Olive Press Gibraltar Issue 220

Top dining at two special restaurants

See page 14

WINE, MUSIC AND MANILVA

See page 7

ROCKY TIMES

Gibraltar holds its breath as the McGrail corruption inquiry finally begins next week

AMID a swirl of accusations and recriminations that have seen the Rock likened to a ‘banana republic’, the long-awaited McGrail Inquiry is finally set to go ahead next week.

The public probe will investigate the circumstances surrounding the resignation of former Gibraltar Police Commissioner Iain McGrail in June 2020.

Lawyers acting for the former police chief have accused Chief Minister Fabian Picardo of interfering in a police investigation into his old boss at the law firm where he worked for 20 years.

The high-stakes investigation has the Rock increasingly on tenterhooks, as the eyes of the world start to take notice of what is going on on the tiny peninsula.

Even the Times , following on from

By Walter Finch

what the Olive Press has been covering since the furore first broke out four years ago, dispatched their Chief Reporter to Gibraltar.

The journey that has brought the participants to the eve of the Inquiry has been fraught with threats, delays and controversies.

Among them are allegations of evidence fabrication, witness inducements, and, most recently, rushed through legislation that grants the government - a ‘core participant’increased control over the inquiry.

Adam Wagner, a barrister representing McGrail, accused the government of having an order to restrict evidence from the public ‘ready to go’ when the new bill is passed.

He called it the ‘sole or major purpose’ of using emergency powers to pass the bill just days before the inquiry begins.

The government argues the new Inquiries Bill will ‘modernise and align Gibraltar law with UK law’, giving the upcoming inquiry the best possible platform to succeed.

Opposition leader Keith Azopardi had arranged a meeting with Governor Vice Admiral Sir David Steel last Thursday - the day the bill was due to be passed - to highlight the ‘conflict of interest’ it entailed.

The GSD leader described it as an ‘ugly power grab’ designed merely to give the government - and therefore Picardo himself - powers to ‘sidestep’ the Inquiry chairman, Sir Peter Openshaw.

However, in a back-and-forth slanging match, Picardo slammed

Azopardi as being ‘disloyal’. He accused his opposition counterpart of seeking to quash Gibraltar’s constitutional democracy and re-impose direct rule from London in order to stop the bill passing.

History

“Mr Azopardi will go down in history as a Leader of the Opposition who put his own party and political interests ahead of the public interest in seeking Direct Rule, in a manner that would have reversed 50 years of constitutional development in Gibraltar,” the Chief Min-

ister stormed. Azopardi angrily hit back, dismissing the allegations as ‘pure invention and misinformation’.

“This is just a desperate Chief Minister who doesn’t know what to do to distract from the festering conflicts of interest he is immersed in. “He doesn’t know how to get out of all this or how to distract people from the real issues.”

Despite helming the Gibraltar government for four consecutive terms since 2012, Picardo remains a partner at the prestigious law firm Hassans. There he worked under senior partner James Levy, who Picardo’s lawyers have described as his ‘friend, colleague and mentor’. McGrail’s lawyers allege that Picardo called him into a meeting with the Attorney General Michael Llamas to rage at him in May 2020. The cause of his wrath stemmed from the police chief sending his officers to carry out a search of Levy’s offices and home as part of

a criminal investigation.

Operation Delhi was looking into the alleged awarding of a government security contract to a company partially owned by the partners of Hassans - including Picardo and Levy.

The charges conclude that Picardo forced McGrail’s resignation in June 2020 in order to protect himself and Levy, among other suspects, from the investigation.

Refuted

Lawyers for the Government have strongly refuted this version of events, insisting that it had made it clear in writing the contract would not be awarded to a company partners from Hassans had an interest in.

The government has stressed that it was Picardo himself who initiated the McGrail Inquiry, while Levy was never charged and the investigation discontinued in January 2022.

PLAYERS: (Clockwise from top left) Sir David Steel, James Levy, Adam Wagner, Sir Peter Openshaw, Fabian Picardo, Ian McGrail and Keith Azopardi

Smugglers jailed

THREE alleged people smugglers have been arrested in southern Spain after being accused of throwing 37 migrants into dangerous waters, five of whom died.

Jihadi probe

A YOUNG man is being investigated for terrorism after smashing up a McDonald’s restaurant in Badalona, Barcelona, with a machete.

Brazen narcos

AN investigation has been launched after 11 narco boats were recorded racing up and down the Costa del Sol last week, before one rammed into a Guardia Civil patrol boat.

Taxi attack

TWO thugs have been arrested after robbing a taxi driver at knife point in Estepona and stealing €800 of his takings.

SIX men have been arrested for kidnapping and torturing a Dutch man after he bungled a €3million cocaine delivery. The leader of the gang - dubbed the Peaky Blinders of the Netherlands - is a 38-year-old known as 'Lee A' who reportedly has a British father and a Dutch mother.

Peaky Blunder

The 24-year-old victim was robbed in the Netherlands last April while driving a car containing the huge cocaine haul. He was sent to the UK for a lie detector test, which was inconclusive, before

Narco choppers

Daring helicopter pilots were paid €150k per trip to ferry drugs across the Gibraltar strait

UKRAINIAN pilots who imported drugs from Morocco to Spain on helicopters have been busted by the Guardia Civil and the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie.

Nine people have been arrested in Andalucia including two elite

being dragged back to a field in Fuengirola, where his colleagues attempted to extract ‘the truth’ from him by all means necessary - including stabbing him in the feet and slicing his fingers. He miraculously survived after being dumped in a ravine and is now living in Turkey.

By Alex Trelinski & Yzabelle Bostyn

Ukrainian pilots who are experts in nighttime and low-altitude flights, and who were paid at least €150,000 per trip.

SHOOTING ARRESTS

A BRITON and an Irishman have been arrested over one of the dramatic shootings in Puerto Banus last month. The duo are accused of pulling up on a motorbike to a restaurant in the Marbella resort and firing 15 shots at an unknown target. Both men are said to be linked to organised crime, according to police sources. They are charged with illegal possession of weapons, falsifying documents, violation of immigration laws and more. During two home raids, police seized €31,190 in cash, a large machete and a revolver. Both men have been sent to jail to await trial.

Both helicopters - worth €900,000 each on the black market - have been seized along with 795 kilos of hashish. Operation Torcal 469 Tornado began in mid-2023 after au-

thorities discovered that the gang was looking for pilots to carry out drug flights across the Strait of Gibraltar.

Guardia officers found two helicopters hidden on farms in Sevilla and Cadiz that were being leased by the gang’s leader.

In the early hours of January 15, investigators detected a narco-flight in Cadiz province heading

LOADED: €4million worth of hashish

south from the clan’s farm and flying at a very low altitude and without any lights.

A Guardia Civil helicopter pursued and arrested five people including the pilot when it landed at a farm in Chiclana de Frontera.

One of the pilots has been identified as Vitor Blaha, a former Ukrainian police colonel. Blaha is accused of piloting the helicopter, which carried 30 bales of hashish weighing 795 kilos, worth around €4 million. One of the organisation's leaders, a Morrocan man resident in Spain, crashed his car and died close to where the helicopter was seized after attempting to flee.

Barrowman cleared

THE husband of Tory peer Michelle Mone has been cleared of fraud and embezzlement charges following a trial in Spain.

Doug Barrowman, 58, was facing five and a half years in prison over allegations he misappropriated €6.3m from a Spanish cable factory ‘for illicit benefit’ in 2008.

Prosecutors had alleged that Barrowman profited from a fraudulent invoice designed to evade tax and extract millions of euros from Spanish company B3 Cable Solutions via UK company Axis Ventura in 2008. However, to the relief of the Glasgow-born millionaire and his six co-defendants in the dock with him, they were each acquitted on all charges at Cantabria’s Provincial Court in Santander.

SHOOTING SPREE

POLICE are investigating yet another shooting in Marbella after a 21-year-old man was left wounded inside his car in Puerto Banus. The victim, a Spaniard, was shot in his knee and in his pelvis in the Los Naranjos urbanisation, popular with British expats. Sources said they were called to the scene after a series of gunshots at around 12.15am, where they found the wounded man inside a vehicle.

WHO’S THE DADDY

A GORILLA that arrived at London Zoo from Spain in November 2022 has become a father - twice in a few weeks.

Kiburi,19, came from Tenerife as part of the conservation breeding programme which ensures the preservation of a genetically diverse and healthy gorilla

population.

Silverback Kiburi mated with Mjukuu with a baby being born in January before nearly a month later, Kiburi's other partner, Effie, had her baby.

Primates Section Manager Kathryn Sanders said: “We’re over the moon to have a second gorilla infant born here at London Zoo in the space of a month.

“These babies are an important addition to the conservation breeding programme for this endangered species, and just as importantly, great additions to our troop.”

Old age pedaller

AN expat who has just turned 75 is not letting age keep him back as he sets off on a 1,000 kilometre bike ride for charity.

Cadiz resident Peter Munt-Davies has kept his passion for cycling challenges, with his latest quest being the Camino de Santiago pilgrims route.

No slowing down for veteran cyclist as he sets off on 1,000km challenge

Pembrokeshire-born

Pe -

ter started his journey from Sevilla to raise money for the Shelter Cymru homes and people charity in his home country of Wales.

REAL Madrid’s star winger, Vinicius Junior, has admitted he is ‘losing the desire to play football’ thanks to repetitive racist abuse he has received whilst playing in Spain.

The Brazilian’s comments came in an emotional press conference prior to the ‘One Skin’ friendly between Brazil and Spain at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu, which finished 3-3. Vinicius, who is black, said: “I just want to play football but it is hard to move forward. I feel less and less like playing”. Valencia were given a partial stadium ban for five matches and fined €45,000 last year after Vinicius was subjected to monkey chants.

In May 2023, four men were arrested in Madrid after an effigy of the Brazilian was hung from a bridge over a busy motorway.

By Alex Trelinski

His niece, Krista, has worked for Shelter Cymru for over 20 years to make it an especially personal challenge for Peter. He hopes to raise £5,000 by completing the pilgrims route in 18 days.

Peter’s previous challenges included cycling power across Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to raise money for an addiction support charity.

“I’ve ridden bikes for most of my life,” he said.

“In my opinion, Pembrokeshire is one of the best

cycle, but I am biased!”

The retired teacher, who moved to Spain in 2017, is anticipating riding solo and sees staying in a different hostel every night as a challenge.

He’ll be cycling up to 100 kms a day, with just three rest days planned for his ride.

“I’m looking forward to quiet roads and continuously changing scenery. I love the movement on a bike,” he added.

No desire

Peter has prepared by getting out on his bike as much as possible in recent weeks and practising with a GPS.

Understandably his anticipated highlight will be arriving in the main square by Santiago de Compostela cathedral, where his wife Anne will be part of the welcoming

ELLE OF A DRESS

PENELOPE Cruz may be about to turn 50, but she is proving that age is just a number as she makes the pages of glossy magazines. As part of a feature for her birthday by Elle magazine, she took a leaf out of German supermodel Claudia Schiffer´s book.

Cruz wore the same iconic green Versace dress that 53-year-old Schiffer modelled on her return to the runway during the Versace Spring 2024 show in Milan. Both ladies prove that age is no barrier in the modern world. Cruz told Elle: “People have been asking me about age since I was twentysomething. I was more bothered then than now. Now it makes more sense to discuss turning 50. It’s a huge, beautiful thing, and I really want to celebrate that with all my friends. It means I’m here and I’m healthy, and it’s a reason to have a party.”

Sunk cost

THE owner of Spain's Inditex fash ion store empire has sold his su peryacht after three years of trying at a €19 million loss. Amancio Ortega bought Driz zle for €95 million after it was built in 2012 and it got a multi-million Euro re furb five years ago. De spite this he got ‘only’ €76 million for it. The yacht can accommodate 10 people in its five cab ins and has three decks with a dining and living room on each of them.

It has a steel hull and aluminium superstructure and is 68.7 metres long and 11.20 metres wide.

On your doorstep

A NEW art museum is set to open in Gibraltar next Autumn.

Fortress House is described as an ‘ambitious’ new venture, predominantly featuring female artists.

The museum will have an emphasis on ‘individuality’ and ‘identity’, featuring work by Tracy Emin, Grayson Perry and Antony Gormley.

“The nearest museums to Gibraltar of note would be those in Malaga,” said director Henry Little.

Redefine

“That’s at least a two hour drive away to access an international calibre of contemporary art or cultural offering. We are trying to redefine Gibraltar as a cultural destination.”

The museum will be located in the former residence of the Governor of Gibraltar. An 18th-century property, it was bought by an anonymous founder and collector, who is privately funding the museum. Fortress House will include thematic displays of hundreds of works, two cafes, an art education centre and a rooftop sculpture garden.

DON ROAMING!

World’s Most Wanted don

Christy Kinahan is one of Google’s most prolific restaurant reviewers

A LEGENDARY Costa mafia boss may have inadvertently given away his movements due to his addiction to reviewing restaurants online.

Ireland’s Most Wanted gangster Christy ‘the Dapper Don’ Kinahan, 67, has spent the last four years reviewing numerous places he eats and stays at on Google.

Under the name ‘Christopher Vincent’ the kingpin has made over 220 reviews around the world.

As well as 131 ratings and 92 reviews, he also gave 144 ‘helpful votes’ on a range of places including shopping malls and outlet stores.

Starting in 2019 - soon after he fled Spain to live in Dubai

By Walter Finch

full time - the majority of his reviews are in the Middle East, Dubai and Turkey.

Yet, the wanted gangster, said to be behind the death of numerous gangland figures, somehow managed to visit and review establishments in Barcelona, Madrid and other parts of Spain. They even include the Costa del Sol, where he and his sons Daniel and Christy Jnr lived for nearly two decades, running gyms and other businesses.

Tricky Ricky’s is an ‘old English style cafe in Guadalmina’ with staff ‘friendly but busi-

BUSTED!: Christy Jr and Sr snapped in Dubai nesslike’, according to Kinahan Sr, who awarded it three stars.

Meanwhile, the waiters at the nearby Asador bar should be able to breathe easy after he called them ‘friendly, efficient and helpful’ and the service ‘very good.’

“I give this establishment a resounding 5 star rating, without second thoughts or hesitation,” he declared.

In 2021, he warned travellers in Barcelona that taxi drivers did not know where the Hyatt Regency was, but went on to declare the

hotel ‘very clean’ with ‘comfortable rooms’, adding that he would ‘stay here again for a tourist break.’

A hotel employee thanked the mafia don for his feedback and promised to ‘follow up’ on the taxi issue.

‘Buzzing’ Cheri restaurant in Barcelona was also praised by Kinahan Sr for its ‘super’ ambience when ‘one is enjoying the company of one's friends or family.’

Kinahan Sr and his two sons fled to the United Arab Emirates a number of years ago, where there is no extradition treaty with either Spain or the USA. They were thought to be laying low after having a €15 million bounty placed on their collective heads in April 2022.

NOT A ROOKIE!

PLANNING permission has been granted for a major development at the Rooke site after new revised plans were revealed.

It was granted during a meeting of the development and planning commission. The same developers presented alternative plans for the site in February last year. Although the outline permission was granted, it came with many conditions.

Instead of changing their existing plans, Carlton Properties decided to revisit them, again requesting outline permission. The mixed use development includes residential, commercial and retail units, alongside an open air theatre and padel courts.

Third time funny

MICHAEL McIntyre has added a second and third night to the Gibraltar stop of his Macnificent tour. He will be performing at the Europa Sports Complex from Friday, September 20 to Sunday, September 22.

The show marks McIntyre’s first tour in five years, with his previous run selling over four million tickets and breaking international box-office records.

Snappy Spaniards

FORMER Miss España, Eva Gonzalez, was spotted snapping tourist photos in Gibraltar over Easter.

The model and TV presenter was accompanied by designer Rocio Martin Berrocal, sister of designer Vicky Martin Berrocal and the Algecerian businessman Curi Gallardo.

The pair posed in a typical red phone box with the caption ‘God Save the Queen.’

Just the night before, she had uploaded a photo at the Europa Point Lighthouse. Gonzalez, who won the Miss España title in 2003, now presents Atresmedia and La Voz (the Voice).

POLICING PARTY

ROYAL Gibraltar Police officer Sean Perera helped overseas British territory, Montserrat, celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a 16 day festival.

Officer Perera is acting Commissioner of Police on the Caribbean island and was in charge of policing the event.

Montserrat’s links with Ireland date back to the seventeenth century when Irish settlers moved to the Caribbean islands to escape Oliver Cromwell’s invasion in 1641.

Artificial outrage

SPANIARDS are livid as Gibraltar is building a pipe to provide the British territory with drinking water from Spain.

According to Europa Sur, the ‘exact uses’ of the pipe are ‘yet

TOP GOLFER!

GIBRALTAR golfing prodigy Sebastian Desoisa has won the Campeonato de España sub-18 (under 18 National Championship).

Despite three days playing in challenging conditions in Castilla y Leon, Sebastian has done the Rock proud by coming out on top.

As a Gibraltarian, the youngster wasn’t crowned Champion of Spain but the win will nonetheless contribute to his impressive career and boost his amateur ranking.

Spaniards fume at new water pipeline as Spain suffers drought

to be determined’ but it is intended for ‘future emergencies’. The pipe, which will reach La Linea de la Concepcion, is about 80% complete and currently stands at the Spain-Gibraltar border.

The project reportedly needs more funding to reach its end destination, as this section is the most ‘expensive and complicated’ part of the trajectory. The final section, which runs under Winston Churchill Avenue is causing problems due to the ‘heavily developed’ nature of the land.

Works were started after the 2022 water crisis caused by a fire in Power's Drive Tunnel.

Some 4.4 million litres of wa-

By Yzabelle Bostyn

ter had to be trucked in from Spain as the desalinisation plant was knocked out of action.

AquaGib decided to build the pipeline to improve water security during an emergency. However, it is claimed that the water company has not contacted the relevant authorities in Spain regarding the pipe. Jose Manuel Alcantara, Director of Arcgisa confirmed that no contract had been signed regarding water supply to the Rock.

An AquaGib spokesman said: “The government has no in-

tention of using this pipe as a permanent supply of drinking water from Spain, and it will only be used in the future as a contingency measure in the event of an emergency.”

Currently, Gibraltar is not under any water restrictions and is self-sufficient. Despite this, the issue has reignited many Spaniards’ indignation that Gibraltar is under British rule.

An X user said: “What?? On top of everything they want to drink our water? Gibraltar is Spanish!”

Meanwhile others questioned the government's interests in the pipe: “As if the Spanish government didn’t have enough water supply problems! How can they allow this? What interests do they have with Gibraltar and the UK?”

A ROYAL Gibraltar Police officer is leaving the force after 16 years.

PC Tania Moreno joined the police after seeing the ‘camaraderie’ and ‘team spirit’ of the Community Safety Team.

Throughout her career, she has helped rescue boat crews, manage road traffic accidents and taken on admin roles. However, her favourite role was with the Neighbourhood Policing Team. She said: “I loved helping people.”

Now, she is looking forward to having ‘downtime’, concentrating on charity work and spending time with her partner and three dogs.

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.

Here we go

AFTER all the tears, toil and tantrums, a public hearing for the ages will finally go ahead. It’s been a rocky road to arrive here, but now it seems that all the moves have been made, and we just have to wait and see how events unfold.

In Sir Peter Openshaw, the inquiry has a chair beyond reproach, with updated legislation that will purportedly give it the best possible foundations. The stakes are sky high - if the Chief Minister is found to have abused his position, it will bring the peninsula into grave disrepute with possibly graver consequences.

If he is found to have acted correctly, his reputation and power will be restored - and a few portions of humble pie will be dished out.

Now we just have to sit back, enjoy the ride - and trust in British-Gibraltar justice.

Kinahan shame

THE fact that Christy Kinahan has been flying back and forth from Spain despite being one of the most wanted men in the world should be a source of embarrassment for Spanish police (Don roamin’, p4). The Irish mafia boss is allegedly behind one of the bloodiest gang rivalries in history, which saw multiple murders carried out between Spain and his home country.

His gang of henchmen terrorised the Costa del Sol for years before absconding to Dubai, where by all accounts, they are enjoying a life of luxury.

Incredibly, Christy himself left reviews for a spate of restaurants and hotels from Marbella to Barcelona as little as three years ago.

Questions must be asked as to how Kinahan Sr was able to arrive in the country without detection and to move around so freely.

Clearly, the authorities were not keeping a watchful eye over the mafioso - or perhaps they are hunting even bigger fish, who they hope he will lead them to. Either way, the jollies of Kinahan Sr, all documented via his own personal Google reviews, make a complete mockery of the intelligence services.

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Walter Finch walter@theolivepress.es

Yzabelle Bostyn yzabelle@theolivepress.es

Simon Hunter simon@theolivepress.es

Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es

Ben Pawlowski ben@theolivepress.es

TIME’S UP!

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

BRITISH homeowners are calling time on ‘corrupt’ community presidents who are accused of wielding far too much power in the urbanisations they manage.

The backlash is growing after it was revealed that Stephen Hills, the British president of the Torre Bermeja urbanisation in Estepona, was paying himself a salary of almost €90,000 - more than the president of Andalucia and the vice president of Spain.

Since the story exploded, a string of other presidents have come under the spotlight.

Among the latest is Argentinian Pablo Abraham Campos, who has presided over the Sensara urbanisation in Benalmadena for the past 13 years.

Terrified residents are taking him to court after he was allegedly voted out at a recent AGM meeting before ‘miraculously’ finding more votes to bring it to a tie - only for six of them to be deemed ‘false’ three months later. A judge will soon rule on the outcome.

In a denuncia seen by the Olive Press, Campos is accused of falsifying signatures and renting out homes of Brits while they are not there - in one case for a total of five years.

“He runs it like a mafia,” said one resident, who was too scared to give their name.

“He sacked the carer of one poor old British woman and replaced him with a horrible brute of a lady.

“When friends visited Dorothy she screamed ‘help me, help me!’, and eventually she died.

“When her son came to sort everything out, Pablo told him he owed €11,000 for the carer!”

Brits and locals fight back against ‘mafia-style’ community presidents along the Costa del Sol

It can sometimes be used offensively, but often it is a term of endearment, writes Cole Sinanan

IF you’ve spent much time in Spain, particularly in Andalucia or large cities like Madrid and Barcelona, chances are you’ve heard the word guiri

You certainly will if you read our front page in Andalucia, a fortnight ago, with the headline ‘Guiris go home!’.

In reference to an anti-tourism campaign in Malaga, it led to aggressive anti-guiri graffiti being scrawled around the city.

While members of the ‘Guiris go home movement’ were quick to insist it was not about any expats living here, it certainly has negative connotations.

The term - which, to English-speaking ears sounds a bit like ‘geedy’is often used to describe a stereotypical pasty, sunburn-prone, sometimes socks-and-sandalwearing, northern European or American visitor or expat.

But like all words that seek to generalise diverse groups into uncomplicated stereotypes, the margins are blurry.

According to the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) definition, a guiri can mean, simply, a ‘foreign tourist.’

The institution notes that, while it is often deployed lightheartedly, free of negative connotations, it can also be used ‘with derogatory intent.’

A brief look into the word’s history may explain how it arrived at its current meaning.

The RAE includes a handful of other definitions in its entry for the word, one of which is related to the Basque word ‘guiristino’.

Pablo was deported from the US after serving six years of a 10-year sentence in Chicago for the illegal supply of controlled substances.

He has since bought six apartments in Sensara, all with cash, which he now rents out full time.

It means the retired supervisor, who worked at the local ITV traffic authority, has a property portfolio worth more than €1million.

ey goes but he never provides receipts!

“It’s incredible that people still vote for him, but he does them favours and they feel like they owe him, but more and more young people are moving in now and we hope his days are numbered.”

‘It’s incredible that people still vote for him, but he does them favours’

Another concerned resident added: “It’s absolute madness, we pay up to €400 per month in community fees and don’t get half the services we used to, we want to know where the mon-

When contacted for comment, Campos said: “I did not lose any vote, if I had lost it I would have accepted the result. It occurred in a double tie of personal votes and coefficients and the change of president did not go ahead, which is why I continued in office… “That’s what the courts are for. Two years ago, those neighbours who are now complaining held an illegal meeting. I went to

Don’t let guiri get on your goat!

During Spain’s Carlist Wars of succession during the 19th century, the Basque armies used guiri or guiristino to refer to their enemies, the supporters of Queen Maria Christina. It thus became a negative way to describe an ‘other’ - in this case enemy forces.

The word has also been used to describe members of the Guardia Civil during Francoist Spain, and may have been connected to the word guirigay, which, according to the RAE, describes a language that is ‘dark and difficult to understand.’

But whether guiri is offensive is a matter of perspective.

Spain’s immigrant population has been growing and diversifying for decades now, a consequence of which is an ethnically and culturally diverse myriad of people living together, often in close quarters.

Words describing foreigners exist in every language, and in Spain, immigrant com-

munities have received their own names, implying varying degrees of maliciousness.

What is certain is that many Spanish on the costas are just as likely to refer to their ‘guiri vecino’ or ‘mi guiri amigo’ as those ‘puta guiris’ who should go home!

While some people view the word ‘guiri’ as offensive, many Brits have begun reclaiming the word.

Just look at the so-called Guiri Army supporters of Malaga FC, made up of a large group of expats who travel around Spain to support the Costa del Sol team. Meanwhile, one clever British expat has made his own successful business off the back of term.

Tom Hopcroft is based in Madrid and is the founder of the popular lifestyle brand Guiris de Mierda.

The company organises events and meetups for expats and locals in the capital and beyond.

The 31 year old explained: “We try to set a good example that not all guiris are the

PIC CREDIT: The Sun

UNDER THE LENS: Managersof Costa del Sol urbanisations (pictured: Sensara Benalmadena)

All about

Sabinillas and Manilva,Duquesa

EXPATS’ PARADISE

A third of Manilva’s residents are from UK - and here’s why

AWHIRLWIND tour of Manilva will take you far and wide in just a few square kilometres. You might start by gazing out at luxury yachts bobbing by the glitzy port, or the glistening sea along a peaceful beach trail.

And then minutes later you could find yourself among rolling green hills populated by luxury villas, or burgeoning vineyards around a whitewashed village.

And on your journey you will meet a kaleidoscope of people from all walks of life, each with a story to tell.

Manilva officially has the highest percentage of Brits on the padron in Spain, with between a third and a quarter of the 18,000-strong municipality hailing from

Blighty.

But it’s not just Brits - foreign, settled residents, many from northern European countries, make up 42% of Manilva’s population. In spite of these high numbers, Manilva is not simply an expat colony - not at all.

The district has a strong and thriving Spanish culture and community that lives extremely harmoniously and very cordially with their foreign guests.

The locals and the foreigners mix and mingle in the

Continues on page 8

CULTURE AND COMMUNITY

same bars and restaurants and the pitter patter of conversation dances between English and Spanish - and very often halting Spanglish.

“We come here for the sangria,” Londoner Richie tells the Olive Press in the shade of a Spanish bar near El Castillo, a tiny fishing settlement buzzing with Spaniards and foreigners.

“We go around to all the towns along the Costa del Sol,” his friend Siobhan adds. “We even go as far as Algeciras. I give the sangrias in each place a score out of ten.”

And how much did she give the sangria in El Castillo? “Oh, this is a nine,” she declares - no-

where gets a ten. “I think it’s the cinnamon. They get it just right.”

El Castillo gets its name from the castle that guards its sea walls. Built in 1767 by engineer Miguel del Castillo and builder Jose Vargas, it was financed by Sevilla businessman Francisco Paulino.

The fortification was planned with war against the English in mind, with Gibraltar having fallen to the newly-formed United Kingdom just half a century before.

In its more modern incarnation, as recently as the 1970s the monument was a residence divided into 16 homes for families housing 70 people. Today it is a tourist attraction in an ideal location, but beware - it doesn’t open on weekends!

Just a short stroll along the beachfront from El Castillo, you will find a port unlike any other port on the Costa del Sol.

Duquesa

with life.

HISTORIC CENTRE: Saint Anne’s church at the heart of Manilva

Puerto de la Duquesa is the only one to face out to sea. From each of the three edges you can gaze out into the Mediterranean.

For most of its history Manilva has been dependent on fishing and agriculture, especially its vineyards and celebrated sweet wines. But over the last couple of decades, as this little township has welcomed an influx of tourists and development, it has still maintained a peaceful air.

Caesar

Though the Brits and the 180-odd other nationalities come from all walks of life and occupations (Ed: some have even set up a newspaper here) they all have something in common.

Like Manilva’s first health tourist, Julius Caesar, who visited the nearby Roman baths around 60BC, it seems that peo-

SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS

The traditional festival that heralds the first wine

of the season

EVERY September Manilva celebrates its winemaking tradition in a three day harvest festival, with flamenco dancers, brass bands, music and dancing into the early hours in the Plaza de la Vendimia. The sweet moscatel grapes have been grown in the vast vineyards that surround Manilva since the 16th century and are used to make the aptly named Manilva wine, famous throughout Spain.

Although vines have been grown on the sunny slopes of the town for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, it is fairly recently that wine became one of the area’s main products. Winemaking became the town’s main economic activity after the Spanish Civil War because of its ideally suited climate and soil.

The festival was founded in the early 1960s and has become an important part of the local calendar, drawing vis itors from across the region to see the

ple come here for a temperate life beneath the jaw-dropping mountains, fed by the fruits of the sea.

Bob and Jen from Essex told the Olive Press over Belgian fries that they manage to come to Manilva once a month for as long as 10 days a pop. But they are content with splitting their time in this way, and are not tempted to fully retire to the sun just yet. Bob, who works in the solar energy business, still has a few more panels to lay in this booming industry before he’s ready to hang up his work belt. But it is partly due to content second-home expats such as Bob and Jen that the unpretentious Duquesa has undergone such a growth spurt

in the last decade - and the expansion doesn’t look like slowing down anytime soon.

New cafes, bars and restaurants with cuisine from all over the world are springing up as a result of its growing tourism.

The blue flag beach stretches from Rio Manilva to Duquesa

Aside from the fantastic prices of homes in the area, the environment is distinctly low rise, largely green and everything is close to the sea.

But when you do venture inland, you will head into wine-making territory. Manilva town, a sleepy, glittering village nestled on a hilltop, is famous for its sweet wine.

It, and the process of making it, is something indelibly imprinted on the locals.

winemaking process.

As well as making the sweet dessert wine, the moscatel grapes are also dried on the hillsides to make the famous ‘Malaga raisins’. The festival has even been declared of Tourist Interest by the Provincial

During the celebration of the end of the grape harvest, the very first wines produced are presented with tastings handed out

of the sweet wine.

In the early hours of the morning, a Rocio Mass is celebrated, giving way to the procession of Our Lady of Sorrows through the village streets.

This procession is accompanied by local young women dressed as traditional villagers, who pray for

the fields of Manilva to be protected.

In Manilva, it is still customary to step on the grapes for hours on a square surface with a protruding edge and a slight tilt towards the centre of either side. It is through this point that the juice, or must, flows into a wellshaped tank on a lower level.

Every year, a resident is honoured to be in charge of treading this fruit. The crowds gather on Calle Mar to witness the grape treading and taste the first wine of the season.

is, without a doubt, the thriving coastal jewel in the Manilva crown, benefiting from tourism and buzzing

Even our taxi driver proselytised over the wonders of this wine - although he did advise us not to get through more than one bottle at a time.

When you arrive in the village, you will see that the central Plaza de la Vendimia (Wine harvest square) is adorned with a spectacular mural depicting workers in vineyards. And in the nearby interpretation Centre, opened in 2010, you can do vocational courses in wine-making, aimed at inspiring the younger generations and training future professionals.

The locals like to boast that the moscatel de Alejandria is the best table grape in the whole of Spain and that it is specific to Manilva, whose slopes have been continuously planted with vineyards since 1501.

The basic wine made from this grape - the Manilva wine - is known as ‘vino mosto’, and in the olden days, almost the entire town earned a living from it. The trucks would come from as far as Bilbao to take the grapes and whatever was left would be turned into wine. Almost all of the locals that the Olive Press spoke to could remember back to those days.

Most of them had been living in Manilva village all their lives, they all knew each other, and they had done so since childhood. “This place is one big family,” lifelong resident Eligio told us.

Eligio, who’s sun-beaten blue eyes twinkled as he regaled us with tales of Manilva over two cañitas that he generously bought for us, said he spent most of his free time in the village church.

Nearby, a sign displayed the village motto: Very noble, very loyal. Then another man who had been listening in walked over to our table, put his hands on Eligio’s shoulders, and told us with all sincerity that our new friend embodied this motto.

It turned out that they had known each other since they were knee-high, and Eligio had even worked for the

man’s father.

Further along, and buried in Manilva’s historical heart a short walk from the centre, is St Anne’s church and adjoining cemetery, where Eligio liked to spend his time.

Who he was remembering he did not tell us.

Turn a corner and there the 250-year-old church is; striking yet simplistic, bold yet unassuming.

Sauntering through the maze of white houses with their terracotta roofs, every ‘Hola’ from passers-by strengthens the feeling that Manilva is very much Spanish still.

Up on the mountain it is removed from the wave of tourism lapping at the coast. And then there are the postcard views from every direction, white houses spill down into vast vineyards with mountains out behind and the Costa del Sol to the front.

The Pedreta viewpoint delivers a view stretching from the white cluster that is the mountain-clinging Casares village to the coastal hubs of Estepona and Marbella below. A rich network of tracks is visible in between, inviting you out to hike, cycle or horse-ride.

Another short walk and a hop and you are down in San Luis de Sabinillas, or just ‘Sabby’ as it is affectionately known to the expats. Like everywhere else on the coast, it too has flourished under tourism in the last decade. But there remains a tangible working atmosphere (it still has a small fishing fleet) and this is still a town where Spanish people enjoy their Spanish lives.

A coastal stroll from Puerto Duquesa, Sabinillas has also become a popular destination for expats.

It is certainly a distinct community with a healthy mix of Spanish, expat English, German, as well as Moroccans and South Americans.

It is also a veritable hive of commerce. While it wins no beauty awards, there is a great range of supermarkets and shops in Sabinillas.

‘Wall Street’ is where traditionally all the banks and insurance companies centred and down on the beach there is a great range of bars and restaurants which stretch into the distance on either side.

Back on the blue flag beach, that stretches all the way from Rio Manilva to Puerto Duquesa, fishermen still launch their boats and are often met by waiting restaurateurs upon their return, eagerly awaiting the days catch.

Sabinillas effectively bridges the gap between the multi-cultural, tourism-driven hub of Puerto Duquesa and the withdrawn, tranquil, traditional village of Manilva.

With the right blend of coastal expansion and Spanish tradition, it is easy to see why Manilva is making a name for more than just its wine.

DAYS OF EMPIRE

Once upon a time Manilva was among the richest and bestconnected places in the world

THE legacy of the Roman Empire permeates throughout the Iberian Peninsula, not least on the Costa de Sol which acted as the gateway to the Mediterranean.

The Romans’ love affair with the Costa del Sol was not hard to understand. Apart from the climate, bountiful fishing and rich pastureland, the area was a vital corridor to the Empire’s first line of defence.

Manilva and Sabanillas thrived as Roman towns, evidenced by the many ruins that you can still see here today, such as the Roman baths, believed to have been frequented by Julius Caesar's army and the Ciudad Romana de Lacipo, an ancient Roman outpost just north of Manilva.

First, a little history … Baetica, the Roman name for Andalucia, became one of the most dynamic and economically developed regions in the far-flung Roman Empire, rich in resources and modern in outlook, even welcoming liberated slaves. Before the legions arrived in the second century AD life was hard and simple, the land dotted with small and isolated agricultural settlements. However the development of a fish salting industry fuelled by increasing Roman presence on the Iberian Peninsula saw most of these segmented populations moving to the coast, settling in the town we now call San Luis de Sabinillas. At that time, salt curing was the best method for preserving fish for export by sea to Rome and other parts of the Empire. Manilva became known as Saltum and came under the administration of Conventus Gaditanus - a vast region stretching from modern-day Cadiz province and along the the entire Costa del Sol to Almeria. Casares, under the Roman name of Lacipo, was a strategic gateway from the valley to the mountains of Cadiz and Malaga.

HISTORIC: Manilva has been on the map since Roman times

Manilva and Casares boasted road links as good as EU funding has provided today. They were connected by one of Baetica’s main thoroughfares to Carteia (currently San Roque where the Roman ruins of Carteia still partially survive), Corduva (now Cordoba) and the city of Baetica, together with Italica and Hispalis, both in the Sevilla region.

Some of that amazing infrastructure still survives. Roman remains can be found in Sabinillas, Haza del Casareño, Lagunetas, Manilva and Castillo de la Duquesa which showcases the remnants of a Roman Baths, town, curing factory and even a necropolis.

Julius Caesar himself is said to have cured a skin complaint in the spring

Protected as an Asset of Cultural Interest, the ruins can be visited today and undoubtedly the most popular ‘asset’ is La Hedionda, the Roman baths built around a natural mineral spring where Julius Caesar himself is said to have cured a skin complaint. Still in working order today, the name means Stinky in Spanish and comes from the sulphurous waters which smell like rotten eggs. The good times ended when Baetica was invaded by Visigoths and the Roman’s Iberian empire fell around 5AD. People started to abandon the coastal settlements, returning inland in search of other ways to survive, perchance to dream of the glory that was once Rome.

TIMELINE OF MANILVA

● 6,000 BC - Neolithic farmers arrived in Manilva, leaving stone tools and pots in places like the Sierra de la Utrera caves, just north of Sabinillas.

● 1,500 BC - The Phoenician civilisation spread across the Mediterranean, leading to settle- ments in Cadiz (meaning ‘fort’ in Phoenician) and the Castillejos de Alcorrín settlement in Manilva.

● 200 BC - The Romans invaded the Iberian pe- ninsula in 206 BC, esta- blishing a fishing village in Manilva. Julius Cae- sar became governor of Southern Spain in 61 BC and is believed to have cured a skin disease in the Roman baths at Hedionda.

● 711 AD - The Moors invaded the Iberian penin- sula and established the settlement of Martagina just south of La Chullera.

● 1400-1500 AD - Barbary pirate raids forced most of the population to flee into the hills for security. However, many still returned daily to fish.

● 1515-20 - Following the Reconquista, the Duke of Arcos conceded land in present-day Manilva to the fortified town of Ca- sares for growing grape- vines.

● 1530 - The hilltop village of Manilva proper began to take shape thanks to its Duke, who parcelled off pieces of land to en- courage people to settle there.

● 1722 - The Church of Santa Ana in Manilva village was destroyed by an earthquake.

● 1796 - Manilva gained independence from Ca- sares, when it was given a ‘royal privilege of the town’.

Record time for mobility

The Manilva Equipo de Gobierno presents its new midibus for public transport services with another to come

WITH great anticipation, Manilva Equipo de Gobierno has revealed its new midibus, completing the local transport service.

The bus is a joint project with municipal parish priest José Antonio Melgar.

The Ayuntamiento de Manilva, through Alcaldia and Parque Movil has achieved the acquisition of this new 30-seater midibus in record time, which will be available for use immediately.

The Mayor of Manilva, José Manuel Fernández, has highlighted, on behalf of his team, the great work that has been done and that will benefit local citizens to greatly improve local transport.

The distinctive livery, which will give identity to transport in our town, will also be used on all taxis.

It should be noted that we are working on another bus, with 41 seats, which may be operational around October.

LEADING THE WAY

Olive Press sets the news agenda once again as our reporting is followed up by the world’s leading publications

court which paralysed that meeting. Now they don’t even want to defend their position in court.”

He added that he is taking one of the residents to court for defamation over the claims.

In regards to Dorothy, he said he never had the power to fire another person’s caregiver, and insisted she had asked him to find more assistants after a hip replacement surgery. He also claimed no one has asked him to see the receipts for the community fees.

He added: “They can request from the administration a copy of their ledger or account statement, which reflects both the fees issued for each property and the payments made.” Also under the spotlight is Norwegian ex-billionaire Harald Oslov.

Oslov is accused by a group of homeowners in Benemara Dos Hermanas, also in Estepona, of paying ‘extortionate’ sums for basic maintenance works and for constructing a garage next to his home without planning per-

type that get smashed, get battered, and drink for five days straight. Some guiris want to give back to Spain, and so we are working with charities now, organising charity events and promoting the integration side of things”.

He adds: “We organise events around the idea that everybody has been a guiri at some point in their lives. Especially in the modern world, people live in other countries and we feel that is something worth celebrating, so we try and bring people together”. So rather than take offence at the term why not embrace it?

mission.

The accounts have been branded a ‘black hole’ featuring ‘inexplicable sums’, including gardener salaries of over €45,000 per year each, which residents claim they did not approve.

And Oslov, who owns a painting company in Gibraltar, refuses to reveal who is behind some of the works.

It comes after community fees reportedly increased by 22% over the past two years, while spending soared by €127,000.

One Brit told the Olive Press: “Our fees are continuously increasing and we get no further services for it… it seems there is a black hole where money is being buried.

“They use the proxy votes of Brits and other foreigners to vote in any measure they want.”

When contacted by the Olive Press, a spokesperson for Oslov denied all the claims made by the homeowners, branding them ‘defamation’. Oslov, who was president for 40 years, and his VP, resigned just days after being contacted by this newspaper in late February.

However, residents told this newspaper that he has ‘handpicked’ the next candidates for presidency and the new committee.

Falsifying

At the most recent AGM meeting in March, Oslov refused entry to a notary, who had been hired to make sure all proxy votes being used to vote in a new committee were above board.

One expat said: “He had brought his own lawyer with him and made sure to vote in his hand-picked committee.

“Luckily, one long-standing member stepped down and we were able to get one ally on the board who was not hand-picked by Harald.”

Meanwhile in Marbella, the president of the Cabopino community, Gianni Fieno, and its administrator Michelle van Gaalen, are being investigated for falsifying documents and cooking the books.

Residents there said that the pair have ‘kidnapped the community’ and run it like a ‘cabal’.

The pair, both expats, are accused of “surrounding themselves with friends” and gaining the votes of owners - some of whom they allegedly let off their community fees as a reward for giving them their proxy votes at general meetings.

Elsewhere, homeowners in Lomas de los Monteros, Marbella, have denounced the president of the community and the administrator for allegedly transferring €30,000 euros to their personal accounts.

It came after community fees soared to €6,000 per year but residents were not allowed to see accounts nor how the money was being spent - raising alarms.

A court decided it was a civil matter, however, and not a criminal one, with the complainants left feeling “helpless”, according to reports in Spanish press.

THE Olive Press has once again been at the forefront of the news this past fortnight after being followed up by the world’s most-read publications. Our trusted reporters were flown out to Tenerife - for a second time - to investigate the growing anti-tourism movement on the Canary Islands. Their in-depth report was the lead story on MailOnline before being followed up by the Sun and a string of national newspapers.

Meanwhile, the front page story in our last issue on the ‘guiris go home’ movement in Malaga was followed up by the Guardian.

Elsewhere, the Times flew out to interview Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo after our extensive reporting of the McGrail inquiry.

There is no doubt that the Olive Press continues to be the number one source of English-language news in Spain.

It is why we are repeatedly trusted by the leading newspapers in Britain, who only come to us when they want a story investigated.

Our journalists have years of experience working for national titles in the UK, including the Daily Mail, MailOnline, Mail on Sunday and the BBC, and are all NCTJ-trained and accredited.

None of our rivals in Spain are offering the sheer quality and quantity of our exclusive reportingwhich is partly made possible thanks to our online subscription model.

We thank all of our registered users and subscribers, the numbers of whom are continuing to grow on a monthly basis.

If YOU have a tip or story that needs investigating in Spain, then do not hesitate to email tips@theolivepress.es

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

1- Storm Nelson arrives to Spain: Rain, strong winds and rough seas predicted for much of the country

2- EXCLUSIVE: Locals in Spain give their verdict as wave of anti-tourism reaches Tenerife - but residents are divided on the issue

3- These are the 12 most beautiful ‘pueblos’ in Spain’s Andalucia - according to National Geographic

4- Saharan dust warning for southern Spain: Weather phenomenon to roll in from Africa tomorrow

5- Protests over swimming pool bans in southern Spain: Locals fume after government prioritises hotels over private homes amid ongoing drought

UNDER FIRE: President Oslov (top right) and Fieno (below left), plus urbanisations Benamara (top) and Cabopino (below)

GUIRIS: As seen in TV series Benidorm (left) also take part in Spanish life from football supporters to charity events

SPAIN has restored its Cine Senior programme granting over 65s access to €2 tickets across the country.

The cheap cinema tickets are available for Tuesday viewings.

Some €12 million has been allocated to the project in subsidies to cinemas. It marks the second phase of the programme, which ran from July to December 2023. The original project was a huge success, with a 49% increase in Tuesday cinema attendance compared to previous years.

Cinemas across the country can apply for funding from the project, expected to roll out between late April and early May.

Unseen Picasso

New exhibition includes 10 unseen works from Spain’s most famous artist

A NEW exhibition has opened at the Picasso Museum in Malaga with over 140 works of art.

The display is called Pablo Picasso: Structures of Inven-

By Ben Pawlowski

tion - The Unity of a Life’s Work. In a break from tradition-

ART AND BUBBLES

A NEW art exhibition is coming to La Herradura.

It features Gym Halama, Henrik Diamant (who did the work pictured left) and Cheryle Rome. The exhibition by Malaga Gallery Group will take place from April 4 to April 19. The exhibition is free and can be visited from 4pm to 8pm at La Herradura Civic Centre.

It will be opened on Thursday with music, art and plenty of champagne. Anyone is welcome to attend the opening, from 6-8 pm.

Cinephiles rejoice THE BULLS ARE BACK

MARBELLA’S bull ring could reopen by June after nine years shut and an €800,000 investment.

According to Malaga Taurina, negotiations are well under way for three of Spain’s top matadors to appear at the venue in the first two weeks of June.

The Plaza de Toros has been closed since 2015 despite renovations being completed four years ago.

NOW YOU SEE THEM: Picasso (top) and some of the works

al artistic convention, the works displayed in the exhibition have been organised by theme rather than chronology.

The museum says: “The installation will thus reveal the coherence of the artist’s output, moving away from conventional interpretations, which have classified it by periods, by displaying works from different decades of his career alongside each other in many of the museum’s galleries”.

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The display - which will run until March 2027 - features works that Picasso kept for himself.

Ten of those pieces have never been seen before in Spain, while two-thirds of the art exhibited is new to the museum.

Among the works is Paul (The Artist’s Son), which has only ever been showcased

twice, Woman Leaning on Her Elbow, a sculpture assembled in plaster, and a sketchbook which Picasso used to plan the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d’Avignon, one of his finest works.

The other exhibition currently running at the museum is The Echo of Picasso, a display organised with the framework of international celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s death.

The presentation demonstrates Picasso’s pertinent influence on artistic trends and movements, in particular Cubism.

Prior to his death in 1973, Picasso was widely regarded as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, with his most famous work, the dramatic and powerful anti-war painting Guernica, the current centrepiece of the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.

Now, it is set to reopen in time for its 60th anniversary. It comes after Marbella Council applied to join the Network of Andalucian Bullfighting Municipalities (RETMA).

Spine chilling

NETFLIX has released the trailer for ‘El Caso Asunta’ a highly-anticipated miniseries recreating the notorious murder trial of Rosario Porto and Alfonso Basterra.

Asunta Basterra was a Chinese-born 12-year-old adopted to Galician parents. In 2013, she died of asphyxiation and suspicion immediately turned on her adoptive parents, Rosario and Alfonso. The three part drama will retell the case’s most important moments and is due to be released on April 26.

LA CULTURA

BRIDGE TO THE PAST

IN PICTURES: An English painter captured the cities of pre-industrial Spain frozen in time in 1908 on a remarkable voyage through the country

AREMARKABLE tome by a British writer and painter on Spain’s wealth of incredible cathedrals was released 115 years ago this month.

Cathedral Cities of Spain was the culmination of a monthslong voyage around Spain by London-born watercolourist

WW Collins (1862-1951).

A prolific author most famous for his fiction work, including 27 novels, 60 short stories, 14 plays and over 100 of non-fiction, his homage to Spain’s religious architecture sometimes gets overlooked.

The book serves as a bridge between the modern Spain that we know today and its grand, imperial past, long consigned to the dustbin of history.

Just after the turn of the

By Walter Finch

20th century in 1908, he arrived at the port of Cadiz and embarked on a tour of Andalucia.

From there he travelled up to Valencia, before heading inland and then winding up in Spain’s northern regions. Always accompanied by his trusty easel and paint palette, he visited 24 cities by train and produced an astonishing 60 watercolours. And in the process, he documented a Spain that was still catching up with the rest of Europe, and still with one foot in the past.

valencia - the great bird fanciers

Collins wrote that the road that connected the city of Valencia to its port was the ‘busiest high road I saw in Spain.’

“Strings of laden donkeys, waggonettes crammed with good-humoured laughing fisher[men] and country folk pass along, an electric tram carries those who can afford the extra centimos, and the carriages of Valencia’s well-to-do citizens take them to the harbour for a breath of sea air out on the breakwaters.”

Once again echoing the Spanish costa’s visitor-friendly future, he noted that the wines were so cheap that it was more expensive to drink water, but with one key difference - ‘drunkenness is unknown’.

The local peasantry were ‘very illiterate and scrupulously honest’ and ‘like the Andalucian, he is absolutely trustworthy in all his dealings, which are conducted by word of mouth’.

There was just one lawyer in Valencia to the 10 further north, ‘where modern ways of life are more in vogue’. He settled down to paint his customer watercolour of Valencia’s cathedral (above), although he was hardly impressed.

“The Cathedral was originally a Gothic structure, but one fashion following another, has been at different times so altered and robbed of all architectural beauty that there remains but little of interest in the building.”

sevilla - the most fascinating city in spain

Collins fell in love with the life of the roofs of Sevilla.

“In early spring, before the great heat comes, and in autumn before the cold winds arrive […] Seville’s washing hangs out to air, and up on the roofs, in the warm sun, with the hum of the streets far below, you will hear the quaint song—so Arabian in character—of the lavandera, as she pegs out the damp linen in rows.

“In the evening the click-a-clickclick of the castanets and the

sound of the guitar, broken by merry laughter, tells one that perhaps the Sevillano has fathomed the mystery of knowing how best to live.”

He made a number of sketches and paintings of Sevilla’s remarkable offerings, including the Alcazar and inside the Cathedral. But it was the 12th century Giralda Tower (left) that stands out, the ‘magnificent relic of the Moslem’s rule [that] rears its height far above everything else in Seville.’

cadizcity of the past

Once the ‘greatest port in the world’, in the early 1900s Collins lamented: “Where are thy glories now, oh, Cadiz?”

Many would argue that the capital of tuna territory has recovered its former grace, although it remains some distance from being the world’s greatest port.

Collins described it as ‘still a White City lying embosomed on a sea of emerald and topaz’. Unfortunately, he noted, by the 20th century Sevilla had robbed her of trade, leaving her ‘little more than a port of call for American tourists.’

He produced two paintings in Cadiz; one of the cathedral (below) and another of the central marketplace - ‘a bustling scene, full of colour.’

cordoba - second only to the great damascus

The first thing Collins noted upon his arrival in Cordoba a century ago was that, under seven hundred years of Christian rule, it had ‘dwindled down to what one finds it to-day—a quiet, partly ruinous town.’

“Of all its great buildings nothing remains to remind one of the past but the ruins of the Alcázar—now a prison, a portion of its walls, and the much mutilated Mesquita—the Cathedral.”

The Mesquita dazzled him most of all with its scale and size - Collins erroneously claims it is ‘the second largest church of any in existence.’

“Coming suddenly into the cool shade of its many pillared avenues, I felt as if transplanted into the silent depths of a great forest.

“In every direction I looked, the trunks of huge trees apparently rose upwards in ordered array.

“The light here and there filtered through gaps on to the red-tiled floor, which only made the deception greater by its resemblance to the needles of a pinewood or the dead leaves of autumn.

“Then the organ boomed out a note and the deep bass of a priest in the coro shattered the illusion.”

The Cordoba bridge was captured in his typical watercolour style, with its 16 arches and guarded at one end by a Moorish Tower, ‘round which the road passes instead of through a gateway, thus giving additional security to the defence.’

granada - the most ideal situation

Malaga was Cadiz’s rival for the title of oldest seaport in Spain, but Collins was clear that it was definitely ‘the noisiest town in Spain’ at the start of the 20th century.

Although every city in Andalucia was ‘a babel of street-cries’, Malaga was just a little more so than all the rest.

“The seranos, or night-watchmen, disturb one’s rest as they call out the hour of the night, or whistle at the street corners to their comrades,” he writes, while ‘a breeze makes hideous the hours of darkness by the banging to and fro of unsecured shutters.’

While sketching from the harbour, he described the scene as ‘an impressive fabric with all its architectural incongruities.’

The Englishman found Granada and its location on the edge of a fertile plain at the base of the Sierra Nevada to be perhaps his most agreeable. He discovered ‘tortuous streets which wind up the steep hill sides’ and marvelled at ‘the life of an ordinary Spanish town’ in the springtime.

The Alhambra, which he calls the most fascinating spot in all Spain, rises above the city and ‘broods over past glories of the civilised Moor’.

malaga - the noisiest town in spain

“So it struck me as I sat on the quayside of the Malagueta making my sketch, sadly interfered with by an unpleasant throng of idling loafers.” He bade farewell to Malaga by serenading the ‘delightful climate despite the fierce winds and the dust they raise.

“Though rain seldom falls the cool sea breezes in summer bring a refreshing tonic to the dweller up country.” Collins also hinted at Malaga’s touristic

“How is it possible to describe the Alhambra?” he asks.

Before the location had been turned into a UNESCO heritage site through which three million people trampled each year, Collins set foot through the ‘massive doors.’ Here he produced a sketch of the Court of the Lions - ‘so called from the central fountain upheld by marble representations of the kingly beast, surrounded by a beautiful arcade.’

future, observing that ‘many Spaniards at this season come here for bathing, and obtain a maximum of sunshine without the intense heat of the interior.’

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

Pushing the boat out!

But you can avoid the €3,000 wines and eat incredibly well and cheaply at Malaga’s best fish restaurant, writes Jon Clarke

IT has just been voted the third best ‘casual restaurant’ in Europe by US foodie website Opinionated about Dining. Yet, most locals in Fuengirola would struggle to guess which joint it was referring to.

But, the moment you step into Los Marinos Jose you know you are in the hands of professionals.

Just re-opened after a stylish refit, it has the sort of swagger found up the coast at Campero, in Barbate, or Aponiente, in El Puerto de Santa Maria. The emphasis is therefore on super-fresh, daily-caught fish (not coincidentally all landed from his boat) and none of that factory-farmed stuff, but genuine bona fide morning-netted specimens.

We can thank the ambitions of owner Jose Sanchez for this… a man on a mission, who conveniently (for a seafood

That is obvious from the morning’s catch displayed on the bar - and backed up the second it hits the taste buds. The menu is incredibly

WINE, MEAT AND ‘DULCE DE LECHE’

THERE is a new secret gem in the heart of Fuengirola.

Hierro Casa de Fuegos is an Argentini an joint run by owner and chef Santiago Lambardi, who’S got cuisine coursing through his veins. On a recent visit we were welcomed by homemade signature cocktails

UNBEATABLE: The ribeye is perfectly cooked

- with and without alcohol - with a typical Argentinian treat of roasted peanuts and chilli honey, the perfect balance to the acidity of my pisco sour.

The ethos of Santiago is simple: Use high quality ingredients, sourced as locally as possible and mixed with good old-fashioned cooking skills.

Take his homemade beef empanadas, served with a wonderful shredded tomato and coriander salsa. They were melt-in-the-mouth delights with not a hint of oil on the plate.

If the homemade bread with lemon zest and black pepper butter was good, the next dish of braised carrots

capable team.

Being

both the owner and head chef bodes well for Santiago Lambardi at Hierro Casa de Fuegos, writes Matt Jones simple, apart from the wine list (more of which later). Most things are served by weight and - given it’s all about what’s available at a fair price from nearby - there are, at most, two dozen dishes to choose from. And if you

It’s all about what’s available at a fair price from nearby

don’t like fish, don’t bother. We chose three starters and one main course, with a ‘busano’ (meaning sea snail) as an appetizer and perhaps the most bizarre seafood I’ve ever tried, even odder than barnacles (or ‘percebes’, as they call them in Spain). It was from Marbella, after all.

The small clams were difficult to differentiate from other places on the coast, but the red mullet sashimi was a step above. Served thinly sliced it was then braised for 60 seconds by a waiter at the table with a culinary torch and in a word ‘awesome’. Next up were grilled small squids beau-

tifully presented and clearly hoiked out of the sea that morning.

For a main we could have chosen turbot, sea bass or sea bream, plus a couple of others, but Jose insisted we went for the better value ‘borriquete’ from Conil, on the Costa de la Luz.

Good call, it was de-boned and grilled to a tee, served with fresh new potatoes and green peppers.

Rib Eye from the celebrated Pampas, which roll west from Buenos Aires. The yellow fat marbled through the meat showed just how healthily our cow had lived, free range and grass-fed for its entire life.

I like my meat rare, although if you would like to cook it more at your table there is an option of having a hot stone.

Served with eggplant and ginger, Jalapeño peppers and honey, it’s hard to improve this dish.

Calle Larga 8, Fuengirola. Málaga www.hierroparrilla.com smoked with poached egg and homemade aioli rocked. A veggie’s dream, as was the cauliflower finished on the grill with almonds and fresh oregano.

The sweetbreads, I must admit, were something of a departure to me. While I’m always wary of things like offal and in this case - the neck glands of a cow - they were perfectly cooked and, in the end, hardly touched the sides. And then, of course, came the steak, it being an Argentinian joint. A stunning well-aged

Finally we tried a special green pasta called Agnolotti, which comes stuffed with pear and goats cheese. Wow. And then we had a dessert and one

to beat all desserts, death by dulce de leche, explained Santiago. Why not we thought to ourselves.

“The best things in life are steak, dulce de leche and Lional Messi,” Santiago insisted. “Oh and all you guiris are more than welcome here!. Most people are not like the ones shown on your last front page - we love you all.”

A self-effacing chap with Joe 90 glasses, Jose buzzes about ensuring everything is going to plan, occasionally chatting to guests, or barracking a waiter. He certainly knows what he’s doing… but then again, his family have had this place for 40 years, he explains, while another part of his family owns a beach restaurant across the road, somewhat confusingly called Los Marinos Paco. It certainly caught me out.

Extraordinary

I shouldn’t sign off without mentioning the simply extraordinary wine list, with hundreds (yes, hundreds) of champagnes alone, running up to the eye-wateringly priced Clos Ambonnay 1999, by Krug, at 2,700 euros a bottle. There are better value bottles, such as Deutz’ classic brut at 69 euros, or you can just have a glass of Fabrice Bertemes house champagne for 12 euros. Meanwhile, take your pick from eight different Albarinos and seven Godellos from Galicia, while the choice of white Burgundies (including 15 Meursaults and seven Chassagne Montrachets) is perfect if you’re pushing the boat out, if you’ll excuse the pun.

Paseo Marítimo Rey de España, 161 Carvajal - Fuengirola - Málaga www.losmarinosjose.com

STYLISH: Recently reformed but with classic dishes like small squids

MAN ON A MISSION: Jose owns his own fishing boat and is a seafood wizard

DELICIOUS: The red mullet sashimi is a true winner

BIZARRE: The busano comes from Marbella

BOSS: Santiago (right) with his

TASTY: the decor and amazing dulce ‘de leche’ (left)

Miracle baby Sicker and sicker

A TEAM of over 30 professionals at Valencia's La Fe Hospital have become the first in Spain to successfully remove a cardiac tumour from a prematurely-born baby.

Medics detected a rare type of heart tumour known as pericardial teratoma diagnosed in the 24th week of the baby's gestation which was behaving aggressively.

At the six-and-a-half month stage of pregnancy it was decided to deliver the baby via caesarean section - with it weighing just 900 grams.

The child had to remain attached to the placenta while it was stabilised and surgery performed to remove the tumour.

A second surgery and two cycles of chemotherapy has left the baby is completely tumour-free.

STEPHEN Fry has blasted popular weight loss drug Ozempic after it made him ‘throw up five times per day’.

The medication, pre scribed for obesity and type two diabetes, is soaring in populari ty in Spain. While some celebrities have praised the

‘miracle’ drug, Fry said it made him ‘sicker and sicker’.

In just five months, the 66-year-old lost five and a half stone as he simply ‘didn’t want’ to eat or drink.

But soon he ‘couldn’t take’ throwing up anymore and stopped taking Ozempic.

Green wonder

Olive leaves could provide effective treatment of Alzheimer’s and diabetes

SCIENTISTS in Spain believe olives may hold the key to treating diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

Specifically, it is the leaves of olive trees which could prove vital thanks to their very high levels of oleanolic acid. It comes after a 2019 Prediabole Study found that consuming olive oil rich in oleanolic acid prevented the de-

By Laurence Dollimore

velopment of type 2 diabetes. After three years of intake, patients were found to have a 45% lower chance of developing the condition than those who did not take the oil.

Experts at the FAT Institute in Sevilla, Andalucia, now want to test whether the oil can actually treat people who have already got diabetes.

The test subjects will be patients at the Virgen del Rocio hospital, also in Sevilla, with Dr Javier Sanchez Perona leading the research. One of the obstacles has been the extortionate price of laboratory-made oleanolic acid, which comes in at €1.5million per kilo - 25 times more expensive than gold. To overcome this, Dr Perona

Just a number

SCIENTISTS have revealed the age when people can officially call you ‘old’- and it’s not what you expect.

A study by magazine, Nature, has shed new light on the topic.

Led by the University of Stanford, the research revealed ageing does not actually begin at 65-years-old, as many believe.

Scientifically, old age begins at 78 years old.

The research was based on over 4263 blood plasma donations from people aged 18 to 95.

It showed that at 78, the levels of certain proteins in blood plasma began to change dramatically, suggesting accelerated ageing.

These proteins play a key role in cell function and although we have almost constant levels throughout our lives, they begin to gradually fall or even completely stop once ‘old age’ is reached.

The lack of proteins inhibits DNA’s ability to repair itself so essential organs are more vulnerable to effects of ageing.

According to Tony Wyss-Coray, one of the lead researchers of the study, ‘when protein levels significantly change, it means you have also changed’.

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 6 Warn, 7 Inherit, 9 Restrain, 10 U S S R, 11 Cold-shoulders, 14 Medical school, 17 Brig, 19 Stumbles, 20 Prosaic, 21 Need.

Down: 1 Take note, 2 United Kingdom, 3 Riyadh, 4 Around the bend, 5 E T As, 8 Hindu, 12 Oil, 13 Reopened, 15 At sea, 16 Source, 18 Raps.

Choosing Sonic Clarity

Our commitment to you is to give a patient-centric approach

WE understand that each person is unique, and so are their hearing needs. We conduct thorough exhaustive assessments to comprehend the nuances of each case, ensuring we provide solutions that perfectly tailor to individual needs.

Innovative Technology and Technical Excellence

The rapid evolution of hearing technology demands staying at the forefront of the latest innovations. Our continuous updates enable us to offer cutting-edge, personalised solutions to each of our patients, from smart hearing aids to advanced connectivity devices.

LEAVES: could hold the key to treating Alzheimer’s

and his team developed and patented a simple method for creating highly pure oleanolic acid from olive leaves. “It is so simple that even children can obtain it with homemade materials with an acceptable degree of purity,” he explained. Oleanolic acid defends the olive tree from attacks by microorganisms and is found in the fruit, but more so in the leaf.

Needless deaths

THE lives of over 4,000 Madrid care home residents could have been saved during the Covid-19 pandemic if they had received hospital treatment.

A citizen-led inquiry blames the Madrid regional government for blocking hospital access in the first weeks of the pandemic to people who had pre-existing conditions or lacked private health insurance. The inquiry report pointed out that the region had a far higher number of Covid care home deaths compared to other parts of Spain.

A Madrid government source branded the report as 'totally politicised’ and said the region’s professionals and administration ‘did everything humanly possible to save as many lives as they could’.

Comprehensive Care and Support

We acknowledge that hearing care goes beyond merely selling a hearing aid. We accompany our patients at every step of their journey towards complete auditory rehabilitation. We maintain a close bond, providing continuous support throughout the entire process.

Fair Pricing

We set our prices fairly, without hidden costs or unpleasant surprises. We offer high-quality products at competitive market prices. We want our patients to feel confident that they are receiving exceptional value for their money.

Audiosanit Hearing Clinic means opting for technical excellence, a patient-centric approach, and the most innovative technology at an exceptional price.

Recognising that there is an issue is the first step on the road to recovery.

FIND: Dr Perona

Spitting contest

THE World Date Stone Championship takes place in Elche this Sunday. The three contestants who can spit a stone the farthest will enter a ‘spit off’.

Long lost

A DAUGHTER was reunited with her missing father after searching for him for 20 years. He went missing in Bilbao in 2004 and was recently found in a village in Navarra.

Pigeon pie

BARCELONA has been trialling an innovative solution to the pigeon problem around the Camp Nou: every afternoon a patrol of eagles and falcons is unleashed to drive them away.

Double celebration

Twins hit landmark triple figures while hubby approaches

TWIN sisters have just turned 100 and another family milestone is beckoning as one of their husbands will hit the 102-year mark in a few months time.

All three are said to be in good health, with Manuela Lopez Ramal and Demetrio Torrente Gea celebrating 77 years of marriage.

Manuela lives in Ibi (Alicante) and her sister Isabel is based

102

By Alex Trelinski

20kms away in Cocentaina, where she moved to be near her three children after she was widowed 30 years ago. They were recently recognised by their local towns with the mayors of Ibi and Cocentaina, along with councillors and town hall staff, congratulating their long-living residents.

The sisters are the only remaining survivors of an extended family of nine siblings.

ANARCHIST BACKLASH

LEFT wing firebrand Pablo Iglesias has had his new Madrid bar daubed with graffiti by anarchists. The former deputy Prime Minister, 45, is a partner in Taberna Garibaldi, which ‘honours’ a string of historical revolutionaries and left wingers. Customers can order a range of drinks includ-

ing a Fidel Mojito, inspired by the Cuban revolutionary leader, the Mandela Zulu, a Gramsci Negroni and an Evita Martini. However, the new adventure has earned the wrath of anarchists. An unknown group sprayed graffiti demanding the removal from the menu of a cocktail inspired by Buenaventura Durruti, a hero of the movement.

They say their lives haven’t changed a great deal and continue to be active by doing simple household chores with the help of their children.

Unsurprisingly, their mobility is not what it used to be while Manuela's hearing has declined but she still enjoys a full life.

Isabela also has the same issue with hearing but still shares her twin’s positive attitude to living, while all three continue to live in their on homes.

IT may be a tradition dating back to the 1620s, but the bizarre ‘baby jumping’ festival of El Colacho has become a victim of an online backlash. Originating in the 1620s, it sees mothers from the village of Castrillo de Murcia lay their babies down in the street.

Then men, dressed as red and yellow-masked ‘devils’, run through the village shouting insults at the townsfolk before leaping over rows of babies born in the village in the past 12 months.

Denizens

While aficionados of the festival say it is harmless, some internet denizens disagree and have jumped in with both feet.

“This village must have suffered a grave tragedy in the past to have ended up with this absurd tradition,” wrote one.

“Sure, the idiot who jumps is just that; an idiot. But the parents are even worse.” Thought to be a pagan twist on Catholic traditions, the event is supposed to be a triumph of good over evil and takes place in June.

TON: Manuela (left) and Isabela, with Demetrio