Olive Press Costa Blanca South and Murcia Issue 75

KINGS

How this ‘Famous Five’ of Northern Spanish chefs have helped to topple the French from their culinary throne

QUEEN

Angry expat motorists banned from driving in Spain announce national demo in capital

HUNDREDS of angry expats are threatening to ‘invade’ the British embassy next week.

converging

over

Spain in a protest to demand action over their inability to drive here due to Brexit changes. The

group - including mostly long term residents - are furious the British and Spanish governments seem unable to strike the most basic deal. Meanwhile, expats in almost every other European country have been given the right to swap their licences for local ones.

“It is totally unfair and really disgust ing that Spanish residents are being trapped in a game that has nothing to do with our ability to drive,” said Scott Rattray, who lives in Lloret de Mar. “All the other countries managed to not treat their foreign residents like

in rural Va lencia,

there

specula

that this may be linked

By Simon Hunter

“We are real people with real lives and not pawns in some political game.”

Negotiations over the movement of workers and trade across the Spain-Gibraltar border are now in their second year and are bogged down in legal issues.

A Facebook group titled ‘Invasion of the British embassy in Madrid’ has pencilled in October 13 for a protest outside the embassy in northern Ma drid.

The victims, who will mostly come by bus or train, are urging expats from all over Spain to turn out to support them.

They have been writing dozens of let ters to their MPs back in the UK and politicians in Spain, as well as back ing the Olive Press U-Turn campaign we launched in June.

So far demands to Spain’s DGT traf fic authority have gone unanswered, while the British embassy itself has limited its responses to the video up dates by ambassador Hugh Elliott.

Despite announcing in July that the ‘main text’ of the deal had been agreed, Elliot’s latest message has dashed any hopes that a solution is near.

The latest missive, in which he ad

mits there are a couple of ‘complex’ issues left, has angered the group, which now has over 500 members. “Politics first, people last. It really is indefensible,” Malcolm Weston told the Olive Press this week.

The true story behind the Reina de Ronda and how she became an international drug queenpin spawning TV dramas and films -

Fugitive found

A BRIT fugitive aged 41 who had an internation al arrest warrant on him for being part of a drug dealing gang, has been arrested in Benidorm af ter being stopped on his motorbike at a routine police check.

Grim find

A HUMAN body was fished out of the Cabo de Palos Ma rine Reserve after being spotted 600 metres off the coast by a diver. He is thought to be a North African migrant.

Cop shortage

TORREVIEJA’S police force is under-staffed by 51 officers, based on the city’s population with a union spokesman say ing that he expects 15 people to leave the force by the end of the year.

Safer police

SAN FULGENCIO’S local police have been equipped with 21 bullet proof vests, costing over €16,000.

THE trial of Irish mobster John Gilligan and eight other people has been suspended after one of the defendants - his son Darren - failed to appear.

The hearing, which had just started in Tor revieja, was adjourned until April, with his son believed to be in Ireland.

Gilligan could now be allowed to leave Spain until the trial resumes, with prosecu tors registering no objection to giving him

On the streets?

back his passport.

Gilligan, 70, was arrested in 2020, after cops raided his villa and other addresses in the Torrevieja and Orihuela areas.

He and his associates have been charged with drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons and belonging to a criminal gang.

KILLED FOR A NIGHT OUT

A DUTCH handyman has been found guilty for the second time of murdering a British pensioner for a night out. Nicholas Pijnenborg killed Margaret McNulty (pictured) to steal €550 from her purse, which he then spent at night clubs the same night. The body of the 70-year-old

Dutch handyman convicted again for murder of Brit pensioner

By Alex Trelinski

was found at her Granja de Rocamora home in November 2019, where she has lived on

Gang rape arrests

A GROUP of Frenchmen have been arrested in connection to an alleged gang-rape of an 18-year-old tourist in Torrevieja.

Two 19-year-olds and a 22-year-old were re manded in custody.

The victim is a 30-year-old from Finland who may have had her drink spiked after one of the men struck up a conversation with her while she was dining alone at a restaurant.

After being raped, she managed to get away and fled into the street where passers-by took her to a police station.

her own after her husband died in 2005.

McNulty had known her at tacker for four years when he popped round to ask for a loan. When she pulled €50 out of

Don’t bank on Spain!

AN Italian who robbed three banks in Swit zerland has been arrested in Benidorm.

The 30-year-old robber stole over €73,000 in the stick-ups dating back to early 2018. He was detained after police saw him behav ing suspiciously.

Officers asked for identification and a data base check revealed outstanding arrest war rants from Swiss authorities.

Once he knew he was in trouble, he lashed out aggressively against the officers, who re strained him and took him to a police station.

her purse, he noticed that she had a lot more cash in it.

After grabbing her by the neck and throwing her to the floor, he punched and kicked her to death.

The Supreme Court (TSJ) or dered a retrial however, after Pijnenborg was convicted of murder at his first trial in 2021.

The TSJ said there were irreg ularities in the judge’s instruc tions to the jury which may have influenced their deliber ations and a 25-year jail sen tence was also annulled.

A fresh hearing in Elche how ever, heard him plead guilty resulting in a deal to reduce his prison sentence to 13 years for the killing.

He got a further 21 months for robbery and will spend 10 years on probation.

‘Nazi’ expat extradited

A BRITISH far right extremist has lost his extradition battle to face crimes in the UK.

The Alicante expat faced terror ism charges at court last Friday.

Kristofer Thomas Kearney, who had been based on the Costa Blanca, was arrested in a probe into far-right terrorism.

The 37-year-old is charged with two counts of disseminating a terrorist publication.

Spanish police arrested Kear ney at an address in Alicante on March 2. He lost an extradition battle and was sent back to the UK on September 8. A trial will begin in June next year.

Driving cheats

AN alarming five people have been denounced for cheating on their driving tests.

They were all wearing sophis ticated audiovisual devices hidden in their clothes at the test centre in Alzira.

It meant they got the answers beamed to them from a mini van parked outside the centre. Police were called in and arrested the group, four of whom were non-EU citizens including a young Chinese woman who could not speak or write in Spanish.

Officers also arrested a man in the van who was handling five phone units simultane ously to pass down correct test answers.

Taxing time for Shakira

POP star Shakira will have to face trial accused of avoiding taxes in Spain in 2012, 2013 and 2014. This comes after the pros ecutor and Shakira failed to reach an out of court agreement. The next step will be to set a date.

Shakira remains on un conditional bail.

Prosecutors want her to be fined €24million for ‘de frauding’ Hacienda (The Tax Agency) out of €14.5 million on income earned. The prosecutor has also asked for an eight-year jail sentence.

Shakira argues that she was living in the Bahamas at the time so no taxes were due. However, the prosecutor claims that she moved to Spain in 2011 due to her relationship with Barcelona footballer, Gerard Pique, but kept her tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015 yo avoid her obligations.

San Sebastian film festival’s 70th edition included scores of films and attracted stars of the calibre of Liam Neeson and Ana de Armas

By Simon Hunter

THE San Sebastián Film Festi val has come a long way since its first edition, 70 years ago.

Back then, in 1953, it hosted just 19 movies and was viewed as an event for the elite. Fast forward to 2022, and the event not only included hundreds of films in and out of compe tition, but also attracted stars of the calibre of Liam Neeson and Ana de Armas (pictured below).

The event is held every year in the stunning Basque seaside city, and even managed to con tinue during the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s edition, however, was the first that marked a proper return to postCovid normality.

The winner of the Golden Shell award for Best Film went to The Kings

Here’s looking at you

HONORED: David Cronenberg

of the World, a Colombian dra ma from director Laura Mora, while Argentina, 1985 from di rector Santiago Mitre took the audience award. The Best Di rector gong was taken by Genki Kawarmura from Japan, for his debut feature Hyakka In attendance for the premiere of her Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde, Ana de Armas caught the attention of the public and press alike on the red carpet.

At a press conference, she ex plained how she ‘did things in this movie I would have never done for anyone else, ever. I did it for her’, she said, in ref erence to Monroe.

The festival closed with the

premiere of Marlowe, both of whose stars, Diane Kruger and Liam Neeson, were in atten dance in the Basque city. Set in 1930s Los Angeles, the film is directed by Neil Jordan. “To make a film like this, you have to reinvent the image,” Jordan told a press conference at the festival. “The reference I chose was Blade Runner, which is set in LA in the future. I’m making a film set in LA in the past, but somehow it’s a sci-fi film.”

The lifetime achievement award went this year to Cana dian filmmaker David Cronen berg, with a screening of his latest film Crimes of the Future after the ceremony.

Legend

Queen of Hugs

PRINCESS Di may have been known as the Queen of Hearts, but it turns out Letizia is the Queen of Hugs. Spain’s queen was the star attraction at a charity award ceremony at Madrid's Circulo de Bellas Artes when 91-year-old Maruja piped up: “Letizia would you mind giving me a hug?”

Quick as a flash Letizia gave a heart-warming smile and reached out with her arms to comply. An awards presenter had gone to chat to Maruja as she had won an award last year, and Maruja took her chance on the microphone to make her cheeky request.

“I used to think that a lifetime achievement award was a mes sage to me saying ‘It’s time to stop, you’ve made enough films’…” said Cronenberg. “But I have since come to realize and especially with an award like this, at a festival with so much history, given in such a beautiful city, that it really is an encouragement to me to make more films."

Thanks to sentiments such as this one, the legend of the San Sebastián Film Festival contin ues to grow.

The 42 year-old who is the owner of Madrid’s three Michelin starred DiverXo, collected his award in front of several hundred top chefs who had gathered for the event in Spain’s capital.

Lady and the scamp

SHE is an aristocrat, half sister to Enrique Iglesias and a TV personality boasting her own Netflix reality series called Lady Tamara

Now a very public split with her businessman fiance has thrust Tamara Falco into the gossip columns.

Falco - the sixth Marchioness of Griñón announced that she was engaged to Iñigo Onieva. But within days a video emerged of him canoodling with a New York model at a music festival in the US. De spite his initial claims the image was from 2019, before he knew 40-year-old Falco, TV sleuths had identified the festival as being held just a few weeks ago.

The TV gossip shows went into meltdown and the saga has barely been off the screens since, with Falco bringing her rela tionship with Onieva to a very public end.

MADRID chef Dabiz Muñoz has scooped the top prize in The Best Chef Awards for the second year running.

Accepting the prize he said: “I do not feel like the best chef in the world, far from it. But I believe I have the best team in the world.”

Bit of a mare

FIREFIGHTERS used a he licopter to rescue a horse trapped in a seven-metre deep ditch in the Cabeco de la Sal mountains, near Pinoso. Rescuers initially tried to coax the mare out by getting her to climb out using special catwalks. But due to the stress and fatigue she suffered, they called in a helicopter.

The Special Rescue Group used slings to create a har ness which they hooked up to the horse and literally flew her out of the ditch.

Toddler tragedy

A BOY aged two died in an Abaran street while playing with other children near his home.

The tragic accident happened when the youngster collided with an older child.

He fell on his back and his head fatally hit the ground. Medics could not revive him.

TOWERING ACHIEVEMENT

MORE than 10,000 people turned out to watch the Tarragona Human Towers Competition, which is the largest of its kind in Spain. The ‘ castells ’, as the towers are known in Catalan, returned this year after a two-year pause due to the pandemic.

Men, women and children participate in the competition, which can prove nail-biting for spectators as the last

AROUND 80 locals, in cluding expats, have bared all in an ‘artistic’ naked protest to protect Orihuela Costa’s last stretch of vir gin coastline.

The group are against con troversial plans to build over 2,000 homes at Cala Mosca, described as the ‘last stretch of virgin coast’ in the area.

Participants from the Salvemos Cala Mosca group took part in the liv ing display on the beach border between Orihuela and Torrevieja close to the Punta Prima air-raid shel ter dating back to the Civil War.

The protest site was cho sen due to its proximity to new developments that have split the Paseo de los Vientos in Rocio del Mar.

The artistic performance, put together by Pablo Ru bio Gil-Orozco, was enti tled ‘ Everything is the re flection of something ’.

The team that put togeth er the event described the

participants scale the human towers to the top.

The castells were added to the UNE SCO list of Intangible Cultural Heri tage of Humanity in 2010.

The tradition began in the 18th cen tury in the town of Valls, which is in Tarragona province.

This year a team from Vilafran ca won the competition, taking a €16,000 prize.

The bare facts

HAN D S OFF OUR COSTAS

Naked protesters strip off to publicise threat to one of last virgin stretches of Costa Blanca

By Alex Trelinski

plans for Cala Mosca as ‘urban barbarism’. It’s not the first naked demonstra

tion this year as naturists from Spain’s FEM Naturist Federation formed a hu man chain in the area last May.

Though the development of 2,274 homes has been approved by the Valen cian government, Orihue la Mayor Carolina Gracia called for a halt to the proj ect, last month.

As reported on our front page (right), she appealed for a seminar of informal talks be tween all interested parties, including developer, Gomen dio, to find a solution.

The developer has yet to

respond to Gracia’s re quest with any discussions having no legal standing.

Tram plan surprise

A FEASIBILITY study will look at creating a tram link between Torrevieja and Ori huela in addition to a line be tween Torrevieja and Alican te-Elche airport.

The surprise announcement came from Valencian presi dent Ximo Puig and appears to be a rehash of plans first unveiled in 2005 which came to nothing.

Puig suggested that the re gional government company, Ferrocarils that runs tram services in Valencia and Ali cante, could also operate the new Vega Baja lines.

No additional details of the study or its budget have been revealed, which comes eight months before the regional elections.

SEA RESCUE

A BOAT load of NINE peo ple were rescued from a pleasure vessel after storms left it a mile adrift off Santa Pola.

The Guardia Civil have re ported the boat’s captain to the Alicante Maritime Au thority because he carried no emergency flares and didn’t have enough life jack ets for his passengers.

The Polish-flagged boat had six men and two women - all Poles - on board, along with a Spaniard.

Guardia and Cruz Roja res cue boats located the strick en vessel which had been struck by a big wave knock ing out its engine.

Record floods drag man to his death

A MAN has died af ter he was washed out of his home by record floods that hit Murcia.

The body of the 60-year-old was found floating in water 300 metres from his home in Javali Viejo.

A neighbour confirmed he had been asleep on his sofa when flood water poured into his house and swept him away at around 2am. The hairdresser told the Olive Press : “We

could hear him shout ing for help, but could do nothing because of the strength and depth of the water.”

Murcia firefighters confirmed they res cued several people after 40.6 mm of rain fell in only 10 minuteswhich is a record since measurements began.

The 112 emergency line received 293 calls related to the storms, as cars were literally swept away.

Passed

to baby brother age 100

SPAIN’S oldest man has died at the age of 110. Antonio Alvarado passed away in the province of León where he lived with his three brothers- Isaac, aged 100, Emilio (95) and Luis (90). He has been the oldest man in Spain since the death in Jan uary of Saturnino de la Fuen te, who was 112.

Alvarado was the former mayor of the Leon town of Cremenes between 1987 and 1995. He was the third child in a family of 15 siblings, and worked as a shepherd, a min er and as a police officer. He had six children.

Spain’s oldest person is Ma ria Branyas, from Catalun ya, who was 115 years old in March.

Simple things that can make customers feel

And many extra benefits,

Get out the slow lane

THE cruel drip-feeding of hope to thousands of strand ed British license holders in Spain needs to stop.

The group of long-term legal residents have been left unable to take to the roads since May 1 because of Brexit bureaucracy, and they deserve an answer now! Ambassador Hugh Elliot reassured Brits back in July that a deal with Spain was ‘very close to being final ised’.

Now, it emerges there are various complex issues STILL at stake.

It’s time Spanish and UK officials take responsibility for the mess which will see hundreds of angry drivers protest outside the British embassy on October 13 de manding answers.

The true sad irony is that many people who desperately want to attend may not be able to… because they can not get there by car!

Buen provecho

SPAIN has tipped Italy and France into a grinder in the latest global chef poll.

With 19 Spanish chefs coming in the top 100, it left room for just 15 Italians and a paltry 10 Gallic cooks. With 150 professionals and 200 international chefs making the picks, this is a true industry award and a hard one for the vaunted French chefs to brush off. While the Italians will sit back and remain pleased with their Number One position for food tourism, the French will be understandably scratching their heads.

Spain’s sheer diversity in the food stakes, the creativity of its chefs and the way its godfathers have meted out their skills, is something to be celebrated.

As the Spanish did with their national football team, their current tennis crop and their road and railway building (see feature right), they have darn well made their restaurant industry the envy of the world.

THE REAL QUEEN OF

The arrest of Ronda’s homegrown blondehaired drug boss made primetime TV. No suprises as Maria del Mar settles back into life behind bars, Sorrel Downer takes a look at previous episodes in this true-life telenovela

THE Queen of the South is glamorous Te resa Mendoza, who rises from poverty to run a multimillion-euro drug empire from Marbella.

The Queen of Ronda is 39-year-old Maria del Mar Mellado, who rises from boredom to run an international drug ring in the sleepy Cadiz and Malaga sierras.

Both stories involve cartels, cocaine, passion, jail time, plastic surgery and women breaking through the glass ceiling in the male dominat ed world of international crime.

But whereas the Queen of the South is the fictional protagonist of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s 2002 novel (La Reina del Sur) – inspiration for a Telemundo series in 2011, and later the eponymous Netflix hit – the self-styled Queen of Ronda is real.

That Cuevas del Becerro (pop. 1600) is a slow kind of place will be obvious to anyone who has ever driven through it: speed cameras are there to catch criminals who creep above 50 km/hr. Too slow for Mellado, who was born there to a construction worker and housewife in 1983.

She livened things up by dealing drugs but made rookie errors. At the age of 25, she was serving her first jail sentence after being arrested in Puerto Serrano, Cadiz with 400

grams of cocaine. Her time in jail proved educational. She picked up tips and contacts and on her release tried again, this time rocketing up through the ranks, to become head of her own network, trafficking drugs from the Dominican Republic to southern Spain for large amounts of money. It’s unlikely she read Perez-Reverte’s novel on her prison bunk, but she was a fan of the se ries and tribute song, the Narcocorrido by Los Tigres del Norte, and she sought to emulate the glamorous Teresa in looks and deeds –and name: Queen of Ronda.

Friends and neighbours must have marvelled at how well the ex-con (now a single mother) was doing. Theoretically, an unemployed beau tician, with an inoperative clothing company registered to her name in nearby Pruna, Mella do had a luxurious house in the El Olivar urban isation of Arriate (outside Ronda), and frequent ly rented additional properties – in Ronda itself, as well as Estepona and even the exclusive La

Zagaleta urbanization in Marbella. She had a thing for buying cars. Before prison she’d splashed out on an Audi A6, a Hyund ai Coupe, and a moped. Between 2011 and 2012, she added to her fleet, buying a Peu geot 607 and a Ford Focus for her mother (who couldn’t drive), and a Nissan Pathfinder, which she registered to her daughter’s father Juan Gabriel Gomez Diaz (licensed only to drive bikes). She bought guns, but just replica ones, and kept one in a drawer beside the bed. She invested in plenty of plastic surgery for cosmetic as well as practical reasons. The snaggle-toothed, excited woman shown play ing in the sea in the photos she posted on Instagram during her first shopping trips in the Dominican Republic was soon replaced by something a little more dead-eyed.

Playing by the drug boss rulebook, she in dulged in shows of public generosity, the most brazen of which took place in her home village on January 5, 2012. Mellado not only organized and funded the Three Kings Pa rade, she paid for toys for every child out of her hard-earned drug money, and even took part, dressed as a page and flanked by her drug-trafficking brother and partner playing two of the kings.

The 28-year-old Mellado must have been feeling very good about herself. Little did she know she had just 19 days of freedom left.

The Cadiz Guardia Civil had noted the increase in coke

dealing activity in the sierras. They’d intercepted the deliv ery drivers, worked upwards, and were now following Mel lado.

INSIDE THE HEAD OF A DRUGS QUEEN

RENOWNED criminologist Ricardo Magaz who has followed Mellado’s career over the years says she is egocentric, and driven by the need

show off her achievements so that people, especially her neighbours, recognise her social rise’, regardless of the fact it’s the result of drug trafficking.

He explained: “She is an uncultured person from a humble background, but, perhaps because of this, she showed from a very young age a lot of courage and desire to excel at all costs, to stand out, without moral restraint.

“Drug trafficking – small-scale at first – served her purposes. She liked that among her group they called her ‘la narco del pueblo’.

“Maria del Mar has a des perate need for public ap proval. With the vast profits from drug trafficking, she lived surrounded by tinsel, wanting to be admired.

She emulated drug lords in the style of Pablo Escobar, El Chapo Guzman or, in Spain, the Galician Sito Miñanco.”

As for her ‘charity’ works, such as the Three Kings Parade, Magaz says she ‘longed in her heart to achieve two goals: to be a kind of ‘NGO’ for drug trafficking, although this seems crazy, and to shine as the new Queen of the South, in the manner of Teresa Mendoza’.

Prison is not the end, says the criminol ogist: “A real narco never retires, wheth er man or a woman, Spanish or foreign. From jail they can keep in touch with their gang on the street. A ‘narco queen’ like her dies with her heels on.

“It’s the old story, once again, of the recidivism of drug traffick ers who poison a society, that live oblivious to the tragedy of thousands and thousands of lives destroyed by drug addic tion.”

Operation Vuelo had been launched in mid-2011, the name a reference to her frequent trips to the Carib bean out of Madrid-Barajas Airport.

In fact Mellado had made at least 11 trips to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic since leaving prison and had spent a further €48,000 in cash on tickets for drug mules.

Her visits had been to es tablish contacts and source 95% pure cocaine. The risky, dirty business of trafficking the drugs into Spain she left to others.

She plucked the badly paid and unemployed out of a pool of willing volunteers and, in return for €500 and a week in Punta Cana, they swallowed the drugs and brought them back.

Her contacts taught the mules how to wrap the balls of cocaine so they were less likely to die, and coached them in how to act to avoid

THE SOUTH

detection.

The drugs were adulterated and distributed to sellers in the network who ran the retail drug side of the business in the Sierra de Cadiz and the Serrania de Ronda, but also in Sevilla and Malaga.

The Guardia Civil watched Mellado – some times accompanied by her daughter – hand ing out packets of cocaine to sellers at various ventas.

Shortly after the 2012 cabalgata, Mellado went to Punta Cana herself, accompanied by her partner Adan Lara Quesada, and two mules - Manuel Garrido Velasco and Daniel Perez Badia.

The drugs squad was there to meet her when she returned on January 24. One mule had been stuffed with 75 balls of cocaine valued at €44,000 and the oth er 50, valued at €32, 700.

Mellado was fined €280,000 and sentenced to 11 years, three months in prison, which she served in Cadiz.

sources, they knew the so-called Queen of Ronda was at it again.

Last August, a joint operation was launched between Spain’s National Police and Colombia’s police narcotics division, DIRAN with the aim of identifying a cou rier and seeing where that per son led them.

On August 17, agents from UDY CO (the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit) were watching ar rivals from Co lombia at Madrid airport for suspi cious behaviour when they spot ted a female passenger acting nervously at the security controls.

She funded a Three Kings Parade with toys brought with drug money

Her travelling companions were each fined €150,000 and sentenced to six years. In to tal, 21 members of her ring were arrested, including her brother, Francisco, his wife In maculada, and her trusted lieutenant Juan Antonio Diaz Jimenez aka Popi, who were fined and sentenced to seven years.

As well as cocaine, the raids resulted in the seizure of cash, replica guns and nine vehicles.

Once again, jail was not the end of it, merely a learning curve which she took advantage of on her release.

Mellado hadn’t been home long when inves tigators began intercepting suitcases contain ing cocaine arriving from Colombia on flights into Madrid. When the couriers they arrested turned out to be residents of the Cadiz and Ronda mountains, with limited economic re

Access to shared intelligence im mediately re vealed she had a history of traf ficking.

They followed her to a city centre hotel and watched as she was met by a man who quickly drove off.

An hour later, the woman emerged carrying the suitcase and took a taxi to a residential area where the agents saw the same man – this time waiting with a woman they instantly rec ognised as Mellado.

The three disappeared into an

underground car park and were arrested as the suitcase was exchanged. It contained 11 kilos of cocaine; the money to pay for it – €23,500 – had been wrapped in plastic and hidden inside the dashboard. So now Maria del Mar Mellado Blanco is back

in jail. In the original novel, Teresa Mendoza, Queen of the South, ended up with a new face and a new life under the witness protection program, but the Queen of Ronda can expect to serve seven to nine years. A happy outcome for drug traffickers is just fiction after all.

UNLOCK THE NEWS

YOU’VE

got Spotify, you pay for Netflix and now you’re going to have to pay for your journalism.

While traditionally anyone who wanted to be in formed bought a newspaper or magazine, this changed over the last decade with the advent of digital media.

As the world changed, the leading media groups, including the Daily Mail, the Guardian and the BBC guaranteed top quality, well researched content on the hour every hour.

But when Google and Facebook started to unfairly dominate global advertising revenue (by as much as 85%) media groups could no longer fund their journalism through adverts.

It has caused a crisis for the worldwide news media indus try (whether TV, radio or print) of enormous proportions.

A giant trust lawsuit filed by the European Union this year, alongside the UK, for 26 billion euros in damages against Google for unfair practices, could not come to court soon enough.

Most people realise that you only get what you pay for!

And currently, the ONLY way out for the media groups is to charge for their content and thankfully the vast majority of respectable groups now have paywalls. In Spain, that means El País, El Mundo and el Público, while locally Diario Sur, Provincias and Última Hora also do.

All of them offer a cheap, good value subscription service for their readers to enjoy largely ad-free, reliable, well re searched news content.

The Olive Press is no different and for over a year now has provided 20-plus stories a day with unfettered access and almost no ads for under €1.50 a week!

Over 30,000 of you have now registered and have taken the opportunity to have decent, well re searched content delivered to you daily. While the newspaper remains free, and always will be, to be really well informed and up to date on everything from fires to the environment and from changes in the law to health warnings, it’s time to get on board.

The Olive Press is the trusted English speaking news provider, qualifying and check ing all its facts before publication and calling out the many fake news sources. This is, above all, our role. Advertising no longer funds this profession, the fourth estate, which is vital in a healthy democracy to keep checks and balances on the powers that be.

Just like the musicians who create the songs on Spotify or Apple Music and the actors and directors who create the movies and TV shows you now subscribe to on Amazon Prime or Disney, we hope you believe that journalists need to be paid for their work too.

If so, please join us at www.theolivepress.es to find the best package to suit you.

CRAFTY: Maria del Mar employed an army of Ronda mountain mules

Too hot to bear

UK HOLIDAY makers be lieve Spain will be off-limits as a summer travel destina tion by 2027, according to new research.

Following this summer’s wildfires and record-break ing temperatures across the UK and Europe, specialist travel insurance providers

InsureandGo asked 2,089 people to estimate which European countries could be too hot to travel to by 2027.

Spain was the destination holiday makers were most worried about, with 65% of respondents believing the climate in the popular desti nation for Brits would be un bearable in five years.

About 53% of people aged between 18-34 said Spain would be too hot to travel to, while 83% of over 65s said the same.

It comes after Spain this year sweltered through the most torrid summer since 1961.

The country’s average tem perature for June, July and August was 24 degrees cel sius, 2.2 degrees more than

EELS SAVED

SOME 180 kilos of critically endangered glass eels have been released into the wild after they were seized from poachers and smugglers.

The elvers, worth €270,000 on the black market, were rescued and 29 people ar rested by Spanish police, who carried out nearly 3,000 checks at ports, airports and other transport hubs.

The glass eels are regarded as a delicacy in Spain and parts of South East asia. They are often smuggled on to planes in suitcases bound for Asia.

“Most of the offences relate to illegal fishing, unlawful possession, illegal trafficking of endangered species and violations of laws governing natural spaces,” the Guardia Civil said.

Why UK tourists will stop traveling to Spain in five years

By Anthony Piovesan

the usual average. InsureandGo chief execu tive Chris Rolland said the results from the study were ‘staggering’.

But he added: “The family summer holiday will certain ly not go away. Our research

does suggest however, that it may well change in terms of holiday makers moving to ward cooler climates - or per haps that Easter and Christ mas will become the school holidays when more families head abroad for their break.

“I think this research is a real eye opener that things need to change - and fast.”

Personal action

THE Mar Menor lagoon has been given ‘per sonhood’ status in an effort to provide better protection for the threatened ecosystem.

A total of 1,600 square kilometres of the la goon and nearby Murcia coastline will now be legally represented by a group of local of ficials, residents of the area and scientists.

The lagoon has suffered massive die-offs of marine life as it degrades due to coastal de velopment and farming.

The initiative backed by more than 600,000 citizens will become law after the Senate in Madrid voted in favor of the proposal.

WINTER OF DISCONTENT

I’M not referring to a scene from Shakespeare’s Richard III, but to the here and now.

The stars are aligning to create the perfect storm:

• The consequences of the murdering psycho path Putin’s actions in Ukraine

• Food shortages

• Cost of living escalating prices

• Energy shortages

• Climate change inaction

Let me focus on the last two points.

ENERGY SHORTAGE

Continuous lack of investment in renewable en ergy resources by Europe and the wider world have exposed us to the problems we now face. Putin is using Russia’s plentiful stock of oil and gas as a weapon in his war against the west. Europe is scrambling to find available supply elsewhere. This is easier said than done.

And we all know what happens when demand outstrips supply. Prices go up. Europe is still dragging its heels rolling out addi tional renewable energy installations. Have you seen more solar farms or wind turbines being installed near you?

I haven’t.

The European Commission’s vice-president, Frans Timmermans, summed it up perfectly last week….

“The era of cheap fossil fuels is over. The faster we move to cheap, clean and homegrown renew ables, the sooner we will be immune to Russia’s blackmail.”

CLIMATE CHANGE INACTION

It’s a very simple formula - insufficient action = inadequate results.

Take Spain as an example.

Last year, Spain was Europe’s 4th biggest pol luter. Carbon emissions increased by more than 3%, while other EU countries reduced them by 5%.

Looking back over a longer period, between 1990 – 2020, Spain reduced carbon emissions by 8%. In the UK emissions were reduced by 45% in the same period. Germany managed to reduce them by 42%. The top 10 polluting companies in Spain are –Endesa, Iberdrola, Repsol, Cepsa, EDP, Arcelor mittal, Naturgy, FCC, CEMEX and LafargeHolcim. According to EU targets, Spain will have to re duce emissions by 55% by 2030 if it is to be on track for carbon neutrality by 2050. Fat chance of that given the lack of progress to date.

There is not long to go before the next United Nations next meeting in Egypt in November. Once again we can look forward to ministers de livering promises on action they won’t deliver. New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss promised during the leadership campaign to ‘double down’ on the UK’s commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

In its latest report on net zero, UK government adviser the Climate Change Committee (CCC), said that ‘tangible progress is lagging behind policy ambition’.

Expect to witness more of the same shallow rhet oric coming from Sharm El Sheik next month. I’m still amazed that the UN selected a host country for this event with an appalling record on human rights.

Martin

the owner

Mariposa Energy.

in Spain despite

TOO HOT: for chimps too

COP 27

IT’S OVER: Message from Frans Timmermans

On the sunny side

SPAIN is turning towards so lar panels to meet its power needs as Europe continues to struggle with its energy crisis.

Solar energy supplier Ecooo Energia Ciudadana said that requests to install solar pan els have increased by 213% in the past year.

It comes four years after the ‘sun tax’ on home produced solar energy was dropped.

“We are reaching 200 installa tions in only two years, this is important,” Ecooo Energia Ci udadana’s Manuel Ruiz said.

Spain is now ranked behind the Netherlands and Germa ny as the country with the third highest rate of electric ity coming from solar energy.

Between May and August 12% of the nation’s electric ity came from solar power - that number was just 5.2% in 2020.

Remote hope

Spain plans digital nomad visa to attract remote workers

SPAIN is planning to issue ‘digital nomad’ visas to Brit ish citizens and foreigners outside the EU who wish to work remotely while enjoy ing the country’s summery weather.

However, it will not be as straightforward as simply turning up and starting to work.

The visa will only be given to people who work remote ly for companies outside

By Jorge Hinojosa

Spain and who derive a maximum of 20% of their income from Spanish firms. If, as is expected, the law is passed, it will allow digital nomads to stay in Spain for up to a year. This would be extendable to five years.

Applicants to the scheme must be able to show ev idence that they have al

THE average cost of a basket of gro ceries has risen 15% in Spain, the highest increase seen in 34 years.

The hikes are most notable among the cheapest lines of products and own brands, which have gone up 16%.

A study from the OCU points out, this will have a major impact on lower-in come households.

The chains Dia and Mercadona are at the top of the list when it comes to price rises, with an increase of 16% in the last year.

The cheapest chains are, according to

ready been working remote ly for at least a year before they move to Spain. They must also be able to show a contract of employ ment from a company out side Spain, or, if freelanc ing, have been regularly employed by a company outside the country.

Food costs soar

the study, Tifer, Dani, Family Cash, Alcampo and Supeco, while Sánchez Romero, Ulabox, Novavenda and Am azon are the priciest. Vigo is the cheapest city for food shop ping, along with Ciudad Real in Castil la la Mancha. The most expensive cit ies are Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona, the Madrid satellite city of Alcoben das, Girona and the Spanish capital itself.

Evidence of sufficient funds to live (probably around €2,000 a month) and proof of an address in Spain will also be needed. It is unclear whether they will need to have private medical cov er. On the other hand, they will be taxed at just 15% of income.

Successful applicants will be able to bring their close family such as spouses and children.

Nomads

Spain will join 15 other Eu ropean countries that al ready offer digital nomad visas - but each country has its own set of conditions.

For example, Greece offers residency of one to three years for digital nomads with a monthly income of at least €3,500.

Better connection

A EUROPE-wide charger for mobile devices will be rolled out across the conti nent in two years.

By the end of 2024 all small and medium-sized portable electronic devices sold in the EU must be equipped with USB-C charging ports. This includes mobile and smartphones, tablets, cam eras, headphones, as well as handheld video game con soles.

Members of the Europe an Parliament voted over whelmingly for the change, in favour of scrapping alter native charging methods.

Under the new rules, con sumers will no longer need a different charger for pur chases they make, as they will be able to use just a single charger for all of their devices.

The new legislation is also expected to benefit the envi ronment, reducing waste by driving down the number of unused cables.

stumbling through the second half of September, the pound euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate then collapsed at the end of the month following the UK government’s mini-budget.

Over the last two weeks, GBP/EUR slumped from €1.156 to a two-year low of €1.087, before recovering some losses and wavering at around €1.118.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

After slipping to a 17-month low in mid-September following a larg er-than-forecast slump in UK retail sales, the pound euro exchange rate started to inch higher once again.

Expectations of a 75-bp interest rate rise from the Bank of England (BoE) gave Sterling some support, although thin trading conditions due to a lack of data and the Queen’s funeral meant GBP movement was limited.

Meanwhile, the single currency came under pressure as Russia es calated its invasion of Ukraine. Four Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine announced plans to hold referenda on joining the Russian Federation, then Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilisation and threatened the use of nuclear weapons.

The pound’s upside was stopped short as the BoE opted for a halfpoint hike, rather than the three-quarter-point move markets had been expecting.

The following day, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled his ‘mini-bud get’, announcing £45bn in unfunded tax cuts – the biggest tax-cutting event in 50 years. The prospect of unmanageable levels of govern ment debt, rampant inflation and soaring interest rates sent UK mar kets into meltdown, with GBP/EUR plummeting to a 19-month low. Sterling briefly hit a two-year low against the single currency – and an all-time low against the US dollar – on the last Monday of September before recovering some ground amid speculation of an emergency rate rise from the BoE.

The pair then wavered in this region through much of the last week of September, with Sterling exhibiting bouts of volatility. While the BoE did not enact an unscheduled rate rise, it did step in with an emer gency bond-buying programme to staunch the sell-off in government bonds, helping the Pound recoup some losses.

In addition, growing tensions between Russia and the West maintained pressure on the euro, thereby supporting GBP/EUR. How ever, Sterling remained weak.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR?

Economic data is fairly thin through the first week of October, so head lines around the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the volatility in UK markets could drive most movement in the pound euro pair.

Whether the Bank of England’s intervention in financial markets is enough to bring about stability remains to be seen. If the bank’s plans fail to alleviate concerns, it may be forced to act again, perhaps with an emergency rate hike, although there is very little appetite for this at Threadneedle Street.

Investors will be keeping a close eye on any rumours or announce ments from both the Treasury and the BoE. The outlook remains incredibly uncertain, meaning there’s a high risk of volatility in the pound.

At the same time, if the Russia-Ukraine war continues to escalate then the euro may face more headwinds. A renewed Russian offensive, fur ther sanctions, or signs that the conflict is spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders could all spell trouble for the single currency.

As we approach the middle of October, some high-impact UK data could prompt GBP/EUR movement. Traders will be watching the lat est labour market and GDP reports closely. Any more signs that the UK economy is faltering will likely add to the intense pressure on the pound.

PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY

This kind of volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, that four-cent gap between €1.15 and €1.11 translates to an €8,000 difference. And the larger the sum, the higher the discrepancy.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can protect against volatility.

Specialist currency brokers, such as Currencies Direct, offer different tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of the currency market. For instance, you can use a forward contract to secure an exchange rate for up to a year. This way, you won’t lose out if the market moves against you. Services like rate alerts and daily updates make it easy to keep track of what’s going on in the forex world so that you can make informed decisions. And with Currencies Direct you’ll have a dedicated account manager there to provide guidance and support whenever you need them.

At Currencies Direct we’re here to talk currency whenever you need us, so get in touch if you want to know more about the latest news or how it could impact your currency transfers.

Since 1996 we’ve helped more than 325,000 customers with their currency transfers, just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more.

MAZARRÓN

C-TYPE:

standard

Eurovision victors

UKRAINE’S Eurovision Song

Contest winners, Kalush Or chestra, will be performing in Alicante on October 15.

The group, mixing in tradi tional Ukrainian music with hip hop sounds, was a run away success with the voting public in May’s contest in Turin.

Kalush Orchestra secured 631 votes for their song Ste fania, just over two months after Ukraine was invaded by Russia, with some of the band members leaving Italy the following day to fight for their country.

The seven piece group will be playing at Alicante’s VB Spaces venue as part of their delayed Eurovision winners tour across the continent.

TWO paintings stolen from an aristocrat by forces of the Spanish dictator Franco have been returned to the family 85 years later.

Their return could see the recovery of other assets and pieces of art seized during the Spanish civil war follow ing the release of a list of 62 artworks taken during the 1936-39 conflict.

Madrid’s Prado museum released the list which fea tured paintings by 17th century Flemish artist Jan Brueghel the Younger and Spanish impressionist Joa quin Sorolla. The two centuries-old mu

By Anthony Piovesan

seum said in a statement it had set up a research team to return the artworks to their original owners and determine if there were oth er works that were also con fiscated.

The two recovered paintings - portraits by Vicente Lopez Portaña and the Flemish painter Frans Pourbuswere tracked down by Ra mon de la Sota Chalbaud, the great grandson of Ra mon de la Sota y Llano, the Marquis of Llano.

The portraits had been lent

STROKES OF BRILLIANCE

ARTISTS from all over Murcia will come together to celebrate the ending of a monthlong art exhibition on Friday.

The exhibit ‘25 expressions of non-figu rative art’ has been running since Sep tember 20 and will conclude on October 14 at the UMU Social Centre in Murcia city.

Director Pepe Hernandez Rubio said the artists were inspired by 20th century mod

ern artworks, which were influenced by sci ence and technology.

He said: “The inner drive of the artist, the urgency to capture his obsessions, the con cern to investigate the use of materials, or the will to blur the usual dimensions are factors that characterise an art where figu ration is reduced to a minimum.”

The exhibition is open between 9am and 8.30pm every day.

to the exhibition by the Parador de Almagro, part of a chain of state-owned hotels.

De la Sota y Llano, a Basque industrialist, was awarded a KBE by George V for lend ing his fleet to help the Brit ish in the First World War. He became a target for Fran co because of his Basque na tionalist sympathies, with dictator forces going after De la Sota y Llano’s proper ties in Bilbao in 1937.

His death in 1936 did not stop Francoists trying De la Sota y Llano 13 months later.

They imposed fines equiv alent to €4 million on his

family and confiscated his art collection.

In the years preceding the Spanish Civil War, authori ties catalogued artworks that were held by private citizens.

Conflict

Then during the conflict these possessions would be regularly seized by Fran coist forces and given to members of the aristocracy. This was the case of the family of Carlos Colon Si cardo, who spoke to the Ol ive Press about his battle to recover works taken from his grandparents around the time of the civil war.

Celebrating culture

FLAMENCO, demonstra tions of war journalism, monologues and theatre will be among some of the experiences on offer at the Murcia Fundacion Mediter raneo.

The autumn celebration of culture at the Aula de Cul tura Fundacion Mediterra neo will start on October 11 and run until December 13, and include 45 performanc es and events.

One of the staples of the program will be the Med iterranean Flamenco Fes tival of Murcia, which will open its sixth edition on Tuesday with a concert by Lucia Beltran.

The young Maria Terremoto, at just 22 years, will per form on Satur day, October 15, while dancer Eduardo Guerre ro will perform on October 21.

The Medi terranean Flamenco Festival will continue in November with a show by Juan Luis Cano and will be closed by singer Arcangel on November 26.

Paintings stolen during Spanish civil war by Franco forces returned to family

ABOUT TIME

RETURNED: Portraits by Portaña and Pourbus

Round 4

A VACCINATION drive using a new delivery of vaccines has begun throughout Spain. The new vaccines are adapted to better match the circulat ing variants of SARSCoV-2 and are expect ed to provide broader protection against dif ferent variants, spe cifically targeting the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.

In total, 44 million doses of the booster will be administered in Spain, starting with the over-80s and residents of care homes.

This will be followed by over-60s, staff at healthcare centres and those people who have not been able to com plete their vaccination schedule.

TRAGIC TOLL

Heart attacks increase 15% in Spain since Covid-19 pandemic

CARDIOVASCULAR deaths have increased by 15% in Spain since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Comprehensive Heart Dis ease Plan for Andalucia di rector Rafael Hidalgo said the rise came down to a re laxation of healthy habits, difficulties with mobility and patients’ fear of doctors.

By Anthony Piovesan

“The abandonment of healthy habits, a sedentary lifestyle, the fear of going to the doctor due to infections may have some thing to do with it and now is when it must be tackled,” he told Despierta Andalucia. There are 15,000 heart at tacks a year in Andalucia and 100,000 throughout Spain. September 29 marked World Health Day and Dr Hidalgo urged people to get regular checkups and look out for symptoms.

SPECIALIST: Hidalgo

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Rated, 4 Oxford, 7 Yap, 9 In awe, 10 Emotive, 11 Boil, 12 Weathers, 14 Wiggle, 15 Warped, 19 Boroughs, 21 Pals, 23 Subside, 24 Infer, 25 Tap, 26 Stints, 27 Silky

Down: 1 Rainbow, 2 Teasing, 3 Dyed, 4 Opener, 5 Frontman, 6 Rhine, 8 Meds, 13 Illusion, 16 Playful, 17 Destroy, 18 Sheets, 19 Bask, 20 Rebut, 22 Lips

“Our goal is to address risk factors, to early detection, di agnosis and treatment to im prove cardiovascular health

PAINFUL TRUTH: Cardiovascular deaths on the rise

and therefore the mortality of the entire population,” he said. “When in doubt as to wheth er or not it is a heart attack, I recommend that families go to hospital or call 061 with a series of questions to identify the problem.”

Identify

The Virgen Macarena Hospi tal in Sevilla this year pilot ed a cardiovascular preven tion consultation program, designed to carry out early detection of severe dyslip idemia, a condition that in volves unhealthy levels of fat in the blood.

Dr Hidalgo is part of the program’s specialist team who monitor the hearts of high-risk patients, a com

puter algorithm then sends an email to the email ad dress of the laboratory with an assessment.

demo

HUNDREDS of people pro tested to call for more doctors at Torrevieja Hospital, which has seen services deterio rate since returning to public management almost a year ago.

Placards called for the resig nation of Valencian president, Ximo Puig, who they blame for pushing through the con troversial removal of the pre vious privately run manage ment company.

The hospital has faced a string of complaints - many of them from expats - about disgraceful care leading to se rious complications and even death.

Dr Juan Carlos Tora, the Med ical Director stepped down from his post last month.

Families hit in pocket by soaring air fares

FLIGHT prices for the UK’s upcoming autumn half-term school holiday are 42% more expensive than they were before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.

Consumers’ organisation Which? reports that the average cost of a one-way ticket at half term for six popular destinations was £212 this year compared to £150 in 2019.

Rising fuel costs, pentup demand and passen ger caps at airports are all contributing factors to this rise.

Of the six destinations an alysed, three are in Spain:

SKY HIGH

By Simon Hunter

Alicante, Malaga and Tenerife. The remainder were Antalya, Dubai and Dublin. The departure air ports were England’s bus iest: Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted, Lu ton and Birmingham. The study found that the Heathrow to Tenerife route had experienced the big gest ticket hike, with an average extra cost of £262 per passenger per flight compared to pre-pandem ic days, meaning an extra £2,096 spent for a family of four.

Frosty report

THE Sierra Nevada ski station in Granada has reported its first snowfall of the season. With two months to go before the official ski season kicks-off, the Sierra Nevada summit has been dusted with a fine layer of white snow.

Sierra Nevada is expected to be the first ski resort in the Iberian Peninsula to open this season, followed by Baqueira Beret in the Pyrenees and from December onwards the Andorran resorts.

The Granada resort has set Friday, Novem ber 25, as the date to open its slopes and lifts. The ski season will run until April 23,

Meanwhile, Heathrow to Malaga flights had risen from £193 to £282, which

is a hike of 216% in just three years. Which? also found that those who booked their half-term flights six months in advance paid an average of £60 less each way com pared to those who booked three months before, which translates into savings of £480 for a family of four.

Rights

Dear Jennifer:

Sadness and reflection

I

FEEL that it is appropriate to speak about Queen Elizabeth instead of insurance this month.

I have been overwhelmed by the reaction of people in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and England.

As we know the Queen loved Balmoral, where she has spent many happy days growing up and having her family there, with no press around to disturb the joy. It was so appropriate that her last request was to go to Balmoral.

I believe the Queen knew she didn’t have much time left and she wanted to die in one of her favourite places. How proud and sad the Scots were and they gave her a very dignified and loving goodbye.

Then she was returned to London and I think the Royal Air Force handled her return with great respect and dignity. It was the start of the enormous part the Services played in her funeral.

On the day of the funeral, everything was extraordinary and beautiful. The organisation and planning behind it all was very professional and sensitive. From family and friends, dig nitaries and politicians and both the British and worldwide public, everyone was able to say goodbye to such a wonder ful Queen, who had been part of our lives for so long.

I have nothing but admiration for King Charles. He managed to do his duty and what was expected of him, although his grief was etched on his face and with Camilla by his side he was able to carry out all the duties expected of him.

His sister, Princess Anne was just amazing - she never left her mothers’ side, wherever the Queen went, she was there.

I wonder if the Queen realised how much she was loved by both her family and by so many millions of people through out the world. The British people pulled together in their grief to give the Queen the send-off she deserved and also to wel come the new King and the beginning of another era.

2023 and will see the inauguration of 105 brand-new snow cannons, meaning snow conditions will be optimal all winter. One day later, Baqueira Beret, one of the most popular and ski resorts in Spain, is set to open in the Val de Aran area of Catalunya.

The consumer champion is calling for passenger rights to be upheld and enforced in this context of higher prices, and wants to see the Civil Aviation Authority to be given powers to impose heavy fines on operators when they break the rules.

I personally feel that King Charles, who has been preparing for years, will make an excellent King and gives us hope for the future.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE ANY INFORMATION OR A QUOTATION, PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF MY OFFICES, EMAIL INFO@JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET OR VISIT THE WEBSITE

The wave of emotion from the people of Scotland, England, Wales and Northen Ireland has been overwhelming

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

THE BEST CHEFS IN THE WORLD

Explained: Why is Spain consistently battering Italy, Japan and even France into a pulp in the restaurant stakes? Great ingredients and the ‘famous five’, writes Olive Press editor Jon Clarke (below)

WHEN

the annual list for the top 100 chefs in the world came out last month, it made for proud reading for Spain.

There were an incredible four Spanish cooks in the global Top 10, while seven made it into the Top 20.

That Madrid’s culinary genius Dabiz Munoz had won for his second year was less surprising for me than the sheer number of lesser known chefs who made the Top100 of the Best Chef poll.

For this year, there are actually 19 chefs spread over 16 amazing Spanish restaurants, easily battering Italy and France into second and third position with 15 and 10 chefs apiece.

Chosen by 150 professionals around the world, including food critics, the Best Chef positioning is later voted by 200 global chefs, making it a genuine industry award.

It is serious stuff and it is not hard to see how well Spain has progressed since the list first came out in 2017.

Back then, while Catalan Joan Roca was top, Spain had just seven chefs in the list, while France had 23 and Italy 17 entries.

Talk about tables turning in just six years, it will have Les Frogsaleisse choking in their boeuf bourguignon.

And it’s not just this global list to note the remarkable chang es, with other presti gious titles, such as Restaurant magazine’s World’s 50 Best list, which has three Spanish joints in the Top 10 as it has for the last decade.

But take the famous French food bible, the Michelin guide. itself.

Today there are 228 restaurants with a Mi chelin star in Spain (11 with the max imum of three stars), while in 2013 there were just 148 (seven getting the maximum rating).

While this is less stars than in Italy, Japan - and of course France itself - the growth has been extraordinary and shows considerable progress for a country that the French traditionally look down their noses at.

Indeed, when I published my own restaurant book, Dining Secrets of Andalucia, a decade ago, the Miche lin guide was taking so little interest in Spain’s largest region that it alleged ly only had one inspector here… the same person also in charge of running a rule over next door Extremadura.

I was so amazed at all the excellent places the famous red guide missed on my work trips around the region with the Olive Press or the British nationals, I felt they warranted their own book to promote them. In total, I had 100 references in that book, spread across the eight provinces, of which per haps only a quarter even got a cursory mention in the Michelin guide.

What I was clearly noticing back then was how much an Iberian gourmet rev olution was rapidly spreading around the south.

Nobody had ever questioned that the Basque re gion or Catalun ya had excellent chefs and cre ativity, much of

it assumed to be due to their closeness to France. The resort of San Sebastian had long been a famous place for a food pilgrimage and its record-break ing concentration of Michelin stars is globally recognised.

But what was much less known was how well you could also eat in places like Ronda, Sevilla and Marbella, or Valencia, Toledo and Cadiz. There were liter ally dozens of creative places popping up each year in the big southern cities, most of them well under the radar.

I felt it was the job of local papers like the Olive Press to champi on these new places and to be at the vanguard of the bustling new foodie scenes that were sparking up in little known gems like Vejer de la Frontera, the Aracena region, in Huelva, or the Cabo de Gata park, in Almeria. What I kept continually noticing was how many local chefs had returned to their hometowns after going off to learn their trade up north and often around the world. They kept mentioning chefs like Martin Berasategui and Ferran Adria… and not only were they coming back with numerous culinary skills, but they were arriving to find the produce in southern Spain was among the best in Europe. Aside from the legendary vegetables and fruits, including mangoes and av ocados, the pork from around Jabugo, the Retinto beef

on the Costa de la Luz and the fish from around Barbate, Denia, Murcia, Sanlucar and Motril was staggeringly good. And then there was the rice from around Valencia, the saffron from in land and the wild mushrooms from the many varied sierras. They only had to head to their local markets at the crack of dawn to get their share.

But the real key to all this, I believe, were the foundations put in place throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. This was when Spain’s culinary stand ing started to come of age, getting past the hedonistic Movida stage of par tying and excess that came after the death of Franco.

FAMOUS FIVE

It was, naturally, up in the north, most ly centred around San Sebastian and Catalunya that the ripples began, founded on the shoulders of five key chefs, the aforementioned Berasategui and Adria, as well as Joan Roca, Pedro Subijana and Juan Mari Arzak.

This famous five of Spanish chefs has had so much influence on the coun try’s cuisine - and trained hundreds of brilliant chefs - that they deserve to be knighted today.

Each of them bold, creative men, what also marks them out is how much ef fort they put into training their staff. One classic example is the success Malaga chef Jose Carlos Garcia has had since serving an internship at Joan Roca’s three Michelin star Celler de

Can Roca two decades ago. Celebrat ing the 10th anniversary at his epon ymous, starred restaurant last week, Roca cooked with his former pupil, be fore expressing his ‘pride’ at how well he has done.

Another talented protege is Benito Gomez at Ronda’s extraordinary two Michelin star Bardal restaurant. When I first met him he was cooking at Fer ran Adria’s El Bulli sister restaurant at Finca Benazuza near Sevilla, pulling out a remarkable 25-course tasting menu twice a day. It was the best meal I have ever eaten (aside from the mas tery of Dabiz Munoz at Madrid’s Diverxo a few years back) and Benito gives so much respect to the inspiration he got from his teacher Adria who ‘blew away the es tablishment’.

Adria himself gave a glow ing tribute to the new phalanx of chefs ‘doing amazing things’ in Anda lucia, six years ago. Speaking to me at an event at Marbella’s Puente Romano hotel, the Catalan revealed how much he loved travelling south since things had improved. “The region really is extraordi nary now and just keeps getting better,” he told the Olive Press. “There are at least five or six really amazing restau rants that did not exist here a decade ago and creativity is very much at the fore.”

Subijana (of Akelarre restaurant) is another chef who raved about the rap id improvements around the south of the country when I interviewed him in 2014. An incredibly generous and nur turing man, he didn’t stop stressing the importance of teaching and is known to give an enormous amount of time to young chefs.

Meanwhile, San Sebastian’s Bera sategui, who has a record 12 Michelin stars globally, has sent out dozens of top chefs to cook around Spain. These include Eneko Atxa, whose own restau rant Azurmendi sits in the Top 20 of both the world’s top restaurant lists.

Last, but not least, Juan Mari Arzak, of ten described as the ‘godfather of Spanish cuisine’ is credited with creating a creative trend in Spanish cuisine which took on a head of steam when he set up the Basque-based Eu ro-toques network alongside Subijana in 1986.

FOOD TOURISM

One final point worthy of note is the importance in the growth of gourmet tourism over the last few decades with the industry predicted to grow by 16% to €1.8 trillion globally by 2027.

The World Food Travel Association estimates that visitors spend approx imately 25% of their travel budget on food and drinks and the figure can get as high as 35% in upmarket des tinations. With Spain coming second only to Italy with the largest number of culinary tourists (22%) a year in Europe, it has become very big business.

But, as Ferran Adria stressed to me in 2016, chefs around Spain have been bril liant at just getting on with it and fo

€1.8 trillion... the value of the global gourmet tourist market

Dozens of creative places pop up each year in the big southern cities

LISTEN UP: Ferran Adria tells Jon why Spain’s chefs have reached the top

FAMOUS FIVE: From left, Ferran Adria, Joan Roca, Martin Berasategui, Pedro Subijana and Juan Mari Arzak

GENIUS: Madrid’s Diverxo chef Dabiz Munoz has snared the number one slot for the second year in a row

Judge Rude-y

Bedrock ambassador

THE caves of Nerja are so popular that the local tourism board have given them the title of ‘Tourism Ambassador 2022’.

Refuse corrector

A MADRID resi dent has been fined €2,001 for leaving a cardboard box next to the bins in a City Hall crackdown on ‘littering’.

Plane daft

CLUELESS Saz Ismail has launched a Go Fund Me appeal after getting stranded on Ibiza when he first missed his flight, then booked a second from the wrong island and finally bought a ticket to the wrong UK airport.

Storm in a paella pan

Spanish police dub Tesco sandwich a ‘health hazard’

SPAIN’S Guardia Civil have waded into a row over UK retailer Tesco’s paella sand wich.

Perhaps still smarting from celebrity chef Jamie Oli ver’s definitely not pucker recipe for the rice dish that included chorizo sausage, to the outrage of many ‘afi cionados’, the police are not impressed with the culinary innovation.

By Jorge Hinojosa

“Today is world paella day, so we need to celebrate with real paella, not with those paellas that are sold abroad,” wrote the Guardia Civil on its Twit ter account.

“The paella sandwich for some people is something amazing, but for others it is disgusting and could be a

health hazard,” it insisted. Some Spaniards living in the UK are also ‘surprised’ and

A SPANISH Boeing cargo plane, has crash-landed into a lake near Mont pellier airport in southern France

The plane overshot the runway and nosedived into a lake, leading to three people being rescued from the aircraft.

According to Flightradar24 data, the plane was travelling a very fast 160 knots when it landed and was unable to stop in time to avoid the end of the runway.

can't believe that there is a paella sandwich.

Carla Cano, 23, current ly working as an events assistant in London, told the Ol ive Press: “I imagine my self having a paella in

front of the beach in Spain, not on my way to work in Ox ford street.”

And plenty of Spaniards have taken the news extremely seriously. One Spaniard on Twitter thundered: “This is an insult and a lack of respect for a Spanish dish, for the community in Spain, for all Valencians.”

To make matters worse, the sandwich follows Jamie’s ad vice and includes the dreaded chorizo.

A MAN due to stand trial for ‘exhibitionism’ was turned away from court when he arrived totally naked.

Alejandro Colomar, 29, was due to appeal a fine handed to him for walking around Valencia without a stitch on except for a pair of boots. But when he tried to enter the court, cops refused him entry and told him that if he did not put on his clothes, he would get another fine.

“I have been to nudist beaches since I was little and I have never had any problem with nudity. One day I discovered that it was legal to be naked and I started to do it,” said Colo mar.

Stingy

A WOMAN who drove the wrong way down a motorway for seven kilometres because she was too mean to pay a toll now faces a hefty fine instead.

Police were called by staff on the R3 in Madrid to tell them a car had turned around when it arrived at the tollbooth and was driving against oncoming traffic.

The woman told officers that she was trying to avoid the toll.