Olive Press Gibraltar - Issue 187

Shipwreck nears end

GIBRALTAR’S port has accepted new plans to remove the shipwreck of the OS 35 that beached 700 metres from Catalan Bay.

It has given salvage and wreck removal company TMC Marine the green light to go ahead with breaking up and tak ing away the ship that caused an exten sive oil spill last September.

TMC Marine chose Dutch company Koole Contractors for the task on Oc tober 21.

It then worked out in more detail how exactly Koole Contractors would carry out the job in its proposal to the Port.

TMC Marine presented the revised plans to the Gibraltar Port Authority on November 9.

Captain of the Port John Ghio’s ap proval gives the go-ahead for Koole Contractors to move into the area its large floating barges with cranes that can lift up to 500 tons.

Milestone

The process follows the Port’s order to remove the OS 35 shipwreck before May 30.

“This critical milestone is an import ant step in ensuring that the removal of the wreck is completed within the timeframe established by the Gibraltar Port Authority in the Wreck Removal Notice,” Ghio said.

“It also confirms that the methodology and efficiency of the works envisaged are deliverable at the same time as be ing fully compatible with the strictest measures for the protection of the en vironment.”

The OS 35 beached itself off Catalan Bay after getting a ten metre gash from a collision with another ship while leaving the Bay of Gibraltar on August 29.

Police have since charged its captain for causing an oil spill which soiled lo cal beaches and killed off wildlife.

Nursery rhyme time

DEAL ON THE CARDS

EU treaty hopes run high as talks progress

AN EU treaty for Gibraltar could be signed by the end of the year, lead ers in Gibraltar and Spain have said.

The Rock’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said he is ‘confident’ of a ‘positive outcome’ to post-Brexit talks between UK and Spain which could see the frontier removed and create a shared prosperity solution to Brexit.

Picardo said he now expects ‘a suc cessful conclusion’ to the talks over an EU treaty with the UK for at least the next four years.

Jose Manuel Albares, Spanish For eign Minister, told reporters talks ‘are in a very advanced phase’ and can be ‘defined as very positive’.

He added the new EU treaty would allow ‘maximum freedom of people and goods’ into and out of Gibraltar.

Albares told reporters that the UK already has a European Commis

By John Culatto & Simon Hunter

sion proposal that has ‘global, bal anced and technical solutions’ for the problems raised by Brexit on Gibraltar.

One of the main issues continues to be who would control access to Spain at the airport and seaport.

In the EU mandate for the negotia tions - which Picardo flatly rejected - Spain pushed for its own police to manage the border.

But Gibraltar has always said this would cross one of its red lines and instead is bidding for Frontex to carry out Schengen checks.

One possible solution is that air passengers flying into Spain would not even enter Gibraltar at all, in stead being routed straight onto

Spanish terri tory.

The airport was designed with this possibility in mind under the 2006 Cor doba Agree ment.

It is equipped with a back entrance that could be con nected to Spain, although this option was nev er used. The exchange

with Albares followed a week of uncertainty when Picardo indicat ed that the negotiations were far from over.

“We are not there yet,” he had said in a government statement on No vember 18.

Optimistic

He added ‘crossing t’s and dotting i’s’ would occur ‘at the right mo ment’ and admitted ‘a lot of hard work and good faith’ had been put in ‘by all relevant parties’.

After Picardo’s earlier doubts, he sounded far more positive on No vember 25 and even hinted the EU treaty could be signed ‘this year’.

His optimism came after Albares warned that ‘we cannot be in this situation forever’.

The Spanish foreign minister was referring to Gibraltar’s current limbo of being outside the EU while having all the privileges of its

members for nearly two years. He stressed that Spain has shown a ‘high level of flexibility and prag matism to find a solution to the challenges’.

Despite opposition from the Junta de Andalucia, Mayor of La Linea Juan Franco said the agreement is a sign that ‘sanity prevails’.

Franco now hopes La Linea could now become one of the biggest winners in the shared prosperity proposal, with Gibraltar boosting the frontier city’s economic out look.

Not easy

While Picardo suggested that a no deal was still a possibility he con firmed all sides were ‘on the same page in this objective’.

“This has not been easy and what is left is not easy either,” Picardo concluded.

“But we remain committed to a

positive outcome.

“A positive outcome can now be achieved. A positive outcome must now be the result.”

Spanish, UK and Gibral tar delegations took part in the last round of meet ings on November 28-29 in London.

THE youngest children at Governor’s Meadow Lower Primary School dressed up for World Nursery Rhyme Week that pushed them to learn early writing and reading skills. The nursery level kids dressed up as nursery rhyme characters and thoroughly enjoyed all the activities based on the different tradition al stories.

STATEMENTS: Franco (left) and Albares have both been vocal

Gibraltar literary festival, see our special report

Kangaroo court

HEALTH chief Patrick Geoghegan slammed ‘offensive and unaccept able’ recent criticism of GPs on what he called ‘the kangaroo court of social media’.

Flying low

MINISTER for Tour ist Vijay Daryanani will open the CAPA World Aviation Sum mit held for the first time in Gibraltar at the Sunborn Hotel on December 1.

Power cut

TWO engines at the North Mole Power Station shut down on November 28 after an LNG fuel supply drop causing an afternoon power cut that lasted 28 minutes.

Bird flu

PUBLIC health boss Helen Carter warned the public ‘not to touch dead birds’ they might find floating up on the coastline as there is a danger they might have been bird flu victims.

BRIT MURDER PROBE

SUSSEX police have launched a dou ble murder investigation after a Brit ish father and son disappeared from Estepona in April 2019.

Their family has always believed that they were shot and killed during a drug deal that went wrong.

Daniel Poole, 46, and his son Liam, 22, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex,

were last seen alive on April 2, 2019. They were staying at the Valle Roma no Golf and Resort.

Their passports and clothes were left in their room and a hire car was not returned. On hearing news of the Sus sex police probe, Daniel’s daughter, Lauryn Poole, 23, said: “There was hope there but now it’s gone.”

Coke lords bust

A BRITISH ‘drug lord kingpin’ who had made his base in the Costa del Sol was arrested in Dubai as part of an enormous operation to smash a conti nent-spanning ‘super cartel’ thought to be responsible for the import of a third of all co caine into Europe.

Ryan James Hale, thought to be in his early 40s and linked to the Irish Kinahan cartel, has been identified by the Guardia Civil as the overall boss over the mega operation. The financial ‘nerve centre’ of

Police raid financial ‘nerve centre’ in Spain as part of operation to smash Europe-wide ‘super cartel’

By Walter Finch

the criminal outfit was cen tred around Marbella, where a police raid bagged the alleged head of the group’s €24 million money laundering operation. Further raids in Barcelo na and Madrid saw another ‘high-value target’ arrested, a Bulgarian, along with another

POLICE thought there was something fishy going on when they saw a man driving his mo torbike the wrong way on Bay side Road in the middle of the night.

They stopped Mark Edwards, 35, of Harbour Views and im mediately smelled alcohol in his breath.

Bulgarian and three Spanish citizens - including a worker at the Port of Barcelona - who collectively oversaw the un loading of cocaine into Span ish ports.

In total, officers from the Guardia Civil’s anti-narcotics team UCO (Central Operative Unit) kicked down the doors of 21 homes and businesses and made 15 arrests.

Wrong way

His roadside alcohol test came to 48ug, just over the limit of 35ug. Police then arrested him and took him to New Mole House.

A judge took away his licence for three months and fined him £250 for drink driving.

Police netted €500,000 in cash, three loaded guns and a fleet of luxury cars, some worth almost €300,000. The raids were part of a mul tinational po lice operation

across six countries that saw 49 people arrested and a mas sive 30 tonnes of cocaine con fiscated, Europol announced. Among the arrested were sev en ‘drug lord kingpins’ - or ‘drugpins’ - who had joined forces to create a ‘super cartel’, which they orchestrated from Dubai.

Dubbed ‘Operation Faukas’ in Spain, it began in 2019 when a container in the Port of Valen cia was seized carrying nearly 700kg of cocaine.

Cooperation

The bust gave rise to a sprawling investigation involving a number of po lice agencies across Europe spanning three years that ultimately became Europol’s Operation Desert Light.

Abuser locked up

A MAN who locked up his partner in his granny’s flat and threw objects at her has been jailed for 18 months.

Liam Remorino, 25, of Sir Wil liam Jackson Grove, Gibraltar, pleaded guilty to charges of common assault, false impris onment and criminal damage.

His victim complained to police Remorino had locked her up in December 2021, dragging her back when she tried to leave.

Then he pulled her back by the hair and locked her in a bed room in March 2022, police said.

Rum on the run

A MAN who drove his car at three times the alcohol limit has been fined £500 fine and lost his licence for 22 months.

Yoilet Batista Leyva, 39, of Queensway, pleaded guilty to Failing to Supply a Specimen.

Police first tried to move Batist Leyva from the Small Boats Marina after members of the public complained he was drinking a bottle of rum and bothering them.

The Cuban left soon after and officers then saw him climb into a car and drive away from Coaling Island.

They stopped him on Water port Road where they tested him.

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Three-star success

TWO restaurants in Spain have been upgraded to a maximum ‘three star’ Michelin status in its 2023 guide for Spain and Portugal.

It means 13 eateries on the Iberian Peninsula now have the top Michelin accolade.

Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona gets the top rating for what Michelin says is ‘firing the imagination with ev ery bite’.

Chefs Sergio and Javier Torres - who were recently named in the top 100

Winding down

WHILE many of his Manches ter City team mates are in Qa tar striving to win the football World Cup, star player Erling Haaland is winding down in Marbella.

The 22-year-old Norwegian in ternational - who was born in Leeds where his dad Alfie was a player - has a house in the Costa del Sol city and is taking advantage of the World Cup mid-season break to recharge his batteries there.

He has been spotted out and about enjoying some quality down time - although he would no doubt be much happier to be in Qatar himself.

His Norwegian team failed to reach the finals, with the Neth erlands and Turkey finishing ahead of the Scandinavians.

Best Chefs in the World - have created a ‘magical space’ in which the gastro nomic experience- using the very best seasonal produce - exceeds foodies’ expectations, turning it into a dining extravaganza.

The other new three-star entrant is Atrio in Caceres. Michelin says the ‘ul timate distinction’ goes to it because of its ‘elegant and delicate’ dishes prepared by chef Toño Perez who has ‘shaken up’ local gastronomic tradi tions.

It comes as a welcome boost to the restaurant after it lost €1.6 million worth of wines when thieves plundered its cellar last year.

Deesa (Madrid); Pepe Viera (Serpe, Pontevedra) and El Rincon de Juan Carlos (Tenerife) have all been upgrad ed to two stars.

On the road

Gordon Ramsay spotted filming latest series in Spain

GORDON Ramsay has been spotted filming in one of Mal aga’s more unusual restau rants.

The celebrity chef - who has had 17 Michelin Stars in his career - visited El Tintero to get a taste of a dif ferent way of doing things in the culinary world.

The chiringuito bar) is famous for not having a menu, but instead op erating on a first come first served basis.

Waiters come from the kitch en bringing plates of food and shout ing out what

A new ‘Blanksy’

ed over in drab grey. The artwork ap peared to be a protest against Russia’s inva sion of Ukraine. It was an ad aptation of Banksy’s famous Girl with Bal

they have. The first customers to stick their hands up get to inspect the dish and decide if they want to buy it or not.

Ramsay was there to film his latest Road Trip show with pals Italian chef Gino D’Acampo and master maitre d’ Fred Sirieix.

This series is being shot entirely in Spain, and will explore local culture and gastronomy - particularly seafood.

This is not the first time Ramsay has visited the Costa del Sol. In 2014 he roped in Olive Press editor Jon Clarke to help review La Granada Divino in Gaucin, which was featured in the series Costa del Nightmares.

Amazing

Fashionable Sevilla

The

It is a double boost for the Andalucian capital, which was cho sen to launch the collection at a special fashion show in June.

For the campaign, photographer Laura Sciacovelli took inspi ration from classical art to frame models Chai Maximus, Maryel Uchida, Miriam Sanchez, Eden Joi, Raynara Negrine, Greta Bult mann, Freja Rothmann, and Yunseo Cho in a series of portraits.

Creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri was in spired by costumes associated with flamenco, bullfighting and equestrian arts.

FADE TO GREY: From art to drab

loon series, which first cropped up in Lon don’s Waterloo in 2002 and was recreated in Bethlehem in 2006.

Locals have pointed the finger at the town mayor for ‘senselessly’ destroying the work of art.

“I love it down here. It’s amaz ing. And what a place Gaucin is!” said the Scottish chef.”

Ramsay also paid a visit to Fuengirola in an attempt to revive the Mayfair restaurant, which he changed to Jack’s Kitchen Shack.

Both restaurants have since closed.

CHOSEN DUO

THE European Space Agency has chosen two Spaniards for future space missions, which could include a voyage to Mars.

Pablo Alvarez, 34 and from Leon, has been chosen from the hopefuls by the ESA, as well as Sara Garcia, 33 and also from Leon, as a reserve.

This marks the first time in 30 years that a Spaniard has made the cut for a space mission.

The first and only Spanish astro naut until now was Pedro Duque, who was chosen in 1992.

He later went on to become a Science Minister in the Socialist Party government of Prime Min ister Pedro Sanchez.

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By Dilip Kuner

A popular ‘Banksy’ artwork stencilled on an underpass near El Ingenio shopping centre in Torre del Mar has been paint

FAMOUS FACE: Ramsay on the Costa del Sol

SEVILLA has been given a world-wide publicity boost in the latest ad campaign by fashion house Dior.

city provided the locations for a photo shoot of the flamen co-inspired Cruise 23 collection.

Soldier merit

A MARTIAL artist became the first Gibraltar Regiment soldier to get to the final slate at the British Army’s Sportsman of the Year awards.

Judo man Ethaniel Jeffries-Mor was named runner-up to boxer Carnell Brown in the annual event held at Sandhurst Acad emy.

Jeffries-Mor, 44, received his plaque in England with the congratulations of British Army Judo and Infantry Judo.

TURNING ON THE STYLE

GIBRALTAR’s football association re vealed its new look state-of-the-art na tional football

Victoria Stadium that will be able to host all international matches.

Minister for Economic Development Sir Joe Bossano called the new stadi um ‘a very important moment for foot ball in Gibraltar’.

LOCAL HEROES

Mega cycle challenge sees £27,000 raised for charity

By John Culatto

300km a day to get to the Rock after setting off from Big Ben.

Crowds of family and friends welcomed the pair at Ocean Village after they finished the Clock2Rock challenge.

Action stations

EMERGENCY services took part in a successful live plane crash exercise on Gibraltar’s runway. A strategic coordinating group put fire crews, police and medical teams through their paces to see how they would respond in such a situation. The exercise, which takes place every two years, is significant because Gibraltar’s airport is regu larly featured as one of the most dangerous plac es to fly into across the world.

McNulty told the Olive Press how they had trained all year after only starting to cycle long distances last January.

“We had a conversation with a few people who said it wasn’t possible to do it in nine days,” McNulty said.

“So we aimed for nine days and we managed to do it in seven-

and-a-half.” That involved 15 hours of cy cling a day which led to nerve

PHONE FRENZY

THE head of a UK nation al mental health charity visited Gibraltar schools to talk about children’s addiction to their phones.

Louisa Rose, CEO of Be yond, gave a chat on so cial media dependence on Monday evening, with

other sessions going on throughout Tuesday for children of all ages.

Youth Board member Monica Leung was also on the Rock to take part in the ‘Now and Beyond Gibraltar Mental Health and Wellbeing Festival’.

damage in their hands and feet from the pressure of the constant movement.

On the sec ond day, Cooper in jured him self when he came off his bike but despite this

they kept on going. “I ripped my quad muscle as well at some stage.

Keep going

“But we’d set ourselves the tar get and there was no way that we were going to give up.”

Supported by friends in a van, they made their way from Lon don to Portsmouth, through Bordeaux, Biarritz, the Pyre nees, Pamplona, Madrid and Ronda on the way to Gibraltar.

Last week, the pair presented cheques to Cancer Relief Gi braltar and Calpe House at the Town Hall (above).

TWO of Gibraltar’s top politi cians took a break from inter national politics and hot TV debates to prepare food at a local soup kitchen.

Founder of the GSLP party Sir Joe Bossano and Chief Min ister Fabian Picardo showed they weren’t afraid of hard graft by preparing a tasty rice dish for the less fortunate.

Along with a priest and vol unteers Karen, Stuart and Stephanie, they went at their cooking with the same gusto as they do their politics.

Inflation prediction

ECONOMY Minister, Na dia Calviño, says inflation in Spain will stay at around 7% for the rest of 2022 before falling next year.

The rate fell to 7.3% in Oc tober compared to a peak of over 10% in July - figures not seen since the mid-eighties. Economists are projecting a 4% rate by mid-2023.

stadium complete with shopping areas and in-built flats. Chinese developers will build the 8,000 seater category four rebranded

Politicians of the people

THERE are many things that other much larger states could learn from Gibraltarian politics.

One of those is the proximity that the political leaders have to the people they govern.

Photos of GSLP founder Sir Joe Bossano and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo preparing a din ner for poor people brought home that fact. This was more than a photo op, as it reflected the Gibraltarian spirit.

The idea of mucking in and doing what needs to be done is very much part of the local identity. Bossano in particular knows a lot about this per sonal effort.

Far from high-level negotiations on the Rock’s future, he is always willing to reassure people in the street or rally to the members of the party he created.

He might now be a British knight but things were not always like that.

During the 1970s, he led strikes and picketed against British interests in order to make sure locals were paid equally to visiting British pro fessionals.

Stop him on the street nowadays and he still re mains true to himself and his working class roots. Speaking in his inimitable ‘llanito’ hybrid accent, he is faithful to his vision of doing the best for the Rock, whatever it takes.

Recent Brexit issues might have tested that re solve, but that will never change in his book and it is one of the reasons his party has now won three elections on the trot.

He might be 83-years-old now, but he is still go ing strong, true to his atheist and socialist ideas, insofar as it is possible to realise them in a glo balised capitalist world.

See him in the street and he will never walk snoo tily by even if he has a million things on his mind. If more politicians around the world had the same attitude, maybe the ruling establishment would not be so distrusted globally as it is now.

THE KING AND I

By Simon Hunter

AS anyone watching the most re cent series of The Crown will have been reminded, Queen Elizabeth II famously suffered an annus hor ribilis in 1992 as scandal hit her family and there was a fire at Windsor Castle.

For Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I, 2022 has no doubt been proving to be a terrible year – but for him it’s just the latest in a long line.

Since 2020, Juan Carlos has been living in self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi, after mounting allegations of financial irregu larities forced him to flee.

His son, King Felipe VI, wanted to get some distance between the Spanish roy al family’s past and present.

But rather than escaping the focus of the public – both in Spain and abroad – Juan Carlos has been a regular fixture in the headlines this year.

First, thanks to an HBO documentary ti tled Saving the King , which laid bare not just his financial dealings over the years but also his many affairs.

And now one of those ex-lovers, Dan ish-German businesswoman Corinna Larsen (who goes by her married name of Corinna zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn) is telling her version of their time together

in a kiss-and-tell podcast titled Corinna and the King . Here’s what you need to know about the latest in this ongoing roy al saga.

The revelations

The podcast, which was produced by bestselling authors Tom Wright and Brad ley Hope, is an eight-part series based on extensive interviews with Larsen, as well as journalists who followed the story over the years and other key figures. Episode one explains how the two met and their relationship began; episode two delves into Juan Carlos’s past; epi sode three examines the role of Queen Sofía, who is to this day still married to the self-styled emeritus king; and epi sode four covers the infamous hunting trip in Botswana that sparked a crisis in the royal family.

How they met

“It's a Shakespearean story about power, money, and sex,” explains Larsen in the first episode of the series, during which she tells the story of how the pair were at a hunting trip together at the Duke of Westminster’s property, La Garganta, in the Sierra More na mountains of Castilla-La Mancha and Cordoba, a favoutite hunting retreat of the princes William and Harry.

Tired after a long day, Larsen broke with pro tocol and asked for the king’s permission to leave.

“You're not supposed to retire to bed until the head of state leaves,” she explains. All eyes ended up on her, including the king’s.

How it started

Larsen explains how the king’s phone calls, first about business, became gradually

Expat Guide to voting in Spain’s 2023 elections

BE ABLE TO VOTE?

uary 30 2023. If you have previously voted in the same mu nicipality, your details should be registered already.

For non-EU citizens (such as those from the UK) there is an earlier application deadline of January 15, 2023. Unlike EU residents, you now have to register EVERY four years before voting in the municipal elections. Previous pre-Brexit regis tration does not count.

KEY POINT SUMMARY

4 If you come from a country that has a reciprocal agree ment – for example, the UK – you must register on the electoral roll at the town hall.

4 In order to exercise the right to vote you have to bring along your passport and residency document/TIE card to confirm you are living legally in Spain.

ELECTORAL CENSUS REGISTRATION DEADLINES

The registration deadlines vary depending on whether you are an EU citizen or from a country with a reciprocal agree ment with Spain.

EU citizens can apply between December 1, 2022 and Jan

4 You will need to have held valid residency in Spain for three years at the time of application.

4 You must be registered on the padron of the municipal ity in which you reside.

4 Registration dates and times may vary: Check in ad vance at your local town hall.

In an eight-episode kissand-tell podcast series, Corinna Larsen, the exlover of Spain’s former king, reveals intimate details about their private life, his finances and marriage

more personal and more regular.

“It was kind of surreal, because [a relation ship] hadn’t really crossed my mind. But he was very funny and sort of very persistent, but in a humorous way. He’s clearly known as one of the greatest seducers amongst royalty.”

When they share a meal together in a hunt ing lodge near the Zarzuela royal palace, he confesses that his marriage to Queen Sofía is just for show.

The anger of the queen

In episode three, Larsen tells the story of being given a private tour of the Zarzuela palace, having been promised that Sofía was not home.

“Suddenly, Queen Sofia burst into the room. And with a face like thunder,” she explains. “She pointed at me and said, ‘I know who you are!’”

The ‘court of miracles’

Larsen tells of the ‘unusual’ things in Juan Carlos’s life, what she calls the ‘court of mir acles’.

“I would see him coming back from trips and be happy as a five year old, and there’d be bags full of cash.”

Asked about them, the then-king would say: ‘Oh, this is from my friend so and so.’ “He’d say you are so dramatic, you don't under stand how Spain works. And no, clearly I didn't.”

The affairs

Larsen makes clear in the podcast that she demanded Juan Carlos be faithful to her, being aware of previous affairs he had such

as with Barbara Rey, an actress who later claimed she was receiving death threats af ter having broken up with the king.

But, Larsen explains, after the death of her father who she cared for in his dying days, the king had an unpleasant surprise for her: “The king somehow in a conversation men tioned something about me not having been available much during those eight months when my father was in his last stage of can cer. And then he’d been seeing someone else.”

The hunting trip

Then comes Larsen’s account of the infa mous 2012 hunting trip, news of which set Juan Carlos on the path to his 2014 abdi cation.

She and the king were both on the safari to gether, despite having broken up. According to Larsen, the king woke up one morning after a night of heavy drinking and realised he must have had a fall and said he would spend the day in bed.

His medical team, however, thought he had internal bleeding, and he was rushed back to Spain on Larsen’s chartered private jet. Despite the severity of the situation and his condition, the king requested a glass of wine.

Larsen tried to reason with him, but, she ex plains, “he was like, ‘I am the king. I can do whatever I want’. And it was like a petulant child.”

Fallout

The hunting trip alerted the press to the exis tence of Larsen in Juan Carlos’s life, and all hell broke loose – especially given the tough economic times Spaniards are suffering.

Larsen recounts the ‘complete fabrications’ about her in the press, and thinks she knows who is to blame.

“This has the fingerprints of Queen Sofia all over it,” she states, although as the podcast points out, there is no evidence to back up that claim.

Princess Di

In episode five of Corinna and the King, Larsen reveals how Juan Carlos instructed his friends to stage a ‘fake Christmas’ given that he could no longer stand his own family. She also details the threats she claims to have been subjected to by the Spanish secret services, including a book about the death of Princess Diana being left in her apartment.

What’s the damage?

While the podcast heaps yet more shame on the already disgraced emeritus king, the fact that it is available in Spanish and En glish, and has been widely covered in for eign publications such as The Times and The Daily Mail, also does Spain’s reputation few favours.

It paints a picture of an out-of-control mon arch, a press that is turning a blind eye to his antics, and state machinery that swings into action to protect him. And there is no doubt worse to come in the remaining episodes.

“It’s like Spain, oh it's such a nice coun try, go on holiday there, we’ll have some tapas, so fun... It's almost more dangerous because people are completely unaware,” says Corinna Whatever the case, its release is yet anoth er in a long line of embarrassments for the exiled emeritus king.

BEING SOCIABLE

AS the world moves on the Olive Press moves with it.

While proud of our quality print editionnow in five regions and having just won a Google award - we have not been one to rest on our laurels and were quick to notice the impor tance of social media.

With approaching 30,000 followers on Facebook and 9,600 more on Twit ter it’s clear more and more peo ple have been turning to these Olive Press platforms to find trusted news.

Businesses and organisations have also cottoned on to its far reach and have been eager to get on board.

This includes Gibraltar University that has been using our Facebook site to attract new stu dents, knowing we have a wide and young audience on the costas.

Linea Directa has also recognised its reach and effectiveness and conduct ed a campaign solely online, while nu merous other big financial companies have booked sponsored posts.

But the power of social media is best underlined when we team up with businesses for local com petitions.

In the past we offered a two-night stay with sup per at the five-star hotel Kempinsky hotel in Es tepona and the post reached a massive 29,000 people on Facebook - and garnered 982 ‘likes’. The bosses of the hotel were even more delight ed with the 9,000 hits it got online, as well as the incredible 4000-plus entrants for the com petition.

A similar prize with a hotel in Casares got ‘more bookings than an article in the Times’... worth ‘over €10,000’ for the price of a few sponsored posts.

Winning combination

We recognize the power of social media - but also know that it works best with print media in all its guises.

For this reason we have a range of different and highly flexible marketing strategies that can be combined on various platforms for businesses to get a higher profile.

With a website that attracts tens of thousands of unique visitors a day, many thousands of social media followers a week and Spain’s best English language printed newspaper every fortnight, we have a winning platform for your business.

Get in touch at sales@theolivepress.es or call 951 273 575 to see what we can do for you.

PLAYERS: Queen Sofia was furious when she encountered Larsen at the Zarzuela palace

SCANDAL: The king’s hunting trip led to the exposure of his affair with Larsen

Flood alert

Valencia and Sevilla in top three danger zones

WHILE Spain is frequent ly wracked with fires and droughts, there is a third horse man of the apocalypse that stalks the country: flooding.

With climate change, the risk of flooding is increasing and the cost of property damage is also soaring.

Two people are already known to have died in 2022, including a policeman trying to rescue a trapped motorist in Alicante.

In Murcia one man drowned when he was swept from his home by water as he slept on a sofa.

The regions of Spain most at risk of flooding and most sus ceptible to flood damage have been documented in a new re port, with Valencia and Sevilla coming in the top three, just behind Barcelona in first place.

Risk

The report, from Gamma Lo cation Intelligence, combines the risk of flooding with the po tential damage to property that would be suffered to determine which provinces have the most properties at risk and an esti mated cost of flooding.

It is the Mediterranean coast that presents the biggest risk of suffering massive damage.

It is estimated that on average some €17,531,757 of damage to property in the province of Bar celona is caused by floods each year.

Valencian home owners have reason to worry with an average €13,878,134 worth of damage

By Walter Finch

caused annually.

This figure is €12,473,571 in Sevilla and €6,686,007 in Ali cante.

Overall, Spain can expect an av erage annual loss from flooding of nearly €200 million, Canary Islands excluded.

QUACKING NEWS

The

To

risk of

This

Look at what is going on in Africa and Germany

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

AFRICA has vast gas reserves. As many countries in the African continent now look to exploit the value of this resource, Euro pean super powers are actually encouraging, supporting, and financing this ‘Dash for Gas’.

As the scramble for gas reaches dizzying heights, due largely to Russia’s atrocious attack on Ukraine, the very important fight to control rising temperatures across the world takes a back seat again.

I fully understand the African countries point of view. Western countries benefitted and pros pered from exploiting dirtier fossil fuels.

Why shouldn’t African countries reap the re wards of exploiting cleaner natural gas?

Everyone knows the answer….to save the envi ronment. Fossil fuels need to be phased out and left in the ground. Africa’s backyard should not become Europe’s forecourt. The ever powerful cabal of fossil fuel companies

along with corrupt elites of Africa have another agenda.

The effects of global warming have been devas tating in parts of Africa, yet still greed triumphs over commonsense.

The developed world has to stand up and fi nance a move to renewables to support emerg ing nations.

There are better ways to reduce poverty and power Africa.

It is hard to argue the case for gas to stay in the ground when many European countries are returning to coal powered electricity production.

GERMANY ENDS RELIANCE ON RUSSIAN GAS

When the lunatic Putin switched off the gas tap to Europe, Germany faced a winter of dis content. Power cuts, industrial decimation and economic disaster loomed.

But now Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz (left) has declared that ‘energy security for this winter is guaranteed’.

Germany’s gas stores are full thanks to frantic and expensive buying in the world markets.

Good news for Germany, bad news for poorer countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, who lack the finances to compete in an overheated market.

Germany’s call to action has been fast and im pressive, even by German standards.

A new floating storage and regasification termi nal has become operational in 200 days.

Bureaucracy - the ‘condom on the prick of prog ress’ - was removed. And five more storage facil

ities will become operational next year. It proves that where there is a will there’s a way.

COP 27

I would dearly like to report bundles of good news about the outcome of this years United Nations Conference of Parties (COP). Sadly, the bad news is there’s little good news.

• No reference at all to phasing out fossil fuels.

• Rich countries once again pledged to pay poorer countries for the damage and eco nomic losses caused by climate change…30 years on from huge climate impacts.

• Lots of powerful political rhetoric.

• Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words.

Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy.

ENVIRONMENTAL officials in Andalucia have released 25 rare marbled ducks into the wild at the Desembocadura del Guadalhorce Natural Park, in Malaga.

bird is considered the most threatened duck species in the whole of Europe.

reverse the

extinction, the LIFE Cerceta Pardilla project has undertaken a series of ac tions to reinforce its popula tions, including the release of captive-bred specimens.

year some 146 chicks have hatched and are being released in different wetlands throughout Andalucia.

LEAVE: fossil fuels in the ground

Green Matters By Martin Tye

OLAF SCHOLZ: says energy supplies are secure

AT RISK: map shows the areas most in danger

FRIENDLY FIRE

BARCELONA-based SA Damm, which produces the Estrel la Damm brand of beers, has bought its first UK brewery. The firm will take over the Eagle Brewery in Bedford after striking a deal with current owners Carlsberg Marston. The transfer is expected to be completed by the end of the year. It will be SA Damm’s second brewery outside of Spain. SA Damm’s executive president Demetrio Carceller Arce said: “This deal will strengthen our position in the UK market and help drive our brand in the UK, a key market for the company’s interna tional growth.”

Estrella Damm beer is currently sold in over 10,000 British bars and restaurants.

A NEW fleet of warships for the British Royal Navy will be partly constructed at the shipyards in Cadiz.

Navantia UK, the British sub sidiary of the Spanish public company Navantia, was part of a consortium of shipbuild ers which won the coveted £1.6billion (€1.8billion) con tract to build three crucial support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA).

The Spanish company, along with British partners BMT and Harland&Wolf - known as ‘Team Resolute’ - will

By Walter Finch

manufacture the future Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships, designed to provide muni tions, stores and provisions to the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers, destroyers and frig ates while deployed at sea. Most of the shipbuilding will take place in the same shipyards that produced the Titanic in Belfast, where the three 216-metre-long ships will also be assembled. But vital components will be

built at the Puer to Real shipyard in Cadiz, which has not heard the hiss of a welder’s blow torch in almost two years.

Designs

Although built to British de signs by BMT, Navantia will bring its program manage ment expertise and transfer some of its skills and tech nology from designing frig ates and submarines for the Spanish navy.

British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said Navantia would ‘bolster technology transfer and key skills from a world-renowned shipbuild

er, crucial in the modernisa tion of British shipyards’.

Despite being slated to cre ate 1,200 new jobs in British shipyards, together with an other 800 indirect jobs, there has been a predictable back lash within the UK at the gov ernment awarding a contract to a foreign shipyard.

Shadow defence minister, Labour’s John Healey called the decision ‘a betrayal of British jobs and British business’.

TURBULENT TIMES

GBP/EUR exchange rate fluctuates as UK unveils

Autumn Statement

THE pound euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate has continued to trade erratically over the past couple of weeks. During this time, we have seen GBP/EUR trade in a range between €1.16 and €1.13.

WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING?

Trade in the pound euro exchange rate remained choppy over the past fortnight, with the pairing initially fluctuating in re sponse to some mixed UK data releases and the publication of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s long-awaited Autumn Statement. While Hunt’s tax and spending plans appeared to receive tacit approval from bond markets, his confirmation that the UK is in a recession spooked GBP investors Sterling then began to grind higher following the release of some upbeat UK retail sales figures, which coincided with posi tive UK economic developments as UK mortgage rates fell and two workers’ unions suspended strike action.

This uptick in GBP exchange rates then accelerated sharply after the Supreme Court ruled that the Scottish government can’t legally hold a second independence referendum without approval from Westminster.

Meanwhile, the euro faced a major setback in mid-November following the news a stray missile had killed two people in in eastern Poland. While cooler heads prevailed and an escala tion between Russia and NATO was avoided, EUR investors raised concerns that the conflict in Ukraine – which has al ready wrought untold damage to the Eurozone economy - is spilling over into the rest of Europe.

Concerns over the war in Ukraine left the euro vulnerable to the pound’s advance over the past week. Although hawkish signals from the European Central Bank (ECB) helped to cush ion the single currency’s losses somewhat.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR?

Looking ahead, with the UK data calendar looking sparse, any movement in the pound is likely to be linked directly to UK economic and po

litical headlines.

This could see Sterling face an uphill battle as we enter De cember as the outlook for the UK economy grows increasingly bleak. Any news about more businesses in distress could pile more pressure on GBP exchange rates.

In terms of data, the primary focus for EUR investors is likely to be on the Eurozone’s latest CPI release.

November’s inflation release will be key in gauging how ag gressively the ECB is likely to raise interest rates in December. An above forecast print could stoke expectations for another 75bps increase and bolster the euro in the process.

Otherwise it’s likely the single currency will remain highly sensitive to Ukraine developments, with EUR exchange rates potentially falling if there are signs that the conflict could be escalating further.

PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY

This kind of volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, that three-cent gap between €1.16 and €1.13 translates to a €6,000 difference. And the larger the sum, the higher the discrepancy.

Fortunately, there are ways that you can protect against vola tility.

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 ex change rate for up to a year. This way, you won’t lose out if the market moves against you.

Services like rate alerts and daily updates make it easy to keep track of what’s going on in the forex world so that you can make informed decisions. And with Currencies Direct you’ll have a dedicated account manager there to provide guidance and support whenever you need them.

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

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

BENALMADENA

NERJA

Struggling Cadiz shipyard wins contract to help build new generation of British warships

Gibraltar Literary Festival returns

politics.

historians, politicians,

welcomed back under the shad ow of the Rock for the 2022 Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festi val.

An event like so many that had to take a two-year hiatus due to bad dream that was the Covid pandemic, it was held over a number of grand and stately locations that were steeped with the his tory of the Rock.

Among the luminaries present were Profes sor Dame Mary Beard, former British Home Secretary Alan Johnson, and culinary per sonality Loyd Grossman, as well as a host of writers on topics as varied as domestic abuse, spies, internation al relations, health and

Novelists Patrick Gale and Maggie Gee kicked off the literary side of things in the grandiose Town Hall among the portraits of past gover nors and grand rooms, discussing the locations and inspirations for their novels Mother’s Boy and The Red Children respectively.

Each book has a strong link to Gibraltar. Gale wrote about the working-class poet Charles Causley, who was stationed on the Rock during World War Two, while Gee, who spoke via videolink, was inspired by Gibraltar’s neanderthal history to write a novel set in 2030 about migration and global warm

Gale explained that for Caus ley, although the war was hugely traumat ic, it was also the making of the man.

He broke out of his cosset ed Cornish vil

lage life to discover a world of cabaret and adventure and even the opportu nity to embark on one or two gay love affairs.

The poet, who died in 2003 at the grand old age of 86, was a protago nist that Gale wanted to keep alive.

“I was worried that the new genera tion of readers would forget who Causley was,” the author told the Olive Press Journal ist-turned-novelist Charlotte Philby, (pictured inset) granddaughter of the infamous ‘third man’ Kim Philby, the MI6 operative who spied for the com munists, wrote the fictional ac count Edith and Kim, about Edith Tudor-Hart, who was the woman behind her grand father’s turn to the Soviets.

She wanted to tell the story of her grandfa ther’s defection - told many times before - from the perspective of

this fascinating woman whose story had perhaps got lost in the noise sur rounding the notorious case.

This was, after all, a man who aban doned his family of five to flee to Moscow after he was unmasked - yet he was not “vilified in the way that a woman would have been if she had walked out on her family.”

What does she think about her trai torous grandfather? “It doesn’t mat ter what I think,” Philby tells the Olive

Press defiantly.

“He did not consider himself to be a traitor to his country, he considered himself to be loyal to his beliefs.”

Although she doesn’t deny that hav ing an infamous grandfather helped move her career forward, she now wishes to get off that particular bus and to never be known as ‘the grand daughter of Kim Philby’ ever again.

“But you open the floodgates, and then you can’t close them!”

Turning to international relations, re tired British diplomat Lord Peter Rick etts’ book Hard Choices: The Making and Unmaking of Global Britain as sesses the diminishing strengths and growing weaknesses of the UK on the global stage.

Threat

Lamenting a political class that re wards hustlers and persuaders over thinkers and strategists, Lord Rick etts warned that Britain was no lon ger a Great Power but a mid-rank one, and she should huddle close to her allies in Europe and around the world.

Eventually, he foresaw a new gener ation of British politicians that would come in and repair relations with the European Union, and prepare to face off against the looming threat from China.

Whether the British electorate will vote this future into reality is another question.

SMILES: Patrick Cole wanted to keep Causley alive

STATELY: The event was held in a number of grand locations

DIPLOMAT: Lord Ricketts held forth

XMAS ON THE ROCK

GIBRALTAR mayor Christian Santos opened up in an ex clusive interview about his memories of Christmas, his fondness of festive carols and his plans for this year’s festivities. The charismatic, inclusive mayor said he wanted to make the City Hall a place where “everyone will feel welcome and at home,” when he took on the position on May 30, 2021.

Since then, he has largely accom plished this, bringing a breath of fresh air to a role that is normally given to people at the end of their public careers.

But while he might be on the

By John Culatto

avant-garde of modern culture, he has always managed to be aware of his roots with family and friends. These communal relations became the bedrock of the community when Spanish dictator Franco shut the frontier in 2022.

It is therefore no surprise this was one of the pillars of his youth during these festive times.

“Christmas in my youth was all about family, friends and neigh bours,” Santos tells the Olive Press “I was very fortunate that we lived

surrounded by neighbours which were our extended family and we cele brated holidays together.”

Born in the 1970s and growing up throughout the 80s was a far cry from the Gi braltar we enjoy now.

With the fron tier closed until 1982, the Rock was much more dependent on the UK back then. About 60% of the pop ulation was in Ministry of De fence employ ment and mon ey was tight.

“There wasn’t as much dis posable income as nowadays and Christmas

AS Christmas approaches, Ocean Village Marina in Gibral tar is the perfect place to head for an international fes tive celebration.

Two of its most popular spots give a distinct multicultural flavour to the Xmas season and are the perfect places for group celebrations as well as more intimate meals.

At wagamama’s, it’s officially cling-to-a-bowl-of-ramen sea son - a time for festive giving and friends feasting. The Japa nese-themed eatery is available for group Christmas bookings - and it’s the perfect spot to celebrate.

Its benches are made for sharing. Long tables, warming bowls and an optional festive-flavour set menu will make your celebra tion one to remember.

Clients can choose two courses or three from the festive side, main and dessert selection and wagamama will add a com plimentary cocktail/mocktail or glass of house wine for good cheer. Kanpai!

Book now on https://www.wagamama.gi/group-bookings

For a more Latin take on Christmas, celebrate the Las Iguanas way! Choose from a range of cocktails, including Latin favour ites and their twist on the classics. And as always, buy one cock tail and get the same one free – all day, every day!

JOLLY: Christmas on the Rock is a time for communities to come together explains.

was more about the experience than material gifts,” the mayor re calls.

“I consider myself extremely for tunate to have had magical times with special foods which were only available around that time, the cav alcade which was the highlight of my Christmas and just family days playing with new toys with my broth ers.”

Gibraltar’s transformed economy might have brought wealth, but it also raised the bar.

“We now have the self-imposed pressures of having spectacular Christmas celebrations,” Santos

“We want to offer our families the magical experience of our youth and realise it is actually harder than we expected. With family and work commitments, planning and executing a memorable Christmas can take its toll though my focus is still to be spending time with my family and friends.”

Nostalgia

The food and drink offering has also gone through its own particu lar journey, combining Spanish fes tive cuisine with British turkeys and

all the trimmings.

“Here in Gibraltar our food is our culture and nothing marks our hol idays more significantly than our special dishes for the occasion,” Santos says.

Brandy and mince pies are inter changeable with paella and sherry and polvorones much like Midnight Mass is as much a tradition as the Three Kings Cavalcade.

“My festive table traditions are a continuation of what my mother did. The get-togethers, the music and singing, midnight mass, the

Readytocelebrate

Wagamamas and Las Iguanas in Ocean Village for a taste of Christmas with a difference

This year Las Iguanas is getting Christmas right back on track, and it’s set to be the best ever! There’s something on the menu for everyone and plenty of delicious dishes for all tastes, so if you don’t fancy spicy, that’s okay.

With all your Latin favourites, a few festive classics and happy hour all day, every day, Las Iguanas is the perfect place for your celebration.

Enjoy three courses of Christmassy deliciousness plus a welcome drink from just £30 per person! Includes a bottle of red or white wine between two people.

Book now on https://iguanas.gi/#booknow

SANTA: The Christmas festivities will start this week

XMAS ON THE ROCK

From

Bringing Xmas cheer

cavalcade, all these things are the customs that I hope continue for generations to come.”

One of Santos’ many strengths as a cultural leader is the way he has managed to bring his dreams into fruition, particularly with the set ting up of the Gibraltar Academy for Music and the Performing Arts (GAMPA). This year they are putting on a performance of the Queen themed musical We Will Rock You from December 5 to 10 in John Mackintosh Hall.

The project has gone from strength to strength, giving young people an opportunity to explore their musical and singing skills within a support ive, progressive community. Therefore it is no surprise that mu

sic plays a large part of his Christ mas activities.

“I have always sung in choirs so this time of the year means busy times of rehearsals and perfor mances,” he says.

“As Principal of GAMPA I get to prepare the Christmas programme for some very talented young per formers.

“At home I always play carols to get me going whilst wrapping presents or preparing food - it just puts me in a great festive mood!”

The increased wealth in these times also adds to the shopping possibilities compared to his child hood. With top stores opening up on the Rock, Gibraltar has a far more services economy tailored to meet every need of a modern population, compared to the bygone days of being a servile colonial backwater.

“Each family will decide for themselves what gifts to buy and of course the high street stores have to advertise and sell - that is their business,” he reasons.

“I am glad that there are so many shopping options in Gi braltar now so everyone can make their own decisions on what to buy according to their budget.”

ever-positive Santos believes even that calamity had a silver lining.

“I think people in Gibraltar have al ways enjoyed the Christmas outings and public celebrations and these were missed over the Pandemic,” he says. “However we have also enjoyed staying at home, with just our imme diate family and friends and not par ticularly feeling we have missed out.

“I think people will choose a balance of both this year,” he adds.

In his role as mayor he will put on a special Christmas bonanza for the

local kids, echoing his continual desire to promote their creativity above all else.

“I will be hosting a Santa’s Meet and greet at City Hall on December 17,” he reveals.

Festive

“I did something similar last year and it was a roaring success so I wanted to give children the op portunity to meet Santa again this year.”

Santos’ success in Gibraltar has been his ability to marry the old with the new and that delicate bal ance, accompanied with hard work and ever-present familiarity has led to his rise within the community. But the openly gay man has always kept his feet firmly on the ground, maintaining his friends and family close, something he insists on for the future too.

“I hope we keep our traditional family Christmases alive for many years to come,” he concludes.

Virus spreading

SPANISH hospitals are experiencing an unexpected spike in bronchiolitis cases among children.

The early symptoms of the infection - caused by the respi ratory syncytial virus (hRSV) - are similar to a cold, but can cause difficulty breathing, diffi culty eating, wheezing and irritability.

During the week ending November 13 there were 76 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, but the worst affected group by age was children aged four and under, for which the figure was 12 times higher than the rest of the population.

Experts believe that the virus is now spreading widely after it was suppressed by Covid pandemic protection measures such as facemasks and lockdowns.

Patient patients

Shorter hospital waiting times but pandemic still bites

THE average waiting time for a hospital operation in Spain is 113 days accord ing to the latest Ministry of Health figures. Its twice-yearly report shows an improvement of 10 days compared to June and 57 days less than during the Covid pandemic

By Alex Trelinski

in June 2020.

The average wait to see a specialist stands at 79 days- 10 days less than De cember 2021.

Breaking it down to disci plines, the highest num ber of people(187,404) are waiting to see a trauma surgeon, but the longest delays are 226 days for plastic surgery.

Sergio García Vicente, from the Health Econo mists Association, believes that waiting times are still being impacted by the pan

New regulations for English expat residents in Spain governing the mandatory issue of a Spanish driving license

NEW regulations governing the manda tory issue of Spanish drivers license for British citizens is an issue that’s caus ing concern for some of our English expatriate customers.

Our Legal Assistance service will keep you fully updated on all the latest news and pro vide details on driving schools closest to your home, where you can prepare for the exam in English, consult the registration fees and raise any questions you may have.

In this article we’ll explain the regulations and procedures that you’ll have to follow, and the possible sanctions for non-compliance. If you need more information or you’d like to speak to our Legal Assistance team, please call 919 180 022 and we’ll be happy to assist and advise you.

AUTOMATIC LICENSE EXPIRY AFTER APRIL 30, 2022

As of December 31, 2020, the UK ceased to belong to the European Union, and regulations that allowed driving in Spain, with a British driving license, ceased to be applicable. UK issued driving licenses were only autho rized to drive in Spain until April 3O, 2022, and

are now not valid. All existing agreements on highway regulations that protect the Member States of the European Union have ceased to be valid and applicable. However, those British drivers who do not have their main residence in Spain and travel for periods of less than six months (tourist type), may continue to drive in Spain, during that period, with their original permit.

ENGLISH FOR SPANISH LICENCE SWAP

Residents with a British driving licence, had until December 31, 2020 to swap and redeem theirs for a Spanish licence. Consequently, they must now obtain a new Spanish driving licence from scratch, submitting to the require ments and tests established in Spain for ob taining said.

demic. He told the El Pais news paper: “This created a traf fic jam that still has reper cussions like for ophthal

Sperm crisis

THE sperm concentra tion of European men has halved in just 50 years, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Murcia (UMU) participated in a global study which analysed the sperm of men from 53 countries around the world during seven years and conclud ed that there was a decline in sperm count in men on all continents, and the problem had ‘accelerat ed’ since 2000.

Researchers said this was caused by degradation of the environment and a stressful pace of living.

Puzzle solutions

mology where there are almost 160,000 patients waiting to be seen.

“Many people stayed away because of Covid in 2020 and are entering waiting lists now,” he added.

The Federation of Associ ations for the Defense of Public Health described the new figures as ‘'intol erable’. It said delays in di agnostic and pre-surgical tests are making the situa tion worse.

Backlog

Figures vary dramatical ly between the regions as surgical waiting lists reach 151 days in Aragon compared to just 64 in the Basque Country.

People in Andalucia have the longest wait to see a specialist (107 days) as op posed to just 50 days in the Balearic Islands.

FINAL WORDS

Sweet surprise

A ROJALES man, 19, has been arrested for selling drugs in sweet wrappers outside a Guardamar school. The teenager tried to run away but was caught by Guardia Civil officers.

Grave affair

THE Department of Health and Ed ucation surveyed 267,000 students in Catalunya between ages 9-18 and found that 8.8% expressed daily desires to die.

Happy meal

TWO men enjoyed a €1,080 slap-up meal at a Maritim district restaurant in Valencia but refused to pay what they owed. They offered just €400 before police came and arrested them for fraud.

Manolo no go

Drum beating face of Spanish football stuck at home

HE’S been Spain’s most fa mous football supporter for more than 40 years, but it looks like Manolo ‘el del bom bo’ won’t be going to the Qa tar World Cup to noisily cheer on his favourite team.

Manuel Caceres Artesero, to give him his real name, is ‘the one with the drum’: the be ret-wearing former bar own

By Simon Hunter

er who has been a pitchside fixture at Spain games for 44 years, and is known for his distinctive beret and large drum (pictured) that he bangs with great enthusiasm to the delight of other fans. Manolo was due to travel to

Catch the pigeon

TWO men have been arrested for stealing 120 racing pigeons worth €100,000 from a Benidorm pigeon club.

The Policia Nacional said the pigeon rustlers - Spaniards aged 20 and 32struck twice in 10 days.

Plain-clothed officers caught the men red-handed walking down an Alicante street with boxes containing some of the pigeons stolen just hours earlier.

Some 74 pigeons were recovered within two

bought him his plane tickets and he’d even purchased a new drum. But then tragedy struck.

‘I’m very sad because I had ev erything sorted out and two days before I left they told me that I have to have a hotel booked,’ he said. At previous tournaments the federation has paid for his accommodation.

Stuck

But for Manolo, all might not be lost.

The Federation has told him that if Spain gets to the semi final of the tournament, they will give him tickets and also pay for his hotel.

HAVING a cuddly guin ea pig, hamster or even rabbit as a pet could land owners with a €10,000 fine if proposals in a new Animal Welfare Law are enacted.

Numerous popular pets face a ban under the reg ulations which aim to protect native flora and fauna.

The new Animal Welfare Law, which is due to come into force by the end of the year, expands the list of prohibited pets to include quite a few furry friends that, for generations, have been common family ad ditions.

Hefty

The proposed list includes rabbits, guinea pigs, ham sters, mice and parakeets, amongst many others, but it needs to be ratified.

It has not been made clear whether people will be al lowed to keep existing pets or face a fine for hanging on to them. Penalties for a ‘minor infraction of the law’ vary between €500 and €10,000.

days as investigations continue to find the remainder of the stolen birds - unless they find their own way home.

Doha to see Spain’s bid to win the World Cup. The Span ish Football Federation had