vice, no help and no good reason no idea who was going to be allers, some for us being turned back at Al- lowed on. whom of couple, where the icante.” “Everyone turned away had valid And a married TIE card, but not were flying Ryanair staff had assured every PCR tests or they had valid rea- husband had the to Spain to traveller that their documen- sons to travel, whether to see ail- his wife. collect their when making tation - including COVID tests, ing relatives or to secure or visit “It is crucial that to TIE cards. plans to travel from the UK letters and passports - was suf- their properties,” he said. 40 Some Spain, a UK National must make ficient to gain entry into Spain. people who Meanwhile, a retired IT sure that they meet both the reprofessional described quirements to leave the UK and how he was turned those to enter Spain, bearing in a away from boarding mind that they are not the same,” Ryanair flight to Ali- said a statement from the EmbasUK Foreign onSecretary Dominic Raab (pictured with Chief See page 15 cante at Manchester sy in Madrid. Monday. Minister Fabian Picardo) visited Gibraltar as a show of support for the Schengen treaty to be worked out with the EU He had specifically Opinion Page 6 year. gov.uk the this checked later At a historic Joint Ministerial Council held at No.6 Convent Place, ministers and officials settled the terms by which Gibraltar would remove its land frontier with Spain. Fabian Picardo, welcomed Raab and gave him a personal tour * O f f e r v a l of Gibraltar’s streets and nature park on March 29. 3 1 / 1 2 / 1 9 . Both of them welcomed the Spanish approach which had E n d s c o n d i t i o n s . t o S u b j e c t o n l y . made this treaty possible. TheOlivePress-256x170-HOME02.indd The visit by Raab is being seen as one of the biggest indications since Brexit of the UK’s commitment to Gibraltar’s 21/6/19 13:30 self-determination. “The UK will never enter into arrangements under which the people of Gibraltar would pass under the sovereignty of another state against their freely and democratically expressed wishes,” assured a government spokesperson. “Nor will it enter into a process of sovereignty negotiations with which Gibraltar is not content.” The Foreign Secretary was looking to reassure Gibraltarians that the UK’will play its part in giving the Rock the best future, despite how difficult the Brexit pill has been to swallow. “Our position reflects the unique situation of Gibraltar and the opportunity that this negotiation brings,” said Raab.

The

OLIVE PRESS

VALENCIA / COSTA AZAHAR Vol. 1 Issue 10 www.theolivepress.es FREE

What about us!

I AM surprised at the very negative slant you put on the British government’s actions (Get a grip, last issue). Everyone I talk to agrees that, regardless of anything else, thousands more Brits would have died if we had to follow the farcical display of the Eurocrats in the vaccination stakes. Their indecision and petty politics have led to their being responsible for horribly low vaccination numbers and thus led to the unnecessary deaths of thousands of European citizens. Thank heavens for Brexit say the Brits

GREAT article about the Green COVID Passports. I fully understand the UK/Spain (Brexit) problem and hopefully it will be resolved but what about tourists from other countries? I live in the US and I have my CDC Pfizer x 2 vaccine card which is like a passport. I have had negative COVID tests So is Spain going to allow me and my wife (also jabbed twice) into Spain? Hope so Saludos!

John Price, via email

Dermot McQuarrie, Florida

Tell the truth

Your

expat

‘Fury’ at Spanish airport as 40 Brits deported back to UK, while dozens are kicked off flight from Gatwick

Brits ‘Fury’ at Spanish airport as 40 are deported back to UK, while dozens kicked off flight from Gatwick Hottest new restaurants, secret escapes and hidden gems... Sevilla is the first in our new series of incisive Insider’s guides to the very best of Spain

Brexit cheer

Beggars belief

COSTA BLANCA

The

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

FREE

OLIVE PRESS

The

The Costa SAN JAVIER Mijas

Decision time

Our readers say that COVID uncertainty needs clearing up one way or the other

Brexit is not as bad as people make out - or is it?

ta Amanda Cooke, Orihuela Cos

OLIVE PRESS

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Down 1 Faithful supporter (8) 2 Feat (4) 3 Largo and lento, for example (6) 4 South Vietnamese delta (6) 5 Entire quantity (3,5) 6 “It’s a warm wind, the --- wind ...” (Masefield) (4) 12 Dilapidated fence fit for practical purposes (2,6) 14 Excited (8) 16 Southampton team (6) 17 Stand-in ruler (6) 19 Boring routines (4) 20 Loudness units (4)

All solutions are on page 22

I WOULD like to know why is it that although the UK is ahead with the COVID jabs, and people have all the correct papers, they are refused entry into Spain. People who are trying to collect their TIE cards are also being turned away. We know only too well we don’t want the virus to spread further and as a resident I certainly don’t want that to happen. What amazes me is Spain has had a huge influx of German and French registered cars arriving. We know the road borders are open but why haven’t they reinstated a police presence to check, track and stop them. You can’t have rules for one country and not others . It beggars belief. Maybe Brexit has something to do with it. Mind you it wasn’t thought through properly was it!

I HAVE two sisters-in-law that work for the health department in Andalucia The both constantly tell me that Spain has not got enough jabs to vaccinate 2% of its entire population, so where do you get your information from when it comes to telling expats that they can have their vaccine? I would like to hear your answer but I don’t live there anymore because it is a country full of self centered story tellers. You say that you want the Brits there so Spain can get it’s tourism going again but they won’t come because you’re not vaccinated and won’t be for at least another 12 months.

Bryan Loughlin, via email

David Middleton, via email

Humanity needed

BEFORE we left the EU my husband passed away and, after five months Spain finally accepted responsibility for paying bereavement support. However, they haven't accrued his UK contributions. The EU law says they should. It says invalid support but also mentions bereavement support. This also happened with his disability when he was terminally ill. Four years on they said he'd been overpaid and wanted the money back, because his disability benefit wasn't classed as contribution based, which it should have been. So, a dying man who saved up for his final years ended up on a very small income struggling to pay a debt off that I realise now was because social security didn't accrue his years of contributions in the UK, which was in the EU at the time. I am in the process of sorting out the widow’s allowance - but we all know they don't reply to letters unless it's to their advantage. The Spanish authorities need to apply a little humanity to their decisions.

Janet Brickhill, via email

A pleasure! I AM reading with great pleasure through your latest issue of the Olive Press. You always present the readers with interesting historic features and other diverse articles as well. It is a publication that is not 'soap opera' as the Euro Weekly News seems to be. As a Dutch/Canadian living in Spain, I am not interested in all the so-called stars and reams of sports etc. What you give us to read is more based on the Spanish way of life, thank you.

Yvonne Jurgens, Lliber (Valencia)

Excellent piece I HAVE just read your excellent piece in the paper on Sevilla (Travel special last issue, all editions) and look forward to reading about other places to visit in the coming weeks. What would be helpful is if you added a section about how to get there from the Costa Blanca. Whether rail, road or air etc, and approx cost of tickets. We are new to Spain and plan to visit other cities as soon as able. Thanks for the info.

Andre Seager, Alicante

Editor’s note: Thanks for the comments. It is an excellent idea, and something we will consider carefully, space permitting.

Jean genius I ENJOYED reading your article Surrealist love in the Olive Press, Issue April 7 and thought you might like to see what I made ... I bought a scarf some 20 years ago with a Picasso design. In 2006 I copied the design in fabric paint onto my jeans and then in 2016 converted the jeans into a bag!

Tricia Gabbitas, Torre del Mar

952 147 834 * O f f e r

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LA CULTURA Hot ticket

TEXAS, arguably Scotland’s biggest and most enduring rock band, has added an extra concert date in Spain for their rearranged 2021 tour. Albacete, in Castilla La Mancha, will have the band perform on Friday, March 25, 2022. Four other Spanish venues originally formed part of the 2021 tour, but growing popularity in light of their new album means demand for tickets is higher. The band spokesman said: “As many of you will have expected, we are having to move our remaining 2021 tour dates to early 2022. “We are as disappointed as anyone about this as we are desperate to get back playing live, especially as we now have some new songs to play!”

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

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Out of the depths Droughts revealed the dolmen that had been completely submerged for over 50 years

AN ANCIENT structure known as ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ was recently revealed in its entirety for the first time since being ‘lost’ when a reservoir was created in 1963. But calls for it to be moved to higher ground to save it from water damage have been rejected on the basis that their ‘historical-archaeological context’ would be destroyed. Put simply, experts from the Ministry of Culture have decided that moving the ancient stones - thought to date back 5,000 years - will cause irreparable damage to the archaeology. It would also mean that they could not be viewed in POLICE have seized three forged Goya, El Greco and Modigliani paintings which were being sold for €12.5 million to unsuspecting collectors. The owner of the pieces was a builder who apparently accepted the pictures as payment for jobs done - despite him knowing nothing about art. He had amassed a collection of

Is it or isn’t it?

STONE CIRCLE: The Dolmen of Guadalperal will not be moved edge of the water at Embalse Valdecañas Reservoir and By Simon Wade de Valdecañas, in Extremad- hydro-electric dam to supply underdeveloped parts of ura. their original setting - despite After more than 50 years, the western Spain. the fact the blocks spend most stones became visible after Some local residents and of their time underwater. successive droughts in the cultural groups had mootThe Dolmen of Guadalperal region. ed relocating the stones and is a stone circle consisting of In 1963, Franco’s government move the monument to safer 150 large granite slabs by the flooded the area to create the territory. In turn, this would preserve the monument, promote profits. tourism, and proudly display The sale of the fake Spain’s prehistoric history, Modigliani was reportedthey said. But the Ministry 1,000 pieces. ly backed up with several of Culture has turned down He decided to cash in by put- forged documents certifythe plan, saying in an official ting the artworks up for sale, ing the ‘authenticity’ of the bulletin that while it was declaiming they were authentic, painting, with the aim of claring it an Asset of Cultural with the help of a network of selling it to buyers in SwitInterest any scheme to move dodgy art dealers. zerland, Mexico or Gerthe dolmen would ‘risk a loss They enticed international cli- many at an asking price of of authenticity if its relocaents in exchange for 10% of the €8.5 million. tion were to be considered’.

Bricking it

A PAINTING that could be worth up to €150 million if it turns out to be a long-lost masterpiece by Caravaggio was about to go under the hammer with a bargain reserve of €1,500. Spain’s Ministry of Culture imposed a last minute export ban on the oil painting while experts examine it to see if it is a work by a lesser artist or an original by the Italian master. Madrid auction house Ansorena said it had withdrawn the painting identified as The Crown of Thorns after being told that the work could not be exported until experts determined its provenance. It is currently attributed to an unnamed artist within the studio of 17th century Spanish painter Jose de Ribera. The sale was pulled after experts from the Prado lobbied the government to place an emergency export ban while they studied it.

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LA CULTURA Loss, Life, Love

by Nalanie Harilela Chellaram On April 30 from noon until 4pm Nalanie will be launching her new book in The Bookshop San Pedro. Based on Nalanie’s spiritual knowledge and personal experiences, Loss, Life, Love offers hope and advice on how to move on with life following the loss of a loved one. The underlying messages are that, even though the pain may never fully leave you, finding a purpose in life can help the healing process. “Throughout the last weeks of our life together, every time our emotions got too hard for us to understand and digest, we would just look at each other and say, ‘it is as it is’, and that helped us through,” said Nalanie of the time leading to her husband’s death. Loss, Life, Love explains the process of bereavement and describes the many tools that help during the most difficult and painful of life’s experiences. €12.99 The Bookshop San Pedro, www.thebookshop.es

N Art Deco-style poster of a palm-tree-lined promenade whimsically welcomes visitors to ‘Sotogrande Cadizfornia’. Scarlet Alexandra’s art is a reflection of her wit as well as her grit. One day the 27-year-old was living the dream in Dubai working for a digital start-up company. The next day she was on the plane home to Sotogrande with her career in the shredder, collateral damage of the pandemic. She did, however, have a plan ... “I saw a gap in the market for bespoke posters of Spain that went beyond the traditional” she tells the Olive Press when we catch up with her at her Sotogrande studio. “Most images seem to show bullfighting or flamenco dancing, but nothing about the towns and villages, which is why I went for something different.” In under a year this can-do e-entrepreneur has built up a thriving online start-up sell-

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Posters from

Sotogrande artist Scarlet Alexandra is the poster child for post-pandemic reinvention - and she prints them herself! Alex Trelinski checks out her sexy start-up

ing limited editions of her enchanting, Belle Epoque-inspired travel posters – quite some achievement for the times we live in. With a vintage vibe that evokes the glamour of a bygone era, Scarlet’s ‘Saxdoodles’ are a fusion of Scarlet and Alexandra tacked on to ‘doodle’, although these intimate portraits of her own home turf and beyond are far from casual scribbles: café society at Ke Sotogrande, chiringuito life at El Chambao beach bar, Guadiaro FeINSPIRATION: Classic Spanish posters dating to the early 1900s ria, Tarifa’s giant Valdevaqueros sand dune, the Costa del Sol of mine, from spending a ence,” enthuses Scarlet who coastline …every poster tells few years in Buenos Aires looks far more artist than IT a story. through to studying art de- whizz with her multi-coloured “Travel is a real passion sign at the University of Flor- bandana and purple-washed

LA CULTURA

the edge

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

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

BEAUTIFUL: Scarlet has used places she knows to turn into these fabulous posters

hair. “I looked to combine that with my design experience to create posters that typify an area.” Scarlet started up saxdoodle.com last April with six initial offerings, one of which was a map of the Sotogrande area in San Roque. “Nobody had done anything like this before and I started to get inquiries and orders from people with holiday

homes wanting something to remind them of where they stay in Spain,” she says. Ten months down the line, 350 posters have been sold, much to this modest artist’s surprise. “We had no advertising or publicity with ‘word of mouth’ and our website the only way we got customers. I’m quite surprised at the level of interest.”

Indeed, wall posters are a venture, they also became highly collectible art form. a cheap and powerful adverVintage versions range in tising tool that had their heystyles from Art day during the Nouveau and Golden Age of Cubism to Art Travel, enticing Every poster Deco and Bapassers-by to huaus. book holidays tells a story Dating from by train, boat of Spain’s the invention of and new-fanmass produc- beautiful towns gled jet plane. tion lithographMost OP readand villages i c ers will be too printyoung to reing in member the the mid-19th centu- old Fly TWA (Trans World Airry, they gave aspir- line) buillboards; or the Jolly ing painters in gar- Fisherman, a 1908 poster rets a new source for Great Northern Railways of income (at one depicting a chubby mariner time, the streets of dancing a hornpipe on the Paris were known sand captioned ‘Skegness as the ‘poor man’s is so bracing. It’s quicker by picture gallery’) rail’. and allowed or- Luckily for Andalucia tourdinary people to ism, which badly needs the own artwork by publicity to attract visitors famous artists back post Covid, Scarlet’s at lower prices. collection has a strong local Although maybe bias. More lately, she has not today. Chris- expanded beyond her own tie’s sold Henri regional borders to encomde Toulouse-Lau- pass Gibraltar and other trec’s 1891 Mou- places outside Spain. “Some lin Rouge - La friends of mine live in MarGoulue lithograph rakech in Morocco, so I crefor £314,500 in ated some posters for them, 2014, making it as well as for places that I the highest-gross- know like Buenos Aires and ing travel poster Dubai,” she says. in history. A key aspect of Saxdoodle is Posters were the way her limited edition used to celebrate posters are made. unique cultural “Every A3 size poster is institutions - in produced on sustainFrance, the cafe ably-sourced hand-lined and cabaret: in bamboo paper in our 100% Italy the opera; carbon neutral printing stuin Spain the feria dio,” she explains. Each print and the bullfight; comes with a certificate of in Britain, the cir- authenticity and is personalcus and the sea- ly signed, adds Scarlet, who side holiday. also takes on individual priWith their vate commissions. h e a d - t u r n i n g As for the future, Scarlet’s colours, large career journey is clearly scale and abili- mapped out. “I want to exty to inspire ad- pand my poster range up

the coast through the Costa Blanca and all the way through to Barcelona,” she

declares. Today she’s conquering Spain; tomorrow, maybe, the world.

Local heroes A GANDIA band has entered Spain’s top 10. Zoo - also known as Zoo Posse - were formed in 2014, adding rap, breakbeat and electronic elements, plus a trombone and saxophone, to a rock and ska base while maintaining the protest and socially aware lyrics of punk. The band’s third album, Llepolies (‘Sweets’ in valenciano) is currently the tenth most sold record in Spain, ahead of international reggaeton superstars such as Bad Bunny and Ozuna. The six young musicians have managed it independently, through their own record label Zoo Records and without having their album on sale at high-street shopping centres. This is a band that also sells out all their concert tickets as soon as they announce new tour dates, including two shows at Valencia’s open-air Marina scheduled for June 5 and 6. Furthermore, the second best-selling album this week is La pequeña semilla (‘The small seed’) by Alba Reche, from Elche, beaten only by the omnipresent Madrid rapper C Tangana but above releases by Justin Bieber, Dua Lipa and many others.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

There has never been a better time to visit the normally packed island of Ibiza, writes Jon Clarke

T’S approaching high Spring and the beaches of Ibiza would normally be filling up and the hip boutiques of Ibiza town inundated with English, American and German accents. Instead there is merely a gentle trickle of European tourists circling the White Isle and you’re more likely to hear the cries of a curlew or the flapping wings of a flamingo, than a persistent house beat. Best of all, you hardly need a reservation for a single restaurant, and you’ll be surprised to find more than a dozen people on any of its wonderfully varied beaches and coves. The island has never looked more beautiful and the interior is awash with wild flowers and blossom, and the comprehensive series of countryside walks and bike trails are better marked than ever before. This is the Ibiza that often gets forgotten, with so many associating the island with pumping house music and partying to ex-

Island e p esca

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

BACK TO BASICS Liberal Ibiza is laid back in vibe and historic in heart cess. or to its lesser known cor- see nobody, yet many of is almost a slum, with Forget the beach parties ners, to find its best green the galleries and muse- squatters and drug dealand concrete blocks of spaces, many designated ums will still be open and ers around, so be careful. San Antonio, head inland, as Natural Parks. restaurants are soon set to But once inside the Visiting Ibiza this Spring, stay open until 10.30pm walls proper, you will be is like returning to the Ibi- (early by Spanish stan- amazed at how well it has za of the Sixties, when a dards, but been mainhandful of bespoke trav- positively late tained and ellers upped sticks from for the Brits how much With nobody northern Europe to set up and certainthere is to see. about, it feels Head in via homes on the island. ly ScandinaThe roads are nearly emp- vians). Portal de eerie, actually the ty and you can sightsee at A fortress Ses Taules, forts or beauty spots with- within a foredgy, strolling an impresout a crowd of tourists tress, this is sive ramp and about with selfie sticks driving a solid stone drawbridge, you up the wall. redoubt that that you Take advantage of a once- was once the can imagine in-a-lifetime chance to centre of Ibosim, one of would have been anything clamber up into Dalt Vila, the key Mediterranean but easy to scale during a the ancient citadel above ports, first built by the time of battle. Ibiza Town, with nobody Phoenicians. Once inside, make sure to in front of you. Meaning ‘Upper Town’ walk right to the top to see This Unesco protected Dalt Vila is certainly not the Cathedral de Nuestra World Heritage Site is a for the faint hearted and it Senora de las Nieves and true gem, which will take is decidedly hilly, so swap some incredible views, beat least an hour to wan- your heels for trainers. fore taking a look around der about, its warren of With nobody about, it the Archaeological Musenarrow cobbled streets feels somewhat eerie, um (www.maef.eu), with and tunnels (yes, tunnels!) actually edgy, strolling its impressive collection of amazing in the extreme. around. At least one part Phoenician relics, said to Chances are, towards of it, just outside the main be among the best in the sunset, you will almost wall at the extreme east, world.

Look out for the tunnels that take you up and down into the heart of the alcazar and ideally try and end up heading out of the back and then down the ring road back to the centre. When you get back down you will be in the ritzy part of town with all the hip boutiques, including the likes of Paul Smith, Tous and Mayurka (www. mayurkaibiza.com), which has been around for 30 years and stocks the likes of Balenciaga, Kenzo and Marc Jacobs. For a totally different experience, head up the coast a little to the salt pans, where you can find not just an impressive area of natural beauty, but some incredible wildlife and a splendid walk with lunch bundled in. This is part of the Ses Salines Natural park and where the famous Sal de Ibiza comes from. Salt has been continually

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HISTORIC: Dalt Vila (here and top) is protected as a World Heritage Site b

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

PINK SURPRISE: The salt pans are home to hundreds of flamingoes exploited here since 600 BC by the Phoenicians - the commodity has brought great wealth to the island over the centuries - and there is some historical evidence today including an old milling wheel. What is also very much in evidence is the impressive range of birds including sandpipers, curlews and stalks, that share the wetlands.The most exciting by far though are the flamingoes, when in season, that can be watched from a number of hides alongside the colourful pans. There is even a special visitor centre dedicated to them. The place to start your saline adventure is near

by UNESCO

Restaurante La Escollera, When you finally hit the where you will eventually El-900 road, head east, have your lunch or sup- until you reach the salt per. From here you walk pans that can be partly down the stunning Platja walked through, past two des Cavallet huge piles of beach to the salt, en route ancient Torre to being comYou can eat de ses Portes mercialised. at tables w a t c h t o w e r, Eventually from where you will reach overlooking you can clearthe interprely see the is- the beach or on tation centre land of Forthe Church round day beds at mentera. of Sant FranBe warned, cesc, worth the beach was stopping for a the first in Ibiza to be de- drink at and to take in the clared a nudist beach so flamingoes. you may have to avert Your final stretch is along your eyes. It is also a keen the sometimes busy Cami area for the gay scene des Cavallet, but it is not and a bar called Chrin- far so bear with it, as you gay, that can are nearly at one of the isonly be ac- land’s coolest restaurants. cessed by foot Restaurant La Escollera has long ca- ( w w w. l a e s c o l l e r a i b i z a . tered to this com) really is something special, a true locals’ famarket. From the 16th vourite and I heard that century tow- time after time. er you head It sits in an incredible south about position at one end of beach, with two kilome- Cavellet tres through amazing views towards a fascinat- Formentera. ing stretch Now two decades old you of coastline can eat at tables overfull of hidden looking the beach or on coves and round day beds in any inlets and way you so choose, with fronded by a sea bass in a salt crust my top pick. pine forest. Ibiza at its The tradition is to drink a very best cold flute of Cava on arwith no con- rival, although I was hapstruction, just py with a iced Mahou. It’s nature, with not cheap but the peoCala Pluma ple-watching is free and cove the real there is plenty of that to enjoy. standout.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Ibiza Three great places to stay in m) Finca Legado (www.legado-ibiza.co is set in a secret valley just 10 minutes of outside Ibiza Town. Set up by a pair creatives from Austria it has a very laidof back feel and counts on 3.5 hectares i, cact of full nds grou ent verd extremely palms, fruit trees, wild asparagus and an flowers. The rooms are ‘eclectic, artis ble, forta com mely extre all vintage’ and focusing on top quality sheets and mattresses and the vibe is very hip. The saltwater pool is awesome.

m) is a Hotel Mikasa (www.mikasabiza.co ing look over Town Ibiza from w stone’s thro the main Botofoc Marina. The views of the Dalt Vila old town are wonderful and you could spend all day watching the ferries coming in and out, plus graze on the excellent food in its terrace restaurant Kasamore. There are only 16 rooms of varied sizes and s, onie standards and some don’t have balc so do ask before booking. ry Cas Gasi (www.casgasi.com) is a luxua agriturismo in the heart of the island, the genuine address book secret, that is els mod ous fam of ns doze escape for and actors. It’s not cheap, but the h of organically-certified farm grows muc and oil olive its all uces prod s, its vegetable ilyhas a superb restaurant on hand. Fam See dly. frien and ming char are staff its run, review over the page.

open Three great beach restaurants all year in Ibiza Restaurant La Escollera (www. d laescolleraibiza.com) sits in a privilege h. beac allet Cav Es of end the location at the Focusing heavily on seafood, this is day of a plan and back kick y reall to e plac ing. chill and ing read sunbathing, Hip and near the action, Nassau Beach Club (www. nassaubeachclub.com) sits on Playa d’en Bossa, close to Ushuaia nightclub and the Hard Rock hotel. It’s a very cool vibe with loads of day beds right on the beach. There’s some great sushi. Es Boldado (www. restauranteesboldadoibiza.com) is one of those secret spots that

e two you could not find by accident. Som prize the , track dirt a n kilometres dow is easily one of the most breathtaking, le romantic places to eat in Spain. Simp Es zing ama the rds towa s food, giant view Vedra islands.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Could a tiny organic hotel hidden in the White Isle’s rural heartland really be Ibiza’s hippest place to stay? Jon Clarke finds out

THE first decision to make as you stroll stretches to the 475-metre tip of Sa Tadown the drive from the car park at Agro- laia, Ibiza’s highest mountain, this pasturismo Cas Gasi is which path to take toral vernacular is as far removed from to reception: the first follows a perfumed the fleshpots of ‘San An’ as you could bank of roses, planted four rows deep; possibly imagine. the other meanders beneath a floral ar- So when you hear that Pete Doherty bour of wisteria and jasmine. mixed the ‘perfect’ Sex on the Beach It’s springtime in the rucocktails in the bar, ral heart of Ibiza, a part while fellow rocker Bryof the island few tourists an Adams was also in The grounds ever reach, and the air is house, you’re not sure if produce much you heard right. heavy with the scent of orange blossom. just Google the of the fruit and But There’s nothing but wild place online and you’ll countryside for miles find a trawl of A-listers, all the virgin around. Just an artfulwho have allegedly olive oil ly-updated 19th century stayed at the low key farmhouse set in its own property, including Richlittle Garden of Eden, with ard Gere and European orchards, grape vines and an organic royals, such as the King and Queen of kitchen garden thriving with cabbages, Norway. lettuces and leeks. The key to this is privacy, being off limits The grounds produce much of the fruit to external visitors without a reservation and veg for the hotel menus and 450 and, of course, the peace and quiet. The carefully clipped trees provide all the ex- price at 425 euros a night for a Deluxe tra virgin olive oil the hotel needs - sus- Queen room also helps. tainable agritourism at its best. But what you get is a lot more than just With a view of rolling green hills that amazing ambience.

MASTERSTROKE: New eaterie is the perfect venue

Fantastic fun in a stunning setting with coaching from world class professionals.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Rock ‘n’ Roses

RURAL IDYLL: And even rockers Pete Doherty and Bryan Adams couldn’t ruin the peace at Cas Gasi The suites are particularly opulent, while the Ibizan Palaces, a pair of 165m2 villas secluded from the main hotel, list luxuries like ‘XXL beds’ with feather mattress toppers and imported damask sheets. They were also very chic inside. My upgraded double room had similar bedding and was equally well-appointed with a giant bath, sitting area and stylish antique wooden furniture, as well as a superb balcony with views to relocate for. There are four hectares of grounds to wander around, with floral walks starting right from your door. There’s also a fully-equipped gym and a yoga space. Oh, and a free Vinyasa flow class every morning at 8.30am, Namasté … if you get up in time! But the real masterstroke for me is the impressive open-plan industrial kitchen,

added last year with the intention of hand to tinkle the ivories on the showbiconverting one of the suites into a ful- zzy white grand piano. ly-fledged restaurant. I chatted to the Ibizencan sous chef, who Led by chef David Reartes, it focuses is very aware of the island’s new foodie on home grown produce focus and believes ‘up to with some classy culithree or four’ restaurants nary twists, such as the The chatelaine could be vying for a star farm chicken cannelloni, over the next year or two. floats around served in a rich truffle “There is a real buzz and sauce, or the leek tatin, with a cookery school set glamorously with almond praline, a to open over the next few with Viz the dog years the island could visual masterpiece. The timing for the restaufinally start competing by her side rant’s opening is imwith Mallorca,” he insistpeccable. Ibiza is finally ed. seeing a real resurgence When I suggest Cas Gasi in the culinary stakes, gaining its first could be one of them, owner Margaret Michelin star this year. shrugs, contending that she would be Mirroring the natural style of the hotel, more than happy with one of the new expect candles on every table, flowers ‘Estrella Verdes’ (Green Stars) for susand cool jazz – that’s if no pianist is on tainable restaurants, introduced for this year’s guide. (see https://www.theolivepress.es/ spain-news/2020/12/24/new-starsare-born-and-only-one-lost-as-the-celebrated-michelin-foody-bible-reveals-itspick-in-spain-for-2021/) Very much the life and soul of Cas Gasi, this inspirational chatelaine floats glamorously around the place with her water dog, Viz, padding faithfully by her side. She spends almost as much time nurturing the staff and gardeners as she does helping the guests. Coming from noble European lineage, we drive up a winding dirt track to the lakeside office, her family earned the Fleur-de-lys hon“We came here for a nice life.” our back in the 13th century for repelThe 54-year-old from Egham left behind a marketing ling the Moors in the Pyrenees (and job at Bacardi to set up Spain’s top ski and wake centre there is also an intriguing connection with Matt, 48, a former world number five water skier. to Marie Antoinette and a passport…) The ex-champ from Macclesfield is at the helm as XtreThe heraldic emblem is the motif of the me Gene’s wakeski head coach, his world-beating exhotel. pertise played down by a laid-back attitude and hillbilly straw hat. His professional but easy-going manner filters down But Margaret is anything but snobbish through the entire Xtreme Gene family, including the and her family are equally down to wakeboard and wakesurf head coach Jordan Elizondo. earth, with her husband lighting the The 24-year-old is another champion, who first came fires and chauffeuring guests to and to Xtreme Gene on his 12th birthday and from the airport. basically never left. Their children regularly return for holiHe trains with the Spanish team, having days to help out and enjoy their former won the nationals several times and even home. the European Wakesurf Championship in “There is almost nowhere else like 2019. this left on the island,” she tells me. Amid the pandemic, business slowed to a “We are a genuine local family busitrickle but since Spain opened back up, ness that started 30 years ago and there has been a new surge of interest we’ve just kept growing organically ever from those gagging for a better adrenasince. I don’t like crowds and don’t go lin rush than supermarket shopping. out much. This is my life until it’s no fun Debbie said: “We are flexible and peoanymore. ple can stay in one of our air conditio“I guess I am a housewife who became a hotelier,” she adds jokingly. ned cabins for a day or a week, we can Just as I am leaving (typically), Margaaccommodate all group sizes.” ret tells me they are preparing for the arrival of a group of models and photographers for a shoot. “From all over Europe,” she explains. “The first time they For more information ring have left their countries for a year.” the lakeside office on They will be in for a rare treat. It’s spring+34 957057010 or email Detime in Ibiza, quite the best time to visit bbie at debbie@xtreme-gethe island, and Cas Gasi really rocks it ne.com with those roses.

Waking on water

Amazing resort near Cordoba has the world’s best watersports

Really there’s no need to fly when the perfect family escape is so much closer WHEN it comes than you think.

to having a go in the world of extreme watersports Extreme Gene is an experience not to

Did you know Europes most be missed. popular watersports complex After where was just all, a drive away? can

you not only get a lesson from a European champion but also have the chance to shoot the over an apres ski lunch. ard This is exactly the kind of A-list experience you can expect Lakeside log cabins, Bar, at Xtreme Gene Restauarnt, Terrace & in Cordoba. surf pool ThePlunge wakeboard, waterski and wakesurf centre has been a Mecca for watersports fiends since its inception in 2002. Covid safe It is no surprise that the globe’s top pros flock to the environment! area every year, especially when you first set eyes on the xtreme stunning Embalse de la Breña, on the fringes of -gene.com Almodovar del Rio. e Wate rsports Complex, Cordoba Southern Spain The lake is a natural paradise far from the ne.com Tel: 0034 957057010 WhatsApp: 667739392 hustle and bustle of the Costa del Sol. and information, find us on Facebook & Instagram As you enter the town you are greeted by the imposing sight of Castillo de Almodovar, a hilltop castle which doubled as Highgarden in the HBO hit series Game of Thrones. Upping sticks from Britain to this charming outpost of rural Andalucia was a no-brainer for Xtreme Gene’s husband and wife team, Matt and Debbie, whose extended family includes eight dogs, two cats and a horse. “We didn’t come here to be millionaires,” Debbie explains as Come and enjoy a great withholiday. them daybreeze out or a weeks

Housewife

Looking for flexible residence in Spain? Now that UK nationals are no longer EU members, non-residents are only permitted to spend 90 days in Spain in any 180-day period – a big change if you want to freely come and go from your holiday home.

Talk to the people who know 965 793 561 javea@blevinsfranks.com

Spain’s ‘Golden Visa’ is available to those who make a substantial investment in Spain. It provides the benefits of residence but with no minimum or maximum day limits. Blevins Franks can help you consider your residence options along with the tax and financial planning aspects of living in Spain.

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I N T E R N AT ION A L TA X A DV IC E • I N V E S T M E N TS • E S TAT E PL A N N I NG • PE NSIONS Blevins Franks Wealth Management Limited (BFWML) is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority, registered number C 92917. Authorised to conduct investment services under the Investment Services Act and authorised to carry out insurance intermediary activities under the Insurance Distribution Act. Where advice is provided outside of Malta via the Insurance Distribution Directive or the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, the applicable regulatory system differs in some respects from that of Malta. BFWML also provides taxation advice; its tax advisers are fully qualified tax specialists. Blevins Franks Trustees Limited is authorised and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority for the administration of trusts, retirement schemes and companies. This promotion has been approved and issued by BFWML.

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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Different Strokes

TUI and WizzAir have offered different takes on summer prospects for UK holiday-makers seeking a Spanish or European sunshine break. Budget airline WizzAir says its plans to increase services over the next few months to pre-pandemic levels ‘cannot be guaranteed’ due to fears of governments continuing to impose travel restrictions. On the other hand, travel operator TUI says it ‘feels optimistic’ about the summer because of the vaccination programme.

Routes

WizzAir has been increasing its portfolio of routes with the airline planning a 10% hike on its services prior to March 2020 numbers. It’s chief executive officer, Jozsef Varadi, said: “We need to reconcile these increased numbers with reality. We cannot guarantee an increase in services due to uncertainty over governments imposing restrictions.” His caution contrasted with that of TUI boss, Friedrich Joussen, who said: “Bookings in March alone hit 2.8 million and we expect to run up to 75% of our normal schedule over the summer season. “We are confident that we will have a decent summer thanks to COVID vaccinations.”

Air Nostrum Bailout THE Valencian airline Air Nostrum has asked for a €103 million bailout loan from the Spanish government’s rescue fund. The company says that it lost €129 million last year because of travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Air Nostrum started up in 1994 with its main base at Valencia airport with hubs in Barcelona and Madrid. It operates as a franchise of Iberia under the Iberia Regional label with 91 domestic and international routes. In 2019, Air Nostrum won the Airline of the Year Gold Award presented by the European Regions Airline Association. Air Nostrum’s application to the government states that it would repay the proposed €103 million loan over seven years. It’s entire workforce of 1,439 people has been on the ERTE furlough scheme for over a year. Last November it announced a package of measures including a 25% drop in salaries to avoid redundancies ‘as much as possible’. Other savings include reducing its fleet of aircraft by 14 to 39 and renegotiating deals with their external suppliers. Air Nostrum has published a full summer schedule with additional routes above those advertised prior to the start of the pandemic.

A GROUP representing Costa Blanca hoteliers wants COVID-19 tests on people coming into the region. The Hosbec association says it is ‘concerned’ about what might happen to local rates once the regional border reopens after May 9, the date the State of Alarm expires. The group is advocating

Safety First unfettered entry into the Valencian Community for people who come from ‘low infection’ regions. On the other hand, they want PCR tests for visitors from areas that have higher COVID rates like Catalunya,

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Shuttered SOME of Barcelona’s most famous and longest established restaurants have been forced to shut for good. They may have survived - in some cases - a Civil War and decades of fascist dictatorship, and financial crisis galore but they have finally been done in by COVID. They include Cal Pinxo was a hugely popular seafood eatery in the Barceloneta beach area that had been serving customers for over 60 years, while Senyor Parellada had been open in the Born neighbourhood of the capital city for 38 years. Other historic names to go under include Agut in the famous Gothic quarter, shut after 97 years, and Diaganol Can Soteras in the Eixample, which has pulled down the blinds for

Madrid, and the Basque Country. Hosbec president, Toni Mayor, said: “There shouldn’t be a blanket lifting of the border closure. “Infection rates and testing should be taken into account as is the case for any international visitors. “We have no choice but to con-

Restaurants up to 100 years old forced to close due to travel restrictions By Glenn Wickman

the last time after a whopping 105 years of business. tinue with the restrictions if we are to survive the summer,” he added. Mayor has suggested that a ‘traffic light’ system be introduced for all mobility across Spain to rate each region’s health situation based on infection rates. “We must have a logical mobility system,” he said.

All hopes were on Easter, after a disastrous year with practically zero international tourism and no visitors from outside Catalunya since last summer. However, the holidays did not pan out as expected, and ongoing restrictions – including the perimeter closure around the region and the reinstatement of the district closures this week – have sealed the fate of these legendary establishments. But they are far from the only ones. The local hospitality union estimates that around 30% of bars and restaurants in Barcelona city centre have been forced to close down.

BUSINESS Zombie cars SPAIN’s ever growing problem with so-called ‘zombie cars’ has reached a 10 year high as COVID-19 adds to motoring’s greatest pandemic. Zombie cars is a term coined by insurance companies to describe any vehicle that is travelling without insurance or any other legally required paperwork. According to a recent study by Linea Directa, a total of 2.65 million cars are on the roads without all the correct paperwork, representing over 8% of the total cars registered across the country. This has been added to the 400,000 vehicles in the past 10 years that have already been written off the books by the DGT for spending five years or more unaccounted for. Linea Directa has revealed that the main discrepancy on Spain’s roads is the lack of insurance, a crime that can lead to fines of up to €3,000. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this issue over the past 12 months leading to figures reaching a 10 year high.

FASHION chain H&M will shut 30 of its stores in Spain, putting 1,100 jobs at risk. The closure affects one fifth of the retailer’s branches across the country. H&M announced its intention to close 350 stores across the world after net profit dropped tenfold in 2020 due to the pandemic. The firm, however, was able to take ad-

Money Matters

with Tracy Storer, Senior Partner, Chorus Financial.

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

PM outlines plans to spend €140 billion on investment and reforms SPAIN’S Prime Minister has outlined his Recovery and Resilience plan for the nation aiming to revive and modernise its economy using €72 billion in grants from the European Union. Spain has earmarked a total of €140 billion to spend by 2027 for an investment and reform programme closely monitored by the European Commission. Roughly half of it will take the form of grants from the EU while the rest will be paid out in loans. The proposal will be fine-tuned before it is sent to Brussels by the April 30 deadline. “We only come by opportunities like this a few times every century and we cannot let it pass us by,” Sánchez said in a televised address following the weekly cabinet meeting in Madrid on Tuesday. He described the funds as Spain’s ‘greatest opportuni-

Jobs blow vantage of online sales, with shopping on the H&M site up more than 40% from 2019. Currently, e-shopping accounts for almost a third of H&M’s overall turnover. The company, which was founded in

Money Matters answers all your questions on finance, tax, pensions, investments and more here in Spain This week we received the following question from Mrs Sue B, Orihuela Costa Hi Tracy, I’ve been living in Spain as a Spanish resident for over 15 years and during this time, I have continued with my UK financial adviser (he has advised us for some 25 years now). In January this year, he wrote to us to advise us that he has to withdraw his services due to Brexit. This is a big concern for us as we know him and trust him. I’m not sure what I should do and whether I can keep my existing investments which he set up for us?

Hi Sue, Thanks for sending in your question. Unfortunately, this is a big problem for a lot of people at the moment. The Financial services sector has been impacted by Brexit and for many expats, some financial products and services have been removed as a result. For many UK based financial advisers, it is just not possible to comply with the regulatory changes and therefore they are having to remove ongoing servicing to their non-UK based clients. Whilst I fully understand and appreciate the relationship and trust you would have built up with your current adviser over the years, it is just another change brought on by Brexit. Change isn’t always a bad thing; a local adviser will have a much better understanding of the Spanish tax system and you could find yourself in a product better designed for your current circumstances. I have worked alongside a number of UK advisers to help their clients transition to having a local adviser here in Spain and I’m happy to extend this service to yourself and anyone reading this who has lost their adviser due to regulatory changes. If you have any questions about finance, tax or money matters here in Spain, call +34 965 641 163 or please email them to me on t.storer@chorusfinancial.es with subject ‘Money Matters’. All emails will get a response, and some may even appear in our column!

Crypto con SPAIN’S first-ever class action involving crypto-currency fraud has been presented to the National Court in Madrid. The lawsuit claims that over 300 small crypto investors in Spain were ripped off to the tune of over €250 million by Javier Biosca Rodriquez. Papers filed to the court say that Biosca created a scheme in 2019 which offered clients weekly returns of up to 25% on their crypto investments. He concentrated on getting bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin with the money provided from his clients.

Dividends

By Fiona Govan

ty’ since joining the European Union and heralded his government’s recovery plan as ‘the most ambitious and transcendental in the economic history of Spain’. Sanchez said the plan includes 212 measures,

Sweden in 1947, is the second-largest global clothing retailer, behind Inditex, who owns Spanish brands Zara and Bershka. H&M said the ‘content growth of online’ sales represented a ‘great change’ for the brand and plans to invest further into e-commerce as part of the shake-up of its operations.

Why has my financial advisEr dropped me?

Money Matters answers all your questions on finance, tax, pensions, investments and more here in Spain.

Hey big spender

of which 110 involve the allocation of funds into 10 broad policy areas while the remaining 102 measures are reforms, including of the public health system, energy and renewables, or the modernization of the justice system. He envisioned that the programme should bring growth of two percentage points to gross domestic product growth annually in the coming years. Central, regional and local governments will be largely in charge of spending the money, with 18% of it going to education, a whopping 39% to environmental projects and digitalisation, and large sums earmarked for housing renovation and rural repopulation.

The first group consisted of 19 people, who were acquaintances of Biosca. The promised dividends were paid out and Biosca’s client base then expanded to over 500 through word of mouth. His investors included notaries, judges, tax inspectors, and small business owners. But in January 2020, the weekly payout dropped to between 8 and 10%, and the dividends totally dried up by last November. Biosca told investors that he was in charge of a brokerage company called Algorithms Group, but it was not registered with the Spanish National Securities Markets Commission.

PROPERTY

OWNERS of homes on the costas - particularly holiday properties have been warned of a spate of burglaries. Coronavirus lockdown and travel restrictions have meant that people in towns and cities have not been going out much, meaning burglars have turned their attention elsewhere. A report called ‘Burglaries in insured homes. Data 20192020’ examined figures from 27 insurance companies that cover 11.8 million dwellings in Spain. The report analysed 78,000 burglaries that occurred

Watch out!

in properties during the 12 months between the summers of 2019 and 2020. While initially burglaries followed the usual pattern of being more prevalent in the big cities, the lockdown from March 14 2020 changed all that. Practically all the provinces with the worst rate are on the coasts - particularly Gerona, Tarragona, Barcelona and Murcia. On the other hand, Madrid residents saw their chances of being burgled plumet.

Feeling Lucky?

April 22nd - May 5th 2021 MORE than 600,000 Brits have been left in expensive tax limbo by the latest government update on overseas travel, according to experts. Non-resident holiday homeowners have to pay Spain’s 24% Modelo 210 tax on the estimated letting value of their property, whether rented out or used exclusively by the owner, said accountancy firm Spanish Taxes Online. “Holiday home-owners have

Expat tax hit Foreign travel uncertainty is costing holiday home owners thousands been hit hard financially by a mixture of COVID-19 and the UK leaving the EU, which

saw their Modelo 210 bills increase by 25%,” said marketing director, Nick Ball. “More

Towering sale A SLICE of history is on the market for over €1.3 million. The ancient Torre de las Aguilas in La Albufereta has been listed with two real estate agencies. Included in the deal is its connecting house, and a substantial area of land. Torre de las Aguilas is classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). It’s part of a set of the defensive Torres

BRITISH couple Martin and Debra Else are raffling-off their self-built Costa Blanca holiday villa with all of the money going to the Big Issue charity. They’ve taken the dramatic step because they have retired to Malta as opposed to Spain. The four-bedroomed property is in Aguas de Busot, a short drive away from the coast. The villa is valued at £795,000 but a winning £5 raffle ticket can secure it with the bonus of no taxes or transfer fees. All of the raffle money will be donated to the Big Issue Foundation that helps vulnerable and homeless people in the UK. Ex-builder Stephen, from Derbyshire, designed and constructed the luxury villa along with his son Martin over a two year period starting in 1999. Tickets can be obtained via the website winmyspanishvilla.co.uk

de la Huerta fortifications built between the 16th and 17th centuries to look out for Berber intrusions from the sea. All 20 fortifications were given BIC status in 1997 and are part of a special protection plan which regulates distances that new buildings can be constructed close to them. Torre de las Aguilas is on a large 2,800 square metre plot between Calles Virgilio and Horacio. It’s just a stone’s throw away from the Playa de San Juan golf course and plenty of supermarkets. Besides the history and location, the marketed property also includes a pine forest with a swimming pool. The linked house consists of 400 square metres with five bedrooms and bathrooms. For many years it was used for farming purposes but then was transformed into a residential building. But whoever shells out the asking price may have to spend some extra money as there have been no modifications in 50 years.

delays and uncertainty are worrying, costly and unfair.” Under new plans, would-be holidaymakers will have to follow a traffic light system for trips away later this year. It will see countries ranked either green, amber or red, to determine whether travellers need to quarantine and if COVID -19 tests are needed.

Report

The traffic light system was detailed in a new report by the Global Travel Taskforce but will only apply to English travellers. Governments in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can set their own rules. Under the current plan for easing restrictions, the earliest date people in England could go abroad for a holiday would be 17 May. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was ‘too early’ to set out new foreign travel rules for the summer. It is currently illegal for anyone to leave England for a destination outside the UK without a reasonable excuse, such as for work, education or medical treatment. Those who do could face a £5,000 fine.

Golden rules Steps to take to get a ‘Golden Visa’ in Spain

F you’re a non-European Union citizen who has bought property in Spain since September 2013 or are considering investing in real estate here, here’s a practical guide to getting your Golden Visa. In a previous article, we looked at the various ways British citizens could become eligible for a Golden Visa in Spain, post-Brexit. Following the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union on January 1, 2021, the same rules now apply to Brits as to people from all other non-EU countries. We asked Blanca Loring, the founder and principal lawyer at Loring International, a Marbella law firm that specialises in immigration and nationality matters, to talk us through the options for non-nationals of European Union member states who invest in real estate in Spain to secure a Golden Visa. The Golden Visa grants holders and their families the right to reside in Spain, if they wish, for more than 90 days within any 180day period and to travel visa-free through the 26 countries in the Schengen Area. However, Blanca notes, Golden Visa beneficiaries should take into account that if they do spend

The Property Insider

by Adam Neale

more than 183 days a year in Spain, they will be deemed fiscal residents of the country and become liable to pay taxes to the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria or Hacienda in Spanish). To qualify, Blanca says, investments in Spanish real estate must fulfil the following criteria: Only properties purchased after September 28, 2013 are applicable and the minimum amount invested in one or more properties must be in excess of €500,000. This cannot include any mortgage financing, You can apply for a Spanish Golden Visa in your own country of residence. In the UK, this can be done at any of the three Spanish consulates in London, Edinburgh or Manchester.

Liable It can be expensive - the cost of applying in the UK is £1,623 (€1,868) because the Spanish government applies the principle of reciprocity to fees charged by the British to carry out the same procedure for Spanish citizens applying for a UK visa. You can also apply in Spain having entered on a tourist visa, although you may need to make three trips. The cost is then only €80.

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

GREEN

www.theolivepress.es

Plants will improve air quality and save energy A SPANISH airport is using 10,000 live plants to build living walls. In sharp contrast to the low air quality onboard planes, disembarking at Malaga airport will offer a breath of fresh air. Airport operator AENA has put in motion the installation of four automated vertical gardens at various points inside the airport to improve acoustics and clean up the air. The green façades, currently being finalised, will also help reduce sound reflection and filter harmful

VERTICAL GARDEN By Cristina Hodgson

airborne pollutants like carbon dioxide from the air. The living wall arrangement works with a ventilation system that helps to reduce energy consumption by lowering temperatures in the summer. These plants will also generate tons of oxygen that will circulate in the airport each year. Malaga airport isn’t the only space in the Andalucian city to boast a strik-

SPAIN is one of the most expensive countries in Europe to charge and run an electric car. Using data from Eurostat, Switcher.ie has published results that could be cause-forconcern among the environmentally-conscious in the country. Electric vehicles (EVs) have been growing in popularity and now make up over 10% of new car sales across the continent. Spain is the fifth most expensive place to charge an EV in Europe, with only Germany, Den-

Electric shock

mark, Belgium and Ireland more costly. The UK is only slightly cheaper, being seventh most expensive. It costs on average €13.99 to fully charge an EV in Spain, while in the priciest country - Germany - the cost is €19.02 with an average of €10.13 . For the cheapest charge head to Ukraine, where a full charge will set you back a mere €2.91 on average.

COMPOST KING: Gardener Paco

ing vertical garden. Restaurant Jose Carlos Garcia, one of the Miche-

21 Time for change

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

lin star restaurants on the Costa del Sol, isn’t just famed for its outstanding gastronomy, but also for its vertical garden made up of native plants from the Montes de Malaga— thyme, lavender and rosemary. These are herbs which are used in the restaurant’s kitchen. As they grow without any type of pesticides and inside the restaurant, the ferns and other species aim to recreate the Mediterranean Sea.

SPAIN has approved a bill to combat climate change and its effects, although the document still needs to be ratified by the Senate. Parliament approved the first Climate Change Law in Spain, which aims to bring the country into line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement, five years after it was signed. It establishes measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The law sets a target by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions a minimum of 23% compared to 1990 emissions.

By 2050 the country should be ‘carbon neutral’. The aim is also that renewable energy should make up a 42% share of final energy consumption compared to around 20% at present. All cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants will have to adopt sustainable mobility plans that include low-emission zones similar to those in Madrid and Barcelona.

Silver lining SPAIN plans to use €13.2 billion of EU pandemic recovery funds to boost electric vehicle use. It is one of 20 ‘flagship’ measures being taken to modernise the Spanish economy over the next three years, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Other initiatives include spending €6.8 billion on improving the energy efficiency of buildings and €4.3 billion to updating the public administration, he said. He added that the investments will boost economic growth by around 2% annually, starting in 2022 and create more than 800,000 jobs. Spain and Italy are set to receive the greatest portions of the EU fund because their economies faced the deepest contractions last year. Spain will be handed a total of €140 billion.

One reason why a third of Spain’s population is breathing in polluted air

o smoke without fire - this is a well known idiom that is true. But replace the ‘m’ in idiom with a ‘t’ and you now have IDIOT. Idiot and Bad Company (who had a song with the same name above) bring me to the theme of burning cuttings in the campo. I receive many emails from readers of this column (please keep them coming), but one really sparked my interest (if you’ll excuse the pun). It came from Clive, who lives in a lovely rural area near Polop in a house with fabulous views to Altea, on the Costa Blanca. He wrote to tell me that his views are consistently blighted by locals burning garden waste, rather than simply composting, which is so easy to do. And it’s almost a daily basis, he added. So, I return to a previous theme - air pollution. While the UN passed a groundbreaking resolution recognising that access to clean water is a basic human right in 2010, no similar resolution exists on the right to breathe clean air.

Green Matters

By Martin Tye

NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE

Incredibly, 17.5 million Spaniards (over a third) are breathing air that the European Union considers polluted. This is air that contains excessive levels of three main pollutants: ●● Nitrogen Dioxide - caused by traffic and predominantly a problem in the cities (Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia mainly) ●● PM10 particulate matter, consisting of dust, ash, soot and similar substances produced by traffic as well as central heating systems, industry and construction. ●● And finally ozone, a pollutant linked to the others, which is prevalent during hot weather and can spread long distances. I have discovered that 36 out of 126 regions of Spain have illegal levels of ozone gas. Furthermore ‘OVER HALF OF SPAIN DOES NOT MEET EU AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND

GUIDELINES’ according to green group Ecologists in Action. I find this quite staggering. More people die from pollution than road accidents. And Government action is predictably far too lethargic. I believe air pollution is also a human rights issue. Pollution on today’s scale clearly violates the rights to life, and the right to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We tend to be more aware nowadays of the vulnerability of future generations to the perils resulting from current environmental decision making. A very correct standpoint, BUT, more needs to be done. Not just on a global scale, but on a local level to help protect the Clive’s of this world who deserve a life not contaminated by idiots in the campo.

Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es

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HEALTH

Special REPORT

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Jab confusion Worry and frustration for expats waiting for vaccination

OREIGNERS living in Spain have expressed worry and frustration at not knowing when and if they will be called up for a COVID-19 vaccination jab. The biggest concern is from those who are not registered in Spain’s public health system, either because they have private health insurance or because they are still going through the residency process. Some readers have described how they have been passed from one health authority to another, without getting any answers. “My husband and I are both retired expat residents who have lived in Sevilla since 2017 where we registered with the town hall (empadronado) and are paying our income taxes,” explained Cristina Covalschi who got in touch with the Olive Press. The couple said they have never used the public health system and therefore are not registered at their local Centro de Salud but they both have private health insurance. “We only want to learn how we can be included in the proper database so that we will be contacted when the vaccine becomes available for our age group,” she said. So far efforts to find out how to do that have proved fruitless.

by Fiona Govan “I have made appointments with various agencies during the last weeks and have been asking this question repeatedly,” she explained. “But instead of getting a clear answer, we have been sent from one to another without any result.” Andalucia’s Consejeria de Salud (regional health department) told her they had no knowledge of the situation and to contact their consulates in case there might be an agreement for vaccination in place. “We did that but our consulates said they have no knowledge of any agreement and advised us to contact our health insurance company.” Next stop Sanitas. “Our health insurance company Sanitas had no knowledge of the situation and told us to contact the local centro de salud in our neighborhood,” she said. “Then the centro de salud in our neighborhood had no knowledge and told us to contact our health insurance company (Sanitas).” The Olive Press put in a call to Spain’s Ministry of Health to ask for clarification and was assured that ‘everyone living in Spain will be offered the vac-

COLUMNISTS

Livin’ La Vida Liga!

N case you have been living under a rugby ball sized rock recently, the media has gone into meltdown over plans for a European Super League. Flicking through radio stations as I trundled inland to my Casita on Sunday night, it seemed that every radio show had a panel of serious, angry men discussing the world-shattering implications. It made the funeral of HRH Prince Philip sound like a Cbeebies special. Nevertheless, it did make me ponder on all things to do with La Liga that’s been dominated by Real Madrid - Franco’s team - and Barcelona, for decades. Every Spanish town and village (and, I mean, EVERY one) has its Real and Barcelona supporters club, as I discovered when living in one such pueblo near Antequera. On the night of the ‘El Classico’ (or derby) I had wandered into the Real pub to watch the match with a pal. Greeted with stares akin to ‘An American Werewolf in London’, we were only finally accepted

when 20 minutes in Madrid’s defender Sergio Ramos received a kick to the family jewels. The whole bar winced in sympathetic pain and, seeing us wince too, the patrons deduced that we must be Real fans, after all. Drinks were ordered all round Real won the match and most of the bar went outside to let off fireworks, including the chap who had brought a fully-functioning air raid siren. Village life is different, especially when you consider most locals had never even been to Malaga – a mere 40 minutes’ drive away. What would they make of a night in the capital itself? I suppose the one good thing that might come out of the Big Three leaving La Liga, is that other, worse-funded clubs might have a chance at the title. However, if Real Betis were to win La Liga, the celebrations in half of Sevilla would probably last until Semana Santa!

OP Puzzle solutions Across: 7 Core, 8 Executes, 9 Card, 10 Prostate, 11 Civics, 13 Got off, 15 Others, 17 Relive, 18 Grafting, 20 Bert, 21 Stockton, 22 Lose. Down: 1 Loyalist, 2 Deed, 3 Tempos, 4 Mekong, 5 Sum total, 6 West, 12 In effect, 14 Feverish, 16 Saints, 17 Regent, 19 Ruts, 20 Bels.

SUDOKU

Quick Crossword

cine’. legally - were still entitled to the vac“The Spanish government has said cine. that everyone living in Spain will have “Yes, here it gets more complicated,” access to the vaccine, whether they she admitted. “But people will be are registered in the public health entitled to it as they are to emergensystem or have private health insur- cy health care, so when it becomes ance,” the spokeswomavailable for the group an said. they fall into based on But she admitted that age and vulnerability, Those without she could not give clear they should be able to proper guidelines on how that access it.” would happen. The British Embassy paperwork are “It is up to the indiin Madrid also offers vidual regional health still entitled to reassurance on the authorities to put a matter, if not a clear a vaccination system in place to noanswer. tify them. If in doubt “The Spanish Governpeople should contact ment’s Vaccination their local health authorities to ask Strategy is clear that, as a matter how this is being done.” of public health, all people living in She emphasized that even those who Spain are eligible for the vaccine, rewere in an “irregular” situation – that gardless of nationality or residency is those who did not have proper pa- status,” a spokesman from the Britperwork to prove they were in Spain ish Embassy told the Olive Press.

Maybe it’s time to simply relax and go Spanish TO all fellow retired expats. Eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy life in this beautiful country we now call home, the last leg of many of our lifetime journeys. Your future is bright, your future is secure - that is as long as you have kept your head above the tidal wave of bureaucracy that has always engulfed life in Spain. I well remember the obstacle course of having to apply for NIE registration, and subsequently SIP health cards many years ago. Forms after forms after forms. My first encounter with officialdom was after travelling for about an hour to apply for an NIE card, I was turfed out of

“At the current time, those in the priority groups are being vaccinated – irrespective of nationality or type of sickness insurance. The Vaccination Strategy is updated regularly to include new priority groups as the number of doses available gradually increases. “Those UK nationals who are already registered in the public health system should be contacted by their regional health service to arrange an appointment. “The Spanish authorities are asking insurance companies to coordinate with regional health services in order to provide vaccines to their customers. “We are in touch with the Spanish authorities regarding progress of the rollout and what that means for UK nationals. Meanwhile UK Nationals living in Spain can contact their local health centre or insurer for more information.”

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

To TIE or not to TIE the office because I had not made a prior appointment by telephone. Although the office was empty, the official blankly refused to serve me. Then, in a light-bulb moment, I stepped just outside the entrance, phoned the given number, watched the same person answer and requested an immediate appointment, which I received. Although it wasn’t the most pleasant of cross-the-desk encounters, I won the day. Since then, the world has moved on from pure, unadulterated mountains of paperwork to online impersonal befuddlement, with not even an over-zealous official to glare at.

Forget the, NIEs, NIFs, CIFs, and ‘Uncle Tom Cobleys and all,’ this is the biggie that evidently secures our place in the sun. Entitled, Permiso de Residencia you would presume it would be known as a PDR, not on your Nelly, just to confuse us, our new bureaucratic bigwigs scored a major victory over their venerable predecessors by naming it, NIE. Since this Brexit-orientated identity card was launched in July 2020, Social media sites have been inundated with questions from confused.com expats, inquiring whether their existing residencias are still valid, or change is necessary.

OLD HAC K IN THE SUN

Benny Davis

Ramblings of an 80-somethin g expat

This created a rapacious response from all ranks of the legal brigade offering friendly help in exchange for fees ranging from €50 to over €1000 a time. Some expats have taken free advice from CABS (Citizens Advice Bureau) and dealt directly with either the online services or applied in person. On the other hand, if you prefer to wait until the dust has settled before entering the fray - go Spanish. Pour yourself a glass of plonk, relax in your favourite lounger and slowly repeat after me, m-a-ñ-a-n-a. Cheers!

HEALTH

April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Loss of life

Life expectancy drops most in Spain during pandemic LIFE expectancy in Spain fell by a year and a half in the last 12 months, according to new data. EU statistical agency Eurostat found that the average lifespan across Europe has plummeted since the start of the pandemic.

Die

And Spain has seen the biggest drop in Europe, with a loss of 1.6 years compared to 2019. Bulgaria was next with a loss of 1.5 years, followed by Lithuania, Poland and

WOMEN are twice as likely to give birth to a girl if they experienced more stress around the time of conception, a Spanish study has found. Researchers at the University of Granada analysed levels of stress in 108 women from the first weeks of pregnancy to delivery. Stress levels were recorded by analysing the levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone that is released in response to stress) in the hair

OLD AGE: The life expectancy in Spain has fallen

years. Official data reveals ‘that life expectancy has risen, on average, by more than

Boy, it’s a girl

of pregnant women in the period spanning from before conception to week nine of pregnancy, to determine whether there was any link with the sex of the baby. The findings confirm that foetuses are vulnerable to the effects of maternal stress and that strain can play a key role in their development.

Jab Study Nothing to sneeze at

ANTEQUERA hospital has been selected to test Pfizer in children and pregnant women. The Antequera Hospital is one of the five centres selected at national level, and the only one in Andalucia, to participate in a clinical trial to evaluate the Pfizer vaccine in minors and pregnant women. It is a clinical trial, starting in May, that will last 26 months to evaluate the vaccine in children aged six months to 12 years of age and in pregnant women.

HAY FEVER sufferers are set to suffer an intense pollen season this year, experts say. Despite the use of masks, experts have warned that due to mild winter temperatures, heavy rain and elevated humidity, the pollen counts will be high this spring.

Cough

So with the weather warming and flowers blooming, bothersome nose and eye symptoms can set in as trees begin to pollinate coinciding with the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and additionally causing some confusion with overlapping symptoms. The main symptoms common to COVID-19 but not to allergies are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. According to data from the Spanish Society for Allergies and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC), one in six residents in Spain suffer from hay fever.

SPAIN’S Health Ministry wants to ban smoking from all bar and restaurant terraces across the whole of the country to reduce the risks of COVID-19 infections. That means areas like Andalucia and Murcia falling into line with the six regions that have already banned smoking on terraces by scrapping the previous ‘safe’ two metre distance rule. The measure is in operation in the Balearic Islands; the Canary Islands; Aragon; Asturias; Cantabria; and the Valencian Community. A draft proposal from the

Dear Jennifer: How do I get the best protection after Brexit?

By Kirsty McKenzie

Romania, which all saw a drop of 1.4 years. In England, life expectancy dipped by 1.1 years compared to 2019. While the Netherlands, France, and Austria all saw a loss of 0.7 years. Denmark and Finland were the only nations to see a rise, increasing by 0.1 years. According to Eurostat, life expectancy had been steadily increasing in the EU until the past few

Stub out move

Health Ministry states that the ‘measure would have the double effect of acting on smoking as a risk factor for the infection and contagion of COVID-19 together with the need to contribute to the control of its evolution in Spain.’ Medical experts argue that with COVID being transmitted through air droplets, coughing from smokers and the exhaling of tobacco smoke could lead to people being infected close by.

two years per decade since the 1960s’, the agency said. "However, the latest available data suggest that life expectancy stagnated or even declined in recent years in several EU member states." Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time a baby born today is expected to live.

Data

The data is calculated based on the number of deaths at a specific age and therefore at what age the person is most likely to die.

understand that there are still different versions going around as to what is required under the Brexit terms for remaining in Spain. Please make sure that you take legal advice and not just listen to various people’s interpretation. The rules are quite simple but very rigid and, believe me, the Spanish are not playing a game. It will be very easy for them to discover who has adhered to the rules and those who have not, so take care. I am sure there are many that have been reassessing, not only their lives, but where to live and checking all their paperwork is in order. Please make sure that you have a very good house insurance and if you are eligible, life insurance would be a very good investment to have in place. I recommend a Liberty Seguros policy which amazingly costs half of what the banks offer and for a better product that protects the ones you love. Although the life insurance we offer includes a certain amount towards the funeral costs, it is far better to have a funeral plan to work alongside. There are two ways to be protected from the high costs of a funeral in Spain, and the speed which you have to have the money in place. Never forgetting that bank accounts tend to be frozen for a while. My company is able to offer you either a funeral insurance or a funeral plan, whichever is best suited to your needs and age. The insurance policy starts as a little as €100 per year, so you could very easily, I’m sure, commit yourself to this amount. Unfortunately age restrictions do apply for the funeral insurance. However, funeral plans have no limit on age or health and an easy payment scheme is available and this policy is dual country, so even if you are limited to a 90 day stay in Spain, you will be covered in the UK as well. Please call one of my staff who will be able to help you make the right decision for your family. For more information, visit the website www.jennifercunningham.net or email info@ jennifercunningham.net.

We use recycled paper

Irate ladies TWO elderly women came to blows over who was first in a Javea supermarket checkout queue. A 66-year-old customer was arrested by the Guardia Civil after breaking the nose of a 77-year-old.

FINAL WORDS

Daredevil Barcelona paraglider Nil Farre Berge went viral after he was caught on camera speeding 12,000ft up at 60mph before picking up a can of Red Bull in one fell swoop.

Red carded SPAIN’S super rich football clubs faced backlash after they decided to join up with England’s ‘Big Six’ and three top Italian teams to form a Super League. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been accused of hypocrisy and betrayal, and could be expelled from the Spanish league.

OLIVE PRESS

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Vol. 3 Issue 54 www.theolivepress.es April 22nd - May 5th 2021

Quacking the case POLICE have rescued 20 wild ducks from a dreadful dinner-plate fate. The cops in Sevilla saved the birds after carrying out a routine inspection on the premises of an oriental food warehouse. The Mallard ducks were crammed in one small cage without any accredited veterinary documents, while there were several other health irregularities found on the site. The birds were removed by vets to a wildlife centre outside the city.

Heart warming Decade-long wait for transplant arrives on the day his first child was born By Cristina Hodgson

SPAIN has been named as one of the top gay counties in the global rankings. Research carried out by makeup brand Jecca Blac found Spain to be the seventh most friendly city in the world for the LGBTQ+ com-

Birds

HE had been waiting years to be told by doctors that a match had been found and he could undergo a desperately needed heart transplant. But when the call finally came, it couldn’t have been at a more

Pink paradise munity. Spain was ranked ahead of the UK, which came in at number eight on the list. Canada ranked number one in the world, with Malta coming in second and Sweden rounding out the top three

A GIANT catfish almost two metres long and weighing 100 kilos has been caught in the Guadalquivir River. Until now, the catfish species had only been fished in Andalucia in the gigantic Iznajar reservoir, where it was introduced around 2011 in an illegal bid to encourage angling tourism.

DOUBLE DELIVERY: Patient’s transplant arrived same day as first child, Samuel inconvenient moment for Antonio Salvador. For the 39-year-old Madrileno was at his wife’s bedside in the delivery ward at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañon hospital and their first child was on its way. After pausing for a moment to think, he took the decision to have the transplant and underwent surgery at the same time and in the same hospital as his wife gave birth. “When I woke up, there was twice the sense of delight,” said Salvador, who suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a

hereditary heart disease which can cause sudden death. “Two very special moments for which we’d been waiting for a long time occurred at exactly the same time,” he added. For his wife Ana Maria Gonzalez, 44, the timing couldn’t have been better. “I couldn’t believe that after 10 years we were going to receive the most wonderful thing in our lives at the same time that Antonio was receiving the life that he himself needed,” she said. “Our new son, Samuel, brought a heart for his dad.”

The continent’s largest freshwater fish, native to Eastern Europe, will devour anything below it in the food chain. It can even lunge onto the water’s edge, beaching itself to feed on birds and small mammals. Green group Ecologistas en Accion has called on the Junta to help fight against these invasive predators, requesting urgent control measures. The pigeon-eating fish has a life expectancy of up to 30 years, and is easily recognisable by its two to four pairs of cat-like whiskers or barbels around its mouth, a broad flat head.

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Olive Press ALicante North – 170mm x 256mm – Colour

April 22nd