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Take a drive on the wild side with our Motoring special inside
otoring
ELECTRIC OPTIONS
February 2022 FIGHT ON: VW’s ID.4 is aimed at taking on Tesla
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Cash incentives for electric cars are introduced in Spain as we take a look at popular options
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PAIN has pledged to make the entire country carbon them into the reach of By Dilip Kuner neutral by 2050, and for many more people’s wallets. to happen cars are goingthis One of the most unusual to the country. have to get greener. Tesla Cybertruck. Aimed will be the Volkswagen Group’s SEAT It’s automotive plan focuses squarely at from subsidon the iary plans to Volvo’s environmentally-friendl team up with power the US market where ‘trucks’ are a new electric company Iberdrola huge segment, this retro-futuristic perforand hybrid car industryy to build Spain’s and aims to first battery mance arm make the technology cheaper, factory for Electric Vehi- ‘space machine’ is sure to make it (the other, the and cles (EVs). to Spain at some point. easier to use and access 1, is a hybrid across the Volkswagen country. has previously an- Clad in dent-proof stainless steel petrol-electric), it looks like something nounced its intention to Special incentives have out of Mad build alternaout over the coming been rolled battery plants across Europe,six EV Max, and according to Tesla boss and with tive models years to encourage the three earmarked for Elon Musk it will be a ‘really tough, and specs are ownership of green the Spain/Portugal/ not fake-tough’ truck. planned Mind you, he ended for vehicles, both private The government southern France up with egg this year. area. on his face at the vehicle’s launch and commercial. In total, the governApart from its when he tried to prove is granting The Spanish government its durability green is granting motor, ment has approved an €3.75 billion towards through a series of ‘torture tests’. Volvo €3.75bn to €800 million fund up making electric and All was going well until Musk hurled i n t has also r o d a u steel c make e d ball at the vehicle and shatuntil the end of 2023, electric hybrid cars cheaper frameless mirrors and which is available now. than petrol and diesel tered its ‘armoured’ glass. a light- The interior cars cheaper er-than-leather vegan interior is While Tesla has been Private buyers can to buy by 2027. fabric low, flat floor andminimalist, with a the leader designed a vibe that Nissan claim up to €7,000, But there is no need in EVs (particularly in the publicity a wetsuit. to mimic the durability of calls ‘lounge-like’. with companies buying to wait that long if you stakes) it will have more competi- A pair claimed range of aroundIt has a fleets to use wish to of electric motors work tion than ever this year, 300 miles as taxis eligible for more. help with with main- 27-module Vans can manufacturerssave the planet. Car stream manufacturers lithium ion battery packa and pricing is from around €40,000. attract subsidies of up have been developThis performance and to €9,000. ready to unveil a slew of not only to deliver an impressive 402 horseing electric vehicles for These incentives follow years wrapped in a package luxury will be nology models, but alsolatest-tech- power, and a range of up to with a range ment pledge to promote a govern- While still more expensive thannow. 275 of 200 miles. It ahead of miles. But all battery pro- traditional their costs from around this comes duction in Spain and push contemporaries, subsi- the game. at a price with the luxFor build quality €75,000. ufacture of electric vehiclesthe man- dies and scrappage schemes are neering Volvo and top-class engi- ury car costing from in Meanwhile bringing Their Polestaris worth a close look. €59,900. The Audi e-tron swagen’s ID.4 VolkThe compaEXPENSIVE: 2 five-seater SUV Volvo polish and Swedish brings ny aims to sell 65,000 is aimed squarely The Audi style to units this year. GT is a sleek at taking on Tescompete with Tesla’s e-tron GT Model 3. It When it comes is the second vehicle electric sedan la. Starting prices to mainto come stream manufacturers, are from around with loads of Nissan was one of the €46,000 in Spain first to enter the marand it has a range of power ket. Its LeafEV now has 250 miles. sales of nearly half a Staying with the Germillion. man marques, the Audi e-tron GT is a sleek, The car giant is aiming electric sebuild on this success to dan with loads of power and polish. hav- Behind the streamlined ing recently launched bodywork the Ariiya, a more stylish take is some architecture shared with the Porsche Taycan EV. on emission-free t r a n s - With 590 horsepower, portation. the two-moThe five-passenger SUV tor GT should accelerate from zero features a surprisingly to 60 miles per hour in an impresaggressive look, with some sive three seconds, and will be able to gain an 80% charge swoopy, concave in just and wheels pushed to thesurfacing minutes. The car is top-of-the 20 rancorners. geo expect to pay €100,000 plus.
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GIBRALTAR
Vol. 6 Issue 167
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Find out Property what top Bye bye Bofill real estate agents predict for A the year ahead KEEP THE GOO in our T IMES ROLLINGD Property magazine February 2022
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February 23rd - March 8th 2022
Family fear mystery skull and skeleton belong to missing Michael ‘Nod’ Brittain EXCLUSIVE by Elena Goçmen Rueda
January. A month earlier in December the Olive Press revealed how an expat living in Beneficio had found a skull while walking her dog nearby on November 18. Her pet, Dragon, had unearthed the skull on a walk, while he has since dug up the jaw and other bones, she revealed this week. It is not clear why the head and body were found some distance apart. Now we can reveal that a pile of clothes and a series of dreadlocks have also turned up near Dreadlocks the body. Police confirmed last month that the body “A purple sweater, some jeans and a pair of found near the alternative settlement of Ben- small shoes - without shoe laces - were found eficio appeared to be that of a man in his 40s. next to the skeleton,” said the Romanian exThey had removed the skeleton from a ravine pat, who lives in Beneficio. after it was found by a German hiker in late They have also been taken by officers from the Guardia Civil for analysis. According to his sister, Nod had dreadlocks, as well as small, size seven, feet. He lived in Beneficio around 2014/15, having arrived from the UK two decades ago with the intention of relocating full time to the area. Bizarrely, he had brought ‘drilling gear’ to dig his own well on a plot he is understood to have acquired there. The family, while hopeful that it is not Michael, believes the gruesome disMYSTERY: Dragon the dog (right) dug up the skull above the covery would house (main picture) explain all these years of disconnection. “We tried to find him 11 years ago when our mother was dying and found out through friends that he was in Orgiva at TM an encampment,” explained Michelle, an ad-
Tel: 952 147 834 See pages 7, 17, 18 & 23
See page VIII
The Olive Press Spanish genius, pays tribute to a tenticles spread whose architectural widely, and were even said to have hit tv series the inspired last years Squid Game
IS IT HIM? THE family of a missing British man who came to Spain two decades ago believe he may have died in mysterious circumstances near Granada. The sister of Michael Brittain fears a skeleton recently discovered in a ravine may be his. Michelle Brittain thinks it ‘likely’ her brother, known as ‘Nod’ - and who was last seen living around nearby Orgiva - is the dead man. “It would explain how we haven’t heard from him for seven years when he was last seen at an encampment, near Orgiva,” she told the Olive Press.
A taste of the future or a galactic waste of money?
SPANISH architectural legend has died. Ricardo Bofill died aged 82 last month, Calpe made 2023 a year before the ‘Bofill Year’ to celebrate his remarkable creations and he was set to get a Spanish national stamp. The Catalan was one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century and a pioneer of the style that came to be known as postmodernis m. Like Richard Rogers ter his influence has or Norman Fosbeen vast. When Netflix released Squid Game, which would become the series in its history, most watched noticed an uncanny many viewers tween the striking resemblance bestaircases patrolled by masked guards and one of Bofill’s most famous works La Muralla Roja (The Red Wall) on the Costa Blanca.
HOME sales in December were the second-highes And 2022 has kicked off where last year ended… t on record in Spain. up! going up and up and Andalucia, Valencia and fore,” explained Scott each seeing spectacular Murcia are leading the charge on the mainland, enquiries are coming Marshall, from PropertieSpain in Benahavis. While Andalucia saw growth by over a quarter against last Christmas. in thick and fast.” “And Meanwhile, Ben Bateman “Sales were up Murcia posted figures 29% more sales than last December, Valencia from Sotogrande’s Holmes of 26% and 25% respectively. could be a record year and ered the ground26% on 2019, showing the market has more agency added: “It The Balearics experienced if we it lost to the pandemic. than a 41% uplift, while the The Spanish housing recov- “Last year was the best yearcan get the right number of new listings. rise in December’s year Canaries saw a 44% undergoing a post-pandemic boom in sales.” market is 2022.” since 2008 and we remain on year figures. In total, 72,023 property “Home sales in December confident for sales were completed to official figures. in December, according Adam Neale, at Terra Meridiana, in buoyant Spain’s housing set almost a record high, illustrating quite Estepona, market is despite the last year, with nearly the pandemic,” said property ongoing repercussionshow According to a trio of leading estate 100 million of properties also recorded record sales “It was of also begun well, analyst Mark Stucklin. despite concerns over agents in Andalucia, the year has ing, a very busy year and it didn’t stop last sold in 2021. particularly now people month, it just keeps comsupply. “We sold three properties can travel again.” in January, which is three The highest December more than ever be80,000 properties were property figures were in 2010 when sold around Spain. nearly
After almost record December sales, January is also perform ing strongly
Will it be sixth time lucky? AN agreement over the future of Gibraltar post-Brexit should be in place by Easter. Spain has confirmed all sides have made a ‘commitment’ to have it finalised by then, with 99% already in place. The announcement came as a new round of talks between the UK and the EU will continue this week. The sixth round of negotiations for a treaty began on February 22 in Brussels with the next session scheduled for London on March 1. "The sixth round is being split due to school holidays," a European Commission official announced.
Commitment
I MISS HIM: Michelle with missing brother ‘Nod’
min assistant, in Warminster (Wiltshire). “We didn't get any further news and now my father is ill and having reached out again through a similar route I have been told he disappeared from Orgiva seven plus years ago and nobody has seen him since.”
Alternative
She added that most of his friends called him Nod, a nickname he has had from school and he was born in Harwich, Essex, in June 1966. “He left school at 16 and never went to college. He always lived an alternative lifestyle even as a teenager”, Michelle added. “He spent quite a lot of time living in the woods.” He is 5 foot 8 (1,72cm), of light to medium build. He had acne as a teenager which left him with pockmarked skin on his face and back. A spokesman for the Guardia Civil said the skull and skeleton had been sent to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Granada for analysis. “We have suspicions about who it may be, but until we dont have the test results - which take a number of months we can't confirm anything. “We must be cautious about the information we share until then”, he ended.
Although no agreement has been reached so far, the Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares insisted 'there is a commitment to do everything possible to bring about a definitive agreement by Easter'. "As we approach the end of the negotiations, which are almost 99% complete, the more nervous we become, but there will be no lack of generosity from the government," Albares said after the fifth round. For its part, the Gibraltar government has always publicly expressed its confidence that an agreement will be reached, while still preparing for a nodeal scenario. Earlier in February, Gibraltar’s government published a guide outlining the possible effects of a non-negotiated exit from the EU. With it came the warning that 'it will be impossible to mitigate these effects completely because, in many cases, the new situation will reflect life outside the EU'.
TALKS: Jose Manuel Albares
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CRIME
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NEWS IN BRIEF Long stretch MOROCCAN Mourad Boulaich Mehamdi, 32, has been jailed for seven years after he was caught having landed 1.03 tonnes of Cannabis resin worth £5.15 million on Eastern Beach.
Drink ban BRITON Cyrin Dominicy, of Westside, aged 51 has been banned from driving for six months and fined £400 after pleading guilty to drink driving on Queensway.
Art call LOCAL artists who want to take part in the long-standing Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition in London, should apply now, says Gibraltar Cultural Services. The closing date for submissions is March 2 at 23.59pm.
Garden visit THE 200-year-old Alameda Botanical Garden in Gibraltar is opening its doors to visitors with a guided tour by horticulturists on February 26 from 10.30am to 11.30am.
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
Dirty cops! A PAIR of crooked cops are to stand trial for raping a teenager and giving her cocaine. The local policemen in Estepona allegedly raped and forced the 18-year-old to take cocaine. The pair face 30 years in prison for the 2018 attack against the holidaymaker
Bent cops face 30 years prison over sex crimes against holidaymaker By George Mathias
from Madrid. The cops had picked up the girl, along with two friends, from the Mosaic disco in the
CAR SMASH
A LOCAL man has been fined £300 after being found guilty for careless driving in the Upper Rock area. Kaylan Scaniglia, 22, was driving his Honda Civic on Queen's Road when he lost control of the car and crashed into two walls, causing extensive damage to the vehicle, which he left abandoned across the middle of the road, causing an impassable obstruction. When police spotted the vehicle 10 minutes later, Scaniglia appeared claiming that he was jogging and hadn’t been involved in the accident. But he later admitted to RGP officers that the car was his and claimed that a large rock in the middle of the road had caused him to crash the car. He pleaded guilty to driving without insurance in a car with no MOT and was fined a further £100 for each offence.
early hours of the morning and shared a taxi with her home. Upon arrival, the officers snorted cocaine before attempting to undress the girl, who was drunk. When a male friend tried to stop them he found himself threatened. Fortunately, the other girl fled as they began to rip the girl's clothes off. The officers then allegedly tried to persuade the girl to have a threesome with them, and one dipped his fingers into some cocaine and pushed them into her mouth when she refused.
Raped
One of the officers then took the girl into a room, where it is alleged he raped her. Fortunately the girl who fled was able to report the men to the National police, who were soon on the scene. While the pair managed to run away they were arrested later that day. The victim is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her ordeal.
THE RGP has sent out a warning about the dangers of ‘sexting’. A new campaign follows a recent report about under-18s sharing indecent images and videos with each other. The campaign is targeted at parents, teachers and guardians, as well as youngsters. Detective Sergeant Joanna Ullger, from the RGP’s safeguard-
Sext crime ing team, said: “It is illegal to take or share explicit pictures if you are under 18. But it's also important for teenagers to know that once it is sent, it's out there for good and we can't retrieve it.” They claim that it can be detrimental to children's mental health after an image or video has gone viral. One issue that some children may not be aware of, they explain, is that the law prohibiting the sharing of such files of under-18s also applies to under-18s. To help combat the problem, officers will be giving talks in schools to help educate children about the dangers of sexting. They have also posted awareness posters on their social media sites and highlighted online advice on the issue.
Car break-ins A PAIR of 18-year-old Spaniards from La Linea have pleaded guilty to four thefts from motor vehicles in Vineyards Estate. Alvaro Reyes has been given a 10-week sentence, suspended for one year, and fined £1,000. His accomplice, Carlos Martin, failed to appear for his sentencing and a warrant for his arrest has been issued. Police had been called after the duo were spotted tampering with several cars before driving off in a Spanish registered car. They were arrested at the border.
NEWS
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SPANISH golfer Jon Rahm has been named as the European Tour’s player of the year. It is the second time in three seasons that he has received the honour. He took the 2021 award after a year in which he became the first Spaniard to win the US Open. He also spent 27 weeks world number one - the only other Spanish golfer to reach the position was Seve Ballesteros. Rahm also took three-and-a-half points in five
SCOTTISH DJ Calvin Harris - AKA Love Regenerator - has put his Los Angeles home up for sale for $25million (€22 million) as he makes a move to Ibiza permanent. The 38-year-old, real name Adam Wiles, has left the glitz and glamour of LA behind for a ‘simpler life’ on Terra Masia, a farm in Santa Eularia des Riu. The 56 hectare finca boasts of being ‘the biggest organic farm on Ibiza’. A sustainable life it may be, but it is also important to the local economy.
matches at the Ryder Cup, making him Europe’s leading points scorer. Not only did he win the US Open, but he showed remarkable consistency by finishing in the top eight in the other three majors. The 27-year-old from Barrika near Bilbao had previously won the accolade in 2019. He was marked out for stardom at a young age, leading the World Amateur Golf Ranking for a record 60 weeks.
L ving Ibiza
From decks to donkeys; superstar DJ settles into expat life in Spain
Eggs
He employs a legion of farmers and chefs, and produces eggs, wine, vegetables and free range meat. Harris will also host ‘events’ on the premises and is said to get his hands dirty mucking in around the farm. Although the Dumfries-born star - who famously worked in a fish processing factory while he scraped together enough money to buy DJ gear - has put his LA home
LIFE CHANGE: Harris in his DJ pomp but is now more down to earth up for sale, it is unlikely he needs the cash to pay for his new Ibizan adventure.
His hits including Feel So Close and Summer, plus One Kiss with Dua Lippa, which
Twice as good SPANISH actors Javier Bardem and wife Penelope Cruz (pictured) have become just the sixth husband and wife to be nominated for an actors’ Oscar in the same year. Bardem, 52, is hoping to scoop the Best Actor award for his role as Desi Arnaz in Being the Ricardos. He won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2008 for his role as psychopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers’ modern western drama film No Country for Old Men Cruz, 47, won Best Supporting Actress in Woody Allen’s Vicki Cristina Barcelona in 2009. She is nominated for Best Actress in Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers. Previous married couples to be nominated are: Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra, Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton, Rachel Roberts and Rex Harrison, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
won a Brit award, and Rihanna’s We Found Love, and many more, earned around €212 million between 2013 and 2016. He is estimated to be worth €265 million. He topped Forbes’s list of the world’s highest-paid DJs for six consecutive years from 2013 to 2018. Harris is no stranger to Ibiza in his DJ persona, having regularly been the lead star at a string of the party island’s biggest events.
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February 23rd - March 8th 2022
Deepika in love BOLLYWOOD and Hollywood crossover star Deepika Padukone is expected to arrive in Spain for filming next month after initial plans were derailed by a drugs scandal. T h e 36-yearold Copenhagen-born Indian actress had been due to visit Mallorca and Cadiz last October to film a romantic song sequence for latest Bollywood blockbuster Pathan opposite super-star Shah Rukh Khan. But when 56-yearold SRK’s (as he is known) son Aryan Khan was arrested in a drugs case the plans were scuppered. Khan junior spent 26 days in custody before he was bailed and SRK felt able to resume work. Padukone will also star in an upcoming cross-cultural romantic comedy in her second Hollywood movie. Her first was opposite Vin Diesel in xXx: Return of Xander Cage.
VISIT: Padukone will be in Mallorca and Cadiz
TIKTOK TRANS TRANS activist and popular TikToker Daniela Requena has been appointed to a key socialist leadership role in Valencia. The 30-year-old journalist will be the secretary of LGTBI and Diversity within the new executive of the PSPV. Under the name Daniela Sirena she has accumulated more than 825,000 followers on TikTok where she has posted videos explaining her sexual reassignment surgery.
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NEWS
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RIPPER YARN A LOCAL journalist has teamed up with her forensic psychologist daughter to explore Jack the Ripper victims and their place as women in Victorian society in a new book. The mother-daughter writing team undertook the research fuelled by a joint love of history and exploring the more obscure corners of East London.
Gripped
Their outings gripped their imagination to such an extent that they decided they should publish their findings. In the book, Jackie Anderson, a former writer for the Gibraltar Chronicle, and Ciara Wild explore life in Victorian London and how the Jack the Ripper story has impacted society since. The book, titled Myth, Monster, Murderer, goes on sale on February 28.
AN alarming 68 cases of child sex abuse connected to the Catholic Church are currently being investigated in Spain. The total was announced after the government ordered all 17 regional prosecutors to send details of all current probes linked to the church. Some 14 of the investigations are taking place in Catalunya, followed by eight in the Madrid region. Andalucia and Galicia have declared seven probes each with six in Murcia. Asturias, Cantabria, Extremadura, La Rioja and Navarra reported no criminal proceedings currently underway. The investigations cover child sexual abuse in churches and Catholic schools.
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
Numbers revealed Nearly 70 Catholic church child abuse cases currently being investigated By Alex Trelinski
The government has decided to launch a nationwide probe to tackle the problem, in line with recent action in France, Germany and the US. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez ordered it after the
BULLY CHANGES THE Gibraltar Government has published amendments to a new anti-bullying law that was challenged in the Court of Appeal. Concerns about the law were raised during an appeal related to the high-profile GHA bullying case, where an employment tribunal wrongly found that Dr Daniel Cassaglia, the then GHA Medical Director, bullied a hospital pathologist in 2017. Three UK judges said the law had been hastily written and was imprecise. The judges said the lack of clarity in the law made its scope ‘wide and arbitrary’. Judge Sir Patrick Elias said in a statement supported by Sir Nigel Davis and Sir Maurice Kay, the President of the Court of Appeal that there was ‘a lack of clarity about fundamental questions such as precisely what amounts to unlawful bullying, and when the employer will be personally liable for the acts of bullying by his employees’. After the judgement, the Gibraltar Government said it would put the bill on hold and reassess its scope.
History, adventure and romance. That’s just the setting.
Spanish Bishops' Conference said it would merely set up commissions at a local diocese level to hear complaints from victims. The evidence would be gathered and sent to the Vatican to decide on what to do. It also denied there was a problem, claiming only 220 cases had been investigated between 2001 and 2021, while the Jesuit order claimed only 81 children had been abused since 1927.
TONNES OF JUNK TONNES of rubbish are piling up in Gibraltar after post-Brexit problems. The problem is getting so bad that contingency plans are being drawn up to ship waste to the UK for disposal, claims environmental activists Verdemar They estimate that there are around 3,000 tonnes of untreated waste and rubbish in the eastern area of Gibraltar.
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Cited
In France, in comparison, a recent official report cited 216,000 victims by up to 3,200 paedophile priests since 1950. Sanchez decided the country needed to get in line with France, handing the overseeing of the independent probe to the ombudsman. It came after El Pais handed over a dossier to Pope Francis in December cataloguing the abuse of at least 1,237 victims by priests in Spain over a 75-year period.
The group says this waste has been accumulating on the beach for 10 days and an official response has been slow. Gibraltar manages 30,000 tonnes of domestic waste per year at the Urban Solid Waste Treatment Plant in Majadal de Bustos, in the South of Europe Environmental Complex in Los Barrios. But post-Brexit delays in getting permits to transport it to recycling centres in Spain is causing a backlog. The UK government is thought to be in the process of negotiating an agreement with the EU on better regulating the treatment of waste in Gibraltar, though progress has been slow.
GIBRALTAR has sent a message to ‘its rock’ the Queen after she tested positive for COVID-19. Buckingham Palace announced that 95-year-old Queen Elizabeth had contracted the virus for the first time. In the statement, the British Royal Household reported that the monarch has ‘mild symptoms similar to a cold’ and that she plans to continue performing ‘light tasks’ this week. Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo responded quickly with a short but warm message on behalf of her subjects on the Rock. "We wish her the speediest recovery. I have written to Her Majesty expressing the best wishes of the People of Gibraltar.”
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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 LET IT RAIN IT’S been a marvelous winter in Spain, as far as most expats are concerned. But there is an alarming downside to the endless clear skies and unseasonably warm weather interrupted only rarely with the odd blustery day. The frightening truth is that after one of the driest winters on record, Spain is headed for an extreme drought… one of the worst. If we don’t see seriously heavy rainfall in March and April to fill the reservoirs we’re in for a summer of water restrictions. And that doesn’t just mean a hose pipe ban. It has dire consequences not just for our gardens and golf courses, but for Spain’s entire agriculture industry. Years of water mismanagement and the draining of Spain’s valuable aquifers to irrigate illegal fruit farms only compound the problem threatening delicate nature reserves from Doñana to Las Tablas de Daimiel. The reservoirs are down at 30% for most of the costas and rain-fed crops including cereals, olives, nuts and vineyards face losing 60 to 80% of their production. The drought will also threaten Spain’s already vulnerable forested hillsides creating a tinder box ripe for wildfires. Let’s not forget Europe’s first ‘fifth generation fire’ in Andalucia’s Sierra Bermeja last summer. It could be much worse. Though nobody likes to see the famous Easter processions dampened by wet weather, especially this year when they will resume for the first time since the pandemic hit, we should all be praying for rain. PUBLISHER / EDITOR
Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es
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NEWS FEATURE
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
DRYING UP
HE crumbling walls of a once-submerged village rising from the cracked mud of a dried up reservoir have become a powerful symbol of the water emergency facing Spain. And this isn’t dry, southern Water disputes Spain. Water levels have fallen so low springing up as major in verdant and normally rainy drought stares Spain Galicia, that the village of Aceredo, flooded in 1992 to create in the face a reservoir, is no longer resting beneath a picturesque lake. A crisis is brewing - one that has already seen fruit growers in conflict with expat neighbours over ‘water theft’ in some of the country’s normally most tranquil corners. Olive Press readers have also reported how wildlife is suffering as lakes and reservoirs dry up and rivers recede. The reason is simple. Rain isn’t RUNNING DRY: Reservoirs are emptying to the extent that the village of Aceredo (below) has falling ‘mainly on the plain’ – it’s remerged to become a tourist attraction barely falling at all. With historical first quarter lows been depopulated over time, “Our neighbours tapped into for precipitation, Spain’s reserBy Jo Chipchase leading to ‘acequias’ not being our supply, using the municipal voirs have drained to worrying water as agricultural water. They well-maintained. levels. Other areas have become more installed a hidden tap on their Unless a deluge occurs in the coming weeks, a dire situation 85% and 96% capacity in their densely populated, increasing property, before their own meter is facing agriculture and con- reservoirs, the Ebro 66% and localised water usage. Hydro but on our supply, rendering our electricity plants have also con- supply useless. sumers, who are likely to face Leon 64%. “It got worse when he decided So, what is making Spain so arid tributed to the problem. water restrictions soon. The situation is bad through- this year? According to experts, Rafael Seiz, head of the water to plant avocados and pulled out Spain, with some of the it’s not just the lack of rainfall programme at World Wildlife up his olive trees. This meant worst affected areas being in causing the sorry situation – it’s Fund (WWF), recently said: our house didn’t have any wa“Here, agriculture plays a fun- ter during the summer. I had Andalucia - as well as Murcia, too much demand. Extremadura and Castilla la Among European countries, damental role… they have al- to get a tanker and it was no Spain is one of the heaviest ways told us that, since it rains good for my horses. The town Mancha. According to the Junta’s Minis- water users. Some areas were little in Spain, there is little hall did nothing, despite knowtry of Agriculture, the volume of on drought alert back in sum- water, but what about when it ing there was a problem for precipitation from September mer 2021, despite the last hy- rains? Well, we don’t have wa- three years.” Another local expat, in Orgiva, 2021 to February 5 is hovering drological year (October 2020 ter either.” to September With water reserves already di- who doesn’t want to be identiaround 60% be2021) having minished, Spain has three more fied, said she has been threatlow normal. of crop irrigation to go. ened by the local ‘regantes’, above average The Olive Press Agriculture is a rainfall – unlike months Even if crops are OK this year, who have diverted river warecently reported using large pipes that run key culprit with this hydrological the problem will be kicked down ter that across Spain the line, damaging fruit – and 24/7 to irrigate their own avoyear so far. reservoirs are almost 4mn cado crops. Agriculture is a livelihoods - next year. standing at just key culprit, with Spain’s fruit farms – particularly She is now taking legal action 44% of capacity. hectares of Spain boasting avocados – are receiving a lot of as the local river is running dry. Malaga, meanWith water scarcity and irrigairrigated land almost four mil- criticism. while, has only lion hectares of The Olive Press has received tion already causing disputes, received 14.5% irrigated land, several reports of water theft this problem is likely to worsen of its usual raincompared to by olive farmers and ‘regantes’ with a continuing drought and a fall for this hydrological year so far and reservoirs, such as La 2.5m in Italy, 1.2m in Greece (water commissioners), which potentially hot summer causing leaves residents with pipes run- tempers to fray. and 1.4m in France. Vinuela sit at 15% capacity. Jose-Miguel Viñas of Meteored “At El Chorro, Ardales, water Almeria alone has 31,614 hect- ning dry. has gone from half the area. ares of ‘sea of plastic’ green- “Avocados are too thirsty for weather centre recently sugForget the caravans and fishing, houses that dominate the land- Spain,” insists Helen King, gested that consumers could now it’s dry and the freshwater scape of Adra, Nijar, El Ejido and of Villalonga, in Valencia. see water restrictions in their “The farmers are ripping out homes, as well as agriculture mussels are dead,” reveals Ol- Vícar. ive Press reader Claire Yvonne These are heavy consumers, citrus trees and planting avo- being affected. with 80% of their water com- cado trees, which make more Without any rain over the next Newman. Reservoir levels in Granada are ing from underground aquifers, money but which need more fortnight we will be weeks away from rationing. at the lowest in a decade, fall- leading to over-exploitation, and water. “Twice, our part of the village Jetwash ing to a third of capacity, while 20% from desalination plants. in the Guadalquivir basin levels There’s also a recent trend for has fought to keep water flow- Tentudia in Badajoz was one of avocados and mangos to be ing as the avocado growers are the first municipalities to introsit at 29%. The worst affected region is, planted in Spain, with these trying to force us to build a new duce water restrictions recentperhaps unsurprisingly, Almeria subtropical fruits taking the irrigation canal to their fields ly. These could soon apply to pools, parks, gardens, and golf place of less water-intensive or- and make us pay. at just 7%. “The avocado farmers are richer courses across Spain. In Valencia, the situation is ange crops. slightly better, but Murcia is Illegal strawberry fields - some and pressurise the authorities. However, whether your swimat 21% and at Orihuela, in Ali- with wells tapping underground Town halls should be able to is- ming pool will be empty this cante, reader Anne Nelson ex- aquifers - have also been ac- sue a planting permit because summer could depend on your plains: “I live near the Pedrera cused of draining water from not all trees are suitable every- forward-planning and your location. reservoir and it’s worrying for the Doñana wetlands, which where.” the wildlife it supports. I’ve seen are a vital home to tens of thou- It is a similar story in the Alpujar- One thing’s for sure: even if you try to limit your Jacuzzis and jet so many dead fish and even sands of migrating birds on ras area of Granada. their route between Africa and Water theft is such a prob- washing, demand is constantly some turtle shells.” lem there that Claire Marshall outstripping supply. In comparison, the Basque Europe. Country and Cantabria have On top of that, some areas have moved from Las Barreras, near “Ask for water first, before plantOrgiva, to the Grana- ing”, moots Iñaki Hormaza of da/Almeria border the Institute of Subtropical and Mediterranean Horticulture. to escape it.
Future alarm
The problem of drought is not tions forecasts that freshwa going away. The United Nater supplies will decrease 40% by 2030. The EUCP Project - European suggests that the level of war Climate Prediction system, basin will outstrip the rest of ming in the Mediterranean the world, with the south becoming more arid and Andaluc more than 20 days above 40C ia potentially experiencing This will mean increasingly prolevery summer. onged drought cycles. If nothing is done, we could Andalucia becoming like thesee more areas of our beloved which has Wild Western film Tabernas desert in Almeria, sets among its arid landscape.
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ELECTRIC OPTIONS
February 2022 FIGHT ON: VW’s ID.4 is aimed at taking on Tesla
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Cash incentives for electric cars are introduced in Spain as we take a look at popular options
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PAIN has pledged to make By Dilip Kuner the entire country carbon neutral by 2050, and for this to happen cars are going to the country. Volkswagen Group’s SEAT subsidhave to get greener. It’s automotive plan focuses on the iary plans to team up with power environmentally-friendly electric company Iberdrola to build Spain’s and hybrid car industry and aims to first battery factory for Electric Vehimake the technology cheaper, and cles (EVs). easier to use and access across the Volkswagen has previously announced its intention to build six EV country. Special incentives have been rolled battery plants across Europe, with three earmarked for out over the coming the Spain/Portugal/ years to encourage the southern France area. ownership of green vehicles, both private The government In total, the government is granting and commercial. is granting €3.75 billion towards The Spanish govern€3.75bn to making electric and ment has approved an €800 million fund up make electric hybrid cars cheaper than petrol and diesel until the end of 2023, cars cheaper to buy by 2027. which is available now. But there is no need Private buyers can to wait that long if you claim up to €7,000, with companies buying fleets to use wish to help save the planet. Car as taxis eligible for more. Vans can manufacturers have been developing electric vehicles for years now. attract subsidies of up to €9,000. These incentives follow a govern- While still more expensive than their ment pledge to promote battery pro- traditional contemporaries, subsiduction in Spain and push the man- dies and scrappage schemes are bringing ufacture of electric vehicles in
EXPENSIVE: The Audi e-tron GT
them into the reach of many more people’s wallets. One of the most unusual will be the Tesla Cybertruck. Aimed squarely at the US market where ‘trucks’ are a huge segment, this retro-futuristic ‘space machine’ is sure to make it to Spain at some point. Clad in dent-proof stainless steel it looks like something out of Mad Max, and according to Tesla boss Elon Musk it will be a ‘really tough, not fake-tough’ truck. Mind you, he ended up with egg on his face at the vehicle’s launch when he tried to prove its durability through a series of ‘torture tests’. All was going well until Musk hurled a steel ball at the vehicle and shattered its ‘armoured’ glass. While Tesla has been the leader in EVs (particularly in the publicity stakes) it will have more competition than ever this year, with mainstream manufacturers not only ready to unveil a slew of latest-technology models, but also ahead of the game. For build quality and top-class engineering Volvo is worth a close look. Their Polestar 2 five-seater brings Volvo polish and Swedish style to compete with Tesla’s Model 3. It is the second vehicle to come
from Volvo’s new performance arm (the other, the 1, is a hybrid petrol-electric), and alternative models and specs are planned for this year. Apart from its green motor, Volvo has also introduced frameless mirrors and a light- The interior is minimalist, with a er-than-leather vegan interior fabric low, flat floor and a vibe that Nissan designed to mimic the durability of calls ‘lounge-like’. It has a a wetsuit. claimed range of around 300 miles A pair of electric motors work with a and pricing is from around €40,000. 27-module lithium ion battery pack This performance and luxury will be to deliver an impressive 402 horse- wrapped in a package with a range power, and a range of up to 275 of 200 miles. It costs from around miles. But all this comes €75,000. at a price with the luxMeanwhile Volkury car costing from swagen’s ID.4 SUV The Audi e-tron €59,900. The compais aimed squarely ny aims to sell 65,000 at taking on TesGT is a sleek units this year. la. Starting prices electric sedan are from around When it comes to mainstream manufacturers, €46,000 in Spain with loads of Nissan was one of the and it has a range of power first to enter the mar250 miles. ket. Its LeafEV now has Staying with the Gersales of nearly half a man marques, the million. Audi e-tron GT is a sleek, electric seThe car giant is aiming to dan with loads of power and polish. build on this success hav- Behind the streamlined bodywork ing recently launched the is some architecture shared with Ariiya, a more stylish take the Porsche Taycan EV. on emission-free t r a n s - With 590 horsepower, the two-moportation. tor GT should accelerate from zero The five-passenger SUV to 60 miles per hour in an impresfeatures a surprisingly sive three seconds, and will be able aggressive look, with some to gain an 80% charge in just 20 swoopy, concave surfacing minutes. The car is top-of-the ranand wheels pushed to the corners. geo expect to pay €100,000 plus.
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MOORS LAST SIGH, COMARES
A DRIVE ON THE WILD SIDE
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HEN the Moors finally handed over the keys to the Alhambra and Granada in 1492 they didn’t immediately head back to north Africa. Understandably, they figured they could cling on in relative secrecy in the mountainous region of the Axarquia and the nearby Alpujarras. One of the key locations was Comares, where in the claustrophobic Calle del Pardon, 30
families of Moors were later spared their lives after publicly converting to Catholicism. Indisputably the spiritual heart of the Axarquia, Comares straddles a hilly outcrop and has heart-stopping views. The magical white-washed village is a maze of windy alleys full of Arabic touches and has set itself up well for tourists offering a clever guided tour by footsteps etched into the ground.
DOWN IN THE DIPS, RIOGORDO
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ake the MA-3107 from Comares and, stuck in a dip in one of the region’s many folds, you will find Riogordo, a gritty town, full of run-down houses and troll-like men in caps. You can really suck in the atmosphere of real Spain and, in particular, enjoy its excellent museum of antiquities, which gives a charming trip back in time to the days of sustainability.
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ROMANTIC VIEWS, ROMANES
ing a section of Scotland’s Western Highlands, make sure to stop for coffee or lunch at 400-yearold Venta Galway – which takes its name from an Irishman, who moved there when the British market couldn’t get enough of the area’s sweet muscatel wines. From here you get the perfect lookout over the Axarquia, a hamshaped wedge that cuts inland from the beach resorts of Torre Del Mar and Nerja and has much to offer in geography and culture, as well as increasingly in food and wine. Here, the Olive Press offers the perfect weekend escape into the Axarquia, dipping into a mix of restaurants, walks and sightseeing.
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FTER a leisurely lunch it is time to head for the coast. Retrace your steps down the way you came until you turn left onto the A-356. This will lead you to the picturesque village of Los Romanes, which has a couple of local spots to eat if you missed out on lunch at Alfarnate. It overlooks the stunning Lake Viñuela and is the perfect spot to just lounge and relax.
GEM OF A PLACE, VELEZ MALAGA
BANDITS ALL AROUND, ALFARNATE
HE Axarquia was famously the region most difficult for dictator Franco to pacify after he won the Spanish Civil War. Dissected by deep ravines and criss-crossed with streams, it is easy to see how the rebels, known as the Maquis, were able to take advantage of its confusing pattern of rutted hills to hide out and escape from army patrols. The region had previously been a haunt for bandoleros, or bandits, who preyed on traders carrying goods to Granada and for smugglers bringing contraband into Spain from Africa. Such was its volatile nature (the
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OMEHOW I hadn’t spotted the double loop on the Michelin map of Andalucia I’d bought at Foyles on the Charing Cross Road, a month before moving to Spain in 2002. But this topographical quirk - half way up the A-7000 out of Malaga city - was to add at least 20 minutes onto what looked like a simple 30-kilometre drive to my first rental home in Comares. It was up this road that I had headed when I first settled in Spain and it is easily one of the nicest ways to arrive in the Axarquia (pronounced Ass-Ikea), with your ears literally popping as it ascends into the Montes de Malaga national park. The equivalent of circumnavigat-
Take a road trip through Andalucia’s evocative Axarquia with Jon Clarke
C coast was regularly attacked by Barbary pirates) that the area’s inhabitants built fortified villages, with watchtowers in the hills inland. One of the best ways to appreciate its violent age is to take a trip up to the high plains around Alfarnate. From Riogordo you can take the rugged A-7204 which links up to the MA-4102 and on to the Antigua Venta de Alfarnate - at 400 years old one of the oldest in Spain. It was here where bandit El Tempranillo was finally captured after decades of terrorising the country and you can still find the cell they kept him in temporarily.
ONTINUE down the A-356 and arrive at Velez Malaga. It is one of the most underrated and little-visited places in Malaga province. But like its big sister of Malaga it has a Moorish fortress rising above it with battlements, but unlike Malaga it also has a fascinating old medina, crammed full of interesting nooks to explore. Its old town has recently been given a special protection status and no less than 47 historic buildings have been specifically listed.
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Photo by absoluteaxarquia.com
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Sp a p in m rop ’s b ag e e az rty st in e
www.theolivepress.es
February 2022
A taste of the future or a galactic waste of money? See page VIII
Bye bye Bofill
The Olive Press pays tribute to a Spanish genius, whose architectural tenticles spread widely, and were even said to have inspired last years hit tv series the Squid Game
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SPANISH architectural legend has died. Ricardo Bofill died aged 82 last month, a year before Calpe made 2023 the ‘Bofill Year’ to celebrate his remarkable creations and he was set to get a Spanish national stamp. The Catalan was one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century and a pioneer of the style that came to be known as postmodernism. Like Richard Rogers or Norman Foster his influence has been vast. When Netflix released Squid Game, which would become the most watched series in its history, many viewers noticed an uncanny resemblance between the striking staircases patrolled by masked guards and one of Bofill’s most famous works La Muralla Roja (The Red Wall) on the Costa Blanca.
KEEP THE GOOD TIMES ROLLING HOME sales in December were the second-highest on record in Spain. And 2022 has kicked off where last year ended… going up and up and up! Andalucia, Valencia and Murcia are leading the charge on the mainland, each seeing spectacular growth by over a quarter against last Christmas. While Andalucia saw 29% more sales than last December, Valencia and Murcia posted figures of 26% and 25% respectively. The Balearics experienced a 41% uplift, while the Canaries saw a 44% rise in December’s year on year figures. “Home sales in December set almost a record high, illustrating quite how buoyant Spain’s housing market is despite the ongoing repercussions of the pandemic,” said property analyst Mark Stucklin.
After almost record December sales, January is also performing strongly
“Sales were up 26% on 2019, showing the market has more than recovered the ground it lost to the pandemic. The Spanish housing market is undergoing a post-pandemic boom in sales.” In total, 72,023 property sales were completed in December, according to official figures. According to a trio of leading estate agents in Andalucia, the year has also begun well, despite concerns over supply. “We sold three properties in January, which is three more than ever be-
fore,” explained Scott Marshall, from PropertieSpain in Benahavis. “And enquiries are coming in thick and fast.” Meanwhile, Ben Bateman from Sotogrande’s Holmes agency added: “It could be a record year if we can get the right number of new listings. “Last year was the best year since 2008 and we remain confident for 2022.” Adam Neale, at Terra Meridiana, in Estepona, also recorded record sales last year, with nearly 100 million of properties sold in 2021. “It was a very busy year and it didn’t stop last month, it just keeps coming, particularly now people can travel again.” The highest December property figures were in 2010 when nearly 80,000 properties were sold around Spain.
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PROPERTY
Online portal calculates how solar power can slash your electricity bills
EXCITING TIMES FOR THE SPANISH PROPERTY MARKET Welcome from publisher Jon Clarke
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T has taken two long years, but it’s a very welcome return to the Olive Press’s bi-monthly Property Magazine. While it has certainly been a turbulent time for the Andalucian property market since our last issue in March 2020, the buyers are definitely back. After a surprisingly strong 2021, this year looks set to perform even better - assuming we get the supply back! The majority of big agents along the coast - the likes of Panorama, Kristina Zsekely and Holmes (all over three decades in business) - are telling us a similar story: WE NEED MORE HOMES! But understandably they remain optimistic. For they know that after the horrors of COVID, its draconian lockdowns both here and around Europe, the lifestyle our region offers has never had more allure. With sunshine for 320 days a year and a largely unspoilt region of rolling hills, snowy peaks and sandy coastline, who wouldn’t want to relocate here, perhaps initially with a laptop? The Germans are certainly coming, as are the Dutch, Scandinavians and Belgians. And let’s not forget the city dwellers of Madrid, Sevilla and Bilbao. Even more exciting is the interest coming from across the pond in Canada and America, where the Olive Press receives around 11% of its online visitors at present. And despite Brexit causing further issues there are also thousands of British families still looking to buy down in the southern tip of Europe. As one agent recently told me they are working out ways to get round the 90-day rule ‘by hook or by crook’. And the knock on effect is set to be huge: with more
people buying this will mean more work for lawyers, architects, surveyors and builders. Next it will be the interior designers and furniture stores and soon it won’t just be the sun cheering us up… but the very real feeling of the economy finally picking up. And how we deserve it. All those dark months hiding indoors or behind masks, too scared to fly, missing all our loved ones from back home. Finally, all those hard-working and decent expat property businesses are set to get their just rewards for their hard work and patience in ‘la crisis’ we have just lived through. We hope you enjoy this issue of the Property magazine. Aside from up to the minute analysis from our specialists including Mark Stucklin, Campbell Ferguson and Adam Neale, we interview long-established Sotogrande agent Ben Bateman and Marbella’s Queen of Property Kristina Szekely. And then there’s our spread on the hippest new hotels around Spain, the coolest high rise apartments on the Costa Blanca and a feature on Moorish propert. Yes, the Olive Press always works hard to ensure our readers are spoilt with interesting and varied copy, which in turn helps our advertisers to get noticed. Send your feedback to me at jon@theolivepress. es or contact 951273575.
MOST Spanish homes get over 2,500 hours of sunshine each year, making them a prime candidate for solar power generation. Now an online portal can calculate how solar panels can slash your electricity bills. After typing in your address, and highlighting your available roof space, the website calculates how different solar installations will cut your monthly bills. The collaboration between Fotocasa and Portuguese energy company EDP also works out what subsidies are available in your region.
Savings For a villa in Javea, for example, a one-time payment of €3,709 (inc. €1,000 subsidy) would see savings of €592 annually in electricity bills with just four solar panels. Fotocasa claims that most homes will find a 50% reduction in electricity bills following installation. “Spanish people are increasingly aware of the importance of an energy transition to fight climate change, as well as how
SAVINGS: Panels can reduce bills
Cash on the attic you can reduce utility bills thanks to renewable energy,” said Maria Matos, at Fotocasa. The company promises a complete service, including advice throughout the whole process as well as studying and applying for bonuses and subsidies. It also claims to manage technical and legal matters. If 85% of Spanish homes installed solar panels there would be a reduction of 57 million tonnes of CO2, equivalent to planting 4.3
billion trees. Up to 40% of the cost of installation can come from subsidies, while this can increase to 65% if the project includes a battery for power storage. According to EDP, Andalucia is the community with the greatest potential for solar power generation, followed by Valencia, Catalunya, Madrid and Castilla y Leon. So far, 630 municipalities in Spain offer discounts in property taxes (IBI) for installing solar panels.
tel: 952 81 01 02 info@kssir.com www.ksmarbella.com
CONTEMPORARY VILLA IN THE HEART OF PRESTIGIOUS GOLF ESTATE, GUADALMINA ALTA
VERY SPACIOUS LUXURIOUS TRIPLEX APARTMENT SITUATED GOLDEN MILE
1.395.000 euros
850.000 euros
KSSIR-26538P · Bedrooms: 5 · Bathrooms: 4 · Build: 459 m2 · Plot: 653 m2
KSSIR-25632P-DUP · Bedrooms: 4 · Bathrooms: 4 · Build: 263 m2 · Plot: 0 m2
The villa is walking distance to the Club House and within a short stroll to the Guadalmina Commercial Centre. This extraordinary villa has a fantastic landscaped garden with its own heated swimming pool. The access to the villa is through a pivoting door leading to large entrance hallway with glass stairs case and panoramic lift to all levels, large open plan lounge with open gas fireplace and direct access to the covered terrace and garden, separate dining room, bedroom or second living room, full bathroom, absolutely beautiful modern kitchen with very large island, Silestone counters and top appliances by Gaggenau. First floor comprises; three spacious bedrooms, all with warm wooden floors, master suite has a good size walk-in...
Very spacious apartment situated in a small gated complex with lovely tropical gardens and swimming pool. Located in the Golden Mile only 5 minutes from Marbella center and Puerto Banus. Three separate apartments have been joined in order to form a substatial property. Offers on the ground floor, spacious living area with fireplace and dining area leading out to a south facing terrace with sea views. Modern fully fitted kitchen with adjoined main bedroom ensuite. On the first floor 2 bedrooms ensuite with dressing area sharing a terrace with jacuzzi and beautiful views. On the top level is situated the master bedroom ensuite, fireplace and terrace. Finally includes a parking space in the communal garage. A generous property designed in a beautiful Mediterranean style.
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Inflation, Inflation, Inflation
ANDALUCIA is pressing ahead with reforms to land laws that will allow construction of new homes on rural land. The new bill will grant permits to build detached homes on any land deemed 'suelo rustico' but as long as there is 2.5 hectares. Previously the LOUA only permitted agriculture and livestock farmers to build homes on rural land. Andalucia councillor for development, Marifran Carazo, said the reforms would open up 'new opportunities' that 'speed up' developments. Any new constructions can only be used as a second home, and so long as projects do not create 'new urban nuclei' within the municipality. Carazo said the LOUA (Ley de Ordenacion Urbanistica de Andalucia) has not seen any substantial reform for '20 years'. She added it came after 147 meetings with
KIRSTIIE Allsopp faced a backlash last week after claiming young people should simply give up luxuries like Netflix and Starbucks in order to buy a house. The Location, Location, Location star said: “When I bought, the lifestyle of easyJet flights, coffee, gym memberships and Netflix didn’t exist. I was earning £11,500 a year.” Allsopp, the daughter of the 6th Baron of Hindlip, neglected to mention that she bought her first property aged 21 with help from her parents. Even by generous estimates, if young people were to cut out the ‘luxuries’ she suggests, they would be saving around £2,000 per year. According to the Office for National Statistics, the average deposit for a house is £24,000 for first time buyers. Therefore, a young person would have go on no flights, drink no coffee, have no gym membership, watch no Netflix and spend money only on eating and rent for 12 years just GIVE UP NETFLIX: Says to save up enough money for a deposit. Kirstie Allsopp
RURAL BOOST
town halls and 83 with technicians. While the plans sound like a step towards permitting new rural homes, the reforms are also to clean up decades of rule-dodging. Thousands of homes have already been built as second homes, regardless of having no planning permission.
NEW WALLS PLEASE! Novak Djokovic’s touchy-feely makeover at Marbella mansion By Kirsty McKenzie
AWARD: For Drumelia´s Artur
Top of the Pile! HAVING grown up in Marbella with rock star looks, you could say he had a bit of a head start. With 138,000 followers on Instagram and a YouTube channel of 170,000 subscribers, Artur Loginov has the perfect platform to sell the southern Spanish dream. Now, after a record-breaking 2021, the hard-working Russian has become Spain’s ‘best real estate agent’ in the International Property Awards. The CEO of Drumelia played a key role in selling over 20 properties last year, with two - one in Sierra Blanca and the other in La Zagaleta - priced at over €30 million. “The award recognises our efforts and provides a significant mark of recognition and credibility,” explains Artur, who went to school in nearby Sotogrande.
Innovation The Marbella company was also recognised for its ‘aggressive marketing strategy’ through digital innovation, with its YouTube channel having received over 25 million views. “We are the agency with the largest audience in Marbella with which we can highlight footballers, celebrities, and world leaders in the real estate industry,” he continues. “In 2022 we will continue implementing digital strategies that support the sale and expansion of the brand and attracting foreigners with significant purchasing power to the Costa del Sol,” he adds. Around 20% of the company’s clients are Russian, with a large number also coming from the UK, Germany and Scandinavia. And an increasing number have been coming from Canada and the US over recent months.
FOR a superstar athlete Novak Djokvic has some ‘unconventional’ beliefs when it comes to diet and health. Now he is transferring some of those beliefs to his Marbella mansion, which he is ripping apart and rebuilding as a ‘feng shui’ paradise. The tennis world number one has been busy since his deportation from Down Under over his ‘anti-vaxx’ status renovating his sprawling €6.4 million home. The star, 34, has grand plans to extend his estate which he bought two years ago. It came complete with a mix of Mediterranean and Moroccan furnish-
MANSION: Djokovic’s Sierra Blanca home is being refurbished ings, which would seem not to be in his or wife Jelena’s taste. The Serb, who is well known for his vegetarian diet and ‘anti-science’
BAD TASTE?: Old interiors did not meet the Djokovics’ approval
stance to alternative medicines, has a firmly spiritualist attitude to life. It seems he wants that reflected in his home. To many, the Sierra Blanca property, with its nine bedrooms, sauna, Turkish bath, gym, plus grass tennis court, of course, was already a dream home. But Djokovic and Jelena have different dreams it would seem. Workmen have moved in and ripped out the inside of the villa and are set to replace the existing bathrooms, kitchens and Jacuzzis as well as demolish walls to fit floor to ceiling patio doors. The tennis player wants to build the home based around feng shui concepts like the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water, according to press reports.
Digital daft? SPANISH real estate has just gone meta. Up to 800 buyers have are snapping up a series of virtual plots that can only be lived in online. The group bid between €2,000 and €20,000 to buy up the ‘first’ plots of land in the Spanish metaverse known as Uttopion. These exclusive ‘presale’ plots come with ‘free houses’ in a virtual space that’s aimed at ‘connecting with friends’ through digital avatars. Confused? You will be now. “Our mission is to create an incredible virtual world to help metastreamers and brands connect with their communities in a virtual space that’s acquired like an NFT and can be totally personalised,” said Uttopian founder Soraya Cadalso. “We’re a hybrid metaverse, guaranteeing the property of our owners through a blockchain,” added Cadalso, who has her own avatar on the Uttopion site. “You can create a virtual replica of your business or idea and sell digital products, create virtual events with ticket sales or create unique experiences for your clients and fans. “The possibilities are infinite.” The start-up has been part-financed by one of Spain’s richest men, Juan Roig, the owner of Mercadona. Currently 500 more plots of land are up for grabs, while over 1,000 requests have been received for pre-sale plots. Various spaces on Uttopian include Musichood, for businesses in the music industry; and Sportsvilla, specialised for sports. Globally, metaverse real estate sales have generated €500 million around the world, according to CNBC.
PRIME SPACE: But only online
Freehold with a free house IT gives new meaning to the term ‘freehouse’ to describe an independent pub in the UK. A tiny village in Cuenca is offering a free house to anyone who can save their only pub. In a desperate battle against depopulation, Villalgordo del Marquesado town hall is giving away the bar and some of its contents free of charge. It comes after the bar closed in December, leaving the remaining 76 locals with nowhere to go for a caña. "We are offering the bar, its heating, a fridge and also a house to anyone who can take over," said mayor Natalio Valencia. "The bar is the place where everyone in the village gets together, including those who come on the
weekend. "If we lose the bar, where will we see one another?" She added that the new landlord would only need to pay the social security contributions and the electricity bill. The free property is situated right next door. Villalgordo, which sits in rolling countryside just under two hours from Madrid, has seen its population half in 30 years. So far four applications have been received from as far as Barcelona and Alicante.
Anyone interested in the offer call the town hall on 969290201 or send an email to villalgordo-marquesado@local.jccm.es
IV
February 2022
WHICH ONE WOULD
RESORT STYLE LIVING or
AN APARTMENT IN AN URBANISATION?
OCEAN Antonio Sardina, MD One Eden
“We have been delighted by the high demand during the first 2 months of 2022 and encouraged by the diverse range of nationalities proving that the Costa del Sol really is a magnet with international appeal from Scandinavia, Middle East, Benalux and despite Brexit, still to British buyers”
sea view homes & beach club
This is a question that Antonio Sardina, MD at One Eden often asks. Of course, there are benefits with both options, but One Eden have decided to focus on building communities with the best resort facilities. This philosophy appears to be working with a bumper start to 2022. One Eden’s signature resort areas will include a variety of
V
February 2022
YOU CHOOSE?
VILLAGE pools (indoor and outdoor), jacuzzis, saunas, games rooms and children’s areas while the sporty owners will be able to enjoy tennis, padel tennis, badminton, beach volleyball, outdoor and indoor gyms and multi-purpose courts for those playing 5-a-side or basketball. Co-working, a must in our new world of work, will of course be provided in all the communities.
Antonio commented “Premier resorts not only provide excellent facilities for the owners of apartments but it also means that apartments are more attractive to rent so investors are already purchasing with us. As are families that intend to live here all year and enjoy the top class amenities”
With over 1500 off plan apartments, duplexes, penthouses and townhouses planned for the Costa del Sol, from Alcaidesa to Mijas Costa, One Eden have already practically sold out Phase I of the 1st two developments, Alcaidesa Infinity and Royal Palms Mijas. Phase II of both projects are launching this week with a list of clients already waiting to place their deposits. As if this was not enough for the busy sales team, Antonio is planning to launch Cascades Estepona (64 townhouses) and Serenity Alcaidesa (270+ frontline golf apartments and penthouses) by Easter. Alcaidesa is a prime example of One Eden investing in an area in order to create a real community with excellent facilities. Acqua Alcaidesa Commercial Centre now boasts a new supermarket, Pizza Express, a variety of restaurants and bars and a medical centre is planned. One Eden even has its own chiringuito on the beach and a packed programme of live music and events are planned when it re-opens at Easter.
For more information call +34 697 113 900 www.oneeden.com
VI
February 2022
PROPERTY
READING THE RUNES
T
HE Spanish property market staged a remarkable recovery in 2021 with the easing of pandemic-related restrictions, but the market still faces headwinds that were dragging the market down before the virus came to town. Anyone who predicted the pandemic would lead to a boom in the housing market is a better reader of the runes than I am. Rather like the majority of respondents in a survey I ran back in March 2020, I expected Covid-19 to put the market on a ventilator for at least a year, rather than recover in the second half of 2020, and roar upwards in 2021, which is what happened.
ANALYSIS: Mark Stucklin of Spanish Property Insight looks at the reasons behind the property boom The latest figures from the Spanish notaries’ association show that home sales increased an annualised 38% nationwide last year, and by almost 20% compared to 2019. High growth compared to 2020 was hardly surprising in the light of lockdown, but the growth compared to 2019 has been phenomenal. Sales in 2020 were the highest they have been since 2008, when the market was just coming off the boil after a runaway housing boom.
The figures reveal that the most growth came from the sale of single family homes, up 34% compared to 2019, whereas flats were up a modest 10% in comparison. That confirms a change in demand driven by the virus: People want bigger homes with more space in the suburbs or on the coast near cities and good transport links. Flats in the city centre are out of fashion, for now. House prices have also performed better than expected (in my survey 57% expected them to “fall a lot”.) In reality they fell just 0.4% in 2020 (recovering in the second half from a slump at the start of the pandemic), and then increased 5.3% in 2021 nationwide. Of course, the national average disguises significant differences between regions and segments, but the overall direction was positive. Looking at the regions of most interest to foreign investors, the growth in sales last year was most dramatic in the islands, led by the Balearics up 51% to 17,664 sales - followed by the Canaries up 44% to 24,749 sales. Sales were also above 40% up in Andalucia and the Valencian region, and just below 40% in Catalonia and Murcia.
Compared to 2019, the biggest in the market, and where is it heaincrease in sales was in Andalucia, ding? Low interest rates (Euribor up 23%, and Murcia, up 21%. The -0.502% in December 2021) couBalearics were up 11% compared pled with high inflation (6.5% in to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, December) are possibly encourawhilst the Canaries were the only ging investors to take advantage region to shrink in comparison to of the differential, and get inflation to help pay their the market pre-covid. So most of the mortgages. A housepopular regions have Prices have not hold savings surplus from lockdown mimore than recovered fallen in any ght also be helping, the ground lost to the pandemic. region favoured coupled with a general reset in people’s Price-wise, the Baleaby foreign rics led the way, with priorities. But the house prices up 14% headwinds that were buyers compared to last year, dragging down the and 22% compared to housing market bethe year before that. Andalucia saw fore the pandemic, including high the second biggest price increase, transaction-costs, high taxes, and up 8% compared to last year, and political hostility to private proper7.5% compared to 2019. House ty rights are still with us. The Spaprices have not fallen in any region nish economy isn’t in great shape favoured by foreign buyers over the either. Housing market expansions usually last five years or more, course of the pandemic. What factors are driving this boom maybe not this one.
Holmes Property Sales S.L. Tel: +34 956 79 53 40 email: info@holmesotogrande.com
www.holmesotogrande.com
ALMENARA, SOTOGRANDE
REF: HSN3-1100
LA RESERVA, SOTOGRANDE
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Elegant family villa with stunning panoramic sea views over 2 golf courses and the mountains beyond.
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6 Bed | 5 Bath | Build 868m2 | Plot 2080m2
5 Bed | 5 Bath | Build 628m2 | Plot 3260m2
2.395.000 euros
2.650.000 euros
PROPERTY
VII
February 2022
STRONG DEMAND But there is a shortage of supply in all regions, writes surveyor Campbell Ferguson in his 29th market report on Spain
I
T should be a good year for Spanish property. There was already strong demand when the COVID travel restrictions started to ease over the last few months. This will only get stronger with demand coming from all Northern European countries, with America, the Middle East and even the Far East providing buyers. Much of this is to do with the ‘Golden Visa’ scheme, which is becoming increasingly popular and creating more demand for the higher end of the market.
THE KEY POINTS
have continued to be a major in● COVID and travel restrictions been relaxations followed by have e Ther ket. fluence on the mar has added to the general that s, basi tightening on an irregular rs and sellers. However, buye of uncertainty and resultant caution in the principal marand n Spai with vaccination levels high both in this year, we should and ism optim ning retur is ket sources, there do with seasonal flu we as it’, with live ‘just reach a stage where we h of the surplus of muc up n take ● The strengthening of demand has s. While a concern, construcnew properties built over recent year get more resale properties be to tion is still strong, and the key will increasing reports of shortage out on the market. There have been s price up of supply, which is likely to push rial costs will lead to himate ing build in ase incre ble idera ● The cons ersions, and therefore conv and s ertie prop build gher prices of new price sensitive buyer the to ctive attra e mor make resale properties s for better use of plan and ght ● There has been much talk of drou storage are being seen throur water and the expansion of wate changes of the Climate Crisis ghout the country, as the long term ty accepted. reali its and are beginning to be felt,
Truly international New StartGroup office open in Benalmadena
S
The Spanish have also become strong buyers on the costas over the last year. The main issue ahead is going to be a shortage of supply of all property types and in all price ranges in most areas. It has meant seeing prices start to creep up already and this will accelerate if the supply shortage continues. One good thing is the continuing growth in new build properties, which are getting higher than average prices. That said, discounts are still possible and it is always worth asking, although there are far fewer distressed properties now than there were two years ago.
OTHER KEY THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR: ● Official Property Descriptions: A law that came into force in 2015 requiring all property titles to be identical to the Catastral and Nota simple. This law effectively requires a topographical survey of all properties for which there is a difference between the Catastral and Nota Simple. It is an obligation that the seller should have to comply with, and we are informed that more notaries are requesting it before agreeing sales. As organising the change can take many months, owners are advised to have the process carried out well before starting to market a property ● Possible new Rental Law on the horizon: In November 2021, a more restrictive law on renting and of greater benefit to occupiers was proposed. This means that regional governments can increase taxes; impose rent controls on prices and increase the difficulty of repossession due to non-payment or squatters. There are a number of flaws and complaints that means it will need much more work before going to vote. In Andalucia, the Junta has stated it will not bring in the law, meaning more foreign investment is likely, spurring job creation and wealth, but perhaps endangering the environment and climate change targets.
START
July to December 8.94% - Ranging from -1.87% for an apartment in Casares, to -18.92% for a flooded finca that had been empty for a year. FIRST 2 QUARTERS OF 2021 January to June 10.80% - Ranging from -3.35% for a S/D Villa in Tarragona, to -26.72% for a remodelled villa with problems in Marbella. 2ND 2 QUARTERS OF 2021 July to December 10.44% - The smallest was two of 0.00%. Both were in the last quarter, paying the asking price for two very different properties. A villa in Marbella priced at nearly €9 million and the other at less than €200,000 for a townhouse in a small pueblo in Granada. The largest difference was -18.6% for a country villa in Marbella, with problems obtaining an amendment to an existing AFO.
REPORT CONCLUSION As with the last report, it’s further evidence of increased demand, which will see prices rising unless supply increases.
From all of us at the Olive Press, we hope you enjoyed reading our relaunched Property magazine, which is back on a bimonthly basis all year, and keep an eye out over the coming months for the next edition. If you would like to collaborate, then please contact us to discuss our tailored marketing strategies by phone on 951 27 35 75 or email accounts@theolivepress.es
PropPertroyperty
www.theolivepress.es
www.theolivep
ress.es
February 2022
Issue 28
Bye bye Bofill
A taste of the future or a galactic waste of money?
’s y ga ert ala p e M proazin st g be ma
For more information on what StartGroup can do for you, contact them on their website www.startgroup. com, by phone on +34 952 90 48 90, or by email: info@startgroup.com
LAST TWO QUARTERS OF 2020
st be ’s rty e ain pe zin Sp pro ga a m
TARTGROUP is the leading Estate Agent on Mijas Costa with 20 years experience that values its client relationships above everything else. Established in 2003, they are a truly international company with English, Spanish, Swedish, Norwegian, Dutch, French, German, Russian and Polish employees. StartGroup prides itself on client care both before and after property sales, having been founded on the motto: “Service from Start to Finish.” All StartGroup staff undergo training by an external auditor as soon as they join the company so you can be sure that you are dealing with professionals of the utmost quality. In September 2021, StartGroup was the first company in the world to have all its staff certified by the International Association of Property Professionals. StartGroup has local knowledge that only 20 years of experience can provide. It judges its success not by the number of sales but by the vast number of clients that return to do business. There has never been a better time to buy on the Costa del Sol and with StartGroup, you can rest assured that you are partnering with the best in the business. Apart from the well established office in Calahonda, there is also a new office in Torrequebrada which opened in October 2021. The beautiful coastal views are a fitting venue for a business that has continued to thrive. For international buyers, the knowledge required to navigate Spanish bureaucracy can be overwhelming. But with StartGroup though, you needn’t worry. They have the legal knowledge and expertise to help you invest in your dream property without being drowned in paperwork. StartGroup is an officially licensed estate agent, accredited by both the The Professional Association of Real Estate Managers in Building Promotions and the CEI. Ultimately, the principles of honesty and fairness on which the business was founded 20 years ago remain as strong today as they ever were.
AVERAGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASKING PRICE AND ACTUAL SELLING PRICE
See page XIV
April 2019
PLASTIC FANTAST IC: How this architectural remarkable prize, See centre could page IV win
Spain importan
The Olive Press pays tribute to a Spanish genius, whose architectural tenticles spread widely, and were even said to have inspired last hit tv series the Squid Game years
See page VI
WOAH: Emerging from the rock, this stunning home in Valencia is trademark Fran Silves a Spanish tre, architect who is continuing to make his mark in the architectura l world. See Fran-tastic page XVI
KEEP OD ROTH CKE GO TIN EAGDY TIME T S ROS LL HE average two consecutiproperty price in Spain has The national ve years for the first time grown for 3.9% to 8.4%, average house price rose in a decade. from between according Along the Mediterr anean coasts to various sources. foreigners buy, and on the the
Prices rise for while mortg two consecutive years, age values
However, he
continue to grow Spanish added ‘at the very to Tinsa, Spain’s average price hike has islands, where most HOME sales in December were the second-highest least, the property been 4.06%, according Balearic Islands. leading on record in Spain. property appraisal But the figures And 2022 has kicked off where last year ended… Mortgage lendingcontinued to grow last data suggests that the “Prices have have company. going up year.’ andmostly to home buyers up fore,” explained Scott Marshall, during the been rising most January up! from long six year andnot yet made up for the toPropertieSpain meanwhi but nothing like 19,390 new loans, in Benahavis. years since “And recession, with enquiries big are coming in thick Spanish Andalucia, Valencia and Murcia are leading the recovery according to le was up 6.1% in and fast.” Notaries. the exception drops enough to claw they did in the boom years, the charge on the mainland, the Associati Meanwhile, of the spected back the ground Benbegan, each seeing spectacular growth by over a quarter Bateman The and nowhere on of fromaverage Sotogrande’s new loan Holmes near an lost in the added: “It analyst against last Christmas. “Sales were up 26% madeagency could be aexplained in January bust,” increase record year While Andalucia saw 29% more sales than Stucklin, of Spanish if we can on 2019, showing the marketMark get theofright had a value of 0.9%number of new has more last December, Valencia and ered the ground listings. in a year. than recov- “Last residentia €135,616, Property year was As long Murcia posted figures of 26% and 25% respectively. the rebest year it lost to the pandemic. The since l acquisitio Insight. as mortgage and we remain confident ns continues for the last few2008 lending undergoing a post-pandemic boom in sales.” Spanish housing market is 2022.” to increase, The Balearics experienced a 41% uplift, while years, the Spanish as it has done for the Canaries saw a property 44% Adam Neale, at In total, 72,023 property sales were completed for rise in December’s year on year figures. in December, according last year, with Terra Meridiana, in Estepona, also recorded recordmarket sales is set to grow. to official figures. nearly 100 million of properties sold in 2021. “Home sales in December set almost a record “It was a very busy year and it didn’t stop buoyant Spain’s housing market is despite high, illustrating quite how According to a trio of leading estate agents in Andalucia, last month, it just the keeps comthe year has ing, particularly now people the pandemic,” said property analyst Mark ongoing repercussions of also begun well, despite concerns over supply. can travel again.” Stucklin. The highest December property figures “We sold three properties in January, which were in 2010 when nearly is three more than ever be- 80,000 properties were sold around Spain.
After almost record December sales, January is also performing strongly
t
VIII
February 2022
PROPERTY
LIVE LIKE A MARTIAN! Zero carbon sustainable pod is set up for life on other planets
OVER 250,000 PROPERTIES FROM 2,000+ AGENTS
www.thinkSPAIN.com
T
HE smart, portable and sustainable house ‘of the future’ has been launched in Madrid. But the idea behind the Cyberhut is it will one day be located on Mars. For now, the ‘intelligent house’ manufactured by the Astroland Space Centre, in Cantabria, is in Ciudad Lineal. Built with all the latest technological advances it will one day be part of ‘the first human colony on Mars’. Astroland researchers claim it is able to generate its own energy allowing it to survive in environments as extreme as that of the red planet. But its high tech insta-
llations can also improve the lives of people on this planet. Non-polluting, reusable, recyclable and repairable construction materials have been used in its construction. It can be up to 200-square-metre in size, depending on the client, but all tenants are welcomed by a pink-haired virtual assistant called Cybi. “Cybi is going to see what food you have stored and is going to design a diet based on your state of health, your tastes, your routine and lifestyle,” said David Ceballos, CEO of Astroland.
FUTURE NOW: Space pod is set up in Madrid (below) and gives an idea of what living on Mars might be like
It has over 600 sensors and over two kilometres of cable set around its walls.
The hut, that can sleep up to six, costs from €150,000 for the basic 50-square-metre model.
February 2022
3
MISSING SOCKS AND INSURANCE Línea Directa gets you the best possible price for the right kind of insurance
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CLIMATE CONTROL, NERJA
T
HE Axarquia is said to have one of the best climates in Europe, in particular in its coastal towns of Torrox and Nerja. Its fabulous microclimate – unlike anywhere else
FABULOUS FRIG FRIGILIANA
7
in Europe – offers the opportunity to grow mangoes, avocados and even bananas. You can take the modern A-7 to reach these towns, or the old coastal N-340.
6
Once at Nerja well worth a visit in its own right with its famous coves and Balcon de Europa viewpoint - head back inland on the MA-5105 to reach Frigiliana. A stroll around the wonderful back streets of this mountain village with a distinctive Moorish feel is a must for anyone visiting the Axarquia. Having rightfully won the prettiest village in Andalucia title on a number of occasions, it is a magical place to visit. Surrounded by wonderful countryside, it has a nice mix of shops and restaurants, with several selling the sweet local wines. Then it’s time to climb in your car and head back home after a weekend of sight-seeing in the beautiful Axarquia.
AVE you ever wondered where all those missing socks end up? Are they inside the washing machine drum, or did they somehow fall off the washing line into some black hole for odd socks? Nobody knows the answer. It’s just one of those mysteries from everyday life. Because everyday things just happen sud- will sort it out. And should you require Home denly and without explanation. Assistance to set up your new Wi-Fi connecHaving insurance for your car, motorbike or tion, then our English speaking technical home means you can be more prepared for staff will set up a visit. *Fully comp rehen sive offer any sudden unexpected events. Whilst insurvalid for new custo mers only. Guara ntee subje c appro ved garag e, and cour t to cover , repai r at tesy vehic le availa bilit y. ance won’t protect you from things happenEXPAT2EXPAT Subje c t to cond itions . O ffer ends 30/11 /18. ing, it will make life easier after they do. Also, did you know that Línea Directa has it’s SO WHY CHOOSE LÍNEA DIRECTA? own Expat2Expat programme? Whenever an existing customer recommends a friend, then2/8/18 Línea Directa has been providing comprehen- we reward the policy holder and the friend sive car, motorbike and home insurance to with €30 in cash. You can recommend up to British expatriates and residents in Spain for 10 people and earn up to €300 in cash per over 25 years. With over 3 million customers year. Simply ask your friend to call 917 002 nationwide, Línea Directa has the capacity to 006 and quote your full name. ensure you get both the best possible price Then once their application for car, bike or for the right kind of insurance you really need. home insurance has been approved, Línea Directa will pay the reward straight into the BEST PRICE AND BEST SERVICE bank account following payment of the next or first premium. See terms and conditions at Everything is in English. Our Roadside Assis- lineadirecta.com tance team speaks English and will quickly help you onward journey. If you urgently need Call their English-speaking customer sera duplicate set of keys for your motorcycle, vice staff on 917 002 006 or get a competthen our English-speaking customer service itive quote now at lineadirecta.com TM
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26/1/22 19:39
LA CULTURA
NETFLIX is looking for guiris - Brits living in Spain - to be extras in its new series La Chica de Nieve. The series is based on the popular novel The Snow Girl by Malaga writer Javier Castillo. The company in charge of finding extras for the series, Tempotel, said: “We are looking for guiri-looking extras in Malaga: men and women over 20 years of age, natural blondes, blue eyes and fair skin.”
Be a star Filming will take place on the Costa del Sol and opens with a recreation of the Three Kings celebration. Those interested in applying must be available to film until March 18 and are asked to send a selfie and a full body shot via Whatsapp to 641 883 642 and proof that they have the right to work in Spain.
FOODIES’ DREAM THE quiet town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda has been chosen as Spain’s Capital of Gastronomy. This is the first time that a town that isn’t a provincial capital has been chosen to fly the flag for Spanish food. It is bringing the town - more famous for its annual beach horse racing - firmly on the foodies’ map. The town had its own stand at Fitur - the international tourism trade fair - showcasing the best of the food from Cadiz. Top of the menu in the town are Sanlucar king prawns, washed down with local aged sherry, which is noted for its salty flavour. Other specialities are Tortillitas de camarones - prawn fritters made with onion and parsley, Acedias - a lean white fish, and Arroz con Pato - duck with rice, all sourced from the local river. The town has 69,000 inhabitants, 21 wineries and more than 150 restaurants.
PRESENTED BY
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
19
WORLD FIRST
A WORLD’S first exhibition in Gibraltar will feature digital art work by Spanish and expat artists. Xapo Bank will be transformed into the ‘Crypto Art Island’ exhibition in April, showcasing the most exciting new crypto and NFT artists in a world first. NFTs (non fungible tokens) have taken the world by storm, changing the game of the art world and making headlines with million dollar sales. They are digital artworks which can be bought with cryptocurrency and have a kind of digital watermark making them impossible to duplicate.
Digital art from Spanish and expat artists to feature in new exhibition
Showcased
An eight-year-old British boy is among artists that will be showcased. Dutchie Dinnage, who lives between the UK and Marbella will have his work exhibited alongside some of the biggest names of the crypto-art world. Dutchie told the Olive Press: “I have been working on my art and NFTs after school, but not on Monday’s because then I have to do my homework. “When I create my crypto art I show them to my mum and she is so proud of me. For me it is so much fun to do and when a piece is finished I get so happy, because it excites
EXCITING: Dutchie with some of his art and a NFT work by Gala Mirissa me knowing that they will be on auction at the exhibition. I can’t wait to meet all the other artists and visitors.” The exhibition will feature work from artists around
Spain, including several expats. There were around €11 billion of sales from NFT purchases from June to September last year, according to DappRadar,
a market tracker. Crypto Art Island takes place at Xapo Bank, Gibraltar, on April 30 and continues through to May 4. Opening times are 10am to 6pm.
LA CULTURA THE SPANISH J STONEHENGE 20
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
UST north of the Rio Tinto in southwestern Spain, rising among gently rolling plains are stones belonging to a megalithic tomb dating back some 5,000
years. These make up the Dolmen de Soto Trigueros, one of around 1,650 Neolithic burial monuments found within Spain’s region of Andalucia, and an archaeological site that predates Stonehenge. But while the monument on Salisbury Plain is one of the most visited tourist sites in Europe, the Dolmen de Soto stands isolated, visited only by those curious few tempted off the beaten track. “If it had been located in the United Kingdom, it would already be one of the most-visited tourist sites,” insists Primitiva Bueno-Ramírez, archaeology professor at Alcala de Henares University. The dating so far indicates that the stone circles of Stonehenge were in fact being constructed about the same time as the stone circle at Trigueros was being dismantled while when it comes to size, the stone circle at Trigueros is undoubtedly larger. However, the stones at Stonehenge are generally larger and heavier than those at Trigueros and there is no indication that Trigueros ever had the equivalent of the lintels that the people who built Stonehenge placed on top of the sarsen stones. It is tempting to think that, during the 1,200 year period between Trigueros being erected and the stone circles of Stonehenge being raised, technology had moved on, allowing the construction of a more sophisticated structure at
Stonehenge. The stones forming the circle at Trigueros were painted a striking red and engraved. One engraving depicted hunting scenes whilst others were of anthropomorphic figures and symbols. The original alignment of the vertical stones is not known, so it is difficult to interpret the use of the monument. It could have been an observatory to record the phases of the sun or moon. But it was, almost certainly, a ceremonial place. The manpower required to bring the stones to the site and erect them indicates a population from over a wide area and the number of clusters of smaller dolmens in the wider area would support this theory.
Isolation
Its isolation today does not imply it was isolated when the monument was built. Dolmen de Soto would have been an integral part of a complex sacred landscape that, for the Neolithic people, defined who they were, their territory, how they lived and how they related to their surroundings and other tribes. The Dolmen de Soto megalithic tomb was built between 3000 and 2500 BC, towards the end of the passage-grave tradition in this part of the Iberian Peninsula. The dolmen replaced a 65 metre diameter stone circle that consisted of 94 stone pillars, at least one of which was six metres tall and weighed 21 tons. Some of the stones were brought 30 kilometres to the site. It is thought that the first stone circle was erected about 3800 BC.
Visit the fascinating archaeological site of Dolmen de Soto Trigueros, writes Nick Nutter of visit-andalucia.com
Almost a thousand years after the construction of the circle, about 2800 BC, something changed in the lives of the Neolithic people and the original symbolism of the circle was either lost or became meaningless in the face of the change. The stone circle was dismantled, and the stones were used to create the passage tomb of the Dolmen de Soto. The dolmen is covered by a large mound about 60 metres in diametre and is surrounded by a circle of small stones with a diameter of 65 metres, the same as the original. Inside there is a gallery made with 63 stone pillars, a frontal slab and 30 other stones that cover it. An underground passage, measuring 21.5 metres, starts off narrow then widens to three metres in width and height as it reaches the back of the monument. The passage is aligned so that, during the equinox, the rising sun lights the interior of the passage and the chamber for some min-
utes. Some of the original stones were cut to fit into this new construction. Following its construction, the Neolithic people redecorated and overpainted the stones and it is these newer engravings and images that give a clue as to the change that had occurred.
The new drawings show armed figures. Bueno-Ramirez remarked, “There is not a single megalithic monument in Europe that has so many armed figures on its walls.” A space within the dolmen has been identified as an area where metalworking took place and one
figure appears to be wielding a ‘Carps Tongue’ sword, a type of weapon typical of the Late Bronze Age. The supposition is that the Neolithic people had been shown or had learned to work copper and this became a major focus of their lives. The timing fits.
OP QUICK CROSSWORD Across 6 One of several discards after making an omelette (8) 8 Hunt using a bright light (4) 9 Nail-biting pop singer that goes to pot (5-8) 10 File markers (4) 11 There may be a gap between them (7) 14 The top-left clue in this puzzle (3,4) 16 Getting close (4) 19 Place for notices and such (8,5) 21 Carbonated quaff (4) 22 Hasten (8)
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1 Credited (8) 2 Born in Cardiff (5) 3 Completely (3,4) 4 Precursor to a duel (4) 5 Key of Beethoven’s “Für Elise” (1,5) 7 Like Alexander and Catherine (5) 12 Ice (8) 13 Sound from a tree (7) 15 Impulse transmitter (6) 17 Deserve (5) 18 Breaks sharply (5) 20 It’s out of petrol now (4)
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BUSINESS
22
COOKING UP A PLAN
AMERICAN restaurant chain Tony Roma’s has just celebrated its 50th anniversary and now has big plans for expanding in Spain. It intends to continue growing internationally, with the opening of 200 new restaurants in the next decade. In Spain, the brand - owned by Avanza Food - plans to double the number of restaurants in the next four years from its present 31. Launched in Miami in 1972, it arrived in Spain in 1994 with its first restaurant on Genova Street in Madrid. In December 2020, Avanza Food became the owner of the brand in Spain, France, Portugal and Andorra, with it being one of the most strategic brands for the company and it now wants to push through with its ambitious plan. According to CEO of Avanza Food, Sergio Rivas, ‘Tony Roma’s has been an icon of truly American cuisine throughout the world for 50 years’. “We are one of the most solid and profitable brands with great growth potential in Spain."
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O
n February 15, 2017, the brand-new lobby of World Trade Center Gibraltar was packed full to celebrate the formal opening of the building. Within just one month of this ceremony, the building was 98.5% occupied, with nearly 48% of those occupants being new investors to Gibraltar. Five years on and despite a global pandemic, the building is 100% occupied this February. The World Trade Center is home to a wide array of exciting businesses, ranging from established gaming companies with leading global brands and reputations to fast growth start-ups and trailblazers to the new industries that Gibraltar is welcoming. Many start-ups have made use of the high-quality co-working space and serviced offices provided by Regus over these five years, and several companies have successfully developed new business relationships with other building occupants, reaffirming one of the fundamental benefits of a World Trade Center and its active encouragement of networking and social circulation spaces within the building.
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
TIPPLE TOP
PRESTIGIOUS sherries will be advertised in a new UK campaign after a sales boost during COVID lockdowns. The campaign will promote the drink in both trade and direct customer markets to widen its reach. Sherry has acquired an image of it being the choice of elderly drinkers, but is currently enjoying a revival among younger people after years of declining British sales.
UK market targeted as Sherry sales boom during lockdown
Image
The marketing wing of the Consejo Regulador de Jerez operates as Sherry in Spain and aims to show a contemporary image of the local speciality to the UK market. The word ‘Sherry’ is exclusively reserved for fortified wines produced between Jerez de
CLASSY: Campaign will focus on quality By Alex Trelinski
la Frontera, Sanlucar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa Maria, in Cadiz Province.
Pay plan THE Spanish government has proposed increasing the minimum salary to €13,944 a year, or €996 per month if paid in the traditional 14 installments. The plan, which would add an extra €31 to minimum pay checks each month, was announced by Deputy Prime Minister and Labour Minister, Yolanda Diaz. Diaz said the increase would be implemented as soon as possible and could be backdated to January 1, 2022. She insisted that setting a minimum salary is a ‘very important tool’ to help ‘the most vulnerable workers’ in society. The minimum annual salary for a full-time worker currently stands at €13,510 per annum or €965 when calculated in 14 monthly payments.
Sherry consumption in the UK in 2020 rose by 13% compared to 2019, according to Nielsen statistics, with much of the year peppered by lockdown restrictions. The Sherry in Spain campaign will highlight the quality of wine produced in the Jerez area and will explain its history in Andalucia. UK bars and restaurants will be encouraged to offer sherry in a nationwide promotional tour along with a series of press and online ‘influencer’ events. Although Sherry was first made in Spain, it was the Moors, who invaded the country in the 8th century, that introduced the technology required to fortify wine. The names ‘Sherry’ and ‘Jerez’ both come from the Arabic word, ‘Sherish’.
Inflation eases SPAIN’S inflation rate fell in January - the first time in 11 months. The National Statistics Institute(INE) says last month’s figure was 6% compared to 6.5% in December which was Spain’s highest rating since 1992. Annual core inflation, which does not include power prices and fresh food products, hit 2.4%, up by 0.3% on the December total.
Rose
The monthly comparative consumer price index fell by 0.5% in January, compared to a 1.2% December increase. Nevertheless, the index rose by 6.1% on an annual basis. Items included in the index do vary and now include face masks. Changes are made to ‘include new products whose consumption starts to be significant’, said the INE. Online newspaper subscriptions have also been included while the era of streaming and downloading means that CDs and DVDs have been dropped.
FORGING AHEAD World Trade Center Gibraltar celebrates 5th Birthday!
Benefits World Trade Center Gibraltar has also delivered significant benefits to the local community, generating an annual sum of £65,000,000 to the Gibraltar economy, as outlined in an expert study, conducted by Nairne Limited in October 2017. In a visit to Gibraltar from New York, the CEO of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) commented on the Gibraltar World Trade Center being a leading influence in the global network of 321 World Trade Centers, throughout over 90 countries and across 72 capital cities. World Trade Center Gibraltar was further recognised in this regard by becoming a board member of the WTCA, in September 2021 – giving Gibraltar an influential voice at the table of a globally recognised and renowned association. The building has become a hub for several events focused on various subjects from emerging sectors to regulatory frameworks, to gender equality to coding, even to yoga sessions in the building’s landscaped atrium! These events have offered opportunities not only to our building occupants, but also to other Gibraltar businesses or individuals looking to find ways in which to embrace both business and personal growth. Throughout these first five years, World Trade Center Gibraltar has been involved in raising £152,590 for several charitable causes including GBC Open Day, the Duke of Edinburgh Charity and GibSams, locally. In doing so, the World Trade Center has fielded teams in several sporting initiatives, from golf to paddle to beach volleyball, all in the name of charity. Internationally, at the end of 2021, World Trade Center Gibraltar was involved in funding Operation
CELEBRATIONS: The World Trade Center lobby was the scene for its birthday get together
Magic Carpet, a humanitarian rescue of 92 people from Kabul, in Afghanistan. This project touched the heart of many in Gibraltar and at the start of February 2022, 14 of the 92 Afghan nationals have travelled to France under a French government asylum scheme, but 78 remain in rental accommodation in Islamabad, Pakistan. Most of those remaining are women and young children - donations are still sought via the Operation Magic Carpet page on the GoFundMe website (https://gofund. me/a8655716). Gregory Butcher, Chairman of World Trade Center Gibraltar,
outlined: “But this is just the start! As we mark our 5th Birthday, we thank all our partners that work with us day to day to make World Trade Center the hive of activity that it is. We’re excited for what the next five years will bring and what the World Trade Center can continue to contribute towards Gibraltar’s economic growth and for jobs and investment in our community. “Beyond its fifth Birthday, the World Trade Center is particularly focused on expanding and enhancing futuristic tech centre workspace which is not provided in Gibraltar yet but is desperately required by hi-tech, fast growth business sectors that are interested in operating from Gibraltar.”
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
WINE SALUTE
SPAIN’S wine industry has applauded a U-turn from European politicians who ditched proposals to slap ‘cancer warning’ labels on wine bottles. The European Parliament(EP) rolled back plans to mirror warnings used on tobacco products after lobbying led by Spanish MEPs. Such a move would not have initially forced changes which would have to be agreed by the leaders of all 27 EU nations. Nevertheless a pro-cancer warning vote would have had the potential to be incorporated as a proposal ‘up the chain’ by the European Commission. Parliamentarians have now called for messages to be used on labels for people to enjoy wine moderately and responsibly.
Cities of love
Spain takes top two places in the list of world’s best places for a frugal first foray into love IF you’re looking for romance, head to Spain. Madrid and Barcelona have been named the two ‘best places in the world’ in which to find love. Research took into account the choice of places available for a romantic date, and also the cost. The company found there are hundreds of reasons for singles to be mad for Madrid, with 733 romantic restaurants and 714 nightlife options across the capital. Additionally, the city is home to 23 adult shops and 45 ‘hour hotels’, meaning Madrid is truly the best for a ‘quick(ie) visit’. Spain’s second city, Barcelona, also came second in the
PHALLIC: Romantic cities Madrid (left) and Barcelona By Simon Wade
research. The price of a date was considered good value, with the average price of two cinema tickets costing €18 and aver-
OP Puzzle solutions Across: 6 Eggshell, 8 Lamp, 9 Heart-stopping, 10 Tabs, 11 Genders, 14 One Down, 16 Warm, 19 Bulletin board, 21 Cola, 22 Expedite. Down: 1 Ascribed, 2 Welsh, 3 All over, 4 Slap, 5 A Minor, 7 Great, 12 Diamonds, 13 Twitter, 15 Neuron, 17 Merit, 18 Snaps, 20 Lead.
SUDOKU
Quick Crossword
23
February 23rd - March 8th 2022
age date night meals valued at €50. Additionally, there are a total of 785 romantic restaurants where couples can sample the gastronomic delights of Catalunya, as well as each other. Interestingly, the data shows that the top eight cities in the world for singles to find love are all in Europe. Third place is taken by Berlin, fourth by Rome, while London and Paris tie for fifth place, with London offering more speed dating opportunities than any other European city. Outside Europe, Singapore is officially the top city in the world to find love, ranking at ninth place overall.
Just bra-tiful MADRID has a new tourist attraction that displays iconic outfits from pop culture including Madonna’s famous conical bra outfit. Visitors to the CaixaForum can view Cine y Moda curated by French designer and ‘enfant terrible’ Jean Paul Gaultier. Exhibits including Madonna’s risque outfit from her 1990 Blonde Ambition tour, which was designed by Gaultier himself. Also included are outfits that inspired the designer.
Zorro
Rocky’s shorts, Zorro’s mask and the Superman costume worn by Christopher Reeve are among the 100 garments on display alongside movie clips, posters and stills. Gaultier chose Audrey Hepburn in a little black dress worn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Grace Kelly in Dior in Hitchcock’s Rear Window among the most influential fashion creations. Up there too is his own design worn by Victoria Abril in Pedro Almodovar’s Kika.
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FINAL WORDS
A GROUP of 30 young people ran from a Barcelona restaurant to avoid a €1,000 bill, leaving six friends who had gone to the loo to pick up the bill.
Brain picking SPANISH comedian Carlos Latre’s brain is being scanned by Malaga University to find out why he is able to impersonate 600 people, with 25 ‘normal people’ also being analysed as a comparison.
The
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Fur-good factor
Gobsmacked Brit left grinning with delight after being reunited with teeth lost on boys’ night out in 2011
A BRIT was left gobsmacked after being reunited with the false teeth he lost on boozy night out in Benidorm - 11 years later. Paul Bishop received a package from Spain in the post containing the dentures, which had been vomited into a bin outside a pub in 2011. The 63-year-old said he was ‘absolutely stunned’ to get his false gnashers back after more
By Kirsty McKenzie
than a decade. Bishop, from Greater Manchester said he ‘fell ill’ after drinking cider during a night out in the Spanish party resort. “It was a drunken day out with the lads,” he said. “I’d had enough lager so I got a pint of cider, but then the oth-
er lads were ready to go so I downed the last of my pint and thought ‘oh no, it’s coming back up’.” He didn’t let the incident
In the soup
Fast women (on the right track)
US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor has been ridiculed for saying Democrat Nancy Pelosi has a ‘gazpacho police’ instead of Gestapo, with Spanish chef Jose Andres joking it was his creation.
SPANISH rail firm Renfe has been inundated with applicants for 30 bullet train driver jobs exclusively for women. Over 28,000 women applied for the role driving trains between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. It is the first time women have been permitted to apply for such roles in Saudi Arabia
and follows a drive in the kingdom to liberalise labour laws. The jobs are part of the Haramain Project, which will see the applicants get a year’s training. Renfe will be running 20 trains a day on the 450km track between the two cities. Only 4% of train drivers in Spain are women.
spoil his holiday. He carried on singing Elvis karaoke and eating, and drinking without any teeth for his final few days in the sun. He was reunited with his teeth when they were found in landfill and Spanish authorities used DNA records to track him to his Stalybridge home. He said he was ‘gobsmacked and intends to put them on display in the Ridge Hill Lane Working Men’s Club where he is general manager. He said: “Someone’s definitely cleaned them up, they’re in perfect condition.
A STARVING stray dog has been reunited with his family seven years after he went missing. A skeletal ‘looking Dico was found scavenging along a stretch of road between the towns of Deifontes and Iznalloz, in Granada. He had the good fortune to be spotted by Pepa Tenorio, a 40-year-old animal lover who always stops for strays and carries a microchip reader in her car. She scooped up the German Shepherd and put him on the back seat of her Renault Clio which is decorated in animal motifs and contains a veritable pet shop of animal treats - before checking to see if he was chipped. She then discovered that he had been registered to an owner for seven years and tracked him down to return the pet. Although the original owner has since died, his son was very happy to take in his father’s beloved pet and the pair were reunited in an emotional scene. The reunion was posted on Pepa’s Instagram and has already attracted 14,000 followers.