Olive Press Costa Blanca South and Murcia Issue 111

SPECIAL BRANCH

British expat slams heavy-handed police as he faces JAIL for trimming a tree leaning over his property

A BRITISH expat is facing jail and a €10,000 fine two years after trimming a tree overhanging his swimming pool.

Michael Grainger, 56, and his wife, Marina, 52, were dramatically quizzed by police at their €400,000 villa on the Costa Blanca after paying a gardener to cut back the pine tree.

The Welshman told the Olive Press how the tree at his villa in San Miguel de Salinas was ‘spoiling’ his daily swims as any gust of wind propelled hundreds of pine needles into the pool. He said he was forced to take matters into his hands on March 1, 2022, after repeatedly trying to contact his neighbour and getting no response.

Incredibly, nearly two years later on January 16, Guardia Civil and Policia Local cars pulled up to his

EXCLUSIVE

By Yzabelle Bostyn

property ‘to arrest him’ for criminal damage.

Video footage shared with the Olive Press shows aggressive officers shining a torch into his wife’s eyes before throwing a court summons at her through the gate on the driveway.

“It was terrifying and a complete overreach,” Grainger insisted, “They hurled abuse at my wife and tried to arrest me but my lawyer told them we would deal with it at court and thankfully it wasn’t necessary.”

Marina, who grew up in the Soviet Union, added: “This is something you’d expect to happen in the old USSR, not the EU!”

The couple quickly sought help at their local police station, where they claim they were told to “f**k

off”.

The expat, who has spent 10 years in Spain, says he tried to settle the matter out of court but his offer was refused. He said: “I’ll give them money, but what I refuse to have is a criminal record. I did nothing wrong.”

Grainger learned that locals - ‘claiming to be the owner’ of the property next door - had filed a denuncia against him. But he claims the home had been empty for years after the previous owner died.

pects a guilty verdict but is ‘ready to fight back’. Grainger said the ordeal has left a sour taste in his mouth, adding:

“Europe isn’t a good place to live anymore.”

THE government has said no to a second runway at Alicante-Elche airport despite record-breaking passenger numbers - leading experts to warn of a ‘total collapse within two years’.

The rebuff comes in the wake of a February all-time high of just over one million travellers, following a January best total.

Over a third of passengers last month came from the UK, accounting for 334,411 visitors.

The facility welcomed a record-breaking 15.7 million people last year and there are concerns that without an extra runway, it will soon not be able to cope.

The Alicante Chamber of Commerce president, Carlos Baño, warned the airport “will collapse within two years” with all of the increased traffic and predictions of 20 million people using it annually by 2026.

The Welshman has spent €6,000 in legal fees and interpreters ahead of his date at Torrevieja court on May 3. He said he ex-

A government reply to a question from a Partido Popular senator said: “It should be noted that studies carried out indicate that in the short and medium term, it is not necessary to have a second runway at the airport."

Valencian Tourism Minister, Nuria Montes, said that “the government clearly has no idea that airport planning should be carried out in the short and medium term as its a project that doesn't take a short time to carry out.”

Meanwhile, Alicante-Elche airport has once again been recognised as the best airport in Europe that serves 15 to 25 million passengers by the Airports Council International (ACI) and it means that Alicante has come top on four occasions in the last five years.

TRADITIONS:

Cleopatra makes an appearance in Lorca (above), while in Alicante the Christ of the Sea arrives by boat

CONFRONTATION: ‘Agressive’ police served papers on Marina Grainger

FACING JAIL: Michael Grainger (right) has a criminal case over the tree trimming (above)

Fugitive caught

A Spaniard, 33, on the run for child sex offences in France has been arrested on a Cehegin farm and faces 20 years behind bars if convicted.

Rubbish row

DOLORES residents will protest this Saturday over their door-to-door waste collection service which will force them to use new bins for recyclable items on certain days.

Boars viewed

WILD boars have been recorded on video cameras installed by FauNatura in the La Mata-Torrevieja natural park- confirming their presence in the area.

Centre hope

ORIHUELA council says it plans to repair and reopen the Ramon de Campoamar civic centre which was used by many groups before structural damage forced its closure in 2020.

GROW UP!

A COURT has thrown out a criminal complaint over children’s ‘inappropriate costumes’ at this year’s Torrevieja Carnival.

Photos of the Osadia troupe in last month's parade showed a mixture of female grown-ups and youngsters wearing stockings,

Cruel end

AN elderly British expat has died after spending three days laying on the floor of her home following an accident - while her family did nothing to help her. The unnamed 76-year-old is said to have suffered a fall

By Alex Trelinski

inside the property on Calle Orihuela, in Rojales, on March 9.

Her daughter, 38, and anoth-

SNUFFED OUT

A LOS Alcazares laboratory concocting a cannabis extract drug called rosin has been busted by the Policia Nacional.

Some 17 people of various nationalities were arrested in Murcia, Alicante and Barcelona.

Rosin is far stronger than other forms of cannabis and is made by putting pressure and heat on marijuana buds for a period of time to produce either solid or liquid products that can be vaped. Besides the lab, the gang ran six major marijuana farms and were in charge of two Murcia region cannabis associations.

They had vehicles with specially-prepared hidden compartments to deliver rosin across Spain.

garters and other lingerie.

The Christian Lawyers group claimed that a crime of corruption against minors had been committed and filed a lawsuit on February 14.

The Torrevieja judge ruled that the 'perpetration of crimes' do not appear to be 'sufficiently justified' and that no child was forced to take part.

Christian Lawyers say they will be filing an appeal.

British grandmother dies at home after breaking her hip and being ignored by own family

er British man, 73, were in the house at the time, but did not call emergency services, say police.

They have both since been charged with reckless homicide.

The grandmother had bro-

ken her hip and, shockingly, remained on the floor for three days while the other two drank alcohol, it is alleged.

According to the Guardia Civil, it was not until March 12 that the pair realised the woman was not breathing. It was only then that they called the emergency 112 hotline for assistance.

Local reports said the daughter of the victim has a long history of visits from social services for not providing quality care for her own children.

The daughter and the man were arrested at the home during an early morning visit by the Judicial Police of the Guardamar Guardia Civil. They have since been released on bail after appearing before a judge in Torrevieja, with the daughter receiving an additional charge of family abandonment.

End of the road

A MAN wanted by German authorities for kidnapping and robbery has been arrested by the Policia Nacional in Quesada.

The 36-year-old Kazakhstan national was detained after police were told that he was living somewhere in the Vega Baja region.

Although he was based in Torrevieja, he regularly used bars and restaurants in the Quesada area.

The fugitive was part of a fourstrong gang that attacked and robbed a couple at their Hammin home in 2021, for which he got over nine years behind bars. He will be extradited.

Clean sweep

A CLEANING lady has been arrested for allegedly supplying two men with security alarm codes to help them rob Alicante homes and shops.

The trio - in their 30s - have been charged with an unspecified number of robberies. The woman worked for a cleaning contractor that had access to numerous properties.

The burglars scoured social media platforms to see if potential victims were away on holiday to find out when targeted properties were empty, police said. The probe started after a robbery at an Alicante business where €6,900 was stolen and €13,000 of damage committed.

THE god of goth rock will be casting his cloak of darkness over Spain this year.

Nick Cave and his legendary Bad Seeds will play two shows in Barcelona and Madrid, followed by a date in Portugal.

As part of the Australian band’s Wild God tour, they will bring their blend of rock, post-punk and gothic sound to Palau Sant Jordi in Bar-

Cave in town

celona on October 24, the WiZink Centre in Madrid on October 25, and the MEO Arena in Lisbon on October 27.

Support band The Murder Capital’s debut album, When I Have Fears, has had widespread critical acclaim.

Escape the crisis!

Queen Camilla’s secret Spanish holiday escaping the media frenzy back home over Wills and Kate

EXCLUSIVE By

Ben Pawlowski

QUEEN Camilla has enjoyed a secret hunting break in a luxury Spanish finca as a royal crisis engulfed the British Royal Family, it has emerged.

King Charles III’s cancer diagnosis and Kate Middleton’s prolonged absence from public duties have provoked a major issue as speculation swirls over the marriage of Prince William and Kate. In perfect timing, the Spanish media went into overdrive over rumours of the split just as Camilla was trying to get away from it all. It started when Cuore, a women’s magazine, suggested Rose Hanbury, the Marchioness of Cholmondeley had been ‘having an affair’ with William.

The pub lication added Han bury is ‘said to be divorcing’ her husband, Da vid, the 7th Mar quess of Cholmonde ley. It was followed up by magazine that trumpeted that ‘Kate is asking for a divorce’ over ‘rumours of infidelity’.

With King Charles sidelined as he begins treatment for

DOMINGO COMEBACK

SPAIN’S top opera singer is taking to the stage this summer, despite a string of allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

Placido Domingo, 83, will perform at the Starlite festival in Marbella on August 13.

Alongside Luciano Pavaraotti and Jose Carreras, Domin go was one of the Three Tenors, renowned for their spectacular voices. However, 27 women have accused the Ma drid-born performer of sexual assault and harassment, in-

cluding unwelcome fondling, grabbing and forced kissing in incidents dating back to the 1980s. A 2020 investigation by the LA Opera into the allegations found the tenor had engaged in ‘inappropriate conduct’ with multiple women over the three decades he worked there. Other acts confirmed for the summer include Tom Jones, Keane, Gipsy Kings, Simple Minds, Take That, UB40 and Myke Towers.

March 21st - April 3rd 2024

Runway success?

ends in land when she herself was having an affair with

This included a number of trips to the giant hunting estateSpain’s biggest - owned by the Duke of Westminster that straddles the border of Cordoba and Ciudad Real.

His forthcoming theatre production, Fashion Freak Show, will dazzle audiences with a host

cancer, Camilla has been heading up constitutional duties with various official appointments. Formerly Camilla Parker Bowles, she is a long-time fan of Spain and has been a regular visitor over the years. This has included various trips to Tarifa and Sevilla, as well as a number of ‘secret’ week-

Finca La Garganta, near Conquista, has long hosted members of the British royal family for hunting weekends, with Prince Harry once allegedly shooting a rare protected eagle there.

Richest

The giant estate has been caught in various other controversies, including its owner, the UK’s 11th richest man, the Duke, Hugh Grosvenor, blocking public roads through it. Journalist Marisa Martin confirmed to TV show TardeAR Camilla had flown in to get ‘some respite away from the stresses and strains’ of royal life. She said she was ‘hunting partridges’ at a luxury finca used by King Juan Carlos and other members of the Spanish nobility.

of artists from the world of circus, music and dance. Gaultier, on a visit to Barcelona, said that the fashion shows he stages are like ‘a play’ with himself choosing ‘the music, models, and scenery’. He said his new venture should not be a total surprise as 'fashion is synonymous with theatre'.

Catch it at the Teatre Coliseum in Barcelona between April 4 and 21.

Leo’s Sunny outlook

FILM star

di Caprio is well known for his environmental credentials. Now he’s making his first foray into a green business in Spain.

The Hollywood legend has pumped an undisclosed sum into Barcelona company SolarMente.

The solar start-up works with solar panel installations - assuring homes get the full benefit of green energy. It was co-founded by CEO Wouter Draijer, who could not believe how few domestic solar panels there were on Spanish properties compared to his native Netherlands. “My support is a responsible move towards a cleaner future and I'm proud to see SolarMente actively shaping a sustainable energy landscape,” said di Caprio.

Leonardo

TEEN DROWNS

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has drowned while swimming with friends in the Segura River near Almoradi.

Emergency services were called at 11.34am on Tuesday before his body was discovered just over three hours later.

Firefighters, divers, and drones searched for the teenager with helicopter support.

The boy had become separated from six of his friends. His body was recovered in an area of the river where they last saw him.

Preliminary reports from the Guardia Civil suggest that the teen got trapped in thick mud.

Septic horror

A MAN has been hospitalised after falling into a two-metre deep septic tank in Gran Alacant. The incident happened at the sewage treatment plant on Calle Creta.

A fire crew rescued the 51-yearold, who was admitted to Elche General Hospital with serious multiple injuries.

TRAFFIC WARNING

Porsche Club, American Cars Levante and Performance VIP Murcia. There'll be live music and dancing plus a raffle and giant paella to feed over 600 people with local businesses including Specsavers Opticas sponsoring the whole day. Money raised will go for books to be bought to top up the Les Dunes 'Book Bank' which students can access free of charge without any extra expense for their families.

Classic car treat Polluting shame

Millions of euros in fines are handed out to polluters of Mar Menor lagoon

By Alex Trelinski

The penalties - which can be appealed - are regarded as financial compensation to repair the damage caused under the Environmental Liability Law. Several of those sanctioned are also accused of committing en-

pass sometimes congested routes between the CV-905 and Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas.

urbanisation. Known as the Camino de las Cabras (Goats’ Road), it allows people to by-

The road is shut for 1,300 metres between the CV-905 and the roundabout at Avenida Asociacion Victimas Del Terrorismo. The closure will also impact people travelling to and from the Quiron Hospital, as well as looking for a quicker way to get to La Mata and onto the N-332.

grow fruit and vegetables.

Ciky Oro, exporters of melons around Europe, especially France and Switzerland, will have to pay over €798,000.

Three othCLEAN-UP: Companies fined for dumping brine in the Mar Menor vironmental crimes and are awaiting trial.

The largest fine of €1.1 million goes to Group G's España based in Torre Pacheco who

er firms and individuals have penalties ranging between €18,846 and €161,249.

A fine of over €192,000 for committing an administrative infraction has been levied on businessman Isidro Soto Pedreño, Investigations by the Guardia Civil and the Segura Hydrographic Confederation (CHS) say that between 2013 and

2017, Soto carried out continuous discharges from his illegal desalination plant. The water went through the pipeline of the La Señora ravine at a rate of 330,000 cubic metres of brine each year. CHS staff had to dismantle the plant and shut down his Campo de Cartagena pipe network which took the discharges into the Mar Menor.

THE Cruz Roja rescued a jet-skier struggling to swim to the Torrevieja shore after his craft broke down. The man had no phone and could not contact emergency services for help.

Out of sheer desperation he decided to swim to Cabo Cervera where a walker spotted him in trouble and phoned 112.

A Cruz Roja Maritime Rescue boat was scrambled and they reached him some two kilometres off the coast.

The man, 38, was described as physically fit and was in the water for up to 30 minutes. He was unsurprisingly suffering from symptoms of hypothermia after enduring the cold sea.

A Cruz Roja spokesperson said that anybody going out sailing in whatever type of craft must have a phone or radio with them, as well as ensuring they have access to a life jacket.

Get your priorities straight!

IT is absolutely laughable that police on the Costa Blanca saw fit to harass and berate a British expat couple after they trimmed a tree that was encroaching onto their property (Special branch, p1) Michael Grainger and his wife Marina had every right to cut back the branches that were literally filling their swimming pool with pine needles - especially after multiple attempts to talk to their neighbour went unrequited.

The video of two police officers flashing a torch into Marina’s face before throwing a court summons at her is quite frankly a disgrace.

It’s hard to believe that the reaction by locals and even the authorities has not been inspired by anti-British sentiment.

We will be following this couple’s story and hope that, come May 3, the Torrevieja court sees this case for what it is; a load of nonsense!

Catch 22

THE wave of anti-tourism movements in Spain should be a cause for concern among business owners and expats (Tourism wars, p6). There seems to be a growing anger among locals, particularly the young, who have been priced out of renting or buying homes following a surge in Airbnb rentals.

It is absolutely understandable why some locals may begin to feel this way.

If things continue at their current rate, cities will be filled with holiday apartments that become empty in the off season.

But instead of directing messages towards ‘guiris’ and tourists, locals should focus on local governments, whose strict tenancy rules make it very unappealing for landlords to rent long term.

Hopefully governments across Spain can come up with a model or some form of aid for locals that will stop anti-tourism sentiment from getting out of control.

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Simon Hunter

Alex

Walter

Yzabelle

Ben Pawlowski

TOURISM WARS

Wave of anti-tourism in Spain reaches Tenerife - after Malaga, Valencia and Palma - but locals are divided on the issue

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore & Walter Finch in Tenerife

IT began in Mallorca in the summer of 2017, quickly followed in Barcelona and Valencia and now it has spread around almost all of Spain.

The anti-tourism protests, organised by anarchist group Arran, first gained international headlines when they rocked diners at a portside restaurant in Palma.

As reported in the Olive Press (below), the two dozen masked protesters held banners and flares outside the restaurant Mar de Nudos then showered the mostly foreign punters with confetti.

The following week an unnamed organiser revealed they would ‘continue to carry out’ numerous plans they had for the summer, adding: “We know tourism is something we can’t avoid, but we want people who come to our island to realise they are contributing to its contamination and destruction.”

They claimed to have over 500 members and went on to plaster 1,000 rental cars with anti-tourism stickers.

Soon a sightseeing bus in Barcelona had its tyres slashed and was daubed with graffiti claiming ‘tourism kills neighbourhoods’. The masked protesters were so intimidating the tourists believed they were being attacked by terrorists.

In Valencia, meanwhile, protesters seized a rental apartment used for city breaks and unfurled a banner decrying the

gentrification of the centre caused by tourism.

It led to Spain’s then Prime Minister Rajoy to condemn the ‘crazy’ actions, with Arran hitting back accusing him of ‘giving little importance’ to ‘unsustainable’ tourism. Their message was certainly a reasonable one: that ‘touristification’ destroys neighbourhoods, causes prices to go up and makes long term rental accommodation almost impossible for most locals.

While the protests slowed down, particularly with the pandemic, they came back with a vengeance last year with signs warning tourists off beaches on the Costa Blanca and anti-tourist graffiti being seen around Malaga and Sevilla. Protests were organised in Mallorca, Sevilla and Barcelona.

bling under and it’s likely to spread all round mainland Spain anytime soon.

Locals in Tenerife are furi ous that holidaymakers are turning their paradise into a ‘tourism ghetto’ thanks to soaring rents, inflation and yobbish behaviour.

‘Rents are soaring and people cannot afford to live here anymore’

The latest campaign kicked off in Tenerife this month, when the holiday island made global headlines when a series of graffiti messages were scrawled on walls and buildings, reading ‘tourists go home’, ‘your paradise, our misery’, and ‘average salary in Canary Islands €1,200.’

The Olive Press went out to investigate, discovering that tensions are very much bub-

In 2023, Tenerife received 5.6million visitors, up 600,000 compared to 2019, setting a new record. While some locals attempt to shrug off the graffiti as the work of a disgruntled few, there are many on the island who find agreement with the message.

Josua Garcia-Garcia, 33, who works in a bar in Playas de las Americas, told the Olive Press: “It can be a nightmare when the tourists come, I only get four hours of sleep every night because of the music and noise, which keeps me up until 3am.

“We need stricter rules for tourists, a lot of them are ignorant of how we are suffering. “Rents are soaring and people on average salaries cannot afford to live here anymore, once they pay their rent they have no money

The atrocity that changed politics

20 years after Spain’s worst bombing the effects are still being felt, writes Alex Trelinski

THE King and Queen of Spain have led a memorial service to mark the 20th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings that killed 192 people and injured 2,000 others.

The Al Qaeda attack - the country's biggest terrorist incident - is regarded as having influenced the general election held three days later which saw the PSOE socialists swept into power.

On March 11 2004, the capital was plunged into chaos as 10 bombs planted by the terror group devastated four commuter trains during the early-morning rush hour.

Although Spain had experienced decades of violence at the hands of the Basque separatist group ETA, it had never been hit by an attack of such magnitude.

Pajamas

There is no doubt that the emergency services and the people of Spain rallied together. Images that are best remembered are of ordinary people who rushed to help.

Neighbours still dressed in their pajamas helping and comforting the wounded , buses being used as ambulances and masses of people queuing to donate blood.

The attacks had a major political impact as before that fateful day, the ruling Partido Popular led by Jose Maria Aznar were strong favourites to stay in office by defeating the PSOE Socialists led by Jose Luis Zapatero.

But within hours of the attack, Aznar’s government was laying the blame at the door of Basque separatists ETA.

This was viewed by many as either a cynical election ploy by the traditionally hard-line anti-ETA party, or an effort to avoid any imagined responsibility for the attacks having supported the US led war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Al Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, had threatened reprisals against any countries that took part in the operation.

Doubts over the government's explanation quickly spread across Spain, and during huge demonstrations the following day, pro-

CARNAGE: 192 people died in a series of train bombings

testers expressed hostility towards the authorities who were accused of lying.

On March 14, Aznar's government was swept out of office, with the administration's handling of what happened playing a pivotal part in their defeat- according to political experts.

The Partido Popular stayed in opposition until 2011 when Mariano Rajoy won that year's election - ousting Zapatero.

In early April 2004, seven suspected members of the terrorist cell involved in the atrocity blew themselves up as police surrounded an apartment where they had been hiding on the outskirts of Madrid - with a police officer also killed.

After a three-year investigation, 29 suspects - the vast majority Moroccan - went on trial in 2007 with 18 convicted.

Only three are still behind bars - two Moroccans who were each handed nearly 43,000 years, and a Spaniard, who supplied the explosives and was jailed for nearly 35,000 years.

They will remain in prison until 2044 at least while the others have been released after serving their sentences - the vast majority of them deported or extradited, mainly to Morocco.

roperty

www.theolivepress.es

STUDY PAVILION, TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF BRAUNSCHWEIG Braunschweig, Germany

Architects: Gustav Düsing, Berlin, and Max Hacke, Berlin

What the architects say:

“The new build Study-Pavilion on the grounds of the Technical University of Braunschweig is an open space concept designed to accommodate various student activities. The concept follows the principle of a superstructure which allows the user to change and re-configure the layout of the building in order to meet the ever-changing requirements in a fast-developing campus. Through high flexibility in layout, the Pavilion becomes ephemeral and thus responsive, ensuring a long-lasting relevance as a new type of campus building.”

March 2024

COLEGIO REGGIO

Madrid

Architects: Andres Jaque/Office for Political Innovation, Madrid

What the architects say:

“The design, construction and use of the Reggio School is intended to exceed the paradigm of sustainability to engage with ecology as an approach where environmental impact, more-than human alliances, material mobilisation, collective governance and pedagogies intersect through architecture.”

From the architect’s mouth

SPAIN has two incredible properties on the shortlist for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award for 2024.

Handed out every two years by the European Commission and the Fundacio Mies van der Rohe, it

recognises ‘excellence in contemporary design, sustainability, and innovation’.

The seven nominated projects come from Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, France and Norway. The winners will be announced on

April 25 in Brussels, with awards handed out at a ceremony on May 14 at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona. Here we take a look at some of the finalists and what they have to say about their projects…

The Olive Press brings you top entries for the Mies van der Rohe architecture awards and what they have to say about their projects

PLATO CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY

Ostrava, Czech Republic

Architects: KWK Promes, Katowice, Poland

What the architects say:

“By saving a historic building and turning it into an art gallery, we have introduced a solution that makes art more democratic. By rotating the walls in an un-

Continues on page 8

usual way, it goes outside the building. We also transformed the space around the gallery, which had previously been contaminated, into a biodiverse park for the benefit of residents.”

Don’t rule them out!

BRITS are still the most significant foreign buyers in Spain’s property sector.

Despite Brexit and only being able to visit for three out of six months, they still make up 15.5% of foreign mortgage applications. Only the Germans come close, making up second place with 14.1% in 2023.

Swiss applicants account for 9% of the market, Americans (8.9%) and the French (7.8%).

Britsshrugoff BrexitandkeeptheGermansinsecondplacewhenbuying inSpain…atleastwhenitcomestotakingoutamortgage

By Walter Finch

The Irish manage to snap up more property (5.5%) than both Belgians (4.5%) and Swedes (2.7%).

The Swiss and Americans, whose average household incomes are €9,527 and €9,097 per month, look for the most expensive homes averaging around €250,000.

The report by web portal Idealista notes that the Costa Blanca and wider Valencian Community is by far the most popular location for property purchases at 27%.

Remarkably, Catalunya and Andalucia rank at 16.4% of property purchases each.

The study discovered the average mortgage applicant was 41 years old with a household income of €5,900 per month.

The average purchase is a prop-

erty of €213,000, notably 20% higher than Spain’s national average.

The report further highlights the disparity in financial firepower between foreign and local buyers. Foreign applicants boast incomes nearly 85% above the Spanish average, aiming for properties that

far exceed the financial reach of their local counterparts.

Homes bought by foreigners are on average 27% more expensive than those bought by Spaniards.

Interestingly, the financial commitment of international buyers is relatively modest.

On average, they finance 61% of their purchase and they prefer fixed-rate mortgages, which account for nearly 70% of the transactions in 2023.

From page

REBIRTH OF THE CONVENT

SAINT-FRANÇOIS

Sainte-Lucie-de-Tallano, Corsica

Architects: Amelia Tavella Architects France

What the architects say:

“This building, built in 1480, listed as a historical monument, was partially in ruins and dormant. We had to rebuild it without separating from the vestiges of the past. We believe in higher and invisible forces. Housed at height, on its promontory, it was a defensive castle before being a place of prayer, of retreat, chosen by monks aware of the absolute beauty of the site. Faith rallies to the sublime. “

THE TWO EMERGING FINALISTS GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ LIBRARY Barcelona

SQUARE AND TOURIST OFFICE Piódão, Portugal

Architects: Branco del Rio, Coimbra, Portugal

What the architects say:

“The only flat and open area of hilly Piódão is given back its dignity with this welcoming gathering place. What was previously a parking lot has been redesigned, paved, and partially shaded using traditional materials and techniques.”

Architects: SUMA arquitectura, Madrid

What the architects say:

“The García Marquez is a pioneering and landmark library that culminates a three-decade plan to build these facilities in Barcelona. It sits in a tough working class neighbourhood that has lacked significant investment for years and desperately needed a ‘people's palace’.

Upfor investment

SPAIN has been named the fourth most attractive European country for investment in 2024.

Meanwhile, Madrid has claimed third place in the top ten European cities for investment.

Barcelona was just behind, in seventh place, in the report by the Global Real Estate Service.

Only the UK, Germany and Poland rank higher.

The report also praises Spain and Italy for ‘making progress in environmental, social and governance issues’.

It also estimates that by 2025, market activity is expected to return to rates seen before the global rise in interest rates in 2022.

And only 27% of those surveyed believe geopolitical issues will be a major issue for real estate investors, down from 42% last year.

November 29thDecember 12th 2023

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TENNIS star Rafa Nadal has bought a €4 million luxury Madrid apartment in the city's Colon y Serrano district.

The property is one of 11 luxury homes in the Villa de Paris residential block that he built with businessmen Abel Matutes Prats and Manuel Campos Guallar several years ago.

March 21st - April 3rd 2024 9

Rafaservesupabeauty

The trio constructed the building with direct views of the Plaza Villa de Paris, the Supreme Court, and the Church of Santa Barbara.

It was designed by the prestigious architect Rafael Robledo and is regarded as one of the most exclusive residential projects in Madrid.

The homes were sold on the basis of offering a fusion between classicism and modernity in the finishes and design.

One of the purchasers is the president of the fashion giant, Inditex, Marta Ortega.

The block has a spa and gym, plus an allocation of two parking spaces per apartment.

Nadal's home in the five-storey building

has all kinds of amenities covering 281 m2.

The open plan design features five bathrooms, four bedrooms, a spacious living room and a balcony around five metre long.

The rest of the apartments are far biggercoming in at around 900 m2.

The Calle General Castals complex is part of a portfolio of real estate assets owned by Nadal - worth €30.3 million.

Palatial dreams

AN ambitious American has revealed her plans to transform an ancient palace in Spain.

Monica C purchased historic Quindous Palace online while surfing the web from her home in California.

The medieval property, in Cervantes, Galicia, had failed

AmericanwomanbuysamedievalpalaceinSpainwith bigplanstobringitbacktolife

By Laurence Dollimore

to sell over a four-year period.

Monica, originally from Colorado, flew in at the beginning of January to assess the mammoth task ahead of her.

The castle has more than 20 rooms, which she plans to turn into a cookery school that will teach students how to cook Galician food.

Monica, who had never before visited Galicia, also plans to open a restaurant on the site.

The small village of Cervantes is home to just 1,200 people.

The palace was first built in

the 15th century and was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest in 1949.

It sits atop a 9km winding road and offers stunning views of the Os Ancares mountains.

It was first put up for sale for

Hot and hotter

STILL STANDING:

But huge amount of work needed

€500,000, which was reduced by half in 2018, before eventually going for €225,000. It was finally sold to Monica at the end of last year via Country Homes, a real estate firm owned by British expat Mark Adkinson.

Quooker, the success story, that is now taking Spain by storm

IT’S the must-have boiling water revolution coming to sophisticated kitchens around Spain.

THE STORY

But the story of the Quooker begins in 1970.

Henri Peteri was in London, at the multinational Unilever’s headquarters, when he had an inspiration that would change his life forever.

It was during a presentation about instant soup. It was shown how to dissolve soup in boiling water in just five seconds.

‘And that includes water that has to be left on the fire for five minutes?’ thought Peteri, ‘What madness!

Why don’t we have boiling water in the house?!”

The rest is history. Peteri went into the basement at home to develop a prototype of the world’s first boiling water tap.

He sold it to friends and acquaintances, who were very enthusiastic.

When son Niels completed his studies and joined his father, the idea became a product.

In 1992, the first Quooker (‘quick cooker’) was introduced, the Quooker Basic.

From the moment son Walter joined the company, Quooker slowly but surely began to gain ground on the market.

From 2000 onwards, Quooker was doing well. The boiling water tap caught on in the Netherlands. In 2004, the first batch of Quookers was exported abroad.

NOWADAYS

Now: a popular product in the kitchen Quooker currently produces more than 350.000 Quookers per year and there are more than 10.000 dealers. Quooker now has branches in 16 countries including Spain and is the result of years of development, testing and technical innovation.

The Peteri brothers have always aimed for the most responsible, energy-efficient and high-quality product possible.

They now run an internationally successful company.

But, entirely in the spirit of their father, who died in 2007,

they continue to invent.

...whileglobal pricesarealso ontheup

GLOBAL house prices have largely recovered after hitting the ‘deepest property downturn’ in a decade.

Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows the property market has ‘hit a turning point’.

Based on data from 37 industrialised countries, house prices grew on average by 2.1% in the third quarter of 2023.

It comes after house prices dropped in many countries in 2022 after interest rates were raised at the ‘fastest pace in decades’ in order to curb inflation.

Overall prices grew by only 0.6% by the end of the year, the lowest rate since 2012.

Experts now predict that central banks will cut borrowing costs to help boost mortgages. A shortage of properties has also helped growth.

As Niels Peteri explains: “The fact that more and more people are embracing the Quooker as an indispensable tool in the modern kitchen is reflected in sales, which are increasing explosively. We are very proud of that. “However, leaning back is not an option. We want to keep innovating. We do this, among other things, by developing our own production resources, which enables us to come up with original solutions.’

In the future: indispensable worldwide

Quooker is about to conquer the rest of the world.

Our ambition is to provide as many kitchens as possible with boiling water, in a smart and responsible way. To this end, Quooker’s head office in the Netherlands works every day on new technical ideas and design solutions to make the products even more economical, even easier to use and even more beautiful. We also think about new products, but we keep our focus on the tap and the sink.

HOW IT WORKS

The Quooker system consists of a boiling water-tap on the worktop linked to a small tank in the kitchen cabinet. The tank acts like a vacuum flask connected to the water mains.

The water in the Quooker tank is heated to a temperature of 108°C. The air in the insulated wall is so thin that the heat is unable to escape. It therefore takes very little energy (just 10 watts) to keep the water in the tank at 108°C. The water only starts to boil when the tap is turned on and the temperature of the outflowing water drops to 100°C. While the water is flowing out of the tap, fresh water immediately flows into the tank. A special active carbon filter inside the tank further purifies the water. Alongside the boiling water-tank Quooker also developed a system for chilled- and sparkling water: the Quooker CUBE. This is an extra tank that is installed next to the boiling water tank in your kitchen cabinet.

More information about Quooker can be found at www.quooker.es

Feels like home

Hola Quooker!

Quooker has arrived in Spain. You can now benefit from official technical service and local warranty. Visit www.quooker.es to know more or to find a dealer near you! With a Quooker in your kitchen you always have 100 °C boiling water alongside regular hot and cold. Add a CUBE and you will also have filtered chilled and sparkling water – all from the same tap. The tap that does it all.

info@quooker.es

for food.

“Some areas have been totally saturated by tourism. The police need to be tougher and bring in stricter rules, people are fed up.”

Anti-tourism campaigners claim an increase in holiday lets means an increasing number of homes are unavailable to rent to locals.

This decreases supply and therefore brings price increases. Homeowners are more tempted to rent to high-paying holidaymakers than long-term tenants.

Last May, hundreds of protesters took to the streets, holding up signs reading ‘The Canaries are no longer a paradise’ and ‘the Canaries are not for sale’.

The march was organised by almost a dozen social and environmental groups, who are calling for a tourism ‘eco-tax’.

They claimed the island’s services ‘totally collapsed’, with ‘a coast full of sewage spills, kilometre long traffic jams’ and the ‘destruction of the environment due to the construction of new hotel complexes in coastal areas’.

Olivia Valdiva, 50, who lives in Palm-Mar, said:

“Life is very hard here now, the only people who live well are the foreigners and tourists.

“We can’t afford to eat well and maintain a car and house, the locals are tired of having no money.”

Zarite Chinea, 39, described the area as ‘a bit of a tourism ghetto’ due to its fierce reliance on the industry.

“It’s like there are two worlds in Tenerife, the tourists and the locals, and we don’t mix.

“I would try to reduce the number of holiday-

makers and I think we need better quality tourists, who respect our land and nature, who want to explore the real Tenerife and go hiking for example.”

Alex Kelly, 20, is a British expat working in the popular Rejoyce bar in Las Playas de Las Americas. She said: “Living here has gotten tough in the last few years, rent is just unaffordable.

“I’m living with my boyfriend in his parents' home because we can’t afford to move out.

“‘I totally get the viewpoint of the anti-tourism people, a lot of young people feel that way, the prices are crazy.”

We need tourists!

Emiliano del Pino, 58, (pictured below), who was born and raised on the island, admitted there were problems but insisted tourism is still very much welcome.

“There is a problem with drought and water since last year, and the government’s priority is to make sure the tourist areas are cared for ahead of the locals in the countryside, and that can obviously rub people the wrong way.”

However, he insisted that tourism is essential to the island’s economy.

The retiree added: “The people behind the graffiti are just kids who have been spoon fed from birth and now there are economic problems, they are lashing out.

“But there are the same problems all over the world, not just here, we can’t blame tourism for that.”

Jorge Sanchez, 58, who works in a local cinema, echoed this sentiment, telling the Olive Press that ‘without tourism, Tenerife is f****d.’ He said: “The whole anti-tourism movement is stupid. Take away all the tourists and what the hell are we going to do? These young people want to blame others for society’s problems, but we need the British, the Germans, the Italians, without them we don’t have an economy.’

Brits bark back

Meanwhile, British bar owners raced to defend themselves over what they see as an attack on their businesses and way of life.

Scott Walters, 35, from Stoke-on-Trent, has owned the Havanas bar in Playas de Las Americas for 10 years. He told this paper: “I understand the young people’s point of view,

rents have gone crazy, there are people with five or six Airbnbs and this pushes prices up.

“For a studio around here it can be like €1,200 per month, which is more than the average salary.

“It’s also upsetting to see friends who are local but have to live so far away to be able to afford a place.

“But Tenerife needs tourism and I think we bring a lot to their economy so it’s kind of a Catch 22 situation.”

Dawn Warriner, 33, who owns the Sun Lounge next door, also feels disheartened by some of the anti-tourism comments.

The Manchester native, who opened her bar just before Covid struck, told the Olive

“Some of the locals clearly don’t want us here but I think it’s a minority.

“There were hundreds of protesters a few months ago shouting all this anti-tourism stuff.

“I understand that rents have increased a lot recently and I do get that, but they need tourists here, they’d be nothing without it.

“Police here have also not been friendly to us Brits, when I went to the station to report a crime I had witnessed, they heard me speaking English and shouted ‘Brexit’ and laughed.”

DOING OUR BIT

MORE than 500 people have signed an Olive Press petition to keep tourists and expats safe from the deadly painkiller Nolotil.

Our Kill the Drug campaign urges Spanish health professionals to agree to follow the 2018 directive banning the German-made drug for British, Scandinavian and Irish patients.

Since launching on February 12, some 587 people have backed the campaign, with many adding comments.

Despite expanding in recent year, the Olive Press remains a community newspaper at heart.

We are not afraid of ruffling feathers and shining a light on the injustices around Spain.

One supporter wrote: “Well done for tackling this problem. Too many lives have already been lost.”

While Nolotil is now banned in 40 countries, it is still being regularly prescribed around Spain.

Campaigner Christina del Campo of the Association for Drug Affected People (ADAF) claims her group has over 100 cases of British people dying from the drug.

Others have had amputations ‘and worse’.

“Something needs to be done about this as nobody’s taking notice. It’s excellent the campaign is growing,” she said.

We now plan to contact local health facilities to urge them to comply with the official warning from Madrid that urges hospitals and clinics not to hand out the drug to foreigners.

Please sign the petition by scanning the QR code on your mobile device.

Have you been affected by Nolotil? Email us tips@theolivepress.es

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

1- Are Kate and Wills on the rocks? Rumours swirl in Spain and beyond after speculations of an affair and the ‘disappearance’ of the princess

2- This 'sun-drenched' city in eastern Spain is the most affordable 'paradise' for British expats, according to experts

3- Inside Amazon's new pre-fabricated house that's available in Spain for just €27,556but how safe is it?

4- 'We were paid to run the only bar in a tiny town in Spain - and are loving our new life'

5

- Drought latest in Spain: Has this weekend's rain helped relieve the pressure on Malaga's reservoirs?

PRO: Jorge Sanchez says tourists are needed

NIGHTMARE: Sleepless nights for Josua Garcia-Garcia (above)

TOUGH: Alex Kelly says rents have become unaffordable

GHETTO: Olivia Valdiva (pictured right with friend) says only tourists live well

Meet the experts

NowCompare.es can help guide you on your journey into Spanish life focus on providing value and protection to our clients.”

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Meet NowCompare’s Simon and Nuria, highly experienced and dedicated experts living in Spain, who are always at hand to assist expats with their health insurance needs, with extensive local knowledge of the industry.

SIMON DOYLE

Originally from St Albans in the United Kingdom, Simon moved to Spain in 1991 and has lived in various cities including Malaga, Gibraltar, El Puerto de Santa Maria, and Jerez de la Frontera. He also spent a significant amount of time living in Sicily. Simon enjoys going for walks and spending time outdoors. He also loves playing music and having fun with his kids, especially at the beach.

We asked Simon to tell us what he enjoys most about his role at NowCompare. He explained: “I find satisfaction in helping clients find the best insurance plans at the most affordable prices. Our team specialises in finding the right insurance coverage for our clients by conducting market analysis, comparing benefits, and making the process of getting coverage easy and straightforward. We

NURIA VALLÉS AVALOS

Originally from Córdoba, Argentina, Nuria journeyed across Europe before finally settling in Malaga, which she now proudly calls home.

Having lived in bustling cities like Barcelona and London, she gained a diverse cultural perspective that enriches her daily life. In her spare time, Nuria finds joy in indulging in her favourite pastimes: reading with a good cup of coffee, travelling, going to the movies, and of course, walking around the beautiful city of Malaga.

As an insurance advisor, she enjoys working closely with her dedicated team at NowCompare. When asked what she loves most about her role, she replied, “I thrive on the challenge of crafting personalised solutions for our clients, ensuring they have the coverage necessary for a smooth transition to Spain.

It's incredibly fulfilling to have a meaningful impact on people's lives through my expertise and dedication, providing them with peace of mind as they embark on new chapters in their lives.”

NowCompare.es invites expats in Spain to embark on a journey towards cost-effective and comprehensive health insurance. Seize the opportunity to save, compare, and secure the best health insurance before it's too late.

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Cash crop

SPAIN'S biggest supermarket chain, Mercadona, recorded a record net profit of just over €1 billion last year - up 40% on the 2022 total.

Sales grew by 15% to €35.5 billion, according to annual results presented by the company.

Mercadona makes record profits as market share rises

By Alex Trelinski

of investments made since 2016 to refurbish stores and logistics centres.

Mercadona increased its share of the market by 0.6% to 27.6% in Spain in 2023, well ahead of other supermarkets, with Lidl next at 6.4%.

Roig says they are reaping the rewards of €10 billion

Mercadona chairman and main shareholder, Juan Roig, said it had been the company's 'best year'. Results were driven by improved productivity; good tourist numbers; growth in Portugal; and more users of their online service.

Merger go-ahead

SPAIN'S government has approved a merger between telecom firms Orange and MasMovil following EU clearance last month.

Digital Transformation Minister Jose Luis Escriva said that plans for the new combined entity were 'truly ambitious' with big investments in fixed and mobile infrastructures. It would become Spain's biggest mobile operator serving over 30 million customers.

Orange's Spain division and MasMovil are currently the country's second and fourth largest telecoms providers.

The deal with a value of around €18.6 billion is expected to be formally completed by the end of April.

He stated that 1,364 of its shops have been renovated in recent years, and are twice as profitable as the old units.

"We have changed the location of 400 stores and closed 130," Roig said.

“Closing or relocating sites is one of the bravest and sometimes unpopular and annoying decisions I have had to make to increase efficiency,” he added.

Prices

Mercadona's record results come at a time where food price increases have been making the headlines.

Roig said the company, which raised prices by an average of 10% in 2022, made reductions in a thousand products between April 2023 and February 2024.

These price cuts have contributed, according Roig, to the retailer gaining a 0.6% market share rise last year.

FOOD, DRINK & TRAVEL

No cash

BUDGET airline Jet2.com has begun trialling cashfree flights.

Passengers onboard flights to and from Manchester will have to purchase food, drinks and other items using card and contactless payments only.

The low-cost airline has emailed customers who are part of the trial to inform them of the change.

A 2020 study found that over two-thirds of major airlines were now operating cash-free on board.

Jet2.com is the third largest airline in the UK, behind easyJet and British Airways.

The Leeds-based airline is also the largest tour operator in the UK, having overtaken TUI in 2023.

Over 15 million passengers flew on Jet2.com flights last year.

13 March 21stApril 3rd 2024

EAT UP!

Spain’s restaurants stay open too late claims Deputy Prime Minister

LATE night restaurant meals could soon be a thing of the past if Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz has her way.

“It is not reasonable for a country to have its restaurants open until 1am,” said Diaz, who is the leader of leftist alliance Sumar, which is the junior partner in the Socialist-led coalition government.

“We cannot try to keep extending timetables until who knows what time,” Diaz, who is also Spain’s

VEGGIE MOVE

By Simon Hunter

labour minister, added, arguing that working beyond 10pm can be a risk to mental health.

The minister described Spain’s famous late-night dining culture as being out of step with the rest of Europe.

But Madrid premier Isabel Diaz Ayuso, from the conservative Partido Popular, was quick to take to X to slam Diaz’s comments.

ANDALUCIA’S first ever ‘vegan butchers’ has opened in Malaga’s Huelin district. The Catalan business, el Vegans’, offers vegan versions of popular Spanish charcuterie. Its goal is to ‘help publicise the suffering of animals through food, which many people see as an insurmountable barrier’, and has now made its way down south. The ‘butchers’ offers 100% vegan milanesas, serranito sandwiches, seitan cannelloni, soja chunks, croquettes, battered ‘chicken’ breast, ‘fish fingers’, burgers, cheese, black pudding, fajitas, kebabs and sweet treats.

“We are different,” she wrote in a tweet.

“Spain has the best nightlife in the world, with the streets full of life and freedom. And that also brings jobs. They want us to be puritans, materialists, socialists, with no soul, no light, and no restaurants because they feel like it. Bored and at home.”

Frivolous

Diaz, in response, dismissed Ayuso’s comments as ‘frivolous’. She said that her party was ‘in favour of leisure time’, and that proof of this was that ‘we want to reduce the working day’.

Dear Jennifer:

TAKE CARE!

Make sure you have the right home cover to meet your needs

YOUR property is likely to be your most valuable asset, and needs the right protection.

I have regularly extolled the virtues of Liberty’s fully comprehensive house policy. When asking the right questions, you will discover that many house insurance policies are inadequate.

You do need to read the small print on your house policy, including checking that you have all the coverage you require. One of the very important issues when discussing house insurance is the amount of contents cover, always remembering that with Spanish Home insurance the kitchen is included in the contents, not the buildings.

Also there is a wonderful extra you can add to your policy and that is accidental damage, which is unique to Liberty Seguros and covers many breakages and claims within the home.

Therefore can I please ask you all to double check the coverage of your home policies, whether you are with Jennifer Cunningham Insurance and Liberty, or another company, to understand the cover you actually have. Finding out you have the incorrect and insufficient coverage when you want to make a claim is far too late.

My consultants are currently working on assessing the home policies, and if they feel you would benefit with increased, additional coverage, they will contact you at renewal. In the meantime, if you have any concerns or questions, please contact one of my offices and we will be able to give you the advice you require and answer any questions.

We also have optional guarantees available, which include dangerous dog liability, public liability for mobility vehicles, cover for electric vehicle chargers, and illegal occupation if the policy is for a second home and unpaid rent if you are a landlord renting your property.

If you have expensive garden furniture, we can increase the cover for these. We can also offer increased cover for valuable objects and jewellery in event of theft with violence. We can tailor your house policy to suit your own individual needs.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR A QUOTATION, PLEASE CALL ONE OF MY OFFICES, EMAIL INFO@ JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET OR VISIT THE WEBSITE WWW.JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET

BEING EQUAL

THE Spanish government has announced a string of new health equality measures. Women will now be able to choose where they access abortion healthcare.

The plans are part of a document which will be presented to regional health leaders at the Inter-regional Forum for National Healthcare next month. It will advise health professionals on how to ensure equal access to abortion rights across the country.

SPANISH researchers have come up with an innovative way of easing gout.

They’ve patented a treatment based on a molecule found in coffee and cocoa.

Dr. Antonia Costa and Dr. Felix Grases from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) have revealed the benefits of 7-methylxanthine. This increases the solubility of sodium urate and stops the formation of uric acid crystals, which cause pain and inflammation in the joints of affected people.

The breakthrough comes after a decade of research to find a solution to the condition that affects up to 5% of the world's population.

Uric-a moment

Researchers discover safer treatment for painful condition

By Alex Trelinski

The success of the two doctors has its origins in the discovery, in 2014, of theo-

STEP TO HEALTH

SCIENTISTS have revealed the optimum number of steps per day to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Research from the University of Sydney found that walking 9000-10,000 steps a day could reduce the risk of early death by 39% and the risk of car -

SPAIN has the second lowest fertility rate in Europe, with just 1.16 live births per woman in 2022, according to new figures by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency.

The country also has the second highest ‘mean age’ at childbirth, at nearly 31 years and seven months.

diovascular events by 21%.

Just 4,000-4,500 steps could be enough to give you half of these benefits.

Any step count higher than 2,200 a day was associated with lower mortality rates and cardiovascular events.

Baby gloom

The country with the lowest birthrate in Europe is Malta, with just 1.06 children per woman, while in Italy the average age at birth is 31 years and eight months.

bromine as a substance that inhibits the crystallisation of uric acid.

That research led them to study substances derived from theobromine - namely caffeine - to stop crystals forming in joints.

The UIB says that the pharmaceutical industry has already expressed major interest in their discovery.

It hopes that a licencing agreement will make the treatment widely available to gout sufferers as a safer and more effective option to combat this painful disease. People with gout have to follow a strict diet that helps prevent excessive uric acid production.

At the same time, there are various medicines based on anti-inflammatories to reduce pain, diuretics to increase urine excretion, and medications to reduce uric acid production.

All of these have notable side effects, including increased cardiovascular risk, which makes the UIB discovery even more appealing.

Paw patrol

AN autonomous robot police dog will soon be using artificial intelligence to patrol the streets of Malaga on its own, sniffing out crimes with a suite of stateof-the-art sensors.

Nun-fluence

SPAIN’S leading pollster, who was widely ridiculed after misjudging the recent Galician regional elections, has blamed conservative nuns for boosting the rightwing vote.

Crunch time

DORITOS Spain have dumped Spanish transgender influencer Samanatha Hudson, 24, after tweets emerged - from when she was 15 - detailing her ‘depraved’ desires towards under-age girls.

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Squawk-ter alert!

PARROT PATOIS

RESEARCHERS have found parakeets - a common sight in Spanish cities - have developed regional dialects.

A study compared the calls of monk parakeets in eight cities and four countries across Europe and found each had ‘different accents’. Published in Behavioral Ecology magazine, the re-

Researchers reveal escaped parakeets have developed regional dialects

By Yzabelle Bostyn

search was carried out by the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour and Evolutionary Anthropology.

Wheely bad move

AN e-scooter rider has been filmed carrying a door and huge slats of wood on the base of his two-wheeled vehicle in southern Spain.

The viral video is alleged to have been recorded in San Fernando, Cadiz.

The middle-aged rider can be seen travelling in between cars on his scooter while trying to balance the large number of items perched on the electric vehicle by his feet.

He is then seen taking on a roundabout, as travellers in the car behind him record a video on their mobile phones.

According to the study author, Stephen Tyndel: “Similar to humans, monk parakeets have developed unique ways of communicating according to where they live.”

The birds are the ‘ideal’ subject

to study the evolution of communication in a non-human species.

The birds originate in South America, but escaped pets have established colonies around Europe.

The researchers carried out their study in Spain, Belgium, Italy and Greece. Each city had a different dialect, with variances in the structure and frequency of each call.

Although difficult for humans to distinguish, it was discovered that the Brussels parakeets had the strongest dialect.

The results surprised researchers, says Tyndel: “This suggests the dialects came out passively, as birds copy each other, they make mistakes and over time these become a new dialect.”

The team believes accents could develop actively as a form of social communication to help birds recognise their friends in big groups.

City parakeets live in very crowded nests, leading researchers to think ‘slang’ could have developed.

A VULTURE has won a legion of fans online after being pictured ‘taking over’ an apartment balcony on the Costa del Sol.

Pictures shared on Instagram show the bird of prey seemingly posing for pics as its claws clutch onto the railing of the terrace in Fuengirola.

The snaps were taken from an apartment in the Stella Maris building next to the Paseo Maritimo on Sunday.

Commentators joked that the vulture was ‘a new type of squatter’.

MOO-VING ON UP

TWO men doing Spain’s famous Camino de Santiago pilgrims walk had to take refuge up an oak tree after being charged by several cows.

The hikers, aged 28 and 64, were in the Caceres area when they were surprised by the animals.

One of the cows was with her calf and took an instant dislike to the men and charged them. They climbed to the top of an oak tree and stayed there for 20 minutes until the Guardia Civil arrived to help them.