Olive Press Costa Blanca South and Murcia Issue 96

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

Hot news

ALICANTE province will experience extremely hot temperatures of up to 43 from today (Thursday, August 10).

The heatwave will affect the south of Spain, presenting a ‘significant risk’ to people in Alicante, according to the Spanish State Meteorological Agency (Aemet).

The overall highest temperatures in the region will be recorded inland, with most municipalities experiencing temperatures of over 40C.

British expat hotspot Orihuela will be reaching 43C, while the hottest temperatures in the province will be in the municipalities of Pinoso and Villena, where thermometers will record 44C.

Meanwhile, Alicante City, Torrevieja and Denia will be experiencing slightly cooler weather, with maximum temperatures of 35C, which will however feel hotter due to the warm wind. This latest heatwave, which is the third one of the summer, is caused by warm air masses from North Africa reaching the Iberian Peninsula.

EVER GROWING

TORREVIEJA’s population could eventually top 100,000 people as work is due to start on a new mega-urbanisation.

The 7,490 home scheme is on the largest piece of urban developable land in Alicante Province.

La Hoya covers an area of nearly two million square metres and Torrevieja council has approved final modifications to the €53 million project.

The build time runs up to 25 years and once finished, the development is estimated to accommodate 18,000 people - which on current numbers would take Torrevieja’s population to 110,000 residents. Despite building approval being granted by the Valencian government in 2009, nothing happened because of the recession.

Is resistance

Rise of the robots

See page 6

Horror crash

Expat drink drive victim forced to close business after leg amputated

By Laurence Dollimore

A BRITISH tradesman fears it will be years before he can walk again after his legs were crushed by a drink driver in Spain, causing one to be amputated below the knee.

Gary Doggett, 55, was working in Torrevieja on the Costa Blanca with his son and another employee when a Spanish driver ploughed into him from behind, pinning him against the back of his van.

Gary was rushed to hospital where he endured eight hours of surgery, however neither he nor his family members were warned that his right leg was being amputated.

The father-of-two has been forced to close his glass curtains business, telling the Olive Press that he believes it will be up to two years before he will be ‘back on my feet’. He said: “It’s terrible really, my job is very physical and I was always busy doing something, like pottering in the garden or walking the dogs, he’s really f····ed me up, is one way of putting it.”

Heart

The much-loved businessman, originally from Brecon, in Wales, said it was a shock to his wife, Carol, to see him with one leg, after she had simply been told he had ‘made it out of surgery alive’. He added: “I woke up and saw one leg was missing, but to be honest I just thought ‘at least it’s only one of them’.”

The life-changing injuries have left Gary, who moved to Spain 16 years ago, with no option but to close his glass curtain business, leaving him and his own son out of work. His daughter Chloe has started a GoFundMe page to help out with rehabilitation costs, which has received more than €30,000 so far. She said: “My one year old twins are learning to walk, and it breaks my heart that my strong, amazing dad has to one day learn to walk all over again.

“But I know with his unbelievable inner strength and determination, he will one day walk me down the

AFTERMATH: The car

aisle on my wedding day.”

Gary continued: “To be honest I knew it was bad when I saw bits of my own bones underneath the van after the crash.”

“My son and colleague tried to cover me with blankets but I really thought I was going to lose both of my legs.”

Gary said he was loading materials into his van while working on a golf resort on June 30 this year, when the vehicle smashed into the back of him.

“It was 11am, he had been drinking and had no insurance, my legs took the full impact,’ he recalled, adding that he was conscious until he arrived at hospital.

“I remember being taken in for X-rays but that’s the last thing I remember until I came around for surgery.”

The driver had not been wearing a seatbelt and was ‘semi-conscious’ following the crash, having hit his head against the windscreen, Gary said.

“Police said he would appear in court for driving without a licence and no insurance but we haven’t had any updates since.

“We think they may be waiting to see how my injuries develop before deciding what criminal charges to bring.”

Gary has complete knee recon-

struction surgery in around

HORROR: Gary and wife Carol were not warned about the amputation

four weeks time, and believes it will be another 18 months to two years before he is back on his feet. In the GoFundMe appeal, daughter Chloe said: “When my dad finally came around he was alone and had to find out himself by looking down at the bed, there was no one there to explain!

“The day after, he had pain in his chest and shoulder, but we were told that all had been checked and it was just bruising from the impact.

“Day 3, dad underwent surgery again. When he woke, he could not breathe. They rushed him to x-ray and found he had air in his left lung, fractured ribs, and scapula, he had an emergency drain inserted into his lung!’

Chloe said that after 13 days in the local hospital, her father was taken to Valencia Hospital some two-and-a-half hours away from his home.

She added: “A further two fractured vertebrae in the lower back were found, two weeks after the accident.”

Chloe launched the appeal to help the family get through the next year or so, which will see Gary endure more surgeries and extensive recovery treatment.

He spent more than a month in hospital due to a serious infection in his left leg, which delayed the realignment of his foot and tibia.

A further surgery discovered significant damage to his left knee, meaning a ‘total reconstruction’ is needed, Chloe said.

She explained: ‘It is estimated that the tibia will take approximately 12 months to heal before he can even look at having a prosthetic leg fitted - let alone the physiotherapy to use it.

“He will need to have many more surgeries within this time including a number of skin grafts on both his stump and left leg.

“The road to recovery will be long and tough for my dad, leaving him with financial worries on top of everything else. He will need medical equipment and the house will need major alterations before he can even come home. Due to the driver being uninsured, there will also be lawyer fees.”

APPEAL: Chloe with her dad

futile?

Revenge attack

THREE men have been arrested for robbing a house and setting fire to in the Capuchins district of Orihuela in revenge for the owners not paying back a debt.

Life savers

FREE smoke detectors will be installed in 300 Alicante homes occupied by elderly and vulnerable people as part of a nationwide pilot project.

Fake report

AN insurance agent, 57, who filed a bogus claim with her own provider about her handbag being stolen in Santa Pola with €3.350 cash in it, has been arrested by the Guardia Civil.

Fresh surfaces

TORREVIEJA council will spend €5.1 million on resurfacing roads and pavement improvements with work starting in September covering 300,000 m2.

AN Alicante metal company employee stole 185,000 parts worth €1 million, which he then sold off cheaply to a scrap metal firm.

The Spaniard. 37, worked at the factory for eight years before a stock take revealed a massive shortfall.

Video footage showed the worker filling up boxes with various metal parts

Taking the metal mickey

and putting them in the boot of his car. Police - alerted by the company - followed him to a scrap yard where he pocketed just €115 for goods with a retail value of €2,500.

He was arrested with officers obtaining ledgers from the scrap yard of 70 sales where he pocketed just under €4,300. Police believe this was just the top of the iceberg.

Behind bars

Extradited Gilligan son held in jail on return from Ireland over guns and drugs charges

THE son of Irish mobster John Gilligan has been remanded in custody following his extradition from Ireland.

Darren Gilligan, 47, and his 71-year-old father (pictured) were part of a nine-strong group arrested in October 2020, after the Policia Nacional raided homes in the Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa areas.

The gang have been charged with drug trafficking, the illegal possession of weapons, and

By Alex Trelinski

belonging to a criminal organisation.

John Gilligan has been accused of running an operation to smuggle cannabis from Spain to Ireland hidden among flipflops and illegally exporting powerful sleeping pills. He also faces firearms charges following the discovery of a gun in his Torrevieja villa garden.

AN ALGERIAN national was intercepted in Alicante as he was about to board a ferry for his home country with a big stash of stolen goods in his car.

The 46-year-old man was arrested in a joint operation between the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional

He was subsequently jailed by an Elche court.

He’s accused of robbing two properties with another man in Guardamar del Segura and Monforte del Cid.

The trial in Torrevieja was meant to start last October but Darren Gilligan failed to appear, leading to a postponement of the hearing with a new April trial date also abandoned. An international arrest warrant was put out for Gilligan junior by Spanish authorities and he was detained in Dublin in midApril before being extradited. Prosecutors in Spain opposed a bail application by his lawyer on the grounds that he was a

FERRY NICE

The thief however was caught out when the Guardamar home owner took a photo of his car and passed on the image to the Guardia Civil.

Authorities identified him as being a member of a robbery gang operating in Alicante province and moved swiftly to locate his vehicle which they believed he was going to use to leave Spain.

Brawl death

A DUTCH man died and a Brit was seriously injured in a brawl at a Torrevieja house.

The Finnish owner of the home on the Torreta III urbanisation also sustained serious injuries and, along with the British man, 40, was taken to Torrevieja hospital. The unnamed Brit suffered head injuries and a stab wound to his abdomen.

The Guardia Civil and Torrevieja’s Policia Local were called by neighbours at around 3am after hearing shouting and noise from the property.

flight risk, especially after his no-show last year.

If convicted of drug offences and criminal gang membership charges, Darren Gilligan faces over six years in jail. Ironically his father was released on bail in December 2020 after stumping up a €12,000 bond.

Other defendants include John Gilligan’s British girlfriend Sharon Oliver and a close friend of his, ‘Fat’ Tony Armstrong. Gilligan senior spent 17 years in an Irish jail before being freed in 2013 after he was convicted of running a large-scale drug trafficking gang in the nineties that netted over €35 million. He was acquitted in 1996 for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin with associate Brian Meehan receiving a life sentence for the killing.

Villa shakedown

A SIX MONTH operation to bring down an Albanian-led drugs gang that used luxury villas as marijuana farms has resulted in nine arrests.

The Guardia Civil carried out four simultaneous raids in Alicante, Altea, and Castalla with eight of the detainees being jailed.

At the time of the arrests, one of the gang leaders tried to flee through a balcony, but was caught by Guardia officers on the terrace of a nearby house. Items seized included two firearms, 1,592 marijuana plants, €1,005 in cash, and two highend cars.

What’s the beef?

IT is dubbed the oldest treaty in Europe, signed in 1375 and its terms have been met nearly every year since. The people of the Baretous valley in France have paid a tribute of three cows to their neighbors in Spain’s Roncal valley every July.

The Tratado de las Tres Vacas (Treaty of the Three Cows) was signed to settle a dispute over grazing rights, although it is thought the ‘arrangement’ may date back 1,200 years.

In 2011 it was recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage by the government of the Navarre region. It is thought the tribute has only been missed twice - in 1794 during the War of the Convention and in 1944 because of World War II. The cows are handed over during a ceremony at the Piedra de San Martin stone marker involving the mayors of towns in the two valleys who wear traditional garb.

WOLVES DEMISE

Predator declared extinct in Andalucia but may soon return to Valencia

AS experts predict that wolves may soon return to Valencia, the animal has been officially declared extinct in Andalucia.

The Junta de Andalucia’s environment department has been carrying out a wolf census for 20 years and, despite it being a protected species, they’ve admitted ‘there has been no sign of its presence since 2010’.

Until 13 years ago, it was believed that there were up to eight wolfpacks in Andalucia consisting of as many as 56 wolves principally in the Sierra Morena.

Luis Suarez from the WWF in Spain said: “This confirms the negative trend for the few existing wolf packs in southern Spain, which are threatened through being physically and genetically isolated from wolves in the rest of Spain, by loss of habitat, poaching and illegal hunting.”

By Alex Trelinski

But leading biologists believe that the combination of dwindling human population figures in rural areas and the increasing abandonment of agricultural land will encourage the arrival of the predator to Valencia in the coming years.

Castellon Province is predicted to be the main entry point, as several specimens have already been located in the Los Monegros area in neighbouring Aragon after travelling down from the Pyrenees.

Another possible gateway is the Rincon de Ademuz in Valencia Province.

Opinions on the legendary animal vary greatly. The Spanish government’s decision to ban hunting the Iberian Wolf was met with an outcry on behalf of farmers and hunters, who see the Canis

lupus as a dangerous predator that severely threatens their livelihood.

Just a few hundred wolves remained in Spain by the 1970’s due to a policy of eradication through poisoning, but since that was outlawed numbers have crept up.

In the most recent 2021 national census there were

ALVES INDICTED

between four and 15 years.

Alves has denied sexually assaulting a woman in a Barcelona nightclub last December and says they had consensual sex.

The footballer was arrested in January and has been in prison since then amidst claims that he poses a flight risk. His lawyer, Cristobal Martell said that Alves would not appeal the judge's decision because he wants the legal process to be concluded as soon as possible.

up to 2,500 wolves in 297 packs - 90% of which were in the north-west, mainly in Castilla y Leon, Galicia and Asturias.

HE has only been in business three years but Spanish designer Arturo Obegero has scored a major publicity coup.

Beyoncé took to the stage for the Boston leg of her ‘ Renaissance World Tour’ wearing an ensemble designed by the emerging fashion talent that embraces the current ‘sheer trend’.

The Grammy-winning star wore a black corset bodysuit-style dress complete with opera-glove style arms, fishnet stockings and an embroidered lace train.

The dress was designed in collaboration with Atelier Sara Couture in Paris, who worked 318 hours on the outfit, including hand stitching all the lace from Sophie Hallette.

Naughty return

SPAIN’S former king Juan Carlos I has announced he will ‘soon’ be back in Spain for more stays in Galicia.

Juan Carlos, who went into self-imposed exile in the United Arab Emirates in August 2020 after a number of scandals involving his finances emerged, made his third return visit to Spain last month.

The father of Felipe VI participated in two sailing regattas in Galicia’s Sanxenxo with his boat El Bribon (The Naughty one), winning one of them.

The former monarch has told the Spanish press that he intends to pay ‘many more’ visits in the near future.

THE former Barcelona and Brazil footballer Dani Alves has been formally indicted by a judge in a sexual assault case. The judge said that she had found evidence of wrongdoing by the 40-year-old player and if convicted he faces jail time of

EXTINCT: Wolves have disappeared from Andalucia

A PAIR of Chihuahuas overcome by fumes owe their lives to firefighters who revived them with oxygen.

The fire crew were called to a house fire in Torrevieja. The human resident was not at home, but the emergency workers found the two pooches, which were not breathing. They immediately gave them oxygen and the duo have fully recovered.

ALICANTE has become Spain’s fourth most populated city after gaining 44,180 new residents in the last year, according to Spain’s Institute of National Statistics (INE). With a total of 1,974,438 people, Alicante has surpassed Sevilla, with only Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia ahead in the provincial

On the up

rankings. If the rate experienced in recent months continues, the province will reach two million inhabitants by the end of the year.

The significant population growth means that Alicante is home to 37.4% of residents in the Comunidad Valenciana, which now has 5,270,802 people.

Nationally, Spain now has a population of 48,345,223 people, an increase of 135,000 residents during this second quarter of the year.

Sunbed turnoff

BENIDORM has found itself at the epicentre of Spain’s outbreak of sunbed violence as tourists have been filmed screeching out of the gates to bag a plum poolside position.

The sun-bedlam has become so bad that some resorts have been forced to hire bouncers to stop tourists tussling during the morning stampede for sunbeds.

Peak summer means peak lounger madness on the Costa Blanca

holiday at Magic Aqua Rock Gardens in Benidorm was ruined after her fellow holidaymakers ‘swarmed like ants’ to claim sunbeds, leaving her close to tears.

the first day of their holiday. “We’ve seen people throw towels across the pool to get beds and people are running even though it's massively slippery,” she said.

In hot water

THE Mediterranean Sea will register the highest August temperature ever recorded on the Valencian coastline. Experts believe that the sea temperature will be warmer than 29.94C, the record high to date, which was registered in August last year. The prediction comes after the warmest sea temperature ever recorded in the month of July in Valencia (28.7C) was reached last month.

MERCY: Dogs revived

One British mother said her

Pool surprise

WITH the summer heat upon us a family decided to set up a cooling paddling pool on the street outside their home.

But police in La Union called by neighbours were less than impressed. They are investigating the pool’s owner for occupying a public space without permission and obstructing the road.

The pool has since been removed.

The ruthless tourists forced Cayleigh Tuffs, 34, to sit under a water slide with her husband Andrew and their eight-year-old daughter on

“We go on holiday five times a year and this is the first time we've ever seen anything like this.” Such ‘horrible’ experiences have been turning tourists off from Spanish holiday resorts, with Cayleigh vowing she will never return to Benidorm.

Katherine Green, a 35-yearold mum from Yorkshire told the Olive Press she had a similar experience at Sunset Beach Club on the Costa del Sol.

“There is literally a queue of over 100 people waiting to access the pool in the morning and, at 9am, when the

By Alberto Lejarraga

gate opens,” the holidaymaker said.

“And some people even just jump over the fence to get the best beds,” she added, before admitting her family had been forced to join the scrum or face losing out.

“We’ve had to get down there shortly after 8am to guarantee a spot as there are just not enough pool chairs and beds.

“Incredibly, as soon as the door opens people start pushing as well as running and jumping over the sunbeds to get to the best spots.”

However, not everyone seems bothered by the situation, as Belfast man Kev Armstrong told the Olive Press the morning routine is ‘part of the holiday experience’.

Transatlantic link ‘next summer’

VALENCIA’s new Tourist Minister Nuria Montes has said she is sure that the region will get a direct air link between New York and Valencia airport. Montes added that her ministry is working to ensure that the new route will be operational next summer and has not ruled out that ‘one or several’ companies could provide a service from ‘one or more’ airports in the region. That clearly refers to Alicante-Elche airport with politicians led by the recently installed regional president Carlos Mazon, having discussions with interested parties at January's Fitur tourism fair in Madrid.

Gabschidgey@gmail.com

Free parking

A NEW express car park has opened in the arrivals area of Alicante-Elche airport taking the total number of short-stay spaces to 106.

Free parking will be offered for 10 minutes in the zone which houses the airport’s multi-storey car park.

The new 23-space facility is in addition to the one that has operated for the last few years in the departures area, with two bays reserved for drivers with reduced mobility.

School’s in

A NEW agreement between Spain and the UK allowing students to access universities and other higher education institutions in both countries has come into force.

Following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, the accord enables students with UK qualifications (including A-levels and equivalent) to access universities in Spain without the requirement of additional entrance exams. Entry exams will only be required for certain competitive courses, as was the case prior to Brexit.

Students from the Spanish education system are able to continue to access UK universities and other higher education institutions with additional legal certainty.

Transfer of trans prisoner into female wing sparks pregnancy scandal in Alicante prison

ONE of Spain’s toughest prisons has been forced to implement ‘shower watch’ shifts due to a female prisoner falling pregnant after a trans inmate was transferred to the women’s wing. The reports of various sexual encounters during shower time have caused a scandal at Fontcalent Prison in Alicante.

It comes after the female section of the prison received a prisoner of Bulgarian origin who had spent several years in the men’s section, primarily

Banged up knocked up

By Walter Finch

for crimes of theft and kidnapping.

The inmate would have rubbed shoulders with a number of killers, rapists and drug barons, potentially including Irish crime boss John Gilligan, who was there in 2019. During this period, the randy inmate apparently underwent a gender transition process, self-identified as a woman and adopted a female name.

FOOTY FRAUD

SPANISH football has been hit by another match-fixing scandal that has seen a number of arrests allegedly including a club president. Police swooped on 17 individuals, with 11 detained in the Melilla and six more in the province of Granada.

Multiple wagers raised red flags, leading to suspicions over the involvement of a local team in betting fraud. The team in question has been unofficially reported as Huracan Melilla, an underperforming club in the fourth tier of Spanish football.

However, the prisoner did not undergo hormonal treatments or surgeries to finish the process and retained the original male genitalia.

A request was then put in to transfer the prisoner to the female populationwhich was granted.

Prison sources have disclosed that once in the female wing, the prisoner came out as a lesbian, and quickly struck up a relationship with a fellow inmate.

A series of steamy shower romps ensued, according to prison sources, and a

Terrace smoking returns

little time later a female inmate informed prison authorities she was pregnant. She was permitted to leave the prison to visit an abortion specialist, but in the end elected to keep the child.

Wing

It has been reported that the trans prisoner has been removed from the women’s wing and returned to the male population. Fontcalent Prison declined to comment, stating that it is ‘a personal matter that concerns an inmate.’

SMOKERS are able to light up again on bar and restaurant terraces in the Valencian Community after regional president Carlos Mazon scrapped the restriction. The measure was introduced in the region over three years ago as part of a package of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and was maintained despite the Spanish government last month removing remaining pandemic rules like mask-wearing in hospitals and health centres. The previous Valencian government did not rescind the smoking restriction - meaning that the region was the only one in the country to keep the smoking ban. Hospitality associations lobbied Mazon for a repeal when he was standing for the presidency - pointing out that virtually all other areas of Spain had got rid of the ban or never had it in the first place.

Voted top expat paper in Spain

OPINION

DIGITAL DYSTOPIA

How will Artificial Intelligence affect our lives in Spain?

By Jo Chipchase

THIS summer, when you reserve a sunbed and then walk away, it seems that you scrape away the thin veneer of civilisation which separates us from the savages we once were.

In fact, just the prospect of being deprived of a plum spot by the pool on a beach - err pool - holiday is enough to reduce some of us to a more primitive state.

It is shocking that if grown adults are willing to shove children and fight one another just to get hold of a sunbed - as we have seen in Benidorm this week - how will we act when real deprivation strikes?

After a punishing couple of years suffering under Covid restrictions, it might be natural that we all wish for that perfect sunshine getaway, poolside sipping pina coladas.

And we might have less tolerance for anything that could interfere with it than in past periods of unadulterated good times.

But people are losing their heads and really making beasts of themselves when they engage in this everyman-for-himself behaviour.

As much as we all need to get a grip when confronted with behaviour from strangers that we find unacceptable, the authorities do too.

On a basic level, hotels need to clearly establish norms of conduct, so that there is no misunderstanding or culture clash in these situations - everyone should know what is unacceptable.

But higher authorities need to take note too.

With temperatures in Spain forecast to continue to gradually bake the country drier and drier each summer, we are facing the prospect of shortages of commodities far more precious than sunbeds.

And in that light, the conduct we are seeing this summer is a stark indicator of what we can expect when household water is rationed and farmers are unable to water their crops.

In times of scarcity and deprivation, as people we need to rise to our better nature and lift everyone up - not sink down to barbarity and drag everyone else down.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

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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. AWARDS Best

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) is being hailed by some people as the next industrial revolution. Others say it’s a danger to humanity and will soon get out of control.

American commentator, Joe Rogan, is currently voicing concern over a fake AI-generated podcast featuring an interview between him and the CEO of a company called OpenAI, Sam Altman.

On a similar theme, Berlin-based photographer, Boris Eldagsen, recently fooled the Sony World Photography Awards with an AI-generated photo. He won first prize in the creative category but did not accept the award, saying he has shown how even top professionals are unprepared for AI.

If you are new to AI, you won’t be for long. Some large investors are developing it, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and IBM. If you use social media, Meta is developing AI elements for Facebook and Instagram, and Snapchat is launching an AI feature for paying users.

If you use streaming services, you’re already seen the hand of AI when it suggests films or other content you might enjoy. So, with 2023 being the year of AI, how could its growing use affect our lives in Spain?

HERE NOW: CHAT BOTS AND IMAGE GENERATORS

Many people are signing up for the new chatbot AI apps, such as Chat GPT from OpenAI. A chatbot is an AI app where you give it prompts, or asks it questions, and it draws on a large data set to answer with the content you want (this process usually needs some refining).

The idea is that the bots can instantly ‘research’ and explain any topic in detail, and it only takes a few minutes.

The current chatbots can write articles, essays, devise book plots, and generate computer code. You can easily save yourself several hours’ work.

With image AI, the popular apps - such as DALL-E and Midjourney - use written prompts from the user to produce images. They will render anything you can describe (such as ‘Pedro Sanchez riding a Spanish bull’). And, unlike human designers using Photoshop, they do it in seconds. Seeing this speed and efficiency of these existing apps, some people fear that AI will eventually overtake or dominate humans, plunging us into a plot worthy of Netflix’s popular series, ‘Black Mirror’.

DEMOCRATIC DANGERS

The recently held general election might be the last campaign period unaffected by AI. The main worry is: how will voters distinguishing real content from AI-generated propaganda?

Some voters already find it difficult to identify fake news on the ‘old’ social networks, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. As for YouTube, “I saw a video, so it must be true” has been a long-standing problem.

CHATPROBE

Concerns rise over the ChatGPT app that is threatening Spain’s privacy laws

SPAIN’S data-protection agency is investigating the ChatGPT artificial intelligence application fearing it breaches the country’s privacy laws.

There are suspicions that the platform that can write essays to realistically converse with humans, could be illegally harvesting the data it gleans from conversations with us ers and which is the basis of training the application’s algorithms.

ChatGTP, which was created by a company called OpenAI, may also be storing payment information of subscribers, have weaknesses against possible hacks and lack an effective age filter.

A working group at the AEPD will also be created so that infor mation about the app can be ex changed between the different agencies that form the European Data Protection Board. Italy briefly blocked Chat GPT over data protection concerns until Open AI added privacy controls to comply with Italian regulations.

ChatGPT gathers masses of human-created data from the internet and then uses it to make computer predictions

Now, there are AI voiceover apps, AI face generators, and you could ‘skin’ video content with someone else’s face – such as a politician.

Using a simple prompt on Midjourney, the reporter created a convincing image of “Boris Johnson DJ-ing at a rave in a dry, dusty riverbed in southern Spain”. OK, we know this would never happen but would your 80-year-old granny be so sure?

For the experienced user, generating AI deepfakes is easy. These are videos or audio recordings that show someone saying or doing something that isn’t real. Think of the old ‘mashup’ videos, where snippets of a politician’s voice were blended to make a funny song (such as Nigel Farage saying he loves Europe), only more sophisticated.

EMPLOYMENT – LOSSES AND GAINS

In the next few years, AI is likely to automate many jobs, particularly those involving repetitive tasks that rely on data sets – such as coding, paralegal research, analysis, etc. Warehousing is another affected field, with Amazon already deploying robots called Proteus.

AI will impact art and design, as it is cheap-

to answer questions and requests that are inputted by users.

Since it was made available to the public, users have been trying it out for writing anything from computer code and blog posts, to translating texts and even writing songs. 75-year-old British scientist and former Vice President of Engineering at Google Geoffrey Hinton played a key role in the development of the techniques ChatGPT uses.

But now Hinton is warning the world of the dangers related to AI after leaving the company.

“I used to think AI attempted to imitate the human brain without being able to match its capacities. However, I have changed my mind in the last few months as I now believe we can develop something much more efficient than the human brain,” he said. Hinton added: “This can lead to the elimination of a number of jobs, which will increase the gap between rich and poor. There will also be leaders like Putin that would want to create robot soldiers for war”. “We need to learn how to control AI before it becomes too intelligent,” he concluded.

Sunbed wars make beast of man

er to use Image AI to visualise an idea than pay a human worker.

However, for now, AI is more likely to enhance than replace jobs, as humans need to oversee the processes and check the accuracy of the content - whether it’s code for an e-commerce system or a travel guide about Andalucia. Errors are widely reported. AI will also create new jobs. These might include data scientists, AI hardware engineers, AI programmers, and people employed to input prompts to make content.

EDUCATION ENHANCEMENTS?

AI could be used to create ‘personalised learning experiences’ for students. This is, presumably, instead of a teacher lecturing from the front of the class. It is intended to be more engaging.

bot is handy for ‘boring’ content, it isn’t a replacement for seasoned copywriters with a lively style - just yet.

PHOTOGRAPHY ADVANCES – OR REPLACEMENT?

AI is creeping into every area of photography – from apps that enhance your cameraphone snaps to professional-level programs that creates images from scratch, like Midjourney and DALL-E.

Image AI

While colourful, fantastical images are modish these days, and the AI ‘engines’ are constantly learning and improving their accuracy, they currently don’t render text correctly. So, you can’t enter “passengers boarding Ryanair plane” and have a correct logo returned.

Olive Press online

‘SPAIN’S BEST ENGLISH NEWS WEBSITE’

Thinking of you

ALOOK at our top-ranking web stories over the past two weeks is revealing.

Page hits statistics are a crude but reasonably accurate way of seeing what our readers are interested in.

Then why don’t we simply slavishly follow the online stats when laying out the newspaper?

The answer is that we do use them as a guide, but they do not give the complete picture.

For an interesting read – and a newspaper that people look forward to picking up as soon as it’s out – there has to be a little of something for everyone. And this is where good old-fashioned journalism comes in.

It is a judgment call and our team of experienced reporters and writers is well placed to make that call.

end-result is real, leading to unanticipated situations.

WHERE’S IT ALL HEADING?

The interest in Chat GPT has been phenomenal. Since launching in November 2022, it has attracted 100 million users. This is much faster than the growth of the ‘old style’ social networks. The rapid spread of, and investment in, AI raises ethical, privacy, and security concerns.

BUT

We all work hard and strive to put together the complete package.

Of course, news comes top of the agenda and we certainly print more than our fair share of hardnosed news reports.

However, the use of AI in education could cause a ‘digital divide’ – according to how computer technology is provided. Some people (of all ages) already struggle to use existing mobile phone apps or can’t afford the gadgets.

A teen told the Olive Press that some ‘instituto’ students already use Chat GPT and other essay chatbots for their homework, as well as AI apps to solve maths equations. Even the teacher used an AI app on a complex maths challenge, he said.

However, savvy teachers can install their own apps to detect if homework is AI-generated. This is easy to spot, as the apps look for the the GPT-3 (or more recent GPT-4) protocol, and flag this up in submitted homework. Schools tend to hate plagiarism, so don’t abandon your traditional research methods just yet.

CHAT GPT – THE NEW OFFICE COPYWRITER?

While Chat GPT is being hailed as an all-singing, all-dancing writing tool, the tone of its output is easily spotted. If a newspaper used it instead of humans, every article would sound the same - without the personality or charm of individual writers.

The reporter asked Chat GPT to summarise several seaside towns on the Costa Tropical. The results contained serious errors, muddling up the important historical events and landmarks. Someone without local knowledge might miss these mistakes. Furthermore, Chat GPT’s knowledge cut-off point is September 2021, which means that some content is naturally outdated. Despite the shortcomings, many companies already use Chat GPT to write their website content, product descriptions, blogs, and more. Although the chat-

AND… ARE THE RESULTS A BIT SOULLESS? SOME CRITICS THINK SO.

Professional photographer, Graham Knipe, of Granada, says: “Cameras have been slowly taking over the image creation process for years. I embrace technology, but not to the point where it completely removes any artistic interpretation – all images will end up looking the same.”

“However, I don’t think that AI will completely take over photography, just as digital never completely replaced film.”

The most obvious problem with AI image generation is that many people will think the

ARE PEOPLE MAKING TOO MUCH FUSS?

Remember when we were terrified of the ‘Millennium Bug’, thinking that computer systems would roll over to 0000 and destroy the world?

There was also a time when people didn’t want music to turn digital. We were eventually happy to carry around CDs, rather than bulky vinyl records, with the formats becoming smaller and more portable over the years. Pendrives, Bluetooth… life has become more convenient with progress.

Overall, the impact of AI on Spain – and the rest of the world - will depend on how it is developed and deployed. While it brings some risks, it can also make many daily tasks quicker and easier.

We might end up working more closely with machines that help us with our personalised daily tasks, and speeding up dull chores is never a bad thing.

The main AI apps in our daily lives

● Virtual assistants

● Chatbots

● Social media algorithms

This is where website stats can help - for example, the story announcing this week’s heatwave with temperatures of 47C and the Spanish Government moving against low-cost airlines for charging travellers for hand luggage proved a big hit. But when it comes down to it, it would be an extremely dull paper if that’s all we put in. This is why we always leave plenty of space for interesting indepth features and articles.

These not only allow our reporters and writers to stretch their wings but more importantly, they provide you with a fascinating and informative read.

But it comes at a price. While the paper is free, the Olive Press still has to pay for the staff to keep producing a quality newspaper and popular website.

While the paper can survive thanks to our advertising clients who recognise a good read when they see one, the website needs to be funded too.

This is why we ask readers to pay a modest subscription for full access. For less than a fiver a month they can get access to the best investigative news site in English to be found in Spain. Help us to provide the best news service targeted at expats in Spain and sign up now!

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

● Personalised recommendations online

● Language translation, such as Google Translate

● Healthcare applications

● Smart home devices

● Navigation and ride-sharing apps, including Google Maps

● Fraud detection by banks, etc.

HOW DOES CHAT GPT WORK?

The chat AI apps are machine learning Natural Lan- guage Processing models known as Large Language Models (LLMs). They digest massive quantities of text data and infer relationships between words.

HOW DOES IMAGE AI WORK?

Image AI text-to-image generators use a machine learning technique called artificial neural networks. These receive input in the form of words and pro- cesses them to form images.

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Family ties forging the way for Costa Blanca business built on traditional values

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34 951273575 for a special quote

AUTO GENERATED: All pictures were made with AI

It is cheaper to use

to visualise an idea than pay a human worker

SANDRA O’Connor, 58, had watched her son, Joseph grow more and more withdrawn and isolated in his bedroom with his computer. But the English criminal lawyer at least thought he was ‘safe in his room’, away from the normal dangers that teenagers face on the Costa del Sol.

So when an army of riot police kicked down their front door in Estepona, she could have had no idea that he was one of the world’s most wanted cyber hackers. Sought by the US authorities for a string of serious cyber crimes committed when just 19 years old - including hacking into the private Twitter accounts of President Biden and Elon Musk - he was also a serious fraudster who stole $794,000 from a Manhattan cryptocurrency firm. And perhaps most disappointingly for his mother, he also stole naked photos of young women and then tried to extort them.

Now, Joseph, 24, also known as PlugWalkJoe, has just been hand ed a five year stretch in one of New York’s toughest prisons. But it could have been a lot worse… and if it wasn’t for a series of moving pleas from his mother and wider family he could have faced 70 years in jail, the Olive Press can reveal. In a series of remarkably emotional letters addressed to Judge Rakoff at the famous Southern District of New York, they helped to explain how a kind-hearted expat who struggled to understand normal social interactions became the world’s online public enemy number one. Unearthed via requests to the US court service, they paint a tragic picture of violence, neglect and isolation that saw the bright youngster failing to receive the guidance and support he was obviously in need of.

Born to a violent and absent father, it emerges Joseph was raised by a single mother who was also traumatised by the same man.

EVERY PARENT’S

He was a quiet expat kid whose mother moved him to Spain to avoid his abusive father and violent bullying at school… but when he became withdrawn and locked himself in his room, she had no idea he would become a globally infamous hacker. Walter Finch unravels the tragic, complicated story

His teenage years in Liverpool were fraught, as he suffered from bullying by other kids that he could not understand.

Sandra confessed that she had not been ‘emotionally available and nurturing’ to her youngest child (with his other two brothers born to different fathers). She described herself as ‘effectively broken’ by the violence she had suffered at the hands of Joseph’s father, who had not wanted the child and at one time inflicted such a severe beating on her she required 17 stitches to her head.

“I just went to work on autopilot,”

she recalled.

“But it's the children who suffer the most as those crucial early years of loving nurturing are absent and damage results.”

Unwelcome efforts by Joseph’s father to come back into his life in secondary school reopened unhealed wounds.

“Joseph was always saying how sad it was that his father had ruined my life, and that it would have been better if he had not been born,” Sandra told the judge in one heartbreaking missive.

“I reassured him that he was worth it, and I would not change the situation if it meant he was not born.

“He told me I was rubbish at choosing men,” she continued, “and that he hoped one day I met someone who was kind and would treat me well.”

Sandra’s father, who had been an excellent father figure for Joseph’s two older brothers, died unexpectedly while she was pregnant with him.

“Not a day goes by that I do not think about him and miss him and feel saddened that Joseph never got to receive the love and care his grandfather provided to his siblings.”

Sandra would constantly tell Joseph of his grandfather, and in turn Joseph would speak about him as if he had known him himself.

“He would tell me lovely things about his deceased grandfather,” his grandmother Agnes reminisced in another letter.

“When you're bereaved, it is very comforting. It was as if he knew I almost needed this to help me cope.

“He would tell stories with so much love and add funny anecdotes about what his grandfather would say if he were here.

“He was such a sweet, funny boy and so kind to others,” she added.

As his mother explained: “When younger, he would try to encourage me to meet someone who could be his dad, which is so sad.

“He saw his young friends with their loving families and he effectively only had me.”

Having moved Joseph back to Estepona at the age of 17, Sandra

watched him retreat from the perplexing world that had treated him so cruelly into an online one. One where his anxieties and peculiarities vanished and he made friends and found respect.

But so obsessed did he become with his gaming and his computers that in turn he became oblivious to the real world around him.

Conversations and constant nagging had little effect as he withdrew almost entirely to his room, even refusing to eat meals with his mother and instead ‘eating himself fat’ and snacking on processed foods.

When she flew to Liverpool for work trips, the lawyer would have to leave pre-prepared foods and snacks that just needed heating in the microwave.

And upon her return, she would be faced with a chaotic pigsty of dirty dishes and cups piling up, which he noticed not one iota.

When Covid struck, Sandra found herself stuck in England and unable to get back to look after Joseph. Instead she hired a housekeeper. It was during this period Joseph finally managed to find friendship, albeit with a community online.

how his life had gone so wrong. In another sad knock-on effect, the enormous costs of the proceedings have depleted Sandra’s financial resources and imperilled her retirement.

“There will be no inheritance for Joseph and his brothers,” she wrote, adding her own inheritance from her father is gone, and Agnes only has enough to pay for her own funeral.

Joseph has so far been spared this tragic full understanding of the long-term impact his deeds will have on his family.

His cousin, Niamh, 23, told of an anecdote during one visit to Joseph in prison that summed up the difficulty he has dealing with life.

“He told Sandra his mum, she looked pretty,” she wrote. “She thanked him. Then he said, ‘well you are, even with your wrinkles and you being old, you should try and get Botox before you start looking as wrinkly as nan.’”

The people he was chatting with were not gamers but, in fact, hackers

Sandra would get back to hear him laughing loudly with his online friends - ‘something he rarely did.’

“For me, this was comforting and a good sign,” she wrote.

It was preferable he was laughing in his bedroom rather than exposed to ‘a world on the outside where he was ill-equipped to navigate.’

“I believed he was safe from this world, where he was not in touch with any dangers [such as] alcohol, drugs, bullying and the worst aspects of society,” Sandra told the judge. But she had no idea the people he was chatting with were not gamers but, in fact, hackers. And it would be they who led Joseph down the path that would finally find him languishing in a New York jail, struggling to understand

They all burst out laughing.

“He was just being how we all know him to be, honest without realising that it can be too much to hear sometimes,” Niamh went on.

“He had no idea why we were laughing and there is little point in explaining it to him.”

For his mother’s birthday in June, Joseph arranged through a friend to send her a personalised card with a huge beautiful bouquet of flowers, a gift-wrapped perfume, and a box of gold decorated cupcakes with messages on the cakes.

Attached was a personalised card. Inside, it read: "Happy birthday to the one who has loved, cared, helped, worried and been there for me through it all.

“Thank you for always being there for me, you're a great mother and I love you a lot.

“You are the smartest woman I know and will ever know and very kind and beautiful. “Everyone who meets you, or their families, always say you are their favourite

HACKER: Joseph was badly abused and bullied at school

NIGHTMARE

person and extremely rare and for that I am very proud of you and not have a bad word to say about you.” Having spent two and a half years

in jail waiting to be sentenced, Joseph is already half way through his five year sentence. Awaiting him when he gets out is a

job offer: A UK-based energy firm is willing to take him on as a Web Developer Apprentice. For his part, Joseph told the judge:

“I want to lead a productive life. I now look back at what an empty life I led. A solitary life alone with gaming and online friends in an

SNARED: Estepona police picked up Joseph while mum Sandy (inset) was at home downstairs

unreal, unhealthy world, the only life that mattered.

“I neglected my family, my future, I was without plans or any aims in life.”

BOILING ERA

July was the hottest month on Earth in the last 120,000 years

JULY was the hottest month on the planet in the last 120,000 years, according to a Leipzig University study.

The research confirmed that it was the hottest month since records started in 1880.

And shockingly, Karsten Haustein, leader of the research, said it may have been the hottest month in 120,000 years, when there were forests in the Arctic Circle and hippopotamuses and elephants roamed where London is today.

The average worldwide temperature last month was 1.5C hotter than it was before the Second Industrial Revolution.

The average temperature in July 2023 was 0.2C higher than in July 2019, which had been the hottest month on Earth until now.

North America, Asia and Europe have suffered from extreme heatwaves, leading to large fires in countries including Greece and Canada.

“The era of global warming has ended, now we are in the global boiling era,” said UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres.

OIL WOE

OLIVE OIL price rises are showing no sign of slowing down in Spain with the cost of a litre doubling over a year due to droughts destroying olive crops.

Known as ‘liquid gold’, the lowest price for a litre of ‘basic’ olive oil comes in at around €6.45 with prices set to rise still further.

In the Murcia region, Antonia Cruz from the Jumilla branch of the COAG farmers organisation said: “The drought is subjecting olive trees to a lot of water stress and if the weather continues as it is, next year the trees will suffer because they will eliminate the fruit to save themselves,” she added.

By Alberto Lejarraga

He insisted: “Climate change is here, it is terrifying and it is only the start.”

July 6 was the hottest day ever recorded on the planet with an average temperature of over 17C, surpassing the previous record established in August 2016.

In Spain, there have already been three heatwaves this summer, with extreme weather warnings on the Costa del Sol.

And on the Costa Blanca, the province of Alicante experienced the hottest July nights in 100 years.

THE HEAT WILL KILL YOU FIRST

JULY was the hottest month on record since records began.

The record was previously held by June.

Prolonged heat waves have been experienced around the world, the water in the North Atlantic is unusually warm, and Antarctica (currently in the middle of winter) has had sea ice extensions well below normal.

The climate change deniers have no credibility .

I recently read about a Danish critic of climate alarmism, Bjorn Lomborg, declaring that rising temperatures will reduce the number of deaths from the cold. What a narrow minded nutter.

Historically we labeled changes happening as ‘climate change’.

We then adopted ‘global warming’ as our go to term.

Make no mistake…..PLANET

EARTH IS WARMING.

The human race has not experienced this type of heat before. We are not prepared to

VERTICAL SOLAR

THE PORT of Valencia could become the home of Spain's first large-scale vertical solar energy park. Tests are being carried out for two months on part of a wall at the North Dock with the aim of exploring the feasibility to install a much larger unit.

A Valencian start-up firm called SunnerBOX has created a special matrix system named IT3 for the tests. It consists of solar panels arranged on tensioned mesh stretched with cables, and the array is said to be easy to install and cuts costs.

21 panels of 410 watts each have been erected for the pilot project and the amount of energy generated and the behaviour of the structure will be measured in real time.

cope with it.

Currently there are 30 million people living in areas of extreme heat. Scientists estimate that by 2070 there will be 2 billion people suffering these conditions. That’s not far off.

As hot areas expand, health and quality of life are impacted. Agricultural production is compromised. This affects us all.

WE ARE CREATURES OF HABIT

For example - everyday we flush the toilet (with

the exception of my 12 year old son), we start the car, moan about the weather.

Yet we know very little about the detail behind most functions.

Our knowledge is largely superficial.

To illustrate this fact, look at nuclear energy. Most people have formed a view on whether this is a good thing or morally wrong.

Very few of us (me included) can actually describe the economic processes, or what happens in a nuclear reactor, or the phenomena of atomic physics.

Our opinions are formed by the media, politicians, and conversations within our peer and friend groups.

We have an illusion of understanding.

One fact we need to understand is that the scientists are right, and we are not listening hard enough, nor are we acting with an adequate response.

(The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet written by Jeff Goodell will get you looking for your Valium!)

The human race has not experienced this type of heat before

Green Matters By Martin Tye

CRITIC: Bjorn Lomborg

LA CULTURA

Common history

Museum will explore the richness of Jewish culture in Spain

SPAIN will get its first largescale Jewish museum which is scheduled to open in Madrid in 2025.

The Hispanic-Jewish Museum will aim 'to unearth the common history between the Jewish people and 600 million Spanish speakers, exposing their shared values' according to David Hatchwell of the Fundacion Hispanojudia that has been trying to set up the project since 2016.

“This museum, which will have a clear international vocation, will enrich the

By Alex Trelinski

cultural approach of Jewish museums in the world,” said Hatchwell. The museum will feature interactive exhibitions and 'cutting-edge technology' and be housed in a building on Calle Castello which is currently owned by Madrid's transport system. Fundacion Hispanojudia promises that the museum 'will transport visitors through centuries of history and will allow them to dis-

cover the richness and diversity of Jewish culture in the Hispanic context, with a clear vocation to build a bet-

Stunning Medusa

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a Roman mosaic in Extremadura depicting Medusa with tiny wings and locks of hair, which is believed to have been used as a protective symbol.

The mosaic was found at Merida’s Huerta de Otero archaeological site which saw the first excavations take place in 1976.

Romans established a colony there in 25 BC called Augusta Emerita and relics of their stay including an amphitheatre and a bridge can be found across Merida.

Archaeologist Felix Palma said: “The site is of an exceptional nature due to the level of conservation of the ruins and, above all, the ornamental elements that decorate the well-preserved house: not only the mosaic of the Medusa but also paintings and sculptural motifs.”

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

ter future'.

Other displays of Jewish culture can be found elsewhere in Spain including a small museum at what may have been a medieval synagogue in Barcelona, as well as a substantial Sephardic museum in Toledo at the Synagogue of El Transit that dates back to the 14th century.

Some 13,000 affiliated Jews and 50,000 Jewish residents live in Spain, according to the World Jewish Congress. Prior to the expulsion in 1492, around 200,000 to 250,000 Jews lived in the country. In 1986, Spain recognised the State of Israel, after which the two countries created diplomatic ties.

Across

1 Frown (5)

4 Grey (5)

10 “Raising ---” (1987 Nicolas Cage film) (7)

11 Hibernian (5)

12 Outer covering (4)

13 Final course sounds dry (7)

15 Stalwart in the lead, or out of sorts (11)

19 Implore urgently (7)

21 Emperor of Rome, 5468 AD (4)

23 Throw out (5)

24 Angers (7)

25 Inheritors (5)

26 Rounds up (5) Down

2 Dry red Italian table wine (7)

3 Horse-stopping command (4)

5 Gymnastic pommel horse exercise (8)

6 Banish (5)

7 Bears out cavalryman’s sidearm (5)

8 Obsolete form of marine propulsion (6,5)

9 Snap (5)

14 Forebear (8)

16 Appeared (7)

17 Grew less (5)

18 Pinch in the fundament (5)

20 Filch (5)

22 It’s made of wood in the woods (4)

All solutions are on page 14

ONE of Spain's most spectacular firework displays takes place this Sunday with UNESCO recognition as an 'Intangible Heritage of Humanity'.

Elche's Nit de l'Alba is held every August 13 with thousands of fireworks lighting up the night sky in an event that attracts an estimated 40,000 people from across the country and from abroad.

The firework spectacular dates back to the Middle Ages when families made offerings to the Virgin Mary by way of launching a rocket for each of their children. The display starts at 11pm with over 300 palm tree-style firework displays fired from across different parts of the Alicante province city.

At midnight, the city is plunged into total darkness before the palm of the Virgin is then represented by a huge firework array which is 700 metres in diameter and climbs up to 300 metres.

FLICKR: Felipe Gordillo/Nit de l'Albá

A resident of Chite, Lecrin, Gym, combines wit, irony, angst, and a ‘touch of anarchy’ for her life drawings and large paintings on canvas. She has recently completed a portrait of music producer, Youth – famous owner of the Space Mountain recording studio in Lecrin. She likes to observe the ‘human condition’ and ‘individual fragility’. She says: “My Godmother's faultless ink and watercolour sketches for fashion catalogues during the 50s and 60s influenced my desire to make art. Norman Rockwell’s lyrical caricatures and then the Pre Raphaelites stole my attention as a teenager. Life drawing became addictive to me.”

Gym ofHalama Lecrin

GETTING ARTY

By Jo Chipchase

GRANADA has a long history of art and self-expression, with the most famous luminary being Frederico Garcia Lorca. Since then, many creatives have been drawn to this beautiful area -

The Spanish region that is becoming a magnet for modern female artists

including poets, painters and, later, digital nomads. Living amongst the mountains surrounding the Sierra Nevada are many talented female artists, who document their personal experiences using media ranging from paintbrushes to pixels.

Jo Chipchase speaks to five local artists about the inspiration behind their work.

Mix Amylo of Granada

Mix Amylo is an English artist, musician, writer, and composer. She hails from London but is usually found in Órgiva, or a cave house in Granada. Having always drawn and created as a child, she returned to it later, studying in London, Accademia d'Arte in Florence, Cyprus School of Art, and Metàfora in Barcelona.

Described as ‘beautiful chaos’, her artwork weaves ‘the strength and

Andalucia has attracted Gym since 1970. She says: “I moved into Chite in the early 90s. Over a 10-year period, I fixed my eye on an abandoned flour mill, created my space to live, paint, and show my work downstairs at The Sandpit Gallery.”

“In 2021, I rented a warehouse near Lanjarón for three months as a challenge to myself, with absolutely no idea of what I would paint. Ten weeks later, 12 large canvases were hung for a 'one night only' exhibition called ‘TERMINAL’.”

● TERMINAL is on show at the Instituto de America in Santa Fe, Granada, from 21-22 September.

Armelle Boussidan of La Alpujarra Meg Robinson of the Contraviesa

Meg Robinson moved to Alcázar in the Sierra de Contraviesa because she was drawn by “the wisdom of the country people, the richness of the ancient culture, the blue sky, and summer starry nights”. She creates art from personal experiences and describes her work as ‘autobiographical’, but she also has some themes. One prominent theme was based on tracing her Jewish roots from Sephardic Spain to Lithuania, with five years travelling to explore countries including Alaska. In 2018, having found her

Jewish roots and grandparents’ village of ori- gin, a strong theme in her art was the inherited trauma passed down from generations of Baltic Jewish individuals and communities. She says: “Discovering the identity of my Jewish father after 50 years searching was traumatic. It unleashed a tsunami of grief I couldn’t explain. So, I drew it.” Meg is now creating art around a new theme, with a new palette of colours celebrating the three cultures she lost thought adoption - Irish, Dutch, and Lithuanian.

www.megrobinsonart.com

Armelle Boussidan, a resident of Lanjarón, is a French born painter and multidisciplinary artist working with acrylics, posca, ink, watercolour, pigments, and sand. She has roots in Morocco and, for the last 12 years, she has exhibited her work in various places throughout Europe.

Armelle explores ‘invisible energetic states channelled into an intimate, intuitive and sensitive language’, sometimes used for art therapy. Her work can take different directions, according to personal experiences.

Armelle is inspired by: “Me, you, all of us, the seen and unseen, nature and natural patterns, everything we feel, dream and can't describe, the visible and invisible, portals of high energy, beauty in details and mud, pain, pleasure, grief and joy, the healing path, the vibration of a colour under a ray of light, a crystal glistening in the riverbed, all of it…”

She first arrived in Andalucia in 2016. A year later, she strolled around the spa town of Lanjarón with her ex-partner and ended up staying there.

Since then, she has been in and out of La Alpujarra, which keeps “calling me back like a magnet”. After spending time in Egypt and France, she returned to seek a home and studio for the winter.

www.armelleboussidan.com/art/

fem inine

ing a highly detailed black and white surrealism’. She creates personal dreamscapes, tries to capture the subconscious, and find quirky ways to reveal the ‘dark beauty hidden in the ordinary world’.

Her artistic language uses recurring themes, such as circles, doorways, chessboards, female figures, eyes, mountains, and ladders.

The resulting works have been shown in different countries.

Since living in rural Spain, Mix joined the art group, Artists Network Alpujarra (ANA), and has participated in many exhibitions. She organised an Open House exhibition in Órgiva, where other artists could exhibit their work alongside hers.

www.mixamylo.com

Lunita Loca of La Alpujarra

Lunita Loca is a digital illustrator living on an olive farm. She has a passion for creating healing art full of colour, symbolism, and magic.

After 30 years away from art, she started drawing again during lockdown. She was trying to make sense of what was happening around the world through creativity. She could share her work instantly over social media and connect with others.

She explains: “The concept of ‘art is for everyone’ really appeals to me. Before moving to Spain, I lived in Bristol, where street art transformed the city into a walking gallery. From the rich to poor areas, the art spoke for itself and was inspirational, lifting your spirits and making you think or laugh out loud.”

“When my family moved to Spain, the landscape changed drastically. Now it was a time for reflection and healing. The mountains held me as I became a mother for the second time and found my way in the community.”

“During the summer of 2022, I was

stung by a scorpion. What followed was a dark night of the soul. After 24 hours of pain, I awoke to find myself charged with a new spark of energy and confidence.”

Instagram: @_lunitaloca_

Big spenders Baggage cost

MORE and more American tourists are choosing Spain for their vacation destination, with the number of visitors from the United States arriving rising by 17.4% so far this year.

According to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), from January to July, a total of 1.8 million people from the US made a visit to Spain, compared to 1.1 million in the same months a year previously.

“The US market has an important value for our tourist sector,” said Tourism minister, Hector Gomez.

Sixth

The UK, France and Germany, in that order, remain the biggest markets for tourism to Spain, but the US is catching up and is currently in sixth position.

In June alone, 546,093 US visitors arrived, which is the best figure seen since 2015 when the current INE data series began.

Most American visitors choose Catalunya as their destination, accounting for 41% of the total, followed by the Madrid region, with 27%.

Another piece of good news for the Spanish tourism sector is the amount of money that US visitors spend.

A report from Turespaña states that in 2022, the 2.78 million American visitors to Spain spent €5.3 billion, which was 6% of the total.

Dogs on the rail

TRAVELLING with your furry companion can often be a challenge but it is about to become much easier - at least by train.

As part of its ‘Pet-Friendly Transport Service,’ a joint initiative with Purina, rail operator Renfe will now allow passengers to travel with

their pets on Avlo, the company's low-cost high-speed train as long as they don’t exceed 10 kilograms in weight. This initiative is an expansion of Renfe’s ‘Mascota Grande’ project, which aims to accommodate pets during travel.

Fresh jobs boost

Unemployment fell to 11.6% of the active population in the second quarter, the lowest level seen since 2008

SPAIN posted record employment figures in the second quarter of 2023, exceeding the 21-million mark for people in work for the first time ever.

Meanwhile, unemployment fell to 11.6% of the active

By Simon Hunter

population, which is the lowest level seen since 2008.

That’s according to the Active Population Survey, published by the country’s National Sta-

PRICE HIKES

PETROL prices are at their highest in 2023 after the latest increases at the start of the month.

The new hikes came as millions of Spaniards drove to the costas for their annual holiday.

The prices of petrol and diesel have grown by 3.7% and 4.5% respectively, since last month.

Filling the tank is now €5 more expensive than it was five months ago.

With the current prices, filling up a 55-litre tank with petrol costs €90.75 on average and €82.61 for diesel.

tistics Institute (INE).

The figures show that the 21-million barrier of employed workers was broken thanks to 603,900 people joining the labour market in April, May and June.

Unemployment, meanwhile, fell from 13.26% in the first quarter to 11.6%, shedding 365,300 people for a total in the second quarter of 2.76 million unemployed.

The jobless rate is currently at its lowest since the third quarter of 2008, while the economically active population in Spain currently stands at a record high of 23.8 mil-

lion from a total population of around 47 million.

The numbers build on similarly strong figures for the first quarter of the year.

From January to June 2023, a total of 592,800 jobs were created – that’s double the figure for the same period a year before.

The INE figures also show that the number of workers on indefinite contracts has also hit a record high. Of the 505,500 new employees registered between April and June, 410,100 were on permanent contracts and 95,400 on temporary contracts.

LOW-COST airlines could face massive fines for charging passengers extra for hand-luggage carried in the cabin.

Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs (Consumo) has opened proceedings against several airlines, although their names have not been made public.

Consumer Affairs minister Alberto Garzon launched an investigation earlier this year, saying the budget operators being probed had a market share of above 30%.

Fines

Penalties might involve substantial fines handed out to offending airlines.

Consumo has also extended its remit beyond hand luggage to look at extra costs that airlines apply to services that used to be bundled in a ticket price, like seat reservations.

It is concerned that low fares are advertised but the reality does not match up with the final price paid by travellers once extras are added.

Consumo has also denounced the airlines for other irregularities, such as not allowing cash payment at the airport for additional services, contrary to regulations.

The penalties for infringements vary between €10,001 and €100,000 in the case of serious ones, and between €100,001 and €1 million in the case of very serious ones.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

SPEAKING IN WHISPERS

Trying to get a handle on Madrid is an impossible task

WHEN I think of Madrid I think of whispers. It has always been a place of intrigue and conspiracies, of hermandes, closed societies, and tertulias, private gatherings.

It is perhaps as a result of this secret history, and history of secrecy, that I have never quite been able to put my finger on the city (despite having written a guidebook to it.) Paris is a romantic idea, New York a bustling reality, London is the last vestige of an empire, Rome the ruin of one. Madrid is... I don’t know.

However, I keep going back because that is where the power in this country lies, and always has.

I have two great friends - in both senses of the phrase - who live there. They both come from illustrious backgrounds, their families affected the course of Spanish history.

Dear Jennifer:

War in 1936.

READ THE SMALL PRINT I

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

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

You do need to read the small print on your house policy, including checking that you have the correct policy with Liberty Seguros.

One of the very important issues when discussing house insurance is the amount of contents cover, always remembering that with Spanish Home insurance the kitchen is included in the contents, not the buildings. Also there is a wonderful extra you can add to your policy and that is accidental damage, which is unique to Liberty Seguros and covers many breakages and claims within the home.

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

My consultants are currently working on assessing the home policies, and if they feel you would benefit with increased, additional coverage, they will contact you at renewal.

In the meantime, if you have any concerns or questions, please contact one of my offices and we will be able to give you the advice you require and answer any questions.

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

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

If you have expensive garden furniture, we can increase the cover for these. We can also offer increased cover for valuable objects and jewellery in event of theft with violence.

We can tailor your house policy to suit your own individual needs.

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

Estanislao Perez, ‘Tanis’, does not often use his second surname, what in English we would call his mother’s maiden name (I wonder what banks here use to verify people’s identity...) It diverts attention, being García Lorca. His maternal grandfather Francisco was brother of Spain’s most famous poet, Federico García Lorca, whose ‘Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías’ every Spanish school child knows, with its haunting refrain of ‘at five o’ clock in the afternoon’.

Federico has been a bone of contention between Left and

However, even before that he followed the Spanish trend of linking Art and Politics: think of the bombers that gave birth to Picasso’s Guernica or the firing squad in Goya’s The Third Of May. Which is why his brother married the daughter of his university professor, and one of the founders of Spanish socialism, Fernando de los Ríos. In 1919 de los Ríos joined the executive of the Partido Socialista Obrero Español, the PSOE, and in 1920 he was part of a delegation to Soviet Russia. While there he famously interviewed Lenin, ending with the question ‘what about freedom?’ To which the most famous Vlad - more so than both Putin and the Impaler - gave a chilling three word answer, ‘freedom for what?’ De los Ríos became a minister of the Republic and went into exile after the Civil War along

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Scowl, 4 Ashen, 10 Arizona, 11 Irish, 12 Rind, 13 Dessert, 15 Lionhearted, 19 Beseech, 21 Nero, 23 Evict, 24 Enrages, 25 Heirs, 26 Herds.

Down: 2 Chianti, 3 Whoa, 5 Scissors, 6 Exile, 7 Sabre, 8 Paddle wheel, 9 Photo, 14 Ancestor, 16 Emerged, 17 Ebbed, 18 Goose, 20 Swipe, 22 Tree.

with Francisco, an escape which Federico tragically missed However, I am not visiting the softly spoken, highly intelligent architect from that bloodline of the Left, but instead the man they call the Godfather of the Partido Popular, the PP, on the Right.

Adolfo Suárez Illana does use his second surname, but this is to distinguish himself from his famous father, Adolfo Suárez, who was the first democratically elected Prime Minister following the death of Franco. More than that, he was co-founder, along with his friend King Juan Carlos, of Spanish democracy itself.

I realise the former King’s star has somewhat waned, and his legacy has been apparently tarnished. However, nothing can remove the fact that he risked the same fate as the famous poet by leading this country

into democracy. The story that sticks in my mind is that one of the people to whom the young Prince Juan Carlos turned for advice on the future when Franco began to ail was the exiled head of the communist party, Santiago Carrillo. The prince had the renegade politician smuggled into Spain and the palace, at great risk to both of them, to ask what he should do when he took power. Carrillo’s answer was blunt. “I don’t know the answer to that but I do know that you will go down in history as Juan Carlos ‘The Brief’.”

At the end of last year, Suárez Illana stepped down from his role as congressman for Madrid, and secretary of the bureau in parliament. He has not revealed yet what he is going to do and that is, in part, what I hope to find out.

Next time I will ask Tanis the same question.

Despite their polar opposite histories, there are remarkable similarities between the two men. Both are fiercely intelligent and loyal, but also have a great sense of humour and the rare ability to be invariably good company. They also listen to the other side, as I, sitting in the middle and frequently on the fence in matters political, have often tested late into the night. It is a shame there are no more like this in politics today. Or perhaps there are, behind closed doors, in smoke filled rooms, speaking in whispers.

‘I do know that you will go down in history as Juan Carlos The Brief’

GOOD COMPANY: Adolfo Suárez Illana with Xander and (right) Adolfo with his father Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez González

GREATS: Brothers Federico García Lorca and Francisco García Lorca

Nap time

TAKING a 20 minute afternoon nap after lunch is beneficial according to an expert who warns that a long siesta sleep brings little reward.

With the warm weather making everybody feel a bit more sleepy, Dr. Nohemi Rodriquez head of neurophysiology at Elche's Vinalopo Hospital suggests that a post-lunch snooze should be '20 minutes or less' and is 'better in the early afternoon in a quiet dark area with a low temperature'.

The specialist says that a short sleep can bring health benefits: “It reduces fatigue, increases energy and performance and boosts a person's mood, alertness, memory, and reaction capacity.”

Dr. Rodriquez adds that sleeping longer creates 'sleep inertia' which gives the body 'enough time to enter a deeper slow-wake sleep' which makes people feel groggy when they wake up.

Get back on tract

Take in fluids to avoid urinary stones

URINARY tract stones are one of the most frequent issues treated by urologists in Spain with hot temperatures forcing reported cases up by 30% over the summer months.

Simple changes in daily diets can reduce the risk of a stone

By Alex Trelinski

being formed according to Dr. Bartolome Lloret, a urologist at Alicante’s Vithas Medimar Hospital.

“Environmental heat is one of the most recognised causes of

stone formation which is more frequent in hot climates and in Spain at this time of the year.”

“High temperatures in the workplace cause big water losses due HEALTHY: But in this case bad

to high perspiration while vigorous physical exercise, especially in summer, can cause periodic dehydration and increased concentration of crystals in the urine which form stones,” he added. Cases of urinary tract stones are also more frequent in patients who have a parent who has had kidney stones. Dietary factors that promote the development of kidney stones and others that exert

‘Highly contagious but not lethal’

THE European Medicines Agency (EMA) has warned about a spike of a new Covid-19 subvariant known as BA.5.

Increased cases have been reported across the country including the Valencian Community, but the EMA has described the subvariant as ‘highly contagious but not lethal’ as most

vulnerable people received vaccine boosters last winter. The Valencia region has boosted purchases of antigen tests three-fold over the last fortnight as consumer demand has risen, but nowhere close to the levels of a year ago when four million test kits were sold in Spain.

PHOTO OP

Specsavers Ópticas’ Summer Photography

Competition offers prizes of a €100 Amazon voucher and a pair of designer sunglasses for the best photo

On Monday July 3 Specsavers Ópticas launched a Summer Photography

Competition to find an image which captures the essence of Spain. In doing so, they hope to shine a spotlight on all the wonderful aspects of Spain and find out what images encapsulate its very best elements. They are asking local residents on the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Mallorca, to send in beautiful photographs to be in with a chance of winning a €100 Amazon voucher and a pair of designer sunglasses.

Lisa James from Specsavers Ópticas in Guardamar comments, “Spain is such a stunning and diverse country, with incredible natural

Life-saving results

ANTI-OBESITY drugs like Ozempic have been proven to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by up to 20% in overweight people. International studies have shown a positive effect for diabetics but now their impact has been proven with a wider group following research that started in 2018.

“This is revolutionary,” says Sevilla-based endocrinoligist Cristobal Morales - Spain’s coordinator of the study, which took place in 41 countries. “We have seen a 20% reduction in cases in a short period of time which leaves no room for doubt,” he commented.

a protective effect have been identified so diet should be considered as an integral part of treating stone sufferers.

Dr Lloret said: “There are a number of dietary factors that encourage

stones to be formed like a high consumption of animal protein. a low intake of fluids, a high intake of sodium and eating of oxalate- a substance present in some foods of plant origin.”

Oxalate foods include walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, spinach, and chocolate. The specialist recommends everybody especially at this time of the year to drink more than three litres of water per day backed up by eating healthier foods like cereals, fruit, and vegetables. He also suggests reducing the consumption of butter, sausages, preserves, soups, dehydrated creams, cheeses and ham, as well as avoiding adding extra salt to meals.

Tick-tock

SPAIN’S scorching summer has found the country inviting in an unwelcome guest: ticks, which can latch onto both wild and domesticated animals. But these arachnids (they belong to the same group as spiders and scorpions) are also far more perilous to humans than is commonly realised. They are capable of transmitting over 50 different diseases through their bites, including bacterial infections like Lyme disease and spotted fever. The parasite usually takes between 24 to 48 hours to start feeding on their host’s blood, meaning prompt removal is crucial.

beauty, a vibrant culture of arts, music and dance and of course incredible food. This summer we are asking keen photographers living close to our stores to show us, through an image, what makes Spain so special to them.

We are very excited to see

these fantastic images and celebrate the talented photographers on the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol and Mallorca, where our nine stores are located. The person who takes the best picture and best explains why

this is the essence of Spain to them, will be rewarded with a €100 Amazon voucher and a pair of designer sunglasses worth up to 159€.”

The competition is open until the 1st of September and photographs can be submitted on social media by tagging @SpecsaversOpticas on Facebook and @specsaversspain on Instagram, sending photos via Messenger or via email to spain. marketing@specsavers.com

A jury formed of three Specsavers Ópticas store directors will judge the entries and shortlist the top five entries. These will then be posted on social media and the image with the most likes and comments will be declared the overall winner.

Competition is open to residents of the provinces of Alicante and Malaga and the island of Mallorca and you must be aged 18 and

Playground justice

A QUEUE for a child’s swing turned violent in Valladolid when two fathers started trading blows - with a baseball bat. It is unknown if the children managed to get their turn on the swing.

Unlucky rescue

AN elderly woman nearly croaked her last when vapours from the huge stash of drugs she was storing in her home began to overwhelm her. Thankfully - or not - passing police heard her cries for help and saved her.

No cigar

A BRIT who ran out on his €1,500 hotel bill almost got away scott free, until police intercepted him boarding a ferry in Santander.

O P LIVE RESS The

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

SEX CRIME

IF you are going to gossip about a neighbour's noisy sex life, do it quietly. And definitely don’t do it live on national television.

A woman in Salamanca who did just that has been hit with a €10,000 fine for besmirching her passionate neighbour’s honour.

The facts date back to 2017, when the defendant appeared in a television report complaining about how she couldn’t sleep due to the noise made by her neighbour during sex.

The woman, identified by her initials LMI, referred to the ‘ardour’ of her fellow resident.

FOR THE FANS

Gossip ordered to pay €10,000 after discussing neighbour’s ‘ardour’ live on TV

By Simon Hunter

She also explained how the woman had been reported to the authorities and fined for excess decibels and ‘noises from her bed’. LMI added that the neighbour had even caused cracks in her ceiling and that her radiator vibrated due to the young woman’s activities. Asked if she might be a prostitute, the defendant said that

she did not know but that she had ‘seen a number of different people’ go up to the apartment. The comments were broadcast on a TV show called La Mañana on state broadcaster RTVE, prompting the neighbour, identified as JVG, to file a lawsuit both against the defendant and the TV channel itself. A lower court first threw out the case on the basis that JVG had not been identified in the

A FOOTBALLER has quit professional football to star on sex site Onlyfans Miguel Angel Guerrero, goalkeeper of Velez CF, has left the fourth tier of Spanish football for what he believes is a much more profitable career. The 29-year-old became well-known

broadcast, and that LMI was protected by freedom of expression. But an appeal at the Provincial Court was upheld, slapping LMI with a €10,000 fine. The Supreme Court has now also upheld the sentence, meaning the compensation will have to be paid.

after taking part in La Isla de las Tentaciones, the Spanish version of Love Island, earlier this year. The former goalie explained that he made the decision to start an Onlyfans account after receiving several erotic messages during his time on the reality show.

The ex keeper may no longer be

A MAMMOTH iceberg weighing over 15,000 kilos is set to make its grand appearance in Malaga at the start of September.

The iceberg is being hauled all the way from Greenland in a refrigerated container and will be placed on swanky shopping street Calle Larios.

It will be left there until it melts naturally, serving as a ‘poignant’ visual reminder of the pressing issue of climate change. The Arctic Challenge 2023 team, led by Manuel Calvo has just returned from Greenland and managed to get an export licence for the iceberg ‘for scientific research’.

making saves but he will surely start saving more money, as the platform users can pay between €5 and €50 a month for a subscription. “If you want to show non-sexual content you will not make money as Onlyfans is porn. I have a big gay public and I am open to do things that they would enjoy,” he added.