Olive Press Costa Blanca South and Murcia - Issue 52

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The princess, the villa and the tea cups... See page 3

Mijas Costa SAN JAVIER

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Welcome to the Tropics THE Costa Blanca is now suffering a ‘tropical climate’ which is increasing the frequency of giant storms along the coast, according to scientists at Alicante university.

Shocking increases in air and sea temperatures over the last 40 years are causing maritime storms roughly every two years.

Some 85 nights this year have stayed at over 22°C with the sea even staying at 24°C in November.

This is in contrast to around 30 similar nights just 40 years ago in 1980.

As the critical COP 26 conference got underway in Glasgow, Jorge Olcina, director at Alicante University, insisted the tropical nights are clear evidence of climate change.

“The temperature of the sea at 23/24 degrees in November should really worry us,” he said.

Storms

“Climate change is going to cause great maritime storms every two or two-and-a-half years, when 20 years ago they were much less frequent,” added Olcina.

“They will also be more intense, and not only with torrential rains, but also in the greater virulence of the sea beating against the coast,” he claimed.

Figures from the university’s Climatology Lab show that tropical temperatures (categorised at 22°C or more) continued on 71 nights between June 1 and August 18, with five classed as equatorial (25°C or more).

Anyone that had trouble sleeping this summer, will remember the linked high levels of humidity.

The lab study also revealed that the temperature rises are occurring faster on the Costa Blanca than in inland regions such as the Guadalquivir valley, in Andalucia, considered the most parched area in Spain.

Since 1980, average sea water temperature has increased by 1.3 degrees, which, Olcina says, ‘requires taking difficult but necessary measures’.

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Vol. 2 Issue 52 www.theolivepress.es November 4th - November 17th 2021

THE harsh 90-day rule for British visitors should be eased, insists a leading Spanish politician.

Valencian president Ximo Puig has called on the Spanish government to relax length-of-stay rules introduced since Brexit.

Speaking in London, he called on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to ‘correct the restrictions’ and to relax the rules that mean that even British homeowners in Spain must depart after three months.

His calls were echoed by Spain’s ambassador to the UK, Jose Pascual Marco and Alicante tourist boss Carlos Mazon.

“British visitors are fundamental to us and we are working on trying to get a reciprocal deal so that they can spend six uninterrupted months with us,” insisted Mazon at a joint meeting at the World Travel Market.

The trio slammed the current 90-day rule, which can only be extended by visitors or tour-

Scrap the rule ists by applying for a visa to stay longer.

They pleaded with central government to help ‘facilitate the visa situation’ and to ‘correct the restrictions’ caused by Brexit.

Puig added that at least 100,000 British, who are either future home buyers or have relatives living in the Valencian Community, are affected.

The calls came as regional bosses announced a €1.5 million plan to attract more UK tourists to the Valencian region.

The money will be mainly spent on advertising to restore previously high British visitor numbers.

Puig described it as ‘a priority’ with three million British tourists accounting for 30% of all the visitors to Valencia in 2019.

Last year, pandemic and Brexit restrictions meant that under 600,000 UK tourists visited.

CALL: Ximo Puig in London

Harsh lesson Teacher fury after being forced to sleep outside airport in the ‘wet and cold’ EXCLUSIVE by Kirsty McKenzie & Elena Goçmen Rueda A FURIOUS granny has slammed a Spanish airport after being forced to sleep outside in ‘freezing and rainy’ conditions.

Mary McIntaggart was forced to spend the night in a bus shelter outside Almeria airport during a thunderstorm last week.

The Irish teacher was left stunned after being refused access to the terminal overnight as she waited for an early-morning trip to the UK. The 58-year-old had been forced to get there the night before in order to take her flight to Manchester to see her

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STUPID: Acres of space but nowhere for Mary (pictured with grandson Theo) to shelter grandson.

But McIntaggart, a teacher living in Aguilas, was told she could not stay in the lounge to wait for the 10am flight as the airport shut at 11pm.

McIntaggart, who is a resident in Spain, was ordered out by airport staff and forced to stand ‘freezing and distraught’ beside a bus stop.

“There were no buses and no taxis so there was no way I could get to a hotel,” she told the Olive Press.

“I ended up having to spend the large cardboard box to keep her off the ground and dry.

She said: “I was worried about getting sick before the flight. It was a very tortuous night and I became very upset.”

She had arrived at the airport via a car sharing service BlaBlaCar and without the app she would have really struggled to arrive at all, she Calle Los Arcos 7, Ciudad Quesada, 03170 claims.

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Find us on Facebook www.cyclogicalcostablanca.com “Worst, I am really up-

set that the authorities there think it is OK to put someone out in that weather to sit outside. I am still very shocked that it happened.” A spokesman at Almeria airport told the Olive Press: "We are deeply sorry for the extreme situation that Mrs McIntaggart suffered.”

She added that only six Aena airports are open 24 hours a day Alicante-Elche is one of them.

“Almeria airport is open from 6am to 11pm. Providing a waiting area after that would mean keeping the airport fully open, and due to the expense and taking into account the number of flights it is not an expense we can afford,” she added.

Opinion Page 6

2

CRIME

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NEWS IN BRIEF Little gratitude AN Alicante man, 28, stole €38,000 from his foster parents by using their bank card 645 times. The couple, aged in their 80s, looked after him since he was five, but he left home 11 months ago after a row.

Fatal smash A German man, 66, died when his car crashed into a wall underneath the Alpuente bridge on the N-332 in Pilar de la Horadada.

Hash pack A large package containing over 40 kilos of hashish washed ashore on Torrevieja’s La Mata beach. A French tourist spotted the bulky parcel and called the police.

Big fib AN Elche man exposed himself to a woman in a park and then went to the police to complain about the victim’s female friend attacking him. Officers uncovered his lie and charged him with sexual assault.

November 4th - November 17th 2021

Caught on camera

No spider sense

POLICE witnessed a thief doing a good Spiderman impression as he tried to escape down the wall of an Alicante apartment block.

A patrol was dispatched to the building after a security alarm was triggered.

Officers arrived at the scene a few minutes later to be greeted by the sight of the burglar non-

chalantly climbing down the front of the building.

The 26-year-old was welcomed by the officers when he reached the ground and tried to resist arrest.

He had a selection of tools on him used in the apartment break-in with the residents not at home at the time of his illegal access.

A Policia Nacional officer is being investigated for hitting a homeless man in an Alicante street.

An internal probe was launched after a video emerged of two officers confronting the man in the Altozano area of the city.

The footage was recorded by a local resident , with one of the officers heard to shout ‘record what you want’.

Police had been called after getting a complaint that a man was defecating in the doorway of a building. One of the officers hit the man hard, threw his belongings to the ground and insulted the 20-year-old, calling him an imbecile.

STICKY END

A SCOT who went on the run after being accused of murdering his own mother 19 years ago has been found dead in Spain.

Sean Flynn, aged 37, had failed to appear at the start of his trial at Livingston’s High Court in Scotland.

He was accused of murdering his mother Louise Tiff-

A four-year probe into a €45 million money laundering scam has seen five members of a Valencia family gang arrested.

No further details about the detained group were released or where they were apprehended in Valencia Province. Some 16 properties were seized and 35 bank accounts blocked by authorities along with the seizure of

Fugitive Brit accused of murdering his own mother found dead ney, 43, who disappeared without trace in May 2002.

He had been tried and cleared of her murder by jury in 2005 but was due to stand trial again after new evidence was found in the

case.

In April 2017, her remains were finally discovered hidden in woodland and police relaunched their investigation.

Prosecutors applied for per-

The big con

vices and lacked any kind of infrastructure or staffing for it to be a going concern. Large transfers were made to foreign bank accounts with ‘commission’ payments paid to third parties who helped the scammers. Vast sums of money were also used in the purchase of what authorities described as ‘numerous properties in Valencia City.

two luxury cars and €21,000 in cash, The family-led scam involved a shell company specialising in interior building design and decoration that ploughed over €45 million into the Spanish financial sector. The business charged high fees for its alleged ser-

mission for a retrial under double jeopardy legislation, which came into force in 2011 and allows a person to be retried for a crime for which they were previously acquitted.

Judges had quashed the previous verdict and authorised a fresh prosecution.

Flynn (above) is believed to have fled to Germany before flying to Spain where he took his own life.

He had been staying in a sixth floor Airbnb flat in Peniscola near Valencia when his body was found. It was originally though he had fallen from the balcony.

Lethal parcel POLICE intercepted a shipment of potentially lethal black cocaine at Alicante-Elche airport.

A parcel containing five kilos of the dangerous narcotic was hidden among packs of coffee despatched from Colombia.

The package was addressed to a Colombian man, 37, living in Elche. He and his wife were arrested, and he was jailed after a court appearance.

Black cocaine is a cocaine paste mixed with pigments to disguise its appearance.

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NEWS

www.theolivepress.es FRENCH footballer Lucas Hernandez has escaped a jail sentence after he broke a restraining order to marry his girlfriend.

The case dates back to February 2017 when he and his girlfriend Amelia Lorente, were both convicted of domestic violence after fighting each other in Madrid.

Neither made a complaint, but the public prosecutor brought a case against them both.

A restraining order was placed on each, banning them from seeing each other for six months.

November 4th - November 17th 2021

What a result!

But just four months later Hernandez was arrested at Madrid airport when he and Lorente arrived back from their US honeymoon after getting married.

The Bayern Munich defender – who became the Bundesliga’s most expensive player when he was sold by Atletico Madrid for €80 million in 2019 – was jailed for six months.

On appeal, the sentence has been suspended for four years and a fine of €96,000 imposed.

Storm over teacup EXCLUSIVE: Helicopter sent off to locate the right porcelain set for Lady Diana’s Spanish tea time in The Crown THEY might have had the perfect hillside mansion to portray the legendary secret escapes of Lady Di to the Costa del Sol in the 1990s.

But producers of the hit drama The Crown were left choking on their Darjeeling when they spotted the wrong set of porcelain during filming of the fifth

PLUSH: Interior for tea

series.

So lousy were the tea cups a helicopter had to be dispatched to pick up a new set in Cordoba some 200kms away, the Olive Press can reveal.

“It was deemed the quickest way to get the filming back on schedule,” revealed a source from the production, which has been shooting in Spain.

The scene involved Diana taking tea with a close friend at the villa, which was rented in La Zagaleta, near Marbella, and based on the actual estate of Torre de Tramores, in nearby Benahavis.

While the actors, in-

Clocking in!

BRITISH actor Malcolm McDowell, who famously played Alex in the controversial ultra-violent film A Clockwork Orange, was the star attraction at the premiere of a new documentary in Spain.

Director Pedro Gonzalez decided to mark the 50th anniversary of the infamous Kubrick film from an unusual angle - the events around its first screening in Spain.

In something of a coup he managed to persuade McDowell to narrate the documentary.

The film was banned under the Franco regime, but just seven days after the dictator’s death it got its first airing at the Valladolid International Film Week.

In La Naranja Prohibida (The Forbidden Orange) Gonzalez has tracked down many peo-

3

STUNNING: The Zagaleta villa featured cluding Elizabeth Debicki, 31, tea set. who has replaced Emma Corrin “Amazingly this as Diana in the fifth series, were meant going somedressed perfectly, the tea set where in Cordoba and was out of place. only took an hour or so.

“The director shouted cut as ap- “He turned up with two parently there was no way that light blue cups with matching such an esteemed estate would saucers. Job done, filming rebe serving tea out of such low sumed, having lost less than rent porcelain,” continued the two hours.” source.

Despite spending thousands A high-level meeting was con- changing the furniture of the vened and a flunkey was duly rented villa - and bringing in rushed off to take the produc- vintage cars such as a Rolls tion helicopter to get the right Royce Corniche cabriolet there were other things out of place.

In another scene filming had to be stopped because a mirror Diana was making up in had a black frame.

Gold

EVIL: McDowell as Alex ple who were involved in the screening.

Presenting the documentary at this year’s 66th International Film Week in Valladolid, McDowell recounted anecdotes from the making of the movie and his unforgettable experience working with the late director Stanley Kubrick.

“The director was insistent it had to be gold and cut the scene sending it off for some gold paint,” continued the source.

“It was nearly an hour wait while it had to be carefully painted with some gold lame.”

Debicki has been joined by Dominic West playing Prince Charles in the new series, which airs next year, while the Queen is being played by Imelda Staunton and Prince Philip by Jonathan Pryce.

QUEENS OF BLING WHEN it comes to bling, rapper Kanye West might feel a bit deflated when he realises that European royalty put him in the shade.

While famous for his purchases of expensive jewellery he simply can’t compete with ‘old money’.

A report has revealed that three pieces of Spain’s royal collection are among the most valuable jewellery in the world.

The Marichalar Meander Tiara, recently worn by princess Elena, is valued at a cool €3.5m, with the Fleur de Lys Tiara of Queen Letizia (above) coming in at €2.9m and The Prussian Diamond Tiara of Queen Sofia worth €2.3m.

Now, West is a wealthy man and could conceivably afford similar items, but one royal collection blows him out of the water.

It emerges that the world’s four most expensive pieces of royal jewellery, worth a combined €179.3m, are all owned by the British royal family.

Top of the list is the Nizam of Hyderabad Necklace, last worn by the Duchess of Cambridge (left) and worth a staggering €78.6m, reported website jewellerybox.

Precious Stone SHARON Stone brought some Hollywood glamour to Sevilla at the Elle Awards.

The 63-year-old actor famous for roles that include Basic Instinct and Casino has taken her social media followers on a tour of the Andalucian capital.

“Look how gorgeous this is,” she said in a Twitter video filmed in Plaza Espana, which has clocked up more than 270,000 views.

“I’m at the Elle Awards but with COVID I don’t like to go to after parties where people can get in my face so I like to walk around and see where we are,” she continued. “Isn’t it gorgeous?”

She ends her dispatch with: “Sharon Stone, reporting from Seville. Good Night.”

She also posted a video of the Giralda Tower at sunset, its bells ringing out across the city.

NEWS

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Smooth move OVER €8 million will be spent to resurface the AP-7 between Crevillente and Elche. The three-lane section of the motorway is a regular blackspot for accidents with criticism over its surface condition.

Big blaze A Calpe couple in their 60s were taken to hospital with smoke poisoning after a Monday morning blaze burned down their Maryvilla urbanisation home.

Lights out LA Marjal park at Alicante’s Playa de San Juan has been left in the dark for evening walkers after thieves stole nearly all of the copper cable from a power substation. Replacement work will cost around €30,000.

Shock death A Sagunt man, 42, died when a chainsaw slashed his neck during maintenance work in the Mongo de Denia natural park. It’s unknown what prompted the tragic accident.

ORIHUELA council says it has had no reply over an offer of land that could site a second health centre on the costa.

Mayor Emilio Bascuñana said he's heard nothing from the Valencian authorities about his proposal made in August 2020.

Plans were unveiled last year for a second facility on the northern end of the Orihuela Costa by the private managers THE UK authorities have warned expats about submitting fraudulent residency applications in Spain - directly or indirectly.

It comes after the Olive Press revealed how a number of gestors had been caught submitting bogus paperwork to get people officially registered in the country.

Embassy officials say the Spanish are now ‘on alert’ for forged healthcare insurance certificates, padron certificates, as well as rental contracts.

They are also looking out for

Sound of silence of Torrevieja's health department, Ribera Salud.

The contractor ring-fenced €6 million for the project in its 2021 to 2025 budget and was happy to accept the council land offer.

But Ribera was stripped of its operat-

Ride needed

ing franchise when the department returned to Valencian public management in mid-October, with uncertainty over future plans for the area..

PP-run Orihuela council has now reminded the left-wing coalition running the Valencian region about its land offer.

There is little love between the two authorities who’ve had many disagreements over the last six years.

ON ALERT

Embassy warns expats against fraudulent residency applications particularly through third parties

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Expats must for two yearsstay in Spain in limbo scam is probe while alleged residency d by police EXCLUSIVE

By Simon Wade

How one organised community of expats is putting El on the mapRaso

EXPATS caught OLIVE ulent residency up in a fraudscam run by PRESS gestor on the a been told by Costa Blanca have can’t leave the police that they country while case is investigat the Dozens of peopleed. are facing a life in legal years while limbo for up to two police investigat the alleged fraud before it is de-e cided if they face deportatio can legally stay. n or It comes after the Olive reported on Press who had beena group of expats 952 147 detained Tel: 952 147 834 lice over padron by834 pocertificates SCOOP: that appear tored by oneto have been doc- broke theHow the Olive Press story last edition they hired to particular gestor applications. process their TIE One Way Services, a doctored certificateabout why had been submitted on Grilled “Smith said their behalf. he was only They included to trying ow Lily Higgins71-year-old wid- ivehelp people,” she told the Press.

Oland friend Jay Elliott, who “He STUCK: Jane were said he’d grilled over their town his guilt to already admitted Elliott were Long (above) has been the police, ‘treated like forms, which hall registration shredding told by police before Williams, criminals’ after were handled that my fake padron One Way Services. using One Wayshe can’t travel while by front of 63, told us in to give my eyes” she Lily Higgins Services Several more a statement he also had added. and Jay have since come He added that she at Alicante police station forward to complain should about the pect a phone call from the ‘ex- It involved thelast week.

British gestor, merely to answer police property in Ciudad da, which is Quesa- tions’. a few ques- who has lived in Spain owner, for seven years, having investigation.at the centre of the However, taken, as well his fingerprints after These include away in a police being taken graphed. as getting photoJane Long revieja who was of Tor- two car, held for hours, fingerprin “It was astonishin te Police Station taken to Alican- photograp ted over her part and questioned detectives hed, she was toldand Olive Press. “I’m g,” he told the by now in ‘an told at court the Policia Naciofraud’. alleged nal the case could take that she 18 months to The 53-year-o ‘guilty, until will be considered Hetwo years, possibly more.” proven her husband ld said she and Mrs continued: “I started all this Long despaired innocent’. on fronted Matt Nigel had con- I couldn’t Septembe : “I was told Smith, owner even travel back apparent as r 1, but it became of UK because time went on to the was I’m a criminal!” there something “I feel this can amiss.

T h e found go two ways: I'm guilty and deported K e n t ter w o m a n ed possibly two years I'm or afgrantrevealed “I residencia. put all my faith that the Services into One Way and have been p o l i c e down, so let a very stressful had in- me time for and countless f o r m e d added. others,” he working alongside the Guardia ents Civil to now her, ‘aninvestigate all that they would idencia applicatio o t h e r resns in Alicante criminally responsib not be held made in 2021.

40-plus Cleared le.

“So it is totally The lawyer p e o p l e When the clear now that later confirmed the criminal investigat 35 years experien will also Matt Smith Olive Press called to the Olive Press ion is befor an explanatio ce • Interior and that Smith ing focused only against be ar- he refused to answer n had made a exterior ent my Best quality products questions. lice clearing statement to po- startso for sure the fiscal will clirested.’

“Speak to my his clients not criminal actions lawyer,” he used F e l l o w before hanging Special effects, said knowledge of the alleged of any his clients against stencilling & feature sadly affected,” “My client B r i t , National Police up. explained [tofraud. said. he confirmed to walls etc Fully legal/registered B r i a n Olive Press the If it emerges the police] that none of that detectives • Full the had clients that any other liability insuranc produced are One Way clients the applicatio of e themselves [but] All works guarante were ns tained only paid over the matter,to be deed the lawclient to apply my yer said: “Mr Smith Contact Michael for will proceed immediately the TIE on for a FREE quote to behalf,” David their of police or/and clarify in front michaelwillis5@sky .com jarro Mayor Gui- these clients have the court that from no See page 23 relation all ABC solicitors with any criminal at activity.” the Olive Presstold in Have response to you been affected? questions. written Please contact us on newsdesk@theolivepr He sought to ess.es sure One Wayreaso r n e w clic u s See page

12

make sure they are as reputable as possible,” notes the warning.

Since the UK left the EU due to Brexit there has been a number of instances of gestores submitting false residency claims on behalf of recommends UK Nationals. its online database of The Olive Press revealed952 147using 834 in June (see right) how registered gestores. one British-run gestor on It also stressed that if expats the Costa Blanca had been are submitting applications caught putting dozens of themselves, it is important expats' paperwork through to provide as much documentation as possible to illegally.

We revealed how many of avoid being turned down. them were now living in le- The most important factor gal limbo and facing stiff proving they moved to Spain fines while police investi- before January 1 this year. gated the alleged fraud by Organisations that form part One Way Services, in Ciudad of the UK Nationals Support Fund can provide free, conQuesada.

To remedy this, the embassy fidential support.

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Tragic mystery

The Olive Press helps TV investigation into the death Maxwell of Kirsty

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Girl power

The female who took warriors army - andon Drake’s won!

I BEG YOU PADRON R See page 6

By Simon Wade

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‘Hellish and as British humiliating’ expats arrested over ‘fraudulent’ applications residency

A GROUP have been of British expats HUMILIATED: after their detained by police Lily Jay were padron certificates EXCLUSIVE proving they questionedand

By Simon even deportation. lived in appear to Wade “I’ve never have been Spain derly tored. expats described been in doc- situation before trouble At least as ‘humiliating’ the treated but here I am, being eight people ‘hellish’, after like been grilled they were and inal,” said a common crimover the have for questioning hall registration held miliating.” Higgins. “It’s town under caution. huwere all handledforms, which They added They told gestor company by the same that the gestor is they werethe Olive Press how same on the Costa Blanca. being investigated for changing te police carted to AlicanNational the date station and least about falsifying the OlivePolice confirmed to grilled cants. 22 more British on at applisubmitted documents tives are Press that detecwith their Another working card applications. the Guardia couple, who alongside TIE not Civil to now to be asked “We vestigate in- for were wrongly ive Press named, told the Olcations inall residencia appliarrested submitting questionedhow they had been Alicante even though fake padrons, 2021. made in when they to collect we put rect ones went that his is in with ourthe cor- “We were their TIE cards. work for residencia,” only gestoranything but the paper- read taken business our rights into a room, Elliott, 66, Fraud said Jay dragged to be and explain why into the It comes who has of Orihuela Costa, tion investigaour 2021 told to had been fraud’ was after ‘widespread over five lived in Spain padron “Nobody doctored for 2020 to show a in over 22 allegedly detected She and years. date that is a has been arrested, All those - it was hell.” fact,” he to become Britons attempting gins, 71, her friend Lily Higadding: “Other insisted, One Way detained had used This week resident here. peaceful had planned for gestors are also being Services, a number a based retirement brought in of el- sun but are of an ongoing in the revieja,in Quesada, a gestor as part near Torthe threat now living with investigation to into TIE applications.” of a court plications process their apA police spokesman case or padron.

- including the Olive Press: told the Owner Matt “All residencia Smith insisted Continues

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21/6/19 13:30

youngsters falsely claiming student status.

“If you are using a gestor

Vulture in circles

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A POLICE officer has rescued a disorientated vulture walking around Benidorm.

It came after Local Police received numerous calls with the officer finally bravely capturing it on Avenida Callosa d’en Sarria.

The giant bird, which had a wingspan of nearly three metres, was taken to Alicante’s Santa Fe wildlife sanctuary.

Vultures are scavengers who normally feed on the carcasses of dead animals and live for up to 30 years.

They breed in mountain crags and live in forest areas, but they often travel far for food..

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HORSES, donkeys and many other animals are at risk if the Easy Horse Care Rescue Centre in Rojales can’t replace it’s ageing transport.

The charity’s hardy 25-year-old Nissan has done an incredible 350,000 kilometres (218,750 miles) by bosses Rod and Sue Weeding, who run the sanctuary.

The Terrano 2 also suffers from flickering lights, sticking windows and starting problems.

Struggle

“In fact all the electrical system is falling apart and it regularly has to stay immobilised for days at the garage,” said Rod this week.

The 72-year-old continued: “It is a constant struggle to keep it working properly, looking for replacement pieces in scrapyards as they don’t manufacture these parts due to it being such an old vehicle.”

Now the couple have issued a plea to anyone that can help with contributions towards a new four-wheel drive vehicle.

Get in touch at 652 021 980 or via rescue@ easyhorsecare.net

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Viewers transfixed by docu-drama on the costa slaying of a Dutch girl by a British criminal with links to Spain’s most famous lesbian IT was a murder case that transfixed Spain, and the UK, for decades.

The alleged slaying of a teenager by her mother’s lesbian lover followed by the arrest - and later conviction - of a British expat, who moved to Spain having changed his name by deed poll.

It is little wonder the country became gripped with every twist and turn of the Rocio Wanninkhof saga.

Now the case has been studied under a microscope in a sixpart documentary that has had unprecedented access to many of the key characters.

The HBO drama, Dolores, The truth about the Wanninkhof case, attempts to reconstruct the case using archive footage.

It also includes exclusive access to the first suspect Dolores Vazquez, who now lives in the UK, as well as the mother of Rocio, based on the Costa del Sol. Rocio, who was half Dutch and half Spanish, was brutally murdered just metres from her home in Mijas in 1999.

HEMORRHOIDS, RECTAL FISSURES

By Elena Goçmen Rueda

Her body had turned up a month later in Marbella, burnt and apparently sexually assaulted.

Billed as being one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Spanish history, the series studies the involvement of Vazquez, who grew up in the UK, but moved to Spain to work in the tourist industry.

It also looks in detail into the lifestyle of Rocio and her mother - who still believes Vazquez is guilty - as well as the emergence of her convicted killer, Tony King, who became known as ‘The Costa Killer’.

The story stunned the British media, particularly after it emerged he had changed his name from Tony Bromwich, who was better known as the ‘Holloway Strangler’ back home.

Until he was arrested over the death of a second teenager, Sonia Carabantes, in 2003,

BEFORE

AFTER

TRIO: Rocio, Tony King and (top) Dolores Vazquez Vazquez had served 17 months jail for the murder of Rocio.

“I owe my life to Sonia”, she claims in the documentary, because without her subsequent death, she would have ended up serving her 15-year sentence.

The film directed by Tania Ballo has put the murder case back on the table, sharing Vazquez's story and painting her as the ‘third victim’.

There are still many answered questions, in particular, the belief of the jury in the King trial that he was ‘not acting alone’.

Your 1st consultation is FREE! No Obligation Call us on 629 62 62 25 or email us at info@imadspain.es For more information – www.imadspain.es We have clinics in Madrid, Alicante, Murcia, Valencia Av. Maisonnave, 36, 03003 Alicante

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www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain

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

OPINION POOR CONNECTIONS THE shocking story of an expat grandmother being forced to spend a night outside in the rain highlights the sometimes deplorable infrastructure found outside of Spain’s main transport hubs.

The airports of Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante are always bustling and are well served by flag carriers and budget airlines alike. In Madrid, as befits a modern capital, there’s a choice of a fast and frequent dedicated bus service direct from the door to the city centre for those that don’t want to catch the metro or train.

But the same cannot be said of Spain’s smaller airports, as one Olive Press reader found out to her peril.

She thought she was making well laid plans by arranging to arrive at the airport late at night before an early morning flight from Almeria.

In fact she wasn’t aware that unlike most airports where travellers are often found stretched out on a bench or snoozing in a departure lounge, or drinking coffee in an all night cafe, Almeria airport won’t allow passengers to stay in the terminal overnight.

Given the fact that Almeria airport is a gateway to a region that is hugely popular with visitors and expats from across northern Europe, it’s astonishing just how bad the services are there.

No airport hotel within walking distance, no rail connection and few buses from there to resort towns along that stretch of coast and with no late flights due in, not a taxi to be seen.

The bad luck in Mary McIntaggart’s story was that her unfortunate sojourn coincided with a stormy night – an unusual occurrence in a zone that boasts more than 330 sunny days a year.

NEWS FEATURE

Adventures in

A

S an admin-phobe, my main beef with Brexit was the paperwork that would ensue; I had an inkling it would be a ball-

buster.

For three years at least, I prayed the whole nightmare would go away. The referendum vote would be overturned or Brexit would exist in name only.

When I finally pulled my head out of

A bid for Spanish nationality leads to a Kafkaesque scenario involving inaccessible authorities and missing documents, writes Heather Galloway

the sand, it was to confront the worst deal short of no deal.

I changed my UK driving license and Spanish residence permit relatively

HARD WORK: Janie leaves the register office empty handed and with her mum, heather

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

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

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Simon Wade simon@theolivepress.es

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painlessly towards the end of 2020 in the thick of COVID. Then came the hardest nut to crack: acquiring Spanish nationality for my oldest daughter, Janie, to allow her access to an EU university outside of Spain on manageable fees.

Though born and brought up in Madrid, Janie is a UK citizen and was awarded a student loan for a threeyear ballet course in London. Unfortunately, injuries to her feet and a dislocated knee prevent her pursuing a career in dance, but she is not entitled to a further loan in the UK. We hold our breath and take the plunge. Spanish nationality has to be obtained. How hard can it be? Having triumphed with the other paperwork, I am tentatively optimistic.

But that is only because I have yet to become acquainted with the disaster that is the Ministry of Justice.

I hand the necessary documents over to my nearest civil registry which happens to be the local town hall. Time is of the essence but

Purr...pers please Here’s what you need to know about Spain’s plan to introduce ID for pets

T

HE government has unveiled plans for a national ID scheme for domestic animals as part of a far-reaching animal welfare reform bill.

The new legislation will act as a sort of bill of rights for animals giving them an elevated status of a ‘sentient being’ above that of a possession, which is the current legal status. a pet passport.

The Olive Press understands that the new ID system will allow for a record to be kept of any mistreatment suffered by the animal and to make it easier to locate the owner in cases of abandonment.

It may also include a photo of the animal in the same way that Spain’s National Identity Card has for humans.

As well as stricter punishments for those guilty of animal abuse there are tougher guidelines on the care of domestic pets, from how many you can keep to how long they can be left alone.

Part of the legislation currently being reviewed, is the need for animals to have a unique ID to be included on a national database that will make it easier to register and identify the animal’s owner.

According to Ione Belarra, the Minister of Social Rights, the identification of domestic animals will serve ‘to guarantee that we are on the right path and have a model where no ani-

mal is left helpless in Spain’.

The pet ID will work in conjunction with a microchip that is already compulsory for owners of dogs and cats and will include essential information such as breed, date of birth and details of owner.

But it is, as yet, unclear how the new ID document will differ from the health certificate booklet already issued by vets to responsible owners in Spain.

This already shows the microchip number plus vaccination records of the animal.

For those who take their pets across borders with the EU, it can already be issued in the form of The draft bill is set to be discussed by the cabinet this month before being presented for parliamentary debate.

www.theolivepress.es

November 4th - November 17th 2021

7

Hunter of Monsters

O NOT ALL MISERY: Heather and Janie fret over the laptop but still have time to enjoy Spain

the first appointment is November 11, 2020. I say I am worried that Janie’s UK passport will be close to its expiry date by then, but am told it will be no problem as long as it is valid when submitted.

I go home with the receipt and the sense of a job well done.

The months pass and no word. In May, 2021, I decide to investigate online and am asked for a number I don’t have. An R number. I scour the receipt then I phone the Ministry of Justice. Finally I get through to a woman whose customer service skills were acquired in the Franco era.

“You can’t know the status of your application without the R number,” she barks.

I say I don’t have one.

“Well, I can’t do anything without it.”

I go back to the receipt and search again to no avail. I call the ministry again.

“How do I get the R number?” I ask the woman on the other end of the line when I finally get through.

To my surprise, she reels it off. Aha, I say, feeling as though I have been thrown a bone.

I enter the R number online and Janie’s file comes up. Missing a paper, it says, with no further clues.

I get back on the phone and provide the R number and Janie’s details to the gentleman on the other end.

“You’re missing a paper,” he tells me.

“I know. Which one?”

“I can’t say.”

“Why not?”

“Look Mrs, it says a paper is missing. That’s all.”

“So, how do I find out?”

“Listen! Listen to me! You have to go to your daughter’s citizen’s file.”

I call off. My head is about to explode. Vital weeks are passing. Every phone call is a morning’s work.

We go through the laborious process of getting Janie a Clave Pin and finally get into her citizen’s file.

The missing paper is the passport, but it is now too late to submit it as we have missed the three-month window.

This, it

says, will result in the application being annulled.

Okay, I think.

Calm down. Never mind. We will start afresh. I get the papers together again and hand them over to the local registry with copies of a passport with 10 years on it.

I get my receipt and go home.

In September, almost a year after the first application, I phone the Ministry to get the R number for the ber I can ring?” new application. A woman answers. “No,” says the woman, categorically She says no application for 2021 has not. Nor can the woman be expected been registered but the first applica- to get in touch with the Department tion is still active and missing a paper. of Nationality, which is buried some“But it said that application would where in the same building. be annulled if I didn’t provide “Doesn’t the department have a the missing paper in time, which phone?” Janie cries.

I didn’t,” I say through gritted teeth.

“Write them a letter,” she says.

“If you don’t annul the first appli- She gives Janie two sheets of paper cation,” she shoots back, “both so she can make two handwritten applications will be annulled.” copies, as though the photocopier or “How do I do that?” scanner were too futuristic to be at “Write a letter.” home in this environment.

“To who?”

Fighting an urge to sob, “The Department of writes two identical The world is no Janie Nationality.” letters, hands over one I write a letter. Dear longer anyone’s and leaves.

Madam/ Sir. To whom it A month later, no news. oyster, except Janie’s future is uncermay concern. And send it by registered post. I for the likes of tain. The adventure has might as well have writbeen so ludicrous as to Boris Johnson verge on exhilarating. We ten to Santa Claus.

A few weeks pass. hate the Ministry of JusJanie’s citizen’s file tice but most of all we is now empty. There is no word of a hate Brexit for forcing us to deal with missing paper anymore. it. We hear that Brexit might also be No word of anything. But responsible for the empty shelves in the ministry still says the UK, for the lack of lorry drivers she’s missing a paper. I and queues at petrol pumps. To cap decide to send a copy it all, there is a suggestion from Brexit of her passport on the mastermind Dominic Cummings that off chance, linked to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson nevthe ghost application. er entirely grasped the implications Now the submission of the withdrawal agreement that he of the passport reg- hammered out. isters in the citizen’s I think of my daughter, who at 21, canfile but the applica- not now study or work in another EU tion continues to country aside from Spain. I think of say it is missing a all the youngsters Janie’s age whose paper. horizons have shrunk. It strikes me My daughter goes that the pro-Brexit contingent were down in person to perhaps too arrogant to consider plead and beg for an- that by restricting the movement of swers. people coming into the UK they were “What do you ex- also curbing their children and grandpect me to do?” children’s opportunities. The world is the woman dead- no longer anyone’s oyster except, of pans from the other course, for the likes of Boris Johnson side of the desk.

– ‘the trolley’ as Cummings calls him, Janie doesn’t know. who has pockets deep enough to side“Isn’t there a num- step all the red tape.

LIVE Press editor Jon Clarke has had dozens of exclusive stories and investigations published in the international press over the last few decades.

Now he is making headlines himself.

In a terrific accolade, Spain’s national newspaper ABC has run a three-page profile on him following the publication of his book My Search for Madeleine.

Dubbing him Un Cazador de Monstruos, or A Hunter of Monsters, it charts his dogged reporting on the missing Madeleine McCann case - and its current prime suspect Christian Brueckner over the last 14 years.

But, as ABC points out, this is not the only high profile criminal case that he has reported on – and gone into far deeper than most.

His first big hits in Spain came during the 2003 investigation of the so-called Costa Killer over the murder of teenagers Rocio Wanninkhof and Sonia Carabantes.

He wrote a book on the case, securing the only exclusive interviews with the wife and mother of British killer Tony King, also known as the Holloway Strangler.

He had earlier probed and exposed Prince Andrew’s controversial links to global paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in a string of exclusives for the Mail on Sunday.

And most recently he revealed how another arguable monster Boris Johnson was having a holiday here. And the list of exclusives goes on.

It is no wonder the Olive Press has maintained its standards and remains the best English language newspaper and website in Spain While some media groups are headed by number crunchers and sales people whose eye is only on the bottom line, the Olive Press places journalism at the very heart of its operation.

It is probably why hundreds of you are signing up to our website every month.

NATIONAL NEWS: Jon’s Maddie stories in The Sun and (above) the Times

The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are: - EXCLUSIVE: German and Portuguese cops 1wanted meet to swap evidence on prime suspect who to catch something small in Madeleine McCann case

go back in 2021 and 2- Whenwhydodotheweclocks change the time in Spain Halls across spain deliberately 3- Are Towntargeting expats for cash is the Benahavis villa that serves as 4- This secret hideout for Princess Diana Are brits really leaving Spain 5- ANALYSIS: in droves. Where’s the evidence?

Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for more info

8

GREEN

www.theolivepress.es

Rafa Nadal making the switch to EVs

By Dilip Kuner

TENNIS legend Rafa Nadal has thrown his weight behind a move to eco-friendly motoring by pledging to use electric cars.

He took delivery of a Kia EV6 crossover at his academy in Manacor, Mallorca as part of a sponsorship deal with the Korean multinational.

Nadal will use the car whenever he is in Mallorca as well as at major tennis tournaments such as the 2022 Australian Open.

He is also looking at switching all vehicles used

Electric dreams

at the Rafa Nadal Foundation to electric vehicles by 2022.

Accepting that his lifestyle of jetting around the world is not eco-friendly, he said: “My job naturally requires a lot of travel, and my lifestyle is not fully sustainable. But I’m determined to make the necessary changes where I can, starting with my personal use of the EV6 crossover in Mallorca and beyond.

GOING GREEN: Rafa Nadal

Wind giants A NEW floating windfarm with the capacity to generate 28% of Almeria electricity could be built off the coast of Nijar and Carboneras (Andalucia).

The 300 MW Mar de Agata Offshore Wind Farm will be developed by BlueFloat Energy and SENER. It will create 7,500 jobs during the construction and decommissioning phases, 50% of them direct, with an estimated contribution to GDP of €630 million.

There will be 12m tonnes of CO2 saved during the life of the wind farm, estimated at 30 years.

The wind farm will be equipped with 20 turbines, each up to 261 metres above sea level, and will be 15km from the Cabo de Cata viewpoints.

November 4th - November 17th 2021

REPSOL plans to invest €2.55 billion in projects to produce clean hydrogen.

It will develop capacity by using different technologies including electrolysis and biogas to build 1.9GW of capacity by 2030.

At the moment, most hydrogen is made

“I would like to encourage others to join me in driving these kinds of vehicles wherever possible.”

Cunning plan from natural gas, which negates hydrogen’s green credentials.

Hydrogen can be used to power EVs using fuel cell technology giving greater range then conventional electric vehicles.

While the figures sound impressive, it is a downgrade from original plans, which would have seen up to €2.9 billion spent by 2026.

The plan, if fulfilled, will still make it the market leader in hydrogen for Spain and Portugal.

Martin Tye explains why solar power is back from the dead in Spain

Sunshine resurrection

Green Matters

By Martin Tye

O

PTIMISM has returned to the Spanish solar market after a decade of sluggish growth.

It’s hard to believe that Spain was once a leader in the European solar energy market. It started well until the government killed it, effectively putting the solar industry into a coma for 10 years.

In 2008, a massive 2,718 MW of new solar capacity was installed. In 2009 it decreased to a measly 44MW. This happened because of two key reasons: ● The financial crisis ● The appalling handling of the crisis by the Spanish government Spain should be leading the way with solar energy production. With solar irradiance in excess of 6 Kwh per square metre, as the climatic conditions are perfect.

SOLAR: Comeback

After all, one of the reasons most of us chose to live here is the sun.

At the beginning of the new millennium the Spanish government had successfully stimulated the solar energy market with attractive remuneration schemes for developers and investors.

When the crisis hit, unlike elsewhere in Europe, the government retroactively cut and killed subsidies.

Investors fled the country. Lawsuits are still pending. Spain went backwards.

In 2019 there were fewer than 1,000 houses in Spain with solar panels installed.

Compare that to Germany with more than 1,000,000 homes generating electricity.

Compare the climates – it just doesn’t make sense!

Things started to change with the Paris agreement on climate change and its common EU commitment to reduce carbon emissions significantly before 2030.

The Paris agreement was in 2015.

It still took Spain until October 2018 to abolish the infamous sun tax, introduced by the former Mariano Rajoy government, under the influence of the former state monopolies Endesa and Iberdrola.

I still find the concept of being taxed for producing renewable energy for self consumption beyond bonkers.

“The country is finally freeing itself of the great absurdity, scorned by international observers, that is the sun tax,” said Teresa Ribera, the Minister for Ecological Transition.

The solar market no longer requires subsidy to stimulate investment.

COLOUR: The Eiffel tower was turned green to celebrate the Paris Agreement

Electricity prices have soared, solar panel costs have decreased in the past 10 years and their efficiency has increased.

Return on investment used to be 15 years.

It’s now less than five years.

At last there is no more punishment, just encouragement.

Thought of the week If Spain had carried on installing solar panels as it should have, we would not be suffering as much from the horrific electricity prices we are now all subjected to.

We actively support Debra España, the charity that helps Butterfly Children. A donation of €1 will be made for every contract we organise.

Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638145664 Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es

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LA CULTURA THE spectacular Cirque du Soleil is returning to Spain in 2022 after a COVID-enforced break of a year-and-a-half.

It’s new show called Luzia can be enjoyed in Barcelona (Districte Cultural de L'Hospitalet) from March 17, Alicante from July 14 and Madrid (Escenario Puerta del Angel) from November 5.

The last day the famous circus was in Spain was on March 8, 2020 when it put on a show in Sevilla.

“It has been nearly two years since then, a long time in which all the artists and workers who are part of Cirque du Soleil have been waiting impatiently to be able to meet the

9

November 4th - November 17th 2021

Cirque du sol

public again,” a spokesman for the Canadian company said.

“This is the moment we have all been waiting for,” said president Daniel Lamarre.

In the past, the circus has presented 14 different shows in 19 Spanish cities.

In more than two decades, 9 million spectators - in Spain alone - have attended its shows, with more than 3,500 performances.

‘Luzia' is a production created and directed

by Daniele Finzi Pasca, which transports the viewer to the heart of an imaginary Mexico.

GET READY! All set to submit your Self Assessment tax return (SA100) asks Emilia Carvell

I ETERNALLY

T’S that time of the year again! The 31st of January is fast approaching which means it’s time to submit your 20-21 tax return!

Now we know that this isn't exactly seen as a fun task - in fact it’s probably always on the bottom of your to do list!

But there are some simple steps you can take to prepare for submitting your Self Assessment Tax Return (SA100).

FAMOUS

STEP ONE - Dig out your government gateway ID & Password

True beauty of Canary Islands revealed with Marvel latest blockbuster THE rugged coastlines and dramatic landscapes of the islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura are about to make it big on the silver screen.

These Canary Islands were chosen as the location for filming on Marvel’s latest blockbuster Eternals, which premieres in cinemas on November 5.

Stars

Featuring Hollywood stars including Angelina Jolie (pictured inset), Richard Madden and Salma Hayek, the $200 million movie directed by

By Amber Edirisinghe

double Oscar winner Chloé Zhao showcases the true beauty of the Spanish islands.

Pablo Pi-cash-o ELEVEN artworks by Malaga-born Pablo Picasso have been sold for over €93.6 million at an auction held in Las Vegas.

The works had been displayed in the Picasso Restaurant at the Bellagio Hotel before being put up for sale. The most expensive piece was ‘Femme au beret rouge-orange’ (1938), which went under the hammer for €34.3 million at the auction held

by Sotheby’s.

This is one of the last portraits Picasso painted of his muse Marie-Therese Walter. Its estimate had been between €17m and €25m.

Popular

A trailer for the film could easily be used as an advertising campaign for island tourism.

Spain has long been popular as a film location destination.

Game of Thrones chose destinations across Spain, from the craggy cliffs of the Basque Country to the Arab palaces of Andalucia, as the backdrop to scenes.

While the popular Netflix series The Crown has recently been filming on the Costa del Sol and Mallorca.

STEP TWO - Get your tax records up to date!

If you’ve read our articles before, you’ll know that this is something we talk about - a lot! The biggest part to being tax savvy, for any type of tax, is good record keeping.

Whilst we would always recommend doing this throughout the year, there is still time to get up to date before the submission deadline.

If you’re not sure where to start, your business, or property bank statements are always a great place to get stuck in.

You can even use a record keeping tax software like APARI and automate some of this process - but if software isn’t quite your thing (yet), then a good excel spreadsheet will work too! Remember to check all receipts for business related payments and receipts that you may have paid in cash.

Getting on top of your tax records won’t only save you time when it comes to submission - it could also save you money!

By keeping track of everything spent for

STEP THREE - Check your calculation & submit!

Don’t worry we don't expect you to start doing mental arithmetic or long division! But there are a couple of ways that you can check your tax liability before submitting to HMRC. As a landlord, it is likely that your income and expenditure is pretty similar year on year - that means that last years tax return is usually a good guide as to what this year's tax calculation should look like (unless of course there have been any major changes).

You can also use a software, like APARI - we can calculate your tax liability for the year, AND submit directly to HMRC - meaning the only thing left for you to do is pay your tax liability!

Regardless of how you do your tax return, the most important thing is to remember that the deadline is looming!

So, get started today and remember to submit before the 31st of January!

For all the latest information and advise, visit www.apari-digital.com

COLEMAN REMOVALS

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SPECTACLE: Daredevil antics

The film was shot on location in 2019 across the island of Fuerteventura, from La Solapa beach to Las Peñitas Dam, and Lanzarote where the volcano of El Cuervo serves as the backdrop for a dramatic finale.

Tourism chiefs expect the movie to boost the number of visitors to the islands as the destination is introduced to new audiences.

Now, bear with us here - we know that this may seem super obvious, but not having access to your government gateway ID & Password, could cause you to have a late filing penalty! If you aren't planning on submitting your tax return until the deadline of the 31st of January, and you can’t find your government gateway credentials, then you won't be able to submit & file with HMRC (or software like APARI). Somehow, I don't think “I've lost my password” is a valid excuse for late submission, and even worse, could result in a £100 fine.

your landlord business, you may even unearth some additional tax-deductible expenses - every deduction helps, and if you were ever to be subjected to some sort of review form HMRC, then having good proof of your business income and expenditure will always help.

Sign up to the APARI community to keep up to date on what you can claim.

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10

BUSINESS

Rises

SPAIN’S inflation rate has soared to 5.5% due to steep energy price rises.

The rate for October was 1.1% higher than September.

It’s the biggest inflation hike since September 1992 when Spain’s old currency of the peseta came under pressure from Germany’s deutschmark.The rise is around 1% higher than predicted.

SOBERING ISSUES

Spirits sink as transport problems cause shortages of whisky, gin and rum THIS Christmas you may have to stick to the beer and wine.

www.thinkSPAIN.com CONTACT +34 711 00 49 70 – howieuk99@googlemail.com

School is changing, find out how

ity UK curriculum in real-time classrooms. InterHigh’s 15-plus years’ experience of delivering unparalleled virtual education has fostered a thriving community of 10,000-plus successful alumni.

Innovative online learning means different things to different people. Some recent pilots and work at King’s InterHigh include virtual science simulations for exam years (think science experiments like a game!), additional gamified and and shine as AtPlaystation King’s InterHigh, your child can learn AI-driven learning in foreign languages as well as part of a diverse and welcoming school community richer, more varied online learning in the Primary that’s built around theirbringing needs and With years.

Online learning means new interests. concepts to life in a virtual and connected small classes, interactive lessons environand lots happening ment. outside the classroom, they can benefit from a highDue to their very nature of being online, schools British education fromboth anywhere. like quality King’s InterHigh cater to families inside All with backing of Inspired, one of the world’s andthe outside the UK. With students joining from leading education countries acrossgroups.

Europe and many international destinations, the global community of online learners continues to grow and thrive. Students, Withteachers over 16 years of experience, we are and families share a high re- the original gardonline for theschool.

British curriculum and the many opportunities it brings for both fulfilling careers and pathways to univerkingsinterhigh.co.uk sities and future studies.

So how is school changing? King’s InterHigh is one example of a school without walls where students are not constrained to one location and where opportunities for learning are available on line and in person. While education should be student centered and focused on learning, schools that bring learning online in an engaging and effective way, represent a viable alternative for many families now and into the future.

The online British education that revolves around you

To discover more, visit: www.kingsinterhigh.co.uk

as factors that could badly affect Spain’s 3,800 distillers.

Torremocha added: “The issue is not only an increase in costs, but also the fact that even if you pay, you are not sure when you are going to have stock delivered.”

Costs

Fortunately for beer and wine drinkers, the same issues do not seem to be affecting that sector as much, with many breweries running their own transportation systems within Spain.

Across

OP SUDOKU

I

International transportation ‘issues’ could lead to a shortage of whisky, gin, vodka and rum in Spain, industry bosses have warned.

Already many bars, restaurants and nightclubs in some parts of Spain have had difficulties getting their usual supplies. And Spanish distillers are facing the same problem in reverse.

They export 40% of their production and are finding it difficult to deliver their stock abroad, despite being willing to pay higher transport costs.

Bosco Torremocha, the executive director of the Spanish Spirits Association, (FEBE) said: “We do not expect to recover the sales levels of 2019 until the end of next year or beginning of 2023.”

He cited a rise in maritime freight costs, logjams at customs – partly due to Brexit – and shortage of glass, cardboard and energy costs,

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

THE COVID-19 pandemic changed the idea of education dramatically t introduced many of us to the power of online learning and the opportunities it brings forth.

Some schools have not only embraced this change but are passionately working towards elevating the perceptions around online learning, demystifying ‘remote’ or ‘distance’ learning and continuously increasing the quality of the outcomes delivered online. There is a similar conversation also taking place in the world of work with companies implementing ‘work from home’ policies and hybrid working environments.

This November, the UK’s leading online school InterHigh becomes King’s InterHigh. While it may seem like a small change in name, it moves the conversation around education to a new level. It represents a rich addition of the King’s group of schools and their 50 years’ experience in delivering educational excellence and a connection to the global Inspired group of 70-plus schools spread across 5 continents to the original online school, InterHigh.

Pioneers in online learning, InterHigh was the world’s first fully online school to offer a high-qual-

November 4th November 17th 2021

1 Headquartered (5) 4 Where trapeze artists connect (3-3) 9 Tidy CIA mall to find a Duchess (7) 10 Examine the books (5) 11 Soft (5) 12 Cool (6) 14 Accretions (13) 17 It would have been 105 pence (6) 18 Landing site (5) 21 Fright (5) 22 Look over (7) 23 Hands down (6) 24 With regret (5)

Down 1 Insolent rejoinder (8) 2 Large Japanese wrestlers (5) 3 Diver Tom --- (5) 5 Puzzle solver’s exclamation (1,4,2) 6 Supplemented (5,2) 7 Grasses (4) 8 Political crown of thorns wearer (5,6) 13 In an advantageous way (8) 15 Mountain lions (7) 16 Barely adequate (7) 18 Hebdomads (5) 19 Give on merit (5) 20 Disconcert (4)

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SIT EASY! H

AEMORRHOIDS (piles) are, ing: “I heard about treatment within many cases, ignored as a out an operation, and in that moment health problem, but can enor- I called to get an appointment with mously affect the life of those IMADSPAIN. who suffer with them.

From that moment, Parrilla could see Finding a solution may seem like a the end of suffering from haemorpainful and complicated process, but rhoids, and avoiding surgery. it does not need to be that He revealed: “In the first way. consultation and evaluFernando Parilla, one of ation, they informed me They are very many people that faced about the treatment and haemorrhoids, the medication used, friendly and shares his which I liked because I answer any experience. only use natural products.”

“I have questions you Continuing: “After only the had haefirst treatment, I felt a big may have morrhoids relief and it got better until since I was finally the problem got re30 years solved.” old, and this affects After saying goodbye to haemorrhoids your private life as forever, Parilla had no doubts, proyou can have very claiming: “I recommend this treatment strong pain, and because it is natural, each session bleeding.” lasts a few minutes, it doesn’t hurt and Adding: “I didn’t you notice relief from the first moment want to have - it works well.” surgery because He also praised IMADSPAIN staff: “They of the negative are exquisite, very friendly and answer experiences I’d any questions you may have”. heard about” His experience persuaded his wife to After years of treat her varicose veins and now her suf fering, life has changed too.

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FOOD & DRINK

November 4th November 17th 2021

13

Restricted viewing SPAIN is banning adverts for high-sugar content foods that target children, as cases of overweight youngsters continue to climb.

Consumer Affairs minister, Alberto Garzon, said the move will affect all forms of broadcasting, cinemas, social networks and online/mobile app outlets that are aimed at children aged under 16.

The ban will begin in 2022

Covers the whole of Spain

Adverts for sugary treats will be banned from next year

By Alex Trelinski

with a third of Spanish youngsters having some kind of weight issue, compared to just 3% in 1984.

“Over 40% of children aged between six and nine years are overweight, and advertising is one of the

causes,” said Garzon.

“The figures show cases of obesity and being overweight are doubled in poorer families compared to wealthier households,” the minister added.

“Advertising is one of the causes of this figure.”

Spain’s move is based on World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines over foodstuffs that it classifies as ‘harmful’ for children.

Guidelines The ban will include adverts for ice cream, soft drinks, sweets and pastries that have added sugars. Foods that have a content of 225 or more kilo-calories per 100 grams will also have an advertising ban slapped on them.

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Kings_InterHigh_83x170_The_Olive_Press

ONE of the country’s most famous sherry and wine producers has been voted ‘Best Spanish Winery of the Decade’.

The AEPEV association of wine journalists gave the accolade to Jerez-based Gonzalez Byass, which is behind the internationally-renowned Tio Pepe brand.

The business was founded in 1835 by Manuel Maria Gonzalez and British importer Robert Byass. Gustav Eiffel, who designed the famous tower in Paris, built a large bodega for the firm, called La Concha in 1862. Over a century later, the family company constructed their giant three-storey Tio Pepe bodega at Jerez in 1963.

Relatives of Robert Byass ended their interest in the producer in 1998, leaving it solely in the hands of fourth and fifth generation members of the Gonzalez family. The firm expanded 13 years ago to takeover the Viñas de Vero wineries in Aragon The AEPEV said it wanted to ‘recognise the essence of a family company that offered consistency and innovation along with respect for the environment’.

NEW rules allowing fully-vaxxed travellers flying into England to take lateral flow tests instead of PCR tests have come into force.

The lateral flow tests for returning travellers must be bought from private providers and the government website has published a list of approved companies where prices start at

Helping Hands

November 4th - November 17th 2021

On the fast track Renfe set to challenge struggling Eurostar for tunnel route, potentially linking the costas with London in 24 hours RENFE, Spain’s state-owned rail operator, is in talks to take on Eurostar.

It plans to operate a high-speed passenger service between London and Paris.

Since its high-profile launch in 1994, the channel tunnel service has been provided by just one operator, completely unchallenged.

Renfe wants to run its own twohour service between the two capitals, utilising time slots still available through the tunnel.

HS1, which manages the tracks between London St Pancras and the south coast, is reported to be ‘very interested’ in the development of the project.

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Eurostar’s majority-owner, SNCF, launched heavily-discounted services from France into Spain only this year.

But travellers are now required to send a picture of their lateral flow test to verify the result and failure to do so could result in a fine of £1,000.

The change also applies to those under the age of 18 whether or not they are vaccinated.

Only children aged four and under do not need to take the test.

Trips from Paris to Barcelona cost €39, and Marseille to Madrid is still only €59.

Renfe looks to have countered the bold move by claiming: “According to the demand analysis carried out, it would be viable and profitable for [us] to compete with Eurostar.”

Pre-pandemic, Eurostar carried more than 11 million passengers and provided more than 80% of journeys between London, Paris and Brussels.

Deal

However, travel restrictions during various COVID lockdowns reduced services to as few as one a day.

They were bailed out with a £250m loan in a refinancing deal with shareholders and banks in May, 2021.

With high-speed RENFE services now reaching the south coast of Spain, when will we see a rail connection from the costas all the way to London without having to change?

Currently, Orihuela to Madrid takes 2h 30m via Alicante.

From Malaga it is 2h 40m. Madrid to Paris averages 19 hours, and Paris to London is a swift 2h 20m.

In theory, and with timely connections, the trip could be made within 24 hours on one ticket, with one service provider.

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The

OLIVE PRESS

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FINAL WORDS

AN IBERIA Airbus landed at Barajas airport with a dead black vulture embedded in its nose after a bird strike.

Salty scoop ICE CREAM maker Massimo Pozzi has invented an ice cream with payoyo cheese and marine plankton, to be released on November 6 in Da Massimo ice cream parlour in Cadiz.

Old ways AN 89-year-old Spaniard has gone viral on twitter after her grandson posted that, every time she Google searches something she types por favor at the end.

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Vol. 2 Issue 52 www.theolivepress.es November 4th - November 17th 2021

ROYAL FLUSH

THE former King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, must be flushed with embarrassment after it was revealed he was injected with female hormones to control his rampant sex drive.

This is the sensational claim made by an ex-police chief during a court hearing in Madrid.

Jose Manuel Villarejo, a former police commissioner at the centre of the far reaching Casa Kitchen case told the court that secret agents ‘injected female hormones and testosterone blockers to control the monarch’s sex drive after it was categorised as a problem of state’.

Juan Carlos, who abdicated in

A CAT that had succumbed to choking volcanic ash was brought back from the dead when a soldier performed ‘mouth to moggy’ resuscitation.

The lucky feline on the island of La Palma, where there has been an ongoing eruption for weeks, had been engulfed by ash.

But, using up one of its nine lives, the cat was pulled from

Randy royal ‘injected with hormones to quell libido’ June 2014 after a series of scandals, was a notorious womanizer. One recent book entitled Juan Carlos: The King of 5,000 lovers by Amadeo Martinez Ingles claimed the king, now 83, was a sex addict who had slept with more than 2,000 women between 1976 and 1994.

One of his last affairs came

Kissing pussy a mound of cinders and brought back from the brink of death after a soldier with an emergency rescue unit used a tiny plastic filter to give it the kiss of life.

The cat survived and was pictured recovering in a cage after the ordeal.

RED FACED: Sex mad king

to public attention when it emerged that the King had broken his hip while on an elephant hunting trip with a companion identified as Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (also known as Corinna Larsen).

She has since spoken out about the affair and is attempting to sue the Royal and Spain’s secret service for harassment.

The disgraced former monarch has been living in exile in Abu Dhabi since last year when an investigation was launched into his financial affairs amid allegations of money laundering and backhanders.

Adultery in the Gulf state is a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in jail and deportation.

A GIGANTIC sunfish has been caught up in tuna fishing nets off the coast of Ceuta, one of Spain’s enclaves in north Africa.

The fish, known as a pez luna in Spanish, measured 3.2 metres long and 2.9 metres wide and weighed in at a whopping two tonnes.

Enrique Ostale, a marine biologist at the University of Sevilla was there to study the creature.

He said he had only ever heard of sunfish this size from books but never thought he would see one so big.

After being weighed and measured, the creature was released safely back into the wild.

Dog’s life IN a Spanish first a judge has awarded a couple joint custody of their dog.

The Madrid court decreed that the estranged duo would care for their pooch called Panda on alternate months.

The ruling recognised an equal bond between the dog and the two caregivers and said proof of ownership of the dog by one person over another wasn’t enough to override a bond between the dog and the other person in the couple.