OLIVE PRESS GIBRALTAR ISSUE 201

PRIDE OF PLACE

HUNDREDS joined the Chief Minister and other top Gibraltar leaders at Casemates Square to celebrate Pride with the local LGBTQ+ community. In one of the most well-attended events of the Pride event in local history, ministers from the Government agreed with leaders of the Opposition about the need to oppose homophobia and the social marginalisation of minority groups. After the speeches, the parade wound its way down Main Street with a huge rainbow flag borrowed from Spain. After the action, international music and dance acts took centre stage for the rest of the night. Chairperson of the LGBTQ+ Committee Lorraine Olivera reminded the public that a sexual identity was not a choice.

RESS The O

P

TREATY IN DOUBT

THE future of Gibraltar’s relationship with Spain has been thrown into murky waters with any treaty now at the mercy of the Spanish general election.

Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that while he would like to sign an EU treaty with the UK on Gibraltar ‘as soon as possible’, it will probably not happen until after next month’s poll.

And that means that negotiations could take a drastic direction if a new PP government, with extreme right party Vox,holding the balance of power is voted in.

Albares recently said he had put on the table ‘a global agreement that covered all aspects necessary for there to be a zone of shared prosperity between Gibraltar and the Campo de Gibraltar’.

But he added he was ‘waiting for the UK to say whether it is in favour of this agreement or not’ and he also confirmed no new rounds of negotiation were planned before the election.

A deal is therefore very unlikely this year, particularly if the PP goes into a coalition with Vox.

While the PP has always made life difficult for Gibraltarians, Vox infamously unfurled a huge Spanish flag across the face of the Rock in 2016. Worse, the party’s general secretary Macarena Olona said Spain and the EU should ‘suffocate’ Gibraltar by immediately closing the frontier.

“We are not here because we choose to have a difficult life, because we choose to be ridiculed, because we choose to suffer hate speech,” Olivera said.

“We are all different but we are all equal if we have that same equal playing field.

“That is what we want.”

The visiting entertainers spoke of the unique atmosphere at Gibraltar Pride.

Connor Fisher told GBC it was ‘not for how much money they could make but about why we are having these parties and why they’re needed’.

And Cheryl Hole added how she loved ‘the sense of community’ and how ‘it’s been incredible to be part of such a special day’.

The LBTQ+ Committee thanked all politicians for their ‘amazing support’ and said plans were already in place for 2024.

ROLL CALL

Incredible list of senior establishment figures top the list of investors in Globix ‘Ponzi scheme’

SEVERAL senior politicians, a leader of the opposition and a former Chief Minister are among an eye-opening list of Gibraltar’s key power brokers who allegedly invested in a fraudulent crypto exchange.

The extraordinary roll call of Globix punters, seen by the Olive Press, also includes leaders in business and finance, as well as the boss of a top legal firm.

They are just some of the hundreds of people in Gibraltar, Spain and the UK that handed over a collective €26 million to Globix boss Damian Carreras to invest.

A total of 136 investors have so far made applications to the liquidators attempting to unravel the complex web behind the Gib-based firm.

A number of them handed over millions to the business, which was administered by Miracle World Ventures, registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Sole shareholder Carreras and his associate, tech officer Pavel Sidorov, are wanted over suspicions they syphoned millions from crypto wallets

THE Costa del Sol and Costa de la Luz have been singled out as key black spots for the ‘chronic cancer’ of environmental destruction.

An environmental charity has slammed both coastlines for the continuing urban ‘over-development’ they face.

Ecologistas en Accion is particularly concerned about the two hotspots of Tarifa and Vejer de la Frontera.

The green group says both face ‘uncontrolled illegal construction’ with an alarming amount of further planned development, as revealed by the Olive Press last year.

Much of it, around Atlanterra, and close to Tarifa’s virgin Valdevaqueros beach, has already been approved by the local town hall.

The number of illegal homes around El Palmar, meanwhile, is leading to the discharge of untreated sewage into the sea.

The green group has also handed a black flags to the town halls along the entire length of the

By Walter Finch

after the exchange had locked inves tors out of their funds in early 2022. But the company was only put into voluntary liquidation one year later, on March 10, 2023, exactly seven days after the Olive Press first broke the story. As reported last issue, Carreras, 39, failed show up at a Gibraltar court hearing to answer questions about his company’s missing millions.

Questions

Gibraltar Supreme Court heard that at least €1.3 million was spent during this period on lavish spending sprees at upmarket shops in nearby Marbella.

The year-long gap between alarm bells ringing and formal action being taken raises questions as to why more was not done to pursue Carreras, given the influence of the establishment figures involved.

Most investors we have spoken to cit-

Black marks

Costa del Sol, for its continual overdevelopment.

“The Malaga coastline has excessive light pollution generated by industry and mass tourism,” added a spokesman.

The three areas are among 48 beaches singled out for black marks around the country this year.

An alarming ten are in Andalucia, with Huelva city particularly fragile after a damaging oil spill in February, while nearby La Antilla beach gets one for overdevelopment.

Meanwhile ‘recognitions’ were handed to Almeria for its continuing scandal surrounding the illegal 411-room Algarrobico hotel.

Granada comes under attack meanwhile, for urban abuses and pollution at La Herradura

Continues on Page 2

month at the beginning. An apparent Ponzi scheme, Carreras lured in later investors by showing them the ‘VIP list’ of some of the best-known establishment figures in Gibraltar already allegedly invested. The Olive Press understands the majority, at least a dozen of them lawyers, have chosen to stay in the background.

“They would prefer to sit on their hands and write off their money rather than publicly admit they were conned in a clear Ponzi scheme,” one senior legal source explained this week.

“The reputational damage is anything but good,” he added. “After all, these are the very people who are often paid to advise on multi-million pound deals and help to create laws and bring in regulations in areas like crypto-currencies.” The saga meanwhile did not help Gibraltar get off the Financial Action Task Force’s grey-list.

Kidnap

The Rock was placed on the list for countries with inadequate anti-money laundering and terrorist funding controls in June last year, and it will stay there for at least another year, after a review last week.

More alarming, perhaps, are the implications that Globix became a repository for ‘a lot of drug lords and other kinds of black money.’

“There were some questionable transactions going through various accounts,” said one source with deep access to the case.

Carreras claims to have been receiving death threats and is worried for

last summer Sidorov and his wife, who we are not naming, were kidnapped from their home, near Alicante, at gunpoint, over the missing millions. He wrote to liquidator Adrian Hyde in an email that it would be ‘foolish to compromise my location’ as he tried to dodge face-to-face meetings to answer questions.

Career launch

GIBRALTAR’S Youth Service and HR experts CIPD launched a website called careers.gi to help young people explore their job options.

Pedal Ready

THE Ministry of Transport relaunched its Pedal Ready programme with a one-day cycling proficiency course for Year 6 children at Bayside school in mid-August.

EU lose

DEPUTY chief minister

Joseph Garcia talked to the Gibraltar branch of the OBE association about the work the government had done to secure a possible future EU treaty.

Cycling frenzy

A TOTAL of 25 members of British Forces Gibraltar and their families took part in a 24-hour relay round the Rock to raise money for the welfare of serving and retired military personnel.

ITALIAN and Spanish police are investigating if a man who allegedly murdered two women in Torremolinos is responsible for other killings back home.

Marco Gaio Romeo, of Nettuno (Italy), was arrested for stabbing his 28-year-old ex Paula to death at her apartment in May. Police later realised that a previous part-

ner of the killer had disappeared in 2014. He then told them the body of Albanian Sibora Gagani was walled up in his old apartment.

Now Italian and Spanish authorities are investigating to see if the 45-year-old is linked to missing women in the Italian area of Nettuno.

Serial killer fear

CHARLIE DOWN

A NAZI fitness guru extradited from Spain to face terror charges in the UK has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Online radical Kris Kearney - who claimed Adolf Hitler ‘showed people the way’ and ‘did nothing wrong’ - was found guilty of promoting terrorism after he shared inflammatory material on his online forum.

The charges relate to numerous posts in which he shared among others the violent manifestos of New Zealand mosque killer Brenton Tarrant and Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik.

Expat nazi terrorist Kris ‘Charlie Big Potatoes’ Kearney gets five years

By Walter Finch

London’s Old Bailey heard he also shared a ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letter, in which readers were encouraged to ‘butcher a Muslim’ for 500 points and bomb a mosque for 1,000 points.

In 2021 alone, he posted 89 extreme right-wing documents, which encouraged violence in the battle against ‘white genocide’.

The member of Patriotic Alternative - who the Olive

DRIVER MURDER

A BOLT driver has been stabbed to death by a customer in Fuengirola.. The victim, who worked for a private hire vehicle company similar to Uber or Cabify, had picked up the alleged murderer in the early morning.

The 35-year-old passenger then pulled out two knives and stabbed the driver without warning.

After the deadly attack, the assailant locked himself inside the vehicle before police broke in and arrested him.

Press revealed travelled regularly between his home in Albir, on the Costa Blanca, to Marbella - ran an online platform called ‘Fascist Fitness’. The far-right podcaster - who had been on the run in Spain with his wife and three children when he committed his offences in 2021 - also spent time in Dubai.

The neo-Nazi, from Liverpool, had originally been stopped under the Terrorism Act and fled an arrest warrant two years before his arrest in Spain. He was understood to have been on a layover in a UK airport en route to the UAE in 2019 when officers first detained him. It came after he refused to divulge passwords for three separate mobile phones he was travelling with, suggesting he may have been working for mafia gangs. A warrant was later issued for his arrest after he skipped a magistrate’s hearing on July

Black flag

From front

and Pozuelo-La Rabita. The environmental group, which annually exposes beaches suffering from pollution and poor management, defines the issue as a ‘chronic cancer’.

“We only choose 48 to not overwhelm people, but there are actually hundreds of natural spaces being destroyed,” spokesman Cristobal Lopez told the Olive Press.

RIDER JAILED

A COURT has sentenced a young man who left a female passenger scarred for life after speeding on his moped in Gibraltar to four weeks in prison.

2 that year and fled to Spain. Kearney, a former soldier, had close links to the Costa Blanca, where his parents also lived, and ran a bar. Kearney, 39, pleaded guilty admitting he wanted to ‘spread fascist views’, but denied he shared the material on Telegram with the intention of causing terror attacks. Judge Richard Marks KC doubted this, insisting his ‘fanaticism’ in achieving his objectives meant he ‘intended for acts of terrorism to happen’. He sentenced him to four years and eight months.

James Marrache, 21, had denied the charge of dangerous driving, forcing the Magistrates Court to hold a full trial of the incident.

The court heard how in the early hours of July 5, 2021 Marrache, aged 19 at the time, had been showing off to his passenger while riding down Flat Bastion Road. She even asked him to slow down just before he lost control of the motorbike and crashed.

Police officers were quickly on the scene and saw ‘significant damage lying on the ground’ and ‘various scratches to a nearby wall’.

Getting LIVely

SERGIO Garcia will be at the forefront of a host of golfing stars at Valderrama this weekend.

The Spanish superstar will tee up for a shot at the LIV Golf Valderrama title as the controversial Saudi-financed tournament visits Sotogrande.

The LIV tour threatened to split the pro-

fessional golfing world apart, with several players banned from the established PGA and DP World (formerly European) tours after throwing their hat in with LIV. But peace has broken out with an agreement between the three organisations to work together. Other big names expected for the June 30 to July 2 tournament include Phil Mickleson, Brooks Koepka, Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson.

SEEING RED

IT may be fun but it seems to be such a waste - 130,000 litres of wine will be literally poured away.

A crowd of 5,000 people will douse each other with tinto in Haro, a small town in the Rioja region.

The Haro Wine Festivalwhich is slated for June 29 - dumps as much Rioja as it consumes.

130,000 litres of wine ready to glug down the drain in Haro’s wine fight

By Isabel Max

Locals and tourists will continue a centuries old tradition to honour Saint Peter and

Paul's day, armed with cups, bottles, jugs, boots and water guns as they take part in the Battle of the Wines. Reputedly, the annual

wine fight began in a 13th century dispute over town lines between Haro and the neighbouring village of Miranda del Ebro. This ultimate fiesta is messy and it is a must-do. As tradition goes, the wine warriors will trickle in at 7am dressed in red and white.

The Haro mayor will lead a procession on horseback, wending its way seven kilometres into the cliffs of Bilibio to the Her-

Swift swoops on Madrid

MADRID has been selected as the location of Taylor Swift’s one and only concert in Spain, where she will perform at the news Santiago Bernabeu for the first time.

The American singer-songwriter will perform at the stadium - home to Real Madrid - on May 30, 2024 as part of her European Eras our.

This is the first major concert announced for the new Madrid stadium.

It has been remodelled as a multipurpose ground in order to host basketball, tennis and NFL games, as well as concerts and, of course, football.

CAN YOU SEE ME? THEN SO CAN ALL OUR READERS

mitage of San Felices. After a flag ceremony and a short mass at the historic chapel, the fighting commences. When the wine warriors are stained purple and soaked with the last of the drink, they descend into town, where they don’t have to be asked twice to begin dancing and slurring songs. A bullfight takes place in the afternoon, then more partying. A children’s version of the Batalla del Vino takes place on June 27, with grape juice.

TWO-time Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence graced the red carpet at the Madrid premiere of her new summer comedy No Hard Feelings. The movie, directed by Gene Stupnitsky, is reportedly based on a true story. Lawrence plays a woman who thinks she's found the answer to her financial troubles after reading an advert on Craigslist written by the parents of an introverted 19 year old who are seeking a girlfriend for their son.

Hungry for attention

NEW ARRIVAL

BENIDORM'S Mundomar wildlife park has a new residenta baby flamingo born on June 8.

Its the second flamingo birth at the park since it opened in 1996 with the first making its appearance in 2021. The egg was spotted on May 11 which the parents then looked after carefully.

Mundomar said that the mother and father at no point neglected the incubation of the egg or caring for their new child when it arrived- with staff on hand to make sure everything went well.

Pink colours are associated with flamingos but that's far from the case in their early stage of life, as the colour is obtained over time from the food they eat which contain crustacean residues.

Hurry to O’Hara

VISITORS to O’Hara’s Battery at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar will be greeted with a more interesting and interactive experience after it reopened.

The Ministry of Heritage said it had commissioned ‘restoration and maintenance works to enhance aesthetics and visitor experience’ of the historical gun and site.

The Upper Rock Maintenance Team carried out most of the restoration while the Alabare charity group helped paint the 9’2 gun seated at the highest point of the Rock. Despite the ministry opening the site, visitors will not be able to get on the gun platform itself until all restoration work is completed.

That rising feeling

WRECK removers started to bring the bow of the OS 35 out of the sea yesterday after refloating the stern of the broken ship the week before.

Captain of the Port John Ghio said government agencies had laid down ‘preventive booms’ the day before to stop any potential oil spill reaching beaches.

“This delicate operation is enabled by the current window of good weather that allows it to take place safely,” the Gibraltar Government said in a state -

Killers attack again

By John Culatto

ment.

Contractors Koole Ltd worked hard to pump out all of the water from the stern of the ship and get it floating again. Salvagers had deliberately sunk it last September to prevent it breaking apart further during winter storms

Salvagers start lifting bowof OS 35 bow from Gibraltar seabed as seas calm

LIFT OFF: Sight of OS35 wreck will soon be a thing of the past

HUGE EFFORT

CHIEF Minister Fabian Picardo has highlighted the ‘huge effort’ made by Albert Mena to receive the award of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List.

Mena was one of six local people named on the honours list this year, which also included Nicole Carreras and Keith Leonard Farrell for MBEs.

Mena was key ‘in the design and execution of the BEAT schemes’, the Chief Minister said.

The current calm seas and low winds could mean the sight of the ship 700m off Catalan Bay could soon just be a distant memory. After refloating the bow, the semi-submersible

A DUTCH captain has described the ‘scary moment’ when a pod of orcas started to bite at the rudder of his yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar. A video he took showed the mammals, also called killer whales, circle his ocean racing yacht before ramming it and biting the rudder.

“This was a scary moment,” Ocean Race Team JAJO skipper Jelmer van Beek told Reuters News Agency.

“Three orcas came straight at us and started hitting the rudders.” He described the orcas as ‘beautiful animals’, but how the attack was a ‘dangerous moment for us as a team’.

“We took down the sails and slowed down the boat as quickly as possible and luckily after a few attacks they went away,” van Beek said. There have been about 20 different orca attacks in May alone, mainly in the Strait of Gibraltar or off the coast of Portugal.

Three boats were damaged to the point of sinking, forcing emergency services to come to the rescue.

Fjord platform ship will scoop up both parts of the bulk carrier and remove them permanently.

Port authorities fear this lifting stage could see further oil leaks as the pipes at the bottom of both sections of the shipwreck are unsettled.

But this time at least, there will be comprehensive oil barriers around the area that were not present during recent storms which caused pollution to we washed onto several beaches.

The government’s Business Employee Assistance Terms (BEAT) scheme provided essential funding to businesses hit by the COVID-19 lockdown on the Rock. Meanwhile, Carreras and Farrell were awarded MBEs for their work with the disabled and conservation of heritage respectively.

The King also gave Suzanne Romero a BEM for her services to health in Gibraltar.

Assistant Commissioner Cathal Yeats and Inspector Alex Enriles got Overseas Territory Police Medals (OTPM).

Additionally, the governor Sir David Steel granted Gibraltar Awards to Ian Cumming for his healthwork and Gaynor Vatvani for her work with local children.

LIV GOLF VALDERRAMA

Homely welcome

GIBRALTAR citizens can now sign the contracts for their brand new publicly-built flats at Chatham Views and the first phase of Bob Peliza Mews.

Gibraltar Residential Services will be contacting prospective homebuyers soon to allow them to put pen to paper and start paying for their homes.

The same process for the second phase of Bob Peliza Mews will start as soon as the government has relocated all other groups based in the area.

A government spokesman said that while the prices of the two estates will remain the same for people who have already reserved their home, any new agreements will be hit by a 25% price hike.

This increase will ‘cover the increased cost the construction industry has suffered worldwide since the project commenced’.

Together no longer

By John Culatto

SOLO Together Gibraltar Opposition

MP Marlene Hassan Nahon (pictured) will not stand as a candidate at this year’s Gibraltar elections.

The TG leader announced her decision to step away from politics ‘with a heavy heart and a soul weighed down by a burden I cannot shake,’ in a social media statement.

The daughter of one of the Rock’s greatest political leaders, Sir Joshua Hassan, said she had ‘tried’ to make a difference but has now realised

Tunneling challenge

THE Spanish government has pledged €2.3 million towards a new feasibility study for a high-speed rail network to Morocco through an underwater tunnel.

The longstanding proposal, known as the ‘Europe-Africa Gibraltar Strait fixed link’, has now been revived after it was put on hold in 2009.

A joint Spanish-Moroccan commission reconvened for the first time in 14 years back in April, sparking renewed enthusiasm for the initiative.

Funding will be allocated from the European Union’s Recovery, Transformation & Resilience Plan.

It will be funnelled to the Spanish Society of Studies for a Fixed Link through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Marlene Hassan Nahon steps away from politics with’a heavy heart’

‘TG cannot bring the change Gibraltar needs’.

And she said she ‘cannot be part of a potential opposition alliance at this stage’.

The lonely outspoken voice as the only member of Together Gibraltar to be elected into parliament in 2019, said she could not rally people away from the Rock’s political ‘tribalism’.

“I have tried to entice those neglected sectors of our society, and to embolden ‘ordinary’ citizens,” she said.

“But the fact is the support and the love I receive from our people on a daily basis has not translated into activists and candidates ready to take on the mission to transform our politics.”

Hassan Nahon left the Gibraltar Social Democrats to found Together Gibraltar and expressed how she still feels the GSD party she left behind is too different from her own vision.

“I’m afraid that there are still

at this stage deep philosophical, ideological and policy differences between myself and the GSD,” she said.

“I cannot bring myself to sacrifice my integrity and principles and ally myself with another party whose general direction on the political spectrum is so different from mine.” While Together Gibraltar had

Achtung Gibraltar

PEOPLE who call out the police in Gibraltar might be surprised to find they are attended to by a German who speaks perfect English.

That is because Anouk Brohl, 21, a police sergeant in training, is spending a week on the Rock with the Royal Gibraltar Police.

The Munich-born officer is taking time out from her three-year training to visit Gibraltar as part of a requirement to spend time outside Germany with another police force.

As a keen diver, Brohl chose Gibraltar because it allowed her to practise her hobby while also catching some rays of sun.

She said: “I wanted to improve my English, and I wanted some good weather and I’m a keen diver - so Gibraltar seemed perfect.”

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a progressive agenda, the GSD supported more conservative policies. One of the main areas of contention was the abortion referendum.

While Hassan Nahon wanted a more extensive abortion law, the GSD voted against lifting the century-old life sentence with its pro-life stance.

A

Voted top

The coming hard Brexit

NEWS that the cogs of Spanish diplomacy have stopped working ahead of the surprise Spanish national elections on 23 July could mean Gibraltar’s proposed EU treaty is dead and buried.

Although it would be a real blow to both the Rock and its neighbouring regions that so rely on its economy and investment, it is unlikely that an expected right-wing government would give any more to Gibraltar than the current leftwing coalition in Madrid.

Business and union leaders have often sounded their gongs of disapproval for the way that Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has conducted the talks. He declared he had already set out a deal, but it is one that clearly the UK, and by definition Gibraltar, did not find acceptable.

To the chagrin of Campo leaders, by this time next month it seems unlikely Albares will still be in the position.

The Partido Popular, despite its wave of shocking scandals, will be roaring back into government according to recent polls.

It is expected to get about 32% of the vote while the PSOE is predicted to get around 26%.

Despite the centre-right party’s popularity (sorry) they could need the support of the Vox far-right party.

Polls give Vox about 13% of the electoral portion, marginally higher than the 12% of the new Sumar left-wing alliance. These figures could be a death sentence for Gibraltar’s chances of a more favourable EU treaty, leading to the hardest Brexit situation of any British territory in Europe. It would mean Gibraltar’s border could be as hard to cross as Morocco’s with Ceuta.

Hours of paperwork could be needed for each person to cross unless an easier way is found and tourism companies would probably shy away from bringing visitors to the Rock. Many Rock dwellers would probably sell their homes in the surrounding area and over 10,000 Spanish workers could find getting to work much harder than ever before.

This would add to the economic problems of a Campo region already ravaged by unemployment.

While the future remains to be written, the writing is on the wall and no-one will probably be willing to take the blame.

PUBLISHER

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

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Jo Chipchase jo@theolivepress.es

John Culatto

ADMIN Victoria Humenyuk Makarova (+34) 951 273 575 admin@theolivepress.es

For

Carretera

DON’T BE A GILIPOLLAS!

WHEN former Barcelona Mayor Xavier Trias lost his post to socialist Jaume Collboni of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) he could barely contain his annoyance.

Speaking after the investiture of Collboni as leader of a minority administration, he said: “At my age of 76, I had already said, ‘If I don’t end up mayor, they can all go screw themselves’,” (pictured below).

It was a statement of typical Spanish bluntness that is displayed in all walks of lifeeven in the full glare of publicity.

Indeed, if you have fully embraced Spanish language and culture you can’t go for an hour in Spain without insulting some ‘dickhead’ driver or roadworks in the middle of summer.

While there are hilarious phrases that can be harnessed as Spanishs insults (¡Que te folle un pez! or ‘get f**ked by a fish’) there remain some critical curse words you’ll need to season your day-to-day speech in Spain. Here are 12 Spanish insults that will slot

12 Spanish insults that will make you sound like a native

By Dilip Kuner

you right into Spanish culture and make you sound like native.

1. Me cago en... (insert object of hatred)

Any language that has no scatalogical (poo-related) insults is not worth learning. While Spanish has an equivalent for ‘s**t’ - mierda - it enjoys another creative method for expressing disgust, disappointment or rage.

The phrase usually starts ‘me cago en...’ (I s**t on...) followed by the object of hatred at hand.

The most traditional forms are as follows:

¡Me cago en tu puta madre! (I s**t on your whore-mother) ¡Me cago en la puta que te parió! (I s**t on the whore that gave birth to you)

¡Me cago en la puta! (I s**t on the whore)

¡Me cago en la leche! (I s**t in the milk)

¡Me cago en tus muertos! (I s**t on your dead ancestors) (EXTREME CAUTION: this is very, very offensive)

2. Gilipollas

Few Spanish insults are as satisfying as ‘gilipollas’. Literally it means ‘stupid dick’ and refers to someone who thinks with a dick for a brain. Though it’s more equivalent to ‘dickhead’ or ‘stupid idiot’ or ‘prick’. It can be used both to cause offence, naturally, but also among friends and acquaintances.

EXAMPLE

Porque sales a la calle con calcetines y chanclas tió, ¿serás gilipollas?

(Why are you going out in socks and sandals man, are you a dickhead or something?) (This happened, it was my mother-in-law).

3. Joder

Joder is a versatile Spanish curse word that traditionally has a similar meaning to ‘f**k’ but is extremely rarely used in a sexual context in Spain. Generally, it can be used to express anything from mild frustration to frothing anger. It’s very common to hear elderly people using joder and in general it wouldn’t be frowned upon in their presence.

EXAMPLE

Joder, has dejado la ropa fuera en la lluvia otra vez.

(F**k, you left the clothes out in the rain again.)

4. Mierda

Mierda is a simple insult for English speakers to slot into their Spanish, as in most situations it can substitute ‘s**t’. One situation where it can’t would be in vete a la mierda or ‘go to hell’. You will often hear Spanish people say una mierda when they mean something like ‘there’s no way in hell’.

EXAMPLE ¿Que mierda no?

(How s**t right?)

5. Puta

It’s strange the Spanish obsession with anything bad being attributed to whores - especially when one in five Spanish men admit to having used a sex worker’s services. But, whether a hangover from Catholicism or an act of denial, there it is. Puta is another versatile word that can be slotted in before any word to enhance the potency of an insult or expression.

EXAMPLE ¡El puto perro de ese gilipollas ha cagado en mis putos geranios otra vez!

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BALLAST FOR BACALAO

ON the surface of things, there is nothing to connect the Norwegian landscape with Spain. It couldn’t be more different: Norway, stretching north above the Arctic Circle, is a country of steep rock cliffs and deep fjords created by glacial erosion.

The country is synonymous with waterfalls, glaciers and fjords, along with perpetually misty mountains and copious amounts of rain and snow. Yet there is a part of these lands – albeit a very small part – that will remain forever Spanish.

Allow me to explain:

Norwegian shipping statistics show there was a constant flow of ships with vast tonnage leaving the ports of Norway for the Iberian Penin-

You don’t have to be in Spain to stand on Spanish soil, writes Jack Gaioni

sula between 1830-1900. They carried full cargos of lumber, ice and salted cod or bacalao. This export was very profitable but there was little Spanish cargo to load for the return trips back to Norway. Some grains, olive and wine products were sent north but demand for these products was low.

Given the weight of their rig and sail, the Norwegian sailing ships needed ballast once they were emptied of cargo. The process of ballasting involves loading heavy material into the bilge of the ship to give it stability and balance. The Norwegian shipmasters filled up with Spanish soil, and brought massive amounts of it back to Norway. ‘Ballast places’ were established along the Norwegian coastline, and Spain’s soil was subsequently put to good use. There was little topsoil around the rocky fjords, so much of the Spanish ballast soil was used as ‘fill’ in the construction of streets, parks, gardens and quays. In the port cities of Fredrikstad and Oslo, huge quantities of ballast soil was used to increase the size of the harbours. Some soil was sold for profit.

In a few instances, the soil was deposited in cemeteries to provide sufficient depth for proper burials, as was the case in Alesund, a coastal port just south of the Arctic Circle. According to local folklore, there’s a saying that to be buried in the Alesund Church or in the nearby Borgund Kirke Cemetery, is to be ‘buried in Spanish soil’.

Deposito

Whereas Spanish soil may have changed the Norwegian landscape in a very small way, the exported cod changed Spanish culture. While it was a longstanding Catholic tradition not to eat meat on certain days (for example, Fridays during Lent), eating fish was encouraged.

The rise in the consumption of fish since the 18th century has been exponential, and Norwegian cod has gone a long way in meeting this demand.

Bacalao is now a well-established part of Spanish gastronomy. Ask anyone who has spent time in Spain for an opinion on it, and you’re likely to get a passionate response. Visit Alesund and anyone their opinion on being buried in Spanish soil, and … well, they’re sure to remain silent on the subject.

Photos by Jon Clarke

PICTURESQUE: Vista of El Palmar beach, while above an inlet with fishing boasts near Barbate, and a kitesurfer

Costa de la luz

BIGGEST DUNE IN EUROPE Laid back and unshowy

Bolonia’s iconic, giant sand dune is the texture of icing sugar, its waters Caribbean blue.

The largest on the Continent it dares to be climbed, just to see what lies beyond.

While there is no secret cove or crock of gold at the end it is a lovely slow transition into a cool, scented pine forest. And the stunning views from the top are a reminder of how all coastal Andalucia once was.

Nearby look for Cala del Picacho, for some therapeutic mud-baking.

The mud treatments are popular and you smash up some wet slate stone to create your own mudpack, before letting it dry off.

From previous page

hotel suite like Califa in Vejer or Punta Sur, in Tarifa.

For spreading out in front of you are uninterrupted vistas of rolling fields and pine trees all the way down to white sandy beaches, with very little built on them.

An incredible sight, this patchwork quilt of greenery and long, unspoilt beaches is sadly practically unique to Spain these days, but what much of Andalucia’s coastline would have looked like 50 years ago.

The Costa de la Luz is only matched in beauty by Cabo de Gata in Almeria but there is something intrinsically different about the Costa de la

Luz: Laid back and unshowy, its friendly, unfussy locals complement the breathtaking scenery and distinctive vibe.

The coastline is, without a doubt, for the more discerning tourist and, in particular, for lovers of fine food.

Vejer, in particular, has an incredible mix of stylish boutique hotels and probably the highest concentration of top restaurants per capita of anywhere else in Andalucia.

This is a true food capital and over the last few years, I have found at least a dozen great places to eat within a ten mile radius of the town. Tarifa has an altogether dif - ferent feel.

This is a party town, particularly in summer, when the back streets are heaving with lively bars well into the early hours. But its stylish mix of shops and restaurants added to its melting pot of worldly Spaniards and interesting expats make for a distinct Tarifa scene, not dissimilar to the one you find in Ibiza and it is one of the few places – thanks in the main to its breezes – that still has enough going on through the win -

ter.

The Moors would never have had it so good on arriving in Tarifa in 710AD.

While later dubbing Andalucia ‘paradise’, it was certainly anything but peaceful when they used the town as their bridgehead into southern Spain. This is quickly obvious wondering around Tarifa, its historic ramparts littered with statues and references to stirring catholic heroes such as Sancho El Bravo and Guzmán el Bueno. If you

t: 956 439 097 info@pozodelduque.com www.pozodelduque.com

have never taken a ride to these shores, the other side of the Rock of Gibraltar and around Cadiz you are in for a surprise.

This is Europe’s true deep south; a series of windswept flood plains,

fringed by miles and miles of mesmerizing and largely unspoilt white, soft and sandy beaches, ideal for a bucket-and-spade-holiday.

Aside from the austere ‘cubist’ towns, which were built by the

Moors who ruled this land for nearly 800 years, you will be spoilt by the numerous sites from the famous Trafalgar lighthouse –off which the key naval battle once took place - to the historic fishing village of Sancti Petri, near Chiclana.

Then there are the excellent Roman ruins at Bolonia and hidden gems, like Zahora and exclusive Roche, where Madrid’s captains of industry take their holidays.

My favourite spots though include the secret beach, a half an hour walk from Bolonia, where you will find just cows, the celebrated brown retinto cows of the region.

I also love the amazing walk through umbrella pines to the Torre del Tajo, high above Barbate, which finally gives out one of the best views in Christendom.

And then there is the ancient dovecote at El Palomar de la Brena, plus the historic inland gem of Medina Sidonia. But best of all it is the restaurants and food that make this region so very special. There is literally everything

COAST WITH THE MOST

THE Costa de la Luz officially stretches for around 200kms all the way up into Huelva and to the border with Portugal.

Split in two by the stunning Donana national park, the coastline also

includes the so-called 'sherry triangle' or 'Cadiz coast' towns of Sanlucar de Barrameda, Rota, Chipiona and El Puerto de Santa Maria.

It also includes the cities of Cadiz and Huelva.

here from the historic converted townhouses, like Califa, to the evocative dining terraces at Patria and Castilleria. And above all there are the ingredients… the amazing tuna, local vegetables and the amazing beef from the aforementioned cows.

And then up the road you have Jerez, its history and its sherries, not to mention the incredible historic gem of Cadiz and its nearby towns of Sanlucar and Puerto de Santa Maria and the true lungs of Andalucia, the celebrated Donana National Park.

Oh the incredible lightness of being!

Modern European Cuisine in the heart of Tarifa

HISTORIC: Bolonia’s Baelo Claudia (left), Tarifa’s castle (above) and ancient gate (right)

PICTURE THIS: Alleyway in Vejer

AFRICAN VISTA: Morocco looms large behind Tarifa and (left) Vejer’s main church

Costa de la luz

BATTLEGROUND

TARIFA is a place worth fighting for.

The town, which has changed hands between Phoenicians, Romans, Muslims, and Christians, straddles the Med and Atlantic and offers a commanding position of the Straits of Gibraltar. Historically, whoever controlled the town controlled the shipping routes between North Africa and Europe.

You need to dip back into the aeons of time, to AD 710, when the town got its name from an Arab officer named Tarif-Ibn-Malik who led the Moors’ first successful expeditionary force into Spain. Today, it’s Tarifa’s expansive white-sandy beaches and famed winds which have tourists and kite surfers jockeying for space in her coastal waters. But it’s the old town, a five minute walk from the beach, that ultimately gives the gorgeous landscape its wind-whipped and sea-sprayed patina. In narrow cobblestone alleys, hemmed in by white walls inlaid with colourful doors, you’ll find yourself transported back in time to when Malik and his forces strengthened the mediaeval castle walls, parts of which still stand.

Tarifa is the real Spain, a gem of a town with history reaching back to the Phoenicians, writes

By Isabel Max

Trip to the shops

Very much the real Spain and ancient authentic Andalucia, the winding, cobbled streets were designed in AD 910 to offer shade at all times of day.

All the better for the modern-day shopper with the best shops to be found along Calle Nuestra Señora de la Luz which also offer something of a history lesson, as well.

The Moroccan shop, Etnika, drew me in with a kaleidoscope of colour. The dresses and scarves on display are just a precursor, though, to the textiles, ceramics and jewellery which crowded its corners. It is a treasure trove of inspiration from across the Straits. We also popped into TalZen, a bohemian style boutique and an impressive one-woman show. Though eclectic, everything from t-shirts to talismans is thought out. I found too many souvenirs and bought them all.

Hunger pangs

A near-synonym for ‘shopping’ is ‘hungry’ and, looking for comfort food, I found Chilimosa Vegetariana.

In a tiny kitchen across from my table, two chefs whipped up wonders borrowed from Greek, Afghan, Indian, Japanese, French and Italian cuisines. Our server, Jack, a British man who we later discovered is the restaurant owner, recommended the Indian mixed platter. It is a feast for one with tangy

FUN FACT

Tarifa is sometimes credited with being the origin of the word ‘tar- iff’, since it was the first port in history to charge merchants for the use of its docks.

Isabel Max

korma, onion bhajis fritters, fresh chutney, green salad with beets, basmati rice and a conical spiral of crispy poppadom. Each element was spot-on. My friend’s large portion of vegetable lasagne, made with soya granules, was just as comforting as its beef counterpart. The food’s unpretentious presentation underpinned the restaurant’s mission: to bring a home-made flavour to international cuisine, with ingredients from local, sustainable sources.

Buzzing at night

We ended our night at Taco Way, a tourist-heavy bar with a rainbow of synthetic leis dangling from the rafters and garish (though strong) cocktails. We fit right in until we decided we did not want to. All around the once quiet old town it was completely buzz ing, the bars alive, while queues built up outside clubs in the wee hours.

Smaller bars in plazas, such as Bar El Otro Melli, become well-positioned for people watching, as people zig and zag through the excited 1am maze.

A Sunday morning stroll

I woke up early to plan a route into the Parque Natural del Estrecho, which is a welcome adventure.

A mere 400 metres from Old Town, the closest point of entry is the Colada de la Costa trailhead.

While the northeast section of the park is the road more travelled to see the Baelo Claudia ruins, in Bolonia, the southeast end offers accessibility, solitude and breathtaking views for hikers or runners.

The path takes advantage of an ancient drovers path still used to herd livestock from Tarifa to Algrecias. Indeed, my hike was halted as I was forced to circumnavigate cattle under a bridge right in my path. Having just finished the chapter detailing bullfighting in The Sun Also Rises — Hemingway’s words are haunting: “As long as a bull-fighter stays in his own terrain he is comparatively safe. Each time he enters into the terrain of the bull he is in great danger.”

A pair of hikers caught up with me while I was hesitating (and taking photos) and they deftly walked right through, ‘¡Son amistosos!’ The woman shouted back at me.

I eventually crested a hill which gave way to a view of every shade of the sea, segmented by blades of eroded rock called ‘flysches’, and a herd of cattle grazing in the sun.

I edged as close to the herd as

I dared, then turned back. The bull-frienders were making their way up the hill. While I was not expecting to run alongside bulls, take my hiker friend’s word for it — the cattle were unperturbed and friendly, even.

Pre lunch sightseeing

A Sunday morning is optimal for a walk around Old Town — Tarifeño history comes into focus when the bustle is at bay.

chat.

An Aperol spritz (made with Spanish Cava instead of Prosecco, of course) is refreshing enough to get pulled to Playa de Los Lances with the low tide.

Roll out the towel

The beach was no exception to the Sunday vibe in Tarifa — delightfully deserted. Though this spot on the Atlantic can get windy, we were lucky and it was just sun, not sand, in our eyes. As the evening drew nearer, we made the ten minute walk back to the hostel.

Two hostel-mates, surfers from Argentina, invited us to share a taxi with them to Chiringuito Waves bar, better known as just ‘Waves,’ where a live DJ spun records for the setting sun.

Aimless is the best way to do it. In an hour’s stroll, you will happen upon beautiful tiled plazas, church façades draped in blooming Bougainvillaea and street art of the evil eye. We ventured south and glimpsed Morocco from the steps of the Torre del Miramar, the Castilian tower constructed in the mid fifteenth century. If your stroll takes you back north, stop for a drink at Bossa, the bar which shares a wall with the emblematic Old Town entrance, Puerto de Jerez, built during the Nasrid reign in the thirteenth century. Old school and, on a Sunday, uncrowded, Bossa is great for a card game, a little reading or a mid-day

A 15 minute drive out of town, Waves is the culmination of Tarifa’s kitesurfing spirit. The dirt road entrance is lined with camper vans and wetsuits on washing lines.

Tucked under a pergola, the bar looks out onto the expansive north end of Playa Los Lances, where kites pepper the sky.

To the south, the buildings of Old Town jut out into the Atlantic, looking pink in the dusk like the extended body of one of Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon. Whether it is a fun way to unwind after a day of kitesurfing, a precursor to your night out or the closing act of a day well spent, Waves is worth the excursion.

After a dip in the warm waters as the last windsurfers skated to shore, we headed for an early night, with a morning bus home at 9am.

(The f**king dog of that dickbrain has s**t in my f**king geraniums again!)

6. Hijo de puta

Hijo de puta could be translated as ‘son of a bitch’.

But as we’ve seen, puta means ‘whore’ or ‘prostitute’ in Spanish.

Generally, if you want a good-and-proper Spanish insult you should direct your swearing towards someone’s upbringing - and especially someone’s mother - for maximum effect.

Commonly you’ll hear people in Spain shortening the insult to just hijoputa or hijaputa

EXAMPLE

Limpia las cacas de tu perro, ¡hijoputa! (Clean up your dog poo, son of a whore!)

7. Hostia puta

Hostia literally translates as ‘host’ in the Christian sense, meaning the body of Christ given to the confirmed during the Eucharist. But it’s been hijacked by the sharp Spanish tongue as a general expression of shock, either positive or negative.

For some unknown reason you’ll often hear people in Spain sticking a puta on the end for good measure.

EXAMPLE ¡Hostia puta! Tengo 500 seguidores en Instagram!

(Holy s**t! I have 500 followers on Instagram!)

8. A tomar por culo

While we don’t approve of homophobic connotations to this insult, it’s in the list because it’s such a widespread Spanish insult.

Vete a tomar por culo literally means ‘go and get it in the arse’ though in practice means ‘go f**k yourself’.

It’s generally a way to tell someone to get lost or get out of your business immediately.

EXAMPLE

Vino a pedirme que regularize mi nueva piscina con el ayuntamiento y le mandé a tomar por culo.

(He came asking me to declare my new swimming pool at the town hall and I told him to go f**k himself.)

9. Coño

The unfortunate translation of this colourful Spanish insult is the English ‘c u next tuesday’.

I say unfortunate because the Spanish version is really nothing like the gravest and most unsavoury of English insults. Coño is used in Spain to express anything from mild surprise to add weight behind an expression. For example: ¿Y a mi que coño me importa? or ‘and why the c**t should I care?’

EXAMPLE

¿Que coño te pasa?

¡Que estoy hasta el coño de escuchar tu reggaeton de mierda!

(What the c**t is wrong with you? I’m up to my c**t with hearing your s**tty reggaeton!)

10. Pringado

Pringado is a Spanish insult that speaks of someone who through naivety or worse gets fooled into doing

We help you escape

The Olive Press Travel site has gone up to a whole new level!

AS the world descends on the costas…we’d like to give you some alternatives. For those of us lucky enough to live here, now is the perfect time to explore some of the quieter - and cooler - corners of Spain. This issue we suggest the Costa de la Luz, a world away from the sweaty bun-fights in Marbella, Javea or Torrevieja in summer.

But equally, how about the moderate climes of Galicia or the mountains of Extremadura? We have researched and published hundreds of top-quality articles over the years.

Even better, they can all be found in one place: in the travel section of the Olive Press website. Chock full of ideas of where to visit, where to stay and where to eat.

Regular visitors to our website - check out ‘Olive Press Travel’ at theolivepress.es - may have noticed a difference over the past few weeks.

things other people don’t want to do, or always ends up with the blame. Pringado can also be someone generally failing at everything and with the worst luck. It could be translated as the US English ‘loser’ or ‘sucker’ or ‘chump’.

EXAMPLE Es un pringado, no le tienes que dar pena. (He’s just a loser, you don’t need to feel bad for him.)

11. Desgraciado This is an insult many Spanish people take immense pride in saying. There’s little worse than being a desgraciado or ‘wretch’. The word literally means ‘without grace’ and will generally be hurled in the direction of anyone acting without care or concern for others.

EXAMPLE Olvídalo, no es más que un desgraciado. Forget about him, he’s no more than a wretch.

12. Cabrón

Literally this essential Spanish insult means a male goat. If you’re not aware, male goats can be either aggressive or careless or annoying or all three.

A very common insult in Spain that can also be used to insult someone you’re envious of.

EXAMPLE

¿Has visto que el cabrón tiene un Range Rover? Vamos a pincharle las ruedas.

(Did you see the male goat now has a Range Rover? Let’s puncture his tyres.)

We have brought on board well respected travel writer Sorrel Downer - whose work is often featured in the Guardian - to drive the site on.

Ensuring it is full of not just excellent photos and well-informed articles but also useful information for any would-be traveller.

Tips on the most interesting museums to visit to reviews of the country’s best restaurants and hotels, the Olive Press always sends out staff and contributors to actually visit the places they write about.

This makes our site authoritative in a way that cut-and-paste merchants from lazier websites can’t hope to match.

At the moment we have two interns from America’s Princeton University - Isabel Max and Regina Roberts - who are sharing their journeys around Spain with our readers (you can read about their trip to Tarifa in this issue.)

Many more journeys are lined up in the coming weeks including special spots to cool down for a cooling dip, a trip to Nerja and a Best of the Islands special, plus much more.

This top quality content has not gone unnoticed among travel writers.

Indeed, seasoned author Paul Richardson is so impressed that he has agreed to serialise his latest book, Hidden Valleys, about life in Extremadura, in the Olive Press this summer - a real honour for us.

So what are you waiting for? Visit theolivepress.es and the whole of Spain is at your fingertips.

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

1- Around 200 members of a rainbow hippy family kicked out from Andalucia’s major national park

2- A VICTIM’S PLEA to Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner: You’re a loser. I survived and am loved and free

● BALLAST is one of those unusual words that is both a noun and a verb. The definition of the noun is heavy material (e.g. rock, soil, or iron) placed in such a way as to improve stability, control and balance. As a verb, it means to steady or fill in.

● BACALAO al Pil Pil is a Basque regional specialty with a fascinating story of origin. During the Second Carlist War (1846) a restaurateur named Simon Gurtubay ordered 20 to 22 Norwegian cod. There was a mix-up and he received 20,022 Norwegian cod. By coincidence, the order arrived on the eve of the Siege of Bilbao. Having only a few simple ingredients to hand (namely olive oil, garlic and peppers), he not only concocted his famous recipe, he helped save the city from starvation!

3- Rejected Schengen visa applicants lash out at ‘merciless’ Spain and other countries

4-Shark sighting forces bathers out of water at Costa Blanca beach in Spain

5- IN PICS: Costa del Sol in the 1970s

GILIPOLLAS: A common insult against drivers

NO PAY

FOUR out of 10 workers in Spain receive no compensation for their overtime.

A study carried out by Infojobs and Adecco exposed businesses in Spain for not complying with the regulations placed by the Spanish Government in 2019.

The latest royal decree states that full-time employees can only work up to 80 hours of overtime a year.

It also enforces companies to monitor and register their employees working time and to pay them for all the extra hours worked.

Those organisations not complying with these policies could face fines of up to €6,000.

However, the study shows that most companies ignored these regulations last year.

In 2022, over half of the workers (53%) did more hours than their theoretical annual working time.

BRITISH telecoms group Vodafone could pull out of Spain and has hired the Morgan Stanley investment bank to review its options in the country, according to Spanish media reports. Spain, which comprises around 9% of global operations, was Vodafone’s worst-performing region in the 2023 financial year, with service revenue growth falling by 5.4% - the highest in any of the company’s markets. The fall was blamed on ‘continued price

Morocco links grow with cultural tip to Tangier

GIBRALTAR is ramping up cultural and business links with the Moroccan city of Tangier as the Rock moves ever closer to a possible hard frontier with Spain.

A group of around 20 cultural figures travelled to Tangier on a cultural weekend that included a music video presentation, art, cooking and writing workshops.

The Gibraltar Morocco Business Association (GMBA) officially opened its offices in the heart of Tangier, three years after originally planned because of the pandemic.

The deepening of contacts with Morocco comes as time runs out on talks for an EU treaty between UK and Spain over Gibraltar. Minister for Culture John

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

Vodafone’s uncertain future

competition and a lower customer base’. In the group’s latest annual report, published in May, it noted a ‘strategic review’ of its operations in Spain was part of a multi-faceted action plan to spur growth across several European markets.

Deutsche Bank telecoms analyst Robert Grindle said that a partial or full sale of

Pay

up!

Vodafone’s Spanish division, including its fixed-network infrastructure, could attract private equity interest.

“Further strategic action by Vodafone to address underperforming assets following recent news of the proposed UK merger should prove sentiment supportive,” noted Grindle, referring to Vodafone’s planned merger with Three.

GOOD FOR BUSINESS

By John Culatto

Cortes led the group to Tangier where he presented a Mark Montovio sculpture to the Donabo Botanic Gardens in Tangier.

Justice

The piece or art is one of three looking at the idea of justice and judgement and is made from recycled materials.

Musician Adrian Pisarello also teamed up with Liam Byrne and Ismail Mnebhi to shoot a colourful video

in Gibraltar and Tangier. The trio presented the finished edit which features a song in English, Spanish and Moroccan Arabic in the North African city. The visiting group then went on to cook their own tagine lunch in the Donabo Gardens.

In the afternoon, Gibraltar artist Ermelinda Duarte offered a tile crafting workshop and Book Coun-

cil member Melissa Bosano challenged the group to write creatively.

Illustrator Eleanor Dobbs then gave a workshop exploring new forms of expression and provided children who were deaf and hard of hearing with a sketching lesson.

A visit to Gallery Kent and a presentation of ‘Tangier from the Rock’s artistic lens’ completed the visit.

Pension scheme boost

THE volume of assets in the individual pension system in Spain increased by €365m to €83.1bn in May 2023, according to data from Inverco.

The company noted that the positive returns experienced during the month drove the rise in individual pension assets.

This is the third month in a row that individual pension assets have increased in Spain, rising from €82bn to €83.1bn between the end of February and the end of May.

Big figures

20

21

Correos delivers

SPAIN’S national post service, Correos, has won two awards at the World Post & Parcel Awards 2023.

It scooped the prizes for the Correos Market app, and in the Postal Evolution category for the Correos Frío service.

The public company said in a statement that these awards are considered the ‘Oscars of the postal and logistics sector’.

BANKS in Spain have been told to start paying clients better rates for their savings as interest rates continue to climb.

The call has come from Economy Minister, Nadia Calvino, speaking at an event organised by the BBVA bank. Banks have cashed in with increased profit margins due to the European Central Bank tightening its monetary policy and lifting interest rates to 3.5% - the highest in over 20 years. Most banks though have not passed on the full benefit of rate rises to customers who have deposit accounts. Nadio Calvino said: “I have no doubt that the Spanish banking sector has to start transmitting the rise in interest rates for the benefit of customers and Spanish citizens.”

Positive outlook

THE Bank of Spain has raised its economic growth forecast for 2023 to 2.3% from 1.6% in March as activity picked up more than expected at the start of the year, with energy costs easing and employment rising.

The country’s GDP has also been boosted in recent months with record numbers of foreign visitors pumping money into the economy.

The Bank says that GDP will rise by 2.2% and 2.1% respectively in 2024 and 2025.

“The Spanish economy has shown remarkable resilience in the first half of the year,” highlights the Bank of Spain’s quarterly report.

The entity believes that inflation will close the year at an average of 3.2% compared to 3.7% in its last quarterly report in March.

THE El Corte Ingles Group closed the 2022 financial year with global revenues of €15.3 billion - up 22.5% compared to the previous year with net profits rising seven-fold to €870 million.

The group says the results are down to the way it has developed its business, cut costs, and introduced management improvements which has allowed it to consolidate growth despite customers having to endure higher inflation and interest rates.

“The solid financial position together with a strong recovery in profitability will allow the group to undertake new projects in the future,” an El Corte Ingles statement said.

The main growth driver has been the retail side of the business, which achieved sales of €12.2 billion representing a growth of 7.8% compared to the previous year with fashion doing well as sales went up by 16.3%.

Economy Minister Nadia Calvino

VISIT: Forging bonds with Morocco

Book crossing ACTING PRETTY

AVID readers from Gibraltar and all the way up the Costa del Sol exchanged their books at a Book Crossing event in Main Street.

Gibraltar Cultural Services (GCS) set up a stall outside the historic St Mary’s Cathedral last Saturday.

Locals and visitors were able to take a book or two which they could exchange for their own books they then left at the stand.

The Rock’s Ministry of Education and Culture said the aim was ‘making the whole world a library’.

Locals

“Last year’s event saw a fantastic atmosphere and buzz around the love of books, drawing in both locals and visitors, with many tourists picking up a read for their travels,” the culture ministry said in a statement.

“This ties in with the original book crossing concept where books are set free, passed on and circulated so as many people as possible discover and enjoy them.”

The book crossing gave people the chance to find the latest novels on their favourite niches. It also encouraged readers to share why they love certain authors and genres and recommend them to others.

GCS said that its ‘staff were on hand to assist and engage with visitors’.

Gods of art

Graffiti and classical art fused by Spanish duo

TWO Spanish graffiti artists have built up an international reputation for creating murals of the ancient Greek gods on large high-rise buildings across the world.

The eye-catching works seamlessly combine modern artistic sensibilities with the ancient Greek mythological world. PichiAvo have been described

EUROPE’S largest vertical mural, on Spain’s south coast, is just weeks away from completion. Covering over 6,000 square metres, Les Rivages de Almuñécar, by artist Jose Ríos, is being painted on three 12-storey buildings.

The mural depicts a figure of a dog walking on the beach, the silhouette of a woman and the

By Alex Trelinski

as being ‘among the most prominent street artists on the current urban art scene’.

Pichi and Avo trained in Fine Art and Design and met on the graffiti art scene in Valencia before becoming a duo in 2007.

Tall order

waves of the sea and the golden sand. Its conception was to convey a sense of transparency and disguise the tower blocks on which it is painted. It will be viewable in all its glory in the town of Almuñecar.

BULLY FOR THEM!

Pamplona beckons as the San Fermin festival is poised to start

By Alex Trelinski

THE famous San Fermin ‘bull running’ festival is about to kick off with the ‘Chupinazo’ inaugural firing of a rocket.

People from all across the world will flock to the historic city of Pamplona for the July 7 to July 14 event.

While the running of the bulls and associated bullfights are the most high-profile events, there is much more to the festival than that.

The city council organises more than 500 concerts, parties, firework displays and a ‘wine fight’ where merrymakers soaked each other in tinto.

Every day at 8am, six fighting bulls along with four oxen run the 825 metre route from the Corrales de Santo Domingo to Pamplona’s Plaza de Toros.

An estimated one million spectators will watch thousands of people run with the bulls over the eight days of the San Fermin Festival.

From that moment they worked on developing joint projects, pursuing an unremitting search for a style of their own in fusion of graffiti and classical art.

Recently the pair completed stylized graffiti murals of the Greek gods and subjects from Greek Mythology in Spain and Canada, and also recently took part in the 2023 Mural Festival in Montreal.

In Spain, they have finished a mural in Merida, Extremadura, near to the city’s famous Roman Hippodrome, once used for horse and chariot racing.

Commenting on the new mural, PichiAvo said: “We painted a new version of the Venus del Mitreo which is exhibited in the Museo Nacional del Arte Romano also located in Merida.”

“It involved reconstructing the bust inspired by the Syra-

cuse-type Venus from the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, since we found the similarity between the two works very fruitful,” they commented.

The synergy between classical art and graffiti can be seen in their many murals of the ancient Greek gods that combine contemporary street art with the sensibilities of the ancient world.

A NEW website will give businesses and individuals an easy way to help fund Gibraltar's 1000-seater national theatre.

The digital platform showcases the latest plans for the theatre at the John Mackintosh Hall, which will get a substantial facelift in the process.

Apart from the main multi-level theatre there will be a secondary studio theatre seating 200 people, a much larger modern library, exhibition spaces and a chic cafe restaurant.

It will replace the current theatre which is much smaller.

The Gibraltar National Theatre Foundation (GNTF) that runs the project is hoping more people and businesses take part in funding the project.

It started its ‘Buy-a-Seat’ campaign that allows entities to put their names on seats they funded, which will be a real legacy to those who fund them.

"We are excited to provide the community with a user-friendly online platform that not only informs about our progress but also invites engagement and support," said a GNTF spokesperson. "

THRILL: but with it comes danger and (below) a firework laden effigy of a bull

Runners are ticketed and strictly limited to 3,000 per day and, contrary to popular belief, most of the injuries are caused by other humans involved in trampling rather than any incidents with a bull.

Deadly

Although, of course, the bulls can be deadly. Since records started being kept in 1910, 15 people have been killed during the runs - mainly as a result of goring.

The last non-Spaniard to die from a goring was an American tourist aged 22 in 1995.

Some 200 people, mainly from the Cruz Roja (Red Cross), provide medical services every 50 metres down the route, with 20 ambulances on stand-by which can take people to hospital in 10 minutes.

The event dates back to the 13th century tradition of transferring bulls from fields outside Pamplona to the bullring where they would be killed in the evening. During that run, youths would jump among them in a display of bravado.

CLASSIC GRAFFITI: Painted by PichiAvo (below)

SAFETY: Watch from the balcony to avoid danger

Boring news

THE Spanish government has pledged €2.3 million towards a feasibility study for a highspeed rail network to Morocco through an underwater tunnel.

The longstanding proposal, known as the ‘Europe-Africa Gibraltar Strait fixed link’ was put on hold in 2009 but has now been revived.

A joint Spanish-Moroccan commission reconvened for the first time in 14 years back in April, sparking renewed enthusiasm for the initiative. The Strait of Gibraltar, at its narrowest point between Point Marroquí in Spain and Point Cires in Morocco, spans a distance of just 13 km. Funding will be allocated from the European Union's Recovery, Transformation & Resilience Plan.

Spanish gourmet dominates at awards night

SPAIN’S restaurants held their heads high at the Best Restaurants in the World Awards 2023’ staged at Valencia’s Les Arts Opera House.

The ceremony honoured the pinnacle of gastronomic talent from 24 countries across five continents, with three out of the top four coming from Spain.

But it was Central in Peru’s capital of Lima that was named the best restaurant in the world by 1,080 restaurant industry experts.

It edged out Barcelona’s Disfrutar, Madrid’s Diverxo, and Axtondo’s Asador Etxeberri, with Disfrutar’s second-place guaranteeing it the best restaurant in Europe award.

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 6 Impressionist, 8 Peerage, 9 Rabbi, 10 Thin, 11 Concrete, 15 Aberdeen, 16 Stud, 19 Value, 21 Chapati, 22 Lackadaisical.

Down: 1 Appetite, 2 Repay, 3 Isle, 4 Correct, 5 Limb, 6 Input, 7 Trice, 12 One, 13 Entrance, 14 Adrenal, 15 Anvil, 17 Drill, 18 Gassy, 20 Luck, 21 Coat.

TUCK IN!

By Alex Trelinski

Further down the list, Quique Dacosta in Denia came 20th and Mugaritz in San Sebastian was 31st.

Spanish restaurants had a strong showing further down the list, including the first appearance of Valencia’s Restaurante Ricard Camarina at 96 and the return of

chef Albert Adria’s Engima in Barcelona at number 82.

Perfection

Total perfection was achieved by chef Antoni Luis Arduiz who received the Icon Award for his lifetime of work at San

History covered

Sebastian’s Mugaritz and Madrid’s Diverxo. Diverxo’s in-house sommelier Miguel Angel Millan also took home the prize for Best Sommelier in the World.

FOODTASTIC

THREE Malaga province restaurants have been named amongst Europe’s best eateries. According to the Opinionated About Dining (OAD) ranking, based on reviews submitted by some of the world’s most experienced diners, three of the best restaurants in Europe - all of which have Michelin stars - are found in Malaga; Kaleja, Bardal and Skina.

Kaleja, which sits in an exclusive part of the Jewish quarter in Malaga, has been highlighted for its modern interpretations of Andalucian and Spanish dishes.

Next up is Skina, located in Marbella, this restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star in 2009 and brings the essence of Japanese cuisine to the Costa del Sol. It also has a new menu every fortnight.

Finally, Bardal, located in the heart of Ronda, is a gastronomic experience led by chef Benito Gomez.

THE June issue of National Geographic has captivated readers by featuring Spain’s Crown Jewel; The Alhambra Palace. The prestigious magazine dedicates an elaborate report to Granada’s greatest monument, with the cover headline ‘The hidden Alhambra’ and a photo showing the characteristic architecture of the beautiful, ancient palace.

Noentry

SPAIN is the EU country second most likely to refuse a visa application, according to applicants and EU data. Social media platforms have become a haven for applicants to vent their rage at Schengen countries for what they perceive as ‘merciless’ refusal of their applications. Recent statistics released for 2022 indicate that Schengen countries collectively rejected 17.9% of the 7,572,755 visa applications submitted worldwide. Spain followed France in a close second in rejecting 227,712 applications out of nearly 1,250,000 applications.

MORE than 11 million primary care appointments have been missed in the past year when patients failed to turn up.

The El Pais newspaper has made the calculation on figures supplied by regional health authorities.

It says the actual total is higher because five regions (Asturias, the Canary Islands, Madrid, the Basque Country and Navar-

WASTED TIME

ra) have not supplied data, either because they do not monitor missed appointments or refused to provide information.

“At the management level, these figures reveal an inefficiency of the system and is a waste of a very valuable asset for the

Dear Jennifer:

Safe as houses

health system: namely the time of the doctors,” said the vice-president of the Spanish Society of Health Directors, Jon Guajardo.

The differences in absenteeism between regions range from the lowest range from 2% through 10% in the highest which include Aragon and Murcia, though those are said to be ‘internal estimates’.

TEETHING PROBLEMS

PUBLIC Health chiefs have warned about the danger to babies caused by teething necklaces.

Dr Helen Carter, Director of Public Health and the Gibraltar Health Authority said they could strangle or choke babies. The necklaces have become popular with parents who want

Concerns raised of potential choking risk of teething necklaces

By John Culatto

to aid their children as they go through their early years when their first teeth come out.

Revolutionary scanner

A NEW x-ray scanner that cuts radioactive emissions by up to 85% is being used for the first time in a Spanish public hospital.

The unit costing €720,000 has been installed at Valencia’s Doctor Peset University Hospital and operates vertically which means fullbody x-rays are conducted while patients stand. It will be used for the treatment and planning of surgeries in adults and children with musculo-skeletal problems involving mainly the spine, hip, knee and ankle.

HIGH-TEC: The new scanner

At least ask the write questions to make sure you are covered

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

Is your building size correct? Are your outside areas correctly covered – especially including pools and terraces? Do you have enough contents cover?

What Liberty Seguros offers today is the best. A specially designed policy for the Expats, with policy documents in English. The other very important issue when discussing house insurance is the amount of contents cover, always remembering that with Spanish Home insurance the kitchen is included in the contents, not the buildings.

There are optional extras that can be added to your policy, so that it is tailor made for your requirements, which include garden protection, Home Improved, which allows you to increase the aesthetic restoration and additional cover for valuable objects and jewellery (conditions apply)

A further extra you can add to your policy is accidental damage, which is unique to Liberty Seguros and covers many breakages and claims within the home.

But the health authority has tried to warn that these necklaces could have lethal consequences.

“We know that teething necklaces and jewellery products have become increasingly popular among parents and caregivers who want to provide relief for children’s teething pain,” said Dr. Carter.

“At Public Health, we are concerned about the risks we’ve observed with these products and want parents to be aware that teething jewellery puts children at risk of serious injury.”

Although teething necklaces are sold strictly for the parent or care-giver to wear, the health authority wanted to be clear that babies could be more at risk if the necklaces are put around their necks.

This is especially true if the necklace breaks or the clasp fails. Babies would quickly swallow the inedible beads, causing choking and possible death,

24/7 EMERGENCY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE

BREAK DOWN COVER

If your car breaks down it can be an upsetting experience, especially if you don’t have roadside assistance cover. But they are also the most common type of problem on the road.

STAY SAFE

If you break down, stay calm and safe until rescue support arrives. Remember that while you wait for help, your priority is to safeguard yourself and any fellow passengers. Línea Directa policyholders simply call 919 171 171 and inform the emergency hotline where you are. Línea Directa provides emergency roadside assistance anywhere in Spain 24/7 and 365 days a year, with a national network of operators and recovery vehicles.

GEOLOCATION SERVICE

This service is exclusive to Línea Directa and allows breakdown recovery and roadside assistance services to pinpoint your location and send help directly to you. This service is available throughout mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. The technology is simple to use and really useful when you need it most.

BREAKDOWN KIT

To help you stay safe here is a checklist of some important safety items in the event of a breakdown. This emergency breakdown kit should be kept in your vehicle at all times. The kit includes: a torch and spare batteries, warm clothes and blankets, high-visibility jacket, first aid kit, jump start cables, empty fuel can, food and drink, two reflective warning signs, a road atlas, and a mobile phone charger.

OVER 20 YEARS OF EXPERTISE

As Spain’s most experienced provider of insurance for British expatriates, Línea Directa has been keeping motorists on the move for over 20 years.

We hope the information provided in this article is of interest. If you would like to contact Línea Directa please call 952 147 834. More information about Línea Directa online at www.lineadirecta.com

We hope the information provided in this article is of interest. If you would like to contact Linea Directa please call 952 147 834. More information about Linea Directa online at www.lineadirecta.com

Public Health warned. The health authority claimed there was ‘no scientific research’ to back up the health benefits of these necklaces.“It occurs when the necklaces are worn around a child’s neck, especially when unsupervised (such as while sleeping) or if the child were to break the necklace and swallow the beads. “However, those risks are not only for these teething necklaces.”

Public Health Gibraltar has advised the public to report any such accidents to them in confidentiality.

Therefore can I please ask you all to double check the coverage of your home policies, whether you are with Jennifer Cunningham Insurance and Liberty, or another company, to understand the cover you actually have.

Finding out you have the incorrect and insufficient coverage when you want to make a claim is far too late.

If you rent out your property, there is further Landlord Protection which provides cover for acts of vandalism by the tenant and also unpaid rent covers up to 6 months once a final judgement has been made legally.

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

Just remember that your home is probably your most expensive asset, but there are also your personal belongings, which of course, needs the right protection.

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

Just hanging

A MASSIVE snake of 15 kg which was rolled up on a tree has been rescued by firefighters in Barcelona’s district of Les Corts.

Last call

A PASSENGER who was late for his flight desperately forced his way to the end of the disconnected jet bridge and clumsily jumped onto the tarmac in Malaga airport.

Big deal

HUNDREDS of half-naked people queued outside two Desigual shops as the brand gave away two free items for the first 100 customers coming in underwear in Madrid.

P

CITY OF CHEATS

Catalunya dominates list for having the most unfaithful towns

IF you suspect your romantic partner may be susceptible to a bit of illicit hanky panky, avoid living in Catalunya.

A list of the ‘most unfaithful’ places in Spain not only gives the top three spots to Catalan towns, but the region dominates the score of shame with seven municipalities in the top 20.

By Cristina Hodgson

The stats for cheating partners comes from online dating forum Ashley Madison, which advertises itself as a platform that ‘caters to the needs of married people and/ or couples who are looking to add some spice to their rela-

Slithery surprise

A LARGE snake has come as a big surprise for a Rota homeowner, who found the reptile slithering around the patio of his house. The reptile, identified as an adult horseshoe whip snake over one metre in length, was successfully captured unharmed by the police and returned to its natural habitat.

These snakes are slender, shy and fast moving and will defend themselves by biting, but are not poisonous.

tionships and have extramarital affairs’. The ranking shows the cities

with the highest concentration of cheaters in relation to the population of each city. And the leading cities are Manresa - top of the list for the third year in a rowGirona and Barcelona, all three of them Catalan municipalities.

According to Christoph Kraemer from Ashley Madison: “One in four Spaniards would like to have a non-monoga-

mous relationship.

“Whether with their partner, alone, in open relationships or in a non-unbundled way, more and more people are changing monogamy for other types of relationships that give them more satisfaction and happiness.”

Toledo, which last year was not in the top 20, is now ranked as the fifth most unfaithful municipality.

Additionally, three of the top 20 most adulterous cities are on the Costa del Sol; Marbella (eighth), Malaga city (14th) and Fuengirola (17th), and over on the Costa Blanca, Valencia comes in 13th.

COPS hunting a man in Valencia who was part of a masked crew that raided a home were confronted by an African Lynx when they stormed his flat. But reports say that the caracal, to give it its proper name, far from being fierce turned out to be a scaredy cat when it spotted the officers.

As they subdued the robbery suspect the wild cat ran frightened in circles before taking refuge on top of a fridge. The species can reach up to 19 kilos in weight, is a nocturnal species and tends to be shy. The lynx was handed over to one of the detained man’s relatives.

HOLIDAY TIME!

WITH rising temperatures the summer holiday spirit takes over shoplifters - and their favourite targets change too. While the rest of the year sees cheeses and hams as the most stolen items, in summer the trend changes. Instead, petty thieves target suntan lotions, condoms, alcoholic beverages, sun glasses and ice creams - €100 million’s worth each summer.