Olive Press Gibraltar Issue 224

Balban behind bars

FORMER Natwest employee Gillian

Balban has been sentenced to seven and a half years in jail. It comes after she was found guilty of four counts of fraud and false accounting.

The case marks Gibraltar’s longest criminal trial with a jury in the last 20 years.

Tried at the Supreme Court, Balban was accused of fraud and false accounting between 2011, and 2017, worth £2.7 million.

The 51-year-old is alleged to have run up €600,000 worth of IOU’s and covered up a £2 million black hole in the bank’s Corral Road cash reserves.

Under cross examination Balban admitted that she requested thousands of pounds in cash from the bank, to cover the wages of employees at her former restaurant Casa Brachetto.

Accounts

She said this would have been recorded in the restaurant’s accounts - but she confirmed that this did not seem to have happened.

Balban claims that the £2 million hole in the bank’s cash reserves is due to a software migration, saying that such issues were common.

However, the issue remained nine months after she was made redundant in 2017, leading staff to realised Balban was at the heart of the problem.

Taking into account the bank dividends to cover up IOU’s and the discrepancy in cash reserves, the total loss was £2.7 million.

Many bank employees resigned following Balban’s actions, claiming she ‘ruined their lives’.

A Natwest spokesperson said: “We are pleased to see the case reach a conclusion after working closely with the authorities and want to thank all those involved in helping bring the matter to an end.”

P LIVE RESS O GIBRALTAR

EYE CATCHING:

See the imaginative new designs springing up on the Costa del Sol in our property special inside

Walking to victory

THE Gibraltar over 60s walking football squad has triumphed at the first ever UEFA Walking Football Cup. They beat England 3-2 to be crowned champions in Nyon, Switzerland.

The squad also beat Portugal and Sweden in the pilot tournament.

Minister for Sport, the Hon Leslie Bruzon congratulated the team, saying: “This is fantastic news and shows that Gibraltar is ably represented across many sports and categories”.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Europa Point Stadium will host multiple UEFA events this year.

They will include the Nations League, Champions League Qualifiers (first, second and third rounds) and Conference League Qualifiers (first, second and third rounds). All three events are subject to the Gibraltar FA funded infrastructural improvements currently underway at the stadium being completed.

Eye on the Rock!

Gibraltar ‘will be attacked’ if UK weapons used on

Russian territory by Ukraine

By Laurence Dollimore

RUSSIA has warned it ‘will not hesitate’ to attack Gibraltar if Ukraine uses British weapons in its territory.

The threat came from Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She told reporters that British enclaves would find themselves in the firing line, both ‘within Ukraine and beyond its borders’, if UK weaponry is found to have been used on Russian soil.

Zakharova specified that such enclaves include military bases inside the war zone, as well as military installations in Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and Africa.

It comes after Britain’s For eign Secretary David Cam eron said Ukraine’s mili tary had the right to use UK-supplied weapons to attack targets in its interior.

The comment infuriated Putin and his govern ment cited it as one of the reasons why he chose to conduct exercises simulating the launch of tacti cal nuclear missiles this month.

Putin and his cro nies believe Lon don is becoming increasingly involved in the conflict.

But any attack by the dictator on British targets could trigger a direct military

response from the UK and its NATO allies, including Spain. It would drag much of Europe and the US into a complex, region-wide conflict.

In a military report last year, the UK said Gibraltar was one of its five most important strategic outposts.

It said the territory can ‘act as a springboard’ for Britain to project its power throughout the world, branding it ‘essential’ in combating ‘current

and future threats.’

The Ministry of Defense employs 952 people on the Rock of whom 528 are local, the rest are military and civilians based in the UK. Royal Navy ships, RAF aircraft and other units temporarily deployed there for training routinely visit Gibraltar.

Houthis

In addition, the destroyer HMS Diamond is regularly rearmed at GIB’s naval base with Sea Viper missiles between combat missions against the Houthis in the Red Sea In 2022, 79 naval ships docked and 117 military aircraft visited the Rock, with 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers deployed each year mainly on training missions.

TARGET?: HMS Diamond, while left, Zakharova, Cameron and Putin

IN BRIEF

Scooter warning

MALAGA city has begun erecting portable speed cameras in its streets to catch out e-scooter riders driving too fast.

Bike thief

A MARBELLA ‘thief’ who ‘stole 33 bikes’ has finally been arrested after a huge haul of 33 bicycles was discovered on a ‘finca’ in San Pedro de Alcantara.

Bingo blow

A MALAGA cocktail bar has been raided over its popular and unlicensed bingo sessions which offered holidays and TVs as prizes and brought in hundreds of punters.

Tragic deaths

PRESIDENT of Andalucia Juanma Moreno has offered his condolences to affected friends and family following the ‘terrible’ murder of two children in Granada at the hands of their grandfather, who killed himself immediately afterwards.

Homeward bound

A BRITISH couple who were arrested for allegedly running a UK prostitution ring will be extradited from Spain by the National Court.

They were previously convicted for an identical crime in Britain in 2009.

Neil Lock, 43, from Griñon, near Madrid, agreed to the extradition order while his wife Natalie - also 43 - initially opposed the application.

They are accused of running a website from Spain that ran apartments where 35 women were sexually exploited.

Each of the victims were given the homes to conduct their business, with the Locks taking 40% of earnings.

The women were allegedly forced to work up to 21 hours per day.

UK prosecutors revealed to the Olive Press that text messages to one woman revealed 'extremely aggressive con-

Husband and wife

‘pimps’ to be sent to face UK justice

By Alex Trelinski

trol' including threats to keep them in line.

British authorities said that an associate of the Lockswith the initials A.B - threatened to unpixilate her photo from the website to reveal her real name if she did not obey him.

When she said she was pregnant, A.B. 'threatened her' and insinuated that if she left the criminal operation, she would 'suffer unspecified consequences'.

"In the course of the crime, many millions of pounds

WATCH OUT!

TOURISTS have been warned of a rise in thieves targeting luxury watch owners.

There have been more than 55 known robberies so far this year in Marbella alone, according to Marta Garcia, the chief inspector of the Policia Nacional’s so-called Rolex Team. Her force is dedicated solely to catching gangs who target watches, which have increased since the end of the

CHEERS: Natalie and Neil Lock enjoyed pool parties, hog roasts and magical entertainment as they splashed the cash

were transferred to the various accounts of the Locks, which appear to have funded

Covid pandemic.

Romanian mafias used to come down from Madrid and Barcelona to target wealthy visitors on the Costa del Sol during the months of March, April and October. However they are now operating all year round, seven days a week, Garcia said. Thugs posing as a couple will typically cruise the streets looking for a target. Once they find a victim they signal to a thief on a motorbike who pulls up and snatches the watch, using violence if necessary, before speeding off.

their lifestyle," according to British authorities.

According to UK authorities, the Lanes and a business partner managed the prostituted women from Spain, with two ‘drivers’ back in Britain who 'looked after them' and supervised the payments.

An international arrest warrant was issued against the Lanes by Birmingham Magistrates Court last November for charges of coercive prostitution and sexual exploitation, membership of a criminal organisation, human trafficking and money laundering.

IN the latest in an alarming spate of shootings a 33-yearold man has been shot in Estepona. Spain’s Policia Nacional responded to calls after shots were fired in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The injured man was taken to the Costa del Sol Hospital, where he is said to be ‘stable’.

In March, a 20-year-old man was taken to hospital after being shot in the knee in a bar in Marbella, while in April a 33-year-old Albanian was shot five times in Guadalmina.

The Olive Press knows of up to a dozen smilar attacks this year.

A MAN guilt-ridden after he hit and killed an elderly pedestrian on a crossing has apparently committed suicide.

The female victim in her 70s was hit on a zebra crossing in Estepona.

The driver told police that he ‘hadn’t seen’ the woman, and that he could do nothing to avoid the accident.

He also told officers that ‘minutes earlier’ he had drunk ‘a couple of beers’, although a breath test showed he was below the legal limit.

The driver of the car was later found dead on the roof of his apartment block, lying next to a shotgun.

Golden princess

THE heir to the Spanish throne - Princess Leonor - has been awarded the highest honour in the Aragon region. The Princess of Asturias, 18, began her first year of military training last August at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza.

Wearing her second-year cadet uniform, she was greeted at the parliament building by Aragon president, Jorge Azcon. In a brief ceremony, Leonor was awarded the Gold Medal of the Aragon parliament by the speaker, Marta Fernandez. The first Gold Medal was awarded to her father, King Felipe, in 1986, when he held the title of Prince of Asturias.

Back of the net!

Brazilian superstars lined up to take management positions in fourth tier of Spanish football

A LOWLY fourth-tier football club is calling on a trio of Brazilian supersubs in an effort to catapult it up the Spanish leagues.

CD Estepona, which plays in the Segunda Federacionsome 80 places below Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid - has lined up none other than Ronaldo Nazario as its new sporting director.

The original - and some maintain the best - Ronaldo re cently announced his intention to sell his ma jority stake in Real Valladolid with the club poised for promotion to La Liga. His next move is likely to be Estepona, according to media reports, where he would

By Walter Finch

spearhead the club's sporting direction. And not only would he bring a sprinkling of star-dust but also fellow Brazilian football legends Roberto Carlos and Julio Baptista.

Juan Jose Hidalgo, chairman and CEO of Globalia, which owns AirEuropa, who bought CD Estepona two seasons ago, is reportedly close friends with 'El Fenomeno' from his first season at Real Madrid in the Galacticos era back in 2002. He is not scared of putting his hands in his pockets either. He reportedly paid €500,000

A RESTAURANT napkin used to secure Lionel Messi's first deal with FC Barcelona in December 2000 has been sold at auction for an incredible €881,000.

Auction house Bonhams handled the sale which had a starting bid of over €310,000. It's not known who the bidder was, but he or she has a waxy-papered napkin with a piece of football history scrawled over.

Messi (right) was

to short-circuit the football promotion pyramid system and jump directly to the Segunda Federacion by buying the league spot of defunct team Extremadura.

Despite having one of the highest paid squads in the league, Estepona could only finish sixth, although it did secure a spot in next season’s

Messi napkin

just 13 when Barcelona direc tor Carles Rexach met with him and his father for lunch at the restaurant of Barcelo na’s Pompeia Tennis Club.

Rexach wrote and signed the ad hoc 'contract' in a bid to secure someone viewed at the time as a footballing prodigy.

SPANISH pop-star Rosalia has been revealed as a Dior global ambassador after advertising images of her wearing a vintage purse ‘created for Princess Di’ were leaked.

Copa del Rey. Bringing in Ronaldo would be an incredible coup for Estepona to secure the technical services of the only player to line up for both Real Madrid and Barcelona and still be revered by both clubs’ fans. Reported to be joining Ronaldo are Julio Baptista, who will serve as coach, and Roberto Carlos, who will be Baptista's assistant.

Baptista, a former Real Madrid, Arsenal, Roma, and Malaga player, is a close friend of Ronaldo and has expressed his confidence in Roberto Carlos as his second-in-command.

Legendary left-back Carlos has so far enjoyed a brief but promising coaching career. He worked as assistant coach at the now-defunct Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala and has also held head coaching positions at Sivasspor, Akhisar Belediye, and Delhi Dynamos.

Before the recent Met gala, Vogue revealed the Spanish songstress would be Dior’s latest international ambassador. Shortly after, numerous promotional images were leaked, showing the Malamente singer holding an iconic Lady Di number.

The bag was designed for the ‘People’s Princess’ to celebrate her 1995 visit to Paris.

It was created by Gianfranco Ferre after the wife of French president, Jacques Chirac, asked the fashion house to create an exclusive design for Diana. Today, it is produced in many colours and versions and is has a price tag of €3,100.

Just wild!

THE numbers of Iberian Lynx are starting to boom, with the population nearly doubling in just three years. There are now 2,000 of the wild cats in Spain and Portugal according to official statistics.

Around 20 years ago, there were fewer than 100 specimens, with the animal on the brink of extinction. Numbers have gradually increased, with 1,111 lynxes detected in 2020, and 900 new specimens added to the Iberian population in the subsequent three years to a total of 2,021 by the end of last year.

Andalucia has the most, with 755, while in Castilla-La Mancha there are 715.

ESTEPONA BOUND: Ronaldo, Carlos and Baptista?

Strike called off

STRIKE action at Gibraltar Airport was averted last Friday after a meeting between the government and unions.

Employees covering border security, coastguards and general staff are concerned about health and safety issues at the airport.

They also want an improvement in the provision of rest areas.

Both parties agreed to de-escalate the situation and to hold monthly meetings to resolve the matter.

The Gibraltar government says it has started an independent process to review health and safety in response to the threat of industrial action.

VICE Admiral Sir David Steel has bid farewell to Gibraltar in a ceremony marking the end of his tenure as Gover nor and Commander-in-Chief. Sir David, the head of the Rock for four years, said his goodbyes at the Convent, the Governor’s offi cial residence.

STEEL FAREWELL

There, he was met by two Guards of Honour from the Royal Gibraltar Regiment and Essential Services personnel. Members of the Royal Navy also provided a special Convent Guard, a nod to the

Vice Admiral’s navy career. Reflecting on his time as Governor, he said: “In the last four years, I've seen thousands of you from every branch of the Armed Forces and those in support doing the most incredible work quietly, efficiently getting on with your work.”

STOP OFF POINT

Chinese traffickers used Gibraltar as staging post in human smuggling crime

A CHINESE mafia could have made over €1 million by trafficking their fellow countrymen into Spain, only to then send them to the UK via Gibraltar using fake documents.

Lasting honour

By Simon Hunter & Alex Trelinski

According to the Policia Nacional, which has made 14 arrests in the case, the arrivals

IN his last official act as Governor, Sir David Steel granted Gaynor Vatvani and Terence Lopez the Gibraltar Award.

Founded in 1957, it is given to those who have given ‘loyal and valuable’ public service.

Known as the ‘Badge of Honour’, Sir David said: “I am particularly moved when giving the Gibraltar Award.

“Unique to Gibraltar, it marks the particularly close relationship between the Sovereign and the people of Gibraltar. Gaynor Vatvani and Terence Lopez are most worthy recipients of this distinction.”

were allegedly hidden in appalling conditions in tiny spaces once they had arrived in La Linea de la Concepcion.

Up to 250 people may have been trafficked using this method.

The Royal Gibraltar Police (RGP) confirmed that it shared

AIRPORT: Was used by human traffickers

information with the Policia Nacional over suspected immigration offences involving Chinese nationals.

An RGP spokesperson said:

“The RGP can confirm that in recent months, it participated in a number of intelligence exchanges as part of its support to the investigation into an organised crime group operating between China, Spain, Gibraltar and the UK.”

The probe began when the authorities detected a constant flow of Chinese arrivals in La Linea.

The mafia is reported to have established infrastructure for

hiding the Chinese nationals for weeks at a time, until they could enter Gibraltar using fake documents.

The gang is thought to have used false passports, visas and stamps to get the migrants into Gibraltar, with forgers in Turkey producing the documents. They could then travel to the United Kingdom using the same bogus papers.

What’s more, the organisation was allegedly making use of genuine travel documents from Chinese nationals, in cases where the original person had a physical similarity to the would-be migrant.

Rock slurs

THE Government of Gibraltar has come out swinging after a Spanish politician called the Rock a ‘haven for drug traffickers and money launderers’.

It slammed the comments of Partido Popular (PP) spokesman Esteban Gonzalez Pons (pictured) as ‘dehumanising’ and an ‘incitement to hatred’. Pons echoed comments from the Junta when he called the Rock a ‘tax haven whose wealth is born from the poverty of the rest of the region’, before adding: “It is a refuge for drug traffickers and money laundering.”

Benefit

But the Gibraltar government rejected the accusations, calling the Rock ‘an economic benefit to Spain and not a drain’.

A spokesman said: “Gibraltar accounts for 25% of the GDP of the Campo de Gibraltar and, as a whole, is the second largest employer for the neighbouring region of Andalucía.”

Anti-tourism march sees 10,000 take to the streets demanding change to ‘destructive’ industry

A HISTORIC anti-tourism march has alarmed holiday firms as the main summer season begins.

An incredible 10,000 people took to the streets in Mallorca this weekend to demand change to the ‘destructive’ effects of tourism.

Chanting ‘They will not force us out of Mallorca’, they goad-

Fight them on the beaches!

By Yzabelle Bostyn

ed holidaymakers with signs including ‘Guiri go home!’ and caused mayhem on a busy Saturday.

It comes after local protests also took place in Sevilla, Malaga and the Canary Islands.

Tourists told the Olive Press

NO DEAL YET

THE latest round of talks in Brussels to resolve the issue of Gibraltar’s status post-Brexit ended without a deal.

Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo spent six hours meeting with UK foreign secretary David Cameron, his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares, and European Commission Executive Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič.

In a joint statement the four parties said they had built on the ‘significant progress’ of the previous meeting on April 12. In the statement they said: “All sides are reassured that the agreement is getting closer and will work closely and rapidly on outstanding areas towards an overall EU-UK agreement.” Hopes had been high that a deal could be struck before the European Commission takes a hiatus during the upcoming European elections.

The proposed deal would see the hard border between Spain and Gibraltar removed to see the free movement of goods and people.

how they felt ‘intimidated’ and even ‘scared’ when the hordes of angry protesters marched through Palma, on Saturday.

Under the slogan ‘Mallorca isn’t for sale’ the principal complaint is the lack of affordable housing caused by a surplus of Airbnbs, hotels and tourist lets.

Posters read: ‘Our ancestors land is for sale’ and ‘It’s not tourism-phobia, it’s Mallorca-cide’, while protestors chanted: “No, no, they will not force us out of Mallorca.”

One local told the Ol ive Press: “The general public has had to take a stand as our politicians just don’t want to get involved.”

For young people, the situation is particularly dire.

Locals relate how they are ‘stuck’ living with their parents due to high rent pric es.

A spokesman for the organisers, a local collective called Sencelles Time Bank said ‘enough was

X factor

CHIEF Minister Fabian Picardo has blasted right-wing Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg after the Tory veteran accused Gibraltar’s leader of wanting the Rock ‘to be Spanish’ in a social media spat on X. The war of words began after Brexiteer Rees-Mogg, 54, tweeted a link to a Daily Mail article describing the development of the EU-UK Gibraltar post-Brexit treaty negotiations, which claimed that the EU could have the power to block British visitors from entering the Rock.

Rees-Mogg said: “Clearly Fabian Picardo, the Chief Minister, no longer wants the inconvenience to Gibraltar of being British so he must want it to be Spanish.”

enough’ as tourism took a grip across every part of the island.

“Foreign investors are honing in on the interior of the island because it's the only charming bit left to buy,” he said. The group is demanding immediate ‘emergency measures’ to solve the issue.

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These include: declaring Mallorca a ‘stressed’ real estate zone, the approval of a vital moratorium on tourist lets and stan-

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dard of living guarantees for locals.

“People are really suffering and we don’t trust this government to change the tourism model,” added the spokesman.

It follows action in the Canary Islands last month, where some 57,000 residents gathered to protest against mass tourism.

Picardo, who has been representing Gibraltar’s interests in the crunch talks, blasted the Tory grandee for his comments, adding that he would be ‘happy to brief Mr Rees-Mogg if he really has the remotest interest’.

Comprehensive Cybersecurity

A German tourist boss, who owns a string of holiday rentals in Sevilla and Marbella, told the Olive Press: “I am genuinely worried about it and don’t tell anyone I meet anymore what my job is.”

He added: “It is cheap and wrong to suggest that we would ever consider our BRITISH nationality, heritage and birthright an ‘inconvenience’. We are negotiating for fluid travel, immigration

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EMOTIONAL: But also partly xenophobic march in Palma on Saturday

paper in Spain

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.

OPINION

Guiris should NOT go home!

AS Spain enters the summer months, a wave of anti-tourism protests are popping up across the country. (Fight them on the beaches, p5).

Some 10,000 locals took to the streets of Palma holding up signs reading ‘guiris go home’ and other offensive messages.

Their gripe, essentially, is that too many tourists are visiting the Balearic Islands, placing a strain on local resources and causing more traffic and other environmental problems.

They add ‘excessive’ tourism is inspiring an ‘uncontrollable’ surge in tourist flats, which make renting or buying a home increasingly impossible.

And there’s no doubt they are right: the property crisis is worsening. Just look at Ibiza, where lifeguards and police have been forced to live in their cars because they cannot afford rent.

Meanwhile Malaga city has the highest number of tourist rentals per capita in Spain - and fed-up locals will also now take to the streets (on June 29) in protest.

We get it. It is entirely understandable to call for changes to the tourism model.

No one wants these picturesque areas to be overrun and their environments damaged by overcrowding. It is also incredibly frustrating for young people who cannot get on the property ladder or even afford to rent.

The Airbnb and Booking.com craze must be addressed immediately, with limits put in place nationwide.

Too many homes are being turned into holiday lets, creating festering resentment between locals and innocent tourists who simply want to enjoy their holidays.

But this is a question of policy and law, which must be enacted by the ruling government.

Telling ‘guiris’ to ‘go home’ is unlikely to achieve that, and comes as a disgusting slap in the face to the thousands of European expats who have every right to live and work here.

The majority of us - from young workers to wealthy business owners - all pay their taxes and have the utmost respect for Spain.

Aside from creating tens of thousands of jobs and bringing billions to the economy, we mostly support the locals’ point of view on excessive tourism! It’s time for the government to act, before this gets nasty.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es

Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es

Walter Finch walter@theolivepress.es

Yzabelle Bostyn yzabelle@theolivepress.es

(+34) 951 154 841 admin@theolivepress.es

Simon Hunter simon@theolivepress.es

Alex Trelinski alex@theolivepress.es

Ben Pawlowski ben@theolivepress.es

Santaella

accounts@ theolivepress.es

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DEMAND AND

After various Olive Press staff fall victim to scams and lawbreakers, Yzabelle Bostyn

looks at the ‘perfect storm’ in Spain’s rental market

By Yzabelle Bostyn

EXACTLY a year ago, the Spanish government introduced its much heralded Ley de Vivienda

The new Homes Law aimed to tackle a myriad of problems in the rental market, in particular to increase the amount of affordable homes for the young and vulnerable.

The main measures included a 3% cap on rent rises, additional rent caps in ‘stressed’ areas, and the right to renew contracts for up to five years.

However, despite their good intentions, many of the proposed changes have simply been

NEW research has shed light on the espionage activities of thousands of Nazi collaborators and informers who lived double lives in Spain during World War II.

In the Dictionary of Spies, Catalan historian Xavier Juncosa has painstakingly examined over 25,000 documents to produce a 400page insight into the shadowy lives of over 1,000 Nazi agents, informers, Francoists, Fascists and French collaborationists who spied on behalf of Adolf Hitler.

Extracts from the new book have been serialised by La Vanguardia, Catalunya’s leading daily newspaper, bringing to light the vast network of agents who spied in Spain, France, Italy and Germany throughout the Second

ignored around the country.

With the 17 autonomous regions allowed to adapt or dilute the law as they saw fit, it has led to chaos and outright opposition.

The Junta de Andalucia, for example, even took its anger to the Constitutional Court, which has since declared parts of the law ‘unconstitutional’.

The pushback around the country has left the rental market under even higher pressure than before, with rents 30% above targets set by regulatory bodies, and social housing on its knees.

According to leading property portal Fotocasa, tenants spent 43% of their salary on rents last year, a five year high (see Rental nightmare, page 18).

It’s no surprise that a ‘new class divide’ has developed between renters and landlords, according to a study by the Critical Urban Study Group.

The anger is all too palpable looking at the recent protests against tourism and AirB-

nB style holiday rentals in cities around the country, including Malaga, Barcelona and Palma over the weekend.

There has been an angry backlash that has even led to some local protest groups (such as the one in Girona) that are demanding to know where foreigners have lived or bought. Derogatory stickers have gone up criticising tourists and key locks for AirBnBs have been vandalised.

So where did it all go wrong?

In an attempt to protect tenants, the Ley de Vivienda simply went too far. The law lacked subtlety and gave too

Web of spies

The thousands of Nazi collaborators in Spain who used businesses as fronts for top secret espionage

By Ben Pawlowski

World War.

In particular, the compilation of ‘mini-biographies’ reveals how Nazi spies used businesses and modest apartments as fronts for top-secret espionage activities. Number 240 Carrer Consell de Cent (pictured far left), located in the L’Eixample neighbourhood of Barcelona, was officially recorded as being rented by Albertina Cottrell Ullmer, a retired Danish widow in her 80s - but the situation is not what it seems. In reality, the flat was a front - Ullmer lived with Maria Betty Mayerhofer, a Munich-born woman in her 50s who was wife to Ludwig highlights that this flat served as the base of operations for the network of Nazi informers in Barcelona - the flat’s interior was littered with all manner of espionage paraphernalia, including encryption devices and top-secret codes.

Kopp, a Nazi intelligence officer and right-hand-man to Paul Taboschat, the head of the Nazi espionage service in Spain’s second largest city.

Juncosa’s research

Elsewhere, a glass and porcelain gift shop on Passeig de Gracia (left), owned by Frenchman Hugo Vincon, was used as a de-facto mailbox for the network of agents who slipped around the city.

Often, a man would enter the shop, heading to the backroom and leaving an envelope which would later be picked up by a lady.

The business also acted as a discreet meeting point for Nazi collaborators, although this was soon discovered by the French intelligence services.

On Carrer de Valencia, a jeweller’s store served a dual purpose as a liaison point for Nazi informers who discussed operations in

DESPERATION

much protection to tenants, including the right to automatically renew long term contracts for up to five years. It also insisted all agency commission fees fell on the landlord, meaning the tenant no longer needed to pay anything extra to the agency.

“There is so much red tape now that it is counter productive,” explained Olive Press property expert, Adam Neale (left), of agency Terra Meridiana in Estepona.

“It has had the opposite effect to what was intended. Landlords simply have no incentive to rent or play

Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where another network of agents operated.

But why would the shop owner, Rudolf Bauer, agree to such a dangerous double role?

The shop received a significant intake of diamonds from Antwerp which had been plundered by Nazi forces early in the war.

A female clothing store on La Rambla de Catalunya also acted as a front for informers, whilst the Ritz Hotel (above left) was a hotbed of espionage activity thanks to its head, Spaniard Ubaldo de la Fuente Ramos, working for Nazi intelligence services.

The majority of spies operating in Spain at the time - some 60% - were German, but Hungarians, Italians, Belgians and, of course, Spaniards spied on behalf of Hitler’s brutal Nazi regime. Reflecting on his work, historian Juncosa said: “With the information and addresses I provide, a tourist route through Nazi Germany in Barcelona could soon be organised.”

by the book due to the risk of bad tenants and squatters.”

He continues: “Landlords would rather sell or develop tourist flats. And there is clearly now an oversupply of tourist lets and an undersupply of living spaces to rent,” he adds. This high demand and unen forced laws intended to protect tenants leaves them ‘vulnerable to landlords who think they can get away with skirting the law’.

Astronomical prices, scams, dodgy contracts and ‘under the radar’ rentals are rife across the country.

In the last decade, rent has increased 2.3 times more than average incomes (77% vs. 33%), making it increasingly difficult to afford to rent.

“The current prices are ridiculous,” says Christina Ford, an agent at Paraiso Casas in Alhaurin de la Torre, with 15 years experience on the Costa del Sol.

“Although it’s true that costs have gone up for landlords, they are greedy and are still asking too much.”

Many landlords however argue they see renting as a ‘risk’, meaning they try to ‘try to twist and turn’ the law to protect their interests.

Incredibly, it is still legal to operate as an agent without a licence in many parts of Spain, meaning many landlords and agents are ‘unaware’ of the current law.

According to Christina: “Many landlords come to me, but when I ask if they know about the new law I have to show them it.

“Even if they know the law, they will go to multiple agents until they find one willing to break it.”

One of the most common scams landlords and agents take part in is charging tenants agency commission fees.

Once a 50/50 split between landlords and tenants, the Ley de Vivienda made it illegal for tenants to pay agency commission.

However, an Olive Press investigation has revealed it is still common practice to charge tenants the fee.

Half a dozen tenants we interviewed for this article claimed they were asked to pay a commission of a month on top of an advance of two, often many more months, rent.

Damon Schur (below), a student from Pennsylvania, USA, was charged a €975 ‘agency fee’. He ‘knew it wasn’t legal’ but claims the system of ‘oneing up other tenants’ by agreeing to pay extra fees forced his hand.

“It’s just something you have to do,” he said. Even still, the 32-year-old had to ‘convince’ the agent

PROTESTS: Have been held on the streets of Palma (top) in Madrid (above) and many other Spanish cities

to let the property to him, paying six months rent upfront plus a two month deposit, both illegal practices.

Overall, this set him back an advance payment of an eye-watering sum of €8,775.

“I had to play the game or I’d be homeless,” he confessed. “Most people know it isn’t right but it’s how it is. It’s a messed up system but I can’t fight it alone. We need to come together.”

According to Ford, it is a Catch 22 as if the agents don’t ask the tenants for a commision, they ‘risk not getting paid’ as many landlords simply ‘re fuse’ to pay the agency fee.

Some agents will even try to charge a fee each year a tenant is in the property.

Oliver Reynolds (left), 32, was told he would need to pay an extra €900 to stay in his Marbella flat for another year.

“They told me it was just to change the date on the contract,” he told the Olive Press

When he pointed out that this was illegal, the agent told him it was ‘just how they do business’. The maths teacher at an international school said: “It’s harsh and not a very nice way to treat normal working people.”

Now, he is looking for another flat but ‘keeps coming up against’ other common practices such as being offered an 11-month contract to circumvent the new laws.

WELCOME: Franco allowed Nazi spies to operate with relative freedom in Spain

PAY TO STAY?

ANDALUCIA’S inland cities are at loggerheads with their coastal neighbours over introducing a tourist tax.

The mayors of Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba support the levy to fight ‘overtourism’, while resorts, including Marbella and Estepona, fear it could scare away business.

Meanwhile, dozens of smaller towns have complained they feel sidelined in a debate predominantly focusing on how to increase revenue.

Tourist tax legislation which proposes a levy of between €1 and €5 a night depending on the stars of a hotel has been stalled since December.

Discussions on the proposal continue between the Junta, local business groups and the Andalucian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FAMP).

A Junta spokesman insisted the plan was ‘not about frying people with taxes’, adding it is better to reach a ‘good solution than a quick one.’

Despite previous opposition to the tax, the Junta now sees it as a viable option.

The discussion aims to balance the economic benefits brought by tourism with the strain it puts on local infrastructure and services.

In come the big spenders!

SPAIN’S capital is now among the world’s top hotspots for the super-rich.

Madrid has emerged as the fourth most popular destination for high net-worth individuals to purchase a home, according to leading French agency Barnes International.

The agency, which has 1,300 staff worldwide, also puts Barcelona and Malaga in its top 50 locations but well below Madrid.

According to the company’s Global Property Handbook, which breaks down where the rich are seeking to invest, Dubai came top last year.

The country knocked Paris off the number-one spot, with the French capital now in fifth place, while Miami and New York come in second and third.

Barcelona scrapes into the top 20 at 19th, while Malaga comes in at 47.

The report draws on a number of

factors, including climate, safety and infrastructure.

It predicts that Madrid will stay in the top five for the coming years, given a spike in interest among Europeans to invest there Thousands of Latin Americans, who already live and rent in the city, are also looking to buy.

The report also points to the ‘excellent investment opportunities’ in Barcelona and Malaga, as well as their ‘Mediterranean lifestyle’.

It claims the Spanish coastline holds a lot of allure for clients from the US and, in particular, those from California.

JOINING THE CLUB

SHE’S been moseying down to Marbella every summer for years. So it seems appropriate that Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria should finally move into the resort.

She is set to move into a luxury villa after upping sticks and abandoning her Hollywood lifestyle.

LA-based Longoria, 49, and her husband, Mexican businessman Jose Baston, 56, are moving in

Inside Eva Longoria’sluxury villa in Marbella

By Ben Pawlowski

with their five-year-old son, Santiago.

The couple revealed they are moving to avoid their child from get-

“Finally, in early 2023, this house came on the market. It needed refurbishing, but it had just the size and location I was after”.

Longoria is well-acquainted with the area, having hosted the glamorous galas of the Global Gift Foundation of which she is an honorary president, for ting ‘sucked into the Hollywood cycle’. The lavish pad, which they bought last year, counts on six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a swimming pool, a cinema, sauna and gym.

“I have been looking for a place in Marbella for the past five years,” she told Hello magazine. “I visited a few places but nothing was quite what I wanted.

La Sala expands

IT is easily Marbella’s most famous restaurant.

To foreigners at least.

Now the La Sala restaurant empire has expanded into property after launching its own real estate business.

La Sala Homes launched last month with a who’s who of Marbella pres ent, including the mayor Angeles Muñoz.

The office sits below the main restaurant and next to a brand new Clubhouse sports bar set to open imminently.

years.

“I don’t have a schedule. My days are full of activities - padel tennis, the beach, lunch, drinks, socialising…in fact, they’re full to the brim, but with things I really enjoy”.

In terms of essentials, Eva said she ‘wanted a garden for my son to play in, and a swimming pool because he is always swimming’, ‘lots of bedrooms’ and ‘of course, a big kitchen’.

She added that she also loves her ‘amazing’ dressing room which is home to ‘loads of space’.

The popular and award-winning actress is best known for appear-

La Sala Homes managing director Justin Boland told the Olive Press: “It was a no brainer really, with our database and the location.”

A partner in the new business, he added: “I’m very excited to be involved in the launch and getting to meet so many interesting people.” Boland, 47, previously worked for years at Engel & Volkers, in Marbella, and has set up property businesses in other parts of Europe, including Bulgaria. He grew up in Spain, the son of well known local celebrity Maurice Boland, who has been working at rival agency Bromley Estates for a decade.

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ing on our screens in Desperate Housewives as Gabrielle Solis, a wealthy Latina living on exclusive Wisteria Lane.

She also has Spanish citizenship and, in 2022, was given the honorary title ‘Dame’ due to her family roots which trace back to Oviedo.

DESPERATE TO ESCAPE: Eva and Jose want their son to avoid ‘getting sucked into Hollywood’

SHOWING OFF: Video Eva posted on social media

VIPS: Maurice Boland and mayor Muñoz

BIG CHEESES: La Sala boss Ian Radford with Justin Boland and Mayor Muñoz

LAUNCH: Over 200 guests enjoyed the bash

University campus and Barcelona library are winning designs at Europe’s top architect awards

LOOKING FOR MORE PROPERTY STORIES? Scan

November 29thDecember 12th 2023

GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ LIBRARY

STUDIOUS WINNERS

STUDY PAVILION, TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF BRAUNSCHWEIG

BY

By Dilip Kuner

STUDYING and reading are the winning themes in this year’s prestigious architecture awards.

The two main prizes in the EU Mies award (formerly the Mies van der Rohe award) went to a university study facility in Germany and a city library in Spain.

The Study Pavilion at the Technical University of Braunschweig is ‘joyous’ as the Olive Press discovered on a visit this month (see overleaf).

Featuring slender steel beams, wooden ribbed decks and glass facades, it emphasises sustainability and reusability. The clever use of materials allows for different configurations, which can be changed for various student activities and events.

Designed by Gustav Düsing, 30 and Max Hacke, 28, the judges praised how it ‘promotes social exchange and interdisciplinary knowledge between students and teachers alike’.

The building was chosen from a list of 40 finalists around Europe with the judges also liking the rigour and precision of the project, which came in under its

budget of €5.2 million. Awarding the €60,000 prize they added the building had ‘a clear architectural idea, scrutinised it and pushed it to the limit’.

The Emerging Architecture Prize (also part of the EU Mies award, the EU’s biennial prize for contemporary architecture) meanwhile, was handed to the Gabriel García Márquez Library in Barcelona.

Designed by Elena Orte and Guillermo Sevillano of SUMA Arquitectura, the library was planned as a cultural hub for the community.

Its design features a full-height atrium and a series of stacked, perforated spaces, symbolising the form of books. The library's structure integrates laminated and cross-laminated timber with steel, and the interior spaces are organised around a central triangular courtyard. This design not only provides a welcoming environment for library users but also pays homage to the architectural traditions of Barcelona's Eixample district.

Judges said that both projects reflect the principles of the ‘New European Bauhaus’, emphasising the integration of green transition concepts into everyday living spaces.

The award ceremony took place at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona, which was designed by Geman arichitecture legend Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona.

Originally dismantled after the exposition, it was rebuilt according to the original plans in 1986 and inspired the creation of the biennial awards ceremony two years later.

PHOTOS

IWAN BAAN

EMERGING STARS: The Spanish SUMA studio won second prize for its library, praised for its ‘welcoming environment’ and style

WINNER: Study House promotes ‘social exchange’ and has a clear purpose, coming in under budget Continue to page 16 for the review

OLIVE PRESS VISITS EU MIES WINNER

IT SAYS IT ON THE TIN!

IT’S rare to come across a building that feels so completely right.

In terms of functionality and form, the Study House, at Braunschweig’s Technical University, ticked so many boxes for me.

Set alongside the city’s river, it emerges suddenly from a copse of trees, which almost mask its ingenious intentions. Fundamentally a large glass box, as you look closer you realise its two floors are being brilliantly utilised.

The architects and their commissioners couldn’t have dreamed of seeing their building being better used…on both levels and from every available space. It was as if they had paid the 100 or more students to set up their laptops and throw their books, notepads and

By Jon Clarke in Braunschweig

own, some in groups, they were clearly finding it of use.

A few chatted quietly, while most were deep in thought getting on with their studies, with a quiet hubbub in the back ground. Those that needed total silence climbed out onto the dozen or so balco nies, or at desks on the ground level, outside. The overall feeling was one of peace and sustainability, particularly with nature enveloping the building at every opportunity. I spoke to a few of the students and discovered them extremely happy with the pavilion, which has also won prizes locally in Germany.

space to work and hopefully I’ll do well enough to get in to study here in September,” she explained. Now

The German design double act of Dusing and Hacke, who trained in London, were inspired by toy sets from

Everything is bolted or screwed together, rather than welded or glued and the frame is made of 10cm wide hollow steel sections which contain all the wiring, lighting and sockets, as well as rainwater guttering.

Staircases inside and out create drama and interesting lines. “It’s a bit like nesting,” explained Dusing

One girl, just 18, told me she was not even attending the university and had her final school exams coming up in the next few weeks.

“It is a really inspiring

The first floor is designed to be a ‘series of islands’ connected by bridges, creating separate study zones, some open plan overlooking the action below, while others are withdrawn and more intimate.

The desks around the edge feel almost suspended in the trees and are inspirational in the extreme.

The staircases inside and out create drama and interesting lines. “It’s a bit like nesting,” explained Dusing. “Students can come in and find their spot.”

There is no front or back, but nine equal entrances around the 1,000 square metre structure, making it feel like an open hub, accessible from all directions, even from the footpath along the nearby river, from where I entered. It is also more than welcoming to members of the public, too, as long as they are quiet, while some students have adapted the structure in certain ways, with one stringing up a hammock.

“It should feel like an extension of the living room,” explains Hacke, clearly

delighted. “They come here to eat and play cards, as well as work.”

The judges ruled the Study House was ‘more than a building’, a ‘versatile system, merging technological inventions with flexible and reusable principles’. I wouldn’t change a thing if this is how the end users feel about it. A real joy!

JOYOUS: Every available space is being used, while one youngster (above) isn’t even studying at the university yet!

Clarke

CAUGHT THE EYE

November 29thDecember 12th 2023

LOOKING FOR MORE PROPERTY STORIES?

A new era in architecture is setting the scene for inspirational designs, here our Olive Press team of roving photographers bring you some of their favourites…

THE Costa del Sol has seen a huge amount of building in the past decade. Too often the designs have been ‘rinse and repeat’ with almost identical blocks being thrown up without much thought to the aesthetics of the buildings. But more recently the value of imaginative architecture to quality of life has been coming to the fore.

Unusual designs are springing up.

By Dilip Kuner

Here we picture some of the more interesting buildings that have caught our eye on our travels along the Costa and inland…and if you have spotted a design worthy of comment, send your snaps to newsdesk@theolivepress.es

Take a stroll along the Carvajal promenade and 25 metres inland is this striking building, part of the Higueron complex. It emulates the sea, taking inspiration from the rolling waves of the Mediterranean to make an easy-on-theeye addition to the seafront location. The Wave, Fuengirola

Caught the EYE

Laguna complex, Estepona

The old Laguna Village was burned to the ground four years ago. Now it has risen from the ashes as the Laguna complex, featuring Sublim Beach Club. Gone are the old thatched (and highly flammable) roofs and in their place is an imaginative space-age building with ‘flowing lines’ in a striking seafront location.

San Pedro Sports Centre, San Pedro Alcantara

Too many sports complexes are cheap to build concrete blocks that are a blot on the landscape. This soon to be finished centre takes a different - and far more aesthetically

pleasing - tack. The teardrop design of the building between San Pedro town and the beach is an architectural treat that does not dominate through ugliness.

Mayoral distribution centre Malaga, Malaga

This amazing distribution centre for clothes company Mayoral was originally a giant textile factory. Ordered to be built by Franco in the 1960’s, it was abandoned in the 1990s. Now the building has been brought back to life as a stylish central base with a stunning new look.

Edificio Maria Jose, Malaga seafront

This olive oil museum created by French design guru Philippe Starck thrusts out of an olive grove near Ronda like a bull at Pamplona, and gives hikers a real surprise. With a giant copper horn, a beady eye and

a pair of lips that double as a viewing platform, it is likely to become an internet sensation. Built over 26 hectares, LA Organic Experience is part of a €22 million investment which has seen around 10,000 trees planted. LA Organic Experience, Ronda

The architects took inspiration from the area’s industrial heritage, as seen by the neighbouring protected sugar refinery chimney. The use of bricks was enhanced by an unusual exterior design that is very different from other modern blocks in Malaga.

Fill her up

PRIVATE pools on the Costa del Sol will be allowed to be filled from Saturday (June 1).

The regional drought management committee has given the green light to the measure in Malaga city, the Axarquia, the Western Costa del Sol and the Campo de Gibraltar.

According to the Junta’s water secretary, Ramiro Angulo: “This will ensure the health quality of water and reduce the impact of water loss as a result of evaporation or filter cleaning.”

The daily water allowance for many municipalities will be increased from 200 to 225 litres across the western Costa del Sol and the Campo de Gibraltar. Areas set to benefit from the new measures will be Benahavis, Benalmadena, Casares, Estepona, Fuengirola, Manilva, Marbella, Ojen, Torremolinos and Mijas.

Electric dreams

Car buyers shun EVs and hang on to old bangers instead

CAR ages in Spain are rising with motorists keeping what they’ve got and shunning electric car purchases. That's the conclusion of the Ancera car dealers association in its annual report produced in collaboration with marketing consultants AutoInfor.

The average age of cars on the road reached 13.6 years in 2024, up from 13.3 years the previous year.

The report stresses the limited number of electric vehicles which it estimated at only 0.63% of all cars,

OVER half of people in Spain would not pay to take their vehicle into a city centre Low Emission Zone (ZBE), according to a survey.

Cities with populations of 50,000 and more have to introduce such zones under the Sustainable Mobility Law which is going through Congress right now.

A study conducted by mobility app Freenow looked at the likely response to such zones from the public.

Each council creating a ZBE will

By Alex Trelinski

though that is predicted to rise to 4% by 2029.

This figure conflicts with government estimates of EVs making up 4.4% of the carpool, with hybrids adding another 4.5%.

Despite an increase in registrations towards the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, Ancera says new car purchases have fallen by 0.3% so far this year. - again a conflict, with the government saying sales rose 3.3% in the

Toll resistance

also have the ability to charge tolls on private vehicles.

The survey found that 51% of drivers are not willing to pay a charge to use their own car, with the percentage rising to 55% among those under 35 years of age. Instead, 72% of people would change the way they move around a city, mainly by using public transport.

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

first quarter of the year.

The report suggests that 45% of vehicles on Spanish roads are more than 15 years old and are likely to emit more pollutants than newer models

Ancera general-secretary, Carlos Martin, said: “The latest report shows that more than 60% of the fleet is more than 11 years old and 99% of the vehicles in circulation have combustion engines.

“Although almost 94% of the fleet continues to be petrol and diesel, the volume of hybrids and, to a lesser extent, electric vehicles is expected to increase in the coming years," Martin predicted.

Ancera has called on promoting policies and measures to coax motorists to switch to a less-polluting car and a greater use of sustainable technology.

too explains

UPCYCLING BID

DURING Milan Design Week, I saw a showcase of innovative furniture boasting new designs, textures, and materials.

Many brands presented sustainable options that are better for the environment. However, is buying new furniture truly the most eco-friendly solution?

While these environmentally conscious materials are a positive step for new purchases, it’s actually more sustainable to use existing furniture for as long as possible.

Every new piece requires resources, not just in materials including wood and fabric, but also indirect resources like water and energy used in production.

Second-hand use and upcycling are two great ways to conserve resources.

You can even refresh old furniture with a coat of paint or even by exchanging it at a second hand market.

Resource conservation isn’t limited to furniture. Using reusable tableware is another key aspect of sustainable living. Dishwashers make it easy to clean and reuse dishes, even for large gatherings. For picnics, pack reusable plates and cups.

When I was a child, we had sturdy, reusable plastic plates and cups.

Today, many brands offer stylish and packable reusable tableware that folds easily. Another challenge of sustainable living is cooling our homes.

Ball of fire

A HUGE fireball has been spotted flying above Spain and parts of Portugal after entering the Earth’s atmosphere at more than 160,000km/hr.

The Calar Alto Observatory in Gergal, Almeria, confirmed the passing of the ‘meteor’ in the early hours of May 19.

The scientific outpost said the ‘very large fireball’ crossed the skies of both Spain and Portugal at around 12.46am.

The alien object was also detected by several other observatories, including in Toledo, Huelva, Sierra Nevada in Granada, Sevilla and Tarragona.

Experts later confirmed the huge piece of rock had likely broken off from a comet.

Currently, cooling systems, mainly refrigerators and air conditioners, are responsible for 10% of global heating emissions.

This is largely due to the use of fluorocarbons (HFCs), which have a greenhouse effect 23,000 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2)!

So, what can we do to improve this situation? Scientists are working hard to develop more efficient cooling systems, but this takes time. Fortunately, we can make a significant impact through our behaviour:

COOLING TEMPERATURE: How cool does your room really need to be? A large temperature difference between inside and outside can be uncomfortable and cause temperature shock.

COLDS AND ACHES: Don’t cool a room while keeping windows open! This forces the air conditioner to work double-time, using more of those harmful fluorocarbons.

DO YOU NEED COOLING EVERYWHERE?:

Smartly designed homes may not require cooling in all areas. Cellars built into the ground often have a natural cooling effect due to the earth’s temperature. Windy areas can also be used for natural ventilation.

THE POWER OF PLANTS: Did you know that

GREENING: The ugly old Feldstrasse flak tower in Hamburg has been transformed

plants can cool a building by up to 15 degrees naturally?

Planting a large tree with a wide canopy in your yard provides shade and beauty. Even balconies can be used for this purpose. In Germany, architects are experimenting with green, plant covered roofs and walls to achieve a similar cooling effect.

So why not have a go yourself? You will be surprised how much you can cool down your terrace with the strategic use of plants!

BATTERY POWERED: But EVs are being shunned

Living in the most eco-friendly way has its challenges but solution are at hand

Christin Hagemeier

November 29thDecember 12th 2023

LOOKING FOR MORE CULTURE STORIES?

Arabian nights

Gypsy ballads, Flamenco nights and world-class orchestration at the 73rd

Granada Festival of Music & Dance

ERNEST Hemingway once said that if you were to visit just one Spanish city, it should be Granada.

For over half a century, the Granada Festival of Music and Dance has added to the appeal, hosting some of the world’s finest musicians and dancers.

Celebrated by the BBC as one of the most prestigious classical music festivals in Europe, it returns for its 73rd iteration this year, from June 7 to July 14.

A total of 116 performances will take place over 33 days, with Franz Schubert’s more intimate compositions providing the common thread running through this year’s programme.

Some of Europe’s leading musicians and dancers will be appearing in sold-out venues across the city; from state-of-theart auditoriums and renovated monasteries, to world-renowned concert halls, even a breathtaking 14th century open-air theatre.

This year, for the first time, attendees will enjoy the symphonic vivacity of one of Europe’s great est orchestras, the Vienna Phil

By Michael Molyneux

harmonic, directed by Lorenzo Viotti. Also taking to the stage: the Spanish National Ballet; British classical pianist Paul Lewis, widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation; and Trio Arbos, winners of the 2013 National Award for Spanish Music, who will be performing compositions by both Schubert and Jose Maria Sanchez Verdu, this year’s festival’s artist-in-residence.

The origins of the festival can be traced back centuries, beyond the jasmine-scented courtyards of legendary Spanish pianist Manual de Falla, and the theatrical duende of Federico Garcia Lorca, to the region’s Moorish ancestry, whose roots still spread out across the city in the form of architectural, artistic and musical wonders.

This Arabian Nights fantasy, and the festival’s other world-class venues, threat-

prise performance by an on-form Bob Dylan at the Generalife Theatre. This year’s roster of visiting orchestras and performers also features an incredible line-up.

The soloists include legendary pianists such as Martha Argerich, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Sir András Schiff; the duo of Alexei Volodin and Edith Peña; and young talents such as Seong-Jin Cho, Alexandre Kantorow and Juan Floristán, all of them winners of international prizes.

an extensive programme of workshops and dance-troupe street-performances, many of which are free to attend.

The scent of jasmine, orange blossom, cigars and perfume mingle in the air

Orchestras will take over the Carlos V Palace; Spanish and modern dance as well as ballet

be held in the Generalife gardens; and the smaller classical recitals will take place in the Alhambra’s Arrayanes Patio.

Concerts are also being held in churches and halls throughout Granada, and flamenco shows in the Albaicín and Sacromonte – outside the city walls, where the gypsies were historically forced to live – will liven up the nights following the festival’s scheduled performanc-

During the festival there will also be

Candlelit nights in the gardens and courtyards of Andalucia –where the scent of jasmine, orange blossom, cigars and perfume mingle in the evening air –are rendered all the more sublime by the spectacular backdrop of the Sierra Nevada (snow-capped until early-summer) and the immortal Alhambra, half citadel half palace, that adorns its foothills.

Less boisterous than its Andalucian neighbours Sevilla and Cadiz to the west, what Granada lacks in vociferousness, it more than makes up for in artistic virtuosity. As the city’s most famous poet Federico Garcia Lorca once said: Granada will always be ‘more lyrical than dramatic’.

The Granada Music and Dance Festival was born in the Alhambra, to reinforce the link between the ‘imaginary city, and the real city’, between the popular and the traditional aspects of Andalucian life, and to give recognition and momentum to the great heritage of European musical culture.

For festival tickets and information, please visit www.granadafestival.org

Michael Molyneux is a freelance photojournalist from the UK, based in Granada. Follow his work on instagram.com/molyneux_photography

ROMANTIC: A concert setting at the Alhambra

Managing risk

Pharaoh knew best

GLOBAL health experts have revealed an ancient Egyptian ‘super cereal’ that is ‘best’ at reducing cholesterol.

In Europe, oats have traditionally been seen as the best cereal for reducing cholesterol. However, they now have strong competition in the form of a little-known grain with roots in Ancient Egypt. Kamut has been recommended by the World Health Organisation for its numerous health benefits.

Much like oats, kamut helps to lower blood sugar and control cholesterol.

So, it makes the perfect addition to any diet if you have hypertension or diabetes, claims WHO.

The only downside? It has very high levels of gluten, so it isn’t recommended for celiacs.

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SPAIN has launched its annual plan to alert vulnerable people about heatwaves during the summer.

The initiative from the Health Ministry has run for 20 years and active until September 30 - with an option to extend it to October 15 if needed.

A new feature will be meteoalert zones kicking in from June 3, which will be a reference map for extreme heat warnings.

The 182 meteohealth zones are designated areas of the country that, according to previous years’ records, vary in temperature between each other.

The plan’s main objective is to prevent and

reduce the impact of high temperatures on the elderly, pregnant women, children and the chronically ill. Another important category takes in workers who are employed for ‘open air’ tasks.

One of the priorities is to alert regional health authorities and the public, of possible risk situations with ‘sufficient advance notice’ so that preventive measures can be taken.

It will done via forecasts provided by the State Meteorological Agency (Aemet) with the Health Ministry passing on risk levels daily to the country’s 17 regions.

Level 0 or green, means there is no risk; level 1 or yellow, donates a low risk; level 2 or orange, marks medium risk; and level 3 or red, is a high risk category.

A series of general recommendations to prevent the

effects of high tempera tures has been published which include drinking water and liquids fre quently and avoiding caffeinated, alcoholic or highly sugary drinks that could cause dehydration. They also recommend wearing ‘light, loose-fitting clothing’ and to never leaving anyone in a parked car, especially if they are children, the elderly or people chronic diseases.

If any heat-related symptoms last more than an hour, the Ministry recommends going to see a doctor.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

AN expat who spent four days in hospital after suffering a reaction to Nolotil was horrified when he was prescribed the drug a second time. It came despite the British 60-year-old telling doctors about his specific allergy to the painkiller. Pete Packer, an English teacher in Marbella, had already had a near-fatal reaction to the killer drug after a motorbike accident in 2017. Despite breaking numerous bones in the 110kph accident, the father-of-one was let out of Hospital Universitario, in Malaga, the same day with a prescription for Nolotil. Little did he know, his nightmare was just beginning. The next day, he awoke to a terrible fever and ‘couldn’t

‘Nolotil almost killed me, then doctors told me they gave it to me AGAIN without thinking’

KILL THE DRUG

stop shaking’ with frequent ‘convulsions’.

“I thought I was dying, I was sick, shaking and sweating all over,” he told the Olive Press.

“As a single parent it was scary that I couldn’t look after my daughter who goes to school here.”

After fainting while shopping for food, he decided enough was enough and went to

EXCLUSIVE

By Yzabelle Bostyn

After several blood tests, he was informed he had ‘no white blood cells’ and had an ‘AIDS-like’ illness.

Pus was soon streaming out of his eyes and nose, as doctors informed him that an ‘atom bomb’ of bacteria was ‘having a party in his body.’

“No one could figure out what was going on,” explained the expat, who has lived in Spain for 15 years.

“It wasn’t until one of the doctors mentioned in passing that he'd read about Nolotil killing ‘guiris’ that they decided to take me off it,” he continued.

It was only then, after four days drifting in and out of consciousness, that his immune system finally began to recover.

Badly shaken, he made sure the hospital listed his strong allergy to Nolotil on his medical records.

So he was more than shocked when after another recent motorbike accident he was again hospitalised and given the dangerous drug.

And it even came despite wearing a ‘No Nolotil’ wristband when he was admitted

to the Hospital de Alta Resolucion in search of pain relief.

Despite also telling triage nurses and a doctor he was allergic to the drug, he was STILL prescribed it.

When he demanded to know why, the doctor apologised and told him he ‘automatically’ prescribed it ‘out of habit’.

It comes six years after the 2018 decree demanding medical professionals do a thorough background check to make sure no one of northern European descent is given the drug.

“People are routinely being given this drug that kills thousands,” he said.

“It is appalling that doctors are ignoring the advice that is seeing people die.”

Nolotil is known to induce

‘agranulocytosis’ in some northern Europeans, reducing the amount of white blood cells to dangerous levels and depleting the immune system. It is currently under investigation in the Spanish National court, after tireless campaigning by the Association for Drug Affected Patients (ADAF) and the Olive Press. “I’m actually lucky,” said Pete, this week. “I’m fluent in Spanish so I could tell them not to give me Nolotil. But if I was just on holiday, I wouldn’t stand a chance.” Our campaign against the drug has been signed by nearly 800 people.

You can sign it on our website www.theolivepress.es.

FISHY PARASITE ALERT

Call me, Fijaz Mughal, in confidence. I’m fully-accredited and professionally-trained in London and recently moved to Spain.

I understand the issues many expats feel in Spain. Change through relocation abroad can really add to mental health pressures and these life changes are never easy. Counselling and therapy has changed the lives of many. Getting in touch is the first step. Recognising that there is an issue is the first step on the road to recovery.

Help is available through my confidential counselling CONTACT: Fijaz Mughal OBE FCMI MBACP on info@counselling4anxiety.com www.counselling4anxiety.com

A HEALTH warning has been issued after anisakis has been detected in a fish imported from Morocco for sale in Spain.

The hake roe containing the parasite was analysed at a Spanish border control point. Anisakis is a parasite that attaches itself to

the digestive tract of fish and cephalopods and can cause an allergic reaction if eaten. Among the most frequent symptoms in case of infection within 12 hours after consumption includes strong abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and fever.

In addition, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, hives or conjunctivitis may also occur.

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff) says they don't know where the hake roe was infected and what the final destination was. It is not known either whether other batches that may have anisakis have gone on sale in Spain.

The Rasff agency described the situation as 'serious' and has asked consumers not to buy hake roe until they learn more about the anisakis contamination.

Hospital de Alta Resolucion, Benalmadena.

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

November 29thDecember 12th 2023 LOOKING FOR

FLOWER POWER

Every year you want to visit Cordoba’s Festival of Patios but are they worth it?

Yzabelle Bostyn

Cfinds out…

OMING from Esteponadubbed as the Costa’s ‘Garden City’ , I wasn’t sure Cordoba could beat my flower-laden hometown.

But the city overwhelmed me with its beautiful patios, rich history and delicious food - and yes, the fragrant displays of flowers more than matched Estepona’s floral attractions.

This is hardly surprising as the Cordoba Patio Festival was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity site by UNESCO in 2012. For just one week every year, Cordoban families open up their homes to share their patios with the world.

Thousands of tourists flock to the city, eager to explore courtyards battling it out to be crowned the most beautiful in the historic city.

Some 52 took part in this year’s competition, alongside 12 non competitive entries.

Safe havens amongst the hustle of the city, these patios offer a quiet, green oasis for local residents for the other 51 weeks of the year, once the gawping visitors have gone back home.

Each has its own distinctive look and feel, with different prizes awarded for best patio, modern architecture and traditional architecture.

Here I give my impressions on this year’s winning patios.

By Yzabelle Bostyn

BEST PATIO: MARROQUIES, 6

What better place to pop the question than in Cordoba’s prettiest patio?

For one prospective groom, the hordes of people streaming through the winning locale did not matter, as he got down one knee amongst the bougainvillea and overflowing flower pots.

Such a beautiful moment was befitting of the patio, a complex of multiple houses and workshops brought together by their cobbled paths, floral arches and bright blue doors. Every corner, alleyway and porch was filled to the brim with plants, water features and ceramic arts, lending the patio a typically Andalucian charm.

Marroquies, 6 was also home to many tiny workshops selling ceramics, soap and magnets, showing the tiny barrio’s entrepreneurship.

MODERN ARCHITECTURE: PASTORA, 2

Although much smaller than the overall winner, Pastora, 2 was just as full of charm.

Each wall was covered in Cordoba’s typical blue pots, with unique touches such as the Andalucian plates, a fountain decorated with the Virgin Mary and other religious imagery.

But what really stood out in this patio were the flowers.

The perfectly curated blooms and the huge orchids particularly caught my eye.

And as I left the patio, I made sure to tell the owner how wonder-

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 6 Writ, 7 At large, 9 Adoption, 10 Find, 11 Inuit, 12 Medical, 14 Beggars, 16 Plush, 18 Trot, 20 Fair game, 21 Linseed, 22 Tall.

Down: 1 Credence, 2 Stepping stone, 3 Vapid, 4 Traffic lights, 5 Jean, 8 Lunge, 12 Mrs, 13 Assemble, 15 Rifle, 17 Wilde, 19 Roll.

TINTE, 9

TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE: TINTE, 9

Even smaller still was Tinte, 9. Depending on the size of the pa tio, only a select number of peo ple are allowed in at one time and this was by far the longest queue I waited in all weekend. However, it was definitely worth the wait.

ful his flowers were, provoking a huge smile, beaming with pride.

I also dropped a euro or two in the donation box as I left as it is customary to support your favourites.

MARROQUIES, 6

As soon as you enter the patio, you are greeted with an explosion of colour, from the hundreds of plant pots lining the walls to the lemon tree nestled in a corner.

With various levels, stairs and balconies, each nook and cranny seemed to fit a sprawling plant, making the tiny house feel like a jungle hideaway.

Aside from the three winners, there are dozens of secret gardens tucked away throughout the city.

PASTORA, 2

I spent two days in Cordoba discovering the patios and still only managed to see half. This is partly due to just how tiring it is to run from patio to patio, but also because they open between 11am to 2pm and then from 6pm to 10pm.

Needless to say, I was enchanted and will happily return again next year to tick off all 52.

Millennial saint

A BRIT born to Spanish parents in Manchester could become the first British saint of the 21st century after his diocese sent the pope a request for canonisation following his death from cancer.

Swift to anger

TAYLOR Swift created

some Bad Blood with locals in Madrid after 100 mammoth trailers for her concert caused a series of roads to be cut off, disrupting people’s morning and afternoon work commutes.

Cruz win

THE Sun caused a few raised eyebrows in Spain after it ranked the country’s 10 best beers and announced the cheap Cruzcampo from Andalucia as the best.

BOARD PATROL

THE unusual sight of surfing dogs greeted Cantabria beach-goers this month when pooches of all shapes and sizes showed off their prowess in Bay of Biscay waters.

La Concha beach at Suances hosted the 3rd European DingoNatura Dog Surf Championships over two days. The pooches didn't go solo but had their adult partners to guide them through the

Pooches take to the waves in unique surfing championship

By Alex Trelinski

waves as dozens of spectators looked on.

The overall winners were Koa and Juan Manuel Santiago (below).

The Cantabrian Surfing Fed-

eration divided the furry competitors into different categories based on their size and experience, ensuring a fair and exciting competition. Dogs were judged on various criteria, including their ability to balance on the surfboard, their confidence on

TREAT YOURSELF WITH OUR DAY PASSES

Indulge in a taste of paradise mere steps from your doorstep.

Immerse yourself in luxurious amenities, bask in the sun by the poolside, unwind in the Costa del Sol’s largest spa, and savor delectable dining options—all without the hassle of travel.

dogs is spreading. “It is a celebration of the special bond between dogs and their owners. Many participants highlighted how training for the event had strengthened their relationship with their pets.” Spectators enjoyed a festive atmosphere with various activities, including pet-friendly stalls, educational workshops on dog training and surfing, and interactive games. the water, and the style of their surfing maneuvers. This year's championship saw a record number of participants, with over 50 dogs taking part, ranging from seasoned surfing dogs to enthusiastic newcomers.

Organiser, Michael Calvo, said: “It is great to see more people taking part in this beautiful sport. Little by little, surfing with

Bootleg

TWO Galician farmers admitted making 10,000 litres of bogus hand gel out of brandy on their chicken farm, which was sold to hospitals and pharmacies in the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Prosecutors wanted the men from A Coruña jailed for nine years, but they took a plea deal where they each were

Beaky blinder

AN American expat made a friend during her afternoon coffee after a parrot took up residence on her head.

Michele Jordan and her husband were enjoying an afternoon coffee in Estepona when a parrot flew up to their table. The ‘friendly’ bird ‘stayed quite a while’ with the couple, even hopping on Michele’s head. Even when the pair set off on a walk around town, the small grey parrot continued to follow them.

She posted the incident on social media, in hopes of finding the owner.

Luckily, the owner, a local Spanish lady, swooped in and claimed the bird.

According to the owner’s Facebook page, she had reported the parrot missing over a week earlier.

She said: “I’m begging whoever finds him to return him to me, it would be very noble.”

hand gel

fined €17,520 and given twoyear suspended sentences. They started making the fake gel in April 2020 with the important alcohol component being brandy. The con was exposed after pharmacies complained about labels without an expiration date, barcode, lot number or even the name of a manufacturer.