Olive Press Costa Blanca South and Murcia Issue 85

...HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

...AND READ ABOUT...

O P LIVE RESS The

International Women’s Day

Gender push

A NEW law will make it mandatory for corporate boards to be composed of at least 40% women.

Spain’s Parliament is set to introduce the ‘gender parity law’, which would see a similar quota set for the cabinet.

BITCON

A KIDNAPPING of two expats foiled by Spanish police last year is linked to an enormous crypto currency scandal set to rock the country, the Olive Press can reveal.

The incredible drama which saw the couple held for several hours took place after hundreds of investors feared they had lost as much as €70 million in the ‘crypto scam’.

The snatching of Russian Pavel Sidirov and his wife in June was initially treated by police as routine extortion, as we reported at the time.

The couple had been kidnapped outside their villa in El Campello, Alicante, by two bogus cops flashing fake Guardia Civil badges and a Russian woman acting as an interpreter. They were bundled into a car, stripped and the wife was tied up and used as a hostage.

The gang then threatened both their lives if they did not hand over the codes to a crypto wallet containing millions.

Tech guru Sidirov cleverly bought time by telling the gang that the codes were distributed in 12 separate houses that they would have to go to individually to fetch. And in one of them - with his wife still bound and gagged in the boot of the carSidirov was able to

EXCLUSIVE: Kidnap, crypto and the Russians: The multimillioneuro scandal that may have defrauded hundreds in Spain

By Walter Finch

call his lawyer for help.

The lawyer alerted the police, who were quickly on the scene to catch the kidnappers. Police arrested six people, including a retired Guardia Civil officer, while the alleged ringleader, Carlos Garrido (pictured), handed himself in in the ensuing days to deny he was a criminal.

Scheme

Insisting he wasn’t a criminal, he claimed the scheme was a minor matter and he was merely representing a group of investors trying to recover €2 million ‘owed to them’ by Sidirov. While it seemed to be the end of the matter, the Olive Press can reveal today that the kidnapping is just a small part of a much bigger scandal that is set to engulf the already beleaguered crypto industry.

The kidnapping is linked to a Gibral-

tar-linked crypto firm that has become immersed in a murky world of trading failures. According to well placed sources, hundreds of frantic investors are now scrambling to recover their funds from the trading platform Globix, which at its peak had almost €150 million under management.

Over the last few months it has gradually become clear to investors, based in Gibraltar and Spain, that Globix has allegedly lost as much as two thirds of this enormous sum.

And in a bizarre twist, the Olive Press can reveal that the remaining €40 million is apparently in the hands of a shady IT firm based in Ukraine.

It happened after Sidirov activated a mechanism during his kidnap that sent the codes to Globix’s partners in Kyiv.

An independent investigation by a well known Gibraltar financial company told investors they had been struggling to get any money back from Ukraine.

It added the CEO of the Kyiv-based firm had ‘not been forthcoming’ in

his efforts to return the money and was ‘now under arrest’.

A statement issued to investors in January, seen by the Olive Press, reads: “The police have been contacted, as has the Ministry (of Finance) and collectively we are hopeful that they will ensure the process is completed satisfactorily.”

It added: “We have the Ukrainian special police involved and they have arrested three individuals. They are looking for a fourth individual. These people hold the data that is needed to facilitate the final transfer.”

While this has been hard to independently verify, Globix’ website has not been functioning since November, when a statement was put up reading: ‘We will not be taking on any more accounts’.

When contacted by the Olive Press for comment, the alleged boss of Globix dismissed all the allegations against him and his company as ‘lies’. The Gibraltarian, who lists himself on LinkedIn as a ‘crypto mining broker’, said: “I’m not allowed to speak about that at the moment. Sorry.”

He added: “Basically someone is shit stirring and if you have any evidence send it to me. On top of that it’s still ‘secreto sumario’ at Alicante court so you should talk to the court.”

According to his CV he attended the

Tambov University, in Russia, before setting up ‘a crypto mining farm in Russia in conjunction with a Russian team’.

Opinion Page 6

It was due to be passed last night on the eve of International Women’s Day today and will be ratified by congress next month.

All publicly-traded companies, or those with over 250 employees, must comply by July next year. Although many firms on the Ibex-35 already meet the quota, several fall short.

Childcare cash

A JUDGE has calculated the value of a stay-athome mum during 25 years of marriage; some €204,000.

It comes from the cost of paying for childcare and housework and was calculated during a separation hearing in Malaga.

The couple had got married under the separacion de bienes regime, which means that if they were to split, each would only have a right to their own assets.

This left the wife entitled to just half of a property she shared with her wealthy husband, who had amassed luxury assets over the years. The judge calculated the cost of raising their two daughters and ordered the husband to cough up.

See our International Women’s Day pullout inside

From Franco’s 50’s pamphlet on how to be a ‘good wife’ to femaleonly bookshops and a trio of woman at the top Spanish firms...

...the pioneering women who started the fight for women’s rights in Spain

Healthy figure

MEDICAL negligence claims in the Valencia region last year fell by 4.5% to 963 compared to 2021, according to the Health Ombudsman.

Salty bathing

TORREVIEJA council wants to create a swimming area at the city’s salt lake as part of plans to set up a tourist centre in empty buildings on the site.

Keeping track

A network of buoys and sensors to monitor the state of the Mar Menor lagoon will be installed at six sites. The €1.5 million system will be operational in the summer of 2024.

Cruel cut

A patient has demanded €67,600 from the Murcian Health Service after his penis was cut by six centimetres when an operation to cure erectile pain went wrong.

BRITISH NAZI EXTREMIST PLEADS GUILTY

A RACIST British extremist who lived between Alicante and Marbella has admitted he shared a stash of terrorist documents on social media.

Kristofer Kearney, 38, confirmed to the Old Bailey that he had shared the files

that encouraged far-right terror attacks.

Known as ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’, the Liverpool man was extradited from Spain in September.

As well as sharing the manifestos of nazi killers Anders Breivik and Brenton Tar-

rant, who killed 128 people between them, he ran a social media site called ‘Fascist Fitness’ out of Spain. The Olive Press monitored him for a year, as he travelled between a villa in Albir, in Alicante, and Marbella.

Brothel creeper

Corruption scandal blows up for Socialist party over a hookers and kickbacks scheme

A LEADING politician went to a brothel on the day his party issued a firm condemnation of prostitution in Parliament.

PSOE deputy Juan Fuentes - or ‘Tito Berni’ as he is often known - visited Club Sombras, in Madrid, after a night out with clients, spending €150 on gin & tonics alone.

The Canary Islands politician has now become the focus of a kickbacks-for-favours scandal

that has already cost him his role as a politician in the Congress of Deputies.

The so-called ‘Mediator’ case is now probing the scandal in which he and other figuresincluding a Guardia Civil boss - are accused of running a network taking bribes for political favours.

The group is accused of spending money on sex parties involving drugs, alcohol and pros-

SEVEN Ukrainians have been jailed after items worth over €1.2 million were stolen from refugees.

The Torrevieja-based gang also had assistance from a Russian couple and their son who provided them with vehicles for their robberies.

The group have been charged with seven burglaries in Catral, Guardamar, the Orihuela Costa, Pilar de la Horadada, Torrevieja, and San Pedro del Pinatar.

titutes, in return for favourable rulings or lucrative contracts. So far 12 people are being investigated, including at least seven businessmen. The case came to light when a series of arrests were carried out in the Canary Islands and mainland Spain, including Fuentes (right). The network is alleged to have handed businesses public contracts in exchange for kick-

Bad apples

Victims were mainly Ukrainian women who fled their homeland with their children after last year’s Russian invasion. The Guardia Civil are looking into additional robberies and have recovered cash, jewellery, watches, phones, laptops, tablets, and stamp collections valued at over €1.2 million.

backs, as well as bribing firms in the farming sector in exchange for positive inspections. It also ensured that those involved would receive payments from European

Union funding. Compromising photos of Fuentes with hookers have been published in the press, causing an outrage in the run up to International Women’s Day.

Fuentes trip to Club Sombras came as his boss, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez condemned prostitution to coincide with International Day Against Sexual Exploitation and the Trafficking of Women and Children in September 2020.

Police also launched a campaign that day targeting men who pay for sex. A Tenerife court is now tasked to probe the scandal.

AN Alicante mother has been arrested after her 17-monthold son ate cannabis-laced corn snacks that imitated the Cheetos brand.

The boy suffered from vomiting and lost consciousness after consuming THC, which is the main psychoactive component of cannabis.

The drug was in a bag marked THCheetos which are banned in Spain and was almost certainly bought online.

The youngster spent two days at Alicante General Hospital.

Feeling cheeto-ed Bad faith

A CARE home worker has been charged with fraud after charging over €6,000 to a bank card belonging to a deceased British resident.

The 42-year-old female employee was arrested when the family of the deceased man - who was in his 90s - found his card had been used several days after his death in the Vega Baja area.

BROADWAY PICASSO

STAR of innumerable Hollywood movies Antonio Banderas has revealed that he is starting negotiations with several Broadway companies about staging a musical in English about Pablo Picasso. If the negotiations materialise, Banderas aims for the world premiere to be held at the Soho Theatre in Malaga, the city where Picasso was born 141 years ago.

The 62-year-old, Oscar-nominated actor is busier than ever, having recently completed 240 performances of the hit musical Company

THE PRICE OF SILENCE

Husband of King’s sister wants €25,000 a month maintenance in divorce settlement

THE former Duke of Palma - and jailbird - Inaki Urdangarin is reportedly asking for €25,000 a month from his soon to be ex-wife, the Infanta Cristina.

The two split by ‘mutual agreement’ just days after photos were published of him with another woman.

Although they announced they were to be divorced in January 2022, negotiations over a final settlement have dragged on. Now Lecturas magazine has claimed that the settlement for the divorce - which is expected to come through in April - will include the monthly €25,000,

By Dilip Kuner

with a clause stipulating neither he nor his extended family talk about the marriage.

Infanta Cristina (57) and Urdangarin (55) have been married since 1997 and have four children. At present, Cristina is said to pay all the family expenses as well as €6,000 a month to Urdangarin. The final blow to their marriage was when a magazine published pics of Urdangarin with female co-worker Ainhoa Armentia (44) during a stroll in the south of France, close to where he and

Christian concert

PAUL Jones, lead singer of The Manfreds (formerly Manfred Mann) is heading to Spain - and you can see him free.

Together with his wife, former actress Fiona Hendley-Jones, who starred in ITV’s Widows, they will appear at the Centro Alfa & Omega in Denia on April 29 at 7pm.

Oops!... I did it again

ONE ‘revenge song’ by Shakira just wasn’t enough. The Colombian superstar has just released a second aimed squarely at her ex, former Catalan footballer Gerard Pique. She has teamed up with fellow Colombian Karol G to record TQG with the song also taking a potshot at Karol’s ex rapper Anuel AA. The song’s title stands for ‘Te Quede Grande’, a phrase also used in Session 53, the first diss song, which was recorded with Argentine producer Bizarrap, and can be roughly translated as ‘I was too big for you’. It turned into a world-wide smash racking up more than 350 million views on YouTube and became the most-streamed Latin song on Spotify.

his wife have a holiday home. Urdangarin later admitted that ‘these are things that happen’.

The then Duke of Palma, was jailed for five years and 10 months for corruption in 2018. However, in June 2020, he was allowed out due to good behaviour and converted his sentence to community work.

The former Olympic handball

Fiona gave up acting to tour as a Christian speaker and together with Paul will sing and also give their Christian testimony. She and Jones both became Christians after being invited by Cliff Richard to a large-scale evangelistic event led by Luis Palau in the early 1980s.

player used his royal connections to win public contracts related to sports. He then overcharged for events before hiding the money abroad. He was convicted of using his Mallorca-based foundation to siphon off €6 million between 2004 and 2006. Cristina was acquitted of aiding her husband at a trial in 2017 but ordered to pay a €265,000 fine as she benefited from her husband’s racket. King Felipe stripped them of their titles of the Duke and Duchess of Palma after the scandal broke.

Allegations

Unlike her brother, King Felipe, she has not renounced her father’s inheritance, so when the former King Juan Carlos dies, she stands to inherit a fortune.

HAPPIER TIMES: The couple at their wedding

A HEALTH workers’ strike at Torrevieja Hospital has been called off after the regional government dropped a legal challenge over a three-year old union deal.

Unions say the U-turn was forced by the threat which will not be officially withdrawn until they get confirmation from the Valencian government's legal department.

The regional government wanted to overturn a deal struck with the hospital's private management company in 2020.

Unhealthy problem

ALICANTE province had the third-highest number of assaults and threats made to health workers in Spain last year, according to the Policia Nacional.

The region had 16 assaults last year - six more than in 2021with five people additionally charged with threatening behaviour.

One of the most dramatic cases was at an Alicante health centre where a doctor and nurse were attacked.

They had to lock themselves in a room to protect themselves from the assailant before calling the police.

Some 241 complaints were processed across Spain in 2022.

TEMPERATURES are set to soar into the mid-30s in Valencia and Murcia this weekend, potentially breaking records.

Weather agency Aemet predicts that some inland areas could reach 35 degrees on Saturday.

The change in air temperature is coming from an anticyclone located south of Portugal.

Towns including Murcia, Albatera and Orihuela could climb to 35 degrees,

March sizzler

while Benidorm and Denia will see temperatures between 25 and 28 degrees.

The Valencia weather observatory has not seen 30 degrees topped in the first half of March since records started in 1869.

The warmest March days were recorded in 2001.

TRAGI-COMIC

A FORMER Murcia leader has been sentenced to three years in jail for rigging the tender of a construction project.

Pedro Antonio Sanchez was also fined €3,600 and landed a 17-year disqualification from public office over the scheme in which an architect pal handed a public contract without competition.

The project in Puerto Lumbreras was to build a theatre in the inland town during

Former Murcia president sentenced to three years in jail for rigging theatre tender

By Walter Finch

Sanchez’s tenure as mayor to the tune of €3million.

Under the Caso Auditorio investigation the court found him guilty of ensuring the town hall commissioned his architect friend,

TWO people who stole vintage wines worth €1.6 million from a Michelin-starred restaurant have been jailed.

Caceres Provincial Court has sentenced former Mexican beauty queen, Priscilla Guevara, to four years and her Dutch-Romanian boyfriend, Constantin Dumitru, to four-and-a-half years.

They've also been landed with a bill of over €750,000 as compensation to the Atrio restaurant's insurer.

Martin Lejarraga. The court found him guilty of arranging the tender with Lejarraga and doing everything possible to ‘avoid free competition for others during the tender process’. Sanchez (pictured) had been President of Murcia in 2017, when he was forced to

Expensive plonk

The star attraction of the 45 bottle haul was a 1806 bottle of Chateau d'Yquem worth over €300,000, but none of the wines have been recovered.

The couple were arrested trying to cross into Croatia from Montenegro following extensive cooperation between Spanish cops and police across Europe.

Big step forward

TORREVIEJA council has allocated a €1.5 million contract to prepare a detailed construction plan to revamp the city's Paseo de la Libertad area.

The tender winner will have six months to produce the draft for a project that could cost up to €20 million. Work could start before the end of the year after over two decades of discussions as to what improvements are needed.

As previously reported by the Olive Press, several streets would become pedestrian-only, while two major attractions, the 'hippy' market site and the city fairground will be relocated. The drafting process is expected to study the practicality of building an underground road tunnel underneath the adjoining Paseo Vista Alegre.

resign after being implicated in the planning case. The former PP politician was also found guilty on a second charge of agreeing to modify the project in order to ensure the town hall kept a €6 million regional subsidy for the development.

The alterations meant that the subsidy would not be reimbursed even if the project was never finished.

Lejarraga was also found guilty, but escaped a prison stint, instead being disqualified from public office for 16 years.

Bridging the gap

WORK has finally begun to rebuild a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in the September 2019 floods.

A new walkway will connect Playa de Mil Palmeras with Torre de la Horadada after the bridge collapsed due to strong currents of the Rio Seco.

The €290,000 rebuild should be completed by the end of the summer.

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

Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION

Crypto scam

THE famous adage suggested northern Europeans too often ‘left their brains at the airport’ before being turned over by the numerous timeshare scams in Spain.

And just as we spent over a decade warning readers to watch out for the timeshare crooks, we are once again telling them not to be taken in by the latest round of ‘big return’ investments.

The Globix cryptocurrency platform was sadly one of many suspect schemes that promised the earth, but in the end could not deliver.

Many of the victims of Globix we spoke to were lured in by seemingly easy money and an endless stream of winning trades.

But, like all investments, speak to experts, research the background of the organisers and do your due diligence. Remember: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

Splashing the cash

HOW can you tell when an election is coming in Spain?

Simple - the roads get repaired, museums are launched and rubbish gets cleaned up.

Politicians up for re-election have long saved their cash up over the four-year cycle to splash it out now in exchange for votes in the May 28 local and regional elections. In its broadest interpretation, this could be viewed as a form of corruption, perhaps unfairly so.

But two stories in today’s paper show that corruption remains at the very heart of much of Spanish political life. It might seem shocking that former Murcia President Pedro Antonio Sanchez has been jailed for a jobs for the boys scheme, while Juan Fuentes, a member of Congress, is being investigated for demanding kick-backs. But actually, after probing crime and corruption for 17 years, we find it no surprise at all.

For the Olive Press team (and long-time residents of Spain) it’s just a case of ‘same old, same old’. It is time for voters to remember to punish the crooks at the polls. Not be so easily schmoozed by a new series of white lines or a shiny new community centre.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Anthony Piovesan anthony@theolivepress.es

Jo Chipchase jo@theolivepress.es

John Culatto

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

WE NEED GUARDIAN ANGELS!

The Olive Press takes a trip into Spain’s Suicide Triangle as Alcala la Real, in Jaen, launches a new approach to the problem

THE attractive mountain town of Alcala la Real is topped by a Crusader castle and cascades down a steep hillside, connecting the Guadalquivir Valley with the Granada plains.

Known for its world music festival, Etnosur, the Jaen province market town has a healthy expat population and a rich historical past that stretches back to Roman times. But sadly, today, it also has a darker claim to fame: it is the suicide capital of Spain, and part of the notorious ‘suicide triangle’, formed with Priego de Cordoba and Iznajar, both in neighbouring Cordoba.

With just over 20,000 residents, Alcala has an alarmingly-high suicide rate of 21 per 100,000 inhabitants, compared to the national average of 8.45 and the world average of nine. Only Lugo and Zamora in Spain’s depopulated north (and barren Alentejo, across the border in Portugal) come close. Spain, in general, is considered a high-risk country for suicides, with an alarming 11 people a day taking their lives, while over 50% of provinces have above average suicide rates.

In Alcala, this is felt acutely: the town has dealt with 300 suicides in the last three decades –the last one being an 18-year-old boy, who was found dead on Christmas Eve. Statistics show that 75% of actual suicides involve men and 25% women. However, with attempted suicides, 60-70% involve women and the main age brackets are 15 to 34-year-olds and those over 65.

FIGHT BACK: The battle has begun against suicide in Alcala

By Jo Chipchase

as it gets colder and the nights draw in. Recent problems, including the long six-year recession and the pressures of the Covid pandemic, which strained people’s finances and mental health, have affected Andalucia’s suicide triangle.

Another key factor is the loneliness felt by single or widowed people, professional stress in a year when more Spanish companies folded than ever before (2022), causing unemployment. Youth depression is also a significant problem in Spain.

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So, what is causing such suicidal tendencies in Alcala, a town that - on the surface - seems to have a lot in its favour? Research suggests that living in remote, mountain areas can fuel suicide rates – partly because of the topography. Historically, many people feel isolated and trapped in Alcala, and have had difficulty socialising.

This is a common factor in Jaen, Granada and Cordoba, as well as parts of inland Malaga and particularly isolated inland regions of Valencia and Castellon. There also appears to be a domino effect, with people influenced by their peer group. And as suicide is a stigmatised topic, people don’t always seek help.

A spokesperson from farmacia Fernando Castenada who has studied the issue, told the Olive Press: “ Historically, this has been a traditional area planted with olive groves. The scenery is not very diverse, people frequently marry within their own families, many hardly ever leave the area, and it has very hot summers. The suicide tendency could also be passed down genetically.”

Weather is certainly found to influence suicides, with the colder, darker weather having a bad influence.

A 2021 study in Cordoba showed that women's suicides coincide more with higher wind speeds (a problem that has afflicted Tarifa, one of the windiest places in Europe) and occur more frequently in Spring (46%), while men’s attempts are higher in autumn (29%)

A recent 2022 survey in Catalunya on the emotional state of adolescents, with 270,000 students aged 12-18, found that 43.4% had experienced suicidal thoughts, while over 40% had ‘hoped not to wake up in the morning’, and 26.8% had self-harmed.

The data is higher than in previous studies, which is alarming.

So what is being done?

Aware that the town must tackle its suicide problem head-on, Alcala has now joined the European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD). Funded by the European Commission and launched in Germany in 2004, it links family doctors, mental health specialists, pharmacists, social workers, police, and community volunteers, so they can identify potential suicidal tendencies.

Andalucia’s Minister of Health, Catalina García, signed up Alcala in October, insisting that ‘mental health awareness should be a government objective’, including care for vulnerable adolescents.

To aid this new approach, Alcala’s mayor, Antonio Marino, has teamed up with Benedicto Crespo, an eminent professor of psychiatry at the University of Sevilla.

The director of the Virgen del Rocio Hospital explained that if specialists could ‘detect depression in time, they would be able to prevent suicide’.

A summer course on mental health in childhood and adolescence is now being developed and a local poster campaign is soon to be launched. Nearby,

CALL FOR HELP: 024 is Spain’s national suicide prevention service, operates 24/7 and is free of charge (English spoken).

SAMARITANS IN SPAIN: Call FREEPHONE 900 525 100 between 10am and 10pm to talk to a trained listener in total confidence or: email: pat@samaritansinspain.com

in Priego, a ‘Suicide Prevention Committee’ has been set up.

“We are thankful for this project as we know it’s a taboo subject that we must overcome and face with determination,” explained the mayor last year.

“The whole of society must get involved and be guardian an-

gels of those you see with a lost look or lowered head. We will only get out of the stigma by taking care of each other…. And breaking the pattern.”

They are strong words, but will it work?

Although the will to stop suicide exists, there are still plenty of problems. Statistics show that only 20% of suicidal people approach primary care services in the days before their attempt, using such services such as Spain’s 061 number.

This is where intervention and professional emotional support can save lives, by pointing out alternative courses of action.

But many people don’t reach out and resources aren’t always sufficiently provisioned. The facts are that Andalucia’s mental health services are overstretched - with long waiting lists – and the pandemic made this worse. Treating depression can be handled slowly and badly.

The Olive Press spoke to one expat grandmother, whose adult daughter had a ‘suicidal episode’, as she calls it, last year.

“The help is practically non-existent,” explained the British expat, based in Granada. “My daughter put her head through a rope and stood on a chair. This tipped over and she blanked out and broke her jaw, bit her tongue, and was covered in blood.”

She continued: “We managed to get there just in time and rushed her to ‘Urgencias’, where she was referred to the public psychiatrist, who was a waste of time.

“They either have pills and sedation, or you must volunteer to be a mental inpatient. “After several weeks, an ambulance finally took my daughter to a mental health ward, which was tiny and non-segregated.

“While there, she formed a relationship with a male inmate, who later turned up uninvited at my home. People are assessed, prescribed, and released with no proper backup. No-one is then keeping an eye out for them.”

There’s also a tendency for busy doctors to simply prescribe antidepressants instead of therapy.

Perhaps what is needed is a national approach, with more mental health provision and intervention, like the one that Alcala is pioneering.

Spain is currently working on its proposed Mental Health Law, that aims to increase the current six psychologists and eight psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants to 18 of each as well as 23 specialist nurses. This is grinding through the legislative process. It would be a success story well worth trumpeting around Spain. We will wait and see.

International Women’s Day

HEALTHY WAGE

THERE are 250% more news stories about men than women, according to a new study.

The report by Spanish firm, Llorente & Cuenca, also reveals that women feature 21% less in the headlines.

Under represented OUR BRILLIANCE IS IN OUR DIVERSITY

Moreover, when women do appear in articles there is often an explicit mention of their gender and family and their sex is more prominent than their identity.

“An example would be; ‘A woman could be the new president of the US’ rather than ‘Kamala Harris is a strong candidate for presidency’,” a spokesman explained, adding that there is a bias, which makes women invisible and anonymous.

Grim stats

THE average woman in Spain earns 20% less than men and half of them have suffered abuse at work.

What’s more, The burden of care and unpaid work falls mainly on women while companies close the doors to management positions.

According to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics, the average salary for men in Spain is €26,369 whereas for women it is €21,682. Moreover, 93,6% of people who work part-time to take care of children and the elderly are women.

And the Ministry of Equality states that 57.3% of women have suffered gender violence and 13.2% have suffered sexual violence.

AWOMAN’S place is in the home. And the boardroom. In fact, it is anywhere she damn pleases, particularly in this day and age in Spain. But as another old adage goes, a woman’s work is never done. And there is no doubt, we often have to fight twice as hard to get the pay we deserve and speak twice as loud to have our voices heard in the workplace.

You’d be hard pressed to find a woman, even in 2023, who hasn’t been called ‘darling’, ‘sweetheart’ or ‘gorgeous’ in the office, and even boardroom.

And sadly, that’s getting off lightly. Complaining about these kinds of ‘compliments’ often isn’t worth your breath, since it’ll most likely be brushed off by colleagues as a ‘bit of banter.’

A working woman now knows she has to pick her battles, and unfortunately a daily scuffle with balding dinosaurs over terms of endearment - or endowment - has to be sidelined for more pressing matters such as pay, fair treatment and basic respect.

AN UNFAIR PORTRAYAL

WOMEN don’t take their kids to school in heels carrying a box of washing powder.

A recent study has found that 94% of women don’t identify with portrayals of themselves in advertising campaigns.

The questionnaire of 2000 women who were shown 20,000 adverts from 17 sectors, found they totally disagreed with the way they are used in adverts. Indeed, according to the study by Havas Media, while women make up 88% of consumer decisions, an alarming 6% feel properly represented.

Meanwhile 40% of ads are ‘sexist’ according to the Association of Users’ Communication (AUC).

Sometimes it’s a case of ‘sneaky sexism’ - a woman pouring detergent into the machine for example - while at other times it's overt. In the UK an NHS stay at home Covid ad (right) caused so much outrage, it had to be removed. It portrayed a woman at home with the kids, mopping, while ironing with a baby in her arms. Meanwhile, her husband sat on the sofa.

Please reward women equally, insists Madrid-based expat journalist Fiona Govan

It is both exhausting and astonishing that in 2023 women still have to fight for the bare minimum. Take equal pay. It is fairly straightforward in principle: creating equality of opportunity for all, irrespective of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. But somehow some of the biggest brains in business still struggle to grasp the concept.

As we face another economic downturn in the wake of coronavirus and as the Ukraine war starts to ramp up again it is clearer than ever that our old systems are failing us at every turn.

It is time to challenge the status quo and do away with outdated modes of working - and women need to be helping to usher in the new dawn. Women are just as productive and determined as their male counterparts, and businesses need to recognise this. And not just because of quotas but to build better businesses and a better future for everyone.

EQUALITY: But not in UK homes according to NHS

Speaking of the future, one that continues to pay women less than men or discriminates against anyone is a discredit to us all.

Businesses should of course be making gender equality and equal pay a key foundation of success. It is the right thing to do.

Indeed it is a shame that in 2021 the Spanish Government felt they had no choice but to intervene to ensure that women in the country are given the same pay as men. Now businesses have to share what they are doing, because they can’t be trusted to do the right thing.

Just look at women in healthcare. Research last year found that Spain was one of the best places to be a female health professional in Europe, ranking eighth, while its doctors and nurses are ranked among the top three in Europe.

A cause for celebration? Hardly. Female doctors and nurses here are earning an average of €10,000 less

than their male counterparts (see Healthy wage, above right).

And for those who brand the fight for equal pay as propaganda coming from ‘male-hating feminists’, remember we’re sticking it to the man, not men. Our brilliance is in our diversity. Recognise it. Celebrate it. Reward it. And reward it equally. That’s just good business sense.

FOR women looking to embark on a demanding career in the health sector, making sure they earn a fair amount for their hard work could be a driving factor in deciding where to relocate.

Spain has been named one of the top countries for women in health care, according to new data by Lenstore. The country, at ninth position, was found to offer some of the best opportunities in Europe.

This is down to a number of factors including average working hours, yearly salary, holiday allowance and the number of women in the industry. But upon closer inspection of the Lenstore study, Spain and the rest of Europe have a long way to go until equality is achieved.

In Spain the average female pay for health professionals stands at €29,800 lower than the €39,616 average annual salary for men.

Meanwhile in France, which was ranked as the best country in Europe to be a female healthcare professional, women still make an average of €7,000 a year less than their male counterparts. The UK came in sixth place overall, with average female pay at £30,059, lower than the £43,953 average annual salary for men.

Inpower

SPAIN has far more female parliamentary representation than the average in European countries.

The 252 women sitting in Spain’s upper and lower houses represent 42.4% of seats, compared to a European average of 31.1% and a global share of 26.6%.

The figures, collated by analysts IPU Parline, reveal that in Europe the most represented countries for women are Iceland (47.6%), Andorra, Sweden (both 46.4%) Norway (46.2%), Finland (45.5%), Denmark (43.6%) Belgium (42.7%) and North Macedonia (42.5%).

This puts Spain at ninth in Europe and 22nd in the world.

The country with the most female parliamentarians by share is Rwanda (61.3%) followed by Cuba (53.4%) and Nicaragua (51.7%).

The UK is 48th world-wide with 34.5% of its parliamentarians being women.

International Women’s Day

Painful period law

SPAIN has become one of the most forward-thinking countries in Europe after granting women who suffer from especially painful periods (dysmenorrhoea) up to three days paid leave per month.

The legislation on ‘menstrual leave’ - which can be extended to five in severe cases - is the first of its kind in Europe and takes into account the financial pressure that period poverty imposes on women.

While debate about period poverty typically relates to hygiene products, women who struggle with dysmenorrhoea are also disadvantaged by being unable to take sick leave and instead resort to unpaid leave or using up holiday.

WELCOME

Ana Botin, CEO, Banco Santander

THE fourth generation of the Botin family in the CEO role, Ana Botin (Santander, 1960) came well-prepared, first studying economics and working at JP Morgan in New York. After taking over from her father, she helped the bank evolve into one of the world’s leading financial institutions. She served as the first female president of the European Banking Federation, and outside her nine-to-five job, she’s involved with her foundation (Fundacion CyD) which encourages university graduates to apply their know-how to social and economic development in Spain.

Belen Frau Global communications manager, IKEA

STARTING on the shop floor of a local branch of IKEA in the Basque country in 2004, armed only with an allen key, she worked her way up. And how! Frau (Bilbao, 1974) became the first female CEO of Ikea in Spain in 2011, and four years later got responsibility for the company in seven countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the UK, Switzerland – and even Sweden! Now she has global control of ‘the message’ –and has even found time to have three children.

WOMEN ON TOP

They get everywhere, powerful women. Here in Spain, they’re in politics doing important things like running the country’s economy and defence – and even Madrid city. They occupy leading roles in every field from science and academia to the arts and publishing, from the National Cancer Research Centre to El Pais

PROVING Spanish women have the grit and tenacity to get to the top, whatever the obstacles, there’s Basque climber Edurne Pasaban, the first female mountaineer in the world to climb all 8000m peaks (13 of the 14 without oxygen). To celebrate Women’s Day, here’s a shout-out for five of the most powerful and influential businesswomen in the land. Some have had an easier ascent than others.

LAW A STORY OF

SPAIN’s recent anti-discrimination legislation has been welcomed by independent UN experts.

The provision of equal parenthood rights for lesbian mothers, a ban on genital mutilation for intersex children, and measures to end ‘conversion therapy’ perpetrated against LGTBI people are some of the features of the new law.

It also ensures access to assisted reproduction techniques for all women and has made Spain the first country in Europe to introduce menstrual leave (see above).

“The history of feminism is a story of persistence in the face of social injustice,” the experts - who are unpaid commentators to the United Nations - said.

Spain became a pioneer in women’s rights following

death of its machismo dictator, writes Jo Chipchase

WHILE men and women are treated equally by law, many women still report sexist behaviour and ‘machista’ attitudes. Some of the most outmoded atti -

tudes hark back to the Franco era when, in 1939, the dictator (left) removed any powers women had gained. Women were forced to be stay-home mothers and housewives, with no legal right to work,

Disciplineand fearless determination

SHE learnt early that to get ahead in business in Spain she had to be fearlessly determined, a quality she has in spades thanks to her time in the Royal Air Force.

It was during her time in the British RAF that she learnt not to accept excuses or lies, as well as gaining an iron discipline.

“Being in the RAF was one of the happiest times in my life and where I had discipline instilled in me,” she tells the Olive Press “As a result I don’t stand for any nonsense, but that also means people know where they stand with me, which is very important in business.” It was still anything but easy for her to set up

They are the key things a

ican company, Liberty Insurance, designing special packages for the expat market and has built up a reputation as a hugely successful expat businesswoman.

own property, or get divorced. Worse, they could even go to prison for adultery, although their straying husbands weren’t punished, in contrast.

One remarkable pamphlet from the 1950s on how to be ‘a good wife’ insisted you needed to keep the house spotless, the children clean, and dinner on the table. Since Franco died in 1975, feminists have made rapid progress and as Spain developed as a democracy, women’s rights started to match those of other European countries.

needs to

on in business in Spain, explains expat Jennifer Cunningham

her insurance business on the costas three decades ago, when women were not taken seriously in business.

“I was a widow, surviving on a meagre widow’s pension and so the only way I could start up was to re-mortgage my home, borrow money and make it work,” she recalls, from her home in Javea, on the Costa Blanca.

“I had problems finding a bank who would support me and I remember the first time I presented my business plan to get a loan, the bank manager wouldn’t address me directly but kept looking towards the male friend I had brought with me.

“At the beginning they didn’t want to take me on and they felt sure that I would fail,” she reveals. “My style of selling was completely new to them, the culture here in Spain was so different.”

“As an entrepreneur I had to take risks and convince those who had the financial backing of huge institutions behind them to take a risk on me, but I proved myself and in the end, those very same people looked to me to lead strategy and even asked me to teach them how to do it.”

Today Jennifer Cunningham Insurance has seven offices in Spain (including one in the Canaries) and thousands of expat customers. While an incredible success story - not just for a woman, but also as an expat - she however, is most proud of the fact that she leads a team of over 20 women across her offices.

She leads a team of over 20 women across her seven offices

“I had to point out that it was me who was borrowing the money, that I was the business owner and when they didn’t take me seriously, I walked out and went somewhere else.”

She eventually found a sympathetic bank manager, a man who has supported her ever since her first venture, and who she has stayed with as he moved across different banks.

She then began working with a giant Amer-

“It isn’t a policy to only employ women, it just turns out that they are the ones that have thrived,” she explains.

“Applications are open to everyone and we have employed men and I try to keep a balance in the teams, but it’s the women that seem to be most successful in this business and the ones that stay on for years and years, while the men just don’t seem to keep up.”

For more info visit www.jennifercunningham. net or www.paulcunninghamnurses.com

The ‘husband’s permission rule’ was abolished in 1975, the adultery law went in 1978, and divorce was legalised in 1981.

Finally in 1987, it was ruled that a rape victim didn’t have to prove they had fought the man back, while in 2004, the government introduced the ‘Integrated Law’, which funded the Government Delegation of Violence Against Women and finally a nationwide pact in 2017.

Pioneer

“Spain is a pioneer in terms of laws that ensure equality, compared to other countries worldwide,” insists Carmen Quintanilla of women’s rural association AFAMMER.

“Until the elaboration of the 2017 State Pact, never before had a government been so committed to the eradication of gender violence.”

By 2019, Congress had the most female members in its history (and one of the highest in the world and top in Europe) with 166 female deputies, taking 47.4% of seats.

However, a backslide occurred in 2020 when the far-right Voxnow Spain’s third largest political party - claimed that the gender violence law favours women and should be replaced with a family violence law. Vox also has made

How

the

woman

get

IRON DISCIPLINE: The RAF taught Jennifer well

Sandra Garcia-Sanjuan

Founder & Director, Starlite Group

CELEBRITY broker and friend to the stars, Garcia-Sanjuan (Tenerife, 1972) organises one of Europe’s best – and longest–annual festivals, a task which involves charm and logistics. Offering two solid months of world-class nightly concerts, previous performers at Marbella’s Starlite Festival have included Tony Bennett, The Beach Boys, and Ricky Martin (Rod Stewart, Norah Jones and the Gypsy Kings are on the bill this summer). Starlite has spawned fashion, food and film divisions, and Garcia–Sanjuan also set up Quiero Trabajo which helps women at risk of social exclusion prepare for interviews and careers.

Juana

Roig, CEO, Mercadona Tech

NO doubt, being the daughter of the Spanish billionaire businessman Juan Roig Alfonso, president of Mercadona, didn’t hurt when she went through the interview process. But credit where credit’s due, after turning her attention to the supermarket chain’s under-performing e-commerce division, online billing increased 190% in a year. Apparently she told her father the website was ‘shit’. Five years on, it generates €540 million in sales. Born in 1984, the youngest of four daughters, she is touted as a potential successor.

CHANGE

some questionable statements about women’s working roles. And when it comes to the workplace itself, the proportion of women in managerial positions remains around a third of that of men with the numbers dropping even further as careers progress. There is work

HOW TO BE A ‘GOOD WIFE’: A

to do and Spanish women earn around 10% (about €6,000) less per year than men and occupy more than 70% of part-time contracts. Of

1950’s pamphlet

these women, 46% affirm they are part-time because they care for dependents or cannot afford childcare services.

WHEN chemistry graduate Robina (Valladolid, 1965) joined Vitoria’s Michelin factory in 1988, she was the only woman there. Now she’s the first female boss for Iberia, responsible for a €2.6 billion turnover and 7,300 employees – most of whom (despite her sterling example) are men. ‘It is difficult for us to find women to fill mechanical positions,’ she says, blaming childhood stereotyping that leads to the notion there are things that girls just don’t do.

GO-GO FRANCO

CARNIVAL organisers who warned participating floats against playing sexist songs during their parades have been likened to officials from the Franco era.

Those taking part in the amazing orgy of fancy dress, street parades and pageantry were told they could lose their public subsidies if they played songs on a proscribed list.

The festival, held each February, is a huge event in the community that inspires young and old, but there have long been accusations that it harbours a dark side that seems to revel in chauvinism.

Accordingly, in recent years there has been a groundswell of public support to combat this by town halls in Catalunya.

Reading between the lines

Nothing can show how far women’s rights have moved forward from the female author censorship of the Franco era, than to have an all female bookshop in the heart of the capital.

GLASS CEILINGS

Winning women the vote had opposition from a surprising source, writes Dilip Kuner

THE UK has Emmiline Pankhurst, Spain has Clara Campoamor when it comes to icons of women’s suffrage.

Born in Madrid, Campoamor was one of the first women to enter Parliament in Spain and had a long history of feminism and campaigning for universal suffrage.

During the 1931 elections women could not vote but they could stand to be MPs. Campoamor and fellow lawyer Victoria Kent were the only two women elected.

Their work on the Constitutional Committee helped to enshrine the principle that women had the same rights as men in the Spanish Constitution of 1931with one glaring disagreement.

Malaga-born Kent, as a member of the Radical Socialist Republican Party, felt that it was too soon to allow women the vote.

Far left thought at the time was that women tended to be too conservative and in thrall to the Catholic Church and so would most likely vote right wing.

Campoamor, a member of the Radical Party, saw it as a human rights issue and was instrumental in achieving suffrage for women in time for the 1933 elections after ‘winning’ a debate with Kent.

Campoamor and Kent had already shown them-

LAWYER: Kent was one of the first female MPs

selves to be an inspiration to women. They were the first two female members of the Madrid Law Association having both broken a glass ceiling by entering university to study law.

Campoamor went into exile during the Civil War and died in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1972 at the age of 82.

Kent too was exiled and died in New York aged 96 in 1987.

But some have argued that the issue has been muddied by the difficulty in determining which lyrics are actually denigrating to women and which are merely ‘sexy’.

And efforts to root out offending songs harkens back to the censorious days of Franco, according to one organiser.

The song ‘SloMo’, sung by Spanish star Chanel (pictured above), has been flagged as problematic, even though the singer claims to be committed to the cause of gender equality.

The Catalan town of Calafell, along the beach road where hundreds of dancers and floats were getting ready for Carnival, found itself at the centre of the debate.

Sexist

According to Pere Nin, a float organiser, each town has its own list of banned songs, and beforehand, the floats have to give the town the names of the songs it wants to play.

Nin was one of the original organisers who helped draw up the rules against sexist lyrics back in 2019.

“It’s one thing if a song is obviously sexist,” he said. “It’s another when a song has a line or a word that might offend.”

Another much-loved song, ‘Suavemente’, by Elvis Crespo, has also been banned, causing people to question the whole project.

Dancer Sara Coam said there is no room for macho music that objectifies women, while her friend Marta Tamayo said it is more complicated.

“If people would stop listening, the artists would stop writing sexist lyrics,” she said.

DJ Miguel Aguila, who was also on hand, said he is against the bans altogether.

Even instigator Pere Nin is having his doubts, being old enough to remember the dark days of Franco.

“It’s starting to remind me of other periods we’d rather not remember,” he said.

Maria de la Paz Robina Managing director of Michelin Spain

RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER: Campoamor

Food price inflation is big news, with rising costs putting a strain on household budgets and driving an increase in food poverty. Is the Spanish government about to subsidise our groceries – and will it help? asks Jo

Chipchase

FIRST the good news: In Spain, at least, we can still find the food we want to buy. Over in the UK, a shortage of both home-grown and imported fruit and vegetables has led to supermarket rationing, in some places. This has been accompanied by a slew of news stories with the UK government claiming it’s the ‘bad weather in Spain’ – much to the amusement of the media here.

As a spokesman for FEPEX, the Spanish federation of exporters, clarified: ‘There are no problems exporting to any countries in the EU’. Quite simply, higher production costs, the UK’s own farming policies and, particularly, Brexit, have caused the problem.

And those higher production costs are also affecting us in Spain. So, while food items are not being rationed here, they are increasingly unaffordable to many people.

To help struggling consumers, Spain’s Unidas Podemos party recently proposed a discount of 14.4% on a set of 20 basic food items. This is similar, in principle, to the 20 centimos per litre discount that applied at petrol stations between April and December.

And now, hot off the press, Spain’s Minister for Agriculture, Luis Planas, assures us that Spain has “the capacity” to introduce measures such as those being implemented in France, where a 2e price cap is being put on basic products.

The Carrefour supermarket chain will offer shoppers in its 5,945 French stores a basket of 200 basic products for under 2e, from March 15 to June 15.

A constant crisis

Planas previously wasn’t so keen on the subsidy idea, saying that inflation has now finally ‘reached a ceiling’ – despite the prices remaining as high as ever.

He pointed out that the government has already introduced VAT (IVA) reductions on certain foods. On January 1, VAT was cut from 4% to 0% on basic items, including bread, milk, eggs, cheese, fruit, vegetables, and cereals. Tax on oil and pasta also fell from 10% to 5%.

However, these foods remain expensive throughout the nation.

According to a recent study by web portal, Trading Economics, Spain’s food cost 15.5% more in January than January 2022 (the rise is even higher in the UK at 17.1%)

A weekly food shop that cost €200 a year ago in Spain now costs €231.

What exactly has risen?

Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE) confirms that the price of staple foods has reached historic highs.

Around 30 different foods are 10% more expensive than a year ago, including dairy products, such as cheese (22.1%), yoghurt (25.1%), and milk (37.5%).

And it’s really bad news if you like a fry-up: olive oil has risen by 35.2% and eggs by 29.8%.

Meanwhile, rice has increased 21.7%, pasta 19%, bread 15.4%, and breakfast cereals by 11.4%. Vegetables are up by more than 10%.

Maybe it really is time to turn vegetarian: chicken and turkey are up by 15.1%, pork by 13.8% and beef, 13.2%. Frozen fish has increased 13.2% and shellfish, 13.4%.

Why is this so bad?

People with lower incomes, and already stretched families, are disproportionately affected by food price inflation.

FOOD PRICE CRISIS

FEEDING THE MASSES

ON International Women’s Day there are some sobering statistics out there.

Despite decades of fighting, the gender pay gap is still a huge unresolved issue with Spanish women getting paid around 20% less than men.

In politics, the country fares better - the 252 women sitting in Spain’s upper and lower houses represent 42.4% of seats.

But when it comes to business, just 36% of management positions are held by women, according to a report, Women in Business 2022, by Grant Thornton. And some professions remain almost closed to women. Six times more men, for example, work in the Science and Technology industry than women, while a far higher proportion work in cleaning and admin work. But there is one profession that has long em braced women workersthe media.

And we at the Olive Press are no exception with a workforce split almost ex actly 50-50 between men and women.

Some parents told the Olive Press that goods previously considered ‘normal’ have effectively become ‘luxuries’.

Anna Langdon, a British expat, based in Granada, explained: “I’m feeding four people on a pension meant for one, and it is more of a struggle than before.

“As I’ve raised six kids on homemade soups and home-grown food with little money for decades, I was relatively prepared for the crisis. However, even staple foods have increased in price, like butter and cheese, and we’ve had to use less and less and our portion sizes have shrunk a lot.”

She added: “The price increase in pet food is difficult and as I’ve got two cats and an elderly dog it’s sometimes cheaper to buy offal and rice.”

Meanwhile, Lenka, a Romanian mother of three, based in Orgiva, explained that she is having to cook something hearty that ‘ideally lasts for two or three days’.

“For example, a whole cooked chicken can be used to make soup the second day,” she said.

However, many working parents rely on shop-bought snacks, and the cost of these has multiplied.

“I know of a case where the snack a child takes to school each day has gone up by 300%, affecting the parent’s buying behaviour,” explained Lucy Hayes Logan, who runs her own advice agency, Tus Alpujarras. “The impact can be huge for those on a set wage, one-salary households, the self-employed and people recovering from the financial losses caused by Covid.”

“The proposed 14% discount idea is a great idea, but how will it be funded? What are the food items and why those 20? Which brands? I’ve seen reduced items in supermarkets that look attractive, but the discounts are on selected lines, and often there are less-known brands that are still cheaper.”

Will a discount help most consumers?

Unless all foodstuffs are reduced, a basket of 20 goods won’t help everyone. For example, it’s unlikely to include pet food, which has seen huge rises, with a 20kg sack of cereal going from €11 to €18 to 20.

Leonie Crane, owner of the Camac health

food shop, in Orgiva, raises different concerns. “Smaller outlets need money from their sales to restock. How long will the 14% reimbursement from the government take to arrive?”

Cepsa petrol station boss, Joaquin Rodriguez, said: “When the government discount scheme for fuel ended, motorists rushed to fill their tanks, then returned to the same buying behaviour as before.” Cepsa now applies its own 12% discount with a loyalty card.

How to save money?

Whether or not the government decides to deduct 14.4% from certain food items, consumers can save money by being savvy. For starters, download the store loyalty apps: both Lidl and Dia have apps giving access to discount coupons, while Consum runs a savings scheme (the Mundo Consum card) where members can recoup a percentage of their monthly spend, delivered as an in-app voucher.

When in store, seek own-brand goods that cost less than, for example, imported British goods. Also look for discounts of the day, and multi-buy offers.

If all else fails, start planting your own vegetables and keep goats and chickens, and return to the centuries-old traditions of rural Spain. It’s not like we’re short of rural space.

Writers Jo Chipchase (above) and Cristina Hodgson (right), sub editor Sorrel Downer (below) and web and tech guru, Kate Langshaw (bottom), are just four of the highly-skilled professionals on our team. They bring a wealth of knowledge, talent and intelligence to the Olive Press, and pass it on to younger members of staffwhether male or female.

More impor

tantly, they provide an inspiration to girlsmaybe still at schoolthat if they want to enter the world of media and journalism there is a well-beaten trail open to them.

And the Olive Press is always on the lookout for good staff - so give us a call!

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

1- Leave tourism alone: Spanish tourism boss demands compensation for economic blow from EU’s new Brit-hitting tourist tax

2- Minister in Spain laughs off accusations that government is legalising bestiality

3- Spain wakes up to threat the new EU’s new ETIAS tourist tax poses to its British tourism

4-

New evidence emerges in murder case of high profile Brit killer Kenneth Noye

5- Spain’s golden visa under threat

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

WIND AHOY!

Offshore wind farm map approved by government

SPAIN'S government has given the green light to a series of offshore wind farms after approving the first-ever Maritime Space Management Plan (POEM).

The plan maps out the coexistence of the farms with activities such as fishing in addition to protecting the environment.

It is in effect a maritime equivalent of land-based planning restrictions.

Under the first POEM map, farms can be set up in 19 sections covering 5,000 km2 of territorial waters.

It means installations will be restricted to just 0.46% of the sea, with the POEM reviewed every six years.

Barring one facility in the Canary Islands, Spain has so far not gone down the offshore farm route as it chose to sort

Going green

UK oil giant BP will spend €2 billion in developing a green hydrogen hub at its Valencia refinery creating up to 5,000 jobs.

Green hydrogen – generated by the electrolysis of water using renewable power – will support the decarbonisation of the refinery’s operations, replacing its current use of grey hydrogen generated from natural gas.

Production of biofuels at the plant in Castellon is expected to increase threefold by 2030, with the first electrolyser expected to come online in four years time. Green hydrogen will also be used in biofuel productionspecifically of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

GRIM OUTLOOK

SPAIN is one of the EU countries most at risk from the climate crisis, according to an alarming report from a Spanish think-tank.

Madrid-based Instituto Elcano warned that 20% of mainland Spain is already at risk of desertification due to climate change and overexploitation of water, particularly groundwater extraction.

By Alex Trelinski

out where they can be located.

The POEM was created after four years of negotiations with regional governments as well as the fishing and tourism sectors.

Ecological Transition minister, Teresa Ribera, said: "The plan ensures priority for areas that need environmental protection or are linked to national security or maritime transport safety.”

It will be down to Spain's regional governments to process the applications to set up wind farms that can

be installed in 19 'industrial' sea zones dotted around the mainland coast and the islands.

Some areas like the Cadiz and Huelva coasts will not see any development due to the need to preserve biodi-

YOU’LL be aware of the frequently referred term net zero, but let me introduce you to jet zero.

Governments have stated their intention

to switch to sustainable aircraft fuel by 2050.

This date is destined to be a year of reckoning.

That’s because it’s 27 years away and politicians can kick problems down the road of reckoning.

Airplanes contribute significantly to climate damage. Some 2.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from planes.

The technology is not in place to allow us to fly guilt free. And year on year we fly more.

Many countries are considering imposing frequent flyer surcharges to try to encourage us to fly less. Taxing cigarettes, alcohol and petrol to death hasn’t stopped us smoking, drinking or driving (maybe there’s a clue here).

It all comes down to investment in alternative technologies. And that costs money.

In the UK, The Royal Society looked at the three other alternatives currently being discussed:

● Biofuel from crops – London Heathrow is the largest global user of biofuels - but this represents just 0.5% of the airport’s fuel.

(It would require more than half of the UK’s farming land to produce sufficient to supply

versity. Spain has previously laid out plans to develop as much as three gigawatts of installed offshore capacity by 2030. Tenders are expected to be announced later this year for new projects.

The Doñana National Park in Andalucia, home to one of Europe’s largest wetlands, is under threat

DESERT: Spain faces water shortages

JET ZERO

UK aviation needs). So that’s not going to happen.

● Fuel made from hydrogen produced with green electricity – but countries do not generate sufficient renewable electricity to make enough green hydrogen. So that’s not going to happen. Plus existing aircraft engines cannot use hydrogen based fuels.

● Ammonia and synthetic fuels – under consideration, but they need even more green hydrogen. So that’s not going to happen.

Governments lead us all to believe that innovation will save the day. Without adequate investment there is no chance.

The airline industry self-regulates. They offer promises without consequences.

A prime example; In 2010 Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic said that by 2020, 10% of its fuel would be biofuel.

In 2021 Virgin Atlantic announced it would be using 10% alternative fuels by 2030. Get my point?

from intensive farming, Elcano pointed out. Per capita carbon dioxide emissions peaked at 8.47 tons in 2005, but dropped to 4.92 tons by 2021, as climate change measures kicked in and the country became more environmentally conscious.

By Martin Tye

‘TOO LATE TO SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT’

So said one of the co-founders of the Green Party in the UK, Michael Benfield last week. His point carries weight.

We have succeeded in helping to educate, but we have failed in dealing with the battle for environmental survival.

Green Matters

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

BEST FLY Orange plea

FARMERS in the Valencian Community are appealing to retailers and customers to buy Spanish when it comes to oranges.

The Valencian Association of Farmers (AVA-ASAJA) says that cheap imports from countries like Egypt are appearing in the region and also may have ‘confusing’ labels leading consumers to wrongly believe they are purchasing local products.

With last year’s drought bringing a sharp fall in the citrus harvest, the association has noted that ‘some businesses are introducing shipments from third countries, with the aim of increasing profit margins and using them to push down prices of local citrus fruits’.

POLE POSITION

World’s first official Formula 1 experience set to make its debut in Spain

THE world’s first official Formula 1 exhibition will be making its global debut in Madrid.

The show, which has been five years in the making, is billed as a vision of the past, present and future of the sport.

The ‘ F1 Exhibition ’, which will be held in the IFEMA congress halls, includes six main rooms, all of which have been specially commissioned and produced in partnership with curators, artists and filmmakers.

By Simon Hunter

“We are thrilled that this imaginative and immersive exhibition will debut in Madrid,” said Stefano Domenicali, the F1 president and CEO.

“I know it will become a must-see experience for every F1 fan,” he added. Among the themes in the rooms will be ‘ The Pit Wall ’, which ‘brings to life the sensational 73-year story of Grand Prix racing’,

according to the organisers, as well as the ‘ Design Lab ’, which offers insight into how five of the sport’s

FAMILY FUN

THE Costa Blanca dominates the charts for the best cities in Spain for being family-friendly.

According to international tourism company ‘Bounce’, which periodically produces family-friendly travel guides, Alicante, Benidorm and Valencia take the first three places.

The guide has taken into account the number of parks and green spaces the cities have, as well as attractions and leisure areas for both young and old.

Other factors assessed were the average room rate of hotels, tourism security, the number of restaurants with children’s menus and the climate including average rainfall.

teams develop components for their cars.

In the ‘ Survival ’ room, for the first time ever the remains of Romain Grosjean’s Haas car will go on display.

The French driver suffered a terrifying accident at the 2020 race in Bahrain, which saw the single-seater split in two and burst into flames.

This room will focus on the issue of safety in racing. The exhibition starts on March 24 and runs until the early summer.

The experience is suitable for all ages, and tickets start at €19.99 per person. The full visit takes around two hours.

ALICANTE-ELCHE and Corvera airports have been given ‘Best Airport in Europe’ awards by an industry body. The honours come from Airports Council International(ACI) with members operating nearly 2000 airports around the world.

Alicante-Elche airport took away the best European airport category for facilities that welcome between 15 and 25 million passengers.

Corvera airport, which replaced San Javier as Murcia’s regional airport in January 2019, walked away with the ‘less than two million passengers’ category.

Cheap digs

UK budget hotel chain Travelodge says it wants to expand its portfolio in Spain after announcing an acquisition in Madrid.

Travelodge has 570 outlets in the UK and currently has two hotels in Barcelona and one in Valencia, in addition to two existing Madrid sites.

It has acquired the lease for the 78-bedroom NH Villa de Coslada hotel in the Spanish capital and appointed global hospital advisors Aldaba Partners to find new sites.

Travelodge says it is targeting Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Granada, Malaga, Madrid, Palma, Sevilla, and Valencia in its expansion plans.

Across

6 Free from bias (4)

7 Bondage (7)

8 8th US President (3,5)

9 Exultation (4)

10 Auctions (5)

11 Testimonial (7)

13 Temporary possession (7)

15 Construct (5)

17 Positions (4)

19 Boreal (8)

20 School day came out of order (7)

21 Stable staples (4) Down

1 Computerized fact file (8)

2 Uncertain (13)

3 Flag (6)

4 Vicinity (13)

5 Yorkshireman (4)

7 Ride the waves (4)

11 Plaything (3)

12 Assorted letters relate to permit (8)

14 Curved outward (6)

16 Zane or Lady Jane (4)

18 Egg-shaped (4)

All solutions are on page 14

ON SHOW: The wreckage of Grosjean’s Haas

LA CULTURA

Prayers answered

THE prestigious Latin Grammy awards are coming to Spain this November in a three-year deal - the first time they are being held outside the United States. The announcement was made in Sevilla but the specific dates and the host city were not named, though Sevilla appears to be the front-runner. The Latin Grammys were first held in Los Angeles in 2000. Last year, they took place in Las Vegas, where Spanish artist Rosalíia won best album for ‘Motomami’.

Andalucia president, Juan Manuel Morena Bonilla, met with the Latin Recording Academy CEO, Manuel Abud. Both parties described the deal as 'historic' and 'unprecedented'.

An archaeological marvel dating back seven centuries has been uncovered in Andalucia

AFTER two years of searching, archaeologists have finally had their prayers answered and uncovered a rare medieval synagogue in the basement of a disco.

The 14th century building in Utrera (Sevilla) has also been used as a hospital, restaurant and home for abandoned children down the years.

It is just one of a precious handful of medieval synagogues to have survived the aftermath of the expulsion of Spain’s Jews in 1492. In his 1604 history of Utrera, Rodrigo Caro, a local

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 6 Fair, 7 Slavery, 8 Van Buren, 9 Glee, 10 Sales, 11 Tribute, 13 Tenancy, 15 Build, 17 Loci, 19 Northern, 20 Academy, 21 Oats

Down: 1 Database, 2 Problematical, 3 Banner, 4 Neighbourhood, 5 Tyke, 7 Surf, 11 Toy, 12 Tolerate, 14 Convex, 16 Grey, 18 Oval

By Anthony Piovesan

priest, historian and poet, described an area of the city centre as it had been in earlier centuries, saying:

“In that place, there were only foreign and Jewish people who had their synagogue where the Hospital de la Misericordia now stands”.

Utrera mayor Jose Maria Villalobos said it was ‘now scientifically certain that we’re standing in a medieval synagogue right now’. “Until now there were only

four such buildings in all of Spain - two in Toledo, one in Segovia and one in Cordoba,” he said.

“This is an exceptional building that’s been part of Utrera and part of its inhabitants’ lives for 700 years.

“This building was born in the 1300s and has made it all the way to the 21st century.”

Visits

One of the key reasons for its survival was that the site was always in use for one purpose or another. The building could be opened for public visits in parallel with archaeologists continuing to excavate the site.

TIME TO PLAN AHEAD

Value and peace of mind for when the time comes

SOONER or later, we will all need a funeral, and they can be a costly burden on the grieving family we leave behind if they are unprepared.

Unplanned funerals can incur runaway costs that bring stress and aggravation exactly at the moment we are least prepared to deal with it.

Here at Compare Funerals, it is our mission to ease this weight by helping you and your family to plan ahead.

We offer a range of funeral plans with the best value in Spain which you can pay monthly over a five year period at 0% interest.

Our expert and caring team of English-speaking funeral directors are dotted all around Spain and able to deliver a dignified and respectful service.

When you choose one of our three funeral plans, the process will be as simple and stress-free as you could ever wish.

DIRECT CREMATION PLAN

Our signature Direct Cremation plan offers a low-cost respectful send-off with our convenient and simple direct cremation service for a total of €2,250.

You will be picked up by one of our funeral directors in a hearse and cremated in a nice and simple coffin and the ashes along with all legal documentation returned to your family.

TERRACOTTA FUNERAL PLAN

Our mid-range Terracotta funeral plan covers your funeral arrangements without a ceremony for €3,000.

With this option, the funeral director will hold your body for up to four days to give time for family and friends to have a final viewing and say

their goodbyes.

Once we have received confirmation from the next of kin that everyone who needs to see the deceased has done so, we will proceed to cremate the deceased.

A few days later the funeral director will return to the next of kin with the ashes in an urn and paperwork.

The paperwork includes Spanish and international copies of your death certificate, as well as cremation certificates.

GRANITE PLAN

Our most comprehensive Granite plan includes a ceremony so your family can focus on grieving and cherishing memories €3,400.

It will work as the Terracotta plan, with your body held for four days and all the paperwork returned as above.

But with this plan a minister or celebrant will visit the family and discuss what they would like to be said at the ceremony.

The funeral director will also discuss a suitable day and time for the ceremony, which will take place in a chapel.

Once you choose your plan, our team of experts will take care of everything and take the worry off your shoulders and those of your loved ones.

You’ll receive all the necessary paperwork, and the money you pay towards your funeral plan will be held securely in a trust fund signed off by a third party.

When the time does come, someone you nominate must contact us at Compare Funerals and we take care of the rest.

Our emergency contact pack will provide your

The next phase of the project will look to see if there was a rabbi’s house nearby, or a religious school.

A 23,000-year-old human genome has been uncovered on the outskirts of Granada and is one of the oldest ever recorded.

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology extracted DNA from human remains found in a cave. The research confirms that the southern tip of Spain provided a key refuge for humans when much of Europe was covered by ice 20,000 years ago and cave-dwelling humans would shield from these freezing conditions in rocky caverns. The DNA has been linked to a 35,000-yearold individual from Belgium discovered in 2016.

OURSIGNATURE DIRECT CREMATIONPLAN

AFTER developing years of expe- rience setting up funeral plans in the UK, we noticed a shift in what people were looking for in a funeral.

It became very clear that a lot of people

were looking for a simple, unattended Direct Cremation rather than the traditional service of old. With one of our directors living in Spain his whole life, we noticed that not many plan providers offered such a plan. This was surprising as the funeral system in Spain seems suited to this type of service.

As funerals usually happen so quickly in comparison with other countries, coupled with the fact that a lot of expats have family living all over the world, we would have expected plan providers to offer a Direct Cremation. We could not get our heads round the fact that it was not so readily available by the larger plan providers here in Spain. Maybe it was the lower margins that put certain providers off - but not us. Our goal is to provide a service people want and need as simply as possible. It seems that other providers have followed suit and now offer clients the sim- ple plan a lot of people desire. We are proud of the fact we helped ini- tiate this change so that more people are able to get the send-off they want.

next of kin with all the information they need to take the necessary steps for when you pass. Our hundreds of satisfied customers happily attest to the peace and comfort that our plans have provided for since 2020.

For more information or to discuss personalised funeral plans, contact Compare Funerals on +34 911 436 813 (WhatsApp +34 697 889 684) or send an email to info@comparefuneral.org or visit in person to our office located at 24 Avenida Paniagua, Galerias Paniagua de local 30-31, San Roque, Cadiz 11310.

HOLY: Synagogue used as disco in Utrera

LA CULTURA

SHOCK AND AWE

Valencia’s Las Fallas festival set to go off with a bang

THE Valencia Fallas are gearing up towards next week's big finish with an almost nonstop sequence of parades and parties from March 16 culminating in a big finish three

With the final two days falling on a weekend, big crowds are expected to watch and join in the Children also have plenty to look forward to as

By Alex Trelinski

Valencia schools will be closed,between Wednesday and Friday next week.

On March 17 and 18, all the Fallas from the city districts make their individual processions towards the Plaza de la Virgen to celebrate the 15-metre-tall Virgen de los Desamparado statue which was first installed in 1987.

The event is the highlight of the year for roughly 400 neighbourhoods in the capital. Each of them spend all year holding fundraisers to pay for elaborate sculptures, later burnt in honour of Saint Joseph. The burning takes place on March 19 from 10pm.

Burn

The event has its origin with carpenters – patronised by Saint Joseph – who would burn disused furniture as a sort of spring clean. While the festival is celebrated across the Valencian Community, the largest sculptures are to be found in the capital. The ninots – as the sculptures are known – are typically a satire of current affairs. The falleros, as participants in the neighbourhood associations are known, are also sticklers of traditional Valenciano culture. The event ends around an hour after the burning with a spectacular firework display in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento.

Fourth time lucky

CABO ROIG'S famous St.Patrick's Day parade will be hoping nothing will stand in its way as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. The last parade was held in 2019 before the Covid pandemic forced the cancellation for the next two years.

Everything was geared up for a spectacular return last year with former world boxing champion, Steve Collins, lined up as the star guest to lead the parade.

Organisers were forced to pull the plug the day before due to a bad weather forecast.

With fingers crossed, former Gaelic footballer Anthony Molloy, who lifted the All Ireland trophy for Donegal in 1992, will be doing the honours next week.

The event, which this year falls on a Friday, will see the parade start at 3pm.

It's the biggest St.Patrick's Day celebration in Spain and one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

For those who don’t want to travel too far, St Patrick’s Day is celebrated all along the Costa Blanca, with thousands descending particularly on Benidorm’s new town. The streets are awash with green for parties throughout the district.

TRADITION: Fallas comes from furniture being burned

O P LIVE RESS The

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Happy birthday

We use recycled paper

Time’s up

AN antiques repairman in Benidorm has been arrested after refusing to return two vintage clocks valued at €5,000 to their owner. One of the clocks dated back to 1823.

Serial thief

A SERIAL shop robber in Valencia has finally been jailed after more than 100 arrests. The man, 45, racked up 12 arrests in the same month but kept getting bailed.

Roof fool

TWO men, 23 and 41, have been charged with reckless driving after one of them sat on a car roof while travelling on a Castellon province highway.

Offside!

Cadiz FC want league suspended over goal that shouldn’t have been

THE referee’s decision is finalexcept, that is, if you are Cadiz CF.

The relegation strugglers are demanding that Spain’s top tier league, La Liga, be suspended while their complaint over an offside goal is investigated. They had been playing against Elche, with Cadiz ahead 1-0 in a crucial relegation six pointer

By Dilip Kuner

when Elche scored an equaliser with nine minutes remaining. Ezequiel Ponce’s goal was allowed on a VAR review but further replays showed that the player was in fact offside. Outraged by the decisionwhich meant the match ended

New heights

PEOPLE in Spain could soon receive their packages by drones, if plans for an ambitious new postal service take off.

Correos has announced a scheme to trial the delivery of parcels in any Spanish city with remote controlled flying drones.

ON CAMERA: The moment when Ponce (right) was caught offside

as a 1-1 draw - Cadiz called for the match to be replayed from the moment of the controversial goal, with the score readjusted to 1-0. Now, two months

The pilot will be complemented by an air control platform that geolocates all the connected drones in real time.

Correos will pair up with Telefonica to test the usage of the 5G-connected drones to deliver packages to ‘virtually any urban environment’.

later, they have released a statement saying that they have reported the matter to the TAD sports tribunal. And, they add, they are calling for La Liga to be suspended by TAD until the tribunal has made a decision. It is highly unlikely that the game will be replayed, given that FIFA regula-

tions clearly state that the referee’s decision is final.

However, Arsenal famously volunteered to replay their FA Cup clash with Sheffield United after a controversial winner, with then manager Arsene Wenger saying they did not want to win ‘by cheating’. Arsenal won the rematch 2-1. Cadiz are currently one place above the relegation positions on 26 points, while Elche look doomed, sitting rock bottom with just 12 points.

MARIA Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, has just celebrated her 116th birthday on March 4.

The US-born Catalan only assumed the Guinness World Record title in January, but she has now moved closer to the title of oldest person to have ever lived.

But she still has a way to go.

Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment was 122 years and 164 days old when she died in 1997 - the oldest confirmed age ever recorded.

Ana María Vela Rubio is the oldest Spaniard ever. She was 116 years, 47 days old when she died in 2017.

Bar attraction

ANDALUCIA’S second smallest village has received over 100 applicants to open the only bar in town. This followed the town hall’s call for hopeful entrepreneurs to head up the establishment for only €20 per month in a bid to avoid further loss of population. Cumbres de Enmedio in Huelva has a population of 59.