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MALLORCA
Vol. 4 Issue 104
e r a B s e i t i s s e c e N Expat accused of murder THE trial has begun for the British man accused of murdering an Irish holidaymaker in Mallorca. Paul Lee Waugh, 38, is on trial alongside his 40-yearold Spanish boss who is accused of helping Waugh to cover up the tourist's death. Aaron Henderson, 30, suffered serious head injuries after he was attacked outside Mulligans bar on Magaluf's infamous Punta Ballena strip on April 27, 2018. The father-of-four from County Derry, who was on holiday with his girlfriend at the time, suffered a bleed on the brain and died in Son Espases hospital four days after the assault. Initially it was thought that Henderson had suffered injuries sustained from a fall until a witness claimed that the victim was kicked in the head by Waugh, the bouncer of Mulligans on the popular party strip. Spanish cops then requested the CCTV footage taken at the time of the incident from the 40-year-old-defendant, who was employed as the pub’s manager. However, prosecutors say that the man failed to hand
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voice in Spain April 23rd - May 6th 2021
With national travel inching ever closer, the Olive Press offers a special guide to Ibiza, including an insider’s look at the trendy hotel that has welcomed the likes of Pete Doherty and Bryan Adams
Knickers in a twist
Expat shock at ‘exorbitant’ fees even on clothes - being levied on goods sent from UK
VICTIM: Aaron Henderson these over and invented a web of lies to protect his British employee. State prosecutors will demand a 12-year-prison sentence for Waugh if a jury finds him guilty of homicide. Both defendants deny the charges against them. Henderson was described by his father Paul as his ‘best friend’ and told how ‘his world fell apart’ when doctors explained that there was nothing that could be done to save his son.
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AN expat has been forced to value each item of clothing including her underwear - that she sent via a removal company from the UK. Patricia McKinley was stunned at having to list everything sent in packing cases as part of a permanent move to her new home in Guardamar (Costa Blanca). The businesswoman, from Leamington Spa, told the Olive Press how she ended up paying three times the previous quote she had been given for moving the 30kg package of clothes. “I was originally quoted €45 by a luggage-forwarding company, but ended up having to pay an extra €79, when I went back to wrap up my old house in January,” she said. The price hike from DHL Spain was down to a ‘double-whammy’ of two unexpected charges. Firstly a €40 levy for ‘additional paperwork’ and then €39 in IVA (VAT) payments on her clothes. “I had no idea about this charge and of course I had to pay it,” Patricia continued. “Despite insisting they must be kidding, DHL said they had to follow the rules arising from Brexit. “I never thought I would be moving to Spain and having to itemise my T-shirts at 50p each or my underwear,” she added. “At least they arrived quickly and I didn’t have to wait long.” This however, was not the case for Madrid-based Jemima Aus-
Portals Nous, 07181, Mallorca.
14/02/2020 23:25
EXCLUSIVE By Alex Trelinski in Costa Blanca and Fiona Govan in Madrid
terfield who was stunned when the postman demanded she pay €40.77 for a present that arrived TWO months after her birthday.
Demand
The beaten up package, smaller than a shoe box, came late despite being sent by her mother from London two weeks before her birthday at the cost of £40 (€45). “My mother sent the packet with various gifts over ten weeks ago in the hope that the gifts would arrive in time for my birthday on February 6.” she told the Olive Press. But after several weeks the box arrived back in London with a note in Spanish saying they had been unable to deliver it in Madrid, presumably because the mother-of-two had not been at home to pay the fee on arrival. “My mother had to pay £30 (€33) pounds just to collect the package from the post office and then to pay the £40 again to resend it,” the caterer explained. It meant that over €160 was spent in order for Austerfield to receive the package, close to double the value of the contents
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FURIOUS: Austerfield was forced to fork out €160 within it. Under new rules that came in with the end of the Brexit transition period on January 1, all parcels, whether commercial or private, are required to have customs declaration forms. It means they may be subject to extra import taxes even if they are gifts. For packages being sent from the UK to countries within the EU, the rules now state that a CN22 or CN23 form is required to be displayed on the outside of the package as well as details of sender and recipient. Michael Smith, owner of Villamartin-based South Coast Removals told the Olive Press: “Things were really bad in January as nobody really had a clue what to do and what the rules meant, but at least it is settling down now.” He continued: “The only way of avoiding tax on transferring
goods like clothes from the UK is in the case of people moving permanently over to Spain.” To do this people emigrating would have to produce a recently-obtained NIE number; documented proof that they had sold their house; and a supporting letter from the Spanish consulate in the UK.
Costs
For everybody else, costs have rocketed, admitted Smith. “You need inventories for everything and customs officers will charge tax. Additionally, the paperwork for removal companies and agents has doubled and that means a hike in costs plus time delays in making deliveries. “Customers are seeing these costs passed on plus plus tax on top of that. It’s been very hard for everybody.”
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CRIME
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NEWS IN BRIEF Farewell to arms A POLICIA Local unit has been accused of holding an illegal gathering in their Palma headquarters after it was revealed that 15 officers attended a goodbye party for a recently retired colleague.
Baby on board A MOTHER, 34, has been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol while her child was in the car in Palma.
Cold caller A MAN has been arrested in Mallorca after dialing emergency services 54 times in a row to hurl insults at the police.
OAP Hurt A PENSIONER, 80, was left seriously injured after a 40-year-old man violently pushed her to the ground after she caught him trying to steal from her car boot in Palma’s Son Ferriol district.
A WOMAN has handed herself into police following a hit-and-run which left a motorcyclist seriously injured. The biker had been mowed down on the intersection that connects Cami de Ca Na Gabriela and Carretera Militar in s’Arenal. Investigators said the driver hit the motorcyclist at full speed after POLICE have launched an investigation following the grisly discovery of human remains. Policia Nacional’s Homicide Group confirmed that a human skeleton had been found by a local in a wooded area next to a roundabout in Coll d’en Rabassa. Investigators say the individual likely died many months ago due to the corpse being in an advanced state of decomposition. A wallet belonging to a local man from Inca who was reported missing in 2018 was also found next to the remains. The corpse has since been transferred to the island’s Forensic A LARGE marijuana plantation has been found by police during an eviction in Mallorca. Guardia Civil had been tasked with the removal of two tenants, aged 31 and 44, from a villa in Calvia. Upon inspection of the property, officers uncovered hundreds of marijuana plants growing in one of the rooms as well as various equipment used for the cultivation of the narcotic.
Hit and run
racing through a red light and as a result of the impact, he was thrown several metres in the air. The driver failed to stop, leaving the man injured and bleeding profusely on the side of the road. He remains in serious condition in
April 23rd - May 6th 2021 hospital after having his foot amputated. Following a police appeal for the driver of a Range Rover to be found, a 50-year-old woman handed herself in and confessed to being the driver of the vehicle. She has been charged with serious recklessness and leaving the scene of an accident.
Grisly discovery Skeleton could be that of man who disappeared in 2018
Anatomical Institute where tests will be undertaken to confirm the individual’s identity and how they died. Local press suggest that the area is popular with drug users and that syringes are often
Big deal The tenants were swiftly cuffed and have both been charged with drug trafficking, a crime against public health and the theft of electricity. Meanwhile, as part of an anti-drugs operation, Guardia Civil uncovered another marijuana plantation set up inside a house in s’Arenal.
found lying on the ground. It comes just a month after the remains of a 38-year-old woman was found inside a flat in Palma’s Son Gotleu district. Neighbours had reported that there was an unpleasant smell coming from the apartment and SITE: Remains were found in woods after forcing entry inside, officers found the corpse inside an apartment in the capital. of the homeowner. The deceased woman’s dog was Neighbours had reported not also found alive, reportedly be- seeing the 78-year-old man ing able to survive by eating its for more than six months and when firefighters forced entry owner’s remains. Last year, the mummified body inside, they found the man’s of a pensioner was also found corpse in the hallway.J14
Face facts A SPANISH man has been arrested for selling fake lip cream that has caused serious injuries on a number of women. The Madrid man, 60, was snared after women around the country reported serious side effects after using the cream. The product, designed to increase the volume of the lips, was reportedly responsible for causing allergic reactions, necrosis which kills cells and even facial paralysis. The investigation began last year and tracked the website selling it to the Alcorcon suburb of Madrid. Police found that the medicine did not have an expiration date or a recorded batch number. The seller was also not registered to sell pharmaceutical products and the company that he operated under was not a legal entity. Most of the women affected had been told to simply apply chamomile to their faces. Toxicology reports are currently underway.
Booked!
A DRINKER was arrested for ‘serious disobedience’ when he refused to show police his ID. Guardia officers had been called to a bar in Canyamel where people were boozing on the terrace after COVID-imposed opening hours. One man repeatedly refused to show identification when officers tried to book him and was arrested when he tried to leave.
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Howzatt!
On show
FASHIONISTAS flocked to Madrid Fashion Week, after the 73rd edition of the show kicked off in style. Catwalk star Nieves Alvarez, 47, walked down the runway at the Maite by Lola Casademunt fashion show showcasing an array of stunning outfits. The Madrid-born beauty, who has modelled for the likes of Yves Saint Laurent, Vivienne Westwood and Prada during her career, was right at home walking the capital city’s catwalk.
WHILE many sports in Spain have been playing on a sticky wicket during the pandemic, one is booming – cricket. It may come as a bit of a surprise to many, but the quintessential English game is rapidly taking a hold in the land of sun and sangria. Traditionally, its strongholds are Catalunya and the Costa Blanca (with a special mention to Madrid and Murcia) but the game is now spreading. There are even set to be full blown international games soon with Almeria’s Desert Springs ground just being granted accreditation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) to host one day internationals and ‘T20 matches’. Now the Costa del Sol is fol-
EXCLUSIVE: Get your pads on for Europe’s fastest growing sport, writes Dilip Kuner
lowing suit with an international tournament designed to boost the profile of the game in Spain. Hosted at the picturesque Cartama Oval, near Malaga - where British ambassador Hugh Elliott once strapped
I’m the law (in the kitchen) A SELF-taught chef with a Masters degree in law is lighting the way for a new culinary revolution in Spain. Lawyer Fernando Alcala, 30, has snared a ‘sun’ award in the annual Repsol Soles awards for his creativity and hard work at his Marbella restaurant Kava. It comes after the young chef also won a Red Meals (Bib Gourmand) award from the Michelin guide last year and became the standout ‘sensation’ at the Madrid Fusion event in 2019. “It’s a massive honour to win the Repsol award,” he told the Olive Press after taking a trip up to San Sebastian to pick up the gong. “I decided the legal profession was not for me, while working as a lawyer in Zurich and I always wanted to come home and open a restaurant in my home town of Marbella.” He picked up the award in San Sebastian alongside chefs from the Balearics, who were also honoured this year.
By Jon Clarke
These included the chefs from Es Tragon, Maymanta, Nagai, and Pecador in Ibiza, and Sa Llagosta in Menorca, who were all awarded a Sol for the first time. Mallorca already boasts 14 restaurants with the award, including Maca De Castro in Alcudia which has three Sols. “It’s the first time I have left Malaga since the lockdown last year and it was amazing to travel again,” said Alcala. He naturally made the most of his trip by pulling in a favour to get a table at legendary Asador Etxebarri, in the Basque country, which was voted as the ‘third best restaurant in the world’ in the latest Pellegrino awards. There are 618 restaurants listed in the Repsol guide this year, with 304 restaurants around Spain having one Sol, 126 with two Sols and 37 with three Sols.
IN UNCERTAIN TIMES, WE SPEAK YOUR LANGUAGE As a road user you’re accustomed to expecting the unexpected. However, if you have concerns about the impact of Brexit or the Coronavirus pandemic may have on insurance policies, Línea Directa would like to reassure its customers that their car insurance policies are one constant to be relied on in these uncertain times.
UK DRIVING LICENSE If you have lived in Spain for at least 6 months, your UK driving license must be exchanged for a Spanish driving license before 30th June 2021. You need to book an appointment at your nearest DGT (Departamento General de Trafico) by calling 060 or via their website. You will need your NIE document to do this.
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on his pads – the European Cricket Championship (ECC) will run from September 13 to October 8. In total, 15 nations will take part, including an England Amateurs squad and Scotland A. Speaking at the launch of the event at Benalmadena’s Sunset Beach Club, The European Cricket Network (ECN) CEO Roger Fiener told the Olive Press: “People don’t realise it, but cricket is the fastest growing sport in Europe, and second fastest in the world. “In Germany there are now 350 clubs - there were only a handful a few years ago.” Jay Wild (pictured), of the Costa del Sol Cricket Club, based at Cartama added: “We see this as an opportunity to develop the game not just in Andalucia, but across Spain. We need more juniors and want to diversify the player base – and this tournament will have an impact on that. “Many people don’t realise that cricket is even played in Spain – I am sure once they find out many people will come along, and bring their kids as well.”
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
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STEPPING INTO OBLIVION A THIRD of Spain’s flamenco venues have shut down due to the COVID crisis. An alarming 34 of the country’s 93 tablaos have been sythed by the pandemic. Their intimate set-ups, with a stage nestled between the tables and chairs, has meant that most have been unable to reopen since March last year. President of the tablao association Juan Manuel del Rey has warned that ‘tablaos are on the path to extinction.’ The knock on effect for flamenco artists will be huge as 95% of their work comes in tablaos. While the Spanish government donated more than €2 million in support of the sector during the pandemic it is too little, too late. “Tablaos have acted like a springboard for generations of flamenco artists to launch their professional career and without them Spain is in danger of losing ‘the universities of our flamenco,’ said Rosana de Aza, a producer from Sevilla.
READY, steady, bake!
AMAZON is investing its dough into a Spanish version of Celebrity Bake Off. With the pandemic leaving viewers stuck at home eager for new shows to devour, the global streaming giant is making a 10part Celebrity Bake Off España. The show will see a
dozen famous faces compete each week to prove their are cream of the crop - and come away with the coveted title of best celebrity amateur baker. The BBC has now licensed the show to 35 territories across the globe including Brazil, Kenya, Thailand, and France.
We’re here to help
If your license has not yet been verified, you will be allowed to drive in Spain for 6 months from 1st January 2021.
CAR INSURANCE All vehicles must be registered and have insurance before using or parking on Spanish roads. Car insurance from Línea Directa comes with a wide range of covers designed to provide peace-of-mind and all manageable online from the comfort of your home. Their fast and efficient telephone service is managed by English-speaking customer service. You can also visit their website 24/7.
PERSONAL ATTENTION Línea Directa has been providing personal attention and expert advice to customers for over 20 years. They guarantee to provide the best expat car insurance with the right coverage.
Fully personalised policies that fit both your needs and that of your wallet. And their qualified English speaking customer service staff can guide you through any claims you may need to make.
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BEST PRICE. BETTER COVER In these uncertain times, it’s good to know that your vehicle is in safe hands. You can request a free no obligation quote by calling local area number 952 147 834. Línea
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Call Línea Directa on 952 147 834 and speak to one of their English-speaking customer service people and find out which cover best suits your needs. *Fully comprehensive offer valid for new customers only. Guarantee subjec t to cover, repair at approved garage, and cour tesy vehicle availabilit y. Subjec t to conditions. O ffer ends 30/11/18.
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NEWS IN BRIEF Award winning FOUR beaches in Alcudia have been awarded an ecoflag from the environmental group ATEGRUS. Playa de Alcudia, Alcanada, Islote and Sant Pere were praised for their cleanliness, safe environment and sustainable development.
Lifesaver A quick thinking hero saved a 70-year-old woman from drowning off Cala Millor beach. Moussa Sarr did not think twice when spotting the elderly woman struggling in the water, jumping in immediately to save her.
Snared INTELLIGENCE from the United States has led to the arrest of a suspected paedophile from Colonia de Sant Jordi who allegedly shared child pornography over the internet.
Held hostage AN EXPAT faces up to five years in jail for allegedly holding a woman hostage in his Palma apartment when she refused to have sex with him. The Swede denies all charges against him.
THE Balearic government has hinted that it may allow bars and restaurants to extend opening hours. The president of Balearic Confederation of Business Associations (CAEB), Alfonso Robledo, said that the government proposed three changes to the rules at a meeting this week. The first is to increase the capacity on terraces, secondly to allow pavements to be used for tables and chairs provided that they are
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
Test plea
Drink up
not a hindrance to pedestrians, and thirdly, to allow opening up to 9.30pm, rather than 5pm. But it is not all good news for catering establishments.“They will not even think about opening the interior areas of bars and restaurants even though this issue is impacting the sector as many businesses that do not have a terrace,” explained Robledo.
Photo by Allan Binderup
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All bark, little bite IT might be to blame for a staggering 86% of new cases… but the so-called British variant of COVID is having very little impact in Spain. The B.1.1.7 strain has actually been described as a good thing by the nation’s chief epidemiologist. It is now responsible for the vast majority of the cases behind the current fourth wave spreading around the country, a huge increase on the 2% detected in January when the third wave reached its peak. Early fears over the new variant - that got its name as it was first detected in Britain - led to Spain closing its borders to travellers from the UK unless they were resident here. It was feared that not only was it more contagious, but it could prove more lethal, pushing Spain’s hospitals into a critical condition again.
While it’s nearly 90% to blame for the fourth wave, the British COVID variant has no teeth in Spain By Fiona Govan
However, despite being responsible for almost all cases now detected, the nation’s hospitals are not being overwhelmed in the same way they were during earlier waves. What’s more, the effect on the Spanish health service is far smaller than in other countries, like France or Germany. Fernando Simon (pictured), Spain’s Director of the Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies, predicted that the British variant could in fact be advantageous for Spain. “It’s now our variant,” Simon said, adding that it ‘could actually be benefiting us’ as ‘it’s
THE leaders of two of Spain’s most foreign tourist-dependent regions want the European Union to pay for free PCR tests. The joint call came at a meeting between Balearics President Francina Armengol and Valencian counterpart Ximo Puigl. Armengol said: “Free testing will reactivate the economy of two regions that are very dependent on mobility and tourism.” They met in Valencia City with Puig saying that ‘there will be a summer’ and welcoming the EU health travel passport that launches next month. He went a step further by demanding subsidised PCR tests to help boost foreign tourism. He said the subsidy was crucial due to the strong likelihood that many potential travellers, especially ‘younger people’ would be put off by the price of a PCR test that averages €120 per person. “If vaccines are free, then PCR tests should be as well, “added Puig.
Brexit boost
leaving no room’ for the potentially more dangerous South African and Brazilian variants to take hold. Now it is hoped that the prevalence of the British strain could work in favour of loosening restrictions on travel between Spain and the UK sooner than later. In what would be excellent news for the tourist industry, it is now likely that British holidaymakers will be allowed to visit en masse over the summer. Currently Britain is considering the categorisation of countries under a traffic light system based on the level of risk, with Portugal and Malta currently most likely to open first. Those returning to the UK from ‘green light’ destinations won't have to undergo the compulsory quarantine that is currently required. The latest data from April 19 shows that the British variant
is responsible for an average of 86% of cases across Spain while just three cases of the South African variant, and 32 cases of the Brazilian have been detected. Asturias has the highest prevalence of the British variant with 98.8% of cases detected, while Aragon has the lowest with 74%.
Good news
Meanwhile Andalucia records 96% of cases as British strain, the Valencia region counts 89%, Madrid 80%, Catalunya 79% and the Balearic Islands 78%. Further good news arrived this week showing that current vaccines in use in Spain are effective in preventing the British variant, something that may not be the case with the Brazilian and South African strains. Opinion Page 6
Bison are back
IT would have been a dream for cavemen holed up around prehistoric Spain. To have a farm specially breeding their favourite evening dish: that of grilled bison. Now a special conservation project is set to reintroduce the European bison back into Andalucia after an absence of thousands of years. The farmstead in Encinarejo, in the Sierra de Andujar natural park, a stunning area in inland Cordoba is already home to successful wolf and lynx colonies.
BRITISH expats previously living ‘under the radar’ in Spain have helped the country to reach a record number of foreign residents. A huge 6% rise in UK nationals getting registered last year led to a record 5.8 million foreigners being registered in Spain by December 31. The big rise of 137,000 foreigners, compared to 2019, was largely put down to these Brits getting residency ahead of the final Brexit deadline. The number of British nationals registered by the end of 2020 was 381,448. There are now 17,852 British residents registered in the Balearics, an increase of 1,800 people. Nationally, over 20,000 Brits had applied for resident status or for TIE cards ahead of the December 31 deadline. Spain's overall foreign population growth would have been higher had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant it was the smallest overall rise since 2016. Nevertheless, the country's foreign residents figure has gone up by 19% over the last decade.
Billionaires’ move BRITISH billionaires David and Simon Reuben have bought two coastal plots in Mallorca. The first is in Pollenca and boasts 165 hectares of land with 3.5km of unspoilt coastline. The second lies in the upscale village of Andratx and has 270 hectares with a coastline also stretching to 3.5km. The purchases bring the brothers’ property portfolio in Mallorca to an impressive 1,335 hectares and includes the 2019 purchase of 450 hectares of land in Manacor with 1.5 kilometers of beach, a natural lake and several caves including the Pirate Cave and the Pont Cave. Ibiza has also been on the brothers’ radar in recent years, where in 2015, the duo bought 6.3 kilometres of beachfront property. Costing a ‘bargain’ €3.5 million, the properties were acquired in Cala Conta, Cala Bassa and Port des Torrent.
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Not Scot free
A SCOT accused of raping a British holidaymaker in Ibiza had his trial temporarily scrapped just 30 minutes after landing in the dock due to ‘translation problems'. Alasdair Euan Randalls, 26, from Aberdeen, now faces a 10-day quarantine and costly COVID tests as he returns to Scotland after just one day on trial in Mallorca.
Postponed
Officials confirmed that the rape case had been postponed until summer after the unnamed court translator wrongly translated the English word for flirting into fighting. Randalls has been told to return to Mallorca in July to defend himself against the charges. The 26-year-old, who deejayed at party hotel Ibiza Rocks be-
Scots DJ charged with allegedly raping holidaymaker in Ibiza has trial postponed due to ‘translation problems’
fore being arrested and held on remand in Spanish prison for more than two months, denies his part in the alleged sex attack at the resort. Randalls’ defence lawyer Cristina Saaman, said her client is fighting to prove his innocence and insisted sex with his alleged victim was consensual. She said: “It quickly became apparent that the translator had omitted to mention two or three things that were important for the defence in the evidence my client was giving. The state prosecutor also had to pick her up on a couple of things. “One of the things that caught my attention was that my client used the word flirting and
IBIZA ROCKS: Where the alledged rape took place it was translated to the court state prosecutor speak English with the Spanish word for because if it had been any other fighting. language I probably wouldn’t “Fortunately both I and the have picked up on it and my client’s future could have been seriously compromised.” She added: “He’s spent a fortune in flights and Covid tests and has to quarantine when he gets back home. The president explained that she didn’t just want to ‘avoid coronavirus infections and Sentencing deaths’ by using this, but to also ‘guarantee the summer tourist season’. “His hope had been to try to Spain’s second state of alarm was introduced start putting this behind him on October 29 and allowed for a series of meaas he fully intended to desures to be introduced as COVID-19 cases fend himself against the rape spiked upwards. charge.” This meant that the 17 autonomous commuRandalls is facing a long prisnities held extra powers to impose restrictions on sentence if convicted, with such as the night-time curfew, limitations on state prosecutors demanding a commercial premises and perimeter closures. six-year sentence if he is found guilty of rape.
Curfew ‘to remain’ THE Balearic government wants to keep the 10pm curfew in place after the nationwide state of alarm ends on May 9. President Francina Armengol said she needed answers from the central government to ensure that she could enforce the curfew across the Balearics legally. “The curfew is one of the most important tools we have to control the pandemic and for this reason, I demand that the autonomous communities are able to enforce it,” said Armengol.
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www.theolivepress.es Voted top expat paper in Spain
A campaigning, community newspaper, the Olive Press represents the huge expatriate community in Spain with an estimated readership, including the websites, of more than two million people a month.
OPINION THE big question on all our minds, from hotel and restaurant staff who fear the tourist industry can’t survive another COVID summer, to those desperate to see and hug relatives that they have been separated from since the pandemic struck, to holiday home owners keen to revisit their property in the Spanish sun, is when will we be able to travel freely to and from Spain? News that Spain is now in the grip of a dreaded fourth wave may have put a dampener on hopes that the country could open again in time for the summer season, but there is still reason to be optimistic. For Spain is coping rather better than it has when other waves hit thanks, in part, to the fact that the strain of the coronavirus that was first detected in the UK and is therefore known as the British variant is to blame for more than 80% of recent infections. Although that strain has lived up to its reputation and proved to be far more contagious than the original, it hasn’t proved more lethal and Spain’s hospital beds aren’t filling up to crisis occupancy with new cases. In fact, its prevalence is thought to be keeping out other potentially more dangerous strains. One of the criteria that could see destinations put on the ‘red’ list of a new traffic light scheme proposed by the British government that will determine whether travellers have to quarantine or not is likely to be based on the strains prevalent in that country. So countries with high incidence rates of dangerous new strains such as Brazil and South Africa are likely to automatically require enforced quarantine, most probably in designated hotels at huge cost to the traveller, those where the British variant is dominant may yet escape such a measure. So if the British strain is already rampant in Spain and with half of Britons already vaccinated with their first dose, it makes no sense to stop tourists from the UK from enjoying a trip to Spain this summer. Come on Spain ... do the right thing! Let them in ! Publisher / Editor
Jon Clarke, jon@theolivepress.es Dilip Kuner dilip@theolivepress.es
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The British Harrowing sexual abuse, addiction and self harm were all flagged up due to his campaigning for a new child protection bill, but British expat James Rhodes says the experience has only ‘deepened’ his love for Spain, writes Heather Golloway
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NEWS FEATURE
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ONCERT pianist, writer and sex abuse victim, James Rhodes is feeling both relieved and disconcerted: relieved that Spain’s new ground-breaking child protection law has finally been passed at last... and disconcerted that it has been labelled ‘the Rhodes Law’ – the first Spanish law to be
PUSH: Pablo Iglesias
named after a Brit. the bill agreed upon by the warring polit“I got such a shock when I heard,” he ical factions. tells the Olive Press. “I was like, ‘You “It should never have been a struggle,” should have told me first, Pablo!’”. he says. “This law started with the PP He’s referring to Spain’s deputy prime (conservative Popular Party). It’s the only minister, Unidos Podemos leader Pablo thing all the parties agree on.” Iglesias, who helped push through the But what is basically a humanitarian agenda. issue got turned into a A kindred spirit, who he met political football with the through his connections in right-wing press weighing Moved to act Madrid, where he has lived in and attacking Rhodes, for four years, he is decid- after becoming mercilessly picking over his edly modest about his role past and even ridiculing his aware of the in the law’s passing. Spanish. “It’s not about me. It’s a scale of sexual “I don’t hate journalists,” misconception that I got he laughs. “What I objectabuse in Spain ed to were the absolute the law done,” he continues before a busy book signing lies I had to read about session at a well known Mamyself, particularly when I drid bookshop. was sitting in the hospital with my dying “The NGOs have been working on it for mother.” years. But what the law is called is irrel- Now a household name in Spain, Rhodes evant anyway. The main thing is that we - already a celebrated pianist and TV prehave come out of it.” senter in the UK - was moved to act after After signing up to the child protection becoming aware of the scale of sexual crusade, Rhodes, 46, from London, abuse after moving to the country in spent three fraught years helping to get 2017.
You’ve been Jamie-d! Barnaby Bouchard serves up some food for thought: Chorizo in Paella?
T
HE other day, while treating dren playing with a paint box, mixing myself to a paella in Valencia’s and matching, creating and discovePlaça del Mercat, I asked a pas- ring. Food is not an object of pride for sing waiter for alioli. us, although never let it be said that it The horror on the faces of my fellow is not an object of love. diners was only comparable to that This could explain the British perception that the continenjaw-dropping scene in tal approach to food is Back to the Future after picky, if not pretentious. Marty unwittingly insults They are not And why none of us un‘Mad Dog’ Tannen. derstood the fuss that “You can’t do that!”, a boy saying you had all Spain baying of about eight said to me, can’t add for Jamie Oliver’s blood laughing incredulously. when he dared to add “Why not?” I smiled, chorizo to chorizo to his paella. If it “does it taste yucky?” paella tastes good, what’s the “Oh no”, the boy replied, looking left and problem? right before telling me But I think that I’ve finaconspiratorially, “It tastes amazing. lly got to the bottom of the Spanish attitude to food. And it’s not unreasoBut you can’t do it. It’s a crime!”. This experience stayed with me be- nable at all. cause I had never felt more distanced They're not saying you can’t add chorifrom my adopted countrymen. At the zo to paella, any more than the French age of eight I’d quite happily have are saying you can’t make a croissant poured ketchup on paella, given half that isn’t curved, or the Italians are saying you can’t add pepperoni to pizza. the chance. In northern Europe, food is essentia- Just don’t call it paella, or a croissant, lly something we enjoy putting in our or a pizza, bemouths. We like it but we don’t identify cause it isn’t; with it. Of course we have traditional it’s something dishes, like Yorkshire pudding and else. Here in adVictoria sponge (emotional repression Spain, alioli with a side of empire guilt). But it’s ding not like anyone kicks up a fuss if you to paella is choose to diverge from the accepted rather like adding a recipe. We add fruit to traditional meat pies, sax solo make fish and chips from whatever to Elgar’s could be trawled up that morning and N i m r o d ; slather roast potatoes in ever-crazier no one’s concoctions of herbs and goose grea- saying you se, all in the very reasonable pursuit of can’t do it, just new things that taste nice. don’t dare call it Our lack of cultural identification with Elgar anymore. what we eat allows us to be like chil- The pillars of any natio-
nal culture - music, literature, art and so on - are considered such because they reflect the essence of its people and their lives, and evoke feelings; specifically, the feeling of being Spanish, French, Italian, British or whatever. Few could deny that, just as music or poetry can move us, so can flavour and smell. Here, then, food is the same as any other expression of group identity. This is the real reason Valencians defend paella with the same watchful diligence as the British defend Shakespeare, the Russians Tchaikovsky or the Colombians Garcia Marquez. What they’re saying is, 'Here is a window into who we are. If you fog up this window, even a little bit, you won’t see us anymore'. Britain’s relaxed approach to food is, in its own way, admirable. But the next time you’re dining in Valencia, I invite you to forego the sax solo and enjoy your paella the way it was intended: as a beloved and proudly guarded expression of regional culture.
www.theolivepress.es
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
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law-maker
Olive Press online ‘Spain’s best English news website’
Sign of The TIMES THE Olive Press is dedicated to providing quality journalism and providing a news source that readers can rely on to tell them what is going on in their local communities and what they need to know about the goings on in the country that they have adopted as or love to visit home. So we are delighted to announce a new addition to our growing team of journalists across Spain with the arrival of Graham Keeley, a seasoned reporter from London who has been covering the Iberian Peninsula for more than 15 years.
Correspondent
ABUSE: Child sex victim Rhodes (with close pal actor Benedict Cumberbatch) has helped change Spanish law
He should know. He himself suffered sex abuse between the ages of six and 10 at the hands of his PE teacher at his expensive prep school Arnold House, in St John’s Wood, insisting the only way of describing it is as ‘rape’. It is a subject that has consumed him for most of his life and the workings of the Spanish justice system angered him to such a degree that he told the media in 2018: “It makes me sick.” And he certainly had a point: Prior to Rhodes law, victims in Spain who felt unable to speak out within the specified time frame of between five and 15 years beyond the age of 18, would miss their window and the aggressor could not be prosecuted. Given that only a fraction of child abuse victims even tell anyone at the time, it meant that the vast majority of child abusers were getting away with their crimes scot free. In addition, the Spanish courts made it far from easy for a former victim to see his abuser prosecuted. Head of Child Policy and Sensibilisation at charity, Save the Children, Catalina Perazzo explains: “The justice system has not been child-friendly because it made children relive the whole thing, sometimes up to six times.” So bad was the system, she believes that victims who went to the police would often end up with considerably worse mental health problems than the child who didn’t. Rhodes himself can identify entirely with the silence to which many Spanish victims of sexual abuse have been condemned until now. “If you spend long enough thinking you
ANGRY: Catalina Perazzo says system is ‘not child friendly’
will die if you tell your secrets, then you end up believing it,” he wrote in Instrumental, a blisteringly raw book published in 2015 which flew off the shelves in Spain. “If a rapist tells a five-year-old child again and again what monstrous things will happen to him if he ever tells anyone, it is assimilated, unquestioned and accepted as absolute truth.” Once finalised, the Rhodes Law will revolutionise the way child abuse is dealt with in Spain while affording the pianist a modicum As Rhodes writes about the need to ‘proof peace, along with Bach, his son, as well as his fiancee, Ar- tect’ his new home, clearly this need has been fulfilled. gentinian actress, Micaela Breque. “To get the law passed was my way of rec- Due to the abuse he suffered as a child onciling with myself, forgiving myself and and its corrosive impact on his mental of having the fucking certainty that less health, Rhodes felt like an outsider in children would have to live through what London, taking refuge in composers I lived through,” he writes in his new book Bach and Beethoven and resorting to self-harm and addiction problems to bury Made in Spain, published this month. A love letter to his adopted land, the book his demons. is peppered with expletives and strong While Britain became synonymous with opinions, yet, in the flesh, Rhodes comes hell; Spain offered him the chance of renaissance. across as a gentle, almost It is the Spanish and their fragile soul with a disarming way of life that has made smile. ‘When I get him feel he belongs at “I chose the words I use in the last. book carefully,” he explains close to the Referring to the response at the book signing at Tipos city, I notice to Covid-19 last year, Infames this month; words Rhodes tweeted; “Britain that, impressively, were a wave of is united in its arrogance, mostly written in Spanish – “I emotion’ while Spain is united by think it’s so disrespectful not compassion. There’s a to learn the language,” he reason for the different insists. They are also words that express nothing uses of our balconies.” short of passion for everything from the Now, it’s back to his piano and fiancee public transport system to the arts in a Mica, an Eminem fan who sent him a country that honoured him with express message from Buenos Aires on Instagram in 2016 and who now shares his citizenship at the end of last year. At least, that’s how it begins. The second apartment in the upmarket district of half, which gives a blow-by-blow account Salamanca. of his participation in getting the Rhodes Back too to immersing himself in his muLaw to Congress and the abuse he suf- sic and in Madrid, a city he describes as fered at the hands of the press, reads ‘something else,’ in his book. like an ‘aha’ moment, as if he’s finally “When I get close to the city, I notice a morphed from being a tourist to being a wave of emotion that’s so intense, I feel like crying,” he writes. fully-fledged Spanish national. Author of two books, the second is out in “A soft voice inside of me tells me that, after everything, after running for so Spain this week. Asked by the Olive Press if the struggle to long, trying to escape, of feeling an unpass the Rhodes law detracted from his imaginable weariness, I’m home. I feel love of Spain, he says, “No, it only deep- as though I form part of a huge united family.” ened it.”
Based in Barcelona, Keeley served as correspondent for The Times between 2008 and 2019 during which time he covered the financial crash and deep recession that hit Spain. He has reported on the rise of Podemos and Ciudadanos which revolutionised Spanish politics and was on the ground for the Catalan independence drive of 2017 which sparked the worst political crisis Spain had experienced in decades. Since leaving the Times to freelance, he has been a regular contributor for The Independent, The Sunday Times, Reuters and Al Jazeera and will now be writing regularly for the Olive Press, keeping readers abreast of developments in northeastern Spain as well as providing news and analysis on national issues and dispatches with interesting tales from his corner of Spain.
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GREEN
www.theolivepress.es
Plants will improve air quality and save energy A SPANISH airport is using 10,000 live plants to build living walls. In sharp contrast to the low air quality onboard planes, disembarking at Malaga airport will offer a breath of fresh air. Airport operator AENA has put in motion the installation of four automated vertical gardens at various points inside the airport to improve acoustics and clean up the air. The green façades, currently being finalised, will also help reduce sound reflection and filter harmful
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
VERTICAL GARDEN By Cristina Hodgson
airborne pollutants like carbon dioxide from the air. The living wall arrangement works with a ventilation system that helps to reduce energy consumption by lowering temperatures in the summer. These plants will also generate tons of oxygen that will circulate in the airport each year. Malaga airport isn’t the only space in the Andalucian city to boast a strik-
SPAIN is one of the most expensive countries in Europe to charge and run an electric car. Using data from Eurostat, Switcher.ie has published results that could be cause-forconcern among the environmentally-conscious in the country. Electric vehicles (EVs) have been growing in popularity and now make up over 10% of new car sales across the continent. Spain is the fifth most expensive place to charge an EV in Europe, with only Germany, Den-
Electric shock
mark, Belgium and Ireland more costly. The UK is only slightly cheaper, being seventh most expensive. It costs on average €13.99 to fully charge an EV in Spain, while in the priciest country - Germany - the cost is €19.02 with an average of €10.13 . For the cheapest charge head to Ukraine, where a full charge will set you back a mere €2.91 on average.
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COMPOST KING: Gardener Paco
ing vertical garden. Restaurant Jose Carlos Garcia, one of the Miche-
lin star restaurants on the Costa del Sol, isn’t just famed for its outstanding gastronomy, but also for its vertical garden made up of native plants from the Montes de Malaga— thyme, lavender and rosemary. These are herbs which are used in the restaurant’s kitchen. As they grow without any type of pesticides and inside the restaurant, the ferns and other species aim to recreate the Mediterranean Sea.
SPAIN has approved a bill to combat climate change and its effects, although the document still needs to be ratified by the Senate. Parliament approved the first Climate Change Law in Spain, which aims to bring the country into line with the Paris Climate Change Agreement, five years after it was signed. It establishes measures for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The law sets a target by 2030 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions a minimum of 23% compared to 1990 emissions.
Time for change By 2050 the country should be ‘carbon neutral’. The aim is also that renewable energy should make up a 42% share of final energy consumption compared to around 20% at present. All cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants will have to adopt sustainable mobility plans that include low-emission zones similar to those in Madrid and Barcelona.
Silver lining SPAIN plans to use €13.2 billion of EU pandemic recovery funds to boost electric vehicle use. It is one of 20 ‘flagship’ measures being taken to modernise the Spanish economy over the next three years, according to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Other initiatives include spending €6.8 billion on improving the energy efficiency of buildings and €4.3 billion to updating the public administration, he said. He added that the investments will boost economic growth by around 2% annually, starting in 2022 and create more than 800,000 jobs. Spain and Italy are set to receive the greatest portions of the EU fund because their economies faced the deepest contractions last year. Spain will be handed a total of €140 billion.
One reason why a third of Spain’s population is breathing in polluted air
o smoke without fire - this is a well known idiom that is true. But replace the ‘m’ in idiom with a ‘t’ and you now have IDIOT. Idiot and Bad Company (who had a song with the same name above) bring me to the theme of burning cuttings in the campo. I receive many emails from readers of this column (please keep them coming), but one really sparked my interest (if you’ll excuse the pun). It came from Clive, who lives in a lovely rural area near Polop in a house with fabulous views to Altea, on the Costa Blanca. He wrote to tell me that his views are consistently blighted by locals burning garden waste, rather than simply composting, which is so easy to do. And it’s almost a daily basis, he added. So, I return to a previous theme - air pollution. While the UN passed a groundbreaking resolution recognising that access to clean water is a basic human right in 2010, no similar resolution exists on the right to breathe clean air.
Green Matters
By Martin Tye
NO SMOKE WITHOUT FIRE
Incredibly, 17.5 million Spaniards (over a third) are breathing air that the European Union considers polluted. This is air that contains excessive levels of three main pollutants: ●● Nitrogen Dioxide - caused by traffic and predominantly a problem in the cities (Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia mainly) ●● PM10 particulate matter, consisting of dust, ash, soot and similar substances produced by traffic as well as central heating systems, industry and construction. ●● And finally ozone, a pollutant linked to the others, which is prevalent during hot weather and can spread long distances. I have discovered that 36 out of 126 regions of Spain have illegal levels of ozone gas. Furthermore ‘OVER HALF OF SPAIN DOES NOT MEET EU AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS AND
GUIDELINES’ according to green group Ecologists in Action. I find this quite staggering. More people die from pollution than road accidents. And Government action is predictably far too lethargic. I believe air pollution is also a human rights issue. Pollution on today’s scale clearly violates the rights to life, and the right to live in a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We tend to be more aware nowadays of the vulnerability of future generations to the perils resulting from current environmental decision making. A very correct standpoint, BUT, more needs to be done. Not just on a global scale, but on a local level to help protect the Clive’s of this world who deserve a life not contaminated by idiots in the campo.
Martin Tye is the owner of energy switch company Mariposa Energy. Email him at martin@mariposaenergia.es
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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
Different Strokes
TUI and WizzAir have offered different takes on summer prospects for UK holiday-makers seeking a Spanish or European sunshine break. Budget airline WizzAir says its plans to increase services over the next few months to pre-pandemic levels ‘cannot be guaranteed’ due to fears of governments continuing to impose travel restrictions. On the other hand, travel operator TUI says it ‘feels optimistic’ about the summer because of the vaccination programme.
Shuttered
Restaurants up to 100 years old forced to close due to travel restrictions SOME of Barcelona’s most famous and longest established restaurants have been forced to shut for good. They may have survived - in some cases - a Civil War and
Routes
WizzAir has been increasing its portfolio of routes with the airline planning a 10% hike on its services prior to March 2020 numbers. It’s chief executive officer, Jozsef Varadi, said: “We need to reconcile these increased numbers with reality. We cannot guarantee an increase in services due to uncertainty over governments imposing restrictions.” His caution contrasted with that of TUI boss, Friedrich Joussen, who said: “Bookings in March alone hit 2.8 million and we expect to run up to 75% of our normal schedule over the summer season. “We are confident that we will have a decent summer thanks to COVID vaccinations.”
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
By Glenn Wickman
decades of fascist dictatorship, and financial crisis galore but they have finally been done in by COVID. They include Cal Pinxo was a hugely popular seafood eatery in the Barceloneta beach area that had been serving customers for over 60 years, while Senyor Parellada had been open in the Born neighbourhood of the capital city for 38 years.
EASYJET has unviled three new routes between Spain and the UK this summer. Mallorca, Malaga and Alicante will be served by the budget carrier from Birmingham during the summer season. The route between Malaga and Birmingham will be operational from June 29 to October 30, with two weekly flights on Tuesdays and Saturdays. This new route reinforces the airline’s commitment to Malaga, a city in which it will inaugurate its new seasonal base in June with three aircraft. The Alicante flights will operate
Other historic names to go under include Agut in the famous Gothic quarter, shut after 97 years, and Diaganol Can Soteras in the Eixample,
Flight-tastic from June 30, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with one-way fares from £23.99 and the Mallorca services will begin on July 3, departing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with one-way fares from £22.99. The three new routes are already available on the airline’s website with sister brand easyJet holidays offering packages to all Spanish destinations.
which has pulled down the blinds for the last time after a whopping 105 years of business. All hopes were on Easter, after a disastrous year with practically zero international tourism and no visitors from outside Catalunya since last summer. However, the holidays did not pan out as expected, and ongoing restrictions – including the perimeter closure around the region and the reinstatement of the district closures this week – have sealed the fate of these legendary establishments. But they are far from the only ones. The local hospitality union estimates that around 30% of bars and restaurants in Barcelona city centre have been forced to close down.
Last orders
RESTAURANTS in Mallorca are reportedly in crisis due to the current coronavirus restrictions, sparking calls for a mass protest. According to the Association for Small and Medium Sized Businesses (PINEM), the restaurant sector has been ‘discriminated against’ and ‘destroyed’ as a result of the COVID-19 measures laid down by the Balearic government. This includes having to close at 5pm and prohibiting the use of their indoor areas, leaving a huge proportion of businesses unable to open since they do not have a terrace.
Reset.
Music.
Horizon.
Sunset.
Pandemic
PINEM say that since the start of the pandemic, restaurants have lost an average of 80% of their turnover, 30% of the workforce have lost their job and 40% of businesses have permanently closed. “We are being demonised by the government and we ask for fairer restrictions so that at the minimum, that restaurants can cover their expenses,” said PINEM president Eugenia Cusi. Cusi also pointed out that the restrictions enforced in hotels are that of level 2 of the COVID-19 tier system, allowing for them to open the interior areas of their onsite restaurants and bars under a limited capacity.
Friends.
At OD Port Portals we have our own star rating. In fact, we have all the stars of the Mallorca sky and we will enjoy them all together every summer night at OD Sky Bar, on our spacious terrace and at our restaurant On Top. A hotel full of local experiences, music, art, gastronomy, yoga, pre-parties, flea markets, brunches, concerts, Pilates, tardeo, sea, sun and all the stars. A hotel full of life.
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Memories.
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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
There has never been a better time to visit the normally packed island of Ibiza, writes Jon Clarke
I
T’S approaching high Spring and the beaches of Ibiza would normally be filling up and the hip boutiques of Ibiza town inundated with English, American and German accents. Instead there is merely a gentle trickle of European tourists circling the White Isle and you’re more likely to hear the cries of a curlew or the flapping wings of a flamingo, than a persistent house beat. Best of all, you hardly need a reservation for a single restaurant, and you’ll be surprised to find more than a dozen people on any of its wonderfully varied beaches and coves. The island has never looked more beautiful and the interior is awash with wild flowers and blossom, and the comprehensive series of countryside walks and bike trails are better marked than ever before. This is the Ibiza that often gets forgotten, with so many associating the island with pumping house music and partying to excess. Forget the beach parties and concrete blocks of San Antonio, head inland, or to its lesser known corners, to find its best green spaces, many designated as Natural Parks.
d an l Is e p esca
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
BACK TO BASICS Liberal Ibiza is laid back in vibe and historic in heart Visiting Ibiza this Spring, is like returning to the Ibiza of the Sixties, when a handful
of bespoke travellers upped sticks from northern Europe to set up homes on the island.
Ibiza Three great places to stay in m) Finca Legado (www.legado-ibiza.co tes minu 10 just y valle et is set in a secr of outside Ibiza Town. Set up by a pair laidvery a has it ria Aust from tives crea of back feel and counts on 3.5 hectares i, extremely verdent grounds full of cact palms, fruit trees, wild asparagus and an flowers. The rooms are ‘eclectic, artis vintage’ and all extremely comfortable, focusing on top quality sheets and mattresses and the vibe is very hip. The saltwater pool is awesome.
Hotel Mikasa (www.mikasabiza. com) is a stone’s throw from Ibiza Town overlooking the main Botofoc Marina. The views of the Dalt Vila old town are wonderful and you could spend all day watching the ferries coming in and out, plus graze on the excellent food in its terrace restaurant Kasamore. There are only 16 rooms of varied sizes and s, onie standards and some don’t have balc . king boo re befo ask do so ry Cas Gasi (www.casgasi.com) is a luxua d, islan the of t hear the in mo agrituris the genuine address book secret, that is escape for dozens of famous models and actors. It’s not cheap, but the h of organically-certified farm grows muc and its vegetables, produces all its olive oil ilyhas a superb restaurant on hand. Fam run, its staff are charming and friendly. See review over the page.
urants open Three great beach resta all year in Ibiza Restaurant La Escollera (www.laescolleraibiza.com) sits in a privileged location at the end of Es Cavallet beach. Focusing heavily on back seafood, this is the place to really kick ing and plan a day of sunbathing, read ing. and chill Hip and near the action, Nassau Beach Club Playa (www.nassaubeachclub.com) sits on d’en Bossa, close to Ushuaia nightclub cool and the Hard Rock hotel. It’s a very the vibe with loads of day beds right on i. sush t grea e som e’s Ther h. beac Es Boldado is (www.restauranteesboldadoibiza.com) d coul you that s spot et one of those secr
etres not find by accident. Some two kilom one ly easi is prize the , track dirt a n dow es of the most breathtaking, romantic plac s to eat in Spain. Simple food, giant view towards the amazing Es Vedra islands.
The roads are nearly empnobody, yet many of the galty and you can sightsee at leries and museums will still forts or beauty spots without be open and restaurants are a crowd of tourists with selfsoon set to stay open until ie sticks driving 10.30pm (earyou up the wall. ly by Spanish Take advantage standards, but With nobody of a once-in-apositively late lifetime chance for the Brits and about, it feels to clamber up certainly Scaninto Dalt Vila, eerie, actually dinavians). the ancient citA fortress within edgy, strolling a fortress, this adel above Ibiza Town, with is a solid stone about nobody in front redoubt that of you. was once the This Unesco centre of Iboprotected World Heritage sim, one of the key MediterSite is a true gem, which will ranean ports, first built by the take at least an hour to wanPhoenicians. der about, its warren of narMeaning ‘Upper Town’ Dalt row cobbled streets and tunVila is certainly not for the nels (yes, tunnels!) amazing faint hearted and it is decidin the extreme. edly hilly, so swap your heels Chances are, towards sunfor trainers. set, you will almost see With nobody about, it feels
somewhat eerie, actually edgy, strolling around. At least one part of it, just outside the main wall at the extreme east, is almost a slum, with squatters and drug dealers around, so be careful. But once inside the walls proper, you will be amazed at how well it has been maintained and how much there is to see. Head in via the Portal de Ses Taules, an impressive ramp and drawbridge, that you can imagine would have been anything but easy to scale during a time of battle. Once inside, make sure to walk right to the top to see the Cathedral de Nuestra Senora
FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
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PINK SURPRISE: The salt pans are home to hundreds of flamingoes (right) When you get back down you will be in the ritzy part of town with all the hip boutiques, including the likes of Paul Smith, Tous and Mayurka (www.mayurkaibiza.com), de las Nieves and some in- which has been around for 30 credible views, before taking years and stocks the likes of a look around the Archaeolog- Balenciaga, Kenzo and Marc ical Museum (www.maef.eu), Jacobs. with its impresFor a totally difsive collection ferent experiof Phoenician ence, head up You can eat relics, said to be the coast a little among the best at tables to the salt pans, in the world. where you can overlooking Look out for the find not just an tunnels that the beach or on impressive area take you up and of natural beaudown into the round day beds ty, but some inheart of the alcredible wildlife cazar and idealand a splendid ly try and end up walk with lunch bundled in. heading out of the back and This is part of the Ses Salines then down the ring road back Natural park and where the to the centre. famous Sal de Ibiza comes from. Salt has been continually exploited here since 600 BC by HISTORIC: Dalt Vila (here and the Phoenicians - the comtop) is protected as a World modity has brought great Heritage Site by UNESCO wealth to the island over the centuries - and there is some historical evidence today including an old milling wheel. What is also very much in evidence is the impressive range of birds including sandpipers, curlews and stalks, that share the wetlands.The most exciting by far though are the flamingoes, when in season, that can be watched from a number of hides alongside the colourful pans. There is even a special visitor centre dedicated to them. The place to start your saline adventure is near Restaurante La Escollera, where you will eventually have your lunch or supper. From here you walk down the stunning Platja des Cavallet beach to the ancient Torre de ses Portes watchtower, from where you can clearly see the island of Formentera. Be warned, the beach was the first in Ibiza to be declared a nudist beach so you may have
to avert your eyes. It is also a keen area for the gay scene and a bar called Chringay, that can only be accessed by foot has long catered to this market. From the 16th century tower you head south about two kilometres through a fascinating stretch of coastline full of hidden coves and inlets and fronded by a pine forest. Ibiza at its very best with no construction, just nature, with Cala Pluma cove the real
standout. When you finally hit the El900 road, head east, until you reach the salt pans that can be partly walked through, past two huge piles of salt, en route to being commercialised. Eventually you will reach the interpretation centre at the Church of Sant Francesc, worth stopping for a drink at and to take in the flamingoes. Your final stretch is along the
sometimes busy Cami des Cavallet, but it is not far so bear with it, as you are nearly at one of the island’s coolest restaurants. Restaurant La Escollera (www.laescolleraibiza.com) really is something special, a true locals’ favourite and I heard that time after time. It sits in an incredible position at one end of Cavellet beach, with amazing views towards
Formentera. Now two decades old you can eat at tables overlooking the beach or on round day beds in any way you so choose, with sea bass in a salt crust my top pick. The tradition is to drink a cold flute of Cava on arrival, although I was happy with a iced Mahou. It’s not cheap but the people-watching is free and there is plenty of that to enjoy.
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FOOD,DRINK & TRAVEL Rock ‘n’ Roses
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
Could a tiny organic hotel hidden in the White Isle’s rural heartland really be Ibiza’s hippest place to stay? Jon Clarke finds out
T
HE first decision to make and leeks. as you stroll down the drive The grounds produce much of the from the car park at Agro- fruit and veg for the hotel menus turismo Cas Gasi is which and 450 carefully clipped trees path to take to reception: the first provide all the extra virgin olive follows a perfumed bank of roses, oil the hotel needs - sustainable planted four rows deep; the other agritourism at its best. meanders beneath a With a view of rollfloral arbour of wisteing green hills that ria and jasmine. stretches to the The grounds It’s springtime in the 475-metre tip of Sa rural heart of Ibiza, a produce much Talaia, Ibiza’s highpart of the island few est mountain, this of the fruit and pastoral vernacular tourists ever reach, and the air is heavy is as far removed all the virgin with the scent of orfrom the fleshpots olive oil ange blossom. of ‘San An’ as you There’s nothing but could possibly imagwild countryside for ine. miles around. Just an artfully-up- So when you hear that Pete dated 19th century farmhouse Doherty mixed the ‘perfect’ Sex set in its own little Garden of on the Beach cocktails in the bar, Eden, with orchards, grape vines while fellow rocker Bryan Adams and an organic kitchen garden was also in house, you’re not sure thriving with cabbages, lettuces if you heard right.
RURAL IDYLL: And even rockers Pete Docherty and Bryan Adams couldn’t ruin the peace at Cas Gasi
But just Google the place online and you’ll find a trawl of A-listers, who have allegedly stayed at the low key property, including Richard Gere and European royals, such as the King and Queen of Norway. The key to this is privacy, being off limits to external visitors without a reservation and, of course, the peace and quiet. The price at 425 euros a night for a Deluxe Queen room also helps. But what you get is a lot more than just amazing ambience. The suites are particularly opulent, while the Ibizan Palaces, a pair of 165m2 villas secluded from the main hotel, list luxuries like ‘XXL beds’ with feather mattress toppers and imported damask sheets. They were also very chic inside. My upgraded double room had similar bedding and was equal-
ly well-appointed with a giant bath, sitting area and stylish antique wooden furniture, as well as a superb balcony with views to relocate for. ret shrugs, contending that she There are four hectares of would be more than happy with grounds to wander around, with one of the new ‘Estrella Verdes’ floral walks start(Green Stars) for susing right from your tainable restaurants, door. There’s also a introduced for this The chatelaine fully-equipped gym year’s guide. and a yoga space. floats around (see https:// Oh, and a free Vinwww.theoliveglamorously yasa flow class every press.es/spainmorning at 8.30am, with Viz the dog news/2020/12/24/ Namasté … if you get new-stars-are-bornby her side up in time! and-only-one-lost-asBut the real mastert h e - c e l e b r a te d - m i stroke for me is the chelin-foody-bible-reimpressive open-plan industrial veals-its-pick-in-spain-for-2021/) kitchen, added last year with the Very much the life and soul of intention of converting one of the Cas Gasi, this inspirational chatMASTERSTROKE: New eaterie with chef Alberto suites into a fully-fledged restau- elaine floats glamorously around rant. the place with her water dog, Viz, Led by chef David padding faithfully by her side. She Reartes, it focuses on spends almost as much time nurhome grown produce turing the staff and gardeners as with some classy cu- she does helping the guests. linary twists, such Coming from noble European linas the farm chicken eage, her family earned the Fleurcannelloni, served in de-lys honour back in the 13th a rich truffle sauce, century for repelling the Moors in or the leek tatin, with the Pyrenees (and there is also almond praline, a vi- an intriguing connection to Marie OTORHOMES are currently the safest and sual masterpiece. Safety at the wheel Antoinette and a passport…) The ‘freest’ option to enjoy your free time and The timing for the heraldic emblem is the motif of feel at home while traveling. restaurant’s opening the hotel. Safety at the wheel is fundamental to any trip, but even During the COVID-19 pandemic, travelling by mois impeccable. Ibiza But Margaret is anything but snobmore so when travelling in this type of transport. torhome is one of the best alternatives, being the is finally seeing a real bish and her family are equally It is essential to choose a vehicle that meets a series perfect choice to move around safely and with total resurgence in the cu- down to earth, with her husband of conditions, among which safety stands out. This is freedom, all while feeling at home. linary stakes, gaining lighting the fires and chauffeuring why it is so important to be advised by qualified proIt is the ideal option to travel comfortably at a leisuits first Michelin star guests to and from the airport. fessionals such as Caravanas Cruz, who offer the best rely pace, especially if you have children. this year. alternatives according to the needs of each person. Their children regularly return for It allows you to adapt the trip with total freedom as Mirroring the natural holidays to help out and enjoy Caravanas Cruz has been offering its services as a disyour mood suits and to forget about schedules. style of the hotel, ex- their former home. tributor of caravans and motorhomes for more than Being in total control, it permits people to visit both pect candles on every 40 years and is one of the leading companies in Spain the most popular destinations and the most hidden table, flowers and for services and facilities in the world of caravanning. Housewife secret corners. And it is a great way to get to know cool jazz – that’s if no As it has one of the largest accessory stores in the local customs and make new friends. pianist is on hand to “There is almost nowhere else country, an online sales service and a large specialised One of the main advantages of travelling by motortinkle the ivories on like this left on the island,” she workshop with the capacity to work on more than 10 home is comfort. You only have to choose a good the showbizzy white tells me. “We are a genuine lovehicles, caravanners are in safe hands. place to spend the night and enjoy all the built-in cal family business that started grand piano. Its sales department has professionals who guide the facilities that rival any hotel. I chatted to the Ibi- 30 years ago and we’ve just kept purchase process according to the needs and tastes of These include fully rotating driver and co-driver zencan sous chef, growing organically ever since. I each family. And if you want to try before you buy, the seats, 150-litre refrigerators, independent showers, who is very aware of don’t like crowds and don’t go out company offers a motorhome rental service so you can state-of-the-art toilet, washbasin, kitchen with oven, the island’s new food- much. This is my life until it’s no dip your toes into the water of caravanning. TV aerial - even satellite - drinking water and waste ie focus and believes fun anymore. Its facilities are expansive, with 14,000 sqm of exhiwater tanks, GPS, several beds -island, double or ‘up to three or four’ “I guess I am a housewife who bition space and more than 100 vehicles, both new bunk beds- heating, air conditioning and hot water, restaurants could be became a hotelier,” she adds jokand second-hand, from top brands such as Benimar, motorcycle racks vying for a star over ingly. Adria, Autostar, Hymer or Hobby, among others. and bicyJust as I am leaving (typically), the next year or two. Caravanas Cruz follows the anticovid protocol of the cle racks, “There is a real buzz Margaret tells me they are preSpanish Association of Industry and Commerce of Caa m o n g and with a cookery paring for the arrival of a group of ravaning. Among its measures, it has implemented a other deschool set to open models and photographers for a new appointment service, which can be reached by tails. over the next few shoot. “From all over Europe,” she calling 965 457 819. years the island could explains. “The first time they have finally start compet- left their countries for a year.” ing with Mallorca,” he They will be in for a rare treat. Cruz Caravans Address: Carretera de Dolores, It’s springtime in Ibiza, quite the insisted. km 1, 03290 Elche (Alicante) When I suggest Cas best time to visit the island, and Gasi could be one of Cas Gasi really rocks it with those Telephone: 965 457 819 them, owner Marga- roses.
Traveling by motorhome in the COVID era: an opportunity to travel in safety and freedom
M
LA CULTURA Hot ticket
TEXAS, arguably Scotland’s biggest and most enduring rock band, has added an extra concert date in Spain for their rearranged 2021 tour. Albacete, in Castilla La Mancha, will have the band perform on Friday, March 25, 2022. Four other Spanish venues originally formed part of the 2021 tour, but growing popularity in light of their new album means demand for tickets is higher. The band spokesman said: “As many of you will have expected, we are having to move our remaining 2021 tour dates to early 2022. “We are as disappointed as anyone about this as we are desperate to get back playing live, especially as we now have some new songs to play!”
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
Out of the depths Droughts revealed the dolmen that had been completely submerged for over 50 years
AN ANCIENT structure known as ‘Spanish Stonehenge’ was recently revealed in its entirety for the first time since being ‘lost’ when a reservoir was created in 1963. But calls for it to be moved to higher ground to save it from water damage have been rejected on the basis that their ‘historical-archaeological context’ would be destroyed. Put simply, experts from the Ministry of Culture have decided that moving the ancient stones - thought to date back 5,000 years - will cause irreparable damage to the archaeology. It would also mean that they could not be viewed in POLICE have seized three forged Goya, El Greco and Modigliani paintings which were being sold for €12.5 million to unsuspecting collectors. The owner of the pieces was a builder who apparently accepted the pictures as payment for jobs done - despite him knowing nothing about art. He had amassed a collection of
Is it or isn’t it?
STONE CIRCLE: The Dolmen of Guadalperal will not be moved By Simon Wade
their original setting - despite the fact the blocks spend most of their time underwater. The Dolmen of Guadalperal is a stone circle consisting of 150 large granite slabs by the
Bricking it
1,000 pieces. He decided to cash in by putting the artworks up for sale, claiming they were authentic, with the help of a network of dodgy art dealers. They enticed international clients in exchange for 10% of the
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OP Sudoku
13
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All solutions are on page 15
edge of the water at Embalse de Valdecañas, in Extremadura. After more than 50 years, the stones became visible after successive droughts in the region. In 1963, Franco’s government flooded the area to create the profits. The sale of the fake Modigliani was reportedly backed up with several forged documents certifying the ‘authenticity’ of the painting, with the aim of selling it to buyers in Switzerland, Mexico or Germany at an asking price of €8.5 million.
Valdecañas Reservoir and hydro-electric dam to supply underdeveloped parts of western Spain. Some local residents and cultural groups had mooted relocating the stones and move the monument to safer territory. In turn, this would preserve the monument, promote tourism, and proudly display Spain’s prehistoric history, they said. But the Ministry of Culture has turned down the plan, saying in an official bulletin that while it was declaring it an Asset of Cultural Interest any scheme to move the dolmen would ‘risk a loss of authenticity if its relocation were to be considered’.
A PAINTING that could be worth up to €150 million if it turns out to be a long-lost masterpiece by Caravaggio was about to go under the hammer with a bargain reserve of €1,500. Spain’s Ministry of Culture imposed a last minute export ban on the oil painting while experts examine it to see if it is a work by a lesser artist or an original by the Italian master. Madrid auction house Ansorena said it had withdrawn the painting identified as The Crown of Thorns after being told that the work could not be exported until experts determined its provenance. It is currently attributed to an unnamed artist within the studio of 17th century Spanish painter Jose de Ribera. The sale was pulled after experts from the Prado lobbied the government to place an emergency export ban while they studied it.
14
COLUMNISTS
April 23rd - May 6th 2021
Will the real men please step up W ITH places opening up and social restrictions being lifted slowly, those people who haven’t been able to date during the pandemic will now be able to. But whilst we’re following the roadmap out of hell and hopefully have had plenty of time in our bedrooms to think about life and what we want from it, wouldn’t it be refreshing to press reset on the whole dating game?
T
Dating apps have taken all the fun and romance out of life Throughout the pandemic we’ve all spent so much time online just keeping in contact and everyone, apart from the covoids (those who appear to revel in the restrictions) are excited to be going back to the old normal. But what if people take this as an op-
O all fellow retired expats. Eat, drink and be merry. Enjoy life in this beautiful country we now call home, the last leg of many of our lifetime journeys. Your future is bright, your future is secure - that is as long as you have kept your head above the tidal wave of bureaucracy that has always engulfed life in Spain. I well remember the obstacle course of having to apply for NIE registration, and subsequently SIP health cards many years ago. Forms after forms after forms. My first encounter with officialdom was after travelling for about an hour to apply for an NIE card, I was turfed out of the office because I had not made a prior appointment by telephone. Although the office was empty, the official blankly refused to serve me. Then, in a light-bulb moment, I stepped just outside the entrance, phoned the given number, watched the same person answer and requested an immediate appointment, which I received. Although it wasn’t the most pleasant of cross-thedesk encounters, I won the day. Since then, the world has moved on from pure, unadulterated mountains of paperwork to online impersonal befuddlement, with not even an over-zealous official to glare at. Forget the, NIEs, NIFs, CIFs, and ‘Uncle Tom Cobleys and all,’ this is the biggie that evidently secures our place in the sun. Entitled, Permiso de Residencia you would presume it would be known as a PDR, not on your Nelly, just to confuse us, our new bureaucratic
portunity to go back even further, to the old-fashioned way of dating and appreciate the real life contact you can have instead of a virtual reality. Now, I get that meeting people on dating apps has been the norm for millennials and Gen Z, but I believe dating sites have
To TIE or not to TIE Maybe it’s time to simply relax and go Spanish
OLD HAC K IN THE SUN
Benny Davis
Ramblings of an 80-something expat
bigwigs scored a major victory over their venerable predecessors by naming it, NIE. Since this Brexit-orientated identity card was launched in July 2020, Social media sites have been inundated with questions from confused.com expats, inquiring whether their existing residencias are still valid, or change is necessary. This created a rapacious response from all ranks of the legal brigade offering friendly help in exchange for fees ranging from €50 to over €1000 a time. Some expats have taken free advice from CABS (Citizens Advice Bureau) and dealt directly with either the online services or applied in person. On the other hand, if you prefer to wait until the dust has settled before entering the fray - go Spanish. Pour yourself a glass of plonk, relax in your favourite lounger and slowly repeat after me, m-a-ñ-a-n-a. Cheers!
HEALTH Special REPORT
Terenia Taras Telling it like it is
ruined men and may well be a cause of relationships becoming increasingly difficult to establish, let alone maintain. Take Tinder, a simple swipe to the right or left is all that’s required to hook-up with someone. Dating sites are great for having your ego stroked by the steady stream of pokes or likes! Facebook is also a culprit because we all know that it’s a good front for meeting new people you simply like the look of, or re-establishing contact with ‘that old friend from school’. I am probably one of the few women I know who have never signed up to a dating site, or met someone off one. Yes, I’ve had a little nosy when friends have come around with their lap-top under one arm, a bottle of wine in the other and a heady whiff of optimism. After helping girlfriends scrutinise contenders over a bottle or two of Sancerre I’m well aware of what’s out there. It’s really not easy to try and separate the bull from the shit and don’t get me started on those pictures, you know the ones I’m referring to! Men, sending that private picture is not going to work! But back to my point as to why I think dating sites and apps have spoiled men. They just don’t have to try anymore like they once did. Why pull a chair out for you to sit on when they can just switch seats or move quickly on to the next. Why the need for romance when Tinder promises an endless stream of quick hook-ups? Why should a man try and get to know someone over dinner when they can sit at home pouring over Facebook
checking out their mate’s tidy friends online with a beer in one hand and their **** in the other? When it comes to relationships we have become a generation of ‘NEXT!’ And where has romance gone, or a man wanting to even woo a woman? Wooing is the benchmark of the amount of effort a man will go to, to get to know you in the first place. Old fashioned dating was nice and exciting, anticipating seeing someone you liked and creating those wonderful butterflies in your stomach. But those same flutter byes just don’t exist anymore because you’re judged by your profile picture and communication is via text, not talk. Meaning most men will feel bold enough to ask to see either you or them naked online and want to know your favourite sexual position before you can even say A La Carte menu!
YOU CAN FOLLOW ME @tereniataras
Jab confusion Worry and frustration for expats waiting for vaccination
F
OREIGNERS living in Spain have expressed worry and frustration at not knowing when and if they will be called up for a COVID-19 vaccination jab. The biggest concern is from those who are not registered in Spain’s public health system, either because they have private health insurance or because they are still going through the residency process. Some readers have described how they have been passed from one health authority to another, without getting any answers. “My husband and I are both retired expat residents who have lived in Sevilla since 2017 where we registered with the town hall (empadronado) and are paying our income taxes,” explained Cristina Covalschi who got in touch with the Olive Press. The couple said they have never used the public health system and therefore are not registered at their local Centro de Salud but they both have private health insurance. “We only want to learn how we can be included in the proper database so that we will be contacted when the vaccine becomes available for our age group,” she said. So far efforts to find out how to do that have proved fruitless.
by Fiona Govan “I have made appointments with various agencies during the last weeks and have been asking this question repeatedly,” she explained. “But instead of getting a clear answer, we have been sent from one to another without any result.” Andalucia’s Consejeria de Salud (regional health department) told her they had no knowledge of the situation and to contact their consulates in case there might be an agreement for vaccination in place. “We did that but our consulates said they have no knowledge of any agreement and advised us to contact our health insurance company.” Next stop Sanitas. “Our health insurance company Sanitas had no knowledge of the situation and told us to contact the local centro de salud in our neighborhood,” she said. “Then the centro de salud in our neighborhood had no knowledge and told us to contact our health insurance company (Sanitas).” The Olive Press put in a call to Spain’s Ministry of Health to ask for clarification and was assured that ‘everyone living in Spain will be offered the vac-
cine’. legally - were still entitled to the vac“The Spanish government has said cine. that everyone living in Spain will have “Yes, here it gets more complicated,” access to the vaccine, whether they she admitted. “But people will be are registered in the public health entitled to it as they are to emergensystem or have private health insur- cy health care, so when it becomes ance,” the spokeswomavailable for the group an said. they fall into based on But she admitted that age and vulnerability, Those without she could not give clear they should be able to proper guidelines on how that access it.” would happen. The British Embassy paperwork are “It is up to the indiin Madrid also offers vidual regional health still entitled to reassurance on the authorities to put a matter, if not a clear a vaccination system in place to noanswer. tify them. If in doubt “The Spanish Governpeople should contact ment’s Vaccination their local health authorities to ask Strategy is clear that, as a matter how this is being done.” of public health, all people living in She emphasized that even those who Spain are eligible for the vaccine, rewere in an “irregular” situation – that gardless of nationality or residency is those who did not have proper pa- status,” a spokesman from the Britperwork to prove they were in Spain ish Embassy told the Olive Press.
“At the current time, those in the priority groups are being vaccinated – irrespective of nationality or type of sickness insurance. The Vaccination Strategy is updated regularly to include new priority groups as the number of doses available gradually increases. “Those UK nationals who are already registered in the public health system should be contacted by their regional health service to arrange an appointment. “The Spanish authorities are asking insurance companies to coordinate with regional health services in order to provide vaccines to their customers. “We are in touch with the Spanish authorities regarding progress of the rollout and what that means for UK nationals. Meanwhile UK Nationals living in Spain can contact their local health centre or insurer for more information.”
HEALTH
April 23rd May 6th 2021
15
Loss of life
Nothing to sneeze at
Life expectancy drops most in Spain during pandemic
HAY FEVER sufferers are set to suffer an intense pollen season this year, experts say. Despite the use of masks, experts have warned that due to mild winter temperatures, heavy rain and elevated humidity, the pollen counts will be high this spring.
LIFE expectancy in Spain fell by a year and a half in the last 12 months, according to new data. EU statistical agency Eurostat found that the average lifespan across Europe has plummeted since the start of the pandemic. And Spain has seen the biggest drop in Europe, with a loss of 1.6 years compared to 2019. Bulgaria was next with a loss of 1.5 years, followed by Lithuania, Poland and Romania, which all saw a drop of 1.4 years.
Symptoms
Die
So with the weather warming and flowers blooming, bothersome nose and eye symptoms can set in as trees begin to pollinate coinciding with the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and additionally causing some confusion with overlapping symptoms. The main symptoms common to COVID-19 but not to allergies are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. According to data from the Spanish Society for Allergies and Clinical Immunology (SEAIC), one in six residents in Spain suffer from hay fever.
Death probe THE Toledo University Hospital has reported the death of a patient due to an alleged bad reaction to the AstraZeneca vaccine. The man, a 30-yearold teacher from Ciudad Real, was admitted to intensive care in Toledo suffering from a blood clot, suspected of being caused by the vaccine. He died four days later. An autopsy will be performed to determine the precise cause of death.
OLD AGE: The life expectancy in Spain has fallen By Kirsty McKenzie
In England, life expectancy dipped by 1.1 years compared to 2019. While the Netherlands, France, and Austria all saw a loss of 0.7 years. Denmark and Finland were the only nations to see a rise,
increasing by 0.1 years. According to Eurostat, life expectancy had been steadily increasing in the EU until the past few years. Official data reveals ‘that life expectancy has risen, on av-
Boy, it’s a girl WOMEN are twice as likely to give birth to a girl if they experienced more stress around the time of conception, a Spanish study has found. Researchers at the University of Granada analysed levels of stress in 108 women from the first weeks of pregnancy to delivery. Stress levels were recorded by analysing the levels of cortisol (a steroid hormone that is released in response to stress) in the hair of pregnant women in the period spanning from before conception to week nine of pregnancy, to determine whether there was any link with the sex of the baby. The findings confirm that foetuses are vulnerable to the effects of maternal stress and that strain can play a key role in their development.
KIM CLARK
Benefits Consultancy If you suffer from... • Mobility problems • Pain / Breathlessness • Falls / Stumbles
Or you need... • Help with washing /dressing • Supervision
You could be entitled to extra income by claiming UK sickness/disability benefits while living in Spain FOR ADVICE OR TO BOOK A CONSULTATION call 950 169 729 or 663 297 568 www.ukbenefitsinspain.com
OP Puzzle solutions Across: 7 Core, 8 Executes, 9 Card, 10 Prostate, 11 Civics, 13 Got off, 15 Others, 17 Relive, 18 Grafting, 20 Bert, 21 Stockton, 22 Lose. Down: 1 Loyalist, 2 Deed, 3 Tempos, 4 Mekong, 5 Sum total, 6 West, 12 In effect, 14 Feverish, 16 Saints, 17 Regent, 19 Ruts, 20 Bels.
SUDOKU
Quick Crossword
erage, by more than two years per decade since the 1960s’, the agency said. "However, the latest available data suggest that life expectancy stagnated or even declined in recent years in several EU member states." Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time a baby born today is expected to live. The data is calculated based on the number of deaths at a specific age and therefore at what age the person is most likely to die.
Live long
Lisa Burgess
A longer life and plenty of sunshine what more do you want!
Y
OUR life expectancy in Spain is approximately 83 years old, though these numbers are ever changing in these exceptional times. Japan usually ranks the highest at 84 years old. Since World War 2 most of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have experienced a decrease in life expectancy. US News recently asked respondents which countries had the most well developed health care systems. Interestingly neither Spain nor the USA featured in the top 10, even though the United States spends far more on healthcare than any other country in the world. Canada comes in at number one for the most developed public health care system followed by Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Spain’s universal healthcare system is largely free except for some small payments for certain services with 23.6% of its medical
ENJOY: Spain is good for you expenses covered by citizens directly out of pocket. Compare this with neighbouring Portugal at 27.5% and the UK at 16%. So you spend less in the UK and it has a more developed health system. However, according to Public Health Matters, males can expect to live to 78.7 years old in the UK and females to 82.7. Though you spend less in the UK and it apparently has a better system, the good news is you will live longer in Spain and you can certainly depend on more sunshine!
OLIVE PRESS
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Irate Ladies TWO elderly women came to blows over who was first in a Javea supermarket checkout queue. A 66-year-old customer was arrested by the Guardia Civil after breaking the nose of a 77-year-old.
FINAL WORDS
Daredevil Barcelona paraglider Nil Farre Berge went viral after he was caught on camera speeding 12,000ft up at 60mph before picking up a can of Red Bull in one fell swoop.
Red carded SPAIN’S super rich football clubs faced backlash after they decided to join up with England’s ‘Big Six’ and three top Italian teams to form a Super League. Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid have been accused of hypocrisy and betrayal, and could be expelled from the Spanish league.
What a haul!
MALLORCA
Vol. 4 Issue 104
Quacking the case POLICE have rescued 20 wild ducks from a dreadful dinner-plate fate. The cops in Sevilla saved the birds after carrying out a routine inspection on the premises of an oriental food warehouse. The Mallard ducks were crammed in one small cage without any accredited veterinary documents, while there were several other health irregularities found on the site. The birds were removed by vets to a wildlife centre outside the city.
www.theolivepress.es
Your expat
voice in Spain April 23rd - May 6th 2021
Heart warming Decade-long wait for transplant arrives on the day his first child was born By Cristina Hodgson
HE had been waiting years to be told by doctors that a match had been found and he could undergo a desperately needed heart transplant. But when the call finally came, it couldn’t have been at a more
Pink paradise SPAIN has been named as one of the top gay counties in the global rankings. Research carried out by makeup brand Jecca Blac found Spain to be the seventh most friendly city in the world for the LGBTQ+ com-
munity. Spain was ranked ahead of the UK, which came in at number eight on the list. Canada ranked number one in the world, with Malta coming in second and Sweden rounding out the top three
A GIANT catfish almost two metres long and weighing 100 kilos has been caught in the Guadalquivir River. Until now, the catfish species had only been fished in Andalucia in the gigantic Iznajar reservoir, where it was introduced around 2011 in an illegal bid to encourage angling tourism.
Birds
DOUBLE DELIVERY: Patient’s transplant arrived same day as first child, Samuel inconvenient moment for Antonio Salvador. For the 39-year-old Madrileno was at his wife’s bedside in the delivery ward at Madrid’s Gregorio Marañon hospital and their first child was on its way. After pausing for a moment to think, he took the decision to have the transplant and underwent surgery at the same time and in the same hospital as his wife gave birth. “When I woke up, there was twice the sense of delight,” said Salvador, who suffers from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a
hereditary heart disease which can cause sudden death. “Two very special moments for which we’d been waiting for a long time occurred at exactly the same time,” he added. For his wife Ana Maria Gonzalez, 44, the timing couldn’t have been better. “I couldn’t believe that after 10 years we were going to receive the most wonderful thing in our lives at the same time that Antonio was receiving the life that he himself needed,” she said. “Our new son, Samuel, brought a heart for his dad.”
The continent’s largest freshwater fish, native to Eastern Europe, will devour anything below it in the food chain. It can even lunge onto the water’s edge, beaching itself to feed on birds and small mammals. Green group Ecologistas en Accion has called on the Junta to help fight against these invasive predators, requesting urgent control measures. The pigeon-eating fish has a life expectancy of up to 30 years, and is easily recognisable by its two to four pairs of cat-like whiskers or barbels around its mouth, a broad flat head.
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