FREE P RESSLIVEThe The localONLYRock’sfreepaper O GIBRALTAR Vol. 6 Issue 179 www.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 Tel: 952 147 834 See page 16X + +THE www.theskydoctor.cominfo@theskydoctor.comtel:TVSATELLITEIPTV,ALSOSTREAMINGIDEALINTERNET4GDOCTORSKYALLAREASCOVEREDUNLIMITEDFORTV(0034)952763840 See inside Property See our guide to rural homes
Theterritory.Department of the Environ ment arranged two bowsers of non-potable water for cleaning and watering plants. Residents can still collect the wa ter at Morrisons car park and the lower level of New Harbours in dustrial Park during the daytime Areashours. worst hit by loss of supply and poor pressure included the Upper Town and South district. The government set up a Strategic Coordinating Group which met regularly to manage the whole cri Itsis.imported potable water from Spain, distributing it to affected areas with six tanker trucks. The cuts and water importation allowed freshwater supplies to build up inside football pitchsized reservoirs inside the Rock Authoritiesitself. distributed water bot tles and created a helpline for the vulnerable, el derly or those with disabili Theyties.
ceivehomesallowedtheBySportsandGSLAComplex,BaysideerncilitiesshoweringopenedfaatEastBeach,SportsthepoolEuropaCentre.August2,workhadmosttorefreshwa ter apart from The Sanctuary lux ury development and the upper area of Gardiner’s Road. Residents have expressed concern on social media about the water having a strong taste of chlorine and an odd colour since supply was restored. It assured the public in an August 5 statement that ‘chlorine levels within the water remain fit for hu man Dailyconsumption.’testingalso allayed fears that water coming from Spain had bacterial issues “The potentially low risk of con tamination of the truck water was anticipated and planned for in advance through increasing chlo rine levels in the water. Reservoir testing and all tap water testing to date has been clear,” said Dr Helen Carter, Director of Public Health Gibraltar. Sediment The water company said the brown colour of the water was ‘due to sediment in the water net Itwork.advised customers to solve this problem by ‘running taps for a short while’ but not to overdo it so as to waste water. AquaGib said on August 8 that wa ter supply could go back to normal faster ‘if people do their utmost to reduce their water usage.’ “Please consider this every time that you turn on the tap and be responsible with the use of wa ter wherever possible,” the water company said. All restrictions on water use could now be lifted by August 15, the Gibraltar Government said in a statement.
BOSS: Chief Fire Officer Colin Ramírez FREEDOM: Moves to give the Fire Brigade the Freedom of Gibraltar after their brave efforts to tackle the blaze
Opinion Page 6
TAPS BACK ON
MOST residents of Gibraltar will again be able to ‘enjoy supply from their taps’ this week, said the local water company after an Eastside fire disrupted freshwater production for nearly two weeks. AquaGib said its fourth reverse osmosis unit, which is located at the Governor’s Cottage site near Europa Point, is now up and run “Thisning. means we are back to 100% production capability, enabling us to build stock levels at the wa terworks reservoirs,” a company spokesman said. “As stock levels have begun to rise over recent days, pressure fluctu ations and lack of supply are now beginning to reduce,” he added. But Gibraltar’s water company warned customers there could still By John Culatto be water supply issues, urging us ers to report them on the 24-hour fault report number, 2007 3659. The government said it was hop ing to stop nightly water restric tions on August 10. Blaze chaos
Freshwater reached an all-time low in Gibraltar after a fire at Powers Drive Tunnel on the east side of the Rock broke out on Tuesday July 26. It took 20 fire officers several days to fully extinguish the blaze during July’s heatwave. Putting out the fire was made all the harder by intense heat, toxic smoke, zero visibility and occa sional rockfalls, the Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) said. Chief Minister Fabian Picardo commended their ‘incredible ef forts’ in a tweet. He said his government would ‘move the Freedom of the city for the [Fire] Brigade this year.’
The GFRS said that rock falls re sulting from the blaze damaged the power and water supply of the reverse osmosis plants located in the Rock tunnels. AquaGib switched them off while they were repaired. Gibraltar takes saltwater from the sea, pumps it up the Rock before converting it to potable water and piping it around the British terri Thetory.system uses gravity to create water pressure for distribution to homes and throughoutsentialhaltedternight-timelyAquaGibbusinesses.quickenforcedwacutsandnon-esusagethe
Water back to 100% capacity after weeks of shortages
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Taking the lead Gibraltar at forefront in fighting financial crime
RANSOMWARE THREAT POLICE are warning Gibraltarian businesses to watch out for possible ransomware virus es after a local company fell victim to a cyber Theattack.Economic Crime Unit of the Royal Gi braltar Police said these viruses can paralyse a computer system until businesses pay up. “This is one of the first ones we’ve had in quite a few years,” Det Sgt Albert Loddo told na tional broadcaster GBC. He said he did not want to raise panic in the “We’recommunity.justmaking sure that people take the proper precautions and that they are up to date with preventing this sort of thing hap pening,” added Loddo. He explained that the signs of a ransomware attack were ‘system freezes or limited or no access to files’. “The advice we are giving is to have the lat est software or antivirus updates on your systems. Don’t engage or pay money to the groups in question,” Loddo said. In the event of an attack, he advised compa nies to follow the advice of technicians or to contact the economic crime unit. A migrant who police arrested in Gibraltar on Friday for not having a valid residence came before the Magistrates Court topless. The Royal Gibraltar Po lice officer who was with the accused told Justices of the Peace ‘they had ran out of shirts,’ local TV station GBC reported. Upon further investi gation, the RGP said it would make sure the sit uation does not happen again. Arrested Police officers arrested eight other migrants on August 7. They travelled to the Rock on a fishing boat and all pleaded guilty to not having a valid per mit. The nine men got off with a suspended sentence of six months. As there is no separate refugee process locally, they will now be extra dited from Gibraltar in 28 days.
Tax BUSINESSESplan on the Rock could get further tax breaks if they are wel coming to people with disabilities after meetings with ministers.government
A TOP local expert attended annual meetings to fight mon ey laundering in Riga, Latvia, and learn more about how to weed out funding of terror Edgarism. Lopez, Director of the Gibraltar Financial Intelli gence Unit (GFIU), pictured, connected with 320 oth er field experts at the 28th Egmont Plenary. Strategic They discussed ‘operation al and strategic matters that help protect global financial institutions from criminal abuse and improve collabo ration to exchange informa tion,” the Gibraltar Govern ment Gibraltarsaid.has been a member of the Egmont Group since
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This2004.year’s meetings focused on finding new ways to im prove effectiveness in a riskbased environment. Three main sessions target ed the need for information sharing, setting priorities in domestic and international cooperation, and targeting money laundering, terror fi “Thisnancing.global body is an ef fective way of sharing and exchanging financial intelli gence. Therefore, the oppor tunity to meet in-person with other FIUs serves to foster trust and strengthen interna tional working relationships,” Lopez Gibraltarsaid.has made real prog ress to tackle organised crime in the last few years. Working with the Royal Gi braltar Police financial crime unit, the GFIU has targeted money laundering and suspi cious companies. “We pride ourselves in effec tive and timely international cooperation supporting FIUs and law enforcement agen cies. Placing Gibraltar on a global stage such as Egmont is in our jurisdiction’s best inter ests,” added Lopez. Successive reports on the Rock’s fight against money laundering have given the ter ritory a cleaner bill of health with organisations like the MinisterOECD. for Justice Saman tha Sacramento praised ‘the outstanding work that the GFIU produces’ along with its ‘transformative and innova tive ideas’. By John Culatto Topless in court
CRIMEwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 20222 NEWS IN BRIEF History, adventure and romance. That’s just the setting. Join us for a celebration of history, art, heritage and pageantry in a unique part of the world. Bring hearts, minds and soulswww.visitgibraltar.gi With a UNESCO world heritage site offering 120,000 years of human history and only short drive from the Costa del Sol, enjoy the warmth of the British Gibraltarians and splash out VAT-free in Sterling. Gibraltar. Sun, sea and history served with a very British twist. A year of Cultur e ibraltar
For further information call: Gibraltar Tourist Board +350 200 74950 Or to download a brochure go to: www.visitgibraltar.gi
Jetski chase POLICE arrested a man they believe to be Algerian for being undocumented in Gi braltar waters after they chased a jetski he was riding off Cat alan Bay on August 6.
Good effort ARMY reservist Capt Kenny Alvarez of Gi braltar took part in a two week UN train ing camp in Chile where he helped in peacekeeping efforts. Vax ready SUPPLIES of the smallpox vaccine have arrived in Gi braltar to make sure it is ready to be dis tributed in case there is an outbreak of monkeypox.
NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 3
FORMULA 1 legend Fernando Alonso is to join Aston Martin at the end of the season. The two-time world champion has been with the French team Alpine since 2021, but will now replace retiring Sebastian Vettel in his seat. The 41-year-old is a veteran of the sport every season except ning the champion 2005 and 2006. comes unexpected ly, with the Alpine team achievingconsistentlytop10 finishes all season and lying 4th in the constructors cham pionship, while Aston Martin is 9th, with only Williams lower.
A real gift EVA LONGORIA has been bringing a sprinkling of stardust to Spain this Eversummer.since her friend Maria Bravo recruited her into the NGO Glob al Gift Foundation, she has been a regular visi tor to Marbella. This year The Desper ate Housewives star returned to the Anda lucian coast to com bine charity work with pleasure. She chaired the 10th edition of the Glob al Gift Gala where entertainment was provided by former Big Breakfast host Denise Van Out en (below), who was wearing her DJ hat The Global Gift Foundation supports many projects world-wide that help disad vantaged and disabled chil dren, wom en and families.their
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POP star Shakira could be jailed for eight years if she's convicted of tax Barcelonadodging. prosecutors also want her to be fined almost €24 million for allegedly defrauding the Tax Agency out of €14.5 million on in come earned between 2012 and 2014. The prosecution demand came af ter the 45-year-old singer rejected a plea deal stating that she was innocent and that would be proven in a trial. Her position is that she worked outside Spain during the years in question. Prosecutors argue that she moved to Spain in 2011 due to her relationship with Barcelona footballer, Gerard Pique, but kept her tax residency go ing in the Bahamas until 2015.
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FOOTBALL star Neymar will go on trial this October over financial irregularities in his transfer to Barcelona from Bra zilian club Santos. The 30-year-old Paris Saint-Germain player, along with ex-Barcelona presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, will be tried for alleged corruption and fraud re lated to the 2013 transfer, with prosecutors wanting Neymar to get a two year jail Investmentsentence.fund DIS ar gue that they were enti tled to 40% of Neymar's 2013 transfer fee when he left Brazilian club Santos. They are claiming compensation of €120 million.
Cashing in By George Mathias
IT may not be quite as difficult as herd ing cats but the annual roundup of young flamin gos at a Spanish reserve is still quite a challenge. The Laguna de Fuente de Piedra reserve hosted the return of its tra ditional ringing of the long-legged chicks after a two year Covid hiatus. A 400 strong work force, including many volunteers, was need ed to herd and catch around 600 chicks. Al though this may seem to be too many birds to wave a stick at, the birds’ natural tendency to flock meant this was exactly what the ‘catch ers’ Wavingdid. sticks to grab the chicks’ attention they herded them into a Aftercorral.this, the ring ing and marking of the chicks began, with each bird marked with a metal ring on the right leg and a plastic one on the left. Since 1986, some 20,000 flamingos have been tagged for scientific pur poses and to allow for bet ter planning to protect the population in their natu ral Thehabitat.tagged birds will be analysed throughout their life, making it possible to better understand the dis persion of the population, as well as their reproduc tive and grazing behaviors. Breeding The information is essen tial both for the manage ment of the breeding col ony and for evaluating the effectiveness of the Anda lusian Wetlands Network.
Vox politician loses libel case to Gibraltar Chief Minister CHIEF Minister Fabian Picar do has won a libel case against a Vox politician. He was awarded damages of £20,000 to be paid by Augustin Rosety Fernandez de Castro, the 75-year-old Cadiz Member of Parliament for the far-right Picardoparty. took action after the posting by the politician of tweets Picardo deemed to be highly defamatory about his role as Chief Minister. Picardo has pledged to donate all money to charity and said in a statement: “The judgement of the Supreme Court of Gibraltar exposes the untrue and defam atory comments by a member of the Spanish far-right Par ty Vox for what they are: lies and fabrications, with no basis whatsoever in reality.”
FOUR firemen from the Rock took on UK col leagues at ‘The British Firefighter Challenge’ in Hull and returned with a silver medal. Leading Firefighter Matt Coulthard took second place in the M40 category at the Coulthard,event. along with local colleagues Julian McGrail, Bernie Vaughan and Paul Tinkler, repre sented Gibraltar at the “Theevent.team’s performance surpassed all expecta tions, setting the fastest team time during the knockout stages of the competition,” a Gibraltar Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said.
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The Environmental Support Group (ESG) said a 20-min ute power failure from an electricity substation fail ure in Pinar del Rey was to blame for the gas flare. But it called on the Gibraltar Government to take action after the emergency release of fumes lasted more than the few minutes allowed un der international rules. According to the group’s web site, a buildup of gases at oil refineries causes flares when electricity is cut off. The toxic gases are released into the air in a ‘dirty’ way with a flame or smoke signaling their “Bestrelease.practice should see back up power supply at the indus try to restore power and limit flaring as quickly as possible, in a matter of minutes,” the ESG said in a statement. “Flaring releases untold lev els of toxic chemicals into the surrounding environment,” it Flaring,added.or torching, as it is also called, hurts the envi ronment, gives off a rotten egg smell from dangerous hydrogen sulfide and in creases global warming. The ESG pushed the author ities to find out if emergency power was in place at the Campo refinery. It called the incident ‘a cross border environmental and public health hazard’.
Rosety though has appeared to double down, saying on Twit ter: “We do not recognise the jurisdiction and sovereignty of Gibraltar, a British colony on our soil, which the United Kingdom has an obligation to decolonise and return to Spain as dictated by the resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly.”
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Contraband Roselty had originally pub lished articles that linked Picar do with money laundering and contraband tobacco. “The government of Gibraltar for as long as I am chief min ister of Gibraltar will never al low those who seek to defame us and do us harm to tarnish Gibraltar’s good name or the reputation of the good people of Gibraltar,” Picardo said. By John Culatto LOSER: Augustin Rosety Fernandez de Castro Refinery slammed GREEN campaigners called for an official inquiry into how the Campo refinery let off dangerous chemical fumes for nearly three hours in the evening of August 7.
NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 20224
VOX FLOP
ONFIGHTERSFIRE
IN response to huge con fusion among the British expat community about driving licence rules in Spain, the charity Age in Spain has drawn up a Brexitguide. meant that British licences can no longer be exchanged for Spanish ones by those resident in Spain for more than six Negotiationsmonths. are currently underway - backed by the Olive Press’s U-turn cam paign - for a new agree ment to allow British li cences to be recognised but a delay and the refusal by Spanish authorities to extend the grace period has meant that since May 1, thousands of Brits have been unable to drive. Age in Spain, which works with expats across the coasts, carried out an on line poll and discovered that 42.6% of respondents have yet to require a Span ish driving licence. While we await an agree ment the Guide to Driving to Spain is available from ageinspain.org
FLYING VISIT
A GROUP of 40 East Devon Royal Air Force Cadets finally arrived in Gibraltar two years later than planned to find out more about lo cal RAF history. The group had planned to visit Gibraltar in 2020 but the trip was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cadets met RAF personnel and local mil itary Deputycadets.Chief Minister Joseph Garcia found time from his busy schedule to give the ca dets a history lesson and answered their Afterquestions.atour of the tunnels, Dr Keith Farrell, chairman of the Gibraltar Heritage Trust provided more information about the mili tary links. The group were on the Rock with seven staff members from the Honiton 1064 Squadron located east of Exeter in Devon.
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New deputy Governor takes up his post GIBRALTAR’S new Deputy Governor, a senior diplomat with high level EU experience, took his post on August 1, the Convent has said. The Rock’s governor, Sir David Steel, welcomed Mark Holland (pictured) to the Rock in a Convent statement. Former deputy governor Nick Pyle left his job in June, mak ing way for Holland to take over. Adventure “We are off on a new adventure – to the southern tip of Europe: Gibraltar,” tweeted Holland. “We’ve had a fun start - no running water for our first 72 hours amidst great heat but it was great to see how the com munity rallied round,” he add Chiefed. Minister Fabian Picardo retweeted his post, welcoming him to the Rock. “Looking forward to meeting you in person in coming weeks. Lots to work on together with the Convent,” Picardo said in the Hollandtweet.was the UK Depu ty Ambassador to Denmark during the last four years. Before that, he had several leading EU roles and was ad ministrator of the South Atlan tic British overseas territory of Ascension Island from 201417. An Oxford University grad uate, he has five children with his wife Rachel and a black lab rador named Arlo, according to his new boss. “My family and I are very much looking forward to playing a full part in the community and embracing the Gibraltar ian way of life,” Holland said through the Governor’s office.
By John Culatto Big welcome
A ROWER from Gibraltar has won a gold medal for Team Great Britain at the Rowing World Champi onships in Varese, Italy. Jack Prior, who trains at Calpe Rowing Club, took his second gold in a year after coming first with Team GB at the European Championships in Poland last year. It was Team GB’s second World Championship win in a row, easily beating off the challenge of Australia and the USA to take the top prize. Huge “This is a huge achieve ment for Jack and a proud moment for all of Gi braltar, especially Jack’s family and his club, Calpe Rowing Club, as well as all the rowing fraternity on the Rock,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo. Picardo offered his ‘sin cere congratulations’ to Jack and his parents. He said the news of his victory would ‘give us all great national joy and Thepride’.event was held at Lake Varese below the Campo dei Fiori moun tain range in Lombardy, north Italy.
NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 5
ARCHAEOLOGY students from Liverpool John Moores Uni versity are helping to excavate the Vanguard Cave at Gibral tar’s very own World Heritage Site. Under the watchful eye of Gibraltar Museum’s Stewart Fin layson, the team of students and staff from the university are working to analyse their findings in the museum labs. The students started work in June and will finish in mid-Au Anothergust. team from Leiden University in the Netherlands also helped out in the summer dig. “I am very pleased that field work is once again proceeding at this unique site, and great ly enjoyed personally seeing the work be ing undertaken in the labs,” Minister for Heritage John Cortes said after a visit to the “Gibraltarmuseum. is a world leader in research into Neanderthal ecology, and I am certain that there will be more ex citing discoveries to come from the work in our World Heritage Site,” Cortes said.
CUTTING EDGESURGEONS at St Bernard’s hospital will soon be able to operate using new top-ofthe-range equipment that has started to arrive in Gibraltar, the health authority said. The new tools will replace outdated machinery at the Rock’s only public hospital, giving users better options from diagnosis to treatment. Gibraltar Health Authori ty Director General Patrick Geoghegan said the ‘the re ally impressive’ equipment would ‘make an important difference to patients at each stage of the treatment Theprocess.’modernisation is part of the post-pandemic Reset, Restart Recover strategy. Geoghegan added that the goal was to have ‘the high est possible level of care.’ It will be fitted in coming weeks and be usable soon. ‘This top-of-the-range equipment demonstrates the commitment of the GHA to invest in providing the best care to patients now and in the future,” Albert Isola, Gibraltar’s health and care minister said.
George Mathias george@theolivepress.es
The ex-president of the Junta, the union boss, a coke-addicted chauffeur - just three of the criminals who turned more than half a billion euros destined for unemployed Andalucian workers into a ‘reptile fund’ to pay for drugs, fast cars and prostitutes
OVER €25,000 per month on cocaine, €400,000 for a fake chicken farm, and thousands of euros on holidays – just a few of the ways €680 million of embezzled Junta de Andalucia cash was spent. Now Andalucia’s ex-president and corrupt Socialist cronies face jail in one of the biggest fraud scandals to hit Spain’s political elite after their ap peals were rejected by Sevilla’s High Court. The appeal ruling comes three years after 19 former top offi cials in Andalucia’s then rul ing Socialist government were convicted for diverting public Spain’sfunds. top court upheld 16 of the 19 convictions, including that of the former president of the Junta, José Antonio Griñan, for embezzlement and misap propriation of public funds for which he has received a jail sentence of six years. The con viction of his successor, Manu el ‘Monolo’ Chaves, for malad ministration was also upheld, and Chaves was banned from public office. The ruling, now ratified by the Sevilla High Court, found that both former presidents of the Junta were ‘fully aware of the blatant and patent illegality’ of fraudulently allocated funds that were distributed from the public coffers between 2000 and Prison2009.sentences were also upheld for the ex-councillors Antonio Fernandez, Francisco Vallejo, Jose Antonio Vieira and Carmen Martinez Aguayo, who were each sentenced to be tween six and eight years.
Beer Today, Gone Tomorrow? ‘I drink beer when I have occasion… and sometimes when I have no occasion’, Jack Gaioni agrees with Miguel de Cervantes SPANISH wine culture dates back 3,000 years to the Phoenicians. But what about that other fermented de light - namely beer? Although not as consistent in its popularity as wine, the erratic and unpredictable popu larity of Spanish beer has a colourful story to tell. The Roman Republic’s conquest of Hispania (approx: 218 B.C.) was not seamless. The native Celtiberian tribes - a loose alli ance of ancient Celtic tribes - were strongly opposed to relin quishing control of Hispanic lands to Rome. Known as the Celtiberians Wars (181-151 BC), the native pop ulations were so fiercely combative that Rome was forced to send large armies to quell the unrest. In one battle at Numantia (Castilla y Leon), the warlike tenacity of the beer drinking natives led the Romans to reconsider their strategy. Numantian women, as part of their daily routine of baking bread, would often liquify the wheat, barley and hops left over from their bread making process. Left to ferment this ‘liquid bread’ (read: beer) was an extremely powerful intoxi cant. So potent in fact, that before every battle the Numan tians would increase their morale and courage by getting wildly drunk on the liquid bread. The Romans soon learned to fear them as ‘crazed, fierce, de monic fighters’. The ferocity of the native beer guzzlers success fully held off the invaders until the Romans had suffered enough losses to stop fighting. Instead, they reverted to building a wall, a moat and im paling rods around the settlement as part of laying siege. For two years the Numantians refused to sur render but as famine and suicide took their toll, the natives burned their city to the ground rath er then become Roman slaves. In the centuries to follow, the victorious Romans replaced the beer-drinking culture with one built around However,wine.when Charles V became King of Spain (1516) he began to change the culture. Although grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles was born Dutch and had inherited his crown via com plicated Hapsburg marriage arrangements. King Charles and his court imported their strong Northern European taste for beer to Spain. He hired Flemish, German and Alsatian brew mas ters and began Spain’s first beer factory along the Manzanares River in Madrid. Charles established rules and regulations as they applied to beer manufacture: the amount of wheat, barley and hops, the alcohol content, and fermentation time. If anything was changed, the brewers would suffer a penalty. Charles, his entourage and his beer were wildly unpopular - the public didn’t like him or his beer and rejected both. Wine remained the public’s libation of choice for the next few centuries. Only in the beginning of the 20th Century did a beer drinking preference begin to gain enough popularity for large breweries to open. Mahou and El Aguila Beer opened Madrid in 1900. Cruzcam po started brewing in 1904 in Sevilla, Estrella in Barcelona in 1906, while Alhambra began in Granada in 1925. By the 1960s with Spain’s boom in tourism, beer became the common drink in bars it is today. The ‘beer linked with tapas’ craze took off in thousands of tabernas throughout the pen insula. The splendid golden liquid has since far surpassed wine as the libation of choice. Spaniards now drink twice as much beer by volume than wine. Granted, Spain will always be fa mous for its amazing wines, but cerveza inarguably has taken on an important part of Spanish day to day life. As for the ‘Beer Today - gone to morrow’ trope? A definite yes to the former and not likely to the latter… YOU KNOW?
HIGH SCANDAL
● The expression ‘Numantian re sistance’ has become a Spanish proverb used to imply a strident, single minded resistance to au thority. Many Spanish authors, in cluding Cervantes, find meaning in Numantia similar to that of the Masada for Israelis.
Special report by DollimoreLaurence and Sorrell Downer
● “ Cerveza Artesana “ or craft beer is rapidly beco ming part of the discussion of beer in Spain. In less than a decade there have been 400 new producers introducing 650 varieties of craft beer throughout Spain. Openly counte ring Charles V demand for strict regulations, craft beer brewers creatively experiment with flavours (e.g. coffee, citrus, honey) to the delight of many. Could Cerveza Artesana be posed to be the next exciting chapter in the his tory of Spanish beer?
DID
ERE (standing for Expediente de Regulacion de Empleo) is a procedure which allows companies facing bankrupt cy to fire workers and receive public funding to underwrite severance and early retirement But,packages.inreality, the funds were il legally syphoned off for private gain, creating what is the big gest public money corruption case in Spanish history – so Mostfar. fraudulent payments were made off the books and without any form of public scru tiny. But more than 500 people have been investigated since the scandal broke in 2010, and now the ERE fraud prosecu tions of politicians, companies, and intermediaries like lawyers and bankers, are coming thick and fast.
Jorge Hinojosa jorge@theolivepress.es Water disaster THE midsummer nightmare of water cuts has pushed Gibral tar to the edge. A society that has got used to some of the most modern luxu ries of Western civilization suddenly had to resign itself to not having access to the most essential necessity for life. While this might have been a sobering time for many, it was also a wakeup call to authorities. How could this happen so easily? Was there no contingency plan in place? After rumours of a possible arson at the Powers Drive Tunnel that caused freshwater production to be disabled, security must be stepped up. The government could find a more easily accessible facility itself and establish better protocols. Minister for Public Utilities Albert Isola must take responsibility for the “Theseaccident.thingshappen all over the world,” he surmised in a GBC However,interview.herevealed that a new reverse osmosis plant was being set up at the North Mole to create more freshwater. Additionally, a temporary reverse osmosis plant was due to arrive on the Rock to provide an extra one million litres of water production daily. On the issue of using a pump rather than gravity to sup ply water and increase pressure, he said the government would have to look at its cost and whether it was ‘propor Iftional’.there was a back up pumping system for fresh water then imported water could be driven or piped into the system from Spain. This could even become a part of the long-term solution for the area, especially if the EU deal goes ahead. While the reverse osmosis system does guarantee freshwater production, it is energy hungry, further hurting the environ Allment.these options could be better assessed once Gibraltar’s private water company, AquaGib, comes back into public own Chiefership.Minister Fabian Picardo announced its takeover during a budget speech in Parliament this year. And that’s just the start. Hundreds of politicians, busi nesses and intermediaries are involved in this massive fraud scandal that’s grabbed the headlines across Spain. The prosecution process is one of the longest – and slowest – in Spanish judicial history. At the root of it all is an un employment support scheme known as ERE that was sup posed to help companies in a region suffering the highest jobless rate in the country. Dubbed the ‘reptile fund’, this vast pool of money came from Madrid with the intention of stimulating employment and aiding ailing companies.
Jo SimonChipchaseWade Govan fiona@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es
● In March, 2021 the Heineken España, brewery in Jaen, crea tor of Cruzcampo, Alazar and Amstel beers, became the first AND largest brewery in Euro pe to be completely emissions free. With solar panels and heat energy generated by waste from the nearby olive oil indus try, they have eliminated 2,500 tonnes of carbon emissions.
NEWS FEATUREwww.theolivepress.es6 HEAD OFFICE Carretera Nacional 340, km 144.5, Calle Espinosa 1, Edificio cc El Duque, planta primera, 29692, Sabinillas, Manilva NEWSDESK: 0034 951 273 575 For all sales and advertising enquiries please contact 951 27 35 75 ADMIN Sandra Aviles Diaz (+34) 951 273 575 admin@ theolivepress.es OFFICE MANAGER Héctor Santaella (+34) 658 750 424 accounts@ theolivepress.es DISTRIBUTIONENQUIRIES (+34) 951 273 575 distribution@ theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION 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. Deposito Legal MA 834-2017 AWARDS Best expat paper in 2016Spain-2020 Best2020English language publication in Google2012Andalucia-2022NewsInitiativegivestheOlivePressasubstantialgrant. PUBLISHER / EDITOR Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es
simon@theolivepress.es Cristina Hodgson cristina@theolivepress.es Fiona
ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRYRuralpropertysalessoarto53%above2011lows,writesMarkStucklin Fincas&VillasCREDIT:PIC Making the Pueblos white, see page IV
SPANISH country property sales were close to alltime highs in the first quarter of the year, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Sta tistics (INE). There were 43,650 rural property sales in Q1, up 11% on the same period last year and 8.4% higher than 2019. It was the highest level of quarterly sales since the boom year of 2007. Country property sales have been steadily climbing since they bottomed out in 2011 with just 103,609 rural land sales that year, down from a peak of 192,302 in 2007, a decline of 46%. By last year rural property sales were up 53% compared to the trough of 2011. However, country property sales have really taken off in the last few quarters in the wake of the pandemic, with growth near or above double-digits in most quarters. Most rural property sales in Spain are located in the three biggest regions of Castilla y Leon, Andalucia, and Castilla –La Mancha. Along with the Valencian region they make up 58% of all rural property sales in Spain. If you look at the quarterly change in sales (year-on-year) in a selection of regions and provinces of most interest to foreign investors, you see the biggest growth in sales in Q1 came from the Catalan provinces of Barcelona (+40.5%) and Tarragona (+32.1%). This reflects a pandemic-related displacement of demand away from urban areas to rural areas with good access to city centres and transport hubs. Industry insiders report that rural property sales are being driven by lifestyle changes in the light of the pandemic, and some also mention a growing interest in rural real-estate as an inflation-proof asset offering a self-sufficient lifestyle.
roperty www.theolivepress.es P inpropertySpain’sbestmagEnglish AUGUST 2022
Mark Stucklin is the owner and editor of property website www.spanishpropertyinsight.com
PRICY: Buy cool A DESIGN has been chosen for Marbella’s new multi-million pound sports stadium. The plan was drawn up by Huete Arquitectos studio, with Marbella Mayor Angeles Muñoz describing the concept as ‘modern, sustain able and functional’. The €18 million plan beat 10 other entries. The criteria stipulated all plans had to be for an 8,000 capacity foot ball stadium, indoor hall, athletics track, gym, fitness room and suf ficient car parking spaces. Work is expected to start on demolishing flood lighting and perim eter fencing in February, with the old stadium to be knocked down in September 2023.
NEARLY €10 billion has been invested in Spanish property in the first half of the year - a new record. Real estate investment reached €9.87 billion, some 80% more than the same pe riod of According2021.to the CBRE con sultancy, the retail sector led the way with €2.9 billion invested, eight times high er than that recorded in the first half of last year. This was largely thanks to BBVA's €1.987 billion purchase of more than 629 branches of Merlin Properties. The residential sector was in second place with €2.451 billion, up 71%, with rental assets accounting for 60% of total investment in residen tial real estate, student resi dences for 19% and coliving another 18%. The hotel sector was worth €1.65 billion, the best result in the first half of the year for five Anotheryears.€1.175 billion was accounted for by the indus trial and logistics sector and the office sector fifth posi tion with neatly €1.15 billion worth of transactions - a 27% “Theincrease.investment volumes re corded in the first half of the year show that the real estate sector in Spain continues to be attractive to investors, even in a changing macroeco nomic context.” said Miriam Goicoechea, Director of Re search at CBRE Spain.
Recordlevelsof investmentaspropertysectorbooms By Dilip Kuner
The director of the report, Ger man Perez Barrio, claimed that Brexit has had a negative in fluence on home sales in Spain, partly offset by an increase in buyers from other countries.
Game plan SELL WITH THE BEST! Thinking of Selling? We urgently need properties all the way from Sotogrande to +34PhoneforBenalmadenaeagerbuyers.usnowon 951 516 905 Email us at info@thespanishestateagent.com visit our website at www.thespanishestateagent.com or visit us at Avenida España 250, Estepona 29680. • A database of over 10,000 potential clients across all continents. • Tap into our worldwide, award-winning marketing. • Experienced, professional and dynamic sales team. IT’S YOUR MOVE!
PROPERTYAUGUST 2022 II
THE proportion of Brits buy ing homes in Spain as part of the foreign market has halved since TheyBrexit.accounted for 12% of the total houses bought by foreign ers in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the first quarter of 2022. Before Brexit, the British made up 24% of foreign buyers ac cording to Idealista In 2016, after the Brexit referen dum, the UK share dropped to 15% in just a year and this fell to 10% in mid-2021 before starting a Accordingrecovery. to Idealista, Brits’ favourite regions are Valencia, Murcia and Andalucia.
FANS of the ITV series Love Island can rent the villa used for filming from Septem ber The24.villa, Sa Vinyasssa in Sant Lloren, boasts an infinity pool, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and will be transformed after the series concludes in early August. The minimum that the villa can be rented for is seven nights, and it has the capacity for a group of up to 12 people and will cost around €6,000 a week. Thankfully, the villa will have its cameras removed with an interior overhaul before guests arrive. The distinctive neon signage will also be removed with exposed brickwork and snug sofas also to be added. The villa used for the previous series last year was recently sold for €3 million, and is a 10 minute drive from this year’s villa. Producers of Love Island opted for a shake-up after seven seasons in the previous lodgings. This year’s villa has bigger bedrooms, and more outdoor space than the last one.
BLUESBREXIT
SPLASHING OUT
Love for rent
THE most expensive property on website Idealista has been revealed to be in Mallorca. The €35 million villa sits on a plot of 8,263 sqm in exclusive Cala Vinyes. Not only does the seaside property have its own bar, sev eral chill out areas and access to a private yacht dock, it also boasts its own cave, said to be perfect for private events. Unique “From the moment you get in the house you realise it is an unique property, you feel that you are in an unique place,” the owner explained. “The white roofs and the wide curves, in harmony with na ture, makes this villa special,” he Theadded.1,479 sqm home has sev eral terraces including outdoor dining areas, indoor entertain ment and relaxation rooms, an infinity pool, barbecue, gym and a separate guest villa. Costa lot
By Sorrel Downer
Rural is on trend in the lu xury sector, too: “More clients are looking for larger plots and houses, more inland, to be in dependent tercountrysidebeplecreaseseeingBritish,thecia,Inlandsupply.”demandThereself-sufficient.andismorethanAndaluwherehalfclientsareisalsoanininpeowantingtooutintheaflockdown.
“I WALK my dog through olive fields in the morning and pick my own fruit and vegetables to eat in the eve nings. I can work less because I live more cheaply, and I do it with this view,” says Julia, a Ger man friend, looking over moun tains in Cordoba. She has a remote job in custo mer services for a sports com pany, but her main focus ‘is ha ving a healthy, simple life, being close to nature, and living the Thedream’.sale of rural properties is booming in Spain. Farm sales rose by 30% last year, and de mand for countryside homes outstrips supply. The pandemic made people think about how they’d like bi gger houses and some outdoor Itspace.made remote working normal and living anywhere possible. And plenty of people who’d had a break from work decided not to go back but to take early reti rement and follow their dreams. For a lot of people, the dream is a small farm in Spain. “People were looking in the countryside, but the pandemic accelerated the process,” says Adrian Llored of Busco Masia. The Barcelona-based agency specialises in the picturesque stonewalled farmhouses typical across Catalunya. “Most buyers are open-minded, a bit hippy, lets say. About 60% are from Spain and the rest from abroad, many from the Netherlands and Belgium, as well as the UK.” People want farms but they don’t want to be farmers. “They want the countryside lifestyle,” says Llored, “a house of around 300m2 and two to three hecta It’sres.”hard to make a commercial success of a small farm, he says, but a few intend to do something useful with the land: “One wo man was looking to grow medi cinal plants,” he says, “and there are others who want to keep Propertieshorses”. are being snapped up fastest in areas that enjoyed a tourism boom last year. Sales of rural homes in the northwest province of Guipuzcoa (borde ring France), in Badajoz (in Ex tremadura, bordering Portugal), and in Ourense in the south of Galicia, have all shot up by over Ourense60%. has the advantage of being both beautiful and affor dable. According to analysts at property platform Idealista, last year three-hectare farm pro perties went for an average of €19,125 (around €6000/ha), making the land some of the cheapest in Spain. Rural land in Lugo, Asturias, and Castellon (Valencia) was chea per still, says Idealista, and in the Aragon province of Teruel, whe re it averaged just €3,000/ha, there was a 50% jump in sales. People are prepared to venture further afield for a bargain, but price isn’t always the top factor when it comes to dreams – bu yers are also flocking to the Ba leares, Malaga, Barcelona and Cadiz where rural land prices are on average the highest in the Vastcountry.empty estates are plentiful. Finding a piece of land that’s a manageable size, with a habi table house, correct paperwork, good access, which also mat ches the dream vision, and then negotiating a deal, is trickier – especially for foreign buyers. That’s where agents and brokers come in. They’ve all been busy: the number of property transac tions by foreigners jumped by over 40% last year, totalling a fifth of all sales. Old farmhouses may need in tensive modernisation, while long-abandoned farms often come with a ruin or just a nave (shed). Building a house might seem the easiest option, but laws governing use of suelo rustico are generally geared towards preventing that happening. “The biggest misconception in ternational buyers have is they Many of them are looking for land for rural businesses. “Our clients are typically mid-40’s and upwards,” says Lee Govier, “plus the occasional younger client who wants the good life living off the land.” As well as handling logistics, the agency is careful to discover the ‘client’s expectations, correct any mis conceptions, ensuring they are fully prepared for living in Spain’. The rural dream can be cha llenging, especially when it in volves a fixer-upper. Properties available through Galician Coun try Homes range from multi-mi llion euro chalets to a watermill in need of restora tion in Lugo for € For25,000.those with energy and time to invest, getting a bargain and creating a home is part of the appeal. Luckily, the agency has an army of local specialists on hand to stop it becoming a ni Unlikeghtmare.in many regions of Spain, ‘around 60% of the rural proper ties we handle are small, around half a hectare’, says founder Mark Adkinson. The combination of affordable fixer-uppers, green countryside, internet connectivity and mana geably-sized pieces of land, is proving a hit – they’re selling 1820 rural properties a month and getting 50 enquiries a day.
THE GOOD LIFE
TREEMENDOUS: Rustic bargains with character
HousesCountryGalicianCREDIT:PIC
CHOICE IS YOURS: A doer-upper or ready to move in perwork that purchasing clus ters of properties, abandoned long ago by multiple owners, Asentails.well as retirees looking to invest upwards of €500,000 for top-end projects, they at tract ‘buyers who can run their existing businesses from a rural location, such as architects, and people with children who want to start a rural business or farm’, says manager Elvira Fafian. People don’t need a massive bu dget: aldeas with heaps of po tential are available from as low as €50,000. “There are many, aged 35 and above, who have been prompted by the cost of city properties and the economy to change their lives. “During the pandemic, people took the chance to explore a rural world which had become almost unknown to them. In our parents’ times, these places we ren’t appreciated,” says Fafian. There was an exodus to find work in the cities, and abroad. “But Spain has changed, and now these aldeas are recogni sed as jewels. Many people with Spanish ancestry from Mexico, Argentina, North America and Germany are returning to their roots, wanting to buy property in the regions where they or their parents were born. “It’s as if we all had to leave to make lives for ourselves. Now we are all coming home again, returning to the simpler times of the past, and the lives we re member as children.”
AbandonadasAldeasCREDIT:PICCountryandCoastCREDIT:PIC
OLIVE PRESS’ GUIDE TO RURAL LIVING
Demand for rural properties continues to grow as people dream of swapping a home in the city for a fixerupper with nice views and space to keep chickens in the Spanish countyside
MasiaBuscoCREDIT:PIC
We had 26 people put deposits down on the basis of video viewings think they can build whatever they want,” says Anita Schmidt from Villas & Fincas. “Even though the law is opening up a bit in Andalucia, the building of private dwellings is still very Luckily,restricted.”the agency’s mainly American and northern Euro pean clients tend to have the budgets that allow them to choose a ready-ma de dream home.
AUGUST 2022III
The boom started after the first wave of Covid: “People stuck in flats in Madrid and Barcelona were calling us, desperate to es cape,” says Adkinson. “We had 26 people put deposits down on the basis of video viewings.” Now buyers are pouring in from as far afield as Australia and Abu Dhabi, with lots from Ire land – a place that’s similar in looks, just colder. “So far, the oldest client has been 80, the youngest, 18. We get lots with children who want to get away to somewhere na tural without vio lence and theft, and with fewer drugs. They’re not looking to farm, though most want enou gh land to grow fruit and vege tables and be reasonably inde pendent.” For many, that means starting a tourism business, ‘but we’ve also had buyers wanting to set up breweries and grow medicinal cannabis. We get all Focusedsorts’. mainly on Galicia and the north of Spain, Aldeas Abandonadas has caught peo ple’s imagination around the world. Specialising in deserted hamlets (aldeas), usually with four or five buildings to recons truct, the agency, like Galician Country Homes, is able to mobilise a team of specialists, and handle the hardcore pa
AndaluciaInlandCREDIT:PIC
OF all the possible images of An dalucia, the white village set against a mountainous landsca pe is one of the most iconic. In provinces such as Cadiz and Malaga, the pueblos blancos shimmer blindingly under the Andalucian sun. They happen to be as pretty as a picture, but there are practical reasons for why they are white. Between the 8th and 15th century, Anda lucia was an Islamic kingdom, separated from the north of Spain, which was ruled by Christian kings. During this period of divi sion, the decision to use lime (or cal) to whi tewash entire villages in Andalucia helped create a sense of unity between the Moorish pueblos Choosing the colour had practical as well as political benefits. The bright white reflects the sunlight, kee ping the houses cool during the hot summer months. The Moors had several ingenious strategies for combatting the Mediterranean heat, from building on the north face of crags to designing streets so narrow they were shaded by houses on either side, and using white was an integral part of their Inplan.the past, the whitewash that coats these buildings was made by artisan caleros from slaked lime, known to be both an effective insect repellent and a powerful disinfectant. During epidemics of yellow fever and pla gue, houses were whitewashed in an at tempt to prevent the further spread of disea se. While it’s uncertain whether this worked, it was a particularly valuable course of ac tion during the cholera outbreak of the 19th century, when the highly alkaline properties of slaked lime proved effective in killing this particular bacteria. So important was cal that UNESCO has granted the traditional method of its pro duction ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hu manity’ status. Today, most cal is industrially produced and the centuries old artisan practice is in dan ger of dying out – but not everywhere.
THE WHITE STUFF
Andalucia’s famous white village houses are cool and beautiful – and they might just keep out plagues By Livia Cockerell
An hour’s drive from Sevilla, the Museo de Cal de Moron demonstrates the artisanal Itprocess.occupies a large area of 3,000 m2. Vi sitors can see two fully restored, traditional and utensils characteristic of the period. The museum has an interpretation centre and projection room, where visitors can learn first-hand the whole process of lime production and how its impact on Anda lusian culture has made it a world-fa mous symbol of the region's identity.
GETTING READY: Limestone is stacked... ...then when ready the kiln is lit... ...and a worker tests to see if it’s ready... ...with the final cal powder ready to be mixed into paint 19th century lime kilns and a shed ca lled ‘Del Caler’ built at about the same time and made with materials from the Bothperiod.the shed and all decorationretainmuseuminbuildingsthethethe
TENDING THE FIRE: at the Museo de Cal Moronde
MorondeCalMuseoCREDITS:PIC
Hundreds of articlesfrom restaurant reviews to travel features and from crime stories to explainers on new laws - are not making the printed paper for many reasons. But fortunately, modern technology has come to the rescue in the shape and form of our website. The portal www.theolivepress.es gives us un limited space to expand on topics and really go to town on the most in teresting subjects. Our team of trained journalists, who have experience at The Daily Telegraph , The Times and the Dai ly Mail , spend hours each day investigat ing and producing great content for the site. This is where you will find a host of special web-on ly features and explainers as well as news from around the regions that we simply can’t fit in the print editions. FOMO So if you feel you are missing out (the so-called FOMO effect), the solution is at hand: Just go to our website and you will find a huge amount of high-quality articles, news and views – all at your fingertips. We are also pretty sure that you’ll soon get regis tered, ensuring you get a daily email giving you a breakdown of the main stories of the week. You’ll even get one a week on travel. With theolivepress.es you never have to miss out!
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EURO MONTHLY NEWS
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2- Spanish tourism officials sets the record straight about travel requirements for British tourism visiting Spain
THE MONEYMISSINGMAN
L OOKING like a Mafia capo, Guerrero ruled the roost with energetic aplomb –fuelled, it turns out, by a €25,000-a-month cocaine habit. He could make anything happen as long as you played by his rules, voted Socialist and made sure he got generous kickbacks. His regal beneficence won him the name ‘the HeMarquess’.handed out cash from the fund at will. His hometown, El Pedro so, north of Sevilla, where he was mayor from 1999 to 2008, did part cularly well, and literally dozens of friends and neighbours benefited. His pal, Jose Llorente, received a severance package from a cork pro duction company despite never hav ing worked there. (Llorente told investigators he thought the money that arrived in his account was ‘a gift from God’.) Another neighbour was ‘fired’ from a bogus company he’d never worked for, earning himself a €1,100 a for countless locals who had supposedly worked in the nearby Alquife mine (despite never having set foot in Ait). network of fake compa nies was set up listing dozens of local res idents who had taken early retire ment. In to tal, the group was paid around €60 million over five years. The fake com pany nessesicpaniesmarketingschools,fakespreadnetworkwithlanguageITandcomandorganfruitandvegbusisetupacross
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A JUDGE’S HUNCH
MARQUESSTHE
G UERRERO’S driver, Juan Trujillo, provided the court with juicy testimony, admitting to judges he’d spent at least €900,000 of public cash on cocaine, booze and ‘par tying’ at brothels with his boss –as well as on antiques. He admitted accepting €1.4 mil lion in public funds from his boss for business projects which never materialised, including a non-ex istent chicken farm, for which he received €450,000. One of the sacked workers from the fake firms was his mother, who re ceived €122,468 in compensa He’stion. a cheating criminal, but wellgroomed, apparently: “Like a min ister,” said a neighbour of Trujillo in Andujar, Jaen. “In fact, that’s what we call him.”
The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:
THE UNION BOSS EDUARDO Pascual Arxe is another intermediary –and a fugitive. A Catalan ex-banker who helped commission the fraudulent EREs, he fled to Africa in July 2015 and is yet to be extradited. The slippery money man was once the president of Eurobank, which he fraudulently bankrupt ed 15 years ago, enriching him self to the tune of €12 million. Pascual prepared an escape plan years in advance: After in vestigations began in 2005, he married a Bolivian woman, ac quired Bolivian nationality, and changed his name to Marcellino Jose Monasterios Arce, before fleeing to Africa. By the time the trial came to court Pascual was in Burkina Faso cultivating medical mari Hejuana.isnow suspected to be in the Republic of Benin. Should he ever show up, the An ti-Corruption Prosector’s Office is requesting he gets a 28-year jail sentence.
1- Family call for justice after British father of two dies in Magaluf after police knelt on him
THE MINISTER
www.theolivepress.es 7August 10th - August 23rd 2022 Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for more info
JUAN Lanzas, a socialist from the UGT union, is one of the intermediaries being investigated for admitting companies into the ring of corruption and pocketing an alleged €13 million in return. His mother once boasted to the Guardia Civil at their home in Jaen: “Mi hijo tiene dinero para asar una vaca” (literally: my son has enough money to roast a cow), meaning he had cash to burn. This was probably true, given he bought 16 properties and still had €80,000 cash left to stash inside a mat tress. But now the authorities would like it back. Lanzas faces multiple charges after more than a de cade of investigation. He’s due to stand trial for fraud relating to a €2.3 mil lion payment to Sevilla photographic laboratory Surcolor in July 2023.
3- U- turn campaign everything you need to know about the driving license exchange debacle for Brits in Spain
HE ERE scandal was exposed in November 2010 when campaigning judge Mercedes Alaya launched a probe into ir regularities in the municipal com pany Mercasevilla. It came after two former direc tors attempted to bribe a pair of hotel owners, offering them the concession for a hospitality training school for €450,000. Unluckily for them, the business men recorded the meetings and handed the tapes over to Madrid’s Ministry of Employment, which sent them to the prosecutor’s of fice. While the Junta’s then employ ment minister, Francisco Javier Guerrero, brushed it off as mere ly a fund which ‘helped business es breathe’, Alaya realised there was something more sinister going on. What quickly became clear was that chain-smoking Guerrero was the man with the keys to the safe. Along with the Minister, the Union Boss and the Missing Man, he is one of hundreds of fraudsters whose stories have been filling
hundreds of fake retirees receiving money in a similar way. The diedmandthanpealed,Guerrerokickbacksreceivedfundedhisdrughabit,homeim-provements,fastcarsandinternationalholidaysforfriends,fam-ilyandhisfellowcoun-cillors.GuerrerowassentencedbySevillaHighCourttosevenyears,11monthsinprisonforembezzlement,andanothersixyearsonrelatedcharges.Heapspentlessayearonreincustody,andinOctober2020.
The Minister’s trial takes place at Sevilla High Court in September. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has requested 14 years in prison, and the money back.
5- Exclusive: Two men arrested after being caught on camera as they tried to break into homes in Marbella in Spain’s Costa del Sol
W E are proud at the Olive Press to provide expat communities in Spain with the lat est news - and plenty of features - in our five print editions. But while each copy is guaranteed to be full of at least 50% editorial, sad ly plenty of things do not make the edition, which is fortnightly, after all.
4- Alert for high concentration of jellyfish in Costa del Sol Torremolinos and Marbella
Talk
MALAGA City has logged the warmest sea-surface temperature since daily measurements began in It1984.seems that the prolonged high temperatures across most of the Peninsula have unleashed a marine heat wave in the Mediterranean Sea, including the capital of the Costa del Sol. The measurements tak en by local authorities on Wednesday August 3, read 27.8ºC—whipping the pre vious record of 27.3ºC set on October 1, 2018.
Plans approved to cut energy consumption By Alex Trelinski air-conditioned premises to have a door closing system in place before September 30 and for premises to review boilers and thermal installations be fore December 1. It’s also going back to the days of the Covid pandemic by en couraging more home working to ‘save on travel and heating
Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638 145 664 ( Spain Phone ) Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es about too little to late … the latest advice is farcical WHEN it comes to talking about climate change, it is impossible to stay away from politics. They are completely intertwined. My recent columns have focused on the dire situation that planet earth faces as a result of governments around the world failing to act quickly enough to reduce the more than obvious impact of global warming. So, this week, let’s look at the humorous side of things. That’s what we do in the face of adversity. I’m going to ignore:
NO TIE: PM Sanchez COMEBACK: Straw donkey NEW rules have come into force to save energy at public venues across Spain. The Council of Ministers ap proved the first tranche of measures to cut Spain's gas consumption by 7% as part of a European Union agreement to limit dependency on gas from Spain'sRussia. reductions will be low er than the EU-wide figure of 15% and will be maintained until at least November 1, 2023. Ecological Transition Minister, Theresa Ribera, said: “This is an unprecedented ef fort not seen since after the end of the Second World War.”
● Deforestation is increasing And focus on Pedro Sanchez’s solution. He recently announced that to save energy he is go ing to stop wearing a tie! This is unreal and truly farcical and worthy of a West End comedy. Bring back Morecambe and Wise. He is also advocating the same initiative for all pub lic employees and in the private sector. Tie shops must love him. I can’t recall ever witnessing such a blatant attempt to divert attention from the major challenges his leadership faces. Many political commentators are wondering what item of clothing he endorses removing next. Unreliable sources are expecting him to start pro moting the famed Spanish Straw Donkey. Remem ber those? They were highly popular with the advent of mass tourism in the 1970s. Less popular if you happened to be seated on a plane next to a muppet who had bought one. But now Pedro’s pony is set for a comeback. It’s made by hand and requires no electricity. All part of the government’s drive to encourage tourism to Spanish shores. (Forget the 90 day rule, the British driving licence exchange fiasco and the less than speedy Spanish residency application Soprocess).Sánchez has it cracked. God help us.
GREENwww.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 20228 +34 951 120 830 | gogreen@mariposaenergia.es | www.mariposaenergia.es 100% Certified Green Energy Reduce your energy bill Switch to our 100% Green Energy Save even more money with our solar PV panel installations! Generate your own electricity Solar PV Panels Simply send us a recent bill & we will calculate how much you can save. Get a quote today Contact us today
Offices, shops, cinemas, the atres, and hospitality venues will no longer be allowed to set their cooling systems below 27 degrees in summer nor raise heating above 19 degrees in the Thewinter.measure also applies to airports and railway stations. Shops will also be obliged to keep doors closed and heating systems must be checked more often to increase efficiency un der the new measures. The package also includes shops having to switch off win dow lights after 10pm. Street lighting will not be affected. The government is demanding A BIG TURN-OFF
Furtherbuildings’.measures will be an nounced in September. It will be down to Spain's 17 regions to make sure that rules are be ing followed.
● The impact on the environment caused by the murdering lunatic Putin ● Pretend that the Taiwan escalation is not hap pening (there’s nothing the rednecks like more than a war on foreign soil)
Green MattersBy Martin Tye
Too hot to grow
● The fact that only the misguided delusional op timists, and mentally challenged still think that keeping global warming within the agreed target of a maximum increase of 1.5C is possible
SPAIN’S Agriculture Minister, Luis Planas, says this sum mer’s hot weather will dent this year's olive harvest if things don't change soon. Spain is the world's leading producer and exporter of ol ive oil, accounting for 15% of arable land in the country. It produces 70% of the EU’s olive oil and represents 46% of the worldwide market, according to government sta tistics. The effects of extreme weather are being felt right across Spain's agricul tural sector. Luis Planas has estimat ed that Spain’s overall production of grain crops like corn, wheat and barley, could fall as much as 13% this year to 17.5 million tonnes.
Too warm
SANCHEZ HAS IT CRACKED
Bacarisas bonanza GIBRALTAR will be marking the 150th anni versary of the birth of one of its most famous artists with unique exhibitions, talks and even a set of postal stamps. Gustavo Bacarisas was one of the Rock’s most prolific international artists during a career that spanned over 70 years. He exhibited on three continents and was the first ever person to receive the Freedom of the City of Gibraltar award in 1962. The Minister of Culture, John, Cortes will kick off the celebration with an Open Day at the Ma rio Finlayson National Gallery on September The20. gallery, located at the Town Hall, will open newly refurbished rooms on that date. They will contain previously unseen works from Bacarisas and other local artists. It will include QR codes and written informa tion to make the experience more inclusive. Gino Sanguinetti of Gibraltar Cultural Services will give a talk on Bacarisas that same day. It will explore the artist’s life and his challeng es. Bacarisas was born into one of the most war-torn times in history, living through World War II and the Spanish Civil War. The GCS is working on a set of stamps with the Gibraltar Philatelic Bureau. Along with a gift shop and a children’s book de signed by another local artist, Shane Dalmedo, will further celebrate the artist’s legacy. By Alex Trelinski
TOP DRAWS
OPSUDOKUOP QUICK CROSSWORD All solutions are on page 10 Across 6 Cold, dry Adriatic wind (4) 8 Gloaming (8) 9 “---, home’s best” (4,4) 10 German idealist phi losopher (4) 11 Pot bakers (5) 12 “Who cares?” (2,4) 14 Lot, to Abraham (6) 16 Cake topper (5) 18 Burn slightly (4) 20 Kind of aural implant 21(8)Pack it up (4,2,2) 22 “--- of the D’Urber villes” (4) Down 1 Essential constituent (4,3,6) 2 Stately horse (5) 3 Small informal restau rant (6) 4 Very popular confec tion (4,9) 5 At that time (4) 7 Like some cysts (7) 12 Baste, perhaps (3) 13 “--- That Shook the World” (John Reed book) 15(3,4)Money held by a third party (6) 17 Chip off the old block (5) 19 WWI field-marshal (4) FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR A QUOTATION, PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF MY OFFICES, EMAIL INFO@JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET OR VISIT THE WEBSITE WWW.JENNIFERCUNNINGHAM.NET
MOST VISITED: Castillo de Zafra
Spain has 4 out of top 5 Game of Thrones locations
Dear Jennifer: It makes life so much easier if you know what to do in a crisisScent successof IT may be a feast for the eyes, but Madrid’s Prado museum also made one masterpiece a treat for the nostrils Lasttoo. month it experi mented with exhibit ing The Sense of Smell by Jan Breughel and Rubens accompanied by scents and aromas. The painting’s origi nal goal was to evoke the immense range of smells a human can distinguish through its subject matter of a suciousWaftedgarden.
So the Prado decided to go a step further by partnering with the Perfume Academy Foundation to create 10 distinct scents to bring the painting to life for visitors. Using AirParfum, a technology developed by Puig, the perfumer Gregorio Sola created the fragrances which were wafted towards Theyvisitors.could catch notes of orange blossom, jas mine or the fragrance of a fig tree,amongst Youothers.could also catch the whiff of a pair of leather gloves to ac company a pair that Rubens added to the work.
GAME OF THRONES fans are eagerly gearing up for the new prequel series House of the Dragon which premieres on August 21 in the US and over the following days inter Locationnationally. shoots happened last year in Spain, with Cace res being used, like in Game of Thrones, for the drama which stars ex-Doctor Who, Matt Smith. The original worldwide hit used stunning international locations and four of the top five most popular for visitors are in Spain. Pop culture specialists, Zavvi, produced their list of most visited locations by looking at photos posted on social media featuring location hashtags and filtering. The most visited location is the Castillo de Zafra in Gua dalajara - also known as the Tower of Joy, which featured in season six of Game of Thrones According to Google Trends, Thrones filming locations had a 92% rise in interest in July, with the Castillo de Za fra, seeing a 50% increase in Morocco’ssearches. Essaouira came second followed by Caceres with the old castle doubling up as King’s Landing. Fourth on the list is Itzurun beach at Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country which in season seven showed the landing of Queen Daenerys at Dragon stone. In fifth place is Peñiscola in Castellon Province which became the city of Meer een, which was captured by Daenerys.
IT can not be overstated how important it is to read and under stand the documents that come with your insurance policies. Very few people seem to be aware of the importance of first checking if your policy documents are totally correct with all the right information. This is especially important for car policies where it is vital that the number plate information is correct. Also, these documents should be kept in the car, but make sure you have copies at home too in case the vehicle is stolen. For your home policies, ensuring that the address is correct and the same as that registered on the catastral will make life a lot easier, should you need to claim. Without understanding your insurance documents, you will not be fully aware of your exact coverage, should anything happen. With the increases to both inflation and the cost of living, unfor tunately burglaries are on the increase, especially with unoccu pied properties. Ensure you understand what you need to do to not only protect your property but also ensure you have the right cover with your insurance. It is worth making sure know in advance what to do if anything happens. For example, know what telephone numbers to call and research what documentation and information you will be required to provide. Obviously health insurance is a little more complicated. Ensure you know what information you need, have the contact details with you at all times and it helps to store the telephone numbers on your telephone, along with your policy number. If you are unsure how to use your medical insurance, ask your agent or broker. It is always better to be prepared, I know that insurance docu ments are not easy reading but it always pays to know and un derstand your policy. It will make your life easier, less stressful and in some cases, will prevent large unexpected bills. To help you with your claim, I have a special Claim Administrator to guide you through the process with Liberty Seguros, an ASSSA administrator to assist you with your health policy and a renew als department to help you with your renewals, and to check that your policy coverage is correct and up to date. Outside of my office hours, all the insurance companies have emergency contact information, which comes with your policy.
LA CULTURA 9August 10thAugust 23rd 2022
KIDDINGNO
NEWLY discovered engrav ings found just outside Bar celona have been dated at 14,000 years Archaeologistsold.from the Au tonomous University of Bar celona made the discovery of the ancient engravings and have now determined they were engraved during the Upper Paleolithic era. In addition, a full 3D scan revealed the engravings were of a Pyrenean Ibex, an ancient wild goat which was officially declared extinct in 2000. Skill Such was the skill of the art ist that the engraving can be used to partly trace the evo lution of the species. In 2003, scientists attempt ed to clone a Pyrenean ibex from DNA. A live kid was born - the first example of the birth of an extinct spe cies - but it died shortly af ter due to a lung defect.
Energy companies and banks targeted by windfall taxes net interest income and net Repsolcommissions.CEO,Josu Jon Imaz said that gas and oil com panies don’t make windfall profits. “We must not forget the billions of euros of loss es we recorded in previous years,” Imaz commented. Banks are being targeted on the grounds that their profitability is boosted by rising interest rates. Fines set at up to 150% will be imposed if banks pass on the tax via increased cus tomer charges. Savers Chief executives from both Santander and Sabadell banks warned that the tax would hit mostly small savers and shareholders. Santander CEO, Jose An tonio Alvarez, said: “If €3 billion of capital comes out of the sector, then it takes away €50 billion of lend ing capacity.”
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR? Looking ahead, economic data is sparse through most of the second week of August. As a result, GBP/EUR may trade on external factors. Any fresh warnings or concerns about the gas crisis in Europe could weigh heavily on the single currency. Likewise, eurozone recession fears may dampen the appeal of the euro. As for Sterling, increased industrial action, social unrest and political instability in the UK may prevent the pound from making significant gains. UK GDP data on Friday could potentially see GBP/EUR fall. At the time of writing, economists expect the UK economy to have con tracted by 0.3% in June. The following week brings high-impact data for both currencies. The UK’s latest labour market report, inflation rate and retail sales will be the focus for GBP investors. Signs that the UK economy is slowing would likely hurt the pound, while any data that might prompt more action from the BoE – such as a hot inflation reading or above-fore cast wage growth – could see Sterling climb. Meanwhile, Germany’s latest ZEW economic sentiment index may dent the Euro. While no official forecasts are out at the time of writing, the worsening gas crisis and looming recession risks may see anoth er steep drop in morale.
GBP/EUR exchange rate drops from three-month high after BoE recession warning
THE Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate climbed to a three-month high over the last two weeks as EUR investors grew increasingly concerned about the intensifying Europe an energy crisis. Meanwhile, Sterling rose as markets anticipated a 0.5% rate rise from the Bank of England (BoE), but a recession warning slashed the pound’s gains. GBP/EUR rose by more than two cents from lows of €1.174 to a three-month high of almost €1.199 before falling to €1.188.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING? Sterling soared through the final week of July, with GBP/EUR climbing to a three-month high. Throughout the week, recession fears hammered the euro. Poor economic data from Germany and the wider eurozone worried markets, with confidence among consumers, investors and busi nesses all Additionally,declining.Russia’s Gazprom slashed gas exports to Europe, ex acerbating concerns about the EU’s worsening energy crisis. Meanwhile, markets became increasingly confident that the Bank of England would raise rates by 50 basis points at its August meet ing. This lifted the pound to a three-month high against a weak ening However,Euro.concerns about economic and political instability in the UK may have limited GBP’s gains. As wage growth lags behind inflation and the cost-of-living squeeze tightens, workers across the country are striking to demand pay increases. In addition, the Tory leadership contest brought out bitter divides in the ruling Conservative Party, as the political turbulence con GBP/EURtinues. wavered higher at the beginning of August, although movement was perhaps limited as investors awaited the BoE de cision. The pound suffered from a downward revision to the final UK services PMI while a stronger US dollar weighed on the Euro. The BoE decision then slashed Sterling’s gains. Although the bank did raise rates by 0.5%, it also warned that in the fourth quarter of 2022 the UK economy would enter a recession, which would last throughout the following year. GBP/EUR slumped by a cent.
PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY
THE Spanish government’s plan to in vest €12 billion in high tech industries is struggling to get off the ground thanks to a lack of chipmakers willing to take on the Theproject.newtech drive has received billions of euros of investment from the EU’s Covid recovery fund, but firms courted by the Spanish government are instead opting for partnerships with businesses in Germany, which already has an estab
Off the dole
BUSINESS August 10th - August 23rd 202210 OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword Across: 6 Bora, 8 Twilight, 9 East West, 10 Kant, 11 Kilns, 12 So what?, 14 Nephew, 16 Icing, 18 Char, 20 Cochlear, 21 Time to go, 22 Tess. Down: 1 Part and parcel, 2 Steed, 3 Bistro, 4 Milk chocolate, 5 Then, 7 Ovarian, 12 Sew, 13 Ten days, 15 Escrow, 17 Scion, 19 Haig. Start your journey as a live-in carer today! Earn up to £866 per week Flexible pay options Free food, accommodation and travel Free Blue Light discount card Become a live-in carer in the UK To find out more, please email thespanishrecruitment@helpinghands.co.ukOpportunitiesforthosewithrighttoworkintheUKandthoselookingforsponsorshipApplyonline helpinghands.co.uk/jobs Career development Discover hassle-fre currency transfers WANT TO SAVE TIME AND MONEY ON YOUR CURRENCY TRANSFERS? CALL, EMAIL OR VISIT US IN BRANCH! Avd.ESTEPONAEspaña, nº 10, Local 5, Estepona, Málaga, 29680 PlazaMARBELLAestepona@currenciesdirect.comdelasOrquídeas,Calle Orquídea, Local 5, Nueva Andalucía, Marbella, Málaga, 29660 Avda.FUENGIROLA+34marbella@currenciesdirect.com952906581AlcaldeClementeDíazRuíz s/n, Urb. Puebla Lucía, Edificio Leo, Local 1, Fuengirola, Málaga, 29640 BENALMADENA+34fuengirola@currenciesdirect.com952906581 Avenida Antonio Machado, Edificio Diana I Local 13, Benalmádena Costa, Málaga, CalleNERJA+34benalmadena@currenciesdirect.com29630952906581AntonioFerrandisChanquete1, Local 1A, Nerja, Málaga, AvenidaMOJÁCAR+34nerja@currenciesdirect.com29780952906581Mediterráneo341, Mojácar, Almería, +34mojacar@currenciesdirect.com04638950478914 Discover hassle-free currency transfers ENERGY SWINGS
Alcampo pounces lished semiconductor ecosystem. The EU and US are locked in a race to increase chip production, with Western governments keen to reduce their de pendence on an industry typically out sourced to Asian markets. The US recently announced a $52 billion investment into semiconductors.
Rolls-Royce took action to strengthen its bal ance sheet after it was hit hard by the corona virus crisis. ITP Aero is an aeronau tical engine company based in Zamudio, the Basque Country which maintains engines for the Spanish armed forces.
Chips are down
Subject to clearances from competition au thorities, the deal should be concluded within weeks with all transfers completed before the summer of 2023.
By Alex Trelinski
SPAIN'S unemployment figures have dropped below three million for the first time since 2008. According to the National Statistics Institute,(INE), the total fell to 2.9 mil lion for the second-quarter of 2022 compared to 3.2 million for the first three months of the year.
FRENCH retailer Auchan says its Spanish sub sidiary Alcampo will buy 235 supermarkets and a warehouse from the struggling DIA group.
COUGH
Currency volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, that two-cent gap between €1.17 and €1.19 translates to a €4,000 difference. And the larger the sum, the higher the discrepancy. Fortunately, there are ways that you can protect against volatility. Specialist currency brokers, such as Currencies Direct, offer different tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of the currency market. For instance, you can use a forward contract to secure an exchange rate for up to a year. This way, you won’t lose out if the market moves against Servicesyou.like rate alerts and daily updates make it easy to keep track of what’s going on in the forex world so that you can make informed decisions. And with Currencies Direct you’ll have a dedicated account manager there to provide guidance and support whenever you need Atthem.Currencies Direct we’re here to talk currency whenever you need us, so get in touch if you want to know more about the latest news or how it could impact your currency transfers. Since 1996 we’ve helped more than 325,000 customers with their currency transfers, just pop into your local Currencies Direct branch or give us a call to find out more. SPAIN’S government has outlined details of new windfall taxes on banks and fuel companies which aim to bring €7 billion into state coffers over the next two years. The tax will fund measures to fight rising costs for people in the country. A 1.2% levy will be im posed on fuel company profits while banks will face a 4.8% levy on their UP
The welcome news- at a time of inflation hitting 10.8% - is the lowest jobless total since the world bank ing crisis 14 years ago. The unemployment rate stands at 12.5% with 617,000 additional perma nent jobs compared to the second-quarter of 2021. The figures validate labour reforms in Spain aimed at cutting down temporary contracts and black market working. Rolls sell off ROLLS-ROYCE has been given the go-ahead to sell its Spanish sub sidiary ITP Aero. The company had orig inally announced the €1.7 billion sale last September, but has had to wait for Spain’s gov ernment to approve the Itdeal.is expected that the sale to a consortium of investors headed by Bain Capital Private Eq uity will be completed within a few weeks.
OVER twice as many foreign tourists visited Spain in June than in the same month last year, according to official gov ernment figures. Arrivals also spent almost three times as much during their stay compared to a year June’searlier.
ESTEPONA will once again play host to the ‘Popi’ World Ham Contest, which brings together ‘jamon’ pro fessionals and products from across TheSpain.gastronomic event, which start ed this week and will run until Au gust 15 on the Paseo Maritimo Pedro Manrique, showcases 55 different brands of jamon from across Spain. Some 155 professional ham carvers will attend to showcase the finest produce and more than 400,000 vis itors are expected. Deputy Mayor of Estepona, Begoña Ortiz explained: “This gastronomic event will have the best jamon com panies in Spain.” Promote The event is organised by ‘celebrity’ ham carver Jose Maria Tellez and it aims to promote the quality of the iberican products of Andalucia. “I go every year with my family to try the different jamon brands, the price and quality are amazing,” said Fran cisca Mena, a visitor to this event since 2019. But it is not only about ham - Spanish wine and cheese are also be show Ascased.every year, visitors can taste ham for just €5. As well as eating jamon and sipping wine, visitors have the chance to at tend free concerts throughout the event.
7.5 million visitors spent close to €9 billion with visitor numbers over the six
No peace EASYJET has made peace with protesting cabin crew only for its pilots to call a series of Thestrikes.pilots’ union SEPLA has called for action over nine days in August to demand better working conditions for Spain-based pilots at the Theairline.strikes at the British low-cost airline are to take place for three periods of 72 hours each, with stoppages on August 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 27, 28 and 29. Meanwhile, Vueling cabin crew may also go on strike. Up until now, the Barcelona based low-cost airline has benefited from strikes at two of its big rivals, Easyjet and Ryanair but now cabin crew are threatening strikes in Au gust over pay.
PACKED: Beaches are busier than ever
Speakingtraordinary’.to TVE, Maroto re flected on the 30 million-plus foreign visitors this year and their increase in spending power. She said: “We have tourists who spend more and who are staying longer. “This has to be the way forward where quality and diversifica tion are the hallmarks of this recovery. We are avoiding very well the uncertainties derived from the Ukraine war and from inflation which makes us optimistic but also realistic.” “The tourism sector has made a great effort to resist the ef fects of the pandemic and we are benefiting from the fruits of good work and the safety net that we deployed to pro tect the sector and families,” Maroto concluded.
Good times roll
Tourism sector buzzing as number of visitors doubles months of 2022 running at over 80% of the same period back in Tourism2019.Minister, Reyes Ma roto, said that based on June’s figures and if the current trend is maintained, pre-pandemic levels will be ‘clearly’ achieved and described the news as ‘ex By Alex Trelinski
Ham-tastic news!
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL August 10th - August 23rd 2022 11
withRooma view ofBarrelsfun
AN Irish whiskey distill ery has saved 100-yearold Spanish wine barrels to reuse them maturing whiskey. The 68 Oloro so casks were bought by Boann Distillery when a Cordoban bodega closed.
Clean escape
We use recycled paper REREREuseducecycle FREE P RESSLIVEThe The localONLYRock’sfreepaper O GIBRALTAR Vol. 6 Issue 179 www.theolivepress.es August 10th - August 23rd 2022 *Data extracted from process closure surveys after using our roadside assistance and breakdown services. 952 147 834 TheOlivePress-256x170-MP0622.indd 1 6/6/22 10:43 WORDSFINAL
BENIDORM firefight ers rescued a man from a city self-ser vice launderette after he was trapped when the front door auto matically bolted shut at Bad10pm.signal
Cops get their goat after daylight chase shoppingthroughstreets
AN Alicante beggar has scooped a life-changing €1.2 million first prize in the Bonoloto lottery. The unnamed winner would beg for cash every day close to a tobacconist which sold her the winning ticket. Shop owners Mariangeles Torregrosa and De siree Agorreta told the Informacion newspaper that the woman ‘told us that we have changed her Theylife’.added that the ticket holder lived in the WHAT could be worse than a bull in a china shop? Ap parently, a goat in a jewellery Astore.black goat caused chaos in Cartagena when it was chased around the city by police be fore smashing a glass display in the store. The animal had entered the city from the Murcia road and ran down Paseo Alfonso XIII. The female then hoofed it with police on motorbikes and in patrol cars in hot pur suit. Even passers-bye on electric scooters joined in the chase. She finally turned into pedes trianised Calle Mayor, scat tering shoppers before taking refuge in the ‘lo soy joy’ jewel lery Storeshop.owner Laura Nicolau told the newspaper: “She ran in very quickly. She had very large horns, it was a good thing that she did not hit anybody, especially a child. “She struck a glass item very hard and shattered it,” she added. Burly Seven people were in the shop at the time. It took four burly officers to corner the horned beast in the shop’s loo using riot shields, before two shepherds arrived to help tie up the ani mal and man-handle it out of the shop.
itHoofed
SPAIN’S bullet train service between Madrid and Barcelona ground to a halt when 600 me tres of fibre optic cable used for its signalling system were stolen. A man has been arrested. DJ Calvin Harris may have bought himself a farm on Ibiza but that does not necessarily make him a farmer. The Scotsman claimed on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show, that he can’t get a cow on Ibiza because the island is too hot. This will be a surprise to locals who have long kept cattle - in cluding a herd just 8 kilome tres from his property.
rubbishUdder
By Alex Trelinski FEELING HORNY: Cops grab the goat Rags to riches area and after wrapping up her begging at around 2pm, she would pop into the shop. She’d only buy Bonoloto and Primitiva lottery tickets rather than Euromillions tickets as they were Localscheaper.described the woman as popular. She usually spent cash raised on food for her family. IT gives the term a ‘room with a view ‘ a whole new meaning. A luxury hotel in Ibiza is of fering guests the chance of an overnight stay for free, but the catch is that everyone can see Thisthem.is because the ‘Zero Suite’ has glass walls and is in the middle of The Paradiso Art Hotel’s lobby in full view of other guests as they check in and head for their own more private suites. The hotel website describes the suite as ‘A room with glass walls in the middle of the lob by of the Paradiso Art Hotel where you can sleep one night for free…’
