Olive Press Mallorca Issue 164

ONE OF OUR OWN

‘Belli’ in Madrid: Instant hero or just another expat struggling to adapt and settle into his new life in Spain?

P LIVE RESS

See page 6

Southcoast sounds TIME TO STOP

‘ORGY’ VILLA OF KISSING FA BOSS

EXCLUSIVE

The Olive Press has tracked down a villa allegedly rented by controversial football kiss row boss Luis Rubiales to host an orgy with ‘eight to 10’ young women.

Celebrities, including Joseph Fiennes and Peter Egan, throw weight behind expat antibullfighting protest battling to stop a corrida this weekend

By Walter Finch

HOLLYWOOD star Joseph Fiennes and BBC presenter Chris Packham have weighed in to back a British-led campaign to stop a ‘barbaric’ bullfight this Sunday in Mallorca.

The Shakespeare in Love star, who has a home on the island, and the TV conservationist have signed the petition to cancel the controversial corrida, in Inca.

A host of other celebrities and influencers have also put their names to the 6,000-plus petition which aims to ban the ‘sport’ outright in the Balearics.

It includes Downton Abbey star Peter Egan, who signed it this week and tweeted it to his 130,000 social media followers. It has been reshared over 500 times.

“Hi everyone, please join me… and end bullfighting in Inca and Mallorca NOW - Sign the Petition!” he wrote. Expat-run pressure group Mallorca Against Bullfighting (MAB) has now handed in the petition to Inca town hall and is planning a series of protests for the day.

“I call it Mallorca’s dark little secret,”

MAB founder Natasha Retzmann, a Londoner, told the Olive Press.

“For an island that lives off of tourism, everyone tries their hardest to hide the fact that at least twice a year they hold cruel and barbaric events in which bulls are tortured and murdered.”

Retzmann, 46, delivered the petition by hand on August 31 although Inca mayor Virgilio Moreno refused to personally receive it.

“He ducks and dives on the issue, but I know he had already received the petition by email,” said Retzmann, who moved to the island 13 years ago and runs a cycling business.

While the town hall formally registered the petition and logged it into the system, she claims Moreno did not share it with any of his col-

Inca town hall declined to comment when contacted by the Olive Press. However, they explained that the bullfight was ‘nothing to do with the town hall’.

“It’s a private event organised by a private company and all their documentation is in order.

“The only function the town hall has is to ensure all safety issues meet regulations.” leagues.

The petition claims that bulls are being ‘tortured’ before they enter the ring, in a variety of ways.

Protest groups thought they had been successful in 2017 when killing bulls was outlawed in Mallorca, although Spain’s constitutional court in Madrid overturned the ruling two years later.

It argued the sport was part of Spain's ‘national heritage’. There are two key strongholds of bullfighting in Mallorcain Palma and Inca.

The organisers for the event, Spanish company Tauroemocion, defend the spectacle as part of Spanish cultural identity.

“We want to recover the splendour of bullfighting that has been traditional in Inca for years," said director Alberto García.

The protestors will be out in force for a peaceful demo outside the Plaza de Toros at 5pm on Sunday.

The stunning home is nestled in an exclusive Costa Tropical urbanisation, near where the ousted Spanish FA (RFEF) boss grew up in Motril, Granada.

Rubiales is alleged to have held the late night ‘orgy’ in Salobrena, with women as young as 18 during the Covid lockdown in 2020, according to his uncle Juan Rubiales.

The pair are embroiled in an ongoing feud after Luis sacked him from his press officer role at RFEF.

The series of wild nights, which went on until 6am and broke Covid rules, was anything but popular with angry neighbours, the Olive Press can reveal.

“I remember when he was here, the noise was crazy,” one neighbour revealed. “Boom, boom, boom until the early hours, there was lots of music, drinking and lots of girls.

“I could hear them all laughing and partying until five or six in the morning. They were here for a couple of days.”

The local, who only gave her name as Maria, said the property is owned by an Italian businesswoman.

She added: “It was during the Covid pandemic and it was annoying but we did not call the police because that’s not the kind of neighbours we are.”

Last year, Juan Rubiales, told an anti-corruption trial in Madrid that Luis had illegally used RFEF funds to rent the luxury villa for an ‘orgy’.

See Sordid and seedy, p6

SUPPORT: (From top) Fiennes, Packham and Egan have joined with protestors (above and right)

Silly boozer

CABIN crew called ahead for police to be waiting after a 40-year-old drunk passenger on a Bristol to Ibiza flight became aggressive to crew and passengers. He was arrested on disembarking.

Cartel sunk

A JOINT Serbian and Spanish operation seized 2.7 tonnes of cocaine off the coast of the Canary islands. The cartel kingpin and five of his henchmen were arrested.

Sainz snatch

SPANISH F1 driver Carlos Sainz had his €300,000 Richard Mille watch snatched from his wrist in Milan just hours after coming third at the Italian GP. It was recovered soon after by police.

Speeding in NARCO speedboats are being repurposed to bring hundreds of illegal immigrants to Spanish shores, with Almeria becoming ground zero, with 186 migrants by the Red Cross in just one day.

TERROR IN MAGALUF

A MAN who caused chaos in a Magaluf hotel by pointing a fake gun at clients has been arrested. The Spaniard in his 30s entered the hotel holding a replica Glock pistol that was very similar to a

real one.

“He threatened people by pretending to load the gun and pointing it at them,” a Guardia Civil spokesman told the Olive Press.

Officers confirmed that he caused

‘panic’ and ‘stress’ among the hotel clients, having threatened a number of them.

“He did not have the intention to steal from anyone and he committed the offence for no apparent reason, meaning he probably has a mental health condition,” the agent added.

Brit biker nabbed

A BRITISH biker who tested positive for alcohol and FOUR different drugs has been arrested after a movie-like police chase in Ibiza. The Brit, a holidaymaker in his early 30s, was caught after driving the wrong way down a street in popular San Antonio. He had taken ketamine,

By Alex Trelinski

cocaine, speed and crystal meth, as well as drinking heavily, police told the Olive Press.

When he saw police about to stop him on Cervantes Street, he fell off the motorbike, before getting

SICK VIDEOS

A

goats to his two dogs for them to rip to shreds and kill. The videos were later published on social media sites. The Guardia Civil detained the man and the dogs have been taken into the care of the authorities as a precautionary measure. In one video posted online, a person is seen holding a baby goat, offering it to the dogs, who then proceed to kill it. In another, the dogs are seen attacking another kid.

Under Spain’s new animal welfare law the man faces up to three years jail.

Tourist arrested after falling off his motorbike twice and then ‘kicking’ police after driving WRONG WAY down Ibiza street

back on and riding off in the other direction.

A Guardia Civil spokesman told the Olive Press : “He was driving in the wrong direction when he saw our police car and literally fell off his bike.

“Then he somehow managed to jump back on and drove away at great speed, so we started chasing him.”

He added: “During the chase, he fell again from the vehicle - a second time - and thankfully we managed to get hold of him.

“We asked him to show us his ID, but he refused and attempted to assault agents by pushing and kicking them.”

Officers, who believe he

Costly tantrum

POLICE in Palma have arrested a 59-year-old Spaniard for smashing a bus window with a crutch.

The incident happened shortly after 11am on Sunday on Calle Cartago in the Mallorcan capital.

had rented the bike for the duration of his holiday, then tried to test him for alcohol, but it was impossible as he kept resisting. However, they detected ‘a strong smell of alcohol’ and he was ‘clearly worse for wear’.

“Refusing to take a breath test is considered the same as testing positive,” the agent explained. After this, officers finally managed to take a blood sample to test for drugs, and were amazed to find that he was positive for four of them.

“He tested positive for amphetamines, methamphetamines, ketamine and cocaine,” the officer concluded.

The EMT bus driver restrained the irate passenger as he waited for police to arrive. Video surveillance cameras on the vehicle confirmed what happened and the man has been charged with causing at least €400 of damage.

Car trouble

COPS have arrested 21 people and recovered 24 high end cars that were due to be sold abroad.

The gang acquired the vehicles in Spain, falsified their documentation, and then sold them on in third countries – mainly in Romania, but also Portugal, Germany and France. Some 14 arrests were in Spain – in Barcelona, Lerida and Madrid – and a further seven in Romania.

SA POBLA man has been arrested on animal cruelty charges after he was recorded offering live baby

HOTEL SCARE: The gunman and replica pistol

Ice cool Jenni

SHE could be the most famous woman in the world right now.

But female football star Jenni Hermoso looked nothing but ice cool as she spent a few days on holiday in southern Spain.

Heading to Marbella after getting embroiled in the massive Spanish FA kiss scandal, she was spotted out and about in the Old Town.

And luckily the sharp eyed boss of ice cream parlour La Valenciana managed to

get a snap to record her visit.

“She came in with her family and ordered a nougat and white chocolate ice cream,” said Daniel Vila, who was working behind the counter at the time.

“At first, we didn’t realise it was her, but then I saw her tattoos while she was reaching out to pay.

“‘It’s the world champion!’ I blurted out.” After agreeing to pose for a picture she revealed she was in Marbella for a week, before jetting to Mexico.

See Sordid and Seedy, p6/7

HIDDEN THOUGHTS

IT was on a long drive back from Portugal to Denia to catch the ferry to Ibiza that Paul Richardson stumbled across the little known region that would eventually become his home.

He was to turn his back on fastpaced modern life for a rural idyll – for the second time.

A decade earlier, he had landed in Ibiza to escape a hectic life in London, arriving on the White Isle in his ‘little brown mini’.

Apart from a suitcase full of New Romantic-style clothes he also had a deal to write his first book.

So eschewing the party hotspots – the clubbing scene in Ibiza was exploding in 1989 – he found a typical whitewashed cottage and settled into a self-sufficient lifestyle growing vegetables and keeping chickens.

“I didn’t know how long I’d be in Ibiza, but I knew it’d be at least a year to write the book,” Paul told the Olive Press. “In the end I was there for 10 years.”

While he still loves the island, he slowly watched the rural lifestyle disappear, as it became the St Tropez of Spain.

“Affordable rural living was not an option any more,” he explained, adding he had been harking for the old lifestyle back – and that was when he came across the perfect spot by accident. He had been to Portugal to interview classical pianist Maria João Pires, ‘she is quite brilliant’ says Paul, and on the way back he crossed into Caceres province. Here he was to find what he had lost. He fell in love with the wide-open landscape, traffic-free roads and lack of ugly modern buildings and was to return to explore alongside his partner, Nacho Trives, several times.

On one of those occasions they came across a finca for sale outside the village of Hoyos and made the decision to stay.

Now 23 years on he and Nacho - who married in 2010 - are still there. It is this period in his life that is the subject of his latest book Hidden Valley, which came out this summer.

“Everyone thought we were mad to leap off a cliff moving to such a remote place, especially as a gay couple,” said Paul.

In fact this is part of what the 59-year-old former Chichester Cathedral choirboy, Old Etonian and Cambridge University alum-

As the Olive Press continues with the serialisation of respected author Paul Richardson’s new book, Dilip Kuner finds out about his last 30 years in Ibiza and finally unspoilt Extremadura

the land and the people he got to know on his journey through the coming decades – but it was definitely not all a bed of roses.

Paul added: “It was like the wild west. People lived full on, with bar fights and all. It was a hard environment and you had to be tough enough to stand up for yourself.

“I was petrified and stayed at home a lot. It was quite a while until l earned their respect.” But earn their respect he did and the help and advice he got from

that is very satisfying – it is a twoway process,” says Paul. But all things change even in Extremadura.

Paul explained: “Up until five to 10 years ago the matanza (pig slaughter) was a big thing. Everyone had a pig and came together for the slaughter. It was a cultural experience, something that had been done for hundreds of years. This is just one example of what is being lost.

“When I moved here it was remote, now communications are vastly improved. “Madrid is just three-and-a half hours away. It is not just a transport thing. It is communication. Back when I moved here there was no internet, no mobile phone coverage. Now everyone is connected.

“Youngsters don’t want to stay, so farms and land are abandoned, which leads to fires.

“Old ways of doing things –collective knowledge – are forgotten. Even the weather has changed.”

He concluded: “It is a real shame that this cultural richness is being lost.”

Will he move on again? Are there any more, hidden rural idylls out there for Paul to discover? We’ll find out in his next book, perhaps.

NOW turn to page 12 for the next serialisation of his new book Hidden Valley, exclusively in the Olive Press

Hidden Valley: Finding freedom in Spain's deep country is published by Abacus Books.

ONE of British television’s most successful and popular actors is coming to Spain this month to shoot a drama series about - British television!

David Tennant is one of an all-star cast filming Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals set in the ruthless world of television back in the 1980s.

The Scottish actor shot to fame in 2005 when he took over the iconic role of Doctor Who from Christopher Eccleston and has reprised that role for three 60th anniversary specials that will be screened in November.

Shooting for the Disney+ production is heading to the Costa del Sol on September 18, where Tennant will be joined by an all-star cast including former Eastenders hard-man Danny Dyer.

One out, one in

NO sooner had heir to the Spanish throne Princess Leonor graduated from her Welsh school then her alma mater welcomed another royal student. Her younger sister, the Infanta Sofia, has started her Baccalaureate studies at the UWC Atlantic College.

The school is 35 kilometres from Cardiff, and her schooling will cost her parents around €82,000 from their own pockets for the two years of study.

HAPPY COUPLE: Paul (left) and Nacho at home on their finca

AIR NOSTRUM has increased its commitment to helium airships by ordering an extra 10 craft from UK firm, Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), which are expected to be used in the Balearic Islands.

The carrier initially ordered 10 airships in June 2022 and the craft named Airlander 10 - but nicknamed ‘The Flying Bum’ - will operate on domestic routes with the first deliveries expected in 2026. Each craft features six inflatable studs underneath that mean it can

take off and land on virtually any flat surface, including water - doing away with the need for airports and making it perfect for inter-island travel.

The airships feature a spacious passenger cabin and floor to ceiling windows beneath the balloon with a seating for 100 people.

HAV said Airlander 10 will cut flight emissions by up to 90% for journeys across Spain and are described as environmentally friendly.

Single mother and young son are branded squatters by ‘heartless’ landlord despite never missing rent

A BRITISH single mother is being evicted from her home in Javea for being a squatter - despite not missing a rent payment in SEVEN YEARS.

Kate Langshaw, 44, and her seven-year-old son Lucas were given notice to leave their property, after becoming embroiled in an inheritance row between the owner and her ‘heartless’ politician son.

Despite Kate winning her case in May, the son, who stood in the local elections for the anti-feminist Vox party, was able to reverse the decision on appeal in just three months.

Questions remain over how the ruling was made so rapidly in a legal system that is famed for its slow pace.

Kate, for example, has not received a single alimony payment from the father of her son for four years after a successful domestic violence case against him.

She is now facing tens of thousands of euros in court costs, legal fees and backdated rent - and the prospect of being left homeless with a young son and their dog Orri.

Kate told the Olive Press: “I’ve always paid my rent and did everything I was told to

EXCLUSIVE

By Laurence Dollimore

by the rental company, it’s terrifying to think we could all be on the streets.

“We are still in the summer season and I cannot afford to find a new place near my son’s school.

“I might even have to give up my dog as very few rental properties accept pets which would be heartbreaking for me but especially my son. He suffers from anxiety and Orri is crucial for his mental health.

“How can it be fair that I’m being kicked out? It’s madness. I hear stories that it can take three years to evict an actual squatter, and yet I am being asked to leave as a single mother paying rent.”

The issues began when the millionaire patriarch of the influential Bas family, based in Javea, died some years ago, leaving a slew of homes, land and money to his wife Christine English - and his four children.

The father had been a successful property developer and was behind the large Don Pepe urbanization just off Javea’s celebrated Arenal

beach. He left a number of apartments in the block, plus various other homes, over which the siblings are understood to have squabbled. The Olive Press understands at least one child, including son Daniel, took their mother to court to obtain more properties and money from her.

Unbeknown to Kate, who began renting her two-mother, particularly as official notary papers still indicated that Christine was the owner. Finally last year, the son tried to ‘bully’ Kate to pay him instead of the mum with an increase of €200 more a month, despite her having a fixed contract of €600 in place until 2026. When this failed, he instead took her to court, claiming she was a ‘squatter’ because she had no contract with him - despite proving she had paid rent since 2017.

Developer

stand how it happened,” added Kate.

Myra Azzopardi, senior adviser and paralegal at Citizens Advice in Spain, told the Olive Press: “This case is shocking. First of all, the fact the appeal was won so quickly is very

Unhappy traders

BUM DEAL PAY UP

CRAFTSMEN and artisan sellers running stalls leading up to Christmas in Palma have complained to the City Council about proposed alternative sites to the Plaza de España, which will be undergoing major renovation work. The merchants have demanded a meeting with markets councillor Lupe Ferrer after the Parc de ses Estacions was named as a new location without any widespread consultation.

ONE in five Mallorca restaurants are charging for last minute reservation cancellations and no-shows, with more businesses set to follow suit.

Alfonso Robledo, president of the CAEB restaurant association, said that penalties vary between €20 to €120 per diner, with all Michelin-starred restaurants in Mallorca adopting the policy.

Robledo predicted that the majority of island restaurants will adopt the charging policy within four years to protect them against losses.

He observed that there’s a growing trend of people making multiple simultaneous reservations online, then deciding which to use at the last minute, leaving popular restaurants with empty tables.

He claimed he had the right to any earnings (known as usufructo) on the property, including rent. However his case failed in Denia court in May, when a judge ruled that mother Christine had the usufructo when Kate signed the rental agreement and she had therefore paid the right person. But the son took an appeal to the courts in Alicante, and, extraordinarily, the decision was reversed in July making the latest rental contract void. Worse, he is now suing Kate for backdated rent which totals over €30,000. She has been receiving help from social services, the Citizens Advice bureau and a local charity called Guardian Angels.

“They are all shocked by the decision and can’t under-

They’ve proposed La Rambla or Via Roma as options which would attract a higher footfall of potential customers.

PALMA ACCORD

THE Partido Popular on Palma City Council have reached a deal with the far-right Vox party to give ‘stability’ to its minority administration.

Palma PP president and mayor, Jaime Martinez, struck an accord with Vox Palma coordinator Fulgencio Coll on Thursday, but the far-right party will not enter the executive.

The parties claimed the agreement ‘will strengthen governability’ and ‘promote changes demanded by Palma citizens’

EVICTED: Mum Kate and Lucas in happier times

BACK AGAIN

Former First Lady Michelle Obama returns to Mallorca

FORMER US First Lady Michelle Obama is enjoying a few days vacation on Mallorca - her third visit to the island.

Earlier this year, she flew to Spain with her husband - former-US president Barack Obama - to enjoy a Barcelona concert staged by their friend Bruce Springsteen.

Michelle Obama is staying with her friends - former US ambassador Jaime Costos and his husband Michael Smith who is an internationally renowned decorator. They have a large property near to the Mallorcan coast and were spotted having lunch on Monday at a well-known restaurant in Puerto Portals.

There was an extensive deployment of security staff wearing bulletproof vests but their presence was described as discrete.

Her visit to the Puerto Portals marina went virtually unnoticed with few tourists following the end of the summer high season and reports said that yacht workers didn’t know that she was there.

The diners tasted several dishes accompanied by cocktails, beers and water.

Their bodyguards and drivers waited in a reserved area until the group left an hour-and-a half later.

In August 2017 and 2018, Michelle Obama stayed at the estate of ses Planes, owned by Marieta Salas, ex-wife of Zourab Tchokotua, Georgian prince and close friend of King Emeritus Juan Carlos I, which she

Bodies recovered

POLICE say that they ‘suspect’ that two bodies recovered off the Manacor coast are a German father and son who vanished during a storm while sailing in late August.

DNA tests are being carried to confirm their identities.

On Monday, the first body was found in the waters off Cala Falco and the second corpse was spotted floating in the sea off Cala Mendia.

A 50-year-old German and his son, 19, disappeared on August 27 while sailing a vessel named the Makan Angin between Menorca and Mallorca.

Weather conditions deteriorated after they set sail, sparking fears that the small sailboat may have sunk.

DANGEROUS SKIERS

RESIDENTS in Palma's Cala Gamba area say that irresponsible jet skiers are endangering the lives of bathers.

The Coll d'en Rabassa neighbourhood association has complained that skiers are throttling at full speed close to the coast- often racing each other- and claim there have been several near-misses over the summer.

Besides swimmers, the skiers are said to have posed a risk to learners at the local yacht club and other people enjoying water sports, as well as Sant Joan de Deu hospital patients who perform rehabilitation therapies on the seashore. The association has asked for jet ski access to the public sea access ramp to be prohibited.

By Alex Trelinski

rented to the Costos-Smith couple. She has also previously visited Marbella and Ronda, and attended the Let Girls Learn event in Madrid with Queen Letizia in 2016. The Obama family’s love affair with Spain started when Barack back-packed around the country as a 26-year-old in 1987.

DANA escape

NO serious incidents have taken place in the Balearics despite the strong winds and torrential rains caused by the so-called DANA storm.

It brought strong winds of up to 80 km/h in some parts of Mallorca, such as the famous Serra de Tramuntana, as well as in Ibiza and Formentera on the weekend. But elsewhere in Spain at least five people died with a further three people missing. Among the saddest deaths was a 20-year-old man stuck in an elevator in the Toledo town of

Casarrubios del Monte. He drowned when he went to his basement garage to move his car away from rapidly rising floodwaters. He was trapped in the lift when the power was cut. Elsewhere a man died inside a stranded car in the nearby town of Bargas while the body of a 50-year-old man from Camarena, was found in an open field. To the north, two more lives were lost after a pair of hikers went missing exploring the Gorgol ravine in Tramacastilla de Tena, in Huesca.

Voted top expat paper in Spain OPINION

Miscarriage of justice is a travesty

IT is an absolute travesty that a fully legal, tax-paying British expat is being branded a squatter after paying rent for seven years (see Kicked out, page 5).

How on earth could a judge side with a landlord when Kate Langshaw had not missed a single payment to HIS OWN MOTHER.

In particular, after Kate was specifically told by the estate agency that arranged the contract to continue paying the mother.

There are some serious questions that still need answering about this case.

As Citizens Advice chief Myra Azzopardi points out, the mother must have known she had no right to collect rent when she handed over the property to her son - but she collected it anyway.

Surely it is SHE who should be sued for backdated rent, not innocent Kate, who acted within the law at all times.

In addition, why did the son - who stood for the far-right party Vox in recent local elections - not address the actual contract?

This is yet another miscarriage of justice in Spain and a stark reminder of how seemingly unfair the legal system can be here - especially if you are vulnerable and appear an easy target. We must make as much noise as possible to stop Kate being made to pay tens of thousands of euros that she simply cannot afford - and more importantly, to keep her from being left homeless.

The Olive Press vows to continue searching for answers and to expose the shameless, heartless family that has taken this unfortunate single mother, her son and her dog Orri for a ride.

PUBLISHER / EDITOR

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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. AWARDS

WITH his own mother locking herself in a Granada church and going on an ‘indefinite’ hunger strike until the ‘inhuman witch hunt’ against her son ended, it’s easy to think that Luis Rubiales must be a victim. The boss of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) has certainly tried to play the underdog as he took on the might of the Spanish government and Fifa. His unquestioning belief that it’s OK to kiss a female player on the lips, throw another over the shoulder, and joke about marrying another in the locker room, has certainly

SORDID AND SEEDY ONE

led to much navel-gazing in Spanish society.

But crucially, his kissing of Spanish striker Jenni Hermoso as Spain won the World Cup has shone a light on his six year-long position at RFEF, as well as how he got onto the podium in the first place.

And it isn’t pretty reading, with numerous ‘victims’ and witnesses coming forward over the way he allegedly trampled on and abused them on his way to the top of Spain’s football pyramid.

The accusations range from misogyny and sexual harassment to misappropriation of

public funds, while anyone who dares to expose his alleged conduct is subject to aggressive legal threats - as Hermoso disgracefully, found out herself.

from his job at RFEF over accusations of leaking confidential information with the aim of damaging his nephew’s reputation. Juan Rubiales confided that Luis would use a villa on the Granada coast (see Orgy Villa on page 1) to host sordid parties for his closest allies and fellow board members.

Present at these gatherings, he described as ‘orgies’, would be around eight to 10 young women, under the pretence of a ‘work event’, with their pay and all other expenses stuck on the federations tab.

SUPPORT: Locals get behind Rubiales calling for ‘the truth’

“The list of women and men aggrieved by Rubiales and his insults, bravado, blackmail, threats, espionage and persecution is too long and must stop,” La Liga President Javier Tebas wrote on X (formerly Twitter) after the furore broke. And the rotten smell of corruption and sleaze has, it turns out, been pervading the halls of the Spanish RFEF in Madrid for years. Indeed, his own uncle, Juan Rubiales, came out

“He is a man obsessed with power, obsessed with luxury, obsessed with money, even with women,” he claimed to El Confidencial . “I think this boy needs a programme of social re-education.”

He has a point. While president of the Football Players’ Association (AFE) between 2010 and 2017 he would allegedly ask marketing manager Tamara Ramos what colour underwear she was wearing and tell her to ‘put her knee pads on’. When she informed him in confidence she was pregnant, the first thing he did was to organise a meeting to announce it to the whole office - clearly irked that she would soon take maternity leave.

Belli has won over the fans in a month

‘HE’S one of our own, he’s one of our own. Jude Bellingham, is… well, actually he’s another expat, settling in well into one of the largest diaspora in Europe, the Brits in Spain. Movie star looks and being the first Englishman to win La Liga’s Player of the Month award - a feat neither David Beckham, Steve McManaman nor Gary Lineker ever achieved - has certainly helped the English midfield maestro feel at home. Indeed, it couldn’t have been a better start for the Brummie, who has become an instant hero in Madrid following his €103 million signing from Borussia Dortmund last month. He has even managed to equal Real legend Cristiano Ronaldo’s explosive start to life in Madrid after netting five goals in his first four games - including his most recent feat: scoring a 95th minute winner against Getafe at the weekend. We will have to wait two weeksafter the international break - when Madrid take on Cham-

OF OUR OWN

pions League (CL) debutants Real Sociedad to see if he can break Ronnie’s record. But is he to become a galactico, like Ronaldo, Zidane or Beckham - or a flop like Michael Owen and Eden Hazard?

The first warning signs must come from the awkward spell of the last famous British player who attempted to adapt to life in Spain.

Despite winning four Champions League medals, Welshman Gareth Bale became a major figure-of-fun over his lack of Spanish and efforts to integrate after arriving for a world record fee in 2013.

While the former Tottenham forward performed wonders for the merengues (in particularly CL finals), he was not well-liked either in the dressing room or the stands.

Bellingham, the opposite face of Bale

What’s been apparent since Jude landed in Madrid has been his attitude as

much as his football.

Unlike Bale, he has made it clear he is keen to integrate as quickly as possible, which will mean eating at strange hours, getting used to extreme temperatures (cold and boiling) and plenty of late nights.

According to sources he is also insistent on mastering the language, unlike Bale who ‘only spoke in English’.

But then again, he does have a head start: He studied Spanish at school until the age of 13 and apparently has sought the advice of Beckham who stressed the importance of learning the lingo.

From day one, he has been seen joking with everyone, with many of the players sharing pics of themselves with Belli at the gym or just hanging out together.

It is probably fair to say that his previous experience in Germany served as the ideal apprenticeship. While he spoke to the media in English, he was known to

From orgies with ‘eight to 10 young girls’ to using public money to pay for home renovations, the scandalous own goals of football boss Luis Rubiales are raining in, writes Walter Finch

‘Belli’ in Madrid: Instant hero or just another expat struggling to adapt and settle in his new life in Spain? Walt Finch finds out if Jude Bellingham is to be the next Gary Lineker or a flop like Michael Owen

LEGEND: €103m

OP QUICK CROSSWORD

By Laurence Dollimore

THE unpretentious tourist resort of Motril, on Granada’s Costa Tropical, should have been enjoying the last few days of summer last week.

Instead, it found itself at the centre of a global media frenzy over a story that wouldn’t look out of place in a Pedro Almodovar film.

The protagonist was the 72-year-old mother of ousted football boss Luis Rubiales, who had locked herself inside the Divina Pastora church, declaring a hunger strike over the ‘mistreatment’ of her ‘honourable’ son.

Angeles Bejar insisted he had done nothing wrong by kissing Jenni Hermoso and she was passing the hours of her self-confinement ‘crying and praying’.

Within hours, dozens of camera crews and journalists from Spain, Portugal and the UK had camped outside - including the Olive Press.

We were expecting a huge backlash and, indeed, we heard that a counter-protest would be arriving, but it soon transpired to be the total opposite.

While thousands of Jenni supporters had gathered in Madrid, there was no chance of Motril turning on their ‘son’, the local boy who had ‘made it big’.

for the PSOE socialist party at the Junta. Indeed, he had risen to the very top as the Employment Delegate for Granada and, almost inev-

HUNGER: Angeles on strike in local church

itably, we discovered got sucked into the huge ERE scandal.

It emerges he is still facing trial for his part in the biggest corruption case in Spanish history that during a decade alone saw €680 million stolen from public coffers.

An inconvenient truth brushed under the carpet by local supporters

And we quickly discovered why: Luis was born into privilege as the son of Manuel Rubiales, the mayor of Motril for over a decade. And therein lay the crux - indeed probably the exact reasons why poor little Luis thought he could get away with anything.

For daddy had not only run the town like his fiefdom, as most mayors invariably do in Andalucia, but he had gone on to become a senior bigwig

He is facing three years in prison for using public money from Brussels, via Madrid, to help stimulate employment and help ailing companies.

But that’s ancient history here in old school Andalucia - an inconvenient truth brushed under the carpet by locals who are still suspicious of the central government. Indeed the onslaught of national - and international - criticism against Luis only served to provoke a rally-round-the-flag effect in Motril.

Dozens of residents showed up to voice their support for Rubiales and his mother, decrying the ‘extreme feminism’ they claim is ‘sweeping across Spain.’

This fervent support laid bare the fractures caused by Spain’s ongoing culture wars, symbolised by the rise of Vox, which calls to redefine domestic violence as ‘intrafamilial violence’, claiming male victims are too often ignored.

Gender-based violence is a key issue for far-right Vox and shows the country has a long way to go to shake off the ‘machismo’ attitudes that still run rife in southern Spain.

Motril is no exception, with women and men of all ages blasting the ‘witch hunt’ of Rubiales.

“Men do much worse in the streets everyday and never get punished,” one local told the Olive Press, adding: “The justice system in Spain is broken.”

While the dust has seemingly settled on Motril, for now, the issue of women’s rights is far from over in Spain.

After the meeting he allegedly made the vulgar comment that she should have ‘got f***ed from behind instead’. He has insisted the claims are Almost as sinister are the allegations he used

Across

1 “Tales from the --woods” (Strauss waltz) (6)

5 Moony (6)

8 Chopped up tree fern is complimentary, property-wise (4-4)

9 Leave out (4)

10 Pond flower (4)

11 Christmas tradition (4,3)

12 Cargo platform (4)

14 Not hers (3)

15 Rotate (4)

17 Stomach-related (7)

19 Salt away (4)

20 Heroic narrative (4)

21 Too much (8)

22 Programme of political violence (6)

23 Inhuman human (6)

Down

2 Climber’s tool (3-4)

3 Bananas (5)

4 Marshal (5)

5 Support for climbers (7)

6 Not much water (7)

7 Not being straight (5)

13 All at sea, aspired to give up (7)

14 Conceal (7)

16 Examines and corrects (7)

17 Brilliant reflection (5)

18 Ships’ companies (5)

19 Got into bed (5)

All solutions are on page 10

€120,000 of AFE funds to pay for a renovation to his house, not to mention suspicious trips to New York with female colleagues.

Architect Yasmina Eid-Mached claimed he told her to ‘send the costs’ of his sumptuous Madrid villa to the union.

She also alleged that during a later argument, he subsequently pushed her aggressively and grabbed her arm, leaving her with injuries to her wrist and ribs.

This apparent attitude towards women continued after he won election to become the president of the RFEF in 2017.

It was most publicly noticeable in his rock-solid support for divisive and unpopular women’s coach Jorge Vilda (who eventually managed the team to its World Cup victory).

Come late 2021, three senior players of the women’s team, Alexia Putellas, Patri Guijarro and Irene Paredes, wrote an email to the RFEF complaining about Vilda and the federation itself.

speak halting German among his teammates.

An atypical football player

Bellingham decided at a very young age to bravely take the step to try a new country and quickly adapted to life in Germany, having landed in Dortmund at just 17.

However, the difference between England and Germany is not as great as with Spain

Fortunately the powers that be at Real believe he can adapt to life in the capital, although inevitably there are still some niggling ‘fears’ that he will find the pressure too much.

For now, the backroom staff at Real - not to mention his entourage of staff and family - are working around the clock to ensure one of the great talents of world football stays wrapped in cotton wool off the pitch.

And on the pitch - fingers crossed unless you are a Barca or Athletico fan - we are looking at a cross between Zidane, Ronaldo and all-time legend Emilio Butragueño.

Among various complaints was their anger that Vilda refused to let the players lock their hotel room doors and search their bags while on national duty. Rubiales and the RFEF then made a public statement lambasting the criticism and threatening the players with a five-year ban from the national team.

They implied the players were blackmailing them by ‘applying pressure to the federation’.

Many of the players had simply had enough, and on September 23, 2022, 15 players posted an open letter to the federation.

This resulted in all the players being banned ‘until they apologised’. Only three did in the end.

Now they are joined by the rest of the squadsome 56 in total - who have announced they will not play again for Spain while ‘the current management’ remains at the RFEF. It is hard to disagree with them.

After Rubiales mum brought her own protest to a rapid end after just three days, she would do well to put herself in the boots of those four and a half dozen players… and the thoughts of 99.9% of the Spanish female population.

My poor little boy… the son of a political ‘fraudster’!

FATHER AND SON: The Rubiales

GALACTICO: Belli slots the 95th minute winner home against Getafe

LA CULTURA 8

Southcoast sounds

THE Cala Mijas Festival returned with a bang on Thursday and brought with it a host of stellar names and up-n-comers to set Andalucia alight.

In just its second year, it topped last year’s attendance by 3,000 as 110,000 music lovers turned up over the three nights.

Expats and foreign visitors made up over 30,000 of the attendees, with the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy best represented among the crowds.

Some 60-odd bands graced the four stages, including Arcade Fire, The Strokes, Pabllo Vittar, Idles, Foals and Moderat Cala Mijas Festival has already become the leading music festival in southern Spain, and will look to take the indie crown currently worn by the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona (and sometimes Madrid) in the coming years.

But it still has a way to go. The Barcelona extravaganza attracted 253,000 guests this year - although that was across five nights. Indeed, the festival received a

presidential seal of approval when acting prime minister Pedro Sanchez showed up on the second night to watch the Strokes Sanchez may have even set the tone for a remarkably well-behaved three-day music party, with a grand total of zero incidents reported by festival authorities.

Londoners Florence + The Machine nearly pulled out due to health reasons, but in the end kept their word to close out the festival on Saturday night.

Rhythm stick

By Jon Clarke in Mijas

WITH his unusual yoga stances, he stalked the stage with the grace of a ballet dancer. But, make no mistake, Baxter Dury had the presence of a pit bull, at his first major concert in southern Spain, at Cala Mijas Festival. The enigmatic Londoner has all the swagger of his famous dad, the legendary Ian Dury (and his Blockheads), but with more finesse.

And the intelligence of his lyrics, as well as the way he cleverly ad-libbed his way through various songs, with references to Spain, had the crowd in stitches.

This was Brit pop (for want of a better word) at its best, particularly on standout tracks like Cocaine Man and particularly, Baxter (these are my friends)

Another UK band with an even edgier, angrier sound were Idles, from Bristol. The five-piece blew the (mostly) Spanish crowd away as they stomped around stage behind frontman Joe Talbot, his neck pulsating with aggression.

Mesmerizing and brilliant, only guitarist Mark Bowen in full Arabic dish dash came close to matching the showman.

Of the major acts across the well-organized three-day festival, the plaudits had to go to Canadian legends Arcade Fire, who played an absolutely faultless set on Friday.

Different Strokes

WHILE his political rivals at the PP battled against the odds to form a government, the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez let his hair down at a music festival.

The PSOE leader watched one of his favourite bands, the Strokes, from the US, as well as Spanish rockers Lori Mey- ers at the Cala Mijas music fes- tival, on the Costa del Sol. Sanchez, 51, was seen posing for selfies with fans before tak- ing to social media to praise the event. “Atmosphere and good music at CalaMijasFest,” he wrote, adding: “Very proud of the cultural power of Spain.”

STAND OUT: Arcade Fire

ICONIC: Baxter and dad Ian (inset)

This collective of talented musicians just keep going from strength to strength, and will no doubt be playing these brilliant tunes, like the Rolling Stones do into their 70s. Thier first headline show of the year in Spain, they had come to enjoy themselves as they descended down the 100 steps from the hills behind, waving to the crowd. Hits; they played them all, with the excellent Rebellion (Lies), Haiti and, in particular, Afterlife, getting everyone jumping.

Saturday’s headliners the Strokes, while hitting the heights, in particular with hits from their seminal first album, Is This It, failed to truly ignite, largely due to lead singer Julian Casavantes clearly being worse for wear.

Luckily an excellent performance from experimental French group, M83, made up for it, while the house was well and truly blown away by UK dance legends, Underworld, who came on at 2.30am and rocked till the wee hours.

PICTURE CREDITS: Walter Finch

The second Cala Mijas Festival opened with a bang and burned bright for three nights with passion,

ROCKING!: Florence + the Machine were a big hit, while (top) Idles, (far left) the Strokes (middle) Belle and Sebastian, and (left) Joe Gonzalez

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Tick-tock

SPAIN’S scorching summer led to a rise in the numbers of ticks, which can latch onto both wild and domesticated animals. But these arachnids (they belong to the same group as spiders and scorpions) are also far more perilous to humans than is commonly realised.

They are capable of transmitting over 50 different diseases through their bites, including bacterial infections like Lyme disease and spotted fever. They usually take between 24 to 48 hours to start feeding on their host’s blood, meaning prompt removal is crucial. Experts recommend using tweezers or fingers covered in thin gloves to remove ticks’. It is important to avoid crushing them or using natural remedies like oil or alcohol, which often result in the tick’s jaws remaining embedded in the skin.

AN 85-year-old man has died in Caceres from Legionnaires disease, with six others affected and hospitalised. Among the affected were an 85-year-old woman and three men aged 76, 71, and 55. Additionally, two 65-year-old men were admitted to intensive care..

Rafael Mateos, the city’s mayor, said: “The problems are usually in the vapour sprays, and that is where controls have

LEGIONNAIRES’ DEATH

to be increased.”

Eight public fountains were turned off until the source of the outbreak could be traced. Typically, Legionnaires’ disease is not contagious but is very easily spread through bacteria inhaled from water or

soil particles. The bacterium was discovered as a result of precautionary measures. The bacteria that causes Legionnaires disease also causes Pontiac fever, an illness resembling flu which usually clears on its own, but untreated Legionnaires’

EXTRA JABBING

All children under six to get flu jab while new Covid vaccination campaign starts

WARNING

for dogs and

EMERGENCIES: 636 308 789 Tel: 971 681 439 www.theeuropeandentalpractice.com

By Alex Trelinski

ALL children in Spain aged between six months and five years will be eligible to get a flu vaccine this autumn.

Previous policy has been for only youngsters with underlying conditions to receive a flu shot.

The age range extension according to the Spanish Association of Pediatrics will mean that between 55% and 60% of young children will get a dose.

Javier Alvarez of the Association said: “This will bring added protection as children are the main spreaders of influenza in schools and nurseries - passing on the virus to people they live with.”

He pointed out that flu affects up to 40% of young children, and that 5% of cases end up in hospital - especially if somebody is suffering with other ailments. Evidence also shows that when children are vaccinated, the number of flu cases among adults is reduced. The autumn flu vaccination campaign will start in

24/7 EMERGENCY ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE

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

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CRACKING CANCER’S CODE

SPANISH scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery in the fight against the most aggressive and untreatable form of breast cancer. The work has involved identifying a crucial molecule for treating triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease known for its rapid spread and resistance to conventional therapies. Laboratory experiments and studies with live animals have honed in on how this molecule can affect the growth and movement of triple-negative breast cancer cells.

No speaky Catalan

tandem with a fresh set of Covid-19 booster shots, focused on the most vulnerable with everybody aged over 60 included. The Covid injections will start with the most elderly whose risks of contracting a serious disease increases if they contract the coronavirus.

Other groups include health and social workers as well as people who work in institutions like residences, disability centres, and prisons. It is not yet clear which drugs will be used as Spain has bought more than 100 million doses that are outdated as new Covid variants have appeared over the past year.

HELP NEEDED

SPAIN is grappling with a rise in youth suicides that poses serious questions about the country's child mental health services.

Last year 22 youngsters aged 10 to 14 ended their lives – the highest figures since 1991. And calls to child helplines have grown nearly five-fold, from 958 in 2019 to 4,554, according to the Foundation Anar, a non-profit organisation that helps children and adolescents at risk in Spain.

The suffering endured during the pandemic exacerbated issues such as eating disorders and self-harm among youngsters.

Spain’s public healthcare system struggled to cope, with only one in five trained clinical psychologists specialising in child and adolescent care – around 540 in total.

A CATALAN language requirement for health personnel has been abolished by the new PP government of the Balearic Islands. Up until now it has been a mandatory requirement to speak the language in order to be employed by the public health authorities. But the difficulty in finding enough health professionals for the islands has led to the requirement being dropped. This week Minister of Health Manuela Garcia announced extra cash for doctors and nurses as the PP government tries to tackle the issue of high housing costs on the islands, which it believes is also deterring health professionals from moving to the Balearics.

Perfect nap

TAKING a 20 minute afternoon nap after lunch is beneficial according to an expert who warns that a long siesta sleep brings little reward.

BREAKDOWN KIT

Experts are advocating for immediate action, demanding more placements in the psychology training program and a specialised child psychology branch.

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

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

People can also call Samaritans in Spain between 10am and 10pm on FREEPHONE 900 525 100 for a confidential service in English or email pat@samaritansinspain.com

Spain’s national suicide helpline 024 also offers a service in English

OP Puzzle solutions

Quick Crossword

Across: 1 Vienna, 5 Tiddly, 8 Rent-free, 9 Omit, 10 Lily, 11 Yule log, 12 Skid, 14 His, 15 Turn, 17 Gastric, 19 Save, 20 Saga, 21 Overdose, 22 Terror, 23 Sadist.

With the warm weather making everybody feel a bit more sleepy, Dr. Nohemi Rodriquez head of neurophysiology at Elche's Vinalopo Hospital suggests that a post-lunch snooze should be '20 minutes or less' and is 'better in the early afternoon in a quiet dark area with a low temperature'. The specialist says that a short sleep can bring health benefits: “It reduces fatigue, increases energy and performance and boosts a person's mood, alertness, memory, and reaction capacity.”

Mutant toy released

THE release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie in Spain - Mutant Mayhem - is great news for a Spanish toy maker.

Canal Toys España is a subsidiary of a French company and it has created an official toy linked to the film called the Ninja Turtles Fidget Ooze. The company based in Alicante specialises in making soft toys and toys that ooze with slime with the new offerings featuring the four starring turtles.

The ‘ooze’ represents the material that turns the ordinary turtles into mutants and then ninjas.

Prices rise

Fuel pumps up inflation as costs surge

By Alex Trelinski

INFLATION in August stood at 2.6%, according to preliminary figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The top line rise - up by 0.3% on July’s figurecame as no surprise due to the surge in fuel costs with motorists having to pay the highest pump prices for nearly a year.

Switch to private

FALLING birth rates are said to be having a ‘profound’ impact on Spain’s public education system with over 304,000 fewer children in kindergartens and primary schools compared to 2018.

Some 112 schools have closed down in a decade but 80 additional private schools have opened during the same period.

In the last five years, children in school aged between three and six years have dropped by 145,071 students, while there are 159,288 fewer in the six to 12 years category.

Cuts in Saudi Arabia oil production have been the

A warm welcome

SPAIN welcomed 47.6 million tourists - 9.8 million of them British - to its shores in the year from January to July, up 21% on the same period of 2022.

That’s according to the latest figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE), which also reported that visitors spent nearly €60 billion while in the country, a rise of 25% compared to 2022.

The number of tourists in the period this year was, however, o.8% lower than the same months in 2019, the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic. Spending has risen compared to 2019, with the €60 billion figure representing a 25% ries.

cause, which has also impacted on electricity and oil tariffs.

Raymond Torres, director of economic think-tank Funcas, said: “We have seen rebounds in gas and oil, and they may cause some upside surprises, but we are still far from the highs reached last year.”

Tourists paying higher hotel, bar, and restaurant prices has also boosted consumption and therefore inflation.

Despite the rate rise, Spain's inflation stands at over half of the rest of the Eurozone and is just

above the European Central Bank's target figure of 2%.

In August 2022, inflation was at 10.5% and the average rate was 9% for the first nine months of last year.

Core

So far in 2023, the average nine month rate is 3.6%. Core inflation which excludes energy and fresh food is at 6.1% - 0.1% down compared to July's figure.

Economic experts estimate that the year will finish with a core rate of between 4% and 5%.

The slime can simply be put back into the turtle with the toys offering relaxing multistress functions that allow them to be squeezed and stretched but always returning to their original form. IBIZA’S CRYSTAL CLEAR WATER AT YOUR FINGERTIPS

The figures are only going to continue to decline as the first half of 2023 recorded a birth rate low of just 155,629 babies.

Right now there are 32 fewer primary schools in Spain compared to 10 years ago - a 0.2% fall - with a total of 13,387 centres.

Many of the public schools closures have been in rural areas that have been suffering from depopulation while the private school network offers a ‘full service’ from infant to secondary age ranges, and are also predominantly based in more-affluent urban communities.

Just four regions - Madrid, Aragon, the Basque Country, and the Balearic Islands - have seen public schools actually increase in numbers.

Aragon's former Education Minister, Felipe Facci, said: “We had a policy of where just three pupils were needed to keep a rural school open and when a school does close, that has an impact on the rural environment which sees associated services like school canteens, transport, and other activities cease.”

“The last thing parents want is for a school to close and for their children to travel up to 30 kilometres a day elsewhere.”

Two new hotels, right by the sea

Come join us

WINE TIME

THE simplicity of late-summer eating, the sensuousness of it and the concentrated taste of produce at a pitch of ripeness: figs, nectarines, melon, pears. The balm of an ice-cold salmorejo, silky with oil and piquant with garlic. Yellow figs, intensely sweet, with thin slices of ham. A Russian salad made with cooked carrots and peas, potatoes and a little onion and a boiled egg, all of it diced and bound together with homemade mayonnaise.

Hunger comes at odd times of the day and night. I’ve taken to eating at five in the afternoon and sleeping until eight. For lunch today, my summer staple: linguine with a raw tomato sauce. For midnight supper a thin fillet of our own pork, a scatter of oregano, pepper and salt sizzled on the griddle and sliced

into strips.

Just beside the stove stands a bowl with the remains of the grated raw tomato from lunch, ready seasoned with fresh basil and olive oil, so I slide the red slick on to the hot pan, push it around a bit, et voilà, an instant sauce for my pork steak.

Struggling to eat the fruit that now arrives in baffling quantities. Pears that are green and hard and

then turn yellow, aromatic and juicy. (I’ve taken to drying them in slices out in the sun, on the chicken-wire rack we use for sun-drying tomatoes.)

Strawberries, smaller and smaller as the season progresses but more and more strongly perfumed, to the point that a cloud of strawberry smell bursts out from the fridge when you open the door. Japanese nashi, shaped like apples but tasting more like pears, with a pellucid crispness to their pearly flesh. Small yellow peaches, good to eat but even better peeled, sliced and bottled in syrup for the winter. Cantaloupe melons, the round ones with the orange flesh, gloriously perfumed, the best of all possible breakfast foods. The pig gets all the peelings and pips. Meanwhile the fire has retreated from the forefront of my consciousness. This morning on my early rounds I catch myself thinking: How can a landscape be so ravaged, so damaged, and still retain its loveliness? Yet it does. The surface may be temporarily scarred, but the lie of the land, its shape, its soul, can’t be touched. As the sun came up I walked out of the house and away to the edge of the forest. From here there was a view that filled up my senses always, the

AT just over 1,500 metres above sea level, it could be the highest-rated restaurant with rooms in Spain.

‘Certainly in Catalunya,’ insists chef, Oliver, a lively father-of-three, who trained at a cookery school in Barcelona before making a life choice to run the stunning Can Borrell retreat in the Pyrenees with his wife Laura.

It was her parents’ hotel, a retreat for hikers and skiers just a 40-minute drive from the nearest ski station, and counting on roaring open fires and views to die for.

Two decades on and they’ve had three boys, all junior national skiing champions, who help out in the kitchen and sala at the busiest times of year.

It’s all part of the charm - these strong, stocky specimens floating about with verve, particularly in midsummer.

This is surely the best time to visit - when the rest of Spain is roasting, and Can Borrell delivers no more than 27 or 28 degrees, dropping to 16 at night.

It’s normally warm enough to dine on the charming terrace, with its agricultural vernacular to the fore - and you can sleep with the windows open as it’s mostly mozzie free.

It’s also a popular weekend retreat for sophisticates from Barce- lona, who come to hike in the near- by hills.

PICKING: The grapes were plentiful but noone knew the variety

land falling away towards the stream, the valley holding the village clustered around the church as if in cupped hands, and sometimes a big horizontal brushstroke of snow tinted rose-pink on the distant peaks. All around me lay the vineyard. A faint dew had fallen overnight, moistening the leaves. Trailing fronds of grapevine reached out to touch each other, their leaves having lost their sprightly greenness and begun to turn brownish yellow and redden around the edg-

es, as if the lifeforce was now being diverted away from the plant itself and into the swelling fruit. I liked the way the vines surrounded the house, hugging it protectively, gently bobbing like a lake of green. At any time of year they were worthy of my attention. The black, wrinkled stumps standing mute and unflinching in a winter downpour had an air of something mineral rather than vegetable, as if carved out of black volcanic basalt. In April the buds burst into delicate

HIGH LIFE

in Catalunya

There are a myriad of paths from the door, a couple that take you to swimmable glacial lakes in just over an hour, plus the third highest peak in the Pyrenees, Puigpedros - now that’s a challenge!

There are nine functional rooms - and one amazing suite - that adhere to the rustic architecture of this centuries-old farmhouse (or Can, in Catalan) - but you can expect central heating in winter.

The main dining room and entrance area will sweep you back a century, and romance is guaranteed, if that’s your thing.

My wife and I ended up staying here for three days two decades ago, arriving from the Costa Brava after a two-day bout of gastroenteritis. It was the perfect tonic and we bimbled around the hamlet of 60 souls, until we’d improved enough to attempt Puigpedros. Why on earth we’ve only just made it back now is anyone’s guess, but I guess like Laura and Oliver, kids got in the way.

VIEWS: of the valley to die for

And the best thing of all is that while the food was good back then, today it is so much more assured.

Think mountain tucker, but with real verve and plenty of extra touches, thanks to the proximity of France just over the hill.

Take the foie gras starter which has a touch of black truffle. It’s a great kick off, despite its obvious negative connotation today.

The goat’s cheese and spinach in puff pastry may be more palatable to many, while the ‘brik of duck’ melted in the mouth.

Mains were, naturally, meaty with the standout dish being a fantastic solomillo from a local free range breed of cattle that hugs the nearby contours.

The tarte tatin comes with tremendous vanilla ice cream.

There were other options to eat (albeit at least a 10 minute drive downhill) but as a mark of how good this is: we stayed put four nights in a row!

It’s fair to say, we’d truly acclimatised to the High Life!

www.can-borrell.com

Jon Clarke reviews

the charming mountain retreat, the highest restaurant with rooms

CHARMING: Can Borrell in the Pyrenees

Figs, pears and melons in baffling quantities… And - finally - the grapes swelled and were ready to pick for wine. Their variety, no one could tell me, writes Paul Richardson of life in September in his new book, Hidden Valley

One vine was a lonely thing, but a large number of them were magical

FATTENED UP: The pig gets all the peelings and pips

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

shoots, which unfurled into tiny leaves and grew tiny clusters of green pinheads: embryo grapes. One vine on its own was a lonely thing, but a large number of them was a magical collective entity, sprouting and fruiting as one, branches moving in the breeze like a single organism.

Baudilio, the old man who had worked this land for half a century, once told me his father had first laid out the vineyard nearly a century ago, planting it with vine cuttings brought from an important winemaking region far from here where he regularly worked the grape harvest. Baudilio had more

vineyards around the village and a bar in the main street serve glasses of his strong, pungent white wine. In springtime he ploughed between the rows with a plough drawn by the family mule, which lived in the hut that would eventually become my bedroom.

What no one could tell me, not even he, were the grape varieties. In the old days nobody much worried about such things; varietal identity is a modern obsession.

There was white and there

A new season

LATE SEPTEMBER: Practically its own season. Bright, fresh days with the memory of water – the downpours of last week, which stopped summer dead in its tracks – still present in corners of the land where the sun seldom reaches, still damp, the soil still dark after rain.

was red, and these were mostly white, with an occasional red one popping up randomly in the midst of them. The wines we had tasted in the village bars were white, but strong and sometimes slightly oxidised or sherry-ish, and surprisingly pallid in colour.

They were fermented and stored in big-bellied clay urns or vats, which made the cellars of village houses look like a set for Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. The vats were treated inside with a resin derived from pine sap to seal and disinfect the clay, which often gave the wines a hint of the balsamic piney taste you find, much more prominently, in Greek retsina.

The idea was appealing to me: I imagined a link, over huge distances of time and space, between the amphoras of Attica and the clay vats of this village in twenty-first-century Spain.

How the grass revives, brave little blades of a vivacious green pushing up and out, stippling the ground like a computer-generated colouring-in. There’s a pleasant mental confusion about walking out in the early morning and seeing these tender shoots, feeling the humid air on your face.

The sheep are energised, running this way and that, hardly able to believe these pastures new, this deliciousness right under their muzzles.

The maize hangs in long rows, the dry cobs tied into pairs –a job that has us channelling crabbed old Galician grandmothers as we sit on wooden

In search of setas

IN the damp afternoon after a rain shower I go to the woods to walk, and also to forage for wild fungi Mushrooming is a subtle and mysterious art. The mental attitude required is a via negativa, a not- wanting-too-much, a not-looking- too-hard. Synoptic vision, casting your whole eye over an expanse of ground, ready to pick up the signals, the curve of the cap, the colour a shade or two away from the sur- rounding variants of brown, a fun- gal aroma your nose detects. When you see one there’s a tiny charge of pleasure in the brain, like the dopa- mine hit a new email in your inbox is meant to produce. It’s a knowing before you even real- ly know; a prescience. Or perhaps a reverse déjà vu: you imagine you knew it was there, how could it not have been? The tell-tale way the mushroom has pushed up the

leaf layer then again, you’ve poked carefully with a stick or your foot at dozens of such tell-tale liftings and found nothing underneath but a tussock of grass that has pushed through a wodge of dry leaves and raised it slightly, and even as you did so some thing told you it was a waste of time, so there’s hardly a cast-iron logic there. Yet this time it’s textbook. The hard, round cap the russet brown of a Hov- is loaf; the thick bulbous stem white as marble. When your fingers reach

PRODUCE: Everything from the maize to olives and fruit gets conserved and potted

stools out on the porch. We tear off the dry outer sheaths leaving just enough on either side to twist and tie, shooting the breeze all the while.

This year’s colours in the cobs’ mosaic patterns are a pastel pink, a drop-dead coral red, dark elegant grey and a dun green that’s almost khaki. As we twist and tie we speculate and joke about the randomness or otherwise of the cobs’ intricate patterning: a message from an alien culture? Some kind of heavenly barcode? Or simply nature in all her meticulous unfathomable beauty?

around that cool, dry pillar, that’s when you know you’ve found your perfect Boletus edulis. That’s the first satisfaction. The second comes soon after, bundled up with the first. I like them best baked with potato and garlic, with buttered eggs, a rich autumnal rice with rabbit and pumpkin, and raw in slicescarpaccio-thin dribbled with olive oil and scattered with parmesan.

Tonight

Nacho makes a salad in the scattergun inven- tive manner of his cooking, and it’s a palpable hit. Peppery rocket and carrot julienne and crisp sweet apple and shavings of raw cep, which imbue the dish with their insinuating perfume; a memory of damp leaf mulch; a whis- per from the woods.

PERFECTLY RIPE: Succulent peaches and tasty peppers

FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL

CAPITAL OF COOL

DESPERATE to escape the hordes and scorching heat of southern Spain, there are only really two places to head for in the car: Galicia or northern Portugal.

Lisbon has it all thanks to its rich diversity, cultural heritage and excellent food and wine scene.

CAPTION:

The continent’s westernmost capital has magnificent sights, wonderful restaurants and a fun nightlife scene, without the hefty prices - or overwhelming tourism - of Barcelona or Paris, say.

Just a six-hour drive away from Malaga (or nine from Valencia) it also has fantastic beaches at

POMBALINE BAIXA CASCAIS

WEST of Lisbon lies Cascais, an affluent beach town that looks out onto the Atlantic.

The drive alone makes the trip worthwhile, heading out along the Tagus River, travelling west on the scenic N6. The 30 km route hugs the coast, as the river becomes the ocean, past small beaches hiding in rocky inlets (think Playa del Cristo) where the tide rises and falls against the natural sea walls.

DOWNTOWN Lisbon was almost entirely destroyed during the city’s catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of 1755, and subsequent fire.

In the devastation’s aftermath, the Marquis of Pombal took complete control of reconstruction.

The Marquis’s vision differed drastically from the old city’s narrow, winding roads. He commissioned a grid network with wide avenues, making this Europe’s first modern city, with plenty of wonderful old trams still running.

The area hosts the city’s shopping district and is the most bustling daytime sector.

The roads towards the river culminate in the Praca de Comercio, where the city puts on concerts, festivals and cultural celebrations throughout the year.

BEFORE clubbing until six in the morning, most nights in Lisbon start on the crowded, cobbled streets of Bairro Alto. Thousands of people stand outside the hundreds of bars packed into just a few square blocks to quaff pints of beer from just €1.50 and pints of mojitos from €6 (yes, pints of mojitos). Most bars also offer even larger 75cl versions – worthwhile for the mojito, but it can end up being more expensive for the beers. Despite the heavy foot traffic, taxis and even trams worm their way through at night.

Some revellers sit on the boots of council cleaning vehicles to cadge a free ride as they drive past.

A FAIRYTALE city fit for a Disney princess, Sintra is a day trip not to be missed.

It’s just 30 minutes (by train or car) to this mystical city awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status.

With a skyline to rival Manhattan, a host of 19th-century turrets and domes stand majestically above the colourful town houses. Cupped between two impressive mountains, both can be climbed and are within two hours of the city centre.

The effort is worth it for the rewards at the top: the mediaeval Castelo dos Mouros perches on the crest of one summit and the Pena Palace on the other, once the summer residence of Portugal’s monarchs during the 18th and 19th centuries.

HEAD beyond the city centre, west of the magnificent 25 de Abril Bridge (a Golden Gate lookalike named after the date of Portugal’s independence from Salazar’s regime) to find Belem, a focal point of Lisbon’s history.

Here, in a single square, you’ll find the Tower of Belem, the Jeronimos Monastery, and some of the best pastries in the city.

From the Tower of Belem, you see Lisbon from a different vantage point to anywhere else in the city, a view that underlines its relationship with the Atlantic and the Tagus River.

The monastery is like any great European Catholic church: dark, immense and echoic. Two famous Portuguese legends rest in peace here: Camoes the poet and Vasco da Gama the explorer. After sightseeing, head east to a bakery with blue awnings named Pasteis de Belem to try Lisbon’s famous pastel de nata. Make sure it’s dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

ADRAGA & NEARBY BEACHES

Some of Europe’s best beaches sit just around the corner. Just 20 minutes from Sintra and half an hour north of Cascais, Praia da Adraga is one true gem on wonderful white sand, crashing waves and one of Portugal’s best beach restaurants. A splendid place for kids with a network of tunnels leading to smaller coves, the waves are surfable, if pretty gnarly for beginners. Nearby, Praia da Ursa may have a steep climb down, but when you get there you’ll find a dozen beachgoers tops.

As the temperatures finally drop and the masses head home, Dilip Kuner offers up half a dozen reasons to take a trip to Lisbon

REduce

O P LIVE RESS The

A HELICOPTER pilot from Spain’s DGT traffic authority crashed while trying to make a lunch stop a restaurant in Almeria.

Battle ready

A FIVE-DAY course for people wanting to go and fight in Ukraine against Russian forces is being offered by a company in Catalunya’s Lleida for €700.

In vane?

MALAGA’S iconic Caminito del Rey will install a weather station provided by Spain’s Met Office AEMET to display more accurate weather data after it was closed several times for feared high winds that never materialised.

Get

on the horn!

MASON MOVES

Greenwood, 21, is granted luxury villa near his new training ground in Madrid

HE is the controversial ‘other’ British footballer who has moved to Madrid this season.

Manchester United star Mason Greenwood was unveiled as the new loan signing of La Liga team Getafe this week (just a month after Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid).

In a shock transfer the 21-yearold is moving to Madrid with his girlfriend Harriet Robson, with whom he has a baby son.

He has been granted a €10,000-per-month rental allowance to find a villa ‘near to his training ground’ after Manchester United agreed a loan deal.

It comes after charges of attempted rape, assault and controlling and coercive behaviour against him were dropped at the start of this year.

The Olive Press understands he is looking at a number of upmarket barrios to live.

By Laurence Dollimore

They include the exclusive neighbourhood of La Finca, which is just a 20-minute drive from Getafe and has played host to some of the game’s biggest stars, including David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

Safe

Described as a ‘footballer’s paradise’ Spain internationals Fernando Torres and Sergio Ramos are among the current residents in LaFinca, where properties sell for around €15 million and can cost up to €20,000 per month to rent.

A private security firm has agents patrolling its tree-lined streets, while guards are stationed at the entrance 24/7. It has three perimeter fenc-

es to keep out any potential intruders, while scores of security cameras have every corner covered.

It is deemed so safe that many of the homeowners reportedly don’t even bother installing an alarm system.

A spokeswoman from estate agency Promora told the Olive Press: “He will most likely live in either La Finca or La Morajela. Both are a footballer’s paradise because they are very green with wide avenues and

RECORD RIND

great 24-hour security.

“They have everything with their own shops, supermarkets and cinemas etc, meaning they don’t ever have to leave.” Getafe hailed their new signing on social media on Monday, posting a video, ‘The MasonMania’, showing fans queuing up for pictures with him. They have already received criticism online from a number of fans unhappy with the signing, one saying they had ‘zero shame’.

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A SPANISH cheese has become the most expensive ever sold. The 2.2-kilo fromage, from Cabrales, in Asturias, sold for a record €30,000. Artisan Ivan Suarez smashed his previous Guinness World Record of €20,500 paid in 2019. Made from cow, goat and sheep milk, it undertakes a ten-month maturation process in a cave 1,400 metres up in the soaring Picos de Europa.

Suarez has won the award at the Cabrales Cheese Contest for four years in a row.

"It's my passion for my local area and its cheesemakers that fuels my competitive streak," he insisted.