It added an extra one million litres a day to the other four permanent RO plants at Governor’s Cottage near Eu ropa Point. With social media alive to the noise of blame, the night-time water restric tions were soon lifted. But authorities continued to impose restrictions on larger users to try to build up sustainable quantities of wa ter supplies in reservoirs hidden inside the Rock. It did not help that after the water shortages, people started drink ing more than usual. “We have been in formed that recent consumption has been higher than expected and is com parably higher for this time of year,” the gov ernment said in an Au gust 19 statement. It then reminded the public ‘to be as conservative as possible with the use of potable water’. At the same time, non-potable water arrived by sea on barges to take away more pressure from the water system. Authorities told residents to collect their non-potable water for garden ing and cleaning at bowsers in Morri son’s Car Park, Mid-Harbours Indus trial Park and at marinas. Gardening Residents could pick up the non-po table water in jerry cans to be used for gardening or cleaning but not for drinking, therefore taking the pres sure off the freshwater system. The accident came at a bad time as a larger permanent RO plant is due to open later this year to increase fresh water creation from saltwater on the ToRock.have another failsafe in the future, the government is now building a
GIBRALTAR is slowly getting back to normal after one of the biggest sum mer crises in recent history. The water crisis saw Reverse Osmosis plants shut down forcing Rock resi dents to buckle down and save water in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record. But after a successful weekend of water-saving, which filled reservoirs even more, Gibraltar is finally starting to remove the last restrictions on the highest water users. These high water users were told to turn off their taps to help replenish Localreservoirs.water company AquaGib re vealed water stocks had gone up over the weekend ‘and have now reached the required level’. All four Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants at Governor’s Cottage are now run ning at full pelt, plus another tem porary RO plant that started up last week.
GIBRALTAR is mourning the loss of former minister and mayor Marie Monteg riffo who passed away after a long illness. The Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, along with leaders of the Gibraltar Socialist Labour Party (GSLP) she helped form in the 1970s, sa luted her life achievements. Picardo hailed her as ‘one of the team of trailblazers who transformed Gibraltar in the late eighties.’ Like many leftist politicians of her era, Montegriffo start ed her work in the commu nity as part of the Transport and General Workers Union in the 1970s. Parity Union workers of the time fought for parity with UK workers after the frontier closed in Following1969.in the steps of GSLP-founder Sir Joe Bossa no, she was elected into the House of Assembly in 1984 as a member of the party that is currently in government.
passes‘Trailblazer’away
Fight The Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) that struggled to fight the wa ter crisis was upbeat about the news. “The Government is pleased to be able to begin to relax some of the re maining restrictions on high consum ers in a phased and staggered man ner,” the Gibraltar Government said in a “Thisstatement.willenable AquaGib to continue to closely moni tor the impact on stock levels over the coming days,” it Thisadded.could mean use of swimming pools and spas could be resumed again. It followed a fire at Power’s Drive
Water plants working full pelt after summer crisis
By John
Bewitching - the occult in a hidden
page 10
The keen sportswoman then became Minister for Medical Services, Health and Sport Continues on Page 5
BACKGUSHESCulatto
Tunnel inside the Upper Rock in late July that knocked out power and salt water supply to four RO plants in the British Overseas territory. Hardworking government labourers put down a temporary saltwater pipe in the record time of two days amid soaring temperatures. Water tankers meanwhile drove into Gibraltar to supply thirsty residents, with some areas worse affected than others. Water pressure was low, as the Rock uses gravity to supply its water as opposed to a pumping station, and there wasn’t enough water in reservoirs to create that momentum. Even when local water com pany AquaGib switched on the RO plants, they struggled with the Itdemand.forced the government to quickly bring in a temporary RO plant, which fit neatly into a shipping container, via road from Italy. “A lot of work has been done by our personnel to procure the new RO plant from Italy and prepare our site to be able to integrate it into our sys tem,” Manag ing Director of AquaGib Paul Singleton said. The govern ment revealed that after 24 hours of tech nical problems, the temporary plant ordered from Balaena was operating at 100%.
FIRST: Marie Montegriffo SingletonPaul Getting ready for National Day, to support our special reports sales@theolivepress.escontact
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QUEEN OF RONDA: Maria del Mar Mellado
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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
Pitto return THE Royal Gibraltar Regiment welcomed back Major John Pitto as Battalion Second in Command after help ing fight Covid and arrange for Brexit with the Ministry of Defence. By Fiona Govan
Fair open MINISTER for Culture John Cortes officially inaugurated the Gi braltar Fair on August 20 accompanied by the SDGG at the Rooke site in Queensway.
CUSTOMS officers at Al geciras port have discov ered the biggest haul of cigarettes arriving by con tainer in Spain this year. Authorities found over 10.3 million cigarettes, with a combined value of more than €2 million, hidden in the shipment from India. Investigators, who for months have been working on target ing beledItcontents.tainer’satoer,containgoodstrafficillegalofbymovedcheckconwaslaas sheets and other bed Butclothes.inside it they found 1,032 boxes of tobacco. While the Algeciras au thorities are used to tack ling duty-free tobacco smuggling from nearby Gibraltar, this seizure from India was more un usual. An Algeciras court ordered the seizure of the illegal tobacco.
Spanish police bust notorious drug trafficker known as the Reina de Ronda, who inspired best-selling book
Pot BRITISHshotsForces of ficers Grant Black and Leslie ‘Judy’ Punshon will be part of a team Gi braltar sends to the 8 Ball Pool ChampionshipsWorldin Albi, France next October. Adults now TEENAGERS from Bayside and Westside Schools found out what will become of the rest of their lives after re ceiving their A-level re sults in mid-August.
For further information call: Gibraltar Tourist Board +350 200 74950 Or to download a brochure go to: www.visitgibraltar.gi UP SMOKEIN
terrorsTeen POLICE arrested four teenagers on suspicion of kick ing and punching a man so hard that they left him with a broken Detectivesleg. from the RGP’s Crime Division arrested the four males, all aged 16, at several addresses after the alleged attack in the Piazza area.
Incident “Their arrest fol lowed an incident at 3.30am, when a member of the public reported to the RGP that they had found an 18-year-old male with multiple inju ries in John Mack intosh Square,” said the Gibraltar police in a state ment.
A NOTORIOUS drug traffick er dubbed the Queen of Ron da has been busted by police in LegendaryMadrid. Maria del Mar Mellado, 38, ran a network of mules bringing in cocaine from the Caribbean, while leading a double life as an outof-work beautician.
Sleepy Based out of sleepy Cuevas del Becerro, near Ronda, her drug trafficking empire recruited dozens of local unemployed people to smuggle from the Dominican Republic. The class A drugs, mostly im bibed in condoms, was then processed in Ronda and dis tributed across Spain. To keep her cover and in still good feeling locally, she helped pay for local sports facilities as well as donat ing huge sums to pay for the town’s Three Kings parade at SheChristmas.alsodistributed toys to needy children around the Ronda Knownarea.to police she was previously arrested in 2012, when she was handed an 11 year sentence, getting out a couple of years ago. She is now back behind bars after police recently tracked a woman who had acted suspi ciously while on a commercial flight from Colombia. Believing her to be carrying cocaine, police followed the woman from Madrid airport to a contact in the city. Delivery From there she was given an address to make her delivery and it was there that police recognised the ‘well-known drug trafficker nicknamed the Queen of Ronda’. Police said that in addition to the 11kilos of cocaine smug gled, they found a hidden compartment in Maria’s car containing €23,000 in cash as well as six encrypted phones. Three people were arrest ed; the Queen of Ronda, the woman who carried the drugs in from Columbia and a man who had acted as the contact. Arrest Her earlier arrest in 2012 was the inspiration behind Artu ro Perez Reverte’s bestselling book Reina del Sur - Queen of the South - which has been made into a hit TV series and movie.
ByEXCLUSIVEJonClarke earliest memories included his father speaking of his ha tred of Franco. “His tone was shocking be cause he was the most loving and gentle of humans. Yet loathing for Franco poured from him. He carried a debili tating wound, of the spirit not the “Mybody.father's life had been devastated by the Spanish conflict. As a supporter of the government in 1936, he had fought against the rebels. In January 1939, as the govern ment side was stumbling to defeat, he crossed the Pyre nees into exile.”
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REVELLERS in Ibiza got a surprise when Brit ish star Robbie Williams got up on stage during aTheconcert.crooner joined his pals Flynn Francis and Tim Metcalfe, whose band Lufthaus were per forming at brand new venue 528 Ibiza. “It was a dream come true to have one of the world’s most successful artists at our new ven ue,” explained venue boss Andy McKay.
father’sfollowingPortilloFOOTSTEPS:histrail
BARCELONA star Robert Lewandowski had a nasty welcome to his new life in Spain. The Polish star, who has just signed for the Catalan out fit, had a €70,000 watch ripped off his arm when arriving for a himproachedfanswhenhappenedcidentThesession.traininginaptoget
A TEAM of firefighters battling flames in Aragon have shared a vid eo of them giving water to a roe deer and soothing its burns, providing a heartwarming moment during the horror of yet another wildfire. The fawn was dehydrated and suf fering mild burns after running from the burning forest in a blaze in Mon cayo, in the province of Zaragoza. This summer has been the worst in terms of forest fires on record with more than 270,000 hectares already devastated by flames across Spain.
TOGETHER: The Portillo family
Bambi saved
“The Spanish Civil War hung over us like a big, black cloud every day, and his sadness of a potential unrealised.” He revealed in 2009 that his
Former UK minister celebrates his 40th wedding anniversary and retraces his father’s steps during his civil war escape from Spain
IT has been a landmark year for former British government minister Mi chael Portillo. As well as celebrating his 40th wedding anniversary in Andalucia, he has been trav elling around the Pyrenees learning about his father’s escape from Spain after the bloody civil war. In a four-part series, The Pyrenees, he revisits how his father Luis, a left-wing academic at Salamanca Uni versity, was forced to flee his homeland. Despite not fighting for the losing Republican side, he was a staunch supporter un like his six brothers, who all fought for the victor, dictator ItFranco.meant a long and tricky journey to escape the new regime that executed tens of thousands of Republicans af ter winning in 1939. His son, who served as a Tory minister, in the government of Margaret Thatcher and lat er John Major, has now paid tribute to his father walking stretches of the Pyrenees that he took. “I hope he might think that my coming here is a tribute to him and his sacrifice,” he ex plains in one episode.
Dream come true
Extra time autographs and photo selfies.Ashiscar window came down, a man grabbed his arm and snatched his watch before running away.The player ini tially tried to chase down the thief himself be fore thereturnedarrestmadepoliceanandwatch.
“I feel delighted that the hard work that so many peo ple do is recognised,” said Silva.
Luveetoseeyou
momentsLandmark
Today, life has come full cir cle for the Portillos, with Mi chael spending a lot of time in Spain, where he chose to cele brate his 40th wedding anni versary recently with family and friends. He and his wife, recruitment consultant, Caroyln Eadie, have owned a charming townhouse in evocative Car mona, near Sevilla, for over a decade. Children “I’ve known my wife since we were small children, so the 40 years is only the married bit,” he Thesaid.couple were unable to have children after she de veloped cancer early in the Hismarriage.father died in 1993 in London, but was buried in Madrigal, in Avila, where he has a grave. The Pyrenees with Michael Portillo started on Channel 5 last week
HOLLYWOOD superstar Richard Gere has brought a sprinkling of stardust to Spain this summer. The 72-year-old joined fellow Hollywood A-lister An tonio Banderas at Marbella’s Starlite Festival. They were the big names at the 13th edition of the fes tival’s charity gala - founded by Banderas and busi nesswoman Sandra García-Sanjuan - which raises cash for good causes. During the event, tenor Andrea Bocelli was awarded for his foundation’s work in helping the poor in Italy. Gere's wife, Alejandra Silva, was also awarded for collaborating with charities including Open Arms and the Rais Foundation.
FORCES FUN CHILDREN from the British Forces have been taking part in activities run over the summer to keep them entertained and creative. Over 80 five to 11-year-old boys and girls from British Forces parents took part in what organisers MoD Community Support Team (CST) called ‘a jam-packed summer pro gramme’.
NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 24th - September 6th 20224 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 pipeline to Spain. “We imported significant vol umes by road, and non-pota ble water by barge, as a result of the emergency,” Minister for Public Services Albert Isola “Worksaid. on all potential options began with the laying of the new pipe at the border being one such measure,” he added. But Isola made it clear that Gi braltar had no intention at all of depending on Spain for its freshwater supply. Relations with Spain often go through rocky periods and many Gibraltarians are fear ful of relying on its northern neighbour for such a basic re source. Pipe “I would like to reassure the community that the Govern ment has no intention what soever of using this pipe as a permanent supply of potable water from Spain,” Isola said. “It will only be used in the fu ture as a contingency measure should an emergency event such as the one we have just experienced ever occur again. “We will always ensure we are self-sufficient in our produc tion of water,” Isola reassured. Local water company AquaGib already had some pipework near the airport from natural wells at the British Lines in the distant past. But due to lack of use, new pipes were needed to bring the network back into operation. Flowing
EXCLUSIVE By Jorge Hinojosa
From front
AN alarming summer craze for pricking unsuspecting par tygoers with needles could spread Hepatitis and HIV, an expert has warned the Olive Press. There is no official data on the number of victims spiked, but already it is into the hundreds. Andalucia alone has seen a shocking 96 possible cases of ‘hypodermic needle spiking’ with dozens more reported in Valencia and the Balearic Is Thelands.Spanish press has specu lated that the spikings could be attempts to drug young women to later sexually assault them. However, an Olive Press in vestigation has found that this is unlikely, with police sources revealing that it appears to be part of a ‘dangerous prank that started in the UK’ last year. While a Guardia Civil investi gator confirmed they are still searching for ‘definitive mo tives’, she revealed it appears to have started out as an online The‘challenge’.Madrd investigator Maria Luisa Calcerrada told the Olive Press that, incredibly, none of the 96 cases involved drugs. But, she added, the conse quences of the irresponsible ‘prank’ could be deadly. “We haven’t had any cases of drug-facilitated sexual assault. All of the tests of women who reported being needle spiked were negative.” She added: “We are currently
SINKING FEELING
Health boss warns that idiotic viral challenge attackers could spread HIV and hepatitis
“To drug someone with a nee dle, the perpetrator needs a lot of time to inject the drug,” she explained. “Also, the effect is not immedi ate, so it makes no sense to me that this technique is used to override their will.” She concluded: “Now that the perpetrators know that they are committing a crime, they will think twice before doing it.”
Su preme Court officials im pounded the ‘Axioma’ from Russian bil lionaire Authorities23.TMKufacturersteelchairmanthePumpyansky,DmitryownerandofpipemanOAOonMarchon the Rock took the action complying with US sanctions over the Russian invasion of TheUkraine.Supreme Court re ported that Gibraltarian company Howe Robinson Partners was taking re sponsibility for the auc Ation.total of 63 bids were re ceived for the boat. The 72-metre-long Axioma, built in 2013, has space for 12 guests in six cabins as well as 20 crew. It can sail at a top speed of 17 knots powered by two Caterpillar engines each with 3,150 horsepower. “Axioma has it all,” in cluding an infinity pool, full service spa, steam room and jacuzzi, said Howe Robinson Partners on their website. Despite the high profile of the yacht, the court said it would not reveal the auc tion “Thewinner.successful bidder will be selected by the Admiralty Marshal but details of the bidder and the value of the offer will remain confidential,” said the Supreme Court in a statement. Proceeds Although there have been calls for the proceeds to go to Ukraine, it will likely end up in the deep pock ets of US bank JP Morgan. The company claimed Pumpyanski, who is val ued at about £1.8 billion, owes JP Morgan £17m for an unpaid loan, the BBC reported.
NEEDLE investigating what the perpe trators’ motivation is, but it always happens in crowded “Theyplaces. are not an organised group. The perpetrators come from different backgrounds and have different motiva “Buttions.we are taking this very se riously and need to stress the dangers to people,” she added. Meanwhile, a Professor of Fo rensic Toxicology from Santi ago de Compostela University, Angelines Cruz, warned that as the same needles are probably being used on different vic tims, there’s a danger that seri ous diseases like hepatitis and HIV can be transmitted. Sexual But she also does not believe that drugging or sexual abuse is the motive.
A luxury yacht valued at £64 million taken from a Russian oligarch in Gi braltar under US sanctions is up for auction by the Admiral ty Marshal, the Rock’s Supreme Court Gibraltar’ssaid.
PRICKS!
Clubs “I believe that clubs are still safe for women, our staff know what to do in case a woman is pricked or is spiked in a club, also there are a lot of cameras that are monitoring what’s go ing on the premises,” he added. Despite the police reports that no one has been drugged, sev eral victims have reported feel ing woozy after being pricked, suggesting otherwise. Miriam Alba, 20, wrote on Twitter that she was a victim of needle spiking in a Barcelo na Sheclub.said: “Someone pricked me in the thigh. As soon as I realised it, I ran to the bouncer who helped me and sat me on a “Tensofa.minutes later I collapsed feeling drowsy and with a feel ing that I would do whatever I was told.”
President of Spain’s Associa tion of Nightclubs, Daniel Es passes, 33, told the Olive Press that a protocol has been put into place in order to stop this ‘viral “Whenchallenge’.acaseis detected, we immediately contact the po lice, they arrive at the club with an ambulance to carry out the first test and then another test is made at a hospital,” he said.
“We are confident that most musical tastes will be catered for and everyone in the com munity will once again enjoy an excellent evening’s enter Thetainment!”SDGG has been putting on the event since it started in National1992. Day, back to its best after two years off because of the pandemic, promises to be a big day for all Gibraltarians. It will kick off with the usual political rally before dances, singing and DJing carry the public into the evening. As a prelude to the event, the SDGG will be at Casemates Square from September 5 to 8 from 10am to 2pm to give peo ple the opportunity to sign the National Day banner.
NEWSwww.theolivepress.es August 24th - September 6th 2022 5 *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
A goodbyesad
A YOUNG person from Gibral tar will get the chance to speak to the UK Youth Parliament at the House of Commons on November 4, the government Theannounced.Gibraltar Government is organising an essay competi tion to select the lucky young person who will speak about ‘the most important issue af fecting young people in Gibral tar,’ said a spokesman. The competition is open to anyone from 11 to 18-yearsold. Essays must be sent to the Deputy Chief Minister’s Office no later than September 15. The winner will be able to fly to London with an accompa nying adult and address the UK Youth Parliament from the House of Commons dispatch Itbox.was formed in the year 2000 and has 369 members voted by 500,000 young people from 90% of British constituencies.
Titanic creations
SEA EXPLORER ARRIVES
Tastes
theRockingRock
“The SDGG earnestly calls on all Gibraltarians to come and sign the banner which will then feature prominently on the National Day stage, during the political rally and other festivities.” the group added.
CREATIVE boat builders will be taking to the sea at the Ocean Village Marina to win some fabulous prizes at the an nual Charity Cardboard Boat on September 2. The event promises to be lots of fun while raising money for St John’s Ambulance, Gibraltar Alzheimer’s, Dementia Sup port and the GBC Open Day.
“This is a traditional part of Gibraltar’s National Day cel ebrations and serves as an expression of our unity of pur pose as a people,” the SDGG said in a statement.
A ROCK concert dedicated to the late great musical maestro Philip Valverde will crown this year’s National Day celebra tions at Casemates Square on September 10. The concert, organised by J2 Productions for the Self Deter mination for Gibraltar Group (SDGG), will mark the end of the festivities on Gibraltar’s special annual red-and-white “Weparty.are very pleased with the programme that has been produced by Jenson Callejon and his team,” said an SDGG spokesperson.
ROYAL Navy minehunter HMS Penzance has arrived in PortGibraltar.authorities told mari ners, boat users and char terers that the Penzance would be working in the seas around the Rock. The Sand own-class ship was commis sioned in 1998. It is the fourth ship to be named after the sea side town of Penzance in Corn Shewall.is best suited to working in deeper waters, clearing the sea of mines for bigger ships and detecting submarines, British Forces Gibraltar said. HMS Penzance was recently in Crete and Malta after help ing secure Middle Eastern shipping lanes last spring.
By John Culatto
causeCommons
Party time as National Day celebrations promise to be back to their best
“Each year we encourage the local community to get togeth er with friends, colleagues and families and enter a card board boat, the crazier the better!” said an Ocean Village “Therespokesperson.areprizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place, Best Boat Design, Best Fancy Dress and even Most Titanic Sinking!”
There are 13 Adult entries and five junior boats registered so far. The boat race, which is sponsored by local businesses, is part of the National Day programme of events and promises to be a fun day for participants and onlookers alike.
From front when the party swept into power in 1988. “I still vividly remember the days we worked to gether in the Union, in the Opposition and in the Government,” Bossano, who is still a minister, Therecalled.current Minister for Economic Develop ment saluted ‘Marie’s hard work in those days as we turned Gibraltar around.’ After helping to mod ernise St Bernard’s Hospital and taking Gi braltar to its first Island Games, she became the Rock’s first woman may or from 1988 to 1995. Support “Appointing her as May or was important, but she got the support of the House for the appoint ment not because she was a woman but because she was the right person to represent all Gibraltari ans,” Bossano said. Picardo said he ‘learnt a lot about the political his tory of the House from her’ and complemented ‘her personal warmth and her engaging ability to represent all Gibral tarians with a friendly smile.’
SPA TOWN: was once popular then flooded for reservoir fate when the valley was flooded in 1956 to create the Cijara Yetreservoir.nowits 16 mude jar arches stretch across a parched dust bowl having reemerged after one of the driest summers Itsever.buttresses rise from the cracked earth supporting a 225 metres pathway that crosses from nowhere to nothing, over little more than a few murky puddles after the reservoir lost some 90% of its Thewater.story is repeated across the Iberian peninsula where cli
BOILING OVER Feeling the heat? Hot under the collar? Jo Chipchase picks her Awful 8 things that make August Spain’s ‘mad month’ partying outside your house until the early hours, oblivious that you have work at 9am, is another. And then just when you finally drift off to sleep, some one throws a ‘petardo’ (banger) down your street.
5 - School’s out… seemingly forever Back in June, you couldn’t wait for the kids to break up for summer, imagining the family fun you could have! Now, after a few trips to the waterpark and some fraught days out at the beach, you can’t wait for school to restart. And why must we wait until the second week of September with the purse completely emp ty? Of course we mustn’t forget to mention the teens moaning endlessly, having crawled out of bed at 2pm. 6 - Rude waiting staff Cooking in the heat isn’t fun, so why not visit the local restaurant? Unfortunately, everyone else who didn’t decide to head north on July 15, for six weeks, had the same idea. So it’s hard to find a table, the waiters are rushed off their feet, and the prices have seemingly gone up by 20%. After that, it takes 30 minutes to get a drink and then, after forgetting your or der, the starters and main courses all turn up together. Of course, the bill has plenty of er rors and, when you point this out, the waiters are openly hostile.
OOPS: Road madness descends Deal or no deal WITH National Day around the corner and the EU deal on Gibraltar still not having been signed, Gibraltarians must be wondering how much self-determination they still have. Caught between the conflicting winds of Brexit, Span ish desire for influence and European Union obsti nacy, the Rock has been in dire straits for nearly two years now. What is clear is that Brexit will continue to be a thorn in our sides for decades. Ever since the New Year’s Eve Agreement was passed in December 2019 the hope of a deal has gone through ups and downs. While the Spanish and the EU pushed for National Police at Gibraltar borders, an unthinkable idea for lo cals, the Brexit-fuelled Tories pushed for the European courts not to have any effect over a deal being signed with, yes you guessed it, the EU. Passport The only way Gibraltarians could tell if things were go ing well or not were the severity of passport checking at the frontier and mystical tweets from political lead Stillers. reeling from being told by UK political leaders that a deal was being done ‘for the whole British family’ only to find the opposite was true, locals seem stuck in Manylimbo.might feel they are being punished for the fact that 96% of the population voted to remain in the EU. On social media, that uncertainty is felt by waves of Brit ish patriotism like a protracted Stockholm Syndrome while others opt to hold their breath in disbelief. Far from taking their future into their own hands, lo cals have settled into the resignation that things are going to change. But what shape that change will take is anybody’s guess.
2 - Too much fiesta Whether it’s your local town fiesta or a random late night concert, the party in August never stops! Sadly, this may result in a constant resaca’ (hangover), which tends to ‘calentar la cabeza’ (heat the head) and makes peo ple very unreasonable. Drinking in the sun doesn’t help.
3 - Lack of sleep Aside from the heat and humidity which is a key cause of insomnia, the amount of people wards you on your side of the road, people who refuse to reverse, motorway tailgaters, and tiny cars blocking the entrance to your property. And then, of course, you’ve got the Moroccan tourists returning home for the summer from England, France and Germany, loaded up with goods on the roof and exhaust ed after a steady 12 hours of driving non stop. Never take your eyes off them!
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 Jo SimonChipchaseWade simon@theolivepress.es Cristina Hodgson cristina@theolivepress.es Fiona Govan fiona@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es George Mathias george@theolivepress.es Jorge Hinojosa jorge@theolivepress.es
4 - Bad driving Motorists hurtling to OVERLOADED: Cars bound for Morocco
MEDIEVAL: Arches at the Cijara reservoir have reappeared
SECRETS FROM
As reservoirs dry up, long lost ancient sites are revealed, writes Fiona Govan ACROSS Spain archaeological trea sures are emerging from the deep as a prolonged drought causes res ervoir levels to drop to their lowest in Thedecades.severe drought parching Spain this summer is proving disastrous for farmers and has forced water restrictions on urban areas, but for those who enjoy seeking out historical sites there is a surprising silver Fromlining.a Roman fort in Galicia to the Stone henge of Extremadura and a medieval church in Catalunya, the Olive Press takes a closer look at long lost treasures exposed by receding waters. In Extremadura, a flock of sheep find shade from the sizzling glare of the midday sun beneath the arches of a medieval bridge, a 14th century structure lost to a watery mate change has left reservoirs at their driest in 1,200 years, and winter rains are expected to diminish further, a study pub lished last month by the Nature Geosci ence journal showed. Just outside the sleepy town of Peralêda de la Mata, a clutch of megalithic stones now rise up on a muddy shelf laid bare by the receding water; an archaeological site dubbed the ‘Stonehenge of Spain’. Dating back 5,000 years, the circle of granite menhirs are all that remains of a sun temple built by Bronze Age man on the banks of the Tagus River in Caceres prov Valuedince. as a site of interest by the Romans, the stones had been ignored until the 1920s, when a visiting German priest with a keen interest in amateur archaeology made detailed sketches and sent the most moveable material back to a museum in his home city of Munich. So undervalued were the stones, many of which had fallen from their upright position to lie forlornly in the mud, that in 1963, officials in the Franco regime thought little of flooding the area to create a vast water reserve.
WELL you’ve made it this far… and only a week to go. Be content that the majority of heatwaves are behind us and the so-called ‘mad month’ of August is nearly at an end. But beware; it’s usually now, during the final throes of the long hot summer, that the real ‘mala leche’ (or bad milk) starts to come to the boil. A month of extreme heat, traffic jams and pushy city dwellers demand ing perfect speedy service is when the locals’ tempers start to fray. And when the hot and humid days combine with a full moon - as happened on August 12 – the loco vibe is at its worst. Here are our eight forms of madness on the Costas.
1 - Water disputes As water gets increasingly scarce and streams and taps dry up, neighbours can frequently be found screaming at each other, perhaps because someone took their ‘acequia’ (wa tercourse) water at the wrong time of day or inserted a pipe without permission.
The remains of a vast Roman camp can now be viewed once more
2 - 1500 people evacuated as worst fire in a decade rages in Alicante province area of Spain 3 - 2,500 evacuated as wildfire hits Spain’s Zaragoza and Alicante
NOT one, not two, but three great in vestigations in this week’s paper. And then there are the exclusive leads on pages 2 and 3 and our doz en or more features on everything from the severe drought to the anniversary of Spain’s little-known explorer Elcano. Yes, the Olive Press is full of content. And known for it around the country and abroad.Butwhat you are reading here is just the tip of the Theseiceberg.are merely the main stories from the last few days. Looking for current, up-to-the-minute news ev ery day then you will need to use our website. Every day, our team of nearly 20 journalists and writers scattered around Spain are reporting on the things that matter here. Be it the terrifying, fast-moving fires, a new law passed or the arrival of a famous politician or sportsman, you can be sure to find out first in the Olive Press online. And there is much, much more content on museums to visit, exhi bitions launching and musical extravaganzas. Our archive alone is already tens of thou sands of articles published since we launched in 2006. We aim to ensure that anyone reading www. theolivepress.es will be the best informed expat or tourist visit ing TakeSpain.alook, you’ll definitely be inspired.
The all but forgotten site made headlines during the exceptionally long hot summer of 2019 when the megalithic stone circle emerged for the first time since the valley was flooded. After garnering international press attention, Spain took steps to issue cultural protection status which was grant ed only after the menhirs had once again disappeared when the reservoir filled with the autumn rains. Now again they appear in what, with global warming, could become an annual occur Arence.prolonged dry spell and extreme heat made July the hottest month in Spain since at least 1961 and August may well follow into the record books. Spanish reservoirs are at just 40% of ca pacity on average in early August, well be low the ten-year average of around 60%, official data shows.
4 - Map images from space show in real time where wildfires raging in Spain
TIP OF THE ICEBERG
You have just a week left to claim our great value Summer deal for August. We are offering all new clients AN AMAZING VALUE €1 EURO DEAL to access our website for a month. That means full access with no annoying pop up ads for an entire month, plus all our printed issues FREE on top. That’s for ALL our stories, features, explainers and investigations - around 600 of them - working out at just 0.0016c a story.
7 - Queues for everything August means queues – whether it’s for a pop ular visitor attraction, a viewpoint to take that Instagram snap, or a visit to the public toilet. This doesn’t improve anyone’s mood, particularly as the Spanish aren’t very good at doing it and fre quently barge ahead of you.
EURO MONTHLY NEWS
www.theolivepress.es 7August 24th - September 6th 2022 Get in touch today at sales@theolivepress.es or call us at 00 34 951273575 for more info
THETHE DEEP
WATERY GRAVE: The Roman camp churchQuerquennisAquisand(below)thethatwasattheheartofSantRomadeSau
The top five most read stories on www.theolivepress.es in the past two weeks are:
1 - Secrets from the deep as reservoirs dry up across Spain long lost ancient sites are revealed
ANCIENT: Megalithic stones at Peraleda de la Mata
5 - General weather forecast in Spain’s Anda lucia for the rest of the summer
8 - Vital businesses being closed Your car has developed an annoying fault that needs fixing right now, but your mechanic is obviously away or on the beach with his family. Meanwhile, your bank manager has gone hiking with his friends, and the town hall and public offices are basically shut for anything important you might need. You’ll just have to wait for Sep tember 1.
EXCLUSIVE
“We are in a particularly dry year, a very difficult year that confirms what climate change scenarios have been highlighting,” Energy Minister Teresa Ribera confirmed earlier this month. At the Buendia reservoir, just east of Ma drid in Guadalajara, the ruins of a spa town made popular for its restorative waters during the reign of Isabella II in the early 19th century have reappeared, caked in dried mud. For half a century, the once elegant resort on the banks of the Tagus served as a getaway for Madrid’s wealthy bourgeois, until it fell into neglect once trips to the beach became more popular. It too suffered a watery fate under the Fran co regime’s rampant reser voir Hundredsscheme.of villages across Spain were sent to a watery grave and their residents forcibily evicted during Fran co’s mass construction of a network of reservoirs. The projects brought not only the loss of towns, villages and sites of historical interests but also human trage dy with several disasters resulting in mass deaths, events which were covered up by the totalitarian regime. A reminder of such acts of destruction in the name of progress emerged earlier this month at a dam just north of Barcelona. Little by little, the bell tower of a ninth-cen tury Romanesque church appeared from the receeding waters revealing the fully intact building that was once at the heart of the community of Sant Roma de Sau be fore it was flooded in the 1960s. But nowhere has the reveal been quite so impressive as at a reservoir in Ourense province in Galicia. Here, the archaeological remains of a vast Roman camp can now be viewed in their entirety. Known as Aquis Querquennis, the vast site once served as a fort and military barracks for Roman legions during the building of the Via Nova road until it was abandoned around 120 AD. For nearly two millennia the once im portant military outpost lay forgotten until the 1920s when local archaeologist Florentino Lopez Cuevillas rediscovered the site and ex cavations began. But in 1949 the valley near Os Baños in Ourense province was earmarked as one of the first sites in the reservoir project and the area was flooded to form the As Con chas Reservoir. As a result only parts of the site, which measures 2,5 hectares in total, are usually visible depending on the water level at dif ferent times of year.
Green MattersBy Martin Tye
PLANSLIGHTS
RAVAGED: The sea meadows before (left) and after
AN Asian algae now declared an ‘invasive species’ is wreak ing havoc to native biodiversi Inty. just a year it has spread 400 kilometres along Span ish coastlines, costing local councils millions in cleaning beaches and, even worse, it is destroying local sea meadows. These are crucial parts of the ecosystem that are a haven for marine life. Rugulopteryx Okamurae is a species of brown seaweed na tive to the Pacific Ocean that mainly inhabits the coasts of Japan, China and Korea. Experts suspect that it arrived on Spanish shores through the ballast that ships dump when they arrive in port. Its presence was detected in Spain for the first time off the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the North African Coast. Its advance, at breakneck speed, has allowed it to cov er 400 kilometres in a single year from the Strait of Gibral tar – 200 km in the direction
ALIEN INVASION
Asian algae taking over Spanish waters of Malaga and 200km in the direction of Portugal. It has also been found in the Canary Islands where re searchers have warned of its danger to the marine ecosys tem of the archipelago. Now towns on the Costa del Sol are having to spend huge amounts of money in an effort to combat the species. Estepona has so far removed By Dilip Kuner more than 3,000 tonnes of in vasive algae from beaches at a cost of €1 million. The problem is spreading rapidly with fears that it will reach Murcia, Va lencia and the Baleares soon.
Pedal power
SPAIN’S cities are having to play catch-up with Valencia in trying to get people out of cars and onto two wheels. The city has seen a 21% rise in people using its cycle lanes between January and July this year compared to 2021. The Xativa to Russafa section is the busiest with a daily average of 7,996 users. Valencia has around 170 kilometres of bike lanes with a new 2.1 kilometre section being built on Avenida del Cid and another 5 kilo metres in the pipeline. The cycle network received praise from the OCU Consumer Organisation. A 2020 bicycle users study rated Valencia as the best city in Spain to get around by bike or scooter and this year, the OCU gave the city a five-star cy cling rating.
A report from Global Forest Watch last week stated that in the past 12 months, around 16 football pitches of trees PER MINUTE were lost to forest fires. This is twice the amount of tree cover burnt compared to 20 years ago. Last year alone a for ested area the size of Portugal was lost. Fires are becoming more frequent, and more severe, and as a consequence stored carbon is unlocked. Trees and soil store carbon dioxide. This is one of the key gas es warming our atmo Thesphere.United Nations says that the outlook for forest fires in the decades to come is Itgrim.forecasts an expect ed increase of 50% in extreme fires by the end of this century. Apart from fires, deforestation continues to increase. Last year in the Brazilian Amazon the losses caused by agricultural clearance and logging were the highest in the past de Deforestationcade. changes local and regional cli mates and removes a lot of the evapotranspi ration that helps keep temperatures low and more humid. So cutting down these forests is actually making them hotter and drier, and makes them more prone to fires. None of this is rocket science. The reality is staring us in the face. When will we see the elephant in the room removed? Sadly, I don’t think it will be in my lifetime.
A POPULAR Spanish city is hoping to save up to 79% of its power consumption by switching all its street light ing to BenidormLEDs.council has award ed a €2.5 million contract for phase two of an Energy Effi ciency project, which will see lights renewed in the Levante and Poniente areas. Some 3,512 light points and 55 control centres will be converted. The network will have the flexibility to change the power and intensity of the lights when needed. Phase one of the project cost over €2 million, and covered the Old Town area as well the Foietes-Colonia Madrid and Imalsa-Els Tolls districts. That phase saw 2,379 LED lights installed.
GREENwww.theolivepress.es August 24th - September 6th 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 Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. +34 638 145 664 ( Spain Phone ) Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es When will we see the elephant in the room removed? N O not the 1999 Stanley Kubrick film starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kid Iman.refer to the inactivity of the world’s leaders who refuse to see something in plain Theview.effects of climate change are reported constantly in all the media. Not just here in EYES WIDE SHUT the Olive Press, but in all newspapers, TV channels, and radio stations. Excuse the pun, but it really is a ‘hot topic’.
One of Europe’s biggest megalithic sites discovered on planned avocado plantation
LA CULTURA August 24th - September 6th 2022 9 OP QUICK CROSSWORD All solutions are on page 13 Across 7 The BBC (6) 8 They’re sniffed at (6) 9 Extinguishes (4,3) 10 Chinese dynasty at the time of Jesus Christ (3) 11 Mountain-climbing aid (5) 12 Besmirch (7) 15 Body make-up? (7) 16 Baby transport? (5) 18 Sum charged (3) 19 Settings (7) 20 Wet cement mixture 21(6)Arranged like matry oshka 1Down(6) Horse sense (8) 2 Most technologicallysophisticated, (5-2-333)Andrea Bocelli, for ex ample (5) 4 Butler’s underling (7) 5 A zero-risk position 6(7,2,4) St. Paul’s’ architect 13(4)Underscores (8) 14 Engages (7) 17 Perfume (5) 18 Abrading tool (4)SUDOKUOP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 The owner of the La Torre-La Janera farm in the province of Huelva had asked the Jun ta de Andalucia permission to grow the lucrative crop, which was given on the con dition a full archaeological survey was done on the site. Now this survey has borne fruit of a rather different sort envisaged by the farm er, including 526 menhirs (standing stones) plus nu merous dolmens, burial mounds, two ‘observatories’ and a wealth of other an cient andto-interpretationsurvey,necropolises.(tholoi),threemenhirs,onlyOriginally,material.archaeologistshadevidenceoftwofivedolmens,circularburialareasaquarryandfourButthenewwhichincludedphoofsatelliteaerialimages,aswell as the use of LiDAR (laser) data, revealed a much richer archaeological world. Experts from the universi ties of Huelva and Alcala de Henares describe this complex - which began to be erected at the end of the sixth millennium B.C. and was maintained for almost 3,000 years - as ‘unique’. The farm is located on the left bank of the Guadiana River, around the Monte Gordo hill. The article El sitio megalíti co de La Torre-La Janera (Huelva): monumentali dades prehistoricas del Bajo Guadiana outlines the finds. Most of the menhirs (up to 260) are concentrated in 26 alignments and two stone circles. The alignments, from one to six rows, can reach 250 metres in length. They were all built on slopes or Thesummits.stonecircles were built ‘on the tops of hills with a clear horizon towards the rising sun’ aligned during equinox and solstice, ac cording to the report. In addition, numerous dolmens, tumuli and cists (stone lined graves) have been detected. Isolated The dolmens have been found both isolated and grouped together. One of them has a chamber 3.50 metres long, almost a metre wide and a circular tumulus surrounding it with a diam eter of seven metres. The study was carried out as part of the general research project Menhigua. Menhirs and megaliths in the Lower Guadiana . The work began at the end of 2021 and will continue until 2027, when it is planned to conclude anal ysis of the site.
SOME 180,000 people have already applied for the €400 youth culture Thevoucher.Ministry of Culture is handing out the ‘bono’ to youths who turn 18 to spend on cultural activities and prod ucts. The application period opened on July 25 and ends on October 15, with around half a million people eligible. Called the Bono Cultural Joven, it is A SCHEME to plant a 600 hectare avocado plantation has led to the discovery of one of the biggest megalithic sites in Europe, dating back some 7,000 years.
Stone me!
ANCIENT: Standing stones visitVanguard valid for 12 months with the objective to inspire a new generation of art lov ers while also giving a much needed boost to artistic and cultural centres that are still recovering from the Covid Applicationspandemic.can be made through the bonoculturajoven.gob.es website.
By Dilip Kuner
MEGALITHIC SITE: One of the biggest in Europe
Cash for culture
JAEN Cathedral has become the first church in Spain to of fer a 360º virtual visit The cathedral, considered by many to be one of the nation’s best, will be the first in the country to offer tourists a cul tural visit of the temple with 360º glasses, permitting a birds-eye view of the religious Thebuilding.virtual reality experience is the latest innovation from the Granada-based company artiSplendore. Images of the majestic cathedral have been recorded by different drone flights and merged into a spectacular audiovisual sim ulation experience, to be en joyed at the end of the tour of the cathedral.
Visitors flock to visit a serpent and witchfromemergingawall FASHION with Freya
“It has definitely created a real tourism hub, which saw us expanding from three busi How a small white village conjured up a wizard of an idea to pull in thousands of tourists each week, writes Jo Chipchase
‘Shackets’ will be the trend this season open knit cardigans for the evening - for a relaxed look - or a blazer to keep it Weardressy. your short summer dresses in the daytime over leggings or with an kle boots and cover your shoulders with a light denim jacket to combat the eve
Fashion advice and styling can be found in The Armario de Freya, Calle Correo 1, Orgiva, 18418 Granada WITH the stifling summer heat and sauna-like humidity, it’s difficult to imagine that Au tumn is around the corner, but the leaves are already turning brown in the mountains so you need to think about Autumn. When it comes to dressing for success during the changing seasons in Spain, it’s all about layering. Yes! Layering is your best strategy to avoid dressing for the daytime, and being perfectly warm, then shivering during a night-time soiree and seeking a nearby beach towel or dog blanket to drape glamorous ly over yourself. It is the key for comfort for bridging day and Whennight! the nights cool down, don’t pack away your summer canimmediately.dressesYougainmorewearfromthembyteamingmaxidresseswithlong,chunky
GRAB your broom stick, don your witches hat, it’s time to fly up to the bewitching mountain vil lage of Soportujar. The village, in the heart of the Alpujarra region, is rapidly get ting known as Spain’s village of spooky vibes. A sort of theme park based on ‘brujas’ (witches), the idea was cooked up by Soportujar’s coun cillors in 2006 to en courage tourism. Starting with a witch cave and fountain, they could never have imagined its run away success, now competing with the likes of Malaga’s smurf town, Juzcar, or the out door art destination of The name Soportujar means ‘place of arcades’ and refers to the over hanging passages and walkways (the tinaos) typical of La Alpujarra. But it also gained a reference to witchcraft during the 16th century, after the expulsion of the Moors, when King Felipe II repopulated the village with families from the north of Spain – mostly Asturias and Galicia. According to legend, these families brought their pagan customs, which included hold ing witches’ meetings, leading to them be ing branded ‘sorcerers’. It was out of this that the village, with a population of 270 souls, de cided to launch its first Feria del Embrujo (bewitching fair) in Celebrated2009. in August, it at tracts up to 20,000 visitors, while the village usually at tracts around 6,000 visitors weekly. Today they flock in to visit a serpent emerging from a wall, a Hansel & Gretel house, and an effigy of a female witch, Baba Yagá. The bizarre small house perched on huge chick en legs, is something special, for sure.
BEWITCHING
LA CULTURA10 August 24thBoutique de complementosmoda,yregalitos abierto lunes -sábado 10 am - 2 pm Calle Correo, 1 Orgiva, Granada, 18400
AT HOME: Locals happy with scary neighbours
ning Shackets!breeze.This awful name means a combo of a shirt and jacket – it will be a top trend for autumn/winter. Choose a piece in neutral colours and a good cut for maximum combining possibili ties. On warm days, pair it with a classic t-shirt. As the weather cools, you can wear it with longer sleeves underneath, or a turtleneck, and finish with a soft scarf. Your shacket should be warm enough to be worn alone during au tumn, but also thin enough to be worn under a coat, making it a versatile op tion for winter layering. Leather jackets are also synonymous with autumn fashion and can give a cool (yet practical) twist to any outfit. Invest in one that has a nice fit with a tapered waist and some details such as chunky zippers or studding, and you can wear it for years. Paired with your favourite jeans and a t-shirt, or over a floaty dress, this is a winner for being trendy yet Footwearcomfortable.issomething to consider, as sandals will become redundant as the weather cools. A pair of fresh, white trainers remains a big trend for this year, so choose your favourites and wear them everywhere. White, however, is not ideal for those of us who live in the ‘ campo ’. For a harder-wearing option, choose Pal ladium, Doc Martens or Vans, which are funky and on-trend but also durable for walking on uneven terrain, without hurt ing your feet!
AUTUMN IS COMING!
Staying alive The initiative has encouraged 30 new peo ple to move to the village and combats an age ing population with fewLemos,Yolandachildren.schoolof La Cantina del Dragon restau rant, added: “My restau rant was born out of it. I start ed with a small store and ended up buying the house and expanding the business into a restaurant. “It’s great that the popu lation has stopped declin ing, many jobs have been created, and there’s now hope that the school won’t close. It has al lowed the village remaintoalive,andyoung people have decided to live and work Josehere.”Antonio Alvarez, who runs El Manjar Brujo souvenir shop, added: “It’s great for me, as I have a location where many peo ple walk past and there’s a lot of trade.” And now the town has even bigger plans for next year with some large, necessary infrastructure projects. “By 2023, big change is expected, with €1.7 million for infrastructure improve ments, such as better parking and better enhancement of the natural environment. Residents already enjoy a new gym and a swimming pool and more is to come. “Most residents are happy to see their vil lage full of people. Little by little, they are accepting that tourism is the new future of Soportujar.”
DRAWS:serpentWitches,anda‘gingerbread’house COVEN: A homewitchesfor
LA CULTURA Not just a gas station... Mini market • Café with pastries Cold drinks • Fresh bread daily Sweets • Ecological food Launderette • Gas bottles Amazon Locker • Carwash Telf. 958 785 125 C/. Fuente Mariano, 1 E.S. ÓRGIVA nesses in 2017 to 26 in 2022,” explained Jesus Martin of Soportujar town hall. The locals however are generally pleased that the project has helped stem a trend which had seen the village haemorrhaging its population for decades.
“No one can blackmail Europe,” vice president of the European Commission Margaritis Schinas said at the time.
THE past couple of weeks has seen the pound to euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate fluctuate, before trending broadly higher in response to Bank of England (BoE) rate hike speculation. During this period we have seen GBP/EUR trade between a high of €1.1913 and a low of €1.1780.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO LOOK OUT FOR? Looking ahead, the immediate focus for GBP and EUR inves tors will be the publication of the latest UK and Eurozone PMI releases. If these report that private sector activity in the UK or Eurozone continued to weaken in August then their respective currencies could fall. In terms of data a key focus will also be the Eurozone’s upcoming consumer price index. August’s preliminary figures could propel the euro higher if they report inflation in the bloc continued to ac celerate this month. Another uptick in inflation is likely to increase the odds of another 50bps rate hike from the European Central Bank (ECB) at its next interest rate decision. However, any upside in EUR exchange rates may remain limited in the face of ongoing concerns over Europe’s energy security. Meanwhile, the final weeks of the Conservative leadership elec tion may infuse additional volatility into the pound. GBP investors will be paying particularly close attention to frontrunner Liz Truss for more clarity on how she will tackle the UK’s cost of living crisis as Prime Minister.
Cost of food driving inflation up despite fall in petrol prices INFLATION in Spain rose to 10.8% in July - the highest rate since December 1984. Figures from the National Sta tistics Institute(INE) showed that despite significant falls in petrol prices, rising electricity and food costs led to a 0.6% increase over the June infla tion rate. Some basic foods have risen by well over 20% in a year.
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING? After taking a tumble at the start of the month as a result of the Bank of England’s (BoE) recession warning, the GBP/EUR ex change rate remained subdued through the second week of Au gust amid lingering concerns over the UK’s economic trajectory. Exacerbating these concerns was the publication of the UK’s latest GDP figures. While these reported a smaller-than-expect ed contraction in growth in the second quarter, they stoked fears the UK could slip into a recession in Q3. Meanwhile the euro traded in a wide range through this peri od. The single currency’s negative correlation with the US dollar prompting swings in the euro amid fluctuating USD exchange Therates.middle of August saw the pound mount a convincing recov ery with the publication of some high-impact UK data releases. The UK’s latest wage growth and inflation figures both printed above forecast, bolstering expectations the BoE will pursue a 50bps rate hike in September and strengthening Sterling sen Duringtiment. this time the euro was left on the back foot, in part due to Germany’s latest ZEW index, which reported sentiment in the Eurozone’s largest economy continued to deteriorate this Themonth.single currency’s upside potential also remained limited amid growing concerns that Europe will face a gas shortage this winter.
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BUSINESS August 24th - September 6th 202212
Inflation has gone up for three consecutive months after a 1.5% fall in April. In May it climbed to 8.7% and reached 10.2% in June, despite the introduction of a government price cap on gas and other ini tiatives to lower the rate.
energySaving ELECTRICITY us age in Spain fell by 3.7% in the first week of measures introduced by the government to re duce demand on gas generated energy. The European Union wants a 7% fall on gas demand in Spain to reduce energy de pendency on Russia across the region. Spain’s target fig ure is over half of what most other EU member states have to produce.
The European Commission is looking to sign similar deals with Algeria, the Gambia, Senegal and Maurita Withnia. Rabat claiming it invests €435 million to stop the migrant surge, it has pressed the EU hard for the €500 million figure. Fund The sum is supplied by the Neighbourhood, Develop ment and International Cooperation Instrument of the EU The(NDICI).fundhas a budget of €79.5 billion for 2021 to 2027, 13% more than the previous period. Illegal migrants land at a beach in Spain after crossing from TalksMoroccoweremade all the tougher by an incident in which Morocco allowed 10,000 migrants to enter Ceuta in May last year.
Food Core inflation (which does not include fresh food or energy) also went up by 0.6% in July to stand at 6.1% - the highest since January 1993. In regard to food, the INE said that basic products in the shopping basket such as oil have registered a rise of 28.6% in one year. Eggs and milk are up by 22.5%; cereals 20%; and bread at al most 15%. Chicken is 16.3% more expensive than in July 2021, with other rises includ ing fish (11.4%); beef (14.5%); fruit (15%); potatoes (13.5%); and coffee (12%).
By Alex Trelinski
PIPELINE TIMETABLEA NEW gas pipeline connecting Spain and France could be ready in ‘eight or nine months’, ac cording to Ecological Transition Minister, Teresa Ribera. The pipeline is seen as a major way for European countries like France and Germany to counter expensive or disruptive supplies from Russia. The line would run cy’ for Europe as it looks to wean itself off Russian gas flows. She added that the pipeline plan would need ‘very import ant investment’ in cluding the financial backing of the Euro pean Union. through the Catalunya region and the Pyrenees mountains. Ribera (pictured right) described the situation as an ‘energy emergen Cash handout
THE European Commission could give Morocco €500 million to keep migrants out of the EU for the period of 2021 to 2027. The two sides are set to reach an agreement that would be a 50% increase on the sum of €343 million for 2014 to 2020, according to a Commission spokesman. These funds will pay for integration and protection projects for refugees living in Morocco, forced returns and police cooperation to fight against organised crim inals in the area.
Fall The first week of the measures between August 8 and 14 saw a 3.7% fall compared to the previous Thatweek. also coincided with another major Ecologicalheatwave.
GBP/EUR exchange rate firms on hawkish BoE rate hike bets
Transi tion Minister, Tere sa Ribera, said: “I thank everybody’s efforts as a whole to abide by the mea sures such as limit ing air temperatures.”conditioning
PROTECTING AGAINST VOLATILITY This kind of volatility can cause some nasty surprises if you need to transfer money overseas. On a £200,000 transfer, just a onecent gap translates to a €2,000 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 dif ferent tools to help you navigate the ups and downs of the cur rency 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 ded icated 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 Direct branch or give us a call to find out more.
POORERGETTING
Euro on the back foot
Top marks in a first for Spanish wines by prestigous guide having ‘a smooth palate, a short finish, and a soft mouthfeel. Its brown-sug ar aromas and flavors of white raisin and chocolate make it the perfect accom paniment to a sweet dish’. The second ‘perfect’ wine is Conde de Aldama Amontillado ‘Bota No’, from Bodegas Yuste. It’s an Amontillado from Jerez-Xeres-SherryandManzanilla-SanlucardeBarramedaDOmadewithPalominograpes.Itisdescribedas‘extremelyaromaticandhasnotesoftoastedhazelnuts,marmalade,plumjam,andwalnuthusks.Italsohashintsofnutmegandexoticwood.Inparticular,itoffersawonderfulmixofspicy, sweet, and salty’. The Guia Penin is Spain’s most famous and com prehensive wine guide. Compiled It is compiled by Jose Peñin, whose knowledge of internation al and Spanish wines has been gathered over more than 25 years as a profes sional wine writer and journalist.
A PAIR of Andalucian wines have received per fect scores of 100 in the prestigious Guia Peñín. These are the first wines to have achieved the top mark in the guide. The first is Alvear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1830, which is produced by Al vear, founded in 1729 in the Montilla-Moriles DO. The dessert wine is low in acidity, and is described as OP Puzzle solutions Quick Crossword Across: 7 Auntie, 8 Odours, 9 Puts out, 10 Han, 11 Piton, 12 Tarnish, 15 Anatomy, 16 Stork, 18 Fee, 19 Locales, 20 Slurry, 21 Nested. Down: 1 Gumption, 2 State-of-the-art, 3 Tenor, 4 Footman, 5 Nothing to lose, 6 Wren, 13 Stresses, 14 Employs, 17 Scent, 18 File.
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL August 24th - September 6th 2022 13
good!Sherry
By Dilip Kuner
lineGrain
Local heroes
SPANIARDS are the main driving force for tourism to the Costa del Sol in August, ac counting for 51% of ho tel bookings compared to 49% of international origin. These figures contrast with previous years when international travellers accounted for 55%. Rate In general, the Associa tion of Hotel Entrepre neurs of the Costa del Sol (AEHCOS) estimates that August will end with a hotel occupancy rate of 85.83% - 2% above previ ous forecasts and simi lar to 2019 figures. The tourist hotspot towns of Torremolinos,Fuengirola,Nerja, Marbella and Benal madena lead the way in occupancy rate.
TRAIN operator, Renfe, is running an experimental freight train across Europe to import grain from the GrainUkraine.exports had until re cently come to a standstill due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with ships unable to leave Black Sea ports. That position has now changed but Renfe is still piloting a test run to import 600 tons of grain to Barce lona, by-passing sea ports. The idea has come from the Ministry of Transport which said it would analyse ‘the capacity of land transport to support maritime routes’. A train with 25 empty 12-metre containers left Spain on August 9 and will be filled up with grain in the south-eastern Polish city of Chelm- 25 kilometres away from the Ukraine border. It will then make the 2,400 kilometre journey back to Barcelona, arriving in early September.
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The Ministry of Health initia tive has so far taken 34,000 calls from people with sui cidal thoughts or behaviour, as well as from friends, rela tives, and neighbours want ing information or help. The service launched on May 10 with the slogan, 'Call to Life'. After a massive volume of calls in the line's early days, numbers now average around 300 per day. A Health Ministry spokes person said: “The volume of calls shows the need for such a service to deal with a silent and latent threat such as mental health problems and suicidal behaviour.”
Executive Health Executive Essential Screening
See
HAD feared the worst after a trio of Covid vaccines and a week layed out with the virus in the Spring, following an Easter hol iday in London. A typical male hypochondriac, I was convinced I had picked up long Covid and was about to sink into a serious health slump. While my sense of smell and taste had come back, I still had a cough, a tight chest and had, strangely, lost some feeling in my arms. So I booked myself in for a full body MOT, a comprehensive med ical check to see how I had really weathered the pandemic and if there was anything untoward to worry about. The tests at Executive Health, in Marbella, included a detailed MRI exam of the pelvis, abdomen and thorax, as well as a detailed look at my heart and lungs and a full analysis of my urine, blood and poo to Comingboot.two years after my last full check-up at the clinic, I figured the results would be interesting. The main point, Dr Henrik Rein hard, a heart specialist, told me was to calm down and stop worry ing; I was not going to die. In actual fact, my health had im proved a little since I had taken a full check up in 2020. Partly due to the Danish doctor’s advice back then to eat less meat, cram in more vegetables and take more exercise, I was actually doing Inwell.particular, he cited my lung function which he found was 17% better than two years ago, while my blood pressure (at 112/70) was ‘like a young man in his twen Thatties’. said, there was plenty of room for improvement. I was still overweight (by an alarming five to six kilos, by his estimate) and my risk of developing cardiovascular disease over the next 10 years is 11.5% which is ‘too high’, in part thanks to the occasional cigarette.
Trends come and go but Linea Directa is always top of the charts...
Nearly 600 lives saved by new ‘suicide’ helpline in just 3 months
The significant annual health check needs to be booked in advance and depends on availability.
DEDICATED TO EXPATS Línea Directa has been providing comprehen sive car, motorbike and home insurance to British expatriates and residents in Spain for over 25 years. With over 3 million customers nationwide, Línea Directa makes sure you get the best possible price for the insurance you really need.
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WHAT’S IN A TEST Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) combines a powerful mag netic field with radio frequencies to create detailed images of your internal organs and body structure. And this means checking all your organs, bones and tissues, with Henrik advising a five year check for the heart for anyone over 40, as well as an annual check for cancer. The tests only take a couple of hours and the results come back by the following week, including the lab results of the blood, urine and stool tests.
FINE FETTLE: Jon’s blood pressure despite running a newspaper
EARN CASH WHEN YOU RECOMMEND US Línea Directa’s Expat2Expat programme means that whenever an existing customer recommends someone, both the policyholder and the friend are rewarded with €30 in cash, when that person takes out any policy. You can recommend up to 10 people and earn up to €300 in cash per year. Simply ask your friend to call and quote your full name. Then once their application for car, bike or home insurance has been approved, Línea Directa will pay the reward straight into the bank account following payment of the next premium. terms and conditions at lineadirecta.com
In terms of drinking, a few glasses of wine are fine but try and have a couple of days of abstinence a week.
By Alex Trelinski
The 024 line is in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, every day of the year. It is free, accessible, imme diate, and confidential with trained experts able to deal with high-risk situations, in cluding access to emergency teams that rush to callers.
Confidential People can also call Samari tans in Spain between 10am and 10pm on (freefone) 900 525 100 for a confidential service in English or forcauseSuicidepat@samaritansinspain.comemailhasbeenthemainofunnaturaldeath15yearsaftersurpassing traffic accident deaths, which for decades was the main reason for deaths from ex ternal causes, as opposed to diseases.
THE 024 national helpline to prevent suicides in Spain has saved 585 lives through direct interventions since opening in early May. Emergency teams went to see those very-high risk call ers who contacted the 24hour phone service.
A post Covid health check goes surprisingly well for Olive Press editor Jon Clarke at Marbella’s leading Executive Health clinic
The full body check is an excellent way to pick out abnormalities, in cluding damaged tissues, inflam mation, infection and, most impor tantly, “We’vecancer.found cancers, cardiovas cular disease and aneurysms in asymptomatic people, often young people who had no idea,” explains Henrik. “One of them recently was only 40 years old. “All the dangerous diseases have manifestations in the body and finding them is the concept of what we do here.”
“While you have made some in roads, in particular with diet and exercise, you should be able to get that risk down to 2.9%,” insists MostlyHenrik.by giving up smoking, drink ing less and improving my good cholesterol, which would help me get there. He also gave me a help ful list of all the things I should be eating including beetroot, chick peas and fennel, as well as a tea spoon of vinegar every day. Well now summer is nearly over, I am going to give it a go.
HEALTH14 August 24thSeptember 6th 2022 Call their English-speaking customer service staff on 952-14-78-34 or get a competitive quote now at lineadirecta.com 902 123 282 *Fully comprehensive offer valid for new customers only. Guarantee subject to cover, repair atapproved garage, and courtesy vehicle availability. Subject to conditions. Offer ends 30/11/18. TheOlivePress-256x170-CAR-4.indd 1 2/8/18 17:01 SATISFACTION GUARANTEED
COVID death
BACK in the 60s young people laughed at public transport by donning hotpants, shades and roller skates to glide on down to the local corner shop for some bread. And in the 70s personal hygiene went out the window when young men began growing those greasy lamb-chop sideburns that were to frame their face for the next decade. Then in the 80s young women eschewed French fashion trends by wearing leotards, legwarmers and getting scrunchy mullet haircuts to boogie-on-down to their local newsagents in the pouring rain. Now in the 2020s, 9 out of 10 Línea Directa customers get the same satisfaction and rec ommend their car, bike and home insurance Allpolicies.customer service and documentation is in English, their claims service is fast and effi cient, you can get quick, no obligation quotes over the phone, and their easy payment op tions help spread the cost of premiums.
LIFELINE
EAT YOUR WAY TO HEALTH
EVERYTHING IS IN ENGLISH Their Roadside Assistance team speaks En glish and will quickly help you with your on ward journey. If you urgently need a duplicate set of keys for your motorcycle, then their English-speaking customer service will sort it out. And should you require Home Assistance to set up your new Wi-Fi connection, then En glish speaking technical staff will set up a visit.
Doctor Henrik, 47, is quick to offer improvements to your health, in particular with diet. The Dane, who moved to Spain with his wife Rikke and children a decade ago, is a big fan of a vegan, plant-based, wholefood diet, but accepts that most people will eat some meat and poultry. “But a mostly non-meat diet is the best way to tackle many issues, particularly digestive or stomach complaints,” he insists He claims that eating poultry in creases your risk of cancer (pan creatic cancer by 72%) and red meat is even worse for your health, with pork slightly better than lamb and beef.
READER HEALTH OFFER Executive Health clinic, which opened in Marbella in 2018, is offering the full body check up for €1,495, with a very special €500 discount for Olive Press readers, to make it just €995. “After all the COVID issues I am sure that many readers have not been getting their normal health checks at the local hospital,” says Henrik. “We want to encourage people not to ignore their health and we can do the same and a lot, lot more in a far safer environment.”
Four of those infected are being treated at the COVID-19 ward of St Bernard’s Hospital, with no-one in intensive care.
HIGH-TECH: Dr. Reinhard uses state of the art equipment Contact Executive Health at info@executivehealth.es or www.executivehealth.esvisit
One person from a local elderly home has been detected to have contracted the COVID-19 virus. The Rock’s population reacted positively to grave predictions about how the lethal coronavirus could spread in the small community. Many stayed indoors during the first wave of the pandemic, to the extent that no-one died during that time. It helped keep infection to a minimum until the second wave during the winter of 2020-21, when COVID-19 claimed the lives of nearly a hundred people. Gibraltar then became one of the first places to receive the Pfizer vaccine.
ONE person has died with COVID-19 amid 14 new cases de tected in the last week throughout Gibraltar. The death brings the total number of casualties to 107 since the first cases were recorded on the Rock in March 2020.
This checkup takes 2-3 hours. The program covers: • Survey with the doctor about your previous health, heredity, present situation and lifestyle • Clinical examination by doctor with lung function test • Essential Blood, Urine and Feces tests • MRI Thorax and normal x-ray if indicated • MRI Abdomen, including all organs and extra scans for liver, pancreas and bile ducts • MRI Pelvis, including all organs and extra scans for prostate (men) and uterus/ovarium (women) • Follow up Consultation with our Executive Doctor • Treatment and control at the clinic of newly discovered diseases. If necessary, referral to specialist. • Written summary of findings and USB with images Executive Health ESSENTIAL CHECK UP – JUST 995€ (normally 1495€, valid til 15.4.22 when you mention the Olive Press) MAKE YOUR BOOKING https://executivehealth.es/our-services/executive-essential-screening/HERE: Executive Essential Screening A quick basic check-up, taking you through the most essential scans and tests CONTACT US TODAY Executive Health Marbella – Ctra. N-340, Km. 175, Puerto Banús, 29660, Marbella, Málaga tel: +34 670 674 246 info@executivehealth.es www. executivehealth.es YOUR HEALTH IS YOUR GREATEST ASSET (normally 1495€, valid till 01.10.22 when you mention the Olive Press)
“I love the beautiful beach, the clean sea water, the good weather… the food,” said the interviewee on TVE as in the background the victim of the robbery shouts ‘my bag, my bag. Did some one see something?’. The video reveals one of the prevalent gripes from vis itors to the city that petty crime is rife and pick pock eting very common. Luckily, thanks to the vid eo, the perpetrator was soon identified by police and arrested.
ABAGGEDTHIEF
A DISABLED Dutchman stalked two Ger man tourists then punched one in the face and stole his wallet, before racing away at high speed in a wheelchair. Joseff M. 56, didn’t let the fact he was in a wheelchair stop his criminal plan when he followed the tourists through the Plaza del Olivar in Palma. Without warning, the thief punched his 62-year-old victim in the face before making his getaway, with the Germans in hot pur suit as he bounced over the cobbles in the SIMPSON HOMER 3. 05-12-56 ESPANA4a. 05-12-12 4a. 05-12-22 5. C4043243 market square. A National Police patrol spotted the com motion and joined the chase, eventually catching and arresting the Dutchman. He now stands accused of an alleged crime of robbery with violence. His victim was taken to hospital by ambu lance bleeding profusely, while the attacker got a trip to the police station.
FIREFIGHTERS were called out to rescue a 25-year-old drone pilot who had clambered up a steep cliff in Malaga to rescue his expensive crash landed toy only to get stuck himself Guns to order A MAN in A Coruña has been arrested for mak ing guns on 3D printers including an almost com pleted AR9 assault rifle after officers spotted his presence in online discus sions about firearms.
Wheeled marauder
2.
Points to order
1. JAY
Fall guy ended up with MINUS 321 points on his driving licence
WORDSFINAL
Love
FREE P RESSLIVEThe The localONLYRock’sfreepaper O GIBRALTAR Vol. 6 Issue 180 www.theolivepress.es August 24th - September 6th 2022We use recycled paper REREREuseducecycle
changeCarrion FARMERS are complain ing after a vulture killed a two-day-old calf on a farm in Salamanca in the second incident in a few days. They say the birds have changed behaviour because of food shortages caused by new health regulations.
Silly drone
By Dilip Kuner IT isn’t quite the publicity Barcelona was hoping for. A television interview with tourists about what they love about visiting the Catalan capital unwittingly revealed one of the major bugbears. While a holidaymaker shared what he saw as the delights of Barcelona, a man can be seen in the background picking up a rucksack and making off with it. Moments later an other man returns from a swim to discover his bag has been stolen.
A MAN has been arrested after he lost 333 points from his driv ing licence after taking the fall for other motorists’ offences. Under Spain’s licensing system everyone has between 12 and 15 points on their licence (eight for new drivers), which are lost for certain driving offences. Once the total reaches zero, a ban kicks in. The 28-year-old Armenian resident of Valencia had MINUS 321 points on his Nowlicence.police are investigating 91 motorcyclists who had put the man’s name on paperwork to say that he was the rider. The ruse was uncovered by Guardia Civil in Mallorca after a motorcyclist sped through a checkpoint, almost hitting an officer. Police sent a notification of several serious road offences to the registered owner of the thatproblemThenianofthethewhomotorbike,returnedformwithdetailstheArmeonit.onlywasaspeed camera photo clearly identified the rider as a woman. Police dug deeper and found the Armenian had lost the huge number of points for driving offences. Investigations revealed that he used social media to advertise his service of taking the blame, charging between €75 and €200 per point. Ban He had long since been banned and his licence was not even valid for motorbikes - but that did not stop his lucrative scam. Police remain puzzled that the DGT had not taken action.
