EGG PROTEST

FIREFIGHTERS pelted Valencia President Ximo Puig with eggs as a controversial plan for a new emergency response unit were green-lighted.

More than 100 firefighters kitted out in full firefighting gear gathered outside a regional government executive meeting at the Palacio des Marques de Rafa in Orihuela, with ministers entering via a back door to avoid them.

But the demonstrators spotted Puig, who had to be protected with an umbrella and lines of riot police as tempers frayed. The UVE is designed to provide rapid support to existing emergency services and civil protection teams dealing with forest fires, earthquakes, storms and floods.

It will bring together firefighters and forest fire specialists but its formation has been opposed by all of the region’s fire unions. They claim it is a waste of money and will hinder coordination during emergencies.

olence on the body which was found not far from a hotel he had previously stayed at in Alicante.

“It has to be him,” Foley said. “His passport was on him and his belongings, it all makes sense.

“I don’t know how he was there all this time and nobody came across him.

“He didn’t deserve this. We are devastated for Ken but hugely relieved that he has been found.”

Life saved

POLICE stopped a young man from throwing himself off Ontinyent’s Salt del Bou bridge last Thursday night. One of the officers engaged him in conversation while his colleague grabbed him as he sat on the bridge railing.

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.

Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION

Buck up!

THE legalisation of ‘illegal’ homes built on Valencian Community land was a positive move, but it fails to address the real problem.

Why were those homes granted building rights to begin with?

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners, many of them expats, have been duped into buying homes they thought were legal, because the council said so, and they were granted the permission.

Only to then be hit with court orders issued by the regional government which claimed their homes had so-called building irregularities.

But what is even more puzzling is that despite the Territorial Impact Minimisation Licenses (MIT) now available, many local town halls seem to be dragging their heels in helping property owners take advantage and finally legalise their homes. With an estimated 194,000 rural properties affected, surely local politicians should buck up and pull their collective finger out!

Shame or glory

THE bullfighting season is getting into full swing again. And with it comes the annual debate of its rights and wrongs.

To the critics, it’s a shameful blood sport, bringing pain and suffering to innocent animals, while to its aficionados, it’s a glorious cultural symbol, a bridge to our past and almost unique to the world.

Whichever side of the debate you fall on (and we know most of you are anti’s), there is little doubt the world of the corrida is very much part of the fabric of Spain’s identity.

Some of the country’s most impressive architecture is embodied in the magnificent bull rings, most dating back hundreds of years.

Through the centuries dashing matadors - and often their female admirers - have featured in the art and literature of Spanish culture.

Even the posters for bullfighters are iconic works of art, with even British architect Lord Norman Foster now designing them.

But the question is: Does the corrida belong in the past or does it have a future?

While we don’t demand its end, we don’t expect it to last.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Anthony Piovesan anthony@theolivepress.es

Jo Chipchase jo@theolivepress.es

John Culatto

ADMIN Sandra Aviles Diaz (+34) 951 273 575 admin@ theolivepress.es