Olive Press Costa Blanca South and Murcia Issue 97

Ambulance reversal

A HEALTH emergency coordination centre (CICU) will be restored to Alicante province - just months after it was integrated into one Valencian region facility.

Alicante's CICU shut in January with all ambulance call outs being routed to Valencia amidst accusations that staff did not have a good enough knowledge of local areas.

The new Partido Popular-Vox regional government says it will reverse the closure but no timetable has been given.

Dramatic

A CCOO trade union spokesman said: “The Valencian Health System is retreating from centralisation, which had dramatic consequences for residents by reducing the quality of the service.”

As the Olive Press reported in April, a La Marina village resident died after an ambulance was despatched on a 30 kilometre journey from Elche, as opposed to one from Rojales - a mere five minutes drive away.

The Medical Union representing doctors made a complaint over what it regarded as a ‘very serious matter’ while a SAMU ambulance spokesman admitted that ‘this type of incident has happened several times’ since the closure of the Alicante CICU.

O P LIVE RESS The

COSTA BLANCA SUR / MURCIA

MIRACLE BABY

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

A BRITISH paraplegic has had a ‘miracle’ baby with the local Spanish beauty who nursed him back to health.

Expat Aaron Salter, 30, was paralysed from the waist down following a horror car crash in Plymouth in 2015, breaking his spine in multiple places.

He immediately froze his sperm, hoping that one day he would meet the woman of his dreams and be able to start a family.

After 18 months in hospital, he was able to return to Spain and stayed with his father Les Salter, 72, in the quaint village of Salinas in Valencia.

Howev -

er he took a turn for the worse and developed sores, leaving him practically bed-ridden for nine months. It was then that local stunner Estrella Garrido, now 36, began managing his care.

“I had always known of her and she was amazing with liaising with the town hall and other authorities on my behalf,” Aaron told the Olive Press.

“She started caring for me and our feelings for each other just grew and grew, and here we are.”

He added: “The support from the town has been so overwhelming, there’s been so much love shown to me. “I never knew if I was going to be a dad but I froze my sperm just in case. “We did IVF treatment at a clinic in Alicante, it was much cheaper than the UK and it worked the first time thank god!”

The happy couple welcomed their daughter, also named Estrella, into the world almost exactly a year ago. The entire local village held a street party last week to celebrate the tot's first birthday.

Granddad Les told the Olive Press: “I was amazed to hear Estrella was pregnant, I was so proud of him, it has made me feel touched.

“He had his life in front of him and we were setting him up with our kennels business and that was all taken away in an instant. To know he has a lovely lady that loves and cares for him, and now a family, that’s lovely for me.”

Les and an eight-year-old Aaron had moved to Spain in 2001 following the death of his wife to cancer. He set up a kennels business in Sax, near Salinas, and began

transporting dogs from Spain to the UK for adoption.

Aaron and two others were delivering pups on his 22nd birthday when they all fell asleep while driving the company van through Plymouth, veering off a motorway and colliding with a tree. His father explained: “His best

friend Miguel was driving and they wanted to imprison him for two years, but Aaron insisted they didn’t and he was given a suspended sentence.”

Aaron is currently locked in a yearslong legal battle against the insurance company, with a decision on a multi-million euro payout expected imminently.

He added: “Aaron’s been through the ringer. I think the next step will be marriage but Aaron is waiting to see the outcome of the court case.

“He had to go through years of treatment and specialists and the payout has been compiled by our lawyers into a valuation of around £7.8 million.

“We’re not looking to make money, we just want to make sure that Aaron can afford treatment for the rest of his life, including a £7,000 wheelchair and prosthetic legs which are costly.”

Although in our first exclusive serialisation of a brilliant new book on Spain, Paul Richardson recalls his regular August battles against heat and

THEN: Aaron after the horror smash

FREE Vol. 4 Issue 97 www.theolivepress.es August 24th - September 6th 2023

NOW: Aaron happy with family

PARTY: Whole village celebrated

Nowhere to hide

FOUR fugitives in Torrevieja wanted by Germany and Romania for drug, money laundering, and attempted homicide offences have been arrested.

Cooler outlook

THE latest heatwave will peak this Friday at around 36 degrees in the Valencian Community before a substantial cool-down kicks in from Sunday with daytime highs below 30 degrees.

Smugglers stopped

TWO French brothers have been arrested for renting a Los Alcazares mooring to run an illegal ferry operation to smuggle in North African migrants.

Boat blast

ONE person died and four people in their mid-20s were injured when a pleasure boat exploded off the coast of Aguilas on Saturday night. The cause of the blast is unknown.

A VALENCIA woman has been jailed for two years and ordered to repay €135,805 to Social Security after claiming her dead brother’s pension for 24 years.

Valencia Provincial Court has also ordered she pay a daily fine of €4 for seven months plus costs.

CAUGHT OUT

The fraudster had custody of her brother prior to 1996 - the year he died - and he received an annual orphan’s pension of over €8,000. After his death the pension continued

to be paid into a CaixaBank account until March 2020 when she told Social Security that her brother had just died. They launched an inquiry, which exposed the woman’s long-running fraud. Social Security recovered €38,970 directly from the bank.

Swindler released

AN infamous British fraudster who tricked a former girlfriend out of her £800,000 life savings has been freed from prison in Spain.

Mark Acklom was extradited to the country two years ago after being freed from a near six-year sentence imposed in England in 2019.

The 50-year-old has now been released from the Murcia Penitentiary near Carta-

Convicted British conman Mark Acklom is freed from a Spanish prison

By Alex Trelinski

gena, after serving a further two years behind bars.

ELDERLY TARGETS

TWO street thieves have been arrested in Calpe close to a bank where they stole €4,000 from an elderly man last May.

The Colombians, aged 29 and 53, were caught by police after they and another associate were spotted behaving suspiciously around the premises.

One of the trio exited the building after finding a potential cash-laden elderly victim and started waving at his colleagues but officers intercepted them. Evidence revealed that two of the men carried out May’s robbery and a check showed they had arrest warrants against them issued by courts in Gandia, as well as further afield in Albacete and La Rioja.

live in Spain. Acklom was arrested in the country in 2015 and jailed for three years for cons that included defrauding two brothers by selling them non-existent

No details were revealed of his current whereabouts, although his wife Yolanda Ros and their two children still properties he claimed to own in London. He absconded while on temporary release ahead of a parole hearing before fleeing to Switzerland and changing his name by deed poll. He was tracked down to Zurich on a Europol arrest warrant and was sent back to the UK to face charges for defrauding Carolyn Woods out of her life savings in 2013 using the alias of Mark Conway, who claimed to be a Swiss banker and MI6 agent. Acklom served less than half of the eight-and-a-half year prison sentence for that crime before he was released

Rope killer

A TORREVIEJA woman has been jailed for five years after strangling her 78-year-old mother to death with a specially-bought rope.

The killer, born in Russia but with Lithuanian nationality, suffered a psychotic breakdown in June 2021.

Prosecutors initially wanted her jailed for 25 years but agreed to a plea bargain to cut down the sentence and change the charge from homicide to manslaughter.

The woman lived with her mother on Calle Sal and decided to buy a 25-metre long rope from a hardware shop on the same road.

The next day they knocked back large amounts of vodka together on their terrace before the parent decided to have an afternoon nap in her bed. The daughter then pounced and fatally wrapped part of the rope round her mother’s neck.

in August 2021, only to be re-arrested on an extradition warrant from Spain. The fraudster moved to Spain with his Spanish wife in 2013 following the Woods con which also involved not telling her that he was married.

He adopted a new alias to continue his frauds and was initially in the Marbella area before he was tracked down to Murcia by the Olive Press. Acklom now faces fresh legal problems as UK prosecutors have been using the Proceeds of Crime Act (Poca) to try to recover the money stolen from Ms Woods.

Food fraud

SOME 34 tonnes of out of date food has been seized from two Torrevieja warehouses by the Guardia Civil. The old produce was destined to be sold across Spain and Portugal, and could have posed major health issues if it had been eaten. Labels stated that the food was past the expiry date but the sellers had different ideas and had recently opened distribution outlets in Madrid and Malaga.

RELEASED: Conman Acklom

In the army now

PRINCESS Leonor has put away her designer clothes and pulled on an army uniform. Her mother and father, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, along with sister Sofia, accompanied the future commander-in-chief of Spain’s armed forces as she enrolled at the Army Military Academy in Zaragoza. their goodbyes with fond embracPrincess of Asturias admitting to reporters she was feeling ‘a little nervous’ but was embracing the year with ‘great enthusiasm’.

The 17-year-old’s three-year training will include this academic year at the Army academy, followed by a year each at naval school and the General Air Academy.

Angela Raver

BRITISH politician Angela Rayner has boasted of enjoying 12-hour vodka-fuelled ‘rave’ sessions during her very recent holiday to Spain.

The deputy leader of the Labour Party, 43, said she returned from the country last week, where she had been drinking from mid-afternoon to sunrise with just the occasional glass of

Labour deputy leader is just one of the girls as she admits to boozy Spanish break

By Laurence Dollimore

water.

The Mancunian was speaking to comedian Matt Forde at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She said: “The girls I was raving with are half my age, and I was like ‘I'm a grandma’. I was proud of

SUMMER BABY

PARTY ANIMAL: Rayner bragged about her rave with women young enough to be her granddaughters

A Zoo in Jerez has welcomed a new European Bison calf.

The birth of the female at Zoobotanico is being described as an important step in maintaining the species’ genetic diversity. A hundred years ago they were extinct in the wild, with just 50 specimens in zoos. Now 6,200 out of the present day population of 8,500 live in the wild after breeding and reintroduction campaigns.

Sizzling Eva

AS temperatures in Marbella moved into the 40s, Eva Longoria slipped into a sizzling-hot bikini to cool down.

that.

“At 4pm I started, and I got home at six o'clock in the morning when the sun was shining and I was like, 'Yes, I can do it'.”

She insisted that she did not have ‘chemical support’ to party all night, relying solely on vodka.

“You've got to go with the music, the vibes. You've got to be in the moment and it takes you,’ she said. Forde added: “That really sounds like you've done drugs. That's the druggiest answer I've ever heard.”

Rayner revealed she likes to make her friends her own ‘lethal’ cocktail called Venom, consisting of a bottle of vodka, a bottle of Southern Comfort, 10 bottles of Blue WKD and a litre of orange juice.

She said: “If you're ever having a crowd of you at home get that out and everyone will have a good time.

“I invited my two youngest kids’ headteacher from primary school and he had to take his wife home because she’d had some Venom.”

The 48-year-old actress was on one of her regular breaks in the Costa del Sol city. With weather warnings on red alert at the time, she decide to take to her pool at Villa Marusha. She has been posting regular updates to Instagram of her break. In the latest, Eva showed off her enviable figure after taking a swim wearing a tiny bikini in olive green.

Major boob

FORMER EastEnders

star Daniella Westbrook has been interrogated by armed police in Ibiza over an unpaid €37 petrol bill from five years ago.

The 49-year-old actress’s plans for a relaxing break after her eighth boob job were ruined when airport po lice realised there was an out standing denuncia against her. Westbrook had been arrested in Malaga in 2018 and detained for 14 hours over a driving offence and was convicted that same year for failing to pay for €37 of petrol. She will now have to return to Spain for a Malaga court hearing to resolve the issue, which she says she has been trying to do for five years.

IN UNIFORM: A last embrace for Leonor from mum Letizia

Shark attack

A BLUE shark attacked a swimmer at Oliva’s Rabdells beach, with the bather suffering a bite to his left foot. The animal had apparently become disorientated and swam close to the shore.

Oliva City Council implemented a bathing ban at Rabdells and extended it to Aigua Blanca and Aigua Morta beaches as a precaution.

After verifying the shark was no longer in the area, beach goers were allowed back into the sea.

LEFT FOR DEAD

British ex-copper ‘repeatedly ran over by neighbour’ in brutal ‘attempted murder’

A RETIRED Royal Navy commando has miraculously survived being run over FOUR times by a ‘neighbour from hell’ in Spain.

David James, 80, was savagely attacked by a fellow Brit on his doorstep in the picturesque hills of La Viñuela, Malaga.

The suspect, in his early 70s, a

Prickly arrivals

BIOPARC Valencia had a prickly problem when twin South African porcupines were born. Their mother declined to feed them so the park’s welfare team were pressed into action around the clock to feed the duo with bottles.

But for the prompt work, the youngsters could have died, but are now out of danger and in a stable condition. The twins are fed every two hours and the routine will be maintained for their first month of life, after which they will start to eat solid food.

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

retired councillor from northern England, has been charged with attempted murder and is being held in prison awaiting trial.

He also faces a string of other charges after three others were injured in the incident, court documents seen by this paper have confirmed.

“I really thought I was a goner,” David, who is also a former policeman, told the Olive Press from his hospital bed this week,adding : “I’ve lost all my teeth, fractured my pelvis and ribs and fractured multiple bones in my face, I’m lucky to be alive.”

The shocking incident occurred when great-grandfather-of-one David, his wife and their friends were returning from a lunch party to his stunning villa in the Mirador del Embalse development.

It was then, according to David, that his next door neighbour’s wife came running out of their driveway in hysterics.

“She shouted ‘he’s going to kill me, he’s going to kill me’,” David recalled while nursing his arm, which still carries a tyre mark from being crushed by the

vehicle. The neighbour, initials D.B, then emerged from his driveway ‘visibly highly intoxicated’, it is claimed.

Fearing he was going to drive, David and another resident blocked off the end of the road with their cars.

The neighbour began furiously driving up and down the road while beeping his horn, claimed David. The alleged attacker finally came to a halt, at which point David decided to approach him to take the keys out of the ignition.

David said: “I then heard his engine rev and I knew what was going to happen, he came at me at full speed and knocked me against the wall.

“I smashed my head and I thought I was a goner. Then he reversed over me, before running me over for a third time, this time on my arm, before reversing over me one more time. It was like something out of a Hollywood movie.”

Neighbours and holidaymakers eventually managed to drag David onto his driveway and behind its access gate.

“He got out of his car and tried to stab me with a pole,” David,

WORLD CUP SPECIAL

Stain on victory

Spanish football boss’ forcible kiss on his country’s top scorer - and general obnoxious antics - triggers

sexism storm of controversy after World Cup victory

FRESH from basking in the glow of their first ever Women’s World Cup, a sexism storm is brewing in Spanish football - triggered by an unwelcome kiss from its federation chief.

Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, grabbed the head of Spain’s top scorer Jenni Hermoso and forcibly planted a kiss on her lips as she collected her winner’s medal.

Grinning with a self-satisfied smirk, he then followed her into the locker room and joked about marrying her and whisking her away on a boat to Ibiza.

Just moments earlier, the boss of Spanish football had celebrated the women’s victory by aggressively grabbing his crotch - while standing next to Queen Letizia and 16-year-old Infanta Sofia.

During a live Instagram broadcast in the dressing room after the game Hermoso was heard saying of the incident: “What was I supposed to do?!” and: “I didn’t like it…”

Rubiales had initially shrugged off the criticism he faced, describing those who took office to his ‘public show of affection’ as ‘idiots’, ‘stupid’, ‘fools’ and

LONELY DEATH

THE decomposing body of a 54-year-old Norwegian has been found after police broke into a Torrevieja flat when neighbours complained of the stench.

Officers believe the man had been dead for 10 days before he was found.

The resident - who lived alone - suffered from Diogenes syndrome which results in people hoarding waste and belongings.

Such ‘home alone’ deaths are becoming more frequent in the Torrevieja area with the Guardia Civil recording a score of such fatalities in the last year.

The Olive Press reported last October that a British woman, 82, was found dead in her city house among tons of rubbish.

a grandfather-of-five, added. “It was terrifying.”

The suspect has lived on the urbanisation for at least a decade and has inflicted a ‘years-long reign of terror’ on neighbours, witnesses told the Olive Press. David said he filed a denuncia’ - a formal police complaintagainst him 18 months ago after he allegedly tried to attack him with an axe. The dispute was settled out of court as David’s wife had just been diagnosed with cancer and the family had no appetite for a legal battle. She also suffers from dementia.

The Guardia Civil has been contacted for a comment.

Turtle saved

A YOUNG loggerhead turtle has been rescued after beach goers found it entangled in plastic.

The turtle was discovered on Jesuitas beach in Pilar de la Horadada. Police and environmental health officers guarded the animal until vets took it to Valencia’s Oceanographic Institute to recover. It will be released back into the sea with a monitoring device to keep track of its movements.

BOUNCING QUEEN

By Walter Finch

‘losers’ before summing it all up as ‘bulls**t’.

But as the pressure mounted he filmed a much-derided mea culpa, saying: “I have to apologise, there’s no other option, is there?”

Hermoso was reported

Comments attributed to her by the football federation - claiming that it was a ‘spontaneous mutual gesture’ between two people who have ‘a great relationship’ - have also been reported as fabricated.

Rubiales’

SMACKER: But kiss was unwelcome

antics have set off a firestorm of condemnation within Spain that had already been simmering in the background. “What we saw was unacceptable and Rubiales’ apologies are insufficient and even inadequate,” acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez said.

SPAIN’S World Cup hero was brought crashing down to earth with the news that her father had passed away before the final and did not see his daughter’s moment of glory.

Olga Carmona, 23, scored what turned out to be the winning goal against England in the 29th minute in Sydney to earn Spain their first ever Women’s World Cup.

But in the most bittersweet tale of triumph and tragedy, the mother of the Sevilliana waited until her

THE Queen of Spain abandoned royal decorum to join in the moment of ecstasy with the victorious women’s football team - and bounced along in celebration. After the final whistle blew on Spain’s tense victory and all the emotion was released, Queen Letizia and her daughter Sofia, 16, were welcomed onto the pitch by the players.

After the team celebrated lifting the trophy, the stadium implored the queen to ‘bounce’ along with them as the players joyfully danced around her. And Letizia, clad in all red to match La Roja, did not disappoint, letting herself get carried away in the moment and fist pumping the air as she jumped up and down.

Bittersweet symphony

daughter had lifted the World Cup before breaking the news. He had died in the early hours of Saturday morning, over 24 hours before the final, but the family had not wanted to ruin the Real Madrid striker’s focus with the news beforehand.

Once the euphoria and sadness had passed, Carmona took to X,

formerly known as Twitter, to post a touching tribute to her father.

“Little did I know, I had my Star before the match even began. I know you gave me the strength to achieve something unique,” she wrote.

“I know you watched me tonight and you're proud of me. Rest in peace, Dad,” Olga wrote on her social media.

RECOVERING: David in hospital after his horrifying ordeal

TRAGIC WINNER: Olga scored the only goal

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OPINION

What a trooper!

EX-NAVY commando David James’s recovery after allegedly being run over four times by his neighbour in Malaga is nothing short of a miracle (Left for dead, page 4).

But what is more concerning is how this ‘neighbour from hell’ has seemingly been allowed to act with impunity for years without any repercussions from the authorities.

He had already allegedly tried to attack 80-year-old David with an axe just 18 months ago, and a slew of complaints from other residents seem to have resulted in zero action.

The case is yet another example of how slow the wheels of justice can move in Spain.

Thank goodness the alleged attacker has been locked up and will remain behind bars until his trial - in what looks set to be an open and shut case given the overwhelming evidence.

We wish David a speedy recovery and hope that justice is duly served.

Good news, at last

THE endless stories of crime and misfortune on the in Spain are too many to count.

That is why stories like that of Aaron Salter, who has celebrated his daughter’s first birthday eight years after he was left paralysed by a horror car crash are so welcome (Miracle baby, page 1).

Aaron has really been through the ringer, as his 72-year-old father Les put it, and it is wonderful to see how he has made a full life for himself in the years after his horrific injuries.

Just as wonderful is the loving support and backing he has received from the Spanish village where he grew up.

Reminders that the Spanish and British can - and do - get on and foster strong relationships are more important than ever post-Brexit. Aaron’s story should serve as an inspiration to all.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

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ADMIN Victoria Humenyuk

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Biting back

BE WARNED:

LOST

SPAIN'S new animal welfare law comes into effect in September and you’d better start saving! In just a few weeks you are going to need to get all your pets microchipped,

not to mention jabbed and sterilised.

From September 29, all dog owners will need third party liability insurance, while cat owners will need to ensure their pets are unable to breed.

There will also be a ban on keeping pets permanently on balconies and terraces.

The law applies to both domestic and captive wild animals, but controversially excludes dogs used for hunting or other professional activities such as search and rescue dogs and those operating with law enforcement.

It also excludes horses and bulls killed during bullfights.

The main objective is to guarantee animal welfare and protection, and to establish a common legal framework throughout Spain to reduce the number of abandoned animals.

In particular, cats will need to be sterilised before six months old, unless they are specifically registered for breeding.

Owners will be expected to 'integrate pets into the family nucleus', prevent uncontrolled reproduction and will be required to complete a training course on responsible pet ownership. For now, at least, it will be both online and free.

Breeding may also only be carried out by the animal’s owner and pets must be identified with a microchip.

The law prohibits dog fights, leaving pets unsupervised for more than three days (in the case of dogs for no longer than 24 hours) and regularly keeping pets in outside spaces, storage rooms, basements or vehicles.

One of the biggest changes will be that cats, dogs and ferrets will not be allowed to be sold in pet shops. They will also not be permitted to be exhibited in public for commercial purposes - meaning no window displays of animals at pet shops - which will be classified as a very serious offence. These animals may only be marketed by registered breeders.

Circuses will no longer be allowed to keep elephants, tigers or lions, although dolphin shows at water parks are not affected, for now.

Those who do not comply with identification obligations, are violent to pets and/or mutilate or carry out unauthorised bodily modifications (ear clipping or tail docking) will be subject to the full weight of the law.

Fines for violations will range from €500 to €200,000, depending on the severity of the offence.

THE Civil War might have been over, but in August 1948, 75 years ago this week, the 200 residents of a tiny white village became what could be described as casualties of war. When right wing dictator Franco’s forces won in 1939 they still had to contend with uprisings - and they did so with great ferocity.

Frigiliana, perched in the mountains above Nerja on Andalucia's Costa del Sol, was declared Republican in 1936, only to fall to the fascists the following year.

Anyone suspected of supporting the left wing movement came into the sights of Franco's forces, who took bloody revenge. The village and its near neighbour El Acebuchal - today in the heart of the soaring Sierra Tejeda natural park - found themselves on the frontline of a guerilla war and were caught in the crossfire.

Following the end of the Civil War, left wing sympathisers had taken to the mountains and formed a guerilla force

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BRITS have long mocked Germans for going to extreme lengths to ‘reserve’ the best spots by the pool but now the tables have been turned.

In a famous Carling Black Label advert from 1993 a gang of middle aged Germans are seen getting wake up calls from hotel reception at 6.30am before making a dash for the sunbeds by the pool.

The ‘hero’ of the ad is a Brit who calmly watches the mad rush from his balcony before throwing a rolled up towel, which, to the theme of The Dambusters , skips across the water of the pool before scoring a bullseye on a sunbed, unfurling to reveal it as a Union Jack.

It was the epitome of the ‘Cool Britan -

RESTORED: The streets of El Acebuchal today and (right) some of the expelled villagers

BRITS ON THE OFFENSIVE

UK holidaymakers turn tables on Germans in sunbed wars but who is the bad guy here?

nia’ theme that had taken over the UK in the 90s. But now, that ice-cool sangfroid has seemingly been replaced by the British love of queuing. Apparently getting up at 6.30am to join the queue is no longer enough, with some Brits reserving places for a queue to join the queue outside the locked poolside gates the night before.

And this has not gone unnoticed by the German press, which has been gleeful

in putting the boot on the other foot. German website Focus Online said it was mainly ‘elderly or middle-aged British tourists’ responsible. Its article continued: “Vacationers like to reserve loungers by the pool or on the beach with their towels. Some hotels then closed the doors to the outside overnight.”

Tabloid Bild joined in the fun with a story headlined Battle for the couches escalates blasting Brits for an ‘embarrassing

How a village abandoned on fascist orders 75 years ago was resurrected, writes Dilip Kuner

Spain's new animal welfare laws come into force in September… and it does have teeth with fines from €500, explains Dilip Kuner

August

23rd -

AND FOUND

known as the Maquis to fight the fascist victors - a movement that was not to be finally crushed until 1952 when the last fighter - Antonio Sanchez Martin - was killed by Guardia Civil forces

in front of his two young daughters. His body was then draped across a mule and led through

the streets of Frigiliana as a warning to the silent villagers.

Frigiliana paid a heavy price in terms of blood with communist sympathisers shot on sight, while El Acebuchal basically ceased to exist. Suspected of helping the rebel fighters with food and refuge, the Guardia Civil ordered the villagers to leave.

In truth, the villagers were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Politically they were a

mixed bunch, some had actually even fought on Franco’s side during the Civil War. But to the Guardia this did not matter. Everyone had to go. They fled, leaving behind all their possessions and the homes that most had lived in all their lives. Many moved into neighbouring villages taking refuge with relatives and started new lives. Technically they were allowed to return to their old homes during daylight hours, but they could not stay overnight - not much good when they were often living several hours walk away.

Gradually, El Acebuchal fell into ruins, deserted with just the inn remaining open to service the needs of muleters on the old mountain route to Granada.

But when they stopped passing, the final death knell of the hamlet was rung and the inn closed. El Acebuchal crumbled until little more than mounds of rubble and a few standing walls were left, and it became known to locals as the ‘lost village’.

But it lived on in the memories of the former residents until decades later in 1998 one couple decided to do something about it.

Virtudes Sanchez and Antonio García 'El Zumbo' whose parents had been expelled, realised that the burgeoning ‘rural tourism’ sector meant the village could be brought back to life. They started with three plots that belonged to relatives and started to rebuild the village stone by stone, soon acquiring another 11 of the former homes. They worked tirelessly with no electricity or running water for years to get things back into order.

Finally their work was done in 2003 and the lost village was once more on the map. Other former residents and their descendants soon joined the effort, and today, incredibly, 33 homes have been rebuilt.

Few people live there permanently, with most of the homes rented to tourists and today, where farmers, charcoal burners and muleteers used to live, foreigners relax on holiday among the stunning natural tranquillity.

As visitors hike in the hills, bask in the sun and enjoy the mountain air, it is difficult to imagine the violence and terror that once caused El Acebuchal to become lost.

But now, after 75 years, it has finally been found again.

deckchair and towel race’ in Tenerife - where locals have resorted to setting up deckchairs in the middle of the night to beat the swarm

of foreign tourists dashing for the best spots first thing in the morning. But while the participants in the race-for-abed maneuvers seem to take the battle dead

ly seriously, others are not so po-faced. has previously run tongue-in-cheek stories, with one headlined Ziz means war accompanied by a graphic of a gun and a sunshade. Referring to a Thomas Cook initiative allowing Brits to reserve sunbed up to six days in advance, its headline ran on England plans a new offensive - new miracle weapon in the towel war.

And on the Costa del Sol Patrick, a German hotelier in Ronda, told the Olive Press that times have changed. “My dad used to do sunbed hogging when I was a kid and I didn’t like that.

THRIVING: The restaurant attracts day trippers

HIDDEN: Tucked away in the mountains the chapel (right) was reopened in 2007, while (below right) a muleteer passes through in the 60s

Looking to the Persians

AN ancient technology dating back to Persia 3,000 years ago has been resurrected in an experiment to cool the streets of Sevilla.

With temperatures regularly topping 40C each summer it is a problem that has long tormented the citizens of the Andalucian city.

In an effort to find a way to provide relief, the city hall has spent €5million on a pilot project to marry the ancient Persian technology of qanats with modern pumps and solar panels to provide natural, cool air.

Called CartujaQanat, the experiment uses several techniques to cool a site about the size of two football pitches without burning any fossil fuels.

Designers inspired by the Persian-origin qanats have built a network of underground pipes and tubes that channel water through a closed system.

The water cools hot air, which then wafts over the site lowering air temperature by up to 10C using just air, water and solar power. The system is

Getting warmer

JULY was the hottest month ever registered on Earth, according to NASA’s global temperature analysis. The US government agency has confirmed last month was the hottest on the planet since records started in 1880. The institution has revealed that the five hottest Julys since the start of the Second Industrial Revolution correspond to the last five years. And it will keep getting worse, as Gavin Schmidt, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Director, claims ‘2024 will be even warmer’.

Spanish city that is reviving ancient technology to combat sky high temperatures

By Dilip Kuner

modelled on ancient tunnels, which were originally built to irrigate agricultural fields in deserts. The Persians realised that the fresh running water also cooled the air in the tunnels.

About 1,000 years ago they decided to use that air as natural air-conditioning by digging vertical shafts to bring it to the surface.

CartujaQanat was designed by researchers at Universidad de Sevilla. At night, water runs through an aqueduct

outside, then over solar panels on the roof and into giant tanks underground. Contact with the lower night time and underground temperatures cools the water, until it’s time for the outdoor air-conditioning to be turned on. As temperatures rise, solar-powered pumps draw the water through small pipes that run in front of fans to generate cold air. Small openings in the floor and steps allow the refreshing current to seep into the square.

THE oceans have hit their hottest ever recorded temperature as they soak up the warmth from climate change, with dire implications for our planet’s health.

Data released by the European Union’s climate change body Copernicus shows the global sea surface temperature at levels far higher than normal for this time of year.

Whilst we may find warmer seas off the Spanish coastline less bracing and more enjoyable there is a bigger picture to look at.

Our oceans are a vital climate regulator. They soak up heat, produce over half of the Earth’s oxygen and drive weather patterns.

We are putting oceans under more stress than we have done at any point in history.

It’s quite simple. When the sea is warmer it has less ability to absorb carbon dioxide. This means that more of this planet warming gas stays in the atmosphere. Glaciers melt and sea levels rise.

Warmer seas disturb marine life. Nature’s food chain is disturbed as marine species like fish and whales go in search of cooler waters. This has an

SOLUTION: One woman uses an umbrella as a sunshade (inset) while CartujaQanat offers a cooler environment

impact on fish stocks. Some predatory species like sharks can become aggressive as they get confused by the temperature rise.

THE MORE WE BURN FOSSIL FUELS THE HOTTER THE SEA BECOMES

Check this out –In June, waters around the UK were 3-5C warmer than average. Two weeks ago the sea surface temperature in Florida was over 38C…….that’s like a Jacuzzi!

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO

SKI??

WARMING: Oceans have direct effect on weather

All signs point to a strong El Niño winter. To explain – An El Niño occurs when sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific rise half a degree for five consecutive three month periods. This has happened. The last time was 2015 –

By Martin Tye

2016. Snow came late, and when it did arrive shed loads came.

Scientific predictions can be wrong……in other words you can take it with a grain of salt, or should I say, a flake of snow.

If you’re planning a ski trip I suggest you look carefully at your choice of destination and see how much snow they had last year and when it came.

BRITS are still the big spenders of Spanish tourism, accounting for nearly one fifth of total tourist expenditure in the first half of 2023. The English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish have long been the greatest contributors to the Spanish tourism economy.

But the accolade is tempered by the

Prices up

FOOD and soft drinks in Spain are 10.8% more expensive than a year ago, according to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE).

Despite Spain having one of the lowest inflation rates in the eurozone, the price of groceries is now more than 30% higher than four years ago, the summer before the pandemic.

Inflation fell by more than one percentage point in June, reaching 1.9% yearon-year, down from 3.2% in May, with fuel, electricity and food price increases easing.

After experiencing a small increase in July, it is now 2.3%, still in line with the 2% target set by the European Central Bank (ECB). Regarding food prices, sugar has experienced the largest increase and is now 44% more expensive than in July 2022.

This is followed by olive oil (33.8%), potatoes (22.9%), rice (22%), canned fruits (19,4%), sweets (18.2%) and butter (17.9%).

HEY BIG SPENDERS

fact that, despite contributing a winning 18% of cash spent, Brits also spend a first-place 20.7% of all tourists in Spain - not quite reaching par.

Coming in second and third, the

Germans and the French are almost neck and neck in terms of tourist total. But second place France accounts for a paltry 7.9% of total spending despite providing 13% of the visi-

tors. The Germans just about reach par with 12.7% of spending from 12.9% of the tourists. Other notable statistics from Turespaña, a Spanish tourism institute, includes a remarkable 420% surge in the number of Chinese tourists coming to Spain.

Just Terra-ific

Wildlife parks more than double profits in just a year

BENIDORM and Murcia’s Terra Natura wildlife parks have boosted their profits last year to surpass 2019 levels after dips caused by the Covid pandemic.

The parks, owned by Murcia’s Grupo Fuertes in a joint venture with La Generala, raised last year’s turnover by 51% from €7.26 million in 2021 to €11.1 million.

The figures easily surpass 2019’s returns when the parks had a turnover of €9.9 million.

In terms of profitability, the operation made €1.8 million last year, compared to €700,000 the previous year - following losses incurred in 2020 when the two parks were closed for months due to the pandemic.

The 2022 profit total beats the €1.67 million made in 2019.

The improved figures come in spite of increasing the workforce from 31 in 2021 to 54

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Línea Directa would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to answer the questions in our survey as it has given us valuable feedback on our services and enabled us to integrate positive changes and continue to provide expert solutions for overseas residents in Spain.

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Keeping busy

SPAIN'S airports saw the best-ever July for passenger numbers, as tourism continues to blossom following the Covid pandemic.

Operator Aena said that 29.76 million passengers used their airports last month - 10% more than the same month last year and beating the July 2019 record by 1.2%.

By Alex Trelinski

people last year.

A management report says the company forecasts that turnover will continue to grow as indications are ‘positive’.

Terra Natura opened in Benidorm in 2005 and two years later in Murcia, offering a different concept compared to traditional zoos.

Animals live in natural habitats with freedom of movement as visitors enjoy a safari-style experience.

In recent years, the company has diversified by offering cabin accommodation at Benidorm in association with the Magic Costa Blanca hotel chain.

In 2018, it bought the land where the Benidorm park was set up after renting it for 14 years. CASH COW: Animals are a big attraction

International travellers totalled 29.70 million, nearly 12% more than a year ago, with 9.28 million domestic passengers - 6% up on July 2022.

So far this year, 159.2 million people have used Spain's airports - 20.6% more than last year and 1.2% up on the 2019 record figures.

Alicante-Elche airport had 1.71 million travellers (up 12.7%); Malaga-Costa del Sol reported 2.43 million (up 17.8%); and Valencia stood at 1.03 million passengers (up 17.85) - all record July highs.

It was also the first time in Valencia airport's history that it logged over a million passengers in a month. Madrid, Barcelona, and Palma de Mallorca maintained their positions as Spain's busiest airports.

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LA CULTURA

SOROLLA QUIZ: Test your knowledge on the renowned artist

August 10, 2023 marked 100 years since Joaquin Sorolla passed away.

The great impressionist painter is being remembered all over the world including

IN honour of the respected artist we have created a multiple choice quiz to test your knowledge on the famous painter.

1- Where was the artist born?

A. Madrid

B. Zaragoza

C. Sevilla

D. Valencia

2- What is the nickname given to him?

A. Master of light

B. Mediterranean maestro

C. King of seascape

D. Painter of painters

3- How many children did Sorolla and his wife, Clotilde have?

major exhibitions in Spain's capital and in his hometown.

The commemorations are continuing throughout the rest of the year.

4- Which of the paintings below is titled Walk on the beach?

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

Across

1 Vertical (7)

5 Stigma (5)

8 Stage play (5)

9 Apprehensive (7)

10 Rowdy (5)

11 Never-ending (7)

12 Pet Holstein dances about on the switchboard (11)

17 Volatile petroleum distillate (7)

19 Bishop or knight (5)

20 Esteem (7)

21 Lord ---, Prime Minister 1770-82 (5)

22 Squander (5)

23 Settled (7)

Down

1 Sunk (6)

2 Make concrete (7)

3 Unearned gain (5)

4 Sympathetic (6-7)

5 Nurse! Go out for a doctor! (7)

6 Oak-to-be (5)

7 Snuggle (6)

13 Radical (7)

14 Scoffed (7)

15 Wander round an apostle (6)

16 Approach (6)

18 Mexican moolah (5)

19 Kind of room (5)

All solutions are on page 39

5- Which illness was Sorolla the first person to portray in a painting?

A. Cerebral palsy

B. Polio

C. Rickets

D. Polydactyly

6- The below is a photograph taken in 1908, but who took the photo?

A. Eadweard Muybridge

B. Alfred Stieglitz

C. Annie Leibovitz

D. Gertrude Käsebier

8- Which country did Sorolla NOT study in?

A. Italy

B. Spain

C. Germany

D. France

9- The artist has had many exhibitions around the world (with paintings including this one below). His first exhibition was in his late teens, but where was it?

A. In Assisi, Italy

B. In Madrid, Spain

C. In Paris, France

D. In Rome, Italy

7- Sorolla worked for seven years on a commissioned mural for the Hispanic Society of America. What building was the mural for?

A. A museum in Los Angeles

B. A wall in Mexico City

C. A library in New York City

D. A library in Buenos Aires

10- We know that Sorolla painted a lot of hisworks in the places depicted in his piecesrather than simply use his imagination. How do we know this?

A. He always took souvenirs from the places.

B. There were often grains of sand embedded in his works.

C. He brought back postcards for his wife.

D. He had lots of sand in his shoes when he returned to Madrid.

This shows that he was actively at the seafront whilst creating his pieces.

Q10 - B. There were often grains of sand embedded in his works. - Due to painting on the beach, grains of sand would be found embedded in the work underneath layers of paint.

Q9 - B. In Madrid, Spain - His first exhibition took place at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Spain. The event took place regularly from 1856 to 1968.

Q8 - C. Germany - Well known for travelling around Europe to learn more about his craft, Sorolla studied in many countries but not Germany. He went to the San Carlos Royal -Acad emy of Fine Arts in Valencia, travelled to Paris and was exposed to modern impressionist painting. In addition he had a four-year grant to travel and work with great artists like -Fran cisco Pradilla in Italy.

Q7 - C. It’s library in New York City - The commision from the Hispanic Society of America saw 7 years of work put into the piece. It depicted life in various provinces of Spain. The piece took a toll on the artists and left him exhausted.

Q6 - D. Gertrude Käsebier - The American photographer was a pioneer for women in the art of photography. The well-known photograph sees Sorolla positioned in a strong pose with admirable posture. Many have commented on how his hands are oddly obscured by gloves and his shadows.

Q5 - B. Polio - In ‘Sad Inheritance’ children with polio are seen bathing in Valencia under supervision of a monk. A polio epidemic had struck the city years prior and following the painting he won a medal of honour at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.

Q4 - A. - The work depicts his wife, Clotilde and his eldest daughter, Maria wearing long white sundresses. This painting was completed in his home town of Valencia at the Playa de El Cabanyal beach.

Q3 - A. 3 - The pair had their first child, Maria in 1890. Joaquin and Elena came shortly after, born in 1892 and 1895 respectively.

Q2 - A. Master of Light - This nickname comes from his incredible talent for depicting light in his pieces.

Q1 - D. Valencia - Not only was Sorolla born in Valencia but he also frequented the city to reference it in his work.

Sorolla quiz answers:

STREETS OF RED

THE VALENCIAN town of Buñol is getting ready to see 'red' once again as the world-famous La Tomatina festival returns next Wednesday with tomatoes being hurled in all directions.

The event always takes place on the last Wednesday of August with a noon start.

It'll be the 77th staging of the showdown that attracts visitors from home and abroad.

Time to stock up on tomatoes its La Tomatina again

By Alex Trelinski

What has become one of the world's most colourful events started as an accident in 1945 and has taken place every year except for 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.

La Tomatina was prompted by young people all those years ago trying to

get a better view of some of the attractions during a Buñol parade.

As they pushed their way through

JUICY:

the by-standers, an unexpected consequence was that one of the parade participants was pushed over and lost his temper. The jolly crowd did not take things seriously and responded by grabbing tomatoes from a stall and hurling them at him- resulting in the first La Tomatina.

All of the pear tomatoes used in the annual battle are grown much further north at Benicarlo, Ciudad Real, and Hellin because the fruit is cheaper than locally grown options.

They are sent to a Castellon province warehouse on Saturday and then on Tuesday, the tomatoes are loaded up on seven lorries to make the 70 kilometre journey to

COLUMNIST ANOTHER WORLD

SEVILLA is another world, and in high summer that world is a beautiful and lonely inferno.

The locals flee to the coast (mostly Huelva) while a few foolhardy tourists run rivers of sweat on the tapas bar terraces wishing that they had heeded the warnings of what August is like in Europe’s hottest city.

After 20 years of visiting, I am a little more used to it now, and actually enjoy the peace and emptiness.

One learns to siesta or read in cool darkness and only venture out before midday and after darkness falls.

It was on one such semi-sweltering evening that I stumbled across my old friends, Ignacio and Gola, husband and wife, sitting in the cafe in front of their emblematic hotel, Las Casas de la Juderia, in Barrio de Santa Cruz.

I used to see them weekly when they hosted a tertuliaa sort of political and literary salon - in one of the hotel’s

July record broken

SPAIN'S airports saw the best-ever July for passenger numbers, as tourism continues to blossom following the Covid pandemic.

Operator Aena said that 29.76 million passengers used their airports last month- 10% more than the same month last year and beating the July 2019 record by 1.2%.

While tourists are sweltering on the costas, midsummer in Europe’s hottest city is a different level

Buñol.

Up to 50,000 people used to take part in La Tomatina up to a decade ago, but safety issues have meant numbers have been cut to a maximum 20,000 who have official tickets. The fight lasts for an hour before fire trucks arrive to clean down the streets, while revellers return to their accommodation for a shower or go for a dip at the Buñol river.

Charging ahead

RYANAIR has lodged a formal appeal against plans by Spain’s airport operator Aena to end a five year freeze on airport charges.

The cap was introduced by Aena in 2021 to aid the post-Covid recovery of tourism and employment.

Ryanair has called on the Council of Ministers and competition regulator, the CNMC, to 'protect passengers and local economies by ensuring Aena continues to respect the 2021 ruling'.

“This is a brazen attempt to ignore the law,” said RyanAir CEO Eddie Wilson.

International travellers totalled 29.70 million, nearly 12% more than a year ago, with 9.28 million domestic passengers - 6% up on July 2022.

So far this year, 159.2 million people have used Spain's airports - 20.6% more than last year and 1.2% up on the 2019 record figures.

Alicante-Elche airport had 1.71 million travellers (up 12.7%); Malaga reported 2.43 million (up 17.8%); and Valencia stood at 1.03 million passengers (up 17.85) - all record July highs.

It was also the first time in Valencia airport's history that it logged over a million passengers in a month.

Madrid, Barcelona, and Palma de Mallorca maintained their positions as Spain's busiest airports.

drawing rooms to introduce me to interesting people when I was writing about Sevilla for the UK press.

The hotel is an elegant antique labyrinth, although it does not compare to their other properties like Ignacio’s childhood home, the most

beautiful palace in Spain, Casa Pilatos.

Ignacio is the Duke of Segorbe and son of the 18th Duchess of Medinacelli, who was the second most titled woman in Spain after the late Duchess of Alba.

His mother was born Princess María de la Gloria de Orleans-Braganza y de Borbón-Dos Sicilias, descendant of the last Emperor of Brazil, no less.

Years ago, I bumped into Ignacio at the very same table where he was busy decrying the fact that he had been forced to put Casas de la Ju-

deria on the market for ‘financial reasons’. We stepped into his hotel bar to finish the evening with ‘one last drink before I sell her’. However, after that final gin and tonic, he ended the evening with a smile.

“Oh, I did have some good news,” he said, bringing out his phone with a photo of the front cover of an Italian newspaper that day. “They have confirmed one of the sculptures we have is a Michelangelo.”

Given the last time a Michelangelo went up for auction it was merely a sketch on paper and it fetched $20 million

at Christies, one can only imagine what a life-size young John the Baptist sculpture might go for. It meant he could somehow avoid selling the hotel after all, and now it is being managed by his daughter.

I almost regretted offering my sympathies for his financial plight that night, but then I remembered that everything is relative, and as I said, Sevilla is another world.

CREDITS: Museo Nacional del Prado

STAYING COOL: And even with a tie in Sevilla in summer, while (left) the Duke and Duchess of Segorbe, and the amazing Michelangelo kept by the Duke in his hotel

Lots of squishy fun in store at La Tomatina

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES

IT is over three decades since journalist Paul Richardson, 60, swapped London for Extremadura, via Ibiza.

The well-known travel and food writer, who has penned for everyone from the Financial Times to the Guardian, has battled the elements to tame his idyllic farm in a rural corner of Caceres province.

Aiming for self-sufficiency, he and partner Nacho sowed seeds and planted a vegetable garden, while carefully cul-

In the first of an exciting serialisation of seasoned travel writer Paul Richardson’s new book, Hidden Valley, he warns of the trials - and benefits - of midsummer in Spain

tivating his orchard of peach, apricot and cherry trees. They also took on a menagerie of animals, including sheep, goats and chickens, which they learnt to butcher when needed.

I SNIFFED THE AIR: SMOKE!

While their ultimate goal proved impossible, they have carved out an enviable, if often stressful, life in a stunning part of Spain, while frequently both travelling for work.

In his latest book, serialised exclusively in the Olive Press, he has mapped out life in rural southern Europe on a month by month basis, kicking off in January. Richardson doesn’t pull punches and is brutally honest about the problems of fire and depopulation, plus issues with being a gay couple in such a backwater. As every expat and regular traveller to Spain will know, August is about keeping cool and dealing with the constant fear of forest fires.

August brings a violent heat

YOU’ D think I’ d be better prepared – after all, it does come round every year – but somehow there is just no preparing for August. It feels extreme, and every year more so, in a dull, violent way like a carelessly wielded hammer.

Even now there’s an ongoing shock factor, a pinch-yourself feeling that this surely can’t be real.

An August day has two awakenings. One in the dew-freshened early morning, when you pull the bedcovers up around you and wish you’ d worn a T-shirt to bed, but struggle up and out anyway.

Sometimes after our late hungry breakfast (eggs and ham, the full works)

I feel a snooze coming on and happily give way to the impulse – an hour or so on the sofa, thence to work.

But even cogent thought is hard: heat turns the brain to jelly.

So you batten down the hatches. Like the news footage of people nailing planks to their shopfronts before the arrival of a ferocious storm, I go around the house shutting windows and blinds though

I can feel the sun already nosing around the house, the incipient heat on the window frames.

Casting my eye around for anything that might suffer under the onslaught: a box of carrots newly dug; a canister of two-stroke; a length of garden hose (they go sticky if left out in the heat).

One morning years ago I left a whole crop of just-pulled onions lying on

Summer dragged on in its grim-faced way…And just as it seemed August’s annoyances couldn’t get any worse, suddenly and dramatically, they did.

It can never happen to you: that’s a certainty you cling to. It can never belong in the universe of possibilities pertaining to your life. It’s something that happens to other people in other places, places more arid and godforsaken, unfortunate places where things would have gone wrong anyway, you sense, though perhaps not in such a swingeing and destructive and traumatic manner. Every summer there were news stories on the TV, forming almost a particular genre, like overcrowding on the beaches or traffic jams on the motorways as city- dwellers fled for the coast. I watched the images of the sky turned Judgement Day red by the flames, the agony etched on the faces of people who had lost their homes, their animals, their livelihoods, and though I felt the pity of it all there was a smugness at the core of my being, a comforting voice that whispered in my ear: Yes, of course it must be awful, but it’s an experience you will never have to face. The verdant oak and chestnut woods encircling our land were a kind of insurance policy; their dark-green shade would protect us.

The thing starts in a small way, a germ of fear that grows as it feeds on the dry tinder of your complacency.

It’s your sense of smell, as is often the case, that tells you something’s up. Padding outside in bare feet to sample the day, still half-asleep, I sniffed the air. Smoke. I noticed a grey blurring in the air, a weird kind of morning mist, but so thick the village was barely visible. Smoke.

For a while all is quiet. You go about your tasks. That day I had fruit trees to water

and six buckets of aubergines to deal with. My battle plans included a chutney with garlic, a smoky baba ghanoush, and melanzane alla parmigiana with mozzarella and tomato sauce. I’m just frying the first batch of aubergine slices when I hear the helicopter. A whirr that becomes a thudding as it comes in low over the house. The dogs cower, peering skyward; the sheep have scattered. We run outside to see the giant red bag swinging underneath the ’copter, slack and empty for the moment, but brimful, spilling water over the sides, when it returns a few minutes later. Later there will be hydroplanes, too, coming and going. Whatever’s happening, it won’t affect us. Life, and our domestic routine, goes on. The aubergines go in the oven. Wildfire has always been a fact of life in southern Europe. Burning stubble was common practice at the start of the summer. Baudilio often used to set light to a pile of vine prunings or a heap of woodland detritus against a wall: he called them his ‘flame-ups’. Thanks to the troops of goats whose grazing kept the forest clear of overgrowth, summer wildfires were brief and occasional. Somewhere along the line, fire had stopped being just another inconvenience and become an ever-present danger. Wildfires were increasingly common, increasingly virulent. No one ever knew for sure how these fires started. Sometimes it was an act of foolishness, a cigarette tossed from a car window, a stray ember from a still-glowing barbecue. More often it seemed they were started deliberately, perhaps by an arsonist with a grudge or a streak of perversion. Ultimately the immediate causes mattered a great deal less than the underlying, long-term ones. Longer, hotter summers. Milder, drier winters. Changing rainfall patterns, with longer periods of drought coming between

bouts of often torrential rain. The decline of the great herds of goats and sheep whose grazing once kept the landscape ‘clean’. Depopulation, and a rural society in which traditional woodland management is no longer practised, leading to overgrown forests full of dead wood and brush. Powder kegs waiting for a spark. It was said the fire had started outside a village a few miles away. By mid-morning the fire brigade were at the scene and had quickly put it out. They retired for lunch, and in their absence a wind came up and the flames revived. By the time they returned the fire was gaining ground, spreading on two fronts up the hill and down towards the village. The ‘three 30s’, said to be the indicators of catastrophic wildfire risk, were all in place: that is, less than 30 per cent humidity, more than 30°C and a wind speed above 30 km/hour. We were heading for disaster and we didn’t even know it. In the fantasy I’d always entertained, the church bells would be tolling, and this would be the signal for the villagers to rush out with brooms and buckets in a communal, all-in-this- together effort to beat back the fire’s creeping spread. Initially, however, there was no panic, but a mixture of excitement, alarm and curiosity: where was the fire? Was it spreading? This of course was the time of year for it. If I could catch the man who did this, I tell you I’d have his guts for garters. But when the novelty wore off I noted a collective shrugging of

shoulders: it was in another village. The firemen would deal with it. It was an inconvenience. Martín’s mother was busy at the clothes line on her first-floor balcony: ‘I’ll have to wash it all again, can’t have it smelling of smoke,’ she called down to me.

And all the time the comings and goings of helicopters, the thud-thud-thud of their blades as they came in low like in Apocalypse Now. On the second day there were fleets of hydroplanes with big bellies for scooping up water. All day they flew overhead, back and forth, back and forth. The smoke was thicker now, catching in your throat, drifting on the wind like a thick fog, the sun at the back of it a grubby yellow blur like a half-sucked sweet.

Meanwhile the WhatsApp messages came in thick and fast, a whirl of confusion and, increasingly, of worry. Is the fire out of control? Has it reached this or that village? It’s looking like a big one. Four thousand hectares already burned, they say. Firefighters drafted in from neighbouring provinces. Even from Portugal. Did you see the nightly news? We were mentioned in a report on the summer’s biggest fires so far. Well, it’s good to be famous for something. When the wi-fi went down we were plunged into an uncanny silence. Phone coverage was reduced to a single bar.

Maybe the 4G mast had been damaged. Outside the smoke was now a choking cloud, but there was no flame, no red skies, nothing to indicate that the fire was coming closer. So we shut ourselves indoors and busied ourselves making ratatouille and strawberry ice cream. We became so used to the warzone rumble of planes and helicopters passing overhead that we were even able to sleep through it. Four days went by. There was no official communication, no warnings, no information. There were very few phone calls. No one knew anything. The fire was out there somewhere but posed no danger to us. We even forgot to be afraid. After all, it was happening somewhere else, and to other people. It was their problem; their misfortune; their tragedy. We clung to our selfishness to keep us sane. On the night of the fourth day our luck ran out. For three days the prevailing southerly wind had fanned the flames away from the village and down towards the plain. Now the wind abruptly changed direction. Huge gusts blew up the valley carrying with them a miasma of smoke and dust. But I felt nothing. Four days after the initial shock, my resources of panic were exhausted. A strange calm had settled over my mind. I’d lost my appetite. All I wanted was to sleep, and to wake up when it was all over.

Nacho, however, was nervous. Pacing around the house, watching through the windows. Maybe he had intuited something, but it just looked like paranoia to me.

‘I think we should both stay up. Take turns to keep watch.’ ‘Come on, now. The fire’s burned everything it had to

IDYLLIC: Up at seven to tend the fields and graze the sheep which are only too eager to escape the corral

DRAMATIC: Sniff of the air was the first warning of a dreaded wildfire

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

WHEELBARROWS OF TOMATOES

After months of impatient waiting the tomatoes were in full flood, and I became used to struggling up to the house in the mid-morning heat with a wheelbarrow full of them.

We grew four, five, varieties, always according to the laissez-faire method I’d been taught by Carmina, with no training or other form of support but letting the plants lean in on each other to form a kind of low hedge.

Our first plantings were the classic Bull’s Heart, richly flavoured, almost seedless and with a meaty texture, and cherry tomatoes – lovely at first, you popped them into your mouth and they burst with a musky sweetness, but then so madly productive you prayed for them to stop.

After that, the specialities. Big fat orange-yellow Ananas, with a haunting taste – was it mango? – to remind you that tomatoes are, in origin, a tropical fruit. San Marzano, the celebrated Italian variety, proved ideal for sauces and bottlings, and we also dried them on racks in the sun, sprinkled with a little rough salt to speed up the process.

like a carelessly wielded hammer

the ground to dry off briefly, only realising hours later they were still out there and roasting, broiling, frying under the midday sun.

Between the day’s two bursts of activity, all is somnolence and sitting about, sweating lightly, in the darkened house.

Yesterday I somehow forgot to eat as the window of opportunity for lunch gently closed and I was already on the sofa with my daily dose of Proust. Drifted awake at half past seven, confused and mired in sleep.

The morning now seems irretrievably distant, like something that happened long ago in another world.

Up at seven. The sheep are eager to be out of their corral and scarper down the slope to their favourite pear tree, where they chomp on the night’s fallen pears awkwardly with teeth unsuitable for chomping, rolling the fruit around their mouths. This morning a yellowish, dirty haze lies over the country, which wears an exhausted look, colour-drained, the line where the land ends and the sky begins nearly indistinguishable.

In these dog days even the clean clear mornings are denied us. Just getting through the day feels like an achievement.

I nip out at lunchtime to pick a leaf from the bay tree and the heat is shocking – I feel the air searing my lungs.

The high today is on course for 40°C; the low, as much as 27°C. Heats I’ve never known in all these years.

Heats so powerful they warp and bend the whole structure of your life. It’s horrifying.

burn. I think we need to sleep. This thing has really taken its toll on me. You should get to bed, too. We’ll check it out in the morning.’

‘Do what you like, but I’m staying up.’

‘Whatever.’

It was 3 a.m. when he shook me awake.

‘Come and look at this,’ he said, leading me to a window. The fierce north wind that had whipped up overnight was carrying the fire in our direction. Somewhere down the valley was a great nebulous, whirling tornado of smoke with an evil orange glow at its core. Hard to tell how close it was, but the towering scale of it sent a shock of primitive terror through me. The phone rang: one of the few calls to get through. It was Lucía.

‘Have you seen? It’s moving up towards you. I’m calling because I think it’s time you thought about leaving. No, I’ll rephrase that: you need to get out. Right now.

I dumbly assented. Without saying a word we hurried around the house, closing doors, picking things up, putting them down. What do you take with you when your house is about to burn down? How many times in the past had I idly played that mental parlour game? Passport, wallet, obviously. A change of clothes. Computers. I wrapped up mine in a blanket. What about the dogs? The four small ones would fit in the back of the car but Lola,

the great lumbering mastiff the size of a Thelwell pony, would have to fend for herself. I told myself she’d find a damp cool spot somewhere and take refuge; she’d be fine. And then we were driving fast up the track, away from the life we’d made, away from the learnings, the plans, the triumphs and failures.

At the entrance to the village the road was blocked, flames leaping among the scrub on both sides. Police sirens wailed, red lights flashing. The fire had reached the first houses on the outskirts and trashed them summarily, destroying various stables and an ancient posthouse. We made a U-turn and drove back along the main road to a neighbouring village in the lee of the wind, waking up Elena to beg for a room at the inn. At the door in her night dress, our friend peered through dazed, sleepy eyes at what must have seemed a strange apparition at this hour of the morning: a pick-up truck full of computer screens swaddled in blankets, clothes hastily stuffed into super- market bags, and several dogs.

Here at least we would be safe. Relief is the strongest kind of tranquilliser: I slept until midday, waking in the quiet of a village where nothing had altered the routine of a summer day, except for the smoke filling the streets. Now there were no bars at all on our phones. With no one to call and no news of the

The tomato we looked forward to most greedily was pink. Ricardo first gave me the seeds in a twist of paper, pressing it

NEVERENDING

TREASURE: Crop after crop of delicious tomatoes

into my palm with the air of one sharing something rare and precious.

This rosy tom was truly special. The tomatoes grew into big, bulbous, bosomy shapes with a definite coral-pink tint about them, sometimes

ballooning into great double handfuls weighing a pound or more.

The skin of these tomatoes was so thin it bruised and broke easily, presumably rendering it useless in a commercial context, but I found that if you laid straw under the plant as it grew, the tomatoes would be protected from rot and damage, lounging on their bed of straw like spoiled children.

When my coral-pink beauties ripened into squishiness they lent themselves to a high-summer dish I loved above all others.

Grated and strained, seasoned and oiled, scattered with chopped mint, oregano or basil, and with lashings of parmesan, they made a cold, raw sauce for pasta that was light and refreshing, disarmingly simple yet substantial, practically a salad, flooded with summer vibes, and given an extra deliciousness by the knowledge that such a minimal dish would only work if you had access to the ripest, sweetest tomatoes in the world.

fire, we spent the day in an information limbo. It was like retreating from the trenches of the First World War to some country place behind the front line where life continued its gentle, comforting routines.

Smoke, flame, noise, chaos, unanswered phone calls, rumours, worry, fear, tension, sleepless nights, exhaustion, desolation, relief, tears, hugs, anger, coals, ashes, silence.

I’ve heard it said the first thing people notice after a wildfire is the lack of birdsong. The unbearable weight of silence. True, but a lonely eagle glides over our blackened forest in search of a non-existent nest. And our oasis-like corner,

TIME TO GO: As the fire raged ever closer a refuge was sought

spared largely from the rip-roaring flames, I suspect now harbours a refugee bird population. Luck, or providence, has been on our side. We keep finding evidence of this. The wall-building work beside the house that had created a long barrier of grassfree dust, stopping the creeping flames in their tracks.

The way our watered and strimmed and cared-for land was respected by the fire – even a wildfire has principles – as it devoured all the abandoned and overgrown thickets in its path. The sometimes extraordinary distinctions it appears to have made, whether to destroy or leave well alone.

The chicken house: woodland behind it frazzled right up to the wall, the leanto where the birds lay and sleep, demolished as if with a sledgehammer, while the rest of the building remains uncannily intact, the rabbits continuing their placid existence, the hens having retreated into the yard out front. For days my heart has been in my mouth. The feelings are raw, like an unhealed wound. Emotion rises in my throat and catches there at the oddest moments, such as when an announcement from the town hall rings out across the charred valleys, the folksong used as a prelude sounding now like a doleful lament.

Here at least we would be safe. Relief is the strongest kind of tranquilliser

NEW LEASE OF LIFE

WHEN buildings reach the end of their natural lives it’s time to think again about their use. The recent transformation of the long-closed Canfranc railway station in the Pyrenees to a plush luxury hotel is the perfect example. Thanks to dozens of inspired architects many other buildings in

Taking a look at 4 of Spain’s top repurposed buildings

By Kayleigh Beardsley

Spain have been re-imagined with brand new purposes.

They include seeing slaughterhouses converted to art galleries, churches changed into skateboard parks. Here we examine four of the best…

KAOS TEMPLE

This off-the-wall skatepark, in Llanera, in Asturias was originally the Church of Santa Barbara.

Abandoned for years, skaters took an interest and plans to repurpose it finally materialised. Its gothic style has been cleverly integrated with a new contemporary style associated with skating - including colourful graffiti. Okuda San Miguel is the artist behind the revamp and used his ‘skater appropriate’ artwork to bring together spirituality and a world of colour and happiness.

CANFRANC STATION

Canfranc had been closed since 1970 after suffering from a train derailing and a fire. Now finally 50 years on it has been transformed into a plush hotel, utilising the massive space to the fullest. Designers made sure to keep the facade of the station intact to preserve its history and structure, however, they have re-imagined the interiors completely while giving its 104 bedrooms and a handful of common areas a nostalgic feel.

It welcomed its first guests in January 2023 95 years since its original opening. The railway station has an incredible history built into it with a long list of lavish guests such as the King of Spain as well as being a hotbed for nazi espionage.

Dear Jennifer:

READ THE SMALL PRINT

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

IREGULARLY 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.

MAYORAL DISTRIBUTION CENTRE

This amazing distribution centre for clothes company Mayoral, in Malaga, was originally a giant textile factory.

Ordered to be built by Franco in

the 1960’s, it was abandoned in the 1990s. Now the building has been brought back to life as a stylish central base by System Arquitectura.

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Upright, 5 Stain, 8 Drama, 9 Nervous, 10 Noisy, 11 Eternal, 12 Telephonist, 17 Naphtha, 19 Piece, 20 Respect, 21 North, 22 Waste, 23 Decided.

Down: 1 Undone, 2 Realise, 3 Gravy, 4 Tender-hearted, 5 Surgeon, 6 Acorn, 7 Nestle, 13 Extreme, 14 Sneered, 15 Andrew, 16 Method, 18 Pesos, 19 Panic.

CASAL BALAGUER CULTURAL CENTRE

ARCHITECTURE firms Flores & Prats and Duch-Piza came together to renovate this old baroque home and turn it into a new cultural centre for Palma, in Mallorca.

Much of the original building was kept while space has been created for new facilities, including the exhibition spaces, a restaurant, a library and a museum. It was always a ‘priority was to not lose the domestic character of the building’.

(Photos courtesy of Okuda San Miguel)

(Photo courtesy of Flores & Prats + Duch-Pizá)

No turning back

TORREVIEJA Hospital and its associated health department will not return to private management according to the recently installed Valencian Health Minister, Dr Marciano Gomez.

The hospital was run by contractor Ribera Salud for 16 years until October 2021 when it came under Valencian Health Ministry managerial control. It won a stream of awards for being one of the best hospitals in Spain and in the world.

Since Ribera surrendered control, there has been a stream of complaints from patients over delays for appointments and operations, coupled with protests from unhappy health staff. Vox spokesman on Torrevieja council, Salvador Ruso, has asked the PP mayor, Eduardo Dolon, to demand the new Valencian government tender a management contract for the hospital.

“We need to recover the excellent health care that we enjoyed for years when the hospital was privately managed,” said Ruso.

DONATION BOOM

SPAIN performs more than half of all egg donation treatments in Europe and is the largest provider of donor eggs on the continent. The country is a popular choice for private fertility

treatments because any woman or man regardless of their civil status, sexual orientation or age can access them. There tend to be short waiting lists and people come to Spain for treatments due to restrictions and even bans related to egg donation in their

home countries.

Egg banks in Spain have proliferated in recent years, shipping in donor eggs from around the world.

Close to 15,000 women undergo egg extraction cycles every year in the country, with donors getting some of the best financial inducements in Europe at around €1,100 for a successful cycle.

Masks’ return

Valencia hospitals bring back Covid safety measures

WITH a recent rise in new Covid-19 cases, two Valencia hospitals have reintroduced mandatory mask wearing in parts of their buildings.

Increased Covid cases are largely down to an new Omricon variant called Eris (EG.5) which the World Health Organisation says is more contagious and transmissible but poses a lower health risk.

Compulsory mask-wearing in hospitals and medical centres was abolished by the Council of Ministers in early July, though masks still had to be used in vulnerable hospital areas where patients could come under risk of infection.

But now Valencia General Hospital has issued a circular saying masks should be worn in rooms where there are Covid patients, in the ER and ICU, in day hospitals, and for

By Alex Trelinski

patients that have symptoms compatible with Covid 19.

Last week, Valencia’s Doctor Preset Hospital ordered masks to return to its ER and ICU, as well as the resuscitation area and the oncology department.

The decision was taken by the hospital's Occupational Risk department due to the rise of Covid cases among health staff. The measure was described as temporary, but it is likely other hospitals in Spain may bring in similar regulations. This autumn Covid-booster vaccinations that can deal with new variants will start to be available nationwide. Catalunya’s Health Minister, Manel Balcells, called on the entire population to get jabbed.

“In the autumn, everyone needs to get vaccinated, especially elderly people with ongoing conditions, users of nursing homes and, especially, health professionals,” said Balcells.

The Minister called for ‘calm and prudence’ as Covid cases in Catalunya.

Infection rises

SPAIN has recorded an increase in E.coli and Listeria infections in 2022, according to recently released figures.

In 2022, 633 infections were reported, as well as eight imported cases, up from 426 cases in 2021.

A total of 134 hospitalisations were reported and six people developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This is a severe complication associated with E.coli infections that causes kidney failure. Four of these cases were in under threes, one was 10 years old, and the other was 84. In 2022, 460 listeria cases were reported, with 67 deaths compared to 38 fatalities the previous year.

Monkey warning

A MONKEYPOX outbreak has been declared in Barcelona.

“There is some alarm about the increase in cases but it is important to use the mask in an environment with vulnerable people, especially in hospitals,” he warned.

The Hospital Clinic de Barcelona is recommending visitors to wear masks but has not made it mandatory.

A total of six victims have been identified, according to Barcelona’s Public Health Agency, which said all six were infected outside Catalunya.

Monkeypox is an infectious disease caused by a virus and its most common symptoms are a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever.

It can be serious and even lead to death.

PRECAUTIONS: Nurses gear up for Covid

O P LIVE RESS The

Beach Volleyboar

A HERD of wild boars interrupted a number of beach volleyball games in Marbella amid a surge in sightings of the species across the Costa del Sol this summer.

Whiskey thief

POLICE are searching for a spirit-loving thief who drove with a lorry containing over 14,000 bottles of whiskey that was parked in Murcia.

Wrong turn

A LORRY transporting 25 tons of toilet paper got stuck in a narrow street of a village in the Basque Country while following GPS instructions.

Brace for the Brummies!

LET US STRIP!

Nudists lodge official complaint over ‘too many clothed people’ at their designated beaches

A NATURIST group in Catalunya is fuming over the lack of naked people at their prized nudist beaches. The Naturist-Nudist Federation has sent a letter to the regional government, claiming they are facing ‘discrimination’ due to the influx of

By Alex Trelinski

clothed beachgoers. Spain has a liberal attitude to public nudity where technically it is not illegal unless lewd acts or intentions are involved.

Seigmon Rovira, the head of

the Naturist-Nudist Federation of Catalonia, told The Guardian: “Nudism is not banned and you can do it on any beach, but so as not to bother people, we prefer to go

Jelly whopper

BEACH-GOERS in Alicante got a shock when they spotted a giant jellyfish floating just metres from the shore. The remarkable sight unfolded on Sunday at Muchavista Beach in El Campello. The impressive find, weighing in at nearly 40kg, raised eyebrows and curiosity among those soaking up the sun. The specimen has been identified as a Rhizostoma Luteum, a species rarely seen in the region. Unlike the common Mediterranean jellyfish, this marine marvel belongs to a unique category, with sizes three to four times bigger than its coastal counterparts.

to beaches that have traditionally been nudist and where most people are naked. We want people to respect this.”

Rovira's issue is that nudist beach users appear to be changing, as he explained: "Before, people would arrive at a nude beach and either leave or strip down but now they stay and keep their swimsuit on.

“What they don't realise is that if there are a lot of them, they end up making us uncomfortable. It's a lack of respect.”

Rovira said that tourists who actively seek out secluded spots often overlook the nudist identity of certain beaches. “These clothed beach goers then proceed to take photos.”

REAL Madrid is overjoyed with their new British star Jude Bellingham after he secured a brace against Almeria at the weekend - and his brother could soon be following in his footsteps.

Birmingham-born Jude, 20, became the first Los Blancos player to score in his opening two games since the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009. And just a few hours later, his sibling Jobe, 17, also scored a brace.

The young Sunderland striker secured his team’s 2-1 victory against Rotherham in England’s second-tier league.

Bloody relief!

POLICE rushed to the scene of a car that appeared to have blood oozing from its boot. Cops in Alcudia, Mallorca, had received a frantic call from a resident who feared a dead or wounded person was bleeding out in the trunk of a parked black Peugeot. A sticky red substance was dripping down the back of the vehicle. However it turned out that a vandal had thrown raspberry jam at the car. A police spokesman said: “We all breathed a sigh of relief.”